“Action poses!” I call out, laughing.

All of the pegasi drop into different Rainbow Dash, Blaze or Spitfire style action poses, laughing hard they all show bright smiles as I take the picture.

Holding the camera in my magical aura, I bound around and crouch in a challenge pose beside Henry. Lighting his own horn, Henry poses rearing up a bit, so I can take a couple of pictures like that. Magic helps with selfies.

Finally I get a few group shots of all of us. They will be turning back to humans sometime tonight, so they won’t be able to risk flying. I’m not sure how fast the change will happen, if there will be any warning, or exactly when the spell will run out, so it is best for them to be grounded.

I’m still on light duties. That means no big spells, no lifting heavy objects with TK. No heavy running or PT for the next few days still. I don’t like it, I’m starting to feel lazy or like I’m not part of the squad.

This doesn’t stop them from being boys… They take to the soccer field, playing three on three with a soccer ball. No wings, or magic, allowed. It is like watching a train wreck, you want to look away but you can’t. The rules seem to not be clear, hip checks and body checks seem to be allowed. They would dribble the ball with their forelegs but do bucking kicks for kickoffs or such.

More than a few times collisions end in a mangle of legs in the air. There is such an energy all around that even the foals can feel it. It is almost magical, like the magic of joy is coming alive in the area. I am acting as referee for all that that means, we don’t have rules for me to enforce.

Sugarberry is at work, Ah-Pee has been given an early morning flight back to her farm. That leaves me watching over the foals. They are cheering away and rooting for different sides, or even the individual players. It doesn’t matter who is winning, just who has the ball.

This is doing so much more for me, helping me rebuild my energy, than just sitting around. I’m not sure why, but it must be something about ponies. Get enough ponies together, give them something fun to do and feel the magic fill you. Another collision, followed by twelve legs in the air and pure laughter.

There is a certain liberation about this. There is no worrying about what people think. There is no color or clan. We are all just us, having fun, the fact that we are ponies doesn’t matter to anyone here.

Sitting down, I look down at Feather, “So are you having fun?”

“Yes mom, think we could get soccer cutie marks?” She asks, looking up.

“Maybe if soccer is your special talent.” I look around at all three of the kids, “Okay, gather around.”

Feather sits between Cotton Candy and Cotton Cloud, as all three look up at me with wide eyes.

“In all ponies there is magic, earth, unicorn and pegasus. Our special talents are partly a manifestation of that magic. It’s what makes each of us special in our own way. A special talent isn’t something you quest for, it’s not something you try random things to get. Instead it is part of who you are from birth.”

Giving each of them a nuzzle, “Blaze, he is a speedster, he likes flying fast and hard. He can also be competitive that way, but that also brings out that nature in others. When he trains young flyers he instills that competitiveness in them to better themselves.”

“So we should try being competitive?” Candy asks, tilting his head.

“Nope, that’s part of Blaze. What you need is to figure out who you are, what you like. A special talent doesn’t define you, but is part of who you are. It’s hard to understand, in some ways it’s like destiny but a destiny of our choosing.”

Feather tilts her head, “So if I really, really, like singing, but I’m not good at it, I could still get a cutie mark in singing?”

“Nope, not likely, but at the same time, not having a cutie mark in singing doesn’t mean you can’t sing.” I say bopping her nose with my hoof gently.

“You just have to realize, your cutie mark will never be something you don’t enjoy doing. Nor will it be something you’re not good at.” Smiling, I nuzzle all three foals.

Cloudy tilts her head, “What if your special talent is something like magic, but you never use magic? Or if its flying, but your wing was crippled before you learned to fly, does that mean you’ll never get a cute mark?”

Feather quickly looked back at her wings then starts crying, “What if I never get my mark because of what they did to me?”

Cloudy instantly regrets her question, she starts crying too, nuzzling Feather.

“Oh Feather, I’m not sure that’s how it works. If that were the case it might take you a little longer but with help you’d still find a way to show your love, to realize your love, and get your mark. You might find flight through airships or balloons. Your innate pegasi senses and cutie mark would help guide you through air currents to find the best paths to go wherever you want.”

Hugging all three of them I blink, seeing Henry walk over and lay down beside Feather. Gently he nuzzles her wings, getting her to spread them. He leans down, touching his horn to her feathers. A glow slowly envelopes both her wings as his energy wraps around them. After a few moments it stops, and Henry stands up unsteadily, staggering a bit.

