You Fell for That?
The Yak Prince Rutherford watched contentedly as his companions started to become more at ease with the ponies. He even spotted a few sampling their apple cider, a fruit they couldn't grow normally in the north, along with that pony Berry Punch. They'd drink it all at that rate.
Princess Celestia sidled up next to him. "Enjoying the party, I hope?" she asked politely.
Rutherford felt his bushy eyebrows rise. "Oh, but of course, Princess," he replied, bowing as deeply as his tiny legs would allow. He winced as a knee popped...then another, and another.
Oof! I should really start laying off the yak cakes.
He staggered to his feet, trying to keep a hold on his dignity. "That pony you employed-Pinkie Pie- is quite talented. And she is friends with the Princess Twilight as well?"
The Princess nodded. "Yes, she is. And I am sure that everything went smoothly under Twilight's guidance?"
"Why, certainly. I have never seen another pony with such a natural genius for diplomacy," Rutherford said with a straight face.
There was a pause, then both of them burst out laughing.
"She really fell for it, didn't she?" Celestia said, her shoulders shaking wildly.
"Completely," Rutherford guffawed. "'This not Yak hay!'" he mimicked, snorting. "As if there was ever a difference between your hay and ours!"
"And that mechanical piano!" Celestia gasped, tears in her eyes. "Where she got that contraption, I have no idea!"
"To be fair, it did play quite well," Rutherford said, sobering down. "Except that dragon forgot to turn it off..."
The pair broke into chuckles once more.
"Thank you again, though," Celestia said after a short pause. "Can you think of what disaster would have happened if we'd let Twilight handle a real diplomatic visit?"
The yak prince smiled amiably. "Oh, it's no trouble. The training of a princess is, after all, of utmost importance."
"But you had quite a bit of fun with it, didn't you?" Celestia nudged him playfully. "Declaring war? Really?"
Rutherford protested, "A princess needs to know how to deal with those situations, doesn't she?" Celestia eyed him sternly. Rutherford slumped. "And the Yak Court is really boring..." Celestia raised an eyebrow.
Rutherford threw up his hooves theatrically. "What can I do? I'm fun-starved!" he moaned loudly. "Why do you think I brought so many companions? They were practically begging to go!" His eyes gained a thoughtful glint as he considered the now-dancing Pinkie Pie. "If she was the court jester, though..."
"Hey, hooves off!" Celestia complained, swatting his side. "She works like a charm in the Day Court. The nobles don't know what to make of her." She grinned. "She's priceless."
Rutherford let out a deep chuckle. "If you say so."
The pair watched in silence as the party became more and more energized. More and more equines started dancing as Pinkie brought in DJ Pon3, while two yaks hung out by the cider barrels, drinking cup after cup.
Celestia pointed at the two yaks, looking slightly apprehensive. "Do you know how much those two have drunk?" she asked.
Rutherford made a face. "Enough so that we'll have to drag them home, if their behavior shows any sign." He scowled as the duo began what appeared to be a heated argument with Berry Punch. He turned back to the white alicorn. "I apologize, truly. It's the first time most of them have tasted cider, and they must have gotten carried away."
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about," Celestia assured him. "Applejack made that batch specially for your visit." She smiled mischievously. "I believe she would have been quite disappointed if none of your delegation got carried away."
Rutherford slowly raised an eyebrow. "And am I correct in assuming that is another of Princess Twilight's friends?" he asked deftly. Celestia nodded. "Ponyville has quite the colorful cast."
The princess laughed lightly. "Yes, it does."
The two lapsed into silence again.
"...So, when are you going to give her a real diplomatic assignment?" Rutherford asked eventually.
Celestia sighed, keeping her eyes fixed ahead. "I'm not sure she's ready for that yet," she replied honestly, a frown crossing her face. "I worry about her sometimes..."
Rutherford raised an eyebrow. "If she can handle a yak delegation, she can handle anything," he boasted. He shrugged. "Especially a delegation being unreasonable on purpose..."
Celestia grinned in spite of herself. "War, of all things." The two laughed again quietly.
The princess sighed again after they quieted down. "Still, sometimes I'm just not sure-"
"Princess Celestia?"
The two spun around startledly to see...Twilight, looking slightly embarrassed. She carried a small platter with two glasses of apple cider.
"I'm sorry, I thought you might have wanted some cider," Twilight apologized, holding up the platter. She frowned. "Am I interrupting something?"
Rutherford recovered first, accepting a drink. "Oh, no, we were only discussing trade," he said quickly. "Speaking of, who can I talk to about importing some of your...apples?" he asked, hoping he had the pronunciation right.
Twilight brightened. "You should talk to Applejack," she told him, pointing him to the orange mare. The earth pony appeared to be scolding both the two yaks and Berry Punch. Twilight turned back to Rutherford. "I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help you, there was a very good harvest this year," she said brightly.
"Then I'll be on my way," Rutherford agreed. Before he turned to leave, he looked to Celestia. "Perhaps we can finish this conversation later," he said lightly. Celestia nodded.
As the yak prince made his way over to Applejack, Twilight turned to Celestia in confusion. "What did he mean by your conversation, Princess?" Twilight asked perplexedly. "I thought you were talking about trade?"
Celestia covered her smile with a hoof. "Nothing. It was nothing."
"...If you say so."
