Where Did I Go Wrong?

by zeroxwolfx

Civil Unrest

Civil Unrest

The stark contrast that I was met with in the council chambers was troubling. It was Marvin who first stood up though and started to applaud. The other councilors followed suite. The speaker Greenhoof even started to give a light clap before he spoke, “From your victory… Chairpony and Prince Sombra…” he began in his usual weary, old tone of speaking; you could hardly tell that his entire kingdom and every crystal pony in it had just been saved, “...This 882nd Crystal Council does recognize your…” he looked around for a second, as if to hesitate “...your heroic deeds that did so make safe our fair country. If the Chairpony would approach the speakers bench?” he asked.

I could tell he wasn’t enjoying this. Normally this would bother me more but the relief from war being over and the love that the ponies had just shown me made me care little. I stepped forward and the speaker placed a medal around my neck, made of the purest of sparkling diamonds and gold laced ribbon, “Prince Sombra of the Crystal Kingdom and Chairpony of this Crystal Council, I as speaker of the council, along with the approval of the council do recognize you as Champion of the Crystal Kingdom, the highest honor that I may bestow upon any pony!” I stepped back to my chair and the council began to applaud again.

Once the applause ceased, the council came to a hush. Speaker Greenhoof cleared his throat and brought a parchment to his eyes, “Now to direct the first order of business, the return the command of the 1st Crystal Army over formally to the dictation of the council…”

While I maintained my composure, the audacity of his actions startled me a bit. Here I had come from almost a year of war, from fighting, bleeding and losing my men to monsters and the first thing the council wanted to do was take my soldiers from me? The first thing they wanted to do was take away from me, from the hero that had just saved all of their sorry hides? I did not speak, but someone had the mind to do it for me, “I was under the impression… that his highness did rightfully prove himself a capable leader of our armed forces?” asked my old friend, Marvin Guile.

The Speaker looked a bit peeved at this interruption, but did not overreact, “The Chairpony was to take command of our forces during the time of crisis, which no one here is doubting he handled quite well. However the records will show that the special clause that was written to allow his command was also under the pretense that command would be returned once the threat was dealt it. Now that the threat has been dealt with the Chairpony is to be relinquished his command, as per the clause…” he said in his dreary matter-of-fact tone.

The councilors had a bit of a back and forth between themselves, discussing various legalities that I was not interested in, eventually the speaker redirected his attention back at me, “Would the Chairpony present his badge of military command to the council?” I glared at Greenhoof. Slowly I made my way to the table, keeping my eye on him the entire time. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I let the metal badge clink on the wooden desk before him. It felt almost like an out of body experience, like I was conceding to defeat.

“Does the Chairpony conclude this council session then?” asked the speaker to me, he hid it well, but I swore I could see glee in his eyes.

How low I had fallen, how badly I have been beaten. And by a bunch of squabbling old ponies. He wanted me to say it just to feel superior to me. He wanted me to know that despite my status, however glamorous, was only good for uttering a few words, which signified little. My teeth cringed at the bitter old pony. There was an awkwardly long silence. He was about to speak again before I did, “This council session is concluded…”

There was a crowd awaiting me when I left the chambers, followed by cheers. It wasn’t as big as when I first came back, but it was still quite a sight to behold, “Our king has returned!” said one, “All hail the king!” said another. One even shouted, “Noble warrior king, how does our council thank you?” The question stung my defeat like salt to a wound.

My hoof raised to the crowed and I spoke, “My crystal ponies! The council has presented your… prince with the highest award they could give, the title and honor of the Champion of The Crystal Kingdom!” I waved it in front of them, it was but a second place prize, but they cheered none the less, “As the Council has agreed… I am to relinquish my duties as General, and return to my duties as Prince and as Chairpony of the Council…” I gulped. There was a look of disbelief among the crowed. Before they could interject, I continued, “Together, we have achieved a remarkable victory. We have proven to the world once more that the crystal ponies are strong! And that together, there is no enemy that can overtake us! Let us forever remember this day as the day that we stood up to the forces of evil and not only held our ground, but we pushed the blight of darkness back and sent it to retreat!” I set down the diamond medal and raised my sword triumphantly, bringing the crowd into another roaring cheer. I looked back into the ponies and I saw how much they loved me.

