It has been almost three weeks since Thompson’s training regiment started for Alexia’s posse. While Michael was initially hesitant to join them, it only took some careful persuasion on Tune’s part on account that they could bring their existence more fully into the public eye to get the apprehensive mare to join in.
Aside from the two earth ponies, the Director was not quite sure on how to round out Conrad or Alexia’s training. While pilots could be trained for aircraft, it was another thing entirely to train a pegasus to increase his speed and maneuverability without precedence or better knowledge of what his tribe’s capabilities were. As for Tune, he left improving her magic entirely up to her and the princess. He was also aware that Alexia would never be as physically capable as the other three, but that didn’t stop him from trying to improve her physical endurance along with giving her time to improve her magical abilities.
Most training was held at a somewhat removed stretch of land, four miles north of The Ranch. The grasslands had shallow hills that rolled across the landscape as if they were waves upon a lake that had taken the form of earth and soil. It was the Director’s choice to place it that close so Alexia’s group could return home every night, instead of being separated from the community that had grown to adore the silver unicorn. However certain individuals at The Ranch were becoming increasingly alarmed with Tune’s influence.
Colonel Bowler along with representatives of the CIA, FBI, and Director Thompson were in the central conference room discussing how they should deal with her. The room was structured the same as last time, a curved table with a projector set against the far wall. Bowler opened the topic with a picture of the mare in question. He found a picture of her with a neutral expression instead of anger or pleasant so it would not seem he was trying to skew the audience’s take on her.
“I have a problem on my hands: Subject Uniform two thirty seven.”
The CIA arched an eyebrow. “You called us here because you can’t handle a single pony?”
Bowler refused to be baited. “Allow me to explain the issue. Before Uniform’s arrival a month ago, the detainees were laughably easy to keep controlled. Lethargic, low but stable morale, and overall content to sit there and await whatever fate we planned for them. Even the exmilitary ponies were mostly passive. Including your old superior.” He directed the last bit of his statement to the CIA before clicking the slide over to the breaking ground ceremony of the farm and rec centers. “Fast forward two weeks after Uniform’s arrival, just over a thousand of the detainees busied themselves in building the two projects in a speed that would make a contractor fear for his job. Many on the farm didn’t have tools and improvised more from the camp.”
“Even with Uniform and her clique away on one of The Director’s little training sessions.” Bowler said derisively at Thompson. “The ponies left behind are starting to show initiative.” He changed slides to a black pegasus with a red mane. “First Sergeant Vanders seems to have taken it upon himself to be the stand in for Uniform when she is away. But he always defers to her without question when she’s present.” The side flipped again to a bar graph. “As of yesterday’s opinion poll that was distributed around camp by one of the ponies still loyal to the military, Uniform has nearly two thousand of them looking upon her as leader. They’re also starting to become noisy about wanting to be free of The Ranch.” Almost a third of them have developed those strange brands on their flanks as well, but these two won’t care about that.
The FBI representative wore a mask of concern. “What did you mean by still loyal to the military? There are over two hundred servicemen or former federal agents are there not?”
Bowler nodded as he brought up the exact figure on a smartpad. “Two hundred and twelve to be precise. Only twenty one are still giving me accurate reports while over a hundred refused to follow orders and were stripped of their rank. If they didn’t resign first.”
The FBI’s unease worsened. “Resign?”
“When brought in for inquiry, many threatened to resign their commission. Those that didn’t were not pressured and were released before they went that far to resist.”
The CIA grumbled. “I told the committee making the ponies’ service contracts voidable upon request was a horrible idea.”
The FBI concurred. “The DoD was unwilling to give us the power to void it without consent unless we allowed the pony the power to do so well.” He turned to the Colonel. “So let me guess. They were asked to act in what they thought was against Uniform.”
The commander gave a curt nod. “I’ve tried to find the cause of this shift in loyalties. Uniform expounds on the desire for her kind to be acknowledged publically and a restoration of liberties; but outside of that she has made no declarations against the State. As such, I can’t get any rumors of treason or anarchy to gain any ground. Nor has any outright attacks on her character found any success.”
“Is she using magic to control them?” CIA asked.
“That I can’t tell for sure.” Bowler replied at length, hating his lack of information. “For a time, I did manage to get one of my loyal unicorns to join Uniform’s magic instruction session she held three days ago. The individual had thus far been avoiding the unicorn out of that same fear you just voiced. As far as the following report went, unicorns only possess active magic. Outside of the charismatic aura every pony has.”
“Perhaps Uniform learned mass control magic from Twilight. You did say in your report on her that the winged unicorn is considered a leader among the native pony civilization. Perhaps that culture uses subtle magic to subdue the masses into willingly obeying the leaders.”
“A perfect dictatorship.” Bowler replied. “That’s the angle I was leaning towards myself until I received this two weeks ago.” The projector showed a short clip of a brawl caused by a small group of ponies attempting to attack Tune during a conversation at the mess hall. Almost the entirety of the crowd came to her defense and she yelled for them to stop. Many of her supporters did, but the instigators were not listening. Tune’s horn flared as she yelled for them to stop, which ended the brawl almost instantly.
The CIA was displeased. “So there it is. Mind control.”
Bowler nodded, but did not wear a mask of triumph. “I was hoping that display would ruin her popularity. Instead she publically apologized for it and fully acknowledged what she did and swore to not repeat it. Her response was not what concerns me, what does is that her horn was active.” The azure glow in the clip was clearly visible.
The FBI caught on. “So you’re saying that this is concrete proof that her control magic is active only?”
“That’s what the evidence tells us. Even then, those affected by her word of command in the mess hall felt the compulsion to obey for only a few seconds. Had the surprise of it not kept them from resuming, they would have. Which means her forced control over them is extremely shorted lived. Whatever the source of her popularity is. Its not magic.”
