"You aren't seeing the big picture." Cozy fluttered her lashes at her new aide. "Over half the senate is male." She thrust out a finger. "I can control males." A second finger joined it. "And..." She danced towards the window with a giggle. "I can do it subtly. It's not my fault they agree with me at the right times. Let them argue and squabble most of the time. I'll be the unifying voice." She turned from the window at her aide. "Not even the first 'person' to do so. I'll just become more famous and powerful. They'll reach out to me to get things passed. Maybe I'll even take up a few. Expert on reaching across the aisle! That's me."

She snapped her fingers with one hand, the other fluffing her thick curls. "Your problem was going for the top. Even the president has to answer to other people. The senate, as a whole, can override the president. They can do whatever they want, if the senate is a unified front."

"Fool." Her new aide was giving her a dirty look. A firing offense for most aides, but she was not most. "They have rules, subtle ones, that can impede doing anything at all."

"Then can keep their dumb constitution." Cozy shrugged dramatically. "As if I even care? Nothing I want matters to that, anyway. Now, if you're my assistant, why am I not holding a cup of coffee?" She extended a hand, empty of any sign of caffeine.

The human changeling queen scowled at Cozy with fresh ire. "I'm here to help you get the job done, not get you refreshments. You can handle that yourself!"

"Pfft, fine." She was moving on light feet over to do that herself. "You are getting such a bad review." She giggled as she poured herself a nice big cup. "Humans do that, review everything, all of them. You want to know what a random human thinks of something? They're happy to share!"

"Not fair," Chrysalis grumbled softly.

"What's that?" Cozy turned, coffee being sipped as she leaned back against the counter that held the machine that produced it.

"It's not fair." Chrysalis punched one palm with the opposing fist. "I went through so much effort! And you just... walked in?"

"I did not walk in." She made great big air quotes, coffee sloshing. "I had to get ID. That was a trip! To get ID you have to be on the books, so I had to do that first." She sighed sufferingly despite still smiling like she won a grand prize. "That was a trip. Walking up to that desk when they had a guy working there, getting him to give me the schedule for the next one I had to talk to... Had to work my way up! But I got it." She fished into a pocket and produced her social security card. "Pow!"

"Pow," repeated Chrysalis with none of the excitement. "Well, anyway, I have the connection to Grogar. We have to make sure America--" She waved broadly over the area. "keeps its eyes off Grogar and his activity."

"I have a great idea for that." Cozy half-danced up to Chrysalis. "What if satellites... We outlawed them?"

"Pardon?" She hiked a brow at the new senator. "Why would they agree to that?"

"Trust me on this." Cozy casually tapped her aide on the nose. "I got this. They'll cheer."

The phone rang. This should not be much of a cause for concern. The problem was, Paul didn't normally use his landline. He had a cellphone for most communication needs.

While this confused him, it did nothing to prevent Swift Swim from grabbing the ringing receiver and shoving it against a fuzzy ear. "Goldstein residence!" she chimed. "I'm his answering service. Really important, huh? That's just--"

Paul gently took the phone from her suddenly pouting grip. "Goldstein here."

"Hello, Mister Goldstein." Female, sounded officious. "The president would like to speak to you."

Paul went rigid. Why?! "P-put her through!"

"One moment." The line went quiet, a click.

"Mister Goldstein." A fresh voice, the president. "They briefed me on the situation. Are you alone?"

"Not entirely." Paul moved as far away as the corded phone allowed. "You could call my cell phone?"

"Insecure. Get to a private location kindly."

Paul waved the children back to their game. The adults, thankfully, were off working. "The only monitoring ear has Top Secret." He glanced at the Secret Serviceman monitoring Paul in return. "How can I assist? I have a secure cell."

"You do?!" Papers shuffling. "Call me." The line went dead.

Paul dug out a phone he only used rarely. "I'll be right back," he called to the kids. "Keep them here," he aimed at the Serviceman. With everything in order, he hurried to his room and closed the door. Soon he was on the phone, again, with the president. "So you know?"

"The broad strokes," explained the president. "I need to know if you have any intelligence on the current mess. What destroyed the satellites? What sent your secret service rogue? Any information you can give is appreciated."

Paul licked over his lips. He hadn't expected the call, or the nature of it. "I wish I knew either of those. My loyalty remains to these states." He frowned with fresh thoughts. "There was one creature that stood out. Female, curly hair?"

"Curly hair?" More papers shuffled, a keyboard clattering. "What kind of creature?"

"Hard to miss." Paul shrugged at the call, not that they could see. "Half pony, half human. A hybrid, though different than the hybrid I know of in the next room."

"That's two more hybrids than the average person deals with," jested President Julia Stein. "Off-topic, but what made you choose that name?"

Paul swallowed, realizing his last name was rather similar to Julia's. "It seemed safe."

