By the evening, Rift’s predictions had come to pass. The city was ablaze with the story of the reform, and nopony was more eager to learn more than the various newspapers, magazines and news agencies. They were clamoring over each other to be the first to etch out critical details. The Canterlot Chronicles were the first to break the story, but now, with the full document published in the paper for all to see, they were all on a level playing field. In spite of this, however, the quick turn-around in the crown calling a press conference stalled idle speculation.
Despite her disappointment in being outvoted by her fellow princesses, the education minister, and the press secretary, Twilight was still committed to making sure the press conference went as smoothly as possible. Perhaps it was because she didn’t entirely disagree with Blueblood’s reasoning that she was handling it fine. Though she would loathe to admit it, there was a sort of relief knowing she wouldn’t have to stand in front of all those ponies. Being backstage was much easier on the mind in that regard. It took a simple enchantment to let her see through the curtain so she could watch the proceedings.
The preparations hadn’t taken them long, and ponies were already waiting for the doors to open long before they actually had. It had been another half an hour before Blueblood stepped onto the platform to a barrage of shouted questions and flashing camera lights. He stood there, enduring it for a minute, before he finally spoke.
“Before we begin, I would like to make one thing very clear.”
The ponies before him were silent. He scanned the crowd, meeting the eyes of each pony there.
“In the past decade the royal family of Equestria has expanded from two ponies – myself and Princess Princess Celestia – to five by appointment, and two more by relation. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was the first when she ascended, Princess Luna was the second upon her return, and Princess Twilight upon her own ascension so recently. By relation, there is Prince Shining Armour and Princess Flurry Heart.
“But there is one thing that hasn’t changed: the privacy of the royal family is a right just as much as it is for any pony. And enforcement of this right will be treated just as seriously as any other law.” He looked over the crowd imperiously. “The document printed in the Canterlot Chronicles was not intended for public distribution, and was stolen, not found. The guard has a suspect whom we’ll be investigating and prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law in the coming weeks. Yet, as this is the first time in many years, if the pony comes forward voluntarily the punishment will be limited to twenty hours of community service, and a pardon for the crime once completed.”
Murmuring broke out amongst the crowd, but nopony stepped forward. Twilight noted at the back of the room, one of the guards’ horn lit up with a spell.
“Oh, and might I add that the punishment for this crime is a two thousand bit fine and up to six months in prison?” Blueblood added.
The murmuring became conversational, but still Blueblood stood waiting. Still no response came.
“No?” he asked the room. “If that is truly her decision, then I see no point in stalling–”
“Wait!” came a mare’s cry.
It was took a long few moments, but eventually, a yellow hoof was raised shakily amidst the crowd. Ponies turned, looked, and gasped. Twilight was among their number when she saw it was the same pony who had offered her back her bags. “Um... it was me, Prince Blueblood.” It was scarcely more than a whisper, but it made its way through the stunned silence of the crowd.
“Oh? Are you sure?”
“Yes...” The mare admitted. Her ears were plastered back against her head, and her eyes could only spend mere moments meeting his gaze, and she could scare look elsewhere but the ground before her hooves. “If I could, I would take back everything. But now...”
Blueblood regarded the mare carefully. “Well then... Guards, arrest her.”
“What!?” She shrieked. Evidently Blueblood had discussed it with the guard beforehand, because before the mare could even think to flee or move, they had descended around her. She shrank in on herself.“You said–”
“I said you would be pardoned for the crime of stealing the education reform,” he answered sternly, “nothing about the manner in which you stole them. Assault on royalty by proxy, use of magic with the intent to cause physical harm, destruction of government property... There’s quite a list for what you did. I can so readily dismiss the theft of royal documents because it is merely a drop in the bucket.”
“But... But– I only took the documents!”
“Really...” Blueblood intoned skeptically. “Sergeant Icarus, would you please scan the signature of her magic.”
