The PD had gotten the call from the landlord that morning. Apparently he had seen the news and decided to go check on his tenant just in case something was up. Turns out something was. While the front door looked intact on initial inspection as soon as the thing was touched it fell off its hinges. The inside house was completely ransacked. Furniture was smashed, walls were kicked in, doors were broken, and cabinets were splintered. But oddly enough nothing above four feet or so had been touched. Almost as though an angry hobbit who missed second breakfast had come through with a sledgehammer.
A man shouldn't ever underestimate a hobbit who missed second breakfast.
Especially a hobbit with a sledgehammer.
The stale vomit and broken bottles suggested a drunken rage, but that still didn't explain where Mister Edwards disappeared to. Nor did it explain why a giant crow had molted all over the house. More feathers and hair identical to what had been found at the crash site was spread around everywhere. They had gotten the results early from their forensics lab, the hair wasn't human. Obviously the feathers weren't either, but that went without saying. Some of the samples had been sent off to the university lab for further testing. Maybe they could figure out what the hell had been driving that car.
Though by far the strangest revelation had been the nature of some of the less acute damage to the wood work.
“Sir? Come and take a look at this.”
It was absolutely unmistakable. Here and there scattered about the house were crescent-shaped imprints pounded into floor.
“What do these look like to you?”
The officer shook his head at that question. “I don't know. Like hoofprints almost? But it's way too small to be a horse.”
“So you might say...” Detective Richard 'Sidewinder' Morgan said. He removed the sun glasses he had inexplicably chosen to wear indoors. “We've got a little pony problem.”
~~~~~
“Yeeeeeaaaaaah!” Surprise suddenly shouts in the middle of eating a bowl of oat pellets, causing everyone else in the room to jump. No explanation is forthcoming and she continues munching away at her breakfast whilst humming cheerfully.
Once the meal is over Surprise and Dust start chattering back and forth about ideas for our upcoming presentation. I continue jotting down whatever important details about my life as a human I can think of. Writing down all the memories, both good and bad, is kind of therapeutic. Before long Silver joins us as well. He still looks as haggard as one might expect from a hungover pony. But if time can heal body altering chaos hexes I'm pretty sure that time can heal a hangover, too.
“So,” Silver says. “Have we got any bucking idea what we're doing now? Because after that M. Night style 'he was a pony the whole time!' twist I'm at a bit of a loss. I take it that any chance we have at being human again is pretty much shot?”
“Unless we ask Discord really super nicely to change us back again,” Surprise points out. “But he might just turn us into barn owls instead. Discord doesn't seem like the sort of person who would do repeat performances.”
Clashes with his whole 'embodiment of chaos' thing.
“Assuming Geneva's hide and seek idea works,” Dust snorts. She's been a bundle of nervous energy and indignant frustration all morning without something to vent at. I would suggest she go kick some clouds, but getting spotted isn't on our itinerary.
Yet.
“I must have missed something while my bladder was exploding,” Silver says. “What hide and seek idea are we talking about? And an unrelated question, why the hay was there a cloud in the bathtub?”
I decide to field an answer to both. “I was sleeping on the cloud last night since you had the couch.”
“Ooooh, was that comfy? I should try that tonight!” Surprise interjects.
“It was!” I gush back. “It was an amazing night's sleep. Except for the rude awakening by the flashback.”
“Getting off topic now, ladies,” Silver deadpans. “About this hide and seek plan?”
“Discord said something about a game of hide and seek with everypony else and hinted that something would happen once the game was over,” I recount. “I don't know if that means we have to find the other Wonderbolts or the Mane Six or just everypony who got banished to Earth.”
“Oh that sounds like a bucking wonderful idea,” Silver snarks. “Let's trust the deranged chaos god for advice. I'm sure that'll turn out great for us.”
“Hey, worked for Twilight and the girls in Return of Harmony,” Dust points out. “They just got distracted by the hedge maze thing. But if he gave you a straight forward hint then maybe it is a trap.”
