//------------------------------// // A Scribe Learns // Story: Chronicle // by Honey Mead //------------------------------// Chapter 8: A Scribe Learns Part 1: A Shining Star I was sitting out on my balcony looking out at the world on display. It was early evening and the sun had moved to hide behind the other side of my office. My eyes drifted down from the mountains on the horizon to the courtyard below. The Canterlot Gardens were meticulously maintained by the gardening staff. Whether the Gala, the Garden Party, a wedding, or any other event hosted at the castle, the Canterlot Gardens were always a prominent feature. Today, however, they were empty save for the wildlife that lived there. It was one of the more peaceful areas of the castle. The birds sung soft melodies and the flowers filled the air with sweet perfumes. I contemplated heading down there to truly appreciate the tranquility, but I quashed the idea quickly. There was far too much work to be done and even this slight reprieve would set me back too much. A streak of movement caught my eye a moment before I turned back to my desk. Curiosity got the better of me and I stared down at the court yard with interest. It took me a moment to spot the lavender coat hiding in a patch of shrubbery. A small smile split my lips as I recognized Miss Sparkle. A moment later the pure white of the Princess crept into my vision. Her head was down as she searched the gardens. She stopped for a moment staring at the shrub that hid her student. She was too far away for me to read her expression, but she walked right past the hiding spot and continued to search the area beyond it. A knock at the door pulled my attention from the game of hide ‘n seek playing out below. “It’s open,” I called over my shoulder unwilling to miss the antics. I hear the heavy hoofsteps and clink of armor telling me it is a member of the Royal Guard. “Nightrunner, what can I do for you today?” There was a silent pause before he replied, “Um, Mr. Chronicle,” I spin, surprised at the voice behind me. “I have a message from the Princess,” the charcoal unicorn offers uncertainty. My cheeks flush in response to my over reaction, “I apologize, I don’t get many visitors from the guard.” I take a moment to study the unicorn, I don’t recognize him. “I am sorry, I don’t believe I know your name.” He looked down at me, the uncertainty still playing across his features, “um, Lieutenant Shining Armor, sir.” I nodded to myself filing away his name and face for future reference. I turn back to the courtyard to watch the scene below. “You said you had a message from the Princess?” I quickly spot Twilight still hiding in the same shrub poking her head out trying to see where the Princess has gone. Unfortunately for her the Princess is slowly creeping up on her from behind. “Yes, sir.” he says stepping onto the balcony, “she wishes to meet with you after the setting of the sun.” The Princess clears the last of the distance between them and pokes Twilight in the flank with her horn. The young filly jumps into the air in surprise and takes off running. My smile broadens at the sight of the Princess holding back her laughter behind a wing. I hear a soft chuckle from the pony beside me and turn to see the unicorn shaking slightly. I give him a quizzical look, but he is too busy watching the ponies below play. I follow suit and turn to try and locate Miss Sparkle again. I quickly find her standing in the open at the doors leading into the castle. She is laying down with her hooves over her face. For a moment I think she is crying until she pops up and begins moving excitedly about the court yard. I begin to scan the area in search of the Princess. The Lieutenant taps my shoulder and points a hoof at one of the trees. I can barely make out the floating rainbow of her mane amongst the leaves and limbs. “How long do you think it will take her?” the guard asks glancing sideways at me. I look down at the filly again, “about five minutes, give or take.” I see him smile, “I say eight, if I know that filly half as well as I do then she will try and pull the same stunt as the Princess.” I give the guard another look, but refrain from asking the question. Instead I watch the game play out. Sure enough Miss Sparkle spots the Princess and immediately walks right past her. Making a loop around the tree she approaches from behind, a stick levitating beside her. She creeps closer to the tree, stick slowly moving toward the unsuspecting Princess. Just as she is about to strike the Princess disappears in a flash of light. We all stared in stunned silence as the Princess reappears behind Miss Twilight and pokes her again. She launches herself into the air again as the Princess rolls with laughter and the guard beside me knickers in amusement. “I take it you are familiar with Miss. Sparkle?” He turns to me still grinning, “you mean Twi? You could say that, um... sir.” his expression hardens suddenly as he remembers where he is. His cheeks redden in embarrassment. “It’s ok Lieutenant, I promise not to tell the Commandant about this.” I say with a grin, “how do you know ‘Twi’?” The nickname felt odd coming off my tongue. “Sir,” he said trying to reclaim his military bearing, “she is my little