Universal Language

Chapters

4 - Just a Chat
17 - People's Republic
1 - Hello World
2 - First Contact
3 - Reactions
5 - Legal Alien
6 - Presenting
7 - Chatting the World
8 - Living in the Ritz
9 - Downtime
10 - Bored!
11 - Friends
12 - American Born
13 - Purplesmart
14 - She Awakens
15 - Heart to Heart
16 - She Hears Us
18 - My Fellow Citizens
19 - Demands
20 - Master Our Own Destiny
21 - A Little Chat
22 - Unlimited Power
23 - Infrastructure Week
24 - Nihao!
25 - A Little Angel
26 - Global Struggles
27 - Promises Kept
28 - Rainbow Power
29 - One-Way Roads
30 - Fabulous
31 - Unified
32 - Epilogue

4 - Just a Chat

"Our faithful have asked." The pope looked across at the camera that broadcast him. "They have asked how these new creatures fit into the Good Book. They weren't written in there, were they? We cannot assume that, but also we cannot assume that the Good Lord didn't work through them. We are all his creations. Their relationship with him may be quite different than ours, but he looks down over each of us. And they are no exception."

He gently clasped his hands. "Let us not repeat mistakes of the past. We are meeting a new people, and they come with their hands spread wide. They ask for nothing, but offer everything. They are good Samaritans from lightyears away. It is the decision, a papal decree, that these alien people be given the chance to show their kindness."

He raised a lone finger. "We will not cast the first stone on these kind neighbors. If they wish to embrace us, and do not all our teachers insist we return the favor?" He took a slow breath. "Many of you are scared and confused, but God works in mysterious ways. Let's not turn Him away, instead we should celebrate that He acts in such a bold fashion, to send us such a clear message of favor, to all of us."

Rainbow leaned closer to her monitor as it crackled in her ear, the humans were finally setting up the communications array, and Applejack was safely with them in a controlled environment, in a suit for protection just in case the world was a bit nastier than the scientists promised.

She clapped as a hazy image appeared, slowly sharpening as the ship's computer learned to cope with what the Earth computers were generating. "AJ!"

"Howdy." AJ waved, wearing her suit. Unlike the human suits, the pony ones were closer to form fitting, not hindering her mobility much at all. "They got me in a right small place." She turned in place. "Real small. They said ah gotta hang out here fer a bit, make sure ah don't get sick, and they don't. Then they gotta see how sick anycreature gets." She rolled her eyes softly. "If they let Flutters look 'em over, it'd be fine."

Rainbow made a face. "Woowee, you look real uncomfortable, AJ. But you're gonna get to meet the bigwigs, huh? That's exciting, right? You'll be the first to get to say hi."

AJ flashed a bright smile at that. "There is that. Right lookin' forward to it. Knowin' such important things are comin' up keeps me goin'. Who woulda thought? We just met, and already, I'm gonna get to sit at the grownup's table with the world leaders?" She tipped her hat, the brim just poking into the bottom of the screen. "Makes me right proud."

Rainbow could just see her friend's blush through the helmet, and she chuckled, shaking her head. "Lucky." She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to the monitor, filling the camera. "Just, you know, be careful, okay?" Her voice dropped to a gentle concern, before bouncing back to her usual timbre. "Can they understand us yet?"

"Not even close." She reached up and tapped the side of her helmet, causing her words to be repeated in English. "Without Flutters' translators, we'd be stuck with wavin' at each other and hopin' the other picked it up. That'd be a mess! Tell her ah said thanks."

"Excuse me," asked a voice on Applejack's side. "Can we ask you a few questions?" They were, of course, speaking English, translated by the devices both Applejack and Rainbow were wearing.

AJ waved at the camera, the one she had been speaking to Rainbow through. "Talk to ya later." The conversation ended, just for the image of Rainbow to be replaced by a human. This one wasn't dressed the same way. She didn't seem to have a uniform at all. AJ blinked at the strange human. "Right nice to meetcha."

"Hey." Cindy smiled sheepishly. "First time I said hello to a space alien. You're prettier than I'd been scared of."

Applejack adjusted her hat with confusion. "Well, um, nice to hear that. Better than the alternative. Name's Applejack. Yours?"

"Cindy." Cindy hiked a thumb at herself. "I don't work here. They dragged me here, said I was 'already in contact with you', and insisted I come say hello."

Applejack considered the human curiously. "Why would they—" But it hit her. It was that creature she saw waving wildly at the probe. "It's you! Howdy there. Hope the probe wasn't too alarmin'. It was jus' gettin' a lay of the land, as it were."

Cindy relaxed at the recognition. "It surprised me, and almost got eaten by an angry bird." She considered Applejack in her suit. "Awkward question, but is that your skin, or something you're wearing? I'm not sure."

Applejack laughed gently at that. "If it makes ya feel any better, we thought the same thin'! We were mighty surprised when we got a look at one-of-ya without that whole gettup in the way." She stretched her long legs. "The real me's hidin' under the protection here. They said I'm safer with it on. I think I'm gonna get a rash." She pawed at the material, the motion blurred slightly by the distance between them, the way she moved and the thickness of her hoof-gloves. "Well, since yer here, howdy. I present warm tidin's from Equestria to you an' the rest of ya human-folk."

It was a curious thing. Cindy could hear Applejack singing her strange alien language, hauntingly mesmerizing when it wasn't interrupted by the artificial English words of translation. "Applejack, may I ask? What does the song mean?" She dug out her phone, stuck in Airplane mode, but still capable of playing the file it already had loaded. Soon, the pony song played out. "What does it mean? It isn't 'how to serve man,' I hope?"

"Ya shouldn't be worried about that." Applejack missed the reference entirely, but pushed past it all the same. "Ain't nothin' scary. What'd be the point of that? It's us celebrating the Summer Sun. We sing a real nice song, celebratin' the sun comin' up nice an' high, and that it comes up that way every day, like clockwork. 'Specially the pony responsible fer it" She snickered to herself, "Princess Celestia likes ta complain it's a load of work, but she doesn't fool anybody, least of all us."

"She controls the sun?" Cindy blinked in surprise. "What about the moon?"

Applejack looked confused, as if the question was just silly, but then it hit her. "Oh! Right. Silly me." She shook her head. "Our plannet an' yours ain't havin' the same situation. Ours needs a helpin' hand to keep thin's flowin' just right. Two ponies help with that, Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna." Applejack nodded with each name. "Nicest ponies you'll ever meet. They ain't here though. Would be rude to send them off to another world when they're needed right there. More surprisin' to me how some places work without 'em!"

"You say 'princess', but are they your queens?" She scooted closer, looking the pony over closely on the monitor on her side, peering through the glass as if it wasn't even there. "Are they in charge?"

Applejack turned an ear back. "They're in charge of the ponies. The, uh, not ponies don't always listen to her"

Cindy perked at that. "Your world has more than one thing on it, that can talk?"

"Yours don't?" It was hard to tell if Applejack was surprised, but the words gave enough context. "Shoot. We're the first other creature you done ever saw? Ah thought we were jus' the first one from another world."

Cindy shrugged easily, as if they weren't in the middle of discussing that they'd never met another alien species. "That's why it's so shocking you're here. If we knew it was possible, then there might be no surprises." Cindy glanced at the camera that faced her. There were many. Did one go to Applejack? She could not tell which went the other way. Most went to other humans, watching and listening to her conversation. "Do you think the princess will come see us? Do you think the other aliens will too? Will they be okay on Earth?"

"Probably not." AJ shrugged again, ears twitching in the helmet. "Like ah said, we need Princess Celestia and Luna right there on Equestria. Ain't nothin' mean meant in it, just need'em. Now, well, if we get along, other ponies could happen. Ain't no law 'gainst that." She raised a hoof at the camera. "You want to press hand to hoof with an alien?"

Cindy couldn't resist her smile. "Actually, yes. Yes, I would like that very much."

In another room, notes were taken furiously by two monitoring scientists. One looked to the other, speaking in a quiet murmur, "We know she can understand us, but can she really comprehend what we're saying?" He took a slow breath. "Is the AI that smart?"

"She is interpreting human concepts, which the AIs can't. The software is translating complex ideas into alien languages." The second scientist leaned in close. "I'd kill for that technology." He glanced at the other. "Figuratively speaking, of course." He set down his pen. "She is awfully relaxed, isn't she?"

The first nodded along, "They may have incredibly advanced technology, and they have come a very long way just to talk, but they have no reason to see us as a threat, right?" He closed his notebook, holding it in his lap. He started. "Wait, do you mean the alien?"

"I don't know what gender the alien has, if it even has genders we recognize. Could be like a mushroom with more than anyone wants to count." He pointed to Cindy. "Her." He tapped the pad he was making notes on. "She doesn't seem at all concerned to be in there chatting away." He scoffed at that. "We haven't even heard her talk before this. She just stumbled on a probe that was designed for interplanetary communication, and got to talking with the aliens."

The other scribbled something new. "She was in the right place, at the right time. We're just as lucky. They aren't hiring many for our position, you know that."

"True." He folded his hands together. "Damn true. Wish I could go in there. I have so many questions."

"They only sent her in there hoping she'd get them to drop their guard, and it's working. She's already got them spilling information everywhere."

"She isn't exactly hiding, so far I've seen." He reached out, turning up the volume on Cindy and Applejack. "They haven't been hiding anything we've been able to see."

"Which is why we keep looking." They resumed their notes. "That's our job."

Cindy was joyfully unaware of that conversation. "May I ask, your voice, the English one, it sounds like a woman, a female. Are you that? Do you know what that is?"

Applejack blinked softly, almost hidden by her visor. "Oh, um. Well, shoot. If yer askin' if I can, you know, incubate a little me, um." She reached back, rubbing her lower back end gently. "Ah could, if I found a fittin' other pony to do that with. Um, how 'bout you? You a lady?"

"Lady." Cindy waved over herself. "Picking out ladies with humans is easy, hirrah sexual dimorphism. Females tend to have more fat up here." She gestured up towards her chest, then down around her hips. "Usually rounder around here. Our voices are higher, relatively, and we're smaller, usually. Again, all averages. There are big ladies and small guys, happens. Luck of the draw. Now you can try to tell us apart."

Applejack reached up towards the camera Cindy could see her through. "Thanks fer sharin'. Seriously, you don't seem so nervous like most of ya. Hope they let me outta here soon, so we can meet proper-like."

"I am, but I'm excited too." She pressed a hand to her chest. "I've been reading books my whole life. Meeting a real alien was something I could only dream of, but it was like a joke, because no one could figure out how to get here in my lifetime." She pointed up at the imagined stars. "To the cosmos, other worlds. We've only just confirmed there are infinite of them. We like to imagine there's life up there, but we haven't found a hint, until you all started singing at us."

Author's Note

Okay, but what if I did two in a day? Would you still be my friend? Or would you just point at my typos?

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17 - People's Republic

Twilight ran her hooves through her mane and over her face, straightening herself out before the mirror as she practiced smiling again, happy with the way it looked. "Alright, let's do this." She took a deep breath, stepping out into the main area of the ship to where the controls were, where Rainbow Dash sat on her rump, kicking her hooves at the console. "Excited?"

Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder at Twilight. "Just a little. Finally, something interesting!" She pulled herself up with a great flap of her wings, following Twilight back into the room where the rest of the communication equipment was. "At least we're talking to someone new today!" She began pressing buttons with rapid touches of her wing tips and agile hoof motions. "Let's connect. Oh yeah."

Twilight smirked at Rainbow's words, allowing herself a moment of happiness as the communication system came alive around her, including a view of earth below them. The world span a moment before zooming in on one of its many continents. Ponish words formed over it, "China," being the largest, but others appeared over nearby other nations.

She nodded firmly. "Let's speak with the second most populous humans. Ready?" Rainbow thrust a hoof up. "Then let's begin." With a crackle, Twilight knew it had begun. Humans could see her. She spoke in Mandarin, Fluttershy's translator converting her words seamlessly. She flicked her ears at the sound of the words. They were closer to the melodic whistling of her own people. Perhaps they should have started there? But they didn't know before. "Greetings and well-met. I am informed that you are the leader of your people."

She allowed the human a moment to gather his response. "Yes, I am." He straightened up with a stern expression, just the way the other leaders had done, when she first contacted them. It was funny how many different ways they expressed themselves, but she still loved their subtle little nuances that often times felt very similar. "What are your intentions?"

Twilight perked at that. "So direct. My intentions are simple. I want to live here. To do that, I require neighbors that are not making a mess, of themselves or the area around themselves. To see that—"

The man signaled Twilight for quiet. "We are managing our own affairs. You speak with the Americans? Their crime is ten times ours! Our people are well-behaved, and understand the importance of the greater good over little personal needs."

Twilight nodded along with his facts, smirking all the while as she glanced towards Rainbow Dash, who rolled her eyes and mimed falling asleep, only to catch herself at the last moment and pay attention again. "China is a great nation, and you have done very well in making it what it is today. By population, yours is the largest." She paused. "Second-largest nation. I apologize that it took so long to reach you. You're on the other side of the world from us."

She tapped at her throat. "We have also gotten past the language barrier. We have created a device that will translate our words into human languages, as we speak them." She flicked her ears as her translator translated her speech for the man as she went on. "Though you speak for all of your people, I find it only fair that I also speak with some of them, to learn from them, and see what they believe should happen next."

"Of course! I will pick some to speak with you." The man made some gesture. Of parting, perhaps? The call ended.

Twilight wrinkled her snout. "I have no need to speak to any ruler's cronies. Rainbow, prepare to contact some of their people. Make it as scattershot as possible. I want a wide net."

Rainbow saluted, giving the closest she could come to a serious nod of her head. "Will do." She took over the controls, still grumbling under her breath about how long this was taking, but there was a smile on her lips all the same.

"The president of China has announced that America's monopoly on ponies has been shattered." An image appeared, showing Applejack falling to pieces. "Exactly how, they haven't elaborated. Experts say it's likely the President just means he spoke with them too."

"It seems strange that this is even news." A different anchor showed up, addressing the camera directly as she spoke. "A few weeks ago, they were speculating about when China would finally speak to the ponies. It's only natural that the ponies would reach out to other large countries. I'd be surprised if they haven't already spoken with India or tried their hands, er, hooves in Africa."

A new window appeared on the screen, one of a Chinese family sitting around a table, speaking to the camera in Mandarin. It took a moment for the translation to catch up, but the words flowed over it with a mild delay that faded into the background quickly enough.

"If Yaoguai from space want to come and visit us, what's so strange about that? Set a place at the table, and don't offend them. That's all you need to do to be nice to a guest." The man straightened up as he folded his hands on the table, speaking more slowly as he went on. "It's their choice if they take your hand in friendship. When it comes to such beings, you have very little say in it, other than your own actions."

"In other news, Angel Miller, the native-born pony, is off to pre-school." Images of Angel holding Applejack's hoof and following her closely filled the screen, set to an accompaniment of soft music. "The normally shy foal isn't afraid to head out for his first day, knowing his parents are nearby to support him."

Despite her words, Angel was left to meet other little children closer to their age. Of course, all the others were humans, and Angel was a pony. "How well he gets along is a matter of curiosity for many. We'll bring you news as it develops."

"Angel's growth has been a matter of curiosity for many around him, his parents of course included." A window popped open. "With us to discuss this, and other questions, we have two experts in psychology and developmental behavior, to speak about how the little foal might be growing up, and what is being learned from it."

One of the experts, a woman with a small beard and wire-rimmed glasses, spoke first, "They are not a pony, neither are they human. They have a parent of either, and they are growing in that shared environment. Even linguistically, Angel seems to be learning both English and Ponish eagerly. He's picking up the sounds and words of each and practicing with them regularly."

The other expert was a man, whose hair had gone entirely white, despite the lack of wrinkles on his face. "There's very little about how this foal is developing that we could have predicted. He's maturing quite rapidly. Credit where it's due, his parents are responding to his actual developmental progress and getting him into schooling as he matures into readiness, rather than adhering to strict timetables that work more often on standard human children."

"So, by setting aside their preconceptions, the parents are making the most out of the child's growth." The anchor looked off-camera a moment. "Speaking of which, the little foal has been seen heading home with a friend."

The image switched to Angel in a nearby park, sitting in the grass with a young girl beside him. He held out a piece of grass to her. She giggled and accepted the grass, saying something that couldn't be picked up from that distance.

"Aw." The anchorwoman smiled at the frozen last frame. "Looks like Angel's already found a good friend. I hope this is a sign for how well we'll get along with ponies in general."

Applejack caught Cindy as she crashed forward and the two became a pile of gently entwined limbs, the two nuzzling one another gently. "Hard day?"

Cindy buried herself in the soft fur of her partner. "Yeah, but I made it. I'd rather have spent it doing almost anything else, but that's bills for you."

Applejack sat up slowly, carrying Cindy with the motion. "'Bout that! What all do you have to pay bills on 'xactly? The movies on the television?"

"To start." She waved off at the television. "I'm still paying that TV itself off. The movies, I'm doing two different streaming services, so that's two more bills." She rested her head against Applejack's shoulder as she looked off into the distance in thought. "And my laptop. Aaaand all the programs and things that go with it. That's a lot more than what you'd think!"

Applejack inclined an ear. "Huh. Thin's work differently, back where ah'm from. Most ponies ain't trottin' just to keep in place." She nuzzled the top of Cindy's head a moment. "Don't it get tirin'?"

"Ugh!" Cindy laughed even as she cuddled into Applejack. "I'm tired, yes. But that's the world I have, and I'm not giving up. Also, I get an Applejack to cuddle, which makes it worth it."

Applejack burst into giggles, eagerly returning the hugs and nestling. "Speakin' ah that. Had someone come up an' ask me about us. You know, our relationship. They thought we were, you know, more than roomies." She waggled her brows for meaning. "But ah told 'em we're just good friends."

"Good friends." Cindy sat back a little. "Not sure I'd say good friends covers it, seeing as we have a kid."

"Well, sure, there is that... but we ain't married." Applejack turned her head away as she huffed softly, the colors on her cheeks starting to deepen a little. "Wouldn't that be the biggest mess of wires?" She gave her partner a gentle nuzzle.

Cindy drew back a little at the words, thinking them over with furrowed brows. "Mm, true. That would make things confusing. We don't even have laws that'd let us do that."

"What?" Applejack twitched her ears. "Is it 'bout us both bein' mares?"

"Not that." Cindy waved it away. "At least, not recently, but not that. No, actually." She frowned with thought. "Since you are a person, it may not be a big deal." She took out her phone and made a quick call, nodding along with what she was hearing before hanging up and turning back to Applejack. "Did you know you need a birth certificate to get married? It's true."

Applejack stared at Cindy. "A what now?"

Cindy pressed a hand to one side of her face. "A paper that says when and where you were born and who your parents are. Everyone in America gets one. I have one. You don't."

Applejack blinked at that. "Oh right! We hadda do that whole ordeal to get Angel one of—" She jumped as someone closed the door. "Who is that?" She hopped to her hooves and trotted out. "Angel!"

"Momma!" Angel waddled up to Applejack and hugged her leg. "I made a friend today!" He dragged Applejack over to a little girl with freckles and pigtails, standing on the other side of the fence.

The girl shrank a little as Applejack drew up, but she didn't run. "This is your momma?"

Angel bobbed his head. "One of." A door opening made him glance. "There's the other."

"You get two mommas?!" The girl looked amazed at the idea. "Cool!" She turned to the new arrival, Cindy, who had stepped out to see what was going on. "Hello, miss."

Cindy waved back gently. "Hello, yourself. What's your name, little girl? Make a new friend today?"

"Yes!" blurted out Angel, even if he hadn't been asked. "Her name's Sam! And she's the best."

Applejack wandered over to the fence to speak with Sam's mother, who seemed all too happy to talk to her, which was something of a novelty in and of itself. Angel took the opportunity to climb up onto his own fence to peer over at Sam, the two children gushing over one another.

Cindy kept an eye on them out the window of her kitchen, preparing some dinner for them all. "Ask Sam if she wants to stay over for dinner or not. She's welcome either way."

Applejack nodded along as she listened to Sam's mother explaining about their upcoming family vacation, something about the beach, which sounded interesting to Applejack, who hadn't been to one yet in this world. The word 'ham' got her attention though, so she perked up a little as she made a quiet mental note to check what that was. "As Cindy said though, Sam's welcome whenever they wanna play. Ain't no problem from either of us 'bout it!"

Author's Note

Friends are made, yay!

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1 - Hello World

Cindy drove down the highway at a fair clip, just around the speed limit, as she could confirm as a sign sped past. Her sunglasses were on, shielding her eyes from the sun that was still climbing into the sky. In the passenger seat was an assortment of things she needed to take with her for the trip; clothes, personal computer, chargers, and most importantly, her art supplies. The radio was playing a strange tune.

It wasn't human in origin. They all knew that. It was hauntingly beautiful, but just as undecipherable. She was fairly sure there were words in there, but in a melodic song like that, words were bent and warped even in English, let alone whatever language that was. It was the song of aliens, sent countless lightyears. An enigma wrapped in a puzzle. She blinked away thoughts of what she could never understand.

Ahead on the left side of the highway, the forest parted at the edge of the road, creating a view that made her car feel small and insignificant. She smiled despite it. "I am an ant," she reminded herself as she turned off smoothly into the park the forest created. "And I'm alright with that." Sure, the aliens had come. They may smash everything, or just be coming to say hello. She had already decided she was alright either way. "Be a friendly ant." She pulled up to the booth where a person greeted her after pulling down the window on their side.

"Welcome to Jellyfish State Park, ma'am!" He said, smiling in his brown ranger uniform. "Just passing through, or do you need a site?"

She fished out her pass and offered it up. "I know the usual routine. I won't feed the bears, and I'll only leave footprints." She winked at him for good measure.

He chuckled. "That's right. Have a nice day, ma'am." The ranger waved her through before returning to the booth.

She continued along the dirt road for another minute or so before parking next to the camping grounds. Climbing out of her car, she made sure she had all her things. "Let's greet the evening." She felt sure and safe with herself. It was a shame not all of humanity felt the same way.

"My cherished community." Robert clasped his hands together with a gentle smile, folded at the front of his priestly attire. "These are new times, changing times. With change comes confusion, but you will always find comfort and community here." Soft noises rose as others agreed. "Whether the station comes from the devil himself, or something perhaps far worse, we will stand strong, and together."

The church audience clapped with solidarity with shouts of Robert's name. "Some have asked, what if they come in peace? To that I ask, what manner of peace can this be? We will ask them of their relationship to God. We will pray to him and ask his counsel! If they are all heathens, that—" He took a slow breath. "That would be worrying." Soft hushed gasps spread through the crowd.

"But this is Our world!" Robert thumped his podium with an open hand, making some jump in their seats. "This land is filled with the holy spirits of God, with his power coursing through our very veins!" He opened his arms. "How could a more powerful entity want to come between us?" He leaned forward towards the crowd. "We won't let them."

He held up a hand. "As we say to Satan, we deny ye. Not one step. Not one step on our sacred world. This is a land of God's children." The crowd roared with appreciation for his words, finding purpose in them, and comfort.

Twilight sat back on her haunches with a smile. "Confirmation."

Celestia perked her ears. "What are you confirming, dear student?"

Twilight looked over her shoulder. "Princess, one of the worlds we broadcasted to has received our message, and has for moons. All scans place the odds of compatible life at 75%. That's one of the highest readings we've had!" She stood up on four legs, her hoofs clapping the ground rhythmically as she bounced with excitement. "I'm sending a ship down to scout the world for possible first contact."

Celestia trotted forward with a smile on her face, spreading her wings halfway out. "That sounds wonderful, Twilight! But isn't it dangerous?"

Twilight shook her head. "Most likely, we'll find the bare starts of life. We'll scan the world first, from orbit." She waved up at the hovering image of that lonely distant planet. "Only if we detect advanced life will we attempt more direct contact. If it's still incubating, we'll leave it well alone."

Celestia nodded gently, turning her attention back to the viewport as it zoomed out. "I trust your judgment, my faithful student."

Applejack turned a hoof against the control. She could hear it clicking and beeping, every little movement causing things to react. "We are coming out of hyperspace," she announced to the others in the small ship. "Buckle in if ya ain't already." There were soft clicks and quiet whooshing noises as her companions did so. It was a short journey.

On the screen ahead, space folded apart again. Applejack steered her ship through, as if the hole were a ring hanging in the sky, waiting to be passed through. It was only an instant, traveling so quickly they slipped right through, into regular space. A strange sensation rippled through them, still present despite their technology. Ahead was their destination, a lush green world, beautiful to behold. "Alright everypony, here we are!" Her eyes turned to the gauges, blinking softly. "Strange."

Pinkie Pie was strapped in close behind her with wide eyes and a smiling maw. "What's strange, captain?"

"Hmm." Applejack scrunched her muzzle in thought. "Almost 85%." She inclined her head. "Even higher than Head Engineer Starlight done thought." She reached for a new button to smash it. "Let's get scannin'. That'll tell us if we're actually landin' or if we're jus' headin' right home."

Pinkie pouted at the idea. "I hope not! I wanna meet aliens! Imagine the crazy parties they throw."

Applejack cocked a brow at that. "Pinkie, they're aliens. What parties they prefer ain't the first thing I'd wanna be askin' 'em!"

Pinkie unbuckled herself, floating free of her chair. "And that's why they sent more than just you, silly. We need different views!"

Applejack watched Pinkie float back away into the rest of the ship. Rainbow Dash's voice came up to her from a small speaker on her console. "All set down here, cap. Everything is locked and loaded."

She clicked her hooves on the controls a couple times. "Yeah, all the same up here. We're good to go. Send it out!"

"Roger." Rainbow pressed a button on her end, ejecting a small orb at high speeds towards the planet below them. "Here we come!"

He pressed rapidly at the keyboard. "Sir." He inclined his head at the console he was fixed on. "We have a high speed object coming from orbit."

The commanding officer leaned in to have a view of the tiny dot. "That's too small to be anything. It could be a mistake. Put in a call for where it should land, send local forces to check it out. Maybe it's a lucky meteor. Not our problem."

"On it." The soldier grabbed a phone to loyally make that call.

Cindy drew in slow motions, eyeing the horizon as she went, adjusting to ensure everything lined up with what she could see around her. She worked a pencil across the page, taking care not to press down too hard. In the distance, a large, blue lake rested, waves lapping against its shores. She smiled as she labored. "I love this place."

In her peripheral vision, she could make out someone moving, approaching her on the wooden path, but she wasn't going to be distracted, nor deterred from the task at hand. Her art was more important at that moment. At least until it clicked audibly. She jumped in surprise and turned to face it far in the sky above her, clicking rapidly like a camera working in fast forward. There, a football sized thing hovered, emitting an odd noise besides the clicking that almost sounded like wind chimes being hit by a gust.

"You're joking." She dropped the pencil she had been holding, gaping at what hovered over her. "You're joking!" Her words seemed to capture its attention, and it was looking at her, directing its clicking camera at her. Her heart pounded in her chest. It descended slowly, stopping some fifteen feet away, the clicking winding down.

From the bottom of it, a long needle protruded. She staggered back as it approached, drawing its sharp tip towards her. It stopped in midair, then swapped ends and pointed down instead. It twirled in place, then rapidly withdrew into the strange object.

"Hello?" Cindy dared try, taking an unsure step. "I come in peace?" She felt silly saying it. The strange object was the one coming, and was it peaceful? She had no idea. "Please don't evaporate me."

She couldn't know, but the probe was sampling and scanning busily. It sampled all the air she emitted and the noises she made. It made a full catalog of what it thought was important to know about a possible life form, then zipped off to scan a squirrel, finding it just as fascinating, and thus continued doing the same to everything it could find on the ground.

When it got to a bird, however, it was quite a rude awakening for the creature. It was far heavier and faster than most of the others, and it attacked the strange probe instead of tolerating its presence. Cindy squeaked and tried waving the angry bird off. Was it a falcon or an eagle? She didn't have time to check. "Shoo! Shoo! You'll start an interplanetary war or something! Go eat a rabbit!" It squawked at her angrily, which she returned with equal defiance.

The machine hovered there, taking note of the exchange and filing it away, before zipping off again, this time to the lake. Cindy slumped back with a heavy sigh. "Okay. Okay." She sank to the ground heavily. "Come to Jellyfish, see the friendly aliens. Almost start a war while you're at it." She laughed tensely at her own humor. "Christ."

Distantly, she heard an engine rumbling and glanced up to the road, seeing a car heading away from the campground. She chuckled once to herself as the car disappeared from sight.

Rainbow whistled over the com system. "Probe has returned, aw yeah! That was quick." She flopped back in her chair. "Hey Cap, you might want to come take a look at this."

Applejack pushed herself out of the seat and kicked off the floor to the back of the ship. Floating through the lack of gravity, she propelled off of every surface that came close to her, accelerating until she drew close enough to warrant slowing down much the same way. "What're ya seein'?"

Rainbow pushed her hoof into the hologram on the desk. "First of all, this is just a composite. This is all the scans." Her eyes narrowed. "Is that what I think it is?"

Applejack settled in front of the projected image, standing at the ready to give her orders. "Well, shoot." She cleared her throat. "Computer?" A soft chime played. "Can ya play the video, right here?" She pointed. Nothing happened. "Ah swear, dan' thin' can't understand me none!"

Rainbow snickered at Applejack's trouble, reaching with wings and hooves to deftly control the panel. "I'll get it." The alien noises played, and they could see the strange being waving wildly at the probe. "Well, think they saw us, cap!"

Applejack leaned in, trying to hear what she could, but most of what she was able to pick out was what sounded like nonsense to her. "Uh." She frowned. "Computer, can ya translate the audio?" A negative buzz played.

Rainbow snorted. "Automatically? We're advanced, we aren't that advanced, AJ. You really should know what you're flying, Cap." she poked AJ with a wry smirk. "Get that A/V over to Fluttershy. She may make heads or tails of it." Her eyes darted back to the image of the alien speaking strange words and making such odd motions. "But we did find our aliens. Guess saying hi will be coming soon."

Author's Note

And we begin a new tale, of first contacts, and horses. Silly humans will also be involved. You can never be sure with those, amirite? All the typos come from those things.

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2 - First Contact

Cindy stood in silence, alone, waiting in a wide grassy field, surrounded by tall trees. It was a warm, clear day. She knew she wouldn't be alone for long, but her nerves were shot. She took in slow breaths, held them, and let them out in steady streams, doing all she could to reach that stillness of mind she was searching for. She had no idea how busy a lot of the rest of the world was becoming.

She had told not a single soul what she had seen. Who would she tell? Her five followers on TwixBook? Nah, that was a special moment she could keep to herself. So far, the only proof was her memory. They had surely arrived though, and she was eager to see them for real. Would they be giant? Smaller? Round like puffy marshmallows? What color? Did they have arms or tentacles? She giggled as her imagination ran wild with possibilities. "I don't think they're mean." Would mean ones just peek like that? And not respond to the angry bird attack? No, probably alright as aliens went, even if they preferred a nice lunch of two rocks and a poem to finish it off.

Cindy snorted at her thoughts, but her stomach churned with unease all the same, especially when she looked up and could see a plane soaring past, a military one raising higher and higher into the sky on engines that screamed out of sync with the actual image of it. "Life is changing."

"This is the picture." The soldier waved to an image on the wall of the spacecraft leisurely floating there with stars for a background. "Since the first satellite caught a picture of it, entirely by accident, we've been monitoring it. It has been hovering steadily. Readings say it's keeping itself there intentionally, though what uses for propulsion, unknown. We've ruled out radiation, chemical propellants, and light."

The higher-ranked officer raised a brow. "Light?"

"Only feasible for light craft, Sir, but light is usable as a propulsion, especially away from large gravity sources." He tapped at the spaceship with his ruler. "We couldn't immediately rule out a ship of alien origin may be using it better than we would."

The ranking commander steepled his fingers. "How can we be sure this isn't something from China, or Russia? Both have been making noises about increasing their space game. I'd hate to think they've raced this far ahead of us."

"Sir, every telescope, radio array, radar and satellite is pointing at it, and it hasn't moved a single inch." The soldier pulled out some papers, laying them out on the table so both men could see them. "Every reading implies whatever it is, it's not made using any technique we have on this good green planet." He sighed gently. "I hate to say this, Sir, but, for once, it is aliens."

The commander turned his head and regarded the photo with a stoic eye. "Goddamn it. Aliens." He blinked a few times and turned to the other man. "This is already out of my hands. I'm putting it into your hands to get that ship, whatever it is, landed and contained. This is a hell of a first real mission, but we've been paying for you to be prepared. Are you ready?"

The third man saluted sharply. "The USSF is ready, Sir. I'll get this briefing to the CO immediately." He stood sharply. "Thank you for the briefing, Sir." He marched from the room with purpose.

Fluttershy cleared her throat softly. "My name is Fluttershy, and I am very happy to meet you, um. Can we be friends?" She paused a moment, and a voice repeated back to her. It wasn't hers, and it wasn't in Ponish either. She nodded along with each word and clapped her hooves at the final syllable. "Perfect!" She slapped a hoof down, getting the terminal glowing and humming.

With her ear folded back, she concentrated on her work, typing and adjusting with the touchpad and various switches as needed, one hoof on the microphone, ready to repeat her lines to the device. Each time she spoke, the recording picked up on her voice patterns and adjusted itself, making her job easier. Soon enough, she had it parsing English to the alien language.

An hour passed before she had it working to her satisfaction. She pressed the intercom button. "Captain, Sir. I think we're ready."

"Wooey!" Applejack could be heard moving around. "That's the best news ah heard all week! Any idea how bulky it'll be to carry 'round? We'll look kinda funny if we have to lug a big ole' thin' around."

Fluttershy had a blush on her face as she shifted in place. "Oh, it should only be an implant, Captain."

Rainbow chuckled at her captain. "Can I get mine as an earring, 'Shy?"

Fluttershy inclined her head. "That would be fine." A chorus chimed up with other ponies also opting for the earring, which seemed to be all of them. "Well, alright. I'll, um, give me a moment and I'll get it ready."

Applejack smiled gently as she pushed from the control panel to let Fluttershy do her work, calling into the intercom, "Alright y'all, let's be civilized 'bout this. Flutters needs her space ta work, so let's stay clear till she tells us we can come back. But now's a fine time to be ready! We're gonna be the first Equestrians these aliens will be layin' their peepers on! They may be scared, or excited, or both! Ah know ah'm feelin' some of each. Be strong for them. Don't be pushin'. Don't be yellin', but we are the representatives of Equestria! Show 'em a good pony welcome."

"Ya got me? When that hatch opens, it's all on us. Now's a good time to be meditatin'." With that, she settled with a small smile and did just that, reaching to turn off the intercom on her side. Her peaceful thoughts were interrupted with the ship jostled, sending her drifting out into the hallway as if it were empty, the door swinging shut behind her. "Whoops. Looks like Pinkie was payin' attention too."

Pinkie shrugged, apparently also casually tossed into the hallway. "Wasn't me!" She swam to a button. "Anypony know what happened?"

Fluttershy called out a shaky response, "There is a small vessel attached to the port side. I think we were, um, boarded?"

Rainbow called out. "We weren't expecting company this fast, so be careful everypony! If it's dangerous, they don't know we're friendly yet and they probably aren't visiting for the fun of it."

Fortunately, the astronauts climbing aboard the ship were a mix of civilian and military purposes. The civilians were gawking in amazement at every little blinking light they could see. "Sir, this is—This is amazing! Please put away your gun, Sir."

"I'll put this away when we know it's safe, which we do not." The ranking officer glared around, cut off by his thick spacesuit with only his rifle to feel comfort with.

A hand settled on his shoulder. "Sir." Another soldier. "We don't know how thick or tough these walls are. Putting a hole in them could end up throwing us into the void, Sir."

The commanding officer weighed his options and slowly lowered his gun, instead reaching for his combat knife, so rarely used in any real battle. "Stay frosty. We don't know what's in there."

"We don't know what's in there," repeated a civilian with far more enthusiasm. "We should be friendly, and hope they are in return."

Another civilian nodded. "If they came to pick a fight, we're probably already dead. Forcing a dock with them has them storming here, ready to do terrible things." Despite their dark words, they pushed against the walls, floating down the hallway. "Let's meet them."

The armed soldier scowled to himself in his helmet, glancing over to another as they went. "Don't let them out of your sight. If one moves suspiciously, stop them. They may get us all killed, the way they're acting. Keep to the plan." His partner nodded silently, turning her body towards the way they were moving instead of just turning her head as the others had been.

He was glad to have one he trusted so close. The others were clearly enjoying themselves.

A strange note, alien words spoken in alien ways reached them from around a corner. There was a moment of quiet, then a faintly artificial human voice, if lyrical in tone, "Hello, we are just as scared as you probably are. We would like to be friends."

One of the military burst into laughter when he heard the call for peace, his tension defeated by the musical plea for harmony. "I'd like that too."

As if she heard that and was responding, Fluttershy peeked out from around the corner, her equine ears quivering at the strange aliens before her. "Hello," she muttered in Ponish, just for that artificial voice to repeat it in English. "You understand me?"

"I don't," said one of the humans, but they quickly threw up their hands and gave an awkward smile as if apologizing.

Fluttershy understood the meaning and smiled at the playful banter. "You don't appear like any of the creatures we scanned. Um, no offense. I'm sure you're all wonderful examples of your species."

The head military man pushed to the front. "You will tell us why you're here, floating over us. What are your intentions?"

"I'm just here to talk to the new neighbors and see if we can be friendly," replied Fluttershy with a pleasant tone and a warm, almost dreamy expression. "We've come from very far away in the hopes of not being alone anymore." She offered a hoof towards all the humans. "Did we, um, succeed?"

The soldier's commanding officer opened his mouth to reply, but found he had no answer to that, because Fluttershy had left him without words. Her eyes were so captivating, so intense that he could only stare into them. Not to mention what she was offering was an end of an age, and a start of a new one.

