Chapter 15 - Uncertainty And Doubt
"Do I really have to do this?" Molly complained after breakfast earlier that Monday morning.
Theresa paused to pick up Molly's glass in her teeth and set it on the plate. "It's why we came here, honey," she said, though her voice was somewhat flat.
Molly glanced warily at her father, her ears drooping slightly. "What if I still don't want to do it?"
Tom assumed the question had been intended for him despite her daughter's reluctance to call him out specifically. "Let's not worry about that yet," he said in a gentle voice.
Molly's ears flattened, and her wings twitched. "But what will happen if I don't do it?"
Tom gave her a confused look and glanced at Theresa, who returned a cool look of her own before turning away from the table with Molly's plate balanced on a fore-hoof. "Nothing will happen, but I do hope you'll give it a chance," said Tom.
Molly averted her eyes. "So ... we're going now?"
"I want to take care of the dishes first," said Theresa as she headed towards the kitchen.
"I need to talk to you anyway, Theresa," said Tom. He looked at Molly. "In private, please."
"But I don't have anything to do," said Molly.
Theresa smiled softly at her daughter. "You can go make some new friends with the other ponies here."
Molly's ears rose slightly. "I guess I could."
Tom nearly protested that they shouldn't be letting Molly out alone in a strange town, but that was just his own fears concerning the Shimmerists getting the better of him. He also didn't want to be lectured by his wife about pony support networks.
"Don't go too far," said Tom as Molly hovered to the floor. "We'll need to come find you soon."
"I won't!" said Molly, already halfway to the door. She used her wings to boost her gait, though this made her stumble a few times when her hooves could not quite catch up.
Tom waited until she was gone before saying, "I had hoped to keep her close by."
"We can ask around of the other ponies, and they'll tell us where we can find her," Theresa said in an unconcerned voice.
Tom followed his wife into the kitchen. "You're putting an awful lot of trust in ponies you've never met before."
"I really don't want to get into that discussion again." Theresa added her daughter's plate to the pile already on the counter before facing her husband. "But now that you've sent Molly away, I can mention what's been on my mind since we left Pony Hope."
"I need to talk about something else with you first."
"No," Theresa said, punctuating it with a stomp of her hoof. "Not until we talk about this."
"But ... all right, fine," Tom said in resignation. "What is it?"
Theresa hesitated before taking a deep breath and saying, "Molly thinks you don't love her anymore."
Tom gave her a dumbfounded look. "How would she ever get that idea?"
"How could she not, when all you ever talk about is having her rehumanize?"
"I want her to be human again specifically because I love her!" Tom protested.
"She doesn't see it that way," Theresa said.
Tom rubbed the back of his neck. "Did she tell you this in so many words?"
"She doesn't have to," Theresa sad in a subdued tone. "I can hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes. There's a reason she asked you what would happen if she didn't rehumanize today."
"And I told her nothing would happen."
"Which was not what she was looking for."
"I don't understand," said Tom.
"The question she couldn't bring herself to ask you was 'will you hate me if I remain a pony?'" Theresa said. "And I have to ask, too."
Tom frowned. "You of all people should know I wouldn't hate her. I don't hate her now. I love her. There shouldn't be any question about it."
Theresa cast her gaze downward and sighed. "Maybe there wasn't any real question in my mind or yours, but I think she needs to hear it from you."
"Even when she was human, I didn't tell her that every day," said Tom in a low voice.
Theresa looked up, her eyes glistening. "Yes, maybe not in so many words, but you showed you loved her in everything you said and did. You gave her praise and support for what she did or tried to do. When she failed at something, you praised her anyway. You've done none of that since you got back from New York."
"But what has she been doing ..." Tom trailed off when he realized what the answer to his question would be.
"You've gotten so hung up on not encouraging her pony abilities that she's lost all that support from you," said Theresa.
"But can you blame me? I want her to be human again. How is encouraging her to do the opposite going to accomplish that?"
"I suppose I can't," Theresa said in a softer voice.
"It has to be her decision. This is not like taking her for inoculations where she didn't like being stuck with needles, but we decided for her because we knew it was good for her."
"But by withholding support, you're forcing her to make a decision the way you want!" Theresa cried. "What if she decides to rehumanize just to please you? Just to make sure you don't hate her for the rest of her life?"
"I never intended it that way," Tom said.
"I know. I always believed you to be nothing but a caring father even when we disagree. But what's worse than her deciding based on your expectations of her is that it might not work. If she truly, deeply doesn't want to change back, the spell won't work."
"I know that," Tom said in a soft voice.
"And if that happens, she'll be even more frustrated and hurt."
Tom almost wanted to take the chance. If the spell did work, it would be said and done, and he could reconnect with Molly afterward. It should be easier once they were the same species again.
Yet was he setting himself up for failure? If Theresa were right, and even if the spell worked, would Molly resent him for it later? Was he risking winning a battle and losing the war? All he ever wanted was his family to be whole again, but that was already a lost cause.
"What would you have me do?" Tom said in desperation. "I honestly don't know what to do."
Theresa stepped closer to him. "Talk to her. Tell her you love her and you're proud of her."
"I ... you're asking too much if you want me to praise her for her pegasus stuff."
"Then don't. Don't focus on her accomplishments, focus on her as a person."
Only then did Tom realize how torn Molly must feel. As much as he still believed her outlook would be better as a human, he saw how he had unintentionally treated her as a concept instead of a person. Would he feel this way had she been afflicted with cancer? Or had come into a crippling disability? Then would his praise be based on what she could do?
In a way, he was treating her as if she had a disability. He could not shift his mind out of the pattern that this was a disease and rehumanization the cure.
Molly was more to him than just what she could accomplish; it had simply been an easy vehicle by which to express his feelings. Perhaps he had been too influenced by his fast-paced job, where everything relied on what he could get done and how fast he could do it.
"I'll try to talk to her," Tom said in a more contrite voice. "I'll try to help her understand that my love for her is not conditional."
Theresa slowly smiled. "That's all I ask. And you need to do it before we go into the Rehumanization Center."
"I promise, I will."
"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Theresa.
"I got a call from the realtor I was talking to about a place in town," said Tom.
Theresa tensed but said nothing in reply.
"He wants me to look at a place tomorrow morning."
"That soon?" Theresa said in an incredulous voice. "Why on Earth now?"
"Because a lot of people are lined up to buy them," said Tom. "He told me it was now or never."
"Shouldn't we at least see if Molly will rehumanize first? It's like you're trying to plan out our lives when we don't even know what shape they'll take."
"I told you I had started this in motion a few days ago," said Tom.
"Yes, but the housing market never moved this fast even in the best of times," said Theresa. "I feel like I'm being railroaded into a decision now."
"I really don't want to go into all the politics behind it. I thought we could all go and at least look at the house tomorrow."
"You mean if Molly rehumanizes today, right?"
Tom sighed. "We can't limit ourselves to just one visit to the Center."
"I will not tolerate her being put through any emotional trauma," Theresa declared. "If they're just going to browbeat her, then we are not going back. Do I make myself clear?"
"And if they're acceptable to you, and we do go back, can we at least stop and view the house before heading to the Center?"
Theresa frowned. "I don't have much choice now, do I?"
"If you really don't want to go--"
"And I don't suppose any of these houses are made to accommodate ponies," said Theresa sourly.
"It could be made to," said Tom.
"Listen to me, Tom," said Theresa in a firm voice. "Listen carefully. If Molly does not rehumanize, I am taking her back to Pony Hope. There's no point in staying here after that. Do you understand me?"
Tom heard the implied condition: with or without you. "Understood," Tom said in a neutral voice.
Theresa sighed and glanced at the dirty dishes. "These will have to wait. I want to get this morning over with. Let's go."
Theresa marched past him without a backwards glance.
Rainy Skies had begun the flight with Water Wings engaging in small talk, but she fell silent when they flew into the Colorado National Monument, too spellbound to speak.
She had visited this place many times as a human. It was hard to live in Colorado and not come here at least once, lured by the rugged but gorgeous geology and the rich history behind it. Yet never had she seen it like this, flying in and around rock formations she could only look at from a distance by the side of the road as a human. She could fly to the top of Independence Rock, a spire with a flat capstone that her grandfather had scaled once in his youth before such activity became forbidden by the park service.
Rainy was glad she had decided she was too tired to make the trek back to Pony Hope the evening before. She had intended to set out at dawn, but Water had convinced her to stay long enough to accompany him on this trip.
Water finally broke the silence after thirty awe-inspiring minutes. "Let's avoid landing on any of the rock structures. Just use the roads and trails."
Rainy smiled. "You don't have to tell me twice. I don't want to do anything to risk disturbing a single millimeter."
"The park service was worried ponies would come in here and start wrecking the place," Water said in a stiff voice.
"Seriously? Why?"
"Some claimed we'd use the rock for building material, but that's bullshit since it's obvious we have all we need in town. I think it was more they were afraid we'd start vandalizing the place, or leave graffiti on the rocks."
Rainy frowned. "Maybe humans would do that, but--" She cut herself off and shook her head. "Forget I said that."
"No, you're not too far from the truth," said Water with a sigh. "I'm not as hung up on the 'evils of humanity' thing as Strong is, but humans have to assume we'd do as some of their own kind might."
Rainy looked around. "If anything, it looks better than I remember it."
Water smiled. "Some of that is because you can see so much more using your own wings than you ever could from any car."
Rainy let out a contented sigh as they came to a hovering stop over a grotto called the Devil's Kitchen, usually accessible only by several miles of hiking along a trail. In fact, several earth ponies and unicorns were making the trek as they watched. They waved up to the two pegasi, and Rainy and Water waved back.
"But, yeah, ponies in town have been trying to keep the place maintained until the park service can get its act together," Water continued. "We pick up litter and make sure nopony -- or any human -- tries to damage the place."
"What about the roads themselves?"
