//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: No More False Promises // Story: Sun & Moon Act II: A Crown Divided // by cursedchords //------------------------------// “In those days even the Senate was little more than an exceptionally well-organized barroom brawl. In that light, a lot of what Celestia did starts to make more sense.” - “The Politics of Friendship”, by Twilight Sparkle It was sunlight that greeted Princess Luna and roused her from her fitful sleep, a slanting golden ray of brightness which gently illuminated the small quarters that she kept to herself in Canterlot. Unlike her sister, Luna spent a great deal of her time out of the city, which meant there was little sense for her to have opulent apartments here. They were of course still kept freshly clean and polished, as bright as new every time that Luna settled down for the night, something that she greatly appreciated. If she ever found herself short on gratefulness, all that it took was one memory of Eridian to remind her how lucky she and Celestia really were. For a second, Luna considered drawing the blinds and trying to go back to sleep. Yesterday had been torturous, sitting stiffly in the Senate chamber for hour upon hour as the floor brought Pensive’s proposal up again and again, with only slight textual modifications each time. About half of them Celestia had defused by pointing out procedural errors, and taking all of her time in doing so as well, but for a few Luna still needed to be present to deliver her solid ‘Nay’. The Moon had been well up into the sky by the time that she had trudged up the steps to her tower, and she knew that today was going to be even more of the same. Hopefully, Celestia and Ink would find some larger snafu in the process that would give her time to interrogate some senators. But even so, some extra sleep was something that she sorely desired. But it was not the brightness of the light alone that she became aware of as she opened her eyes this morning. There was a sound too, a sound of rhythmic voices from somewhere far off. Somepony singing? No, the harmonies weren’t really there. It was more of a chant, but an insistent one. The chanting wasn’t particularly loud, but still loud enough that it would keep her from her rest. And in any event, Luna was curious enough to stretch her legs out and venture out onto her balcony. Celestia’s tower stood only a hundred paces or so away, the vibrant blue cone of its peak fluttering with banners in the morning wind. Unsurprisingly, the balcony was empty. Luna might have gotten up with the sunlight, but doubtless Celestia had been awake for hours already. Somewhere she always found the time to get her proper sleep, but precisely when it was Luna didn’t know. The sound of voices grew louder when Luna stepped outside, and the source became evident right away too. The Princesses’ towers were among the palace’s tallest, offering impressive views overlooking the entire city. In this case, that meant that Luna had an excellent vista on the plaza in front of the palace, and more importantly on the crowd of ponies that now inhabited it. A fair number of them were holding brightly coloured signs, though the writing Luna couldn’t quite make out. Even so, the reason for their presence was clear. Now the chanting was loud enough that she could decipher words. “Unicorns deserve to eat too!” “Equal opportunity, equal rights, food for all!” “No more false promises!” Word of the Senate’s debate had clearly filtered out into the city, and Luna could hardly blame ponies for being agitated. Never mind that most of them were probably finding it hard to fill their tables every night. Pensive’s bill was political poison, though she was surprised at how many ponies seemed to have shown up in support of it. Of course, it had its fair share of opponents too, and their opposition added a little tension to the whole demonstration. With any luck the sound of the protesters outside might at least put some sense into the reluctant members of the Senate. Luna took her time getting her mane together in front of the apartment’s mirror. It was a mere force of habit, even though she realized that most of it was probably unnecessary for today’s business. Celestia would have teased her over all of the time that she spent with comb and hairbrush, taming every loose strand until her mane was a picture-perfect splash of colour that fell down to the floor just in front of her right shoulder. But then, Celestia hadn’t made an official public appearance in months, and hadn’t been out of Canterlot longer than that. When ponies saw you as the face of the government, it paid to project as regal an appearance as possible. Even so, Luna did take care to comb her mane just a touch farther back than usual this morning, keeping her eyes and forehead completely clear. Something a touch more businesslike was probably called for when her day was going to consist of backroom conversations and weeding out the clues in subtle wording. It was going to be an exercise, but three hundred years ago Luna had pledged to do whatever it took to keep Equestria safe. She gave herself one last look in the mirror, double-checking everything to make sure that not one hair on her head was out of place. If Equestria today required her to be a politician, then so be it. She found Celestia already down in the Senate’s wing of the palace, standing in front of the door to the chamber with several