Partial

by Halira

Chapter 46: Learning More

Jordan opened her bedroom door only to jump back in shock as a night pony walked by.

“Morning, Jor. You aren't like Grandma at all. You sleep in pretty late. She's up with the dawn,” Charlotte said as she came to a halt in the hallway.

Jordan blinked a few times as if that would help jump-start her still sleep-muddled brain. When she finally remembered that she had agreed to give Charlotte and Bursa shelter, she started putting the rest of the details together.

“Did you just arrive a few minutes ago?” Jordan asked.

Charlotte shook her head. “Nope, we've been here most of the night. I think we arrived slightly after midnight. You were already asleep. We would have been here earlier, but we got stopped by some cops, and then Bursa and this stray dog got into this growling match with one another. There was this guy who may have been drunk, on drugs, or both, that was completely freaking out about seeing Bursa, and the damn bug sat there antagonizing him. I swear she was doing it for fun. Getting here was a minor ordeal.”

“Oh,” Jordan replied, not knowing what to say about that. She'd gotten into a growling match with a dog?

Charlotte yawned. “Anyway, I'm suffering from some serious jetlag. You would not believe how far I've traveled in the last few days. I'm going to get some sleep. Bursa is in the house out back. I raided the pantry and gave her all your muffins. I'm not sure she needs to eat, but she did seem to enjoy the muffins.”

“You gave her all my muffins?” Jordan asked in disbelief. She had been planning on having muffins for breakfast.

“Yeah, they were the first thing I found. Sorry, I should have asked, but you were asleep,” Charlotte replied. “Interesting redecorating, by the way, but I'm guessing all the Bible verses all over the place aren't your doing.”

“Um, yeah, those were here when I arrived,” Jordan said. ”Have you seen Andrea around this morning?”

Charlotte nodded. “Aunt Andrea's out fussing with Bursa. I don't think Bursa knows what to make of her. Apparently, she can't detect or feed off the emotions of crystal ponies—their magic absorption cancels it out. The big bug is so used to telling emotions by her empath abilities that she doesn't know how to figure them out the old-fashioned way, even when it should be obvious.”

“Oh,” Jordan replied. “Well, um, make yourself at home.”

Charlotte yawned. “Sure will. Talk to you tonight. Good to see you again, Jor, and thanks for this.” She then walked off, presumably to one of the guest rooms.

There seemed nothing to do except go check on Andrea and Bursa. Andrea would say she was slacking off on her duties as owner of Wabash Manor if she didn't. Andrea probably was already going to complain Jordan hadn't stayed up to meet their guests when they arrived or gotten up early to deal with them. Heck, Andrea would probably find a dozen things she was at fault for, even if she had done all those things. Andrea was never satisfied. It wasn't fair. Jordan was utterly new to all this crap. How did Andrea expect her to be perfect all the time? It was completely unreasonable. It was an unkind thing to do, but Jordan found herself trying to guess Andrea's age and trying to guess how many years the old crystal pony had in her before she keeled over and died. Andrea was older than Auntie Sunset, but how much older?

Still, checking on them seemed the right thing to do, so that was what she would do. Figuring out an alternative for her breakfast plans would have to wait.

It took her a few minutes to get to the house out back. It was a decent-sized house, especially for ponies. Auntie Sunset had expanded it at some point a few years ago. It was two stories, painted white, had at least one and sometimes two windows in every room, had two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, and a kitchen and living room downstairs. Humans might consider it a townhouse. It only seemed small compared to the massive mansion it sat next to. There was no welcome mat, but this house had sat vacant for a while. Now that she was up close to it, she was more than satisfied it would be an excellent place for her parents to live out their twilight years. Maybe she could send a letter to Equestria asking Auntie Sunset permission to change the contract to allow for an allowance for a live-in nurse at the house—at least until Jordan got more control over how things were done around here when she turned twenty-one. There was an extra bedroom in the house, so a live-in nurse to care for her parents was a viable option. Auntie Sunset kinda owed it to them since her mom's disability may have been partially a result of Auntie's experiments, and her dad's was definitely a result of things that Auntie did that went horribly wrong. She didn't hate Sunset Blessing for what happened. She knew her Auntie was very sorry for what happened and had made an honest attempt to repent and do better. It might creep people out still to have a pony say it, but ponies forgive—at least when the wrongdoer honestly repents and tries to do better, and she thought it was a good thing to live by. There was no point in holding grudges.

