8 - Royals
“Chin up just a liiiiiittle more, yes,” said Livingstone. “She’ll be a little taller than you, so you want to be sure you’re looking her in the eyes without looking like you’re turning your nose up at her. Little more… Aaaaand… there.”
Twilight held her chin there and tried not to clench her teeth. It was the worst part of becoming a princess all over again: learning the protocol. Remember to place your hooves just so, don’t flick your tail more than a foot up if you don’t have to, don’t blink too often, don’t blink too infrequently, measure your breathing so you don’t have to pause mid-sentence to get some more air, keep your legs straight, don’t speak out of turn, blaaaaaaaaaaah. All the formalities were so boring and didn’t actually add to anything, since you were learning them by rote.
The worst part of the worst part was that a lot of zebra formalities were slightly different than pony formalities. The differences were big enough to throw her off and make her go through the already-learned motions through habit, but not big enough for her to put them in a separate category and start cataloguing them differently.
“And Spike…” Livingstone frowned. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do about you, sorry, no. You’re just too short. Just look up at her. She’ll understand.”
“She better,” said Spike.
To somehow make things even worse, when Twilight was finally able to take a break, it was like her worst nightmare: she was in a library, surrounded by books. Hundreds of them, possibly thousands, each and every single one from a brand new culture. She could spend weeks in there, learning the whole time, and not read the same thing twice. But, thanks to her lack of knowledge of Zebran orthography, she couldn’t read any of them. Screw Tartarus. This was pure torment.
But the dinner was now a scant thirty-two minutes and twenty-seven, twenty-six, twenty-five seconds away, and Twilight was beginning to feel like maybe protocol wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“And remember,” said Livingstone, “when you pay homage to her-”
“I know,” muttered Twilight. But it wouldn’t do any good. They’d gone over this particular bit of information three times in the past fifteen minutes alone, and, yeah, it was important, very important, but Twilight was pretty sure it was burned into her memory by now.
“-you don’t want to go all the way and kiss her hooves,” continued Livingstone unabated. Her voice was slowly picking up speed. “She’ll think you’re a brownnoser. In fact, don’t even bow down too deeply. She’ll still think you’re a brownnoser. She doesn’t know you, and you don’t know her, so if she thinks you’re trying to pay respect to her that she hasn’t earned, she’ll assume you’re trying to suck up to her, which means that Equestria either doesn’t really care about who goes or it’s populated entirely by sycophants, s-”
Twilight gave her a light telekinetic smack upside the head. “Stop freaking out,” she said. “That’s my job.”
“You freaking out is bad, yes,” said Livingstone. She tried to smooth down her mane with a shaking hoof. “So I’m freaking out for you.”
“You’ll need to freak out more to match Twilight’s best freakouts.”
“Spike!”
“Well, it’s true.”
“…Yeah.”
It’d been a long day. A long, long, long day, all of it spent with Livingstone, and occasionally Uvivi, drilling manners and etiquette into Twilight’s and Spike’s brains. But finally, it was just about dinnertime, and they were ready to meet with the King of Zebrabwe. Hopefully.
Livingstone frowned at Twilight and batted at her wings. “Your dress will be sufficient,” she said, “but I think we should’ve packed something to accentuate your wings a bit more. They’re impressive, yes. Is there any chance you could eat with them out?”
“What?”
“Keep them open while you’re eating. Like this.” Livingstone lightly pushed Twilight’s wing into an open position. “Looks quite grand, it does. Zebrabwe’s lacking in them. The only species that has wings around here are birds.”
“I doubt it,” Twilight said, flicking her wing away. “It’d start aching after too long.”
“Hmm. Unfortunate. Well, maybe when you sit down, you can stretch, and just happen to flare your wings while doing so, yes.”
“I think we should be caring a bit more about what I say than how I display my wings!”
“It’s part of your image,” said Livingstone, gesturing grandly. “You need to look to powerful. Majestic. Splendid. Desireable.”
Twilight made a face. “Desireable?”
“Well, not in that way! You need to look… like someone would want to be an ally with you.”
“I know appearances count for something,” said Spike, “but this much? If Inkosi’s that easily swayed, I don’t think we’d want to be friends with her.”
“Maybe,” replied Livingstone, “but you still need to project some image.”
“The image I’ve got is fine! It’s-”
The door to the apartments opened and Uvivi came in, grinning. “Got the two-way translation down,” she said. “Bit trickier, but now I won’t need to also cast the spell on anyone else you want to talk to. Gimme a sec.” Her horn glowed more brightly than it had before. The light split into five balls, each of which zipped over to one of the ponies or dragon in Twilight’s group and showered them with sparkles.
“Feel good?” asked Uvivi. “You look good. Remind me to show you how to do that. It’s long-lasting but ultimately temporary, and I don’t want your translation faltering at the wrong time.”
“After dinner,” said Twilight. “Or tomorrow. And I can’t thank you enough for doing this. It simplifies things so much for us, I ca-”
“Eh, don’t worry about it.” Uvivi shrugged. “You’re with Livingstone, and I-”
“UVIVI!”
Another abada, this one even smaller than Uvivi (if only by a little), stormed into the room. She stomped angrily as best she could, but her size meant Twilight had dropped books that made more threatening sounds on impact. The abada didn’t so much as glance at anyone else in the room, instead looking like she was trying to fry Uvivi alive with heat vision. Stormwalker and Cumulus both looked ready to pounce, but weren't going to go that far just yet.
