1835 Esoteric Way
Frontier Tx, 79706

Ask him questions. He will ascue answers.

Liberty looked up at Civil. "That's it?" He nodded and dragged his phone back to him to reread it, despite the fact he'd practically memorized the email. There was no originating address. He almost erased/spam flagged it right off the bat when he opened his email that morning, but the Frontier address stayed his hoof. He then waited a few hours for Liberty to finally wake up from her new habit of sleeping in. Before that, he would read it, walk away, come back and read it again. He had done this until Karen used brunch as a weapon of mass distraction. His father was out of town for a few days working in Fort Worth so it was the three of them on the homestead.

Karen had glanced at it once and told him that's what he got for putting his email out there. Funny part was...he never included it in the forums.

"I don't know, Civ. Seems kinda creepy." Liberty had started calling him that. He wouldn't have minded...but Hot Pink tended to call him that, too. He and Hot had been chatting off and on for a while, mostly centered on when he was going to visit. In fact, he was about to call her today because he had also gotten an acceptance invitation to take the initial testing at the Dallas Police headquarters.

Then this email happened. Suffice to say, being called a pet name by your mom that your possible future marefriend is using for you tended to scale down the creepiness of most anything else. He chewed the inside of his cheek darkly. She had stolen two pet names now.

"Sooooo, I guess we are going to visit this, uh, whatever it is?"

He looked up at her. She was sitting on the kitchen table and appeared a little afraid, but also excited. He felt the same way. After all, this was a bonified mystery. A ponified mystery! He nodded.

She asked, "Road trip?!"

He grinned, "Road trip." Then he glanced down at his phone wistfully. "It'd probably be polite to call her, let her know we'll be in town." His eyes raised to meet a very perturbed looking young pony. "What?"

"Do NOT tell her you are visiting because you got some weird email from an unknown source!"

Civil scoffed, sitting back. "Oh come on, I'm not that crass. I'll just tell her...that, you know, we got an email, and...-"

"That's EXACTLY why you don't tell her!"

He scooted back his seat, throwing his hooves up in the air. "FINE, what AM I supposed to tell her?"

Liberty walked forward on the table, sat, and kicked the phone a few inches toward him. "Hi Hot Pinky! Despite my depressive stance on having to get a job before visiting you, it looks like I'm being invited to test for the Dallas police! So that means I can fiiiiiinally visit you. Also, we might have a lead on helping my most awesomest bestest mother regain her memory, so we might take a side trip before hooking up. Also, that same awesomest bestest mother will be with me, if you don't mind. You DID say you wanted to get to know her, right? Anyway, we'll see you this weekend!" She smiled sweetly. "How about that?"

He slowly breathed in and then out, closing his eyes. Opening them, he seethed, "We are not 'hooking up.' Both my mothers raised me to be a good pony. And did you have to lay it on thick about me needing a job before visiting?"

She held up her hoof and counted off, "Yup. First, it's the truth, both hooking and jobbing. B, it is meant to distract her from the big reason, getting my memories back. And Four, I am a secondary distraction in case your depressing reason isn't enough."

Civil's eye twitched as he tried to ignore her deliberately miscounted checklist. She was trolling. As for the rest, he was about to argue with her reasoning when it occurred to him that on the whole, it was brilliant, if a bit sarcastic on Liberty's part. The downside though, Liberty would be there too. So much for anything...personal. His mind drifted a bit.

He noticed she was grinning at him as if reading his mind. With the dopey look he realized he was wearing, she might as well have been. He merely said, "You're right," and slid the phone back to her, number already dialing. "You tell her."

After an embarrassing session of filly and mare gossiping about an adorably shy stallion (Tongue held after the 'methinks he protest too much' comment), a few kisses and hugs goodbye from their mother with lots of luck tossed in, they were at the ATM machine. Liberty insisted on having him get money since they would be on a date with Hot Pink. They had a short discussion about mares picking up the tab and holding the door for stallions as the Equestrian etiquette, and a small tap to his shin when he pointed out that the M in ATM also meant machine, i.e. Automated Teller Machine machine. Of course, Liberty's viewpoint on his being a gentlestallion overpowered his cultural history lesson, so he inserted his card to check his balance before he pulsed anything out. Didn't need any surprises regarding finances if he could help it.

He stared at the readout.

Liberty, being the short stuff that she was, hopped up and down. "What? How much you got? Come on, are you going to get her flowers or do we have to go grazing in a field like some common livestock?"

None of that fazed him. The over five-hundred thousand dollar balance did.

"Holy shit," he muttered.

She stopped and stared up. "Is.....Civ, is it that bad?" He reached down with one wing and lifted her up.

".....HOLY SHIT!!!"

He put her down. She scampered about. "My son is rich, rich! Money's our bitch, bitch! Gonna dine and paaaartay! He's so gonna geeeet laaaa-" A black-tipped wing clamped her jaws shut.

"Not a word of this to anypony, ESPECIALLY Hot Pink. Got it?" He was still staring at the screen.

Liberty pried his wingtip off with her hooves and frowned, confused. "But why? She'll know you are successful and well off and-"

"And what about her? She lost everything, remember? You want her to feel bad and me feel more like shit about her circumstances...that is the quickest way to do it." He tapped a few buttons and got a couple of hundred out. That should cover expenses for the weekend at least.

In retrospect, he might have skipped over the financial portion of his paperwork after he learned about the somewhat forced retainer clause with the Air Force, but they did come through on reactivating his bank account. And then some.

Missing in action was a horrible situation for any soldier and their family to endure. Upon return, pay continues, along with combat zone and hazard incentives, but nothing can fix the mental trauma all parties involved have to suffer. Knowing he was in a similar situation that ended up with him still being alive, he took no pleasure in finding himself better off. On behalf of all military persons, he refused to feel good about it.

"Hay, earth to Civ, you are looking a bit morose up there...it's just money."

He wanted to gripe back that it wasn't just money...and yet, wasn't it? It was people that mattered. Ponies. Everyone. Money was just a means to an end. He shook himself. He was going to see a couple of very special persons and or ponies today, so he didn't need to get depressed about what he couldn't change at this point. Giving a small mental prayer wishing all his former military brethren well, he picked her up, situated her in the saddle and opened his flight pad to officially start their journey.

***

The flight was a leisurely forty minute hop. Liberty enjoyed herself fully, along with learning not to reach up and snag clouds with her hooves when Civil mistakenly thought it'd be cool to go near the bottom of one. While she was getting better at flying these last couple of months, he wasn't about to chance her getting ripped out of the saddle as a good start for the freefall recovery portion of her lessons.

They didn't immediately set down in the center of town, though they were both torn about it. True they wanted to see the sights...but flying NEVER got old. Frontier was mostly a single street with several business buildings newly built and small neighborhoods budding up around it. That street was likely to be the 'main drag' until more businesses and residents moved in. Normally, the area east of Odessa and south of Midland was scrub land.

