“Hey Nav.”

Nodding to the crewman, Maxine opens the door to her cabin, she enters the cabin and is able to shut the door before putting her hand against the bulkhead to brace herself. At only 6300 tons the RAN Destroyers are not as smooth a ride in rough seas. The US Destroyers are twice as heavy, making them far more stable in a storm.

She shares the cabin with the second watch helmsman. They alternate shifts, so it isn’t so bad, at least they don’t have to ‘hot bunk’ or use the same bed. Opening her locker, she looks at the books she had stored on the top shelf. She had accumulated a nice selection, because reading helps her get to sleep.

Grabbing a novel, she flops backwards onto her bunk. Not even bothering to take her boots off yet, and relaxes as she feels the boat rock. Turning her head sideways, she blinks, seeing her stuffed BoonBoon doll. She has four stuffed animals on her bed, a wallaby flyer, a pink teddy bear with white heart on its forehead with a green and blue striped arm band, a stuffed wombat, and BoonBoon.

Looking at the stuffed brumby she reaches up and runs her fingers through its mane gently. Picking it up, she stands up and heads out of her cabin, walking down the ships corridors. “Come on BoonBoon,” She says softly to the little stuffed animal.

The med bay is down two levels and half way across the ship, but she has been in much worse weather. The entire crew is used to this. She watches people walking around the halls off duty as she walks, they’re either heading for the gym, mess hall, or just to meet up with other shipmates to watch movies or shows.

Holding the rail, Maxine walks down the stairwell, timing her steps with the ships steady rolls. It’s easy to understand how some people can get sea sick. With no view outside, the walls look stationary, but the ships rocking means she must compensate for each motion.

“There’s a little pegasus in the med bay that must be miserable, BoonBoon. She probably needs company.”

Tapping on the door, she leans in, “You here doc?”

“Come on in, you have a problem?” The doctor says, looking up from his desk.

“Nope, just thought I’d bring something for our little guest to help her sleep. Brumbies don’t like sleeping alone.” Maxine says and holds up her stuffed animal.

“You do realize she’s still a twenty-five-year-old?” The doctor says with a chuckle.

Blinking, Maxine narrows her eyes a bit, “And what’s wrong with grownups sleeping with stuffed animals?”

“Well, I could get into the phycology of it, but its probably better that I say nothing, nod and smile.” With that, he nods and puts on a smile.

Walking over, she sits down beside the foal, running her fingers through its mane gently, before tucking the stuffed animal up against the foal’s side. “This is BoonBoon, she’s been with me since I was little. She kept me safe through the worst storms in the outback. She’ll keep you safe while here.”

Moaning softly, the foal nuzzles into the stuffed animal as well as the stroking. Her ears slowly spreading a bit.

Maxine keeps rubbing the foal’s mane gently while looking back at the desk, “How is she doc?”

“Next few days are going to be touchy. She’s on water and electrolytes, I’m keeping a close eye on kidney output and her blood protein levels. She’s been in and out of consciousness, but she hasn’t said anything that was all that coherent. She’s been whinnying a bit, I’m not sure what that means.”

Looking down, Maxine scratches behind the foals ears a bit. “You can keep BoonBoon while you’re here.”

“I’m more of a Storm fan.” The Doctor says as he reads something on his screen.

Laughing softly, Maxine shakes her head, “Not you.”

“Meadow Flower, where’s mommy?” The foals voice is weak and tired.

“Who’s Meadow Flower?” Maxine asks softy, stroking the foals face gently before looking back to the doctor.

“It’s…” The doctor looks at Maxine, “It’s a pony name Nav. Likely someone important to her in Equestria, a sister or close friend. Her pony name is Cheery.”

“Well I need to hit the rack. My shift starts in the morning.” Maxine says, standing up.

“Please don’t go, Meadow Flower.” The foal let out soft whimper when Maxine had removed her hand.

Leaning down Maxine gives the foal a kiss on her forehead, “I’ll be back.”

