Part 2 (Joseph) - Chapter 2
Joseph frowned, listening to the plan again. Alex’s “meeting” hadn’t included Adrian. At first, he had thought it was because she wanted to lecture them about being nicer to Riley, and somepony had to stop the bugpony from stumbling into the conversation.
It had been, at first. But there were only so many different ways she could explain that “Riley couldn’t help what she’d been turned into and she needed their kindness.” She showed a picture of a little girl, got everybody to feel guilty, and promised that she would personally take responsibility for any of Riley’s bad behavior.
It was all he could do not to fall asleep, and he mostly didn’t. Until he heard his own name. “Once I’ve got Riley out and we’re driving away, Joseph grabs him and holds him still. He’s got guns in there, so you can’t let him reach them.”
“I only need ten seconds to find a good vein and get the sedative injected.” Oliver folded his forelegs across the table. “Probably less than that. I didn’t like what I saw; his wing might already be gangrenous. It’s possible it’s even necrotic, and its poisoning his blood. If so, I might have to ampu-”
Two voices shouted then, in perfect unison. One was Cloudy Skies, looking more shocked than angry. The other was Moriah, who hadn’t only jerked into a standing position but was practically frothing at the mouth. Moriah was louder, and sitting right next to him, so he heard what she said over Cloudy.
“If you find out you have to amputate, you wake him up and tell him first! I don’t care if you think you know better, it’s his right to chose whether or not he’ll let you do that! Helping him is one thing; I think we’re doing the right thing. But if you try and make a life-changing decision like that without his consent, I’ll shoot you myself!”
Joseph could feel the tension in her body, the fury in coiled muscles and saturated in every inch of her slight frame. He stared sideways in shock, uncomprehending. What had her so worked up? She turned and met his eyes, and somehow he knew she expected him to take her side. That was what couples did, right? He’d never been with a girl this long before!
Desperate, Joseph forced himself to form words. “We, uh… yeah! We won’t do it without telling him! We can always wake him up first!” He patted her shoulder. “So we help get-” He closed the screen to his 3DS, looking away from her. “Why are we cutting his wings off?”
Moriah sighed loudly, huffing back into a sitting position just far enough away not to be able to touch him. Oliver opened his mouth as though he wanted to speak, but Alex spoke first. “You know how Adrian always wears those wraps on his wings?” At a nod, she continued. “We saw under them at the museum yesterday. He’s got a really serious injury, one that would leave him in constant pain on a daily basis and will eventually cost him his wing.
Oliver has the hospital ready. We’ve got a generator running, tons of different medications, and lots of books on pegasus anatomy and wing structure. We’re going to sedate him, take a few x-rays, and see what has to happen. Maybe it’s something simple to fix, maybe it’s not. But we won’t ever convince Adrian to let us help him, so we’re going to compel him. Haven’t you been listening?”
No, no he hadn’t. If she’d wanted him to pay attention, she shouldn’t have started the meeting with a guilt-trip and a picture of a kid. “Okay, I get it! Let’s just do it already!” Did he want to get back to his game? Maybe a little, but he also didn’t like the idea of Adrian dying, even if he’d been around the shortest. They would have to protect him from himself.
“Right, so… it’s not going to put him under right away. We haven’t tested human medicine nearly as much as I would like. I’m just going to make him pliable, so we can get him to the hospital. I can figure out a more precise dosage when we get there.”
Joseph wasn’t very involved with the next part of the plan. Alex went in, spent about a half hour talking to the ponies there, and emerged with the insect in tow. He pretended not to be watching, though of course he was staring. Why did other ponies make such a big deal about her, again? Yeah, she looked like a bug. So what? Bugs looked like bugs, and he didn’t mind so long as they stayed away from his face and his monitor.
Once Alex and the girl were gone, they all headed over to Adrian’s RV, to willingly perpetrate the first-ever crime in Alexandria.
He hadn’t actually gone inside as they walked over, waving to them. There was something feeble about the gesture, as though he barely had the strength to lift his limbs. “Hey guys.” Adrian glanced between them. “Must’ve been a good meeting. We gonna plan a party for Riley or something?”
