Friendly Fire

by Starscribe

Chapter 12

Jacob nearly dropped his books as he made his way into the common room that night. "Eric?" His friend had wings, in soft blue but with bright accents down the edges. There was no mistaking biology when he saw it, though it was almost lost in the little changes. His friend was wearing a blue jumpsuit now, which explained the holes.

"Y-yeah." He nodded shyly. "It's... yeah."

Instead of surprised, Harley just looked satisfied. "They only had to shock him twice."

"Then push me off a cliff." Eric sounded only mildly annoyed. "Turns out clouds really are as soft as they look."
"Yeah, so it turns out she got the full set." Danielle's hair was still wet and wrapped in a towel, as though she had just showered. "Only got three out of the whole club and she got one of each. Pretty lucky, even if it means none of us will ever get classes together."

Jacob was hardly listening. This latest observation combined with what he had been seeing over the last day, and what he had experienced himself. Some of his fellow humans had wings, but some also had the strange hair and eyes going. He had eaten lunch with just one such individual, a former YouTube analyst who had disappeared right around when the movie came out. She'd had wings and crazy streaks in her hair that looked plenty natural to him. She wore a Cutie Mark on her clothes too, like the one the quartermaster was sewing for him.
Harley." He interrupted whatever his friends were saying, glaring at her across the table. "You said before our own government was targeting us. They saw magic as a dangerous contamination, didn't they?"

She nodded, looking a little uncomfortable. "Yeah."
Why? What dangerous thing does magic do?"

She pushed a little away from the table, shuffling uneasily.
Danni and Eric were staring at him. "What's wrong, Jacob?" Eric almost sounded hurt. "Aren't these wings awesome?"

"They are." He tried not to let his anger with Harley make it into his words to Eric. "It's just that I think Harley hasn't been telling us something important."

"What haven't I been telling you?”

“I think... I think magic makes us like them." He was talking mostly to his own friends now, gesturing at Harley. Of course, she could've gotten away if she wanted to. How hard would it have been to run?

"Jacob, stop," Harley said. She didn't sound upset, or angry. Her tone was flat. "We can have this conversation, but if we do, you guys all have to meet with Sunset after. Just... fair warning."

Danni glared at her. "Well, that settles it. Go on, Jacob."

Though Harley's tone made him a little nervous, a little encouragement from his friends was all Jacob needed to continue. "Some people get wings, some of them get the whole crazy hair thing going, or even horns and stuff. Some people get Cutie Marks."

Harley fumbled with a phone, then set it down on the table in front of them.

"They do?" Danni was incredulous. "Are you sure they don't just... pick them? Spend lots of time around ponies, and I bet there's social pressure."

"I'm quite sure." Anger gave him the confidence to overcome embarrassment, and he showed them. Showed them the golden thread and broken scissors that now stood out from his skin with a thin layer of colored coat where no hair ought to be.

Anger kept him going, though he couldn't have said at what. Did Jacob regret choosing to side with ponies? "Harley, how far does this go?"

Embarrassing or not, Jacob's display seemed to make the point. Eric and Danni were staring at her now. Eventually the pressure seemed to get to her, and she looked away. "It's... look, there's a reason we don't put you around too much magic at once. There's a reason you never spend time around regular ponies, and why your classes on magic are only a few hours each day."
"It's a time and severity thing. Like how you can get a few X-rays no problem, but if you work in an X-ray lab you have to be behind radiation shields or else you'll get sick. Same thing with magic. A little exposure over time, or even a few seconds of something intense, won't do anything. So long as you follow the rules you're taught, and never push yourself beyond that, you'll be fine."

"What happens to the people who screw up?" Danni asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "They... die? Radiation poisoning?"

"No!" Harley and Jacob answered together, though with very different tones. Harley was the one who explained, though. "Jacob is correct: too much time around pony magic can make you all the way into ponies. We usually avoid telling refugees about it, since it can be pretty scary..." She sighed.

"Here's the truth: follow the rules, and you won't be exposed too much for anything permanent to happen. But break them even for a little while, and it's just like other kinds of radiation poisoning. The damage is permanent. The only 'treatment' is to become a pony completely, then go through the portal. Starswirl worked powerful illusions that can make any pony appear close to human, and those illusions will work for you too. It's what I'm doing, it's what all the ponies from Equestria are doing. There are quite a number of refugees living in Unity right now that have already done it. They're often the ones most strict about magic exposure rules. Because they know what will happen to you if you don't follow them."

"But why would this even happen?" Jacob stared down at the wand in front of him, and felt suddenly like he had been running around with the fuel rod of an active reactor. He wondered if his skin on that leg would start glowing. "Wouldn't it make more sense if magic just killed us? Why change humans at all?"

She shrugged. "Now you're talking existential questions. Brainy stuff like that is for Sunset Shimmer or one of the princesses. I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to."

