Bridging Ages, Bridging Worlds

by BlueDWarrior

Ch 3: Changes

=== BABW: A New Beginning ===

=== Chapter 3: Changes ===

The following couple of weeks on Earth, since Celestia’s grand introduction to the Human populace, were nothing short of a hurricane of public relations for the Equestrian VIPs. Celestia personally relished the role of being the point mare and explaining the broad-brush of Equestrian society and government to the voracious Human media. From her perspective it was something that she enjoyed and found necessary, especially given the third phase of her and Luna’s overall plans. Celestia also enjoyed being able to practice all the languages she had magically ‘downloaded’ into her memory, finding the Romance Languages especially to her liking; despite her native Equestrian being audibly parallel to modern English.

And so the days and weeks went, the White Princess showing up on news program after news program. She felt internally frustrated in some respect though, as she had resolved, along with her sister, to not tell all there was to know of Equestria. She feared that the humans, either the lower classes seeking refuge from their plain and boring lives or the upper-classes seeing another hub of resources to exploit, would demand to come streaming into her Nation and her wider world. So, she told the absolute bare minimum she felt the humans needed to know to date - she and her sister were co-equal rulers of the Nation of Equestria, their world was full of real, honest-to-God magic, and pretty much all the population of her nation were Ponies, just like herself (albeit smaller). She also felt that she couldn’t speak for the other major powers of her native planet: the Zebra Tribes, the Gryphon Kingdom, or the Dragon Central Council. Despite that, the humans did not seem to prod all that much beyond the surface of what she and her other VIPs were telling them, though she knew eventually human curiosity will start trying to overturn those rocks.

Some of those VIPs included the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony themselves, Celestia specifically tasking the six of them with helping humanity understand Equestria and Ponydom from a closer-to-earth perspective; so each of them was sent on specific diplomatic missions in the intervening weeks.

Rarity attended a British State Dinner with Queen Bethany, inwardly impressed by the levels of pomp and circumstance that they could manage, all things considered. Rarity thought of how generous they were to her, not even the highest of the rank of foreign dignitaries. And yet at the same time, she could not help but feel as if the humans were almost forcing themselves to put on airs for her, as she travelled the less violent ‘slums’ around West London.

It is somewhat troubling how the nobles and well-to-do on this side could seek to separate themselves so harshly and visibly from the rest of the population. But how do you try and undo what has to be centuries of stratified culture?

-----

Rainbow Dash took in a baseball game in Chicago at the now twice-rebuilt Wrigley Field. She found the sport boring to begin with, but soon understood why so many remained loyal to the Cubs after all the decades.

Man I bet this game will be awesome when they play it with wings; then again… how any of them would hit any home runs... Rainbow thought to herself as she watched the Cubs tie the game with a home run in the late innings, and eventually win in the 13th, on a double to right-center. After the game, as she was ushered out of the luxury box with the other Equestrian dignitaries and human VIPs, she thought about how these people could still show loyalty to a sports team, or even some sort of abstract ideal, even as their leaders had all but abandoned them.

-----

Fluttershy visited several animal preserves and zoos, especially in the more temperate zones. She thanked those running the facilities for trying to maintain the health of the occupants to the best of their ability. At the same time, though, she couldn't help but notice the depression and lack of a joie de vivre in the eyes of the occupants.

It’s strange, all of this to preserve these species is both incredibly kind, and I would guess penance for destroying their habitat to begin with. Yet, at the same time, it is also incredibly cruel that this is all that is left of these species. Humans have so many contradictions and juxtapositions to deal with; how do they do it?

-----

Applejack visited some the larger Dome run farms in the interior of the United States. She learned of the structure of the food distribution on Earth, which quite honestly made her a tad bit miffed. She did restrain her true feelings however, not wanting to cause an incident during her real visit with humans on their turf. She couldn't help but notice that the soil, even with said Agri-Dome, felt weak, and was apparently steadily growing weaker. The farm managers, when speaking to her in a more private setting, confirmed her suspicions, while trying to assure her (to little avail) that their nanomachine and chemical repairs will eventually bear fruit, and help the orchards bear more fruit. She shuddered at what condition humanity would be in if the ‘artificial’ food production Nano-factories weren’t in such wide distribution, especially regarding the so-called ‘Outsiders’.

-----

While Celestia believed that Pinkie Pie and Humanity would not really make a good mesh so early into their public relations campaign, the bubbly pink mare somehow made her way to a music festival near San Francisco. Thankfully, for all sides involved, said bubbly pink mare manage to keep her emotions in check, and merely enjoyed the human music and acts for what they were. While she appreciated all of the effort the live musicians put into their craft, she could recognize from her own research that the number of those live musicians, as well as performers in all the arts, were steadily dwindling over the years.

I’m mad that the people with all the money seem to want to just make a machine or something make art when these humans are perfectly fine doing it all on their own. Oh well, even if we don’t get any to come to our side of the Barrier, maybe I can help inspire a real renaissance of the arts.

-----

Twilight Sparkle, for her part, avoided the large public gatherings, choosing instead to focus upon the communications infrastructure of Humanity – manifest in an Internet hub facility near San Francisco (also, ostensibly, to keep an eye on Pinkie Pie and her excursions). All of the collective works of man: major and minor, good and ill, and past and present were represented by this incalculably large network of arrays like the one she visited. She wondered how creatures of such knowledge and inventiveness could also be so incredibly self-destructive. As she left, she hoped with all she could that Celestia and Luna would see fit to preserve these works, if for no other reason than allowing the Ponies to learn how to adapt human technology while avoiding the evident pitfalls.

