//------------------------------// // Eröffnungsszene -Hexeneinmaleins- // Story: Puella Magi Pony Magica // by Planetarian //------------------------------// Szene Zero, Der Tragödie erster Teil Mephistopheles: Enough, enough, O excellent Sibyl! Bring the drink along: and fill The cup, quick, to the very brim: The drink will bring my friend no harm: He’s a man of many parts, and him Many a noble draught has charmed. Down it quickly! Every time! It’ll Likewise, warm your heart, entire. You’re hand in hand with the Devil: Will you shrink before the fire? Faust I, Act I, scene IV Li's apartment. Living room, New Taipei City. Being in the minority was never easy. Especially if you were uncomfortably placed in the midst of two armed camps. Lǐ Tóngshān (李彤杉) was staring at the smothering ZhōngZhèng road of New Taipei City, from her room over this 20-story apartment. She was on the phone with her relatives in Taichung. "So, what'd the Biimers (保馬派 Bǎo mǎ pài, Pro-ponies faction) do this time?" Li shrugged. "Shùntōng (李順通 Lǐ Shùntōng), that's pretty simple. Just substitute them for the greenshirts and the other side with the blueshirts, and voila! Instant chaos." "Huh. That's what you get for living close to one of those Veteran villages... you know how those mainlanders (外省人, descendents of the Chinese emigrates in 1949) can be..." Li didn't quite agree. "Oh really now." She was quite dismissive. "This pony thing is tearing apart the pan-green and the pan-blue at their seams. The reds next door could only ever dream seeing this... and they don't want that nowadays." A dry cough came from the speaker. "Well, what'd you think the color-code for the ponies will be?" "Does that really even matter?" Li was really not willing to entertain the thought too much. "They come in all shades. I think that "ponies" will stick. The pun with Former President Ma (馬英九, Mǎ Yīngjiǔ) is too dear to let loose." Taiwan proved a microcosm of the world when it comes to the ponification issue. When Equestria made landfall, the island was still deep in its divisive self-struggle over the nominally communist regime next to the Strait of Taiwan. Granted, the old veterans that came to establish the Kuomingtang regime on the island were mostly dead, but the blue political stripes were fresh and vibrant as they battle the green sovereignists on a daily basis. Li switched topic. "Well, how's the relatives over the States been doing?" "Oh... panic, hysteria over there. Rumors of pro-ponies committing acts of terrorism by dousing ponification serum bombs over people... lynch mobs are kicking in and such. None of that apparently in Seattle as of yet." \---/ The call had ended, but Li had to turn her mind inward. The island did not seriously think of the ponification issue until the Americas started to be reel from the effects of the barrier. In fact, the spread of the barrier was this Atlantic affair that involved the continental Europe and the American states, leaving the Orient to their devices. Li recounted that most of the pony dramas are from Europe and the Americas. United States was the most prominent. Not a day goes by without some news trickling to Taiwanese wires about the ills to America. However, as Washington D.C and Brussels were embroiled to with pony-related terrorism, the gravity of the situation had to move across the hemispheres. With Beijing stanchly refusing the establishment of the Conversion Bureau on Chinese soil, the island of 21 million souls found itself at the center of global attention. "Now, where'd I put that teacup..." Li was seen fumbling around to fetch her cup. It wasn't really an issue to her mind though. The ponies had presented a very frustrating issue diplomatically speaking. The status of Taiwan had meant that any sort of international dialogue with the political establishments on the island would be an affront to People's Republic of China. Ever since the United Nations had recognized the Beijing establishment as "China," the world would generally defer any Chinese question to Beijing. I can't defer anything when I am on my bloody own, can I? Li thought to herself. After the failure of the Stockholm Conference on the status of Equestriani Emigrate, Equestria had decided talk to the UN major powers directly for any sort of concessions to establish conversion bureaus. The Russians were not receptive, and the ponies had made zero progress with Beijing, nor with the regional powers such as Australia, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, India and Japan. The United Nations was in no mood to negotiate; the world was at the brink of war. I am just at the brink of thirst, and I just need some kind of container to keep the water in... The Equestriani crown felt that Taiwan may be approachable, for it was the largest of Chinese settlements outside the control of Beijing, and that it was not a part