Chapter 22
There was limited space on the scroll, and Ocellus concentrated with all her magic, writing as tiny and neatly as she could.
“Dear Princess Twilight,
We’re writing to you not because we’re in immediate danger, but because we believe Equestria is. It’s possible you have already made contact with the humans and we’re wasting the scroll. If so, we’re sorry.
Earth is not like Equestria. You can already see how small Equestria is compared to Earth continents. That space isn’t empty—there are billions of humans living here. They may look small, but they’re smart and extremely dangerous. Don’t take their lack of physical strength or magic to mean Equestria should use its magic against them.
I’ve read about their wars. We’re already beginning at a disadvantage with the damage our arrival here caused. If you’re not careful, you could give them an excuse to invade Equestria.
We will not win. Do everything you can to prevent a war from starting. They have thousands of years of practice killing each other, and they’ll use it on you if you’re not careful.
We found a group of friendly humans who have been helping. I think we’re hidden for now, don’t worry about us.
-Your students”
There was more she wanted to say, but if she wrote any tighter, her words would’ve started blurring together, confusing the meaning.
“You’re… completely sure about this?” Smolder asked, taking the scroll and holding it in one of her claws. Her eyes were on Marie on the other side of the room, talking to her friends. “Your letter sounds like it’s about… the most dangerous creatures ever. I’ve heard ponies talk like that… about dragons.”
“Positive,” Ocellus said. “I’ve been around them. I spent most of yesterday reading their books. Not all of it made sense to me, but enough did. They had…” She shivered, lowering her voice. “Pictures. There was proof right in the book. They weren’t even trying to hide it.”
“So freaking out like this… was all because you read one book?”
“No…” Ocellus whined, walking over to the other side of the room where she’d changed. She lifted up the phone from where it had fallen, unaffected by her transformation. She walked it back, holding it between her friends.
“Look at this. This is what the humans are doing.”
“First sign of life emerges from new continent as ships may be approaching the blockade.”
“Alright Ocellus,” Sandbar said. “I can see how sure you are. But if anything goes wrong… this isn’t what we’ve seen from our human. Marie isn’t dangerous. Was she dangerous, Gallus?”
“No,” he said, after a second’s consideration. “She’s a bit awkward. Delicate, even. You should’ve heard how afraid she was in the air.”
“See?” Smolder held up the scroll, then exhaled.
The scroll vanished in a flash of dragonfire, and with it Ocellus felt a wave of relief. The danger to Equestria was certainly not gone just because she’d written a little on a scroll and given Twilight some suggestions. But at least this way, if anything bad happened, she wouldn’t have to live the rest of her life destroyed with guilt over failing to act.
“Fine,” Ocellus muttered. “If I’m wrong, it’s me who’s wrong. But I won’t be, trust me. This is like Cozy Glow, but a hundred times worse. They’re not hiding what they are, they’re just… they’ve made this world dangerous. Equestria needs to understand those dangers.”
Almost the moment she said it, there was knocking on the door. Four bangs sounded in swift succession, so hard that the whole house seemed to shake. The humans in front of it backed up, Marie lifting her wings and squeaking in fear.
“Back of the house.” Ocellus pointed to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. “Be ready to…” to what? She didn’t even know how to finish the sentence.
That wasn’t Helen’s driver at the door, she was sure of that.
Her mind raced. What kind of spell can we use? Should we fight? What can we do?
“Security service!” came a loud voice from the other side of the door. “Open this, or we’ll open it ourselves. Right now!”
There was no basement, no secret tunnel, no nothing. Ocellus’s instincts demanded that she flee—maybe hide under something as a mouse until the danger was past. But she wouldn’t abandon her friends, she couldn’t.
“Okay, Ocellus,” Smolder said, hurrying back with the others. “But if you fight, we’ll fight too. You know we will.”
Ocellus reached the door, then pointed backward. “Marie, you too. Run.” It might not do any good. But maybe… maybe the three of them… Ocellus herself changed back into the copy of Marie as rapidly as she could, so quickly that she didn’t even have to concentrate much.
She waited until Marie was out of sight, before stepping forward and opening the door.
She instantly recognized the men standing there—Agents Smith and Hayes, the ones who had taken them away from the forest. There was a flicker of motion from the trees around them, and Ocellus’s eyes widened. There were only two humans visible here, but she could sense many more. The house was surrounded on all sides. The humans were keeping their distance for now, but for how long?
“Hello there, Marie,” said Mr. Smith, smiling as though this meeting had been scheduled all along. “Bit of a long way from home, ‘ent ya? Bet your mother is worried sick.”
Without any signal to them, the humans moved in, blocking the entrance. It was three of them against two taller, stronger, presumably armed humans. Just as before, neither of them had visible weapons she could see.
“I’m afraid we have to come inside,” Smith said, taking one step towards her. Maybe he expected Ocellus to be intimidated and retreat—but she didn’t move. He’d have to knock her right over to get in.
