//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Friendship Abroad // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Ocellus couldn’t have said if she did the right thing. It didn’t help being able to sense the creatures that had thought of her with kindness turn to anger and disgust. They probably wouldn’t be able to look at her again without thinking of what they’d seen her do to Marie. Maybe her own friends wouldn’t forget either. Maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe she hadn’t saved all of Equestria this time, but that didn’t matter. She had saved a single life, and that was almost as important. What would happen to that life… Then she saw the image on David’s magic scroll, and the floor of the cave seemed to fall out from under her. That storm last night. It was almost exactly like the one that brought us here. The human voices faded into the background, their demands lost as she backed away, eyes focused on nothing. This wasn’t a mistake in navigation—Equestria never could’ve missed a nation bigger than it was, only a short sea voyage away. It was wrong, all wrong. How much magic would it take to move a whole country? Then again, how much magic did it take to move the sun? Would Equestria have followed them all the way here? There was something else. Equestria had connections—to the Crystal Empire in the north, and the badlands to the south. They weren’t there. No changeling territories, no Dragonlands, no Mount Aris. Only Equestria. The scroll was still talking, its voice a paradox of fearful emotion that she couldn’t so much as smell. “…And that was the prime minister, urging all current and former emergency responders, police, members of the territorial army, and any others who have useful skills to report to your local division station.” The image changed from a map to an incredibly fancy-looking building, like something Ocellus might’ve expected from an Equestrian palace. “We take you live to Westminster where her majesty is beginning her national address…” With the terrible storm over, Ocellus could hear the metal birds outside again. Only this time it didn’t sound like the casual searches there had been before. Now she could hear an entire flock, and they sounded angry. So loud that the old-looking human’s voice on the tiny magic scroll was washed away to nothing. “Holy Mary mother of god.” Helen’s head dropped into her hands, staring down at the ashes of the fire. “We were part of it. The whole bloody world is ending and it’s all our fault.” “I’m going to go take a look outside,” Ocellus called, loud enough that she could be heard over the birds. “No, you stay here. They might notice you.” She would have to explain to the humans that none of this was their fault, or even had anything to do with them—but that could wait. Ocellus changed into a raven, dramatically enough that the humans all gasped and stared. “How did you do that?” Marie asked, probably without meaning to. “Magic,” she responded, without thinking. Then she took off, flying low out of the cave and into the chill forest air. Her ears hadn’t deceived her—there were over a dozen metal birds overhead, some of which could’ve eaten the ones she saw yesterday for breakfast. She landed atop a sturdy oak, watching with fascination as the back of the birds opened, and shapes started falling from inside. Human shapes, falling in two orderly rows. As they fell, their wings opened up like a gigantic oversized mushroom behind each one. They were too far away to sense clearly, other than feeling that each one was alive. Despite all the metal and cloth they were wearing, covering up every inch of exposed skin. They’re coming for us. Did the humans think they had been invaded? Wouldn’t be the first time changelings invaded a peaceful country. But if these human-creatures had been peaceful before, it didn’t look like they intended to be anymore. Ocellus’s sensitive ears caught more voices, coming from another of the perfectly flat human roads. There was a large metal vehicle there, and several humans moving into the forest. “We’re looking for three of them,” one of the humans said. “One of the mothers said they went into the woods last night looking for a dragon, and didn’t come home.” “You think they found anything?” The other human laughed in response. “We better hope not. The intelligence service won’t look good if it’s being outdone by children.” Ocellus turned and flew back the way she’d come without so much as a caw, returning to the cave in a panicked trot. “There are humans coming this way,” she said, ignoring all the confused looks. “Looking for you three. They seemed like they might be… the authorities? Do you have a royal guard?” “Were they wearing funny hats?” She shook her head. “Why would that matter?” “Then they weren’t the royal guard,” David said, recovering his fallen pack from the ground. “Guess that’s the end of this adventure.” Helen made an uncomfortable sound. “We just gonna… walk away, huh?” She reached to one side, tapping Marie on the shoulder. “And… what the blazes do we do about her? Either we leave Marie with these, uh… creatures, or we let them drag her off to some science lab somewhere.” The freshly-hatched new changeling—or something like a changeling, anyway—was in no place to respond to that. She made an uncomfortable noise, her clothes twitching in a way that suggested her wings were moving. “If nothing was weird, do you think they’d take you away? Or just… maybe talk to you or something?” “I don’t see why it would matter,” Smolder said. “It’s sounding more and more like we’ll have to fight soon. How good do humans fight?” “Most not very well,” David said. “Fighting isn’t a useful skill anymore.” Ocellus cut in. “Well, I got plenty of time to study how to be human.” She took one last glance at Marie, remembering exactly what she’d been like before she’d been changed. Fix the eyes, remove the wings and horn, and…” She changed. It was easily the most difficult transformation she’d ever attempted—it wasn’t even close to the smallest form, yet the complexity of it took her nearly twenty seconds of concentration. And when it was done, she dropped onto all fours, surprised by just how hard it was to keep balance. Not that she couldn’t adapt—but like every form she mastered, it