Ivan Yermolov was a bear of a man. Weighing in at over three hundred pounds of muscle wrapped in enough body hair that he needed no shirt in the frigid air swarming around Syktyvkar. That did not mean he was currently without one as he wished to be as inconspicuous as possible. He and seven other converts prowled the streets after dark.
His single partner couldn’t stop babbling about the gifts he had received from the Herald of the Koridost. “I will be rewarded with even more advancement brother. I can feel it. The gods’ eyes are upon me. You watch, I will be granted-“
“Silence Sahib!” Ivan growled testily. “The Herald desires competent acolytes, not gibbering idiots.”
Sahib stared at Ivan with a holier-than-though expression. “Says the man who hasn’t been blessed. Can you convert the unenlightened?” Ivan kept his gaze moving back and forth to locate a potential target and ignored the irritating man. Sahib perceived it as acceptance of defeat snorted scornfully. “I thought not.”
Ivan stole a glance at Sahib. The man’s face appeared normal enough, but his complexion looked as if he was suffering an acute case of rosacea. Ivan also knew the man had other changes hidden by his clothes, but they were small enough to not be noticeable. Sahib scowled when Ivan paid him no heed, but fell into silence rather than make a scene about it.
The street was lined with darkened buildings as the town’s inhabitants mostly slept the night away. Very few people were actually walking the streets with the acolytes. Those that were, looked more than ready to mug the pair of cultists; and that was exactly what they wanted. Ivan and Sahib made a subtle show of being lost, enough to look the part but in a way that made it look like they were trying to hide the fact they were visitors. As the pair walked along, Sahib noticed a few women across the intersection and nudged Ivan. “What about them? They look easy enough.”
Ivan studied the mildly drunk women with a careful eye. “We’re not at that point yet. We need more muscle before we start converting any unenlightened we come across.”
“So you would let them wallow in darkness just because it’s impractical for us?” Sahib challenged seethingly. “It is no wonder you remain out of the Herald’s good graces.”
Ivan caught sight of a gang sentry in the next alley over. Perfect. He shoved Sahib to get him to be quiet. “We have a better target over there. Now shut up and act stupid.”
Sahib tsked while grumbling under his breath. “Where does he get off thinking he’s in charge? I’m the one blessed by the Herald.” He played his part by pulling on the flaps of his ushanka and whistling a tune about alcohol and women. Ivan held onto right bicep as if it had been strained and fell a step behind Sahib.
As they passed the now seemingly empty alley, three men slid in behind the acolytes and two of them pressed pistols to Ivan and Sahib’s back. The third one in the back spoke with a serious tone as he tried to mask his discomfort for being exposed on the sidewalk. “If you two will just follow my associates here, we’d like to discuss business with you.”
Ivan slowly moved his hands to his sides, but didn’t fully raise his hands. “We want no trouble. We’ve barely got a single kopek between us.” Sahib echoed Ivan, yet had difficulty keeping his laughter under control.
The one holding Sahib at gunpoint grabbed him by his shirt and roughly pulled him out of the street and towards the alley. His fellows followed suit with Ivan. The leader of the muggers felt a sting on his neck and yelped in surprise.
The other two muggers looked to see what the problem was when the leader pulled a tranquillizer dart out. “What the…” He fell to the ground, out cold before hitting the dirt.
Sahib spun away from the distracted thug and smashed his bottle over the man’s head, making him crumple to the ground. Ivan was faster and grabbed his assailant’s gun in his massive hands and wrenched the gun free and pistol whipped the surprised mugger on the jaw. “Hurry and drag them out sight.”
The two men pulled the gang all the way in until the streetlights couldn’t reach them. Sahib cackled madly at the raw anticipation. And straddled the one dazed by Ivan and rolled up the sleeve on his right arm. A few inches above his wrist and along his underarm was an ugly looking slit that writhed with movement from within. “Yermolov. Your knife!” He demanded with his left arm outstretched expectantly.
Ivan wordlessly pulled the concealed pocketknife out and flipped it out before handing it to Sahib. As he took the knife, a woman crept into the alley and made herself known to the men. Ivan huffed approvingly. “Excellent shot Wieslawa. It worked perfectly.”
“Did you expect anything less? I will keep watch for any snoopers.” She back peddled to the entry into the ally with her dart pistol at the ready, allowing Ivan to witness Sahib cut a line below the mugger’s ribcage. The slit in Sahib’s arm dilated as a half inch thick tendril half a foot long uncoiled from within. With manic fervor, he guided his arm over the wound. The tendril dug into wound and detached from Sahib so it could slide completely into the victim’s body.
