First Meeting

The Council of Friendship

Twilight Sparkle smiled and raised her gavel in her magic to bang it on the arm of her throne three times. "Hear ye, hear ye! The first meeting of the Ponyville Council of Friendship is now brought to order." She turned to the throne beside her. "Spike, will you call roll please?"

Spike held up a short checklist and looked around the room, five other mares sitting on thrones around them. "Fluttershy?"

"Here."

There was the sound of somepony clearing their throat, and Twilight and Spike looked to see Rainbow Dash holding up her hoof.

"We'll get to new business in a minute," Twilight said. Rainbow repeated the sound louder. Twilight rolled her eyes. "What is it, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash lowered her hoof. "Why are we doing roll call?"

"To make sure everypony is here."

"Have you tried turning your head?"

Twilight glared for a moment, then looked down at Spike. "Continue please, Spike."

"Uh, sure. Applejack?"

"Here."

"Rarity?"

"Present."

"Pinkie Pie?"

"Over here!"

"Rainbow Dash?" There was silence, and Spike looked up to see Rainbow Dash slouching in her throne with her hooves crossed. "Uh, Rainbow?"

Twilight made a show of holding a hoof over her eyes and swiveling her head around the room, pointedly not looking at her friend. "Well, is she here or not?"

"Keep talking; she won't be much longer."

"Oh, come on, Rainbow Dash, Twilight is obviously putting a lot of work into this." Fluttershy smiled, and Rainbow groaned.

"Here."

"Oh there she is!" Twilight settled her eyes on Rainbow Dash and grinned. She held up a checklist in front of her and crossed off the first item. "Well, that's everypony present and accounted for. Next order of business is the minutes from our last meeting. Spike?"

"Uh…" Spike looked at the pile of scrolls on the small stool in front of him and rifled through them. "But, this is our first meeting, isn't it?"

"Yes, but in the future after calling roll, we will read the minutes of our last meeting. For now we'll move on." Twilight checked off another item on her list. "Does anypony have new business to propose?" Rainbow Dash held up her hoof again. "Rainbow Dash, you have the floor."

"How does this work exactly?"

"Well, if somepony would like to suggest something we should do, they can say so, which is called making a motion, then somepony else who approves seconds the idea. Then we all vote on if it passes or not. Since there are seven of us, four votes will be enough to pass."

"In that case, I motion we ditch roll call in future meetings."

"Rainbow!"

"Ah second that motion."

"Applejack!"

"All in favor?"

Five hooves and one claw shot into the air in unison. Twilight groaned.

"Motion passed." She banged her gavel on her throne and glared at Rainbow Dash, who smiled smugly in return.

Pinkie Pie grinned and clapped her hooves. "I like this game! Can I go next?"

"The floor is yours, Pinkie." Twilight gestured her hoof forward.

Pinkie stood up and folded her hooves over her back, setting about pacing around the thrones looking at their occupants in turn. "I, Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, have business of utmost importance to discuss with you. As our new government comes into its own, we must have an awareness of how we represent ourselves to other nations, and how they see our blooming society. Thus, I put forth a humble but critical motion that I'm sure you will all agree with give us the positive image we want to put forth to outsiders."

"Yes?" Twilight grinned and waited, her wings flaring slightly.

"I hereby nominate the cupcake as the official royal snack."

Twilight sat back in her throne. "What?"

"Yes. The cupcake comes in many flavors and colors, with many varieties of icing and many types of candies and chocolates as toppings. It is the snack food embodiment of all that Ponyville stands for – diversity between ponies and delicious bakery products!"

"Pardon me, Pinkie," Rarity said, "but while your speech is quite moving, I think the cupcake isn't an ideal symbol for our council. While they are no doubt delicious, they are not exactly healthy."

"If y'all want a snack to represent Ponyville, why not an apple fritter? Sweet Apple Acres has helped the town along for decades."

"I think that's a splendid idea, Applejack."

"Hang on, if we're discussing food, can I nominate an official royal drink?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You're gonna say cider, and Ah'll second that." Applejack gave her a knowing look and Rainbow Dash nodded eagerly, eyes wide.

"Do we really have nothing better to discuss than official royal snacks?" Twilight muttered.