“Yeah!” Cloudy Skies reached him first, embracing him unexpectedly. She wasn’t quite so large as the stallion, but she was big enough to obstruct most of his vision with a hug. Oliver was able to get behind him, removing a prepared syringe. “It’s going to be a ‘your friend saw a doctor’ party!”
“Now, Joe!”
Adrian shoved away from Cloudy, or he tried.
That was when Joseph reached within himself, drawing upon the magic of his race.
Alex had asked him several times to describe the sensation of casting a spell. Maybe, she had told him, if he could be detailed enough, she could recreate that same feeling in herself and master magic too. That had been in a simpler time, before they learned their assigned species had discrete differences. Even then, he had struggled.
There was no deactivating the magical senses that came with his horn. Like an irritating bit of clothing or a persistent sound, he generally tuned them out, letting them fade into the environment. He had to call this vision back in order to use his levitation, and so he let his eyes lose focus. It wasn’t sight; more like volume. He saw the ley lines of the universe, and the invisible mana that traveled through them. Time seemed to slow around him as he focused on the mana trapped around Adrian’s body.
This would be far more difficult than levitating an object. Objects had mana the same way a stagnant pool had water. A pony, though… a pony was like an ocean. Adrian in particular seemed to be roiling with it, twisting with invisible convection and forming invisible patterns to imitate his thoughts. They took angry dissonance with his fury, a roiling cumulonimbus towering above and around him.
To succeed, Joseph’s will would have to be stronger. First came the step his book called the imago, the vision of the spell. He saw an invisible hand of iron, its grip firm enough to shatter stone. He saw the hand descend into the angry field that surrounded Adrian, ignoring the dissipating energy and becoming real. It would hold him without interfering with the magic of anypony else.
Magic did not come from nothing; he had known that long before he had learned about Equestria or read their books. Magic required more than simple willpower, and more than belief. It required faith. It wasn’t like a religion; it didn’t much care where his faith was. When Joseph cast a spell, it was his absolute confidence in an ordered universe that gave him the strength to perform magic. Hydrogen would always collapse to form stars; light would always move the same speed in a vacuum, and time would always flow forward.
That confidence formed the core of the spell, the nucleus around which Joseph could draw mana from himself and the space around them. Generally the amount of energy it took to move an inanimate object was so insignificant he could scarcely feel it. Now though, he felt the rush from within, like a brief blush to his whole body and fluids drawn up to his horn. All that energy came together in a blazing instant, exploding out in a glow of pink illumination.
Adrian shrugged, but Joseph’s will crushed down upon him. Adrian’s body was strong, but Joseph didn’t let him fight that way. He brought his very soul to bear, resting on a foundation of physics and mathematics. It really wasn’t a fair fight.
Rather than give up the spell, Joseph used it to help guide Adrian into the back of the waiting ambulance. Only then did he move into the last stage of the spell, disassociation. Magic tended to take on a life of its own once given form by a pony; if he didn’t make an effort to disassociate himself from it, it would draw on his life force to keep doing whatever it wanted. With most levitation that only meant reminding the object it was actually supposed to be sitting on the ground. In this case, it took a sustained act of concentration, reminding himself that he didn’t have a gigantic glowing hand made of metal.
The strength left him in a rush, leaving his limbs momentarily shaky. He abruptly found Moriah beside him, letting him lean against her with a reassuring smile. She knew what that feeling was like, and more. After all, she had somehow performed a spell that reversed seven years of time in a small area, including several objects and one pony. She would know what the exhaustion was like.
“Do you need us?” he asked, when he had enough strength to get his mouth to move again. “I could… use a rest.”
Oliver shook his head. “Not for a few hours. Alex already helped me with the power situation. I might need you if there’s any surgery to be done, though. Magic is more precise than hooves. Just stay close to a radio.”
He nodded. “Sure, radio. I’ll eat extra radio, doc.”
Moriah shoved him slightly, glaring at Oliver. “Remember; don’t do anything permanent without waking him first.”
The stallion looked as if he might say something to argue, and for several tense moments his eyes met Moriah’s. Joe could practically see the sparks and feel the heat, though much of that was probably because his magical senses were still itching to be used. Eventually he said, “I’ll wake him if amputation is the only way. Otherwise, I won’t. His judgement has clearly been compromised by his injury."
