//------------------------------// // Episode 14 Bonus Chapter: The Secret of Harmony // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Philosopher's Station, Equestrian Upper Atmosphere Somewhere above Equestria, exact coordinates unknown During Dan's attack on Halberd Base It was unknown to all but a few of the most powerful members in all of Equestria. Even the Director herself had never set hoof on the immense platform called the "Philosopher's Station." But once every year, the most powerful, the most prominent and the most influential of individuals in all of Equestria met there to discuss for an hour their plans for the future. Traditionally, it had always been hosted by Princess Celestia and Luna. Today, however, Equestria was represented by Princess Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Chrys and Fluffle Puff. While Dan had left to take the fight to the Enclave, Mayor Mare had dropped by the house to inform Twilight of the annual meeting. Specifically, the summit had been moved to today for reasons the mayor had not been disclosed to. Because of the Crystal Empire's recent reappearance, they had not yet received total recognition of sovereignty over the lands they controlled, mostly because of the zebras. Although there was no doubt they would eventually(because even in this timeline, the Equestria Games would be held at least once in the CE), they were still unable to send their own representatives to the conference. That, and Shining Armor and Cadence were busy rebuilding their own Miranda-class cruiser and didn't want to go. "Okay... we can do this," Twilight said. "It's just one meeting. One teensy, tiny little meeting and then we'll be back on track." The meeting was the closest thing to a G8 summit in Equestria. It was important to make sure the leaders of the world remained united, as much as possible. "Wow, Twilight, look at this place!" Spike said, perched on her back. "It's like a super secret Cloudsdale nopony knows about!" "I think that's the point," Chrys said, looking around herself. She was still using her magic to impersonate Dan to give anyone watching them the impression that Dan hadn't left Twilight's side. Not only that, she had donned Dan's royal guard armor to further cement that fact. It was also good to cover up her transformed form as much as she could, since she was still not quite able to fully transform into a human to a perfect match. "Thppp-thppp thppp thbbbb thbbbl thpp thbbb," Fluffle said in a low raspberry. This is nothing like Cloudsdale. It's cold, it's hard, there's no rainbows or anything soft. This place sucks. The Philosopher's Station was made entirely out of a material that was almost completely transparent. The walls, floor and ceiling were all nearly invisible to the naked eye except for their partly translucent edges, colored blue in spaces to help others see and navigate. It was cold, as was the case with high-altitude locations but it the station was concealed in a cloud so the sun couldn't get through. "Aww, it'll be okay, Fluffle," Chrys said, patting her with a gloved hand. "We'll be finished soon and then we'll go some place fluffier, okay?" "*Gasp!* Thbbbb!!" Yayyyy! "So, why are we here again?" Spike asked. "I thought a summit was supposed to be on top of a mountain." "This is a different kind of summit, Spike. It's an annual meeting between the leaders of Equestria's largest nations, the heads of government," Twilight explained. "Ohhh..." Spike said, nodding while lounging on his friend's back. "And we can't just have a conference call or something because...?" Twilight groaned. "Because this is a meeting with the leaders of the world, Spike. It's extremely sensitive to bring so many influential figures together- so many different backgrounds, different countries in the same place at the same time. Showing up in person demonstrates to the others that being here, that the meeting and what we decide here is important." Chrys nodded and chuckled. "Heh, yeah. And it would really suck if one of the world leaders had bad reception and disconnected during the call." "Thppp thppp-thppp thpp thrrrp prrbbb thbbb thbbb thrm." Spouse agro cannot be tanked through. "It's important to meet with them. To be here," Twilight said, affirming it to herself as much as to her friends. "To show them that we're still united even if the princesses aren't here right now. Equestria still stands." She sounded so sure of herself. Resolute. It wasn't anything Twilight had learned from the princesses, from any pony in Equestria, not even the other Mane Six. She had learned it from Dan. Chrys looked over to her. Despite the fact she was almost an exact duplicate of Dan at the moment, Twilight had more in common with the human than she did. "How... how do you know? That Equestria's