A civilian brushed past him, gently grasping the offered hoof between his gloved hands and shaking gently. "It is a delight to meet you. What is your name?" From that angle, he could see that Fluttershy had wings, a clear surprise by how he jumped. "Are you an avian? Silly question, I bet your world has wildly different taxonomies."

Fluttershy froze a moment, nodding her head along to words she could hear. "I'm sorry, but I didn't understand all of that. Um." She spread her wings out. "I can fly, if that's what you were asking."

Applejack's voice whispered in Fluttershy's ear, "You okay over there? Want us to come help? We're here for ya!"

"I'm doing very well, Captain," Fluttershy said with a smile, stepping out and away from the corner she was hiding behind. "The others are very nice, but I, uh, I think we should all talk together. Maybe in the lounge? I'll bring them to the lounge. They want to be friends too. Oh! I was supposed to ask." She cleared her throat, a strange noise. "Would you like to meet all of us in the lounge, for a friendly, um, breakfast? I can't promise our diets are entirely compatible, but please accept in the good will it is offered."

The commanding officer finally remembered his duty. "Hold on, that sounds like a bad idea. We need to get answers." He held up a hand for patience and being still. "You spend countless billions of dollars zooming through space, just to say hello?" He stared hard at her with a firm grimace. "What are you going to do? Land and say hello? Pick apples? Ride horses? Have some tea and biscuits and giggle about our similarities? Do you really have nothing else in your ship but aliens who want to be nice?"

Fluttershy inclined her head at the nervous human in a spacesuit. "Most of those sound lovely. Ride what?" She rubbed her ear with a hoof, as if to get her translator to work better. "We really are here to be nice. Hopefully, our people can exchange cultural and scientific advancements to help one another. That would be, um, wonderful." She clapped her hooves together with a smile, taking care not to show off her teeth, flat as most of them were. "So, do you want to go to the lounge for breakfast?"

The commanding officer made an annoyed growl deep in his chest, only held back by the suit he had on. "Alright, I'm coming in and you're going to start talking." He waved for the others to proceed, though he need only cease his attempts to slow them down as they swarmed ahead to marvel at the friendly alien that was inviting them further inside the vessel.

One of them, a civilian, was gently petting along her leg, which Fluttershy was allowing. "We are not, naturally, this bulbous. We're wearing suits to protect us from unknown and hostile environments. We don't know if your air is safe. We don't know what sorts of microbes you may be carrying. Even if you don't mean to hurt us, being careless could get us both seriously hurt, or killed."

"Oh my." Flutteshy backed a step, wings flapping. "Am I in danger?" She gasped quietly as a small screen on her wrist lit up. "Ah! Um, please, wait just a moment while I fetch my suit. I'm sorry, but I should have realized. I'm so thoughtless." She turned to hurry away.

"Wait." Another one, a military one, was shaking his head. "Not much point now. You're already past the danger point. The suits are as clean as we can get them until we put them on. You're probably okay?" He didn't sound sure, but how could he be? "Tell your friends to suit up though."

"Good idea." Fluttershy flicked an ear, turning it on. "Applejack, everypony, you should get into your suits. We don't know if our friends have any nasty bugs that could hurt them, or us. For everycreature's safety, please, suits." She turned back to the group with an uneasy smile. "Please excuse the delay." She pointed. "I'll be right back!"

She turned to walk, and promptly smacked into a wall and fell onto her haunches with a quiet cry, rubbing her head with a wince. "I miss gravity." She pushed off the wall, soaring down the hallway properly that time.

Author's Note

Welcome, Equestrians. You've established a basic first contact. It's all smooth sailing from here! Yep, don't see a typo in sight.

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3 - Reactions

"Good evening, Citizens of America." He placed his hands on either side of his podium, his eyes locked on the cameras and the millions behind them, watching. "We face a new day. As most of you know, we have established communication with an intelligence not of this world. Before I continue, I wish to make it clear."

He raised a finger at America as a whole, behind that camera. "These beings are not of Earth." He pointed a finger to the ground for emphasis. "They have made no attempt to threaten us in any capacity. They have been curious, yes. They have asked questions, about our world, even some about ourselves. They have come with peace. We have no reason, at this time to doubt this."

He took a slow breath. "But know that we are prepared. I announced shortly ago to military advisors, after thorough consultation, that the armed forces are now at Defcon 2. We hope this will be for nothing, but we are prepared. America will not be undefended as we step through this door for the first time. I am in contact with our allies and other global powers. This is a matter for all of humanity, not any one nation."

Not that he had a choice. Many were battering his door, asking about it long before he got the media prepared. "We will face it, together."

Robert slammed his fist on his podium. "It has begun! They come for us! They are here! Our time is at hand!" He held his hand out towards the sky in his sermon. "Have you ever felt a greater sense of awe? Have you ever felt more alive in this very moment?" He paused a moment, heaving with the power of the event. "They are upon us. No gentle rapture, but a fiery test of our resolve to serve God and to prove we are worthy! And we will!"

He threw up his arms as he thundered through his pulpit. "The president, a false prophet, is already bowing his head to these demons! He kneels before them, and tells us all to prepare to receive them, as if it is an honor, but I know it for what it is, brothers and sisters!" He leaned forward, pressing a hand into the wooden pulpit, scowling hard at the crowd gathered. "Brothers. Sisters." His voice lowered, only audible thanks to the microphone he wore. "I know you."

"I love you. I will stand by you and I will die by you if that's what it takes! You are strong. You are brave. You are not afraid, no. Not even the devil himself will take this world from us, because you. Are. Unbroken! Unbowed! UNBENT!" He boomed at the top of his lungs. "They call me a preacher, well, it's time to stop preaching. It's time to act!" He stepped back with a smile and his hand outstretched to the crowd. "Do you know what time it is?"

He lifted his other hand up, clicking his fingers for the choir that was waiting patiently. "Hallelujah! The good lord has given us a chance to prove ourselves to Him. In this dark and muddled world, finally, we have a chance to prove ourselves clean and ready for the glory of Heaven!"

The choir burst into song behind him, praising their god. "Behold!" Robert strode across the stage, smiling all the way, arms outstretched. "Behold! We are in the presence of the devil himself, and we will prevail!"

"This is Barbara Smith, reporting in. Ponies have arrived." A window popped in to her upper right as she faced the camera. In that window, an outline of a horse in profile as just a big outline with nothing inside. "Only a handful of people have actually seen them, but they've hit the entire planet like a shockwave." She gestured to the image next to her, a panorama of several cities in a row, all showing varying stages of chaos and outcry as the public reacted.

She turned back to the camera. "Military authorities have remained tight lipped, but in an earlier address to the nation, President Wilson explained the situation was under control, and we would see an update within the next twenty four hours. Some people have reacted positively to these new developments." Another window popped up beside her, showing an image of a circle of smiling people with fake horse ears and tails. They held signs with slogans encouraging the aliens with messages of friendship and love.

She motioned to it again. "But for many, the appearance of alien life has raised concerns with government handling of the issue, and even the morality of it all. The idea that humanity is not alone is not sitting well. To speak about that, we've brought some experts in the field, from Harvard, Dr. Theodore Peterson, who will explain just what the arrival of aliens may mean to the future of our species. Thank you for coming on short notice."

"No trouble at all." He chuckled politely to the host. "Thank you for having me. The president, and all members of his branch we've been able to get any words out of, seem to agree that the aliens aren't here to kill us, or take our world. If you were worried about that, cross that off your doomsday list." He made a slashing motion with a finger. "But that doesn't mean humanity doesn't face some existential questions."

He adjusted his tie. "From the start, enlightened man has gazed on the stars as being his. The universe was a large sandbox with only one resident, and we imagined ourselves playing in it as we pleased. The arrival of a new child, even if they've come with a smile, throws those preconceptions of who we are into disarray, as you've seen with the disquiet gripping the globe."

He waved a hand broadly. "We are not alone. In some ways, if they had arrived with weapons bared, that would have made things simpler. We would know, to the last man, what we need to do. To fight is easy. To live in peace? We haven't even mastered that trick amongst ourselves."

He tilted his head from side to side, squinting at the camera. "So, they may come with guns, or they may come with an embrace, but this new development means we all need to decide how to see it. It's happened, not in a theory, but right in front of us. First, the song."

The song played, that alien melody with its undecipherable singing produced by throats that were not human in design. "They sent this, quite on purpose. They said hello, then came to actually shake our hands. As potential aliens go, we couldn't have asked for a more polite one. Perhaps their first gesture is a sign that their intentions are pure, but that's just the opening move."

He tapped at a watch on his wrist idly. "They say hello, and then we say hello. Only once that exchange is made will we be able to tell if it was genuine or not." He took a slow breath. "Can we even speak with them? The president insists they've made no hostile moves, but not hostile and friendly interaction are quite a gulf apart."

Barbara returned to the screen, at her desk. "That's a question many have been asking. Will the aliens be giving their own announcements? When will they be spoken to, if that's even possible?" She tapped a stack of papers on the desk. "The questions are piling up, and answers are slow in coming. We live in interesting times. Next on the news."

"Sir." The ranking soldier was listening intently to his headset. "Sir, you're certain? Right." He turned to the assembled scientists and engineers and soldiers. "We have permission to proceed."

The scientists looked thrilled, the engineers leapt into action, checking things and inspecting machinery from the top to the bottom. It was the soldiers who went tense. One of them sighed. "We're playing host to an actual alien?" He shook his head at the idea. "I can't believe we're doing this. This is stupid."

One of the scientists glared at the soldier. "This is a chance of a lifetime. We'll get a chance to study a lifeform that underwent an entirely divorced evolution. So many of our notions were built with a sample size of just one. We may prove, or disprove, so many things I can't even count them." He marched off, scribbling on his clipboard. "This will be a moment for history."

The soldier huffed through his nose, looking to the engineer at his side. "I'll bet they've done tests and everything, but I think they're forgetting a pretty big thing."

The engineer didn't look away from the machine in front of her. "Which would be?" She adjusted one of the bolts on the metal housing.

The soldier waved a hand in a sweeping gesture, taking in the whole laboratory that was busying itself for the visit. "It's the classic question, Docs. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. How do you plan to make sure this doesn't explode in our face?" He scoffed at the room that was moving in front of his eyes. "None of this is ready for actual contact with an alien."

She frowned, still looking at her machine, though she had stopped working. "We're working on that. We will bring the alien here, and put them in isolation. Fortunately for everyone involved, they are carbon based, and their oxygen requirements are not too different from ours. The air won't kill them, if they don't die from a random disease."

She grabbed the next bolt, loosening it and applying new lubricant before screwing it back into place. "But it will keep us all safe. If something happens, the worst that can happen is we lose a specimen of unknown value." She sighed gently. "I hate calling them that. Each of them has a name, even if I can't pronounce it. They're people."

The soldier arched a brow, "And, what? If they break out and slaughter us all, that's okay? Because they're people? Listen to yourself. You sound crazy. This isn't a movie." He adjusted the grip on his rifle. "Fine, whatever. You focus on your science, that's your job. We'll make sure you don't die doing it."

The scientist watched him go, shrugging to herself before returning to her work, "It's a shame we can't know where they're from." She shook her head. "Imagine getting to see what their world." She looked up to one of her peers. "We should ask them, when we get them in here. They may have some stories to share, if they're willing."

"They're being friendly so far, right? I don't see why they wouldn't. It's been a lot of questions, some photos, and more media attention than I've ever seen on one thing since the Ukraine war." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I feel like a damn baby. Here we are, still squabbling with each other when they've traveled the stars just to greet us." He laughed sardonically. "It's like having a friend over and your place is still a mess, you know?"

The woman next to him nodded with a tiny smile. "Yeah, I get that. Still, I think we'll manage to do a good enough job hosting for our guests." She shook her head. "I don't get why we couldn't have a proper reception set up for them, though."

Her peer shrugged, still leaning on the table in front of him. "Some people think it's too much of a risk, and, well, there is a lot we don't know. Even if they can handle breathing our air, maybe they'll die. I don't like bringing that up, but we have an entirely alien immune system." She hiked a thumb at the big metal container they were working on. "This will be kept sterile, but they still have to make it inside. At best I still imagine them getting an alien flu for a few days. If they survive that, good, they're on the way to getting used to Earth life."

She tapped her pen to her chin. "At worst? We make them sick. They die. Not only is it tragic, we'd also have to explain to their friends why they're gone, which wouldn't end well. So, I'm fine with waiting in the labs to see our guests." Her eyes rose up to the clock on the wall. "In fact, it should be happening any time now."

Author's Note

The world is being hit by this event. I hope this isn't hard to imagine. The concrete answer to 'are we alone', with either answer, would be a historic day with either answer.

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5 - Legal Alien

President Wilson drummed his pointer finger against his desk with a thoughtful frown, considering the options laid before him. The alien was ending their mandatory stay in the isolation room. Every report said she was most likely safe. It was time to take that gamble and bring them up to the White House, and treat them as the foreign dignitary they were, though none were more aware of the consequences that may come of it.

Just releasing her was a big step. She'd be an alien, an illegal alien. He snorted at that. "We can fix that." He reached for the desk phone on his desk. "Hello, I need USCIS, get me their director on the line. Thank you." He set the phone back on its cradle, just for it to ring a moment later. "Perfect timing. Thank you for picking up so fast."

The voice on the other side spoke with a kind professionalism. "Mister President. How can I assist you?"

"We have an immigrant, and they're a special case." He sucked in air through his teeth. "They're as foreign as it gets. An alien."

"A what?"

"A talking horse from another planet."

There was a pause, but the man on the other end only hummed thoughtfully. "We've already dealt with immigrants from Mars. How is this any different?" That he was joking was clear between them, their shared chuckle making that quite clear. "You want to get her a visa?"

"I don't think she plans to stay. A Visa would be fine, and she can apply for something longer term if she's up for it. The only trick—"

"Is the country of origin, got it. She isn't the first immigrant we got without one of those, and she won't be the last one."

"No, she isn't." The president lifted his finger to the desk. "The only oddball in this equation is that she's from another planet, which puts this outside the normal bounds of legal procedure."

"The paperwork's clear enough." Distant typing could be heard, clacking at the keys busily. "No country, at least here on Earth, and that's all this paperwork cares about. She'll be cleared to stay. I'll send a fax your way with questions for her. Name, gender, the usual. We'll need a picture taken. I bet you have a supply of them already."

"We do. She's wearing a suit, for safety precautions, but I bet you can guess. Horses are equine, just like you can see on TV. There is one extra thing about our guest I wanted to mention." The president sighed gently, reaching out and toying with a paper clip he had left on his desk. "She has a, shall we say, distinct accent."

The man on the other side of the phone laughed. "That's just being polite. That we can understand her at all is a damned miracle. An accent is the least of our words. I'll get the paperwork to you, Mister President. Get it filled and send it back. We'll get our space horse ready to visit the US of A. Oh, and thank you. You gave my day a little something special to laugh about. I needed that."

President Wilson smiled as he set the phone down. "One less problem." He turned to the window, looking up to the sky. "Now, we need to prepare for your arrival."

"Please stay right there." The soldier held up a hand at Cindy. "We'll be opening it shortly, but you, here." He pointed to a striped line.

"I don't think she'll bite my head off." Cindy rolled her shoulders. "She played the long game if she wanted a snack. I brought some carrots anyway." She held them up for inspection, the green stems hanging in a cluster, just the orange ends showing. "She eats those, right? Or is it an alien thing?"

The soldier frowned at the bundle of vegetation. "You brought food." He waved over one of the scientists.

The scientist hurried over, eyes widening as he saw the carrots, then at the woman holding them. "Are those— You actually brought carrots. They eat carrots? How do you know that? Have you actually fed her?" He looked to the soldier, eyes bulging with an alarm that was rising inside him.

Cindy tucked the carrots away. "I have no idea. I was just going to offer them and if she likes them, great."

The scientist put a hand to his head. "Start with the smallest bit. We don't know what her digestive system is expecting, and we don't want to upset it." He peered at the carrots. "Those are just a guess?"

Cindy shrugged with upheld hands. "Yeah."

The scientist turned to the soldier, pointing to Cindy. "If those are in the air, or the atmosphere, and she likes them, then it's a fair bet. If the alien doesn't want them, remove them, immediately."

"You got it." The soldier nodded at the scientist and turned to face the isolation booth. "Get your head in the game." He focused on the door ahead of him, hand resting on the pistol at his side, but he didn't draw it. The device on his wrist buzzed a low tone, an indicator that it was primed for use.

With a soft hiss, the chamber began to slide open, the air inside flowing freely into the main area of the facility. The door opened slowly, and with it came the strange, but familiar music of a pony voice. It sounded just like the recordings, but with an oddly musical lilt that seemed to carry the emotion.

Cindy cocked her head as she listened to it, unable to understand it, but with a feeling it was all rather pleasant, all the same.

Applejack trotted out. She was equine, but she was no horse. She wasn't a pony either. She was an alien, her limbs not quite connecting properly. They were perfectly right, for one of her, but she wasn't from Earth. "Howdy," echoed the artificial human voice. "Sure is good to get out of there." She looked around curiously, exposed for the first time, her suit removed. She wore no clothing save some fashion of hat on her head. "They say the air is fine in here."

The humans looked at the pony, examining the details they couldn't from the isolated chamber. Her body was thick, muscular, with a long tail and a lean head with big eyes that swiveled to take in the room. She saw something and accelerated towards it, or her. "Cindy!" She moved quickly, her legs working fluidly to close the gap in moments. That one word so strange, because she sang it out, almost getting the word write in her alien tongue, just for it to be repeated in English.

Applejack held her foreleg up in front of Cindy. "Howdy." Her mane bobbed as her head bowed in respect. "Good to meet ya."

Cindy was smiling, almost dumbstruck. "It's so nice to be sharing air." She offered a hand. "How do you say hello? We like shaking hands, but you don't have those." She glanced at Applejack's hooves. They were split down the center, cloven hooved, four of them. "Can you?"

"Shake hands?" Applejack shifted one of her hooves over, pressing it to Cindy's hand. She was warm, and soft to the touch. "It's nicer than ah expected."

Cindy squeezed Applejack's hoof in her hand, marveling at the texture. It was no hoof, at least no Earth hoof. It was like holding a closed hand, soft and warm to her exploring fingers. "Please tell me if I bother you. I don't want to do that."

"Nah." Applejack took her hoof back to the ground. "Ah'll tell ya, promise. Ain't gonna be sore 'cause somecreature that ain't know me gets somethin' wrong. Just don't go tuggin' anythin'. That's rude."

Cindy lifted her hands innocently. "I wouldn't dream of it." She pulled the carrots back out and showed them to Applejack. "You should probably learn my name. It's Cindy." She smiled at that.

Applejack examined the strange things Cindy was offering. She delicately sniffed at them in the same way an Earth creature might, that much not too dissimilar. "Izzat food?" She licked her lips. "Smells fresh." She bit into one with a crunch and chewed it a moment. She swallowed with a happy sigh. "Nice an' sweet. You got any more of those?"

The soldiers behind them were standing ramrod straight, stiff as a board as they watched the creature interact with the one civilian that they all thought was crazy to go on interacting like it was no big deal.

Cindy laughed it off. "I'm only allowed to give you a taste, until we're sure you can handle it. We don't want our alien getting any belly-aches." She paused. "Do you have a belly?"

Applejack recoiled at the question. "'Course ah do! Pretty sure we eat the same." She pointed up at her snout. "Food goes in one way." She pointed at her midsection. "An' it comes back out."

Cindy blinked at that exit point. "Almost the same." In and out, that much felt similar. "I think they're wanting me to point you that way." She redirected Applejack towards some officious sorts.

They began the process of giving her a visa and explaining what it allowed and didn't allow. "We don't imagine you plan on it, but you are not permitted to seek employment. You'll need a more permanent visa for that. This does identify you, and gives you permission to be here."

She flipped it over in her hooves, squinting at it, as if she were struggling to read the words in human. She gave up with a shrug. "Ah'll trust ya." She pressed it against the front of her chest, where it stuck as if it were a magnet. "Right there?"

"That works." He offered a smile. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask some questions myself."

Cindy tilted her head to the side. "Just questions, not tests? Are we good there?"

The official raised his hands. "I'm with immigration, ma'am. We don't do many tests if you do your paperwork properly. Now, Applejack, we wanted to know if you had a last name, or if that was a full name? Apple Jack?" He nodded to himself. "That makes sense to me."

Applejack seemed confused a moment. "If yer askin' what family ah'm from, they're the Apples. Applejack of the Apples." She nodded along with the words, sung as they were. "What's yer family name?" She was looking towards Cindy.

Cindy froze in place a moment, then thawed with a sheepish smile. "My name is Cindy Miller. I'm just plain old Cindy, I don't have any fancy titles." She reached out to Applejack. "That's good to know, though. It makes me feel like I can call you something."

"Yer fine, Cin." Applejack lowered her head. "Just as fine as anyother."

With her identification taken care of, other agents stepped forward, whisking Applejack away from Cindy and leaving her there alone. Cindy blinked at the space that once held her new alien friend. "Where'd they go?"

A soldier shrugged. "That is an alien. Their schedule is booked, ma'am. I doubt you'll get to see her for a while." He turned on his heel, walking away briskly to join his peers, who were all gathering by a vehicle. One waved for her to follow.

Cindy scurried to catch up. "She's coming to Washington, right?"

One of the soldiers raised a hand. "That's Need to Know, and you don't Need to Know. We'll give you a lift, and we have your number if you're needed. You need to head home."

"Home." She nodded idly and hopped into the back of the vehicle, buckling herself in before it even started moving, looking back at the building she had spent a lot of time in. They had let her sit in with Applejack, asking simple questions and talking at length, but now Applejack was gone. "Is it odd I already miss her?"

"A little." Another soldier shrugged. "But not that odd." They all laughed, rushing her back to her home as they had been ordered.

Author's Note

Applejack has properly landed. She is in America. If I didn't hint properly, these ponies are aliens. Some of their anatomy is odd. I'd still hug her if she let me.

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6 - Presenting

She was everywhere. Eclipsing the human stars of the moment, Applejack appeared on television broadcasts, they talked about her on the radio, and rare were the Youtube channels not gabbing about her. Companies swift to leap on the bubble were offering limited time merchandise that had her, or similarities to her, available to hawk their wares.

Social media was not immune, with people posting their love, or hate, for Applejack with equal fervor. Some extremes launching offers to marry and/or murder the alien creature if ever the opportunity were to arise. The latter made the news, but not the former.

The alien was being shown in public, and to a handful of people. The majority were politicians, who wanted to be able to brag they were the first to welcome the alien to the country. She was considered such a prized asset that those that voiced credible threats towards her were not treated kindly. They didn't bring it up to Applejack, simply taking action while keeping her insulated from such things.

Allies of America pressed their favors to get their own representatives a chance to say hello to the alien, but America decided to give them all what they wanted. They would place Applejack before the United Nations. Was she not a representative of a whole-human consideration?

They coached her as best they could. Fortunately, Applejack didn't seem to be a stranger to the idea of speaking in front of an audience. "Shoot." She made a soft ticking that they'd learned was a chuckle. "Ah figured we'd be talkin' to the whole world of ya! A big room? Pretty sure ah can handle that."

But she wasn't prepared. The cars with her in one, rolled through New York, giving her a chance to peek out at the city. "You have right pretty cities, look at 'em stretch up like that." She clapped her hooves, which made sounds far closer to hands clapping. "Do you really have enough humans to fit in—"

She didn't get to finish the question, the whole car lifting in a powerful lurch. She slammed her head against the window she'd been looking through with a pained noise that needed no translation as the whole thing rolled over. She was crushed under the weight of the world. She was buried in metal and fire.

Police and Secret Service were already on the scene, the chaos only raising as angry shouts and panicked screams filled the air. In it all, a single hand gently touched Applejack's shoulder. "Ma'am, are you alright? Can you move?" It was the Secret Service agent that had been riding with her.

Applejack shook her head slowly, trying to get her head on straight. "Ow." She reached out a hoof to grab the agent. "What's goin' on?!"

"We're under attack." He seemed relieved. She was moving, and aware. "You're safest right here. This car might have been knocked over, but they're unlikely to breach it." And safer places to spirit her didn't feel close enough to risk it. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Mostly." She rubbed where she'd been bashed by the side of the car. "Now why would anyone go doin' that? Ah ain't done nothin' wrong to 'em."

Outside, it was a small war. Guns fired and small explosives detonated as a desperate attempt was made to keep the alien from reaching the UN. People shouted in firm battle cries, sure that their side was the correct one. "This one." Robert waved co-conspirators over towards the car the held Applejack, flipped over as it was. "Get this car open!"

Zealots from far more than his one congregation charged at the vehicle even as gunfire cut some down before they could reach it, the others acting as meatshields to protect their friends as they rushed forward in a desperate push to crack the armored doors. They broke bottles of fuel, throwing the liquid in before lighting them ablaze, the smoke curling into the air and bringing the scent of burning rubber and a twisted form of incense into the air.

Inside, the agent drew his gun to the ready. "The interior is airtight. We have inches of metal and protection anyone would have to get through." That didn't stop his grip from tightening around the pistol, ready to use it. "I'll protect you."

Applejack began to shiver at the wild noises of all those people prying and trying to open the door. The fear of the situation began to settle on her. "Did ah say somethin'? Ah'm sorry! Make 'em stop!" She reached out, clutching the agent close in a hug as her world turned into one of fear. "Ya gotta get me outta here!"

He paled. "I can't." His eyes turned up at the sound of an axe slamming into the vehicle.

"You are to disperse immediately," came a booming voice as tear gas cannisters landed around the assaulted car. They hissed as they dispersed the gas into the air, carried along the wind.

One attacker took a deep breath, covering his eyes with his sleeve as he launched into another swing with his axe, rocking the heavy weapon into the side of the flipped over SUV.

Heavy boots approached through the smog as officers closed in, starting to violently arrest anyone they could get their hands on, beating them with their batons. They shoved their captives onto the ground, slapping restraints around their wrists behind their backs, zip ties to keep them immobilized.

In the car, Applejack was huddled up tightly, holding onto the agent, "Is it over?" The sounds were quieting down outside. "Are we safe?"

The agent reached up, pressing on his walkie talkie. Applejack could hear human voices speaking back and forth, but only faintly. "Situation under control." He pressed the button once more. "I have the alien, she's secure and healthy. What should I do with her?"

"Nearest hospital, for safety." He looked up at Applejack. "They'll put you with medical personnel until the crisis is over. Then we'll go to the UN building as planned. Okay?"

She just nodded at him. "R-right." She followed after him as they slipped out the side of the car. There, she could see the scores of humans forcibly restrained. "They okay?" She stayed at the agent's side. "That looks kinda painful. Ain't no expert on human anatomy, but, look at 'em."

Then she saw bodies. There were no few of them to pick from. "Oh." She made a noise, a new one that none of them had heard before, and that the translator didn't pick up on. She sang for them, for the dead. They didn't know the words, and the translator wasn't following along, but it had a sad tilt to it, a mourning dirge for so much life lost.

The agent with her pushed against her though. "No time for that, ma'am. We have to keep moving."

So she did, crying in her alien way. That humans didn't have time for that was quietly remembered as she hurried to stay at his side, pushing through the smoke and chaos. Police blocked their path, but they were there to help, not harm.

They passed by the bloodied corpses of the ones that hadn't seen victory, the ones that failed to pry her open for their cause, their fallen bleeding into the cracked asphalt. The police were waving the agent and Applejack forward, paying little mind to the gruesome marks of the battle they had just survived.

She'd never been near that much blood before, and that the smell of it was a mixture of iron and copper wasn't helping. She could see a bit of white in the red, bones. It was nauseating to be so close. So many humans, living so close together. They also died together, for reasons Applejack struggled to understand.

The smells faded as they pressed into the hospital, replaced with the sterilized scents of a proper facility, cleansers and disinfectants meant to keep things free of disease. It wasn't anything new for Applejack, the pony doctor's office back in Ponyville used all the same substances, at least to the same effect.

The nurse behind the counter gasped as she saw Applejack come in. Applejack tried her best toothless smile. "Howdy."

The nurse recovered with a little nod. "Hello." She looked from Applejack to the Secret Service agent. "Can I help?"

The agent sighed gently. "We must just need to relax. She's been lightly injured, but I don't think we want anyone not trained about her, hm, unique anatomy to try to do anything about it."

The nurse's eyes went up to Applejack's bump, easily visible. "You poor thing. Let me do some basic first aid. It doesn't matter what you are, a little band aid won't hurt."

Applejack laughed gently as the woman headed for a first aid kit, the nurses and doctors working together to figure out the most likely tools they'd need for first aid on a pony. Applejack settled down to be treated. She felt comfortable, as comfortable as someone could be when they just almost died. And after seeing so many others that hadn't been so lucky.

Erring on the side of safety, they didn't use much, just gentle gauze. They jumped when she hissed in pain, but she stayed still and let them finish the bandaging. "Ah'm right grateful. This should mend on its own."

The agent motioned her forward and they continued on their way.

A little domestic terrorism wasn't going to make them late for their scheduled arrival.

Author's Note

A little short, but this feels like a natural cut, so I'm cutting. Was I off? Lemme know.

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7 - Chatting the World

They rolled into the UN building slowly, scanning everything around them carefully, on high alert from the incident they had experienced on the way there. "What do we do with her?"

"That's a question for them." The agent nodded towards the top officials that were waiting for them at the entrance. "We deliver her, and keep her safe."

"Thanks kindly?" Applejack walked along with her escorts up to the officious looking human that radiated all the pomp and circumstance of someone in some kind of official capacity. "Right nice to meetcha." She sang, her words translated to English.

"Nice to meet you as well, Miss Apple." He extended a hand, and it was met with that odd fleshy hoof. They shook, Applejack getting better about how human handshakes worked. "I just work here, but I've been assigned to get you to the right place. Let's head inside." He waved her in and they all began the trip into the UN building proper.

They didn't have far to go, meeting another set of guards as they came inside, these ones with serious faces and alert eyes, watching every direction. There were many locked doors ahead of them, and they expected she'd see more. She was passed from one guard to the next, though the new detachment also claimed to work for the Secret Service. It was just fresher faces that hadn't just survived an attack.

They went to a room that was a little larger than all the people, and alien, filling it. The man that had welcomed them waved gently. "Relax where you wish. We'll be called when it's your turn to go on stage. Do you wish to watch them talk while we wait?"

"Watching, yeah." Applejack found a couch and settled down onto it, spreading her limbs out as she stretched her aching muscles. She glanced at the large screen mounted on the wall. She could see humans in a big hall, and others standing up to speak at them, yelling, almost. They were arguing about something, but most of the Proper Nouns were lost on her.

Still, there were plenty of normal words she could pick up on. Climate change, impoverished people, money. Damage, death, money. Applejack nodded as her translator picked up fragments of each spoken sentence, trying her best to keep up with things. "Oh, right." She bobbed her head in understanding as a word floated into place that put all the other bits of conversation together. She seemed to be learning new things about human politics all the time, which was entertaining to someone who didn't understand why the humans cared so much about the things they chose to, while seeming to brush off the more obviously important things. At least, from Applejack's perspective.

Still, it wasn't her world, nor her people. Chastising them for not being ponies felt silly. She took a slow breath, calming herself from the excitement. "Ah'll get through this," she said to herself and nobody else. "It's jus' talkin', 'n lettin' folks know the things they need to."

As they watched the big meeting, everyone waiting, Applejack reached out towards one of the Secret Service agents. "So, what are we waiting for?"

"It's on a vote." The agent frowned at the screen. "Once it's over, we can go on stage." He glanced at her, looking away from the large monitor in the corner. "They'll let us know. That part's not a secret." He chuckled softly. "We humans love our schedules, and you're on it."

Applejack poked her tongue out past her teeth with a tittering laugh, that odd clicking they'd learned. "I knew that." She put a hoof to her face. "Jus' a bit anxious. Sorry." She watched the humans watching each other speak, shout and yell, argue about things they seemed passionate about.

But the vote happened, hands raising and untranslated words sailing past her. She grasped the vote was happening, and she heard Yeahs and neahs. A few abstentions. A result. There were some claps, and some scowls, but the vote was completed. Applejack looked up at the agents around her. "What now?"

"It's our turn." One reached down to take her foreleg and lift her back to her feet. "You'll have to go up on stage now. Can you handle that?"

"Ah think so." She sucked in a deep breath. "Once ah start, ah can keep talkin'. I ain't shy when it comes to speakin' the truth." She walked with that first person that had led her into the building, emerging into that room. Seeing it from the bottom, she was hit by how large a space it was, filled with countless eyes, and they were rapidly turning towards her. She cringed, trying to focus on her escorts instead of all those people staring at her. They lead her up to a podium, waving her forward. "We'll be right here, ma'am."

She was left alone on the stage as the first human began to speak, then, was that music? The soft sounds of a whale's song played from somewhere all around her, and Applejack smiled. She also let her teeth be shown for the first time, swept away in the wondrous notes of that song. She joined it, pony and whale song harmonizing, neither exactly the same, but two puzzle pieces that slotted together perfectly.

The room went quiet save the playing sound and the alien singing. They were witnessing something entirely new to them. For once, the video wouldn't capture what was happening, and that wouldn't matter. As it finished, the UN president started to clap, and the others followed his example. A standing ovation for an alien that had just sung a song to them all.

Applejack lowered her ears as their applause rolled over her. "T-thank y'all." She noticed the microphone and reached out, pulling it closer. "Ah'm right pleased to be here. Ah'm told this is a way to talk to a whole lotta y'all at once. Um, if I can ask though, what was that? Ah didn't know humans sang!" Her normal dialect clashed with her English one, singing her questions just as excitedly.

The president held up a hand for silence, restoring order to the room and his own seat, "Miss Applejack, why have you come to Earth?" He had so many questions, but he tried to keep himself focused.

Applejack started. "Oh, right. That's a fair question. We've been listenin'! And yer powerful noisy. Not sayin' that in any bad way, but we could hear you clear 'cross the sky." She pointed upwards into the void. "We heard ya, and we came to say 'howdy!' Ya said all kindsa thin's. Kept us guessin' fer years! So we sent a hello back." She paused for a moment. "Y'all are right spooked, aren't ya?"

The president looked across the room. "That would be an understatement." He leaned in on his podium. "Miss Applejack, what brings you here?"

Applejack rewound the conversation in her mind, realizing she never really technically answered that. "Well, we knew our hello reached you. So we figured, once we said hi, the next step, as a good neighbor, was to actually stop by. We're here to offer open hooves." She spread her forelimbs wide. "We're all in this universe together. We're hopin' we can be good friends 'bout it."

The president straightened himself back up. "That's a wonderful sentiment, but surely there is more. You're more than welcome to be friends with us, but what do you want? Our space?"

Applejack raised a hoof to her head. "Yer space? Um—" She looked that human over, taking Cindy's advice in mind. They didn't have those fat deposits. They were probably—"Sir, this universe has a lot of space. So much of it we can't rightly count it. Why would we want your space in particular? It ain't special as space goes. Just another rock. No, what's special are the people livin' on it!"

The room filled with murmurs, most likely saying some variation of 'fair enough.' Applejack smiled at that thought. "That's what we're here to do, find new friends 'n talk about it all! That's why we came here. Yer welcome to keep yer world. Interestin' place. If ya don't mind, we could visit? But it's yers. Oh!" She perked up. "Ah'm bein' rude. You could stop by our little world. We wouldn't mind a few happy guests."

A woman from Europe stood up, looking at the president with an upturned chin, her face set in a dignified scowl. "This is all very nice, but we have seen no proof of what you're saying."

Applejack gave a strange new click. "Well, um, not sure what more evidence ah can give." She stood and did a slow circle, displaying her strange form to the assembly. "Ah gotta ship, up there. Y'all have seen it, haven't ya? We can start goin' over body specifics. Done learned how humans work, broadly, so ah know what parts ah mine sure do work different." She began pointing out all the odd details, or ones she knew were different from what they were used to seeing, describing the little quirks of being a pony that set them apart from the humans, some subtly and others quite broadly indeed.

The president gently waved for her quiet. "That's quite enough. You don't need to explain to all of us these likely taboo topics." Even if they weren't taboo for the alien, they sure were for many members in the audience. "We have seen you ship, at least some of us. America had been slow to share that information.

America's diplomat stood at that. "Giving the precise coordinates is useless for those that have no visual line towards it because the earth's in the way. We're not playing favorites." He pointed across the room. "As Miss Applejack has explained, she is an alien, from a far off world. How can we be sure they all look like that? What if they're not friendly? What if she is just the scout?"

Applejack walked over towards him, looking him up and down. "Well, yer partially right. Ah am a scout. Ah am Applejack, Captain of the Distant Friendship. We're the first in line to see if there's any land on this place worth talkin' bout, and if there is, if they wanna be friends, or if we shouldn't bother with 'em. Now, since we're bein' all truthful, mah world ain't just got one thinkin' race on it. Ponies are just one." She poked a hoof towards him, the others quietly listening as she spoke. "Yer another."

That got them talking. America seemed surprised at her words. "What?"

Applejack bobbed her head. "Humans, just another one, but we got plenty back home. Dragons, griffons, changelings." Many of her words were loose approximations at best. "They all got somethin' unique to share, and a different perspective on things. Ah'm here as a pony, offering a friendly hoof." She extended one towards them all. "Will ya take it?"

The president's hands lowered towards his podium, gently tapping against it as he thought that through. "Miss Applejack, can you excuse us? I think we need to talk amongst ourselves."

Applejack looked around the room. There were hundreds of people there, and they were talking quietly. Part of her wanted to say more, to sway them, but they were talking, at least. "'Course. Take yer time." She nodded to her escort and they left the way she came, to the same waiting room. That screen was mounted on the wall, providing the live feed from the UN in progress as Applejack took a seat, relaxing as best she could on the sofa, not daring to try squeezing onto a chair. "Ah don't think it's going so bad?"

