One might be led to believe driving a car might be difficult for ponies, given the anatomical incompatibilities. However with some liberal adjustments to the driver’s seat and some wooden blocks super glued and tied to the pedals, Loki was driving with only minor back discomfort. Alexia sat quietly watching the fields fly by the window as the news radio filled the air.
“The suspect will serve twenty years in prison for smoking in the nonsmoking section of the restaurant. And here I thought those had been abolished. In international news, the equivalent of three Americans were killed in Pakistan yesterday. Today is the day that the joint operation between the UN, the White House, and NASA against the meteor that threatens all nations boarding the Pacific Ocean will likely reach a successful conclusion.
The first of four total nuclear missiles is already on its way with the other three already ascending into high orbit. Those three will be used as needed depending on how the meteor’s break up occurs. The entire event is being witnessed by numerous ground based observatories with many live feeds available via our website. And now for the Sports Spike with Jack Fulton and Charlie Wilbert.”
A fast talking male caster took over. “This is Clark Fetmon filling in for Jack Fulton who is currently plummeting towards Earth at ninety three miles per hour.”
A scraggily sounding but equally hostile voice replaced him. And I’m Charlie Wilbert, and this is the Sports Spike! The contract that’s been in the works for the past five months has finally been signed after a heated debate between signees was finally resolved last Tuesday. John Madden will now be working as a consultant for the Oakland Raiders’ concession stands.”
Clark jumped in. “Lord knows the Raiders could use the help. Last time I was there the nachos gave me a tumor. The Boston Red Sox have debut t-shirt firing drones that target children who look like they want free team apparel.”
“Humans can’t be trusted with t-shirt distribution. The people doling out free merchandise always end up trampled and hospitalized by the Soxes’ millions of fans and the shirts always end up being taken by one or two people. The ever present drones have the perfect algorithms to laser-in on shirt starved kids and give them cotton delivery.”
Clark was heatedly opposed to Charlie’s praises. “Kids should have to claw all over each other if they want a t-shirt! Let the deserving prevail and the distributers were already the scum of the earth anyway. With the drones, even the weakest children are rewarded with Soxes gear from five different angles!”
Charlie was livid. “Its time for mankind to stop this useless squabbling, and accept the judgment of these infallible drones!”
“Alright, from horrible machines to humiliating upsets, we look at the Miami-”
Loki cut the radio off to talk. Her companion noticed the green mare’s attention. “What’s up?”
“Why haven’t you jumped Conrad’s bones yet?”
She had been dreading the day this topic would be brought up. “What prompted this?”
“Just some observations I’ve noticed.” Loki glanced away from the road to meet Alexia’s questioning visage. “You like the samurai right?” Alexia replied with a nod. “What gets your panties in a twist every time to touch for more than three seconds?”
“You’re going to ruin my good mood by bringing this up.”
“Yeah well you owe me a bottle of Jim Bean.” Loki countered. “So spill it already.”
Alexia half grunted and half groaned and slumped back over to the window. I might as well. I don’t run from my problems, I haven’t before and I’m not going to start now. “You know how I’ve kinda thrown myself into accepting being a mare?”
“You do that with everything. Its kind of funny seeing you face plant breakfast sometimes.”
Tune ignored the majority of the comment as Loki being Loki. “Well the pony part is really straight forward.” She glanced at the green and pink earth pony. “But I’m sure you already know all that.”
“I will admit getting ready in the morning is a lot quicker.” Loki agreed.
“See that’s the thing.” Alexia spoke while sitting up. “If I just been turned into a woman instead of a mare, I’d have to contend with a new wardrobe, mascara, making sure I didn’t accidentally walk into the men’s room, all of that. But as a pony, and being forced away from society I don’t really have a lot of feminine things to worry about.”
“You sure took a liking to the dong after you found about your horn being erogenous. I’m not that jealous of horn magic to be honest, I do magic all day on the net; but to have such a quick on-switch…” Alexia could see the gears turning in Loki’s head. “If you weren’t such good company I’d hate you for it.”
“Gee, thanks.” Tune replied sarcastically. “But that’s part of it. I know I’m stuck as a mare. I’ve accepted it because the alternative is letting the fact drive me nuts for the rest of my life.”
“Couldn’t you just wait until you have the alteration spell and change into a stallion instead?”
“I thought about it.” Tune replied after lengthy a pause. “But in the end I really don’t know how long it would take to get to that spell. As I’ve said, it could take years. I’d rather be completely female now, than be male stuck in a mare’s body. Once I have it I can still use it to help others who can’t accept being a pony or the wrong gender, but I won’t need it for myself.”
“So why not just do what you always do? Skip the foreplay and get right to it.”
“Loki.” She gave her a strange look that shifted into one of agitation at herself. “I’m not trying to lead Conrad on just to use him so I can get over the awkwardness of having a sex with a stallion. As much as you tease him, he’s a good person. I don’t care about his past, I care about him now. But every time I try to get close to him I feel like I hit a mental wall and freak out, and I hate it.”
Loki jabbed her with a hoof. “That why you need to skip the foreplay sister. Ordinarily I’d tell you to go have a one night stand with some other guy, but there’s only one fish in the pond so your options are limited to just him.”
“So…what? Just walk up to him and say: Wanna screw?”
Loki shrugged. “Is it really that bad of an idea?”
Alexia glowered at her. “I want to see if a relationship would work between us before going that far.”
“Well its obviously not if you can’t even hug the guy without spazzing.” Loki countered. “You’re not a person to take stuff slow anyway, so why do this any differently?”
“Because I don’t want to cheapen my feelings toward him with what sounds like casual sex.”
“I’mma slap you.” Alexia turned to ask what she meant when her cheek was met with Loki’s hoof.”
“What the hell?” Tune yelled as she rubbed the stinging spot.
“You’re infected with circular stupidity.” Loki replied casually. “I’m trying to knock it out of you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tune grumbled.
“It means this. You want to try to have a thing with the samurai correct?” Tune nodded after a moment. “The way I see it, you’re like ninety percent Alexia the mare and still ten percent James the man. You want to be Alexia fully, but James isn’t giving up the ghost so easily and is fighting to hang on. You have to kill James to ever be happy as Alexia and you need Conrad’s help.”
Tune scrunched her face at the theory. “I’m pretty sure I agreed with myself to be Alexia. There was no big struggle for final acceptance here. Its just a mental wall I have to break.”