still standing?" Twilight's eyes were fixed forward. "Because we're still standing," she said, and marched on. Even the conference room of the Philosopher's Station was hidden from view. Mirrors built around it made so it was impossible to find unless you followed the glowing markings on the floor, which disappeared after you passed over them. Twilight and company followed them through the maze from her balloon they'd used to get there until finally, they reached a set of doors. They opened automatically. "-to do? The fringe settlements are actually in a better position to..." the goat representative trailed off. Slowly, all eyes in the room turned to Twilight and the others. There were no ponies, no security guards or anything else in the room. There was a long table, a set of matching chairs and the leaders of the free world. And they all looked at Twilight, Chrys, Fluffle and Spike. "Um... hi?" Twilight said. She elbowed "Dan" in the side. "OH! Crap, uh, *ahem*, presenting Princess Twilight Sparkle, Master Spike and Madame Fluffle Puff representing Equestria," Chrys announced. "Princess Twilight who?" the donkey representative asked. "Eh, Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said for herself. She took the seat nearest to her and nearest to the exit and the doors closed behind them. "I'm sorry," the goat said, looking at her inquisitively. "I must've missed the coronation." "It was... kind of a short one," Twilight said, not knowing what else to say. "But in the um... absence... of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna I have... come to represent Equestria. Here. Today," she said nervously. They all stared at here in near-bewilderment. Twilight swallowed in response and Chrys noticed it. This was the Twilight she knew, the one that did her best to live up to Celestia's expectations. She slowly began to melt under the pressure, something Chrys had deep sympathy for. Without her friends, without her mentor, Twilight was fighting her fears and worries just to be in this room. Twilight was a very strong mare, she just didn't fit well in the role she was trying to play. But play it she did anyway. Chrys put a hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it back with just the faintest aura of her magic. "You'll forgive my skepticism," the goat said. "Princess Luna and Celestia have always directed these meetings themselves. I assure you, we placed the utmost confidence in them." "I honestly don't see why you're here," the donkey rep said, a thick Russian-accented mule. Across from her, a bearded zebra gestured with his hoof. "Premier Stow has a point, I'm afraid," he said. "The pretenses of the summit specifically prohibit anyone but the official leaders of the represented nations from being here." "That is correct," the donkey, Premier Stow said, leaning forward. "And how are we to know you're even a valid representative of Equestria? I don't recall Celestia informing us of a new addition to the royal family." The goat leaned forward, stroking his own beard. "They've only ever sent Miss Luna and Miss Tia before... this is quite strange, indeed." "Well, um..." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck like Phoenix. "These are strange times, you see. Things are-" "I think we should suspend the meeting," a manticore said. "Under the circumstances, I feel a postponement is entirely appropriate," she said. However, she looked as though she was only half-paying attention in the first place: she kept glancing under the table at some kind of older, portable television. "Oh, come on! What kind of call is that?!" "I think we move for postponement," the zebra said, beginning to stand. Twilight was sweating bullets. She seemed to shrink into the chair, away from what she was facing. "P-please... I know this isn't how things usually go but we need to-" "I move for a dismissal," Premier Stow said. "Agreed," the zebra nodded. "Unless Equestria can come up with a representative with an actual claim, then I move for-" "I'll endorse her," a voice said. Twilight looked up. Suddenly, the entire room was silent. "I'll endorse Princess Twilight's claim," the voice said again. The manticore, Premier Stow and the zebra rep all rolled their eyes. "Of course, it had to be you, didn't it?" "Can we get through one thing without some kind of interloping by you?" "Now, now," the goat said. "She is a member here and has a valid claim. Her endorsement stands." "Heh, thanks for that, Vex," the voice said again. A taloned claw reached to grab the glass sitting in the middle of the table. "Um, excuse me?" Chrys asked. "Who... is exactly, endorsing Princess Twilight's claim?" A green griffon leaned forward in her chair at the opposite end of the table. "Defense Minister Grasp, United Griffon Coalition," she responded. She