“Could it be rooted in the ponies’ collective psychic?” The CIA questioned. “Maybe they instinctually select a leader and follow him.
“Possibly.” Bowler replied. “But that wouldn’t explain why they waited so long and then almost jumped on her barely a day after she arrived.”
“What about her influence on your human assets?” The FBI asked.
“Minimal.” He stated with certainty. “I’ve had those who have regular interaction with the ponies under close scrutiny. None of them have shown anything more than expected sympathy, but are still loyal to me. As a precaution though, I’ll be rotating them out within a few days.”
“Is all of this really serving the United States’ best interests?” Said a lone voice with an undercurrent of controlled hostility to it.
As one, the three talkative men turned to Thompson who had been silent all this time. “Care to enlighten us son?” The elderly CIA man demanded of his subordinate.
“A country thrives on having willing participants serving its needs. All of you here swore an oath to defend and protect this great country did you not?”
“Of course we did.” FBI replied tersely. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that we are squandering the best resource The States possesses: loyal citizens.” He leaned forward in his chair to stress his argument. “What was our original purpose in gathering the equines here? To protect the population from the perceived threat of the charismatic aura. As you have just attested to Colonel, this aura is not some omnipotent force. Your men are not gaining sympathy from magic inducement, but from seeing these beings being treated like test subjects and second class citizens.”
He continued before Bowler could rebuke him. “Colonel, you’ve been losing the loyalty of the former servicemen not because of Uniform’s influence, but because we are betraying them with this kind of treatment. Uniform doesn’t control the ponies. She’s very charismatic with them yes, I fully support that opinion, but she is not making them dissidents against the government. We’re doing that to ourselves.”
Bowler simply clasped his hands and gave a mirthless smile. “Director, your job is to utilize Uniform and her companions to protect the Union. Not dictate policy.”
Thompson became insistent. “Colonel, I have four equines under my command. Only four.” He stressed to drive it home. “If we released them back into society I can promise you that a lot more than four would serve our country in the same capacity that Uniform does. There’s a damn good reason a volunteer military is as powerful as it is.”
“And just how should we do that son?” The CIA replied, showing Thompson has his attention.
The Director took a breath to prepare himself for the expected backlash. “We issue a public statement and apology. Stating our reasons for containing them the way we did and give restitution to the ponies. We should offer to reinstate those who resigned while under the Colonel’s care.”
Bowler forced his anger behind a mask of dismissiveness. “I think you’ve become too attached to your assets. They are tools Director. You should remind yourself of that.”
Thompson hated that analogy, but he could still work with it. “Tell me Colonel.” He said slowly. “Do you take a filthy rifle into combat? Or use an aircraft that hasn’t been maintained?”
Bowler scowled. “Of course not. What of it?”
“Since you’re to intent on thinking of these ponies as tools then you should treat them as such. Not like a hammer or screwdriver you find in just about anybody’s garage; but as an engineer would treat his equipment. He oils them, calibrates them, and cleans them. He makes sure every single tool is so well cared for and maintained that they will never fail him. A rifle and aircraft are the same way. So are people. The only difference is how you maintain them. In case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you. They were all human once as well as American citizens. They aren’t some animals that were just recently granted sapience or aliens brought in from the pony homeworld. They know what freedoms they used to have and now they want them back.”
He glanced at the FBI and CIA. “The ball is in our court gentlemen. We can either give them this simple thing that they want and be rewarded by their continued loyalty and service.” He had the momentum he wanted and wanted to drill this into the two representatives. “Or. We can continue to try and contain them until they either forcibly escape or die in the process. Either way we all lose.”
The CIA mulled over it. “A difficult proposition. What you suggest may actually be better in the long run. I know for a fact we are not the only country with ponies. It’s only a matter of time before they start killing or releasing them. If we do it before anyone else, we could play the good guys here and may even draw refugees from other countries. Say we kept them long enough to make sure they were not a threat to the general public before releasing them.”
The FBI was on the fence. “I still don’t like the unicorns’ active magic. Levitation alone would make theft trivial. The public will demand sanctions. Not to mention invisibility and Uniform’s short range teleportation.”
Bowler used that as jumping point. “I agree. Overall, the unicorns are simply too dangerous to be released. Although I have no doubt freeing the other races and not the third will generate backlash as well. We need to keep the whole population under control.”
Thompson tried to think of a solution. “Maybe Uniform can help with that.”
Bowler suppressed a snarl. “How so?”
“As you all know, she’s in regular contact with the leader of her kind’s original civilization correct? In the face of being freed from The Ranch, I’m sure Uniform would be more than willing to ask Twilight how magic is governed in their society and at the very least give us technology that could disrupt magic so we can still protect sensitive areas.”
The FBI liked that idea instantly and a greedy sneer crossed his face. “Yes… People and companies the world over will want antimagic security. If it can be mass produced, we could corner the market on it. Additionally, we can avoid any political flak from magic used against public interests by saying we had a solution ready for sale, but they refused to buy.”
The CIA was more cautious. “We should wait until we test these antimagic technologies, if they exist, before we release them however. Make sure a working mass producible prototype is ready to ship before then.”
Bowler was furious, but in the end an obedient man. “How do you want me to act from here on then?” He said with barely contained rage.
Thompson remained silent, his work done. The FBI leaned into the CIA’s ear to discuss matters briefly before he addressed the Colonel. “This still needs executive approval before all else. Do nothing outside of the norm.”
The CIA’s tone grew terse. “And do nothing to antagonize the equines. Keep them limited to the base, but give them something minor to bide time for approval. A simple liberty that they've asked for.” He turned to Thompson who was doing an admirable job in hiding his victory smirk. “I want you to have Uniform find this method of magic control. You may tell her, that her kind’s future depends on it. If anything will get her motivated, that will do it.”
“As you wish.” He replied respectfully.
