Chapter 32 - Hearing
The sheriff glanced at the two ponies before saying in a low voice, somewhat muffled by the breath mask he wore, "Father, you sure you want to stick around while their transportation is arranged?"
"I have no qualms being near them," said Lyle. "I'm perfectly comfortable with their presence."
"I'm more concerned about you catching whatever this is. Don't you at least want a mask or something?"
"When the flu came through town, I willingly brought communion to the sick. I didn't worry too much about whether I would become ill or not."
"Yeah, but this is something else entirely." The sheriff paused. "Are you actually buying their story? It sounds kinda far out to me."
Lyle smiled. "Let's just say I have faith that something good will come out of this."
The sheriff sighed and adjusted his hat. "Father, I consider myself a decent Christian, but this is kinda stretching my ability to see the bright side. Pardon my language, but things are going to hell in a hand-basket faster than I think people realize."
"Then will it hurt to trust these two far enough to learn what they have to offer us?"
"That decision is well above my pay grade, Father, but I guess I see your point." The sheriff glanced at the ponies again, hesitating when he saw them looking at him. "And it's not like there aren't already rumors that someone's doing this on purpose."
"And just what rumors have you heard as to potential perpetrators?"
The sheriff looked back to the priest. "They're all over the map. Russians, Arab terrorists, covered-up biological accident, space aliens." He paused. "Biblical revelation."
"While the Vatican advises that the Book of Revelation is not to be taken literally, I'm reasonably sure that's not what's at work here," said Lyle just as hoof-falls approached them.
"Um, excuse me," said Twilight in a gentle voice. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think our hearing might be a little better than you assume. We overheard most of what you said and wanted to talk to Father Donovan for a moment."
"I'll be fine," Lyle said to the sheriff. "You worry about getting arrangements made."
The sheriff glanced at the two ponies before tipping his hat to the priest and heading away.
Lyle turned to Twilight. "What can I do for you?"
"You mentioned something about the 'flu' coming through town," said Twilight. "Is that the name of a sickness?"
"Yes, it's short for influenza," said Lyle. "A common ailment that tends to affect us at regular intervals. It's generally not considered serious but occasionally has larger outbreaks."
"Has there been an outbreak recently?"
"Yes, a rather bad one, and it seems to get worse every day," said Lyle. "I haven't seen a flu season this bad for a very long time."
"Did you have it?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, I did eventually come down with it myself," said Lyle. "I got over it fully about five days ago."
"That has to be it, Twilight," said Starlight. "That's the disease Sunset used."
"Are you saying this affliction is related to the flu?" Lyle asked.
"It appears so, yes," said Twilight.
"Then that would imply this will affect me as well."
"I'm sorry, Father, but, yes, I can sense the transformation magic already at work in you. You'll likely see the effects very soon."
Lyle nodded slowly. He wondered if, had he known this from the start, he would have still tended to the sick. He wanted to believe that he would. He had often admired the priests of old who ministered to people during the Black Death, even though modern science held that their ministrations had no measurable effect in stopping the plague. It at least gave people some sort of hope or comfort.
"I thought you should know," Twilight said. "I'm sorry if this causes you any grief."
Lyle glanced down at his hands. He had lost track of how many times they had held the bread and the wine during the most sacred part of the Mass. There were days when his arthritis screamed at him, but he always pushed past the pain to do what he had felt was God's calling.
He flexed his fingers a few times. He had been having a good day. He had awoken with very little of the stiffness that was generally present in the mornings. He lowered his hands to his sides and slowly smiled. "I will still be one of God's beloved creatures no matter what form I take. I know my beliefs are not yours, but I hold them dear, and I have to trust that there is a purpose behind this."
"At least we found somepony who's taking this better," Starlight murmured. At Lyle's questioning look, she added, "We were attacked by, um, another human on our way here."
"I still maintain that he was just protecting his family," said Twilight.
"Then perhaps you can find it in your heart to forgive him," said Lyle.
Twilight's eyes glistened. "I do. I just wish I felt that way about ... well, never mind."
"No, please, tell me," said Lyle. "You're trying to help us. Let us help you as well."
Twilight sighed. "The one behind this -- Sunset Shimmer -- I don't know how I feel about her anymore. She's my aunt, and I ... I still love her, but what she's doing is so bad, I just don't know what to think."
Starlight averted her gaze. "Um, yeah. Almost as bad as creating alternate timelines to--"
"Starlight, it's not the same!" Twilight snapped. "What you did -- what you tried to do -- was easily reversed. I'm not so sure about this yet. Also, you listened to reason. Aunt Sunset hasn't. I don't know if she ever will."
"If I may make an observation," said Lyle. "You already seem to have had experience with giving forgiveness, Twilight. That's a big part of what my faith is about."
"It's part of our beliefs as well," said Twilight.
Starlight stepped forward. "Sorry to be a bit blunt about this, Father Donovan, but is your brand of forgiveness common on this world?"
Lyle paused. "Unfortunately, it is not as widespread as I would like."
"So what do you think they'll want to do with Sunset if they get hold of her?"
What immediately sprang to Lyle's mind were the Nuremberg trials after World War II. The former Nazis were shown very little mercy, and several had preferred to commit suicide rather than be subjected to its judgment. He had no idea whether the US government -- or other governments, for that matter -- would consider this an attempt at genocide. He had not wanted to dwell on it himself, but perhaps that was simply avoiding seeing another elephant in the room.
