Chapter 172: The Art of Diplomacy
As Twilight prepared for her meeting with the EEA (specifically Chancellor Neighsay who she hoped to convince to support her school), Shining Armor set off on his special assignment. He had two objectives to tackle for the prince had to both: Convince all of the nations to enter into the alliance with Equestria (accepting all the terms and conditions that came with it), and encourage them to send students to Twilight's school. While it was probably a given that some of the nations would agree to one or the other, even Thorax was questionable on whether or not he'd allow any of his subjects to leave the hive without him.
Still, the alicorn prince tried to steady his nerves. "Deep breaths, Shining. You can do this!" He told himself as he was soon carried out of Canterlot and then out of Equestria itself via chariot. "Twily's gonna handle the bureaucrats. You just take care of the nation leaders. No pressure, right? Right?"
Despite his efforts the prince found himself growing steadily more nervous as the distance between him and his home land of Equestria only grew. It didn't help matters that the first stop on his multi-nation "tour" was Mount Aris, the newly restored home of the hippogriffs (though there was a considerable number of them that still lived in Seaquestria as seaponies).
While the prince's ban on setting hoof in the country had now been lifted, he still didn't feel at all at ease as he climbed out of his chariot at the base of the massive stairs. "Have they still not heard of escalators?" He grumbled as he made his way slowly up the steps.
When he reached the top at last, Shining could hardly believe the sight that greeted his eyes! The abandoned, hollowed out husk of a kingdom that he had glimpsed at during his last visit here was gone. In its place were new, colorful dwellings that were home to hippogriffs of every size and color imaginable. In particular, he couldn't help but notice a male hippogriff with a pale, light grayish sapphire blue coat, eyes a beautiful sparkling orange in color, and a mane and tail of white and gray feathers. Around his neck was what appeared to be a fragment of the Pearl of Transformation, and a quick look around revealed that all the hippogriffs had similar necklaces.
But the one he was most anxious about was still nowhere to be seen. Or at least she was until she suddenly called out. "No need to be shy, Prince Shining Armor. Please step forward."
Reluctantly, Shining trotted past the many houses and up a few more steps. All that really served to indicate a palace or throne room were two marble pillars and a few hanging banners.
Queen Novo sat atop one of the two red-velvet thrones, in her hippogriff form her blueish gray flippers were replaced with sharp talons, her fins were replaced by a beak and wings, and her two tone purple mane and tail now flowed outward in all their majesty. Of course, she still had her strong magenta eyes. And seated beside her was a familiar yellowish gray coated hippogriff, Princess Skystar.
The prince approached the queen and bowed before her. "Queen Novo, your majesty. I... assume Princess Celestia informed you of the reason for my visit?"
Novo responded in a tone of voice the prince hadn't expected. It sounded warm and cordial, almost inviting from the sound of it. "Oh yes, yes. Celestia was kind enough to keep me in the loop. And if I'm being honest, I was already gonna say yes to the treaty anyway. I just wanted a chance to see how my favorite prince is doing."
Shining stepped back, his lip trembling ever so slightly. "Did I hear that right? You sound happy to see me, but that can't be true."
"And whyever not, Shining?" Novo replied with a hearty laugh. "My subjects owe you a great debt of thanks for allowing us to live on the land again, free from the Storm King's clutches."
"But it wasn't me who defeated him," Shining admitted. "That was Tem... er, somepony else," He corrected himself before he accidentally mentioned Tempest's name to the hippogriffs. He wasn't sure what they knew about her or what they might think of her. "I was the one who tried to steal the Pearl of Transformation. And not because I had some kind of selfless end goal, I just wanted to use its powers for my own benefit."
Novo chuckled. "Oh come now, Shining. That was in the past. If anything it proved how wise I was to install that anemone security system," On a more serious note the queen explained. "Even if I wanted to I lack the authority to punish you more than I already have. And if there's one thing that incident taught me it's that dwelling on the past does no one any good. When I let the fears of the past control me, I never allowed my subjects a chance to cope or learn how to defend themselves. But that's a mistake I won't make ever again!"
"So I see," Shining commented with a gulp. "Well then, I assume I can count on you to lend Equestria a helping paw or fin if the case calls for it, correct?"
