Extricating her gear from the interior of a container that would pass through and dissolve most surfaces in her house had proven to be an intensely difficult task.
At least until she remembered her old jumpsuit. Much of what Lightning had explained about the process did not make sense to James. She understood one thing: the ponies had a treatment process they applied to ordinary objects that allowed them to interact with clouds the same way their own bodies did. That treatment had already been applied to her old jumpsuit. From that realization, the only difficult part was laying it out for her to work on without letting go of the cargo container.
Her makeshift workspace held without any further protest. Inside was an identical set of gear to the one she had brought with her, down to the finest detail. A set of XE-201 armor took up most of the space within the container, even though it was compressed into storage mode. Beside it was a set of saddlebags, another jumpsuit underlayer, her computation surface, a transmitter, her stun rifle, and a replacement guitar that hadn't been broken and bent by the torrential force of moving water.
James had no reason to rush. So she took her time getting dressed, relishing the feeling of sterile fabric on her coat. Once she was wearing it, the thin boots didn't seem like they were about to fall through the clouds, and they didn't wear away the floor as she began to pace. Lightning said something about that, didn't she? My armor didn't fall through last time until I took it off.
Maybe that was some hint at the real way this society could "enchant" objects not to destroy the substrate of their world. It was really something natural, and all they had to do was extend it to apply to other objects.
Such meaningless academic speculation no longer seemed worth the valuable time she should be using to get back in contact with the Forerunner. Thank you, Maslow. Up another level of the pyramid we go.
James would leave nothing to chance this time. She packed the saddlebags with her nutrient bars and plastic pouches of water, along with her computation surface and her sparkling new guitar. She secured every strap and buckle to hold them in, and checked every fastening that connected them to the armor. Instead of placing the long range transmitter or the stun pistol into storage, she attached these to the outside of the armor as well, The transmitter went just above her flank while the pistol slotted into a groove on the inside of her right front hoof.
The filly stood in front of the only mirror in the house, a small square of glass Dust had mounted to her wardrobe. Looking up into that square, fully armored in her exploration gear, James felt like an explorer again. This is a Lucky Break, she thought. If Lightning Dust had any doubts about my story before... Now she could see the prepared first-contact movies, or watch demonstrations of difficult human concepts. They could even send messages back to the Forerunner probe, though James doubted that was a good idea.
It’s probably best she thinks I'm an outsider from somewhere else on her planet for a little longer. If ponies react like humans, she might be frightened or angry with me if she learns I'm from further. Much much further. Of course, James would tell her the whole truth, when the proper time arrived. When it was time to return with her own language mission completed, James intended to bring her along for that final report. That would be the perfect time to show her everything, unless something happened sooner to necessitate being more open.
As she reveled in her familiar barding, something banged loudly on the door, so loud that James nearly jumped out of her skin. It had taken her nearly a half hour to struggle into the armor... she wasn't about to be able to get it off quickly. But who would be visiting? She backed away from the door, cowering in the back of the kitchen. I'm not home, I'm not home, I'm not home... whoever it was had to have come for Dust. They just didn't know she was at work, and once they realized...
Someone banged on the door again, much louder this time.
"Your body is experiencing physiological symptoms indicative with fear. Are you in danger?" said a quiet voice through her ear implant, the same placid feminine tone the suit used for all status notifications. "Should I call for help?"
"No," James whispered back, quivering as she stared at her hooves. "I don't need help. It's nothing."
The door imploded, falling to the floor and sending cloud tufts flying. The blast of air that followed was so intense James went sailing into the rear wall, smashing into it and landing on her face again. The air was filled with scattered papers and other small objects, basically anything that hadn't been nailed down. Every piece of her armor held together, and she didn't lose anything through the floor. The armor also soaked the brunt of the impact, and Lucky was back on her hooves soon after.
A pair of ponies stood outside the door, both dressed in identical armor made of shining bronze. They were both adult males, with suspicious glares on their faces and spears leaning casually against their sides.
Between them was a third pony, taller than either of the guards and without armor. His wings were still spread wide, as though somehow responsible for the blast that had ripped the door from its hinges. He wore no weapon, only a bright gold vest with an official-looking seal over where the breast pocket would be on human clothing.
The pony stepped into the wreckage of Lightning Dust's living room, eyes settling on James. "Hello there," he said, staring intently at the suit she was wearing. He looked hungry. "You're the orphan named Jams Ear Win, yes?" He took another step closer to her. "Nun estas la tempo por iri."