“Then stop using a chisel and bust out the dynamite already, damn! You’re really starting to piss me off.” The car swerved badly as Loki tried to swat Alexia over the head to drive her point home. Alexia was caught between trying to defend herself with her hooves and keeping the car from running off the road with her magic. “Stop being such a coward and bag the samurai already and get over yourself. If he really likes you for more than just a piece of ass, then sex now won’t cheapen it!”
“Would you stop hitting me and concentrate on driving!?” Tune wailed.
“Not until you stop screwing around and get to screwing!” Loki roared back.
“Okay fine, I’ll do it when we get back!” Loki glowered daggers at her, but stopped the punches for the moment. Alexia’s will to argue about it fled completely in the face of ending up as twisted metal. “I swear, I’ll have sex okay? Can you please get your eyes back on the road?”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Loki declared and she resumed control of the car. Tune breathed a sigh of relief and look out the back window. When she didn’t see any police cars coming to investigate the erratic driving she slumped back in her seat. “I mean it.” Loki declared after a long pause. “I will hound you constantly if you chicken out.”
Alexia groaned and threw her forelegs up in exasperation. “I said I would and I will.”
The car fell silent for a long while. Tune was trying not to think about Conrad, and Loki was letting her have a modicum of peace. As they got closer to Salina, traffic started to pick up. Alexia tapped the window. “What gave you the idea to order these lay on tinting film?”
“I figured we might need the car at some point and need to be able to hide our faces.”
“It looks poorly done and it's ugly as sin.” Alexia replied with disgust. "I feel my car's pain and embarrassment."
“Yeah well the lime green paint job isn’t helping either. At any rate we’re almost there. How far from the fair do you want to park?”
Tune summoned her phone and brought up the local map. “Pull over by that gas station and switch with me.”
Loki did as instructed and the pair swapped seats without leaving the car. Once behind the wheel, Tune swiftly brought the car to a secluded street that was towards the back of the fair. Before the pair left the car, Loki brought up the map of the fair itself and their itinerary. “I listed us under a group called Biogenics. I had to use your old name on the list of team members so I could use your card without drawing any red flags. We should stay hidden until our unveiling in about thirty minutes in the civic center. That’s where all the mobile presentations are being made. After making it look like we’re just really lifelike robots we can surprise everyone that we’re fully sentient and self-aware.”
Alexia knew the area well enough that she could navigate any stands or walls that might have been erected for the events. “Okay, not a problem. The invisibly effect also muffles our hoofsteps so as long as we don’t bump into anyone we should be fine until we get there. But I couldn’t handle fashioning gems that would mask our voices from others so try not to speak with the cloak active.”
Loki nodded her understanding before inspected her bracelet. “How long will it last?”
Alexia was proud of her work and started to extol the accessory’s attributes. “The gems can hold a charge that will last at most ten minutes. Maintaining the enchantment is very expensive in terms of mana consumption. However because we are the sources of the gems’ magic and that it is currently on our person, our inner reserves of mana will begin feeding the gems after the charge is exhausted. With me, the field is sustainable indefinitely, but after an hour it will leave me hovering around sixtyish percent before my natural regeneration would be strong enough to power the field on its own. For you however, the field will stay active for roughly…I want to say three hours.”
“Why do you get to have permanent invisibility?” Loki complained halfheartedly.
“Well as I said, the invisibility field is one of the highest draining enchantments I can fabricate. The other reason is how our different tribes work. The tome said that earth ponies have magic reserves that sometimes surpass that of the average unicorn, but the earth tribe has a slower regeneration rate that doesn’t quicken as it’s drained away. You remember I told you about that stuff a couple of days ago.”
Loki rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, whatever.” She said dismissively. “A full time cloak would be cheating anyway.” She looked at her bracelet. “So how do I activate this thing?”
“Easy, just think of the gem and wish to be invisible.” Alexia demonstrated by her left foreleg becoming encased in an azure film that quickly spread to cover her body. The film faded to be nearly imperceivable and was lost completely in her already blue mane and tail. The pink topaz on her fetlock was pulsing a miniature recreation of the array that had crafted the gem within itself.
Loki cooed at the display and tried her own. While her gem mirrored Alexia’s own, the green film that was emitted was lost instantly in her grass green fur and she could only see it when it reached her pink mane and tail. When all was said and done she turned to the unicorn. “So how do we know these work as intended?” Alexia held up her phone and tried to take a picture of Loki. When she showed the image to the expectant mare, she found an empty passenger seat. “I am going to have so much fun with this.”
“Try to keep usage at a minimum once we reveal ourselves though. Making people think we’re androids that mimic flesh and blood being will be a tough nut for them to swallow, but magic outside of gripping things in our hooves will be a bit much before people start calling us aliens or mutants.”
Loki assumed a mocking scholarly tone. “Come now Alexia. Surely everyone here are men and women of science. Not degenerate yokels claiming ET gave him an anal probe.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. We should get going or we’ll be late.”
Both mares checked to make sure they could open the doors without anyone seeing them. Once the coast was clear they left the car behind and started to make their way to the center of the fair. Aside from the civic center near the north eastern edge of town, the vast majority of the fair was built in the generously volunteered farmlands along the town’s outskirts.
It did not take long before the traveling ponies were getting slowed down by the mass of people the closer they got to the civic center. Alexia noted that this was probably the most people Salina had ever seen in all of its existence. I bet the local businesses are struggling to cope with such a high volume of consumers. Although they could use the income at least.
The magic of the ponies’ gems worked perfectly and no one saw them as they crept around buildings, tents, talking crowds, and random people going to and fro. The presence of so many people calmed Loki immensely. The drone of dozens of people talking at once, the stench of car exhaust, the asphalt, all the people. Sure it’s nothing compared to New York, but this is enough for me.
The civic center itself was as crowded as Alexia feared it would be. Crud. Even the least active entrance into the back has people constantly going in and out.
A loud speaker sounded from the center’s exterior. “The first presentation will be starting in two minutes. And don’t forget to buy Captain’s soda. For a refreshing sensation tailored for the admiralty.”
Well nothing for it. She turned to Loki who was typing furiously on her computer harness’s keyboard. I’m not asking. “Loki, looks like we gotta make a bit of a scene to get in the doors without anyone thinking there are two invisible ghosts running around. What do you think?”