"But..." Eric continued, finally catching on to Jacob's reasoning. "But treating us like we're dangerous and ponies like... terrorists or whatever... makes a little more sense like this. It's super contagious, permanent, and life-changing. Just ‘cuz you ponies have rules here in Unity doesn't mean humans will follow them anywhere else."

"I... think you're working with a little bit of a misunderstanding here." Harley walked a few steps to the left, plucking a banana hanging on the rack. She didn't peel it, though. Jacob had never seen her eat. "I've been on Earth longer than most ponies, so I've picked up some stuff. You wanna talk radiation, let's talk radiation. There's radiation in this banana, because one of your planet's potassium isotopes happens to be radioactive. But I don't think it's even possible to overdose. You could eat bananas until you were sick"—she tossed her own back onto the counter with disdain—"and not get radiation poisoning."

"I don't get it," Eric started. "What does that have to do with what Equestria did?"

She paced back over to them. "Equestria wasn't sending enough magic to change anyone. It takes real powerful spells... the kind we have here, sure. But it would've taken you many years to make them on your own. Even then, it's the difference between eating bananas Equestria sent you and building your own particle accelerators and standing in 'em. Somepony else brought the monsters here, somepony else founded the Lighttenders, and somepony else has been working very hard to make ponies seem like your enemies. So if you're going to hate Equestria... and I've been there, believe me, then at least hate them for things they've really done."

She slumped back into her chair then, apparently spent.

There was silence at the table for several minutes, before Jacob cleared his throat. "So... we follow the rules, and we're safe? No more changing?"

Harley nodded.

"So what was it you said about us needing to see Sunset earlier?"

"So long as you don't have any more radical things to talk about. It's... just you, though. Normally it happens when you get your Cutie Mark, but I kinda didn’t tell her so you could spend more time with your friends..."

He glanced once from Danielle to Eric, then rose. "Sounds good. I'll let you two know what she tells me, don't worry."

They made their way through to the stairs, then went down. There was little activity this deep, though that might just have something to do with the time. People here were even more insane with how early they got up than many of his teachers back at university.

"You're probably going to lie to them," Harley said as they walked, conversationally.

"I doubt it. I wasn't super close to Danielle before, but now..."

"That's not what I mean." They got off the stairs, then made it less than a dozen steps to a pair of armed guards. He had seen more than a few in Unity, manning the fortifications, guarding the lower sections. They always looked stern, like many of the show's repeat guards had seemed.

Apparently they were expected. "Already, Harley?" One of the guards rose from his slight lean against the wall, looking between Jacob and the girl. "Two days?"

She glared back at him. "This kid is part of the reason anypony came back from Colorado Springs. Maybe finding ponies who adapt should be less freakish than finding losers who muddle around magic for months and never get anywhere."

The other guard holstered his gun over one shoulder, sticking out his hand. Harley handed over her phone. He pressed it to the wall, which beeped loudly, and the door clicked. "Thanks." He put one hand on Jacob's shoulder, looking him in the eye. "Spitfire was my first instructor in the academy. Tough old nag, but... she's already walking again thanks to you."

"It was mostly Twilight." He looked away, feeling awkward. "Give her the credit."

They made their way deeper into the mountain, a similar direction to the one they had gone on his first day in Unity. To the portal, then. There were two more guards outside, and this time they weren't human.

Jacob's first time seeing healthy ponies, and all he could think of was how adorable they looked. They had large, elevated platforms to stand on, but even so they looked far more cute than threatening. They resembled the show quite closely indeed, if the ponies had been maybe two feet and dressed in cute armor. They had no weapons, though both of these guards appeared to be unicorns.

"Is Sunset—"

The guards both shook their heads. "The door is shut, that means the Regent is occupied. When she opens the door, you can come in."

"Right, well..." She took Jacob's hand, tugging him down the hall. "I'm going to take this human out of blast range, if you don't mind. Holler when she's ready."

They didn't argue, and neither did Jacob. He still had a little trouble looking at the ponies without feeling strange. The fur on his Cutie Mark itched like crazy, and he felt unsteady. It was very much like what he had felt before.

"This feels a little unnecessary," he muttered, once they had found a spot about fifty feet away, out of sight around the corner. He slumped against the wall, hands in his lap. "If all Sunset does is lecture newbies who figure out your extremely obvious secrets, she can't have much free time."

"Not that." She gestured at his butt again. "I already told you, it's about the Cutie Mark."

"Whatever." He turned away, staring at the unmarked, carved wall. "I think my point still stands."

"Well..." She glanced once around them, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're pretty dreadful at this. We try to narrow things down to the ones ready for magic, but even so we actually rescue less than half of you. Lots of those ponies weren't ready for a big change. But who can even blame them? It's not like you asked for this. Damn princesses didn't warn you, how were you supposed to know the propaganda was real? Err... real enough."

"You keep calling it that. In my class today they called the show an iterative thaumic-inducing historical transmission. Are you... Isn't it real?"

