30th Day of the 5th Moon, 6 ALR: Manehattan City Hall

Over the last few days, the first human leaders began to arrive in Manehattan. The Emperor of Japan had been the first to arrive, his ship was still massive but was noticeably smaller compared to the British and German ships. Escorting the Japanese liner were strange gray ships of similar size, but on her decks were gray cylinders of various sizes with long tubes protruding from their sides. Along the rails of the gray ships were hundreds of humans dressed in dark blue sailor uniforms singing a song in a language that Twilight did not recognize but that sounded similar to Mistmane’s native tongue. Atop the Ocean liner as the British had described to her, flew massive white flags with a red circle emblazoned in the middle, however, the gray ships flew a similar flag, but red rays surrounded the red circle, making it look like a blazing sun. As the fleet of ships approached their prepared moorings, the Mauritania blasted her horn, the sound resonating across the harbor, in return the Japanese Ocean Liner and escorting ships blasted their horns.

Once the Emperor and Empress of Japan had disembarked, Twilight noticed that the Japanese were smaller than the humans that she had first met. The Emperor was about as tall as many of the female stewardesses that she had met on Mauritania, his wife was slightly shorter. Emperor Meiji wore a uniform similar to Shining Armor’s Royal Guard Dress uniform, but the Emperor's was more ornate and covered in medals, on his side was a sheath with a long cavalry saber. Next to them was an interpreter who translated all correspondence between the Japanese leaders and Twilight. Along with the Emperor was an interpreter, an entourage of diplomats, and a small army of soldiers. The soldiers carried strange long wooden cane-like sticks, with a dagger-like blade at the end, and wore a less ornate uniform similar to the Emperor’s. With the help of the interpreter, she learned that the strange gray ships were the armored cruisers Ibuki and Tsukuba of the Imperial Japanese Navy that had been tasked with protecting the liner SS. Tenyo Maru.

Twilight had already had several carriages prepared for the arrival of the humans and after a few more pleasantries, had the Japanese Imperial couple, their aids, and a contingent of Japanese soldiers transported to the prestigious Waldhoof-Aurora Hotel. The rest of the troops were housed in harbor buildings that had been converted into makeshift barracks.

President Howard B. Macmillan was the second leader to arrive, and his ship, SS Minnesota, was the same ship that had been one of the first to arrive following Discord’s surge and commanded by Captain Randolf, one of the first humans Twilight had met. The Minnesota was escorted by two brand new Delaware Class battleships and the armored cruiser USS. Tennessee. Once the American ships had been moored next to the Japanese fleet, the President and First Lady had disembarked along with an entourage of aids and soldiers. In her conversation with the President, he described himself as a New York native and was astounded by the similarities between his home city and Manehattan. He described the human Statue of Liberty and its resemblance to the copper Mare Statue at the entrance to Manehattan Harbor, when he learned about his accommodations at the Waldhoof-Aurora, he raved about the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

That same day the rulers of South America arrived, however in far less impressive ships than the Human ships that Twilight had seen before, yet still nearing twice the size of Equestria’s largest designs. First arrived Empress Isabel and Prince Gaston of the Brazilian Empire, followed by President and First Lady Obregon of the Confederation of the River Plate, The Military Dictator, General Vazques, and his wife of Venezuela, President of Mexico Samuél Philipé and his wife, and finally Alberto Bustamante, Military Dictator of Bolivia. All of the South American leaders arrived with an escort of troops, quickly filling up the makeshift barracks she had set up. Ponies gathered up against the barricades and the railings of the docks to witness the arrival of the human leaders and the fleet of war and merchant vessels.

The next day the majority of the European leaders arrived. King Albert arrived in the morning with the RMS. Lusitania, a near-perfect twin to the Mauritania that she had toured just three weeks ago. The two greyhounds shared horn blasts as they were moored together along with the five capital ships that escorted the King. Kaiser Fredrick III and Kaiserin Victoria arrived later that morning in the German superliner, SS. Kaiser Friedrich, escorted by four German capital ships. The German fleet exchanged horn blasts with the ocean liner’s sister ship, Kaiser Wilhelm der Große, which had been in Manehattan since Discord’s surge as a German consulate. Emperor Charles XIII and Empress Carlotta of the Bourbon Empire arrived shortly after, and the harbor quickly filled with ships.

