Pandemic: Stirrings in the World of Human Magi

by Corascal

El Sueño De Los Magos

Nineteen Days Into ETS Pandemic

For many, dreams are strange, random, uncontrollable visions able to grant joy and terror in measures that were previously unimaginable. For those few able to acquire it, one of the greatest pleasures that could ever be attained in this world is the ability to have lucid dreams. In such a dream, one would be able to do anything and everything they can imagine, from flying and breathing water to reliving time with loved ones or designing the perfect soulmate.

For Fernando Cristobal Gonzalez Castro, the ability to dream lucidly served the additional purpose of aiding him in research by allowing him to organize everything he learned, preserve it, and even utilize it in mental thought experiments.

For now, however, he simply relaxed in a perfect mental recreation of his favorite armchair while viewing a projection of one of his most cherished childhood memories.

It was his twelfth birthday party, something that isn’t very important as far as birthdays go, but his family was rich, so every occasion for partying was reason enough to make it memorable. But for all of the fancy decorations, famous guests, and mountains of delicious food, it was much like every other birthday party he had had before and since.

Instead, he remembered Dorothea, the girl he’d been crushing on for two years. Not for the first time, he got to talk to her, but for the first time, he got to dance with her. He had hated his dancing lessons and instructors before, but he forgave and thanked them all in his heart for being able to confidently hold her close and sweep her off her feet.

The best moment of all, however, was when he was able to bring her alone to his home’s gardens, where there was a shallow pond. Bringing her to the water’s edge, he summoned his magic, which manifested as an orange glow in the palms of his hands. Dorothea was surprised, as she was from a family that had no knowledge of magic, and then was more surprised as he took hold of her again, and the glow from his hands spread over their bodies.

All at once, they both felt light as a feather.

So light, that when Fernando brought the two of them onto the water, they stood upon the surface as surely as if it were a solid floor. The light of the full moon in a starry sky, the glow of the fireflies in the summer night, the chirping of the crickets in the dewy grass, and the gentle music that wafted from inside the mansion, all of it came together to give Dorothea and Fernando the most romantic moment of their lives.

A moment that climaxed in the pair’s kiss when they finished their dance upon the water. The first of many from friendship to courtship to marriage.

Fernando had many pleasant and wonderful memories, from the first time he used magic to the birth of his first children, a pair of twins. The viewing of memories when he entered his mindscape during his dreams had served very well in ensuring that he always woke up in a good mood. This was especially useful when he knew he would be waking up to a particularly stressful day. But thankfully, he never got tired of revisiting this memory, for it was far and out his most precious.

Then the projector suddenly shifted of its own volition to the image of a different girl. She looked almost the same as Dorothea, but not quite, as if-

“Sir,” came a voice, as he felt his world be shaken and himself be suddenly ripped out from it.

He groaned and stirred as his mind was forced into consciousness. He felt a little disoriented, and took a moment to resettle himself in reality.

“Señor Castro,” the voice beckoned again.

Turning, he saw a sun-kissed, baby-faced young man bedecked in a simple gray business suit and vest who stood a head shorter than he did. He hadn’t known the man for long, but his earnest and gentle brown eyes were a continual reminder of the man’s uncle, Osvaldo, who had been his head bodyguard and dear friend for over twenty years. Now with him having passed two years ago, this man served Fernando in his place.

“What is it, Zeferino Norales?” he asked politely, but tersely.

“We are ten minutes out from the Iraheta Branch Family Compound,” Zeferino replied. “I’m just letting you know, Señor.” The man then walked up front to the cockpit.

Soon after, an attendant came by, offering him a mug. He could distinctly recognize the rich, bitter and savory scent of professionally brewed Colombian coffee beans, and graciously accepted the drink, before lifting it to his lips and taking a sip. The caffeine helped to wake him up, and the well-loved warmth and taste of his favorite beverage soothed his nerves.

As he continued to nurse his drink, his gaze turned outside, where he watched the mountainous and green landscape of Mexico pass by below him, and his thoughts began to wander.

For a man like himself, there were many things the land offered to focus his mind upon. He could take in the rich natural landscape and biodiversity in the land below, from blazing deserts in the north and green valleys hidden in the central mountains to exotic flowers and powerful eagles. He could revel in the rich culture of the Mexican people, or even their long and storied history, of which his own family was secretly and intimately involved. He could wonder at how Mexico was handling the ETS Pandemic, with numerous conflicting reports from official and unofficial sources claiming populations from a few hundred thousand to a few million. It was difficult to get a read on the situation in Mexico with the drug wars and rampant corruption throwing all data on the ETS Pandemic in the country for a loop.

