127- Sancta Sedes
Once again, the future of the changeling race was put to debate.
Celestia organized the papers before her, “First order of business, the status of Fifth Hive changelings within the Principality of Equestria, as well as the question of the Fourth Hive.”
“We worked hard to get our hoof through the door. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon, Changelings will hold dual citizenship with both Kingdoms,” I said.
Celestia leaned back in her chair and put a hoof to her chin, thinking.
“They would be expected to follow Equestrian laws.”
I waved the point away, “Agreed. However, Fifth Hive law would supersede Equestrian law.”
Celestia shook her head, “That’s quite a big blank check. I can agree to that, but with stipulations.”
“Name them.”
“Laws concerning harming others, theft, or other capital crimes cannot be superseded.”
“Does that include taxation or possession of forbidden materials?”
“Both of those are handled by local jurisdictions, however the Crown decides what is contraband, and what is not.”
“.... I want an exception to banned materials. The Fifth Hive decides what it can or can’t have.”
Celestia smiled, “Granted.”
“And I want changelings’ income taxes to be paid to the Fifth Hive, not Equestria.”
“But they’re working jobs within Equestria?”
“Most likely they are working in some way for the Fifth Hive, either directly or through its subsidiaries.”
“Just how big is the Fifth Hive’s holdings?”
I shrugged, “Hard to say right now. It’s in the process of being reorganized, especially with the current system of requested allowances being replaced with the standard salary wage system.”
Celestia wrote some notes down, “Twenty percent goes to Equestria, the rest to the Fifth Hive. This does not apply to workers directly employed by the Fifth Hive’s Crown, nor to any changelings not within Equestria’s borders.”
“That extends to the workers within whatever land we declare as ours, either due to establishment of a new Hive, or due to presence of ancient changeling ruins,” I pointed out.
Celestia shrugged, “As you say.”
‘Twenty percent, in exchange for working within Equestria, in Equestrian industries, and no tariffs…’
“Tariffs are forbidden between our two kingdoms.”
“Agreed,” Celestia said quickly.
‘That’s a steep price to pay, but honestly quite fair. If it turns out to be unfair, I’ll need to renegotiate it.’
“With the stipulation that it can be renegotiated, I will agree to this system for taxes.”
“Excellent. Though, there are other taxes….”
I shrugged, “Property tax to Equestria, sales tax depends on the primary citizenship of the vendors.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, “That would mean your businesses are untaxed in terms of sales?”
“Twenty percent of income would still go to Equestria. Yes, the funds going towards the Hive’s treasury would be untaxed, but the funds going to paychecks would be. In case you don’t know, by far the biggest expense for any and every company is payroll. You’ll be getting your cut from our Kingdom’s hard work.”
‘A slightly better deal for us, but she gets income from a completely separate kingdom.’
Celestia leaned forward, “You know, under the Anti-Trust Act of Four-Thirty-Three, I have the right to break up the Fifth Hive’s corporate holdings in more than one market.”
I laughed, “You don’t, actually. Not only do you have no idea what the scope of our subsidiaries are, alcohol production, transportation, and sale is illegal. If you were hoping to hold that against the mainstay of our Hive’s income, you kinda shot yourself in the hoof there. You can’t regulate what’s outright outlawed.”
“Under this system, your blackmarket alcohol industry would be legal in all but name.”
“And if you want the Fifth Hive’s cooperation, you will grant us immunity to any anti-trust act.”
Celestia barked a laugh, “As if! I can see it now, everything from bolts to bandages made by changelings. How about this; companies owned directly by the Fifth Hive will have considerably larger boundaries before being considered a monopoly that is required to be broken up.”
I made some notes of my own, “With exception to the alcohol industry.”
“As you said, I cannot regulate what I already outlawed. This all comes with the mutual understanding that the Fifth Hive will not pursue aggressive business tactics to dominate markets.”
I nodded, “That’s fine with me. The last thing I want is to muscle my way overtly into Equestrian industries. If we are to succeed, let it be due to our ingenuity or dedication, not due to law loopholes or hostile takeovers. I’ve got our public image in mind, too, you know.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I suppose we can handle the other types of taxes later, when there are less pressing topics. Next up,” she said while levitating another stack of papers from her side and placing them before her, “is…. the official status of the Fifth Hive and its relation to Equestria. I assume you object to outright integration of our kingdoms?”