"That we can't do much about," said Water. "Some, ah, more radical ponies want to bust up the roads."
Rainy stared. "Whatever for?"
"To revert the place back to its more natural state," said Water.
Rainy frowned. She had no grievance with humans in general, knowing full well that the problems facing them were caused more by government rather than the attitudes of the governed. The idea of denying humans access to such a beautiful place disgusted her. If anything, seeing a place like this might help them understand why ponies are so in tune with nature, wanting to work with it rather than against it.
While it was true that the installation of the road could be considered akin to humanity imposing its will on the landscape, it was said and done. Breaking up the road would not instantly return the area to its previous pristine state.
"Technically, the park is closed, and none of us are supposed to be here," said Water. "But it's impossible to stay away from such beauty. And, well, how close is too close to the Monument when you have wings?"
Rainy knew enough about the situation in Grand Junction to understand the unspoken reason, that the Shimmerists had claimed all this land as theirs. In this case, she didn't see the harm in it. While all this bare rock could be made usable by earth ponies with a lot of effort, there was no need to with all the fertile land around Grand Junction and Fruita.
"Hey, you, uh, want to take a break?" Water asked. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
Rainy could guess what it was, but she nodded her assent anyway.
"Let's get a little more privacy," Water said.
They flew from the grotto and headed over to the picnic area at the head of the trail. They descended into a far corner of the lot and landed on some dusty ground. Rainy shook out her wings and folded them to her sides.
Water stepped over to her. "You remember what Strong said about wanting to contact Bright Future?"
"Yes, and I agreed to do it," said Rainy.
"I couldn't help but notice you were a little uncertain about her beliefs."
Rainy eyed him warily. "Did Strong Hooves put you up to this?"
"Absolutely not," Water declared. "He has no idea I'm talking to you."
Rainy hesitated, but decided to take him at his word. "Why do you want to know?"
"I was just curious as to what you really thought about the whole alicorn princess thing."
Rainy frowned. "If this is some attempt to recruit me for the Shimmerists--"
Water held up his fore-hooves. "Honestly, it's not!"
"Because if it is, I'll tell you the same thing Sunny told your group: no, and don't ask me again," Rainy said firmly. "Maybe I do have some doubts as to where the Harmonists are going, but that doesn't mean I think the Shimmerists are offering something better. Maybe I like that you're actually trying to do something rather than just talk about it, but I don't necessarily agree with what you're doing."
"I hear you," said Water in a softer voice. "I'm not so sure of things myself anymore."
Rainy's ears rose. "Come again?"
"Maybe you've noticed that Strong and I don't see eye to eye on everything."
Rainy hesitated before she replied, "I guess I was more caught up in the conversation with Blueblood, but now that you mention it, I suppose you're right."
"I do have to ask you," said Water. "If you're not interested in helping us, why did you deliver the Farhearing Stone to Strong?"
"For the same reason I just said, that at least you're doing something, and I felt that's what I was doing, too." Rainy recalled her argument with Tina before she left Pony Hope and added in a softer voice, "Maybe I was too impulsive after all. I never expected it would be Prince Blueblood who wanted to talk to Strong."
"And what do you think of it now? Would you have brought it to him if you had known?"
"I should have known!" Rainy cried. "Trixie said the Canterlot nobility wanted to talk to him, and I already knew there was a Prince who had likely organized them. Who else could it possibly have been?"
"And that's important?"
"Somepony told me that if Celestia wasn't immortal, he'd be next in line for the throne. So, yeah, it's important."
"That really doesn't answer the original question, though," said Water. "Would you have brought it to him?"
Rainy frowned. "I don't know. All I know is that this is getting too big for me to wrap my head around. I never wanted to involve myself in interportal politics, Ascension, or any of this other crap. Sometimes I feel like we transformed for nothing, that we just brought along all the same baggage that we were supposed to be leaving behind."
Water sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, tell me about it."
"I don't have any answers," Rainy said in a plaintive voice. "Maybe having Celestia rule over us is the right answer. Certainly we can't figure out how to rule ourselves." Rainy paused before adding in a lower voice, "Maybe it would've been better if Sunset had succeeded, and we'd be one happy pony planet."
"You don't really believe that, do you?"
"Why not? It's what you and the other Shimmerists believe, isn't it?"
Water hesitated before replying in a low voice, "Let's just say that you're not the only one standing here who's acted impulsively. Or did something just for the sake of doing something."
"I don't understand."
"I want ponies to create a better world," Water explained. "I think we have the means to do so. With magic, we can eliminate a big source of contention, which is the need to exploit the land for limited resources. It's what's driven war for millennia on this planet."
"If we're allowed to use magic," Rainy muttered.
"Leave that be for now," said Water. "My point is, having all these different factions pushing their One True Way to achieve it is not working."
"Then you should be glad if Bright decides to meet with Strong," said Rainy. "I have a feeling she'll accept given how closely she follows the Great Pillars."
"Oh, you mean a meeting of the minds of two organizations who neither of us thinks is the right path?"
Rainy could offer only silence, as her thoughts were a jumble.
"All I can see is something spectacularly bad coming out of any sort of alliance between them," said Water. "Especially in light of the fact that a faction in Equestria now actively involved."
"So are you saying I shouldn't talk to Bright?" Rainy asked in an impatient voice.
"If you don't, Strong will find some other way to contact her, so you might as well."
"Then why are you telling me all this?"
"I guess I just needed to talk to somepony who was on the same page I was."
"I don't want to just talk anymore," Rainy declared. "No talking unless there's doing."
"Okay, here's something we can do," said Water. "Or more precisely, what you can do."
Rainy's ears drew back slightly, but she nodded.
"There's an unknown factor here," said Water. "Exactly how much information does Bright have about alicorns?"
"Is that important?"
"It might be. Supposedly, Sunset Shimmer did a lot of research into them. If she figured out a way to make ponies from humans, which we're told was a huge undertaking, who knows what secrets she could've unlocked about alicorns? Could Bright be trusted with that sort of information?"
"Could Strong be trusted with the transformation spell?" Rainy countered.
"If it was just him, I'd say yes," said Water. "He's dead serious when he says any further forced transformation is wrong, but a less scrupulous pony could gain access to it. And when I hear that Harmonists secretly want an alicorn princess to rule over the whole world, I start to get nervous. It's like I said yesterday, this has the potential to blow up in our faces. Spectacularly."
Rainy let out a long sigh. Her argument with Tina echoed in her mind again. "All right, let me see what I can find out."
"Thank you," said Water.
"But what then? You're implying we need to stop what's happening."
"Or at least put the brakes on it," said Water. "At least until we have a chance to see what direction things are going."
The Grand Junction Rehumanization Center looked very much like any government office building. Despite having been founded only a few months ago, its weathered exterior made it look as if it had been there for years. Most likely, it had been an existing building that had been re-purposed; the sign above the entrance was clearly recent and covering an existing one.
Tom got out of the car first and stared at the building, his heart pounding. He felt the same sense of fluttering nerves as a few years ago, when he had brought Molly into the emergency room after she had a nasty spill riding her bike. They had known at the time that Molly had likely only suffered bruises and scrapes, but it was still a case of their daughter hurting and needing care.
"Thank you for driving us, Mary," said Theresa as she and a glum Molly exited the car.
"No problem," said Mary Tanner with a wave of her hand. "Just call me when you're ready to head back, and, um, good luck."
Tom looked at Molly as Mary drove away, and Molly gave him a reluctant look back. Her eyes glistened, and her tail flicked back and forth as it always did when she was nervous. No, not always, only after she had transformed. Tom had to avoid falling into the trap of becoming too used to Molly's appearance now. He had a chance to bring back the real Molly.
Yet the Molly of the moment gazed at him with equal parts fear and resentment. Tom felt an ache in his heart that went beyond the mere practicality of Molly being in the proper mindset for the rehumanization spell to work properly.
Theresa stepped up to him. "I think you better talk to her now before we go inside," she said in a gentle voice.
Tom nodded. "I know."
Molly glanced between them. "Talk to me about what?" she said in a wary voice. "I'm here like I'm supposed to be, right? What else is there?"
Tom sank to one knee. "You need to understand why you're here, honey."
Molly blinked a few times in surprise. Had that been the first time Tom had used a term of endearment since her transformation? She recovered quickly and frowned. "We're here because you want me to be human again."
"Yes, but perhaps you don't understand why."
Molly fluttered her wings. "Of course I do. You don't want me to be a pony anymore."
"But do you understand why?"
Molly hesitated, her eyes uncertain. "You think ... you think I'm still sick or something."
Tom had to choose his words carefully. While there was truth in Molly's answer, it was not what she wanted or needed to hear. "Do you remember the first time you went to kindergarten?"
"Um, sort of."
"You were very upset. You cried all the way to school and again when we tried to leave you with the teachers."
Molly nodded slowly.
"And who did you meet who became your good friend that very day?"
Molly slowly smiled. "Gina."
"So something good came out of it."
"Yeah, it did." Molly glanced past Tom towards the building. "Is that what you think will happen to me now? That becoming human again will make something good happen?"
"Not quite," said Tom. "Molly, when we left you at school, it probably seemed like some cruel thing we did to you."
"Well ... it wasn't."
"You can say that now, but at the time it wasn't so clear, was it?" Tom said.
Molly paused. "I guess not."
"There's a reason we did that," Tom said in a gentle voice. "We did it because we love you and wanted only good things for you."
Molly's eyes glistened.
"Do you remember your English class in third grade?"
Molly's wings fluttered briefly. "I'm not sure."
"You were so upset the day you came home with a failing grade in that class."
Molly looked at Tom in confusion for a few long moments until realization dawned with a gasp. "But it wasn't really my fault! Remember? They said I had dyslexia."
"Yes, but at the time, you didn't know that. All you had was a failing grade. And what did I do?"
