"Daddy, I'm nervous."
King Bullion wrapped his foreleg around his daughter's shoulders and pulled her into an embrace. The sun had just set, everypony from the king's court (including Twilight) had gone to their own homes and rooms for the night, and the two royals were alone in the castle's halls. Being alone was the only reason Princess Platinum allowed herself to admit any sort of weakness.
"I know you are, darling. It's a natural emotion to feel before your first summit. I was very nervous myself before my first summit."
"You were nervous? But I've seen you in meetings and at summits, and you act so naturally!"
The king chuckled. "Daughter," he said, "I have had many years to overcome my nerves. I understand what you're feeling. You've been to a few summits with me, so you know something about what's going to happen, but you've never had as large a role as you will tomorrow evening in your first summit without me.
She rested her chin on his shoulder. "I wouldn't be nervous if you and Clover were coming."
"Yes you would. You just wouldn't be as nervous. Besides," he said, "there are several reasons I cannot come. You know them, right?"
"I ought to. You've mentioned them enough in the last week." She looked at her father, who looked back at her, expecting her to say the reasons. She sighed and continued. "The ponies in our kingdom need you, and spending too much time away would be a disservice to them."
"And the other?"
"Because you won't live forever, though our subjects say 'May the king live forever,' and you want me to be ready to lead before you're gone instead of being overwhelmed with so much to learn after." She lowered her head a little, and rubbed a foreleg with her hoof. "I don't like thinking about your mortality, Daddy."
"Nor do I, yet we cannot ignore it. It is an inevitable fact of life, after all." By this time they'd reached their respective bedchambers. The king placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead and they bid each other a good night. Princess Platinum slipped out of her formal robes, putting on a purple silk nightgown, and climbed into her four-post bed. As much as she tried, however, she could not fall asleep. Letting out a sigh of frustration, she got out of bed, crossed the hallway to her father's quarters, and knocked lightly on the door. She waited a few minutes, pacing the floor in front of the door, before deciding that her father had already put his earplugs in for the night, and wouldn't be disturbed until the sun shone through his window the next morning.
Before returning to her room, she made her way down the hall to the bedroom of her new adviser and knocked on the door.
"One sec!" she heard from inside, and found herself pondering the odd phrases her adviser used once in a while. Sure, Clover had explained that "sec" was merely a shortened form of the word "second," but that didn't make it any less strange. She didn't have much time to ponder, however, as the door opened, her purple adviser on the other side.
"What can I help you with, Princess?"
"It's nothing too severe, but I'd rather say in privacy." The adviser nodded and let the princess in, closing the door behind her. "I can't sleep."
"Nervous about the summit tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"I thought you might be. Fortunately, I know a great breathing technique I use to calm my nerves."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Private, drill me again. I want to be absolutely sure that I'm going into that summit arrows a-blazing."
Commander Hurricane stood in his office formed from clouds, as was every structure in the sky-bound pegasus nation, looking out an arched window as Private Pansy stood in the doorway. Outside, the clouds of the capital of the pegasus nation glowed orange with the setting of the sun, and pegasi hurried to their barracks and their homes.
Hurricane was a tall, strong, and intimidating stallion, and the fact that at the moment he held his helmet in his foreleg didn't distract from that fact. His coat was a dark navy color, and his mane, made of three different shades of blue, was cut short. The helmet and the rest of his armor, like all the armor worn by the soldiers in the pegasus military, were made of crudely hammered raw iron, accented with gold trim and rivets. The only difference between his armor and the private's at his door was that his had more gold embellishments, a luxury only offered to higher-ranking officers like himself.
"Well, Sir," the yellow mare began softly, then cleared her throat and spoke less timidly, "there aren't going to be any arrows. It will just be you, Princess Platinum of the unicorns, and Chancellor Puddinghead of the earth ponies, standing around a table, Sir."
As she spoke, Commander Hurricane sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fetlock, and he realized how tired he had grown. "I know," he said, cutting her off just as she was about to continue. "It was just an expression." He put his helmet back on and turned toward the yellow mare. "It's getting late. I'm getting tired, you're probably getting tired too. Head back to the barracks, Private. You can brief me after morning roll call."
"Yes, Sir. Good night, Sir." Pansy saluted him.
"At ease, soldier, and good night." Hurricane saluted as well, and watched the yellow mare leave his office. "Thank Pegasus and his wife Pegase that I made the right decision when choosing an adviser."
Private Pansy left the administration building and flew back toward her barrack. The military was no place for a pacifist pony like herself. Commander Hurricane believed that the strength of the pegasus military was all they needed to resolve conflicts; before the adviser's meeting, it was all she could do to convince him to try a more peaceful, diplomatic approach before resorting to such violence.
"He still thinks that," she reminded herself as she entered her barrack, the other privates already lying in their cots.
A mare near the door propped herself up and looked at the yellow mare, a slight mischievous grin on her muzzle. "Who does? Does a stallion have his eye on you?"
"No, it's just something about the commander."
