John Sampson's Story

Swift is pouring tea as I arrive at the table.

“What is it like, being a Unicorn? Just a quick version because when Steel and Shining get here, you are going to be busy.”

I reply, “Fun. But I like the wings best. . . Hello, Twilight. We’re talking about you.”

She eyed me critically, “Did I hear you talking about wings?”

“Afraid so. After I was satisfied that you are whole and uncompromised, I got distracted. I really want wings now.”

“You’ll probably have them some day soon.”

And then the organized attack began with Shining on Twilight and Steel on me.

Steel is first, “What in the hell possessed you to take such a wild assed risk with a Princess?”

Shining is next, “Dammit, Twilight, you could have crippled or killed yourself or him.”

But Twilight isn’t taking it, “Bull shit, Shining, you’ve been in his head. You know better than that.”

Uh Oh. I see a Problem, “Twilight, Shining has never been in my mind, just my memories. We’ve never done anything like you and I did.”

Now both of them are staring at me, “I didn’t know the difference until today.”

Steel wasn’t letting go, “And why would that make a difference? You’ve never been trained anyway.”

“It makes a big difference because nopony can read most of my memories but me. The ones from Terra are too foreign.”

Twilight jumps in, “Steel, he can read my memories better than I can. He’s more organized. And he’s so damned in control that I had to push him into the sex.”

For some reason that shut both of them up. But AJ arrived about then.

“What’s going on?”

I just had to say, “I did it again. Everypony is excited at me.”

So Swift piped up, “Except me.”

“So let’s have tea and breakfast then we can go open our boxes. Celestia will need the official report on them today.”

And that’s what we do.

I have an idea. So I look for the barrels first. I find one and look up it. The second one is the same way.

“Mares and Stallions, we have a theory. Let’s find a magazine and prove it.”

I look through some more boxes and find three magazines. I have to shake the rounds out of them.

“The theory is confirmed. We have a low level traitor in our midst. Based on my observations and some education on magic provided by our resident expert, these parts were seen but never touched. Somepony viewed them remotely and produced sketches. The operation we busted was trying to produce a weapon based on pictures without any actual experience with the pieces. Now the important question is which Unicorn spends a lot of time in a nearby room?”

Steel is really interested, “How sure are you?”

“Slightly less sure than I am in the rising of the sun.”

“Can you explain?”

“Sure. It’s generically called a ‘rifle’ because the secret to consistent accuracy is a very special treatment of the inside of the barrel called rifling. Without it the weapon has less than a tenth the useful range. The inside of those barrels are finished smooth. So whoever made the parts didn’t get to see the inside of the barrel.

“Second, the magazines hold twenty four individual rounds fed into the action of the gun by a spring. It’s a tricky spring to be able to compress so thin and expand to the entire length of the magazine for reliable feeding. You can’t know that by looking at the magazine laying on a table but if you handle it the pressure is easy to feel. There is no spring in these magazines.

“Three of the four keyholders for that room have been examined and found to be without taint. It takes two keys to open it. Therefor the door has not been opened. By now the examiners have verified that the bank’s books are in order and AJ’s account has reappeared, complete with payment for the apples. The paying account will trace back to the dead contractor as will the contract on the building in Baltimare. He will have payed for everything with gold and left phony addresses.

“So it’s a stalemate. We screwed up and overreacted when a minor clerk messed up the records. They got caught sneaking cookies. They can’t complain without the spying coming to light and we can’t complain about it without publicizing things best left unsaid. We’ll start a process to get Royal funds out of their hands and they’ll snivel about damage to their building and dead Unicorns. The next round will be nastier.”

Swift asked, “What do we do next?”

“You watch these boxes until Twilight can figure out a good place to keep them. Steel, you know what we need. Please try to keep him in shape for questioning. Shining, we have a date later today. Aj, go take care of the farm but be damned careful while you do it. I’m going to go break the bad news to Celestia.”

Celestia was not pleased, “John, you mean to tell me that after all of that there’s nothing we can do to them?”

“It’s not all bad. We discovered the existence of their spy organization and crippled their ‘research bureau’. We’ll pull all of the Royal money out of their bank and cripple it. All we’re out is a little time and some minor face. That’s not a bad trade at all.”

Celestia grinned at me, “And I have some news for you. You are going to have to put in a lot of throne time. I never imagined that so many would request you to hear them. You are one popular stallion and we need to encourage that popularity.”

