//------------------------------//
// 03: Call It Magic, Call It True 
// Story: An Equestrian Princess in London 
// by Gherkin 
//------------------------------//

Subtlety. Secrecy. I thought that's what secret agents, especially those in MI6, were all about.

Obviously not.

If there was one thing that the BBC six o'clock news was known for, it was most certainly not showing leaked footage of potential first contact with an extraterrestrial race. While he doubted that anybody would take it seriously, Bond knew that the unexpected and sudden reveal could be disastrous both right now, and later down the line.

"You guys aren't too great at keeping secrets, are you?" came the voice of Rainbow Dash beside him. He shot a glare towards her and saw her with her hooves crossed across her chest, and with an eyebrow raised in his direction.

"Oh, make no mistakes. We're terrible." He sighed and switched off the television as the news program started to report on a different story. "I mean, it's almost as if the fact that every agent has to sign an official, legal document and swear to complete and utter secrecy means nothing whatsoever."

The revelation hadn't seemed to phase Dash too much, though she did look slightly annoyed. "Guess someone couldn't help themselves, huh?"

"It was obviously somebody down in Q branch," Bond deduced. "It must have been before I got there, too. I made sure nobody was recording." He stopped, and the room fell into silence once again. "This doesn't really matter too much, to be honest. We can easily say that the video was fabricated; deny all evidence as false."

Twilight didn't seem convinced by the idea. "Maybe that's not such a great plan, James," she told him.

"How so?" He sat up and looked in her direction, now curious.

"We're going to announce our existence to your world at some point, James." The way she said this made it clear to him that it was a statement of fact, not a suggestion. "Better to do it now, right when it looks like the cat has been let out of the bag, than later. If you deny our existence to the public today, then you'll look like fools when you go back on yourself a few days, weeks, or months down the line."

She's got a good point. Whether Mallory will think the same way is a different story altogether, though. "Okay, Twilight," he replied, humouring her. "Say we were to announce your existence. How would you propose that we do it?"

She thought on this for a few seconds. "Say that the video is true." He raised an eyebrow. "Well, obviously punish whoever leaked it, of course, but don't tell everyone that it's fake. Then, we should announce our presence publicly, and in person."

"What, with a press conference or something?"

The alicorn glanced towards her friend, who shrugged. "Sure. I mean, why not, right? We're not going to be able to learn much about human culture holed up in your headquarters, now, are we? And your people won't learn anything about us if they don't even know we exist."

Bond stared at her for a moment, mulling over her idea. He could see where she was coming from, but he had his doubts about convincing everyone else. "If that's how you really want to play it, then you've got my support every step of the way," he explained. "But others might not be so sympathetic. Especially my boss. It's his neck on the line, after all."

"I guess we'll have to go and convince him otherwise, then." The determination in her voice was clear.

Convince Mallory? Good luck with that. "He's a man who's very hard to sway, once he's set his mind on something," he warned them both. Rainbow didn't seem interested, but Twilight listened to him intently. "Once he's decided on something, it takes some doing to change his mind."

A confident smirk appeared across her lips. "He hasn't met me yet. Not properly, at least. We'll get him to see things our way."

Somehow he didn't doubt that. He also knew just how determined the mare in front of him could be. "Well, I'm sure he's aware of the leak now as well, so-" He was interrupted by a buzzing, and a small jingle tone, coming from his pocket. What a surprise, right on time.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked, her ears perking up at the unknown noise.

"Phone," he answered offhandedly, pulling it out and reading the message he had been sent. My office. Now. He smirked, likening the order to that of a school teacher to an unruly student. "Speak of the devil, he wants to see me."

Twilight hopped off the bed, giving her wings a stretch. "See you alone? Or can we come?" Dash looked up at him as well, with the same inquisitive look.

"It doesn't matter what answer I give you. You'll be coming anyway, won't you?" He raised his eyebrow towards her, smiling slightly.

She giggled and smirked. "Oh, you know me so well, James."

He smirked back. "Even with your wings I knew you hadn't changed, really." He stretched his arms and got off the bed, getting to his feet. "Come on, let's go."

"Yeah, let's," Dash piped up, flexing her wings and hopping into the air. "That is, if you two are done flirting with each other." She put her hoof in her mouth in a mocking gag gesture. James simply rolled his eyes, tapping her across the head and moving towards the door. Dash rubbed the back of her head with annoyance and followed the both of them. "Ape." She stuck out her tongue towards him.

James snickered slightly. "Glad to see you brought your most mature, level headed friend along, Twilight," he announced, smirking as he tried to rile her up. Dash opened her mouth to say something in return, but closed her it instead, choosing instead to glare at him with a toss of her mane. James opened the door and let them exit first, before following them close behind. "Speaking of which, where is everyb- everypony else? Didn't the rest of your friends want to come?"

Twilight seemed to look solemn as he brought the subject up. "Of course they did. But even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna aren't powerful enough to cast the spell that brought us here on all seven of us, Spike included. Besides, all of our friends have important duties that they can't just up and abandon." The three of them made their way away from the cells in the basement and upstairs, heading for an elevator.