Lyle folded his hands and said, "It will likely not be pleasant."
"That's what I thought," said Starlight in a slightly quavering voice.
The sheriff called out from the door of the church. "The folks from the state are here. Time for them to go."
Twilight turned back to Lyle. "Thank you again for your help, Father Donovan. I'll make sure to mention your good will to both the people of this world and mine."
Lyle smiled and squatted next to Twilight. "Is there any sort of gesture that your kind does to express friendship?"
Twilight smiled and lifted a fore-hoof. "We touch hooves."
Lyle lifted his hand and pressed the palm to Twilight's hoof. "I hope a hand will do."
Twilight pressed her hoof gently against his hand. "It certainly will, Father. Thank you."
"Go with the grace of God, Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer."
Twilight held the touch for another moment before lowering her fore-hoof. Both she and Starlight shared a last smile with him before heading away.
Lyle stood before his legs and hips could protest. As he watched the white-coated men and women flood into the church and take the two ponies into custody, he let out a slow, relaxed sigh. Perhaps he had not found the divine revelation that he had wanted, but he had found what he and his parishioners had badly needed: a glimmer of hope.
Once the ponies were gone, he retreated to his office. He had a sermon to write.
Twilight and Starlight had been led into a self-propelled carriage by humans in white coats and wearing masks over their mouth and nose. The vehicle had a large, box-like rear section where several cots lay, obviously intended more for tall native forms than two ponies. One of the humans stayed in that section with them and seemed to be more interested in examining them rather than listening to their story.
Starlight drew the line when the human asked her to "lift her tail."
"Hey, I don't do that for just anypony!" Starlight snapped. "Let alone another species!"
"I don't think he quite meant it the way that term is used in Equestria, Starlight," said Twilight, though she was blushing faintly. "They wouldn't know our slang terminology."
"Um, sorry, ma'am," the human said. "I just wanted a better look at your hindquarters."
Starlight tucked her tail down. "You can see it fine from right where you are."
The human tilted his head as he looked at Starlight's haunches. "Is that a tattoo of some sort?"
Starlight blinked. "A what?"
"I think he means your cutie mark," said Twilight.
"Uh, okay. What about it?"
"Did you have that before you transformed?" the human asked. "Or did it appear with the--"
Starlight face-hoofed. "How many times do we have to tell you, we're not transformed humans, we're from another world inhabited by ponies like us, and we got here through a magic portal. How hard is that to understand?!"
The perplexed human simply drew back and gave her a thoughtful look.
"Starlight, please, calm down," said Twilight. "They've never had contact with another sapient species before. It's going to take a little time to convince them."
"Yes, time you said we don't have," Starlight said.
The human gave them a weak smile. "You don't exactly look like space aliens, at least not what everyone tends to expect."
"Even if you doubt our story, will you at least pass it on to your government authorities?" Twilight asked. "The sooner we can get a hearing, the better."
The human withdrew to his seat at the head of the cabin. "I can assure you, the government is very much interested in anything related to this disease."
"If I may ask, how soon will we be arriving?"
The human pulled a large, rectangular object into his lap. "About two hours or so. Should be pretty fast since I-70's been cleared of civilian traffic."
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "What's an eye-seventy?"
The human paused with his hand at the edge of the device. "Uh, it's what we're on now."
"I think that's a road designation," said Twilight.
"Good," Starlight said. "Because I didn't want to think of what could possibly have seventy eyes."
The human smiled faintly before lifting his hand. The rectangular object split, becoming two thinner rectangles joined by a hinge.
The vehicle rattled as it went over a bump. "I wonder how fast we're going," Twilight mused.
"If it was anything like those other carriages -- no, um, cars? -- then it's too fast for me."
"Rainbow Dash routinely flies a lot faster than that."
Starlight lapsed into Equestrian as she said, "Yeah, but I don't exactly go riding on her back. Nothing that goes this fast should be anywhere other than on a proper set of rails."
Twilight rolled her eyes even as she kept glancing at the human. He had tilted the top part of the object back, and his fingers were tapping a group of buttons arranged in neat rows on the bottom part. "You have to admit, it does give them more freedom of movement. And please, keep talking in their native tongue. I don't want them to think we're hiding anything."
"All right, fine, but some of their sounds make my jaw ache." Starlight reverted to English as she added, "Maybe we should take this time to come up with some sort of plan."
Twilight hesitated before responding, her gaze fixed on the human. "As we get closer to town, I can take more detailed readings." She turned her gaze back to Starlight. "Whatever Aunt Sunset is using to store the magical energy, it's not mana batteries. That many in one place would give off enough of a resonance that I would detect it."
"Well, we figured that was impractical," said Starlight.
Twilight looked back to the human. "Hmm ..."
"Maybe she has them gathered somewhere further away or underground?" Starlight suggested. "But then she would need to channel it somehow. Perhaps this world has crystals like in Equestria that could be used as conduits. What do you think, Twilight?"
When she got no answer, she turned her head. Twilight had approached the human and was staring in fascination as the human's fingers moved across the object in his lap. The human finally stopped and looked at her. "Something I can help you with, ma'am?"
"This device of yours is utterly fascinating," Twilight said. "What is it?"
The human hesitated. "It's a laptop."
Starlight just gaped.
"Well, I suppose that name makes sense, given where it's situated," said Twilight. "But what exactly is it? What does it do?"
"It's a computer."
"Oh, a computation device! Yes, I picked up the general concept from the translation spell."