The CIA wasn’t done with him yet. “However, given her talents. Make sure she knows that even if we do get presidential approval for release and if we get the antimagic; she must serve for at least four years. I want her on the frontlines of keeping foreign nationals from using that power against us until we get the antimagic infrastructure in place.”
Thompson nodded. “Given her options, I have no doubt she’ll agree to those terms.”
The FBI cut in. “But this must remain secret from the rest of the ponies. If the president declines the reversal of order twelve oh twelve, then we will uphold his decision.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” The CIA checked his phone. I have to leave now anyway so I can join that meeting on finding out the source of these damnable psychoactive clouds landing all over the place. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I must be going.”
The FBI stood as well. “And I as well.” He nodded to the Colonel and then to Thompson. “Colonel. Director. Until next time.”
Bowler didn’t like it one bit. He waited for Thompson leave as well and brooded in his chair. Those things have no place in society. If I can’t do anything to them here, then I’ll make sure the press will tear them apart. He glanced at Alexia on the paused clip. Still…if this does go through, the vermin will scatter and it’ll remove Uniform’s support base. After that all she needs is a little…accident during an op.
Alexia was in a large field, barely a mile from the north fence of The Ranch. She was badly winded from the long run she had just finished. Ten miles was way too far for the unicorn to ever run for recreation. The green and yellow earth mares had settled into a friendly rivalry. Anderson found her newfound speed and endurance intoxicating and wanted to prove herself superior to Loki. The hacker was more than content to let the new mare dream the impossible dream.
Conrad was just warming up his wings after the long distance run on the ground and settled down next to Alexia who was resting on her belly in the wild grass. “How are you holding up?”
“Well enough.” She said between breaths. “I don’t think unicorns are built to run this much.” She had a belt wrapped around her barrel and she pulled a water bottle off and took several gulps. “How about you?”
Conrad turned to the side and showed one of the two reservoir crystals she helped him make was completely drained and dull. “I’d be hurting bad were it not for these. I have to work out both legs and wings. Its not so bad though, out here I’m allowed to fly as far and as high as I want.” He didn’t need to say because Thompson knew he would always return for Alexia.
“Where is our shepherd by the way?”
“No idea. His goons are overseeing the earth pair’s physical training right now. Truth be told, I think he knows how to work with them a lot better than us.”
Tune put the drink back as Conrad gave a reply. “Can’t really fault him for that. At least he gave us the operational freedom to improve our flight and magic on our own.”
“Speaking of which.” Alexia commented as she summoned the tome. “Did you get some use out of those guidelines Sensei gave me for you?”
“I did actually.” She smirked at him as she opened the book to the Guard page. He noticed her coy grin and walked over to the book. “What’s so funny?”
“Did you notice anything strange about the text I wrote out?”
His brow furrowed in confusion. “No. Should I have?”
“I wrote it in Equish.”
“You…did?” He remembered the pages she had written out were in English. However, he also remembered something about her telling him the illusion comprehension spell.
“You’ve been reading my book when I’m out of the house right? According to Twi, any pony who reads that book learns Equish within nine days.” She walked over and nuzzled his cheek so her mouth was next to his ear. She whispered to him with barely contained mirth. “In fact, I’ve been speaking Equish to you this whole time.”
The moment the realization hit him, the illusion was shattered and he replied in Equish. “How come it sounds like you're spea-“ He heard the words coming out of his mouth and they were definitely not English. He forcibly kept his words in his native language. “That is a very strange way to learn a language.”
She kept speaking in Equish however. “I like how it sounds. Melodious, yet not annoyingly so. Sort of whimsical.”
“Well if you prefer it, then we could hold all of our conversations in it if you wish.” He liked the idea of knowing a language that no one else on Earth would know.
“I would actually.” She replied with a smile and light kiss. “But I’d like to think of it as a benefit for the person I wanted you to meet.” She glanced at the page and saw the purple dot was lit. Perfect, she was able to get away like she said. Tune placed her left hoof on the page. “Unlock.”
Conrad took a step back and let the scanning light pass over Alexia. It remained green and within a few seconds, Princess Twilight Sparkle materialized. Alexia bowed her head and Conrad felt the impulse to do the same. Twilight was overjoyed to see her. “Alex! How have you been?”
“As well as I can hope for Sensei.” The unicorn had told Sparkle everything about the mission in Louisiana and about her current situation with Thompson. “I’m still breathing.”
Twilight’s mirth lowered a little. “If only that wasn’t all it took to be considered a good day for you. But I am glad to see you alive and well.” He eyes drifted to Conrad. “Is this the stallion that stole your heart?”
Tune grinned and wrapped a foreleg around him in a sidelong hug. “That he is. I wanted to introduce him to you now that he understands our language.” She let go to stand off to the side and in between the stallion and hologram. “Conrad, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.” She reversed the greeting for Sparkle.
The alicorn was happy to see the obvious adoration they shared. “Pleased to meet you Conrad, I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Only good things I hope. Its not every day I meet royalty.” He was growing to enjoy having a conversation in Equish.
Twilight tittered politely. “I doubt she could ever say a word against you.” She cast a knowing glace to Alexia who blushed through her fur. Twilight noticed his blank flank, but concealed it to speak with Alexis about later. “Did my tips help you? I know firsthoof how difficult it can be to learn how to fly with the sudden addition of wings.”
“They did, thank you.”
“Always happy to help.” Sparkle replied honestly.
A buzzer on Conrad’s belt elicited a groan of irritation. “That’ll be Moore wanting me to start my aerial exercises. Sorry Princess, but I have to go.”
“I understand Conrad. I wish you luck.” The brown pegasus took to the air and flew off to the east. Alexia walked over to be adjacent to Twilight with a despondent look on her face. She noticed her student’s expression. She decided to try and brighten her up before the lesson got started. “He’s a great pony.”
“He is.” Tune replied with mild sorrow. “I wanted to propose to him with you present.”
