An average day in the Eternal Pegasus Empire for Elder Tornado was a day of argument, lamentation, and boredom as he worked his way through meetings with the rest of the councilors and pondered on the peculiar pony from Equestria who had recently arrived and the obnoxious oversight of their current Commander. While Tornado was too old and too tired to get truly angry, or at least he would say as such, that certainly did not mean he didn’t get annoyed or bothered by things and with his advanced age came a distinct lack of patience for such irritation. While any days where he might have been considered a fighter were long behind him he could still take solace in the fact that his words were sharp and he could subtly spit venom about his Commander and whatever else drew his ire whenever given the opportunity to speak.
This particular day saw the Elder wake up a bit later than normal. It was still early morning but he liked to try and rise with the sun if he could. Instead he had to rouse himself into a more cognizant form and get ready to tackle his surely busy and annoying day. He had the benefit of living in the large administration building, along with the others on the Elder Council, to save himself the commute. It was something he was silently thankful for despite the boring and unappealing aesthetics of the building and rooms the Elders used. Today though he was even more thankful than normal as a quick look into the ice mirror of his bathroom showed his voluminous hair to be in absolute disarray. He was hardly like some mares who would’ve screamed at such a sight but it would’ve been unbecoming for one as esteemed as him to go out in public with his mane in such a state. Using the brushes he had on hoof he slowly fought to get it into a semblance of normality rather than looking like he had flown through a hurricane.
It did end up being quite the battle but he managed to get his hair as tidy as it ever got and then all he needed to do was throw on one of his togas and he’d be ready for the day. A clean white toga that matched his mane, he could practically disguise himself as a cloud if he stood still.
His bones ached more than he was willing to admit as he walked through the halls of the building. One who knew of his pains might suggest flying, but that hurt even worse. Elder Tornado flew only when absolutely necessary nowadays, the arthritis in his wings made every flap and movement of them agony. It was something he was used to and he could easily keep an impassive face through flying most of the time but he preferred to avoid it if he could. It was something that would be shameful to admit if it was dragged into the light. A pegasus whose body hurt him too much to fly effectively, Blizzard would probably force him off the Council if he knew. Too weak. It was a sentence in this city.
As he approached the council chambers he wondered what he would have to deal with today? How long would the normal meetings and hearings last this time? Hopefully not long, he could safely say he didn’t get along with any of the other Elders nor did he see much worth in the average meeting that was held. It was always the same problems and complaints. The same deliberation. The same lack of real ability to do anything unless Blizzard expressly allowed it. More often than not now if a pegasus had a problem they would send him to the coliseum and he could deal with his dispute there.
Forget about being right or wrong, just let them fight to decide it! Tornado cynically thought.
They had become so lazy and apathetic about things lately that they had sent two neighbors to the coliseum for a fight just because one of them was angry at the other for singing too loudly. That’s what this council had become thanks to Blizzard’s domination and theft of their true role. It didn’t matter if they were soldiers or not, Blizzard wanted strength to decide everything and Tornado was too hamstrung to do anything about it.
Neighborly disputes, business decisions, quarrels of any sort, plans for the city, the Elder Council was nothing more than a puppet. A fake. Figureheads at best.
It disgusted him.
He hoped that today would prove to not be too busy, then he could retire to his room again. Although he would be bored it was better than the alternative of being stuck here with the other Elders going through pointless meetings. Tornado could safely say he did not care for a single one of his contemporaries. Frost was an idiot, Hail Storm was a simpering coward, Waterspout was close to senile and only still on the council out of respect, and Black Lightning was an opportunist that fully caved in to Blizzard long ago. Tornado suspected he reported everything the other Elders said or did in meetings to one of Blizzard’s captains.
And lo and behold was it that when he walked into the council chamber from the back rooms and onto the raised dais where the Elders sat that he saw all four of his favorite ponies already there.
One of them couldn’t even be sick? He grumbled internally.
And of course his favorite of all noticed him walk in and just had to say something.
“A bit late, aren’t you?” Black Lightning asked with a smirk. His turquoise coat was made of wrinkles and loose skin and his flat nose gave him the face of a pig, an ugly pony that had gotten even uglier with age.
It was a fitting appearance, Tornado thought.
“My apologies, my mane was giving me trouble this morning and I didn’t want to come to the council chambers looking like a storm had blown through my room. I know you can appreciate that as well since you clearly put so much effort into looking your best,” Tornado said to him as he walked by without even glancing in the pony’s direction.
