//------------------------------//
// Chapter 51. Now We Are Truly in the Public Eye 
// Story: Dust on the Wind 
// by Sparky Brony 
//------------------------------//

"Are you certain this is a good idea, Irony?"

She smiles, "I certainly think so, Dust. We need more exposure, and this certainly is a vehicle to do that."

Our conversation is interrupted by a young woman entering the room. She looks at my outstretched hoof for a long time before shaking it, she looks at the entire herd, "I'm Kathleen. I'm the production assistant here, and I just need to tell you a bit before we take you out to the stage." She looks at us for a moment, then shakes her head, I hear her murmur under her breath, "I must be dreaming." She smiles and continues in a normal voice, "When you called and asked to be booked, she was a huge fan of the show, and she even cancelled a band that was booked so she could devote the entire hour to you guys. How many are coming on stage with her?"

I look around, "I think I'll come out first, though some of the others might get over their shyness as the show progresses."

She looks at us all, "Ummm, okay." She shakes her head, apparently she's having trouble understanding that this is real life, and that makes me chuckle, because this coming from someone working in television, she continues, "This is a taped show, so you don't have to be perfect when it comes to talking, and the director will be talking to her in a little device in her ear. If you have any problems, just let us know." She glances at her watch and gestures for me to follow. I follow her to the edge of the stage, if I stretch my neck, I can see the edge of the live studio audience. A couple of staff people are working on stage, though the bright stage lights have been lit, something not the case when we were first escorted to the green room.

A few minutes of waiting, then music starts up, and some kind of cue must have gone off, because the crowd starts cheering, and in moments, entering stage left, is the iconic daytime host. Her short blond hair bounces as she dances in front of the crowd, which continues to cheer, but add in clapping in beat with the rhythm of the music. I find a hoof tapping to the music, and my nerves hit, I'd like to puke right now. But Irony told me to eat light, and I did. But my stomach is roiling. I sigh as the music quiets down, all the lights dim except for a spotlight on the host.

She holds out her hands for quiet, and once she gets it, she smiles for the cameras, "Welcome to my show. I don't usually get to the guests so quickly, but I'm so excited about these guests. If you've been paying attention to the rumors, yes, it's true. And they are going to be here." The crowd spontaneously starts to clap as the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic logo flashes on screen. She points back at the screen, "Yes, the characters from the show are real. And from what I've been told, Princess Twilight Sparkle and the main ones from the show are back in Equestria, rebuilding after a very rough time. But a lot of ponies decided to stay." Behind her the screen flashes scenes from the episodes that have me in them. Seeing myself in animated form is always fun, but I'm really trying to control my body. I am terrified.

The host is oblivious to my terror, she continues, "And in fact, they have homes all over the world, including a few right here in the US. And if you didn't know already, the weather here in Los Angeles is already being influenced by pegasi. If clouds are to come in, you might catch a glimpse of one. My guest today hails originally from Baltimare, Equestria. But is currently a resident in the frigid state of Montana. Ladies and gentlemen, Lightning Dust."

Well, here goes, I plaster a smile on my face and extend my wings. If I'm going on stage, I'm doing it my way. A spotlight hits me as I emerge, nearly blinding me. I hover slowly as I let my eyes adjust to the onslaught of light. I'm at head level for the host, and so I surprise her by throwing my forelegs around her neck in a big hug. She giggles as she hugs me back, then she guides me to the couch. I settle into the couch and watch her sit.

After a long time with a lot of applause, the audience finally calms down. I can't see them, not with all the stage lights, but I can certainly hear them. Ellen clears her throat and starts, "Well, first off, why don't you just tell your story."

I smile, I have to remember to keep a smile on my face, this is television, "I'll give you the cliff notes, Ellen. A bit over three years ago, I was a human being, just like you, or anyone else here. Then on my birthday, the strangest thing happened, these weird tattoos appeared on my hips." I touch my cutie mark quickly with a hoof, then continue, "Over the next three days, I slowly turned into the pony that is sitting before you."

She grimaces, "Did it hurt?"

I shake my head, "Not really, except when I tried to walk on two legs with pony hips, that was a bit painful, but the transformation itself was painless."

