He was facing the exit, but still in clear view of Luna. "Unfair? So you'd rather avoid this?"

"Are you daft?!" she screeched. "My people did nothing worth being punished for in any way that they haven't already suffered."

"Maybe we have an... incorrect view of things. Would you help?"

She blinked softly at the metaphorical holder of her chains, slumping against her actual chains. "What do you need to know?"

TimFox: They're walking talking ponies, like half of the seaponies when they're on land. I want to meet one!

Skull838: And do horrible things.

TimFox: Hey shut up!

Tammie21: Let's not get into the furry debate. Last Warning.

TimFox: Thank you. Really though, why are we fighting talking ponies, with magic?! I wonder what they can do with it...

BobDudeBro: Hey, check out this video! http://somestuff.com/Watch?289djk2

The link he offered led to an unlisted video of a large white pony, or more of a horse. She was speaking to someone in an air force jacket. Subtitles translated the parts of her conversation that were in Ponish.

Skull838: Ha, bet you think she's pretty.

TimFox: She is! Oh my god!

Tammie21: Where'd you get that video? Was that for real?

BobDudeBro: Darkweb, yo. 100% legit!

Someone had leaked the videos. It exploded across the media in a firestorm of attention. Was the military making clandestine deals with the ponies? Were these the same things that the acting president had promised revenge on?

Protests began. The war was suddenly not just a cursory swat at unknown terrorists. Few understood what Celestia was, really, but she had given good impressions to most that had seen her.

"(Joining me is a renowned psychologist to give us potential insight into what's going on in this scene.)" The host gestured to her left before joining in the applause of the audience.

A studious man walked up onto the stage, waving at the crowd, then extending a hand to shake with his hostess. "(Happy to be here.)"

"(Glad you could make it. Now, can you tell us what's going on here?)" She turned her attention and eyes to the large screen that showed Celestia and the still-unnamed Air Force soldier having a conversation.

He pivoted his chair to join her in watching the scene. "(I should preface this by noting that we are witnessing a true alien. Their body language is not our own, though there seems to be quite a number of similarities. As we witnessed with the Seaquestrians, their faces are capable of a diverse range of expressions, many of which are a match. You can see when she is smiling, or frowning, and they seem to mean the same thing it would when a human had the same expression. However--)"

He raised a small remote control, pausing the playback and soon had a red circle drawn around her left ear, caught mid-flick. "(Most humans do not have mobile ears, and even the ones that do don't use it as a form of communication. Seaquestrians do, when they are in their aquatic form. From what I've seen of this video, the ponies do as well. Their tail is another signaller. Thankfully, it doesn't modify their language. If their words incorporated either of these elements, it would be very impractical for a human to hold a conversation.)"

The crowd chuckled softly at the thought of a language based on the wagging of an ear or a tail.

"(You laugh, but it's far from impossible. We, as a species, settled on sound for our primary mode of conversation, and there are advantages to it, but it's hardly the only option. When we speak with someone, we do watch them closely and their words are modified by emotional implications and emphasis given with body language." He rolled his hands over one another in his own attempt to emphasize. "We've grown used to this lack, in this age of voice chat and phone calls, but even now, we know there's a different level of communication when you're face to face.)"

"(Fascinating,)" agreed the hostess with a soft nod. "(Do you believe the pony there, Celestia I'm informed she's called, is telling the truth?)"

"(To answer that, I'd have to make a lot of assumptions.)" He began drawing new circles and squiggles. "(If you watch the position of--)"

"(Good to have you back, Sir.)" The secret serviceman shook hands with the reinstated president.

"(Glad to be back.)" He finished the shake and proceeded towards his desk. Standing next to it was his vice president. "(Marshall, thank you for keeping the seat warm. What's going on? That couldn't have been more poorly timed.)"

Marshall gestured at a paper he had left behind. "(We have a prisoner of theirs, Princess Luna. This is the information I got out of her.)"

Crane's teeth set. "(When did it become legal to hold people with immunity?)"

"(When they launch a terrorist attack from the front. She led the attack that saw you kidnapped and could have killed you and dozens of others.)"

Crane thumped the table with a closed fist. "(They're ignorant, not terrorists. Where is she being held?)"

"(Before you rush off, you really should brief yourself.)" He broadly gestured at the envelopes and papers on the desk. "(I'll leave you to it.)"

A brow raised. "(What the hell?)" The readings were downright bizarre. They didn't match traffic, gunfire, walking, or digging, but it was loud.

A quick check showed that no earthquake was busy shaking the city. That was good, but made the mystery only deeper. "(The hell...)" he repeated with a scowl, eyes locked on the wobbles of the seismograph readings.

The sensors had plotted where it seemed to be coming from, and it was moving. He grabbed a phone. "(Hey, go check south of the west entrance. Got some crazy readings. See if it's something weird or just the sensors acting up.)"

"(Yeah sure,)" replied the female guard. She hopped into her golfcart and sped across the secure grounds towards the disturbance. "(Coming up on it. I'm not seeing anything strange.)"

"(Must be a bug in the system, or maybe a sensor's broke. Check around just in case.)"