“Of course.”
“Then we’ll need to come up with something else. Especially considering the potential union that would be formed should you wed Princess Luna.”
Luna perked up, but remained silent. Cadence smiled and nodded, too. There were a few changelings present from the Fifth Hive, notably Cricket and some of her support staff. They were copying down their own transcripts and notes from the meeting.
‘The onus is on me, since she’s going to push as much as she can for integration, or something as close to it as possible.’
“We’re already going to have dual citizenships,” I said, “so our military interests should be entwined completely together.”
“Do you suggest combining our militaries?”
I paused, “.... No. Not yet, at least. Let’s agree to an unconditional defensive treaty, and cooperation between our militaries on the field.”
“The problem with that is foreign affairs. If the Fifth Hive somehow starts a war, then it would fall to Equestrians to defend them.”
“The relationship goes both ways.”
“Except for the fact that the E.U.P. outnumber your own potential forces by a factor of ten at our lowest estimate, and over a hundred at our largest estimates. Skilled and well trained your forces may be, at the end of the day it will be Equestrians defending our borders. To solve this issue, we should move onto foreign affairs.”
I shrugged, “Very well. How do you suggest we handle that?”
“The Fifth Hive should stand with Equestria and most matters. If we embargo a kingdom, so does the Fifth Hive. If we create a defensive alliance with one, so does the Fifth Hive. If we decide to, for whatever reason, make ourselves present through military force, the Fifth Hive will have boots on the ground right alongside the E.U.P..”
‘So Equestria can drag the Fifth Hive into any war it starts. That’s actually pretty easy to agree to, considering the fact that Equestria hasn’t started a war in the past thousand years, as far as I am aware. Best get the Fifth Hive’s presence known now.’
I cleared my throat, “For diplomatic measures, the Fifth Hive’s presence would be required alongside Equestrian in all matters. Our ambassadors can stand equal with one another, though if disputes cannot be handled, one side takes precedence. That leading side will depend on the diplomatic envoy; one will be hoof-picked to be the leader of each embassy.”
“Picked by whom?” Celestia asked.
“I suppose that would be decided on a case-by-case basis.”
Celestia frowned, “That system sounds like it can lead to a lot of friction rather quickly. What if instead, the Equestrian ambassador takes the lead stance, though the Fifth Hive ambassador has autonomy in otherwise normal situations.”
I scrunched my muzzle up, “Eh. That doesn’t sound much better.”
“Equestria has a population at least a hundred times that of the Fifth Hive, right? It only makes sense that we continue to exercise our right to proportional say in foreign affairs.”
‘Hmm…. that is not something I want to agree to outright. The last thing I want is to become muted in foreign affairs.’
“The changeling and pony ambassadors stand equal, with the pony ambassador being assumed leader in any complicated situation. If such emergency powers are used, they are subjected to an investigation following the situation’s resolution,” I put forward.
“An adjusted version of my proposal? I approve,” Celestia said.
“But,” I said. “The changelings will need some sort of veto power. Either through their office, which would be subject to a similar investigation– or rather, it can be overridden only by those emergency powers, or through direct orders from the Crown itself.”
“That’s going to cause a lot of headaches,” Celestia groaned.
“This whole system is going to cause a lot of headaches,” I sighed. “But I refuse integration.”
“Very well. This system can be fixed later, if problems present themselves.”
“Flexibility will be the most important aspect of this,” I agreed.
‘The American Constitution could be amended for a reason. This faux-constitution will have to be substantially more flexible, though.’
“What of the official status of the Fifth Hive?” Celestia asked.
“That is a good question. I can’t say I know of any single relationship type that could easily encompass our kingdom’s stances.”
“Nothing from your world?” She asked.
I shrugged, “Maybe the closest thing is the Vatican and Italy? An independent city-state and the nation that surrounded it. The Vatican was nominally independent, however, given that it was less than a square mile large…”
“Independence was only on paper,” Celestia finished.
“Basically. I’m sure it’s oversimplifying to the point where it’s outright wrong, but it’s the general idea. They had a strong voice in the international community, but was a non-voting power.”
