“Well you certainly are full of firsts aren’t you?”

Alexia’s ears perked up at barely hearing the unfamiliar disembodied voice over the pounding music. She scanned the area on top of the canvas. As expected, all she saw was the pulsing array and lightly swinging chains as the deep bass vibrated them. “Hello?”

A jester’s laugh pieces the air as Tune’s perception of the pounding music faded away. “I half expected it to take much longer than a month before anypony started to appreciate my gift.”

Tune felt the array break from her control a moment before the world around her vanished. Her reality was a black void for several seconds before color returned and she found herself inside a tower like domicile. Her stomach was doing flips and her mind was spinning at the rapid teleport. Managing to hold onto the greasy dinner Conrad brought her, she saw a large ornate low to the ground bed, the three story open chamber had its walls crammed with books with a third of the tower being a massive window in golden dividers. The balcony beyond had a telescope and the mid-morning sun over the horizon. Above the shock of finding herself in a completely different place, was the extremely oppressive ambient mana in the air. Everywhere she had been to as a unicorn so far, felt no different than as it had when she was human. But here, mana was everywhere, permeating her magical senses to the point where it was giving her a dull hornache and her vision was tinted a faint lavender shade. “Is. Is anyone there?” She called out, hoping to find out where she was.

“You are here aren’t you?” Replied a slightly manic voice from everywhere at once.

Alexia heard a coy lighthearted chuckle echo across the room. That laugh sounds so familiar, but I can’t place it. “Why am I here?”

“So I can speak with you of course.” In a flash of light, the most terrifying thing she had ever seen materialized directly in front of her, a draconicus. She could watch the most terrible and horrifying monsters Hollywood could ever produce and not even flinch, but to be in such close proximity to a creature like that in the flesh evaporated all bravado in an instant. “But almost everypony seems to find that difficult during parties now don’t they?” Discord asked rhetorically.

Alexia found herself backpedaling into a bookcase. “Who or what are you?”

Discord snapped his fingers and Tune was teleported back into the center of the room. “I’m the one who gave you this.” A second snap teleported the tome to Alexia’s hooves. “You may call me, Discord. Everypony does, although I like to think it doesn’t fit very well anymore. Too archaic, too stagnate. Yet I haven’t come up with a fitting new one yet.”

“Discord?” She looked down at the tome and absently placed a hoof on its closed cover. Her eyes dilated at the realization and the same hoof pointed up at him. “The price tag. You’re responsible to for turning me and the others into ponies!”

He clapped his hands while spinning lazily through the air. “Bravo for your amazing deductive skills. I’m glad I didn’t have to spell it out for you completely.”

She immediately recognized he had power as equally terrifying as his appearance. Her hoof fell back to the floor as she asked while sinking down to the floor cowering in front of him. “What do you want from me?”

His ire grew at her trembling even though he expected the reaction as par for the course from mortals who saw him. Most mortals anyway. “What I want is to talk with you, but I can hardly do that if you’re more frightened than Fluttershy on Nightmare Night.” At his approach she covered her head and sewed her eyes shut as he was about to wash her mind of the terror. The moment before he touched her, he hesitated as he imagined the canary yellow pegasus’s disapproving glare. I suppose that wouldn’t be proper.

Instead he backed off and morphed into a plaid earth stallion with a polka dotted mane while keeping his yellow and red eyes the same. “There. Is that more to your liking?”

She peeked through her a cracked eye to see his new form cartwheeling in the air and got up to sit on her haunches while wrapping her forelegs around the tome and pressing it against her chest. “A little yes.”

He flashed over to pat her on the head. “Now now, you shouldn’t grovel in terror so much. After all, I just wanted to talk.”

“About what?” She replied with a little more confidence.

“About you and your planet mostly.” He stopped patting her and jumped back to give her space. “Or more importantly, the future of your planet.” He started aimlessly floating about the room. “You’re the first pony on your planet to show true appreciation to what I’ve given you, and for that I wanted to meet your personally. Alas it is impossible for me to travel to your corner of the galaxy. There’s no ambient magic there to sustain a marvelous individual such as myself.”

