Perchance to Dream

by David Silver

69 - We Can Build It

Life became busy, mostly with things I could easily mistake for mundane. I escorted our two guests to work, and we got right to work overseeing how to get things done. The preliminary legal work was the most comfortable for me, and boring for the ladies. As for township, the requirements were a bit vague and I went chasing after the specifics and making phone calls to get those wheels turning. It seemed I could get a town declared without too much difficulty, but then it would need a charter to be anything more than a formality as part of the county.

Population also mattered, and I doubted we could count the ponies just yet, seeing as they were being hidden.

It was a side project, one I chased while going over the requirements of the project, namely building ordinances that were specific to the county. Until and unless we did set up an official charter for the new town, we were beholden to all county regulations, and I didn't plan for that to be where we went afoul.

California, as a state, was far more strict about what could be built where and how compared to back home. The county had a few other rules to add to the pile, and I was gathering them all together into a list of requirements for the task ahead of us. If I couldn't mount some ill-advised but well-meaning rescue of all the ponies, I would at least make sure the houses they lived in met or exceeded all regulations.

"Look what Trixie made." My work suddenly came to a rough halt as something was thrust in front of me. It was the tablet I had picked up for Trixie to enjoy. It had writing on it. Not any normal writing. I recognized it swiftly. It was a spell.

"How did you... get a spell on the tablet?"

"She what?" Starlight looked up from where she had been busying herself.

Trixie looked mightily pleased with herself. "Once she learned how to draw on it directly, it was no trouble at all. Sure, she had to make use of some of the more advanced tools this device had to draw it correctly, but it is done!" She put down the tablet in front of me. "Go ahead, review it and tell Trixie how well she did."

It... looked like a spell to me. I was trying to get in the right mental space to 'see' it properly when the tablet was yanked away by Starlight. "Trixie! What spell even is this?" She turned it around to have a look at it, then let out a groan. "Really, this one?"

"What's wrong with that one?" Trixie folded her round arms. "It's one she remembered so, she wrote it down."

Starlight put the tablet back down on my desk. "That's very nice and all, but what good is it? Hay, we can't even cast spells right now, and even if we could, we both know that spell." She threw out a hand wide. "What are you thinking?"

While they were arguing, I gravitated back to my work. It seemed ultimately harmless, and there was plenty to get done.

"Maybe you cannot cast spells, but that does not mean anypony else can't."

"What do you--You didn't."

I glanced up to Starlight giving Trixie a nasty glare. "She didn't what?"

Trixie turned away. "Trixie did nothing wrong. Why are you even looking at her like that?"

Starlight reached and snatched the pointed cap from Trixie's head, or tried. It lifted a few inches before it began to glow and set itself down firmly. "You did! You get rid of that this very instant!"

Trixie wheeled back around, dancing away awkwardly. "You can ask Trixie to be naked, but you cannot ask her to be without magic without forcing her. She has been very good. Not a single spell that has gotten us into trouble." She extended a hand palm-side up. "Has she not? She has been good. Do you not trust Trixie?"

The pieces came together rapidly. "So... you have a horn."

Starlight let out a grunt of frustration. "Yes, she does. No wonder that guard's wand went crazy around your head. Trixie... Becoming a chimera is very advanced and tricky. You could have hurt yourself, or worse."

"But she did not," reported Trixie with a self-pleased smile. "She did it and it works. Are you not proud of Trixie?"

Starlight's sour face turned a little into a smile. "Yes I am, but that doesn't excuse you. If someone or something knocked your hat free, you'd cause an instant panic."

Trixie raised a finger. "How little faith you have in Trixie. Very well, behold." She took off her cap and revealed her blue horn poking free of her hair as if it belonged there. There was a plastic strap running down either side of her head. "See? Trixie can claim the horn was fake, and she has these too." She brushed her hair to reveal fake pony ears. "She noticed humans like ponies, at least the cartoon ones. The disguises were not hard to find."

Wait... "Did you take my money?" I couldn't imagine anywhere else she'd get any.

"No!" She defended hotly.

Starlight was not impressed. "Kevin's then?"

"Maybe..." She waved the argument aside. "That is beside the point. Trixie has taken all precautions, has she not?"

I was amused on some level, curious on another. "First, put your hat back on, and keep it on. I don't want to test that disguise of yours. Second, so you can actually cast spells?"

"Of course." Trixie glanced around the room before settling on my cup of pens. She snatched one. "Teacup!" And lo, a teacup was born. She set it down lightly. "See?"

That only raised more questions. "Humans aren't... built for magic."

"Says you." Trixie stuck out her tongue lightly. "They have most of the parts. So close, so far. Close enough for Trixie to make use of."

Starlight threw her hands wide. "Trixie, I am so annoyed, but... impressed." Trixie looked entirely too pleased at the praise. "How did... you not kill yourself doing this?"

Trixie's face soured into a pout before recovering. "She consulted the great oracle, the 'Google'. It had many answers to Trixie's questions. She did her work and this is her reward." She leaned towards Starlight. "And now that she can write spells down, maybe if you ask her nicely, Trixie will share how to be a unicorn-human?"

Starlight glanced up at her head, as best she could see herself. "I don't usually sport a big pointed hat the hide it in even if I thought that was a good idea, which I'm far from convinced about."

