//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Little John Cultist // Story: A Primer on Magic // by SuperTaster //------------------------------// The two had clearly been discussing some matters eagerly, but Sam wasn't entirely sure of the details. All she knew was that the toilets of Earth were far more cumbersome than she remembered, and that they would rue the day they crossed her. When she ruled the world, the best and brightest would be called to remedy this lapse in foresight, so that all of those in the mythological monster affiliation would be able to do their business without undue embarrassment. Regardless of what devious plans had gotten the colonel back into high spirits, they seemed to be pondering the specifics of Earth society at the moment. Such oddities were of great interest to the princess, because the only thing more interesting than aliens and science was, of course, alien science. Society did not develop in a vacuum, even the ones with vacuums to their name, and she was determined to figure out exactly why they did what they did. "You don't actually have a military?" "Well, not in the sense like you were talking about. Millions of guards! That just... boggles the mind." Twilight reveled in the boggling feeling for a few seconds, before resuming her thoughts. "Well, if some sort of threat comes about, it's the sort like a rampaging monster, or someone powerful who's gone mad. Individual threats, with little warning." O'Hare seemed to see the issue, or at least pretended so to avoid awkwardness. "So you focus on a more responsive... well, response." "Basically. Spend 'danger money' on training the best and brightest, so that they can deal with threats quickly and efficiently. The faster the response, the better. Is that not as much of a priority with you?" "Well, fast is good, but if I had to give an answer..." The colonel stroked what little facial hair he possessed. This was not because of any irritation, but rather that he had learned in his career that it paid to look like you were pondering at times, so that others could get the hint. "There's a limit on how far you can train any one soldier? We do have elites, sure, but since any one soldier's offensive ability is far superior to their ability to deal with that offense, any soldier could be removed from combat quickly if caught off guard. Having additional troops and contingencies in case of disaster is more important." "Whereas with the versatility magic grants our guards, they can more readily respond to threats, and thus are less likely to be laid low from simple luck. The value of additional training doesn't deteriorate as much over cost." "Never was much one for the numbers myself, but that sounds about right." Sam had been boggling for some time now, but kept it to herself. At the very least, there was toast to tide her over while the others talked about the finer theories of shooting people in the head. A pair of eyes watched from the break room door, but they weren’t important at the moment. "So what sort of threats do you face? Terrible monsters?" The sphinx laughed a bit. That was one way of looking at it, if one were prone to excessive pessimism. She was, but tended to avoid this publicly for the sake of people with thinner skins. "People, mainly." "People? What, like... each other? Didn't you say there were only humans for sentient population?" O'Hare nodded grimly. "People will always find a way to find fault with others. It's the little differences that drive idiots up the wall. Arm the idiots, and well..." The princess was aghast. "Oh. Oh wow. So, lacking any external threat..." "They turn on each other, yes. Part of the reason I was keen on your Empathic Bond talk, or whatever term you used. Unlike some morons, I didn't get into soldiering to kill people, and I'd love some way to shut said morons up. They've got more productive things to do with their time than keep others from invading." Sam intruded again upon their musings. "Magic as a means of peace in our time?" "Sure. Why the hell not? If nothing else, Twilight here can pick things up with her mind. Imagine that applied to missiles. People are less willing to wage war places they can't bombard from a distance." "Is that a fact? Or your opinion?" O'Hare gave a powerful deadpan look, at least an 8 out of 10. "You haven't met these armchair generals. If they don't have to think about it, it's not important to them. What's one life or a million other than a number on a piece of paper. You can see my... motivations for wanting this sort of thing?" The two nodded, but for different reasons. "In any case, how would such a... connection work?" Science! The glow was back in the princess' eyes. "Well, it takes energy to make a magical connection, but I've got that covered." She gestured towards the glowing amulet on her. "It's a storage device for magical energy, to power magical usage while I'm