Like all other places on the property, the house had a Bible verse written near the doorway. This time, on a plaque beside it.

But when you are invited, take the lowest place so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then, you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

So…was Auntie Sunset saying guests should be moved into the mansion after staying in this house? Hard to say. That was something to worry about another day.

She opened the door and found Andrea in a stare-off with what was indeed a giant bug in an entirely unfurnished room. The stare-off ended quickly as they both turned to look at her.

She gave the giant bug monster her most friendly smile. “Hi, I'm Jordan. Sorry I missed your arrival. Welcome to Wabash Manor…or…Wabash's guesthouse—sorry, my auntie already had you on the list of people banned from going in the mansion, and I'm kinda stuck following her rules about what to do around here till I'm twenty-one. It's kinda amazing that she even considered that you might show up. Is everything okay and comfortable? I didn't realize it was this empty in here. Do you want me to find you some pillows to lay on or something?”

Bursa, who had remarkably ponylike features to her face despite being a bug, looked at Jordan with bewilderment.

“You aren't scared of me…but you are scared of the shiny pony I cannot feel,” Bursa said. She then turned her eyes back at Andrea and spread her many legs out aggressively. “What kind of cruel pony are you, shiny pony?”

“She's not going to hurt us!” Jordan told Bursa quickly. “Andrea is just always saying I'm not good at this, or I need to do better at that, or I screwed up doing this. Even when I do something right, she seems to have something negative to say about it. It makes me anxious around her.”

Bursa sneered at Andrea. “Maybe it is good I can't feel toxic pony then. I just got done with having to spend days with a toxic pony that made me sick.” She looked back at Jordan. “Does toxic pony make you sick?”

“My name is Andrea, not Toxic Pony,” Andrea grumbled.

Jordan shook her head. “She makes me anxious, but I know she means well, even if she could be nicer about things.”

“I'm not going to baby you, filly. You need to toughen up,” Andrea muttered. Jordan wondered if Andrea saw the irony in saying she wouldn't baby her and then immediately calling her filly.

Bursa frowned at Jordan. “But why do you have no fear of me?”

“Well, you did walk over here with Charlotte, and you didn't try to hurt her,” Jordan answered. "Actual monsters have also chased me, and they looked like ponies, so I know not to judge a book by its cover. Plus, you look big and strong, but I'm reasonably confident I could successfully defend myself if I had to, which I don't think I will. You're my guest. So…do you want some pillows or something? Sleeping on the hard floor can't be comfortable.”

Bursa continued to stare. “Are you related to Wild Growth?”

Jordan blinked. “Um…she's my half-sister's sister-in-law, so…kinda-sorta. Andrea is my half-sister's aunt, so I guess she is too, in a sorta way.”

“Good grief, can you sound confident about anything?” Andrea muttered.

Bursa snarled at Andrea. “Be nice to her!”

Andrea took a defensive stance.

“Please! Andrea means well!” Jordan insisted. “She isn't very nice; she's downright mean, but she is a good pony. Don't hurt her.”

Bursa seemed to relax a little. “Alright, if you say so, sister of the sister of Wild Growth. I wouldn't hurt her anyway. She is the aunt of the sister of Wild Growth.”

“And that matters to you, doesn't it?” Jordan asked. “Why?”

Bursa sat down and stared at the floor. “Wild Growth saved me from being in the dark. She protected me from those who wanted to hurt me. She ordered the great mages to make me whole and not in pain. I do not like being this…thing they made me, but it is better than what I was. Wild Growth was kinder and more generous than anyone who saw me would have ever been. She has my gratitude, my…respect, and I shall never harm her family.”

“Well, I know she is very nice and generous,” Jordan agreed. “I try to be nice and generous too. So…pillows?”

Bursa shook her head. “No, I rarely sleep, and only when I have exhausted myself or one of you ponies puts me to sleep. I will not be sleeping here.”