However, his mind wandered to the same thoughts that it always did whenever business forced him to personally travel to this godforsaken land.

The image of a young girl, dressed in a flowing little sunflower yellow sundress with a straw sunhat, with soft and supple baby flesh that was beginning to become familiar with the Sun.

The memory of a girl with a beaming smile and ringing, infectious laughter, whose greatest love was to dance and romp through verdant meadows with her loving mother and doting father.

The name of Estrella, and the nickname of “la Sol”.

The grief of finding her corpse, and the rage it induced, driving him to slaughter the drug gang that kidnapped, violated and killed her.

Even as the plane’s wheels touched down on the landing strip, no matter how many times he understood in his head that the land itself and the people as a whole were not responsible for his beloved daughter’s death, he could never bring himself in his heart to disassociate the country from the wretched deed.

He forced these thoughts back down into the recesses of his mind as he disembarked from the aircraft, putting on a pair of sunglasses to shield his eyes from the blazing morning sun.

“Welcome to Mexico, Señor Castro!”

Fernando’s attention was drawn to a spritely young woman in a flowing sky blue dress. He immediately recognized her, and his mood brightened.

“Nina Ruvalcaba! So good to see you, Señorita!” he exclaimed as he approached her. Clasping her doll-like hand, he raised it to his lips and gently kissed it.

“I swear,” he began as he let go of her hand. “I cannot fathom why suitors aren’t fighting each other for you.”

Nina shrugged. “Men feel insecure when they meet an intelligent woman, and not to brag, but I think I’m a very smart cookie, as my abuela says.”

Fernando guffawed. “Preposterous! You are only the fourth-most beautiful woman in the world, and marrying such brilliant women is all the rage among bachelors this season!”

Nina raised an eyebrow, but her good humor remained in her lips and eyes. “I doubt there is ever a season for marrying a certain type of woman, and what right do you have to say I’m fourth?”

“I married the first and sired the next two with her,” he replied.

“Didn’t you have three dau-” Her smile faded. “Oh, right. And why did you skip your mother and sister?” she replied.

“My mother is in heaven and beyond compare, and my sister has abandoned the family to make common cause with an Outlier criminal.”

Sighing in resignation, she turned to the Hummer that had brought her here. “Come on, Señor Castro. Papa has been waiting for you.”

“Hmm? Your father?” he wondered. “What about Señor Iraheta? He should have been here to greet me.”

“He had to leave just earlier today, along with his wife. Something about a dire emergency.”

“I see.”

As he followed Nina into the Hummer, he took note of is surroundings, to see if anything stood out to him.

The airfield his plane had landed at was a simple paved stretch of asphalt with lights, markings, accompanied by a lookout tower, a fuel depot, and a hanger, something much like you would see at any other rural airstrip. The only real difference was that this airstrip sat at the foot of a mountain, upon the side of which was a large, Spanish colonial-style mansion, surrounded by modern walls and watchtowers. It was to there that the driver was delivering Fernando Castro and his bodyguard.

While a tactical mind would note the disadvantages of a fortress being on the side, rather than the top, of a mountain, one would also note that it was also the only such mountain for several miles, and the mansion had been built on the side that faced away from them. On top of that, patrolling vehicles indicated that each of the mountain’s sides were well covered by security, so the compound truly was a fine example of a modern fortress, which served the Iraheta Branch Family, and their masters, the Castros, very well.

Castro’s first surprise came when they drove through the farms that surrounded the complex. He was surprised to find all of them being tilled and plowed by ponies.

“What are these ponies doing here?” Fernando asked Nina.

Nina explained. “They’re from one of the nearby cities. The ETS Pandemic had just begun to take affect and start transforming people when the counterspell was cast. There were more among their community to be transformed, but once the drug cartel tried to crack down on them again, they finally decided they had had enough and fought back. Unfortunately, they don’t know enough magic to be able to stand up to all of the guns that the gangs had, so they were forced to flee. My father had wanted some ponies for study so as to dissect their magic, so he was able to convince Señor Iraheta to take them in.”

“How… pragmatic.” Fernando said. Looking around outside, he noticed a quintet of foals running beside the car, and because the car was moving comparatively slowly, they were actually keeping up. He had rarely ever seen a more amusing sight, and let out a chuckle at the children’s antics. When they began to close in on the compound, they turned away, and took their race elsewhere, much to his disappointment.

