Chapter 18 - Complications
Fancy Pants set down his tea and gave the royal prince a cross look. "I say, old bean, have you lost your mind?"
Prince Blueblood paused with the pastry raised halfway to his lips. He frowned as he retorted, "How dare you level such an accusation at me."
"And how dare you promise these foreign ponies something you cannot give them!"
"I did nothing of the sort," said Blueblood. "I merely said I would look into the matter."
"And yet their cooperation hinges on you agreeing to their ridiculous demand of obtaining the transformation spell."
"It is not wholly illogical from their perspective."
Fancy made a dismissive snort. "Their perspective is skewed. They're not quite right in the head, if you ask me."
"We've been over this," said Blueblood in a voice of forced patience. "It is one of the reasons behind our plans. We all agreed they require a firm guiding hoof. Our hoof."
Fancy considered over another sip of his tea. "Do you still believe Princess Celestia will agree to your idea of installing you as governor over the ponies of Earth?"
Blueblood smiled. "What choice will she have? She cannot appear on Earth herself for fear of reviving the idea that she is the divine being from their shared vision. Princess Twilight does not have the time to execute such a task and continue to be the ambassador of Earth."
"And Princess Luna?"
"She is too wrapped up in her dreamwalking duties here," said Blueblood. "And she is yet another figure some ponies see as a divine avatar. No, my dear Duke, I am the most logical choice for the position."
"Because you are not seen as divine?"
"Precisely!" said Blueblood. "It would be far easier for me to show these ponies what a pony ruler should be like. It is through me that they will cease their foolish notions of divinity and understand how pony government is supposed to work. After all, does not my auntie allow others to do the real work of government here in Equestria? And certainly none of us see her as divine."
Fancy smiled. "And, of course, this has nothing to do with the rewards you might reap for yourself."
Blueblood chuckled. "No need to be so roundabout, my dear Fancy. I'll remind you that you and your fellow nobles shall reap the benefits as well. I will need help in teaching these ponies how a proper pony society operates."
"I still find it quite hard to believe that so many of them live without basic amenities such as electricity," said Fancy. "Which brings me to another problem: they still do not have a monetary system."
"All in due course," said Blueblood. "Reintroducing money is one of the first things on the agenda. How else are we going to have the means to provide for these ponies if we cannot collect taxes of some sort?"
"Now I see your true colors showing through, old bean," said Fancy with a chuckle. "You had me a bit worried there that the changelings were up to their old tricks."
"Oh, nonsense," said Blueblood with a wave of his hoof. "Why can I not both be concerned for the welfare of these foreign ponies and have a healthy interest in my own future? It is called 'enlightened self-interest,' my friend."
"And yet it all hinges around this one demand," said Fancy in a more serious voice. "A demand that cannot be fulfilled. Should not, I might add."
"I am aware of that."
"Then how to you propose to resolve this conundrum?"
Blueblood had admittedly not given it much thought as of yet. "I am open to suggestions."
"Their lack of money makes the usual course of action difficult," said Fancy with some disdain. "Could you not promise him something else? Some scraps of magical knowledge that he could be made to believe would lead him to the spell he seeks?"
Blueblood refilled his teacup with a glow from his horn and took a sip. Another order of business would be to ensure the earth ponies of that world could produce the tea blends he so coveted. Unlike Auntie Tia, he did not care for many of the native teas of that world. "I do believe these ponies would not be fooled so easily despite their apparent backward state. From my, ah, connections I have in that world, I have discovered that they are actively researching magic. They would learn in short order that whatever I gave them would not lead them where they wish."
"Yet could it be used as a delaying tactic?" asked Fancy. "Enough to keep them busy until we are established as their formal government? Perhaps that will be enough time to woo the other factions over to the idea of your lordship over them."
Blueblood considered carefully as he took another sip of his tea. "As I said, these ponies may be a bit odd in the head, but they are not stupid. I will have to give them something more concrete that random bits of magical knowledge." He put down his cup and smiled. "Ah, I have it!"
Fancy helped himself to another pastry. "Oh? Do tell."
"We give them not the transformation spell itself, but bits and pieces of the research which led up to it."
Fancy tilted his head. "Is that not just as restricted as the spell itself?"
"It depends which pieces, my dear friend. And do recall that we have Trixie in our pocket. She likely has the same level of clearance in the Canterlot Archives as does her friend Starlight Glimmer."
"And you are so sure Strong Hooves will accept this pittance compared to his demand?"
"He struck me as a proud pony, going so far as to use that very word,"said Blueblood. "I will appeal to his ego. What would be better, having the spell gifted to him or having his own unicorns come up with it themselves?"
Fancy considered over a bite of pastry, taking the time to chew and swallow before responding as expected of a pony of proper upbringing. "We must be careful, old bean. We cannot give them so much that they come up with the spell themselves."
"It will not be possible in the span of time between their demand for our protection and the subsequent granting of protectorate status," said Blueblood. "Giving us time to set up proper supervision of their research."
"I am not so sure of this," Fancy said in a cautious voice.
"It will be fine. While they are actively researching magic, their resources are limited." Blueblood chuckled. "After all, it's not like they have secret magic labs financed by deep pockets to further their aims."
Purity once again stood in a semi-circle of crystal ponies as Bob levitated the rose quartz. He turned so all the ponies could see him. "Here's what I want you to do: I want you to direct the energy you're absorbing from Purity into this crystal."
"How do we do that?" one asked.
"We can absorb and transform magic, but not direct it," said another.
"I can help," said Whisper. "I did some preliminary research along the lines Bob is pursuing now. It's what led me to seek his help. It's a matter of focusing the mind ..."
It took a few tries for Whisper to explain how it worked, but eventually Bob felt their combined magic trying to flow into the quartz crystal. The magic was indeed raw and undifferentiated, a sort of "default" mode for crystal ponies who were not attempting to produce any specific effect, little more than light and energy with the simplest of structure.
"That works," said Bob. "Please keep it as steady as possible."
"We'll do our best," said Whisper. "Purity, as before, let us know if you get too tired."
"I will," Purity said.
Once the talking had ceased, Bob turned his full attention to the crystal. As before, he could sense that it should be perfect for holding magic; applying the binding rune should make this rock glow from within as the magic flowed into it and shed light as waste energy.
His horn glowed brighter as he applied the binding rune, yet the magic from the crystal ponies continued to flow around it like a stream around a stone.
Every instinct told him this should work. It again made no sense, as the empirical evidence stated the opposite. He did not believe himself prone to self-delusion; he truly did want to make a breakthrough, but not so much that he would conjure false assessments just to satisfy his ego. He specifically kept his activities low key to prevent himself from having an inflated ego to satisfy in the first place.
Bob frowned. What was he missing?
He narrowed his eyes and concentrated harder, his horn glowing brighter still. He put more power into the binding rune. Perhaps some sort of resistance needed to be overcome, similar to the difficulty in maintaining nuclear fusion due to the protons needing to overcome electrostatic repulsion before strong force took over.
Yet as he applied more force, his ears twitched as they heard a crack. He backed off at once, but the damage was done. A one inch fracture ran through almost the center of the four inch long piece of quartz.
