As Michael sauntered down the steps of the library, Princess Celestia addressed him, never breaking eye contact.

"You. You're human. How did you get here?" Her voice was soft yet stern.

"By boat, then by car, then by motorcycle. Would have been able to get here sooner if I had a map." His smug expression lingered.

Celestia's voice became slightly irritated, but her expression was changeless, "You know full well what I mean. How did you cross into Equestrian borders?"

Michael dropped his cocky demeanor and matched the Princess's level of seriousness. He stepped off the last step and began approaching the table.

The Princess stood and her horn began to glow, "Come no closer!"

Michael put his hands up, "I mean you no harm."

In a flash of yellow and pink, between the two of them floated Fluttershy.

"Please, Princess, I know him. He's a good person. If he says he's not here to cause trouble, then I think you should believe him."

Twilight stepped up, "She's right, Princess. I've spoken to this man a great deal at the Conversion Bureau." She looked over at Michael, still holding his hands up, then back at the princess, "I trust him."

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife as the princess's gaze shifted from Twilight, then to Fluttershy, then to Michael. Finally, the faint glow of her horn disappeared along with her frown. She sighed, "Very well. Please, Mr. Frost, have a seat."

Michael was tempted to correct her and ask her to call him "Dr. Frost", rather than "Mr. Frost", but he thought better of it.

"Just 'Michael' is fine," he said as he walked over and sat cross-legged on one of the pillows by the table.

The other attendees of the meeting watched The Princess and the Scientist. The purpose for which they were called together had taken a backseat to their guest; someone who, by all rights, shouldn't even be there. Furthermore, their ruler, the one who they looked to for guidance and wisdom, was the one looking for answers.

"First things first," began Princess Celestia, "Please, answer my question."

He nodded, "Your barrier?"

"Yes."

"Well, I tricked it into letting me through."

"How?"

Michael dreaded having to explain this part, "Centuries ago, Native Americans had made various items from the hides of dead horses. I took a horse hide cloak from a museum and covered myself with it. After that, the barrier just let me walk through."

The Princess stared at him in disbelief, "How did you discover such a thing would work?"

Michael shrugged, "I honestly didn't think it would, but it was worth a shot."

"So how did you shield yourself from the magical forces within our borders?"

"Shield myself? I didn't."

The Princess thought on this, "Michael, did anything else happen? After you crossed through the barrier?"

"Well, I fainted, but I just assumed that it was a side effect of the barrier."

The Princess looked at him a little while longer. Then, without warning, her horn began to glow, and rings of magic wrapped around Michael, binding him and lifting him into the air.

Michael writhed, held tight by the magical constraints, "Hey! Let me go!"

Celestia stared at him coldly, lifting him higher, "No."

"Princess, what are you doing?!" objected Twilight.

"Let go of me!" Michael gritted his teeth.

"No." Her voice could chill ice.

Michael started to take on a silver glow and began to yell through his gritted teeth, "I. SAID. LET. GO!"

A shockwave emanated from Michael's body, destroying the rings of magic that held him and slamming Princess Celestia against a bookshelf.

With the Princess's magic no longer suspending him in the air, he fell to the ground in a heap.

Michael staggered to his feet, struggling to keep his balance, "What the hell just happened?!"

Twilight ran to help up the princess. Groaning as she got up, Celestia answered, "It was... just as I had suspected."

"Care to elaborate?!"

She returned to her seat, "Rather than simply rejecting the magic and collapsing, your body adjusted and began absorbing the magical forces that pervades through Equestria."

Twilight stared at the two in disbelief, "But how is that even possible?"

"I'm not sure, Twilight."

"Maybe," Michael thought aloud, "Maybe a person's exposure to weaker magic primes them. The low level magic used at the ponification camps might act almost as vaccines for the body."

This time it was Rarity who took the floor, "That sounds possible. Humans who get ponified before their seventh day wait period is over do seem to experience more trouble during the actual treatment."