Sahib stepped away, admiring his work while Ivan stuffed a wad of fabric inside the man’s mouth and tied a gag to keep it in place. Almost immediately after his finished, the ganger’s eye shot open and he started screaming and thrashing around while Ivan used his enormous strength to keep the man pinned. The muffled screams filled the alleyway and Wieslawa was beginning to worry it would draw the attention of a police car that was slowly moving down the road.
Two minutes after it started, the infected man’s struggles ceased and he went limp. Wieslawa tiptoed over to whisper harshly. “Keep it down, a patrol car is passing by.”
Both acolytes gave signs of acknowledgement and prepared to bash the man over the head in case he started screaming again. The police passed by without incident as the group ducked behind trashcans and the criminals dragged further out of the light.
Sahib’s breathing was labored as his body pulled upon his reserves to create a new infestor. “It will take time for me to grow a second enlightener. Too long to keep them subdued as they are.”
The infected mugger shuddered violently before gasping awake. Wieslawa kept her gun trained on him while Sahib pulled him to his feet. “You awakened faster than most others.”
Ivan saw the abject terror in the man’s eyes and saw he was nowhere near ready. “Too fast. Grab him.”
“Hold!” Commanded the Herald. All three acolytes halted and the infected one flinched at hearing something oppressive in the distance, but couldn’t comprehend the words. “You have done enough my faithful, I will handle this one.” The Herald pressed on the man’s mind. As expected it was too early to dominate his mind so the Herald took an available shortcut.
Too scared to think coherently, the ganger tried to rush Wieslawa to escape into the street, but the Herald stabbed into the man’s perception of pain. The ganger’s world went dark as the pain spike overloaded his senses and he collapsed. “He is subdued, and no permanent harm was done.” The disembodied voice of the Herald announced. “Take the latest converts to a safe place until they can be made to see reason. You have all served the Koridost well.”
As one, they three quietly exclaimed their sacred mantra. “By the power of our faith, your will be done.”
The manor was much cleaner than it was a few days ago. In preparation for their departure, all three ponies packed away what they were going to carry with them, mostly food and toiletries as the absence of clothing allowed them to pack comparatively light. There was some camping equipment as well, but otherwise it was all able to fit in the oversized trunk or along the floor of the car. That which they could not pack had been placed outside in front of the garage under a tarp so a moving van could come by in a day’s time to cart it off to a storage lot to be sorted through later. The house looked almost as it had when Alexia arrived a month ago, minus the cobwebs and dust.
Yet before they were to leave that day, Alexia knew she was on the cusp of being free of the mental block keeping her from fully perusing a relationship with Conrad. As such, she wanted to make love one last time before they left. She could actually call it making love now instead of just sex. Were she not in the middle of being mounted by her stallion and relishing the waves of pleasure of participating in the act right now, she’d realize that.
Alexia’s awareness was divided. Predominately she was fully aware of the ecstasy she was experiencing from Conrad, but more importantly to her, she could barely feel the trace of loathing and disgust. Had she not wanted to fully embrace the moment, she would have mused that loathing and disgust were far too strong of a word to use anymore, but more akin to a negligible discomfort. Were it not for the lust she felt for Conrad every time he pulled on her mane at the back of her head sending sparks of electricity all over her body, she would have noticed the last bits of the wall was crumbling as large portions of it fell away as the battering ram hit it in tandem with Conrad’s thrusts.
Tune felt the moment approaching, her canal tensed and squeezed his member. With practiced control, Conrad made sure she orgasmed right before he did and she shuddered as the pressure reached its peak causing her to half moan, half scream in unadulterated ecstasy. The moment his hot seed filled her, Alexia’s scream hit a high note as the wall in her psyche came crashing down.
With the barrier gone at last, there was nothing left to stop her soul from conforming completely to her body. Her mind blanked for several seconds, completely unaware of the world around her until it all came rushing back. She managed to remain standing as she regained her wits and felt Conrad’s softening member withdraw from her nethers. What was that? She asked no one in particular. Her senses returned to normal and she felt the now familiar hollowness and afterglow of intercourse. The first thing she searched for was any feelings of doubt, hate, or disgust. “Its not there.” She laughed happily. “Its gone. Its finally gone!”
She turned around to Conrad and wrapped her forelegs around his neck nuzzling him deeply. “We did it Conny. I’m free of it.”
He yelped as she threw him off balance and they tumbled to the floor. She didn’t relent in her embrace and kept repeating her sincere gratitude as tears of joy fell into his fur. He returned her affection and pulled her in tight. “I knew you were strong enough to beat it.” He could think of nothing else to say, so he didn’t for several minutes.
"But I couldn't have done it without you." She whispered as she relished his embrace. The strength of his hug, his heady musk, and the warmth of his body heat. Most importantly of all, all of her inner searching revealed nothing in her mind rejected him anymore. No hate, no revilement, only love for the person who helped her through it all the past three weeks. Upon realizing this, she pulled her head back far enough so she could kiss him with a passion she had never felt before. She broke the minute long kiss to nuzzle him again. “I love you Conrad.”