Most of it still was, but from the air it was like watching an oasis slowly color in a normally drab looking landscape. Each house had its own vibrant garden, trees, fountains. The houses themselves were only vaguely similar to human structures. It was like ponies took the normal square blocky schematics and put them through a fun house. He could tell which were human houses, and which were pony, and there were a lot more pony than human houses down there.

Not paying attention, they almost slammed into a cloud house. He pulled up hard and buzzed a mare who was hanging some towels out to dry. Rolling over twice and then back-winging, he apologized to her as she shook her hoof at him, all the while Liberty was hanging by the straps screaming in ecstatic delight. The mare didn't seem all that angry either once she noticed the foal on his back. His ears caught something about 'you break my new house, you rebuild it' as she shook her head with a smile, going back to work.

Now that he was aware of the cloud houses, he could pick them out. A few were near to town, but one or two were more to the outskirts of the development. Liberty kept leaning forward to yell about the sights above and below, so he checked his phone GPS and nodded, pointing at a certain street. She crossed her legs with a pout, yelling over the wind, "Do we have to end the ride so soon?"

He slowed to a hover and looked back at her so he didn't have to shout as well. "Your memories, your choice." She frowned, but he knew he had her. Eventually she sighed and pointed down, and he obliged by circling into a spiral. Finally he alighted on the street before a brightly red and yellow colored house, its second and third story twisting left and right off-center from the bottom floor. Definitely a pony house. He walked up the sidewalk until they were almost at the door. The small mailbox next to the doorframe had a lid that said 'Living Residence.'

He snorted. "Hope the residence isn't actually alive. That would be pony shit even Mom could appreciate."

"Not funny," murmured Liberty. He looked askance at her. Earlier she was all but pushing him out the door to get here. Now, before this door, she showed hesitation. He wasn't without sympathy. The invitation to try out for the police department meant a completely different future than he ever thought possible. That email he showed Liberty meant a completely different past than she ever knew, IF the right answers were on the other side of this door.

He snorted again. What was with doors, lately? Like, he was always standing in front of some damn door, shift his hooves anticipating another staining of some kind. He noticed the buckles on his saddlebags, the emblems still swirling mysteriously, waiting for his cutie-mark. Better wait longer, bitches, he thought. He had other things to do besides worry about his own destiny and what his buckles looked like. Then he thought about the bags.

"Hide in my saddlebags until I figure out if it's safe."

She looked at him for a few seconds before concentrating on undoing her seat straps. After many trips in the air these last several weeks, she had gotten quite adept at working them. Pulling up the side flap of the bag, she noted it was far less roomy this time than when she had first flown Saddlebag Class. "And we know how this ended up last time," she muttered, shoving her back end down so the flap could close properly. He said nothing, giving her a strained smile until the flap was down. He left it unbuckled, just in case. Also...any other day he would have secured it just to piss her off, but not today of all days.

Steeling himself for what might be behind the door, he raised his hoof and knocked three times. There was a minute of waiting, but then the handle glowed and the door opened. On the other side stood an older stallion, a unicorn. He had tan fur with complimentary mane and tail that were ruddy brown, but several strands of gray streaked through the hairs. He wore half-moon reading glasses which gave him a sort of Dumbledore look. The unicorn tilted his head down to look over the glasses, catching Civil with a piercing blue-eyed gaze. "Ah, a fellow pony, calling on me. To what do I owe this visit?"

He seemed cordial enough, Civil thought to himself. The younger pegasus must have been standing there a few seconds too long for social etiquette because he felt a small poke through his saddlebag. Obviously from Liberty, it must have been one of her karate chop kicks. Barely noticeable.

"Uh, hi. I was told you could possibly help me out with a problem, or at least fill in a few gaps. Actually, I was told to ask you questions and you would...ascue...answers. You see, it's about my mom."

A look of understanding swept over the unicorn's face. "Indeed...so you're the one. She wasn't too clear who was visiting today, but that's within her purview, I suppose." He nodded more to himself than anypony else present.

Civil raised his brows, "She? You knew I was coming here?"

The other pony scrunched up his face and raised a hoof to his temples, rubbing them. "Damn secrets. Far too many for me to remember, or what not to tell." He stepped back, waving his hoof for them to enter. "Please, do come in."

Taking several tentative steps, Civil wiped his hooves on the mat just inside the doorway. Even though both human and pony societies had a traditional mat outside for the heavy stuff, a proper pony home had mats inside as well, made of softer material. While it might have had a more practical role in the past, now it was customary to show one's host respect for their home by wiping off hooves a second time in front of them, establishing harmony and balance between guest and host within the household.

The unicorn continued on down the hallway to the kitchen, horn glowing to close the front door. He displayed a slight limp. "For the record I didn't mention her gender." He sighed. "I was about to make some coffee, if you want some. Late mornings don't have that same zest as they used to when I was younger."

Civil glanced at the time on his phone. It was 2 pm. Unicorns tended to lose track of time, he reminded himself. He nodded his head out of habit, despite the other stallion not seeing him, "Yes, sir, I wouldn't mind." He felt a few taps from Liberty, as if she were demanding some, too. He jostled his bag a bit. He was NOT giving any foals caffeine products today. His eyes wandered ahead of him and noticed the unicorn's cutie-mark, a collage of a small house, shirt, and a pie. In the center was a snake wrapped around a needle. Probably in the medical field, Civil mused. Seeing the unicorn continue to limp, he asked delicately, "Uh, Doc, are you alright?"

Several items floated through the air when he entered the kitchen. Beans were being grinded in a small blender, a kettle of water was settling onto a stovetop, and two mugs were floated to the countertop, awaiting the hot beverage. The unicorn glanced over to him. "Minor ringbone, nothing too debilitating. I suppose I could get another unicorn to do a subdermal shaving of the buildup, but I'm a bit superstitious of others working on me. Tartarus, some of my old colleagues are still relearning their more basic surgical spells. Don't need a 'Oh THAT'S how I used to do that' moment on these old legs." He got a better look at Civil and added, "Thanks for asking, though. Before we continue, my name is Abstract Living. The message I got was that somepony from the past would be needing my help in the near future to help somepony else's future." He didn't seem at all phased by that garbledy gook.

The pegasus snorted, "She is about as cryptic as you can get, it would seem." He looked on questioningly, hoping he'd get more information on the mysterious messenger.

Abstract winced slightly, "Yes, 'she' can be a minx at times." Seeing the look on his guest's face, he shook his head, "And she would do Unspeakable Damage to me if I were to talk about her more." At Civil's confused look, the unicorn asked, "Unspeakable...? Old MUD game? Multi-user Domain?" Civil stared at him blankly. Abstract muttered, "Guess the great quest for the Ultimoose doesn't ring any bells." He sighed and turned back to the grinder. "It was an old computer game back in the day. Something I spent far too many lab hours doing instead of other college pursuits, such as socializing." He turned back to his work and hummed to himself for a minute, then paused while saying over his shoulder, "I don't suppose I get to know who you are, do I?"