“Or maaaaaybe that's what he wants us to think!” Surprise reasons. “He knows that we would think that it's a trap and ignore it even though we shouldn't! But then he would know that we know so maybe the not-trap trap really is a trap! But then he would know that we know that he knows that we-mrph!”
Silver interrupts the torrent of verbal absurdity by shoving a hoof into Surprise's mouth. “Head-ache's coming back, time for Surprise's ridiculous recursive rambling to stop.”
The white pegasus pulls away giggling. “But I'm not writing anything, silly! Geneva is!”
What?
“Eerr, anyway. This is our only real lead, trap or not. And I get the feeling that this is all a game to Discord,” I say. “I don't know how we'll find everypony else short of them deciding to expose themselves, but our interview should help. Once it's common knowledge that ponies are out there that should diminish the fear of being caught or abused. Hopefully.”
“That still might leave a ton of ponies who are just hiding in the woods or something,” Dust points out. “How are we going to find them?”
“With the pony radar!” Surprise states matter of factly.
Blank looks follow.
Surprise reaches a hoof into her curly day glow yellow mane and whips out a horse-shoe shaped device with a green screen covered in a black grid. The blank looks don't abate in the least.
“Where did...?” I begin, only to have the question die half way through as my brain struggles to cope with Surprise's latest display of flagrant impossibility.
“I like to keep it around in case of pony-finding emergencies,” Surprise doesn't-explain with a sagely nod.
“Why didn't you use that thing when we were worried about Silver?” Dust asks incredulously.
“Because it wouldn't have been funny then, duh!” the loopy pegasus replies. “And I wouldn't have gotten to do the CSI joke. Or get to make the James Bond reference in chapter twelve! And we already found Silver, so it wouldn't know to look for him.”
There is an unspoken resolution between Dust, Silver, and myself not to probe any further at that remark.
Dust finally breaks the awful silence. “So how does it work?”
“The closest pony that we haven't found yet appears on here when you turn it on,” Surprise presses a hoof against the pink heart-shaped button on the machine. Did I mention the thing is decked out in the most girly of pastel colors possible? Because it is. As soon as the machine is active the display turns a deep purple and a little lavender picture of a rearing pony begins flashing just east of the center indicator.
East. Maybe even nearby?
Mysteries aside this thing is going to be really useful.
“Okay, so. What order are we doing this in?” Dust asks. “Meet the ponies video then interview then start seeking?”
“It'll make hunting for everypony else a lot easier,” I reason. “We won't have to worry so much about sneaking around if people already know about us.”
“Exposing ourselves is a bad idea,” Silver pipes up suddenly.
“But what about the interview?” Dust complains. “How will everyone get to see how awesome I am if we don't go on the news?”
“To Tartaurus with the news,” Silver growls. “I said it before, Geneva. We're all walking Nobel Prizes. You're too darn trusting for your own good. If we get cornered people are going to want to detain us and test us. That bucker Discord said that this is a game of hide and seek? Well I think we're supposed to be doing both. Seeking and hiding at the same time. And if we get caught it's game over, man. Game. Bucking. Over.”
“Aaww... I wanted to see if I could get the news room to do a sing along with me,” Surprise whimpers. “But at least we can still do the Meet the Ponies video, right?”
Silver rubs at his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah, I think we can do that. It won't require us to be crammed into a room surrounded by humans for a couple bucking hours. We can film it and upload it without putting ourselves in danger. Most people will probably just think it's a hoax. At least until they spot their first pony.”
Dust is glowering over the loss of her chance at the spotlight. The news interview was her idea after all.
“Alright then everypony,” I say. “Let's make some history.”
~~~~~
Detective Morgan scanned over the e-mail for the fifth time and found that he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. The results from the university lab had come back with no matches to known animals. There was a lot of scientific jargon that went right over his head, but the scientist's summary of what the findings meant where easy enough to understand.
Nothing from Earth has DNA like that.
“Mother of God,” the detective mutters. “The crazy cat lady was right.”
The day got no stranger when they received a call from someone out in the sticks who claimed that they had cornered a mutated alien horse thing in their barn.