***

Cypher sits back in her chair, if you could call it that. Though calling an Emperor Workstation a chair is like calling a Mac Truck a car. With six monitors attached directly to the chair, keyboard, mouse, and about a dozen other things plugged in, she has status and information. The set up would be the dream of any twitch gamer. In the hands of a hacker, the system has enough power and speed to challenge even high end security.

But Cypher doesn’t have hands, she has magic. And the chair is surrounded in shimmering data, floating screens, visual and magical representations of the world-wide web and internet as a whole are hers to see. With her horn glowing, she works, searching the dark web, searching for information on pony sales, searching for terrorist chatter, her eyes dart from email to blog as keywords highlight on the screens. Encryption is just a code, and her special talent is codes. Washing files through translators, she discards what she doesn’t need, looking for any reference to a pegasus and two earth pony foals.

Holding a hoof out, a large cup of coffee floats over to her as she continues working. Night Light had to have taken them somewhere. There has to be some mention of them. A beeping sound alerts Cypher to a highlighted area, pulling up the screen, she decrypts the email and scans its contents.

Narrowing her eyes, she taps her track ball controls, calling up the phone. “Girls, I have a lead. A mass email just went out to members of the Army of God, or Hand of God. They are planning a live broadcast of Feather’s torture and execution. The email originated from a burner cell phone. It was sent from a…. from the Texas-New Mexico border.”

“From what?” Dust asks, blinking as her face appears on the screen.

“From an abandoned horse slaughterhouse.” Cypher says slowly.

***

“Cow tail soup, with spices and toasted tortillas for dipping.”

“Beef carne asada, with a lemon, pepper, and garlic salt spice rub, chopped, and mixed with chorizo, in a burrito, with fried onions, chopped tomatoes and pepper.”

“ARGH!” Sunny Daze falls on her back on the sofa, crying out and clamping her ears down before putting her hooves over them. “Ambrosia! Make them stop.”

Opening the window, Ambrosia sticks her head outside, looking at Full Steam and Drill Bit. Both stallions have been harnessed up to share the load, and Drill Bit has a blanket over his back to hide his wings. “All right boys, why are you tormenting Sunny like that?”

Glancing over his shoulder, Full Steam chuckles, “Were not, were talking about food we’ll never get to enjoy again.”

“Keep it up and you can add carrot and potato stew, with celery, lemon grass, and pepper to that list.” Ambrosia says firmly, “As in tonight’s dinner, Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.” Drill Bit chirps and looks back innocently as he flicks his tail.

Sunny huffs, then she giggles, “How’s our supplies holding out?”

“Well, we topped off our water yesterday, so we are good for a week if need be, and food wise.” Ambrosia sighs, “It’s been a few days, so we are down to potatoes, carrots, beans and rice.”

“And grass.” Sunny adds, holding up a hoof full.

“That’s lemon grass, careful.” Ambrosia says, “It’s a bit sour.”

“Oh, hey Palo Grande is on the way, we can stop there.” Sunny says, perking up.

“Not a chance, it’s a border town with no border crossing, meaning the only ones who cross there are… less then savory. It’ll be too dangerous.”

“Umm, does that mean we are less than savory? And dangerous?” Sunny says, looking up.

“To humans, we are.” Ambrosia sighs again and gets to cleaning up around the wagon. For a small mobile home, the place has truly become their home. They have everything; from beds, even if one was simply a mat on the floor, to a kitchen and pantry, and even a shower and bathroom. The only thing that is really missing is a washer and dryer, but given the amount of clothing ponies wear, that doesn’t seem to be an issue.

The wagon hits a series of bumps as the road shifts to a horse trail. Poking her head out, she can see what looks like a horse trail cutting across a dry river flat. It isn’t a marked road on any map, there isn’t a border crossing, there isn’t even a fence, but as the wagon rolls up the other side, they know they are officially in Honduras. Strangely, though, even some of the towns around here are not shown on the maps.

“How do we know we are going the right way?” Sunny asks, looking down at her cell phone.

“Well, Drill Bit flew a few miles ahead and back this morning, so we are following the route he found.” Ambrosia says, “It’s a lot better than the major border crossings. While the guards might let us through, they have hundreds of trucks going both ways. And thousands of people in a small area.”