thick bundles of parchment sticking out of a satchel that was on her back. “Good morning, Luna,” she said cheerily when she saw the younger Princess approaching. “Good morning yourself,” Luna answered with far less cheer. Celestia was putting up a good front, but Luna could tell that her sister was plainly exhausted, no doubt from a late night of legal research. The subtle droop in her eyelids said it all. “You had a fruitful night, I trust?” Celestia pulled out one of the parchment rolls with her magic. “Speeches,” she said, yawning into a hoof. “In between votes, I can say whatever I want to express opinions on the measures being debated.” She unrolled just the first few inches of the document, enough for Luna to see the title, and a cramped script that began just below it. “Discourses on the Movement of the Planets?” The smallness of the writing coupled with the thickness of the roll hit home. “It will take you hours to read through that.” She nodded in affirmation. “Hopefully Pensive will appreciate the astronomy lesson. If not, he’ll be free to wander the halls until the clerk calls him back, as will the rest of the chamber. That, I think, will be when you should be working on them.” The reminder of what would constitute the bulk of her day brought a quick grimace up onto Luna’s features. Celestia could give her time to work with, but the rest was up to her. “Do you really think that this plan is going to work?” A thought struck her. “Why can’t I read the speech and you work the chamber?” Celestia shook her head though. “Remember what I said earlier. If Pensive knew that I was out and about on the floor, he would stick to his senators like glue, never giving me a chance to speak to any of them privately. So long as he knows that I am occupied in the chamber, he’ll hopefully let his guard down. Besides,” she added, offering Luna an encouraging tap on the shoulder, “you’re a Princess, and one of the most adaptable ponies that I’ve ever known. We’ve faced demented tyrants, legions of soldiers, and mad kings. Could a day of negotiations really be so bad?” Put that way, of course Luna couldn’t really object. Yet even so, as Celestia pushed the doors to the Senate chamber open, and the concentric rings of lecterns, about half full at the moment, were revealed, a lump rose up in her throat. The thrones at the room’s near side were pristine, freshly cleaned just this morning, two identical golden seats. Perhaps one day, when this whole crisis had been averted, she would get Celestia to fly into a thunderstorm’s core, and then ask her afterward if she’d like to reconsider her sentiments. As the chair was making ready his tally for another vote, Celestia put her hoof up. “If it pleases the chamber, the throne will use this opportunity to make a statement for the record.” As she stood up, she offered Luna a conspiratorial wink, pulling the first of her rolls of parchment out of her bag as she approached the speaker’s lectern. “There are a few things that I’d like to make the chamber aware of before we proceed to the vote on this measure.” Several of the senators out on the benches leaned forward in anticipation, perhaps not expecting the dull monologue that was to come. Luna noted that both Ink and Pensive though, were already packing up their things, ready to head out into the halls as soon as Celestia began her speech. With the keen eyes that she had developed from working crowds in Eridian, she picked out her mark from the chamber’s front bench: Everfree West, a pot-bellied stallion with a protruding chin and small, hazel eyes. Until recently, he had been a dependable member of Ink’s coalition, and so clearly whatever method Pensive was using to persuade votes to his side, this stallion would have received the full force of it. As Celestia started out into the lengthy preamble before the speech, with ample pauses for effect inserted wherever she could, Luna stood up from her own seat and cautiously made her way around the chamber’s perimeter. Pensive, she could see, had already slipped out, taking his cadre of urban senators along with him, perhaps to wile away the time in the palace’s cafeteria, or more likely to craft a few more minor amended versions of the bill that they could bring to the vote later. In any event, it meant that he wasn’t around to see what Luna was up to. She walked right up to the front of the Everfree senator’s lectern. “Mister Vermilion?” she asked, softly so as not to be heard from across the room. The senator stood up hurriedly. “Your Highness!” There was a distinct rural twang to his voice, indicative of the nation’s southwest corner. “Is there something that you’d like to discuss?” Luna nodded. “Of course. Privately, though.” She gave a look back to her sister, who was now illustrating the concepts of the lesson with a magical projection of the cosmos in the center of the room. “It looks like Celestia is going to be at it the whole morning, by the rate that this is going. We could retire to your office in the meantime.” “Naturally.” Vermilion got out of his desk right away, taking only a small folder of notes along with him. “Who would have thought that such stressful times could come upon us so quickly? It seems just yesterday we were debating infrastructure and military spending.” We could get back to that pretty quickly if you could vote on something sane. The thought arrived immediately at the forefront of Luna’s consciousness, but she pushed