"A horse?"

Kyle Marshal wasn't surprised at the President's disbelief.

"Yes, sir. A horse. One with wings and a horn."

"...A unicorn?"

"Correct."

President Byrne slowly got up from his desk and walked over to a cabinet.

"Marshal, I swear to god, if this is some kind of joke," the President began, pouring himself a scotch, "I will try Acone for... I don't know, Treason, or something. Whatever I can charge him with."

"It's real, sir. A bit... Surprising, but real."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"She, Mr President," Kyle corrected, "It's a she. And no, she is still unconscious in Sacred Heart Hospital.

"Under guard, I'm guessing?"

"Yes, sir, she is under guard. We have had no incidents so far, minus one doctor fainting at the sight of her. If you'd like, we could transfer her to a bunker, or a similarly secure location."

"Do you think it will be necessary?"

"No, sir. I think that she is safe."

"That's good," Byrne responded, returning to his desk, "We wouldn't want to cause an incident with the horse empire. Or wherever the hell she's from."

"No, sir. We would not."

"So, tell me, Mr Marshall," the President began, leaning back into his chair and taking a sip of his scotch, "How you think the next few days are going to play out."

Kyle considered his words. He had known the President for a long time, since his first campaign for Senator. That was eight years ago now, back when he was barely out of college. While he wouldn't exactly consider the president a friend, they had certainly had many experiences together. This wasn't the first time he had been asked what he thought of a situation.

This was, however, the first time he had been asked about such an absurd one. The whole thing sounded like something out of a bad children's story. A unicorn? Really?

Kyle's thoughts were interrupted by the President speaking up again. "Just say what's on your mind, Mr Marshall. I want to hear your thoughts."

"Well," Kyle began, "The entire thing sounds like something out of a bad children's story. I mean, it is a unicorn, and she's probably going to meet you - It would be a great picture book to teach little girls a little bit about politics, right? Who the president is, and such. So maybe we are in that Children's story, and this ends happily with the Unicorn running for mayor or introducing a bill to congress or something."

The corners of the President's mouth twitched as he tried to hold back a smile. "Do you really think that's what's going to happen?"

"No, sir," Kyle responded, "No I do not. This isn't a children's story. This is the real world. So, in all likelihood, that unicorn is from a race of super-advanced horses demanding slaves and tribute, and they will crush our society beneath their hooves. Or, on a slightly cheerier note, she's just from the magical planet of Unicorndia, and wants to introduce us to some sort of Galactic Federation. She did say she came in peace, according to Acone. Then again, maybe she's from a magical unicorn dimension, and wants to - I dunno, get people to stroke their hair or something. In any case, if she comes peacefully, we're going to get into one hell of a tussle with the rest of the world, not to mention Congress, about how to respond. And if in war... Well, we'd either be screwed, or our soldiers would have to live through some kind of horrifying children's story written by Edgar Allan Poe."

"Of course, that's all speculation," the President observed, the strain of holding back laughter evident in his voice.

"Yes, sir, it is. In fact, I can only say one thing for sure."

"And that is?"

"The next few weeks are going to be messy as hell."

The president stood up. "Well, Marshall, you were always one for cleaning up messes. Certainly had your fair share of the job when I was campaigning."

Marshall sensed where the President was leading to. He didn't exactly like the idea.

"So," the President continued, "We have a horse. And that horse is going to make one hell of a mess. You, Marshall, are going to be the stableboy."

Marshall exhaled through clenched teeth.

"Stableboy, sir?"

"I don't want you to let that damn thing out of your sight. I'll handle the interviews and diplomacy, of course, but I want you to make sure that horse is at least moderately comfortable the whole time she's here - And, of course, to make sure she doesn't try anything funny."

"Do you really think I'm qualified for this?" Marshall asked, not exactly cheerful at his new assignment. "I mean, I'm not good with animals. I'm just an assistant."

"And you're one of the best damn assistants I have. You can handle it. I'll get a car for you."

"If you insist, sir."

* * *

Twilight's eyes fluttered open.

Then promptly closed as the heavy lights of the room sent a railroad spike into her skull. She hadn't had a headache this bad since her after-coronation party.

She only spent a few seconds remembering where she was. Alternative universe of some sort. No idea if the inhabitants were friendly or not. From the dull feel of her horn, she was also almost entirely drained of magic, and probably wouldn't be up to normal for at least a few months. She had heard of that happening to unicorns before, even read several case studies, but she never thought it would happen to her. Normally it was caused by an exotic disease or over-use of elixirs, not just normal magic use.

This presented a problem. She had expected to have some sort of escape mechanism, in case she had traveled to a land of terrible monsters, but now she was basically stuck in an alternate universe she knew nothing about. She resisted the urge to panic.

From what she had seen of the world, it seemed nice enough. She remembered flashes, and a vague silhouette that looked something like a Minotaur. The animal was definitely bi-pedal, and Twilight remembered it speaking Equestrian. Which seemed slightly unlikely. Maybe the theories of a pan-universal influence, changing language and culture, were accurate.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes again, groaning in the light. She moved a hoof up to cover her eyes.

"IT'S AWAKE!"

Okay. That was definitely Equestrian. Panicked Equestrian, but her language all the same. Maybe there were ponies here after all.

"IT'S AWAKE! BE READY!"

Twilight slowly moved her hoof away from her eyes, trying to get used to the intense light of the room. It felt like several Diamond Dogs were trying to find gold inside of her skull, but the pain would probably pass. Now was the time to figure out where she was.

The room came into focus slowly. The first thing she noticed was four silhouettes, two outside of the windows that appeared to be at the far end of the room, and two in the doorway. Twilight was right, they did walk on two legs, although they didn't look much like a Minotaur. Closer to a monkey, but with heavy black fur.

