//------------------------------// // Between Humility and Dignity // Story: Conversations between trusted Comrades // by Spolachs //------------------------------// 13th May 1009 ALB After all the commotion the last two days were a blessing for Posada, she finally had a good night sleep by not being kept up by her doubts and fears. During this time she familiarized herself with the topics of the up-coming council meeting. At the same time she and Starry Eyes supported Hard Line, giving him ideas on what to say in front of the council, how to amend any rifts and prove his place in the party. The council hall was once the old royal theater and cinema, it already was perfect for it´s new role having a stage for the speaker and a large number of seats and box seats. It mostly stayed intact with only the royal insignia being covered up by the blue banner. Instead of using the back entrance of the council hall to quickly reach her box seat, Posada decided to use the side entrance. It was normally reserved for reporters, tour groups, party members that weren't elected members of the council as well as guest speaker, who would go behind the stage after entering the hall. The last two being the category which Starry Eyes fell into, although she normally sat next to Posada as her personal guest, a role that was filled out today by Skystar. Hard Line was here too, away from his box seat that he received as a founding member of the party. He had been given the chance to have the first words of the day after the opening speech finished, due to Posada pulling some strings and quietly making a deal with the speaker through Starry. As she entered the side lobby, she saw a mass of different creatures. Many lower RWP party members as well some SLPA party members and the rare anarchist were present. Most of them were zebras from Zumidia, while the rest were Hippogriffs with the occasional pony and griffon in between. Most of them were either talking to each other or reading the topics of today´s council meeting, which were written on flyers made by Starry herself. Further back she saw a griffon tour guide, himself a member of her party. He was preparing a college class from Ain Trotgourait for the council meeting, explaining the rules and the hierarchy of the council. At the side of the lobby where the cloakroom was located, Posada saw her reasons for coming here, Hard Line, Starry Eyes and even Salina Blue, leader of the SLPA, were standing in front of the cloakroom. They were being asked questions by a small group of reporters, most of them were local, however Posada did see the logo of "Equestria daily" on the hat of a unicorn reporter. Salina Blue was here because she proposed the first topic on the agenda. She would be speaking about a proposal for nature preservation, after Hard Line was finished. Salina looked somewhat stressed due to the sudden attention, Starry on the other claw looked calm and collected and gave her signature smile towards the reporters. Hard Line however was annoyed at them, showing signs of anger towards the reporters. Seconds later, she was spotted and surrounded by party members who were surprised to see the general secretary in their lower circles. Posada´s guards were keeping them at a comfortable distance, while she greeted them all and thanked them for joining the cause, before answering some of their question. Maybe she should do this more often, Posada thought, it would strengthen the connection between the higher and lower party members. At the same time she thought to investigate the party for species bias, due to the amount of zebras in the lower ranks, and their absent in the higher ones. Perhabs she should even investigate the party for internal class conflict, Posada agreed with a party hierarchy, but she didnt want two classes of party member to exist, which could lead to some kind of internal class conflict, that would go against everything she was fighting for. Making her way towards the cloakroom, the college class and the tour guide were approaching her. She saw many young faces looking in awe at their young leader, despite the fact that she was only 10 years older than some of them. Posada quickly thanked them for coming the long way here and for their Interest in politics. After that she tried to inspire the young minds with the progress they made so far and the future they all could help create, before wishing to see them again in a couple of days when she was visiting Ain Trotgourait on official business and saying goodbye. The last obstacle were the reporters. Posada declined to any interview request, before reminding them that this was a council meeting and that they would probably have more important things to report about than her boring personality. Instructing her guards to give her some privacy, she finally reached her three comrades. Hard Line and Salina were giving each other disrespectful looks, while Starry was happy to see Posada, embracing her when she reached them. While still being hugged, Posada extended both of her claws towards the other two comrades, which they both took. Breaking the hug, Posada turned towards Salina: "Its good to see you Salina, I hope your proposal today gets approved." to which Selina responded with a simple nod. They didnt see eye to eye on many things, yet they still respected each other immensely, fighting for a similar