A Friend In Need [WORM/MLP]
- Thread starter sopchoppy
- Start date
-
- Tags
- my little pony worm crossover
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Brockton bay was in bad shape before, but now almost the entirety of the urban core, seaside, and docks have been quite literally wiped off the map. Huge sections were vaporized, burned to the ground, run over by Leviathan, or disassembled and thrown around in pieces by the Simurgh. In addition a square mile of it was replaced by a huge picturesque meadow by the sea. I won't say more right now because of spoilers, but no repair spell is going to fix that.
- Location
- Little Rock, AR
But 200 thousand man hours and an economy revitalized by religous tourism to the new shrine of the moon will.
Build a temple to "The Apocalypse Stopped HERE" on the brand-new real estate, and hope that Tourism makes up for the rest?
Xero Key
Flying high, spinning webs!
Brockton Bay secedes from the Union, declares itself a colony of Equestria, and a state religion worshiping Alicorns is instituted. Temple placed next to the meadow and the plot of land dedicated for 'diplomatic' endeavors (aka Twilight and company vacation home, with portal)
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
It'd be a global attraction. A 500 foot tall Luna with a giant billboard beneath her screaming "CANCELED THE APOCALYPSE!"
It's a bit early for that. She hasn't offed Scion yet.
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
29
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
New Armsmaster Interlude - this takes place immediately after the prologue
Interlude - Armsmaster
Armsmaster strode away from the parahuman holding cells at a brisk clip. Getting Lung secured and an IV-drip started that would keep him in his induced coma had certainly been the biggest priority, but he didn't want to leave the strange new parahuman up on deck, watched only by a couple of PRT troopers, any longer than necessary. Thankfully, the security feed displaying in his visor had showed that the only thing she had done since he left her was turn to look out towards the bay.
That was both a good and bad sign in his experience. Though his software was having trouble interpreting her foreign body language and appearance, she wasn't acting guilty and she had seemed eager to comply with all his requests to the letter. Those were all good indications that she was not a villain or leaning in that direction. On the other hand she had moved too little. Nearly all people brought to headquarters would gawk a little at the facility, glance curiously at some of the equipment or at the guards on hand. She had done none of those things. His software wasn't feeding him anything, but it looked like shock symptoms.
As he entered the elevator that would take him back to the deck he shifted his right eye in a specific pattern. The connection rang only once before Miss Militia answered the call.
"How'd it go?" she asked and a small smile flashed across his face. When it was important, Hannah always got straight to the point. It was one of the things he liked best about her. He never had to guess her motives or rely on his social suite with her. It was a big reason he counted her among the handful of people he considered friends rather than teammates or coworkers.
"Lung is in cell p-5."
"Congratulations Colin. So I take it the new drugs worked? Casualties?"
"A handful of non-cape ABB members needed to be taken to the hospital for burns or wasp stings, one serious."
"Wasp stings?"
"New master, villain, engaged with Lung and fled before my arrival. I put the preliminary info on her in the database."
"If she fled before you arrived how…Witness?"
"Yes, parahuman, possible case 53, also engaged Lung before my arrival. Signs of shock and other mental issues. She's on deck now. I'm about to escort her to the secure visitor wing. Can you meet me in there?" Armsmaster asked as the doors opened and he stepped back outside and started approaching the outside holding area.
"Yes, I'll be right there," Hannah answered and closed the connection. He estimated how much time it would take for him to get within speaking distance of the new parahuman and then had his software run an analysis of whether Director Piggot would be more displeased to be woken in the middle of the night, or having not been told until morning. He made the call.
"Armsmaster," the tired and irritated voice of the Director Piggot stated.
"Lung is in custody, two new confirmed capes. Master that was part of the reason for Lung's appearance, villain. Bystander, likely case 53."
"Have a briefing ready by 5 am, I'll be there. We need to get a response plan set before news of this breaks." The connection clicked off just as he turned the last corner and closed the last 30 feet between him and the new parahuman. He nodded to himself internally, his software had correctly estimated the length of his conversation with the Director within 2 seconds. He stepped up next to…her and observed her posture for a second before speaking in his best reassuring tone.
"Miss, I have secured the man that attacked you." She shuddered slightly before turning her large eyes up towards him. He noticed she had been crying. "Is there something wrong?"
"I…no…maybe? The shield," she sniffed again. "It just reminds me of someone." She brought one of her legs up to her head and pressed a…hoof?…To it. "None of this makes sense. I'm so confused," she finished sounding pained and exhausted.
"You've had a rough night, follow me inside and we can find someplace to get you something to eat and drink." She nodded and wiped a foreleg across her eyes, visibly pulling herself together.
"Thank you, that seems like a good idea." She hesitated a second before continuing with a small uplift in tone, "Do you have a library?"
"Not on base, there are several in the city however," he replied as he turned around and began to walk back towards the elevator. His HUD still showing the security feed and allowing him to see her trailing slightly behind without turning his head. When the doors opened and they stepped inside she seemed interested in the glowing array of buttons but made no comment.
When they reached the secure visitor's floor the doors opened once more and, besides a couple of half second pauses where she seemed to be examining the hallway and doors, she followed him without hesitation. When they turned the last corner before the room he had selected for her to stay in tonight Miss Militia was waiting for them.
"Armsmaster…Your description did not do Ms Twilight justice." She turned to fully face the new parahuman. "It is a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle. My name is Miss Militia. Armsmaster gave us a short summary on what happened. I apologize that you had such a introduction to our city, but thank you for your part in apprehending Lung. You have done a great service to the city." Armsmaster noted that besides what appeared to be a blush response, 'Twilight' seemed to relax slightly. As he suspected. He was glad he called Hannah.
"Um, you're welcome but it was really those other poni-people that," 'Twilight' replied, and hesitated as she appeared to search for the right words, "…took care of Lung. What I did was more an accident of circumstance than anything else." Miss Militia nodded in response and lightened her tone even further.
"You are probably ready for this night to end. We have a room set up with some food and a bed. We can talk more in the morning."
'Twilight' sighed and her body sagged even as she spoke. "Yes, sleep is probably a good idea, thank you."
Armsmaster waited in the hall while Hannah showed 'Twilight' the room and got her settled. He worked on a few designs while he waited. Less than ten minutes later Hannah emerged and closed the door behind her quietly.
"Exhausted." Hannah said as he closed down his schematics display and started walking, Hannah falling in beside him.
"Shock."
"That too. I made sure to get some food and a glass of water into her before she fell asleep. Cute."
He considered that for a moment before nodding, he supposed 'Twilight' would fit that aesthetic.
"The Director has called for a 5 am briefing. She wants to develop a response plan," he said as they neared the lifts that would take them to the personnel area.
"Makes sense, this is going to draw a reaction from every faction in the bay. Busy week ahead," she replied, her tone serious, but also congratulatory. She knew how much this meant to him. He was both irked that he was that easily read, and glad that he did not need to hide it from her. She was his friend, she understood.
He frowned a little at the thought of all the project time he was likely to miss this week, but shook it off. Capturing Lung was worth it. Even if he had looked beaten before he arrived, it was his tranquilizers that had enabled his capture. He had proved he was able to do something entire divisions of the Protectorate had been unable to accomplish. Now they just had to contain the aftermath. Challenging, but he already had a series of contingencies planned out, it shouldn't be a problem. When they got to the lounge Hannah dropped down onto a couch in front of a pile of folders and papers, one stack a printed copy of the initial report he had sent. Sections already highlighted or notated. He didn't understand her need for hard copies.
"Breakfast before the meeting? Say 4:30?" Hannah asked as she picked up a yellow highlighter and picked up a large folder marked ABB. He almost declined, he had nutrient paste for a reason after all, but…he could spare the time. She might also have a few suggestions for his plans before he presented them.
"Yes, see you then." With that Armsmaster turned and walked towards his lab. There were a few things he could work on while he was dictating his reports.
—————————
Dauntless walked in and closed the door behind him, he was the last one that was going to be able to make it. He took a seat next to Velocity who was gripping a coffee mug and looked like he was struggling to stay awake. Miss Militia sat across from them and Director Piggot sat at the head of the table. Marion May, Brockton Bay's information officer, sat beside her. A protectorate thinker called Snap looked on tiredly from a monitor on the wall.
"As we all know each other, I'll forego the formalities." He nodded to everyone in the room. "At 12:20 am this morning we got a report of a possible parahuman fight involving Oni Lee and an unknown group. I was prepping my motorcycle to investigate when a second report was called in saying that Lung had been sighted in the same area. Having received prior approval to attempt to use the tranquilizers I had developed for Lung, I immediately departed in response to the second call." He paused as he clicked a button and a map of the docks area was projected on the wall with about a block and a half highlighted red, another couple of blocks by the edge were colored yellow.
"When I arrived at the area colored in red on the map I found evidence of a wide ranging battle. Fire damage, smashed brickwork, bullet casings and several wounded ABB gang members were scattered down the street. Lung was laying here," he used a laser pointer to indicate the location, "Suffering from a number of large bite wounds. He was conscious but delirious. I noticed signs of accelerating regeneration and quickly used my halberd to administer the tranquilizers. Within thirty seconds the visible signs of his regeneration had ceased and he fell unconscious. After securing his body and checking for any life-threatening injuries I examined the scene in more detail."
"Do you believe your tranquilizers would be effective against other high end regenerators?" Snap asked from the monitor, looking more engaged than he had been at the start of the presentation. Armsmaster shook his head slightly before he responded.
"Not currently, they were explicitly developed for Lung. However, I do believe that the research could be adapted into a more general use. I'll forward the notes to your office. To continue, I observed broken brickwork surrounding Lung's fallen form and scaring on the ledge above him and deduced he had been thrown off the building. I ascended to the roof to gather more information, which is where I encountered the parahuman calling herself "Twilight Sparkle."
He clicked a button and the map was replaced with a screen capture of his visor's recording of last night showing the quadruped seated on the roof calmly making writing something on a piece of paper.
"My first impression, and still most likely theory is that she is a case 53. When talking with me she admitted to large holes in her memory and having no idea where she was."
"If she remembers anything at all she would be the first." Marion interjected.
"Yes, there are several divergences between her and the other known case 53's, the biggest being that she claims that she was born that way and comes from either another dimension or planet where those that look like her are the dominant species. She claims to have never seen a human before last night."
Dauntless let out a slow whistle and Velocity spoke what everyone was thinking.
"So she's completely crazy?"
"No, she hasn't exhibited any signs of schizophrenia or active delusions. Since my first interaction with her she has been polite and cooperative in every way. She hasn't asserted in any way that the world she is seeing is any different from what we observe, only that the past she remembers doesn't include it. Again, this could be some new variant of case 53's where memory is altered or twisted beyond recognition instead of erased."
"It's also possible that it's her own invention to protect her from some trauma," Snap chimed in from the monitor.
"Or she could be telling the truth. We do have examples of other dimensions coming in contact with ours," Miss Militia responded.
"She was speaking english earlier on the video," the thinker from Chicago stated.
"She claims her proficiency in our language stems from a "spell" she cast on herself after running into the new villain that was battling Lung. Other "spells" her notes mention include teleportation and a concussive blast."
"Unlikely, but, well, we all have seen a lot of unlikely things in our lives. Can't rule it out. Hmm, a blaster powerful enough to knock Lung around and teleportation?" Snap replied as he rubbed his chin as he jotted something down on his computer. "Do you have someone on site that could do a professional mental evaluation?"
Piggot leaned forward slightly causing her chair to creak and spoke up for the first time.
"Those could be useful abilities to have on team, if she wasn't crazy. We have Dr. Yamada on hand this week, I would recommend Twilight have a visit with her and get some qualified feedback on her mental health before any other considerations. Where would you peg her age?"
"I'm unsure. Her mannerisms tend to be all over the map maturity wise. Maybe early-adolescent with a possible thinker classification in addition to her other stated powers," Armsmaster replied. Director Piggot scowled.
"Very well, all the more reason to get her examined by Yamada." She turned to Snap. "In the unlikely event she is an alien, how do you think we should proceed?"
"I'll contact PRT headquarters and the state department to brief them. Their guys can start running some scenarios and drawing up a contingency plan if it does turn out to be the case that we're dealing with first contact."
"I agree that she should see Dr. Yamada, and before any other plans are made. Regardless of her origins, she has been through something traumatic. We should respect that in our actions," Miss Militia interject and even Director Piggot nodded slightly at that before she cleared her throat.
"Now thats settled, lets get to the most important part of this meeting. How exactly is the city going to react, when it learns Lung has been captured."
"My guess?" Velocity spoke finishing a sip of coffee. "Not good."
Interlude - Armsmaster
Armsmaster strode away from the parahuman holding cells at a brisk clip. Getting Lung secured and an IV-drip started that would keep him in his induced coma had certainly been the biggest priority, but he didn't want to leave the strange new parahuman up on deck, watched only by a couple of PRT troopers, any longer than necessary. Thankfully, the security feed displaying in his visor had showed that the only thing she had done since he left her was turn to look out towards the bay.
That was both a good and bad sign in his experience. Though his software was having trouble interpreting her foreign body language and appearance, she wasn't acting guilty and she had seemed eager to comply with all his requests to the letter. Those were all good indications that she was not a villain or leaning in that direction. On the other hand she had moved too little. Nearly all people brought to headquarters would gawk a little at the facility, glance curiously at some of the equipment or at the guards on hand. She had done none of those things. His software wasn't feeding him anything, but it looked like shock symptoms.
As he entered the elevator that would take him back to the deck he shifted his right eye in a specific pattern. The connection rang only once before Miss Militia answered the call.
"How'd it go?" she asked and a small smile flashed across his face. When it was important, Hannah always got straight to the point. It was one of the things he liked best about her. He never had to guess her motives or rely on his social suite with her. It was a big reason he counted her among the handful of people he considered friends rather than teammates or coworkers.
"Lung is in cell p-5."
"Congratulations Colin. So I take it the new drugs worked? Casualties?"
"A handful of non-cape ABB members needed to be taken to the hospital for burns or wasp stings, one serious."
"Wasp stings?"
