Chapter 26
It was a good thing for everyone that Ocellus had seen the capabilities of humans and warned her friends—otherwise, she was sure that at least one of them would’ve reacted violently to the “tests” the humans had in mind. What she’d imagined as some questions and maybe an essay actually involved more of what she’d done when she impersonated Marie—lots of moving from machine to machine, along with a few long metal needles to take some of her blood and more of her dignity.
All the while there were humans in those stupid suits, their voices sounding ridiculous and their expressions constantly afraid of everything she did. She probably would’ve thought it was hilarious, if she was together with her friends to laugh about it.
But they weren’t together. Even the humans were taken away to their own rooms. What things were like for them, she didn’t know, but she imagined there might be a shout from down the hall at any moment, as Smolder or maybe Gallus could take no more and broke out. It was a true testament to how much they’d grown since arriving in Equestria that nothing violent happened.
Ocellus could obey easier than maybe any other creature in the group, thanks to living so long under Chrysalis. She went where they told her, changed when they told her, and didn’t argue.
Eventually, they finished. She could sense it before they actually finished, from the satisfaction and pride she felt from the doctors. “That’s everything, miss Ocellus. Thank you for being such a good patient.”
“You’re welcome,” she responded, rising from the scanner and shaking herself out. They had wanted her to be her natural self for most of the test, and that hadn’t been too hard. At least they didn’t want her to show off too much of her magic. “Can I see my friends now?”
“Yes,” the doctor responded. “The others should all be together already. You were the subject we needed to learn the most about, since you were the one who changed that girl.”
She followed the doctor to the door, biting back her giggles at the way he waddled in his inflatable suit. “Do you really think you’ll have to keep dressing like that? The other humans were around us, and they’re fine.”
“Probably not for much longer,” his assistant said from behind them. “Some of the tests take 72 hours to get results back. We’ll probably stay in biohazard until then.”
Glad they didn’t make us dress like that. Her friends had become far more patient since attending the friendship school, but they had their limits. If Smolder had to wear a suit like that, she would melt it off in hours.
The doctors were right about one thing, though—her friends were already together waiting for her.
Like all the rooms Ocellus had been in, this large space had the look of somewhere that had been used to store vehicles. The ground was made of the featureless flat rock that humans used in so much of their construction. The ceiling was high enough that even the tallest pony would’ve stood nowhere near it, yet there wasn’t a single window to be seen.
There were a few human tables and chairs off in one corner, along with three little folding bunks. Probably meant for the humans to sleep on. For her friends, there was mostly just empty space, though at least their hosts had provided them with huge piles of bedding.
They had separated into two groups—Marie and her friends sitting at one of the tables, playing with some unidentifiable human device between them. They looked unhurt from their half of the tests, which was more than she could say for her friends.
The other five looked like they were a few steps away from rioting, with each one looking a different kind of frustrated or annoyed. They haven’t slept, we barely ate, and that was hours getting marched around like we’re exhibits on display.
The instant they saw her, she could feel her friends attention on her. Their usual acceptance and trust in her had worn down to a razor thin line. What happens if I lose control of them in here?
Ocellus hurried over to her friends, fast enough that she got nervous looks from the doctor escorting her. But she didn’t much care what that human thought anymore. She needed to stop this from getting bloody.
“I don’t know how much longer you expect us to sit here,” Gallus said, almost the instant she was in the circle. “That was worse than when Grampa Gruff made me preen every bird in the clutch by myself. Ugh…” He winced, glancing to his wings. Ocellus didn’t need magical senses to see that some feathers were missing.
The signs of their harsh examination were everywhere. The human doctors had been methodical with their exam, even shaving away coat to get at the skin of her friends who had it. Only Smolder lacked any new injuries from her encounter. Guess they couldn’t get through dragon scales.
“First…” Ocellus kept her voice as low as she could, not that she expected it to matter. “Just cuz their ears are small doesn’t mean they aren’t listening. Don’t say anything you don’t want them to overhear.”
Whatever Gallus had been about to say choked off in his throat, and instead he only scraped at the stone floor with a claw, looking frustrated.