over here. This should be more than sufficient to power any sort of initial spark, and from there, the connections are self-sustaining. Well, mostly. I'd say you'd need a network of about 100 sentient mages before the energy breaks even. Otherwise it would disperse too weakly to power connections to keep it afloat." The number of people involved in this sort of effort seemed to hit home to Sam. "Surely this wouldn't be happening one at a time?" "What? Oh no no, that would be... wow. No, it should be easy enough to set up something in an area of effect. Create connections among any humans in the area, using magical reserves like this one. Start from a center of population, and cause a spread." "And don't cause global chaos." She put a hoof on Sam's shoulder in a heartwarming gesture, or at least what she thought one looked like. "Worry thyself not like the old mare." A pause, then, "It's a joke." "Don't explain it." "In any case, we'll get to work on that on our end, and smooth out the details of chaos and such as we go." "Oh goody." Sam's excitement was riveting. This could not possibly go wrong! ------------- The cell had been upgraded in Sam's absence. O'Hare had ordered that two soldiers find themselves a pet store and ensure Sam’s comfort while they kept the sphinx in for study. Over objections that there were no such stores in close proximity, and indeed the research lab's location was chosen for its remote area, the colonel reminded the troops that no one would mind too much if they hit the bars while they were out looking. If it took a few extra hours to find their objective, who would notice? The soldiers, thus, left without complaint. In any case, there was at least a soft mattress and a blanket in here, as well as a rather demeaning water dish. If the soldiers had not noticed Sam still had thumbs, and was perfectly fine using glassware provided she did not try to walk at the same time, they did not seem to care too much. The blanket would be awkward too. How does one use such a thing with wings? Wings. Hmm... Terrible thoughts were forming in Sam's mind. No one was watching, or if they were, they weren't making much of a show of it. And given the portal connected through this room, there was clearly an abundance of magical energy about. She lacked the finely honed senses to tell the difference well, but even Sam could note a certain charge in the air. It was just a matter of... how had Twilight put it? 'Wishing really hard?' Well, if the flight was magical as predicted... Twilight opened the cell door, wanting to leave where she arrived from. This exodus was mildly interrupted by the sight of a sphinx, upside down, sprawled against the wall in obvious confusion. "What are you doing?" "Mistakes were made!" "Say no more," Twilight said, understanding completely. ------------- John was a small human, whom society had long since regarded as unremarkable. Such was often the fate of men named John. What talents he had (a keen knack for pastry creation and a photographic memory) were often considered with an air of “Oh, isn’t that adorable” and then filed away in the place of memories usually reserved for drunken college parties. He would kill them all one day, but only if he could not prove them wrong first. Sometimes it paid to be nice to people. Currently, John was leading the affairs of the Transhumanist Society, which was not as impressive as its name denoted. They had four members at the army base, and generally held their meetings because there was not all that much fun to be had at an Army research facility, and they would take their social amusement where they could. Still, recent events had inspired them to take things a bit more seriously, for they knew that THE FUTURE was at hand. Blinking was punishable by death. “I do call this meeting of the Transhumanist Society to order.” “Motion to come up with a better name.” “When you have one to suggest, engineer, we will consider it.” The men sat hooded around a bunk room, plotting deviously. The hoods were a matter of course, for such things were mandated in all sorts of secret societies. They clearly knew who the others were, but it added a level of formality that would otherwise be lacking. “For now, we have business.” “Yes. What of the sphinx? Can she be replicated?” “I have heard that she does not wish it to be so, but yes, it can.” Muted applause, or as much as one could have with a crowd of four. “The process was caused by exposure to Earth Beta’s magic field, and that any non-magical human exposed without adequate protection would be affected similarly.” “But… they plan to apply this protection.” John was sad to admit this truth. “Yes. They believe in an Earth of magical humans, of society much the way things have been.” Boo! Hiss. The peanut gallery disliked this immensely, but had little constructive criticism to add. “Can we introduce the… transformation into the process?” "Not