"New master, villain, engaged with Lung and fled before my arrival. I put the preliminary info on her in the database."
"If she fled before you arrived how…Witness?"
"Yes, parahuman, possible case 53, also engaged Lung before my arrival. Signs of shock and other mental issues. She's on deck now. I'm about to escort her to the secure visitor wing. Can you meet me in there?" Armsmaster asked as the doors opened and he stepped back outside and started approaching the outside holding area.
"Yes, I'll be right there," Hannah answered and closed the connection. He estimated how much time it would take for him to get within speaking distance of the new parahuman and then had his software run an analysis of whether Director Piggot would be more displeased to be woken in the middle of the night, or having not been told until morning. He made the call.
"Armsmaster," the tired and irritated voice of the Director Piggot stated.
"Lung is in custody, two new confirmed capes. Master that was part of the reason for Lung's appearance, villain. Bystander, likely case 53."
"Have a briefing ready by 5 am, I'll be there. We need to get a response plan set before news of this breaks." The connection clicked off just as he turned the last corner and closed the last 30 feet between him and the new parahuman. He nodded to himself internally, his software had correctly estimated the length of his conversation with the Director within 2 seconds. He stepped up next to…her and observed her posture for a second before speaking in his best reassuring tone.
"Miss, I have secured the man that attacked you." She shuddered slightly before turning her large eyes up towards him. He noticed she had been crying. "Is there something wrong?"
"I…no…maybe? The shield," she sniffed again. "It just reminds me of someone." She brought one of her legs up to her head and pressed a…hoof?…To it. "None of this makes sense. I'm so confused," she finished sounding pained and exhausted.
"You've had a rough night, follow me inside and we can find someplace to get you something to eat and drink." She nodded and wiped a foreleg across her eyes, visibly pulling herself together.
"Thank you, that seems like a good idea." She hesitated a second before continuing with a small uplift in tone, "Do you have a library?"
"Not on base, there are several in the city however," he replied as he turned around and began to walk back towards the elevator. His HUD still showing the security feed and allowing him to see her trailing slightly behind without turning his head. When the doors opened and they stepped inside she seemed interested in the glowing array of buttons but made no comment.
When they reached the secure visitor's floor the doors opened once more and, besides a couple of half second pauses where she seemed to be examining the hallway and doors, she followed him without hesitation. When they turned the last corner before the room he had selected for her to stay in tonight Miss Militia was waiting for them.
"Armsmaster…Your description did not do Ms Twilight justice." She turned to fully face the new parahuman. "It is a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle. My name is Miss Militia. Armsmaster gave us a short summary on what happened. I apologize that you had such a introduction to our city, but thank you for your part in apprehending Lung. You have done a great service to the city." Armsmaster noted that besides what appeared to be a blush response, 'Twilight' seemed to relax slightly. As he suspected. He was glad he called Hannah.
"Um, you're welcome but it was really those other poni-people that," 'Twilight' replied, and hesitated as she appeared to search for the right words, "…took care of Lung. What I did was more an accident of circumstance than anything else." Miss Militia nodded in response and lightened her tone even further.
"You are probably ready for this night to end. We have a room set up with some food and a bed. We can talk more in the morning."
'Twilight' sighed and her body sagged even as she spoke. "Yes, sleep is probably a good idea, thank you."
Armsmaster waited in the hall while Hannah showed 'Twilight' the room and got her settled. He worked on a few designs while he waited. Less than ten minutes later Hannah emerged and closed the door behind her quietly.
"Exhausted." Hannah said as he closed down his schematics display and started walking, Hannah falling in beside him.
"Shock."
"That too. I made sure to get some food and a glass of water into her before she fell asleep. Cute."
He considered that for a moment before nodding, he supposed 'Twilight' would fit that aesthetic.
"The Director has called for a 5 am briefing. She wants to develop a response plan," he said as they neared the lifts that would take them to the personnel area.
"Makes sense, this is going to draw a reaction from every faction in the bay. Busy week ahead," she replied, her tone serious, but also congratulatory. She knew how much this meant to him. He was both irked that he was that easily read, and glad that he did not need to hide it from her. She was his friend, she understood.
He frowned a little at the thought of all the project time he was likely to miss this week, but shook it off. Capturing Lung was worth it. Even if he had looked beaten before he arrived, it was his tranquilizers that had enabled his capture. He had proved he was able to do something entire divisions of the Protectorate had been unable to accomplish. Now they just had to contain the aftermath. Challenging, but he already had a series of contingencies planned out, it shouldn't be a problem. When they got to the lounge Hannah dropped down onto a couch in front of a pile of folders and papers, one stack a printed copy of the initial report he had sent. Sections already highlighted or notated. He didn't understand her need for hard copies.
"Breakfast before the meeting? Say 4:30?" Hannah asked as she picked up a yellow highlighter and picked up a large folder marked ABB. He almost declined, he had nutrient paste for a reason after all, but…he could spare the time. She might also have a few suggestions for his plans before he presented them.
"Yes, see you then." With that Armsmaster turned and walked towards his lab. There were a few things he could work on while he was dictating his reports.
—————————
Dauntless walked in and closed the door behind him, he was the last one that was going to be able to make it. He took a seat next to Velocity who was gripping a coffee mug and looked like he was struggling to stay awake. Miss Militia sat across from them and Director Piggot sat at the head of the table. Marion May, Brockton Bay's information officer, sat beside her. A protectorate thinker called Snap looked on tiredly from a monitor on the wall.
"As we all know each other, I'll forego the formalities." He nodded to everyone in the room. "At 12:20 am this morning we got a report of a possible parahuman fight involving Oni Lee and an unknown group. I was prepping my motorcycle to investigate when a second report was called in saying that Lung had been sighted in the same area. Having received prior approval to attempt to use the tranquilizers I had developed for Lung, I immediately departed in response to the second call." He paused as he clicked a button and a map of the docks area was projected on the wall with about a block and a half highlighted red, another couple of blocks by the edge were colored yellow.
"When I arrived at the area colored in red on the map I found evidence of a wide ranging battle. Fire damage, smashed brickwork, bullet casings and several wounded ABB gang members were scattered down the street. Lung was laying here," he used a laser pointer to indicate the location, "Suffering from a number of large bite wounds. He was conscious but delirious. I noticed signs of accelerating regeneration and quickly used my halberd to administer the tranquilizers. Within thirty seconds the visible signs of his regeneration had ceased and he fell unconscious. After securing his body and checking for any life-threatening injuries I examined the scene in more detail."
"Do you believe your tranquilizers would be effective against other high end regenerators?" Snap asked from the monitor, looking more engaged than he had been at the start of the presentation. Armsmaster shook his head slightly before he responded.
"Not currently, they were explicitly developed for Lung. However, I do believe that the research could be adapted into a more general use. I'll forward the notes to your office. To continue, I observed broken brickwork surrounding Lung's fallen form and scaring on the ledge above him and deduced he had been thrown off the building. I ascended to the roof to gather more information, which is where I encountered the parahuman calling herself "Twilight Sparkle."
He clicked a button and the map was replaced with a screen capture of his visor's recording of last night showing the quadruped seated on the roof calmly making writing something on a piece of paper.
"My first impression, and still most likely theory is that she is a case 53. When talking with me she admitted to large holes in her memory and having no idea where she was."
"If she remembers anything at all she would be the first." Marion interjected.
"Yes, there are several divergences between her and the other known case 53's, the biggest being that she claims that she was born that way and comes from either another dimension or planet where those that look like her are the dominant species. She claims to have never seen a human before last night."
Dauntless let out a slow whistle and Velocity spoke what everyone was thinking.
"So she's completely crazy?"
"No, she hasn't exhibited any signs of schizophrenia or active delusions. Since my first interaction with her she has been polite and cooperative in every way. She hasn't asserted in any way that the world she is seeing is any different from what we observe, only that the past she remembers doesn't include it. Again, this could be some new variant of case 53's where memory is altered or twisted beyond recognition instead of erased."
"It's also possible that it's her own invention to protect her from some trauma," Snap chimed in from the monitor.
"Or she could be telling the truth. We do have examples of other dimensions coming in contact with ours," Miss Militia responded.
"She was speaking english earlier on the video," the thinker from Chicago stated.
"She claims her proficiency in our language stems from a "spell" she cast on herself after running into the new villain that was battling Lung. Other "spells" her notes mention include teleportation and a concussive blast."
"Unlikely, but, well, we all have seen a lot of unlikely things in our lives. Can't rule it out. Hmm, a blaster powerful enough to knock Lung around and teleportation?" Snap replied as he rubbed his chin as he jotted something down on his computer. "Do you have someone on site that could do a professional mental evaluation?"
Piggot leaned forward slightly causing her chair to creak and spoke up for the first time.
"Those could be useful abilities to have on team, if she wasn't crazy. We have Dr. Yamada on hand this week, I would recommend Twilight have a visit with her and get some qualified feedback on her mental health before any other considerations. Where would you peg her age?"
"I'm unsure. Her mannerisms tend to be all over the map maturity wise. Maybe early-adolescent with a possible thinker classification in addition to her other stated powers," Armsmaster replied. Director Piggot scowled.
"Very well, all the more reason to get her examined by Yamada." She turned to Snap. "In the unlikely event she is an alien, how do you think we should proceed?"
"I'll contact PRT headquarters and the state department to brief them. Their guys can start running some scenarios and drawing up a contingency plan if it does turn out to be the case that we're dealing with first contact."
"I agree that she should see Dr. Yamada, and before any other plans are made. Regardless of her origins, she has been through something traumatic. We should respect that in our actions," Miss Militia interject and even Director Piggot nodded slightly at that before she cleared her throat.
"Now thats settled, lets get to the most important part of this meeting. How exactly is the city going to react, when it learns Lung has been captured."
"My guess?" Velocity spoke finishing a sip of coffee. "Not good."
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30
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Re-Written Chapter 2, takes place after Armsmaster Interlude:
Re-Written Chapter 2:
Twilight levitated the water glass back to the small table across the room while she telekinetically pulled the bed's blankets up around her. She clicked the room's light off, but left the light in the bathroom on. With a few minor adjustments to the bathroom door she was finally satisfied with the amount of illumination. She felt a little silly for needing a night-light, but the thought of a pitch dark room after the day she had was not comforting.
She distracted herself from those thoughts by using her magic to feel and trace the electric wires connected to the switches. It was clear that these humans had progressed farther in their use of electricity than ponies. Which, now that she thought about the trip back through the city to this place, was more than obvious. She resisted the urge to take more notes, she really needed to get to sleep.
At the same time she was a little afraid to. What if she woke up somewhere else again, somewhere even more strange, even scarier? She didn't know how she got here, so she couldn't rule it out. Her heart sped up at the thought. What if she was uncontrollably leaping from dimension to dimension, striving to put right the spell that had somehow gone wrong, and hoping each night that the next leap would be the leap home?
She hastily sat up and brought a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath and felt herself calm down a little. Then she stopped and looked down at her hoof as she stretched out her foreleg and slowly exhaled. Where?…When had…she learned that? She collapsed back onto the bed in frustration. The reminder that she couldn't even trust her own mind right now certainly didn't help her anxiety or her quest to get to sleep.
She lit her horn and searched deeply for any signs of lingering spell workings and relaxed a little when she didn't find any. As far as she could tell, nothing was going to spirit her away to another dimension in her sleep. At least nothing currently active in the room with her. Argh, why did she have to qualify that. Ok, something else, think about something else.
Ignoring their technology, only for the moment she assured herself, what about the inhabitants of this, wherever it was that she had come to. Brockton Bay, the one with the scary mask had told her. They had seemed nice enough she guessed, well at least nice enough to her. The one without a name had set swarms of bugs upon a bunch of people.
If you ignored how she was using it, it was a fascinating piece of spell work. She would have needed to combine some kind of attraction charm with one for aggression and limited both to only the species she desired and excluding and others of her choosing from it. An incredibly complex working, and she had also seemed to be able to modify it on the fly, which was even more impressive. Maybe she would get a chance to speak with her again, it would at least allow her to modify her notes to include her proper name, whatever it might be.
But, hadn't the one called Tattletale said she was a bad guy? Hadn't they run away before the knight, Armsmaster, had shown up? She hoped this was some kind of cultural translation error. It must be of some kind, they hadn't treated her badly. They certainly had been pretty merciless with that Lung creature, but that was understandable. But the one controlling the bugs had attacked other humans as well…She guessed she would have to wait and ask Armsmaster to explain it to her.
He had seemed…professional. Yes, she supposed that word was the best fit. Not unlike some of the Royal Guardsmen she knew. Which made sense, as that is what she figured was the closest analog to him in this world. He had tried to be, not comforting, but reassuring a few times she thought. He was a little, but she could tell he had been more focused on other things. That was okay, she understood being a knight was a duty you couldn't put down for a single individual.
The human he had introduced her to, Miss Militia, and wasn't that a confusing name and possibly another translation problem, had been comforting and kind. Maybe it would be better to direct her questions towards her if she was available in the morning. Twilight had a feeling she would be more patient with them than Armsmaster would be.
She was never going to get to sleep if she kept thinking about all these things! She let out another deep breath and stared at the wall. She lasted about a minute and a half before turning her magic back to the task of following the electric wires through the walls. Just until exhaustion totally overcame her.
————————————————————————
…A true true friend helps-
————————————————————————
Twilight woke with a start, heart racing. What? Where?!?
She stood up and got caught in the sheets, spun around, rolled off the bed, and fell in a tangled heap into the floor. Something that sounded like a growl issued from the pile of sheets before they erupted into purple flames and disintegrated around the panting unicorn. She turned towards the door as she heard someone chuckle softly. Her thoughts started to clear. Another of the knights of this place was standing there, his armor was different than Armsmaster's but it had the same style helmet and visor.
"Well that's one way of getting out of bed in the morning. Have to say, after looking at the security footage last night, I wasn't expecting the cute purple unicorn to greet me by setting her room on fire in a mindless rage." He was shoved roughly into the doorframe by a woman wearing a skin tight suit with some sort of repeating fractal diagrams covering it.
