//------------------------------// // CH 7: Fight And Flight // Story: Bridging Ages, Bridging Worlds // by BlueDWarrior //------------------------------// === BABW: A New (Old) Magic === === Chapter 7: Fight and Flight ===   [ October 02, 2080 – Seattle, USA ]             It was another rainy, autumn night in Seattle. Ethan tossed and turned in his bed; his nightmares continuing to plague his psyche.   ----- -----   He had managed to get a pass into the Seattle Domes for the day, and decided to go to the airport to register for a pilots permit. When he listed his address, the manager just laughed at the fact this Outsider fool was trying to get a permit. Nevertheless, he approved the permit and showed Ethan to the hangar where the beginners’ planes rested.   Why was he laughing like that, it said that all qualified comers could get permits... Ethan was in the air now. The plane was somewhat beat-up and rickety, but it was holding well enough in the air by his standards. His father and grandfather were some of the last remaining Outsider pilots, getting a license before the AIs took over as pilots for general purpose aircraft. He saw no better way to honor them than to become a pilot himself, even if he had to jump through a lot more hoops to do it.   Man look at the ground, I can see the Domes, and the slums... beautiful and depressing...   Then a pair of strange looking jets appeared out of nowhere and had him flanked on each end. They were sending signals for him to land and return his plane. He sent the relevant information that he had proper clearance to fly and everything. That's when things started to go south, and fast.   OUTSIDERS LIKE YOU AREN'T ALLOWED IN THE SKIES!!   The booming voice resounded everywhere Ethan could perceive. It was definitely not coming over the com-link, but he really didn't have any time to wonder what the hell he was hearing. In a flash, the planes broke their flanking formation in order to tail him. Then... BOOM! Ethan and his aircraft were rocked by a pair of missiles taking out both wings, and with it any power for him to stay airborne.   What the hell... why.... WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! Ethan tried to eject, but the seat didn't work. The fuselage had become a rapidly falling coffin. Ethan was going to be an example; an example to the rest of the Outsiders that slum rats did not deserve to be in the air.   Someone... SOMEONE... Help me... I'M STUCK, SOMEONE HELP ME... PLEASE!   The fuselage was disintegrating, and before long Ethan was in pure free-fall, with no parachute or anything to slow him down before a terminal impact.   I just wanted to fly... I just wanted to fly... I just wanted to fly...   He was not flying, but falling... falling... falling... and before he hit the ground... nothing. Then he woke up, body covered in a cold sweat.   ----- -----             Ethan snapped awake, heart pounding and body dripping in sweat despite the climate-controlled apartment he slept in. Every goddamn night it’s the same thing over and over again. Even when I’m with Natasha I got this horror film playing in my head constantly. Ethan felt he was being thrown through a wringer; and it was starting to wear him down mentally. “Ethan… I can see you’re awake. I guess you must have had a replay on that nightmare you’ve been complaining about these last couple of months…” Natasha said over their private-link. Ethan and Natasha had taken to keeping a private video-link open and on stand-by with each other, ever since their nightmares had begun to intensify in the preceding several weeks. Ethan sighed as he looked at the monitor on his terminal. “Yeah. Honestly I’m just sick and tired of it. Ever since I’ve gotten out of the service, this whole need to get back into the air won’t go away; and neither will the airports refusal to grant me a pilot’s license. Same bullshit about not letting anyone outside the Domes set foot in a human-operated cockpit except on a guided tour.” Natasha was inwardly distressed she couldn’t be there to physically comfort her boyfriend, but held her countenance firm, or at least as firm as she could manage at three in the morning. “I wish everything was, as one could say, sunshine and rainbows on my end, but my own nightmares seem to refuse to leave me either. And then, on top of that, my superior has just dumped a rather strange case in my lap.” “A strange case?” Ethan asked, his interest piqued by the sudden turn in the tone of voice of his girlfriend. “Yeah, we have an informant we are trying to get open up about a local Mafia family, so I’m gonna be shuttling between Boston and New York City for the foreseeable future,” Natasha replied, hoping she didn’t have to spend that much time in Manhattan. “That’s kinda rough, but when you have a job to do, you do it, right?” “Right.”   Ethan looked at his messages from the previous evening he hadn’t read through yet, and saw a couple from Andre. Man, Andre can really type. I guess he has to concentrate more since no fingers, but this is still impressive.   “You know, our mutual, blue, and obviously Converted friend has made me think…” Ethan started, noting Natasha still hadn’t signed off yet. “Yeah Ethan?” “Do you think it’s time for us to take the plunge?” “Eventually, although you know how work is. I would suspect being able to go ‘under’ until this with the informant is settled, at the earliest.” “And we probably won’t have an opportunity for personal time until then, anyway.” “I doubt it…” “So I guess that settles it, I’ll go first. Problem is when, honestly,”   The two lovers looked at each other with resolve through the camera, and both chuckled with mild bemusement about the decision they had both come to. “So we really just made this life-altering decision at three in the morning Eastern Time?” Ethan said as he looked up at the ceiling. “It seems so. You and Andre can be more impulsive than you realize,” Natasha chided briefly. “Well, I know you’ll be there to back me up. Let’s hope Kyoko will be there to back Andre up,” Ethan mused before yawning.     [ October 05, 2080 – Seattle, USA ]             It was the middle of the afternoon, and Ethan was walking around his apartment, dealing with a rather severe case of intermittent boredom. Ever since Natasha had been assigned to the hot case she couldn’t, by law, speak of other than the fact that it kept her busy all day and night. So that left him in-between worrying about his own internal issues, and trying to find a distraction that’d keep him from said issues. With little else to do, he decided to talk to a certain literally blue friend of his.   “Yo Andre, if you’re free, can you come to a terminal? I wanna chat with you about something,” Ethan spoke into the microphone. The terminal duly recorded the message and sent it off to Andre’s account.   About three minutes later, Ethan got a video-link to the Isegawa Laboratories. “Yeah man, you wanted to talk to me?” Andre replied, with a thick towel in his telekinetic grip. “It seems like Miss Sparkle has been running you hard again…” Ethan chuckled, noticing how Andre was still breathing a little heavy. “You can say that. That mare certainly isn’t shy about saying where you are lacking in your studies. Then again given her position, she has every right to talk about Ponies when it comes to stuff like that,” Andre responded, looking to see if Twilight had come back inside yet. “It’s good to see you are adjusting well.” “Yeah, it’s been a little easier than I thought it would be, but I think that’s because I’m not doing anything particularly strenuous yet.” Ethan looked around, thinking to himself for a bit, before he finally decided he may as well just cut to the chase. “Andre, um… Natasha and I have been thinking that we both wanted to undergo Conversion. I mean, she’s been confiding in me that her job has been leading to some increasing stress on her part. And I’m just kinda sitting here spinning my wheels and not going anywhere.” “So you’ve come to me for advice or something?” Andre interrupted. “In a sense; or at least the perspective of someone that’s already gone through it.” Ethan acceded. “Well it’s fairer to say I’m still going through it. I don’t know how long it will take me to really feel more like Blue Vague than Andre Bowman.” Andre corrected, as Twilight was walking past the terminal he was sitting at. “Oh is that Ethan?” Twilight asked, her attention drawn to the slightly copper-skinned man on the video-chat window. “Yeah it’s me. How are you doing Miss Sparkle?” Ethan responded. “Please, you can call me Twilight. I mean we do have a mutual friend and acquaintance now, isn’t that right Vague?” Twilight said, giggling a bit as nudged Andre in the shoulder. Andre chuckled a bit at Twilight calling him by his new Pony name. “Yeah that’s true enough now.” “Anyway, I’m… actually kinda embarrassed at the reason that prompted me to think seriously about Conversion,” Ethan stated with an obvious tone of embarrassment. “Huh, what is it?” Andre and Twilight asked in unison, both a bit surprised they thought of the same phrasing. “Alright, well here goes nothing,” Ethan started, as drew in a deep breath. “Andre, you know how I’ve been trying for a long time to get my civilian’s pilot license, right?” “Yeah…” Andre responded, thinking internally he could see where Ethan’s logic was going. “Well, at some point in the last three days, I got to thinking: even if by some miracle I got my pilot’s license from one of the Dome-owned airports, where exactly could I go and what could I do with that plane. I mean it’s not like I could just fly anywhere, and at any time. And then how I would I even maintain the machine?” He sounds like a certain Pegasus I know really well… Twilight thought to herself as she continued to listen intently at the human on the other side of the video-line. “And, well, at some point. I thought that I’d rather take the 1-in-3 chance of becoming a Pegasus through Conversion than sit here and continue to be an ostrich in a cage.”   “You know, I would try and argue the point of ‘This is a major life altering decision and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.’ But then I wonder if I am exactly the right Pony to be making that argument,” Andre said as he leaned back in his conic chair a bit. “And I don’t to seem like I’m trying to foist a decision upon you, either…” Twilight thought out loud, as she thought along a different track internally. Finally both the stallion and man saw her eyes light up, as she was apparently stricken with sudden inspiration. “I know! Ethan, Can you make an excursion to Chicago?” “Yeah, my stipend should cover that. Haven’t really had anything to spend it on,” Ethan replied. “I think you need to talk to a friend of mine. I’ll send your information on ahead so they know you are a guest and not a client. Well that is if you agree to go, of course?” Twilight asked, with somewhat pleading eyes. Ethan ruminated on the idea for a moment, before he gave his answer. “Since Natasha is tied down with work, I should be clear to swing this. Andre, can you leave a message to her that I’m gonna be in Chicago for a couple of days though? She may on the job so I wanted someone else to help coroborate the story.” “Oh! Yeah sure thing, man,” Andre replied, as he waited for Ethan to send his message first.   As Ethan closed the video link, Andre and Twilight continued to sit next to the terminal while they contemplated what the young man was about to go say and do. “So who is this friend you were speaking about?” Andre said as he dismounted the conic chair he was sitting in. The two Unicorns walked toward the kitchen area of the residency halls of the Isegawa’s complex as they continued their conversation, with Twilight Sparkle answer the earlier question. “Oh, if I have a beat on Ethan’s thought patterns… trust me. She will be the perfect Pony to talk to regarding Ethan’s future here or in Equestria, possibly.” “I hope so, I just don’t want to see him get to point I was at a few weeks ago,” Andre responded, as they began to fix an after-lesson snack.     [ October 07, 2080 – Chicago, USA ]             “So here I am, the Chicago Conversion Bureau,” Ethan thought aloud. Natasha had finally caught up to him and forced him to agree to not convert while there, but otherwise wished him luck in his meeting with whomever Twilight was referring to. After a few minutes with the receptionist and applying the guest badge (as to not be bothered by the workers who were shuttling forms to and fro), Ethan sat in the lobby, looking at the assortment of humanity that was taking advantage of the opportunity. He noticed the population was more middle-aged than anything, and quite a number of vagabonds in the lobby filling out the requisite forms. Well I guess these would be people who have already lost much of what they had before the Singularity really took hold… Ethan thought to himself before a cheery voice broke him out of the internal monologue he was about to start.   “Ok Mr. Hartford, the Director will see you now, just follow me~” the aquamarine Earth Pony chirped. “Boy you are really chipper, aren’t you?” Ethan mused as he walked with the mare that came up to his hip thereabout. The pair walked down an out of the way hallway, which Ethan reasoned to be a service path, toward some clearing out in back of the Bureau. “Of course I am! The people here are going through a lot, and the idea of changing species to make a better life for yourself has to be wrenching. So we have to put our best hoof forward and make them as comfortable as possible!” The mare said with quite a bit of confidence in her purpose. “Yeah, that’d make sense,” Ethan concluded as they stepped through the doors.             