Her escort sank onto a seat proper. "You have given them much to consider. They may be arguing for days, weeks. We'll see if they call you out again."

Author's Note

That could have gone worse, I think? Hope the stenographers avoid any typos in this historic moment. Also, who put on the whale songs?!

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8 - Living in the Ritz

An image of Applejack sprung onto the screen, caught as she was singing, mouth open wide, and her many teeth on display. They were separated, proving she had more than one jaw to her name, all quite exposed in that still shot of one frame. "Our guest can sing, and people are worried. This is Barbara Smith, and we're covering The Alien, friend, or foe? With us—"

Another woman appeared on the screen. She had long black hair that flowed over her shoulders. She wore a deep purple sweater with white spots along the hem. "I'm Monica Glott, a cultural expert. Now, we have to remember that Applejack isn't human." She cleared her throat softly. "But, even among humans, displaying teeth, especially mid-song, is hardly unusual. We do it often, but in a way to attract others, to show them we're interested in what they're doing."

Barbara seemed doubtful, looking down at the papers in her hands. "It sure looks aggressive. In our Rapid Poll™️ result, 60% found her mandibles to be 'creepy'." She made quotes with that word in the air. "30% were scared, and 20% were curious."

Monica pointed up at the image of Applejack. "That is a still image, a single moment. You can't get the meaning of anyone, alien or not, from a single instant."

"To give a countering opinion, we've also brought on—" A second man appeared on the screen. He had long dark hair and was wearing a cream sweater vest over a collared shirt. "Dr. Agatha Deux, from the local chapter of MUFON."

Barbara smiled at the camera, putting on her best warm, inviting expression. "Welcome to the broadcast, Doctor. What do you think of The Alien?" She gestured up at the still image of Applejack.

Agatha adjusted her glasses as she peered up at the alien in question. "That's no horse. They've given us another angle. Her teeth are separate jaws." She pointed out each tooth as it came into frame. "Those are not the flattened jaws dedicating to masticating rough fibers. If I had to guess, which I must, I'd say it belongs to at least an omnivorous, if not carnivorous, species. This alien is much more dangerous than we've been led to believe."

Barbara nodded, keeping the expression on her face. "Carnivorous. That sounds a little scary."

Monica shook her head. "Now, it doesn't matter if it's an omnivore or not, that shouldn't scare us. She has gone out of her way—"

Agatha cut in with a scowl. "Of course she's put a harmless first step forward. I didn't accuse her of being stupid, just dangerous."

Barbara and Monica looked at each other, then Barbara turned to the camera. "We'll be back after these messages."

The show changed to a series of commercials.

The representative of the UN assigned to Applejack sighed gently. "They will be discussing this for some time. They've told me you're free to go. I hope you're not too disappointed."

Applejack wagged her head from side to side, thinking it through as best she could. "Ah'm fine. We have to do things right. Ain't gonna push them into makin' the wrong choice." She laughed softly as she extended a foreleg for a shake. "It's good to know you ain't afraid of us. You've been good to me. If yer not too busy, ah'd like to have another chat."

The representative accepted the shake as he directed to the door with his other hand. "I think these good gentlemen have a place in mind for you."

True to his word, the Secret Service escorted Applejack out to a new vehicle and ferried her away from the UN smoothly before too many people could notice it happened. They deposited her in front of a hotel, looking up at the strange construction of the building.

"We've already secured your room, ma'am. Do you want help bringing anything up?"

Applejack looked around the vicinity for a moment before pointing towards a bag that had been set in the seat next to her. "'Bout all ah got." She turned and grabbed the bag in her teeth. "Jus' mah suit. Probably won't need it, but don't wanna lose it." She trotted alongside the others towards the front desk, where she got to sit while they chatted, giving her time to watch the other people coming and going.

The average human looked just like her friend Cindy. Some were males, and others were female, and Applejack was getting better at telling the two apart. They all smelled different too, though some of those smells were worn on purpose, confusing things a little. She was still learning to tease them apart.

One young man wore a nice cologne that seemed to float around him, while another man seemed to smell of sweat. A woman came out of an elevator and had the scent of baking bread to her, and it took Applejack a moment to sniff out her natural scent hiding under it. But she smiled when she picked it out, pleased that she could now pick the smells apart without needing time to figure them out.

Once the details were handled, Applejack headed up to her room, trying not to look as awkward as she felt.

"Excuse me." A little boy was looking up at her in amazement. "What are you?"

The guards around her looked ready to act, but Applejack gentle knelt before the child. "Howdy there. Name's Applejack. Right nice to meet you." She sang, her words flowing forth in a strange symphony.

The little boy stared up at her as he tried to grasp those words. "You talk funny. What are you?" He repeated the question as if that would get him the answer he wanted faster.

Applejack held a hoof out towards him. "Ah'm a pony. And yer a human, las' ah know. Nice to meetcha." She didn't get to shake hands, the boy's mother scooping him up with muttered apologies to Applejack for the interruption.

Once they were gone, she looked back to the humans that had been escorting her. "They're all so excitable."

One of them laughed at that. "Are your young any different? That's a steady point everywhere. This way." He waved for her to follow and they resumed their trip to her room. "I don't mean to pry, but how do you speak English?"

Applejack reached up a hind hoof to tap at her ear like a dog might scratch an itch. "Wearin' a special earrin' that ah friend cooked up. Translates fer us. Ah can still hear yer words, but ah don't understand 'em 'till it repeats it proper." She grinned at him. "Can ya tell what ah'm sayin'?"

The man grinned back. "Nope. Your voice sounds weird when you talk in your own language." He pointed at the device in her ear. "Can she make more of those?"

Applejack twitched her ears at that, hooves on the ground, propelling her towards her room. "Ah'd have to ask, but ah do know it'd have to be two languages she knows enough to do the translatin' of. We had a lot of English talk from yer broadcastin'." She nodded slowly, thinking it through as they approached her room and one of the agents used a keycard to unlock it for her.

Inside was a little place of heaven. Applejack spotted a window and rushed towards it, gasping in delight at the city below her. "A right nice view! Still amazed at how tall y'all make your towns. Feel like I could see ferever from here."

The agent took the keycard back as she poked her nose against the glass, getting a good look at everything before her. The people, the buildings, the vehicles moving along the streets. She couldn't reach any of them, but even there, from that high point, just watching them held a certain magic. "How many of ya are there? There's so many."

One agent flipped his phone towards Applejack, showing the staggeringly huge number. Her eyes flickered in a uniquely shocked way her people had. "Are ya kiddin'?! How do ya take care of so many creatures?!" She blinked up at him, those long lashes giving her an almost child-like innocence as she struggled to process what she was seeing. "How do ya feed 'em all?"

The man shrugged softly. "We don't always succeed, but we're pretty good at growing food."

The conversation shifted to how food was made, from fishing to farming, with Applejack eagerly listening along with questions aplenty to go with.

For the second time, Applejack's every word, song and soul were on display for the world to see, secreted out as the first was. It was sent to anyone who knew how to browse such videos online, it brought a different view for all watching her as she sat there on their screen, able to see her closely as she sang the entirety of her alien song with the whale.

They watched as she gently leaned forward, whispering something that couldn't be heard, just watching her mouth move with no translator present. She paused and began to sing again, calling out, waiting for a response. There was none. She sagged a little at that, lifting a hoof up to press against her chest, singing what she felt fit with the whale's enchanting calls. Neither could hear the other, so the song couldn't be completed, but their melodies seemed to slot into one another regardless.

Only when it was done did a rough man take up the video. "You just saw The Alien, Applejack, singing with a whale. Can you even believe it?! A real life alien!" He shouted to the sky in his excitement. "Her words were indecipherable, and we don't know what she was trying to do, but we saw it all! She was singing with a whale. What were they saying? For that matter."

He grabbed the camera, forcing the view far too close to his face as he started at it, shouting, as if raising his volume would help make the point more clearly, "WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?!" He pushed the camera back, sending the shot of his red face into the stratosphere before spinning it around, showing a painting of Applejack that had been set on an easel. "If she can talk to whales, are whales from out there too? Are they the ones really calling the shots around here? Is she waiting for her chance to go talk to them and discuss the real business they have? Are we even in charge of our own destiny anymore?!"

His eyes blazed with a wild fervor as he stared at the picture of Applejack, fear gripping him as his lips drew into a deep frown. "I'm not the only one asking these questions." He took a breath, trying to compose himself. "Are these our saviors, our doom, or our new overlords? Maybe a combination? How can we tell? What do we do?"

He spun the camera back to face him, still wearing a frown. "We don't know! It's impossible to tell. We have no clue what she wants. We just have to wait and watch. Be sure to comment with your ideas below, and click that thumbs up and subscribe." He shot a half-hearted thumbs up. "Until next time, keep your eyes on the sky."

Author's Note

A shorter one, but also a bonus one really. Technically, they're all bonus chapters, seeing as I'm just writing this because I feel like it. What would your reaction be to this strange alien creature?

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9 - Downtime

Cindy stood behind Applejack, fingers kneading the alien's flesh as she worked at a knotted muscle, her own muscles relaxing as she tried to work the tension out of the body she was rubbing. Applejack was the one relaxed in that moment, making soft contented sounds as Cindy continued the impromptu physical therapy.

Applejack looked over her shoulder. "You are remarkably, mmm, good at this, considerin' neither of us knows the other's body all that well."

Cindy traced the contour of Applejack's spine as she looked at the equine back with a critical eye. "I've had plenty of practice. And I've always liked this sort of thing. You have a few knots, and it'll take a bit to get you properly straightened out, but you seem to be in good health, I think?"

Sure, she was working on an alien, but they were alive, and they made noises of delight or discomfort as she went, guiding her towards the better spots as she went. "I'm glad they let me say hi to you again. I was worried they'd keep you away forever."

"Forever's a long time. Specially when ah ain't done nothin' wrong here. Jus' here to be friends." She stretched out as Cindy pushed on one of the tight muscles, coaxing it to relax under her hand. She flopped to the side, stretching out her legs with a gentle whickering sigh. "Watch it though, getting close to a sensitive spot."

Cindy wrenched her hand away as if she had been touching a hot stove. She had been on Applejack's rump, a perfectly fine spot on a normal horse, but Applejack wasn't a horse. What made it any more or less sensitive, she could only guess, but she went back up to Applejack's spine and worked along it. "Sorry. Say, do you have any books on this? A diagram of what's where?"

Applejack nodded with a groan. "They made me draw one out fer them. Humans and ponies ain't exactly the same on a lotta levels." She shifted herself into a better position. "Poke right there, that knot's driving me nuts." She groaned with a few clicks as Cindy began working out the tension, leaving her a delighted puddle of alien. "Yer the best. Um, but yeah, drew one out fer 'em. Ask 'em for a copy?"

Cindy wasn't sure about her odds of getting alien anatomy charts from the government was. It felt like a very impossib- She stopped herself mid-thought, chastising herself with a reminder that it was indeed possible now, as she had an alien sitting right in front of her. "Sure. I'll try my luck." Aliens weren't secret. They were all over the news! Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal to ask about. "Maybe I can get even better for next time."

"Ah wanna turn." Applejack sat up, shuffling to face Cindy. "Ain't fair if only you get to do it. 'Sides! Ah like the idea of makin' a friend feel nice." She flicked her tail, looking at Cindy with those wide, innocent eyes. "Ponies don't just take, ya know?"

Cindy relented to those big green eyes staring back at her, just melting into a puddle of agreement to let Applejack do as she wished. "Okay, fine." She flopped onto her stomach. "I'm in your hooves."

Applejack seemed surprised at that as she moved herself into position to return the favor, sitting down next to Cindy. "Thanks fer the trust." She set her soft, almost fleshy hooves on Cindy and proved they could become quite firm when she wanted them to be. It was like her hooves were entirely under her control. She could harden and shift those, what, bones? around as she pleased. They looked clumsy, but they proved to be quite adept in pressing in even the smallest point or over wide areas as she explored Cindy just as eagerly as she had been explored.

"I can't believe how much we don't know about you. Oh!" She pressed her hoof into a knot in Cindy's back, carefully releasing it as she felt the flesh give way under the pressure. "We really don't have a clue. Still, this is sure a fun way to find out." She gently tapped at Cindy a moment before moving along, her hooves working whole areas at the same time. "Ah can feel you enjoyin' it. Am ah gettin' it right?"

Cindy groaned happily as her muscles were turned into mush by the alien's magical hooves. "You are." Her words slurred with delight. "Never knew I could feel so relaxed." She adjusted herself a little as she was worked over. Without thinking about it, she flopped over onto her back to get her other side done. She realized her error swiftly. She had a lot more bumps and worrisome spots on her front.

But Applejack just tilted her head, giving Cindy a curious look. "Is that right? Eh, close enough." She lowered herself and shifted her body, those curious green eyes sweeping along Cindy's skin. She moved one hoof to explore along the woman's leg, starting at her calf. The legs were fine to work on, but as Applejack drew closer to more dangerous areas, Cindy gently swatted her away. "No?" Applejack skipped along. "Mind if ah ask why?"

"It's complicated." She seemed to shrink as she answered, like the idea of explaining something that intimate was overwhelming. It didn't help that she couldn't know for sure how much Applejack understood of human bodies, but it was easy to make the guesses as to what was meant by 'complicated.' "Gross living stuff."

Applejack laughed at that. "Well, pardner, we're both livin', so don't feel so shy, sugarcube. Was ah gettin' close to where somethin' goes in, or comes out maybe?" She was continuing her massage, not seeming bothered by the redirection, but clearly curious.

Cindy blushed a deep red as she processed that. "W-well." She took a slow breath to calm herself. "It's just personal, private. Embarrassing?" She considered the options Applejack had given her. "Technically, both? You're close to both." She swallowed slowly, feeling like her mouth had turned into a desert. "M-maybe it'll be easier to show you."

Applejack set a hoof on Cindy's hand before it could start doing things. "Now ah rightly 'ppreciate you bein' willin', but ah know y'all have a thin' 'bout bein' seen, 'specially by strangers." She inclined her head. "We're bein' watched. Don't think you wanna show them."

Cindy inhaled sharply as she realized she had been about to make that mistake. "Y-yeah. You're right. That'd be a dumb move. Thanks for the save."

Applejack shook her head with a laugh. "What are friends fer?" She swatted at Cindy gently. "All done, how ya feelin'?"

Cindy pressed both her hands into her stomach with a pleased moan. "Like I'm gonna melt. Is that a pony thing? Or did you have training back home?"

Applejack let out a single whistle. "Actually." She extended her arm, displaying her cloven hoof. "This, right here? This ain't natural."

Cindy sat up with wide eyes, blinking. "What?" She reached out to take Applejack's foreleg, stroking it gently. "But it looks so perfect." She traced the pink edge where hoof met skin. It was a very clean line. There was nothing implying there had been surgery, or that it was inorganic somehow. "How's it not natural?"

Applejack brushed the hoof against Cindy's face, petting gently. "They adjusted me, fer space travel. On the ground, flat hooves were fine enough, but in space, havin' a real good grip's a powerful advantage." She snickered gently. "Ah had the option of a grabbin' tentacle, but ah opted out of that." She set her hooves on the ground. "They changed a lotta me, to make sure ah'd make it here safe and whole."

Cindy hugged the pony at that, burying her face into Applejack's side, pressing in close to feel the warmth of the creature as she nuzzled up against it. "They did all that for you?" She smiled at that. "That's amazing, that your people can do that! And that you went through with it, just to come say hello to us." She sat back with a huff. "Did it hurt?"

Applejack waved that concern away with a soft click. "'Course it did, but they give ya all sorts of special medicine for it. They train ya how to move 'round proper again too. Gave me hoof-plated shoes fer goin' out 'n 'bout 'til ah got used to it." She clopped her hooves together. "Feels silly now, all used to 'em. Shoot, wouldn't even wanna go back to the classic models."

Cindy sighed happily at that, thinking about it for a moment as she let her gaze sweep over Applejack's body. The alien had come so far, to do something so great, and they were just willing to welcome her with open arms. "You worked very hard, just to get here." She hugged Applejack gently, amazed she could hug an alien without issues. "Welcome to Earth."

"Mighty happy to be here." She leaned against Cindy, the two sharing warmth in an unspoken token of fondness that didn't need any languages at all. Both were comfortable with the other in their personal space, and they just relaxed for a time, their soft breaths the only sound in the room.

A soft knocking broke the silence. An agent stepped into the room a moment later. "Sorry to intrude, but I need to have a word with Miss Applejack." He made no mention of the position they were in, not reacting to them being pressed together, wrapped in each other's arms. "Please, come along."

Cindy kissed Applejack's cheek before she started to get up, stretching out her still-loose muscles. "I'll be back later. Can't keep a good friend waiting." She went off to handle her own affairs.

Applejack looked at the agent, confused. "What is it? Somethin' break?"

"You have appointments." He held a clipboard full of such things. "I'm to get you to your next one. Are you ready to go?"

Applejack straightened herself and smoothed down her mane. "Ah am now. Who am ah meetin'?" She let the agent lead her away from the room and she followed him to the exit.

He pulled open the door to the outside world, stepping out to head towards the black SUV waiting for them.

Author's Note

What if we just, you know, took a little break. Cindy and Applejack deserve a moment to cuddle warmly.

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10 - Bored!

Rainbow stretched her legs in all directions, slowly rotating in the gravity-free confines of the ship. "I am dying." She slapped a button. "Flutters! For the love of everything, tell me we have an update from AJ."

Fluttershy glanced up from her monitoring, flicking through her feed for anything related to Applejack. "Um, it's in your queue. And I think she's still talking to that, um, human, um, Cindy."

Rainbow used her wings to manipulate several monitors at once. "I am so jealous right now. The humans haven't killed AJ or nothin'. I wanna be down there! I want to be in gravity. I want to have special friends." She folded her arms over her chest. "Why's AJ get to have one?"

Fluttershy stared at the back of Rainbow's head as the other mare whined and complained about things, bringing up all sorts of good points to moan about. "Um, we're all special friends?" She drifted in place, looking over the ever-so-slightly swaying cables that connected her to the ship itself. The navigation feed, the power feeds, a multitude of options, each needed for the safety of their crew.

Rainbow drifted up next to Fluttershy, spinning upside down and tilting her head back to see what she was doing. "What's that?"

Fluttershy leaned over and touched her snout to Rainbow's as her fellow pony drifted past. "Humans have a multitude of languages. While most of our database is that of 'English', we have some of other dialects. I'm working on improving the translator. With a little magic, I think I can home in on the core source of their words, so it can work on all their languages at once."

"Is that why you're plugged into the ship?" Rainbow propped herself against the other mare's frame, taking a look at what Fluttershy was doing with her eyes. There was a whole lot of text that meant nothing to her, and most of it was flying by too fast to even begin to grasp, but she watched it anyway, appreciating the complexity. "You are a miracle-worker, you know that." She thrust a hoof towards the front of the ship. "Ugh, stuck in orbit, I can't fly!"

Fluttershy stirred softly, pressing back into Rainbow gently. "You just want to play games, or visit their world." She gently smacked her tail against Rainbow's back. "We're supposed to be here for support."

Rainbow poked her in the cheek, stopping the process of receiving data. "Come on! We need to go check this place out. Have you seen all the sights down there?"

Fluttershy grinned down at Rainbow, but gently pressed her away. "I'll let Applejack know how you're feeling. In the meanwhile, why not play with Pinkie Pie? She loves playing. And you can always see about making some games from our world to show off to them."

Rainbow pumped her foreleg as she twisted in the air. "Sweet! You are the best, Flutters!" She blew a kiss towards her, fluttering her lashes as she moved towards the back of the ship where Pinkie had commandeered a sizable room all to herself. "Pinkie!"

The hyperactive pony floated in place, legs waving about with a carefree smile on her face, a single tooth showing as she opened her mouth in an excited cry of delight. "Rainbow Dash! I have so many ideas for games to play!"

Rainbow blinked. "Woah, I didn't even mention that yet."

Pinkie tapped at her head. "One of many improvements I signed up for when we got on this mission."

Rainbow squinted at Pinkie, gently crashing into her as momentum carried them together. "You're joking." She poked at Pinkie's forehead with a hoof. "You do not have some sort of—" She tried to think of a good name for it. "PSI powers! You'd be shouting about it."

Pinkie giggled as she grabbed Rainbow's head, holding it in her hooves as she stared into Rainbow's eyes. "Rainbow Dash. When we started, I became the ultimate pony for an ultimate mission." She spun them around, giggling all the while.

Rainbow laughed, shaking her head. "I swear, Pinks. I'm never sure exactly where your jokes end or not. Alright, so, game. You said you had one in mind?"

"Foals!" Pinkie threw apart her forelegs, streamers exploding from her in all directions.

Rainbow blinked with confusion. "Foals? What about them? We don't have any. Can you imagine them being okay with dragging foals lightyears away!" She slowly waved a hoof about the ship. "Can you imagine having five of us being trapped on this tiny thing?!"

Pinkie gently pulled Rainbow into her side, crushing her against her barrel. "Silly, I meant making some."

Rainbow hiked a brow at that. "Uh, Pinks? Hate to break this to you, but the whole crew, all of us? We're girls, mares. It's gonna be hard to get with foals with only ladies around." She rolled a hoof with a snort. "Besides, zero gravity foals? Not how I'd want to raise any kiddo of mine if I was gonna have one."

Pinkie poked at Rainbow's side, teasing her gently. "Heeey! Maybe there's ways we could figure it out! Have fun at the same time!" She leaned in close, whispering something to Rainbow as she glanced up towards the camera mounted near them.

Those unheard words made Rainbow tremble powerfully. "What? No way."

"Yes way," sang Pinkie, bouncing off a wall with a grin. "If we turned around right now and went home, we'd be super dead before we got there. That'd be sad. Princes Celestia gave me a secret super duper secret order. Shhh!" She pressed a hoof to her muzzle with a wink and a click of her tongue. "She told me to enjoy the mission to the best of my ability, and even if it takes a little while, the world below us has everything we need to make some more ponies! Well, she hoped it would, and it does!" She hopped from wall to wall as she spoke, flipping around in an unending loop of energy as she jumped between topics without warning. "I read everything about them. They're cute. And they want friends too!"

She excitedly clapped her hooves. "So! When we go down there, and we will all go down there, we get to play the foal game, and ponies and humans get to be friends forever." She snorted into renewed laughter. "Won't that be fun?!"

Rainbow grinned, pushing away from Pinkie as she spread her wings, floating around the hyperactive mare. "Yeah! And I'll get to race! It'll be great! But how are you going to make some foals? Again, all mares. Usually, you know, you need a mare and a stallion. We didn't bring any stallions with us, so, you know, no foals?"

Pinkie clicked her tongue, shaking her head from side to side. "Not true! We can do it!" She patted her belly with a smile. "I'll just need a few special things to make some! Princess Celestia is fine with it. Twilight had the secret." She grabbed at Rainbow, pulling them together snout to snout. "Remember what she likes to say, Friendship is Magic. In this case, Friendship is Foals." She spread her hooves wide, spinning through the air, watching the lines of streamers explode from her form, dancing along in the endless twirl as they cascaded down and off to vanish against the walls around them, wrapping the two ponies in their own colorful cocoon, safe and happy inside the ship, ignoring the vast cold emptiness beyond their hull, along with the dangerous journey behind them and ahead of them.

Rainbow relaxed in her Pinkie-hug of streamers. "Well, you haven't changed. Seriously though, we've been friends forever, Pinkie. I don't have any foals. Neither do you. How do you plan to change that?"

Pinkie exploded free of her wrapping. "Oh, that's easy!" She floated to a window and pointed through, to the planet below. "Twilight figured, if we were alone, it'd just be too sad to bring foals into things, so she set it up so we needed not-ponies. Not-ponies and friendship! Those are the two things. Get a friend and hug them tight!" She hugged herself with a squeak. "Love them very much, and if they love you back, then we get foals."

Rainbow's brow drew in, trying to parse what she was hearing. "Uh. So you're saying that Twilight made a spell for humans that will make them able to have foals? That's, um, wow."

Pinkie pushed off a wall to grab Rainbow in a hug. "Humans, ponies, any two of us that are for-real friends. Won't matter if we're mares, of if they're a mare." She inclined her head. "I mean, we mighta made friends with aliens that didn't have mares! What would we do then? Nope! Her spell doesn't care. Two bosom buddies, one's not a pony. Foals. Easy as that." She pulled away from Rainbow with a giggle, pinching at her cheek. "All you have to do is find a human that you really like. I can't wait to start looking, but we have to get down there." She waved a hoof at Earth so far away. "Just don't be too surprised if someone wants to make foals with me first!" She poked Rainbow's chest with a laugh and spun away. "Gotta check my stuff."

Rainbow grabbed Pinkie's tail to stop her fleeing. "So, uh, who have you told about this?"

"Just you, so far." Pinkie inclined her head left and right. "I figured I'd let everypony in on it once we were all on the ground."

Rainbow booped Pinkie on the nose. "Applejack made a friend, Pinkie." She rolled her eyes. "A human friend. I hear they're getting along pretty well."

Pinkie straightened in place, going stiff as she seemed to process that, and she very slowly turned her head towards Rainbow, a strange smile forming on her face as she stared at the other mare with wide eyes. "Well now. Hopefully nothing happens before we get down there?"

Rainbow pressed a hoof to her face, pinching the bridge of her snout. "Pinkie! She, or the human, or maybe both? They could be doing the foal thing, right now! And neither of them know it's coming! This is bad. We need to tell her, right now!"

Pinkie reached out to stop Rainbow from running off to do something so rash. "Don't." She patted at Rainbow's shoulders gently, letting her streamers dissipate, setting them adrift in the small room. "We need to have faith in her, and the human."

"Faith?! This isn't a faith thing, Pinks." Rainbow set her hooves on her hips. "Even if we assume they are super friends, it's just rude to not tell somepony there's a foal on the way."

Pinkie rolled one shoulder gently as she moved over to a crate, giving it a nudge to open it. Inside were all sorts of wrapped up sweets and other things. "If they are, then they'll figure it out, won't they?"

Rainbow massaged at her temples, unable to grasp the way Pinkie thought things through. At least that hadn't changed.

Author's Note

There are literally no possible ways this could go wrong. It's foal-proof!

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11 - Friends

Cindy woke to a soft furry presence nuzzling her face. When did she get a dog? Or a cat? No, she didn't have either of those. What she had was an alien sitting on her chest, poking at her cheek with a soft hooffinger, or whatever the right term for it was. "Applejack?"

"Ya fell asleep on me. Ya seem tired."

"Fell asleep on you!?" Cindy tried to sit up, but there was a pony on her. "This is my house, which you weren't in. Not sad to see you, but why are you here? And in my room? Also, if I'm wearing pajamas, I should have been in bed." She pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to sift through what she could remember and the spots in her memory.

"You asked me over to visit." Applejack looked so sure, in her alien way, of her words.

"Some time." Cindy gently brushed Applejack off and managed to right herself. "As in we should make plans. Not that I should wake up to a face full of Applejack." She was half-laughing as she said it. "Not the worst thing, but I wasn't expecting it." She didn't seem upset by it though.

Applejack chuckled softly, watching her new friend get herself up and about. "Fair enough. How much did you sleep?"

"Some." She headed towards her bathroom. "Gotta make myself presentable." She hopped to her feet and stretched for the sky. "Not that you ever seem to?"

Applejack raised her hooves to her mane. "Part of the space package. They can't have us sheddin', or spendin' time fussin', so the hair stays where it's put instead of gettin' in everythin'." She stroked down her mane slowly. "Sure makes makin' a good impression easier. Never need to clean up. Gives me more time to play."

"That must be nice." Cindy glanced at herself in the mirror as she ran her fingers through her messy hair, trying to get it to behave in any sort of way that looked good. She gave up after a moment, feeling silly for trying. "Humans don't have that trick."

"Ponies don't neither." Applejack directed a hoof at herself. "Like ah said, space package. Normal ponies gotta brush out their manes and their coats. 'Least you humans only gotta worry 'bout yer manes."

Cindy's words tumbled out with a gentle snort of amusement. "Pony and mane and coat. Got it." She closed her eyes as she finished brushing her teeth. "How do you keep your tail looking so good?"

Applejack peeked back at that long tail with a ribbon on it. "Still hair, space package covers that. Without that, ah'd have to brush it." She watched Cindy brush her teeth curiously. "Been quite a bit since ah last had to do that." She thought back on all the old routines and rules of being a pony. How she had to bathe regularly, groom herself in a specific way, eat specific foods, and things like that. "Humans got a lotta ways to deal with that sorta thing, huh?"

It was at that point, it hit Cindy. She turned to Applejack curiously. "How much of you am I looking at a pony, and how much the designed-for-space model?"

Applejack scratched at her cheek and shook out. "Well, hm." She considered the question for a moment, her eyes twitching back and forth as she did some mental math in her head. "Everythin' is 'bout the same size it used to be. Maybe a little bigger in spots." She was getting the feeling that wasn't the answer Cindy was looking for. "Horses already got powerful legs, but the modifications gave me even more. Ah could carry three ponies on my back and still not be pushed over." She lifted her hooves. "Already told you 'bout these. Good fer holdin' things and such."

She shifted her weight onto her hind legs and flicked her tail. "Feel different but still work the same." She turned about to show off her flank to Cindy. "Ain't got a saddle."

Cindy laughed at that. "Why would a pony wear a saddle? There weren't humans to give ride to, right?"

"Hey now, saddles got other uses." Applejack crossed her arms, sitting on her haunches. "Like holdin' bags, fer one." She patted at her rump. "An' on the real special ponies, they get wings or magical horns." She reached up to tap at her chest with a hoof. "Stirrups too. If ya wanna help with the plowin', or anythin' else, stirrups are useful."

Cindy reached to pat Applejack on the head. "Feel like you got a little sidetracked, but some ponies have wings or horns? Any with you, um, on your ship?"

Applejack considered that. "Only flyin' with a pegasus, an' we got a unicorn in deep freeze, waitin' fer the all clear to thaw her out. Speakin' ah that! Any idea what the UN's thinkin'? Reckon they're the last people ah need to a—" She paused to twirl at a swirling mote of magical light. "What in tarnation?!"

Cindy casually hid behind Applejack, awkward shield as she was. "You didn't make that?"

"Do ah look like a unicorn to you?" Applejack drew herself up, eyeing the slowly spiraling light that seemed to hang in the air without actually emitting any sort of glow, nor was there any light reflecting off of it.

The glow settled to the ground and faded away, leaving something behind. A form, curled on the ground. Its tail lightly twitched.

Cindy gaped at it. "Is that, a little pony?" It was smaller than Applejack, a little foal created from nothing. The faint light played over the edges of its new form as it stirred. She was struck by how curious and innocent it looked, its mouth twitching as it slowly began to move, making soft sounds that spoke of discomfort as it rolled onto its back and kicked out in a stretch, kicking softly at the air as it lay on its back, hooves in the air. It's fur was soft white, and its mane a gentle yellow, each strand glimmering with an otherworldly shine that betrayed its origin, in a way. A magical thing had no business looking so normal, but it was a perfect pony, if tiny, even as it struggled to open its eyes.

Applejack went in to nuzzle the little foal. "Well, howdy there. Not sure how ya got here, but, um, welcome."

The foal grabbed Applejack's snout as best as it could, babbling at her as any young child might with a clear lack of understanding of any language. Some of its babbles were curious whistles, and other more earthen child, as if it were expecting either. The pair stared at each other, while Cindy continued to gape at the miracle that had just unfolded before her eyes, frozen in place as she tried to make sense of what she had just seen, both with her eyes and in her heart.

That child felt like it, somehow, belonged to her. She dropped to a knee and softly felt over the foal's sides. "How?" She gently set a hand on its soft head, feeling the heat of the foal as it began to exist in a cold world, as if she could warm the foal herself. "You were magic."

Applejack tapped Cindy's nose with her hoof. "We were magic." She stood up proudly. "And we're parents. Ah think?" She inclined her head at the foal. "Not sure what else could be their parent. We're the only two around."

Cindy thought about that, very hard. "But how? Neither of us are male."

"Well, ah wasn't payin' much attention ta how, but there's a foal right here." Applejack gently stroked over the happily burbling foal. "We can't say it can't happen. It already done did."

Cindy studied the little colt with a careful eye, moving along to poke at his little legs, then down his back and up his sides. She could feel the heat of him under her hand, just barely at first, but as she explored the little foal, she felt the warmth spread to fill him. The little foal was adjusting to the world, its world. "We need a lawyer."

Even as she dug out her phone, Applejack looked on with confusion. "Whatcha need one ah those fer?"

Cindy pressed a kiss to the little foal's head. "This is our son."

Applejack wobbled, nearly falling over from shock. "Son?" Her eyes flicked. "Oh, yes, son." She nodded, that question easily answered. "But what's that got to do with a lawyer?"

"Hello?" Cindy turned away from AJ and her child. "I need representation, now. I have a child, native born, but missing any birth certificate or other documents. Was literally just born. I need to be guided through the steps to get this right. They are a special case, but they were born in the US of A."

Applejack strained to hear as the other person on the phone responded, the two of them speaking rapidly. Hearing only half of it, and her translator missing some of it, she had no hope of keeping up with what they were going on about. She decided to gather up the colt instead, nuzzling at him gently as he kicked out at the world, seeming to be confused by the gravity he found himself in. "Don't you worry now. Mama's gotcha. They're gonna help us figure things out."

The colt let out a soft whinny, very short and shrill as he leaned against his mother, happily accepting her affection and doing his best to return it. "Are ya hungry?" She paused, ears flipping back.

Cindy hung up the phone with a sigh. "Alright, they're on the way." She dusted herself off and turned back to see a distressed Applejack. "Something wrong? It's going to be fine."

"I don't know what I'm doing!" She clung to the child as she paced around Cindy's room, tail flicking wildly. "We didn't think of anythin' about this." She looked over her shoulder at Cindy. "Ah don't know how to mother none. And, uh." She fidgeted. "I can't feed him. Ah'm a space pony! Ah was built specific fer one thin'." She turned to face Cindy, the two mother's having a bit of a stare-off with their foal. "It'd be dumb ta not eat, right? That'd be dumb. I can eat just fine, but ah can't give him what he needs."

Cindy hissed gently as she reached out, taking the colt. "Will formula work?" Applejack looked clueless. "We'll have to try. He also need a name. We can't keep calling him 'him', can we?"

Applejack glanced about at the lack of anything that would clearly indicate what they should call the foal, not having any objects on hand for that sort of thing. "Sure he got one. Um, hm. Ponies tend to be named fer things. He's an Earth pony. Name him fer some earth things!"

Cindy considered that with a thoughtful humming sound, rolling it around in her head as she looked down at the foal, which seemed to look back at her expectantly. "He looks like an angel."

"Angel," murmured Applejack, tasting the word and finding it very pleasant indeed, even if it had that somewhat odd feeling of translation that came with many words shared between them. "It's good." She giggled as she saw the colt fuss, trying to find a way to escape Cindy's grip to go explore the world. "Calm down, there. We gotta get you fed, and I'm sure your other mama needs some breakfast too."

Cindy paused in the act of gathering things up for her little one. "Right! Right." She had completely forgotten that she hasn't eaten, day occupied with alien equines. "Becoming a mother means skipping meals sometimes." She headed for the fridge to at least address herself even as she plugged at her phone with one hand, ordering baby supplies.

Author's Note

You thought there'd be pregnancy involved? Nah. Hints have been placed about the nature of other things. This will not go quietly.

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12 - American Born

The lawyer faced the judge. There were no jurors, nobody had been accused of a crime. Yet, the lawyer was entirely required, as was the judge, looking at him sternly. "Your honor." He held out a card that the bailiff snatched up and ferried towards the judge. "This has been proven entirely valid. It was issued by the United States government, by all proper bodies."

The judge looked over it, huffing slightly as she looked at the document, showing off the image of an alien standing proudly. "Is this mare here with you?"

The lawyer stood aside to allow the aforementioned mare to step into view, followed by her human companion, both of them holding their young child. The judge nodded at the family. "That does seem to match." She held up the ID, spotting the listed gender. "Her. May I ask why you showed this to me? Her Visa status is not in question."

He nodded slowly. "That it isn't. Half of America is aware of her immigration status. She has a visa. To have a visa, one must be a someone. We do not issue visas to dogs, cats, or especially friendly cacti." He waved his hand at the three people in front of him. "These people are clearly here today to set into motion a complicated series of events that will forever change their lives. They need my services, as well as your confirmation to properly navigate a very difficult path."

The judge folded her arms ahead of herself. "You are making a move against the actions of the same immigration that granted this visa."

The lawyer paused for effect. "Her son, Angel, was denied a birth certificate, and with it, a social security number." He directed to the colt being held up by the two parents. "Child of one native American, and one visa-holding guest. On American soil. They said, as you have likely read, that the intended recipient did not meet their requirements." He plucked at his lapel. "That is their prerogative, and I respect them for standing by their values and ethics, but they cannot simply do whatever they please without consequences."

The judge took a slow breath. "While that pony is adorable, are they—" She struggled for the right word. "Will they learn how to talk? Are they sapient?"

Applejack rumbled with a soft cough, clearing her throat before she spoke up, careful with her words. "My son is, for sure, one of us." She patted the boy's side with her free hoof, careful not to poke him with her dangerous modification. "Ponies were invited here for friendship." She looked ready to say more, but their lawyer held up a hand for quiet.

The judge's view went to the parents. "Do you have proof of when and where this child was born?"

Applejack shifted a little. "I do." She paused a moment, then nodded firmly. "He was born in the United States of America."

"You are a legal alien, you understand?"

"Ah am. Not very alien though." She whistled softly. "Most people know me at this point."

Cindy snickered, but did her best to be quiet.

