//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Friendship Abroad // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Marie stopped dead in the flooded cave, staring stupidly into the darkness. She no longer cared that water was pouring into her boots, or that she’d scraped one of her arms bloody on the cave walls. None of that mattered, because she could hear a voice in the darkness. An impossible, out-of-location voice. She had expected many possibilities down here in the dark. Most likely, some frightening reptile noises in the gloom. They would take a few snapshots, then run like hell. David was a fast runner, and she was quick too. No problem. Maybe there would be a giant, lumbering yak in here, with those adorable braids in her hair. Yaks were big animals, but caves were small and kids were smaller. They’d beat it out, then climb a tree or something. Some part of her mind had even thought that maybe Helen was right—maybe they’d find some special effects artists in here, doing the finishing touches on their next intended performance. But then she heard a voice, coming from somewhere in the distance. A voice speaking English, though she couldn’t place the accent. “Hello!” “That can’t be right,” David muttered, apparently to himself. “Look.” He pointed into the gloom, and when he turned his head the headlamp lit the way. There was a shape there, an animal shape, though she could only see the head at first. Because it was glowing. A yellow horse… no, a unicorn. It stood a little taller than they were, which meant it had to stoop not to scrape its head on the low ceiling. A puppet? she thought, some desperate little scrap of her mind clinging onto the world she knew. You were right, Helen, it can’t be real. None of it can be. The horse had stopped so close to them, there was no mistaking its features. The eyes had real moisture on them, there was real dirt smudged into its mane. And when it spoke, its lips moved. “I guess you found our hiding spot.” Still with the accent, though she could understand it just fine. “We…” David was pointing the camera directly at the unicorn, and his head didn’t twist to either side. He’s lighting the shot. You sure know what you’re doing. “We found your… you…” “Where’s the operator?” Marie found herself asking. “This… publicity thing. That’s what it is, right? We’re looking at… the best robot ever. The most impressive…” but she trailed off. The creature was looking directly at her, its eyes regarding her quizzically. If this was really an animatronic, it was better than anything she’d ever heard of, or seen. It was better animated than anything she’d seen in movies, for that matter. And the water it was standing in moved realistically too. It can’t be fake. It has to be… “That is a strange thing to say,” said the horse. “But… this is a bad place to talk. My friends are resting, and they need more sleep than I do. Could we go outside instead, so we don’t wake them? I would like to learn more about you, and this place…” David recovered first. He didn’t lower the camera, but he wasn’t holding it in front of his face. He could talk, and the creature didn’t even seem to realize what he was doing. “We shouldn’t go out of the cave completely. There are helicopters up there, and they’re… probably looking for you. They’ve been passing this way for hours now.” “Just the entrance then,” said the unicorn. “Sure.” She—Marie was sure it was a she—nodded politely to them. “Lead the way. There’s no need to worry about me doing anything. The only creature you’ll ever meet more harmless than I am is Silverstream, and she still might take you underwater by accident. Unless you don’t mind being underwater, then it would be on purpose…” She trailed off, and Marie took that opportunity to half-run, half fall her way out of the cave. It was a long and twisting path through the dark, with the constant splashes of that creature behind them. Yet, her glances back showed only friendly smiles from it. If this was one of those horror movies where a monster ate the helpless kids, shouldn’t it be trying to lure them deeper, not volunteering to go outside into the sun? “Do you have names?” the unicorn said, as they stepped into the dry cave entrance a moment later. They were still securely inside, but real sunlight overpowered the spotlights here, and if Helen was standing nearby, she would certainly hear them. Another helicopter whirred overhead, but the horse didn’t seem to notice. “Most creatures have names. I’ve found that learning them helps us get to know each other better. Quicker too.” “I’m David,” he said, leaning against a back-wall for support. He still kept the camera trained on the unicorn, though. “And I’m Marie. You aren’t… I mean… you’re talking. Animals aren’t supposed to do that… but you don’t look like many horses. Helen has some, and they’re nothing like you. Your coat is so… bright.” “Thank you, I practiced for hours to get it to look this way,” the unicorn said. Then her expression soured. “Animal… we heard that when we got here. From the yellow jackets. Is that your word for pony? It doesn’t line up quite right, and you sound so normal…” “You sound American,” David said. “Are you… and the others, you said there were friends back there—are you Americans? Maybe…” His voice started to race, getting faster and more energetic. “Escaped genetic experiments? Is that why the police are after you? Because you escaped from some secret lab, and now they want you back?” “I don’t know what any of that means,” the unicorn said. “I’m not American, I’m Ocellus. You aren’t as good at guessing names as you think you are.” She glanced to their heads, looking between them with confusion. “Why is your magic so subtle? I can’t sense it, but I can see the glow so clearly. Are you