goal in different parties. "Now please excuse us, I need to talk to my two lovely comrades in private and don´t be concerned if a small wave of magic washes over you." Posada continued before grabbing both of her comrades and entering the cloakroom, leaving a somewhat confused Salina behind. At the far wall of the Cloakroom, Posada stopped and activated her sound nullifying amulet. "So, are you ready Hard Line?" Posada started. "As much as one can be when admitting to being a failure in front of the nation." Hard Line sighed, still being unsure about this. "Stop that, you are simply..., correcting yourself and showing what and how you meant it. Shine a different light on your statement, show the things from your perspective and that you are strong enough to admit that you may have made a mistake. I have been trying to encourage him for the last hour and give him advise on how to formulate his thoughts." Starry interjected, trying to build him up and then getting Posada up to speed. Posada reaffirmed Starry and tried to encourage Hard Line : "She is right you know and we know you can do this, you already did it for both of us, now do it with pride for the future. In there we will try to help you as best as we can, but you have to take the first step, otherwise it would seem like we are forcing you or that you are just our puppet." "Alright, but you two have to treat me better from now on, no more tricking me or talking down to me. You both know my history of being abandoned and of being made fun of. Just try to understand my position, even if you disagree with it. Can you two promise me that." Hard Line pleadingly made a last second demand, which both of them accepted. "Every Council member and member of the audience, please take your seed in the council, it will begin shortly." The speaker of the council spoke through the intercom. Hard Line sighed: "Let the show trial begin." he said sarcastically, in a nervous voice. "You can do this Hard Line", Starry Eyes spoke before giving him a peck on his cheek. "For luck." Starry then strolled towards the entrance, leaving the two blushing Hippogriffs confused behind. "Come, we cant stand here all day. And remember no matter what happens next, both of us know the true you and we wont give up on you, no matter how unpopular you are. Just do this for us... and yourself." Posada concluded and switched off her amulet, before both of them joined their comrades in the Council. 10 Minutes later Posada was sitting in her seat overlooking the council, the former crown princess Skystar sitting right next to her, while the Speaker was opening the council. Quickly looking toward the audience booth, she found Starry surrounded by the college class. Posada hoped that the council and Skystar were at least a little bit forgiving and accepting of his apologie, although she wouldn´t fault Skystar if she didn´t, he wanted to kill her mother after all. But this was about the party and the future, rather than trying to make Skystar befriend Hard Line or vise versa. "Where were you? I almost didn´t get into the council as your guest." Skystar asked in a slight worrying tone. "A couple of comrades really needed my help and it couldn´t wait. I hope today´s council meeting will be better than the last one and give you a better impression of us." Posada said, hiding her actions from Skystar. "Oh last time wasn´t so bad, sure it got emotional, but I still laugh thinking about his stupid face when you tricked him." Skystar chuckled, "And to be honest, this event gave me a much more practical insight into politics than just spending hours debating, not that it isn´t important, but when people get emotional it shows what they care about." Skystar finished. "Yeah... I see your point." Posada answered in a slow tone. "You know, I dont blame you for what Hard Line said, I know that is the reason why you have been so distant during the last week." Skystar responded in a caring tone. "Thank you for saying that. You are right, I was worried about his statement. But lets look forward to todays council meeting" Posada replied, continuing to hide her involvement in what was about to happen. ".. and so I welcome you again comrades, to our weekly council meeting today." The speaker was finishing the opening speech. "Our first topic of the day is natural preservation by Comrade Salina Blue, but before we start with our program, I want to invite a Comrade onto the stage, someone who has concerns over the unity of the party and wants to repair the rifts he may have caused in our party. Please welcome onto the stage, our Comrade Hard Line" The crowds reaction was less than stellar, barely any party member clapped on the higher ranks but many boos were heard, Crack Lightning even made fun of Hard Line, which caused his side of the council too explode in laughter. The lower audience members however clapped surprisingly energetic, the college class seemed to celebrate Hard Line, even suppressing some of the boos of the higher rank with their applauding. Starry was surprised as well, normally being the only creature to clap for unpopular guest speaker. Posada herself was trying to be formal, clapping out of respect for the council and secretly her friend. Skystar however was completely silent. Posada didn´t dare to look at her. Hard Line however was trying to blend all of this out and gazed towards the