"You ... you sat me down and ... um ... talked to me about it," Molly said in a hesitant and slightly quavering voice. "We figured out what was wrong with me."
"Though it didn't help at first," Tom said, his own voice pained when he recalled his daughter's tears at the time.
"I-I thought ..." Molly started, her voice choked.
"You thought I would stop loving you because you were defective."
Molly shuddered. Theresa let out a heartfelt sigh.
"That was the word you used," said Tom. "I tried convincing you that you weren't, but it took me a bit to figure out what your real worry was. You were afraid I wouldn't love you anymore if you somehow didn't get this 'fixed'."
Molly swallowed hard. "A-and that's not what's going on now?"
Tom hesitated when his own throat threatened to tighten at the hint of anguish in her daughter's voice. "Molly, I owe you an apology."
Molly stared. "You do?"
"I never had a similar talk with you about your transformation like I did about your dyslexia," Tom said. "And I don't mean that in the sense that this is something that needs to be corrected, more that the situation now is the same as it was then. My love doesn't hinge on what you do or don't do."
Molly glanced past Tom again. "It doesn't?" she asked in a small voice.
Tom nearly choked up. Theresa had been right. Molly really had thought that his love depended on her becoming human again. Suddenly Molly seemed less the strange alien child and more a scared little girl who needed more comforting than he had been able to give.
Tom drew Molly into his arms and into an embrace to her startled yelp. Her wings fluttered, her feathers tickling his nose, but he managed not to sneeze. She settled in his arms and tried her best to wrap her short forelegs around him. One of her hooves dug into his ribs, but he didn't care. Molly let out a ragged breath and a sniffle.
"Molly, I love you," said Tom. "I brought you here because I love you, but I'm not going to stop loving you regardless of what happens here. I'm sorry if I ever made you think otherwise."
"I j-just want you to be proud of me again," Molly said in a quavering voice.
Tom closed his eyes tightly to hold back his own tears. He had truly pinned too much of his hope on her rehumanization. Could he find it in himself to admire his pony daughter's accomplishments if this trip to Grand Junction came to naught?
Pining for something he could never have again was what drove a wedge between him and his wife. He could blame her unwillingness to rehumanize before she became marked, but when it was said and done, it was up to him to accept reality.
"I am proud of you, honey," Tom said. "You didn't want to come here. You're scared of this place, but you came here anyway. That takes bravery."
Molly drew back from the embrace and smiled, wiping her face with the back of a fore-hoof. This was the face of his daughter, his own flesh and blood despite the change in her body. He wished he had looked past her pony exterior sooner.
"All I ask of you is that you listen to the counselors here," said Tom. "Just hear what they have to say. No expectations. No trying to please me or your mother. You're the one who has to live with whatever body you have. In the end, you're still Molly."
Molly nodded, still smiling, her wings laying loosely at her sides, as if for the moment she had forgotten about them. Perhaps that was faint hope on Tom's part, but at least he had a chance of realizing his hope for a human daughter again.
If not, he might have at least started down the road of making peace with himself over it.
He let Molly down. Theresa stepped up, her own eyes slightly teary. "You see what I told you. Your father is a good man."
"I know that now," Molly said in a soft voice. She looked up at Tom. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Dad."
Tom shook his head. "No reason to apologize, honey." He stood. "Do you think you can face this now?"
Molly looked towards the building, her tail flicking once. "Will you be with me the whole time?" She looked at Theresa. "Both of you?"
"Count on it," said Tom.
"We wouldn't have it any other way," said Theresa.
Molly considered, then nodded once. "All right, let's go."
Upon parting from Rainy, Water attended to the task he was really supposed to be doing that morning, one he had volunteered for to use as cover for talking to Rainy. He flew towards the neighborhood that had been the target of Strong's initial plans to seize. While Strong had suspended the plan in light of the Pony Council, he wanted an update on the "intrusion" into pony lands.
Water held his wings in a glide to lose altitude in what he hoped looked like a casual maneuver. He gave his wings a few slow flaps to keep his height steady as he flew over the rooftops. Humans milled about below, the real estate agents in suits and the would-be home buyers in more casual wear. Some of the latter looked a little worse for wear, which was not surprising, as these houses were being sold on the cheap.
This time, however, he spotted something new: a human in uniform.
Water angled his wings to glide in a slow circle. The human looked up and maintained eye contact for some time. Water spotted another human in uniform. He narrowed his eyes to better focus, but they flew open wide when he caught sight of the holster at the man's hip.
His eyes darted among the others. More humans in uniform appeared, all similarly armed. The uniform was not that of the Grand Junction police, nor any federal agency he knew.
Water flew away at the same sedate pace as if nothing had happened, though his heart hammered. As soon as he was out of eyesight of the neighborhood, he soared into the sky and raced towards the pony side of town.
He found Strong conversing with Morning Glow, catching part of her side of the conversation as he landed. "--come back with that poor filly rehumanized, then I want the lot of them out of that home at once."
"Take it easy, Morning," said Strong as Water trotted over.
"Don't tell me to take it easy," Morning snapped. "Why are you even accommodating them? We're supposed to be advocating for more transformations, not less."
"It's called losing a battle to win a war. As much as I don't care for human military terms, it's apt here."
"I don't care for losing even a single one to them."
"Yes, you've made that abundantly clear. We can only do so much."
Morning sighed and looked past Strong. "Anyway, it looks like Water Wings wants to talk to you. I'll let you know when the Perkins family gets back."
"Thank you." Strong turned to Water, but glanced over his shoulder until Morning was gone. "My sister gets more headstrong by the day."
"Yeah, I noticed," said Water.
"So what do you have for me?" Strong asked. "Is this about your patrol this morning? I noticed it had taken you a bit longer than usual."
"You're going to be glad you gave up on that plan to take that neighborhood," Water began.
"Oh?"
"Looks like they anticipated we might try something. They hired a security outfit. There's humans armed with guns there now."
Strong considered. "Yes, that will complicate things."
Water raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon? Complicate what things?"
"I've decided to go ahead with the plan. "
Water stared. "Did I just hear you right?"
"You did. We'll need to adjust the plan to accommodate for a disarming phase. We can use--"
"Whoa, stop!" Water said, flaring his wings briefly. "You said you were putting that plan on hold because of the Pony Council!"
Strong frowned. "Which, as I had predicted, has come to naught."
"You haven't even given it a chance yet. They're only just meeting with Twilight today."
"Which will be useless."
"And just how do you know that?" Water demanded.
"You obviously are not up to date on current events," said Strong. "There was an incident at a fairgrounds in Denver, and pony magic is being blamed for it despite the adamant claims to the contrary by Princess Luna."
"Princess Luna??" Water cried. "Just what the hell happened?!"
Strong thrust a hoof towards his home. "Mary was kind enough to lend us her tablet PC. You can see the news reports for yourself. The gist of it is: someone attempted to spark a riot between ponies and humans with the ponies as the agitators."
"That's insane," Water said flatly. "Ponies wouldn't do that."
"The claim is the ponies' minds were being affected," said Strong. "I won't explain the whole thing to you when you can see it for yourself. The point is, Princess Luna directly intervened. Despite her help, it's being spun as Equestrian interference."
Water frowned, "All the more reason to tell Prince Blueblood to go fuck himself."
"On the contrary, this works well towards our cause."
"How in God's name do you figure that?"
"Think about it," said Strong. "Things got so out of hoof that a member of the Diarchy had to show up to put it right. Prince Blueblood is sure to spin this as the ponies of Earth needing the guiding wisdom of the Equestrian Crown."
"All I keep hearing is how things get 'spun,'" said Water with disdain. "Anypony give a crap about the truth?"
"There's a greater truth to be considered," said Strong. "And that is: we cannot rely on humans to ensure a better future for us. Equestria is best positioned to fill that role."
Water took a step closer to Strong. "Okay, let's go with that. How is forcefully taking over a neighborhood going to help? We already know that humans will go apeshit the moment Equestria declares a protectorate over us. This is going to seem more like some sort of invasion."
"Many of us are native to this area. These intruders seeking to settle here are not. We are simply taking back what was once ours in the first place. Some of those homes were once occupied by some of us."
"And we abandoned them by choice," said Water. "Nopony told us we had to."
"This action is more symbolic than anything else," said Strong. "We intend to raze those existing homes and either convert the lots to crop fields or build properly sized pony homes. We need to do this as a sign of where humanity must go. We're not so much taking land as declaring a need for humanity to shed its obsession with money and owning shiny things and understand how life is supposed to be lived."
Water should have realized this was a lost cause. Strong was a good leader, but he often refused to listen to an opposing view if it didn't align with his vision of the future. Yet this was too much of a critical juncture for Water to back down now, especially after stating to Rainy that they had to put the brakes on somehow. "You said pony magic is being blamed for this incident."
"Yes."
"Which I still think is impossible, but if people believe that, then you'll just play into their fears that ponies are somehow dangerous."
Strong considered. "Go on."
"If Princess Luna is involved, then Princess Twilight likely is as well," said Water. "Nopony knows magic better than her. She's sure to point to what the real cause of this is. Why not wait until we hear what that explanation is?"
"I'm not sure I see your point," said Strong.
"Because if she confirms that pony magic was somehow involved, you need to let that cool down a bit," Water explained. "Otherwise, this will just seem like part of some larger plan by ponies to steamroll over humanity."
Strong looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose I see your point."
Water let out relieved sigh.
Strong looked at him. "But I will not wait long. The explanation must come swiftly. And if I choose to go ahead with this plan, will you participate?"
"I don't know yet," said Water in a subdued voice. "I don't like it, but the more ponies you have, the better chance that somepony won't get hurt."
"That's always my paramount concern," said Strong. "Unlike some other Shimmerist leaders before me, I go out of my way to ensure humans are not hurt."
"I know that," Water said in a softer voice. "I would never have joined you if you did advocate hurting humans."
"I hope you are with us."
