Murmurs, whispers, and the occasional cough. Unassuming to most but these were the sounds of many battles, of a never ending war that had raged since the dawn of governance.
Politics.
An old stallion cleared his aging throat. "The next session of parliament will begin, today we have the honor of hosting the executive branch to participate by parliamentary summon, as is tradition on the winter solstice." A hush fell across the sea of ponies.
A single hesitant step was the response, revealing a white leg wrapped in gold, the clack of the heel reverberating through out the room. Another followed, then another, each step increasing with confidence till there was no lack of it.
"All rise for Her Majesty, Alicorn of the Sun, Protector of the Three Tribes, and Diarch of the Equestrian Kingdom-" He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "-Princess Solaris Aurora Celestia."
A century stood and a century bowed, as they had for centuries before.
"Please, be seated my subjects." Celestia said in the royal voice from her podium, which placed her at the epicenter of parliament. It naturally led her gaze across the tide of ponies who retook their seats. She held in the political war game brewing in her head, though a slight pause before sitting betrayed her unusual mood.
What was it Cliff had said? Hope for the best- She idly tapped the engraved sun on her peytral. -and prepare for the worst.
The speaker from earlier continued on. "We shall begin with the annual budget for the coming fiscal year..."
Celestia then relaxed into her seat.
Let the games begin.
A mare slammed her palms on her desk in frustration. "I still don't understand why must we appropriate funds for the Bridle Isles? Why must we give that kingdom foreign aid when we have our own problems here? The amount is ludicrous as well, Twenty three million with half being a lump sum, what a waste of-"
"-Do you have no moral?!" A stallion interrupted. "Would you rather leave our partner, our friend, our progenitor to collapse? Do you not realize at the very least a modest relief now could prevent bigger disasters in the future? We have all seen first hand the ill effects of a collapsed sovereign. War and extremism, it's best we intervene now then pay for it later."
"Have you forgotten our past with them just because of our amicable trading terms? Our ancestors left that land not only to escape the great famine, but also to seek freedom from the heavy handed and tyrannical monarchy without representation! Only for them to chase us and claim us as their colony! The war for independence left many a young Equestrian inside a shallow grave. It wasn't until the Princesses and nobility came to power that they acknowledged us as a sovereign nation."
"That was centuries ago! We may not be allies but I for one shall not leave fellow ponykind to die! You suggest we leave foals out to the timber wolves?!"
A knock of a gable on wood gave its resounding call. "Order! Order within parliament! You both have made your cases, time to put it up for a vote."
Everyone took their seats and pulled out a small enchanted crystal.
"You may cast your vote when you are ready, time limit of fifteen minutes starts now."
Many rushed about having hurried discussions; all coordinating, cajoling and curtailing favors towards their desired outcomes. Slowly but surely, some retook their seats and raised their crystals. Small dots of green for 'Yes' or red for 'No' began to fill the political sea, but a surprising amount of white for 'abstain' was strewn across it.
Soon, the room was filled with the glow crystal lights. The speaker of parliament tapped a crystal which sat upon his desk. He took the tally.
"The Bill fails by a narrow bipartisan abstainment and thus fails to get a bipartisan or super majority." He said calmly. "So the bill for now shall-"
"-if I may?" Celestia interrupted to which the speaker simply nodded in response. She had been studying the bill while the debates raged and had come to an epiphany. The princess stood up and addressed the crowd.
"I offer an amendment to the bill."
She paused letting the words sink in as politicians grumbled.
"I see by the unusual amount of abstains that there is a lack of confidence in the bill. I suggest removing the lump sum and using the remaining bits instead to provide funding for a disaster relief operation run by the Equestrian Military. It would also serve as good training for future disaster relief efforts and make sure the money is well spent."
She paused once more. "Any objections?"
A young mare arose from the house of commons. "Your Majesty, with all due respect the Isles are dangerous and may put the lives of our military personnel at great risk. Would you be willing to accept the Equestrian lives that may be lost?"