She looks at me slyly, "I saw you fly in here, you like those wings?"

I nod enthusiastically, "Oh, you have no idea. I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid, now I can fly faster than any airplane. The only thing that can beat me in the air is a rocket, and I'm more maneuverable than any rocket." I flare my wings and jump straight up, doing a very fast and short loop, landing back in my chair. "Being a pegasus is awesome! Though I'll tell you, any pony thinks their tribe is the best."

"Even the earth ponies?"

I nod, "Especially the earth ponies, every earth pony I've asked, they all said they love the pony they are."

I like the thoughtful look on her face, after a moment she continues, "How many ponies are there?"

I stop to think, "We haven't done a census or anything, it's something we are talking about, but my best guess is there are about a hundred thousand ponies in the US, and another fifty or so thousand scattered all over the world."

She whistles, "That's a lot of ponies, Discord must have been busy."

I nod, I can feel tears welling in my eyes, she quickly changes the subject, "So, tell me about your, what is it? Herd?"

I nod, "We've got a pretty big herd, there is myself, Irony, Mindy, Moon Shadow, Sunset Shimmer, and Helen for the mares, we've got three stallions, there's Star Shine, Dr. Ray, and Alan. And then we have the foals."

She furrows her brow, "Ray, Alan, Helen? Those don't sound like pony names."

That's because Alan and Helen are humans, and Dr. Ray was a human, but with a magical mishap with the portal, he had visited Equestria on its first opening and remained a pony on returning."

"You herd with humans?"

I nod, "Helen was my wife before the change."

I'm interrupted, "You were a guy?"

I chuckle, "Yeah." Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Sunset's horn light up, and I glance back, a picture of me with my family is on the screen, Sunset shoots me a smile as I continue, "I am a master electrician, I own my own company. Doing oilfield electric work, and I still own the company."

"What did she think of the changes?"

I smile as I catch a view of Helen, "She's accepting of the changes now. It was rough for a while, but while I was recovering from some very serious injuries, we talked quite a bit, and then we decided to form the herd." I brighten, letting my smile come back out, "I love every member of my herd."

She smiles at me, "And you mentioned foals, how many?"

"Well, there is Hannah and Dylan, they were mine before the change, but then every pony mare has added to the family. We have six foals in addition to the two human children of my herd."

"That's a lot of mouths to feed."

I nod, "But I wouldn't want a single day without them."

"You said every mare, that means you had one as well?"

I nod, "My little Mischief, she's three months old."

"Are a lot of ponies having foals?"

I have to laugh at that question, "Yeah, you could say that, about eighty percent of the ponies are mares, and of those, more than three quarters of the mares are pregnant or have new foals."

Ellen gasps, "Haven't you guys ever heard of condoms?"

I bark out a laugh, "We have something better, it's a spell cast by unicorns, called the no-foals spell. But most of the mares were pregnant before the spell has been rediscovered. But I'm told that many are refusing to use it. We love our children, we are a growing population."

"How many are staying here?"

I think for a moment, "The vast majority of those that wanted to go back to Equestria have gone, as of a few months ago. So the ponies that are here, are mainly going to stay here."

"What about humanity? Food? Clean water? All the necessities of living, with as fast as your population will be growing, won't it be hard?"

I shake my head, "Oh, no. None of those problems are going to be problems much longer. I guess the best way I can explain it, we are in harmony with nature. You know the big thing in the show, harmony. Well, it's not the tree that creates harmony, the gems in that tree are small compared to the magic of harmony the ponies generate. We are growing food and can more than double food production worldwide, maybe even more. We've already been talking to farmers nationwide, and we are helping. As well with the pegasi and our weather control. We are driven creatures, Ellen, we have to control the world around us. Weather, food production, clean water, we control all of that. I've watched a bit of television over the last several months, being heavy with pregnancy makes me want to rest more than usual. But I've watched meteorologists scratch their heads over the climate. And I can answer with one word. Ponies."

"Really? You do all of that?"

I nod, "Oh yes, Ellen. We want to share this world with humanity. All but the foals were once human, we are not competitors for limited resources, we are increasing the resources, so all can benefit."