“I don’t care what they overhear,” Smolder said. “This is like a prison, Ocellus. How far are you willing to go not to fight with them?”
If we were going to fight our way out, we probably should’ve done it before now. Everything they’d done to cooperate with humans had probably put them further into their power. Ocellus’s memory was much better than a pony’s, but even still she wasn’t sure she could remember the maze of corridors and locked doors they had navigated to get here. It was like the changeling hive, though it managed to be just as confusing without any magic paths.
Unlike Smolder, Ocellus did care what the humans overheard. The more of their group they thought were united against them, the less likely they were to cooperate nonviolently.
“I think…” She hesitated. “We give them tonight. Tomorrow, we should ask… to be able to talk to Equestria. As a show of good faith.” It was a weak argument, Ocellus knew. But maybe--
“I don’t think they’ll let us out of this place,” Gallus muttered. “Seems like they worked pretty hard to get us locked in here. If they took us out to see Princess Twilight, they might not get us back.”
“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” Ocellus answered, without needing to think about it. “Humans have machines that let them talk really quickly. They’re called ‘phones’ and I think they might be like their cutie marks? Except they break, and they need to get new ones… Okay, maybe I don’t understand it all the way. But they worked for me too, so there’s no magic involved. They could give one to somepony, and… they could talk.”
“I guess so.” Smolder sounded unhappy. “I wish we’d asked for rescue when we had the chance. We could’ve brought them too.” She nodded towards the three children on the other side of the room. “They’re getting it as bad as we are. We wouldn’t lock them up in a dungeon if they came to the Dragonlands.”
“I don’t know what it says about them…” Silverstream added. “That they’ll even lock up their own kind in a dungeon. Not just the creatures from far away.”
It’s a good thing you didn’t read the books I did, Silverstream, Ocellus thought.
But whatever they might’ve planned next was silenced as Smolder began to cough and splutter. It wasn’t just Ocellus’s attention that had been captured—the human “guards” in their inflatable suits were watching in concern. One of them had lifted their hand to the strange weapon on the strap at their side.
“Stop it!” one of them called, utterly unhelpfully.
Smolder couldn’t stop it—she coughed and spat and the stream of Dragonfire filled the air in front of her. It was a good thing none of those thin suits were nearby, or she surely would’ve melted through them. But with nothing nearby, there was nothing for her to hurt. They all knew how to get out of the way.
A scroll dropped down into her claw, sealed with Twilight’s cutie mark.
“Oi, don’t touch that!” called one of the guards. “You back away!”
That, it seemed, was one straw too far. While Smolder completely ignored them, Gallus stood up straight, blocking the path towards Smolder.
“That’s not your mail, it’s ours,” he called. “What’s it say?”
Both guards took their weapons firmly in hand. One of them turned slightly to one side. They were saying something into their suit, though it wasn’t repeating their words towards them.
He’s probably calling for help. There’s a phone in there.
Smolder unrolled the scroll, then started to read. It was a brief note, so it didn’t take long. There was no return scroll this time, just the enchanted paper it had come in, the spell already worn out.
“‘My faithful students,
I’m relieved to hear you’re well. I’ve passed your advice to Celestia and Luna, who have already met with the creatures called Humans. A peaceful future seems possible, though I’m told the first meeting was tense.
We’ve made sure not to mention you, in the hopes that you can remain hidden until we can retrieve you.
My contributions to disaster relief are nearly complete. My friends and I…’” She stopped reading. “I don’t think I should read this. Everyone, look.”
They all crowded around, except Gallus. Ocellus moved in to see, even though she could sense more humans rushing towards them from all sides. It hadn’t taken them very much to get afraid.
Twilight’s writing continued. “...are preparing for a mission to retrieve you tomorrow at dawn, as soon as I can recover enough for a long-range teleport spell. Be prepared to leave with sunrise.”
Ocellus’s breath caught in her chest, as she imagined what it would be like tomorrow morning, when Twilight Sparkle appeared down here in this tight dungeon, oblivious to the dangers and the fear it would cause.
