//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: A Friendship Broadcast! // Story: Starlight Glimmer's First Student: A "Human"?! // by Clockwork2003 //------------------------------// I found that coffee with Bon Bon was quite productive. We discussed many different topics relating to education, pedagogy, and Friendship. I think I am more knowledgeable now in all of these fields. More importantly, my rider is having fun flying home with me! Even though the weather is hazy and gross, I feel calm and at ease, knowing that Noah is on my back. Every now and then, I nudge him with my wing, just to make sure he’s still paying attention to the skies. I don’t want him to steer me into a rock by accident! I think I have an idea of what we should do next. My plan is to learn how to use Earth’s “social media” to advertise our School of Friendship to a wider audience. While Princess Twilight did send out official statements to human governments, we still need to reach out to the common folk! How else are we going to admit students to our school? I don’t know how to use any human technology, but I have a feeling my student and rider might know a thing or two. I might as well just ask him? “So, Noah. Rebecca and Trixie are working on communications with Princess Twilight, and your mom and Bon Bon are working on pedagogy. Maybe you can teach me how to use some human technology so we can do some public relations on Earth?” I ask my rider, who takes a minute to think about my question.  “That sounds like something my sister would be good at, Glimmy. I am not a PR person, but I guess I might need to learn how to be one if I am your Rider of Justice!” He promptly replies. Noah has a good point. He’s rather monotone and boring when it comes to speaking to creatures; although he’s less so when talking to me. “You don’t have to do all the talking, Noah. Just set up a magical broadcast through the Mirror’s frequencies, and I’ll give my pitch to your planet! We need to pick the best and brightest students to teach Friendship to!” I kindly remind him, banking slightly to the left. We’re approaching Twilight’s castle, and I see a mulberry beacon of magic alit in front of me. I guess Twilight’s been helpful since the fog is very thick and palpable today? “Over here, Starlight. Land on my perch, don’t crash into the crystal walls!” Twilight shouts, using a vocal augmentation spell to make her voice heard some few hundred meters away. Noah taps my sides, and I begin my descent. I have to say, in only a week I am quite pleased with how much chemistry I’ve built with the human. I know that we’re fused permanently now, but it’s good to see that it’s not just our souls that match, but our minds. I was going to descend, just as he steered me! “So, Starlight. What would you like to discuss on your Friendship Broadcast to Earth?” my rider asks me. I nudged him with my left wing, urging him to be quiet for a moment. “I don’t want to botch the landing, sweetheart. Let your steed land on the castle, and then we can chat. The last thing I want is for the two of us to faceplant into pure crystal walls!” That promptly shut my rider up! I still think that I need to learn how to fly properly. Flattening out my wings with only a few meters left, I light up my landing spot with magic; piercing the thick fog over Equestria. Twilight waves her front hooves, giving us further directions to land. I finally make contact with the castle’s perch, and Noah and I both sigh. My rider pets my neck affectionately with praise. “Good landing, Starlight! You’re awesome!” He says, thanking me for carrying him home. Noah takes a minute to adjust my saddlebag before dismounting. He noticed my primary feathers were stuck in the clips! That’s not good. I could have hurt myself like that! “Good catch, Noah!” I say, patting my rider on the head with my front hoof, now that he’s on solid ground. Noah takes an extra minute to remove and safely store my bridle, putting it into my saddlebag.  “What do you want me to do with the saddle?” Noah asks me, unsure of where to store it. My horn flashes and the saddle disappears!  “I just zapped it to our apartment in Ponyville, Noah. Now, the two of us need to follow the Friendship Pony. I am sure Twilight has plenty of information to share with us, now that we’re back!” I say, Twilight leading the way towards the Cutie Map room. Noah and I walk together, while Twilight smiles at us. Oh, thank Celestia! The fog was really starting to grind at my nerves! Now my visibility is much better, and I don’t have to worry about two creatures’ safety anymore! Twilight smiles at me, clearly pleased about something that she did while I took my rider out at Sugarcube Corner. Finally making our way back to the room with the Cutie Map, we each sit down on one of the stone thrones. Noah and I obviously sit next to each other, while Twilight sits in the chief position, matching her Element of Magic! “You really like him, don’t you?” She coos, smiling at the fact her first student made a friend. “Yeah, I do. He’s a keeper.” I chortle. Twilight quickly snaps out of it, tapping her hoof on the table. “Okay, playtime’s over. We need full Princess of Justice attention right now. Let’s get started!” She exclaims, bringing our meeting to order. I notice that Twilight is pleased about something, so I ask her what’s up. “So, Princess Twilight. You seem happy about something. What fun magical thing did you come up with while I was out on Princess duties?” I ask my teacher. She chuckles, before casting a spell putting a notebook into my rider’s hands. “Noah, open his notebook to page 10. I think you’ll like what your sister and Trixie came up with for a speech!” She says. Noah manually opens the notebook, while the pages translate into his human language. To be honest, I am surprised the magic still does that for him. You’d think a wunderkind like Noah would have picked up Common Ponish by now? Maybe oral language and literacy are different? Looking at the tenth page, my student carefully scrutinizes the contents, before handing me the notebook, with a wide grin on his face. “I guess Trixie is a Great and Powerful Writer, too! Not just a showpony!” He chortles. Now, it’s my turn to look at what they came up with! *** I have a secret. I’ve always liked horses as a little girl. I’ve wanted to have a pet pony since I was maybe four or five years old, and I loved going to the farm in the country during the summer! Mom told me that I should grow out of it around the time I was eight or nine, but I’ve always still enjoyed reading about them! I think it’s because I am an animal person, or maybe because focusing on something that’s not my pain-in-the-neck brother puts me at ease? This equine fascination of mine as a youngster makes my current situation all the more amusing. I am in a world inhabited by sentient horses. Some of them can fly, some of them can cast magic, and I am riding a unicorn! She’s a bit of an extrovert, but I think her heart is in the right place. She’s full of energy, that’s for sure! “Trixie is having so much fun with you as her rider! Can she do this again sometime?” The blue magician pony asks me, as we finally make our way to a medium-sized trailer. This trailer looks like something that a circus performer would use to store their wares before an act. Does Trixie live here? “I don’t see why not. I find you to be quite fun to be around!” I reply, making the unicorn turn her head back towards me with a smile. “Thank you so much, Rebecca! Trixie enjoys spending time with you. Now, hop off her Great and Powerful back, and show me your “social media” talents!” Trixie kindly asks me. Once the unicorn came to a complete stop, I lifted my left foot over Trixie’s saddle, and carefully climbed down. The unicorn sighs once I am on the ground, and she stands still like a dope, waiting for something. “Can, can you help Trixie remove her bridle? She doesn’t have opposable hooves!” The unicorn asks me. I am really a dope! I forgot to help her with that. I assist the unicorn in removing her bridle, but she’s a bit tense in the jaw. “I need you to open your mouth, Trixie. I can’t take the bit out if you’re clenching your teeth.” I remind her, as the unicorn finally lets go of the bit. It’s all covered in unicorn saliva! Gross! I drop it on the floor mat of the trailer, wincing at the slimy substance I was unfortunate enough to have touched. Trixie looks at me and laughs. “Silly human girl! Trixie should have warned you she has a lot of spittle. It’s no big deal. Trixie has a sink in her trailer. You can go wash up inside!” She says. Her horn lights up, and the purple wooden door of the trailer opens, thanks to the use of magic. I still need to wrap my human head around how much power these ponies have. Noah and I are very lucky that Equestria is a benevolent civilization that seeks to aid others. Imagine what calamities could be brought to other worlds if these ponies were evil! I let the blue unicorn enter the trailer first before I come inside. The door automatically closes behind me. I have to be honest, the trailer is a complete mess! There are scrolls, books, and objects thrown around the trailer, and I have trouble even walking through. This place is a sty! Hell, even my