"Oh, it's real." She rolled her eyes. "Just remember who writes the history books." She leaned close to him, whispering into one of his ears. "The victors. So they put in some of their heroes, some significant events, whatever. Just don't treat the whole thing as gospel. Make decisions based on bad information, and you'll make bad decisions."

"Harlequin, are you still out there? Sunset's ready to see you."

Harley groaned, and she kept her voice low. "Same thing with Sunset. She's not a liar, but she's the Regent. Of course the system has to make itself look great. You don't have to swear fealty just because she's got a lightshow."

"Uh..." They started walking, Jacob feeling his low-level excitement gradually change to unease.

Comments

[ASGeek2012]

This chapter is very interesting, but it needs a bit of cleanup. There are paragraphs run together and missing opening double quotes on dialog. I assume this is all from the import issues you were having lately that you mentioned in a previous chapter's author's notes. If so, remind me never to use that "feature" of the site.

[Totally Not A Pony]

Hmm...the plot thickens.

Also, there are a number of paragraphs opening with speech in this chapter that are missing their initial quotation marks.

[Yami Vizzini]

I don't recall these "Lighttenders" having been mentioned before.

So there's a vicious cycle of people "mutating", the authorities thinking that the Equestrians are responsible and so detaining/slaughtering both parties, and the Equestrians trying to help the mutants adjust, protecting them from the authorities, and by their presence cementing the (slightly true) impression that they're responsible- but a third party was actually responsible for tipping the balance of the initial magic exposure and setting this off. Curious about the circumstances of Patient Zero. Also just how Equestria may differ from/be darker than the show (Harley's own biases notwithstanding).

[Doppler Effect]

"You're probably going to lie to them," Harley said as they walked, conversationally.

Thinking about magic (or looking at the cute ponies) accelerates things, so he's going to lie to them to protect them from further exposure? I'm guessing that Harley was also expecting him to say something during their chat that would trigger changes in the other two that would have necessitated bringing them to Sunset as well?

I have to say I love that entire concept. There's just something chilling about thinking about the mere idea being dangerous - you can't even work out how to counter it without exposing yourself to it. I wonder if the Agency has a bunch of their early agents and scientists quarantined away somewhere (...if they weren't part of the autopsied group) after their exposure to magic went too far.

"Lighttenders" sounds like a group dedicated to making as many people as possible get access to magic. Started by humans with good intentions, or by whoever introduced monsters onto Earth, I wonder?

[Noble Cause]

I get the suspicion that while Sunset might not tell him the entire truth, she'll be more honest than anyone else. Except maybe Twilight.

[ChaosDX1]

It's not fun if everything is revealed right away, but I feel like there are too many secrets in this story that could have been explained earlier with no consequence. Everyone that knows what's going on is going out of their way to say as little as possible until they absolutely have to say something.

[Therizzen]

So, It wasn't Equestria's idea to go full magic exposure and start making radical changes to humans, who apparently are some of the ponies locked in the governments prisons. If it were up to them they would have gifted humanity magic with them none the wiser. They're like an outside people uplifting another species. For humanity I don't think that's either good nor bad. As a natural process it could well be a good thing. We'd have time and the intelligence to study it and make it ours. But now something, or someone, inside the Equestrian system fucked the mission up and now everything's gone sideways. People are actively trying to turn humanity and start a conflict. Equestria at large is attempting damage control the best they can but they weren't at all prepared for this. This is some worst case scenario shit. It's like giving the Krogans nuclear warheads. We all know how that turned out.

I guess the question is, did Equeastria have the right to "uplift" us? Magic is some amazing phenomenon, and I think it could simultaneously be the greatest and worst thing to ever gift humanity. In a perfect world nothing bad would have happened. The only reason people are turning is because high concentrations of pony magic is effecting us. If they had never gotten involved in damage control ponification wouldn't have been a thing. It's all just a sad hodgepodge of botched intentions and misunderstandings.

[Lunae Lumen]

7543280

I guess the question is, did Equeastria have the right to "uplift" us?

No. Also, no. In addition, hell no.

It's a poor analogy, since in the usual uplift scenario, the initial species is not sapient, and has, at best, limited rights. The moral questions in that case are generally less about whether it is right to do so in the first place, and more about how to treat them afterwards. Frankenstein comes to mind-- the doctor created new life, and then tried to murder it because everyone found its appearance disturbing. The bundle of body parts beforehand had no particular rights, but the intelligent, living creature that resulted did.

By contrast, the Equestrians are trespassing on someone else's world and making changes to suit themselves, without so much as a by-your-leave. That's not only not right, that's an act of war, and it really doesn't matter in the slightest what they intended by it.

[Nox Knock Jokes]

"Harlequin, are you still out there? Sunset's ready to see you."

Ooooh I finally see where her name comes from

[Russian Bank Teller]

7609172
THANK YOU