"You've never seen one before?" the human asked.
"We use abacus spells to do something similar. How fast is it?"
"It's got a three gigahertz processor," said the human.
"I'm not sure I quite undertsand. How many computations can it do at once?"
The human rubbed his neck. "I'm not a computer tech, ma'am, but, uh, I guess it means it does three billion a second?"
Twilight gasped. "That's absolutely amazing! I could do research at fantastic speeds with something like that."
Starlight face-hoofed.
"And Windows is still slow as crap on this thing," the human muttered.
"What was that?" Twilight asked.
"Er, nothing, ma'am."
Starlight stepped over to Twilight and said through clenched teeth, "Just what are you doing?"
"Sorry to bother you," Twilight said to the human before turning away. "Just trying to find out more about how their society and technology works, that's all. It's all absolutely fascinating!"
Starlight stared. "And you chose now to geek-out ... because??"
Twilight glanced at the human, who had turned his attention back to his laptop. She leaned closer to Starlight and said softly, "It let me get close enough to scan both him and his companion in the front part of the vehicle so I could explain something odd I was sensing."
"So what did you find out?"
"This human has transformation magic in him, but no spell structure," said Twilight. "The one in the front has the spell. Magic is flowing from this human into the other human."
Starlight blinked. "Wait, what? How is that possible?"
"Because beings that have no ability to use magic can still have magic instilled inside them so long as it's not at a level harmful to them," said Twilight. "Do you see it now? That's the solution Aunt Sunset came up with. That's why I detected humans with transformation magic in them but not the spell. She's using other humans as living mana batteries! Untransformed humans serve to supply magic to those who are transforming."
Starlight paused for a long moment. "I don't know whether to consider that clever or diabolical. Why didn't we see this before now?"
"Because we're so used to a society based on magic. Her plan would never work in that situation, as the inhabitants would just convert the magical energy into some other form."
"But one human can't hold all the magic needed for a single transformation."
"One human doesn't have to," said Twilight. "You heard Aunt Sunset yourself. This world has an enormous population, and they're clearly very social creatures. That's a vast network to draw on."
Starlight glanced at the human, who was looking at them with a mix of curiosity and concern. "At least we figured it out."
"That's barely scratching the surface. If this were on a smaller scale, I could craft a spell to disrupt the flow of magic, but it's spread too far for such a simple measure."
Starlight sighed. "So we're back at square one?"
"Not quite," said Twilight. "While I can't quite stop it, there may be a means to slow it down and buy more time. It's going to depend on what we find out from the authorities."
"If they'll believe us," Starlight grumbled.
Twilight smiled. "I believe I have the means to convince them."
When they arrived at their destination, the back of the vehicle opened up into a cavernous room where similar cars sat. More white-coated, masked humans shepherded them inside, all under the watchful eyes of other humans dressed in fabrics colored with odd, irregular splotches and carrying more formidable-looking weapons than the man who had shot at them.
"Are they supposed to be guards?" Starlight whispered as they entered the building proper.
"I would assume so," said Twilight. "Though Rarity would consider their fashion sense a total affront to her sensibilities."
"Uh, let's not risk insulting them, shall we? I'd prefer not to pit our magic against their technology. Especially since I'm starting to get hungry. I hope they at least know how to prepare proper food for ponies."
"I'm detecting a huge pool of transformation magic," said Twilight. "They surely have somepony who's been transformed far enough for their diet to change."
"Yeah, about the magic," said Starlight. "Just how bad is it?"
"Worse than I would like. This area is saturated with constantly flowing magic. I had thought I might home in on Aunt Sunset's device in hopes of retrieving it to understand better how her spell works, but I doubt I could sense it with all this interference."
"She's not about to leave it out in the open for anypony to take it," said Starlight.
They arrived at one of several small alcoves lined up against a wall and separated from the hallway by a thick drape. Inside was a padded table on wheels and equipment that bore faint resemblance to medical gear back home.
Starlight frowned. "They're still treating us like a patients, Twilight."
One the white-coated humans looked at Twilight and glanced at the clipboard he held before saying, "Miss Sparkle, if you'd kindly step in here? Miss Glimmer, you'll be in the next one."
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Say what now?"
"We don't want to be separated," said Twilight. "Please, there's plenty of space for both of us in here."
"Or you could just, you know, not treat us like we're sick?"
"I would really like to speak to somepony -- someone -- in authority," said Twilight. "I can't emphasize enough how urgent this is."
Another human looked to the first one. "Did anyone page Doctor Marlowe?"
"Yes," said the first. "But I was told to give them full examinations first and assign them to a room."
Starlight rolled her eyes and turned to Twilight. "You maybe want to make with whatever little demonstration you had planned to try and convince them?"
Twilight glanced around. "There's not quite enough room, and ..." She paused before lapsing into Equestrian to add, "... and it may startle them. I'd rather have an audience limited to someone who would be more apt to be calm and who has some influence."
The humans exchanged confused looks. The first one said, "Uh, Miss Sparkle--"
Twilight smiled. "Please, just call me Twilight."
"Twilight," the human said. "Were you singing just now?"
Twilight chuckled. "No, that was just my native language, though I can understand why it sounds like that to you."
The first human said, "We better have Doctor Marlowe paged again."
"I'll try, but she's very busy today," said the second. "There's an ongoing acceleration of symptoms in the first shelter."