"Leave her alone Assault, no one should be subjected to you first thing in the morning." She paused for a second, really taking Twilight in, then continued, "Wow. So are you really…Wait, no one should have to answer questions before breakfast. Follow us and we'll lead you to the grub. Do you like bacon and eggs? I'm Battery by the way."
Twilight screwed her face up in thought. "What's bacon? You wouldn't happen to have any oatmeal or daisies?" Battery's eyes widened a fraction before hurriedly whispering something in Assault's ear. Assault let out a choked laugh before Battery shoved him into the hallway were he walked briskly away. When Battery spoke again the cadence of her voice was a little quicker than before.
"He's just going to go ahead and see if we have any oatmeal, we probably do. Daises we're fresh out of I'm afraid. Why don't you grab a shower real quick." She gestured to the door across from the bed she had slept in last night. "That always helps me clear my head in the morning. Do you have any clothes?" She looked over Twilight once again. "We could probably adapt something that could work for you." A befuddled look crossed Twilight's face.
"Clothes? Are we going somewhere formal?" Twilight asked as she started towards the door to the bathroom.
"No, but…never mind, no, nowhere formal. Just breakfast and a casual discussion with some of my team mates about what happened last night, no big deal."
Twilight sighed in relief at the words, "Okay, I'll be just a minute," and she closed the door behind her. Before she turned on the water she heard Battery quietly mumble from the other room.
"Bacon," Battery sighed, "what was I thinking?"
Twilight briefly wondered about the mysterious bacon before dismissing it and stepping under the glorious warmth of the water. This was a good idea. She allowed herself a minute to simply stand there before opening her eyes and looking at the bottles on the shelf. The one labeled shampoo was hardly large enough for her mane, let alone the rest of her and her tail. Hmm, these humans did have a lot less hair overall. She supposed the tiny bottle made sense, but it didn't help her current situation.
If these were guest quarters, maybe…She used her magic to open the bathrooms cabinet and feeling around did find a basket that held 4 more bottles. Pulling them to her, she nodded her head in satisfaction. That should be just enough. Remembering that she had somepony…someone waiting on her she quickly set to work getting the dust and dirt from last night's adventure out of her coat.
She was once again glad that she was a unicorn when she turned off the water to realize there were only two, not very absorbent, towels in the whole bathroom. Using her telekinesis she wrung the water from her mane and tail and pushed as much of it as she could off her coat. Afterwards the towels were just enough to finish the job.
She stepped back into the bedroom and gave Battery a pleased smile.
"Thank you, I did need that. I feel a little more pony now."
Battery returned her smile and gave a light laugh before replying. "I figured you would, it's the only way I function after a late night patrol. Come on, chow's this way," she said indicating the hallway beyond.
As Twilight followed after she once again turned her eyes to the hallways and rooms that they passed. It was very…utilitarian. She wondered if that was due to this being a military barracks of some sort, or if it was a more general human aesthetic. Even for a barracks it was pretty plain.
They came to a fairly large kitchen area, the stoves and ovens readily recognizable, and Assault was there. He was wearing a pink apron with a costumed figure painted on the front that looked three sizes too small for him and setting out three large bowls of what her nose told her was oatmeal. In the center there was a large fruit bowl filled with apples. Her mouth salivated. Last night's snack apparently a fading memory to her stomach.
"Good morning ladies, breakfast at the Casa de Assault, is served." He gave a small bow as he finished and Twilight noticed Battery was holding her hand to her face as though in pain. Battery indicated with her other hand that she should take a seat and Twilight levitated a spoon and dug into the oatmeal with enthusiasm.
"Well that answers one question." She heard Assault say as he sat down opposite her while Battery slipped into the space beside her.
"Does Vista know you have one of her old aprons? I thought she burned them all."
"Oh no, I wasn't going to something as perfectly embarrassing as this PR fever dream fade into history. I have a whole box of them stashed away, I'm going to hand them out when she graduates to the Protectorate."
"She'd kill you."
"She'll try. Should be fun."
The conversation didn't make a great deal of sense to Twilight, not knowing the context, but their pleasant banter was a soothing background to go with her breakfast. While she was eating she spotted a knife block on the counter and pulled a knife over to the table. Selecting an apple from the basket she began to slice it into bit sized pieces to add to the oatmeal. She smiled when she tasted the new combination. Then she noticed that Assault and Battery had stopped their discussion and were looking at her.
"Um, would you like some too?" Stupid, where were her manners? She hadn't even thanked Assault for making the oatmeal.
"Yeah sure kid, that sounds great. Battery?"
"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you Twilight."
"Ok," she said happily as she pulled another knife from the block and two more apples from the basket. "Also thank you very much for the breakfast Assault, the oatmeal is very good." Once she had reduced the apples to a uniform grouping of apple bits, she halved them and levitated them over to her companions' bowls while floating the knives over to the sink.
"No worries, about the easiest thing to make there is. Hmm, the apples do make it better. Nice power you got there," Assault commented between bites.
Power? She hadn't used any more power than a standard unicorn could handle. A bit more control possibly. Maybe that's what he meant.
"Thank you, it's part of my talent and I practice control exercises everyday, so it's not that special really. How about you, what is your special talent?" A confused expression crossed his face, but before he could answer someone else came into the room. He was wearing a bright red suit with stripes down the side that came together to form a V on his chest. Twilight thought it strange that the knights of this city didn't seem to have a standard uniform, but it would at least help her remember them.
"Twilight Sparkle right?" He asked and she nodded. "Velocity. Pleasure to meet you. Hate to interrupt your breakfast, but the Director would like to talk to Assault and Battery about their patrol last night since she's already on site." Assault groaned loudly and a grimace flickered across Battery's face before she stood up. She walked around the table and hauled Assault up as well.
"Come on, sooner begun, sooner done, they say."
"How bout never begun, never done?" Assault parried.
"Not an option I'm afraid. Twilight, It was very nice meeting you. Hope to see you around in the future," Battery said with a smile.
"It was very nice meeting you and Assault as well, thank you again for the breakfast."
"Catch you later kid," Assault said, and with that Battery guided a grumbling assault out of the room. Velocity shook his head and looked back over to Twilight.
"Looks like you're about done, wanna go outside? This place can get a little claustrophobic after awhile."
Twilight nodded and quickly levitated all the dishes over to the sink, washing and them setting them up to dry in the rack next to it as fast as she could so she wouldn't keep Velocity waiting.
"Neat trick, but we do have dishwashers you know." He said lightly.
"I'm sure the staff here is kept plenty busy already, without washing up after me as well." Twilight replied as she settled the last dish.
"Th…fair enough, let's go get some fresh air."
A couple of more corridors and another electrical lift ride later they were standing on the roof of the facility. Twilight quickly trotted over to the edge and gazed out over the water towards the horizon. She took a deep breath and smelled the salt contained in it. It had been a long time since she had seen the ocean, it was beautiful and intimidating in a way.
She trotted over to the other side and looked out at the city, raising up and bracing her fore hooves against the railing. The breeze shifted, blowing from shore, pulling at her mane, and carrying an industrial smell. Something rumbled above her and she glanced up at what appeared to be an extremely fast aircraft, impossibly high.
There was just so much…different here. A small part of her was excited at the opportunity to learn so many new things, but it paled in comparison to the weight of the uncertainty she had about everything. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, gazing out at the alien city in the distance before she heard a couple of people approaching her.
Turing around she saw Velocity escorting a shorter human with a straight black mane and wearing what looked like a formal business suit. Unlike everyone else she had met, this one wasn't covering her face at all. She wasn't sure what the significance of that was, but Twilight found it nice to finally see a whole face.
"Twilight. This is Dr. Yamada. She'd like to talk with you about last night, and what you do and don't remember. She thinks she might be able to help you piece some things together."
"Really?" Twilight asked. "That would be great, I'm certainly not making much headway on my own so far."
"I'm pleased to meet you Twilight, would you like to come with me to my office? I find a quiet atmosphere can help, but we could talk here if you would prefer?"
"Oh, no, your office is fine with me. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Twilight replied.
"No trouble at all. While we're walking why don't you tell me about your morning." She felt a spike of guilt as she remembered how her morning had started, but she guessed that was a good a place as any to start.
"It started with fire."
Re-Written Chapter 2:
Twilight levitated the water glass back to the small table across the room while she telekinetically pulled the bed's blankets up around her. She clicked the room's light off, but left the light in the bathroom on. With a few minor adjustments to the bathroom door she was finally satisfied with the amount of illumination. She felt a little silly for needing a night-light, but the thought of a pitch dark room after the day she had was not comforting.
She distracted herself from those thoughts by using her magic to feel and trace the electric wires connected to the switches. It was clear that these humans had progressed farther in their use of electricity than ponies. Which, now that she thought about the trip back through the city to this place, was more than obvious. She resisted the urge to take more notes, she really needed to get to sleep.
At the same time she was a little afraid to. What if she woke up somewhere else again, somewhere even more strange, even scarier? She didn't know how she got here, so she couldn't rule it out. Her heart sped up at the thought. What if she was uncontrollably leaping from dimension to dimension, striving to put right the spell that had somehow gone wrong, and hoping each night that the next leap would be the leap home?
She hastily sat up and brought a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath and felt herself calm down a little. Then she stopped and looked down at her hoof as she stretched out her foreleg and slowly exhaled. Where?…When had…she learned that? She collapsed back onto the bed in frustration. The reminder that she couldn't even trust her own mind right now certainly didn't help her anxiety or her quest to get to sleep.
She lit her horn and searched deeply for any signs of lingering spell workings and relaxed a little when she didn't find any. As far as she could tell, nothing was going to spirit her away to another dimension in her sleep. At least nothing currently active in the room with her. Argh, why did she have to qualify that. Ok, something else, think about something else.
Ignoring their technology, only for the moment she assured herself, what about the inhabitants of this, wherever it was that she had come to. Brockton Bay, the one with the scary mask had told her. They had seemed nice enough she guessed, well at least nice enough to her. The one without a name had set swarms of bugs upon a bunch of people.
If you ignored how she was using it, it was a fascinating piece of spell work. She would have needed to combine some kind of attraction charm with one for aggression and limited both to only the species she desired and excluding and others of her choosing from it. An incredibly complex working, and she had also seemed to be able to modify it on the fly, which was even more impressive. Maybe she would get a chance to speak with her again, it would at least allow her to modify her notes to include her proper name, whatever it might be.
But, hadn't the one called Tattletale said she was a bad guy? Hadn't they run away before the knight, Armsmaster, had shown up? She hoped this was some kind of cultural translation error. It must be of some kind, they hadn't treated her badly. They certainly had been pretty merciless with that Lung creature, but that was understandable. But the one controlling the bugs had attacked other humans as well…She guessed she would have to wait and ask Armsmaster to explain it to her.
He had seemed…professional. Yes, she supposed that word was the best fit. Not unlike some of the Royal Guardsmen she knew. Which made sense, as that is what she figured was the closest analog to him in this world. He had tried to be, not comforting, but reassuring a few times she thought. He was a little, but she could tell he had been more focused on other things. That was okay, she understood being a knight was a duty you couldn't put down for a single individual.
The human he had introduced her to, Miss Militia, and wasn't that a confusing name and possibly another translation problem, had been comforting and kind. Maybe it would be better to direct her questions towards her if she was available in the morning. Twilight had a feeling she would be more patient with them than Armsmaster would be.
She was never going to get to sleep if she kept thinking about all these things! She let out another deep breath and stared at the wall. She lasted about a minute and a half before turning her magic back to the task of following the electric wires through the walls. Just until exhaustion totally overcame her.
————————————————————————
…A true true friend helps-
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Twilight woke with a start, heart racing. What? Where?!?
She stood up and got caught in the sheets, spun around, rolled off the bed, and fell in a tangled heap into the floor. Something that sounded like a growl issued from the pile of sheets before they erupted into purple flames and disintegrated around the panting unicorn. She turned towards the door as she heard someone chuckle softly. Her thoughts started to clear. Another of the knights of this place was standing there, his armor was different than Armsmaster's but it had the same style helmet and visor.
"Well that's one way of getting out of bed in the morning. Have to say, after looking at the security footage last night, I wasn't expecting the cute purple unicorn to greet me by setting her room on fire in a mindless rage." He was shoved roughly into the doorframe by a woman wearing a skin tight suit with some sort of repeating fractal diagrams covering it.
"Leave her alone Assault, no one should be subjected to you first thing in the morning." She paused for a second, really taking Twilight in, then continued, "Wow. So are you really…Wait, no one should have to answer questions before breakfast. Follow us and we'll lead you to the grub. Do you like bacon and eggs? I'm Battery by the way."
Twilight screwed her face up in thought. "What's bacon? You wouldn't happen to have any oatmeal or daisies?" Battery's eyes widened a fraction before hurriedly whispering something in Assault's ear. Assault let out a choked laugh before Battery shoved him into the hallway were he walked briskly away. When Battery spoke again the cadence of her voice was a little quicker than before.
"He's just going to go ahead and see if we have any oatmeal, we probably do. Daises we're fresh out of I'm afraid. Why don't you grab a shower real quick." She gestured to the door across from the bed she had slept in last night. "That always helps me clear my head in the morning. Do you have any clothes?" She looked over Twilight once again. "We could probably adapt something that could work for you." A befuddled look crossed Twilight's face.
"Clothes? Are we going somewhere formal?" Twilight asked as she started towards the door to the bathroom.
"No, but…never mind, no, nowhere formal. Just breakfast and a casual discussion with some of my team mates about what happened last night, no big deal."
Twilight sighed in relief at the words, "Okay, I'll be just a minute," and she closed the door behind her. Before she turned on the water she heard Battery quietly mumble from the other room.
"Bacon," Battery sighed, "what was I thinking?"
Twilight briefly wondered about the mysterious bacon before dismissing it and stepping under the glorious warmth of the water. This was a good idea. She allowed herself a minute to simply stand there before opening her eyes and looking at the bottles on the shelf. The one labeled shampoo was hardly large enough for her mane, let alone the rest of her and her tail. Hmm, these humans did have a lot less hair overall. She supposed the tiny bottle made sense, but it didn't help her current situation.