Bob sighed as he gazed at exactly the sort of result Twilight had achieved. He considered tossing the crystal aside and calling it a day, perhaps even call off this line of inquiry entirely.
Instead, the fracture fascinated him. From a distance, it appeared straight, but when he looked more closely, it had a faint zig-zag pattern that did not follow the stone's crystalline structure. He admitted he was no geologist, but he didn't think this variety of quartz fractured like this.
Bob took a deep breath and blocked out all other distractions. He heard and saw nothing but this crystal. He carefully applied the binding rune once more. When even the appearance of the crystal itself and the glow of his own magic threatened to distract him, he closed his eyes.
And it leapt out at him.
Bob gasped at the realization. It had been right there in front of him all along. He saw exactly what the problem was. It was not that something was missing, but that it was wrong, like a painting that was perfect for the space it occupied, but it wouldn't hang straight no matter how much one adjusted it. Or like touching up a scrape on the wall and finding it impossible to exactly match the paint color.
Or like atoms of a metal that refused to align properly to achieve magnetism.
That was the most apt metaphor: something in the crystal was not aligned properly. Yet unlike magnetism, it wasn't something concrete. It was more a concept. Magic worked around ideas, thoughts, and will rather than material and instrumentation.
But like one could hold a piece of metal in alignment with magnetic north, and a strike upon the end would render it at least weakly magnetic, he thought he could fix this alignment as well. He just had to magically "strike" it the right way.
He concentrated his magic, and mentally reached into the heart of the crystal. He found the misalignment, and gave it a twist.
His view became red as blinding light shone through his eyelids, and white-hot, needle-like pain seared across his chest and forelegs. He barely heard the alarmed shouts of the others before he passed out.
"He's coming around!"
The shout came to Bob thickly muffled as his brain slowly struggled back to consciousness. He opened his eyes but saw only washed out colors and vague shapes. He tried to move but the pain stopped him.
"Take it easy, Bob," came a gentle voice that sounded more clear. "Don't try to move just yet."
It took a moment, but he realized it was Whisper Touch. He tried directing his gaze at the stallion, but his eyes would not quite focus.
"Can you see me?" asked Whisper. "Your eyes were spared injury from what I can tell, but I want to make sure."
"Give me a minute," Bob said in a slurred voice as his speech centers were more sluggish to recover. He blinked rapidly as his vision started to clear. He winced as a foreleg twitched and pain flared. "What happened?"
"The crystal you were working on exploded rather violently," said Whisper. "We feared the worst when we saw your chest and forelegs covered in blood, but they were all minor lacerations. Just a lot of them."
"We've sent Susie to find a unicorn healer in town," said Purity in a glum voice. "I am so sorry! I feel like this is my fault."
Bob took a few moments to recall the last few seconds prior to the explosion before he could reply. "It's really not your fault."
"But I told you to use that crystal."
"You had no idea this would happen, Purity," said Whisper. "I doubt even Bob knew."
It came back to him in a rush. Bob's eyes widened, and he struggled to get up despite the pain. Whisper gently pushed him back down.
"Please, Bob, keep still," said Whisper. "I treated all the wounds and tried to clean them of rock shards. They've all just about clotted, but best not disturb them."
"I thought I had it," Bob said in a low, despairing voice.
"Something obviously happened. Earth materials do not act that violently to exposure to magic."
"Did you actually figure something out?" asked Purity.
"I couldn't explain it in words," said Bob. "But it was obviously wrong."
"Perhaps when you have recovered, you can revisit it," said Whisper. "I would suggest not trying anything more today."
Even as Bob stated that he had been wrong, something still shouted at him in his head that he had been right. It had made so much sense at the time and still did. Whisper was right: normal Earth materials did not act that way.
He heard several sets of galloping hooves and Susie's voice shout, "Over here!"
"This doesn't look too bad," came a stallion's voice. "Please, everypony, back away a bit."
"Oh, heavens, Bob, are you all right?!"
Bob looked up to see a worried Heather. "I've been better."
The unicorn stallion stood over him. "Hold still, please."
Bob was suffused with a magical glow, and at once his wounds began knitting as the healing spell washed over him. The pain waned, and bits of clotting fell away as the underlying wounds healed.
Heather sighed. "Was this from magical experimentation?"
"Yes, but--"
Heather whirled around towards Whisper. "This stops now."
"I beg your pardon?" Whisper said in a confused voice.
"He's not going to do this if it means he could get himself killed!" Heather exclaimed. "If I had thought this would happen, I would never have agreed to any of this!"
"I have no intention of seeing Bob come to any further harm. This disturbs me as well. Had I thought this would happen, I would have reconsidered."
"I'm glad to hear that," Heather said in a softer voice.
"At the same time, I feel we need to continue in some fashion."
"That makes no sense. You just said you don't want any harm to come to him!"
"Indeed not," Whisper declared. "I am hoping we can find some way to ensure safety in future attempts."
As the pain continued to retreat, Bob rose to his hooves. "Just another moment," said the stallion as his healing spell continued its work.
"Of course, that will be up to him," said Whisper.
"It really should be up to Sarah and Harold," Heather said. "He's underage. He shouldn't be making decisions like this."
"Heather, please, let's not argue about this now. I agree that we cannot proceed until we have some means to ensure the safety of everypony involved. We also could have been hurt had not Bob's body shielded us from the shrapnel."
"There, all done," said the stallion as the magic of his spell faded.
Bob took a few experimental steps. He felt a bit stiff but otherwise okay. He glanced down at the ground where the sun sparkled off the tiny shards and grains that were the remains of the crystal. He sighed as he realized he didn't have a large enough piece to retrieve for later study.
"You might have to accept that there is no safe way to do this," Heather insisted. "There may be something inherently dangerous about what you're doing that you can't avoid."
Bob stepped up to them, trying not to be cross with Heather, as she was thinking only of his welfare. "Heather, I promise, I'm not going to do anything foolish."
"I certainly hope not," Heather said.
"At the same time, I can't ignore this."
"You may have to! You don't understand what you're dealing with. No one does. What if this is inherent in crystal pony magic? What if there's something unstable about it?"
"Unlikely," Whisper said. "Or somepony would have realized that by now."
"I don't think this had anything to do with instability," said Bob. "The magic was raw and unstructured. Whatever happened had something to do with the crystal I used."
Whisper turned to him. "Just what were you trying to do when it exploded?"
As crystal clear as the concept was in Bob's thoughts, it still resisted his ability to describe it. "It was like something was subtly off in the crystal, and I thought I could fix it. That's the best explanation I can come up with."
Purity stepped forward. "I still feel bad about this, Bob."
"Please, don't, it wasn't your fault," said Bob.
"I should have known that quartz might be a little too powerful."
Heather stared. "You got injured from exploding quartz? How is that even possible?"
Bob wanted to shout that it shouldn't be, which was the whole point, but he was still having his doubts.
"Quartz is a natural conduit for energy," Purity explained as she stepped over to Heather. "I knew that even as a human. So I suggested that ... um ..."
"Where we don't know as yet which Earth materials may be suitable for magic--" Whisper began.
