Chapter 16
Twilight had a difficult time falling asleep that night. That brief glimpse of Rainbow Dash kept replaying in her mind, over and over until it overridden any other possible thought process. She was so sure that she had seen that familiar messy mane that she was having a hard time telling herself that Dash wasn’t real. Dash, and all her other friends, were figments of her overactive imagination during her coma and they didn’t really exist. They had to be. But, that part of her was so certain that she had seen Dash for that split second, simply wouldn’t listen to logic.
Spike had asked several times if Twilight was feeling alright and she attempted to reassure him, but it sounded forced. It did nothing to alleviate his concern. Eventually, though, Spike gave up his efforts and chalked it up to the stress of their current objective. So, the two of them drifted off to sleep; Spike snoring loudly as he peacefully slept curled up at the end of the bed. Twilight’s sleep was less restful and was often plagued with visions of Rainbow Dash. Several times through the night, seemingly every hour on the hour, Twilight’s eyes would snap open after a particularly rough dream. Most of them were Dash yelling at her for abandoning her friends and betraying their trust. How real those dreams felt sent shards of icy glass through her heart.
She wasn’t entirely sure why this was happening. Twilight hadn’t thought about her friends in such a way since she came to the conclusion that the other world was fake. While it hurt to think that she betrayed them in any way, she kept telling herself that they were not real. The best thing she could do would be to take what lessons she learned from them and apply them to her current situation. Surely that would be enough to satisfy her mind.
Somehow, she managed to get enough sleep to somehow feel more refreshed than a corpse when the sun rose over the horizon. After a short bath and some breakfast that Spike set up, she was feeling wide awake and ready to meet with Gerald about his proposal. Her escort of guards led her back across the wall (and through yet another inspection by the Griffon checkpoint) to the meeting point the Prime Minister had spoken of the night before during dinner.
Gerald was waiting for her, looking to still be in a good mood. He may had noticed the bags under Twilight’s eyes, but he certainly didn’t show it nor called it out. “Countess, welcome. You’re right on time.” A small bow was given in her direction.
His use of her title was to be expected. Spike had informed Twilight about all the formalities that would be used and expected of her. She gave a miniscule curtsy of her own. “Good morning, Prime Minister.”
“Please, have a seat,” Gerald said, waving one of his claws towards two chairs sitting across from a spacious circular table. He took a seat on the other side of the table while Twilight and Spike took their seats, Spike pulling out paper to take notes for Twilight so she could focus on the discussion. “You read my letter, so you know the general idea of what I would like to propose. Correct?”
Twilight nodded. “You want to merge the two towns and remove the import taxes for crossing the border.”
The Prime Minister grinned. “Exactly. The local government officials have received a number of complaints about the import taxes when they are simply sharing their goods with the ponies across the wall. Obviously, having the border checkpoint is still required even with our current free-travel agreement, and it will still be required to properly tax goods headed through the town. But for food and goods that is simply going from one town to the other—a very short distance across the wall, mind you—I think that the tax can be ignored. The towns could simply become one town legally and owned by both nations.”
Twilight tapped her chin in thought, her mind thinking over all the issues that would make. There were many. “How would the town be governed if both nations owned it? Which set of laws would they have to follow? There are a lot of details that would have to be ironed out if we were to jointly share a town like that.”
Gerald seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t anticipated Twilight to question his plan. He paused, frozen in thought. “Oh. Yes, I suppose you’re right. I hadn’t really thought that far in advanced.” Twilight suppressed the instinct to wince. Gerald was a good friend, and a good Prime Minister, but from what Spike had told her he wasn’t the best at thinking through his ideas all the way. In a funny sort of way, he could be considered bird-brained. “But I’m sure together we can come up with something that everyone is happy with.” Gerald’s grin returned, giving off an aura of confidence.
“Before we discuss anything further, I think it would be best if I spoke with some of the ponies in the area. If they object to this idea, Equestria will have to decline your proposal,” Twilight said calmly. “I propose a five-hour break at which point we will be in a better position to discuss your ideas.”
