Celestia gazed around the abandoned station, drinking in the dust-covered tables, the grimy tiles, and flickering fluorescent lights. “Not exactly a royal press conference, but desperate times...” she mused under her breath.
“Are you sure about this, princess?”
Celestia smiled serenely at her beloved student, an action she hoped didn't betray the way her stomach twisted as she gazed into the passionless, empty eye of the camera, odd as it was. Unlike the massive, bulky black boxes she knew, this device stood barely three inches tall, the majority of which was taken up by a tiny plastic pedestal. “Yes, Twilight, we need to allay the fears of the humans somehow, or we will continue to fail like we did in Germany. And they have devised a most wonderful method of mass communication practically waiting for us to use.”
Still, Twilight bit her lip. “I know some might take comfort in what you have to say, but others...”
“Others will not believe me, I understand, but we need every friend we can get right now, and if there's even a chance that just one human out of a thousand will consider that we are on their side, we must take it.”
“Perhaps, but...” she sighed as she made the next connection for the video equipment. “Those humans aren't the ones I'm worried about.”
“Oh?”
“What about the humans like the ones who attacked us in Israel? The ones that will be waiting for us with guns and bombs?” She shot a worried look to Celestia. “Even if we can take them ourselves, we might hurt some, or other humans could get hurt in the crossfire, and no one will listen then.”
“Those won't be anything we haven't overcome already, Twilight. One way or another, our destiny lies in Tokyo, and it's something the whole world should see, or we risk all this having been for naught.” Celestia nodded sagely as she faced the tiny plastic lens. “Are we ready?”
“Yes,” Twilight replied, shifting her focus to the last pair of cables that she slid into place with a couple of satisfying little clicks. She breathed in, and out, moving her hoof with her breath. With a hum of her magic, a few keys depressed themselves on the small ‘laptop’ before her. “Now remember: with the rate at which this video will be distributed, we can expect billions to see it within twenty-four hours, so remain calm, and do your best.”
“I never do anything less, Twilight.”
“I wasn't talking to you,” Twilight replied with a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”
Celestia stared, then let out a melodious little giggle. “Of course, sorry dear Twilight.”
“Okay,” with shaking hooves, Twilight positioned the camera and pressed a last few buttons, just like the “Youtube” video had shown her. “We can always take another video, so just relax...”
“Still you?”
“Still me, sorry,” Twilight's grinned sheepishly before her focus turned back to the whirring screen before her. “And...on in five...four...three...two...one...”
In a flash, a transformation overtook Celestia. Her back straightened, her wings puffed out slightly to increase her size, her chin rose, and her eyes became blank pools of channeled power. This was no longer the pony who joked and laughed with Twilight to calm her just a few moments ago. This was the pony of a thousand press conferences, who’d seen a thousand kings, queens, and tyrants rise and fall in her time. This was the Princess of the Sun.
“Humans of Earth,” Celestia intoned. “My name is Princess Celestia of Equestria, as I am sure you are well aware. I have come to learn about the horrors that have been committed by one who shared my name and wore my face, all under a banner very much like my own. She came under the guise of love and harmony, preaching a word of neverending order and peace, only for you to discover that this peace was meant to come at the price of your very souls.
“Now, another incident has occurred with another world. My world. And you have every right to regard that world with suspicion and hate. You have suffered greatly, humanity. The peoples of your various nations have been kidnapped and tortured, to be replaced with hollow shells of themselves. What's more, your cities have burned. I wept when I first read of the destruction in Tokyo, and I wept further when I heard about the ‘Barrier’ and its effects on cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong. I am not going to pretend that I can ever heal the wounds left by these horrors. I will not insult your intelligence by saying I can somehow remove the pain of losing millions of your fellow citizens. However, I do have a solution that can give back just a modicum of what was taken.
“Odds are by now you have heard of a Newfoal in England whose pre-transformation mind was returned to him. Perhaps you've already heard about the hospitals in Jerusalem where the same happened to entire wards of bedridden patients. While I am not usually one to tout my successes, as I have always believed that true character is what one does without any reward, I will take responsibility here. I have devised an efficient, magic-based method for restoring the human mind within a Newfoal, and while the body remains a pony's, the mind is saved. I hereby pledge this cure to as many Newfoals as possible, and in return I ask for only one thing, something that was violated thoroughly before and which I know I have no right to ask for.
“Your trust.”
At that, the veneer cracked, and Twilight watched a desperate and tired pony approach the camera, eyes begging. “I need your trust, humanity, and I know I have no right to ask for it. But just this once, please, I beg of you, for the good of both our peoples. Please. Tomorrow I, along with my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, will begin our journey to the largest Newfoal population, based in Tokyo. I only ask, no, beg, that our way be cleared. That we be allowed to heal this group. I acknowledge that this would also be a prime opportunity for me to garner an army, but please: isn't it worth the chance? To have what was lost returned? To heal just a bit of the wound left behind?
“I am not the monster you currently have locked away. I only ask for a chance to prove this.” She whispered as she backed away from the camera and returned to sitting just a few yards from its blank, emotionless lens. “Two worlds depend on this, on all of you. I can only hope you make the right choice.
“This is the true Princess Celestia of Equestria, I hope to see some of you there,” she smiled thinly, the faintest sliver of hope showing through her exhaustion. “I would love to meet more of you. Thank you.”
Without being asked, Twilight hit the stop button on the keyboard. She silently smiled, nodding to the princess, and then she went to work, using her magic to begin the upload.
“That was good?” Celestia asked, approaching Twilight with trepidation.
“Yeah,” Twilight sighed, biting her lip as she clicked through the different buttons needed to upload their video. “Okay, so we just need to remain calm and wait, there’s really nothing more we can do but wait and hope we’re welcomed, so we just need to remain calm…”
A large, white wing fanned over Twilight’s withers. “You’re still not talking to me, are you?” Celestia cooed.
Twilight cringed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”