looked over at Twilight and smiled. "You can just call me Gale, sweetie." Spike, still situated on Twilight's back, leaned over to see the new griffon. "Did... you just say..." "Gale Grasp?" Chrys and Twilight both repeated. "You wouldn't happen to be related to...?" Gale sipped from her glass again. "Yeah, yeah, that feather duster you picked up is my husband. Not the sharpest claw but he helped pay for Gilda's schooling so I can't fault him that much." Chrys looked over to Twilight. "Did she just say-" UGC Defense Minister, Pirate's Wife(and commanding officer) Gale Grasp Girls Just Wanna Have Total Tactical Superiority "At any rate, is that good enough for ya?" Gale asked the other reps. "Can we get on with this now?" The three disgruntled reps, all on the same side of the table and next to each other, slumped in defeat. The least disappointed one had been the zebra, who was also the only one of them who responded. "Very well. Let us continue." "I feel it would be appropriate if the new arrivals were brought up to speed, as they say," the goat said. "Right, well, it's no secret why we're here," Gale said. "The whole world's in crisis, on the brink of collapse. And we're here talking about it. Since you know me, I guess I'll introduce the rest," she said, standing. "This is Vizier Vintage, advisor to to the mountain goat clans." The bearded goat bowed his head. "Charmed to meet you, your majesty." He was adorned in jewelry though none of it was made out of precious stones. Goats were a very spiritualistic society, believing firmly in prophecies of the future. "And across the table is Premier Stow, Vice President Brass Tacks and King Zonal, of Donquestria, the Manticore Province and Zebra Kingdom respectively." The zebra raised his glass, the donkey gave a single nod and the manticore continued cheering her favorite football team. Gale walked around the room on her back talons, goblet in one claw. "Usually, the conference is during the summer, in June but we moved it up given the gravity of the situation. The Saddle Arabians and buffalo usually sent their own representatives, too but... well, you can guess why they couldn't this time. Whole world's going to shit, pardon the expression, and we're here to try and stop it from making the plunge." "Environmental disasters, destabilization of society, destruction of communities, rogue elements taking charge... the list goes on," the zebra said. Premier Stow shuffled in his seat. He folded his hooves against his chest. "Someone or something has been manipulating all of us, including this new Vice Grip individual. All over the world, our communities, cities and settlements are being destabilized and beset upon by different disasters and our ability to remedy and render aid to them is being actively crippled." Twilight's mouth worked for a moment. "So it's not just in Equestria..." "The stuff that's been happening to Ponyville has been happening all over the world?" Chrys asked. Vintage nodded. "More or less, I'm afraid. It started a few months ago when a corporation started purchasing up land, building these things called "Stables" underground. First, they started construction and then this Vice Grip character began talking about protecting our countries from... aggressive neighbors." "Some of us accepted Vice's inventions, innovations and systems." "T.v's get good reception," Brass commented, still glued to her handheld. "But we all said no to his Sword Spell things," Gale explained. "Each one of us declined using his weapons... and that's when things started breaking down." "We had twenty-six trains derail in two weeks. No indication of the cause," Stow said. "Seventy percent of our farms' crops have dried up for no reason," the manticore, Brass Tacks said. She had finally turned off her handheld. "We're uh, we're facing a famine, heheh. So, I'm kinda trying to take my mind off the... biggest disaster my country's ever faced." "The mountain goats have had mine collapses, the zebras have had rivers dry up and as for us griffons, Griffonstone's surrounded by a hurricane that won't move," Gale said. She downed her beverage in a single gulp. "Things are tough all over." "John Cafferty," Spike nodded. "This is all terrible," Twilight said. "I know that Princess Celestia..." she trailed off. She didn't know what Celestia would do. What either her or her sister or... or anypony would do. She liked to think they would come up with something she couldn't see for herself, a solution that would brilliantly and perfectly fix all their problems at once. Like magic. But as she sat there, surrounded by reality, no one solution came to her. Celestia wasn't there. She looked up into Chrys's eyes, just for a moment. Chrys looked back at her and gave her a single, firm nod. It was what Dan would've