Tune was completely terrified of him. This is the guy who not only had the power to change me into a pony, but to teleport me to…wherever here is. Still, if he wanted to harm me he’d have done it by now. Steeling herself, she stood up straight to look Discord in the eyes. “No matter what your reasons were, I want to express my sincere gratitude for what you did to me. I don’t know if any of your other…benefactors, will ever say it, but I will happily live out my days as a unicorn.”

Discord stopped in midair to study her closely. She clearly fears me, and yet has the courage to thank me for spicing her life up. Perhaps this new breed of ponies from Earth will develop a bit more love of chaos then I originally thought. He teleported to stand perpendicular to her and stared into her eyes as she instinctively turned to face him. She was frozen in his magic as he stared into her soul. What he found was highly amusing. “How strange. You still have your memories, as expected, and some of your old thought patterns; but your spirit has completely converted to that of a pony’s.” He maintained the spell but stopped his search for a moment to wonder how that that happened. “That was not something I originally anticipated.” He shrugged. “I do love glitches in the system.” He peered a little deeper and chuckled at what he saw. Oh this is rich. Just what have you been doing over there my dear?

He broke the spell and drifted in the air away from her. Her ill at ease around the draconicus who made her what she was began to abate and subconsciously pawed the ground. “If I may ask. What was your purpose for turning me and others into ponies?”

“That is the million bit question now isn’t it. You see I’m a chaotic creature by nature and as such I find it rather unbecoming when I see things become too orderly and lifeless. Which is what your planet will soon become.” He added nonchalantly.

“Lifeless? What do you mean?” She asked worried by what he meant.

He drifted close to her ear and was about to answer when he stopped himself. “Ah if I told you everything it would break the rules of the game now wouldn’t it.” He tutted while wagging a hoof turned claw at her.

“But didn’t you just say you’re a chaotic creature?” She inquired with mixed conviction. “I didn’t think someone like you would follow rules.”

Discord laughed uproariously. “Au contraire mon ami. Rules can make the game more fun. And once agreed upon, cannot be broken. Even I suffer consequences for doing that.” He replied as a millennium in stone came to mind. “Besides, aside from you ponies out there, your corner of the universe has no magic to speak of. Doing all I’ve done so far is far more draining than I would like to admit.”

“Oh.” Her hornache was lessening as her body adapted to the oppressive magic in the air, she was after all a magical creature herself and naturally thrived in such an environment. “So you can’t tell me why my world is in danger?”

“You didn’t think I would make it that easy did you?” He popped in upside down on the other side of the room. “Just because I don’t want your planet to be rendered lifeless doesn’t mean I’m going to make it all better for you.” She was still hung up on the comment about lifelessness but stayed silent as he continued on speaking. “As a dear friend of mine keeps reminding me, you can’t have everything you want. And for that alone I will do no more than I already have.”

“I understand.” She said after digesting all he had told her. “For what it’s worth though, I’m glad to have met you.”

“Is that so?” He asked half mockingly before transitioning back to his true form. “A moment ago you could barely stand the sight of me.”

She recoiled at the serpentine dysfunctional sight of his body, trembling not just at his appearance, but the power he wielded. This is the person who made me what I am. And I love what I’ve become. Not knowing what would come of it, she forced her instinctual fear aside to walk up to him. “I’m hardly one to judge a person on their outward appearance. And you’ve already helped my planet escape whatever fate you’ve foreseen.” In your roundabout way of doing things. With the same force of will that she used to overcoming the mental barrier, she wrapped her forelegs around Discord in an embrace. “No matter what anyone else says. You will always have my thanks.”

He was brought up short as to how to react. Outside of Fluttershy, he had yet to gain any sort of real positive rapport in Equestria. Sure he was allowed to wander with the three princess’s blessings, but ultimately he still had very little experience in adoration. Is this why Celly plays the benevolence card so much? I honestly expected some sort of resistance to what I had done, wishing to return to being human, or screaming to be returned home. So moved by her affection he decided to bend the rules a smidgen. “Here.” He said as a wad of pink cotton candy materialized in his claw. “I can help you once, but after that your fate is your own.”

She separated from him, as he handed her the candy and she took it in her magic. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Nothing is ever what it seems, but it is edible.” He added with a mischievous smirk.

