//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Civil War of Harmony // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Princess Twilight Sparkle My friends and I had spent yesterday afternoon and this morning rearranging the map room into a throne room. It kind of already was a throne room, but this setup was more streamlined for receiving audiences, with all the thrones on the opposite end of the room from the door. I had to use my magic to move the map to the side of the room. Said thrones were arranged such that mine was the one in the center, with Spike's directly to my right side, followed by Fluttershy's throne, and Pinkie Pie's throne. To my left were Rarity's throne, then Rainbow Dash's throne, and then Applejack's throne. I smiled as Mayor Mare trotted into the throne room of my castle with a warm smile on her face. I stood up from my throne and met Mayor Mare halfway. "How did the vote go?" Mayor Mare lifted a hoof to her throat, I fidgeted on my hooves. "I am pleased to announce Ponyville has decided to follow you in your secession from Equestria, seventy-nine percent for, and twenty-one percent against." Mayor Mare proudly proclaimed. My jaw hit the floor, while I had expected them to follow me, I hadn't expected such a high number to vote for it. "I.. That's..." I found myself unable to find words to use. I shook my head and collected myself. "That's... Wow... A lot more support than I imagined." "A lot less than I expected, truthfully, Princess." Mayor Mare confided. Mayor Mare looked around the room, taking in the changes, "You've moved things around?" I nodded, "Yes, I figured this would make a good throne room." I ruffled my wings. "Nervous?" "Just a little..." Mayor Mare gave me a quizzical look, "Okay, a lot." I admitted. "You'll do fine, Princess." Mayor Mare rested a hoof reassuringly on my shoulder. "Where are your friends at, if I may ask?" "They're taking care of some business they needed to do. I asked them to help me full time with running things, I don't think I can do this alone..." I trailed off and looked at my hooves. "Princess, you're not in this alone, we're all in this together. I'd be more than willing to help you with anything you'd need help with." I lifted my head back up and she smiled at me, I returned the smile. "Thanks. I could really use some help, I don't... Really know where to start..." I sheepishly smiled. "You should start by hiring some advisers, and finding some lawyers and administrators to assist you with setting up your new government." Mayor Mare paused to think, "I think Sparkler should be able to help you with administration... I can help you with the legal system." "I don't have a way to finance anything yet." I facehoofed. "The Ponyville treasury should be a start, Princess. Perhaps you should speak with Filthy Rich about finances, I know for a fact he voted to secede." I perked up at hearing that. "Thanks, Mayor Mare." I smiled. "Well, considering we voted to secede and follow you, legally you would own the treasury, as Ponyville is to be your capital, correct?" "Yes, it is," I answered. "Do you have any ideas for the name of the nation, Princess?" "I discussed it with my friends, you would not believe some of the suggestions they had..." I smirked, "The Empire of Eternal Awesome was suggested by Rainbow Dash." Mayor Mare chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like her." "My suggestion was The Equine Principality of Harmony." I paused, "We actually held a vote, I was outvoted by just The Kingdom of Twilight." I sighed dejectedly. "So what're you going with for the name then?" "My friends seem to like naming the nation as my kingdom, I guess I'll defer to them and go with The Kingdom of Twilight..." I looked down slightly annoyed, "It's not even a technically a kingdom..." I mumbled. "What was that last part?" "Oh, nothing." "I'll have the name formally declared immediately," she stated. "Now, about the legal system, what are your plans for that? Any changes you want to implement immediately?" "No, I think I'll leave it as is, for now, the system works so there's no reason to change it," I answered. "Do you want a draft clause?" My eyes shot open, "No! No draft clause. I'm not forcing anypony to fight for me." "I was just asking, Princess." "I know, I'm sorry I shouted at you." I lowered my gaze, I was not going to resort to a draft no matter what. It was wrong. "It's fine, Princess." Mayor Mare paused, "Any ideas for a tax system, or are we going to use the same one Equestria does?" "For now, let's use the same system Equestria does, but I will want to revise it in the