Third Most Powerful
I strode through the moonlit halls of the palace, pausing a moment to straighten my uniform in a hanging mirror. Nothing much wrong with it, of course, and my mane, tail, coat, and feathers likewise perfect, but I needed to look my best for this.
A few more turns, and there ahead of me were the ornate dark doors of Princess Luna's personal office, flanked on either side by two Night Guard. The moonlight streaming in the large window opposite glinted off the heads of their spears, ceremonial but still sharp and potentially deadly, and left their decidedly less ceremonial automatic rifles lurking in the shadows at their sides. I, naturally, walked straight towards the doors with perfect confidence and replied to their impassive, studying gazes with a moderate smile.
"Chancellor," said one of them, the griffon hen on the left side of the doors. "Right on time, of course." At which I cranked the smile up a bit and gave a slight nod. "The Princess is expecting you."
"Thank you, Galena." Add a very slight head tilt... "Any idea what this is about?"
A head shake. Not that I really expected otherwise, but worth a try. I shrugged, then faced the doors as the guards opened them, and trotted to the threshold.
"Enter." Hm. She didn't sound particularly upset, or cheerful. But the more mercurial Princess could be even better than her sister at hiding her emotions, sometimes. Regardless, I entered, bowing my head deferentially, and when I raised it as the doors softly closed behind me, Princess Luna had looked up from her desk. A moment passed, with her still merely looking.
"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?" Slight head tilt, express slight confusion but still upmost confidence and no offense. I started to cross the room; it was a safe bet she'd ask me to sit anyway, especially given the single cushion already placed opposite her, and it would save time. Besides, I was the most powerful and important mortal on the planet now, and second only to the Sisters overall; increased familiarity would be expected.
Nevertheless, she didn't reply immediately, merely watched until I was about halfway to the desk. Then, "Yes. Thank you for coming on such short notice, Chancellor. Please, have a seat."
As expected, and I soon suited action to request.
And she just looked at me, again. Studying me. I made sure to present calm, mild curiosity, just a growing touch of concern, and yet the impression that I had all the time in the world, for her.
And then she spoke, with a casual air, equally casually taking a nearby mug of xocolatl up in her magic.
"You know, I've tried to overthrow the government a time or two."
Uh.
Okay, this could either be very good or very bad... Proceed with caution, but, fortunately, that would surely be expected following that line...
"Well, Ma'am, I personally take the view that only the... Nightmare Moon incident..." she doesn't look upset, wants me to carry on "should count. Starting the LNR was just advocating for political reform -- which history showed the Principality did need -- even if some of the details still needed refinement, and you denounced them when they became more radical."
"Quite." A sip of her drink, with a light touch of magic keeping the foam in the mug, followed by a vague gesture in the air with that same mug. "I tend to agree myself, though not always -- it was closer than many realize there, for a time."
And... silence again. The office clock made no noise. I waited. Outwardly patiently.
"The point," she continued then, still lightly, "is that I believe I possess certain experience and... insights that the voters, and even my sister herself, lack."
So not asking me to join a coup. Which meant this was tipping towards "bad". Yet, this was still a personal, at least ostensibly private conversation across a desk in a nice office. And if there was a trap being prepared outside, there was... it hurt to admit, probably nothing I could do about it. Because I didn't know what the trap might involve, but there was no way they didn't have a plan for me trying to take Luna hostage. If there was a trap. Stay calm.
Cautiously, even more cautiously, put a bit more confusion in, "That... makes sense, but I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're getting at."
Silence. Again. And her cool stare, now with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sure you noticed," she said, still quite calmly, "that I was more hesitant to approve your election than my sister."
"I admit I did wonder about that, but it's not my place to judge you."
And she smiled slightly. "Ah, but that does get us to my point. Your place. You've impressed the voters and my sister with your extreme competence -- impressed more or less everyone who knows of you at all, from which I do not exclude myself -- and that competence could make you the greatest chancellor we've had since Fizzlepop Berrytwist herself."
"I... thank you for the compliment, Ma'am," genuine, "but I still don't quite see..." also genuine.
"Well, speaking of ponies who tried to overthrow Equestria's government, it can hardly be ignored that she is among them, and succeeded. Given that she overthrew the new nobility and their system in favor of my sister and me and the people, it's not often looked at in the same way as, say, Nightmare Moon or the Shimmerites, but in you I see more than the potential for service on or above her level."
She leaned forward and steepled her forehooves, the mug floating off to the side.