~~~~~
We set up a backdrop of cloud to make it impossible to tell where we are filming from. Though I guess that probably won't matter much when we upload this over Surprise's YouTube account. Still, the fluffy clouds make for a nice background. Surprise, Silver, and Dust all seat themselves on second layer of cloud hovering just off the floor. Surprise's rug is probably going to be pretty wet by the time we're done, but sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.
My friends know what they each want to talk about and since this isn't live editing out blunders should be easy enough. I start recording, give a thumbs up, and Surprise begins to blather brightly. Hopefully her knack for spreading cheer could transfer across monitors.
~~~~~
Channel Six had gotten plenty of hoax calls and e-mails since their top story was aired the other night. People have trouble resisting such an obvious opportunity for a prank when the subject was so absurd. Strange, but absurd. But as peculiar as it may seem other reports had been filtering in that suggested something very real was afoot.
A private pilot swore up and down that he had seen a tiny green winged horse romping around above the fog in the previous day's afternoon. Another report had come in of someone finding the rear window of their parked car smashed in by horse-crap that had apparently fallen out of the sky. Other strange pony-related sightings were being reported around the country, though nothing had been substantiated.
Then they got an e-mail with the subject, 'Meet the Ponies'.
The body of the electronic letter was simple enough. It stated that the sender knew what happened last night and included a link to a recently uploaded YouTube video that would supposedly explain everything. The video quickly made its way around the office. And for good reason.
It opened with three stunningly realistic looking pegasus ponies sitting on a cloud. Such a creature could be animated with a computer of course, but if this was a fake it was a very professional looking one. The contrast between the expertly rendered ponies and the amateur nature of the rest of the video was positively jarring.
The white pegasus with the poofy yellow mane spoke first.
“Hi out there everyhuman and everypony on the Internet! I'm Surprise and these are my friends Silver Lining and Lightning Dust. My super-wonderful pal Geneva is here too, but she's filming this so you can't see her!”
Their names appeared below each of them in a little caption. The aqua and grey pegasus both waved at the camera and Surprise continued.
“So you're probably wondering right now why we look so real and the answer is really really really simple! It's because we are! Thaaaaaat's right! We're real live magical talking ponies! No tricksy tricks, no smoke and mirrors, no computer graphics, just grade-A officially certified in the flesh ponies!”
Then the aqua pegasus speaks up.
“We weren't always ponies, though. Before our twenty fifth birthday on the first of May we were regular old boring humans just like anyone else. I was a high school coach, my friend Surprise owned a party supply shop, and Silver and Geneva? They both worked at a lab at the local university. But when we hit fivescore divided by four we started turning into the testament to awesomeness you see before you!”
Lightning Dust fell silent and Silver Lining picked up where she left off. He didn't sound nearly as enthusiastic as the other two.
“So if you know anyone who turned twenty five on the first of May and then mysteriously vanished now you've got a reason. They're probably a pony now. And to any other ponies out there watching this, you aren't alone.”
Surprise nodded vigorously.
“That's right! Not only are you not alone, but we have figured out why this is happening, too! This isn't the cutest alien invasion ever. And it's not a disease, either. So all you humans out there don't have to worry about catching the cutie-pox or having your lawn gnomes abducted! It turns out that Equestria is real! Hooray! But it also turns out that Discord really did take over just like he did in the season five finale of Friendship is Magic! Booooooo! Discord took away the memories of all the ponies he didn't like and banished them here to Earth as humans! That means whoever out there turned into Pinkie Pie is really Pinkie Pie! And boy am I jealous!”
Lightning Dust picked up from there.
“We don't know how the guys who made Friendship is Magic managed to get so much right. There was probably a real pony on their staff or something. But this means the Elements of Harmony are here on Earth somewhere. You six need to find each other and do your friendship thing. And we need to find a way to get back to Equestria and buck Discord's flank to the curb!”
The aqua pegasus looked straight at the camera. A fierce resolved burned in her eyes.
