Unwilling Recruit

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 10

Chapter 1

Jackie had been waiting for Portland Fancon for over six months now. On an emotional level, she understood that the rest of the world didn’t care about her efforts at best and would’ve mocked them at worst. Even so, Jackie Kessler had been waiting forever for a chance to show up.

The con was packed with visitors in scores of different costumes. The pop-culture touchstones were there—Jedi, and Starfleet crew, and the latest popular videogame character. Jackie made her way through the dealer booths, scanning for interesting merchandise that wasn’t too overpriced. Only a fraction of what was offered here was anime related, but there were still enough booths to catch her interest. Fancon was great about wide appeal.

Almost everyone who came to Fancon did so (at least a little) for the cosplay scene, and Jackie was no exception. She’d spent over a month of her spare time designing a painstaking recreation of Homura Akemi’s magical girl outfit, complete with a custom-sculpted time shield. She had the right build for it too, and every few minutes someone would ask to take a picture with her. Naturally Jackie always agreed, posing in her best impression of grumpy and disinterested.

“Oooh, look over there!” Katie, her younger sister, pointed to a booth with surprisingly few people gathered outside it. It was one of the many My Little Pony booths in the convention, with a higher production quality than anything short of WeLoveFine. I guess there aren’t very many Bronies here this year. It’s about time for that fandom to die.

Unfortunately for Jackie, her younger sister was one of those Bronies. So instead of cooperating and letting Jackie sew her Madoka’s matching outfit, she had insisted on dressing herself up as one of the stupid pony princesses (far less skillfully, too).

Jackie groaned, though in truth it didn’t matter to her that much. They were going to be at the convention for two days, so a few minutes to see a dumb dealer booth didn’t matter. Checking out everything for sale in the hall was half the fun of coming to the convention. And the other half… didn’t start until after the convention was over for the night.

“Fine.” She followed closely behind her. “You know the kids who will be in there, though. You want a bunch of sausage-fingered losers leering at you, fine by me.”

“They aren’t like that,” Katie insisted, glaring back at her. “Not… that many of them.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Jackie folded her arms, satisfied with herself.

As they got closer, it became even harder to tell what about the booth would be scaring people away. The merchandise on the shelves looked about par for the course for pony fare. There were lots of unofficial dolls and posters and shirts.

Even better, one of the girls running the shop was one of the prettiest Jackie had seen at the convention all day. Her stupid pony cosplay was much better than Katie’s, and the holes in her stockings and arm-warmers went all the way up. I don’t care if she’s a nerd, Jackie thought, I want her number. There was a craftsmanship to the black and green dress, and whatever bright blue contacts she was wearing were strikingly lifelike.

Jackie could appreciate the work of a fellow craftsman, even more when the body underneath had so much to enjoy.

They made their way into the invisible cloud surrounding the booth, and Jackie hesitated for a moment. She stopped in mid-step as her sister carried right on in, and was nearly yanked away from her.

What was Jackie doing here again? Why wasn’t she already at the hotel bar? There would be unscheduled parties tonight, and she planned on being invited to as many as she could find.

“Jackie.” She heard her sister, watching her with concern. “Jackie, what are you doing? Don’t you wanna see?”

Katie’s voice cleared her momentary fog. She looked up, and she remembered why she’d planned to go into the booth. The attendant had not gotten less attractive in the last few seconds.

“Oh, yeah.” She continued forward, fighting the unexplainable urge to look away. After a few seconds, the strange feeling had passed. Man, I need to be more careful. Did someone put something in my ramen?

Katie made her way around the booth, the same as they’d visited plenty of others. She took her time appreciating the different items of clothing, holding up a few to check sizing.

Jackie didn’t care about that, and made to talk to the girl working the shop. Unfortunately, it seemed she had other ideas.

The girl tapped Katie on the shoulder politely, grinning at her “Excuse me, miss. I’ve got some great news!”

“Really?” Katie spun around, frowning a little. “If you’re trying to sell me something… I already came in here.”

“No, no. Nothing like that.” She extended a hand, presenting a bright red coupon to Katie. “You’ve just won a ticket to our private panel later tonight. We’ll have…” She listed off some voice actors, probably important to the show. Jackie resisted the urge to yawn. “That includes a free piece of merchandise from the booth. Go ahead and pick anything you like.”

What did Katie do to win when I didn’t? Jackie found herself thinking, though she didn’t say it aloud. Can they tell I’m not one of them?

Her sister squealed with delight, selecting an expensive-looking backpack looking like a comically cute purple and green dragon character of some kind. “Even this?”

“Sure.” The girl pulled a small pair of scissors out of her pocket, clipping the zip-ties holding the backpack to the wall of plain wire mesh. “It’s yours. I hope we see you later tonight.”

Katie looked down at the ticket, turning it over in her hands. Even from ten feet away Jackie could tell it was premium—printed on thick red paper, with sparkling gold leaf on its surface. What kind of company is this? First giving her free stuff, then a private panel?

Jackie was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice as the girl left her sister and approached her instead. “What about you?” She held up another ticket. “See anything in here you like?”

Jackie took the offered ticket, mostly out of politeness. “Only one,” she said, before she could get too shy to stop herself. “Maybe I could get her number?”

The girl blushed, though it was hard to see through the thick makeup she was wearing. More importantly, it wasn’t the awkward “I don’t want to be mean but I’m not into chicks” expression Jackie got most of the time.

“Oh.” She grinned mischievously, pulling a pen out of her pocket. “Here, gimmie your hand.”

Jackie did so, and the girl pulled it close, right up to her chest, writing up her arm. “I’m Harley, by the way. I hope I’ll see you at our panel tonight...”

“Jackie,” she answered. “And you will. If you let me buy you a drink after.”

She let go of Jackie’s arm, nodding slightly. “Sounds fun. I hope you’re local—I don’t really know any of the local places. There’s got to be somewhere more fun than this hotel.”

She didn’t stay to chat though—another group was coming in. She had more tickets to give away, more free merchandise.

And unlike her and her sister, the next pair were both male, and weighed at least four times what each of them did. Probably not some shady human trafficking thing then. But the chances of that had always been remote, right? Fancon would vet all its vendors.

“Come on, let’s go.” Katie looked a little embarrassed as she gestured out of the booth. She always got that way when Jackie was… being herself. Katie never would’ve admitted it, but Jackie could tell her sexuality made her sister upset.

“Well now we should go,” she said, glancing down at the ticket in her hand. The panel was scheduled for seven, in one of the hotel’s ballrooms. But it’s on the second floor. I didn’t know the con was renting the second floor.

“You would say that.” Katie secured the backpack on her shoulders. “Now that you’ve found a… friend for the con.”

“Don’t start.” Jackie glared, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of her arm. Didn’t want to risk smearing the numbers off before she got a chance to get in touch with Harley.

“Oh, I’m starting.” Katie took her hand, pulling her closer. “Jackie, she was dressed as a changeling. Don’t you think that says something about her love life?”

“Nope,” Jackie said. “Because I have absolutely no idea what that is, and I don’t care. She pulled off a great ‘changeling.’ I’ll have to ask her where she buys her contacts.”

Katie groaned, but didn’t argue further. “Whatever. Let’s just…” She pulled the backpack off her shoulders again, hugging it to her chest. “This Spike is really nice. We should go to their panel… whatever they think is cool enough to just give stuff away like this must be really awesome.”

“Sure,” Jackie agreed. “Let’s just… stop by the room before it starts. I want to grab some mace, just in case.”

Jackie didn’t think for a second she would need it—even the second-floor ballroom was still a super public place surrounded by people. Probably this was some huge scam… which was a shame, because she really wanted to have a night with Harley. Maybe it doesn’t matter if she’s a scam artist. She’s still the hottest girl at this con.

They spent the next several hours enjoying Fancon as they always did. Jackie was a little surprised at how few people were mentioning the booth giving away free stuff, and whatever the “private panel” was. Such crazy marketing stunts should’ve been the talk of the con, but they weren’t.

Not even Katie’s dumb brony friends were talking about it.

They did make sure to stop into the hotel room for Jackie’s pink can of mace, which she concealed somewhere nobody would find even if they had to go back through con security.

They didn’t, though. As it turned out, only the first floor had been rented. The second wasn’t deserted—dozens of congoers lounged in the comfortable chairs, or goofed around in the hotel gym. A few ordinary people were up here too, staring in abject confusion at so many strangely-dressed people.

There were four additional ballrooms—two adjoining with the lobby, and another two that were a little further removed. Getting into either one required taking a hallway past the gym, then to scan a hotel key before finally getting access to a much more secluded sitting area.

I don’t like this. Jackie’s bullshit meter was going off like crazy—which was a tragic shame, considering how pretty that Harley girl was. I really hope you’re not part of some shady criminal thing.

At least the lights were on, in both ballrooms. One looked like it was setting up for an expensive catered meal—half a dozen restaurant staff were there, setting up big metal trays.

Jackie touched her belly with the back one hand, feeling her stomach rumble at the smell of meat. Like many congoers, they were saving money. Jackie had already spent ten times as much money buying merch than she had buying microwaveable ramen meals. They weren’t terribly filling.

There was a tall, gruff-looking man at the door taking tickets. It seemed like he’d made half an attempt at cosplay himself, though Jackie couldn’t tell what he was trying to be.

“Is there someone on that show you like who looks angry, wears roman armor, and carries a magic wand?” she whispered to Katie, as they made their way to their seats. “It must really be going downhill in the later seasons.”

“No,” Katie answered, whispering harshly back. “He’s probably from anime or something.”

There were only fifty chairs set up in the hall big enough for two hundred. Even then, it looked like less than half of those seats were occupied. Jackie glanced at her phone, wondering if maybe they had come too early—but it was already five past seven.

At least there was nothing shady in the room itself. Just a few plastic crates of merch in a pile by the presenters table.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Harley said, from up at the table. She wasn’t alone—there was a man beside her, taller and bulkier than she was. They were both dressed in cosplay. Harley looking sexy, and the man with a comical horn poking out of a stupid wig.

“First thing’s first, let’s set some expectations.” She hopped up onto the table, grinning at them all. “I don’t expect everyone to stay for the whole thing. Those of you who do stay, we’ve got a surprise waiting for at the end.” She seemed to look right at Jackie, winking at her. “I promise it’ll knock your pants off. But don’t feel any pressure.” She gestured across the hall. “The other ballroom there has refreshments. Hopefully you guys like Cafe Rio.”

There was general cheering from the audience—though since there weren’t very many of them, it wasn’t terribly loud cheering. Harley shut them up quickly with a gesture. “There’s one catch, kids. You leave this room, and you can’t come back. Smell that?”

Jackie could. Sweet meats, spicy ones, everything.

“I don’t know if we have enough for everyone. Just keep that in mind—you’ll have to choose between listening to what we have to say and enjoying that delicious meal.”

Katie groaned, whispering into Jackie’s ear. “Too bad it had to be meat again. Why is that the only thing everyone’s serving?”

“Huh?” It certainly wasn’t. Jackie hadn’t eaten a catered meal this nice since the Microsoft recruitment dinner last semester. But Katie had been eating strangely for weeks now. It’s normal for tastes to change when you get older. Unless she’s getting tapeworms or something.”

A few of their fellow congoers got up immediately. To Jackie’s surprise, neither Harley nor the silent man beside her looked even a little bit annoyed or disappointed they were already losing part of their audience.

What the hell is this thing even about?

Harley started to talk about the show. At some point, a few other panelists arrived, doing some voices. Jackie couldn’t be assed to remember what anyone had said, because it was the most aggressively boring thing she had ever seen.

It looked like someone had cast a magic spell on the clock, because each one moved painfully slowly. As her apparently insane sister listened with rapt attention, people trickled from the room one by one. Jackie envied them—she didn’t even know what Harley could be saying that was dull enough that she wanted to claw out her ears, but it must be awful. Her stomach was an ache in her chest, twisting painfully every time someone opened the door and the scent of delicious meat came drifting in.

I can’t give up, Jackie thought, staring up at Harley with a glazed expression. It can’t be that long.

Chapter 2

Jackie blinked, realizing that Harley had stopped talking. The whole world suddenly seemed to come back into focus, as from a dream. She yawned, stretched, looked around. Not even one of the chairs all around her was occupied anymore. Worse, it had only been twenty minutes. Her limbs were stiff, as though she’d just sat through all of One Piece without getting up.

“That’s wrong,” Katie said, glaring up at Harley as though she had just admitted to strangling her dog. “You shouldn’t have done that! You shouldn’t have interfered!”

Jackie took a deep breath, trying to remember what Harley had said. But she couldn’t remember anything—just a general feeling of boredom and desperation.

Something about that didn’t make sense—could she really have sat through an entire lecture and not remember even one thing? Maybe Katie’s right that I should’ve been a boy. I’m as scatterbrained as a boy sometimes.

Harley paced back and forth in front of the table. “You’re right. We shouldn’t have interfered. I don’t think the princesses did the right thing—they should’ve left this whole planet the hell alone. But they didn’t and every government decided to flip its shit, and here we are.”

She glanced to the door, where Bruce had somehow moved without Jackie noticing. He shook his head. “They’re not coming back.”

Harley swore under her breath. “Dammit. We should’ve got more than two. There are so many of them here! You saw how hard they worked on their costumes.”

Jackie rose to her feet. She still wanted to leave—couldn’t shake the thought of that meat smell drifting towards her. But Harley’s presence was enough to keep her here. “Oh, cosplay? Are we gonna talk about design next? Because I’ve got some questions about how you got those holes so smooth without burning the nylon.”

Katie turned slightly to the side, staring at her in complete shock. It took her several seconds to even form words. “What are you talking about, Jackie? You heard all that, and you’re asking about her costume?”

Harley lifted the plastic box on one shoulder, taking it with her as she approached. “I’m impressed too,” she said. “You didn’t seem the type to take this so calmly. Are you one of those cute airheads who doesn’t actually think anything through?”

Jackie blushed. “I, uh…”

“We don’t get to stay for the rest of the con,” Katie said, getting up and backing slowly away from Harley. “God, we can’t go home, can we? If we did…”

“Yep.” Harley heaved the big plastic crate up onto the chairs between them, but only a few feet from Jackie. “Exactly why you’re thinking. And maybe I should say sorry for that… but on the other hand, I could’ve not come here. You could go home, think everything is fine, then manifest in a few weeks and get your shit totally wrecked with nobody to help you. At least this way you’ll know, and won’t accidentally infect anyone. Family doesn’t have to go with you.”

Jackie just stared, trying to figure everything out without showing just how little she had payed attention. It seemed from her sister they’d just been roped into something bad, but beyond that her words just didn’t make sense. Katie hadn’t signed anything while she was daydreaming, had she?

“But why my sister?” Katie asked, pointing at Jackie. “She’s only seen one or two episodes! She hates the show! Don’t you, Jackie?”

“Hate the…” Jackie repeated. But she could guess what show her sister was talking about. There was only one show that would be talked about at a pony event. “Yeah, I do. Boring as all shit. World is bland and makes no sense. Storytelling was shallow. Nothing made west of Tokyo is worth watching.”

Harley rolled her eyes, grinning. “No need to pretend anymore, sweetheart. We all know it can’t be true, or you couldn’t have stayed here.” She looked to her sister. “It’s possible to change after just one or two episodes. Without knowing it yourself. Much more likely, she was lying to you. Maybe she fought how much she enjoyed it, and wanted to save face by denying.”

Harley reached into the box with one hand, pulling out a pair of sticks not unlike the one Bruce was holding by the door. “Catch.” She threw, and Jackie caught one. Her sister caught the other.

“Now, point them at the wall, imagine it getting brighter. The wall, not the wand. It’s causative.”

To Jackie’s astonishment, Katie obeyed. She moved her arm desperately, swinging it as Harley had demonstrated. Nothing happened.

Jackie turned the wood over in her hands, feeling suddenly queasy. She staggered to one side, catching herself on the chair with her free hand. It was as though catching the stick had also dumped an ounce of ipecac down her throat. Completely impossible, of course. Her costume had gloves, she hadn’t even touched the wood directly.

“Ugh.” The pain didn’t last long, though. A few seconds of heavy breathing, and Jackie found the sicknesses faded. “I sure as hell better not be getting hot flashes before I’m thirty.”

Harley’s eyebrows went up. “That’s a new one. You should try it just in case, Jackie. See if you’ve got unicorn magic. You probably don’t if your sister doesn’t… but if you had any kind of reaction it probably means something.”

“Seriously?”

Harley nodded, completely without irony. “I told you we were on a schedule, right? When the helicopter gets here, we’re either on it or we’re dead.”

Jackie imitated the gesture, before tossing the stick back to her. Whatever was going on, it was sounding less fun as the seconds passed. Helicopter? “It’s not doing anything. What did you expect? This isn’t Harry Potter, and I’m not joining Gryffindor.”

Harley caught the stick, and took Katie’s when she offered it as well. She put them away, then brought out something else: a large, inflated bag, with something thick and white in it. Fog? How was it holding itself together like that?

Jackie opened her mouth to protest, but felt the same strange sickness press into her gut again. This time it was joined by a brief aching around her shoulders, and a few seconds of excruciating headache. But only a few seconds, before the worst of the pain faded and she could hear the conversation again.

“I hope this works,” Harley was saying, as she cut into the bag with a hand, letting it fall to the floor. The thing inside didn’t drift apart and fill the room, but remained together. It was a patch of cloud the size of a basketball, its edges wispy and color slightly gray.

Harley stuck her hand into it as though it had been made of cotton, giving it a push. Jackie didn’t see what happened next, because she started to retch.

She caught herself on her hands, then heaved a stomach full of ramen and diet coke out onto the ground. It came up brown, burning her throat and mouth. Jackie pulled away, clutching at her stomach, and moaning faintly. Her shoulders really were hurting, but there was no way to hold both.

“God… ugh… please…”

“She should not be having this reaction,” Bruce said, from far away. “Such a reaction from such low-levels of exposure should have forced her from the room. Maybe her illness isn’t connected.

“I told you, I don’t think she likes the show,” Katie said. Jackie didn’t care what Bruce thought, but Katie’s voice gave her a point of reference. She turned, looking up at where her sister was standing. Katie held the cloud in front of her in both hands as though it were a prop, and not something clearly impossible, clearly supernatural.

Jackie retreated, dragging herself away along the floor, until she could go no further and her back touched the wall. “Get that thing away… it made me sick! It’s poison, whatever it is!”

“No, it’s water,” Harley said. “Squeeze it, Katie. You’ll see.”

Jackie watched her sister obey the command. The cloud shed its water—but not like it had been a towel wrung out beside a pool. Rather, it contracted, getting darker and darker until it was less than half its size. Water poured out evenly from its surface like a rain-pattern showerhead.

No, it’s just like rain, she thought. Katie just made it rain. That made no sense, but then nothing about this made any sense. “You drugged us!” she shouted. “Katie, we need to get out of here! These people are… I dunno, but we need to call the police!” But if they really had been drugged, why only Jackie? Why call in all those people only to… get rid of them all when Jackie wasn’t paying attention?

If it were a date-rape drug, why could she think so clearly now? The pain was fading, though a dull ache remained on her back. The nausea passed, and she got to her feet, wiping slime from her lips with the back of one arm. What happened to her costume was now of secondary concern.

Katie watched her, but her expression didn’t become scared or even nervous as Jackie would’ve expected. She looked only worried. “Jackie, you saw the demonstrations! This is real, and they aren’t the ones we need to be worried about. Well…” She glanced sidelong at Harley. “We don’t have any evidence they’re the good ones, but it makes sense. They want to get us somewhere safe before we get… what, exactly?”

“Dragged off to prison,” Harley supplied, sealing up the box and kicking it across the carpet towards Bruce. “Let your sister try the cloud before you squeeze it all out, Katie. Families are usually the same, but not always. She could have earth powers.”

Katie obeyed, pushing the cloud towards Jackie. It was still trailing rain, though it had gotten a little more diffuse. Running out of water, perhaps. Jackie dodged out of the way, and it bumped up against the wall. It vanished with a splash of water and an explosion of mist.

“We only had one of those,” Harley said, annoyed. “Dammit Jackie, do you want to live or not? What if we need to jump?”

“Then I’m dead,” Bruce said, before she could respond. “It doesn’t help you much, Harley. And we’re out of time. Control says they’re here.”

“Tell them to wait,” Harley shot back, annoyed. “We’re not even sure if—”

“No,” Bruce said, adjusting the slim earpiece he was wearing over one ear. “We have company, Harley. About a dozen agents just came running into the building.”

Jackie rolled her eyes, wondering just how far they might be committed to this lie that they thought wearing a cheap headset and saying something scary would convince her to cooperate. Then she heard the screaming—dozens of voices, then hundreds, feet pounding as the vast crowd downstairs moved. Many of them were going for the stairs.

“Great, fantastic!” Harley pulled a stick from her pocket, twisting it over and resting it on one finger like a gun. “Hey guys, cover your ears a second. We’re going.”

“We’re not doing any fuc—” Jackie began, but she didn’t get a chance to finish. Her words were silenced by an explosion, as the wall behind the podium had a new doorway blasted into it. There was an explosion, but no obvious source. No flash of fire either, just a whole section of wood and drywall ripping free to come crashing to the ground. The lights flickered and went off on one side of the room, and a copper pipe now severed began gushing water.

Jackie felt the nausea wash over her again in a wave at almost the exact second the wall was ripped off, and this time she could feel it clearly. It wasn’t something internal—but something solid and real in the world around her, a physical force. She gritted her teeth, but there was nothing left in her stomach to vomit out.

“They’ll know where we are,” Harley said, gesturing urgently. Through the wall, there was an empty hallway with a cement floor instead of carpet, one Jackie didn’t recognize. “We’ll take the service elevator, come on.”

Jackie didn’t move as Bruce and Katie made to follow—but her sister didn’t leave her behind. Before Jackie had recovered enough to think straight again, she felt herself tugged forward through the opening.

“Ask control if she can move her ass here any faster!” Harley shouted, breaking into a run as soon as Jackie was following.

Bruce lowered his head, covering the headset with one hand as he spoke into it. But Jackie couldn’t catch his words.