“You can’t do that!” the mare cried.
“Oh? And why not? As a confessed criminal, the scan can be performed without a warrant.”
The mare paled, and started to shake.
Sergeant Icarus turned back to the stage. “It is a match.”
“Then please escort our guest to the holding cells, Sergeant.”
The mare was stunned into silence as they cuffed her hooves, and broke into sobs as she was led from the room. Scarcely a pony moved; they were frozen into shock at what had become of one of their colleagues.
Blueblood began in a conversational tone, building with each word. “Assembled press of Canterlot, Equestria and beyond... Let me make one thing very clear: the crown will not stand for violence of any nature as a means to acquire stories. That means any story any time, any place. Offenders will be granted no clemency and will be made examples of. And examples will continued to be made until the point is understood. Furthermore, if a publication willingly and knowingly conducts business with ponies who use violence to break news, or dare to encourage it, they will be held as conspirators to the crime.” He pointed to the door the guards had escorted the mare through. “Consider your colleague your one and only warning.” Murmuring broke out amongst the crowd, and a few cameras went off in flashes of light.
“Yet, you gather here today to press for details on this stolen document as if you have some right to know,” he continued, his tone growing irate. “As if you are not taking advantage of the assault on royalty to understand. There is–”
One of the reporters in the crowd spoke up. “You were the one who called for–”
“Excuse me,” Blueblood said, glaring at the reporter, “did I ask to be interrupted?”
“No, but–”
“The next pony to interrupt me will be removed from the room and have their press pass revoked.” All talk stalled. “As I was saying, as this is your idea of journalism, I will treat this press conference with the same respect. I will not tolerate any nonsense.” He scanned the room. “You will speak when called upon, not sooner. Now... Questions on the education reform?”
Hooves went up. Blueblood pointed towards a mare in the front row.
“Shimmering Circus with the Manehattan Press. I–”
“I really don’t care what your name is or who you’re with,” Blueblood said.
“Pardon?” the mare asked, taken aback.
He rolled his eyes.”Oh sorry, would you care to give me your life story first? The question, please. I have better things to be doing.”
Twilight silently fumed that he was able to get away speaking to a pony like that.
The mare rallied. “Well... The bill mentions hiring additional instructors to teach. Where will they come from, and how will they be certified?”
“Canterlot possesses the most prestigious school of magic,” Blueblood explained, “which, along with a few other select academies, will conduct proper training and ensuring certification is met. With a broader skill set required, the instructors will be justly compensated for their work and travel.”
More ponies raised their hooves. “You.”
A stallion this time. “Will the Cloudsdale Flight Academy be one of these institutions?”
“The point of this bill is to reform magic education, not flight education. I thought that would have been made abundantly clear what with the full document itself.”
Murmuring broke out at this, and Blueblood stared aimlessly at the crowd, wearing a bored frown. He pointed a lazy hoof. “Green hat.”
“Will Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns see any change?”
“Perhaps a refresh of the facility. Some of the equipment is a little worn down.”
Another question. “Will there be any considerations given to metropolitan areas?”
“Nothing more than small changes,” Blueblood stated. “The facilities which fall into that category, like the Manhattan School of Magic or Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, already see a considerable amount of financial support. This is before considering the frequency of donations that such schools attract.”
More hooves raised. “Prince Blueblood, in your own words, could you describe the purpose of the bill?”
“Of course,” Blueblood said. “In smaller towns and villages, there is neither the facilities nor instructors to properly teach unicorn foals magic. With no access to formal education, it is no wonder that foals and adults who live there are almost chronically behind the national thuamatic average. The purpose of the bill is to extend the reach of the proper facilities, such as Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, to these locations.”
In a nutshell, it was almost word for word how Twilight had originally described the bill to Celestia.
A mustached stallion near the front was selected next. “Forgive me if this question strays from the bill a bit, but what was printed in the Canterlot Chronicles has annotations which are quite different from what you’re telling us.”