The purple alicorn was not nearly as shocked as she thought she would have been. The only thing that ever breaks her out of improving her magic is his name. “Well I know he’ll say yes. If even half of what you say about him is true, I highly doubt he’d turn you down.”
“Yeah.” The unicorn replied with a deep sigh. “I know its really fast. But with me going into combat again with nothing but my wits and horn, I don’t know if I’ll live through the next time. I wanted to cement our relationship before that happens.”
With all that Twilight had heard about Conrad and the short introduction they had, she could tell he was an honorable pony. “Hopefully that will never happen.”
Alexia’s smile strengthened. “That wasn’t the only reason I wanted to propose in front you.” Twilight gave an inquisitive hum. “I want a pony style wedding. And I was hoping you would be the one to unite us.”
Sparkle cracked a massive grin. “It would be an honor, my faraway student.”
“Your honor?” She replied with a playful smile. “I would be wed by my mentor and a leader of my people. The honor is all mine.”
Sparkle laughed lightly. “Ah, but I get to preside over the wedding of ponies from a different world. Not even Celestia or Luna could boast that.”
“I’ll need to actually pop the question soon though. But there’s a different issue that’s been bothering me. What is the gender ratio in Equestria? I only ask because over here, its three to one favoring mares.”
Twilight shrugged. “That’s how it is for us too.”
“Oh…” It wasn’t what Alexia was fully expecting. “Well, with humans their ratio is split down the middle between men and women. With some slight various due to chance, but that’s a technicality. At any rate, most civilizations support monogamous relationships. So if Equestria has three to one, how do the other mares handle it?”
Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Well…I read about it more than actual experience, but I can tell you this much. The vast majority of equestrians don’t restrict themselves to monogamy. As a species and later ingrained into our society, its simply not desirable nor tenable. See, when two partners cement their love through marriage, its not a declaration that they are forever closed to others. In fact the opposite is true and the ceremony announces that the couple is ready to form a herd.”
“I thought herds were formed between friends because of our mentality.”
Sparkle shook her head. “I can see were you might get that confused. But that’s just a circle of friends and romantic love is not a prerequisite. The term ‘herd’ is reserved for a group of romantically involved ponies numbering three or more. Typically four, but I’ve never heard of one being more than five.”
“I’m guessing its three mares to one stallion.” Twilight nodded. “How do they deal with jealousy though? Most humans won’t stand for their partner having relations like that with another.”
The alicorn scratched her head at the unfamiliar subject outside of books. “Its complicated to explain. I’ve had dignitaries from the Griffin Empire and a few other others who question that.” She took a breath to recall Celestia teaching her how to explain it to non-equestrians. “See. Herd partners do get emotionally hurt from infidelity as I’m guessing you might expect. But when its between ponies who all consent to be a part of the same herd, jealousy never crosses our minds.” She anticipated the unicorn’s question. “There are always exceptions to the rule, and not everypony is happy outside of monogamy, but that is quite rare.”
“But for most ponies, prolonged monogamy is frowned upon as a form of selfishness. The one socially accepted exception to that is among royalty and high noble families. Mostly because marriage takes on a highly political role with them than it does for the common pony.”
“I see.” Alexia said at length. “Is that a culture thing or is it instinctual?”
She was moving into more familiar ground with the alicorn. “Well you should know that most of the oldest customs have a basis as to what feels right on an instinctual level. As populations expand and deviants from that norm arise, laws and customs are put in place to keep everypony in line with what instinctually feels right to the majority. That’s how a great many customs based on behavior patterns emerge.” Sparkle eyed her student more closely. “Even so, you may want to discuss this at length with your partner before attempting it. If you ever decide to go that route. I won’t hold it against you if you stay with him alone. It is your native culture after all.”
“I want to try it anyway.” Alexia replied almost instantly. She fully faced her instructor to impress her seriousness. “When I told you my true self is that of a pony, I meant it. I’m not willing to risk damaging our relationship over it; but I would like to try and ease him into the idea, because you’re right. Half of our population shouldn’t be cut off from finding love just because there are so few stallions.” I’m just not sure if I’m even ready to go anywhere near it. But if everypony and their brother seem to think of me as a leader, then its up to me to set a precedence.
Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little pride in her student. “I think that is a good idea, but please remember that it’s a joint venture.”
Tune cut off her inner musings. “I will Twi. Conrad is my other half now. But who knows, maybe he’d be willing to have two more halves…as for who I’m not so sure if they’d want to.”
Alexia’s phone buzzed and she groaned slightly at seeing who it was. “Director Thompson. To what do I owe the pleasure.”
Twilight was still fascinated by that small device in Tune’s magic. That would have made writing letters to the princess a lot easier on Spike. The purple mare was confused to see a mix of excitement and full blown jubilation on the silver unicorn’s face.
“If this is some kind of sick joke, so help me…” Thompson’s voice was muffled so Twilight couldn’t hear. “I…I don’t know what to say. Yes. Yes of course, I’m sure she knows of some. I’ll get right on it.”
Sparkle gave her student a quizzical look as she hung up. “What was that about?”
Alexia had a grin that threatened to cleave her face in two. “He just gave me a deal to give every last pony our freedom from the camp.”
The alicorn was taken aback. “I didn’t think they’d ever do that willingly.”
“Nor did I. But they want something from you in exchange.”
“Me?” Twilight grew suspicious. “What is it?”
“The condition is this. Thompson’s masters are going to try to get presidential approval to release us as a big PR stunt. However they still have reservations about unicorn magic so they wanted some way to block or dampen magic so they can protect sensitive information and equipment.”
Sparkle knew it was a legitimate concern. “Crime isn’t that big of a concern here, but there are always those who will break the law. However by the way they’ve treated you thus far I’m not willing to give them serious power over you.”
Color drained from Tune's face. “But this is a golden opportunity. If we give them something that works then they’re bound to really consider letting us go!”