Celestia gave a few pensive nods. "I understand your concerns Miss Roseheart, but I assure you this mission will be entirely voluntary and any who will endeavor on it, will be fully aware of the risks involved."
Then an older Stallion stood from the house of nobles, his large weight resting on a cane. "Your majesty, and what of the Bridleland itself? Would that kingdom approve of such actions? As the whole intention of the lump sum was for it to be used as a diplomatic incentive to allow us to provide aid. They may say the Equestrian forces is an occupation force rather than a equesitarian effort and they could use it to their own political advantage."
The princess lips tightened in a mild grimace. "You mean a bribe? I find that unacceptable, we are not going to help prop up a regime, we will save lives. I will use what diplomatic channels we have and come to more acceptable terms, I assure you."
The old noble gave a nod and retook his seat.
"Time for a vote!"
Once again the politicians raised their colored crystals and the old speaker took his tally.
"The amended bill passes with a narrow bipartisan majority, now pending royal ascent..."
"Today we have the Fair and Universal Representation bill. The bill would reaffirm that all representative positions within the legislative branch to be elected by the citizenry, of the citizenry, for the citizenry. To do so, the text would loosen criteria to allow any citizen to hold any office. Effectively merging the house of nobles with the house of commons into one house. Dubbed the house of congress. Due to the scope of this bill thirty minutes shall be allowed for discussion. Begin."
There was a lot of commotion from the nobility side. Usually scoffs and snorts of disdain, as at least once a year the house of commons would try to pass this bill. So there wasn't a large amount of concern among them except for a few older nobles who were more perceptive to Celestia's mood, of those few eyed Celestia suspiciously while others had slight smiles on their faces. One being a Sir Fancypants, a white unicorn stallion with stylish blue hair who was sporting a particularly large grin beneath his monocle.
Well Celestia, as promised, I shall pull out all the stops today.
The unicorn began whispering to his neighbors as he called in some favors and leveraged others less willing.
While on the other side of parliament, there was an air of excitement that was slowly building. Though it wasn't all peachy as there was a minority who did not agree with the bill in its entirety and would seek to have it amended or flat out fail. The leader of this opposition being a noble, Duke Willful L. Persona, an old gray unicorn stallion with short gray hair and a pair of gold rimmed spectacles on his face who had a sour look that reflected the thoughts within.
You think I will allow honor and tradition to be cast aside?! To let the common rabble run this country and control the legislature?! Nay, I would rather let the Bridle Islands reconquer us. One day, I will bring light to all our ills...
He then also began his whispers, rallying those like minded into a fervor and using them to coerce more into their cause.
"Time is up."
All representatives took their seats, a thick tension permeating the air like a humidity of tangible political praxis.
"You may now begin voting."
Almost immediately the house of commons had a huge swath of green, except for a red patch in the corner where the Doctor and his associates resided.
On the nobility side, in the exact opposite, was a huge swath of red with a patch of green in the corner, where Fancypants and his associates resided.
"The tally." The speaker took a few moments to double check the readings.
"The bill reaches a majority but fails by lacking a bipartisan majority or a super majority." The Doctor smiled but Fancypants gave a devilish smirk.
"With that we call this session to a-"
Celestia cleared her throat. "If I may once again?"
The speaker nodded and once again let the Princess take the stage.
"Seeing as how the bill did reach a majority." The parliament now lay still in bated breath. "I as Princess, head of the executive branch, invoke the royal majority superseding the need for a bipartisan or super majority and expedite this to receive royal ascent."
A pen drop silence was held, as the Celestia pulled what was the equivalent of a political declaration of total war. She had not invoked a royal majority for centuries, and only done so sparingly in times of crisis.
The silence held for a few more moments, then all of parliament fell into absolute anarchy.
At a small party in an old neighborhood, a radio played a big band tune to which everyone enjoyed as they went about their party business. That was until-
"We interrupt this broadcast to bring breaking news."