Cloudy looked helplessly between the two of them, then hopped up into the back of the ambulance beside Adrian. She pulled the doors shut from within, meeting Joseph’s eyes once with a single sympathetic glance before she vanished inside.
Joseph tugged at Moriah’s coat, trying to draw her away. She would keep an argument going for hours if she got her way. Fortunately Oliver didn’t seem very interested in fighting her tonight either, because he turned and hurried into the truck too.
“We’ll be in touch!” The engine roared, the wheels tearing several deep divots in the grass before gaining enough traction to take the ambulance away, out onto the street and into Alexandria proper.
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Joseph is such a doof.
He seems less like Sheldon Cooper and more like, well, me.
And Sky gets a Pinkie moment.
Moriah, I understand where you're coming from, but let the medical professional do his job.
As for Joe... I love his mathemancy, but I hate his detachment. How? How do you manage to barely alter your life after the world functionally ends? And this guy almost perfectly fits the unicorn mold. That says a lot about person and subspecies both.
Well, I'm not being fair to him. Joe has done quite a bit. It's just that his ground state has barely changed even after everything else has.
Also, the pants and the angry expression make him look amusingly Hulkish. JOE SMASH!
Even if they hadn't seen what was under the bandages someone Adrian encountered would have forced a medical exam animation on him. He's just lucky he's with a group that genuinely cares about his wellbeing.
I suppose while Adrian's in surgery Alex/Day will be trying to help Riley figure out the transforming ability changelings have, lord knows the poor girl needs something to give her some measure of hope.
A very interesting chapter into the why of his thought process. And I love it for that reason.
6232824
Just like the ruggedly handsome pic of Oliver last fic, it's worthy of avatar
I'm guessing that Adrian has a fear or hatred of doctors and/or medical treatment?
Interesting how Joe seems to have no instinctual fear of Riley at all. Given that he also has literally no interest in her at all, one way or the other, I wonder if the instinctual fear the others feel is because she's feeding off their concern (or similar emotions) for her, and that's setting them off?
That would certainly put a different spin on Cloudy being incapable of coming near her at all - I wonder if she could be more concerned than the others, and suffering more for it when near her...
I get the feeling if no one found Joseph he'd be dead in a month. I don't understand how someone can be so apathetic when society has changed so much.
I love the description of the way Joseph uses his magic: I'm really a sucker for the Leyline Magic Theorem.
Another great chapter!
"Huh? Yeah! We'll, wait, what are we cutting off?"
Joseph: unwitting comedic relief.
6233602 Well, I guess it's because in his former life
-he was self-absorbed to the point of oblivion to anything else
-used to people coming to him for help because he was the only one able to do so (the telekinetic hand-substitute)
-used various programming languages daily, something he would apply his mental faculties to in full, including learning new ones (his priority is learning the language of magic now as we could see)
-worked with database programming (here: library)
-was a glorified and overpowered tech-support (again telekinesis)
-loved videogames and played them at every opportunity
-never had a clue regarding social interaction
So basically... nothing has changed much (except species, but that's just a parameter).
Cripes. First I sympathize with Joe and then I actually agree with Moriah about something? Starscribe, are you messing with my brain?! Knock that off; it's messed-up enough as it is.
But yeah, Oliver doesn't seem to understand what that kind of loss might do to Adrian, especially if it was forcibly done to him without even a by-your-leave.
6233232 Seems more likely to me it's a refusal to accept possibly losing the wing (and therefore his easiest ability to move about freely). Adrian strikes me as the vagabond sort who values freedom very highly.
Alright, Joe is officially the best stallion here, no offense Oliver, but even thinking about the idea arguing whenever to not let a guy know they needed to cut off a limb is enough to make Joe better. I really do like the guy now, a personal view takes away most the misunderstandings that could pop up from personal perceptions of a Journal entry. You've really mastered this well, managing to surprised us with Joe being a lot more tolerable than I would have expected from Alex's description.
I mean sure, he's pretty lazy, but that just his lifestyle, and despite what others think, being the only one to operate technology is a big factor, he really is an important resource, so I can understand him being weary, and I can understand the others being impatient.
