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// 22 - Unlimited Power 
// Story: Universal Language 
// by David Silver 
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President Wilson sat at his desk, considering the fruits of the UN's labors over the past few weeks. They had spent hours debating what they would require of themselves as a species, what their baseline for 'sapience' was. Some of the rules he had brought from Twilight had brought nothing but arguments in return. To be honest, all of them had.

Still, at least people were arguing, and talking. He sank his heavy head against a supporting hand. "There are going to be so many controversies on this." He reached for the remote, flipping on the screen for some background noise. "My PR team is going to hate me for this." He was about to call up an assistant when the display suddenly changed.

Twilight was there, smiling at him. "I hope this isn't a bad time, but I come bearing gifts!" She flapped her wings, vibrating like an eager child. "And I think you're going to like it."

Wilson sat back and indicated she could speak. "What's this about, Twilight?"

Twilight turned away, gesturing at a device she had placed off screen. It took a moment for it to start working, projecting an image of Earth, rendered in beautiful color as she tapped her hoof against the back of her other. "I mentioned before that I have come to stop humanity from destroying itself, and you didn't believe me." She inclined her head. "That's not quite right. You didn't have faith in me, in my ability to make a meaningful difference."

Wilson shuffled, sitting up and leaning forward a little as Twilight spoke. "And you've arranged a demonstration? That would be lovely, Twilight, but you've told us several times that we were on a path to destruction. I assume it will take some time to find the path out of it, yes?"

Twilight perked up and swung a hoof through the image of the planet. "For an enduring fix, of course. But, right now, you need something you can use to push you away from that. I want to make your life better, all of you." She spread her hooves. "All of humanity. I want to be seen as a kind force, not just a scowling one. I want you all to succeed." She coughed into a hoof. "So! I did an examination of your own media on the things troubling you and ran the numbers. A lot of it comes down to distribution, but addressing that, quickly, is beyond my power. That is a human problem, to be fixed by humans. However!"

She held a hoof up. "I found some things you need! Some immediate help." She gestured at the screen again. "You constantly struggle to address your energy needs. Many of your wars concern energy and its sources. You've even managed to turn energy into a weapon at times." She tapped at her chin. "Please stop that. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'd be lying if I claimed I never turned energy into a weapon before." She colored at the admission. "But I'd rather not dwell on the past. Instead, let's talk about how much better your world would be with unlimited energy."

Wilson rubbed his hands together slowly. "A bold claim, Miss Sparkle. Many men have made it before, usually offering nothing but crazed ideas or attempting to fool their fellows. I trust you're aware of that. What do you have to display?"

Twilight snorted once and reared up to tap the image of the planet again. "You have an amazing planet here, Mister President. So much variety in geography, and so much potential. My proposal involves you damaging it less, not out of love, but because you simply don't have to."

She leaned in suddenly. "This will anger some of you." She sighed deeply at that. "Every action I consider will leave some of you very very angry. Your 'fossil fuel' industry will collapse. They will have strong words, and attempt legislative pressure to avoid their demise." She rose a hoof. "Besides that, your grids, globally, are in terrible shape. The ones in America are better, on average, but not what I'd call ideal. So, before I toss this to you and expect it to make things better on its own, can I get an assurance that this will be addressed?"

Twilight paused with a thoughtful expression. "We can start with your nation. Asking you to fix the entire globe's grid before I move is unreasonable." She tapped at some large buttons, her magic tapping at smaller ones. "I'm sending down the specifications. When your grid can handle a source of this magnitude, I will furnish it."

Wilson nodded slowly at that, smiling a little more broadly than he had in the last few weeks. "You have a deal, Twilight Sparkle." He glanced at the printout and sighed heavily. "Oh boy. What a job we have before us." Some parts of the country were closer, even exceeding the required numbers, but many parts were below. "If I may ask, what is the source of this power? All power comes from something."

Twilight chuckled once, her eyes narrowing as she did so. "Only a very small fraction of power comes from sunlight, Mister President. I will not disclose the rest, but I will tell you that the amount produced is constant, unlimited, and comes without consequence." She rolled a hoof at the camera. "At least, not without any consequence you could conceivably measure within the timeframe that your planet remains in existence. Not a perfect solution, no, but nothing is, and this one would help significantly."