Twilight's eyes widened. "Starlight, did you hear that? The condition is accelerating! It must have something to do with the available pool of magic. The more magic, the faster it goes." She turned back to the humans. "We're running out of time. It's urgent we talk to someone in charge."
"Ma'am, we'll do everything we can to arrange something, but please, we need your cooperation," said the first human.
Twilight considered. "I'll make you a deal. Keep us together, and we'll submit to whatever examination you want to conduct."
"Uh, we will?" Starlight murmured.
Twilight jabbed a fore-hoof into Starlight's side without taking her gaze from the human.
Starlight sighed. "Fine, we will. But stay away from my tail, okay?"
"Let me make a note of this," the first human said as he grabbed a slim metal object from the top of the clipboard. It snagged and fell out of his fingers yet never hit the floor. When the human looked down, he saw it hovering in mid-air, surrounded by a purple glow.
Twilight stepped forward, her horn glowing as well. "Oh, is this a writing implement? I think it's called a 'pen.' It's supposed to be their equivalent of a quill, but where's the writing tip?" She found and depressed the button at one end. She heard a click, and an ink-covered point appeared at the other end. "Oh, my, that's so clever! Look, Starlight, it even has ink on it already. It must have an internal ink reservoir. So clean and efficient!"
Starlight shook her head. "Please, pay no attention to her, she's a total nerd even in our world."
The humans just stared in silence until the first one said, "Um, can I have my pen back?"
"Oh, yes, my apologies." Twilight started to lift the pen, but hesitated and pressed the button again. "There. Don't want to cause a mess."
She levitated it until it was level with the human's face. He reached out a tentative hand and grabbed it, the glow fading a moment later. He turned to the others. "I don't care how busy Doctor Marlowe is, get hold of her ASAP."
Starlight paced the length of the hospital room. "When they said they were going to examine us, I didn't think that meant they were going to poke us with needles."
"Yes, but they knew exactly where our veins were," said Twilight from where she sat on her haunches on one of the beds, her horn softly glowing. "That means they have at least some of their kind who have fully transformed."
"I don't care that they knew what they were doing, it hurt!"
"Oh, stop it, it wasn't that bad."
"I guess I'm used to Equestrian healers who use more painless methods for that sort of thing." Starlight glanced at Twilight. "And what exactly are you doing?"
"Trying to get a better reading on the flow of magic in this town," said Twilight.
Starlight stopped pacing and faced Twilight. "Any chance of stopping it?"
The glow faded from Twilight's horn. "A brute force approach is not going to work. Maybe if I had the other Princesses here right this moment, we could do it, but the available pool of transformation magic is just going to keep growing. We have to come up with another solution. Either that, or a phased approach: stop the spread of the transformation, then worry about what to do about those already transforming. It's going to depend on how many humans have the spell."
"Can you counterspell it?"
"If I have a human with the spell structure in them that I can study, yes," said Twilight. "The problem is one of scale. How do we deliver it to everyone before they transform? If this were Equestria, we would just dispense spell scrolls to unicorn healers and they'd do the rest."
"Then we better hope that these humans have some sort of whiz-bang technology that can help," said Starlight.
Twilight was about to reply when her ears swiveled. Both her and Starlight turned their heads towards the door a moment before it opened, admitting a female lab-coated human with long blonde hair and cradling a thick set of folders in one arm. Dangling from a pocket of her coat was a white rectangle with a picture of her upon it. She hesitated with her hand on the door knob as she looked over Twilight and Starlight before closing the door behind her. "My name is Doctor Sandra Marlowe. I'm in charge of the emergency zone operations, at least the medical side."
Twilight hopped off the bed. "We've been waiting to speak with someone in authority."
"So I've been told," said Sandra. "I've heard some interesting things about you."
"I'm going to get right to the point, Doctor Marlowe," said Twilight. "I need to leave no doubt in your mind as to our origins. Now, one thing I've gathered about your world is that transportation is very important to you, correct?"
Sandra hesitated. "I'm not sure what that has to do with anything."
"Please, humor me."
Sandra slowly nodded. "Yes, it is."
"You value being able to get from point A to point B as fast as possible."
"I would say that's a correct assessment."
"Then if you had a means to instantaneously cover that distance, you'd use it in a heartbeat," said Twilight. "Your language even has a word for it."
"What word would that be, Miss Sparkle?"
Twilight's horn flashed. In an instant, she vanished with a loud pop of imploding air and reappeared on the other side of the room. "Teleportation," she said. "And, please, call me Twilight."
Sandra paled, and the folders nearly fell from her arms. The door behind her burst open, and two humans in guard uniforms entered.
Starlight's pupils shrunk. "Twilight--!"
"No, stay calm," Twilight said.
"At least raise a shield!" Starlight muttered.
"It's all right."
One of the guards glanced about the room before saying. "We heard an unusual noise in here. Is everything all right, Doctor Marlowe?"
Sandra took a deep breath. "Yes, it's fine. Disregard it."
The human looked dubious, but he eventually nodded. He and his companion left, closing the door behind them.
"Talk about being on edge," Starlight murmured.
"It's okay, they're understandably upset over this," said Twilight before she turned to Sandra. "I'm sorry if I startled you, but I don't have time for lengthy explanations. I deduced you had no technological equivalent of teleportation and thought it would make an impression."
"Some of our patients have horns like you and your companion," said Sandra. "Does this mean they'll be capable of doing things like that soon?"
