Diplomacy

by 8686

Epilogue: The Best Laid Plans...

“Sister? Something troubles you?” asked Luna. The morning sun shone golden rays on the castle as they walked.

“I am not troubled, as such. But I have been... reflecting.”

“Oh?”

“On our tribulations these past two days. How they all ultimately stem from a failure to communicate.” She looked to her sister. “In doing what we can for our ponies, have we become too insular? Too willing to look only to the borders of our nation, and not beyond?”

“We have a tendency to deal with the problems that present themselves to us directly,” she admitted. “They often keep us busy enough without us looking further afield to ward off others. What are you thinking?” she asked with a sidelong glance.

“There was... an effort. Long ago. A coming together of every creature. A free sharing of knowledge and kinship between all, and a lasting peace that it fostered.”

“Convocation?” asked Luna. “You believe it could still happen? In this day and age?”

“I believe we could have avoided all of this if we had been willing to talk and share more with our dragon neighbours. I wonder if we have inadvertently been making that same mistake with our other friends.”

“You plan to revive it? You believe they would all come?”

“I believe there will be a great deal of organisation involved,” said Celestia with a smile. “Fortunately, I know someone who is very good at that.”

* * *

Ponyville was a mess.

Almost every ground-floor window was smashed it is frame, there were great, ragged holes in the sides of several buildings, great furrows had rutted and pitted the ground turning the normally pleasant grass and packed earth into churned mud, and faint trails of smoke even wafted into the air in places. It looked like a hurricane had swept through and neither Spike nor Rainbow Dash could keep their jaws from the floor as they landed, and Spike jumped down, aghast.

“You’re back!”

Twilight galloped up. Tiny pupils. Manic smile. Wiry mane. Uh oh.

“Twilight, what happened?!” gasped Spike. “Did a dragon attack Ponyville before they left?!”

“What, this? Oh, no,” said Twilight. Little eye-twitch. “This is fine. It’s fine!”

“Twilight? What... happened?” insisted Spike.

“Well the meeting between the buffalo and the yaks presented certain... unforeseen opportunities for cultural exchange,” said Twilight in a very high-pitched voice. “They hit it off. They... really hit it off. The yaks introduced the buffalo to stomping. And the buffalo introduced the yaks to stampeding. They all had a really good time in Ponyville. Stomping and stampeding. Stampeding and stomping, all over the town! They’re great friends now! Big, successful summit! By the way if you see the mayor I’m not home and you don’t know where I am.” Big-grin-eye-twitch. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go look up a spell to fix drywall. See you later!” she said, galloping off in the direction of the castle.

Spike and Dash watched her go, surprise rooting them to the spot, their mouths hanging open and the half-destroyed remains of the village surrounding them.

Spike sighed. “I spend almost two days trying to stop Equestria being destroyed...”

“And...?”

“Why did I bother?”

Author's Note:

Ladies and Gents, thank you for reading.

There's an old saying: write about what you know. And, as is likely all too clear by now, I know very little about politics.

This story has existed, in some form or another, for a couple of years now. And in the form in which it is currently presented I have many, many problems with it, all of which stem from my inability to properly execute the concepts that were originally in my head. I very nearly scrapped this whole thing five or six times while writing it because I never felt it was working out as I wanted. I ploughed on because I thought I could salvage some of the ideas... and because the core of the story I really liked. I would be lying if I said that the state of world politics circa 2016-19 wasn't a driving force behind wanting to write it. In a world where nations are splitting from longtime allies to go it alone, and where political parties are beginning to treat each other like literal enemies, it was cathartic to write a story about two sides with no reason or political imperative to trust each other forcing themselves to find a way past their differences and for no other reason than because they both wanted to. Alas, the execution let me down.

This was supposed to be a story about misunderstandings, how easily they can lead to offense and insult. And when the people involved have power and pride, that's often all it takes to lead to conflict. It's supposed to be a story about desperation, and how far you might be willing to go when faced with an overwhelming foe and absolutely no safety net to save you. It's about fear, and how it leads us to assume the worst of others. It's about the folly of escalation; meeting aggression with aggression and expecting affairs to improve. It's about all the vicious circles that lead us down darker and darker paths that can all be broken if we just... listen to and forgive each other. And most importantly, it's about what we can achieve together when we do.