"But Michael was only at the center for a few days!" said Twilight.

Michael thought for a moment, then came upon a revelation.

        “I- I think I know what's going on. I've been to a number of ponification camps three or four times a month for hours at a time over the past year. I was only in the parking lot, sure, but that kind of long-term exposure may have been enough to prepare over-prepare, my body for the levels of magic here." He shook his head, almost as if to clear his mind like an etch-a-sketch, "But, wait a minute; are you saying what just happened was magic?"

"Yes," said Celestia.

He had to ask again, "You're saying I just did magic?"

The Princess let out a light laugh, "It appears so."

Michael was dumbfounded. He was a scientist and what had just happened was almost as big a shock to his system as if gravity had just shut off.

But he had to focus. His attention snapped back to the room around him.

"You okay there Mike?" said the orange pony, "Ya kinda zoned out on us for a sec there."

"Yeah, I'm fine; just had to process that for a minute. Anyways, Princess," He turned to her, "You called this meeting for a reason. Please proceed. We'll deal with what just happened later."

"Very well." All eyes turned to the Princess, "I've called you all here because I have some troubling news. I've received word that the Human Liberation Front has developed a powerful weapon. A bomb."

Every pony gasped; Michael leaned forward, "A bomb? What kind of bomb?"

"I don't know. And my sources aren't privileged enough in the organization to know either."

"Sources?" Michael thought, "So she has spies?"

"Princess," Twilight asked, her voice worried, "What are we going to do? Equestria has no army, no navy, no air force, and no weapons to supply such forces even if we had them. How do we defend against this kind of threat?"

"That is the key problem. We simply cannot defend against it as we are."

Rarity leaned in, "Well, what would you like us to do?"

The Princess straightened her posture, "If we strengthen the barrier around Equestria, rather than a..." she looked at Michael, "...permeable barrier, we can make it solid with controllable gates.  "

Michael cocked an eyebrow, "You want to put Equestria under lockdown?"

Celestia looked uneasy, "That's a more aggressive way of putting it, but yes. Essentially. It would only be temporary, though. According to my source, they are already too well invested into their schedule to make any changes."

"So what's our part?" asked the orange pony in her southern drawl.

"Well, Applejack, I believe only the Elements of Harmony have the necessary power to bolster the barrier. They would have to be activated at the source of the barrier in Canterlot."

There was some mumbling among the six smaller ponies that sat at the table.

Michael sat there, staring at the grain of the wooden table.

"This doesn't make sense." He said, still staring at the table.

Twilight turned to him, "What doesn't make sense?"

He looked up, "This whole bomb thing. It doesn't make any sense."

The Princess leaned forward, "Do you mean to say my source may be lying?"

Michael shook his head, "No, I don't know your source so I can't make that kind of judgment. But why would the HLF want to bomb Equestria? To what end? They want to move here to take advantage of all your work; they’re not going to willingly turn it into a crater."

"So what do you think is going on?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know..." He turned to the Princess, "You said they were already committed to their plan. Did your source give you a timetable?"

She nodded, "Yes, they plan to 'move' this coming Monday at two in the afternoon."

"'Move'?" Michael asked impatiently, "What does that mean? Blow up the bomb?"

"I don't know. That's all the information I have."

He went back to staring at the wood.

        "Well," he said, "we need more information and we need it ASAP. I think I have a plan."

All eyes were on him.

"Please, go ahead." said the Princess.

Michael stood and began pacing back and forth, "We need to know what kind of bomb it is and how the delivery method. We also need to know the target and the effective range. Those are the key ingredients that we need before we can form a proper counter measure." He stopped pacing and looked at the table of ponies.

"They've never experienced war. Their entire civilization has, for the most part, stayed in the early 1900's. Without magic, they'd be almost helpless."

"As decentralized as the HLF is, if they are planning on attacking Equestria, their base of operations, at least for this assault, has to be close enough to move quickly; probably near Newark. We need to go there and find out what we can; ideally, blueprints and some kind of itinerary of their plan. With the Princess's permission, I'd like a volunteer."

