John Sampson's Story

Shining is looking but not recognizing, “What is all that, John?”

“That’s the death of Equestria. Steel! Get down here Priority one!”

Steel arrives in seconds, “What is it, sir?” I just point. He looks and gasps, “That shouldn’t be possible.”

I reply, “But there it is. The three of us will box everything up and seal it. It will be sent to my office for analysis. Shining, just go with me on this. I will explain when we are in a secure place.”

I post Swift and Twilight at the head of the stairs to guard the boxes and prevent anypony at all from coming down. Steel, Shining, and I get to work. It takes a couple of hours and we even take the dust. Finally we are back in my office staring at a pile of boxes.

Shining is having a curiosity attack, “John, you can’t say something like that and leave me hanging.”

I turn to Steel, “We have to go look. You know that. Let’s take him.”

“It’s your call, John.”

So we go down the hall to my locked room. It hasn’t been touched by anypony authorized since we locked it. Steele and I produce our keys and use them. Everything is as we left it.

Shining is looking everything over, “I recognize that,” pointing to my AR. “There was something a lot like that in the bank but this is much better made. What does it do?”

I reply, “It kills Royalty. That is a fine example of the human tech that ended the rule of kings and queens on Terra hundreds of years ago. It makes any random child as strong as a squad of Unicorns.”

I explain to him how it operates and why it makes such a difference.

“But there is good news. There is no chance that anypony in Equestria can duplicate it. The level of technical skill and precision is beyond anypony but me. The bad news is that the concept can be adapted to produce less powerful but far beyond anything Equestrian weapons. We need to go over every speck of this room and see if we can find out how they got in.”

An hour later we have found nothing. We lock back up and go back to my office. My stomach is certain that breakfast is long overdue. We have enough for eight ponies brought in and I eat most of it. I’ve used some large scale magic.

“Shining, I am going to assume that you have had nothing to do with the theft because you didn’t know what was where until long after the theft. I want you to spend some time in my head and make damned sure nothing has slipped through. I stretch on a large beanbag and wait.

Shining is worried, “Are you sure you need this?”

“Yes, I want to be sure nopony has taken advantage of me without my conscious knowledge. I have nothing that I would hide from my brother Herd Stallion.”

“This could take a while.”

“You got anything better to do?”

I lean back and close my eyes. I feel the touch and images begin to flow. The experience is timeless but I am hungry again when it is over.

Shining is somber, “John, you are one scary stallion. I’m beginning to feel sorry for Blueblood. Steel, would you believe he likes the taste of Manticore. He’s eaten more than the one everypony knows about. Be very very happy he is on our side.

“He is fully committed to Equestria and the Royal Herd and there is no sign at all that he has ever been interfered with or invaded.”

I stand and stretch, “How soon before you feel up to doing it again?”

Shining thought and, “About an hour after I get something to eat.”

“I’ll meet you in the cafeteria. Order fish, potatoes, and fruit for me. I’m going to tell Celestia what’s going on.”

Celestia is mad at me until I tell her what I have been doing. She may be worse than AJ about taking it personally. They have invaded her Castle. She did have one piece of great news. Blueblood’s herd has reported an accidental magic backlash that killed three and injured two more at about the same time as I opened the wall.

Shining and Steel are pleased to hear of Blueblood’s misfortune.

Shining is looking at his food, “Damn you, John. You did this to me. I walked among your ‘demons’ to make sure nothing was hidden there but none of them bother me as much as the idea that you look at Manticores the same way Manticores look at ponies. Manticores are monsters.”

“Shining, did you look at how I see your sister?”

“No, you need some privacy.”

“We’ll have to fix that when we get back. It will give you some perspective.”

I enjoy my dinner and Shining eats most of his. When we get back to my office I get back on the big bean bag.

I look at Shining, “You said an hour. Is there something you would like to ask while dinner settles?”

Shining is back on curiosity, “I am wondering how such a small weapon has such strength.”

“That’s easy. Precise control of every component allows you to release an amazing amount of energy into a very small place in a very short time. Any of dozens of small mistakes will result in an inoperative weapon and possibly a dead operator.