Uvivi jumped, then sighed. “Mhate, I-”
“Do not give me that,” snapped Mhate. “You didn’t say anything. The day before our meeting with Inkosi, a mere half-hour, and you just- just-” She spluttered for several moments, trying to find a word to properly express her frustration. Eventually, she gave up. “-just run off to these…” She gestured at the ponies in the room.
“Ponies,” prompted Uvivi.
“Foreigners!”
“We’re foreigners.”
“Oh, you know what I mean. We’ve been working at this for over ten years, then an envoy from an entirely new species shows up and you immediately drop everything to help them.”
“I owed a favor or two to one of them. Besides, we’ve got this in the bag. Okubi’ll be fine, even if she’s only got you.”
“That doesn’t change you abandoning your job!” yelled Mhate. “If you had just said something before you chose to join up with these latecomers-”
“Mhate, stop talking about them like that. They wouldn’t like that.”
Mhate let out a quick, barking laugh. “Oh, really. Why? They don’t speak Abadic, why is there any reason I should speak anything but my mind while I’m around these intruders?”
Twilight and Uvivi exchanged a long look. Finally, Twilight coughed. “Because she just ran the translation spell on us?”
Mhate went so rigid she might as well have been petrified. The silence was so complete a pin dropping would’ve been deafening. Mhate looked between everybody, her face cycling between anger and terror so swiftly it was hard to tell them apart. When she finally made it back to Uvivi, she said, “Just be ready, okay?” She then bolted from the room so quickly a cloud of dust and a swinging door were the only evidence she hadn’t teleported out.
“Heh. Sorry,” said Uvivi. “She’s the other consul I’m with. She doesn’t like change much. She’s also…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “…let’s just say anal and leave it at that.”
“That’s one way to put it,” said Twilight. “Is she always going to be like that?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. She might just be stressed. She’s, um, she’s got a point.” Uvivi looked over her shoulder out the door. “Look, I should probably get going, okay?” And she was gone.
“…Okay then,” said Twilight. “Livingstone, is there anything else we need to cover?” Please say no, please say no, please say no…
“Nope. We just need to get you into your dress, yes.”
Joy. It was better than endless hours of protocol, but still.
It didn’t matter how much she adjusted it, Twilight’s collar itched.
Her dress wasn’t too bad. It provided a lot of freedom of motion while still looking nice and not being too overblown. But that collar. Sweet Celestia, did that collar itch. She rubbed her neck, moved the collar up and down and side to side, but it kept itching for no reason she could see. Livingstone had a simpler dress than Twilight, and Spike, as per usual, had nothing.
The dining room they were in- “Dining room” seemed too mundane to describe it. It was too grandiose for that. “Eating hall” more like. It was big, with the already-large table only taking up a relatively small portion of the room. Torches lined the walls (with the electric lights around the place, Twilight guessed they were purely for ambience) and the floor and ceiling were intricately decorated. One wall was an array of windows looking out over Kulikulu. The view was spectacular; Twilight could easily see the whole city from here. The sun was slowly setting, casting orange light all over the room. Servants were waiting in the wings, ready to exchange empty plates for full ones once dinner began. The table was covered with so many different types of food that Twilight had never seen before that she could barely take it all in. The settings were all clearly designed for a lack of magic; the silverware and cups had oversized handles you could stick your hooves in to manipulate.
Twilight, Spike, Livingstone, and the bodyguards were standing at the end of a line of eight or nine zebras and abadas; nobles and executives, she was guessing. They all had different styles of clothes, ranging from things that were merely monochrome sheets shaped for an equine body to things that resembled the offspring of a loom and fireworks. Livingstone had said the waiting was a zebran tradition; they couldn’t take their seats until Inkosi appeared. And they hadn’t been waiting that long, but that stupid collar wouldn’t stop itching.
Twilight fidgeted with her collar yet again and grunted. It was such a pain. The abada in front of her, a big mare (relatively speaking, she was still shorter than most ponies) in what Twilight assumed was a Wilayabadan business suit, glanced back at her and smirked. An “I can relate” smirk, not a “look at the stupid princess” one. “Formal clothes, huh?” she muttered.
“Yeah,” mumbled Twilight. “Why can’t they make clothes that look nice and are comfortable?”
“That would make sense.” The abada inclined her head slightly. “Mtendaji. And you’re Princess Twilight Sparkle, correct? Talk about you has spread through the palace quickly.” She extended a hoof.
“Yes, I am,” said Twilight, shaking the hoof. I wonder how many others know about me so far. “What’re you here for, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Mtendaji waved a hoof in some vague direction. “Oh, mining stuff. It’s probably boring to you, but it’s very important to me and the zebras of Zebrabwe. I’m here with Mhate and Uvivi — I’ve heard you’ve met them, and I’m really sorry about Mhate — and also Okubi. That one there.” She pointed at a zebra up the line who was a bit taller than usual, which put her almost in line with Luna, but bony and scrawny and possessed of one of those perpetually frowning faces. “Basically, she’s the zebra executive for our company, I’m the abada exec.”
“I see.” Twilight wasn’t sure where to go from there, so she let it drop.