"That would be none, according to Twilight," said Heather.
"Be that as it may, every rule has an exception."
Purity glanced down at the ground, her eyes shifting.
"I'm afraid that in your hunt for that exception, somepony will get seriously hurt," said Heather.
Bob stepped up to Purity. "Is something wrong?"
"It's weird," said Purity in a hushed voice. "It's like I'm sensing a very faint flicker of magic somewhere around here."
"It might be leftover from the healing spell."
"Not likely," said the stallion. "It doesn't leave any lingering traces."
"It's coming from somewhere along the ground," said Purity.
Bob opened his magical senses as much as he could. "I think I can sense it, but it's very faint. It could be anything."
"Hmm," Purity hummed, and she wandered off in another direction, her eyes still roaming over the ground.
Heather stepped over to Bob. "I'm going to insist you inform Sarah and Harold about this."
"I'll mention it in my next letter," Bob said.
"I think you should send them something immediately and not continue unless they give you permission."
"I don't want to worry them unnecessarily."
"Unnecessarily??" Heather pointed to the drying red-brown stains on the ground. "That was your blood, Bob! You want somepony to be the one to tell them you died because you were being reckless?"
Bob frowned. "I don't intend to be reckless. I want some time to sort out in my head what happened and--"
"I found it!" Purity cried.
"Huh?" Heather said in confusion. "Found what?"
Bob cantered over to where Purity stood. She pointed a fore-hoof and said, "Right there!"
Several other ponies crowded around them as Bob stared at what looked at first to be just another tiny shard of the quartz crystal. Yet this one sparkled much brighter in the sunlight than the others.
The shard was enveloped in a glow, but it merely bumped about rather than levitate. "Ugh, this is too small for me," said Purity. "Anypony have something I can pick this up with?"
"I do," said Whisper. He picked up his medical bag in his teeth and brought it over.
Purity fished out a pair of forceps and used it to snag the fragment. She brought it up to the light and gasped. "Oh my God ..."
"What?" Bob demanded. He tugged the forceps from Purity's grip and held up the fragment.
The shard was tiny, no more than a few millimeters across, it's edges ragged. Yet the interior had a clarity unmatched by even the most refined Earth diamond. Light played off of it in a prismatic spray not unlike the coat of a crystal pony when they went "full crystal."
It had a weak magic charge, and his own magic interacted with it, just like it did with materials from Equestria.
Whisper stepped forward. "Did ... did this come from the quartz crystal?"
"It must have!" Purity cried. "Where else could it have come from?"
"Maybe it was dropped here by Equestrians," Heather suggested.
"I don't think any have come to this part of the forest."
"Or left it here long ago, like part of that previous visitation that Sarah--"
"No," Bob heard himself say.
Purity stepped close to him. "It's what I think it is, isn't it?" she said in a hushed voice. "It's real, magical crystal!"
Several ponies gasped. Susie stepped forward to take a look as well, and she broke into a wide smile. "You did it! You actually transformed Earth material into magically-aware crystal! You did it!"
"Accidentally!" Bob called out over the celebration. "I honestly don't know how I did this. Or even if I did this."
"What exactly do you mean?" Whisper asked.
"There could've been any number of factors involved. It could have been solely the fact that it was crystal pony magic involved, for one."
"I would say that would be even better if that was the case. It means we could ultimately make a solid contribution to the other tribes."
"Yes, that would be amazing!" Susie said in an excited voice.
Many other crystal ponies chorused agreement.
"Please, don't celebrate just yet," said Bob. "Not until after I figure out exactly what happened and how to reproduce the result. I don't want this to become a pony version of announcing cold fusion."
"Not until your parents have a say," Heather said. "I'm going to be insistent about this. Either you tell them, or I will."
"Heather--" Whisper started to say.
Heather whirled around to face him. "Would you ever treat an underage pony without their parents' consent?"
"Of course not."
"Then you of all ponies should understand why I'm so adamant about this."
"It's all right," Bob said. "I'll talk to them. I can still do research in the meantime that doesn't involve direct experimentation. Whisper, may I keep these forceps for now?"
"Of course," said Whisper. "In any case, I think we're done for now."
"I ask that we keep this quiet for now. It would be best that neither other ponies nor humans find out about this."
Whisper nodded. "Agreed."
As the other ponies headed away talking excitedly among themselves, Purity and her stallion friend lingered. "I'll bet this is just as exciting for you as well," said Purity.
"In what way?" Bob asked without taking his gaze from the crystal.
"Well, I noticed you don't have a cutie mark yet."
Bob looked up.
Purity smiled. "This could very well be your special talent."
That had not even crossed Bob's mind. He had wanted to think that he already had his talent, that of being able to analyze how magic worked, and it was just his willpower alone holding off a mark.
Now he had to face the possibility that he hadn't discovered his talent yet, that a cutie mark was inevitable when that time came, regardless of his own intentions or will. Despite the fact that he had been leaning towards remaining a pony anyway, he felt like he needed to make a final decision on the matter and not let fate decide it for him.
He stared at the tiny shard of magically-aware crystal. Suddenly it represented far more than just a mere breakthrough in magical research.
Ryan narrowed his eyes, his thin arms hanging rigid by his sides, hands laden with bags of groceries. His gaze fell upon the teenagers congregating on the steps of his apartment building in Boulder, talking in loud voices and foul language, the air around them a toxic stew from the joints they smoked.
One of the teens snapped his head towards Ryan like someone might react to a sudden unexpected noise behind him. His eyes took on the look of a deer having spotted the predator skulking in the grasses, and he slapped the back of his hand against his buddy's jacket. The conversation immediately ceased, and the teens hurried off.
Ryan wrinkled his nose as he passed through the miasma left behind by their smoking. He set down one of the bags to let himself into the building, one eye twitching slightly. Of all the abilities he retained from his former night pony form, and all those he had gained since, the only one he hated was his enhanced sense of smell. As much as he was pleased to call himself human, he could do without smelling others of his kind.
As soon as he opened the inner door, a loud argument impinged on his ears. The moment he appeared at the end of the hallway where the two verbal combatants could see him -- a male tenant and his trashy slut of a girlfriend -- they immediately quieted and scurried away like scared rats.
Ryan headed towards the end of the hallway and his enclave of silence, as no one would take the apartments immediately adjacent to or above him. Either the would-be tenants had an inexplicable panic attack while the landlord showed them around the apartment or felt such a sense of unease they were sure the place was haunted. He closed the door behind him with a sense of relief to be able to shut out the world for a bit.
His eye twitched again, and he frowned as he set down the bags on the kitchen counter. He dipped his head and carefully removed his contacts, his formerly brown eyes now bright amber. His colored contacts were starting to wear out again. Usually Senator Maxton was "kind" enough to furnish him new ones, but now that association was done. He had to find another means to procure them.
He took a little longer than usual to put his groceries away. Monday was usually his shopping day, but, well, he had other things to do at the time. He gritted his teeth at the memory. Had not that infernal alien alicorn intervened, it would have been his crowning achievement. Keeping an apartment building's tenants living in constant low-level fear of him so he could have some peace was peanuts compared to that.