“Ugg Henry, lie down, magic takes energy, remember?” I say and watch him as he sits heavily.

“Feather, give it a little try now.” Henry says, smiling softly.

Spreading her wings, she starts flapping, and she gets a few feet off the ground before dropping down panting hard. With a loud squee she hugs Henry’s leg… “Oh Celestia! Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Hey, I couldn’t risk you not getting your cutie mark could I?”

Landing beside her, Blaze folds his wings tight against his sides, “You’re wings are still weak, they are going to need a lot of work before you can fly a lot though. I’ll train you, but it’s still going to take months, or longer before you’re ready for long range flights.”

“I don’t care even just being able to fly short jumps is amazing! Oh thank you.” She says not letting go of Henry’s leg.

The LT walks over and sits by us, looking at Henry and simply nods. After a moment he quietly says, “Good pony.” As if that is all that is required.

*** MTAC ***

“So it has been confirmed UN Interpreter service has been read in on the ponies. I really wish we had a better name to call them then just ponies. Any translation issues will go to them, they have a lexicon now in the works, as well as examples of pony names. The pony names are going to be the killer.” The Director of Homeland Security lets the assembled groups know.

“We don’t have a proper idea of just how many there are,” the CID director says, leaning back in his chair.

“Or how many will change before the next gate opening. Or how many will stay,” comes from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

“Round them up onto reservations might be the best option,” the Secretary of Defense suggests. “They are a risk.”

“The public would call them concentration camps, and it would be political suicide, as well as legally hanging ourselves,” Counters the CID Director. “We can’t go public, and we can’t cover it up.”

“And we can’t pretend like they don’t exist and let them commit crimes wherever they want.” The OSI director steps in.

“In some cases, self-policing might be the best call. Take a pegasus, many of them don’t know or understand flight legal rules. Just the other day we had one fly up to one of our helicopters, knock on the pilot’s side window, and ask for directions to land. It’s not like we can chase them down and issue them flight violation citations.” The director of the CGIS says with a head shake.

“How do you deal with something that can fly at 60 to 100 mph, hover, and land on a telephone pole? And that’s not including the ones that can teleport.” Homeland is just shaking his head.

“Teleport?” CGIS blinks, “Oh great, security hopes just went to zero.”

“Look, we are responding out of fear and worst case scenarios right now. True worst case scenario, some radicalized unicorn gets their hands on a baby nuke. Teleports into the Senate, the White House, a football stadium, the Olympics, wherever, and detonates. Yes that’s a worst case and no, no level of defense would stop it.” NCIS director says firmly.

There was a good amount of mumbling to that concept.

“Cooperation is our best defense right now. I’m authorizing a help line idea that was presented, 800 number for ponies to call in. We will put togeather a set of key questions for non-profit and government help lines, as well as military and collage councillors. Those questions will help the staff to direct the pony to the pony help line without really having to know the truth. We are not going to tell everyone, but we won’t cover it up. If asked by the press, take a non-policy stance.” Homeland says, nodding.

“No comment?” The CGIS director asks.

“In this case, that would be too confrontational. I’d say if the press wants to fish, let them. A response along the lines of… If they do exist, then there must be a reason they are not going public, we however are not trying to cover anything up.”

Tapping a finger the OSI Director hums, “There’s an idea that might work…”

Glancing over, the Secretary of Defense lifts an eyebrow, “What?”

“Well pony faces tend to calm situations at least in the short term. Smart phones are almost everywhere. Without going public we can set up network with the different agencies. If police, FBI or other departments have a problem, give them a Video Conference number. That way we would only need a handful of ponies to cover problems. Be it at border crossings, police standoffs, or other such issues. If a situation starts, they can call the conference call and put down the tablet, smart phone or such and let a pony mediator or interpreter work.”

“As a short term fix? We could try it, see how often the problems crop up, we might only need two or three ponies working in an on call capacity. Ok we’ll try that.” Homeland Director nods.

“Things are going to get a lot messier still, before they get better. Humans can’t seem to live with two different religious views in an area, now we are going to have two different intelligent species in one area.” NCIS director shuts down the MTAC displays.

*** Other side of the pond ***

Standing, Beth looks at the armor. The golden metal is tougher and stronger than steel. Yet it is light enough to run in. She closes her eyes, remembering running, remembering the creature chasing her, remembering the guards trying to block its way. They wore armor like that.

