Investigation
Chapter 6: Investigation
Star Swirl had gathered the rest of her companions. They stood in the shadows of the slave compound in the morning twilight. They’ve all been enslaved because of what I’ve done, she thought. I can’t let them down again. I’ve got to fix this!
“So,” said Safety. “when you say you need to find out the truth, what do you mean?”
“Knowledge is power,” said Star Swirl. “Inside King Zaida’s study is something that neither he nor Ziro want anyone else to know. Secrets have power. If we find out what that is, some of that power will transfer to us. And it’s clearly a big secret. I believe that it completely changes the balance of this situation. Finding out what it is in that room is our best chance of stopping this mess.”
“So we need a way to get past the guards?” asked Full.
“We need a plan,” said Safety. “I’ve got some ideas, but if they’re going to work, we need the help of an impala.”
(/)
The impala doe who had cut in line for lunch the day Star Swirl had arrived stood before them. “You’re saying that you need me to get you past some guards?” she asked.
“Yes, Letlalo,” said Safety. “We have reason to believe that it would strike a blow against the zebras’ tyranny. But we need an impala’s skills. We heard that you’d be interested in defying the zebras.”
“I dunno,” Letlalo said. “I’m not really interested in having this blow up in my face. Why don’cha just deck some hog in purple and orange. Oh, right! Invisibility isn’t gonna get you through the door anyway and even if it was open, it would be blockaded. So I dunno why you bothered me with this in the first place.”
“We aren’t asking you to come with,” said Safety. “We just need you cloak us, which is why a hog won’t do. As for the other problems, leave them to us.”
“When they catch you, they’ll know who helped you,” said Letlalo. “Now, it should be worth it to stick it to the zebras, but you’d better have a good plan with a hefty payoff. How do I know this’ll be worth my time?”
“We have reason to believe that this will be a big blow to the zebras. If you’re worried that we won’t be around to reward you, we can pay you in food beforehoof.”
“All right. I’m interested at least. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
(/)
Safety stood in front of his pony and springbok team. “Okay,” he said. “So during the Council meeting, Zaida won’t be in the throne room. But there will still be two zebras guarding the door to the study.” He drew two rooms in the dirt with his hoof, marking two Xs at the door between them.
“They wouldn’t be a large threat, but we can’t have them raise the alarm. Then there’s the matter of getting into the throne room in the first place. It’s guarded by four zebras and two hogs which would be a dangerous group to try overcome by ourselves. We wouldn’t manage without raising the alarm at least.” He drew another four Xs and two stars by the opposite door.
“Luckily, I can get them to temporarily open the doors, though it would mean that I’d be left behind.” He drew a circle next to the group of four Xs and two stars. “Until the next election, I’m still nominally the ruler of ponies in Zebrica. As a tribe leader, I can demand to see Zaida at a moment’s notice. He can refuse to see me, but the guards have to either inform him of my request or prove he’s unavailable. By invoking that right, the guards will be forced to open the doors and show me that Zaida isn’t in his throne room. They’ll keep the way blockaded, but that will have to be enough of an opening. The zebras know that they have to take me there to avoid Zaida being disciplined by the Cosmic Council.
“Luckily, with Letlalo’s help, that should be enough when combined with the other abilities we have available. Unfortunately, with only two springboks, you’ll have to stay behind as well, Full.” He drew another circle next to the first.
“What!?” cried Full. “Then how am I supposed to help!?”
“You’ll have to wait outside in case backup is needed,” replied Safety. “There can never be too much backup, after all. The rest of you have the other abilities you’ll need to get in. Now we have one day to make sure that we get this right.”
(/)
The next day, in a dark place filled with star-like lights in a void, all was still, silent and empty. Then, with a bright light and a pop, a large, white doe, with enormous, intricate, green antlers from which moss hung, appeared. Her antlers glowed as she lowered her flank and a wooden chair formed for her to sit on. A wooden desk then formed in front of her. On the desk was a plaque that said, “Noa of Earth”.
