//------------------------------//
// 04: Betrayal Dressed in a Suit 
// Story: An Equestrian Princess in London 
// by Gherkin 
//------------------------------//


"In a shocking twist of events, MI6 have not denounced the supposed footage of extraterrestrial contact, and have instead confirmed that it is genuine and not a hoax..."



"...these aliens, calling themselves 'ponies', have released a recorded statement to news outlets and onto video sharing websites on the internet..."



"...it remains to be seen what the intentions of these supposedly equine visitors are, however they have stated that they are here purely for research purposes..."



"...the leader, calling herself 'Princess Twilight Sparkle', has stated that she wishes to learn from human history and culture..."





"Well, let's see where things go from here, shall we?" Bond pushed a button on the remote, turning off the television in his friends' room after swapping through the many news channels available. With a stretch, he sat up and glanced over towards the two of them. "Now we just have to wait and see how everybody reacts to your existence. Like it or not, you are both celebrities now."

Rainbow Dash smirked and puffed her chest out. "And rightfully so!" With a flap of her wings, she took to the air and did a small back flip. "Now everyone here will know how awesome we are!"

Bond rolled his eyes as she flew in circles around the room, and turned his attention to the alicorn across from him. Twilight was engrossed in the screen of his laptop, using her magic to operate the keyboard and track pad. "So, how goes your research? Have you learned anything interesting?"

It took her a second to pull herself away from the screen and look up at him. When she did, her excited, giddy expression became apparent. "'Have I learned anything interesting'? Are you kidding? This 'internet' is absolutely amazing!" He leaned over and saw that she was currently on the Wikipedia page of the Renaissance. "It's like a massive, never-ending library! And you say you can use it almost anywhere?"

"So long as you've got something that can connect to it, then sure." He pulled out his smartphone and, after a few seconds of tapping, showed her the screen. It displayed the same Wikipedia page, which she realised after looking back and forth between it and the laptop a few times. "Impressed?" he asked, chuckling slightly to himself.

She nodded earnestly. "Oh, definitely. It's wonderful! And your history is so fascinating!" She scanned through a few pages again, glancing up at him from time to time. "Your species and culture has undoubtedly advanced dramatically in the last few thousand years. It's amazing, really." There was a pause before she looked back over to him, now with a sly grin across her face. "Of course, libraries are all well and good, but they don't really compare to actually going out and seeing everything with your own eyes."

A laugh escaped his lips as he looked back at her. "Oh, you want to go on a tour of the planet? I'm not against it, but I doubt you'd want to fly yourself. Wings can only get you so far."

Dash scoffed but Twilight ignored her. "Then what do you propose we do?"

"Well, I guess you count as foreign ambassadors or something. Hell, you're aliens." He smirked. "I'm fairly sure the PM can spare no expense when it comes to making you both comfortable. Getting you both flights to another part of the world shouldn't be too hard, assuming the countries you want to visit will have you."

"Why wouldn't they?" Dash inquired, receiving a shrug in response. She did a few more laps of the room, humming to herself, before continuing. "Ah, it doesn't matter. It'll be fine! One thing though, James."

He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, noticing Twilight's attention turn back to the laptop out of the corner of his eye. "Go on. What is it?"

"Now that everyone knows about us, why the heck are we still stuck cooped up in here?" She groaned in frustration. "I mean, you said that your 'PM' could spare no expense, right? We could have anything we wanted!" Her eyes lit up as she imagined the endless possibilities. "I mean, we could have the fanciest hotel room in the city! Or our own personal home in the clouds!"

Clouds? Oh yeah, I must have forgotten. Pegasi and their magical abilities, and all that. He laughed and leaned back. "I doubt you can manipulate clouds or the weather here, Rainbow Dash. I know we can't."

The excited look on her face turned to one of confusion. "Wait, you can't? But that makes no sense!" She turned back to look at the laptop in front of her friend, and pointed at it. "I swear I saw what the upcoming weather would be on one of these website things. How can you tell if you're not controlling it somehow?"

"Technology," he answered flatly, though surprised to hear Twilight say it at the exact same time. Both he and the pegasus looked over to her with surprised expressions.

She looked up from the screen and to them both. "What? I'd say it's pretty obvious, Dash. I mean, the human race has made so many technological advancements in the past few hundred years. Do you not think they could have invented a machine that predicts weather patterns?"

The mare shrugged but still seemed uneasy. "It's just so... wrong. The weather happening by itself, I mean. And you tell me the sun and the moon move by themselves too? It's crazy!"