without their knowledge. The unicorn would be in charge of the entire affair, and she would know her craft. Any such attempts must be through her.” A pause for effect. “As much as it pains me to say it, I believe….” “We must ask politely.” Gasps were elicited. Those present envisioned women screaming and children crying. “Wait. They would never allow such a meeting! O’Hare wants control!” “Of course he does, in much the same way we do. He knows the threat of those that would hamper the introduction of magic, and wishes to cause it to occur before anyone can meddle. In this our aims align. However, that is no reason to let things slide. We can have our cake, and eat it too, so long as we are careful.” “Welp, we’re screwed.” The engineer was bopped soundly on the head for this, but it had been Worth It. “Stop that. We simply need to help the unicorn understand. In this, I have a cunning plan, though we must be careful as to when to spring it. I believe we should let things proceed as they are for now. Continue blinding the superiors as to what is happening here, so that O’Hare can begin the spread of magic. Once this is done, and hard to reverse, then we can work with the unicorn on proper implementation.” They nodded their heads in agreement. This would be, if nothing else, exhilarating. To be on the edge of history! Now if only their group didn’t have such a stupid name. Alas, no thoughts were coming to the transhumanists on this front, and so they were stymied by a lack of creativity. ------------- Twilight returned the next day, bearing far more of the ‘magical battery’ necklaces., as well as several of the gold scarabs. “What are those for?” “The colonel’s idea! He mentioned something about the politics of Earth being complicated, and said that spreading magic would be best in all sorts of nations at once, so that there isn’t a clustering of power.” “Reasonable, but terrifying. How exactly do you plan to do that… ah. The portal necklaces.” “Yes! Since we can instantly hop to wherever the necklaces are keyed with the portal spell, we can just set them up at our target locations, then hop from one to the next until we’re done! It was a brilliant idea.” “Still skipping the whole chaos issue, Twi.” The alicorn shook a hoof at this. “Well, we’re going to work on testing that here! Set up magical connections, see the level of effect the Empathy Bond has when applied, and so forth. We need data to make a decision, not just guessing and speculation! Science!” She was doing the thing again, but Sam didn’t mind. Sometimes you just had to let people have their quirks. “In any case, I wanted to run some tests on magic other than just unicorn spells, so we’re bringing over an assistant today.” “Oh? What, to just try using magic off of the battery amulets?” “Flight, mainly.” Twilight was interrupted by the portal opening, and a rainbow blur shooting out at high velocity. It was the Rainbow Dash, and she seemed very pleased at the whole experience. “Twi, that is so trippy. You never told me portals were like that!” “You never asked." Twilight turned back to Sam. "In any case, your… attempt at flying yesterday got me wondering about the specifics, and it’s a great chance to study it in a non-magical environment.” Sam sighed, resigned to the fact that she would not be in control of anything ever. “As long as she doesn’t go flying across the countryside. I’m reasonably sure that magic and anomalies thereof are supposed to be confined to the base.” Rainbow was affronted. “I’m not an anomaly!” “She means it in a good way, Dash. Super fast and the like.” “Oh! I guess that’s okay, then. For yes, I am The Dash.” She was very full of herself, but Sam mused that if she were a supersonic fighter pony, she would be proud too. Some things were just cool. Twilight stepped up to get things trotting. “So, where’s the colonel?” “I haven’t the slightest, but I bet if we ask nicely, someone will tell us. You realize they keep me in here, right? I don’t exactly go wandering about the base.” “Why’s that?” “Reporters. Sphinxes would be front page news, I imagine.” “Surely someone’s blabbed by now, right?” Sam blanched at the thought. “Let’s not encourage them, please. The whole thing is already odd, let’s not add gawkers to the mix.” She opened the door, and was surprised to find that the soldiers did not complain too much about them going forth, though there were further mutterings of the creatures ‘multiplying’. Rainbow, for her part, did not walk anywhere, simply floating around. Now that she had a better look, Sam noted a battery amulet on her. Perhaps they were measuring the rate of energy use? Bad thoughts of Dash plummeting from the sky filled her brain, as while the pegasus was a looker, she was not entirely aerodynamic according to physics and engineering. Too much weight in the bones. The cell door closed behind them, as they left to seek an interesting future.