Jordan blinked. “You barely sleep? That's not good. Sleep doesn't just give our bodies rest; it gives our minds time to recharge. My sister says it is like a computer with fragmented files. You need time to defragment the brain, or things stop functioning right. Plus, it is that much more time just stewing in your thoughts if you are always awake, with you thinking less and less clearly. Getting some sleep lets you rest your mind so you can wake up and think more clearly. I mean, I don't know much about whatever you are or how your species works, but it seems like you should sleep more.”

Bursa looked up at her and frowned deeply. “Are you saying I have a scrambled brain because I don't sleep much?”

“Uh…possibly?” Jordan replied sheepishly. “As I said, I don't know much about your species. Are there more of you, or are you the only one?”

“There are more of my species, but there is only one more like me from them,” Bursa answered. “That one doesn't like me, and I don't like her, so we don't talk much, and I don't know how much she sleeps. The others are too nice, but they sleep like ponies.”

“Too nice?” Jordan asked.

Bursa threw back her head and groaned. “They always want to do meditation, and painting, and gardening, and sit around and talk about their feelings in a circle. They wanted me to do those things, but it was all stupid!”

“Eh, gardening I could deal with, but I'm with you on the rest. Sounds like some hippy commune crap,” Andrea dryly commented.

“So…what would you rather be doing instead?” Jordan asked.

Bursa gave a predatory smile. “Find the bad pony that took away my life and eat his head!”

Jordan took a step back at that declaration. “That's certainly…an idea, but don't you have any hobbies or anything? I get that you want revenge and all, but what's outside the revenge?”

“Try to find my way back to Earth,” Bursa answered.

“Well…you've done that, so what would be the next thing on your list?” Jordan asked.

Bursa stared blankly at her.

“No hobbies then,” Jordan concluded. “What about music? What about movies or shows you like?”

“They don't have television in Equestria, and movie theaters are rare,” Andrea said in a bored tone. “What kind of music do you listen to, filly? I only ask because I'm going to have to be subjected to it for the rest of my life, and I want to know how miserable that's going to be.”

“Um, I like movie and television scores that are remixed,” Jordan answered. “There's literally thousands, maybe millions, of them online, so you can listen to the same score hundreds of times but have it be different each time. What do you listen to?”

“Twisted Sister, Guns and Roses, Van Halen,” Andrea answered.

“I've never heard of any of that,” Jordan said.

Andrea flattened her ears. “You are way too young.”

“I have no favorites of those things,” Bursa finally answered.

Jordan's ears perked up. “Well, since you don't sleep, maybe we can set up a television here so you don't have to be bored while you wait for Charlotte to wake up. That way, you can figure out what kinds of movies and shows you like, music too.”

Andrea stood up and went to the door. “You can do that. I'll be seeing to my duties. Bursa, you are to keep to the house and out of sight, bug. We have an uptick in drones circling the property after you arrived. They saw you come in. Let's not give them anything else to look at.”

“I can shapeshift into a pony or human,” Bursa reminded them. She then transformed into a jade-green unicorn mare with a red mane.

Andrea turned and shook her head. “No! I will not play guessing games about who you are at any given time or give you any way to sneak around. You stay in your proper shape. Guards will be monitoring the house, and if anyone or anything comes out that shouldn't, action will be taken.”

“What if she agreed to one specific form and to keep at least two guards near her at all times?” Jordan suggested. “That way, she could at least walk out and get some sun and see the gardens.”

Andrea flicked her tail. “Very well, this form she just took, and it will be three guards that she always stays in sight of—no funny business. Everyone who comes here who isn't on the approved list gets monitored closely, so don't think I'm being mean just because you are a giant shape-shifting bug. You are on the banned list, so be happy to be here at all instead of on the street unprotected. The filly is too nice.”

“Will they be upset to be around me?” Bursa asked
.
Andrea laughed. “Ha! These guys are veterans of my sister's tenure here. They've seen shit. I tell them they're babysitting a giant shape-shifting bug, and they'll say, so today is an easy day. Don't you worry about them.”

Jordan was skeptical. “Really? What's the craziest thing they've seen?”

Andrea seemed to think for a second. “Well…there was that time we had to lock down the whole mansion and evacuate, then call in Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer because Sunset opened a portal to who knows where, and something very very nasty came through. They had to shield the whole property to make sure it couldn't get out, and it took them a while to figure out what the hell she did and how to put it back where it came from. Thing got Fred's leg before we all got out of the house, poor Fred.”