using truth spells on me? I’m not lying… that’s a rude way to make new friends.” A voice echoed from down the trail—Helen’s voice. “Who are you talking to?” she yelled. “Did you find the pranksters in there? If you’re trying to talk them into lyin’ for you, it won’t work, not for a minute! I’m coming up, see if I don’t!” The unicorn—Ocellus, apparently—followed their eyes with her own. “She doesn’t sound very nice.” “She’s not,” David said. “She’s got a funny way of showing it,” Marie corrected. “But she’s nice. What do… what do you care? No, forget all of this. What do I care?” She paced back and forth in front of the creature, her voice getting louder. “Helen, you should come over here! You don’t have to believe anything. Just look for yourself!” “Here we go,” David muttered. He reached up, flicking off his flashlight. Ocellus watched it with wonder. “What…” Ocellus’s ears flattened, and she pawed at the floor with one awkward hoof. It was adorable, if a little intimidating. She was so much bigger than either of them—like a horse. A yellow, shy-looking horse. “What kind of creatures are you?” She nodded out towards the open cave. “I haven’t seen very many creatures here, and most of them were like you.” “We’re… human,” David said, his voice disbelieving. “How can you not know what that is?” Then Helen’s face appeared around the corner from just outside the cave. At first she looked mocking, but then her eyes found the unicorn, and she froze completely still. She hadn’t even managed to say anything mean. “Another one,” Ocellus said, glancing out at Helen. “She is… a friend of yours? Not one of the ones hunting for my friends.” “We were trying to find you,” Marie said. “But not because we wanted to…” She trailed off. What had they planned on doing once they got here? Turning them in to some kind of authority? No. Taking video, obviously. But she could see now in the face of this alien a fear and desperation that was entirely familiar. Not just a cornered animal, but a person who wasn’t sure of what would happen to her next. Those eyes were huge for her size, but the expression she saw there seemed entirely familiar. She’d seen it on her own mother’s face many times, whenever their kitchen ran out of cans. “You found…” Helen finally said, pointing with one hand. “Some kind of… that’s not a dragon! It’s a…” She squeaked, then lowered her hand again. “What are you?” “A unicorn, currently,” Ocellus said politely. “And you’re a human. You all are, is that right?” David nodded, and Marie with him. “Helen, come in here. We don’t want to be seen from the air.” Helen obeyed, though she stepped behind David, rather than standing beside him the way Marie did. “Why don’t we want that? Maybe unicorns are dangerous.” “Some of them are,” Ocellus said. “But not this one. I’m harmless. I’d hurt myself more than you if I tried anything, I promise. I’m quite bad at it.” Helen didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t understand why my friends are still talking to you. It seems like they should’ve run away screaming.” But Ocellus ignored that. “Please… you have to tell me the way to Equestria from here.” She advanced on David, who’d answered more of her questions than anyone else. Helen withdrew as the creature walked forward, but David and Marie remained where they were. There was only desperation in her eyes, not anger or even frustration. “I looked at the maps we brought back with us, and I can’t find this island on it anywhere. This place shouldn’t exist… but it obviously does. Thousands of you… humans. With your chariots that pull themselves, and buildings as big as castles.” “I have never heard of Equestria before,” David said, glancing to Marie and Helen. “Either of you?” Marie shook her head. “Nothing like that. Is that a country? Are you sure you aren’t… implanted with false memories from an American science lab?” Helen giggled. “You read too many books, Marie. It can’t be anything like that.” “Really?” Marie was running out of patience. “I thought the dragon was a puppet, or maybe just photoshop?” “We don’t know that it wasn’t. This thing isn’t a dragon.” “I could be,” Ocellus said, though her voice remained feeble. “You three… need some friendship help. Maybe you could go to the school! After… well, we’d need to find Equestria first.” She slumped onto her haunches, which had the strange effect of making her seem even taller than they were. Nearly a foot taller than David, though only half that for her. “Please, will you help us? I don’t know who you are… don’t even know what you are. But my friends and I… we’re hopelessly lost. We’ve come from so far away, and we don’t know how to get home. We’ve called for rescue, but we don’t know when it will get here.” Another helicopter made its slow way overhead, its blades chopping rhythmically at the air. Ocellus lowered her head a little, ears flattening again. The others only glanced briefly out. Was it her imagination, or was the helicopter hesitating a little as it passed? Marie had heard them so rarely, she couldn’t be sure if this was normal for it or not. “Help you,” Helen said. “They want… our help.” “Yes,” Marie said, without thinking another second. “Of course we will! If we can. I mean… you can see us. We’re just kids. We have school tomorrow, parents who will be wondering where we are. But if we can…” “Are you sure?” Helen’s eyebrows went up. “They could be… evil or something.” “Evil,” David repeated, obviously disbelieving. “Doesn’t sound evil to me.” “And we aren’t,” Ocellus insisted. “We’ve fought evil before, or helped anyway. I know my friends are still asleep, but I know them. They’re good, even better now than before. We saved a whole country once, we’re not about to hurt creatures we just met. They’ll only want to make friends.”