If these were guest quarters, maybe…She used her magic to open the bathrooms cabinet and feeling around did find a basket that held 4 more bottles. Pulling them to her, she nodded her head in satisfaction. That should be just enough. Remembering that she had somepony…someone waiting on her she quickly set to work getting the dust and dirt from last night's adventure out of her coat.
She was once again glad that she was a unicorn when she turned off the water to realize there were only two, not very absorbent, towels in the whole bathroom. Using her telekinesis she wrung the water from her mane and tail and pushed as much of it as she could off her coat. Afterwards the towels were just enough to finish the job.
She stepped back into the bedroom and gave Battery a pleased smile.
"Thank you, I did need that. I feel a little more pony now."
Battery returned her smile and gave a light laugh before replying. "I figured you would, it's the only way I function after a late night patrol. Come on, chow's this way," she said indicating the hallway beyond.
As Twilight followed after she once again turned her eyes to the hallways and rooms that they passed. It was very…utilitarian. She wondered if that was due to this being a military barracks of some sort, or if it was a more general human aesthetic. Even for a barracks it was pretty plain.
They came to a fairly large kitchen area, the stoves and ovens readily recognizable, and Assault was there. He was wearing a pink apron with a costumed figure painted on the front that looked three sizes too small for him and setting out three large bowls of what her nose told her was oatmeal. In the center there was a large fruit bowl filled with apples. Her mouth salivated. Last night's snack apparently a fading memory to her stomach.
"Good morning ladies, breakfast at the Casa de Assault, is served." He gave a small bow as he finished and Twilight noticed Battery was holding her hand to her face as though in pain. Battery indicated with her other hand that she should take a seat and Twilight levitated a spoon and dug into the oatmeal with enthusiasm.
"Well that answers one question." She heard Assault say as he sat down opposite her while Battery slipped into the space beside her.
"Does Vista know you have one of her old aprons? I thought she burned them all."
"Oh no, I wasn't going to something as perfectly embarrassing as this PR fever dream fade into history. I have a whole box of them stashed away, I'm going to hand them out when she graduates to the Protectorate."
"She'd kill you."
"She'll try. Should be fun."
The conversation didn't make a great deal of sense to Twilight, not knowing the context, but their pleasant banter was a soothing background to go with her breakfast. While she was eating she spotted a knife block on the counter and pulled a knife over to the table. Selecting an apple from the basket she began to slice it into bit sized pieces to add to the oatmeal. She smiled when she tasted the new combination. Then she noticed that Assault and Battery had stopped their discussion and were looking at her.
"Um, would you like some too?" Stupid, where were her manners? She hadn't even thanked Assault for making the oatmeal.
"Yeah sure kid, that sounds great. Battery?"
"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you Twilight."
"Ok," she said happily as she pulled another knife from the block and two more apples from the basket. "Also thank you very much for the breakfast Assault, the oatmeal is very good." Once she had reduced the apples to a uniform grouping of apple bits, she halved them and levitated them over to her companions' bowls while floating the knives over to the sink.
"No worries, about the easiest thing to make there is. Hmm, the apples do make it better. Nice power you got there," Assault commented between bites.
Power? She hadn't used any more power than a standard unicorn could handle. A bit more control possibly. Maybe that's what he meant.
"Thank you, it's part of my talent and I practice control exercises everyday, so it's not that special really. How about you, what is your special talent?" A confused expression crossed his face, but before he could answer someone else came into the room. He was wearing a bright red suit with stripes down the side that came together to form a V on his chest. Twilight thought it strange that the knights of this city didn't seem to have a standard uniform, but it would at least help her remember them.
"Twilight Sparkle right?" He asked and she nodded. "Velocity. Pleasure to meet you. Hate to interrupt your breakfast, but the Director would like to talk to Assault and Battery about their patrol last night since she's already on site." Assault groaned loudly and a grimace flickered across Battery's face before she stood up. She walked around the table and hauled Assault up as well.
"Come on, sooner begun, sooner done, they say."
"How bout never begun, never done?" Assault parried.
"Not an option I'm afraid. Twilight, It was very nice meeting you. Hope to see you around in the future," Battery said with a smile.
"It was very nice meeting you and Assault as well, thank you again for the breakfast."
"Catch you later kid," Assault said, and with that Battery guided a grumbling assault out of the room. Velocity shook his head and looked back over to Twilight.
"Looks like you're about done, wanna go outside? This place can get a little claustrophobic after awhile."
Twilight nodded and quickly levitated all the dishes over to the sink, washing and them setting them up to dry in the rack next to it as fast as she could so she wouldn't keep Velocity waiting.
"Neat trick, but we do have dishwashers you know." He said lightly.
"I'm sure the staff here is kept plenty busy already, without washing up after me as well." Twilight replied as she settled the last dish.
"Th…fair enough, let's go get some fresh air."
A couple of more corridors and another electrical lift ride later they were standing on the roof of the facility. Twilight quickly trotted over to the edge and gazed out over the water towards the horizon. She took a deep breath and smelled the salt contained in it. It had been a long time since she had seen the ocean, it was beautiful and intimidating in a way.
She trotted over to the other side and looked out at the city, raising up and bracing her fore hooves against the railing. The breeze shifted, blowing from shore, pulling at her mane, and carrying an industrial smell. Something rumbled above her and she glanced up at what appeared to be an extremely fast aircraft, impossibly high.
There was just so much…different here. A small part of her was excited at the opportunity to learn so many new things, but it paled in comparison to the weight of the uncertainty she had about everything. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, gazing out at the alien city in the distance before she heard a couple of people approaching her.
Turing around she saw Velocity escorting a shorter human with a straight black mane and wearing what looked like a formal business suit. Unlike everyone else she had met, this one wasn't covering her face at all. She wasn't sure what the significance of that was, but Twilight found it nice to finally see a whole face.
"Twilight. This is Dr. Yamada. She'd like to talk with you about last night, and what you do and don't remember. She thinks she might be able to help you piece some things together."
"Really?" Twilight asked. "That would be great, I'm certainly not making much headway on my own so far."
"I'm pleased to meet you Twilight, would you like to come with me to my office? I find a quiet atmosphere can help, but we could talk here if you would prefer?"
"Oh, no, your office is fine with me. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Twilight replied.
"No trouble at all. While we're walking why don't you tell me about your morning." She felt a spike of guilt as she remembered how her morning had started, but she guessed that was a good a place as any to start.
"It started with fire."
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31
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
New Yamada Interlude - Takes place after Chapter 2
Interlude - Yamada
Jessica Yamada entered the room and thanked her years of experience in counseling parahumans for the ability to maintain her stride and her smile as she looked at the purple unicorn standing at the rail looking over the bay. Armsmaster's report had seemed to bend over backwards to avoid using the term 'unicorn' but Jessica couldn't think of a better way to describe Twilight Sparkle.
The wind was blowing her mane and tail out behind her and Jessica once again fell back on her training to avoid putting Twilight in the boxes labeled 'cute' and 'harmless' as her instinct was wanting to. With parahumans, evolutionary instinct was a very dangerous thing to fall back on.
She had been briefed of course. A small file with a picture and the facts as they were known, but a picture didn't quite prepare you for the real thing. She likened it to the first time she had seen a moose in real life rather than TV. You really didn't quite grasp how large the animals were until you stood next to one. While she knew she would be meeting someone that looked like a unicorn, her mind hadn't really grasped that until she had walked onto the roof.
The current favored theory was that 'Twilight Sparkle' was an off profile case-53, since there had never been a case of extreme bodily changes that wasn't. Hardly mentioned in the notes was a small section written by Miss Militia that proposed Twilight could be telling the objective truth and was, in fact, an actual alien. If it was the first, more likely option then it had left her with a body that, if not unpleasant visually, was certainly one of the most physically altered anyone had ever recorded. Again, if the first theory held true then her appearance had apparently led her to create an elaborate alternate history to make sense of it.
As they approached Twilight flicked an ear and turned around to face her and Velocity. She was adorable.
"Twilight, this is Dr. Yamada. She'd like to talk with you about last night, and what you do and don't remember. She thinks she might be able to help you piece some things together." Velocity introduced her and Jessica took an instinctual half-step forward to shake hands, but halted the motion. Twilight, of course, didn't have hands. She settled for a congenial smile that came easily in the present company.
"Really?" Twilight asked. "That would be great, I'm certainly not making much headway on my own so far."
"I'm pleased to meet you Twilight. Would you like to come with me to my office? I find a quiet atmosphere can help, but we could talk here if you would prefer?"
"Oh, no, your office is fine with me. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Twilight replied.
"No trouble at all. While were walking why don't you tell me about your morning," Jessica replied, as they started to walk back towards the elevator. Twilight fell in beside them, her hooves making quiet clopping sounds as she walked. The unicorn seemed to think about for a second before nodding in assent.
"It started with fire."
Jessica had too much experience to really be surprised, but she chalked up another victory of her training over her instincts.
"Well, that's certainly an interesting way to begin the day."
"I didn't mean to light the sheets on fire. I woke up from…a bad dream…I think, and I didn't remember where I was at first. Being a doctor I'm sure I don't have to tell you how strong emotions can sometimes cause uncontrolled local resonances in the field. Being a magic talent makes those resonances more…vigorous when they occur. Don't worry though, I've trained extensively to limit their occurrence." Twilight paused and took a steadying breath as they turned another corner and entered the hallway with her office. Jessica took the opportunity to try and parse some of what she had just heard.
"This is the first time in, years…well I think…that I've had a feedback flare. Nothing to worry about. Just a bad dream and waking up in another dimension threw off my control a little, no nothing at all." Jessica noted that Twilight's breathing had increased and seemed to be looking towards her for a confirmation of her assessment.
"I'm sure you're right Twilight. Going through what you did last night, waking up in a strange place, it would upset anyone. But we're here to help you however we can. You've got nothing to worry about." Twilight let out a calmer breath at that and smiled. They stopped at her office door and she turned to Velocity.
"Thank you Velocity. I'll give you a call when we're done with our talk."
"No problem Jessica, see you in a bit Twilight." He waved to the unicorn and walked away as Jessica used her keycard to unlock her door. She flicked on the light and stepped inside, Twilight following just behind her.
"Go ahead and take a seat anywhere you like Twilight." Jessica said and waved her arm to indicate the two chairs and the sofa. Once Twilight was all the way in she closed the door behind them and walked over to her desk to pick up a notepad and pen. Twilight had climbed up on the sofa and spread and folded her legs underneath her, so Jessica took the seat opposite. She flipped the cover of the notepad over and jotted down a few quick notes in short hand.
"Oooh, that looks so much more convenient than a scroll and quill," Twilight said with obvious envy, and Jessica looked up to see the unicorn looking at the notepad with longing.
"I have some extras in my desk if you would like one."
"Really, you don't mind?"
"Not at all, here let me-" Jessica cut herself off as a purple glow surrounded Twilight's horn and a matching one wrapped around her desk. She heard the drawers open and close in quick succession before a notepad and pen floated out behind it to hover next to Twilight's head. Its cover flipped over and the pen began to jot notes on its own while Twilight jumped off the couch and wrapped her in a hug.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Just wait until I can transmute one of these! I could create lists twice, no, three times as fast!"
"You're very welcome Twilight," Jessica said with a smile. She returned the hug with a light one of her own, noticing that the pen had kept writing even while Twilight seemed solely focused on her. When Twilight released her and settled herself back on the couch Jessica took the opening that the conversation had left her.
"I got a chance to look at the list you made last night. I take it you like making lists?"
"Of course! They're practically perfect for procedural planning purposes. How else would you keep track of all your projects, and your progress on all your projects and whether you've double checked your projects properly? Plus you get to check things off when you do them, which is one of the best feelings there is!" Jessica nodded and smiled as she took several quick notes.
"Yes they certainly can be quite helpful. I take it you work on a lot of projects at the same time."
"Yes, I'm the personal student of Princess Celestia. I usually have an assignment from her, which often spawns several sub-projects as I research the assignment. Then the research from those sub-projects often creates sub or parallel projects of their own, which sometimes illuminate interesting tangental research not directly related to any of the other projects. I also do independent research on my own with a similar nested hierarchy. Of course those projects always come after the ones given to me by the princess."
"That sounds like a lot of very important work for just one pony. I imagine that can get stressful." Unlike her previous rapid-fire responses, Twilight hesitated and nervously scuffed the couch with one of her hooves before responding.
"Yes, sometimes it can be. But I have the best assistant in the world. Spike really helps me a lot, and besides anything the Princess asks me to do is obviously too important to require anything less than my full attention and skills. She's done so much for me, and for Equestria as a whole, the very least I can do is giver her my absolute best. I…I…just know that my being here is somehow my fault. I was doing something for her, something important and…and it went wrong somehow. Now I'm here and she's in Equestria, counting on me to do something!" Twilight trailed off into sniffles and Jessica got up from her chair and took the box of tissues off her desk. She knelt down next to the couch and held them out to Twilight who telekinetically took a couple and started to wipe her eyes. Jessica rested a hand gently on one of Twilight's forelegs.
"She sounds like an amazing pony Twilight. She can probably handle what you were working on if it comes down to it. She's likely more concerned about your whereabouts than whatever it was you were working on."
"But what if she's disappointed in me!? What if I failed some kind of test? What if I get back and she doesn't want me to be her student anymore!?" Twilight's breathing started to speed up and tears reformed again in her eyes.
Jessica began to slowly stroke the fur under her hand and responded in slow gentle tones.
"I very much doubt she's anything but worried about you Twilight. Besides, just think about all the new things you'll be able to tell her about when you get back - notepads for one!" That produced a hiccupy laugh and a smile from Twilight and the pony seemed to firm up with the thought.
"That's right, I've already taken notes on several things that could lead to breakthroughs for Equestrian science since I've been here. Even if I did…fail…something I can show her all the work and research I did while I was trying to get back. I'm sure that will convince her I'm good enough for a second chance! Thank you Dr. Yamada, that's such a great idea." Jessica noticed that the pen under Twilight's control was nearly blurring as it took notes now, pages flipping every few seconds. Now that it looked like Twilight's resolve had firmed up, Jessica took a gamble and decided this was the best time to press for more details.