Twilight held up a restraining hoof. “You misunderstand me Alex. I can give them something they can use, but I don’t want them using it against you personally. I will select the ward I have in mind and set it aside in your edition of the Guard archives, but I will also add a cantrap that you can cast to protect yourself from its effects.”
“So I should keep the cantrap to myself then?”
Twilight nodded sadly. “From what I’ve seen and heard, your government is not above breaking its own laws to get what it wants. That may be a universal theme among your planet, but it is still repulsive to think about.” Sparkle’s gaze became unfocused as the real alicorn searched her library for the appropriate book. “Besides, Thompson didn’t ask for you to not have a counterspell to it right?”
A conspiratory smirk crossed Tune’s face. “No. He didn’t.”
Jackson stood in a stable firing position with a nine millimeter HK45 pistol firmly in his grip. Ten meters downrange was a silver unicorn surrounded by an azure shield. He stood behind a ballistic glass barrier that would protect him from ricochets. Surrounding Tune was a similar layer of glass that fully protected her from his direction of fire. This version of the specialized kinetic shield spell was able to pass between her and the glass thanks to the side effect of the spell not being blocked by transparent solids, such as glass or types of plastic. The latter being something Tune discovered on her own. It only took a minor alteration to the spell’s parameters to make it flush against glass or transparent plastic if needed.
Jackson clicked his wrist radio twice to give a loud audible warning that he was about to fire. Alexia responded by sending a pulse of energy through the shield that manifested as a ring of brighter azure that ran the length of the barrier. The brown pegasus and holographic princess off to the far side watched with concern and curiosity in equal parts.
Jackson fired one round dead center of the barrier. The shield flickered and cracks radiated from the impact point, but held and solidified a moment later. Jackson yelled a warning. “Two rounds.” The gun reported twice. The first bullet cracked it and the second one shattered the barrier completely. Twilight’s personal adaptation to the spell kept the magical feedback caused by the shattering from damaging Tune’s brain, as it was instead rerouted to her skin. In essence, it diluted the unavoidable feedback into a full body ache rather than a debilitating hornache.
Jackson immediately clicked the safety and holstered the firearm. “Clear!”
Conrad flew over to check on her. “Are you unharmed?”
“Just some aches.” She winced at the agony as it dispersed. “I don’t think the spell is going to do very well in combat.”
The holographic alicorn was stunned by the results. She was limited to a short range from the tome and beckoned the unicorn to speak with her. Jackson was wary of the hologram, but some assurances from Tune kept him from worrying over much.
The agony of the shattered shield faded by the time Alexia and Conrad got within earshot of Sparkle. “I can hardly believe it!” The lavender mare announced. “That spell was designed specifically to counter missile attacks.”
“By missiles you mean arrows right?” Conrad inquired with a bit of curiosity.
“Well aside from catapults there are no non-magic based projectiles on our world. At least that which is fired by weapons anyway.” She turned to Alexia. “For a beginner in abjuration that was a well-crafted Reactive Barrier. But those bullets move by far too fast for it function properly.”
Conrad was intrigued. “Just how does it work normally?”
Twilight looked to her pupil to give the answer and Alexia was glad to give it. “The Reactive Barrier works two fold. The first is a sort of sensor net for the spell that detects on coming projectiles. The second part of the spell reacts automatically to intrusions in the net and solidifies the kinetic barrier to the exact points needed to stop it. This has the benefit of focusing the caster’s ability to repulse the attack to a single point rather than dilute it across the entire barrier. The sensors work completely independently from the caster.”
The alicorn nodded. “Well done. So why did it fail?”
Tune knew the answer immediately. “The bullets are too small and too fast for the net to detect in time. The barrier can’t react quickly enough and becomes grossly inefficient in blocking more than one shot at a time.”
“You’ve gotten a lot better at reading spellcraft in real time. I’m impressed.”
Alexia gave a weak smile. “A shame I have to learn this kind of magic.”
Sparkle sighed in sympathy. “Its not the equestrian way to make war, but we have had to defend ourselves on numerous occasions throughout both recent and ancient history. I will see about finding a shield spell that can work for this type of weapon, however I think this would be an opportune time to test your lateral thinking.”
The silver mare always got excited when Twilight would lead into giving a test. “What do you have in mind?”
The princess mulled over it. “You already possess a grasp on a variety of different applications of magic, and you have the benefit of having the mind of someone outside of equestrian methods of thinking so you’re not rooted in old mentalities. No one spell you’ve learned thus far can defeat such a weapon, but I suspect you’re clever enough to figure out a way on your own. This once, I will withhold what I find on this topic so that you may experiment on this. Who knows, you might find a way even I wouldn’t think to use.”
Alexia was thrilled at the challenge. “Seeing as my life may very well depend on it, I will make it a priority over the rest of my studies… Save the big one.”
“I have faith in you my faraway student. I would stay longer, but I have a reception I must attend.” It was obvious she did not care for it.
“Bye Sensei.” The alicorn vanished and Alexia recovered the tome and teleported it to her home.
Jackson had been off to the side talking to Thompson who had arrived a minute earlier. Now that Twilight was gone he stepped in to speak with the unicorn. Both ponies regarded the Director. “I see the ballistics test fared poorly.”
Tune groaned at the memory of the feedback. “About as good as fishing in a volcano.”
“Well for the time being you’ll just have to rely on invisibility during a firefight then.” He gestured for Jackson to pack up equipment for the day. “Did you come through with an antimagic device?”
“I did.” She said with reservation. “It’s a rather simple diagram that activates in the presence of active magic and disrupts the spell to be completely non-functional. It does not require magic to power it so anybody can draw it.”
“Would it cause pegasi to drop from the skies?”
Conrad glared at him but said nothing as she answered. “No, it would not.”
“Excellent. I’ll take it.”
“Before I do that Director.” The unicorn replied quickly. “What assurances I have that this will win my people’s freedom?”
