[PiE][Shadowrun]Sixth World Studies and Sparkles Part I

>You stare blankly at the notes in front of you.
>Holy shit, none of this makes any sense.
>Like, absolutely none of it.
>You flip back a couple of pages and read the section on Sudden Unexplained Genetic Expression, Halley's Comet, and how it affected the mana levels of the Sixth World.
>You get the gist of it, sure, but the asshole is probably going to ask details.
>For fuck's sake, if you knew how metagenetic expression worked, you'd be sitting in an R&D lab already.
>You look over to your roomate.
>The purple pony had her muzzle buried in a book.
>Judging by the time, she's probably on Thaumaturgical Calculus.
>You crumple up a piece of paper and throw it at her.
>She catches it in her telekinetic field and gives you a baleful look.
>"What is, Anonymous? You're not the only one with finals."
"Twi."
"What?"
"Twilight."
"What, Anonymous? Are you just being silly again?"
"Twilight Sparkle."
>She buries her muzzle back in the book and huffs in annoyance.
>Kek.
"No, but seriously, I need your help. Did Equestria ever have anything similar to SURGE and mana spikes based on astronomical events?"
>She looks at you again, scrunches her muzzle, and thinks about it for a moment.
>"Nnnnno, I don't think so. No, not really. Our mana levels have been pretty much stable. In fact, it's the other way around - in the olden days, the magicians were the ones who manipulated astronomical objects."
>Damn.
"All right. Sorry for bugging you."
>"Oh, no, it's fascinating. It's amazing to see a world in the throes of Awakening and integrating magic into their day-to-day lives."
"Yeah, well, we're not there. Only about 1% of us can do it. I mean, look at your campus - we have over twenty thousand kids. And only 400 Awakened individuals. Not counting you ponies, but counting the adepts, the magicians, and the minor talents."

>She coughs.
>"Yes, not to mention the statistics will be skewed - since this is an institute of higher learning. I never would've thought that a dragon would be interested in furthering education for magically gifted humans."
"Metahumans and metaquines, Twilight, don't be racist."
>She flings the wad of crumpled up paper back at you.
>"I'm not racist, Anon."
"Yeah, you barely have a bad bone in your body. Anyway, sorry for bugging you. Let's just get back to studying.
>She nods and sticks her muzzle back into her book.
>You re-focus on your notes.
>Nah, still nothing.
>You decide to bite the bullet and skip over to the next lecture.
>Human MetaHuman Vampiric Virus.
>You engross yourself in reading and find that this makes a little bit more sense.
>After all, all strains of it have been proven to Awaken individuals.
>Your train of thought is suddenly interrupted by your commlink blaring to life and Maria Mercurial's soothing melody fills the room.
>Twilight looks at you with annoyance as you toggle the AR display and connect to the call.
>Wheels' persona waves at you frantically.
>What's your omae want?
"Hoi Wheels."
>"Hoi Anon. Whatcha doing?"
"Studying for Awakened Bio. Whaddaya want?"
>"Listen, EBP is having a Pre-Finals Party. We're gonna tear it up pre-Crash 2.0. You in?"
"Hold up chummer, lemme check."
>You toggle your calendar display.
>Your finals don't start for another four days.
>Party tonight, sober up tomorrow, two more days to study.
>You'll have to cram though...
"Ehhhhhhhhhhh."
>"Come on bro, what the drek? You slottin' pledged, so get your Awakened ass over here."
>You lick your lips in the meatworld.
>The fucking decker scriptkiddies could be listening.
"Tell you what, meet me in a couple of seconds by the tower."
>"Null sweat, see you in a bit."
>You terminate the call, drop out of the Augemnted Reality interface and look at Twilight.
>"What's up, Anonymous?"

"Can you watch my shoes for me? I'm gonna project and meet with Wheels. I need to ask him something private."
>She rolls her eyes.
>"Anon, I highly doubt anypon-anyone is going to mess with your body while you're projecting. Do you mind if I do the thing?"
>See the interesting thing about ponies is that as a whole, they're more magically powerful than metahumans.
>However the Awakened of Earth have a couple of advantages that they don't.
>Metahuman adepts are better at focusing their magic inwards.
>And metahuman magicians are capable of astral projection.
>Something even unicorns and alicorns can't do.
>And Twilight Sparkle, being the nerd that she is, is absolutely fascinated by it.
>So when she watches your shoes - that is, the body you leave behind when you project - she generally casts a whole bunch of spells trying to see if she can figure out how metahumans do it.
>Plus, hey, no Shedim trying to steal your body while you're away.
>You nod.
"All right, heading out. See you in a bit."
>With that, you close your eyes and will your astral form to split off from your body.
>Immediately you're surrounded by astral space.
>You glance at your body, which is now running on autopilot.
>Twilight Sparkle is shining bright though, in an aura of light blue, which you've come to associate with curiosity.
>You speed out of your dorm, passing by several watcher spirits.
>Heh.
>Somebody on the second floor summoned a guidance spirit.
>Good luck, drekhead.
>You speed off to the clock tower where you can feel the tell-tale signs of Wheels' aura.
>He moves to intercept you and the two of you brofist on the astral.
"'Sup homo?"
>"Nothing faggot, you wanted this. Afraid someone's gonna find the trid of you fucking that horse."
"Hah. Anyway, my question - are we going to Deepdive?"
>His aura flashes red.
>"Negatory, omae. Scuttlebutt sez Knight Errant is gonna be patrolling, including spirits. So no deepweed for you."

