//------------------------------//
// CH27: Overture 
// Story: A Dubious Welcome 
// by Maonyman 
//------------------------------//

Anon had been expecting to see a manager and a couple of basic security guards at most as he pulled up to the airport terminal. He was surprised, then, to see a full squadron of police officers in swat gear flanking not one but three important looking officials. He let out a low whistle.
"What is it?" Twilight asked.
"They're not playing around, these guys. We need to be careful, choose our words carefully."
"O-Oh. We're okay though, right?"
One officer stepped out in front of the vehicle with his hand held out, Anon slowed to a halt directly in front of him, and the rest of the police rapidly surrounded the vehicle.
"I hope so, Twi."
One of the swat officers--the squad leader, based on the way the others deferred to him--approached his door and yanked on the handle. When the door didn't open, he rapped sharply on the glass with the reinforced knuckle of his glove, his shouts muffled somewhat by the glass, but still impressively loud.
"YOU WILL UNLOCK THE DOOR THEN IMMEDIATELY GRIP THE STEERING WHEEL WITH BOTH HANDS. THE PONY WILL REMAIN SEATED FACING FORWARD WITHOUT MOVING. DO NOT MOVE EXCEPT AS DIRECTED."
Anon gulped, then glanced at Twi.
"Just follow their orders and everything will be okay."
Twilight nodded, then jumped when the officer barked out again.
"NOW!"
Anon hurriedly pushed the unlock button on the dashboard, then sat facing straight forward, hands at ten and two o'clock on the steering wheel. All four doors opened almost simultaneously and two officers reached in around them to unbuckle their seatbelts, then stepped back as multiple rifles were raised toward them both. A small crowd was beginning to form at a respectful distance.
The squad leader spoke again, no longer shouting but still just as sharp and stern, "The pony will remain where she is without moving.  You will slowly exit the vehicle, holding both hands out in front of you, then turn and face the vehicle with both hands held behind your head."
Anon slowly did as directed.
"This... really isn't necessary, sir."	
"The UK pony has already showed overwhelming offensive force when she destroyed Big Ben. We cannot take any chances!"
"B-But she put it right back!" Twilight cried.
The guards on her side of the vehicle tensed and tightened their grip on the weapons. Twilight's ears folded down and her lip trembled.
"She's just worried about me!"
Anon heard one of the officials mutter, "By God, it really can speak."
The squad leader hesitated, clearly affected by Twilight's manner, then said in a slightly gentler voice, "We are only following orders. So long as you follow mine, you are in no danger."
Anon saw him gesture out of the corner of his eye, and one of the other guards immediately approached and roughly patted him down. He removed Anon's wallet and phone, throwing them onto the car seat, but Anon carried nothing else except his keys, which were still hanging in the ignition.
"Now, remain where you are. You, pony," and Twilight twitched nervously, "Slowly turn right and step out of the vehicle, then turn around, face the vehicle, and sit down."
She did so, and Anon tried to give her a reassuring smile as she turned around. After a brief pause, the squad leader made the same gesture to the guard standing nearest Twilight. The man hesitated uncertainly, then stepped forward and patted her down somewhat awkwardly. Twilight sniffed, her ears still folded flat.
The middle official of the three rolled his eyes and said, "Alright Jacobs, that's quite enough. If she were a threat I think she would have done something by now."
The squad leader bristled, "You cannot interfere with official police--"
The man interrupted him with a scoff, "Yes yes, we're all very impressed. Now tell your men to stand down. I've had enough of this charade."
There was a tense silence, then Officer Jacobs let out a grunt and gestured sharply. All the guards relaxed almost perfectly in unison, taking a step back and lowering their weapons with a chorus of clicks as they engaged their weapons' safeties.
The middle official glanced at Anon and said, "You can put your arms down, son."
Anon slowly did so as the man turned to Twilight next. "My apologies for such an ignoble welcome. I am Peter Brooke. This is Daren Allswinger and Elizabeth--"
"Lizzy."