Their lawyer coughed gently. "Ma'am." He looked to Cindy specifically. "She called me at a specific time. With her consent, we were able to locate where she was at the time, including a timestamp." He offered a paper to the bailiff to carry towards the judge. "This will satisfy any reasonable person's inquiry into the origin of this foal."

The judge read the form over carefully, even going so far as to check it against another document she had in front of her, double-checking their numbers. "Well, if they are a person, and they were born in the United States, the laws are clear." She raised her gavel. "If there are no objections." She looked to the representative of the group that had denied the application in the first place.

"This sets a dangerous precedent, your honor." The other lawyer frowned with meaning. "Think of where this could lead."

"A person was born on the soil of the United States." The judge clapped her gavel down. "They are a citizen of this country. Until and unless that law is changed, this is the law of the land. This case is found in favor of the plaintiff." She nodded slowly as she set down her gavel, content with her decision.

Applejack bowed politely to the judge, thanking her before they left the courtroom, leaving with their paperwork in hand. Once outside, Applejack looked to the two of them. "Well, I'll be. That's all that? Got a son!" She leaned into Cindy with a giggle. "Never thought ah'd get ta be a mother. AJ's got a kiddo now. Well, and he's got two mothers. We're gonna do fine."

Cindy squeezed their son gently. "You had a son before today, but now he's an American, like me." She ruffled the top of the filly. "Now we have to finish getting his documents. At least we can do that now. Now you can use the right name for our son." She looked over at Applejack with a soft smile. "Should I be looking at titles, to call you 'mom' too?"

Applejack cuddled up close to Cindy and her child. "We're both moms. Ah'm okay with—" A bright flash made her eyes contract sharply, and more followed as they were swarmed by cameras and loud questions. The press were upon them, and they had so many questions about what had just happened in court.

Cindy laughed as she buried herself into Applejack's side, leaning into the soft furry presence to use it as a shield against the attention they were receiving, as well as an anchor to keep herself steady in the world, giving her something to hold on to amidst the chaos around them. She was surrounded by voices demanding her attention, calling out to her for anything she could give, people desperate to find out what had just happened.

Her lawyer did his best to ward them away. "Angel is a citizen of the United States of America," he did announce, which brought about a whole new wave of flashes as Cindy held Angel close. Thankfully, they made it into the Secret Service car awaiting them. The moment they were in, they took off down the road, away from the gathered reporters, speeding down the streets with their destination set in stone and their course laid out clearly.

They'd be getting their son's documents.

An image of Angel appeared, smiling and bright eyed. "Welcome our newest citizen. There were approximately nine thousand and nine hundred ninety nine others competing for the spot, but exactly one of them has hooves." The image shifted, showing Angel dangling from Cindy's arms, hooves clearly visible. "Child of a native American human woman and an alien female, scientists are clamoring for a chance to study him."

The picture shifted to show Applejack staring at a cupcake on a plate. "We hope they won't interfere with his daily life, especially since his mothers seem determined to make sure he is raised to be the best boy he can be." The image flipped to the United Nations. "The UN is still deliberating their response to Applejack's visit, and the arrival of her child complicates things. Some want to force the issue and expel the pony from the country, while others are urging that they make peace with her before more severe events come to pass."

The screen flickered to show a montage of the pair taking care of Angel, playing with him, cuddling him, feeding him, and other gentle, wholesome images of his life. "Others are bringing up the concerning nature of this union. Even if they were both humans, which they are not, two mothers is still a dividing line, with some for and others against. Adding in the alien component has some people saying they are setting their son up for a difficult life, while others point out he could be the bridge between worlds."

Cindy appeared, moving. "I named him Angel. At the time, it was spontaneous, but I checked myself, and the name was no mistake. Angel is a messenger. Angel is that, and he will carry a message of peace and unity that bridges two species together, even if one of them hasn't even—" Her video ended, swapping to a reporter at the United Nations.

"All sides are bickering over the legal ramifications of the case. If Applejack is allowed to stay, and a child born to her becomes a citizen of this country, what does that mean for other nations? Should we have been sending invitations out to space? Will the Japanese embassy be sending out invitations to all their cute little mascots? Is this a good thing? Can we trust them? The arguments rage on, but no side seems willing to give ground, and we may have a long night ahead of us."

The view swapped back to the primary reporter. "The event rages on, and we'll be keeping an eye on it. Next on the news—"

Author's Note

A bonus chapter of family victory. Welcome home, Angel, child of America.

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13 - Purplesmart

"So." Applejack had a hoof by her ear. "Much as ah'm lovin' this little ball of innocent pony, ah'd still like to know where in tarnation it came from!" She was singing, her translation disabled. Her words were meant for those who already understood it. "'Cause neither Cindy or I did nothin' that shoulda had a foal! An' yet, there it is. 'Gain, love 'em, but ah need to know what happened."

Rainbow Dash sighed gently. "Look, um, I just heard about it myself. Fluttershy has no idea, so don't be mad at her."

Applejack shifted closer, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Spill."

Rainbow chewed her lip. "Look, you're one of my best friends. I can't just leave you in the dark. So. See, Twilight, you know she has big ideas, right?"

"Uh huh?" Applejack cocked a brow. "What kinda crazy idea did she come up wit' this time?" She smiled gently, recalling that a good deal of Twilight's plans and ideas were just fine. That was the whole reason they were out there.

Rainbow fidgeted. "Um. Well, she sorta—" She tugged at her mane with her hoof. "Twilight knew there wouldn't be stallions around." She tucked her head down with a wince. "Not all of us were real happy with that. Me included, really, but she wasn't wrong, and so, well." She bounced in place, floating. "Look, it was her idea, okay?"

Applejack snorted gently, rubbing at her lower jaw where one jaw met the next. "Twilight's like that. Now tell me what happened! Ahm ah just gonna start popping out little ponies all over? That'll get a bit crazy real fast." She kicked her hooves softly against the ground as she stared down at the soft grass around her. "Don't mind that they exist, but ah need to know how this works, you get me?"

"It's magic!" Rainbow waved a hoof with a pout, but she lowered it again, knowing that answer was unsatisfactory. "She said, and I quote, 'Sincere friendship with a not-pony.' I don't know how often, or how easy." She put her hooves at her hips. "Speaking of that! You're all snug as a bug. When do I get to come down? What am I waiting for?!"

Applejack pulled back from the camera, waving her hoof about as she calmed Rainbow down. "Ya gotta wait for the UN to finish their fiddlin'. Once they say it's okay, ya can come down. They'll be expectin' ya, and once they see ya ain't out to invade, that'll make it a lot less—"

"Hold on." Rainbow dash swatted with a wing. "Hello?" The response came in English, making her blush. "Oops!" She tapped at her earring to get its translation going. "Hello, Rainbow Dash speaking. How can I help?"

A voice spoke up that Rainbow didn't recognize, "Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am a representative of the country of Canada. We are good friends with the nation of America, and we would like to spread out arms wide in welcome to you. We are sending some coordinates, we hope they make sense to your computer. If you'd like, please visit. You will be given a visitor's visa with no set time limit. We welcome our neighbors from another star."

Rainbow spun in place, thinking fast as she answered, her words carefully chosen. "I can't go without orders. Until the UN says it's fine, we have to stay in orbit. It's going to be a long while before I can get down there." She sighed softly. "Sounds fun, not gonna lie!"

"The UN can't tell Canada not to welcome you." The voice, male, was quite friendly. "Us coming to you would be quite expensive, but we assume you have a way of coming down here. It is entirely your choice." She could hear papers rustling. "I am permitted to offer you a stipend."

"Stipend?" Rainbow inclined her head. "Stipend of what?"

"Money. You'll get paid just for being here, so you can have a fun time, enjoying the wonders of Canada, both natural and man-made, and we have plenty!" He sounded eager, as if he was really hoping she would say yes.

Rainbow's wings fluttered with excitement. "I'd love to come down and see what's what, but, like I said, I don't want to get in trouble." She squirmed in place even as she slowly span in place, gravity having little say over her. "Are you sure it won't make other humans super mad? I'm not trying to make them mad."

"There are few things that upset our Americans more than a lack of decisiveness." He laughed at that, his tone warm and friendly. "The States have allowed you into their country. You were treated well, and now the UN is simply taking too long. Now, like I said, Canada and the States are friends, close chums! Why, you could even visit your friend down there without too much trouble."

"Yes!" Rainbow bounced in place with excitement. "If I can, I'd like to get down there as soon as possible. As I said, we're being forced to stay up here." She thought about her options for a moment. "Um, let me go talk to someone really quick. Can you hold on?"

"I'm afraid I really can't. You have our information though." He snapped his fingers. "So come on down if you like. No hard feelings if you don't, but it'd be a shame to miss out. Ask around, We Canadians are known for being a polite and welcoming bunch."

Vibrating with excitement, Rainbow propelled herself with strong grabs of things on the way and flaps of her wings. "Fluttershy!"

The soft-mannered pegasus lifted her head up from a box she had been examining, letting out a faint, adorable squeak as she nearly fell over from surprise at Rainbow's sudden appearance. "R-Rainbow? Did something happen? Do we have more visitors?"

"Nothing like that." Rainbow waved it off. "A human just sent us a message. They want us to come down. They're ready to throw parties and give us bits just for being awesome. Please say I can go, please!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes fondly. "That sounds like fun." She dug around in the box to come out with a single earring. She got her translator into place. "You know, if we leave, the ship has to come with us. It'll never be a ship again. Are you sure?"

"Hey now, what about Twilight?" Rainbow settled on her haunches and put her hooves at her hips. "Tell me how many hours left before she thaws out."

Fluttershy scooted away from the computer so she could get it to project the answer for them both. "I, um, might have lied a little." She laughed nervously. "I can wake her up at any time, but I was told not to, until we were sure this was a world we wanted to, um, be on. If we're landing, I should wake her up."

"Alright." Rainbow folded her hooves behind her head, laying back to kick at the air. "Wake her up. Let's make this real."

"This is real," giggled Fluttershy as she set things into motion. "She should wake up soon. If she agrees with our reports, we'll all be landing." She swallowed thickly. "This world will become our home."

Rainbow rolled about in the air, getting her energy out while she waited for Twilight to wake up, excited to share the news with her friend, that their journey was nearly at an end. It'd been a long time since they left the comfort of Equestria, and the only things they had to do now were bring down the rest of their friends. "Oh, wait." She rubbed behind her head. "What about Pinkie?"

"What about Pinkie?" Fluttershy inclined her head. "She's a program, not a person. We could just turn her off."

Rainbow paled near her snout. "What?! No way! She's been a true friend! I don't wanna just turn her off 'cause we're here." She stomped a hoof in a firm declaration of her feelings on the matter, sending her sailing away from the wall she struck. "She deserves to be one of us."

Fluttershy boggled at that, ears drooping and eyes going wide as she took in that idea. "I see. Hm." She held out a hoof. "Give me your translator."

Rainbow pulled the earring out carefully and set it in Fluttershy's hoof.

Fluttershy pressed a button on it and kept it held down until it began to flash different colors. "Step one." She put it down on a tray that swallowed it up into the wall. "Computer." It chimed gently. "I'd like to transfer Pinkie Executable." She worked her hooves busily, wings helping as she worked. "No, the other one."

Rainbow hovered close, leaning in to watch everything Fluttershy was doing with interest. "Are you sure that's okay?"

"I'm transferring Pinkie into your translator." She flexed her hooves out with a heavy exhale as she finished. "It's ready. Give me your hoof."

Rainbow held out her front left hoof, and Fluttershy placed it carefully into the tray. "Now, this much information won't fit so easily. I know you preferred it as just an earring before, but that isn't—" She was interrupted by a sharp pain that lanced up through Rainbow's leg. "possible this time. You will be Pinkie's host. But you won't leave her behind."

Rainbow wanted to make a snappy comeback, but the pain went up through her leg and to her heart, and she jerked back with a scream, tumbling away as her body refused to work right, limbs going everywhere as she writhed about in the air in pure agony. Fortunately, the discomforted faded quickly, leaving her heaving for breath, looking at her hoof which appeared no different than it ever had. "Pinkie?" She rose up from where she had been laying, one eye wide with surprise.

"Yep!" A yellow earring slipped into Rainbow's ear, glowing for a moment. "Totally me! This is new. I'm in your head!"

Rainbow laughed at her internal Pinkie. "You were always in my head, Pinkie. We just made it official. We may be landing soon. Are you ready?"

"Yes!" She twirled in place, which translated to Rainbow's body twisting in the air. "It's been so long since we last met, and even longer since I've had a body! Well, more than a temporary one."

Rainbow snorted gently. "Hey, my body. You get your own."

"Fine!" Pinkie appeared, a translucent hologram. "There." She booped Rainbow with a giggle. "I'm so excited! I wanna explore this new world with you." She gazed around with her bright blue eyes, smiling at everything she saw as she stretched out, shaking out her hooves as she pulled herself to full height. "Ooh, I can't wait."

Rainbow swatted playfully at the transparent Pinkie. "I'm just glad we're not turning you off, that'd be way too sad. We have a whole new world to explore." She hugged Pinkie as best she could, not that Pinkie had any physical mass. "Come on, let's go plan." The two darted off to get their things together and plot their exploration of Earth.

Fluttershy smiled as the two fled. "Now, Twilight." She pulled up the image of the peacefully sleeping pony. "We'll be needing you soon." She started the sequence that would stir their magic pony to consciousness. "I hope the captain won't be mad at me." She sighed gently, but thought of little to turn things around. "I hope."

Author's Note

Time for the next phase!

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14 - She Awakens

Above them, a creature opened her eyes, both glimmering with power. She made a faint gesture with a hoof, but it was her magic that threw open the pod door, letting the fluids splash out in a great spreading wave in the gravityless room. The glowing purple and white of her mane and tail flowed like thick liquid, spilling into a fantastic array of colors as she woke up for the first time in years. She gasped in surprise, sucking down fresh air, which made her chest ache and her head pound, but she recovered quickly.

"Status report," were the first words from her snout. "Have we arrived, or is this an emergency?" The fluid freed with her crashed against the walls, falling into vents that were built to catch it. She stood, only to begin floating, drifting with a yawn, eyes closed as she stretched, long and slow. "Ugh." Her whole body felt sore, her muscles and joints stiff from the extended period of disuse. She forced herself to swim through the air, wiggling her way back towards the doorway and beyond it, heading deeper into the ship.

A window sprang open in front of her, showing the translated media of the world below. "Fascinating." She rubbed her chin, considering the deluge of content. "They've found a world worth the stop then." Twilight nodded to herself, growing more alert by the moment. "I should find out what they did with me while I was gone." She didn't appear to be particularly worried about that, or her coma-like state, as she simply laughed softly to herself and vanished into the hallways.

Fluttershy squeaked when Twilight almost floated past her room. "T-Twilight!" she whistled out with a stutter. "It's good to see you, ma'am. Welcome back to the world of the awake."

Twilight giggled and swooped in, almost crashing into the walls, but she slowed enough to keep from doing any damage as she pulled herself to a stop and shifted to an upright position, putting her hooves at her hips with confidence and authority in her tone. "You don't need to call me ma'am. I was promoted, but we are still friends." She spread her wings wide. "I should use these more often. The computer has been bombarding me with everything about the world. We've reached it, I assume?"

"Yes." Fluttershy put a hoof at her chin. "Do you want me to start on the descent? Rainbow is ready to go."

Twilight considered that, as she seemed to be considering many things at once, all from different angles. "No, not yet. We can take a little longer. It's fine if we descend later." She hummed as the media continued. "This is a species deep in its infancy. It doesn't know where to move its limbs. It is lost, but its eyes shine with potential."

She turned to Fluttershy. "Have you had contact with them?"

Fluttershy squeaked as she was addressed. "Oh, um, very little, ma—Twilight! I've been working on things, here." She showed off her systems, the forest of plastic walls and virtual plants she had arranged around herself, setting the room into a lush environment filled with the sound of birdsong and animals going about their lives, all digital illusions, but so perfect in form and motion that it was impossible to tell without careful examination. "I'm almost done with the universal translator. It should work on all human languages."

"Perfect." Twilight flapped her wings once, sending her to a window that overlooked the earth. "Finish that, and let me know. I have a message for them. They may not like it, but it will be for their good." She crossed her hooves behind her back as she stared down at the white and blue marble of the planet, taking in its beautiful form and endless oceans, and all the mysteries they were soon to find hidden in its depths. "A brave new world awaits us, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy swallowed nervously. "Um. Applejack is down there, ma'am. She's made a close friend, and they have a foal."

Twilight spun in place, spinning on a heel with precision as she set both her hooves at her hips in a regal pose of authority and confidence. "Oh? We'll have to give our well wishes, but the task is simple. We must do what we came here to do. All of us." She relaxed her pose. "Still, if she found a friend, that's good. It means the kindness in their eyes wasn't just hopeful dreaming on my part."

"No," whispered Fluttershy gently. "They are a species worth saving."

Twilight nodded firmly. "They're welcome for it. With luck, they'll learn how to swim soon."

Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at that.

Twilight left with a powerful flap, muttering soft plans under her breath in breathless whistles as she went. "If we do this, we can't go back, but, if we don't..." She paused in thought as she continued, mulling over the possibilities as she considered the last great task ahead of her. "I have to be ready."

She landed on a console, coming to a smooth halt as she pressed at buttons with hooves and her magic. Her hooves were not split, nor had the other adjustments the others had. She was confident that her magic would serve her well enough for this mission, as it always had before. There was no reason to do things differently now.

"Captain's log, supplemental." She chuckled softly at the idea of Star Trek coming true. That show had reached them ages ago. "We have reached Earth, and its humans. They are in worse shape than we first saw them, but that brightness is still there. They are a sick, young, species. They need our help. The only problem is getting them to accept it. They need a push." She typed some things in. "We'll give them one. Gentle, but firm. If they don't come out the other side better for it, we failed, and they deserve their end."

She deflated, wings sagging. "A pity this is such an all or nothing mission. The ship can't make it home." She pressed another few buttons with a thoughtful scrunch to her snout. "We make friends, we take the world, or we die peacefully, accepting our mistakes. I don't like that last option." She whistled with a sharp click of her tongue on her teeth. "I don't plan to take it."

Twilight Sparkle made her way through the ship, moving between its many hallways, checking things out and adjusting others. "The human mind is unique. It's full of strange contradictions. They are one with their technology, and yet afraid of it." She glanced up as the media continued, playing quietly. "What wonders, or nightmares, await them on the other side, if we were to just leave them to their own devices?"

Down below, several men glared at one another. "Energy, the heat." He waved at a report. "It's heating up. The alien vessel is doing something and I don't know what. None of us do. Staring at is isn't getting us any answers."

One of the men, in a wheelchair, ground his teeth with a rough growl. "None of that matters. They're not going anywhere. We can wait until they're done doing whatever they're doing." He rested his chin on his fist, deep in thought. "We need a strategy."

"Sir." A new soldier arrived, setting a paper down on their table. "Just arrived."

They glanced over it, scowling darkly at what they read there. "Nukes?" He shoved the paper back towards the soldier. "Nukes! It's like I'm working with toddlers." He looked to one of his companions. "This is an advanced species that had the technology and will to make it through lightyears of hostile nothing to reach us. A nuclear explosion? You think that will just stop them? Or make them even more determined?"

"We don't have any other weapons that could touch them." He sighed as he held up a hand to try and stall his superior officer's reply, already knowing what he would say. "I'm aware. I asked for all means available to us be presented. This is just one option, and it's one I dislike with every fiber of my being." He paused to cough roughly into his hand, wincing as he swallowed against the pain in his chest. "But, sir, we have nothing else. No matter what we do, they will land, or they won't."

"One already did." He drummed his fingers on his armrest. "And another just got a sweetheart deal from Canada. They're opening their arms wide for them." He grumbled at that. "And that other country is eating it up like chocolate cake." He was even less pleased by that. "Why? What are we missing?"

The room fell quiet a moment, each looking at one another. Nobody knew the answer to that question.

"Sir." The soldier standing there fidgeted. "Speaking personally, sir, this is my home, too. If they come here and kill us all, that's one thing, but I won't just stand here and let you blow us up." He squared his shoulders, not trembling in fear as he faced down the man in charge.

The general smiled at that. "Why aren't you sitting here?" Despite his words, he waved for the soldier to leave. "Still, he has a point. If we press that big red button, we'll be the one raining nuclear waste down on our head, and it probably won't work. No, we can't go with that." He shifted in his chair to look over at a nearby screen that had been tuned to the news, watching footage of Applejack and Cindy from earlier that day as they went about their lives. "These creatures are in love, with each other, and with us. We can't just put that aside. Our American stubbornness isn't going to save us here."

The others nodded, taking their leader's word for what it was.

Applejack stepped up along the line, dropping her bag of groceries down. "Thank ya kindly."

The cash clerk smiled as she began swiping the goods through into a more durable bag. "I hope you found everything you needed today."

"It's all 'rranged nicely enough." Applejack glanced over her shoulder at the other shoppers waiting their turn. "Ah done found what ah needed. Some fruit fer mah lil' boy." She directed a hoof to where Cindy had her son in a carrier, lifting him up so he could look around the store, interested in everything and waving happily to people as they went by. "It's amazin' he's already ready fer fruit, but if he wants it, he's gettin' it!"

"You're going to spoil him," giggled the cashier as she finished packing things up. "There we go. You two have a nice day now, alright?"

Applejack hefted up the bag in her jaws and made her way out of the store, thanking the worker as she left. She turned about to face Cindy. "We get—"

She didn't get to finish her question. Instead, a group of armed men burst out from around a corner, each of them wearing tactical gear and guns on their backs, holding devices that were pointed at Applejack. Several more joined them as they fanned out, surrounding Applejack with an expert efficiency that startled her into action. She dropped the bag and leaped back away from the soldiers, snorting loudly in alarm. Cindy screamed, ducking and curling around her child defensively.

Others in the area did much the same, most fleeing away if the option was at all available. The scene transformed in an instant into chaos and confusion as people yelled for help and others screamed in terror. In the middle of it all, the soldiers only moved in to surround Applejack more closely, making sure to give her nowhere to run.

"Don't need no guards to do a store run," Applejack muttered to herself. "It'll just be a second." She felt one of them press a gun to her rump and she snapped, lashing a hoof back him with all the power her equine hindlegs had stored in them. It smashed into his chest and sent him flying back with a scream.

That seemed to startle the others into action, and they opened fire, letting out a cacophony of bullets that ripped into Applejack's coat with equal parts sound and fury, but the moment the guns opened up, so did she, twisting about on her back legs and spinning to kick at the nearest ones with her front hooves, crashing into them with an angry and shrill whistle unlike any she had made before.

The bullets weren't tearing her to shreds, only seeming to make her more furious with each impact. She twisted in place, keeping her legs at all times between her and the people trying to harm her. When one landed a blow on her flank, she kicked them in the face hard enough to break their neck with a sickening crunch that echoed in the chaos.

In the end, the attempt to assault Applejack failed, but it ended up in the news all the same. The Secret Service swore that she was not allowed to go without them, for any period of time, no matter how short it might be.

Author's Note

The tensions, they have risen. Also, She has come! Were you waiting for her?

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15 - Heart to Heart

"Missus Apple." President Wilson brought his hands together on his desk, in his little oval office. "I'm glad you could fit us into your schedule." He put on a smile that would have been perfectly charming in another circumstance, but now felt out of place and all the more dangerous for it. "Your people have caused some alarm."

Applejack huffed a soft breath through her nose, only half translating. "Sir, we ain't here to harm nobody. You should know that by now. We just want to settle down with friends and family." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Ah was just pickin' up some groceries when ah was attacked. Is that how Americans say howdy?"

Wilson pressed his fingers together more tightly as he leaned back in his chair. "Miss Apple, please believe me when I say this is not how we wanted this to go." He turned to look out the window of his office, at the capital outside. "But you and yours are a cause of great concern to my people. It's hard for us to trust what we don't understand." He met her eyes. "And we don't understand you. I wanted to apologize, you did nothing to deserve that attack, however ineffective it turned out being."

The fact that she had been so completely unharmed was another reason that conversation had to happen. "When you came to us, you were wearing a protective suit. With how resilient you were, what was that suit actually protecting you from?" He cocked his head to the side with interest. "Is the air not safe for you, or something else?"

"Nothin' in this air will hurt us." Applejack placed her hooves on the desk, taking a breath of that air as if to prove the point. "But we didn't know that fer sure when ah got here. The suit does two thin's. Air, and radiation. This close to a sun, out in the void, there's a lot of it. Ain't healthy for no livin' thin' to be soakin' all that in." She set her jaw in determination as she looked the president of the country she lived in right in the eye, holding his gaze. "Mister President, sir, we want ta be yer friends."

The president took a moment to absorb that information, lifting his hands from where they were pressed together as he tilted his head to the side in thought. "We find ourselves in a difficult situation, Miss Apple. As I said before, we don't understand you. And it's a great deal more than just not knowing how you work. It's that you come here and seem so normal, in your eyes, and kind, by most any's, but you are alien. You are the first species other than our own to say hello back to us."

He met her gaze again with confidence. "That makes you very important. Likely the most important creature to ever exist." He laughed softly at the absurdity of that idea. "And we don't know what to do with you."

Applejack set a hoof down on the desk, facing the president. "Ah don't bite. Look." She glanced around. "May ah ask somethin'? This may sound silly, but is Canada a place yer friendly wit'?"

"We are." President Wilson met her eyes firmly, saying nothing more as he tried to parse out the point of the question, already knowing it was a rhetorical one.

But it wasn't, and Applejack nodded firmly. "Ah, that's good. They said they were, and just thought ah'd be sure they weren't fibbin' at us. We may be nice sorts, but we know what a lie is. Shoot, can't say ah never spun a yarn afore, but ah don't make it no habit. A bad one to get into." She snorted softly, keeping her ears straight as she went on. "Would it be so bad if we just made Canada our home?"

The president tensed at the idea. "You aren't enjoying your home? Your wife, um, partner?" He stalled there. "I am uncertain of your relationship with Miss Miller. She's an American."

Applejack looked baffled at the idea. "But she can move if she wants ta, can't she?" She moved a hoof to her chin in thought. "Ain't yer folks always welcome somewhere? Humans gotta have that too, right?" She squinted at the president in suspicion. "Ah don't like where this is goin'."

The president held up his hands. "I'm not trying to play any tricks on you. While Cindy could visit Canada without issue, moving there, permanently, requires significantly more effort. While we are friends, we are two different nations."

Applejack rubbed behind her head. "So? If somepony wanted to move out of—" Her next words were untranslated, just whistles. "—to —" More whistles, no translation available for it. "—there'd be no big deal, they'd just do it."

"Your world sounds very idealistic." The president chuckled softly as he considered it. "It would be nice if the world was so perfect. But it's not." He leaned in close. "While our nations are allies, our borders are only so open. It's not even up to us. Canada has the right to decide who can move into her or not. We'd insist on the same privilege, if someone wanted to move here. May I turn the conversation to a new topic?"

Applejack nodded lightly. "Sure?"

Wilson pointed upwards. "Your ship, your vessel. It hovers over us, and it's grown more active. Could you share what it might be doing? I'll admit, it's concerning a great deal of people." He looked Applejack in the eye. "And we'd like to know if it's going to be a problem, for the safety of our people."

Applejack held up her hooves with a small shrug. "They didn't tell me. Ah could ask, but that's all ah could even offer, really. Ah'm down here, not up there." She pointed at her back. "And ah ain't got wings to try to fix that, last ah checked."

"This brings me to another question, a sort of continuation of the first one, perhaps." He smiled in a manner that was meant to be charming, though Applejack wasn't certain what the charm was supposed to be about, and why he was using it in the first place. "The other ponies, they did have wings. Can they actually fly, assuming earth's air density and gravity?"

"It ain't 'xactly the wings what lettum fly." Applejack hummed gently. "How do ah 'xplain it? We got some energy, in here." She tapped at her own chest. "Each kinda pony uses it a different kinda way. Pegasi, the kind with wings, use it to fly 'round and kick a cloud if that cloud's in need of a good kick. Earth ponies, that's me, we're tough and strong. We get 'long with critters and trees too."

She raised a hoof at him in thought. "Alicorns, well, they got some different bits. They're, hm." She considered what Twilight was capable of. "They're experts. Everythin' and everypony does their bit, and alicorns can do most alla them together. Oh, plum forgot to mention the unicorns." She pointed up at where she had no horn. "They can take that energy and throw it out there, to do thin's in the world around 'em."

Wilson perked an eyebrow at that. "Interesting." He turned to a man at his side, whispering softly into his ear before returning his attention to Applejack. "Can all of you use these abilities?"

Applejack kicked her hooves at the ground as she sat there, going deep into thought about the answer to that question. "Yes an' no. As ah said, we all got our kind. Ah can't do no pegasi magic or unicorn magic. Ah ain't either ah those! Now, you got a field in need of some love, ah can get the plants perkin' up with a little work." She touched a hoof to her own chin, brows furrowed in concentration. "Couple my kin are able to do the other kinda stuff. Rainbow can fly, and Fluttershy too."

She swatted at the air as she tried to explain. "But, back home, there were lots of us, of all kinda different varities. Shoot, plenty of us ain't even ponies, but we all have that energy. Magic's the closest words ya got fer it." She glanced around, sniffing at the air and listening to the voices of the people outside the building as they spoke to one another, gushing over what was happening, if only to each other.

"Do you think they'd be willing to come down and discuss some things?" President Wilson spread his hands. "That ship was just to get you here, wasn't it? Perhaps it's time to land." He smiled a little too wide. "Wouldn't that be a great way to show the world we're willing to welcome them, and make peace with them?"

Applejack frowned a little deeper. "It's about more than jus' showin' folks how it's done." She flopped backwards in her seat. "Asides! Ah still gotta check in with 'em afore ah could go makin' any promises on their behalf. Ah may be their captain, but ah ain't there, so my rank don't mean much right now."

The president stared Applejack down as he tried to sort through that information. "Captain? I didn't realize you were military. We would welcome your friends down regardless of their occupations." He stood up, offering his hand. "In fact, it's vital that we do."

Applejack rose to her hooves and shook the offered hand, pressing her hoof into his hand for him to do the actual holding. "We're not here to hurt nobody." She huffed softly as she withdrew her hoof. "Can't promise none'll get hurt if ya keep pickin' fights."

"I am fully aware that is a danger." He sat back down in his chair. "Thank you for your time, Miss Apple."

"Applejack'll do quite fine." Applejack turned for the door. "Right nice meetin' ya today, President, sir." She let herself out, to the gathered cameras of people who were eager to see her leaving the white house.

The president watched her go with great interest, fingers twitching in thought. "Pardon me." He looked up at the camera set up for him to speak into. "I would like a moment to myself." Not that his request was assured to mean anything. Regardless, he reached for the phone. There were plenty of calls to make.

"The European Union has passed a measure, allocating funds to convince the aliens that Europe is where they should call home." An image of Europe on a map floated to the upper right. "And they aren't alone. China has been confirmed to have established contact, and experts doubt they'll skip the chance to try to influence the aliens before they make their decision. It seems the whole world wants to have the ponies playing in their yard."

A new figure came into view, a male, one hand turning. "It's not hard to imagine why. Wielding technology centuries ahead of our own, whatever country secures them is likely to see a technological revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since the industrial revolution and the invention of the microchip, possibly combined. Ponies have proven, so far, to be friendly and tolerant."

The image changed again, showing several news clips from when Applejack had been out with her family, or visiting different parts of the country, flicking from one image to the next in rapid succession. "While their appearances have startled some people, they've demonstrated they are no danger to us."

The image swapped again, this time showing a long shot of their ship over earth, orbiting silently, shining against the darkness of space. "Meanwhile, their vessel is showing more signs of life. An international coalition is being established to await their arrival and whatever they may have to say."

A new clip, an artist's rendering of what a pony might look like if they were a human. It looked very close to Applejack, aside from the simple fact that she was blue and on two legs with proper hands. "Still, despite the images shared by their friends in the Americas, most of the world has yet to actually see a pony for themselves, but it's likely only a matter of time."

"If you have your own drawings of Applejack, or the other aliens, send it to the email shown below and it may appear on a later broadcast." She smiled at the camera. "Now, thank you for coming on the show."

"Thank you for having me on." The window folded shut on the man, his bit over.

"Others see the coming aliens as a more spiritual sign, a positive one." A new window appeared, showing people gathered in a circle, a picture of Applejack in the center. "Some believe that the aliens will take them to a better place." Another picture showed people holding hands in a similar way, all wearing clothes in white or silver. "For others, it's about spreading good, not only within their own countries, but in all the world."

The images continued, shifting from one to another, displaying the varying human gatherings as they did their best to somehow please the ponies far above them. One image made the news anchor frown gently. "And there are those who believe this is the end of times." She pointed at the image, which was one of a long line of men in black robes and pointy hats. "Reports of occultic practices have been on the rise, though no proof has arisen of their various rituals having any success with moving the ponies to action."

Author's Note

People are having very different opinions on what may happen. What is Twilight planning, anyway?

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16 - She Hears Us

"Lower your heads." All the others gathered around the table did so in unison. "Clear your minds, leaving only room for them to reach it. Know that our True Lords await us above, not in some distant heaven, but directly above us. Great and powerful ponies, heed our calls and our feverish prayers. Hear it, and respond! Make yourself known to us!" The crowd echoed those last words, voices rising together in a call of unity and reverence.

Answering them was another sound, deep and melodious. It filled the air with energy and power. A song began to play around them, voiced by entities of alien mind and history. They looked around with wonder as it grew louder.

In the center of the room, the center of that table, a pony appeared. They were larger than Applejack, with wings and a serene smile. They also had none of the adjustments that Applejack had, so their snout was whole and hooves without bumps. "I have heard you." She looked them over with her bright eyes that seemed to see through them. "What would you ask of me?"

One man lifted his head with an expression of awe on his face, reaching for her with one hand. "Great and powerful pony, please share your magic with us, that we might stand with you in the coming age of enlightenment."

She smirked with one side of her mouth, cocking her head to the side as she considered that request. "Human, you have so many toys already, and you do not play with them well. While many enrich your life, others end it or make it full of suffering." She angled her ears around the room slowly. "And you would have more? No, humans. What you need is understanding first. I have studied you, dear humans. You must shed your clothing, before you can step into this hall, and receive enlightenment."

Some of the humans gasped, in horror or pleasure, it was hard to tell which. They knew they were all seen by her, as she was inside their minds. Some had robes that fell away at a mere thought. Others scrambled to pull them off, and yet others balked at the idea. Twilight raised a hoof. "I meant that metaphorically, but I do appreciate your eagerness. I will contact those in power, soon. Until then, think of us, and know that we are watching, kindly." She vanished with a single flap of her wings, leaving behind nothing but silence and empty space where she had stood moments before.

The man who had made the request covered his mouth with his hands, face going bright red as he stared at the floor in horror. "It, it actually worked!" He curled up on himself with a whimper. "Oh god, what have we done? What will they do to us?"

His fellow gathered around him, comforting him with their presence, speaking soft words that soothed his anxiety. One reached for his shoulder. "She came with a smile, brother. She has promised us what we asked for. Today is a day to rejoice!"

Another held his hand, lifting it gently. "Be at peace, brother."

A restaurant fell silent, a TV in the corner showing Twilight's speech to the human cultists, turned up to be heard over the din of people speaking to one another. One of the 'faithful' had recorded the whole thing on their phone and uploaded it for the world to see in record time, and it was spreading like wildfire.

All eyes turned to Applejack, who just finished a drink before returning it to the table, oblivious to what was going on around her. She turned to look at the nearest person, the waitress, who had the TV behind her, so she couldn't see what was happening on screen. "What's everyone gettin' all tense 'bout?"

Cindy, who had seen it, reached to grab Applejack's closer arm. "I think we should be heading out."

"Huh? Wha—" Applejack noticed where everyone was looking, and slowly turned around to see what they were seeing, just in time to watch as the footage of Twilight speaking played, without audio, but she could still read their lips and understand exactly what was being said, and who it was saying it.

Twilight, making promises to humans she didn't know, that she would actively change their life in some way.

Secret Service agents closed in on Applejack and Cindy, their presence alone more than enough to make it clear what they wanted. Applejack gathered up Angel and started for the door. "Twilight," she huffed on the way. "What rotten timin'." She didn't blame Twilight, not directly, but there was a hint of frustration in her voice as she made her way out into the parking lot and waited there with her family for their escort home.

Applejack didn't like the feeling of eyes watching her every move. She gently bounced her colt instead of looking back at them. "Did you like dinner? Yes you did." She rubbed noses with the giggling foal, happy they seemed to be blissfully unaware of any issues.

The car arrived for them, and Applejack got in with a long sigh of relief as she set her son down in the back seat and sat beside him. Cindy joined them as the doors closed behind them, locking them away from the public, but not from their guards. One of those agents was looking to Applejack. "Ma'am, do you have any information about that broadcast?"

"Hay no!" Applejack huffed softly. "Not even all sure how she did it. Twilight's a clever girl, ain't too surprisin' she'd—" Applejack trailed off, noticing how intently the other was watching her. "Ah'm gonna be interrogated, ain't ah?"

Cindy rested a hand on Applejack's side. "He's a bodyguard. It's not his job to do that. If they want, they'll send someone else around to ask questions." She glared at the guard. "If you want them to."

The Secret Service agent didn't confirm nor deny Cindy's words, simply riding silently. Applejack grumbled softly under her breath and said nothing more, putting a hoof down between herself and her son, but she wasn't letting him out of her sight as they rode on through the streets towards their home, a long and silent drive back to their little piece of paradise that waited for them beyond the white picket fence, a little place in the woods, secluded from any who might bother them.

And there were plenty who would.

Twilight brought a wing down on Fluttershy's back, stroking gently. "Your next generation translator is performing admirably. That it doesn't have that echo? You've really outdone yourself." Alone, they were whistling gently at one another. "Things are proceeding delightfully. We'll make this universe a better place, for us, and for them."