>Ugh.
"Fine. I suppose that answers my question about coming in astrally."
>"Yeah. Meatbags only tonight. So, you in?"
>Gah.
"Yeah, all right."
>"Wiz. Party starts at 10. Clear and Trode are gonna be there, so you know it's gonna be a party."
"Wiz."
>"Say, bring your friend over. She's magic, isn't she? Plus, some of our metaquine brothers are gonna be there. And they might want some, y'know."
"Urgh, gross. You're a drekhead and gross. 'Cause you're an ork."
>"Don't be judging, omae. Seriously, bring her. It'll be wiz. Isn't she a princess or something?"
"Yeah. Actually, it would be hilarious. Yeah, okay, I'll try to convince her. She's not really the -party- type, y'know?"
"All right chummer, do your best. See you at 10."
>With that, his astral form speeds off, as you do the same.
>You float back over your body, focus on restoring the material link, and open your eyes.
>Twilight is standing over you, muzzle inches away from your face.
"Well, hello there."
>"EEP!"
>She jumps off your chair and scuttles back onto the bed.
>Goddamn these ponies are cute.
"Relax, I'm just messing with you. Find anything interesting."
>She huffs and shakes her head.
>"No. I really wish I could get you physically back to Equestria. I need my equipment."
"You know, I always wondered. You finished your college equivalent back there. And yet you act like a young adult. But you're a Princess. What gives?"
>She blushes slightly and sticks her muzzle in her book.
"dunwannatalkboutit"
>You roll your eyes.
"All right, well, tell you what. You told me about the magic of friendship back in Equestria. I want to introduce you to the magic of brotherhood!"
>She looks at you quizzically, still blushing.
>"Brotherhood? You mean your little organization of rabble-rousers and alcoholics?"
"OUCH TWILIGHT! Fucking ouch! They're my bros, and Eta Beta Pi is not just about partying! We're the first Awakened frat in the UCAS. Anyway, you're invited to our pre-final party."
>"No."

"OH come onnnnn."
>"No, Anonymous. Unlike you, I care about getting good grades."
"Hey, that's a low blow. I get Bs!"
>She fixes you with a flat stare.
>"And Cs. And I believe you failed Calculus and had to retake it?"
>You frown.
"That has nothing to do with this. We have four days until finals start. I'm not saying I want you to get shit-faced and sleep with a stranger. Oh, speaking of, other ponies are going to be there."
>She makes a non-commital snort.
"Oh come on. Tell you what, I promise you that I won't get my brains addled either. And we'll leave when you want to leave. Come on, it'll be fun!"
>She chews on her lower lip for a moment.
>"Fine."
"WOOOO!"
>"I'm holding you to that promise, Anon. Pinkie Swear!"
>Ugh, these ponies...
>So gay.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
>"Do the motions Anon."
"No."
>"Do it, or I won't come."
>Fucking horse.
"Fine."
>You cross your chest, flap your hands, and facepalm.
>The purple pony princess beams at you from her sofa.
>"Let's get going then?"
"Yeah, wait up, let me tell them I'm bringing you."
>You focus your will and let the mana stream through you.
>The university has wards against this sort of thing, but luckily, you're better.
>A small astral form appears in your cupped hands.
"Find Wheels. Tell him I'm coming and that Twilight is coming along too."
>The watcher spirit sends back a feeling of comprehension and speeds off into the astral.
"All right, let me hit the showers first."
>"Why do you go first, shouldn't it be ladies first?"
"You take forever. Like all women do. Be they metahuman, metasapient, or metaquine, you take forever making yourself look presentable. Hell, I bet even Hestaby spends hours before a giant mirror making herself pretty before she meets with her wizworm buddies."
>You get up and grab a towel while Twilight thbbpts at you.
>"Yes, but at least we look pretty afterwards. I'm afraid no amount of showers is going to help you."