They’re already terrified of us. What will it do if they figure out that we have ponies like Twilight who can appear anywhere in the world at any time?
She didn’t know for sure if the Alicorn would be able to teleport to them down here, but she doubted the humans had any way of preventing it. She had sensed no magical defenses.
Doors on three sides of the room banged open at the same time, and a dozen puffy inflatable humans rushed in, each of them holding weapons. They screamed and yelled in unison, voices echoing through the facility. “Everyone on the ground, right now!”
Smolder hesitated, just for a second. Long enough to blow out a thick gout of flame onto the scroll. It crumbled to ash, raining down in a little gray cloud in front of her. Then, grinning smugly every second, Smolder said, “Do it. We don’t need to be afraid anymore.”
They dropped. The poor humans in their corner looked as though they might’ve peed themselves, fallen flat on the ground and covering their heads in desperation.
Only when they were all down did another figure stride in—Commander Blackburn, wearing the same suit as everyone else and also not holding a gun. He walked in briskly, though the face inside his suit had more fuzz on one side than the other. His eyes were a little bloodshot, and his annoyance was thick in the air.
“I rather thought we were getting along better than this,” he said, stopping well out of reach but closer than any of the others. “This is precisely the sort of situation I was hoping most to avoid.”
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Uh oh. The humans obviously don't really get that they're dealing with children, or at best teenagers, who are liable to be restless and irritated if you make them go through a bunch of painful activities with no explanation or reward at the end...and what's making it worse is that the Equestrians don't have the same knowledge base as Earth, so they understand what's going on even less than a kid does.
Hopefully Ocellus or one of the human kids manages to make this clear to Commander Blackburn and they can work something out. They need a TV or a computer or something to play with...
Hopefully twilight can actually figure out that they’re in a government facility, and realised that bringing them back will only cause more harm than good. But if it’s like I think it is, she will teleport straight to them because that is what her spell will do. I doubt it has an inbuilt warning saying “caution, you are about to teleport into a top secret government facility, are you sure you want to continue?”
I will admit, with a point to my last post, they really need a diplomat on site ASAP. With tensions running high, if someone gets trigger happy, there needs to be someone to remind everyone that the student six are guests and not prisoners or experiments. And while we don't have laws on the books protecting intelligent aliens, the events in this chapter show that the very least they can contact and are known to be out and about by others.
What situation, teenagers getting mail? If they don't stop thinking that their guests are alien monsters and begin to see them as cooped in children in a foreign nation things are going to get ugly.
9501758
Agreed. We're moving a little too much into "thriller" territory here, with the at-best morally ambiguous military organization is operating secret labs or performing in morally dubious ways that at best come off as right on the line of evil.
Where's a diplomat? For that matter, where's simply talking to the student six? We're getting information on them being poked and prodded like mindless animals, but there's no mention of anyone opening dialogue of any kind with them, which is a colossal (and at this point, seemingly deliberate) omission. And being left under armed guard with no one to talk to? Not even a TV or form of entertainment?
Yeah. Thriller or cheap Sci-Fi dubious military here. Or a bunch of incompetents. While it makes for good drama on TV, it's not at all how any real-world first-contact scenario from any reputable government goes save maybe North Korea. There should have been an assigned representative at every step of the process talking to these characters, befriending them. asking what they needed, wanted, if anything made them feel uncomfortable, etc. This has more slid into the "humans are bastards" trope of Sci-Fi drama, even with the case of a kid being converted somehow.
9501779
It is not really a secret lab they are in quarantine due to the possible disease that could be unleashed.
Also it is pretty bad that it is the twilight coming because she stinks at making friendships with other races.
And did she say her and her friends are coming?
If so then prepare for rainbow dash to start a war.
Also of course the guards are nervous they are guarding what is basicly a biological weapon. Teeth strong enought to crush diamonds and fire breath for range.
