John Sampson's Story

Shining agreed, “Yes, where’s lunch?”

“In the kitchen. Where else?” Cadance has no sympathy.

Shining and I headed that way at speed while Cadance followed at more regal pace.

In chorus, “Hello, Spike. What’s to eat?” Which made us both laugh.

I asked, “Are we still linked? Or just forgot to eat all day?”

I’m having smoked salmon, cheese, bread, and fruit.

Shining looks thoughtful, “Would you believe that I’m even beginning to adjust to your diet? Not to the point of trying Manticore, but at least I can sit next to it.”

“Shining, let me warn you. If you start swapping bodies, some of the tastes go with the body. As an equine I can munch on fresh green grass for hours. As a human, I have no use for it.”

Cadance had walked in on this exchange, “If he starts eating Manticore, he’s going to do it in the Everfree because he isn’t doing it anywhere near me.”

I was feeling evil, “Now Cadance, how do you know you don’t like it yourself? Have you ever tried it?”

She just smiled sweetly, “Got any idea where you’re sleeping tonight? I’m sure Twilight will agree with me.”

I just smiled, “Cadance darling, do you know where the biggest strongest stallion in Equestria sleeps? Anywhere he wants to.”

Shining had had enough, “You two get a room. And soundproof it.”

Swift is standing in the door giggling and Twilight’s voice comes from behind her. “Hey, I wanna watch.”

“You two come in here and tell me what you decided about our storage problem.”

Twilight steps by Swift, “We think the floor under the observatory is ideal. We can wall in half of it and the only way to get near it is to float next to the Castle in plain sight. The observatory itself has some of the strongest wards in the Castle so it’s as safe as we can get it without casting it all into the Sun. Steel approves. He also says he has two suspects and is digging deeper.”

“I agree with that idea. How soon can it be ready? And Shining and I are having a great day. We are both learning lots of fun things”

“It can be ready in two days and Celestia sends her regards with a notice that you are on the Throne tomorrow.

I smiled, “No problem. I’ll just go sit and listen to stories all day while you manage the construction and moving.”

Twilight sticks her tongue out and, “If you two are done maybe some of the rest of us can have a little dinner.”

I’m happy to be done. I have some heavy duty thinking to do. But I need to talk with Shining first.

“Shining, let’s go do a little post event analysis.”

“Okay. I’m not sure why but if you think we need it.”

We went up and found a private spot.

“I want to tell you that when I make a change, I select an image and pour my magic into it. I don’t know if anything at all will happen for you. It might be my magic. But it’s better if you do it laying down because there may be things like a sudden change in height or eyesight. And it would probably be better to do it the first time with me nearby. I’m about to do some editing but that can be paused and no harder than waking from a nap.”

“John, if it doesn’t work, I’ll be disappointed but not terribly so. Some of the other things you’ve shown me are worth the trip all by themselves.”

We chorused, “Good luck, my brother.” and laughed while hoofbumping.

I find a spare bedroom and get comfortable. Closing my eyes, I pull up my ponies and begin to study. After a while I decide it’s safest to simply change heads. I know from the eye experiment that neural and vascular connections can be made. So I choose my splice point. I have to enlarge the head a little to cover a size difference but it fits nicely afterwards. I put Fred’s ears and eyes back on because I like them better. Then I put Fred’s bay over the pony head and throw a few spots on my mostly white body to make me unique. When everything is double and triple checked I make a copy and call it A-Pony.

One more chore to go. I carefully edit out the horn and all associated vessels back to where they join the mains coming up the neck. I move in and stand. Everything feels normal. Muscles all work.

Here it goes, “A. B. C. D. E. F. . . .” It all works!! Time to show it off.

Swift is in the kitchen, “Hello, John. I like the new look.”

“I like it too, though I may tweak a few things yet.”

“Oh. And it sounds good too. Now we’re going to have to start over again on the wardrobe.”

“It’s not that bad. I’m going to keep this private for a while. I want it for a surprise when Blueblood strikes.”

