//------------------------------// // 26 - Global Struggles // Story: Universal Language // by David Silver //------------------------------// "In other news." A window sprang open beside her, showing a table with many arguing people. "News that both China and the USA are in negotiations with the aliens over a yet-undefined unlimited power source has the word political stage on fire." The video vanished from the screen. "Our own world editor has some words about it." The man smiled gently at the camera as he spoke. "It's certainly not the sort of thing you hear every day, that a species from outside the solar system is making offers to both nations of Earth." He brought his hands together gently. "It's a chance that doesn't come twice in a lifetime, or ten, or a hundred. Both nations are scrambling to meet the alien requirements. They are refusing to answer what this energy source is, but what we do know is that it will not damage the environment and they want it widespread as soon as possible." A new window appeared, showing a massive map of the world, with countries indicated with colour-coded shapes and areas around them in blue or green depending on some complex measurements. "Their required goal seems to be that everyone should be connected, no matter where you are on the planet. Though some say they're willing to go one country at a time. You can imagine how much of an impossible challenge it'd be if they wanted all or nothing." He breathed out slowly. "Officials from both the United States and China have offered to open negotiations in more detail and would allow scientists and engineers to work directly with the aliens to bring about this miracle energy. We do know that it's based on clean energy sources, but the specifics remain shrouded in mystery, perhaps using science so far beyond us, we may as well be squirrels asking how a car works. So, we don't expect anyone to truly understand it, at least not for many years." The map of the world was replaced by another, smaller, of the entire region of Asia. "Currently, a new alien contact with our planet is within China, and their news media has been remarkably closed lipped on the subject. We know she's there, but haven't heard from her in weeks." "Let's hope no news is good news in this case." She turned back to the camera as the window holding the man vanished. "Speaking of ponies on Earth, Angel has advanced! They've done a full test of his abilities and maturation and determined he's reading and comprehending at an 8th grade level. They've pushed him ahead with a human friend, Samantha. Stay tuned for the upcoming show with them, that will be coming soon!" The news anchor smiled gently as she turned towards another camera. "In other news, the White House—" Rainbow stretched as she sat up, taking in the Beijing scenery as she hopped to her hooves with a thunderous yawn. "Less to do, but infinite things to do. I'm liking it down here." She flapped her wings gently before hopping up towards a window and getting it open swiftly to let her soar out into the sky. She'd learned humans had a lot of rules about what was in the air, which she had broken when she had first arrived. But, she wasn't that dumb, she learned from her mistakes. She kept low over the rooves as she soared along with a grin. She loved the feel of the air over her fur and the city air certainly had its own taste to it. As she flew over the streets, she spotted people below her pointing and taking pictures. She tossed a salute to them and waved a hoof before accelerating away from them, glancing back to see them shouting and laughing. She had become a celebrity of sorts, though she didn't hide in any fancy cars or nothing. Why would she do that, when she had wings. She took to the sky as often as she could. It felt good to be flying again. It was an uneventful morning, though. It was always so quiet compared to before. Everything was too peaceful. That's what you got with aliens, she supposed. It didn't help that she didn't quite grasp why they were doing the things they did. It was, perhaps, exciting to them, but it was just humans wandering around, doing stuff that was important to them, and not her. She landed with a soft thump among smaller humans. The sort that were always happy to see her. She was crowded by the younger humans and she laughed at their eager explorations and joyous babbles. Yeah, young creatures were great sometimes, of any species. She found a pair of children near her hooves and laid down next to them, waving one hoof as she gave a half-hearted nicker to get their attention. It worked and she chuckled gently as she relaxed. "Hiya." She had an upgraded translator, like Twilight. Her words came out smoothly in mandarin with no echo. "Having fun?" The kids looked up at Rainbow, then patted her sides, earning soft whinnies from the pegasus. "Are you going to visit again?" They both spoke at once. "It's always so exciting when you come back!" "You can count on it." Rainbow spread her wings and lifted easily into the air. "Now pay attention in class. I'll be checking!" She didn't care that much about schoolwork, but leaving good impressions and ideas on the kids felt important. She zoomed away towards the ocean, eager to see if there was anything interesting going on out there. Rainbow didn't have much trouble with ocean travel, considering her wings, soon flying over the endless blue of the deep waters beneath her, watching the waves move below her with a smile. There was always something calming about water. There was also a sound. She could only barely hear it, but it got louder by the water. The further out she went, the clearer it became. A jet swooped in close to her, a megaphone booming, "Rainbow Dash, you are exiting Chinese air space, this is unacceptable, please turn around." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah." Why they were so particular about that, she wasn't sure, but she banked to the side, flying along that invisible barrier the humans cared about so much. She was still getting closer, if more slowly, to that mysterious sound. It was like nothing she'd ever heard before, but something in her mind was nagging at her, as if she'd heard it before, but couldn't recall the exact details of what she had experienced. She landed on the beach as the sound got even louder, casting her gaze over the ocean, scanning for anything that—Her thoughts were interrupted by a massive form emerging from the water, a whale giving a deep and haunting note as it lifted for just a precious moment. That was it, the sound. Rainbow raced to the beach's edge towards it, singing her own song back at it. The two created an ethereal duet that spoke of things unknown to any other living thing on Earth. Rainbow remembered nothing of her life before she awoke. She didn't know where she came from, only that there had been stars. She had been told her ancestor had come from a nice solid place, like Earth. But that song, she felt like she knew it, deep inside. She couldn't quite place where, but she sang out into the waters, hoping the whale would hear her little sounds from so far away. A pod of dolphins came over to bounce in the water around her, drawing a smile from Rainbow as she floated out into the surf, feeling the cool touch of the ocean beneath her hooves, bouncing on it lightly. It wasn't often that she felt joyous in that way, but with the dolphins darting around her, she smiled. Their high pitched squeaks and calls felt a little similar, but weren't quite that song. Rainbow's songs drew them, perhaps out of curiosity, but they didn't join her song. It was sad, in a way, to hear them and not have it be that same call she'd heard from the whale. "Thank you." She touched each dolphin gently with a hoof as she slipped into the ocean, letting the waves wash over her before flying away back to the shore, heading back towards the city. She shook herself dry in a wild spraying of water, sighing at where the whale once was. They would pass again, one day, and then she'd hear that song again, and know something about herself, if only for a moment. That was what she truly wanted. To know who she had been. What had happened. There were too many holes in her memory. Rainbow kicked some sand, not that it complained. "Not today. Today, let's get some work done." With a streak of rainbow light, she took off towards where the Chinese were doing their work. "The sooner this finishes, the sooner I can do what I want." The idea that she might have to go back to orbit and live in a tin can with no gravity was revolting to her, but there were plenty of places on Earth that'd need her help before that become a possibility. The technician looked up as Rainbow landed. "Rainbow Dash, so glad you could join us." "Glad to be here." Rainbow folded her wings tightly. "How are things looking? You got the central gizmo the way Twilight wants it? Did you put the hardware she sent you into it?" The technician took a step back, then turned around, showing the battery to Rainbow, sitting in its little receptacle in the machine. "There's the charger in place, and it's started up, but it's not doing anything." He tapped the glass as he held the button down. "See? Nothing's happening." Rainbow rolled a hoof at that. "How's it gonna? The battery does what batteries do. You humans have those, right? They hold power. You got that, now you need the actual power to go into it, then it comes out of it." She pointed at the battery firmly. "Out into everything else." She swept in a broad swift stroke across the rest of the world. "Once that starts happening, you'll be making all the power you need for, well, forever. Twilight promised that much." The technician sighed as he stood up. "This is important. Alright, the battery is in place. We have the controls working. Tell this Twilight she designed it well. We understand exactly what should come out of it and how to control it, so we don't set everything on fire." He pointed at the little interface before tapping the screen gently. "That's the startup routine, right?" Rainbow nodded once. "If Twilight said that was the thing, then yeah. That's the thing." She tossed a hoof at the screen. "But, again, you need the main part before that'll do anything. If it passes all the tests, I can tell Twilight you're ready for it." The technician picked up a tablet and brought it over to Rainbow, setting it down in front of her. "Just give this a scan and we can see if you want to start the device." He held up a hand. "Let me be clear, failure is not an option. Only say yes if you're sure everything is ready." "Sheesh." Rainbow knocked the tablet closer and began hoofing at the controls where she wings weren't swiping at other parts. "Let's see, that's good, mmhmm, yep, good, ayup, wait, no, no, ah, let's check again, oh yes, it all checks out." She brushed it back over to the technician with a shrug. "It'll do. The math's right and your people followed the rules, so it's okay to start this thing up." She sat up onto her haunches. "I hope you're ready for power, because Twilight's gonna bring it. As soon as I tell her."