Jordan's ears flattened. “I never heard about that.”

“Do you honestly think she wanted to advertise she opened a door to Hell, and a demon came through?” Andrea said with a shake of her head. “I'm saying that figuratively; I don't think that was a literal door to Hell or a literal demon, but it sure felt like it.”

“Did they figure out where it came from?” Jordan asked.

Andrea shrugged. “No clue, but they figured out how to put it back…I think…it might be sealed in one of the vaults. They didn't give the rest of us the details. At least they got it under control.”

Yet another reason to never go checking out the vaults. She did have more faith in the guards having nerves of steel.

“Okay, I'll find a TV and hook it up after I figure out what I'm eating for breakfast. Bursa, as soon as the guards show up, you can walk around the property if you want—in pony form,” Jordan said. “It's going to be a good day.

---

Jessica checked again if her lab coat was securely buttoned as she walked through the school halls. Violet might want her to put more of herself on display, but the outfit she was wearing underneath was not what she would consider professional attire. It showed way too much cleavage, and, unlike Violet, Jessica didn't have fur on her chest to justify having all that uncovered. She'd be leaving for her date after work and wouldn't have time to go home and change clothes.

It felt like an eternity since she'd last been here. How do you return to everyday life after having been to the oldest place in the universe? Now that it was over, she was thinking about how little she had learned and how little time she had spent there. She'd spent most of her time there searching for rocks for Rebecca. She did bring back one of her own so she could run some experiments. The problem was figuring out how to go about it. It seemed like she would need to start with an electron microscope, a powerful one. She needed to investigate what that thing looked like on a quantum level. Wait…no, that wouldn't work. This stone wasn't regular matter; in theory, it had no electrons. She supposed that would be a good starting experiment to test if concentrated thaumic matter had electrons. All theories needed testing. Just because she assumed something based on theory means nothing if there wasn't verification through testing.

She was passing a fair number of students as she made her way to the faculty offices. Did any of them wonder what she was hiding under her lab coat? She strained her hearing for any mention of her name, primarily if it was associated with laughter.S he eventually latched onto one conversation.

“What's with the blue-haired lady with the lab coat? She's walking so stiffly. Is something wrong with her?”

“That's Doctor Middleton. I heard she has some sort of anxiety problem. Word is that she had a freak-out in one of her classes last week—totally twilighted.”

“Doctor Middleton? Isn't she like some famous physicist or something? She teaches here?”

“Yeah, and you know super-genius types, they're all a little crazy. I think it is like autistic or something.”

Her ears flattened. She was not autistic! At least they didn't seem to be concerned about what was under her lab coat, but the fact that word was getting around about her anxiety attack didn't make her feel much better.

“Oh, god, I think I'm going to be sick.”

Her hearing focused on the sound of distress.

“What's wrong? Why are you glowing so brightly? Did somebody hit you with a spell?”

Damn, a crystal pony. She had her stone on her because she didn't want to leave it unattended.

“I just looked at that lady over there with the blue hair. She is giving off some massive magic levels. I've never felt anything like that.”

“She cast a spell on you?!”

“No, she's just super strong, like stronger than all the rest of the people in his hall put together times a hundred. Just feeling her was too much for me.”

“Damn…I didn't think humans got that strong. Wait, are those pony ears? Is she a partial?”

“She might be. A freaky strong one.”

“Just take some deep breaths and don't focus on her. Maybe we should take you outside and let you expend all that extra magic.”

“Yeah…that might be a good idea.”

This was bad. She had crystal ponies in her classes. They had to pay attention to her. How had she overlooked this essential detail? She was supposed to be a genius. Geniuses weren't supposed to overlook such obvious details. What was she going to do about this? She couldn't leave the stone unattended. Why had Rebecca insisted on her keeping the damn thing? It was nothing but trouble. Well…it was worth studying. Her feelings on it were conflicted.

lDeep breaths. Calm down. Don't let the anxiety take control of you. You have traveled further than any human has gone before. You are stronger than this. she told herself in her head.

She reached the connecting hall where all the math and physics department faculty offices were. The first stop was Dean Francis's office.

The door was open, but she still knocked before entering. Dean Francis adjusted his glasses as he looked up at her.

