Henry has been wandering through the ponies enclosure for nearly an hour now. Most of them are completely terrified. They have been abused, mistreated, first put into shipping crates, then kept secluded on a ship, and finally into this... concentration camp. What makes things worse is, this isn’t the first time camps were used like this on Hawaii.

The smell is awful. Without showers, without a pool or such, the only way they can keep cool is laying under the tent shades. Their only toilet is a slit trench that had been cut near the fence. There is no real option for real sanitary care.

It is no wonder they had begun to fear humans. Several showed welts or lashes on their backs that are healing. Many have signs of being whipped or beaten. Henry finds them backing away from him, or moving clear of him as he walks through. However he feels the biohazard suit isn’t helping earn any trust.

There is no laugher, no singing. There is no playful joy. Many are showing signs of the stress, with colors starting to dim. A few are whimpering or crying, though many just lay in silence.

“Were not contagious, you know. You’re not going to change because of us.” One says sadly. She is a light teal or green pegasus mare with golden mane and tail. Laying curled up in a ball, she watches Henry walk.

“I know. I hate the suit. I’ve had all my equine shots. I know the transformation isn’t contagious. Immigrations officials though want this as quarantine.”

Walking into the medical tent, he sees signs that some of them are starting to blank. They wouldn’t last a week in here, let alone the month ICE wants. Several are having fluids put into them by IV after bad dehydration on the ship. They are simply caring for critical health needs, and ignoring the basic things though.

“Passionate?” Henry asks.

Looking up from her bed, the young unicorn mare is a greyish banana yellow, with 2 tone blue mane. She looks tired, and confused, sadness filling her eyes.

Gently, almost instinctively he touched his forehead to her horn. He knows he doesn’t have a horn anymore, but he hopes the gesture helps. “I’m here to help if I can.”

Very faintly, she lets out a soft whinny in response.

Standing up Henry shakes his head, “This is just wrong.”

Very deliberately, he strips out of the suit and sits back down, just wearing his combat pants and t-shirt. Looking around he clears his throat a bit, not sure where to start. Songs are good, but that is Eric’s job, for now, a story he guesses.

“I’m Henry, I know it’s hard, but trust me. As long as you stick together, stay together and help each other, you’ll make it through this.”

“How would you know? How could you possibly understand?” A young stallion says, before laying his head back down.

“Some of my best friends are ponies. I know several unicorns, pegasi, even an earth pony and all of them have made it through.” Taking a deep breath, Henry sighs.

“I went through the mirror to Equestria, your homeland is safe. The princess is safe. Discord’s been defeated.”

Slowly heads lift to look at him.

“I know it’s hard to believe but there is a way home to Equestria if you want, or you can stay here. We will do everything we can to help.” Softly, he starts stroking Passionate’s neck.

“When I went through the mirror, the magic made me a unicorn. I know what it’s like to be a pony. I know how hard it can seem but I also know how wonderful it is. Celestia, I am so not Velvet... Big speeches and motivations are not my thing. I’m a healer not a talker.”

Shaking his head he looks around.

“I was born in Pine Hills, Florida. Crime was common there. The crime rate was nearly twice the national average. Murder, drugs, and the gangs, most people born there never made it out. I was one of the lucky ones. My family never had much money. We were always struggling so I never grew up with all the fancy things most kids had, no game console, no fancy cell phone.”

“Jobs there were hard to come by, there weren’t really any industry, so it was all retail. Imagine, growing up where your only hope for a job was working as a Walmart greeter.”

Henry shakes his head, but more ponies are watching him. “Somehow though, I managed to avoid the gangs, my older brother wasn’t so lucky. He got mixed up with a gang, saying he needed their protection. I told him not to, but he was so scared.”

“They had him selling drugs on the street to earn money for the gang. I don’t know why it happened, who he upset but someone, probably a customer, maybe a rival gang, knifed him. His own gang left him on the ground to bleed out. They were the scared ones, scared to bring him to the hospital in fear that they might get arrested.”