She spoke while continuing to type. “What do we care if a few people think there are ghosts around? We’re not showing off our cloaking ability after the presentation right? I say we have a little fun.”
Alexia’s reply was stifled by a passing group of people and she waited until they were out of earshot to whisper. “Fine, but we need to get in there now.”
Loki led her friend over to the large double doors where several entrants were running in to be present for their own presentations. Upon reaching where they could not get any closer without bumping into the press of people Loki shouted at the top of her lungs. “Make way for the Queen of England!”
The declaration had no discernible effect on the mass of people at first as there had been no fanfare for the queen so it took Loki a few more pronouncements before they started to listen. When everyone quickly discovered it was a disembodied voice they reactively backed away from it as it moved into the building.
As soon they the ponies were inside Loki turned about face and spoke again. “You all have just witnessed Seismic Industries ventriloquist speaker system. I hope it was convincing and that you buy the hell out of our product.” Alexia had to admit it was not only a gutsy move, but quite odd she used the queen instead of the president. She pulled Loki away from the crowd that was a range between forgetting the display and clapping as they continued on with their own tasks.
“That was rather tame of you Loki. I half expected you to call out a zombie outbreak.” Tune whispered as she led them towards the waiting area where the other entrants were already milling about, making last minute cosmetic checks on their machines or models. The back rooms were not as crowded and the people who were there, were fully preoccupied by their presentations.
Loki pointed out an empty booth that was reserved for them. All it had was an unadorned plywood wall, a table and two brown folding chairs. Everything else would normally be provided by the contestants themselves. “If I had thought to put external speakers on my harness instead of what’s just on the headset I probably would have had the undead moans to go with that.”
“Right. Well you got us in and set up our entry record. You want the honors of being the main speaker to the crowd?”
“Do I?!” Loki grinned fiercely at that prospect.
“Contestant eighteen, Billiards group and their lifelike human prosthetic arm are up next.”
Alexia grew mildly concerned at Loki whose grin only widened at the recent announcement. “I think that means we’re right after them.”
The earth mare nodded. “And we get to show the last group up as perfect true to life ‘androids’. This day can’t get any better.”
Twenty minutes passed as both mares waited for the announcer to give the word. “Contestant nineteen, Biogenics and their Ultra Lifelike Android Pony.” Both of them noted the odd way the announcer pronounced the last word, but neither of them cared.
They dropped their magical cloak and with Loki in the lead, boldly walked out of the booth and straight into the main theater. Alexia regretted the whole plan in an instant. The large chamber doubled as the town’s only movie theater and served as a center for the annual farmer’s market so it was made to accommodate a very large crowd. The two ponies immediately became the center of everyone’s attention. “Holy piss…there’s got to be over two thousand people in here.”
Loki was eating up all of the excited electricity in the air, from the murmuring crowd in the close seats to all of the phone cameras and journalist cameras flashing at them. “I know isn’t great!”
The stage floor was occupied by a lone middle aged man in a smart suit. He was expecting robots, and was highly impressed by the smoothness of the mares’ walking gait as far beyond any work he had seen to date. However he was at a loss as to how to proceed without any of the supposed human members of the Biogenics crew to speak with. “Ladies and gentlemen I give you…the android ponies.”
He turned to the crowd to speak but Loki cut him off with a tone of voice the oozed mirth. “Thank you for that rousing introduction my good man. But I think we can handle it from here.”
There was a moment of stunned silence as Loki walked right up to the man and held up an expectant hoof for his microphone. As soon as the moment passed, the density of camera flashes redoubled to the point where Alexia was forced to shield her eyes with a hoof. The man looked at her questioningly, having a robot speak to a crowd before had been done. But it was always with one of the creators present and even then it was always obviously a machine, even those made to greatly resemble human features. However the man found himself staring at a green and pink miniature horse with eyes that did not belay the emotionless programming of a machine, but one that silently shouted at him that he was looking at a highly intelligent thing. What that thing was, he wasn’t entirely sure of yet. Without thinking he gave her the microphone, curious on how she would hold it in a hoof.
Loki thanked the man held the microphone to her mouth. “Hello everyone. My name is Loki and this is my counterpart Alexia.”
She said tilting her head towards Alexia who waved to the crowd in a goofy manner. When in Rome. Loki handed the mic over to her and Alexia made sure to grab it in a hoof instead of her magic. “Hello Salina. I hope you're enjoying your time at the fair.” A thought struck her before she gave the mic back. “As for why we appeared by ourselves, it is to demonstrate we are fully capable of doing the presentation on our own. Thank you.”
Loki took the mic back and addressed the crowd. “Unfortunately we cannot give any specifics about how we come to be, as its all awaiting patent approval first.”
The announcer gestured for the return of his microphone and spoke when Loki gave it up. “I must say you two are a… surprising addition to today’s presentations, if you will step over to the next room, the judges are waiting for you.”
Tune was not too keen on that. They better not try to grope me just to see how lifelike I am. “Of course, sir.” Both mares waved one last time at the crowd before leaving.
With the introduction over, Alexia kept hearing the crowd comment among themselves. “They’re so adorable its painful!” “How do they move do fluidly?” “I just want to pet the green one so bad.” “Why are their eyes so big?”
She couldn’t catch anymore as they entered the smaller judges’ room. It was away from the crowds mostly so entrants could explain their discovery or invention without the massive distraction the crowd presented. It was quite understood that not every team can handle the stress of critical judges, and compounding that with the crowd of two thousand could make a noteworthy presentation fall flat due to stage fright.
The judges themselves were a collection of four scientists who were well respected in their fields of study and one military observer. They were situated behind a white sheet covered table with their names on stands in front of them. As soon as the two ponies entered the room, the sheer alien-ness and vibrant colors made each of the humans do a double take.
The most senior of the group, an elderly thin haired woman got up from her seat to walk up and greet the mares. “I am Director Bertie Tabiteau. High professor of ballistic physics.” She turned back to her colleagues. “These are my fellow judges Doctor Hertpole professor of metallurgy. Professor Canavan of particle physics. Doctor Lettice of astrophysics, and the honorable Lieutenant Commander Peterson, of the US navy and instructor of military sciences at the esteemed U.S. Naval Academy.” She indicated each person who gave curt gestures of acknowledgement as they were named. “I believe I speak for all of us when I ask. What are you?”