“What the hell did you do to the wall?” Jackie found herself asking, though that was hardly the first thing on her mind. It was hard to hear so many frightened voices and not feel a little of that fear bubble up in response. “What’s going on?”

“Weren’t you listening at all?” Katie asked from beside her, tugging her to go faster. “They’re coming to get us. Well… them, but us too, once they find out we’re magic.”

Jackie stopped dead. Her sister lost her grip and went tumbling forward to a stop, but she didn’t fall over.

Harley made it a few more steps before skidding to a halt. Bruce stopped beside her, speaking into the headset and holding his stick at the ready like a gun. “What the hell are you doing? Jackie, we can’t stay down here! They know—”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are,” Jackie said, folding her arms. “But I’m not moving. Katie, you aren’t either. Whatever shit these people did, we’re not a part of it. We’re not going to be accomplices.” She slid down the wall onto her butt. “Go on, run. Get out of here. We won’t stop you.”

Chapter 3

“You’re making a mistake,” Harley said, her voice quiet, pained. She stopped tugging on her sleeve, turning away. “Good luck! When they interrogate you, tell them whatever you want. If it will keep you alive.” She gestured urgently away, and Bruce gave them one last, backward glance.

Then he turned to run as well. Katie looked between Jackie and the two of them, as though completely frozen by her indecision. The expression didn’t last long. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Always.” Jackie grinned down at her. “You’ll see. This might be awkward, but we didn’t do anything! We’re not going to get in trouble.”

A few seconds later, and the elevator doors banged open. Four figures rushed into the room, their guns already raised as they ran. All four dressed in suits, one woman and three men. “On the ground, right now!” the woman shouted, demanding.

Jackie complied, falling to the floor, and nodding for her sister to do the same. “Hands behind your head,” the woman said, slowing. “Where did they go?”

Jackie pointed for the service elevator at the far end of the hall. “They ran there.”

“Yorken, McElroy.” She pointed. “Get them.”

They left without so much as a word. That left Jackie and Katie facedown on the ground in the service hallway, with a pair of government-looking agents standing above them. Not exactly her idea of a fun con. It’s okay. We’re not gonna get arrested for this. It’ll be worth it when we don’t get dragged into something awful.

“What are you two doing in the service hall?” asked the woman, stopping just in front of them. Behind her, Jackie felt the male moving something made of plastic—a zip tie, by the sound of it. A second later he yanked her arms together with a jolt, and secured the zip tie around her wrists. Those wouldn’t be moving anytime soon, not without a sturdy pair of scissors or a knife to cut through them.

“W-woman,” Jackie said. “Told us some crazy shit. Tried to get us to run to some helicopter, or… we don’t fucking know. It didn’t make any sense.”

“I see.” The woman gestured. “Both of you, stand back up. You’re not carrying any weapons, right? Make any sudden moves, and my partner will shoot you.”

“No weapons,” Jackie said. “We’re just going to the con. We didn’t do anything—we don’t have any drugs, or—”

“I know,” the woman interrupted her. “We still have to check you. You might be carriers and not know it.” On her feet again, Jackie could see the woman remove something from her pocket. It wasn’t very large—a length of metal covered in feathery sensors with a bit of quartz crystal visible poking out from inside.

“Clean,” she said, and something shoved her away. So hard that she smacked into the wall, and nearly fell over. The female agent acted as though she hadn’t even seen what her partner did, or else didn’t care. She moved the little device in front of her sister next. It lit up bright red, making an uncomfortable electric squeaking sound.

“I was afraid of that.” She pocketed the device. “What’s your name?”

“K-Katie… Kessler,” Katie croaked, a few tears streaming down her face. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to be concerned about,” the agent said. Yet in her tone, Jackie could pick out easy evidence of something her sister wouldn’t be able to see—this woman was lying. She sounded exactly like a doctor who had bad news they didn’t want to deliver. “We have a good hospital. We’ll take care of you. If we caught it in time, this shouldn’t even affect your quality of life. You’ll recover right away.”

If. Even in her lie, this woman was speaking in vagaries. “I want to come too,” Jackie announced, rising again from the floor. She didn’t move towards the agents—even though neither of them was pointing a gun anymore, Jackie didn’t have a death wish. She just wanted to make herself seen. “My sister’s just a kid. Bring me along too, I’ll keep an eye on her. Even if I’m not affected.”

The male agent turned to face her. His body was twice as wide as his partner’s, as wide as a restaurant refrigerator. With him in her way, Jackie couldn’t even make out her sister’s face. “Sorry,” he said, not even trying to sound sorry. “No room for civilians. You’re not infected, you’re not coming.”

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. There wasn’t an infection—it was a lie! Harley and the other had been manipulating them, spending tons and tons of money to trick them into getting involved with whatever illegal operation they were running here.

“No!” Jackie squealed, though she didn’t move. Even so, she saw the woman’s hand jerk up, aiming her handgun squarely at Jackie’s chest.

“You will not move,” she said, her tone flat and emotionless. “We will get your sister the help she needs. This is not a discussion.”

Jackie nodded, tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t as though she had the power to argue.

“Harmon, take her,” the woman said. “I’ll go to the roof. And you.” She gestured one last time with the gun. “You will return to your room and wait for questioning. Understand?”

Jackie nodded. She wasn’t resisting.

Almost before she was out of sight, Jackie heard the service elevator chime, and the doors open. “Second Floor,” said a mechanical voice.

One of the two agents who had ran ahead fell out of the elevator, clutching at a bleeding chest. He reached dramatically up towards the woman, blood dribbling down from his hands. “P-please god, help…”

Jackie froze, something so strange cutting through the emotional strangulation of seeing her sister dragged away. Harley had acted like many things, but this looked like something out of a horror movie.

She backed away even so, though probably not as fast as she should have.

“Yorken, what happened?” the woman shouted, running with her gun ready towards the elevator. She seemed to have completely forgotten about Jackie.

The agent crawled his way out, leaving streaks of blood on the floor as he went.

“What happened to you?” the woman asked, her voice harsh. “Where’s McElroy?”

Yorken remained on the ground, though he was still reaching out towards the woman. “G-god… you can’t imagine… I didn’t know they could…”

Jackie was nearly back to the hole she’d came in through—the same one that her sister had been dragged through back to the hotel proper. But she didn’t quite leave—she wanted to see what happened.

The woman bent down, taking Yorken’s offered hand with her own free one. Even so she was still watching the elevator. She said something quietly, something Jackie couldn’t hear.

Something metal thumped onto the floor—a gun. Jackie stared in awe as the woman fell limply to one side. Not dead—her eyes were still open, staring blankly into space. But she’d stopped moving.

Yorken wasn’t on the floor anymore, but rising to his feet and brushing himself out like nothing had happened. His outline flickered unevenly, and Jackie felt briefly sick. Was there a fog machine down the hall she hadn’t noticed?

No—she looked again, and Harley was standing there, in a suit several times too big for her, covered in comically fake blood. She put her arms together, and the whole thing fell to the floor. She wore only black underclothes beneath—though at least they didn’t stain with fake blood like the suit had.

How did she do that? “If you don’t mind.” Harley scooped up the gun from where it had fallen, before sprinting back towards Jackie. She seemed unconcerned by her near-nudity, or the absolute absurdity of what she’d just done. If anything, she seemed a little tired. “Where is your… sister?”

“They took her,” Jackie said, pointing through the opening. “Please, help her! I should’ve trusted… They said she’s infected, but Katie isn’t sick! Whatever it is… it can’t be good if they won’t let me go with her.”

“You should’ve trusted me,” Harley said, stopping less than a foot away from Jackie. Under the circumstances, Jackie couldn’t even feel attracted to her. Even though Harley was every bit as gorgeous as she imagined and currently barely dressed. But how did she do that? She didn’t look like a kid wearing a clown-suit!

“Help Katie,” she begged. “Please.”

Harley nodded, pulling the wand from somewhere Jackie couldn’t see, tossing the gun to Jackie as though she’d just asked for a coke.

Jackie caught it, though very nearly dropped it again from how unexpectedly heavy it was.

“Fine, but you’re helping.” Harley grabbed her wrist, yanking her forward into a run. She seemed completely unmoved by the floor covered in debris and broken glass, or by going into a public place almost naked.

Jackie wanted to drop the gun and run for her life—and for a moment, that was what she almost did. But the thought of Katie dragged away somewhere, to be used for who knew what kind of government research—she couldn’t let that happen. That was the sort of thing that happened to other people, but not family.

She tried to settle the gun into her hand as she ran, though she was too afraid to put her finger on the trigger. What if she pulled too hard and accidentally shot someone? “I don’t know how to use one of these!” she shouted, barely even managing to keep up with Harley as she ran. “Do I look like a member of the NRA?”

“Do I?” Harley shot back, as they came out of the meeting room. There was a thick crowd of con-goers, all marching slowly towards their rooms. Jackie whimpered, searching in the thick group for her sister and the massive man who had dragged her away, but they were impossible to pick out. How much lead did he have on them?

“When I yell, shoot the ceiling. Aim at something glass—real dramatic.” Harley leapt right into the air, and it looked almost like she caught there for a second, standing on a stool that didn’t exist. “Everyone on the ground right now!” she screamed. Only it didn’t sound like her at all—the voice that emerged from her throat sounded masculine, gravely, and fiercely angry. Not only that, but it projected loudly, filling the whole room.

She looked back at Jackie, expectant. Jackie didn’t know what she was doing, knew that this moment was when she would transform from a victim into an accomplice. I’ll do it for you, Katie. We’ll save you. She put her finger on the trigger and fired several times straight up. Each time the pistol barked in her hand, though there wasn’t much recoil. Just a faint upward push, angling her further and further off-course each time.

She hit glass once just by chance, and bits went flying down onto the crowd.

“On the ground!” Harley yelled again. This time, people obeyed. Many screamed, a few tried to run, but most got right onto the ground, dropping right where they were.

“Kay, don’t need that.” Harley gestured casually at the gun, then pointed. The towering man was on the bottom floor, one hand on Katie’s shoulder as he led her out. “Stay as close as you can!” Harley shouted, before flinging herself off the edge of the banister down to the lobby below.

Jackie didn’t watch too closely, just dropped the gun and ran for the stairs as quickly as she could. People were on the ground, crying, covering their faces, and she knew she wouldn’t have long. Once they realize I was part of it…

She made it to the stairs, shoved her way past several stunned con-guests, before sliding down the railing to the floor as quick as she could. By the time she got there, Harley was already through the front doors.

Their target had shoved Katie into the backseat of a car parked right up on the edge of the building, a black sedan with the keys still in the ignition. They were behind a police line—though for the moment, the officers weren’t look towards them. Cars and cones were parked to separate the hotel from the rest of the streets.

Their target went flying through the passenger seat as though he’d just been struck by a hydraulic ram. He bounced and rolled on the pavement, apparently without anything to propel him. Jackie stared, though not for long. “Out!” Harley shouted, and the back-passenger door ripped right off the car. Metal groaned as it tore, then the window landed on the ground and shattered. “Jackie, get her! She’s in spellshock.”

Jackie didn’t have a clue what that meant, but looking in the back of the car she could see her sister had vomit running down her face. She didn’t stop to look, just pushed through the confusion, and wrapped both arms around her sister. She hadn’t buckled in, so it wasn’t hard. Katie wasn’t much lighter than she was, but Jackie didn’t let that slow her down.

Half a dozen police had turned to stare at them. Many already had their hands on guns, watching with confusion and shock.

“O-officer…” croaked the agent, who had pulled himself into a sitting position, spitting blood. “Officers, shoot them!”

This order was not immediately obeyed. Harley stepped up beside them, grip firm on her wand. She was muttering something to herself, though Jackie couldn’t tell what. Please don’t be losing your mind. “Uh, Harley? We’re… what do we do? Harley?”

A few more policemen drew their weapons, aiming at them. “Stand down!” One of them shouted. “Get on the ground!”

The world jerked violently to one side. Jackie had never seen anything like it—not the way the policeman in front of her seemed to fracture into a dozen different colors. She would’ve vomited herself if there was anything left. She felt frost condense on her skin, something sharp tugging at her chest—then it was over, and the world changed. She was high up—standing on a helipad, only a few feet away from a plain white, corporate-looking helicopter.

“Come on.” Harley strode forward, and someone inside threw the doors open. “We’ve got to get in. The venom I used on the other three should be wearing off about now. Let’s go.”

Chapter 4

Unwilling Recruit

Jackie sat beside her sister on the comfortable leather seats, watching the world below retreating into indistinct shapes. So long as she didn’t think about anything, she could imagine this was just the flight back home after the convention. Her whole world didn’t have to change, she wasn’t a criminal. She hadn’t almost lost her sister through her own stupid mistakes. Up here, she could just sit comfortably and let all of that drift away.

Harley seemed to recognize her discomfort, because she made no move to wrest her out of her thoughts. For her part, Katie seemed even more disturbed by what she had experienced. She had her knees close to her chest, arms wrapped around them, and hadn’t even bothered to put on the headset that would muffle some of the noise. The interior of the helicopter wasn’t as loud as Jackie had expected, but it was still much louder than a plane.

Eventually she looked up, studying the stranger who had brought them here. Harley and her friend were sitting near the cockpit, letting their two passengers have the rest of the helicopter to themselves. Jackie couldn’t hear what they were saying. But Harley noticed her gaze, and put up a hand to her friend. She sat up a little straighter, then rose to her feet. She walked with surprising dexterity through the moving helicopter, sitting down in the empty chair beside Jackie. “You feeling better?”

Jackie didn’t answer, just staring down at her hands. “I never thought people in uniforms would be the bad guys,” she said, quietly enough that she wasn’t sure Harley would hear. “I’ve never been super patriotic or anything. Never waved flags around or any of that crap. But it seems wrong. They’re supposed to be the good guys. This isn’t the Matrix or some shit, is it?”

Instead of saying anything, Harley lifted the armrest up and out of the way between them. She felt Harley’s arm wrap around her, pulling Jackie in close to her body. She remained silent, holding Jackie close to her warmth and steady breathing. Something soft and constant in her upturned world. Jackie felt no desire to be anywhere else just then.

Harley did speak eventually, though Jackie couldn’t have said if it was ten minutes later or several hours. “Sometimes a pretty lie is better than the truth. Why don’t we just pretend it’s nothing like that, so you can stay happy.”

Jackie sat up a little, and Harley let her go. “It’s a little late for that. It was too late for that the moment we walked into a presentation designed to take our lives away.” She probably should’ve stopped right there, as accusatory as that already sounded, but just now she was furious enough not to care. “Why the fuck did you guys come if you knew anyone who was seen with you was going to get…” She struggled for a few seconds to put words to what she was thinking. “Taken away from their lives. Are you so desperate for new recruits that you’re trying to force us?”

Katie looked up from where she’d been sulking, apparently listening too. Her expression was still too shocked to read anything into what she might be feeling, though.

“Our visit is not what made you enemies of the state. We take very careful precautions not to involve anyone who doesn’t have to be. Think back carefully—don’t you remember getting distracted when you entered my booth? That was designed to keep away anyone who wasn’t already ‘tainted.’

“Then at the presentation, we set out good food in the other room, and used the same spell turned up to eleven. Unless you already had magic in your blood, you wouldn’t have heard a word I said. You would’ve gotten bored and walked away. You wouldn’t know how serious our position is, and you wouldn’t care. They wouldn’t care about you either. The fact you lasted through all that means you’re already in this fight whether you wanted to be or not. You’ve been exposed, you’re persona non-grata.”

But Jackie was hardly listening at that point. She did remember feeling that way, now that she was reminded. She had wanted to get away from Harley. But Katie hadn’t, and staying with Katie had been more important. She’d tried to get Katie to leave on both occasions, and her sister had refused. Plus, after seeing Harley, she had other motivations.

“I don’t think I belong here,” Jackie said, her voice low. “But I guess my sister does… which means I’ll stay. I wouldn’t make you go through this alone, Kat.” She took one of Katie’s hands in hers, squeezing in a way she hoped was reassuring.

Her sister nodded grimly. “I would’ve sent you away,” she said. “But it’s too late for that now. Your life is ruined too, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s Equestria’s fault,” Harley interrupted, speaking more forcefully. “For not leaving well enough alone. Or maybe it’s your own government’s fault for hunting their own people once they show any talent. Blame one of those sides, not each other. Nobody on this helicopter was involved in making those decisions.”

A voice squawked in over the radio, only a little distorted. “On landing vector approach for Unity. Please secure your seatbelts and remain in your seats until we come to a complete stop.”

“You’ve got a lot to learn,” Harley continued. “At least wait until you get the full picture before you start blaming ponies. There will be plenty to choose from once you get here. Until then… relax. You’ll only be new a few days, might as well enjoy them.”

Unity was something out of a dream—had it not been for the extreme difficulty of their arrival, Jackie might’ve even thought of it like one. A literal floating castle in the clouds, complete with a whole population of magical people. It was a school, but though a majority of its students were young, there were also a handful of adults and elderly in attendance as well, wearing the same uniforms and acting just as confused as anyone else.

Jackie learned the story of what they were doing on Earth. Believing something so insane did not come easy for her, but it wasn’t as though she had much other choice. Given the preponderance of the evidence, she was forced to accept the insane truth of it.

An alien universe had sent seeds of magic through to their home, which took root in the minds of some humans who saw them. Katie was one such, along with many fans of the show they’d created. Various organizations across the globe took issue with this (for reasons Jackie didn’t fully grasp), and were taking steps to contain the spread of magic. That was why her sister’s life had been forfeit, and her own was now lost by proxy.

It seemed positively absurd, except that she saw more than one aircraft bringing stretchers loaded down with the injured. It was impossible to object to the claim that lethal force was being employed when she was forced to see reminders of it on a daily basis.

Even harder to accept was the stupid “pony” thing—the other universe really was Equestria, and the natives from there had a fundamentally alien worldview. They spoke in strange ways, didn’t seem to fully grasp the reality of the dangers on the ground, and often acted innocent in ways that might’ve made Jackie laugh if her own fate wasn’t tied to theirs.

So not only was Jackie forced to spend time with people who liked her sister’s stupid pony show, but that stupid pony show was real. Why couldn’t it have been Harry Potter? she found herself thinking, more times than one. Or hell, even the Matrix. At least the first one was cool.

Worst of all, she didn’t even get to spend more time with Harley. There were other interesting people living in Unity, but none had that comforting mix of strength, confidence, and world-weariness. No one else was interesting enough to be worth going after.

Well, she told herself that. And not that it had anything to do with the reminder of high school, and what had happened the last time word got around she was dating girls instead of guys. For as sweet and innocent as the ponies could be, most of the people in Unity were just humans wearing dumb costumes.

Harley was some kind of field agent, which meant she spent most of her time out rescuing people who’d been in Katie’s position. She put herself in danger on a near-constant basis, and Jackie was far too untrained (not to mention unwilling) to come along. The best Jackie could hope for was to catch her in Unity’s rooftop bar to share a mug of cider.

Unfortunately for Jackie, it seemed Harley had wandering eyes. Catching her alone was difficult, and she could always sense her attention wandering to anyone else who happened to be around.

At least Jackie could be there for her young sister. She was no use to the ponies, and didn’t really care about their cold war. But her sister did, and she seemed determined to throw herself into danger. Or, as it soon turned out, throw herself off the clouds.

It was just typical that her sister could fly. Soon enough she had herself a pair of fake wings like many of the others, and the new uniforms and elevated standing of having found her “tribe.”

Jackie had been living in Unity for about a month on the evening she finally caught Harley alone for a conversation on the grounds. She’d just come back from some mission or another, but just like she always did Harley was willing to wander off and spend a little time together.

Not a date, or anything so formal. “I don’t get what’s so important about making us more infected,” Jackie was saying, as they wandered through the orchards. The “Earth Pony” tribes tended to these, so they were almost completely deserted as soon as the sun went down. “Shouldn’t we be rewarded for not having powers as long as possible? Katie seems ecstatic, but I don’t know if she should be.”

Wherever Harley had been, it had been somewhere with lots of music and not very dressed people, because she had several different shades of body-paint on her arms and face, and a skirt Jackie’s own mother never would’ve approved of. Not the boring, identical uniforms everyone in Unity was always wearing, like the castoffs of an old auto shop. One of many things that’s not fair about her.

Harley stopped beside one of the many trees—this one was a mango, apparently, with its succulent-smelling fruit dangling swollen from its branches. Magic kept every tree in the orchards always producing, and always in season despite a climate probably ill-suited to most of them.

“Jackie, I…” She lowered her voice, moving in close. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching, but Jackie knew full well there never would be. Even her own sister was almost never up at night anymore. “Look, I probably shouldn’t say this, but they’re thinking long-term. Not knowing doesn’t make the problem go away. Pretending you’re still human can’t work forever—the only thing it could possibly do is keep you from gaining experience, and make you more helpless if we ever have to evacuate.”

Jackie folded her arms. “Why would we ever need to do that? We’re living in a magical floating castle in the clouds. If the bad guys could find us they already would have.”

Harley took Jackie’s hand, interlocking fingers and dragging her further through the trees. “That’s completely stupid. But if you really want to try and stay normal, I bet I could get you out. You’ll still be on wanted lists and stuff, but if you wanna hide forever, you still could.”

Jackie let Harley pull her through the darkness, though she wasn’t sure where they were going anymore. The only thing Jackie knew for sure was this way was the edge of Unity, where a low wall was the only bit of warning before the fathomless abyss. Most of Unity’s students kept well away from the edge, except for the “Pegasus” tribe. Jackie wasn’t a Pegasus, though she didn’t see any reason to be afraid of the edge. So long as she didn’t climb the wall, she wouldn’t fall.

“I don’t want to leave my sister behind,” Jackie muttered, not resisting as Harley pulled her along. She hopped up onto the wall beside her, looking down at the vast expanse of open sky. Few in Unity ever saw this view. Of course, there were parts of the school that had proper walls, like some ancient defensive fortress, but those higher walls didn’t surround the orchard. “And I don’t much like the idea of living the rest of my days in Honduras or Russia or somewhere. You should hear me try and speak Spanish, it’s a joke.”

Harley sat down beside her on the wall, wrapping one arm around her. They didn’t move, didn’t say anything for some time. Far below, Jackie could see a veritable sea of clouds. It always seemed thick around Unity, thick enough that she still hadn’t got a good look at the ground to know exactly where the castle was located. Assuming it wasn’t just on the move all the time.