Novo nodded, signing the scroll without hesitation. "Henceforth, the dual strengths of my subjects and kingdoms lies with Equestria! I just hope you don't think Equestria is the only nation with a strong army. My brother-in-law is head of the Hippogriff Army, and while he can be a hard taskmaster at times there is no one more qualified than him for the post."
Shining tucked the scroll away. "Thanks for your support, Novo. It'll go a long way towards bettering both our nations," Then he cleared his throat. "But there's something else I wanted to discuss with you. My sister's starting up a school of friendship, and it would be wonderful if we could get a couple of transfer students. Think of them as junior ambassadors if you will. They'll enroll in the school with other creatures, learn about the values of friendship and the various traits attached to it, and then share what they've learned with their fellow nations during breaks. It's a chance for us to spread the magic of friendship all over the world!"
Princess Skystar's arctic blue eyes lit up upon hearing the words "school of friendship"! "Ooh, sounds exciting!" And she turned to her mother, pleading! "Can I go, Mother?! Please?! Please, please, please?! Pretty please?! I promise I'll be good! I'll be on my super extra best behavior!"
Queen Novo lightly shook her head. "Sorry, Skystar, but my answer is no. Don't forget, you're still grounded young missy."
Skystar whined. "It's not fair, Mother! I said I was sorry for leaving Seaquestria without telling you where I was going. I'm not a little kid anymore, I can make my own decisions."
"As long as you live under my roof, you'll abide by my rules," Novo responded. "Besides, anygriff would could take on a monster like the Storm King to help some creatures she'd just met hardly seems like the kind of creature who needs to learn about friendship."
"But there's so much I wanna learn about ponies!" Skystar protested to her mom.
Novo shook her head again. "I said no, Skystar. And that's final. Like you said, you're not a little kid anymore. You're much too old for the kind of school Shining's sister is proposing. Besides, if anything happened to you while you were over there, I'd never be able to forgive myself! Ever since your father died you're all I have left," Then she turned to Shining Armor. "But if it's students you're looking for, might I suggest my niece Silverstream and her brother Terramar? Silverstream in particular is always eager to learn things and make new friends. Terramar might take more convincing, he tends to personalize things even when he doesn't need to."
"And where might I find them?" Shining asked Novo.
"Try Skybeak first. If they're not with him they're probably in Seaquestria with Ocean Flow," Novo instructed. "Just tell them what you've told me, and I'm sure they'll agree in a heartbeat."
Shining nodded. "I'll do that, Novo. It'd probably be better to start with lower profile students anyways. A princess among the classmates might attract unwanted attention."
As it turned out, Silverstream was with her father and Terramar his mother. But both Skybeak and Ocean Flow agreed to let their children attend the school without any sort of fuss. "My children will be model students for sure! They're born achievers!" Skybeak proclaimed.
Ocean Flow had parroted similar sentiments. "My children are super smart. But they could both use some friends their own age, and they need to see the world. I'd do it myself, but someone needs to keep Seaquestria running smoothly when Queen Novo's not around."
With that matter taken care of, it was on to the dragon lands to talk to Dragon Lady Ember. The young dragon lord (lady was the unofficial title she gave herself but most still referred to her by the lord title) accepted Shining's proposal for the alliance very easily. "If anyone's giving you trouble, just say the word and we dragons will be glad to kick some butt!" She proclaimed with a belch of fire. "No one messes with dragons and lives to tell the tale!"
Shining gulped a bit, quickly changing the subject. "So, Ember, would you be willing to let some of your younger subjects enroll in my sister's school of friendship?"
"Another pony school? Why do you need another one? Don't you already have enough?" Ember snorted.
"This is going to be a special school, a school for creatures of all walks of all life to interact and make friends," Shining explained. "And friends mean new traditions and new alliances. And the more alliances you have, the less likely anyone is to make trouble for you. I doubt even Garble and his buddies would mess with you if they knew how many other nations would come to your aid."
At that, Ember smiled. "I knew there was something I liked about you, prince. You know just how to speak to us dragons."
Shining grinned. "I did my research. It's not too difficult when my nephew is the official friendship ambassador to the dragons to boot," Then he asked. "So, any students I should plan for?"