Soon after, they were waved through the gates of the compound, and the Hummer drove up the stone driveway in front of the mansion. Once parked in front of the massive front door, the driver came out and opened Fernando’s door. The man stepped out to a cool breeze wafting over his face, as he entered the building before him.

Once he had stepped beyond the doorway, he immediately crossed the open limestone floor like he owned the place (which he did, in a very indirect way) to a door on the right and walked through it. Having been to this house for family business six times before and having a clear memory, he quickly navigated the fake Spanish house to the very rear of its façade, leaving Zeferino and poor Nina behind to play catch up.

After a brisk minute of walking past butlers, maids, the occasional Iraheta family member, oil paintings, potted plants, desert-themed paint schemes, and more pottery than a child could hope to break in one day, Fernando, Zeferino and Nina finally reached a living room, one with a few armchairs, a sofa, a pair of bookshelves, and a large, man-sized stone fireplace. The three stopped on the flagstones before the unlit fireplace.

Fernando gestured Nina toward the fireplace. Obliging him, she stepped into the fireless pit. After taking a deep breath, a glow manifested from where her heart was located, and a glow manifested around a mark on the back wall of the fireplace. It was shaped as a tower, and on it was a shield divided in four parts, with the Sun and Moon in the top left corner, a golden cross in the top right, a book in the bottom right, and a sword in the bottom left.

Then, Nina recited the Castro family motto: “El sueño de todos los magos es mantener toda la magia (The dream of all magi is to hold all magic).”

Once that was concluded, immediately the glow from the seal extended to the entire back wall of the fireplace, and it split open to reveal a long passageway, along which crystals embedded in the walls gave off a glow in the dark to light the way.

Once it was open all the way, the three walked into the passage and proceeded toward the end of the tunnel.

“I’ve never gotten over the feeling I’m entering the lair of a Bond villain whenever I enter the family sanctuary,” Nina said, with a slight giggle in her voice.

“Your parents have told you why the families have such extensive underground fortresses, correct?” Fernando questioned.

After a moment of contemplation, Nina shook her head.

Fernando sighed in exasperation. “Please tell me that you were taught why, Zeferino.”

Zeferino allowed a small puff in his chest. “My uncle told me that the families made them for security, as they would allow the families to escape authorities easily, while protecting all of their expensive and delicate experiments without having to move them until they had a new space. Magic also makes creating these spaces a lot cheaper than non-magical means would have been, so they could afford making their entrances as well-hidden and elaborate as possible.”

“But why still have those fancy mansions on top if all the real action was happening here?” Nina asked, as the light showed them coming to a turn.

“Because it’s easy to accumulate wealth when you’re a magi,” Fernando responded. “And it would be strange if you were wealthy and didn’t have an expensive house to show it off with. On top of that, if people ever decided to come for us, they would take all of their energy on the mansion, and without magic, they would never be able to find the entrances to our sanctuaries.”

As they rounded the corner, he turned to her. “Nina, if you didn’t know this already, why didn’t you ask before?”

Nina just nervously giggled and wrapped her hands together before replying, “I was a little too busy helping Papa with his experiments to be given a lot of history lessons. I’ve always liked to… live in the moment, you know?”

Fernando didn’t press further, but felt no need to, as the trio came to a second doorway, this one sealed in pulsing crystal. Nina repeated the same as she had with the first entrance, and it slid up to reveal a massive tower in the center of an immense cavern, along the walls of which were a series of floors which formed rings around the central tower, all of them connected by walkways. All about them were various individuals running about with packages, clipboards, and random accoutrements.

One man briskly walking past suddenly noticed the trio and turned himself around to greet them.

“Ah! Dr. Ruvalcaba! I hadn’t seen you in a while! And who are these two gentlemen?” he asked.

“Hi, Señor Escalera. This is Señor Fernando Castro, and his head bodyguard Zeferino Norales.”

Escalera’s eyes widened. “Castro? As in-”

“Yes, that Castro. He’s here to see my father. Know where he is?”

With a look of shock still evident in his face, he simply pointed to one of the pits across from them and said, “Doctor Ruvalcaba in Hole 6, over there. He’s running tests on some of the criminal ponies we’ve gathered for data to integrate into our next batch of chimeras.”

Nina nodded. “Thank you.”