“If you're out there listening Rainbow Dash? I'm sorry we weren't able to get to you faster for the fight with Discord. This time though? For the rematch there's no way in Tataurus that he's going to be picking us off one by one. We do this together. And Discord's going down hard.”
Surprise grinned a wide grin at the camera.
“Thanks for your time everypony and everyhuman! And remember that friendship is magic no matter who or what you are!”
Then comes a few clips of humans and ponies partying and having fun together, though the faces of the humans have all been blurred out. The scene of the shindig slowly fades to the purple Friendship is Magic title screen.
And that was that.
A contact at the university informed them that the samples from the crash site had been analyzed. The findings were interesting to say the least. More than a few scientists were worried that the G-Men would arrive and clamp down on the whole situation. It was that big. Once news of the DNA analysis began to circulate around the news office opinions quickly swayed from 'hoax' to 'this might actually be real'.
The atmosphere was positively electric.
At least until word came from on high that strongly requested that the 'Meet the Ponies' video should not be reported on for national security reasons.
The sleeping giant had awoken. And it was hungry for little ponies.
~~~~~
The cloudmobile gets reassembled and we are already on the move before the video was even finished loading. And after I kick off the email to Action! News Six I hurl my phone away as far as I can manage. I track the little black object tumbling end over end through the sky and wince when smacks into a stop sign. Well, that's a few hundred dollars down the drain. I'm not sure how true that 'tracking you via your phone' thing is, but Silver insists that it's for the best.
Each of us are wearing a set of improvised saddlebags and Surprised had somehow managed to stuff half the kitchen into her own. Surprise has got the pony radar between her hooves and the rest of us are pumping our wings to keep our magical cartoon sky-car puttering about at well beyond highway speeds.
“Getting warmer! Waaaarmer! Now colder! Cooold! Warmer!” Surprise yells out.
“Could you please just give us a bucking heading?” Silver hollers back over the roar of the winds.
“Sorry! I can't hear you over how much fun I'm having!” the loopy pegasus retorts.
Silver settles on snatching the radar out of Surprise's hooves. “Turn ten degrees south. I'll tell you when we're getting close.”
“Aaww, that isn't as much fun as my way...” Surprise says. Her whining is met by determined silence.
The late afternoon sun is warm on our backs and other higher clouds provide us with great camouflage from the ground. The city is beginning to fade away below us as grassy hillsides hemmed in by forest become the most prominent feature. A few cars meander along the roads and cattle graze on the grass. There are even some horses down there! Normal terrestrial horses really don't look that much like my pony friends. Aside from being a vertebrate with four hooves, a tail, and a mane the similarity drops off in a hurry. Then there's the fact that we have nothing in common genetically. Maybe it was some kind of convergent evolution that just happened to make us similar to animals from Earth? It would actually be kind of neat to find out how I'm put together inside. Find out if our organs are even arranged the same way.
Of course that brings to mind visions of myself being dissected in one of those alien autopsy videos and I quickly dismiss it.
As I flap along on auto-pilot I turn my mind to other subjects. How about Equestria itself? Apparently it's a real place. Complete with its utterly impossible solar system. Is Equestria even a planet? Or maybe it's a flat plate balanced on a turtle. I'll have to remember to ask Dust about that, she would probably know what the show has to say about the issue. Equestria... try as I might I can't remember anything about it aside from the memories of my last few minutes there. That lends me no small degree of ease. As far as I'm concerned my old pre-human memories can stay lost forever. I may be Geneva, but I'm not the same Geneva I used to be. And I would like to keep things that way thank you very much.
Memories...
What are we, aside from memories with a kernel of consciousness? Memories make up most of who we are, built up on the underlying foundation of instinct and nature. The props on the stage to give it context. My props are all the same, but my stage has been swapped out for another. Memories are all the same, but the instincts they're built on has changed. That I'm absolutely sure of. As sure as the fact that I never felt all tingly in the nethers around stallions until I metamorphosed back into a hippogriff mare.
Ugh.
