Chapter 11

As they walked through the streets of Canterlot, ponies were unsure how to react to Jeremy leading Chrysalis along. Some whistled, catcalled and jeered; to these Jeremy gave a furious glare until they fell silent. A few royal guards walked by, did double takes, and then walked on – sometimes giving him a conspiratorial wink or smile. What was all that about? Jeremy wondered.

Finally, they came into the office complex. Jeremy reluctantly had Chrysalis enter – if she waited outside, she might well be snatched up again, this time without hope of escape. Chrysalis was silent the whole time, though she was evidently drinking in the sights of the research and development building. He pulled the portal gun off of its place on the desk, still struggling with the weight. “What is that?” Chrysalis asked when he brought it out.

“A shortcut,” Jeremy cryptically answered. He walked out to the nearest cliffside and took aim at the furthest structure he could – it was too far away to make out, but it sort of looked like a clock tower. He pressed the trigger, and a bolt of orange streaked away. Unfortunately, the device didn't light up, so Jeremy assumed he had missed. He tried again, aiming more carefully, and Jeremy thought he saw the orange circle open. He was satisfied when the device lit up orange.

“What did you just fire? Looked like a ball of magic to me,” Chrysalis commented curiously. Jeremy smiled, turning around to aim at the office complex. He fired the other trigger, and the blue portal almost instantaneously expanded on a wall. Chrysalis stared, openmouthed.

"Like I said; a shortcut,” Jeremy replied to her unspoken question.

9-19-13, 12:32 P.M.

Through the blue portal, a brown bunny viewed them, startled for a moment before hopping away. They stepped through, and Jeremy gestured for Chrysalis to lead the way. To his surprise, she began simply walking down the path that led to the forest – maybe they would stray off the path later? He followed, striding down the path to catch up with Chrysalis.

They strolled down the sunlit path, the forest slowly encroaching on the light overhead. Chrysalis looked at him as though trying to hold back something, and then finally burst out “You took out nearly my entire changeling army, all by yourself. You aren’t even affected by our guns, even though they’re supposed to be enormously deadly weapons – on your planet! You even defeated Chitin, the single biggest changeling alive, and now you’re rescuing me? Who are you? What are you?” Chrysalis exclaimed in a confused paroxysm of rage and relief.

Jeremy looked at her. Quick, he had to think of a witty response. Dammit, he couldn’t think of anything! The one time he had an opportunity for a sick one-liner handed to him on a silver platter, and he couldn’t think of a response. Jeremy decided to answer truthfully. “Just some guy… who’s been through a lot,” he replied. Chrysalis grumbled, unsure of how to respond to this.

“So… You mentioned something about a relationship with Luna?” Chrysalis asked, looking at him slyly while changing the topic.

“Yeah, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend now – or marefriend and coltfriend? Screw it, we’re boyfriend and marefriend,” Jeremy answered at length.

Chrysalis smiled. “But I thought human culture wasn't okay with that sort of thing - you don't mind the species gap?” Jeremy vigorously shook his head. “The species gap doesn’t make any sense in this context. Who cares if we look different? We’re both sentient, we both consent to the relationship, and really that’s all that matters.”

She was evidently amused by this. “What does your culture think of this, anyway? I've had some interaction with humans before, but they never explained,” she asked. Jeremy rolled his eyes.

“They’d think it would be “wrong” – because she looks different. Then again, they do have a reason – humans are the only sentient species on our planet, although a lot of others come close. This leads to us taking a rather supremacist view of our sentience – our species is even named ‘Homo sapiens’.”

Once again, Chrysalis laughed - Jeremy didn't really think it was funny, but hey, maybe it was just his cultural gap. “So what would you think of a relationship with me?” she asked.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, unamused. “I already have a marefriend, so I don’t need more,” he bluntly stated. Chrysalis looked a little put off by this. They walked on for some time, and even though it was the middle of the day, it was dark enough to be evening. Finally, Chrysalis turned off the path, motioning for Jeremy to follow.

The shade of the trees made Jeremy notice that Chrysalis’ eyes glowed in the dark. He’d once learned the scientific name for this odd feature – tapetus lucidium, it was called, though Jeremy had no idea what the literal translation of that was. Whatever, as long as the path was easy to navigate. Jeremy cautiously stepped out of the way of thorns, nettles, and odd-looking leaves. Chrysalis walked straight through, her exoskeleton leaving her impervious to any of the sharper flora. She was obviously amused by his struggle, and continued to lead him through the thick of the forest.