All around her similar flashes began to appear as many creatures of various shapes and sizes appeared. A three-humped camel, a multi-headed dragon, a cow with long horns and golden hooves arrived. A giraffe with a leopard’s pelt, a pink, bipedal lion with a heart on his stomach and a black tapir with twelve white spots and a long trunk took their seats. A great white elk whose antlers could each hold a bath, but instead held icicles, a green and gold, winged boar with enormous tusks and a white, eight-legged elephant walked over and formed their desks. A red ram, a gryphon with a mane of feathers and hair and a hyrax whose eyes were swirling pools of colour, light and darkness entered the void between the glimmering stars. A large bison with long horns, a white coat and multi-coloured feathers, an enormous spider clicked as she walked and who had swirls of darkness cloaking her, a kudu whose mane and horns were on perpetual fire, a large, white, eight-legged horse who was missing an eye and still more continued to arrive.
Each used their magic to form a space for them to sit among the starry emptiness and a plaque bearing their name and seat on their desk.
A dark blue alicorn appeared and sat at her stone desk labelled, “Luna of Luna” in the common practice of naming newborn Cosmics after the seat they were expected to hold, which had occasionally resulted in embarrassments like “Sol of Uranus”. A springbok whose stripe glimmered in the many colours of mother-of-pearl sat at her desk labelled, “Umoya of Ariel”. A large, green flame manifested and green ooze dripped from the air before forming a chair and desk labelled, “Chrysalis of Ganymede”. An alicorn filly leaned back against her chair and placed her plaque saying, “Plutonia of Pluto” in the very centre of her bone desk before shooting a glare at Chrysalis. Next they saw a large, multi-coloured zebra stallion arrive and sit at a desk bearing the words, “Zaida of Prospero”. Pluto glared at him as well before returning her glare to Chrysalis. A white alicorn with a multi-hued mane appeared in a flash and sat in her chair of golden light at her glorious solar desk which was emblazoned with, “Celestia of Sol”.Another multi-coloured zebra, this time a mare, appeared and sat at a desk bearing the words, “Zuri of Cordelia”. Finally, a pink alicorn yawned and rubbed sleep from her eyes as she sat at a desk labelled, “Mi Amore Cadenza of Venus”.
Noa looked towards Cadance and nodded.
Cadance closed her eyes and her horn emitted a blue light which brightened and filled the entire area of starry void which they occupied.
“Well, it seems that we’re all here, even if some of us are still apparently in dreamland,” said Noa, her voice sounding like the native languages of everyone present under the influence of Cadance’s magic.
“Give us a break!” said a trunked tapir. “It’s after midnight in our time zone!”
“You didn’t hear me complaining last time it was my turn to meet after midnight,” replied Noa.
“Remind me why we have time zones in the first place again?” asked the tapir.
“Because the Earth is round and I don’t consider it a good idea to change that,” replied Noa. “Just be thankful that you’re not pulling a double shift like Celestia had to until recently.”
The tapir glared at her.
“Anyway,” Noa continued. “if we look at the minutes of the previous session ...” she took out a long scroll. A few others, including Pluto, did the same. “... as far as I’m aware, nothing much has changed on the issues we discussed. At least from my front. Does anyone else have anything to report on old business?”
Umoya chewed her lip and glanced towards Celestia.
“I have old business!” yelled a maned gryphon.
“What is it, Grant?” asked Noa.
“I wish to return discussion to the matter of the relationship between Saddle Arabia and Equestria,” Grant replied.
“This again?” asked the one-eyed, eight-legged horse. “The relationship between Saddle Arabia and Equestria is our business, not yours nor anygryphon else’s in the Gryphon Kingdom.”
“While Grant may be being muzzly ... er ... beakey, Sleipnir,” said Noa. “he is, however, right in that it is true that changes in the geopolitical climate affect us all.”
“And it’s gryphon business to know who allies with horses,” snarled Grant.
“What is the news there?” asked Noa.
Sleipnir rolled his eye. “Yes. We are in the process of establishing a friendly relationship between our countries. Sending dignitaries, establishing trade—“
“Forming an alliance,” hissed the elk with the ice-encrusted antlers. He turned towards Celestia. “What are you planning, Celestia? And don’t tell us ‘nothing’, because we know that you’re always planning something.”