Spike walked in and blinked, “John?”

He hadn’t been around for my farm vacation, “Yes, Spike. This is the me I’ve been working on. I’m going to wear it with family but I don’t want it public. I want it to be a surprise for Blueblood next time he gets stupid.”

“Cool.”

I spend some time in the main room socializing then we drift to the bedpad. I am so happy it hurts being a normal equine with my band.

It doesn’t just feel good, it smells good. But that voice insists, “Zero four hundred, John.”

Sliding out is a little trickier but more than made up for by the fact that I feel good. I want to go somewhere and run. Instead I go to the toilet and do the normal thing. After thumping my chest a few times I do the necessary thing and switch to human. At least the good feeling carries over.

Spike has the tea ready but seems disappointed in me, “I was hoping you would stay pony. I like the way your pony looks. He’s completely unique and still a pony.”

“I like him too, Spike. But if he shows up on the Throne today it will distract from important things and ruin him as secret weapon. I’m going to show him off to Celestia though. That should be fun enough.”

Swift and Twilight ambled in and we all cheek rubbed.

Twilight sipped her tea and,”I really wish you could stay pony. By the way, Cadance and Shining may sleep in this morning. There was a light show after everypony else went to sleep.”

I laughed, “Good. Shining was collecting ideas from my memories.”

Twilight’s turn to laugh, “We know. He did what I told you stallions always do when he got in your head. From the outside it looked like he was going to make a mess on the pad. Cadance was hoping he’d come out with something to try.”

“He did but we don’t know how some of it is going to work. If it does we will have some major new weapons. I need to sit down with you later and run through some parts of it. Swift, did you pack my pretty uniform?”

“It’s in the bag and your small sword too.”

“Good deal. As soon as I get my cammies we are going to breakfast.

The chicken and cheese omelet is good and doesn’t last long at all. Time for PT. Everything is normal and I’m getting over the urge to run after some hard core weight action. Sitting on the bench, I’m trying to decide if there’s something else to try or should I just hit the showers when an Earth Filly approaches.

“Excuse me sir, my friends told me that you were the biggest stallion there is. Is that true?”

“Yes it is. Did they also dare you to ask me?”

She blushed a deep red so the question is answered. She’s got a cutie mark so she’s probably a recruit.

“Would you like to sit here and talk for a few minutes? I’ve got another hour before I have to be in the Throne Room.”

“Oh! Do you actually get to see Her Majesty often?”

“All the time.”

“You must have an important job.”

“I think I do. Would you like to have some fun with your friends?”

“Sure. What do I have to do?”

“Just smile and go along with me.”

“Okay.”

I reach over and pick her up cradling her in my arms. She trembles then relaxes.

“I want you to grow your body and study hard. I want you to become the great mare that you are capable of. And I want you to develop your magic no matter what anypony else tells you. And you can tell your friends that I said I will come for you one spring.”

I put an R rated kiss on her and set her back on the bench as I headed for the showers.

The usual line is waiting when I come out of the showers. My filly is with a group of her friends and looking dazed as I walk up to her

“i sorry, I almost forgot to ask your name.”

Very shaky, “It’s Sweet Butter, Your Majesty.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Sweet Butter. I’m John Sampson. Remember what I said.”

I left a another small legend forming as I exited the gym. Celestia is in her office.

“Hello, John. Any good news?”

“Yes there is. Steel has a very short list of suspects. Twilight and I have decided to fix a room high in her tower for storage of the items. They won’t be able to get near it without being seen. And I have something new to show you but we can’t do it here. Can you take us to someplace very far away and isolated?”

“Is that necessary, John?”

“I want to be a complete surprise to the Blueblood crowd and if I do it here they can’t miss it.”

“All right.”

‘pop’ We are standing in the middle of a former castle. It was a nice courtyard long ago but it’s mostly a gap in the jungle today.

