Again on Neighsay. · 3:12am Jun 4th, 2023
Well, I think with the release of Chapter Seven and the generally pleasant reaction to it, it might be a good idea to elaborate upon my portrayal of one of the characters to make their Quiververse debut in the story - specifically, Chancellor Neighsay.
Now, I'm not going to say that I agree with the actions taken by him in canon. We the audience clearly aren't meant to, as he was written as an antagonist to Twilight and her efforts with the School of Friendship. But I, and others, have elaborated upon how while Neighsay was a jerk, he also raised some good points that the characters had a hard time disputing. And yes, he was biased against non-pony races, but let's look at things objectively - the non-pony students at the school were a griffon (a race that wasn't opposed to ponies but what little we saw of them lived in squallor and may or may not have a stable government), a changeling (a race that had attacked Equestria twice in recent memory), a dragon (a race that, again, tended to leave ponies alone but nonetheless didn't have much in the way of a stable government), a yak (also not against ponies but with a reputation for being aggressive), and a hippogrif (also not against ponies, but more than happy to stand aside and provide no help when Equestria was attacked by an outside aggressor), and this ignores the fact that the Storm King's attack happened in very recent memory. Him being opposed to Twilight was, in his mind, acting to protect Equestria's interests...along with a fair amount of petty spite on his part, and even that seemed to be restrained to him knowing when to pick his battles. Him acknowledging that he was wrong in light of everything going on with Cozy Glow, thankfully, seems to have eased a lot of people's issues with him.
Now, when I bring a character into the Quiververse, I try to keep them as consistent with what's been established about them in canon as possible. I admit, there are times when I exaggerate, but even when I do, I try to restrain myself. I think the only time that I've taken a canon character who didn't have any obvious redeeming characteristics and made them worse - Spoiled Rich - I at least did so in a realistic manner. With Neighsay, it wasn't much different. Yes, he still shows some bias against non-pony races, and the idea of Equestria's schools being segregated is not only consistent with his portrayal in the series but how they were shown in the series itself. Yes, he expresses some disapproval of Princess Luna's actions in finding Mage Meadowbrook's diaries, but that's partly from a belief that he thinks she has more important things to do and partly because he was ignorant of exactly why Luna was pursuing that research. Yes, he's less than encouraging of Twilight's research into the Pillars, but it's not because he's actively against them - it's because one, there's no guarantee that the research will produce anything meaningful, and two, the aforementioned ignorance behind the reasons for that research. Even his urging to get professional academics involved in the search is a valid point, though one that's been undermined by those same academics being happy to dismiss the claims made by someone who knows better. But once he is fully aware of the importance of this research, and once the proof is staring him in the face, he'll be more than happy to provide help. Neighsay, as I said, believes that he's acting in Equestria's best interests. Discovering an important part of Equestria's national heritage and helping to shore up its national defense? You'd have a very hard time telling him that what Twilight and her friends were doing here wasn't along those lines.
And that's also a big part of the reason behind the discussion between Neighsay and Quiver Quill in this most recent chapter. Neighsay is flawed, no argument, and one flaw that the series made clear was being short-sighted. As I said, his actions in the series were, at least in my view, motivated both by petty spite as much as they were by his belief in what was best for Equestria and its national interest. And I imagine that, in his mind, segregating Equestria's schools was motivated by a belief that non-ponies would be better qualified to teach non-ponies. He might even have justified his beliefs with something akin to the notion of benign neglect, the idea that it was better to leave something alone and let it take care of itself. Now, not meddling in the affairs of others is something I can get behind, and respecting their desire to stay out of yours is also perfectly acceptable...but excluding them totally from your affairs is a little different, for reasons that I hope Quiver helped to illustrate in the story.
And honestly? Those arguments that Quiver made in the most recent chapter have at least some basis in real life. Segregated schools in real life have done little good, and I can't be the only one who would argue that they would cause problems for Equestria, especially in light of what we've seen in canon. You want to fight racism? You stop emphasizing what makes people different, stop putting up barriers, and you start bringing them together with what they have in common and build bridges. I admit, that sounds a little naive, but I think it's a good idea to not create enemies if you can avoid it. Politically, it's wise. Morally, it's wiser.
And, y'know, it looks kinda bad when you're in charge of education, and you claim that you act in the best interests of your nation...and classrooms don't have accurate maps. It'd be like, if in the lead-up to WWII, you had people talking about the threat of Nazi Germany, and the classrooms only had maps of the United States from around the time of the Civil War.