“The Fifth Hive is considerably more squirrely than that.” Celestia tapped her chin, “How about a Confederation?”
“A confederation?”
“Indeed. The Acletian Confederation was an ancient coalition of deer city-states. Each maintained their sovereignty, but together had a shared system of commerce, foreign affairs, and even military to some extent. Our kingdoms clearly are shaping up to have a similar relationship. We would hold the right to secede from the Confederation, and can be rather flexible when it comes to the balance of power. Separate kingdoms with several shared systems, or even borders, in our case.”
“Sounds like a rather all-encompassing term for what we’re creating.”
“Which is why I suggested it.”
I nodded, “I see little issue with making that our official status. Especially if your diabolical plan of making me into an Equestrian Prince comes to fruition.”
“It will,” Luna announced.
I rolled my eyes, “Not for a few years yet.”
“A confederation it is,” Celestia said while adding more lines to her personal notes. “Any suggestions for a name?”
“I don’t think either Equestrian or Changelings can fit in the title. Maybe something nice and short, preferably with some alliteration. The Canterlot Confederation?” I suggested.
“It’ll do for now. I will have to put all of this before Equestria’s legislative body for approval, given that it completely alters almost every one of our ways of life, but I am confident that it will be approved. Even considering how much… public faith I must have lost.”
“What’s next?” I asked.
“Let’s see. The topic of feeding. A rather specific one. Specifically, how Equestria should handle laws concerning changelings specifically.”
“Should be easy enough. Feeding off someone without permission is assault and battery, and disguising with criminal intent is illegal.”
“And empathy?”
“What about it?”
“That can be considered a breach of privacy by many. Emotion-sensing is a step away from thought-reading. Now, I have no stance on this topic personally, but I do know of several ponies who would take issue.”
“Tough luck for them. There’s no way to naturally turn off our empathy senses, so there shouldn’t be any laws or anything prohibiting them. It would be like forcing a unicorn to not use their magic.”
Celestia finished writing and reorganized her piles of paper, “Alright then. That should be enough for today. Anything the Fifth Hive wishes to put forward?”
I glanced towards Cricket, “Any questions?”
Cricket cleared her throat, “We wish to know about the status of the Hive Eternal, and its relationship with the Principality of Equestria.”
“The Hive Eternal?” Celestia repeated.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that stuff,” I said, much to Cricket’s withering glare. “It’s sorta like a… Emperor or Empress title. Maybe closer to Pontiff.”
“Pontiff is the official head-of-state,” Cricket clarified.
“Ah, there we go.”
Celestia motioned to me, “And a Pontiff is…?”
“A religious title. It basically means that the holder is the… voice of Panarthropo, wouldn’t you say?” I asked, shoving the question to Cricket.
“Something like that, Your Majesty. The Pontiff is the leader of the entire changeling race, across all Hives and borders, and hoof-picked by Panarthropo herself to be her will incarnate. Right now, Queen Chrysalis holds the title, with you still being the Champion, which is the heir-apparent title…”
“Am I not the Pontiff, now?”
“You never made a motion to declare that, Your Majesty.”
I blinked, “Well I guess you learn something new everyday. I’m the Pontiff now.”
“You can’t just… say that, Your Majesty.”
“I didn’t say it, I declared it. Chrysalis smells, I’m the Goddess’s chosen ruler. There you go, we’ll go through the required pomp and circumstance later.”
Cricket stumbled upon her words, and the other changelings looked about equally confused.
“That’s certainly something you do not see everyday,” Celestia murmured. “And what is the relationship between Equestria and this Hive Eternal? Or even between the Fifth Hive and the Hive Eternal, for that matter.”
“I imagine the Fifth Hive is a member-state of the Hive Eternal,” I said. “And as for its relation to Equestria…. I suppose there is none. Absolutely none. The title is always held by the ruling king or queen of the Hive anyways, but if for some reason there are multiple Hives that I’m somehow not the leader in some form, they would answer to the Hive Eternal and its Pontiff. Which is me, now. So in effect, it holds the same stances as its leader, right Cricket?”
“Whuh… I mean, yes Your Majesty?”
I smiled, “There you go.”
Celestia sat still, trying to write down several paragraphs worth of notes on our conversation.