Luna, while not camera shy per-se, merely chose to remain in the background of the public relations push; limiting her availability to general interviews and large scale theatrical performances, which she greatly enjoyed (despite her apparent highly logical and scientific nature). As far as she was concerned, her role would be along the fringes and in the shadows, until further notice. She demanded the same of all that worked under alongside and under her, as well, for the project they were working on would be nothing short of revolutionary.

= [ Earth, March 30, 2080 -- 20:00 CST -- Near St. Louis, USA] =

It was a quiet night near St. Louis, Missouri, out on the Great Plains of North America. The only sound, aside from a conversation by the few Ponies or Humans around, was several industrial drones that were busily rebuilding and refurbishing a long abandoned strip mall into a live-in outpatient clinic and modern-style inn.

“I am surprised that you managed to acquire this property with so few questions asked,” Princess Luna asked, as she, a pair of Lunar Guard, and a pair of middle-aged scientists stood outside, as the new edifice, at least appearance wise, had already taken solid form.

“Sometimes having a population that only cares for what has been ‘sealed’ under glass has its benefits,” the older male doctor replied, his English quite clear despite the heavy Japanese accent.

“And one of those few benefits, in this case, is cheap land almost anywhere. Of course, short of you all assisting us, it is quite worthless for any serious development,” his slightly younger wife added with a slightly less overbearing accent.

“The idea of land being ‘worthless’ seems to be quite a, sad, way to perceive things,” Luna mused as the five of them walked inside the main lobby, greeted by sparsely adorned white and pale blue hallways, as well as still-packaged furniture.

“I only speak strictly in economic terms, Luna-hime,” the female doctor attempted to clarify, as Princess Luna nodded her head in agreement.

“Do not misunderstand either, We do not intended to pass some sort of moral judgment on you or anyone else because of that. My sister will most likely do a more than adequate job on her speech in due time. We are just simply… saddened that for some, the only worth an object or entity has is whatever monetary value one can assign to it,” Luna replied, offering a warm smile of understanding, one the two doctors appreciated.

“Seems like we’re not the only ones that have to deal with those who can only see currency signs in their eyes, correct?” the male scientist asked with a brief chuckle.

“No, not in the least, Dr. Isegawa,” Luna replied, adding her own brief giggle.

Luna briefly nodded to the guards, who returned to one of the soon-to-be break rooms, while Luna and the Isegawas continued on to a waiting elevator. After reasonably lengthy ride down, roughly 150 meters underneath the surface of the ground, the three exited, toward a well-lit honeycomb of rooms of hallways, the soon to the hub of all experimentation regarding the Conversion Project.

“I am still a bit, perturbed, at how sterile everything appears,” Luna sighed, noting how dreary the mostly empty halls and rooms looked.

“It is a place of science and experimentation, the cleaner everything is, the better,” the female scientist responded.

“Old habits dying hard, We can only surmise. We can only suppose how my Sister would react to such uniformity in these asthetics. She always was the more ‘artistic’ one,” Luna concluded.

The three of them continued walking until they reached a door. The female doctor punched in a keycode, which caused the door to slide open, revealing an extremely well-furnished and decorated main office.

“So, Dr. Jun, how has your analysis of the proposal for the crystalline matrix proceeded,” Princess Luna started, once they were sure that the door was completely closed.

“The gem samples you gave us are chemically identical to corresponding gemstones on Earth. I can only surmise the magic ingrained into your side’s world helps facilitate much more widespread and rapid crystal growth,” the female doctor responded, showing Luna how the structure of each lattice was completely alike.

“That is very good, that should mean your microscopic fabrication tools should be able to mass produce the micro-runes we eventually develop,” Luna concluded, breathing a brief sigh of relief.

She then turned to the male scientist. “And Dr. Hayato, how has the genetic sequencing proceeded?”

“We have been able to determine the general range and structure of your species genetic material. It is remarkably similar to Earth equine species, a point I’d like to pursue at the earliest opportunity. A couple of weeks more and we should have enough sequenced to where we can reliably reproduce the genetic strains in dummy cells,” the male doctor responded, gears already turning as to how to spin this information off should the opportunity present itself.

“Oh, excellent news! We believe that the preliminary phase of this project should be completed once we can artificially reproduce our base genetic structure. Would that be a fair assumption?” Luna asked of the two humans before her.

“It does appear to be fair enough, Luna-hime,” Dr. Jun responded.

“Though we do have a question for you: what are we to do if we do not have access to a sufficiently strong Unicorn? I can only assume much of the potential work will be done through your magic,” Dr. Hayato then asked.

Luna thought for a few moments, and came up with an answer. “Although raw magic is quite hazardous to the human body and human genetic structure, we have found that using our magic actively or enchanting something with it will, in almost all cases, not result in any adverse effects to the human body. We simply need to ensure the runic nanites are able to absorb raw magic from a Bridge Gate, in order to recharge should they not have sufficient power to operate correctly,”

“Then we will simply have to trust your theories, seeing as we are largely ignorant of your magic,” Dr. Jun responded.

“A fact I would like to rectify before long, Luna-hime,” Dr. Hayato added.

“There will be plenty of time for that down the road, Dr. Hayato. In any case, let us continue with the planning, shall we?” Luna resolved, as the three of them went back to drawing up plans.

---

The work went on until late into the night, until it was roughly 4 A.M. local time.

“Oh dear, somehow We let all of this time slip past Us. In any case, We will have to adjourn until a later date. I have to set the moon for Celestia’s sunrise before long, as well as begin reading the proprosals left from the Night Court session,” Princess Luna remarked, as she began filing paper and parchment into folders.