When the two of them emerged from the hallway, Ethan was struck by what he saw: a long rainbow-colored contrail following a sky-blue blur that was, despite its speed, gracefully banking and twisting in the sky. Ethan found himself almost fixated on the small display of aerial showmanship by the Pegasus that had to compromise that blur. “Who is that up there? They must be crazy good at flight to be moving like that!” Ethan asked, somewhat slack-jawed as he did. “Oh I’ll let her tell you for herself, she is expecting you and everything,” the earth pony mare started. “Oh Director! Your Guest is here to see you!” Ethan shook his head trying to stop the ringing of his ears from the sudden shouting by said Earth Pony mare. The blur immediately broke off its pattern and shot toward the pair like a comet. Ethan reflexively brought his forearms up to his face to shield himself; but the blur instead shot through the small gap in-between the human and the Earth Pony, coming to a pin-point stop in-between the second gap between the pair and the doors leading back into the service hallway. “And another perfect landing by yours truly~!” the sky-blue Pegasus mare crowed, as she took off her goggles and straightened out her mussed six-toned mane. The Earth Pony mare applauded, while the human tried to straighten out his own hair from the onrush of wind that followed the Pegasus when she landed. Well that explains the color of the blur and the contrail… Ethan mused as he looked over the figure standing now in-front of him. She was a lithe but still muscular, cyan like the color of the sky sans pollution, and her mane and tail were every major hue of the rainbow, minus indigo. What impressed Ethan the most were her wings, they were like bird’s wings, except not quite. In fact Ethan was so impressed by the Pegasus’s wings, he found himself staring quite intently at them, which got a small rise out of said Pegasus. “Oh you must be that guy that Twilight was talking about. So you see something you like already?” The mare asked with a teasing tone, waggling her eyebrows as she hovered at Ethan’s natural eye level. “Do you want me to answer honestly?” Ethan responded nervously, as he felt he was about to say something very uncouth to the Pegasus if he did. “Yes, yes I do!” the Pegasus answered, her teasing tone shifting to annoyance. “Your wings,” Ethan responded, immediately looking off to the side as he did. “My what?” the Pegasus responded with her own question, not knowing how exactly to take such a response. Alright Twilight, what exactly did you just rope me into now?! “I’ll just take that as my cue to leave, see you all inside after a while!” the Earth Pony mare nervously chuckled as she ducked past the Director and went back inside to her primary responsibilities. The two that were left outside just stared at each other nervously for some time, before the cyan Pegasus began cracking up giggling. “Oh man! My wings? Really!? I was expecting a whole lot worse!” she giggled as she drifted to the ground, laughing all the while. “How much worse?” Ethan asked, wondering where exactly the giggling Pony was going with this. “My flank for starters!” the mare responded, rolling over on her backside, showing off her Cutie Marks (as well as other things). Yeah that… would have been really weird… Ethan thought to himself as the apparent Director of this facility pointed out a bench the two of them could sit on nearby.             After a few more moments of intermittent laughter, the cyan Pegasus finally calmed down long enough to formally introduce herself. “Hey, my name is Rainbow Dash, and I’m the proud Director of this fine facility!” Ethan gently shook the outstretched hoof of the cyan Pegasus, who had noticeably calmed her joking demeanor down; quietly noting the strange feeling he got when he touched the end of her hooves. It’s like they have some kind of invisible adhesive on the ends of their legs… I guess their Magic is a lot more subtle than I thought… “Anyway, Ethan was it? Were you serious about that whole ‘staring at my wings’ thing?” Rainbow Dash asked, her tone of voice maintaining what was for her even-ness. “Yeah, as weird as it may sound; I’m kinda hung up on the idea of flight. I dunno if Twilight sent you any of my personal biography before this meeting, but I just got out of the American Air Force as an active-duty pilot,” Ethan started, now feeling more comfortable to let some of his personal information drip out to the Pegasus. “Hrm, yeah I remember reading that last night. She didn’t tell me much more, I guess that Andre she got the info from was trying to keep everything general. Though she did tell me you had a girlfriend that was apparently tied up with something?”   ---- Meanwhile in New York City --------   I really don’t like where this is all going. This cell is Russian; definitely Russian. I just hope and pray the informant isn’t related to who I think they may be related to, otherwise there might be some real complications with this assignment… Natasha thought to herself as flicked her now auburn hair out of her eyes, the disguise she had put on working more or less as intended so far.   ----------------------------------------   “Yeah, she works as a, detective, if you will. They got her on a major case with some guy that they are trying to get information out of, and she’s gonna be tied up in New York City for the near future,” Ethan replied, careful to not give away the fact his girlfriend was active CIA. “Oh really, I have someone who is working high up in the Bureau in New York City. Who knows, they might run into each other?” Rainbow Dash chuckled as she thought about the pearl-white Unicorn and what she might be doing at the current date and time.   ----- Elsewhere in New York City -------   “I do wonder what this man this American intelligence agency keeps talking about looks like. And why said agency and the Equestrian Bureau of Intelligence see fit to involve this Bureau in these, negotiations,” Rarity thought to herself as she looked over the several memos that had come in regarding the subject. “If I knew I was going to be wrapped up in some kind of spy drama, I would have brought a nice red dress for the occasion.”   ----------------------------------------   “No telling. But I guess if she is a friend of yours, she’d have that place running in top shape like this one,” Ethan responded, wondering what kind of Pony Rainbow Dash was talking about. “Yeah, I don’t doubt her abilities at all. Though she can be a bit of a drama queen, if you know what I mean,” Rainbow Dash concluded, giggling a bit more as she recalled a few incidents here and there. I guess we’re all growing up even though we’re already adults, huh?  Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she looked out into the open sky. “I’d like to meet her when all of this is resolved, it seems like you a pretty nice group you run with,” Ethan said as he lounged on the bench, look in the same general spot that Rainbow was. “I heard nothing but good from Twilight about your little group as well, who knows, we might get ourselves wrapped up in some big adventure~!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, waving her hooves and forming an arc in the air. “That’d just be our luck, here I am wondering what I am going to do with myself. And then BOOM! Bouncing between worlds in some big grand story,” Ethan chuckled as he continued to stare into the sparsely clouded sky. “So what prompted all of this? You seem young and healthy, not like most we got coming through the Bureaus right now,” Rainbow Dash asked, as she looked up a bit into the face of Ethan. “That goes back to my earlier answer about your wings, Rainbow Dash. While you’re attractive, I’ll say that much; when I mentioned your wings, it had more to do with me than anything,” Ethan started, as Rainbow Dash turned on the bench to face him directly. “You see, like I said bit ago, I was a pilot. It was mostly out of a sense of service to the country, and service to my family. A lot of the men on my father’s side of the family, and a few of the ladies, have gone into aviation in some respect: pilots, engineers, even stewards and stewardesses. We’re a family that’s almost bred for being airborne, I figure. But then, as you have probably read up on by now, the AIs and other drone machines began running people out of those lines of work. Now the only way you get in the air is if you are working for a Dome-run airline or related service. And let’s say they don’t have the best history of hiring Outsiders.” “So you became a pilot because you wanted to continue the family tradition of aviation; even though the machines and the ownership were making it harder and harder to do so?” Rainbow Dash asked, hoping she understood this bit of his personal and family history. “Yeah. But it goes deeper than that. I don’t want to fly just because my father and grandfather flew. I want to fly because I really want to fly. I hardly know how to describe it. It’s like there is something embedded into my psyche that wants to be in the air. But if I stay like I am now, I’ll be like an ostrich in a cage.” “Hrm… ostrich in a cage?” Rainbow Dash repeated, as she ruminated on the simile. “Let’s see, a flightless bird that can’t go anywhere except where the cage owner wants them to be?” “Yep, you must be pretty well read for an athlete,” Ethan mused while he looked over a Pegasus once again, noting the consternation in her face. “What told you I was an athlete, and what makes you think I’m not ‘well read’?” Rainbow Dash asked in a snippy and snide tone. “For one thing you are a lot more toned than Twilight, so I had to assume that you were athletically-inclined. And you were using a fair amount of vocabulary, so you had to have been reading a lot when not training,” Ethan surmised for the Pegasus. “Hrm… well, yeah you are kinda right. I should show you some of the books I read, when they rotate me out of running this place. Pretty sure they don’t want me and my friends sitting here in the Director’s chair for too much longer,” Rainbow Dash stated, noting internally that Ethan himself was far smarter than he looked. “Yeah, you may have to do that,” Ethan concluded.   “Far be it from me to talk someone out of Conversion, but you do know the risk right? If you have your heart set on a pair of wings, you can just as easily end up with a horn or heavy set legs, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, not sure if she should have soured the mood like she might have.   “I know, I read the copies of the brochures that Andre had kept when he converted. There are equal odds for becoming any one sub-group of Pony,” Ethan started, as he looked back at the now concerned Pegasus. “But I am willing to roll the dice with my own body if it means going from a caged ostrich to a soaring eagle.” “Are you sure you were a pilot and not a poet?” Rainbow Dash said with some mirth, gently ribbing the twice as large human. “You know, my girlfriend asks me the same question sometimes,” Ethan responded, his decision now much more solid in his mind.   Rainbow Dash leaned back into the bench, swirling the air around her hooves a bit as she let her mind drift toward another question. “Can I ask you something?” “Yeah, Rainbow?” Ethan replied, as he watched wisps of gas swirl around the mare’s fore-hoof. “What do you think Loyalty is?” the mare asked. Ethan rose back to his feet, and paced a bit, before he settled on his answer. “What do I think Loyalty is? Hrm, well I think Loyalty a willingness to hold fast to a belief, either in an idea or a person, despite all the circumstances that swirl around yourself or that other person or idea. That no matter what maelstrom may engulf your or your fellow travellers; you will remain at their side and supportive of them.” Rainbow Dash slipped off the lacquered wood bench for herself, and strode next to the human, as they began walking together back into the Bureau proper. “No matter what type of Pony you might end up as Ethan, I can see you will remain with your girlfriend and the rest of your friends as a strong and loyal friend. So I guess what I am trying to say is… just don’t be afraid, I really think this is going work out for the best for you and the rest of them, okay!”   Ethan looked down to see the cyan Pony looking up at him with a wide smile, as much as he tried to internally deny it, it made him feel much more at ease about the decision he was going to make. The only question that lingered in his mind…   Well I’m gonna go ahead and do it… but where am I going to do it. I already promised her that I wouldn’t sign up here in Chicago during this meeting so that’s right out. Hrm… I wonder if the Isegawas would mind a couple more house guests…   ----- -----   “No we wouldn’t mind a couple more house guests, just so long as you pay normal lodging rate until we get some other things sorted out,” Dr. Hayato responded, as he swiped some figures across a tablet computer, seeing that adding two more guests wouldn’t impact the facilities expenses too much.     [ October 09, 2080 – St. Louis Conversion Bureau ]   “And that’s why I’m here right now, so what’s new on your end?!” Rainbow Dash said with a clear excited tone as she and Twilight walked back toward the lobby of the Bureau. “Wait, so the Princesses were planning on rotating us all out. And she A) released you first and B) didn’t tell me first to start with?” Twilight Sparkle asked incredulously, rubbing her neck as the cyan Pegasus had decided to make a literally impactful entrance. “I dunno. She said something about ‘making sure we didn’t slack off knowing we were going to be relieved of duty in the coming days and weeks’,” Rainbow Dash replied nervously. “Somehow I think that little statement was directed at you specifically, Dash,” Twilight concluded with a bit of a snarky tone. “Hey, well, I had that place running like a well-oiled machine when I was there. I can only hope my successor has as much luck,” Rainbow Dash added, puffing her chest out a bit as she did.   -----   A short while later, the two Ponies approached the small cluster of three humans and a slightly larger blue Unicorn stallion. “Oh hey Ethan, these must have been your friends you were talking about. Although you didn’t tell me that one of them had converted already,” Rainbow Dash started before looking at the stallion, who was looking a tad nervous. “You must be Blue Vague then, right?” “Yeah, that’d be me,” Andre answered tepidly, not sure what exact tone to take with the newcomer. “Oh man, you must be having fun with Twilight during your practice, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked while chuckling. “You can say that… I guess…” Andre answered, nervously laughing as well. “Ok. So that must make you Natasha,” Rainbow Dash said to the taller woman with the half blonde/half auburn hair. “And that would make you… Kyoko, right?” she finished as she looked at the somewhat shorter black-haired woman with the green highlights. “Yeah that’d be us,” Natasha and Kyoko answered in unison. “That’s great. I remembered all your descriptions from Twilight’s messages, we’re gonna get along great, I bet!” Dash exclaimed, her enthusiasm being quite infectious. “You know having her right there is making this whole thing easier…” Ethan mused aloud as he signed the last couple of lines on the admission forms. “I’m really nervous about this; and I can only be here in St. Louis until the day after you Convert,” Natasha groaned. She hated the fact she had to be apart from Ethan when he’d be at his theoretical most vulnerable. “That is just how your line of work is. Let’s just hope that things stay calm enough to where you can get back here once they let me out of rehab, ok?” Ethan replied, as he hugged his girlfriend. “Yeah, I’m hoping so too,” Natasha replied with a bit more cheer in her voice. “It’ll be nice to have you at the Inn-Clinic for a while, anyway, Natasha,” Kyoko replied, as she thought ahead to some things she could do with Natasha for the next four days or so. “Speaking of which… am I going to be rooming here at the Bureau or with you all back at that Inn-Clinic Kyoko was talking about,” Rainbow Dash asked with some mild concern. “Oh, yeah. Dr. Hayato was saying that he was almost done with a surprise for all of us, so you and me are going to be roommates for the time being,” Twilight replied, with a smile on her face. “WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her wings sprung wide in surprise. Twilight laughed uproariously at the rainbow-maned Pegasus’s response. “Oh my, Dash. You should have seen your face just now. But seriously, he has a room already squared away for you at the Inn part of the facility. I was just having a little fun with you.” “Well you sure could have fooled me,” Rainbow Dash replied, as she folded her forelegs and sat on the ground in a mild huff.   Boy those two must be close friends to joke around like that… Andre thought to himself, as his thoughts drifted to sharing a room with Kyoko in the near future… possibly.   -----   “We seem to be taking on quite a few houseguests, dear,” Dr. Jun mused aloud, as she looked out at the 90% complete dormitories out in the rear of the property they managed. “And that is the reason why Mr. Edwards spared us a few dollars to have this built and furnished; it helps to have a few magical Ponies and a few rich benefactors as acquaintances, does it not?” Dr. Hayato replied, as a couple of human workers and a Pony were walking into the dormitory building, apparently to fine-tune some more of the interior. “So when should this be up and running?” Jun asked of her husband. “Assuming no complications, by the time Ethan is done with his rehab after his Conversion. Hopefully the assignment his girlfriend is working on will be wrapping up by then as well; I can’t imagine the strain this could be causing on their relationship,” Hayato responded in kind. “And what of our daughter’s budding relationship with that nice now-blue-Unicorn?” Jun then asked. “That… is harder for me to predict. I have a hunch it’s going to work out eventually for them, but there are still more hurdles they are going to have to clear before they can start in earnest,” Hayato responded. And it’s patently clear what the biggest one is… I probably should have seen this coming but… I don’t know what I am going to do when that day finally comes… Hayato then thought to himself as he and his wife walked back into the Clinic proper.   [ October 12, 2080 – St. Louis Conversion Bureau ] “Tick tock goes the clock, and the sand slips evermore through the hourglass…” Ethan mused aloud, as he watched another fresh Convert take their first few ginger steps back toward the client dorms to await their first real day of rehabilitation. “So baby, are you nervous about this. Because I know I’m petrified right now,” Natasha groaned as she leaned in on the slightly tan young man, her hair nearly completely blonde again. “Yeah, then we’re both on pins and needles about this. Even though I want to go through with it, all these questions swirling around in my head just won’t stop,” Ethan confessed; the anxiety evident on his face. Natasha looked up, and saw his hazel eyes filled with the odd juxtaposition of nervousness and resilience. She took Ethan’s hand into her own, and leaned in a little closer, so she could whisper more or less out of earshot of the others that were only halfway paying attention. “This is our decision. We’re going to see this through, no matter what it takes, or what trouble we come across.” Ethan responded by grabbing Natasha around her shoulder and far-side arm, and pulling her into a hug, which she accepted readily. “I know. Let’s just hope that this transition phase is over sooner rather than later, alright?” Natasha nodded in response as she backed away to let Ethan stand up.             