done if he had been there. She was his friend, they were all friends and no matter what, they stood together wherever they were. She knew what Dan would say. "We will work on these problems," Twilight said, resolute. "Right now, we're trying to track down Vice Grip to stop whatever he's causing and prevent it from spreading. Equestria will send what aid we can to the affected areas and I encourage you all to do the same with each other." "Equestria still has armed forces?" Premier Stow asked. "I thought that all the royal guards had gone to Saddle Arabia with Tia and Lulu." "We still have some... private forces in reserve," Twilight gesturing to "Dan" beside her. "We're slowly recovering from an insurrection but we have every indication that we will be stable soon." "That's right!" Chrys said, trying to sound like Dan. "We're going to find those... meanies and um... kick their... butts?" That remark drew a couple raised eyebrows but for the most part, they bought it. Dan and other humans were already strange enough to them that none of them understood his behavior enough to begin with. "Your enthusiasm is impressive, Captain Dan," Vintage said. "It's good to know your kingdom is still protected," King Zonal added. He leaned forward to speak directly to Twilight and the Equestrian reps. "I must apologize for the actions of General Zeal. I can tell you he is not sanctioned by the rest of the zebras but... we are not able to recall him or his forces. I'm terribly sorry," he said. He looked at her with sincere eyes, the kind that offered condolences but also hope. He had the eyes of a king. "Wait a minute..." Spike said, peeking over Twilight's head. "If you're the king, why can't you make him stop? Um... I mean, your majesty?" Zonal smiled softly. "I'm afraid I'm not quite the 'king' your princesses are," he said. "The Emperor has most of the power in the Zebra Kingdom. Over... foreign affairs, anyway." "Ah..." Spike said, lowering his claw. The Zebra Kingdom had a troubled history with religion. Instead of practicing a direct separation of church and state, the zebras divided their country between church and state. The King was the official ruler as chosen by the Zebra Houses, direct descendants of the original zebra tribes that settled the kingdom. But the Emperor was chosen by popular vote and dealt with foreign policy. Because the original zebra tribes had fought over religion many times in the past, most zebras were against forms of faith, limiting the powers of the king to sway popular opinion. It was difficult to convince zebras of your true colors: they only saw in black-and-white. "And unfortunately, we're not here to discuss the actions of the rogues," Gale said, standing at the head of the table. "We're here because our nations are collapsing. And we have to do something about it. Now." Twilight leaned forward, one of the first times she actually mimicked another ruler. "But... none of us can really do that much. We're all in disarray because of what's happened, we don't have much resources. What can we do?" The room was quiet again. They all looked at each other, the other leaders. Their eyes met one another individually, each checking the others' responses. "There is... one resource that we all here have. And we have a lot of it." "Hold on," Stow raised his hooves, "We're not seriously going to invite her into this, are we? I mean, obviously she can't make a decision." "She has endorsement by the griffons," Vintage said. "As a representative, she has the right to see it." "Wait, see what?" Twilight asked. "This is ridiculous," Stow fired back. "You've always shown the ponies favoritism, Vinny!" "That is not true," Vintage said back, voice calm. "Celestia and not the only ponies who represent Equestria, just as you and I are not the only representatives of our countries." Twilight, Chrys, Spike and Fluffle both looked around the room. "It sounds like they're talking about some kind of big secret..." Chrys whispered. "Excuse me," Twilight raised her hoof. "But, what is it we have a right to see?" They all exchanged glances again. King Zonal, the one who was more uncertain the others, looked to Gale. She gave him a single nod. He nodded twice in return. "It was Luna's idea, a long time ago," Gale said. She began walking around the table again, back towards Twilight and Chrys. "A way to keep us all together." "Our nations are beset upon by a lot of things. Problems, major conflicts, disasters, things always go wrong," King Zonal said. "When we work together, we are stronger. And together, we can overcome any obstacle," Brass said. "But one problem... often leads to another," Vintage said, twiddling his beard. "It can be difficult to try and fix things when they keep breaking." "And it affects our communities, the people who make