"And if I'm not?"
"Then you are not," said Strong. "It is the nature of ponies to forgive."
Water said nothing in reply.
"But I would suggest you do some soul-searching," said Strong in a gentle voice. "You need to ask yourself just how dedicated are you to our cause. Even as humans, we were sometimes called on to do things we don't like for a greater good."
"Yeah, I know." Water glanced towards Strong's house. "I guess I better go see for myself what all the ruckus is about."
"Please do," said Strong. "Perhaps it will help your perspective better."
Water stepped past Strong and headed towards the house. He thought it ironic that Strong had mentioned soul-searching. If his conversation with Rainy had not been that, he didn't know what was.
Molly's heart raced as she sat with her mother in the waiting room outside the counselor's office. Her father stood at the receptionist's desk, answering some questions about her medical history. Her eyes flicked nervously to the door, where the words "Karen Collins, PhD" were inscribed on a plaque at what would be eye-level for a human.
Her wings fluttered as she shifted her gaze to the other door, the one she really didn't want to go through. It was emblazoned with three white stars inside a lavender triangle, the symbol for magical hazard, as recognizable those days as the radiation or biohazard symbols were before ETS. Below it were the words "ESCORT REQUIRED PAST THIS POINT." A red light above the door was dark, and a sign pointed to it bore the words "REHUMANIZATION IN PROGRESS WHEN LIGHT IS ON - ABSOLUTELY NO ADMITTANCE AT THAT TIME."
Molly took a deep breath and let it go as a ragged sigh, her tail swishing. She leaned into her mother, enjoying the soft warmth and familiar scent. Along with her transformation came so many new sensations, all of which she would lose were she to go back to being human.
She looked up in time to see the receptionist let slip a folder from her hands as she stood. Her father deftly caught it in mid-air with his hand. It reminded her of those awkward first days after her transformation when manipulating things with her hooves had been difficult and frustrating. She had learned to adapt rather quickly, but some things still eluded her. She doubted she would have ever made such a catch herself unless she closed both fore-hooves around it.
Eventually, it had no longer mattered. Having wings meant she could do things she never could as a human. How could she ever agree to give them up? She didn't understand why they had to put her through this despite all their reassurances.
Her heart skipped a beat when her father and the receptionist parted, and the latter went to the door marked with the counselor's name. She opened it and nodded to the person inside before turning and saying, "Doctor Collins will see Molly whenever she's ready."
"Thank you," said Tom.
Molly glanced past him at the open door. "I guess I still have to do this, huh?"
"Please give it a chance, that's all I ask."
"I don't want to be yelled at by her," said Molly.
"We won't let it happen," said Tom in a soft voice.
"We'll stop this the moment we think you're being bullied," said Theresa.
Molly had heard what other ponies had said about rehumanization counselors, but she had to trust her parents more than rumors. She nodded and hovered out of her seat and onto her hooves.
They brought her into the office, where a smiling middle-aged woman with straight dark brown hair sat behind a desk. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins," she said, looking not at all perturbed by the mixed-species pairing. Her gaze found Molly, and she added, "And you must be Molly. How are you today?"
"Um, I'm fine," Molly said in a wary voice.
Karen looked up. "Would one of you be kind enough to shut the door, please, so we can have some privacy?"
Theresa nodded and pushed the door closed.
"Thank you," said Karen. "Now, allow me to make one thing clear. This session goes for only as long as you say."
Molly blinked. Karen was looking straight at her. "You mean me?"
"Yes, you or your parents. Any time you want to call an end to this regardless of your feelings towards rehumanization, please do so."
The temptation to end it right there was strong, but she nodded and said, "Okay."
"Molly, do you understand what it would mean to rehumanize?"
"Yes," Molly said. "I'll lose my wings."
"Have they started to work?"
"Yes." Molly hovered in place. "See?"
Karen nodded. "As I understand it, many of the transformed can do new and unusual things."
Molly landed on her hooves with a clop muffled by the carpet. "My Mom can grow flowers. She just has to look at them and, boom, they blossom."
"As I suspected, given your mother's cutie mark."
"And I'll be able to fly and control the weather," Molly continued.
"Yes, that comes with being a pegasus," said Karen. "Can I ask you to do something for me?"
Molly glanced at her parents. Theresa gave her a faint and slightly bemused smile. Tom gave her an encouraging nod. She turned back to the counselor. "Um, I guess."
"Can you think back to before ETS?" Karen said. "To before you came down with the flu?"
"Why?"
"Please, bear with me," said Karen. "I won't make you recall anything uncomfortable or scary."
She didn't think of her time as a human to be either of those, just something she didn't really need to consider anymore.
"In fact, why not recall something pleasant?" Karen asked. "Something that made you happy, or something you were doing that you really liked."
Molly struggled to bring up memories prior to spring. Until her father had prompted her earlier, she would have had trouble conjuring up even those. Everything prior to her transformation seemed like a blur. "I'm sorry if I'm not doing this right," Molly said, her ears falling.
"Quite all right." Karen looked up. "Would either of you care to suggest something?"
"Last Christmas, perhaps?" Theresa said.
"Yes, I was just thinking that myself," said Tom. "We decided to do it like your family used to do. Do you remember what we did, Molly?"
After a few moments, the memory crystallized in Molly's head. "We waited until Christmas Eve to put up the tree and all the decorations."
"That's not all, though," Tom prompted gently.
Molly could clearly see the tree and the sparkling garlands around it. She could even remember the scent of pine, as they had a real tree that year rather than the artificial one. She could see her parents smiling at her. What she could not see was herself, the little human girl.
"The decorations," Tom said.
"Oh, yeah, that's right, we made them all ourselves!" Molly said in an excited voice. "Mom did a bunch of folding paper things, and I did ... um ..."
"What grandma taught you to do just a few weeks before that."
Molly's tail swished. "I crocheted something. A reindeer. I--"
Suddenly she could see something in her head that should be alien to her: a pair of hands moving needles in an intricate if hurried patten.
"You had to fix something on him at the last minute," said Tom.
"The tail," Molly said in a softer voice. "It had come loose."
"Did you like doing that, Molly?" Karen asked.
Molly flinched slightly as if she had not realized the woman was still in the room. "Yeah, I did."
"Did you crochet other stuff after that?"
"I made a little hat for a snowman my cousin made. And a scarf for an elf."
Tom chuckled. "She would've just crocheted into the night if we hadn't put her to bed."
"Yes, I remember," said Theresa in a flat voice.
Molly looked over to her mother. She gave a wan smile in return.
"Sounds like you had a great time," Karen said. "It was something you could do well."
"She only got better at it," said Tom.
Karen smiled at Molly. "Did you now?"
Molly's ears drooped slightly. "I, um ... I won second place in an arts and crafts project at school in February."
"Then there was Christmas morning," Tom said.
Molly's wings twitched, and she shifted her weight as the scene sprang into her head.
"What did you see when--"
"Tom, please," Theresa protested in a barely audible voice.
Tom looked over to her. "What?"
Molly looked up at them. Theresa's eyes glistened, her ears slightly drawn back. "Is there something wrong, Mom?"
"Do we need to stop, Mrs. Perkins?" Karen asked.
Theresa hesitated, then shook her head. "It's fine."
Molly could tell it wasn't, but by then the memory was in her head and would not let go.
"You snuck out of bed at least an hour early," Tom said, his own voice growing soft and heavy with emotion. "You saw the one present we couldn't wrap. The scream you gave when you saw it made us both come running."
"My new bike," Molly said. "I had wanted a new one for a while."
"Did you enjoy it?" Karen asked.
Molly smiled faintly. "Yeah, especially when we came to Lazy Pines."
"That was the other part of the surprise," Tom said. "That we had a second home we could visit when the weather was good in the mountains."
"I had wondered why they got me a mountain bike when I really looked at it."
"I don't think there was a single trail she didn't hit with that bike come March," said Tom.
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun doing that," said Karen.
Molly unfolded her wings and glanced at them. "But I'm going to be able to fly! That's better than biking, isn't it?"
"You tell me. Is it?"
Molly snapped her wings to her sides. "Of course it is."
"Better than crocheting?"
Molly had no reply, other than to draw her ears back.
"Were you still doing that before you transformed?" Karen asked.
"What difference does it make?" Molly snapped.
"Please, Molly, I only want to help," said Karen. "Were you still doing it?"
Molly hesitated a long moment before she replied, "Yes."
"Do you miss it?"
"Maybe I did," Molly said. "Before my wings started to work."
"Before your wings started to work?" Karen asked.
"That's what I said."
"What about before that?"
Molly frowned. She was about to protest that Karen was not supposed to make her remember bad things, but that would force her to admit that she had those thoughts in the first place.
Karen read her body language as well as another pony might. "I'm sorry if I touched on something unpleasant."
"It's not that," Molly said quickly. "Okay, it took me some time to learn to use my hooves. I'm good at that now. Some pegasi told me I can use my wings, too, once they're developed more."
"I'm sure that's absolutely true. But it's also true that you've lost at least one -- possibly two -- things that were dear to you."
"And being able to fly and control weather isn't better than that?" Molly said.
Karen folded her hands. "Again, you tell me. It's your body and your life."
Molly considered. "You mean like how the rehumanization won't work unless I want it to?"
"Not quite. Until we started to talk, I'm sure you didn't think very much about your human origins."
"I guess not," Molly said in a tentative voice.
"But now that we have, can you think of anything else you used to do that you liked?"
When Molly hesitated, Tom started to speak. "There was the time when--"
"Forgive me for having to cut you off, Mr. Perkins," said Karen. "But I would like Molly to try this unprompted."
More memories had indeed come to her. She remembered her last birthday, when they got her a new controller for her game console, and how she had feared that the final part of the transformation would rob her of that pastime. Afterward, it seemed like a trivial thing to be concerned about when she first saw what other ponies could do.
"Have you thought of something?" Karen asked.