“What we appear to be of course.” Loki replied coyly. “Simply a pair of ponies.”
Before any of the judges could respond, Alexia cut them off. “Biogenics originally designed us to be intelligent life assistants in a wide range of roles going from simple companionship to helping the disabled or even light work areas. However once they realized they made us truly sentient instead of merely intelligent, they abandoned all further research on us as unethical and gave us our freedom.”
Loki liked the story Alexia was fabricating and interjected. “It was my idea to be presented in the fair so we wouldn’t be mistaken as aliens or some prize to be mounted on a wall. We understand all too well how much of an oddity we are to human society.”
Alexia was glad Loki went along with it. Even she knows humans magically turning into ponies would be harder to believe than us being a mix between robotics and biology.
Peterson made his way over to visually inspect them at a discrete distance along with the other judges. “The entry says your androids, but you look astoundingly fluid and quiet in your movements, footsteps notwithstanding. How much of your body is robotic?”
“We’re not entirely sure ourselves I’m afraid, but we do need to eat and drink like anyone else.” Tune answered hoping that would allow them to buy some food without raising any serious questions.
Doctor Lettice was next to speak. He was the most dour of the group so far. “I must say, the two of you far exceed anything we really expected to see here. I have a the distinct impression the two of you are going to spark a prolonged controversy about humans no longer being the only beings capable of intelligent speech anymore.” As he spoke, he studied the two mares’ intently. The subtle eye movements that belayed an emotional response to his statement about the consequences of their actions, spoke of organic thought. The way Alexia’s ears kept twitching to the sounds of the crowd outside belayed a sense of nervousness that he would expect from someone who understood the real danger she was putting herself into. Loki on the other hand looked to be enjoying the attention more than she should. “The enormity of that controversy greatly depends on if there are more of you out there. I would be very interested in arranging a prolonged discussion with both of you at a later date if possible.”
Loki was all for that and her face lit up immensely. Alexia tapped her chin to mull over the idea. If we publicize ourselves even further, then the government wouldn’t be able to kidnap us because we’d be too well known. This might even bring some other ponies out of hiding if they exist. “I think that would be a wonderful idea.”
Before the other judges could talk further, a yeoman burst through the door with a laptop in tow and came to a halt in front of the group. He wore a troubled look that was now mixed with confusion at the sight of the ponies because he had not witnessed the introduction. As soon as he caught sight of the Lieutenant Commander he snapped a crisp salute. “Sir, I think you should take a look at the latest report on Operation Starburst.”
Peterson returned the salute and glanced at the laptop on his way over. “I take it what you have to show me is unclassified.”
“It’ll be all over the news in a few minutes if it isn’t already.” The fearful tone in the yeoman’s tone brought everyone’s attention solely on him and then his laptop as he set on the table and played a video clip. “This was taken barely forty minutes ago.” The mares were given enough room to watch the clip as everyone crowded the computer.
The clip showed a stark black and white radar image of the large meteor. It was an oblong loosely rectangular chunk of rock rotating slowly as it hurtled through space. The video started off at an extreme close up to the point where some of the small impact sites from other space debris were visible. A monotone voice spoke. “Ten seconds to impact.”
The camera zoomed out to have a wider view of the area but kept the meteor in the dominate position in the center. An extremely small point of light enters the picture and becomes highlighted by a red circle as it approaches off center near what looked to be a weak point in the surface. Right as the expectant nuclear detention was going to occur, the missile did nothing expect demolish itself by ramming into the mountain. No detonation, no flash of light, just the same greyish rock continuing silently on. There was an astonished exclamation from the video as the speaker was left speechless.
Loki looked to the Lieutenant Commander who was a statue of cool composure. “I hope that wasn’t an American missile. It’d be rather embarrassing to have a dud pancake itself on international television.”
Peterson maintained a calm composure, but everyone could see he was concerned for more than America’s public image. He gave a curt nod to the yeoman and he closed the video right as the speakers began discussing with colleagues about updating the Pentagon. “Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see I have matters to attend to. If you’ll excuse me.” Both naval personnel left without another word.
Alexia was bewildered by the whole thing. “I don’t get it. Doesn’t the US and UN have strict manufacturing and maintenance expertise when it comes to nuclear weapons? How could it have possibly have been a dud?”
Doctor Hertpole shook his head sadly and leaned against the table to relieve some of the back pain from standing for so long. “As much as it pains me to say it, we are by far from infallible and our technology even more so. Still.” He chuckled darkly at the memory of the clip. “To see it fail so spectacularly is both humiliating and laughable.”
Loki’s desire to remain on the current topic dwindled. A scandal will come of it sure, but its got nothing to do with me or my kind. I’m not going to waste this chance to be around people again. She cleared her throat to focus the discussion on herself. “Do you think we could go around the rest of the fair now?”
Lettice smiles while clapping his hands together, I don’t see why not. You may not be human, but you’re clearly not animals. We don’t have any authority over you and if anyone would have had objections about it, the Lieutenant Commander would have said something I’m sure.”
Director Tabiteau heard the announcer proclaim the next presentation was ready for them. “As much as I’m sure we would all like to get to know one another, we cannot hold back the entire fair for you two.”
Both mares shook the judges’ hands with Alexia giving an understanding reply. “It was good meeting all of you. I hope the rest of humanity will be as welcoming.” I might as well get used to referring to humans as a different species. There’s no going back for me.
“I hope so too.” Lettice replied with a twinge of worry. “I would be cautious of people who might try to cause you harm.”
“Believe me Doctor, we’re not as naive about human society as you might think.” Loki replied with a playful tone that belayed she meant what she said.
A quick few goodbyes later the two mares were pointed towards the exit which deposited them into the main lobby. There were over fifty people crammed next to the door and as soon as Loki and Alexia appeared they went wild trying to rush forward to meet them. “What do you call yourselves?” “Where can I get a pony.” “Are more of you up for sale?” “Do you come in different colors?” “Why does that one have a horn?” “Can I pet you?” “What’s the maintenance on your robotics cost?”
The press of people nearly double the ponies’ height was getting oppressive. Both were pinned against the door with mounting fear of being smothered. I wanted to be in a city again, but this is a bit much.
Before the crowd could press any closer Alexia shouted at them with all the fury she could muster with a heavy dose of magical suggestion. “What the hell is wrong with you people?! Give us some damn personal space!”