“What makes it so effective is the ability to deliver that energy across hundreds of yards with relatively little loss or dissipation and great accuracy. I could stand in Blueblood’s upstairs bedroom and kill Celestia any morning I chose and it would happen so fast that she would be dead before she heard the sound it makes.

“All it takes is one single pony with a willingness to die and there is no effective defense. Your sovereign can never appear outdoors or before any group not screened in advance and thoroughly searched at the door. That’s how it ended the reign of kings and queens on Terra. No single pony could be directly responsible for anything without living in fear of the insane individual.”

“How could any government possibly function in a place like that? You’d have nothing but chaos and we know how that works out.”

“It’s not all bad. Imagine Blueblood on Celestia’s Throne. Many rulers were like that because there is no magic on Terra, especially no Magic of Friendship. At least there is a way to force reform when all else has failed. It eventually led to concepts like ‘the consent of the governed’ and ‘government by the ponies’. It also led inevitably to MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction, where nopony starts a war because nopony could survive a war. Now all you need is one small group that believes seventy two virgin mares are waiting for them after they die in battle.”

Steel is shocked, “John, surely humans can’t be that insane.”

“The problem, Steel, is that the same tech works for things other than weapons. As a farmer I could feed thousands by myself. That’s a good thing, right? But it removes ponies from the land. There are buildings on Terra with a population greater than Equestrian cities. And some of those humans go an entire lifetime without touching dirt or growing anything. How can you expect them to be sane?”

Shining said, “I’m ready. And understanding things I wish I had never heard.”

I lay back and close my eyes. The images begin and run for a few minutes then stop. Just as I open my eyes I find myself being hugged by a large Unicorn.

Shining said, “John, I heard what Swift said but never realized how literally she meant it. I’m glad you’re the one for Twilight and I hope you get your dream.”

Now it’s Steel’s turn. I give him my comfortable spot on the bean bag and go find Twilight.

“About time you colts remember the rest of the herd. What are you accomplishing locked in a room all day?”

“We are looking for the culprit in our theft, starting in our heads. Somepony got a good enough look at my weapon to try to duplicate it. The locks are undisturbed and the room looks untouched. So the possibilities are that we were compromised and the keys used or what I’m about to ask you. I know that Unicorns can ‘see’ the inside of things to some extent. What are the limits of that ‘extent’?”

“Well, John, you already know about magic and unintended outcomes. If you want to act on a given thing you have to have a complete grasp of what it is. You don’t want the water without the pitcher or vice versa. The ability to ‘see’ all of a thing is essential to handling it with magic.”

I need more, “I’ve got that and I remember the Imaging Unicorn at the doctor’s office. But what are the limits of that kind of detailed visualization? How far can you ‘see’?”

“That depends on the Unicorn and their familiarity with the object. Celestia can reach the sun and Luna the moon. Mostly it parallels your eyesight. You can ‘see’ things that you can see.”

One more step, “That makes sense. Now what about things you can’t see with your eyes like my internal organs? Or maybe something in a locked drawer?”

“Your internal organs are part of you so they’re more about detail than distance. A drawer is trickier. Any Unicorn can ‘see’ the handle and pull it. Better is to ‘see’ the drawer itself by extension and be able to lift it as you pull. Best is to ‘see’ the contents as part of the drawer and then you can even teleport it. Only the strongest Unicorns can do that.”

Almost, “Could you teleport just the contents? Or even read a paper while it’s in the drawer?”

“It’s a rare few that could read the paper but teleporting it out and back in is relatively common. That’s why the bank has such tough shields built in to it’s building and your room has wards.”

“But they would have to get close to the building even without the shields? You couldn’t sit here in my office and ‘raid’ the bank?”

“Again, it parallels eyeball sight. If I was standing in the middle of a flat field and it’s too far away for me to see and identify, it’s too far away to manipulate with magic. There’s also a lot of training and detailed visualization needed to be able to see through multiple walls. It would take a lot of time to build the image.