As Ethan got up, almost on cue, Twilight Sparkle strode through the double doors leading toward the elevator that led to the underground Conversion Rooms. “Ok then, Mr. Ethan Hartford. We are ready to begin your session. If you and Rainbow Dash will just follow me inside, we can go ahead and be on our way.” “Wait, why is Miss Dash coming with us?” Ethan asked, as he walked over toward Twilight. “Because she asked politely to help monitor you during your Conversion, and I will still be there just to make sure she doesn’t do anything she shouldn’t be,” Twilight replied with an even, business-like tone. “I will be on my best behavior, you won’t have to worry about a thing,” Rainbow Dash added, reassuring Ethan somewhat. And besides, I have a hunch there is something that I’ll need to see personally during all of this…   -----             After the somewhat long walk down to the ‘operation’ room, Ethan sat on the stiff bed with a smock on and holding the purple nectar-like liquid that would alter his life forever. Well, here goes nothing… Ethan thought as he downed said liquid, gently placed the plastic cup back on the service table, and promptly passed out a few moments after…   ~~~---~~~     After falling asleep, he began to have a vision. He had heard that the Conversion process was as much a spiritual journey as it was a physical change, so he wasn't surprised at first that he was floating around like a disembodied soul. Then the true meat of the vision hit him.   Well this seems pretty ok and ... Sweet Mother of all Creation ...   First he was staring at the ocean... an ocean that you could almost see straight through to the bottom. He saw Ponies swimming along the surface, he saw Ponies on boats, he saw Ponies apparently water-skiing, he almost swore he saw something Pony-like living in the water but he figured that was too weird even for this vision.   It's so clean, water so clean... if I had hands I could reach in and drink it and never get sick...   Then he was floating along the ground, he could see fields stretching into the horizon, forests so green and healthy, every manner and type of flower and fruit. He saw Earth Ponies tending the soil, singing to the plants and having them grow, singing to the ground and having it become more fertile, seemingly singing to ordinary rocks and watching them grow into massive megaliths for quarrying. He found it strange but that was Magic for you.   The plants, the animals, even the ground itself look so clean and healthy...   What truly grabbed at his soul was flying around the sky on a cloud-platform. He saw the Pegasi actively managing the weather: directing where the winds would blow, where the sun would shine, and where the rain and snow would fall. They had actively taken control of the skies, but they were not selfish. They had all of this ability to determine who lived and who died, but they did not see it that way. They clearly showed without speaking they were working for the benefit of all, not just for the enrichment of themselves.   They rule the skies, they literally rule the skies. Yet they don't discriminate, they don't bully and coerce the Earth Ponies or Unicorns into compliance. They all work for the same thing, the same goal, they all want to preserve Life...   He then saw all 3 at the same time, coming together to form a seamless world: the Unicorns enjoying the ocean, the Earth Ponies tending the land, the Pegasi managing the skies. He then heard a voice in unison say to him with all kindness and earnestness:   Welcome our new brother. We graciously await your arrival in our lands. Soon your heart shall be put at ease you embark on a new journey of self-discovery.   Ethan wanted this world so badly now, a world where everyone wasn't scrapping like dogs just to get by; where everything didn't seem to want you dead. It was a world where 'life' didn't mean just simply existing from day to day.               His soul body was then sent, via the same cloud-platform, to a vision of Canterlot Castle, though Ethan wouldn’t recognize it as such. Just as fast as he had arrived, he came to a screeching halt, as he was surrounded by all the trappings of the combined Day and Night Courts, and a slightly faded and phantasmal facsimile of Princesses Celestia and Luna. “Ethan Hartford, we have heeded your request to join our Herd,” began the fragment of Celestia’s grace embedded into the serum. “Before we may proceed, you must understand that once the process begins, it cannot be reversed in any way. Are you willing to accept those conditions and all that may come hereafter?” added the fragment of Luna’s power.   Ethan took a deep breath before he answered. “I understand Princesses. I do wish to join your Herd, and I do understand once this begins, I cannot take this decision back.”   A bright light emerged from the two ghostly Alicorns, as a vaguely Alicorn-like Pony made of light appeared before Ethan’s Astral form. “This phantom Pony represents your new Spark of Life. It will allow you to fully live the rest of your days as if you were born into our Herd from the beginning. It will also allow you access to the innate Magics all Ponies possess, depending on the exact form you take once the process is concluded. Whenever you are ready to proceed, you merely need to touch the phantom sitting before you,” Celestia’s ‘ghost’ added, her tone welcoming and matronly. Ethan nervously approached the somewhat shifting form of the phantom light Pony, and stuck his own phantom hand inside. Once he did, he immediately felt a sudden gale force wind erupt from seemingly everywhere at once. ~~~---~~~ "Twilight... is the person undergoing Conversion supposed to glow one color and then change colors when transforming?" Rainbow Dash asked, Twilight had her back turned not paying attention at first. "No Rainbow they... OH MY LUNA IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN! CODE YELLOW WE HAVE A CODE YELLOW!!!!" Twilight exclaimed, starting to run around like someone set her mane on fire. "What in Tatarus is a 'Code Yellow'?"  Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. "I don't know but I need to contact Princess Celestia; give me a second!" Twilight barked, trying to contact Celestia mentally. It looks more like non-metallic gold to me anyway, and something is telling me that this -should- be happening... Rainbow Dash thought, feeling the Element of Loyalty react to the sudden outburst of unfamiliar magic.   ~~~---~~~ “This wind is tearing me aparrrrt!!” Ethan screamed as a golden energy poured out of his body, his hand still stuck in the phantasmal Pony that was to represent his new ‘self’. I had my suspicions, and now they are starting to bear out… Celestia thought to herself and she and her sister manifested in the Astral Plane, where their phantoms once sat. “Could someone help me!!” Ethan shouted, before another entity separated a golden orb and his phantom-hand from the Pony he was to become. I apologize, but I had to confirm that you possessed one of the Spark I had embedded in the Human population, a voice resounded all though the now modified scene. “Yes this is somewhat familiar to us, Keeper of Earth’s Magic,” Princess Luna stated as she looked at the cave-like shrine; as well as the now quarter-filled arcane circle that Ethan, his Pony Spark, and the apparent Terran Spark were resting on. The ancient voice, the Keeper of Terran Magic, then began to speak. In any case, Bearer of the Terran Shard: I offer unto you a choice. Your soul, as it stands, is irreconcilable with the Spark of the Other World the Keepers have so graciously offered you. This is due to Spark of Terran Magic I have embedded into your soul mixed with your internal turmoil. If you so choose, I may remove the Spark, but it will cause your current identity to collapse, rendering the Pony you would be born as to be a blank slate. If you wish to keep your identity and the Spark, you will be forced to confront your greatest fear. Conquer said fear, and you will keep your identity, Spark, and new body. If the fear conquers you, your soul will be destroyed, and the resulting Pony will be lifeless and inert. Take caution in your choice. Ethan panted for a few seconds, as he ruminated on the decision. Before long though, he came to his final answer. “I have too many friends and a woman who loves me deeply. I cannot run away from this potential trial-by-fire just to save myself further trauma. In other words, I accept whatever trial you put before me!” Remember Child, you must overcome your darkness in order to embrace the light. Succeed, and you will begin walking the Path of Will and Power. Fail and you will only walk the Path of Oblivion. I pray for your ultimate success. With dramatic flair, Ethan saw the entire scene change. Gone were the Princesses manifest in the Astral Plane, replaced by a very familiar set of offices and hangars. Of course… this would be the thing she throws me head first into…   --- === ---          Ethan sat in the chair while the registrar looked over his paperwork. He then heard the laugh, that same incredulous laugh he'd been hearing over and over and over again for the last 3 months, at least. What is he laughing about... don't they know my family history... hell I flew in the Air Force... what's the problem? He was then shown to the hangar, as per the manager's suggestion; he was to give a live demonstration of his flight skills, using an awfully old and generic looking plane. Ethan thought nothing odd about this situation, I mean they couldn’t give flight licenses to just anyone right? Well, it doesn't seem odd that I'd have to do a live demonstration of my skills. I mean they just can let any yahoo up in the air that could claim to fly, could they? Little did Ethan know just who these people would consider to be an un-flightworthy yahoo. The manager motioned over to two seedy looking pilots and said to both of them, well away from what Ethan could hear, Blow him out of the sky, send a message to all those damn Outsiders that the Elite are the only ones allowed in the air! Soon enough, Ethan was in the air again. The plane itself was nothing really to write home about, but it was sturdy and, for all the world, looked safe as could be. So Ethan went about the business of performing all the usual tests and acting upon the requests of the manager and flight instructors. As the flight continued, he noticed a pair of sleek looking fighters pull up on each side of him to flank him. You are unauthorized to enter this airspace. We request that you land immediately. Ethan was obviously confused by this particular request. He was in the middle of a live flight test, and certainly he had clearance to be in this airspace - hell he barely gone anywhere. The pilots of the jets were clearly having none of it. We are issuing our last warning. Clear out of this airspace now, or we will be forced to take action! Ethan was now indignant. What do you mean clear out of this airspace?! I'm in the middle of a flight-test, I have the proper clearances and everything.  As he typed on the on-board computer to send the signal showing his clearance, the computer turned up nothing of the sort. He tried as best he could, going through all the files, but nothing turned up. Wait what the hell, I saw the manager upload the clearances to the onboard navigator, none of this is making sense... That was when he heard the managers voice, not over the com-link, but positively BOOMING all around him. OUTSIDERS LIKE YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE IN OUR AIRSPACE. RATS CAN'T FLY. ONLY EAGLES FLY. ONLY THE ELITE ARE THE EAGLES. RATS LIKE YOU SHOULD JUST STAY ON THE GROUND. SO GO BACK TO THE GROUND WHERE YOU BELONG!!! Ethan was positively freaking out now. What the hell? Where is that voice coming from? Rats, I'm not a da... WHAT THE FUCK?! His plane was rocked, not by missiles, but something else... something more disturbing. Both of the jets had transformed into some kind of monstrosity -  flying metallic demons, unholy fusions of black flesh and black-gray metals. OUTSIDERS STAY ON THE GROUND. ELITE RULE THE AIR. OUTSIDERS STAY ON THE GROUND. ELITE RULE THE AIR. They kept chanting this statement, all the while shredding the wings and tearing at the fuselage. Ethan's plane was barreling completely out of control, and Ethan had no way to eject or fight off the demons. What in the fuck is this... why... What do you mean only the Elite rule the air... What the hell sense does that even make... The demons were not going to listen to any kind of reason now, they had their orders. The wings of the plane were completely torn off, the fuselage shredded and breaking apart. Ethan began his descent, not in a plane, but in complete free-fall, without not even so much as a parachute. Why... why... I just wanted to fly... like my father... I wanted to fly... like my grandfather... all pilots... the legacy... I wanted to honor them... why... Ethan's soul was growing black as pitch, about as black as the giant black-hole like entity he was rapidly descending towards. He was losing his will to pursue his dream, and with it, the will to survive this Trial. Maybe... maybe I can't fly... maybe I should have never flown... maybe I should have just stayed on the ground... He was losing all sense, all will to survive; as he continued falling, falling, falling to the black