Jackie never could’ve guessed at just how much of her life was going to be ruined by coming to Unity. If only she’d taken her sister home and skipped the “free panel,” they’d be home right now, safe. Oblivious to the terrible fate their own government had in store for them. But for all that she’d given up, at least spending time with Harley was nice. So maybe not all bad.

“I know somewhere else you could go,” Harley said quietly, running one hand through her hair. Jackie wasn’t sure if it was a few minutes later, or an hour. Neither of them seemed in a hurry to rush off to bed. “Not like those places. Somewhere as nice as what you’re used to, where you could speak the language. Somewhere you’d never be running away.”

“Really?” Jackie asked, sitting up a little straighter. “That sounds awesome.”

Harley laughed. “You say that because you don’t know the details. It’s a deal with the devil, honey. More So than usual with me.” She grinned, and Jackie was sure she saw sharp teeth in Harley’s mouth. But was that just a leftover from her latest disguise, or… she could never be sure. “Less than one in ten of the ponies can deal with the stress of your world, did you know that? It’s really hard for them to see this war. You all are tougher than they are—maybe half of you can handle sticking around to help in some way or another. Still, that’s half of everybody we rescue who aren’t here or in any of our bases around the world. Where do you think they go?”

Jackie’s eyebrows went up. “Well? Where?”

“The only safe place to put them,” Harley answered, her hot breath on Jackie’s ear as she whispered into it. “My home. Where they’ll be stuck at least until the war is over.”

Jackie’s eyes widened. “You can do that? Send humans like us through to…” She thought about it for a moment, considering. “Sounds inconvenient. Dealing with a species that’s a different size—though if you’re as big as real horses, I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. We’d be way small.”

“Other way around,” Harley said. “Think… a big ‘ole cat. Or an average-sized dog. From here, I mean. Dogs there are… very small.”

“You’re kidding me.” Jackie reached up, one hand briefly on Harley’s face. “If I could see what you really looked like, you could sit right here on my lap?”

Harley chuckled, looking away. “Y-yeah. Something like that. I’m smaller than most. Coming here was the first time I’d ever been the same size as everypony else.”

“You’re fucking with me,” Jackie said. “This whole thing is a joke. You’re trying to see how gullible I am. That’s not fair.”

“Am not.” Harley spun around, straddling Jackie’s lap. The sudden weight was enough that she nearly fell over the edge—would have, if she hadn’t caught herself with one hand at the last moment. The thrill wasn’t entirely unwelcome. “And I can still fit on your lap.” She wrapped her arms around Jackie, pulling her close for a kiss. Unfortunately, that also meant unbalancing her already precarious perch.

Together, they tumbled into the abyss.

Chapter 5

Unwilling Recruit

Jackie broke away from the kiss, screaming hysterical fear. She kicked and squealed as she fell, reaching out for something, anything she could use to catch herself. “Harley, save me!” she screamed, but the words were ripped away from her lips as she fell. She felt a sudden sharp pain between her shoulderblades, as though she had smacked against the rocky base of Unity on her way down. There was even the moisture of blood dribbling down her back—then she reached the clouds.

Already she’d lost track of up and down, until she hit the cloud. Suddenly she felt wet all over, like falling into a snowdrift. Her mind raced, and she expected to see the white blasting away from her as she gained speed swiftly towards her death. Yet all she saw was an explosion of white from all around her, filling her vision even in the moonlight.

Jackie stopped, surrounded in fluff. She sat up, one hand on her chest, her heart still racing from the fall. She felt, quite correctly, as though she had been about to die. But where was Harley? Hadn’t they fallen together?

Harley can fly, she reminded herself. I’m gonna strangle her.

Jackie tried to pull herself to her feet in her damp prison, but found she couldn’t really apply much force to the snowy stuff around her without crushing it to water in her hands. It really was like standing on something made of snow, except not nearly as cold. Am I standing on a cloud? Jackie hadn’t been at Unity that long—she’d heard of students claiming to do things like this. But seeing it herself?

“I didn’t see you come out the bottom,” Harley said, poking her head in above Jackie. It looked like she was about ten feet up through whatever Jackie had sunken into, backlit by the moon. She was grinning. “There you are.”

“You could’ve killed me!” Jackie screamed, before she’d really thought it through. She felt something twitch on her back—more signs of the injury she’d taken in her fall? But she dismissed that thought.

“Not really,” Harley said. “I made sure the cloud down here was big enough you couldn’t miss it. I’ve never seen a pegasus fall through twelve feet of cloud before.”

“Maybe a pegasus wouldn’t,” Jackie grunted, not trying to conceal her anger at this point. She figured she had earned at least a little outrage after nearly being killed. She could still feel the warm blood trickling down her back. “I’m not a pegasus. I can’t walk on clouds like those stories.”

Harley reached one hand down towards her. Of course she was too far away for Jackie to reach, and this became abundantly clear to her after just a few seconds. Harley shrugged, and dropped into the hole beside her. Well… more atop her, really. She slid her legs down the sides of the cloud, so that she wouldn’t smack into Jackie when she hit the bottom. Fluff filled the air like smog as she moved, taking up way more of her momentum than it had any right to. She settled down in the hole resting atop Jackie’s legs.

Jackie would’ve expected the interior of a cloud to be darker, but apparently that wasn’t the case. The light from the moon above made the whole thing glow around them. It was still damp, and she could feel her clothes starting to get wet, sticking to her skin wherever they touched it.

“Well, I knew you weren’t strong like an earth pony, and the wands haven’t done anything for you. Plus, your sister is a pegasus. Didn’t really leave many options.” Harley trailed off, staring at something past her. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, and she seemed to be struggling for words. “O-or… I guess that explains why you’re not getting all tired like everypony else.” She grinned. “Welcome to the freakshow, Jackie.”

“What are you talking about?” Jackie glanced over her shoulder, but couldn’t see anything beyond more slightly glowing cloud. Was this some kind of… practical joke? That didn’t seem right for Harley—she might be a little cynical, but she’d never been mean.

“Oh, these,” Harley said, reaching past her. Jackie felt heat pressing on her sensitive skin, yet for several seconds her mind didn’t even know how to process it. Harley’s touch was gentle, moving along a wide surface of skin that seemed to be somehow behind her.

Not only that, it moved, responding to Harley’s attention. Unfolding from her back, one half stuck against her shirt, though the half Harley was touching had emerged where her shirt had apparently been damaged in the fall.

Then everything fit into place, and she could finally see. Harley was touching a dark-skinned bat wing, one that was connected to the small of Jackie’s back. At her thought, the wing twitched and moved unevenly, partially folding and unfolding. There were a few more seconds of confusion, accompanied with the same sick feeling that always came with exposure to anything remotely magical.

Then the sickness faded, and the wings made sense. She could move them if she wanted, and she wanted them tucked up against her back. She looked up, where Harley’s face was only inches away from her own. “W-what did you do to me?” Jackie asked, voice barely a whisper. There was a little accusation in her tone, but not nearly as much as might’ve been justified.

“What did I…” Harley repeated, confused. She put her hand down, resting it on Jackie’s shoulder instead. “Nothing, really. I can’t change what you are underneath. Someone who’s going to end up an earth pony is going to be an earth pony. If you were going to be something else, then you’d be something else. Like… well, a bat. Nice fangs, by the way. Adorable.”

Jackie’s face went ever redder. She reached up towards her mouth, hoping that Harley was leading her on… but no, one finger briefly on her mouth was enough to know that she did, in fact, have a few sharper teeth than she was used to. Not really all that different from some of the people she’d seen in Unity.

“So… what,” Jackie began, struggling to put words together. To take control of the situation again. She didn’t push Harley off her, or take her hands away. Whatever anger she’d felt hadn’t lasted long. “You shoved me off the school, so I would… grow wings? You’re that into girls with wings?”

“No, that’s you.” Harley grinned back at her. “But I was trying to help you. I feel like Unity goes too easy on everyone. They think ponies are going to be as spineless as they are.”

“We’re not ponies,” Jackie pointed out, for at least the second time tonight.

“Exactly!” Harley exclaimed. “Earth is a much harder place to grow up in than Equestria! You’re tougher than they are, mentally and physically. So maybe I thought you shouldn’t have to wait around for… maybe six more months… before you learned how to fly.”

Harley pushed gently, and Jackie didn’t really have the leverage to resist. She went sliding onto her back in the moisture of the cloud with Harley atop her all the way down.

“You think I’ll be able to fly with these?” It was a stupid question—Jackie knew her sister was learning to fly with her wings, and plenty of others besides. But it gave her something to say that wasn’t just more embarrassment at their position.

Of course, she could’ve fought Harley if she really wanted to. If she was angry about the way Harley had tricked her, she probably could’ve forced her way up out of the cloud. Getting back up to Unity without Harley would be harder, but she didn’t think her friend would just abandon her like that.

But she didn’t fight, because Jackie didn’t want to be away from her right now.

“Obviously,” Harley answered, leaning a little closer. So close she could feel her breath again, rising from her lips as a little cloud of steam. It was surprisingly cold inside a cloud, and wet too. The hole they were resting in seemed to be getting progressively bigger. “I’ve got less wings than you, and I can fly on them fine. It’s just about magic, and practice.”

Jackie grunted. She wanted to be angry, or at least to look angry enough that Harley might feel bad for what she’d done. But no matter how hard she had tried in the past to trick Harley, that never seemed to work. She could always tell how she was really feeling. Secretly, the adrenaline of her near-death only made Jackie feel more interested in Harley. More excited for this time together.

Well, maybe trying to pretend was a waste of time. “I want a real kiss,” she whispered. “One that doesn’t end with falling off a cliff.”

Harley’s whole body rested against her, so close Jackie could feel her heartbeat through wet clothes. “I’m sure we can find another way to end it,” she whispered back. One hand tugged slightly on Jackie’s shirt, pulling it a little lower. There was a little more resistance than there would’ve been, given the moisture.

Then she kissed her. Jackie didn’t think much of anything after that. It had been a long time since she’d been that close with another girl—not since her last night of cheer camp, which she’d spent with Alice Munford under the bleachers.

Now, Jackie found herself wishing that she’d waited a little longer. If her first time had been inside a cloud under a secret castle, with a girl with bright, broad wings, she might’ve had more of a story to tell.

Well, there was still a little bit of a story. The hours flew by, then she was asleep beside Harley wrapped only in the soft, faintly glowing stuff of the cloud. The dampness and the chill hadn’t really bothered her—after getting used to it, that only made the time more intimate, since it gave them a reason to cling closer together.

But something else did jolt her awake, the orange glow of distant sunlight, penetrating the cloud all the way through and nearly blinding her.

The schedule at Unity was awful—Jackie knew sunrise meant that the day would be starting soon. She had fifteen minutes until the first bell, at most.

To her surprise, Harley sat up at about the same time she did. Her skin looked strangely pale, despite all the time she spent away on missions. And she had more than a few tattoos, in places Jackie hadn’t thought to look. “Guess we should be getting back,” she said, sounding as though she wanted to leave about as much as Jackie did.

“I don’t want to miss breakfast at least,” Jackie answered. “Don’t care much if I’m late to class otherwise.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Harley reached to one side, where they’d piled up their clothes several hours before—but there was nothing there but a hole through the cloud. “O-oh.” She giggled. “Oops. Forget I was wearing street-clothes and you didn’t have enchanted gear. Guess we’re… flying back like this.”

Jackie’s eyes widened. She found the new set of wings on her back spread wide against her will, expressing some of her disdain for that idea. “You’re, uh… couldn’t you fly down and get them?”

“Nah.” Harley stood up right in front of her, stretching. Jackie didn’t look away this time, though her cheeks did warm up a little. “I don’t know how far we drifted. Probably not too far, but… I still have to fly us back.” She took off, lifting out of their hole in the clouds. Her wings shed a few drops of moisture as she moved through the air, splashing down around her. “I’ll get the cloud as close to the grounds as I can, then we can sneak in through the laundry room. Nobody actually cares about us being naked, except maybe some of the new rescuees…”

“What about your boyfriend?” Jackie called after her. It was a little easier to stand herself than it had been the night before. If she kept her wings spread and didn’t put too much of her weight down on any one spot, it wouldn’t squish below her. “Don’t you think he might care that we…”

“Nah.” Harley landed flat on the cloud above her, looking down. “Apple Cinnamon knows what I am. He loves me for who I am. Knows that I’m not the sort of person who could be happy with just one partner.”

Jackie hoped her discomfort didn’t make it to her face.

“What about you?” Harley asked, apparently not as committed to getting them back on time as she had initially seemed. “Does it bother you that I’m with other people sometimes? Can we…” She gestured vaguely. “Can we do this again?”

“It’s cool,” Jackie lied. “Yeah, it’s cool. I do want to do this again. Soon.”

“Sooner if you get to go on missions with me,” Harley said. “Cinnamon stays on base all the time. It gets real lonely on those undercover nights. I could use a pretty little bat like you to keep me warm.”

Chapter 6

Unwilling Recruit

Katie caught her on her way back to the room. Jackie had come back in through the laundry, so she hadn’t been completely naked—though the robe she’d stolen didn’t fit, and smelled like it hadn’t yet been washed.

Katie was already awake when she came into their shared dorm, half dressed with the straightener warming in front of the mirror before her. Couldn’t you sleep in like a normal teenager?

Still, it could’ve been worse. Nobody else in the girls’ dorm had noticed her.

“Well look at you,” Katie said, looking up from the mirror and grinning at her. “Looks like you had a night.”

Jackie smiled sheepishly, stumbling over to her dresser, and shuffling around for something to wear. The clouds had probably been enough of a shower, and breakfast would be starting soon.

“Who was it?” Katie asked, going back to her hair as Jackie started scrambling into her second uniform. “Oh, was it that soldier guy who you’re always talking to on the exercise field? Or… no, maybe it was the redhead working in the garden? He looked like he could pull a house with arms like those…”

Jackie felt herself tense as she struggled into her second uniform. It didn’t fit nearly as well as the other one, but she doubted she would ever be seeing that one again. “Katie… we’ve talked about this. It wasn’t any of those guys. I’m not…” She could feel her cheeks getting redder. “I’m not into guys, remember?”

“I know,” Katie muttered. “But I thought…”

“No,” Jackie cut her off. “Don’t say it. We’ll both wish you hadn’t.”

Her sister was silent for another few seconds, apparently considering that. “Alright, Jackie. Fine. I won’t. I hope you had a good night with her, then. Happy?”

“Yes,” Jackie said, slumping sidelong into bed. She couldn’t hold back a yawn, her wings stretching out behind her. How they’d escaped from her shirt, she couldn’t know. But she heard Katie gasp.

“J-Jackie!” She was suddenly on her feet again, pointing. “What the hell did you do? You’ve got…”

“Yeah,” Jackie said. Now she smiled—at least returning with freaky wings on her back was more of a big deal to her sister than the one she’d been sleeping with. Maybe there was hope for Katie after all.

“I guess I just needed the right motivation. Harley almost killed me, the way we went tumbling off the edge, but… it didn’t hurt as much as I was expecting. Growing wings, I mean. I guess I must’ve been listening to all your complaints about feathers, because I don’t have any.”

Now that she was thinking about them, her wings flexed and stretched behind her, extending to their full wingspan. Not nearly enough to lift someone as large and heavy as a person, but that never seemed to matter. If Katie could fly, then there was no reason she wouldn’t be able to.

Katie rested one cold hand on the edge of her wing, running her fingers along its length. Her sister was careful—she had her own wings, after all, and knew how sensitive they could be. “They look so thin. I can practically see through them… do you think it’s weird to have so much skin?”

In answer, Jackie plucked one of Katie’s feathers with a sharp tug. Her sister whined and pulled away, even as Jackie held it up. “Is it weird you have these?”

“I guess… not any weirder than anything else around here. People can break stone and lift cars, people have magical horns, might as well have wings too.”

Jackie slumped backward against the bunk bed—it wasn’t a very large room, and there wasn’t exactly enough room for her to stretch her legs. Her wings kept twitching against her back—if there was one good thing in all of this, it was that her wings would probably necessitate an entirely new uniform. She could replace the one she’d lost off the edge of a cloud.

“So, what even are you?” Katie asked, still staring. “I don’t think you’re a pegasus, not with wings like that. That means you don’t have weather magic… what do you have instead?”

Jackie shrugged. “Does it matter? Magic is stupid—so long as I can fly, that’s all I need. I’ll… start coming to your class from now on.”

The breakfast bell rang through the wall, loud enough that she almost jumped. Was it always that loud? Jackie swore under her breath, snatching a brush from by the mirror and hastily going over her hair a few times. She had half a mind just to go back to bed. She could survive without one day’s classes.

“I don’t see why you assume we would be anything like ponies, Katie. I mean, we have wings, sure, fine. Whatever. But why would that mean the rest of our ‘magic’ would work the same way? They’re aliens. Just because they can make themselves look like us doesn’t mean they are like us.”

Katie set down her straightener, made her way over, and yanked down Jackie’s skirt. She squeaked in protest—an uncomfortably high-pitched sound—scrambling away.

“What the fuck are you—” She trailed off as Katie pointed at her thigh. In the dark of the night, Jackie hadn’t even noticed. Though that might’ve been because she had much more important things to look at.

Jackie had a cutie mark—like a pair of soundwaves colliding with each other, interfering at their peaks and valleys. She reached down, feeling the skin there. The pattern came from fur, not skin at all, raised in a layer like fuzz. As soft as a pony’s coat.

“Jackie, I know you don’t pay attention in class, but maybe you should. Lots of us have pretty much worked it out. The other students, I mean. I think we’re…” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “We’re gaining all the same powers, the same cutie marks… we even sing like them. Lots of us think we’re becoming them. Think about it, Jackie! Since the first day we got here, they’ve been calling us ‘ponies.’ Weird vocal quirk, or maybe they all knew and just couldn’t help it!”

“Alright Alex Jones, that’s enough of the crazy pills for one day.” She turned, yanking on her sister’s arm. “Let’s go get some food.”

“But it would make so much sense!” Katie whined, as they made their way into the dorm. They passed lots of other girls, all roughly the same age. Jackie passed a handful of adorable high-school age looking kids, almost all of which had one of the mutations. Your parents must be pissed. But she hadn’t ever talked to them—it felt too weird.

Katie didn’t keep going with her weird conspiracy theory—not as they ate breakfast, and not as Jackie slept through their morning classes. She managed to sneak away for a nap after the first few hours, though someone found her and dragged her to the quartermaster after they caught sight of her wings.

With a little more sleep, Jackie found her sister’s ideas stuck deeper than she thought. If humans really were developing differently, shouldn’t she have expected even one person to manifest something that wasn’t from the pony show? But she hadn’t seen one—it was always the same few basic templates. So far as she knew, her own bat wings were the weirdest way the pony transformation had occurred, and those still matched to something from the kids’ show.

To her surprise, their dorm supervisor had got wind of her transformation. How word had traveled so far, Jackie didn’t know, but she didn’t really question when she saw the results.

Her new schedule was almost empty—it had her waking after lunch hour, and having only a few classes during the day. Almost all of them had been shifted to after sundown.

“I don’t understand,” Jackie said, staring down at the sheet in disbelief. “The hell is this, Steph? I beg you for a month to get me transferred to some better classes, and now you finally do it?” She flexed her wings—her new top had slits cut for them, which were alright. The cut exposed more of her back than she was comfortable with for casual wear—it would be better with buttons.

“You weren’t a thestral before,” Stephanie said, annoyed. Their dorm supervisor had been here longer than most others—almost two years. “That changes things. Now sleeping in isn’t lazy, it’s biology.”

It’s biology, Jackie thought, remembering Katie’s words earlier and gritting her teeth. “No, it isn’t. I’m the same person I was a month ago, when you wouldn’t give me a schedule like this. Not that being with my sister wasn’t fun, but…”

“Your sister isn’t being reassigned,” Stephanie interrupted, looking up from her desk. She didn’t have an office, so there was no privacy here. They stood at the end of the dormitory, with girls passing in and out from their lunch shift. “You’ll see her at dinner, but that’s the only thing you’ll share with her on this schedule. I can’t really do much about that, though I could give you back your old schedule if this one doesn’t work out for you.”

“This is fine,” Jackie said, tapping the page with one finger. “I was looking forward to going to her flying class, but it’s not the end of the world. I didn’t really get to see her that much at university…” She trailed off. “Why is my class at night?”

“You’re a thestral,” Stephanie said, as though the answer was stupidly obvious. “You’ll do most of your flying at night. Conditions are different, uh…” Stephanie was a unicorn, or at least, she had the horn. She was also annoyed. “Look, don’t take it out on me. Ask your teacher. I’m just the one giving you the schedule.”

Jackie rose from her chair, putting up her hands. “Alright, alright. I’m not going to complain… clothes that fit and not having to get up when the sun is barely up is enough for me.”

Stephanie shrugged, waving her off.

Jackie hesitated as she was about to push the chair back in, resting one hand on the back. “Wait… you’ve been here for ages, haven’t you Steph? Over a year.”

She nodded. “Yeah?”

“So… did you ever… go to their side?”

Stephanie nodded, lowering her voice. “I did. It was a few months ago. I’m not really supposed to talk about it.”

Jackie was conscious of eyes on her back, as several of the other girls watched. They hadn’t come in together—some had been here for months, while others had only arrived a few days ago.

“Can you answer one question?” She didn’t wait for confirmation. “All that stuff about the way they look… is it true? Are they really little…” She made a gesture with both hands. “Little horses?”

Stephanie nodded again, though her face was going red. “Yes. No one has lied to you, Jackie. If they wanted to lie to us, there are much easier ways. If they were going to make up a story, they could’ve picked something simple. Instead of…” She gestured vaguely. “Just go to class, Jackie. They’ll be expecting you.”

Jackie tucked her schedule away and slipped out into the night. She found herself wondering about Stephanie all the way out. Were thousands of people really lying to them? Stephanie had made a good point—if they were going to lie, they’d picked something insane.

But if they aren’t lying, what does that make us? She ran her fingers over the patch on her shoulder, the one with a little bat wing. Not that anyone who saw her would need to see it to know what she was.