Now, I'm not going to lay the blame for this entirely on Neighsay's hooves. The former is the result of his beliefs, and he's never been confronted with the potential negative consequences of those beliefs - Cozy Glow's actions in canon, and Quiver Quill's arguments in my 'verse, have shown him those consequences. The latter could easily be the result of corruption, or the lack of proper funding to particular school districts. But other factors are also at play...factors that my more astute readers might be able to make some educated guesses about, and will have more material for their theories by the time this story is finished.
Anyway, here's hoping this gave everyone something to chew on.
Consider it food for thought indeed, Echo.
Well... first of all, if it helps, I do think that your 'negative exaggeration' of Spoiled Rich was overall realistic and consistent with what we saw in canon, and while there may have been a bit of an exaggeration, it was by no means done to an unbearable level. I will admit, I do think that there is some room for one to portray her sympathetically if one felt so inclined, but it's by no means a given that she's more sympathetic than she looks in canon, and even if she is, she still did a lot of bad things she shouldn't have done, and any shot at giving her sympathy should take that into account.
But on Neighsay... well... perhaps I am a bit too 'pro-pony', for lack of a better term (and perhaps drawing too much from some considerations I made for my own AU), but I do think that the racism (or specieism) seen in the show isn't exactly a straight parallel to real-life racism, in that a lot of non-pony species have the average individual potential to do far worse harm to the average pony than the average real human being has to do harm to the average human being of another country. To use a race you named as an example, the average adult dragon, if they felt so inclined, could likely be able to destroy several pony villages in a day - that's far more than anything the average person can do to a foreign country they visit even if they are prejudiced against that country. It's true that, as you said, most apparently wouldn't feel so inclined, but a single one who felt that way could do so, perhaps with very little in the way of impediment if it happened in areas far from Canterlot and the Elements of Harmony. (In-universe, this may even be how dragons got a bad name - because of the proverbial black sheep of their race.)
THAT SAID, even considering this factor, you are right when you say that nothing good comes from enforcing segregation, because one doesn't fight fear or builds understanding by putting in barriers and shepherding both sides along their paths, but by keeping open doors, encouraging communication, and, as you said, building bridges. And if it helps, I don't think you sound naive at all when you said it. It's more difficult than one would like, but it's the right way to do.
And also, even if most dragons in the MLP universe were worthy of the reputation brought about by the proverbial black sheep (and as far as I can tell, there is at least a great majority that isn't), I do believe that one should still try to give the individual dragon a fair chance, and not cast immediate judgement upon them. I know, that's far easier said than done, but just because it's difficult doesn't mean it shouldn't be done, because what's right isn't necessarily what's easy, and it's not fair to be prejudiced towards an individual being/person from the get-go just because of their race, or, in the real world, of their country of origin, as it was seen towards Germans in the later half of the 20th century, and maybe even somewhat now. Even if most Germans had merited the stereotype (and I'm not informed enough to say how many did or didn't), individual ones should still have been met with an open mind and a willingness to give them a fair chance.
I probably sound too soap-boxy here, if I don't sound prejudiced myself (and the best I can say there is that if I do, I deserve to be called out and will try my best to learn to be better)... but in short, I do agree with your point, like I do agree with Quiver's in the recent chapter.
Looking forward to see what exactly Neighsay will do with the food for thought Quiver gave him, and the room for changes it will bring about (and just how much of his push for any changes he may want to make will be limited by certain factors that are nothing to smile about, so to speak).
I agree with you that, of all the non-pony races listed, dragons are easily the greatest threat Equestria has. And believe it or not, I've given thought to why the dragons have, for the most part, left Equestria alone, some of which I think have been touched upon with Legends of Magic. The delicate politics between ponies and dragons are even something that I plan on addressing further down the road. Suffice it to say, there are reasons why dragons have left ponies alone, and they will become clear with time.
And don't worry about being soap-boxy. I was worried that I was being a little too soap-boxy with this post, even if most would agree with me.
What Neighsay will do is still up in the air. Bureaucracy is a slow-moving beast, and policy changes can take a while to implement. He will, however, do something...and I like to think that once he returns, the readers will be pleasantly surprised.
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Well... meaning this in a complimentary way, I do believe it. ;) And I'm curious to see what it will be should you choose to reveal it later down the storyline.
And if it helps, I didn't think you were being soap-boxy at all.
Looking forward to the pleasant surprise you hope readers will have with Neighsay's return. :)