After putting away his groceries, he took out his cell phone and called the number he had cajoled Maxton into giving him, slender fingers grasping the phone tightly, a small frown on his lips.
"Regional Director Matthew Fuller's office," answered a polite male voice.
"I want to talk to Fuller," Ryan said.
"Mr. Fuller is very busy. If you would like to leave a message--"
"No. I want to talk to him right now."
"Please identify yourself, sir."
"The man who helped make him who he is today."
"I'm sorry, sir, I need a name."
Ryan hesitated, as he had no idea how much information Fuller had shared with his lackeys. "Just tell him Ryan is calling."
The man hesitated before saying, "One moment, please."
Ryan drew in a long breath as he was put on hold. He glanced towards the window when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Two pegasi flew by in the distance. He resisted the urge to stand and pull the shade down. Having rehumanized meant being able to live in the light again, both figuratively and literally; he rather liked having the bright sunlight streaming in to keep him further grounded in human reality.
A faint click sounded as he was taken off hold. "This is not a number you should be calling," said Fuller in a flat voice.
"Then give me one I should use from now on," said Ryan.
"You should be working through Senator Maxton."
"He has terminated his association with me. I thought you knew that, since Maxton said he told you that already."
Fuller sighed. "I had hoped he would have reconsidered once he had cooled down."
"He didn't," said Ryan. "I'm just as happy not to have to deal with the odious man."
"I would have thought his beliefs aligned with yours."
"They do. I still find him repugnant, interested more in furthering his own image rather than truly advocating our cause."
"And what are your feelings towards me?" Fuller asked in a level voice.
"I may not care for some of your tactics, but you're at least on the right side," said Ryan. "You see the threat ponies pose to the world order. We should have continued to work more closely together like we used to and not have gone through Maxton."
"We have little choice now," said Fuller dryly.
"You would have had need to contact me eventually."
"Which I would have preferred to do in my own time and my own way."
"The situation dictates otherwise," said Ryan. "I need your protection."
"Ms. Rock has already ensured that the records of your rehumanization will not reach Heller's office," said Fuller.
"I don't mean that," Ryan snapped. "I mean the Dreamwardens."
Early on in his association with Fuller, Ryan had disclosed the details of the Dreamwardens. He had felt he was no longer bound by the Oaths after rehumanization, regardless of what the Wardens themselves thought on the matter.
The very existence of the Wardens was one of the reasons he chose to turn away from life as a pony. To him, they were a perversion created to manage another perversion. He considered even his own mind-altering abilities to be unnatural and ungodly, but he felt using them to ensure the survival and superiority of humanity redeemed him.
"You told me you lost your connection with the dream realm," said Fuller.
"Not fully. It's tenuous at best, and I have no abominable dreamwalking ability."
"So they shouldn't be able to find you."
"That was before Princess Luna became involved," said Ryan. "Perhaps you fail to understand the ramifications. She taught the Dreamwardens. She understands the dream realm better than any being across two universes. If anyone could figure out how to link me fully back to the dream realm, it would be her." Ryan paused. "And she has met me when I was a night pony."
"You never told me that!" Fuller snapped.
"I didn't think it would matter," said Ryan. "Once she had instantiated the Dreamwarden program, she stepped back from the whole thing. I thought I would be safe."
"What were the circumstances of that meeting?"
Ryan frowned. "Why do you need to know?"
"Because Luna is a complication I didn't need, and I don't wish to remain ignorant on the matter."
Ryan clenched his teeth. The last thing he wanted was to dredge up yet more unpleasant memories that had led him to abandon his ponyhood, nor did he care to admit his own weakness at the time. That sense of powerlessness was in part what drove him to use his power as he pleased, as it put him back in control, control he never wanted to give up ever again.
"She counseled me," Ryan said in a stiff voice. "After a night pony named Midnight Terror tortured me with horrifying nightmares while I slept. She visited me several nights in a row, so she got a good sense of my mind in the dreamscape."
"But you're human now," Fuller said. "How would she recognize you?"
Ryan took a slow breath. "She'll know. She always does. She has an affinity for night ponies that you don't understand, that I doubt I could ever make you understand. I was very lucky to have gotten away from Village Center before she sensed me and chased me down. She was the last one I had ever expected to show up."
"She would not have pursued you. Despite her interference, she knows not to act as law enforcement on Earth."
"Stop making stupid assumptions," Ryan snapped. "You have no idea how her zeal can get the better of her when she's enraged. Once she knows who I am, that may allow her to connect me fully to the dream realm and leave me at the mercy of the infernal Wardens."
"What can they do to you?" Fuller demanded. "You have more power than they do."
Ryan actually shuddered. "I am nothing in the dream realm compared to them."
"I have no control over either Luna or the Wardens."
"No, but you can make it more difficult for them to find me. The only reason Heller hasn't moved against me for identity theft is he suspects someone can post bond and get me out of incarceration. Eventually he's going to cut his losses and move for my arrest."
"Another complication I didn't need," Fuller muttered. "If you can wait a few more days, I will have Miss Tanner and Ms. Kelton in custody. I cannot spare any resources until then."
Ryan let out a long sigh through his nose. "I may need to take matters into my own hands and go into hiding."
"I need you accessible."
"And I need my mental faculties to stay intact. That takes precedence over your agenda."
"You need to be more reasonable," Fuller said. "You need to adhere to my schedule."
"And you need to remember exactly how much you owe me," Ryan sneered. "I let your scientist cronies poke and prod me all they wanted to find out how I managed to gain such power after rehumanization. I let them treat me as their lab animal, all for your glorious vision of human magic working for your aims. I wanted to be no more than an ordinary human again, and when I didn't get that, I let you use me as your tool to--"
"Enough."
Ryan gripped the phone tighter and quieted.
Fuller sighed. "All right. Let me see what I can do. Meanwhile, I have a different number I would prefer you use."
Ryan leaned towards the end table and grabbed a note pad and pen. He jotted down the number Fuller recited. "Will this ring you directly, or is it just a voice mail black hole?"
"You'll have to leave a message," said Fuller. "Kelsey was not lying when he said I was busy."
Ryan's lips drew to a thin line. "Fine."
"I will be in touch," Fuller said before concluding the call.
Ryan frowned and dropped the phone to his side. He couldn't trust anyone but himself. He had to make his own preparations in case Fuller couldn't pull through.
Or wouldn't pull through. Now that Fuller didn't have a proxy to use, he just might be thinking of cutting Ryan loose despite still needing him to pacify his upcoming acquisitions. Or dangle the threat of incarceration to wheedle some sort of concession from Ryan, like going back to being nothing more than a lab rat.
Ryan was not going to allow that to happen if he had anything to say about it.
Matthew sat for nearly a full minute staring at the phone as he contemplated his next move.
Both Maxton's cold feet and Luna's involvement had been unexpected complications. Perhaps the former not quite as much, given the senator's earlier nervousness. The latter, however, definitely so; Ryan had assured him that once Luna had set up the Dreamwarden program, she would step back and cease to interfere in Earth affairs. He wondered how much more of Ryan's claims concerning night ponies he had to question now.