Her magical senses could tell it was heavily enchanted, but to what effect it would have on her she could only guess at. Well nothing for it. She ate the fist sized wad of cotton candy. Discord hid a wild grin as she ate the last bite. A slight warmth radiated from her gut before subsiding. “What did it do?”

“You’ll find out in due time.” He giggled at his personal joke. “Off you go now. I have a picnic with a certain yellow friend of mine and I’d hate to keep her waiting. Arrivederci.” With a click of his talons she vanished and reappeared back at the Smith warehouse.

The array was dark and the reservoir crystals were dull and lifeless in a ring around her hooves. The music was present, but it was winding down and the sound of the cheering crowd below had all but disappeared. Alexia gave herself a once over to discover she felt as if she had just gotten a full nine hours sleep. More acutely, she felt stark emptiness in the air around her in the sudden shift between the mana rich Equestria back to Earth which lacked any atmospheric magic.

As she conducted her self-assessment the phone rang. Shaking off the odd sensation of being in a void due to returning to her mana poor homeworld, she picked it up with her magic and saw it was Qubert. “Hello.”

“Hey Tune. Great job on the light show tonight, the people loved it. It makes up for Loki trashing a table.”

Confusion washed over her. “The party’s over? What time is it?”

“It’s almost two in the morning man. You must have seriously lost track of time to let that slip by.”

Baffled by the slurred statement, she checked her phone’s clock to discover Qubert was more or less accurate in his drunken ramblings. “And I kept the array active the whole time?”

“Ah, yeah.” He replied haltingly. “Did you go into some sort of trance or meditation?”

“Maybe I did.” She replied uncertainly, while a slight sugary aftertaste hung in her mouth she didn’t know if she had truly met Discord or if the diminishing buzzing sensations were simply after effects of channeling the array for so long. Was all of that some weird trance dream? I better check the tome for any side effects of prolonged divination casting. “I guess the trance snuck up on me.”

“Well my bro and I going to be closing up here fairly soon. Loki’s passed out on the bar, hot damn can she drink. Oh, and your lover’s managed to stay awake. He’s rambling to Paul about the weather of all things.”

Oh hell, did Conny get plastered and start talking? “What do you mean my lover?”

“Loki was talking all about it. I gotta say man, I always knew you were one to move forward with your life but I didn’t think you’d start getting rutted that quickly.”

Damn it Loki, he didn’t need to know about me and Conrad. She became defensive towards his less than sober remarks. “Yeah well you know what? I like having sex as a female. I was straight as a man and I’m straight as a mare. I don’t see the problem.”

“Whoa now. Not a problem for me. Just thought it was quirky is all.” He replied in a drunken attempt to smooth things over.

I bet Loki conned him into getting wasted. She rubbed her face to massage the irritation out of it. “Go home Q, you’re drunk.”

“Now that is something we can both agree on.” He slurred heavily. Smith forgot to take the phone away from his mouth as he shouted to his brother. “Hey Paul, we’re leaving soon right?” His brother yelled back something unintelligible. “Paul says he wants everybody out before lock up, so that means you three as well.”

“Alright, just be sure to lower the canvas again so I can get down. I don’t know if Conrad is in a state to help me with that.”

“Sure sure.” He tried to hang up, but tapped the wrong button and set it to speaker phone. “Hey Paul, lower the big white and green thing would ya?”

Alexia groaned in exasperation and hung up. She gathered her belongings in the fanny pack and pulled out her pocket knife to cut a square hole in the fabric to drop down onto a table after it had finished lowering.

Conrad wobbled over to her after seeing the square fabric fall to the floor and was there to greet her on solid ground. He didn’t smell of alcohol, but was clearly beyond exhaustion. “You look a hell of a lot better than I thought you would after running the array for so long.”

She tittered at his completely bedraggled appearance. “Thanks. And you look like shit.”

He smirked at her teasing. “I’m going to go sleep in the car.”

“Okay.” She pecked him on the mouth. “I’m feeling well enough to drive so we can get on the road immediately.”

He was too tired to argue and only nodded in response before heading for the exit. Alexia gave her goodbyes to the Smith brothers as she grabbed Loki in her kinesis before draping the green mare over her back and took her leave of the establishment.