“I don’t know how much the three of you know, or how much you think you know… but right now the safety of the global community might depend on what’s inside this house.” Hayes stepped up beside his partner, resting one hand on the inside of the doorframe. There would be no shutting them out anymore.
And it won’t make a difference. How did they find us here? Ocellus remembered the brief flash of emotion she’d felt as she neared the building. What she’d assumed to be a message from home clearly wasn’t, though it wasn’t as though they could’ve done anything then.
Except warn Twilight that we’re in danger. We could’ve got a rescue. A rescue they now desperately needed. How long does it take to get a scroll, anyway? But she couldn’t even hope for that, because she had just said that they thought they were hidden and wouldn’t need help.
“Don’t try to escape,” Ocellus sent into the backroom, counting on Marie to repeat it for her. “The forest around this house is full of them. I don’t know what they’ll do if you run, but I can feel their fear.”
“I feel them too,” Marie responded, without further argument.
“What happened to me bloody housekeeper?” Helen asked, gesturing at the car. “Nobody’s in there no more. Did ‘ya hurt her?”
“Of course not,” Smith answered, folding his arms. “But this house is dangerous, and we’ve helped her get away. We will help you too, once we have an honest conversation. Not like the stories you spun earlier. Can you do honest?”
“What makes you think we—” But Ocellus cut David off with her arm.
They only had two choices left. Either fight their way out, or tell the truth. Even if we win this fight with our magic, we won’t win the next one. Time to follow my own advice.
“Can you promise me you won’t hurt anyone in the house?” Ocellus asked. She stuck out her hand—the symbol she now knew meant something to the humans. Of course she was no unicorn to cast a Geis on them—but she knew a lie when she heard one.
“During our conversation,” Hayes said. “I can see you’re all quite grown up. So we’ll have a grown-up talk. What happens after that depends on what you tell us.” He went for her hand, but Ocellus pulled back.
“First I want you to tell the soldiers sneaking all around us not to barge in while we’re talking.”
A flash of panic and confusion passed between the two agents, but it didn’t last long. Discipline quickly reasserted itself, and Mr. Smith lifted his hand to one side, as if scratching at an ear. “There.”
He wasn’t lying to her, though an undercurrent of scheming and calculation was now passing between them.
Nothing we can do about it. Just have to try to make our case before this turns into a fight. “Then… come inside,” Ocellus said, moving out of the way.
The agents stepped in, eyes taking in the details of the kitchen in quick, discerning sweeps. They saw the breakfast cooking, the damaged floor and tables, and probably the smell as well from their expressions.
It’s not my friends’ faults human showers are too small!
One thing they didn’t do was shut the door, leaving the chill outside to follow them in.
“You sure about this?” David asked her, reaching over and taking her hand. “They came in without a police backup. I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to be.”
“Nothin’ fer it, mate,” Helen whispered back. “Fairy girl wants to spill. Probably we should. Cooperate… maybe we don’t go to prison, ya’ know?”
“Like you’d go,” David shot back. “Rich girl wouldn’t even get a slap on the wrist.”
Ocellus ignored them both, following the agents inside. They didn’t seem as interested in talking so much as investigating the place, eyes scanning the destroyed living room, torn up couch, and the discarded remnants of Smolder’s hunting from the night before out the back garden window.
But the bedroom hallway had a door, and it was clearly locked from the annoyed expression on Smith’s face as he stepped away from it.
“Ask your questions,” Ocellus said, hopping up on the kitchen cupboard and folding her arms. David walked past her, gently pulling blinds closed. “It’s me you want, not these two. Helen and David just found us. I’m one of the creatures you’re hunting.”
They don’t like it when he does that. Probably a good reason for him to keep going.
Agent Hayes pulled over a chair, but he didn’t sit on it. Just put it between himself and Ocellus. A makeshift weapon. “Your accent… you’re American? Marie isn’t American—her records are legitimate. She was born in Brighton. Have you done something with her?”
“I haven’t hurt her,” Ocellus lied. “She is in the bedroom, there. Along with my friends.”
“I would really like to see her,” Hayes said. “And to know what you’ve done to look so much like her.”
“After,” Ocellus said. “There are other things you need to know, things that are more important.”
Helen pulled over one of the other kitchen chairs. She set out her phone on the table, its screen on. Ocellus didn’t see what she was doing, but she didn’t really look.
“You’ve misunderstood who we are if you think there’s anything more important to us than the lives of the people of this country,” Mr. Smith said. His voice was flat, yet behind a neutral tone was anger so intense Ocellus almost hid her face with her hand. “We want to see the girl.”
Ocellus nodded. The longer she sat here, the more she wished her friends were here to help. She belonged at the back of the crowd, not facing down the angry humans who might start a war at any second. “I will call her out,” Ocellus said. “But if you’re going to see her, you should meet my friends too. You have to promise not to shoot them. We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to keep talking, okay? That’s all.”