“I’m sorry if we are keeping you from your normal duties, Princess,” Dr. Jun asked, suddenly realizing just how long Luna had been there with the two of them.

“Oh don’t be, Dr. Jun. Hardly anything happens during Night Court, even with more Ponies remaining awake during the night-time hours. And besides, we did achieve a lot in these few hours. We can only hope the rest of our time together is as productive,” Luna responded with a sly grin on her face.

“And with the three of our minds together, I see no reason to doubt why it wouldn’t,” Dr. Hayato responded.

With that, Luna placed all of her copies in a messenger bag, and teleported herself back through the New Light Bridge to Canterlot, leaving the faint smell of o-zone in the air for a few seconds before it was filtered away by the ventilation systems; the doctors Isegawa now left alone in the office as they shut down their computer terminals.

<”Have you ever wondered dear, why Princess Luna chose us to be her partners in this venture?”> Dr. Jun asked of her husband, as she looked up as the pearl white ceiling.

<”A couple of reasons… One, we are two of the preeminent scientists in our respective fields, and genetics and nano-technology and fabrication will be vital to the success of this project. Two, we’re probably two of the few scientists that will be willing to go against the potential wishes of our erstwhile patrons in the Domes,”> Dr. Hayato responded.

<”I could not imagine why they would resist, though. And yet, I get the suspicion that they will,”> Dr. Jun thought aloud.

<”If things were different, if they had less at stake, then I doubt they would. But given how things are, any little upsetting of the so-called natural order of things can lead to nothing but chaos,”> Dr. Hayato responded, as he rubbed his face in disgust at some of his former patrons.

==================

[ April 21, 2080 – Nearby St. Louis, USA ]

A couple of weeks had passed since the Isegawa’s moved to St. Louis, and opened the clinic-come-clandestine laboratory. While the clinic appeared normal as anything else, albeit with slow foot-traffic due to the location, all of the action was a couple of hundred meters underground. There, the new labs were awash with activity, as scientists from all over the world and various specialists from Equestria’s research hubs and universities were pouring over data and running their preliminary experiments. One such researcher was none other than Princess Luna, whose rather consistent presence in the laboratories allowed the regular staff to develop a mild sense of familiarity with her, though the presence of such a regal figure left some of the staff, unsettled to say the least.

“Good evening, sir. We trust that everything is running in accordance to the schedule?” Luna asked of one of the human technicians, who was almost overwhelmed by her presence (the outmoded speech not helping in the least).

“I-i-I t-t-think it is… Madame Princess, ma’am?!” the technician stammered out as he stumbled his way back to the lab he was assigned to for the evening.

“Seriously, Luna-hime, I cannot fathom why you have that effect on some of the staff working here,” Dr. Jun mused, with a mildly sarcastic tone, as she allowed the poor tech some room to get to his workspace as quickly as possible.

“I truly apologize, Dr. Jun. I have to take better care to not… overwhelm… our subordinates,” Luna replied with some measure of exasperation, knowing full well how even her little Ponies sometimes appeared frightened of her when she slipped back into her old ways of behaving.

The two ladies walked back toward the main office, where Dr. Hayato was scanning over trial reports on a comp-pad while drinking tea out of a plain white mug.

“In any case, what progress have we made today so far? I have been indisposed the last two days. A minor incident involving some, stragglers, if you will on the other side of the Barrier,” Luna asked, still with a bit of an exasperated tone in her voice.

“Quite a bit, actually… we have achieved a now 90% proficiency rate regarding the conversion of various human tissue to Pony analogues. We should be able to scale up to full organ replication within the next week,” Dr. Hayato replied, with quite the measure of pride in his voice.

“Simply amazing…” Luna breathed quietly.

“Excuse me, Luna-hime, we could quite hear what you said…” Dr. Jun asked with genuine inquisitiveness.

“I said it is simply amazing. I suspected our magic would be able to speed along this research along, but I could never imagine these computational devices, and your technology in general, were able to mesh so finely with our magic. I am honestly surprised,” Luna replied, the sense of astonishment not leaving her voice.

I will definitely have to talk to my sister about this… the amount of progress we have made on this project so far is nothing short of frightening. If their technology is this compatible with our magic… there is no telling what we can accomplish should Humanity wish to partner with us fully… the Night Princess mused internally, as she looked at the spreadsheets and computer analyses carefully.

Dr. Hayato laughed as he stroked his semi-gray goatee, looking with earnestness at the Equestrian Night Princess. “Princess Luna, that is exactly the thing I love hearing out of anyone: the sheer, unbridled joy of discovery. Reminds me time I discovered personally how electric eels are able to discharge electricity…”

“And how, pray tell did you figure that out?” Luna asked, resuming her normal tone of voice.

“Quite simple, Luna-hime, I just grabbed them out of the tank with my bare hands!” Dr. Hayato responded, wriggling his fingers to give the impression of electrical energy.

“You… what?!” Luna responded with great surprise and some mild trepidation, not sure of who exactly it was she was dealing with.

“There you go exaggerating again. You know those facsimiles were perfectly safe to handle,” Dr. Jun retorted, tsk-tsk’ing her husband all the while.

“I… I think I’ll pass on an explanation and just move on to more pertinent business…” Luna concluded as she marked her mental file on Dr. Hayato with a metaphorical caution triangle.

Another hour or so of work and discussion passed until the clock struck 2 AM. With a couple of hearty yawns, Dr. Hayato and Dr. Jun made to leave the labs for bed, but not before the good Mr. Doctor stopped and turned to Princess Luna to relay what he felt was vitally important information.