up our countries most of all," Stow said. "When communities get hurt, they start looking for others to blame. This causes fighting, infighting which divides us even further. Instead of trying to fix what went wrong, we hunt for someone to blame, which hurts us further. This fighting can destroy communities, destroy countries... it makes the whole system collapse." "Hope," Gale said. "It's the one thing that every problem hits and takes more of, the one commodity, the one resource that we can't measure. And if we lose it, we won't get anything accomplished." The griffon walked around to where Twilight was sitting and drew her talon along the length of the center of the table. "So, Luna came up with a plan a long time ago. When things get darkest, we need a way to restore hope. She came up with a way." The table separated in the center, a secret panel parted to reveal a hidden compartment underneath. "I feel like we're about to hear about some kind of secret weapon," Dan said. Gale smiled. "Sort of." From the secret compartment, a platform rose up. On it was a scroll, not unlike the letters Twilight wrote to Celestia. The letters she still wrote to Celestia. The griffon took the scroll with both her claws and handed it to Twilight. The alicorn unfurled it carefully. On it was a list of names, numbers, dates. It was a record of some kind. "Griffonstone... New Castletown... Lockdown Town, Keylake, Berryberg, Promise Point, Guageglade, Hollowdale," Twilight said, reading the list. "These are all cities." "Cities. Towns. Civilizations. Every community that ever existed on the globe," Gale said. "This is the Philosopher's Charity." A Buckton of Money The Philosopher's Charity The literal Wealth of Nations "Philosopher's Charity?" Twilight repeated, looking at the list. "I... I don't understand." "When things get darkest, the leaders of the free world... us, this time, come together in a backroom like this," Gale said, gesturing around them. "When our world is threatened, when our nations seem on the brink of collapse, we come together to pin our hopes on a single project." "Just as Princess Celestia turns to you and the Elements of Harmony, so do the leaders of every nation turn to one hope. That hope is the Philosopher's Charity," Vintage said. "We cannot control much, admittedly," Stow said. "We may have control over some of our countries' resources but not the people, not everything. But what we do control, we combine for greater effect. Everything we have, we pool." "In this room, we pick a project- usually a city- the largest and most-needed source of help, of aid, of assistance that we can find," Zonal said. "It can be a small community- town, village, or even a family. Some place and some group that's been affected by whatever's causing the problem. And we devote every last bit we can spare to them," Brass said. "We find the problem, the source of the conflict," Vintage said, as if remembering back to ages past. "We find the place where rejuvenation can make the biggest impact. And then, we give them all the help we can." "More than enough, in most cases," Gale said. "It creates such a resounding impact that it becomes national news. Individuals and downtrodden beings, driven to the depths of despair look to this source as light. It restores their hope." "You come together to start a... a huge community project," Twilight said, holding the list in her hooves. "Instead of fighting each other, you work towards a common goal." They all nodded. "The global community is a fragile thing," Stow said. "Without hope, even the most cooperative of nations falls apart. You know how many rivalries there are in this world? If the government doesn't give people hope, a million proxy wars would erupt overnight. Things usually forgiven, smoothed over instead become major problems. Neighbors suspect neighbors, diversity and integration become undone, the cracks in our union which the government repairs... begin to cause us to divide. It is up to us bring our people together with hope." "We amass sums of money," Gale said. "Once we've decided on the project, we collect money from taxes. Corporate taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, a percentage of every transaction, everything sold across the globe. A bit from every dusty convenience store tray, a crystal shard from every broken donations jar, the coins you lose in the payphone or the money eaten by the vending machine. It is all collected." "We collect a vast sum of wealth," Vintage said. "An unbelievable, unfathomable sum of money. Money enough to build another planet... another Equestria." "We get this money and then we throw it at the problem. We devote everything, every cent, every bit to helping one group of people, the people that need it most," Zonal said. "It's the biggest