"There is one," Ember commented as she put a claw to her chin. "I've been keeping an eye on her ever since she got her wings. Her name's Smolder and she's a little bit feisty at first. It might take time for her gentler side to come out."
"Just as long as she knows there's no fire breathing allowed in school, I think we'll manage just fine," Shining said with a smile. "Creatures like that are among the ones this school is going to hopefully help."
The yaks took even less convincing than the dragons. Prince Rutherford eagerly signed the treaty as soon as it was presented to him. "Ponies and yaks already have trade agreement, now yaks help ponies when ponies need it. Apologies for not helping with Storm King, but for being so small compared to yaks him much bigger problem for ponies. If not for Frozen North and no communications, yaks would've fought."
"Yeah, we should probably work on improving communication networks here. Perhaps the railroad might be interested in building a branch out here to Yakyakistan," Shining commented as he put the scroll away. "But, your majesty, there is something else I think you'd be interested in."
"Pony prince talk of pony school of friendship," Prince Rutherford nodded his head. "Yak get letter from pink pony telling him all about it. Pink pony very excited about school, invited yak to grand opening whenever that may be."
"So you'll be there, and you'll bring a student or two?" Shining hopefully asked.
Prince Rutherford gave a firm nod. "Yak prince have just the yak for job. She just have hair braided last Snilldar Fest, perfect time for yak to grow up and see the world. Her name is Yona, Yona Yak."
"A fitting name for a yak." Shining agreed with a smile even as he thought. "Note to self: Tell Twilight to install bigger doors and stronger desks."
After Yakyakistan came Griffonstone. But Grandpa Gruff proved to be a tough griffon to convince.
"I barely even have any authority to deal with this matter!" Grandpa Gruff complained. "I should've been king, I'm the only one old enough to even remember when we had one! But a bunch of griffons say I'm too old for the job. So I'm just a placeholder office holder until we elect a leader. And that's gonna take a while, maybe half a year or more."
"So I take it this is a bad time?" Shining asked the griffon.
"Of course it's a bad time, what do you think?!" Grandpa Gruff retorted in a raspy cough. "Great, my condition's been aggravated again! I'm getting too old for this."
Shining moved to put the scroll away. "I suppose it was a long shot to get Griffonstone on board now. What you need most is stability within your boundaries, not outside them. At the least though, would you be willing to consider allowing a student or two to enroll at my sister's school of friendship?"
Grandpa Gruff growled. "Don't try to change the subject on me, sonny! I may not have a lot of authority, but I know you ponies well enough to know you won't leave until you get what you want. Two of your kind came here a few years back on some kind of 'friendship mission' and didn't leave until they got our mail carrier talking about friendship," Pulling out one of his feathers he declared. "If it'll get you off my back, I'll sign it. If the griffons have a problem with it, well they'll be rid of me soon enough so what do I care?!"
"I don't want you to feel forced or anything, Grandpa Gruff. If it would be better to wait for the next king or president or whatever kind of leader Griffonstone wants, that's fine," Shining protested. "Your compliance is appreciated, but the treaty is only binding if you sign it. Once your signature gets on there, it's never coming off. You'll be committing Griffonstone to aiding Equestria whenever necessary."
"And if I don't do this now you'll just come back again and again till you get somegriffon who says yes," Grandpa Gruff growled. "Besides, if Gabby and Gilda were here now they'd be nagging my head off about how this treaty could be a boon to Griffonstone. Bring about a change in the way we think. Considering griffons like them are gaining more influence, I might as well give 'em what they want," He signed the treaty seconds later. "I know what I've gotten myself into. I just hope I don't live to regret it, but I probably will."
The prince tucked the scroll away. "For what it's worth, Grandpa Gruff, I think you made a good call. I promise you, Equestria will not ignore Griffonstone. But we're not looking to impose our ways on you either. We'll only get involved in other nations affairs if they specifically request our aid. Just as we would request your help if needed."
Grandpa Gruff snorted. "Whatever. It's done now so what do I care?" And then he added. "And on the subject of that school you mentioned: Gabby's the only mail carrier we have around these parts. Without her we'd have no way to get our news. So I'm afraid she's not gonna be able to attend your school. Besides, she may act like a child but she's seen things no one her age should have to see. You want a student? I'll give you a student! Just took in this chick by the name of Gallus, don't have a clue what happened to his folks but they ain't around anymore. Couldn't find any relatives who'd take him, so as village elder it fell to me to take him under my wing. He seems to be quite fond of that Gilda though, looks up to her like a big sister."