"Twilight, is there anything you'd like to bring up?" Fluttershy asked. Six pairs of eyes turned to focus on her.

Twilight chuckled nervously and glanced between them. "Um… well, to be honest… not really…"

"Alright then, let's vote!" Pinkie Pie said. "All in favor of making apple fritters and cider the official royal snack foods?"

Five hooves and one claw raised into the air, then their owners turned to the one pony not voting.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I abstain. Motion passed." The gavel banged and Pinkie Pie sat back down.

"I'd like to bring up something of considerable importance concerning our image as well," Rarity said.

Twilight sighed and propped her head on her hoof. "The floor is yours."

"Thank you, dear. Now, seeing as how our other three Princesses each have a personal banner for them and their courts, I thought it only fitting we design our own as well." Rarity's horn glowed blue as a rolled-up cloth floated from behind her throne to the center of the room. "I have come prepared with a sample of one such design." She unfurled the fabric in the center of the room, revealing rows of stripes in the color of each of their coats, Twilight's cutie mark in the center.

"That's actually not bad," Twilight said, sitting up straighter. "Would anyone like to second-"

"Just a moment, dear." Rarity cut her off as a second cloth floated over the first. "I made some variants, so we have a proper choice in the matter. This one has a smaller cutie mark emblem, and rather than six stripes, we have twelve, each color repeating once."

"That's nice as well."

"And then there's this one, where we have the colors going in the reverse order top to bottom, and your cutie mark is sideways, if we want to fly it as a flag rather than hang it like a banner. Or…"

"Rarity, how many variants do you have to show us?" Applejack asked. Rarity looked away from the banners in the middle of the thrones, tilting her head up and closing her eyes.

"Applejack, I'm an artist, I cannot confine myself to one work and call it perfect. I need to show the full magnitude of my skill."

"How many?" Twilight repeated.

"Well, there are these four, and just one or two more."

"One or two?"

"… give or take a dozen."

"I motion we pick a banner some other time," Rainbow Dash said.

"Seconded. All in favor?" Twilight asked.

Five hooves shot into the air.

"I oppose!" Spike called.

"Overruled, majority wins." Twilight banged her gavel. Rarity sniffed and gathered up the banners in her magic, wrapping them up and floating them behind her throne to set them next to a pile of other banners that hadn't gotten shown.

"Well, when somepony asks me what my government has done for me lately, I shall say they cast me aside and showed no respect for my creative vision!"

"May I ask something?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight nodded, and she stepped off her throne. "Well, are we going to meet like this often?"

"Every week, ideally."

"In that case, I'd like to ask that I be allowed to bring Angel, and maybe some of my other animals, so they won't get lonely." Fluttershy smiled.

"That seems reasonable. I'll second that," Twilight replied. "All in favor?"

Everyone raised their hooves, or claws as it were, and Twilight banged the gavel. "Settled. Fluttershy, feel free to bring your animals to these council meetings in the future."

"Thanks Twilight." Fluttershy sat down and Rainbow Dash stood up.

"If Fluttershy gets to bring Angel, can I bring Tank?"

"Oh oh, and can I bring Gummy?" Pinkie chimed in.

"No," Twilight replied. "Fluttershy can keep her animals under control, but Gummy will go biting everypony and Tank will fly around crashing into things."

"You can't just say no, what if somepony seconds me?" Rainbow Dash glared.

"I'll second you Rainbow Dash, if you second me so I can bring Gummy," Pinkie said.

"I dunno, Pinkie, Gummy is awfully bite-y these days."

"I'll second you, Pinkie, if you'll second my motion to let me bring Opalescence."

Twilight groaned. "Stop it, this isn't how democracy works!"

"Seems pretty accurate to me," Spike muttered.

"Ah'll make a motion, how about we can all bring our pets if we feel like it?" Applejack said.

"I'll second that," Fluttershy said.

"All in favor?"

Everyone raised their hoof and Spike raised his claw. Twilight said nothing but to grumble under her breath and bang her gavel to announce the passing.

"What next?"

"I have something to bring up," Spike said, standing up. He cleared his throat and pulled out a smaller scroll from the stool full of them. "I'd like to thank a mystery member of the council for helping me write this." Twilight glanced at Rarity to see her smile at him.