>With that she flings her pencil at you that you catch and fling back - and then it promptly bounces off against her shield.
>"Now, if you put a little juice into it, that would've connected."
>Oh, it is ON.
>You clear your mind, let the mana flow through you again, and try to grab her with a levitation spell.
>She just giggles.
>"Try again, monkey."
"Grrrr."
>Opening yourself up to the astral, you channel more and more mana, until you feel a bit dizzy.
>This is gonna smart...
>You fling the magic energy at her - and once again, it dissipates.
>You, however, stumble a bit and catch yourself on the chair.
>Fuck, you almost got hit with Drain.
>Twilight notices it too.
>"Anon, are you okay?"
>Nnnngh.
>Room is still spinning, so you're gonna hold on to this chair for a bit longer.
"Null sweat. Gimme a minute. "
>You take a couple of deep breaths and shut yourself off from the ambient mana.
>Okay... okay... okay, good.
>You stand up, flip the towel over your shoulder, and head to the showers.
>Get this over as quickly as possible.
>So, you triple-S, and 20 minutes later - presto, you're squeaky clean and ready to have the world as your oyster.
>...You've been hanging out around ponies too much weirdo.
>Twilight shimmies past you.
>"You're gonna drive?"
"Yeah, I'll program the route back, just in case."
>She nods, and steps into the bathroom.
>Meanwhile, you start picking out what to wear.
>Let's see - EBP hoodie, jeans, shoes. Axe.
>You contemplate wearing your cap, but it might be too much with the hoodie...
>NAHHHHHHHHH.
>You flip it on your head and check yourself in the mirror.
>You mirin'.
>Seriously, you look pretty good.
>No homo.
>DREK!
>You promised Twilight you'd take her home.
>Which means you can't get any tail tonight.
>Drek drek drek.
>Now, if you get her laid, and she goes home with somebod-somepony else, then she stops being your problem.
>You wonder if Sylvia is gonna be there.

>Trode said she fucks like a sewing machine, and while you don't want Trode's sloppy seconds, an addy is still an addy - and the things they can do.
>You pull off your hoodie and flex a bit.
>Yeah, you got this.
>You pull out a tank top and switch the jeans to shorts.
>There we go!
>Good thing you don't skip leg day.
>You sit back down, switch to the AR interface on your comm again, and load up the latest Desert Wars video.
>You would've called them liars, but it looks like the Azzie Ixitcoatl team is actually gaining on the Ares Macro-T Phage Squad.
>Man, Knight has got to be furious.
>Suddenly you feel a hoof on your shoulder.
>You drop out and glance at Twilight.
>"Anon, it's 9:30. We should get going."
>You look at her critically.
>"What are you looking at?"
"Aren't you going to wear anything? I know ponies wear saddles and junk to formal events."
>She blushes.
>"Oh, uh. Well, that's formal events, you know. I don't think a party is something that is considered formal."
>You place a hand over your heart.
"Princess Twilight, I am shocked and appalled you think so low of us. You're going to a meeting of the finest Awakened minds. The cream of the crop, the future wagemages of the Sixth World. Surely we deserve a modicum of respect."
>She giggles and steps over to her closet.
>"You know Anonymous... you sound a lot better when you're slightly more formal. Slang doesn't suit you. You're a smart metahuman. Why do you insist on talking like that?"
>You grin.
"Null sweat, omae. I'm just slotting the deck while the drekheads chill out. The bugs are outside the arcobloc, the wizworms are looping, and beetles are falling from the trix."
>She groans and pulls out a dress.
>It's very pretty actually.
>But it also looks fancy and stuff.
>You're going to regret this...
>Dropping back into Augmented Reality, you think-click on the Browse interface.
"Sexy Ponies Clothing."

>You cringe mentally as gigabytes of images fill the AR space.
>Uhhhhhh.
"Twilight, there are some slotted metahumans and ponies out there."
>"Why, what are you doing?"
>You scan through the images until you find someon- somepony that looks a bit like Twilight and is wearing a simple black dress.
>You bring up the image and set the commlink to project.
"There, do you have something like that?"
>She thinks for moment and pulls out something similar.
>Except it's red.
"Red with purple, really?"
>She blushes.
>"Hey, we can't control what our coat colors are! Purple for life, as my brother used to say."
>You think about it.
>You've actually met Shining Armor.
>Great dude.
"Twilight, he's white."
>She gives you a smile.
>"Now who's being racist."
>HAH.
"All right, all right. Anyway, I'm good at illusions, give me a sec."
>"Wait ho-"
>You don't hear her, as you channel the mana and modify a Physical Mask spell and fling it at the dress.
>Immediately it shifts from red to black.
>"Wow. That was actually very good. I barely felt it. Your spellcasting is improving."
>Now it's your turn to blush.
"Y-you too."
>She groans.
>"Can't you take a compliment without making a joke out of it."
"Nah. No, but seriously, thanks. Your tutoring -really- helped."
>"Heh. All right, turn around."
>Oh right.
>They walk around naked and yet are shy about changing.
>Drekkin ponies, yo.
>You swivel around in your chair, while Twilight puts on her dress.
>"Soooo - how do I look?"
>You turn around and whistle.
>Not that you find ponies sexy - after that image search you just have to wonder about some people - but Twilight makes that dress look good.
"You look like a million nuyen."
>She giggles and starts re-arranging her hair with her magic.
>"Charmer. So, are we good to go."
"Let's hit the town, Sparkle."