Celestia looked sad, “This is what’s left of the original Castle. We are actually in the far side of the Everfree. Is this isolated enough?”

“I hope.”

I undress and shift to A-Pony. A storm of images and sensations hit me. Everything around me is clamoring for attention. My horn (MY horn) is sparkling. Grab hold and slow everything down.

“Are you in control, John?”

“Kinda. I’m still finding all the handles.”

“This is your first time, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I know that if I did this in Canterlot it would look like a flare to every Unicorn for miles.”

I’m getting some real control now. The spewing magic has stopped. My sight is steady.

“Dammit, that was intense.”

“John, you’re lucky that you didn’t blow your own brains out. You have way too much magic to just jump in like that.”

“What can I say? It worked. Now I need to learn how to use it. The trick is that I don’t want anypony to know about it, least of all Blueblood.”

“You have a lot to learn before you start using the horn. A foal would learn it before they got strong enough to cause too much damage. You skipped that part.”

“What do I need to know?”

“The first thing you must do is to get your mind under full control. Random thoughts and memories can ‘come out’ as side effects when you use magic.”

“Already been done. In fact, I’m to teach Twilight more of my methods tonight. We had to do some serious mind searches to verify that nopony was compromised in the tech theft. We found out why I got that cutie mark.”

“Are you sure.”

“Very sure.”

“The next thing you must learn is to see the essence of things. You can’t manipulate it until you can grasp all of it.”

I look around. I can see many things that I have always known are there like the crystalline structure of the rocks but nothing startlingly new.

“I’m fair at that right now. I may have a little advantage because human tech is based on understanding the nature of materials and structures.”

“Then what’s left is practice, practice, practice.”

“What I need to learn most is how to teleport.”

“Not yet, John. You have to have very fine control to perform magic on yourself. One of us will tell you when it is time. Meanwhile, have Twilight bring you some place like this to learn your control. You will break a lot of things at first. See that small statue over there? Lift it a short distance, turn it around, and set it back in place.”

I’m looking at it but I can’t find a division between it and the pavement.

“I don’t see how to separate it from the pavement without breaking something. Is there a way to cut it free?”

“That is the kind of thing you need to learn yet. You did very well to realize that it is one piece. But you must also learn to make it conform to your needs. Right now we need to get back to Canterlot so will you please resume your human shape.”

I changed and got dressed. ‘pop’ We are back in Celestia’s office.

“Don’t misunderstand me, John. I am very impressed. You just covered several years of Unicorn school in fifteen minutes. And that’s without even considering getting a horn to begin with. I even like your new coat. But be very careful. You are playing some very powerful forces and I would hate to lose you.”

“I would hate to lose me. That’s why I’m in a hurry. I’m in enough danger as an upstart Earth pony. As a Unicorn a whole new set of possibilities open up. Blueblood will know that he has a narrow window in which to kill me or face the end of every thing he holds dear. Now where’s the list.”

It’s a long day composed of many small tragedies and triumphs. I did have one rather pleasant moment. The first Proclamation I read was a request for proposals for a new repository for Royal funds with all of the Blueblood clan excluded.

We ran a little long because once word got around we drew an audience. The audience can’t interfere or even comment. Cough at the wrong moment and the Guard will ‘show you out’. But they have an effect on the principals. Believe it or not, while standing in front of a near god that has the literal power of life and death over him, Big Johnny’s greatest fear is what his mare’s farrier is going to say about him next time she gets her hooves done. We have found another universal constant.

Finally, back in the tower, “Honey, I’m home.” I’ve always wanted to say that.

Cadance and Shining are in the library. I drop my clothes in the bathroom and shift to my new pony.

Cadance greets me, “Hello, John. That’s a very interesting collection of gifts you are passing around. I never imagined that things like copying and transferring are possible. The big one wouldn’t work for us but we aren’t done trying.”

Shining is examining my new face, “I like it but why did you leave a scar where the horn was? For that matter, why didn’t you keep the horn?”

