New Way Home (16) (Patreon)

All things considered, it could've gone much worse. Thomas half-expected the authorities would respond just like the ponies of Motherlode had and make his group to fend for themselves. Maybe they would be thrust out into the wilderness, or maybe they would just be jailed and left to rot.

Thomas listened to Sharp Command read the scroll, considering its implications for their return. There would be no getting on a train and riding straight home. Enduring over a month in captivity to the Diamond Dogs was not the end for him.

What about the other Equestrians, who had suffered years in captivity? Apparently, they would have to suffer a little longer, while Equestria decided what to do with them.

Thomas lingered in the little conference room with a few of the more decisive members of the group. Shauna was there of course, with a notebook and pencil she'd acquired from somewhere. The last time he glanced at it, Thomas saw she had been keeping notes—recording detailed information about each surviving member of their group.

Sharp Command was among the first to leave, apparently taking their renewed pleas for help to the telegraph office. Importantly, that also meant they wouldn't be monitored during their conversation.

Shauna set the notebook down in front of her, resting her hooves over each other on the desk.

Thomas expected more of their group to be there—but not even Lin had stayed. Maybe they just didn't want to be around things they couldn't control. That just meant he would have to step up and represent her interests while she did—whatever it was that Lin had run away to do.

"You're all thinking what I'm thinking," Winston said, as soon as they had all packed into the table around him. "What do we do when they won't help? They come back with another letter exactly like that one, telling us all how we're screwed and they're so sorry but not actually going to do anything about it."

An unhappy murmur passed through the group. This once, Thomas was thinking the same thing as Winston. The ponies had intended them to wait months, maybe even as long as a year. What could they possibly put in a letter to make them change their minds?

"Riot?" someone else suggested. One of the more violent members of the group. Dimitri had taken out several diamond dogs all by himself, in such a way that did not leave survivors to limp away afterwards. "Make a lot of noise, maybe burn some stuff."

"No," Shauna said, before Thomas could speak. "We're their guests, and they're willing to help us. How willing would they be if we start breaking things? You don't piss where you eat."

She looked between them all, expression sharp. "How likely do we think we are to get the portal home to work without Equestria's help? We could go back to the mine, break in with some ladders or something. Go straight home."

"Not a good idea," Thomas said. He waited for anyone to object, but no one did. Even Shauna seemed curious about what he was thinking, and gestured for him to continue.

"We all came from different places. Some of us were more dramatically transformed than others. Even if climbing up towards the top of that cave makes the portal work—which we don't know—we also don't know how much will be reversed. And what if it goes to multiple planets or something? You don't walk blind into a Stargate because you'd rather not wait."

He gestured around the hotel. "No one wants to be trapped away from their families and friends, I don't either. But if we do anything rash, if we rush into this, we're going to alienate the people we need to be helping us. Or worse, get ourselves stranded somewhere dangerous."

"So what are you suggesting?" Winston asked. "Shooting down everyone's ideas is easy, but I didn't hear a better plan."

He tensed, turning to glare at him. Didn't hear anything from you either.

Before he could actually say so, Shauna tapped her hooves on the table, making them all turn to look. "No one here is going to do anything rash. Remember: one of us screws up, and they're going to blame everyone. Let me make that perfectly clear. If you decide for yourself to go breaking things or hurting anyone, we disown you. You're out on your ass in the cold. We are a team. We decide together what to do, and we do it. No one makes any unilateral calls."

"Whatever." Dimitri stood up, shoving away from the table. "You people are so smart, you figure it out. You want to sit around and take what they're dishing out, that's on you."

He turned, hurrying from the cafe. No one followed.

"I think we should go to the capital and ask for help," Winston said. He stood up behind his seat, pointing out the window. "Canterlot, I guess it's called. It's one thing for the court to refuse and say how busy they are. But if we're waiting outside the doors every morning, they have a reminder of what we're going through. Suffering is easy to ignore when it happens somewhere you don't live. But when it's right there, only a monster looks away."

That produced a few muttered agreements. Except for Shauna, whose expression remained neutral. She watched the group, while keeping her own feelings masked.

"Like, get train tickets or something?" someone else asked. "We don't have money. Pretty sure they use it here."

Winston shrugged. "Maybe we earn it. There's a lot of mining jobs in town. God knows we can do them pretty good after what the diamond dogs put us through. Or maybe we just ask nicely and they give us some cash from the fees meant to house us, so they can get rid of us."

"Doubtful," Thomas said. "The court gave explicit instructions for us to stay here. Their police might not let us leave. But if they do, there's no way they help us."

"We don't know that," Shauna said. "We only just arrived in Salt Lick. There's no way to know how supportive they will or won't be until we put it to the test. Maybe they hate having us here more than they're afraid of what the court will do. We don't even understand their government, other than guesses."