The pegasus blinked and cringed, "Sorry! I've had a lot on my mind. The name's Civil Patrol, sir."

The grinder fell and glowed again, the unicorn just catching it before it hit the floor. He spun around and stared at him. "Patrol?? Little Patrol!?!" At a confirming nod, the unicorn rushed forward and caught Civil in a fierce hug, "Dear Sisters! I never thought you'd be the one visiting me!" He stepped back, looking the shocked pegasus up and down. "Look at you, you've grown! Tartarus, you weren't more than a ball of feathers when your herd last visited Canterlot."

Civil frowned, taken aback by the unicorn's renewed interest in him, "I remember touring the unicorn school in the city once when I was a colt, but I don't remember..." He didn't want to be rude by finishing the sentence.

The unicorn laughed, "That's okay, my boy! You were too busy watching the students mix liquids, hoping something would blow up. We were all far more interested in seeing you than worrying about such silly things like introductions. And seeing how your mother was doing, too...at the time. Still, it is good to see you again." Pain crossed the unicorn's face. "You said this visit is about your mom. I am truly sorry for what you had to endure back then. Your entire herd, even."

"You knew my mother?" Civil asked, blinking in surprise.

Chuckling, the unicorn went back to concentrating on the coffee. "Yes, indeed. We all did. She was one of our best low level couriers between Manehattan and Canterlot. That stretch was called the M.C. Hammer back then. Not sure what it is now, given the possible terrain upheaval and resultant weather pattern changes...at least until Celestia can wrangle it back with the fliers." Abstract looked up wistfully, "Suppose she could enlist some unicorns for that, too?"

Civil shrugged. "The landscape is still a mess. Best estimate by the eggheads is a decade for topography, local weather, then global weather patterns to return to normal, though the princess is optimistic to see it done by five years." He worked his mouth, the doubt prevalent in his voice.

Abstract shrugged and glanced at Civil, "Putting our world back together is something I do not envy of her, but Creator's speed to the princess, nonetheless. Anyway, it was called the Hammer on account of very vicious crosswinds at altitude along the way. Bad north easterlies, but she could do it, and fast." He spared Civil a glance, amending, "Your mother, that is. I'm sure ol Celeste could do that in the blink of a horn. Anyway, Libs made the Hammer run in fourteen ponysecs."

Civil raised his hoof, replying heatedly, "I do not want to hear anything to do with my mom and pony sex."

The unicorn's mouth wrinkled into an irritated frown as he glared back. "Oh for Celestia's sake. Secs. S. E. C. S. It's a scientifically established unit of distance over time as the pegasus flies. What are those feather brains teaching you colts up in Cloudsdale!?"

Civil crossed his forelegs, sitting back. "I was raised east of Baltimare, not in Cloudsdale. I only commuted there as a teenager, and they taught me just fine, thankyou." He put his legs down, frowning slightly. "We had to live on the coast that whole time though...something about my mother needing the salted air."

Abstract closed his eyes, nodding, "With the pain, yes. Again, I am truly sorry. Doubly so."

Civil tilted his head. "Why are you 'doubly sorry?' "

Glowing coffee grounds poured into a filter over a clear decanter while the hot kettle floated over it. Abstract looked up, "Why, on account of your mother contracting magikemia while in our service, though that was before you were born." He sighed, "She was really good at her work, too. A classy flier." Pouring the piping hot water through the filter, he floated one mug over, poured the darker liquid in and offered it to Civil, who took it with a murmured 'thanks'.

After sipping it, Civil said quietly, "I never knew what the disease was called. Magikemia." He grimaced, the word bitter in his mouth. "I always knew she was sick from something. Just...nopony ever talked about it." An odd bristly feeling came over him. He eyed the unicorn and asked, "She got it while in your service? How?"

Abstract chose that moment to take a sip from his own mug, hiding his irritation. He knew the pegasus didn't mean anything by it. And yet, it was almost an accusation. He leveled his gaze back at the pegasus, "It is natural to assume we might have been the cause of it, or contributed to it. Far from it..." He paused, tilting his head, "I suppose had she not been employed by ASCUE...we might have some small blame, from an outsider's point of view. Our work required low visibility. Nobody suspects a filly, especially in a big city like Manehattan. A beautiful filly, who turned into a vibrant mare that fought everyday to be alive so she could see you just one minute longer."

There was some moving around in the saddlebag, probably a combination of posing and embarrassment. Civil wasn't immune to the stirring up of colthood memories and the emotions associated with them, either, so he spoke carefully. "Magikemia. In the Guard, we came across a unicorn stricken by it. She had severe headaches. And her horn..." He shuddered thinking about it.

Abstract nodded, "That's magikemia for you." He took another sip and placed the mug down on the table. "I imagine this is your great quest to find out about your mother." He chuckled to himself. "Your Ultimoose, so to speak."

Civil rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Doc. I need to know about the disease, how she got it, if it is likely to come back...among other...things."

The unicorn frowned, listening to the list. "Hm. Likely to come back? I've never known anypony to be cured of it, let alone contracting it again. In all honesty, we didn't even know she had it until she was bedridden later in life. We traced it back through her genome and finally figured out at what point in time she had contracted the vile disease. It was the day she got her cutie mark."

In his excitement, Civil fumbled the mug, but thankfully there was a helpful unicorn nearby to magically grab the fluid and container, floated them both to the table and set them down in their proper places, one inside the other. Civil exclaimed, "The same day? But then...her talent is linked to the disease! They built a statue in her honor." His eyes darted back and forth, his creative thinking taking over and linking previously innocuous facts together. "Not in her honor...but in the deed, if her talent IS the deed..." He looked away, bewildered. "I don't understand, how could her talent be linked to magikemia?"

Liberty could not contain herself anymore and poked her head out. "Hay! Are you talking about that statue of liberty on my ass?"

Abstract did a double-take at the tiny foal sticking out of the bag. "Why hello there, what a sweet little...wait." He glanced up at Civil, perplexed. "How is she talking at such a high level at her age? She can't be more than a couple months old, if her teeth are anything to go by. And such vulgarity." If he was offended, it was masked by his clinical curiosity as he peered closer at her.

She licked her teeth, then smirked and started climbing out of the bag. "Forget my age, I want to know about this statue-"

In doing so, she rolled out. With deft skill, Civil twisted his wing around so she ended up sliding down the inside curvature to the floor in a sitting position like it was her very own park slide. She grinned up at him, nodding, then got up onto all fours. "Let's get back to the disease and how I got it."

The unicorn was at a loss. True, he'd seen some weird things in his time, and over the years the term weird was getting used fewer and fewer. But this was truly new. And weird. "How...? How could you get magikemia? There's not enough aether saturation in this world to make that even a possibility for a foal your age, or most anypony." He glanced at the ceiling and muttered, "One of the few perks of living here." He stepped closer, peering down at her. She finally caught on that she had two large stallions towering over her, so she backed up until she bumped into Civil's leg.