it aside. She was going to need to be subtle if she wanted to get anything done on this front. A confrontation would only serve to put Vermilion’s defenses up. “Absolutely. But such is the nature of government, I suppose. With any luck, I’ll be able to deliver a solution that works for everypony sooner rather than later.” “We would surely appreciate that,” Vermilion answered, a bit louder now that they had exited the chamber and were making their way through the lobby. The Senate’s executive offices wing beckoned on the room’s far side. Being out of the chamber though did bring the renewed sound of the protests to Luna’s ears. Apparently the group outside had grown larger as morning had progressed, if the sounds were anything to go by. Vermilion clearly had heard it too. “Things have become rather tense around here, wouldn’t you agree, Your Highness?” Luna decided to get on into the core of the discussion. “We both want a resolution to the conflict, Senator. But I think we both know that the measure currently being debated is not going to get us there. You were a solid Nay on Pensive’s original proposal, what changed your mind about this version?” Vermilion shrugged his shoulders. “Things have gotten more desperate. Those ponies outside want us to do something, and this measure is what we currently have to work with. Sure, it’s not perfect, but nopony should want to be an obstructionist right now.” “If you think that it’s bad right now, Senator, it’ll be ten times worse if Pensive’s bill becomes law. You’re from a mostly rural district, aren’t you? Surely you can see that farmers will never stand for something like this.” Vermilion grasped the handle to his office suite and pulled it open, gesturing Luna inside curtly. Vermilion’s office was exactly the same as that of every other senator in the building, with a little antechamber for his secretary and an inner study for meetings. In this case, Vermilion had chosen to fill the empty corners with potted shrubs, giving the place a nicely green look, along with a fresh scent. The plants were watered daily by the cleaning staff, which meant that they were probably some of the healthiest vegetation in the city. Vermilion pushed open the door to his study with only a cursory glance to his secretary, and then he went around behind his desk and sat down heavily. “You haven’t been out and about lately, have you, Princess?” Seeing the two guest chairs in front of the desk, Luna hesitated for a moment before taking a seat. This was still a discussion, not a confrontation. “I’ve been in the mountains for the last week or so, but what does that have to do with anything?” Vermilion sighed. “What’s going on out in the plaza isn’t an isolated event. I’ve talked to the other senators. Seems like almost every city in the country is dealing with demonstrations by now. And that’s only going to get worse with every passing day of no help.” The impassioned retort stuck on Luna’s tongue before she could say it. A protest just like this one in every city? That did suddenly sound serious. “As I said, Senator, whatever is going on now will pale in comparison to the firestorm that will be unleashed if the government confiscates the harvest. Forget political consequences. We could be talking about outright violence.” Seemingly unfazed, Vermilion leaned back in his chair, quiet, perhaps thinking over the consequences. It was madness, surely, to continue down this road. Anypony could see that. But then the senator pulled open one of the drawers on his desk, and from it placed a newspaper clipping onto the table. “I’m afraid that we’re already talking about violence, Your Highness.” Mob Descends on Shady Acres, read the headline, spread wide over the whole top of the article. “Sunday, 21st Reaper’s Moon — A peaceful Sunday afternoon came to a disastrous end this past week at Shady Acres farm, as a crowd of angry townsfolk overran the property, searching for food that rumours had said was being hoarded there.” It went on to discuss the circumstances that had overtaken the town, and how the shortage had turned the townsfolk against the farmers, each group convinced that the other was the one to blame for the situation. As she read, Luna felt her heart sinking, not just out of sympathy for the ponies involved in the tragedy, but also for the situation that Equestria had found itself in. On the other side of the desk, Vermilion nodded. “It’s already getting worse, Princess. I don’t need to think about political consequences. I need to think about my hide if I ever have to go back to that district and tell them that Canterlot isn’t doing anything to help.” “Then work with us on a compromise plan,” Luna said, as serious as she could muster. “We can bring up the draft of the original proposal, modified as needed. Pensive’s bill is just turning away from one cliff to leap off of another. You can’t let him use this crisis as a pretext to pass such a horrific plan!” “It’ll never make it to the floor.” Vermilion shook his head wearily. “I could draft a million better proposals, but I don’t hold the key to the schedule. The Senate votes on the plans that Pensive lets through. Otherwise we would have passed something else weeks ago.” Luna could have slapped herself. Of course that was the way that things were. “Well, can you at least promise to withhold support from this measure until we can think of something better?” “I’m afraid not, Your Highness,” he said