sister, sir.” “Brother?” I say more than a little surprised, “she never mentioned having a brother.” “Did you ever ask?... Sir.” I thought for a moment, “no. I guess I never did.” “You were probably too busy answering all of her questions to ask any yourself.” I grinned nodding at the memories, even if they were frustrating at the time. My eyes drift back to the desk filled with unfinished work, “did the Princess inform you as to the nature of the meeting?” “No, sir. Though she did mention something about griffins.” I could feel my eyes light up. “Very good,” my mind is already distracted as I make my way back to the paperwork. “If there is nothing else?” Shinning Armor shakes his head and salutes, “good day, sir.” and turns to leave. I barely notice the door closing as I sit down. The pages float by me as I read them with my mind completely distracted with thoughts of griffins and spys. Part 2: Economics Trade. The life blood of nations. The fuel of industry. (metaphor for impending doom). Trade is the basis for all allegiances. Whether between nations or ponies. Goods are exchanged for bits, bits buy services, favors are owed and paid. Without trade nothing grows and nothing changes, stagnation sets in and will eat away at the core. The trade between nations is a precarious thing. When properly balanced and maintained it is a boon to both nations allowing mutual growth and prosperity. But when it tips and faults it can pull down the greatest empires. Both nations must act quickly to restore the balance and ensure not only economic health, but to prevent the degradation of relations and continued peace. Most ponies don’t consider just how important trade is to their daily lives. They don’t understand what the price of tea in Baltimare has to do with the price of bread at the corner market. They live their lives in their little spheres and never look out the window to see the world outside. The truth is that their lives would not be the same without trade and even the smallest deviations can change lives. Two governments altering a long standing trade agreement, for example. Changing the value of a few key, seemingly unrelated,  products can ripple through an entire nation. When the cost of doing business rises and profits fall businesses begin to struggle. Change them enough and some businesses might begin to fail. As businesses fail ponies will find themselves without income and unable to spend what little money they have on other businesses. This alone will not bring a country to its knees, but if it goes unchecked it can create other problems. An unemployed work force is ripe with discontent. Some may blame bosses or even have the understanding to blame these changes in trade. Most, however, will see a failing of their government and its leaders. Such situations can easily become a powder keg of rebellion.. Part 3: Politics         I waited impatiently outside the Princess’ study. It had been a solid month since I took on my roll at the top of the intelligence network. I had been reading reports and information coming in from all across the land and I knew that she was up to something. Today was the day I would finally take a greater role in the flow of events. I began to pace back and forth as I waited. The anticipation was driving me up the wall. Iron Flank and Longfeather eyed me as I shifted nervously in the hallway. It was odd thinking back to when I couldn’t tell one guard from the next. The differences were astonishingly obvious if one took the time to look. I guess we get so used to telling other ponies apart simply by their manes and coats that we forget to notice that we all have unique faces and body structures. Iron Flank, for example, has a much wider face and smaller eyes than Longfeather. His lips and mane are thinner too. There was no way that I would be able to confuse the two or any of the guards that I had interactions with anymore. The familiar wave of magical energy washed over me, the sun was set and the moon began its slow rise across the sky. As anxious as I was I still took a moment to bask in the warmth. The loving embrace of a mother calming and soothing the pains and worries of a foal. I truly feel for all the non-unicorns who will never know what it feels like to stand so close. The door opened and I stepped into the study just as she emerged from the balcony. We sat down on opposite sides of the large desk. As I readied myself I looked up at the regal alicorn before me, she was positively glowing. It was a change I had noted in the first weeks since my return. She had never seemed sad or depressed before, but now there was a new energy that had not been there. It didn’t take long to identify the source. “How is Miss Sparkle today?” I asked knowingly. Her smile brightened ever so slightly, “As energetic and excitable as one would expect for one so young. She questions everything when she is not nose deep in a book or trying some new experiment. But Twilight is safely in bed, we had a positively exhausting lesson today, and I believe we have business to discuss.” “Yes, I received your message this afternoon, though it was a little vague.” The Princess graced me with an amused smile, “You have been very patient with me, Mr. Chronicle. But I can see even you have