I would sulk that night. I was a hero King was I not? Why couldn’t the council see it? What is it that I was missing? I had done everything that my uncle had told me to do and yet this foolish old pony could not see it! As much as I grew angry with them, I knew that there was little I would be able to do about it. I took a deep breath and my boiling frustration began to simmer. I was only a mere twenty six years old. The minimum age for a King to be crowned was thirty five. It wasn’t such a long wait after all. Besides, the kingdom needed to rebuild itself after the miserable defeats we had suffered in the beginning of the war. Why, in nine years time we could have our northern cities rebuilt, at which timeI could finally be crowned king.

Perhaps my mind would have been settled with that, but just as began to grow comfortable with my situation, I heard a knock on my door and was visited by my old friend. I remember this conversation clearly.

“That was a very uplifting speech you gave this evening, your highness…” said Marvin Guile, before taking a kneel before me.

“You never need kneel before me, my old friend. What can I do for you?” I answered him with a kind smile. Truly I had not forgotten what he did for me before my campaign. Indirectly he was responsible for helping me to save the kingdom.

“I could not help but sense some trouble in his majesties tone during his speech. I would voice my thoughts but, I do not want to be out of line…” he said as he stood back up.

“Please, if anyone has earned the right to speak their mind it is you!,”

“I believe the council nearly monstrous for stripping you of your military rank… with all due respect your majesty.” He said this rather calmly.

My head turned as I pretended not to care, “It is in the councils power to do so, as is written in the law.”

“Odd how the same law that allows councilors to take your control away, was written by the councilors themselves…” he said raising a brow at me.

I began to take my armor off, looking over all of the scars that it bore. I did not quite yet take heed to Marvin’s words. But he would not give up so easily, “That is of course what the councilors are there for, to make the laws,” I countered.

He gave me a nod, “That is true your majesty. Perhaps though, the council sometimes requires a bit of... persuasion to do the right thing… from time to time that is,” he added. As I did not reply, he came to me, setting a hoof on my shoulder, “I would only ask that his majesty does everything he can in his position of Chairpony. He may not have the favor of the council, but the crystal ponies still love him.” With that Marvin politely excused himself from my chambers.

This actually did give me a bit of relief. Perhaps the speaker did have a head over me in the council, but I was still Chairpony and I still had the crystal ponies on my side. What did he mean by “everything I could” in my position? Don't I always do that? What more could I do as prince? It’s not like I could physically force them to do anything I wanted, they were the law of course. Not just the law, but the law that the crystal ponies had elected. I did not think they would need any sort of “persuasion” to do anything either. The war and panic was over. They would get things done, albeit they would take their sweet time doing it.

The next few days in the council were met with awkward silences. I grew tired of it, so I took a few absences as my days as Chairpony to help with reconstruction. It hardly seemed like I made a dent in the work due to the sheer massiveness of it. But to my surprise there were reporters all around documenting my work. I was glad at least that my meager effort would give the ponies a great morale boost. I needed this after the weary days at the council.

The following day, on the day of sundering, the council would have their normal weekly holiday away from session. It was only by chance that I should glance over to the paper and see the stories that were written. The largest article was on how the council had proposed to raise the crystal pony gem tax by twenty percent. Their reasoning of which was to “pay for damages and construction efforts that took place in the capital city.” Articles on the next page went on to explain how the council had stripped me of my military ranks. Supposed I had been “verbally assaulted” and “threatened with the removal of my royalty.” On the next page the paper painted a brighter picture as it showed me helping out with construction.

As much as I thought this would make me happy, this did not. In fact to the contrary I was a bit upset at this. I was firstly upset that the paper had made false statements about the council. My first thought was to go straight to the paper and find out where exactly they got this information. However, as I readied myself and went to the castle entrance the answer would present itself to me.