Fluttershy hid her face in Twilight's mane, with a soft moan of embarrassment at being praised so openly. "I still can't believe how easy it is to understand them. The words are just there, and the voices are right!" She drew her face out, colored as it was. "Have you tested it with other languages, ma'am?"

"I have! Several, in fact. Some were more eager to hear what I had to say than others, but they could all understand me." She hummed gently. "Language is no barrier between ponies and humans. How difficult will it be to construct more of those?"

"It's difficult." Fluttershy rested a hoof on her desk, watching it fill with plastic walls as she lifted the nearest object, which was her lunch, setting it down so that it was sitting within the fake confines of the little bubble she had created around herself. "We have most of the materials, but not all. At least, in an amount I'd need to make many. We don't have the energy to synthesize it. The solar collectors will require a week for each. For now, it's just the one you have."

Twilight turned about in the room, observing the way Fluttershy had changed it up, adding even more digital vegetation, until the walls were covered in green grass and flowers, dotted with trees of plastic, with birds flying overhead, rendered as 3D models that interacted with the world around them. "I love what you've done with your room. It's like a little slice of Equestrian wilderness. It's so calming every time I come in." She let out a soft whistle of amusement as she noticed a deer lumbering past, flicking an ear as the animal did the same to her.

"Oh, that." Fluttershy blushed as she picked up a small remote, pointing it at the deer, and then the trees, making them fade away until the walls were just bare metal again. "I couldn't sleep well. The sound of the ship bothered me, so I decided to get some proper rest."

Twilight buried her larger snout into Fluttershy's neck. "I wasn't asking you to turn it off. You room is a delightfully relaxing place to visit." She fluttered her wings once as she pulled her head back out, pressing a hoof to the wall, right beside the panel where Fluttershy's instruments were displayed. "The noise of the ship bothers me, too. I still find myself annoyed by the thumps and hums of a ship that was built by the best minds in all Equestria."

She raised a hoof in a slow wave. "So the little sounds of nature you surround yourself with? I'm thankful every chance I have for it. Thank you." She gave her fellow pony a peck on the cheek, delighting in the way Fluttershy flushed in response to her. "And don't be afraid to let me know when you're running low on anything. As soon as we land, we'll be able to sort things out."

"And when is that?" Rainbow arrived with a powerful flap of her wings. "We were moments away from doing that until you called it all off, Twi!" She jerked a hoof towards the nearest window. "You had me pull back at the last second! We were so close to landing!"

Twilight didn't budge an inch as she met Rainbow's gaze firmly. "Your words say you're annoyed, but I can hear the concern in your voice." She sighed gently. "We want the world we land on to be ready to receive us. It isn't. Have you been monitoring their broadcasts?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "No. They send out so much stuff, and half of it is so boring! Why would I listen to people babble on about weather patterns, or who's the best at hitting a little white ball?" She flapped her wings, only for them to strike against Twilight's face with a smack, the sudden air current striking Fluttershy moments later, nearly bowling her over in a great gust of wind. "It's time to do things! I've been waiting on this ship for too long already."

"Have you?" Twilight smirked lightly, brushing off the blow from Rainbow's wing as if it was nothing more than a gentle breeze. "We came here in only a month, after thousands of years. Waiting one or two more is nothing in comparison." She gestured and a hologram of earth sprang into being before her as she curled her arms around it. "A captivating blue marble. Its people yearn for peace, but all the conflict is also of their making. They hope for a miracle, but fear sudden changes."

She spread her wings to encompass it all. "A dangerous, little world. One that needs a firm grasp to guide it in the right direction, and they have no leader to offer one. Each nation is their own, with different ways and values. I suppose I can't fault them. Ponies had their moments when they fractured and forgot they were all ponies, in the end. Still, we'll mend them and make them strong, together."

Fluttershy raised a hoof shyly. "Uhm, maybe we should just focus on the North Americans for now? They're our friends, and if we help them, they'll be able to help us in return." She fluttered her wings gently, frowning as she did so, and an image of the planet was summoned before her.

She reached out, painting Canada and America with her touches. "We've already spoken to these two, and they seem to have considerable weight, um, politically speaking?" She squinted at the world map before her, studying it closely. "That said, there's the European Union, which is a gathering of a lot of countries together."

Twilight dipped her head as she pulled away from the larger Earth projection, sending it over to Fluttershy instead. "If you'd be willing, I'd like to hear your thoughts on how we should move forward. The humans speak more languages than I care to count this moment. Many of them come with a nation of their own."

Rainbow tossed up both her forehooves. "How does this get us down there any faster?!" She kicked the floor and moved to sit at the back of the room, not looking at Twilight as she pouted about what was going on around her, sitting by herself in the corner as Fluttershy pointed at one map after another, growing more animated with each one as she considered all the different paths they could take.

Author's Note

Ponies are being a little focused on the English-speakers. Unfair.

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18 - My Fellow Citizens

"Citizens of the planet Earth." Twilight occupied every and all screens. No matter what channel one switched to, or what webpage one might try browsing to, she was there, in all her equine glory, wings spread wide to drive home her alien majesty. "I come bearing news. I apologize that some of you are not seeing this. Your technology is far too fractured and scattered to be sure you see it, but you can be certain that those who do will share it with you soon enough."

Twilight folded her wings to her sides as she looked around at the humans watching her with bated breath, delighting in their eagerness as she began to speak again. "Some of you see a brighter future for yourselves, in your own hands, or in the hooves or wings or some other being. I do not claim to be your angel." She ruffled her wings lightly. "Consider me more of a judge. I will begin addressing the imbalances that I see. My help comes with a cost. Not a monetary one, but one that asks you to ask yourselves how you ended up here, and how you can comport yourself moving forward."

She leaned in. "Let us begin."

Cindy flopped back in her seat. "AJ?"

"Yeah?" Applejack looked almost as surprised. "Ah wasn't expectin' that neither!"

"Glad to hear that." Cindy sat up, turning off the television. "You know who she was then?"

Applejack grinned as she fanned her hoof over the tabletop. "That there was Princess Twilight Sparkle. She's the smartest pony of all of 'em. She's also, technically, higher rank than ah am. Ah was captain of the ship." She pointed upwards. "Twilight's a princess of ponies, which includes that ship."

"Huh." Cindy dug out her phone. "Going to make a call before they call us. " Her phone began chiming before she could hit the call button. "Never mind."

President Wilson rubbed the sides of his head as a broadcast of Twilight's message played in a corner for all to see as it repeated. "This is not a situation that has come up before. Aliens have come from untold distances away, just to tell us how to live."

One of the many people crowded into the Oval Office rolled a hand. "But, she has more power than a random person on the corner. Can we afford to try to shrug her off? People are already flooding our inboxes with concerns about what she's said and what we're going to do."

"And what can we do?" The President stared at them all in turn. "The one thing we have going for us is that we're free to think and act as we like. We can fire missiles at her, hope to knock that spaceship out of the air. I don't think our chances are good. I'm increasingly certain it would just annoy them." He pinched the bridge of his nose as he groaned. "Our entire understanding of physics and astronomy have been challenged. What was supposed to be beyond us is right here, speaking to us through a translator so flawless it's like she was born here!"

A woman raised a hand. "It's worse. She broadcast globally, and our allies are all reporting she was speaking their language. Every person that witnessed her saw her speaking their native tongue. Even the North Koreans."

"Right." President Wilson turned his head up to the ceiling. "Any more good news for us?"

"How about this? People seem to be listening to her. We can stand against her, or we can be leaders." The man stood up, bringing fist against palm. "This is old enough to be a tired joke, but I, for one, welcome our equine overlords. Let them see America as an ally to be worked with and through, and we may survive this."

The President studied him closely. "Just like that? Give up the pretense of being a free country?" He smiled without humor. "I'd rather try and fight them first." He gave his head a quick shake. "Still, you may have a point." He sank, head caught between his hands. "We are facing an opponent that outclasses us in every means, other than manpower, and I don't think they care."

A different man stood up. "Sir, that's my biggest concern right now. She said she was going to help some people, but she didn't specify who. The question on everyone's mind is, how much force can we use to stop her?"

Wilson fixed that man with a look. "If she wants the human experiment to end, I have little doubt she has a toolbox of means available that don't have to risk any of her forces. Her technological level has already been shown to lap ours several times, and this little ship we call Earth is not well protected. A few timely meteors or a bath of radiation would do the job nicely."

The man frowned at that, but he had no counter to offer as he sat down again, brooding on his President's words.

"More, that is a worst-case scenario." The president pointed at the screen where Twilight was talking. "She didn't declare herself ruler of the world. That'd be ridiculous. If they wanted an Earth-like planet, the galaxy has plenty to pick from. She's an adult looking over the fence, seeing the children playing next door, and has decided to act." He sat up. "And we are those children."

President Wilson lowered his head. "We must get ahead of this before she causes too much damage to us." He looked at one of his secret service agents. "Prepare for a live broadcast. We're doing this."

"My fellow Americans." Wilson's grip on his podium tightened. "If you're seeing this, you saw the message sent to us literally from on high. The question many of you are asking yourselves right now is 'how will our government respond?'" He breathed deeply, letting it out slowly as he got a second wind. "In the short term, I will not be calling for any strikes against our visitors, nor any attempts to block them from entering our airspace."

He took a soft breath. "Now is the time to come together as one people, humans all, and ask ourselves how we are doing, how we have done, and what we can do in the future." He held up a hand to the screen. "As you know, one of the aliens has already been born here, on American soil, from an American woman, with an immigrant, one of the aliens no less, bringing with them a new member to our ever-expanding family."

His gaze fell on the screen. "Many have seen them as an angel, descended from above, their hoof the instrument of the lord, touching our very hearts with the peace and goodwill that only an angel can bring." He paused there, knowing his exact next words would shape the future for decades to come. "But this angel is more than that, she is our judge."

The president closed his eyes a moment. "She has pointed out to us what she believes we are doing wrong. As our judge, I have no doubt she will sentence us as she sees fit. Will that sentence be harsh, or fair? We can only hope for the latter." He looked up at the camera with a thin smile. "But we are in a dire straight, with little other option. The time for human differences has fled us. I will be visiting the United Nations, personally, to put forward a plea that was unthinkable a month ago, that all humans come together under one banner."

He tightened his hands on the podium. "We are many nations and peoples, but we are still human. If our planet is to have a voice, it must be unified. She spoke of her hoof helping, but I have no doubt she can also use the sharp edge of that hoof if she feels it needed." He stood up tall. "America will be the face, if it has to, of a united people. Our differences are vast and ancient, but their time is coming to an end. We can orchestrate that ourselves, or let someone else do it for us. I would rather seize the future than let it be seized from me."

"There will be many questions to ask yourself in the days to come, but this I know for certain. Today, we enter a new age for mankind, one where we are not alone, and whether we are found wanting by our heavenly neighbor, that will be for us all to decide." President Wilson stepped back from the podium and departed the stage without another word, the cameras lingering on his image as he vanished into the depths of the White House.

Elsewhere, Applejack whistled gently as she looked up from the tablet with Cindy. "That was a mighty speech." She poked at it again, enlarging it with a single hoof swipe. "Fer all yer faults, ya got some powerful speakers. Not many 'sides Celestia ah 'xpect to come out and belt one like that out. Hm, maybe Twilight too, come to think."

Cindy sighed gently as she slipped a hand around Applejack's side to hold her partner in place, leaning her head on her shoulder. "You might have forgotten this, but our kind isn't exactly immortal. While Twilight is really hard to kill, we still die from old age."

Applejack perked an ear at that. "What? Ya thought ah was immortal or somethin'? We got some fancy medicines, sure, but eventually, yer gonna get it. They can't undo an accident bad enough, and the universe's got plenty of 'em waitin' fer anyone."

"Right, right." Cindy squinted at the screen in front of her. "So how old is Twilight?"

Applejack waggled a hoof at her. "You know I can't rightly say." She hopped from the couch to her own hooves. "Angel?"

"Yeah momma?" Angel looked up from the table where he was drawing.

Applejack smiled gently at him. "Do you know how old Twilight is?"

"Yeah!" Angel was all smiles. "She's really old!"

Applejack snorted at that with a smile. "Probably the best answer we're gettin'." She went to nuzzle and hug Angel from behind. "Whatcha drawin' there?"

"This!" Angel held up a drawing of his family, depicted in crayon. "And this!" The second drawing was more stylized, with his parents looking like they did in the media, surrounded by lines and shapes. "What does it look like to you?"

Applejack turned her head aside, tail swishing lightly. "Looks like a drawin' mah colt made, so ah'm a bit biased." She nuzzled the back of his head. "But tell me what yer thinkin'. Love to hear."

Angel tapped the piece of paper with a hoof as he drew his other hoof along it, leaving little rainbow streaks on the paper, guided by hoof. "This one is you! See, you've got a bow tie around your neck, and there's apples!"

Applejack rubbed a hoof along Angel's back as she studied the picture. "Aw, rather interestin' there. Why'd you put the ribbon 'round mah neck?" She lifted her tail. "Ain't it back there?"

"Because you have something there that needs a ribbon." Angel nuzzled up into Applejack's side. "I don't know what it is, but it has to be special." He held his hoof out over the crayon figure of himself.

Applejack snorted softly at that. "Ya got a right powerful 'magination. Love it." She trotted towards the kitchen. "Now lemme see 'bout how dinner's comin' 'long. World may be changin', but we need food either way."

Author's Note

Heavy words are slapped down on all sides here. Hope it lands properly.

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19 - Demands

Twilight made sure every hair was in place, magic glowing as she groomed herself.

Rainbow huffed gently at the sight. "When do we actually land?"

Twilight grinned lightly. "That is a good question." She nodded as a panel came to life. "First, I must address a matter of some delicacy." The display switched to an overhead view of the largest city on the planet, centered on a towering structure that dominated the area around it with its sheer size. "Can you see that?"

"Tower?" Rainbow looked it over. "Yeah, looks pretty tall." She folded her arms. "How does that help us land?"

"It helps us make a point. This is in China, their second most populated nation. It is thick with the problems most their nations suffer from. Ecological collapse, financial disparities, all of it. I couldn't find a nation that escaped this that was large enough to consider. Each individual human, however." She turned a hoof as the display focused on a lone man walking down the city street. "They would like a fair world."

Rainbow blinked slowly at that. "Yeah, sure they would, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Twilight held out a hoof towards the image, feeding a small pulse of magic into it. The man jerked, reaching for his pockets to search frantically and drawing out great wads of local currency as he laughed with delirious confusion. "We are going to make a few people who need it rich, so long as they think fondly of ponies. This is not a long-term strategy, but in the short term, I think it will sway things."

She rose up tall on her hind hooves, eyes narrowing as she studied the image before her. "I also suspect we can bring in some funding from other places. That said, we are here to help, but our primary focus is to find out what has led humanity down this path. That may well be a question only they can answer for themselves, but I can correct it." She fixed Rainbow with a wicked smile, floating as she was. "That money has to come from somewhere. We can't go making things from nothing."

"Whoa." Rainbow spread her hooves out. "That sounds like you're going to be stealing from someone. Can't you just like, make the materials you need?"

Twilight fell to her hooves and shrugged her wings. "The material is easy, but humans love tracking things. Every bit of that money is tracked. If we just make more, they'll notice. No, no. It has to come from somewhere. And I know a few wealthy individuals who could stand to lose some." She flicked her hoof at the display and it switched to a broad panorama of a crowded city street. "Observe."

A human walking by slowed, holding a phone up to take a picture of the floating figures on their television. Rainbow's hoof went through the screen as she attempted to tap at it. "Come on! This is cool and all, but we could be doing this down there. I'm tired of being without any Gs, Twi."

Twilight's horn glowed as she laughed in a deep rumble, drawing strange lines of magic from some of the people walking past. "The system remains broken. Those people will make their money back swiftly. I am, at best, applying bandages to a patient that remains bleeding, rapidly. Still, better than doing nothing at all."

She made a firm wave, sending the energy back, scattering money in forceful wealth distribution. "Rainbow, I don't think you understand. If I land, then they will take their frustration out on me directly. We are not as sturdy as the ship we're in, Rainbow. There are risks if we land."

Rainbow puffed her chest out at that, pounding a hoof against her chest. "But I'll be there to protect you!" She pointed at the screen again. "If I'm with you, they won't dare touch you!"

Twilight pushed off a wall, crashing into Rainbow in a firm hug. "I know you'd try your best. I'm glad you're here, but we're still far safer, up here. They can't do anything to us as long as we stay up here."

"Da. This is being only way." The overworked Russian tech hammmered at his keyboard, entering the coordinates of the alien vessel, far above the planet. "We have not long." He let out a hard breath. "Others will want to be firing on this target."

He was at the last part. The missile couldn't be fired without the firing codes, and precious few people had those. His eyes ran over the screen, barely able to make sense of the words in the low light of his room. Everything was lit with reds and yellows, alarms warning him about what he was about to do. Actually firing a nuclear weapon was not something done lightly.

Yet, it must be done. This was the final chance. This alien ship would not leave. He was sure of it. If they did not strike now, who knew what would happen? Would the aliens keep coming back with ever increasing demands? He grabbed the phone and called it in. "Firing is read. Final codes." He gripped the receiver firmly as he typed them in one last time, "Tungsten", for the largest of the missiles in their arsenal. He pressed the last buttons and slammed his fist down on the last firing button. The room roared with the sound of destiny.

It was out of his hands now, but that was fine. He stood up, arms held loosely at his side as he walked towards the nearest wall. "No matter what happens next, I did all I could."

"Twilight." Fluttershy inclined her head at a reading. "Incoming. Odds of a projectile, um, 79% Detecting propellant, likely the drive. Detecting radioactive material, hazardous. Um, what should we do?"

Twilight turned her head aside, attention drawn to the screen before her, depicting earth with its many nations and places, where humans and ponies interacted in great diversity. "They wish to have us struck from the skies, with force equal to that of stars?" She snorted softly. "Is it even a fusion weapon?"

"I don't have time to examine it, um, Twilight. What should we do?" Fluttershy trembled, but didn't sweat. Space modifications had made that much harder for them to do. They did perspire in certain conditions, but she didn't seem close to it at the moment, being perfectly composed for what was about to happen. "Please? We need to move."

Twilight locked hooves together as she studied the situation, tapping hoof to hoof as she considered her options. "If they wish to throw themselves against our door with fire, I am sure we can return the favor. What have we to lose?" She took a moment to brush her mane back, tucking the longest strands into place. "I'm leaving."

Fluttershy blinked. "Leaving?"

"Leaving." Twilight vanished with a pop. She appeared just outside the ship, holding her breath. A bubble of force glimmered around her, keeping away the solar radiation that shone upon her. She could see the missile in the distance, streaking towards them. It was quite fast, on its scale. At the distance it had to go, it was practically crawling. She extended a hoof, purple light enveloping it. She tugged it towards herself.

The missile span end over end with the sudden yank. It tried to right itself, but Twilight's grip was unyielding. "Let's take this," she thought to herself as she wrenched the warhead free of the missile and tucked it safely to the side. "And the rest of you can do as you please." She vanished back inside.

A second missile was heading towards them. Twilight wasn't there to stop it. Instead, it encountered a sudden storm in space. Rainbow Dash made sure to hoot and holler for all to hear, laughing all the while as she danced through the missile's path. It exploded brilliantly, but was nowhere near the alien vessel.

Twilight settled back in her seat. "Fluttershy, you caught all that, I presume? Send a video of it down to the humans. Let them know this was their best, last, chance. If they want to send more at us, they're welcome to waste their time. The days of assured destruction are at an end." She rubbed hoof to head as she grinned gently. "Still, let's not get cocky. We have many, many things we must still do here."

She had a hoof under her chin as she thought aloud. "What they are saying and what they are doing can be quite different. We have given ourselves quite a task."

"On it." Fluttershy was rapidly assembling the video and sending it along to any computer system waiting for it. "Should I track where the weapons were fired from?"

"It doesn't really matter." Twilight huffed gently. "The attempt was made, and they'll all see how effective it was. Hm, maybe I should have allowed one to hit, but why risk it? Their weapons are not sufficient, especially while we're up here." She looked to Rainbow Dash, just returning from her own space jaunt. "This is why we're staying up here."

Rainbow blinked and rolled a hoof in the air as she spoke. "Ah, sure. No big deal. Still think we should land, but it's your call, princess."

Twilight brought up the human leader's message again. "Fluttershy, one question; did that missile come from America?"

"It did not come from North or South America, ma'am!" Fluttershy tapped and twisted her hooves. "Asia."

Twilight blinked. "China?"

"No, north." She leaned in at a map of the planet and its many nations. "Russia."

"We haven't talked with them much. Perhaps that's why they thought they had a chance of just swatting us out of the air." Twilight folded her hooves together, humming as she pondered what to do next. "Interesting. If we want to land anywhere, we have to take care of that first."

Fluttershy inclined an ear. "Ma'am?"

"Humans must have the fight driven from them." Twilight leaned back, starting to rotate in the free-float. "Speaking of that, can you contact Applejack? We should make sure she's safe."

Down below, Applejack buzzed. Cindy raised a brow. "Um, hon?"

Applejack fanned her hoof for a moment, attempting to catch the errant sound. She gave up on it, returning to what she was doing, which was cleaning up after dinner.

Cindy elbowed at Applejack gently. "It's still going. It's from, I think." She trailed along Applejack's side towards her throat. She tapped there and a window popped open in front of Applejack.

Applejack yelped in surprise, hopping back from the image of Fluttershy. "Oh, never had a call incomin' afore. Caught me in the middle of dishes!" She turned to Cindy. "The fine mare's named Fluttershy, by the way. We've been friends fer years!"

"Sorry about that!" Fluttershy pushed her hooves together. "I wasn't expecting you to be doing something else." She chewed on her lower lip a moment, before continuing with what she was saying, "Twilight wants to know if you're safe and unharmed."

Applejack pressed hoof to forehead a moment, mussing up her mane in the process. "Relatively? Shoot, they don't let me go nowhere without guards. Gov'mint seems real set on makin' sure ah don't get hurt." She turned her head aside as Angel showed up with a small handheld television, held in hoof. "Hang on a second, there's somethin' Angel wants to show me."

She turned to smile at her child. "Whatcha got there?" She looked over the picture on the screen, taking it in at a glance. "Oh, they got some big meteors, don't they? Too bad for that rocket!"

Angel cocked his head. "Why'd they blow it up?"

Applejack quirked an ear. "Um, ain't got no idea. What is it 'xactly?"

Cindy moved in for a better view, reading the tickers running on the screen. "Look like, um, Russia went and tried to shoot at your friends, AJ. They failed, and the news is talking about how it went." She read some more. "Probably not a great sign for any other countries that might want to try it, though. Sounds like we're pretty much told we can't hit them."

"Well." Applejack stomped hoof to ground. "Why'd they go 'n do somethin' like that? Ain't like my friends are doin' anythin' bad to anyone!"

Cindy gently stroked down her partner's back. "Your friends are a big existential threat to a lot of powerful people right now. That's not even mentioning all the little people that are scared." She tapped her own head. "In here, the idea that something's looking over our shoulder is scary. There's plenty of people that think this is an alien invasion, and we're doomed to have the worst things happen to us."

"Huh." Applejack turned back to Fluttershy's image on the floating window. "Well, ya heard that, ah assume. Ah'm fine, but sounds like things'll get patchy for a while."

Fluttershy smiled at that. "Good! I'll let Twilight know. I'm glad you're safe, even if you're worried about something happening to you."

Applejack beamed. "Aw, thank ya kindly! Keep an eye out fer yourselves too."

"Oh, don't worry about us." Fluttershy twirled in her seat, unable to stay still as she chuckled into a hoof. "We have everything taken care of."

It was chaos. People already had plenty of reason to be riled, but the images of mankind's greatest weapons being reduced to nothing long before they could even threaten the aliens? It was too much, and riots were breaking out across the globe. This would not stand.

In America, nonlethal munitions and teargas filled cities as property damage rose around them. Other countries were not spared the assault as humanity, as a whole, bucked against the firm hoof pressing against its back.

The hoof held steady, despite the loud wailings of many. The smiling alien angel showed no sign of changing her mind.

Author's Note

Let's. Get. Dangerous.

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20 - Master Our Own Destiny

"We could launch more." The man steepled his fingers, leaning forward towards the others. "Only two isn't much. We could light up the sky, and the proklyatiye aliens. They can't outrun every missile."

A woman rolled her hand at that, dismissing the thought with a single gesture. "Our largest missiles have already proven insufficient to even reach the aliens, let alone threaten them. Besides, I doubt it would help our case, at this point." She waved her hand towards the rest of the assembled group, most of whom were visibly displeased. "They disarmed our attack when it was but a speck in their eyes. They did it with purpose, not because they had to do it slowly, but to show us what they could do."

"Or that is what we are meant to think." A third person rubbed their face as they groaned softly. "What if they don't actually have a perfect lock on us? We've made assumptions based on scant evidence, and in doing so, we may have turned ourselves into sitting ducks. Have we shown them our vulnerable underbelly already?"

A different man huffed. "It doesn't matter. The moment the news broke of our failed attempt, we knew we were going to be dealt with. There is no way to pretend it was anything other than an attack. What is done is done." He raised his hand in a fist. "Our time is running out. Our weapons are nothing, and that is clear now. They have the skies, the spaceship that brought them here, the angels that protect them, and whatever weapons they might want to bring to bear against us."

"So why did they land in America? Is there a reason?" The first woman blinked slowly. "There is, isn't there?"

Their leader sighed, hands to either side of his head. "There are thousands of maybe reasons, but it matters not. They have come, and now we will be looked at anew, with fresh scowls. We attacked them. We can't pretend to be on any other side."

"The side of humanity." One man thrust a fist into the air.

Wilson stood before the assembled representatives of all the nations of the UN. "I stand before you today not as a president." Soft murmurs spread. "But as a human. That is all we are at this delicate time." He paced, hands behind his back, chin held high as he turned a gaze over the various faces looking up at him. "We have been given an opportunity. Our choices going forward will determine how that plays out. We have already attacked, and failed. What do we do next?"

"Are we supposed to know?" He brought his hands together. "They come with a forceful peace on their lips. Chastising adults come to clean up a child's mess for them. The question that stands is how we react to this. Do we meet them as children, crying about how it wasn't our fault? Or do we stand as adults and own our actions, presenting our actions in a positive light?"

The first woman raised her hand. "Where is the US position on this?"

"I'm getting to that." Wilson allowed a faint smile. "As you are well aware, America has more ponies in its borders than anyone else at the moment. They are good neighbors. If that was the end of things, I don't think we'd be here." Some shuffling rippled, as those who had been assigned to consider that very point were called out. "They are friendly, compassionate, and have earned the affection of much of our populace. More, they represent a powerful military that we cannot stop, along with a culture that promises great rewards for cooperation."

Wilson slammed his hands together, capturing their attention as he spread them apart. "I propose we do not turn these strange aliens away, but neither do we roll over and display our bellies. We ask that she address us as adults. We may have made mistakes. We may have left errors behind us and around us, but we deserve to keep our hands on our destinies! If we make mistakes, it should be our mistakes."

He held his hand up, towards the distant ceiling. "We must, instead, present a vision of ourselves as humans, doing what we can to better our situation and that of others. Instead of allowing the aliens to reshape our world in their vision, we will ask them instead to direct us away from the mistakes we've made, and it will be by our own feet that we will walk that path, of our own volition. We deserve to make our own future."

There was no applause. It was not the place for such. Yet, one and all, those watching him were nodding along with his words. One by one, they stood, rising to their feet as one, representing dozens of nations, speaking a thousand different languages, coming together as one voice.

They did not all stand with President Wilson's motion, but many did, more than enough to force the issue to the forefront, giving it a solidity that could not be ignored by the world at large. The news spread fast, and soon the entire world knew of this first step into a new age of humanity.

Twilight inclined her head. "I didn't think they'd manage that." She was smiling despite the startle.

Rainbow cocked a brow. "What are you so surprised about? Does it mean we can land already?"

Twilight tossed her hoof with a laugh, ears flapping as she turned to look at Rainbow Dash. "That wasn't even close to what I was expecting!" She burst into giggles, bouncing, and rotating, in place. "They shine even brighter than I imagined. We have come to a wonderful planet, Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash blinked softly. "Cool? Does that mean we're landing now?"

"Patience." With a flap, Twilight closed with her impatient pegasus friend, pressing a hoof to her snout. "But they've come together and stood up. They want to be seen as adult creatures. I couldn't be happier! Maybe I can get them to unify faster than I thought I'd be able to. One nation instead of all those they have now. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Sure, nice. Are we going down or not?" Rainbow rolled a hoof impatiently. "It's so quiet up here!"

Twilight smiled gently. "That's exactly the point. The universe is the most beautiful thing imaginable, and up here, we are safe."

She pushed off a wall back towards her station. "But things are going well. The humans are adaptable." She clapped her hooves together. "Troublesome, perhaps, but they are such a fascinating species. They want to be the ones taking the steps? Not an unreasonable request." She wagged a hoof at Rainbow. "But every foal makes that request. Not every foal can actually do it."

"Why not?" Rainbow followed along, catching up with Twilight as she landed at her seat. "It sounds easy enough."

Twilight nudged a display and frowned at it. "Momentum. They've been doing things a certain way. They're used to it. Even ponies don't like the idea of sudden changes, but a sharp pivot is required." She stamped her hoof once on the floor. "Do you know why they like being called adults?"

Rainbow blinked and sat down heavily. "I'm not actually sure. Isn't it because we keep saying they're not?"

Twilight huffed, but reconsidered her words and statements. "I have, haven't I." She sagged in place. "Sorry." Not that any humans were around to hear it. "If they want to show me their adultness, I'm more than happy to witness it. Mmm, which aspect do I approach first?" She tugged a map up before herself, humming as she considered her options, musing over the nations of Earth.

Angel stared at the screen, hoof holding a bowl of cereal, forgotten in the moment. He looked away only to take a few bites before staring at it again. The camera pulled back and focused on the colorful walls, followed by a view from outside, revealing the wider cartoon world that had Angel held captive.

Applejack walked past, glancing at the cartoon. "After that show ends, we're gonna go play outside." She nodded to herself, confident in her goal to raise her child with healthy amounts of screen time. A bit of television now and then was not going to hurt her son, after all. "So don't spend too long watchin' it, ya hear?"

Angel blinked at his mother, nodding to indicate he'd heard what she was saying, then turned back to the television. His eyes widened at a particular sound effect, and he started tapping the bowl in anticipation, standing up on his hooves to get a better look.

A chorus of 'friendship' echoed from the screen and Angel shot off with a shout, echoing the battlecry as the pastel colored figures did battle in the name of harmony.

Cindy opened the front door. "I'm home!"

Applejack closed to hug her gently. "Welcome back. How'd it go?"

Cindy smiled, enjoying the warmth of her partner. "I'm not the only person who was forced into protective custody, but I am the only one with a pony in it." She released Applejack with a gentle nuzzle and turned to walk down the hall, shrugging out of her jacket as she went. "One job's just straight out. I cleaned up as well as I could, but that's over." She shrugged. "They're not even mad at me. In fact, they've offered to cover some stuff while I get settled in."

Applejack padded along behind Cindy. "How very generous of them." She slipped into step next to her partner. "But ah know yer job was important to you. Yer feelin' things." She nudged gently against Cindy. "Yer welcome to share. Ah'm open to listenin', an' helpin' where ah can. Just tell me."

Cindy nodded and leaned into Applejack, breathing in her scent as she squeezed the farmpony's arm. "I wish I could. It's hard to put into words. What happened with me is scary, AJ. But it's also amazing." She glanced at where Angel was still locked to his screen. "It's hard to imagine part of me is in there. That's a cute little pony. I love him forever and a day, but am I really in that?"

Applejack nudged gently at Cindy. "Of course ya are. He's a cute little foal, but he's gonna be strong, independent, and oh so precious when he grows up." She pulled Cindy into a hug, pulling the woman in tight, hoof under her head to gently stroke her cheek. "It's okay to be scared. But you are Angel's mom. Ah promise, he thinks so too."

Angel quirked an ear, hearing a little of that. "Is Mom sad?" That got him to turn away from the show. "Did I do something?"

Cindy felt tears rushing to her eyes. "No! No... Come here." She spread her arms as she dropped to a knee, accepting the pouncing colt into her tight hug. "You've done not a thing wrong, and mom loves you so very much. In fact, the love is overflowing a little, so let her clean herself up a little."

Angel glanced at Applejack. "Mom? You can go ahead. I'll look after Mom for a while."

Applejack perked up at that. "Oh, um, okay?" She wandered past Angel, peeking at the little colt curiously with a faint smirk. "You take care of her real good."

Angel squirmed, struggling against the grip of his mother, until he was able to break free, landing on his hooves and then skipping back to allow a few breaths between them. "Did I do something bad? Did I make you sad?"

Cindy swallowed a laugh and sniffed instead. "You did not! You're a very good boy."

Angel pointed at Cindy. "Then you did a bad!"

Cindy recoiled, fighting a little laugh. "I did? What did I do?"

Angel swung his hoof in an arc over the ceiling. "You didn't do anything, which is bad!" He lunged at her with a grunt, catching her around the neck and hugging her. "Don't be sad!"

Cindy moved her arms to properly support her child as she stood up. "I will do my best. Why don't we go outside and play, hm? It's a sunny day."

"Alright!" Angel bounded out of Cindy's arms and scampered to the front door, slipping into his special set of shoes before bounding outside with a laugh and a shout.

Cindy hurried after him, shaking her head. Applejack was left behind, but she was smiling brightly the whole way. "Couldn't ask fer a much better family." She frowned a little. "Still gotta ask Twilight 'bout how that works." She closed the front door then reached for her throat, tapping at it. "Ship, ya in there?"

"This is Fluttershy." A hoof waved on screen. "We're here."

Applejack beamed at the sight. "How's the mission goin'? Do ya know when yer landin'?"

Fluttershy sank at the question. "We don't. Twilight says it's getting closer, but hasn't set a date, unfortunately." She pricked up with a smile. "How can I help today, or was that the question?"

Applejack nodded slowly. "Ya helped plenty already. Ah wanted to ask if ah could see Twilight for a minute."

Fluttershy shifted and lifted her head from the camera, obscuring Applejack's view as she got up. After a moment, Twilight was in view, turning the monitor to look at Applejack with a pleasant smile.

"There ya are." Applejack waved at her distant leader. "Gotta question for ya. Angel! That's mah foal, but ah gotta know some specifics. He's healthy an' happy, proud to say. But there's somethin' botherin' his mother."

Twilight settled into a more relaxed pose as she tilted her head aside, pausing before she spoke. "I suspected this might happen." She lifted a hoof and made a pushing motion at Applejack. "Angel is a product of magic. My magic. You could say I am also his mother, but let's not complicate an already stable, if complex, family dynamic. The magic I used bridged two willing targets of different species. It encoded their genetic information and then decoded it, to figure out what codes for each specific bodypart and mechanism. It combined them together into a working single genome, which allowed—"

Applejack was swaying under the load of scientific words far beyond her. "Um, could ya simple it down a little?"

Twilight turned her hoof up with a huff. "Your child has two parents. You and Cindy are his mothers, yes, but there is another, magical, one." She touched her chest with a hoof. "But I barely count. I was the glue that held it together just long enough for one cell to become two, to become four. At about that point, the magic wasn't needed, and Angel is holding himself together quite nicely. He is a pony, with human instructions dispersed through his instructions. I could make a spell that would produce a human, but I haven't studied their genome nearly enough to do that confidently."

Applejack took a moment to consider Twilight's words, repeating them back in her own terms to understand them better. "Ya made a bridge between 'em, then stepped aside and let them take over. They're the parents?"

"You and Cindy, yes." Twilight bobbed her head. "Does that answer your question?"

Applejack snorted once. "Well, now ah'm curious how yer magic knew to put up the right targets to choose from. Ah mean, ah assume ya made it take from each of us, but ah'm just wonderin' if that was the only part ah had to do with it."

"You had to want it." Twilight leaned in. "She had to as well. Some part of you wanted to make a family with her, and she returned the desire, and here you are, with a family." She clapped gently. "Congratulations to you both."

"Huh." Applejack inclined her head. "But ah still got that magic, right? So, uh, should ah be worried 'bout a second foal just poppin' out of nowhere?"

Twilight blinked softly at that, thinking carefully about how to answer it. "No, not like that." She slipped from her seat and tapped the wall with a hoof, finding what she was looking for, and connecting the cables to the proper outlets with a little flare of magic. "I told you, it's connected to will. When you both want a second foal, then you can have one. I imagine, right now, this desire is not felt by you two, as there isn't a second foal bouncing around."

Applejack accepted the explanation with a simple nod. "Fair enough." She cast her gaze aside. "Wait, wait! Why ya pluggin' a screen in? Where are ya at?"

Twilight gestured a hoof about her, making the camera shift with her motions. "I'm on the ship, in Fluttershy's area. I'm preparing the ship. If things keep going this way." She paused for a giggle. "We may be landing soon. Wouldn't that be nice? I've missed you."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Applejack pranced a little in place, rising up on her hooves to hold a hoof to her head. "Ah'm sure Cindy'll be mighty pleased to hear that!" She waved with her free hoof, keeping her other to her forehead as she sunk back to the floor. "Um, ah think." She pondered on how Cindy would actually react.

Twilight settled in to listen, humming to herself as she waited for Applejack to gather her thoughts and say something else.

"How're the others? Rainbow and Pinkie?" Applejack paced, taking long steps. "Ya gonna go over to them soon?"