I'm still not sure how I feel about that. It feels natural enough. And I am a mare now. Or whatever you called a female hippogriff. Hippogriffess? It's a pretty fundamental change to my identity. Makes me wonder how much has to be changed to touch the soul.
But where does the soul figure into all of this, anyway?
The old Geneva's underlying personality seems to be similar to mine. At least... I'm pretty sure it is. And her memories are as shredded as information can get. So what unites us? Just a single silver thread of awareness? Is that all a soul is? A little spark that lets us observe and dream and wonder? I wonder what souls are like in Equestria. It has semi-physical spirits and stuff, doesn't it? Along with magic of course. Magic that apparently exists here in our universe too. If it didn't then we wouldn't be able to use it right now. Maybe there's something uniquely different about Equestrian souls that allows those that have them to tap into magic?
Now I'm wishing that I had access to Twilight Sparkle's library.
My meandering thoughts are corralled when Silver cuffs me with a hoof. “Ease down bird-brain, we're getting close.”
We gradually slow the cloudmobile and I peer over the edge. Below us is a modest sized ranch house with plenty of animals out in the fields. They've got a barn of course. And two police cars and one animal control vehicle.
Uh oh.
“I think our new pony friend might be in trouble,” I report.
“Of course it can't be bucking easy,” Silver says with an exasperated sigh. After a moment's consideration his expression steels. “Alright. Geneva? Surprise? Sneak down there and get an idea of what's going on. If you can rescue the pony without too much risk then do it.”
We both snap a wing-salute, “Yes sir!”
“Oooh! I almost forgot!” Surprise titters as she shoves both hooves into her mane. My brain decides to go out for a glass of water and some fresh air until she's done breaking physics. “Head sets! We can use them for all our super secret agent Wonderbolt sneaking missions!”
The headsets look like they were designed to comfortably wrap around a pony's ear with a little microphone extending down by the mouth. Each set matches the Wonderbolts blue and yellow color scheme. How nifty?
“I don't suppose you have any flight goggles in there too?” Dust asks curiously.
“No, sorry,” Surprise replies with a huff. “I forgot to grab those.”
Cartoon physics. Don't think about it. Just put the headset on and go with it.
“Sound check, this is Geneva,” I say into the microphone. “Can everypony hear me?”
“Read you loud and clear,” Dust crackles in my ear.
“It's working on my end too,” Silver adds.
“Red five reporting in,” Surprise laughs. She's met with three looks of consternation. “What? We're already upsetting Hasbro. Why not Disney too? Hehe, come on Geneva! Super secret mission time! We get to go save Princess Leia!”
And with that she dives over the edge of the cloudmobile and I follow suit. Her flight pattern is erratic to say the least, but I've found that I'm uncannily maneuverable despite my huge wings and lack of any sort of aerodynamics that wouldn't be shared with a brick. But that's magic for you I suppose. We quickly descend along the barn and land in an empty side yard. The gate leading in is easy enough to open and falls to my hands without trouble.
Inside are four police officers, two animal control guys, one befuddled looking rancher, and an earth pony mare standing in a corral next to several normal horses and staring blankly off into space. She's got a forest green coat with a sea blue mane. Really pretty pony if not for the fact that she's smeared with mud and possible horse manure as well. Her vacant eyes show no signs of intelligence.
“What the hey is wrong with her...” I mutter under my breath.
“Did you find the missing pony?” Silver's voice crackles in my ear.
“Yeah, but it looks like an evil enchantress got her,” Surprise says.
“Can somepony translate that into Not-Surprise-Babble for me?” Silver sighs.
“She looks dazed,” I report. “We're going to lay low and listen in.”
And so listen in we do.
“Yeah, she's been like that since I found her this morning. It's the darnedest thing, isn't it?” the farmer says as he gestures at the mare. “Weird looking critter, but she acts just like any of the other horses. I checked the Internet to see if I could find out what she is, turns out she looks just like those ponies from some old TV show.”
Two of the police officers exchanged a worried glance. A third in a suit and tie wearing a pair of sunglasses steps forward. A detective, maybe?
“And she hasn't spoken?” the detective inquires.