Was it like that? No, that wasn’t it, it isn’t gold. It is burgundy, and the chest mark isn’t a star, it is a blue circle. Closing her eyes tighter she thinks, blue eye, blue circle, blue inverted crescent moon, blue star. Why are they different?

She was pushed through a door by the guards… there was screaming, laughing. The voice, full of chaos, laughing, the eyes… calling her name…

“Beth… BETH!!!”

“GAH!” Beth jumps, turning and looking at Tommy, who is standing there, arms crossed.

“Did you want to try it on or something?” Tommy says softly, smiling at her.

“I still think we need to turn this stuff over to the government.”

“The problem is, in doing so, we’d lose this place. Besides, these things were not made for humans, they were made for unicorns. Well unicorn, and maybe pegasi.” He says, poking a wing blade.

“I thought pegasi were horse sized.” Beth says, shaking her head.

“I don’t know. It might be something like the Children of Epona.”

“Children of Who?”

“Epona. She was the Celtic and Roman goddess of horses, ponies, and mules. Some Celts also considered her the mother of the unicorns and pegasi.”

Beth blinks a few times and shakes her head, “Anime?”

“Video games.”

“Figured, had to be something like that. Anything you don’t like or watch?”

“American cartoons, never into the superhero or stupid cartoons they do.”

“Ah.” Taking a breath, she carefully starts putting on the unicorn armor. The torso armor covers her cutie mark completely, protecting her rear and hips. A hole is there for her tail though it takes her a few tries to get it through the hole properly.

Next is the hoof boots, they strap on surprisingly easily. She isn’t sure if they are for protection or extra traction though. They don’t’ seem to come up high enough to protect more than the very bottom of her legs.

Shaking her mane a few times, she put the helm on, turning to look at her brother. “Well?”

“Yep, you look like you’re ready for war. Tough, strong.”

“They included the plans for making the armor, though I can’t read the language. It’s all here though. Like someone is planning on equipping an army.”

“Well consider, we had the War of the Roses, The Crusades, and lots of wars. It could have been for any of them.”

“I know, but none of them had Unicorns and Pegasi going to battle. Unless it might have been a war for Asgard.” Beth laughs, posing for her brother.

“Nope, no unicorns in Norse mythos.”

She trots around in the armor, getting used to the feel of it on her. “Might bounce an arrow but I don’t know about bullets.” She says as she prances a bit, “I think we could use a mirror down here so I could look at things. Actually, Tommy, could you buy these things too?” Picking up a pen, she jots down a list that includes ceramic plates, as well as a few other things. Giggling softly, she looks at the armor diagrams in the book.

“You’re thinking of making one yourself?” Tommy asks as he picks up an uncut gem.

“Yeah, but the one I saw was burgundy.” Sorting through the cut stones she pulls out a lens shaped blue gem and sets it aside for the chest piece. Maybe making the armor as she remembered would help.

Taking the armor off, she carefully hangs it back on its ponykin. She doesn’t know how old it is, but it still feels like it is new. Why is she screaming, why are there other unicorns? Why did the forest grant her these memories?

Sighing, she rubs her head with her hoof. “Too many questions.”

“Don’t worry sis, I’ll be here for you.” Gently wrapping his arms around her neck, he rubs his cheek against her face. “No matter what you have to deal with.”

*** CID Briefing room ***

The Director sits on the desk at the head of the briefing room, he has the team leaders from every single CID unit in there. Even those who were on leave that could be reached had been called back in. Agents on bases around the world are conferenced in. Department heads for cybercrime, drug trafficking, war crimes investigations, and the JAG liaisons are there.

The last time a call out of this scale was done was 9/11. Sometimes, however, it takes a disaster for people to change. Change the way they think or do things. Change their policies or the way they handle situations.

“The world we live in can be dark and tragic at times. We see it in the field, we see it on T.V., and in the theaters. Crime, drugs, and abuse, are a parts of our daily business here. We see case after case of it. Then there are the darker things. The serial killers, human trafficking, the list goes on. Some act because they are sick, others because it’s the way they have been taught.”

Looking across the room, “We see people try and justify crimes by religion, by mental illness, by race. Thing are now going to get a whole lot more complicated. What you are about to hear and see isn’t classified per say. You won’t be punished for talking about it, and you may find yourself in a situation where you have to talk about it. There is no official policy as of yet from the White House. No stance to be taken. Instead we ask you simply to be mindful.”