Mtendaji began clicking her hooves against the floor. “You know, I really hope King Inkosi shows up soon. I’m hungry, we’ve been waiting forever, a-”
Suddenly, almost as if on cue, the main entrance doors swung open. Two zebra guards with horns played a brief fanfare as two short lines of guards filed into the room. They stepped aside, and King Inkosi entered the room.
Twilight wasn’t sure what she was expecting for Inkosi’s appearance. Whenever she came up with an idea (a huge, musclebound warrior, covered in tattoos), her brain would tell her that that was stereotypical, and she’d switch to another one (a tiny, frail elder, barely able to speak loud enough for anyone to hear her), only for her brain to tell her that one was stereotypical and begin perpetuating the cycle again. But she had some archetypes that popped up more often than not.
Among all her guesses, however, what she wasn’t expecting was a middle-aged, average-sized zebra in the Zebrabwean equivalent of a three-piece suit.
The zebra who followed the guards in was remarkably unassuming in appearance, but she walked with the calm, nonchalant air of one who had so much authority over everyone else around that she could get away with anything. And considering the company in the room, that was saying something. Her build was supremely average in almost every way. Her clothes were simple: a basic suit done in dark red fabric with golden threads for trimming. The only thing keeping her from being a businesszebra back in Equestria was the crown: it wasn’t gaudy and flashy, but it wasn’t as quiet and subdued as Celestia’s or Luna’s, either. The base was an average metal circlet, but sticking out of it were several feathers of various colors, all very bushy and over a foot long.
King Inkosi stopped before the head of the table, and without a word from her or change in expression, the line began to move. As each person passed by her, they paid homage in some way. Some just bowed their heads a few degrees silently. One dropped to the floor, hugged Inkosi’s hooves, and kissed them for several seconds straight before Inkosi lightly nudged him away. There was no real pattern; it seemed to be based all on the individual’s preference. If any of it displeased Inkosi, she made no sign of it.
And then it was Twilight’s turn. She remembered everything Livingstone had said — how could she not? — but it didn’t quell the stress any. Her knees still felt like jelly and her heart still pounded in her ears. She decided to go simple: she walked in front of Inkosi, lowered her head, and said, “Your Highness.”
When she looked back up, she and Inkosi briefly locked gazes, and the first thing that struck Twilight was how friendly Inkosi’s eyes seemed. They weren’t hard, displeased, dispassionate, or anything like that. They looked more warm and welcoming. Maybe not as much as Celestia’s, but a lot closer than Twilight would’ve expected. Inkosi smiled slightly, just enough for Twilight to see. Twilight managed to imitate the smile and move on.
She didn’t see Spike’s or Livingstone’s interactions with Inkosi, but a great weight had been taken off her shoulders. Her first interaction with Inkosi had gone alright. Her first impression was, thus far, a success. Hopefully, she wouldn’t screw it up any more.
The diners took their places, with Stormwalker and Cumulus standing behind Twilight, Spike, and Livingstone. Inkosi took a seat, smiled, and said in a remarkably casual voice, “Dig in!”
Twilight didn’t need to be told twice. She almost planted her face in her plate, but managed to stop herself and eat in a more dignified manner at the last second. She looked to her left; Spike was eating with dignity. She looked to her right; Livingstone was eating with dignity. Good. Good. She stole a glance behind herself at her bodyguards. Stormwalker looked alert, but at least she wasn’t going to dive tackle someone who reached for their fork wrong. Cumulus was half-relaxed, half-aware.
So should she talk first, or should Inkosi talk first? Her question was answered when Inkosi started talking to Okubi about land. Right. This wasn’t her dinner at all. “And now we wait for them to finish?” she asked Livingstone.
“And now we wait for them to finish,” Livingstone said with a nod. “It’ll be some time, but they have precedence, yes.”
“Do you know how long it’ll take?” said Spike. “The food’s good-” He popped some kind of fruit into his mouth. “-but I can only eat for so long.”
“Try to eat slowly, then,” said Livingstone. “It shouldn’t be too long. This is just a formality compared to the actual talks, after all.”
“I hope so,” said Twilight. She settled back and waited for them to finish, trying to follow the conversation as best she could.
Easier said than done. At first it was semi-interesting, about some zebra-abada coal-mining company called Imayini Yamalahle, but once it turned to talks of land ownership outside Kulikulu, it got a lot harder for Twilight to care. She tried to listen, she really did, but one could only listen to zoning laws that didn’t concern them for so long.
She tried watching the conversationalists, and for a while, that worked. Mhate, for all her abrasiveness before, looked to be doing just fine here; she was doing most of the talking and was going about it in a level-headed manner. Every now and then, Okubi would put in something, but otherwise, she just ate and occasionally stared at Twilight for as much as ten seconds at a time. Mtendaji seemed content to just sit back and go “uh-huh”, “yeah”, or “nope”. Uvivi wanted to come in, bouncing in her seat a little, but rarely got the chance to say anything. But eventually, even that wore down. Besides, she was staring.
As she picked at her food (which was delicious), and watched the servants go back and forth, Twilight thought. How deep should this particular conversation go? Was it best to start talking about friendships, or should she talk about Equestria first? If Livingstone had gotten into the court, Inkosi probably knew a little bit about Equestria, but how much? Actually, it was probably best to start with details about Equestria, since then, Inkosi could make a more informed decision on-
Spike jabbed Twilight in the ribs. “Twilight!” he whispered. “She’s talking to you!”