"...And Lizzy Warner. What is your name, little pony?"
She sniffed, then quietly said, "T-Twilight Sparkle."
Peter smiled, then whirled around on his heel.
"Come then, Ms. Sparkle, Dr. Mous. We have a plane to catch."
Anon glanced nervously at Officer Jacobs, who rolled his eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. He immediately hurried around the car, knelt beside Twilight, and pulled her into a hug.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Y-You?"
"Yeah."
They both stood and followed Peter into the airport proper. Lizzy and Daren fell into step beside them, and the police squad arranged themselves in a broad U shape at the rear. The now sizeable crowd of onlookers babbled excitedly as they moved in the same general direction. 
Peter sighed and glanced over his shoulder at Daren, "Get rid of them, would you?"
Daren nodded, then muttered into a small radio Anon hadn't noticed strapped to his shoulder. Immediately, Officer Jacobs barked an order and half the squad peeled off to hound the crowd into dispersing. Peter let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
"Sir," Anon said," If I may, Uh..."
"Yes? What is it?"
"Well, I don't mean to be rude, but, well... who are you? All of you."
"Ah, yes. Lizzy?"
The woman stepped closer and said in a small but chipper voice, "Think of us as your protectors! We're here to ensure that you," she gestured at Twilight, "Get back home safely, and that you," and she turned to Anon, "Are not taken advantage of."
"Okay, but who are you?"
She clicked her tongue, "We are representatives of an international organization known as Overture. We specialize in offering assistance to those in... unusual circumstances, such as yourselves."
Anon eyed her suspiciously. More likely they wanted to take advantage of him themselves.
"What kind of assistance? And just how often do you provide this assistance?"
"Fairly. Our customers include those in need of disappearing, those in need of protection, or simply those seeking adventure, and many others. You could say we specialize in being versatile."
Twilight nodded, seeming unsurprised, "My friends and I do something similar back home. Ponies will find themselves in a strange situation nopony else has ever encountered and some or all of us will be summoned to help them--whoever the Tree of Harmony decides is best suited for the job."
Anon noticed the intensity with which the three of them listened to her words. They weren't just interested, they seemed eager, almost hungry for her information.
"No idea how it knows who to send," Twilight continued, "But it hasn't been wrong yet. Even if sometimes the choice doesn't seem to make sense at first, it always seems to work out in the end."
Peter turned his head and asked, "And how many are in your organization?"
"Oh, just the six of us. Spike and Starlight help out a bit on the side, but it's mostly just us six."
"And how wide an area do you cover?"
"All of Equestria, and then some. We've been sent to help the Crystal Empire, the Dragon Lands... we've even been sent to Griffonstone and Yakyakistan."
That brought Anon up short.
"Wait, did you say 'dragon lands'?"
Twilight giggled at his expression, "Don't worry, they're peaceful now. The Dragon Lord Ember is a friend of ponykind and keeps the rest of the dragons in check with the Bloodstone Scepter."
Daren spoke for the first time, his voice rich and deep.
"What'd you do before when they weren't so peaceful?"
Twilight's ear twitched, "Avoided them, mostly. My friends and I once tried to get a dragon that was too close to Ponyville to go someplace else, and we nearly failed until Fluttershy stepped in."
Anon was getting increasingly uncomfortable with how much interest these three were showing in Equestria. He wanted to warn Twilight somehow, but couldn't think of any way that wouldn't be seen by either Daren or Lizzy, and all those guns behind him were making him nervous. He didn't want to risk upsetting these people, so instead he settled for an attempt to change the subject.
"Twilight, you never did explain why you came here in the first place? What was it about Earth that drew you in?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing in particular. I was just experimenting with a new spell I found."
"A Spell?"
Peter all but pounced on the words and Anon suppressed a wince. He had been hoping to avoid any mention of magic.
"Yeah," Twilight said blithely, "An interdimensional portal. There were plenty of warnings along with it, but I did some simple tests to make sure this world was at least lived in, not some barren desolate place that would kill me instantly."