Blinking, both of them perk their ears before moving to the side to look out the window. Given that they are in the middle of nowhere following horse trails, the sound of a helicopter is never a good sign. Over the tree line, a large Blackhawk helicopter flies, probably only five hundred feet above the ground as it follows the border to the west.

“Umm, it probably didn’t see us, if it did, it probably thinks we’re just a farm wagon.” Sunny says hopefully.

Moving to the other side of the wagon, they watch as the helicopter slows and turns broadside to their wagon and hovers about a mile away. “Or maybe not,” Ambrosia says and gulps.

***

Cypher provided the data, the locations where emails were being sent to. Safe houses, farms, locations where people are waiting to watch the execution. Places where people are paying to see it.

Task groups from the FBI are already in the air. They are backed by CID and NCIS groups on the ground. NCIS from Los Angelis and South Carolina are hitting safe houses in Louisiana and Arizona.

CID offices in Colorado, Iowa, and North Carolina have been charged with safe houses in Colorado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. FBI and local law enforcement are being brought in at the last minute, their targets are in Texas.

FBI’s hostage rescue team are heading for the site of the broadcast. The slaughterhouse. Though it is a question if they would get there first, or even in time. White Lightning, Fire Streak, High Winds, and Jet Streams are all pulling air chariots.

Special Forces Command is not going to be caught off guard this time. They had already tasked members of the 101st, as well as helicopters and gunships. The Army of God have already shown willingness to use military weapons, so special forces command want assets in the area, even if they are not used.

With luck, they would be able to capture and arrest most of the Army of God. But arresting them isn’t on the ponies’ minds. Dust flies along with determination; her priority isn’t capture. The priority for Velvet’s team, for Dust, is rescue.

***

Kara flexes her wings and looks around, smiling, “This is the pony colony, mostly zebra and thestrals but there are a few ponies and unicorns here that came from south Africa.”

Cadance looks around in awe, blinking a few times. There are a few windmills cobbled together from what look like car parts. While there are still some tents around, many residents had built real houses, using a mix of local materials including clay bricks and thatch roofing. Some of the larger buildings, however, like the town hall and hospital, have opted for metal roofs.

Rows of crops are already growing, sorghum, corn and wheat make up the bulk, but carrots and tubers are also being worked. This gives a variety of food choices for the ponies to cook. The few earth ponies with the help from the zebra have managed to turn the lands into fertile farmland.

Water tanks and storage has turned arid land into farmland with the help of the thestrals and pegasi who brought in rain. A few humans can be seen, though they are scarce compared to the number of Equestrian residents.

“How come there are so few… humans?” Cadance asks, looking up at Strepe curiously.

The zebra foal giggles, “Kara, this is her domain. In a way, it’s a dictatorship. She leaves us to make our own choices, but we accept that this is her territory.”

“She won’t let humans bring guns in, won’t let humans push the ponies around. If they want to live with family its okay, but she won’t accept demands or claims of property.” Nightshade says, flexing her wings.

With a smile Cadance turns and bows to Kara, “Princess, your kingdom is doing well.”

“Princess? Kingdom? Argh no…I came here to get away from people, ponies came here because rebels and such feared me. I’m not a princess.”

Spike tilts his head before starting to laugh, “Actually yes, while you’re not a pony princess, you are doing the job of one. Protecting and fighting for your citizens. Guarding your kingdom. But at the same time letting your citizens rule themselves.”

Huffing, Kara shakes her head, “Do princesses light the forges and help melt metals for their subjects?”

Cadence nods, “Yep, raising the sun and moon may be a grand task, but it’s for her subjects.”

“Ponies.” Kara shakes her head, “Can almost always find a light side to things.”

Cadance looks down, “Almost always.”

A young pony trots over and snuggles up to Cadence, “Hi my princess.”

Stepping back, Cadance lifts her leg, looking down. “Who… I… I don’t think I’m your princess.”

The little filly is a soft yellow color, with two tone green mane, wrapped with two red bands. She looks up wide eyed at Cadance and smiles, “Yep, you’re my princess, no matter what.”