Civil cleared his throat, getting Abstract's attention. "Hold up, I think we are on separate topics. You said my mother got the disease the day she got her mark. She got sick from gaining her mark?"

"What?" asked Abstract, glancing up. Going from him to her and him again, he said, "N..no, son, your mother's mark did not get her sick. Look, we were told that on one particular run from Canterlot to Manehattan, she did a very brave thing, saved the entire city. Quite possibly Equestria itself. A statue was built to honor that event."

"But, I've visited it. In the bay. It doesn't even look like her, or an older her, for that matter. It looks like...like any..."

Abstract smiled softly, "Like any other mare, yes?"

The pegasus nodded.

"That was the point," sighed Abstract. "The EUP," he began, then ammended, "the Royal Guard, they were afraid of retaliation from the criminal element she stopped. So, they made it older looking, more generic. They did not publicize who it was, only that it was to honor an anonymous heroine. And of course, the cirumstances which earned her the statue were covered up, diluted by various stories. Even her mark had its own false origins, spread by hoof-picked operatives."

Civil muttered derisively, "The Solar Wind."

Abstract coughed, then shook his head, "It would seem I am not the only one with secrets."

"What did she do, exactly?"

The unicorn furrowed his brow in frustration, "Only the princess and a few of her top guards know. Shining might, though he was young at the time. If he is back in Canterlot now, he might give you access to the archives, then you could find out. Well, IF the archives still exist. Not sure how much is left now." He picked up his mug again and drank from it, then muttered, "It would have been easier if she'd simply told you herself. I wish she were alive."

"She is alive."

"What?" The unicorn's eyes lit up. "Then, it worked! The experiment, the project! They found a cure and revived her?!"

"Not exactly. She has no memory."

"What do you mean? The Resurrection Project had nothing to do with mind manipulation. What happened to her? Is she on Earth, or still in Equestria?"

"Ask her yourself." Civil looked down at the tiny foal at his hooves. She tightened her wings to her sides, smiled, and waved a dainty hoof.

Abstract stared for a solid two minutes before stating, "Holy Horseapples." This time, his mug did fall to the floor, spraying shards of porcelain and coffee liquid everywhere. Liberty whipped around behind Civil's hoof to hide. He hissed and squinted his eyes shut, doing all he could to not move his leg and subject the foal to the scalding liquid. Was it too much to ask not to get coffee on his hooves? AGAIN?!?

The unicorn swore under his breath and went about cleaning the area, horn glowing to mop up the mess.

"Look Doc, she doesn't remember anything from her past life. Even when we tried to recite the curse, her heart stopped. We're just here for some answers."

Clearly distracted by the hiding foal and the mess he was working over, he glanced up absentmindedly, "What do you mean she has no memory? Of course she has no memory, she's an infant foal. My Sisters, she looks like she was just born yesterday..." He tilted his head far enough to glimpse her cutie-mark, her back half sticking out to the side. She was never very good at hiding. There it was, the statue on her flank. "Incredible...she can talk, she has the cutie-mark, and yet she could have been born yesterday. This...this is really her?" He stared at her intently. Even after being told, his scientific mind had told him there was no way...and yet, that mark, "Is it you in there?"

"Yah yah, stick it," Liberty exclaimed, poking her head around Civil's leg to stare up at the unicorn. "I wasn't exactly born yesterday, let's get THAT settled right now. Maybe several yesterdays ago. I'm here to remember my past." She waggled both her front hooves at him, "So do your magic shit and we can get out of here."

Abstract stumbled back. He held a hoof up to his barrel and tried to breathe slowly.

"...oh fuck, I broke him." She twisted her head around up to Civil, "Are there more of these guys around in case he croaks?"

"Renee! Shut up!" Civil glared down at her.

"I..I can't believe it....it's her! And yet, how is she talking?! How is she so young!?"

Civil shrugged, "She sounds no different than my sister used to be. It's getting her to shut up, that's the trick."

Liberty whacked Civil in the leg with her hoof. "No Donkey references!"

"No. No, you don't understand," Abstract exclaimed, breathing in and out deeply. "I don't understand and I'm a Celestia pissing scientist! After Discord cursed infant foals and they reverted back to their pony matrix from a human form, they could not speak and went back to making baby sounds. Once they learned to talk , they were able to talk about their human lives. But that was a year after their reversion." He shoved a hoof at her, "How is SHE speaking now???"

"Yer the doc, Doc," both pegasi said in unison.

Abstract gave a short giggle under his breath, the sheer insanity of it sundering his logical mind to pudding. He wandered over to the table. "Okay......okay, if we are doing this, let's do it by variable elimination." He paused and said, "Eliminate one variable at a time until whatever is left is the truth. First let's get her up here on this table."

"Table?" She squawked.

"To examine you." He tapped the kitchen table with his hoof.

"You touch me and I'll put a foot in your junk."

"Hoof," Civil sighed belatedly. He really wished she would get the lingo down one of these days.

"That too."

"Phenomenal." He raised his eyes to Civil. "You said she was your sister?"

"Yes. Is."

"Was she this way before the change? "

"Yes. Personality-wise, that hasn't changed. She still acts like my normal sister. She ridicules me, plays pranks on me, makes my life a living nightmare because 'I'm only trying to get the stick out of his ass.' That about right?" He asided that last part to the foal.

Her mouth hung open. She remembered to close it before blurting out, "Wait a minute, you HEARD that back at Joey's!?!"

"I have good hearing. Mom." His ears swiveled for emphasis.

"Remarkable," Doctor Living replied.

Civil gently picked up the squirmy protesting foal and placed her on the table, then eyed the unicorn. "But that's only partially why we're here. It's about the magikemia. Is it likely to come back?"

"Well, the original diagnosis was magikemia," the unicorn mused. He leaned in close to Liberty. "Can you open your mouth please?" Grudgingly she complied, sitting back with her forelegs crossed, wings spread in aggressive stance. He was used to young ones and their inability to control their bodies at this age, so that was nothing new to him. He peered inside. "Mmm, no abnormal eruptions. If I didn't know who you were, I'd say twelve weeks of age." Liberty raised her eyebrows, impressed. His horn glowed, causing Liberty to shiver as a light scan passed over her body. He shook his head, "Absolutely no signs of magikemia. Wings normal, hooves normal, magical signature untainted."

The diminutive mare glanced back and forth between the two stallions, wings and forelegs lowering. "What? What does all that mean? Magikemia, it sounds like leukemia. Something similar?"

The doctor stared at her, still amazed that she was asking about something he had seen slowly kill her most of her life, and here she was, a spring foal with all the energy she never had in her waning days. "Leukemia and magikemia are only similar in that they are both cancerous in nature." He shook his head in disbelief, finally climbing up into a chair next to the table. He needed a rest.

Lowering his head until he was eye to eye with her, he spoke quietly. "Belle, flying was your life. It was your reason for living, you once told us."

"Belle?!" She exclaimed, "Who the hell is Belle?"

"Her name is Liberty, Civil Liberty," Civil asserted.

Glancing at him, Abstract nodded, then looked at Liberty again. "Well, yes later when she herded with your sire, Civil Justice. Her maiden name was Liberty Belle before that. That's how I knew her back then."

She slumped into a sitting position. "I need a drink, or three."

The doctor chuckled at the foal's request. "I need to YouTube that."

"Liberty Belle...Hot was right, it is more complicated than I thought," Civil murmured.

Liberty gave a cute snort, "Whatever, I'm not changing my name." Her eyes met Civil's, who gave her a silent thankyou. She went back to the doctor. "Okay. Magikemia. Me. Sprekkin ze explanation." She drummed out a few taps on the table with her foreleg.

He held up a hoof, "I will try. As you know, we are beings of magic. And we have magical immune systems, so yes, it is similar to leukemia in the symptoms. Exhaustion, bleeding, bruising are common. You see, a normal pony's magic is focused and channeled through their tribe's racial features. Unicorn's horn," he tapped his own, then nodded it at Civil, "the wings and hooves of a pegasus." He tilted his head, "Earth ponies push magic through their legs and hooves...it is even more rare for them to get it, but the onset is so swift, they are spared a lot of the pain. Possibly their direct link with the land, was one line of study, but an unpopular one at the time."

Both the winged ponies stared at him, confused. He smiled apologetically. "Sorry. To put it simply, magikemia is a disorder that causes a magical being's magic to target itself. You are familiar with unicorn magic. There's your pegasus magic, and earth pony magic, dragon magic, too. Essentially all the species have some form, plus so many others. Even chaos magic...mm," he paused and waved a hoof, "we won't discuss that just yet. There are all kinds of, eh, flavors, you could say, in addition to racial. Plant magic, elemental magic, cosmic, celestial, astral. The Great Humors...!" He ran out of breath, trying to list them all. Then he continued at a slower pace.

"Realistically you could write libraries just studying the general differences of each type. It's the reason why you cannot teleport, or I cannot push clouds around, unless I construct a weather spell through my horn that manipulates weather magic. In essence, a normal being's innate magic protects its own and purges foreign magic."

"Like oil and water repel?" Liberty offered.

"Exactly!" he clapped the bottom of his hooves lightly at her. "Only, not just two liquids. We are talking an immense striation of magic types, some actually working well together. Others...? Not so much. And because magic permeates Equestria, our bodies constantly try to prevent other magic types from seeping in, even if some do work well together. An immune system, if you will. It's really called the Autonomic Aether Immune System, but you get the idea. Granted, all magic is not specifically typed. There is raw magic which we all absorb, convert, store. Or inert substances like sugars that are easily converted INTO magic, hence why us unicorn's have such a sweet tooth. Those tend to not set off the AAIS, but support it, actually. Orange juice to up the vitamin C, in a way."

Civil asked, "So, magikemia, it lets in other magic types?"

The unicorn raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no no no. That would be quite horrible to witness." He shook himself, ears splaying out. "This is like...hm, forgive me, my doctorate is in theoretical biological manipulation, not in magical maladies. Yet to my working knowledge of the disease...essentially it's like we all have a particular magical signature. If parts of your magic are not matching that signature, your innate magic quenches it, smothers it. The AAIS is very complex, mind you. It is how almost all ponies maintain their magical equilibrium. A pair of twins would still resist bleeding into each other, though the purge might take a bit longer because of similar signatures by being twins, not necessarily being the same pony tribe."

Liberty hissed softly to herself, imagining what it must have been like. She looked up, "In my case, my magic was destroying itself?"

"To skip over the more disturbing details, yes. Your body had declared war on itself, erroneously identifying its own magic as a foreign entity. Due to the concentration in the wings and hooves, that is where you suffered the most. And as such, the physical manifestations were...ulcers, lack of clotting, eventual crumbling of the hooves and severely atrophied wings toward the end. You get the picture."

"I remember your hooves were always bandaged," Civil said quietly. He glanced at her sides, "and your wings were sensitive. You shuddered every time I nuzzled them. You explained that it was because you were overcome with happiness for me. I thought they were so soft." He blinked, finally realizing something. "I was causing you pain! You never pushed me away, and yet you had to be in horrible pain from me doing that!"

"Civil, what mother would push you away? You were my foal. Are. I mean, I might not have the memories of your past mother, but I know damn well how to be one!"

"Hah!" Abstract couldn't help but laugh, surprising the Civils. This was truly Liberty, here! Alive! "It's amazing. You say you don't remember, but you act just like her." Civil frowned, not really buying it.

"Why did my herd think she was dead? She was gone for several months, and then they said she had simply left us. Later I caught them discussing that she was as good as dead one night, for us to move on and let her go. Why would they say that?"

Abstract calmed down, this topic more sobering than he cared to admit, or cared to talk about. "Hmm. They specifically said that? 'Good as dead'?"

Civil nodded. Liberty walked to the edge of the table and reached out for her son to pick her up. He held her by both hooves and placed her gently on the floor in front of him.

"Then they were quoting the letter that was sent to them regarding the failed-" he stopped suddenly. "I suppose, not so failed procedure, as she is here, alive. At the time, there were complications, not quite a failure, mind you, but we had to tell you all something."

"My mother was still alive and you send a letter explaining to just let her go as though she were dead!? Who wrote that letter!?" His voice was getting louder, enough for the doctor's sensitive ears to pull back. Civil was also shaking his wings. The doctor recognized the onset of pegasi aggression. He tried to calm him by pulling his head back and seem less threatening.

"Now look, Civil, you have to understand the procedure itself was highly experimental, not to mention dangerous to not just your mother but to all participants, as well as highly controversial. Your family was bound to attract too much-"

"DAMN YOU UNICORNS AND YOUR CONTROVERSY!!! WHO WROTE IT!?!?!" Civil stepped forward and roared in the unicorn's face. Liberty was braced against her son's front legs. Well, she tried. Her little body could barely reach both his legs, his stance wide in preparation.

"...the princess," Doctor Living whispered, his voice lowered to de-escalate the situation.

"...celestia?" Civil squeaked. He sat back, stunned. Liberty fell backwards and stared up at him, annoyed.

"Yes, Princess Celestia. She didn't always explain her actions, yet in this, she felt it needed her direct involvement. To help with the grieving process, she said."

"She knew. She knew this whole fucking time." He got up. Liberty had to roll away from him, lest she get Imperial Walkered to death. "I was in that fucking castle year after year, and whenever anypony asked..." He blinked, eyes blazing. "She kicked me out of Equestria and she knew my mother might still be back there, or here, wherever! She lied about my mother dying!" He was ramped up again.

Liberty tugged on his rear leg, favoring a safer position among the giants. "Civil, please calm down. It sounds like he was only following orders-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You were dying and they stuck you in a freezer and THEN," he paused, flaring his wings in aggression. The doctor channeled magic into his horn, hoping he wouldn't have to fight the angry pegasus. "And 'then'," Civil continued, now in a low growl, "she writes a Too Bad So Sad letter...."