He held her in tight and spoke with a playful snarky tone. “I know.”
She giggled at him and squeezed him as hard as she could before finally letting go. Alexia didn’t need him to say the words, all she cared about was how he treated her. She climbed to her hooves with Conrad doing the same a moment later. She gave him a second long kiss before speaking. “We should wash up before having lunch.” She was in the mood to ask her to join him, but the shower stalls were too small for two ponies to occupy. I’ll make sure Loki amends that in the construction contract.
“Right.” Being in the master bedroom again, he would have to go upstairs and almost walked past her when he noticed something on her flank. He stopped and called out to her to stop walking to the master bathroom. “What is that mark on your thighs?”
She looked at him in confusion and followed his outstretched hoof to a black symbol that looked like an upside down teardrop that was set on top of a T. Her confusion doubled as she rubbed a hoof through the fur to find it wasn’t coming off and that it was too cleanly drawn to be a dye or tattoo. “I…I have no idea.”
“Think it might be one of Loki’s pranks?” He inquired.
She curled her body to sniff it and couldn’t detect any chemicals. “Doesn’t seem like her style. Besides, I think you would have noticed it before now if it had.” She cantered over to the mirror to get a better look at it.
When she moved, Conrad noticed it was on both hind legs and pointed it out. Alexia inspected the marks closely. They dominated her flanks, reaching from her waist to near the bend in her legs. The longer she stared at them, the more she felt as if they competed her image. “Where have I seen something…” The figurative light bulb clicked on and she faced Conrad with a wild grin. “I think I know what it is!”
“A brand?” He deadpanned.
“In a sense.” She granted while summoning the tome. She held it in her magic and showed him the cover which had the relief of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark. “You remember this design right?”
He nodded. “Yes. I figured it was the princess’s coat of arms.”
“So did I. But look at this.” She flipped the book over and opened the last few pages to the bibliography where several dozen portraits of ponies were present. Many were of just the face with a small smile or a neutral expression. Others, including that of Twilight Sparkle herself, were full body pictures with their cutie marks clearly visible.
Conrad looked the photos and then back at Alexia’s flank. “Hold on a minute. They all mark themselves with their coat of arms? Some of these look rather ridiculous to be family symbols though.” He studied several pictures alongside Alexia and then back at Tune’s flank. “Do you think its some sort of overt form of self-identification?”
The unicorn hummed at the situation. “Possibly. But that wouldn’t explain how one just appeared on me.”
“Well we are magical beings now. Maybe some form of magic made it appear?” He offered.
"I don't know." Alexia kept flipping through the bibliography until one picture stood out among the rest. In it, was an earth pony researcher posing for the picture with his young son scampering at his feet. “Look at this Conny. The kid doesn’t have one.”
She moved the book so they could both look at the picture. “You’re right. Everybody else so far has been an adult and had a mark.”
Alexia came to a conclusion. “What if the cutie marks are a sign of the passage into adulthood?”
The pegasus’s wings fidgeted in contemplation, the stiffness from earlier having fully subsided. “If that were the case, then shouldn’t all three of us have gotten one by now?”
Tune kept studying her mark, searching it for answers. “Maybe there’s more to it for us since we were born human.” She turned to find he still had a blank flank.
The comment gave him an idea. “What about your mental barrier. You said its gone right?”
She hummed in the affirmative. “As far as I can tell. And if that has some correlation to how I got mine just now then that makes a sort of sense. But I thought that was just me getting over…” Her eyes lit up as a theory came to her. “Wait that must be it! I already wanted to be a pony for the rest of my life, but that wasn’t enough because I was turned into a mare instead of a stallion. This barrier was the part of me keeping myself from fully embracing my femininity.” Alexia looked at Conrad with renewed affection. “I had to have both; to truly want to remain a pony and be at peace with my marehood. I bet if I had become a stallion instead I would have already had my cutie mark a while ago.”
It was a little too much theorycrafting for his tastes. “And you think that was the catalysis for change?”
She shrugged. “It’s the only theory we have to go on. And even then each human-turned-pony could get theirs’ under different circumstances. Unless you have a theory to share.”
He shook his head. “Nothing comes to mind.” She turned back towards the mirror to study her mark.
“Do you know what this means Conny?”
He was a little peeved at the pet name she adopted for him was originally from Loki, but decided to accept it so long as it came from Tune. “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”
She snickered at his playfulness. “It means who or whatever turned us into ponies, didn’t change our minds or souls. It may have helped push it along, but this was all our doing.” She hugged him, making sure she didn’t throw his balance off this time. “You helped me become a real pony. I’ll never forget that.”