Twilight cocked her head. "Pinkie remains a program, but Rainbow couldn't handle the idea of abandoning her, so Pinkie is hosted within Rainbow now. It's adorable, if not entirely healthy. I have attempted to reach out to her, but my efforts are being deflected by the conflict between Rainbow's need to interact with Pinkie and her inability to face the truth of the situation." She twitched an ear. "We could attempt more invasive solutions, but that seems like it would be breaking the trust of the situation." She shook her head. "I need to let that go. They're both happy, as happy as any program can be."

Applejack swiveled an ear to the side. "Huh, mighty funny. Ah'll still be glad to see 'em both when ya get down here."

Author's Note

A heavy chapter for some heavy topics, I think.

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21 - A Little Chat

"Mister president." The image he was facing on the screen wasn't his usual diplomatic sort of contact. The furry face of the angel was smiling at him. "I know you're a busy human, and I appreciate your time."

President Wilson leaned in with a broad smile, glancing aside for a moment to take in the decorations in the room behind her. "Miss Twilight Sparkle, I'm happy to speak with you today."

She chuckled at that. "Well, don't be so quick to give your joy. I know you're a little, mmm, peeved at my introduction. Allow me to apologize for how I came off. Your world, and your people, are balanced in a razor thin line. On either edge, the loss of humanity, and that would be quite sad for the universe as a whole."

Wilson paused at that, meeting her gaze directly. "Why's that?"

Twilight set hoof to head, smiling as she closed her eyes and shook her head softly. "Your world is going to go through an event which will rock you to your core. Your media implies you know of it, but it's hardly the only threat you face."

Wilson sat up. "I meant, why do you care about us? By your own words, we are basically nothing compared to you and yours. Why bother with us?"

Twilight eased into a shrug. "You and yours are on a path of self-destruction, Mister President. We have a long journey ahead of us, and I mean you no harm, but there is much you will have to change. All that changes will not be for the better. Some things must change, however, or it will be the end of humanity." She let out her breath slowly. "In the infinite expanse of the universe, species die before we even set eyes on them, each a tragedy. Can we avoid this one? I would like that."

Wilson looked aside, then back to Twilight, hunching over a little as he did so. "Why?"

"For the sake of knowledge. Because we are a caring species." She put a hoof on her chest. "Logically, you aren't wrong. It would be in our best interest, as a whole, to not care what happened to you." She tapped her hoof against her seat. "But we have desires which go beyond logic, and that's why we are here."

Wilson remained silent, letting his gaze say all that was needed, at least for the moment.

Twilight drew her hoof down a length of cable hanging nearby. "I would like to discuss what I see. You've asked to be treated as an adult, Mister President." She faced Wilson directly, meeting his gaze entirely. "I will grant that. Are you ready to begin? What you hear today will shape your future and that of your people."

"Are you going to start by threatening us?" Wilson set his hands flat on the table before himself, fingers splayed out as he studied the alien creature before him, considering her appearance for all it meant about the forces at work here.

"It will not." Twilight waved to the left, where an image of Applejack appeared. "We want to live with you, not conquer you, Mister President. But the medicine I prescribe will be bitter. It has to be, this close to terminality. No gentle course corrections will do to avoid calamities already crashing on you. Religion, Mister President. Your people have quite a number of them. Of those, Abrahamic sects have over half of your people claiming loyalty."

Wilson looked uncomfortable at that turn of conversation. "What about them, Princess Sparkle?"

"Twilight will do." Twilight smiled gently. "I have no nation behind me that you need to satisfy. Now, I bring them up because those sects believe in a core set of rules. Most people agree with most of them, but they have not been accepted as humanity's rules. I propose, Mister President, that we begin erecting humanity's rules. Rules so basic that no human should violate them, no matter their nationality."

Wilson started to respond, but Twilight hushed him with a hoof, indicating he should continue to listen.

"Among those rules, children cannot be harmed for any reason. An adult can take responsibility for themselves, and can choose their own path." She frowned, catching herself. "That rule's becoming too complicated."

Wilson chuckled softly. "It's easy to imagine what these rules should be, and not so when you actually begin to draft them, Twilight. With your leave, I'll bring this to the UN for us all to debate and consider, rather than leaving it to any one man, or pony."

Twilight shrugged gently at that. "I was going to invite you to do so, yes. So long as we have the chance to give our input, we would be more than happy to hear out the members of the United Nations." She clapped suddenly, a giddy little gesture. "Keep me posted. I look forward to where you go with this. Keep it simple! The most basic rules all humans agree to." She tapped her hooves. "No killing sapient creatures. No forcing a sapient creature to do something unless it's in the middle of breaking one of these rules, etc."

Wilson rose from his seat and bowed his head slightly to Twilight, smiling as he did so. "I can't guarantee anything. But I'm confident we'll have your approval for these rules. I look forward to the fruits of this discussion." The image of Twilight went dark. He turned away from it with a faint smile and stepped out of the room, meeting with aides that swarmed around him as he moved through the corridors of the White House.

It had been a busy few days, but they were starting to settle in to a new routine. Police were less often needed. Some crime was still taking place, but it was much more diffuse than it had been. America, at least, was starting to come down the other side of that hill of discontent.

He had plenty of calls to make.

"The president." An image of President Wilson sprang up to the right. "Has an approval rating of 43%. A recent poll shows 51%, a slender majority, agree with his action to work with the ponies. Slightly less than half of America does not agree with the direction of the nation. However, a call to a local coffee shop reveals quite a different scene."

The video cuts to a young woman in a coffee shop, a name tag reading "Becca". "I just think." She ducks to the left to avoid someone going by. "I think we should be asking more questions! Where did this 'Twilight' person even come from? If it was so nice there, why'd they come here? And she's always smiling, makes me a little nervous. Still, trying to blow her up didn't work, so what's the next option?"

The video ends, her window closing. "What is the next option, indeed? We asked you all, 'would you like a pony as a neighbor?' and the results are surprising! An overwhelming 84% of America would welcome a pony as a neighbor."

She leaned closer to the camera. "When pressed why, most brought up that they seem 'cute' and 'soft' and their crime rate, so far, is zero. Of course, with such a small sample size, we can't be sure that will remain true forever."

She shook her head, cutting herself off before she could ramble further on the subject. "Today, however, the questions turn to how. With the nation as a whole gearing up for another year, and with elections fast approaching, there are new candidates entering the field every day. How do you think this might impact the presidency, and which candidate is right for the future of America? To go over the candidates of each party, we go to—"

Twilight sat back, the screen dimming. "This is bad."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Another delay on our landing?"

Twilight twirled to Rainbow. "More important than that. If someone other than Wilson wins that position, we're back to almost step 1 in our relationship with America, and through it, the rest of the world." She turned back to the hovering map of the world. "Should I tip things in his favor?"

"Yeah, no." Rainbow darted in over Twilight, hovering over her head easily. "Have you been paying attention? Doing that will make them super peeved. You'll make them all enemies." She clapped her hooves. "Just like that. Those Americans are really big on freedoms, and that would be taking one of their biggest away." She rolled her eyes. "Next you'll want to take away their little guns."

"I would like that!" Twilight burst her wings out wide. "They cause a lot of harm compared to the tiny amount of productivity they enable. Most of their nations have already abolished them for most purposes. This should be an easy request for—"

Rainbow plugged Twilight's snout with a hoof. "Wow, you are not paying attention. Americans love those things. You reach for them, they will bite you, Twi." She flashed her own teeth, modified for space survival as they were. "And they got nice omnivorous chompers."

Twilight knocked Rainbow's hoof aside with a huff. "Just because a thing is nice doesn't mean it can't be done away with. The Americans need to see how they're poisoning themselves with their own hands." She settled into her chair, closing her eyes as she pondered the humans down below. "They are very trying."

Rainbow perched next to Twilight, leaning on her a little. "So were ponies, ya goof. How many generations did it take to get that mess under control."

Twilight pressed her hooves to her temples. "I don't have that long. The humans are quite clever, including at how to eradicate themselves as swiftly as possible. I want to save them, Rainbow. Do you have any advice for that, or are you just going to poke fun at me?"

Rainbow lifted a hoof and considered what she was going to say before she spoke. "I recommend aiming not at their destruction, but their salvation. Can you pull out of your plans for a while? Don't focus on anything so big and abstract as 'saving' humanity." She touched her hooves together. "Maybe offer them a carrot instead of a stick? Give them something they want. Something that'll get them started away from that cliff you're so scared of."

Twilight felt a buzzing in her chest, excitement building in her as the plan formulated itself in her mind. She snapped up with a burst of energy, rocking Rainbow off her side. "You have inspired me, Rainbow Dash!" She swept hoof to floor, clapping her hooves together as she danced in place, too overwhelmed a moment to get anything done. "Yes. Yes! One of their dooms is powered by something I could address. That will make them respect us and, yes! Rainbow, you're a genius!"

Rainbow picked herself up from where she'd been knocked against a wall. "I, what?" She glanced at Twilight, but there was no answering message in that wiggling form. She sat back and watched the show.

Twilight twirled about her own axis, closing her eyes as she started the mental exercises needed to link the problem to the solution. "I can't propose something they don't have the means to manufacture. But, hm." She curled a hoof to her chin. "What if we do the fabrication and give it to them. Clever little monkies, they'll study it, without us even prompting, and figure it out. In the meanwhile, it'll be doing what they need done!"

"Er, good?" Rainbow floated closer to Twilight. "What are you talking about?"

Twilight lashed her tail at Rainbow. "But, ugh." She dropped into her chair with a huff. "It doesn't do everything. It can't fix all of their problems."

"That isn't what we're doing." Rainbow wrapped an arm around Twilight, but a second arm wrapped around her the other way.

Pinkie was there, her hologram joining in the warm embrace. "Yeah! One thing at a time, Twi! We can't fix it all at once."

Rainbow nodded at Pinkie. "Exactly. One thing." She leaned against Twilight, breathing in the scent of her partner. "We're going to work on one problem at a time until things are okay again." She smiled brightly as she spoke, savoring the word 'okay'. It would mean many things, and many problems, solved or on the way to being solved. "One hoof in front of the other."

Twilight returned the hug, pulling the pair of ponies in close. "Alright. I understand." She breathed in their scents, soaking up the moment, letting it firm her resolve and settle her nerves. "Just one thing at a time." She recoiled a little. "Pinkie, you not having a whole, physical, body is odd. Why is your hologram not complete?"

Pinkie inclined her head. "Well! I'm running on Rainbow." She pointed at the shrugging Rainbow Dash. "She's only so large and only has so much power to give to running me. I'm lucky I have two senses down!"

Twilight reached out, pushing a hoof right through Pinkie's ghostly body. "Still disquieting at times. But I'm glad to see you out and about. Alright, both of you, out of here. I have planning to do."

Author's Note

It's Twilight Time! Whole chapter is Twilight-o-Clock, basically.

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22 - Unlimited Power

President Wilson sat at his desk, considering the fruits of the UN's labors over the past few weeks. They had spent hours debating what they would require of themselves as a species, what their baseline for 'sapience' was. Some of the rules he had brought from Twilight had brought nothing but arguments in return. To be honest, all of them had.

Still, at least people were arguing, and talking. He sank his heavy head against a supporting hand. "There are going to be so many controversies on this." He reached for the remote, flipping on the screen for some background noise. "My PR team is going to hate me for this." He was about to call up an assistant when the display suddenly changed.

Twilight was there, smiling at him. "I hope this isn't a bad time, but I come bearing gifts!" She flapped her wings, vibrating like an eager child. "And I think you're going to like it."

Wilson sat back and indicated she could speak. "What's this about, Twilight?"

Twilight turned away, gesturing at a device she had placed off screen. It took a moment for it to start working, projecting an image of Earth, rendered in beautiful color as she tapped her hoof against the back of her other. "I mentioned before that I have come to stop humanity from destroying itself, and you didn't believe me." She inclined her head. "That's not quite right. You didn't have faith in me, in my ability to make a meaningful difference."

Wilson shuffled, sitting up and leaning forward a little as Twilight spoke. "And you've arranged a demonstration? That would be lovely, Twilight, but you've told us several times that we were on a path to destruction. I assume it will take some time to find the path out of it, yes?"

Twilight perked up and swung a hoof through the image of the planet. "For an enduring fix, of course. But, right now, you need something you can use to push you away from that. I want to make your life better, all of you." She spread her hooves. "All of humanity. I want to be seen as a kind force, not just a scowling one. I want you all to succeed." She coughed into a hoof. "So! I did an examination of your own media on the things troubling you and ran the numbers. A lot of it comes down to distribution, but addressing that, quickly, is beyond my power. That is a human problem, to be fixed by humans. However!"

She held a hoof up. "I found some things you need! Some immediate help." She gestured at the screen again. "You constantly struggle to address your energy needs. Many of your wars concern energy and its sources. You've even managed to turn energy into a weapon at times." She tapped at her chin. "Please stop that. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'd be lying if I claimed I never turned energy into a weapon before." She colored at the admission. "But I'd rather not dwell on the past. Instead, let's talk about how much better your world would be with unlimited energy."

Wilson rubbed his hands together slowly. "A bold claim, Miss Sparkle. Many men have made it before, usually offering nothing but crazed ideas or attempting to fool their fellows. I trust you're aware of that. What do you have to display?"

Twilight snorted once and reared up to tap the image of the planet again. "You have an amazing planet here, Mister President. So much variety in geography, and so much potential. My proposal involves you damaging it less, not out of love, but because you simply don't have to."

She leaned in suddenly. "This will anger some of you." She sighed deeply at that. "Every action I consider will leave some of you very very angry. Your 'fossil fuel' industry will collapse. They will have strong words, and attempt legislative pressure to avoid their demise." She rose a hoof. "Besides that, your grids, globally, are in terrible shape. The ones in America are better, on average, but not what I'd call ideal. So, before I toss this to you and expect it to make things better on its own, can I get an assurance that this will be addressed?"

Twilight paused with a thoughtful expression. "We can start with your nation. Asking you to fix the entire globe's grid before I move is unreasonable." She tapped at some large buttons, her magic tapping at smaller ones. "I'm sending down the specifications. When your grid can handle a source of this magnitude, I will furnish it."

Wilson nodded slowly at that, smiling a little more broadly than he had in the last few weeks. "You have a deal, Twilight Sparkle." He glanced at the printout and sighed heavily. "Oh boy. What a job we have before us." Some parts of the country were closer, even exceeding the required numbers, but many parts were below. "If I may ask, what is the source of this power? All power comes from something."

Twilight chuckled once, her eyes narrowing as she did so. "Only a very small fraction of power comes from sunlight, Mister President. I will not disclose the rest, but I will tell you that the amount produced is constant, unlimited, and comes without consequence." She rolled a hoof at the camera. "At least, not without any consequence you could conceivably measure within the timeframe that your planet remains in existence. Not a perfect solution, no, but nothing is, and this one would help significantly."

Wilson bowed his head at that. "That is fair. If it is what you are offering, then I can say with confidence that it will change the world, for the better."

Twilight flashed a bright smile at that. "That is what I'm hoping for. If your country can make good use of it, then your neighbors—" Her eyes darted to the global map. "Canada and Mexico? They should be provided the numbers, and we can connect them next. Ideally, the entire world would, eventually, be connected, and the want for power would become a distant past nightmare. Isn't that wonderful?"

Wilson nodded once. "I believe it is. Thank you, Twilight." He pressed his fingers together. "Now, all that is left is to convince the many, many others who will not like this." He raised a hand at Twilight. "That's my job. Thank you, Twilight. You've given us plenty to work on."

"With pleasure." Her face vanished from the screen.

He stared at it for a moment longer before touching a button and bringing up another image, showing his chief of staff, Margaret Thompson. She looked weary, as if she'd been up for several nights in a row, working without sleep to fulfill her duties. "I have good news, delivered directly from the hooves of those that have put those bags under your eyes."

She tilted her head aside, a brief smile crossing her lips before she set back to neutral. "What have they come up with now?"

"Energy." Wilson set his hands on his desk, leaning on them as he straightened his posture. "I'm going to be honest, Maggie. It's a dream come true, and it's going to have the people crying up a storm."

Margeret chuckled at the sound of things. "That's been Twilight's offerings so far, hasn't it? Bitter medicine, but it could cure you." She sank into a seat. "Alright, what is she offering today? A promise not to ever hurt puppies? Free pie for everyone?"

Wilson pressed his fingers together and nodded gently as he thought over Margaret's words. "Not quite." He smiled. "We will never run out of energy again."

Margaret scoffed. "Ah, the old 'I'm going to use magic to turn sunlight into useful electricity!'" She shrugged gently. "Solar is making advances, I shouldn't laugh too much at it, but it doesn't make the problem vanish, Sir."

Wilson gestured with a hand. "Well, you're half right. She isn't using magic. She's offering us a new power source that has no limitations." He nodded once to reinforce his point. "No limits, Maggie."

Margaret couldn't seem to hold herself still any longer. "It's impossible. I'm no science major, but things come from other things, Sir. Where is this boundless power coming from?"

"Not from the sun." Wilson shook his head gently. "I did ask, Margaret, but she was very vague on how it worked, or what it even was. She simply says that it's going to work, and if we meet her criteria, then she'll send us the necessary parts for it to function. All she wants is for our grid to be able to handle it without exploding. A small request. But that won't stop it from being one of the biggest announcements of my career."

Margaret breathed out slowly, struggling to contain herself. "Energy." She picked up a pencil and rolled it between her fingers. "If she could really do that, I'd call it her best yet. Finally, a request that doesn't involve changing how people think. Alright, about everyone likes the idea of cheap energy. Except the ones selling the energy."

Wilson smiled calculatingly at that. "I was hoping you'd catch that before I said it. We can expect every energy company on the planet to rail against this the moment word gets out." He breathed in through his nose, sighing out his mouth as he thought through the future. "We're going to be facing such pushback. We can't let this out before we're ready. Which means." He held up a finger. "We have to improve the grid for no reason."

Margaret took out her own pen and made a note on her desk. "Right, okay. We can sell that." She nodded to herself as she spoke, murmuring words as she worked out a plan. "Lighting it up as an energy bill reform to improve efficiency and decrease carbon emissions, also making us more able to weather climate change. Yes, we can spin that." She scribbled more furiously as she worked. "I'll get this handled. We'll have the release ready."

Wilson reached for the button. "I knew you could handle this. Glad to have you." He pressed it, ending the call. It wasn't a lie, Margaret had been a strong force on his side, helping him get through several tough spots in his political career. "But now for the hard part." He rolled his shoulders and reached for his own writing implement.

He had his own words to say to the public about where their tax dollars were going.

Author's Note

Reached the end of that discussion and felt better to end the chapter rather than pushing. Felt good to me. Et tu?

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23 - Infrastructure Week

"It's quite an exciting time to be alive, isn't it?" Cindy was staring at the screen with unbridled interest, her expression delighted at the events unfolding before her eyes. "Just a few weeks ago, all of this would have been impossible." She snorted with amusement that eluded Applejack entirely. "Infrastructure week, it's finally here."

Applejack inclined her head. "Whazzat?"

Cindy leaned over Applejack to snuggle with her gently, making Applejack struggle to hold onto the remote while she was being so attacked. "It's a very special time in our country's history." Cindy let out a sigh of contentment. "They've been promising this forever. It's practically a joke at this point. Repair the bridges, upgrade the power and Internet lines, all that. Boring, but we need it. Every president's talked about it, but finally, we're getting it."

She snatched the remote back just to flick to a cartoon. "Enough political news before they go on to bad news." She pushed herself up on her knees to rise over Applejack, standing tall over the Earth pony as she loomed over her. "Nothing for us to do now, but wait."

Applejack lowered her head at that. "Uh-huh. What are we waitin' for?"

Cindy shrugged. "For the money to actually go somewhere we can see it, and for things to improve." She reached to ruffle gently along Applejack's ears. "I vote we enjoy the day together."

Applejack turned into Cindy's hand, accepting the ear rub with a chuckle. "Mighty fine with me. Yer off work, right?"

Cindy eased her way over Applejack to sit right up against her. "No work I can't put off for some AJ snuggle time."

The two took up the offer, gladly nestling together.

Twilight and Fluttershy watched the orbiting globe, millions of little wires shown going across it. Fluttershy sat up. "Some of their countries look to already be above the requirement, um, Twilight. Why not give it to them?"

Twilight rolled her hooves. "Well, we have a relationship with America, with Applejack already living there."

Fluttershy bobbed her head in understanding. "And you're trying to keep her safe. I see. But how will giving them energy make her safer?"

Twilight eased closer to Fluttershy, rubbing along her. "It's not a trade. I want them all—" She waved over the floating holo-globe. "—to have this."

"So why not give it to them?" She pointed a hoof at Northen Europe, then to China. "They seem to have good, um, numbers."

Twilight shifted in her seat, nodding gently as she considered Fluttershy's words and started thinking through the possible outcomes of different approaches. She drummed her hooves on the floor in an anxious motion. "I need somepony on the ground to confirm what I'm seeing. We can detect the electricity, but not much more than that." She curled a hoof to her chin. "The Chinese seem to have a singular authority leader. Like Celestia, but far less all-benevolent and wise."

Fluttershy poked Twilight. "We have one authority figure." She shrank, realizing she had called Twilight out. "Sorry."

Twilight was working on a message. "I know. We do. But I'm thinking of an experiment." She flicked her tail at the map. "Will he behave for his own benefit?"

Fluttershy glanced between Twilight and the map. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm sending a message to a few humans." She tapped busily with her magic. "Offering them something I know they want. Hopefully, like President Wilson, they'll reach for it eagerly." She nodded slowly as she worked, then leaned back with a sigh, letting her message send off to Earth, encrypted in its own way, as secure as they could manage with what they had on hoof.

Fluttershy took a deep breath in. "I hope it works. Um, Rainbow really wants to go down. Why can't we let her?"

Instead of denying her, Twilight considered it with a hum. "I'm concerned about losing Rainbow, Fluttershy. I do want her to go down to Earth, but not yet. She is integral to the crew, and I worry for her."

Fluttershy sank back at the words, feeling the sting of rejection deeply, as much as she could ignore it. "Of course. I, I understand." She was anything but understanding, though. "So, we wait? We just sit here and watch them?"

Twilight huffed gently. "Rainbow?"

Rainbow darted into the room on adept wings. "We're moving?"

"You are." Twilight pointed to the map. "The Asian theatre, or Africa. I could use hooves on the ground. This would be a mission. Applejack is basically on vacation, you wouldn't be. Do you want to do this?"

Rainbow made a prodigious leap from one side of the room to the other, swinging around a floating display with a little more force than necessary as she did so, landing perfectly in front of Twilight with a daring grin and a flex of her wings. "As if you have to ask! Send me down there and let's see what this planet is like."

Twilight smiled gently at that, lifting her hoof and letting Rainbow grab it and shake it firmly, making Twilight's hoof rock up and down without budging an inch. "First, you have to pick one. Which will it be? From what I gather, in Asia, you will be facing a nation that is very solid, but may not be aligned with our intents and goals. Africa is far more scattered, and would need work with basic unification before we could get much done."

Rainbow tossed a hoof through the map of Asia, causing it to blur, then return to focus. "This one. It'll be hard, right?"

Twilight waggled her hoof in a 'kinda' motion. "It may be, or, perhaps, their leader was speaking the truth and they'll welcome you with open arms." She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't place too large a wager on that. You have wings, Rainbow. You have permission. I don't think you need much else. Stay in contact with us, kindly. I'm worried about you."

Rainbow leapt up to the ceiling and stayed there, dangling from a metal hoofhold. "I know. You've told me. That's not changing any time soon, huh?"

Twilight folded her hooves on her lap. "I should hope not. Besides being my agent, you are my friend."

Rainbow floated down to touch noses with Twilight. "You know that isn't true."

Twilight snorted gently, but held her nose to Rainbow's. "You are a mirror of my dearly departed friend." She reached out her hooves. "I know you owe me nothing, just an annoying leader for this mission, but I feel friendship from my side, Rainbow."

Rainbow grabbed the offered hooves, pulling Twilight close for a hug, then easing away as she rubbed a hoof against her back and smiled in an effort to cheer Twilight up. "I'm not your friend." She smirked. "I'm your pal! There's a difference." With a hooting cheer, she zipped out of the room, laughing the whole way.

Twilight watched Rainbow go, snorting once in amusement before looking back to the globe hovering nearby. "Just us again." She brought up a blank image and started scribbling on it with her magic, dragging words and symbols together into plans, to get them as close to what she wanted as possible.

Fluttershy inclined her head. "Um, sorry, but, um... I know I'm not the first Fluttershy, but, um."

Twilight reached over to hug Fluttershy from the side. "You are my friend too, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy sagged with relief at that. "Oh, good. You seemed so sad and alone." She pressed her hoof to her chest. "I wasn't sure if you had any friends here."

Twilight slowly pulled herself up on Fluttershy, climbing onto the yellow pegasus' back and clinging to her like a small child holding their mother. "Thank you, Fluttershy. I admire everything you stand for." She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut as she held tight to Fluttershy. "This is a wonderful day, having you two with me."

Fluttershy clutched Twilight to her, rubbing gently against the alicorn. "It's, just, um, you're so much more than I am. I'm just one little pegasus. I have no element." She fluttered her wings once before laying them back down. "But you've got so much more to you. You don't need me."

Twilight peered up at Fluttershy from beneath the canopy of pink mane. "That's a lie." She pounced Fluttershy, sending them both drifting together. "We're both ponies, trying to do what's best."

"Well, um, not technically." She rubbed at her snout. "I was specially designed, you know that. You're the only 'just pony' on the ship. That's why you had to wait before being woken up." She kept rubbing her nose as she spoke, eyes narrowing into slits. "I'm made to be a crew member for this ship."

Twilight flicked her hoof at that notion. "Nonsense. You don't need to be made for something to be good at it. I wasn't made to run a school, or to save Equestria, and I did both of those." She rubbed behind her own head. "We can grow to become more than what we were 'made' for." She snorted at that. "Ponies were made to turn hay into horseapples. I'm glad to say many of them managed more than that."

She released Fluttershy, both using their wings to return to their stations. "Fluttershy, you aren't the original, but you are my friend, and I care for you deeply." She dropped into her chair and turned away from the planet before them. "Can we go look at stars? I'm tired of staring at Earth. Too many problems I can't solve."

Fluttershy swept in front of Twilight and nodded gently. "I think I'd like that." She drifted out of the room, waving for Twilight to follow her, the alicorn swooping behind, letting Fluttershy take the lead.

As they wandered through the halls, following the displays pointing them towards the central hub of the ship, Fluttershy guided Twilight by glancing over her shoulder to make sure the princess was still there. They made it to the observatory, where all the universe away from Earth was displayed.

Meanwhile, Rainbow pressed at buttons with her wings. "You heard her, ship. I'm getting out of here!" With a final beep, the airlock hissed, drawing the air out of the chamber. Rainbow held her breath, and was fine. She was rated as being able to do that for some time. Being space adapted had its perks. The negative pressure of the airless room felt a bit itchy, but her body could withstand it easily. The second door opened before her, and she stepped through into space itself.

Her hooves clipped onto the ship, anchoring her on the smooth surface as she looked over the world in front of her. There was no up or down, there was no spin or orbit. There was only her and the starship behind her. She watched as the sunlight struck her fur, making her coat glow as if made of the sun itself, like she was a halo around the ship.

With a laugh only she could hear, Rainbow pushed away from the ship she had called home, eyes locked on the blue marble ahead. She hurtled towards it, racing to claim it as her own, twisting and diving in joyous abandon as she experienced the glee of first free flight. Below her, the atmosphere became visible as she neared the end of her fall.

She could see the continent she'd been assigned to and veered slightly to keep it directly ahead of her. She struck the atmosphere, and crashed through it, wind battering against her, warming her intensely, turning her into a falling star that glowed brightly with each passing moment as the speed of her dive burned off her outer layer of fur. It burned away, revealing flesh beneath, new growth growing in the wake of the old.

But Rainbow couldn't feel any of it. She knew she'd be landing, and had entered the terminal flight mode. She would die, and be reborn, and she howled, her voice finally audible, roaring with the wild abandon of being the streaking light coming towards Earth. She loved the sense of speed as she pulled her wings back to move faster, keenly aware of her approach to the ground, to civilization, to life.

There were lights below, then a road. Then buildings. She dipped down, breaking the sound barrier with a boom that rattled windows and sent birds fleeing for their lives. Rainbows exploded out from here as she crashed through a second and a third, her speed picking up with gravity's aid before it all came to an abrupt and mighty ending. The shockwave rippled across the city, sending everything not bolted down tumbling over and breaking as she tore into the street in a shattering, deafening crash that set every car alarm within miles blaring.

Rainbow lost consciousness, but only for a few moments, her body rapidly working on undoing the damage she'd just caused to herself. She flapped her wings, feathers sprouting one by one. Her coat was already glowing again, having regenerated itself during the fall. Her vision returned as she lifted her head, dragging herself from the hole she'd carved into the street. A groan escaped her throat as she crawled forward, wings flopping before finally pulling themselves back to proper rest. "Hello. World."

Author's Note

Nihao, Rainbow! Hopefully they won't be too angry about your entry. Some hints are dropped about the true nature of Twilight and her friends.

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24 - Nihao!

It didn't take long for Chinese police to respond to the shattering impact on the city street. They rushed to the scene, weapons in hand, to find the sole occupant of the crater sitting up and cracking her neck, rotating her head to dispel the lingering stiffness that clung to her like a blanket. She rolled her shoulders once before stretching her wings, causing the feathers to fluff up slightly before laying flat against her sides again.

Approaching slowly, they spoke in their strange tongue at Rainbow. Rainbow perked an ear. "I like the sound of that." Tapping at her earpiece, her words began to be translated. "Hello, sorry for the, uh, damage." She looked around, taking in the urban area she'd landed in. "I meant to hit the water, but I missed." She could see she had been so close, but just next to the water was the urban tangle she'd struck instead.

She spread her wings, looking them over before closing them again, puffing up her chest proudly as she looked the stunned humans over, trying to ignore their guns. "If you've got a bath and some grub, I'll be on my way."

One of the officers, the oldest stepped forward. "Stop right there. Identify yourself." His weapon didn't waver from Rainbow's position.

Rainbow waved a hoof. "Sure. Just trying to figure out what name would go down well with you folks." She lowered herself, bending one knee before tapping her chin in thought. "Honesty's the best policy, right?" She shrugged. "Rainbow Dash." She directed a hoof at herself. "Pony. or alien, if you prefer, but pony, specifically. I was sent to say hi, and chat, and see what this place was like. Hope you don't mind me stopping by."

The officer considered his weapon and holstered it, holding up his hands as he approached Rainbow. "You are not armed, and have done no damage other than impacting the road." He took a slow breath. "We have to take you in. We can't have a monster wandering the city, mild-mannered or not. It is the law."

Rainbow snorted and chuckled once. "I'll bite." She pointed her hoof at the officer, indicating him as she spoke. "This city?" She glanced around again. "Manhattan?"

The officer shook his head. "This is not America. You thought this was America?" The other officers laughed at the idea. "No no no. This is People's Republic of China. Come. This way." While some officers were busy keeping curious onlookers from getting too close, the one in charge escorted Rainbow towards a waiting car. "Don't try anything."

Rainbow smirked. "Relax, I'm just here to see the sights." She hopped into the back of the car, being too large to fit in the front properly without squeezing. In the back, she could flop longways across both seats and it was even kind of comfy. "Where are we headed?"

The officer slipped in the front behind the driver's wheel. "We are going to headquarters." He started the car and pulled out, leaving the shattered street behind as they went on their way, the people dispersing slowly as they did so, meandering back to their homes. "You are here to represent your alien species?"

"Yup!" Rainbow poked her head between the cushions, smiling at the officer as he drove. "We have special prizes for good humans. You are a good human, yeah? Cause you're sure cute enough." She winked, but it didn't really register with the driver, who kept driving without saying much more to Rainbow, which disappointed the pony greatly.

She wiggled back down into the cushions and relaxed. It wasn't long before they had her inside the police station, and from there, she was bounced from office to office until word and command reached the top and she was ferried away to visit Beijing, and with it, the offices of the president and other high-ranking officials.

But for now, she was left to sit and wait in a hallway outside a boardroom as they whispered within. The pegasus flopped down to lay on her belly, letting out a deep sigh as she rested. She hadn't expected this level of 'excitement'. "I just wanna look around," she groused to herself, watching the humans mill about. At least they had the freedom to do that. She had been ordered to sit and wait. She considered sneaking off, but it wasn't as if she could wander far, or knew where to go.

Twilight's voice popped into her ear. "How are you feeling, Rainbow? Any lingering issues?"

Rainbow shook her head, exhaling heavily as she sighed once more. "Do you mean the landing? Everything worked the way it's written it should. I didn't feel anything but the rush of meeting the ground." She laughed at the memory of it. "That was a landing! I want to get back up into the air, but the humans seem to want to parade me around first."

Twilight moved about, hoofsteps thumping on the floor. "Well, we'll let them have their fun for now. Don't antagonize them too much. They may not be your biggest fans just yet."

Rainbow waved lightly at the voice in her ear. "I got this! I'm your agent on the ground, remember? I won't slack off, promise." She batted at her earring, ending the chat. "Finally, some peace and quiet." She grinned, flicking her tail once as she gazed about the room. Everything was so foreign to her, and yet so similar. They all stood on their hindlegs, but their forelimbs were fingers and toes instead of hooves.

They were also emerging from that office. The one with more pins on their chest arrived first. "Welcome." The offered a hand that Rainbow met with a hoof, completing the light shake. "Thank you for waiting. I'm sure you have many things you want to do. I am here, in part, to inform you that you are being given permission to do exactly that."

Rainbow sprung up from her seat with a broad grin. "Well, thank you, Mister." She checked the nameplate once more. "Ji. You folks sure do make some fine government leaders." She chuckled, flashing a confident smirk. "Are you folks ready for what I have to offer?"

He bowed his head in response. "We would be most delighted to receive it. In time." He touched a hand to his chest. "I believe introductions are in order."

So there was at least one more function to complete, as Rainbow as introduced to the president of China and the various ministers of different things. When Rainbow met with the NEC, she perked. "You guys would be in charge of all things related to power, right?" She looked them over, grinning at them as she considered her options. "Awesome."

"Er, yes. We do have the energy council." The man smiled uneasily. "How do you know of us?"

Rainbow thumped her hoof on the ground. "We've been studying you, and boy do I have an offer for you." She leaned in, brows waggling. "Imagine, a world where every single power need is met, without a single pound of stuff being burned to do it. No reliance on time of day. No caring about what month it is. Just, taken care of." She grinned as she leaned back, pulling away from the humans with a smug expression.

He breathed out slowly. "I see. Yes. Of course, we'd be very interested in this. Pardon my asking, but what is the catch, Miss Dash?"

She waggled a hoof at him. "Now, now, Mister-" She checked his nameplate. "Qiang. That's for another time." She poked him in the chest with a hoof. "If I told you now, you wouldn't have anything to look forward to." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, no catches on the power. We want humanity to get over this whole power thing. It's holding you back. You're more than this!"

Qiang looked over Rainbow with a considering gaze before bowing once. "Thank you for your consideration. Now, what is it that you would like to do?"

Rainbow reared up and let out a triumphant whinny, grabbing their attention instantly. "Okay, so, I'm not the big turbo nerd Twilight is. You'll be talking to her for the specifics. I'll be your pony on the ground, helping out to get things done. There are things we have to do to get ready first." She slyly smirked. "The Americans are already preparing. You don't want them to win at unlimited power, hm?"

He shook his head quickly, straightening as he considered the words being offered to him. "I see. That would be unfortunate, yes." He glanced over Rainbow with a careful eye. "How long will it take you to prepare?"

Rainbow huffed softly. "If it was up to me, we'd already be done, but it isn't. This is your world and your country." She put a hoof at her chest. "Twilight promised you all would get to make your decisions like grown creatures, so it's up to you how fast we go. I'll get the list together." She turned for the door. "But first, I really want to get a look at this lovely country of yours. It's nothing like where I'm from."

The council members spoke among themselves for a moment before Ji stepped forward again. "That can be arranged. We can arrange a tour of our facilities, and a flight over our territory. How long will you need?"

Rainbow's eyes lit at the mention of flight, at least until she realized what they meant. "I don't need help flying." She flapped her wings lightly. "Just give me permission and I'll fly myself, gladly! It's been far too long since I had a good flight. The whole 'orbital' thing wasn't exactly to my taste."

The Minister of the Environment stepped forward, giving Rainbow a sheepish smile. "It would be great for our environment ministry if you would allow us to accompany you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow perked a brow. "If they can keep up. Oh! Right." She tapped at her earring, interfacing with it in subtle ways her modified hoof allowed. "Here." A nearby computer chimed gently. "Use that and you can see where I am all the time. I'm not trying to sneak around, but I am kinda fast." She winked once at the humans before turning on a hoof and prancing out of the room, nearly bowling over an official who had been moving down the hallway as she did so. "Sorry!" She took off, racing for the nearest window, bursting through it without stopping, shooting up into the air, disturbing everyone near it with the soft bang of rainbows as she pushed her limits with a cheerful cry.

The president waved at the computer that had beeped. "Does it work like she said?"

An officer hurried over to check. "Yes, it has her position." He turned the screen for the president to see, with a little rainbow shown flying over China. "She's in Beijing right now, moving at very high speeds, well over two thousand kilometers an hour." He scratched his head. "Aircraft aren't supposed to fly that fast. That would disturb the sound barrier."

The minister for the environment looked at the map once, then gestured at the president. "That explains the thump we just heard, but we only heard one. Going that quickly, she should be making them repeatedly. But how? Is she somehow preventing sonic booms?"

Another officer picked up a phone and started relaying orders to get a team together and in the air to chase after the pony and test this theory out. The president followed his people to a helicopter, eager to watch what happened as they sped into the air. Soon, he was able to see Rainbow Dash ahead of them, rocketing across the sky at absurd speeds, but leaving no signs that she had ever done so.