“First, a horn will panic the Blueblood herd. I’ve shown incredible strength as an Earth pony and overcome five Unicorns at once. If I was a Royal Unicorn with that kind of strength I could be expected to ascend any day. That would leave Blueblood the choice of killing me before I ascend or losing everything forever.

Second, that’s not a scar, that’s my whorl. All Terran equines have a whorl, most commonly about where mine is. It’s connected to the formation of the brain and is unique to each individual. What’s extra interesting is that is my whorl, not Fred’s. Fred’s is different. And this one stays with me when I change bodies. I did add the star to accent it because conventional wisdom says that the size, shape, and location mean that I am extremely intelligent, strong willed, and social.”

“By ‘star’ you mean the white part?”

“Yes. And technically my coat is bay and white tobiano. Bay means the brown with black mane and tail.”

I can hear voices coming down the stairs from above. It’s Twilight and Swift.

“How are our construction workers doing up there?”

As Twilight comes into view, “Quite well. How about our Noble Stallion?”

“Wondering if you want to trade jobs?”

“Oh hell no! Been there. Done that. Threw the shirt away.”

As she’s rubbing cheeks with me, Swift comes up and starts on the other side. This is life the way it should be.

“Twilight, after dinner we need to continue my education and we may have to travel.”

I have an equine dinner and love the flavors.

Twilight and I take our positions on a bean bag in the library and in a few seconds we are on the now familiar white floor in Twilight's mind.

“We learned some things when Shining and I were exploring. I want combine two lessons into one today. I want to get you upon the features of this browser and I need all the horn instructions I can get.”

I turned to the images and wanted magic instruction. There were a lot. So I tried magic exercises. Also a lot.

“Twilight, I need unicorn education after visualization up to teleporting. Can you help?”

“Of course, but why do you need this?”

I tried something new. I was in my inner pony when we linked so I am still him inside. I have changed bodies in dreams so I know I can do it without altering my physical body. I considered the details then willed it. Now the me standing next to Twilight had a horn.

“Yes, that’s an excellent reason. I’ve got to tell you that all I or anypony can give you is hints. It’s the doing that brings the learning.”

“I understand. My problem is that I have to learn as much as I can as fast as I can. I don’t want anypony outside of selected herd members to know about this until I have full control and use. It changes too many things.”

She started flipping through and pointing out memories while I made a list.

“John, are you going to watch any of these?”

“All of them. Do you mind if I save copies for myself to watch later?”

“You can do that?”

“That’s part of today’s lesson.”

“Show me.”

I copied the list and in the process had to explain the progress bar again.

“John, I am going to make a list for you later when I can take time to consider all the details. We can pass it later. Do you have any other surprises?”

“Let’s step over to my side.”

And we are standing in front of my memories. I flip through quickly to find the other side of the memory Twilight had ‘pushed’ me into and bring it to right in front of us.

“And as promised, the other point of view.”

“I deserve that, don’t I?”

“In more ways than you know. I don’t expect you to wade through it all right now but take a copy for later study. That’s your practical exercise.”

“Do you think I should study some human sex too?”

“Why? You’re already way out of their league.”

“John, you continue to surprise me. That’s the nicest thing anypony has ever said to me.”

“It’s true.”

She leans over and rubs her horn against mine and the world explodes. I feel her. I feel her desire. I feel her feeling my desire. And it spirals wildly until she breaks the contact.

“Consider that another Unicorn lesson.”

We explored Terra for a while. I showed her planes, trains, cars, and TV. She wanted to stay for a while.

“John, you actually know how to make all those things?”

“Mostly, yes. I’m used to being able to order parts and have them arrive in a few days at most. I could buy many metals that I’m only kinda aware of how to make. But I know enough to put some ponies on the right track to make something very like it. The problem is what those kind of changes might do to Equestria. They call the output of those engines ‘horsepower’ because that’s what they’re designed to replace. Do you want to put that many ponies out of work?”

On that note we stepped back outside.