"It's stupid!" Molly protested.
"Nothing you want or need is stupid."
"But it is. Nopony else cares about it. Gina doesn't care about it, and video games used to be all she could talk about!"
"Gina is her best friend," Tom said at Karen's questioning look. "She's a unicorn."
"They completed their transformations almost at the same time," Theresa said in a slightly quavering voice. "And I really don't see how playing video games is at all important here."
"See?" Molly said. "Even my mother thinks it's stupid."
"I didn't quite mean it that way, dear," said Theresa. "Doctor Collins is right, it's not stupid for you to want something like that."
"But I don't need it anymore."
"We all do things because we want to and not because we need to," said Karen. "It doesn't make it any less important. Just like you didn't need to crochet. You did it because you wanted to, because it made you happy."
"And being a pony can't make me happy?" Molly said in a challenging voice.
"It can," said Karen. "If that's all you want to be."
"I don't understand."
"You just told me three things you liked to do," Karen explained. "All of which made you happy. All were very different from each other. But they're all things that are impossible or very difficult to do now."
"But if I like the new stuff I can do, that's important, right?"
"Of course," said Karen. "If that's all you want to do."
Molly's eyes glistened as more memories of her childhood came to her in a flood, memories of a little human girl whose interests were so diverse that her parents sometimes struggled to keep up in supporting her activities.
"You said you would lose your wings if you rehumanized," Karen continued. "You would also lose your future weather controlling ability."
Molly nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
"Yes, they are amazing abilities, but what did you give up to gain them?"
Molly swallowed hard. She remembered one of the last sights before they abandoned their home in Lazy Pines for the shelter: a closet filled with things that Molly would not -- or could not -- use anymore.
"Molly?"
"I ... I don't ..."
Molly could no longer force any words out. The emotional dam was close to bursting, and anything she said further would just let loose the flood.
Theresa stepped forward. "I think we need to stop this right now."
Karen drew back in her seat. "I agree." She turned back to Molly. "I'm terribly sorry if I caused you any distress."
Molly had already turned away from her, sniffling. She just wanted out of this awful place. She wanted somepony to reassure her that she wasn't some terrible aberration that belonged neither in the human or pony worlds. Before she could make her need known, she was drawn into a tight embrace.
To her surprise, it had been her father who had reached out to her first.
"It's okay, Molly," her father whispered. "Everything is all right."
"I-I'm sorry," Molly whimpered as she clutched Tom tightly. "I just ... I-I don't know what I should want a-anymore."
"Don't worry about that now. Remember what I told you, that I love you no matter what."
Molly let out a ragged sigh. Tears still dripped from her eyes, but some of her anguish had dissipated. She still didn't want her father to stop holding her.
"We'll take you back to the house," said Tom.
"Tom, go ahead and take Molly out of the office," said Theresa. "I need to stay behind for a moment."
"What for?"
"I want to talk to Doctor Collins."
"Theresa, I know you're upset, but--"
"I just want some clarification, that's all," said Theresa. "Let's not argue about this for Molly's sake."
Molly's embrace tightened. She certainly didn't want to hear them arguing yet again. It seemed that's all they ever did. Despite her mother knowing how well ponies could hear, she sometimes didn't send Molly far enough away for her to avoid hearing enough to know they were arguing.
"All right," Tom said in a resigned voice. "Come on, honey, we'll wait outside the building."
"Are you all right, Mrs. Perkins?" Karen asked.
Theresa had been set to speak her mind, but the same memories had been stirred up in her as well. Just as she had gotten over the urge to cry over Molly, the tears threatened to flow anew. "Give me a moment, please."
"Of course."
Theresa took a deep breath and tried to banish the memories for the moment. She had even caught a brief glimpse of herself as a human, something she had not given any thought to since the morning she had awoken fully pony, fresh from the vision relayed to her by the night ponies. She had learned later that she had been one of the last to receive it before Princess Luna had intervened.
She set her gaze hard on Karen. "I want to know what that was all about."
"What were your impressions?" Karen asked.
"Don't answer questions with questions. Maybe it's effective on emotionally vulnerable foals, but not me."
Karen considered and nodded. "Very well. I've been doing rehumanization counseling since the program first started. I've since formed a theory that the transformation process actively suppresses human memories in some."
"First of all, that's ridiculous," Theresa snapped. "I did not have anything suppressed. It simply didn't matter to me quite as much anymore."
"You're describing the mechanism of the suppression. It amounts to the same thing." Karen folded her hands. "I answered your question. Could you answer mine now?"
"To me, this whole thing sounded more like 'humans are better than ponies.' That's no better than the hard-line Shimmerist stance that ponies are better than humans."
"It's not what I had meant at all. Yes, I do believe that individual ponies are more limited than humans. The pony tribes are all specialized, for instance."
"What matters is what we can do when we all come together in friendship."
Karen nodded. "Granted. I don't doubt that at all."
"Then why did you take this approach with Molly?" Theresa demanded.
"It's no more than I had stated: I needed to get her to remember what it was like to be human. Not all ponies are like this. Some have little trouble remembering their past lives."
Theresa stomped a hoof, rattling the window and jostling the pencil holder on the desk. "But what's the point?!"
Karen deftly caught the holder before it could tip over, as if she had practice at that maneuver. "The point is to give Molly an informed choice."
"She already made her choice."
"Yes, she did, but not an--"
"But not the right one?" Theresa said. "Is that it?"
"The problem is, we don't yet know what the right choice is," said Karen.
Theresa hesitated. "Isn't there only one right decision in your mind?"
"You say she's made a choice already. It's not an informed choice."
"I don't understand."
"Your husband explained the situation to me concerning Molly," said Karen. "Had he described a foal who talked about her human past, who actively brought up memories of being human, who acknowledged her human past and yet still wished to remain a pony, the session we just had would have had a completely different outcome. I would be sending you all back home and wishing Molly a good life as a pony and hoping she becomes the best pegasus she can be."
Theresa remained silent, some of the memories threatening to intrude on her thoughts again.
"Instead, it was clear that her human memories were suppressed," said Karen. "If you don't care for that word, feel free to interpret that how you wish. The point is, she needs to remember what it was like to be human to be fully informed about her decision." Karen tilted her head. "Is it a fair assumption that some memories were stirred up in you as well?"
Theresa nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
"Molly fully transformed first, didn't she?"
"Y-yes," said Theresa said in a choked voice. "How did you know? Or was that just a good guess?"
"Adults don't suppress memories as easily as foals," said Karen. "But when a child transforms first, the adults are usually more willing to discard their past for the sake of identifying with their transformed children."
"I still feel like we have it better this way," Theresa said, though her voice was slightly hollow. "We have a supportive community. We're not in want of anything. We have food, water, shelter, and even health care."
"I don't deny any of those things, Mrs. Perkins," said Karen. "But that can be said by a lot of humans as well. It's up to Molly whether she considers it important to her."
"She's only nine!" Theresa cried. "How can she understand all those concepts yet?"
"We're in a difficult situation. This isn't like receiving medical treatment where the parents can decide for the child. The magic of the rehumanization spell simply doesn't work on the unwilling. As young as she is, she has to shoulder this decision herself."
Theresa could hear Tom in her head throwing her own words back at her: whatever happened had to be in Molly's best interest. Wasn't she doing the same as she had accused Tom of doing, of focusing on one choice as the right one? "I suppose you want us to come back tomorrow."
"Yes, please," said Karen. "Molly may be emotionally distraught now, but my experience has shown that it will pass. It's simply the conflict between what she was and what she is now. Even some adults I've counseled have had similar reactions."
Theresa's ears drooped. "I want to believe you have Molly's interests at heart. It's hard considering everything I've heard about this process."
"There are multiple schools of thought concerning the psychology behind the transformed. Yes, there are those who tend to treat this as a disease needing to be cured. I personally find that about as much hogwash as trying to 'cure' homosexuality. The flu that sparked the transformation was the disease, and it's long since over and done. Trying to treat this in the same way won't work."
"I just don't want this to devolve into 'look at all the things you could do with hands'," said Theresa, her voice turning more defiant. "Because that's what this session sounded like."
"It was just a way to focus her thoughts," said Karen. "A step in the door. I had to do something to shock her into recalling those memories."
"I don't want her to experience more 'shocks' like that."
"I predict things will be more calm in the next session," said Karen. "And I want to thank you."
Theresa's ears rose. "For what?"
Karen smiled softly. "For actually being here and talking to me about your concerns. And for agreeing to give this a chance. It's more than a lot of pony parents would do."
If it had been up to her, they never would have come here. She still had her misgivings, but she wondered how much of that was just her own feelings getting in the way. The memories of her human past had impacted her almost as much as they had Molly. What would she be thinking now if she didn't have a cutie mark?
"Did you have any other questions for me?" Karen asked.
"Just one," said Theresa. "How do you decide when enough is enough? Maybe you didn't browbeat her as I thought you might, but I could still see this becoming hard on her."
"When I feel she's recalled enough of what it was like to be human. Or she simply refuses to draw on any more memories. Then I ask her if she wants to rehumanize."
"And?"
"If she says yes, I'll start the arrangements," said Karen. "If she says no, I'll do as I said earlier: wish her well and hope she goes on to a fulfilling life as a pegasus."
Theresa remained silent, her own thoughts a jumble.
"I am under no quota for rehumanizations," said Karen. "As far as I know, there is no quota system in place."
Theresa had no idea how much she could believe. Either the rumors were true, and they were lucky enough to find the one good one, or it was like Tom had said: they had come from a biased perspective.
"Thank you for your time," Theresa said in a neutral voice. "I'll show myself out."
"Of course."
Theresa left the office and headed into the main hall without even a glance at the receptionist. Karen had given her almost as much to think about as her daughter.
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This rehumanization process puts me on edge... I feel like it’s important to emphasize both pony and human traits that would be lost, and this clearly (but not unexpectedly) emphasizes human memories.