To alleviate overcrowding Anchor Dock and Harbor Might had coordinated with the sailors to anchor the massive fleet of gray warships in the center of the harbor next to the Mare Statue. With dock space freed up, the Dutch fleet moored, Twilight greeting Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry as they disembarked. The Imperial Russian couple and the Swedish Royals arrived at nearly the same time, dock workers moving about frantically to accommodate the two fleets. Next, came the King Vittorio Emanuel and Queen Elena of Italy. Twilight was stunned by his diminutive frame; all the male humans that she had met were taller than their female companions, but Queen Elena stood half a head taller than her husband.

By the time all of the human leaders had arrived, the docks were crowded with ocean liners and state yachts, and the waters of the harbor were blanketed by the looming figures of warships proudly flying the banners of the human world. Ponies and reporters crowded the barricades set around the Waldhoof-Astoria, clamoring to take a look at the leaders of the strange new world. Sailors and Soldiers stuffed the dock buildings as the arrival of the leaders had brought a figurative invasion of a couple of thousand humans to Manehattan.

The Japanese and American governments had coordinated with Twilight and the governments of the Eastern Continent to transport the Griffin King Grover X, King Aldar VII of Olenia, Queen Nova of the Hippogriffs, Prince Al Saddle VIII of Saddle Arabia, Dragon Lord Ember, Queen Victoire IX of Prancy, Archduke Von Hoofstein V of Germane, Duke Cranberry XV of Trottingham, Prince Roamnov I of Stalliongrad and Duke Alogo of Maretonia. All arriving in the morning and late afternoon before the summit, King Thorax and Prince Rutherford arriving that night by train.

Twilight stood next to Cadence and Shining Armor at the top of the steps of Manehattan City Hall. Guards lined the plaza resplendent in freshly polished golden armor. The plaza featured flag posts flanking a long red carpet that led up to the steps of the domed City Hall building. Twilight wore a fine white dress with light lavender accents, her coronation sash fixed to her chest by a golden and amethyst starburst brooch, and at the top of her head, her freshly polished tiara reflected the sunlight. Cadence wore a similar getup, her dress a brilliant white with baby blue accents. Shining Armor had his Royal Guard Dress uniform, behind them the girls and the mayor also wore dresses, Fancy Pants and Spike wore morning suits, and Captain Rampart donned his brilliantly polished captain armor.

Distant clopping of hooves grew near as dozens of carriages rode up to the street. Dozens of human soldiers dressed in red uniforms and black fur hats filed out of the carriages and lined themselves along the carpet. Two soldiers blared trumpets as another pair helped King Albert out of his carriage. Twilight and Cadence flared their wings as the fanfare subsided and an announcer unfurled a scroll, “Behold His Imperial Majesty, Rex Imperator, by the grace of God, Albert first of his name of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Land and Dominions Beyond the Sea, King! Of India and of Egypt, Emperor! President of the Imperial Federation and Defender of the Faith,”

Had it not been for the maps she had gotten from the humans, Twilight would have thought that all the titles were stuffy and pretentious, but King Albert ruled over a truly vast domain that was more than ten times larger than all of Equestria. As the King approached the two Princesses and Prince he performed a small bow to Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor, which they reciprocated before the King stood next to Twilight. She noticed just how young the British King truly was, the other humans that she had met had at least had a few wrinkles under their eyes and on their forehead, but judging by the books on human anatomy that she had read, he was about her age.

Then the carriages left to be replaced by new ones, from which emerged soldiers wearing dark blue uniforms and black helmets with a brass spike. They performed much of the same drill as the British soldiers had, lining the carpet, blaring trumpets, hoisting the German Imperial Flag, and helping the Kaiser and Kaiserin out of their carriage. The elderly Imperial couple slowly made their way down the carpet as a soldier announced the Kaiser’s titles in German and a Royal Guard translated, “His Imperial and Royal Majesty, Fredrick III, by the grace of God, Emperor of the Germans, King of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg, and Count of Hohenzollern,”

King Albert wasn’t the only human leader with a long list of titles, yet, it did serve to pass the time as the German rulers slowly made it up the steps. Kaiser Fredrick III and the rest of the rulers exchanged bows before he took a spot next to the King. Kaiserin Victoria performed a small curtsy to all the rulers but gave her grand-nephew, King Albert, a slightly warmer greeting.

“Hail to the Chief” played as Marines hoisted the American Flag while President and First Lady Macmillan walked down the carpet and up the stairs. Unlike the other male human leaders that Twilight had greeted at the harbor, the President did not wear a military uniform or medals, rather he wore a morning suit and top hat.