Conrad returned her embrace, but was not wholly convinced by her conclusion. If she wants to think it makes her a complete pony, who am I to argue if it makes her happy. “I happy for you, I really am. But we should hurry if we’re going to have enough time for you to set up.”
“Eep! You’re right.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips and ran to the shower. With a chuckle he went upstairs to do the same.
After cleaning herself, Alexia read from her tome as she cantered to the car where Loki was pouring a three gallon canister of gas in the tank. The earth mare’s ears flicked towards the front door at the sound of Tune’s hooves. “Got everything set to go.” The last of the fuel emptied out and she tossed the red plastic canister towards the front door missing Alexia’s head by inches. “Got the construction company ready to go and I e-signed the contract. Amazing what a few choice phone calls and a bit of blackmail can do to grease the wheels.”
She turned to face Alexia for the first time and noticed the unicorn’s book was off to the side and was standing perpendicular to her. “Did Conrad give you the coordinates?”
“He did, I just need to purchase the deed to the land and-“ She stopped short when Alexia flicked her tail to draw attention to her mark. “Nice tat.” She did a double take. “I don’t remember ordering any hair dyes. Where did you get that?” Alexia regaled her theory to her cutie mark’s appearance. Loki followed it with interest. “Are you saying we get a fancy tat if we want to stay as ponies? Minus the gender acceptance.”
Tune hummed musingly while rubbing her chin. “I’m sure it at least has to be sincere. I mean, sure I can never be anything but a unicorn thanks to my body’s need for magical sustenance; but I love what I’ve become. I feel as if this is my true self now, and the mark epitomizes that.”
A film of depression crossed Loki’s face. “Wish I could do the same.” She muttered under her breath.
Alexia didn’t hear it or see her speak as Conrad distracted her by flying down from the second floor window. “Are we all set?”
Both other ponies focused on Loki who snapped out a quick smile. “Yeah, Old Lemon Lime here is good to go.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Alexia cantered up to Loki and held a hoof in the air. “The Three Ponyteers?”
Loki’s mirth returned and held a hoof up to meet Tune’s. Both mares looked at Conrad who was clearly uninterested in joining in. “Come on Samurai, We can’t have only two Ponyteers.”
Between Loki’s mischievous smirk and Alexia’s silent pleading he crumbled and walked over and bumped his hoof to theirs. He spoke with forced enthusiasm. “Hey ho.”
“Hey Ho!” The mares cried out. Loki jumped in the driver’s seat with Alexia in the front passenger and Conrad claiming the whole back seat.
Loki revved of the car and tore down the driveway. “So oh glorious leader. What’s the plan.”
“First we’re going to the address I gave you.”
“Yeah yeah. But why some random warehouse?”
“Because it’s not always a warehouse. Tonight it’s a dance club my friend runs. You remember Qubert Smith right?”
Loki forgot about the extra weight in the car and took the turn off the driveway and into the main road a little too fast for everyone’s liking and reminded them to put their seatbelts on. “A dance club? I thought we were going off to find more ponies.”
“We are.” Alexia pulls a loose piece of paper out the tome and unfolded it to reveal her divination array. “I also promised him a magical lightshow for lying about why I needed the house. Q’s got the supplies I need ready to go. All I need to do is draw it in place and I’ll be able to find any ponies as far west as Colorado and east to Missouri.”
“Can’t you make it bigger than that?” Loki asked straight faced.
Conrad sighed. “She just said she can spot any other pony in a five state area, including Oklahoma and Nebraska too if I’m right.” A nod from Alexia confirmed his suspicions. “And you’re asking to make it bigger?”
“What I mean is we have all that printer paper I ordered and large flat grasslands on all sides of the house. Why didn’t you use that to make a really massive GPS array?
“Printer paper?” Alexia inquired. “I never saw any printer paper, only the notebook I asked for.”
“Well I ordered like eight boxes of the stuff. Where’d it all go?” Both mares looked at each other and then craned their necks to the only stallion with an unapologetic look on his face. Loki pointed an accusatory hoof at him. “You hid my boxes! Why?”
He huffed at his accuser while Alexia had the presence of mind to take the wheel from the mare who was seconds away from climbing in the back to pummel him. Tune made sure her magical grip on the wheel was going to keep them steady before glancing back between Conrad and the road. “Did you really hide her paper?”
He smacked Loki’s hoof away and growled at her. “Only because I didn’t want the house to be covered in phallic obscenity. You’re sick you know that Loki?”
The unicorn glanced at Loki. “What is he talking about?”
The earth mare was rubbing her slapped hoof while staring daggers at Conrad until Alexia’s inquiry made her flush with embarrassment. “Just a project I had in mind, nothing serious.”
Conrad grunted in victory. “I’ll say four words: papier-mâché dragon dildos.”