"We don't sit here," Winston said, more confidently. "That's what really matters. Maybe we're working in the mines—hell, maybe we find some magic books and try to learn to work the portal ourselves. Either way, we don't just wait. The Equestrians have already let us down once. Remember what happened in Motherlode? If that gets done again, I want to be ready."

There was some discussion, before ultimately agreeing on this point. Even Thomas didn't argue, however much he might dislike the stallion. Sitting and waiting on the mercy of others was the one thing they could be positive would not lead to an outcome any of them wanted.

"I'll talk to the soldiers about maybe letting us go to Canterlot instead," Shauna said. "We should at least know if it's an option. Not that I'm thrilled about traveling so far from where we know the portal is. But if we're just going to sit around anyway, it isn't like traveling would make things any worse."

Many of the others scattered as well, talking in little groups about what they would do. Some wanted to investigate magic, learn to fly, or just rest and recover from the awful treatment they'd endured with the diamond dogs.

Thomas was among the last to leave. He didn't quite make it to the door before someone caught up with him from behind, slipping in next to him. "Thomas, before you go."

He groaned, stopping to let Winston reach him. "Yes?"

"I didn't want to say this during the meeting," he began. "But I feel like I need to say something."

He didn't stand next to him, but stopped between Thomas and the door, face sharp. "I think it's seriously screwed up what you're doing with Lin. Taking advantage of the situation to pressure her into a relationship. If you think nothing will ever happen, you're wrong."

Thomas took a deep, slow breath. It took everything within his power not to take one of his hooves and smack Winston in the face. "I haven't pressured her into anything," he said. "Go ahead and ask her, asshole. Lin and I were already good friends before this. We came here together. But we never had that kind of relationship before, and we don't now."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. You expect me to believe you?"

Thomas shoved directly past him, pushing Winston aside. "I don't give a damn what you believe. You can go ahead and ask Lin whenever you like. I've never touched her."

He left the stallion standing in the empty cafe. He half expected a blow as he walked away, enough that his ears pivoted back towards Winston. If he decided to come running and attack, Thomas wouldn't just stand there and take it. He was not getting decked over something that hadn't even happened.

Apparently he wasn't, because no blow came. Winston only shouted after him. "You better not be lying! I will ask! And if I find out you took advantage of her, there will be consequences when we get back to Earth!"

Yeah, sure, he thought, bitter. Because the police would be jumping over each other to believe an accusation by someone who included the words "I was a horse at the time" in their description. Very sane and definitely not going directly into a mental health hold.

Naturally the person he went looking for was Lin herself. Not to head off any accusations, since obviously he had nothing to worry about there. But he hadn't seen her since she left the breakfast, and he wanted to make sure she was okay.

He didn't have to look very far. Lin had gathered the willing ponies outside the hotel, in a large empty lot behind it filled with weeds and a few piles of lumber covered with waxed tarps. He couldn't say what the original purpose of that land had been, but its current use was obvious: Lin had already started flight practice.

It wasn't just her there—a half dozen ponies had joined her from their group. Even Shauna passed by, though she didn't linger, continuing on behind one of the hotel staff. Probably headed to the guard post, notebook tucked under her wing as she went.

Most of those gathered in the lot were other refugees, but not all. A handful of local ponies waited, distinctive by their simple clothing that utterly failed to preserve any part of their modesty, yet they all insisted on wearing anyway.

Then again, maybe he could do with a scarf or a coat himself. Much of the awkwardness Thomas felt about being nude all the time had faded during all those weeks of hard labor, swallowed by the necessity of survival. Few others could bring those feelings back—except Lin.

The pegasus was near the front of the group, which had every pony separated a little like they were running an aerobics class. At the front was a single mare, her wings and back thickly muscled and a sharp scar running down her face, right up to the patch over one eye.

She spoke like a drill sergeant, calling commands to the assembled ponies. "Not like that! All the way out! I know it hurts, that's the point. You, red, your left wing isn't open all the way. You're not foals, stretch!"

Maybe that was what the locals had come to see? The mare had a way with words. A watching miner even winced when the instructor shouted something at a pony in the back row.

None of the humans had any issue with it, though. They looked awkward and uncoordinated, but that didn't stop them from giving it all they had.

"They were all so eager to start," said another pony, nudging up beside him. Not Winston—that stallion was nowhere to be seen. Night Spiral followed his eyes, all the way to Lin. "I didn't expect to find anyone so soon. But there are several ponies here who aren't happy about what happened to you all. They want to help however they can."

He nodded along with her. "That's... good. We can use all the help we can get. We'd still be slaving in that mine if it wasn't for ponies like you."

"And you." She nudged against Thomas's shoulder, grinning at him. "I'm sure Lin thinks so too. Have you told her how you feel yet?"

"I don't know how," he began. Then he froze, eyes going wide. "Don't tell her I said that."

Night shrugged both wings, retreating from him. "My lips are sealed. But yours shouldn't be. Something tells me she won't be the first one to say something."