“Oh, on more thing before I head off to bed. My daughter will be moving into to the above-ground residence near the clinic the day after tomorrow,”

“That’s right. I read that you all have a young adult daughter. Though, if I recall correctly, you’ve hidden her actual name and identify from the press,” Luna responded, as she was sorting some of the paper printouts for filing back in Canterlot Castle when she was done.

“That would be correct, indeed. We were hoping that you might make some time to say hi to her. Nothing too extensive, just a bit of a personal meet-and-greet is all we ask for,” Dr. Jun added, tiredly moving some of her auburn hair away from her eyes.

“I really should not be making personal appearances, especially now that this project is ramping up…” Luna said with obvious concern. She definitely did not want to be tied down with someone, even it was the good doctors’ daughter.

“Oh come now, Princess. She would be excited to see you, quite excited in fact,” Dr. Hayato mused aloud, as he stood in the doorway.

“Granted, our dear daughter would be excited by a potted plant that grew without fertilizer…” Dr. Jun added, with a look of ‘we love her dearly, but sometimes…’ plainly etched on her face.

Hrm, sounds like an Earth Pony if I ever met one… Well I guess it couldn’t hurt to spend a few moments with her… Luna thought to herself as she contemplated the matter a bit more. She then rose to her feet, and gave her response

“I would be delighted to spend time with your daughter,”

“That’s wonderful, Luna-hime. Don’t worry, this will be a little private meeting; we won’t open the above-ground clinic for patients day after tomorrow just to make sure the word doesn’t leak out,” Dr. Jun concluded with a reassuring tone.

I just don’t hope this excitable child of yours doesn’t leak the word herself… Luna though to herself as a part of her vast mind began contemplating exactly how to conduct herself around the ‘civillian’.

=========

[ Earlier that day in Kyoto, Japan ]

“It’s been so long since I’ve been to the States…” Kyoko mused aloud as she chatted on her quite fancy laptop terminal with Andre, Ethan, and Natasha. She sat with normal looking headphones on, a signifier to everyone else not to bother her while she was talking on the computer.

“If I had known you lived over here, I wouldn’t have wasted two months on dumb ‘she couldn’t know where X is?’ jokes,” Ethan mused, rubbing his hands over his face.

“I would have thought you had learned after the first couple of times; but sometimes a kid has to touch the hot stove, as my mom would say,” Natasha replied while shrugging her shoulders.

“Oh come on, I thought you found my stubbornness endearing?” Ethan asked in a playful manner, which got an equally playful shove from Natasha.

“Anyway, so how long did you live over here, Hana?”

“About six years as a kid, moved back here to Kyoto when I was… oh 13 or so. Before the last major waves of layoffs worldwide,” Kyoko replied in a thoughtful pose.

Hrm, that’d probably put her right about 20 given the other things she told me… Andre thought to himself as he listen to some more idle chatter between Natasha and Kyoko.

“So what do your parents do, anyway? They have to be of some means to move you all the way to the States the way things are now,” Andre asked idly as the focus of the conversation switched back to him.

“OH! I hadn’t really told you. Well they are famous scientists around this region,” Kyoko beamed with strange pride.

Famous scientists with an early 20-something daughter… ugh that sounds vaguely familiar but damned if I can’t place it… Andre thought to himself as he was obviously straining to remember who it was he had read about that would have fit that general description.

Ethan and Natasha both began to private message Kyoko, asking if she really was going to do what she was about to do.

“Kyoko, do you even know how he’d react if you told him who your parents were. I mean we can’t exactly stop you, but… well… come on…” Ethan said with a mild bit of exasperation.

“I have to agree with Ethan, I mean we both know what both Drs. Isegawa are like, but all Andre would know are what the rumor mills have spat out over the last couple of decades,” Natasha added, her own concern evident.

“Yeah, but I kinda wanna invite Andre up to St. Louis to meet me and them, and… well, he’d find out then anyway,” Kyoko responded sheepishly, almost feeling guilty for wanting something that seemed so selfish.

Ethan and Natasha looked at each other through the split camera, and both chuckled to themselves and each other when they realized what was really going on.

“Alright, alright, but just kinda ease him into it. We still don’t know what exactly he’d think about you being the scion of the Demon Doctor of Kyoto,” Natasha replied, giving a warm smile as she did.

“Ok, we’ll here goes nothing…” Kyoko mused aloud as she and the others rejoined the main conversation with the waiting Andre.

“I was wondering what the three of you were talking about, I was honestly getting a bit bored just waiting for you to get back,” Andre stated, the mild annoyance evident on his face.

Kyoko took a deep breath as she inwardly steeled herself for whatever Andre’s reaction might have been. “Say, um… Andre… have you ever heard of a Dr. Hayato Isegawa?”

Andre’s eyes immediately bulged like he had heard gunshots in the background. His mind raced with some of the implications, but he tamped down his wildly accelerating concern to ask the obvious question. “Yeah, yeah you can say I heard of him…”

OF COURSE I’ve heard of him. A man that had no scruples when it came to genetic engineering; and if weren’t for his wife he still wouldn’t have any scruples. Or somehow would have even fewer scruples. Probably a couple of cards short of a full deck anyway. Anyone with a passing interest in the cutting edge of scientific discovery has heard of and seen Dr. Hayato and Dr. Jun Isegawa… Andre thought to himself as his brain scrambled to reconcile the asker of the question with the subject matter.

“Did you know he had a daughter~” Kyoko asked with a teasing and playful tone; a tone one would take when dangling a toy in front of a cat.

Oh god don’t tell me. Her? Her of all people… no way… no way… Andre thought as his mind raced triple-time now. He swallowed all of his concern, though, and let that little line of conversation reach its natural end. “I might have heard a rumor like that once or twice. So, um, Kyoko, where are we going with this little string of comments?”