Loki started sweating profusely under Alexia’s hard glare and gave a weak grin to mask it. Uh oh. “I ah…I mean. Those were for me. The papier-mâché was going to be of a dog.”
“Is that right?” Conrad asked slyly. “Then why were both the paper and the dongs in the same order four times in a row?”
“Because the happy rods Alex bought when she first came here were too small and I never received them in the first place, so of course I would order them again.” Loki’s confidence in the half-truth solidified. “She can tell you. And since I don’t have a stallion of my own.” She reached back to lightly punch him on the flank, and was rewarded with one in return. She blew a raspberry at him and kept speaking. “So I wanted something big enough for me.”
Conrad wasn’t buying it. “Then what was with all the bondage toys?”
Alexia cringed at the thought while Loki brushed the comment off and resumed control of the wheel. “I just thought you two might want to spice up the bedroom.”
Alexia drug her hooves down her face in exasperation. “Loki, I could barely handle sex by itself until a week and a half ago without wanting to claw my eyes afterwards. Even though I can thoroughly enjoy making love with him now, I’d never go into that stuff.” Loki forgot about the stallion and resumed control of the car.
Conrad let the mares argue while he kept out of it. And that’s why I labeled it as such.
The bickering between Loki telling Alexia the merits of experimentation while Tune adamantly refused to experiment in that way lasted over forty minutes. Conrad tried to ignore it and preened his feathers for the first twenty minutes of the argument. The next ten minutes consisted of various acts Loki was describing that sounded far more painful than sensual and he kept biting the wrong areas and plucked two healthy feathers out. At least they’re not flight feathers.
Deciding to ignore them until the debate shifted to a better topic, he waited for the last ten minutes before finally having heard enough. He climbed forward and placed himself between the quarreling mares. “How about we listen to the radio instead of Loki’s deranged fantasies.” He clicked on the first station that came up and as back in his seat. Alexia huffed, but agreed to the idea while Loki muttered incoherently.
A gruff news caster filled the air. “-and that’s the last we’ll hear of green man incident until the court hearing tomorrow. Jake?”
A husky tenor voice replaced the first. “Thanks Jimbo. Meteorologists are concerned about the sudden upswing in air pollution. Across the globe there are cases of brown fogs that have psychotropic properties to anyone breathing in the fumes. A research team in Tibet went to a local village to study the effects in a few children who were caught in one such cloud while playing in a glade some distance from their homes. They became extremely violent and severely injured several other children and two adults before being sedated. Its children like that are why I feel justified in hitting my little brats.”
Jimbo cut back in. “Your first mistake was having a kid in the first place. And speaking of which, the war between the Redskins and the Jets is heating up as fans riot in the stands after a bad call-“
“I don’t want to listen to sports.” Loki switched the station to alternative rock. It was something the trio could listen to with various levels of tolerance so the rest of the drive passed by with little conversation.
Qubert’s warehouse club was mostly vacant save for a couple of cars. Tune pulled her phone out to give Smith a call. It rang a few times before he picked up. “Hey Q, its me Alex.”
“Glad to hear from you, are you en route?”
“We’re already here.” She answered back.
“Cool stuff, the main door’s unlocked its just me and my brother right now. I already told him what to expect.” He said anticipating Tune’s question.
Alexia was relieved at that. “Excellent, we’ll be inside momentarily.” She hung up and placed the phone in a fanny pack that she secured around her neck and tucked the tome snugly under the seat. Loki jumped out of the car and raced to the warehouse. Conrad stuck close to Alexia. Now that he was away from the refuge of the manor and back around humans, his criminal’s paranoia kicked in and shadowed Tune into the building. This was not for his own safety as so much as it was for hers, he was far too familiar with the worst humanity has to offer to let his guard down.
The unicorn perceived his proximity as simple affection and looked over at him as they closed in on the door. “I think the party will do you some good. It couldn’t have been healthy to stay cooped up in the house for as long as you have.”
He let off a lighthearted chuckle. “Clearly the tome didn’t explain the exaltation of flight. Flying in a plane is one thing, but being able to fly under your own wings…well, I got out more than you think.”
“Maybe. But not around people.” She countered with a slight frown.
“I suppose not.” Was all he would say.
The pair found Loki talking up a storm to Qubert who was doing an admiral job listening to it all while his brother Paul stood there with a hand cupped over his mouth to hide his bafflement at seeing an intelligent being other than man. Paul’s confusion expanded when the unicorn and pegasus enter his field of vision. He laid a hand on Qubert’s shoulder to grab his attention to whisper. “When you said I was in for a surprise, I didn’t think I’d be seeing a menagerie of mythological creatures.”
Loki noticed the humans’ new focus of attention and waved at them. Qubert himself was not far off from his brother’s surprised demeanor. “I thought there were only the two of you.” He said loud enough for the approaching ponies to hear.