“That tells me a lot. By locking the room and never touching anything, we may have been our own worst enemy. When Shining is done with Steel, one of them is going to have to do the same with you and Swift. I’m sorry but it has to be one of the few of us that already have knowledge of my tech. How do you feel about it? I guess I should tell you that I have already invited Shining to tour our relationship from my side and he has approved of me.”

“John, I don’t need his approval. I guess I would rather it be Shining but I don’t know if he’ll be willing. He’s always been the bashful one in the herd.”

“I didn’t do it for his approval. He had developed a slightly lopsided view after looking through my memories so I insisted that he see something I’m proud of. You might want to be careful bringing up food around him for a little while.”

“John, there is another option. You could do it. I trust you more than anypony else.”

“I don’t have a horn so I’m guessing that you will use yours to let me in. But I don’t have any training or experience. How badly could I screw up? Could I hurt you?”

“You’ve answered half of your own question. Remember how much of magic is intent? And you don’t even ask if you could hurt yourself. That’s why I trust you. I’m beginning to understand what makes you tick. I could train you right now then turn control over to you. That’s how it’s normally done. The only thing different is you not having a horn of your own. Some of what you see will be strange because you’ve never had a Unicorn point of view. You will certainly have a better answer to your earlier question.”

“Twilight, I’m liking the way you’re learning too. You’re giving me confidence in your judgment. I want to let you see some things I do but I have to have absolute certainty that I will remain in control. There are some things in my head that you never want to see. Shining is no shrinking violet but he came out of there with the wobbles.”

“I know you, John. I don’t worry about anything you’ve done. I know who you are now.”

“Twilight, in our little raid on that bank I killed three Unicorns and crippled two. I enjoyed doing it because they were part of a threat to those I love. In the near future I will probably do it a lot more. I lived in the Everfree among the monsters by being a monster’s monster. That’s what disturbed your brother. He found out I like eating monsters. I want to be that sweet loving stallion you know but when anypony I love is threatened the monster can come out and play. You need to know about that monster, Twilight, because he is a perfectly normal human and he will always be a part of me. I just don’t want to scare you away before you’ve had a chance to get to know him.”

“I don’t understand why you are telling me this right now.”

“Because if you walk in my mind you will meet him. He’s the one that keeps the demons in the basement. And he’s the one that does whatever it takes to keep others safe. You will need him if you want to rule a safe and prosperous Equestria. Do you still want to let a monster into your head?”

“I trust you, John. If he’s part of you, I trust him.”

“How do you want to do this? Do we have to maintain the touch all through it?”

“We have to maintain some kind of contact and the horn is best. Normally you would be in full control and could stand or lay as suits you. For training it would be better if we both lay face to face. We can just touch at the head or you could hold me. I think I like the holding better.”

We got comfortable on the bedroom pad in what was essentially a permanent kiss and I closed my eyes. The images come but they are different. They are not only different images but the organization is different. Then I see the floor. I want to be there and I am. Twilight is standing next to me.

“Very good, John. Some Unicorns don’t get this far on their first day.”

The images are swirling across the horizon in front of me. Each is a small picture of an event. When I turn they were all around me.

“Now, John, choose a subject and make it your desire.”

Let’s start with something safe, food. I thought about food. Not much happened. So I wanted to see food and the images swirled wildly. Way too many to count. Okay, I want to see apples working from today back. And there they were, stable and arrayed in order right in front of me.

“Now I really want to see in your mind. That is amazing focus.”

“Twilight, it seems rather disorganized to me. I have to tell it how to order itself.”

“John, learning to keep your mind organized and focused is the toughest part of Unicorn training. If you don’t keep it that way your magic can get random and dangerous. Are you telling me that you’re more organized than me?”

“Way more organized. Remember the cutie mark? Organizing information is what I do.”

“I’ll bet that explains the other strange thing about you. Let’s see if you can open one. Pick whatever interests you and see if you can look inside it.”

I pick one that seems recent and bright and I pull it toward me. When it is right in front of me I wish it bigger and it grows to giant size. I push the time forward and watch an apple float out of the bowl and stop right in front of my mouth. Then I take a bite. For fun I run it backward and unbite the apple.”