Jets came in screaming, and Rainbow just waved at them. They began to fly together, the pegasus laughing with joy as she got flying partners that could almost keep up with her sharp turns and joyous loops. She twisted about, sliding back and forth between the jets to mess with them and laugh at their frustration, only to jump away and speed ahead of them again, to dash through clouds like she was swimming in a river of cotton candy, to nosedive towards the ground before pulling up at the last moment and fluttering her wings to hold her elevation before coming to a gentle landing, quite unlike her original explosive arrival. "Woo, that was a real workout. I missed those!" Technically, she had never experienced them, but her memories, lingering within her, were howling with just as much joy. Yes, flying was where she was meant to be.

Author's Note

Rainbow arrived. Other than having to wait for so long to be set free, she's digging China so far. Is China ready for her? First chapter in a while we didn't skip perspectives. All Rainbow, all the time. She approves.

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25 - A Little Angel

Angel looked around the clean doctor's office with his big, curious eyes, noting all the toys scattered around, and the pretty pictures on the wall, of animals, flowers, and some old place with lots of little buildings all packed together. He sniffed at the air, detecting the scent of disinfectant, and other chemical smells that were a bit unkind to his nose.

Cindy helped him up onto the table. "This is just a normal check-up. Nothing scary." She sat in a chair beside Angel as the doctor, wearing a white coat over her dark blue scrubs, stood before them, clipboard in hand. She had a name tag on that said 'Dr. Mary'. "I am not a doctor."

Both Cindy and Angel started at that. Angel pointed at the name tag. "Doesn't that mean doctor, Miss?"

Mary smiled at her little pony patient. "I'm a special kind of doctor. Most would call me a vet." She reached out to tap Angel on the nose gently. "I specialize in medicine for things that aren't human. Like you, little Angel. Most of my patients can't talk though, but I think that's a plus. You can tell me how you're feeling. Do you like being called Angel?"

Angel bobbed his head quickly at that. "It's the best name! Momma is so smart. She named me!" He pranced on the table a little bit, letting out a soft huff as he settled back down again. "Momma says you're going to make sure I'm okay, Doctor?"

Mary smiled gently at that, earning a small whinny of delight from Angel as he pressed his hooves together and wiggled them about. She took one of those hooves, examining it. "I've had experience with horses, but Angel isn't a horse. He has quite a few anatomical differences. We can start here." She slowly rotated Angel's arm so that it was even with his back. "Do this to a horse, and they would be very upset with you, and likely hurt. For Angel, just a silly doctor, being silly. Right?"

Angel let out a chuckle at that. "You are silly. What's next?"

Mary took one of Angel's ears in her fingers, carefully prodding it and the soft fur beneath, smiling as she did so. "But there are many similarities. I'll be using those to give me a headstart on how to proceed. Now, Angel, have you hurt anywhere? Even little things." She pressed a stethoscope to his chest, only to start. That heartbeat wasn't quite right. It was a nice reminder that Angel was an alien being. "Your heart seems to be working, though."

Cindy rubbed the back of her neck. "He's been growing up fast. He says he doesn't hurt, but he eats like he has a stomach made of a black hole. I'm just hoping I'm feeding him enough." She ruffled the mane of her dear child. "You know his age. Look how large he is."

Mary pulled over a ruler to doublecheck that. "We won't be able to call you Little Angel for long. You're growing as quickly as any horse would. Assuming the same rate, I'd expect them to reach full size within a year and change." She tickled Angel under his chin. "Looking forward to being bigger? Stronger?"

Angel wiggled gently at the tickling, cooing softly before nodding eagerly. "I'm hoping I keep growing. Momma will still love me if I'm big, right?"

Cindy flicked at his ear, making him let out a cry of surprise. "I will always love you, little Angel. If you grow up into a big one, I'll just have to get on a stepstool to give you a big hug, but I will." She gently stroked along his sides. "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing I can find." Mary gently flipped Angel onto his back. "Let's take a look down here. Your belly is a little different." She gently pet over that tumtum. "If I had to guess, which I do, you're an omnivore."

"Omni-what?" Angel inclined his head, still on his back. "What is that?"

Mary laughed once before helping Angel to his hooves again. "I mean you can eat anything. That heart means you have something called six-chambered. Horses and humans only have four. I'm not sure which is better, but we'll assume more is good." She gave gentle pats to the colt. "You are such a good boy. Speaking of that, sex: male. You didn't need me to confirm that, but everything's growing properly there, as far as I can tell. For a pony, you seem very well put together."

Cindy sighed out a breath she had been holding for some time now. "Thank you, doctor. I've been worried about Angel since he was born. I love him, but he's not, you know, human. I never know exactly what I should be expecting." She wrapped an arm around him. "I just want him to be healthy and happy."

"And so do I." Mary scribbled notes on what matched with horses, and what deviated entirely. She snapped her fingers, causing Angel's closer ear to flick towards it instantly. "Mmhmm." She made another note. "Angel, when something surprises you, say it comes out of nowhere and startles you, how do you feel? Or, maybe, how does your body feel?"

Angel looked up at his mother as he considered the question. "My heart starts beating faster, and I move my legs around without meaning to. Sometimes I jump in surprise. My mane goes all weird too." He burst into sudden giggles. "I feel silly afterwards."

Cindy stroked along Angel's side. "He has good reflexes."

"Normal." She made a new note. "You are a curious little pony, but entirely healthy from what I can see. As a precaution, you can keep using the food and treats we've given you. No harm in that, and it's all good for you." She pulled a chart from her desk. "If you can manage it, I would like to meet with you once a month."

Angel hopped up to his hooves. "Okay, doctor!" He did a tight circle in place before launching himself at her, knocking her back as he gave her a tackling hug. "Thank you for making sure I'm okay!" He bounded back to Cindy, giggling the whole time. "Momma, we're going home now, right?"

Cindy brushed her hair behind her ear. "Of course we are, sweetie. We'll come back here next month, okay? Keep an eye on that calendar." She brushed him towards the door and they headed that way. "Thank you again, Doctor." And they slipped from the office.

Mary went back to her desk, looking over the notes she had taken and considering what had been observed. "That is one healthy little pony. His development is spot-on with horses in nearly every way. I'm tempted to say this was a deliberate choice. Did they build him from scratch?" She had no idea how close to the truth she'd arrived. "Fascinating."

At School, Angel eagerly absorbed the information offered to him, and it wasn't nearly enough. When he wasn't making friends, he had his nose in a book. It began with easy children's books, but swiftly moved on to things intended for kids older than he was. Even that didn't satisfy him for long.

His teacher, confused at having a pony for a student, was keeping an eye on him, and noticed his appetite for greater and greater things. She brought the case to the principal. "He's not a human. We can't use human measurements. In terms of scholarly learning, I'd put him around fifth grade, and he hasn't finished kindergarten! We will be doing him an injustice if we don't do something."

The principal looked up from her paperwork, then glanced back down to consider what she had been told. "There is the gifted program, but he's past where we normally allow for gifted students. Five grades ahead?" He shook his head slowly. "What about physically? Shoving him ahead will be setting him up to be bullied."

His teacher rubbed her chin. "From what I've seen, his physical growth matches his intellectual growth. If you move him ahead, it might even improve his social development. I don't want him to end up sitting in a corner and moping." She flumped back in her seat. "This is unprecedented, but so is this student. I want the best for him."

"I understand that." He curled a hand to his chin. "This may be absurd, but has he rubbed off on anyone?"

"Pardon?"

He rolled a hand. "Did he make any friends, or prompt and rivals to try and keep up with him, and did any actually manage the feat?"

The teacher looked dumb-struck. She hadn't even been looking for that. "I'll keep an eye out for that."

"Please." The principal gestured for the door. "This will be easier if he has a friend he can take with him. May not be possible, but it'd be nice."

That put Angel's teacher on her feet, sending her back to class and sitting down next to her newest student. "Angel, I have a question for you."

Angel put his book down, twisting his head to one side in confusion. The book wasn't made for other kindergartners, and he hid it in case that was the problem. Not very well, just behind his back. "Yes, ma'am?"

The teacher smiled gently. "You're not in trouble. I just wanted to know if you made any good friends, the sort that keep up with you. I know you're racing ahead of the class." She looked over the kids playing around him, watching them pretend to be cars or airplanes, a couple were having a mock boxing match that would impress not a soul that knew the sport.

Angel pondered a moment before he bounced to his hooves and rushed over to pounce a girl. She laughed as he wrestled with her a moment. "She's my best friend!" He got off of her and smiled gently at the girl. "C'mon, Sam. Let's go play, okay?"

Sam smiled back, then tossed her brown hair. "Alright, Angel." She joined him as they trotted away together.

The teacher smiled as the two little students sank in front of her. "Hello, Samantha. I hear you and Angel are good friends. Did you notice the books he's been reading?"

Sam tilted her head to one side as she pondered that question, then glanced back towards Angel, where he was pawing at a soccer ball, bumping it with his hooves before bucking it back and forth with other foals. "Yes." She paused in thought. "Big books with big words." She spread her arms to encompass how big they were. "Good though. I like them. Sometimes we read them together."

The teacher beamed at the response she was given. "So, Angel isn't making you feel stupid? He's not looking down on you for being behind him?"

Sam shook her head. "No. He's really smart, but that's okay. He wouldn't ever hurt me. We're friends!" She looked amazed at the very idea that Angel would ever harm her.

The teacher turned her attention to Angel, watching him play with the other children with a gleeful smile on his face. He was just enjoying himself, having fun in the moment. She wondered what he thought of their discussion about him. "We're still talking, Samantha, but your friend may advance, in grades. But I think he may be lonely." She brushed Sam's hair back gently. "Would you want to go with him?"

Sam laughed as she turned her head towards Angel. "That would be cool! We'd get to hang out more!" She pounded a fist into her hand.

The teacher snorted gently. "I didn't say you'd go with him, but I was thinking about that. Would that scare you, being with older children?"

Sam's shoulders sank a little. "Oh. No." She plopped down in the seat next to the teacher, drawing shapes on the table with a finger. "But Angel is nice. He would never hurt me. Even if I had to go somewhere new, he'd make it okay."

The teacher had to smile in pleased shock a moment. The trust Sam was displaying was warming to her heart. "I want it to be clear, Samantha, if you ever feel bad, you let us know. A little bad or a lot bad, doesn't matter. Tell us." She laid a hand on Sam's shoulder, drawing her close to her side as she brushed through Sam's hair gently with her fingers. "It's important that you are happy and safe."

Sam looked up at the teacher and giggled. "I am!" She scrambled to her feet and rushed over to join in the game Angel was playing, the two joyfully playing. If one didn't know better, they'd just be two kindergartners, enjoying their day.

Author's Note

Angel deserved some time on camera. He's not a human child, clearly, but deserves all the love, I say.

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26 - Global Struggles

"In other news." A window sprang open beside her, showing a table with many arguing people. "News that both China and the USA are in negotiations with the aliens over a yet-undefined unlimited power source has the word political stage on fire." The video vanished from the screen. "Our own world editor has some words about it."

The man smiled gently at the camera as he spoke. "It's certainly not the sort of thing you hear every day, that a species from outside the solar system is making offers to both nations of Earth." He brought his hands together gently. "It's a chance that doesn't come twice in a lifetime, or ten, or a hundred. Both nations are scrambling to meet the alien requirements. They are refusing to answer what this energy source is, but what we do know is that it will not damage the environment and they want it widespread as soon as possible."

A new window appeared, showing a massive map of the world, with countries indicated with colour-coded shapes and areas around them in blue or green depending on some complex measurements. "Their required goal seems to be that everyone should be connected, no matter where you are on the planet. Though some say they're willing to go one country at a time. You can imagine how much of an impossible challenge it'd be if they wanted all or nothing."

He breathed out slowly. "Officials from both the United States and China have offered to open negotiations in more detail and would allow scientists and engineers to work directly with the aliens to bring about this miracle energy. We do know that it's based on clean energy sources, but the specifics remain shrouded in mystery, perhaps using science so far beyond us, we may as well be squirrels asking how a car works. So, we don't expect anyone to truly understand it, at least not for many years."

The map of the world was replaced by another, smaller, of the entire region of Asia. "Currently, a new alien contact with our planet is within China, and their news media has been remarkably closed lipped on the subject. We know she's there, but haven't heard from her in weeks."

"Let's hope no news is good news in this case." She turned back to the camera as the window holding the man vanished. "Speaking of ponies on Earth, Angel has advanced! They've done a full test of his abilities and maturation and determined he's reading and comprehending at an 8th grade level. They've pushed him ahead with a human friend, Samantha. Stay tuned for the upcoming show with them, that will be coming soon!"

The news anchor smiled gently as she turned towards another camera. "In other news, the White House—"

Rainbow stretched as she sat up, taking in the Beijing scenery as she hopped to her hooves with a thunderous yawn. "Less to do, but infinite things to do. I'm liking it down here." She flapped her wings gently before hopping up towards a window and getting it open swiftly to let her soar out into the sky.

She'd learned humans had a lot of rules about what was in the air, which she had broken when she had first arrived. But, she wasn't that dumb, she learned from her mistakes. She kept low over the rooves as she soared along with a grin. She loved the feel of the air over her fur and the city air certainly had its own taste to it.

As she flew over the streets, she spotted people below her pointing and taking pictures. She tossed a salute to them and waved a hoof before accelerating away from them, glancing back to see them shouting and laughing. She had become a celebrity of sorts, though she didn't hide in any fancy cars or nothing. Why would she do that, when she had wings. She took to the sky as often as she could. It felt good to be flying again.

It was an uneventful morning, though. It was always so quiet compared to before. Everything was too peaceful. That's what you got with aliens, she supposed. It didn't help that she didn't quite grasp why they were doing the things they did. It was, perhaps, exciting to them, but it was just humans wandering around, doing stuff that was important to them, and not her.

She landed with a soft thump among smaller humans. The sort that were always happy to see her. She was crowded by the younger humans and she laughed at their eager explorations and joyous babbles. Yeah, young creatures were great sometimes, of any species.

She found a pair of children near her hooves and laid down next to them, waving one hoof as she gave a half-hearted nicker to get their attention. It worked and she chuckled gently as she relaxed. "Hiya." She had an upgraded translator, like Twilight. Her words came out smoothly in mandarin with no echo. "Having fun?"

The kids looked up at Rainbow, then patted her sides, earning soft whinnies from the pegasus. "Are you going to visit again?" They both spoke at once. "It's always so exciting when you come back!"

"You can count on it." Rainbow spread her wings and lifted easily into the air. "Now pay attention in class. I'll be checking!" She didn't care that much about schoolwork, but leaving good impressions and ideas on the kids felt important. She zoomed away towards the ocean, eager to see if there was anything interesting going on out there.

Rainbow didn't have much trouble with ocean travel, considering her wings, soon flying over the endless blue of the deep waters beneath her, watching the waves move below her with a smile. There was always something calming about water. There was also a sound. She could only barely hear it, but it got louder by the water. The further out she went, the clearer it became.

A jet swooped in close to her, a megaphone booming, "Rainbow Dash, you are exiting Chinese air space, this is unacceptable, please turn around."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah." Why they were so particular about that, she wasn't sure, but she banked to the side, flying along that invisible barrier the humans cared about so much. She was still getting closer, if more slowly, to that mysterious sound. It was like nothing she'd ever heard before, but something in her mind was nagging at her, as if she'd heard it before, but couldn't recall the exact details of what she had experienced.

She landed on the beach as the sound got even louder, casting her gaze over the ocean, scanning for anything that—Her thoughts were interrupted by a massive form emerging from the water, a whale giving a deep and haunting note as it lifted for just a precious moment. That was it, the sound. Rainbow raced to the beach's edge towards it, singing her own song back at it. The two created an ethereal duet that spoke of things unknown to any other living thing on Earth.

Rainbow remembered nothing of her life before she awoke. She didn't know where she came from, only that there had been stars. She had been told her ancestor had come from a nice solid place, like Earth. But that song, she felt like she knew it, deep inside. She couldn't quite place where, but she sang out into the waters, hoping the whale would hear her little sounds from so far away.

A pod of dolphins came over to bounce in the water around her, drawing a smile from Rainbow as she floated out into the surf, feeling the cool touch of the ocean beneath her hooves, bouncing on it lightly. It wasn't often that she felt joyous in that way, but with the dolphins darting around her, she smiled.

Their high pitched squeaks and calls felt a little similar, but weren't quite that song. Rainbow's songs drew them, perhaps out of curiosity, but they didn't join her song. It was sad, in a way, to hear them and not have it be that same call she'd heard from the whale. "Thank you." She touched each dolphin gently with a hoof as she slipped into the ocean, letting the waves wash over her before flying away back to the shore, heading back towards the city.

She shook herself dry in a wild spraying of water, sighing at where the whale once was. They would pass again, one day, and then she'd hear that song again, and know something about herself, if only for a moment. That was what she truly wanted. To know who she had been. What had happened. There were too many holes in her memory.

Rainbow kicked some sand, not that it complained. "Not today. Today, let's get some work done." With a streak of rainbow light, she took off towards where the Chinese were doing their work. "The sooner this finishes, the sooner I can do what I want." The idea that she might have to go back to orbit and live in a tin can with no gravity was revolting to her, but there were plenty of places on Earth that'd need her help before that become a possibility.

The technician looked up as Rainbow landed. "Rainbow Dash, so glad you could join us."

"Glad to be here." Rainbow folded her wings tightly. "How are things looking? You got the central gizmo the way Twilight wants it? Did you put the hardware she sent you into it?"

The technician took a step back, then turned around, showing the battery to Rainbow, sitting in its little receptacle in the machine. "There's the charger in place, and it's started up, but it's not doing anything." He tapped the glass as he held the button down. "See? Nothing's happening."

Rainbow rolled a hoof at that. "How's it gonna? The battery does what batteries do. You humans have those, right? They hold power. You got that, now you need the actual power to go into it, then it comes out of it." She pointed at the battery firmly. "Out into everything else." She swept in a broad swift stroke across the rest of the world. "Once that starts happening, you'll be making all the power you need for, well, forever. Twilight promised that much."

The technician sighed as he stood up. "This is important. Alright, the battery is in place. We have the controls working. Tell this Twilight she designed it well. We understand exactly what should come out of it and how to control it, so we don't set everything on fire." He pointed at the little interface before tapping the screen gently. "That's the startup routine, right?"

Rainbow nodded once. "If Twilight said that was the thing, then yeah. That's the thing." She tossed a hoof at the screen. "But, again, you need the main part before that'll do anything. If it passes all the tests, I can tell Twilight you're ready for it."

The technician picked up a tablet and brought it over to Rainbow, setting it down in front of her. "Just give this a scan and we can see if you want to start the device." He held up a hand. "Let me be clear, failure is not an option. Only say yes if you're sure everything is ready."

"Sheesh." Rainbow knocked the tablet closer and began hoofing at the controls where she wings weren't swiping at other parts. "Let's see, that's good, mmhmm, yep, good, ayup, wait, no, no, ah, let's check again, oh yes, it all checks out." She brushed it back over to the technician with a shrug. "It'll do. The math's right and your people followed the rules, so it's okay to start this thing up."

She sat up onto her haunches. "I hope you're ready for power, because Twilight's gonna bring it. As soon as I tell her."

Author's Note

Remember the Whale song? Still a thing.

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27 - Promises Kept

Twilight flew through the ship with a smile plastered on her face. "This is going perfectly." She cradled a strange object of unknown means to her chest. "I may not be able to tell them what to do, exactly." She pushed off a wall towards a flat platform she set the device on. "But I can fix a few of their problems, get them on the right path."

"Right path to what?" Fluttershy drifted in, carrying a stack of books in her arms, finding a place to set them down gently before coming over to rest at Twilight's side. "Oh, this is new. What is it?" She pulled the small machine closer, gazing over it with wide eyes.

"Be careful with that." Twilight gently swatted at Fluttershy's reaching hooves. "You weren't trained in its use. You wouldn't need to. The one the ship has is designed differently. This one is going down to China, to banish their power needs."

Fluttershy swirled about to stare at Twilight with an amazed expression on her face. "Really? So soon?" She squeaked as she flew through the air, running into the wall before giggling at herself. "Sorry."

Twilight breathed out slowly. "Don't get too excited. They haven't connected their entire world to a single power grid just yet." She wriggled her nose. "Remember when Equestria did?" That got a blank look. "They did, trust me on that." She tapped a few things on the device. "I think it's ready. Can you doublecheck with Rainbow that they're ready, and get the coordinates. I want to be triple sure."

Fluttershy helped Twilight carry the little machine towards the ship's central spire, where the ring sat in place. It spun faster as the two approached. Fluttershy spoke softly into her communicator. "Rainbow, are they ready for power?"

"Oh yeah! Send it on down!" Rainbow wasn't one to hide the enthusiasm in her voice. "Space is all ready and clear of anything that'd get squished."

"That's good." Fluttershy glanced at Twilight and back. "Can we have the, uh, coordinates again? Twilight wants to be extra sure."

"Fine!" Rainbow began reading out the precise measurements of where they wanted the power brick. "Now send it down! I wanna see it working at this point."

Twilight confirmed the exact location of the device with Rainbow and nodded to Fluttershy before tapping on a few controls, twisting dials, and pressing buttons. "Here it goes." She laid her hoof on a big red button, which began to glow with light. With a low kathunk, the device fell into an airlock chamber, then onwards out of the ship. With a spectral blast, it was propelled towards earth at precisely the correct angle.

The little device slipped through the atmosphere with ease, not even getting scorched from the heat of reentry as it slid to a gentle landing at the precise coordinates specified, exactly where the humans wanted it.

With a thought, the machine began to unfold itself, growing and taking in power from all around it, generating waves of energy just a moment later. The Chinese power proved enough to give it the kickstart it needed as it connected to all the provided wires and points. It almost consumed the provided battery, only its connecting wire poking out. A moment later, a gentle ding, and a little purple light.

"I think it's on," called Rainbow Dash over the communicator. "Should we be seeing something? It's glowing purple?"

Excited Mandarin chatter erupted as technicians checked the numbers coming and going. They began cheering and pumping their hands. "Yeah, sounds like they're happy about it, but they're talking about stuff so complicated even the translator's having a hard time picking through it."

Twilight cleared her throat over the communicator. "You've been in contact with Rainbow. I take it she helped with translation?"

"Rainbow Dash was a lot of help with these. She knew exactly what to look for." The head technician was speaking to Rainbow Dash, or her ear, to be specific. "Who am I talking to?"

"This is Twilight Sparkle. You can consider me Rainbow's boss." He couldn't see her, but Twilight bowed anyway. "A pleasure to meet you. If you can understand the readings, are they within tolerances? Does everything appear to be functioning properly?"

He tapped a few things on his side, scanning over the machine once more, now with added numbers from a scan. "Yes. Everything is going well. We have energy going into the battery. I've never seen such a massive load before. The battery is giving out exactly what we set it to expect. When the grid fluctuates, so does the battery. It's quite well made, ma'am. What do we need to do to keep this working?"

"An excellent question! I'll be sending a full document. Lead Rainbow to one of your computer terminals. I'll send it through her communicator. It'll handle the translation for us. Follow these steps and there shouldn't be a problem."

There was a short pause before Rainbow came back over the line. "So, that's all done." She spoke in Ponish for the moment. "What happens next?"

"If you want to return to orbit, do so. On the other hoof, there are other countries in need of your direct management. Which would you prefer? You just finished a job for me, I'll let you decide where you want to go next." Twilight considered with a hum. "You could visit Applejack? I'd love a status report on America from someone who can get around more easily and provide the bird's eye view, if you're up for that."

"Up for it? Ha!" Rainbow laughed at that, sending a bit of static through the communicator. "I'm always up for anything! Especially something that gives me a chance to explore the world. You want me to fly around someplace and make sure everyone's doing their best? I'll do it!" She spoke with gusto. "Already on the case!" There was a thump as Rainbow took off so fast, a rainboom was the only possible result.

"Good news, she finished the power, and it's working."

"Fantastic." The president of China leaned forward. "But what's the bad news?"

"She's leaving." The official pointed. "Headed East."

The president pulled back in surprise at that. "She said she was going to help us out first. That was the whole deal. She even made sure our biggest needs were met!" He crossed his arms. "This is quite unacceptable. Scramble the jets and remind her."

"Sir." They dashed off to do just that.

It was far from the first time Rainbow had jets scootching up on either side of her. "Turn around," ordered one.

"Nah." Rainbow shrugged. "You got your power. Don't be greedy. I got other things to do."

They began speaking into their communicators, as if giving reports or commands, but their words were just as lost on Rainbow as her own would have been to them. They shifted a bit closer, just to sharply decelerate. Were they giving up?

That they began firing on her was proof they weren't. That hurt! But compared to a screaming entry from space into the loving grip of the pavement of a road, it was far from lethal. Rainbow huffed. "Rude! Seriously. I thought you guys were cool." She accelerated away from them at speeds she hadn't tried out before on Earth.

She looked back at them, easily outpacing them. They stopped their chase, turning back to return to base, but Rainbow had to move faster and faster. China wasn't the only country she had promised to help. She had other countries to see to, ones that would have their own special challenges. So, she continued Eastward. With a joyous laughter of freedom, Rainbow streaked across the sky, leaving a rainbow for what few humans could watch her path to enjoy.

"Infinite power." A graph appeared with a sharply rising line. "China has announced that its citizens and industries no longer have to pay for their electricity."

A new window appeared, showing the Chinese president. "Your taxes will raise, but the amount you save on your electricity will more than cover for it. Not a single Yuan for power. This also makes China the first 100% green country for AI and Crytptocurrency."

"President Wilson made a counter-statement shortly afterwards."

Facing the first window, a second appeared. "We are close to reaching the alien goalposts. China's rush ahead has given us valuable insights on what we need, and already have, to make this happen. One of them, Rainbow Dash, is already en-route. It looks like she wants to visit her friend first." He chuckled softly. "And we're not going to stop her from doing that. She's the hardest pony on the entire planet."

"For those who don't know, Rainbow Dash is the Pegasus pony responsible for powering China with nearly unlimited electricity." The screen was split between him and the news anchor as she spoke. "For America, that's a bit more challenging, and this leads to our next question."

The screen shifted to show Applejack working on her farm. Well, it wasn't so much as a farm as it was the land of their house that she had gotten a surprising number of trees to grow bountifully on. As she worked on collecting the apples from one tree, her partner walked up behind her, touching her on the side.

The video sharply ended, returning to the main newscaster. "Exciting times are ahead, but most experts say this is largely good news. With China starting the motions to cycle down their fossil fuel plants, projections for global warming are shifting. If America could do the same, it could be night and day between the two futures we face."

The view returned to the President once more. "I will personally meet with our visitor. We don't want this alien to be illegal for too long." A soft, polite, chuckle sounded from the room. "Ponies are welcome. Now, about power. It is not a federal issue. We will leave that to states to decide how they wish to proportion, charge, and otherwise handle their power. All I'll be doing is making sure they have plenty to go around."

The screen went back to the newscaster, a pensive look on her face as she considered what she'd heard. "More tomorrow." The words came out in the same calm voice, despite her obvious concerns. "There's one question no one is asking about this supposed infinite power. What happens when it runs out?"

Angel settled onto his bed with a contented sigh. He was tired from all the homework he had to do, and now it was time to rest and recharge for the next day. His mother came over to him, planting a kiss on his forehead before flicking off the light. This didn't stop somepony else from zooming in. "Aw! Look at him!" Rainbow grabbed the cheeks of what was clearly a grown foal. "So adorable! Hi! I'm Rainbow Dash. You can call me Aunt if you'd prefer."

Angel blinked with confusion. "I don't know you, miss?" He got to his hooves and plodded a few steps away, peering at the bright and colorful stranger in his room, but the moment he moved away, she was on top of him, running her hooves over him like a prize. He wasn't sure how he should respond.

Rainbow gathered him up for a proper hug. "I'm a really good friend of AJ's, your mom? Wow, first Earth pony, right here. Love it. You are just too precious for words." She gave him another nuzzle before tumbling with him back onto his bed, where she held him close. "You're really great. Can I read you a bedtime story?"

"Mmhm." He inclined his head. "Um, how about Number the Stars?" He pointed to one of many books on a shelf in his room.

"Fitting." Or so Rainbow Dash assumed from the name. She dashed in a streak to grab the book and come back, flipping through it. "This isn't about space travel at all..."

So it was Rainbow ended up learning at least as much as Angel did that evening.

Later, she emerged from the room. "Wow."

AJ inclined her head. "You were in there a while, everythin' alright?"

"He's fine." She slumped against a wall. "But that book, wow! Humans got up to some messed up stuff."

Cindy sighed with a chuckle. "We have. Sorry. I wasn't there, but I feel compelled to apologize anyway."

Author's Note

Power, coming online! This could change the world, no?

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28 - Rainbow Power

Rainbow would have flown to the White House. She knew the way! The humans had been quite insistent that she not fly over that city under any circumstances. "Boring." But they did let her walk along. "I don't need any guards. Applejack has a ladyfriend that isn't made for abuse. I, by myself? Yeah, go ahead and try and hurt me. It might even be fun."

They weren't there to harm her, but were merely to make sure that nothing got in her way as she went to meet the president. The doors were opened for her and she strode through them without hesitation. She smiled at all the humans gathered there. "Which of you is the head guy?"

President Wilson stepped to the fore, offering a hand. "Miss Dash? A pleasure to meet you."

Rainbow pressed her hoof against his hand. "Nice to meet you too." Her eyes wandered about. "Huh, interesting place you have here. Even I can feel some history around it. Don't go into it, history's not my thing, but still, cool."

He chuckled once. "Is there anything I can get you? Some coffee, maybe?"

"A soda?" She pulled her hoof back and plopped down on the floor with a smile. "We don't drink coffee in space." She paused. "But we aren't in space." A sly smile spread on her face. "I changed my mind. I'll try a cup. Now! How can I help you all be happier little creatures?"

Wilson reached down and stroked her mane gently. "Are you really that bored up there? We have lots of work to do for us. Ponies might think it's pointless, but it's vital to us."

Rainbow groaned. "It isn't that. Twilight said it was important, so it is. We know she usually knows which way's up. I don't understand some of the really nerdy stuff, but it still has to happen. If it's like China, we'll be building a big fancy place for the battery and then the big power unit, right?"

The president pulled back with a mild scowl. "Yes, we were thinking that. It should make our country safer from foreign enemies and more affordable for our people." He glanced at one of his aides. "However, there is some concern about having the means of power generation be from another planet. I wanted to ask, as a token of honesty between us, are we permitted to inspect the device?"

Rainbow cocked a brow. "Huh? Oh! Twilight was expecting that. Yeah, knock yourself out. Just try not to break it as you do it. You'll be cutting off your own power. That'd be bad. Then she'll probably call me to come fix it." She huffed in annoyance at the idea. "Don't break it."

The president chuckled as he rubbed Rainbow's head gently with a hand. "Of course. We're all friends here." He stepped back, looking around the room. "I've said this before, but I want to impress on all of you the need for transparency. As we improve our relationship with you ponies, it's imperative that we allow you to see what we're doing."

Rainbow pointed up at her head. "Not that I mind exactly, but what's up with the petting? Are you making an advance? We just met!"

Wilson fought the urge to color. "Apologies if that was improper, Miss Dash. We humans are still getting used to having fuzzy creatures of about your size that we wouldn't consider petting, should the opportunity arise. For instance." He made a soft whistle, summoning a dog to rush into the room. "My dear friend here." He stroked the dog gently across the head, to the dog's delight. "Jack, this is Rainbow Dash."

Jack was eager to come say hello to the curious new creature with a lot of sniffing, which turned into licking and some barking.

Rainbow laughed at the canine exploration, hoofing at the dog and soon wrestling with him in the playful spirit the canine intended. "Jacks's a good little dog. Who is? You are." She rubbed the dog's belly with a giggle, but then blinked. "Oh! I'm like a dog? Crazy. I'm not a dog." She turned an ear back. "So if you want petting privs, you're going to have to earn it."

A laughter filled the room as the president joined her in stroking Jack, who rolled over in a slobbering heap of delight at all the attention he was receiving. "Now, now, we won't force the issue. But if there's anything you want us to do or see, just tell us."

Rainbow hopped to her hooves. "Well, I'm liking the way you talk, so far. Clear and open, huh? Yeah, just the way I like my skies. Speaking of that! Why can't I fly around here?" She pointed up. "They said I just can't, but didn't say why."

Wilson snorted softly at that. "Ah, well, we're right over a city." He smiled gently. "Can't let you do that. Imagine all the photographs people would take, and if you were to hit anything? What then? Besides, this isn't just a normal city, it's our capital. We guard this airspace very very carefully, and since we can't know where you are easily, a momentary mistake could get you hurt, or us hurt."

"I doubt that first part." Rainbow rolled her eyes at the idea of human weapons bothering her. "But I got a solution! I did it with the Chinese too." She reached up, batting at her earpiece. "Twilight? Send the tracker."

A few computers nearby beeped as things were sent to them.

"Use that, whatever it is. It should let you see where I am. Then, nocreature's scared when I fly around, right?" Rainbow grinned hopefully at the president.

He was already glancing over what had been sent to his computer. "It seems to be the location data from your communicator." He shook his head in disbelief. "Is this what your spacefaring civilization is like? In either event, we can forward this along, and it would reduce the danger posed by things. I would ask that you don't fly within 10 feet of any government buildings. Can you do that?"

"10 feet." Rainbow glanced down at her hooves. "Should be doable. Twilight sent me the schematic of DC so I wouldn't get lost, so I should be good to go." She bounced on her hooves excitedly. "And now I can fly." She propelled into the air, hovering in the office. "Oh yeah! You haven't toured a city until you've flown over it a few times if you ask me."

Rainbow tossed the president a gesture that loosely translated to a thumbs up. "You'll know where I am, so call me when you need any help with the battery." She swept out the window, zipping around the room. "Whew! Freedom!" She blasted into the sky with a rainbow blur, zooming up, up, and away from the White House.

Her joy was soon apparent to all those on the ground as she performed a tight circle around the Washington Monument, turning the sunset sky into a riot of colours as she slid through the sky.

President Wilson shook his head, hand already making a phonecall to call off several emergencies that Rainbow's flight had prompted. "Let's get everyone up to speed on our guest." He turned back to his desk, running a finger across its surface. "This isn't how I wanted this to go. I don't think she realized how many systems she triggered with that little stunt."

A single missile intercepted Rainbow, crashing into her before she noticed it was there. A bright explosion filled the sky with a great bang. She hit the ground a moment later, smoldering, but also laughing. "Sheesh. Is this just a human thing?" She shook herself out as her body undid the harm of the explosive moment. "Crazy." She launched right back into the air, not at all dissuaded.

Wilson winced. "Yes, I'm sending you how to track her. Do not fire on her. She's allowed in the air space. Someone make sure she's—" But he saw her zoom right back into the air. "Never mind, she's fine. Send her my apologies for that. Not how I planned day 1 to go." He sank onto his chair and grabbed a pen. "But no time to mope. We have plenty to do. We're behind China on this, and unlimited power isn't something to wait on."

"Sir."

Wilson looked up at the man that had spoken.

"Congressional contacts are informing us that they're receiving intense pressure from the power suppliers. They don't want us to continue."

Wilson slammed his desk with the closed side of his fist. "I don't care what they want. This is a literal gift from the heavens, a cure for one of our most pressing issues. To not take it is madness." He put pen to paper. "This is too important. We cannot waste this opportunity." And so he drafted a declaration of a state of emergency. America simply couldn't leave that chance to abandon its power struggle to the whimsies of the congressional body.

It was signed, and he set it aside with a sigh. "How goes the construction of the battery's housing?" He leaned back in his chair.

"They are making progress, but it isn't ready yet." The man stepped forward, laying down the blueprints before the president. "Rainbow Dash may have arrived at an inopportune time."

"How so?" Wilson cocked a brow. "Surely we can make it work regardless of the timing."

"There's been a problem, sir." He pulled out a different set of papers, laying them out across the table. "And it's not her fault, really. America's grid is a patchwork of different grids that don't all play nicely, and belong to different private organizations." He sighed as he tapped one diagram after another. "It's a mess. Whoever made it must have been drunk when they did so."

Wilson glared at the table. "I may be signing away any chance for a re-election, but this has to be done."

He ripped up the declaration he had only just drafted, starting anew. "I may be remembered as a president that stepped over the line of presidential power, but if that gets this done, so be it." He signed his name once more with a firm flourish before setting it aside, where the same man took it away. "I'm tired of doing nothing about it. What does the constitution say? If Congress can't act, the President can." There were a thousand caveats on that, but by the time they worked through them, he hoped, the power would already be connected, and going back would be essentially impossible.

Author's Note

Wilson's making a power move, literally, on every level. Will it work?

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29 - One-Way Roads

"This." The politician made a dramatic wave. "Is the act of a tyrant. Seizing private property in the name of their pet project? We can't abide by this. This isn't the America I know and love!"

The window displaying the speech paused. The newscaster nodded. "News from the hill is alight with opinions about President Wilson's most recent action. Nationalizing the energy sector entirely, by presidential action alone? Legal scholars are eager to weigh in on if this is constitutional and what it might mean for the future of the country, and President Wilson's political future."

A new window opened, displaying a gaggle of people who looked angry. "Mr President, will you please comment on this?"

Wilson glanced over the people before leaning into the microphone. "This is an important moment in the history of our country. We have the chance to provide each and every citizen with bottomless energy, basically without cost. While the federal government is handling this first, tumultuous, step, we want the states to be involved. These power lines and grids run along their property, and it should be their power, not ours."

He took a sip of water before speaking again. "I know it's a complex process, but if Congress can't handle it, then it falls to me. I do not intend to sit idly by while this gift is lost to us due to our lack of action. China's already reaping the benefits. They're laughing at how slowly we're moving to even catch up. That's not the American way!" He clenched a fist tightly. "I won't let us be left behind."