James shivered, backing away from the stallion. She was already standing near the far wall, so it wasn't as though she had much room left. The whole cloud was only about fifty meters across, and she couldn't fly. The XE-201 could dock with a mobility-assistance exosuit, but she hadn't ever been trained to use them. James wasn't a soldier. "No," she said, forcing herself to look up into the stallion's face. "I live with Lightning Dust. I'm not leaving without her.” She was a little proud of just how coherent her words had been, and almost without an accent. Having Dust to copy had helped tremendously.
"I'm tima, ke via zorganto malukcesis renkonti la standardan nivelon de zorgo. Lightning Dust is not a pony who can be fidata to take care of la malfortunan child. There's a chariot waiting outside, these nice guards are going to bring you with us down to Appleloosa. Do you have aliajn ajn apartenaĵojn? Other than that... very interesa kostumo via jama kapo..." He kept walking towards her, forcing her to continue backing up. There was only the one entrance, so she ended up with her rump against the far wall and nowhere to go and the stallion bearing down on her.
James suppressed a whimper, and not easily. It took all her strength and focus not to turn and run. Her heart was racing, her breathing sharp and shallow, and the world was starting to swim. It was perfect, everything was perfect! I was learning, I had somewhere safe, someone nice to live with, it can't end like this!
She only needed one look into this stallion's eyes to know that he wasn't going to let her keep anything. He was just like the mare who had come for her before, the one with the horn. This one might have wings, but he also had the same symbol on his vest, a crude padlock of rust color set onto a gold background. He would take away her tools the very day she got them back, and send her away from the only pony who knew where she'd been found in the first place. Without her tools, Lightning Dust might be the only alien who could help her get back to the probe.
I have to succeed. If they drag me off and I get lost, the probe will just make a new me. It will be like I didn't exist. She couldn't let that happen. "Stay back!" she shouted, her wings straining against the suit. She stood as straight as she could, lifting her right leg off the ground and pointing it at the stallion. "I'm not going anywhere unless Lightning Dust says it's okay! G-get away from me!"
The stallion froze, his eyes locked on her leg. Or, more accurately, staring at the gun attached to her leg armor, which was now pointed squarely at his face. She could see his eyes widen and smell his sudden fear. He knows what a gun is.
Something sounded from outside, and one of the guards retreated through the doorway. There was some muffled conversation, followed by a familiar voice. "No, I don't care who the buck sent you, you're standing in my house!" The stallion turned, staring at the doorway as the other guard tried to block it with his body. It did little good—Lightning Dust may have been smaller, but she had the tenacity of a solid-fuel rocket. The guard went stumbling out of the way, dropping his spear as he did so. It passed right through the cloud-floor, vanishing completely.
The guard was already struggling to his hooves, and it looked like his companion from outside was about to jump onto Lightning's back. James still hadn't moved. Thanks to the actuators built into the armor, she held that leg perfectly still, even though inside the armor her whole body was shaking. It would still take a deliberate, distinct motion on her part to actually shoot the gun.
"Stop!" the stallion exclaimed, his tone fearful and urgent. "Don't touch her!"
The guard hesitated, tilting his head slightly, but Dust only straightened, nodding with satisfaction. "That's what I thought. How about you stinking diamond dogs get out of my house before I call the marshal." She looked around, surveying the damage with barely suppressed rage in her voice. "Maybe I won't denunci for all of this, but if your flanks aren’t gone before I—"
The stallion interrupted. "Miss, your... filly doesn't know what she's wearing. She is alŝultriĝanta danĝeran armilon at me.” He turned to look at James. “Please put your leg down, sweetheart. Nice and slow... you ne devus esti portanta tion... it's sufiĉe danĝera. Tro danĝera for a sweet little filly like you... that's it..."
James lowered her leg, relieved she hadn't needed to do what she was about to. The stun-pistol wouldn't have done any permanent damage to the pony, it was true. But if she attacked these ponies to get away, and the government could somehow tie it to the explorers... the diplomats would have a hard time answering for her actions.
"Now," the stallion said, taking a deep breath. "Please don't do that again." He turned away from her, glaring at Lightning Dust. "Equestrian Family Services jam took care of la aferon of this filly, Miss Dust. Ni aprezas la efikon de via volonta servo... but it ne plu is necesa. Vi ja komprenas why that might be. A pony with your, uh... specifa pasinteco... fidita por doni kvalitan prizorgon for a young pony. Just look at her." He gestured with a wing. "I'm supozanta you don't even know what she's wearing, do you? She might be venenita jam. Or if she wasn't hurt, ŝi povus mortigi somepony. Imagu la psikologian damaĝon, kiun ŝi suferos, sciante ke ŝi akcidente ŝtelos la vivojn de poneoj! Foals have been ruined by less."
