"Did you just assault a native?" Leading Edge asked. "Did you just fucking zap some random guy because he stood there?"
"Did you see how tall that guy was?" Connie asked, searching her saddlebag for something. "I have no idea who they were or what they wanted." She shot a foreleg towards the poster. "This guy had pictures of dead ponies on his walls. Can you blame me for being on edge?"
"Actually, I can. Did you see the look on his face? I'd be surprised too if there was a stranger in my house." Leading Edge said, walking up to the strange creature. "Why is he wearing clothes?" He muttered to himself.
"Different culture?" Deep Thought offered. He looked at Connie. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a rope. We're tying him up." She hesitated. "At least I think it's a he. Aliens are confusing."
"Why are we tying him up?"
"We can't allow this guy to be free. It's simple damage control really. We tie him up and he won't be able to tell anyone." Connie stated simply.
"As if he hasn't told anyone before we arrived. He has posters on his wall of Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie, and what looks to be a DJ." Deep Thought said.
"There's writing on those posters, you know." Connie pointed out.
"Yeah, I know there's writing on the posters. Whoever she is, she must not have been very important. I don't recognize the name Vinyl Scratch." Deep Thought explained.
"Probably because she's been dead for generations too." Connie said, still looking through her saddlebags. "Or she's made up. I won't deny it, it follows the usual format of names."
Leading Edge looked at Fail Safe. "Stay with Connie. I'm going to go do a quick sweep with the team to secure the perimeter." Then they left the room.
"Alright, I found the rope." Connie said, moving over to the unconscious human. "Help me drag him over to the wall."
"You do realize there's a huge storm outside, right?" Fail Safe asked. "Hey, you're a pegasus. Can't you go out there and stop it?"
Connie gave him a blank stare. "You're kidding right? You saw how big that thing was, right? We only have two pegasi. Not even a trained weather pony could deal with a storm that size." Connie began pulling on the human again. "Could you help me with this? He's heavier than he looks."
Connie tied his limbs together and then stood back to admire her work. "Oh, and stop with the racism. Just because I'm a pegasus doesn't mean I handle the weather."
Fail Safe's eyebrows raised. "I-I didn't mean it like that! I m-meant that perhaps.." He said before trailing off.
Connie laughed. "Dude, it's fine. Don't worry about it." She turned her attention to the creature again. "Could you make sure this guy's secure? I don't want him running off on me."
"Yeah, sure." Fail Safe said, lighting his horn to inspect the knots. "I wonder if they are intelligent."
"Well, we can't just assume this is the owner. For all we know, this is just some animal that stumbled into some abandoned house." Fail Safe said.
"Unlikely, it's wearing clothes. If it's not intelligent, it could be a pet. I've seen some ponies back at home dress their pets up for some reason." Fail Safe said, giving a perplexed look to the knot. "I never understood why they do that. Animals have fur that keeps them warm. Ponies wear clothes for special occasions or for protection." He tugged on the ropes a few times before stepping back.
"Yeah, I understand that. I guess we won't know until we ask him directly." Connie said, crossing her forelegs and leaning against a wall. "And now we wait."
After securing the building for a second time, they decided to head outside for a bit of fresh air.
Lea spoke into his radio. "We're going onto the back porch. Call us if you need anything. We'll be checking up on you every five minutes." Although that last bit was annoying, it was necessary to ensuring the safety of the team. With no chance of backup, it was fine that Leading Edge was being protective. If one member were to be disabled, the entire team would be put under strain. Even worse if Healing Touch was injured.
"10-4, winds are high. Stay safe." Connie said over the radio.
The team rounded the corner and the patio door came into view. The pelting rain could be seen through the glass in the door. The rain changed direction in wild and unpredictable ways. The building creaked under the force of the howling wind.
"I guess we're not going outside then." Healing Touch stated.
"Yeah, I don't really want to go out in that." Leading Edge said. "We could ask Fail Safe to provide us with a face shield, but I don't think it's worth it."
"How about we sit on the sofa in the living room?" Deep Thought offered.
"Not a bad idea." Leading Edge said, walking to the living room. He clicked his radio and spoke into it. "Status?"
"Everything's fine. The alien is still asleep, he's tied up at the moment." Connie said over the radio.
"10-4. Weather's too bad right now. We'll be staying in the living room." Lea said, hopping onto the couch.
"Alright, remember to not sit on the couches. They're dangerously comfortable." The radio cracked.
There was a collective chuckle from the team as they jumped up onto the couch. The storm continued to rage outside, staying at a distance that wasn't dangerous nor safe. At first, the team's eyes darted about the room, but as time went on, they became more relaxed with the situation they found themselves in. Their conversation became lively and energetic. They talked about pleasantries, embarrassing stories, and they cracked jokes. For a mere moment, everything was looking okay.
The storm continued to rage nearby. The relentless rain pelted the landscape like it were some kind of firing squad with a limitless supply of ammunition. The wind picked up cans, garbage, bins, leaves, and anything that wasn't nailed down and threw it several kilometers away. The projectiles it threw weren't lethal, but they'd definitely hurt if they struck you.
The team sat divided in the house. From the living room, a lively conversation filled with smiles, laughter, and jokes could be heard. From the bedroom, nothing. There was not a single sound coming from the room with the two ponies in it. Just a silence that communicated patience.
It's not that they wanted to talk but couldn't find anything to talk about. They were perfectly content with staying silent. They wanted a moment to stop and think about their situation. The alien sat motionless, its binds tight enough to restrict its movements, but not too tight as to cease circulation.
