//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Cry for Eternity // by asylum1388 //------------------------------// Let's play 'Find the Easter Egg!' Editor: Pissfer Pre-readers: PiquoPie, f0xhole, and Nanomight. Nineteen hours after the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle Twilight was nestled in the steaming water, relaxing in her bath, when Quill-Pen burst into the bathroom. “You’re awake?” the older mare gasped overenthusiastically. “The sun rising without you having to remind me didn’t clue you in? How long is it going to be before you let me forget about yesterday morning?” Twilight groaned. “Probably until you bury me,” Quill-Pen quipped with a mischievous smirk. “Great,” Twilight muttered while working the last bit of suds from her mane. “I’ll admit you do look better than you did yesterday. Sound better too,” Quill-Pen murmured with an air of sincerity. She sauntered over to the side of the bathtub and sat down. “So are you feeling any better?” Twilight hung her head and started making circles on the surface of the water with her hoof. “I'm not hung over if that’s what you mean. Whether I feel better about Celestia... Well, it seems to change every couple of hours. I’ll feel fine one moment, then the next I miss her so much that I want to cry.” “That’s called a ‘mood swing’; it happens when you lose somepony you love.” Twilight’s eyes flickered over towards her new assistant with a glare. “I know.” “Well, don’t make open-ended statements if you don’t want an answer,” Quill-Pen shot back, sticking out her tongue. “So, how does it feel being princess now?” “I don’t think it’s actually hit me yet... that I’m a princess, I mean. I still feel the same as always and yesterday felt more like a graduation than anything else, what with everypony congratulating me,” Twilight whispered. “Maybe I’m just in shock...” “Or maybe it feels right. Like this was the way it was always meant to be,” Quill-Pen mused reassuringly. “Maybe... So, I take it you’re here to tell me about my day?” Twilight chirped, hoping the change of subject might lift her mood. “If you like.” “Lay it on me,” Twilight replied while feeling around the bottom of the tub for the drain’s plug. She found it and kicked it open with her back hoof, letting the water out. “Alright. First off, your friends are heading back to Ponyville today, so I organized a nice breakfast for all of you in the private dining room. Princess Luna, on the other hoof, will be unable to attend. She sent her regrets.” “Oh, really? Why?” Twilight moaned as she finished drying herself off. “I’m not sure, actually. She never said,” Quill-Pen replied, following Twilight out of the bathroom. “Regardless, she won’t be there. Once we see your friends off, you will have a meeting with the cabinet for about three hours, after which we will break for an hour-long lunch at noon. Then, you’ll be holding a question-and-answer session in the Throne Room for the nobility and some of Equestria’s more well-off commonponies for the rest of the afternoon.” “WHAT? What could have possibly possessed you to schedule something like that on my first day?” Twilight moaned, struggling to slip into the last of her jeweled shoes. Quill-Pen levitated Twilight’s golden tiara onto Twilight’s head to complete the Royal Attire before continuing. “More often than not, the nobles are more trouble than they’re worth, but many of them aren’t willing to test their luck harassing their princess and have what they consider to be legitimate concerns. It’ll be easier just to play ‘Twenty Questions’ with them now than for your schedule to be cluttered with all of their individual petitions later. You’ll get plenty of stupid questions, sure, but simply answering said questions will do wonders towards staving off later problems.” “Alright, I guess that makes sense,” Twilight replied with a hint of a groan. “Will I at least have you there to give me a hoof?” “Yes. I’ll be right at your side to keep them from getting too unruly and I’ve made sure that each Minister in your cabinet will either be attending or sending their Deputy to help answer the tougher questions. You’ll be covered,” Quill-Pen said with a grin. She opened the bedroom door for Twilight and followed her princess out. The pair trotted down several flights of stairs before finding Fluttershy waiting for them outside of the dining room. “Twilight! You’re here!” the yellow pegasus exclaimed in what amounted to a murmur from anypony else. “Good morning, Fluttershy. How’s Spike?” Twilight replied back after giving her friend a quick hug. “Oh, he’s much better now. I’m sorry for taking him away last night. I know you wanted him to stay with you, but I really wanted to keep him with me for observation,” Fluttershy squeaked apologetically. “You know, just to make sure he wasn’t still sick.” “It’s okay, Fluttershy. I actually really appreciate you taking care of him like that. Thank you,” Twilight replied with a grin. She then continued in a jokingly serious voice, “So, Dr. Fluttershy, what’s the diagnosis?” “He’s okay,” Fluttershy giggled, “just make sure he goes to bed early tonight.” “I’ll do that. Is everypony already inside?” “Oh! Yes. We were all waiting for you,” Fluttershy gasped. She pushed the door open to let Twilight in. She found all four of her other friends, along with Spike, seated around the table with a printed banner that said ‘Congratulations Princess Twilight!’ hanging overhead. Fluttershy frowned at the new addition to the room before speaking. “Pinkie, I was out there for three minutes. Where did you-” “Ya know better than to ask, sugarcube.” “Oh, right,” Fluttershy muttered as she and Twilight took their seats at the table. The waitstaff brought out the food and the breakfast conversations commenced much like they always did. AJ and Rainbow began shouting over which one of them was better at some arbitrary task, Rarity berated Pinkie Pie on her lack of table manners, Spike, as always, took Rarity’s side and joined in the lecture, and Fluttershy flitted between the two arguments, trying to calm both situations. Twilight, however, just ate silently with a content smile on her face. She knew in her heart that this was probably the last time she would be able to join them like this for a while, but she wasn’t going to let that ruin it for her. She knew that even if her friends weren’t going to be in Canterlot with her, they were still her friends and were only a short train ride away. So she sat, taking it all in. It seemed to be over all too soon when Quill-Pen announced that it was time to start wrapping things up. “Hold on a second!” Rainbow blurted out, cutting off the older pony. “Spike said he needed to talk to Twilight, in private, before we left.” “What?” Twilight asked, completely bewildered. “Spike’s staying here, why would he have to talk with me before you guys left?” “Well, he said it was important...” Rainbow trailed off when she noticed the dragon glaring at her. “Actually, I’ll just let him tell you.” “Alright,” Twilight muttered, “come on, Spike, we can talk in the hall.” She stood up and led her number-one assistant out of the room. They walked a short distance before she turned to face him, frowning inwardly at the grave expression on his face. “So, what’s wrong, Spike?” “I just gotta know, Twilight,” he snarled, not looking her in the eye. “You knew when you agreed to be princess that we’d have to move back to Canterlot, and you were okay with that, but did you ever stop to ask yourself whether I’d be okay with it?” “What do you mean, Spike?” “All of my friends are in Ponyville, Twilight! All of our friends are in Ponyville,” he said, raising his voice slightly. “What if I didn’t want to move back to Canterlot? Why didn’t you ask me? Did you even care?” “Of course I did, Spike!” she replied guiltily. “There were just other things I had to-” “Don’t give me that!” he interrupted, fully shouting now. “Tell me the truth! Did you think about what I might’ve wanted? Even once?” “...No, Spike. I guess I didn’t,” she murmured tearfully. “I’m sorry.” “Why are you so mad at me all of a sudden?” Twilight whined to him. “Yesterday you were so happy to see me!” “Yesterday I was just happy to see you alive,” he replied, seething with frustration. Twilight could feel a tightness growing in her chest when she noticed the tears in the corners of his eyes. “I’m really sorry, Spike...” “So, what now?” he growled, no longer shouting, but obviously not yet calm. Twilight was silent for what seemed to her like an eternity. “Well, I’m not going to make you do something you don’t want to, Spike,” she replied softly. “I guess the best thing I can do is let you choose where you want to stay.” “So that’s it, huh?” “What?” she squealed, reeling at the venom in his voice. “Your first big decision as princess, and you can’t even be bothered to make it yourself? You’re going to just pass the responsibility off?” he snarled, his face contorting viciously. “What? Spike, no, that’s not what I-” “You’re not going to ask me to stay with you, or something? I guess that shows just how much I mean to you. You don’t need me anymore now that you’ve got Quill-Pen,” he interrupted, his claws balled into fists. “That’s not it! You’re still my number-one assistant! The seneschal’s just a big job and-” “And what? You can’t have me get in the way?” “Spike, I don’t understand why you’re so angry! Please-” Twilight cried, desperately searching for some clue as to why he would be so angry with her. “That’s just it, you don’t understand!” he screamed, a small jet of flames slipping from his mouth. “After all we’ve been through together, you couldn’t be bothered to even tell me what Celestia asked you to do? Then I had to find out from Luna that I might lose you? What would’ve happened if you