"Teleportation is rare even among my kind," said Twilight. "It's a difficult spell to master and took some time to develop. But given the purpose behind this mass transformation, I would imagine they would be capable of simple things like levitation."
"We have patients with wings," said Sandra in a halting voice. "Will they be able to ..."
She trailed off when Twilight extended her wings and hovered in the air before her.
"Fly?" said Twilight. "Most definitely yes."
Sandra appeared to take a moment to collect herself. "Please realize that your story still sounds fantastic to us, even with everything that's happened. From what I've been told of your conversations with each other and staff, you're claiming this is all based on magic."
Twilight landed and folded her wings. "Because it is. Magic is real, your species just can't tap into it. Magic is not what you might think, Doctor Marlowe. It's not just sleight-of-hoof -- er, hand -- or misdirection. It's not haphazard, either. It has its own laws and structure, just like physics does."
Sandra drew her folders from her chest and started to flip through them. Her hand trembled slightly, and a folder slipped free and fell. She was about to bend down to pick it up when it floated in the air before her.
"Um, you dropped this," said Starlight.
Sandra stared at the glowing folder.
"The magic won't hurt you," said Twilight. "It's safe to touch."
"Thank you," said Sandra as she grabbed the folder. "But the magic you claim is behind ETS apparently is harmful." At Twilight's perplexed look, Sandra added, "Equine Transformation Syndrome. It's what we're calling this affliction."
"The transformation magic is being purposely used against you in this case," said Twilight.
Sandra opened the folder she had been looking for. "I have your initial statement to the Garfield county sheriff. Are you saying this really is intentional biowarfare?"
Twilight hesitated. "I only just learned your language today and don't quite know all of its nuances yet. If I understand the root words correctly, you're asking if this was an attack as part of organized warfare. Equestria -- my homeland -- is not waging war on you. We find what's happening to you abhorrent. This is the work of a single, very badly misguided pony. I even mentioned her name: Sunset Shimmer."
"Yes, and that name was forwarded along," said Sandra. "No one by that name can be found."
Starlight stepped forward. "I doubt she's going by her real name."
"You're probably right," said Twilight. "Our names wouldn't quite fit with their culture."
"Do you have a description?" said Sandra.
"I don't know what form she's taking on your world," said Twilight. "But in her pony form, she would be a unicorn with a pale yellow coat, and bright yellow and red mane and tail. She has a red and yellow sun as a cutie mark."
Sandra paused. "I'm sorry? Did you say cutie mark?"
Twilight pointed to Starlight's haunches and then her own. "These are cutie marks. Have none of these appeared on your transformed people?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
Starlight turned towards Twilight. "It didn't for Derpy either until later."
"Is there some significance to this mark?" Sandra asked.
"We can discuss that later," said Twilight. "I'll reiterate that we want to help you stop this, but I need to know how bad it is. How many humans have come down with influenza?"
Sandra stared for a long moment. "Influenza? Are you saying there really is a link?"
"Yes!" Twilight declared. "It's the delivery mechanism for the transformation spell. Anyone who's come down with influenza will get the spell and will eventually transform unless we put a stop to it!"
"We ... we've found no difference between this influenza and the one that went the rounds earlier in the season."
"I imagine the magical component is invisible to your technology," said Twilight. "But it is there, and it's likely preventing you from developing any sort of resistance to it."
"Then how do you explain how a person can be immune to it?" Sandra demanded.
Twilight's mouth dropped open.
"Did I hear her right?!" Starlight said.
"You have someone who's immune to it?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Well, yes, but we don't know why--" Sandra began.
"Can I see him? Can I talk to him? Please, this could be the breakthrough we're looking for! I also would like to study someone who has the transformation spell so I can craft a counterspell. We want to help, but you have to let us!"
Sandra uttered an exasperated sigh and covered her eyes with her free hand for a moment. "This is all happening very fast in a situation that is already moving at a rocket's pace. Also, there are certain decisions I'm not authorized to make. Let me confer with someone who is."
Twilight exchanged a look with Starlight before saying, "Can you at least help us come up with a plan to combat this? Can you give us information on how far this has spread?"
Sandra paused, looking uncomfortable. "If you mean those with active ETS symptoms, we're estimating about one hundred thousand, but that number has been going up hourly."
Starlight's eyes widened.
"If you're talking about influenza cases ..." Sandra hesitated before continuing. "We're not sure. So many reports are coming in that the servers of the various state health departments are crashing. It may be over two million."
Twilight gasped. "Oh, dear Celestia ..."
"If everything you're telling us is true, Twilight," said Sandra. "Do you really think you two can stop this?"
Twilight swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Maybe not alone, but we all work together, we'll have a chance. We have to try."
"Well, at least that's one universal," said Starlight as she pushed the tray away that contained the remnants of her dinner. "Hospital food is lousy no matter what universe you're in."
Twilight didn't respond or appear to hear her friend. Her own dinner had been largely untouched, and she hovered in the air near the window, her gaze lifted to the darkening skies.
"Twilight, please, have something to eat," said Starlight softly.
"I'm not terribly hungry," said Twilight without looking away from the sky.
Starlight hopped out of bed. "Nothing is going to be accomplished by starving yourself."
Twilight landed with a sharp clop of her hooves. She turned around as she folded her wings. "The scale of this problem is far larger than I had anticipated. All the solutions that come immediately to mind -- Interfering with the magic flow, draining magic out of humans acting as mana batteries, removing the transformation spell from those who are not very far advanced -- all of these are viable options, but how to do them on a larger scale? If only this world had magic users! They could be taught the necessary skills to do this at the local level."
