Castor and his two associates followed Miss Arrow into the dining-room at number Eleven Magnolia Road, early Wednesday morning. A boy was seated at the table, with three girls seated beside him. Princess Sparkle stood behind them, a hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy was visibly shivering and looked ready to bolt at any moment. The solicitor, Lin Yueshi, stood behind the girls, beside Twilight.
“Princess Sparkle,” Miss Arrow said, “Detective Inspector Searle is here.” She stood aside as they walked past her.
“Good morning, Princess Sparkle, Mr. Yueshi,” Castor said. He turned to the short man beside him carrying a box only slightly larger than a regular briefcase. “I would like to introduce Mr. Rob Renzetti, the court recorder for this case,” he turned to the woman just entering the room. “And Mrs. Sarah Wall, of Child Services, who will represent Mr. Potter’s interests during this interview.”
Normally, an interview such as this would take place at the police station or at one of the Child Services facilities. However, Twilight had been quite adamant that it take place here. She had said, “He has no faith in any authorities in the human world. He is terrified that you will just take him, and hand him over to the Dursleys, despite any assurances you or I can offer to the contrary.” She had sighed. “Just getting him to agree to meet you took a bit of convincing. And at any sign you might take him, he will disappear faster than you can blink.”
Her tone had hardened. “As I have said, he is now a citizen of Equestria, and Princess Celestia takes the safety of her subjects very seriously.”
In other words, the usual practice of moving the child of arrested individuals to a foster home would not be allowed, and might cause an international — interplanetary? — incident. Fortunately, having the sovereign ruler of a nation as the “foster parent” made the situation a bit easier. The normal questions of living arrangements and monetary liquidity were a non-issue. Nor the ability to care for a child.
It had been decided that they would only take action to remove the boy should it become obvious he didn’t want to stay with the Princess.
“Mr. Renzetti, Mrs. Wall, I would like to introduce you to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
The court recorder nodded to the woman, set his box on the table, and opened it. He removed a small machine that looked somewhat like a typewriter, but had far fewer keys, and set it on the table. Then he pulled out a small tape recorder and started it.
While he did this, Twilight said, “This is Harry Potter,” she put her hand on his shoulder. “And these three are friends of his, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.”
Castor nodded to Harry, smiling, “Good. It’s always easier when we know what the people in a case look like.”
He sat at the end of the table and glanced at Rob, who nodded. “All right, the recording is on. Today is Wednesday, August 28, 1991.” He glanced at the stenographer who was typing away, making a physical copy in case there was a problem with the recording. “I am Detective Inspector Castor Searle of the Surrey Police Department. With me is Mr. Rob Renzetti, the court recorder, and Mrs. Sarah Wall, of Child Services, to interview Mr. Harry Potter, an eleven-year-old boy, about the circumstances regarding his living with the Dursley family. Present, at the moment, are Twilight Sparkle, Harry Potter, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom. The last three are Mr. Potter’s same-age friends. Miss Sparkle is his guardian pro tempore. Also present is Lin Yueshi, solicitor for Miss Sparkle and Mr. Potter.
“Miss Sparkle, Mr. Yueshi,” he said, turning to face them, “As I told you, we need to conduct this interview in private. We’ve discovered that children tend to be unwilling to divulge information when their guardians, siblings, or friends are present. They are afraid that what they will say will upset or disappoint the others. Hence, Mrs. Wall, here.
“It is Mrs. Wall’s job to ensure that the questioning is reasonable and that no one tries to trick or force statements from Mr. Potter that might be misleading or outright untrue.” He looked directly at the seated children. “And to prevent badgering from overly enthusiastic officers.
“This is not a custody inquiry,” he continued, “and questions regarding that issue will not be brought up. We are concerned only with the matter at hand, an inquiry into Harry Potter's situation at the Dursley household for the last ten years, and what he can tell us about it.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. They had already gone over all this. At great length. He was repeating it now for the benefit of Harry and the girls. And the recording.
“Excellent!” said the princess. “I’ve explained to Harry,” she squeezed his shoulder in her hand, “that you have some questions for him regarding his relatives, and that he should be as truthful as possible.”
“Before we begin,” Castor said, “may I take a picture of you, Mr. Potter? We have been unable to find any pictures whatsoever, and there are some suggestions that you . . . are no longer alive.”
Softly, Harry said, “Yes, sir.”
Nodding, Castor took a camera out of the court recorders’ box and gestured for Harry to stand up. Then for his friends to move aside.
Once that was taken care of, he said, “Thank you, Mr. Potter. Now, Miss Sparkle, if you would be so kind as to give us some privacy.”