died? You never even gave me the chance to say goodbye!” “Spike...” “I’ve had enough of this, Princess.” At that, he spun around and ran back to the dining room, leaving the confused and shell shocked Twilight sitting alone in the hallway. “I’m going to go see if one of the girls will let me stay with them. At least they still care about me!” Thirty minutes later, Twilight sat in what was officially called ‘the War Room’, though it had not been used for that particular purpose for centuries. Now, it was simply the mid-sized meeting room where Cabinet meetings were held. The full Cabinet had been assembled; every Minister and Deputy Minister now sat at the large circular table, chatting amongst themselves as they waited for the meeting to commence. The girls, having realized the gravity of what had transpired between Spike and Twilight from the expressions the pair wore, had given her simple, worried goodbyes before leaving the palace towards home, leaving Twilight feeling alone and empty inside. “Twilight, listen,” Quill-Pen whispered to her from her side, “I know you’re hurting, but I — we — need you to be strong right now. This meeting is more important than I can say, and you can’t afford to make a bad impression.” Quill-Pen put a hoof on Twilight’s cheek and turned her Princess’ head so that they were eye-to-eye. “We can do something about Spike later, but for now you have an entire nation still reeling from the loss of its beloved leader. Its ponies need their new princess to step up and guide them.” “I know, I know...” Twilight muttered sadly. “It’s just that we’ve fought before, but nothing like this. I’ve never seen him so upset before. I really don’t know what to do!” “Would you like my advice?” “Please.” “Just let him be for the moment,” Quill-Pen replied. When Twilight opened her mouth to retort, she shook her head and continued. ”Give him some time to cool off, and trust in your friends, they won’t let anything happen to him. If you want, we can take some time over lunch to write each of them a letter explaining everything. “I think I’d like that,” Twilight whispered, smiling for the first time since before the argument. “Good. Now, before we begin, take a look at this,” Quill-Pen snickered as she slid a sheet of paper over to Twilight. “Before you ask, it’s a list of which cabinet members are from noble families and which aren’t. When they’re sworn in, they’re all required to take oaths to not use their position to advance the interests of their Houses, but you know as well as I do that they don’t always follow that oath.” “Why give me this, though?” Twilight muttered, eyeing the list suspiciously. “And aren’t you a noble yourself?” “My House disowned me long before Celestia asked me to be her seneschal. They’ve been kicking themselves ever since, but I wouldn’t have helped them get ahead anyway,” Quill-Pen chuckled. “As to why: I figure it’ll be helpful to know who you’re dealing with. Even the most honest among your Cabinet have ulterior motives, knowing which are nobles and from which House they are gives you a leg-up. Lets you nip any power plays they may try to make in the bud, so to speak.” Twilight scanned the list carefully, taking in every detail. Prime Minister Sterling Sea- Earth Pony Stallion- Born to an affluent non-noble family. Deputy Prime Minister Edifying Scrolls- Unicorn Mare- Disowned noble of House Huffy, married into House Frazzleberry. Minister of the Army Gen. Ironside- Unicorn Stallion- Member of House Dawnhammer, was in line to become House Dawnhammer’s next patriarch, but gave up the honor to become a Minister. Deputy Minister of the Army Maj. Gen. Flitwing- Pegasus Mare- Commoner. Minister of the Interior Open Plains- Unicorn Mare- Commoner. Deputy Minister of the Interior Sound Mind- Unicorn Mare- Noble of House Highbrow. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharp Tongue- Unicorn Stallion- Noble of House Two-Bent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Silverhoof- Earth Pony Mare- Noble of House Bullion Minister of Justice Heavy Hoof- Earth Pony Stallion- Born to an affluent non-noble family. Deputy Minister of Justice Quick Wit- Pegasus Mare- Disowned member of House Blueblood. Minister of Agriculture Nourishing Hoard- Earth Pony Mare- Noble of House Farsight Deputy Minister of Agriculture Orange Peel- Earth Pony Stallion- Commoner. Minister of the Weather Windweaver- Pegasus Mare- Noble of House Skydancer. Deputy Minister of the Weather Cloud Gazer- Unicorn Stallion- Self-made affluent non-noble. “Wow, this is great,” Twilight squealed, barely managing to keep her voice at a whisper. “I think this’ll really come in handy.” “I thought so too. Now, let’s get on with this.” The seneschal caught Prime Minister Sterling Sea’s attention and gave him a nod. He responded by loudly banging a gavel on the table. “I call this meeting to order!” he bellowed, causing almost