Explanations

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 53531

Mina:

I'm shocked by the violent death that I've just seen, and I don't really understand it. Why should the female unicorn, whether or not it's true that she used to be an Astra, suddenly react like that? Yes, if this Pronklezilch transformed her from human into a unicorn, as my companions are guessing, I can understand that she might be extremely angry. But why should that anger only manifest itself now rather than immediately after the transformation?

Then Chiana attempts to communicate with the unicorns, first using speech and then, when that gets no response, using telepathy. She deliberately makes it a "broadcast" message rather than one-to-one, so that all of us Champions can hear it. Can you understand me now? she asks.

Yes, comes the reply. It's not always easy to tell who a telepathic message is coming from when you aren't familiar with the person's "voice", especially when you have as little experience of telepathy as I do. But I think the message comes from the red-maned unicorn mare who dealt with the mage so violently, rather than from the male.

Where did you people spring from? she goes on. And who are you? You aren't friends of Pronklezilch's, are you?

No, we aren't, Chiana replies. Explaining who we are and where we come from is rather complicated. For now, let's just say that it looks as though we aren't where we wanted to be. Now, would I be right in guessing that you two were until very recently human beings called Fred and Astra?

Yes, we are - or were. But how could you possibly know that? Unless... You must be friends of that bastard mage!

For a moment I fear that the unicorn Astra is going to charge Chiana, until Inquirer holds up one hand and telepathically says Peace! with such authority that she evidently thinks better of it.

Unless we all depart in a great hurry, which we don't want to do, it is clear that we have now no alternative to giving the unicorns a fairly full explanation of why we are here. Though that is difficult, it is a lot easier using telepathy than it would have been using speech.

The explanations finish up being two-way, from the unicorns to us as well as vice versa. During the course of them, the reason for Astra's attack on Pronklezilch emerges. The spell he had used on them had not only transformed them, and given them the instincts of war unicorns to match their new bodies, but also robbed them of their memories. But when Artizza made good enough eye contact with Astra, what my friends call a "doppleganger" effect took place. This apparently often takes place when analogues see each other for the first time, even if one or both of them have been transformed. Usually it results in deep trust and affection between the two or - more rarely - an irrational loathing. But the effect isn't well understood, and something very different and unexpected occurred this time, both when Astra saw Artizza and when Fred saw Fertal. The eye contact shattered the amnesia spell that had been cast upon the unicorns. Therefore Astra (or whatever we should be calling her now) had everything come back to her all at once. Understandably in a rage over what the mage had done to Fred and herself, her war unicorn instincts kicked in and she attacked and killed him.

  1. But I can't say that I feel any regret over what I did, she projects.

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JH

11/20/2005 10:41:05 AM

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