Smiling at Harry and offering a quick, “Just relax, Harry, everything will be fine,” she ushered the three girls out of the room, closing the door behind her. Mr. Yueshi moved over to sit beside Harry. He smiled at the boy. “I shall remain with you, Mr. Potter, as a witness for Miss Sparkle. If you have any questions about the questions, how to answer them, or want help in any way, just ask me. Anything you say in here is in legal confidence and I shall not repeat anything you say to anyone, not even Miss Sparkle, without your permission. Understand?”
Harry nodded, obviously relieved, and relaxed a bit.
“Miss Sparkle and the three girls have left the room, leaving only myself, Mrs. Wall, Mr. Renzetti, Mr. Yueshi, and Mr. Potter in the room.” Castor said, for the benefit of the recorder.
“First of all, Mr. Potter,” he continued, “I only wish to determine your situation with the Dursleys. This has nothing to do with guardianship or changing your current arrangements. I ask that you tell us the truth, as you know it, as much as you can remember, and without any unneeded embellishments. If you think of something after we’ve moved on to another point, feel free to interrupt and add that information, or correct anything you might have said up to that point. Understand?”
Mrs. Wall added. “And if you become thirsty or want a break, just ask.” She opened her over-sized purse and drew out a small teddy bear. “Here,” she said smiling, “I’ve found that having a plush to hold sometimes makes these things easier.”
Harry nodded uncertainly to the detective, and took hold of the bear, clasping it to his chest.
“We’ll start with the easy stuff. What is your full name?”
They took a break after the first hour, then another at the second hour. They finished shortly before lunch.
Castor was very glad that Twilight had admitted that Harry Potter was in her custody, and had been ever since he had run away. She could have stone-walled him, and he would have been left only with suspicions. Her position in the Equestrian government, and their complete isolation from Earth would have made finding Harry impossible.
And the information the boy had provided had fit nicely with what they had learned from his school teachers and the neighbours. It had filled in many of the gaps they had had in their case. And it was clear from the boy's interactions with the others during the breaks that his new situation was much preferred, and Castor doubted that Child Services could provide a better environment.
While the other adults were angered and dismayed by what they had learned, Castor was simply furious. If he ever caught up with either of the Dursley adults when they were finally released, which wouldn’t be for quite a few years based on the evidence they had, he would be more than happy to share his opinion to the lowlifes. At great volume. And if he were retired at the time, maybe with his fists adding the punctuation. The fine, and the few weeks at the Queen’s Pleasure, would be worth it.
As for the present, the boy was happy with living with the princess. And the way Twilight and the three girls had rushed to console him each time he came out of the room, and were now in the room with him, well he had a very good support group. Friends who would stay with him.
Castor saw no reason why the Princess should not be given official custody of the boy.
And he knew a few people in high places who could make that happen. Best to wait, though, until after the Dursleys were convicted and sentenced.
In the meantime, he would not waste time thinking about it. A trick he had learned in the Sport and Social, future problems belong in the future, concentrate on the problems in front of you! He just made a small note in his notebook-calendar regarding that issue.
۸-ꞈ-۸
Castor led Princess Twilight and the rest of her entourage into the small theatre on a small military base to the north of London. It was just after six o’clock on Thursday evening. The ladies took the seats that were arranged to one side of the podium that stood centre-stage at the front of the theatre.
He stood behind the podium and looked out at the people gathered in front of him. There were only a hundred and seven of them, leaving most of the theatre empty. He could see them eyeing the unusual lengths and colours of the Equestrians' hair. There were many appreciative looks, as well as some disapproving ones. The smarter ones, or at least the more observant ones, noticed the other half-dozen women and men, with equally unusual hair-colour and lengths, as they positioned themselves at the edges of the stage and the back of the theatre. Each paired with an officer from MI5. One of them was wearing a floor-length house-robe.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” Castor started. “I want to first say thank you for volunteering for this study.” He swept his gaze across them. “But before we go any further I must remind you that everything you see, hear, and do from the moment you volunteered for this study is classified as top-secret. You are, under no circumstances, to communicate to anyone anything you see, hear, or experience while you are participating in it, except when you are being debriefed by authorized personnel of Her Majesty’s government. This includes not discussing any details with your fellow participants in the study.
“The ladies on this stage and I,” he gestured at the six, “are the exceptions. You are to answer our questions at all times with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as you know it. There may be others, in the future, to whom such discretion is also given.
“These conditions will probably be lifted at the end of the study, and you can brag to your children and grandchildren that you took part in this study. And it will be something to brag about, as you will see.” He gave them all a stern look.