"Isn't the goal to work with the humans to find a solution?" Starlight asked.
"Yes, I know, and that's still true. But where they're having such trouble trusting us, I wanted to have more to offer them up front."
Starlight considered for a long moment. "Then maybe we have to make some very hard decisions."
Twilight turned to her. "What are you talking about?"
"If we wind up having to act on our own, maybe we have to admit that we can't save this whole world. Maybe we have to instead focus on helping them preserve what they can."
Twilight frowned. "I don't like where this is going."
"I don't particularly like saying it, but I'm being realistic. Could you prevent a transformation by thaumic isolation? Just cut off all magic inflow?"
"Yes, but I can't isolate everyone in the world!"
"That's my point," Starlight declared. "But maybe we can arrange for gathering as large a group as we can handle, isolate them, counterspell them, then--"
"Starlight, you're talking about limiting the survivors of this to maybe ten or twenty thousand."
"Then we go from place to place gathering as many humans in a single location as possible. We do it as many times as we have the energy to do so."
"You're still talking about saving a few hundred thousand or so, maybe a million if we're lucky. Out of seven billion!"
"I don't like it, either!" Starlight exclaimed. "But I'm out of options as well."
"And what do we do about those who are transformed?"
"Everything seems to be pointing to it being permanent," Starlight said in an uneasy voice.
"I refuse to believe that," Twilight said. "A morphic resonance doesn't have an inherent limit on the number of times that it can be changed."
"That we know of. How many permanent transformation spells have there been before this one?"
"There has to be a way to--"
Twilight's words were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Before either could reply, the door opened, and a man with dark hair and a suit entered the room. Two similarly dressed men stood behind him. The human's eyes darted around the room as if in silent assessment before he said. "You will both come with me."
Twilight trotted up to him. "Are you someone in authority?"
"You could say that," said the human. "I want to ask you some questions."
"We've answered a whole bunch already," said Starlight with a sigh. "What's a few more?"
They headed off with the human, he and the other two forming a tight triangle around them as they were herded through the hallways of the hospital. Their hands lay on objects held in holsters at their waists.
They entered a room with a large table in the center and chairs on either side. They were directed into two seats next to one another, a human standing behind each. The dark-haired one took a seat opposite them, a laptop opened before him. "My name is Anthony Heller," said the human. "I'm in charge of the criminal investigation of this incident of biowarfare."
"As I told Doctor Marlowe, this is not biowarfare," Twilight declared. "My world is not waging war on you."
"Yet you told her that this is being done intentionally. That, to me, implies someone waging war on us, even if they allegedly don't have a government backing them."
Twilight sighed. "I won't argue semantics with you, as there's more important concerns."
"Yes, like who's behind this attack."
"I already provided that information."
"Which came up empty."
"Did you follow up on the description I gave?" Twilight asked.
"I'm in the process of doing so," said Anthony. "Nearest match is a person assigned to the first shelter by the name of Sadie Sommers, nickname 'Sunny'."
Twilight's eyes widened. "That's has to be her! Sunny is a nickname she used for herself for as long as I've known her on my world."
"I have yet to interview her," said Anthony. "As the medical experts are telling me she's at a stage of her transformation where she cannot move without great difficulty. Her record, however, is squeaky clean."
Starlight frowned. "Of course it would be. She likely invented a whole background for herself and used magic to make it stick."
"Yes, let's talk about that," said Anthony. "You've both used the word 'magic' a lot."
"I'm not sure I follow," said Twilight.
"It seems very convenient. A modification to a virus we can't see? Magic. The alleged perpetrator having absolutely no connection to foreign powers or terrorist groups? Magic."
"She is not a from this world!" Twilight declared. "And she works alone. She wouldn't have any contact with those groups."
"You both mysteriously appear out of thin air?" Anthony continued as if Twilight hadn't spoken. "Magic. A transformation we can't explain with known biology? Magic."
Twilight face-hoofed. "Do I need to do yet another demonstration?"
"Miss Sparkle--"
"Twilight."
"--I don't deny you can do these fantastic things," said Anthony. "I'm simply following Clarke's Law."
"I'm not familiar with that," said Twilight.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," said Anthony. "I want to know what that technology is, and none of us are leaving this room until I have an answer."
"This is exactly what I was afraid of, Twilight," said Starlight. "They think we did this."
"Can you blame me for being suspicious, Miss Glimmer?" said Anthony. "Perhaps you're not aware that your conversation in the paramedic van was carefully noted. You appear to have foreknowledge as to who does and does not have ETS."
"I only discovered that when I purposely scanned him," said Twilight. "Maybe you should also note that we had our discussion -- all our discussions -- out in the open in your language."
Anthony considered. "Regardless, you both have exhibited powers we have no explanation for, just like we have no explanation as to what's happening to a rapidly growing number of citizens in this country. Perhaps I'm not directly accusing you of starting this plague, but I can't help but be wary of this situation."
"I've stated from the very start that we want to help," said Twilight. "Yes, we come from the same world as the one who's doing this to you. We didn't even know she was doing this until fairly recently, and we're doing everything we can to stop her."
Anthony leaned forward. "You can help by explaining the technology behind this affliction and your abilities."
"It's not that simple, and I'll have to use that word you seem to be adverse to hearing: magic. Just because you don't understand it doesn't make it any less real. I can do my best to explain to your scientists the theories behind it."