decisively. “Unfortunate though it may seem, that unicorn has the whole chamber by the tail. If there were any way that you could guarantee me a vote on something a little more fair, I would promise right here that you would have my vote every day of the week. But the thing is that you’re right, Princess.” He leaned forward in his chair, fixing Luna with a thoughtful gaze. There was a touch of sorrow buried there in his eyes, and some sympathy too. Nopony wanted what was happening to Equestria right now, and at least Luna knew that he could see that. “There’s nothing but cliffs all around us now, and no way we can turn away from one without finding ourselves on the edge of another. It’s only a matter of time until somepony has to fall. And though I hate to say it, I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that it’s not me.” Luna took a deep breath, and then stood up. “Well, I appreciate your candor, Senator. And one day, when all of this is behind us, I’m sure that the world will appreciate knowing that in our most desperate hour, the Senate was full of nothing but cowards, too afraid for their own hides to stand together and do what was right.” She gave him a single nod of good-bye, and turned for the door. “That is, if we all survive long enough for there to be any posterity on this,” she said over her shoulder as she walked. She was putting up a bold front, but inside Luna only felt sadness. What if all of the senators were just the same? There wasn’t much reason to believe that they wouldn’t be. As satisfying as it was to see Vermilion’s shame, it didn’t get her any closer to fixing the core issue. She still had a dozen more names to get to, at least. No sense in getting pessimistic already. But as she lifted the door’s latch with her magic, Luna suddenly heard the sound of hooves behind her. “Wait!” Vermilion shouted, trotting up to her from behind the desk. “Politics requires many things from a senator, but I’ll be darned if anypony back home thinks I'm a coward. That’s just not right.” Though her heart soared at the words, Luna kept her face dispassionate. “Does that mean that we can count on your Nay?” The question brought a nervous look up into his eyes, which just made Luna want to shake her head. Coward Vermilion may not be, but only just. “If we can get something better onto the floor, then you’ll have my Yea for it.” “You just said that there’s no way we can get something alternative to the floor, though. A promise like that gets us nowhere.” “There is one way,” he said, raising up a single hoof for punctuation. “If you can somehow get Pensive removed as the chamber’s leader, then somepony else can control the docket. You can certainly count on my vote for that, in addition to everypony else in Ink’s coalition.” She raised an eyebrow. “You can make me a promise like that?” “Pensive Prose is a bastard.” The words came with a solid conviction, straight and serious as if Vermilion had been affirming that the sky was blue. “My mother used to tell me not to talk that way, but it’s the only correct word I can think of. To use this kind of crisis on whatever agenda he’s playing at is just low, and if it weren’t for everything else going on, we would have him hauled to the stocks for something like this. Personally, I think that everypony in the Senate would agree with that, except maybe for the few in his closest inner circle, but they’re likely just as low as him.” Luna considered the idea for a moment. “Well, if that’s what you’d like to do, then can’t you just do it?” She had a feeling what the answer was going to be, but it paid to at least try. “Procedural,” Vermilion replied bitterly. “We’d need a supermajority, and his cronies would stand by him no matter what. In order to force him out, we’d need a scandal. Something that would make sure that nopony could stand beside him.” “And you can give us one?” “Well, no,” Vermilion admitted. Luna was seized by a sudden urge to bash her head against the wall. “Then what was the point of you telling me any of this?” “I’m telling you so that you know what you’re looking for,” he explained, remarkably still calm in spite of the heat of Luna’s stare. “Don’t waste your time plying the chamber. Nopony’s going to budge. It’s dirt on Pensive that you want. And I’ll be a griffon if there isn’t any out there to find. Whatever he’s got planned with this bill of his, I can only see it working if he’s up to his shoulders in something shady. You find something there, and we can work with that.” Luna looked away, back at the door that would take her into the hallway again. It wasn’t exactly a path forward, but it was something at least. And investigating something dark like this appealed to her a lot more than interrogating the remaining senators on her list. “I’ll see what I can dig up,” she said. “You can guarantee the votes to depose him?” He nodded. “The whole rural bloc for sure, and we need just a few from his cabal. We just need some good, solid evidence.” “I suppose that will have to be good enough.” Luna finally lifted the latch, which she had still been holding all of this time. Technically, she wasn’t any closer to resolving the stalemate in the chamber, and even this new lead was essentially the same as she and Celestia already knew. But it was still a far more familiar piece of ground for her. She had a clear, well-defined enemy to manoeuvre against. It meant that her afternoon would at least be a little more enjoyable.