“Doctor Middleton, I assume you have the Dreamwarden contract we discussed last week?” he asked.

She closed the door and pulled the contract out of her purse, and set it on his desk. He gave an inquisitive look towards the door.

“Good to see you followed through. Is there another matter that brings you to my office?” he asked.

She nodded and sat down. “I just put up a sound barrier around this office to keep the conversation private.” She then reached into her purse and pulled out her stone, and set it on the desk. It had glowed as usual when she held it but ceased glowing when put on the desk. “I need access to laboratory equipment to study this. I can't give a list of what I may need access to. I haven't even begun to compile a list of possible experiments.”

He adjusted his glasses and stared at the stone. “What am I looking at? It looks like a bad piece of modern art.”

“You are looking at ultra-concentrated thaumic matter,” she answered.

He looked up at her with a frown. “You must be joking. Such a thing is merely theoretical, and if it did exist, it would be extremely small, not something this big.”

She shook her head. “I assure you, it is exactly what I am saying it is. I can't go into detail on how I obtained it—you wouldn't believe me if I did, but I can get another Dreamwarden contract to verify I am not lying if that is what it takes. It radiates thaumic energy on an extreme level. Every crystal pony I have come near has noticed it; at least two have claimed nausea from being overpowered by it.”

Dean Francis still seemed skeptical. “Would you object to me bringing a crystal pony into this room to verify that? It is an easy enough test to conduct.”

“It has to be someone who can keep a secret. I don't want this thing to become public knowledge just yet. Wild Growth is supposed to be providing me with a thaumic dampening box to mask it soon, but she told me that it would take time since it has to be custom ordered,” she said nervously.

“Wild Growth's in on this, eh?” Dean Francis said as he rubbed his chin and examined the stone more closely now. “I know someone who can be trusted. Give me a moment to make a call. If this is what you say, we may be writing you a sizable research grant. Why did it stop glowing? Does it react to individuals with magic?”

“It reacts to me in particular, no one else,” she answered. “I was given a reason why, but the reason was completely unscientific. The actual reason would be among the things I hope to discover. You can touch it. It won't hurt you. It has been handled by others already.”

He picked it up. “Cold to the touch. Much lower than room temperature. Feels smooth. What reason were you given?”

She sighed. “That it is my stone and meant for me. I was told it learns about me and can enhance my innate power. I was also told it can eventually start to duplicate my power and nature for others who might try to use it if it learns enough about me. I have no verification of these claims or what they meant by nature—but they did come from a Dreamwarden, and Dreamwardens famously can't lie. I'm unsure how much they know about this thing. It is hard to be sure how much information a Dreamwarden is withholding. They said it takes a considerable amount of time to reach that point, perhaps longer than I may live. They also said the stone will vanish when I die…I’m not planning on testing to verify that.”

“Certainly not,” Dean Francis said in response to the last comment, turning the stone over in his hands. “So, is this something the Equestrians made? They have better access to thaumically active materials, and if it reacts to you, that indicates some sort of magical programming. While magic isn't our specialty in this department, getting a better scientific examination of one of their powerful artifacts is still worthwhile. Such an opportunity has yet never presented itself.” He set it down and pulled out his phone. “Hold a moment before answering; I need to call that pony.”

“Hello? John?” The voice on the phone answered.

“Yeah, John, it's John,” Dean Francis answered. Jessica thought there should be a rule against having friends with the same first name. It got so confusing. “Can you come by my office? I need to get a magic reading on something.”

“Sure, I can do that. I'm just across the building. Who do you need me to look at?”

“Not a who, a what, and I need this kept confidential,” Dean Francis said.

“You've got my interest. I'll be there shortly.”

Dean Francis ended his call. “My friend, John Marshall, is coming.”

“So I heard,” she replied. “Sounds like he was in the cafeteria.”

He frowned. “You could tell where he was?”

“I heard a lot of chewing in the background. Electronic devices, especially phones, can carry my powers, and I know what chewing sounds like,” she said with a shrug.

He tapped his finger on the desk. “It seems a study of your powers would make an interesting research paper for someone.”

She smirked. “It did. My old caretaker studied me extensively as I learned to control my powers. She wrote a a fairly detailed report about it and had it published in some journal. She has a fascination with human and partial magic.” She sat down on the seat across from him. “And no, this stone is not from the Equestrians. It is from something much much older. I can't go into detail where I got it.”