Matthew had chosen to honor the Dreamwardens' secrecy. He actually preferred that they existed, and he supported their ruthless methods despite their lack of government oversight. It was not the best solution, certainly, but it obviously worked. It kept the night ponies on a short leash, giving him one less pony tribe to worry about.
His intercom chimed. "Yes, Kelsey?"
"Call on line one for you, sir," said Kelsey's voice. "A return call."
Matthew was about to question why Kelsey didn't mention the name of the caller until he thought to ask, "Is there anything else?'
"Princess Twilight is here to see you."
That explained it. "I'll be with her in a moment." Matthew picked up the phone. "Hello, Wendy."
"You better have good news for me, Matt," Wendy Rock said in a tired voice.
"Is there a specific need? Things are going according to plan."
"And having an alicorn princess pop in and perform a mass mind-altering spell was part of your plan?"
"We have to anticipate occasional deviations," said Matthew. "Especially as we get closer to realizing the end goal."
"I still say we should have simply continued examining Ryan," said Wendy. "He was at least willing."
"We've learned all we can from him. We absolutely need both Ms. Kelton and Miss Tanner if we're to have any hope of unlocking the secret of human magic before Equestria does, especially after seeing what Miss Tanner can do."
"And how do we know they haven't already and are keeping quiet about it?"
"All the more reason for us to continue," said Matthew. "It may be the only thing that will give humanity an edge once the ponies learn more magic."
"The current mood here in Washington is that there's no push to lift restrictions on magic," Wendy explained. "And the latest polls show voters supporting those restrictions, but just barely. In a few cases, it's within the margin of error."
"Be reasonable, Wendy. Do you really expect a mere set of restrictions will stop them?"
"I understand that we can't root out every illicit use of magic, but--"
"This is no longer theoretical," Matthew said. "They're actively being assisted by a faction from Equestria."
Wendy hesitated. "That's a very serious allegation, Matt. If it's true, it will give me ammunition here."
"Against what?"
"The involvement of Princess Luna is putting pressure on us to acquiesce to Princess Twilight's demand for an official to meet with the Pony Council," Wendy said. "The President just had a very loud verbal altercation with members of his cabinet over the issue at the White House."
"I can guess that the President is in favor," said Matthew in a flat voice.
"More than that," said Wendy. "He wants to go full speed ahead with the Pony Council delegation's suggestion of having an American official go on a tour of the Homestead lands. His cabinet tried to convince him that he should wait until after November seventh, or Congress will accuse him of trying to sway the upcoming election."
Matthew frowned. Another complication he didn't need.
"I'm not sure how much I can do to stop this," said Wendy. "The President can get what he wants with an executive order, and it would take Congress weeks if not months to undo it. Support for our stand is on a razor-thin margin as it is. You need to make progress now."
"I plan to move forward with the operation to bring Ms. Kelton and Miss Tanner into custody," said Matthew. "Can you delay at least that long?"
"I'll try. I'm not exactly optimistic about these plans anymore, not when your organization utterly failed on their first attempt."
"The strength of Miss Tanner's magic was unanticipated," said Matthew, and that was all the explanation he would offer. He trusted Wendy, but only so far; better for her to think that incompetence was behind the failure rather than deliberate moves on his part.
His statement was not entirely false; he truly had no idea of the scope of Miss Tanner's power. There had been no other way to see what Miss Tanner could do other than to give her free reign. He had done the same with Ryan: let him do his thing, see what exactly he was capable of, then rein him in and have him work for Matthew.
"Concerning this 'tour' of theirs, we may be able to use it to our advantage." said Matthew.
"In what way?" Wendy asked in a dubious voice.
"I need to work out the details. Suffice it to say, I'm privy to more information about illicit magic use than perhaps the ponies themselves realize. Now, I need to go, I have Princess Twilight waiting. May I tell her progress is being made towards acquiescing to her demand?"
"No," Wendy said. "Not while I have a chance to nip it in the bud. Stall her."
Wendy terminated the call. Matthew sighed and set down the receiver.
In truth, he knew Equestria would likely unlock the secret first, if they hadn't already done so and were keeping that information to themselves as leverage. People like Ms. Kelton and Miss Tanner were thus his leverage. Once that secret was divulged or reproduced, then humans would be in a prime position to resist pony magic -- or even somehow nullify it -- with magic of their own.
Perhaps having Maxton break off his association with Ryan was a good thing in the long term; the senator would never have gone along with Matthew's plans had he known the real goal. Maxton was a fool for not seeing magic's potential; it just had to be wielded by the right species.
In either case, his path was clear: he needed to get things moving a lot faster.
He turned towards his computer and sent a quick email to his operatives in Denver: Expedite the operation. Go with backup plan and inform our collaborator of the change at once.
He paused to make sure the email was sent successfully before activating the intercom. "Please tell Princess Twilight that I will see her now."
"Sunburst is on his way to New York to help investigate the portal discrepancy," said Starlight at the other end of the phone. "He left as soon as he finished explaining his breakthrough to me."
Twilight stood between Kelsey's desk and the door, a privacy spell shimmering in a sphere about her, the headset on her ears. "Did it make sense to you?"
"Uhh, that's a loaded question," Starlight said. "He used some terminology that I'm not familiar with. I decided not to take a chance and recorded our whole conversation."
"Can you send me that recording ASAP?"
"Already on it's way. I knew you'd want to review it yourself."
"Some parts of his summary could be interpreted different ways," Twilight said. "Did his explanation at least clear it up?"
"Well, some," said Starlight. "We're definitely talking about an entirely new kind of magic."
"But is it inherently human magic, or is it some sort of mix between human and pony?"
"Right now it's a mix, but only because the two are interfering with each other. That's likely why the Partials have much more erratic magic while the magic of fully rehumanized people like Night One are much more stable."
Twilight sighed. "So having Partials either fully transform or fully rehumanize is the only way to effectively 'fix' their problem."
"Well, maybe," said Starlight. "Sunburst said something about how the longer both types of magic remain in the person, the more entrenched they'll get. So even once the transformation in either direction is finished, their magic may still remain erratic. Which means we don't have a lot more time to have these Partials go one way or the other."
Twilight face-hoofed. "Ugh, if we don't have enough complications!"
"You may have to pressure them to accept full transformation for some Partials."
"I'm going to wait until I review the recording before making a decision. I'm hoping to find something that will help me deal with another problem."
Starlight groaned. "What now?"
"Night One is not the only person with very powerful rehumanized magic," Twilight said in a subdued voice. "Someone a lot closer to me is. I can't go into more detail than that."
"I can guess, though," Starlight deadpanned. "What are you going to do?"
"One of the Dream Team is going to arrange for me to talk to this person. I can't do anything for them now, but I can at least reassure them." Twilight caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see Kelsey wave at her, then point to the door to Matthew's office. Twilight nodded. "I have to go, Starlight, I need to meet with Mr. Fuller."
"Good luck with that," Starlight said.
Twilight hung up the call and removed the privacy spell.
"Mr. Fuller will see you now," said Kelsey.