of the United Nations. The ponies had stirred up a hornet's nest when Twilight Sparkle had appeared in the former Portuguese and Japanese colony of Formosa as an Extraordinary Envoy; the princess said gingerly (in English) that Equestria was to treat the Taiwanese Conversion Bureau as the de facto embassy of Equestria, should the bureau come to pass. It was unclear as to what sort of intelligence that the Equestrian crown had access to in making the call, but the move was quite shrewd politically. Equestria was under no threat when humanity cannot retaliate beyond the barrier, nor was it really possible for commercial trading to take place, for there was no way for human to be in the land of ponies. Forget it, this will do. I will drink out of a bowl. Moreover, this act was a direct challenge to China. Here was a country that represented 1/7 of the world's population, and it had been able to exert itself geopolitically as a leading power. The very notion that the renegade province that carried the remnants of a past regime would be used against the Middle Kingdom in this fashion was an insult beyond measure. Japan had taken very significant interests over this development. The Taiwanese lobby in Japan had grown since China's ascendance onto the world stage by the turn of 21st century, and inklings of former glory wouldn't totally go away. With Japan unwilling to entertain the ponies during this point in time, seeing where the dominos may fall on Taiwan had became a matter of national importance for the land of the rising sun. Li poured out some Calpis, and took a long gulp from her bowl. The Taiwanese Executive Yuan came to a virtual standstill, as the Kuomingtang controlled department went into vicious infighting over accepting the Conversion Bureau. The Democratic Progressive controlled Legislative Yuan was the same story. It could be said that every single electorate from Penghu to Kaohsiung went into a state of pandemonium overnight. It was in this political quagmire that Lǐ Tóngshān had finished her senior years and was beginning her university education. The freshman was a fairly typical Taiwanese, with Japanese and American affinity but knew about the weight of the Chinese elephant next door... her father's in Fuzhou at the moment. The girl listened to the lavender pony's impassioned plea for the humans to choose life on live TV. The intelligent pony struck quite the impression on the freshman, and she had pondered about what the ponies would have really felt of humanity. In fact, ever since that televised address, the girl had devoted her attention to see this whole cataclysm from the vantage point of the dramatis personae and not the hoi polloi. This meant that much of the public banters were mind-numbingly frustrating to the girl. The girl took another gulp as she savored the flavor. Television was feeding to the frenzy and all the channel flavors were divided on familiar battle lines. Papers were the stuff of gossips, without a lick of serious analysis or sound editorial around. It was almost as if that the rumor mill on the island had decided to take the existing infrastructure made for party infighting and apply it all over the pony affairs. Lǐ Tóngshān, now replenished, went back to an instant chat messenger app when she was reflecting to herself about the turmoil over this little island. Her alias was akaisugi, and she's waiting for sekaisugiru_2 to come online. "You won't believe me Sugi-nee, but we don't have to be ponies to survive!" "What!" The sheer naivety of that statement would have warranted a spit-take. Remember how I told that miracles and magic is real? You can't prove me wrong with flying ponies on the magic part so..." "It's about miracles. What did you do?" The freshman caught on the very pointed semantics with the younger girl's words. "How does Mahou Shoujo Sekai-chan sound to you?" "I don't know what to say to you about that. Seriously. This isn't anime." "I am going to fix this. I will prove your point." "Sekai-chan..." The freshman facepalmed. She was talking to a girl that was in her senior years. No senior should be this disillusioned as to suggest that they can magic their way out of a global crisis. Without any warning, sekaisugiru_2 had logged out. Seriously. We have enough trouble without becoming pastel-colored ponies... The girl with shoulder-length hair sighed to herself. \---/ Gloomy Fields, outskirts of Mitakihara The world was ugly, which the young girl wasn't ignorant of. However, to throw away all of this beauty just for humanity to survive was not acceptable to the child. Sugi-nee was right. Ponies were the new "white devils," and human were the new "savages." Things have come full circle. The child was not grudging against the ponykind. The ponies were doing no worse than what humans would have done in their stead. They were trying to save lives, regardless