An hour later, and their covert “meeting” was winding down. An uncomfortable amount of what they had decided seemed to weigh on her more than anypony else. Sky took another deep breath, looking closely at the screen and the markings Wanderlust had made. “You're sure... this is where they meet? That close?” She gestured to the satellite picture, centered as it was on the roof of a house on the end of the lane, not quite within sight of the makeshift pasture (but almost).
“Positive.” Wanderlust nodded. “It should be easy for you to ‘accidentally’ wander into the house.”
“There might not be anything in there. Maybe they just go there to light up or something! Maybe they’re remodeling the house! Maybe they just want to be alone and relax away from us! There’s nothing that says they’ve got to be doing anything bad.”
Lonely Day’s voice came over the satellite radio after a few seconds. She didn’t sound good, about the same level of worn-out that she had sounded the day she came back from the HPI. “It would be a mistake to lump all of them together, just as it would be a mistake to assume that just because they arrived so close to when this disaster happened they have to be responsible for it. None of the ponies who came to Alexandria could’ve been there, unless they planted some sort of device to cause it.”
“I wish we had a forensic fire investigator, but what we’re seeing makes it seem like the flames were recent. We were attacked by a gigantic flaming fire-monster, which suggests a possible cause for the fire here.”
“If we see new ponies arrive in the next few days, and they seem to know any of the ponies already in Alexandria, then we should be worried. What happened to us was a spell. Somepony had to cast it. But… we don’t really know magic well enough to know if the spell was cast in real time, or if it was put into an object or something and left to be triggered by its victims.”
“I only saw magic in Equestria for a week, but if what I understand is right, a spell like that couldn’t be performed by the average unicorn. It would take lots of them working in concert, or else a fantastically powerful single caster, like an Alicorn.”
“I guess what I’m saying is, we’re probably looking for an Equestrian. Even if a former human had a natural talent like that, he or she would never have the experience and skill after so short a time.”
“Look for runes, Sky. That’s all you’ve got to do. See if you find any in that house. We know we’ve got the only library, and they’ve only had a few days to read it. Find runes, and we know we need to be worried. Well… that would mean we’re dealing with Equestrians, Equestrians who chose to lie and claim to be from Earth. Still doesn’t mean any of them are guilty of anything.”
Wanderlust rubbed against her side, though not very hard. She enjoyed the gesture, at least until she saw the way the bug’s head pivoted to watch, her eyes almost hungry. Of course she was hungry. The filthy parasite would eat their love if she could. Whatever that meant. “Riley and I will be close, ‘taking a drive’ the whole time. If we hear anything even slightly unusual from your radio, we’ll speed straight there.”
She nodded. “Y-Yeah. I know. I’m not worried. It’ll be during the day. They’ve gone to the library every day since they got here! Besides, we could always call it off if we weren’t sure the house was empty!”
“The HPI might be willing to help us, if things go bad,” Lonely Day said. “Captain Wright has a team standing by. They value our cooperation too much to let us get replaced at this juncture. At least, I think they do. But I can’t call down their help unless we’re absolutely certain we need it. It isn’t the kind of thing they’ll do for us more than once or twice. Ultimately, we aren’t that irreplaceable. If we’re more trouble than we’re worth, they’ll find other ponies to work with-”
“-And there goes our best chance of making any fuckin’ difference, ever.” Whiplash’s voice cut in, harsh and poignant. But Sky wouldn’t have argued the point, at least not so far as “preserving humanity” was concerned. Not that it mattered to her, but it mattered to Lonely Day.
That was enough.
“We understand.” Wanderlust’s voice was firm, but also a little annoyed. Not that he didn’t get that way more and more when Whiplash spoke, these days. Nor was he the only one. At least her objections were more reasonable this time. “I’ll let you know if things get violent. I don’t think they will, though. New ponies could’ve taken over when they got here, and they didn’t. Could’ve tried to steal the library, and they didn’t.”
“Since the Event, there have been tons of opportunities for people to get violent with one another. Ponies in the other settlements have had disagreements. But so far, I haven’t seen any sign of people hurting each other. Well… almost no sign.” He shifted uncomfortably, looking disturbed.