your limits.” I felt the warmth flood my cheeks and unconsciously tried to sink into the floor. “Come, before I tell you your role there are some things that you should know.” The Princess rose from behind her desk and walked to the balcony. I stood a moment later and followed her out into the morning light. She took a seat at the railing staring to the northern mountains that ran along most of the border between Equestria and the Griffin Empire. I took my seat beside her and waited. We sat in silence for a time as the wind blew and the sun slowly made its way above the horizon. When the Princess finally broke the silence there was an oddly distant quality to her voice. “The battle for the Aerie was a turning point for the Griffins....” **************************************** The griffins struggled at first. Losing so many lives in the Battle of the Aerie was a blow they were ill prepared to deal with. For the rest of his rule Horace was forced to focus on consolidating his power and holding the tribes together through age old bitter rivalries. He lacked the wing power to hold their borders and was forced to come to me for help. I had been observing his rise to power almost from the first day. I saw his ruthlessness, his drive to unite his species. I also saw his mercy, his willingness to bring those who were his enemies under his wing. In truth I saw much of myself in him and I could not sit idly by as dragons and wyverns attacked his lands. My decision was not a popular one. The hate and distrust between ponies and griffins is etched into our bones. Thousands of years of predation and retaliation are not forgotten in two hundred years, much less a single day. Nevertheless I sent the first pegasi squadrons to bolster the garrisons along the southeastern borders. That was the beginning of our trade relations. Trade agreements were reached and treaties were signed. It was not long before magically enhanced tools began to flow into the empire and gems and gold began to flow into Equestria. There was still hostility between us, but prosperity tends to bring ponies together. I had hoped that this was the beginning of a change that would allow us to exist in Harmony. But I have found that ponies do not change and neither do griffins. If Horace had the lifespan of an alicorn maybe things would have been different. He taught his son well, who taught his son well, but each generation became less and less tolerable. With each generation their prosperity grew and their population rebuilt. It was not long before they had recovered completely and began to grow. Their tribal homes grew into cities. They had to start raising livestock to meet the demands of their growing population. It is sometimes a curse to live so long. To watch the same follies played out time and time again with only a change in name to mark the difference. You begin to think yourself so much better than those around you. When I realized my mistake it was far too late. I had placed my stones and the trap had sprung. Hope is a virtue, but it can cloud your sight. I had to do something. The consequences of inaction was war, but how do you prevent a war of necessity? I mourned on the night I began down this path and every night since. The burden of leadership is doing what is right and not what is moral. The necessity of an act does not make it any easier. To save my ponies I had to ensure that the griffins could not pose a threat. I had to destroy what so many sacrificed to build. **************************************** “You want to know what all this has been about? You want to know why so many reports are coming from griffin territories? I am saving the lives of ponies and throwing the griffins into the fire. I am turning back two hundred years of progress. I am bringing down an Empire and sowing the seeds of chaos.” Part 4: Lessons My quill sat on my desk unused, the bottle of ink unopened. Files and reports stacked high to my left while to my right there was not a single sheet of paper. The clock slowly ticked away the seconds. Spinning slowly in the air before me was a scroll. This wholly unremarkable scroll drew the entirety of my attention. I could not tear my eyes away. My eyes locked on the seal every time it came into view until it pass by again. There was a meaningless name scrawled across the back. It was not a pony's name, nor a griffins. It was merely letters arranged to ensure the proper pony received it. “The words are not important and would have no meaning to you.” I watched it spin. Was the situation really that bad? It couldn’t be, could it? My entire life I had only ever been responsible for myself. It wasn’t a conscious choice so much as they way things worked out. After my parents passed I sold everything and moved to the castle. I lived my entire adult life behind its protective walls. I was old enough now to start complaining about being old, not that it had stopped me before. In all that time it had only been me. I did my job and that was it. I did not argue cases, I did not pick sides, I simply researched and reported. That was my life and I was happy. “You have read the reports that have been coming in. You have all the data stored in your head. But you are not actively involved. You are a