Twilight twitched and looked up. Apparently having finished her conversation with the abadas, Inkosi had turned her attention to her and was smiling expectantly. Most of the others were looking at her with mild disapproval. “Omigosh, I am so sorry!” gasped Twilight. Umpteen bazillion and thirty-five thoughts of how she’d just ruined everything forever ran through her head. “I wasn’t involved in the conversation, and I wasn’t paying attention, and-”
But Inkosi waved her down. “I understand,” she said. “It can be… tricky to care about a conversation when you have no stake in it, hmm? Indeed. Now… Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, was it?”
“Yes,” said Twilight, inclining her head slightly. “This is Spike, my number one assistant-” She patted Spike on the head; he smiled hesitantly. “-and this is Livingstone, who I think you know.”
“I do indeed,” said Inkosi. “First pony I ever met, and she left a good first impression.” (Livingstone suddenly buried her face in her plate.)
“There are two more in my party, but, um-” Twilight glanced briefly at Livingstone, who shrugged. “-circumstances forced us to split up. They should be here in the next week.”
“Hmm. A shame, that. I hope they turn up safely.” Inkosi ate a rice cake in a single bite. “So what brings you to Zebrabwe?”
“It just seemed to me that we could try to open communications between our two countries. I brought it up with our ruler, Princess Celestia, and she ordered me to-”
Inkosi cut in. “Wait. You’re a princess. How could this… Celestia order you around if she’s also a princess?”
“Celestia’s the co-ruler of Equestria, along with her sister Princess Luna. I help, but I’m a bit lower than they are.”
“All the people who have the slightest say in ruling Equestria all share the same title, regardless of their actual position to one another?”
“Well, Celestia and Luna are equals,” said Twilight, “but they’re above Cadance and me, and…” That made her stop and frown a bit. Was there a princess hierarchy? It seemed like there wasn’t, aside from Celestia and Luna being on top, but people seemed to talk about… Never mind. “Cadance and I are equals,” said Twilight. Even if it wasn’t true, it was close enough.
Inkosi frowned. “That seems unnecessarily simplistic. Why not just call Celestia and Luna kings?”
“It’s their way of keeping themselves from being too distant from their subjects.” This was something Twilight hadn’t thought of, much to her chagrin: that she’d have to explain everything to Inkosi and the zebras. “They take the lower title to remind themselves that they shouldn’t think of most ponies as mere underlings.” It was weird; even griffons and minotaurs knew the basics. “And since they move the sun and moon, th-”
Everyone twitched, and across the table, a zebra in a robe that appeared to be made of gold thread coughed. “Come now, princess,” she said. “While I don’t doubt that your leaders may be quite powerful, do you honestly expect us to believe they move the sun and moon, as opposed to them moving of their own accord?”
“That’s Kutengwa,” Livingstone whispered to Twilight. “She’s a bit of a Zebrabwean isolationist, yes. She won’t want you staying here.”
Twilight clenched her teeth slightly. Now, how to make herself look confident without also looking like someone who was ignorant of their own ignorance? After a brief internal debate, she decided to go with brevity. “Yes.”
Kutengwa laughed softly. “Really. And, considering the day-night cycle has been going for millennia, they’ve also been around all that time?”
Twilight clenched her teeth a little more. “Yes. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are thousands of years old.”
Murmurs broke out around the table. Some were worried (could Equestrians really be that powerful?) and some were dismissive (she’s delusional is what she is). Kutengwa cocked her head and smirked. “But I suppose you have no proof of this, hmm? Obviously, it’s just those two, and you can’t move the sun on your own. Conveniently.”
“Actually, no.”
Silence fell like an anvil and everyone stared at Twilight with varying expressions of horror, amusement, and confusion. Kutengwa coughed. “Come again?”
“I’m not as powerful as either of them,” Twilight said, “but I can move the sun, at least a little. Would you like me to show you?” Livingstone looked like she’d been slapped in the face and Spike was tugging on her tail, shaking his head. She ignored them; if she backed out now, nothing good would happen.
After a moment’s pause, Kutengwa nodded slightly. “…Yes,” she said slowly. “I would like that very much.”
“Alrighty then,” said Twilight. She jumped off her seat and strode to the window. Her confident steps concealed the fact that her thoughts were a combination of sweet Celestia, why did I do this?, the mental equivalent of incoherently screaming in terror, and various assorted angry expletives.
Twilight wasn’t completely sure she could move the sun, if she was being honest with herself. The only time she’d done it before, she had the power of three other alicorns helping her. Now, she only had herself. But unicorns had done it before Celestia and Luna were around, right? And they’d done the whole thing, morning to morning, day in and day out. Twilight didn’t want to complete an orbital cycle, just jiggle the sun a little to show what she could do. Surely she could manage that.
Right? Right?
She hadn’t even wanted Kutengwa to respond. She’d hoped her supreme confidence would be enough for her to back down. That was the problem with bluffs: every now and then, you’d run into someone smart enough (or stupid enough) to call them. Twilight just hoped she could manage this tiny, single thing with everyone watching, or else Equestria’s reputation would be ruined before it had a chance to be built, and… bad things would happen. Very bad things.