“I tried my best at school. I always wanted to be a doctor, but, I never had the grades for any scholarships. I knew though that if I stayed in that city, if I stayed there I’d end up being sucked into the meat grinder.” Looking at the ponies he keeps patting the unicorn gently.

“So I joined the military, joined the army. I got my medical training through them and couldn’t be happier about it. The funny thing is I was never totally sure if I wanted to be a medic because of myself, my brother, or what. In Equestria, though, I realize it doesn’t matter. As long as I trust in myself, as long as I trust in my friends.”

“So trust me, we will find a way to make this better.”

*** Blaze ***

Blaze breaks right, hard. These two may have been Wonderbolts, and Top Gun graduates, but they don’t have the time or skill at flying that he does. They are still thinking like they are flying a plane. He can teach these squids more than a few tricks. Breaking into an inverted snap turn he flies over Wind’s head, upside down, causing her to spin out.

Fire breaks off and zips down to help Wind recover, leaving Blaze shaking his head.

“Are you crazy?! She could have gotten hurt!” Fire protests, though Wind, on the other hoof, is laughing her tail off.

“Bring back memories of the Dizitron?” Blaze asks.

“Oh Celestia, I puked so hard the first time I was…” stopping, Wind blinks.

Fire looked confused at, “What do you mean?”

“She just remembered her first time on the Dizitron. It’s a spin out training machine for all Wonderbolts. You have the memories of your life in Equestria. Don’t worry, over time they will come back.” Blaze says, chuckling.

“Still that was a dangerous stunt you pulled there.” Fire growls.

“For aircraft, yeah. We have a lot better control through, as well, how many F-18’s do you know that can hover like we’re doing now?” Blaze says and points down.

“Incoming.” Wind giggled as she sees two pegasi flying up to them.

“Aloha!” The lead mare calls out.

“Hi there.” Blaze chuckles.

“Navy mainlanders I see.” The mare moves to hover with them.

“Well those two are squids, I’m a grunt.”

“Welcome to Hawaii, we don’t see many uniformed pegasi flitting around.” She says, “Well, actually, you’re the first.”

“Oh Fire and Wind here are Wonderbolts, though they are so out of practice, Spitfire would be having them do wing ups for the day.” Blaze snickers as that one apparently wakes a memory in Fire. “I’m Blaze, I was a flight trainer for young flyers.”

“I don’t… really know who I am.” She says, “I just go by Magen.”

Flying around her once Blaze looked at her mark then into her eyes, “I think you might be Stardancer. Don’t quote me on it, but I’m pretty sure you’re from Cloudsdale weather service.”

“Memory?” Fire asks.

Blaze nods, “I think so, going to sound silly but I think I remember training her with Serenity when they were foals.”

“Who’s Serenity?” Stardancer asks.

“Oh he was a total cut up, pink stallion who just loved to… Wait, there are pink stallions. Hmm.” Blaze shakes his head, “He was a joker, but his specialty was rain.”

“So why are you flying around like that?” Stardancer was having some problems with her hovering, probably hadn’t had much flight time since her change. Her friend wasn’t doing much better.

“Oh just playing around. Are there lots of ponies on Hawaii?” Blaze asked.

“A few, we’re spread out a bit.”

“Why don’t you to get a bit of a workout with Fire and Wind here, show them around as somewhat of an air tour, and have some fun?” Blaze winks to Fire.

Fire nods back, “Sure I’d love to see more of the island.”

Wind turns and laughs, tagging one of the two, “You’re it.” Flipping her body around, she starts flying in the direction of the internment camp.

Letting the squids set the trap, Blaze looks back to the ground. He knows he saw something. Beginning a search pattern, he lands near an old rundown apartment building. The place isn’t in the best of shape there are patches on the roof in places. However it still looks lived in.