Wilson bowed his head at that. "That is fair. If it is what you are offering, then I can say with confidence that it will change the world, for the better."

Twilight flashed a bright smile at that. "That is what I'm hoping for. If your country can make good use of it, then your neighbors—" Her eyes darted to the global map. "Canada and Mexico? They should be provided the numbers, and we can connect them next. Ideally, the entire world would, eventually, be connected, and the want for power would become a distant past nightmare. Isn't that wonderful?"

Wilson nodded once. "I believe it is. Thank you, Twilight." He pressed his fingers together. "Now, all that is left is to convince the many, many others who will not like this." He raised a hand at Twilight. "That's my job. Thank you, Twilight. You've given us plenty to work on."

"With pleasure." Her face vanished from the screen.

He stared at it for a moment longer before touching a button and bringing up another image, showing his chief of staff, Margaret Thompson. She looked weary, as if she'd been up for several nights in a row, working without sleep to fulfill her duties. "I have good news, delivered directly from the hooves of those that have put those bags under your eyes."

She tilted her head aside, a brief smile crossing her lips before she set back to neutral. "What have they come up with now?"

"Energy." Wilson set his hands on his desk, leaning on them as he straightened his posture. "I'm going to be honest, Maggie. It's a dream come true, and it's going to have the people crying up a storm."

Margeret chuckled at the sound of things. "That's been Twilight's offerings so far, hasn't it? Bitter medicine, but it could cure you." She sank into a seat. "Alright, what is she offering today? A promise not to ever hurt puppies? Free pie for everyone?"

Wilson pressed his fingers together and nodded gently as he thought over Margaret's words. "Not quite." He smiled. "We will never run out of energy again."

Margaret scoffed. "Ah, the old 'I'm going to use magic to turn sunlight into useful electricity!'" She shrugged gently. "Solar is making advances, I shouldn't laugh too much at it, but it doesn't make the problem vanish, Sir."

Wilson gestured with a hand. "Well, you're half right. She isn't using magic. She's offering us a new power source that has no limitations." He nodded once to reinforce his point. "No limits, Maggie."

Margaret couldn't seem to hold herself still any longer. "It's impossible. I'm no science major, but things come from other things, Sir. Where is this boundless power coming from?"

"Not from the sun." Wilson shook his head gently. "I did ask, Margaret, but she was very vague on how it worked, or what it even was. She simply says that it's going to work, and if we meet her criteria, then she'll send us the necessary parts for it to function. All she wants is for our grid to be able to handle it without exploding. A small request. But that won't stop it from being one of the biggest announcements of my career."

Margaret breathed out slowly, struggling to contain herself. "Energy." She picked up a pencil and rolled it between her fingers. "If she could really do that, I'd call it her best yet. Finally, a request that doesn't involve changing how people think. Alright, about everyone likes the idea of cheap energy. Except the ones selling the energy."

Wilson smiled calculatingly at that. "I was hoping you'd catch that before I said it. We can expect every energy company on the planet to rail against this the moment word gets out." He breathed in through his nose, sighing out his mouth as he thought through the future. "We're going to be facing such pushback. We can't let this out before we're ready. Which means." He held up a finger. "We have to improve the grid for no reason."

Margaret took out her own pen and made a note on her desk. "Right, okay. We can sell that." She nodded to herself as she spoke, murmuring words as she worked out a plan. "Lighting it up as an energy bill reform to improve efficiency and decrease carbon emissions, also making us more able to weather climate change. Yes, we can spin that." She scribbled more furiously as she worked. "I'll get this handled. We'll have the release ready."

Wilson reached for the button. "I knew you could handle this. Glad to have you." He pressed it, ending the call. It wasn't a lie, Margaret had been a strong force on his side, helping him get through several tough spots in his political career. "But now for the hard part." He rolled his shoulders and reached for his own writing implement.

He had his own words to say to the public about where their tax dollars were going.