hole that'd erase him from existence. That is, until he heard a voice... Hey Ethan, if you never flown, would you have met me? Natasha... but... look at me... It was always your dream to fly... what would your father and grandfather think if you just stayed on the ground because some jackasses told you to? They... they wouldn't think anything of me... What would your Air Force mates have said if they heard you just gave up ever trying to fly this soon after getting out of the service? They... they wouldn't think anything of me either... And what about yourself, could you ever face yourself again if you knew that you just gave up on your dream like that? No... I couldn't... I couldn't live with myself... What about all the others... all the other kids that want to fly... don't you think they deserve the same chance to soar the skies without the constant threat of being shot down, literally or figuratively? Yes... Yes, they all deserve that chance... None of them deserve to be pinned to the ground just because of some selfish jackasses... Ethan's soul began to light up again, the will to survive reignited... What makes them think they can say who flies and who doesn't... His descent into the black hole and oblivion slowed to nothing... What makes them think they can say who thrives and who doesn't... The clouds gathered around him, a storm was brewing, but this was a storm of the soul... WHAT MAKES THEM THINK THEY CAN SAY WHO DIES AND WHO DOESN'T?! His Astral Body was sitting on a bed of clouds before the event horizon of the Astral Black Hole. But Ethan didn't see it; he was looking back up, looking up at a golden sky, his golden sky. He was about to become a storm blowing through it and the Earth, the proverbial winds of change. The Domes... the Domes kept me from flying... The military always sent me out, even if the mission was boring, because they respected me and my skills... The Domes hate all Outsiders, they're the ones that tried to kill my dream... My parents gave me my love of flight... The military gave me the skills and the drive to pursue my dreams... But those bastards in the Domes are trying to steal the dream away from me and everyone else like me... The Astral Black Hole shrunk to nothing, as Ethan's soul was now glowing hot like the midday Sun. They try to take everything for themselves... But my parents weren't selfish like them... not even the military was selfish like them... They claim they rule everything... They claim dominion over the seas, land, even the skies... No more... they can't have it... I WON’T LET THEM HAVE IT. THEY CAN'T HAVE DOMINION OVER THE EARTH. PLEASE, PLEASE WHATEVER YOU ARE, VOICE... GIVE ME THE POWER... GIVE ME THE POWER TO TAKE THE EARTH BACK FOR THOSE WHO WILL TRULY RESPECT AND SHARE IT! So you have wished it, so it shall be granted! Ethan could feel the storm winds blowing, but to topple him, but to support him. They were his winds, and they formed a whirlwind leading straight back to the shrine where this entire quest-of-sorts started. --- === --- “That was some kind of trip,” Ethan replied, his soul body becoming more indefinite in form as the Pony he was to be looked at him with earnest anticipation, and the golden-yellow orb of Terran Magic floated around and between the both of them. The ancient voice began to speak, using all the gravitas she could muster as the Keeper of an ancient Power. As you accept both the Spark of Life from the Other World, and the Spark of Terran Magic, you will be reborn as the Conduit of Wind. This will afford you a pathway to a great power, but remember: without the will to control and shape it, it will easily grow out of control and consume you. Always remember that Will and Power must be joined to forge true magic, and to build the New Age that is to come. There are still two others that contain shards of my Power. Once they are found, and if their power is fully realized with the six Bearers of the Will of Equestria, then you Ten can surely forge an age to the betterment of all. Her tone then shifted to the Great Matron of Humanity, as she comforted Ethan as his human form began to dissipate. Before you return to the physical world, know this. Forces may come arrayed against you as there are those who are so weeded to the idea of humanity being supreme, that they cannot accept that they, as a group, may be one of many equal species. Let no one, regardless of what form they take, convince you that they are superior; and be wary to not attempt to promote yourself as superior at the same time. “Don’t worry, miss… um… ancient voice. I will do my best to make sure that everyone can benefit from what I and the others will have to offer,” Ethan answered, now more sure of his decision than ever.   Another quarter of the Terran Circle of Magic filled itself in, as the runes along the eastern quadrant began to glow the same yellow-gold as the Spark that floated along Ethan’s form. “Well that is half the Conduits found, hopefully we do not become bogged down in looking for the other two,” Princess Luna sighed, as she was glad Ethan survived his trail relatively unscathed. “Indeed, Sister. Now let us conclude our business here,” Princess Celestia started. She cleared her throat, and faced Ethan directly. “Do you, Ethan Hartford, accept both of your new roles: as a Pony of our Herd, and the Terran Conduit of the Wind?” “Yes ma’am. I accept both of my new roles in this life.” “The let your Sparks and your souls be joined. And let us forge a New Age for all of our species and societies!” Princess Luna and Celestia boomed.   Ethan calmed himself and allowed both the Equestrian and Terran magics to flow over him. As he did, he had one last thought before he was snapped back to consciousness.   The winds of change are about to blow through this world, and I’m just the one to conduct them! ~~~---~~~ This must be it… the thing you want me to see… isn’t it Loyalty? Rainbow Dash thought to herself, as she looked past the double doors into the ‘operation’ room that Ethan’s glowing body occupied.   Said glow, though, slowly cooled and coalesced into the form of a Pegasus; a Pegasus stallion of brilliant yellow-gold fur and platinum-blonde mane. She also saw around his neck a medallion with a hurricane-like symbol on it, looking as if made out of pure golden-yellow topaz.   "Sorry I couldn't be more decent... things happen... ya know," Ethan said, noticing Rainbow Dash semi-blushing.   "Yeah... they do, don't they," Rainbow Dash replied back, somewhat sheepishly. She was indeed blushing, but not at the mutual nudity.   Good Celestia, he looks like a male Spitfire with a dye job... she thought to herself. A guy she barely knew now reminded her so strongly of her idol.