Quietly Fleetfoot walks into the briefing room, folding and unfolding her wings. She knows if she is nervous, the next part will be worse. Looking over at the group, Fleetfoot sits on her haunches and takes a breath. “I’m real, I can speak, and I’m not a robot or a machine. My name is Captain Fleetfoot of the US Air Force.”

“Oh come on, this has got to be a trick.”

“What is this some new holographic technology?”

“AI?”

“Quiet down people.” The director calls out, holding a hand up.

Turning, she nods to the big screen once. “We’re ready, the next part is your show, girl.”

Taking a deep breath I look at the camera. Ok I’m just talking to a camera, it’s nothing special. “Hello, my name is Twilight Velvet. Today I am going to talk to you about the events that have lead up to the current world situation as of June 2020.”

“To truly understand this, you will have to realize that the Earth, as we understand it, is not alone in the multiverse. There are other realities. I won’t use the term dimensions because multidimensional physics is a different concept. Instead there are alternate universes where different laws may apply. Ponies like Fleetfoot here, and myself, are originally from one of these alternate worlds.”

Taking a breath, I calmly walk through the Five Score curse. How it started 25 years before. The transformation process and the signs and stages of the changes. “Essentially we are refugees from our home world. When we change we have no memories of our lives in Equestria usually, instead all we have to go on is the last 25 years of our human lives. We may get flashbacks, we may get visions, but this can be more confusing. It seems that our human forms are random though. They do not match our pony selves in any way. This means, once we hit 25 and the curse ends... We could turn into a baby, or an elder. We can change sex, or even find ourselves instantly pregnant. It’s a return to how we were at the moment of the curse.”

Looking down a moment, “This also may not be limited to just ponies. On our world we had dragons, intelligent deer, zebras, horses, and griffins, among others. There is a chance that any of these could have been cursed too. The kingdom that was targeted however, was mostly ponies, so the bulk of those changed have been pony.”

“What happened, started 25 years ago, but only this month was Discord defeated. That means for the next 25 years, there may be new people changing all over the world. The first days are always the most confusing. We don’t know what’s happening, or why. There are those who may want to commit suicide, those who will place their trust in family and friends only to be taken advantage of. This is the sort of thing that will need to be watched for.”

Fleetfoot stands up, taking a deep breath. “I was born in America. I still consider myself American. I serve the US Air Force. I chose to stay on Earth in honor of the oath I took to the Air Force. We were lucky for the most part. There have been many however who haven’t been so lucky.”

Standing up, the Director looks at the group. “Each of you may encounter ponies in the coming days. Some of you already have. Some are already investigating crimes relating to them. What we need you to understand is, this is fear driven. These ponies don’t understand what’s going on or why. So we are going to handle this in a different way than normal.”

“Shouldn’t Justice be the same for everyone?” One agent says with a bit of a sneer.

“Yes and no. This is where it gets tricky. Consider for a moment, we don’t handle people who we know are suffering from PTSD in the same way we handle the average criminal. And this is the same case. There are going to be a lot of actions done out of fear, especially in the first few days. And this can lead to very dangerous results.”

“Most pegasi can fly, so if we decide to run, well. I can outpace an F-22, but most simply fly up on top of a building, or under trees, we can even hover. So chasing us, especially if we jump out a window, might be tricky. Earth ponies are strong as well. A single kick from them can cripple or kill, and most just after or during the change don’t know their strength or how to control it. Unicorns have magic, this can include offensive and defensive spells, teleporting, or simply the ability to pick up and move things telekinetically. A scared or angry unicorn can lash out by accident with their magic and that effect can cover a huge area.”

“What you will need to do, is go into mediator mode, put weapons away. Ask don’t tell. Try and connect with them. Find out their story first. If they seem scared, we will be providing you with contact numbers to call. You can put them on a video conference with other ponies. By nature most ponies are communal and drawn to each other. Try not to come between them or separate them unless they are willing.”

The Director takes a deep breath. “A full briefing package will be handed to each of you. Before you judge though remember. This could still happen to anyone under the age of 25. Your family, your children, your spouse. So remember, treat any pony like you’d want your family to be treated. Because it just might be in the coming years.”

*** Velvet ***

Most of the Rangers have changed back already. Eric has gone out singing, literally. He and Ballad karaoke battled for fun before the change. Jay and Sanchez changed back while I was doing an educational video for the CID. I still don’t believe they had me do it. It was probably the most terrifying thing I’ve done.