He looked at the stone again. “You are inferring a pre-Devourer civilization? Virtually nothing is known of those. I wouldn't even know where you would come across such a thing. A meteor impact, maybe, but that seems unlikely—but I am getting ahead of myself. We still haven't verified it is what you claim.”

“No details,” was all she could say, but she still had another issue. “I don't feel safe not keeping that with me at all times—it isn't something you leave sitting around, but I have crystal ponies in my classes. They are supposed to pay attention to me, and when they do, they're going to feel it. What do I do?”

“If it turns out to be that powerful, and you have your lesson plan ready for today, post it online and cancel class for today. I can go by your class and announce it,” he reasoned. “If it is that strong, then I agree with your assessment that it can't be left sitting around. Until Wild Growth gets you that box…even after that…you should invest in a safe—a good one, not some cheap one sold by Walmart that any healthy earth pony can buck open. If you get a grant, you can refund yourself the cost of the safe out of that as a research expense. If this ends up being what you say it is, the administration will generously fund the research. I admit I'm skeptical, but I'm also hoping it is true. It would be a huge boon to our department, and combined with the hiring of you, would raise our ranking among research institutions. That's a lot of potential donor money that could be coming in.”

Of course, the dean was primarily interested in this for the money and prestige it could earn the school, and not what it meant for science, but then again, raising money and prestige for the school was his job.

There was a knock at the door, and a middle-aged, nearly white, crystal pony stallion with a suit jacket entered.

“Thanks for hurrying over here, John. This has s Doctor Middleton. She has something to show you,” Dean Francis greeted.

Jessica picked up the stone and held it out towards the crystal pony. He instantly lit up brightly, and his facial complexion took on a greenish hue as he looked away.

He waved a hoof frantically at her. “Oh…god…can you put that thing away? Fuck's sake, that thing is overpowering.”

Jessica put the stone into her purse and put her purse in the corner before returning to her seat. “Told you it was too much for them.”

“Sorry about that, John. I had to verify that object was as strong as she said,” Dean Francis said sympathetically. “Can I get you some water or something?”

The crystal pony shook his head. “No, just give me a second without focusing on anything. I will have to expel all this energy I just stored, or at least as much of it as possible. You two should cover your eyes and look away. This is going to be very bright. Tell me when you are ready.”

“Ready,” Dean Francis said.

“Ready,” Jessica echoed as she covered her eyes with her hand.

There was a brief flash, bright enough that she could see it through both having her eyes closed and covered.

“Okay, that feels a little better,” the crystal pony said. “I've seen Princess Twilight and Princess Luna, and neither felt like that. Granted, I think they shield their power somehow, but they were what I thought counted as intense power. That thing is on a whole other level.”

She uncovered her eyes and looked at him. He was still glowing, but not as intensely. It was pretty impressive that he could expel that much magic so quickly.

“Well, I suppose that verifies that it is something special,” Dean Francis said. “Put your lesson for today online, and I'll inform your class you'll be out. John, thank you again for your assistance; please don't mention this. We don't want it public until Doctor Middleton's research is complete—perhaps not even then.”

“No problem. I don't even know what I saw,” John said. “Let me get out of here before I notice that thing again.”

Well, she had a path to her research. Hopefully, Wild Growth would get her that box soon.

Comments

[AvoidingFever17]

Andrea seemed to think for a second. “Well…there was that time we had to lock down the whole mansion and evacuate, then call in Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer because Sunset opened a portal to who knows where, and something very very nasty came through. They had to shield the whole property to make sure it couldn't get out, and it took them a while to figure out what the hell she did and how to put it back where it came from. Thing got Fred's leg before we all got out of the house, poor Fred.”

...now i wanna know what world blessing opened a portal to!

[AvoidingFever17]

She shook her head. “I assure you, it is exactly what I am saying it is. I can't go into detail on how I obtained it—you wouldn't believe me if I did, but I can get another Dreamwarden contract to verify I am not lying if that is what it takes. It radiates thaumic energy on an extreme level. Every crystal pony I have come near has noticed it; at least two have claimed nausea from being overpowered by it.”

Yeah...i dont think im Feeling wel-
faints