The Prime Minister nodded once. “Of course, Countess. That is a more than reasonable request. We shall meet up here at,” he paused to glance at the clock, “three this afternoon.”
That gave her nearly five and a half hours, which would include a lunch break at some point. If they moved swiftly, they would have plenty of time to flesh out a census, maybe even of the entire town. Twilight stood up, smiling as Spike put away his unused paper and ink before getting up with her. “We shall see you later this afternoon then, Prime Minister.”
“I shall be waiting, Lady Sparkle,” he replied with a friendly wave.
Several hours later, Twilight was sitting by the wall on the Equestrian half as she went over her meticulously-compiled notes with Spike. Her guards formed a protective crescent around her workspace. It seemed that even with such a large expanse of time, they barely finished with ten minutes to spare. “How many ponies did we talk to, Spike?”
“Two-hundred and twenty,” he replied without looking up from his own page of notes. His eyes widened as he realized how many they actually conversed with, before he tapped on writing further down. “Town’s population is three-hundred and seventy-eight as of last year’s census data.”
“Thank you,” she replied absentmindedly, scribbling out a few statistics. “Overall then, if our sample could be considered representational of the whole town—which it can—there was a 44% positive response to merging the towns. Of that 44% however, 80% was hesitant about sharing ownership with the Griffons.”
Spike grabbed a different page of notes. brows furrowed in a contemplative expression. “Yet here, we have a 89% positive response about intermixing griffons and ponies in a town populated by both species.”
“Right. So they don’t have any issues with the griffons themselves, just their government. Granted their government is a bit more strict, but overall their laws are nearly identical to Equestria’s,” Twilight muttered, thinking out loud. “I wonder if they fear that they will be less than other Equestrian citizens for living in a town owned by both countries.”
“What is the rest of the statistic you just calculated? You said only 44% were positive. Does that make the rest negative?” Spike asked.
Twilight looked back at her notes. “Not at all, actually. 44% was positive. But 41% were neutral to positive, 11% said neutral to negative, and only 4% were fully against the idea.” An appraising smile appeared on her face. “That’s pretty good...”
Spike’s face lit up. “That’s great! If 85% are in favor, than we can go ahead with the plan, right?”
“Yes, but...” Twilight’s face fell in thought. “There is one issue. I spoke with the mayor while you were napping after lunch. He was very worried about losing his office. Elected mayors are a big part about what makes a small town successful. They work hard to ensure the town gets exactly what it needs to keep growing. The griffons use appointed officials, not elected ones, to run their smaller towns. When the towns merge, who gets to remain in control?” Twilight asked.
“Well, they could just take turns,” Spike answered quickly. He pressed on when Twilight gave a look of interest. “If the griffons allow their official to be voted into office instead of appointed, it could simply be that every other term the candidates are ponies or griffons.”
Twilight closed her eyes. “Hmm. I remember reading that griffon cities have to reach a certain population density level before elections can take place. Gerald might not be able to make an exception on this.” A frustrated, but exhausted sigh left her. “It might just be best to have both mayors working together at the same time.”
“But would the griffons be able to vote for the pony mayor? Would they be able to run for mayor? They would all be citizens of the town, so wouldn’t they be eligible?” Spike pestered, keeping the discussion going and seeming intent on covering all the bases. “For that matter, wouldn’t this make the griffons living in town citizens of Equestria?”
Abruptly, the small stack of papers floating in Twilight’s magic suddenly dropped to the ground in a messy pile. She began shaking in barely-suppressed irritation, before Twilight fell onto her side, groaning in exasperation. One could say the sound was reminiscent of a dying, bleating goat. “This is too complex! We’re not going to be able to figure this out in a day. Maybe not even in week!”
Spike started to straighten out the discarded notes, looking fairly dejected. After wiping off some trace dirt particles that latched onto the parchment, he glumly scratched the back of his head. “Maybe we should send a letter to Celestia and ask for some advice.”
