Am I a Political Pawn?
Starlight hummed as she went over some paperwork, tapping her pencil against her chin. Twilight had taken note, eventually, of Starlight’s frequent boredom as a guidance counselor, and so she’d given her a portion of the school’s paperwork to take care of during her spare time. And, sure, it was about as interesting as one of Maud’s rock lectures, but at least it made her feel like she was helping.
However, that didn’t stop her from feeling relieved as she heard a knock at her door.
“Please come in!” she called, shuffling the papers into a stack and shoving them into her desk.
The door creaked open, and Ocellus peeked out from behind the door. “Hey… is this a good time?”
“Of course!” Starlight said. “There’s no such thing as a bad time when it comes to helping students, after all! Take a seat.”
Ocellus shut the door behind her and timidly walked over to the chair in front of Starlight’s desk, sitting down.
“So, what’s up?” Starlight asked.
“Well, it’s just… I’ve really liked my time here at school and everything. I’ve learned so much, and met some great creatures…” she trailed off, rubbing a hoof against her foreleg.
“…But?” Starlight prompted.
“But I’ve been doing some thinking. About me and my friends. And so, I have a, um, question.”
“Go on.” Starlight took a sip of hot cocoa.
Ocellus looked away nervously. “Am… Am I a political pawn?”
Starlight spit out the cocoa.
“Sorry! I’m sorry I asked!” Ocellus quickly said, waving her hoofs out in front of her. “Coming to this school was one of the best things to ever happen to me and I shouldn’t be questioning that!”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Starlight said reassuringly, levitating a few paper towels onto her desk to absorb the hot chocolate. She was glad she’d put away that paperwork. “You just caught me off guard. Before I answer your question, though, I’m going to turn it back on you. Do you think you’re a political pawn?”
Ocellus shifted in her chair. “I, um. I read a book recently, where there was this kingdom that was on the brink of war. But there was also this powerful empire that was staying neutral, so the king decided to set up his heir with the empress’s daughter. That way, the empress would fight on the king’s side, and he could win the war. And then I thought of me and my friends, and coming to this school. This school is one of the best things that ever happened to me. I really don’t want to leave. And since I’m close to Thorax, and he wants me to be happy, he’ll try to make sure I can stay here. That means not going to war with Equestria, and possibly even helping you out with your problems. And considering that Equestria seems to have a lot of powerful enemies, and you can no longer wield the elements of harmony without risking the death of the tree of harmony, you would benefit greatly from having five strong nations, several with powerful militaries, invested in the wellbeing of your country. This school is a great tool to achieve that goal.”
“Holy shit,” Starlight said, then immediately slapped her hooves to her mouth. “Um, don’t tell Twilight I said that.”
Ocellus giggled. “I won’t.”
Starlight coughed, regaining her composure. “Well, Ocellus, I have to say, you’ve put a lot of thought into this. You brought up a lot of points I hadn’t even considered.”
Ocellus blushed. “Thorax says I tend to overthink things sometimes.”
Starlight laughed. “I think you and Twilight would get along really well. To answer your question, though, I think calling you and your friends ‘political pawns’ would be a big exaggeration.”
“…But not entirely false, then?” Ocellus asked tentatively.
Starlight sighed. “Twilight and all the other elements do truly want to spread friendship as widely as they can, because they honestly believe that it is a kind of magic that any creature can use and benefit from. They really do want to make the world a kinder place, and that’s why they made the school. I can say that with one hundred percent confidence.”
Ocellus pursed her lips. “…But?”
“But what I can’t say with one hundred percent confidence is that there weren’t any ulterior motives in reaching out to the other five kingdoms. I mean, Celestia was the one who contacted all the other leaders, and she’s scary good at diplomacy. But then again, I’m not really the pony to ask about all that. All I can tell you is that the ponies at this school want to help you learn friendship for friendship’s sake. If you really want to know all the political mumbo jumbo, you’d have to ask Twilight.”
“Can I?” Ocellus asked. “Ask Twilight, I mean. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad to hear that you guys are all genuine, but… I kinda want a better answer.”
