Colonel Holiday was having trouble believing the Unicorn mare, despite seeing this so-called Magic with his own eyes. Her explanations of Thaumaturgic Energy were clear and concise. The whole thing just made too much sense, she had an answer for every question. John Vacca had not been the only curious person, President Seviston had asked several questions himself. Even with all the Unicorn's answers, Colonel Holiday knew they still had no way of quantifying or measuring or detecting Thaumaturgic Energy. An unidentifiable source of power with which one of these aliens could do unspeakable things made his stomach churn, 'They could probably control a person's mind or rupture vital organs from a distance without being seen.' Even if the aliens spoke true and the Humans only wanted to return to their families, they had developed an ability to use this Thaumaturgic Energy and could do things normally only attributed to comic book super villains. How long would it be before one of them became drunk or angry and killed somebody or decided to blow up a mall? How could they be stopped?

No good could possibly come from having such people on Earth with no way to stop them. There was currently no way to regulate them or their apparent abilities. Chris' portals alone could open bank vaults to him for theft, he could access top secret locations, he could escape pursuit and be hundreds or thousands of miles away instantly, there was almost no limit to what he could do and he was only one person. The thought of so many people being able to do the same thing or worse, was a thought to horrible to contemplate.

Colonel Holiday had no problem with people wanting to reconnect with their families, he wanted to see his daughter again. He could sympathize, but the possible problems were to numerous. He put his right fist in front of his mouth and sighed as quietly as possible as the Unicorn finished answering the most recent question.

"... so the study of Thaumaturgic Energy is a literal science in which one may obtain a degree. It has nothing to do with demons or the supernatural. It is as natural to our world as air or water. It is a part of the natural order which one may learn some measure of control. We use it for the betterment of all intelligent life, irregardless of species." She seemed very pleased with herself.

John drew in a breath, "So you're telling me that, in order for the spell to function, it will need an environment rich with Thaumaturgic Energy and the only place to get that is," he gestured to the other side of the portal, "Over there?"

Dr. Avalon shook her head, "That is not the only way. We could connect her to a device which would be powered by a crystal. The crystal, in turn, would provide the necessary Thaumaturgic Energy to sustain the spell, like a battery." She took a breath and continued, "Now as I said, the presence of Thaumaturgic Energy is likely to make her body acclimate to its presence, like developing a screfula for filtering out Thaumaturgic Energy from the bloodstream and metabolizing it. Other than that, she should experience no side effects. We can fix her heart murmur while we're at it. The only problem is that if she develops a screfula, she will be uncomfortable for a time while her screfula slowly shuts down due to the lack of Thaumaturgic Energy on your world. It's not uncomfortable for me yet, because I haven't used much magic. If I stayed here for a few days and used my magic often, my screfula would begin to shrivel until it shut down and went dormant. It's very unpleasant, but it can be done."

"Are there going to be any problems with a battery arrangement, Mr. President?" John asked.

"No John, so long as she stays here for the duration of the spell and until she wakes up, it's fine." The President shifted his eyes and then his whole body toward Luna, "Your Majesty, since it seems that there are going to be a number of exchanges going on, I would like to propose an idea, provided everything goes well with John's wife."

Luna turned her face, eyes, and ears toward the President, "Any further proposals will need to be agreed upon by the other sovereigns of our nation, but I am willing to listen to ideas and present them to the others."

Colonel Holiday spoke up suddenly, "A word with you, Mr. President?"

"Please excuse us for a moment, Your Majesty." President Seviston excused himself and stepped away from the portal to where Colonel Holiday was waiting for him, "What seems to be the problem, Colonel?"

The Colonel leaned in, close to his Commander And Chief, and spoke quietly, but urgently, "That black Unicorn, the one that's been quiet, her horn has been glowing the whole time. Their horns glow when they're using magic, and she has done nothing obvious. What is she doing? Furthermore, we cannot allow them or any of the Humans to return here. If they commit crimes, we have no reasonable way to apprehend them. If they can throw around entire houses with a thought, we would be essentially letting comic book super villains lose in our country."

President Seviston smiled and patted the Colonel on the shoulder, "Or super heroes." He opposed, "Granted, nobody wants the stereotypical destruction which accompanies such things, but the good would outweigh the evil. I do see your point though, all joking aside. I would not want vigilantes with magic running around fighting in the streets. We need our own way to maintain order. At least until their supposed screfulas shut down. We still need to verify whether or not these new organs even exist."

President Seviston and Colonel Holiday returned to the portal, "Pardon us, Your Majesty. Colonel Holiday brought up a very valid point which we need to address: if we allow people to return to the United States, we need a more efficient way to apprehend our people, should they get out of hand. One other thing," he pointed to Arch Magister Catalyst, "What is she doing with her magic?"

Before Luna could respond, Chris pipped up, "Wait, your name is Holiday too? Man, what's with all the Holidays in the Marine Corps?"

The Colonel glanced at Chris then snorted, "It's not such an unusual last name. Why? Do you know any other Holidays who are Marines?"

Chris nodded, leaned against the side of the portal, "Yeah, Chelsea Holiday. She was with a big group of Marines who ended up in Gryphonvale."