Then she got outside, and saw the whole flight-ground was filled with freaks. Harley stood at the front of the group, wearing instructor’s patches on her shoulders.

I could probably get used to this. Jackie’s first ever steady girlfriend proved to be far from her expectations. But then again, if she had wanted a conventional girlfriend, she probably shouldn’t have fallen for a literal emotional parasite.

But Jackie didn’t care what the native “ponies” thought about changelings, or any of their supposed history in the imaginary land of Equestria. They could keep believing what they wanted, and keep teaching whatever propaganda would get their mostly young human allies to help them.

Jackie never felt like Harley was feeding on her during their time together, whatever ponies said about her. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel jealous. From the beginning, Harley had made it clear that their relationship would not be exclusive.

But just knowing she wouldn’t get to be in Harley’s life full time and actually watching her walk around with Apple Cinnamon were two very different things.

“Get your field training,” Harley kept saying. “Then we can be together out there, and I can be with Cinnamon while we’re here. Won’t that be perfect?”

Once I don’t have to see you with a boy, then it will be perfect. Jackie didn’t tell her that, of course. It wouldn’t be right to ask, when she’d already gone into this knowing it wouldn’t be that way. But if she could convince Harley to change her own mind, that would be different.

Jackie attacked her classes with more interest than she ever had before. Not because she cared any more about what they were teaching, but because she would need to pass to go out with Harley.

The question what they really looked like underneath seemed less important in that light. She was safe, Katie was safe, and her relationship with Harley was new and exciting. Jackie could live with that.

For a while.

Chapter 7

Unwilling Recruit

The problem with being girlfriends with a field agent was that Harley was almost never around. What was worse, the changeling’s time while she was actually in Unity had to be divided between her boyfriend and girlfriend.

Jackie hadn’t actually spoken to Apple Cinnamon, which was the way they both seemed to want to keep it.

At least Harley helped teach some of the flight classes whenever she was around. Typically, with a pair of batlike wings, instead of the feathered ones or the transparent fairy wings with their smattering of holes.

“When are you going to teach us to do that?” Jackie asked, after a month or so of practice. She wasn’t nearly the natural at this that her sister was, but she was learning. It was just like her time at university—she might not take to the material as quickly as some, but get her a good tutor and some time in the library and she could work things out eventually.

A few of the other students winced as she asked, or withdrew a little.

But Harley didn’t look offended. “Never,” she said, voice cheerful. “You can’t learn it. None of you can.”

“Why?”

“Leave it, Jackie,” chided Dustin from behind her. They were all resting on a cloud just now, after several hours of practice concentrating parts of it enough to create rain. But they’d been going for so long now that the class was pretty much done.

Harley didn’t seem to mind, though. Jackie should probably have waited until there wasn’t a whole class watching, but the longer she remained in Unity the less cautious she became. “Because I’m a changeling, and all of you are ponies,” she said. “Thestrals, granted. We’ve got lots more in common than with daywalkers.”

Several members of the class chuckled. It wasn’t a pony word, but a word vampires in some dumb movie they’d been watching had used to describe regular people. Despite being incredibly dumb, the word had stuck. Probably because most of these people are bronies, and none of them have any taste.

Jackie found more and more that she had lots in common with her fellow bats, but even so.

“I don’t get it,” Jackie said, just like she always did when someone at the school said something like that. “We’re humans with wings. We’re not ponies.”

Now Harley did seem to become more alert, eyes narrowing. She put up one hand, interrupting Jackie before she could continue. Later, her expression said.

So she waited—until the class had flown back down to Unity. Until they were alone up in the clouds again. Though the higher up they went, the colder it got, and the thinner the air. Jackie could never get a straight answer how they could breathe at these altitudes to begin with. But trying to figure out why anything with ponies worked the way it did was challenging.

“Sweetheart,” Harley said, landing behind her on the clouds and wrapping around her front. “I say this in kindness, but you and your sister should really stop spending time with conspiracy theorists.”

Jackie tensed immediately, and almost shoved Harley off. But she was sitting on the edge of the cloud. Even if her fear of heights had gradually deadened in her mind, there was still something deep and primal that refused to play around with edges like this. Throwing someone off a cliff, even knowing they could fly, was more than she could handle.

“That doesn’t actually answer anything I asked,” Jackie said, annoyed. Instead of flinging Harley off, she dropped backward onto her back, squashing the changeling between her and the cloud. Not exactly a potent attack given how little she seemed to weigh anymore, but it wasn’t meant to be. “Why does it matter what ponies can do? Maybe you shouldn’t put humans into the same boxes. For all you know, I could feed on emotions too… and change into different people, like you can.”

Harley didn’t answer for a long time, though she did wiggle out from behind her, laying on the cloud beside her and looking up at the sky. She found one of Jackie’s hands, and clutched it in hers. Jackie didn’t pull away.

“You could,” she said, quietly. “It’s happened… a few times. During the Canterlot invasion… that was Chrysalis’s plan from the beginning. She knew such an overt attack would probably fail, so she had a backup. Gather up the most important ponies in the city, change them while we had it captured… then use them to attack Equestria again. They’d have to be loyal to us once they were starving too. They’d have to obey her.”

Harley shuddered. “I don’t know if it would’ve worked or not. But I know none of those ponies were ever the same again. I would never want that for you, squeak. The constant, gnawing hunger in the pit of your stomach. Knowing something’s missing, like… the world doesn’t have a place for you. Fate forgot to put you into the story, I guess. And it would be worse for you, since you’d remember what it was like before. I was born like this… you weren’t.”

Jackie rolled onto her side, feigning a glare. But she didn’t have the energy for much protest. “I don’t squeak.”

In answer, Harley reached forward with one hand and squeezed—so quick that Jackie couldn’t see it coming, or stop her.

She arched her back involuntarily, making a squeaking sound so high-pitched she could hardly believe it came out of her own mouth. She shoved away from Harley, though her embarrassment was feigned too. She didn’t really want her to stop.

Unfortunately for her, Harley seemed able to sense emotions. Including desire.

Jackie forgot about her questions for a while under the starlight and the freezing wind.

But an hour or so later, and the cloud had started to drift back down. Low enough that someone out for a night flight might find them. The rules were much less restrictive at night, when even a nearby human far below would probably only see a large bird flying overhead. The night guard were much less strict when it came to staying on campus.

So Jackie pulled her shirt back on, forcing herself to sit up. “What were we talking about again?”

“Nothing,” Harley said, somehow already dressed. “I was just telling you that I’m going on assignment tomorrow, so I won’t be back for a week or so, and—”

Jackie cut her off. “I remember now! I asked about ponies, and you tried to distract me with some terrible story about the war. Which did sound terrible, but… I still want to know.”

“You want to,” Harley repeated. “But it’s better if you don’t. I feel for you, Jackie. I know how much it sucks to have things you want to know, but nobody will tell you. I know what it’s like to feel trapped. But if you keep digging, you’re…” She shook her head. “I can’t even say that.”

“Why not?” Jackie asked, glaring. “I’m gonna find out eventually, anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to just tell us and get it over with? I can tell you what my sister thinks…”

“No!” Harley squeaked in frustration, kicking out at the nearby cloud. It dissolved with a puff of fog, even under her bare feet. Both of them were barefoot up here, as they usually were when doing weather practice.

At least Harley hadn’t insisted on any of her students wearing those stupid hoof-boots that were going into style with more and more students of unity.

“No, Jackie.” She rested one hand on her shoulder. “I need you to look at me for a second here. I’m not allowed to tell you very much about what you’re thinking. There are rules… lots of rules, and I’m a changeling. If I break them, I’ll be…” She shivered, looking away. “Well, I’m on probation here. I’ve almost paid my debt. I’m not going to fuck it all up now when I’m almost free. And you… you’re not the first po—the first students to get obsessed with it. You’ll learn what it all means eventually. But right now, the rules are there to protect you.”

Jackie shoved her away, glaring. “Now you sound like them. You’re supposed to be the reasonable one. Can’t you just be straight with us? Is Nnity trying to condition us into becoming ponies, or isn’t it?”

“Nope!” Harley covered her ears with both hands, stepping forward. “I didn’t hear that, Jackie! I didn’t hear it, and you didn’t ask it!” She stepped off the edge of the cloud, vanishing into the night. Jackie tried to follow, but she found the changeling had somehow evaded her. She couldn’t see her as she flew down towards Unity, not even when she could see the entire school from above.

But she didn’t waste much time looking for her. Harley didn’t insist on much, but when she drew a boundary like that, Jackie knew it was a waste of time to fight directly.

Changelings weren’t about open conflict—they were about trickery, subtlety, manipulation. If they wanted to get any answers, they would have to find them on their own.

Jackie slipped back into her bedroom a few minutes later. Her sister wasn’t up yet, but the sun couldn’t be far behind. Jackie wouldn’t have long to wait. She tossed most of her clothes onto the floor, then flew up into bed as quietly as a bat.

She spent a few minutes playing on her 3DS, leaning up against the wall of her bunk bed and trying not to make too much noise.

Then she heard her sister stirring beneath her. There was no alarm—the first light of dawn coming in from outside was all it took.

“Hey,” Katie squeaked, as she rose. Whatever drowsiness lingered in her eyes seemed to fade after only a few seconds. “Long night?”

Jackie shrugged. “I asked her about the pony thing.”

“And?” Katie started fumbling around, grabbing towel, soap, and uniform, though she didn’t step out into the hallway just yet. She was up early enough that a few minutes to linger wouldn’t make her late to anything.

Jackie shook her head, snapping the 3DS closed. “Nothing. No hints, no confirmation…” She trailed off, thinking. “Well, maybe not. She did say something about rules. So I guess that confirms what Sven was thinking about that. Even the ones who want to tell us things can’t, or else they’ll get in trouble.”

Harley had told her more about that—about her own personal life. She was on probation, for… past conduct in Equestria, presumably. Though for what, Jackie only had bits and pieces. Harley was always evasive whenever she wasn’t the one volunteering information.

Katie groaned. “Well, it sucks, but… we would probably have wanted proof even if she told us everything. I think we’ll have to break some rules.”

Jackie leaned forward over the edge of the bed, grinning in spite of her growing tiredness. “You didn’t mention we would be having actual fun. Did you guys come up with a plan while I was asleep again?”

Her sister looked away, blushing slightly. “M-maybe a little. It’s a good plan, though! I think you’ll like it!”

Jackie gestured with one wing. The meaning was apparently obvious, because her sister went on.

“Well, you know how we aren’t allowed to visit like half of Unity? Well… most of it’s underground, and there are guards in the way. They say it’s dangerous, but Sven spent all day today watching people go in and out. Some of them were humans like us, and they weren’t burned or sick or anything. I think that’s where they keep the freaky mutants.”

“Could be,” Jackie agreed, sitting up again. She no longer felt tired. “But what about the guards? They aren’t just going to let us walk down there. We’re not Harley, we can’t just pretend to be one of them.”

“No, but… almost all of us can fly. I’ve been scouting out Unity during our flight practice, and I think I found a way into it. Between the two of us, we could carry Sven. Take a camera, find out what they’ve been hiding. If they’re really some kind of evil pony cult, trying to mutate all of us… we need to know. Maybe we’d be better off with the other side.”

Jackie considered that a long moment. She thought about Harley, begging her to turn back. If you’d told me, I would believe you. I’d try to stop them. But you didn’t. “Alright. Let’s give it a few days… I don’t want Harley to be here to catch the blame, and she’s being deployed soon. Once she’s gone… we’ll do it.”

Chapter 8

Unwilling Recruit

Their plan began without a hitch. They prepared their cameras, waited for Harley to leave on assignment, and watched Unity’s exterior entrances carefully. The balcony they planned to use was used by many of Unity’s winged inhabitants, or at least the ones that claimed to come from Equestria.

Sven was not excited about the part of their plan that involved being carried down to the window, but what other options did they have? They had plenty of time to practice the maneuver without a perilous drop to his death, plenty of time to learn that between Jackie and her sister they could easily carry a single person. In class, they had learned that they only needed one flyer to every passenger. But they wouldn’t be taking that much risk.

The entrance was not far from the orchard, where few but the earth ponies visited on any regular basis. Still, there were no rules against it, and nobody to stop the three of them from hanging out near the wall there. They did it for several days, forcing Jackie to wake up much earlier than she wanted. But some things were more important than sleep.

They waited until there was nobody around—not even other students friendly to their mission. They weren’t the only ones who were curious about what the ponies of Unity were hiding. But ultimately they had decided that a smaller group was better. Nobody else they’d managed to recruit had been willing to take the risk. What would they do if they got caught?

“If you drop me, I’m gonna be pissed,” Sven said, as each of them took an arm. “I’ve got a kid, you know. You’re going to make her an orphan if you drop me.”

“The clouds would catch you,” Jackie muttered, shrugging one wing dismissively.

“No they wouldn’t,” Sven and Katie said at almost the same time. “Only people with wings can walk on them.”

“Oh.” Jackie really should’ve paid more attention in class. “Well, we won’t drop you. It’s like a hundred feet to the balcony.”

They lifted up into the air. Jackie had to beat her wings much harder to stay airborne, but not harder than was comfortable. It was more like slowing down—she could’ve used the same amount of energy to fly much faster if she had wanted.

They passed over the wall, then down along the side of Unity. They started accelerating, faster than they’d planned. “Katie!” Jackie hissed, kicking out in spite of herself. It didn’t do any good, obviously—no movement of the legs did much of anything while you were flying.

“I’m trying!” her sister squeaked, her wings beating desperately. They started drooping to one side. Sven’s face went white, and he looked like he might puke—but Jackie didn’t care. She just dragged, pulling both of them towards the balcony. It was above them now, and almost impossibly distant. She kept flying anyway, ignoring the illusion that it was getting further away. They were going to make this, dammit!

She practically collapsed to the stone. There was no railing here—it was only going to be used by those with wings to begin with. She let go of Sven’s arm, rolling onto her back and panting. None of them spoke for nearly a minute, recovering their strength.

“That was… harder than when we practiced,” Katie muttered. “It shouldn’t have been so hard.”

“Harley said it’s about intention,” Jackie whispered. “You just got to feel lighter. You obviously weren’t thinking light thoughts.”

“You’re saying that?” Sven muttered, indignant. “Really? I thought you hated pony.”

“I hate how coy they are about fuckin’ everything,” Jackie muttered back. “I hate that they don’t answer our questions. I hate how girly they are. That’s not the same as just hating pony.”

She rose suddenly, brushing herself off. There was barely enough room for all three of them to stand out here. No windows, and no sign of a lock—but they wouldn’t want to be here if one of the natives came passing through. It happened about once every other hour, based on Katie’s observations. It was time to move.

“None of you are wearing patches… good. Our only chance is people not recognizing us.” She straightened, pressing the button that would turn on the GoPro in her pocket. She’d cut a little hole into the fabric, just wide enough for the lens. It was the closest thing to a spy camera she could manage.

“Don’t get distracted,” Katie muttered. “We’ll go once around the floor, stay away from the guards, then come back out here to fly to safety. Don’t stop for anything.”

Jackie nodded her agreement.

“I got it.” Sven sounded annoyed. “I helped come up with the plan. Let’s get it over with.”

They strode inside. Their fears that the door might have some lock they hadn’t been able to see from the outside proved in vain—it swung in easily. They walked into another hallway of Unity visually indistinguishable from many others they’d seen. It looked like the upper residency floors—large hallways that connected apartment bays. Each bay had room for fifty or so people, which would be further separated by sex.

They walked past the first of the open bays. Jackie chanced a peek to her left, as though looking with casual interest. She could see nobody inside though, only lots of unusually tiny beds. There were no guards waiting to arrest them, or freaky mutants.

“Furniture’s real low to the ground,” Sven whispered as they passed. “Maybe for ponies.”

“Maybe shut up,” Jackie whispered back. “If we belonged here we’d know that.” She walked a little faster, though she couldn’t see anyone to overhear them in this hallway.

If this floor was set up like the other residency areas, there would be eight bays of fifty. That would mean plenty of chances for freaky mutants to reveal themselves.

“I don’t feel like I’m dying,” Katie muttered, when they were about halfway to the next of the open bays. “Wouldn’t I feel it if there were radiation in here?”

“No.” Sven answered before she could. That was good, since Jackie wouldn’t have known how to answer. “You don’t feel it when it’s happening unless it’s really crazy. We could be getting a lethal dose right now and we wouldn’t know.”

But the staff of Unity hadn’t claimed there was radiation down here. And if there was, wouldn’t they have been in just as much danger as the humans? Except maybe the earth ponies, they could probably survive anything.

Jackie put her finger over her mouth as they hurried to the next bay. They wouldn’t be able to inspect any others before they rounded the corner into whatever mysteries were beyond.

There was more missing than the mutants so far, though. She couldn’t hear any screaming. Jackie figured if there was something nefarious going on in Unity, there would be tortured screaming for sure. And probably less working lights.

The door to this bay was open like the last—Unity wasn’t being terribly good about keeping secrets. But nobody is supposed to be down here without passing the guards. Why would they bother with more locks?

Jackie reached the open door, then stopped dead. It hadn’t been the plan—but she couldn’t help it.

There were just over a dozen creatures in the room, gathered around the center in a fairly involved circle. Jackie’s brain fuzzed, as an overwhelming wave of nausea washed over her. She stumbled back, covered her eyes, wrapped her arms as tightly around herself as she could to stop from throwing up. It didn’t work.

It was everything they had expected—everything they’d theorized about. Every nightmare all twisted into the same fearful second. Jackie had the presence of mind to keep her leg turned towards the opening, even if her eyes refused to focus on what it contained. Each time she looked up she felt the burning return, and she looked away again.

Sven screamed as something invisible gripped him by the legs, dragging him away into the open door. Katie squealed in response, trying to grab and hold him, but recoiled from his touch. Her hands turned bright red, as though she’d just plunged them in oil.

“Get out!” Sven shouted after them. “Run for you live—” His shout turned into a muffled gurgle.

They didn’t need telling twice. Jackie took her sister by the shoulder, shoving her back in the direction they’d come. Katie ran along beside her for a few steps, leaving one of her boots behind, then the other.

A few steps later and Katie went down, her screams changing from fear to real agony. And Jackie could see why—her feet were gone. At the bottom of her jumpsuit legs were only blunt stumps. Worse, the legs themselves seemed to be bending, as though her sister were clay in the hands of a cruel craftsman. She was melting before Jackie’s eyes, dissolved by the same invisible force that she could feel pouring into her own chest even now.

Her sister’s eyes met hers, and Jackie watched the color change. Never in her life had she seen such pain in someone else. “Help me!” Katie begged, all pain and desperation.

But Jackie didn’t know how. Her heartbeat raced, and she could hear the shouts of alarm from down the hall. There might not have been guards before, but there were guards now. Coming from around the bend, not the balcony.

Jackie glanced over her shoulder at the door they had left open. This was her chance—her last chance, probably. If she ran right now, she might get away.

Figures were emerging from the open doorway, creatures that weren’t even as tall as her knees, covered in bright fur. She knew them intellectually, but just now her brain refused to connect those dots.

She made her choice. Instead of letting those creatures swarm over her sister, dragging her into the room as they’d done to Sven, she dropped atop her sister. It was rather like the way she’d seen mothers shelter their children from something terrible—putting their own bodies in the path of flames, or floods.

“I don’t know how to help you,” she muttered, ignoring the pain. It was building in her, an incredible headache without a source. Her limbs had started twitching, as though seconds away from rebelling out from under her. “I’m here. I won’t let them hurt you.” Jackie wasn’t sure how she would keep that promise—but she would try.

“You fucking liars!” Jackie screamed, with every bit of terrified emotion she had. “You were monsters this whole time! People deserve to know what you’re doing to them!”

She clung to her sister, resisting the creatures all around her. She felt pressure pulling at her, trying to separate her from the pained girl underneath. Every touch brought more pain from her own body, shivers that spread away from the moment of contact. Jackie glanced briefly up and saw something touch her arm, soft gray fur spread out from that place.

One of them spoke. Somehow she could make out the words, even if the context was now completely lost on her. “You need to get away. Your heart… exposure… don’t belong…”

Jackie fought with all her might—fought like Katie’s life depended on it. She felt one of her boots connect with one of the creatures, then go flying off with nothing to hold it when she tried to swing again. Had she just lost her feet like her sister? She was too desperate, too frightened to care.

“Just leave us alone!” she squealed, her voice jumping an entire octave as she screamed. Like the squeaks that Harley had mocked her for. Please, someone. Anyone. Help us.

There was no one, no one but the little swarm of brightly colored monsters. Not monsters. Ponies. What else did I really expect to find down here?

Her world grew unsteady. She was already on the ground, yet she felt like she was falling. Falling into an ocean of fabric, falling away from the monsters. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to follow her.

Chapter 9

Unwilling Recruit

It didn’t matter that she had vindicated her and her sister’s greatest fears. Every terrible thing they’d suspected about the ponies was true—but in many ways Jackie no longer cared. Her sister had fallen, her friend Sven. Who knew how many others that the ponies had brought to Unity and tricked.

Reality itself soon became a nebulous thing, a specter of vague outlines and batlike wings. She screamed, she mumbled, but she didn’t move much. Time became amorphous and indistinct. She could’ve spent hours in that state, or months. Occasionally she would get the vague sense of someone with her, and she would resist, or try to flee, and they would go away again.

Eventually, something changed. She felt a spark of warmth in the cold, the last few seconds of light before night descended on her mind forever. She felt, but couldn’t see, someone with her in the void, a hand outstretched.

“Come back,” said the voice. “Come back, Jackie.” In that moment, Jackie was forced to choose between the endless expanse of nothing and the pain and danger in a possible escape. She chose the latter anyway, and gripped desperately to that help.

Then there was light. Jackie blinked, looked around, and saw that she was somewhere strange. A round room with a glass ceiling that let in the full light of the moon. She could see the stars up there too, shockingly bright. It reminded Jackie a little of what it had been like to share a cloud with Harley.

But that was the only familiar thing. She tried to move, and found her legs twitched uselessly. She tried to sit up, and instead only managed to flop around. “Hello?” Her voice was a pathetic squeak. Why was this chair so big?