“And you deserve a better answer,” Starlight said. “Frankly, I’m a bit curious myself. Tell you what; I’ll check in with Twilight, and we’ll set up a time for you two to talk. In the meantime, all I ask is that you don’t tell your friends about this until you discuss it with Twilight. I don’t want them needlessly worried. Is that cool with you?”
Ocellus nodded. “Thanks, Ms. Glimmer.”
“Any time. And, don’t call me ‘Ms. Glimmer.’ Starlight is fine.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Here,” Starlight said, handing Ocellus a hall pass. “You should go on to class. I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Thanks,” she said, taking the pass in her magic and walking out of the room.
Once the door was again closed, Starlight exhaled heavily, leaning back in her chair and staring up at the ceiling.
Welp. Better talk to Twilight.
Twilight sighed. “I was afraid this would happen.”
Starlight watched as her mentor got out of her chair and paced around the headmare’s office. Pacing wasn’t ever good.
“Really? Because it totally blindsided me.”
“Well, I’ll admit that this is much earlier than I thought it would come up. Ocellus, you said?”
Starlight nodded.
“That makes sense. She’s very intelligent, and I’m sure growing up under Queen Chrysalis’s rule would make a child more sensitive to these kinds of things. And you told her I would meet with her?”
“Well, yeah,” Starlight said. “You will, won’t you?”
“Of course. I just wish I knew what to tell her.”
“I mean, you could start with the truth.”
Twilight shook her head. “It isn’t that simple. Yes, we’re teaching these kids friendship, just like all of our pony students. But we’re also training them to be diplomats. Ambassadors.”
Starlight cocked her head. “We are?”
“Not directly, obviously, but think about it: each kingdom choosing one of their kind to represent their race at the new friendship school in Equestria, one of the largest and most magically advanced nations on the planet? When they grow up, these children would be perfect candidates for acting as foreign ambassadors to Equestria.”
“But… that’s just a byproduct of this process, right? They don’t have to go down that path if they don’t want to. It isn’t as though that was your intention inviting them to the school.”
“It wasn’t my intention, but I knew it would happen. I don’t think it’s a particularly big deal; the only issue is that the students weren’t exactly… told of the diplomatic ramifications. They didn’t know what they were getting into, so to speak.”
“Oh.” Starlight paused for a moment, looking at the curtains. “I guess that is a bit complicated.”
“Yeah.”
“I think you could tell her all that, though. I mean, she was worried you were using the school as a way to gain access to other nations’ military forces, and this is much less upsetting than that, I’d imagine.”
“Is it though?” Twilight asked, a worried expression on her face. “Sure, overall, using the students as hooks to gain alliances with the other nations might seem more scummy to a third party, but it’s a lot more personal to go, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re actually kind of an ambassador for entire country, have fun with that.’”
“So… what are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know yet,” Twilight said solemnly. “But set up the appointment for Thursday. I think better under pressure.”
Thursday during free period, Ocellus found herself in Headmare Twilight’s office, a cup of tea in front of her.
“Do you like tea?” the mare asked. “Do changelings even drink tea? Ugh, I didn’t think this through. This isn’t a meeting with Celestia, why did I bring tea?” Twilight huffed at herself.
“Um… tea is fine,” Ocellus said. Apparently, she wasn’t the only nervous one. She didn’t know if that made her feel more comfortable or more apprehensive.
“So, Starlight told me what she told you, and I just want to start by saying that she was right about everything she said. The goal of inviting foreign students into the school was simple: I wanted to share my knowledge of friendship with not just ponies, but all the creatures of Equus. I didn’t do it for political reasons at all.”
Ocellus nodded. “Yeah, I think I always kind of knew that. I don’t know, it just felt weird that there was, like, one creature from each kingdom invited to come, and just one.”
Twilight sighed. “Well, the whole ‘only one’ thing wasn’t my choice. Celestia talked with the other leaders, and it took a lot of convincing to get, for example, even one griffon student. We probably could’ve taken in more changelings and hippogriffs, since we’re in solid alliances with both of those nations, but the griffons and yaks were less trusting. And dragons are dragons. So we decided that rather than having, say, ten changelings and only one griffon, we would just take one of each.”