“Please, Jokel. Give everyone an opportunity to speak,” said Noa. “That goes for all of you! Do I need to remind you again that these are supposed to be dignified, diplomatic proceedings! Not an antler-measuring contest! At least in theory. It’s still months until the Last Use of Antlers Festival. Now. One at a time.” She looked around at the raised appendages. “Zuri?”
“I think that if Celestia and Sleipnir want more positive relationships for their countries, I can only say, ‘Good for them!’”
The zebra king snorted. “Celestia’s powerful enough already without Saddle Arabia’s support.”
“Bingo! Somezebra knows what he’s talking about!” Jokel pointed accusingly at Celestia. “You arranged an ascension less than two centuries ago,” He shot a dirty look at Cadance.
“We’ve already told you that she had nothing to do with that,” Cadance muttered irritably.
“Now that she’s an adult, you return your disgraced sister—“
“I art sitting right here,” said Luna.
“You return her to her seat and responsibilities, you now have an active set of Elements of Harmony, a weapon capable of defeating Discord, with which to threaten us and now you’re forming an alliance with Saddle Arabia!” He slowly walked across the emptiness between the stars towards her. “Admit it, Celestia! You powermonger! You are trying to throw off the delicate balance! You are preparing for Cosmic War which will place the ponies at the top, stamping their hooves on the faces of the cervids forever! Well the elk won’t be intimidated, Celestia! Give me a reason to show you who the better mage is!”
Umoya bit her lip, wondering if it was a good time to bring up Star Swirl.
“What did I just say!?” asked Noa, resting her face on her hoof.
“Who are you planning on recruiting to your little alliance next, Celestia!? Tell us! Who!?”
“Discord,” replied Celestia.
“What?” asked Jokel as he stepped back in shock.
“What!?” repeated every other non-alicorn present as they swung their heads towards Celestia so fast, one would be surprised that they did not develop whiplash.
Pluto suddenly became very interested in checking her forehooves for dirt.
“What are you talking about, Celestia?” asked Noa.
“I am planning to release and reform Discord,” replied Celestia.
Silence reigned.
“You’re pulling one of your pranks on us, aren’t you?” asked a white, multi-legged elephant.
“No,” said Pluto as she looked up. “This time she is serious. Seriously insane admittedly, but still serious. She has already filled out the paperwork. In triplicate. Which is more important than normal as the copies are likely to be turned into a swarm of spiders and a slice of cheesecake.”
“This isn’t a case of cutie mark failure, is it? What possessed you to even contemplate that!?” asked Noa.
“Conformity did,” replied Celestia. “If she was right about one thing, it is that we need a more permanent solution and none of us are powerful enough to kill him.”
“If that’s the problem, then we simply need to make a way of killing him. We have time. Seeing as though artefacts are the best solution so far, maybe we need to expand on that,” Jokel turned towards a large, overweight caribou with a long, white beard and a red nose who wore red with white, fluffy trims and a floppy hat. “Rudolph, can’t you forge ... I don’t know ... a seventh Element of Harmony or something!? The Element of Getting the Job Done? It would have certainly saved me a few headaches.” He shot a glare at Luna.
Rudolph shook his head. “The Elements of Harmony were formed together under the influence of multiple individuals and a lot of luck. Not even they knew how they did it. I don’t know how to improve upon them. Any attempt could cause disruption. And we don’t actually know how much time we have.”
The zebra king shook his head. “I still think we should wait. What good can come from letting Discord out a second earlier than we have to?”
A golden-hooved cow snorted. “Please. You’re just afraid of being kicked out by a bigger bully. The buffalo in the south may be in your jurisdiction rather than mine, but I don’t have to like what you do to them.”
“What we do in our own realms isn’t relevant to this discussion,” said a large, metallic black donkey as he polished a shuriken.
“As Mordred indicated, as distasteful as many of you find it, slavery isn’t against our laws,” added a dragon. “In fact, our laws are mostly there to discourage us from interfering in each others’ business.”