The parking lot was almost empty with the two tan cars for the Smiths, her lime green one, and a white sedan parked near her own. Loki’s snoring was rattling Alexia’s ears so she hurried along towards the car. Conrad was out like a light in the backseat, and was curled up so he was only taking up one seat. Perfect, they can both sleep in the back. Maybe they’ll curl up together in their sleep, that’d be some epic blackmail photos.

As soon as she gently placed Loki in the car along with her fanny pack and shut the door, an unfamiliar voice called out to her from the opposite side of the white sedan. “You must be Alexia Tune.” She jumped at the authoritative tone in the masculine voice.

“Who’s there?” She caught sight of a man in casual attire, but there was nothing casual about his demeanor. He had an unremarkable face save for his short red hair.

“Agent Carter, FBI.” He flashed his badge and ID tag. “I would like to share a few words with you.”

Tune didn’t believe for a second that an FBI agent would be meeting her like this if he didn’t have backup hidden somewhere nearby and sweated at what he was going to do with her. She started breathing rapid shallow breaths as images of alien autopsies filled her mind. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Well then that should make things much easier for us both then.” He strode slowly from the driver’s door of his car to walk towards the fearful unicorn. “It’s quite amazing is it not? After so many centuries of existing only in mythology and fairy tales, a true to life unicorn stands before me. I’m sure its not so much for you anymore, but you must forgive me if I take a moment to indulge in childish delight.”

“I suppose that’s better than being thrown in a lab.” She replied in a weak attempt at humor.

“Rest assured, we already have enough of you being dissected to satisfy our immediate curiosity.”

She laughed weakly at the preserved joke. He did not. “Oh god you are going to kill me aren’t you?”

“Not unless I have to.” He replied coldly. “Not everyone turned into a…pony I believe you call yourselves, have been very cooperative or even good tempered. I know you used to be human, and so long as you remember your loyalties as a citizen of the United States you have nothing to fear from me.”

“You? You would let us go freely?” He hopes bubbling up only to be dashed the very next moment.

“I’m afraid not.” He stated matter-of-factly. “To ensure the safety of the nation all three of you will have to come with me.”

“I-I guess I should have seen that coming.” She admitted despondently. “Can I at least know what you’re going to do with us?”

He considered her question for a few moments, and decided to give her a half answer. “I suppose I can give you that much. Magic. Whether what you unicorns do can truly be called magic or some form of energy manipulation, it doesn’t concern me. What matters is that you are a brand new resource ready to be exploited. Rest assured Miss Tune, we want you very much alive, well, and cooperative.”

Her eyes kept drifting to the edge of her field of vision beyond the parking lot, but the lights from the warehouse were foiling her night vision. “You don’t see me as a threat to you?”

He chuckled darkly. “Miss Tune, surely you realize everybody and everything is a threat. Terrorists, crackers, hostile governments, more than I’m willing to list. What we do know, is that America is not the only nation to have some of its population converted into ponies. Some will foolishly squander this opportunity by hunting them down out of fear, a minority has proven to be indifferent. The United States is more concerned with nations that will find a way to weaponize your kind.”

Well that’s just great. I’m reduced from a person to a weapon. Some of her panic converted into anger. “So that’s it then? You would treat me as some tool for your arms race?”

“Every agent, lawyer, and politician is a tool Miss Tune.” He replied casually. “Even I am a resource to be used. There is no shame or belittlement in that. As I’m sure you noticed from your little stunt at the fair, the public is more likely to smother you in puppy love than fear you. It is for that reason we’ve changed our protocol surrounding your kind. I am authorized to give you this one offer. You and your friends will voluntarily join a new agency currently dedicated to locating and collecting your kind to be resettled. Anything more than that you will learn upon arrival.”

“If there’s so many of us to warrant such an agency, why haven’t I heard anything about more of us on the news?”

His tone fell flat. “That’s classified.”

She knew he’d be evasive. “Can you at least tell me if I’m going to be thrown in some cell to only see the light of day when you need me?”

He gave an amused huff. “Well, that depends entirely on you Miss Tune. As with anyone, human or otherwise, how you conduct yourself determines how you will be treated. We can either be friends and show mutual respect. Or,” he said at length. “I can have you incarcerated and sent to that dissection table you so rightly fear.”

