10th February
08:11 GMT -7
Sunset brushes off the remains caught by her lab coat's protective enchantments.
"Oooooohhhh… Kay. I
think I know what the problem was."
I nod as I scrape the burned remains of the last sensor off my left arm. "And what was
that?"
"You used your god-powers on the area the sensors were in. And on the sensors themselves. And on me."
"You didn't specify-."
Sunset leans towards me, her right finger outstretched. "You haven't
conquered me."
"Sunset, you're a vital part of my research and development infrastructure. Conquest isn't about-. I'm sorry, isn't
just about destroying anything in your way. It's about all of the mechanisms which make that destruction possible in the first place." Hm. "I wonder
what would happen if we gave Celestia a book on plasma physics? I mean, your people don't even have radio telescopes yet."
"How much time have you spent planning what
you're going to do in Equestria?"
"Um." Lie mode. "Oh, not long. Oh." I frown. "You're okay with me coming, right?"
Sunset looks away. "Eerrrrrr…"
"Oh, come
on."
"Look, it's-. I'm fine with you
being there, I just-. This is my
thing. You know? Me making my big return and
proving Cel-
everyone wrong."
"I quite understand. You making your mark, showing off what you've learned and turning into an alicorn in Celestia's face takes precedence. But… Don't you think you'd find it satisfying if you demonstrated the value of your research to your fellow ponies?"
Sunset gives up on trying to get anything from what's left of the sensors and levitates all of the fragments into a thaumically isolated disposal unit. "I…
Suppose… I'd find that satisfying. Doing something Celestia wouldn't or.. maybe even
couldn't do. Do you have any ideas?"
"The stories you told me about your nation's history involved small groups of heroes fighting monsters against the odds. How capable
is your regular army?"
"They're
not." A g-promethean walks in with a new tray of sensors and hands them to her. "Thanks." She goes to hand one to me and then stops, frowning. "Wait, I didn't call-?"
"God-power."
"Mn." She hands them to me one at a time and I start attaching them again. "Raw magical power is the main thing that makes a fighter useful in Equestria. There's basically nothing that Princess Celestia can't overpower. All the most powerful pegasus ponies end up in the Wonderbolts; they're the best fliers, but they're trained as show-fliers rather than warriors. The strongest unicorns are usually the magical talents like me, and because Equestia hasn't had a real war in almost a century I don't think any pony in my generation took battle magic as a speciality. Plus, since we get cutie marks when we're young…"
"A pony would have to be a natural battlemage from foalhood."
"Right." She nods. "And earth ponies struggle to hold weapons, let alone fight effectively. Hooves and mouths aren't as good as hands for manipulating things."
"So: weapons ponies can use. Some sort of saddle-mount? A cadet system for pre-mark foals, and… Magic training for earth ponies?"
"Which doesn't exist yet."
"Not in Equestria. Didn't you say that the three tribes migrated there from somewhere else?"
"It's a story; I wouldn't take it too literally."
"But I've got boom tubes. If Equestria hasn't ever checked back on the old homelands, there could be all
kinds of forgotten stuff back there."
"The story says that everyone left, and that was over a thousand years ago at
least. Even if it's true, I doubt there's anything left but ruins." She checks my placement and then steps back again. "Ready to go again?"
"Yes, but what do you want me to do differently?"
"Try… Reaching further away and… Use less power?"
"Alright, I'll give it a go."
Not… Really something I've got much experience with. Usually, using as much power as I can is
best. Hm. My link with Lynne is usually fairly low power, but… It's there all the
time and I'm not sure that it would really register properly.
Hmmm…
Who have I shaped?
I feel Kon-El as he sits in a classroom in Happy Harbor.
Beneficent Oversight.
I can.. feel the difference as he focuses harder on his work, on the teacher, distractions fading from his mind.
In Dakota City, Edwin Alva's lawyers are working on ways to impede Doctor Metcalf's newfound freedom.
Be Humbled By My Purpose.
And suddenly their own outlined arguments feel inadequate and nonsensical, a confidence that they could tie him up for months at least evaporating.
Freedom stands on the bridge of a warship, his eyes focused on-.
He knows. But there's someone else-.
My vision
shatters.
"Uhg." That was.. odd. "Was.. that helpful?"
"It..
was. What happened at the end there?"
"Not sure. Mother Box, where's Scott?"
"Ping."
So not on a-. No, of course not. So what the heck was I seeing? "Sunset, what do your readings say?"
She studies her device for a few moments.
"I..
think your 'god power' works by rearranging local magic fields indirectly to produce an effect. But you're not using local magic to do it. I..
think I just got a look at the Source."
Heh. "I
doubt it."
"No. Really. I think it's treating the universe as one high-intensity magic field, even those places that are actually thaumically weak. I don't… Even know how that
could work."
"Does it help with 'Project: Alicorn'?"
"I won't know until I analyse the data in detail. What did you do, exactly?"
"Buffed Kon's learning ability, debuffed Edwin Alva's lawyers and I
was going to have a go at buffing Scott, but something… Interfered."
"Well…" She creates an illusionary image, wiggly lines which are… Probably.. has.. something to do with local thaumic resonances. Honestly, just as I learn one of her graph formats she changes it to something else. Disadvantage of someone working on the cutting edge, I suppose. "This is what it looked like when you were warming up."
It's not really a
peak, but there's a more defined
shape to it.
"This is the second part."
The shape's different, but the structure is similar.
Me, I suppose.
"And
then…"
The third section
starts similar, then.. there's another shape. And then… My shape… Doubles… Blurs..?
Another me. And Scott on a ship I now recognise as thanagarian.
"I.. think I need to check up on Earth 50.
Now."