She looks thoughtful as I continue, "We've been working on legislation setting up a pony weather bureau for the US. And if it passes, and we get things working correctly, and I have no doubt that we will. But droughts will be a thing of the past, destructive weather will be a rarity. Earth ponies can help, so can the unicorns. And don't forget a wonderful thing that has been happening."

She looks confused, "What?"

"Humanity once had magic, do some reading, human history is replete with magical elements. But then it all went away. And we've found that humanity's magic simply went to sleep. But with us here, with us using magic all the time."

She interrupts me, "You are talking about the unicorns?"

I nod, "Yes, but not just them, the pegasi have magic too, and so do the earth ponies. We all have magic, Ellen. And we have awoken magic in the humans."

Now that is a surprised look, her eyebrows almost disappear into her hair, "Really?"

I nod again, "Yes, currently at the pony town of New Beginnings, we have nearly a thousand humans, of all ages, that can do one magic or another, the same way any unicorn can do magic."

Now the look on her face is shock, "A thousand humans with magic?"

"Yes, from all over the world. And we are teaching them to use that magic, so they can go back home and teach other magic users that arise in the future."

"That is amazing, Lightning Dust."

"Yes, it is. And I am blessed with a human magic user in my own family."

"Really? Who?"

I smile, "My daughter, who was a brony at ten years of age before all of this came about." I look over at my family and nod. With a soft pop, my daughter appears in front of us. Ellen just stares at the young woman.

My daughter extends her hand with the cutie mark, "Hi, I'm Hannah."

Ellen just sits there, dumbfounded, "You can do magic?"

Hannah giggles, "Oh, teleportation wasn't good enough? Here, let me show you what Sunset Shimmer has been teaching me." She concentrates and a vase on the table levitates. All eyes are on the vase, except for mine, I'm watching my daughter, she's concentrating even harder, and with a loud pop, the vase turns into a male cardinal, which lands on the table, looks at Ellen, the chirps and takes off.

"Wow!" She takes a moment to focus on a camera, "And with that, we will take a commercial break, and be back with Lightning Dust, and family."

The light on the camera extinguishes, and Ellen visibly slumps. After a moment she looks at my daughter, "That was amazing!"

Sunset Shimmer pops over to us, the bird floats back in her magic. And with a squawk, it turns back into a vase, "Well Hannah, you seem to have your transmogrification down pretty well, I'm proud of you. Time to go to the next step in your training."

Sunset turns to Ellen, "She easily tops the scale, Ellen. She's almost scary, how powerful she is. But she's learning at a prodigious rate. She's doing amazing."

"What about you?"

Sunset giggles, "The only unicorn in Equestria to outstrip me when it comes to strength is Twilight. Though Hannah is pretty close." She brings the little girl over for a hug.

Ellen smiles, "Your family is amazing, for the rest of the show, I really would like to have you all out here, I can bring out more couches."

I look at the members of my herd, I see Helen subtly nod. I turn to Ellen, and nod.

A few minutes later, we are all sitting together, she nods at the cameras and apparently the director is watching, more lights heat up, and cues flash for the audience to start applauding. After a long moment, Ellen speaks, "And we are back, if you didn't know, I was talking to Lightning Dust, and her family has decided to join us." She gestures with her hand, and I watch another camera swing a bit towards us, with a red light on the top. I'm guessing that's the active camera at the time. The applause swells for a moment before calming down again.

"So, Lightning Dust, why not introduce them all."

I smile, and point to Irony, "This is Irony Shieldbreaker, she was the leader for the guard contingent for Princess Twilight Sparkle after the Tirek incident." I point next to her, "This is Moon Shadow, she is a dreamer, and is able to do what Princess Luna does, in fact, she's Princess Luna's apprentice, much the same how Princess Twilight was Princess Celestia's apprentice. And next to her is a pony many know, Sunset Shimmer." I smile warmly at the golden mare, she blushes a bit over the renewed applause.