Emperor Charles had the most ostentatious entrance. While the flag raising and the soldier formations were similar to the other leaders the soldier and translating Royal Guard recited a near endless list of tiles, “Behold His Imperial Majesty Charles XIII, by the grace of God, Most Christian Roman Emperor, Emperor of the Franks and Iberians, Emperor of Africa, King of France, King of Spain, King of Navarre, King of Savoy, King of Naples, King of Jerusalem, Duke of Burgundy, Defender of Christendom, Defender of the Holy Land, and Patron of the Papacy,”

Twilight mentally rolled her eyes as the Bourbon Emperor made his way up the steps and the leaders bowed to one another. According to the human history books, the Bourbon Empire never controlled Jerusalem, which was under Ottoman control, Naples was lost in 1861 and was now an integral part of the Kingdom of Italy, the Bourbon Empire only controlled a third of the African Continent, and most of the religious titles had been bestowed upon Bourbon Emperors through military pressure placed on the Papal States during the Hungarian Revolutionary War. It seemed his wife was also unimpressed, Twilight was certain she could make out the Empress rolling her eyes as the long list of her husband's titles were recited.

The rest of the human leaders arrived and the flags of their nations were raised, the plaza now awash with the colors of all the different military uniforms of the human nations. Another set of carriages rolled up to the plaza, the leaders of Equis making their way up to the steps bowing and taking their place as their flags were raised on their flag posts. Once the ladders were all arranged up on the steps of City Hall, the bands began to play the national anthems of each nation.

The procession had lasted for about an hour, but once the Anthem of Equestria had been played, press ponies and human journalists began to bombard the leaders with camera flashes. Once the wave of photographs and questions subsided, the Royal Guards began to pass enchanted earpieces to the leaders.

“The Guards will be handing out earpieces that have been cast with translation spells, do not be alarmed, they are perfectly safe. They will serve to make communication amongst each other much easier and serve to streamline discourse,” stated Twilight as she levitated one of the ear pieces into her right ear, Cadence and Shining Armor following suit.

Tentatively the human leaders put on the earpieces, following the example of King Thorax and King Grover. Twilight then turned back and winked at Rainbow Dash, the cyan Pegasus quickly ripping off her dress revealing a Wonderbolt flight suit. Pulling her mask over her head and fixing her goggles, Rainbow quickly zoomed up into the air leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. The rush of air alerted the humans as they watched in awe as the Pegasus soared up into the sky and flew out of sight behind City Hall.

Guards blasted the trumpets and one announced, “Bear witness to the incredible flying prowess of the Wonderbolts!”

A crack of thunder and a massive rush of air announced the arrival of the seven other Wonderbolts and the return of Rainbow Dash. The announcer continued, “Behold Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Thunderlane, Misty Fly, Blaze, and Silver Zoom!”

The pegasi flew high up into the air as streaks of sparking lightning smoke followed in their wake. Humans exclaimed in amazement as the Wonderbolts performed synchronized acrobatics and used their pegasus magic to sculpt clouds into ornate designs, cracking lightning to accentuate their performance. Camera flashes rang out as the human press desperately attempted to capture every second of the spectacle. As the performance reached its crescendo, the performers used their smoke trails to write out “Welcome to Equestria”.

Finally, Rainbow Dash broke away from the group quickly ascending higher and higher out into the air. Now thousands of feet in the air Rainbow eclipsed the Sun and flared her wings before she dived straight back down towards the leaders. The whine of speeding wind sounded as a cone of compressed air formed around the pegasus, growing tighter and tighter until just a couple thousand feet above the ground the pressure finally released. A massive boom rang out as a ring of brilliant rainbow light spread out in all directions away from the pegasus as she once again ascended at blazing speed. Humans cheering or simply standing with mouths open wide in total amazement as Rainbow Dash bled speed with a series of loops and turns before she landed in the plaza next to the other Wonderbolts. Finally, all of the Wonderbolts took a bow as a tremendous round of applause filled the plaza.