All were quiet as they gravitated towards the radio.
"We are getting reports of a new controversial bill being passed in parliament, which lead to a massive brawl between politicians in the big house and required the deployment of guards to break it up. The bill in question was the Fair and Universal Representation bill..."
Who threw the first punch?
9771976
yes,i am eager to know as well
lol, but also, I'm not sure how this is plot related. It had nothing to do with the protagonist or his goals as far as I can tell. I don't remember him saying he cared about how they do government.
While republican methods are always useful to restrain the dry-rot endemic in the various strains of oligarchy, I do hope they steer clear of purely democratic elections. Ponies are very susceptible to demagoguery, which is something democracies are already inclined to. Atch, that's what they have the Sisters for, no? Keeping matters on track and away from unnecessary foolishness.
Did I miss anything from the last chapter?
This is a really abrupt change of tone for the story if you take previous chapters into account, unless there were some edits done after the first time they were published.
9771987
This act could possibly allow Celestia to elevate her human friends station to one high enough that they can go public with the relationship. At least that's what I'm assuming. If there's a princess can only marry someone of nobility rule in place it makes sense.
9771976
No one...Some asshole just decided to go fuck this and screamed Avra Kadabra...or some shit.
Nothing like a good old parliamentary brawl.
9771987
9771998
Exactly.
This is Madness!
How coincidental that this chapter is made during the 2020 campaign. I will admit that the hearings like these are just like our own Congress, though Celestia's intervention is certainly something. I wish we had something like that in the US as well.
9772052
oooohhhhh hi have you met discord???
9772079
You wish we had a monarchy?
9771976
The one with the hair if I had to guess
9772116
More like wishing we had a Celestia. Immortal who has seen it all, and has centuries of life lessons to call on for the good of those she represents.
So, a bill of Equal Rights?
...and the next time Cliff saw Celestia, she was sporting a black eye and the biggest grin ever.
9772116
Probably.
9772052
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/183/429/302092_125283310907916_122085551227692_102928_1559321227_n.jpg
9772355
*various grunting and mumbling in reply*
9772355
With a pony in the center saying:
"Oooooooooooordaaaaah, ooooordaah. Order."
9772658
Uh fancypants didn't it was the other character, Dr. Willful Persona, also division/racism between the people is well beyond just American politics. It's an issue as old as time itself and across all of the globe. Also it was loosely based off of real life political systems. Don't worry though I may touch on some issues but they won't be purely americentric nor will they will be the main focus of the story.
TL;DR There won't be anything about the current political climate in America.
9771976
Probably the Old and White unicorn who the author specifically wrote to be old and white (and racist, but I don't need to bother writing out that word since we already knew that the character was old, white, and male [and that's not racist for me to assume because the majority of media says so]).
There is definitely not hackneyed writing in this chapter. (Mmmm sarcasm is good.)
9772710
You think that was a serious question? Because were I live if you throw the first punch your the one in trouble
9772710
Ah it may be typical but are you familiar with who I referenced? Look at the title and initials, the glasses are also a hint. It is very much based off a real person.
Thanks for the chapter ^_^.
9772717
Never said that if you assaulted then you aren't to blame just because someone else merely SAID something you didn't like (outside of direct threats or calls to action against you of course). What I said was, in regards to who might have thrown the first punch in a parliamentary brawl, if I were a betting man, having no other information given other than outward appearance of the ponies in the room, and given no one of note for descriptions outside of Celestia (who is well known to the common MLPFIM fanfiction reader), it would most likely be the one who's outward appearance is that of someone who is old and white and male. And I base this off of how much of Western media poses people who are old and white and male as inherently immoral because they are white and because of crimes that they themselves did not personally commit.
9772719
I did not know you based it off of William Luther Pierce.
And I look forward to you specifically referencing other evil people who are not caucasian to show that this was not merely a one off to jump on a decidedly disappointing and racist bandwagon against whites in what is otherwise a pleasant, non-political story.