There was a click that came from Connie's radio. A bit of laughter could be heard from the other side as if whoever activated it had to step away from the conversation to speak. "Status?" Leading Edge asked.
She was a little hesitant to break the silence. "Everything's fine over here. Our guest still hasn't moved." She stated, releasing the button on the radio. A slight groan could be heard from behind her. "Do you have a stomach ache or something?" She said without turning around.
"That wasn't me." Fail Safe stated.
"Well it wasn't me either." She said, turning around to face Fail Safe.
They both turned towards the creature. Its eyes were bouncing between the two, seemingly in disbelief. Both Fail Safe and Connie stared back at the creature, their eyes wide and jaws halfway to the floor. Connie moved slowly as if fast sudden movements might startle it. She picked up her radio and clicked the button.
"It just woke up." She stated.
Almost immediately, the sound coming from the living room fell silent. The radio clicked again. "Repeat that please?"
"Our guest has just woken up."
The sound of several pairs of hooves striking the hardwood floor could be heard thundering down the hallway to the room. The door flew open and three ponies skidded to a halt. The creature stayed silent throughout the duration of these events, seemingly too shocked to speak.
"Has it done anything yet?" Leading Edge asked quickly.
"It groaned I think," Connie said, "or maybe that's its language."
"What kind of alien would speak with grunts and moans?" Deep Thought asked.
"Your mom." Connie said quickly.
The team stifled a giggle while Deep Thought gave her a disapproving look. "Very creative." He said, narrowing his eyes. He glanced towards the creature, but had to do a double take. For whatever reason, the creature was smiling. He turned his head to look at the native. "What's so funny?" He shot.
"Y-you guys." It stuttered.
Deep Thought's ears drew back in surprise and Connie spoke. "I guess that answers the question if it's intelligent."
Deep Thought walked in front of the creature and sat back on his haunches. His gaze was locked on the creature. "Gender?" He asked. Fail Safe hovered a notebook and pen next to him.
"M-male." The creature said. "What's g-going on ri-" He said before being cut off.
"Name?" Deep Thought asked, not wanting him to continue speaking.
"What's going on right now?" He restated, ignoring Deep Thought's question.
"You're being interrogated." Deep Thought stated bluntly. "Back to my question, what's your name?"
"B-Brandon."
Fail Safe continued taking notes near the back of the room. Healing Touch went back to the living room, something about her forgetting a few things in there.
"How do you know about us?" Deep Thought asked.
"Excuse me?"
"How do you know about us? Our species, you have posters up on your walls of ponies that are well known among our kind." Deep Thought explained.
Brandon's eyes widened. "Oh my god." He seemed to stare off into the distance. "They're real." He shifted his gaze to Deep Thought "Have you met her?" Brandon asked, ignoring Deep Thought's question. "Have you met Rainbow Dash?"
Deep Thought's gaze flicked between Brandon's eyes, searching for an answer. "No." He said, "No, I haven't met her." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Back to my question, and you better answer it this time. How do you know about us?"
"There's this.. show I watch." Brandon said.
"Uh-huh. Excuse me ignorance, but what do you mean by show?"
"Oh, you guys don't have television where you're from. I'm not the best at explaining things. How about we head over to the living room so I can show you what I mean?"
Deep Thought raised an eyebrow. He then looked towards Lea, who nodded.
Lea shrugged. "I don't see a problem with it. Untie him but keep an eye on him." He said, turning towards the open door. "I want to see this."
The team escorted Brandon into the living room, their weapons trained on him. Leading Edge and Healing Touch were sitting on the couch, glaring at him. Brandon had a bit of stiffness in his stride, his shoulders tense and his vision seemingly locked on the black box mounted to the wall.
He touched the corner of the box and, after a few seconds, it sprung to life. While it started up, the team glanced at it, surveying its importance and its potential to harm them. The screen went black for a second before showing some well dressed aliens talking in front of a large television screen.
"What am I looking at here?" Leading Edge ask, seemingly entranced in the display in front of him.
"Oh, this is just the news channel." He grabbed a black object and pressed a button on it. The screen changed and he maneuvered the interface until he reached a tab labeled My Little Pony.
The entire team was speechless, temporarily forgetting about their hostage. Several ponies appeared on screen, a world they had never seen before, yet they knew the landmarks and locations. Fields of green and a sky full of wispy clouds, both of which they had never seen before. Sure they had seen clouds before, but they were usually dirty rather than the pristine ones they witnessed on the screen.
Brandon fidgeted in place, seemingly not knowing how to place his limbs. Lea slowly turned his head towards Brandon and eventually tore his eyes away from the television.
"Who made this?" Leading Edge asked. "Who distributed this.. show?"
"Well, I know it was developed by Hasbro." Brandon said. "I don't know all the details though." He pulled out a small rectangle out of his pocket. He raised his hands in surrender before quickly stating, "I-It's just a phone!"
The entire team had turned on him, their weapons trained on him in case he did anything stupid. A few of the members continued stalking towards the side, spreading their numbers out over multiple angles.
"You guys didn't search him when you zapped him?" Leading Edge hissed to Healing Touch without taking his eyes off of Brandon.
"Whoops."
"God damnit." Leading Edge said, slurred slightly by the weapon in his mouth. "Other than make calls, what does it do?" He said, looking towards Brandon.
"I-It can send messages, take pictures, access the internet, and several more things that I can't think of right now." He spilled, still frozen to avoid being shot again.
After a few eternities had passed, Leading Edge spoke. "I want to know more about this Hasbro you speak of."