microphone, never looking at the crowd. For him, there were only 3 people in the room, Starry, Posada and himself and he was not letting them down today. Hard Line finally reached the speaker´s microphone after what seemed an eternity, while the clapping stopped, the heckling seemingly only began, it was reaching the point that the speaker, the guards and Posada herself were about to make a move, when Hard Line began his speech, with his eyes closed: "Comrades... I wish to confess." Just as Hard Lines words flew through the hall it fell silent, nobody believed that they would ever hear these words from Hard Line of all griffs. "A week ago, I made a terrible mistake. I let my personal judgement and fears overcome me, disrupted the unity of the party and almost damaged the party in the process." Hard Line began his speech and opened his eyes. "When I spoke of hunting down Novo and bringing her to justice, my fears and personal vengeance was speaking out of me. I was afraid, afraid that what happened to the griffons, both the Herzland republic and the Aquillian republic, would happen to us too and that history would repeat itself. The griffons managed to cast off the chains of oppression. An era of freedom, solidarity and equality lay before them, they thought, only for the monarchy to return, reclaim their blood throne and restart their reign of terror. I do disagree with how these republics were lead, but I started seeing similarities between us them. Why should it be impossible for the counter-revolution to happen here? What makes us different? The last order of the former queen was echoing in me, everyone in here should know what it was. To open fire on us, to spill the blood of the oppressed for daring to rise up, for wanting equality, wanting freedom. Some in here still hold her in high regards despite her actions, actions of someone who clearly does not deserve worship, who should not have power over others. But Novo decided against it. She abdicated and gave her power to us, seeing the impossibility of stopping us and possibly trying to save her own skin. I took me a long time to understand why she did it, I believed she was just playing the long game with Skystar as her betting chip. But I was wrong. She did it because she or someone close to her had decency, morals and believed in something greater than the monarchy, something that is worth more. I dont know what it was, but it proved to me something. That she wasn´t a Grover or a Discrets. But a Novo, a different creature. I judged her based on how I judge emperor Grover the second or King Moriset Discret, nothing but oppressors, warmonger and mass murderers. I let my personal experience led me to a false conclusions and falsely blamed her for many injustices that have happend to me. I will never stop hating the monarchy for its oppression, but I will from this day forward judge them accordingly, based on their action and seek justice not vengeance. I wont judge, Grover the sixth, Flurry Heart or the beloved Zamni, wherever he is, based on the actions of their parents or of any other monarchs. I will judge them based on their actions, based on their thoughts, based on the orders they gave. In fact, I hope for a better future, were they and I stand side by side fighting for our sacred cause, together as comrades. Standing together with former fascist, harmonist, bandits or other creatures who have lost their way and are trying to find it again. That is what I am fighting for and what I think, we should fight for. A future of equality, of justice not vengeance, where no creature, no matter if it has horns, wings, stripes, chitin or scales, will be left behind or forgotten. A world where every creature will be united in our cause and for our cause, and were nothing and nobody will be left behind or forgotten." Hard Line finished. First silence, then the audience started a thunderous applause, while the elected council members remained silent. None of them knew what to make of this. Posada turned towards Skystar who wasn´t sure if she should say anything, Both Hard Line and Posada looked through the room, while the applause was coming down. Again silence, then whispers. "Is he for real?" "He is just trying to save his own skin." "What a joke." "I bet he will call for blood again, next week." "Typical delusional Seapony and look the Zeebs are supporting him." Crack said "So this is what you were doing during the last week?" whispered Skystar towards Posada. Still standing on stage, Hard Line was getting a bit uncomfortable and some of the whispers filled him with hate. He poured his heart out, humiliated himself in front of them again and that is the thanks he got. At least some creatures in this hall knew he was right, but maybe it was time for a purge, Hard Line thought with ever increasing anger. Posada seeing this, quickly tried to put a stop to it. Using her microphone she spoke: "I thank you for your inspiring words Comrade Hard Line. Is there any creature in this room who wants to add something to his speech." Some of the council members were raising their claws and beginning to whisper again, worrying her. But many in the audience were also raising their hooves or claws, including Starry. "Seeing that many members of the council lack common decency, I would like to give the word to the members of the audience." Posada proposed. The Speaker