Also, this sounded almost like human mind magic again... I’m suspicious.
You know I was born right outside Denver and woent several years in Colorado and never once went to the monument or Grand Junction.
Anyway, that scene with the councilor gave me chills. Definitely got an emotional reaction from me.
9300519
I, for one, appreciate the person in charge of the procedure not being a two dimensional bigot caricature, and raising valid points.
Changing the subject, all that pony luddite crap irks me. Nature can be beautiful, sure, but also destructive and apathetic to suffering: earthquackes, volcanoes, tsunamis, ice ages, etc..
that without counting what living beings do to each other for survival (like predation or parasitism).
Humans didn't tame the land or build infraestructures because we are a bunch of eeeevil greedy polluters, but as a way to improve our life standards against a hostile, uncaring environment.
And now these furry magical cretins want to set things back to the Dark Ages
9300547
I do agree that it is nice to have a character like that, and I agree with the motives, I just question the methods.
I totally agree about the environmental stuff. That always bugs me, but I think it’s farely clear it’s not going to end up happening... But considering the way the author seems to write the story in part at least as a response to reader input (or at least, it appears that way! Either that, or he’s put about as much thought into this as all of us combined... which would be rather surprising. Author, which is it? Heh), it’s possible that nobody caring it or thinking much of it could allow it to slip forwards and become a more serious issue. That being said, I don’t think there’s much contraversy or disagreement on the matter, so... maybe not.
The night ponies, on the other hand... I still disagree with their police force. Honestly, I could see a system working with term-limited night ponies having eternal dreams after reaching their term limits, and being voted into the system, to be a possible end-goal. Much better than a ‘circle of friends’... but as is, with no input or careful selection process (one that isn’t run by a foreign government...) this system is still tyrannical and dangerous. My opinions on it have not changed.
I don't think that this process is appropriate for Mollys age.
The rehumanization even if it is well ment is some kind of mind control praising human traits over pony traits and since there is no pony showing her what she could do as a pegasus this just feels one sided and biased towards everything is better as a human.
Yeah flying and weather magic is everything she could do as a Pegasus........
Yeah since humanity doesn't want them to have contact to a pony civilization that actually uses infrastructure.
9300519
Hmdunno, this just sounded like basic psychology. It's undeniable that the transformation altered the very way the transformed think, and even Twilight hoped there was a way for the affected to make an informed choice, rather than one pushed on them by the transformation. That's all Karin seems to be doing: drawing out the thoughts that Molly has buried because of the transformation and let her make an actual choice.
I've argued before that I think Ryan is the victim of an unethical brainwashing on the human end, and I maintain my belief that theory. But this? This seems like a very ethical and friendly therapy. Yes, it does make Molly uncomfortable right now, but let's face it, even a magic spell that could separate the human mind from the pony body that Twilight had wished would exist would have made Molly uncomfortable. Because the very root of both the non-existent spell and what Karin did accomplish the same thing: Make Molly realize what she has lost and what that loss might still mean for her. Becoming a pony suddenly isn't a gift where she gained everything, it's something forced on her that caused her to lose several precious things she had. That realization would have hurt regardless of what method had been used to achieve it.
Therapy is rarely painless, but I can't find any fault in the way Karin approaches this incredibly complex issue. And I like that it isn't so black and white.
9300584
Debatable. Also largely a moot point, since they're kind of on a clock here. We're six months in now, near the upper end of the time limit Twilight said the echo would remain. If they'd waited a few years, or even just a few months, it would have been too late.
9300584
I remember a certain Crystal pony working for the government mocking "those islacionist hicks who wanted to go back to nature" rather than using the living in cities alongside humans and using the already existing infraestructures: running water, sewers, electricity, roads, etc..
9300567
We know that there was probably some weak mind control pushing the ponies towards a ludite type lifestyle. The vision did depict their communities that way. Even the southerners that ended up going back to similar lifestyles as they had as humans only did it because the southern shimmerists pressured them back into a more human lifestyle early on before things got too far along. It's sadly kind of a shame Sunset Blessing didn't get more of a foothold out west early on. She's a terrible person, but she's the kind of leadership the western ponies needed and didn't get. Strong Hooves still seems like a hothead who doesn't think about the big picture. Water Wings looks like he's starting to think ahead of time. Here's hoping he somehow manages to supplant or reign Strong Hooves back in.
That councilor made me really uncomfortable too. That was not a balanced counciling session in any way. She clearly is just very good with verbal manipulation. She can say that she isn't trying to push a pony viewpoint, but the lack of balance is just really unconvincing.
And yeah, the dreamwardens are a group that makes everyone uneasy, and I'm pretty sure they were designed that way. They really make you question if the ends justify the means because tgey do make a strong case for what would hapoen if they weren't there. The fact is they don't look like they can be gotten rid of or curtailed in any way. They've made it clear that if they disagree with Luna they will ignore her, so they aren't really answerable to a foreign government either. There have to be elements of the US government that know about them, otherwise I can't see them being so unconcerned that the night ponies are as organized as they are on a worldwide scale. Like that should be sending a million red flags up if the humans are really concerned about alien pony takeover, but their reaction has been to shrug and just accept it. That tells me that they have to know and just aren't saying anything or trying to interfere.
Wrong, given that even Twilight had trouble forgiving say.. Trixie, or Discord.. Bit more Shimmerist revisions of things that Equestrians would think "I'm sorry, but that's wrong." Lightning Dust would clearly blow that idea out of the water that's for sure given her issues with Rainbow Dash.
9300519
It's more drawing memories that the pony transformation forced down. It should be very problematic to discover that she can't even visualize herself before she became a victim to ETS, same for Theresa. It's another sign that despite what the ponies think.. They really aren't having a truly informed choice given to them that they think they do.
The fact that memories that weren't that long ago are hazy and are unable to form a process of who you were before.. That's basically a strong suppression, and her speech is trying to break through such and let you remember.
I had to read through twice to realize that the Theresa found out that the night ponies gave the vision. Guessing that's common knowledge at this point? Maybe the dreamwardens cracked down and told the night ponies to all come clean about it. We know they don't like the vision, that was even kind of the selection process on them--night ponies that detested the vision and all it stood for.
Nice character growth here from Tom. I wonder if Molly understands too that her mom will be moving away most likely if Molly rehumanizes. Tom has grown a little bit, but not sure if he has grown enough to accept that his wife is a pony and love her as a pony. I think Theresa would try to make it work if given a real chance, even if Molly rehumanized, but Tom seems like he won't give her that.
Also something I noticed:
Ding ding ding! Looks like the reality is slowly starting to sink in here.
Well, okay, technically there is a reason, but I doubt "being a magical battery for Equestria" sounds all that satisfying.
9300644
She kind of has to lean more towards the human perspective though. The way the vision and its manipulations work leave a heavy bias towards being pony. That bias has to be counterbalanced before anything resembling a balanced opinion can be formed.
9300657
As a whole though, Equestrian society is far more forgiving. Luna got plonked back on the throne without complaint and even managed to win back the trust of her people to enter their dreams. Had the whole Nightmare Moon shebang happened on earth, Celestia might have been able to sidestep a court by saying Luna already served her sentence (one can reasonably argue that a thousand years on the moon is enough for most crimes) but there's no way anyone would have trust her anywhere near an office of government, much less all the sleeping minds of a nation.
Important key difference though, is that this forgiveness is a cultural thing, not a biological one as the transformed like to claim. That's why we see ponies like Lightning Dust, because just because a culture is more forgiving, that doesn't mean everyone within that culture thinks the same.
Hitting close to the mark there Rainy.
The concept of magic use is going to get extremely muddied down the road, something that will come as an extreme shock to most as they feel that (pony) magic will make all the ills of society go away. Magic is not inherently dangerous, but as Sunset Shimmer proved magic is like firearms, who uses it and how is how it is ultimately perceived.
There’re not, but ponies aren’t better than humans either. Both have advantages over the other, it’s simply a matter of perpesctive. Taken out of context anything can seem better or worse.
Strong Hooves is either unaware or is ignorant of the fact Equestria is, in fact, a capitalist society. Well more like capitalist-lite. Unlike most of the transformed Equestria does not use a barter system for general use.
As for the accession process, Sunset did not in fact research it. She did some theoretical work on Twilight’s potential as an alicorn, but she did not discover how the process worked. I would say the likely hood of a transformed ascending would be 50/50, though honestly I think the deck would be stacked more against them than in favour.
As for the ‘being better’ notion that those like Molly seem hung up on consider this. Most equines are both herd and prey animals. They have better senses of hearing, smelling and sight as a biological necessary. It’s their mistaking biological advantages for superiority that will likely be an undoing at some point down the road.
Molly’s rehumanisation session has revealed something else, though it may only apply to the young. Most memories concerning previous physical form are hazy. The informed decision makes sense. How can you decide what’s best for you if you can only remember one point of view. This is likely another part of Sunset’s mind fucking. Forget what you were and concentrate on what you are. Likely her way of ensuring an all pony utopia.
9300721
I thought the fact that their memory of old physical form being hazy was fairly well established. I'm pretty sure that I had ponies over in my stories finding human bodies strange. Tattered Wing even got grossed out by Melissa's toes wiggling at her because she found the body parts just so strange and alien--and that was only a little over a month after. You see the same thing happen when they rehumanize too, where the memory of them being a pony gets kind of fuzzy. Both Jenny and Melissa have alluded to that.
9300644
Maybe the worst thing that could happen to the Dream wardens would be if a large percentage of human magic users turned out to have a natural talent for mind magic. Given that both Jenny and Ryan use very powerful mind magic, there is a real possibility that mind magic is one of Humanity's special magical gifts, in the same way that weather control is a natural Pegasus gift. Given that they swore a binding oath to control mind magic, the Dream wardens wouldn't be able to just ignore humans using mind magic. But the more human mind controllers there are, the more deeply the Dream wardens will be forced to become involved in human affairs.