investment in history and we do it all to get hope," he smiled. "Fortunately, we've always seen good returns on that investment." Gale held the record in Twilight's hooves. "This list documents every transaction made. From every bank and every bank account across the world, the amount of money used. It is the blood, sweat and tears of every living creature on this planet turned into a single source. An energy, one that we use to make progress. To get things restarted." "So, what's the problem?" Chrys asked. They were all silent again. This time, they didn't exchange glances. It seemed they all knew how they felt about this one. "We've never considered giving it to Ponyville before," Vintage said, somberly. "Oh...," Twilight said. The thought of Ponyville being the subject of a massive charity project hit home with her, in no small part because it was her actual home. So many feelings hit her at once: is there a town out there that needs it more? Ponyville can't be that bad off... can it? Gale cupped her claws around Twilight's hooves. "Equestria has never needed the money. Until now. There's been a lot of conflicts, as you can read but Equestria's always been the place that helped. Never the place that needed the help." "You're sure we need the help?" Chrys asked. They all nodded. "You've got the biggest armies in the world bearing down on you and a maniac that wants to nuke you off the face of the Earth. Not only that, your leaders are gone. With respect, there was no contest, not much uncertainty and zero dispute," Stow said. "Even from me." Gale slowly closed Twilight's hooves together, folding the paper. "You take it with you, honey." She looked up at the griffon. "You want us to keep it?" She didn't know what to say, what to do. It felt like she held the weight of the world in her hooves. "That parchment is magic," Zonal said. "Any name, any place you put on it will receive the wealth of nations." "Question," Spike raised his claw, "what if we make a mistake? What if we write someone else's name or misspell something or-" The world leaders answered him simultaneously say, "DON'T." The dragon lowered his hand. "You want us to take it home with us?" Chrys asked. "Why can't we just put a name down here?" "The leader of the community has to sign it, so that would be your Mayor Mare. Once they do, the money will appear in their account along with other appropriate resources. The Philosopher's Charity will then teleport back to its position here," Gale explained, getting up and walking back to her seat, glass in claw. "Just make sure you don't lose it." "O...kay," Twilight nodded, rolling up the scroll. "I thank you, all of you for this very generous gift. This is, well, it's a lot to take in but I..." Chrys put her hand on her shoulder. Spike and Fluffle embraced her that moment as well. "We are all extremely grateful for your help and cooperation. I hope we can meet like this in the future for the betterment our world and everyone in it again." Gale raised her glass and grinned. "I'll drink to that." "To the Philosopher's Charity!" Glasses clinked, the leaders drank and Twilight and the others departed. The walk back to Twilight's balloon was filled with the same uncertainty as they had when they'd arrived, except that there was more of it this time. Instead of wanting to put their best hooves forward, now they were wondering what direction they should even start walking towards. Chrys was still in her Dan form. "So... what do you think Ponyville will do with all the dough?" "I vote we don't involve Blueblood. Or the Flim Flam Bros.," Spike commented. Twilight looked down through the transparent floor. Even if the very floor beneath her hooves was clear, it was surrounded by the thick clouds of uncertainty. Maybe an accurate metaphor for her current situation. "I'm not entirely sure this is even how we should be doing things." "Didn't they say that this was Luna's idea or something?" "Yeah," Spike nodded. "They said the princesses have been doing this for a long time. They must know what they're doing." "Maybe," Twilight shrugged. "You're not going to tear up that list, are you?" Chrys asked, still in Dan's voice. It was almost as if the human had asked her himself. And Twilight didn't answer right away. She thought long about her response. "I could do what they want... I could rip up the list...," she nodded to herself. "I don't think this is a decision any one pony can make, not even any small group of ponies. If we can do some good with it, we will." She decided. "I guess even an uncertain future is one worth investing in," Chrys said. None of them disagreed. The Equestrian diplomatic party, the last to arrive and the first to leave, departed the secret summit and headed back to a place where charity didn't need to be hidden.