Chapters “Are you sure about this honey?” the new dad fretted once again.
Princess Cadance rolled her eyes, a habit she had picked up from her aunt Luna. “It my job, it doesn't stop just because I've had a foal. Twilight's covered the duties by herself for two months now so it’s time for me to return to work.”
“But do you have to? Can’t it wait another month?”
Cadance stepped forwards and nuzzled her husband affectionately “I know you like to protect us, but we’ll be fine. This is an important meeting and I have to attend. Now, you just enjoy a few days of peace and quiet, although I expect the new Crystal Guards training to be in full swing by the time I'm back.
“Yes dear” Shining Armour kissed his wife, before stepping back a few places a planting a kiss on Flurry Heart’s forehead. “Keep mummy out of trouble, okay sunshine?” he smiled at his daughter, eliciting a cute garble of gibberish in response.
The trip to Ponyville was uneventful in the Crystal Princesses private train, and upon arrival the trio was met by Twilight and her friends. They had built in a few hours buffer in their timetable for delays in the journey, but as the railway had been on time [1] they were able to spend some time together, even if Flurry Heart did steal most of the attention. It also gave the Crystal Guards a bit of downtime and they were able to spend some time exploring the quaint town.
But fun times pass so quickly and it was soon time to get moving. When the guards returned, the two princesses wished their friends farewell and along with Spike went to Twilight’s Library where the portal mirror was still set up. As Cadance briefed the guards one final time, Twilight cast the spell she had developed to change the mirror's reflection to be slightly purple.
Having studied the magic mirror, Twilight discovered she could alter the dynamics such that rather than being turned into a human when trotting through, she could stay a pony. Apart from allowing her to visit the human world as a alicorn with her magic intact (helpful given their was the human version of her in her group of friends their now), this change had also allowed the transfer of goods between the two worlds without them being magically altered.
It had been six moons since had first Twilight done this, and a lot had changed in those months. Formal diplomatic relations with Earth and Equestria had been quickly made, the humans embracing the fact there was an alternate reality with sentient species. And it had allowed basic trade to be set up between the two worlds.
The trade tended to be one way - with no disease or famine in Equestria, and no real want for the modern technology humans craved so much, the human world had little Equestria would want. Offers of improvements in agriculture were met with disdain - what would all the earth ponies do if the process was done by machines?
On the other hand, Equestria had many things the human world wanted. The amount of rare gems, metals and even gold that filled Equestria threaten to completely destabilise the global economy. Princess Celestia had resolved this by banning all by small samples of any materials, not to protect Equestria's resources but their new friends.
But the study of magic was something that Earth also craved, and that is what this month's meeting was all about.
Twilight motioned that the mirror was ready, and the three Princesses and dragon walked through the mirror, flanked by four guards...
It took a second or two for the two adult princesses eyes to adjust after the transfer, whilst Flurry Heart just seemed amused by everything that had happened. [2] As Twilight focused, she saw seven familiar faces smile at her, before every human present bowed to the two Pony Princesses.
Well, nearly everybody. Fluttershy was stood there, mouth slightly apart.
“I'm sorry Princess” Applejack sniggered slightly trying to remain formal “I’m sure she doesn't mean any disrespect”
Cadance just laughed as Fluttershy stood their staring at her foal wide-eyed, the said foal looking around at the new world with the curiosity that the youngster displayed towards everything.
Twilight rushed over to her friends and lifted Sunsets head with a hoof looking around at all her friends “Sunset, all of you, there's no need to bow to us, we’re friends!” before turning to the groups of other humans present “And that applies to you as well.”
Finally broken out of her trance, Fluttershy squeed “She is adorable!” and went to rush towards Princess Cadance, but caught herself about halfway across. Cadance notice this and just smiled, levitating the foal off her back and walking over to the yellow skinned human.
“Princess Flurry Heart, this is Human Fluttershy” Cadance spoke to her foal as she passed it over, Fluttershy carefully cradling the foal in her arms. Flurry wasn’t too sure what to make of the strange creature holding her, but once it used its fingers to gently stroke her mane and face seemed more than happy with the arrangement.
“I think you may have trouble getting her back, Princess” Rarity laughed as she walked over
“Oh?” Cadance replied with a smile “Wait until she grows a bit bored and starts firing some magic blasts off her horn, she’ll soon hand her back.”
Rarity’s face took a serious turn “Magic blasts?”
“Don't worry, since her Crystalling they aren't harmful any-more, but they will cause a bit of a sting.”