"I... don't suppose I could see this portal?"
Anon clenched his jaw as Twilight hesitated.
"Well, I guess I could, but I really wanted to wait until we reached Starlight."
Peter stopped and turned around, bringing their whole entourage to a halt in the middle of the airport.
"It just sounds so fascinating, that's all. I'm sure you've figured out by now that we humans don't have any magic, so something like a portal to another dimension is beyond our wildest dreams. I can't even imagine what it would look like."
Anon let out a low hiss in an attempt to get Twilight's attention, but either she didn't hear it or didn't pay it any mind."
"Well... I suppose I could just show you what it looks like. I'll just close it again right away."
"Twi..."
She looked up at him, mouth open, but Peter quickly said, "Oh yes, please, and I'm honored you would consider it for me. I can't imagine it's easy."
Twilight shrugged her shoulders and said, "The first one was hard, the one to come here, but the one to return home is a lot easier to cast. Here, see?"
And before Anon could react, her horn glowed and she jerked her horn in a sort of J-hook shape. A blue dot appeared before her, then with an electric crackle it rapidly expanded until it was about as tall as her and half as wide. Its edge was a darker shade of blue and seemed to shift and morph as if it were made of flames, and an eerie hum or rumble seemed to emanate from the thing.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Peter's sharp snap of a finger. Daren instantly leapt forward and, to Anon and Twilight's amazement, dove headfirst through the portal. Twilight gasped and lurched forward as if to follow him, but Officer Jacobs shoved her to the side and rushed toward the portal as well.
"No!"
She jerked her horn back and the edges of the portal abruptly snapped shut with an odd sort of "pomf" sound, leaving Jacobs to stumble in empty air.
Anon froze with uncertainty, but Twilight whirled around to glare at Peter.
"You foal! Do you have any idea what you've done!?"
Peter smiled smugly, "Why yes, I believe my organization just made first contact with another livable world."
Anon's mind raced, trying to see the best way out of this. There could be no trust going forward, but at the same time they couldn't risk offending these people either. The last thing he needed was some sort of showdown between a swat team and Twilight's barely recovered magic.
Twilight shook her head angrily, her tail lashing in distress.
"You don't understand! Magic is uniquely dangerous in ways you can't even comprehend! He could easily already be dead!"	
Peter only chuckled lightly. "Oh, Daren can handle himself. He's got quite the array of equipment at his disposal."
Anon realized Twilight probably didn't even realize how much danger they were in and touched her shoulder to get her attention.
"They'll understand soon enough, Twi. What happens next is their own fault. Let's just get to Starlight and deal with this mess later, okay?"
Twilight stared up at him, her expression suspicious, confused, hurt.
"Were you in on this too?" She asked shrilly, "Was this your goal from the very start!?"
Anon's eyes widened in horror, "What? No! No no, God no. I have nothing to do with these people, I swear. I've never heard of Overture before in my life!"
Twilight was slowly backing away from him, "An easy lie to tell if you've already been playing me this whole time!"
Anon gaped at her, momentarily at a loss for words. He'd never anticipated she'd react like this.	
Peter began, "Well, what if--"
"SHUT UP!" Twilight screamed, her horn sparking ominously, "You stay the buck out of this!"
A dozen rifles all raised in unison, but Peter jerked his hand urgently and they slowly lowered again. Then he and Lizzy backed away several steps without a word.
Anon took a steadying breath. He had to win her back at any cost.
"Twilight..." She turned to stare at him, her pupils small and fearful, "Please. I would never abuse your trust like this. You know I wouldn't."
She didn't respond, just stood there, her breathing coming in quick, short bursts. 
He tried again, "Think about it. I've had plenty of opportunities to do something if I wanted, but I haven't. I've done nothing but help you. I just want to be your friend."
He felt his own breath catch in his throat as Twilight's ears flip-flopped uncertainly.