Dr. Escalera nodded in turn and walked away to a stairway that led him to the next floor up.

The ground level of the sanctuary was, fortunately, only one level below them, where there were six open spaces, each divided by a high granite wall. These were the six “Holes”.

Nina led the trio forward on the path that lay in front of them. Their left side was devoid of activity, but in the pit to their right they could see a shield duel going on between two magi that looked like they were brother and sister. The two faced off against one another and each formed an energy barrier for protection, while slugging attacks at one another. The brother lashed out at his sister’s shield with a whip made of wind, visible only for the teal glow of his magic, while she returned fire with blasts of bright blue flames.

Fernando could see that the two held some promise with the skills they were showing in spite of only being young adults. However, the obvious weaknesses in their techniques and the strain they clearly exhibited in their duel showed that they were no prodigies. There were already six magi their age that came to mind for him that could individually wipe the floor with the both of them. Two of those were already family heads.

Unfortunately, he had to keep up with Zeferino and Nina, so he couldn’t stick around to watch the two continue to duke it out, and the noise cancellation spells along the top of the pit prevented the sounds of the conflict from reaching them.

After a few minutes of walking, the three of them came to Hole 6, where they noticed a gray-haired, beer-bellied man in a stereotypical white lab coat over a Led Zeppelin T-shirt with khakis and loafers standing on the overhead observation deck for the pit. Once they reached the platform he turned around to look at them, revealing a puffy face and beady brown eyes. The eyes of Doctor Manuel Ravulcaba widened in shock.

“S-señor Castro!” he stammered. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me he was coming, Nina? This is one of those things you tell your dear old father! You don’t want me to have a heart attack, now do you?”

“It’s funny that you’re the one who’s worried about getting a heart attack, considering what you forced Nina to do,” Zeferino bristled.

Fernando spared a quick glance to his bodyguard, as he was impressed that the man had caught on to the same details he had.

“That is of no concern to you!” Dr. Ravulcaba spat as he stepped up and got as close to the bodyguard as he dared, behind whom Nina had hidden herself. “No magic can be attained without pain! We all risk life and limb using magic, and every magi puts their child through the same pain to do it!”

Fernando grabs the doctor and throws him back to the platform. The man falls on his back and slides before stopping right before his head would hit the railing on the platform’s edge.

“I did not fly across an ocean to this godforsaken mountain to lecture you about how a magi’s child ought to be raised, no matter how much you should have learned,” Fernando stalked forward onto the platform.

Once he did, the sounds of the pit reached him.

A cacophony of unnatural screeching and roaring, as well as all-too human screams of pain and cries of terror.

Looking inside the pit, he saw an assortment of around two dozen stallion ponies in the pit, consisting of members of each tribe. Fighting them were six creatures that looked like a macabre amalgamation of various animals, from felines and canines to birds and bugs. Over half of the ponies were dead, but four of the chimeras had been killed as well.

Fernando almost felt pity for the former drug soldiers, even as the image of his Estrella returned to his mind.

“O-oh, I see you’ve taken an interest in my studies,” Dr. Ruvalcaba said, getting back to his feet. He tried to re-summon a semblance of his pride. “In case you have any ethical concerns, each of the ponies down there is a former member of the drug cartels, and it’s quite fascinating, watching the behavior of deviant ponies like these, who have bucked the global trend of harmony and maint-”

“Shut up,” Fernando commanded.

Dr. Ruvalcaba did so. At the same time, Zeferino cautiously walked onto the deck, as Nina stood fearfully behind him.

Fernando Castro burned his gaze into Ruvalcaba’s soul. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you about hypocrisy or ethics. I’m here because I learned that you have been selling out family secrets.”

Manuel paled. The man’s mouth began flapping like a flag on a windy day, but the sounds that came out were nothing but gibberish nonsense.

“You may have neglected to teach your daughter many things in spite of everything you put her through, I don’t think I need to tell you the price that Judas and all of his followers pay when they’re caught.” Fernando grabbed the pathetic and crying man with both hands, and his arms glowed as he poured his magic into them to give him the strength to lift the man off his feet and dangle him over the edge of the platform, where the battle began to pause as each of them noticed the commotion above them.

The chimeras instinctively recognized Castro’s magic, as all chimeras produced by Castro branch families are able to, and each of them began salivating at the prospect of new food.

The ponies saw how the chimeras were acting, and noticed that someone new had arrived, and looked ready to kill the man who had been their tormentor for the last few days. They looked up in hate, but refrained from saying anything out of fear that the chimeras would attack them again.