future. Can you get me the documents on expected tax income and expenses? I'd like to know what I have to work with." "Of course, Princess, I'll have the documents ready as quickly as I can. What do you plan to do about addressing the issues of the ponies?" "I plan to hold a court to address issues," I paused to think, "Do you think you can set that up for me?" "I'm the right mare for the job when it would come to setting something like that up." she boasted lightly with a smile. The crystalline doors to the throne room flew open, and Rainbow Dash flew in and landed in beside Mayor Mare, causing her to jump in surprise. Rainbow was holding a newspaper in her mouth and sweating lightly. She took the newspaper out of her mouth with her hoof and held it towards me. I took it in my magic and examined it. "Read it Twilight, it's important!" I lowered the newspaper and glared lightly at her, "I was but then you interrupted me." "Sorry." she sheepishly apologized, I returned to read the paper. Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle secede from Equestria. In a move that blindsided everypony, two of Equestria's triarchs have declared secession. Princess Luna has been spotted in Vanhoover, forming a new independent government from Equestria, while Princess Twilight Sparkle has been sighted in Ponyville. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia is working to reorganize the Equestrian military, which has lost roughly forty-five percent of its military forces with Princess Luna's secession. 'I knew she left with a lot, but I didn't realize she would have that many ponies loyal to her in the military...' I flipped the newspaper over, it was the Cloudsdale Times. I needed time to think and consider options. "You have a lot to think about, Princess. I'll go take care of what you requested." Mayor Mare turned and trotted out the throne room. I stared at the floor, spacing out, eyes darting left and right. I thought I heard a sound. A few seconds passed, and I thought I heard it again. "Twilight," Rainbow Dash said as she put a hoof on my shoulder, breaking my focus. "Sorry, um... Can you go gather the girls and bring them here? We need to discuss this." My gaze drifted off slightly again, I shook my head. "Sure, I'll be right back." Rainbow jumped into the air, waved her hoof in a mock-saluting way, and took off, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. As she flew out the doors, Spike walked in. "What was all that about?" he asked while approaching me. "I asked her to gather the girls so we can discuss something important," I stated. Spike shrugged. "They should be here in a few minutes, can you go gather a bunch of paper and some quills?" "Sure thing, Twilight," Spike replied and trotted off. I teleported onto my throne. Princess Celestia I looked across the table, checking to make sure all of my advisers were here. "Okay, we're all here, let's get started, shall we?" I asked. Nopony spoke up, "Good. General Maneuver, General Hoof, General Breaker, Director Tap, Quill Pusher, Prince Blueblood, Sir Fancy Pants." I acknowledged each in turn, nodding at them. "Director Tap, what do we know?" The dark gray unicorn turned to face me, his left eye was covered by an eyepatch, while his right eye was colored light blue. His mane was combed back and was pitch black. Truth be told, I always suspected he dyed his mane, but I never had any proof. "Princess," he spoke in a raspy voice, "Princess Luna's capital of Vanhoover has seceded, their forces and defenses would be enough to repel any attempted attack. Princess Twilight Sparkle is still attempting to set up a government in Ponyville, which has voted to secede and follow her. All other cities have yet to declare secession." "Based on this information, Princess, I recommend we strike Ponyville at once. While she's weak." General Hoof spoke up. The tan earth pony had a strong build, from looking at him you would guess half his weight was pure muscle. His mane was obscured by a dark green helmet with three gold stars on it. "I would advise against that, Princess." General Maneuver was a proud pegasus, he had been in service for over thirty years, and could still keep up with the Wonderbolts. It was hard to believe he never tried to join them. When I realized it looked like an argument was mounting, I raised a hoof, instantly silencing any arguments, "And why would you advise against that, General?" "If we sent our forces against Princess Twilight Sparkle and Ponyville, it would weaken our defense, and Princess Luna's forces could take advantage of this. While in the long run we may regret this, we