“I… why do you think that?” Cadence looks to Spike for help, though he simply motions for her to move closer.

The little filly holds her breath, puffing out her cheeks a bit, and closes her eyes tight as if trying to force something. After a moment, she stops and pants. “It takes me a moment to get going sometimes. Sorry Princess.” Closing her eyes again, she takes a deep breath and puffs out her cheeks again, as if trying to blow out without opening her mouth.

Kara giggles and shakes her head, “She’s trying that again. Trust me, after seeing this, you won’t need sugar cane for a week.”

Cadance looks up at Kara, confused for a moment, then she folds her wings against her side tighter and looks down at the foal. As if just waiting for her to be payed attention to, the little filly pops into crystal pony form, then starts panting.

“Phew… got it!” The filly says and bounces around Cadance, “See, I’m a crystal pony, that means I’m your subject, my princess.” Giving her a bow, the filly’s tail keeps wiggling a mile a minute.

Cadance couldn’t help but smile looking at the little foal, “I don’t know if I deserve to be a princess.”

“I grew up as a simple goat herder. When the change hit me, my family disowned me, tried to sell me. I escaped and found this place, but I’m still a blank flank foal. I help with the crops but I have no family here. I can’t remember my pony family, but I do remember you. In my heart, you will always be my princess.”

***

Feather trembles in her cage, her muzzle matted with tears. The sounds of the swinging chains fill her ears. Through the cage door she can see the row of chains hanging from the ceiling, moving slowly in a breeze.

The smell of death still hangs in the air. Even though the slaughterhouse has been closed for years, the scent of the animals killed there still stings her nostrils. She can almost taste the fear of those that came before her. The building has not been cleaned since its shutdown, past the removing of the last of the carcasses. The blood has been left from that time. It has dried, caking the drains, parts of the walls. Giving the entire room she’s in a lurid feeling. She’s long since wet herself from all of this.

Her cage is turned so she can see the tools. Hooks and spreaders, sticking knives and meat choppers. Obviously brought in since the closure, they have blood on them as well. Maybe acquired from another slaughterhouse, the other option for the blood is something Feather can’t bear to consider.

The items had been placed so she can see them whenever she opens her eyes. A constant reminder of what is coming.

“Well my little prize. You cost us a fair penny to be delivered here. But many will pay more to see you killed. You should’ve died last time.” The man says, walking into view.

“Leave her alone.” Cloudy says defiantly from her cage.

“Oh don’t worry, we will deal with you next. Maybe we’ll start by sawing off your horn.” The man says with a chuckle, “These bone saws should work just fine for that.”

“You want to take somepony, take me first, leave her be.” Cloudy says firmly.

“Oh, you are a brave one.” The man says and laughs, “No. The people are paying to see the pegasus go first.”

Tears in his eyes, Candy pushes his muzzle up against the cage, “Why are you doing this?”

“Do you really have to ask why? You are unnatural abominations. In a world of God’s creatures, you pose as humans, you think you are as good as humans.” Standing, he backs up to look at the cages.

“You think you should be treated like humans. But you are not, and god warned us, beware of the deceivers. Those that would walk in man’s form, but spread lies.” Kneeling, he starts to speak very coldly to the foals.

“God created man in his own image, man… not animals… God gave man dominion over the animals. God created the animals, but you are not one of God’s creations. You’re a work of the devil, and an example must be made so the devil’s others creations know… They must know they must flee back to the world they came from, or the same thing will happen to them.” Smiling, the man thumps Feather’s cage hard. “Starting with you.”

“If I’m so important to be killed, just do it, but let the others go. They don’t deserve this.” Feather says weakly.

“No!” Cloudy shouts in full defiance, “You deserve just as much as any pony!”

“Deserve? Deserve! You think you deserve anything?” The man turns and snarls at Cloudy, “You are not part of Gods plan. We are the Hand of God, the Army of God. We carry out God’s will.”