Bond looked towards the pegasus beside him as he pressed the button to go up. "Don't you have weather duties back in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash?" He put his hand in his pockets as he waited for the elevator to reach their floor.

"There's nothing to worry about." She waved her hoof away dismissively. "I left it all in the hooves of a professional. Thunderlane's a loyal and smart stallion; he knows exactly what he's doing. The weather team will get on just fine." She seemed confident in the pegasus stallion's abilities, so he didn't question her decision. He looked over at Twilight, whose gaze was firmly fixated upon the number counting down above the elevator doors. 

"You don't have lifts in Equestria, right?" Bond said to her, providing an awkward attempt at cross-cultural small talk. "Or elevators, whatever."

"A few, but they're mostly used for lifting materials. We only use a simple pulley system." She smiled up at him. "I'd love to see how one of these works."

The doors opened and he led them inside. "It's pretty simple, but I can't remember the exact specifics. I'll Google it later."

"Google?"

He paused and chuckled to himself. "I'll also explain what Google is later. So, do you actually know exactly how you'll return to Equestria once you're done with this little holiday?" he asked, leaning against the wall of the elevator as it began to rise. A smirk reappeared on his face as Rainbow Dash wobbled a bit on her hooves. 

Twilight seemed to puff her chest out proudly. "Becoming a princess didn't just give me a pair of wings, James. It also greatly increased my capacity for magic." She beamed happily at him, and he motioned for her to continue. "Before we traveled her I kept reading up on, and practicing, the spell that the princesses used. The books on them are in my saddlebags, back in my room."

"Cell," Dash piped up.

Her friend ignored her. "I think I should be able to teleport Rainbow Dash and myself back to Equestria. When we're ready to leave, of course."

He seemed impressed. "So let me get this straight. Now you're even more proficient with your magic?" She nodded and he grimaced. "Jesus Christ. Good luck to whoever gets on your bad side. I have a feeling that they'll need it."

"If everything goes as we'd like it to, there shouldn't be anyone on our bad side at all. Or vice versa," she pointed out, waiting politely for him to exit the elevator first as it reached the floor they were headed to. He beckoned for them to fall in behind him and walked out into the neatly furnished corridor beyond, heading towards a lone door at the very end. 

After stopping at it, he turned to both of them. "Well, we probably shouldn't keep him waiting too much longer. Are you both ready for this?" Rainbow Dash didn't seem to care, and if she did, she did not show it. Twilight, however, nodded eagerly. "Alright then. Here goes nothing." The door creaked slightly as he pushed it open, leading them inside.

The woman inside looked up from her computer as they entered. "Ah, Bond, good to see you. I hope you're ready for him in there." She noticed the two ponies follow him in, her eyes widening dramatically as she gasped. "So these are the aliens that found their way into Q Branch? They're... well, adorable, for lack of a better word."

Dash raised a questioning eyebrow at the description, while Twilight simply blushed slightly and giggled. "Careful there, Moneypenny," Bond warned teasingly. "You're talking to Equestrian royalty." He stood between the two parties, introducing them both. "Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, meet Eve Moneypenny."

She stood up and walked around from behind her desk, holding out her hand towards the alicorn as she trotted forward happily. "It's a pleasure, your highness." A smile spread across her lips as the mare took it and shook. She offered it to Dash as well, who took it and shook indifferently. Twilight blushed and the title, and chuckled as they stepped back towards Bond.

"I haven't been a princess for very long. My coronation was just over a month ago." She smiled nervously. "It's all a bit overwhelming, to be quite honest. Still, being here is a great opportunity for everypony back in Equestria."

Eve smiled intently and nodded. "Hmm, I can imagine. Let's just hope M feels the same way." She looked up at James, leaning back on her desk. "He's ready to see you, by the way. I'm not sure about you two, though."

"If he doesn't want to see us, he'll have to put up with us," Rainbow Dash adamantly stated, flapping her wings excitedly. "We need to have a talk."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "What Rainbow means is that we'd like to discuss a few things with Mr. Mallory, concerning what I assume you saw on the news program this evening." Her eyes narrowed and a smirk appeared across her face as she looked up at James. "Funny, I thought you worked for a secret service, James."

He sighed and tapped her gently on the back of the head. "Oh, knock it off, princess. Anyway, how's everything been since this morning?" He looked back up at Eve once again.

She crossed her arms and chuckled. "Oh, you don't even want to know the half of it. Everyone's been freaking out. The head of pretty much every department has been trying to get to see Mallory." Her flustered expression was soon replaced with a grimace. "Naturally, he hasn't been taking this too well either. I think I've heard more shouting and expletives coming from that room today than I have anywhere else in my entire life." Her hand reached for a mug sitting next to her computer, and she took a generous swig.

"I'm sorry that our arrival caused everypony- excuse me, everybody so much stress," the princess apologised politely, silently chastising herself for the slip up. Now I know how he felt, don't I? she mused to herself as Eve returned behind her desk. James nodded to her then walked towards the door on the other side of the room, calling out for both of them to follow. Twilight took a few deep breaths as Rainbow Dash smirked either confidently or arrogantly. 