“I will repeat what you have already been told regarding this study. Failure to comply with these restrictions will result in your removal from the study, forfeiture of any bonuses, and, under certain circumstances, could result in a charge of treason under the Official Secrets Act.”
There were looks, and a little muttering, between the members of the group.
“Before we begin, though, I require that you state you understand these conditions and have no intention of discussing this study or your participation in it with anyone not authorized by the Her Majesty’s Government, including spouses, family, or significant others.” He smiled wryly. “Yes, I know you all signed non-disclosure agreements when you signed up for this study, this is the last step.” He sighed. “It will take a bit of time. Come up by rows onto the left side of the stage,” he pointed for clarity.
Castor, Twilight, and Applejack waited as the first person approached and stopped before them.
“Do you intend to discuss this with anyone not authorized by Her Majesty’s Government?” asked Castor as Applejack stared at the man intensely. Beside her, while the man was distracted, Twilight was checking to see if the man had any detectable magic.
The man snapped to attention, indicating he was a military volunteer, “Sir! No, Sir!” Applejack smiled and nodded at the man. Castor said, “Excellent. Thank you.”
They turned to the next person, a woman.
They were almost to the end when he saw Applejack frown and shake her head slightly.
Castor stopped and took another look at the man, who returned his look curiously, glancing between him and Applejack. Castor sighed, turned, and waved over a man waiting at the edge of the stage. They waited as he came over.
“I’m sorry,” Castor said to the volunteer, “but you cannot participate in the study. Mr. Carroll, here, will escort you back to London. Thank you for your time, though. Please wait at the side of the stage until we are finished.” They watched silently as the two walked off. Castor sighed. That man was going to have an especially interesting evening tonight, and day tomorrow. He hoped the volunteer had merely wanted to share the excitement of his participation in the “secret” study with his wife or girlfriend. If not . . . well, it was possible Applejack had uncovered a sleeper spy.
The Princess had insisted Lady Applejack meet every one of the volunteers as they answered a question about keeping this a secret. She had assured him that Lady Applejack would somehow know if the individual was lying. He wasn’t sure exactly how she was doing it, but, sadly, Twilight had also assured him that this was a skill unique to the pony in question. MI5 would have loved to get their hands on a way to uncover spies with a series of simple questions.
They finally finished. As the three waited for the last row to return to their seats, Twilight leaned close and said, with more than a bit of disappointment, “None had any trace of magic I could detect.” She was almost pouting. Castor watched Mr. Carroll and his guest exit the theatre.
He nodded his understanding. “You can sit now,” he said to the two women, “you don’t have to stand up here with me.”
They returned to their seats.
He took a deep breath and looked at the remaining men and women. “Thank you all. Is there anyone who wants to change their mind and leave the study? Now is your last chance. You will still be held to the terms of the non-disclosure agreement, though.”
No one moved. A few looked back at the doors at the rear of the theatre where the two men had exited.
“Excellent.
“I’m sure you have all heard the conspiracy-theorists saying that,” he paused, then said in a dramatic tone, “aliens . . . walk . . . among us.” He held his arms up like a bad actor pretending horror as he stepped back from the podium, mouth partially open in pretended shock.
They all stared at him. A few chuckled.
He stepped back to the podium and adopted a serious expression.
“Up until last month, those were just that, conspiracy theories, nothing based in fact.” A few frowns had begun to appear. “Last month, aliens, true aliens, beings not born on our world, aliens from a planet called Equus, discovered a portal, a doorway, if you will, to our world.” Practically everyone had raised eyebrows at hearing that, and a few startled exclamations of disbelief and surprise as they exchanged uncertain looks.
“Last week, a group of these aliens approached a member of Her Majesty’s government and asked to establish an embassy. Naturally, once we were convinced that this wasn’t some sort of hoax, we asked to reciprocate, to establish an embassy in their world.” He had their full attention, although quite a few were staring at the women on the stage with a dawning understanding.
“That’s why you are here today. That’s what this study is all about. And why it must remain a secret for the time being.” He studied his audience. Some were grinning, some were frowning, and some had blank expressions. “I’m sure you can all imagine the panic and chaos that would result should this information suddenly be released on an unsuspecting public.
“While their world and our world appear to be completely compatible, the aliens — they call themselves ponies,” that got a few looks of disbelief, “we’ll get to that in a moment” he explained, “the ponies mentioned that there might be an issue with long-term side-effects from living in their world. They are willing to take their chances in ours, but couldn’t, in good conscience, allow us to proceed unwarned.” He paused.