“Hrm, where indeed…” Kyoko teased, seeing if she could get Andre to ask the question himself.

Andre, for his part, completely bit on the teasing phrase and did indeed ask the question, as the cold realization began to dawn on him. “You… you’re the Isegawa’s daughter?!”

“Hrm… well, fine. My full name is Kyoko Isegawa, first and only child of Drs. Hayato and Jun Isegawa!” Kyoko revealed (to no one’s real surprise anymore) with an amazing mix of dramatic flair and pride.

“Guys…” Andre just sat there in disbelief. The dear sweet Kyoko he knew; the lady that persistently danced the line between scatter-brained 20 year old girl and viciously smart 20 year old woman, was indeed the daughter two of the most (in)famous scientists and engineers in all of Japan, and probably the world.

“Well, we do have to admit that we knew, mostly because of Natasha doing some cursory research,” Ethan remarked with some amount of trepidation.

“I was bored and I had a Japanese contact that was willing to talk; really didn’t have to dig all that hard. Though the Isegawas were careful to not publically speak their child’s name; Kyoko herself had to tell me privately some time ago,” Natasha clarified, not wanting to seem like someone who just casually snooped on her compatriots.

Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief, that the only response she got out of Andre was strange silence. “Thanks for not telling anyone about it, as well. I just wanted to tell Blue myself before I left for the states. Anyway, would you mind visiting us after I get settled down in St. Louis, Andre?”

“Um… I guess…” Andre responded absent-mindedly, his logical brain still fixated on the thought of all the last few years he’s spend cavorting around the net with Kyoko and to have no idea whose lineage she derived from, exactly.

I’ve been internet friends with a man that was liable to put my brain in a robot body, just to say that he could...

============

[ April 24, 2080 – Near St. Louis, USA ]

“Oh My God! The Princess of the Night is here! In our house… or is it clinic? Either way!” Kyoko shouted, as she dashed all around the chuckling Luna and stoic guards, who looked at each other with half-stern resolve and half nervousness regarding the twenty-something long-haired female human.

Hrm, excitable would be the right word for her… if I have the Elements of Harmony visit, we must take care not to leave her and Pinkie Pie without supervision… Luna thought to herself, as she filed more notes into her mental Rolodex.

“Ahahaha, he’ll never believe that I was really face to face with the Equestrian Princess of the Moon. None of them will! Too bad he’s totally going to miss seeing you~!” Kyoko continued to chirp, still dancing around the regal indigo Alicorn with all the excitement of a five-year old opening Christmas presents.

Dr. Hayato’s still sharp ears picked upon a certain phrase, and he cleared his throat to call attention to himself. “Excuse me, Kyoko. But who is this ‘he’ that you speak of?”

Kyoko, stopped almost immediately as she assumed the role of ‘young lady’ and responded. “If you must know, I planned on inviting Andre up here for a visit. We have known each other online for quite some time, and I thought now would be as good a time as any to meet each other in the flesh and blood,”

Luna took special note of Kyoko’s countenance when addressing her father, mostly the annoyance that calmly said ‘what I do with my time and money is none of your business, father’.

It is nice to see that humans really aren’t all that different than our Ponies… it will make what we are doing potentially easier to transition into, should significant numbers avail themselves of the opportunity… Luna noted in a different part of her mind.

“Oh really, a that nice young man coming to meet us in our humble little clinic? I wonder what I should wear?” Dr. Jun mused aloud.

“Seriously, mother. It’s just a casual visit. Just wear whatever you would usually wear that day and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind nor care at all,” Kyoko replied nervously, Luna picking up on the fact that the man in question must be of significant emotional value to Kyoko.

“Really now? This will be the first time I will met your kareshi, and you just want me to dress in my usual white jacket and stockings?” Dr. Jun responded in her matronly tone.

“HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!” Kyoko snapped suddenly out of frustration and embarrassment-borne rage. The two usually stoic guardsponies were put on edge as Luna and Drs. Jun and Hayato just looked with mild concern at the suddenly sulking Kyoko, who was sitting with her back turned on a swiveling chair.

“I mean, I mean… well… I… we… kinda aren’t that close yet… but I want to be… and… um…” the young lady stammered, stuck between her childish and mature modes of thought.

“Do not worry, Kyoko. We are fairly sure that whatever this man may mean to you, that you will make the proper decisions regarding any future you may pursue with him,” Luna stated with calm confidence, inwardly nervous though that she might have chosen the wrong words.

Luna was taken aback however, when Kyoko stood up, leaned over a bit to match her roughly 5’0” in height (at least to her face), and hugged the Princess of the Moon around the neck.

“Thanks a lot… I know he’s a good guy, and you all are gonna see that. I’m… I’m just really nervous as to what a long-term relationship might mean, and… well… when I get nervous… it’s… kinda really hard for me to talk… and…” Kyoko started, before regressing back into her stammering.

“No need to continue, Miss Kyoko. Just know that We will be rooting for your happiness from wherever fate might take us,” Luna responded, while Kyoko stood back up at normal height in front of her.

Kyoko bowed politely in thanks to the Princess of the Moon and the Equestrian Night.

After a few more minutes of idle chatter, Kyoko asked if she could borrow the guardsponies that Luna had as a small entourage to carry a couple of bags to her room. After acceding to the request and the three left the small waiting room, Luna began to speak to the good Doctors Isegawa.