"Ooh, has Pansy set her romantic sights on Commander Hurricane himself?"
Pansy blushed in embarrassment, but before she could respond, another private spoke up. "Hey, Gossip, give her a break." Gossip wasn't the mare's real name. It was Gossamer Wings and she didn't like the nickname, though it fitting. "You know she's too timid to talk about romance. She's just his adviser."
"Okay, but how did a pacifist private become the official adviser of the commander himself, huh?"
"Let it go!" shouted a chorus of the voices of everypony in the barrack.
"Fine."
Pansy let out a breath of relief and laid in her own cot, and she found herself asking a question she'd asked herself many times before.
What am even I doing here?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Of course I'll remember what we'll talk about tomorrow night, silly."
Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie sat at the table in the dining room of the Chancellor's Mansion, eating a dinner of vegetable stew and pudding for dessert. The mansion was made of irregularly-shaped stones, chiseled to fit snugly with each other. It was a feature unique to the Chancellor's Mansion since it was built decades earlier, and fitting for a structure about the same size as Smart Cookie's own residence, though Cookie's house was built from the wealth and resources that her family had gathered over many years. The walls inside were whitewashed, and the orange light of the candles and lanterns reflected off with a warm glow.
The appearance of the walls also reflected the colors of the Chancellor herself, a white-coated mare with a striped mane of butterscotch and light brown, and light green eyes. Her mane and tail were styled in a gentle swirl, culminating in a curl at the tip.
"I'm sure you do, Puddin'," the spotted mare sighed, using the name she'd been calling her friend since they were fillies. "You can still remember the name of my great-granddad's uncle after only hearin' it once."
"Sourdough, your mother's father's father's mother's brother!"
"See, I'd have had to look that up. There's no doubt your memory can be amazing. Still, I'd feel more at ease if you had a list of reminders, just in case. You've only been Chancellor for a couple years, after all."
The vanilla-colored mare gasped and braced her hooves on the wooden table, startling her friend. "Silly Vanilly!"
"Huh?"
"Your new nickname for when I call you 'silly' like I did before. Silly Vanilly!"
"Another nickname?" she sighed, then grinned. "Well now, two can play at that game. I can come up with a few myself, you know."
"Yeah?" Puddinghead lowered her head onto her hooves, a challenging look in her eyes.
"You bet I can, Chancellor Pinhead," she said with a smirk and a wink.
"Aww, that's mean!"
"Come on now. We both know you think that's funny."
"You're absolutely right!"
The two laughed and finished their meal as the sun lowered in the sky.
"I should get goin' back home before it gets too dark to see anythin'."
"Good night, Cookie!"
"Good night, Puddin', and good luck at tomorrow night's summit."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun dipped below the horizon, casting hues of red and orange across the snow-covered land before remaining hidden for the night. The moon soon followed, transforming the warm colors to more calm, bluer hues. Not too far from the waterfall where the three advisers had met, ponies of all three tribes gathered toward the city hall of a small village. The village was well-known among the neighboring towns for its artistic performances, and the village's three-story city hall doubled as a performance stage and a venue for any large-scale event in the region.
Pegasi flew in, some wearing their military armor, others wearing the robes worn by the non-military pegasi, landed on the roof and the ground. Unicorns -- dressed in various outfits from the most basic scarf to a more formal outfit, complete with a hat -- and earth ponies walked toward the hall's doors. Nopony spoke to each other. Nopony looked at each other unless it was to glare, preferring to look away. Though the city hall's doors were double-wide, most ponies found themselves in each other's way, pushing through as they filed their way haphazardly into the building.
High in the sky, a trio of windigoes arrived, having sensed a growing nexus of negative energy here. They watched and waited.
The main foyer of the town hall was in the center of the building, its ceiling as high as could be. The second floor opened out over the foyer into a wraparound balcony, where each of the three pony tribes segregated themselves above the banners of their respective nations. The banners themselves had been sent by each tribe's adviser not long after their meeting at the waterfall, and the townsponies had put them up. Below the banner of the pegasus nation, two armored stallions stood guard, ready to open the door for their commander at the signal. Below the unicorns' banner, a single unicorn stood ready to do the same for her princess. Nopony stood under the banner of the earth ponies, and some ponies in the balconies wondered who would open the door for the chancellor.
Though it was not quiet enough to hear a pin drop, it was definitely quiet enough to be awkward. Ponies whispered and mumbled to those next to them. Each tribe refused to bump into the others, creating a thin line of emptiness between pegasus and earth and between earth and unicorn. An earth foal looked through its mother's legs, and waved at a pegasus foal, who waved back when their eyes met.
As soon as the sun had set, a stallion stepped out of the fourth room adjacent to the foyer. He wore a peculiar outfit: a dark, hooded cloak, designed for the sole purpose of masking a pony's race. It had been decided (by whom, nopony knew) that such an outfit would make the moderator of the meeting a truly neutral party. The cloak was oversize, held firmly away from his body with rods, to hide a pair of pegasus wings. The hood, likewise, was oversize and held away from his head, though it had an additional front panel, to hide the horn of a unicorn. An earth pony, on the other hoof, would have no need to hide additional body parts, but to hide the absence of them. He stamped his hoof on the floorboards, capturing the attention of all ponies in the building.