"Thank you," said Twilight as she started past the desk. She tried to put herself into the right state of mind for this meeting. If what had been confided to her by Connie had been correct, Matthew himself could be behind a lot of what was happening. Her every instinct called for her to take him to task and have him admit his complicity.
Yet she knew that would just make things worse. She had chosen a human to spearhead this investigation for a reason, and she had have faith in Connie and her cohorts. Of all the aspects of being an ambassador, this was the worst: having to do the emotional equivalent of wearing a mask to hide her real feelings; hearing about Jenny's plight hadn't helped.
She paused to take a deep breath and let it go before heading into the office.
"Good afternoon, Princess," said Mathew, folding his hands on the desk. "What may I do for you?"
"I have just one question," said Twilight, not bothering to sit. "When can a representative of your government see the council delegation?"
"Realize that things have changed in the last twenty four hours."
"All the more reason to continue," Twilight insisted as she tried to keep exasperation out of her voice. "It will show that, despite attempts to disrupt the process, humans and ponies are still interested in peaceful relations with one another."
"Yes, I'm aware of the official statement you made regarding what you believe was behind the Village Center incident," said Matthew in a flat voice.
"I told what I believed to be the truth!"
"I have no doubt of that, Princess, but realize the implications. You're effectively accusing a human being--"
"A rehumanized human being."
"--of having powerful magic and using it to bend minds to their will," Matthew continued. "Not everyone believes that claim, and frankly, my office has yet to come across hard evidence to support it."
"You have the reports of some of the ponies and humans who were affected," Twilight declared. "And the agents and police officers who were present."
"Unfortunately, we had no federal crystal ponies there."
"Yes, I had noticed their distinct absence," deadpanned Twilight. "What was the reason for that oversight? They may have been able to dampen the effects of the mind magic."
"We had no evidence of a magical threat when we assigned agents to the area," said Matthew. "And all the crystal ponies under my oversight were involved in more critical operations. If anything were to happen, we had fully expected it to originate from the Humanity First rally, not the ponies of the Fair."
Twilight had to pause to prevent herself from raising her voice further. "My statement was based on all the available facts and nothing more."
"But did you ever entertain the possibility that a pony caused this rather than a human?"
"No, because the research Sunburst did while he was there strongly suggests that is not the case. Had an ordinary night pony been behind it, he would have been dealt with effectively by now."
Matthew leaned back in his chair. "By the Dreamwardens, I assume."
Twilight stared at him in shock. "What??"
"Yes, I know of the Dreamwardens, Princess. They're tasked with ensuring night ponies don't run amuck in ponies' dreams."
Twilight just continued to stare. Did he really know about it, or was he just a good guesser? Should she simply feign ignorance in a bid to ensure their continued secrecy?
As if reading her thoughts, Matthew said, "I realize you cannot talk about it in any official capacity, and I won't force you. Suffice it to say, I would think them effective enough to handle something like this."
"Assuming a set of controls is indeed in place to supervise night pony activities," Twilight began in a more diplomatic tone, "They would be only as effective as their abilities allow. The perpetrator of this mind magic crime may be beyond those abilities."
"My office is committed to getting to the bottom of the incident at Village Center," said Matthew. "But that means we need to consider all possibilities, not just your theory, which has raised a great deal of ire in Washington. They're not exactly in the right frame of mind to be cooperative towards the Pony Council."
Twilight frowned. "I assume you're still working through Ms. Rock."
"As I stated before, I have a good working relationship with her. We've worked closely together for the past three months."
Twilight was about to reply when she realized what he had said. Three months? Had that not been how long ago they thought Ryan had rehumanized?
Was Wendy Rock involved in this conspiracy as well? Agent Heller already suspected someone had modified or deleted Ryan's records from the Department of Rehumanization database. Who else would be in a better position than her to do such a thing?
Or was Twilight just letting paranoia get to her?
"Is there anything else, Princess?" Matthew prompted.
"Is that your final word on the matter, that we need to play more of this wait-and-see game?" Twilight asked.
"For the moment, yes. We may need to wait until the investigation into the Village Center incident has completed. It may perhaps be prudent for the delegation to return home for now and plan a follow-up visit when we have a better handle on the situation."
"And if they decide to stay?" Twilight asked. "Will you expel them?"
"I have no plans to do such a thing, but we do have our own business to conduct that they're not authorized to see. It will become increasingly difficult to shield our operations from them."
Was that another clue? Did he have plans to do something at MIDROC that he didn't want anyone else to see?
"Perhaps you can persuade them that this might be the best course of action," said Matthew. "Surely they grow weary of being cooped up in here all the time."
"I will leave it up to them," said Twilight. "And if they choose to stay, so do I."
"As you wish, Princess."
Twilight headed out of the office. Agents Heller and Madsen were right; Matthew was up to something. She had to report her suspicions right away and let them take it from there.
Sam arrived at his apartment after having come from an interview for the best prospect of a job he had had in months. His mood was dampened somewhat when found his brother draining the last of a bottle of beer. Larry held up the empty bottle with the proclamation, "We're almost out of beer."
Sam frowned and closed the door behind him a little more forcefully than intended. "Then go buy some."
"Sure, soon as you spot me the cash."
Sam clenched his jaw until the urge to yell at Larry had passed. "What little money I have is going for necessities, and beer is not one of them."
Larry rolled his eyes as he set the empty bottle down. He looked at his brother's suit. "Boy, you're all dolled up."
"It's called 'looking for a job.' Maybe you should try it sometime."
Larry shrugged. "So, you hear back from your pony friends about Bev?"
Sam headed into his bedroom to change clothes in hopes it would force his brother off his lazy ass if he wanted to keep talking. "First off, they're not my friends."
"Whatever," Larry called from the living room. "Are they gonna let Bev meet up with us?"
Sam sighed, realizing it would take the apartment being on fire to rouse Larry. "And second of all, they're not stupid. As I suspected, they're wary of sending her out of the pony sector since she's still wanted by the law."
"Oh, come on, this is family," Larry called out. "Don't they realize that?"
"Frankly, if I were in her situation, I'd be wary as well," Sam said as he changed out of his suit. "She can't exactly easily disguise herself."
"She doesn't even have to come up here."
Sam paused in his reply until he had finished changing and emerged from the bedroom. "With all those ponies sympathetic to her, she likely has all the food and shelter she needs. The last time I talked to her, she didn't exactly have a burning need to be around humans again."
"That's what I mean," Larry said. "We can go to her."
"Wait, what?"
Larry smirked. "And here I thought you're supposed to be the smart one of the family. Didn't you ever think of that?"
"Of course I did!" Sam protested. "Hell, it was what that unicorn suggested. What I'm wondering is why you're suggesting it."
"Huh?"
Sam stepped up to his brother. "Wasn't your whole idea based on getting your Humanity First buddies to talk to her?"
Larry rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah, duh."
"And they'd be willing to go that far into pony territory after what happened at Village Center?"
Larry waved a dismissive hand. "Eh, the official explanation was that the ponies at the fair were not in their right mind."
"That not what I've been hearing from that group," said Sam. "They're spinning it completely differently."
"That's just the politicians talking. My buddies are ready to go on a moment's notice."