I do hope Blackburn is referring to the situation of a bunch of panicky meatheads calling him in over something harmless. Though clandestine correspondence that they burn after reading isn't exactly the most reassuring development from the military's perspective. That said, I have to agree with some of the comments; there's been more than enough time for them to bring in someone with diplomatic training and sufficient security clearance, unless they're all tied up with Equestria at large. We're edging towards the E.T. side of fictional armed forces portrayals.
Okay, the retardation is back in full force.
This entire base is staffed with panicky morons and military incompetents who were rejected as being the antagonists in an 80's kids movie for being too needlessly authoritarian and beyond clueless.
Where are the diplomats? Where are the xenologists? Where is anyone who shows the slightest sympathy for a group of intelligent co-operating aliens who are your first point of contact with a new society?
This is Britain, and we do things by the rules no matter how much extra trouble it makes for us. And that means we even treat criminals with care, let alone a group of intelligent allien children whose only crime seems to be that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
As soon as any of this leaks, and it will leak, Commander Blackburn's career is over, and so is the career of anyone associated with this clusterbuck. The tabloids will have a field day.
"Alien children held in garage, experimented on like lab rats!'
'Close Encounters of the mailed fist kind!'
'ET phones home by dragonfire. "Get us out of Here!"'
9501854
Oi! I’m American and I hate what Trump is doing, with putting kids in cages! I think that families and sentient alien species should be held humanely!
9501872 Yeah, that's why I modified my post. Though if a British Prime Minister had pulled off half the crap Trump has, he or she would be facing calls to resign.
Uh oh. I smell trouble
9501890
Didn’t see the revision when I made my comment, but that is true. When this clusterbuck gets into the public’s knowledge, someone be lookin at being fired!
9501854
Yeah, the astounding levels of cartoonish incompetence and tone-deafness displayed by the human authorities are becoming pretty groan-worthy to watch. Everyone involved in this ongoing diplomatic clusterfuck deserves to be either sacked or reassigned to a military base in Antarctica that's been freshly constructed for no other purpose than to make them rethink their life choices and as a warning to others. There better be heads rolling before this is done.
Here's hoping people like these (if such idiots actually exist) aren't allowed anywhere near a first contact or any position of authority when/if Earth actually makes contact with aliens, because they probably represent a greater danger to humanity than any actual alien and would be responsible for us getting invaded in the first place.
Can we please just stop with the artificial drama? I was okay with it up until now, but this is just getting ridiculous.
YOU CAN TALK. THEY CAN TALK. SO TALK!!! Ask questions! Treat each other like fellow sophonts! You want information, they have information, so just. FREAKING. TALK!!!
What's up with all the bias? The entire sorry mess started with Smolder being a violent brat and I don't mean this chapter but the actual start of the story. if she didn't start things off with violence, it wouldn't have come to this.
Nothing good. The humans have thus far have been trying to be accommodating as far as procedure and the unexpectedness of the circumstances would permit, and have worked to keep relations good where they can, but they're still a bit skittish around their guests. The rest of the Young Six need to be able to return the favor then, or else the humans will likely "react accordingly."
Well, that's telling. But then again, the dragons do seem to be a rather laissez-faire sort of group on a whole...they probably wouldn't care or stop to think about the same sort of concerns the humans have.
Ooh dear, Twilight's plan fills me with lots of worry. Viewing it from Twilight's perspective, it makes total sense why she's pursuing it--she doesn't know the Young Six have already been found and are in custody, and given how human-Equestrian relations are starting off on a shaky start, getting them out of there in such a way so that the humans never have to know they were there would be good on the diplomacy front. Unfortunately, circumstances have changed, and Twilight doesn't seem to have left them with a means of alerting her as such.
Even more worrying is the fact that the humans haven't seem to have seen fit to notify Equestria that they have the Young Six yet, and I worry Gallus's fears (and in turn my own biggest lingering fear in all of this) might still come to light, and the humans intend to just exploit the fact Equestria doesn't know they have the Young Six to keep them around for themselves--presumably for study.
I'd like to think better of the humans, though. So I continue to hope I will still be able to do so proceeding forward. But I admit this coming to light does...strain...it a little.
He had better mean that in the sense he wants good relations between all parties and no fighting or subterfuge, or I'm going to be immensely disappointed.