“John, what are you doing?”

“I’m watching you eat an apple.”

“Can you taste it?”

“No, I’m just watching it and running the time backwards for fun.”

“John, I can’t do that.”

“Hm. Nopony told me I couldn’t so I just treated it like Terran tech and it worked.”

“We will have to see if you can teach me that later. Right now, see if you can enter the memory. You should be able to touch it and experience it fully.”

I step into it and become Twilight. The pony sensations are slightly different but I am used to them. The wings are a new twist. But the big difference is how everything looks. When I look at the bowl it opens to reveal all of the fruit in it. I select an apple and see it’s whole being. I will it to rise out of the bowl and come toward me. I stop it in front of me then I reach out and take a bite. It is sweet and juicy as I chew. I separate myself from Twilight and step back.

“Damned. That is intense. I see what you mean about the magic.”

“You’ve surprised me again. Most rookies need help separating their identity from a memory once they have fully joined it for the first time. Let’s get the final rookie moment out of the way. Just follow me.”

The images flash by until they settle on our bedroom. I’m looking at myself sleeping with my band around me.

“Step into it, John. Experience it and don’t come out until it is done.”

I step in and it hits me like a hammer. That’s my stallion on the pad and I want him right now. I quietly wake the ponies around him and they all understand. They make way for me as I touch him, caressing his magnificence. My tail is over my back now and I feel myself twitching and dripping. I’m ready for him but he isn’t ready for me yet. . . . .

I stay with it until we are satisfied. It was very interesting. I learned some small things from the physical feelings but the big revelation was emotional. The goddess sees me as her god. And she lusts after my strength. That’s what turns Alicorns on, a stallion with strength.

“That is very interesting, Twilight. Now I really need to show you some of my memories. The parallels are amazing.”

“That’s the lesson, John. We are all mostly the same on the inside. Though you may have broken the mold. It’s proverbial that stallions always go for the sex first and get caught up in it. I’m sure you’re ready to solo now. Look around. You’ve already experienced my most intimate moment so there’s nothing left to hide. When you’re done just step out the way you came in. If you have any trouble call me. I can’t be far.”

I start with retrieving my gear and fast forward from there. There is nothing even slightly suspicious but I learn a lot about how to be a Unicorn. I save some of those memories for later reference. My favorite part is cuddling with my wings wrapped around my band.

The wings distract me so I look for flying. Oh my. I save more of this. I have got to get some wings. But I’m starting to feel discomfort so I go back to the main floor. I look around and everything looks happy so I want to be back in my own head and I am.

“Wake up Twilight. I hope you don’t need a toilet as bad as I do.”

Then I look around and see Shining and Steel snoozing on chairs they’ve brought in. I ease off the pad and head for the toilet. There’s a small noise in the kitchen. After the toilet, I look and it’s Swift making tea.

I ask, “What time is it?”

“It’s zero four hundred. Welcome back to the world.”

I head back to the bedroom and find everypony still asleep. I kiss Twilight full bore and her eyes pop open.

“Good Morning. The toilet awaits.”

She blinks and slides off in route.

Loudly, “Rise and shine. Zero four hundred. Tea is in the kitchen.”

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 pipes up, “Except me.”

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

So 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 raising 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 insides of those barrels are finished smooth. So whoever made the parts didn’t get to see the inside of a 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 key holders for that room have been examined and found to be without taint. It takes two keys to open it. Therefore 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 paid 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 banks and they’ll snivel about damage to their building and dead Unicorns. The next round will be nastier.”

Swift asks, “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 is 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 wave 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 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 mastered 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 onto 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 get a cart and start moving boxes to the tower. It is 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 tell Twilight what we were doing and not to leave the tower without letting us know. When I get back Shining is laying comfortably on a big bean bag so I settle 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 close my eyes and feel a light touch and I am 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. Let’s 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 swirl and settle 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 blinks and I swear I see a shadow of a progress bar then it is done.

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

I concentrate and pull 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 goes 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 complete 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?”