"Because it's quite possible you could have a very boring time in office. At the least, ordinary. If the world refuses to throw enough problems Equestria's way, you could serve as chancellor for the rest of your life, decades, given your noted youth, and yet be remembered merely as someone who competently kept the seat warm. And that," she said even more lightly, with a slight smile, "is assuming that even ending up the most famous and highly-honored third most powerful individual in history would satisfy you."
I opened my mouth to respond, but she interrupted.
"Because what your also-impressive charm seems to have hidden from almost everyone is your ambition. And competence on your level, coupled with ambition and a lack of internal restraints on the level of what I suspect yours to be -- that is something potentially quite far from a benefit to Equestria."
And she watched me, again.
"And, what..." calm, light, CALM and I was not satisfied with that quaver that should not be there -- was it there? Did she notice? "What do you plan to do with these... suspicions?"
She leaned back, and took another sip of xocolatl.
"Well. There, I'm in something of a difficult position. I could, of course, have simply refused to approve your election. It would have been unpopular, probably led to my sister and me arguing, but I don't need to answer to anyone in such things. But, of course, if you hadn't been opposed to us... that could have given you reason, and perhaps sent you off somewhere you'd be harder to keep an eye on. And..."
And... she sighed, and looked up at the ceiling and its own magical nightscape.
"Given how long you seem likely to serve, barring incidents, and the current state of the world, I rather fear that we shall need someone of your competence in your position. I highly doubt that your time as chancellor will actually be boring. We are by all indicators--" a snort "--reliable indicators entering, or moving deeper into, a period of great worldwide change." And with a slightly bitter smile, "Distinct, that is, from the one we've just been in." And another sigh. "And yet still I fear that you will find yourself unsatisfied with merely ensuring that the natural crises aren't wasted."
...How to handle this? She... clearly suspects me of being, well, me, really me, and yet she's willing to give me a chance anyway? Could I still calm her suspicions at this point, or would trying make me look even worse? Maybe, actually, honesty would be an appropriate response? Or is it a trap, and she just wants an admission so she has grounds for a permanent solution to me? Play this off, then play Celestia with the second coming of Nightmare Moon? Except if Luna's suspicious enough, she's surely prepared for that; if she doesn't buy my act, it'd only take one pony in the right place for an accident, and I can't look too paranoid to the public...
...Well, it's a dangerous game, but then, I'm far from a stranger to those, aren't I?
So, starting slowly, but making sure not weakly, "A... few ideas have occurred to me, yes." And her eyes narrowed as I said that; now she was looking at me sharply. Not angry, still, but focused. All or nothing, win with the Element or spring the trap and try to dodge... "And I hadn't... haven't... quite decided whether I might use any of them. Everywhere I look," okay, a bit more heat there coming naturally, but actually let it this time, "There're you, and your sister, and her," I say, the last with a hoof pointing at a side wall, at a painting of a broken-horned unicorn wearing the first chancellor's uniform and a soft yet proud smile. The silly mare'd kept her horn until the end of her days, even after it became possible to regrow them. You'd never find me being that stubborn about my wings if something happened to them. "And no one thinks there's any way anyone could ever even equal any of you. And part of me can't stand that!"
...Horseapples, was that too much? She was still just watching me as I refolded my wings and sat back down.
At last, "You can never undo history. You can hide it, you can distort it, you can lie about it, but the true events remain. Fizzlepop Berrytwist will always have been the founder of our government's current form. My sister and I will always have been the... goddesses who survived the creation of this world. That no action you are capable of can grant those titles, those histories, to you is no reflection of fault on your part, merely a facet of the limitations of reality. Even if somehow our world was unmade and returned to the primodial chaos... to the extent that time continued to have meaning, that would still be fixed and true in the past. Take it from someone who has lived a very long life, filled with a great variety of triumphs and failures: the best any of us can do is make the best of what we have. That may involve a rise to great heights, or simply the maintenance of position; it may be no more, even, that mitigating the negatives of an unavoidable decline. Even my sister and I are not omnipotent, and if the various gods who claim to be exist and truly are, then they have not been interested in sharing their plans with us. The one being I know who could definitely and truly have had a claim to that title is dead -- and if that ever ceases to be true, then I do not know if even my sister and I will be able to stop him again."
"Nice words," I spat out, "but how are we supposed to know what 'the best of what we have' is? How do you know that the best of what I have isn't finding a way to, to become a third alicorn, even!" Oh...
Yet, she remained calm. Outwardly?