of what motive they had. Conquistadors and Juntas were likely to be worse than the equines when it comes to their track record. On the other hand, there was too much that humanity has done to be simply thrown away by the ponykind. The wonders of technology and culture which human paid with blood, sweat and tears shouldn't be denied of their values. This girl remembered how that Sugi-nee had reminded her of how the victor would write the history books. The ponies would go as far as any human regimes had done in that endeavor. It didn't require much logic to conclude that Japan and PRC would share this behavior with the Equestrian regime. Those wonders of technology have saved her life before... the girl was willing to bet on the greatness of humanity for the future. Another way to salvation was needed. What an easy choice to make as a human. It just require one simple wish, and humanity can simply coexist with ponies. Isn't that a good solution? It just require making one wish. The answer was obvious to Miss Sekai (瀬介智乃, Sekai Tomono) a girl with crimson eyes and auburn hair. "I wish that..." The girl took a breath, her heart heavy with the thoughts of humanity on the brink of destruction, and the ponies that ran across the continents to convert humanity to ponydom. Funny to get stage fright at this moment. "I wish that Equestria isn't lethal to our world, so that we don't needs to be ponified and the barrier would be harmless." A powerful, primal wave of magic came forth as this deluge consumed everything around the girl. It stretched endlessly, from coast to coast to coast. Not even the lands behind the Equestrian barrier was immune. It was colorless, yet it had a green aura for some inexplicable reason. The entire planet was blanketed by this magical quake. The reverberations went on and on, as the shock-waves circumvented the world four times and onwards without any sign of stopping. "Your wish has surpassed entropy, Tomino" What a blend response this was. The girl experienced a soul-rending sensation in her chests, but it was over rather quickly. By the time when she recovered, she was presented with a glowing Fabergé egg-shaped gem, and that was all. It was quite a beautiful arrangement from where Miss Sekai was concerned. Humanity won't have to become ponies. Sekai just had to make a wish and become a magical girl in exchange for the salvation of humanity. Whatever 'magical girl' may mean didn't matter. The important thing was that humanity will not be erased by the magic of Equestria, and history can take its course after that. \---/ Twilight Sparkle's Study, Ponyville Twilight Sparkle felt magic of global proportions washing itself across whole worlds. She didn't know what had happened, but she knew that it wasn't part of the purification. The enormity of this reaction wasn't something that ordinary unicorns can possibly trigger, especially not over a magically dead place as the world outside of the barrier. The lavender pony was left stunned for a good minute in her study. During the course of this magical storm, the princess poured her might to focus on the origin of this flood, but all that she could do was to determine that it came from beyond the barrier. What was this storm? Why did it occur? Where did it originate from? How could it have happened? Who was responsible? Something deeply unsettling had transpired, yet one of the premiere minds of Equestria could not get any handle on it. "Spike, take a letter. This is urgent." Twilight called her confidant, friend and younger brother forth. "This goes to The Princess?" "That's right. Ready?" "Go ahead..." The dragon was at the ready with parchment and quill in hand. Dear Princess Celestia: I am at a loss as to what could have caused this enormous magical reaction. No Unicorn could have made this tidal wave of magical energy that have washed the worlds. I don't know anything on the matter, not even the point of origin. I just simply 'felt' the aftershock, as it rippled across the ethereal realms. The magical reaction must have in the gigaunits. I shall contact the Conversion Bureaus and see if they can shed some light on this phenomenon. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle The unicorn paced about as the little dragon dispatched this knee-jerk reaction of a note to the sovereign of the land. It was certain to Twilight Sparkle that her princess was not the instigator of this grand spell, but she honestly had no lead as to what could have done this. Truth be told, Twilight did not have high hope for the staffs at the Conversion Bureaus to give her any help on the matter. This arcane disruption would need no less than the Archmage's Office to investigate. I have to figure this out. As such, Twilight did the typical Twilight thing. The Earthern Globe stood witness to the pacing pony, as she went into a flurry of activities.