step removed.” What if she was wrong? What if we did this when there was no real threat? I could have said no. I could have thanked her and walked away. I would still be at my old desk reading legal briefs and searching through mountains of law for bits of information that might pertain to the case. I would still be working under Mr. De’Facto, following orders and doing a job with all the decisions made by more qualified and experienced ponies. I would have... I never would have met Stars... “You shouldn’t have to carry this burden, but there is no other pony I can trust with it.” But if she is right and I don’t send it... Twilight Sparkle, so young and full of potential... and questions. What would happen to her? Or her brother, the rising star in the guard? So young and already an officer. What of all the other colts and fillies? Don’t the Griffins have foals of their own? “I am giving this to you, Mr. Chronicle, because I can not send it...” Why would the Princess put me in this situation? How could she expect me to make a decision that she herself wasn’t prepared to make? I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t be responsible for the lives of so many. I grabbed the scroll between my teeth and stormed out of the room. When the guards came into view I started to lose my conviction. I realized that I was about to storm into the Princess’ room and make demands. I almost turned around until I felt the scroll between my teeth. I let go and caught it in a kinetic field. I took a moment to collect myself. I knew that I had to do this, but that didn’t mean I had to do it in a huff. Tips and Taps acknowledged me with a slight nod as I approached. I recognized the two unicorns standing beside the doors, though I still couldn’t tell them apart. I don’t think their parents could tell those two apart. “Is the Princess still awake?” Tips or Taps answered, “yes, sir.” The other chimed in, “she has been practicing some magic for the past few hours, sir.” I nodded my thanks and stepped between them and raised my hoof to knock on the door and hesitated. I had to take another breath to steel my resolve. This would not be easy, but it had to be done. With great reluctance I tapped on the door with my hoof. “Come in.” Came the reply form the other side of the door. The door opened enough for me to slip in. The Princess sat on her bed wearing a soft pink bathrobe. I suddenly felt very awkward. She gazed up at me with a smile for only a moment before returning to the pile of scrolls set before her. I hesitated again before stepping forward into the room. She continued to remain silent, almost ignoring me as she concentrated on a scroll hanging in the air before her. I float the offending document before her. Her right eye flicked to the rolled up piece of paper. After an uncomfortable moment she took it in her own magic. “I-I can not d-do this.” I stuttered, dropping my eyes to the floor. “It’s too mu-much.” She remained silent for what felt like an eternity as I studied the stone floor at my hooves. Never before had I felt like such a disappointment. I asked for this, I had almost begged for it, and now I was trying to run away. I felt the warm touch of her magic push up on my chin forcing me to look up. Her smile washed away all my worries. “Mr. Chronicle, I am proud of you.” Had it not been for the magic holding up my chin I would have been gaping. “You did exactly what you should have done.” I didn’t understand, “you are a wonderful advisor and assistant. But you are not a ruler. You lack the perspective and experience necessary to make decisions that affect others.” She lifted the scroll and broke the seal. Unrolling the paper she held it before me. It was blank. The only writing anywhere on the page was the meaningless name displayed on the back. I didn’t know what to think. I couldn’t process what the Princess was saying. I tried to speak, but her magic still held my jaw closed. The paper dropped to the desk, curling up slightly trying to turn back into a scroll. Two bags, one black and one white, floated out of the Princess’ desk wrapped in a golden aura. They were shortly followed by a large wooden board I knew well. “Miss Stars tells me you play.” The game took an eternity. It was the shortest game I ever played. The Princess continued working as we played. She had plenty of time between her moves as I studied the board. I placed my stones with the care and deliberateness of an artist painting his masterpiece. The Princess barely glanced at the board before laying down a stone and returning to the documents before her. Not a word was spoken throughout and when the game reached its conclusion I bowed my head and left. I walked to my room in a dull haze. The events of the day a chaos of images and sounds playing out in my mind. I didn’t understand what was going on. Every time I thought I was coming close to an answer it would slip away. I simply could not make it all fit. When I finally laid down to sleep I had come to only one conclusion that I could be sure of. It was the last thing that the Princess had shown me. No matter how much time and effort I put forth, no matter how hard I tried, the stones were just for show. (Cleaned and polished by my faithful assistant Inkiepie)