"Some have tried. None have succeeded. And capable as you are, Chancellor Glow, you must admit that high-level magical research has never been one of your areas of concentration." And an eyebrow went up again. "And I'm sure you realize that any who were able to pull it off and claimed to be willing to work with you against our wishes couldn't be trusted to not simply betray you as well and take all the power for themselves. Not," and she actually shrugged, "that I think it's actually possible at all, but I honestly would rather you not be one of those messily killed by their own failed attempt at apotheosis."
"Why?"
And she looked at me again. This time, I let the silence pass, and looked back at her.
"You are still one of my subjects. And just as I know something about attempting to overthrow the government, and about straying close to dangerous magics, I know something about forgiveness and second chances, as well."
And now, I kept looking at her.
Softly, "You will live in our memories, as long as we do, now. You have achieved that. You may yet achieve living fondly there, if you serve well, even if that service is boring. You are charismatic, exceptionally competent, and demonstrably able to successfully pursue the good of others, even if it may be for selfish reasons. You already have far, far more than most ever will. If your ambition is not sated by that, and by victories over whatever crises I expect the world will be happy to present you with, then let your greatest and last victory be over that ambition itself. Let your striving to be better than you are continue only up to where the costs, to you and others, become too high -- and remember that the best reflection of a ruler's quality is found in the condition of their subjects."
"Suppose," I bit out, though there was a tinge of weakness in it I hated, "I considered being remembered as history's greatest villain a good enough consolation prize?"
She took another drink of xocolatl, considering the matter.
"Well. You could try that." And she smiled, fondly, at something. "Perhaps you'd even pull it off. But I warn you, the last pony who nearly achieved that, some three and a half thousand years ago, we successfully turned into a laughingstock instead. You know, it's been ages since I saw that play; I believe it last fell out of style sometime during my post-Nightmare-Moon absence. Perhaps we should look into a revival..."
I felt sick. And the Princess of the Moon and Night sighed again.
"Please, think on my words. I extend to you the hoof of friendship, and I hope that you will take it. Equestria has need of you; we have need of you. To see you overcome all else yet be undone by your own flaws would truly be a tragedy, in the Greek sense."
I said nothing. She nodded towards the door.
"For now, you may go. I won't claim to trust you yet, or that I won't be having you watched, because even if it was true I doubt you'd believe it. But if you want, or need, to talk -- including, or especially, about things you might very much want to keep from my sister and the general public -- I am available.
"I do hope, one night, to be able to call you a good friend."
I managed a nod, then got up and headed back across the office. Halfway to the door, I stopped, took a deep breath, glanced back at Luna, and took a minute to get myself back in order. The reflective plane of magic she formed, without me asking, helped with the surface. Then I headed the rest of the way to the doors, knocked on them, and headed out when the guards opened them, giving the Princess another deferential nod and some cheery, confident, formulaic farewell as I did. The guards also got a picture of the confident, in-control, cheerful, and loyal Chancellor of the Union of Equestria, and then I headed back for my quarters in the palace.
I had some thinking to do.
Stats
Page generated in 0.023 seconds
Total duration
969 users online
1,723,365 hits today, 2,921,617 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.®
By the way, it looks like this story attracted three downvotes somewhere. Huh.
I really like the dynamic that you have between Luna and Cozy Glow. It seems far more in character for Luna than the actual series finale. Which is to be expected - you've got depth between them that you don't normally find in children's cartoons. Adult Cozy has mostly overcome her anger management issues and learned to play the long game. But Luna's been playing the game a lot longer than the pegasus upstart, and Cozy's still got tells when playing, while Luna's as unreadable as a blank slate.
Also, kudos for your worldbuilding. I like the background details.
10732241
Ah, thanks for the compliments! :D
...I'm slightly puzzled why you're leaving the comment here, though, rather than on the chapter itself. I didn't accidentally disable comments or something, did I?note: I'm leaving the above for historical reasons, and to explain anything that slips through I don't notice or the like, but some of these comments are being copied over from a conversation accidentally started over here. AlwaysDressesInStyle very nicely proposed putting the comments individually over here instead of just having me mass-quote or something, so here we are. :)
And yeah, this is, as I expect was obvious, very much an alternate universe from show canon, and while I don't know exactly what this Cozy Glow's whole backstory was, I suspect part of her making the progress she has was the lack of any target as tempting as the School of Friendship in her youth (also, no... whatever it was that led to show-her being pen pals with Tirek, who I'm not sure existed in this world anyway). She couldn't have played for stakes that high if she wanted to, so she dealt with smaller temptations and was tempered by them instead of overreaching, failing, and having a fast, hard, and bumpy trip down. And since this is also an Equestria with a position in government second only to the Princesses themselves, that's attained by winning a popular election, she had a visible if somewhat distant point to work towards -- and once she made it there, well, maybe that'd be good enough, but if something were to happen to one or both of the Princesses, guess who'd be the natural person to step up and take charge in the crisis?
