Dispose of Carefully

by The Ancestor

Ancho(red) In Reality

From: [e-mail] 19.09.2016
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Universal Overlap

To Research Site 12 Director, Burning Memory.

As of 18:30, 19.09.2016, I, Researcher Daniel Miller alongside with Agent Alex Cawthon, have discovered an anomalous effect, affecting an unknown percent of population. It is my belief that any and all mentions of anomalous activity regarding the city of Canterlot Virginia, is completely ignored by any and all individuals born ouside the city. The exact characteristics that trigger the anomaly are still unknown, due to limited resources on our part, but the general pattern is clear.

Before sending this letter to you, I've contacted around a dozen researchers and site directors, none of whom shared my expressed concerns regarding the situation. Out of all of them, you're the only one whose lineage I can trace back to Canterlot, thus you should remain unaffected.

Preliminary research consisting mostly of pattern observation and correlation speculates the nature of the anomaly to be anti-memetic, however further inquiry is required.

There is another subject I must inform you on, something that may be related to this anti-memetic effect.

An unknown amount of time ago, a year ago if local sources are to be trusted, a stable two-way 'portal' was created, leading to 'another world'. Whether or not the portal is inter-dimensional or not, alongside with whatever lies on the other side of it is unclear, since, as of the time of writing, the portal remains closed, set to open 'in a few moons'. Around a year ago, an alien arrived through the portal, with intent to infiltrate the human society, intent on amassing power to conquer their 'original' world.

A few days ago, it crossed the portal once more, stealing a powerful artifact from the monarchy of their world, returning to 'our' world intent on using its 'magical power' to reach its aformentioned goals. It was, however, stopped by a member of the monarchy arriving in its stead, confronting it and returning the artifact to 'their world'.

Said confrontation was recorded and published on a video hosting service, with the original now deleted with the purposes of conspiracy, the locals being unaware of the anti-memetic effect. The first alien remains in Canterlot, having refused, or not given the option in the first place, to return 'home'.

Information regarding the alien's arrival, as well as its motivations was recovered from local sources, so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm sure I don't need to explain what an alien race, one prominent in thaumaturgy no less, covered up by an anti-memetic anomaly would mean to the Foundation.

I implore you to take this letter seriously, and begin the production of counter measures to the anti-memetic effect. Mnestics would be a good start, at least until a proper memetic vaccine could be developed.

Once sufficent counter-measures are developed, I recommend a complete lockdown of the city, detainment of any POI's with further interrogation, and an in-depth research of this anomaly. It should be noted that, as far as I know, the city of Canterlot has no undercover Foundation personell, despite being a major city center.

Best regards, Daniel Miller.

"Aaand... Send." Daniel said, pressing the button on his laptop and reclining into the car seat. "Let's hope and pray Director Memory's immune to whatever it is we're dealing with."

"With a name like that, I'd be more surprised if he wasn't." Alex replied with a huff, taking the right at an intersection, all the while looking for something on his phone. "Where the hell is this drive-through..." He grumbled, stretching his neck to look around for the coveted emporium.

"That's strange." Daniel muttered, picking up a small black box with a simple lcd screen.

"I agree, you'd think there'd be a billboard advertising the place or something." Alex replied, slowing down and looking through his phone again.

"Not that, the Kant counter's dipped just now." Daniel frowned, tapping the screen.

"The what now?" Alex inquired, the car coming to a stop at a red light.

"The Kant counter." Daniel repeated, tsk'ing when Alex raised an eyebrow. "The thing we use to measure the ambient Hume level. Does that ring a bell?" He finished with a hopeful expression.

"Sounds vaguely familiar..." Alex said, rubbing his chin. "Does it have to do something with reality benders?"

"Yes. It's basically is a way to determine the strength and/or amount of reality in a given area." He sighed, seeing the confused look Alex was giving him, thinking for a few seconds before continuing. "Picture that everything in the universe is covered with a thin layer of sand. This is the baseline level of reality - one Hume. When some of the sand is removed, by any means, there is less sand around, and the level of reality has dropped. When sand is added, there is more reality around."