And if you didn't get all that -- and let's be honest, it's not all there to see -- that's because I just couldn't get it down in the way I wanted.

So I apologise if you didn't get what you were hoping for out of this story. If it's any consolation, neither did I. If you managed to enjoy it, I'm glad you found something to enjoy. If you were left disappointed, then I can only apologise for the time you've lost.

As always, take care and have fun.

--The Author

Comments

[TasermonsPartner]

It's a good story, even if the general conflict and the inevitable resolution could be seen almost from the very start. In fact, the IDW comics did a very similar storyline featuring Spike and Ember regarding a conflict with the yaks. Also one involving a convocation as well.

However, there was excellent dialogue, and some nice twists and very good attention to detail that made this a good read nonetheless. I really liked you portrayal of Ember's character and personality here, along with Spike's well-meaning shenanigans. The addition of Dash and the pony foal were good twists that added some nice unexpected twists to the story but still blended in well with the overall plot. Along with the epilogue!

Kudos to you!

[xgfhj]

So, usually when I read one of your stories I think 'I'd be great if 8686 were on the show's writing staff.' but after an author's note like that I'm thinking ''I'd be great if 8686 were the head of the UN.' -- You're too good for this world.

Anyway; I did enjoy this story a lot, mostly because it took your old Spike story, A Friend of A Friend, and kicked it in the teeth.

Diplomacy really shows all of Spike's good qualities; smart, confident, reliable, good natured, helpful, optimistic, resourceful, respected, level headed, nice, and (most importantly) friendly.

To me this fits well in the series, between Gauntlet of Fire and School Daze, better than Triple Threat did. Thinking of this as the bridge of why/how Smolder joined the School of Friendship.

And all I can say, again, is; thanks for the story!

[_Undefined_]

I'd be lying if I said that I saw in this story all of the things you mentioned in the author's notes. But then, I've never been one who tries to parse a story for anything beyond surface-level metaphor and meaning.

I also didn't apply the events depicted in it to the real world. Which is just as well, as that would only serve to depress me -- there are too many leaders who would light that match without a moment's hesitation or reflection.

But what I did see is a compelling story about how peace is preferable to war. A story that unfortunately seems like it could only happen in a world of fantasy, but still... it was heartening to read about leaders who found a way to do the right thing even in the face of mind-clouding fear.

So I'm not the one to determine how successful you were in achieving what you set out to achieve. But I enjoyed what I did read.

During Scald's bragging in the second-to-last major chapter, it occurred to me that if he followed his line of reasoning all the way to its logical conclusion, then there would be no reason for him to respect the authority of the dragon lord. The end result would be an intra-species war until only the most powerful dragon remained to truly do whatever he or she pleased. Luckily, his mind never got that far, because the subsequent events would have resulted in a lot more collateral damage.

(Plus, as the story showed, things ultimately wouldn't have ended well when that sole remaining dragon tried to exercise their "right" across the rest of the world.)

[fanreader999999]

Children

[Csquared08]

I think you're being too harsh on yourself. This was excellent. You did a great job handling the differing points of view, the conflicts they created, and the resolutions they needed.

You have once again shown yourself to be a master of the craft.

[Little_Draco]

this is a dragon story that I wasn't even aware of could possibly happen. As an avid fan of dragons, none of my stories will compete close to this. You've written this and the most political yet amazing way that would definitely fit the show. I have no doubt that if the show were to have continued on, something like this would have been amazing to see and understand for references. I am still amazed that this had a plan unseen that it still makes me smile when I read the final chapters. I hope that there is more like this in the future and I applaud what you have given us with this story.

[FloydienSlip]

It took me a long time to finish this, but am I glad I did. Wonderfully done and executed better than for which you give yourself credit. As with so many of your stories, this could very easily fit into the canon events of the show, as the lesson is, as you say, an important one.

Thank you for writing.

[ponygrad]

👏👏👏

[Speck_The_Dragon]

This is underrated. Needs more views and likes

[Shenzy]

So much talk about working together and.... Nothing.
They shake hands and go seperate ways.

No ponies going to dragons or dragons to ponies... She doesn't even visit the kids party. Poor kiddo