And in the show we see that Cozy Glow even as a filly is extremely competent and charismatic, and quite capable of doing things to benefit others on the way to her own benefit. Give her time to sharpen that further and gain more experience, instead of dangling the big prize maybe-just-in-her-reach when she's that young, and she can grow into quite an impressive figure indeed, I think.
But, of course, as you say: she is remarkably skilled at this for someone even ten times her age... but Luna has an order of magnitude more still.
I'm glad the characterization worked to show that sort of thing! :D Though I'm honestly not sure how much I was keeping that in mind consciously vs. running more black-box models during writing.
And I'm very glad to hear that the background details and worldbuilding worked; thank you! I was worried I'd ended up in a bad spot on the spectrum between "There appear to be some scraps of story here, in between the massive exposition blocks of the author's worldbuilding." and "What? What's going on? What does that word mean there? Why is none of this explained?", but at the same time I didn't want to just try and gloss over all the details, for multiple reasons.
(The original spark of inspiration for this family of universes, by the way, came from a Victoria II pony mod. I've expanded things quite a bit in my head (and to a lesser extent in my own fork of the mod) since first finding that years ago, though.
For instance, the original mod put Equestria where our Earth has California. And as I recall it was just kind of there, the location important for interactions with various other countries from our timeline (the USA, especially; Manifest Destiny finding a magic horse kingdom blocking its way to the Pacific drives a number of events) but not really having much examination of how that would have particular affected the country's history. And then one day I realized, hang on: These ponies are actually Native Americans. Technically, at least, but also they've been there the whole time; there was no mention of the mod of Equestria suddenly appearing there one day, certainly not in recent times. And Equestria is at least a thousand years old by the time the game starts (In my expansions, in fact, though I don't recall how much is in my mod fork vs. just my head, it's actually quite a bit older than that; as an example, Canterlot was built high on a mountain because the ponies got a bit spooked by rising sea levels at the end of the ice age, and it's been continuously inhabited since.). So Equestria may have been hidden from Europeans until about twenty years before the game starts... but what about all those other humans through the centuries before a single European ever cited the Americas? And I grew a lot of ideas out from just that realization. :))
[looks up]
...Erm. Sorry for the wall of text. :D
Probably lucky I'm a bit short on time right now, or I might have gone on longer, too... :)
But yes, thank you very much for the compliments, and I'm glad the chapter worked apparently so well! :)
10733513
Oh golly, I don't know how this poison got in your tea, princess. Again.
I agree 100%. She's not a completely lost cause.
There's always a higher mountain, a faster gunslinger, etc. In this case, Luna's the better chess player.
I may not be the best person to judge, since that pretty much describes my writing style too.
I'd never heard of Victoria II so I just looked it up. Looks like an interesting game! Especially if you add ponies.
You're welcome! I requested to hear your thoughts, and your writing style appeals to my reading style. Worldbuilding and character interactions are more important to me than flowery prose and details like the color of the carpet in Luna's room (unless said carpet color is somehow important to the story later on).
10734120
Riiiight. :)
Aye. Well, I mean, depends on the particular Cozy Glow in question, given all the different character interpretations filling in what the show didn't cover in detail, but certainly it seems to be true of many of them. :)
Indeed. Perhaps not in every way -- and this Cozy is even managing to, apparently, deceive her Celestia -- but in, among others, the ways that are important here. And since one of the most important ones is the sheer depth of her experience, well, not really anything Cozy can do to take away or steal that advantage.
...I was going to say I hadn't noticed a problem with that in your writing, but, um. Yeah, so maybe on this point, we're possibly not the best test audiences for each other? :)
Ah, yes! I've not played it or worked on my mod in a while, but I had quite a lot of fun with it -- and, of course, thoughts spiralling out from things in the game itself continue, as this story illustrates. :)
(I played a game of Railroad Tycoon II a while ago, and I've gotten so much enjoyment, and some education, out of considering details of the operation of the Grand Canadian Railway far, far beyond the scope of the game. Perhaps not a way to enjoy it anticipated by the designers, but hey, fun, brain exercise, and learning!)