"We shall now begin the summit of the nations. Your leaders have been briefed by their aides on all relevant information, and several possible solutions to the main issues. Please keep all commentary and insults to a minimum. We shall keep this discussion civil. Now, without further delay, I shall announce each leader.
"Her Royal Highness, the daughter and successor of King Bullion the unicorn king: Princess Platinum!"
Horns played a fanfare, and the unicorn at the door used her magic to open the double-wide doors, revealing the unicorn princess behind. She wore her most formal purple wool robes, trimmed with a thick hem of white, purple, and silver. On her head was a perfectly polished silver crown accented with polished tanzanite on each pointed floret, and hemmed with the same design as her robe. Two unicorn handmaidens followed behind her, holding the train of her gown with their magic. Platinum approached the table and set her crown on it, standing in wait for the others as the two unicorns released her train, billowing it out behind her, and returned with the doormare into the adjacent room. The unicorns on the balcony bowed their heads in respect to their princess.
"The skilled tactician and great warrior, the ruler of the pegasus nation and its military: Commander Hurricane!"
Horns played another fanfare, and the two stallions held open the doors for their leader, who had been hovering behind. He wore his armor as usual, and although the armor was its usual dark color, it had been polished with such a sheen that the smallest of lights could be reflected. He slowly flew his way to the table, then landed and placed his helmet on the table beside him. The spectating pegasi who wore armor stamped their hooves against the floor twice before hitting their chests, while the non-military pegasus citizens bowed their heads.
"The loved and honored politician, elected by the earth ponies: Chancellor Puddinghead!"
Horns played another fanfare, but this time they were almost drowned out by a burst of confetti. Puddinghead jumped through the doors, planting her hooves as she played her own fanfare on a kazoo. Once she'd finished her personal fanfare, she spat out the kazoo and walked toward the table, placing her own hat on the table next to her. A few earth pony spectators put their hooves to their foreheads, and a few bowed, but most just watched their leader.
"Commander."
"Chancellor."
"Princess."
"Chancellor."
"Commander."
"Princess."
"Chancellor. Oh wait, that's me." A faint groan passed among some of the earth pony spectators.
"Ponies," said the stallion in the strange black cloak, "we all know our nations are approaching a crisis. If we do not find a solution here, then circumstances may be more dire than we thought. Perhaps the three tribes can finally settle their differences, and agree on a way to get through this disaster."
Another pony, wearing a similar black cloak as the stallion, entered, pushing a cart with three small boxes on it. "I have with me three boxes. One of them contains a slip of paper, and the other two are empty. The pony who receives the box with the slip of paper will speak first. I do not know which box contains the paper. Please distribute them now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The windigoes waited for some time after the town hall's doors had closed. They alternated between looking at each other and looking toward the building. The existing hostility among the tribes appeared to the winter spirits as a faint cloud of negative energy. This cloud provided them a snack for over a half hour. By this time, the three were losing interest, communicating smalltalk to each other through howls and whinnies.
Quickly, the cloud grew dense, and the trio turned their gazes to the building once again. They breathed in the new thick meal, smiling. One of them had promised that following three particular ponies would bring a delicious meal, and now the other two knew its instincts had been correct.
The doors to the town hall opened, and the cloud of negative energy immediately grew thicker, releasing the negative energy that had been building up in the main foyer for several minutes. Three ponies, a unicorn princess, a pegasus military stallion, and an earth pony each tried to leave the building first, but instead had ended up blocking the door, preventing anypony from getting out at all. The windigoes deeply breathed in the delicious sustenance.
A cold wind blew hard, and snow started falling.
Finally, Commander Hurricane stepped back, and the two mares stumbled out the door, falling on the ground. He chuckled as he spread his wings and flew out the door above them.
"A true leader knows when retreat is the best option!" he smugly shouted over the wind.
"You'll regret doing that to royalty!" Princess Platinum shouted back in reply.
"Oh yes, your worshipfulness, very regretful," he retorted sarcastically, putting his hoof over his chest in mock repentance. "I doubt it!" he added as he flew away toward his office.
"I'd heard that some royals like to walk over their citizens," said Chancellor Puddinghead from below the unicorn, "but this is ridiculous!"
Not realizing that she had landed on top of the chancellor when they'd fallen out the door, the princess got off the earth mare. "I beg your pardon? That was hardly my fault! Commander Hurricane pushed us through!"
"At least earth ponies don't have an excuse like being a snob for taking advantage of each other!"
"Yes, I'm sure your earth ponies elected you because of your competence. Good day to you, Chancellor Pinhead!"
Puddinghead stood still, staring at the unicorn as she stormed back to her castle.
"Aww..." Her voice was soft, and her eyes showed pain. It was very different being called that was now that it was mean-spirited and not in good fun like it had been with Smart Cookie. "That's mean..."