//------------------------------// // 9: Enter The Stalemate // Story: The Life and Times of Caughlin Mare // by Casca //------------------------------// Furhich. The scratching of quill on paper ended with a particularly venomous tap. Discordian ability, memory hexes, capable of maintaining simultaneous ones. High magical stamina. Perhaps physically weak. <- observe conditions. Manipulative skills shown in leading and tactical planning. Caughlin sighed and looked at the sheet. She had, on the whole, a good memory, but mapping out the key details on something visible was better than ruminating the words over and over on her bed. Her newest sentence, in its tiny writing, was burgeoning past the half length; the top was crammed with the events of the day, or more precisely what she had been told and shown and spoken in turn. Her memories were supposed to be augmented. Furhich had implanted the memory of her being won over by reasoning, though she was sure that there were other options open to him that weren't as prone to doubt. She suspected that it was because he wanted them to follow him of their own accord - whatever the reason, he chose to keep them themselves rather than hypnotized zombies. Prefers some degree of autonomy in followers. She paused, looked behind at the door, waited to listen for approaching hoofsteps. There were none, and her head ducked down again. Goal: 2nd alicorn. He had not directly assumed a leadership role, she also realized - he could have very well disposed of her, and replaced her with one of his own scientists. Though the sheer degree of power required to rewrite all forty-, fifty-plus years of a pony's memories, not to mention the risk of causing irreparable damage... She did not like to think that he had wanted to keep her alive for his own means, nor that a pony had such skill with such malice. It had to be his own limitations. He did not participate in Laboratory activities, and spent most of his free time reading. He engaged in light conversation every now and then, and always kept a respectful, attentive tone. It was all an act, of course. Had to be. Order patrols in the ceilings, with at least five identified from the ambush. Violence triggers their movement. She wondered whether it might be possible to catch them in a reality bubble before they landed, if Whooves were to give him a hard one in the jaw, trapping them... but that would mean making and maintaining something as large as the den, and Caughlin had never done that before. It was a silly idea, and she frowned as she returned her sights to the sheet. But it would also disable Fuhrich's own memory hex ability, wouldn't it? Then he'll become nothing but a frail, regular unicorn. And as out-of-shape as we are, surely we can take on that. If we could just stop the guards, and if the memory hex dissolves, then Furhich could become our bargaining chip against the Order. The scene unfolded, in hazy patches - trapped unicorns, her colleagues piled on top of the old pony, who for some reason looked nothing more than disinterested in her mind. No. It was a silly idea, and she did not even dignify it with ink. The most important thing was that she undo the hex on everypony before they carried out any sort of active plan. It would take too long to explain the situation to a newly-freed, confused mass; better for them to be well prepared when - if - it happened. She knew quite a bit of general knowledge on hexes, and could see how they could be adapted for mind manipulation, but the exact nature of his... she needed more information to come close to cracking the code. Hexes. An advanced triune, the third level of joint spells above triunes and pentaspells. While the triune is a union of three single thaumic threads, the hex is a union of three pairs, producing an elaborate, comprehensive patch layer on the intended target, be it imagery or memories. The textbook definition was more or less so. With a few loaded questions delivered out of earshot, she knew at least that the hex was constantly maintained - a channeling spell, which meant that he was expending a lot of energy a lot of the time. He is weak, she thought grimly, though his lackeys sure aren't. Then there was the issue of Celestia. She could not stop the Order from obtaining a foal. But she could save her from alicornification, or at least the process regarding the offending accelerating gem. She tried to remember the schematics for the improved procedure: "Firstly, the Accelerat will be added alongside the characteristics. As a spell, the Accelerat is already thaumic; conversion is not needed, but it has to be placed in the right nook to avoid development imbalance between characteristics." Her lips moved soundlessly as she jotted down each letter. Most of it was overheard conversation; she had not been on Project ALICORN duty since Furhich's takeover. "Meanwhile a second, physically-crystallized Accelerat will be surgically implanted in in the foal. This ensures that her physical growth is on par with her thaumic development." Which meant that Celestia would be plagued with the problem of mutated growth already, even if she was not an alicorn. She could only hope that they did the procedure here, instead of above the surface; then she would have a chance to stop it. "Once both sides are ready, they will be unified according to the same procedure as Alicorn #1." So she had to somehow convince Fuhrich to perform the surgery in the Laboratory. You could just leave Celestia be, whined a tinny voice at the back of her head. You don't even know her yet. Besides, what can you possibly do? She sat up and