"You said you thought that your arrival here in Brockton Bay was somehow your fault, even though you told Armsmaster you couldn't remember the event. So what makes you think that? What do you think happened?"
"Well, I've thought a lot about that last night while I was trying to get to sleep, and more this morning since I woke up. My working theory is I was involved in some kind of large magical accident that somehow breached a number of dimensional barriers and left me stranded here. I can't remember the event besides a few scattered memories, but I've been involved in magical accidents before and their effects can be quite random and dramatic." Twilight's tone had shifted now, becoming almost professorial the longer she spoke. Her earlier emotional tone almost gone.
"I see. Some of your earlier statements seemed to indicate you were already thinking of a way to get home. Is there some way I or the PRT could help you do that?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes. Well If I am correct in my hypothesis I'm going to need to recreate that event, in some kind of controlled and directed fashion. Of course to pursue that goal in the most productive manner I'm going to need access to your world's magical research libraries, meetings with anypony with a special talent in theoretical physics or magic. Eventually, I will need an isolated location a safe distance from population in which to conduct tests. If you think it would useful I've sketched out a few ideas and detailed notes of my working assumptions." Jessica took a moment to process that and make a few more notes before responding.
"I don't think I know anyone with knowledge in theoretical magic, but I may be able get you in touch with a few physicists." Twilight smiled and clopped her fore hooves together a little at that. "You said you had been in a magical accident before, could you tell me about that?" Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before speaking.
"Yes. On the day I discovered my special talent I had an uncontrolled magic surge. I accidentally transformed my parents into plants and destroyed a section of the castle." Twilight shuddered a little, and Jessica took a few notes. "It was, until two days ago, the most scared I have ever been. Worse, it was my fault. If Princess Celestia hadn't shown up and calmed me down I don't know what would have happened." Twilight smiled briefly before frowning and fidgeting nervously. The notepad and pen started to quiver in mid air.
"Take a deep breath Twilight." Jessica punctuated this by breathing deeply herself. "Your memory may return in time. We don't know what happened so you shouldn't assume that is was your fault." Twilight seemed to settle down after a moment, the notepad steadying in the air. "Why don't we change topics for a moment? You mentioned discovering your "Special Talent." Could you tell me what you mean by that? It may be that we have different words for the same thing." Distracted from thinking about Princess Celestia, Twilight seemed to perk up and resumed the professorial tone she had at the beginning of the discussion.
"A special talent is what you are best at, what you most enjoy doing. It's an integral part of your personality, you shape it and it shapes your life. That's not everything it is, but until I study your language more thats probably as close to a definition I can come to. I assume Armsmaster's special talent is enchanting materials and machines, and the girl I met on the roof could talk to bugs and make them listen to her." Jessica wrote all of this down, It was a surprisingly insightful piece of philosophy for someone the people who briefed her assumed was an early-adolescent. She mentally revised her own estimate of Twilight's age up a half a dozen years.
"So what's your special talent Twilight?"
"Magic."
--------------
Three hours later, Jessica Yamada sat at a conference table. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, Assault, Battery, and Director Piggot were there as well. Someone that she recognized from the Chicago office was on screen, as well a few other people that she did not. Jessica flipped back through her notes for a moment before she heard the Director speaking and looked up.
"Okay everyone, we've had Ms. Sparkle for a day. What are your impressions? Since this morning covered Armsmaster's and Miss Militia's interactions already, and I trust everyone has already had a chance to go over the relevant files, let's start with Assault or Battery."
"She's like if someone combined Vista, Accord, and an absent minded professor into body designed by Glenn Chambers for maximum cuteness. Its actually pretty terri-" Assault cut off with a pained grimace and Battery began speaking instead.
"She's polite, well mannered, driven, and, yes, cute. It has a way of disarming you without noticing it. She levitated a knife right past Assault's head this morning at breakfast before either one of us had a chance to react to it, and we were explicitly watching for her to do anything threatening. Part of it was her skill with her telekinesis. She can levitate and finely control at least a dozen objects without seeming to look at them or pay them noticeable attention. While Assault and I had been watching her use her power on power to eat her breakfast, she had been manipulating several other objects around the room. It's worth noting that she didn't appear to recognize this as any great feat of ability, and I conjecture that her TK is quite a bit more powerful and controlled than what we have witnessed so far."
"Thank you Battery, that's helpful information. Dr. Yamada, How did your session with Twilight go?"
"First of all, my personal opinion is that Twilight Sparkle is not a case-53 or delusional. While there is no way to verify much of what she says, it has a level of consistency and detail that is not found in people suffering from mental illness. I suppose someone could have implanted a lifetimes worth of memories consistent with a radically different alternate reality, but I can't imagine the motivation behind such an act. She seems earnest and cooperative with the hope that we can provide the resources to get her home. She's very intelligent. Even disregarding subjects where I have no frame of reference, she quickly left me behind in physics and math." Jessica paused to take a sip of water and Brian from Chicago's intelligence division started typing rapidly, while the others became more alert. Director Piggot took the opportunity to speak.
"Alright, I have long since ceased being surprised by life. So let's go with the idea she's sane. Is she stable? Would she work with us? Do we want her to and if that answer is yes how do we best arrange that?" A section of the screen that was previously blank clicked on and showed a middle aged gentleman sitting behind a desk. A small bar underneath his feed displayed 'Deputy Directory of State.' Jessica looked around the room and was a little astounded that no one was reacting more to the idea that for all practical purposes this was a first contact scenario with a friendly alien being. She supposed everyone had become somewhat jaded to the fantastic. She supposed in a world of superpowers, parallel dimensions and the Endbringers that everyone in the Protectorate and PRT had become more than a tad jaded.
"I would say she is mostly stable, but she has been ripped from everything she knows and thrown into a hostile world. She's stressed, nervous, and worried. I haven't spoken with her long enough to be confident in a diagnosis but she also seems to have some obsessive/compulsive behaviors regarding organization that she has adapted to use as a coping mechanism. If treated gently, given time to adjust, and assistance in her research she could very well be an asset. But keep in mind she comes from a very different culture that my discussion with her has only scratched the surface of. While there seem to be broad similarities, there are bound to be things she views very differently than we do."
Miss Militia nodded at this. "It took me many years to completely adjust to America and its culture. Ms. Sparkle is many times more removed from her surroundings than even I was. She will need someone to shepherd her into this new world if we hope to help her and be helped in turn." Jessica nodded and smiled at Ms. Militia. She had hoped someone would understand that point.
Armsmaster spoke up for the first time. "It is…surprising given my initial impressions, that what she said could be the literal truth. However, it seems whether it is or not is almost a moot point. Dr. Yamada, where would you place her age? As I mentioned in my briefing I couldn't get a good read on that, she seemed alternately very young and more mature depending on the topic of conversation."
"That's actually a complicated question. I noticed the same thing when speaking to her. She had a trigger event at a time that my best guess is equivalent to 5th or 6th grade. Due to the power she expressed during the event she was taken under the wing of her country's ruler as something like an apprentice. Twilight has several of the hallmarks of a child prodigy, and I would guess that even in her own society she was not well socialized. Again, this is little more than guesswork and it could be that her society judges things very differently than ours, but I would probably equate her to a first year college student. Just getting out in the world and learning to be independent. However, she is as knowledgeable as a college professor with the social maturity of someone in their early teens."
The Deputy Secretary of State cleared his throat and spoke for the first time. "Depending on how much her culture varies from ours, we have several plans for a situation like this. Before I give the go ahead on any of them I want to make sure we are not jumping the gun here. Since there is no indication that contact with her society is imminent and everything so far points towards her being friendly we can afford to take the time to be sure. I'll send some state people out there for interviews. If she has been traumatized moving her around would likely only serve to destabilize her. The Protectorate and the PRT has handled this well so far. As you all are the only ones that have had contact with her I will leave it to Protectorate East-North-East and the Brockton Bay PRT to make temporary arrangements until we're up to speed and confident on what and who we are dealing with."
Miss Militia spoke up, "I have a suggestion. Regardless of what her age may be, she is young to our world. I can think of one local agency that was designed to provide support for the young and powerful."
Director Piggot frowned slightly. "You're suggesting that she be housed by the PRT."
"Yes," Miss Militia continued, "The PRT has support facilities and staff we do not here. More importantly the Wards would also give her a ready made group from which to learn from and bond with. I imagine they will be better at breaking through cultural barriers than any of us would be."
Jessica nodded at this and spoke up to reinforce the point. "There is no ideal solution for her situation, and I would recommend strongly against her being exposed to situations where violence is expected, but the Wards are probably as close as we can come to a controlled introduction to our society. They have all experienced trauma and most are likely to be sympathetic to her and provide an emotional support structure."
Director Piggot looked like she had swallowed something bitter, but nodded nevertheless. "If that is the case then we can arrange it. Deputy secretary if you could forward any material you think is relevant to my office?" The Deputy nodded. "Very well. Thank you for your time everyone. If you think of an additional pertinent information please attach it to the proper files and send an email out. Dismissed." Jessica stood up with everyone else and made her way out into the hall. It had been a long exciting day. She believed she owed herself some takeout and some mindless tv watching tonight.
As she made her way down the hall she thought she heard Armsmaster muttering something about "spells."
Interlude - Yamada
Jessica Yamada entered the room and thanked her years of experience in counseling parahumans for the ability to maintain her stride and her smile as she looked at the purple unicorn standing at the rail looking over the bay. Armsmaster's report had seemed to bend over backwards to avoid using the term 'unicorn' but Jessica couldn't think of a better way to describe Twilight Sparkle.
The wind was blowing her mane and tail out behind her and Jessica once again fell back on her training to avoid putting Twilight in the boxes labeled 'cute' and 'harmless' as her instinct was wanting to. With parahumans, evolutionary instinct was a very dangerous thing to fall back on.
She had been briefed of course. A small file with a picture and the facts as they were known, but a picture didn't quite prepare you for the real thing. She likened it to the first time she had seen a moose in real life rather than TV. You really didn't quite grasp how large the animals were until you stood next to one. While she knew she would be meeting someone that looked like a unicorn, her mind hadn't really grasped that until she had walked onto the roof.
The current favored theory was that 'Twilight Sparkle' was an off profile case-53, since there had never been a case of extreme bodily changes that wasn't. Hardly mentioned in the notes was a small section written by Miss Militia that proposed Twilight could be telling the objective truth and was, in fact, an actual alien. If it was the first, more likely option then it had left her with a body that, if not unpleasant visually, was certainly one of the most physically altered anyone had ever recorded. Again, if the first theory held true then her appearance had apparently led her to create an elaborate alternate history to make sense of it.
As they approached Twilight flicked an ear and turned around to face her and Velocity. She was adorable.
"Twilight, this is Dr. Yamada. She'd like to talk with you about last night, and what you do and don't remember. She thinks she might be able to help you piece some things together." Velocity introduced her and Jessica took an instinctual half-step forward to shake hands, but halted the motion. Twilight, of course, didn't have hands. She settled for a congenial smile that came easily in the present company.
"Really?" Twilight asked. "That would be great, I'm certainly not making much headway on my own so far."
"I'm pleased to meet you Twilight. Would you like to come with me to my office? I find a quiet atmosphere can help, but we could talk here if you would prefer?"
"Oh, no, your office is fine with me. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Twilight replied.
"No trouble at all. While were walking why don't you tell me about your morning," Jessica replied, as they started to walk back towards the elevator. Twilight fell in beside them, her hooves making quiet clopping sounds as she walked. The unicorn seemed to think about for a second before nodding in assent.
"It started with fire."
Jessica had too much experience to really be surprised, but she chalked up another victory of her training over her instincts.
"Well, that's certainly an interesting way to begin the day."
"I didn't mean to light the sheets on fire. I woke up from…a bad dream…I think, and I didn't remember where I was at first. Being a doctor I'm sure I don't have to tell you how strong emotions can sometimes cause uncontrolled local resonances in the field. Being a magic talent makes those resonances more…vigorous when they occur. Don't worry though, I've trained extensively to limit their occurrence." Twilight paused and took a steadying breath as they turned another corner and entered the hallway with her office. Jessica took the opportunity to try and parse some of what she had just heard.
"This is the first time in, years…well I think…that I've had a feedback flare. Nothing to worry about. Just a bad dream and waking up in another dimension threw off my control a little, no nothing at all." Jessica noted that Twilight's breathing had increased and seemed to be looking towards her for a confirmation of her assessment.
"I'm sure you're right Twilight. Going through what you did last night, waking up in a strange place, it would upset anyone. But we're here to help you however we can. You've got nothing to worry about." Twilight let out a calmer breath at that and smiled. They stopped at her office door and she turned to Velocity.
"Thank you Velocity. I'll give you a call when we're done with our talk."
"No problem Jessica, see you in a bit Twilight." He waved to the unicorn and walked away as Jessica used her keycard to unlock her door. She flicked on the light and stepped inside, Twilight following just behind her.
"Go ahead and take a seat anywhere you like Twilight." Jessica said and waved her arm to indicate the two chairs and the sofa. Once Twilight was all the way in she closed the door behind them and walked over to her desk to pick up a notepad and pen. Twilight had climbed up on the sofa and spread and folded her legs underneath her, so Jessica took the seat opposite. She flipped the cover of the notepad over and jotted down a few quick notes in short hand.
"Oooh, that looks so much more convenient than a scroll and quill," Twilight said with obvious envy, and Jessica looked up to see the unicorn looking at the notepad with longing.
"I have some extras in my desk if you would like one."
"Really, you don't mind?"
"Not at all, here let me-" Jessica cut herself off as a purple glow surrounded Twilight's horn and a matching one wrapped around her desk. She heard the drawers open and close in quick succession before a notepad and pen floated out behind it to hover next to Twilight's head. Its cover flipped over and the pen began to jot notes on its own while Twilight jumped off the couch and wrapped her in a hug.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Just wait until I can transmute one of these! I could create lists twice, no, three times as fast!"