The farmer's look is incredulous. “Spoken? Hell no, of course not. Is there something else I should know about? This thing is just some kind of animal, right?”
I suddenly notice two things at once.
First, Surprise isn't standing next to me anymore.
Second, she's now in the middle of the barn with a brass bell hanging around her neck.
“Mooooo! I'm a cow!” the white pegasus proclaims.
Come on, really? There's no way in Tartaurus that something like that could possibly fool any-
“Damn it, how did you get in here Bessy?” the farmer says, waving his hands at Surprise. “Go on, get! Get back outside! Come on you-”
“Moo! Interrupting cow!” Surprise laughs as she goes galloping around the barn.
“God damn it all. Could you help me get this dumb critter back to the corral?” the farmer pleads.
I spend the next several minutes of my day trying desperately not to laugh as the humans chase Surprise about erratically until she finally goes running off out of the barn with four of the men chasing her. Left behind is the detective and two officers.
“So what do you think, Morgan?” one of the officers pipes up. “One witness said ponies like the old show. This thing is a dead-ringer for them.”
The detective, apparently named Morgan, rubs rasps at his stubble with a hand. “No wings like the other one. And doesn't seem smart enough to drive a car, either.”
Now or never. Surprise has got half of them chasing her around the farm and my other friends are waiting in the wings in case the mission turns into a squall. I whisper that I'm going to try for the pony and step out from behind my cover.
“That's because there's something wrong with her,” I speak up clearly as I step into view. I'm not sure why, but the idea of forcing some of my magic into the air in my lungs seems like a good idea. It results in a reverberating voice that's pretty impressive. For extra effect I walk with my wings half open to make myself look bigger.
Three sets of eyes are on me instantly. One of the officers is reaching for his gun.
“Mother of God...” the detective mutters as he slowly removes his shades. He catches sight of a hand on a firearm and motions to stand down. “Is this an invasion?”
“Far from it,” I reply as I edge toward the pin the mare is in all the while keeping my eyes on the humans in case they spook. Several of the horses locked in with her begin snorting and pawing with their hooves. The smell of predictor probably has them unnerved. I can see that the pony is beginning to look uncomfortable as well.
“We're just trying to figure out how to get home,” I continue, glancing sidelong at the mare. “My friends and I uploaded a video explaining our situation. 'Meet the Ponies'.”
“Why the hell did you steal someone's car?” one of the officers blurts.
I ruffle my wings at that remark. “It was Silver's car to begin with. Watch the video, it explains everything you need to know.” I finally take my eyes off the humans and lock my gaze with the pony. “Hey. Hey! Come on, snap out of it. We need to get out of here.”
The mare makes a snorting sound and tosses her mane. Her ears are pinned back and she stinks of fear. Stinks of prey. All the horses in there do. Prey. Meat. Food.
You know, you never did get to enjoy any of those lovely steaks you bought.
That... what? A strange pressure begins squeezing down on my mind. My stomach begins knotting with hunger.
You could have some right now! Wouldn't that be wonderful? All these tasty snacks to choose from just walking around nice and fresh. Doesn't matter which one. Just hop on them and put those wonderful eagle talons of yours to good use.
Yeah... that's a good idea. I am pretty hungry all of a sudden, aren't I? The haze drifts and swirls and fogs my brain, pushing away thoughts and pulling up comfortable familiar instincts. The humans are saying something, but those are just silly prey noises.
Why not start with those gangly bipeds? They couldn't possibly put up a fight. Free food if you ask me.
Free food says the voice...
Voice.
Voice in my ear.
“Geneva! Geneva, what the bucking hay going on down there?”
Is that... Silver? I know Silver. Silver's my friend.
Hey! No! None of that now. You ignore him, he doesn't matter. He's just more prey after all! After you finish killing everything in here you can eat him next.
The haze comes down with redoubled strength to smother my reasoning in a wave of instinct. This... this is wrong. This is wrong. This booming, commanding voice I hear is vile and wrong. A greasy creeping conniving slithering defiling wrongness.
I won't hurt my friends.
