...And the ponies fracture
Equestria: The Senate
Green was never a shrewd diplomat. He was but a child; blissfully ignorant of anything relating to lands, deals or treaties. And right now, he was being grilled by his own senate.
Many senators were frozen in disbelief; completely bewildered and horrified by Green's reckless concession of land.
Some were in outrage; their face red and their throats exploding with fury at the young leader's borderline-treasonous act.
Only a few actually thought about Green's decisions; despite knowing it was a mistake, they thought it was the best deal they could've gained against such a powerful foreign entity. "At least they didn't annex us..." They all chorused silently.
Meanwhile, Green sat nervously on his podium in the centre of the senate, rubbing his hooves nervously. He would occasionally indirectly support the opinions of those who had listened and reasoned, whilst dodging blame when accusations were thrown around.
Little simply frowned in the background; not liking the scene before her. "We lost the senate..." She darkly thought.
Border of the Crystal Empire
"ATTENTION STALLIONS!" A general shouted,
"And mares!" A distant voice among the gathered soldiers added,
The general rolled his eyes, "WE'RE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO STRIKE BACK AGAINST THE TREACHEROUS CRYSTAL PONIES WHO'VE STRUCK US IN OUR WEAKNESS MOMENTS!" Cheers followed as soldiers rattled their weapons in the air.
"THEY SHALL PAY FOR THEIR ARROGANCE! PAY DOUBLE THE BLOOD WE'VE SPILT IN THEIR INVASION! AND DESTROY THEIR SYMBOL OF PRIDE; THE CRYSTAL CITY!"
"urahhhhh!"
"WE SHALL RESTORE THE HONOR AND TRUST OF GREEN; OUR GLORIOUS LEADER! AND TAKE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE AS OUR OWN!"
"URAHHHHH!" The soldiers roared, as they began marching towards the borders in a disorganised manner.
It was late Autumn.
Canterlot
The Zeppelins Moltke and Johanna sat idly in the air; overlooking Canterlot, whilst griffons with food and supply in tow descended into the city to feed the hungry and repair its structures.
Field hospitals quickly sprang out across the city, as the injured and diseased were more numerous than the healthy. Despite the efforts of the civilians and the griffon personnel, triage had to be quickly enforced to save as many lives as possible.
Cries of foals with missing mothers rung out in every street; groans of injured ponies under rubbles was heard in every building. Despite winning, the Canterlot inhabitants were not celebrating.
The ones' who were celebrating, however, were the 'real' citizens of Canterlot; nobles, dukes and counts who quickly busied themselves bothering the griffons with questions once they returned as quickly as they left.
The earth pony refugees who sheltered in Canterlot looked towards the unicorns in spite, whilst the griffons politely ignored them. However, some talked and began fraternising with the nobles.
"Oh! The quality of the clothes! The fine threads and meticulous designs! Who crafted these wonders?" A lavishly dressed duchess inquired, as she gently fluttered an officer's uniform with her magic.
The officer gently chuckled, "It wasn't a 'who' that crafted this m'lady." He answered, causing the duchess to tilt her head in confusement, "It was a machine."
"A machine..?" The duchess repeated awkwardly, as images of wheels and nails somehow creating the clothes manifested in her mind. "...You mean the same machines like water wheels or chariots?"
"No, nothing of that sort. But I guess they both have wheels in them..." The general thought, as he remembered the machines in the simple clothes factories back home.
"Fascinating... Could you perhaps... Show me?" The duchess asked pleadingly; making a face that would make any stallion melt into concession.
"I'm sorry m'lady, but we're forbidden to." The general responded with a shrug; his discipline coming in handy to disarm the duchess' charm. The latter cursed under her breath.
"What are you doing here? How long will your stay be?" Another noble crept up, distracting the officer and allowing the duchess to slip away from the awkwardness.
"The first answer is, it's classified, and the second is, it's classified." The officer quickly dismissed the noble but began to see more creeping up in his peripherals.
"My neck's going to be sore after this..." He quietly grumbled.
Canterlot; Platinum's throneroom
"...I see no pony is harmed..." Platinum started, as the last nobles trickled in. "...That's good..." She muttered; attempting to ignore the ruins and rubble that littered all around the once marvellous room.
Clover cleared her throat and took the initiative, as her princess was too busy despairing over the wrecked walls snd statues. "May the meeting commence. If you have any inquiries or problems, you may have the floor."
Several hooves immediately sprang up, but ultimately, the one who spoke first got the question through.
"What will become of Canterlot with these griffon occupiers?" The noble asked,
"What about their length of stay?" Another asked,
"We're still running out of food! What of our labour, wealth and property?! They're still yet to be resolved!" Another desperately chimed in, as he stomped the ground impatiently.
Princess Platinum shrank from the pressure, as she too, for the first time had no control nor insight of what was transpiring around her. So, her advisor intervened.
"We have no luxuries to ask 'whats' and of our divine rights." Clover sadly announced, "For the first time, we're moveless; we're stuck in a checkmate that we cannot escape from, no matter how deluded we become."