"(Got it, Mikey. I'll have a look around.)" She stepped out of her cart and took the keys with her. "(Probably nothing.)" She still had her bluetooth in her ear and connected as she wandered semi-randomly, looking for trouble.

Try as she might, there was nothing for her to see, but she could hear something, or more rather feel it. The ground under her rumbled in a curious way. It wasn't a sharp jolt like an earthquake, more like someone left their music too loud. "(Something's shaking under me, I can feel that. They doing something in the lower levels?)"

"(That must be it. Shit, they really should warn a guy, considering part of this works off of vibrations. Anyway, thanks.)"

"(Just part of the job.)" She returned to her cart to resume her watch over the facility. She would continue watching with sharp eyes, ignorant of problems until far too late.

"(Marshall)?" asked the queen into the phone that had been ringing moments ago.

"Crane," replied Crane, using the ponish word for the bird.

"Crane! I've missed you. Don't tell that other one, but you're a better ruler than he is, from my limited experience. I get a feeling for these things, trust me." She did a little loop in the water, pleased to be speaking to the superior human ruler. "Is everything alright? I heard you were foalnapped!"

"It was a comedy of errors," he sighed softly. "But it ended amicably. Novo, I have a scroll in my hand that should send a message to Twilight, the one you mentioned."

"How useful." She tilted her head a little. "But you wouldn't be bringing it up if you didn't have a question."

"I have too many. To start, we have Princess Luna captive."

Novo hissed, bubbles escaping her. "That can't have Celestia happy..."

"I want to return her, but I can't just call everything off. There has to be a balancing of the sheets, preferably on both sides."

"You already did that, in part." Novo curled around her phone. "You've held Luna for some time now, from what I gathered. If you release her now, and claim her jail time was on behalf of her people and their mistakes..."

"That leaves the other side of the scales. We are setting a precedent. If we start with this, it may never balance out."

"No, we're setting a president," she taunted gently.

It was physically painful that the pun worked in Ponish. "I've been informed that a trading boat of Equestrian origin performed a trade with New York, a state of ours. If the ponies enjoy our consumer goods, a gift of that nature may help smooth things over."

"My people are in love with your toys," grunted Novo with a little frown. "Rare is the face I see these days that are not adorned with some listening device or another; as if swimming was not busywork enough. I fear for the livelihood of actual performers with such simulations."

"But more on point, a memorial."

"A memorial?" Novo tilted her head a little, the phone spinning in place in the water with its near neutral buoyancy. "Of what?"

"Of the people that died in this, human and pony and whatever else got caught."

"That... sounds genuinely nice." Novo smiled gently into the phone, nodding at the thought. "Yes, forget the other thing. The ponies don't need toys, show them you care. They love sappy things like that. Oh, while I have you, there are some foalnappers around. Maybe they were inspired by your little trip. Not ponies, another race entirely, but I'm handling it. Just passing a friendly warning to keep your people safe. I don't want any of their smooth skins coming into harm's way."

"Is that a common issue? We really have to go over what species exist and where they live. Speaking of that, we will soon have a map of the world that I imagine you would like."

"... Tell me more."

Luna opened a single eye. She heard someone approaching, but it was not mealtime. "Have you come to taunt me?"

"I have not," came smooth Ponish words. A pony?! Luna rose to her hooves, hope shining in her eyes. But it was a human that entered her field of view, causing her to sag down to her haunches. "I am sorry. After your people treated me so hospitably, to see this is our reply."

Luna blinked softly at that. "Who are you?"

"I am the one you foalnapped, the ruler (president) of this country." He gestured down the hallway he had come. "These are my guards." Two other men stepped into view, nodding but not speaking. "You did something very wrong, but you also had no idea what it was until you had already done it. I want to make sure that never happens again."

Luna's teeth set. "Do you plan to kill me to prevent that?"

"No! No... I want to set a few laws. My laws won't help if your country doesn't abide them. I am going to free you now, whether you agree or not. (Go ahead.)" He gestured at the cell and one of the serviceman advanced with a key. "There will be no teleportation onto or off of a moving airship (plane), with the only exception being to escape a crashing aircraft. Does that sound unreasonable?"

The serviceman undid the chain that held her to the wall and Luna rose, daring to try walking away. She was not stopped, though her movements were hobbled by the chains that remained. "That is... reasonable, provided it is not an act of war. No... normal, not guard, should consider such a thing." She hiked a brow. "Do you think we can all manage such feats? I told the other that claimed your station. Most do not."

"That doesn't make the law a bad one. Stay still so he can get the other chains."

Luna looked back as she was approached. He undid each chain, letting it fall heavily to the floor. She was being released, truly.

She did not wish it, but she could feel her eyes betraying her, tears starting to well up, clouding her vision. "Can I go home?" she asked in a voice that was far too small and shaking. She had meant to sound certain, but she just couldn't manage it. "Am I free?"

"All I ask is that this 'incident' never be repeated. Let's get you home."

The tears came more strongly. They would have to wait before moving her anywhere. She had emotions to feel.

Author's Notes:

The moon will emerge from the darkness!

The people learn more about what's going on. They have opinions...

Something else is brewing...

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