I sit down on my haunches, fold my wings, and close my eyes.
Come on you stupid catbird, lunch is right in front of you! What are you waiting for?
“There was a mighty wind such that the stones were split, but he wasn't in the wind. Then there was a great earthquake, but he wasn't in the earthquake. And then a consuming fire, but he wasn't in the fire. And then a still small voice.”
...what are you babbling about?
“Get out of my mind!” I roar, the sheer force of the bellow shaking the timbers of the barn.
The sudden sound sends the horses trampling their way through their fence and out into the pasture while the pony gives a very sapient-sounding scream at the noise. By the time I open my eyes I find her blinking around in a daze as though she had just awoken from a dream.
“I... what's going on? How long have I been in here?” she mutters. “Who... are you?”
The humans have backed up to a safe distance and have their weapons trained on me just in case I decide to try to maul one of them to death. After what just happened I can understand their nervousness.
I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
That isn't the smell of prey.
I'm not a mindless predatory animal.
I'm a person.
I'm Geneva Pressure Front.
I open up my beak to reply-
-and get shoved flat on my face by Surprise.
“My name's Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you!”
The farmer and everyone else is close behind. He skids to a stop as a strange realization dawns on him. He points an accusing finger at Surprise. “You're not Bessy! You're not Bessy at all!”
“I think she's Luke Skywalker?” the green mare ventures uncertainly.
At this point the detective lowers his handgun and begins laughing hysterically. The two officers flanking him drop their weapons half way and cast an befuddled look his way. Detective Morgan waves a hand in front of his face. “No, I'm alright, give me a moment.”
By now everyone is confused and I pull open the gate to let the mare out. She has a cutie mark of a blue wave with three pieces of sea weed or something in front of it. A special talent relating to the ocean somehow? Seems like a strange thing for an earth pony to have. But then wasn't there a unicorn with two dolphins?
“Alright,” Detective Morgan says once he can breath again. “If this is an alien invasion I'm not impressed. What's going on here, really? I know I know, watch the movie. But I need answers right now.”
Dust's voice sounds in my air. “Get out of there quick, Wonderbolts. I think we have some more company heading this way. They look like government mook flavor.”
“Short answer, we're refugees from another universe that were forcibly reborn as humans. The curse wore off a few days ago,” I state.
The green mare looks shocked. “We are?”
“Yupper-duppers!” Surprise confirms.
“And you girls need to get your plots out of there now!” Silver's voice shouts over the headset. “That farm is going to be crawling with G-Men in fifteen minutes!”
I snag the green mare from behind and she gives a little eep. She smells absolutely disgusting and the first chance I get I'm planning on dumping her in a river for a bath. I begin beating my wings and lift off the ground while Surprise reaches into her saddlebags.
“It was really super great playing tag with you all but now we've gotta go ninja vanish!”
And then she hurls a smoke bomb into the ground, filling the whole barn with thick fog. We beat a hasty retreat through the side door we had come in through and pull up toward the cloudmobile with Green shrieking half in fear and half in excitement the whole time.
“So!” Green yells over the sound of the whistling wind. “Where are we going now?”
“I have no idea,” I grunt as I carry her along. “Hopefully somewhere safe.”
~~~~~
By the time the fog cleared and everyone had ran outside they were gone.
Not so much as a trace of ponies. No way to guess what direction they had flown off in.
The skies above revealed nothing but puffy white clouds and blue all about. Maybe they had just flown over the ridge-line. Or maybe they just vanished into thin air. Given how crazy this case was Detective Morgan wasn't going to count anything out yet.
He didn't have to wait long for the caravan of black sedans. They pulled up around the ranch house and disgorged their payload of men in identical black suits. The detective was informed that he wouldn't need to worry about this case any longer and that it was a federal matter now. He and the others were questioned extensively regarding what they had seen. Then the non-disclosure papers came out and phrases like national security, top secret, and treason were thrown around.
"Damn," one of the officers muttered as he slipped back into the squad car with the detective once their ordeal was over. "Little talking ponies are serious shit."