“The bill as I know it, is what we are discussing.”
“As you know it...” the stallion said. “Do you mean to say that somepony else is working on it with you?
“Working on it? Yes. With me... less so. The bill you’ve all seen was Princess Twilight’s copy.”
The murmuring broke into a racket, yet the mustached stallion preserved. “Would I be wrong in concluding that the annotations are hers, while the body of the bill is yours?”
Twilight’s blood froze. She could see what was coming; the words which would form on his lips that she was powerless to stop. Every action, every word exchanged with Blueblood came back to her in a flash. Then, it had seemed out of character, but now it was all an act: a way for him to do what the nagging doubt at the back of her mind had warned her about. Sowing doubt, making her uncertain in her own work... It had all been a setup.
“Yes, it is mine,” Blueblood said. “To be quite honest, I’m not sure why Princess Twilight put her name on it when she copied my original.” He shrugged. “She probably thought of it as a school assignment. Then again, considering it was stolen,” he stressed, “she probably had more research left to do.”
“And where is she?” a mare near the back asked.
He chuckled mockingly. “The solution to fixing our countries stagnant magical education is so obvious, yet she insisted on devoting more time and resources on research. So, to answer your question, probably at the library reading yet another book.”
Backstage, it took all the guards effort to keep Twilight from bursting out on the stage, and one guard more to keep up the silence spell. She struggled fiercely, but their saving grace was that in her rage Twilight wasn’t thinking. She could have teleported or torn away the curtains with telekinesis, but the thoughts running through her head dominated any semblance of rational thought. All she cared about was correcting his lie.
Now, regardless of how much work Twilight had done on it, Blueblood’s name would always be tied to bill in a significant manner. Because the truth of the matter was ponies were buying it. It was so easy to see that they were convinced by his story. She was the inexperienced newcomer, while he had been in his role for a long long time; for as long as it had been since Celestia had made him a Prince. And despite what ponies thought of him, experience was experience.
In the midst of the turmoil of her mind, an errant thought emerged. What would happen if the prince was no longer a prince? After all, if Royalty could be made then surely they could be unmade. If Blueblood was going to claim her work as his own, she would remove his ability to, and Equestria would be better for it. In a court of peers, there was bound to be enough support with how he acted. With that, Twilight relented, letting the guards usher her out towards the door and into the hallway beyond. There, she waited.
While she had a plan, she wasn’t willing to let his actions slide without confronting him first.
→ ↔ ←
Twenty minutes passed before Blueblood finally emerged into the hallway. He sighed, then straightened his collar. It was remarkable then how he almost missed Twilight’s glare boring holes into him from five paces away. Twenty minutes was a long time to let anger and frustrations fester.
“How dare you,” Twilight practically hissed.
Blueblood looked over, wearing a bored expression. “Pray tell, what makes you say that?”
It was the wrong choice of words. “You had nothing to do my reform, yet you just told everypony that you wrote it. And don’t pretend you didn’t.”
“You’re right, I did,” Blueblood answered. “I took ownership of your work.”
The sudden rush of anger stole the words from her mouth. A hoof to the gut couldn’t have accomplished it so perfectly.
“Have you ever stopped to think why I did?” he continued, staring down his muzzle at her.
“Because it’s the easiest way to make it seem like you did work!” she screeched. “It’s the easiest way to make it seem like you still serve some purpose after all these years!”
“No, that’s not–”
“Don’t you dare try to deny it!” she shouted. “And what little work you did credit me for, you made it sound as though I was some naive filly!”
“So, who is shouting and raving here?”
Twilight produced a noise halfway between a strangled scream and groan. “Fine! You’re better than me at wordplay. You’re better than me at being a deceitful, lying, boorish pony.” She spat each word with venom. “But I don’t really care, because in the end you’re just a fraud.”