Thompson gave her a nod of approval. “As assuredly as powerful men are greedy. If this diagram of yours works as you say it well, then the sister intelligence agencies will convince the president to rescind Executive Order twelve oh twelve. With one stipulation.” He added neutrally. “My superiors want you to sign a four year contract of service under me.”
She scowled at that. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Its entirely up to you, Tune. Your temporary service for the dismantlement of The Ranch.” He knew an on the spot decision of this nature could produce resentment later. Better to give her time to sort things out herself. “I don’t need either your decision or the diagram now. After all, we need to see if the president is open to the idea in the first place.”
“I trust he’ll respond soon.” Conrad hoped.
“Believe me.” Thompson remarked. “My superiors will see that he’s brought around. But I would prefer it if you sleep on this. Talk to the rest of your friends, but I must stress that this does not get leaked to the rest of the camp under any circumstances. If for whatever reason the president does not allow your release…”
Alexia stepped up to him and jabbed a hoof at his stomach. “Listen buddy. You can play nice all you want. But I won’t believe a word of it until I see my people walk out of here. You don’t come through for me or so much as a single strand of hair is harmed on anypony, and the lot of you will wish you tried to be more convincing.”
The Director still wanted to remain on friendly terms with her, as he was a resolute believer that it fostered better cooperation. “I’m simply covering my bases Tune. I don’t expect a negative reply from the White House. In the meantime I’ll cut training short today, I’ll give you twenty four hours to think on it.”
She didn’t hesitate for one second. Alexia would do anything to see The Ranch closed, and she knew her friends would do the same. “I don’t need to think on it. If your bosses require four years of my life for the rest of ponydom to be free then so be it. You’ll have me.” She made sure the daggers she was staring into his eyes drew blood. “But so help me. If you betray me and try to use this agreement if the prez says no…” She couldn’t think of a threat that she might regret saying later so she let it hang.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Thompson replied simply.
She scanned him for any deception, finding none. “Glad we understand each other.” She tilted her head towards The Ranch while addressing Conrad in Equish. “Come on, let’s go grab some grub before I start eating the grass.”
They started to walk off and he waited until they were out of earshot of the humans before speaking. “Didn’t you eat one and a half MREs for lunch?”
“I was hungry.”
“Yeah but those are designed for big soldiers, not a mare who not even a third their weight.”
Thompson yelled out to her before they crested the small hill. “By the way, Doctor Wilder wanted to speak with you. She’s in the hangar.”
She silently waved back in acknowledgement and continued walking. Conrad lazed through the air staying at Tune’s side and pace. “What do you think she wants?”
“I asked her to run me through some tests to find out why I’m not doing so hot on the physical training. She’ll probably just give me some extra vitamins and tell me to drink more water.”
“Let’s hope that’s all it is.” The pair heard thundering hooves as the two earth mares raced from their long distance run. It was clear as day to the couple that Loki was letting Anderson stay neck and neck. The pair blasted past the couple in a blur of fur. Anderson tripped from exhaustion and tumbled end over end before stopping on her side gasping for air. Loki was winded, but was still able to prance around the yellow mare with an energetic step.
“Game point to me.”
The defeated pony barely had the energy to glower at her. She found herself encased in azure light and lifted in the air to be placed upon Conrad’s back after he settled back down to the ground. “Not exactly a position I’m used to.” He quipped.
Anderson was too busy sucking air to care about a response. Loki jogged around the trio to properly cool down. “I won so you have to pick one.”
Tune gave the green mare a questioning gaze before shifting to the yellow one. “Pick what?”
“A new name.” Loki replied.
“What?” The lone stallion asked.
“Anderson bet me that if I won our race to return to you guys she would give up her male name for a female one.”
Tune frowned at her. “And what were you going to have to do if she won?”
“I’d have to shave my fur and hair off then prance around camp singing ‘I Am Glad’ by Khil.”
Conrad turned to look at the mare on his back. “At least you didn’t challenge her to a drinking game.”
Anderson gave a weak laugh as her heart rate was returning to normal. Alexia eyed Loki with an anticipatory reprimand. “Does she get to pick it at least?”
“What kind of person do you take me for?” Loki replied with mock injury. “Of course she can pick it, but it can’t be too close to Michael. That’s the rule.”
“You shouldn’t force this on her, even with a bet.” The unicorn chided.
Anderson waved a restraining hoof at her. “No. Its okay. I’ve been kidding myself long enough as it is.” Conrad halted for a moment so she could walk on her own in-between him and the silver mare. “I knew I couldn’t beat her so I wanted an excuse to give it up.”
“Mike, you don’t need to give up your name.”
Anderson was still too ragged to lift her head up, but she angled her head to look at the unicorn. “I need to for me.”
“I doubt you took that bet without already having one in mind.” Conrad commented.
“I do actually.” Her breathing was normalizing and she lifted her head up to a normal posture. Anderson ran a hoof through her mane to she could see it a little better. “I really like how my mane and tail’s coloration turned out so…” She put her hoof back down to glance at everybody to gauge their reaction. “I want my name to be Crimson from now on.”
Tune smiled warmly at her. “I think that’s a wonderful name.”
Conrad’s adopted a playful tone. “It would definitely make it hard to forget.”
The posse reached the northern gate house and the guards let them back in without question. There was no need to check ID when their species was identification enough. Alexia spoke once they were out of earshot of the soldiers. “You guys get some grub; I have to go see what Wilder discovered, if anything.”
Her group waved back at her as she cantered off towards the hangar. Conrad watched until she was out of sight before facing the two remaining mares. “Okay I need to know if you guys can keep a secret.”
“Depends.” Crimson replied.
“I’m not keeping one from Alex.” Loki answered sternly.
“Not from Alex, but from everybody else.” The mares moved to flank the stallion as they kept walking.
“What is it?”