“We can do that after we meet with Gerald,” Twilight muttered in a defeated tone. “We should head over there so we aren’t late.” She pulled herself up off the ground and levitated all their notes into her bag. Spike climbed up onto her back as they headed off toward the Griffon side of the wall once more.
It was a short walk to the meeting room, Twilight’s guards surrounding her as she walked, as always. Gerald was waiting just outside the room for them, a smile on his beak. “Good afternoon, Countess. I trust everything went well?”
She gave him an exhausted but friendly smile. “Indeed it did, Prime Minister.”
He opened the door for her, a smidge of worry marring his chipper demeanor. “You look tired; here, please sit down.” He waited for her to enter before following in after her. Twilight plopped herself down into a chair rather unladylike, letting Spike jump off her back first. “Shall we begin discussing my proposal?” Gerald looked hopeful as he sat down across from her.
Realizing that this was still a business meeting, Twilight pulled herself up and tried not to slouch. “The ponies we talked to seemed to be interested and willing for a merging of the two towns to happen. And they are even willing to take in the griffons as neighbors into their community. The issue we have, however, with your proposal lies in the details.” Twilight couldn’t suppress a grimace. “Or rather the lack thereof.”
The Prime Minister’s smile slowly vanished, his shoulders visibly slumping an inch. “I see. Still, it is good that you are willing to think about such details. What in particular has you worried?”
“The main point is the lack of clarity on leadership and law. With both nations owning the town, who will decide what laws are enforced?” She answered her hypothetical question before Gerald could think to. “The town mayor. The issue then is who is the mayor? Your town uses a government-appointed representative, if I recall correctly.”
Gerald’s face lit up with sudden understanding, nodding. “We do. Equestria uses elections for all government positions—including the mayor—no matter the size of the city.” He stopped himself as revelation arose on his beak. “That does pose a bit of a problem.”
“A problem with no simple solution that I can see,” Twilight admitted. “The proposal you have come up with is much larger than either of us anticipated, it seems.”
Before Gerald could continue, there was a loud series of knocks on the door. “Lady Sparkle, a griffon messenger has news for both yourself and the Prime Minister! He says it is urgent!” One of the unicorn guards called through the closed door.
“Let him in,” Twilight replied.
The door opened quickly and a panicked griffon guard stepped in. The disheveled appearance of the antsy soldier attracted the meeting’s full attention. “Prime Minister. Lady Sparkle. A pony was just arrested at the border crossing.”
Both Twilight and Gerald jumped up, shock evident on their faces. “What?”
The guard continued, faintly gasping for air. “He was in possession of a large quantity of an... illegal substance.” He trailed off, staring in vague horror at Gerald. Twilight glanced over in confusion, and froze.
“Don’t tell me,” Gerald said softly. His expression had turned several shades darker. His brow lowered, making it look as if he intended to harm the messenger. His voice took on a rough quality that Twilight hadn’t heard before, and a snarl entered his tone. “Kalki seeds.”
Spike gasped, a look of shock on his face at the mention of the seeds. Twilight’s attention turned away from Gerald and the messenger, the latter cowering in front of the former. “Um, Spike. What are Kalki seeds?” She asked him quietly, hoping Gerald wouldn’t overhear.
Her assistant hesitated only briefly to assemble his explanation. Then, he began to quickly fill her in on the details. “It’s a plant that’s native to Zebrica that we use primarily as an ingredient in medicines. We bred a new version of Kalki that makes it more resistant to magic. When we shared it with the griffons, it turned into a weed and started spreading all over, killing their other crops.”
Twilight was stunned. “How did that happen?”
“We aren’t sure,” he answered with a shrug. Twilight could see a nervous twitch that hadn’t been there before. His draconian eyes flickered restlessly from the messenger and Gerald, but his voice was relatively stable. “No one has figured out why it behaves so differently across the border. But last time, it took out nearly a quarter of their annual crops, so they outlawed the seeds from entering the country; they only import the grown crop, and even that’s sparingly.”
Gerald’s abrupt shouting ended their hushed conversation instantly. “What! How much?!”
