//------------------------------// // Fifth Meeting // Story: The Council of Friendship // by DrakeyC //------------------------------// The Council of Friendship   Fifth Meeting   The gavel banged three times. “Hear ye, hear ye, the fifth Ponyville Council of Friendship is now called to session. We will now call roll. Spike?” “Yes ma’am!” Spike stood up in his throne and cleared his throat as he unfurled the scroll in his claws. “Rainbow Dash? Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?” At the announcement of each name a confirmation was voiced. “Twilight Sparkle?” Spike waited, paused as he noticed he wasn’t getting a response, and lowered the scroll. “Uh, Twilight?” Sitting in the throne with the six-pointed purple star on the back, Starlight Glimmer leaned around the throne to look behind her. “Twilight?” Against the wall, sitting in a wooden folding chair with her hooves crossed and an indignant scowl on her face, Twilight let out a snort. “Let the record show I am present, but I am attending this council under protest.” She fidgeted in her chair. “Let it also show that my chair is itchy.” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Twilight, you told me to sit here. If you want to switch spots, I don’t care—” “No, no, no.” Twilight held up her hoof. “The council has spoken, you lead things now. It’s only right that you have my throne.” “Does this mean Starlight is the bearer of the Element of Magic now?” Pinkie said brightly. “Oooo, maybe Celestia will make you an alicorn!” Starlight saw a few hairs pop out of place on Twilight’s mane and her eye twitched ever-so-slightly. “I do not believe that will be called for, dear Pinkie Pie.” Sitting on a small red cushion to the side of the room, Princess Luna shook her head. “My sister reserves the honor for those with a special destiny. No offense, Starlight.” Starlight held up a placating hoof. “None taken, Princess. I’m just a normal pony like anyone else.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “A normal pony who plays with cutie marks and time travel like a cat with a ball of yarn.” “Do we have to bring that up?” “Just saying, you’re stronger than Twilight ever was. At this rate, maybe the alicorn thing is coming anyway.” Starlight noticed more hairs pop out on Twilight from the corner of her eye. “Let’s put that aside for a future discussion. For now, Spike, in accordance with Twilight’s wishes, take note that she is in attendance under protest. And… her chair is itchy.” “So noted!” Spike obediently scribbled on a blank scroll. “With roll call done, let’s move on to the first order of business.” Starlight floated a scroll onto the cutie map. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we have some guests here today.” Starlight gestured her hoof to the side of the room where Trixie, Thorax, Maud, Luna, and Sunburst sat on cushions. “I have invited our guests here to become honorary members of the Council of Friendship, as well as ambassadors to other settlements of note. I propose Sunburst be our ambassador to the Crystal Empire, Luna to Canterlot, Thorax to the changelings, Maud to Ponyville, and Trixie to Manehattan.” “Really?” Twilight’s voice drew Starlight’s attention her way again. “You want to appoint these five ambassadors?” “Yes.” Starlight smiled. “I think it is important that if council business demands action on our part in another location, we have an official channel with which to plan such things.” “Oh.” Twilight shrugged. “I was thinking more like you’re stacking the council with personal friends of yours.” Starlight’s jaw dropped. “That is simply not true! I would never do that!” “Really?” Trixie held up her hoof. “Because even Trixie was wondering why she is here. She doesn’t live in Manehattan, she lives on the road. And it’s not as though the mayor of Manehattan would be likely to listen to anything I say anyway, not after that incident at his daughter’s birthday party.” “Fair point.” Starlight took the quill from Spike’s claw and crossed off Trixie’s name on her list. “But I still think we could look at appointing you to the council.” “On what grounds?” Twilight asked. “Trixie has been a beacon of friendship and inspiration to Equestria.” Twilight burst out laughing. Starlight ignored her laughter and the subsequent dirty glare from Trixie that it provoked. “Also, she helped save Equestria from the changelings.” “So did Discord.” “Yes, but he’s a being of chaos and he has no interest in government politics.” “You’d be surprised,” Spike muttered. “Did you even ask?” Twilight prompted. Starlight paused. “Well… no, not exactly. But I presumed it would fall outside his interests.” “I’d presume it has more to do with you not really being friends with him.” “No! I just… he’s a being of chaos and disorder! We can’t trust him to hold a position of influence in government!” “But you’d trust Trixie with that?” “Even Trixie has to agree with her on that one,” Trixie piped