“She wanted to tell you about me.” Conrad said for Alexia. “But I requested to be left out of it all.”
Qubert hummed approvingly. “Smart. I’d do the same in your shoes.” He turned to Alexia while clapping his brother on the shoulder. “Why don’t you all get Paul here to show you around the bar. I want to know what all of what Alex has planned for my club.”
Loki was more than happy to drag Paul away to talk his ear off while Conrad did not want to leave Alexia’s side. She caught on to his protective sentiment after taking a couple of steps with him following close behind her. With a loving smile she pecked him on the cheek. “I’ll be fine, Q’s an old friend of mine.”
A kind way of saying not to coddle her. There are only two humans here after all. Realizing he was a touch too paranoid he acquiesced. “Call for me if you need me.”
“I will.” They nuzzled briefly before she turned back around to join Qubert on the empty dance floor. Conrad took off to a low flight to bypass the tables and chairs between him and the bar over towards Loki and Paul where he would keep an eye on both mares. As much as I despise doing so; I need to keep the miscreant out of danger too. Not to mention Alex didn’t say much about Paul on the way over.
Qubert missed the short exchange between lovers as he was focused on lowering the canvas to be a few inched above his head. The large eggshell white canvas was held aloft by multiple chains on the corners and key points along the inner area with a pulley system attached to an out-of-sight heavy duty wench with a remote controlled switch. This allowed Qubert to control the height of the massive piece of fabric without fear of it coming crashing down on the patrons below. The canvas itself spanned almost the entire club, but was just short of the bar because Alexia requested it to be a square and the club grounds was too rectangular to fit a bigger one.
“Well, Paul and I spent the past three days getting this thing together. I still don’t know how this has anything to do with a light show.” He turned away from his remote control to the unicorn as she stood next to him.
“Did you get the tools I asked for?”
Smith pointed at a plastic bag sitting on the music stage. “Protractors and everything. But if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were making me a drawing instead of a lightshow.”
Alexia’s lips curled up. “Actually it’s both.”
“Well whatever you’re going to do, do it over the stage first. Got a DJ coming over in an hour to set up and it’d be better if you two didn’t interfere with each other.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” Without further ado, she levitated the bag over to her so she could rummage around the kit, bringing each tool and utensil in the air for inspection.
Qubert whistled in surprise. “Glad you gave me a warning about your telekinesis. It’s amazing seeing that sort of thing outside of a movie.”
Alexia smirked at the plan she had in mind. “Q. You haven’t seen anything yet.” Given the sheer size of the project, Tune couldn’t recreate the array without proper tools. This is way too big to let a single slip up go unnoticed. With careful study and concentration, she familiarized herself with the drafting tools and set about measuring out each point and charting the arcs that permeated the array which possessed very few straight lines. Each action was traced by a thin charcoal pencil, which was a compound that would be inert to magic.
Conrad watched her with unveiled admiration as the diagram was brought to life with meticulous precision. It was with even greater awe that an hour passed by and Loki was still sober even if the presence of a full bar as she was saving her sobriety for the party and was instead giggling hysterically to herself as she worked away the time on her computer harness. The only thing I can be assured of by that mare, is that she will act unpredictably. He noticed the Smith brothers watching the pencils and drafting tools fly around the unicorn encompassed by her azure aura. Both men were sitting on the bar stools watching Alexia practice her craft.
Conrad fluttered over from his corner of the bar to the other side to sit on the stool next to Qubert. “Mr. Smith. Do you mind if I ask you a few a questions?” The brown pegasus thought it best to keep things polite and civil until the needs to act otherwise arose.
Qubert had been distracted by the sound of Conrad’s short flight and had seen him change seats. “Only if you tell me how you can fly on such short wings.”
“The same way she’s manipulating seven items at once.” Conrad saw his opening to line his own question in with Qubert’s. “Still, she told me she was a mail carrier before all this. I find it difficult to believe she has obtained such a degree of finely controlled artistry with a power she’s had for barely a month. Was she an artist before becoming a unicorn?”
“Not that I remember.” Smith replied honestly. “We were friends out of high school, I had the money but not the grade and James had the grades but not the money for college so we stayed here. In all that time I never once saw him pick up a paintbrush or talk about art in general. I still find it difficult to fully grasp that Alexia used to be James.”
“She is not one for holding onto the past.” Conrad commented off handedly.
“James never was either. Does she still lack the ability to hold a grudge?” He asked tearing his eyes away from the unicorn.
Conrad was reminded of Loki and stole a glance at the mare in question before turning back to Smith. “That she does. Her friendship with Loki is testament to that.”
“I noticed Loki is highly energetic.” Qubert guffawed. “She’ll be a great addition to the party tonight.”