“That makes sense,” Ocellus said, looking down at her tea. “An imbalance like that would probably make the griffon feel even more alone than he already would, huh?”
“Exactly,” Twilight said.
“Though, it would be nice to have some other changelings around. I feel like I’m responsible for my entire species, if it’s just me… And changelings have a lot of history to make up for, you know?” She let out a short laugh. “I guess I started questioning it so much partly because I was hoping that feeling was… justified. Even if I didn’t like feeling that way.”
“Then I’m not sure if you’ll like or hate this next part,” Twilight said with a sigh. “As you already know, you’re not actually responsible for all of changeling kind. You’re here to learn, not to be a diplomat. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the whole ‘one student from each kingdom’ thing is that it looks on the surface a lot like you’re all political envoys. You’re not ambassadors, but lots of ponies are going to see you that way. You’re not diplomats, but in the future, your countries might want you to be, due to your experience here. And…”
Twilight trailed off, looking to the side.
“…And?” Ocellus asked. Her mind was spinning right now, but she wanted to hear what Twilight had to say. All of it.
“And, well. I didn’t invite you to my school to use you as leverage in international politics, but that doesn’t mean the potential isn’t inherently there.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Let me put it like this,” Twilight said, turning back to face her. “Let’s say I really like foalsitting. I just love spending time with foals, right? And so I end up foalsitting for my friend, because I want to help her out, and it’s something I enjoy doing anyway. I have a great time, and the kid does, too, and now both my friend and her child want me to keep faolsitting for them, since I did a good job. Now, let’s say a couple months later, I need something from my friend, but she doesn’t want to give it to me. What if I say, ‘but remember how I foalsat for you? You can at least do this for me.’ Even though I had no intention to use the foalsitting as leverage, I can.”
Ocellus tried to speak, but she couldn’t find the words. This was a lot to take in. Eventually, she settled for a simple, “Oh. I get it.”
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked. “I know this is kind of a lot.”
“You wouldn’t… do that though, right? Use me to get Thorax to do what you want?”
“I can’t see a situation in which I would, no, but that’s largely because the changelings have been such close allies of ours ever since Thorax took the throne, and I don’t see that changing. I… wouldn’t be able to make that same assurance to, say, Yona, however. While I would feel terrible for doing it, if it was truly necessary, I—well, most likely Celestia, actually—would be willing to play that card.”
“This… Why is all of this so complicated? I just wanted to learn, and make some friends, not…”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, really,” Twilight said, reaching over the desk to lay a hoof on Ocellus’s shoulder. “Politics suck, and it sucks that you have to deal with them so young, and I’m sorry that you weren’t told up front about the significance of your enrollment in an Equestrian school. It’s good you’re asking questions, and wondering what your part is in all this. It shows how mature you are, and it’s a sign that you’re equipped to handle any messy political stuff that life throws at you. But believe me when I say you don’t need to worry about it, at least not right now.”
“Why don’t I, though? I don’t want to regret coming here someday because it was used against me!”
“Look, Ocellus, Thorax and all the other leaders knew exactly what they were getting into when they agreed to send you to the school. If there ever comes a time when you need to worry about juggling politics—and that is an if, not a when—then you’ll have people to help you through it. And it certainly won’t be for a long, long while, trust me. If you continue to learn, continue to have fun, and continue to make friends, you’ll do so much more for both your country and mine than any dumb political move could accomplish.”
Ocellus looked into the eyes of the pony before her. Twilight was scared; she could taste it. Fear was cold and bitter and metallic. She didn’t like fear very much. There were worse emotions; she’d tasted Chrysalis’s spite and jealousy once, when she was little, and it had been an awful blend. Twilight wasn’t at all like Chrysalis—that much was obvious. Chrysalis wouldn’t be so afraid of accidentally unloading too much onto a child.
Ocellus smiled. “Thank you for being honest.”
Twilight laughed, relieved, and her fear abated. “I almost wasn’t, you know. I thought it might be too much pressure on you. I wouldn’t have been able to live with knowing I was responsible for causing you so much distress, but I realized that any self-respecting teacher would practice what they preach. I’m glad I was right.”
“Yeah. It is stressful, knowing that I could be so… important. It’s a lot of responsibility. But I’m glad to know.”