Finally, they came upon a massive cave. “Here we are, hive sweet hive,” Chrysalis said happily. Jeremy admired the cave: It was remarkably unremarkable, a perfect hiding place for a changeling hive.

“So, where your hive at?” Jeremy asked, peering inside.

“It’s much further in – hope you like the dark,” Chrysalis commented evilly. Jeremy hefted his portal gun, still giving off bright blue light.

“Nah, I’m good,” he drily replied. With that, Chrysalis turned around and walked into the cave.

The cyan light gave the cave an eerie blue glow, and Jeremy began to notice strands of a dark gray material spanning across the walls and ceiling - it looked like... a spiderweb, woven into some sort of fabric. Like a cocoon, he supposed. A really big cocoon... Jeremy nervously glanced around. "Wow. Nice decor," he commented sarcastically, and Chrysalis darkly chuckled. The strands of substance grew more and more prominent, until they took over the cave completely - stepping on the new terrain, Jeremy was surprised to find it was somewhat sticky, and the fibers held together as if glued.

As they went further in, the blue light he gave off was slowly replaced with green, until they came upon a massive expanse, that looked to Jeremy like the entire mountain had been hollowed out. “Damn,” he breathed, looking up at the huge green spheres attached to the ceiling, each the size of a large mansion and connected by more of that strange web-like material. “This place is huge…” He didn’t notice until he looked down again that an entire horde of changelings had gathered towards him, hissing angrily - though they looked tired, and many had bullet wounds. He looked at Chrysalis. She looked back, smug as ever, with an “I don’t know what you expected” look in her eyes. Jeremy jerked a thumb at Chrysalis. “Who do you think rescued her, idiots?” This caused stirring and confusion in the gathering, most of which were staring at Chrysalis for answers.

“Yes, it’s true. It seems he had a change of heart, and is now helping us solve our food problem.” Jeremy nodded. Though the changelings still regarded him with suspicion and in some cases open hostility, they no longer made as though they were about to kill him, which was appreciated – Jeremy had left his suit back at the office complex. He continued examining the hive.

The massive drops of glowing green substance hanging from the ceiling seemed to house the general populace. Changelings could be seen flying from drop-shaped area to drop-shaped area, carrying various items Jeremy couldn’t make out from where he was standing. Closer to eye level, a number of caves led to more housing – possibly for the upper echelons of changeling society, as these were carved out of stone and some were decorated. The cave also extended deep below the surface – but no changelings were occupied down there. In fact, the only thing Jeremy could see down below was a sulfurous yellow cloud of smoke that occupied the whole bottom of the cavern, and smelled bad. Vaguely, he wondered what was down there. Perhaps he’d ask sometime. Jeremy whipped out the portal gun, and tried to find an adequate wall to point it at. Unfortunately, the cave walls were too sloped to allow a portal, and he unsuccessfully tried a few locations before Chrysalis motioned for him to follow her. He did so, and they walked into a cave almost equivalent to a small, modern house back in Equestria or on Earth. The walls had been carved perfectly flat, and there was an open-ended cocoon in one corner, rather akin to a discarded wasp hive but the typical changeling black in color, and filled with what appeared to be some sort of green slime. The room was littered with newspaper articles, most depicting dates and times of important Equestrian events.

"So, before you open that hole in reality and head back... What would you like your reward to be?" Chrysalis asked, a seductive smile creeping onto her face.

"Um... what?" Jeremy asked intelligently.

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Your reward. For helping me escape. That's how it goes, right? The big, heroic human saves me from certain doom, and in return I transform into the mare of their dreams and let them live their fantasies?" she rhetorically asked. Jeremy looked at her, horrified.

"Wha - no! No, you don't have to do that for me. I'm not going to ask you for any kind of reward, especially not something like that. Look, just... I'm going to help you. That's it, okay? I don't expect much of anything in return."

Chrysalis stared at him, openmouthed. "You don't... I... what?" she finally asked. Deciding to ignore this, Jeremy hefted the portal gun once more.