9300611
It puts me on edge; that doesn’t mean I’m entirely against it. I just have some uncertainty about it.
Also, as somebody who studies neuroscience, I know that this sort of ‘reminding’ people can have serious impact on their present emotional state that may not be representative of their ‘average’ (rather, ‘median’) emotional feeling on the matter. On top of that, ‘reminding’ people of things, especially in therapy contexts, has been very harmfully misused many times in the past, though in this instance it does look relatively harmless... but it still, all together, is enough to put me on edge.
This chapter was a much-needed look at the bigger questions. The talk and reconciliation between Tom, Theresa, and Molly was a long time coming, and I greatly appreciated it. It was also nice to see Karen taking a very balanced and rational approach with Molly, and her explanation of her thought process to Theresa afterward was most enlightening. I still have some misgivings about the whole counseling process and Tom's stance on the matter, but I'm now feeling a lot better about Molly's situation.
The politics, on the other hand, can go hang.
9300657
Except that human memory is awful and things that are ‘suppressed memories’ are often actually created in response to therapy probes, as opposed to having every actually existed. In this case, that might not be the most harmful thing, but still, it’s not necessarily representative of the reality of the situation.
9300644
My issue with the Dreamwardens is that I think there exist median options between the two extremes of ‘uncontrollable chaos and unstoppable violence’, and ‘Authortarian cult-dictatorship friendgroup creates by foreign authority.’
Like, it’s better than nothing, but seriously? You can’t tell me there’s not a better solution than that
9300721
Capitalism with a heavy dose of socialism. Very European, I'd say. You've got your self-made-ponies who got from nothing to where they are now with clever plans, goods and an eye for the market, and you've got ponies like Fluttershy who have got to be living of government stipends given how we never see anything beyond volunteer work from them. Not to mention any ideas that Equestrian healthcare isn't socialized as heck just sounds so un-Equestrian I can't even consider it.
9300792
Oh yes, I suspect Ryan is a victim of that abuse you mentioned. Karin seems to do a professional job at it, though.
9300756
That would be a worse case scenario for them. They swore an oath that they would not stand by and let others use mind magic maliciously. They may be focused on night ponies' right now, and going to Luna to deal with Ryan, but if they see signs that this is not a tiny abberarion that Ryan has powers and other humans have them too, then they will get more involved--they really have no choice on the matter since that oath is baked into their beings, and they wouldn't be happy about it because it pulls them out of the shadows more before Sha'am dies.
They aren't going to be happy with Luna's letting Ryan slip away, and will be seeing trends starting to happen in there being a wider base of mind magic users than just night ponies. I think it wouldn't be out of the question that an unofficial request is made that Luna stay off world for while after being involved with an interportal incident. That only pushes them more to take action against Ryan and possibly any other mind magic using humans that may exist.
9300547
The ones all for returning to nature are the one mind fucked.
Sunset messed up the transformation on them so much that they want to be rid of anything human and are trying to justify it.
9300669
You only say that because Theresa was being so supporting of her daughter being a pony. She would have acted the same as Tom if she was a human considering becoming a pony.
Also the equestrians should get it through their heads that even with cutie marks the transformed are not ponies. They were formed so that they would follow sunset shimmers plans.
I agree with karen she may be young but its still her choice
9300897
Which was to... live their lives.
That's it. That was the extent of Sunset's plan for them. Just a world of ponies living their lives.
9300919
Well, she did have plans to have them be a defense for Equestria against big threats. How that was going to happen is anyone's guess. Sunset was so focused on making ponies she really didn't think out a lot of details. If there's one thing ponies like Strong Hooves inherited from her it was a penchant for not thinking things all the way through. There's a reason that even some Shimmerists call her a fool.
9300942
The previous story does talk about that, but the plan was limited to syphoning their magic to Equestria. The ponies of earth would only need to live their lives for Sunset's plan to succeed.
But that lack of a plan for the lives of the ponies in a way makes her the perfect messiah. It's easier to fill a blank slot with your own interpretations than one that's already filled, after all.
This chapter got VERY heavy, especially in the counseling scene. Love it!
From my perspective we have seen the end of the story of Molly's family troubles. Everyone got their needed dose of perspective. Tom now understands Molly still sees him as her dad and just wants his support for the things she dose good now like he did in the past and stop getting hung up on her looks. Molly has been made to recognize that her human self had a lot of cherished interests she had forgotten, interests she might even want to rediscover. Theresa learns what it is like to have Tom's fears and understand that her pony community should not think for her when it comes to her family. She now understands that she has to trust Molly to decide her future the same way she demands Tom do.
As for the decision it self. Regardless the outcome I think the family will adapt and be whole. Maybe they will find a knitting tutor who trains wings to work as fingers or maybe Molly will retain enough power of flight so that being re-humanized isn't so bad.
Basically the counseling session proved most fair and helpful to the family, more so than the detractors to this.
Now my opinion on Strong Hooves... Again! This miserable ____ needs the _____ beat out of him. Every decision he wants to entertain will get people and ponies unnecessarily hurt and make any future good relations impossible. He cannot restrain his impulse to drive Humans away forever and destroy any evidence humanity was ever there. I cannot see the Pony Council's new suggestion get a chance as long as this brute holds leadership.
Lets speculate about the plan for the realtors in the empty Human city. Strong Hooves plan seems to be beat up the Humans and smash up the city just to mark his territory. He may not (on Principle) be for injuring humans but I don't believe he will punish ponies who do, the humans will just get treated like collateral damage.
Worse than that is that I think Molly's family might get caught in the middle some how and if that is the case I predict Tom will be gravely injured traumatizing Molly. Why Tom might be there maybe is to tell his friend no deal on the housing bid because it seems he will not oppose his wife's wishes to return to Pony Hope, only to end up getting jumped. Wrong place wrong time. Tom, Theresa, and Molly don't deserve this pain.
I am now picking a side in this. I support the idea of humans and ponies integrating into each others society, the Pony Council Idea reveled in the last chapter; but I lean Humanity. If this story goes war I want Earth to defeat the Separatist movement and put a stop to Equestrian interference.
a grate chapter that i love to hate.
Karen is spouting so many lies on top of lies.
Water is defiantly playing his cards close to the vest.
and Tom will some one pleas put a bullet in this assholes head, well that is if you can pull his head out of his ass.
maybe just maybe this tractor would pull his head out of his ass.
I think this chapter really puts emphasis on how unethical Sunset's plan was. She actively altered the brains of the transformed so that they wouldn't feel off in their new pony bodies, and in children like Molly, it's making them suppress all the good things about being human, and only caring about ponies. It's almost like brainwashing them to see the benefits of Sunset's plan. By that logic, they can't be making informed decisions regarding being ponies or humans.
9301168
There is... so much wrong with these very hostile statements.
I feel so sorry for Molly! I bet she feels torn between her human and pony forms, and she ultimately has to choose one over the other. I mean, it's not like she can just switch back and forth at will...
...Then again... (Surf and/or Turf)
9301140
The problem Strong Hooves has in this chapter is that while he would have preferred to wait and see what the Pony Council could accomplish, the humans are deliberately choosing not to wait. Instead they are rushing through the creation of a new human settlement on land which in many cases was previously owned by the very ponies who are now having their interests ignored by the government. In effect, Matthew Fuller and the other anti pony officials in the US government are creating "facts on the ground". Once those old houses have been sold (at bargain prices, which they can sell at only because the old owners get nothing) and new inhabitants have moved in, it will be much, much harder for the pony's to evict their new "neighbours", who are, just to add insult and a threat to the whole proceedings, armed with lethal weapons.
And Alondro briefly takes over Molly's mind... with his 10-year-old intellect. As he is now, it would kill the poor child with neural overload. "If that's all Molly wishes to be, you say? Then let me ask you: is being human all you want to be? Are you truly satisfied with being so frail and mortal, or is it the 'sour grapes' talking, burying the hope for something better on the delusional acceptance that you can never, WILL NEVER, obtain it? Don't try to trap me with such infantile psychological trickery. I can spin a false dichotomy back on you faster than a kick to the crotch."
It was then that the humans began to realize they had spawned a creature far more terrifying and powerful than any pony...
Wow, this condescending bitch has never entered a slum in her entitled life, has she? I've seen MILLIONS wandering in pointless misery and emptiness, incapable of lifting a finger to help themselves due to their conditional learned helplessness. How many drink themselves to oblivion every evening after working all day at a job they despise and find utterly unfulfilling?
And, how many human specialists are there? Those who HAVE found a SINGULAR calling and poured everything they have into that one craft? Oh yes, there are actually quite a few aren't there. Those people tend to be the most satisfied and happy of all, and they also tend never to retire because they are doing what they love. In fact, it's when age forces them out of their beloved profession that they wither and die.
It seems to me... I'd run rings around pretty much everyone in this argument. I know to much for any mixing of words to be effective. I know how interests can change with age, hobbies come and go (I haven't played a video game for more than a few minutes these past 14 years). And others blossom in their place.
For example, before the new show began, how many of you were into My Little Pony?
And that's what we call checkmate. Victory, as always, is MINE!! (Alondro declares war and ends it in one preemptive strike! AWWWWW YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!)
9301190 Ah, but the problem is, there IS nothing inherently 'good' about being human over any other fully sapient life form.
It's merely what you're familiar with. Were you born a talking duck named Howard on Duckworld, you'd be horrified if someone turned you into a human.
It's nothing more than familiarity bias. I, naturally, have evolved vastly further. Anything that grants me greater power and abilities is all that matters. And soon, my Charlek mutants will be completed and will become THE SUPREME BEINGS!!