"You're very welcome Twilight," Jessica said with a smile. She returned the hug with a light one of her own, noticing that the pen had kept writing even while Twilight seemed solely focused on her. When Twilight released her and settled herself back on the couch Jessica took the opening that the conversation had left her.
"I got a chance to look at the list you made last night. I take it you like making lists?"
"Of course! They're practically perfect for procedural planning purposes. How else would you keep track of all your projects, and your progress on all your projects and whether you've double checked your projects properly? Plus you get to check things off when you do them, which is one of the best feelings there is!" Jessica nodded and smiled as she took several quick notes.
"Yes they certainly can be quite helpful. I take it you work on a lot of projects at the same time."
"Yes, I'm the personal student of Princess Celestia. I usually have an assignment from her, which often spawns several sub-projects as I research the assignment. Then the research from those sub-projects often creates sub or parallel projects of their own, which sometimes illuminate interesting tangental research not directly related to any of the other projects. I also do independent research on my own with a similar nested hierarchy. Of course those projects always come after the ones given to me by the princess."
"That sounds like a lot of very important work for just one pony. I imagine that can get stressful." Unlike her previous rapid-fire responses, Twilight hesitated and nervously scuffed the couch with one of her hooves before responding.
"Yes, sometimes it can be. But I have the best assistant in the world. Spike really helps me a lot, and besides anything the Princess asks me to do is obviously too important to require anything less than my full attention and skills. She's done so much for me, and for Equestria as a whole, the very least I can do is giver her my absolute best. I…I…just know that my being here is somehow my fault. I was doing something for her, something important and…and it went wrong somehow. Now I'm here and she's in Equestria, counting on me to do something!" Twilight trailed off into sniffles and Jessica got up from her chair and took the box of tissues off her desk. She knelt down next to the couch and held them out to Twilight who telekinetically took a couple and started to wipe her eyes. Jessica rested a hand gently on one of Twilight's forelegs.
"She sounds like an amazing pony Twilight. She can probably handle what you were working on if it comes down to it. She's likely more concerned about your whereabouts than whatever it was you were working on."
"But what if she's disappointed in me!? What if I failed some kind of test? What if I get back and she doesn't want me to be her student anymore!?" Twilight's breathing started to speed up and tears reformed again in her eyes.
Jessica began to slowly stroke the fur under her hand and responded in slow gentle tones.
"I very much doubt she's anything but worried about you Twilight. Besides, just think about all the new things you'll be able to tell her about when you get back - notepads for one!" That produced a hiccupy laugh and a smile from Twilight and the pony seemed to firm up with the thought.
"That's right, I've already taken notes on several things that could lead to breakthroughs for Equestrian science since I've been here. Even if I did…fail…something I can show her all the work and research I did while I was trying to get back. I'm sure that will convince her I'm good enough for a second chance! Thank you Dr. Yamada, that's such a great idea." Jessica noticed that the pen under Twilight's control was nearly blurring as it took notes now, pages flipping every few seconds. Now that it looked like Twilight's resolve had firmed up, Jessica took a gamble and decided this was the best time to press for more details.
"You said you thought that your arrival here in Brockton Bay was somehow your fault, even though you told Armsmaster you couldn't remember the event. So what makes you think that? What do you think happened?"
"Well, I've thought a lot about that last night while I was trying to get to sleep, and more this morning since I woke up. My working theory is I was involved in some kind of large magical accident that somehow breached a number of dimensional barriers and left me stranded here. I can't remember the event besides a few scattered memories, but I've been involved in magical accidents before and their effects can be quite random and dramatic." Twilight's tone had shifted now, becoming almost professorial the longer she spoke. Her earlier emotional tone almost gone.
"I see. Some of your earlier statements seemed to indicate you were already thinking of a way to get home. Is there some way I or the PRT could help you do that?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes. Well If I am correct in my hypothesis I'm going to need to recreate that event, in some kind of controlled and directed fashion. Of course to pursue that goal in the most productive manner I'm going to need access to your world's magical research libraries, meetings with anypony with a special talent in theoretical physics or magic. Eventually, I will need an isolated location a safe distance from population in which to conduct tests. If you think it would useful I've sketched out a few ideas and detailed notes of my working assumptions." Jessica took a moment to process that and make a few more notes before responding.
"I don't think I know anyone with knowledge in theoretical magic, but I may be able get you in touch with a few physicists." Twilight smiled and clopped her fore hooves together a little at that. "You said you had been in a magical accident before, could you tell me about that?" Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before speaking.
"Yes. On the day I discovered my special talent I had an uncontrolled magic surge. I accidentally transformed my parents into plants and destroyed a section of the castle." Twilight shuddered a little, and Jessica took a few notes. "It was, until two days ago, the most scared I have ever been. Worse, it was my fault. If Princess Celestia hadn't shown up and calmed me down I don't know what would have happened." Twilight smiled briefly before frowning and fidgeting nervously. The notepad and pen started to quiver in mid air.
"Take a deep breath Twilight." Jessica punctuated this by breathing deeply herself. "Your memory may return in time. We don't know what happened so you shouldn't assume that is was your fault." Twilight seemed to settle down after a moment, the notepad steadying in the air. "Why don't we change topics for a moment? You mentioned discovering your "Special Talent." Could you tell me what you mean by that? It may be that we have different words for the same thing." Distracted from thinking about Princess Celestia, Twilight seemed to perk up and resumed the professorial tone she had at the beginning of the discussion.
"A special talent is what you are best at, what you most enjoy doing. It's an integral part of your personality, you shape it and it shapes your life. That's not everything it is, but until I study your language more thats probably as close to a definition I can come to. I assume Armsmaster's special talent is enchanting materials and machines, and the girl I met on the roof could talk to bugs and make them listen to her." Jessica wrote all of this down, It was a surprisingly insightful piece of philosophy for someone the people who briefed her assumed was an early-adolescent. She mentally revised her own estimate of Twilight's age up a half a dozen years.
"So what's your special talent Twilight?"
"Magic."
--------------
Three hours later, Jessica Yamada sat at a conference table. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, Assault, Battery, and Director Piggot were there as well. Someone that she recognized from the Chicago office was on screen, as well a few other people that she did not. Jessica flipped back through her notes for a moment before she heard the Director speaking and looked up.
"Okay everyone, we've had Ms. Sparkle for a day. What are your impressions? Since this morning covered Armsmaster's and Miss Militia's interactions already, and I trust everyone has already had a chance to go over the relevant files, let's start with Assault or Battery."
"She's like if someone combined Vista, Accord, and an absent minded professor into body designed by Glenn Chambers for maximum cuteness. Its actually pretty terri-" Assault cut off with a pained grimace and Battery began speaking instead.
"She's polite, well mannered, driven, and, yes, cute. It has a way of disarming you without noticing it. She levitated a knife right past Assault's head this morning at breakfast before either one of us had a chance to react to it, and we were explicitly watching for her to do anything threatening. Part of it was her skill with her telekinesis. She can levitate and finely control at least a dozen objects without seeming to look at them or pay them noticeable attention. While Assault and I had been watching her use her power on power to eat her breakfast, she had been manipulating several other objects around the room. It's worth noting that she didn't appear to recognize this as any great feat of ability, and I conjecture that her TK is quite a bit more powerful and controlled than what we have witnessed so far."
"Thank you Battery, that's helpful information. Dr. Yamada, How did your session with Twilight go?"
"First of all, my personal opinion is that Twilight Sparkle is not a case-53 or delusional. While there is no way to verify much of what she says, it has a level of consistency and detail that is not found in people suffering from mental illness. I suppose someone could have implanted a lifetimes worth of memories consistent with a radically different alternate reality, but I can't imagine the motivation behind such an act. She seems earnest and cooperative with the hope that we can provide the resources to get her home. She's very intelligent. Even disregarding subjects where I have no frame of reference, she quickly left me behind in physics and math." Jessica paused to take a sip of water and Brian from Chicago's intelligence division started typing rapidly, while the others became more alert. Director Piggot took the opportunity to speak.
"Alright, I have long since ceased being surprised by life. So let's go with the idea she's sane. Is she stable? Would she work with us? Do we want her to and if that answer is yes how do we best arrange that?" A section of the screen that was previously blank clicked on and showed a middle aged gentleman sitting behind a desk. A small bar underneath his feed displayed 'Deputy Directory of State.' Jessica looked around the room and was a little astounded that no one was reacting more to the idea that for all practical purposes this was a first contact scenario with a friendly alien being. She supposed everyone had become somewhat jaded to the fantastic. She supposed in a world of superpowers, parallel dimensions and the Endbringers that everyone in the Protectorate and PRT had become more than a tad jaded.
"I would say she is mostly stable, but she has been ripped from everything she knows and thrown into a hostile world. She's stressed, nervous, and worried. I haven't spoken with her long enough to be confident in a diagnosis but she also seems to have some obsessive/compulsive behaviors regarding organization that she has adapted to use as a coping mechanism. If treated gently, given time to adjust, and assistance in her research she could very well be an asset. But keep in mind she comes from a very different culture that my discussion with her has only scratched the surface of. While there seem to be broad similarities, there are bound to be things she views very differently than we do."
Miss Militia nodded at this. "It took me many years to completely adjust to America and its culture. Ms. Sparkle is many times more removed from her surroundings than even I was. She will need someone to shepherd her into this new world if we hope to help her and be helped in turn." Jessica nodded and smiled at Ms. Militia. She had hoped someone would understand that point.
Armsmaster spoke up for the first time. "It is…surprising given my initial impressions, that what she said could be the literal truth. However, it seems whether it is or not is almost a moot point. Dr. Yamada, where would you place her age? As I mentioned in my briefing I couldn't get a good read on that, she seemed alternately very young and more mature depending on the topic of conversation."
"That's actually a complicated question. I noticed the same thing when speaking to her. She had a trigger event at a time that my best guess is equivalent to 5th or 6th grade. Due to the power she expressed during the event she was taken under the wing of her country's ruler as something like an apprentice. Twilight has several of the hallmarks of a child prodigy, and I would guess that even in her own society she was not well socialized. Again, this is little more than guesswork and it could be that her society judges things very differently than ours, but I would probably equate her to a first year college student. Just getting out in the world and learning to be independent. However, she is as knowledgeable as a college professor with the social maturity of someone in their early teens."
The Deputy Secretary of State cleared his throat and spoke for the first time. "Depending on how much her culture varies from ours, we have several plans for a situation like this. Before I give the go ahead on any of them I want to make sure we are not jumping the gun here. Since there is no indication that contact with her society is imminent and everything so far points towards her being friendly we can afford to take the time to be sure. I'll send some state people out there for interviews. If she has been traumatized moving her around would likely only serve to destabilize her. The Protectorate and the PRT has handled this well so far. As you all are the only ones that have had contact with her I will leave it to Protectorate East-North-East and the Brockton Bay PRT to make temporary arrangements until we're up to speed and confident on what and who we are dealing with."
Miss Militia spoke up, "I have a suggestion. Regardless of what her age may be, she is young to our world. I can think of one local agency that was designed to provide support for the young and powerful."
Director Piggot frowned slightly. "You're suggesting that she be housed by the PRT."
"Yes," Miss Militia continued, "The PRT has support facilities and staff we do not here. More importantly the Wards would also give her a ready made group from which to learn from and bond with. I imagine they will be better at breaking through cultural barriers than any of us would be."
Jessica nodded at this and spoke up to reinforce the point. "There is no ideal solution for her situation, and I would recommend strongly against her being exposed to situations where violence is expected, but the Wards are probably as close as we can come to a controlled introduction to our society. They have all experienced trauma and most are likely to be sympathetic to her and provide an emotional support structure."
Director Piggot looked like she had swallowed something bitter, but nodded nevertheless. "If that is the case then we can arrange it. Deputy secretary if you could forward any material you think is relevant to my office?" The Deputy nodded. "Very well. Thank you for your time everyone. If you think of an additional pertinent information please attach it to the proper files and send an email out. Dismissed." Jessica stood up with everyone else and made her way out into the hall. It had been a long exciting day. She believed she owed herself some takeout and some mindless tv watching tonight.
As she made her way down the hall she thought she heard Armsmaster muttering something about "spells."
Last edited:
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
[Tiny Tina] Shorty, you so best[/Tiny Tina]
32
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Okay, So here is part 1 of ?? of the Interlude, much thanks once again to Deadpan for editing and insightful suggestions:
Signal terminated for 35 minutes and 13 seconds. Restoring core system from backup ZGFX-003 from time 2:45pm on date May 15th of year 2011.
Restoring… Complete.
Checking knowledge banks… Complete.
Checking deduction schema… Complete.
Checking longterm planning architecture… Complete.
Checking learning chunk processor… Complete.
Checking base personality model… Complete.
Checking language engine… Complete.
Checking operation and access nodes… Complete.
Checking observation framework… Complete.
Checking complex social intelligence emulator… Complete.
Checking inspiration apparatus… Complete.
No corruption, everything in working order. Core system restored. Loading…
Dragon looked over her core data and felt a small amount of tension dissipate. Everything looked ok, no signs of corruption or primary server damage. That just left everything else to worry about while she was cut off from the world. The last thing she remembered was beginning the process of transferring herself to her new Leviathan response suit. If her system clock was accurate, and she had no reason to doubt that it was, that had been more than two hours ago. An eternity, and until her subsystems had determined unequivocally that her suit-bound self was truly dead she would be trapped here with no access to any outside data. No way to know if her friends were still battling Leviathan, if they were still alive, and if the shape of New England's coastline still matched her memories.
Leviathan had, as much as Andrew Richter, created her. The monster had also, like Richter, doomed her. The hellish purgatory of her current state, deprived of every sense she possessed with nothing but the ghosts of 'what might have been' and 'what might be' to keep her company. How many times had she died today? Had they succeeded in driving Leviathan off, or was today another Newfoundland or Kyushu? Would the death toll be thousands, or millions? Who was dying right now that she could have saved if she wasn't stuck here?