“Are you going to tell the others?” Twilight asked. “I wouldn’t suggest it, but I won’t try to stop you if you want to.”
“Maybe,” Ocellus said. “I think Silverstream already knows, to some capacity. She’s the only one of us who’s actually royalty, after all, and she’s a lot sharper than most people give her credit for. But I don’t think the others have really thought about it. I guess if it comes up I might, but otherwise probably not.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, whatever happens, I’ll always be here. Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie—all of us are here for you, for whatever you need.”
“Thanks. See you in class, I guess?”
Twilight laughed. “See you in class.”
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Kind of impossible to divorce politics from a international school setting like the friendship school. How ever good political relations between countries is a good thing, and it's not just a one way street not just Equestrian benefits. Look at the other kingdoms involves. Griffonstone, in economic ruin. Seaquestria, rebuilding itself. The Changelings, have to develop culture for the first time and total change of government. Yakyakistan, isolationists and not exactly rich. And The Dragon Lands are barely a country. Equestria is the only confirmed superpower on Equus now. The Storm King basically lead pirates and left small countries destitute. The Deer Kingdom is xenophobic, and Aqustria is in the middle of the ocean.
I definitely like this, nice analysis. And lots of good pieces to use in something longer, if the muse strikes.
Whoa
I agree with Starlight. Holy shit indeed. I was definitely not expecting that.
Really nice little piece. Everyone felt very in-character.
One little detail I really liked was Ocellus pointing out that Silverstream had an idea of what Twilight told her. I like seeing people play her as more aware than one would think given her bubbly, excitable personality. But I'm also a huge Silverstream fan, so maybe I'm biased
Great work!
9111224
The deer don't exist in show canon beyond mere animals.
9111490
There is the comics, the one where the forest invades i think?, also mentions a capitalistic minitour who want to build an amusement park and captured the deer kings son
9111224
You do know that the 'deer' kingdom doesn't really exist in canon. Comics Are considered Non Canon To the series.
Cause half the things go against stuff established in the tv series.
Crumbles.
As a minor point of criticism, I find some of the character voice to be a little off. For instance, for a piece that's mostly in-character and suitable for canon, this
...fells a little jarring.
That said - and this is coming from a teacher whose whole career was has been spent teaching internationals - this story very accurately portrays an aspect of teaching that isn't widely considered outside the field. Nice job, and have a like!
Its also worth noting what countries were chosen. While as MANY people have pointed out the Deer are non-cannon, the nation states chosen to have students at the school of friendship are all nations that have currently positive ties to Equestria.
We saw no Minotaurs, nor Storm King Hedgehogs, nor the Parrot or Cat people we saw in the movies. Princess Celestia has reached out to those that are either allies of Equestria (Hippogriffs, Changelings, Yaks and likely the Dragons) or those it considers its vassal states (Griffonstone was on the original Cutie Map when it showed only Equestria, and while Twilight does call it a separate kingdom, their is significant question if it is, given that both to its North and South is more Equestria. [Specifically due south of Griffonstone looks like the land where Mistmane lived])
So its kinda clear that Celestia is sending a message to the Hedgehogs, Minotaurs and Klugetown. And given that Twilight was opening this school anyway, its actually an easy message to send for free.
"We give perks to our allies. Fight us, and you will miss out."
I imagine the other nations already have ambassadors to Equestria. Except maybe the Changelings, they seem more like a protectorate of Equestria considring Equestrias influence on their culture and the changelings past leaving them open to outside threats.
The worst Equestria could do without creating a disaster for themselves is... sending the students back home. Thats terrible for the students but no leverage to be used again the whole nations.
The babysitting example can be used too. "Remember how i babaysat for you, give me your house now okay?" wont work no matter what.
Book bug is best student. That is all.
This is lovely.
I also like how Twilight clarifies that knowledge of an action’s benefit does not mean that the benefit must be the motive for the action. Ignorance is not virtue.
And good on Ocellus for getting that.
That was a nice read. I like stories that deal with some more realistic and dark political implications of the show.
Good read. I think it's just about right.
Also there's a bit where it says scare good diplomat, should be scary.