Waiting for the cheering to subside, Twilight spoke, “It is a great honor for me and the Kingdom of Equestria that you have taken the time to come to this summit. I hope that through the discussions we have over the next couple of days, the nations of Equis and Earth will form a strong friendship and through collaboration forge a brighter future for all,” she gestured to the doors, “A banquet has been prepared for your enjoyment, please come in to get acquainted and then to discuss relations,”

Guards opened the great doors of city hall revealing the grand foyer of the building. As the seat of government of Equestria’s largest city, the building was truly impressive. Inside a pair of guards opened another set of double doors, revealing a great hall. Tables covered in all assortments of fine cuisine dominated the center of the room. Posted along the walls were maps of Equis and a few maps of Earth that the humans had given Twilight.

Twilight turned to the group of aids, “Please feel free to hang up your maps on the walls they will be of great help,” then she glanced at the leaders and gestured towards the waiters carrying trays of wine glasses, “Please take a glass of Equestria’s finest wines,”

Quickly aids began moving into the room opening up tubes and unfurling maps, pinning them up along the maps already on the walls. Most of the leaders made their way to the buffet sampining the wide variety of foods but others began conversing with one another. Applejack was striking up a conversation with President Macmillan and the American Delegation, Twilight noted that many of the Americans shared the same accent as the Apple. She was quite far, but it seemed that the Americans and Applejack were discussing the similarities and differences of Equestrian and American rodeos. Emperor Charles and King Aldar were also conversing, but Twilight could not make anything out of their conversation apart from that it was in Prancy.

Kaiser Fredrick walked up to her, “Your Majesty, I have heard that you speak German?”

“Please call me Twilight, but yes, it’s not very good. I learned from my mentor and predecessor Princess Celestia,”

“You sound wonderful, my dear,” replied Kaiserin Victoria.

“Thank you your Majesty,”

“Call me Victoria,”

“Fredrick, please. The griffins speak German as their native tongue, do they not?”

“Yes the griffins and the ponies of Germane speak German,”

“The coincidences between our worlds are staggering, the races of your world each share the same language as the nations of my world,”

“Yes, President Macmillan had talked to me extensively about the similarities between Manehattan and New York City. That even the hotel in which you stayed has a counterpart in New York,”

“Dear, you even mentioned that some of the ships had been stuck in cities named San Fransiscolt, Buckston, Fillidelphia, Baltimare, and Vanhoover?” Asked the Kaiserin

“There is a human counterpart to those cities as well?”

“My recollection of American geography is a little rusty, but yes, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are major American port cities. Vancouver is the main port city on the west coast of British Canada,”

“Speak of the devil! Bertie, how are you? Exclaimed Kaiserin Victoria as she turned to greet the young King approaching with two glasses of wine.

“Good, it is nice to see you. How are you?”

“Wonderful, your uncle and I were talking to the Princess here about the amazing similarities between our worlds,”

“Pardon me, your Majesty, care for a drink?” Asked King Albert as he handed a glass to the lavender alicorn.

“Thank you, your Majesty,” Replied Twilight as she enveloped the glass in a Magenta hue, lifting it out of the King’s hand and bringing it up to her lips to take a small sip. She rarely drank, not liking how alcohol impaired one focus, but she had on occasion had a glass offered to her by Celestia or to keep up appearances at social events. Then she noticed the wide eyes of the King as he slowly moved around the fingers in his hand that once held the glass, “I’m so sorry! I should have warned you,”

“No, No, it's fine… it just felt quite odd, that is all,”

“Dear, I think it would be best if we both got something to eat,” said Kaiserin Victoria to her husband as she gestured towards the buffet.

“Ja,” Replied the Kaiser before turning to the Princess, “Zank you Prinzess, ve must get going,”

King Albert saw the Imperial couple leave with a puzzled expression and then turned back to look at his hand, Twilight giving him a sheepish expression as he finally looked up, “I have seen your Majesty, and some other unicorns use telekinesis. If you would be willing to explain it to me I would be glad to learn about it,”

“Um well, once again I am truly sorry, your Majesty…”

“Albert… Please call me Albert. Don’t worry no harm was done,”

“Ok, Albert… You can call me Twilight. Well, telekinesis is one of the many forms of magic that unicorns and alicorns such as myself can wield. It is quite a basic spell that most unicorns can cast, but the amount of mass that a pony can levitate is based on their Magical reserves. For instance, most unicorns can only levitate small to medium objects, up to between 30-50 pounds. However, the most powerful unicorns and alicorns can levitate much more massive objects. When casting the spell you simply have to focus on the object you want to levitate and where you want it to move,”

“So as an alicorn, how much can you levitate?”