9772925
Fair enough
Yeah. Gonna keep this in tracking because I haven't seen a major political fic work.
Also this has nothing to do with the romance between human and Celestia that we are here for, except to drag the plot with a political extender, filler if you will. Again, haven't seen it pulled off well, but hey who knows you might do it.
9772052
This is politics!
/)
I know its anthro and all, but the idea of a room full of little pony politicians trying to encite anarchy and strangle eachother without hands makes me chuckle every time.
Oh wow this one set off a nice little storm.............OF CHAOS!!!!!!
I’m conflicted. I LIKE that Celestia is trying to do the right thing and fix the house. But I ALSO like the idea of Equestria as a diarchy.
In the modern day, governments with sovereigns that hold total or near total power are almost universally frowned upon. But that’s because of the nature of man. People are self interested, flawed, and short lived.
While Celestia and Luna are in now way perfect, they are above all else BENEVOLENT. They care deeply for their subject, pony or otherwise, and do their best to protect those under their charge.
Democracy is messy. Now I’m a full blooded American. I love this country, and have served in her defense for four years now, going on my fifth. But that doesn’t mean the system we have isn’t flawed, all it takes is half an hour on any newsfeed out there that we have ourselves FUBAR. That’s for similar reasons that monarchies fail, though ‘power to the people’ mitigates that. It’s the best way we have to ensure freedom and liberty, and it’s worth fighting for.
Equestria can bypass all of that. Have checks for their power, sure. Get rid of some of the pompous nobles authority, go right ahead. But if the princess go rogue, your already screwed anyways, considering they control the celestial cycle.
A benevolent dictatorship, while impossible for any length of time in the real world, is the optimal form of government. Why go for a democracy like this when you have a much simpler, more secure way of doing things?
TLDR: Your fixing it, but in the wrong direction Celly.
Guys, she just wants to be with her hubby, without the 'razzi screwing everything up. If he's an official, noone can squawk, like the spoiled children most of them are.
Well, I'm fascinated
9782656
Why not both? You could have a classical government with branches and departments, and a concurrent government run by a monarchy/diarchy/etc. That way, the population can freely interact with their government, and the ruler(s) can invoke their will upon the government and its people when they want to. Sometimes it can be as direct as passing a law, overruling a court decision, or being 'judge, jury, and executioner', when it comes to certain situations. But it can also mean simply making small political moves to interact with your population, such as observed visits to parts of the nation, going to local and state government meetings, or talking to your people or government workers. This proposed government is stable as long as the monarchy/diarchy/etc. is stable. This is because the ruler(s) can intervene if the people's government is straying off course, or too corrupt, while the government can't superseed the ruler(s) powers, it acts as a forum for the common citizen to play a role in their community. Imagine that politicians hold a little bit of power, as long as the ruler(s) are benevolent / care about their citizen's freedoms.
Just keep it from directly reflecting or stereotyping modern politics or the politicians and you should be fine. Though the brawl reminds me of an african or arab session I saw once.
Ah, yes. The Fair and Equal Representation Act law... The FERAL.
9782656
Can I get a link to your profile picture?
10033380
https://pl.scdn.co/images/pl/default/a8ba5418134beb16202b1e904106079cb5ffb6da
> baited breath
You mean 'bated' – reduced, withdrawn, covered.
10055348
Fixed
9782656
Well for any fanfic that has Celestia as a mc who plays a large role not having a technical democracy would make for a stupid story, most fics flopp on this usually really hard with romance fics where somehow equestria is a harsh diarchy with minimal government and yet she spent almost all 24/7 doing nothing with the mc and yet gets what she needs done for her country, dictatorship and monarchy are rather inefficient and super easy for one bad apple in the chain ruin the whole system
Meanwhile while democracy is slow its usually always for the people with the power being split so much that its much harder for corruption and inefficiency to ruin the system although use has more of a republic democracy (i think its a weird mix) thats way better as pure democracy means mob rules and the little guys get ignored