The gathered nobles looked down hopelessly, as they knew she was right. The titles and prestige they held had no value in their current situation; their vast power which came from serfs and free labour had disappeared completely, and the earth ponies and griffons had entirely ignored and isolated them.
"...But, we may still have hope..." Clover lured, causing all heads to snap towards her. "...What we need to do... Is just play a different game..."
"Pray tell" Platinum demanded, as she closed in towards her advisor's face; completely ignoring the latter's personal space.
"-All this time, we've been 'playing' to win all our rights back; our serfs, land and power... But we've been playing it wrong..." Clover stated wisely; whilst internally, she scrambled desperately to find her next words.
"-We've assumed the earth ponies had united without strife or tribulations... But from the reported actions of Rimpler by the battle mages tell a different tale; one of conflict and doubt." Clover began to sweat, as she felt her stomach beginning to burn with guilt for what she was about to suggest.
"...If we were to hypothetically oppose the fringes of the earth ponies and support the majority, we may be able to carve a space within their government and thrust ourselves into politics once more..." The gathered nobles began to murmur with each other; many getting an idea from Clover's point.
"We have a generation and a lifetime of experience; we are all taught from young ages the arts of politicals, diplomacy and intrigue..." Clover hesitantly continued, "Once we've solidified ourselves within their government... We can gain concessions for giving our support... We could gain our lands back; not by force, but by bits, brain and schemes... One day, we could stand above all; us in the capitals and of the elite, and the earth ponies in lower trades..."
"A genius idea! All we have to do is make them hate each other" A noble suddenly interrupted; causing Clover to squint in disgust of herself. "How could I suggest such a thing?!" She scolded herself.
"Of course! We could make the merchants hate the farmers, soldiers hate the intellectuals, and the artisans hate the clerks! We just have to exploit this hate and make them rely on us as the benevolent neutral party!" Another noble chimed in, as a chorus of cheers rang out.
"We shall make those mud-ponies subservient in time! Bring back our divine, exclusive rights! Futures consisting of unicorn-only gifted schools! The wealth, trade and the military-controlled only by us!" A final noble roared out, causing the gathered nobles to cheer once more.
Meanwhile, Clover grasped her barrel in guilt. "What have I done..." She barely noticed it when Platinum wrapped her hooves around her shoulder; patting her softly.
"You really are clever, aren't you Clover?" Platinum said with a grin; ignorant of Clover's guilt.
Clover's lesson would not be forgotten by the nobles that day, as in the distant future, his speech would bear fruit in the form of Canterlot; the capital of Equestria and a paradise for unicorns.
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short but good
What would stop you
I kind of feel for the assistants of the Founders, everything they do to try and help has only made their respective leaders more oppressive and and reinforce tribal identity.
Clover might just end up remembered in history as the founder of the new Unicorn supremacy groups within the Republic of Equestria instead of the wise and moderating influence she was in Canon.
Edit: I don't blame the ponies wanting to know more about the soldier's uniform, such uniformity in material, stitching, and durability along with the ability produce it in such large quantities without sacrificing quality is unheard of and very much outside the capabilities of ponies.
Go Bismarck, go universal healthcare!
Yes you are indeed the author you are pretty much God here so you can do what ever you want like forming a religion abut the second flood electric Boogaloo
"Damn these 'ere nobles and warbling lords! Their incessant jibber-jabber is killing my ears fas'er than they eat my food."
"I didnae e'en know it was possible actually talk someone's ear off, an'yet here's McMenzies without one."
"WILL ONE OF YE SOUTHLIN BASTARDS GET 'EM OOT OF 'ERE BEFORE MORE OF US LOSE OUR BLUMMIN EARS!"
One or two disgruntled geordies sidled out and strun the nobles up, dead stallion's bonnet's shoved in their mouthes.
"'Atshou'do'em-McReedy, mayb'e'llsto'yellin'noo."
"Way-ay-mun if-t'isdun't silence'em whate'er wull?"
Without a word understood between the five, all was said and done. The poor griffon translator couldn't even attempt to explain the occurrence, and merely chose to inform the rest of the hospital that they wouldn't have any more questions to field.
Also, GOD DAMNIT GREEN'NT'CLOVER WHY DO YE HAVE TO BE SO SMART AND SO FACKING STUPID AT THE SAME TIME ALL THE TIME‽
Jokes aside, brilliant chapter. I hope our German friends can... Unite the continent in tre Hun fashion.
Valhalla shall be the home of the dead.
Ave Imperator.
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You think this is short?
You've seen nothing yet fam
10946659
well, 1000 words is the minimum required for a story to be uploaded,so technically speaking, it is short by this standard
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Oh nah, I was just foreshadowing that my next chapters will be shorter
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No Problem
10946870
Yes but
im6.ezgif.com/tmp/ezgif-6-eb8144f2ac2f.png
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HANS! GET ZHE FLAMMENWERFER!
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N O T H I N G
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Don't use all the gas we need some for the chambers :)