“This is quite the information exposé. I had planned on covering these topics later, but now they have been brought up regardless. How will our Confederation handle the Fourth Hive and Queen Chrysalis?”
“The Fifth Hive has always been at war with the Fourth Hive. Equestria will help the Fifth Hive topple Queen Chrysalis, and reunite the two Hives into one, where I am the King.”
“Fantastic. I would have been surprised if you suggested anything else,” Celestia smiled.
“Equestria must also help with our war against the Nightmares.”
“Without question,” Celestia agreed.
“I also approve,” Luna said.
“I suppose I do, too,” Cadence said.
She was still rather cold with me, following yesterday. The glares she had sent my way during lunch– I slept through breakfast– had been telling enough.
‘Another argument incoming after this. I can feel it.’
“I have a question,” Luna said, leaning across the table and towards me. “What will be my status within the Fifth Hive, once we are wed?”
I grunted, “That’s…. a good question. You don’t have a Weave, which more or less is half of a changeling royal’s…. How do I put it, their mandate of heaven? Their divine right to rule, that’s it. Without one, things get complicated. You’ll have power in emergencies, of course, but outside of those, I suspect your influence would be limited.”
“I see. And within the Hive Eternal?”
For that answer, I turned to Cricket and motioned for her to speak.
“You would be the Queen-consort of the Fifth Hive,” Cricket explained. “The Pontiff has no consort title attached to their wives or husbands. Neither does the Champion title, for that matter.”
“Fascinating,” Celestia remarked. “The topic of cultural and technological exchange will be covered in two days, and I have to say, I am looking forward to it. I have seldom gotten the chance to travel, so this will be quite the experience.”
“When will we discuss the Invasion, and Phasma’s actions during and after it?” Cadence asked.
“Tomorrow,” Celestia announced.
“Twilight Sparkle and Applejack request to be present during them. In fact, Applejack has gone out of her way to make sure to be present during those talks, so I am approving their request to be present,” Cadence said.
‘Oh yeah, she’s a Princess. I tend to forget that, considering Celestia does most of the heavy lifting. Her and Luna, at least.’
Celestia blinked, “I see. Is this alright with you, Phasma?”
“I’m sure I’ll have to go through my history several times if they aren’t there,” I said. “The less times I have to repeat myself, the better.”
“Good,” Cadence said, “you dropped the ball when it comes to getting them informed about this situation. This will be your chance to fix that.”
“Yes, Phasma, you should try to mend that relationship,” Celestia advised. “First impressions are important, and you should work towards making as many friends as possible.”
“My first impression with them was beating them up and putting them in pods, remember?”
“Oh. Yes, that. They are willing to forgive that, I’m sure. Simply explain your side of the story during tomorrow’s discussion, and I’m certain they will come around. If not, I can lend a hoof.”
I sighed.
‘Looks like either I have to make friends, or they’ll bug me about it till I drop from exhaustion. Fine, but we’re doing it my way. The fewer times I have to tell my story, the better. Not because it’s more important or anything, I’m just lazy.’
“Then I want the discussion to be released to the public.”
“I wouldn’t advise that,” Celestia said immediately.
“Celestia is right,” Luna agreed. “We should be careful about what the citizens hear. If it is not worded carefully, then even the less problematic details of your story could cause a panic.”
“We can hold the press conference this afternoon, if you’d wish,” Celestia offered. “I’ve begun the process of returning the presses to their original owners. That was something done through the Crown through a wartime law, unlike the Prohibition. That means I can reverse it immediately, and I have been.”
I nodded, “Then let’s do this press conference as soon as possible, and start the process of informing the public of my story. The sooner we squash rumors and get the truth out, the better.”
“Let’s also announce Division-P’s wrongdoings during that,” Cadence said.
Celestia nodded, “Phasma, I believe you are assembling a report on their activities. How is that coming along?”
“Last I checked with Coxa, we’ll have the whole thing compiled in a week. There’s a lot of changelings to interview, and a lot of corroborating details to check. At this rate, we might have the identities of any Inquisitor not captured, thanks to the eye-witness accounts alone.”
“That is good to hear,” Celestia sighed. “Will you have enough to present at this conference?”
“I should. I’ll stop by Coxa’s hideout and enslave– I mean, delegate him to this task.”