"Next we have Mindy, she was only shown for a few seconds in season five. But she was actually my childhood friend growing up in Baltimare. And last, but certainly not least, Helen, who was my wife before the change, and still is the love of my life." I soften my voice, but I think I'm still audible, "All of these ponies are the loves of my life." I clear my throat for a moment, trying to control my emotions, "Including the stallions. We have Star Shine, Ray, and Alan."

Helen takes a moment to pass my little Mischief to me, I nuzzle the tiny pony, and am lost, looking at my child for a long moment, then I hear Ellen's voice right above me, she's come over, and is on a knee, looking at the little bundle in my forelegs, "She's so cute! Can I hold her?"

I'm caught unawares, I really don't want anyone that's not of my herd to hold my child, but before I can even think, she's gently scooped up Mischief. I know she will be gentle, but I have to fight my reaction to have my wings show how stressed I am.

"You have the most beautiful of foals, Lightning Dust!" She coos, and I feel my face flush, Mischief is completely adorable, I know this fact. Mindy's two little ones are tottling around, and Dot shambles up to Ellen, getting her attention, she reaches out an arm and gathers the unicorn into her lap. I look over at Mindy, she isn't at all stressed by someone holding her little one. Cloud Burst is trying out his wings, and seems to be successful, with how he's zooming around. Moon Shadow has both her foals with her. She looks happy, not just to be here, but happy with holding her babies.

"Three months of age, you say?"

I nod. 

Ellen looks thoughtful, "So, you mares are in the estrous cycle, and your cycles are pretty close to one another, right?"

I frown, I'm not certain where she's going with this, "Yes."

She looks sly, "So, Helen, what were you doing while all these ponies were getting it on?"

Helen blushes, and judging by the flames in my own face, I'm just as brightly blushing as she is. I look around, everypony is blushing, this gets a huge giggle from the show host, "You didn't!"

I trace a circle in the leather of the couch with my hoof, and in moments, Ellen exclaims, "You did! All of you?"

Helen laughs, "Yes, they did. And I joined in."

Ellen looks at the ponies, then at the humans, "What about you Alan, have you?"

I didn't think his freckled face could get more red, but it does, "Well, actually. I've only been with Mindy so far."

Apparently Ellen had some thoughts, because her face turns red as well, "Wow, as a good friend of mine, who passed away not too long ago would say, Oh My."

This gets a lot of laughs from the audience.

Mindy bounces out of her chair, "I have an idea everyone!" 

She bounces in front of the audience, and she starts to sing, music starting to fill the air, Ellen's eyes widen as Mindy starts to sing. She turns and looks at me, her jaw dropping.

"You've watched the show, the term, it's Pinkie Pie applies when it comes to her antics."

She nods slowly as she looks around, I smile, "Yes, it's Mindy."

I recognize the song, it's a Pinkie Pie song. And soon the rousing chorus starts, the entire audience stands up and sings with her. I laugh as I watch.

Ellen turns and looks at me, confusion on her face, I smile at her, "It's called the magic of harmony, and it is wonderful to watch.

She looks at the crowd singing and back at me, then smiles, "I knew I liked you ponies!" She squeals.

***

Three days later, I'm at CNN headquarters in New York City. After the Ellen show aired, I've received renewed calls for interviews. After CNN, I've got two radio shows to do, and another interview with Fox News. This press tour is really going gangbusters. The director for the show has just finished explaining things to me. I hoofed over a flash drive, Mindy has drilled into my skull the names of files on that drive that she said should be helpful. I haven't watched all the files on it yet though. Shortly the host of the show announces a commercial break, along with a requisite tease about what's coming up next. I have to smile, he said one word, "Pony." I know a lot of people are going to be glued to their screens for the next segment. The lights on the cameras go out, and I'm waved over. I trot over to the offered chair and hop up, using my wings to steady myself, I finally settle into the chair that is not at all designed with a pony in mind, and turn to the host.

"Hi there, I'm Lightning Dust."

He smiles and offers a hand, I reach out my hoof and it's shaken, I smile at the human.

"I've watched quite a few of the episodes, I'm really happy you decided to come on my show."

"We have to get our story out, after a long time denying interview requests, I've decided to do some."

"May I ask why?"