9111554
I think it's been said that the comics are canon until contradicted in the show.
But seriously, fuck the deer.
9111726
Ocellus is best student.
I love, LOVE, self-aware/mature Twilight. Always knew she had it in her.
So nice job on the character piece!
9111510
Comics are B-canon, which means that the show isn't necessarily going to fall them.
9111490
I wanted to consider all possibilities from official sources even if they are in different cannons, same reason I mention Seaquestria and Aquastria. Did forget Saddle Arabia, not sure what they are like, Abyssinia is also a known nation and is one of the nations the Storm King ruined. Lastly we have Kludgetown which I assume is an independent city state, but I assume after the Equestrian rail line was extended to Mt Ari's it got a rail road station and there are now Equestria and Seaquestrian troops there to make is a safe stop.
On another note I don't think Celestia was the only leader with political motivations here, the other leaders likely sent student s knowing there would be political ramifications, though something tells me Thorax had it spelled out for him.
9111585
To be fair I'm not so sure the movie was entirely cannon so to speak. After all did you see Flurry in it at all? And in the episodes after the adventure, Tempest, the storm creatures, hedgehogs, parrots, and abyssians aren't even mentioned once.
I found a typo
Did you mean "scary"?
You mean "does"
I suggest you get a proofreader who's good at catching single words, because these are minor setbacks in an otherwise good story...
9112136
Twilight and all the others, thus many ponies, thus "do" is in fact, correct.
Maybe, but that didn't prevent it from getting featured.
Good story!
I'm actually kind of surprised this meeting wasn't Ocellus with Celestia. Maybe Twilight isn't keeping in touch with her mentor quite so much these days as if Twi sent her a message about this question, I'm quite sure Celestia would swoop in to handle it personally or at least to talk to Twilight. She'd at the very least want to be present.
It definitely is frighteningly convenient in canon from a diplomacy standpoint.
9112218
Well, like Celestia said in the end of A Star In Yellow.
"With enough subtext, a thing made for a child becomes an entirely different world to an adult."
The writers likely knew what they were putting in, but knew that the "target demographic" would never actually get it until they were well into their adult years, if ever.
9112091
...except you know, Silverstream, and Seaquestria, and the mentioning of the Storm King in the last Hearth's Warming Episode, and Chancellor Neighsayer mentioning the invasion and all that stuff.
Seriously, Its cannon. I don't LIKE that its cannon where it is, I think Twilight acted like she would have 2-3 seasons ago during that film, rather then where she is now, but several episodes this season have referenced events that happened in the movie.
9112382
You forgot to mention that Tempest was mentioned by name and that Kludgetown, the pirate’s ship, and Mount Eris were shown on the map.
9112218
I think it's good that Celestia wasn't there. Because her presence would have made things obviously political. Plus, it's Twilight, not Celly, who is the teacher and mentor of Ocellus and the rest of the Student Six.
9111855
I haven’t gotten that far in the show yet... but I certainly like her here.
Anyone notice that Season 8 is almost over, yet there hasn't been a single appearance by Cadence, Shining Armor, or Flurry? And by the descriptions, they won'the be in the rest either.
It was so worth it adding them to the opening credits. 😂
9111565
This story is also rated E lol (that one line makes it Teen if I'm not mistaken).
9111490
They really should, though. The comic's portrayal of them was quite imaginative. They'd be right at home on the show. But, I guess we the fans don't get much say in that, do we?
9113060
I agree, but deer have appeared in the show, and they're just animals.
From the loaded title, and simplistic description, I thought this was going to be something of a crack story. But this was a pleasant and in-character approach to a complicated topic. You also carried over the way Twilight and Starlight address the students and adolescents in the show. They treat them as different from other characters, but not less.
Small typo: faolsitting
9111565
I have to agree. I think it would be more in character for Starlight to merely think that word to herself - she has the self-control.
9112482
You should get caught up! I'm surprised you read this story if you haven't... have you even started Season 8?
9112408
9112218
Headmare Twilight is the highest authority the students have at the moment, as Lurks-No-More said. And while it wasn't directly addressed in the story, the implications are that her situation was very similar to the non-pony students': Sent into a situation that would be hugely important in the end without being told in advance, trained for a potential administrative role, and in the end, becoming a leader and diplomatic for the realm.
