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// January 11, 2016. 12:30 PM 
// Story: An Ally Called Preponderance 
// by Myriad Kay 
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I was awakened from my nap, finally, by a call from Dr. Arbeck. Her greeting was short and genuinely concerned. "Natalie! You said it was important and to call you back as soon as possible. What is it?"

Dr. Arbeck was one of the few scientists with whom I had shared my encounter with Preponderance. I had taken numerous screengrabs during the conversation and, understandably, wanted the opinions of a zoologist. While she remained skeptical of my claims to have spoken to an alien, she always addressed my questions seriously and even proposed her own suggestions as to the evolutionary path taken by Preponderance's species. Knowing the interests of her field, I hit her with the offer she couldn't refuse. "I have three living extraterrestrials in a hotel room in Cherry Pike, Virginia. I have discovered a new class of previously undiscovered creature native to Earth, of which I have one full body and one partial remain, all tangible yet naturally invisible. I have a book on previously undiscovered science written by a fourth extraterrestrial, also at the hotel in Cherry Pike. I need you at Cherry Pike, right now."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Finally, I heard Dr. Arbeck's voice. "That's a three hour drive. Also, you have to be joking."

"It's no joke. Call the hotel if you want, I have multiple witnesses. By now, you can probably even call the police station: they're getting involved too. This is going to get big; I'm in Iceland right now and I need a scientist there to make sure everyone is kept safe." The other end was silent, so I elaborated. "These aren't curiosities like Preponderance was, Dr. Arbeck, they're children. They don't know how they got here and they're just trying to get home. I don't know enough about their diet or biology to guarantee their safety. And, we have two invisible, Earth-native predators hunting them."

"I'm in my car," Dr. Arbeck answered. I didn't know how much of my previous words she had heard, but it didn't seem to matter. "I'll be there in two hours. You're reimbursing any speeding tickets. I'll call you when I'm close."

The call clicked closed, but my phone didn't leave my hand. I dialed the ponies, hoping I wasn't waking them if they were still asleep—and, at the same time, hoping nothing disastrous had befallen them in my absence.

Quite the opposite, it turned out. Applebloom appeared on the other end of the line, grinning. She was wearing what I recognized as an armor vest meant for a police K-9 unit. "Howdy there, Dr. Sydney!" she greeted. Their meeting with the police, it turned out, had gone fairly well. The three of them had explained the situation to the best of their ability (mostly led by Scootaloo, being the one who was most familiar with the dead Veilspawn outside). The officers, after getting over the initial novelty of an alien encounter, took the issue professionally and even left an armed guard at the hotel room—sporting a hunting rifle in addition to her normal pistol, I noted. "They brought the vests up later," Applebloom explained, "they're supposed to stop all sorts of bad things and keep us safe. Scootaloo won't wear hers because it covers her wings, but they said that was okay and she didn't have to."

Seeing Scootaloo's agility in action, I supported the decision. At the moment, however, I had larger things on my mind. I had been thinking about the Veilspawn's tactics. While little was known about them, I realized that in itself was an important piece of information: they preferred stealth. The one hunting Scootaloo had traveled through air ducts and ambushed her while she was alone—an easy victory had she not known it was coming. "Applebloom," I said, "may I please speak to the policewoman?" She nodded, picking the phone up in her mouth and turning to the officer behind her.

We exchanged introductions swiftly, their guard introducing herself as Officer Stiles, and I wasted no time getting to the crux of my thoughts. "The Veilspawn—the creatures hunting these girls—have presumably