older brother’s room is tidier than this, and he’s not good at cleaning! I keep my thoughts to myself, as Trixie sits on the pink sofa opposite the window. “Sit, Rebecca. Trixie can give you writing advice while we relax! If you want a snack, Trixie has chocolate chip cookies!” Chocolate chip cookies? MMM! I love cookies! I carefully make my way across the messy living room towards the sofa, sitting down next to the unicorn mare. I remember that Twilight gave me a notebook and a pen, and I quickly took it out of my sweater pocket. With a flash of her horn, two rather large chocolate chip cookies levitate across the trailer from the kitchenette, floating in front of us. I had to do a double-take for a second, wondering if there were hidden strings or anything! It’s awesome! “Take a cookie, Rebecca. Trixie is happy to share! They are nut-free! Trixie is allergic to tree nuts, so she’s VERY careful about what baked goods she makes and buys.” The showpony says, grabbing the left cookie with her front hooves. She slowly nibbles away at it, while I grab the remaining cookie. Trixie’s horn deactivates, and the cookie feels a bit heavier. I guess the spell made the cookies float in the air? “It’s funny, actually. Noah has a tree nut allergy, too!” I say, cautiously taking a bite of the pony’s cookie. It’s…it’s amazing! So chocolatey, with the right balance of chewy and crunchy! My mouth is flooded with cookie flavors, and Trixie looks at me with a genial smile. “Trixie is glad you like her cookies. She made them herself!” Once Trixie finishes her cookie, she grabs my notebook and pen with her hooves and starts scribbling away. “Give Trixie the first draft of this address, and you can proofread! Trixie can be a Great and Powerful writer, too!” She says, her horn making the pen write away at a ludicrous pace. I see line after line of text being written at breakneck speed, and I am truly astonished! I can write a good essay in school, but not that fast! I don’t think it took more than ninety seconds for Trixie to finish before she handed me back the notebook! Ponies are crazy! “Here you go, Communications Director. Look it over, and tell Trixie what you think!” She says as I receive the aforementioned notebook.  I look at the first line, and I can’t read it! Quickly scanning the rest of what she wrote, everything is in an illegible script, and I can’t even begin to decipher what Trixie was trying to convey! I guess this is a good time to learn that ponies have a written language! The real question is: can Trixie translate this into English? I saw Starlight cast a spell earlier when she was with my brother, and the pages turned into English in an instant. “Trixie, I am sure you did great with your speech, but…It’s not in English!” I say, trying to hide a playful chuckle. Trixie’s maw drops, and she quickly grabs the green notebook back into her hooves.  “Trixie is so sorry for forgetting to cast the Universal Translation Spell, Rebecca. Give Trixie ten seconds!” Her horn flashes violently blue, and the notebook begins to levitate in the air. I see the words she wrote literally lift off the page, and begin to transform. Slowly but surely, I see the illegible script changing into Latin characters, and I spot a few English words here and there. The words return to their rightful place on the notebook’s pages, and it gently floats into my hands. “There you go! One Universal Translation Spell, free of charge!” Trixie says, laughing at herself. I quickly comb through the speech a second time, and I am relieved to see English words and phrases grace my eyesight. I take a few quick minutes to go over everything, writing little footnotes and annotations where things needed to be fixed, and I return the notebook to Trixie. “You did a pretty good job with that address, but I am not sure humans will know what a “Cutie Map” is. I replaced that term with “magical technology.” There were a few spelling mistakes and whatnot, but you’re a pretty solid writer! I should know, I have a 4.0 GPA!” I say, giving off a small “humblebrag”. Trixie looks over my corrections, and she smiles. “Good job, Rebecca! Trixie needs to UniPhone this data to Twilight ASAP, and then we’ll ride over there for the broadcast!” Trixie says, quickly lighting up her horn once more. I don’t know what a UniPhone is, but I can infer that it’s probably something along the lines of a phone/fax system that unicorns can use to relay calls and data? Trixie’s blue horn begins to flash in short and long sequences, kind of like Morse Code, but for ponies. She does this for some five minutes or so before her horn goes dormant. “Ta-da! Trixie