"Please," he begged, "Don't let them drive us apart. I can't... I can't lose you. Not now..."
His vision began to blur. She looked around her nervously, then stared up at him, her mouth hanging open. They stood like that for what felt like several minutes, then Twilight straightened and took a step toward him, her expression neutral, unreadable.
"Hold out your hand, Anon."
He did so immediately, without hesitation. She took another step closer and lowered her glowing horn to touch his palm.
"This is going to feel... weird. Just don't move."
Anon nodded, but still couldn't help but jerk with surprise when her horn suddenly sunk into his skin. It didn't stab him, rather it simply dipped into his skin like it was the surface of a lake. There was no pain--instead, an icy sensation shot up his arm, as if cold water was flowing through his veins. He gasped as the feeling reached his neck and a metallic taste flooded his mouth. Then it reached his head and his thoughts turned sluggish, his vision blurred, and his body suddenly felt far away, like he was drifting off to sleep.
He was dimly aware of Twilight speaking, but although he could hear her clearly, he could not make out the words. They were nonsense to him.
Without warning, the cold sensation abruptly yanked from his head, rushing back down his arm and vanishing completely as Twilight lifted her horn from his hand. Anon swayed unsteadily then slumped to his knees as Twilight stepped closer and he saw there were tears in her eyes.
"Anon..."
"Wh... W-What did you do?"
He held one hand to his head, trying to get his bearings again. 
Twilight stepped closer still and murmured, "I, um... I checked for how you felt about me. To see if... well, if you really cared."
He stared at her, vision beginning to clear the but the brain fog still heavy on his mind.
"And...? What did you see?"
Her eyes shimmered up at him.
"I... you..."
"Um, Miss Twilight?"
She jerked her head as if surprised to find anybody else was present.
Lizzy was squatting off to the side and looking anxious.
"Hi! Um, sorry. It's just that... well, we really need to catch that plane. It's leaving very soon."
Twilight stared at her, not seeming to process her words. Anon wasn't doing much better.
"I know, I know," she said apologetically, "You two were having a moment. I'm really sorry for interrupting. You'll have plenty of time to talk on the plane, though! We just, we really need to go. Like, right now."
Twilight turned back to Anon.
"Do we...?"
Anon still felt like his head was mush, but he furrowed his brow and focused on what was happening around him.
"Y...Yes. We need to get to Starlight, don't we?"
Twilight nodded in return and they both stood. Lizzy beamed at them, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.
"Great! Come on, it's just through that gate over there, number nine."
Twilight stayed very close to Anon's side as they walked the rest of the way, Peter and the guards following from a distance and the curious onlookers backing away nervously as they approached the gate terminal. The airport staff didn't even bother checking their info and they walked straight through and onto the plane.
Twilight suddenly stopped and turned around.
"You. Stay."
Peter halted abruptly. 
Lizzy made an odd sound in her throat, "Um, y-you can't just order--"
"No no, it's fine, Liz."
He peered down at the pony, then smiled with practiced warmth.
"Be seeing you, Twilight Sparkle."
The flight attendant closed the hatch, separating the three of them from the rest of the group, then turned around and faced them.
"If you would please take a seat and fasten your seatbelts, we will begin taxiing any moment."
Anon took his first real look at the interior of the plane. It was of moderate size but very fancy, with dark leather first class seating and at least two private booths that he could see. He helped Twilight into a seat and spent over a minute trying to figure out a way to attach the seatbelt that worked for her. Eventually she just secured herself with her magic instead.
Lizzy, seeming a little awkward, had seated herself a fair distance away and was staring out the window back toward the airport. Anon leaned back in his chair and smiled pleasantly at Twilight, his mind finally starting to feel like it was clearing up. 
Then he sat up abruptly, "Shit! I forgot about the replacement vet!"
Without even bothering to turn from the window, Lizzy said, "One's already on the way to Podunk, don't worry."
Anon leaned back again. 
"Oh, okay. Phew. Thanks, I guess."
"That's what we do."