"We're ready for this," Danielle repeated, for maybe the tenth time. They were walking between the buildings of a busy apartment complex, but nobody paid them any mind. They were all the right age to be living there, after all.
"Sunset thought so." Eric walked just in front of her, his wings hidden in a backpack he had cut the back out of. It worked, though she could still make out the strange shapes poking through the fabric. That, and she just knew it must be super uncomfortable.
"It's not a big deal," Harley called back, twisting her wand about between her fingers. Clearly she meant what she said, because she was the only one of their number wearing a fandom shirt, albeit with the bottom twisted and tightened so that the Chrysalis design was barely visible. "Not only are there a dozen ponies screening the complex right now, but we have Princess Twilight back as our coordinator.
"Are there... any monsters here?" Jacob kept pace with her, dressed a little more inconspicuously, though she could see the tip of his wand emerging from the inside of his jacket. "Something brought us, right?"
"It's always magic." Harley alone seemed to know where she was going, following the subtle twistings the wood made in her hand. Danielle didn't really know: no wand had ever done a damn thing for her. "There's more here than we've ever encountered. More than a monster. Smart bits say there's a pony in there."
"How?" She couldn't help but be indignant. "You haven't been in touch with this group, have you?"
"No..." Harley sounded defensive. "But they had the propaganda, same as anypony else. It's theoretically possible for them to work it out on their own. It doesn't happen often, we're talking spontaneous princess level here."
As they neared their destination—the apartment clubhouse—Danielle could hear the familiar sound of Brony music coming from within, and found it quite comforting. The ponies themselves didn't seem too keen on Electronic, at least not the ones who lived in Unity. "So why are we going in instead of someone more experienced?"
Harley lowered her voice. "Can you think of an easier first rescue? If one of them is already a pony, odds are they're spewing magic like a skunk sprays stink. We walk right in, explain everything, then we get the whole group out before anypony's the wiser."
"Sounds simple." Danielle shoved past them both, an effort that required a fair bit of control. If she wasn't careful, she could shove her friends through a wall. Much of her training wasn't so much to get stronger as it was to learn how to use her strength.
"Have it your way." Harley glared at her. "You do the talking. I'll just step in if it looks like you're losing control of the situation."
"Won't happen." She made herself sound confident as she clicked the door open. Well, tried. Rather than clicking to show it was locked, the door went a few inches then struck something soft.
Someone grunted from within. "Can't come in!" a voice croaked, suppressing a whimper. "Come back later!"
So obviously not anything official. They would've just locked the door. Danielle braced her shoulder on the door, then started walking. It didn't matter how heavy the person was on the other side, or how determined. She heard something screeching, and several people stumbled backward away from the doorway as she opened it.
See Bronies one place, see them everywhere. As she swung the door open, the little clubhouse came into view, all beige paint and surplus furniture. Some of that furniture had been pushed into her way, though she easily shoved her way through all of it.
The space wasn't terribly large, just big enough for two dozen people or so. It was only a single room, though there was a kitchen off to one side and lots of furniture packed around a few big TVs. A fairly comfortable space for a party, made moreso by the snacks on every table and the constant music.
"I said keep people out!" someone called from the kitchen, their tone filled with frustration.
"We tried!" a large kid said from just beside her, falling onto his back next to the old couch. "They're too strong."
Danielle had no intention of standing there and waiting for these Bronies to come to the wrong conclusion. That she had found the right place she didn't doubt, and even more fortunate, there was no sign of police or anyone else official. Perfect. "Excuse me!" she shouted over the murmurs and the music. "There's a pony here, right? We've come to find the pony, but we don't have much time."
Silence fell, silence except for the dull thumping of the music. If they hadn't been watching her before, every eye now turned, though she was still one of the shortest people in the room and blocked by many heads.
A young man responded, a little less confident than he had sounded the first time. "Over here."
They hurried over. Anyone who was a little too slow, Danielle encouraged, clearing the path for herself and Jacob. Eric and Harley hovered back by the exit, but she didn't listen to anything they said. Harley hadn't needed to give this mission to her for Danielle to decide she was going to take charge. It was high time she do something worthy of the rescue they had given her.
She found the pony in the kitchen, wrapped in blankets and pillows stolen from furniture around the room. She was surrounded by at least half the crowd, protecting her as much as they stared in wonder. The other half of those assembled here seemed more afraid than entranced, and they kept their distance.
"How did you know this would happen?" The one who had spoken before was a tall, wiry kid who couldn't have been nineteen. Yet only he seemed to have the courage to address her. "Are you responsible?"
"No." There was such confidence in her response that the kid's next question died in his mouth before he could ask it. Danni dropped to her knees, making her way down beside the pony. "Excuse me, are you alright?"
"Y-yes." The speaker sounded less afraid than everyone seemed to expect, yet all pony voices were higher than human. This made her sound more childish than she probably was, and maybe more afraid too. She was an earth pony, with a dark mane and spots around her hooves. Her Cutie Mark was some kind of bird perched on a twig, though she didn't inspect it long. It hurt too much that she didn't have one, despite the three months she had been living with them.
"Good. Just stay there—we'll get you out soon." She rose.
"They sound like they came to kidnap Allie," someone whispered, close enough that Danni could still hear.
She answered before the tall kid could, not caring that she wasn't even at a height with his shoulders. "No, we haven't." She jumped up on the couch nearby, in a single smooth leap. Better coordination might not be as flashy as strength, but it could be just as useful. "Could somebody cut the music?! It will make explaining this easier."
Someone did, and soon the room was well and truly silent. From the ground, the pony sat up on her haunches, watching with interest. Less shock than I expected. Guess some magical prodigy would be better at being something new than a regular person.