Wow, the interview is starting before the cameras are rolling, I smile at him, "For a long time, after we changed from human to pony, we've been focusing on ourselves, getting homes set up, getting lives worked out after the supreme disruption that was this change. But I've gotten tired of being treated like a circus freak the instant I leave where ponies are common. So I'm trying to change attitudes, ponies are a fact of life, humanity has to see that."

He chuckles, "I understand you there. Though you aren't our only guest in this segment, we are going to be joined by satellite with a couple of others, we want to have as many opinions on this."

This catches me off guard, I thought it would be a lot like the Ellen show, where we showed ourselves, and let humans see that we are for real. "Seriously?"

He nods, "It turns out there are some with some very strong opinions about you ponies, and we need to give them some air time as well. We need to see what's really going on."

I have to sigh at this point, "What really is going on…" I'm interrupted by a raised hand, he seems to be listening to his earpiece, and he turns and smiles brightly at the camera, which shortly has a red light activated on it. 

"And welcome back, as you no doubt have seen, the ponies from Equestria happen to actually be real. In the studio today, I have Lightning Dust."

The camera facing me has it's light turn on, he turns to me, "Welcome to New York, Miss Dust."

I wave a hoof, "Just Dust will do, our family structures are a little different than here. Very little use for Miss, or Mister, and such. Just plain Dust will do."

He smiles, but I see in his eyes, he's a little taken aback.

We chat for a bit, mainly covering ground that I've trotted on quite a bit with Ellen so far. Then he throws me a curve ball, "You are aware there are now some out there that want the ponies to go back to Equestria, and leave humanity alone."

My mind immediately goes to Spectrum, I have to fight to keep my wings from flaring in anger, though it's obvious I'm gritting my teeth, "I've had to deal with humans with that attitude, yes."

"Well, today we have a guess out of Salt Lake City, Utah. His group believes Earth is for humans only. And when you were booked here today, he wanted to provide his own point of view, Richard Willard, of the Community to Keep Humanity Pure."

He looks at the camera, and a monitor springs to life, it's not the hated leader of Spectrum, but another human, rather rotund in appearance, in a dark blue pin stripe suit, his unruly mop of hair and obvious sweat under the lighting really stands out to me.

"Thank you for having me."

"So, Mr. Willard, we've heard Lightning Dust's point of view. Let's hear yours."

The human sits up straighter in his chair, his greasy smile makes my wings want to extend in fear, "Thank you. Now, for a couple of years now, we've heard about the ponies cropping up all over the world. And we've been trying to get some traction. We've had some success, Salt Lake City has been declared a pony free zone."

I fight to keep my face neutral, this son of a bitch has been blocking ponies? I try to fight my emotions, though I want to scream at him, I'll get my chance. He continues, "These creatures do not belong in civil society. Their customs, their way of life, is opposed to the freedom that humanity desires. They even emblazon their slavery for all to see, and disguise them with a euphemism, a cutie mark. They don't have free will, even the creature you are sitting there with said it herself, she says they are driven creatures. They are driven to control the elements around them. They are doing unnatural things to our climate. Who even begins to know what their meddling will do."

I'm breathing heavily now, I can see on the screen, I'm the focus on the screen, I fake a smile, to me it looks fake, I hope others think it's genuine.

"Those are some pretty strong words, Mr. Willard." I start off with, I take a moment to control my emotions, though it's not easy at all, "I was telling the truth, we are driven creatures, and humanity has been benefitting by our hard work. Los Angeles hasn't had a smog day, or even an air quality alert since shortly after we started working on the weather there."

He interrupts me, "And do you deny that the symbol you possess on your flank marks you, and limits your freedom?"

I suppress a sigh, "Of course I deny it."

He smiles, that greasy smile again, "So, once you gain your cutie marks, as you call them, you are driven to do what that mark represents?"

I nod tightly.

"So, where is the freedom? Where is the self determination in your society? Or are you all in thrall to a quartet of supposedly immortal beings that you worship?"