“I agree with Celestia,” said the pink lion. “We should forgive and forget.”
“You always say that, Mufasa,” said Noa. “We could probably add your contribution to the minutes without you even being present. You don’t even have animosity towards her!” She pointed a hoof towards Chrysalis.
“My kittens are beings of love. Her kind feeds on love. It is only natural for them to feed on us. It is the circle of life.” He lifted his paws into the air.
“That’s not a circle. That’s like ... a straight line!” argued Noa.
Mufasa raised a paw. “Ah, but changelings make ooze which fertilises the soil, allowing plants to grow and bear fruit, which mice eat. Then we eat the mice. We are all connected. As one.” He made a circular motion with his paw.
Chrysalis flared and her flames faded, leaving a bright red, emaciated doe with large fangs, rotting holes covering her body and putrid velvet hanging from her antlers. “Would you prefer us to feed on your citizens, Noa?” she asked.
Noa narrowed her eyes. “Careful. You’re in enough trouble after what you pulled in Equestria.”
“We’re getting off topic,” said Jokel. “Why are you only speaking to us about this now, Celestia?”
“I wanted to make sure that I could organise everything first,” said Celestia. “That is why I spoke to Plutonia first.”
“As you should have!” said Pluto. “I am the one who is supposed to be in charge of prisoners, remember? And for once, I agree with Celestia. Having Discord sit in her statue garden is unproductive. We know that it is not a permanent solution! You cowards are just hoping to leave that problem to the next generation! Well, I am the next generation, and I want it dealt with while we can deal with fallout. Tartarus’s policy has always been that redemption is better than containment.” She raised a hoof and lifted her head. “Though, I must admit that I would like it on record that I think that Celestia’s plan is insane. Bold, but insane.”
“Call us cowards after you’ve lived through a Cosmic War, infant!” snarled Jokel.
“Mortis did,” replied Pluto. “And once again, I must question the wisdom of insulting the one who will decide your final fate.”
A serpentine creature with mismatching wings and limbs lifted her green arm above her desk labelled, “Pandemonium of Pandora” and said, “As much as I’m one for crazy ideas and as much as I like the idea of my brother being neither a statue nor ruling over me with an iron talon, do you really think you can control him?”
“I have every faith in my student and her friends. One of her friends in particular,” replied Celestia.
“You’re entrusting this to mortals!?” asked Jokel. “Have you really lost your mind!? What happens when they fail!?”
“Then we have an epic fight on our hooves! Which will be fun. Until he subjugates all life, of course,” said a winged boar.
Noa turned to look at him. “If you have nothing useful to contribute, Gork, then shut up.”
“I knew that I should have brought popcorn,” sighed Pluto.
“They have the Elements of Harmony,” replied Celestia. “I have discovered that they protect their bearers while worn and with a little help from my own experiments, he won’t be able to take them off.”
“What if he just teleports to ... say ... the Gryphon Kingdom?” asked Grant with a wave of his talon.
“The Elements can track him. They will catch up. But they won’t need to. Fluttershy will succeed.”
“You’re not going to be persuaded, are you?”asked Jokel.
Umoya bit her lip and then raised her hoof. Here goes nothing, she thought. If things are about to get this chaotic anyway, this will at least give us some time. She opened her mouth and yelled, “I have new business! Zaida has enslaved an Equestrian citizen!”
“WHAT!?” yelled the alicorns as they spun to face her.
“An earth pony from Equestria came to visit Zebrica and was taken as tribute by the zebras.”
Celestia turned towards Zaida. “Is this true!?” she demanded.
“Yes,” said Zuri. “It is.”
“Enslaving members of another country?” asked a three-humped camel. “That’s really low, even for you, Zaida.”
“Didn’t you get the message from all the coal?” asked Rudolph.
“I want it on record that I disapprove of slavery of members of other countries,” said the red ram as he raised a hoof. “And of slavery in general. Despite what’s said about my family.”
Noa rolled her eyes. “Yes, we know. We put it record every time it comes up. Along with, ‘I am not my uncle,’ and ‘I have good reason to believe that I’m adopted.’”