"Technically the sun doesn't move; rather, we move around it." He decided not to continue any further on the topic, thanks to the shocked look on her face. "Look, when we go out to give your first public experience, you can try and see whether you can manipulate the weather here, okay? God knows London could use a sunny day."

That seemed to appease her, as she nodded. "Yeah, okay. That sounds pretty good, I guess. When's that gonna be though? And what are we supposed to say or do?"

Bond chuckled to himself. "I expect you won't have to do that much at all. Just look good for all the cameras and they'll lap up anything you do. I hear Mallory is trying to set some sort of official event night up with the PM. I think, what from I've heard, it'll be a dinner with some of the world's leaders, then a public speech, or press conference."

"And how long will that take to set up?" Twilight asked him, finally closing the laptop screen and rubbing her tired eyes.

She received a shrug in response. "A week or two, I suppose. In the meantime we'll see if we can't get you some better accommodation that this... cell." He glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who snickered slightly. "Anyway, it's getting late, so I should probably leave you to it. Keep the laptop, I'm sure you'll want to find out as much as you can."

The two of them smiled up at him as he went to leave, each giving him a friendly 'goodnight' as he opened the door and left. After he had gone, Dash slumped over on one of the beds, then turned on her side to face her friend. "So, is this all you were hoping for, Twi?"

"Not exactly." She smiled, using her magic to pick up the laptop and set it on the bedside table. "But, it's getting there. Hopefully once we are able to get out there and explore a little, maybe even interact with some other humans, it will be everything that I dreamed of."

Dash nodded and rolled onto her back, putting her hooves behind her head. After a few seconds of absently staring at the ceiling, she spoke up again. "Y'know, humans are pretty weird."

Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked over at her, settling into a comfortable position on her front. "How do you figure? I mean, they're obviously different to us, but that doesn't make them weird, per se."

"I guess. I just don't understand how they live if they don't control the sun and the moon, or the weather."

"Well, they've obviously adapted. That's evolution, Rainbow Dash."

She nodded. "Uh huh." A thought popped into her mind that made her perk up. "Hey, do you think that some humans will make their own fan club based around me, like back in Ponyville?"

Twilight laughed for a moment, then turned her head towards her. "You know what? If they do, I owe you fifty bits."


***



One week later...


"Come on. Even you have to admit, this has to count!"

Twilight ignored Dash's smug face, and peered closer to the screen of James' phone as he held in front of her. As fascinating as the human race's internet was, it was also exceptionally strange. Especially this 'face book', as Bond had called it. She looked at the title of the page once last time, before sighing in defeat. She used her magic to open the saddlebags on her back, and tossed a small bag full of coins over to her friend.

"Ha ha, I knew it!" she chortled, punching the air with her hoof then slipping the bag into her own saddlebags. "Even the human race knows how awesome I am!"

James rolled his eyes, looking at the page himself. "Indeed they do. All sixteen thousand of the people who liked this page, anyway." With a soft chuckle, he slipped the phone back inside of his pocket and adjusted the bow tie around his neck. He cast a glance towards the both of them, both dressed in similarly formal attire. Rainbow Dash is being well behaved for such an important event, he thought to himself, allowing a small smirk to cross his lips. He stuck by them both as Twilight was properly greeted by a number of different world leaders, having shared dinner with them just before. He kept a smile on his face as she shook hands with the likes of the Prime Minister, the Queen, the President of the United States, and many more. 

To the other side of Earth's equine guests stood Mallory, also smiling formally towards those the princess greeted. Bond could feel his eyes darting towards him every once in a while, though, judging his actions. It was now his formal assignment to act as a personal bodyguard to the both of them, after all, and his superior wanted to make sure that he would do the best job he could. They both knew that the past week had been a busy one. They had worked tirelessly to set up this event, as well as provide them with accommodation at one of the city's top hotels, at Rainbow Dash's request of course. He had been put in charge of their own personal security team, the members of which he could notice patrolling around the area around them, making sure to keep an eye out for any trouble. 

Thing have been going smoothly, for the most part, he thought to himself, scanning the crowd around them as they moved towards where Twilight and Rainbow would be answering questions at a press conference. In the week since they had been revealed to the world, the public had been eager to see more of the ponies visiting their planet. Social media websites and outlets were constantly buzzing with talk and speculation about the both of them, as had news channels and talk shows around the world. He had even stumbled across some knock-off merchandise featuring their likenesses. Stuffed toys and the like, he reminisced. Bloody things looked nothing like them at all. Of course, not everyone had welcomed them with open arms, but that was to be expected. There were skeptics, the distrusting, and the paranoid crying foul over their reveal. An extreme case come with a right-wing talk show in the states claimed the two of them were masquerading demons, signalling the start of the end times. Nutcases. I doubt Twilight or Rainbow Dash have anything to worry about.