Maybe she’ll burn some of that energy off. Conrad hoped against hope.
“But one thing does seem off about her more than…well everything not human about her.” Qubert said at length. “James was not a fan of body art. So why does she have an ankh painted on her thigh?”
“An ankh?” The pegasus squinted to glimpse the mark in question, but the angle was bad and he couldn’t see it. He sank back down on his stool. “I thought it was the Venus symbol.”
Smith shook his head. “Nah, the cross is too prominent and the top is a reverse water droplet instead of a circle.”
Conrad felt no reason to explain Alexia’s theory when all it was, was just a theory. “All I know is, she’s taken a liking to it.”
The topic wasn’t enough to keep Smith’s interest. “Well, I’m sure having one’s species and gender switched would have some other less obvious side effects.” Qubert’s phone buzzed. “Yello?” He listened to the speaker. “You’re late.” “Yeah you better be able to do it quick, or I’m cutting your pay for every minute you’re not ready. The doors open in two hours.”
Paul snapped from his vigil over Alexia’s drafting to speak to his brother. “Where is he?”
“In the parking lot now. We should get out there to help expedite the equipment transfer and set up.” The brothers left the ponies to their devices and briskly walked outside. The Smith brothers facilitated quick introductions which were made easier thanks to the locals of Salina still remembering the mares’ introduction at the science fair. The last two hours were almost gone by the time Alexia was done with fifteen minutes to spare before the doors opened. Paul noted that there was already a decent sized crowd was gathering outside.
Tune had spent the last ten minutes double checking her notes, the tome, and her work to make sure every angle and line was perfect. Glad I charged up ten reservoir crystals. Even though this is one of the low mana costing arrays, powering one of this magnitude for a few hours would kill me two times over. If my body didn’t shut the magic flow automatically before that happened anyway. Assuming my calculations are correct, I can sit at around sixty five percent internal reserves while allowing my naturally higher regeneration at that point to lessen the drain on the crystals. It’ll eat up eight of them, but that’s why I made so many. I’m glad the other modifications I made to the array only bump the cost up by ten percent.
Qubert saw Alexia putting her equipment away and ran over from the sound stage. “We’ve got five minutes until I open the doors. How’s your drawing coming?”
“This is more than just a drawing Q.” Alexia answered without modesty. “This will dazzle everyone. You’ll see.” She levitated the bag under the stage so it was out of the way. She whistled loudly and waved at Conrad to bring him over, as he did so she spoke to Smith. “The only thing I need from you is to tell me when you want to crank the lights on. Just so we’re clear, this won’t start slow and build up, it’ll jump out as soon as I activate it.”
“Fair enough. Do you have your phone still?”
Her horn lit up and the item was removed from her fanny pack. “Right here. I’m going to freshen up before we get started, I won’t be able to leave the array or it’ll shutdown.”
“A manually operated light show? Ouch man, the party’s going to last past one AM. You sure you can hang in there that long?”
“I have a lot of reserve magic on hand. I’ll be fine.” She replied reassuringly.
He decided to take her word for it as he had no way of knowing otherwise. “Well look, its almost nine o’clock. I can have the stage lights the DJ set up take over every so often to give you a break and I’ll call you a minute before each one. I don’t know how your magic works, but I know anyone can get tired from working four hours non-stop.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I’m glad he doesn’t let my new body get in the way of our friendship. “I’ll see you soon.”
She trotted over to the restrooms and then to the bar for a few bottles of water and a big plate of onion rings to keep with her. Conrad joined her as they walked to the edge of the canvas as it was being hoisted to the proper elevation. “You know to ask me for anything you might need right?”
She snickered at his overprotectiveness. “You know you’ll be right there with me for the first few minutes or so as I get settled in. I have a feeling you’d rather stay by my side the whole time rather than go enjoy yourself.”
They reached the edge and Conrad took to the air while Alexia reared up on her back hooves to grab onto his forelegs and was pulled up so she could wrap all four limbs around his barrel so he could fly her up to the center of the topside of the canvas. The short flight was difficult as he had never flown with any additional weight before. “You said it yourself back at the manor.” He muttered under the strain. “Using an array this large is risky.”
“Everything we do in life is risky to some extent Conrad.” She replied while gentle prodding his shoulder with a hoof. “Besides, its not some magic vacuum that can suck me dry. Even if I wanted to, I can’t expend my magic below twenty percent before my horn shuts down.” If I told him how I found that out I’d never hear the end of it. It does make me wonder why Twilight went out of her way to warn about death in that case if the body shuts down any ability to cast when that low.
Conrad’s concerns were not fully abated. “Maybe not, but did the tome say what health issues might crop up from going that low?”