Lightning Dust strode across the room, shoving past the stallion until she was right beside James. There was confusion on her face, and barely contained curiosity, but she didn't ask anything, much to James's relief. "That's great," she said, failing to contain her sarcasm. "But I'm more interesita in what Lucky thinks. If she wants to go with you... then that would be one thing. If she doesn't—"
"She's a foal!" The stallion shouted, indignant. "She doesn't know what's best for her! Of course she's going to want to stay with the one who traktis ŝin bone—she doesn't even know what just happened." His tone cooled a little, and James could see a sneer on his face. "The factory let you go, didn't they? Nopony in town will hire a pony like you, Lightning Dust. If she knew what you've done..."
James wasn't even mildly curious. Maybe she might've been, if this pony had visited during normal hours and expressed only kindness for her. But considering the mess he'd made of Lightning's house, considering the way he'd stared at her and was still clearly intent on getting her gear away from her... "I don't care what Dust did," she said. "She didn't break into my house and try to steal me away without even asking. When I was upset that my things were missing, she went and found them, she went out and found them!" James took a step closer to her, pressing herself to the side of Lightning's legs. She couldn't feel the mare's reassuring warmth, not through her thick armor, but she didn't need to. The message was clear enough.
"You don't understand," the stallion insisted. "She doesn't have a job. She won't be able to vivteni vin plu. From the aspekto de ĉi tiu domaĉo, ŝi nur apenaŭ apogantas vin. Looks like she hollowed out a cloud and called it a house." The guards chuckled at that. Even through the armor, she could feel Dust tense. There was a sudden smell in the air, something strange. James couldn't quite place it, but it was coming from Dust.
"He's right," the mare said. "I did just lose my job. I'll have to move, like I always do. Somewhere far enough away that nopony knows my name. If you stay with me, you'd have to come too."
James shrugged, glancing back at the communicator mounted to the back of her armor. She took a deep breath. "It doesn't really matter where I live. I wanna stay with you."
The stallion rolled his eyes. "The punkto estas dubinda, I'm afraid. My instrukcioj venas rekte de Family Services, Miss Dust. The foal is coming with me whether she likes it or not."
"Or," Lightning said, her voice nearly a shout. "You all can go straight to Tartarus, broken wings and dry skies all the way down! I know what your types do to foals with nopony else, and I won't let you do it to her!"
The guards tensed, moving across the room to stand on either side of the stallion. One no longer had his weapon, and the other didn't even raise his spear. Yet even so, they made an imposing wall of muscle and angry looks. "I don't think you understand," the stallion said, his voice still calm, unmoved. "The filly is coming with me. Either you get out of the way and we do this ĝentile, aŭ unu el miaj gardistoj tie povas alporti vin al la policejo dum mi tiris la ĉaron anstataŭ li. I'd rather not... it's teda laboro je la plej bona el tempoj. But if you force my hoof—"
He didn't get to finish. James raised her leg in a single fluid motion, feeling the servos vibrate as the suit assisted her aim. She fired with a slight twitch of the hoof, and the air was filled with a brief, hissing charge. The stallion dropped to the clouds a second later, flailing and convulsing. One of the guards went for his spear, and James shot him too. The third was halfway to the door before he fell twitching to the clouds.
A faint cloud of charged gas rose from the barrel of the gun as James set her hoof down, her heart still racing. The adrenaline had banished the fear, at least.
Dust stared sidelong at her, glancing between the twitching bodies and her leg. She slowly set her wings back against her sides, her body relaxing. "That wasn't an accident."
James shook her head. "That wasn't a question."
Pause. "Did you..." She reached out, nudging the stallion with the edge of one hoof. He moaned in response, rolling away from her. "Oh, thank Celestia."
"I don't know what he was thinking." James twisted her leg to one side, holding it up so Dust could see the weapon clearly. "I'm a linguist. This weapon can't kill. It only makes someone hurt too bad to move for a little bit. Give them an hour, and they'll be fine. Might... mess up their short-term memories a bit, though. I don't know how they'll interact with your brain chemistry." She probably broke into English at the end, as she always did when her mind reached for words in Eoch and couldn't find them. "But they'll be basically fine."
"Good." Dust hurried over them, making her way towards the door. "I hope you were sure about what you decided, Lucky. Because after that... well, we gotta go. I planis moviĝi eksteren sekvasemajne, post serĉi aĉetanton pro la domo, but... no time for that now. Grab your things from upstairs. We’re moving."