“You, ladies and gentlemen, will be among the first people to step onto a foreign world. Excluding astronauts who went to the Moon, there have been only five others who have made that trip, myself included. One of them has spent a considerable amount of time there, so we know for a fact that there is no immediate danger that we can detect. Unfortunately, his situation is unique, and rare, and cannot be necessarily extrapolated to the majority of Earth’s population.”
“That was why you all underwent such thorough physicals. For you who are not scientists, that established a baseline of your physical conditions, to help us catch any deviations as soon as practical.
“There is a second group of volunteers, who are being briefed in a separate location, acting as the control group.
“Before we proceed, however, you should know that the portal changes some of the people who go through it to match the native inhabitants. It has done the reverse for the ponies. And they call themselves ponies for a reason.” He turned to Twilight and raised an eyebrow. She grinned and gestured to the woman wearing the robe.
The woman nodded, having been forewarned, walked to up to the podium on the opposite side from the seated Ladies and shrugged off the robe. Before the audience had a chance to react to the apparently nude woman, a waist-high pegasus stood in her place. She proudly stretched her wings wide and posed for a few moments, and then flapped them a few times, lifting herself into the air, before gently touching back down.
The entire audience was speechless.
She flapped her wings again and took a long, slow, lazy flight over the heads of the volunteers.
Lady Dash tsked, “Oh, come on.”
“Dash,” said Twilight, but it was already too late.
The audience watched, astonished as the addressed woman stood and quickly disrobed. The last item hadn’t had time to fall to the floor when she darted to the front of the stage, leaping off it into the audience. The people in front of her gave startled yells, expecting her land on top of them. Instead, they watched with open mouths, as she transformed in mid-air into a second pegasus and zoomed out across the theatre.
The other pegasus just watched her approach. Rainbow Dash flew right up to the other, tapped her shoulder, and yelled, “TAG, you’re it!” and darted away.
After a startled moment, the other grinned and took off after her.
The next few minutes were an aerial display unlike anything the humans had ever seen. Flips, barrel-rolls, hair-pin turns, and abrupt changes in altitude all proved to the audience that these were not actors flying on hidden wires.
Finally, Twilight stood, and yelled, “Dash! That’s quite enough!”
A moment later, the two pegasi were settling down on the stage, the guard beside Dash looking a little bit abashed. The pegasus smoothly changed back to her human shape, picked the robe up from the stage, and went back to her position at the side of the stage.
Rainbow Dash just grinned unrepentantly and jumped up to hover over the stage, her fore-legs crossed as she sat in mid-air. Everyone was staring at that impossible stunt.
Castor picked up where he had stopped. “A pegasus is only one of the major pony types, there are also unicorn, earth, night, crystal pegasus, crystal earth, and Saddle Arabian ponies.”
Beside him, Ladies Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack transformed as he named their types.
“You, however, will not change.” There were a few disappointed looks, and not a few “Awws,” in disappointment.
“That was part of the selection process. Being hoofed creatures, ponies cannot hold a pen or pencil in their hooves, nor can they use a typewriter with any proficiency. Which would make it very difficult for an embassy staff to operate, now wouldn’t it? Not to mention the difficulty guards would have operating their equipment.”
It was a rhetorical question, but he could see that the recruits understood his point.
“And while the ponies have their own methods of writing, I have been told it takes years of practice to become more than adequate at making letters and numbers that are actually recognizable. Time we don’t have.” He took a deep breath.
“The portal, from what the ponies tell us, is supposed to adapt whomever goes through it to whatever world they are going to.” All of the ponies, except Rainbow Dash, transformed back to humans. “This means that when they come here, their bodies are perfectly adapted to surviving and living here.” He turned and grinned at Twilight, “Those are their natural hair colours, by the way. With the help of a stylist, they could make their hair to any human colour, should they so choose.” She smiled impishly back at him.
“That most humans do not change when they go through the portal leaves a big question mark. Does the portal fix things so that, while not changed, humans can easily survive in their world? Or does the portal do nothing? If it does nothing, is there something in this new world that human bodies cannot handle? And I’m not talking about viruses or other diseases — is there a radiation there about which we know nothing that will, in time, cause harm? Or, perhaps, will our bodies easily adapt to that radiation, but then react badly when it is removed when you return here? Will living there for any significant amount of time cause a human to die? Either while there or when they return to here?
“They, and we, simply do not know.
“That’s where this study comes in. While we have made excursions of a few hours with no difficulties, we need more raw data. So, each week, two of you will return and undergo a complete physical, looking for any alterations from the baseline physicals you received. In addition, the ponies will be doing their own medical examinations to see if they can detect anything from their end of things.”
