3/19/14 Washington D.C., Earth 3:00 PM
Gavin was busy manning his camera. Originally from Greece, he was excited to have been hired by CNN as a videographer. “Any idea what this is about Kioni?” He asked the reporter standing next to him. He kept the camera pointed on the podium that held the seal of the White House, waiting for the President of the United States to come out and give her speech.
“Just as much as you do.” Kioni replied. Her chocolate skin standing out against her white and grey outfit. “The White House has kept a tight lid on it.” She thought for a moment. “Although…there have been rumors that they sent a few messages last week to their allies.”
“Great!” Gavin exclaimed. “So then you do know what it’s about. Those people couldn’t keep a secret to save their lives.” He turned to her and grinned. “Soooo?”
“Not a peep.” Kioni replied, exasperated. “Somehow, whatever this is for, no one is saying a word.” Even though this press release has been scheduled for the past month; what the hell does ‘world changing’ even mean? “Quick! Here she comes!”
Gavin quickly manned his camera, zooming in on the President’s aged face.
“Now we can find out who this ‘Special Guest’ is.” Kioni was ready to get this mystery unraveled. Maybe it has to do with the renewed negotiations with Russia.
President Tow emerged onto the stage, heels lightly stepping on the blue carpet, she lightly smiled as the cameras all turned onto her and she was temporarily blinded by all the lights. She scanned the crowd of cameras and reporters, seeing all of the major networks and several of the smaller ones, and one or two she wished hadn’t shown up. I wonder, how much has been leaked already? Tow contemplated as she stepped up to the podium. Not even the tabloids would believe this one.
“Citizens of the United States and of the World. Many new types of life have been discovered recently, from the first evidence of life on Mars to an ‘alien’ life discovered in Antarctica. These new bacterium give us an insightful look into how the universe works. I come here today to present you with amazing news. A new form of life has been discovered, sentient life.”
The president was drowned out by the sudden roar from the crowd of reporters asking questions. “Does this have anything to do with the movements of troops to Area 51?” “What are these new life forms?” “Are they friendly?” “What kind of threat do they pose?” “How long has the government known?” “Where did they come from?”
“Please save your questions until the end. There is still a lot of information to cover. Thank You.” President Tow informed them through the myriad of microphones on her podium.
As the room slowly quieted down, President Tow resumed her speech. “On December 21st of the year before last, an accident occurred while trying to figure out the mysteries of certain subatomic particles. And while their lives may have been lost, they created something no one could have expected. An anomaly was formed that has connected Earth to another planet called Equestria.” The President had to be quiet through another storm of questions. “If you will please simply wait. An expert will be out shortly that can answer more of your questions about this new life form.”
As the noise quieted for a second time, Tow smiled inwardly. So far, so good. Their questions and reactions are mostly curious and positive. “As of April of last year, we have sent delegates to this planet to open up peaceful relations. Official diplomatic relations have been ongoing since July of last year. Twin embassies have been set up and they officially open today. The Equestrian Embassy is located on Groom Lake Nevada, with ours just on the other side of the portal.” The whole time murmurs were going through the room of reporters.
The President of the United States took a careful look around the room. “This is a wonderful time for us to grow and expand among the stars; opening peaceful relations with the other civilizations that we meet. And without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Princess Celestia ruler and leader of Equestria.” She said, using her right arm to indicate offstage where the princess would be coming from.
The reporters all looked to the left of the stage at the President’s indication. Kioni dropped her microphone upon seeing the creature that slowly stepped out on stage. The first thing she noticed was the height of the creature, with the horn it was about seven feet tall and despite the dead air in the meeting hall her tricolor pastel hair was still blowing as if she had a fan with her. The ‘unicorn’ wasn’t naked either, it wore a crown and a golden necklace, with each hoof in a golden ‘boot’. The four hooves making soft clopping sounds on the carpet. The fur was a shade of white that practically glowed in the harsh stage lighting. A stylized image of the sun stood out on its rump. The creature seemed to walk regally across the stage, as if this act were well performed.