"We had to put her into stasis!" He knew he could take the winged pony if he had to. Yet, he was still a practitioner of medicine and science, not battle, and he wanted to keep it that way. "The final synchronization of the complex tapestry of spells caused your mother's molecular structure to begin rapid change, beyond what our simulation models showed it would do-"

"Woh, woh, Doc!" Liberty exclaimed, standing up on her hind legs so she could be seen from way down there. Waving her hooves back and forth, she said, "We have no fucking idea what you are saying. Try speaking laypony!" She ducked her head at Civil and asked, "Same page, right Big Stuff?"

Civil kept his simmering gaze on the doctor, muttering, "Right. Same page, Little Stuff. No fucking idea."

Sighing, the unicorn sat down, extinguishing his horn. "Look, we attempted something incredibly dangerous, unstable, and complicated. Celestia herself wanted to do it, but our best scientists and doctors stood up to her and said if there was even the slightest deviation in how the spells fell into place, it would instantly kill any one pony, or every pony involved. Even an alicorn. In the end we had nearly one-hundred unicorns linked in that project. ALL willing to die, for her." The doctor motioned his head down to Liberty. "Have you ever seen one-hundred unicorns, the best of the best that went through Celestia's gifted school, stand up to that same alicorn? One of the few times she ever backed down, in the history of Equestria, I would wager."

"One-hundred? And the princess was willing to die for me, too?" Liberty put her forelegs down, settling back on her haunches. Her ears perked forward with interest. "Okay, that's awesome!"

"Mother, seriously?" She grinned sheepishly up at her annoyed son. He shook his head and said, "Alright doctor," finally lowering his wings. "What happened?"

"Within the spell concept and design, it was doing what it was supposed to do for most of the procedure. Technically." Civil raised a brow at the unicorn, waiting for him to continue. "Laypony terms...I know." He thought for a moment. "Aside from the time dilation spells that overlapped the whole process, the primary magical construct we wove everything else into was meant to hold her soul in place while her body was rebuilt cell by cell, down to the last molecule. We had to arrest time itself so her soul wouldn't leave the body. We also had to speed up the process of cell regeneration, halt the process of her innate magic eating itself, AND keep all of her bodily functions going without her going into shock or dying." He took a deep breath, remembering that horrible day.

"Every unicorn was casting a spell?" Civil asked in pure awe. He knew some of what unicorns were capable, having seen much in the Royal Guard. But to bring in fields of completely unrelated and partially related magic took immense power, even if only a couple were combined. This was monumental. Liberty just stood there, almost like she was in stasis again.

"Not all at once. But any new introduction of a single unicorn could snap the whole thing like a thousand popsicle sticks under tension in a mandala pattern, so we were all linked. Half of the scientists and doctors were on standby and stepped in when the actives tired. Some nearly burned out before relenting to a fresh unicorn. The ones that were channeling had to hoof off spells while also keeping every spell overlapped. Just the logistics of it alone took months to plan out ahead of time, and she didn't have long once we made the decision to do this."

"You mentioned...my soul?" asked Liberty.

"Soul magic," Civil whispered, "I thought that stuff was forbidden-"

"Do not ask me about it! I'm not even supposed to know that field of study exists. Something the Specials came up with, the ones you were flying courier runs up to in Manehattan." He had paled slightly, muttering something under his breath about Majestic Specials.

She had more questions now, especially about this courier stuff he had mentioned, except Civil continued, "But you said it did what it was supposed to do. Why put her in stasis?"

"Instead of sweeping through her body gradually to replace the bad cells with clean ones and thus her innate magic would recognize itself, her whole body became unstable, all at once. It was like she was de-evolving. We also had several safety spells in place to alert us to any...abnormalities, should anything move slightly out of parameters. Every single safety spell and alert went off at the same time."

"Her cells were breaking down, their outer membranes breaching. It was horribly painful for her. We kept replacing her at the cellular level but we were exhausting our staff exponentially. I almost didn't recover from it for several years. Before the last of us collapsed, stasis became the final option so we could at least review what went wrong, maybe develop wholly new fields of magic for a future viable option. Except...first we had to figure out our mistake."

He tapped his chin and tilted his head, peering at Liberty. "You have a baby foal standing in front of me and I still can't tell you what went wrong. Or what went right, it would now seem. Maybe the permutations of so many spells, unicorns, or variables spawned a single result too obscure for anypony to ever have predicted. Maybe it was something else. We never found out then, and I still don't know, now." Seeing that his explanation still hadn't settled them down much, he lowered himself until he was laying down in front of her.

Speaking quietly, he said, "Once it was clear we had failed, we tried so hard to undue what was happening to you. Several unicorns almost died, just to pour enough magic into the collapsing magical tapestry we had woven so we could analyze what caused the onset of de-evolution, but the princess stepped in, ordering us to place you into stasis."

"And she wrote the letter to us," Civil interjected darkly, "to cover up the debacle."

With a wounded look, the unicorn regarded Civil, "True, she was the one who wrote it, but the letter wasn't her idea, nor the words."

"Whose was it?" Liberty asked.

He pointedly looked at her. "It was yours."

"Mine!?" She exclaimed.

He nodded. "You felt your herd would stop at nothing to find another way to fix what we had done, to heal you somehow. 'They will drain our family funds, put all their careers and dreams on hold and fly to the ends of Equestria and back for me,' you said. You told us we had done so much, including risking our lives and that of the princess for you, that you couldn't have your family suffer any longer than they already had since you started showing symptoms of the disease. So, your last request before going under was for Princess Celestia to write a letter stating word for word what you wanted your herd to hear. What you just told me, Civil." He glanced up at the stallion. "To let her go."

"Why would so many risk so much, for me?" she asked, still shocked by the massive effort to heal her.

"Like I mentioned earlier, that information was never made public." Watching their exasperated reactions, he held up both hooves, "We were part of the Anointed Science Corps of Unicorn Engineers, a subsection for the EUP. Information was sent between us in Canterlot and the Specials up in Manehattan. Due to its sensitive nature, we utilized you for very quiet courier assignments. On one run, something happened, though we in the ASCUE were never debriefed on the matter. What was told to us, you saved nearly all of Equestria, so we were willing to risk it all to save you. Hence, the statue, in your honor."

She looked back at her flank, then at the doctor, "I knew I was awesome."

Civil chuckled. "As if she needed anymore idols to her magnificence."

The unicorn nodded. "They got the fur and the eyes right. The mane...?" He grinned in thought. "Damn sneaky of them. Originally it was done in a golden copper, all of it. Let's just say copper oxidizes quite spectacularly near salt water. And they made it significantly older looking, to obscure who it was supposed to be. So in a way, it was always her, depending on what part you looked at, WHEN you looked at it. Mane and tail the early years, rest of her the later years."