“In that case, I say we conclude today’s efforts of building tomorrow,” Celestia said. “I will go inform the ponies who have been granted their rights to the press back. They should all be ready by five.”
I stood up and cracked my neck, “Sounds good. I’ll have Coxa’s shortened report by then. I’ll be sure to give each of you three a copy of it to go over beforehoof.”
‘This will give me an opportunity to go see the Hive in the Crystal Caves. We haven’t had the chance to really leave yet, considering the fact that we only have space for three hundred changelings max back in Manehattan. It’ll be nice to see everyone, and I’m sure they all want to see me, alive and well. Almost every single one of them haven’t seen me since the Invasion of Canterlot.’
Stats
Page generated in 0.035 seconds
Total duration
1,069 users online
1,985,584 hits today, 2,004,447 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.®
400,000 words! I didn't expect CE to reach 200,000, let alone double that! I just hope my estimate of finishing CE before the end of the year holds up...
Ooooooooooooooooooooh that press conference is gonna be fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
11034337
Well now I'm curious. With this whole war against Chrysalis and the Nightmares being a thing, and you wanting to finish CE before the end of the year, does that mean those two topics would be primarily covered in a sequel?
Happy Halloween, peeps. This chapter is a treat! (A diabetic-friendly one at that.)
The word you're looking for is "Enclave" And there are several examples in the world. The Vatican, San Marino, etc.
11034364
Some stuff will be covered in the sequel, yes.
Nice chapter.
11034354
Letsssssssss Goooooooooooo!!!!
11034369
The sequel sounds like it’s going to be one heck of a ride. Let’s hope that other readers will be able to read it, considering that sequels on this site often are far less known than the original stories themselves.
This has all the energy of Tony Stark "privatizing world peace" during that whole court hearing on iron man suits.
I absolutely love chapters like this one but towards the end I got a serious case that he jinxed it within the last paragraph
Thanks again KK for another amazing chapter. Loved the political diplomatic discourse this chapter, very well put together. I wish you the best of luck writing your next chapter, and as always have fun writing.
Chapters like this make think that this story wouldn't be out of place with a comedy tag. Phasma is hilarious when he wants to be. Which is always.
Poor Cricket. She seems to be suffering from overdose of Phasma.
Is he deaf?
Not only it will offend a lot of changelings but other stuff as well.
Especially if there are other powerful hives and they will learn of that. Especially if they are united
Yeah good luck until the god will send a real champion,with real proof and symbols,etc”
It's the obvious thing on the "don't do/say " list no matter the world .
One, for example, is to never declare yourself a god unless you have the power of 100 Discords and has no boundaries and limitations like other beings
The second one is to never go say you are God's tool or hand or something.
Unless you want to be struck down
11034337
don't take it wrong but i am hopping this runs on till February.
this story is just so awesome.
11034396
dont forget that he also slipped in that chissalis smells so its official
Phasma: "Look at me, I am the Pontiff now."
Not many stories actually show the details other than slice of life and action. When you liberate a nation, take out a tyrant, or capture a bunch of enemies, you become responsible for the aftermath.
You liberate the nation but leave? Multiple factions with fight for control.
You take out a tyrant and leave? Nothing stops another one to pop up.
You capture a bunch of enemies? Now you have that many more people to feed and shelter added on to your own.
Many stories don't understand that when you do something, your actions have consequences that if you don't see through to end, or leave someone to tie it up, it can lead to chaos.
That is why I appreciate this chapter. A King is doing what a King should be doing.
Nice
Some helpful definitions for words for those that may not know off the top of their head.
Tariff: a taxation upon a country or business through importation, that raises the prices in order to combat competition and focus more on domestic production instead of outside importation.
Embargo: a refusal to purchase goods from a country or business because of political or war related issues.
Anyways another great chapter!
11034409
Offend alot of Changelings? How?
I see it as him declaring Supremacy over Chrysalis, why would they see it any differently?
They already declared him their king after all, he is already the ruler of the Changelings of The Fifth Hive
Chrysalis gained her title by what, killing her mother and declaring herself Pontiff?
I see no reason as to why Phasma wouldn't be approved.
Worst case scenario he'd get a great opportunity to say: "Panarthropo, I've come to bargain!"