Chris had to force himself not to flinch as Colonel Holiday surged forward, "WHERE!? WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER!?"

Chris leaned away from the intense Marine, "I just said, she's in Gryphonvale. I can go get her if you want to give me a minute." With a wave of his hand, Chris opened a portal to a snowy, mountainous expanse and stepped through.

Luna decided to answer President Seviston while Chris was busy elsewhere, "To answer your second question, she is making an imprint, something lime your recordings for the records. As to your first question, I feel I need to counter with my own question. Why would you not trust your own people?"

"If a person with magic becomes angry, they can do things which we are not prepared to counter. Is there an herb which will keep them from using their magic? Or some device which will block it?" President Seviston asked.

Luna lightly nodded, "There are items we refer to as Inhibitor Rings. Normally these items are placed around the leg or even the horn of a Pony and the Inhibitor Ring shuts down their ability to use their magic. Similar devices have been... abused in the past so we do not like using them in general. They can be provided if a person asks for one at a small price. There are a few Humans living here who use them."

Colonel Holiday was taken aback by the statement, "Why?" He blurted out before he realized what he had done. He completely missed President Seviston's smirk.

"Some of the Humans have spells constantly active and cannot turn them off. One Human has Destroy and Magic constantly going through his hands so he wears a ring to ensure he does not cause discomfort when he touches somebody else. The Inhibitor Rings can easily be tuned to shut off a single Noun and Verb or all of them." Luna explained.

Colonel Holiday turned and spoke quietly to President Seviston, "Mr. President, do you think we could modify Inhibitor Rings like ex-con ankle bracelets?"

The President chuckled quietly, "Not a lovely comparison, especially for people whom are not criminals, but not a terrible idea." He nodded toward the Lunar Alicorn, "Why don't you ask her?"

Colonel Holiday grumbled in his throat, then addressed Luna, "Your Highness, would it be possible to acquire Inhibitor Rings with locks built into them?"

It was impossible for anybody present to miss Luna's sudden shudder. She quickly composed herself and replied, "It is possible, yes. I would caution you against such measures though, they can quickly and all too easily be abused and cause a great deal of mistrust and mental trauma, no matter what your intentions may be." When realized she was rubbing her silver choker she quickly put down her hoof.

President Seviston's brows knit together, "You were rubbing your jewelry, Your Majesty. Did somebody use a locking Inhibitor Ring on you?"

Luna shook her head in a small motion, "Nay, it was I who used one on another... an act I regret to this day. It is no small matter, what we're discussing, this is from the voice of experience." Her tone was distinctly somber.

A scuffle and scrape of metal and talons through the portal to Gryphonvale caught the attention of the Humans. President Seviston and Colonel Holiday stared at the blizzard blowing snow through the portal until a moment later when an enormous, armored raptor head poked through the portal. The Gryphon peered left and right before withdrawing its head. Everybody heard an eagle-like screech and three more Gryphons swiftly strode past the portal. The armored avian predators were accompanied by armored Humans, one of which Colonel Holiday recognized, "Duane?"

Major Heartford stopped and looked through the portal, "Hot damn!" He said stepping through the portal, "So Chris finally did it huh?"

Colonel Holiday stared at his old mentor. Duane Heartford was covered with riveted chain maile over thick gambeson except for a small breast plate covering his upper chest and ribs. Leather straps were connected to several points on his armor but Colonel Holiday had no idea what those straps could be used for. Major Heartford also carried a strange looking spear and what looked like a genuine light saber on his belt.

Major Heartford set the butt of his spear on the ground and leaned on it, "Don't worry, we kept Chelsea safe. She's out training with her squad right now. I assume that's why Chris opened the portal."

Colonel Holiday nodded dumbly and his head jerked up sharply as a lithe, but sturdy armored figure stepped through the portal, followed by a quartet of armored Gryphons. The Gryphons formed up in a diamond formation around the woman as she approached the portal. Chelsea's heart and mind swelled with emotion when she saw her father for the first time in over two years.

Her hands came up to her mouth as she beheld the stern face of the man she called, 'Dad'. She could not trust her voice not to betray her. She choked out a sob and bolted forward, arms outstretched. Colonel Holiday stepped forward to the edge of the portal, his own arms open. Chelsea collided with her Father with a clank. She gripped onto him tightly as she sobbed into his chest and shoulder. The Colonel, for his part, held his Daughter, stroking her head with his hand while whispering comforting words to her. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to stifle the joyful tears attempting to leak from beneath his lids. He held his daughter close as he patted her hair and kissed her forehead.

Major Heartford stepped to the side as Chris emerged from the Gryphonvale portal. Chris took in the sight and smiled, "So much for keeping families apart, eh Colonel?"

Luna's left wing snapped out and swatted her husband on the back of his head, "Leave them be." She said sternly.

President Seviston's expression quirked into a small smile, "There was going to be enough paperwork already with the medical equipment and the crystal and everything else." He looked to the Colonel holding his daughter and sighed, "I think the paperwork has been doubled." Neither he nor John could understand why Luna suddenly burst into gales of laughter.

Author's Notes:

Hello again everybody. Remember to bring any typos to my attention.