looked in the direction of Luna's cradle, and sighed. I'm not going to leave her behind. I intend to save everypony, and that is what I will do. She could not liberate her colleagues yet. It pained her, but she would have to let them continue under the illusion of submission. Right now, securing Celestia was the most urgent, and everything else would fall into place afterwards. She gave the paper one last look, making extra certain that she knew what she was supposed to know and not know. With a tiny spark, the paper burned to ash, swept up and buried under a mound of waste paper in the little trash can in the corner. "Good morning, Caughlin." "I wish it were," grumbled Caughlin. Furhich gave her a look of concern. She shrugged it off moodily. "It's just sleep. I need it, that's all, same as usual," she said. "It's all right." "Good to hear that," said Furhich. "We're setting up the guise spell soon. One single drape right over there." With a sweep of his foreleg he motioned to her block. "It'll look just like that from this end, but on the other side, well, we'll have the implantation chamber set up and everything." Slight wheezing at the end, noted. "Oh, okay. That's good. Need any help?" "No, no, that's quite all right, Caughlin. Our unicorns will be here any minute. Rather I do have something else planned for you," continued Furhich with a smile. "Oh, you do? What is it?" she asked, careful to stay sounding tired. "As you have played the director's role before with Luna, we hope that you can do the same for Celestia. Thaumical union is a tricky business, but we believe that you have an affinity for it, as you've entered the realm before." He's putting the alicornification into my hooves. This couldn't be better! "Why, sure thing," she said. "That is, of course, if I manage to rise up to it. I hope this insomnia leaves me in time, just, ugh," she added, groaning loudly for good measure. "Thank you very much. And we hope so, too," said Furhich. "We wish only for the success of this event, and when Celestia is ready we will take hold of the future." Great how you've ignored Luna completely, you controlling twat. Caughlin rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Yes, yes. We all do, I'm sure. But you're using accelerating spells, right? It'll be a new experience for me, directing them I mean. Is there anything special I need to know about it?" "No, our scientists will handle that. There's a memo for you, I believe, but for the most part you just need to do what you did last time. We have in fact even prepared a spell that will simulate Discord's ethereal jaunt from last time." There was an extra dismissiveness in his voice; she thought of prodding him for more, but decided it wasn't worth the suspicion. Why would he withhold valid information from her like that? "Okay. That's good, then. You know, just out of curiousity, what percentage of work are we contributing to this? Just curious, as to how much we're doing. Us, you know, I mean." That's good, keep fumbling up your sentences... "Your efforts in the first alicornification are invaluable," said Furhich stoically. Ah, flattery. "However this time round we're making good progress by ourselves based on the wonderful efforts of your team. So please be assured that without you, this would not even be taking place." You're damn right about that. So basically you're saying it's all you. Caughlin gave an appreciative laugh. "Very well. I'll be checking up on Luna's exercises, then." Luna's characteristics development lessons were intensive, but were not much different from the norm - she was taught how to fly pegasus-style, in the way most pegasi learnt how to fly, and given weight-moving training to work her muscles. Even as she trotted over she could see Luna wobbling in the air, and felt a tinge of pride. "Look, Luna, Mommy's here," said her pegasus trainer with a wink at Caughlin. "Come on down now, gentle landing, there's a good girl." "Mommy! Did you see me? I was twirling in the sky!" exclaimed Luna, bounding up to her. She nuzzled the foal. "Yes, I saw you, Luna. It was great. Good job," replied Caughlin. "You're coming along very well. But Luna, just, well, this isn't the sky. It's flying, yes, but you don't have to move in the sky to call it flying." She caught her moment of confusion. "The sky, is, well, the place above the ground. Not that this isn't above our ground, but there's a..." She exchanged glances with the trainer, who shrugged. "Ah, I'll tell you another time." She smiled warmly at her. "When you're older I'll show you the sky." "Why can't Mommy fly?" "Because Mommy doesn't have wings," said Caughlin. "Then how will Mommy fly with me?" persisted Luna. "I...can't," she answered, and felt a tweak in her heart. "But you know who can? Your little sister, Celestia. She's going to have wings just like you, and a horn as well. And when you two are older you can fly together, and do magic together. And you two can become the best of friends." "But I wanna fly with Mommy! Mommy's my best friend," pouted Luna. "Then what about Whooves?" joked Caughlin, glancing around for the stallion. He was busy watching the scientists raise the guise spell on the other side of the den. "Whooves," repeated Luna, frowning. Then she shook her head, having made a decision. "Whooves is my second best friend." "That's good then. Go on, Luna, you had better get back to flight training." To the trainer she said, "I'm sorry for interrupting." "Nah, it's okay," giggled the trainer. "She's such a cute little thing, isn't she? Mommy this, Mommy that. Discord know how long it's been since we've