“Her name was Star Swirl ...” Umoya continued. “... the Hundred and—“
“The Hundred and Forty Seventh?!” asked Celestia.
“That’s ... it,” replied Umoya before biting her lip and wondering what exactly she was initiating. “She said that she wanted another title but that that’s the one she has at the moment.”
“THOU DARE ENSLAVE ONE OF OUR CITIZENS!?”
Noa uncovered her ears again. “These are modern times and we aren’t your subjects. Remember your volume, Luna.”
“Oh, Star Swirl,” said Cadance as she lowered her head. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “It wasn’t that long ago that such an act would result in a duel. It is an act of war.”
“And we abandoned such practices for a good reason, Luna. Even you know that,” said Noa.
“Unfortunately,” a caribou doe in a Viking helmet sighed wistfully. She swung a large axe in her aura and pointed it at Zaida. “Does this mean that my navy is at risk when we land at Good Hoof?”
“But it still is an act of war,” said Celestia. “I have been very patient and lenient with you, Zaida. I have seen others fall to darkness before and I have seen them return. I am planning to give Discord a chance, after all.”
She exhaled. “So I am hoping that this was merely a mistake on your part. That you did not realise that you were enslaving one of my citizens and that you are about to correct this mistake and return her while re-evaluating your life and deciding to turn from this path of wickedness and return to being the zebra I remember.”
She clenched her eyes shut before opening them again. “Please tell me this is true. Tell me what happened to result in this. Maybe if this was a mistake, a poorly-made snap decision that you are willing to back down on or something that you have only now realised was a stupid idea, we can work this out.
“As much as I have found your practices of the past decade disgusting and have made that perfectly clear, as you said, this is not like the Cosmic Wars when we could just interfere with each other’s land when we wanted to.
“But surely Equestria can give you better resources than slaves. Are you that far gone? I could not legally do anything about what you did to the citizens of you own land. I don’t want a Cosmic War anymore than anyone else does. But I will not ignore how you treat one of my little ponies. I am giving you one week to return her, Zaida. I want to solve this diplomatically, but the enslavement of one of my own citizens is something I will not be open to negotiation on. Return her, Zaida. Because if you don’t, we will be at war.”
“Are you threatening me, Celestia? Threatening to go against the Council’s most important purpose? Do you really want to fight someone as powerful as me?”
Celestia leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “It is a promise. I have beaten you before and this time, it won’t be a friendly spar. I have built up a lot of frustration with you in recent years. You have provoked me enough.”
“Father, please be reasonable about this,” Zuri begged.
“After all the dung you put me through, are you just going to let her get away with that!?” asked Chrysalis.
“No,” said Noa. “You know the rules, Celestia. Are you really willing to devastate Zebrica over this? You know that we won’t let you go unpunished. You know that preventing fights from breaking out between us is the primary reason that the Council exists. You know how horrible the Cosmic wars were and why we don’t want any more.”
“Please don’t make war, Celestia! Let’s make peace instead!” said Mufasa.
“We’re not going to have you invade the rest of our countries, are you, Celestia?” asked a dragon.
“Yes. This had better not be an indication of your plans for the future,” added Jokel.
“I am willing to submit to the Council’s disciplinary action,” said Celestia. “I don’t want a war either. But won’t let this slide any longer. I cannot allow my citizens to be harmed even if it means that I will be punished. One week, Zaida. Make the intelligent choice and surrender her. Don’t let us come to blows. Neither of us wants that.”
(/)
As some zebra guards began to serve lunch to the slaves in Zuri’s place, Star Swirl and her band of allies ducked back into the sleeping compound. Safety turned towards the springboks. “All right,” he said. “Do your thing.”
Their horns glowed and their legs lengthened before seeming to dislocate and contort into odd angles until they had the low-slung bodies of spiders. Their hooves then enlarged into large, suction-cup-like pads. Star Swirl tilted her head as she took in the spectacle.
“I’m never going to get used to that,” said Full.
“Toughen up,” replied Light.