The pegasus stared at the tiny foal's mark and finally slumped to the floor. His eyes glazed, he murmured, "I've been visiting that statue all my life. Triple the frequency when you...'passed away'..." He shook his head, eyes refocusing. "I never thought of it that way. Always you. And...it was little things you would say, those first few visits."

Liberty frowned. She walked around to Civil's front and looked up, asking him softly, "What DID I tell you back then, Civil? Do you remember?"

"You always told me that you did something that saved a bunch of pony lives, that your cutie-mark symbolized a guiding light in the darkest times, that you had brought knowledge, understanding and hope where none should have had a chance to exist. It was self-sacrifice, knowing you would die, yet you were at peace with it, as long as you saved others. Freed them." He was close to tears, remembering the strength and conviction in his mother's voice while she lay on her pallet at the top of the lighthouse, barely able to lift herself. He sat up straighter as he remembered another thing. "You said it meant 'undying freedom'."

The three ponies didn't move, absorbing Civil's recollection. After a minute, Liberty snorted derisively. "That's the stupidest most obscure thing I've heard all day. If I was a unicorn and COULD do time dilation, I'd go back there and kick my own ass!"

The doctor choked back a laugh and gently patted her head. "Libs, that's not how time dilation works. I'm not even going to explain it because-" He was cut off by her sticking both hooves in her ears.

"Lah lah lah lah, unicorn technobabble blah blah blah."

Now the doctor had tears in his eyes, "Dear Celestia I miss that! You always had a way of getting to the salad and potatoes of things."

"Okay Doc, that's another thing," Civil groused. "How is it you remember how she used to act, yet she has been acting the same as my human sister and nothing like the pony mother I knew growing up?"

This caused the unicorn to sit back up, intrigued. "This is your sister's personality, no foaling around?" The two winged ponies nodded their heads 'yes', then shook their heads 'no' in unison. Doctor Living looked between the two, smiling slightly. "Cute. Scary, but cute. Alright. If we were to assume that none of today's discussion has jarred your memory, and like you said, you have a total mind wipe..." He paused, scratching his chin. Closing one eye, he said, "Call me Abs."

Liberty shrugged and said, "Whatever, Abs." He chuckled.

"Still nothing?" She shook her head no. He nodded and sighed. "I can only deduce that you are a clean slate." The dumbfounded looks on their faces prompted more explanation. Again. "The damnedest thing is, I honestly believe our procedure worked, now. And with a new body, a new brain." Civil clenched his jaw and tapped a hoof. The doctor shook his head and walked away from, heading over to a coffee pot. "Libs, if you had a son, how would you act?"

She threw up her hooves, "Oh come on, Doc! We already had this discussion! He and I, a bar, shrimp took a massive dive in population count!" Civil stuck his tongue out at her, but she ignored him. "I still don't care if I was adopted!" She paused, then glanced up at Civil, "Miss anything?" He slurped his tongue back in quickly, shaking his head innocently.

"Nope."

"Hear me out, sweety. I'm sure you both had the best of intentions getting through that discussion, blind as you were." Their looks were not entirely thrilled at his assessment. He clarified with, "I say that because I have something you both do not. Memories of how she acted before and after your birth, Civil."

Civil nodded slowly. "Alright, I can see how rehashing this topic now could be worthwhile. Ask away."

Liberty glared up at her son. "Hay! I'm the one being grilled here, remember?" His muttering about the word 'remember' earned him a neat little kick in the hoof from his mother. Civil smiled slightly at her using 'hay' correctly, 4th wall literary detail be damned.

The doctor was grinning ear to ear. "Always the firebrand. Okay, Libs. Would you be you, or somepony else? Would you act the way you always have, OR, would you tone it down, make different decisions. Pretend you had a newborn foal, mewling for food, can barely crawl. Pretend you've been feeling the effects of the disease for a while now, but you can still fly and your hooves are holding up for the time being. How would you act?"

Despite being put on the spot and having proper context to work with like a debilitating disease, she shrugged. "I still don't know. I would pick him up, hold him so he would know he wasn't alone."

"And when he got a little older, old enough to learn to fly and make decisions for himself?"

"I'd teach him how to walk, how to fly, eat his greens instead of junk food and lobster all the time...." She frowned, pausing. She knew he loved lobster as a human. It seemed natural to keep him from constantly eating such a rich food.

The doctor asked, "Would you ridicule him, play pranks on him, make his life a living nightmare because 'you are only trying to get the stick out of his ass'?"

It started to dawn on her what the unicorn was getting at. She slowly turned her head to Civil and replied, "No, I wouldn't do that to my son. I would teach him..." She racked her brain to think of what a pony mother would do or say. Civil stood up.

"I would teach him right from wrong. I would teach him flight and song," Civil sung softly, closing his eyes. "I would teach him how to swim, how to fight for life and limb." He looked up, eyes glistening.

"♪ But when it's bedtime... ♪" She added like a lullaby.

"♪ Watch me ride the waves, ♪" Civil replied.

"♪ But it's bedtime... ♪" She countered.

"♪ Avoid initiation raves, ♪" Civil mumbled.

"♪ But dear it's bedtime... ♪" Liberty murmured.

"♪ Yes, ma'am, it's bedtime. ♪" Civil answered, closing his eyes.

Liberty smiled, touching his leg with her hoof, "♪ So he behaves. ♪"

He opened his eyes again, their surfaces glistening. He leaned over and hugged the tiny pegasus as much as he could without snapping her in half.

She was smiling, buried under hooves, forelegs and wings. It was a pure happy smile he remembered seeing on her face when she was a human little sister, AND when she was his mother on rare occasions. She was always there...like the statue. She said, "That is exactly something I would say." She turned back to the doctor, who was now holding another steaming mug in his magic, a sublime look of peace on his face. "Was...was that a memory?"

He shook his head sadly, "Unfortunately, that was a little of Harmony's magic. You would have known it for a memory by seeing him in your mind's eye."

She sighed, "For a minute, I thought...Is it possible, that Renee and Liberty, we both have always been the same?"

He tilted his head at her. "Can it be so straight forward?" he said to himself. Blinking, he said, "Given the data we have so far, my theory is you became a clean slate, body and mind, just prior to being cursed. So, when you reverted, there you were, integrating two lifetimes together like anypony else. Albeit in your case, all of a few seconds of your previous new pony life with your human one. I can't fathom why the curse would have such a devastating impact on you. While despicable, it may have just been an accident on Discord's part that it would cause a near death reaction."

Civil frowned slightly, releasing his mother. "I still don't get it. Where is the commonality, the thing that would make Renee follow Liberty's...personality, at least up until she changed with my birth in Equestria?"

The doctor grinned and tipped his horn to Civil. "Good question. And that is where we get into pure theory of transdimensional relocation via chaos magic. Unless Discord were to pop up and answer that side of the equation, all I can surmise is the one thing that made some ponies follow their same dreams as humans here on Earth." He sipped from his mug and breathed softly, "The soul."

Civil stared at the doctor at the revelation. Liberty asked, "Wait, my soul determines my personality?"