Alexia could see the man was unarmed, and yet was more terrified of him than she had been of Discord. She forced her voice to remain even although she did not hide her resentment. “Not like I have much of a choice do I?”

“On the contrary.” He stated while reaching for a phone. “You had a choice; you just picked the smart one.” He hit a speed dial. “Target is cooperative stand ready.” He tapped a few more buttons before putting it away. “And now we wait.”

“For what?”

He gave no response as the distant sound of thumping air grew louder until the long distinctive silhouette of a Chinook revealed itself out of the gloomy night sky. The unicorn jumped at seeing several men in black combat gear emerged from the thin layer of trees surrounding the parking lot with two of them sprinting to the warehouse. Before the Smiths could emerge to find out why the sound of a helicopter was getting so close, the two operatives shot them with tranquillizers before the brothers saw anything. The two operatives removed the darts from the Smiths before running back over to where the Chinook was setting down next to Alexia’s car.

The noise of it all went unnoticed by the drunken mare, while it took an exhausted Conrad a few bleary moments to register the scene happening outside the car and sunk below the window to avoid being seen. I knew showing ourselves like this was a horrible idea. Is it a cartel or the government?

He did not stay hidden for long as the operatives opened the doors with guns raised. Loki was still snoring and was taken while Conrad fell to the gravel when the door he was leaning on was pulled out from under him. The closest operative backed off three feet so his rifle could be used freely. “Stand down!”

Conrad had no more love of law enforcement than Loki did, but he was smart enough to know when he couldn’t escape. “What have you done with Alexia?”

“I’m right here.” She yelled over the noise of the helicopter. She ran to the other side of the car to keep him from being harmed. Carter gestured to let her move freely and she half hugged and half collided with Conrad trying to keep from dumping all of her terror onto him. “Please don’t try anything, they won’t try to hurt us if we cooperate.”

“You want to know exactly how many times I’ve said that same line and never meant a word of it?”

She met his eyes with pleading shaky resolve. “Please Conrad, I couldn’t take it if I lost you. Don’t fight them.”

The brown pegasus found himself completely unwilling to refuse her request. He embraced her protectively while eying the operatives. “Okay Alexia. I won’t try anything.”

“Touching.” Carter remarked, having made his way over. The ramp of the Chinook opened and three crewmen ran over to put Alexia’s car in neutral and push the vehicle into the hold while two men hefted Loki into one of the six customized seats for ponies. It was akin to a foam cushion attached to a five point harness that comfortably wrapped around Loki’s legs and barrel so long as she laid on her belly with enough of a headrest for the crewman to her to put her head down on.

Conrad and Alexia watched as everything they owned was being placed inside the aircraft while Carter stood adjacent to three operatives who had the tact to keep their weapons pointed at the ground rather than the ponies. “Now if you will kindly step inside we can get underway.”

The two civilians wordlessly obeyed and were strapped into their own seats with Alexia between her two compatriots. She was utterly miserable in blaming herself for them getting picked up by the government, while Conrad glared at Carter who was completely indifferent to him. Three of the operatives joined Carter and the crew to make sure Alexia didn’t try anything funny with her magic. As soon as the car was secured in place, the helicopter took off.

Conrad eventually tired of staring at a man who couldn’t care less about his indignation and turned to Alexia who was sobbing with her ears pressed flat and head buried in her forelegs. He only noticed just now because the noise of the engines drowning her out. He could tell she blamed herself for their predicament. The stallion remembered briefly talked to Carter during the party and had taken an instant dislike of the man, but had no reason to act on that suspicion at the time.

She can’t shoulder the whole blame herself for this. I was not willing to let the risk of getting captured keep her from settling the debt. Honor demanded she do so, and Alexia wanted to without a second thought. No good deed ever goes unpunished.

The harness did not restrict his forelegs so he was able to place a comforting hoof on her withers and leaned to her ear. “Whatever happens Alexia, I will be there for you.”

Tune tilted her head to peek at him from under her fetlocks. She stared at him with tear dark lines in her face’s fur and puffy eyes. The mare searched his tense yet comforting expression for any sign of resentment. “What if they separate us? Or the agent lied and will kill us anyway?”

Conrad kept a level head and indicated to their seats. “If they wanted to harm us, they wouldn’t have gone through so much effort to make us comfortable or keep us conscious.”