"I... alright, I get it... I guess..." Alex said, taking another right once the lights turned green. "I still don't understand how that relates to reality benders though."

"These people have a twofer effect on reality. Firstly, reality surrounding them is usually slightly less real than normal. Secondly, their own personal Hume reading is usually a little higher than is normal." He explained, keeping an eye on his Kant counter. "Stop!" He hollered, Alex slamming on the brakes more out of reflex than conscious effort. "Park somewhere near, we dipped below 0.8."

"Could've said that before screaming bloody murder." Alex huffed, pulling up to the Sugarcube Cafe.

---

"And that's why Sunny wanted to gather us all here, besides getting to know you all better, of course!" Pinkie finished, her usual chipper attitude remaining despite the tense atmosphere around her. Applejack was eyeing her up suspisciously throughout her retelling of yesterdays events, but otherwise stayed silent, choosing to trust her eccentric friend. After all, it wasn't the craziest thing Pinkie's said that turned out to be true.

Fluttershy sat through the whole story with a worried expression on her face, although her concern was mainly placed in Sunset's subpar living conditions than government officials taking increased interest in the lives of high schoolers. Truth be told, she agreed with the fact that her most recent friend needed to move out of the docks, but the methods said government officials employed to find that out? They were a little hard to get behind.

Rarity's concern was placed much in the same vein as Fluttershy, but was partially directed inwards. The way Sunset had one, maybe two outfits in total to wear to school, how her clothes looked presentable at a quick glance, but under careful scrutiny were tattered, the colors looking faded, it was so obvious in retrospect, yet she never paid it any mind.

Of course, given Sunset's status as the school bully at the time she couldn't blame herself too hard for not noticing... But there was an idle thought that if she showed her kindness, expressed concern over Sunset's situation, asked some questions, then maybe she'd have avoided the whole 'magical crown' debacle.

Rainbow's arms were crossed on her chest, a hard expression never leaving her face throughout the entirety of Pinkie's retelling. Although she'd never tell her friends this, mainly out of fear of being ostracised, she held a firm belief that Sunset was a tough nut to crack, and was capable of looking out for herself. This, however, was beyond Sunset and her shitty home or whatnot.

Rainbow Dash was a prolific athlete, and has attended many a competiton in her relatively short life. Thus she's met and competed with a large number of fellow athletes, some of which she's stayed in contact with even after said competetions. Some of these athletes, not all of course, but a small contingent had a direct, first hand experience with the nightmare that was the beuracratic system, be it while gathering documents to transfer to a different school, or trying to get an athlete's stipend.

Point is, the government never cared about the students' well-being, and the ASA's sudden interest, coupled with the fact they've admitted to seeing the video of Sunset going bonkers didn't improve Rainbow's trust in those guys.

"That's not all though." Sunset interjecting, catching everyone's attention. "Those guys, Alex and Daniel, we've seen them before." She said, looking directly at Applejack. "Remember when two guys asked us for directions two days ago?"

"The two fellas in a car? One of them tried gettin' under your skin?"

"Exactly. That was them." She stated, her voice gravely serious.

"It could be a coincidence." Fluttershy offered, wilting under the look Sunset gave her, the reaction prompting the latter to look away bashfully. "Just food for thought..."

"Fluttershy has a point, darling." Rarity added, her lips pursed into a thin line. "Someone new to Canterlot is bound to get lost, so what if they asked for directions?"

"I don't know Rares, this just reeks of trouble. If they're some big shot government officials, how come they don't know the town they're coming to? Why'd they pick Aj and Sunset out of all the other people to ask for directions?" She asked, her voice full of suspiscion. "I'm with Sunset on this one."

"This does sound mighty weird to be a simple coincidence..." Applejack agreed, rubbing her chin. "But that don't mean we should jump to conclusions." She said, turning to look at Pinkie. "What do you think, Pinkie."

Just when the pink girl was about to answer, the bel hanging over the entrance to Sugarcube cafe rang, causing her to jump in her seat.

