Middlemis Household
7:30pm

Stuart stood in front of the mirror with determination written across her furry face. She needed to transform herself back into her human male self, but was unsure how exactly it was done. Last time, it just sort of happened when she broke down in tears, finding herself transformed into a fluffy female.

She thought back to the feelings she had when she had transformed back in the cave. It seemed that it was an emotional response that caused her magic to ignite, flashing her back into a human male. It felt wholly different from when she transformed into a pony. The thought made her blush.

‘Yeah, different doesn’t even come close.’

What would it take this time? It wasn’t as if she could just break down again and expect it to work, could she? Each time she had used her magic, it felt subtly different in her horn. It was therefore logical to assume that each different type of magic had its own feeling associated with it. Stuart could kind of remember what it had felt like last time, so that was the logical place to start.

Glancing up, she gently shifted her awareness into her horn. For good reason, it seemed to make sense to not force it. When had forcing something you didn’t truly understand help anyone? And this was some sort of magic, using force could only ever end poorly. She could once again feel a slight pressure at the base of her horn, before it began to leach gently forward and along its orange length.

A soft blue shimmer appeared as she felt her magic come to life. ‘Right, well that’s step one, I guess,’ she thought, looking up at the glow. ‘Now, what do I do with you…?’

It was a feeling unlike any other. She could feel it building, like trying to hold back a tide with a garden trowel, but at the same time knowing that she could. It was a force of potential, a tsunami of infinite mass that whispered to her heart in the faintest voice, yet screamed to be heard.

It felt as if it was measuring her wants with her needs, and this was where she was sure she could talk to it, to shape it into whatever she wanted so long as it satisfied her magics call. She whispered to it in the same way it spoke to her, from her heart. She wanted to look as she once did, and needed it to be so.

Her magic seemed to measure her request on a scale truth as she slowly closed her eyes and let it engulf her. She found she could not lie to her magic in the same way she could not lie to her heart, it was a part of her as much as it was a part of everything and the nothing in-between.

Her magic found her want lacking, latching on to a faint pang of disappointment and a feeling of regret at losing her unicorn body. However, her needs outweighed them by a greater amount as it was what was required to fit in; in a world where her kind were not known and even less understood. Her magic felt almost begrudging in its acceptance, but the flow of her magic increased and she felt a familiar lightness as her body became diffused with light.

***

Not everypony knew about the wellsprings. Celestia had kept them secret for good reason, and knowledge of their existence was spread only as far as the Royal Guard, and the ‘Academy’, or more correctly, Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. This was by no means a tight or select group, so the security of this ‘secret’ was far from watertight.

So, it was somewhat of a surprise for her when she found that the core of a group opposed to their existence came from within, rather than outsiders that knew precious little of the project’s goals.

A core group of scientists, academics, and guards formed, harshly opposed the existence of a series of portals between Equestria and an alien world. They were quite vocal in their opinions when they bought them to her however, she dismissed them out of hoof, citing the benefits and the cultural boon that came from forming ties with the human world.

This angered the group, and they began to protest the project by refusing to co-operate in the case of the academics, or participate in the case of the guards. This led to clashes within the organization and things took a nasty turn for the worse when some of the participants began to sabotage operations, leading to dangerous occurrences or ruining data past the point that it was useless.

Seeing no other option, Celestia stepped in and weeded out those who opposed the wellsprings so the project could continue on unabated. This proved to be effective in the short term, but was seen as cleaning house of some of the more extreme or vocal elements within both organizations, and was for the most part greeted with animosity and distrust.

Further, it also meant that she no longer had a means to watch or control those who plotted against the project, or in recent cases, protested her rule.

The angry and disenfranchised opponents eventually formed a tight knit and private group, and set about finding funding. This proved difficult to do without triggering her interest in them, so they turned to less savory means to fund their operations.

As their desperation grew, they became increasingly radicalized, and many who had started the organization were replaced by those with more extreme agendas.

The aim of the group shifted from merely shutting down operation of the Wellsprings, to destroying them and using the fallout to implicate the crown in wrongdoing. They planned to depose Celestia for her role in their creation and began to recruit from the more dangerous organizations those opposed her. In doing so, they became one of the most organized and potentially deadly terrorist groups in Equestria without even committing a single act.

The fact that they were able to do so in almost total secrecy was also the means they had to formulate their plan. Their triumphant opening salvo upon Equestria would bring to them the means bring an end to the wellsprings, and once and for all bring the fall of the ‘Deceitful Sun’ as they had named her.

They believed that the ponies of Equestria would praise their names as those who served to right their wrongs, and give thanks to the group for their new-found freedom, elevating them to hero status and allowing them primacy in the new regime under the collective name of ‘Spriggan’.

***

Outside the Middlemis household
7:45pm

Marcy stood by the side of the deserted road with her hand on her hips as she assessed her options. Whilst walking down the hill on the other side of the wall and jumping the lower cattle fence was an option, she wanted to avoid the barbed wire if at all possible, and if she was honest, the wall at the front of the property wasn’t that tall. She could scale it easily. Probably.

As she made her way down from the road and towards the fence, she could see how viewing it from the road higher up the slope made it look lower than she first expected. ‘No worries, I’ve got this,’ she thought confidently, ‘How hard can it be…?’

After three aborted attempts to statically pounce up the wall using her cat-like reflexes, she strode back up the hill a few meters and launched herself from a running jump. Whilst she managed to grasp the top of the wall with her fingers, she failed to maintain any sort of grip with her feet, and ended up hanging from the top of the wall with the rest of her body hanging flat against its surface.

She considered letting herself drop, but with her breasts squished hard up against the wall the likelihood of a nasty rash from the rendered surface did not appeal to her in the slightest. She figured that she could try and kick away from the wall, but doubted that her straining fingers could take it and she would lose control of the fall and end up on her butt.