They reached the center of the array which was supported by four iron platforms with a wide center attached directly to the canvas so her magic could interact with the array below it. She let her back hooves down first to find the surface before letting go to drop on all fours. As soon as she touched down, she interspaced her water and food while also pulling out the ten irregularly shaped crystals out the fanny pack. They were not the same as the well cut topaz that adorned her bracelet, but looked like various raw quartz that radiated a rich azure from her stored magic.
“Not in any great detail other than the warning of death from going to zero percent. The author made a reference to a medical book for more information. Unfortunately I don’t have access to Equestia’s libraries.”
Conrad found a suitable space on the platform to touch down. “You know as well as I do that you don’t go from feeling perfectly fine to dropping dead on the spot.”
“Which is how I’ll know when to stop if it comes to that.” She couldn’t find it in herself to be angry at his protectiveness, so she tried derailing the conversation. “At any rate, I’ll need you to stick around in the beginning to write down all the locations I detect any ponies, but after that I want you to have fun down there. After keeping yourself from murdering Loki all this time, you more than deserve it.” She saw the stubborn look in his eyes. “We need to be comfortable around humans, and you staying up here with me won’t fix that.”
He found himself being reminded of his earlier introspective to let her be. “Alright, you win.”
The call came in and Alexia levitated to her ear. “That you Q?”
“Yup. Music starts in one and the doors are open. Crowd’s bigger than I thought it would be.”
“Did you tell them they were getting a magic show?”
He chuckled while adopting a nonchalant tone. “Not directly, only that I had a fancy light show and surprise guests coming over. Hope you don’t let me down.”
Tune tested the array with her magic. The faint pulse of mana along the lines and contours of the array signaled back it would work as intended. “Don’t worry about my end. I’ve got you covered.”
“I’ll leave you to it then. Start it up ten seconds after the music starts.”
“Roger roger.” She levitated a few pieces of paper and a pen out of her fanny pack and levitated it over to Conrad. Stepping over to the center of the platform and assuming a wide stance, Alexia gathered her mana as the DJ gave his introductions to the early patrons. Tune levitated the reservoir crystals and linked them into the spell weaving causing them to go ridged for a split second before shooting out into a one meter circle around her interspaced evenly between them. Conrad had to jump into the air to keep from getting hit by them due to the small size of the platform. With her focusing on keeping her mana usage at a minimum, she didn’t notice the near accident. Conrad made no mention of it as he accepted it as par for the course that whenever she started heavy magic use, she quickly became oblivious to the world around her.
The music started heavy right off the bat and Alexia started counting down and at the very early high point in the song she pushed her magic through the array. Starting from the center and moving around every contour of the massive pattern, a ring of brilliant red light came into being at the same time the lights cut out from the rest of the club. As soon as half of the array was illuminated, the center sent out a wave of green, then purple and continually alternated between random colors and shades. As time went on and Tune started tapping into the crystals, the waves of color would change to pulses while the primary color of the array reset to red.
For the moment however, Alexia’s sight shifted to what felt like low orbit over the Earth. The five states that appeared to her were mostly dark green with motes of white light noting the location of the sporadic cities. The outer limits of her vision were completely black as if the world only consisted of the five state area. Tune was expecting to see only one or two red lights or none at all. So it was not a surprise to find only one red dot towards the very leading edge of her vision. The dot’s very diluted looking, but is very bright. Definitely a good starting point.
After scanning to make sure there were no other signals in the area, she felt a pang of loneliness. Only one other pony in all this space. I hope they haven’t been suffering the same fate Conrad almost did. A stray thought lifted her spirits. Well the Midwest is far less populated than other parts of the world, maybe there’s a bunch more out there, but I don’t have the range to see them.
Alexia told Conrad everything about the red dot’s location and he used his less than subpar mouth writing jot it all down. He would make it a point to tell Loki about it so it could be transcribed into her computer for legibility. He flew over to be in front of Tune yet high enough to avoid getting hit by the orbiting crystals. “I’ll go down to have Loki get the coordinates so we can head there in the morning.”
“If you can pry her from the party anyway.” Alexia replied with some strain in her voice. She had been channeling the spell for ten minutes and was already feeling the need to tap into her reserve crystals.
“Shouldn’t be that hard.” He wanted to stay and give her support, but he knew it would only distract or cause her to argue with him to have fun while he could. “I’ll come back up when he calls a break for you.”
“Thanks. Now get going, and try to mingle.” She asked him pleadingly. “You need this far more than Loki or I do.” He tucked the paper in the crook of his left foreleg and nodded before wordlessly leaving.
As straining as it was to maintain the spell, Tune experienced a different sort of excitement from channeling so much power. Between acting like a focal point for the reservoirs and the array, the flow of so much magic felt empowering. Every so often she laughed at how incredible it all was. "Who or whatever did this to me. I thank you."