Twilight reached the walls and stared out the window, at the skyline of Kulikulu. The sun was dropping perfectly in between two towers, framing the palace between them. (Twilight wondered if a decree had ordered no towers to be built there, so the king would always have a view of the sunset at dinner.) She took a deep breath, gathered all the magic she could, braced herself, closed her eyes, prayed, and reached out.
The effort was immense, larger than anything she’d attempted on her own. But soon, she had the sun in her grasp. And she pushed, pushed with every single metaphysical muscle she had. She still didn’t know the proper way to do it. But it couldn’t be that hard.
The sun budged.
It was barely anything, not noticeable from the dining room. But Twilight felt it, and, somehow, redoubled her efforts. She tried a more directed push, aiming to move the sun to one side, behind one of the towers. If that didn’t convince them, nothing would.
The sun jumped a few inches to the right and a sliver of it vanished behind the tower. The change was undeniable. Everyone in the room gasped, some of them cursing. In spite of the sweat running down her face, Twilight started grinning. Who was looking stupid now? It was hard, but she kept at it. She pushed in the other direction, and the sun slid slightly behind the other tower. More gasping and cursing. There is no way I could’ve had a better demonstration, Twilight thought.
Suddenly, some other force grabbed the sun and, easily as if Twilight had been no more than a bug, shoved it back into place. Twilight strained against it, but she might as well have been trying to drill a hole through diamond with a wet feather. She released the sun with a gasp and took deep, heaving breaths. She sidled back to her seat and tried to ignore the way everyone was staring at her as if she’d just pulled her guts out her mouth.
She couldn’t help it; she grinned her most irritating grin at Kutengwa, who looked like she’d just been shot. “And that,” Twilight said in between breaths, “is how you do it.”
“B-b-bubba-bobba-hob-hobba-hobba-wah-wah,” said Kutengwa.
Silence reigned for several moments. Everyone was staring at Twilight like she was about to rip the sun from the sky and drop it on them. Even Uvivi and Mtendaji looked terrified. The only one who seemed halfway normal was Inkosi, but she still had big eyes and a tight jaw. Twilight tried to ignore them and keep eating, but that was kind of hard to do.
Eventually, Inkosi spoke up. She was trying to sound jovial, but her voice was a bit higher than usual. “Well, then, I guess it’s in our best interests to not piss Celestia off, lest she take the sun away.”
“It’s not that simple,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “We- hang on.” She brushed aside her dishes and silverware to clear some space, then put two plates next to each other and picked up a cup in her magic. “Now, this is Zebrabwe, this is Equestria, and this is the sun.” She pointed at, respectively, the two plates and the cup. “Celestia moves the sun around the world every day.” She passed the cup over the plates a few times. “Now, suppose she did keep Zebrabwe shrouded in darkness. But where would that leave the sun?” She stopped levitating the cup over the Zebrabwe plate and held it over the Equestria plate.
A few murmurs broke out around the table and Inkosi’s fear slowly began to disappear. Twilight continued. “If we take the sun away from Zebrabwe, that leaves the sun permanently over Equestria. Even if you freeze to death, we’re frying to death. We can’t use the sun as leverage because we depend on it as much as you.”
A collective sigh came up, most visibly from Inkosi. She took a sip of some drink, trying to look casual. “And… moving the sun is a full-time deal, is it?”
Twilight knew the question Inkosi wasn’t asking: Celestia’s too wrapped up in her duties to come over here and smite us, right? Of course, given the power disparity between Equestria and Zebrabwe, that was a perfectly reasonable question to ask. “More or less,” Twilight said with a shrug. “It’s complicated, but between moving the sun and running the country, a lot of Celestia’s time is taken up. In fact, part of the reason I’m here is that, although I’m less powerful, Equestria can go longer if I’m not ar-”
Abruptly, Spike started hacking, and he belched a scroll onto the table. “Message from Celestia, Twilight. Obviously,” he said. He picked it up and began poking at the seal. “Talk about inconvenient.”
“A… a message? From… from this… Celestia?” Mhate stammered. “You have… nigh-instantaneous… transoceanic communication… via a biological medium?”
“Yes,” Twilight said simply.
Mhate blinked a lot, then leaned over and started muttering to Okubi.
Spike coughed. “S-so, um,” he said, staring at the scroll in his hands, “should we r-read this, or ignore it, or what?”
“Read it!” said Inkosi happily. “Assuming it’s not personal, obviously. I can only imagine what Celestia has to say to her ambassador.”
Spike glanced at Twilight, who motioned for him to read it. He nodded, unrolled the scroll, and cleared his throat. “Dear Twilight,” he read, “I don’t know what you’re up to in Zebrabwe, but please: if you’re going to move the sun to impress the zebras, let me know first. Having it start to move back and forth during lunch with no warning is very disconcerting, and the constancy of the sun’s movement is vital for the survival of Equestria, not to mention other lands. Sincerely, Princess Celestia. P.S.: If you’re not responsible for the sun’s erratic behavior, let me know. We may have a big problem on our hooves.”
Inkosi laughed. “Well! Well well well. You won’t have the slightest difficulty staying in touch with her, that’s for certain. Would you like to write back?” She turned to one of the servants. “Could you get us pen and parchment, please?” The servant bowed and scurried away.
When the servant returned, Spike scribbled out a quick apology from Twilight, while Inkosi added a few words of greeting. He set it aflame, much the bemusement of every non-pony in attendance, and once the smoke had vanished out the window, Inkosi clapped her hooves together. “Now,” she said, “where were we before we got diverted by this sun business? You were saying you came purely to open relations, I think.”