will also be given more opportunities to take advantage of." "And what do you say, General Breaker?" I asked the white unicorn stallion. His red mane was parted by his horn, and seemed to flow down the back of his neck. "I recommend against any immediate action. I suggest we make sure we are entirely organized and ready as quickly as possible, and wait for them to make the first move. From that, we can analyze their strategy and punish any and all mistakes they make dearly. I would also recommend a War Of Attrition strategy." His voice was pleasant, but the cold, calculated words he spoke weren't. He was the type of pony to play a waiting game punishing any mistakes the opponent made. His cold logic could win battles with minimal friendly-enemy casualty rates, though his methods were sometimes in question. "I agree that we should wait before making any moves, we're not ready yet anyway. It could be a few weeks before we are ready to launch any offensives." I looked at Prince Blueblood, "And what are your thoughts, Blueblood?" I forgot his title out of distaste. He snorted at me. "I don't even know why I'm here. This is beneath me." he said with no small amount of distaste. "And you, Fancy Pants?" "I don't believe Princess Twilight Sparkle is of any concern. So long as she doesn't attack us, we have no reason to preemptively start a war on two fronts. We need to focus on Princess Luna for the time being. I would recommend a course with minimal casualties, on all sides." "I agree." Director Tap spoke up. "So we will wait then. Quill Pusher?" The unicorn instantly perked up, "Yes, your highness?" "How are our finances currently?" I asked with dread. "For the moment we're fine, the treasury is well stocked, and taxes are low. However, worst case scenario we predict a seventy percent drop in income should Equestria split further, and foreign nations recognize the successive nations." She answered. "How long until the treasury would dry up at the worst possible scenario?" "Well, with estimated necessary spending increases to military, and reductions in income... Not factoring in material and property damages... Five years. Factoring everything in, probably a lot less." "I see... What is the status of restructuring the Royal Guard command structure?" "It can fight right now, but with low efficiency. I estimate it can be reorganized completely in a matter of days, however." General Hoof spoke up. "Estimation of how long until Princess Luna's forces are restructured, and her government is in a position to launch an offensive?" "Intelligence reports indicate she's moving quickly. More quickly than we are. She has currently set up a military government. She could be ready to launch an offensive within two days." Director Tap answered. "We will just have to wait and see..." I trailed off. "If that's all, we'll reconvene tomorrow, same time. Sooner if circumstances arise which warrant it." I paused awaiting any objections, none arose. "Then dismissed." I lit my horn and teleported into my chambers. My surroundings changed in an instant, if you weren't used to it or expecting it... To say it could be disorientating would be an understatement. I trotted over to the balcony and looked out across the land, towards Ponyville. A feeling of sadness was rising in my chest and my heart felt heavy. I swallowed back the growing knot in my throat. 'This shouldn't be happening.' I closed my eyes tightly and banished the thoughts, the fears, and the doubts. I needed to be strong. I had to, for everypony. I shook my head and trotted over to the cabinet beside my bed, I opened the mahogany drawer and pulled out a bottle of wine. I gazed at the fine glass, it was aged to perfection, over one hundred years old, and imported from Prance. I stared at the bottle for what seemed like an eternity and then shook my head. 'Now is not the time...' Princess Twilight Sparkle Rainbow Dash returned about an hour later, bringing with her the rest of the girls, they each took a seat on their respective throne. It was then I realized this wouldn't work for discussing matters such as this between us. "This isn't the best setup for something like this..." I smiled sheepishly as we all stood up, "The dining room should work." I lit my horn and teleported us all to the dining room. "Please give us a little warning next time, Twilight..." Applejack was wobbling ever so slightly on her hooves. I smiled apologetically. "Sorry..." I took my seat and the others followed suit. After everyone sat down I started, "Okay, thank you for gathering everypony, Rainbow." she nodded. "And thank you for coming so quickly. Rainbow