//------------------------------//
// Numbers Reprised 
// Story: Friendship is Revolution 
// by ultiville 
//------------------------------//


"So, are you going to call?"  Alanna asks.  Most of their human friends had headed over as soon as the news of the vote broke, and the rest did so when they heard about the riot, but only Alanna's already here.  She commutes by bicycle, and so dodged the street closures.

"I don't want to," Twilight floats the card in front of her eyes and scowls at it.  "It seems like he knew this was going to happen, maybe even caused it.  He certainly predicted it, when he talked to us earlier.  I don't want to work for someone who will do that.  Why, do you think I should?"

"I think he could fix a lot of your problems," Alanna says, then smiles, "but I wouldn't call either."

"I'm not happy he got it in here with all that stuff going on on the street, either," Twilight says, "do you think he has someone watching us?"

"That or a camera, yeah.  Certainly somewhere in the surrounding buildings, though if he got in here he probably left some kind of spy stuff in the room, too.  Can you find it with your magic?"

"Maybe.  But I'm going to do this first," she smiles, "I don't mind if he sees it."

She gets up and walks to the window, still floating the business card along with her.  She stares out the window for a moment, scanning the surrounding buildings, though she doesn't really expect to see anything.  Then she opens the window and brings the business card just outside it before incinerating it in a blast of magenta energy.  She shuts the window and blind.

"I feel a bit better.  Now, what am I looking for?"

"I don't really know, exactly.  I'm not an expert in this sort of stuff, and if Mr. Gray really works for the government, he must have way better stuff than law enforcement anyway.  But they'd certainly be electronic, and probably be broadcasting, since he wouldn't want to have to pick them back up."

Twilight shakes her head.  "I'm sure a spell to find either of those is possible, but I'd have to develop it, it might take a while."

"Well, what about something like that anti-cheating stuff they used at the Games?  Can you just stop them working for now?"  Rarity asks.

"Hm, maybe," Twilight says, "but I'd have to know more about how they work."

"You probably shouldn't," Alanna says, "anything that will knock them out would probably be disruptive to a lot of other technology - causing harmful interference like that is illegal."

"What the hay?  What kind of bucked up law is it that?  You can't stop somep-one from spying on you?"  Rainbow glares at her.

"Everyone has their phones on them all the time, and we need to beam signals all over the place.  It's really hard to make a dead zone without causing trouble for anyone else; you need to know exactly what you're doing.  Twilight probably would, but we restrict these things because not everyone would.  And of course assuming they are listening, if you did it, they'd have proof you did it knowingly."

"So that's it?  We just let these jerks watch us sleep?  Ugh."

"I'll figure out a detection spell," Twilight says, "until then, let's just go somewhere else.  Follow me."

They trudge down the stairs to the kitchen, and Twilight and Rarity drag some chairs from the bar proper into the tight space before slamming the heavy, noise-blocking doors designed to protect the diners from the noise of the kitchen, and vice versa.

"There we go," the princess says, "I can't imagine they put anything in the kitchen.  And we aren't doing any better in any case."

"Great!  So now that we're alone," Rainbow Dash says, "what's our plan?"

"Well...actually, I have no idea," Twilight's ears droop.  "I barely even know how this world works.  It seemed like everyone liked us!  And now...we lost this vote, somehow, but it's all a bunch of people we've never met or seen or talked to voting on it, so how would they know?  Before we had a trial, and they talked to me and looked at evidence and that makes sense!  Did we really lose this vote because Mr. Gray and whoever he works for can just make that happen?

"And then, all those people showing up to complain about us!  I'd barely even started to study religion so I don't even know what their problem was!  I feel like I just showed up again, just when it was all starting to make sense."

Alanna puts a hand on her head, and Rarity and Dash move to lean against her.  For a few moments, Alanna gently strokes her head, and everyone is silent.

"I don't know, really," Alanna says finally, "but...when I read your journal for the trial, you said you didn't really grasp what the numbers here mean.  I think you were right.  I'm not sure anyone does, really, but at least we've grown up here, so we're used to some of the consequences.  And I think something like yesterday is one of them.  There are hundreds of millions of people in America.  There were maybe a few hundred people in that protest group.  It looked like a lot, because they had to stretch out along the sidewalk, and they had a message that we didn't like.  But it wasn't.  Maybe that's because it was just the people who could get here on short notice.  But there's a pretty common tactic among people with a lot of money that want people to think their ideas are popular: they pay to bring people places to protest.  I bet that's what happened here, and I bet your Mr. Gray is behind it.  Those people could have been from all over the place, and compared to hundreds of millions of people, they don't seem like that many."

"That'd be nice," Twilight sniffs, "but we have no evidence.  It could be that, and you're right it sounds reasonable, but those are the most dangerous kinds of unscientific assumptions - ones that sound reasonable and support things you wish were true."