“You are nothing. You couldn’t even begin to understand God’s Plan. A being as powerful as God, and you claim to understand him? You claim to know what he wants or intends?” Cloudy’s horn grows bright as she snarls in her cage, “If God did exist the way you think, would he want you to murder children?”

“Be silent or I might just put you down off camera.” The man says firmly.

Standing up a bit in her cage, Cloudy presses her back against the top, snarling. “No! I see the wonders of nature every day. I see the wonder of life and the world. I see it in the sky and air, in the sun and rain…”

The cage explodes around the foal as wind throws the man back against the wall. Cloudy’s horn glowing brighter and brighter. “You know what? I used to be afraid of the rain, to hide from storms, thunder and lighting.”

The lights flicker and the loud crash of thunder fills the air. The sound is so loud that it shakes what few windows the room has left. The sound of hail starts to pound against the roof and wall.

“Cotton Candy was a storm chaser, he saw the beauty in them, in God’s work.” Putting her hoof down, sparks crackle and shower on the floor from the impact. “Something you could never see!”

“Cloudy! What are you doing?” Candy cries out as the roof starts to come off the building.

The building itself explodes into debris as the funnel cloud touches down right on top of it. Winds exceeding 350 miles per hour swirl around, destroying everything they touch. Trees, walls and cars are lifted from the ground in the rotating winds. The tornado’s fury matching Cloudy’s as she stands, her legs spread, in the center of the eye, Feather and Candy’s cages on either side of her. Cloudy’s hip glows as bright as her horn, the image of a cloud with a tornado descending from it appearing on both of her hips.

Backing up in fear, the man looks at Cloudy… Screaming over the roar of the winds… “What are you!”

Looking side to side, Cloudy rips the cage doors from Feather and Candy’s cages. Screaming at the top of her lungs she cries back, “I….AM…A…PONY!”

The man puts his hands up to shield himself as he stumbles backwards into the vortex. A moment later he is gone. Sucked up into the funnel and debris.

Wobbling as she tries to stand, Cloudy looks at Feather, “I couldn’t let him…”

Feather blinks as the glow around Cloudy’s horn fades, the foal collapses on the spot. Almost instantly the tornado begins to dissipate, its rage spent on the abandoned slaughterhouse and area immediately around it.

***

“The doctor says she could pull through.” Captain Stevenson says as he sits in the chair in the coms room. He leans forward, “Though it would be best to have her airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital and have doctors from there and Howard Springs Veterinarian Clinic on standby if needed.”

“No, transfer her to the nearest Port of Entry in Indonesia.” The admiral’s voice is calm, but direct.

“Pardon? They don’t have the medical facilities to handle a case like this, as well we don’t even know if she is a citizen of Indonesia.” The captain says, confused.

“Then send her to the nearest port of call in Malaysia, she was aboard a Malaysian Airlines aircraft. Let them take responsibility.” The admiral says dismissively as he shuffles pages.

“Admiral, she was never listed as a passenger on the aircraft, she was likely loaded as a pet, or cargo. They lack the knowledge or care facilities to handle a brumby, at least our vets and doctors have some knowledge and experience as well.” Captain Stevenson shakes his head, “She’s just a wee foal.”

The admiral leans forward, facing the camera, “Look, Captain, this comes from the policy makers. Under no means is that foal to set foot on Australian soil. Find an island somewhere and dump her.”

The captain blinks, “Under international law we need to render aid.”

“And you did, and you will be commended for that. The issue however, is the refugee issue. We will NOT be accepting refugees from Equestria.” The admiral leans back in his chair and pulls out a folder. “There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of these ponies appearing world wide. The decision to close our borders to them has been made by the politicians. It is our duty to obey their policies.”

“Sir, at this I’d like to file an official complaint, at present, putting her ashore would be a death sentence.” The captain says, “She needs specialized care. As well she is possibly the only witness to the events of the air crash.”

“I don’t even think resigning your command would help at this point.” The admiral says firmly, “I have a meeting; I leave it up to you to figure out how to get rid of that foal.”