everypony to jump in their seats. “Before we begin, I’d like to note that this gathering was called to bring Her Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle, up to speed on the more important events in Equestria. As such, the only policy discussions that are to take place are those I personally approved last night.” He glanced around at each member of the Cabinet sternly before turning to Twilight and addressing her with a softer expression. “Because this meeting will be less consequential than most others, I would like to, with Your Highness’ permission, take things along a little less formally than usual. Skipping role-call, neglecting the usual time structure, not taking minutes, and such.” Twilight gave him a quick smile and nodded her assent. “Perfect. First order of business-” “Are we just going to ignore the pink minotaur in the room?” Every head in the room turned towards the source of the annoyed voice, Minister Sharp Tongue. “Are we just going to pretend that we are all fine with working for this overcredulous little filly? This is outrageous!” “Minister, that is completely unfair!” Edifying Scrolls bellowed back, standing up with her front hooves on the table. “Whether we think she’s qualified or not, she is now our princess. If you think she’s unfit for the job, then perhaps you should work to make her fit, rather than whine like a schoolcolt!” “How dare you! I will not abide by this-” “ENOUGH!” Sterling Sea shouted with enough force to shake several of the paintings hanging on the wall. “Minister Sharp Tongue, I believe that Princess Luna said that anypony who objected to the ascension of Princess Twilight was free to resign with no consequences, so if you believe yourself unable to fulfill your duties to the crown then leave now. Otherwise, I’ll remind you that any attempts to subvert the authority of the Princesses, including deliberately halting the functioning of the government, is considered treason, a crime which is handled not by the Equestrian Law Enforcement Agency, but by the Royal Guard. In other words, if you are arrested for such a thing, you won’t be sitting in one of your friend Heavy Hoof’s cushy jail cells, but one of General Ironside’s dungeons!” Sharp Tongue gaped at the Prime Minister for several seconds, his mouth hanging open like a fish out of water, before his eyes flickered over to Ironside. The old soldier responded by giving the younger stallion a grin that radiated malicious intent. It was more than enough to cow Sharp Tongue into submission. “...Objection withdrawn.” “Do some of them really hate me that badly?” Twilight whispered aside to Quill-Pen. “Well, no, not exactly,” the seneschal whispered back. “Some of them really dislike you, but for the most part any arguments are simply old rivalries flaring up. What you just saw was normal in meetings Celestia didn’t attend in pony. They tended to forget their manners when she wasn’t watching them.” “Now, as I was saying before the interruption, the first order of business is discussion of the budget. Minister Open Plains?” “Thank you, Prime Minister,” an off-white unicorn voiced, “but Miss Sound Mind went over the budget with the Princess the day before yesterday, and as you said policy changes and proposals are not in the scope of this meeting. Thus, unless Her Highness has any questions for the two us, we’ve nothing to discuss for the moment.” She gave Twilight an expectant smile and nodded politely. “I think I’m alright for now,” Twilight chirped back, glad for the distraction from her thoughts of Spike. “Just let me know when you-” She was interrupted by the sound of somepony clearing their throat. “Oh, right! Let Quill-Pen know when you want to talk about specifics. I keep forgetting that I’m not allowed to make my own schedule anymore,” she quipped sarcastically. “Very well,” Sterling Sea stated plainly with a somewhat surprised look on his face. He continued with the tone of a news anchor announcing the next segment. “Moving on then, the weather report! Windweaver?” “That stopped being funny years ago, Sterling,” a petite, forest-green pegasus grumbled before turning to Twilight. “With all due respect, Your Highness, don’t expect me to fawn over you the way the rest of my kind have just because the Wonderbolts said you were satisfactory. I wouldn’t expect somepony who was a unicorn less than a month ago to understand how our work is done, so just let my ponies do their jobs. WHAT IS IT CLOUD GAZER?” She wheeled around on her Deputy who had been prodding her in the side. “Well, ma’am, if you had read the transcript of Spitfire’s speech, like I asked you to, you’d know that the Wonderbolts endorsed her because Spitfire saw Princess Twilight Sparkle demonstrate that she possesses impressive meteorological knowledge firsthoof.” Twilight found herself hypnotized by the vein pulsing in the angry pegasus’ temple, but was snapped