The door to M's office creaked slightly as well as they entered. Do all of the door hinges in this place need oiling or something? Rainbow found herself thinking offhandedly. She also found herself gazing around the lavishly furnished office; at old paintings of ships on the walls and the view of the city from the windows to the side of the desk in the middle of the room. London, right? she thought, getting a glimpse of a large, antique looking clocktower poking above the roof of the adjacent building. Twilight, on the other hand, eyed the man sitting behind the desk. He looked tired and frazzled, with his tie loosened and his slicked back hair messed up slightly. His attention turned to her and her friend as he acknowledged Bond, but his expression only hardened.

"Good evening, M," Bond greeted, nodding towards him. 

"Yes, hello 007. I see you brought your... friends along as well." A tired sigh escaped his lungs. "No doubt you all saw the leak on the six o'clock news?" The very mention of the incident made him grimace.

Twilight nodded. "Yes, sir, we did. It's actually why we wanted to see you as well. I trust that you were going to discuss it with James."

M raised an eyebrow. "Well, you'd be correct. I was going to discuss just how we were going to explain or cover up this monumental cock-up. The Prime Minister, for a start, is furious, naturally. God knows what the bloody Queen will have to say about it."

"That's just the thing," she replied. "We don't want to cover it up or try and find some convoluted way to explain what everyone saw. We want to come out and announce it as the truth." She stepped forward, a pleading look on her face. "You see, that's the whole reason my friend and I are here. We want to announce our existence, we want to share our knowledge and culture with yours and vice versa." 

He didn't look convinced. In fact, he looked at her as if she had gone mad. "Do you realise what it will mean if you do? If your existence became public knowledge because of the confirmation that MI6, a service that deals in secrecy, let it leak. We'll be a laughing stock."

"That's beside the point!" she snapped, stomping her hoof on the ground. She blushed and shrunk slightly, smiling sheepishly at her little outburst as Bond stepped forward.

"We'll look even more like fools if we cover this up now only to go back on ourselves later," he advised, sitting down in a chair opposite his boss. "She said as much to me just now. And trust me: no matter how opposed to it you may be, Twilight will reveal her species' existence, even if it means bolting out into the street and saying hello to someone passing by." He looked at her and saw her blushing still. "The both of them are only curious, M. They just want to learn, and for us to learn as well. Why not let them?"

James studied Mallory's face as he mulled over what had been said. He looked from 007, to the two mares beside him, and thought hard. "If it were to happen - and let me be very clear, that is a very big 'if' - how would you go about it?" The question was directed towards Twilight and Rainbow. The pegasus simply nodded towards her friend, giving a shrug.

She pondered this for a second. "Well, I suggested to James that we hold some sort of public event, or press conference." She looked up at Bond. "Is there anything else we can do? Do you have any ideas?"

"We could record a video of you two, with a statement proving the truth," he suggested. "Q must have a decent camera around somewhere. If we do it right we can get it onto the internet, or onto the news at ten." 

Silence fell once again as Mallory thought. His gaze kept shifting from Bond, to Rainbow and Twilight, to wandering aimlessly across his desk. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was in reality only a couple of minutes, he spoke up again. "Let me get the PM on the phone. See what he makes of this." Before they could respond he had picked up the receiver and jammed a quick dial button on the phone itself. They could hear the phone ring through the receiver before another voice spoke from the other end.

Twilight didn't know how long the conversation between the two went on for, but what she did know was that it involved quite a bit of raised voices and annoyed, flustered expressions from the man in front of her. Bond seemed to watch on with dry amusement, as though he had seen this type of exchange more than a few times. Dash seemed to be entertained as well, snickering slightly every time M cursed under his breath or made an annoyed face. Finally, he put down the phone and put his head in his hands for a few seconds, yawning.

"Bloody prick," he muttered under his breath, looking up at them once again. "I'm sorry that you both had to hear that. The Prime Minister is a good man. We just don't see eye to eye most of the time." Another yawn escaped him, making him realise that he was a lot more tired than he wanted to believe.  "In any case, he's given you the green light. He's been in touch with the White House, the Kremlin, places like that, since you've arrived." Neither of them understood what those were, but Twilight assumed that they were places of importance. Perhaps like the castle in Canterlot? She ignored the tangent she was on for now and continued to listen.

"Naturally, they didn't have a bloody clue what to do either. But, I think that you're right. We'll just look like idiots if we put this off," he explained to them. "So go ahead with your plan. Write up a statement and get it recorded, and I'll see about sending it to our allies and to the local news networks. Then we can think about doing something in public, okay?" He groaned and rubbed his eyes. 

"Thank you, sir." Bond nodded alongside his friends before standing up and leaving the room, giving M some peace. 

"We gonna go see your friend Q then?" Dash piped up as they quickly greeted Moneypenny on the way out.

He chuckled. "Yep. It should be easy to get him to set up somewhere to record while you two work on a statement."

Twilight smiled in response and thought to herself, trying to think of the best way to introduce both herself and her species, as well as their intentions on an alien planet, then how to put that into words. It was no easy feat, of that she was certain. But hey, when was writing an essay ever a challenge for me?