had children. Actually we've never had children in here, before, have we? But I digress. Oh, Caughlin, I never knew you had it in you." Caughlin blushed as the trainer gave her a final, playful nudge before attending to Luna. "I never knew I had it in me, either," murmured Caughlin. That afternoon, she sidled up to Furhich once more. He was sitting at one of the benches, reading motionlessly. "You know, I've been thinking, have you gotten a foal yet?" "As a matter of fact, we have," said Furhich, looking up. Dang. "Why do you ask?" "Just curious, really," said Caughlin. "Where do you get them from, anyhow?" "We just find them," admitted Furhich. "We have contacts in the main towns. Whenever Discord does a big doozy on one of them, we step in and try to rescue the remainder. That's how our numbers keep on growing, also." The thought suddenly entered her mind. "So... does that make them orphans?" "Sadly so," replied Furhich. Something in his voice suggested that he was wondering what sort of obvious question that was. "Well, at least until you adopt them. I see that Luna's grown very fond of you." "Well, you know. I suppose she just grew on me," said Caughlin offhandedly. She had to be careful. If she let on too much, Furhich might see her as more of a stumbling block than before and decide to get rid of her prematurely. "But that's good, isn't it? Look how happy Luna is." She's happy enough without you messing around! Stop looking at her! "I'm honestly hoping that you could do the same for Celestia." Wait... you are? Furhich shrugged and went on: "After all, while we are doing our best to minimize the pain, we can't prevent it completely. The poor soul will need a parent figure for reassurance, and you're the perfect candidate. Also, this is why you have to make sure the alicornification runs perfectly." Suddenly, there was an evil glint in his eyes. "I don't think you've been shown the plans, have you? But you see, due to the complications of the acceleration spell, we have to divide her thaumical field into halves. We will give her anesthetics to numb her, but we are still not sure what the long-term implications are." "Wait, what?" Caughlin's mind began racing once more. Split thaumical fields? But that meant- "Yes. Basically, we have divided the essence of her being, and placed the acceleration spell in the core. The other half has been retrieved and mixed into the alicorn components. So the foal Celestia has only half a base field in her now." Furhich put on a pained expression, although the glint only seemed to worsen. "It is for the best, really. By placing the acceleration spell - we call it the Accelerat, by the way - deep into the centre, we can lessen the pain involved during her growth. It would be, ah, closer to the natural way of things, don't you agree?" I was wrong. Furhich didn't just want to engineer a faster-growing alicorn, he changed the constitution of her essence altogether. This is insane. But it also means that- "But when she's unified with the amalgam of characteristics, her essence will be rejoined, isn't that right?" asked Caughlin tersely. "Er, hypothetically." An emphatic nod, like a teacher pleased with a student's answer. "Yes, precisely. Spot on! Of course, that is why we need you to perform a perfect directorship once more, or else who knows what will happen to the dear?" The words were stinging, and it was all she could do to stop herself from lashing out again. "We believe that the tendencies of such things like essence to... reunite on their own should come in handy. I am told that they were like rubber bands, they just pull together if you stretch them. So her body would be much more accepting of the amalgam, and the Accelerat along with it." "I understand. Thank you, Furhich." "My pleasure, Caughlin." She was trapped, now an unwilling pawn. Either she gave her full support into the second alicornification, and made sure Celestia survived, or she sacrifice her and leave her with half a field, with death the most likely option. It was most likely that her essence had already been divided, and was simply awaiting transportation. It was sickening. She was treated no better than a rock or a piece of research! But it also meant that Furhich was determined to have his way. Unless she figured out how to reconstruct Celestia's being without going through the process... She felt the remainder of her hope dissolve. There was no way out, at least for now. That night, after she made sure Luna was asleep, she told Whooves everything, and hugged it out. "Shattered in less than a day," whispered Caughlin. "I have no idea what to do... but it's okay, Whooves. We can make new plans, right? Maybe you've got some ideas..." "I'm more concerned that he's not briefing you even when you asked for it," murmured Whooves. "If he wanted you to do a good job, then he'd have told you what to do with the Accelerat." "I don't know, Whooves. I really don't." She let go of him at last. "I'm tired and I'm worried, Whooves. This is spinning out of control." He clasped her hooves in his. "Even if that's the case, I want you to know that I'm in this with you, okay. If we spin out of control or whatever, we do it together." After Whooves left, before she slept, she tried out something she had never done before. To anypony up there, anypony at all, she thought, if you can hear me, then please help us all. I know this is a sudden request, but hey, I'm sure it's not the first time, and if you've heard me, maybe you could just spare a bit more time to work your powers or something. Because I'd really appreciate it - I can't do anything anymore.