With the slightest hint of a grin, Marvin said to me, “So… did his majesty catch the article in the paper this morning?”

My eyes squinted as I quickly formed a hypothesis of what had happened. I looked to the paper, then back to him, “Councilor… how did the paper get this information?” I asked him cautiously.

Marvin mischievously smiled, “Well… they must have gotten from within the council of course…” it was obviously driving him mad not to admit it. Luckily he wouldn’t have to.

I sighed and shook my head. I went back into the castle, practically dragging Marvin in with me, “Marvin, you can’t go and say things like this, most of these things aren’t even true!”

Marvin grunted a bit at me, “Your majesty, with all due respect, they are not entirely untrue…” He looked quite frustrated this time as he sat down, “The council DID take your position away. And we both know that Greenhooves would take away your crown if he could. And then there’s the tax…” he said the last part more solemnly.

“But there was never any law proposal to spike the taxes…” before I could finish, Marvin sighed and handed me a scroll. Right there, plain as day was the council’s proposal to raise the crystal pony gem tax. Signed by the speaker himself.

“They wrote up and made the proposal in your absence. They knew you would object to it,” he said with a heavy heart.

I lost my breath for a moment, dropping the scroll, “Then this is my fault?”

Marvin rushed to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder, “Your majesty no! Not at all! You took a leave of absence to serve the crystal ponies better. The council used your absence to take advantage of them.”

I shook my head in disbelief, “No… no they wouldn’t do this. They couldn’t!” I cringed at the realization, “What can we do against something like this…” There was an immense feeling of hopelessness against me. A horde of monsters I could take, but politics?

Marvin held my shoulders once more. He picked me up and looked at me deeply, “The ponies are the ones who vote for the councilors your majesty. Elections are in just one year. That’s why I went to the paper! As long as we keep the crystal ponies on our side, we can make sure that only good, honest stallions and mares are elected into the council house!”

I stood up and dusted myself off, “How can we do that? We don't even know which ponies will be running next year…”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as each council electorate promises to follow the right path, the ponies will vote for them. Then we can ensure that the empire does not fall to weakness again!” he said to me inspiringly.

I shook my head slightly, looking a bit confused at him. And oh, how naive I was, “But… to what end?” I asked, “How do we know that the new council won’t become as weary and self serving as the last one?”

At this, Marvin looked a little nervous. He waited until we reached my chambers and close the doors behind us. We were now outside of the ears of any castle servants, or guards, “Because I believe that you are the only one who can lead this nation, King Sombra…” he said looking to me, “I’ve always been disheartened by the bickering and bureaucracy and corruption of the council. I’ve seen it since my youth and yet I have never been able to do anything about it. You had only a small ounce of power, with that you managed to save the entire kingdom from the brink of destruction! I know you can lead this nation your majesty. You HAVE to. I fear that if you don’t… the council may lead it to ruins…” he gulped in saying this to me. His words were skating a very fine line between mere thoughts and ideas, to treason. And yet he said them with such conviction. Marvin was thought of some what of a sly pony. But even I could usually tell when he was being mischievous. I saw no sign of waiver, no faltering in his conviction as he said this to me.

It took me awhile to fully wrap my head around what he was saying to me. I could be… the sole leader of the crystal kingdom? A sudden rush came over me, I felt dizzy. For the first time since I was just a colt, leading our kingdom to greatness was not just a fantasy, it was within the realm of possibility. A part of me still clung to the past, “But I… I’ll still become king in nine years time…” I tried to protest.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in nine years your majesty. For all we know, they may no longer see fit to have a “king” or a prince around by then. They already know that you want their power, and they will stop at nothing to maintain theirs, even unto the ruin of the crystal ponies. Or what if…” his eyes widened with fear as he looked to me, “What if they attack again? We won’t be ready this time… and the council, knowing that you covet the position will surely never give it back to you, not even in a situation most dire…”

I did not know how to answer him. All of this was quite a weight to bear. Before, becoming a king seemed so easy, so joyful. Now it was more work that I could think of. I really had to think about it now. Could I handle the responsibility? I wouldn’t be leading an army, or a battalion. I would be leading a nation. He saw the look of uncertainty on my face and gave my shoulder a pat, “Let it rest on his majesties mind. For now I would only implore that you do not stay quiet during council sessions. You still have power and say in the council meetings, do not forget that my lord.” Marvin knelt before me, before leaving my chambers swiftly.