She managed to look down, though she couldn’t have said how she figured out how. She found as soon as she had that she wished she hadn’t. There was blue-gray fur as far as she could see, covering every part of her body. None of it looked quite right. The joints and limbs went too far, or bent the wrong ways. She was completely naked—not even a hospital gown had been provided to go with the IV. Yet she couldn’t see much, not with her light blue tail covering her. Something twitched against the back of the chair, something she recognized for one of her bat-wings. Now much larger in relation to her body than it had been.

Jackie was a pony.

She couldn’t help it—she started crying. It was too much to deal with at once. This whole disaster had been a nightmare that never ended. I saved Katie, she reminded herself. I knew something like this could happen. I knew and I did it anyway.

That was small consolation now. Decisions were always easier in the moment, when she didn’t have to realize what living with her decisions would be like.

She was alone in the tiny hospital room for a long time, she couldn’t have said how long. She tried to get out of the bed more than once, but each time only managed to flop around some more, and get increasingly tangled with the sheets beneath her.

Eventually, she heard footsteps, moving rapidly. Someone running. A door flung open, and a familiar voice. A little lower than she was used to hearing it, though she found she didn’t care. Jackie was desperate for anything familiar.

It wasn’t a doctor, or even one of the guards. It was Harley. “You’re up! Thank the queens… I was wondering if you’d ever wake up…” Something big moved in the space above her, crossing the room.

Jackie was now on her side, not able to move properly. Her limbs still didn’t want to work right. Every time she tried, she couldn’t help imagining there was a set of legs down there, and the attempt would go wildly wrong. She managed to stop crying, barely. Of all the parts of this crazy body, her wings at least were familiar. She managed to cover up her face. “Don’t look at me, Harley. I’m… I’m a monster.”

Something reached down towards her from above, something she was powerless to escape from. A pair of warm hands reached down, lifting her against the bed. She squirmed a little, resisting the urge to bite. Those hands were huge! Since when was Harley a giant?

A few seconds later and she’d been settled in an upright position, her back resting against a pillow and a blanket over her lower half. She’d already seen that everything worth covering was down there, no longer looking even remotely human. “There you go, squeak. That’s better, isn’t it?”

Harley pulled away, dragging a chair over from the wall. She looked a little less gigantic when she wasn’t right up in Jackie’s face, reminding her of just how small Jackie herself was.

“You weren’t… supposed to be here,” Jackie managed to say, once she was looking away. Harley was human—wearing the same shape Jackie was used to. Right down to her transparent wings. “We didn’t want them to think you were part of this somehow.”

“It worked,” Harley said, voice going glum. “They called me in for questioning, but… since you didn’t tell me you were going to try this, I didn’t have to lie.” Jackie couldn’t tell if that was approval in her voice, or pain. “I’d like to know what the hell you thought you were doing. Breaking every rule like that… going to all the places you were told not to go.”

Jackie couldn’t meet her eyes. She shuffled uncomfortably, wings twitching against her back. “My feet aren’t working right. I can’t… are all ponies this uncoordinated?”

Harley shook her head. “You’ve got Thaumic Shock, Jackie. It’s… one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen.” Her expression lost most of its anger. Like she wanted to be mad, but… how could you hate someone who was beat up in a hospital bed? “We weren’t sure you were ever going to wake up.”

“My sister…” Jackie said. “I fucked myself up for life, is… did I at least save her?”

“Yeah,” Harley said. “Katie is fine. She lost her feet, and those won’t be coming back… only, she didn’t get her brain fried by a metric assload of magic all at once. Sven did get almost as much magic as you did, but he was ready for it. He’s still in physical therapy.” Harley rose, making her way over to the edge of the bed. “What am I supposed to do with you, Jackie? You’re like a toddler determined to stick a fork in the wall. I kept telling you it’ll turn you into toast, and you ignored me. Why couldn’t you just trust us?”

“Because I was right,” she argued, holding up one hoof. Or trying. It didn’t really lift the way she wanted it to. “We knew something nefarious was going on, and we proved it. We’ve got the footage and everything. The way they dragged Sven away… it’s like a fucking horror movie.”

Harley shrugged. “Well… congratulations. You know the truth.” She reached down again, so suddenly that Jackie didn’t have time to react. Then again, she didn’t exactly control her body well enough to be able to do anything. She couldn’t have gotten away if she wanted to.

Harley lifted her with one hand below each foreleg, irresistibly strong. Jackie felt the air rushing past her, though she didn’t go far. She was still connected to that little IV, which limited Harley’s movement.

She stopped moving a second later, right in front of a mirror. Jackie stared into it, and her reflection stared back.

She was a pony all right—about the size of an adult cat. A very solemn, annoyed-looking animal, with a persistent glare and a pair of dark purple wings on her back. Harley seemed to have no respect for her modesty or her personal space. “Congratulations, Jackie,” she said, pained. “You figured it out. There’s no such thing as humans. Every single one of you is a pony.”

“Wait… what?” Jackie twisted her neck around, the one part that she could easily control. She squirmed a little too, but not as hard as she had the first time. Escaping too well might get her dropped, and maybe even seriously hurt. “That isn’t what we learned! We learned you’ve been transforming humans into ponies.”

“No,” a voice said from behind her. Harley turned, and saw another figure striding in. A human, with brilliant red and orange hair, dressed in the formal-looking clothing that Regent Sunset Shimmer always wore. This was someone Jackie had only met once before, and it hadn’t exactly been a pleasant meeting.

Now she was tiny, and naked, and helpless, and felt like she might fall at any moment. She squeaked in protest, gesturing urgently back at the bed.

Harley didn’t put her back. Instead she shuffled her arms about a little, resting one arm under Jackie’s body. She felt herself settling onto it, even as the other wrapped around her from the front, holding her more securely. She could feel the warmth through Harley’s chest, even her strange heartbeat. It wasn’t so bad… but she’d never admit as much.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Jackie squeaked. “You’re… here to punish me, I guess? Or here to lie?”

“Neither.” Sunset stopped a few feet away, and those bright blue eyes seemed only compassionate. “I blame myself for this… what you’ve suffered, none of Unity’s guests should endure. It’s my fault you were as curious as you were, instead of being satisfied. The other two weren’t damaged… but you were. I am the regent. Your pain is my fault.”

That took Jackie off-guard. She’d been expecting, almost welcoming screaming. Maybe some threats. If these were evil ponies, shouldn’t they be acting evil?

“And I’m not going to lie to you,” she went on, with barely a second’s hesitation. “Just the opposite. I’m going to tell you the truth. Answer as many questions as I can.” She looked up. “Field Agent Harley, maybe you should remove that IV? There’s no rush… there won’t be time on the mirror until dawn anyway. Might as well take our time.”

“Might as well,” Harley agreed. She seemed reluctant to let go, though, and Jackie didn’t blame her. She didn’t really want to be put back in that gigantic bed, not with such an important pony only feet away. It was as though the president had walked in on her naked, and also he was a giant.

Harley did know how to remove an IV, as it turned out. A few minutes later and they’d gone from the hospital bed one room over, where there was a little cafeteria and a bar with a few raised chairs. There were no ponies around, so the three of them had it to themselves.

Harley set a bowl down in front of Jackie, overflowing with something colorful. Her favorite fruity cereal. Unfortunately for her she couldn’t use the spoon, couldn’t even move her legs. It was all Jackie could do to lower her head into the bowl and eat like a pet. She was sitting on the table like one.

This is what I’ve been reduced to. I’m an animal. Forever.

Sunset and Harley watched her closely, though Jackie saw only pity. That hurt more than the anger would’ve. “The injuries you have suffered are… severe,” Sunset explained. “Even if you can’t see them. But for you to even understand what they mean, you’re going to need to learn it all. All the secrets we’ve been keeping. I hope you’re ready.”

“Yeah.” Jackie looked up from her bowl. The taste of something sweet had done wonders to lift her mood. Sitting on the high bar-top was almost enough to imagine she was actually just short, instead of a freakishly tiny animal. “I guess I am. How will I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Because she is,” Harley said, before Sunset could. She sounded almost embarrassed. “If you trust me, you’re gonna trust her. Okay?”

“Okay,” Jackie said. “Fine. Tell me.”

Chapter 11

Jackie had half a mind to try and fight Harley’s instructions, maybe to run and find somewhere to hide. But as embarrassing as it would be to have her sister find her like this, it wouldn’t be right to try and hide from her. I’m going to Equestria to be treated. What if they never let me out? She trusted them now, mostly. But there was no way to be completely sure. Katie’s last memory of her wouldn’t be of Jackie hiding under a couch.

But Katie had her own reasons to be embarrassed. Jackie had known that from Harley’s account, but still. There was nothing like seeing her again. In a way, being completely mutated as Jackie herself had been was kinder. At least she looked like one creature, and not some hellish fusion of the two.

Katie walked with crutches, wobbling all the time on her stumpy legs. She’d shrunk a great deal as well, losing at least a foot of height compared to what Jackie was used to. Her wings looked a little less like useless accessories.

Jackie was about to say something sympathetic, right about the time that Katie herself squealed with delight, surging up to her and giggling. “Oh my gosh, Jackie!” She looked down on her from above, almost as oversized in her way as Harley. “When they told me you’d gone all the way, I didn’t realize… I didn’t think it would be like this. You’re as small as Sven. Guess that makes sense.”

“Worse off than Sven,” she muttered, scratching at the ground with one hoof. “My legs aren’t working right. The magic screwed me.” She looked up, fighting tears. Her sister might’ve changed, but she hadn’t suffered like Jackie. In a way, Jackie’s sacrifice hadn’t been in vain. She had kept her little sister safe. “Did they tell you where I was going?”

Katie tensed immediately, shaking her head. She very nearly fell over, and had to catch herself on the ledge by both arms. It kept her standing, barely. “No, but I can guess. If you have to go to Equestria, I’m going with you.”

“I’m coming back,” Jackie said, before her sister could go any further down that road. “I’m just going for treatment. Apparently there’s something they can do about the thaumic exposure. I dunno how it works… but when I get back I’ll be healed. Who knows—maybe I can get my body back, the same way they get them.”

“Oh, yeah.” Katie grinned. “That would be great.” Her expression gradually darkened. It took her some time to say what she was thinking. “Did they tell you about… did they tell you the truth? The thing they were hiding from us?”

“Everyone is ponies,” Jackie supplied. “Yeah, they did.”

A long, pained silence. Katie reached out and pulled her sister into her lap. Jackie fought and squirmed, but she had less ability to escape than a regular pony might’ve in her place. She couldn’t get away.

The warmth wasn’t bad, and there weren’t any of the other embarrassments that came when Harley did it. She didn’t fight to get away after the first few seconds were over.

“Do you believe them?” asked her little sister. She sounded genuinely curious, and maybe a little afraid of what Jackie might say.

“I wish I didn’t,” she answered. “But I think I have to. They haven’t lied to us. It feels like everything Harley said was for our own good really was. I figure there might be even more evidence waiting for me in Equestria. Though I… don’t plan on staying there.”

“Yeah,” Katie muttered. “I was afraid you’d say something like that. I don’t want to… it feels wrong. It’s like tuning in for the big game, only it ended a week ago and your team lost. It’s not like there would’ve been anything you could’ve done to affect the outcome anyway, but it still doesn’t feel right. Someone should’ve done something. Humans shouldn’t be… extinct.”

“Maybe we’re not,” Jackie said, propping herself up in Katie’s arms, trying to meet her eyes. “We were always… this. And it’s not like we killed all the humans. We just mixed with them until we were all the same species. It wasn’t a war, nobody was conquered. We’re way more humanity’s culture than this pony shit.”

Her sister reached one warm hand into her mane, messing it up with an affectionate energy. “That’s a good way to think about it. Thanks, sis.”

“Anytime,” Jackie said. “Now put me back where you found me, and try and recover yourself. Maybe you can grow your legs back.”

“Nope.” Katie did lift her back onto the counter, despite what she said. “Doctors were clear about that. The only way to get my human body back would be to let the magic take me all the way down, like Sven. Then I could go back through the portal and be 100% if I wanted to. But I’m not going to do that. Sven already put in for approval to go, but they didn’t give it to him. Just changing back isn’t an essential procedure. If your legs weren’t screwed up, you’d be stuck like that too.”

“Great,” Jackie muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ll have to thank the Equestrians for burning me with magic badly enough that I lost everything south of my wings. I’m just overflowing with gratitude.”

Her sister stomped one hoof, and nearly fell over as a result. “You know what I mean!”

The door swung open again, a little more timidly than last time. Harley appeared in the doorway, expression solemn. “There’s just been an opening in the rotation, Jackie. We’re going now.”

Maybe she should’ve argued a little more—fought to remain on Earth despite her condition. But Jackie wouldn’t keep waiting another minute if that meant being able to get her proper body back sooner. Besides, no matter how angry she was with the Equestrians for creating the secret that had caused this mess—and just for interfering with their world in the first place—the truth was she was curious to see Equestria for herself. Travel to another universe was something she’d always loved in her fiction, even if she knew it would never be possible in reality. Now here she was, a real life magical girl. Or she would be, once she got her girl back.

There was nothing to carry. Instead, Harley carried her. Straight into the room she’d briefly glimpsed after her first meeting with Sunset Shimmer. The horseshoe-shaped portal, standing tall in the center of a huge cement chamber. Pony guards at the door, and some that looked human as well, wielding heavy machine-guns and glaring at Harley with intense dislike as they passed.

“What’s shoved up their ass?” Jackie whispered, when they were far enough away that she thought they wouldn’t hear. Or maybe they could hear, and she just didn’t care.

Harley shrugged. “You’re about to learn why I always make myself look like something else, Squeak. Just know that I won’t be upset when you end up as revolted as everyone else. It’s natural, it’s self-defense. Everypony acts like that around changelings their first time. I’m tough.”

But even as she said it, Jackie could hear it wasn’t true. Harley hoped things would be different this time. Jackie couldn’t use her legs, she’d lost just about everything she thought was stable in her life. But if it was possible, she would make sure that Harley’s desire came true.

There was only one pony waiting for them inside—Sunset Shimmer. She stopped Harley at the edge of the empty portal with one hand. It just looked like metal up close, metal studded with little gemstones and wired into complex machinery. This was the center of the base, that it depended on for survival? It didn’t seem like much to Jackie.

“When you step through this portal, you travel briefly through limbo. It’s a timeless space, and Star Swirl’s ancient magic is wrapped tightly around those who step through the portal. Even so, know this magic is dangerous and powerful. We travel between worlds because we must, but we wouldn’t if we had another choice. Know that you’re in danger, and respect that the process has risks.”

“Don’t have much choice, do I?” Jackie asked, shrugging one shoulder. “Unless I want to be crippled for the rest of my life, the help I need is over there.”

“That’s correct,” Sunset said. “Princess Luna. Nopony in the world is more adroit at repairing minds. I have already sent ahead, and she is expecting you. The portal is already in Canterlot—when you step through, you will be transported to the palace and meet with her at her earliest convenience.” Sunset turned to leave, apparently considering the explanation done.

“Wait!” Jackie called, her voice a tiny squeak in the vaulted chamber. “When do I get to come back? You said I wouldn’t be stuck there!”

“That… depends on what Princess Luna decides,” Sunset said, shrugging one shoulder. “If her healing is successful, she should only keep you for a few days. If it isn’t…” She trailed off. The silence was answer enough. If you aren’t healed, you will be too much of a liability to bring back.

Sunset Shimmer gestured at the ponies standing in the control room, a single wave of her hand. Jackie felt the change sweep over the room almost instantly—a charge that rolled through the floor, passing over her skin like electricity, making her ears and mane stand on end. The portal before her began to darken, as though it were at the bottom of a slope and all the light in the world was pouring into it. It drained and drained until only a surface of onyx remained before her, a hungry void that seemed to pull her towards it.

It was gravity itself, bending the wrong way. And it was hungry.

“I’ve enjoyed our time together,” Harley said, her voice nervous and frightened. “If you… even if you can’t look at me again after this, I hope it was good for you too.” Air rushed around them, billowing Harley’s uniform and making her hard to hear. But Jackie’s ears were sensitive enough to make out her words even when they were feeble squeaks.

“It was!” Jackie called back. “Nothing’s going to change when we step through that door. Except that things will get way better once we come out the other side and we’re back in the real world.”

Harley laughed. “And now the colony is the real world. Can’t say I haven’t heard that one before.” She stepped through.

Jackie felt herself falling. She was gone from Harley’s arms, adrift on a void without boundaries or light. She could hear voices—cruel laughter, distant weeping, and the footfalls of many angry feet. Everything melded and shifted together into a discordant soup.

There was no time, no hope of relief. Only the pain that wasn’t quite pain, and directionless agony. Her limbs wouldn’t work, her wings didn’t work. It was all she could do to let the currents carry her through into infinity.

Then something dumped her out on the ground, and she rolled forward like a child coming off the end of a tall slide. She bumped and scraped along the floor as she went, slowly coming to a stop.

She groaned, tried to stand up, but of course her limbs still weren’t working right. A layer of cold had formed around her eyes, and she had to scrape it off as best she could with the edge of her wings. At least nothing felt broken.

“You, changeling! Back away from the thestral. If you make any violent movements, you will be arrested and held under suspicion.”

Jackie turned to face the voice, and caught a glimpse of a figure in gold armor, standing tall and proud and brandishing a spear.

Wasn’t it supposed to be the wee hours of the morning? Why was the sun coming through the windows so damn bright? I’ve got inter-universal jetlag.

“I am not trying to hurt her,” said a familiar voice—or a voice that was almost familiar. Harley’s patterns were all there, but her voice now sounded like it was part of a chorus. It reverberated a little with every word, discordant, rubbing the wrong way against her ears.

Then she got her eyes open the rest of the way, and Jackie could finally see. Finally see what was bothering the guards so much—what had made them actually raise their weapons and come rushing in at her.

The portal’s receiving room was just as large over here as the one she’d just left behind, maybe even bigger. The walls were lined with huge windows, enough to cast the creature in front of her in clear light.

Not a giant at all, but actually shorter than she was, with a body that was black and reflective and a pair of multifaceted eyes. Tiny fangs sharper than Jackie’s, and a nervous tick in the way she moved. A few bits of clothing had dropped just behind them, leading up to the portal that was easily twice the size it had been back on Earth.

“Harley?” Jackie asked, her voice almost as timid as the changeling’s had been. Was this what she was supposed to be afraid of? Her friend wasn’t a terrifying monster, she was the sort of thing Jackie might’ve seen in a butterfly exhibit. Shimmering transparent wings, twitching ridges down her back. Almost a pony but not quite.

“You would say that,” barked one of the guards. There were twelve of them in here—most guarding the several large doors. A few lingered closer, and those were the ones threatening with their spears. “Back up against the wall and prepare to be restrained.”

“My name is Harlequin,” she said, backing away from Jackie with a pained expression. “I’ve been working in Unity for over a year. My return was expected.”

“Just following procedure,” said someone else. Another guard—a female, with cloth armor instead of polished gold. She was a unicorn, and stood taller than Jackie.

Nothing looks shrunk here, she realized. The doors had knobs at their height, the windows were low enough that she could actually look outside. They were on the top of somewhere high up, though far below were the rooftops of many little buildings. But it was hard to appreciate that when these guards were treating Harley this way.

“She’s not a threat to me,” Jackie said, trying to take a step towards Harley. Instead of succeeding, she flopped sideways and almost tripped completely. She spread her wings and flapped once, managing to keep herself standing, though her legs still dragged under her as she moved. “She’s my friend. Don’t hurt her.”

“We won’t.” That was the female again, stopping right in front of Jackie and putting out a hoof. Her coat was pale blue, with a bright orange mane cropped short like a military haircut. “You’re the injured pony I’m to escort to the palace, yes?” She looked Jackie up and down in a few seconds, apparently oblivious to her nudity.

“Yes,” Jackie answered, trying and failing to take the offered limb. Hopefully this guard didn’t think she was trying to be rude. “I’m sorry, I, uh… I can’t…”

“Right.” The pony shrugged. “My name is Captain Sigil, of the Solar Guard. I’m also Harley’s caseworker, so don’t worry about her. Just wait here until we can get a wheelchair.”

Wheelchair. She’d come to another universe, and she wouldn’t even be able to do it on her own two feet. Four I guess.

She looked across the room, watching as two of the soldiers searched Harley. She couldn’t say what they were looking for, except that Jackie wasn’t comfortable with the way they treated her. Not like a loyal servant who was fighting the same cause, but like a terrorist, just waiting to blow up a market somewhere.

But Harley wasn’t hiding bombs, she wasn’t as big or strong as they were. She wasn’t lying about her size. She really is tiny. And adorable. Maybe it would be easy to find that other pony attractive, if she wasn’t being mistreated right before her eyes.

“She isn’t going to hurt anyone,” Jackie said, voice confident. “There’s no reason for this.”

“Oh, there’s a reason,” answered a burly pegasus with a scar running all the way down his back. He had a crossbow balanced across one hoof, pointed only generally towards Harley. He wasn’t holding it ready to use, and didn’t seem to look concerned. “You know a friendly changeling. That’s like finding a friendly ghost. For every one out working for us, there’s twenty more rotting in the dungeons, who threaten to tear us apart any time we bring them supper and get revenge for their queen. Don’t let her size fool you.”

Sigil cleared her throat, a twinge of annoyance in her voice. “That’s quite enough Rowan. The newcomer doesn’t need us to frighten her with tales of an Equestria far more dangerous than the one we live in.” She raised her voice. “Let the drone join us.”

“Drone?” Jackie repeated, but she found she didn’t care what it meant. Harley walked over, taking each step slowly and deliberately. And it was clear why—the spears followed her across the room, away from the portal.

Until she was right up in front of Jackie, practically radiating shame from every little hole in her legs.

Jackie ignored all that and stumbled into a hug, holding against Harley as tightly as she could with one of her wings. She would’ve done more—except that her legs didn’t work. “I don’t know what you were afraid of,” Jackie whispered, though she knew they would be overheard. Knew, but didn’t care. “Maybe you wanted me to be the cute one. Too bad.”

The changeling protested, pushing her away with one hoof—but not very hard. There was obvious relief in her stance, her posture. Maybe she thought she was a good actor, but Jackie could see the tears.