"I don't suppose she'd be willing to accompany Gallus to the school when it opens?" Shining asked the elder griffon. "Might make him feel less nervous."
"Be my guest." Grandpa Gruff replied and turned his head.
Thorax was the last leader who Shining visited, and the changeling king signed the expanded treaty without hesitation. "I figured Ember was a given and from what you told me about Queen Novo I figured she would say yes too. But I wasn't sure if you'd manage with the yaks and the griffons, they seem pretty set in their ways."
"Just takes the right amount of know how to convince them," Shining explained with a smile. "If a threat like the Storm King ever rears its ugly head again we won't be taken by surprise! And there's so much we can all learn from each other. This alliance feels like it's going to be grand! The start of something truly special."
Thorax smiled too. "It's amazing how much can change for a nation in just a few years. The changelings used to be among the most despised creatures in the world. Now we're in alliances with several other nations! This is almost too good to be true!"
The prince nodded. "I've felt the same way about many of the changes I've experienced in my life. If you'd told me all of this would lie in store for me when I joined the royal guard, I'd have thought you were crazy," Then after sharing a hearty laugh with Thorax, he asked the king. "By the way, Thorax. How would you like to give some changelings a chance to learn more about friendship? My sister's going to be starting up a school of friendship for all creatures, and we're hoping that creatures from all over Equestria will come. They'll be able to learn about friendship and take the lessons back to their nations during break, spreading the values far and wide."
"Sounds great! I'll be sure to be there for the opening!" Thorax proudly declared. "I'm sure I can convince Ocellus to enroll, she's a born leader."
"Who's Ocellus?" Shining wondered.
"She was the oldest in a group of seven siblings hatched just before the invasion of Canterlot during your wedding," Thorax explained. "Like me she didn't like the idea of feeding on love by taking it from others, so Chrysalis did... things to her. Terrible things. Things that no child should ever have to endure. But you gotta give her credit, Ocellus proved to be a tough nut to crack," He sighed. "Even after all the changes that have been made to the hive though, she still has nightmares about Chrysalis. I'm hoping that her making friends will get her mind off those worries."
"And if that doesn't work, Princess Luna could perhaps pay a visit to her dreams. She's really good with children." The prince suggested.
Thorax somberly replied. "I hope it never comes to that."
With Thorax having signed on, Shining brought the treaty back to Canterlot. And it was there that he got some shocking news from Princess Celestia herself. "The EEA has granted approval for the construction of your sister's school," She told the prince. "And we already have our first student. A young earth pony colt by the name of Sandbar who hails from Cutie Markless Village. Apparently, his cousin Feather Bangs things it'll be a great opportunity for Sandbar to come out of his shell and 'impress the ladies' as he puts it."
"Well I don't think he'll have much time for that. Especially not with all the students that'll be enrolling!" Shining declared. "Every one of the nations in this treaty is sending at least one student, some are even sending more."
Twilight beamed with pride. "Oh, that is the best news I've had all day! Even Chancellor Neighsay approving of my school as a way to protect Equestria doesn't top this."
"Wait? Neighsay believes your school is for defensive purposes? What does he even think we'll need protecting from?" Shining questioned. "You did tell him about your plans for the school, didn't you?"
Twilight blushed. "Well... given his reputation, I may have chosen to omit a few 'minor' details. Still, he seemed nice enough. I'm sure he'll understand when he sees the school up and running. He says he plans to visit sometime on Friends and Family Day, if we can get the school up and running by then."
"Somehow, I don't think that crafty chancellor was pondering what Twilight was pondering." Shining thought, but he thought it to himself.
"Oh, there's so much that'll need to get done!" Twilight declared! "Getting EEA approval was the easy part. Now I've gotta get the school built, set up the lesson plans in accordance with EEA standards and guidelines, and find teachers!"
"Not to worry, Twily. I'll be there to help you, at least on the building," Shining declared as he trotted over to his worried sister. "And while I won't be able to hold a position any higher than overseer, I'm sure you already know of some very fine ponies to consider for the job: Our friends."