“Maybe they just want to keep our coats intact before they skin us for a rug.” Worst case scenarios kept flashing through her mind as she felt nothing Carter said could ever be trusted. “Or they found some elixir of youth in ground up pony bones. Or cut my horn off to use as a wand or something.”

He gently pulled her head in close. “Listen to me Alexia.” She stopped rambling, but her manic depression was only getting worse. “You have to stay focused and alert.” His terse words cut through some of the terror induced mania. “Be ready to act and keep your wits about you. If these people really do mean to harm us, you need to be ready to act.” With her resolve rallying he glanced at the bracelet around her left foreleg’s fetlock. “If things get dicey, I want you to use that invisibility of yours to escape.”

Her brow furrowed at the implication. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Alexia.” He hissed trying to get her to see his point.

“No!” She shouted in anger over the drone of the engines before calming her voice down. “I will never abandon you.” Her anger dissolved into desperate pleading. “Don’t you ever get an idea like that in your head again, we stay together or we die apart. I couldn’t bare living without you anymore.”

You may just have to. He was close enough that he was able to nuzzle her. “Alright Alexia. I’ll stay by you as long as I am able.” Her eyes softened and found comfort in his reassurances. I’ll need to wait for an opportunity to gather my bracelet from the car when the fascists aren’t looking.

The flight lasted nearly three hours until the helicopter made its decent. The atmosphere was too tense for either Tune nor Conrad to get any sleep while Loki snored through the entire ordeal in an alcohol induced coma. The humans scurried into action as soon as the aircraft touched down. The three crewmen opened the cargo doors and drove the car out while Agent Carter and his operatives saw to the removal of the ponies out of the helicopter.

They found themselves in a large military airbase that possessed massive rows of small identical buildings to the north and several structures to the south for base operations. Interspaced between the two sets of buildings was the airfield and expansive rolling grasslands. Conrad grunted slightly at having the deceptively heavy earth mare sprawled over his back as he studied his surroundings. He first oriented himself to magnetic north thanks to his tribe’s innate abilities. Its too dark to see what everything is, but it looks like the primary infrastructure dominates the southern half of the base while if those low hanging lights are anything to go by, there’s nearly fifty billets on the north half that I can see. But I didn't get a chance to see how far they went from the air.

Carter led them away from the Chinook to a well-lit reception area which consisted of little more than drab concrete with a stand-alone overhang with a backless iron bench. Standing there was someone neither Conrad nor Alexia expected to see. A red pegasus stallion with a black mane awaited them to come within earshot and away from the cooling down helicopter. As they got closer, it was clear that he was wearing a Battle Dress Uniform cap with his name and rank adorning the front. Conrad couldn’t make out his name in the bad angle of the light.

Carter strode up to him and spoke in a professional manner. “First Sargent Vanders. The new recruits you were informed of.”

Vanders nodded. “Thank you Agent Carter. Is there anything else I should know before I begin?”

“No developments during the flight. Everything you need to know has already been presented.”

“Thank you Agent.” He gave a curt nod.

Carter reciprocated. “Until next time Sergeant.”

Carter walked off towards administration with his operatives, leaving Vanders alone with the three civilians. He surveyed their faces, Tune was holding it together, but was still on edge. Conrad looked ready to bolt, but Vanders could tell he cared about the mares he accompanied and knew he wouldn’t be a flight risk. “If you will follow me, I will escort you to your quarters.”

The couple gave each other questioning looks before falling in step behind Vanders. There was only one length of pavement between the helipad and the large field of single story domiciles. The First Sergeant took the moderately out of the way path so they would stay on the concrete walkways instead of the large fields, partially to stay off the damp grass and partly so that he could keep track of them by the clip clopping on the hard surface without needing to turn around.

Conrad trudged on silently while much of Alexia’s anxiety melted away at Vander’s presence. If they have a fellow pony as an NCO… Risking a reprimand she closed the distance between them. “Were you military before all this?”

“I was.” He replied with strained warmth. It was evident on his face that Vanders was tired, but hid it very well under a mask of courteous professionalism. “I was on deployment when it happened.”

She cringed. “Oh. That couldn’t have been fun.”

“No. It was not. Suffice it to say, I was glad the brass changed their minds about us ponies.”