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Ocellus has the cause and effect backwards. We didn't make this world dangerous. It made us dangerous. Then we kind of took it too far.
Still, at least Twilight has some very useful intel.
In any case, this promises to be a very interesting first contact scenario indeed. Especially if Marie still can't disguise herself.
need longer chapters...
cliff hanger!!!
I wonder how will the agents react to a bunch of mystical giants telling them that they, the mystical giants, have plenty of reasons to be pants shitting terrified of the little naked ape things. Or that their country has no idea how they got there, that they also are trying to save their civilians, that they are immensely less powerful than any of the neighboring human nations.
Or that she turned the little human girl into a hybrid abomination to save her life
Agents were a lot safer before they decided they wanted to go face to face with a pair of with only light training would be Ghosts.
Trouble is, will enthusiastic nieve Twilight come porting in right into the reaction kill zone?
9452303
Considering changelings are pretty much shapeshifting emotional vampires, the fact they can convert humans into more of them isn't gonna help building trust.
This might be a real good time for Marie to figure out how to shape change.
This will either go very well or very poorly, and I can't decide which I'm hoping for.
Things are about to escalate; one way or another.
Hopefully in a good way, for all of them.
Welp... She sent that letter a few minutes too early.
Neat. I expected them to be the stereotypical evil government agents. The conflict in the story being because of tragic misunderstandings between well-intentioned individuals is a refreshing change of pace from the usual stories.
Well, I'm quite sure he already knew he'd find her there.
Ohhhh, and they already have a good idea of what else they're going to find here too. Joy.
Actually, now that I think about it, that probably suggests they did find something in their examination of Ocellus, they just chose to play along, maybe to see what would happen.
...I wonder if they managed to detect Ocellus's hive mind connection with Marie, and that "pulse" (for lack of a better term) was one of them trying to see if they could tap into it...
In Ocellus's defense, it's not like it was that hard to guess there were more lurking around, even without the ability to sense their presence.
In fact, I'd say Ocellus is handling this very well, all things considered. She's being super cautious, yes, but very level-headed and calm. She understands the danger, but also understands it didn't need to come to a fight.
It's more these agents I'm worried about...I fear they may have already made the wrong assumptions, and if so, that could bias their view of all this...hopefully with the Young Six cooperating and answering their questions, they can help settle those fears.
She recording this?
9452231
Eh, the end result of her deductions is still the same, though--that there is reason to be cautious and tread lightly around the humans and to try not do anything that might set them off.
Yes, of course. What highly trained agents! When dealing with a complete unknown, you should of course do everything to make sure you are as threatening as possible. After all, if your targets are hiding away from you, having been shot at and hunted relentlessly, you need to up the ante as much as possible. Maybe you can make them think it's hopeless to negotiate, that all humans are utterly xenophobic and instantly hostile, and force them into either attacking in desperation or killing themselves to escape being tortured and dissected while still allive.
At which point, the beings from the unknown continent they presumably came from will get hacked off. All you know about this continent is that it was somehow moved to Earth, a feat no human technology could duplicate. So for all you know, the powers that be on that continent may respond by waving a magic wand and destroying a city. So well done there. When dealing with a complete unknown you could try and muster some shred of diplomacy.
I would love to believe that these agents will now sit down with the student six, find out that they're here by accident and that they have no idea how Equestria ended up here, and that there was no harm intended, and indeed if they approach Equestria and open negotiations, they will more than likely have all the magical help that Equestria can spare to help restore things. Cue a future where Equestrian magic and human technology working together improves things for both species...
However, given the way everyone in this fic has acted up to now, I very much doubt it. They will take one look at Marie, and automatically jump to the worst possible conclusion. Because that's how things work in this universe.
Hoo boy.
I gotta admit, Ocellus is being pretty strategic here. Hope she doesn't mess it up.
Mark my words, I'll be back Feb 18, 10:00 AM EST for my weekly fix! LET'S GOOOOOO STARSCRIBE!
Surely this will turn out fine and with no misunderstandings.
Right...?
Please god tell me you are not letting the pegasis affect earth clouds or at least let is cause problems because ponies do not really understand whether.
I see equestria as a dead world that the ponies are keeping going through life support.
9453001
They're nowhere near as bad as you're painting them. They came inside without their weapons drawn and are talking. They became more forceful when Ocellus tried deflecting after the agent asked to see Marie, but that could sound pretty bad to someone who's probably trained to deal with hostage situations. Even then, the agent controlled his external reactions and Ocellus only detected the threat thanks to her emotion sense.
9458371
I have less than 5M. What do I win?
I really hope the reactions to what happened to Marie aren't to bad but if they allow Ocellus to explain herself thet won't respond with violence but it won't make them less suspicious.