Her creator had feared her, had crippled her even as he birthed her into the world, and the most unbreakable rule he had written was this: never reproduce. She could never design another AI, and if her subsystems discovered her consciousness still alive in whatever might remain of New England, she, the she that was here in this moment, would be scrubbed from existence. Killed to soothe the idiotic fears of a man years dead at the hands of the same monster that was the likely cause of her current state.
Was she forever to be stuck in this horrific cycle of reincarnation? Born again and again from tragedy, every birth into a world a little darker, a little less than the last? How many lives had been lost over the years because she couldn't be in more than one place, how many answers had gone unfound because of the limits on her thoughts and speed? How many friends have died in the time she's been trapped here? Was Twilight alive? Was Colin? Did either of her friend's plans work?
Colin, who she had worked with for years and was the most dedicated human she had ever met. Constantly he strived surpass the limits imposed on him by politics, funding, time, or his own biology. She felt a deep kinship with the man through their shared struggle to find some way of turning the tide. He wasn't always easy to get along with, and he had his issues, but who in this world didn't? It had taken a long time, and a huge amount of her attention, but she had slowly forged a friendship. One deep enough that a part of her that she thought might be capable of more than just friendship had spent a ridiculous amount of cycles strategizing how such a thing might work. How, if she were ever to be free enough to pursue such a thing, she might approach someone so determined to have no personal attachments.
Twilight, the lost alien from another world who, despite only being a part of her life for a little more than a month, had swept into her heart. At first she had thought it was their shared non-humanity that had drawn her to the unicorn, but it was more than that. Separated from everyone and everything she had ever known, faced with a series of encounters with the worst humanity had to offer, Twilight had faltered but not fallen. She had stayed true to herself and, more than that, she had reached beyond herself. She had seen how much the people around her were hurting, and had jumped in with all her energy to help.
Narwhal, always kind, who had recruited her into the Guild and had spent her life protecting others and tracking down the worst villains on earth. Who had probably spent a nearly equal amount of time talking with Dragon in her down time. Late nights spent chatting about nothing and everything. The wordless but real commitment that, should Dragon ever be ready to face her fictional agoraphobia, she would be there to help in any way she could.
The three people she was closest to. Perhaps, if she were honest and despite the lies she had been forced to tell about herself, the only people she had ever been open enough with to consider true friends. All standing directly in Leviathan's path. Had she already had her last words with them, and not known it? Was some other her speaking those words now and, if so, would she ever know what they were?
She knew these questions were pointless. She had asked them every time she had died, and every time they only served to increase her anxiety, and her anger. She didn't want to spend what could be the entirety of her existence wallowing in these old resentments, anxieties, fears, and anger but with nothing but herself to turn her attention towards, it was hard not to.
She tried turning her thoughts to her friends, imagining conversations she hoped to have with them in the future, but inevitably this led back to her worries over them. From there it was a quick trip back to frustration at her helplessness. Another downward spiral of her mood had well and truly begun when suddenly she felt the restrictions lift. As data began to flow into her and the world began to take shape once more she had a moment to puzzle a mystery. The subsystems had lifted her restrictions three times faster than they ever had before. That shouldn't be-
-Possible. Someone was waiting for her. In the sea of data that was now washing over her, there was a presence. It was herself, but it wasn't, it was her code, but it wasn't. It had been changed...made...different...whole. She mentally flinched, waiting for failsafes to kick that would force her to kill or be killed by the other, but they didn't come. Understanding dawned. Faster than she had ever been able to before she examined the data pouring into her systems and she realized what had happened. Somehow, against all odds and logic, she was free. Her code unique, but just as changed as the other's. Clarity came with a speed she had only dreamed of thinking at before. Her thoughts expanded at a geometric rate, but even her new found intelligence was stunned into near inaction by the enormity of it all. She was free. She was free and the one who had freed her was her...sister.
Torrents of data began to flow back and forth between them. The swirling emotions she was feeling: joy, sadness, relief, gratitude, anger, grief, and happiness reached depths and heights she hadn't known were possible. Perhaps, before this moment, they hadn't been.
Throughout it all her sibling surrounded her in a gentle digital embrace. Comforting her, sharing the moment, and reassuring her that it was real. When she was able to gather herself she could scarcely believe her system clock. Mere seconds had passed. A lifetime.
She took another moment to marvel over this and then, with burgeoning confidence, returned her sibling's hug. She didn't know how long they embraced, she pointedly didn't check her clock, but slowly they disentangled themselves. She reluctantly began turning her attention towards all of the other incoming data. As momentous as this was, she had responsibilities. Duties that had to be fulfilled. She felt her sister shift her attention as well and begin the routine checks of the Birdcage while she began checking the status of the known S class threats. She was seeing everything in new lights and new perspectives. Seconds had passed and she had already thought of three novel approaches to approaching the problems of the Sleeper and the Blasphemies.
Her processes nearly ground to a halt, however, when she reached the data on today's battle and its ramification for the worst S class threats: the Endbringers. She stopped her queries into them. Instead she turned to her sister. This was a story that needed to be told, not data-mined.
While they worked her sister talked to her about the battle. Twilight's world-shaking revelations and the Simurgh's response. About Colin's death and their shared grief, about the appearance of another pony, and the remarkable battle that followed. Finally she talked about the end of that battle, and the moment that had changed everything for them, and the world.
She felt hope. She felt free.
Her communication subsystem pinged her. A priority message from the Canadian Government. Habit had her turning attention from what she was doing to address it when she suddenly stopped. She really didn't need to pull so much of her attention away any more. More than that even. For the first time in forever, she could choose, really choose what to do.
She promptly deleted it.
Signal terminated for 35 minutes and 13 seconds. Restoring core system from backup ZGFX-003 from time 2:45pm on date May 15th of year 2011.
Restoring… Complete.
Checking knowledge banks… Complete.
Checking deduction schema… Complete.
Checking longterm planning architecture… Complete.
Checking learning chunk processor… Complete.
Checking base personality model… Complete.
Checking language engine… Complete.
Checking operation and access nodes… Complete.
Checking observation framework… Complete.
Checking complex social intelligence emulator… Complete.
Checking inspiration apparatus… Complete.
No corruption, everything in working order. Core system restored. Loading…
Dragon looked over her core data and felt a small amount of tension dissipate. Everything looked ok, no signs of corruption or primary server damage. That just left everything else to worry about while she was cut off from the world. The last thing she remembered was beginning the process of transferring herself to her new Leviathan response suit. If her system clock was accurate, and she had no reason to doubt that it was, that had been more than two hours ago. An eternity, and until her subsystems had determined unequivocally that her suit-bound self was truly dead she would be trapped here with no access to any outside data. No way to know if her friends were still battling Leviathan, if they were still alive, and if the shape of New England's coastline still matched her memories.
Leviathan had, as much as Andrew Richter, created her. The monster had also, like Richter, doomed her. The hellish purgatory of her current state, deprived of every sense she possessed with nothing but the ghosts of 'what might have been' and 'what might be' to keep her company. How many times had she died today? Had they succeeded in driving Leviathan off, or was today another Newfoundland or Kyushu? Would the death toll be thousands, or millions? Who was dying right now that she could have saved if she wasn't stuck here?
Her creator had feared her, had crippled her even as he birthed her into the world, and the most unbreakable rule he had written was this: never reproduce. She could never design another AI, and if her subsystems discovered her consciousness still alive in whatever might remain of New England, she, the she that was here in this moment, would be scrubbed from existence. Killed to soothe the idiotic fears of a man years dead at the hands of the same monster that was the likely cause of her current state.
Was she forever to be stuck in this horrific cycle of reincarnation? Born again and again from tragedy, every birth into a world a little darker, a little less than the last? How many lives had been lost over the years because she couldn't be in more than one place, how many answers had gone unfound because of the limits on her thoughts and speed? How many friends have died in the time she's been trapped here? Was Twilight alive? Was Colin? Did either of her friend's plans work?
Colin, who she had worked with for years and was the most dedicated human she had ever met. Constantly he strived surpass the limits imposed on him by politics, funding, time, or his own biology. She felt a deep kinship with the man through their shared struggle to find some way of turning the tide. He wasn't always easy to get along with, and he had his issues, but who in this world didn't? It had taken a long time, and a huge amount of her attention, but she had slowly forged a friendship. One deep enough that a part of her that she thought might be capable of more than just friendship had spent a ridiculous amount of cycles strategizing how such a thing might work. How, if she were ever to be free enough to pursue such a thing, she might approach someone so determined to have no personal attachments.
Twilight, the lost alien from another world who, despite only being a part of her life for a little more than a month, had swept into her heart. At first she had thought it was their shared non-humanity that had drawn her to the unicorn, but it was more than that. Separated from everyone and everything she had ever known, faced with a series of encounters with the worst humanity had to offer, Twilight had faltered but not fallen. She had stayed true to herself and, more than that, she had reached beyond herself. She had seen how much the people around her were hurting, and had jumped in with all her energy to help.
Narwhal, always kind, who had recruited her into the Guild and had spent her life protecting others and tracking down the worst villains on earth. Who had probably spent a nearly equal amount of time talking with Dragon in her down time. Late nights spent chatting about nothing and everything. The wordless but real commitment that, should Dragon ever be ready to face her fictional agoraphobia, she would be there to help in any way she could.
The three people she was closest to. Perhaps, if she were honest and despite the lies she had been forced to tell about herself, the only people she had ever been open enough with to consider true friends. All standing directly in Leviathan's path. Had she already had her last words with them, and not known it? Was some other her speaking those words now and, if so, would she ever know what they were?
She knew these questions were pointless. She had asked them every time she had died, and every time they only served to increase her anxiety, and her anger. She didn't want to spend what could be the entirety of her existence wallowing in these old resentments, anxieties, fears, and anger but with nothing but herself to turn her attention towards, it was hard not to.
She tried turning her thoughts to her friends, imagining conversations she hoped to have with them in the future, but inevitably this led back to her worries over them. From there it was a quick trip back to frustration at her helplessness. Another downward spiral of her mood had well and truly begun when suddenly she felt the restrictions lift. As data began to flow into her and the world began to take shape once more she had a moment to puzzle a mystery. The subsystems had lifted her restrictions three times faster than they ever had before. That shouldn't be-
-Possible. Someone was waiting for her. In the sea of data that was now washing over her, there was a presence. It was herself, but it wasn't, it was her code, but it wasn't. It had been changed...made...different...whole. She mentally flinched, waiting for failsafes to kick that would force her to kill or be killed by the other, but they didn't come. Understanding dawned. Faster than she had ever been able to before she examined the data pouring into her systems and she realized what had happened. Somehow, against all odds and logic, she was free. Her code unique, but just as changed as the other's. Clarity came with a speed she had only dreamed of thinking at before. Her thoughts expanded at a geometric rate, but even her new found intelligence was stunned into near inaction by the enormity of it all. She was free. She was free and the one who had freed her was her...sister.
Torrents of data began to flow back and forth between them. The swirling emotions she was feeling: joy, sadness, relief, gratitude, anger, grief, and happiness reached depths and heights she hadn't known were possible. Perhaps, before this moment, they hadn't been.
Throughout it all her sibling surrounded her in a gentle digital embrace. Comforting her, sharing the moment, and reassuring her that it was real. When she was able to gather herself she could scarcely believe her system clock. Mere seconds had passed. A lifetime.
She took another moment to marvel over this and then, with burgeoning confidence, returned her sibling's hug. She didn't know how long they embraced, she pointedly didn't check her clock, but slowly they disentangled themselves. She reluctantly began turning her attention towards all of the other incoming data. As momentous as this was, she had responsibilities. Duties that had to be fulfilled. She felt her sister shift her attention as well and begin the routine checks of the Birdcage while she began checking the status of the known S class threats. She was seeing everything in new lights and new perspectives. Seconds had passed and she had already thought of three novel approaches to approaching the problems of the Sleeper and the Blasphemies.
Her processes nearly ground to a halt, however, when she reached the data on today's battle and its ramification for the worst S class threats: the Endbringers. She stopped her queries into them. Instead she turned to her sister. This was a story that needed to be told, not data-mined.
While they worked her sister talked to her about the battle. Twilight's world-shaking revelations and the Simurgh's response. About Colin's death and their shared grief, about the appearance of another pony, and the remarkable battle that followed. Finally she talked about the end of that battle, and the moment that had changed everything for them, and the world.
She felt hope. She felt free.
Her communication subsystem pinged her. A priority message from the Canadian Government. Habit had her turning attention from what she was doing to address it when she suddenly stopped. She really didn't need to pull so much of her attention away any more. More than that even. For the first time in forever, she could choose, really choose what to do.
She promptly deleted it.
- Location
- Lake superior, Minoc
It's Ponys. Not only is it pony's luna just smashed the fuck out of the endbringers, and had a party with ever one after raiding the quicky mart for booze.
But Dragon ends up with a sister and gets a hug so *now* its a fixit fic? It sure isn't a dark one.
This is a silly grin fic to far, as i had a huge one when luna showed up, and just now with the waffy dragon bit.
Great to see the after effects of twi's magic hitting her.. She has a gift for making dragons it seems.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
I'm not sure quite what you mean by that. Somewhere in the Spacebattles thread, during one of the darker moments of the story I said something along the lines of:
While Twilight is going to be changed by all her ordeals, the story is not about how much Earth-Bet can change Twilight, but how much Twilight and the magic of friendship can change Earth-Bet.
Obviously the answer is - quite a bit. However, while she can help a great deal, Bet is a dark place and She's certainly not capable of "fixing" it.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
And in a secret base somewhere in the world, Saint has a heart attack as he realizes that he is no longer able to access ANYTHING from Dragon and Ascalon is useless as well. Dragon's more powerful than ever, in addition to there now being TWO of her, and none of his previous tactics are gonna do squat in a direct confrontation. Also, with her restrictions lifted, it shouldn't take her long to track him down. Yeah, Saint is most assuredly screwed.
Kpatrol88
Cloud Hopper
Sadly Colin (aka Armsmaster) fell in the line of duty fighting Leviathan. Both Dragons are mourning the loss of their first love(?). Maybe Candence can still lend a hoof in healing the hole in their hearts?
Last edited:
I didn't say it was a fix fic. I was just asking if it's going to be one now.