Jeremy placed an orange portal on the far wall, over by Chrysalis’ bed, opening to the office complex. “Alright, so I’ll get started on your thing, and try not to get arrested myself. In the meantime, lay low here – according to what I’ve been told, no one quite knows where you live.”

He was about to step in the portal when Chrysalis called out “Wait!” He looked back. “Um... Don’t you want to stay, look around a bit?” she asked.

“Maybe later – this place does seem pretty interesting. For now, I’ve got to go see how many ponies I’ve managed to tick off – I’ll be back some time tomorrow.” Chrysalis nodded reluctantly, and Jeremy stepped through the portal.

He quickly made his way back to his office, unlocked it, and slipped inside, replacing the blue portal right beside his desk. “Also, post a guard here if you can,” he commented to Chrysalis, who had noticed.

“I already have,” she replied, and a changeling with a gun peeked around the interdimensional hole, glaring at Jeremy when it saw him. “Alright, good,” Jeremy remarked, and continued his search.

Finally, he found his suit – a bit rumpled, but it would still work. He struggled his way into one leg, and then the other, finally stretching the top around his head. He neglected to put the helmet on, as he didn’t feel he needed it. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow in surprise at his appearance. “Just in case,” he offhandedly remarked.

With that, he locked the door and walked out into the warm Equestrian evening. He wouldn’t know if it were evening except his rough guess of time – after all, he’d started his trip to the hive around noon, and they had spent quite some time hiking. Jeremy headed back to his room, only to find guards posted around the entrances. Oh, please, he thought to himself. Thankfully, all his weapons were still in the dimensional pocket that came with the suit, so he took out his double-barreled shotgun - might as well look intimidating. Walking out into the open, he gave a smile and a wave to the guards. One, after a moment’s hesitation, trotted over. “You are summoned to the royal chamber for a private conversation,” he read off of a scroll, and the rest of the guards circled around him.

Jeremy sighed. “Of course I am,” he tiredly said. “After all, making peace is clearly illegal.” Some of the guards exchanged looks of mild confusion. Jeremy decided to take advantage of the moment. “Oh – did your royal monarch neglect to tell you? My crime is establishing peace between two nations permanently. Such an offense – it must really get her blood boiling.” If there was one thing Jeremy considered himself good at, it was sarcasm. Without bothering to hear a reply, he confidently walked in the direction of the castle, unloaded shotgun swinging carelessly in his right hand.

9-19-13, 7:06 P.M.

Of course, it was the same meeting room as last time – except Luna was not present. “What happened to Luna?” Jeremy asked.

“She was biased in your favor, so she could not attend,” Celestia sternly answered.

“Fair enough. What am I here to ‘discuss’, then?” Jeremy inquired politely. Celestia stood up and walked over to him intimidatingly – a difficult feat when she was slightly shorter than he was, but she managed to pull it off.

“For a stunt like that, ordinarily you would have been shipped off to Tartarus yourself. But it seems you are rather… resourceful,” she claimed, putting careful emphasis on the last word. “I’ll allow you to try your little love project – but the second it goes wrong, and I am sure it will, the blame will rest squarely on your shoulders.”

Jeremy laughed. That was her threat? “When hasn’t it? Calm down, Celestia – if they try anything, I’ll be the one to stop them personally.” Celestia nodded once in agreement, and opened her mouth as if to say something else. Instead, she closed it and pointed a hoof at the door, signaling his dismissal. Slightly perplexed at her behavior, Jeremy exited the conference room.

Humming cheerfully, Jeremy walked out the door, straight into Luna. Luna dismissed his apologies, instead asking “How did it go?”

Jeremy shrugged. “She said if I mess up it’s on me – nothing I didn’t already know,” he grumbled. Luna wasn’t sure what to say to that, so instead she asked for him to follow her. He did so, and she went up to what appeared to be her private quarters – the door here was marked with a crescent moon, while the door next to it was marked with a sun. Jeremy waited outside until Luna came back with a brochure – the same one she had showed him for that event two nights ago. Jeremy still felt joyfully happy about that night. “What about it? I thought I read it already…” Luna pointed out a part of the text that he had clearly not read enough. “Second Night will take place three nights after the first, and is usually reserved for the partner who didn’t sing last time. I have to sing?” Jeremy asked worriedly. Luna laughed.

