Universal Language

by David Silver

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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Comments

[Turquoise pony]

You changed the gender of the judge in the third chapter.

[Okie Brony]

Even if they were @ humans, which they are not, two mothers is still a dividing line, with some for and others against

And, of course, part of the controversy is that the foal has two mommies. 🙄 (I'd recommend adding "both" before "humans.")

I'm loving these frequent updates, even if it means the story will be done that much sooner.

11897923
You mean the third paragraph.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

I had a feeling that Cindy and Applejack would be the first to have a child, given how well they were getting along, and I'm happy to have guessed right.

"Angel" is a good name for their soon, both in terms of his colors, and because, as Cindy suggests, he's a symbol of peace, or at least potential peace.

The birthing process consisting of shared love manifesting into light, manifesting into light, is very consistent with "canon" non conventional pony births.

Naturally citizenship immediately became a question, and though there are other problems waiting in the wings, it's at least comforting that Angel gained citizenship of the US successfully.

It'll be interesting, to say the least, to see what happens when many more foals are born on Earth.

[Gyro Pony]

Isn't it a bit odd that both Cindy and Applejack accept this quirk of reproduction as though they simply forgot it could happen?
I mean... strewth!!

If I have any constructive criticism to give, it would be to see those two coming to terms with literal magic that neither of them knew about.

[Booster Spice]

The way things are going, with Twilight not with them, and the length of time taken to achive this magitek level given the canon, Im wondering if the form that which is Rarity is being kept on ice because her soul form either cannot handle mentally being in a freefall spacecraft due to Diamond Dog induced clustraphobia, or because the options sh went for means she is now Arachnia, and no longer fits inside the ship in an awake and mobile form?

For space use, Arachia would spin less silk, and more continous length carbon nanotube monofilament?

she could lower herself from the gravlocked ship direct to the planets surface?

Grav locked in this case Im assuming to be similar to the magnetic field design of a Bussard Ram Jet, where a null bubble is formed in the center of the ship to avoid liquifying the crew, the portal they used depending on variation would have extreme gravitational shear and values through its interior?

Trouble is, a straight grav lock would place them at a fixed point in relation to teh far field geometry of the Earth Moon Sun system, which should the the Lagrange points, and not related to the surface at all, unless Twilight used Celestia and Lunas ability to spell lock to a surface point for tracking?

[dlambchic]

We all expect typos, but you really need to watch out for those continuity errors.

[Pentium100]

I think the ponies should specify a minimum safe distance. I mean it's one thing if you sleep with the other person, but just being in close proximity and friendly can result in a child. Yeah, there needs to a minimum safe distance or some kind of protection.

[David Silver]

11898202
Sincere Friendship is not 'I held the door open for you, oops...'

[Xanderfox]

Would be a more dangerous precedent to divorce personhood and sapience when dealing with aliens. If declared non-persons they would face abuse and oppression.
Guessing genetically Angel isn't a true hybrid, that is he doesn't have Human DNA he has the pony DNA equivalent of Cindy's DNA.

[PonyDragon]

...or especially friendly cacti.

What about this one?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2020/7/23/2405665.png
Source.

[Silentwoodfire]

Isn't this particular magic only cast on the six of them?