//------------------------------//
// 23 - Infrastructure Week 
// Story: Universal Language 
// by David Silver 
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"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."