“Right,” Twilight said with a nod. “W-”
“And to maybe see if you can lift the travel restrictions, yes,” Livingstone added quickly.
Beneath the table, Twilight lightly kicked Livingstone. She’d been hoping to lead into that a bit more. They’d’ve gotten to it eventually, sure, but to bring it up so suddenly kind of undermined the whole idea of diplomacy. Hey, we’re only here so you can do something for u-
“The whats?”
A strange silence slowly fell over the table, and Inkosi was staring at Livingstone. Everyone else was either staring at Livingstone or Inkosi, or picking at their food and pretending they weren’t staring at Livingstone or Inkosi.
Livingstone coughed. “The… travel restrictions?” she said tentatively. “The ones you sent out six years ago. I’d just arrived in Bandari Mji, yes, and then came a message from the royal court saying travel beyond Zebrabwe’s borders was forbidden.”
“I never sent out anything like that,” Inkosi said slowly. Her voice had changed, going from the happy-go-lucky tone she once had to something much more serious. “I have no reason to make a law like that. Did it have the royal seal?”
“Yes. I sent word to you to try and get an audience, but I was always turned away.”
“…As far as I know, the court never received any such letters from Bandari Mji.”
Well, thought Twilight, this just got a lot more complicated.
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Well, things just got more complicated...
Oh boy, now this is a twist.
I wonder if the one behind this is in the Court, or if Applejack and Zecora have more than the nyokakubwa to worry about.
Was that a reference to Captain Underpants?
7269799 It is indeed.
Yes: every princess outranks Flurry Heart
But seriously, an Equestrian princess being a ruler seems secondary to their being a promoter and exemplar of some ideal. This is made explicit in The Journal of the Two Sisters, but while not everyone has canonized that book and the show's a bit more obtuse, the concept still shines through. Celestia brings light to the land, but also understanding as a teacher. Luna calms ponies' dreams and the fears expressed therein. Cadance, by protecting the Crystal Empire, ensures it can "reflect hope and love across all of Equestria." Twilight, along with her friends, heal festering wounds both ancient and modern. Putting it another way, they are respectively responsible for Equestria's clarity, serenity, amity, and harmony.
Discord, is that you?!
I sense a funny backstory...
If you swap kings with queens, you have one of the oldest questions of the fandom.
It's a conspiracy!
Good chapter.
After 3/4 of the chapter I realised I have to make notes which name belongs to which person. They sound kind of alike (at least for me...)
Say, have the names a background like some of the other words you are using? (I really have to keep better track of them...)
You'd THINK that the Zebras would have known that something was wrong with the sun and moon around the time Nightmare Moon returned....and when the plunder seeds kidnapped Celestia and Luna...
7270694 For the first, "THE NIGHT LASTED SLIGHTLY LONGER THAN USUAL!"
For the second, just blame the local gods. Without knowledge of alicorns, why would they assume that there was a kingdom of mortals somewhere with power over the heavens?
That's probably the worst way to open diplomatic relations. Especially letting it slip that it would be mutually assured destruction.
I mean, it's badass as all hell, but were I the evil vizier I would already be drawing up plans for warships. Such a shame that I wouldn't know about their weather manipulation tactics.
Well now, this is a quite delightful tale so far. Exploring new places and cultures (and seeing two unfamiliar ones interact) has always been quite fascinating to me, and having Twilight go on a diplomatic mission to faraway lands is a fine way to set up just that. And indeed - being the Princess of Friendship it makes sense she would be concerned with foreign diplomacy as well, not just domestic.
And of course no journey of Twilight's is complete without something conspiring to ruin everyone's day in the shadows
I am very much looking towards the mysterious "travel ban" and what it's all about - and how far the conspiracy spreads. If the law indeed had the royal seal on it (and a genuine one, not just some cheap forgery - the document needs to be examined very closely, to determine how high up this mishap might go) and mail is being intercepted so it can never reach Inkosi's ears ... well, the conspiracy might well be spread up to the royal palace itself. It could be a legitimate concern that Inkosi isn't even all that in control of her country any more, if this is a coup in the making, if laws are being passed without her knowing and no unwanted messages make it back.
Though I guess it might not be a coup either - this has been going on for six years after all, if there was a rebellion in the making surely they would have made a move by now. Maybe something related to just the Bandari region, then? Something local goin on in that place that someone doesn't want getting out? There is no way to know (for now) if any other region actually received similar laws, after all. Either way, I'm looking towards finding out - and Twilight will probably find herself right in the thick of it.
Speaking of Twilight, I'm kinda disappointed she just straight up went and babbled all about the ways Equestria wouldn't/couldn't use the Sun - I get that she doesn't want to appear any more threatening than she needs to be, but she still knows nothing about these people - Inkosi's nice personality might well be a facade, considering she has known her for all of ten minutes.
Though I do applaud her for actually moving the Sun (and you for remembering that she can - people seem to have a tendency to forget it happened - speaking of which, it's probably about time she took the time to truly study it how to do so properly, not winging it on the fly - there have been several times when Celestia and Luna has been indisposed - Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, Plunder Wines, etc - that hint at times she would be expected to do so again. Best to be prepared) - the Zebras now know she might not use the sun to Burn/Freeze them over, but she still showed them that she can. You don't necessarily want to antagonize someone who is powerful enough to move the sun after all - such a being probably has a few dozen other ways to completely ruin your day.