up. Starlight huffed. “I’m not immediately going to appoint them, I was bringing them to nominate them for consideration. We have a lot of friends out there in Equestria and especially when dealing with other races and kingdoms, we should have a designated ambassador.” Rainbow held up a hoof. “What about Gilda or Gabby for the griffons?” “Who and who?” Starlight asked, tilting her head. “My old friend and a griffon the Cutie Mark Crusaders met.” “Spike, make note to send those two a summons at a later date for consideration.” Starlight waited for Spike to jot down the names. “Hey,” Spike said when he finished, “what about Ember being ambassador to the dragon lands?” Starlight smiled. “Actually, Spike, I was thinking of appointing you. You get along much better with ponies, and Ember has her claws full governing the dragons anyway.” “Really?” Thorax’s voice brought attention to him. “Because I’ve got stuff I could be doing back home, too, but you asked me to come here and I wanted to be polite…” He scrunched his face. “I really don’t like leaving Pharynx in charge of the hive. He’s reformed, but he’s not that reformed.” “There’s an idea,” Trixie said, perking up. “Why not ask Pharynx to be ambassador?” Starlight snorted. “Because he has a history of being a violent, rude, pushy, jerk?” “Hey, that’s my brother you’re talking about!” “You know I’m right.” “Well, yes you are, but still!” “Hey now.” Applejack waved a hoof to get the rest of the group to turn to her. “Don’t we get a say in this?” Starlight frowned. “Why wouldn’t you? We’re all on the council here, right?” “Well, yeah, but Ah don’t know who this ‘Pharynx’ is, and I don’t much care for Trixie. No offense.” Trixie sniffed. “None taken, Trixie doesn’t care much for you either. And she hopes you are offended by that.” “Ah’m not. Regardless, Ah’m just thinking that Twi was onto somethin’ – all of these ambassadors are beings Starlight knows. That’s not really fair for the rest of us, is it?” Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy variably murmured in agreement or looked away from Starlight. “I am not trying to stack the council with my friends!” Starlight snapped. “They’re just my nominations, anyone could nominate anyone else!” Rainbow stuck her hoof up. “I nominated someone and you just told Spike to make note of them!” “Gilda and Gabby aren’t here, we can’t consider them seriously when they’re in absentia!” “But we can vote on the ones present now?” Rarity asked. “Yes, fine, let’s do that!” Starlight grunted. “All in favor of appointing Trixie as ambassador to Manehattan, raise your hoof!” She raised her hoof. After a moment of waiting for a second to follow hers into the air she lowered it. “All opposed?” Seven hooves and a claw lifted. “Trixie?!” “Starlight, if you think Trixie has any interest in hanging around this group all day listening to meetings like this, you really don’t know her very well.” “By a vote of one to… who gives a flying feather, Trixie’s nomination is rejected.” Starlight banged her gavel. “Finally!” Trixie got up off the cushion and stretched. “Time for lunch. Trixie missed breakfast!” “Can I come?” Thorax asked. “But we have to vote on you!” Starlight protested. “Well, Spike said it, I’m busy back home a lot, leading the changelings. Can’t really come here all the time.” Starlight growled. “Fine, go!” Thorax and Trixie trotted through the doors. Starlight thrust her hoof at Maud. “What about Maud? Does anyone want to bring up a reason why she can’t be on the council?” Maud raised her hoof. “Seriously!?” “What’s up, Maud?” Pinkie asked. Maud just lowered her hoof. “I’d just prefer not to be on the council.” Starlight slapped a hoof to her head. “I told you about my idea and you said it sounded engaging and educational!” “Recent revelations concerning the nature of the council have led me to the conclusion that I made an error in judgment.” Maud pursed her mouth slightly. “Although, the idea of simply observing council meetings is appealing for entertainment value.” Starlight, her eyes bulging, grit her teeth. “You think trying to watch me run a government council is funny?” “It’s hilarious!” “Shut up, Pinkie!” A blue aura surrounded Sunburst and hauled him above the table. Breathing heavily, Starlight slammed her hooves on it. “How about Sunburst, huh? Anyone have a problem with him?” Everyone shook their head. “Fine, motion passed!” Starlight lifted the gavel with her hooves and banged it on the arm of her throne hard enough to crack the wooden handle. Sunburst slowly gulped. “Starlight, I’m not sure—” He was silenced as he was pulled in front of Starlight, her snout pressing against his. “You are going to be on the council and you are going to like it!” Sunburst hurriedly nodded. “O-okay!” “Good!” Starlight threw him over the back of her chair. “Who’s left?” “Starlight Glimmer.” Starlight turned her head and looked up at Luna. “I am aware that politics can be a stressful