Blueblood was not without sharp words of his own.“And you are most definitely a naive filly if you think that you’re going to get anywhere with nothing but a hope and a smile.”
“So was this all meant to be a lesson? I’m ‘supposed’ to learn something from all of this and graciously give you thanks?” Twilight’s features hardened. “No, I’m sick of being tossed to the side and told to accept it with a smile.”
“Then why–”
She stomped a hoof, cutting him off before he could start. “I am not finished Blueblood! I’m tired of watching you getting away with everything you set your mind to! You do nothing for Equestria that couldn’t be done by anypony else in a heartbeat. But if it was only that, perhaps... Just maybe, I could forgive you.” She squared up to him, and took a deep breath. Her earlier anger was dulled, but her thoughts were more measured and felt right. “You represent the worst excesses in Equestria, and you abuse your position endlessly just to stoke your ego. You’re cruel to ponies over small honest mistakes even when they are trying their best, and you act as though the entire world is yours to command. To this day, I wonder what possessed Celestia to make your a Prince, because Equestria would be far better off without you. And if the title was stripped from you now, I’d sleep a little better at night. I just hope one day you can see what you’ve accomplished as clearly as I can and how vile a legacy you’ve left behind.”
Silence.
There was no retort, or any sound which could constitute a response. Blueblood just regarded her silently, with a blank expression and an emotion behind his eyes Twilight couldn’t place. It bore effortlessly into her soul. Something in her gut twisted as the rush of anger faded from the release, revealing something hidden beneath.
“Princess Twilight,” Blueblood started, “I believe I shall take my leave. You may do as you wish.” He turned to walk away, but looked back over his shoulder. “I just hope they show you the same kindness you showed me.”
She wanted to say something more, but the words just remained lodged in her throat as he walked away. All she could do was watch until he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Even then, she starred; her thoughts were muddled and confused. She had expected something more: for Blueblood to put up a fight. Instead, he had just given up. It was almost as if...
The sounds of a strong trot towards her caught her ear, and she turned to face the new pony. Pain erupted from her cheek and stars filled her vision as a hoof caught her across her muzzle. She tumbled to the floor, her shoulder bearing the weight of the fall. It took a moment to realize someone was shouting.
“Get up!” came the roar of a familiar voice. It was one Twilight had heard many times before growing up, but she couldn’t place it over the ringing in her head. She struggled to her hooves, ready to give the stallion a piece of her mind. Yet, when she saw who it was, she could only numbly watch.
Onyx Chalice panted from the effort of the strike. “Twilight...” The butler’s face was flushed red, and he positively bristled. “I– I expected so much better of you. What gives you the right?” he spat in a hoarse whisper.
“I...” Twilight was at a loss. “You mean Blueblood?”
“No, Princess Celestia... Yes I mean Blueblood you daft sod-muncher!”
“Onyx, do you know what he did?”
“I don’t care what he did! You do not speak to him like that!”
It was one thing to hear somepony defending Blueblood, it was another for the defense to come from somepony she knew and trusted. Twilight felt her temper rise. “He claimed ownership of my work! He had no part in it, or any right to do so! He insisted that it was his in spite of the name on the reform! How was any of what I said unfitting?”
“Then why did he do it? Surely you must know why if you’ve said all that,” Onyx snapped.
“He’s not a good pony!” she cried. “You can scarcely read a magazine that even tangentially mentions him and not figure that out.”
He shook his head. “Are you any different than those rags that prattle on about him? I have worked here for thirty-two years now, Twilight, from before he was brought in as a colt. Not once have I ever seen one hint of this ‘vile legacy’ you claim.”
“My proposal is good, Onyx. If–”
“I don’t care if it was the next elements of harmony! You. Do not. Speak to him like that.” He reinforced the words with prods to her chest. Then, he spun on the spot and started to walk away. “Good day to you, Princess.”