Only The LT and Henry are left as ponies. They would likely change in the next hour or so. Fleetfoot raced back to be with the LT. Without other ponies around, he starts thinking, and when he starts thinking, his wing starts to tremble.

“But my wings are too small to do that.” Feather whines to the LT.

Chuckling softly the LT nuzzles her, “They will grow bigger, but you have to build strength in them. That’s what Fleetfoot and Blaze say.”

“But what do you say?” She says, giving him her huge eyes.

“I did long distance flights yesterday, trust me, you need good wing muscles. My wings are still sore. But so is my chest and sides. There are a lot of muscles you use with flight.”

Fleetfoot giggles and nuzzles the LT.

Feather looks up at Henry, then at the LT. “Mom, why can’t they stay ponies?”

Blinking I looked between the two, then at Feather, “Because the spell is temporary, you know that Feather.”

“But why can’t they stay? Can’t you make a spell to make them stay ponies?” She says in a pleading voice.

Looking over, I watch the LT’s wing starting to quiver. Fleetfoot notices it too and quickly nips his ear to distract him.

“They were always meant to be humans, Feather. They weren’t cursed like we were.” Walking over, I sit and nuzzle Feather between my forelegs.

“I don’t believe that. They are as much pony at heart as you and I. They should have been born ponies. Henry has the most beautiful gift ever, and he shares it, he healed my wings.”

Henry sighs, “Feather I was never meant to be a pony. You know that.”

Walking over she stuck her face to his cutie mark. “You were, I know it. I can feel it, trust me.”

The LT acks loudly and pulls a blanket around himself quick. “Okay, my time’s up. Time for me to get into a uniform.”

Fleetfoot laughs and hoofs him his clothing out of the saddle bags. We were expecting this, so she kept clothing for him on her. Sugarberry has Henry’s clothing.

Looking up Feather whimpered. “James, you’ll always be a pegasus to me no matter how you look.”

“Thank you Feather. I still have my cutie mark, so expect me to still make you do your wing exercises.”

Looking back up at Henry she pushed her face against his cutie mark harder, “Don’t change, please don’t change. I don’t want to lose a unicorn like you.”

“You’re not losing me, I’m just going back to human.”

“But what if I get hurt again, what if mommy or daddy get hurt?” she looks up sadly.

“Then there’s Dr. Ray, he’s a unicorn doctor. I’m not even a doctor, I’m just a medic. If something really bad happens, Dr. Ray can be called over at Lightning Dust’s farm.”

“But I don’t want Dr. Ray. You’re our herd. I want you.” Putting her head against his mark again she presses hard. “Stay.”

Feather cried softly, her tears run down the side and lines of his cutie mark. Softly his horn begins to glow, as the spell ends on him, his mark glowing bright for a moment as he shifts back to human. Sugarberry comes over and hoofs him his PT gear to put on.

“It’s not right, they should stay.” Feather says, and curls up between my forelegs.

Gently I look down and start nuzzling and hugging her. “It’s hard but, he’s human first. It’s not our choice. It has to be theirs.”

Looking at the LT, Henry nods, then both of them step out, after a few moments, they come back with plastic bags. Henry offers his bag to Sugarberry. The LT hands his plastic bag to Fleetfoot.

Sugar blinks, sitting down, looking at her bag. Then she looks up at Henry, confused. “What’s this?”

“It was a suggestion. If you want it you can keep it if not you don’t have to, I won’t take offense. I know ponies have a lot better sense of smell, it was a clean new towel, I only used it in pony form so all it has is my pony scent on it.”

The LT looks to Fleetfoot, “Mine includes some of my feathers in it for you. I saved them and put them in a baggie. You’ll have them as a thank you and reminder for all the help.”

Both girls look at them in shock before hugging them as tightly as they can.

*** 10.598105, 171.822032 Sea state 3, 7.5 Knots. ***

The Marshall Islands are just a few days south. The small freighter was built for innercostal work. Normally only for short island hops, but for this pay they are making a long run. At 52m long the ship wasn’t meant for long ocean travels, and only could hold eight cargo containers max. However, right now she is only carrying four.

With nearly a million dollars at stake though, it is worth the risk. That kind of pay day would make the captain and his small crew rich. They left the Philippines just a few days ago. Their destination is Hawaii. Hopefully their cargo would survive that long.