Normally, a crowd of people would be resistant to such a demand. However as one might expect, humans have had absolutely no interaction with real magic and even Tune’s incredibly sloppy suggestion enchantment had a powerful effect. The crowd found themselves compelled to comply and backed off to give the mares a few feet of room. Alexia quickly cut the magic hoping no one would notice her glowing horn. With her opening given, she continued speaking but with a more friendly tone. “Now I know we asked for this by revealing ourselves this way, but please remember there are only two of us and thousands of you. We want to be your friends and we’ll answer some questions-“
Loki took the moment to butt in. “But first we need a couple of foot long Subway sandwiches or I won’t even tell you guys my favorite color.” Tune gave her a condescending glower. “What? I’m hungry.”
Four authoritative sounding voices started shouting and pushing their way through the crowd. The mares got nervous until they saw the first person pushing through was a police officer. “Alright break it up; the whole lot of you are creating a fire hazard. And until I hear a court ruling declaring otherwise, these two are protected by the same laws as everyone else. Now clear out or we’ll start arresting people for harassment.”
The mass of people let of a vast collection of groans, moans, and overall disapproval of the police order. This was not a riot of furious protesters, but a collection of hyper curious onlookers. None of them were willing to risk jail time over it and started to begrudgingly disperse. Alexia breathed a sigh of relief eternally grateful to the SPD. Loki’s feelings were partially mirrored. Never thought the police would come to my rescue. Oh the times they are a change’n.
The police sergeant made sure his subordinates were successfully driving the crowd away and turned to face the breathless ponies. “I’m not going to ask who or what you are, because at the moment all I care about is that you’re a bigger disturbance of the peace than a tornado.”
Loki was horribly temped to give a snarky reply in the face of his somewhat hostile tone, but a pleading hoof from Tune checked her tongue. “Well we tried to have a press conference with CNN, but they laughed us off the phone.”
Alexia slapped herself out of exasperation. “Why are you trying to piss off the cops who just saved our asses?”
The sergeant softened moderately, but remained stern. “You remind me of my daughter. She has a whip for a tongue too. I can’t rightly tell you leave, but you’ll be nothing but a disturbance if I let you walk freely.”
“So what do you want us to do then?” Tune asked with sinking spirits.
“I’d prefer it if you left. I don’t know how familiar you are with human nature, but mob mentality will only worsen if you stay and my department doesn’t have the manpower to handle a riot.”
“I may be a fancy new thing for people to gawk at.” Loki began, knowing full well what the officer was leading up to. “But you can’t say one minute we have equal rights and then ask us to leave.”
“My patience will only go so far. I only said I was acting as if you had human rights to get the crowd to back down, but don’t fool yourselves into thinking you do. You’re in my town and I want you gone.”
“You know officer.” Loki growled with hate in her eyes. “Last I checked, there was only one article in the whole list of human rights that specify says human beings only. Just about all the others either start with everyone or no one. We do have rights as sentient beings.”
The officer’s demeanor only darkened to match Loki’s own. Unlike her hacker friend, Alexia had no desire to find herself in jail over technicalities in the wording of the law. She leaned in to whisper pleadingly to her green friend. “We should just go. Let people cool off for a bit, get used to the idea that humans aren’t alone anymore. We can come back later.”
Loki’s stern gaze flashed at Tune before going back to the sergeant. “I am not leaving without my sandwich.” Loki knew she had the officer where she wanted him. He had not expected either of them to know that much of human society let alone the law of it.
After a few seconds of internal debate he sided with the legally safer course of action. “Alright, you win. You can go where you please. If you know that much about the law then I shouldn’t have to tell you how to conduct yourselves. But I’m assigning an officer to follow you until you leave town.” He leaned down a little to drive his point across. “And I mean leave town. We’re miserably understaffed to handle the fair as it is and having even one trooper assigned to you is pushing it.”
Tune took that moment to superimpose herself between the two. “Once again, the honor of the SPD shines through.” She said hoping that her poor choice of words didn’t sound sarcastic. “We just want to grab a bite and maybe see a few things and then poof we’ll be gone.”
The sergeant blinked at the first statement. The phrase was a short lived joke in the local newspaper that died out five years ago when it was revealed that the police chief turned down a bribe. The joke came later when it was revealed that he only turned it down because he already knew it was a corruption sting operation. How does she know that phrase? With nothing else to go on, he brushed it off as coincidence and called out to an officer who was standing alone as the remaining civilians were keeping their distance. “Daniels, get over here.”
The five foot seven officer in question responded and approached. “Yes sergeant?”
“You’re reassigned to escort duty with these two until they leave town by no later than sundown.” His address switched from Daniels to Loki midway through. He already knew Alexia was cowed enough to obey.
Daniels regarded the ponies for the first time. Great. Not a week out of the academy and I get leashed onto a potential riot waiting to happen. He kept his expression professional in the face of his superior. “Yes Sergeant.”
“I have to radio this in to dispatch. Don’t let them get out of control.” The Sergeant barked orders to the other officers and they filed out of the lobby.
Loki wasn’t pleased about being chained to a policeman. Alexia on the other hand, was all too happy for the protection. She walked up and offered a hoof and a smile. “Pleased to meet you Officer Daniels, I’m Alexia Tune.”
The man gave her mildly questioning look before accepting it. If they're willing to act friendly, it’ll make the assignment smoother. “Likewise.” He responded with an iota of warmth.
Loki thought it would be best to keep her mouth shut about her true feelings towards the man and after Alexia shook the officer’s hand, she repeated the gesture. “Do you know where I can get a sub sandwich now?”
Daniels nodded. “The nearest Subway is several blocks away, but a Firehouse stand is set up not even a half that far. I can show you the way.”
Loki brightened, much to Tune’s relief, and jumped forward. “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
The cold wind had picked up considerably since entering the civic center and tore into mass of buildings, tents, and people alike. It was hardly a cause for alarm for Alexia as the fifteen mile per hour wind was not a rare occurrence. What unnerved her was that most people were glued to their radios, phones, and the occasional TV inside the brick and mortar stores. Only a relative handful of people noticed the ponies and those that did steered clear of Daniels.
As the pair followed the officer, Alexia hung back a few steps to get side by side with Loki. “What’s up with everyone?”
Her green companion shrugged. “I don’t know or care. It just means we can get some food all that easier.”