Isihlangu flicked her head. “Get on while you can still see where we are.” Light climbed onto Isihlangu’s back while Star climbed onto Udonga’s.
Safety turned to Letlalo. “Your turn. Cloak everyone except me. And you of course.”
Letlalo rolled her eyes. “Right. Just remember that when this falls apart, it’s your fault, not mine.” Her horns glowed and the springboks and their pony riders faded from view, leaving only pinpricks of light where their eyes once were. “Just remember to avoid the rhinos. They can smell you.”
Safety nodded. “We remember. Thank you for your help. You will be remembered once victory is ours.”
“No way!” cried Letlalo as she flung up her hooves. “I was never here!” She faded from view.
Safety narrowed his eyes and said, “Follow me and keep your eyes hidden. Split off when we approach the castle.”
They left the compound and either walked or scuttled towards the nearest pair of guards. The antelopes’ bodies swung awkwardly as they avoided the rocks and patches of dry grass in the vaguely-defined orange dirt path which would brush up against their now very low bellies. Slaves and guards turned to look at Safety, some raising an eyebrow.
“I demand to see Zaida right now!” said Safety.
“Is he not busy?” asked one of the guards.
“I don’t care!” said Safety. “Take me to see him! Take me to the throne room right now!”
“Is he not elsewhere?” asked the guard. “Is he not in a meeting with the Cosmic Council?”
“You’re lying!” said Safety as he pointed at the guard. “You just don’t want to be inconvenienced! Well, I have a right to see him! I’m the Mayor of Good Hoof and leader of the Zebrican earth ponies!”
“Do you not see that Princess Zuri isn’t here?” asked the guard. “Is that not proof?”
“Of course it isn’t,” snarled Safety. “Princess Zuri is obviously busy, but that has nothing to do with Zaida! You have to take me to him! If he’s really not here, show me his empty throne room!”
The other guard rolled his eyes, sighed and said, “There once was a pony from Good Hoof,
Who thought we weren’t telling the truth,
But if he won’t believe,
And he thinks we deceive,
We’ll take him and show him the proof.”
The zebras shuffled towards the castle, leading Safety as Full Plate and the springboks followed. As they entered the castle, the springboks quickly hurried to a wall on the side of the throne room door. Udonga pressed his pad against the wall. There was a “shloop” sound.
The guards turned their heads towards the sound. Safety’s eyes widened. “I AM HERE AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THE EARTH PONIES IN ZEBRICA!”
The guards turned their heads towards him before tilting them. Their jaws slackened and they raised their eyebrows.
“THIS TREATMENT OF US IS RIDICULOUS! I REMEMBER BACK WHEN I WAS A FOAL ...”
The antelope quickly hurried up the walls while Safety’s voice boomed.
“... THEY WOULD ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET IF THE MAYOR WANTED TO SPEAK TO KING ZAIDA!”
The springboks positioned themselves above the door as Star Swirl hung on for dear life. The guards who led Safety decided to ignore his rant and spoke to those guarding the throne room door in Hog-Latin. The other guards shook their heads and opened the doors while positioning themselves to block the threshold. The springboks scuttled through the top of the door as the guards slowly raised their heads. Safety stomped a hoof. “PAY ATTENTION TO ME! WE HAVE IMPORTANT BUSINESS TO DISCUSS!”
“Can’t you see that King Zaida isn’t there?”
The other guards began to close the door, but Safety reached out a hoof and slammed it against one of the doors. “NO, I CANNOT SEE THAT!” he yelled.
Udonga slipped over the threshold as Star Swirl slowly exhaled.
“Would you lower your hoof?” asked one of the guards as spears were pointed at Safety’s chest. As Safety complied, they closed the doors and he continued. “Where would he be if he was in the room?”
“YOU COULD HAVE HIDDEN HIM WITH YOUR FREAKY ZEBRA VOODOO!” Safety yelled as the antelope hurried along the throne room’s ceiling.