The newscaster looked back to the screen with the senator still shouting into his microphone. "And that's only one of the many vocal complaints from both sides of the aisle. Even the president's allies are mixed on whether this is a good move. In an almost unprecedented move, some experts have gone so far as to call for his impeachment over this."

She took a deep breath. "They claim this is such an overreach of power that impeachment may be the only remedy. Others, however, are praising his bold and swift action." She shifted her weight and turned towards another camera with a different politician speaking into a microphone. "And here's Senator Porkius with her own views on the matter."

Senator Porkius stomped a foot as she spoke. "And we're just gonna roll over and accept this? If this goes through, that's eight million jobs on the line! Is he really gonna risk the whole economy to satisfy his personal pet project?" She scowled deeply. "If we're getting something for nothing, where are the numbers? How much is it going to cost to operate this? What are the risks of it blowing up?"

The newscaster returned, still smiling. "Our most recent figures show that energy creation jobs will be hit primarily. Energy management and distribution will still be in demand, and should increase in the short-term." A chart appeared, showing some numbers going down as others went up. "These are estimates, but if the projections are correct, this could lead to a net job gain of hundreds of thousands."

The numbers went up in bright colours as the newscaster's smile broadened. "When asked about the costs of running the battery, or indeed the expected lifespan, the president assured that this will be more new permanent positions for hard-working Americans."

"Twilight, ma'am." Fluttershy disconnected a cord that had been running into her side. "The ship is getting sick. What did you do to it, ma'am?"

Twilight swiveled an ear to the side. "Recycled it." She huffed gently. "We only have so many parts, and lack the industrial base to make more of it. Those power supplies we've been furnishing—"

"Are the ship!?" Fluttershy recoiled. "Oh, um. I should have realized." She stepped in place nervously. "But uh, it's uh, kind of dangerous to just take one of those out of the ship."

Twilight shrugged a shoulder. "We have four, and they're made to be expendable, and we aren't exactly in space anymore."

Fluttershy placed a hoof on the ship, petting it gently with a smile. "We can't even explore the other planets, with the way the ship's feeling."

Twilight huffed, deflating a little. "We're well past that point." She turned to face Fluttershy fully. "We're here, permanently, for good or for bad. I knew this would be a one-way trip. I had just hoped we'd be landing in a more stable condition." She smiled as she gazed down at her hooves. "The odds were never in our favor."

Fluttershy peeked over Twilight's shoulder with a slight shiver. "Oh. That's— Uh. Well, hm." She flapped her wings gently. "I'm a little scared."

Twilight closed with Fluttershy, wrapping her arms around and drawing Fluttershy in gently. "I am too. At least we're not alone."

The gentle touch of their bodies brought calm and a bit of strength to each of them as they stood there in silence, pondering what came next, and the opportunity they were being presented. It wasn't an easy future, but it was a chance, a gift.

Twilight took a slow breath. "It think it's time we landed."

"Oh! Really? We can do that?" Fluttershy blinked slowly. "That sounds exciting." She laughed once before wrapping Twilight in a proper hug. "There's so much to do down there, though."

Twilight giggled as she returned the hug. "Uncountably many things." She nudged Fluttershy gently. "One thing, my dear. You, and the others, were built for this mission. However scared you are, you're built strong and tough. They could turn their weapons on you and you'd barely notice."

"I'd be scared!"

Twilight smiled gently. "You would be. Fluttershy, you don't change. The only thing that will end you is time. Our technology isn't invincible to that time. Small things will go wrong, and they will make greater things go wrong, like most living creatures. Eventually, you will collapse, and cease."

Fluttershy closed her eyes, nodding slowly. "We were going to die eventually. I was hoping it wouldn't be for a long time." She pressed her forehead to Twilight's gently. "But I still have you."

Twilight was silent, just resting with Fluttershy for a still time. "I am not build to be as enduring, Fluttershy. Time won't claim me, but there are so many other things that could. That world is in the grips of a thousand violences. If one catches me by surprise, that will be the end of me."

"Then don't get surprised!" Fluttershy nuzzled against Twilight's neck and collar, squeezing her tightly. "Just take care of yourself."

Twilight smiled gently. "A simple request." But one she would take to heart. "I will do my best." She nipped at Fluttershy's closer ear and tugged gently. "Now, I would like to see ponies spread to this world." She waved a hoof at the floating hologram of the planet. "Applejack proved that it can happen, but she can't do it alone. To that end—" She put a hoof at her chest. "I propose we all find a human that we can get along with, and raise a foal with them. If we're lucky, we may even get twins out of it."

Fluttershy swiveled an ear as she puzzled through that slowly. "I-if we're lucky? Um, why's that?"

Twilight exhaled softly, trying not to chuckle at the confusion on Fluttershy's face. "The spell imitates the odds of that happening. It's all chance if you get two or, odds are against, three foals at once. I didn't put in any way to override it. That felt like pressing a hoof too directly on the source, if you understand?"

Fluttershy didn't. She just inclined her head slightly to the side and moved on. "But, um, won't that make our relationship with our humans confusing?"

Twilight smiled gently. "Perhaps, but it also creates a bridge, one of love. I hope that bridge is stronger than others that might try to pull us apart."

Fluttershy shivered nervously as she glanced around the ship. "Um, can we try the other ones? I, um, don't like Applejack's much. Um, but maybe there's somepony who likes them more than I do."

Twilight cocked a brow at that. "Sorry? What is the other option? We didn't bring any stallions, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nudged Twilight, brushing her side with a wing. "You could be one, if you wanted."

Twilight colored brightly at the idea. "Fluttershy! I mean, yes, I suppose I could." She sank on herself, laughing nervously. "But I will not. Look, um, Flutters, I'll go with you, if you want. We'll find somecreature nice for you to be with, that isn't too loud."

"That sounds nice." Fluttershy still clung to Twilight as they drifted towards the wall. "Um, we don't have to move. The universe will do that for us."

Twilight nodded slowly as she settled into a gentle recline with Fluttershy in her lap. "It will, and it's doing that right now. This ship's running out of time, so we have to move." She smooched Fluttershy on the snout. "The only question is where are we landing?"

Fluttershy ducked her head bashfully with a soft giggle, pushing Twilight away gently. "How about Japan? It looks pretty there."

Twilight laughed. "Where'd you hear that? Besides, too close to China. The remaining power parts of the ship will be invaluable to our human partners. We should aim it a bit better than that." She considered the world and its possibilities. "We were considering Europe, and Africa." She pointed at where they touched, in the Middle East. "Perhaps right there, where we can get it to either?"

"Um, why Europe? It looks like China's doing really well, so why go to where it isn't going so well?"

Twilight tossed her hooves up and sat back with a sigh. "Exactly that reason. They need power, and we have it. If we want this world to be on a better path, which we do, living on it, we want them to have this, where it's needed." Twilight expanded briefly in a slow inhale. "Let's review their media and consider this. For my safety, and the future completion of this project."

"You got me good." Rainbow threw an arm around the human. "Ha, wow! Didn't see that coming at all."

"You're very relaxed for being shot out of the sky." The man chuckled softly. "But you were a target in my airspace, and I couldn't identify you, so, I had to make a quick call."

"I can appreciate a quick thinker." Rainbow rubbed a hoof on the man's stubbly chin. "Ya didn't knock me down for long though, bucko!"

The man shifted his arm around, bringing Rainbow closer into a more secure hold. "I'll just have to do better next time. Want to take me for a spin?"

Rainbow raised a brow. "Wow, you humans sure do move fast. I like it." She went in to touch noses with the curious hominid. "Good thing I also live life in the fast lane. You want to speed date? Sure!"

A bright sparkle appeared above them both. They looked up in time to catch a dropping pegasus foal in their collective hands and hooves.

Rainbow clopped a hoof to her face. "Yeah, wow, forgot that. Um."

"A foal." The man held it up for inspection with a little squirm in its back legs. "Seems to be a healthy one." He glanced at Rainbow. "Is this your kit?"

Rainbow snorted. "Nope! It's, technically our foal. Surprise?" She rubbed behind her head. "I hope you're okay with that?"

"Huh." He examined the foal with an expression of awe. "That's not something I expected to happen on my shift. It is not a complaint, though." He touched noses with the foal before it got to its hooves and trotted onto Rainbow's back. She wrapped her wings around the new little life. "Wow." He took a slow hiss of air. "We're going to have to talk. I expected a few dates before we even considered, you know, kids."

Rainbow nodded slowly. "Yeah. There are things we need to do to make this work. The most important is building something where we can live, together, forever." She reached out a hoof, holding the man's hand. "Now this is gonna sound a bit strange, but I was told this can only happen if both involved want it. That means you wanted this foal, at least a little. Fess up!"

Laughter rippled out across the military station. This was one of those laughs that just had to come out of someone. Soon, every human there was laughing with a nervous tinge to it, just not sure what to do next.

Rainbow raised her head with a deadpan look at all the humans. "I'm talking to the father of my foal. C'mon, admit it!"

The man was assaulted on all sides by other soldiers demanding he admit to his thoughts, until he gave in. "Alright alright! Fine, I thought about it. I've seen the other pony with her ladyfriend, and I thought, boy, it'd be nice if I had that."

Rainbow nudged him. "Well now you got that." She slid her hoof down to the man's belly. "And this here is a gift from that."

He shuddered softly as she stroked his stomach with a hoof. He would have to get used to having a partner that had hooves instead of hands and feet, but she was already gazing fondly at him.

Author's Note

It feels proper that Rainbow fell in with a military boy.

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30 - Fabulous

"Sir." An older male sat before the president. "I appreciate why you're doing what you're doing, but this will be struck down in courts, quickly, and leave us with little in return. There's an easier way."

President Wilson took a slow breath. "I'm listening."

"Most utilities operate under a granted monopoly, given by state decree more often than not. What is granted, can be rescinded. If states see a reason to do so, a financial one, they'll move. You don't need to take them all over, just make them obsolete. If they aren't providing as much power as the power that's free and everywhere? That will tip the scales."

Wilson nodded slowly, considering this option. "We'll have to keep it all out of federal hands, to stay away from constitutional questions, but it can be done. The question is how do we turn the patchwork of grid ownership into a single body?"

The man placed his hands flat on Wilson's desk. "That's a question for a future president."

Wilson let his breath out, deflating at the idea. "I hate the idea of that."

"I don't think many presidents like it." The man leaned back. "But better to make some small movement rather than being shoved backwards. Some states will rally behind you quickly, some will be slower about it."

"Some movement, right." Wilson reached for his pen. "Better than nothing."

"What a mess." Twilight gaped at the media being presented. The place she had considered was a hotbed of political activity, much of it violent or dangerously near to being so. "I think we can confidently write off the Middle East. I thought America was bad, but the political upheavals." She glanced over the floating globe. "We'd be better off starting in Africa."

Fluttershy jabbed at the globe with a hoof. "Ooh! How about here?" She pointed at Australia, smiling with an ear swivel. "They don't look mean."

Twilight smiled gently at her friend's enthusiasm. "They seem nice enough." The media was playing, showing the Australians and their life. "But they're isolated. Bringing two power plants there? That seems counterproductive. No, we definitely want one there." She pointed to Europe. "An entire continent of friendly nations with a shared power grid. A power source there would make a large impact."

"Oh." Fluttershy chewed on her lower lip before nodding. "I guess that makes sense. Do you have a good spot in mind?"

Twilight focused her attention on Europe, tapping a hoof against the tip of her muzzle as media played from around the area.

One caught her attention, and she swiped back to it, bringing up a media of England. "Mmm. That reminds me of somepony."

Fluttershy inclined her head curiously. "Who?"

"You know her." Twilight pushed off, flying with a strong flap of her wing and hammering new buttons with hooves and magic. "It's time we woke her up."

"Darling, I thought you'd never, mmm, call," came a voice from the computer. "It's so good to be awake. Now, where's my body? I can't look fabulous without one of those, dear."

Twilight gently stroked the wall of their ship. "It'd take some time to generate a new one for you, and we're a little short on time, Rarity. It's good to hear you, but you're going to have to stay like that until you can incarnate."

"Incarnate, darling? You have me at something of a loss."

Twilight pushed away from the wall. "It's already happened with Pinkie. You'll be 'reborn', essentially. You just need to hop into either me or Fluttershy. When we produce a foal with my spell, your consciousness will be downloaded and part of the process. Understand?"

"No." There was quiet a moment. "Still, if that means I'll have a form, that sounds far superior to just being a voice. Dear, I love you all very much, but just being a voice simply isn't my style."

Fluttershy raised a hoof. "Um, I'll volunteer."

"Darling! That's so very kind of you. Well, put your hoof on the panel then. You know how this works."

Fluttershy did so, wincing as Rarity was injected physically into her, spreading through her body in a brief bout of clear pain. "Ow. Um, are you okay?"

A flickering image of Rarity appeared next to Fluttershy. "Much better!" She looked around a bit. "Why is everypony else solid and not me?"

"Timing." Twilight pointed to the globe. "We were thinking of landing here, and I thought you'd fit in quite nicely."

Rarity looked over the media with thoughtful noises. "Well, dear, I do like what I see. They seem civilized enough." She fluffed at her mane, as fake as it was. "We'll see if we can't impress them with pony fashion, hm?"

Twilight smirked at that. "Let that be the largest of our problems. First, we have to check with them." She went quiet, communicating with things so very far away.

Parliament was a riot of conversation. The aliens had reached out to them, quite by surprise, and what they offered was beyond the pale.

"Finally," cried one woman. "America was keeping all those ponies to themselves."

"That's not fair!" This one raised a hand as he spoke. "This isn't fair. They were being hoarded. We deserve the chance to see these creatures, too."

A man near the front stood. "And here's our chance. Their request, however, is considerable."

Things quieted as the specifics were put down. England would have to enhance its power connections with the mainland, which did already exist but could be, and must be, strengthened. They'd also have to freely share the power they received, which they'd also freely get in the first place.

There were nitpicky little things, allowing the UK to recoup the cost of the connections and upkeeping it and a little on top of that, but, overall, it was to be free power. "Liberation." Some laughter broke out, imagining being entirely free of coal and heating oil prices. "And let's not forget natural gas." This brought a louder roar from the room as laughter ran through the crowd.

But that led to the thornier part. "They are suggesting we use this gift as a bargaining chip." Murmurs spread through the room. "To retake a position in the EU." The conversation grew far louder at that. Some raised to shouts, and with it, arguments.

Still, they were arguing, which was a step improved from the matter simply being brushed off the floor.

"Excuse me." The arguments died down, confused at the new voice. "Darlings, a moment of your time, kindly." A face appeared on a monitor, furry and well groomed. "Hello and greetings from Equestria. We will be joining you, hopefully, shortly. We know we've asked much from you, dears, but we do hope it isn't too much. We look forward to sharing in your culture, mm, yes, and to a world less reliant on burning things to get anything done, dears."

The argument resumed, only this time, the lead speaker had a face to look at as he spoke.

Twilight shook her head at the video she was watching. "The situation's complicated enough as it is. You really need to throw random voices into the fray?"

Rarity appeared beside Twilight. "They need to know we're a real thing, dear, not just something far away. We'll be with them, will we not? We'll be neighbors!"

Twilight chewed on the side of her lip before nodding once, slowly. "And they'll need to get used to you." She waved a hoof through Rarity's floating form. "Not all humans will react as well as the Chinese have, and it can be argued how well they reacted." She put a hoof to her face. "Just, be careful, alright? We don't want to encourage any rash actions on their part."

Rarity exhaled slowly, puffing her lips out in the process. "I will do my best to not agitate them, but if they are willing to hear from us, then I do think we should talk with them." She puffed herself up proudly. "Besides, they're all talking, dear. I can appreciate a creature that can talk out their problems. Now, excuse me." She vanished, focusing her attention on the meeting she had interrupted.

The members of parliament were a bickering mob now, rather than an organized congress. A single voice rose above them all, trying to rally support for action.

"I am the prime minister! You must listen to me." His voice boomed with the force of years spent on the campaign trail, and even more on the national stage.

Then Rarity appeared anew. "Sorry for that interruption, darlings. Where were we?"

"They can be dealt with," stated the prime minister in a harsh tone. "Now, it's time to focus on our new visitors."

Rarity cocked her head slightly at that. "Just who are you talking about?" She leaned forward, stretching out her neck with a frown. "Do be clear, dear."

"England will resume its position as the leader of Europe," declared the prime minister with confidence.

Rarity inclined her head. "Well, hm." That did mean, technically, they were doing what they had been asked, but. "Darling, do remember you're on shaky ground. Perhaps you should get in the door before declaring you're in charge, dear. Let's advance, together." She put up a hoof in what she hoped would be solidarity.

But the arguing resumed.

Rainbow nuzzled her little foal. "You're not as colorful as me, but, pfft, who is?" She looked them over. "In fact, you're almost opposite. So bright white." She ruffled their little head. "But you are a pegasus. Pinkie, what do you think?"

But there was no reply.

"Pinkie?" Rainbow poked at herself. "Hello? You in there? Pinks?"

"Surprise," squeaked out the little foal, smiling with her purple eyes and shaking her blonde mane.

Rainbow blinked at that. "Uh?"

Surprise reached out to tap Rainbow on the nose. "Bird-day."

Rainbow frowned a moment before it clicked. "Pinkie?!"

"Surprise!" cried out the foal, bursting into merry giggles as she bounced in place.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow hugged her child, who was also her best friend? "Twilight does some weird stuff, huh?"

"Yes." Surprise hugged Rainbow, the two fondly sharing their embrace. Strange or not, they loved each other dearly, and little else mattered for the moment.

"I have to get to work." Her chosen human peeked in. "You alright? Who are you talking to?"

Rainbow twirled around, holding Surprise. "Our Daughter, Surprise."

"Oh, uh, that's her name? Surprise?" The man stepped up to them with a curious look. "Hi there, Surprise. My name's Pete." He stuck out a hand.

Surprise turned her head slightly as she looked at the proffered appendage. Reaching out, she pressed a hoof against it and burst into fresh giggles.

He smiled at the exchange. "Now, you be nice to your mom." He moved his hand to give Rainbow a fond rub across her face. "Be back later, okay?"

"You got it." Rainbow saluted with a wing. "Now, Surprise, we have things to discuss." She sat down with the foal, holding her close. "We gotta be careful with humans, so we don't get in trouble."

Surprise gasped in horror. "That's no fun!"

"Well, some of them aren't as good at thinking as you and me." She touched noses with Surprise. "And you're not as tough as you used to be." She squeezed Surprise just enough to get a squeak out of her. "See? Normal pony, not space pony. You could get hurt."

Surprise smiled with a look of determination in her eyes. "But I won't."

Rainbow had to laugh at that. "Wow! Whoa! Right there with you, Pinks." She ran a hoof through Surprise's mane. "Oh, uh, will you get mad if I call you Pinkie?"

Surprise considered that with all the gravity a little foal could manage. "No." She pointed at herself. "Surprise!"

Rainbow giggled. "Okay, let's not make that confusing." She held Surprise close with a hoof across her chest. "Surprise is just fine." She smirked a little. "I swear, they didn't tell me this was coming, but it does mean we get to hang out, and you're not just a hologram, so I'll take that as a win."

Author's Note

Dang these ponies. They're getting all comfy.

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31 - Unified

Twilight sifted through the thoughts. There were more than she could hope to hold. For as much experience as she could call upon, she was not Luna, and the realm of dreams was at best, a place she could visit. Still, she could feel much of it directed at her.

Some humans were still mad at her for how she introduced herself at first.

Others were far closer to awe-stricken, seeming ready to heed her as some manner of divinity.

And some others saw in her something a bit more primal, either as a prey animal, or a potential mate, either almost as intensely.

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but, so much focus on herself was almost intoxicating. It was, however, tiring. This was a facet of being so many things to so many creatures, and each of them only wanted more of her, despite having so much already.

She opened her eyes and shook her head. "Fluttershy?" Fluttershy looked up from her work. "Any status updates from Rarity? How are the humans taking our terms?"

Fluttershy found the proper page among her dozen or so open ones. "Oh, um, pretty good? She's being very gentle with them. They're very proud and strong, though, um, not nearly as much as the Chinese. Relatively, their island isn't the largest by far." She rubbed behind her head. "Australia would be better if we wanted a large island."

"Not the goal." Twilight smirked at the idea. "But they're coming around?"

"Oh, yes." Fluttershy bobbed her head. "They're going to have a vote about it soon. But it looks, mmm, positive." She laughed nervously. "This is all very strange, but also exciting. It's such a good feeling."

Twilight breathed in and out slowly, taking some of that in herself. "This is probably our last stop on this trip." She flew towards Fluttershy. "We will be on the ground. Any travel we do from there will be far slower, and likely less frequent."

Fluttershy rose her hooves in alarm, floating up with a spooked look in her eyes. "Oh! Um, then we should— We have to find homes! And mates!" She descended in front of Twilight, looking quite close at her fellow pony's face. "I was hoping you would want to be mine. I could be yours?"

Twilight exhaled slowly as she pressed her forehead to Fluttershy's with a low, contented hum. "I already told you I'm not doing that. I love you, as a friend, but not as a mate." She turned away to the floating globe that dominated much of the room. "We will find our own mates. I know it's scary, meeting somecreature entirely new, but Rainbow and AJ have both proven there are humans that can and want to get along with us. We just have to find them and welcome them."

Fluttershy's gaze flickered towards her hooves and back to Twilight. "Um, you, really won't be mine?"

Twilight flicked her wings, pulling Fluttershy close with them as she pressed their sides together. "I will be your friend. I will not be your wife, or husband." She brushed Fluttershy's face, tapping her nose gently with a hoof before doing the same to herself. "If there are to be ponies on this world, we, first ponies, have to go out there and make more. They need to be diverse. The more diverse, the better."

"Oh." Fluttershy tensed up with an awkward expression. "I see." She turned her gaze down to her hooves once more, unable to look Twilight in the eye at that. "I just, I, I'm sorry. I really, really like you."

Twilight raised a hoof for silence. "I like you a lot too, Fluttershy. We won't stop being friends. You're welcome to come get a hug whenever you have the urge, but we're not marrying." She paused in thought. "If you'd like, I'll help you find some human that's nice and gentle, that you can get along with."

Fluttershy groaned at the mention of humanity once more, wanting nothing to do with it, but understanding that it was now part of their lives. "Um, okay. Thank you, Twilight." She returned the embrace of hooves and wings. "I'd appreciate that." She let out a little sigh. "But they're so violent."

Twilight pricked up at that. "Oh, most of them really aren't. I've been reviewing. Most of them are just creatures, like any other creature, they just want to live their lives without being bothered. The violent ones get all the attention because they're loud. I'll work through those to get at the nice ones, you'll see."

Fluttershy hugged on tighter still with a little shudder as she trembled slightly. "I hope so." She closed her eyes as she pushed in against Twilight. "Thank you for taking care of me, Twilight. I love you."

"I love you too. As a friend." She pressed against Fluttershy, propelling herself away with a flap of her wings. "Now, let's see how this is going."

Ultimately, the offer was too sweet to decline. Negotiations began for a different, but related, political problem. Rejoining the EU was not an automated process by any means. It would require both parties agreeing to the terms, and the voters saying yes, as well as their parliament's approval, but it was still better than the alternative.

The UK had a large bargaining chip on their side, the offer of power, enough to fuel all of Europe's needs for the foreseen future. With that much power, at the low price of covering the expanded connection between the UK and the rest of the EU, clean air goals that had seemed a wild pipe dream suddenly felt so much closer.

Construction could begin as soon as it was agreed upon, the largest of the connections having already been laid down, and ready for the upgrades that would be needed. Power wouldn't be free, but it would be less expensive than anything they had been considering, with energy that wasn't burned as part of the generation.

Things were moving, and swiftly. Everyone involved in the matter wanted access to that alien power.

But red tape had a maximum velocity. Though most were agreeing, some push back did develop. More power creation projects were being threatened with the spectre of being completely outmoded. Of course, once the power was connected, it wouldn't matter where it came from, but that did little to assuage concerns.

Russia began to launch threats that severing the pipes that allowed it to send oil, or even lowering their use, could be seen as an act of economic war, if not war itself.

The Americans threw back threats that they would not tolerate Russian aggression, especially when it put their allies at risk.

All eyes were turned towards the UK and its vote on whether to rejoin the EU. The future was decided there, one way or another. A deadlock would lead to chaos, and that was not a desired outcome by any means.

There were a few sticking points. The EU offered a hand in greeting, but the other held the terms that other EU members had to follow. "No exceptions," they firmly stated. "No special rules for you." The UK would have to use the euro, not the pound, to start, along with a laundry list of other rules the UK had avoided up to that point.

They didn't like it, but without them, the EU couldn't accept the offer. If they couldn't make it work as one, they wouldn't be able to together. This was part of the process.

It came down to the people in the end. A vote was called, and the British people came out to place their votes.

Twilight might not have gotten the world to unify, but, at least, Europe became one place, with one currency, and one people. The European Union was whole, and the people of the continent cheered at the news.

Rainbow brushed Surprise forward. "Say hello to your cousin."

Surprise examined the other pony curiously, then raised a hoof to her mane. "We have the same color."

Angel giggled gently. "Yes." He pounced ahead and the two hugged, clearly already friends. "Nice to meet you. You're still small." Angel was a grown foal. Surprise was still tiny, but in that period of rapid growth.

"Yeah." Surprise nuzzled Angel and hopped away. "Good things take time."

Applejack smiled at the two, just to look to Rainbow. "So, that's Pinkie, really?"

Rainbow shrugged. "She's Surprise now. Surprised me, I promise that. I just wanted my best friend back."

Applejack chuckled. "But you're living with a foal? Hoo-wee! That's gonna be hard."

Rainbow jabbed a hoof at Applejack's chest. "You know the feeling, huh? Besides, still Pinkie. She knows the rules, even if she doesn't always follow them. We got to skip the diaper stage, so not complaining." She wrapped a wing around Applejack, bringing her in close and hugging her firmly. "Now, enough of that. It's good to see you! How are you and your human doing?"

"I'm doing fine." Cindy was there, rolling her eyes at being discussed right in front of her. "Nice to see you again, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow blinked. "I don't have the translator on."

Applejack smugly grinned. "Cindy insisted she learned our whistles." She turned to nuzzle Cindy. Not that cindy was speaking the whistles, but she seemed to understand them. "Did ah mention how much ah love her?"

Rainbow backed up a bit to better look over Applejack's human. "Yeah, looks like you two have been getting along. Congrats!"

"Thank you." Cindy stepped back as Rainbow tried to sniff at her. "Easy." She reached out and ruffled Rainbow's mane. "Personal space is a thing."

"Sorry." Rainbow bounced up and down. "Just so excited! Your planet, mine now too, is crazy! So many cool things." She grinned toothily. "I really wanna get in on the action. Oh! Twilight and Flutters are on the way!"

"Ah heard!" Applejack applauded the news. "In the UK was it? Where is that from here?"

Rainbow circled in place a moment before thrusting a hoof eastwards. "That way, a good while. I plan to fly over there as soon as they land."

Cindy touched at her neck and throat, considering how the conversation was flowing so smoothly, now that it was just the two ponies talking. "Are you going to stay there? Or travel more?"

Rainbow gave Cindy a curious look before grinning. "I can travel without moving. I have a husband, can't just abandon him. I'll visit the girls, see how they're doing, and come back." She pointed at Surprise. "I have her too, and she can't keep up yet, so, yeah, not moving."

Applejack leaned back on her hooves. "Well, it's nice seeing you, but I think we should wait for them to land before bothering them too much." She pulled her hat down to cover her eyes. "Might as well get some sleep in while we wait."

Rainbow nudged at AJ. "You are way too chill about things. Surprise?" Surprise looked over. "Say bye to Angel. We should be heading back."

Author's Note

They're not carving exceptions out for the UK, again. All in, baby!

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32 - Epilogue

With a great thump, they arrived. Twilight willed her straps free with her magic. "Fluttershy? You survive that?"

"I'm fine." She used her hooves and wings to undo herself from her many belts. "Are we landed?" Her eyes moved to a hovering display. "Yes. Mmm, and we're stable. Looks like we're in the right place."

Twilight tapped her chin in thought. "Yes, this should do nicely. A decent sized population, some big cities. Looks like a fairly mild area too, not much extremes." She expanded her view to take in more of the country. "Fluttershy? I would like your opinion."

Fluttershy hopped as if she had meant to float, but gravity wouldn't allow that. She flopped to the ground in a mess. "Oops." She scrambled to her hooves. "Sorry." She tested her legs one at a time. "I'm not used to this. I feel, hmm, heavy."

Twilight tried to lean closer, but all her magic was preoccupied with the systems of the ship. "Everything alright?"

Fluttershy raised a hoof towards her mouth. "I feel a little queasy. It should pass. We should, um, say hello."

Twilight perked at that. "Excellent idea." She shifted her attention, bringing up the systems to patch her into a loudspeaker. "Citizens of the United Kingdoms. We have arrived. Having landed, we lay ourselves down by your laws. We are no longer watchers from on high, but citizens like any of you."

A crowd was gathered below them, all curious to see what would happen next. They wanted to see the pony people that had reached out and proposed so much. They knew they were not just beings that appeared, but had bodies made of something solid, able to touch, and interact.

Twilight led Fluttershy to the airlock and with a soft hiss, she commanded it to open. "Let's go say hello to our new neighbors." She pushed herself into the cool air of England, exhaling softly at the sensation.

Fluttershy trotted out, brushing her hooves in the grass as she went. "It's lovely here." She breathed in, taking in the smell of the place. There were infinite tiny scents the ship just didn't have. "It's amazing."

A police officer approached, suit and badge clearly visible. "Ma'am." He looked between the larger alicorn that was Twilight and the smaller pegasus that was Fluttershy. "Are you two the only ones?"

Twilight chuckled a bit at that. "Not at all. The other three are somewhere else. I hope you don't mind them flying in."

The man pointed beyond Twilight to her ship. "I mean in there, Miss."

Twilight ohed. "Right, yes. Just us two."

"You want to live here?" The officer cocked his head curiously.

Twilight hesitated at that. "We're not from around here." She grinned a bit. "But yes. We came here to live and work. This is our new home."

Fluttershy sank miserably. "If you don't, um, mind."

The officer softened at the display. "If you follow our rules, there shouldn't be a problem. Now, we were told you were coming. We'll have to get some paperwork out of the way." He waved at the ship. "They said some part of this has to get to us?"

Twilight flicked her ears forward with a quiet chime. "That's right. We promised one of our power sources." She turned back to the ship. "Please keep the other people away a moment." She raised a remote in her magic and depressed a large blue button.

With sparkling lights, the ship began to fold on itself. Large struts were retracted as panels bent at unnatural angles. The cylinder at the core of the craft took on the appearance of a folding flower, closing in on itself. The maddeningly alien shape of it shifted and changed until the only thing that was left was a blocky chunk of plastic with two metallic ports sticking out at either end.

Twilight pressed a smaller button, causing a considerable metal thing to be belched out onto the dirt next to it. "That's the part. Do you have engineers available?" She didn't need to ask, other humans rushing to claim the power unit. "Ah, you do, excellent. I trust I can leave that in your hands then?"

The police officer stared at the thing being gently coaxed into the back of a truck by half a dozen people in yellow hardhats. "You want us to build things with this? What does it even do?"

"Generate power." Twilight nodded gently. "They didn't inform you? It will produce all the power this nation needs, with sufficient surplus to fulfill the needs of the rest of the European Union."

The man did some mental math as his brows went up in surprise. "You're going to be able to do that?" He rubbed his face. "Bloody hell."

Twilight squirmed at the statement. "Is that bad?"

"No! No, just, wow." He watched them drive away with the piece. "No wonder they're in such a hurry. Okay, both of you, let's get you some papers. You're not proper citizens without those." He waved for the aliens to follow him. "I'll be needing your names, ages, addresses, things like that."

Twilight took a deep breath as she approached the officer's vehicle. "This is a strange world. But we hope to become a productive part of it."

Fluttershy stayed at her side. "Some of those things will be, um, hard to say. We don't have an address. We don't live here, yet."

"We can give you one." The officer was now in his car and rolled down his window. "Something temporary."

Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other, having a silent conversation between themselves. After a moment, Fluttershy pushed in through the open window, taking a sniff of the driver's hair.

The officer yelped in surprise, pushing Fluttershy back into one of the seats. "Back there, Miss."

Fluttershy laid over Twilight's lap, wings tucked against her back as she sank in misery. "Sorry. You smell nice."

"Thank you, I guess." He shook his head as he started up his car. "Right, let's get this sorted out."

Cindy waved to the television, where a graphic displayed overly-dramatic lightning bolts flowing from the UK out into the rest of Europe. "Looks like your friend's gizmo is doing its job."

Applejack held her hat in front of her with an expression of melancholy. "Yeah, that'll be good for the environment. Can't say ah feel that good about it." She slapped her hat back on and took a deep breath. "Ah miss them already."

Cindy nuzzled into AJ's neck as she sidled up behind her, running her hands over Applejack's chest, squeezing slightly at her strong form. "Mm. Want to distract yourself?"

Applejack purred as she felt the firm caress. "Oh yes."

Rarity dropped into the waiting hands of her father. She examined the man critically, which was an odd thing for a foal to do. She tried to say something, but she was a newborn foal, and all that came out was a babble, her brain still booting up, as it were, learning how her new form operated.

Fluttershy smiled nervously. "She, um, I mean, I think." She couldn't get a full thought out.

Mr. Couture gently stroked the cheek of his new daughter. "Well, let's see how this goes." He held the foal in his arms, making sure to keep her head supported as he took a seat on the couch. "She isn't as amazing as her mother, but a close second."

Fluttershy giggled, nestling with her new boyfriend. "You're flattering." Not that she seemed to mind too much when her human littered praise on her. "Let's raise them right." She laid against him, eyes closed as she enjoyed his presence.

She tickled under the chin of her new foal, amazed at how much Rarity looked just like, well, Rarity.

"In other news, a freak tornado struck an area near Melbourne, Australia early yesterday morning. Authorities say that had there been any damage or casualties, they would have been light." The newscaster continued with a chuckle. "Fortunately, none of those reports were filed. Elsewhere, Europeans are rejoicing as their power bills continue to decrease month by month as development continues. Many are pushing for the acceleration of electric-powered everything, with notable success in the production of new vehicles, which have begun to roll off factory lines worldwide. Let's see what else is happening in the world today."

The camera cut away, switching over to a different news team. "Today marks a historic occasion. The UK has agreed to ship the remaining power supply to continental Africa, to provide those nations with the same unlimited power that America, Europe, and China are already enjoying. The UN hopes this will kickstart Africa's economy and make it an equal partner in world events. Many experts claim that the move is very promising. Not all countries are pleased by this decision, however. Several Middle Eastern countries have threatened sanctions against the UK for such an act."

A new image appeared with the announcement of the gifted power supply. "The one we have serves all our needs. We don't need another, and it can do far more good there, with our fellow men." Applause filled the area, an array of politicians and reporters clapping for the man.

Surprise cackled as she flew through the skies, creating tiny air funnels to push herself along. Angel was chasing her, racing along beneath her.

Twilight lay on the ground with Fluttershy, two mares relaxing in the field, the stars above. "I found one too."

Fluttershy perked. "Oh, you did? Is he nice?"

"She is very nice, yes. And interested in a good book." Twilight looked smugly pleased with finding a mate that agreed with her. "She's home right now, with the foal." She leaned against Fluttershy, their companionship warm and firm between them. "Things are going well here."

Fluttershy pulled Twilight in close. "They are. The humans are coming around. And your friends are visiting all the time." She sank with a sigh. "So, a lady, hm? It couldn't have been me?"

Twilight smirked at that. "The spell requires a pony and a not-pony. You are a pony. Turns out, so am I. We can't have foals, Fluttershy. How's Rarity doing?"

"Quite well." The little foal, still in the process of growing into full foal status, poked out from around Fluttershy's mane. "Hello, Twilight! Good to see you again!" She looked very happy to see her friend, bright purple eyes alight with joy.

Twilight grinned at that. "Good to see you too." She ruffled Rarity's mane, playing with the soft little strands of hair. "You've gotten smaller, but far less about you has changed compared to the filly once named Pinkie." She turned her eyes to Surprise as they came in to land and play with Angel. "Any updates on her? Or AJ and Cindy?"

"They're all doing quite well." Rarity sat down, prim and proper for a little filly. "Darling, they just lent us Angel a moment while they took a vacation. "

Fluttershy nodded at that. "Angel is very well behaved. He's earned his name a few times now."

Surprise peeked up from where she was laying, a hoof over Angel's head as she wrestled with him. She might have lost, but she was giggling the whole time. Both seemed to have enjoyed the game.

Twilight sat up onto her haunches. "When they start getting old enough, we'll need to get them looking and considering, but also aware of that choice. They'll need to find a nice human too. It'll take some time before we have nearly enough ponies to start looking at one another."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy gazed at Twilight curiously. "Oh." The thought crashed on her. "Right, there aren't that many." She counted quickly how many ponies and foals they had, which was far below what any population wanted to be at. "Your spell works on them?"

"So long as I live. After that, you're on your own."

Fluttershy squeaked in alarm. "Well, I don't want you getting hurt, so be careful, um, please?" She snuggled up to Twilight, head under the other alicorn's chin as she held herself there, the contact pleasant. "I hope you live a very long time, but even I won't be around forever. So we need to get as many as possible, before that happens."

"That sounds like a lovely plan." She wrapped an arm around Fluttershy, contacting Rarity on the way. "Oh, sorry." She gently stroked the little filly before resuming the hug. "This isn't a perfect world, but we'll do our part to keep it on a good path."

Author's Note

And fin. I hope that story was worth reading. Written for me, with no patrons involved. I just felt like it.

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