The flash of yellow and blue catches his eye and he zips down. An earth pony mare is working with a human, trying to fix a gutter on the side of the building. Pulling up, Blaze smiles and lifts the gutter back into place with his head, holding it there for the two to finish it.

“Much appreciated. Dash?”

Chuckling Blaze looks over, “Nope, Blaze, Dash is my daughter. And I know for a fact that you’re not Octavia.” He smiles brightly, “Hi, Fiddlesticks.”

*** CMC:EC ***

“This way, Ballad.” Feather flies across the shipping yard.

“Wait up Feather, I can’t fly, remember?” Ballad says as she follows the excited pegasus filly.

Candy and Cloudy giggle, shaking their heads. Ballad has helped them already, rigging up a better harness setup. Now they can pull their wagons more comfortably, and even though they aren’t earth ponies they can still haul a load.

As she comes around the shipping containers, she sees what the group is heading for. A large pile of broken shipping pallets are being stored here. They were stacked against the back wall for disposal.

“This is the batch we were sent for, Ballad.” Candy says, “We can’t use our tk yet though.”

“If you can pull the nails out, we can break the boards down and stack them in the wagons.

Laughing softly, Ballad sits down and gets to work. Pulling nails with her magic actually isn’t that hard and they can be salvaged this way. Within half an hour, the foals have a few hundred pounds of wood panels loaded. They figure it will take three or four runs to get them enough wood.

It is hard going back for the twins, but Feather and Ballad push from behind as well. The tree they had permission use isn’t near any of the training areas. It is actually at the edge of the residential area. It is a little private, but still on base and protected.

Ah-Pee is waiting for them there for the next part. This is the fun one, fabrication. Cloudy sets down the plans on her phone, showing the pre-fab segments they would prepare. The twins would move a plank into place, Ballad will hover a nail over the point, and Ah-Pee bucks it in. Working this way, they are able to quickly set up the segments for the build.

At this rate, they will have a fully functional club house built in a few days. Best of all, no humans allowed.

*** Velvet ***

I trot up to the apartment building, it was probably built in the early 50’s by the look of it, and it has definitely seen better days. Blaze is there, helping some humans with building.

Looking around I see the mare he was talking about. She is currently sitting on a bench looking up at the building, shaking her head.

Sitting down beside her I smile, “Hi there, I’m Twilight Velvet. Usually go by Velvet though.”

“Yawl don’t want to be confused with your daughter?” Fiddlesticks asks.

“Oh heck no, I just don’t want to be associated with sparkling teenage vampires.”

Looking at me she blinked a few times then we both start laughing. With all the stress both of us has to deal with, a laugh is very good.

“Looks like you have a bit of a fixer upper.”

“Yeah, the place has been in my family for decades, it used to be so much better. Tarnation if everyone wants views of the beach, or to live in the city or such.” She looks up and sighs. “We gots a few low income renters here, but it ain’t enough to pay all the bills, and I can’t pay the repairs.”

I sigh softly and flop my chin down on the table. This isn’t going to work.

“What wrong?”

“Oh I was hoping to find ponies that could help some refugees. They’re in bad shape.” I said, “But you’re in bad shape too.”

“Sorry. I wish I could but…”

Stardancer slams into the ground near us, just seething. She is snarling and hoofing at the ground, followed close behind by Fire and Wind. Storming up, she comes muzzle to muzzle with me. “Tell me there is something you can do.”

Taking a deep breath I sigh, “I take it you found the place?”

“Oh I found it, that’s not a quarantine facility, or a holding area, that’s an internment camp! My grandmother was held in one of those, her parents died in one!”

“An internment camp, where?” Fiddlesticks says sitting up, her ears vibrating gently as she looks intently at me.

“I’m not allowed to say, and the uniform code says I can’t directly interfere with it. It’s a facility run by Homeland Security and I.C.E.” I said looking down. “But I want to find a way to help the ponies in there.”