As she was considering her options, she could hear a car approaching along the road above. ‘If I just hang here, and stay still, they shouldn’t see me… right?' she thought, crossing her everything in hope.

That hope was quickly dashed as she heard the gravel on the road protest as the vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a spotlight as she heard the sound of a car door opening and closing.

“You there, on the wall! Police! What are you doing!?!”

‘Oh, bugger me with a cheese grater…’ Marcy thought to herself, lightly thumping her head against the wall.

“Umm… a little help? I’m kind of stuck…” she replied sheepishly, still hanging from the wall.

After a short pause, she heard the police officer’s sliding footsteps as he made his way down the hill towards her perch.

“Ma’am, how did you get up there in the first place?” asked the officer as he placed a shoulder under her left foot so she could take the strain off her arms.

“Ahhh… I jumped?” she replied sheepishly.

“I see… let’s get you down now shall we? Can you make it if I catch you?”

“Um… I guess?” replied Macie, biting her bottom lip.

“Whenever you’re ready…”

Lifting her foot from his shoulder she sprung out from the wall letting herself drop. The slope of the ground made it a hard landing, and her tailbone would have borne the brunt had she not been caught before her rear hit the ground.

“… Ah, we meet again…”

Now she was off the wall and the spotlight was behind her, she could make out the features of the officer that had saved her.

“O-oh, hello again,” she replied in a small voice, recognizing the police officer that had pulled her over the day before.

“Mind telling me why I just rescued you from a wall in the dark when I know you don’t live around here?” asked Senior Constable Richter as he helped her fully to her feet.

“Well… it’s kinda a long story?” she replied sheepishly. “My car got clamped and now I can’t get home, so I thought I’d get… my boyfriend to give me a lift home!” she grinned up at the officer. ‘Ha! The perfect cover story!’

“And you were climbing his front fence because…?”

‘Dammit!’ “Oh! Because I wanted it to be a surprise!”

Richter looked at her dubiously. “OK then, let’s just go on inside and see your boyfriend then shall we, and sort out getting you a ride home.”

“NO!” Marcy all but shouted. “I mean, no, I’m sure that he is busy and all, no need to worry him…” she sweated looking down from his gaze and off to the side.

“Ah ha, I figured,” he replied in a deadpan voice, “Would you like a lift home?” It was more a statement then a question.

“Yes please…” came her timid response. He had seen right through her, and she wasn’t going to argue.

“Can we please just stop by my car so I can get my things?”

“Sure thing, and next time ma’am, consider not breaking into your ‘boyfriends’ place to ‘surprise’ him. I tend to find the front door works better.”

“Yes sir,” she answered softly, like a student caught doing the wrong thing.

‘Dammit! Next time Stuart, next time!!!’

***

Inside the Middlemis Household
7:45pm

‘Well, that was different…’ Stuart mused, flipping his hand back and forth in front of his face.

Unlike when he changed from a human into a pony, it was all done in a flash. It felt different, like he had been packed into this form. It was a feeling completely at odds with when he went the other way, which felt as though he was… being released from his bindings.

Stuart frowned at the implications of this. Was it somehow related to mass? Or because he was proportioned differently? Either way, he wasn’t going to find the answers to these questions tonight. That didn’t stop them from occupying his thoughts. He also felt tired, like all his energy had just been drained from him.

Knowing he would likely not sleep tonight with these questions plaguing him, despite his drowsiness, he fell back on a method that had worked in the past. Retrieving a fresh pad and a pen from his home office, he slumped down on his bed and transferred his questions onto the pad.

What was the strange tree that grew out of the pond? Why did the pond glow? Why did it stop? What was the glowing ball of energy and why had it suddenly decide that his chest was a target, and that gender flipping him into mythical magical unicorn girl ~Mare~ ...mare was a recipe for a ‘good Friday night’?

Stuart continued to scratch down questions on the pad as his eyelids grew heavier and the list longer. Placing it by his nightstand, he flicked off the lights and slept in his bed for the first night in what seemed like a long time.

***

Middlemis Holdings
Morning

The next day found him surprisingly spry and well rested, and he made it to the office early and ahead of the rest of his staff. Stuart answered a few emails as the rest of the office drifted in, seeing the boss hard at work before many of them had even had their morning coffee.

He called Matt over as he saw him enter and the two of them stood at the door to his office to chat.

“Hey boss, get all that ‘work’ out of your system over the weekend?”

“More than you would know...” he replied with a grin, “I’ve got a whole stack of new proposals that I’ll need you help with, I intend to shake things up a little now that we control all the stores in the region.”

“OK, that sounds promising, I’m always ready to give you a hand whenever you need me”

“Good, I’ll look forward to it then.” he finished, looking over Matt’s shoulder just in time to see the girls in the office bullring duck back down from where they were watching the two. He gave them a quizzical glare and looked back to Matt.

“I’ll cover what I’m planning at the 10 o’clock KPI meeting, but I need you to get a head start on those pay audits. I want the last three years audited so I know if we owe any of our new staff back pay, or if they have been scamming the system.” he said with a nod.

“We are going to be busy over the next few weeks, so as soon as we can get all the ‘i’s dotted and the ‘t’s crossed the sooner we can get started on my new proposals and have them ready for end of year stock-take.”

“Isn’t that a little tight? Stock-take starts in two weeks and the boxing day sales the week after. It seems you're cutting it kind of fine,” replied Matt, “Are you sure you want to go re-inventing the wheel this close to the end of the year?”

Stuart gave a predatory smile. “Surer than ever.”

Author's Note

Ohhh, more background and Marcy not stalking anyone ever.
Let me know how much I suck or where I left my car keys down below, and as always let me know what you think and why :)