The screen goes blank as the connection is terminated. Sighing, the captain rubs his face and leans back in his chair. Looking at his official orders, he shakes his head slowly. He reads and re-reads the mission orders over and over again until a tap at the door causes him to look away. “Enter!”

XO Cruz walks in, “So, when are we going to be unloading our passenger?”

“They want us to put her ashore in Malaysia or such. They have ordered us not to let her set foot on Australian soil.” The captain says and shakes his head.

“I swear, the PM’s office is getting more and more xenophobic every day. The doctor’s not going to like this.” The XO says and leans against the wall. “Any ideas?”

“It’s not like we can defy orders, or ignore the government.” The Captain says, “and the Admiral stated, even my resignation wouldn’t do any good at this point.”

“Ok that’s harsh to even suggest that.” The XO shakes his head, “Well what’s the plan?”

“Our mission is to aid in the international investigation of the downed airline, including search, rescue and recovery.” The Captain says, then he chuckles, “International investigation.”

“Why don’t I like that look?” XO says and straightens his uniform, “last time a mate gave me that look, I ended up in a firefight with drug runners on a RIB.”

“Tell the doctor that he will need to be ready to discharge the pony and make her ready to travel. If she is unable to do so, please have him advise me of the soonest date that she will be able to be sent ashore to one of the smaller clinics in Malaysia that will not endanger her life.”

The XO chuckles, “Oh I see, that could take weeks, especially if we are beyond range of our helicopters to bring her there safely.”

“Next, as she is the sole survivor of the air crash, for the purpose of international cooperation, we should document everything about her. Break out one of the cameras we use for boarding operations, set it up, and start recording.” The captain says, “Make sure to get her current diagnosis and such on record, as well as her age, size, and such.”

The XO blinks, “Sir?”

“If we ARE forced to put her ashore, its best to have all the information we can about her, in case she gets lost in Malaysia. That way we can present it to the international community as ordered.” The captain says firmly.

“Sometimes I think you have a roo lose in the upstairs paddock.” The XO says with a laugh, “The PM and party will never want that going public.”

“Well that’s what they asked us to do, Malaysia, France, and Germany are all involved with this. It was an Airbus that went down, and they want all findings as well. US Citizens were killed and they have asked for copies of the report.”

“And of course that would include the tape.” The XO says, turning for the door, “I’ll get right on it.”

“Now comes the trickiest part. She’s not allowed to step foot on Australian soil.” The Captain says firmly.

“Understood sir, she shall be quarantined to the ship, and we will keep someone with her at all times.”

***

“What the heck happened?” I blink several times as we approach the devastation. Approaching what should be a factory, instead, is mangled debris, cars, trucks, and sheets of metal that have been deformed and scattered for miles.

Blaze pulls up beside Masquerade and Dust, calling out, “It looks like a bomb went off.”

Dust shakes her head, looking at part of a car hanging from a tree. “A big bomb.”

Increasing her speed, Masquerade goes nose up into a climb to get some altitude while the rest of us stay low to the ground. With a sigh, I look up at her, then at Dust. “I hope we aren’t to late. If we are.”

With her eyes narrowed Dust looks back at her wing blades before she glances back towards me, “If we are, I’ll have serious words with them.” Electricity crackles among her feathers as she flies. Her tone of voice gives me chills.

As she swoops back down, Masquerade looks more worried than before, “The center of the blast looks like the factory.”

Blaze and Dust pour on the speed, which forces me to grab ahold of the air cart with my forelegs. Stealth is no longer an issue, “If you climb I can teleport there!”

“No! Blaze says firmly, “We are going in as a team, to cover each other. It might be a trap.”

“If it’s a trap it’s already gone off!” I say and point at an 18-wheeler sitting nose down and crushed on the ground, its trailer hanging off to one side bent in a U shape.

“I see something ahead!” Dust calls out and shoots forward in a blur of motion.

Unable to wait, I teleport into what looks like the center of the blast. A moment later, Cipher, Ballad, and Sugarberry appear around me in the center of a concrete slab. Looking up Candy and Feather call out, “Mom! Over here! Its Cloudy, she cast a spell and now she won’t wake up!!!”