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// 21 - A Little Chat 
// Story: Universal Language 
// by David Silver 
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"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."