He paused and took a drink from the glass unobtrusively placed on a shelf in the podium.
“I cannot stress enough how important this is to us, to humanity. The ponies have a way to regrow lost limbs that they are willing to share with us. We will begin experimenting with that technology next week.”
Most of the audience sat up straight in their seats, gasping.
“They have a cure for most cancers. They don’t know if their cure will work with us, but they are willing to try. We will begin experimenting with that technology next month.”
Now there were many more exclamations of surprise. Castor knew that there had to be a least a few in the audience who had lost family members or friends to cancer.
“Using their technology, they think they can develop a way to remove pollution from the air over a city like London in a matter of minutes. And those are only a few of the things we will be able to learn from them.”
He paused to let those ideas sink in.
“Settle down, please,” the room grew quiet. “And, yes, those of you in the medical field will be helping us with that while you are in Equus.”
“So, you see, the stakes in this study are high. Each step must be carefully studied for side-effects before being made known to the public.
“And, ‘what do they want from us,’ I’m sure you’re asking yourselves.”
He shook his head ruefully. “Believe it or not, one of their first requests was to see a performance of Shakespeare.”
That got a few surprised chuckles from the audience.
“We do however, have some things that interest them outside of literature and the arts. Our desktop computers and computer games have them mesmerized. They don’t have telephones, television, nor radio. Not even the telegraph. They simply never thought about those!
“Neither do they have grocery stores such as a Waitrose supermarket, nor large department stores. Harrods almost literally had some of them drooling at the variety on display.”
That got him a few laughs.
“However, before you go there, there are some things I must tell you.
He waved his arm at the Lighting Booth at the back of the theatre. As the curtain rose and the lights dimmed, he said, “First, there is a massive amount of evidence that there has been contact between our two planets, going back hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years.”
He touched a control on the podium and a picture of an animal appeared on the screen above and behind him. “Cats, dogs, rabbits, mice . . . ,” he continued naming animals as their pictures appeared on the screen that had been hidden behind the curtain until the whole screen was filled. “. . . are all on Equus. But on Equus, unlike Earth, they are all intelligent.” He touched another button and the pictures disappeared, but a video began playing.
“This is Sweet Apple Acres,” they heard Lady Applejack say, “and this here is Bessie. Say ‘hello,’ Bessie.”
The cow looked down, then back up, and said, “Do I have to?”
“It would be nice.”
She sighed, then looked at the camera. She waved a hoof and said, “Hello.” She turned to Applejack, who was off camera. “Can I go now?”
“Shurely, honey, I’ll be seeing you at milking time.”
The cow gave her a long look, then said, “Okay, just don’t be late, today.” She turned and walked off. The video cut off.
“Not all of them can speak. The ones in the slides I showed you are about as smart as a ten-year-old child, on average.”
He touched a button and another slide appeared, “There are cows, deer, buffalo, donkeys, goats . . . ,” and he started another list.
When that screen was full, he blanked it. “There are mythological creatures as well, almost directly out of Greek mythology! Dragons, griffons, chimeras, cockatrices, hydras . . . .”
When the screen was once more full, he added, “The ones wearing clothes are intelligent enough to have their own countries and civilizations, and can talk with you as well as any secondary school graduate.”
“In short, if you see an animal, it can probably talk to you. If it can’t talk, it can at least understand you.” He paused “Don’t screw up. That dumb animal you’re dismissing might just be an ambassador to a foreign Equus country. If in doubt, ask a pony.” The volunteers stared at him, too gobsmacked to say anything in response.
“As a result, the only meat-dish you will see is fish. We will not be importing hamburger and pork for you to eat. You are, for however long you stay on the other side of the portal, vegetarians. Please do not discuss meat while you are in Equus. If somepony asks, change the subject . . . unless you can say, no, you do not eat that item. Perhaps you can stress the food items we both like to eat.”
"If any of you have leather shoes, wallets, or purses, we will exchange them for non-leather items on the bus.”
To say the audience was shocked into a near stupor when the presentation was finally complete was an understatement.
By the time they boarded the bus, much later, it was night-time. The ride to Little Whinging was quiet, the volunteers mentally digesting what they had learned. The blacked-out windows in the bus prevented them from seeing just where they were being taken. Once they arrived, a canvas canopy blocked their view of the stars as they made their way into the tent, and Equestria.
The hotel in Equestria for human visitors had been finished, and that was where they would spend the first few weeks, getting acclimated to the ponies and learning what was expected of them by their government and the ponies.
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