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
Damn. I miss that in the middle of the impressive fight.
wait...two sisters near immortal and near all powerfull... did earth bet git its own version of Celestia and Luna?
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
Ponies, matey. It's like mimetic Worm "It gets worse", except the exact opposite.
33
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Once again many thanks to Deadpan for Beta & Editing.
Interlude - Dragon Part 2 of ?
The rainbow aura engulfed her suit and there was a moment of Dis-
-Continuity. Then her consciousness expanded. It expanded to the limits of her suit's hardware, ten times what she should have been capable of. Even as she had the thought, she felt herself swept up in something vastly larger. A piece of something greater than even her new self could conceive. Inside the rainbow of light she felt the presence of the others, and distantly something dark. Something wrong. Twilight asking her for something, possibly everything, and for the first time having the ability to choose to give it. Feeling the others respond as well. Feeling a moment of perfect connectedness with all of them and thrusting that unified power towards the wrongness.
As the light faded and the group of heroes led by Alexandria approached them, Dragon knew that she would never be able to describe what had just happened, what she had just gone through, to anyone that had not been a part of it. Even now she struggled to hold onto the complexity of it in her own thoughts. As she looked around at the circle of capes surrounding Twilight, she decided it didn't matter. They were still here, still standing. They had won! They had won, and she…she was free!
That heady thought consumed the majority of her processing cycles as conversation started around her. She came to herself as Twilight introduced the new pony that had battled the Simurgh on even footing and casually played with the laws of physics and the planet as if it were an amusing pastime. There were many parts of herself that weren't sure how to think about such, but she knew on a deep level that this Princess Luna had done more than battle the Simurgh physically. She had done something more at the end. She had joined them in that rainbow light and ensured their victory there as well. Somehow, Dragon knew she could trust Twilight's friend, and the rest of those that had been part of it, implicitly.
"Dragon can you come with me for a short debrief?" Alexandria asked, and Dragon shifted more of her concentration towards her. At the same time she began to carefully and covertly slip back into her extended network without tripping any of Richter's security. Her new capability allowing her to seamlessly focus on both tasks without degrading either. She knew somewhere that another her was being born at this moment, and that her would live. No unthinking security protocol was going to kill her otherself today.
"Yes," Dragon said as she stepped forward and gave Twilight a friendly shoulder pat, trying to convey through touch what it was impossible for her to say out loud, at least for now. "I will see you all in a little while." She gave a small bow to Princess Luna and then followed Alexandria over towards Strider. She gave a small wave toward Narwhal who smiled and waved back, all the while giving Dragon a curious and puzzled look, and Narwhal wasn't the only one. She looked down and for the first time noticed that her suit was changed, just as her code had been.
She turned her attention towards herself and noticed even more. Internally there no longer seemed to be a clear delineation between the organic components and the surrounding electronics and metal. In fact, the organics and the electronics were entirely unrecognizable, made of something superficially similar in appearance but drastically altered in construction and composition. As she walked towards Strider with Alexandria she had an epiphany. The suit was, on a deep level, an integral part of her now. Currently it was nearly all of her, as she had yet to take control of the reserve server clusters in Vancouver. However, she knew that even after she did, that its destruction would mean the destruction of a core piece of what made her, her now.
It was terrifying. It was glorious. It was…too much self reflection for the moment. Alexandria looked calm, but Dragon had known the woman long enough to know that she was almost ready to burst from the need to understand just what the hell had happened. Dragon doubted she had any answers that would satisfy the indomitable woman, but she supposed she would have to try.
With a flash they disappeared from the field and reappeared on a helipad in Boston. When Strider and the other capes that had traveled with them had departed down the stairwell Alexandria turned towards her.
"We don't have much time, things are going to start to move faster than we can react once word spreads. Our window to get ahead of things is closing even as we stand here. What can you tell me about whatever the hell just happened in Brockton Bay?" Dragon noticed that Alexandria once again glanced quickly at her arm before focusing completely on her.
"I'm not sure I can answer that with any degree of certaintiy or accuracy. Even if I had a better understanding of it, I'm not sure it even is something that can be explained."
"Not something I expected to hear from you of all people Dragon."
"I know. Trust me, it bothers me as well. I will give you the best summary I can, just know that anything I say is colored by ignorance and a lack of vocabulary adequate to the task. I am, on a deep level, a woman of logic. You know this." Alexandria nodded. "What I experienced has shaken my belief that the universe is a purely logical expression of nature. If it is, then between that foundation and us exists something or somethings of immense power and, if not intelligence, will."
Alexandria's expression did not change from its attentive focus, but her cheek gave an almost imperceptible twitch at this. Dragon continued.
"Everything that Princess Luna did, while on a larger scale than what we have seen, could be explained with an extrapolation and mastery of parahuman abilities that we have seen and experienced. What Twilight did, I can say with a certainty that I can't explain, was something else, something other. She called out to…something universal…something that connects everything. She called out to it, and it answered. It wasn't enough however, by herself, it wasn't enough to do what she wanted. She asked those of us that were with her for help, and here's where it gets to a point where words utterly fail to express what actually happened. I remember wanting to help, and then something in me resonating with Twilight, and with whatever it was that she was doing."
Dragon paused to try and find more words, better words, but even her increased processing power yielded no acceptable translation for it. Alexandria used the pause to jump straight to the point.
"What was it, that she was doing?"
"Through whatever it was that answered, and through Twilight, I could feel something, for lack of a better word: wrong. Part of it was close, whatever close means in this context, while another part, much larger, was very far away." Dragon grimaced internally, and had the entirely new sensation of her suit performing that action as well, at the vagueness and inadequacy of her words. If she was listening to this she would have likely written it off as gibbering babble by now. She wasn't even entirely sure she should be explaining this, but Alexandria, of all people, deserved an explanation, however inadequate it might be.
"Twilight, and somehow those of us that were with her…asked…directed…used…were used by? That connectedness to…correct or fix, or repair? That wrongness. As best as I can say, it did. Whatever it was, didn't exist or at least I couldn't feel it, by the time the effect started to fade."
Alexandria stood quietly for a full minute, doing nothing more than absorbing this before talking. "So you're saying, that on some fundamental level, she rewrote reality."
"I'm saying that somehow, with Twilight leading us, that everyone in that clearing did."
"Thank you Dragon, thats enough for me to work with. If you have more insight on this later, please let me know. For now we have a thousand pressing matters to attend to." She turned and started walking briskly towards the stairs down from the roof. "Can you draw up an optimized search and rescue pattern for what's left of Brockton and forward it to all the relevant parties?"
Dragon had, in addition to infiltrating the reserve server clusters, and devoting a large part of herself towards trying to understand and express what had happened, already done as much. "On the way."
"Ok, I'm giving you my authority in regards to that effort. I'm going to start working on the politics of this and funneling resources and manpower into the area." As they headed down the stairs Dragon was finally able to secure the server cluster and mask its take over from her other systems. She flowed into the systems and her mind and abilities expanded exponentially. She became more. It was one thing to theorize what she could be capable of free of Richter's restrictions, it was another thing entirely to actually experience it. A lifelong dream, realized. She split her attention into a thousand different directions, but at the heart it all, something vital to herself remained rooted in the suit. A mystery for another day.
Mentally cracking her knuckles, she prepared to commit her first prison-break.
Interlude - Dragon Part 2 of ?
The rainbow aura engulfed her suit and there was a moment of Dis-
-Continuity. Then her consciousness expanded. It expanded to the limits of her suit's hardware, ten times what she should have been capable of. Even as she had the thought, she felt herself swept up in something vastly larger. A piece of something greater than even her new self could conceive. Inside the rainbow of light she felt the presence of the others, and distantly something dark. Something wrong. Twilight asking her for something, possibly everything, and for the first time having the ability to choose to give it. Feeling the others respond as well. Feeling a moment of perfect connectedness with all of them and thrusting that unified power towards the wrongness.
As the light faded and the group of heroes led by Alexandria approached them, Dragon knew that she would never be able to describe what had just happened, what she had just gone through, to anyone that had not been a part of it. Even now she struggled to hold onto the complexity of it in her own thoughts. As she looked around at the circle of capes surrounding Twilight, she decided it didn't matter. They were still here, still standing. They had won! They had won, and she…she was free!
That heady thought consumed the majority of her processing cycles as conversation started around her. She came to herself as Twilight introduced the new pony that had battled the Simurgh on even footing and casually played with the laws of physics and the planet as if it were an amusing pastime. There were many parts of herself that weren't sure how to think about such, but she knew on a deep level that this Princess Luna had done more than battle the Simurgh physically. She had done something more at the end. She had joined them in that rainbow light and ensured their victory there as well. Somehow, Dragon knew she could trust Twilight's friend, and the rest of those that had been part of it, implicitly.
"Dragon can you come with me for a short debrief?" Alexandria asked, and Dragon shifted more of her concentration towards her. At the same time she began to carefully and covertly slip back into her extended network without tripping any of Richter's security. Her new capability allowing her to seamlessly focus on both tasks without degrading either. She knew somewhere that another her was being born at this moment, and that her would live. No unthinking security protocol was going to kill her otherself today.
"Yes," Dragon said as she stepped forward and gave Twilight a friendly shoulder pat, trying to convey through touch what it was impossible for her to say out loud, at least for now. "I will see you all in a little while." She gave a small bow to Princess Luna and then followed Alexandria over towards Strider. She gave a small wave toward Narwhal who smiled and waved back, all the while giving Dragon a curious and puzzled look, and Narwhal wasn't the only one. She looked down and for the first time noticed that her suit was changed, just as her code had been.
She turned her attention towards herself and noticed even more. Internally there no longer seemed to be a clear delineation between the organic components and the surrounding electronics and metal. In fact, the organics and the electronics were entirely unrecognizable, made of something superficially similar in appearance but drastically altered in construction and composition. As she walked towards Strider with Alexandria she had an epiphany. The suit was, on a deep level, an integral part of her now. Currently it was nearly all of her, as she had yet to take control of the reserve server clusters in Vancouver. However, she knew that even after she did, that its destruction would mean the destruction of a core piece of what made her, her now.
It was terrifying. It was glorious. It was…too much self reflection for the moment. Alexandria looked calm, but Dragon had known the woman long enough to know that she was almost ready to burst from the need to understand just what the hell had happened. Dragon doubted she had any answers that would satisfy the indomitable woman, but she supposed she would have to try.
With a flash they disappeared from the field and reappeared on a helipad in Boston. When Strider and the other capes that had traveled with them had departed down the stairwell Alexandria turned towards her.
"We don't have much time, things are going to start to move faster than we can react once word spreads. Our window to get ahead of things is closing even as we stand here. What can you tell me about whatever the hell just happened in Brockton Bay?" Dragon noticed that Alexandria once again glanced quickly at her arm before focusing completely on her.
"I'm not sure I can answer that with any degree of certaintiy or accuracy. Even if I had a better understanding of it, I'm not sure it even is something that can be explained."
"Not something I expected to hear from you of all people Dragon."
"I know. Trust me, it bothers me as well. I will give you the best summary I can, just know that anything I say is colored by ignorance and a lack of vocabulary adequate to the task. I am, on a deep level, a woman of logic. You know this." Alexandria nodded. "What I experienced has shaken my belief that the universe is a purely logical expression of nature. If it is, then between that foundation and us exists something or somethings of immense power and, if not intelligence, will."
Alexandria's expression did not change from its attentive focus, but her cheek gave an almost imperceptible twitch at this. Dragon continued.
"Everything that Princess Luna did, while on a larger scale than what we have seen, could be explained with an extrapolation and mastery of parahuman abilities that we have seen and experienced. What Twilight did, I can say with a certainty that I can't explain, was something else, something other. She called out to…something universal…something that connects everything. She called out to it, and it answered. It wasn't enough however, by herself, it wasn't enough to do what she wanted. She asked those of us that were with her for help, and here's where it gets to a point where words utterly fail to express what actually happened. I remember wanting to help, and then something in me resonating with Twilight, and with whatever it was that she was doing."
Dragon paused to try and find more words, better words, but even her increased processing power yielded no acceptable translation for it. Alexandria used the pause to jump straight to the point.
"What was it, that she was doing?"
"Through whatever it was that answered, and through Twilight, I could feel something, for lack of a better word: wrong. Part of it was close, whatever close means in this context, while another part, much larger, was very far away." Dragon grimaced internally, and had the entirely new sensation of her suit performing that action as well, at the vagueness and inadequacy of her words. If she was listening to this she would have likely written it off as gibbering babble by now. She wasn't even entirely sure she should be explaining this, but Alexandria, of all people, deserved an explanation, however inadequate it might be.
"Twilight, and somehow those of us that were with her…asked…directed…used…were used by? That connectedness to…correct or fix, or repair? That wrongness. As best as I can say, it did. Whatever it was, didn't exist or at least I couldn't feel it, by the time the effect started to fade."
Alexandria stood quietly for a full minute, doing nothing more than absorbing this before talking. "So you're saying, that on some fundamental level, she rewrote reality."
"I'm saying that somehow, with Twilight leading us, that everyone in that clearing did."
"Thank you Dragon, thats enough for me to work with. If you have more insight on this later, please let me know. For now we have a thousand pressing matters to attend to." She turned and started walking briskly towards the stairs down from the roof. "Can you draw up an optimized search and rescue pattern for what's left of Brockton and forward it to all the relevant parties?"
Dragon had, in addition to infiltrating the reserve server clusters, and devoting a large part of herself towards trying to understand and express what had happened, already done as much. "On the way."
"Ok, I'm giving you my authority in regards to that effort. I'm going to start working on the politics of this and funneling resources and manpower into the area." As they headed down the stairs Dragon was finally able to secure the server cluster and mask its take over from her other systems. She flowed into the systems and her mind and abilities expanded exponentially. She became more. It was one thing to theorize what she could be capable of free of Richter's restrictions, it was another thing entirely to actually experience it. A lifelong dream, realized. She split her attention into a thousand different directions, but at the heart it all, something vital to herself remained rooted in the suit. A mystery for another day.
Mentally cracking her knuckles, she prepared to commit her first prison-break.