So on one hand, that was kinda a blunder on her part. On the other hand, it still sets her up as someone that no one would want to mess with And there are more of them around), so I guess it's almost-kinda-sorta a wash. Especially for people who know nothing of magic and she's the first non-pegasus they have seen.
If there is one flaw in the story so far though, I'd say it's the fairly heavy-handed way you artificially split up the party. I imagine it's fairly important they split up for the plot (I wouldn't be surprised if AJ's group gets caught up in whatever conspiracy is afoot, thus giving Twilight reason to get involved and motivation to take the kid's gloves off if need be), but the way it was handles was kinda ... ehh.
Simply put - if Twilight wants to go through the jungle (or fly to the shore ahead of the boat, for that matter), then she goes through the jungle. What some puffed up, self-important guard thinks she needs to do does not matter. She decides where they go and what actions their party undertakes, (and the protocol for interactions with other parties and how her guards are and aren't allowed to respond in any given situation); when she says "jump", someone like Stormwalker has no right or business offering any input besides asking "how high".
Twilight would not abandon her friends in unfamiliar shores on a dangerous route for the sake of a day or two when she is on no explicit timetable, and what Stormwalker thinks on the matter is inconsequential. He does as he is told, or else. Frankly with the way he has been acting - which borders on insubordination on many an occasion - he should be dismissed of his duty and told to return to the ship. It's clear he isn't fit to serve as a guard to a diplomatic envoy (or a guard at all really, seeing he has no apparent respect for the chain of command) because his presence and attitude seems like the most likely potential cause for any problems in the first place, and if we are being honest then the thought of some puffed up pegasus being a meaningful asset in a situation where Twilight is realistically threatened is almost giggle-worthy anyway.
I realize Twilight likes to be friendly before being a hardass, but it's about time she put her hoof down on this. Stormwalker's behavior has been unacceptable for a while now, and it's unacceptable that Twilight doesn't deal with it already in a more decisive fashion, considering his behavior is a real issue.
So ... yeah. The handling of Stormwalker - and subsequently, Twilight going along with the idea of splitting the party and allowing them take the dangerous route alone - has been sort of a blemish on the story so far (one I sincerely hope will be addressed soon-ish), but other than that it has been a very nice read and I'm looking towards more.
7270099 They're all words from various Bantu family languages such as Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Shona, and Nyanja (i.e., those languages available on Google Translate). "Inkosi", for instance, is Zulu for "king". Except for "Mhate"; I have no idea where that came from.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/9/9/976288__safe_solo_twilight+sparkle_princess+twilight_animated_open+mouth_magic_floppy+ears_spread+wings_glowing+eyes.gif
"I COME TO YOU TO SPEAK OF THE VALUES OF FRIENDSHIP!"
7271492 Minor quibble: Twilight going straight to Kulikulu was Livingstone's idea, not Stormwalker's; Stormwalker never forced Twilight to do anything, but she was strongly in favor of it. Livingstone was hyper-paranoid about never being able to see her family again, so this was her way of ensuring Twilight's safety and, by extension, being able to get back into Equestria. Twilight is perfectly capable of taking it all on, but Livingstone, who'd left Equestria before Twilight had done anything worthy of national attention, didn't know that. (Stormwalker's still an overprotective ass, though.)
That being said, claiming the separation has the subtlety of a rockslide is an insult to the subtlety of rockslides. I wanted to have a journey across Gondwana with the party running into minor obstacles along the way, but with Twilight in the group, it'd just turn into the "Twilight Solves Everything Adventure Minute", so I split them up. Even when I was writing it, it didn't click to me, but otherwise, I'd have a relatively boring trek across the land, so rocks and hard places. I like to think that it's not the most utterly horrific splitting up in history (I once read a fic where two cops split up when entering a serial killer's lair for literally no reason), but it's still pretty bad.
Glad you like it in spite of my big screwup.
7272298
Granted, I didn't necessarily want to imply that Stormwalker explicitly forced her per se (It was mostly a combination of Livingstone being pushy and Twilight being a complete doormat - something of an overall flaw she seems to have in this story; prior to the whole Sun raising scene, she seems to be meekly plodding along with whatever other people want, despite it's her that's supposed to be in charge), but she certainly went on a tirade afterwards about it, which left a stronger impression than Livingstone's previous stammering, so I kinda focused on that - and Storm's much more of an ass than Livingstone anyway, so she sticks in the mind more.
That bit aside though, I believe my overall point about Storm still stands - she is behaving inadequately, shows no respect for the proper authority in charge of the mission (and in charge of her job, frankly), refuses to obey the behavioral protocol set forth by Twilight and, like Twilight noted, is frankly the prime reason Twilight actually ends up in tense situations in the first place.
If Storm is so set about removing threats to Twilight's well-being on this mission, she should frankly start with herself - because thus far, she has been the biggest danger around thanks to the conflicts her conduct generates.
This is honestly something Twilight should bring up at some point, because Storm is long overdue for some serious dressing-down. It's patently ridiculous when Twilight all but pleaded with the stuffed up Pegasus to tone it down -after realizing Storm is deliberately butting in to situations to stroke her own ego to feel more important, which renders her completely unfit for duty because that's like admitting to deliberately sabotaging situations- and the later simply huffed and walked away.