"It has come to my attention that there is an inequity in our council room. While you all hold magnificent thrones with the symbols of your cutie marks proudly shown, I have been given a smaller throne with no such identifying mark. Thus, I ask that I, Spi…" Spike made a face and read over the scroll again. "… I, Spikey-Wikey." Spike looked up at Rarity, who nodded and smiled. "I, Spike, be given a larger throne equal in size to yours, with an appropriate identifying symbol on it. Thank you all." Spike tossed one more look at Rarity and sat down.

"You can have mine." Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and took to the air.

"Yours? But that's your cutie mark, Rainbow! That throne is for you!"

"Fine then, while we're here you can be Rainbow Dash too."

"Again?"

"Where will you sit, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked.

"I'll just pull a cloud in and sit up in the rafters." Rainbow flew up higher into the ceiling to prove her point.

"Rainbow, you are not going to sit in a cloud over our heads," Twilight said.

"Why not?"

"Because once we begin the meetings, you'll go to sleep."

"Will not!"

"She probably will."

"Fluttershy!"

"All opposed to Rainbow Dash sitting in a cloud so she can nap?"

Five hooves and one claw raised in unison. Twilight smirked and banged the gavel. "Motion denied." Rainbow Dash scoffed and floated back down to her throne. "All in favor of Spike getting a larger throne?" This time everyone's hoof rose. "Motion passed, we'll look into it over the week." Spike smiled happily as Twilight looked around the room. "Does anypony else have something to bring up?"

The group shook their heads.

"Excellent!" Twilight checked the item off her list. "Then next, we will hear from petitioners. I put out flyers last week that if any resident of Ponyville has an issue to bring before us, today is the day to do it." Twilight turned to the doors to the room, her wings fluttering. "Spike, if you please, open the doors and let the petitioners inside."

Spike nodded and stood up, crossing to the doors. The six mares leaned forward to watch as Spike stood up straight, grabbed the door handles, and flung them open.

A trio of young fillies were laying on the ground in the hallway beyond. As the doors opened, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stood up and trotted into the throne room. Twilight looked past them.

"Anypony else, Spike?"

Spike looked around the hallway. "Nope. That's it."

"That's it?" Twilight sighed. "Well, it's our first meeting, maybe ponies aren't sure if they should approach us yet." Seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders watching her, she stood up straighter and flared her wings out. "Welcome to the Council of Friendship, girls. How can we help you?"

"Applejack and Rarity said they would take us to lunch," Apple Bloom replied.

"But first they had to do this meeting thing with you," Sweetie Belle said.

"And I tagged along to see if Rainbow Dash could come too," Scootaloo finished. Twilight groaned.

"Is it that late in the day already?" Rarity looked at one of the windows and opened it in an aura of magic. "Time sure flies when we're discussing politics."

"Sure girls, Ah'd be happy to come with ya. Rarity?" Applejack looked at her friend.

"Certainly."

"I'm game. Let's go." Rainbow Dash flew from her seat to join the trio as Rarity and Applejack walked over.

"Mind if I come? I'm a little hungry too," Fluttershy said as they passed her.

"Wait!" Twilight called, looking between them. "We haven't finished the meeting yet!"

"I motion we call a break so we can eat lunch!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Ah second that. All in favor?"

The air was filled with five hooves. Twilight looked between the up-stretched hooves, her ear twitching. A few hairs on her mane popped out.

Applejack nodded. "Well, that settles it!" The group, save for Twilight and Spike, moved towards the doors. "You comin' Twi?"

"… veto!"

They turned as Twilight leaned over the arm of her throne to thrust a hoof towards them, eyes wide.

"What was that, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Veto! I veto this vote! Veto!" Twilight repeated.

"Uh, what's that mean?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side.

Twilight stood up and took a breath to compose herself. "I exercise my authority as Princess to override this decision, and decree we shall remain here until all official business has concluded."

"So, anytime we vote on somethin' you don't like, you can just ignore us and do what you want?" Applejack said.

"That seems very unfair, dear, why even bother?"

"Not to mention that vetoing a majority vote should only be done in emergencies, as it's an abuse of your power and authority, and undermines the entire point of a democracy to make decisions through a structured voting system meant to ensure nopony's opinion is given more importance than anypony else's."