endeavor, but…” Luna tilted her head from side to side. “I am concerned you are not handling things as well as you could be.” “At this rate in five minutes she’ll be changing your cutie marks,” Spike muttered. Starlight’s eyes flashed as she turned to glare at him. “Hey, another reason she should be an alicorn!” Rainbow said cheerfully. “That’s hardly the same thing!” Twilight yelled from the edge of the room. Her breathing haggard, Starlight closed her eyes and inhaled. “Fine. Fine. Calming down. We’re calm, we’re calm…” She closed her eyes and let out a breath. “Okay, let’s discuss Luna. Anyone think she shouldn’t be on the council as our ambassador to Canterlot?” The group looked to each other but said nothing. “Good. Motion passed.” Starlight gave a strained smile as she raised the gavel and banged it down once, the wood cracking a bit more. “Now, does anyone have new business to bring up?” “I do!” A giant zipper appeared in the air and pulled itself down. Discord, a visor and reading glasses on his head, stepped through it, a clipboard in his hand. “Starlight, we really have to talk about your immigration transgression.” Starlight’s jaw dropped. “What are you doing here?” “Oh, don’t play coy.” Discord snapped his fingers and a tall wooden chair with a glass of chocolate milk on the back cushion appeared next to her throne. He settled into it and flipped through the papers on his clipboard. “According to my notes, you made an unscheduled sojourn into foreign territory, and did not report an unscheduled visitor to our own from said territory.” Discord peered at her from over his glasses and shook his head in disapproval. “I expect better from you.” “What are you talking about? What ‘immigration’?” Discord raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Didn’t Twilight tell you she put me in charge of monitoring travel to the human world?” Starlight leaned over her chair to look at Twilight. “No. She didn’t. Thanks to my predecessor’s sloppy, nay, non-existent method of keeping track of council policies, I didn’t even know we had an immigration policy!” Discord snorted. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse! Suspect 1, one ‘Sunset Shimmer’, made a visit to our world, and carried on conversation with you at the time!” “So what?” Starlight asked. “So, you witnessed her arrival and did not make proper note of it!” Discord clicked a pen and a piece of paper appeared in his claw with it. “Reason for visit, duration of stay, any fruits or vegetables?” “Getting a new journal, three minutes, and no.” “Three minutes?” Discord looked at his clipboard closer. “Really, that long? Given what I’ve heard about her that hardly seems time to do anything of substance. I’d have expected her visit to take up at least half an hour.” He shrugged. “Well, that’s small potatoes compared to your own transgression, namely visiting her world without notifying anyone of your departure!” “It wasn’t a big deal.” “Do you know how many evil beings from Equestria have casually crossed over the worlds and caused havoc in that one?” asked Twilight, trying to rub her back against the chair to deal with a persistent itch. Starlight looked at Twilight again. “That’s a thing?” “You’d be surprised.” “And most grievous of all!” Discord turned the clipboard around and tapped a claw on the paper where he had put the date. “You conducted all these awful breaches of conduct while holding your position as the head of the council!” “I didn’t mean to!” Starlight protested. “It’s not like they knew or cared at the time!” “What!?” Discord looked around the room. “Did any of you know about this?” Everyone shook their head. “Of course they didn’t. Sunset and I wanted it to be a secret. We only told Twilight and only because she figured it out when she got back and I wasn’t there!” Discord pressed his claw to his cheek. “A cover-up? Starlight, you wicked thing you. This is a crisis of the highest magnitude! The Council of Friendship’s head, caught in an illegal immigration scandal? Whatever will the press say?” “Nothing as long as you don’t tell them,” Starlight ground out. “There you go again with the cover-ups! Internal Affairs is going to have a field day!” “We don’t have an Internal Affairs bureau!” Starlight snapped. “Uh, yeah we do.” Applejack raised her hoof. “You said me and Rainbow are Honesty and Loyalty, so we could be trusted to make sure everyone behaves.” “Yeah!” Rainbow glowered. “And I’m not happy with this! I’ve wanted to visit that human world forever, but Twilight always said it was too dangerous! How come Starlight got to go?” “And I would have liked to meet Sunset Shimmer,” Fluttershy said. “We should have been told about this, even if only after the fact.” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Is this really that big a deal?” Luna nodded. “Starlight, trust and respect is of the highest importance among one’s subordinates when dealing with issues of government. If the rest of the council can’t count on you to make public and fair decisions, how can they trust you with anything?” “And you made some pretty bad choices for ambassadors,” Rarity said gently. “Most of them themselves didn’t want any part of this.” Starlight let her head fall forward to hit the table. “I’m just trying to do what I think is best!” “But that isn’t how democracy works.” Starlight turned to see Twilight next to her. “Everyone has to discuss what to do and come to an agreement that appeases as many ponies as possible. One person can’t make all the decisions alone. That’s not democracy, it’s dictatorship.” Starlight sighed. “I don’t have good experiences with that sort of thing, huh?” “Not really.” Twilight smiled gently. “I know you’re trying, but maybe this just isn’t a good fit for how you like to do things.” “Maybe not…” Starlight sat up and looked around the table. “I’m sorry, everyone. But I don’t think this Council is going to get much done when I’m running it.” “Between you and Twilight it’s about even right now,” Spike muttered. Twilight shushed him. “But, there is yet a way out of this.” Starlight smiled sadly. “I put forward a motion to call an election for head of the council. Would anyone like to nominate somepony?” Luna caught Starlight’s eye and winked. “I nominate Twilight Sparkle.” “Recognized. Anyone else?” Starlight waited for anyone to speak up. “Very well. All votes for Starlight Glimmer?” No one raised a hoof. “Votes for Twilight?” Everyone, including Starlight, raised their hoof. “By a unanimous vote, Twilight Sparkle is re-elected head of the council.” Starlight raised the gavel and banged it down, the wood breaking apart. She gasped. “I’m sorry, Twilight!” “It’s okay.” Twilight took the gavel in her magic and set it on the table. “These things happen, it was an accident.” “Thanks.” Starlight looked up at Discord. “Discord, um, leave those immigration papers in my room and I’ll fill them out later today, as best I can from memory.” “Wonderful.” Discord bowed and vanished in a burst of light. “I can still be on the council, right?” Starlight asked. “Of course!” Twilight nodded. “I mean, you didn’t kick me out when I lost the office, right?” “Right. Oh, and…” Starlight stood up and swept a hoof towards the throne with the six-pointed star. “I think this is yours.” “Thank you.” Twilight smiled at her and sat down. “Although, I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. If there is no further business?” At the silence, Twilight raised the stump of the gavel. “The Council of Friendship is dismissed.” She banged the wood down. The group, save for Luna, filed out of the various doors of the room. Alone with Twilight, the princess of the night put a hoof to her chin. “Well, that was an exercise in futility, I think.” “Tell me about it.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “But I’m head of the council again, that’s nice.” “Quite. But, one thing does confuse me.” Luna looked at the far side of the room where Discord had been. “How did Discord know we were meeting, and know about Starlight’s visit to the other world?” Twilight shrugged. “He’s Discord, who knows how he does anything?” “Perhaps, but knowledge of events he was not present for is outside his usual sphere of powers.” Luna thought back. “Starlight said that no one knew of the meeting except for her and Sunset. They wanted it to be a secret… except…” She paused. “Then you came back and they told you because you realized she was gone…” Luna slowly looked down at Twilight. Twilight leaned away from her. “What?” “Twilight… did you have anything to do with Discord’s visit today?” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “What are you accusing me of?” Luna frowned. “I’m just pondering if you intended to disillusion Starlight on her position in order to convince her to effectively relinquish her power back to you.” “Don’t be ridiculous!” Twilight shook her head. “Discord was just the last thing to happen in a council full of problems and arguments! Unless you think I set up all of Starlight’s friends to tear apart her nominations and ratted her out to Discord on an immigration policy I didn’t actually authorize at the time, just to stress her out enough to get her to give me back my position. Are you really suggesting I would do something like that?” “No, of course not.” Luna shook her head. “Good.” Twilight rested her hooves on the arms of her throne and sat back, enjoying the familiar rigidness. “Because that would be awful of me.” She raised the pieces of the gavel in front of her and magically bonded the wood back together, the seam glowing. “Such a terrible thing it would be, if I did something like that…” “Yes…” Luna murmured, her eyes narrow. “A rather underhand, manipulative, cruel thing indeed.” Her gavel intact, Twilight looked up at Luna with a small smile. “Welcome to politics, Luna.” The gavel banged on the arm of her throne with a resounding thud.