"Then we can just go to the pony mart this Friday like originally planned."
Larry grabbed the empty bottle as he stood up. "Friday's too late."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Larry headed into the kitchen, ignoring the clearly marked recycle bin, and tossed his bottle in the garbage. "My HF buddies don't want to draw too much attention to themselves, especially that far into the pony sector."
Sam considered as he watched his brother help himself to another beer. "That answer makes no damn sense."
Larry turned towards his brother and twisted the top off the bottle, tossing it into the trash. "Why not?"
"You just said they're willing to jump right in, and now you say they're wary of doing it. Which is it?"
Larry took a drink and chuckled. "You're thinking too hard."
"Also, your answer doesn't even relate to what you initially said, which was that Friday was 'too late.'"
"Just one of many reasons they want to get this done. They're busy people."
"And you need your meal ticket," Sam said sourly.
"Come on, bro, it's not like that," Larry said before taking another drink. "Regardless of what the cause of the Village Center incident was, you think I want her involved with ponies again after all that? It's like being a pony is more trouble than it's worth."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "I seem to recall you were a little disappointed to have stopped halfway through, especially when you sprouted wings."
"For Chrissake, why bring that up now?"
"I'm just trying to see this from her perspective," said Sam.
Larry looked askance at him. "Since when?"
Sam wanted to say the first thing that had come into his head, which was that any time Larry agreed on the same course of action that Sam had decided on, it likely meant something was wrong with it. Larry rarely thought about anyone other than himself, and he could be very smooth and accommodating when it meant getting something he wanted.
Which meant Larry was hiding something. Sam needed to know what that was before he let his brother anywhere near Bev. He had half a mind to set up a meeting on his own without telling Larry about it.
"Since I started to think that this is her life and her happiness we're talking about," Sam said in a lower voice.
Larry rolled his eyes. "You have to get this through your head, bro: she's not going to be allowed to become a pony. Not gonna happen, ever."
"I understand that," Sam said in a testy voice.
"Then why are you going off about this now?"
"I meant we need to take her feelings into account. We can't just browbeat her until she agrees."
"Fine, fine, we'll do that," said Larry. "Her feelings and all that, I mean. Let's just set up that meeting with her, and fast. The sooner we get this done, the better. We could even do it today. We've got some daylight left."
The last thing Sam wanted to do was jump right into it when he had too many suspicions. Larry was terrible at keeping secrets, as was evident when he let slip the time constraint and his lame attempt to cover his mistake. If Sam delayed long enough, Larry just might spill the beans on what was really going on.
"I'm too tired from all the errands I had to do today and the job interview on top of it," said Sam. He gestured to the bottle. "And I want you stone cold sober when we do this."
Larry sighed. "Okay, whatever. Can I at least tell my buddies that we're good to go for tomorrow?"
Sam hesitated but nodded. "Fine."
Larry grinned and slapped his brother on the shoulder. "You won't regret this, trust me, bro."
Too late; Sam already did.
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Things seem to be picking up all over. It seems though that Blueblood’s ego is going to cause the most damage. If he thinks that the transformed will accept him as a governor or something similar then he is seriously deluding himself. And any information he gives on the transformation spell will go a lot further then he thinks. If that happens and it gets linked to him then he will be lucky if ‘auntie’ simply strips him of his title. And as for lining his pocket, I hope he realises that gold isn’t as common on earth as it seems to be on Equestria and that many of the transformed won’t be as eager to go back to a life similar to what they had as a human. Getting the ponies in the west to effectively revert the society they have built to fall inline with Blueblood won’t be as easy as he seems to think it will.
It may be worse if they complete the partials transformation.
Ponies are harmonious while humans are more chaotic.
They have no idea if this new magic is safe for a pony to even have.
sorry bout your shoulder
Twilight is being stupid. The humans should not let that emp partial change completely because if she does equestria will have a reusable and portable emp bomb.
While some humans are gaining magic it still is technology which is the last human advantage.
That partial is a weapon.
The government should call out twilight on the fact that when tasked with deciding on whether they should force the humans to allow a completr change for partials or mage the partials rehumanize she goes to complete change.
The thing is the have cases where rehumanized partials are stable but non on whether ponified partials are.
Starlight and twilight are being stupid for thinking of pushing for it with out any tests first.
Blueblood you're an idiot...
Sunset Blessing is going to just love you.
9351078
Still is ironic how actual Equestrians perceive the Shimmerists: backward and not right in the head.
To think the first think Blueblood plans to do as an Equestrian governor is reintroducing capitalism and industrialization in their society... talk about irony
9350990
Bob's efforts to retain a human mindset appear to be paying off, since in this chapter he begins to find he has magical talents which are inexplicable according to his understanding of pony magic. The intuitive insights he's getting may be analogous to the way the Narrative provides Jenny with knowledge on events going on in the rest of the world.
I think that despite being a pony, Bob is still sufficiently human to have begun to manifest human magic as well as pony magic. The fact that he still doesn't have a cutie mark probably helps, as well as his mental efforts to stay in touch with his humanity.
Since Bob is apparently managing to acquire human magic, I think it likely Bev will be able retain hers, even if she eventually physically becomes a full unicorn.
The fact that Bob needs to find a way to conduct this research safely gives him new reason to cooperate with the Shimmerists. He could certainly use the new shield spell they are developing. He might even use Sara's connection to Sunset Blessing to get access to her secret lab.
9350995
So you're saying every martial artist should be locked up? Because with their training they are technically a weapon, too. Thing is, it has already been shown that the ponies don't even need her just based on their shield spells alone. There is no reason to demonize a thinking being like that.
9351102
To be fair; Blueblood probably isn't very aware of ponies beyond the homestead lands. The southern ponies tend to fly under the radar because they don't cause the government as many problems. You'll notice no one even considered inviting representatives from them to the pony council despite them having a considerable pony population. They also have leadership that is hostile to Equestrians so they likely have less Equestrians interacting with them and bringing news of them back home. Even if he did know about them he likely would be dismissive of them, and definitely wouldn't anticipate all the things going on behind the scenes with them since they do keep out of the spotlight.
You get a complication! You get a complication! Everybody gets a complication!
Also interesting to see Fancy in a morally darker area for a change. Usually he's the upstanding noble to Blueblood's corrupt one.
9350998
Test... you mean like allowing partials to be transformed into ponies to see if that stabilizes the problem?
The minute Blueblood said this "After all, it's not like they have secret magic labs financed by deep pockets to further their aims." I broke out laughing. No just without the deep pockets. :)
9351280
Even that's been taken care of. Sunset Blessing has government backing, financial backing included.
Who does Ryan think he is? Darth Traya?
Somehow, this chapter managed to make me feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Ryan. I still detest his actions and beliefs, but at the very least I now understand a bit why he holds them. Fuller though, he can go straight to Tartarus.
...Would actually making Blueblood deal with Congress be punishment enough?
Enjoy your holidays! Really enjoying this story so far.
Enjoy your time off and look forward to seeing what will happen in the new year.