As the scene increased in clarity, Twilight saw that the blackness wasn't fur, but some sort of clothing. Only the two in the doorway had it, while the ones in the window were wearing light blue clothing. It reminded her of something, but her head hurt too much to make a connection.

The ones in the doorway were pointing something at her. Metal tubes of some type. Weapons?

Twilight sure hoped not. She wouldn't be able to fight off against a filly right now, much less two full-grown apes.

"He- Hello?" She asked, hoping that the words wouldn't be her last.

"DO YOU MEAN ANY HARM TO THE PEOPLE OF EARTH?"

She knew that voice. Her brother had practiced it at home when he was first applying for the royal guard. It was the trained yell of someone in a crisis situation. Maybe the two ape-things were members of the guard? It certainly wouldn't surprise her.

"No- No," she muttered, "Ex- Explorer."

It took everything she had to keep from panicking. She tried to focus on the training she had received back in Equestria.

"When you arrive in the new world, they may be afraid of you. They may want to hurt you. They might even be expecting you. In any case, the important thing is to remain claim. Tell them you mean them no harm. Say you are exploring. Don't make any sudden movements.

"ARE OTHERS GOING TO FOLLOW YOU?"

"Al- alone."

Another figure entered the scene. He was wearing a jacket, and a stethoscope. A doctor. She was in a hospital.

"Okay, that's enough," he - no, that was female voice, this was a she - shouted, "I have patients trying to sleep here!"

"Ma'm, get back! We don't know what this thing is going to do!"

"This thing weighs thirty pounds. We didn't even bother restraining it, any one of us could chuck it across the room."

Thirty? I'm much more than that... Twilight thought, still staring at the scene.

"It's not restrained?" the guard shouted, his voice a mix of exasperation and anger.

"I saw it loaded into the bed. It weighs next to nothing, and it's so spongy I wouldn't be surprised if it was half foam," the new doctor explained, equally exasperated. "It probably has one hell of a headache, and shouting definitely isn't helping that. You stand outside and let me talk to her. She says she comes in peace, right? I have nothing to worry about."

"It could be lying!" warned the other guard, who had remained silent until this point.

"Yeah, it could be," the Doctor responded, "And if it is, you guys make it into Swiss cheese. But, for now, please stop screaming at my patients."

Grudgingly, the two guards slowly stepped backward from the door, still pointing the tubes at her. The doctor stepped between them, approaching Twilight's bed.

"Sorry about that. I'm Doctor Megan Alexander. Are you fluent in English?"

Twilight coughed. "I'm - I'm not sure what English is. But I speak Equestrian, and you appear to as well. Can we just use that?"

"Honey," the Doctor responded, "Are you speaking Equestrian right now?"

"Yes. Obviously. We both are, aren't we?"

"Eh, English, Equestrian, Tomato, Tom-auto," the Doctor responded, "A rose by any other name is just as sweet. Now, what's your name?"

"Twilight- Twilight Sparkle," Twilight responded, still slightly confused as to how "Megan Alexander" could actually be a name. "Where- Where is this?"

"Sacred Heart Hospital. Finest in the nation! Well, at least, in New York."

Twilight nodded.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Not- Not really," Twilight responded, skull still on fire. "Coming into this universe was harder than I thought it would be."

"Yes. You have a pretty big fall. Probably caused some broken bones, although we didn't want to test you for anything. Do you know what an X-ray is, honey?"

"Yes," Twilight responded, "I do."

"Can we give you one?"

"I- I suppose."

The doctor pulled a small device from one of her pockets. It looked almost like a hairbrush without the bristles. It was completely flat, with only a small indicator light on the top. It certainly didn't look like anything Twilight had ever seen.

"Here... This will only take a moment..."

The doctor waved the wand over Twilight's body. It had to be a joke. There was no way such a small machine could -

"Ah! There we go. No broken bones to speak of."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "But- That's not how x-rays work, is it? You need a machine, and film, not a hairbrush! Unless you did a magic scan, but you don't have a horn..."

"We moved past that a few years ago."

Twilight nodded, resisting the urge to lecture on how it shouldn't be possible to give an X-ray with a machine that small.

"So. You're fine. Although I image your head hurts. You should rest, sweetie."

Twilight wasn't exactly a fan of the pet names, but she didn't have the energy to make it known. All she could do was nod as she slowly drifted back to sleep.

* * *

"The world is abuzz at the appearance of a purple winged unicorn at Mayor Acone's press conference yesterday evening. Some are calling hoax, but the journalists were now able to take over seven hundred photographs of the appearance, not to mention numerous videos."

"I don't know about this horse! I don't trust her! I don't think that she's here peacefully!"

"I mean - Look, I know crazy shit has happened, but, a fuckin' horse? No way in hell. That is some grade-A bullshit. I must still be on that acid trip, or something."

"Horses! Talking horses! Jesus Christ. What kind of mating ritual producted that?"

"I think that it's a sign from mother nature - We enslaved the horses for our entire history, and now she comes to us in the form of a horse to start off her plan to purify her domain. She's so elegant."

"I think it's a sign from Jesus. This must be the first horse of the apocalypse. You know, unicorns were actually a phallic symbol from Satan, you can read all about it in my new book..."

"Man, I am way too high for this shit. Dude, pass that bong, I need another hit, man. Yo, TV land is having a marathon of Mr Ed in, like, respect for that horse chick. That show was the shit. We should watch it."

Author's Note

Forgot to mention, this is set in the near future. (~30ish years). This is mostly so I don't have to use actual politicians.