back to attention by Ironside’s rumbling voice. “Don’t forget, missy, that just because we have neglected recently to enforce the laws about speaking to the Princesses with respect doesn’t mean they are not still on the books. Address Her Highness like that again and I might let it slip to Shining Armor that you’re bullying his little sister. I’m sure he’d have no problem reinstating the enforcement of that piece of legislation.” The humiliated mare sputtered at Ironside incomprehensibly, then sat down, front legs crossed and an angry pout plastered across her face. “Okay... Well now that we’ve got that settled, I think we should change the subject,” Sterling Sea said exasperatedly. “Let’s see... Princess, how much do you know about Equestrian Criminal Law and the functioning of the Ministry of Justice?” Not used to being addressed by the title she had used affectionately as a nickname for her mentor not more than a month ago, it took a moment for Twilight to realize she was the one being spoken to. Caught off-guard, her librarian side kicked in and she began rapidly quoting one of the many, many books she had read on the subject. “The Royal Codex of Equestrian Law is five-hundred thirty-two pages long and encompasses the descriptions of, and punishments for, every manner of crime in Equestria from simple criminal mischief to more serious-” “Good! Thank you, Your Highness,” the Prime Minister interrupted apologetically. “I take it this means we won’t have to listen to Heavy Hoof ramble on about the ‘graceful complexities’ of the courts. Let’s skip on to Foreign Affairs.” Twilight let her gaze linger on Minister Heavy Hoof, who was glaring at Sterling Sea with the utmost contempt for a couple seconds, before turning towards Sharp Tongue. The salmon-colored unicorn turned to her and spoke in a voice dripping with false sincerity. “Very well. There is nothing to report on an international scale, Your Highness. Over the past week we have received messages from every nation expressing their condolences for the loss of Princess Celestia and their prayers for the future of our nation, but nothing of importance has occurred. I’ll let you know right away should something come up.” “...Wait, that’s it?” Twilight asked, completely bewildered. “I’m not going to be meeting with any envoys or anything like that?” “Such things are not really necessary, Your Highness,” Deputy Minister Silverhoof replied dismissively. “A couple of the nations have requested audiences, but there is no reason that you-” “Necessary or not, I’d like to speak with the ambassadors from the other nations,” Twilight interrupted. “If I’m going to be negotiating with our neighbors, I’d like to get off on the right hoof with them, and snubbing their representatives is not the way to do that!” The pair of Foreign Affairs ponies seemed completely taken aback by Twilight’s sudden assertiveness and simply stared at her. Sharp Tongue spoke up first, “I assure you, Princess, that it is nothing that-” “I don’t think I’m hearing you right,” Quill-Pen cut in with a blatantly fake expression of confusion on her face. “I just heard our new Princess ask something of you, but my ears must be tricking me! It almost sounds like you are refusing a perfectly reasonable, and easy to fulfill, request! I just know that you wouldn’t do such a thing!” Sharp Tongue could only gape as he was blindsided by this new line of attack. Silently admitting defeat, he responded with a barely-hidden sneer. “I will immediately send word to the other nations that Your Highness wishes to entertain foreign envoys to discuss the future of our international relationships. Requests for audiences will be forwarded to Quill-Pen as they come in. Is that satisfactory?” “Erm, yes,” Twilight muttered just loudly enough for everypony assembled to hear. She definitely didn’t like the amount of arguing that had taken place already, but from what Quill-Pen had said, it was almost unavoidable. I’d better get this moving so I can get out of here. “So, who’s next?” she asked Sterling Sea. “I am, Your Highness,” Ironside called from across the table. “In the past two weeks we’ve increased the troop levels posted at our border and the number of patrols around Canterlot. Short story even shorter, we’ve got Equestria locked down pretty tight, so we should be able to resolve any security problems that might arise fairly quickly. Our citizens may feel a bit lost without Princess Celestia, but that’s no reason for them to act like a pack of drunken fratcolts. You worry about settling into your new job and keeping things running smoothly, Princess; I promise to keep your ponies safe. That being said, I appointed Shining Armor as the official Royal Liaison, so feel free to talk to him about military concerns if you don’t want to talk to me.” “Oh,” Twilight squeaked. “Okay, then. I appreciate that.” “Just a minute! Why is it perfectly