Alexia was surprised the NCO knew the term. I thought Carter was just calling us that because of what Loki told him. “Why are we called ponies?” Conrad’s fatigue riddled mind caught on her odd question and remained silent to see what Vanders would say.

The First Sergeant kept walking, but turned to face her fully on his right. “Several people called out our similarities to the barnyard ponies.” He lied while trying not to say the real answer was classified. “So we got stuck with the title.”

“A fair point.” Conrad remarked. “We could have been saddled with a worse name.” All three nodded in agreement and several minutes elapsed before Conrad voiced a concern. “Are we all going to end up being voluntold into joining the service?”

“Hardly.” Vanders replied curtly. “Not everyone can handle that kind of lifestyle and there are too many of us to try that anyway. You will go through a battery of tests to see what you’re best suited for.”

“Are we going to be separated?” Tune asked worriedly.

“No. The agency is well aware of the strong herd mentality we seem to possess and separating groups such as yours has proven to have very negative consequences in the past. As such each house has four bedrooms and you’ll be getting an empty one.”

“What do you mean herd mentality?” Alexia queried.

“You’ll find out about it during orientation. Given the hour, yours will be scheduled after lunch so you can get some sleep.”

Despite the respite Discord granted her, Alexia’s emotional upheaval during the flight was exhausting and Conrad was running on fumes. Alexia caught on to Conrad’s fatigue and levitated Loki off his back and onto hers. Vander’s noticed the exchange. “You’ve already learned how to use levitation? You’re one of only three so far capable of that upon arrival.”

“Only three out of how many?” Conrad asked prodding for information. He could tell in the sprawling field of barracks that it was no small number, but he had no way of know how many were occupied.

“As of right now, there are twenty three hundred of us.” Vanders answered flatly. “But less than five hundred are unicorns."

Both other ponies halted in their tracks. “Twenty three hundred!?” They shouted in unison.

Vanders stopped and turned around to answer the obvious question. “It's quite amazing how thorough both intelligence agencies can be at joint information control. Much more competent than Hollywood portrays them as.”

Tune couldn’t believe her ears. “We’ve only existed for a month though, how did they clamp down on the media so quickly?”

How do you know its only been a month? Vanders filed his observation for later. As for their question, he knew it was unclassified information towards other ponies, but acted as if it was. “I suppose there’s no point in not telling you given the circumstances. Normally it would take a lot for the FBI and CIA to take people randomly transforming into ponies seriously. However when the director of the CIA and several ranking FBI personnel find themselves with fur and four legs, you can imagine how fast the wheels start spinning.”

“That would do the trick.” Conrad remarked as they started moving forwards again. Plus the world has so many other distractions, I’m sure it was easy to discount real footage of other ponies as computer generated hoaxes.

Eventually Vanders stopped by a billet that looked like an above ground dome shaped bomb shelter that was designed to withstand tornado force winds. It was half the size of the manor and had far fewer windows or any of the charm or character the house possessed. Across the front door was the identification number reading “T-800”. Vanders removed the four sets of keys from a nail in the door frame with his mouth before putting them on a hoof and giving them to Alexia and Conrad. “One for each of you and a spare for when you get a bunkmate. We’ve found keeping groups of four works best for morale.”

“Why’s that?” Alexia inquired as she took the keys in her magic.

Fine controlled telekinesis was still rare and Vanders couldn’t help but to watch her work before snapping back to the present. “We’re not entirely sure of it ourselves as we’re only working on guesswork observations.” The sergeant admitted. “While exceptions exist, it has been noted by numerous observations that isolation sickness progresses rapidly and is felt more acutely in us than it is in humans, although many unicorns such as you seem to suffer only mild symptoms. Oddly enough, we don’t require other ponies to stave it off, spending time with humans or pets are sufficient to keep from suffering the condition.”

Tune brought a hoof to her chin in contemplation. Maybe that’s why Loki was flipping out like that with the pranks, she’s more susceptible to isolation and Conrad and myself were not enough to keep it at bay. “Well we have all become a different species. Even though we have our old memories doesn’t mean we’re impervious to the new brain chemistry and hormones of a pony’s body.”

“Such is the underlying principle behind a few prevailing theories.” Vanders was mildly impressed. “What was your profession before becoming a unicorn?”