As the human friends went over to see the baby, Princess Twilight approached a pair that hadn't moved. “Hey Twilight” Pony Twilight greeted her counterpart.
“Gahhhh!” was all human Twilight could still say in response, staring at the five foot purple winged unicorn in front of her.
Pony Twilight turned to Sunset “She okay?”
“Yeah. It’s still tough for her to understand the whole pony thing. Same would be if any of the humans meet their pony counterparts. Can you imagine if Rarity meet Rarity, or Pinkie….”
“It was agreed never to let Pinkie meet Pinkie”[3] Twilight reminded Sunset, and both of them shivered at the thought, before laughing it of. The two former students of the immortal Princes Celestia caught up with all the boring magic relating business of running an inter-dimensional portal, whilst Spike tried to comfort the still perplexed human Twilight. Needless to say, being offered support by a talking baby dragon did not help the situation.
Whilst it would have been nice to have stayed in Canterlot High with friends, this was not a social visit and shortly one of the minders approached the Princesses to remind them that there was a schedule to keep. Farewells were said, promises to visit again were made, the four pony guards handed over responsibility to the human guards, and guests from Equestria were whisked away in a swanky limousine.
Author's Note
[1] You can tell this is a peice of fiction, the trains are on time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58SF0PzbzVw
Author's Note
I have no idea how the UN actually works. Yes, I could have found it. But this is a My Little Pony fanfiction and it really doesn’t matter.
All work and no play...
Princess Cadance woke up in an unfamiliar bed, and one that sadly did not contain her husband either. She quickly remembered that she was staying in a very fancy human hotel. Whilst the opulence surrounding her was nice, it wasn’t her crystal castle, and it didn’t have her snuggle buddy.
She looked over and Flurry Heart wasn’t in the crib that had been supplied. But rather than panic, some laughter from one of the nearby alerted her that her relentless bundle of joy/energy/dangerous overpowered magic was already up. Cadance followed suit, slipping on a robe and slippers along the way to the living room of the suite the Equestrian delegation was staying in.
Entering, and pouring herself a cup of coffee from a prepared jug, she turned to Spike who was acting out a story with some dolls, keeping her daughter entertained.
“Couldn't sleep?” Cadance asked the whelp.
Spike didn’t look up, but continued acting out the story of Nightmare Moons return “Nah, I heard this one making some noise so I thought I would keep her quiet whilst you and Twilight slept in… you’ll need your rest for the day ahead.”
Ah Spike. Faithful assistant to Twilight and twice saviour of her Crystal Empire. The sooner Rarity realised the catch he was, the better for everybody [1] She took a deep gulp of her morning brew And a damn fine coffee maker!
Twilight settled herself into her designated seating area in the large hall, put on the headset and activated the translation necklace Luna had designed. She was sat on the left hand of the large semicircle, and could see Cadance going through the same motions on the right hand side.
On the first arranged meeting of Equestria and the UN, the humans had initially been surprised that the two Equestrian delegates didn't want to be sat together. Of course, they permitted them to choose the seats they wanted and had picked seats almost polar opposites in the room. This surprised many of the ambassadors, but impressed the more military focused people. For whilst there has never yet been a hostile action towards any of the delegates sent from Equestria, it still made sense to keep themselves in a crossfire situation where possible.
Cadance was sorting out the books and scrolls around her, as the humans either side also settled herself in. Flurry heart was sat on her lap and Cadance unpacked a few toys for Flurry heart to play with. Hopefully it would be enough to keep her baby quiet during the boring meeting, and also hoped Spike had tired her out early in the morning meaning she would nap a little.
The meeting was brought to order, and the speaker started the formalities. However, there was an additional statement.
“To all gathered delegates. We have the honour today of both ambassadors from Equestria and the Crystal Empire with us for this session, given the importance of the subject matter. I will also like to note that Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire has also brought her new foal with her. She has requested that nobody treats her any differently. I mention this as should she decide to leave at any time this should not be taken as any other action than looking after her foal, not as any personal slight or opinion on the speaker or matter.”
The speaker looked over and saw Cadance nod in appreciation, and the rest of the meeting started as normal.
Cadance was bored. As much as she could play the diplomat when required, it was not something she enjoyed doing. It was a duty she had both inside her kingdom and outside, and meant nothing more to her than a job. At least here she didn’t have to wear stupid mane dos or anything here, but the simple fact was her aunts, and even Twilight, were much better suited to complicated debates.