“Oh hell no,” Fiddlesticks says, “There are a number of residents that still remember those. Or whose families were affected by them.”

“I’ve got a friend who works that the Governor’s office, I’ll have a talk with him.” A second pegasus calls out from beside Stardancer, and takes flight again.

“I know there are other ponies around the island, I’m going to gather any I can find bring them here, maybe we can come up with something.” Stardancer snarls and takes off again herself.

Fiddlesticks looks just as pissed off and depressed as me right now.

“I’m going to… sit here.” Fiddlesticks says and grumbles.

“Better yet, you’re going to have a pony meeting here soon, best be prepared for it.” I say, “Anything I can do to help with?”

Fiddlesticks grumbles and puts her face against the table, “Not unless you have a crane handy to move the shingles and tar up to the roof.”

Blinking I looked at the shingle pallet and shift its weight with my magic, “Oh, it’s not that heavy.” Planting my hooves, I lift the pallet up to the top of the first section.

“How did you?” Fiddlesticks looks at me, shocked.

“Magic.” I say with a grin.

“No seriously… how?”

Blinking a few seconds I shake my head and tap my horn with a hoof, “I’m a unicorn, we have magic, remember?”

“Well I’ll be I guess being on earth so longs had me forget some things were possible.”

“Let’s get this place ready for the meeting then I’ll have to make myself scarce.” I say, smiling.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not allowed to interfere in politics or make political or policy statements.” I say.

“Just nudge them in the right direction?” Fiddlesticks asks with a smile.

“Celestia does that all the time, I figured I’d take a page from her playbook.” I say, to be honest I’m not expecting such a volatile reaction when I suggested bring a pegasus to see the camp.

I spend the next half hour speed cleaning the courtyard. Shuffling stuff around so there is enough room. Meanwhile Fiddlesticks is setting out drinks and snacks as best as she can. Gracious host and all, I swear she must be related to the Apples somehow.

Over the next two hours about sixteen ponies show up, as well as nearly eighty humans, most of them seem to be of Japanese descent, this… can’t be good. Looking at Blaze I nod and quickly make myself scarce along with the Navy pegasi. This fight would be up to them.

*** Henry and Eric ***

It isn’t easy, really isn’t easy. Sanchez and Jay raid several doughnut shops around the area for their day olds. It is strange, they find themselves getting donations as well, without really having to explain anything. They simply say they are buying for some refugees and need sweets and sugars.

They’ve been given doughnuts, muffins, bottles of pop, and juices. They have even been given bulk Gator Aid syrup in two different flavors by a doughnut shop on base. This will help the ponies so much.

Eric is trying to raise morale by singing, it has helped somewhat, but it’s going to take much more than just songs and treats to raise the ponies' spirits. It’s going to take a miracle.

Henry, on the other hand, has drawn the attention of several ponies. They seem to calm down about him and Eric, a level of trust is being built.

“It’s not easy the first time. Trust me it’s easier to close your eyes the first time.” Henry says, looking at the young unicorn.

He has yet to leave Passionate’s side, or even remove his hand from her neck. The others have come to him. Closing her eyes the unicorn makes her horn glow and touches it to Passionate’s with a squee.

“I did it, I did it.” She giggles and backs up, bounding around and wiggling her tail.

“Hornshine is the first trick unicorns really learn, it’s nothing but focusing your magic into your horn. The problem is, it feels different for each unicorn, so it’s hard to describe.”

“Were you really a unicorn?” Another unicorn sits, looking at him.

“When I went to Equestria, yes I was. I learned how to use my magic, but I’m not a born one like you. I’m not a natural unicorn. The mirror just made me one.”

“So if I went through the mirror and came back I’d be human?” Another unicorn asks.

“You could, but at the same time you’d be giving up your magic. You’d be giving up who you really are or what you are really meant to be.” Shaking his head, Henry sighs, “Trust me, as useful as hands are, there’s just something special about magic. And not just unicorn magic, pony magic in general. Every time you follow your cutie mark. Every time you follow your calling. It just fills you with happiness.”