"Everything seems to be going quite well, doesn't it?" Mallory's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

He looked over at him and nodded, squinting his eyes against the flashing of cameras all around them. "Indeed it does." He noticed a few members of his security team holding back somebody who had jumped the fence. "Well, for the most part."

He chuckled and nodded. "Hopefully it should stay that way. Anyway, do you know exactly what the two of them want to do now that they're out for the public to see?" He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Twilight mentioned something about wanting to see the world, to travel. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?"

M shook his head. "No, it really shouldn't be a problem. I suppose they're both quite curious, aren't they?"

James nodded as the four of them entered the building in which the press conference would take place. They made their way backstage, pushing through or barging past wandering reporters or eager paparazzi in the place's hallways. Once they had finally gotten backstage, he glanced backwards and saw them both preparing themselves for the upcoming event. Bond poked his head out from behind the stage curtain, and saw the seats were packed full of eager reporters, with journals, laptops, or tablet devices in hand and ready to write down every word that left his friends' mouths. Grimacing, he turned back and headed towards them once again. "Right, are you lot ready?" he asked, looking down at the two of them as a few members of the security team stood nearby.

"I think that we are. At least, I think so. I hope so," Twilight told him rather nervously, taking deep breaths and hopping back and forth on the tips of her hooves. "It's just that..." She paused and bit her tongue. "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say, or what I should say. I'm barely used to being a princess in Equestria, let alone giving a live speech to an entire alien race. I mean, this is going to be broadcast across the world, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, it is." He tried his best to smile warmly, kneeling down to her eye level. "But don't worry about anything, okay? Just be yourself, answer any questions you want to answer. You're not obliged to give someone a response if you feel like their question was too personal, or private, or if they want you to divulge information that you'd rather keep to yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, that's great and all," Dash spoke up, hovering up towards him. "But, before we go out there... is there a filly's room anywhere around here?" She blushed slightly. "I kinda need to go."

James smirked, recalling her new found taste for Coca-Cola at their dinner just before. Everyone else was drinking fine wine, and there she was gulping down soft drink. Guess everyone else thought it was some kind of cultural norm. "Yeah, there's one nearby. Come on, I'll escort you there."

He went to step forward when one of the men on his security detail stepped forward. "Don't worry about it sir, I'll handle it. I need to check the perimeter anyway."

James eyed the guard for a second, before giving a shrug.  "Alright then, Webb, keep on your guard. Just don't take too long, alright Rainbow? You've got less than five minutes."

She nodded and set off behind the guard, soon disappearing around a corner. After watching her go, he looked down at Twilight once again. "Seriously, don't worry about anything. You're going to be fine."

The alicorn gave him a sincere smile as she looked back up at him. "Yeah, I know James. Thank you."

The two of them chatted and prepared for her appearance over the course of the next five minutes, however there was no sign of Rainbow Dash returning. Bond's concern only grew as one of the backstage managers called that they were going to be going live in thirty seconds. "Where the hell is she?" he muttered to himself. "Hold on, I'll go get her," he said to Twilight and Mallory, before setting off to the toilets.

When he arrived at the door to the women's toilets he found it, unsurprisingly, closed. What was surprising, however, was that the guard, Webb, was nowhere to be seen. Confused and concerned, Bond tapped into the security team's radio channel. "Webb, where the hell are you? Report, over." He waited, but no response came. Frustrated, he repeated, "Report."

The radio stayed silent, which made him worry. He leaned up against the door to the toilets, but couldn't hear anything. "Rainbow?" he called out, listening for any signs of life from within. "Rainbow Dash, are you in there?" No response came either. Oh, this can't be good. He glanced around, before drawing his gun and trying to push the door open. It wouldn't budge, so he stepped back and kicked it forcefully. After a few kicks, it swung inward, and he stepped inside quickly.

He noticed a broken mop on the ground beside the door, as well as an open door leading to the janitor's closet that it had been moved from. Someone tried to bar the door? he thought, worried. He checked every corner and stall in the room, but there was no sign of his guard or Rainbow Dash. However, he did noticed something out of the corner of his eye. There was a small, fresh patch of blood on the edge of one of the sinks. His eyes widened as he saw it. Oh shit... I just can't catch a damn break...

He turned to leave the room swiftly, switching his radio communications to broadcast to all of his security detail. "This is 007. One of the VIPs has gone missing. Repeat, the VIP Rainbow Dash is missing. Suspected kidnapping. Agent Webb is to be captured or killed on sight." He growled as he started looking around for him. "Somebody find that bastard."