She much preferred being a foalsitter like she did during her recent spell as a teenager. And she really enjoyed going out it into the world and being around ponies. Of course she realised that she had had a spoilt life and that had she not been a privileged Princess she would have to work. And this was her work and she had kept her attention and make notes for debating later.
She looked down at Flurry Heart who seemed to be happily chewing away on a soft toy, although seemed to be getting a bit more fidgety in the past few minutes. Cadance checked the time and noted that Flurry was due a feed. Cadance suddenly felt a bit self conscious for a reason that made no logical sense to her but grabbed a nearby blanket in her aura. Adjusting her and Flurry’s body positions, she placed the blanket over her baby and the lower part of her body.
Of course in Equestria seeing a foal suckling is something that nopony, or other creature, would pay any attention to. Udders and teats are how mothers feed their foals, it what they are for and feeding was just part of mothering. But Twilight had previously explained, and all the Princesses had seen for themselves, humans are very prudish. Not wearing clothes even has its own word, nudity, and was frowned upon apart from being the most natural thing Cadance could think of. Of course Equestria had clothes, but that was a status symbol. The princesses kept themselves unclothed to match the majority of their subjects except on very special occasions.
Yet on earth even feeding a baby was outrageous for some.
So while Cadance had been informed that she was more than welcome to suckle her foal however she liked, she decided to act in the most ambassadorial way and respect the local customs. Flurry seemed a little confused why the material was placed over her, but soon Cadance noticed she was suckling as usual.
Cadance looked around and noted that a few of the surrounding ambassadors did seem rather nervous. She wasn't sure if she could really blame them given that she was a powerful pony Princess from an alternate dimension who probably looked equally nervous, and ultra powerful creatures who are nervous can be dangerous. So, it seemed to be she was stuck in a perpetual cycle for now.
It was the lunch break and like all the other ambassadors, Princess Cadance and Twilight were having their meal in the grand dining room. They had a table to themselves, and Flurry of course, whilst Spike was off on another table to explore the various meat delicacies that the human world has to offer whilst the ponies had chosen to remain vegetarian in the human world.
Flurry had taken a nap after her feeding early but had now woken up and was filled with energy. She wanted to move around and get up to mischief, but she was content for the time being of just exploring the table they were at, being levitated back to the middle when she fell off (a game Twilight wished she hadn't accidently started).[2]
Alone, Twilight chose to discuss the matter at hoof in her sister-in-law. “What do you think, should we allow them to study weather magic?”
“I am tempted to say no. Whilst there could be excellent benefits to countries suffering drought or flooding, the risk of it being misused remains too high. Quite clearly the humans still don't trust each other, so why should we trust them?”
“I have the same reservations” Twilight sighed.
“It's tough I know,” Cadance smiled and brought Flurry over to her for a quick nuzzle “I can't imagine what those families are going through.”
“What about if we arranged teams of pegasi to work on the weather?”
“The numbers involved would be way too many, and wouldn't it be fair to ask so many ponies to be away from their families for so long.”
“But we can't just ignore them!” Twilight pleaded, filling her old foalsitter with a warmth that the young filly who was always so caring (if a little reclusive) was so passionate about helping others. If only there was a way...
Footnote:
[1] - Cadance is the Princess of Love, it's her job to ship all the ponies. What's our excuse?
[2] - We must have all ended up "playing" with a young child where they think its a game when its not, right?
A moment of chaos and a moment of clarity
The princesses noticed a small group of humans heading over towards them, but pausing a suitable distance away. Noting this, Twilight activated a translation crystal and motioned with a small royal wave of a hoof to come over. The group sat down and introduced themselves.
The Princesses had expected to be thrust straight into some political discussion, but it seemed the humans were just making small talk about the trip so far, if they were happy with the accommodation, how the food compared to Equestria etc. It was a refreshing change of pace for the Princesses, although one of the questions definitely caught them by surprise.
“Can I ask something, and definitely with no offence, but will we ever see the other two Princesses of Equestria?”
“I’m afraid not.” Twilight advised “Princesses Celestia and Luna cannot come into this world due to the connection they have to our Sun and Moon. It’s not that they are needed in Equestria, as each is powerful enough to control both. But we fear that there magic may interfere with the natural orbits in this universe, and given your reliance on New-tone-e-an [1]Physics it could be a disaster for this world.” Plus, human Rarity would die for a mane like Luna’s Twilight smiled inwardly
“Ah, I see. That is a shame that they can never be welcomed given it is impossible for Humans to travel to your realm, at least without needing a full spacesuit.”