of the council agreed with her and allowed the use of the microphone inside the audience section. However the microphone was first passed to some of the college kids, who also wanted to comment, leading to Starry having to wait for her turn to speak. "Hello? Good day, my name is Zamni Chargesteel, yes named after the former king and my father´s job as a smith and a charger in the army. Im here today with a college class from Zumidia. When we first heard of the toppling of Queen Novo, we were happy to regain our independence under King Zamni. But after the proclaiming of the RNZ we were terrified that something similar to the Storm King´s invasion would happen again and after Zamni went into hiding, we were expecting the worst from our hippogriff overlords. Instead many government programs improved our lives and gave myself and many others the chance to be more than just farmers or smiths, which is why I decided to go to college. Yet it all still seemed like a gilded cage, Hippogriffia was still better off than Zumidia. Only after hearing the story of the general secretary, of her pain and of her compassion for every creature did my class decided to come to Aris to find out the truth. When we met the general secretary a couple of minutes ago, we hoped that we could be a part of this fair and equal future, the one Hard Line spoke of, but when we stepped into this hall and saw that the zebra party members were just here to visit, while the elected council members were almost all Hippogriffs, it all seemed like a lie. But after the speaker announced someone who was trying to amend his mistakes and then hearing Comrade Hard Line´s speech, I can truly say, I believe in the cause, in a future for everyone. I know many zebras who worked with the Stormking´s forces to survive and now think that they dont deserve to have a future. Comrade Hard Line made me believe that they do have a future and when I see them again, I will tell them that and hope that they will join our cause." The Zebra finished before handing it other to their classmates who continued with aspiring words. And so it went on, till the microphone was given to Starry, who gave the microphone over to the next zebra, without saying a word. After each of the students finished, Hard Line gave them a nod of appreciation. The council was shunned into silence, the council members no longer wanted to comment or whisper about Hard Line. When The microphone came back, Starry took it to add some final words: "Comrades, I hope none of you will forget Hard Lines bravery today. Admitting a mistake is never easy but using it to teach a lesson and inspire those around you, is something truly wonderful. If any of you are ever in a position like Hard Line, I hope you will remember his example or show compassion to those in similar situations." "Alright... That was something which wont be forgotten so easily, but we still have work to do for today. Thank you Comrade Hard Line for these inspiring words, you may leave the stage." Said the Speaker of the council, which Hard Line promptly did. He went behind the stage, to the stage exit of the hall and unbeknown to all, left the council. He needed a break from all of this and left the palace. "Now, if you remembered after all that, our first point on the agenda is natural preservation, Comrade Salina Blue please come up her." The Speaker finished and Salina climbed the stage. "Thank you Comrade Speaker. Years ago, days before we liberated our homeland, I met Fluttershy in seaquestria, who is the bearer of the element of kindness, and a part of the elements of harmony. She taught me......" Posada´s thoughts were droning out the noise. Hard Line made it. Skystar besides her started taking notes, but earlier when the college kids were speaking, she saw how her anger towards Hard Line had melted and how the words of the kids brought her to tears, their vision, Posada´s vision for the future truly hit her soft spot. However Hard Line´s insistence on "his sacred cause" sounded strange after a while, she knew he didn´t stop being a zealot, but he did improve somewhat and seemed to be willing to give creatures a second chance. Maybe one day he will be more open towards compromises between different ideologies with similar goals. "isn´t this right Comrade general secretary?" Salina asked Starry really helped her this week, hopefully they could continue to help Hard Line become a better person. Posada wanted to invite both of them to a bar to celebrate their successful maneuver. Maybe she could even.... , Posada´s thoughts ended abruptly. "Comrade General secretary Posada are you all right?" Salina asked. Every Council member was looking at her "Sure, I was just thinking about the protection of coral reefs" Posada lied. "We were talking about Dolphins and I asked your opinion on them." Salina easily caught her lie. "I admit, I was a bit too deep in thought, but coral reefs are a vital part of the ecosystem, providing housing to so many organisms and as a great revolutionary once said : "Admitting a mistake is never easy but using it to teach a lesson and inspire those around you, is something truly wonderful, If any of you ever are in a position like this, I hope you remember this example or show compassion to those in similar situations." Posada replied, quoting Starry from 15 minutes ago. The Council erupted in laughter.