“I came to personally see you off to the place where Hell is frozen,” Fernando rumbled. “I only want two more things from you, and they will determine whether I’m the one who kills you, or your experiments down below.”

Manuel, still struggling helplessly, summoned his magic, and with a burst of neon green light from his eyes signaling his magic, tried to telekinetically grip and push away Castro.

If Castro had been on the same skill level as the two magi from earlier, Ruvalcaba’s gambit might have worked. But Castro was an experienced duelist and fighter who had more than seen his fair share of death and killing intent. While he maintained the strength in his arms, he simultaneously activated his own telekinesis and broke Ruvalcaba’s hold. After he did that, he used an electricity spell to shock both of the man’s eyes, causing him to shriek and blinding him while also cutting off his magic.

Unperturbed by this, Castro said, “I want to know two things. Who did you sell us out to, and why.”

Whimpering from the pain, Ruvalcaba caved like the coward he always was. “Basil Caesar.”

Fernando stilled. “An Outlier. You sold out the entire Castro Extended Family for a damn pauper?!!?”

“El sueño de todos los magos es mantener toda la magia!” Ruvalcaba squealed.

A rage built inside of Fernando at the use of the family motto.

“He’s made revelations about human magic that will shake the world to its foundations!” Ruvalcaba exclaimed. “The ETS Pandemic has helped him fill in the gaps of his discoveries. He’s on the cusp of uncovering the truth about the Three Locks!”

Fernando gasped, as did Zeferino. As all magi knew, the magic that humans used was a bastardization of the magic that was used by the ponies at the Roman Contact. Ever since, the magic potential of human magi had been limited by the phenomenon of the Three Locks.

The First blocked access by humans to the thaumic field. It couldn’t be broken, but it could be circumvented with the genetic code from the original holders at the Roman Contact and their descendants. The Second limited the overall amount of magic one human could channel and wield at once. This mostly translated to weaker magic overall, and very few magi grew powerful to feel the effects of the Second Lock actively limiting their power. It didn’t stop a magi from improving, but it did make such a task far more difficult. The Third and final Lock prevented metaphysical magic, or that magic which produced purely supernatural effects. These included magic of the mind or soul, and had been posited to extend also to higher sciences as well, such as alternate dimensions, or transformation of inorganic material to organic.

All of this had long stirred in the depths of Fernando’s mind, but the thought of it being finally undone had only been vaguely revisited when the first signs of the ETS Pandemic appeared on the horizon. And when the truth about the ponies came full force, it was then that the idea began being taken seriously.

Human magi were quick to find that ponies, nor even any sentient creature of their world in general, were not limited by any of the Three Locks. This meant that ponies were capable of magic that were straight up beyond the ability of even the most powerful human magi, such as the instant transfiguration of objects. However, human magi were also greatly underwhelmed, as for every one use of magic the ponies employed in their daily lives (according to what they knew from the Equestrian ponies), the magi could think of a dozen or more applications of magic that they didn’t even think of.

For all of what was going through Fernando Castro’s mind, it still left him unmoved as to his decision on Ruvalcaba’s fate: “No matter what all magi may dream, Basil Caesar can never be trusted with them. And for that, you die.”

He threw him to the chimeras, and he screamed all the way to its waiting jaws.

Fernando turned away, and he saw Nina burying her head in Zeferino’s chest. He was gently rubbing her back, and quietly singing an English nursery rhyme of all things to her:

“Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream.”

Author's Note:

The chapter title translates to "The Dream of the Magi."

FINALLY!

This was definitely the hardest chapter of this story for me to write so far, and it's also the longest.

All I can say is I hope you liked it, and please leave honest comments below.

Thank you.

Comments

[keroko]

Well, experiments like these will certainly make friendly contact with Equestria difficult. "Don't worry, they're just criminals" isn't exactly an excuse our world would buy, much less Equestria.

[Corascal]

8856742
As was mentioned in the first chapter, Human magi have A LOT of skeletons in their closets. Future concerns over ethically questionable experiments will play a major role in how they conduct themselves and prepare for disclosure.

[ASGeek2012]

Catching up with this story now. I like the idea of the Three Locks and the fact that humans had to adapt pony magic to suit them. It's an interesting idea and some nice bit of world-building.

I hope you explore the reaction of ponies like Twilight or Celestia when they eventually discover just how much Equestria's previous contact with Earth affected humanity.