"Excuse me, duty calls!" She chirped, rushing to the counter, a bright smile plastered on her face. "Hi, welcome to Sugarcube cafe! How may I help you?"

"Two cups of black coffee, no sugar, and two slices of apple..." The man began in a calm voice, trailing off as he realised who he was speaking to. "Pie." He finished, looking straight at Pinkie, doing his best not to show his surprise any more than he did already.

"Yep, that's me, Pinkie Pie!" She said in a cheery voice, writing down his order on a piece of paper. "Fancy seeing you here, Alex!" Five heads turned at the mention of that name, ten eyes narrowing on the only man in this establishment. "How's the day been? Didn't get chewed on for being late with your report?"

"No, I managed to stick to schedule." He replied in a calm voice, reaching for something in his pocket. "How much will it be?" He asked, opening his wallet.

"$20, please!" she smiled as the man handed her the requested bill, stuffing it into the register. "What table do you want to reserve?" She inquired, the genuine tone of her voice doing little to mask her intent to make him stay a little longer.

Alex raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the five pair of eyes observing him from one of the tables, all but two heads turning away from him. "I think I'll order takeout." He said, looking at Sunset and Rainbow, both of them glaring at him. "How long until the order's done?"

"Fifteen minutes!" Pinkie chirped before disappearing in the cafe's kitchen area, leaving Alex alone with the girls.

"Don't be a stranger, Alex, take a seat!" Applejack proposed, noticing the man glancing at the exit. "Don't worry, we don't bite." She said with a smile, urging the man to comply.

"Actually, my friend's waiting for me in the car, excuse me." Just as he turned to walk towards the exit, Sugarcube cafe's door opened, an olive-drab man in a casual shirt and jeans combo matching his colors walked in, an irratated look on his face.

"Al, I know you told me to wait for you to check things out, but I simply couldn't wait any longer!" The man exclaimed, fiddling with a small black box, completely missing the pained expression on his partner's face. "I've recalibrated this thing twice already, but it's still below 0.8!" He said in amazement, completely oblivious to the amount of attention he was drawing to himself. "I haven't seen it go so low ever since we tried..." He trailed off, looking up to see the expression on Alex's face, who was poiting to the girls with his eyes.

"Oh." Was all he could say as Alex grabbed him by his hand, dragging him towards a free table, one that coincidentally was the farthest away from one the girls occupied.

"That's why you techies stay out of field work." He hissed as he sat down at one of the tables, his voice low enough for the girls not to hear him. "What did I tell you to do?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm fucking five." Daniel spat in reply, kicking back in his seat, crossing his arms on his chest. "Just because you're not couped up in a lab 24/7, doesn't mean you get to boss me around." He said with a huff.

"I'm not bossing you around, I merely suggest you be a little more patient. We still don't know what exactly we're dealing with, and there's no guarantee we're getting help any time soon." Alex reasoned, a hint of remorse appearing on Daniels' features.

"You're right..." Daniel said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezed shut. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just on edge, is all. Who knew shit like that could happen here of all places?" He said, grabbing the Kant counter and fiddling with it, paying no mind to the ding that rang out from the counter.

"I'll go grab our food." Alex said, but before he could stand up, Pinkie rushed to their table, dilivering their order. "Or not." Alex deadpanned, before giving Pinkie a kind smile. "Thank you, Miss Pie."

"No problemo! Here at Sugarcube cafe, we pride ourselves on our top notch customer service!" She beamed, before returning to her table with the other girls, who've been keeping a close eye on the pair during the whole arguement.

The next few minutes passed in relative silence, the girls keeping a light conversation, all the while observing the two men. Alex looked calm, slowly consuming his meal, scrolling through his phone with an impassive expression. Daniel, on the other hand seeed to have borrowed Pinkie's uncanny ability to defy the laws of nature, stuffing a puzzling amount of food down his throat, all the while fiddling with the small lack box in his hands, glancing at the girls from time to time.

Suddenly Daniel frowned, tapping the screen a couple of times before looking at the girls, his eyes narrowing on Sunset. He glanced at the device, his eyes going wide as he choked on his food, reaching for his cup of coffee to wash down whatever was lodged in his throat.