One of the guards muttered something rude. Jackie ignored him too. Ignored everything, even though she could do little more than twitch and wasn’t sure if she would ever get her legs back. She couldn’t know if she would ever see Earth again. She couldn’t control what Equestrians would do, whether or not they’d honor their promises. But she had Harley.

“You’re supposed to hate me.”

“I’m supposed to be back in school. I’m supposed to have two legs. I’m supposed to stay out of the lower levels. I’m not supposed to like girls. Oops on all counts.” Then she kissed her.

The changeling felt pleasantly cool against her coat, and not as hard as that shiny black carapace suggested. Besides, she wasn’t a giant anymore. Jackie could get used to this.

“Excuse me.” That was Sigil again, sounding only slightly impatient. “Your wheelchair, Miss… do you have a proper name yet?”

“Just Jackie.” She finally broke away from Harley, spinning around to glare at the captain. But at least this mare wasn’t mistreating Harley. She’d have to take what she could get. “I like my name the way it is.”

There was indeed a new pony here, a timid green stallion with a uniform like a medical orderly and a wheelchair resting just in front of him. If I was the right size this would look tiny and adorable.

But she wasn’t the “right” size, she was the same size as everypony else here. “Can you, uh… Harley, help me with this.”

She couldn’t walk exactly, but she hobbled over, and with Harley’s help she was able to scramble up into the seat. But her spine didn’t want to bend the way she was used to, and stretching her legs out was uncomfortable at best. She settled for resting on her haunches, using the armrests to stop her from tumbling out sideways.

“I got it,” Harley said, settling in behind the wheelchair. “Let’s go. To the… palace, you said?”

Sigil nodded. “Carriage is waiting outside. We wanted this to be discrete. If you wouldn’t mind, Harley.”

“Right.” Harley looked momentarily deep in concentration—then there was a flash. The guards reacted with a start, except for Sigil. A few raised their weapons again, pointing them in Harley’s general direction.

Jackie’s girlfriend reappeared as an ordinary pegasus. A pegasus with a gray coat and a green shackle for a cutie mark. “I think you’ll like the city, Jackie. You’d like the nighttime scene. But you’d… have to go without me. I’m still in service. Have to have a guard with me at all times.” She lowered her voice, a timid, nervous whisper. “But not for much longer.”

“Come on now,” Sigil called, gesturing towards a now-open door. “We’ve got a shipment coming through here in two more minutes. Let’s not keep the princess waiting.”

Chapter 12

Some part of Jackie’s brain still imagined that she was buried in one of Unity’s many rooms. There were no circuits in her formerly-human brain to let her understand an entire world tucked away inside a bunker.

But her brain would have to adjust. Whatever doubts she had harbored about Equestria being a real place—any secret thoughts in her mind that maybe the portal would just be a way to teleport her to somewhere else filled with ponies—those doubts were shattered.

She winced for a second as she emerged from the double-doors, and her eyes struggled to adjust to the sunlight. As her pupils narrowed to slits, she found outlines coming into focus around her. A city, unlike anything she had ever seen before.

There were some architectural similarities. Metal-topped cupolas, spiraling towers, spectacular stained-glass windows. But for every surface similarity, there was more to make it seem alien. She would’ve fallen over as she took in the mountain high above, its snowy peak so distant she wondered how the stone could even stay standing at that height.

The sky was filled with fluttering banners of white and blue, along with other distant shapes. Some of them looked like the slow-moving outlines of airships, but most looked like ponies. Wearing saddlebags, or little vests, or nothing at all.

Harley kept pushing her wheelchair, so she didn’t just stop dead in the streets to stare at nothing. But she seemed to know what Jackie was feeling, because she made a satisfied sound. “It’s pretty impressive,” she agreed. “Nowhere in the world is quite like Canterlot.”

But from the look of it, they were tucked away in the alley behind a large, blocky building. Much of the city around her was obscured. “Are there any balconies or anything? I want to see the city!”

“The palace has excellent views,” said Sigil behind them. The other guards had not joined them—perhaps they had more ponies to accost in the portal room. Sigil didn’t keep her weapon out as she kept pace behind them, more like a friend who happened to be a guard instead of a constant reminder that Harley wasn’t welcome here. “Better be careful, human. Don’t fall in love with the city too much, or you won’t want to leave.”

“There aren’t humans,” Jackie muttered, her mood deflating a little as they stopped in front of a carriage. It looked much how she imagined—like something out of ancient history, with an elegant wooden design and a space for horses. Except that the “horses” were the same size as her and were having a quiet conversation with one another in bored disinterest. “That’s what they kept telling me.”

She couldn’t really imagine a city spectacular enough to tempt her to leave the world behind. Even the wonder suggested by the skyline over her head didn’t stand a chance. It’s just cuz I’m closer to the ground. It makes the pony buildings seem bigger than they are. They shouldn’t get this much credit.

“I’ll help you,” Harley muttered from behind her, and suddenly she was lifting into the air. Up into the carriage, with its dark wood interior and rose gold embroidery. There were sun and moon patterns on everything, designs she recognized as the cutie marks of Equestria’s rulers.

And Earth’s too, maybe. Or they want to be. She still wasn’t sure she bought everything Sunset Shimmer had said about Equestria and their involvement. It would’ve been so much easier for the ponies to just leave them alone. All these portals and guards and stuff had to cost money.

Harley climbed in to sit across from her a moment later, with Sigil following behind with the wheelchair. She snapped the door shut, then called through the window. “Back to the castle, gentlecolts. Take the scenic route for our guest, if you can. Her first time in Canterlot.”

Then she sat back, adjusting her sword in its holster and looking mildly bored.

They began rumbling forward, with eight hooves clattering a cheerful echo in the alley.

Jackie found herself smiling in spite of herself. The carriage was dark enough that she could almost relax. Except that day was wearing on. Her desire to sleep was growing stronger. She would have to be careful, or else she might collapse like an idiot in front of Princess Luna. “I never thought I’d be rich enough to ride in a horse drawn carriage,” she muttered, mostly to herself. “I heard they had one at my prom, but I didn’t…” She cleared her throat. “Didn’t go.”

Harley chuckled. “I don’t think that has the same context here. Not to mention… almost every taxi in every city works this way. Though it’s usually just one pony pulling an open bench—”

She went on, but Jackie didn’t hear it. They emerged from the alley, and all sound faded into the back of her mind.

They were on the edge of a stone railing, beyond which was empty sky that seemed to go on forever. But it wasn’t just clouds ending in nothing as in Unity—there was countryside down there, with the shapes of crops and fields clearly outlined. She could make out what looked like a few little towns in the distance, so far away that she could’ve been on Earth.

She looked to the other side, and finally got a look at Canterlot proper.

It looked like the city had two levels—an upper and lower city. The upper city looked almost like it were a single sprawling castle, built with white stone and gorgeous metal roofs. Though plenty of the buildings were separate, they seemed built to a universal style, growing gradually more ornate the higher she looked.

She lurched forward a little out of her seat, and didn’t care that she almost smacked into Sigil. Harley held her gently by the shoulder, while she took a look at the lower city.

That looked more like something out of the middle ages—thousands of little white-walled buildings clustered below, at the end of waterfalls that seemed to cut straight through the city.

There were plenty of other carriages, and thousands of ponies. But not a single human or artifice of the modern world anywhere. No air conditioner boxes on buildings, no television aerials.

Equestria was real, as real as the world she’d left behind. At least one piece of the propaganda they’d been hearing back in Unity was true.

Not just real. It’s beautiful. Jackie found herself wondering what it would be like to visit those shops far below. Maybe they wouldn’t have movie theaters, but she could see playhouses down there, and little open-air amphitheaters. It’s a good thing Katie isn’t here with me. For a few brief moments, Jackie found that the whole “being human” thing seemed to fade to the background. Maybe if she could live in a place like this, it wouldn’t matter.

“How often do people come here?” she asked Harley, voice low. “I mean, humans. When I got my Cutie Mark, Sunset said… said that lots of us ended up coming here.”

To her surprise, Sigil answered before Harley could. “Not that many here in Canterlot. It’s a big city, but not as big as you colonists build things. I hear there are cities with twenty million people on the other side. Canterlot can only really take care of one million. If you stayed here, the crown would pay for your needs. I have some friends in Resettlement Affairs. If you stay, I take you to them, they figure out what you might be good at, then get you sent somewhere you can do it.”

Her eyes lingered briefly on Jackie’s flank, in a way that she’d learned by now to recognize wasn’t sexual. Even if it still made her uncomfortable. “What’s that cutie mark in, anyway?”

Jackie only shrugged in response. “Didn’t come with a user’s manual. And I don’t think I actually wanna stay. My sister… she’s a pony too. Or getting there. But she’s back on Earth. There’s no way I’d stay here without her. And I’d want to tell my parents too. They weren’t the best or anything, but they’re already worried sick about us. They think we’re in Tanzania working for the peace corps…” She trailed off, staring through the window at the place they’d just reached.

They were nearing a drawbridge, positioned over another spectacular waterfall. There were more ponies outside, guards in golden uniforms with ancient weapons. They stood to attention and saluted the carriage as it went by.

The palace grounds were everything Jackie had seen in Canterlot all in one place—a courtyard of smaller buildings, spectacular gardens, and elegant stone parapets rising above it all. She wished she’d brought her phone so she could snap a few selfies, but then she remembered that she didn’t have hands anymore, and so her expression changed to a frown.

“I’ll be leaving you two with Luna’s steward, Gentle Night. He will ensure you meet with the princess as promptly as possible. And if you change your mind about wanting to stay, he can get you a carriage to Resettlement. It’s quite painless—we know how difficult fighting the war can be. Everypony comes back to live here eventually.”

“Not everyone.” Jackie sat back in her chair, folding her forelegs stubbornly. “Earth is my home.”

They stopped at the foot of a massive tower, that rose from the palace near its west side. Sigil got out, taking the wheelchair with her, and soon enough Jackie was rolling up a ramp towards the tower. “Is it weird that I feel like everything should be smaller?” she asked no one in particular. “I know we’re tiny, so… I thought maybe I’d be visiting a miniature city. A cat city made of cardboard boxes with yarn and maybe some catnip or something.”

“That sounds adorable!” Harley squeaked from behind her. “But no. Obviously you wouldn’t notice if Equestria was smaller, would you? Star Swirl’s mirror wouldn’t let you come through human even if your spell was undamaged.”

“What would happen?” Jackie asked, as they approached a set of massive zebrawood double-doors. There were guards outside it—wearing blue and purple armor instead of the gold she saw everywhere else. They stepped back to admit them, not even giving Harley a second glance. “Like… have you guys kidnapped any regular humans? Who didn’t even know about this magic shit?”

Harley didn’t answer. Jackie glanced over her shoulder to see if she’d heard, but the pretend pegasus looked away, ears flat against her head.

“Well?”

“Some of the first visitors,” Harley whispered, as they rolled into a huge hall. Instead of white marble like the castle outside, the interior seemed to be constructed of black basalt. Except that instead of spartan tunnels, this tower had been built with the luxury of Versailles. Every bit of molding looked hand-carved, every candle-holder was unique, and all the art depicted the night sky and moon in its various phases. The receiving hall was dominated by a grandfather clock that had to be two stories tall, with a clear window through its face to the outside. It cast a yellow shadow onto the ground at the base of the tower, showing a little sun ticking the hours of daylight away.

“You’re late,” said a voice from out a nearby door sounding only a little angry. “You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago.”

“Sorry Night.” Sigil didn’t sound even a little bit sorry. “The trip took longer than I expected. Is the princess ready?”

Harley turned Jackie’s wheelchair, and soon enough she was facing the speaker. A tall, willowy thestral, wearing a dark coat and a monocle. Exactly like she had imagined the steward of a moon-goddess to look. She found herself smiling despite his sternness—even the meanest pony would probably seem cute.

Gentle Night tapped an annoyed hoof on the stone. “She’s waiting in the hospital wing. I’m sure she found somepony else to help in the meantime… but hurry. You, pegasus. Keep pushing.” He walked away, tail swirling as he shoved the door behind him open.

“Good luck, you two.” Sigil saluted them with one hoof, though the gesture was more casual than military. “Be good, Harley. Don’t do anything that will cost you your citizenship. Wouldn’t want to put your future with this fine mare at risk.”

Harley glowered. “You know I won’t.”

Gentle Night called from down the hall. “Did you hear me? I said the princess was waiting!”

“Well, might as well get it over with.” Sigil nodded down the hall, then vanished with a flash from her horn.

Luna’s gotta be nicer than the ones working for her, right?

Chapter 13

Jackie couldn’t even guess how big this castle really was. At first she’d thought she’d been taken to a separate section, with a single impressive tower to dominate the whole skyline. But one hallway led to another, and soon she found her mental map of the place had dissolved into complete chaos. There were many corridors, each one leading to some new wonder. The princesses of Equestria had obviously saved the most impressive views for themselves.

But eventually they passed guards dressed in simple white gowns, wearing no weapons at all, and lots of writing in the Equestrian language that she could only assume indicated the hospital. Katie could probably read that. She paid attention in the boring classes. Whatever, if she ever ended up coming back to this world, she could pick up things like that. Now that she knew this place was more than an abstraction, she had more reason to care.

The guards didn’t stop them, or do anything but look sympathetically at Jackie. “Why would you put a hospital in a palace?” she asked, lowering her voice a little. Gentle Night was well ahead of them, stopping at whatever junction or doorway he reached to tap one hoof and glare back—so he wouldn’t be listening. But Harley could.

“Because it’s not that kind of hospital. Listen.”

Jackie listened, bat ears perking as they rolled past a reception desk and a few more guards. At first she didn’t hear anything she wouldn’t have expected—fans, low voices from doctors, conversation. But a few seconds more, and other sounds emerged.

There were many voices, and none of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. They rolled into a long, open hallway, with lots of cubicle-like cells with curtains for privacy. Each one had a little chalkboard outside, with more scribblings in Equestrian on them. Lots of them had photographs as well—photos of humans. Government IDs, some of them. Others were from newspapers, or obviously taken from social media profiles.

That wasn’t nearly as disturbing as the voices she heard coming from inside some of them.

“I can’t get out, I can’t get out, I can’t get out!”

“Fucking stop! You can’t eat my legs!”

“Smile smile smile smile smile…”

Someone was screaming from down the hall, in a language she thought was Dutch.

Jackie shivered, ears pressing flat to her head. “H-how many… how many people are in here?”

Harley shrugged one shoulder. “Too many. These are… the worst cases. People who take a huge dose of magic all at once.” She slowed to a stop outside one of the closed curtains, gesturing at the photo. There was a middle-aged woman there, pictured in the backyard with children in the background. The photo had the rectangular dimensions she was used to, but had to be a full-page print or something, because it was almost as big as Jackie’s head.

“I remember her. Cindy, I think. Or maybe Diane. Her kids were really into the show, and so were lots of their friends. Talked her into taking them to the movie when it came out. I don’t know what happened in there, but at least half the people watching lost their spells all at the same time. It was enough radiation to barbecue a fucking minotaur. Kids were fine, but… mom came out totally catatonic.” She gestured down the hall with one wing. “It’s shit like that for all of them.”

“You two.” Night’s voice from just up ahead, as stern as it had always been. He hadn’t ever raised his voice with them, but he sounded constantly like he wanted to. Except that he wouldn’t debase himself for them. “The princess is just around the corner here, in the confinement wing. We’re going to get there, and wait for her outside. Before she moves on to help somepony else. The princess should’ve been asleep an hour ago as it is.”

Jackie found her composure slipping a little, and she actually glared at him. “How can you talk like that? Standing here, surrounded by people who are fucking wrecked because of what you did.”

Night didn’t laugh, but he did roll his eyes wide enough for her to see. “Nothing I did, human. Nothing anypony did. Yes, it’s a terrible tragedy. Yes, the princess does everything she can for them. And the staff here make them as comfortable as we can. The best doctors in Equestria are out there working on a cure for each individual case.

“But the princess is waiting,” he continued. “And healing the mentally and emotionally damaged is only one of her numerous responsibilities. If it weren’t for our princess, there would be far more ponies like this. If it bothers you, think of the hundreds she could save, and not the few dozen she could not.”

He didn’t wait for Jackie’s response—just turned on his hooves and hurried away at his rapid pace.

Jackie remained silent as they rounded the corner to another hallway—this one far more spartan than the one behind them. Instead of cubicles of white linen, it looked like she had wandered into a dungeon. There were maybe ten little cell doors here, with chalkboards and pictures outside as in the room behind them. Only the sounds coming from inside were much more violent. Hooves smacking against rock, screams of mad rage, rattling chains.

One of the doors was open, and a little gaggle of doctors hovered outside. Four looked like the same guards Jackie had seen watching the entrance to this place, pawing at the ground with impotent frustration.

Jackie tried to lean forward and take a look, but one of the doctors noticed, and turned around to get in the way.

“The princess should be… done shortly,” she said, with a slight bow to Gentle Night. “I think she’s making some real progress.”

“I wouldn’t expect much out of Teeth at this point,” Gentle said, settling back onto his haunches. He didn’t enter the cell—didn’t get anywhere near the guards. And based on the sounds coming from within, Jackie couldn’t blame him.

Something smashed against stone, and bits of orange feather emerged from the door. A few of the orderlies winced.

“Mr. Crowley has made some… real strides,” the doctor said, eyeing Night with mild annoyance. “A few more treatments like this, and we might be ready to release him to secondary care. He hasn’t bitten anypony in three days.”

“Delightful,” Night said, glancing back at Jackie. “See, this is what you could’ve been. I hope you’re feeling lucky.”

Jackie glanced around at the dungeon again—at the thick iron bars on the cell windows, and the gloomy tubes of light flickering on the ceiling. Maybe Equestria wasn’t so great after all.

At least Princess Luna didn’t keep her waiting much longer. Another few seconds, and the Alicorn herself emerged from beyond the cell door.

Jackie found herself stunned speechless by the pony she saw—for the second time today, she was grateful for the wheelchair.

Princess Luna made it clear instantly how a pony might look attractive to her. She was tall, with features elegant enough for any issue of Cosmopolitan she’d ever read. And that mane… her hair seemed to stretch into infinity itself, with little glowing motes of light drifting slowly in the background. It didn’t look like hair at all, but a window to somewhere beyond, where stars of strange hues danced in the endless void.

The princess said a few polite words to the doctors, finally giving the orderlies permission to enter the cell. “Don’t wake him,” she instructed, voice calm. “I think he’ll be almost agreeable when he wakes. And if not, send for me again in a week. Too many treatments too soon will not help him more than a few treatments and a little time.”

Then she noticed Jackie, and she met her eyes. Jackie felt her ears flattening, warmth rising to her cheeks. It didn’t just look like this Princess Luna could see her crush—but everything else she had ever thought besides. Those dark eyes went down even further than her mane did.

“This is the patient I was expecting?” she asked Night, though she didn’t take her eyes from Jackie. She didn’t actually wait for an answer. “You’re one of mine then… Jacqueline. Is that right?”

She shivered slightly, but tried not to look embarrassed. She nodded. “My friends just call me Jackie.”

The princess glanced past her, nodding to Harley. “You have chosen your friends well, I see. This drone is as dependable as she is compassionate.” She turned, silvery metal horseshoes clattering on the stone floor. “Find us somewhere to work, Night.” She raised a hoof peremptorily. “Somewhere more comfortable than this. You see our guest isn’t violent. My treatment won’t make her worse.”

“O-of course, princess. There’s… this way. The second wing. We don’t have enough patients to open it yet.”

“That would be perfect.” The princess turned, and together they made their way down another hallway. It led somewhere very much like the long room full of cubicles, except that the cloth dividers had been folded gently and the wire hangers were empty. Jackie could see into each of the little spaces—they weren’t large.

Is this what they’re going to do to me? A cot all by itself, without even a chair for visitors? They weren’t even proper hospital rooms. No toilet, no television… if anything, it reminded Jackie of old photos she’d seen of 1900s era hospitals, filled with suffering victims of the Spanish flu.

“Do you think you’re going to need this much space?” Jackie asked, finding her voice was shaking. There hadn’t been any formality with this princess—none of the pomp and circumstance the palace and guards led her to expect. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to talk to her at all. But Harley hadn’t warned her of anything like that.

The princess sighed from up ahead, loud enough for Jackie to hear. “I very much expect so, regrettably. The enemy we’re facing appears determined to destroy as many lives as possible. She can make no better case for the dangers of your true nature than destroying the spells and minds of as many people as possible. The soul is a fragile thing, Jacqueline. You take it for granted, but it is so easily damaged. And once broken, it is far harder to set right than a broken limb.”

Jackie found herself shuddering. Her voice quavered on the edge of tears. “Am I… am I broken? Like the people here? Are you going to leave me here?”

“No,” Harley whispered into her ear from behind. “Even if they tried, I’d bust you out. Promise.”

Gentle Night looked like he’d heard that time, because he pointed an angry wing at Harley.

Luna silenced him with a glare. “Why don’t you… find some tea or something, Night. I’ll need you to entertain the changeling while I treat her friend.”

“Changeling?” Night’s voice cracked with a little fear.

But Jackie found herself too afraid to laugh. “I’d rather if Harley was there, Princess,” she said. Far more respectfully than she’d ever spoken to Sunset Shimmer.

This was a real princess. Everything she did only made her more certain of it.

“I’m afraid that will not be possible.” Luna settled down beside the wheelchair, sounding genuinely sympathetic. “She can remain nearby—but not close enough that her presence could interfere. Through no fault of her own, your friend is a changeling. Her magic would interfere with mine. I’m sure Harlequin wants the best possible chance for your full recovery.”

“I’ll… get some tea,” Night muttered, taking off with a flurry of wings and flying for a door set high in the wall above them.

“I do,” Harley said. She leaned around from the wheelchair’s other side, pressing herself briefly to Jackie’s chest. She could feel the warmth of her, her hummingbird heartbeat. Felt soft feathers brush against her. “She’ll take good care of you, Jackie,” she whispered. “And when she’s done, it’ll be my turn to take care of you. I’ve got plans.”

“As I said.” Princess Luna didn’t rush them. Nor did she sound anything but genuinely amused. “You couldn’t have chosen better. Help her into the bed here, Harley. We will begin immediately.”