“There isn’t much on the schedule for today,” Hail Storm said as Tornado walked by him as well. Hail Storm’s coat was white like Tornado’s mane but a bit murkier, and all of his own mane had fallen out, leaving nothing more than a bald head. “We have some disputes to go over and one of the farmers is coming to petition us about expanding the oats fields.”
“I see,” Tornado nodded, not paying him any real attention. He took his seat in the middle of the dais and reclined with a sigh in his chair.
Rude? Certainly. But he just couldn’t muster the energy to care. At least that bit about the farms was some real business to take care of. Small as it was.
Glancing to his right he saw Frost helping Waterspout to his seat while the other two he had just passed took their seats to his left. A full house of morons and lickspittles all around him.
Tornado dispassionately propped his chin up on his hoof and looked at the so far empty room down below. There weren’t even any looky-loos or witnesses up in the viewing spots around the chamber yet. “What’s the first item to take care of today?” He asked Hail Storm.
“It’s a dispute regarding a proposed addition to a home between two magisters. One of them wishes to add another floor to his manse and the other, who lives nearby, says that would block too much sunlight from reaching his own home. They’ve come here to have things resolved.”
And we have to listen to these two idiots babble about their dumb problem. Tornado groaned.
He almost wanted to just immediately send them to the coliseum without having to hear anything from them at all, but that would be too much of a mockery. Even if he had lost faith in the process and couldn’t care less about such a selfish and meaningless issue he didn’t want to completely abandon what their job should be. He could at least listen for five minutes before deciding that what they were arguing about was stupid and send them to the coliseum to duke it out.
There were so many other things he wished he could be doing right now or thinking about.
That rainbow pony from Equestria for one. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her but he never had the opportunity. It was impossible now for him to reach her without Blizzard or one of his lackeys finding out that he wanted to. He hoped that one day he would be able to speak to her away from prying eyes. What she said… what she represented and what she knew of Equestria and how the pegasi there were living. It was almost impossible for him to not think about it.
What did she think about their Empire now after living in it for some time? What did she have to say about Flash Magnus, after claming to personally know him? What did she have to tell him? What could her existence and presence here change?
If there was ever the opportunity to talk with her he would take it. He had been living such a dull life, one that had slowly been getting worse and worse as Blizzard got more power-mad, he had lost hope for any change or progress in this stagnant Empire that was so obviously living in the past. Then Rainbow Dash had come and shined a light upon that fact. A light that Blizzard was now trying to manipulate for his own purposes and delusions. That Commander of theirs… he had seen that over the centuries and especially recently that the pegasi were changing and starting to get tired of the old way, the “true way”, and he didn’t like it one bit. His solution was to hammer out anything that didn’t conform to his ideals and get the soldiers and pegasi of the Empire to embrace the old, original, ways even more extremely than before.
Results so far had been mixed, as they fostered quite a bit of resentment. But there was nothing that could be done. Most everyone still believed in their Empire and loved it and wouldn’t go against the Commander directly even if they disagreed with him to a degree. It would’ve been too much of a betrayal of their society and the true pegasus way. Not to mention that Blizzard was strong and those that would’ve confronted him about things were too afraid to. The rest were strangled by tradition and loyalty. Even if it went against their own sense.
I would’ve done something by now if I thought there was a point. Tornado mused. But I can’t fight him, and none would follow me. My life is a farce.
While he was still lost in thought the doors to the council chambers were opened up and two toga-wearing pegasi were marched in by a couple of guards. If the looks the two pegasi were throwing at each other were any indication the guards were the only thing keeping them from being at each other’s throats right now.
When they reached the center of the room where guests were supposed to speak, Tornado finally glanced down at them. It was pretty obvious how this affair was going to end but they might as well go through the motions and let the two stallions air their grievances with each other before things descended into a savage fight. Surely Blizzard couldn’t also be blamed for this? Did his attitude permeate the entire city and make stallions so much more prone to deciding things over blows than through talk? Did he make it so they desired and expected things to go that way? Or perhaps it was Tornado’s and the other Elder’s own negligence and lack of vigilance, because he had given up on trying to keep things more civil.
He breathed out through his nose before leaning forward. “Our first item of business for the day, mediating a dispute on housing between two parties. May the parties please give me their names?”
As the two magisters down below started yelling over each other to give their name and be heard first, Elder Tornado knew it was going to be a long day. Idly his mind wandered to thoughts of Equestria and everything he wished he could learn about it.