Curiosity was strong. "So, Trixie." She looked towards me appraisingly. "Does the size of the horn equate to power?"

"That would be... interesting, but that is the opposite of how it works. Being strong in magic can encourage the horn to grow larger, but having a larger horn does not inherently enhance one's abilities." She flashed a smile. "Trixie did not fall asleep during all of Twilight's lessons."

Starlight huffed out a sigh as she crashed back into her seat. "You have the most selective hearing I've ever encountered. Linda, why are you asking about horn sizes?"

I leaned forward a little. "If they can be minimized, preferably beneath the hair line, even just a bump if possible, then the risk of causing a panic diminishes. No one is going to call someone out over a lump on their head."

Trixie's nose wrinkled. "If her horn was just a bump, that is a bit too far. Magic would become very difficult, even for Trixie."

"But possible?" I asked.

Trixie's teeth clenched a little before she let out a sigh. "Yes, it would be possible. Like using this--" She grabbed the tablet from my desk. "--with hooves. Awkward and slow, but not impossible.

What if I could use the spells I learned in Equestria right there on Earth? That... would be really cool, but... Another thought crept up. "They're watching for that."

Starlight perked up at that. "Who's watching for what?"

I gestured in a vague circle. "They, the people we're working for. They know what pony magic 'looks' like and can detect it. If we start using it, they will notice, and likely not be very happy with us, since they are not yet sure what it can and can't do and how hazardous it might be to humans."

Starlight rolled a hand. "Well, that's easy to test. We can use some magic around some humans and after nothing happens to them, we're done."

"Yeah.... That wouldn't cut it. Any medical test would need to be exhaustive and, more importantly, extended. We're talking years, starting with animal tests before they even let us consider putting an actual human to the test."

And then it hit me, right where my horn would be. "And I just found the unicorns." Both looked at me with confusion. "They're testing them, right now. I could be wrong, this is a baseless guess, but it would make sense. They're conducting tests on how native life, starting at the bottom and working up, reacts to Equestrian magic. You two." I pointed two fingers from the same hand at either of them. "Are an exception, likely only because you're involved from another angle and... relatively secure. I'm going to go on a limb and guess the other unicorns don't know how to pretend to be humans."

Trixie folded her plump arms. "So they're afraid of her magic?" She smiled suddenly. "It is right to be a little timid around something so Great and Powerful, but there is a limit. Trixie's magic is to amaze and excite, not harm others."

Starlight reached out and took her friend by the arm. "I know that, and you know that, and Linda knows that, but do they? They're playing it safe. I mean, I can't entirely blame them, but I really would like to know those unicorns are alright."

Trixie looked to me. "So ask them. We would like to visit and meet the unicorns. It isn't right that they are kept away from the other ponies, even if the unicorns of Canterlot seem to enjoy it that way." She rolled her eyes. "What harm is there in requesting?"

"First issue, that is likely classified information." I put my hands on my desk. "They let us see the town and the ponies there because we had to know that to make the town properly. The number, location, and state of the unicorns is not a 'need' to know."

Starlight released her friend and turned to me at the desk. Her hands rest on it across from mine and she leaned in at me. "Unless you requested assurance of their safety as a representative of Equestria."

Author's Note:

Why is everyone pressuring Linda to assume that mantle? She's a lawyer, not a diplomat! Did someone typo on her resume?

Have your own story written by joining the atreon!

Join my discord to chat!

Comments

[Nagel Navari]

Linda should be given the number and names of the displaced unicorns.

[David Silver]

8210591 Perhaps if she formally requests it, but that is putting her hat into the arena as a go-between officially.

[tsaukpaetra]

So you can contain a Pegasus by binding wings, but human technology doesn't have such an easy answer for unicorns. They're just lucky ponies are so easygoing.
Forget the Rainbow Factory, they're shooting straight at the moon!
It's funny that Trixie decided to use the tablet as a means for spell recording, when there was likely pen and paper right there.
Keep going! ;)

[Booster Spice]

Could be worse Linda, you could be sitting a Horta.

Dammit James, Im a counciller, not a brick layer.

[Sylica telca]

I KNEW THEY COULDN'T BE TRUSTED!! they are doing secretive tests with the unicorns magic. So antho ponies are possible great job Trixie.

[Istaran]

Having Kevin visit the unicorns and assure Linda is the obvious answer.

[Daremo]

the hide it - to hide it

hands rest on - hands rested on

---

I'm late but there are still a few stragglers to pick off.

Simply putting the question to agent whazzername would be enough to get the ball rolling. Even if she gives the standard, I neither confirm or deny yadda yadda line, she will have still heard the words. She doesn't have to answer, but Linda can leverage it with her role as representative to get the wheels of bureaucracy turning, just make sure that the little ponies don't get ground up in the process.

[Daremo]

8210659
If the mythology of this earth is identical to ours, then it stands to reason that someone will have thought to try some or all of the old wards againt magic, specifically cold iron. General experimentation would also quickly reveal that physical contact with a pony's horn while in use disrupts whatever magic was being worked, provided that pony magic behaves the same as in Mr. Silver's other works. So a cold iron horn ring shouldn't take long to work out and isn't inexpensive to produce.

[Dimensional Librarian]

They probably keep pressuring Linda to be a diplomat cause a certain writer wound up doing the same thing

[Luckyfanisaac]

I don't usually sport a big pointed hat to hide it in even