“Can we mix it up and let me hold a Night Court every now and then? I don’t want Luna to feel ignored.”

“That’s a good idea. Right now it’s my turn so I’ll be expecting a report tonight.”

I head back to the apartment. When I get there I find out that Twilight is taking AJ back to the farm and Steel is in his office. Shining is gone to the tower to find Cadance. Swift is watching boxes and thinking.

“Swift darling, I have bad news. Celestia has a pile of requests for me to hear Court. So I am going to spend time on the Throne. Some of them will be Night Courts.”

“John, I like the idea of spending time with Luna. She needs friends.”

“Yes, and she needs to not be ignored. We’ve made that mistake once already.”

Swift reminds me, “We’ve got the Summer Celebration slash Luna’s Return coming up. That’s a chance to draw Luna out a little.”

“Something tells me that’s going to be a long day for me.”

Twilight popped in, “I’m back.”

I waved at her, “Hail o’ wandering Princess. I have great news for you. Celestia has informed me that I am so loved by my ponies that I will have to hear Court, including Night Court, frequently. In other words, you’re off the hook for a while.”

Twilight giggled, “It couldn’t have happened to a better Royal Stallion. What do you and Shining have planned for today?”

“If I can figure out the details, he is going to give me his mouth.”

“That should be interesting. I have to assume that you don’t mean literally?”

“Actually, I do mean literally but only a copy. We are going to try to extract a copy of his body parts like I have a copy of Fred’s body so that my inner pony can speak. Fred’s mouth just can’t shape speech.”

“Have you thought about copying his body and becoming a pony all at once?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to walk around as a fake Shining. I want a unique me. I may take a full copy for later editing, though. The editing and fitting can be time consuming.”

“Wait a minute, you’ve already done this?”

“How do you think I know Fred’s mouth can’t be make speech? I’ve already tried using my human voice parts.”

I close my eyes and shift into man-x. Then I open my eyes and look directly at Twilight.

“What did you just do, John. I felt something magic.”

I just smile and step a little closer.

“Oh, that was slick. Are you making a new human too?”

“I’m making a battle body. The eyes not only help with enemies sneaking up on me, they keep me from chopping friends when I swing that monster sword. I’m hoping to have it down before the Blueblood battle escalates.”

“Shining is right, you are scary. You enjoy it too much.”

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth being the best at. Meanwhile, do we have any ideas for these boxes?”

Twilight said, “I think everything should be moved to my tower and put in clear cases. I will control access to the area and I can set it up so you control access to the room. There will be a bunch of magic alarms around it and some of us will look at it every day. At least if they steal something, we will know quickly.”

“I think you’re on to something. Let’s move these boxes there right now and study on the exact location and details for their final place. There’s really not much left that is possible to steal outside of my brain.”

“I thought you still had a lot of human technology in that room.”

“I do but tech isn’t magic. Tech builds on tech. You would have to find the special materials and ways to work them to build the tools to make more tools to make the first part of thousands needed. And I’m the only pony that knows what some of those techniques and materials are, like the rifling in the guns.”

“So why are we working so hard to hide this stuff?”

“Because tech builds on tech. Some of the tech needed to make the tools in my kit can also be used to make some very terrible things. I don’t want even small hints getting out.”

We got a cart and started moving boxes to the tower. It was a small show with such a distinguished guard around a simple moving project but we got it done. The boxes are stowed and Twilight and Swift are brainstorming on rooms and cases. Shining and Cadance are waiting in the upstairs library.

I walk in and get a hug, “Hello, Cadance. Has Shining told you what I am up to?”

Cadance is uncertain, “Yes, but I’m not sure I understand it.”

“It’s simple enough in theory. I have images of two humans and two horses stored internally. I want to edit one of the horses to make him into a unique pony. The most important part is speech. I’ve tried using my human parts but the horse mouth just isn’t up to the task and a human mouth can’t fit an equine head. So I need some pony parts to copy. It has to be a Unicorn to make the connection and I much prefer a stallion.”

Cadance asks, “Is that all?”

“Of course not. It’s a golden opportunity for me to observe Shining’s magic and for Shining to get a look at mine. I want to know what transfers. Think of what we could do if I could teach body swaps or learn Unicorn magic. And I want to expose Shining to my full Terran memories under supervision. It may be possible to transfer selected knowledge. And, no, we aren’t going to do it all in the first hour.”