sent your Great and Powerful Address to the Castle of Friendship. Saddle Trixie up again, Rebecca, we need to audit a speech!” Trixie says, quickly jumping up from her spot on the sofa, and using magic to gravitate her saddle and bridle closer to us. “Trixie can put the saddle on, you just need to wait until Trixie’s maw is ready to open. Got it?” She says, fumbling with the saddle’s straps. Once she is all said and done with that. I carefully examine Trixie’s bridle. I am quite pleased that it’s no longer covered in slobber, so it’s not gross to touch. Trixie opens her mouth, and I slowly but surely put the bit inside, making sure the unicorn is not in any pain while I am doing so. A good minute or so later, she’s all set to go! I get up from the sofa, and the two of us walk towards the door of the trailer. I was moments away from climbing aboard the magician pony, but she gave me a hug, instead! I am a bit startled by this, and I wonder what’s gotten into her Great and Powerful Mind? “Trixie is very happy to have you, Rebecca. Before Noah came, Trixie’s only Friend was Starlight Glimmer, and even then, we didn’t get along that well. Now, she has you, her “rider” to keep Trixie company! Thank you, so much!” Maybe spending so much time with my special-needs brother made me more empathetic? I tend to gravitate towards things that can help others, so entertaining an egotistical, third-person speaking pony is child’s play! “No problem, Trixie. I don’t know where this Castle of Friendship is, so I am trusting you to take us both there. Got it?” I ask. Trixie lets go from her hut and playfully salutes me with her front right hoof. “Yes, ma’am! Hop on! The Trixie Express will take you to see your brother and his friends!” She says, giving me ample space to mount the pony. Gently placing my hands on her cerulean saddle, I put my right foot into her stirrup and hoist myself up onto the unicorn. It’s quite convenient that all of the ponies I’ve met so far are as tall as horses, if not a wee bit taller! Trixie’s as tall as the Clydesdale horse I used to ride as a little girl! Trixie casts another spell, placing the reins in my hands, as she opens the door with her front hoof and slowly trots outside. It’s still quite foggy. “Want to see something cool, “rider?” Trixie asks me, her head cocked backward to see my reaction. I nod, and her horn flashes incredibly bright, but thankfully not enough to blind me! “Unicorn Beacon! Cuts through the fog like cake! Isn’t that cool?” She chuckles, happy to see her magic tricks are making me happy. I nod, and firmly spur Trixie, quite eager to go. “Indeed, it is cool, HYAH! Let’s go, girl!” Trixie wasn’t expecting that, but she gave me a smile at the playful command. “Ooh, do that again! Trixie likes a massage, but not now. Let’s go!” I flick the bridle, and the two of us gallop off rather quickly towards Twilight’s Friendship Castle. I wonder what my brother and Starlight are up to right now? *** I am horrible at writing a speech. I actually didn’t know that my sister could write a speech! It’s really good, like, really good! Starlight and I are both extremely impressed, and even Twilight likes it. “I know you’ve said before that humans are not the smartest creatures, Noah, but your sister can write!” Twilight says, quickly scanning over the speech one more time.  “Yeah, she can; but that doesn’t answer the question of how exactly we’re going to broadcast a speech across multiple worlds?! I ask, not sure how this feat can even be possible, magic or otherwise. Twilight sticks her tongue out at me and smiles. “Why do you think I’m here, dingus? This is my cup of tea!” Twilight says, quickly dragging the Mirror Portal over towards the table with her magical grasp. Casting yet another spell, some of the pink magic from the mirror is then shunted inside my sister’s phone, which she left here by mistake. A new app appears on it, with Twilight’s Cutie Mark as the icon. “You can broadcast the speech on this phone, and it will send across the mirror with my magic enhancing the technology. Just wait for your sister and Trixie to come back, because I am going to need somecreature to help me with my press stuff once this is all sorted out.” Twilight says, quickly going over her section of the speech, before giving the notebook back to Starlight. “This is your event, Glimmer, don’t buck it up!” Twilight says, quite nervous about the broadcast that is to come. Starlight and I get up from our chairs, and I could have sworn that I saw a beacon of blue light piercing through the fog outside the window. “Starlight. Do you see that?” I ask my