//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: Friendship Abroad // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Ocellus winced, taking in the skepticism and quiet plotting from the agents. They plan on fighting. If we don’t convince them not to soon. They don’t like having this conversation on someone else’s terms. “I think you might have to come in. Make sure you tell the others not to get provoked into fighting. I don’t know what these humans want, but I think they’re just as confused as we are.” Marie didn’t reply, but she could hear voices on the other side of the door. Good for her, figuring out how not to send every thought that pops into her head. “There, I told her. They’re coming.” “If you say so,” Hayes said. “That didn’t look like much of anything from where we’re standing.” “How about we talk to you two.” Mr. Smith focused on Helen as he said it, eyes flicking down to her phone and back up again. “What are you doing?” Helen spoke slowly and clearly, mostly to the phone. “I’m in a cabin with two men, Agent Smith and Agent Hayes of the Security Service. They have the property surrounded with soldiers. We’re having a conversation.” Then she looked up. “You keep goin’. I’m just on the phone wit’ me family’s lawyer, see. Case I don’t come back. I’ve seen movies.” “We’re here to help you, kid,” Hayes muttered, annoyed. “You’re both in terrible danger. I don’t know what this—this one told you, but she isn’t what she looks like. It’s convincing on the outside, but she didn’t fool the CAT scan. She’s not human.” “We know that,” David said. “We would’ve told you all about it earlier, but the police were shooting at them on TV. If we’d told you what we knew, you might’ve hurt them.” The door clicked, then squeaked open. Both agents turned to stare as Ocellus’s friends came in, walking beside each other and filling the living room with nervous, uncomfortable bodies. “God, look at the girl,” Smith whispered. But not quiet enough that Ocellus couldn’t hear. Or Marie, poor thing. While the others looked afraid, she was on the edge of tears. “You’re some kind of… animal trainer,” Hayes supplied, glancing back at Ocellus. “These are your… creations?” The others laughed, a familiar enough sound that both men turned to stare. Hands moved to their belts, but neither drew a weapon. Smolder spoke first. “Ocellus, train us? Obviously not. You found our boat. I hope you didn’t wreck it. I liked that boat…” “It talked.” “She talked,” Gallus corrected, glaring at them. “You two aren’t very nice, are you?” “Yona thinks they need friendship lessons too.” “Stay where you are!” Smith called, raising his voice a little. “Maybe you know, maybe you don’t—but this building is surrounded by her majesty’s finest. If anything happens to us, they’ll certainly take the building and all of you with it.” “Sit down,” Marie said, glancing back at them. “They’re terrified of you, just like I was. You guys are really big, and you’ve got those claws, and…” She put out her hands. “Hi Agent Smith and Agent Hayes. I’m the girl you’re looking for.” She reached up, touching the side of her face with two fingers. “Y-yeah, I know what you’re thinking. It looks bad. It doesn’t hurt, though.” “Alright.” Mr. Smith took a deep breath. “It is about time someone in this room start answering my questions. I want a clear explanation for exactly what happened to the child named Marie Evans. I want proof, and I don’t plan on hearing any more evasiveness or excuses.” “You should see what I look like,” Ocellus said, hopping down from the counter. “Right now you probably think she’s the one who’s not from your planet.” She closed her eyes, concentrating… and in a few seconds, she was returned to normal. It took quite a bit longer than it had to copy Marie with a pair of hostile eyes on her. But what had been difficult for her was obviously a terrifying shock for them. They gaped at her, fighting back their emotions only with great discipline. They have powerful minds. Why bother? Is there another tribe of humans who can read them like we read emotions? “I’m Ocellus,” she said. “These are my friends—Smolder, Silverstream, Gallus, Sandbar, and Yona.” She paused after each name, letting the creature in question say hello. “They can all talk,” Smith said. “You’re seeing what I’m seeing, aren’t you Hayes?” “A girl turned into a horse-shaped bug? Yes, I’m seeing her too.” Finally they’re confused. This entire time the two agents had overflown with confidence, making it difficult to take the situation away from them. But now… Now she could tell them the story. To her surprise, the soldiers outside didn’t make a move on the building, knocking over walls to “rescue” these two humans inside. She could feel how intimidated they were to be in a room full of proper-sized creatures, but if they didn’t want to run… They told their whole story. The terrible storm that brought them here entirely without meaning to—the shipwreck, and flight from the pier. The fear they had that they’d made the new creatures upset and humans might react negatively towards Equestria. The humans in the room with them offered their own contributions where necessary, mostly through David. Marie seemed to sense their disgust with her just as Ocellus did, and she didn’t say more than a yes or no to confirm the details of her accident. What she remembered, anyway. “And that’s how we end up here,” Ocellus finished, nearly twenty minutes later. Twenty minutes they spent without anypony getting hurt or threatening an imminent attack. “Planning to hide until Equestria could make contact with… Great Britain.” Thank you book for that name. “We didn’t plan on getting into any more trouble here. Really we… just wanted to hide until they could pick us up.” “I hope you were taking notes,” Smith muttered to his partner—who had been taking notes, on the surface of his own little phone-thing. Every human in the world must have one of those. Maybe they’re like a unicorn’s horn. “Because that was an awful lot to take in.” “It’s the truth!” Sandbar exclaimed—the simplest, friendliest pronouncement any of them could make. And coming from a pony, it was hard for it not to sound sincere. “All of it is. We don’t know why Equestria showed up in the ocean. But from what we’ve heard, it’s as bad