I want to snap back at him, but being rude isn't going to help at all, though what I'd like to do is high tail it to Salt Lake City and find this weasel and beat the living snot out of him. It was wise for us to converse by satellite, I clear my throat, "We do have the princesses, that is true, and my cutie mark, along with the cutie marks of all the ponies do say to the world what our talent is, what makes us special, we are in no way limited by these marks. Let's talk Rainbow Dash. Her cutie mark is a tri colored lightning bolt flashing from a cloud. What is means is, she is a speed demon, a speedster pegasus, I am one as well. We are very rare. But what was her job in Equestria? She was weather manager for Ponyville, and later a Wonderbolt. Neither occupations really have anything to do with her talent of speed."

He sneers at me, "Oh, and being a member of a special flight team isn't being enslaved to her quote, unquote, talent?"

I shake my head vigorously, "Not at all Mr. Willard, as a performing member of the Wonderbolts, she is not in a race when we are performing, she has to stay with her wingpony for maneuvers, she must restrain her speed to do her job correctly."

He immediately takes a different tact, "And what about your home life, you've introduced your herd, you have six females and three males in your polyamorous relationship?"

I nod, "Yes, I do."

"Including two humans?"

I nod again.

"Do you have sex with them?"

I can feel my face flushing, "Our private lives are none of your business."

He nods, "Meaning yes, you do."

He shifts in his seat and his eyes bore into the camera, "This is sickening, not only are they in a polygamous relationship, they don’t confine their sickness to their own kind. They've got two humans along with them. This is why they need to go back where they came from."

"Now hold on a minute," I shout, "That is not the complete story." I get a hand on my withers from the host of the show, my glare at him shoots daggers, I turn to the camera, "Yes, we have a large family. Though that is the norm in our home. The humans in my herd, Helen, who was my wife before I turned into a pony, and Alan, who has recently come into our lives, are here of their own volition. We didn't force them."

He scoffs, "Yeah, enticing humans to join with you in unnatural ways."

I talk over him, "They are happy, we all are happy, we are raising our children in this world. And we are making the lives of people like you easier. Food production has nearly doubled, rainfall nationwide has increased, even some of the driest places in the US are getting more rain than they've seen in centuries. We are helping humanity!"

He stands up and slams a hand on the table in front of him, "You are corrupting humanity with your ways."

The host takes a moment and looks at the camera, "We'll be right back after the commercial break."

The light goes out and I look sharply at the host, "Can he hear me?"

A quick push of a button on the desk, and he shakes his head.

I growl, "What the fuck is this guy's problem?"

He looks confused.

I'm working my way up to be really torqued, "I expected an interview, not a debate. I'm trying to show what is now a fact of life in this world, and you want to bring on some yahoo who wants all the ponies gone?" I'm shrieking right now, I don't like shrieking.

"Lightning Dust, the public needs to know, they need to know all the viewpoints."

I snort, "So if you get somepony on the news saying that water is wet, you'll have to bring on someone who has a different opinion? I'm here as a courtesy, you invited me. I did not sign up for this."

He looks scared for a second, "Are you ending the interview?"

I've already thought about that, I've made my decision before the final word left his mouth, "Of course not. But this will be the last damned time I appear on your show, or your network, if they allow bullshit like this."

"Please, watch your language."

I scoff, "We are on commercial break right now, as you said. And if you want to run any of this later, you can fucking bleep my words out. I've been an electrician for a decade and a half, most of which in the oil field. I cuss, I smoke, I'm not at all the cutesy wootsy pony you see on your television, this is real life. And we are very similar to that children's show, but we are also very different."

He looks more confused, "How so?"

I feel some of the steam abating, "Listen," I sit back down on the chair, folding my wings at my side, "The show got a lot of crucial things right. The elements, Discord, us ponies. But you have to remember, that was a children's show, designed to teach morals for the children watching it. The ponies here, on the other hoof, are real, living people. Not the idealized characters you see animated on screen."

He jerks in surprise, putting a hand to his ear, I'm guessing the director is talking to him through his earpiece. He looks at me plaintively, "We are back on in fifteen seconds, can we finish this?"

I grin, "Of course." I sit and look on the camera, putting a calm expression on my face as I settle down.

After the allotted fifteen seconds expire, our host brightens as the lights illuminate once again, "And welcome back, we have our guests here, Lightning Dust, and Richard Willard." He looks at me, "Dust, would you like to say anything in response to the last comment from Mr. Willard?"