It’s a…horse… Kioni just couldn’t wrap her mind around this. This must be a joke, some sort of leverage to gain on China or North Korea. Some sort of genetics experiment. It had to be. ”Keep the camera focused on that thing; if it so much as farts I want to know about it.”
“Yes ma’am.” Gavin replied, too focused on his job to really listen to her; already knowing his job.
As the alien walked towards the stage, every person in the crown just got quieter. When it was a few feet from the podium, Kioni noticed something else. “Gavin, focus on the sides, it has wings.”
Gavin quickly zoomed in; the white glow of the creature’s coat obscured the fact that it had folded wings at the sides.
“What the hell is that?” Kioni ran through a list of possibilities of what it could be and kept running into human mythology.
If it was quiet before; when the creature started talking the entire place went deathly still.
Celestia walked quietly across the stage, placing each step carefully. She almost tripped as an errant thought ran through her mind. The last time I did something like this was for the introduction of the Griffon kingdoms. Just before that happened. A memory passed through her mind unbidden:
Blood soaked the battlefield; the bodies of downed guards mingled with those of the griffons. That was the first ‘battle’ and the start of the conscription of the guard. She slowly walked through the canyon. ‘How did this happen?’ she asked one of the remaining guards, irate. But before the guard could answer, a loud crack could be heard from above and large rocks began to fall towards the ponies.
Celestia banished the memory, it wouldn’t help now, and these were a different species. The hall was completely silent; Celestia could feel the eyes and the cameras all focused on her, waiting. What are they thinking of me? She wondered, but before Celestia knew it, she had reached the podium. The President’s idea does make some sense. Celestia reminded herself. She couldn’t count on them always being allies, but on this their goal were aligned.
Celestia settled herself behind the podium, ready to use the unfamiliar technology. “Good Morning Citizens of this fine country and this fine world.” She was not surprised as the room became even quieter. Unlike Equestria, this planet only had one intelligent species. “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria and I am pleased to officially open diplomatic relations. May the friendship between our two species grow and last 1000 years.” Her voice would have carried through the entire room even without the microphones, her serene and regal voice passing easily through the still crowd. “We have already made great gains towards such a goal, with twin embassies and the trade of ideas is already in motion.”
Celestia looked over to the side of the stage, where the President was waiting for her cue to come back on stage. “I believe your President has a presentation for you, a brief glimpse of Equestrian culture and history. And afterwards there will be a small packet of information to take back with you to help with the formulation of questions to ask.” The Princess of Equestria bowed her head slightly and walked off stage as a small white screen slowly descended in front of the podium.
Across the world, televisions were on their owner’s favorite news outlet. With social media, reports of humanities first encounter with nonterrestrial life had spread like wildfire; the different news agencies were doing all they could to get their own share of the market by one upping each other. More than one reporter could be heard to utter “Thank God for that presentation or there would be nothing to go off of.”
It came down to a race as to who could read through the information the fastest, and in the long run as to who had the most accurate analysis. The information only went back a thousand years to something called Discord followed by The NightMare; which was just one point of conjecture.
“I’m telling you that one had to happen right after the other.”
“Why? Because they both happened 1,000 years ago? Time gets lost in the history.”
“Their ruler is over 1,000 years old, surely she would remember.”
“Show me proof that she’s really that old. One scrap of evidence. The title of Princess is most likely just passed down from teacher to student along with whatever magic changes their bodies to look like that.”
Most of the broadcasters tried to remain impartial and stuck with information from their briefings. Many of the networks were already sending in countless requests for information and chances to interview any of the ponies in charge and were kissing ass to be the first network to get a reporter on the other side of the portal. One network had gone so far as to say how Equestria was a utopian society with no class structure and hardly ever any conflict.