Oh yes, I saved the best point for last: a child lacks the mental capacity to make an informed choice about anything. It's why we don't let them vote and decide if they want surgical treatments or immunizations. They can't understand the consequences, they can't think that far ahead. So the entire charade of having Molly make an 'informed choice' is already a violation of every single statute on the books and in conflict with decades of neuropsychiatric study.
BOOOM!!
And that's what we call a tactical nuke dropped on opposing arguments.
Except one, and I'm HOPING someone brings it up... because it's a trap I've laid for them.
9300644 She's 'somewhat' good at verbal manipulation.
As good as the author, anyway.
These are actually pretty simple tactics most people who've watched enough "Law & Order" would be familiar with.
Real life people aren't actually drawn into it unless they're either mentally ill or quite stupid. Of course... that does tend to cover the majority of people in the modern era... hmmm... this explains a lot.
9301168
You remind me of GrayOnBlue in the TBC group with your Human hate.
9301338
Not every home Strong Hooves plans to take for ponies has a living owner that is a pony just as many living owners are human. Maybe toughs remaining human owners would have come back, if even to finish moving out; but the Shimmerists made a point of destroying as much of the human infrastructure as possible so they could not. As for his patients that is a joke, plans that are put hold are now back on schedule and he doesn't even consult the ponies close to him. He know the realtors have private security (not government) so why not discuss alternate engagement ideas? Hell even with the park monument Strong Hooves wants dig up all the paths and trails to control it so humans can never come back. What happens when Strong Hooves learns the Pony Council had success hypothetically because of their idea? The way he's thinking it would be use ETS and finish what Sunset Shimmer started, which would be to misread the sentiment.
9301422
"Your trap has no trigger you mind parasite." some other voice.
Really Molly should not be made aware of what she lost as a human or make the chose of how she remains be pony or human because she is too young. One of the great failures of gender assignment surgery was by doctors who assumed that children born with incomplete sets of both genders were boy or girl on their toy preference. You would not side with the father who wanted her to be a human up until this counseling meeting, because you think ponies are superior. Tom finally coming to terms that he was too pressuring but he was also right about Theresa being biased to think Molly must be a pony. Again this meeting was fair it was needed to get every member to confront each other about they saw of this whole thing. As for what Molly becomes let her choose, like my other post states the family should be able to find away for her able to enjoy her interests regardless of end form.
9301499
This chapter shows that while he is a Shimmerist, Strong Hooves is not as unreasonable as you seem to think he is. For example, the very first thing we see S.H. doing in this chapter is restraining his more radical sister, Morning Glow, who would like to prevent Molly from going to the rehumanization center. S.H. doesn't like rehumanization, but he is prepared to allow it to happen because he sees the larger consequences of forcibly preventing rehumanisations would be counterproductive.
You think S.H. intends to rip out all the paths leading to the park monument so humans can't access it. In this chapter, we are told that some radical ponies do wish to do that, but we are not told that S.H. is one of those radical ponies. It seems to me more likely that Morning Glow is one of the radical ponies, and S.H. is one of the ponies who are restraining her. But even if I'm wrong, and S.H. is one of the "radical ponies", doesn't the fact that the roads haven't yet been destroyed, even though the ponies have had six months to do so, prove that even the "radical ponies" are not so radical that they are unwilling to listen to and be restrained by the moderate Shimmerist ponies?
You complain that S.H. lacks patience and doesn't consult other ponies about his plans, yet in this chapter he delays for a second time his plan to tear down the old houses the government is rushing to fill with new humans precisely because he did consult with a pony who thinks he should pause and reconsider.
9301168
Actually, from what I'm remembering of Molly's story so far, Karen seems to be right on the money. The "If that's all you want to do" is over the top, and she's definitely pushing a pro-human stance, the thing about the memories seem to be accurate.
Chapter 11 -
I'm pretty sure I remember several other times where this has been brought up. That human memories seem to blur together, and their previous life wasn't important anymore.
ETS Virus was developed to make the transformed not want to go back to being human, and to make being forcefully transformed into a completely difference species completely natural and nothing to be alarmed about. This sounds like another part of that brainwashing.
Molly has a life changing choice to make, and this choice is going to be permanent. It's unfortunate that a young child has to make that kind of decision, but that's the result of what Sunset did. And that choice needs to be informed. Not clouded by pro-human sentiment, not clouded by pro-pony sentiment, and definitely not clouded by the ETS spell's inbuilt brainwashing.
The brainwashing is strong with this one. However though, this counselor is inconsistent with her method's of approach. Here is her response to all the enjoyed crocheting.
And then she commends Molly's love of biking in this way:
But then look at how she responds to Molly's love of flight.
So with crocheting she responds, ""Sounds like you had a great time, It was something you could do well."" And with biking she responded "Sounds like you had a lot of fun doing that." So we should expect commendation here if she gave equal weight and wasn't biased. But look what she actually says.
But with flying, instead of saying ""Sounds like you had a great time, It was something you could do well."" or "Sounds like you had a lot of fun doing that." She deflects the focus and refuses to allow or reinforce any appreciation of something that Molly also liked. That's kind of the same reason magicians do well. I feel like her extremely calculated approach is revealing that she is also exercising a very subtle form of brainwashing herself.
I understand she needs to break the suppressed thoughts but she is also doing it while negating the positives of Molly's pegasus experiences through inconsistent reactions through each of her stated positives. I don't feel like this is a fair approach. She commends the statements of Molly's human likes but questions Molly's love of flight and doesn't give commendation when Molly says "Of course it is."
She does it again with learning to use hooves. No commendation at all like with human activities. She just switches her focus to a human activity:
Notice she doesn't say thats good, but that its true. I know some of these comments think this is fair, but to me this is brainwashing. She is breaking one set of suppressed feelings but at the same time suppressing another set of ideas.
9300611
But this isn't therapy. Its counseling. Therapy implies its a disorder. She is approaching it like therapy, and that's a problem. Yes there is suppression here. But her responses are also suppressing positives of both flight and learning to use hooves, even when Molly says with certainty that she likes them. This doctor is suppressing one thing at the same time she is undoing the suppression of another. She has a very biased approach. She hides it cleverly but its definitely there in the text. Theresa I think is conflicted because she knows there is truth to the hidden feelings, but she can sense also that suppression is going on here with regards to Molly's pegasus appreciation. I think her statements about having sent families out that don't show suppression are bold faced lies personally. This Dr. Collins I think is extremely good at mental manipulation. If that is what ASGeek2012 is going for, I give him major props for doing well masking it.
9301499
If your talking about surgery on intersex children with extreme physical signs of their condition I think you might be misinformed. Typically with intersex children of this type more often than not for the last few decades they would perform the surgery without the child having any real say about what was being done with them, often times while they are still a baby, basing it largely off arbitrarily how whether they were male enough to make them male. In many third world countries it isn't uncommon for them to just kill the child. Its only recently that people have begun to feel outraged at the practice of doing such surgeries without consent from who they are being done on. There was no getting to a point of 'toy preference'.
As for transgender individuals that is a whole other set of issues. They won't even discuss transgender issues with children unless there are signs of acute distress about gender, not just they aren't behaving stereotypically one way or another, and even then transgender youth don't get the surgery till they are at least 18 and have received additional counciling for months before the surgery. They don't even mess with addiing hormones until after they would have already normally started puberty, though they may delay puberty from starting with hormone blockers. Every opportunity to not have an irrevocable decision made is given because they are so young.
Sorry, just a subject I take a personal need to clear up misconceptions on, because there are a lot of misconceptions out there.
I do agree that at nine years old that Molly being put into making such an irrevocable decision is not fair to her or right. This is special circumstances though, as not making the decision soon could essentially be making an irrevocable decision in itself. This isn't something she can come back and make decision on at 18, she'd be permanently a pony by that point no matter what. There is no ideal way of dealing with this. I'm not happy with the doctor's approach, but don't deny that there is a time limit in place here.
9301843
I might have jumbled terms here, but I'd say it is a disorder. As we were shown in this chapter, the old memories of being human are suppresed by the transformation in order to make the transformation more comfortable. This leads to a heavy bias towards being a pony that needs to be counterbalanced first before anything else can happen.
And while it's always possible Karin is lying, I believe that isn't the case here. One of the key positive traits of Pandemic has always been that not all humans are assholes, and that ETS was evil. but making Karin a liar instead of a psychiatrist who genuenely wants to help the transformed would just turn the story into "anyone who doesn't side with ponies is an asshole, tranformation is good."
A lot of Conversion Bureau fics fell into that trap.
9300919
No her plans where a group of ponies that would blindly follow a leader. That was the point of her strengthening the herd effect.
I gind it annoying how the ponies are acting like their actions have justification because it is part of their "cultural heritage". They were all changed less than a year ago with them forsaking their human lives they have no cultural identity. Proof of this is how all the ponies are acting like it is natural for them to return to nature, when it actually has nothing to do with being ponies since equestria made places like manehaatten.
9301499 Fool, you fell for it!
Children often do not focus on the past for very long, nor actively reflect on past actions, which is why they tend to be awful witnesses in criminal trials, even worse than usual. They can easily be misdirected and their versions of events horribly skewed.
Molly is confused. She'd adapted already to the changes, and her memories could actually be repressed as a natural coping mechanism (that's a thing that happens, ya know?). So the psychologist is misleading everyone... except me.
I'm too brilliant. And therefore the ONLY one capable of making the choice for Molly!
Cut her in two, turn one half human and give it to the father, and the pony half to the mother. That's fair!
9302171
Sunset never had any intent on becoming the ruler of earth. At best she had thought for the ponies of earth to fall under Equestrian rule, but her primary plan was to make a huge pool of pony magic and funnel it to Equestria.
9302177
"Culture" has always been vague and doesn't really have a set time limit. What exactly is the minimum age for a culture? Who decides that? Do we just compare them to the age of existing cultures? Because that's a can of worms nobody wants to open.
Most dictionaries define culture as "the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society." And in that definition, the transformed do have a culture of their own. Multiple, even.