As the group approached the food tent, Alexia saw a group of five people caught between their phones and the radio. “Just moments ago, the second nuclear missile aimed for XJ-29 has mysteriously failed to detonate upon impact. It is currently unknown as to the reason behind these failings as each missile so far has been from different sites. While the exact locations for these military bases are classified, we can say the first missile was launched from a base in Ohio while the second was from somewhere in southern France.
Experts originally believed the US based missile’s failure might have been caused by equipment failure, and that an investigation is being launched to find the culprit. As of now however, no theory has been put forward as to how the French missile failed in the exact same fashion as the American one. Given the proximity of XJ-29, the UN has decided to green light use of the remaining missiles in hopes that this bizarre string of malfunctions or possible sabotages will not be repeated from the warheads hailing from northern Britain and central Russia. We will continue to cover the story as the other-”
Alexia was dragged back to her surroundings by a hoof gently pushing her shoulder. “Earth to Alex. Order up.”
“Oh sorry.” Tune propped herself up on the edge of the counter to take stock of the types of fillings and bread. “I’ll take a foot long tuna melt on wheat please.”
The server was barely able to contain herself in the mares’ presence as she was not all that interested in the news broadcast. “You guys look so cute its painful.” She said after placing the unfinished sandwich in the toaster.
Tune snickered. “Thanks.” I can’t argue with her on that point.
“So what do you want to do with yourselves?” She asked innocently.
That caught Tune up short. “I don’t know. I’d like to wait a while to see if we can find a nitche to work in. I hadn’t honestly expected as warm of a reception as we’ve seen.”
“You must not be too familiar with the media in general. Comics, anime, cartoons, everyone’s read or seen at least some of that.” The server paused when the toaster beeped. “You’re like the physical manifestation of those things come to life.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She almost forgot about the toppings. “Tomato, lettuce, and black pepper.”
The cashier was not overly shocked that Loki had a debit card, but that she was able to swipe it given the lack of fingers. The trio found a table off to the side where Daniels would be able to sit with his back to the canvas wall and the two mares ate. He had declined the meal as he was on duty.
“You know, ever since all this happened to us. I thought I would lose my taste for meat.” Loki commented. Daniels was curious what she meant, but remained silent. “I mean I know it’s optional for you, but with me…”
Alexia finished swallowing to answer. “You don’t need meat per say, and it may or may not be healthier if you didn’t. But the book only talks about magic, not dietary habits. If you get indigestion or sick later you’ll find out the hard way.”
Daniels ordinarily would have scoffed at the mention of magic outside of illusionists and the media, but he was acutely aware that the ponies were having no trouble at all holding the sandwiches. They can call whatever they're doing with their feet whatever they like. What do I care?
Loki finished first and was about to reboot her computer. She always kept it on low power and the uplink offline when not in use. She thought to ask before expending the battery. “Is there a massage parlor around here? I could really go for one.”
Daniels liked the idea instantly. They’ll be out of the public eye for at the very least half an hour. Might make some of the over enthusiasts that have been shadowing us get bored.
He was about to answer when Alexia did it for him. “I remember a place called the Calm Moon a block away. They're probably swamped though.”
Loki grinned and brought her computer online. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll book us some quick reservations.” Loki set about hacking them onto the waiting list. A small town like this will probably have pitiful security, I can get us in no problem.
While Loki toiled on her favorite activity in life, a familiar face walked into the tent. It was a face Alexia was not expecting to see. Qubert Smith scanned the thin crowd and spotted the ponies instantly and rushed over. Daniels kept a wary eye on him, but a lone seemingly unarmed person was not a threat to his charges. Smith stopped short at the officer. “Can I speak to them, I need to ask something important.”
Daniel stood up and shook his head. “Sorry buddy, but you’ll have to do it later like everyone else.”
“Um, actually we don’t mind talking to him in private officer.” Tune called out. “But just him.”
Loki kept her peace and watched both mare and officer exchange a wordless plea. “Do what you will, but I will be keeping watch over there.” Qubert looked partially bewildered that she would agree to speak so readily and to mention the need for privacy as he was going to request the same.
Loki suspected what this was about. Maybe it wasn’t such a hot idea to use her old name so no one would question the debit card.
He sat down, unsure of how familiar the two ponies were with human etiquette. “Hello, my name is-“
“Qubert Smith.” Alexia interrupted nervously. “I know.”
He was at a loss while Loki busied herself with the remains of the sandwich and booking their appointments. “How did you know?”
Tune gave her response a few moments of thought. “Before I say anything. Mind if I ask why you came to us?” Please just say you wanted to talk to the new and exciting androids. She wished would be his response.
Instead she got a different one. “A friend of mine, James Tune said he was sick a couple of weeks ago. But I found his name on your list of team members for Biometrics. I’ve been trying to call him for the past several minutes but he isn’t picking up.”
Loki shrugged nonchalantly. “So maybe he’s in the shower or asleep. Why would we know?”
“Because he’s been increasingly distant lately. I’m going to be pissed if he faked an illness just to use my grandfather’s manor to house you two away from the public.”
The earth mare kept playing ignorant while Alexia was deeply torn between telling the truth and suppressing it. “I get you're concerned for your friend and all pal. But we have nothing to do with him.”
Tune’s mind was flooded with worst scenarios. What if he comes over to check on me. He might think there was foul play and bring the cops over, that’d be a nightmare! She refocused on the two quietly bickering. Qubert threatening to do what Tune feared with Loki trying to deflect him with feigned ignorance. “Bert, you want the truth?”
“Damn straight I do. What’s James gotten himself into?” He hissed low enough that he would not draw Daniels’ ire.
She didn’t know how to put it so she went with bluntness. Its my bread and butter after all. “I am, or I used to be, James Tune.”
His reaction was a mix between disbelieving mirth and anger. “And why should I believe such a claim?”
Alexia thought of many different ways to convince him quickly before he did something she’d regret. “Give me a moment and I’ll have the proof you need.” She glanced around the tent and noticed only two people were paying them any serious attention. Good they're behind Q, I can do this without anyone else seeing it.
She took a deep breath to center herself. The distance is going to make it difficult, but I don’t have a quicker solution. Smith’s mounting frustration was replaced by bewilderment as Tune’s horn lit up and the infamous spell book flashed into being. He nearly jumped out of his seat at the summoning. “Remember when I got this at during my route?”
“How the hell did you do that?!”