marefriend, who quickly trots over to the window. She looks at the beacon and points. “It’s your sister riding Trixie! They’re back for the broadcast! I wonder what took them so long!” Starlight says, as she quickly flies over to Twilight, alerting her of the showmare’s imminent arrival. “Sweet Celestia! They’re back already! GUARDS! OPEN THE DRAWBRIDGE! TRIXIE IS ALLOWED IN WITH HER RIDER. THIS IS AN ORDER!” Twilight screams from the rafters, as a pegasus guard who’s standing at the edge of the room salutes the monarch, before flying off towards the sentrypony. “They’re new. Don’t be mad at them. I tried to give everypony who wanted a job here a spot.” Twilight blushed. I hear the grinding of gears, and I assume that’s the drawbridge coming down. Starlight looks at me and gives me a big kiss on the lips. “We’re here today because of you, stud. You know that, right? We wouldn’t have even gotten a School of Friendship had you not shown your willingness to push past your differences to be a kind human.” She goes in for the hug, wings embracing me. Just to make things even better, this is the exact moment Trixie and my sister arrive in the room with the Cutie Map and my sister gags; quite loudly at that. “Ew. Kissing a horse. Do that when I’m not watching.” She says, petting Trixie with affection. The showmare seems to like this, and she’s shaking her mane in bliss. “Ahh, you’re nice, Rebecca” Trixie mewls, as Starlight finally lets go of me. She casts a quick spell, and hands my sister’s phone back to her. “Twilight cast a spell on this thing, making it possible to broadcast across both worlds. Look for the app with Twilight’s Cutie Mark!” Starlight says, pointing towards her own butt, reminding Rebecca what a Cutie Mark is. “Right, on it!” She says, quickly loading up the app, prepping the camera for the speech that is moments away.  I am quite happy that I don’t have a role in this address. I’ve always hated public speaking because I always have to read the audience. Whenever I have to say something, it sounds like I am reading from a teleprompter, rather than giving a proper address. It’s totally unprofessional! Twilight goes over her notes one more time, before trotting over to us. “Okay. Here’s what I want everycreature to do. Noah, sit tight and make sure you don’t say anything stupid. Wave for the camera when I give you the cue, but that’s it. You gave your speech already, this is about Public Relations. I’ll go first, introducing ponykind to humanity, and then your lovely marefriend will divulge the lovely details regarding the School of Friendship. Trixie and your sister will be on standby for transcribing. Got it?” Twilight says, trotting over in front of the Mirror Portal. She takes a deep breath, a bit nervous to present her case to humanity.  Meanwhile, my sister takes out her phone and opens the new, magically enhanced application that Twilight installed for her. She scrolls on her phone for a bit, learning how to use the app, and quickly learns how to use it. “Ready when you are, Twilight!” My sister says, quite excited to be a part of both human and pony history. I don’t blame her. This is the first official broadcast from an alien race to Earth, and they aren’t invading! Starlight gives me another kiss on the cheek, whispering “wish me luck!” into my ear. I scratch my mare behind the ear, encouraging her and calming Starlight down. She slowly walks towards Twilight, who then lights up her horn. “Everypony, this is the first live broadcast to an alien civilization in both of our race’s histories. I trust everycreature here will treat this auspicious event with the awe and reverence that it deserves. We’re going to bring Friendship, Equestria-style, to Earth! Rebecca, are you ready to film?” Twilight says, excited the most out of all of us; my marefriend being a close second. This is her first real Princess of Justice gig, after all! My sister nods, giving Twilight a thumbs up. “Rolling in three, two, one!” Rebecca taps “record” on her phone, and the phone begins to levitate in the air, thanks to the magical enhancements! Twilight and Starlight look quite regal standing in front of the Mirror Portal, and it reminds me a bit of when the President of the United States gives an address in front of the Oval Office. Quite an auspicious event, indeed! Clearing her throat, Twilight begins: “Hello everycreature on Earth! My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’m the Princess of Friendship. On my left is my fellow Princess Starlight Glimmer, who’s the Princess of Justice. Today we’re going to tell you how we’re going to bring Friendship into your lives!”