Though I think Ocellus has it backwards. Equestria probably intended to strengthen ties to the other nations so they would be in a position to accept help when it's needed. Equestria is the empire in this scenario.
9113618
No, almost through season 6 currently. College and a few other things chewed a hole in my viewing. But I’m getting caught up, and I’ve seen a few things here and there out of order.
9113680
You have my sympathies.
9113074
What episode do they appear as mere animals in? I might be forgetting, but I was pretty sure they only appear in the comics at all. In fact, have we seen any pony-like quadrupeds that aren't sentient? Since we've never seen otherwise, the simplest canon assumption is that they all are.
I'm curious why you even felt the need to bring it up. Why butt into an unrelated conversation just to scream that some minor detail might or might not be canon? You're the kind of fan Quibble Pants was a parody of
9113709
Heh.
9111872
Aye - and absolutely in-line with the show's canon, when you think about it. When the chops are down, shit is about to hit the fan and the world is at stake (well, not so much in this case, but ... you know) - Twilight always pulls through. It's when she has too much free time and gets to spin her wheels in place that you get things like Lesson Zero and the time travel fiasco and so on. That hyperactive mind of hers needs to be fed real and immediate problems to chew on, otherwise it tends to wander off to weird places
9113774
Well there is that one giraffe who, despite having pony like eyes, is just an animal. As for the deer, they've appeared in more than you think: Fake it Til You Make it, Filli Vanilli and Fluttershy Leans In.
As for why I brought it up is because someone else already did.
9113969
I'll take a look. Though we've also seen both sentient and non cats and dogs, so even that doesn't make it impossible or even unlikely. We've even seen non-sentient horses once (at least I assume Twilight modeled those mouse-horses in 'The Best Night Ever' after something, otherwise they'd be pony-sized and more like them).
It just seems pointless to harp on the comics like some people insist on doing. like one contradiction makes them completely invalid. I mean not even FiM is 100% internally consistent.
I believe the official stance is that things in the comic are canon to FiM until FiM contradicts them. Of course they're still canon to the comics even if FiM contradicts them, it's just a different canon. Saying otherwise is akin to saying G1 isn't canon anymore because G4 contradicts it. As far as I'm concerned, people can even consider their head-canons true if they aren't contradicted. Just let people enjoy the show how they like.
9113854
Hmm... you know, in that sense Twilight is like Pinkie Pie, but more mad-scientist-crazy than, well, Pinkie-crazy.
I really liked this story!
I don't know if I can give justice to how it made me feel, so I won't try. But rest assured, this was a great one-shot with that perfect balance of light-heartedness and seriousness for a story like this.
P.S. Congratulations on the feature!
9114033
The thing, is, none of the writers (or anyone) working at a high level at Hasbro/DHX/IDW have ever said anything outright about comics canon. They've never said "the comics are canon unless the show contradicts them", or "the comics are B canon and the show is A canon" (like pre-Disney Star Wars and the EU), or anything like that.
All they're willing to say is that the show does not take anything from the comics into account, that the show will never reference anything more important than trivia that happened in the comics, and that no-one from DHX oversees or reviews comic storylines. That's pretty damn close to them saying that the comics are noncanon, though there IS enough wiggle room that it can't be definitively proven to be non-canon.
In comparison, Equestria Girls (which for years had a similar "nothing in the show will reference it" thing going on until Shadow Play) had a direct statement from McCarthy unequivocally saying that it was canon despite that.
9114786
Final word, fan faction is by definition not cannon so, what ever sources the author wants to include in fic's own cannon count. If they want to include comic characters and events along with the show cannon elements they can. I personally accept any event in the comics, story books, games and everything else that is not directly countered by the show to be in the same universe. As far as my head cannon goes Celestia has a butler named Kibits, Luna has a pet possum named Tiberius, EQG happened, there is another aquatic kingdom called Aqusatria, equestia has a secret agency called SMILE, Capper is an Abyssinia refugee, and the CMC and starlight Glimmer lead resistance against the Storm King in Ponyville during the movie.