Anthony laced his fingers together. "Try explaining it to me, Miss Sparkle."
"All right, I'll try," said Twilight. "Magic starts as undifferentiated thaumic energy. It just sits there in a world-permeating field. A unicorn can tap into this via a spell, which is what gives structure to magic. A spell works in two phases. First, it converts an amount of thaumic energy into one or more specific magicks, of which there are thousands of varieties. This is called 'casting' the spell. Second, the energy is directed towards a given application. This is the 'execution' phase of the spell. That is when the intended effect is realized. Are you with me so far?"
"So far," said Anthony in a neutral voice.
"Sunset Shimmer developed a permanent transformation spell and modified an influenza virus to implant the spell into infected humans. The influenza infection is the 'casting' stage. The spell structure is laid down, and thaumic energy is converted into transformation magic. The buildup is slow, as the virus itself is generating the energy. But the total amount of energy needed to effect the transformation cannot be safely stored in one human. Thus the spell was designed to store this energy in non-infected humans. They act as batteries, providing energy for the execution stage of the spell. The reason you can't see all this is because your species is magic-blind."
Anthony remained silent, looking both thoughtful and expectant.
"Can't you see a self-consistent logic here?" Twilight demanded, her voice tinged with desperation. "Doesn't it fit with your observations? Don't you see the implications here?! You're not going to stop this alone!"
Anthony considered for another long moment before saying, "And yet we 'magic-blind' humans have someone who's immune."
"I want to know why myself, as it could mean another chance at stopping this!"
Anthony sighed. "This doesn't appear to be getting us anywhere."
"There's the understatement of the year," Starlight muttered.
Twilight took a deep breath. "Mr. Heller, you spoke of me having powers. Yes, you're right."
Her horn flashed, and she disappeared in a pop of imploding air. The two humans standing behind the chairs bolted back a few steps and reached for their weapons, eyes darting about the room. "Sir, do we report a security br--?"
Before the human could finish, Twilight reappeared in her seat, her horn glowing, the food tray with her untouched dinner in her magical grip. She let it fall with a loud clatter to the table, bits of fruit, vegetables, and salad greens scattering about.
"I just teleported to my hospital room and back in, what, three seconds?" said Twilight in an irritated voice. "I brought the tray just in case you needed proof." Her horn glowed again, and a glittering sphere formed around her. "This is a shield spell. If you tried firing your weapons at it, they'd do no good." The shield disappeared. "See how I have both wings and a horn? I'm a special kind of pony called an alicorn. There are only four others like me in all of Equestria, and two of them are our rulers. The point is, I'm powerful. You can't keep me locked up if I don't want you to, and you can't hurt me, not with the resources you have right now. With all that power, if I truly wanted to hurt you or your people, you'd have a lot of trouble stopping me. My companion here is not an alicorn, but she's powerful in her own right."
Anthony looked thoughtful for another moment. "If you are so powerful, Miss Sparkle, why don't you fix our problem yourself? Why even involve us?"
"Because I'm not all-powerful," said Twilight in a softer voice. "I have limits. I stated you can't hurt me with what you've presented so far. I have little doubt that you have weapons of sufficient strength to hurt or kill me. I also don't fully understand how your world or your society works. I need your help as much as you need mine."
Anthony lifted a hand to his chin, his eyes darting from Twilight to Starlight and back before rising to the other humans. "Opinions, gentlemen?"
The others exchanged a look before one spoke. "Sir, this is beyond anything I've ever experienced. All I can say is that there was a police report of a Carbondale resident shooting at two ponies."
"That was us," said Starlight.
"The man said it was like the shots just ... bounced off."
"That was a shield spell," said Twilight. "And I'm very grateful to Starlight for casting it."
Anthony wiped his face with his hand and let out a slow sigh through his nose.
Twilight placed her fore-hooves on the table and leaned forward. "Mr. Heller, we willingly submitted to scrutiny, examination, testing, and now interrogation, even though we had the power to avoid all of it. We were attacked and took no retaliation whatsoever. I'm not sure what else I can say or do that will prove my sincerity." She paused. "If it helps any, I have a formal title back home, one that I earned rather than was bestowed upon me: the Princess of Friendship."
Anthony lowered his hand and tapped a forefinger on the table for a few moments before rising to his feet. "I'll take this under advisement. This interview is over." He looked at the other humans. "Return them to their room."
Twilight and Starlight hopped off their chairs. "Does this mean you believe us?"
Anthony took out a thin, rectangular device. "I said I would take it under advisement," he said in a terse voice before raising the device to his face.
"Come along," said one of the other humans.
"Yes, connect me to the Director at once," said Anthony. He glanced at Twilight, meeting her forlorn look with a clouded gaze. The door closed, cutting him off from view, but her ears just faintly picked up the words, "You better get the President on the line as well."
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I've been waiting for contact for so long - these chapters are fantastic! Father Lyle is great and I hope we see him again. The government - well, it's exactly what you'd expect. Twilight and Starlight do look very suspicious, and while humanity is desperate, their story is pretty hard to believe. Their motives, too.
I absolutely adore the amount of detail that is put into your stories, ASGeek. It makes me feel as if I'm right there beside Twilight and Starlight being interrogated!
I am seriously waiting for things to go in a positive direction.
Ugh, feds are a pain in any universe. I'm pretty sure at this point Starlight is about ready to bail and leave the humans to their fate. Can't say I'd blame her.