Now Cadance is firm, “I will oversee. If you two stallions get carried away I will stop you.”

“Why do you think we haven’t done it yet. I want Twilight available too.”

I told Twilight what we were doing and not to leave the tower without letting us know. When I got back Shining was laying comfortably on a big bean bag so I settled in opposite him with my head in reach of his horn.

“I want to duplicate what Twilight and I did yesterday. You can see my system that way and get the hang of it. Then we’ll move over to me and see if we can apply it there. That may have some hiccups because I’ve never used my own mind that way. . . I’m ready.”

I closed my eyes and felt a light touch and I was in on a familiar white floor with Shining standing next to me.

“Damned you’re fast. I didn’t even get to invite you in.”

“Sorry about that. I just wanted this setup and it happened. Pick a memory and see if it works for you.”

“How? They’re all too far away.”

“Okay. Lets go with our sparring match.”

I want sparring matches and the images swirl to settle on many scenes of fighting. Then I ask for recent and the number shrinks as the images expand. I spot one with me in it and pull it to right in front of us.

“Damned. Do I really look that big? And did you follow what I did?”

“I think I did. Where did you learn all this?”

“This how images and vids are normally handled in Terran tech like my smartphone. I’ve got lots of practice. I’m going to run it back and forth to show you how, then you take over.”

I play the image, zoom it, and reverse it.

“Think how useful that can be learning new fighting techniques. Now try it”

I step back to give him command and he plays around for a while searching and zooming images.

“John, this right here is worth the price of admission all by itself. How would you like to teach at Unicorn School?”

“No, I’m going to let Twilight handle that part. I don’t want it to be obvious that I’m the source of any of the innovations. That would increase my value as a target. You ready for the next step?”

“Lead on.”

I want to be in my own mind and the images spin wildly then settle to a much larger vista with familiar scenes of home on it.

“Holy shit, John. I saw some of your Terran memories but not even close to this many.”

“That’s because memories are stored by context and association. Without the base Terran knowledge I have it would take you years to find them all. See if you can access some of them.”

The images swirled and settled on sex. Many images of humans having sex. I guess this is what Twilight was talking about. Shining settled on one and began playing it extra large in front of us.

“Shining, if you plan on playing that one all the way through we are going to be here for two days. Why don’t you take a copy and play it at your leisure?”

“You’re serious about two days?”

“Yes. I’ve been hurrying myself to accommodate equestrian physiology. That’s Melinda and she’s really hot. We were in and out of the bed, on the kitchen table, on the sofa, in the shower and do it all again.”

“And I can keep a copy?”

“The ability comes with the package and I don’t mind. Remember, I want to copy part of you.”

The image blinked and I swear I saw a shadow of a progress bar then it is done.

“Shining, time for the main event. Watch closely.”

I concentrated and pulled up my body images. There they are looking like big memories.

“Do you see them, Shining?”

“Yes.”

“The one on the far right is original Fred and the one on the far left is original John. Pick one and see if you can copy it.”

He went straight to the original Fred and damned if it didn’t have a progress bar this time. It only took three seconds anyway.

“What was that, John?”

“That is called a progress bar. It pops up to tell you that the transfer is ongoing and don’t do anything to disrupt it. The colored part represents the amount of the transfer that’s been done. When the whole bar is filled in, it’s done and vanishes.”

“That’s a damned good idea, John.”

“Let’s go back to your side and see if we can find it. Do not try to use it while I’m in here. I have no idea what may happen if we mix magic that way.”

Blink and we were there looking at Shining’s memories.

“See if you can pull up body images.”

“I’m trying.”

After a little while, “Let me try.”

I step forward and there they are, a horse and a Unicorn.

“Remember that location and they’ll be easy to find again. Last chance to say ‘no’. Do you mind if I copy your body?”

“Not at all, John.”

He has a progress bar in his head too. In a few seconds it is done.

“Shining, it’s break time. We’ve met our goals and both have new toys to play with. I’m sure it’s after lunch and Cadance is probably getting worried. Can you think of anything else?”

“I’m with you, John. See you on the outside.”

And I’m opening my eyes in the library watching Shining stir next to me. Yep, I’m seriously hungry.

“Did we miss lunch?”