Edit: As I have now been informed by i_am_the_jam, the yak prince's name is actually Rutherford.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- deadpansnarker · 2.2k words · 131 6 · 4.9k views
- Kavonde · 3.9k words · 35 1 · 833 views
- GeodesicDragon · 1.3k words · 76 3 · 1.9k views
- A Hoof-ful of Dust · 1.3k words · 80 1 · 1.2k views
- BorgiaBrony · 6.5k words · 71 4 · 2.3k views
- Avox · 1.2k words · 127 5 · 2k views
- SirShadestrider · 1.3k words · 64 8 · 1.6k views
- sunnypack · 3.6k words · 96 2 · 1.7k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.141 seconds
Total duration
1,028 users online
2,125,754 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Awesome take on today's mess of an episode.
Eh, I'm not sure if this is good either. If a training scenario is unrealistic, it can be damaging because the person playing it will think that kind of thing happens in real life.
6141860
It does happen in real life. Look at the trouble we're having with people coming over from Mexico illegally. They refuse to integrate into American society, and demand that we accommodate them in their desire to bring Mexico standards and practices here.
6141900
I'm pretty sure those people aren't diplomats, and have no power over whether their country goes to war or not.
6141860 It's Equestria. Maybe it does actually happen there, or maybe the yaks are just weird.
His name is RUTHERFORD, geez... (Twilight said his name at the start of the episode)
6141995 Sorry, wasn't paying attention to that I guess
Fixed!
6141991
Eh, I don't really like that sort of explanation. It's kind of like saying 'it's a cartoon, so of course things are different'.
In real life yaks arev quite docile and friendly
When Trollestia-being-a-troll makes far more sense than canon, you know the episode was a trainwreck. Well done.
Congratulations on your first story. May it be the first of many more.
Ehhh... I don't like the idea that Celestia thinks Twilight handling a real delegation would be a disaster. I mean, I doubt Celestia would have made Twilight Sparkle a princess if she didn't think Twilight could handle such tasks, and Twilight has handled a similar matter with Sunset Shimmer, who actually tried to kill her, and not only was the new princess successful, she actually made Sunset her faithful student. It's really out of character for someone who claimed Twilight was her equal and even called her "an inspiration to us all." The fact that the whole thing was a trick in this story makes me more irritated with not only Celestia, but also the yaks. They still caused property destruction and nearly smashed several animals, not to mention a sentient creature who's a good friend of the princesses. The grammar is good, the dialogue flows smoothly and organically, but the ignorance of the yaks' crimes and out-of-character-ness on Celestia's part take me out of it.
I really wanted the yaks to be intelligent and sophisticated, and you have successfully delivered on that desire.
6146682 Except the show clearly states Twilight has no idea how to be a princess at the end of MMC. If not the duties or mannerisms, what else could that have meant?
6141710
6143958
6146764
Thank you guys so much!
6146682 Well, dealing with a rogue unicorn in a different world is a bit separate from a handling a delegation with all kinds of possible political repercussions. I understand your point though.
When I first saw the Yaks my first thought was "Vikings in Equestria? Hells Yeah!" After the first temper tantrum over things not being perfect I can say my hopes for the episode were shattered like the banquet Twilight had prepared for them. This story went a long way into making me feel better about it. Nice work.
6149017 I'm not so sure they're Vikings. Or at least not entirely. The cold region and tempers, along with a few styling decisions seem to be that of nordic origin, but their clothes and the name of their country seem to be that of south western Asia, like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
They might be a blend of the two cultures.
Hm. I suppose that would have been a sweeter ending.
6149405 First glance type deal. It was just a foolish hope from seeing what they looked like. I saw big burly creatures that came from a colder region with helmets, horns, and beards that reminded me of Viking pictures I have seen. Since I really love Norse Mythology seeing some similarities made my hopes skyrocket...before they crashed and burned in that first meeting. To me these diplomats were just throwing tantrums like a 3 year old that does not get the gift he specifically wanted. Made it extremely hard to care.
"Playstation 3? I asked for a Playstation 4 you #$#%!" throws the console through the 50 inch plasma TV you just bought.
Very hard to care.
But you are probably right about the culture.
6146892 She has learned more since then, and to be fair, Celestia wouldn't make her a princess if she thought Twilight would hurt Equestria politically.
6147958 Thank you, although considering said unicorn directly tried to kill her, I think it would still say something about how ridiculous it would be for Celestia to think Twilight handling diplomacy would result in disaster.
6150905 Except your original comment was about making her a princess, not the likelyhood of her having learned enough about diplomacy by this point.
6154284 Those are multiple points of my argument.
An expensive piece of equipment that Twilight will presumably have to pay for or has already done so, if it isn't something of Spike's, that was trashed in the process of this stunt, and they're laughing about it. Congratulations, you've managed to make Celestia an even more callous bitch than is usual for Trollestia.
6250958 She's a princess. I think she can afford to replace a piano.
6251312 Celestia or Twilight? In fact all the stuff that the Yaks broke and destroyed in the process of this hilarious prank/learning experience for Twilight needs replacing, not that I expect that heartless sun-flanked bitch will do anything about it.No, it will be up to Twilight to fix Sunbut's messes, just like she always does. Considering Sunbutt probably hasn't bothered to raise her stipend, it means she'll be sitting in her palace, eating grass from outside the door and windfall apples from Sweet Apple Acres because she can't afford groceries.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great story. It makes a lot of sense, far more than the episode as written. In story, I just wish Celestia and Reginald would end up getting a karma laser warhead missile upside the head. (I've been reading a lot of Honor Harrington lately.)
I'm sorry, but I really didn't enjoy your story. Despite (or perhaps because of) their abrasiveness and insanity, I liked the yaks and their antics, and reimagining it all as being faked is a real downer. As for whether or not Celestia would actually set something like this up as a test for Twilight, knowing her that's anybody's guess, but I would like to believe that she would be more honest with Twilight and at least tell her the truth at some point.
Priceless! Great work!