“Point is, since this whole mess started, people almost universally want to work together and help each other out. It’s going to clear up. This is just… just a precaution, that’s all!”
“Yeah,” Whiplash’s voice again, obviously in agreement. “It makes sense to eliminate the immigrants as suspects. Whatever they’re keeping secret in that house, it makes sense to check and make sure it’s nothing to do with the people who died. Eliminate suspicion.”
So on that charming note, with Wanderlust and Whiplash agreeing on something for the first time she could remember, their meeting ended. Sky ended up staying the night on Wanderlust’s couch.
It smelled like bug, and she just knew the bug was up most of the night watching her. But even so, the changeling hadn’t burned down a village. Really, the girl hadn’t done anything except look and smell absolutely terrifying. Better her than take the risk somepony who was willing to kill might find her alone in her trailer during the night.
The next day, she went about her business as she always did, with one exception. Though Sky never carried a gun of her own, she did keep her saddlebags and the radio within reach at all times. She did put off her caring for the cows a few hours, long enough that the visitors would have time to eat and make it to the library before she attempted her incursion to the house several of them visited when they thought they were alone.
Of course, before she could be some kind of pony-based spy, she had to accomplish her regular cow-related responsibilities. There was milking to be done, cleaning, washing and maintenance that wouldn’t just happen. Smart as the cows were, they were cows. They had not bothered to develop the ability to care for themselves when they never expected to need it.
“Hey, everypony.” The little herd of cows was already grazing. Almost as one, the group turned away from her, showing their backs to her. She was sure she heard several fart, or otherwise relieve themselves.
“Come on!” She moved closer, raising her voice. “I’m three hours late!”
Betsy, the largest cow in the herd (though there were two bulls larger), glanced over her shoulder and made an annoyed sound Sky took for ‘Three hours later than you should’ve been!’
“Yeah, I know.” She kept her distance, staying well out of kicking range, making her way past them to the generator. A flick of the electric start and a few agonized noises from inside and it was running, and water was flowing again into the mostly-empty troughs.
While the elders of the herd were shunning her, the calves seemed not to notice or care. There were three now, each smaller than she was (though not by much in one case).
“Hey guys!” She took the pitchfork briefly out of her mouth, waving at them with a hoof. “Sorry to keep the best part of your breakfast waiting.” She shoveled, and the young bovines watched with interest. To their credit, they didn’t go for the food, knowing not to interrupt her and that their parents got it first regardless.
It was scary how smart the calves could be. Some days, she was sure they had actually spoken. Not the animal-noises she could kinda understand kind of talking, but the kind where they used her words.
There were books about Equestrian farms, and she had read a few of them. They had many of the same animals apparently, though the relationship worked differently. Nothing was kept for meat, obviously, and animals were never killed. The single book she had finished about farming talked about cows like they were somehow partners in the process, not property to be kept and traded. Yet she had also seen no mention of cows moving about Equestrian society, nor were they listed as things the “Preservation Spell” might transform humans into.
In Equestria, she was pretty sure cows could actually talk, and that they made money for what they provided. How long would it be before cows on Earth were doing the same?
“I’m not sure what I’m gonna do,” she said to the watching “children”, tossing the pitchfork down and pausing to catch her breath. “When you all start talking, I mean. We don’t even have money, so I’m not sure what I’ll pay you with. Maybe we can trade… like building you all a nice barn, and making you better food, and stuff like that.”
She shrugged. The calves shrugged back, making a sound she took for giggling. They imitated her gesture several more times, repeating it until it had lost all meaning, chasing each other out of the barn and into the field with their parents.
A few minutes later and she had dragged the food over beside the newly-refilled water tray, and the cows were “talking” to her again. There was milking to be done, though she used a portable milking machine for it now and it was much easier on everypony involved. Really it was too fast, since she knew what fun was waiting for her when she was done.
Sky stretched her farm work as long as she could, a full hour and a half. Any more, and she would risk the ponies leaving the library and coming upon her. She would take many risks, but that was one she would prefer to avoid. It was only reluctantly she said goodbye to her bovine friends and began the brief walk to the house some of the visiting ponies had made into a temporary headquarters.
Her dread grew with every step. There were many ways this might go, and she didn’t think very many of them were good. She was going to have a rough afternoon.