Twilight stared after him long after he had disappeared. It didn’t make sense. Onyx was a good pony. Blueblood was not. So why was the former defending the latter? It didn’t make sense. It made no sense. The thoughts kept looping in her head, demanding her full attention and paralyzing her mind. She would have spent minutes frozen if the shout of a stallion hadn’t rattled her from her confusion.
“Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight!” Twilight turned to see a bright blue stallion trotting towards her. He wore a neat beige vest and saddlebags which were good repair, but clearly well used. A notepad and pencil floated before him in his magic field. “I was wondering if you had any comment on Blueblood’s proposal or the article from the Canterlot Chronicle?” He blinked, then frowned. “Princess Twilight, is everything alright?”
Twilight shook her head to clear her mind and forced a smile. “It’s fine. Just thinking is all. What was the question?” A distant part of her noted that members of the press weren’t allowed in this portion of the castle, but the warning flag went unnoticed.
“Blueblood just finished with his press conference, and I was hoping I could get a comment on his planned reforms.”
“Um... Sure,” Twilight said. She figured this would be as good a chance as any to nip this problem in the bud. “Did you have a specific portion in mind? Because I–”
He gave her no time to answer. “Great. Given your upbringing and education, some ponies suspect that you’d actually endorse the tribalist portions of the bill. Do you?”
She was nearly certain she had misheard him. “Trialist!” Twilight asked in utter shock. “I would never–”
The pencil scribbled as he heard what he let be heard. “Ok. Ok. And what about you own bill for education reform? Is it going well?”
“Well, yes. Would you–”
“What’s your own target for the bill? Would you say your taking a similar approach to Blueblood, or are you taking a more exhaustive approach to improve–”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight interrupted forcefully. “But could we back up for a moment? Who are you?”
“I’m with The Bulletin Report,” he said, smiling. “I’m here covering the press conference.”
The warning bells in her mind were audible this time; too many things weren’t adding up. “That wasn’t my question.”
“Well... You see...” he stammered. The strain for an answer was obvious. “It’s not like that. I’m still somewhat of a new face for interviews, and my boss recommended I lead with our company name rather than my own.” He reached for his bag. “Do you want my card? I understand if–”
“There he is!” came a shout.
He froze. His eyes looked past her down the hall. “Horsefeathers.”
Twilight spun about to see four guards galloping towards her. The newspony – now behind her – broke into a gallop, but made it all of four strides before being tackled to the ground by a pair of pegasi.
One of the guards stopped and snapped a salute. “Lieutenant Holly. Sorry, Princess,” the earth pony mare said. Under the disguise of the armour, she was almost indistinguishable from any other guardmare of the Solar Guard. “We didn’t notice him slipping away from the press group.”
“Is this normal?” Twilight asked, watching the guards who had tackled the newspony allowing him to rise. Though his ears were folded down, he seemed to be cooperating.
“More try than we would like. The punishment is rather light.”
“And that is?”
“We confiscate their possessions and allow them to retrieve them after two weeks. That, and review their pass.” As Holly spoke, Twilight watched the stallion pass over his notepad and bags to the guards on either side of them.
“I thought ponies who trespassed were detained for twenty-four hours.”
“Well, it was, but then we found out ponies were being paid overtime for sitting in a cell for getting the latest scoop. Prince Blueblood figured that retaining their written notes if they had a press pass would be more of a punishment with the news cycle what it is.” She turned to one of the guards who had tackled the newspony. “Ice, what did he have?”
The guard picked through the saddlebags, tossing out items for the unicorn guard to catch.“A press pass, a notebook with quotes from Prince Blueblood and Princess Twilight Sparkle, a newspaper, a few pads of paper with written notes, a scarf, pencils, pens... The usual.”
Holly nodded. “Good. You and Brem escort him to the evidence lockup. We’ll be down with his belongings once I’ve finished speaking with the Princess.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Is there anything else, Princess?” Holly asked, as the newspony was led away.