showed me a newspaper from Cloudsdale, the Cloudsdale Times, to be precise... It talked about yesterday's events." I paused and glanced around, "According to the paper, reports indicate Luna took about forty-five percent of the Royal Guard." I soon found not one closed mouth in the room. "That's..." Applejack started but was soon speechless. She simply shook her head unbelievingly. "So they both have about half of Equestria's military forces? How're you ever going to hope to match that..." Rarity said in shock. "The truth of the matter is... I simply can't. There is no way I could hope to match forces with either of them at the moment. Even if I could match forces with them tomorrow, I'd have no command structure for it, nor would they be anywhere near as well trained as the Royal Guard forces..." I inhaled and brought a hoof to my chest, then exhaled and unfurled the hoof forwards, "I'm just starting to organize my administration..." I glanced around the room nervously. "If either of them attacked anytime soon, there would be nothing I could do about it." "Twilight, you said it yourself before, we're not a threat yet, and if they both have about an equal force, could either of them really afford to attack you?" Rarity asked and raised an eyebrow. "Well... No... But they neither of them would have to send a large attack force to subdue me... I'm not that strong with magic... Not yet anyway..." I trailed off and looked at my hooves on the table. "And by subdue, you mean kill," Rainbow Dash stated bluntly. I winced at that thought. "Rainbow Dash!" Rarity shouted in condemnation. "She could be right, though..." I spoke softly and fidgeted my hooves on the table. "Twilight, I don't think either of them want you dead," Applejack comforted with a soft smile. "They were your friends right?" "I would like to think they still are... I was one of Princess Luna's first friends when she came back, and Princess Celestia was my mentor..." I swallowed a knot and folded my ears back. "So where's Princess Luna gone off to anyway?" Fluttershy asked, subtly changing the conversation to something less grim. "I didn't tell you already?" I asked in surprise. "I don't think so." she replied. "Oh, sorry, she's been sighted in Vanhoover," I stated, it seemed to cause the mood to lighten, everypony seemed to breathe a sigh of relief with that knowledge. "That's a really long way away. I don't think you'll have to worry about Princess Luna for a while." "Your probably right, Rarity." I smiled and held my head slightly higher. The door opened, Spike trotted in panting, "Twilight!" he paused and his claws fell to his knees while he caught his breath, "There's some Royal Guards here to see you!" And like that, my smile was gone. Seconds passed, or maybe minutes. I wasn't paying attention to time, my mind was preoccupied with emergency plans at the moment, but a quick poke from Spike's claw snapped me out of it. "Ow! Spike!" I looked at him with a frown. He was wearing an 'are you serious' face. A second later I realized why he did what he did. "Sorry..." "You going to go see what they want?" Spike asked after several more seconds of silence. "I don't want to," I weakly answered. "You still need to." "I know," I replied and let my head fall to the table, and hid my muzzle under my hooves. My ears fell back. "They'll just keep waiting until you show up." 'Spike you're always to persistent...' I sighed. "Alright, tell them I'll be there in a minute." Spike nodded and trotted out the door. I looked at my friends and smiled solemnly, "Well, this is it I guess. I should probably go now." I slowly stood up. "Hang on, Twilight. We're not letting you face this alone." Rainbow dash spoke up and was by my side in a flash. "Got that right." Applejack said next and was by my side. The others soon followed in chorus. "Thanks, girls... But I can't let you do this... If something happened to any of you, I... I couldn't..." I couldn't finish the sentence, and a tear fell from my eye. "Stay here, if I'm not back in two minutes, go back to living your lives and pretend you never knew me, and pretend you had nothing to do this." "No can do sugarcube." I sighed when I realized there would be no convincing them about this. "Fine." I trotted to the door and trotted out into the crystalline hallway. The castle's halls were a mix of many different colored crystals, ranging from dark blues, indigos, and green. The tall, vaulted ceiling made it seem small in comparison, which did nothing to improve my mood as we trod to the castle gate. I paused when the massive crystalline doors came into view, I could see they were parted slightly. I turned and looked at each of my friends in turn, and nodded. 