That afternoon I would find myself starting the next council session. There was no mention of the paper. I was beginning to think there would be no mention of the taxation either, but it was voted on at the very end. Then the floor came to me. Greenhooves called for me as he usually did, “Does the chairpony conclude this council session?” he asked hastily, as if he had somewhere more important to be.

There was another long pause. This time I did not flinch or waiver in my contemplation, “I’m afraid not Speaker, I still have a few questions about the reconstruction taxation clause.”

Greenhooves paused for a moment before he shook his head, “Chairpony, the period of legislation and conjecture on this clause took place on…” I interrupted him.

“Unfortunately, I was pre occupied on that day… Speaker…” I shot him a dark look before I spoke again, “What exactly is the ‘pre-war allocation tax’?” I asked him clearly.

Greenhooves fumbled with his words for a moment, “The ahh hmm… I don't exactly recall what that specific line entailed. However I do remember that this WAS discussed on the day of the chairpony's absence… Ah yes, the speaker recognizes councilor Ruby Dust!” he said pointing to another old mare counselor, relieved to think the issue would now be closed.

Councilor Ruby Dust fixed her glasses before looking to the speaker suspiciously, “I do not remember any mention of a ‘pre-war allocation tax’, this counselor is going to have to withdraw her vote for the reconstruction tax clause until further notice,” she said with finality.

A few more councilors began to speak up, some of which began to withdraw their votes. At the end of all of this, Greenhooves was face hoofing, eventually he motioned to me, “Fine, fine as you all wish… Without seventy percent vote, this council does not vote to enact the reconstruction tax during this session. A further addressing of the budget of reconstruction will be legislated on at another time!” he sighed as he looked to me.

“This council session is now formally concluded…” I said calmly. At long last, I had gained victory over Greenhooves.

On the way out, there were more cheers for me. More articles of how I had triumphed over the council. I had saved the crystal ponies not once but twice! First time from terrible monsters and the second time from a crippling tax! Just with the slightest bit of effort I was able to do this! Maybe I really could do this! Maybe I really could become a king! Not just any leader, but a real leader that the ponies would love, just like how the Equestrians loved their dear leaders! By the old gods, my dream was slowly but surely becoming realized.

In the coming months, crystal ponies and news articles began to be more vocal in their displeasure of the council. Election months came around and more and more districts of the city began to elect true, honest councilors that would serve the interests of the ponies. Greenhooves was still the speaker, but his power was waning. I could smell it in the air. The ponies of the Crystal Kingdom wanted, no, they needed nothing less than a revolution. They were tired of the slow, monotonous procedures. All they did was make more paperwork and less progress. They wanted a leader, a hero! They wanted some pony that they could love and worship. They needed a king. And I would be their glorious leader. I would be their king.

Next: The Descent

Comments

[Lag Incarnate]

Ruh-roh, methinks Sombra might be getting ahead of himself.

[NecroLeprechaun]

The Prince may be living proud now, but little does he know of the ominous title to the next chapter. Will we see the beginnings of Sombra's dark magic or dark intentions? Only time will tell. Until next time on..."Where Did I Go Wrong"

[cutedash55]

3381808
You're making this a bit too soap opera-y for my likes.

[SteeleShadow]

You are a very skilled writer and story teller. I can wait for the next chapter!

[zeroxwolfx]

8138550 I don't really see any reason to continue this, seems dead in the water for want of continuing.