Jacob stood just beside her—even standing on the ground, he was about her height now, which was positively infuriating. "We don't have much time, everyone. We're sorry this has to be so rushed, but there are some very good reasons."
They explained. By now, there were even more historical examples of missing bronies to point to. It didn't matter if someone went to meetups or not, was in a club or not, they weren't safe. The bigger gatherings seemed particularly vulnerable, so much so that many campuses had banned them "for student safety." It seemed this one had followed the general trend of just meeting somewhere else.
Many still doubted the validity of the danger. They could do little more than bear heartfelt witness of the things they had seen, demonstrate a little magic, and pray people got the message. It was a horrific thing to ask someone to leave their life behind—Danni knew better than most.
It seemed positively fantastic luck on their part they had managed to get here so far ahead of their enemy that there weren't any soldiers to fight or police to run away from. She thought that, about until she started hearing sirens. Sirens that, almost at once, were drowned out by the constant roar of a helicopter's blades.
"Pony!" She shouted, hopping back down.
"Allie," the pony answered, suddenly a little tentative. That put her reaction about on par with the rest of her friends, who were starting to shift uncomfortably.
"Right." She lowered her hands. "With your permission, I'll carry you. You probably don't know how to move yet, and I'm the strongest one here."
"You're..." She trailed off, then sighed. "Fine."
Danni scooped the pony into her arms as she might've done to a large cat, supporting her legs with one arm. Where the sight of one of the strange creatures had confounded her a few months ago, she found them easy to ignore these days. The insane and disturbing both could become mundane. She made her way towards the single exit faster than most club members.
"If you go to the police, you won't be safe!" Harley's voice carried over the confusion, over the distant sirens. "And you won't get to change your mind!"
"We have an airlift waiting!" Jacob added, kicking the door open. As Danielle knew to expect, there were about a dozen people already waiting in the parking lot, all winged pegasi ready to lift. The massive evacuation helicopter sent clouds of dust scattering all around it, and was so loud she almost couldn't think. There was a helmet waiting for her up there that would make the sound less overwhelming, but she would have to make it up.
They spread out, circling around the locals who chose to stay. Not all of them did—a few screamed insults, or tried to persuade their colleagues not to listen to them. "These are obviously the ones kidnapping us!" shouted the same one who had been reluctant to let them see the pony in the first place. "Promising to be able to help with 'magic' is one thing, but stealing us away on a helicopter?"
"They're flying around, Chris," someone argued. "Could they really be bad?"
"That's the stupidest reasoning I ever heard!" He stomped towards Danni, his posture becoming more and more hostile with each step. "You can't take Allie!" He made to reach down for the pony she was carrying, glaring at her. "Give her back!"
To Danni's surprise, Allie reacted before she could, snapping at the outstretched fingers. "Hey Chris, back off! You can do what you want, but I trust them."
"Oh." He deflated. "Really, Allie? You're gonna side with them?"
"Yes."
"You hear that, everyone?" Danni raised her voice, holding her up a little so they could see. Unlike her, these humans hadn't really adapted to the sight of a pony for themselves. They were painfully adorable, but they were also a little difficult to look at if you weren't ready for them. "Allie says she trusts us! Allie says she's coming with us! Trust her, and you'll be safe! Go that way"—she gestured towards the flashing lights coming down the road—"and you'll never see your families again."
The pony in her arms seemed to scrunch down at all the attention, looking away from the little crowd. Danni didn't question why she looked so uncomfortable, not when she could already hear distant echoes of “This is the police, remain where you are!”
Many of the naysayers appeared convinced by their words, because they hopped into the arms of waiting pegasi and soared up to the helicopter. Rather than shooting at them, police seemed to be shooting at the aircraft—with no effect at all. A little shimmer kept the bullets away, deflecting them well away from the massive spinning blades.
"Time to go." She turned to see Eric, backpack on the ground and wings exposed, offering one hand to her. "I got you."
"You sure?" She raised an eyebrow, searching for another “pegasus.” They seemed to be mostly concentrating on the new refugees, leaving the rescue team to their own devices.
"Yeah!" He didn't wait, wrapping his arms around them both and taking off in a flurry of flapping wings. His flying was unsteady, erratic, and not half as fast as the trained pegasi helping others into the helicopter. His grip was weaker too, and already she started slipping.
Danielle sighed and wrapped her legs around his with a viselike grip—far weaker than she would've had on the ground, but strong enough to take the strain off him. Strong or not, she didn't think either of them would survive the fall if Eric dropped them. "See, this is what I mean!"
They made it inside a second later, Eric collapsing onto his knees beside her and breathing heavily. "They... make that look so much easier..."
"You did fine." Someone pulled Eric out of the doorway, shoving him roughly into a seat. A second later Danni felt someone grip her by the shoulder and do the same, then help the pony out of her arms.
It was Princess Twilight, a headset on her head and a wand in her hand. She passed Allie to one of the pegasi like a sickly child. "Take her to medical." They did.
"Is that everypony?" Twilight asked, making her way back towards the open door. Wind rushed outside, and the sound of gunfire had become quite regular. The cops were trying to shoot them down.
There was a loud bang and a flash, and suddenly Harley and Jacob appeared beside her. Harley wilted immediately from the strain, though Jacob caught her. "The rest won't come!" he called, urgent. "We were the last."
"Ponies didn't come?" Twilight shook her head in frustration, then gestured sharply. The doors began to close. "Thunderlane, get us out." She looked around the helicopter, at the flurry of activity, the absence of injured, and so many full seats. "Let's not stick around for them to take away our victory."