I am kinda surprised they believed that fast but since everything is going crazy they must accept it. Now I wonder how the President will handle this?
God, I hate that Anthony guy. Such a prick...Starlight should vaporize his ass.
8177317
Well, things ARE darkest before the dawn...
I wonder what Twilight will do if the official government channels don't heed her words....
For Twilight and Starlight's sakes, I hope this story takes place before Trump was elected President.
This reads as well as a Clive Cussler novel.
does this director realize that when the 'conversation' comes out he well lose his job without question? he does get this right? he could have caused an incident that is not even international it's inter-dimensional against a enemy who currently has more Intel on them then they would on it. quite frankly there is no government on earth that would allow him to keep his job after that.
8177661
Meh, just have Starlight vaporize them.
I would love to hear the sermon, but i know it would just be a side story. My other observation while reading it was answered by Twilight. very clever on how the spell works
Also, Starlight's reaction to being asked to lift her tail...
finally some one got a crow bare big enough to pry their head out of their own ass.
the detail in this chapter is super good as is the story line and he flow of events exultant righting.
Father Donovan is my favorite character, mostly because he is very well written in terms of a god-fearing man. You mentioned in a previous chapter how you weren't making religion a large part of this story, but it's nice to see at least some take on it. While I am not a religious person, as someone who spent my first sixteen years of life going to church every Sunday, I appreciate the little things, even if it's just a minor character that is a perfect example of a good person.
On another note, I think I'd enjoy hearing that sermon
Typo or something missing:
Next chapter (33)
and
As an actual scientist who knows how badly this phrase has been raped, and who knows the difference between technology and outright disregarding all laws of physics, I want to punch this guy so many times in every part of his body right now. Certain painful ones many more times than others.
Well, Twilight's not keeping any aces up her sleeve, I see. Let's see if her "Let's assume the best in everyone and put our trust in them" strategy works as well with the humans as it did with Sunset Shimmer.
*grabs popcorn*
8178546
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Therefore all magic is just technology! Tell us the technology, technology horse!"
Sad thing is, the statement itself is fundamentally flawed. First it commits the fallacy of goalpost shifting, where "sufficiently" is defined as "whatever makes this statement true." But even ignoring that, you can tear apart the logic. Is magic never indistinguishable from primitive technology? Can advanced technology never be distinguished from magic? It's a statement that ultimately claims that no phenomenon can be proven to be unexplainable, whether real or imaginary. It's as silly as claiming that every real number must have a numeric representation.
8177679
2 things.
1st: The story takes place in the 2020's. It's stated in an author's note in chapter 1.
2nd: While i hate Don the Con as much as anyone, i think its a bad idea to project politics of any kind on a site like this.
There's a few too many horsemen for that.
Wait! You mean the fucking feds are actually going to do something useful!? Heaven forbid.
I'm really glad you didn't portray the priest as an extremist nutcase like so many people tend to do.
Before I liked this 665 after I liked it 666...
Twilight would have drawn a connection to her own computer equipment and been amazed at how compact and powerful it is rather than that it exists in the first place.
Word of God is that when tanks and bullets are mentioned the ponies mean the specific tools of warfare, and we've seen a tank. Failing that they definitely know what cannons are.
I also highly doubt they don't have pens. They at least have pencils.
Minor quibbles all things considered, I just don't like stories that treat the fairly technologically advanced Equestrian society as completely backwards Luddites.
8855419
Keep in mind that Lauren Faust's original vision for MLP technology was roughly equivalent to the late 1800s. Hence the use of quills and scrolls, as well as candles and steam engines. Modern devices like Vinyl's turntables were added later due to executive meddling, in an attempt to appeal to a more modern generation of children who like shiny things.
8855419
True we have seen the Crusaders use pencils, the doctors in the hospital have pens. Not to mention x-rays. Later seasons had gaming Cabinets. Oh don’t forget care ships from the first season.
I hope the president isn't trump our humanity is screwed
9088369
No they would have a chance then. if Clinton they would be screwed,
8177679
Better the Clinton. He would take this seriously while she would jsut try to hide and deny everything
8177679
It takes place in 2022/23. I highly doubt Trump would have been re-elected.
9211776
In all fairness, I don't think this was originally written at a point in time when anyone could've possibly imagined Trump being president, The Simpsons notwithstanding
I would love nothing more than to read at least a part of this sermon.
"The humans just stared in silence until the first one said, "Um, can I have my pen back?"
"Oh, yes, my apologies." Twilight started to lift the pen, but hesitated and pressed the button again. "There. Don't want to cause a mess."
She levitated it until it was level with the human's face. He reached out a tentative hand and grabbed it, the glow fading a moment later. He turned to the others. "I don't care how busy Doctor Marlowe is, get hold of her ASAP.""
😂
8855419
When the heck did we see a tank? I certainly would remember that.
10624126
Technically RD called her pet turtle Tank. But for which reason or does tank word in Equestria even have a meaning of heavily armored combat vehicle with a cannon is unknown.
Equestrian tech is actually all over the place and largely inferior to human world in general since they mostly relay on magic instead of tech. A 1000 years of peace didn't help them in advancing anything either.
I would like to know what "world-permeating field" means. It sounds like something that would require a forth space dimension, and if there is a forth space dimension, it wouldn't really be "world-permeating" And also, please explain what is thaumic energy. I searched up the word "thaumic." It appears to not exist. Please explain this using words that exist and concepts that have not already been disproven. Thanks.