Chapter 14

Chapter 14
It’s… kind of amazing you have time for this,” Jackie said, when she was laying down with her back against a metal headboard. The princess had chosen one of the identical beds for her at random. It was comfortable enough, but she found herself unable to enjoy it. Not when she knew what was coming. “Trying to help all of us, I mean. They tell us about you in Unity… the two of you rule this whole country. You’re like… half of the president. With enough time to be a doctor too.”

Either she treats me, or I’m crippled for life. She still might be. Sunset Shimmer had been optimistic, but she hadn’t promised she would be cured. The princesses were powerful, but they weren’t gods.

Princess Luna sat by the edge of the bed, attending to a little tray of tea. Her steward hadn’t brought a tray of steaming cups, but instead a kettle of hot water and a box of many little glass jars. She selected carefully from each one, as little as a few sprigs of one plant or trimmings from the leaves of another. She was filling only one cup. “I don’t have time,” she said, her voice matter-of-fact. “But I do it anyway. Life is always a matter of priorities. Fate provides us with the stage, a stage with many roles to fill and many opportunities. But the choice of which we’ll embrace is up to us.” She lowered her voice, speaking almost at a whisper as she poured over the leaves in the strainer. “I chose to undo as much of the damage I have caused as possible.”

Jackie opened her mouth to question, but Luna levitated the cup right up to her lips, tilting it back with her magic. It wasn’t that different from what Jackie had seen from unicorns, so there was nothing to be overly impressed about. Of course, she had been about to talk, and the tea down her throat almost choked her.

Except that it was the best tea she’d ever tasted. Warm, but not too hot. Sweet, but dash of honey sweet, not cubes of sugar sweet. She couldn’t even name the flavors.

No sooner did it touch her tongue than Jackie found herself relaxing. Her wings tucked up against her back, and she settled against the pillow. What had she wanted to ask about again?

A little voice in the back of her head screamed in sudden panic. She was doing something important! She was supposed to be meeting with the princess for treatment, not falling asleep! She’d been up all night, it wasn’t fair! She needed to sit up!

But she was just too relaxed. Luna’s voice stretched into incomprehensibility, and just like that she was asleep.

The harsh white light of sun was gone from overhead, replaced with soothing moonlight. She could hear the sound of churning water from nearby—the crashing of a waterfall, maybe a lake lapping up against a shore. She blinked, sat up, and found she was standing on a tiny island in the center of a lake.

“How did I…”

“I brought you here,” Princess Luna said from beside her. She seemed even taller now than she’d been in the real world, her mane stretching up and up to melt into the starry sky. “It’s somewhere familiar to me. I find it’s better to have a patient somewhere comfortable when this starts.”

“When it…” Jackie found her legs were working again. She could sit up just fine, as easily as she expected it would be for natural ponies. She probably could’ve walked around as well. “This isn’t the treatment? I can already feel my legs working again!”

Princess Luna laughed. “You can feel your legs again, yes. But that’s because I know what it should feel like. So does your mind. You expect, and so you experience. Don’t confuse it with treatment.” She met Jackie’s eyes, and despite how regal and powerful she looked, Jackie could feel the guilt radiating from her. “I wish fate had been kinder to you. I wish she had been more forgiving to the descendants of our ancient ancestors. But when Atropos measures, she cannot be turned again.”

Jackie stiffened. Shouldn’t Princess Luna be worrying more about her treatment, and less about her weird religion? She was losing faith in this treatment. “Whatever you’re going to do, Princess, you should do it. I’m ready.”

“It will hurt,” the princess said. “You’re a part of the web now, Jacqueline. Its threads twine about your neck. I cannot release you, but I can persuade the Moirai to loosen their grip.” She glanced up and away from Jackie, at the distant outline of the silvery moon. “I spent a thousand years in exile. Many times I thought I would be swept away by the icy grip of insanity… but relief never came. Instead of lunacy, I can see. I see you too, though your ancestry is separated from mine by uncountable years.”

The moon seemed to loom larger in the sky. At first Jackie thought she might be imagining things—but then she saw some of the distant trees ripped right off the ground, tanking huge chunks of earth with them. The water in the lake starting pouring up, and the huge flower just beside her strained towards oblivion.

Jackie reached out, trying to grab onto one of the princess’s hooves, but Luna backed away. She was swept screaming into the sky.

All that was concrete in the world was dashed to pieces. Jackie felt knives embedded in her legs and spine as she floated along a sea of clouds, with flashes of memory occasionally bubbling to the surface. She saw her strongest memories—her first time under the bleachers, the time she’d come out to her parents, the moment she had thought Katie would die. Falling from the clouds, falling in love with Harley.

Time was stolen from her. She suffered for years in the dream, feeling as though someone were molding new legs for her from clay. Every time she looked down, she saw only shredded muscle and pulsing veins where her own should’ve been, and a spine that trailed along the ground behind her.

She begged for Luna to stop, screaming prayers to every god whose name she knew into the void. But no one heard her. Once committed, she could not escape.

Then she broke the surface of sleep, like a desperate swimmer seconds from drowning. She coughed and hacked lungfuls of slime and blood onto the white sheets, rolling so far sideways that she thumped to the floor. But she didn’t care about the pain, or the voices from nearby. She didn’t care about anything anymore.

Something lifted her back up, more of the sourceless force that was how unicorns did everything in Equestria. Jackie didn’t struggle—she was much too weak for that now. Her head throbbed, though her neck and spine were worse.

She heard more voices, stretched and distorted like her brain was struggling to tune an old radio. Then she heard Harley, and she could focus again. “That’s blood. Why is she bleeding, Princess?”

She felt someone holding her on the bed, and she recognized that hard shell. Harley wasn’t pretending to be a pegasus anymore, apparently. Though she’d only seen her this way for a few minutes, she found the cool touch of Harley against her was already making her breathing come a little easier.

“The damage was more severe than I thought.” Princess Luna sounded truly exhausted now, like she might collapse at any moment. As the world came back into focus, Jackie could see her standing near the foot of the bed. Her mane no longer looked luminous, and her eyes betrayed just how close to unconsciousness she had come. “I rarely risk so much. But seeing into her mind, I knew she would have liked living on as a burden to those around her even less than the risk.”

Jackie realized her legs were twitching. She kicked out at random, and one of the blankets tumbled off the edge of the bed. “I’m… I can move again,” she croaked, feeling a little more slime dribble out of her lips as she said it. “When will the pain stop?”

Harley was there a moment later with the edge of a blanket, trying to clean her up.

“Soon,” the princess promised. “You don’t know how near to the precipice you came, Jacqueline. Your spirit wanders.” She rose to her hooves again, settling her wings against herself. “Be careful that you don’t wander so far in the future. You might not be able to find your way back.”

Then she left, with Gentle Night hurrying behind her.

“Ugh.” Jackie stopped trying to sit up, letting herself collapse against the bed. “Maybe she should’ve just killed me.” She rolled over, trying to look back and see the state of her neck and spine—but there was nothing to see. She looked exactly the way she’d remembered. It was just blueish fur and wings.

“You’ll get better,” Harley said, gripping one of her forelegs with both of hers. There was a flash, and she was the pretend pegasus again.

Damn. Princess Luna had fixed other things while she was in there, apparently. She no longer had any doubts about how she could find ponies attractive. It’s just while I’m here. I’ll be back on Earth soon.

She’d been so distracted she hadn’t noticed that Harley was still talking. “You’re talking to me now, Squeak. That means your mind is still there. At least… I think it is?”

She shoved her with one wing—which meant she didn’t push very hard. “Yeah, yeah. I’m here. Though I don’t want to be here for much longer. Do you think I could keep using the wheelchair until we get out of this fuckin’ place? I want to be somewhere that isn’t here.”

“Sure.” But Harley didn’t leave. Instead she leaned forward, right up towards Jackie’s face.

But any fear that she was going to be more affectionate than Jackie was ready for was vain. The pegasus kissed her cheek instead, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper. “And when you’re done healing, I’ll have you all to myself. No more excuses.”

She straightened, backing away as though she hadn’t said anything. “I’ll get a guard. Somepony will have to come with us, so they don’t think I’m trying to escape or whatever. I’ll get us a room somewhere.”

It didn’t take her long to do exactly that. Jackie barely remembered what happened as she was wheeled out—her body and mind had both been stretched as far as they would go. Harley took her somewhere dark and comfortable. There was a bed, with something gray and feathery to cuddle.

And maybe a little more.

Recovery wasn’t a matter of ending the spell and sending her on her way, though. Even with her legs responding to her commands, learning to use them was still a process. For the next several days, she was in a Canterlot hospital for eight hours of physical therapy a day, learning to walk alongside elderly ponies and others who had suffered debilitating accidents.

There was a little time for sightseeing, but not much. It seemed like the ponies actively discouraged visitors like her from getting invested in the scene in Canterlot. Most of the really interesting places were off limits to her, or at least to Harley. And her therapy kept her so worn out that she never had the energy to venture further.

And less than a week into her time there, they got a knock on their tiny hotel-room door, and Sigil poked her head out from the other side. She wasn’t wearing the same elegant armor and sword as she had been on their first day—only a gold colored coat and jacket in a similar cut. “Hey kid.” She glanced down at Jackie’s legs, but she wasn’t wearing crutches or even braces anymore. “Not bad. Guess the princess took care of you pretty good.”

She did still feel self-conscious about being naked, but at least all her important bits were facing away from her visitor. “Yep.” She stepped aside. “You can come in. Not a lot to see in here. Yeah, Harley’s here. She isn’t breaking parole.”

“I wouldn’t expect her to.” Sigil stepped inside, into the single-room hotel room. They’d kept it mostly clean, except for the growing pile of takeout containers near the trash. The Wild Stallions Lodge didn’t have a maid service. “I’m here about you, actually. It’s time you make your decision.” She lifted something in her magic, a little glowing envelope stamped with writing Jackie couldn’t read. “Either back home to Earth, or staying here in Equestria. Unity needs Harley back, you see. You two are coming to the Worldgate. Whether it’s to say goodbye to your marefriend or go back with her is up to you.”

Chapter 15

Chapter 15
It was a good thing that Sigil had come during the night. Even in Equestria Jackie found the day was difficult for her, particularly without caffeine. Canterlot had coffee, but it didn’t have energy drinks, and that was critical.

At least Sigil was willing to wait a few minutes while they got ready. They hadn’t been told anything, hadn’t been anywhere near the palace again since Jackie’s treatment.

“I thought we would have another week,” Harley said, emerging from the bathroom in her gray pegasus disguise with a mane still wet from the shower. “The doctors didn’t seem like they would let Jackie go without getting her galloping.”

Sigil shrugged a sympathetic shoulder. “I don’t have any of the details of her case. Maybe they’ll be upset when she doesn’t show up tomorrow. But I don’t think she’ll need to gallop if she goes back to Earth with you.” She looked to Jackie, expression friendly. “You haven’t forgotten how to walk on two legs yet, have you?”

“No.” Jackie didn’t have much in the way of clothes, but she had acquired one thing: a dark hoodie she’d found in a cheap souvenir shop with “Earth Memorabilia.” It fit pretty good, and even had holes for her wings. Not that it actually did any of the things clothes were supposed to do.

Harley tossed a satchel over her shoulder—she didn’t even have clothes, just some bits and a few simple tools. But considering the world she’d come from, that wasn’t really that surprising. “We’re ready. Aren’t we, Squeak?”

“Yeah,” Jackie said, letting the pegasus rub up against her. She didn’t mean it—and Harley hesitated.

One of her eyebrows went up, and she looked like she was about to ask something. But she only shrugged.

“Do you think we could walk?” Jackie asked. “I’d like to get another look at the city before we go. Never really got to experience the nightlife with the early morning PT, but at least I could see it.”

Sigil nodded ruefully. “I’m glad you want to walk, because I don’t have a carriage. We do need to get there before midnight, though. Word is Harley has a helicopter waiting for her on the other side. And you’ll want to see your… sister?”

I want my sister to see here. “Yeah.”

They left, vanishing into Canterlot’s streets. For such a big city, there were huge swathes of it that went dark at night. There were streetlights at regular intervals, but not the flashing signs and neon that she might’ve expected of a Vegas or a New York. Far fewer ponies in the air, and most of them had wings like her.

There were a few exceptions, though. They passed one of the city’s many theaters on their way to the Worldgate, and Jackie slowed to peek inside. Ponies wearing jeweled dresses and smart tuxedos chatted politely about the show they’d just left. A little further on, a street performer danced with a troop of rabbits, soliciting bits from passers-by.

Jackie stopped near one of the city’s many scenic balconies, at the end of an alleyway between a row of closed shops. The courtside was dark out there, save for a handful of distant sparks. The many towns that surrounded Canterlot, even less awake at night than this place.

“I’ll be right back,” Sigil called. “There’s a hot chocolate cart just around the corner. Jackie, you’re deputized, don’t let the parolee wander off while I’m gone.”

Jackie didn’t even look back, just stared off the edge of the world. The drop was even more spectacular than Unity. And instead of a sea of clouds, or some bleak third-world country, there was life down there.

No one was trying to kill her here. No one was hunting them. No more magic was coming to transform her.

“I can see what you’re thinking,” Harley said from behind her, before settling down beside her on the edge of the city. “You’re not the first one. Lots of humans we bring here never want to leave. Though… not every city is as pretty as this. Canterlot is the capital. For every place like this, there’s a hundred small towns with maybe a thousand ponies and gas lamps instead of streetlights.”

But I could find my way here. Once I learn enough to be useful. Or some other city like it. “I can see why you guys wanted to invade.”

Harley laughed humorlessly. “Queen Chrysalis wanted to invade. She saw how we went hungry and tried to do something about it. I can’t really hate her for it.”

“I would.” Jackie looked up, eyes narrowing. “She’s the reason you’re not free right now. These ponies have such bleeding hearts—if you’d just walked in here and told them you wanted to be friends, they would’ve welcomed you. They’re dying to help some strangers in a world that isn’t even theirs.” She sniffed. “I want you to stay with me, Harley. Here.”

Harley draped a wing over her shoulder. Jackie leaned up against her, no longer fighting her tears.

“I wish I could. But I have another year of service left, at least. And… I think even if it was over, I couldn’t stay yet. Your world is going to shit. They’re making innocent ponies disappear. Ponies as clueless as you were when I found you. Those ponies will need heroes.”

Jackie pulled her hood up over her face. But there weren’t very many other ponies around—certainly none at the end of this random alley. They were all in the lower city, at those nightclubs and bars where life kept going. Where she wanted to be.

Maybe she could’ve stayed.

Except there was Katie in her mind again, hearing from the regent that Jackie had decided not to come back to her. She’d made a promise. No matter how much she wanted to spend some time in paradise… there were things that mattered more.

Her world hated her right now, sure. It had already tried to hunt her. The ponies thought she was a criminal for trying to reveal the truth about Unity to its population.

Jackie didn’t really think she would keep trying to do that. Not if the ones she told might end up like her, with no recourse for treatment but Princess Luna’s magic.

“In a year…” Jackie continued, suddenly feeling small. “When you’re done. Do you think… maybe then? Will that be enough? How many people do you have to save before you can save yourself?”

Harley didn’t answer.

Sigil emerged a moment later, levitating three steaming cups over. Like something out of an expensive artisan shop back home, with patterns in the foam and little marshmallows floating in the liquid. Jackie couldn’t quite hold a cup with her wings yet, but she could brace it against the rail and lean down to lap it up with her tongue. So maybe going back to Earth is gonna have some advantages.

“The prisoner didn’t try to escape while I was gone?” she asked, winking at Harley.

“Not with a pony as clever and powerful as Jackie,” she answered, suddenly a unicorn. She levitated the cup up to her lips, and sipped at it without any sign of the pleasure that Jackie felt. “I’d never stand a chance.”

Jackie took another sip, letting the warmth replace a little of her fear. She wasn’t ready to go home, but that didn’t matter. Her sister was back there, and Harley might need her. They would finally get to go on field missions together.

“I think I’m ready,” Jackie said, passing the empty cup back. “Thanks for the hot chocolate, by the way. You guys make it way better than Starbucks.”

“Weeeell…” Sigil grinned mischievously. “That was from a Star Bucks.”

“Of-fucking-course you have them here,” Jackie answered, spreading her wings a little in her frustration. “I bet you have McDonalds too… or, wait, maybe not. Their menu is mostly meat. So maybe not them.”

“Not my area.” Sigil flicked her tail back towards the alley. “Worldgate is just around the corner. Let’s get there before Harley misses her flight. I haven’t had a chance to serve Earthside myself, but I don’t want Sunset hating me before I even get there.”

It was the same building waiting for them, but this time Jackie walked on her own power. She was only a little more awkward than the other ponies here—at least so long as she stayed slow. The last time she’d tried to run, she couldn’t even make it across the hotel room.

There was a brief search for “magical contraband” which was far less painful than the last time she’d been through a TSA checkpoint. Then they passed through a medical room, where a unicorn wearing a white coat offered the two of them a tub of blue jelly.

“Make sure you cover your wings completely,” said the pony, sounding bored. “The consequences will be severe otherwise.

“I’m… not really sure how I’m supposed to…” Jackie slowed to a stop in the hallway—slowing the progress of traffic. Despite the late hour, there had to be a hundred other ponies here, all queuing for the slow trip across the border. At least the crowd looked as confused as she was.

“I’ll do it,” Harley said from behind her, lifting a sponge in her mouth. She was back to being a pegasus it seemed. “Then you can do mine. Working together, see?” Stupid changeling was far more intimate with it than she had to be. She’d had a whole week to learn where Jackie was sensitive.

“I didn’t have to wear cream over my wings on the way in,” she muttered, when she’d finished helping Harley with the slightly shimmering slime. The sponge was disposable, but she still had to taste the jelly. It tingled a little like electricity against the roof of her mouth for a few seconds, making her insides glow blue.

“You weren’t getting a disguise spell on your way in,” Harley answered, as they slotted themselves into the queue outside the portal room. Ponies entered a few at a time, the door shutting behind each in turn. “Now you are. Apparently this is Star Swirl’s magic. You don’t fuck around with that stuff.”

“Language,” somepony ahead of them whispered, voice annoyed. But Sigil didn’t seem to care.

Jackie ignored her too. “Whatever. As long as they have Rockstar on the other side, I’m good. Rockstar and a bed. Unless we end up on a… Learjet to Tokyo or something. No, London. Or Paris? Somewhere for our first covert mission together.”

Harley nodded, though there was none of her usual confidence in her expression. “Maybe. Sounds like whatever this is is pretty urgent, though.” She gestured with one wing at the line ahead of them. A group of colorful ponies were chatting near the door, with one slightly taller than anyone in line. Jackie hadn’t noticed at first, but there was something different about her. The purple one had wings and a horn.

Harley lowered her voice to a whisper, speaking right into one of Jackie’s ears. “That’s Princess Twilight, I’m sure of it. Must be something big going down. Probably… not the best place for your first mission.”

Soon enough the line in front of them had worked down to nothing, though there were still plenty of important-looking ponies behind them. “This is your last chance to turn around,” Sigil said, sounding sympathetic. “Nopony goes in there who isn’t using the portal. If you plan on staying in Equestria… you can still use that hallway there. There are guards who can help settle you.”

“If I was going to stay, I wouldn’t have smeared this shit all over my wings,” Jackie said. The door slid open before the ponies behind them could get annoyed at her language again. “What about you? I guess this is where you say goodbye to Harley?”

“Not this time,” Sigil said. “I won’t be working with her on that side… but it’s my turn. I hope Unity is as awesome as everypony says.”

“I… guess it’s okay,” Jackie muttered, following her awkwardly into the open center of the room. There were at least a dozen guards here, most of them unicorns, and all watching the portal as though it might leap out and attack at a moment’s notice. “I mean, it is a giant floating castle. But I think Canterlot is cooler.”

They stopped in front of the shimmering surface of the portal. Sigil shrugged one shoulder, saluted to the guards, then stepped inside.

Harley seemed like she was making right for it—but Jackie hesitated, and so she stopped too.

“It wasn’t a pleasant trip over,” Jackie muttered. “I thought I was gonna puke.”

“You wouldn’t be the first one,” Harley muttered. “But you get used to it. It won’t be so bad.”

“If you say so.”

Jackie closed her eyes, took one last deep breath, then stepped through the portal back to her world.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16
Jackie stumbled out the other end of the portal, feeling a little less like she’d just had her insides scrambled than she had the last time. She passed a mounted gun before she realized that she was walking on two legs again. She couldn’t help herself—the sound that escaped her lips certainly wasn’t a word, or even close to one, and it made her blush the instant she realized what she’d done.

She leapt up into the air, hanging there for several full seconds. Wait, what? No sooner had she realized it than she dropped back onto the ground with a painful thump, and nearly fell over. She learned forward, expecting her forelegs to be there to catch her—and they didn’t exist anymore.

Harley caught her instead, grip firm on her shoulder through the fabric of her hoodie. Which… shouldn’t have fit anymore. “You okay there, Squeak? Looked like you might be about to break something.”

“I’m… fine…” she muttered, though in reality she was grateful that Harley hadn’t just let go. She probably would’ve fallen over. “Just… let me hold onto you… I dunno why you’re so good at switching.”

There was a young woman standing near the open doorway, one Jackie hadn’t seen before. Except… those gold eyes were familiar. And her outfit resembled the informal guard stuff she’d been wearing before. Except now it was a dress and a coat, with high boots and gold-rimmed glasses. She looked like she might be in even worse shape than Jackie, but she was prepared. Sigil kept her hand on the wall, using it to guide her towards the door. Even if her legs looked like they might rebel on her at a moment’s notice, she didn’t fall over.

“Move along,” said a voice from behind them—a pony guard, one Jackie didn’t recognize. “You’ll have time to adjust in one of the lobbies there. Ponies are still coming through.”

How are some of them ponies and some of them not. Maybe it was the cream… then she remembered her jump, and stretched her wings. They responded, extending from her back. It was exactly the way she’d remembered, except that they seemed smaller on a human then they had been for a pony.

She obeyed, thanks to Harley’s help. “I don’t understand… why do I have wings?”

