Chapter 4: DEBATES
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War
Twilight threw open the door to the palace, panting slightly. Running back and forth, attempting to stop a crisis, can put a lot of strain on a pony.
The sight Twilight saw was eerily similar to the one she saw earlier the same day. Princess Celestia and Luna sat in their places around the table, each one with a rather intense look on their face, as if somepony was attempting to pry something precious away from them. Between them sat Princess Cadance, who managed to pull off looking both worried and annoyed at the same time. The tension around the table was so high, Twilight could feel waves of it pouring over her, threatening to drown her if she wasn’t careful.
There is so much power here, it would be too easy to accidentally cause a catastrophe, Twilight thought to herself, then shook her head and plastered a fake smile on her face.
“Hello, all,” she said, walking over to her spot at the table. “We are assembled to discuss potential military reforms to be made to the Principality of Equestria. I would like to call this meeting to order.”
“Before we begin,” said Celestia, “I would like to ask Princess Luna how this ended up in the streets of Canterlot.” She flourished a slightly torn and tattered poster that depicted an emblem that was colored deep blue. In the center, a crescent moon with its points turned up was prominently displayed, with a lighter shade of blue wings attached to it. In the middle of the moon, a line was drawn up to a solitary star. This poster was captioned Resist Tyranny: The New Lunar Republic.
With a falling feeling, Princess Twilight turned to Luna and raised an eyebrow. “I would like to hear that story as well,” Twilight said. New Lunar Republic? What? How much moonshine has this pony been drinking?
Luna squirmed uncomfortably, then said, “Well, I didn’t to bring this up, but, since we are showing scandals about each other, how about this one?” Here, she also pulled out a poster, this one with a gold emblem. It was somewhat similar in design to the New Lunar Republic’s, but the wings were folded in and instead of the crescent moon piece, there was a yellow sun in a red border. It was captioned Loyalty to the Solar Empire.
Princess Cadance took an expression similar to that of Twilight. That is, her jaw hit the table. “Solar Empire?!?!” she said, sputtering. “Are you two drunk?”
“I agree with Cadance,” added Twilight. “What, in all the name of all things under the sun and moon, is going on here?”
“It is clear what is going on here,” Princess Celestia said. “My dear sister here is inciting rebellion against the proper government of Equestria!”
“Me? Inciting rebellion?” shot back Luna. “Preposterous! No, what is going on here is my sister is undermining my authority! Having to share power isn’t her style, so she’s going to take it all for herself. Watch out, Twilight! She’ll be after you next!!”
Celestia, who by now had lost her mask of calm, began to yell at her younger sister. Of course, Luna simply started to yell back, and the whole council began to devolve into anarchy.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Both parties quickly shut up as Princess Twilight put down the gavel that she had quickly summoned from a nearby courtroom. “Enough!” she yelled, despite the fact that she already had their attention. “Now, let us act like grown-up ponies that lead a world superpower and at least pretend to get along, shall we?”
The Princesses didn’t acknowledge her statement, but they didn’t dismiss it, either.
“Good. Now, I never thought I would I be acting like the mother to the two near-goddesses of Equestria, but it appears there’s a first time for everything. So, let’s start from the top.”
“It appears you both have been spreading false rumors about each other,” Princess Cadance observed. When both Celestia and Luna opened their mouths, Cadance raised a hoof and said “No, don’t lie to me. I know that you didn’t do it in reaction to the other’s ‘false rumors.’ Just how stupid do you think Twilight and I are?”
Neither side responded, but rather eyed each other warily.
“Right,” said Twilight. “Clearly, something is going too far. This is absurd! What do you ponies think you are doing?” When they both opened their mouths, Twilight quickly held up a hoof. “No, don’t answer that.”
Princess Cadance spoke up again, saying “Princess Twilight, it appears to me that they are presenting a clear and immediate threat to Equestria. And through Equestria, also the Crystal Empire. I hate to suggest this, but the Equestrian Constitution is clear…”
Twilight grimaced. “I know. Right now, I’m trying to find a reason to not brand them traitors right this instant.”
“Well,” Princess Cadance said, looking off into the distance, “I’m no legal expert, but isn’t your power derived from your friends? AKA, the Council of Harmony?”
“Yes…” said Twilight, unsure of where this was going.
“Well, if that is the case, shouldn’t you consult the Council and reach a conclusion before doing anything...drastic?”
“Of course! I must consult them first!” said Twilight, hoping that the legality (or otherwise) of this decision wouldn’t come back to haunt her later. She quickly stood up to leave the hall, but stopped just as she reached the doors.
She turned to the two guards and said, “Sirs, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are under arrest, on charges of causing division amongst ponies.”
If the guards were surprised or shocked, they hid it well.
Sighing, Princess Twilight said, “Please, do not tell anypony of this except your fellow guards. Also, do not allow either Princess to leave the room, except under my authorization.”
The guards saluted firmly. Taking that as an acknowledgement, Twilight turned and ran towards the exit. As they watched the young Princess leave the building, both guards smiled slightly, and reached for banderas in their armor, which they strapped on. The right guard had a pale gold one, and the left, midnight blue.
Again throwing open the door to the Council of Harmony, Twilight instantly thought something was wrong. Both Applejack and Rarity were standing in one of the corners, not looking at Pinkie and Fluttershy, who were in the exact opposite corner and mirroring their pose. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash stood leaning against a nearby wall.