Conrad scanning their immediate surroundings to make sure no one was close enough to hear on their way to the mess hall. “We just got an offer that could close The Ranch permanently.”
Had they not been walking automatically, the mares would have halted in their tracks. Crimson was about to shout a response but a shush from Conrad kept her voice low. “You mean I can finally tell my folks what really happened to me?!”
“Yes, but there’s a catch.” He cautioned.
Loki’s jubilation deflated. “What?”
“Alexia has to sign on for four years so ‘the man’ can continue to use her.”
“What about the three of us?” Crimson asked the shared question.
“He didn’t say either way. I’m sure we’d be free to go with the rest of the ponies if we wanted to.”
“Ta hell with that!” Loki barked. She knew exactly what Tune’s answer to that offer would be. “Glorious Leader isn’t going anywhere without me to watch her back.”
Conrad knew he could count on Loki for that much. “My sentiments exactly.”
All eyes fell on Crimson who was a put off balance. “You. You want me to join you?”
“Course we do Crimmy. You’re one of us now.” Loki maneuvered around Conrad to bump shoulders with the fellow earth pony. “You can’t tell me you’d abandon Alex like that.”
“I-“ Anderson hesitated. I still want to let my family know how I’m doing. But there’s no way I could ever return to my old life, not looking like this. And. I think I’m starting to enjoy my new body. But for Alex?
Her soul searching lasted for several minutes. No matter what excuses she could think of, the thought of leaving her friends felt abhorrent and abandoning Alexia as repugnant as treason. She’s helped me every step of the way since I got here. She took me in without question. I’d never forgive myself if I turned my back on her after she just sacrificed four years to set the rest of us free. They were in front of the mess hall when she spoke again. “You’re right Loki. I could never abandon her. I’ll sign up too.” The fierce determination was all the other two needed to see.
Tune meandered into the hangar and the receptionist directed her to examination room three. The mare rapped on the door and a familiar professional tone answered. “Come on in Miss Tune.”
This examination room was more traditional. Somewhat cramped with barely sufficient room for the table, some counters and enough room to walk about. Alexia jumped up to the table without being prompted and sat on her haunches towards Wilder. “Did you find out what’s been making me sick lately?”
“I have.” She replied in forced neutrality. I’ve given news like this before, but not directly to the patient. Makes me wonder how many more might out there and not know it. She turned around with chart in hand.
Alexia kept a light joking tone. “Is it the pony pox?”
“Not quite.” The veterinarian didn’t want to make it harder on the unicorn by skirting the issue. Get it over and done with quickly, yet tactfully. She stared at the mare’s trusting expression that began to falter the longer Wilder remained silent. She cleared her throat to speak. “You’ll be pleased to know, you actually in perfect health.”
“Doctor. Even I know you don’t throw up two times in one week and have mild fatigue from nothing.”
Wilder kept her professional mask on. “The test results say that you’re pregnant.”
Tune didn’t react for a few seconds before scoffing in disbelief. “Heh, good one doc. I never took you for someone who joked about a diagnosis.” Wilder’s tense expression didn’t waver; Alexia’s jovial demeanor did. “I can’t be pregnant Doctor. I never went into heat.”
“I ran the blood work and urinalysis three times each to be sure. Each test said the same thing. You’re pregnant.”
Tune was starting to grasp at straws. “Maybe your tests are inaccurate. I mean, ponies are an entirely different species. What if my autoimmune response to this illness is triggering a false positive?”
“I checked for infectious agents and while I won’t say that’s foolproof, I didn’t find anything else out of the ordinary.”
Dread was coursing through the unicorn’s mind until she remembered Twilight’s breathing technique. “Okay, I’ll solve this right now with Inner Sight. That’ll prove it once and for all.” She repeated the technique a dozen times to be tranquil enough to cast the spell properly. Her vision was replaced by the glowing web of light that consisted of her itineris system. The carbuncle was much brighter than the last time she had cast the spell, and the pathways between it and her horn was not that much wider, but the carbuncle had developed a separate pump for that alone and it pulsed every fifteen seconds rather than the normal half minute.
All of that was secondary to her. Ponies require magic to develop right? So there if I were…with child then… The capillaries around her womb were very dense, but she could plainly see a small trickle being funneled into two separate points and could sense the extremely faint magical frequencies of both.
The complete shock of it jolted her out of the spell. The realization struck home and a hoof unconsciously drifted to touch her abdomen. Her ears fell flat and her jaw quivered in terror as her eyes misted over. “I- I. I’m. Pre-.“ She couldn’t get the words out of her stammering lips.
Wilder was torn between her professionalism and wanting to comfort the mare falling apart at the seams. She needs the support of her herd before this becomes traumatic for her. “Miss Tune.” She raised her voice to cut through the tearful sniffling. “You should go to your friends. You shouldn’t deal with something this life altering on your own.”
The logical part of her mind tried to kick in. “I. I will Doctor.” Her thoughts started to reorganize after three minutes of rhythmic slow breaths. Wilder handed Alexia some tissues to clean herself up and a bowl of water to cool her face. After drying off, Tune felt composed enough that she could make it back to the house without her mask breaking down.
Tune carefully climbed down off the table and was about to leave before she stopped and faced the veterinarian. “Please don’t tell anyone about this. Least of all the Colonel.”
“You have my word under doctor patient confidentiality. No one will know unless you tell them. But I highly recommend that you inform the father.”
She had to repeat her breathing three more times to fix the crack in her mask. She looked back at Wilder. “I will Doctor. As…scary as it will be to tell him.” Her visage settled into determination. “I don’t run from my problems. Can I return later for a proper checkup later?”
“Absolutely. How about this Friday?”
“That’ll be perfect, thank you.” She shut the door behind her and leaned against it in an upswing of panic. Keep it together Alex. Just keep it together. Her calming exercises brought her emotions under a semblance of control and she pushed herself off the wall and forced her best smile on before making her way back home.