They tuned out Safety’s extended rants from beyond the closed door as they stopped just above the door to the study. Light let go of Isihlangu and dropped, twisting the air before kicking out, connecting a forehoof to the head of one guard and a back hoof to the head of the other. Three bodies slumped to the floor as Light became visible again. She clenched her teeth and suppressed a groan as she got back to her hooves and the others climbed down to the floor. She then pulled a pair of pins out of her mane and inserted them into the lock before wiggling them with her mouth until a click opened the door. They crept into the room, Udonga and Isihlangu lighting their horns and dropping their invisibility.
The room was actually not very dark despite the lack of windows. There were torches and dimly glowing stones set into the walls. There were also small fires below some of the many large pots. Bookshelves lined the walls away from the flames. Isihlangu scuttled over to one of the stones and tapped it, brightening its glow. She then looked at the Zebrish titles of the books. “Okay. I understand why there would be books on magic in here, but why does he have so many books on acting in his study?”
Star Swirl walked up to one of the enormous number of massive jars scattered around the huge study. She lifted the lid and stretched to look inside at the thick, green goo. “Changeling ooze,” she said.
Udonga peered inside another jar before looking around at the jars in the room. “And lots of it. Why does he need so much? And where did he get it? I understand using a bit in potions or something, but this is completely ridiculous!”
Star Swirl glanced about the room. In the far corner was a bright light hidden behind a drawn curtain. That was interesting, but there was something which concerned her even more. At the back of the room was by far the largest pot she had ever seen. It even had a staircase up to the rim.
“Do you see that huge pot on the other side of the room?” asked Star Swirl. “We need to look inside.”
They traversed the study floor, climbed up the steps to the edge of the pot and peered inside.
The bowl was filled with a clear liquid. Below the surface of the liquid was a familiar, large, multi-coloured zebra stallion with a large hole in his chest.
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Huh, didn't see that coming.
Okay, something bugs me about the Cosmic Council. Their purpose is to prevent war or interference between the various territories. I get that. But then Zaida holds one of Celestia's citizens hostage and they come down on Celestia for trying to get her citizen back. Are these people stupid?
Hah!
Love the Council meeting, so many deities!
(Watch out, Twilight, you are going to get to become more familiar with them than you ever expected. 
)
Changeling ooze? Uh oh. Looks like Canterlot wasn't Chrysalis' first foreign adventure.
I smell a setup. A changling has taken over the Zebra kingdom and is using it to create the setup for conflict between them and Equestria, drawing everyone else in.
Maybe these changlings live off general emotions, such as hate, fear etc.
So, we got their scared of Discord, certainly, no mention of Pinkie, Twilicorn, or The Doctor is sitting out on this one?
Dont mind me, Ill just be over here working on upgrading the wizards disk, to not needing the disk.
3379565 This is the logic: Star Swirl was in Zaida's territory. What he does in his terriory is HIS business. If Celestia wants to get her citizen back, that's fine, as long as she doesn't actually start a war.
But the Council doesn't actually work perfectly anyway. Everyone has their own agendas.
And Noa is far from unbiased (and she does NOT like Celestia).
3379585
I hoped that that would be liked.
Yay!
About 140 at the moment. It fluctuates. But they don't all consider themselves deities.
Yeah. That'll be fun.
3379679 Twilicorn hasn't happened yet.
As for the rest, well, you'll see.
3379565 See the league of nations just before WWII
“Pandemonium of Pandora”
Can't help but Imagine there might be three more.
"Confusion"
"Disagreement"
and Pinkies patron "Looney Tunes"
“Oh, Star Swirl,” said Cadance as she lowered her head. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
Star Swirl is like a living monkey wrench, she is one of my favorite O.C.'s.
And I see what you did there with Pinocchio.
3380688
Sure, why not?
3379805 The Cosmic Council is actually an even bigger failure than the League of Nations. There have been FOUR world wars since its inception.
3382023
Oh shoot. I should've read that more carefully before I posted.
I meant Rudolph. That will teach me to post while I'm watching TV.
The Disney is strong with this one.
4284310 Indeed
Oh God...
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121013033924/carebears/images/2/27/Brave_Heart_1.png
Braveheart had a name change on ascension, then?