'Relax, Twilight.' I slowly approached the doors, upon reaching them, I opened them further with my magic and stepped out. I was greeted by a group of royal guards, they immediately bowed. I blinked, unable to process this. The guards rose from their bow, and one stepped forwards to me and saluted, "Princess, we await your command." Seconds passed, and I just stood there dumbfounded like a little filly. "Princess?" "Twilight?" Spike asked as he poked me with a claw yet again, forcing me back into reality. I shook my head and looked at the guard standing before me, I needed to do my best to inspire them, "Huh?" 'Smooth Twilight. Real smooth.' "Princess, we wish to join and serve you. We await your command." I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, like a fish, before finding the words to say, "I... Thank you. I would be honored to accept your loyalty... Please, come in." I opened the doors to their full extent with my magic and motioned them in with a hoof. One by one they all entered into the castle and looked around, taking in the sight of the interior of the crystalline tree castle. My friends moved closer to me. Confusion was plastered on their faces. "They want to follow me," I answered. "Awesome." "See, Twilight. You'll do fine." Rarity cooed. "Thanks, Rarity," I replied and then trotted over to the guards, they quickly stood at attention, I took the time to look them over. Their coats were a mix of browns, whites, and blues, with an assortment of mane colors. They all carried spears, and their gold-plated steel armor glistened when struck with sunlight, and their breastplate has an emblem of the Sun on it. I frowned slightly at that. I counted sixteen of them, six pegasi, three unicorns, and seven earth ponies. "Um... You can stop standing like that now." I fumbled over proper military procedure, but they got the point and relaxed. The captain stepped forwards, "The proper order is 'at ease', your highness." "Thank you, captain." I smiled at him, he nodded and stepped back. "I'll make arrangements to provide for food and pay, and I'll assign you rooms in the castle later. If you brought anything with you and you want to leave it somewhere, please feel free to, so long as it is out of the way, you can put it in the room assigned to you later." I stopped as the castle gate was opened once more, I turned to see Mayor Mare and Sparkler trotted in and pause at the sight of the guards. "Did I miss something?" Mayor Mare asked. "Yeah, these fine stallions here decided to join me," I stated nonchalantly. "I... See... Well, here are the documents you requested earlier regarding finances, and I asked Sparkler if she would assist you and she said she would." "Hello," the mare greeted in a slightly shy voice. "Hello, Sparkler. I've heard your good with organization?" I smiled at her and trotted over to her. "Yes, I was the best organizer in Ponyville until you showed up in fact," Sparkler smiled back. "I could certainly use your help then," I stated as I shifted my weight. I turned over to the captain, "Captain, what is the normal salary of a royal guard, anyway?" "About thirteen thousand bits yearly, Princess." he curtly replied. "I see," I levitated the documents over from Sparkler to myself to look them over, and did some calculations. Estimated net income could cover paying all of them the full salary, and there would still be a surplus of income, the bank also had a surplus of Bits in it. I would need to go over the financial details more thoroughly later. "That should be doable." I nodded to myself. "I took the liberty of arranging a meeting between you and Filthy Rich two days from now at two P.M." Sparkler paused, "I hope that's alright." I teleported my schedule to myself to check, "Yes, that should be fine. Thank you." I teleported my schedule back to where I had stored it. I started trotted to the dining room, and motioned my friends, Sparkler, and Mayor Mare to follow me. "Oh, um, while I'm thinking about it, girls, do you think you could move into the castle? I think it would be beneficial for me to have you close at hoof, in case something should come up and I need advice or something. I'd also feel better if I knew you were safe here." "Well, I suppose you do need the help more than my family, though I might need some bits to help pay for some help." "Oh, um... I guess." "Sure, I think it'd be awesome to live in a castle." "I suppose I could spend the nights here." "Sluuuumber party!" Pinkie shouted and happily jumped into the air, confetti followed.