The changeling looked as confused as she felt. “You told me you wanted to fly.” At Jackie’s nod, she continued. “How else would you fly? Did you see anypony in Equestria flying without wings?”

She’d seen unicorns make items fly. But now that she thought about it… of course it made sense. There were plenty of equestrians who kept their pony features, wings most of all. She had thought they were silly fashion once, before she really looked. But now she knew. “I guess that’s what the cream was for?”

Harley nodded. “Unicorns can use wands, but they haven’t come up with a replacement wing yet. And since I’m the only shapeshifter here, you basically have to get the spell right the first time.”

They wandered into a room Jackie hadn’t seen before, with various racks and hangers mounted to one wall. And she could see why—several of the newcomers had come back with the strangest outfits. Mutli-layered dresses set with gemstones, strange jackets and coats that did little for modesty. She immediately stiffened, glancing down to see if she’d suffered the same fate. But no—she was now wearing a black and gray skirt, with layers of wispy material making it look a little longer, along with her hoodie. Which was… person sized now, instead of pony sized.

And it still had holes for her wings, which was both great and also unhelpful.

An official-looking pony stood by one wall, where the room seemed to split into men and women. “Alright, everypony. If you’re new, go to one of the red booths. Everypony else, get yourselves squared away and report to me when you’re ready not to trip over yourself. There’s a list of banned subjects on the wall in case you forget. Unicorns will not be issued wands until they can demonstrate proper thaumic safety with humans around.” And on, and on, with a tone like she’d given this lecture a thousand times.

Jackie didn’t have much to do, and at a glance she could see that Harley didn’t either. She’d come through already dressed, tonight in something tight with green and black throughout. “So this skirt…” Jackie muttered, finding that walking came more naturally to her after the first few steps. “It isn’t gonna disappear on me, is it? Like… I don’t think the super-secret agent is supposed to have her clothes disappear before seducing the femme-fatale. It’s supposed to be organic.”

“We can bicker about who seduces who later,” Harley whispered back. “After we find out where we’re going.” She walked right up to the one who’d been issuing orders, pausing only to wave politely to Sigil as she disappeared into one of the red changing stalls.

“Lieutenant Amethyst Star, ma’am,” she said, without saluting. “Harlequin returning from Equestria with the injured Jackie Kessler. Treatment was completed successfully. We’re both ready to report for duty. Maybe… together?”

“No.” There was no anger as she said it. It was only the voice of the mailman telling her that she didn’t have a package today. But even so, Jackie felt her wings fluff up behind her, making her look a little bigger. Her ears didn’t move anymore though, and she didn’t even have a tail. Thank God. “You’re going to Colorado with the Elements and everypony else with live-fire training. Your, uh… friend here, doesn’t have the qualifications.”

She skimmed down the clipboard in her hand. “Jacqueline, here you are. Suspended sentence for attempted sabotage. Looks like I’m to hold you the instant you arrive and make sure you never get the chance to mix with Unity’s population. Straight onto transport and out of here.” She lowered her clipboard. “What in Celestia’s name did you do to get a note like that?”

Attempted sabotage, huh? She’d known she was getting banished for it. At least they weren’t going to lock her in a cell. “So… what happens to me then? I don’t get to see Harley again?” She wrapped her arm through Harley’s at that, holding her close. “That isn’t okay.”

“No…” Amethyst looked a little taken-aback. “I don’t care what you do, so long as you don’t give me trouble. They aren’t feeding you to those ECU guys or anything. Looks like the regent doesn’t want you living here.” She flipped a few pages back in the clipboard. “Here we go. Transit papers. You’re going to a safehouse in Seattle. They’re pretty good. Not the Canterlot Suites or anything, but not much worse than here. You’ll live. What you decide to do with your time off is on you. But for now, if you could just stay where I can see you until I get an escort, that would be great. I don’t know what you did, but so long as you don’t try to escape or anything…”

“Nope.” Jackie turned out her empty hands, though she wasn’t sure the gesture meant the same thing to the ponies. She moved her fingers up and down through a full cycle of motion, touching thumb to each in turn. It was so good to be able to move them again. “See? Nothing up my sleeve.”

They walked together to a nearby chair on the ladies’ side of the divider, mostly so she wouldn’t have to see the various distinctly human junk hanging out across the way. These ponies might look like her, but they had no more modesty because of it. They must teach them quick. I never saw anyone walking around Unity naked. Except her, but that had been Harley’s fault.

“How much time off do you get, anyways?” she asked, once they were out of Amethyst’s earshot. “Do you think maybe… you could come visit? Or I could visit you?”

“Easier for me than you,” Harley answered. “I deploy pretty deep sometimes. Spend weeks without support out in the world. Earth is… kinda fun. Easier for me than ponies, since I can be whatever I want. I’ll give you my number. You should be able to find a cheap phone somewhere. Just don’t say anything secret over the line—never know who might be listening. No proper nouns. And maybe get a new disposable every few weeks just to be sure.

“That does sound like some secret-agent shit,” Jackie said, leaning against her in her seat. Harley’s human shape had gray wings, just like she had in Equestria. And she was a little cooler against Jackie’s skin. Like her shell was under there somewhere—or at least Jackie could imagine it.

They did exchange numbers, or she got Harley’s anyway. There was no time to do more, because a pair of guards showed up moments later—wearing guns instead of spears and bronze breastplates.

“My name is Captain Greaves,” said one of them, extending a hand to shake in a decent simulation of politeness. “I hear you’ve been cooperative so far. Is that how this is going to go?”

“Yeah.” Jackie slumped forward, resting her arms on her legs. “I’ll do whatever you say. I’m not going to try and spill your secrets anymore.”

“Princess Luna set you straight, then,” said the other guard. Jackie vaguely recognized his face, but she couldn’t place it. “Pretty typical. She does that to everypony.”

No, I just don’t want anyone else to go through what I did. Now that I know you guys aren’t lying about Equestria and stuff… Come to think of it, just what could they still be lying about? The government being evil, maybe. The ponies could still have a culture that was good while fighting an unjust war, couldn’t they?

An unjust war by rescuing people the government wants to kill? That rang a little hollow.

“We need to get going then,” said Greaves. “Your possessions are already waiting for you in the safehouse. The three of us will travel with the field team, and one of the support planes will continue on to deliver you along the way. You good to airdrop with those wings?”

She nodded. “I am so up on the secret agent shit, you have no idea.”

But she didn’t get up. Instead she leaned sideways, wrapping her arms around Harley one last time. “Maybe if I hold on tight enough… they won’t make me go,” she whispered. She expected the guard to interfere at any moment—probably to yell, if not worse.

But they didn’t.

“Sorry, Squeak.” Harley hugged her back. “That isn’t how this works. Even if you hadn’t done anything, we’d still have to go different ways sometimes. I have missions, and you would too soon enough. They wouldn’t always be the same ones.”

“I know…” Jackie grumbled one last time, then finally let go. She let the guards lead her away. They took more of Unity’s underground passages to the airfield, not letting her above the surface until the helicopter was already roaring with sound. She could’ve screamed the truth about Unity with all her lungs and no one would’ve heard.

She rode along at the back of the business helicopter, with only Greaves as her escort. But he relaxed the instant they were aboard. He didn’t follow her to the bathroom or the bar, or stop her from chatting with the ponies aboard. This was the same mission as Harley, though she was on a different plane. Something about a college, and the ECU getting rid of whole groups of bronies before any of them manifested any abilities. They were going to preempt the preempters.

They landed atop a warehouse in the middle of the night, unloading crew and cargo while Jackie stared out the window at an American city by night. It was a pleasant sight, in its way, from the amber streetlights to the scent of exhaust. Equestria was beautiful, but her home was beautiful too. To her. I could call my parents again. Let them know I’m back in the country. I bet Katie already did.

They would want to know where they were, want to visit. But that probably wasn’t a good idea. There was no way in hell the ponies would let her take visitors at a secret safehouse. And if the government is disappearing people with connections to Equestria, visiting would put them in danger too. So probably not that.

Jackie reclined her seat and slept as dawn came and they took off again for parts unknown. Then they arrived, and it was time for the jump. She leapt over Seattle with nothing more than a map of her destination and twenty dollars in cash to catch a cab.

It was worth it. By the time she finally arrived, it was to a squealing Katie.

“I can’t believe you’re back!” she exclaimed, once she’d finally let go. They stood in the entryway of what could’ve been any apartment, if you were willing to climb through two floors of abandoned building and get past a solid steel door two inches thick.

Her sister didn’t seem to be looking at that, though. Katie’s eyes widened, and she nudged Jackie’s legs with one of her own. Katie didn’t have shoes anymore, because she didn’t have feet. It was all fur down there, and hooves. Exactly that way Jackie remembered.

Katie no longer looked freakish and mutated to her—just two different types of cute melted together, and looking quite cross. “What the hell, sis? Where’d you get your parts back? Nobody gave us ours…”

“My… parts?” She raised an eyebrow. “I got them the same place you did. Mom—”

Katie shoved her a little harder this time—though Jackie still barely felt it. Her sister wasn’t very strong, and being not quite four feet probably didn’t help with that. “Don’t be stupid. Sven, get over here! You need to see this!”

A pony emerged from the hall a moment later, wearing nothing but an annoyed expression at being woken. “I told you, don’t call me that anymore. I’m a damn pony, so I get a damn pony name. It’s Stalwart.” The little earth pony looked up, taking her in. “Oh. Damn, you’re you again. There’s no fuckin’ justice.” He turned around. “Back to bed. I don’t want to deal with this right now.”

“I wish you could’ve come,” Jackie muttered, her voice nervous. “It’s… incredible. Everything they told us, Kat. Cities in the clouds? Those are real. Castles with princesses? Real too. It’s like a whole country that’s never even heard of war.”

Katie turned away from her. “That sounds amazing, Jackie. All those places from the show… it would’ve been cool to visit a few. But that stuff doesn’t matter as much as you being okay. I guess Princess Luna knows how to fix ponies after all.”

“Yeah.” Jackie hadn’t felt comfortable talking about the specifics, even with Harley. Even thinking about it brought back some of the ache to her spine, along with a distant fear that she might somehow undo the repair and relapse again.

“Well, come on. I was just starting on breakfast anyway…” Katie latched onto her wrist, dragging her into the kitchen. There was indeed a skillet warming up, with several of the usual breakfast preparations piled up nearby.

“No bacon?”

“Not anymore.” Katie sounded momentarily queasy. “Believe me, you don’t want to smell it, let alone taste it.”

Jackie wasn’t sure she believed that—she’d eaten some things in Equestria she thought might be meat. “I had some giant moths that were pretty good the day before I left. Harley thought maybe I was trying to intimidate her.”

“Now you’re just screwing with me.” Katie hopped up on a stool to work, glaring over her shoulder at Jackie. “You’re a bat pony. That doesn’t mean you would eat bugs.”

“Well I wouldn’t catch them myself,” Jackie admitted. “But if you’ve got any…”

Jackie pulled up a chair, chatting with her sister about nothing in particular while she worked. She learned that Katie had indeed taken steps to contact their parents, and had a disposable phone she could use when she felt better. They didn’t really have much of a mission here, other than to maintain the place and keep an eye on the city for ponies about to change.

“But ‘Stalwart’ and I are pretty garbage at it, since I can only go out in public looking like a little kid and he can’t go out at all. So I guess that will be your job.”

“Great.” Jackie didn’t even pretend to sound enthusiastic. “Nerd clubs. I can’t wait.”

Eventually the sun rose over Seattle, casting splintered orange and red through the curtained window. Jackie could still see the buildings outlined against it, and felt more at home than she ever had in Equestria.

Earth wasn’t as pretty, or as perfect. But it was still her home.

“So, one last thing before you sleep,” Katie muttered, when they were done washing up. “Stalwart would ask too, but he’ll be cranky all day since I woke him up. So I’ve got to be the one to ask.”

“Shoot.”

“After visiting their world—do you think we’re on the right side?” She gestured out the window with a wing. “We’re basically on our own here. If we wanted to go turncoat, we could. Reveal all their evil secrets.”

“No!” Jackie tensed, wings spreading defensively. “I mean… yes. We’re on the right side. I met one of their princesses. That’s like… the president. I dunno everything about this war, but I know Princess Luna was sincere. She really wanted to help us. She did everything she could to give me my legs back, and I’m just one stupid girl. Maybe they’re not perfect, but they’re better than the ones trying to kill us.”

“Good.” Katie leaned forward briefly, embracing her in a loose sisterly hug. “I’m glad. Because… I think I’ve got a plan, and secretly being evil would really screw it up. We can talk more about it when you wake up.”

“A plan?” I guess you have been here for a week all alone with nothing to do. “Like what?”

“I think I wanna be a superhero.”

Chapter 10

Patreon Writing

“You’re quite lucky to be talking to me.” Sunset pulled over a chair, sitting on it backwards and watching her. “I’m guessing you did not have much exposure to the propaganda.” At her nod, the woman continued. “We keep areas off-limits for a reason, Jackeline. Exposure to that much magic is difficult for an unprepared mind. Every human has… a spell protecting them. You were born with it, and exposure to magic weakens it. Too much magic at once and the whole thing unravels. The psyche is unprepared for the sudden destruction of the spell that cements your identity.”

“It’s not right, what you’re doing,” Jackie said, though she didn’t have the strength to actually try and argue with this woman. “We can’t be the only ones who want to know. We got it all on video, and we’re going to make sure everyone else can see. Sorry, but humans don’t keep secrets from each other.” She sounded braver than she felt—but once the words were out, she couldn’t get them back. Not that I have those videos. She hadn’t seen any of her possessions in that hospital room. Not the go pros they’d been hiding, nothing.

Sunset stiffened. “You aren’t human. Nopony is. That’s… the reason we’re here.”

“What do you mean that no one is?” Jackie tried to stand up, tried to show of her absurd cat-sized body. But she could only make her wings obey her for very long. This time she felt like one her forelegs had moved the way she wanted, but not once she tried to put her weight on it. She sighed, slumping back to the table. “You’re changing us into ponies. We saw it under Unity. We’re going to show everyone else.”

Harley remained silent, not interfering in the conversation. Even so she reached out with one of those gigantic hands, gently stroking down Jackie’s neck. She seemed experienced with this, because Jackie felt a slight shiver pass through her at the touch. The place just between her wings seemed to be much more sensitive than the rest of her back.

“No, we aren’t.” Sunset didn’t sound argumentative. She didn’t sound like she had any doubt, or any need to prove it to herself. “Jackeline, let me tell you a story. It’s the last lesson you’ll be getting here in Unity, because we won’t be allowing you to sabotage our work. Please ask any questions you have now, because you won’t get another chance. You need serious treatment... treatment that will require a trip to Equestria. When you return, you won’t be allowed to come back here. You can’t be trusted not to share what you’ve learned.”

Jackie glanced back at Harley, expression desperate. Her girlfriend could come to her rescue, her girlfriend could save her. Harley had been the only thing to make this nightmare worthwhile, even if she was a giant.

But she saw no resolve from Harley, only sympathy. A quiet, almost guilty look, as if to say ‘Sorry, Jackie. You’re on your own.’

Jackie looked back around to Sunset, glaring her sternest, angriest expression. She puffed up her wings for extra effect, whatever the hell that was worth. “What if we don’t cooperate?”

Sunset didn’t look upset, only disappointed. “I don’t need your cooperation. Cooperating only helps you, Jackeline. The sudden destruction of your spell—often has a devastating effect on the more primitive sections of the brain. Worst case, your heart stops when you transform, or you can’t breathe. I’ve seen it happen.” There was no doubting the sincerity of that expression. Harley’s hands stiffened a little as she said it, though her actual expression was a mask.

Sunset went on. “Thank Celestia you’d been at least a little exposed before. Cutie mark, wings… I guess it was enough. But that lack of coordination you feel, your inability to control your own body—that won’t get better on its own.”

The weight of that hit Jackie like a brick. She wasn’t just a freak, wasn’t just a freak the size of a pet—but she had been permanently disabled. Everything she loved to do in the world was forever out of reach. She could almost feel the tears come back. But they didn’t start again. She wouldn’t let the regent see her crying.

“There is help, though. Princess Luna… she’s the greatest Neuromancer who ever lived. I’ve seen her repair minds that were in far greater disrepair than yours. With her help, and plenty of physical therapy… you should recover. In time. If you don’t cooperate with us, if you try to stop yourself from going to Equestria… you might not get the help you need. You might never see Earth again.”

Jackie grumbled, folding her arms. “Whatever. You said something about a story? A way of… explaining all of this. Might as well tell me.”

She did. Sunset Shimmer was quick about it, describing Earth as an ancient colony of ponies from long ago, fleeing a terrible enemy called Discord. They had adopted a spell to restrict their own magic, transforming themselves to look like the natives. But the magic in their blood was powerful, and it persisted as they interbred with the native population. In time everyone was descended from the ponies, and was still one of them deep inside.

Unity was not transforming anyone, but exposure to magic did gradually unravel their protection. The mind and body were deeply interwoven, and making this transition too quickly could cause serious harm to both.

“We meant to introduce magic to humanity over the course of generations,” Sunset finished, several minutes later. “The propaganda we created wasn’t even supposed to interest any but the youngest of one sex. They would raise a more magical next generation in some years, and we could expose them to further magic. The transition would’ve been so gradual that no one noticed and nopony suffered.”

“But… that isn’t what happened,” Jackie said. “Your ‘propaganda’ was too good.”

“That’s part of it,” Sunset muttered. “There are Equestrian agents at work on your planet as well. They appear to be manipulating your governments to turn against Equestria. They’re destroying many of your own citizens in the process, any who manifest magical talent. Everything we’ve been doing… Unity, all the rescue teams… we’re trying to repair the damage we caused. Our interference is what did it. We don’t have any choice but to help you ponies now.

“Unity’s goal is to keep you human as long as possible. When the change is gradual enough, you don’t experience the damage you’re suffering from now. Your sister, for example—she’s not a pony yet, but she’s already learned to walk on hooves. The other one, Sven… he’s a pony too. But he won’t need to go to Equestria with you. He had already been exposed to far more magic than you were. That was why we wanted to keep ponies out of the lower levels. The secret was meant to protect you.”

Jackie’s ears flattened close to her head, and she looked down. She probably made a few more pathetic sounds, though she couldn’t have said for sure. She wouldn’t remember it terribly clearly afterwards.

She felt herself sliding along the table. Harley scooped her up before she could protest, lifting her down and settling her in her lap. Any of the more suggestive interpretations were lost on Jackie in her current state. Under the level of the bar, far away from the eyes of Sunset Shimmer even, and surrounded by warmth, she felt a little better.

“Stop it,” Harley cooed, her voice soothing. “You were punished enough by what happened. You shouldn’t torture yourself too.”

Across the table, Sunset Shimmer rose. “She’s right. You shouldn’t.”

“What do you care?” Jackie could be a little braver when she didn’t have to look at the regent. The gigantic, powerful figure, with absolute authority over her future. “You probably wish I was hurt worse.”

Sunset was suddenly on her feet again. She twisted the back of Harley’s chair, spinning her so that Jackie was no longer under the bar. She glared down at her. “Princess Celestia appointed me to protect the ponies of earth, Jackeline. I take that duty seriously. Half of Unity has had a week of sleepless nights thanks to you. When you’re back in that hospital room, look around.”

She turned away, deflating a little. “I’ll arrange for your sister to see you before you leave. She started walking away. Some part of Jackie wanted to let her leave, but not the stronger part.

“Wait!” she called, reaching after her. “You said… I had to go to Equestria. I get to come back, right?”

“To Earth? That depends on you. And Princess Luna.” Sunset didn’t stop walking, didn’t turn around. She vanished out the cafeteria door, leaving Jackie and Harley alone.”

“Guess I… guess we screwed this one up pretty bad,” Jackie muttered, glancing back up towards Harley’s face. She was so tall, so powerful from this angle.

“I tried to protect you,” Harley leaned back in her chair, though one hand still remained protectively on Jackie’s back. “Honored Queens know you should’ve listened. You’d still be your normal, primate self, instead of one of the sexiest little—” she blushed, looking away. “I mean, instead of helpless and adorable.”

Jackie managed to twist around, propping her forelegs up on Harley’s chest. It was more accurate motion than she’d managed since waking up. “You’re shitting me. At best I’m a weird animal. You can’t think ponies look attractive.”

Harley looked indignant. She reached out, scooping Jackie up from under the legs and settling her back on the table in front of her. “You’re the one who’s joking. Jackie…” she leaned in close, so her face was only inches away. She lowered her voice, as though sharing a dangerous secret. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but you look the way most of us do. The things ponies say about the way humans look are very unfriendly.”

She straightened, her voice changing. With each sentence, it became a perfect imitation of someone else, shifting randomly between sex and age. “They’re so stretched! That’s a disgusting amount of skin. It’s like they’re sick all the time! Those beady little eyes. Celestia is doing them all a favor to help them change back.”

She stopped. “Well, I’m a Changeling. We’re an enlightened race, who have as much sex with as many creatures as we like. But most of the ponies here in unity don’t even have relationships while they’re on Earth. Even some of the married couples sleep in separate beds.” She reached out, running a hand through Jackie’s hair. Well… not her hair. Her mane. It was long and unruly, but didn’t grow the same way as a full head of hair. She brushed it out of the way so it only covered one of her eyes, instead of hanging in front of both.

“If we’re being honest for a second, I’ve been… kinda looking forward to this. I was worried…” Harley looked away. “Worried that we wouldn’t stay together long enough for me to see you this way. Relationships between and ponies and changelings often don’t work out. Queens only know why. You’re… prettier than I imagined. I know ponies who spend thousands of bits and don’t come out the other end half as graceful as you are. I guess that’s part of how the spell works—the human shape it makes for you is a reflection of what’s really underneath.”

She stood up, turning away before Jackie could reply. “You’re not gonna fall over, right? No? Good.” She took a few steps back, glancing towards the open doorway. “I’m gonna… I’m gonna go wake up your sister. You stay right on that counter and don’t go anywhere. Katie is gonna be thrilled to see you…” she lowered her voice, wings twitching uncomfortably as she did so. “If you really want to see what a monster looks like, just wait until morning. When we go through that portal together… you’ll see.”

She left, not giving Jackie a chance to respond.