I smile, "Of course I do." I look into the camera, mentally boring a hole in the head of the stupid human, "Mr. Willard, I've spent thirty five years as a human, and before that, twenty two years as a pony. My life was seriously disrupted by this change. And this change is something I've had to deal with. Just like all of humanity has to deal with the fact there are intelligent quadrupeds all over. We are here, and nothing you are going to say is going to drive us away."

The human on the other end of the satellite connection  clears his throat, "You should be confined until that portal opens again, then shoved through. Leave the earth for humanity."

I suppress a growl, "I'm sorry, Mr. Willard, that you feel that way. But I'm just glad your view isn't the prevailing view in this world. The ponies are not competitors, we are friends. Many humans near where I live enjoy having the ponies around. There has been friction, ponies aren't perfect either. But we refuse to hide, we refuse to be confined. In fact, I'll have the news network give you a phone number, you call it, and I will personally escort you around the town of New Beginnings. I'll let you see ponies and humans interacting together, and both richer for the experience. I'll show you ponies controlling the weather, growing food, and doing the magic that humanity has lost, but is now finding."

He grins, "Oh, I doubt I'll be calling that number, though would you explain all the deaths caused by ponies?"

My ears fall, "What are you talking about?"

"A couple of years ago, in Oregon, a little place called Spectrum Laboratories."

"That was in response to me, personally, being abducted by Spectrum employees."

He waves a hand, "Likely story."

I growl, and I look at the camera, "Mister Director, I know you have the flash drive I gave you, would you pull up the file called Dust's torture?" I'm really glad that Mindy had me bring the flash drive with some of the videos.

I glance at the host, he's got a hand on his ear, listening intently, and in moments he nods. On screen, the leader of spectrum is sitting at his desk, though the sound apparently is muted, then he presses a button on his desk, and the scene changes. I'm sitting in awe, neither Mindy, nor Irony have shown me this. The camera shows me, sobbing, my wings dripping blood freely, my shoulders wracked with sobs. The scene ends, I pipe up, remembering what I was told, "And could you show them the file called attack on the farm?" 

A few second delay, and magic held video shows dead ponies, dead from obvious gunshot wounds, it even shows Sparkler, blood flowing freely from a wound to her shoulder. And humans being disarmed with magic. I've been told about this, "Why not have you explain the deaths of ponies at human hands, and the money for those men came from the Spectrum group. Those same men who had me captured, and tortured for over six months. The same men who had mercenaries break into my house, and attempt to capture my wife, and my children?" I'm standing on the table now, my wings spread in rage, "You son of a bitch, we've been attacked in our own homes because we are different than you. We didn't ask to be on this world, we were brought here by chaos incarnate. But since we are here, and almost all of us have twenty five years of memories on this world, and we don't want to give this life up, that means it's okay for us to be shot? To be killed by people who hate those that are different than you?"

I paw at the table, my eyes are narrowed, "I've been personal witness to human caused death and destruction far more times than I want to count. All of it since I've turned into a pony. We have not responded to most of that. Or maybe you could explain the small farm in Minnesota, with just over a hundred ponies, completely wiped out, except for one?" I'm shouting once again.

The fat human on the other side of the satellite link has gotten very pale, "I didn't…"

I cut him off, "No, of course, you didn't know. We don't advertize all of our heartache for the world to see. What did we do with the farm? We found the lone survivor, and we gave him a home. What did we do with the mercenaries who attacked New Beginnings before it was a town? We stopped the attackers, and captured them, we treated them humanely until the federal authorities came and got them. What did we do in response to myself being kidnapped, tortured, and raped? They retrieved me, they saved me, with surprisingly light human casualties, in fact, at the cocaine production place where they had me, over two hundred humans were captured, and hoofed over to the Columbian authorities. I must say, Mr. Willard, we've been very polite in response to some serious aggression by humans that believe as you do."

He continues to stammer, I hop off the table, my wings still spread in anger, "This interview is over. And I won't be returning." I stalk out the door of the studio, and after a few minutes, I'm on the roof of the building. I'm going home.