fine for him to tell you to stay out of his business, but it’s a crime when I do it?” Windweaver screeched. “That’s awful hypocritical!” Twilight looked between the two Ministers, her mind churning for a tactful way to defuse the situation. “Well, when I was Celestia’s student, I was always afraid of him because of how strict he always was. No matter what he wouldn’t accept anything but perfection from me, or anypony else for that matter. That and I really don’t know anything about the army aside from what my brother’s told me, so I really don’t think I should interfere with it at all... I guess I just trust him to do his best for me and for Equestria.” Twilight looked Ironside in the eyes and gave him a timid grin. “If he’s going to give me his word that he’ll keep Equestria safe and sound, then I believe him.” “It’s a soldier’s oath, Your Highness. I’ll keep your forces running as efficiently as they always have, and if something goes wrong, you and Princess Luna will be the first to know.” “Okay!” Twilight quipped. “I leave all matters pertaining to the military in General Ironside’s hooves.” She again turned to Sterling Sea, “What’s next?” “Well, the last thing we have is actually a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture, jointly authored by the Ministry of the Weather. I believe Deputy Minister Orange Peel will be giving the presentation?” “Yep. If I can have your collective attention,” a bright orange stallion exclaimed in what was a more refined version of Applejack’s accent. He slid a stack of papers across the table to Twilight, who picked it up with her magic and placed it neatly in front of herself. “Mares and gentlecolts, esteemed Princess Twilight Sparkle, over this past winter some strange weather patterns did quite a bit of damage to various pieces of farmland across Equestria. Now, we were able to overcome most of it, but our weather researchers noticed a few strange occurrences and a rather odd and lucrative opportunity has been revealed as a result. By making minor adjustments to our climate, we currently have the ability to permanently increase the output of Equestria’s largest crop, wheat, by 4%, at the cost of a decrease of our apple output by 5%.” “Wait! Say that again,” Twilight interrupted, knowing full well that she heard him correctly the first time. “4% more wheat, Your Highness, 5% fewer apples,” he explained with a smile. “And why would we want that?” “I realize that the percentages may sound bad,” he replied, “but I assure you that in terms of weight, the increase in wheat production would more than make up for the loss in apple production. In the end, Equestria would produce more food overall by accepting this proposal.” “But a lot of families depend on their apple crops for their income!” “And even more families depend on the wheat crop to feed their families, Your Highness. Increased wheat production would do much to combat hunger and poverty across Equestria.” “Oh, right...” Twilight grumbled. He was right, of course, but the Apple family was always succeeding by the skin of their teeth. Losing even a fraction of their harvest would really hurt them financially and how many other families would feel the same pain from such a large change? “Orange Peel, you said that wheat is Equestria’s largest crop, what’s our second largest?” “Apples, ma’am.” Darn. She looked down at the stack of papers in front of her. “These documents... Is this the description of the proposal? With all the related charts and tables?” He nodded to her with a proud smile. “Alright, let me go over this first. Ummm, everypony who’s not involved in this can leave.” Ironside, Sharp Tongue, Heavy Hoof, and their respective Deputies all stood up, gave short bows and left, as Twilight began to scan the pages. Forty-five minutes later, she felt no closer to making a decision than she had been when she had started reading. “Orange Peel, increasing the wheat yield will make the prices of all wheat-derived products go down, correct?” “In theory, Your Highness.” “What do you mean ‘in theory’?” “Market forces would have the largest factor. The only thing I can guarantee is that prices won’t rise.” “But apple prices’ll go up?” “Most definitely.” Twilight groaned and glanced back down at the graphs she had laid out in front of her. “But rising apple prices would hurt thousands of ponies and I don’t want to force that on them without giving them something back! Uhhh, Minister Open Plains, is it possible to ensure that wheat prices drop if this plan is enacted?” Open Plain’s head snapped up from the book she had been reading and her eyes fluttered to meet Twilight’s. “Errr, yes? I mean it is possible, but we’d have to force the price to drop considerably and the wheat farmers would take a sizable hit to their profits...” “No, no, that’s no good. I can’t punish the wheat farmers for doing a good job. How about a slight drop