Twilight and Spike turned their focus back on the griffon duo, who were having their own private conversation. Well, maybe it was more ‘interrogation’, than ‘conversation.’ Gerald looked ready to foam at the mouth. The messenger winced, looking extremely nervous. “Tw-twenty kilos, sir.”
“Twenty?” Gerald looked like he couldn’t believe it. He roughly sat down, as if he legs had given out on him. A moment passed as he dragged a talon over his beak. “Doesn’t he know much damage all those seeds could do if spread over a large area?”
Twilight stepped forward, cutting into the conversation. “Who was attempting to smuggle them in? Did you get a name?”
“Not yet, Lady Sparkle,” the messenger replied. He seemed more than ready to latch onto reporting to Twilight, since his Prime Minister seemed ready to detonate. “We took him to a simple holding cell near the border for now. I came to inform you both of the situation straight away.”
Gerald snarled once more as he flung himself upward and quickly headed for the door. “I want to meet this pony.”
Fearing what the Prime Minister might do to one of her citizens, Twilight levitated Spike up onto her back and hurried after the angry griffon, nervous messenger in tow. She had no idea what the protocols would be in this situation, so she would have to rely on her knowledge of the law and Spike’s memory of past dealings to figure it out. Hopefully everything would be worked out without serious issue, and before the day was out; they could undo the damage caused by this pony.
For now though, discussion on merging the towns would be put on hold.
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Was it dear Rainbow Dash with the Kalki seeds in the Griffon lands?
4680239
Probably not. They said it was a stallion.
4680239 They referred to the one with the seeds as he, so, I don't think it's any of twilight's friends.
Well well well... look at that thickening plot. Like a delicious soup simmering away... Hello Plot Soup! I am so excited for next week.
4680239 Well for one I don't think Dashie is a guy... my first thought was Shining, but he's dead. Big Mac perhaps? The Apple family would have a lot to gain if other farms were destroyed... though it doesn't seem like an Apple move. Oh well the answers will come in time!
My money's on Big Mac or somepony similar.
4680774 I was thinking a Braeburn like character.
I am thinking Maby Flim or Flam (or somepony like them) ...
Gain control of a market and you can control the prices. Eliminate a large quantity of the supply (while maintaining control of the remainder) and you could have the world by the balls... especially if the recourse is as vital as say ... Food ..
From what I gather about the Kalki seeds based off of what Spike said, a single kilo would have comparable results, but twenty kilos?
I think I'd rather take my chances living in the heart of the Everfree after Discord's plunder-seeds took root and I'd pissed off the entirety of the forest's inhabitants.
As to who the culprit is, I'm thinking it's a Unicorn. Twenty kilos of seeds is a lot of cargo, and not easily concealed without illusionary magicks. The messenger stated that it was a single pony, so that - coupled with my own logic here - would negate it being Flim or Flam, since they always work together. Stating it was a stallion also negates the potential of it being Trixie.
I could be wrong about it being a Unicorn, though, and there are too many that it could be, but if I were to be bluntly honest here, I think it might be somepony that Twilight is gonna remember from the Other World.
And THAT is not gonna be a pretty sight.
Watch it be Rarity, or somepony Twilight knew very well from the other world.
Me too! I hate summer. And spring for that matter.
I wonder who the pony could be?
Where I live winter is rain, spring is rain, summer is mostly cloudy, and fall is just more rain. In essence, I don't understand why you would have a favorite season if you lived where I do. Oh, we do get snow on occasion, though. Next chapter sounds like it will be fun, though!
4682804 it was a stallion watch twilight see her brother in him for a moment
4693053
Hey it could be big mac.
4682656 Yeah, it was supposed to be a huge amount but still realistic in terms of transporting. I did a little bit of research and used a nice round number hoping that if anyone did have any knowledge of seeds and the like they wouldn't find anything wrong with story.
4684530 Cold and cloudy weather is the best.
4689654 Where I live it's basically the same, winter is just the season where there is the least sunshine and the chances of snow. I can stay inside all bundled up in blankets.
Interesting chapter, but I wish you'd made more progress with Twilight and her memories instead of introducing this new plot point.