Now, Joe I think is the contrast to Sky, he is using magic as a tool, not naturally, he's playing nintendo games, he wears pants, he doesn't see himself as a pony, far removing himself from the idea of their instincts or otherwise, that's why he doesn't see anything wrong or predatory about our cute little Riley.
Now, here's an idea for the electricity problem! Pegasus Magic+Wind Turbines= INFINITE GREEN POWER!
A doctor saving a life > patients consent
6233421
Got me thinking; If your whole body get changed, but your mind doesn't... do you still get new instincts with that body? I mean, they are ponies, yes, but their mind should still be human. Okey, they do try to be more like Ponys by gaining knowlegde, but they got raised as humans with a human nature in a human world - and human instincts.
How much does your mindscape get changed by a complete transformation into something similiar intelligent, but physically complete different? Does something like this change your brain? Your personality? If yes, how much? New Body, new instincts?
An interessting concept nevertheless, still got me. Are they now more human or more pony?
it's late, maybe I should go to bed...
Dang, turns out Joe can magic like a Mack truck. Interesting that his faith in an ordered, physics and mathematics based universe counts for the faith required to twist that physics into loops.
Moriah continues to have silly opinions.
It'll be hard for Adrian to fly if he's dead, that's pretty life-changing too.
Well, that went easier than I expected it to
I think that Moriah knows what it's like to be disabled. She wouldn't want to wish that on Adrian without his informed consent. The point that Oliver is making is that Adrian is sick enough that he may not be capable of providing informed consent at this point due to blood poisoning affecting his brain.
That was a nice description of how magic feels to a unicorn, by the way!
6235908
Thought so as well. Wonder if the need to actively disconnect makes high level spells so difficult to cast (an inherent 'safety threshold' the caster has to overcome?) Certainly makes them dangerous if the after-effects of a beginner's level spell on Joseph are anything to go by.
6235908
I thought Moriah's attitude to this was pretty definitely because of the whole "involuntary transformation into a unicorn mare" thing. She hates the Equestrians for doing it despite the fact that it saved her life, because she didn't have any input into the decision.
I'm actually rather impressed to see her instantly spring to the defence of someone else who could be about to have involuntary body modification done to them - for her, it's the principle of the thing, not just the resentment of someone who complains about everything.
It might be necessary, but she still wants it to be done with informed consent. If Adrian doesn't consent, we might see her really thinking about the Equestrians' reason for casting the spell.
6234228
Patient consent be damned the hypocratic oath must be upheld
6232906
Few needs, simple wants. Or vice versa. And vice versa.
And that is why bugs are irredeemably evil and must all be eradicated off the face of the earth.
Joseph needs to discover how to stand up for himself. His girlfriend is using his weak will to manipulate him. He also needs to learn some level of compassion. There seems to be none within him. He seems cold, and uncaring about anything but himself and it is sickening to see.
He's gonna have problems accessing higher-level spells if that's the basis of his belief.
Twilight begs to differ.
Not always
Actually, light dosn't always travel the same speed, and can actually go faster than the speed of light. It's complicated, but trust me on this one.
6385672 keywords about the light thing 'in a vacuum'
6397923 No, he's right. Light in a vacuum can, with the right sort of... Look, how much astrophysics do you really want in a pony fic? Generally correct, or so exhaustively nuanced that freshman physics majors might fall down and start shaking in agony?
6260883
In light of the fact that disorders which impair social functions h have been common knowledge for, let's see, maybe almost a century now, I find your ignorance and lack of empathy sickening.
Did that feel nice?
6385672
Actually, Nothing can move faster than C, or 3 * 10^8 m/s. This speed is also known as the speed of light. Even relatively, light always moves at that speed. (Excepting going through a medium, I'm talking in a vacuum here)
So no matter who observes it, light moves at that speed.
Sure, if it moves through aedium light water or glass, it slows down, but the actual speed of light, C, never changes.
Holy shit. And I thought I was selfish. Joseph is an ass.
Imago taken directly from Mage the Awakening, I see!
8121288
Joseph is pretty callous. My brother is on the spectrum and he's pretty good at empathy, but I'm not sure Joseph would lift a hoof for another person if not pressured to do so.