"Hrm, not quite," Abstract answered. "It is more like a predisposition. Ultimately it is your life's experiences that shapes your personality. His birth back in Equestria, for instance. That caused a big change in your personality. You became, mmm, heh, forgive me. You became more responsible." At her bristling, he shook his head, "No no, you misunderstand. You were very quick to rush into things. After he was born, you became MUCH more conservative with how you conducted your affairs." That seemed to mollify her.

Civil still look dissatisfied. Abstract drank the rest of the mug down and patted his muzzle with a napkin. "Please, I don't know much more about that topic. Again, it was forbidden, as you pointed out, even though we used it in our project. Yes I know," seeing their faces light up, "it was part of the healing spells arc of the tapestry. That part was handled by the..." He closed his eyes. "Look, if you go asking around for them, please do not mention me. I want to keep my horn." Despite their horrified looks when he opened his eyes, he said, "Libs, you carried missives, orders, requests, responses, and occasionally black box items to and from a group known only as the Majestic Specials. They specialized in all things energy related."

He paused and lowered his voice, near a whisper even ponies could barely hear, "To include the unseen, and the mysteries of the soul. If it was dangerous to the point that it would drive the average unicorn insane just knowing about it, M.S. was already studying it. They also were the ones that had your statue commissioned. The oxidizing trick was their idea, by the way. Whatever you did to earn a statue from them, that was the only reason they came out of their mountain up there to take part in our attempt to save your life. Imagine trying to do surgery, flying blindfolded through a hurricane below treetop level, and when you beg to take the blindfold off, you get told 'M.S. business. Ask any more questions, lose the horn.' They presented us with soul spells we had to weave into the matrix without even proof-reading beforehoof, and just hope they worked. We were taught to NEVER so much as attempt a cantrip before studying it first. But we did it anyway, to save the heroine of Manehattan." He sat there, contemplating all the years and the studies he and his colleagues had conducted on her behalf.

Civil and Liberty were at a loss for words, letting all of that sink in. Then Abstract's eyes lit up, new thoughts coming to him. "Imagine if you will, the soul is infinite. In existence, in capability, in capacity. See," he said, shaking a hoof at something as he stared off, unseen to the pegasi, "I always felt Discord's curse wasn't just brute magic. Yes it spanned space and time, but chaos in and of itself is meaningless without a counterpoint, a...a wall on which to bash itself against, otherwise it would consume itself, internalize. In and of itself, chaos literally has no order, no definition. It literally is meaningless..UNLESS something else exists, to give it definition, reason for existence."

"Like light and shadow, one needs the other?" Liberty asked. Noticing Civil stare at her in surprise, she beamed a smile up at him. "See? I know things too."

Abstract pointed his hoof at her, "Exactly! Matter, energy. These are finite things, only existing in one reality. Chaos spans beyond that. It NEEDS something to latch onto." He clacked the bottoms of his forehooves together. He calmed down, sobering as he stared at his hooves. "It needs souls. Dear Celestia....he must be so lonely..."

"Who?" The pegasi asked in unison.

"Huh?...hm...n-never mind. Ramblings of an old mind." He took a breath and thought. "Think of it this way, why would Discord even bother with us? So many places he can go, so many dead worlds. He can't, or refuses to, because those worlds are dead, lifeless. So what is life? Working on the premise that all lives, all creatures have souls.....yes, this even proves...or, strengthens my hypothesis to theory level..." He glanced up, wondering, and muttered, "Or is this factual...unless we could get it from the dracone-horse's mouth, I suppose it would-"

"What are you talking about?" Civil asked in exasperation. He really hated when unicorns went off on a tangent.

Abstract blinked, as if it were obvious, "Her soul. All of our souls. They are the focus points he had to base his magic on. He transported our souls into new bodies, you, me, even her....but why did she become an infant?" He tapped his chin in thought. "My earlier premise was she was cursed as an infant...so......" His eyes glazed a little.

"Your project was named resurrection?" Civil offered.

"Mm, yes, but it was to rebuild her body completely, cell by cell, not turn it into this young infant."

Great, back to theoretical nonsense. Liberty wasn't having it. "Hell, I'm still here and I am not an infant!"

"Molar count says otherwise," he replied, reaching down to her muzzle.

She snapped at him with her mouth, quipping, "Go buck a test tube."

He smirked, but checked his hoof for marks, anyway. "These bodies, on some level we have not identified yet, connect, bond with the soul. That's why simulacrums are so tricky, why golems are hard to work with. Infinite capacity....the link to our cells, maybe beyond the quantum level....the possibilities are endless, heh, infinite you might say." He glanced up at them. "The cellular decay, the de-evolution. We thought it was the magikemia or a mistake we made. Now...I wonder if on some fundamental level we sundered the connection between her body and her soul, and THAT is why our efforts were failing." He stopped, tapping his teeth together softly, then added, "Always destined to fail." He stared at her. Then at Civil. Another thought had crept in. One he was loathe to express. It bordered on giving Discord credit where one hundred dedicated unicorns and one noble alicorn had failed. He reigned in his tongue, though. He was a pony of science and medicine, not sadism.

"And Renee my sister, now my mother?"

"Because it's her soul. It IS her. In fact, she told me to buck a test tube during her first physical. Coming out of a young pre-cutie filly, I nearly lost it. I couldn't conduct the physical I was laughing so hard. You say she is your sister?"

"Yes..."

"You grew up with her, as a human. She has always been this way?"

"Yes....and now, she is my mother and acts nothing like her."

Abstract stepped up to them and leaned down, offering his hooves. After a moment of hesitation, she carefully climbed up on them. He raised her up to Civil's eye level and eyed them both, all three of them close together. "No. Like the statue...This IS how Civil Liberty has ALWAYS been."

Civil and Liberty stared at each other. Had she been there all this time, just pre-mother? Had he gotten to see what no other colt or filly ever gets to see, an inside look on how their mother was before they were a mother?

The unicorn offered to put her atop Civil's head. Then he nuzzled them both, careful not to poke anypony with his horn. "I want to be the first to say I am so glad that we saved you, no matter the result or however long it took you to come back to us. And if we had to do it again, it would still be worth it."

***

"My brain feels like mush after that blatant information dump on us," Liberty whined, lying down on top of Civil's head.

"Agreed." He would be rubbing his temples now if he wasn't trying to balance his mother up there.

His mother.

Despite all that he had learned, there was a weight lifted from him. Maybe from his soul, if Abstract Living were to be believed about that stuff. They were still no closer to getting back her memories, but the doctor had mentioned she was a clean slate now. Well, a clean slate with a very colorful background of his sister to contend with, and a long life ahead of her free of that horrible disease, however she had originally contracted it.

She sat up and asked, "Pizza?"

He snorted once, then nodded slightly, "Pizza." He started looking up nearby places on his phone. A thought caused him to chuckle as he murmured, "Liberty Belle..."

"SHUT IT!"

I know, no police stuff just yet, but very soon.