11034337
watch it be january 1st and you're still not done.
11034409
Ehhhhh, it would be controversial if he had anything less than 100% support from the Fifth Hive. As it is, he's already at war with Chrysalis, so declaring himself Pontiff is not only fine, it makes sense. Like how Taiwan and CCP declare themselves as China and don't recognize the other.
Uh- wow, Celestia kinda just rolled over in these negotiations. That's a lot of freedom and power within Equestria the Fifth Hive just got handed on a platter. Especially the "Fifth Hive laws supersede Equestrian laws", and "the Fifth Hive decides what goods are or are not illegal to itself." That's just ripe for abuse.
11034409
Counterpoint.
If someone asks if you are a god, you say yes. (see P. Venkman, R. Stantz, E. Spengler and W. Zeddemore, 1984)
Why would that not apply to God-chosen rulers, especially when you've done more to show yourself worthy of it than the other ?
Also, Holy See in Latin ? Nice choice.
11034450
People were saying the opposite during the first part of the negotiations. Yeah, Celestia "lost" a lot during this round of negotiations, but overall both sides have gained equal amounts.
As for the abuse part, if she made a point of it, Phasma would say "basis of trust" like Celestia did. That part of the conversation went unsaid; these things can be abused, but Celesta/the Princesses are trusting Phasma and the fifth Hive to not abuse them.
11034410
i hope this continues until he gets tired of writing it. and i hope he never gets tired of writing it
11034369
Sequel Confirmed!!! Woo Hoo!! I was getting a little worried, considering you said about the time that he got telefragged into a tree that it was about a third of the way through. And that was quite a while ago, story wise. I'm looking forward to both that and the next chapter. Just make sure not to rush yourself, you're doing fantastic on this story, and we'd hate it if you tried to rush it at the end or get burned out.
11034482
It's looking like CE might be about 150-170 chapters long. Phasma got telefragged on chapter 54, so that estimate was actually spot on.
Man, wish most negotiations went this amicably.
Celestia throughout all of it: You need to make some friends!
11034480
as this is the authors first story and a huge hit i am really hopping this story line goes on for a good long time.
i am also hoping people are using his KO_FI also i am sure this gives a little bit of incentive.
You dream too small Princess! Why limit yourself to mere bolts and humble bandages when you can invent entire industries? Imagine it: a Phasma Computer in every home, an iHive in every pocket!
Does this mean that the Changelings have a 'legal' monopoly on the production, distribution, and sale of alcohol? That'd be quite the massive boon for the Fifth Hive. Even if the deal only lasts until Celestia cancels Daybreaker's prohibition it should still let the 'lings earn a ginormous amount of capital. Easily enough to kickstart their commercial empire.
So they can have monopolies that won't be required to be broken down? That's, again, a pretty solid deal for Phasma. As I said before, I'd expect antitrust action to be pretty much the only thing that should be able to challenge changeling economic supremacy. So long as Phasma can protect the Hive's companies from the Equestrian State changeling prosperity should be more or less guaranteed.
I can totally see the fifth hive becoming like China where everything is made by changelings
I am getting an image of nepal negotiating something with india
11034476
Hmmm I'd argue that the Fifth Hive gained a lot more than Equestria overall so far. So far all Equestria gained from the negotiations is a check on changeling transformations through Luna (who, as a caveat, is biased towards Phasma) and Phasma not hunting for the heads of Division-P members, but with the caveat that those members will still be punished by the full extent of the law as it is and forced feeding being made illegal.
Meanwhile the Fifth Hive got the right to live and work in Equestria as dual citizens, but with the power to essentially ignore Equestrian laws on anything bar theft or assault, the right to decide what is or is not illegal to produce and own, the ability to claim the majority of its citizen's taxes, regardless of where they work and what position they hold, a shield against any of the many enemies changelings will have made over the centuries (not counting the Nightmares here, those are everyone's problem), and an as good as equal amount of power in foreign affairs.
Celestia won some victories on the micro front, but on the macro front everything seems to have gone Phasma's way. I suppose the real kicker is going to be the next negotiation. Particularly the as of yet unspoken but virtually unavoidable blanket pardon for all Fifth Hive changelings for the invasion. If that happens Celestia's victory on Division-P not getting death sentences becomes a little less of a victory, as only Equestrians are going to end up being dragged to court for acts committed during this war, while the changelings get off with what amounts to a promise not to do it again.