"You alright there?" Sunset asked, looking at the man in concern, who has doubled over in his seat, coughing into his fist.

"Y-yes." He croaked, stuffing the box into his pocket, standing up and patting Alex on his shoulder, nodding towards the exit. "It's, uh, been nice getting to know you all, but I'm afraid we have to go." The two of them hurried towards the exit, stopping just a few feet before the door, a rainbow-haired girl blocking their way.

"Like Tartarus I'm letting you go this easy! First things first, you tell us why you're stalking Sunset!" Rainbow said, arms crossed on her chest.

"Not stalking anyone, we're just here to grab some food." Alex came to his friend's aid, who looked rather worried as he tried to get past the multicolor obstruction. "That ain't a crime, last I checked."

"Yeah? Last I checked, the government didn't send a couple of goons after a girl just because of some video on Youtube!" Rainbow retorted, cutting any of Daniel's attempts to side step out of her way short.

"We're just doing our job." Alex said with a shrug, a nonchalant expression on his face. "Besides, we did find something out of the ordinary here, didn't we?"

"..." Rainbow found herself at a loss for words, begrudgingly accepting that, even if what they did wasn't strictly legal, they had enough reasons to do it.

"Thank you for your understanding." Alex said with a smile, that rubbed Rainbow the wrong way as the latter stepped out of the couple's way with a huff.

The duo disappeared behind the doors of the establishment, leaving a thoroughly befuddled group of girls behind.

---

"I'm telling you, Bacon hair's Humes are above 1.5!" Daniel exclaimed worriedly, typing away on his keyboard as the two friends drove back throught the dark streets of Canterlot, the sun having already set the time they departed. "And the rest are only marginally better... 1.1 ain't nothing to scoff at!"

"Still not sure what that means." Alex replied, his eyes on the road.

"They're essentially 'denser' than reality around them. What that means is that they're able to affect anything with a lower Hume count that themselves. In layman's terms, things that are more 'real' can affect things that are less 'real'." He paused, kicking back in his seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Problem is, by doing so they 'dilute' the reality around them, and that's a whole another can of worms..."

"You're saying they've got some super powers, but we've seen none of that in the past few days." Alex argued, continuing when he noticed Alex's miffed expression from the corner of his eye. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're all clear. They just look pretty normal, is all."

"Looks can be decieving. Sunset's Hume range allows for things like telekenisis, low-level persuasion and telepathy..." Daniel trailed off as a notification popped up on his work email, grabbing his attention. "Looks like we got a reply.

---

From: [e-mail] 19.09.2016
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re:Universal Overlap

I have greenlit a series of tests regarding the anomalous phenomena you have reported.

Stay put, continue to observe and monitor the situation. Report any irregularities and await further instructions, support will arrive as soon as sufficent counter measures are developed.

Secure. Contain. Protect.

Burning Memory, Site 12 Director.

Author's Note:

What?! A new chapter in less than a month of waiting? Surely it must be some kind of anomaly!

As always, write a comment if you feel like saying something to me, and have a nice day!

Comments

[Leviathan Splash]

"20$, please!" She smiled

typically the dollar sign goes before the number, like “$20” or you can go “20 dollars” and she shouldn’t be capitalized after a quotation mark unless it’s a deity.

Enjoying this so far!

[Smugleaf]

From: [e-mail] 19.09.2016 To: [e-mail] Subject: Re:Universal Overlap

Nice! Finally going to get some help from HQ. I also wonder if only the mane six have higher jume levels, or if people like Celestia also have Increased levels.

[Xanderfox]

11406715
Could be any one from Canterlot with a greater hume level has a pony counterpart. Humes might be related to the majical ability of the counter part as well, meaning Twilight, Celestia and Luna would have very big hume levels, along with the elements of harmony. It could be h citizens of Canterlot are more real that the city itself is.

[Miskr]

More! More! MORE OR I'LL KILL THIS INNOCENT CHILD!!

For real guys.