They did not prepare the snakes for them. The Snakes were never friends with the ponies, and had taken the wrong side in the last war. The two facts put them on the estranged side of relationships with America and its humans. They had left the organization of species before the war was lost, and avoided having to pay too much in reparations as a result. The snakes were considered easy to ignore. They had no great military power, nor huge political power.

But they did have bodies. Those bodies were valuable enough, at least according to Tirek as he grabbed them up. Subtlety had been abandoned. With cackling glee, he was stomping across their countryside, grabbing any that happened to be in the way, especially if they were something that could report to the humans what was going on. Tourists would not be their downfall, he assured.

He was far from alone, with many dozens of human-monsters of all kinds that took hold of each captive and secured them in cages for him so he could focus on the next catch, laughing wildly as he went. For as boring as waiting for it had been, actually doing it was nothing but fun. "Sometimes... snakes like hiding under rocks." He plucked up a small rock, sending three snakes slithering for new cover. It was a pity that he easily caught them. "Not that it helps them."

"Let us go," sibilantly hissed one of the snakes. "You have no right to hold us."

Tirek knocked on the top of their cage. "See these guns?" He flexed a great arm in front of their bars. "These give me the right. Got a problem? Here." He opened the door with a flick. "Go on... Lodge your complaint."

The snake glanced left and right at their peers, who were not rushing to help. "Um... alright..." He emerged from the cage with a smooth sliding. "Let us go." There, nice and succcint.

"Hm." Tirek put on a show of due consideration. "I could do that... I could... It would be the 'right' thing to do." He made big quotes with that. "And you'd be so happy."

"Yes we would." The snake reared up, standing tall despite not really standing, having no legs. "So you'll let us go then?"

"Mmmm... No." He put one large curled hand in front of the snake, flicking him back into his cage. Even as the snake crashed into their peers, Tirek slapped the door shut. "Any other complaints? Now, assuming you can keep your big mouths shut, we won't even hurt you! In fact, we have new exciting job opportunities for you."

He laughed wildly as he stomped off, looking for new snakes to add to the collection. Oh yes, that part of the grand scheme was so much more fun.

"Do you have what it takes." Chrysalis studied the young man critically. "Ever have experience with this?"

"I've done administrative assisting before. I can take notes, crosscheck files, and keep a schedule." He had a new look, slightly darker than the usual. Perhaps hispanic? "And I admire the work she's doing. If I can help her do that..."

Chrysalis set an empty mug before the man. "Cup."

"Coffee? Sure." He took the cup and stood up, moving to the cofee maker. "Do you prefer black, or some extras?"

Chrysalis sneered as if she had caught a helpless creature in her trap. "Extra sugar, but no cream."

"Coming right up." He worked the machine like he had many times before, soon holding a black cup of coffee. He set it in front of her and dropped a sugar of spoon. "Tell me when to stop." And in went another spoon, and another, and... "Another?" She just nodded, and he put in two more. "Any more and you'll be eating sugar with some coffee flavor."

"Just the way she likes it." Chrysalis closed her fingers around the new coffee. "You're hired."

"For more than making coffee, I hope?" Not that making coffee was a bad position, but accepting that could be just as bad, just rolling over so easily.

"Humans, I mean... no, of course not just that. You said you're good at sorting files? You'll be on that too. She usually throws the papers at me, expecting I know where they go, and where to find them later."

"On it." He nodded firmly. "Let's get digital, so we can store and retrieve documents in a hurry. Show me where your computer is."

"This way?" Chrysalis led the way slowly. "So... you know how to use it then?"

"A computer? Certaintly." He'd been president, and a small business owner. Running a computer basically was part of his job description. "Running a country has a lot of paperwork." That much he knew personally.

"Well, Matty, we're going to get along just fine..." Chrysalis was rubbing her hands together as she strode more confidently. "You'll make things so much easier."

"If you don't mind my asking..." Mateo leaned in from behind. "What is your job again?"

"Same as yours." Chrysalis huffed. "But I handle other things. Stop worrying about it. Coffee and keeping papers in order, that's your job."

"Yes, ma'am!" He looked around the small room he was led. There was one computer half buried in papers. It was clear nobody was using it for its intended purpose. How Represenative Cozy Glow kept anything straight as anyone's guess. "Wow... I better get to it."

"You better..." Chryalis turned towards the door, but paused. "Wait... There are laws." She sighed miserably. "You have your documents?"

"I could put them in myself?" He hiked a thumb at the computer waiting to be unearthed. "You look like you're already really busy."

"I am!" She paused with thought. "Good. I'll be back in half an hour to see how you're getting along."