“Yes, it is strange that the natural magic of Equestria is somehow poisonous to humanity.” Cadance added “It is something that both Equestria and Sunset Shimmer have tried to understand, especially as magic seems to work fine in this universe.”
Flurry looked at these strange creatures which had come over to her area and distracted the two ponies she was close to. She was obviously too young to know what jealousy actually was, but their actions had annoyed her and she started flying off in a huff. Cadance saw this out of the corner of her eye (as afterall she was always looking out for her foal) and was about to rein her in with some magic.
But another part of her wanted to see what the outcome would be. If Human’s wanted to study pegasus magic and the effects on weather, they better get used to ponies flying.
Finding herself with an unexpected moment of freedom, Flurry Heart started zooming around the room, giggling happily. Spike noticed this and looked over to the two Princesses, and noticing that they seemed happy with it went back to talking about comics with a fellow nerd he had located. He had his own series in this world now, how cool was that?
Within moments, Cadance and Twilight noticed Flurry's actions effect in the room. In Equestria it would be perfectly acceptable for a pegasus foal to be flying around inside, in the same way that Earth ponies or unicorns would run around. However, clearly a lot of the humans present seemed unnerved and even seemingly annoyed at a young child enjoying itself.
Cadance would understand if this was a formal event, or part of the meeting, but this was break time. It reminded them both of the stuck up Nobles in Canterlot, a group that has been deliberately de-powered to ensure equality for all. And it just highlighted what their own research had confirmed, that for many humans children, and often females, were to be hidden away.
Gently using her magic to slowly guide Flurry back to her, and levitating her baby onto her back, Princess Cadance stood up “Excuse us, we need to go look after our foal”
As the meeting reformed for the afternoon session on the first day, Twilight and Cadance reflected on the decision they had just made. It was likely to cause a bit of a ruckus, but there was no point delaying the inevitable. As the meeting was called to order, Cadance was given the floor. Cradling a sleeping Flurry Heart in her hooves, she began.
“Princess Twilight and I came here to review your discussion on the proposal, from your planet, to study weather magic. We came here with open minds on the matter, but clearly many of you have not.”
There was audible muttering from around the chamber, but that didn't stop Cadance, she had dealt with enough ponies in her time to be strong when required “You claim you want to study Equestria’s magic, but you clearly are not ready. The Europeans put together a joint proposal and tried to get international co-operation, but then other countries blocked this in favour of their own proposals. The only reason for this is the distrust and fear you have of each other.”
“And you clearly have different ways of treating your young in this world, as well as groups that are different. Even some of you that come from the supposed ‘Developed’ -” Cadance added a fair amount of sarcasm to this word - “world still have attitudes that are, frankly, repulsive to us. You treat people differently based on their gender, their skin colour, their choice of mates, their beliefs...any reason to treat them worse you take.”
“We cannot, in all good conscience, allow one group to study something that clearly has a risk of being weaponised, a thought that has been mentioned more than once. You may be willing to have friendship with Equestria, but not yet with each other, not even your fellow humans in the same country! And Equestria will not be the cause of further pain in this world.”
The whole chamber was growing in murmuring volume, obviously this is not what they were expecting. Cadance looked down at the foal pressed up against her body, and knew that turning Equestria’s back on the needy was not an option. “However -” Cadance said quite forcefully, capturing everybody's attention “- we cannot let the vulnerable down. Afterall they are the ones who stand to gain the most out of this. So, we have a proposal.”
Twilight’s horn lit and in a series of flashes around the chamber a stack of papers appeared in front of everybody. [2]
“In front of each of you is our proposal, translated into your native languages. Until you as a species is ready, we will not let you study our magic. However, that doesn't mean we can't use it to help you out. Our proposal is to base teams of pegasi in this world, to help manage bad weather, droughts and so forth across all the world.“
“They will need a base of operations, one where friends and family can be. And they need to be protected. We therefore propose Cloudsdale 2, a cloud city situated in international waters. This would would large exclusion zone around it where no human is allowed to enter. This will then have another exclusion zone around it, enforced by a human international force.”
“The pegasi volunteers would move around where required, but would have a whole community they can be part of back at this city, including their families. Where pegasi are based outside the city, they will be protected by a force of your choosing.”
The chamber began murmuring again, and one of the Ambassadors spoke “Are you sure your government would go for that? And what about the pegasuses , would they really volunteer to come and live here?”
Twilight spoke this time “I’d imagine the pegasi would relish the chance of showing off, and to be the heros, so we are confident that we would have volunteers. Besides, unlike all too many of you humans, to quote my friend Rainbow Dash, we would never leave someone in need ‘hangin’”
Twilight jovial tone then hardened “But make no mistake, humanity will need to protect the ponies that volunteer. If they are attacked or studied when on the job, or if any human breaches the inner exclusion zone, this will be considered a breach of the treaty. At best, it will result in a cut off of all relations.”
“At worse, it would be an act of war.” Princess Cadance added. “It's not in our nature to be aggressive, much like the equines of your world. But we also know how to defend ourselves, and our families.”
The meeting was drawn to a recess such that the documents could be read, and the ponies retired from the Chamber, knowing the humans had a lot to discuss.
“Have I made a mistake?” Cadance asked her former charge, as she played with Flurry back in their hotel suite a few hours later
Twilight was surprised “What do you mean?”
“Have I let my maternal feelings get the best of me? I mean, just because I felt uncomfortable as a mother with a foal, we reject the request?”
“I agreed with you, and it was the right decision.” Twilight reassured Cadance as Spike brought over a cup of tea for them all. And to prove the point, Twilight turned up the volume on the TV.
The media coverage of the day's events was mixed to say the least. Some coverage was on the critical side, wondering if Equestria really wanted to help or were they just playing games. However, it was a refreshing hope to the ponies to see a lot of the coverage blamed the humans rather than Equestria.
Ever since contact had been made, many people urged a greater unity in Humanity, that we had new friends to show our best side towards. Bickering over which countries got to study magic was just an example of the short-sightedness prevalent throughout humanity. As some put it the ‘aliens’ had come, not from outer space but from a parallel dimension, and we had shown just how immature as a species we are’.
A lot of the coverage was also very excited at the prospect of Equestria setting up a permanent presence in the world. Commentators were hopefully that despite the initial security measures, should things work out perhaps over time their would be more integration in our societies, maybe even living side by side.
Cadance smiled “Maybe there is hope for humans yet”
Both princesses were worried how the next day's meeting was going to go, but had been pleasantly surprised. Seemingly spurred into action, there seemed to be consensus that Equestria’s plan had merit. There was a lot of details to be sorted out regarding the security arrangements, both between countries and Equestria, but all the largest countries and the majority of remaining countries were in favour.
After a suitably long boring debate, a motion was presented to the chamber for the acceptance of the Equestrian delegates proposal. Cadance raised her voting card with a hoof and looked around. Twilight was also, rather obviously, voting for this bill and all but a hooffull of other members were doing the same.
Cadance heard the familiar tones of a mare she knew speaking Equestrian over their private communicators “As cute as it is, I think the Crystal Empire only gets to have one vote!” Confused, the alicorn looked over to Twilight, who was clearly trying to stifle a bit of laughter. Cadance then looked down to see her daughter holding up a spare piece of paper with her hoof in the exact same manner.[3]
“Huh, after my job already sweetie?” Cadance laughed, bending down slightly a kissing her daughter on the forehead “I better keep an eye out on you!”
Author's Note
[1] - Ponies have trouble with normal human names. I mean, the name has nothing to do with their personality, colour scheme or special talent. How crazy is that?Yay for politics
Many years had passed since Flurry Hearts first trip through the portal to the human world, but the experience was still disconcerting be that travelling as a pony or turning into a human (which she done so for the experience.)
After gathering her bearings, she began to speak "Skyla, this is the human world." The filly on her back looked around curiously as the human teenagers went about their school day, the magic mirror to a pony world now seeming mundane.
"They could be described as a ally, but it is a one way relationship. They have impressive technology, but that's to make up for a lack of magic. Pegasi came into this world many many moons ago and solved the first of their many problems. Earth ponies and Unicorns have also played their roles over the years, shaping this world into a better place. And yet, they have nothing to offer in return."
"Of course we make friends not to get benefits, and they have been good friends. Their literature and story telling has been intriguing, and the television they invented was a benefit to Equestria, opening up a world of learning to ponies across this land. But compared to what we have done for them, it cannot compare."
"Tomorrow is another of the bi-monthly meetings between our worlds. When you grow up, it will be your responsibility to help with this. And it's as boring as it's sounds, trust your big sister on this one. But you are an alicorn, the most powerful of creatures in either universe. And it is our job to help ponies and humans alike, not to get anything in return, but as it's the right thing to do."
Flurry looked around and considered everything she knew about this strange world and thought to herself If only the humans did what was right more often...