"You aren't Jewish." It wasn't a question.

"No..." Paul was not... "I'm an atheist, if we're being honest about it. We're not here to discuss that, though."

"We're getting off topic. You are a resident of this world." Something shuffled in the background. "Tell me what it could be. We need information, and you're a source."

He had left the job. Paul wasn't the president anymore, but his nation still had need of him. It wasn't an impossible situation... Other presidents had helped in their own way. "Do we have any footage to compare against?"

"We were expecting a peaceful sky." A sigh came across the line. "That didn't work out. Something smashed them, all of them, as if they were targeting them specifically. They burned up before they could get to the wrong. It's... a miracle they work at all, with the universe being filled with air as it is."

By human physics, the air should have been a constant drag, causing them to plummet to the ground far earlier than the violent end they had run into. "Right. I assume eyes are on the sky now?"

"Of course, now. We were hoping for some information, any information on what to look for. We have people scrambling to get things moving. Do you have any idea what the automated car industry is doing?"

Paul recoiled a bit. "What are they doing?"

"They need GPS yesterday. Off-topic." She sounded like she was counseling herself as much as anything else. The stresses of being a president were many. "Humanoid, pony hybrid, curly hair. Colors?"

"Pink fur, blue... Yes, blue hair, I'm sure of it." Paul frowned softly. "That was the most disturbing part, that the Serviceman didn't remember that, or seeing her, just me."

"And that is why we're having this conversation." He could hear further typing in the background. "You've been a great help, thank you. You may be called again, but you're welcome to report in before than if anything else comes up."

Paul stuffed the phone away and let out a new breath. "And they pull me back in." He was officially 'part' of things, whether or not he liked it. "I can only hope that helped." He emerged from his room with a smile returned. "Who's winning?"

The teens were happy to inform him exactly who was winning and how. Life went on, no matter what thoughts were bouncing around in his head.

Cozy raised a cup of harder stuff, looking across the table at the men that were watching her with full attention. "It's a waste of money. You don't enjoy wasting money, of course."

"No! Not at all." It was one Republican that started it, but the others agreed with raised voices and thumps of their fists.

"Space is just another way Big Tech--" She made big quotes at that. "--is lording it over us. Forget them! We have more than enough to do right here on the ground." She tapped at the desk with the last few words, eyeing them with a smile. She could see them watching her intently. They were under her sway. "So let's get rid of them. Why resume that hurtful spending package when we could put the money somewhere else?"

They began talking animatedly among themselves, which suited her just fine. "I have to check in with some others." She got a few dismissive noises, and little else. She had released her grip on their attention, letting them work themselves up from where she had gotten them started.

"Gentlemen!" She sat down in front of a bunch of Democrats with a big smile. "We have so many problems in need of solving. Our constituents are dying to see progress; actual progress! We could really deliver." She giggled, fluffing her curls, a habit she never got rid of entirely. "Take the cash being wasted in space and bring it down to earth. Think of the programs we could be running. Universal pre-K? We can do it!"

The crowd whispered excitedly. They would have been less universally approving if it wasn't Cozy giving the suggestion. But she was, and the tide was flowing powerfully in the direction she wanted. "Why are we wasting money on this? We have a chance to do things right!"

"There are no enemies left. Why are we still devoting so much to defense?" Another senator slapped the desk with both hands. "They're both wasted pots of money for no reason!" The debate was getting louder. Lowering the military spending would be a bonus, surely, but wasn't what Cozy was there for.

"The Republicans won't pass that." Cozy shook her head. "If you want to pass that, I'll vote for it, but you know they won't." Grumbles raised quickly in discontent with the other side of the senate and their disagreements. "Let's hand the president a victory. Get this bill signed into law, get the money, and use it for something good."

The senator to her left clapped her on the shoulder. "Great idea. Let's get what we can and show some momentum."

"Then we can push for more." Excited shouts rose in unison. She had motivated them. Cozy grinned with soft pleasure at her work.

"They shot it down." Chrysalis threw a folder at Cozy's desk. "You got a super majority of them and still failed." Her smirk was perhaps malicious. "To come so close just to fail, anyway. You must be so very disappointed."

"Just means I have to spread my net." She spread her hands. "It was a close vote. A few sweet words in the right ears and we'll get this through, no problem." She clapped her hands, dusting them off as if she had just finished a dusty job. "We'll get this done, and keep them blind."

Chrysalis threw up a hand in a casual dimissal. "You want me to set that up?"

Cozy knocked her chair over as she stood up so quickly. "You can do that?!"

"Of course I can." She rolled her eyes. "I am your assistant, don't forget. I'll get you the right ears in the right room." Chrysalis twirled a pen in her right hand. "Leave that to me."

Author's Note

Politics!

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