“What is going on?” asked Twilight, slightly suspicious.
Before either party could speak, Rainbow seized the initiative and said, “They’ve been debating almost the whole time you’ve been gone.”
“What about?”
“This and that and the other thing,” replied Rainbow Dash. “They keep returning to that bill you told us about, though.”
“Well, I have news. Apparently, both Celestia and Luna have been conducting smear campaigns against each other. They’re forming factions, for pony’s sake!”
This got the remainder of her friend’s attention. However, as they came back to their chairs, Twilight noticed that they didn’t seem very surprised. She raised a mental eyebrow, but shook her head and said, “These two factions are pushing each other around and spreading false rumors of each other!”
Again, her friends did not seem very surprised. Tentatively, Applejack spoke up. “We didn’t want to make you worry,” she said, “but we know.”
Here, Rarity took over. “The posters have been circling around Ponyville,” she added. “You didn’t notice because you were too busy moving into your new castle, but most of Ponyville has already picked one side or the other.”
Fluttershy and Pinkie nodded.
Twilight was shell-shocked. “How did I miss this?” she muttered. Speaking up, she said, “Well, as the Princess of Friendship, I will not allow this to happen! The line has to be drawn somewhere, and quickly, before it’s too late.”
The members of the Council looked amongst themselves, as if each member was silently weighing their own chances of success. After an uneasy moment, Applejack said, “Well, it seems to me that the best course of action is to throw our support one way o’ the other.”
Twilight blinked twice. “No,” she said. “That will not happen. I plan to ask both Princesses to disband their factions and work this out like civilized creatures. If they don’t, I will have no choice but to declare them threats to Equestria, and thus, traitors.”
All five members of the Council started at this. Quickly, before anypony else could speak, Rainbow Dash spoke up, saying, “Well, as tricky of a situation as this is, I know that my loyalties are with you, Twilight, and this circle.”
Twilight smiled, trying to convey the gratitude she felt towards the pegasus in the simple smile. It’s good to know that somepony is backing me up, she thought.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Council didn’t seem to be buying it. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other, then looked across the table at Fluttershy and Pinkie, who had mirrored their actions. Then, Applejack said, “I’m afraid that Rarity and I can’t support that.”
Rarity nodded.
Hoping against hope, Twilight turned to her two other friends.
Before she could even open her mouth, Pinkie, unusually somber, shook her head, while Fluttershy avoided Twilight’s gaze.
After a moment, Twilight said, in a hollow voice, “You all have already picked sides, haven’t you?”
None of her friends answered. They didn’t need to, though.
“Why? How has this happened?”
“Well, think about it, Twilight,” drawled Applejack. “Celestia has overextended her power one too many times. We have-”
Pinkie jumped up. “Overextended her power?” she yelled. “She’s just doing what she feels is necessary, silly! That shouldn’t be pun-”
“Doing what she feels is necessary? Doing what she thinks is necessary?!?” Rarity interjected, nearly sputtering in rage. “Maybe she should stop taking all the power for her own use and consult us citizens! Even if-”
“STOP!!!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash yelled at the same time. Both sides seemed to snap out of it and looked to Twilight.
Twilight sighed, then said, “Don’t you see what’s happening here?” She would have said more, but was cut off.
“What’s happening here isn’t important,” said Rarity. “It’s what’s happening out there that matters.”
“Yeah, the Princess is trying to protect us, and all you meanies want is to overthrow her!” said Pinkie, provoking Applejack into responding.
“No, all I want is to be asked before this kind of bill is put into motion! Do you know how hard this will be on the farm? I can barely make ends meet as it is! If twenty percent of my profits go to the government, I might be forced to shut down Sweet Apple Acres! Don’t even get me started on the inevitable crop levy!”
“Don’t forget the boutique!” added Rarity. “Materials for my dresses are far from cheap, and under this, the price will go up! It will be a huge disaster! Plus, I’ll be forced to make those dreadful uniforms! Pinkie, you’re a small business owner, too. Why don’t you see the dreadfulness of this whole thing?”
Pinkie paused for a split second, then said, “Oh, money? I’ve never had much of a problem with it. Everypony around Ponyville showers me in the stuff whenever I throw them a party. It’s great, really. Plus, the safe everypony is, the more they’ll want to party!”
Everypony’s attention turned to Fluttershy. She gave a visible quiver, but when she spoke, her voice had an underlying note of conviction. “I...I think that Celestia is right. We...we have to do som-something. As hard as it is, we have t-to protect Equestria.”
Twilight was shell-shocked. Fluttershy, of all ponies, taking a stand supporting a faction. If she supports one side, then who else will?
Before Twilight could think up something to say, though, Rainbow Dash stole the show. She stood up and said, “Come on, no way. This is all one massive joke, right? ...right?”
When nopony said anything, Rainbow’s face hardened. With an angry posture, she flew up a few feet and said, “I...I don’t know what is going on here. What happened? Doesn’t loyalty meaning anything here?” When she said this and nopony answered, her face got darker, and she said, “Well, I know one thing for sure. I’m not about to allow your little betrayal make me break my bonds of loyalty.”
“We didn’t betray-”
“Yes, you have. Only traitors put stupid political differences before their friendship.”
There was a firm knock on the door, causing the entire circle to jump. Quickly, Twilight jumped up and answered it.
“Your Highness, news from the Palace,” said a somewhat nervous-looking guard. “Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are making announcements. Also, Princess Cadance has disappeared.”