Princess Celestia nodded, and everypony at the table, except Fluttershy and the Princess, raised a hoof. Michael looked them over.

"Twilight. Your skill with magic will come in very handy. Everyone else, thank you for your enthusiasm."   

Rainbow Dash looked disappointed and impatient, "So what do we do now?"

"You and everyone else can still help the Princess with her plan."

"But we're short an element of harmony." Dash shot back.

He looked at the Princess, "You used the elements of harmony on your own to lock away Nightmare Moon; can you take up the slack."

The Princess looked away, "Unfortunately, I cannot. A millennium of raising both the sun and the moon has weakened my powers. Although my sister has resumed her duties of raising the moon, I am still recovering."

"Then what do we do?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Can any pony do it?" Rarity asked.

Princess Celestia smiled, "Yes, so long as they embrace the magic of friendship."

The fashonista smiled, "They I have just the pony in mind. One of my assistants and closest friends; Shimmer Stardust."

Michael choked, "Irene?"

"Yes, Michael, 'Irene'," she said derisively. "She's one of friendliest people I know. She'd be perfect."

Michael wanted to object, wanted to keep Irene out of this mess, but Rarity was right; she would be perfect.

The Princess stood, "Very well, it seems we have a working plan of action. On that note, I will be returning to Canterlot and will send a carriage for you. It should arrive in a few hours, so take that time to prepare yourselves for the stay."

Slowly, the other ponies began filing out of the library, but Princess Celestia lingered.

"Twilight, could I ask you for a few moments of privacy with Michael? There is something I need to discuss with him before I leave."

Twilight dipped her head, "Of course, Princess Celestia. I'll be outside."

"Thank you, Twilight."

As the door shut, the pegacorn approached him.

"Michael, why are you here?"

"When everyone left so suddenly, I thought-"

She interrupted him, "Michael, I've been alive for more than a millennia. Even so, even a little filly could tell that is not your real reason." She smiled, "Michael, I have not been privileged enough to interact with many humans. You are clearly a very intelligent and cunning person otherwise you could not have made it this far. I would like to think we could both be friends, but friendship is built on trust. I'm trusting you with the life of my star pupil. The least you can do is tell me the truth. Not the truth of your mind, but the truth of your heart."

Michael sighed, "Princess, even with the responsibility of an entire kingdom on your shoulders, aren't there one or two people you would protect no matter what?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, I only have two people, and one of them is here, in Ponyville."

"'Irene'."

"Yes, Irene."

"You love her?"

"I do."

"You could get converted."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"My humanity is a part of who I am. It's not something I can just throw away."

"And you still love her?"

"Don't misunderstand; I'm not naive. I know I can't be with her, so I have to let her go. But I will never stop loving her and I will do whatever I can to protect her."

"That's very noble."

"And stupid."

"You could live here in Equestria. I could give you a special pass."

"Princess, you and I both know that such a pass would be useless. I would never be accepted here and I would be considered an outcast everywhere else. Besides, if word spread that a human was living here, think of the uproar it would cause outside of Equestria. It would only fuel the messages spread by the HLF."

The conversation was no longer as rapid fire as it was as a pregnant pause filled the room.

The Princess looked at him, her eyes filled with pain, mirroring his own. Finally, she spoke in a soft tone, "I can see that at your core you are a gentle man; wise beyond your years. It's not fair, the position you're in. I feel very sorry for you."

"Yeah, me too."

She began walking towards the door and opened it with her magic, "I hope things work out for you, Michael."

"Thank you. Have a safe trip."

"You too."

Twilight trotted back into the library, closing the door behind her, "What did the princess want to talk to you about?"

Michael trudged back up the stairs to his bed to take a nap, "Nothing really. Just wanted to get to know me a bit better."

Twilight was skeptical, "That’s all?"

"That’s all." Next Chapter: Chapter 13 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes