Mayor Mare had little reason to withhold the collar. "Of course, Princess. Here you are." She popped it free and held it out towards the Twilight with a curious mane style, not speaking on it. "Do tell me if you find out anything I should know." She trotted away then. "Wonder when she began wearing glasses...?" She shook her head, turning her thoughts to other matters.
One of the men that had come with Jack approached Laud. "Sir."
"Permission to speak," spoke Laud formally.
"Thank you, sir. No offense intended, but how are these not just like the other horses?"
"Besides their psionics? I have a few theories, but put all of that aside." Laud waved a hand over the ponies. He wasn't wearing a translator, not was one technically needed for him, but he could only speak one language at once. Going in English, the ponies couldn't understand him. "They have a working industrial society, starting with running water and ending with electricity. You can't ignore that."
The man looked impressed, casting curious eyes over the lot. "Are they friendly?"
Laud looked where the man was pointing. The construction ponies, bulky and heavy-set, were returning. "They work for me. They helped build this landing pad, but it's not done." He sighed, looking at the deep divots that ship had carved into the landscape. "Maybe this will be valuable information."
The elevator touched bottom, allowing other soldiers off and Jack to board. The new soldiers eyed the aliens with a mix of curiosity and concern, but no swords were swung and no shots were fired. Laud considered it an optimistic success.
The head construction pony ambled up towards Laud. "You've found friends. Uh, we didn't know those, uh, what'd you call them? Ships? The ships are heavier than we thought they'd be."
Laud gestured at the dug out terrain. "Then it's for the best you got to see this before proper pavement was placed. Adjust your plans and be ready to receive ships like this, and possibly slightly bigger. Anything much larger than that won't dare to land. There is a limit to that."
"You got it." He raised a hoof in a bit of a salute before turning to bark orders at his stallions.
Twilight got her collar into place and cleared her throat before speaking to no one. "It is a pleasure to meet you. May I ask you a question?" The collar echoed her statement in English and a few soldiers looked toward her. She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just ensuring it's operation. Since I have your attention, I really do have some questions. I'm not bothering you, am I?"
Laud was overseeing the revision to the plans for the dock, unaware of Twilight's actions.
One of the soldiers proved braver than the others, taking a step forward. "Only if you answer mine."
"Sounds fair," easily agreed Twilight. "We'll trade, one for one. First question." She pointed up at the ship. "How are those made?"
The soldier nervously shuffled in place, his sword swaying on its sheath. "Afraid I can't properly answer that. It's a secret, miss. I don't know."
Twilight frowned a little. "I thought that may be the case... Your turn."
The soldier brightened, hearing his lack of answer wouldn't disrupt the proceedings. "Ah, alright... Do you..." He trailed off, as if unsure what to actually ask. "What's your name?"
Twilight brightened. "How silly of me. I'm Twilight, Twilight Sparkle, and what's your name?"
Laud turned to spy Twilight engaging one of the soldiers and moved to intercede swiftly, but a thought struck him. "Twilight," he said in English. "How do you understand him?"
Twilight looked towards Laud. "Oh, uh..."
Laud scowled. Had she? How could she not have. "Use of psionics is expressly forbidden on any visitor."
Twilight blinked with wide eyes. "What? No! I'm just learning it."
The scowl deepened and his arms crossed. "You've barely heard any English."
"The syntax is identical," argued Twilight.
"You shouldn't have any vocabulary." He pointed at her accusingly. "What's going on?"
"It's the truth." Twilight reared up to cross her heart with a hoof. "Speaking it is uncomfortable, but once you gave me an example, I couldn't think of much else, besides star travel and advanced alien species." She threw her hooves wide. "You're still talking in English, I remind."
Just how intelligent was Twilight that she could glean a language like that? Laud had required weeks of tutoring to become comfortable, and he had thought that was an admirable pace. Before the evidence placed in front of him, he felt like a child, dumb and inexperienced. Then, it hit him.
He turned suddenly on Starlight, who was looking guilty and shifty. Ponies were not the best deceivers. "You."
"Who, me?!" Starlight said with too much stress. "What about me?" She grinned sheepishly.
"You gave her a translator."
Starlight shrank back a few steps. "I might have... let her borrow one? Was that bad?"
Laud let out a bit of held breath, some of the tension fading. "By the Pancreator, now this makes sense. You spoke to yourself with the translator and listened and--"
"--took a lot of notes," agreed Twilight, bobbing her head. "I tried to fool it, but it seems our languages are basically identical except for the actual sounds."
The soldier that had been doing the interview glanced between the two of them, but did not dare to cut in with someone so much higher ranked than he.
Twilight produced a small book and held it up in her magic, floating there. That got the soldier to back away, bravely repositioning. "The notes, if you want to see," reported Twilight, smiling at Laud.
He reached for it and flipped it open with a flick. It was a Rosetta Stone, with things written in both languages. However, it was all written in Pony English, in the end. The English parts were phonetic. It was an incredibly valuable book, Laud knew, but only to ponies. It was the perfect tool for allowing a pony to learn English.
"Can you have this duplicated?" He offered it back to her. "I want a dozen more, for the staff of the port here. Not requiring translators would be a boon." His ire had faded away in the face of practicality. "Do that, please, the next time you go home."
Twilight nodded in a rapid bobbing.
"Hey!" called Spike. Both Spikes were running towards them in hurried scampers. It was impossible to tell which was which.
Laud thrust a hand out in front of the soldier that was standing beside him, speaking loudly in English, "They are friendly." His words did much to ease the rapidly mounting tension that had built at seeing strange reptiles charging towards them.
Twilight brightened. "Spike, there you are. I was worried about you." One of the Spikes came in for a hug and she gladly gave it, patting him on the head with one hoof. "Have you been having fun?"
Doggy-Spike bobbed his head. "It was really nice. Being a dragon is kinda cool, but I'm looking forward to being a dog again." They spoke Pony at one another.
Original-Spike slowed to a walk, approaching Laud. "These are your friends?"
Laud shook his head. "These are my kin, and subordinates. It would be improper to call most of them 'friend', but kin-hood runs deeper than that. They are all members of the house."
"The reptiles make horse noises," pointed out the soldier a bit dumbly.
Twilight gestured to the new spike with a wave of a hoof. "This is Spike. This is also Spike." She pointed to her own. "Uh, not all dragons are named Spike." She rubbed her cheek with the end of a hoof. "As we were saying, you can ask another question now."
"That's quite enough of that," said Laud with a tense smile, moving to stand between Twilight and the soldier. "Twilight, you have plenty to work on, and there are countless things to be done here."
Twilight frowned a little, but turned away. "I get it. Say hello to your family. I'll be back though." She pulled off her collar with a glowing horn and set it on the ground beside herself. "Come on, Spike." Both looked to her. "Um, my Spike. We have things to do."
The elevator touched down, depressing the ground beneath it slightly. Soldiers spilled off, but a cluster remained tight, approaching Laud. It parted, allowing a man to stride forward with the greatest poise of them. "Laud! It's been some time."
Laud stiffly turned and dipped over into a formal bow. "It is an honor to see you, Sir."
He waved the formality away. "I am a visiting dignitary in your demesne, or have I been misled? You can call me by my name."
"Very well then, Paul. I am preparing a fine gift for our house." He turned slowly. "It's a fine world, with countless resources, and people. Both are incalculable in value, and I mean to bring them without expensive war."
"A fine ideal..." He reached out, placing a hand on Laud's shoulder. "But first, we talk." Without hesitation, he drew Laud in close like an affectionate older brother. "Away from prying ears."
Laud glanced back at the others. Spike and Starlight were speaking, and Maud was closeby. None of them seemed too bothered. He allowed Paul to guide him away, until they had a circle of armed men to themselves. "Paul, I understand this must look--"
"--You haven't even the slightest idea." Paul prodded Laud in the chest. "You are a young noble, but noble still. You're far from the front of the line of your father's succession, and most expected you to be an entitled thrillseeker for most of your years, however long or short that'd be." He shook his head slowly. "It came at no particular surprise when you signed up to plunge through an unknown gate." He leaned in. "There was a pool going for if this would be the end of you." He beat Laud's shoulder in one firm slap. "You cost me, I'll admit, but I'll accept that for underestimating you."
Laud trembled faintly, but kept himself largely still. "I never tried to risk without proper consideration... Paul."
"I'm sure you didn't, from your view. Look, I'm not here to chastise you, just explain." He turned towards where construction ponies could be seen laboring beyond their ring of men. "What are they?"
Laud's tension ebbed. "I have a few ideas. I don't think they're aliens at all. At least, not in the truest sense."
"I'm listening." His arms crossed and he tapped a foot.
"They are humans." Laud tapped his chest. "In here. They are Changed."
Paul's sudden flinch was hard to miss, especially for Laud. "That's a serious accusation. What makes you sure of that?"
"Their civilization." Laud threw down his hands. "Everything about it is littered with tells. They use doorknobs despite most of them having no way to use them gracefully. Their language is, word for word, identical to our own, if you forgive it being composed of horse noises."
With clenched teeth, Paul developed the faintest frown. "And their magic?"
"They are the ideal magic users, if such could exist." Laud drew himself to his full height. "They have a strict moral code, and condemn any that stray too far from it. They consider it a priority to bring such people back into line, or remove them entirely."
"And this makes you think you can trust them?" Paul stepped lifted a hand, flatside up. "They could have already rotted your brain, and you wouldn't know. Worse, they may not have, but what happens when an inquisition is called, and it will be. You know that. There is no way we can avoid it. Do you think they will smile on you, or them?" He waved the lifted hand wide, encompassing the entire world. "This world, its aliens, humans or not, are going to become ground zero."