in prices?” “Well, even if prices were to drop slightly, most wheat farmers would still see an increase in revenue from last year solely from the increased output,” Sound Mind muttered from Open Plains’ side, “but consumers would see little change. But if Your Highness really has her heart set on appeasing the plebeians, you can cut the amount of money that the retailers are allowed to take by instituting a penalty tax when they charge more than a certain amount.” “Well, maybe...” Twilight thought about the suggestion. At first it seemed like a good one, but then the image of a bouncy pink pony holding a pair of foals forced its way into her mind. The Cakes’ twins would be having their first birthday soon. What kind of birthday present is making their parents worry about their futures? And there was Pinkie Pie; would the Cakes be able to afford keeping her around? Her thoughts then floated to another pony: Mr. Filthy Rich. His grandfather had helped build Ponyville by being the middlestallion between the Apples and the rest of Equestria. How many new towns would fail if she told ponies like him that they weren’t allowed to do what they do? “No. No, that wouldn’t be right either,” Twilight grunted, pounding her hoof on the table. “Can either of you two think of a way where everypony benefits? From the farmers to the consumers?” Open Plains and Sound Mind stared at each other for a few seconds before turning back to Twilight. “Well, it would require quite a bit of extra work from all three of us,” Sound Mind mused, “but with proper levies, we should be able to cause the retail price of wheat products to fall by several bits while still allowing our retailers and farmers to see a marginal increase in profit. However, doing so will make a lot of business ponies very unhappy with our interference. They don’t take kindly to us telling them how much they can buy and sell for.” “Can it be done, though?” “Yes, Princess, so long as you’re willing to make the extra effort to see it through with us,” Open Plains replied with a nod. “Keep in mind though that this is one of the few times this would work and everypony might expect you to enact something like this more often, even when doing so would be disastrous.” “Well, I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it,” Twilight proclaimed with more confidence than she felt. “...That still leaves the apple shortage,” Minister Nourishing Hoard murmured, speaking up for the first time that day. “I know,” Twilight groaned. She shuffled through the papers yet again, hoping to see something, anything, that would change the situation. She found nothing. Here was her first policy decision, forcing her to choose between keeping her friends happy, or making thousands of ponies across Equestria happy. She felt stuck. … I’m so, so, sorry, Applejack... “Do it,” she muttered. “Come again?” Sound Mind’s voice floated from across the table. “Do it. Equestria needs this. Just please, please do everything you can to minimize the damage to the apple farms. It wouldn’t be fair to ask them to sacrifice themselves for everypony else.” “We don’t have quite enough money to pay for the entirely of their losses, but I suppose we could siphon some bits from other parts of the budget to increase subsidies to apple farmers,” Sound Mind offered. “Again, it won’t completely cover the damage, but it’ll help ease the burden.” “We could also apply the extra tax revenue generated by the increased wheat production towards researching a way to restore apple production to its current levels,” Orange Peel said thoughtfully. “Can we do both?” Twilight asked nopony in particular. She was met with a chorus of affirmative answers from everypony assembled. “Then I’d like to do that. If everypony could start on those two things immediately, I’d really appreciate it. The sooner we get to work, the quicker we’ll be able to help the apple farmers when things start to go bad for them.” She was met with another round of approval and turned to Sterling Sea, who had been silently watching the whole discussion intently. “Very well,” he said with a grin. “Does anypony have anything else they’d like to bring up? ...No? Good! Meeting adjourned!” He banged his gavel down and everypony stood up to leave. Twilight looked down to the papers on the table and began to reorganize them in an order she liked when Edifying Scrolls’ voice floated over to her, just loud enough for her to hear, “Not bad, Princess. Not bad at all.” Encouraged, she stood up and turned to a smiling Quill-Pen. “Ready to go to lunch, Princess?” the seneschal quipped. “Yes. Yes I am,” Twilight said with a small grin. That morning had been the toughest in as long as she could remember, but as far as she was concerned, she had done just fine. A/N: To those of you who submitted questions to be asked, due to RL time constraints, said questions will be used in the next chapter.