“Your daughter has a massive spark of intelligence, though I feel that she doubts her own capabilities sometime,”

“We raised her as best we could, given how those of the Domes tend to not respect the wishes of those not of their circle. I just hope that the soil on this side of the world is still fertile enough for my little flower to bloom properly,” Dr. Hayato mused aloud, letting his inner poet loose again.

“And you two are quite the couple and team. I couldn’t have picked a better pair to help lead this Project,” Luna added.

“I would like to think we complete each other. He is the dynamic that always looks to change something, and I am the stable that always wants to ensure the change will be positive and sustainable,” Dr. Jun responded, as she hugged her dear husband.

Balancing the need for change with the need to ensure overall stability, sometimes I wonder if Celestia’s reign has been too far tilted to the latter… Luna thought to herself as the Isegawas continued speaking.

“At the same time, what we are working is nothing less than a shot across the bow to everything those who currently hold power hold dear: the fact they are the lone focus of power, and there is little to no other option that humanity has other than the direction they offer,” Dr. Hayato mused, the LED lights causing that almost frightening glow to reflect off his glasses.

“Though, it is better didn’t know the exact details of how we are coming toward the first true expression of that new choice. I do hope that the test subjects we recently dealt with will be taken care of?” Dr. Jun asked as she brushed her hair away from her face.

“They will be taken care of, indeed. Unfortunately, that means will be they will have to live out the rest of their lives in nursing homes that can cope with the invalid. As much as we try to prevented, there are still many a Pony that can slip through the cracks of our society. I am just glad my Sister had the foresight to construct a system that can help them at least lead comfortable lives once they do,” Luna mentioned morosely, hating the idea there were Ponies that, regardless of who was to blame, would never live up to their potential.

“Since the test subjects are more or less stable physically, that means the last stage left is true human trials. In theory we have everything ready, thought it will hinge now your magecraft properly working,” Dr. Hayato thought aloud, as he mentally went over the theories in his head for the 100th time in his head.

“I have the utmost confidence in myself and our archmages properly weaving the magic necessary for this final set of trials,” Luna responded, her voice filled with said confidence.

“I will begin contacting various facilities around the region. Sad to say, but everywhere hospital and asylum is filled to the brim with invalids that would otherwise be dead in short order, or living the rest of their lives in a small hospital room,” Dr. Jun said, as she began sorting out the files of those who were proposed for the human trials.

“On another note, why is it that our formulas seem to have no consistency as to which breed, I would guess, of Pony is created. Is it just one of those vagaries of magic that I will eventually have to sort out?” Dr. Hayato asked with great intrest.

“I’m sorry, but that is a much more mundane issue. Simply put, the less complex the programming and spell-crafting involved, the less error we introduce. Perhaps with more time we can develop a serum for each breed of Pony, but that may lead to a population imbalance. So it is probably for the best the breed remain random,” Luna responded, seeing that Dr. Hayato would still seek to crack the code, if for nothing else than to say that he could.

Hayato figured discretion was the better part of valor in this case, and decided to not pursue the matter any further; though he did have one last thought for the brief meeting of the minds. “You know Luna, if you had been born on this side, you will have made an amazing university professor and researcher. I think opening an university on this side of the Barrier would be well within your grasp should this partnership between species truly pan out for the best,”

Luna chuckled at the notion, briefly imagining what she’d look like as a human: probably pale-skinned given her affinity for the night, she figured. “Conversely, had you been born a Pony, you would have easily found yourself in the ranks of our Royal Guard Archmages,”

Hayato thought of himself briefly as a Unicorn. While he was briefly intrigued by the thought, he ultimately reserved it for more in-depth contemplation later.

“Who knows what the future may hold, Princess Luna,”

“Indeed, let us hope that the trail we are blazing does not lead to a dead end,”

===============

[ April 30, 2080 – Near St. Louis, USA ]

It had nearly been a week since Kyoko arrived in the United States, and she had perfectly settled back into a more or less normal routine, the only major difference was that she was speaking conversational English to passers-by and others instead of conversational Japanese. Overall, everything was quite normal, including the Andre, Ethan, and Natasha occasionally messaging and conversing with her, mostly about the impending meeting between the two not-quite-but-mostly lovebirds at the clinic/inn/residence the Isegawas now called home. The young lady remained blissfully unaware of what was going on roughly 150 meters below her feet; and if everything went according to plan, no one would know anything until all was said and done.

Three gurneys were being wheeled through various hallways of the laboartories, as Princess Luna personally sat in the control room, along with the Isegawas and several Pony and Human project managers. Each gurney held a randomly selected subject, each with little to not significant others or family to speak of, as to minimize the potential loss should things go awry.

The first gurney held a relatively young quadriplegic woman, her breathing managed by a ventilator as she silently contemplated what had happened to her to lead to that day. The managers were queasy about the fact that she was the only one of the three subjects that could actually give consent verbally, but were surprised when she agreed so readily. Then again, if one was basically permanently bound to a wheelchair-come-life-support system, having even a small chance of being able to walk and breathe on your own again was one she had to take advantage of. Even if the body she would walk out with potentially looked and behaved nothing like the one she was wheeled in with.

The second gurney was occupied by a middle-aged now-unemployed salary-man, driven insane with grief at losing both his only real means of income and his family. He was under full restraints: the Princess nor the Hayatos wanting to take any chance that he would bolt out of the bed and try and wreck something in an insanity-induced fury. Instead, he was merely content to babble incessantly about all of the different toys he would buy for his now estranged daughter, constantly mentioning that any minute now his old company would call him back to fill the position that now no longer existed.