11034407
Phas overdose!
11034409
The last time we saw the Fourth Hive, his supporters formed a supermajority even there. Totakeke threw that brick up, and Chrysalis is the plane it's going to hit.
Yes, I agee with Lulu and Tia. You should listen to them.
11034516
That's true. Of note, changelings don't have immunity to too many laws, as a lot of Equestrian laws are "capital" laws. Also, it's expected that Phasma will pass many of the same laws, which he probably will. He can go in different routes for different things, such as enlistment or Intellectual Property, but for the most part these exceptions will be less common than you'd think.
As for the banned items, that basically only extends to alcohol.
But now that I think about it more, the extended boundaries for monopolies might be too much. Something to think on and consider changing....
Phasma's disregard of the process with the Hive Eternal might bite him in the butt...
I grunted, “That’s…. a good question. You don’t have a Weave, which more or less is half of a changeling royal’s…. How do I put it, their mandate of heaven? Their divine right to rule, that’s it. WIthout one, things get complicated. You’ll have power in emergencies, of course, but outside of those, I suspect your influence would be limited.”
spelling mistake, capital I
11034516
I agree with most of your points however I feel the issue of income tax is rather mute at this point in time. The changelings have around 30k people so most if of their earned money will be on equestrian goods, so all that has to be done to recuperate any losses (not that they would) would simply be to raise purchase taxes around the fifth hive's main population centers
I wonder if phasma will be able to do ghost clones
Was that Moriarty? Game of Shadows?
11034510
Doubtful, the Fifth simply doesn't have the numbers to produce enough product to pull a China/India.
At most I can see them getting a large chunk of the booze market even post prohibition and a head start on electrical products, but that would be more through Phasma's otherworldly knowledge than traditional muscling out of competition.
11034516
Yes, but on the macro-macro front the negotiations in themselves are already a victory for Celestia. She pretty much only seems to want a return to normalcy, so all she needs to 'win' is to reach an agreement with Phasma, the actual details of which are secondary.
11034561
Nah, at least not right now. The biggest problem with monopolies is that they can potentially use their position to abuse consumers, but that's not really an option for the changelings. Not only did Celestia made it clear such behaviour would result in antitrust action, the changelings also have a vested interest in having a good image (as Phasma pointed out).
As far as the business relation between Equestria and the Fifth Hive goes I think taxation is of a lot more interest to the ponies than antitrust. Changeling monopolies shouldn't really be an issue, but changeling monopolies that only pay 20% of the tax rate? That's a major crisis.
If you want to change anything of what was discussed in this chapter, I'd recommend making it clear that the tax deal only applies to actual persons, not "legal" persons, rather that touching the monopolies thing.
Ah, yes. I too
enslavedelegates my tasks to my assistants.The interns are particularly eager to shoulder said tasks.
Too bad they're also particularly flamable.
Poor Quiet Chant. His coffee will be missed.
also Pinkie might have gone SkaDoosh. Be prepared.
11034337
Don't worry, soon it will be 1,000,000 words. Then 2,000,000. Then slowly catching up to the other marathon works here on FimFiction.
11034438
Plus the Fourth have already outright canonized Phasma as a Saint.
Which also means Chrysalis also voted for him to become one as becoming a saint requires a unanimous vote of the entire hive with no votes against.
Would you like to know more?
The Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes, Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes]; Italian: Santa Sede [ˈsanta ˈsɛːde]), also called the See of Rome or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, which includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome with universal ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the worldwide Catholic Church, as well as a sovereign entity of international law, governing the Vatican City.
According to Catholic tradition it was founded in the first century by Saints Peter and Paul and, by virtue of Petrine and papal primacy, is the focal point of full communion for Catholic Christians around the world. As a sovereign entity, the Holy See is headquartered in, operates from, and exercises "exclusive dominion" over the independent Vatican City State enclave in Rome, of which the pope is sovereign. It is organized into polities of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, and their dioceses and religious institutes.
Hey KK, quick question. When CE is complete, will you immediately start on the sequel or will you finish Underhive 733 first?