Me: Looks at what Blueblood said in this whole section of the chapter. Looks at the southern ponies who are concerned about making sure they industrialize and become an economic powerhouse and happen to have secret labs financed by deep pockets. Walks away and laughs. She might not be the villain in this story, but oh boy are you giving Sunset Blessing everything she needs to do transformations on a silver platter with your ignorance of ponies outside the west. This might not have any impact in this story, but going forward after this story this is going to come back and bite them so hard.
While this might make Ryan look a bit sympathetic, there's a problem here. Midnight said he only tried to do this to 'ponies that deserve it' and looking at how Ryan gets a special satisfaction out of terrifying those around him I think he might have been a nasty piece of work even as a pony.
There's also an issue of timing. Rehumanization was available for sure at four and a half months ago but he wasn't standing in line for it then. Three months before the Dreamwardens' were already active. Ryan would have had to have seen trials already by that point. I think he rehumanized because he was terrified the Dreamwardens' were going to come for him. If Luna came and counseled him there's a good chance she could have found out why he was attacked in the first place and it was only a matter of time before the Dreamwardens knew too.
Really these little details paint a much less sympathetic view of Ryan.
the pony council needs to be stopped before they try and secede and take sovereign American soil
And deep beneath his castle laboratory on the South Jersey Shore, Dr. Weird (aka, Alondro) showed off his prized new project to his fellow transformees, "Gentlepones, BEHOLD! My secret magic lab financed by deep pockets!"
9352354 Too late. My henchpones have already silently infiltrated every top position in the Hyooman government!
You foals never even considered that some of us became CHERNGELERNGS!!!
MUWAH HA HA HA!! THAT'S RIGHT!! ALL THIS TIME I WAS ACTUALLY A CHANGELING!!!
(M. Night Shyamalan, "Wow... that's like, the best twist EVER! Me so jelly!")
9350995 Sooo, guess you're in favor of the Mutant Registration Act and the Sentinal program too, eh?
Face it, humans have committed genocide countless times WITHOUT magical powers, starving and murdering tens of millions of their own people in several very modern cases.
You fear what do don't comprehend while turning a blind eye to the evil in your own midst.
Now, what you should really be afraid of... is me.
9350998 And we've also seen that rehumanization actually makes the human magic even stronger.
So, you're still stuck with beings that have magic... only now it's so strong even the ponies are concerned with it.
How exactly do you plan to deal with that, eh?
Fancy dissapoints me
Anywhere else, I'd say that line was really forced.
But this is Equestria. Those lines happen all the time there.
I do love how much effort is going into connecting these two stories. It just makes the world seem so much more active in both of them.
This line just made the chapter. If some serious Karma doesn't come about from this in this story I'll be disappointed. Sunset Blessing has plenty of ways of finding out. She obviously spies on other Shimmerists, Sarah Tanner's security team might be nearby, and pretty sure we saw a small cameo of Wild Growth being in the area earlier in the story. There's even indication from Bob that SB might have one of those facilities close by. Blueblood is going to have some serious explaining to do once it comes out he all but handed SB the keys to ETS.
9353897
Does it really matter if she does walk out of this with knowledge of how to make ETS? It's been made clear that even if she had that knowledge she would just sit on it. There are her claims of making sure it goes to the willing, but there's also the fact it's been pointed out she can't start a new ETS pandemic while the Equestrians are around and wouldn't even try wasting the effort.
9354165
Blessing and Strong Hooves couldn't care less about ETS, what they want is the transformation spell. Even discounting how Equestria would slap down another attempt at ETS before it could even gather steam, ETS would just destroy any credibility Shimmerism has and turn it into the world's enemy, so I highly doubt any but the most fanatical of Shimmerists wants to touch ETS.
But the transformation spell? They need that. Right now, Shimmerism is, like many religions, without an ability to back up their promises. Which, to critics, makes their word sound rather lacking. The moment they can show they actually can transform willing people into ponies, they'll have gained credibility, which will help them gain influence and actually move on to their goal of a ponified earth.
9352009
So he says, and Midnight is not the most reliable when it comes to his emotions.
9371312
But Luna cut him a break, which means that he might have not been completely mistaken about the types of ponies he terrorized. He has shown a high focus on protecting, and Luna considered him redeemable. Just because he was wrong to be doing what he was doing didn't mean he was wrong about Ryan's character.
9371325
Given his attitudes earlier on were "Attack before thinking" It might've been because Luna chose to redeem him because his heart is in the right place while causing people trouble. That Midnight could've been using his power because he thought he was doing right, but instead his viewpoint is very black and white given we've seen him strike others that didn't deserve to be attacked as they were.
Psychological damage could've been inflicted as a result.
9371350
Let's break down what Ryan thinks.
Here he shows he actually enjoyed his night pony powers. In addition he shows contempt for humans.
Here he immediately contradicts himself. He already went on about how he had no hatred for his powers. Plus this clashes with the contempt he showed for other humans. It seems more like he is just justifying to himself why he personally is better. He considers the Dreamwardens a perversion meant to manage another perversion, but he uses his powers to manage those around him with no regards to whether anyone around him is deserving of it. Again, self justification.
Again, he considers making others were living in fear of him an achievement, and was angry he couldn't start bloodshed (for humans and ponies alike). This isn't a person who is unwillingly acquiesing to being used despite his protests, this is a person who enjoys causing harm.
He talks about Luna's rage as one with first hand experience. Why does he have first hand experience? Again, Midnight thought he was going after 'bad guys'. If Ryan had been doing wrong there's a high probability that Midnight would have blabbed about it, which puts the fear of the Dreamwardens in him--which he again ignored for at least a month a half despite his claimed hatred for them, and I'm guessing because he kept a low profile and just hadn't been caught doing wrong to that point. Threat of the Dreamwardens is definitely a reason to rehumanize fast when he hadn't done it the two months it was available before then.
All evidence points to this being a man who refuses to see himself in the wrong. Were wrong things done to him? Certainly, by both Fuller and Midnight. He is very adamant about the fact he was used as a lab rat being something he was unhappy about and I think it goes back to what's really important to him--doing what he wants when he pleases with no regards to how he hurts others. He deals with the humans because they look at him and see something useful and let him do his terrorizing. The Dreamwardens would have been merciless once they pulled him to trial. He knows it and continues to live in fear of it. I see someone who was likely a monster as a pony and became even more a monster after rehumanizing.
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In other words: The Southern Ponies largely are not “Pony-Americans”. They're just Americans. But the Western Ponies largely are Pony-Americans. And a lot of Western Ponies have very strong feelings, that normal unhyphenated Americans are an “other” group.
I'm not saying it's inherently a bad thing, to be a Hyphenated-American. But if you take it to the point, where you're strongly seeing unhyphenated Americans as an “other” group. Or worse, if you're hating unhyphenated Americans. Then, you might be taking it to far!
DeFiNiTeLy NoT sOmE FoRsHaDoWiNg. YeP, aBsOlUtElY nOt.
Still though, great story! The story just gets better and better, the more I read. And I'm only at the half of it now.
Maybe Fuller isn't as smart as he likes to think he is. Not just knowing about the Dreamwardens, but even knowing the proper term for them, essentially just told Twilight that he has had contact with Ryan. That was a horrible tactical move.