"Yes, of course! And there's also ponies like Cheerilee, and the Cakes, and maybe even Mayor Mare!" Twilight grinned. "Oh B.B.B.F.F, you're a life saver! What would I ever do without you?!"
Shining just modestly waved a hoof. "We both know you'd find a way to manage. You did it once before during my wedding, and I know you can do it again if you absolutely must."
"Well I just hope I don't have to," Twilight declared. "Once is enough for me!"
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VERY good job on the latest chapter. I love the work that went into the reasoning the leaders (or, in Gruff's case, ACTING leader) gave for agreeing to send their students and the reasons they gave for selecting their students. I especially liked the added detail of Sandbar's background, the reasons for Ocellus's issues with Chrysalis, the reason Gruff gave for NOT being able to spare Gabby AND the couple of "support friends" in the cases of Gallus and Silverstream (Gilda and Terramar respectively). Anyway, all of the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are well done in all the right places:
Some more possible dialogue ideas if you like them:
1. At an appropriate point, there can be the following exchange:
Twilight: You know, Chancellor, I did NOT technically lie about the school being for the purpose of defense. Friendship is actually, more often than not, more effective for defense than brute force. If the changelings, dragons, yaks, hippogriffs and griffons are all firmly allied with us then it would be excellent for defense for all around (for us AND for them). Wouldn't we be less likely to be caught off-guard by future threats like the Storm King and his army if we have a much better communications network? Well, making friends with other races is key to that better communications network.
Neighsay: Why would you omit such details?
Twilight: Celestia warned me you probably would not have approved the school if you knew the whole truth.
Neighsay: She was right. If I knew what a dangerous folly this proposed school was, I would have NEVER given you the approval. It would appear you let idealism get in the way of common sense, not that unlike your mentor.
Twilight: What did you say?!
Neighsay: I said that, while I'll admit that Princess Celestia is certainly quite well-intentioned and very deserving of the respect most ponies give her, she is NOT perfect. Among her flaws are a bad habit of omitting certain details for what she feels is the greater good (usually correctly, but not always). In THAT regard, I'm afraid she has trained you TOO WELL. Another flaw is, as I aforementioned, a habit of letting idealism override better judgement; which is something else she has seemed to pass on to you.
and 2. At an appropriate point close to the end, Twilight can admit to Neighsay "Yes, I HAVE made recent mistakes. But so have YOU, Chancellor. We played right into Chrysalis's hooves by giving her an opening to abduct not just ponies, but several other sapient beings. But you didn't exactly help matters by insulting the races of five powerful leaders to said leaders' faces. Just because Chrysalis is evil doesn't mean all Changelings are. In fact, these days, Chrysalis is pretty much the ONLY Changeling who IS still evil. You wouldn't judge the entire pony race just for the actions of one, or even a few, right? So it would be just as wrong to judge entire OTHER races off the actions of an extremely small percentage. That was actually one of the lessons planned for my FRIENDSHIP School as a matter of fact."
Okay. Got a little overboard again. (Sheepish grin)
9398213 I'm liking that first idea, though I can't buy Neighsay speaking ill of the ruler of his nation given his statements about other creatures and ponies first. Doesn't sound like he thinks there's anything wrong with Equestria, at least that's what I got out of his appearances in Season 8.
9398770
Point well taken.
It was stated in The Hearth’s Warming Club that Sandbar lives in Ponyville. So you’re wrong about us not knowing where he lives.
Oh wow thats pretty unexpected to be honest with you lol but at least she's forgiving 😅
Oh so Terramar is going to the school as well ok cool
Trust me she will with her future friends I mean she's going to be the toughest one but she will show her softer side 😊
Yeah you're probably would do that because when it comes to a bigger creature like that you probably need stronger desk and a bigger door lol but yay we got yona
And wow I just hit 1000 comments dang 😅
Oh man its still sad to hear that Gallus has been living with out a family 😢
Yes now we got ocellus 😃😃
Oh so you made sandbar who lives in the our town even related to feather bangs I mean it makes sense to be honest they do have the stylist hairs lol
Oh trust me he's going to be even worse when you see at his worst