“How do you know what your special talent is?” An earth pony asks, sitting down.

“It’s based of your cutie mark. You gain your cutie mark in a moment of perfect clarity. A time when you truly understand what you love, what you’re meant to do. In that moment the energy flows though you and you have no doubts, no second thoughts. It a truly beautiful moment.”

Shaking his head vigorously, Henry pushes the memories of the moment out of his mind. It helps them to understand, but he doesn’t need to remember the feelings like that.

“A pony with a mark of say, a wrench might be good at repairing things. Stars usually mean you’re good with magic. A pegasus with a lightning bolt might be about speed or making lightning bolts.”

Looking at the earth pony beside him he hums and tilts his head. “A crossed hammer and lighting bolt. That could mean lots of things. It could mean you have a talent as an electric engineer, laying out power lines or such. Or it might mean you have a talent at building power stations. Or… you could be related to Thor.”

Henry chuckles softly then shakes his head, “Actually, you know, it could mean you have a special talent at making magical items. You might be skilled at preparing items to be enchanted by unicorns or pegasi like the flying chariots or airships we see.”

“To see a lightning bolt like that is rare for an earth pony. You should probably be proud of that on its own.” Henry says to her.

Looking around, “Never be jealous of someone else’s mark though, and never worry that your mark isn’t who you are. That’s the thing about the marks. Even in your human lives you likely followed your mark unknowingly at times… They are really who you are.”

Jay and Sanchez begin handing out treats and snacks to everypony. Though the Gator Aid is more important than anything, its sugar and minerals will help them. More and more the ponies are starting to look and feel better. This though, is still a short term gain.

The song catches everypony, everyone, off guard. The SP’s in the towers turn their weapons, facing outwards. SP’s take up defensive positions, watching.

Dozens of ponies from the different islands have gathered, backed by humans, Japanese families who have endured these camps before. Civilians who would never again stand by again. Who would never allow these camps on their island ever again. They march on the camp with local press crews. While the stories may never be aired, the threat is there.

And in the front, leading the march, the yellow pony with blue mane and tail. Her head held high as she trots, pounding her hooves to the beat of the music. Making sure everyone keeps the beat. She had mobilized them, and now they follow her. Fiddlesticks.

They sing. They sing out as loud and true as they can. Hundreds of voices calling out, filling the air. “Under pressure, that brings a nation down, splits a family in two.”

*** Beth ***

Sitting in the glow of the LED lamps, she turns the pages of the books. Though she can’t understand any of the words, some of the pictures remind her of things. Bringing flashes to her mind.

Her brother walks over and sits, leaning against her. “Anything?”

“Some flashes, but nothing really.”

“Do you think there are other unicorns out there?” She asks, looking at Tommy.

“I’ve checked the web, the problem is, there’s no way to tell what’s real and what’s…”

“Yeh I know, how many aliens, big foot pictures show up.” Beth sighs, shaking her head.

“It’s hard at time to tell fact from fiction, and then there’s the chance that some things are being filtered out.” Tommy looks at the computer, his finger running along the touch sensitive screen.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, most of the general searches are done with normal search engines. Google, Yahoo, and others for example. The problem is, it’s possible for the government, special agencies or even the companies themselves to block or redirect searches. For example, I could post a video of you online, it would be there, but, it wouldn’t be able to be found.”

“So even if the family did post my rescue of the kids, the companies could simply block the searches?”

Tommy nods and hugs her. “It does have really scary implications however. To do that you need to have the backing of a big government or worse, major corporations behind you.”

“Why?”

“Because if the people don’t know you exist, it’s easier to make you disappear.”

Beth closes her eyes, shivering, tears in her eyes at the thought.

“I’m not going to let that happen. I will protect you and never let you just disappear.”