“A mail carrier.” She replied evenly.

It was not the answer he was expecting. “Interesting. At any rate, chow is served all day from oh seven hundred to twenty two hundred, we’re not expecting miracles from civilians here. You are free to wander the grounds except for the southern buildings without escort.” He turned to address Conrad specifically. “You are authorized to fly at all times provided you do not leave the facility’s airspace, we are tracking everything and we will know if you try. In addition, you must heed the aircraft warning sirens and return to the ground when aircraft are coming and going, no exceptions, not even for me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal.” It was far more than Conrad could have hoped for. Just as Tune was fully enraptured by wielding magic, he too was firmly in flight’s seductive grip and would have rebelled if he was denied it.

He gave a curt nod before returning his address to both of them. “Good. An enlisted man will be here at fourteen hundred hours. He will escort you through orientation and other tasks, after that you are free to do as you please unless instructed to otherwise. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” They replied.

Vanders assumed a more pleasant tone. “I am not an officer, call me First Sergeant or just Sergeant.” He knew civilians typically didn’t know so he was kind about it. As soon as they gave their understanding he spoke again. “Now, the hour is late and you should get some sleep. Everything you absolutely need is waiting for you inside.”

“Will we see you again?” Alexia asked before the stallion could leave.

“Probably. Despite retaining my rank, I live here with all the other ponies.”

“We’re being segregated from humans?” Conrad asked venomously, but it lost much of its sting because his overwhelming fatigue was making him sluggish and rock back and forth on his hooves.

“There is a legitimate reason for it beyond simple bigotry.” Vanders replied diplomatically. “You may have already noticed it given what’s on your file, but the reason will be covered in ordination.”

“Thanks for the information.” Alexia said while gesturing to Conrad to go inside.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Vanders said grateful to the given excuse.

Tune unlocked the door and slipped inside with Conrad shambling in close behind, with the object of his ire gone the full weight of his fatigue hit him like a train. I think I’ll take it easy to the next party I go to.

The small entry room was bare of anything save for the short carpet that muffled their hoofsteps. The hallway was narrow, but the building did allow for modest living quarters for four. Tune carefully set Loki down in one room before locating Conrad in a second one. He managed to drag himself into a second bedroom, but his exhaustion proved too much. Alexia found him passed out on the floor. And here I thought only simulated people would crash asleep in front of a bed.

She found this bedroom mirrored the one she put Loki in, the single sized bed was low to the ground, and there was only a small chest of drawers and a nightstand with a digital alarm clock. Oddly enough, she found a set of brushes for both coat and mane along with hoof care supplies sitting on wall mounted shelves at eye height. “That can wait.”

Alexia levitated the passed out pegasus onto the bed after pulling the covers over him. Its too narrow to sleep together…He did say there were four bedrooms. She found an empty one was a carbon copy of the others. She could even smell the sawdust of the new construction in the corners. Without preamble she hoisted the bed, frame and all in her magic and carefully slid it through the hall and into Conrad’s room. Because of the frame’s construction she was able to position the mattresses to be flush together.

“There, now its big enough.” She jumped on the conjoined beds and cuddled in next to Conrad. Whatever happens to us. So long as I’m with you I can handle anything. In his embrace, she almost fell asleep when her eyes shot open at remembering something important.

Two human army privates were searching Tune’s car for contraband and already had all of their food and personal possessions lined up in three rows. One of them was screening the driver’s seat and found the tome. He pulled it out and studied its surface.

“Granger, take a look at this.” The private in question turned away from the cooler holding produce and walked over to take the proffered tome. Granger’s brow furrowed as he studied it. “Think this is another one of the books?”

He scanned the book’s surface. “No doubt about it. First one with a lock on it though.”

“Command will want to see it.” His companion remarked as Granger tested the security of the lock. The book started glowing azure for a couple of seconds before it winked out of existence, much to the shock of the enlisted men.

It reappeared above Alexia’s head with a light wind of displaced air ruffling the covers and drapes. She levitated it over to an open drawer and placed it within. “I don’t really care what they did with my car, but this stays with me.” She recast the hearth charm on the drawers. With her most prized possession safe, she snuggled back in with Conrad and drifted off to sleep.