Paul didn't sit, there was hardly any room to consider it. Mateo, as he had accepted the name of, got to work instead cleaning up. He made several piles, for things to be shredded, things to be stored, ideally digitally, and whatever he wasn't sure of. "This is working..." He was in their headquarters, with permission to browse their data.

Maybe he was a spy after all that? He'd rather be helping people find themselves, but that wasn't the identity he could wear at that moment. His nation needed him, in some ways more than ever before. There was no backup. He was on his own. He finally started the computer and sank onto the cheap computer seat, barely more than a soft wheeled stool. "Let's get to work." Still, he was hired. He would do quality work.

Spying was hardly an excuse for not doing that! "Let's start with..." Cozy had not logged the computer into her email, or any email, or much of anything. "Damn it." Mateo left the computer humming softly as he marched from the room. "Time to ask questions." At least he had a perfectly reasonable set to bring up.

He knocked on the thin wooden door and cracked it open, proving she hadn't locked it. "Miss Glow?" There she was, seated at her desk. A curious creature. A pony minotaur, they claimed. He could see bits of either, though she lacked horns, but not all minotaurs had those, especially females, which she was. "I'm working on getting your computer system up to speed."

Cozy ran a hand through her thick curls. "Hey, come in." She watched him intently as he slipped inside. "Close that." She waited for the door to be closed. "Good. You're Mateo, right? You'll be helping Chrysalis do all the things she can't be bothered with?"

"That seems to be the case." He clapped his hands together in front of himself. "And, to do that, I need to be logged in to your accounts. Could I get the login details for your office computer?" He pointed the way. "And I'll get out of your hair."

"My hair is one of the first things people notice... Besides the tail or the ears. It's a three way tie, gosh..." She raised a brow. "Which is your favorite?"

"Ma'am... I shouldn't be looking at any of those." Professional, cool, collected. A responsible young man. That was him! "You're looking ready to fight in the house."

"Damn right I am." She brought down a fist with a thump on her desk. "But, really, just between us... Pick one. You know you want to." But a rapid answer wasn't coming, nor were his eyes glassing over, which was odd. "Wait. Wait wait." She held up a hand, barely holding back laughter. "Oh, golly, wow... You're gay, aren't you?" He stood there, shocked, but she was just laughing. "It's alright. We're an equal opportunity office right here." She tapped a finger on her desk. "Actually, you just made something clear, and that's helpful. You're already worth the cost! Now... logins, gosh..." She began shuffling through her drawers, searching for something.

"If you have the credentials for your email, I can use that to recover the passwords for everything else, ma'am." Professional! Courteous! He put on his best smile. "I don't want to be in the way, ma'am."

"Yeah yeah." She dug out a fresh paper and scribbled on it. "If my email's enough, here." She pushed the paper forward. "Don't sign me up for any spam. I got enough of that, sheesh."

Mateo advanced on the paper, the key to so much. "Thank you. In fact, if you want, I'll work on getting rid of that spam for you."

"Golly!" She clapped her round cheeks in her fuzzy hands. "You can do that? You have so many talents, Mateo! Glad to have you on the team." She was wriggling her fingers at him as he left. "Nice boy... Hm... so I can't whammy gay men, good to know... That could have been awkward to find out somewhere else..." It was lucky Cozy Glow hadn't run into any other males not interested in females before. Humans came in so many varieties! "For having basically one color, they make up for it."

"In other news, people are upset." A window opened, showing people at a protest. "They want their GPS back. Sources say they want it now."

A new window sprang open, showing a harried man. "I don't even know how to read a map properly. They don't teach that in school. Did they ever? Whatever. I can't get where I need to go."

A woman yanked him back, moving to replace him. "I'm trying to deliver food and looking up where the places are, to get the food and where they have to go? That's an enormous pain! The maps still work, but you're not on it anymore. I can't live like this!"

The announcer resumed speaking, "The new law forbidding satellites doesn't appear to be going anywhere. With all flights above commercial airspace grounded, there's little alternative. Except one. Our friends across the ocean are hard at work on constructing their own space facilities."

A new window, showing Celestia watching over a magnificent set of columns of ponies hard at work. She called out, but what she was saying was hard to pick up. "Princess Celestia has promised to bring ponies to space."

A new window, a new pony. Luna smiled at the camera. "As the princess of the night and the starry sky, I approve of this. We will reach for the stars. The humans showed us the way, but that does not mean we have to wait for them before taking the next step on our own. Since they have taken no action of recent regarding the sky above our sky, we will move into that void. Know, my ponies, that I will watch over you so long as you reside in my starry world." She dipped her head gently as she faded from view.

"Pressure is mounting for action, but groundswells of support do not always turn into action on the hill. We'll report as things change."

Author's Note

The poli-drama, it continues!

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