would take time. “You even copied my outfit,” Marie whispered, her voice meek. “That’s incredible.” I’m glad you think so, because you’re going to have to learn it too if you want to go back to your life. “So here’s the plan,” Ocellus declared, conscious every moment of how little time they had. They would need to go out to meet the humans before they reached the cave, or else they might want to search it. They would still need to find a new hiding place, once whatever was going on outside had died down. “I’m you.” She straightened onto her two limbs, as the other humans did, adjusting her skirt, straightening the shorts underneath. “And I’m going to be asking you questions. Can you still hear me?” “Yeah.” Marie met her eyes, still watching with fascination. “How far away can we do this?” “Same… city? Just pay attention. Normally a changeling would study the one they wanted to replace for weeks.” Not that Ocellus had ever been trained in that discipline. She was too young, and their ways of war had all fallen to ruin by then. “I bloody knew it,” Helen exclaimed. “You’re a changeling who just wants to replace our friend. This whole time… that’s what you were after.” Ocellus smacked one foot into the ground, hard enough that she nearly lost her balance all over again. She didn’t, though she did sway back and forth a little with the motion. “I am a changeling, I’m not trying… look, human, do you want her to get caught or not? You could just walk right out there and see what happens. But if I know anything about the way other creatures treat us, it won’t be good.” “Ocellus is telling the truth,” Gallus said. “I don’t know what kind of changelings you have here, but she’s never been anything but honest and kind. If she says this will help your friend, then it will. Less… sure it’s a good idea to split up, though.” “Just for a little while,” Ocellus said. “You all know about changelings thanks to me, so… you can help Marie! And I can make sure wherever the humans go looking for us is far from here.” “Unless we want to just walk out there too and talk to their queen,” Smolder said. “Just an idea. Hiding and tricking worked great for changelings, I get it. But that isn’t the way dragons do things. We’re more about moving first and doubting second.” “We’ll do it,” David said. “Marie, don’t let them do anything to you. We’ll be back… soon.” Ocellus could taste the pain in his tone, but most of what she found there was self-loathing. Like—he felt the same disgust for Marie that most creatures did for changelings, but he didn’t want to. That was fast. Sure you’re not a pony in there? The other one just radiated anger. “Alright, alright! Fake Marie, you coming or what? Didn’t you say they were close?” Ocellus nodded, then pointed towards Marie. “You all should find a new hiding spot as soon as it’s safe. She can…” She reached out with the fleshy, spidery claw, pointing it at the side of her head. “We can talk.” The waiting humans didn’t seem to have a clue what she meant, looking more upset. But Ocellus would have plenty of time to explain to them. She stumbled out the cave, and very nearly took her own tumble down the hill. Ocellus squeaked in protest, but something firm caught her by one spindly foreleg. How did he hold her weight as well as his own without falling over? “You sure you can handle this?” he asked. “Y-yeah.” She straightened. “We can… tell them about the fall. Hitting your head is… supposed to make you disoriented, is that true for humans too? They’ll ask less questions that way.” “Your funeral,” Helen said, leading the way back towards the road. Exactly in the direction that the distant humans were walking, though probably not so distant anymore. Behind them, Ocellus’s friends were taking everything into the cave. She felt a brief surge of pride—they might not be changelings, but they were her friends. She wouldn’t trade them for anything. She waved with her free claw, leaning on the male human for a few more steps until she dared trust her own legs. “So… if we get separated, how should I communicate with you two?” She reached into a pocket of the clothes she’d created, pulling out her copy of Marie’s magical tablet. It had an image of Equestria on the flat glass, unchanging. Changeling magic was good, but not good enough to copy a spell she didn’t even understand. “Blimey, you can…” Helen began. But then she stopped, a grin spreading across her lips. “Ah, I see. That’s not as clever as it looks.” “Nope,” Ocellus agreed. “It’s not.” “Here, take this.” Helen tossed the real version of the phone to her, little bits of broken plastic and all. It looked like it was oozing strange fluids from within, and she couldn’t sense even a trace of magic. “Guess you’re doing Marie a favor, in a way. ‘Er mum can murder you instead. Seems fair.” “Is that common for humans?” she asked, her steps slowing a little. The change in pace nearly knocked her over again—buck these tiny feet and the steepness of the hill. “K-killing—” “No,” David interrupted, voice flat. “Helen is being metaphorical. She means that Marie’s mother is extremely strict and Marie broke a lot of rules to be here. Last time she tried something like this, we didn’t see her outside of school for two weeks.” “The thing that’s cancelled on account of a national emergency,” Helen added. “Apparently the north coast is about to flood. Christ. You better not have anything to do with that.” “We don’t!” she squeaked, so loudly that a distant mumbling soon followed. The same humans she’d heard before, now running through the woods. While she could barely manage a walk, they emerged from the trees a moment later taking loping strides that made their adorable tiny bodies seem positively deerlike. Well, not so tiny from her current perspective. “You three!” One of the humans stopped closer than the other. While his friend lifted up a magical tablet and started whispering, he moved in close. “Are you Helen Montgomery, Marie Evans, and David Walker?” Helen nodded. “We are. Who are you?” He removed something from a pocket—not a weapon, just a little piece of leather and paper, which he held up in front of them. “My name is Mr. Smith, Security Service. My partner and I are here to take you into protective custody. Please come with us. Your parents are waiting.”