“Magic. Which is also why I’m a unicorn now.” She noticed his expression turn to one of fear. “And in case you need further convincing, should I bring up the jockstrap incident?”
“Don’t you dare say another word!” He growled under his breath. “James swore he’d never tell anyone.”
“And I still haven’t.” Alexia insisted. “But that’s why I’m saying it now so you can keep your voice down.” She reactivated the hearth charm and the book vanished from the table.
He recovered after a few moments of trying to register the book was gone again. “Jesus man. What happened to you?”
She sat back and gestured over her body. “Well, all of this. I was turned into a pony.”
“How?”
“Aside from magic, I have no idea on how who what or any of those. All I do know is that whoever did it, seems content to let us roam freely.”
Qubert turned to Loki. “And you?”
“You might say I was IT expert out of Denver when it happened to me, but I never really stayed in any one place for long.” Both ponies felt it was best to leave Conrad out of the discussion.
Smith was silent for a minute. “When you started talking to me by text alone I was starting to get really worried, but stuff kept me from checking up on you. Shit this is crazy.”
“Tell me about it.” Both mares replied instantly.
They got a weak laugh out of it before Alexia continued with more conviction. “Its not as bad as it looks.”
He was skeptical of such a claim and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not going to sit here and explain how that is anything but ‘not bad’. Being in that body would make you more acutely aware of it than me pointing it out.” He leaned in so he could lower his voice again. “So what are you going to do now? If that tome really does contain spells then you could change back right?”
She gave a negative sigh. “It’s not that simple. The book is done up like a school text book’s chapter format in the sense that each one has a review. And the only spell that sounded like it would be the one to use is near the back. And each chapter is locked until I complete the review.”
“Ouch man. That’s harsh.”
Alexia finished off her sandwich as she briefly explained her tribe’s magical dependency, the estimated time it would take to acquire the spell, and other snags that conspire to keep her imprisoned in her. “And that’s the long and short of it.”
Smith mulled over the exposition. “Well if you’re really okay with staying as you are, its no longer a curse then now is it?” Tune nodded in agreement. “Well if that’s the case there’s no real point in arguing over it.” He lapsed into temporary silence. “So just to be clear. You can really do magic now?”
“Well its called magic yes, but its not treated the same way as you might think. The way the book’s author portrays it, magic is as much of a science as chemistry and biology. And given the way it’s worked so far I’d have to agree. But if you’re going to ask for a bigger demonstration than summoning my book, you can forget it. This place is way too crowded and you’re the only person I’ve told about magic.”
“What about the club? You could make a killer lightshow.”
Alexia let off a lighthearted chuckle. I think I’m just going to believe that he’s accepting this so willingly because he thought I was on death’s door and this is a better alternative. “I’m still rather new at the stuff. I don’t know what I could do to actually make a lightshow with it yet. But I’ll put together what I can, it’s the least I can do for lying to you and keeping you in the dark all this time.”
“James, you can use the lightshow as an apology for that. It could push my business to the next level.”
“Only if you call me Alexia from now on.” She replied with a friendly, yet serious tone. “As strange as it may sound Q. I want to stay as a mare. Not just because I’m stuck as one, but because I refuse to live in the past.”
He was silent for a few moments before shaking his head. “It’ll take some getting used to, but I can accommodate that. I better get going, I’ll talk to you later Tune.”
“See ya Q.” She was happy the truth was out between them and sighed contently while popping a few crumbs in her mouth.
As Smith left, Loki pumped a hoof. “Yes! I got in and switched the books around, the place even has an automated phone service to call the other clients.” She turned to Alexia with a stupidly massive grin. “I got us in the massage parlor; we gotta be there in ten minutes.”
“You’re really hard up for that aren’t you?” Alexia remarked jokingly.
“Have you had a professional massage before?” Loki inquired with a smirk.
She shook her head. “Well aside from rubbing a sore muscle no.”
“Well you are in for a treat. Let’s tell our watchdog and get over there.”
Seven minutes of running through the streets revealed that the crowds were starting to thicken as the day waxed on to peak shopping hours. Daniels refused to shout after the galloping mares not only because it would draw even more attention to them, but it would also make him look like he was not in control. The fair itself was shifting gears and an outdoor stage in the open fields for a pyrotechnic laser show was putting on the finishing touches before show time.
Loki found the salon easily enough and waited for Daniels to catch up to them before entering. The officer was cursing how deceptively fast they could be. The salon had a very small waiting room that had a strong Fung Shui vibe to it complete with wall fountain and miniature bonze trees. The woman behind the counter was taken aback by the new customers. “I heard about two pony shaped androids, but didn’t think I would get a chance to see you in person. I’m Linda.”
The ponies introduced themselves along with the policeman. Loki spoke up after Linda calmed down a bit. “We ordered two ninety minute sessions, under my name.”
Linda was puzzled and checked the scheduler. “I see you right here.” She looked back up to Loki. “How did you book an appoint here when you just arrived an hour ago? We’re booked solid all night.”
“We knew we were coming in advance so we booked ahead.” Loki lied smoothly.
It seemed logical, and the recently hired clerk accepted it without further question. “Well ordinarily I’d lead you on back, but umm. I don’t know if we’ll be able to serve you.”
“Oh come on. It can’t be that hard to translate over.” Loki countered smoothly. Hell we can’t be that different than rubbing your cat or dog.
Alexia read the indecision on Linda’s face easily. I’d hate to cause a scene over this, but it would worth seeing if its half as good as Loki makes it out to be. “We’re not expecting your usual level of service given how different we are from your usual clientele, but surely you can at least try.”
Daniels was convinced Alexia was just as dangerous in her own right as her more unstable friend. The clerk bit her lower lip before agreeing. “Okay, I’ll ask the masseuses. It’ll only be a minute.”
A short time later, all it took was a repeat of Alexia’s original request to see them ushered into the individual rooms. The masseuses had been told they were androids, but after the initial hesitation as to how to proceed, they quickly discovered the ponies felt as flesh and blood as they looked. After a few wrongly stretched muscles and rubbing her fur the wrong way, Alexia’s masseuse melted the mare like butter as she exercised her craft.