The requests for information were sent to: the office of the White House to be answered by any of a number of flunkies that had knowledge on the matter, or they were sent to Rarity or Celestia at the Equestrian Embassy, or they were sent to both. A few networks started digging into what personnel were sent over and delegated countless staff into interviewing them on ‘what it was like on the other side’ and more than one sent requests to the American Embassy in Equestria which were first screened out and put into the piles for the White House.
“Good Evening America. This is Edward Lee and we have a special report for you tonight. Equestria, why they are a threat.” A genteel looking man stared into the camera as he spoke. The grey hair on either side of his head contrasted with the black of the rest of his hair and gave him a look of authority. The slight roundness of his face making him look trustworthy. “I will report the facts that the Tow Administration doesn’t want known and the secrets that Princess Celestia is trying to hide.”
“This information comes from an informant on the inside. And later I will interview Senator Steven Brent on his involvement in the first alien negotiations.” Mr. Lee looked into the camera like wise counsel, to convince people of his convictions.
“Magical colorful ponies. No this is not the premise for some little girls; this is real life. But don’t let this lull you into a sense of safety. They have already cost us the life of three Americans, one of whom was in the Marines. But they don’t want to tell you about that. They won’t tell you that what caused the portal to form in the first place was the equivalent of two children trying to cast magic; maybe even a demon. And, this Administration is fine just letting their leader who can supposedly control the sun onto Earth. We don’t even know how their magic works yet.”
“’But that’s only two deaths you are saying’, but two should be more than enough. Instead, when a marine gets lost in the woods on their planet, they won’t help form a rescue and refuse to let our marines use weapons to try and rescue him. So instead he dies to a bunch of wolves. What kind of death is that for someone who bravely served our country? That doesn’t sound very helpful or nice to me.”
“If that isn’t enough,” Lee slammed his fist on the desk to emphasize his point. “They sold Area 51 to a bunch of aliens. They sold US territory in a restricted area to creatures we barely know!”
“But let’s get beyond that and into their political system. A system that is rare in any civilized country. They don’t have a democracy; what they have is reminiscent of Lenin. What these ‘great’ ponies have is a dictatorship. They may call themselves “princesses’ but that is just a way to disguise and deceive others. They make all of the decisions based upon their whim. Their ‘loyal subjects’ don’t even get a say in the matter. Their word is law on all matters. You will notice that I said they; that is because there is a second ‘princess’ and it’s, guess what, Celestia’s sister. We are told that one serves at night and the other during the day. That must be so they can keep a constant watch, because let’s face it, you only do that if you don’t trust your own people.”
“And, in case you were wondering, nobody voted them into power, they elected themselves into power. They took it from the previous ruler, a creature called ‘Discord’ and then villainized him to make their own power grab seem benevolent. And yes, according to my sources, they have been doing this for over a thousand years. Whether these two are naturally that long lived or if it’s just a passing of power, we don’t know yet. But they make sure to keep up the appearance of immortality either way.”
“’But, they don’t have racism, look at all the species’ you might then say. But that too is a lie. The three species are in fact social roles and dictate what the ponies are ‘destined’ for, with the unicorns becoming the elite of their society and the regular ones becoming farmers and manual laborers. And, if you look at a book of intelligent species native to their country, the only ones given any rights are the ponies. Any other creature they see they treat with fear and hatred or steal their land.”
“But enough of what will be common knowledge soon enough. Let’s bring out our esteemed guest, Senator Steven Brent.” At the utterance of the Senator’s name, loud applause filled the empty studio through speakers in the ceiling. One camera turned left to follow Brent as he joined Lee.
“Thank you for having me on the show tonight.” Senator Stevens greeted his host.
“And thank you for making the time to see us on such short notice.” Lee responded. “So, what kind of information do you have for the American people?”
“The first thing they should know is that this administration has known since April of last year that extraterrestrial life existed through that portal. They even thought it could have been a threat when it was created four months earlier. But, they never once felt the need to tell the American people that a threat to national security could be lurking in their own backyard.”