9501854
For once, I gotta agree with you fully on this. Up until now, there was plenty of room to doubt the humans had any real nefarious intent and were just going by the book--or at least hadn't been given any solid proof for me to believe otherwise--but this chapter has started to raise a whole bunch of little red flags I had been hoping to story would avoid and not go the frankly cliche route. I don't need this to turn into "Message in a Bottle" 2.0, because while I liked that fic for what it was, it had a very different tone from this fic from the start that I don't think suits this fic, or that it needs it.
9501890
Oh, Trump's had calls to resign, he and his supporters just choose to ignore them, leading to such calls getting not enough traction to be especially effective as of yet. By this point, a lot of people have just sort of conceded to this and resorted to damage control tactics where possible. Speaking as an American, it's getting real frustrating, especially considering some of the things it's allowed Trump, or people like him, to get away with that they really shouldn't.
I thought there were two things that crew has to be really careful of with the Student 6.
They know Smolder is a dragon.
They know Ocellus can turn into Anything, like a Dragon.
Do they know that Dragon teeth and claws can rip straight through the construction materials used and if gooped up can burn it off just as easily?
That, and concrete and rebar doesnt do that well in fluid lava temperatures.
As for the dragonlands, its very easy for dragons to keep control there, because theres always a bigger dragon that can eat you.
9501854
Gotta agree here, it's time to an even higher up to walk in and chill the willies of the rustled bunch of soldiers really, We would really need some deus ex common sense machina.
Cooperative Ocellus is cooperative.
Stop what, involuntarily coughing?
Equestria having kept the missing kids a secret is not going to help future diplomacy given that they didn't manage to stay a secret. Of course, Britain not revealing that they had them in custody is also not helpful.
Hopefully these trigger-happy morons don't just immediately shoot Twilight if and when she shows up the next morning.
Is General Ripper there mad at the students or at his security forces?
9501740 9501779 9501834 9501854 9501919 9502015
These assessments are all very fair, but if I may, I'd like to ask for everyone to hang on just a little longer.
What we have here is almost a mirrored copy of what happened in Starscribe's Message in a Bottle, except that it's the humans looking grossly incompetent in a first contact situation instead of the Equestrians.
In the other story, the comment section was up in arms about it as well, and it turned out that there was a plot-relevant reason for Moondancer's behaviour other than incompetence. And it was quite the doozy, I might add.
The same might apply to Commander Blackburn over here. Starscribe's a good writer, and I'm hoping that this is more a case of readers mistrusting the author (exacerbated by unreliable narrators) rather than sheer plot contrivance.
9502891
I hope that's the case. I just really hate when characters fail to be rational. And I don't like being angry.
I'm waiting for the part where Ocellus realises the logistics of themselves appearing on a completely new world. It's not like going to Klugetown and finding new races.
I find that those government guys really overreacted, they act as if they were all trying to rig a bomb or attempt an escape from a maximum security prison or something.
9502015
PLEASE!?
Yes, but not from lack of trying...
I noticed the letter wasn't finished yet. Hopefully there wasn't any other critical part of information they had missed; for example setting up some sort of beacon or something.
That's not good. Not good at all!
9502891
I dunno if purposefully writing a situation that seems really dumb and then handwaving the dumbness away with a mad twist out of nowhere is that much better. Foreshadowing is a thing. It's possible to hint that things aren't as they appear without revealing them outright.
9502978
They are in a maximum security quarantine.
They are, in fact, intending to leave by teleporting out with Twilight.
The next chapter will be decisive: either Ocellus will continue being the rational one and (try to) defuse the situation by informing the good colonel to expect peaceful visitors by sunrise or she will keep silent about it and carry the weight of responsibility for all the ensuing bloodshed.
It can be argued that the rest of the gang are not responsible as they are too immature to realise the risks but Ocellus has no such excuse.
9502137
Ditto.
OTOH, if it does mean that Commander Blackburn is a dick--then---
Next Chapter:
9504040
I agree foreshadowing is important As long as The author planned for it I had of time p