Half an hour into the session, the mix of soothed muscles, aroma therapy, and soft music lulled the unicorn to sleep. She awoke some time later feeling an extremely calming sensation moving along the top her head and down her mane. Some part of her realized after five minutes of the gentle touch that it was the masseuse’s’ hand petting her. A small part of her warred over the perceived belittlement, but at the same time, the act was deeply soothing to the point where she forgot all reservations about it.
“That feels soooo good.” Her voice was faint from the caressing.
The masseuse stopped and gasped an apology. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be doing that. I-I”
The sudden change the room’s mood bled the silky fog from Alexia’s mind. She remained prone on the table, but turned to head to speak directly. “How much time is left?”
Glad for an excuse to speak about something else the woman looked at her watch. “Ten minutes.”
Tune slumped back on the table. “You wouldn’t mind scratching behind the ears again would you? That was marvelous.”
The woman hesitated fearfully. “You really don’t mind it?”
“Don’t think of it as petting, but as just another style of massage.”
The woman leapt at the opportunity and did as she was asked. Oh my god, its like they were made to ooze cute.
Fifteen minutes later Tune walked out to find Loki in a near Zen state. “You ran long too?”
Loki leaned in to whisper. “If you tell Conrad this I’ll TP your room, but she started petting me and I couldn’t say no.”
The unicorn belted out a hearty chuckle as they entered the lobby and waved goodbye to the masseuses. Alexia felt sorry for Daniels being left in the waiting room for close to two hours, but instead of looking bored or irritated he wore a mask of worry as he read from his phone.
“Sorry to leave you out here like that officer.”
He glanced up to see they were healthy then back down at his phone for a second longer before putting it away. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it, comes with the job.”
She noticed his terse speech immediately. “Is something the matter?”
“Just…bad news.” He replied carefully as he smoothed the wrinkles out of his uniform and readjusted his holster while leading them outside. “All four missiles going after the meteor failed to detonate. The UN can’t launch anymore as the blasts, if they did go off, would be too close to the satellites in high orbit and they’d be fried by the EMP.”
Both ponies found the news rather ominous. “Are you guys sure these missiles weren’t launched from North Korea?”
Daniels snorted at the sarcasm from the earth mare’s quip. “It would make the cause far less mysterious, I’ll give you that.”
“Its not big enough to be cataclysmic though right?” Alexia queried.
“No, but it will decimate large portions of the Pacific coast from South America all the way around to Japan.”
“At lease Kansas is smack dab in the center of the continent.” Loki remarked looking for the silver lining. “How long until it hits water?”
“A little over four hours from now.”
Loki did not like how the conversation was dragging the mood down and pulled Alexia aside. “Hey listen to me. Did you cause that meteor to show up?”
Alexia shook her head. “No.”
“Can you do anything right now to help those people?”
“No.”
“Then don’t stress it. If we had a moment of silence for every tragedy that happens we’d never get anything done. How about I make a donation to whatever relief fund that pops up later to help them?”
Tune’s mood wasn’t as lower as Loki feared it was, but the prospect of doing real help bolstered what effect the impending disaster had on her. “You don’t seem the type to care over much, but if you’re willing then I appreciate it.”
“Cool. Now let’s ditch the watchdog.”
Alexia peeped at Daniels who was watching the movement of people more than the mares. “To do what?”
“Have fun of course! We’ve got invisibility and you think I’m going to waste that?” She pulled her in close with a malkavian sneer. “We played your game so far of being nice and showing ourselves to the world, now it my turn.”
Alexia was moderately creeped out by the sneer, but the comment struck a nerve. “What do you mean my game? You made the cops to yell at us, you got your sub, and the massage. We’ve done everything you wanted to do so far.”
Loki nudged her playfully. “And who paid for it all?”
Alexia huffed mockingly. “Technically, I did. It was my card after all .”
“Yeah well it was my money.” She noticed Alexia wasn’t budging on the issue. “You can’t seriously tell me you don’t want to use this magic to have a little fun.”
Tune glared at the mischievous mare. “I know exactly what you’re kind of fun entails, and quite frankly I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”
“I promise to reign in it this time.” Loki pleaded with a face that could make a puppy cry. “Pleeese?”
Alexia’s glare didn’t budge. Knowing her, she’ll just run off and cause a ruckus with or without my presence. If I go with her I can hold her to that that promise of keeping it mild. She snorted unhappily. “Well this whole trip was for you. What did you have in mind?”
Loki’s tears and frown evaporated and hopped for joy. “Just follow my lead and be ready to activate your cloak.” Loki broke away and walked back over to Daniels. “We’ve had a lovely time here officer, but my counterpart and I wish to leave. Have fun now.” She waved and turned to leave when he called out.
“I have to at least escort you to your car, or however method of transportation you used to get here.”
Loki expected some resistance and turned back around. “Do we look like we could drive a car? We walked here.”
His mouth was a pressed line of barely contained irritation. “Then I should escort you as far as the fair grounds.”
“Come one officer, your sergeant said the force was undermanned, you don’t need to waste any more time on us.”
He wasn’t budging on the issue. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, but it won’t work. I am not leaving your side until you leave the fair grounds.”
She pawed the ground in amusement. “Well can’t say I didn’t try it diplomatically.” Daniels watched her closely as Loki cantered back over to her friend. “Alex.”
“Yeah?”
“Cheese it!” Loki took off at a dead run towards the other side of the street.
Tune’s fears were realized and chased after her. “Loki! What are you doing?”
Daniels cursed his luck and the mare before giving pursuit. As before, the quadrupeds proved to be naturally faster and Loki tore down a short alleyway between the store fronts and the back parking lot. Alexia saw her insane friend round a corner. After going around the same corner, Loki pulled her off her hooves and up against the wall. “Get your cloak up, hurry!”
The unicorn glanced at the bracelet on Loki’s foreleg and saw it was active. She activated her own cloak and vanished from sight right as Daniels burst from the alley. “Shit they run fast.” He scanned the parking lot, seeing no movement among the cars or shrubs lining the buildings. He pulled his radio up, dreading the fact he had to radio this in.
With their hoofsteps muffled by the gems, the two ponies snuck away to where they were out of earshot. Alexia was none too happy with Loki. “Did we really have to piss off the police? It's not like we can blend into a crowd.”
“Would you relax? I’ve got everything planned out. We have some fun, then we leave. I never actually lied to the guy.”
Your idea of fun should be considered a war crime. Without anyway to talk her friend out of her recklessness, Alexia followed after her in the vain hope she could temper Loki’s madness.