“But doesn’t the government traditionally keep secrets?” Edward asked concerned, bringing his right hand up to his chin. “Is that really that much different?”
Brent shifted forward in his seat. “Normally it wouldn’t be that much different, but what about this situation is normal?” The Senator asked reasonably. “In a normal situation, we wouldn’t have given up US territory freely or have kept such information as treaties from the people. And, I can’t even guess at what game she is currently playing with the press, not even giving them a briefing so they can be prepared.” But, anyone who was familiar with body language could see how his eyes started lighting up.
Edward Lee leaned back into his chair. “That is a good point! And, is it true that she didn’t even consult congress on the treaty, the sale, or the selection of the Ambassador? What can you tell the American people about that?
The Senator hesitated for a moment. “I probably shouldn’t be talking about this, but the people do have a right to know.” He cleared his throat before speaking again. “You are correct in that, but there is a bigger problem. The treaty and the sale, she is trying to curry favor. Her secret keeping could have been some convoluted effort to attain more power since she didn’t consult congress before making those arrangements or it could be that she doesn’t want them becoming allies with our enemies.”
“That is a good point, Senator Brent.” Lee steepled his fingers. “And, that does seem like a bad reason to deceive the people. But, what of this…” Lee moved forward to go through the papers on his desk. After pulling the right one up, he began to speak again. “What of this Ambassador, Anthony Marcus?”
“That is a problem. He was a translator picked to do the initial research on their language, and he somehow got picked to be the Ambassador. The problem is that his main goal is to study; he has no experience with any sort of politics. And so far he has yet to do anything that would benefit the United States or her people.”
“Unfortunately, we are out of time for today. Thank you for joining me today Senator Steven Brent.” Lee looked past his desk directly into the camera. “Next time we will continue the discussion on why Equestria should be considered a threat.”
As the cameras all turned off, the senator smiled to himself.
3/19/14 7:00pm Presidential Quarters, Earth
President Tow wasn’t an idiot; she could see the game Senator Brent was playing. “A regular man of the people,” she practically spat, settling down into her easy chair for the evening and ready to pull some last minute paperwork off the small table next to it. The only people around at this time of night was her Secret Service agents so she felt safe talking to herself, mostly. Cheeky bastard had that worked out in advance or else Lee would have compared Equestria to World War 2 Germany like his norm. Hell, he probably would have held up the Equestrian flag in one hand and the Nazi flag in the other.
Other than the one ‘newscaster’ the reports were positive. They were more curious than anything else, which was her plan in not releasing any information before the press release. If they want more information, they have to be polite and they have to be impartial, that should keep their normal ‘the sky is falling’ rhetoric to a minimum.
President Tow decided to lean back and close her eyes. And, if this all works out properly, Brent can’t compete with the political party that created peaceful relations with the first alien species.
3/19/14 7:00pm Equestrian Embassy, Earth
Celestia laughed at the small screen in her bedroom. She was laying down on a purple bed that matched the one in her bedchambers in the Royal Palace in Equestria. The Embassy on Earth was a little lackluster. Celestia’s bedchamber was still done in marble with columns and gold accents, but it still felt barren without the constant magic that flowed through everything in Equestria. The small television was there to keep an eye on things happening in this strange world, but so far it was the best way to see what they truly felt.
The reason the small screen amused her so much was that she had just finished watching an interview between some government representative and a reporter. She had seen a few of his broadcasts and couldn’t believe people would listen to him. Comparing anything he doesn’t like to one of the biggest monsters in Earth’s history. These people are so fractured though. It is almost like each little country is a separate species by the way they act. And even inside one country all they want to do is fight each other. But, most of the reports seemed more unbiased than normal. None of this was enough for her to trust humans, they were still too young of a species; with their short lives they had nothing to guide them but their own desires.