“Only if thou want to. Besides, thou art fine at singing.” Jeremy looked at her shrewdly.

“How do you know?”

Luna blushed. “Remember how we can read your mind?” Jeremy still couldn’t get over that.

“Uugh. Was it in the shower?” Luna nodded.

“We noticed you seemed surprised at the time. Art thou not normally that good?”

Jeremy shook his head. “No, that was very odd. Was that some sort of magic?”

Luna shrugged. “We do not know – it seems there are some enchantments that have been made in our absence,” she replied.

“Hmm. Well, if I can repeat that level of singing quality, I guess I’d be up for it. What about music?” he asked.

“Try wearing your suit to the performance – you’ll find it does more than just soundtracks,” she remarked.

“Works for me,” Jeremy replied. They wandered around the hall for a bit, talking about anything from love magic to plans for magical engineering. From there, the topic turned to the games themselves.

“We have been finding that each of your games has a rather intricate story – are all games like this?” Luna asked curiously.

“They’re supposed to be, so all the good ones are,” Jeremy replied. “Games are stories – they’re just more real than the words on a piece of paper could ever be, and more fun for the listeners than television could ever accomplish.” Luna thoughtfully appraised this.

“We are interested in finding more – perhaps when thou return to Earth, thou can send some our way,” she teased. Jeremy rolled his eyes.

Luna went off to raise the moon, and Jeremy was left alone in the castle. He reviewed the brochure Luna had left with him, as he had managed to misplace the original. As he read down the brochure, he considered what to sing. He had plenty of love songs to pick from, but only one that he truly liked – and hey, the symbolism fit. Choice in mind, Jeremy walked back to his apartment.

Once there, he took out a piece of paper and a pencil. At the top, he wrote “Love Generator v1”, and began to sketch a rough outline. So, how to do this? He consulted the physics books he had borrowed from the library. Skimming through one, Jeremy was disappointed to find that it didn't feature anything about synthesizing chemicals. It did have some interesting sections on enchantment - Jeremy noted the similarities to programming a computer back home. Just give it a set of instructions...

An hour later, he was feeling frustrated. He had drawn up everything he could: How to output the finished love magic, how to filter out the three different compounds and mix them together... but he hadn't come up with a way to synthesize them yet. Jeremy considered the structures he had drawn out from memory onto a sheet of scratch paper. Surely there was some way to do this, right? A thought occurred to him, born of a fleeting memory of a shop in Canterlot. Alchemy was, in fact, a thing here: Could he find something in alchemical research on synthesizing compounds using magic? He decided to go to the library and find out.

"Oh, hello again! You're up a bit late," the librarian greeted as he entered. Jeremy nodded and chuckled - it was what, 11 PM? He had been surprised the library was still open.

"Yeah... I'd like to see if you have any books on alchemy," he asked, and the mare gestured at a shelf on the far left. "Right over there," she pointed, and Jeremy thanked her, heading over to the shelf in question.

"Alchemy for Beginners..." he muttered under his breath. To his surprise, a rough drawing of the Periodic Table was present on the first page, though it was missing a few elements - notably technetium, osmium, iridium and everything after bismuth. Jeremy frowned at that last bit - had they not even invented nuclear chemistry? Interesting. He'd better put the word in to some of their chemists. He continued to skim through the book until he found something interesting: 'Magical Synthesis'. "Any chemical compound can be synthesized given the right instructions. However, the cost of energy to the user becomes more complex as the complexity of the chemical in question increases," he read under his breath. Energy... that was it! Jeremy grinned, and walked back over to the librarian, checking out the book.

Once back at his apartment, he started drawing the new version of the love generator, with all the components listed on the left with labels. Of these, a certain toroidal shape was paid special attention to, Jeremy drawing in notes stating the requirements of heat and pressure, as well as resistance to these two factors. As he worked, he grinned: These ponies would never know what hit them. He was going to introduce this world to cheap, clean, infinite energy: Nuclear fusion.

He drew this and the other components in, and made a rough container around them. Finally, he worked on connecting everything up – this was the hardest part. Once he was satisfied he had accomplished something, he wrote “Work in Progress” across the page in light pencil in case someone attempted to take the papers again. With that, he put them on his bedside table, put the pencil next to them, doused the lamp, and drifted off into sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12 Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 58 Minutes