She ran into well over a dozen ponies all wanting to ask her about various questions and topics ranging from a possible third construction project to what sort of sports or plays they could host in the rec center. One earth stallion even wanted to know what kind of flower he should plant for the pegasus mare he wanted to court. All of it was a welcome distraction to the issue sitting in the back of her mind like a raging elephant.
The constant requests were becoming part of her routine of sorts, and she tried her best to give meaningful responses. “Well what color is her mane?”
“A light purple.”
“What does she like?”
“She has a thing for basketball.”
“I think there are some purple hyacinth seeds in the storehouse. That should work for you.”
“Great thanks.”
He was the last one to leave of a group of thirty that came to her for advice. I wonder where they’ll all go once they’re free of this place. The crowd had slowed her down long enough for her housemates to return with the food. All it took was one look at Conrad to have her condition roaring back to the forefront of her mind.
Said stallion instantly locked onto her fracturing mask and coupled with her recent visit to the veterinarian, he became worried that she might have something serious. “Are you okay Alex?”
The earth mares stopped eating to share a concerned look before all three stepped over to the unicorn who fought to keep from trembling. “In a manner of speaking.” Was all she could say.
Loki inspected her closely. “Doc say you caught something?”
Alexia cringed and looked Conrad in the eyes. “She did.”
Loki glanced between the couple. “Did he give you an STD?”
Alexia’s face spanned between cringing and nervous halting laughter for several seconds. “He ah. Well. I wouldn’t call it a disease.” Her three companions’ faces had a mix between confusion and revelation. Tune didn’t even think of her announcement as being private between him and her. Nothing had been hidden between the three ponies for weeks and Crimson had been adopted into that policy by the second day. “Guys. I’m pregnant…with twins.”
Crimson and Conrad were stunned. Loki had a malkavian grin. “I knew there was something off about you lately.” She took the unicorn in a massive hug that forced her to sit on her haunches to keep from falling over. “I know for a fact you’ll be a great mother. And I Loki will be a magnificent aunt.” She cackled madly. Everyone passed it off as Loki being Loki.
The pegasus was rather miffed that Loki had jumped ahead of him. He came around to the side and join in while nuzzling her. “I can only hope I’ll be half as good of a parent as you will be.” Much of Alexia’s anxiety was burned away at both of their support and she wrapped her forelegs around them in turn. The other ponies turned to Crimson who was standing off to the side and was trying to avoid a situation where she felt her presence was not wanted.
Loki waved her over. “Come on Crimmy. You’re one of us too.”
I thought I was only living here with them until I learned how to handle myself as a pony; but they haven’t asked me to leave yet. “I’ve barely known you guys for two weeks.” She countered hesitantly. She desperately wanted to be a part of it, but most of her was scared of being an unwelcome intrusion.
Conrad scoffed. “You think that matters to us? You’re a pony and good friend. That’s all that counts.”
Crimson’s lips twitched upward and she bolted to join the group embrace. Alexia and Loki pulled their forelegs apart to let her in and the yellow mare buried her head in Alexia’s shoulder. “Thank you guys. I promise to be worthy of your trust.” Crimson let herself be carried away in the sheer bliss she felt from the full inclusion of the group. How did I ever live without them?
Conrad pulled back just enough to look Alexia in the eye. He poured his love into his words. “No matter what these next four years bring, we’ll do it together.” Alexia shed tears of joy and muttered words of gratitude to him.
With Crimson’s inclusion and the theme of the moment, the herd mentality between the four of them was at its strongest felt yet. Loki pulled her foreleg out from Alexia to wrap it around Conrad who looked at her in mild surprise. “The four or six of us rather. Now and forever right?”
Alexia looked up to watch the interaction carefully. Conrad studied the green mare for the expected joke. He knew she would support Tune, but to try and bury the hatchet over something like this seems an odd time to him. Yet there was a silent apology in Loki’s eyes that felt too genuine to be one of her pranks.
In that moment, with the effects of the herd mentality at its strongest. He was finally able to fully let go of his resentment and forgive her. “Yeah.” He said slowly, with a gentle smirk directed at the green mare. “Together.” Unbeknownst to everyone present, a steel colored kite shield with a short-sword sheathed behind it and pointing straight down emblazoned itself on his flanks.
The jolt across his nervous system as his spirit remolded itself to fit its shell startled the mares out of the group hug. Conrad would have fallen over if Alexia had not propped him up in time. The trio of mares crowded the lone stallion as his vacant eyes came back into focus seconds later and he blinked a few times to regain his bearings. “Was that what I think it was?”
The expression in his lover’s eyes was enough to make him glance down at his flank. Sure enough, the sword and shield were plainly visible. He saw the pattern on the shield itself was that of a miniature black ankh with stylized white wings on either side. What little of the blade that was visible from behind the shield was the same steel grey as his mane and tail. The trim of the shield was azure.
Except for Crimson who was a little confused about it, the other two mares were thrilled at his cutie mark’s appearance. Conrad smirked internally. So I am destined to be her champion? No, I chose that destiny for myself. The mark only reflects that decision. He couldn’t be happier with it.
Loki had a realization. “Hey guys. The three original Ponyteers finally have their cutie marks!”
Her fellow Ponyteers snickered, but Alexia turned to Crimson. “Maybe, but we’re the four Ponyteers now.”
“Aye, that we are.” He said as he rose to his hooves. “No matter what comes at us. The four of us will stand united.” He had a playful smirk when he stuck his hoof out in front of him. “As she said, now and forever.”
Alexia placed a hoof on his. “We act as one.”
Loki jumped to do a forward flip with her landing perfectly so her hoof met the others. “We fight as one.”
Her confidence bolstered from earlier, Crimson added her hoof to the pile. “Because we are one.” The compact was made, and the four ponies’ lives would inexorably be tied to one another until the end of their days.