“In my old world, I used to raise the Sun and Moon. I understand that the celestial bodies from each of our universes work completely differently from each other, but the Sun was still a truly massive body in my universe. A couple of years ago I also levitated a dam back together and held back the reservoir with my magic. Anyways I wouldn’t want to bore you,”

“No it’s fine, you're not boring me at all. I quite enjoy learning new things and there is no magic in my world,”

Twilight smiled, “I love learning new things, I have been reading all the books given to me by the crew of the Mauritania, and there is so much information about technologies that are completely new to Equestria. You may not have magic, but your world’s ingenuity and inventions are unrivaled,”

“Technology is one of my great interests, it is vital for the advancement of one’s country and as King, I feel it is vital to encourage the advancement of technology and be privy to its latest developments. I can tell you really did your research, you have outdone yourself with this summit. I noticed that the buffet included several dishes from all around Earth, and the accommodations provided also featured some homely touches,”

“Thank you, I try my best,” Twilight crossed her forelegs, her slight blush going unnoticed.

“Greeting le Majesties,” Announced Emperor Charles as he walked up to the King and Princess.

Albert quickly turned to the Bourbon rulers, “Your Majesties, how are you?”

Twilight quickly regained her composure at the sudden appearance of the Bourbon Emperor and his wife, “Hello, your Majesties,”

“Good, I am very impressed with sa vine and se cuisine française,”

“In gud ‘ealth,” Replied Empress Carlotta before turning to the Princess, “My husband and I would like to thank you for your hospitality ,”

“You're welcome your Majesty, it is my duty to ensure that your Majesties feel welcome here in Equestria,”

“Princess I look forward to the collaboration between the Bourbon Domain and the Kingdom of Equestria. The Entente would love your cooperation towards global stability and to form a new golden age for all of the nations within our alliance,”

Albert scoffed, “It was nice speaking with you Twilight,”

Twilight could cut the sudden tension between the two rulers with a knife as the Emperor glared at the King and the Empress looked at her husband shocked. Conflicted she finally decided to respond to Albert first, “It was nice speaking to you too,”

Albert performed a small bow and walked away towards the buffet, the Emperor scowling at him as he left.

“Thank you your Majesty, but we can discuss relations between Equestria and the human nations at the formal meeting we will be having shortly,”

“Yes but of course, it was nice meeting with you again Princess,”

Empress Carlotta glared at her husband before giving Twilight a weak smile, “Pardon us, your Majesty,”

The Bourbon rulers walked off towards the main conference table, Twilight standing awkwardly for a moment. She could not believe it, it was probably the nerves, but why had she blushed? It was just a simple compliment about her attention to detail and her research abilities, nothing more. Looking around to make sure no one was looking she downed the glass of wine and suppressed the traitorous thoughts.

After regaining her composure, Twilight finally made her way to the buffet where she met up with Spike who had run up earlier to sample the rare collection of gems prepared for the dragon dignataries.

“Hi Twilight, you know the deserts that Pinkie and Applejack cooked up are just incredible, not to mention all these gems!” Cried out Spike, his eyes sparkling as he admired the massive pile of rare and exotic jewls.

“Spike, what have I told you about overeating? I'm not going to be able to help you if you get a stomach ache now,” Twilight frowned as she nodded her head towards the conference table quickly filling up with diplomats.

“Ok, ok, sheesh Twilight, I know my limits,”

Her expression softened, “Sorry if that came off too pointed, I'm just looking out for you, and I'm honestly still really nervous,”

“You're the Princess of Friendship for a reason, now get something to eat and go through your notes one last time,” replied Spike as he pulled out several notecards out of his suit’s breast pocket.

Levetating the cards out of his hand, Twilight smiled, “Thank you,”

Spike returned the smile and quickly walked away, returning a short moment later with a daffodil salad. Twilight adjusted his bow tie and took the salad, eating it as she went over the cards outlining her plans to smooth over relations between the humans. After quickly finishing her salad, she returned the cards to Spike and walked over to the table now full of all of the dignataries. Taking her seat at the head of the table, framed by maps of Equestria, Twilight levitated a fook and glass from the table.

A loud chime rang across the room as the rulers and diplomats of the world paused their conversations and turned to look at her. Swallowing and then clearing her throat, she fought through her nerves and smiled, “I am glad to announce the commencement of our discussions,”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait but orientation and the first week of college took a lot of time away from me. Hope you enjoy!