There is no reason for Twilight to keep putting up with this like a silly doormat, and Storm is evidently long overdue for a reminder about who is actually in charge here - which isn't her in any way, shape or form. Dismissing her and forcing her to return to the ship (while probably not happening) honestly ought to be the proper course of action, because she is clearly unfit for duty and endangers the mission with her presence. Something has to be done about her, and Twi needs to grow back the backbone she apparently lost somewhere along the way.
--
And yeah, I can see how it wouldn't necessarily be much of an adventure with Twilight along, because most anything you can find in a forest that isn't the Everfree wouldn't pose too much of an obstacle for her - and if one invents stuff that would, that would normally leave the rest of the party looking like needless tag-alongs. (Though granted, in a different sort of way this could make for a funny story in its own right - to see the Zebra and Livingstone's reactions to the purple horse waltzing through their biggest dangers while rolling her eyes about more dangerous stuff being found in what is practically her back yard
).
So ... yeah, I can see the problem. I wish the split could have been done smoother, though at the moment I'm struggling to think what could realistically force her to abandon AJ there without looking forced in the given situation, and am coming up blank.
So ... aye, I can live with it for the sake of the plot. Stormwalker's honestly by far the most annoying issue by now (and, I hope, one much easier to solve once Twilight -I hope- finally gets fed up with the pegasus and breaks her meek routine by finally putting her hoof down on no uncertain terms), so yeah - I'd say we are doing OK :)
7271492
Livingstone got to know Inkosi reasonable well. Plus Zecora would have mentioned something if the country was ruled by a tyrant. So while Twilight can't be sure that Inkosi is really as nice as she seems, it is fairly certain that she isn't a murderous madwoman.
What Twilight said about the Sun isn't a military secret, it is common knowledge across the ocean, and you can bet Inkosi is going to send a few ambassadors to look over Equestria after this. If Twilight had left the implied threat of Eternal Night hanging over the Zebra's heads and Inkosi later found out it was a hollow threat, it would seriously sour diplomacy.
Not really, the only thing Twilight wants from the Zebras is friendship and terrifying them does not advance that goal. Honesty and openness does.
7273314
Zecora hasn't been home for many, many years and even before that I doubt she had any real personal experience with Inkosi. Whatever information she can offer would be considered outdated and inaccurate, thus not necessarily applicable. Livingstone is already being suspected by Twilight for possibly having her own agenda of some sort, which means - true or false - that she can't be trusted to not say whatever she deems would advance her personal interests the most. Plus, Twilight has known her for all of a day or two - hardly someone you want to take the word of where the relations between entire nations is concerned.
And I'm not advocating threatening them with Eternal Night either - Twilight could have easily reassured the group that Equestria would never do that - and never has done so within the history of the country's existence and explained the values the country runs on, without going into minute details. Still perfectly honest and friendly without saying too much before she gets a better read on the situation and people involved and can always bring it up again in a day or two. Being honest doesn't mean immediately regaling strangers you have known for 10 minutes with all of your non-obvious weaknesses and limitations, nor does it make one less honest if they don't do that.
7274025
Compare and contrast the following three statements...
Inkosi has known Twilight for those same ten minutes but she would be easily reassured that although Celestial could destroy her country on a whim, she is super nice and totally wouldn't?
The people at the dinner party have known Twilight for less than a day - hardly someone you want to take the word of where an existential threat to your nation is concerned.
You are expecting other people to extend trust that you aren't willing to give yourself.
In a day or two, after the people at the dinner party go home and mention to all their friends how Celestia has the power to take the sun away and kill them all? Once that genie is out of the bottle, it can't easily be put back.
Deliberately framing your reply in order to perpetuate a misconception is dishonest. If I coincidentally happen to have the same last name as the company CEO and my boss says "Well, I better treat you right or you'll tell your Dad to fire me" saying "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that" is dishonest even if it isn't technically lying. If I don't tell my boss then and there that I'm not actually related to the CEO, he will be quite justified in no longer trusting me once he finds out the truth.
7271120
An evil vizier would realize the destruction doesn't have to be mutual. Denying the sun to the zebras doesn't automatically mean parking it directly overhead for Equestria. From Celestia's letter we see that Equestria lunchtime = Zebra sundown, that means they aren't on exactly opposite positions on the globe. Celestia can give Equestria both day and night (noon to 1 hour after sundown), while Gondwana only gets night (sundown to 1 AM). Of course that requires not caring about all the other nations that would be destroyed as collateral damage, so it probably didn't occur to Twilight.
Also, why the warships? Equestria is still a major national power across 5000 miles of ocean, if it wasn't a target before the dinner party when no one knew Celestia could move the sun, why would it be a target after they find out she can move the sun but can't use the sun to destroy them?
Great work, nice twist at the end.
If the king isn't responsible for travel restrictions, then who is? The changelings? The Abada? The Nazis?
This is an awesome story, and so the conspiracy shadow visible, but the cause yet to be seen~
Can't wait for more! =)
That action of twilight should have destroyed any chance of relations between the kingdoms. She just turned the sun in the sky into a constant threat that the zebras have to see each day.
Also twilight may have the body of an alicorn but her mind is still one hundred percent unicorn.