The last gurney was occupied by a sealed chamber. The chamber itself contained a former soldier that was infected with what was called ‘Neo Black Plague’, a voracious disease that typically killed within 72 hours. Only swift action managed to forestall his death, but he would be doomed to a permanent stasis short of a cure being found. Whether it was a natural mutation of bubonic plague or some sort of bio-terrorism was a question for a different time, as far as Luna was concerned, she had to test the ability the nanomachines and spellcraft to eliminate all foreign entities, and that included non-standard biological agents such as viruses.

Luna looked at the cameras as the three gurneys were being wheeled into the various examination rooms. "It is truly depressing to see the state of this world outside of the enclosed settlements,” She could only shake her head as she tried to remain focused on the task at hand.

"These tragedies are seeming to be occurring more and more frequently, the non-Dome hospitals are completely swamped with people trying anything in order to preserve their lives just a few weeks more...," Dr. Jun said, she was intimately familiar with how her and others nanomachines were being used to just to preserve the so-called Outsiders instead of allowing them to thrive.

Dr. Hayato looked at the same scene, somber as the two ladies sitting or standing with him at the center of the main data collection room. "It shows you the drive to live in humans. Someone could theoretically ask what these people have to live for if they were completely cured of their ailments: a life of trudging along, trying to stave off soul-crushing boredom and apathy, mostly. Yet, not even the state of the world as it is can kill the human spirit to survive. If it could, we might have destroyed ourselves already,” The doctor Ponies accompanying Luna for this round of testing could only remark on just tight of a rapport these humans were already developing with their demigod princess.

The scene continued as the gurneys were rolled into their respective examination rooms. Non-invasive biometric scanners lined all of the walls, taking records of the vitals. The technicians calibrated the machines in order to ensure that the readouts were consistent with the aliments the three subjects were suffering. As the clock clicked closer to noon, the technicians gave the all green that they could start whenever ready. Attendants in each room then unsealed 3 boxes; each containing a beaker full of a translucent white liquid with a seeming metallic sheen to it. The liquid looked as if someone put very fine glitter in highly diluted milk.

Dr. Hayato then spoke into a microphone. "Ladies, Gentlemen of all species present. What we are about to embark on in a short while is yet another step on the road of human endeavors into the upper limits of science. I am not one for long speeches, my wife is far better at that I would wager. However, I would like to say this. What occurs within these walls does not leave these walls until the White Princess makes her remarks, should these trials prove successful today or sometime in the future. If any word does leave these walls, I will release the flying monkeys to hunt you down,” A chuckle rose from the room and those who could hear him through the audio implants; the good doctor doing his level best to interject some levity before they started cracking the real nut of this trial.

Does he actually have a squadron of flying monkeys on beck and call? Luna asked Dr. Jun telepathically.

No, but I don't doubt he would try and design a species that looked like flying monkeys, for the expressed purpose of getting back at people who renege on their promises to him. Dr. Jun replied, with a non-serious tone.

Luna then began to speak aloud to everyone present and listening over the com-links, giving a brief explanation about the process as it should occur based upon the previous trials. "Good day all. This is Princess Luna, as you all have already figured. Anyway, We, as the good doctor Hayato already stated, are about to embark on an endeavor that no mage in Equestria or scientist on Earth have ever attempted to date and record. The basic theory of the transformation sequence is reasoned to be such... first, the runes will link to an extra-dimensional energy source in order to channel the energy for the various magics and to partially shield the body during the process, this will appear as the body glowing. Second, the soul will be removed from the body and sent to the Astral Plane while the subject body is effectively re-written as a Pony body. Third, once the body has been completely re-written, the soul is moored to the new body. Finally, there are various checks in order to ensure the body has been properly rewritten and the soul is firmly entrenched into the new body. Once the process is complete, we should hopefully have a working and viable Pony, with the soul of the constituent human safely moored inside and conscious,”

The various attendants and technicians briefly discussed among themselves the metaphysical nature of a lot of the process, but reasoned that the animal tests proved that the process should work unless a human soul was that difficult to 'move'.

With that little conversation over, and as the clock struck high noon, the tests finally began. The nurses began to administer the potion to the patients, taking special caution around the plague victim. Each gurney had reinforced nano-carbon tube bars, just in case the subjects began thrashing, in order to prevent spills to the floor and further injury. Luna and all the doctors present watched intently as the 3 patients were given the serum, and the men and women in their hazmat suits, some of them bionically enhanced to subdue a thrashing, crazed human or Pony, all ducked to the walls as soon as the solution was administered.

After a few moments of nothing, all the meters began going wild; Luna and the two Doctors knowing that signified the transformation was underway. As a bright, white light began to emanate from each subject, all Luna and the Isegawas could do, was pray that their theories would be borne out here and now.

Five minutes passed, the readings were all high but stable, a good sign.

Seven minutes passed, all brain activity in the 3 subjects went to near-zero. If anything went wrong now all the subjects would be brain-dead misshapen wrecks.

Ten minutes passed, brain activity was going back up; though the imprecision of the devices meant that the three scientists could only guess as to whether or not their souls had been reattached to the new bodies.

Twelve minutes had passed, visual evidence that the subjects had changed shape, though the exact form was obscured by the glowing each body was still producing.

Fifteen minutes had passed, the magical glow began to cool, and the two doctors and a Princess could now see what their machinations had wrought.

The glow in Room 1 cooled, they saw a mahogany Earth Pony mare; stunned her legs would even respond to her confused commands.

The glow in Room 2 cooled, they saw a dazed cerulean Unicorn stallion; eyes darting around, wondering where he was.

The glow in Room 3 cooled, they saw an ashen gray Pegasus stallion; also wondering where exactly he was given the fact he had been rendered nearly comatose some days ago.