"I have a bit of evidence here, it turns out," Rarity's pulled out her tablet while Twilight wasn't looking at her, and rotates the screen towards her.  "I remembered seeing one of Rainbow's, ah, admirers, post this to her wall.  Look!"

On her screen is a popular political poll math blog, posting about the 'pony issue.'  "'According to the my analysis,'" Twilight reads, "'the best estimate is that right around 70% of Americans strongly support equal rights for talking horses, with another 15% or so mostly indifferent.  We've come a long way since the 1950's, and it shows - while horrible systematic inequality persists, the numbers have long held that fewer and fewer Americans are willing to write laws that directly and overtly condone bigotry.  Apparently this has become accepted enough that we're not even willing to do it to obviously sapient nonhumans.  It'd make me feel some hope for once, if I weren't so worried Congress won't listen tomorrow.'  Oh, I see, this article is from yesterday."

"Sure," Alanna says, "but opinion can't have changed so quickly overnight.  People mostly do support you - they just didn't come out in the street to show it.  Well, until those bigots showed up, and then they did.  I bet not even Mr. Gray expected so many to come out to support you so quickly!"

"Well, he didn't expect my raw magnetism," Rainbow Dash grins.

"But according to those numbers," Twilight frowns, "something near 85% of the country is with us or doesn't much care.  So how did congress vote that bill down?  Aren't they supposed to represent the people?"

Rarity and Alanna look away awkwardly, then notice the other doing so, and chuckle.

"Twilight, how did you spend so long in Canterlot with the Princess and not end up understanding anything about politics?"  Rarity asks.

Twilight blushes.  "Well, I mostly read a lot.  And did spells.  I was her student in magic, not in everything, you know."

"Yes, well.  It can be a dreadfully dreary thing to do, dear.  I know we don't elect our nobles in Equestria, but even with Celeista ruling over everything, you must have noticed how many are, well...not the finest of leaders."

"Of course, they're," here Twilight does a passable Celestia impression, "'a bunch of selfish, vindictive divas that would sell all of Equestria if they thought they'd get a nice new sofa'."  Everyone looked at her, eyes wide.  "Even Celestia has to let off steam sometimes, you know.  But isn't that the point of picking your leaders?  That you can do better?"

"It's supposed to be," Alanna nods, "but in America right now, you need a lot of money and support to run for office, which means you're usually rich to begin with, and you almost always need to be sponsored by one of the two major parties.  Let's say you only got the best half of the Canterlot nobles.  How would you do then?"

"I can count about five that are tolerable, out of a few hundred.  So not a lot better."

Alanna nods.

"That's depressing.  At least in Equestria, Celestia can limit the damage."

"We don't like royalty here, and to be fair, on Earth they have an even worse record.  Not being immortal, benevolent sun goddesses is probably related.  I think having to figure it all out ourselves has made us stronger, but...well, we certainly pay a price."

"Ok, I'm sure this is totally interesting," Dash yawns, "to eggheads.  But, uh, I don't see how it tells us what to do."

"Well, it means that playing for time might be effective," Alanna says.  "Congress never has a great approval rating, and one vote, people will overlook, especially since they're often already the best of a bad lot.  But the more often they have to make unpopular decisions, the more political capital they burn.  I'm going to go file our legal challenges as soon as I leave here.  If we can hold up any attempts to deport you in the courts, they might have to turn around and pass a rights bill or get thrown out next election."

"So, you want us to sit around while you do boring nerd stuff?"  Dash scowls at her.

"Nope," Alanna grins at her, "I have a mission for you I think you'll love, Rainbow Dash, but it'll have to wait until Rosie gets here."

"Good timing," Rosie says from the door, though she doesn't seem to have just come in, "I was wondering when you'd think about me.  What's your plan?"

"I'm going to fund some good old fashioned public outreach," Alanna reaches into her purse and pulls out her checkbook.  To Twilight, something about her looks very much like Pinkie Pie, just for a moment.

"You don't mean a party, do you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do.  Drinks are on me tonight, for everyone.  This is the Prancing Pony now.  Why don't you ladies get out there and do some prancing?  I imagine there will be a lot of cameras.  Should be worth a percentage point or two."

"This just turned into my kind of plan," Rainbow turns to Mary, who still looks a little shell-shocked.  "Willing to do some more dancing, Cutie?"

She nods a little, and smiles.

"Ok then," Rosie pulls out her phone, "it'll take me about an hour to tell the staff we're back on.  Twilight, you're not working this time, you need to mingle.  But you all can help get this place set up for it.  I hope you know what you're doing Alanna, this isn't going to be cheap."

"I hope you're right."