there as it is here. Storms, floods…” He lowered his voice. “Drownings… Nopony wanted it to happen.” “Quite the story,” Mr. Smith repeated, straightening. “But I hope you understand we can’t just leave you here, in this stolen house.” He glanced briefly at the sign on the wall, with the letters and the strange symbol. “Small miracle no one rented it to get away from the coast.” “So what happens?” Smolder asked, from where she’d sprawled out on the couch. While many of the others had been afraid, she had relaxed. “You fight us now, even after we told you everything?” “I hope not,” Hayes said. “Violence would be… a poor decision for everyone. We really do like to think of it as the last possible outcome, when all others have failed.” “There are soldiers outside,” Gallus muttered, voice flat. “Ocellus said so.” “Because the people of this United Kingdom might be in danger. Even now, after that… story… even if we assume for a moment that everything you’ve just told us is exactly true and our two worlds have… bumped shoulders by accident along the road. Even if that’s true, your island is rather nearer to ours than comfort would permit. We must learn about you, and prevent…” He nodded slightly towards Marie, who only slumped down into her chair, covering her head. “She’s the rub. Whatever you did… even you couldn’t say what it might do in humans. Whether it’s contagious, whether all of us aren’t already contaminated. That’s part of why we let this conversation run so long—the biohazard team had to make their way here from London.” Ocellus tensed, turning suddenly for the front door. She reached out with her mind, and… were there more humans out there? She couldn’t tell specific people or emotions, not with an alien species whose individuals she couldn’t see. It felt like they were stronger for sure. But that might also be because they were preparing to move, not necessarily because there were more of them. Neither option is good. “It isn’t contagious,” Ocellus said. “It’s… a difficult process for me. If you asked me to do it to one of you right now, I wouldn’t be able. It took all the magic I had, and I don’t have enough right now. I’ve been pretending to be human so long that my supply is drying up.” “That’s… something else that needs sorting,” Hayes added, slipping his phone away into a pocket. “Our language shouldn’t be so similar. Aliens shouldn’t talk like they’re visiting colonials. And they shouldn’t say things like ‘magic’ when they mean… whatever science is involved in all this. A problem bigger than either of us.” “We don’t speak for the UK,” Smith said. “We can’t negotiate with you on her behalf, or with the country you purport to come from. But what we can do is this. Surrender into our custody willingly, and you will not be harmed. Some of you bear a… more than passing similarity to local animals. That will require special instruction for the lab-techs. But if your nation is peaceful, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t be returned to them once it’s ironed out.” “We could help you,” Silverstream said, bounding a few steps closer to the humans. Close enough that both of them recoiled, eyes darting to her beak and sharp talons. “Talk to Equestria, I mean!” She pointed at Ocellus. “Our changeling friend spent time living with humans and ponies, she knows you both! If you don’t want to fight by accident, she’s the one you want.” “I’m sure you will help,” Smith said. “By doing exactly what we say. But believe me when I say that the people of this country are our first priority. If we believe any action you take might put them in danger, we will react accordingly.” “But we’d really rather not, for all involved,” Hayes said. “I’ve never talked to a horse before. It would be a shame if this ended badly.” “How about you two leave a minute,” Smolder said. “And you let us talk. You can go talk to the other humans for a bit.” “How about we watch you from the other side of the room,” Smith offered, in a tone that suggested it wasn’t going to be a discussion. “We can’t let you out of our sight, not until hazmat gets here. For us as well—if there’s anything dangerous in this house, the two of us are certainly contaminated. So you can rest easy knowing we’ll be in your company all the way to… where we’re going.” They backed up, retreating towards the door where Helen and David were sitting. Without a word, the two humans rose to join them. Smolder eyed them suspiciously, but Ocellus glared at her until she finally gave up and shrugged. “What do we do?” Silverstream whispered, her voice desperate and afraid. “Should we go with them?” “Better question,” Smolder muttered. “What happens if we don’t.” “You lose,” David said, voice flat. “There’s six of you. They know about you—know about where we are, and what your powers can do. Were you really on the phone, Helen?” “Yeah,” she answered. “Until about… ten minutes back. Something cut me off. But my family will be looking for me.” “There we go,” David continued. “Helen’s family is important, they won’t let her just disappear. Besides—they’re not stupid. There’s a brand new island right out there in the ocean. For all we know, it’s going to be there for the rest of forever. Best thing to do right now is be polite and learn everything they can. Haven’t hurt us yet, have they?” “They will,” Marie whispered. “They’re terrified of me. They’re worried about themselves too. Think I might have… doomed them. To be monsters like me.” Helen reacted instantly, leaning against her and wrapping one arm around your shoulder. “Hush with talk like that, love. You’re adorable, you ‘ent a monster. I’ll make sure you don’t disappear either.” “I don’t think we have a choice,” Gallus said. “Think about what Twilight said. We’re supposed to not make any trouble for Equestria. Even if we could win, or maybe fly away. If we hurt them right now, it isn’t an accident.” Smolder growled, rubbing at her cracked scale through the bandages. “Dragons aren’t much for surrendering.” “Equestria will get us out,” Sandbar said. “Just trust the princesses, they’ll take care of it. They always do.” Smolder rolled her eyes. But Ocellus could feel their sentiment. She didn’t need to ask her friends how they felt. Instead she turned back. “We’ll do as you say,” she said. “We surrender.”