The sensors from the three rooms gave an all-green. As far as the sensors were concerned, nothing was amiss except that three humans disappeared and 3 Ponies appeared.

Luna, as a precaution, teleported herself into Room 3 with the Neo Black Plague victim turned Pegasus, and quickly cast a microbe destroying spell, ensuring that no humans would be infected by the disease when the suits and the chamber were disposed of, though at the cost of some intestinal discomfort for herself and the others in the room for a couple of days.

Once she checked each room for residual excess magic and foreign microbes of other kinds, she allowed both Human and Pony doctors into each, as they began their initial checks of the three new Ponies in their midst.

It seems like everything worked initially, let us hope that their new forms are as stable as the Isegawas and myself believe them to be… Luna thought to herself, as she watched the newly transformed Pegasus instinctively beat his wings.

================

[ April 31, 2080 – Near St. Louis, USA (still…) ]

A lot of preliminary congratulations and a few hours of sleep later, the Isegawas and Princess Luna was busy pouring over the data gathered and interviewing the doctors who had been taking shifts observing the Royal Sister’s three new charges.

Luna turned knowingly toward a pale, cream-colored Unicorn. “Dr. Light Walker, what is your assessment of our three new Ponies?”

The middle-aged stallion rubbed a hoof under his chin, as he thought of a good concise answer for his princess. “As far as I and the other doctors can tell, the three test subjects are perfectly healthy and appear to be of sound mind. Of course we will have to observe them interacting with others beyond this last twenty-four and some odd hour span, but so far so good, as they say,”

The Doctors Isegawa nodded at the sentiment, as Hayato spoke up first. “Then we appear to have successfully jumped the last hurdle in the testing phase. Once we can have some assurance that the three subjects are more or less normal, then we can move on to developing a mass-production mechanism,”

“In any case, what is to happen to the three new Ponies we had some hand in creating?” Jun asked, as she looked at the photographs taken well after the initial live interviews.

“We will arrange for adult tutors for all three of them to begin applying their gifts. Finding a place in society is deeply important to us, and the sooner they can start, the better it will be for their mindset in the long run. However, we will probably have to wait until a probable move to Equestria before the Pegasus can be taught in earnest,” Light Walker replied with clinical professionalism.

“About the Unicorn though, he was suffering from an extreme psychological breakdown. Do we have to fear some kind of outburst from him? I mean I would think waking up in a completely foreign body would qualify as something that could stress the poor man, or I guess stallion, out,” Dr. Hayato asked on behalf of the other humans in the labs, wondering if they should be on guard around said Unicorn.

Luna then, with a bit of a devious smirk on her face, motioned to the door. The three Ponies in question walked in; somewhat unsure of their steps, yet still able to maintain balance and a moderate walking pace. All three looked at the two Doctors, a grace and thankfulness etched in all three of their faces.

The magenta Earth Pony spoke first. "My God, I can walk again. I… I can feel the air conditioning along my back. I can even swish my tail around; it feels a little weird saying that, but I’ll gladly take it. This is nothing short of an absolute miracle!" She continued to marvel at the subtle marvel of her own locomotion, having been robbed of nearly all of it two years previous.

The cerulean Unicorn followed. "For the first time in a long time, everything I hear and see make sense. It’s like I’ve been trapped in my own mind. I can only shudder at all of the time I lost, at the family I must have lost. At the same time, though, I’m so thankful. You’ve given me a chance to start over from scratch. And I will definitely take advantage of this chance, regardless of where I end up,” He continued on with his external monologue for a bit; his thoughts finally making sense inwardly and his speech making sense outwardly.

The ashen gray Pegasus stood looking up at the doctors and their digital-pads and papers, he then looked at his new Princess, and said with a firmness he hadn't been able to muster in days, "Princess Luna, ma'am. There are no words I can use to thank you. I was staring at Death's door, no, I should have already been dead. You saved me, you and your magic and these Doctors diligent work saved me and the rest of us. Anything we can do to repay you, we will do to our utmost; you have this soldier's promise,” He then assumed a proper saluting stance for a Pegasus Royal Guard, something that had to have been taught to him while he was conversing with Luna’s guard entourage the night previous.

The three new Ponies were then directed out of the room to somewhere more comfortable to rest and await their instructors from Equestria.

The two Doctors sat there thoroughly stunned. Not only had the transformation worked, but it had seemingly cured them of everything. The former businessman's madness quelled, the former slum-rat's paralysis lifted, the former soldier's plague extinguished.

"It is too good to be true... I... I can't believe that it worked, and not only worked, but it worked beyond anything we could have hoped," Dr. Jun stammered, her brain trying desperately to restore her diction. She expected the new Ponies to stumble while walking or stammer while talking, but they seemed to be

"Princess Luna, what we have just done WILL change this world. I am absolutely sure of it. My only fear is what change we will have wrought because of it," Dr. Hayato then stated, his eyes seemingly piercing ahead into the future, trying to game out all the potential twists and turns.

Luna looked up, seemingly to gather her thoughts, and then back at the two Doctors, "My good Doctors, that will entirely depend on if this world can accept a legitimate second chance being offered to them,”

-------------

Meanwhile, in place unknown to any being, Pony or human, a figure began to stir. She could sense the other-worlders coming into her world, but she was not angry. In fact, she was hopeful that they could do something. “Rulers of the Other World… do you have the fortitude and skill to reawaken the lost souls of this world? Do you have the nerve and will to carry out your plans, regardless of their consequence. The final countdown is ticking on this world; if you are true about your mission of mercy, you have no time to waste...”

Comments

[Viper5012]

new Ponies to stumble while walking or stammer while talking, but they seemed to be

The sentence is cut off.