“No...” She trailed off as something caught her eye. On the front of the newspaper levitating in the grasp of the other guard there was a black and white picture of herself. “Actually, would you mind if I take a look at that newspaper for a minute?”
“Certainly princess.” Twilight took the offered newspaper. “Once you are done with it, give it to any guard with the instructions to bring it to the evidence lockup. I’ll make a note of it. Again, my apologies for not catching him sooner.”
Twilight waved goodbye to them, before unfolding the newspaper to read. It was a copy of the Canterlot Chronicles. The first page was dominated by an image of her waving from her castle’s balcony, and beneath it, a headline with some text. After years upon years of reading and studying, Twilight was a very fast reader. Yet, she needed ten seconds to read and comprehend the four words titling the article. She gasped in horror.
→ ↔ ←
Reinforcing the Status Quo,
For many months now, Equestria’s newest Princess has been the subject of discussion amongst many political observers. Princess Twilight Sparkle, to date, has taken only cerimonial or light duties in the government. While she had proven to be every bit the pony Princess Celestia claimed she was in this regard, her opinion and belief on heavier policy, such as finance, commerce and education, remained unknown.
Many ponies argued that Princess Twilight Sparkle would bring a wave of positive changes to Equestria, indicating her role as the Princess of Friendship and the many instances of saving our fair country from certain destruction as evidence. Others worried that her ideals would only serve to reinforce the status quo due to her upbringing. Sadly, it would seem the second smaller group is correct, at least by the education reform the Canterlot Chronicle acquired. This education reform would seek to improve the magical education of foals across Equestria, but falls dreadfully short.
Born and raised in Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle sought admission into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She ended up not only passing the examination with flying colours, but became the personal student of Princess Celestia as a result. The education reform she authored reflects her upbringing, seeking to reinforce and further traditionalist magic teachings. While the precise nature and the consequences of the bill are further discussed on later pages, in summary, the bill is tribalist (Page 2), would suppress unconventional but accepted magical education (Page 2), would fail to aid foals in high population areas (Page 4), would fail to aid foals in poverty stricken districts (Page 5), and would only serve to further the extremes in magical education which we see today (Page 6). The full document can be read in its entirety through pages 10-15
To the many hoping for reform and progressive governance, it paints a worrying picture. For traditionalists, Princess Twilight is a welcome ally. Yet, in the absence of additional information, nothing can be certain, and what is thought now could turn out to be false in the future. Indeed, there are indications on the obtained bill that changes are yet to be made: annotations written between the lines These annotations are included on Page 7 of the document, and discussed on Page 8 and 9. If the annotations are the views of the princess, she may yet prove to be an ally to progress yet. As a developing story, we recommend all readers follow it through future issues.
→ ↔ ←
Ten minutes later Twilight’s tears were splattering the final page of the article, punctuating the notes written in the margins with pencil by the newspony . Twilight was utterly disgusted in herself. She had accused Blueblood of claiming ownership of her work for himself, and in that respect she wasn’t wrong, but there was the distinct possibility he had claimed ownership because of her. Her bill was about improving magical education of unicorn foals – foals like Sweetie Belle – in places similar to Ponyville. It had evolved with her additions and annotations, but never beyond its original form. Each page of rightful criticism the Canterlot Chronicle gave was completely true, and served to drive that truth home. So, Blueblood was either more of a fool than Twilight had previously thought, or she had attacked him for taking the fall for her. But either way, he had been right; she couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Over the past few days, her eyes had been opened to different views shaped by experiences not her own. Even her family had shook her to the core with the knowledge of how different her life would have been if she had just failed an exam... Just a foalhood exam. The annotations Twilight had written between the lines were a reflection of those experiences, but they had not changed the heart of the bill. She had been so certain that the bill was going to work that she only thought she was missing some small fact or key number. As a result, she had never once considered if the scope of the problem actually extended beyond what she had declared it to be.
And Blueblood might be paying the price for her folly.