But yes, Victoria II can be quite a fun game; if you ever decide to give it a try, feel free to let me know if you'd like me to share a copy of the latest version of my fork of the pony mod. It was a much earlier version of the pony mod for the game that first got me into it back in undergrad... though come to think of it, I don't remember exactly how.
(I've played Hearts of Iron IV more recently, but despite the pony mod, Equestria at War, being again the thing that got me to buy a Paradox grand strategy game, I haven't gotten around to playing the mod yet. I keep waiting for updates, and of course I'm busy with other things... So far I've just played in Old World Blues and Kaiserreich.)
Oh, thanks. :)
Sorry I don't have more up for you to read, then.
10735793
This Cozy is older, more experienced, and perhaps now so solidified in her beliefs it might be impossible for her to change. Up against Celestia who is significantly older (and who will continue existing long after Cozy is dust), far more experienced, and quite possibly blinded to the bad in any of her little ponies. That bodes the question - is Cozy that good that she's fooled Celestia, or is Celestia turning a blind eye because she's incapable of thinking any of her little ponies could possibly be bad?
I'll quote myself from one of my most recent stories (You're The Inspiration):
I know my own shortcomings as an author, and I'm not above poking fun at myself.
My strengths are worldbuilding and character interactions/dialogue. The natural back and forth between the characters can mask the lack of details, and certainly provides a plot for the story. Overly-flowery prose can turn me off a story I'm reading. That obviously influences my writing style, and not necessarily in a way that appeals to the masses.
10739223
"This Cozy is older, more experienced, and perhaps now so solidified in her beliefs it might be impossible for her to change."
True -- but even if so, it's still possible that she might adjust the expression of those beliefs, still believing herself to be the best but seeing the cost-benefit analysis now pointing towards a different (and less destructive) way of showing that.
"Up against Celestia who is significantly older (and who will continue existing long after Cozy is dust), far more experienced, and quite possibly blinded to the bad in any of her little ponies. That bodes the question - is Cozy that good that she's fooled Celestia, or is Celestia turning a blind eye because she's incapable of thinking any of her little ponies could possibly be bad?"
Oh, interesting thought -- though in this universe, I think, definitely not in large part, at least, the latter. Celestia may certainly prefer to see things that way, but this Equestria's been through too much internal turmoil in the past few centuries, I think, for her to be fully blind unless she was disconnected to the point of some degree of mental illness, probably. At least she'd have to believe that ponies can be so misguided that they can act bad.
(But you are probably right that Cozy was significantly aided in her deception by Celestia wanting to see her in a good light.)
re the quote and context:
Hah! :D
"I know my own shortcomings as an author, and I'm not above poking fun at myself.
"
A very useful skill to have! :)
"My strengths are worldbuilding and character interactions/dialogue. The natural back and forth between the characters can mask the lack of details, and certainly provides a plot for the story."
That does seem like a trend in my writing here too, I've been noticing.
"Overly-flowery prose can turn me off a story I'm reading. That obviously influences my writing style, and not necessarily in a way that appeals to the masses."
[shrugs] I mean, Estee supposedly has a style that puts a lot of people off, too, but while I trust enough the sources I've heard that from to believe it, I don't see it myself in their work.
10739738
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Cozy's mind is a never-ending cost-benefit analysis that shifts constantly with the addition of new data.
This is how I've always tried to characterize Celestia too. A kind and benevolent ruler who truly cares for her little ponies.
Celestia had some of the least consistent writing throughout the series. At the time the series debuted, she was the sole ruler for a thousand years. You'd think getting her character right would be a priority, but alas, her personality was whatever the plot demanded it be that episode.
You won't hear me complain about that!
I've always liked Estee's writing style, personally.
10740846
Aye.
Right; that can vary from universe to universe too, of course, but it seems like not just a common element but pretty much a baseline.
...Though there is that too, yes. :D
Fortunately, that does provide more fuel for fanfic writers. :) Pick one and go with it? Multiple ones? Try to reconcile all of them? So many ways to take it and things to branch off from!
Heh, well, thanks. :)
Likewise. :D I mean, to the extent I notice it as a distinct thing at all, I think.
Though, funnily enough, despite being one of my favorite authors (and I mean overall), they're also about the only person on this site I remember downvoting a story of, waaay back when, on one of the first things, possibly the first thing, I read of theirs. I did leave a comment explaining my position, though, since I'm decidedly not in the habit of drive-by downvoting stories, and they then had a nice conversation with me where things were explained; I think it went pretty well. The downvote's still there, though, at this point in part for historical reasons.
(And my objection wasn't to style but events, even then.)