Everypony turned to stare at Fluttershy, who shrank back under their gaze.

"And, um, it's not very nice."

"Come on, hun, it's not like there was anypony else to talk to us after the girls anyway. Let's just go get something to eat." Applejack looked at Twilight expectantly, who sat back in her throne and waved her hoof.

"No, I'm fine, you go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah… I gotta finish stuff here for the meeting anyway."

"We'll bring ya back a hayburger," Rainbow Dash said. The group walked down the hall, Rarity's magic shutting the door behind them.

Twilight groaned and lifted a hoof to put the stray hairs of her mane back into place. "Spike, take a letter, please."

Spike ran over to a shelf at the size of the room and grabbed a quill and blank scroll. "Ready!"

"Dear Princess Celestia, the first meeting of the Council of Friendship has concluded. As your former student, loyal friend, and fellow Princess, I'd like to ask you for advice on how to make future meetings more productive without resorting to sealing all the exits from the room. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight finished her dictation and looked back at Spike. Sometime during her speech he had stopped writing and was now giving her an odd expression. "Finish it and send it, please," she said. Spike scribbled down the last words and spewed a blast of flame over the scroll to send it to Celestia.

"Twilight, I think you're… eh, nevermind."

"What, Spike?"

"Forget it."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Finish that sentence…"

Spike gulped and braced himself. "I, uh, just think you're… taking this all… too seriously?" He turned away and closed his eyes, waiting. Several seconds passed with no response, and he cautiously peeked through his claws. Twilight was watching him, smiling softly.

"Thank you for your honesty, Spike. The key to a good friendship is to not keep these things bottled up, and the key to a good government is wise and level-headed leadership."

"Uh… you're welcome, I guess." Spike turned back to her and lowered his claw.

"Now, if I may retort." Twilight teleported in a burst of pink light and reappeared in front of Spike, her eyes wide.

"TOO SERIOUSLY!?"

"That's more like it."

"Spike, I am the Princess of Friendship! I have duties, responsibilities! Not just me, all my friends, including you! How am I supposed to lead a Council of Friendship if my own friends don't want any part of it? That rainbow power was activated by our friendship, what if it ends up just like with Discord where we can't use it because we can't keep a council together? What if Tirek comes back or something worse shows up and destroys Equestria, and it's all because I can't run a governmental body without my friends ditching me to go out for hayburgers!?"

"Uh… that's a long shot?"

Twilight's ear twitched, another hair popping out on her mane.

"I mean, that is, uh…"

Suddenly, Spike gripped his stomach and belched a blast of flame, a scroll popping out of his mouth and falling to the floor.

"Celestia's response!" Twilight grabbed the letter in her magic and sat down on her throne again.

"Oh thank Celestia," Spike muttered, taking the chance to flee the room. Twilight didn't notice, unfurling the scroll to read.

"My dear Princess Twilight,

What you are describing is known as sequestration, and it rarely works to resolve government disputes. Equestria has experimented with such systems in the past, and sequestering the dissenting parties only heightens tensions and further stalls their arrival at a resolution.

I must confess it surprised me when the Tree of Harmony produced a castle for you with seven thrones. Canterlot's monarchy has functioned perfectly well for centuries, and I find delegating matters to a council slows down the government. Though ponies appreciate being able to make their voices heard, sometimes it is simpler for one voice to speak for all of them, if that one voice has the wisdom and experience to do so. I would have imagined you know your friends well enough to act on their behalf when called upon, so I can only surmise that whatever force controls the Tree of Harmony and created your new castle lacks this insight on matters of legal debate.

Regarding your council, I know how much you and your friends truly care about each other and Ponyville. I am sure you will be able to resolve your differences in time. But please, do not feel any pressure to force productivity, think of your friends and their desires first, and your troubles negotiating governmental matters with them will resolve themselves. And do not hesitate to seek my council or Luna's in the future, we would be quite happy to aid you should you need it.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

Twilight finished reading, then read the letter a second time. She groaned and crumpled it up, throwing it over her shoulder. "Ponies need you and Luna to control the sun and moon, of course they're not going to argue with you over how to run the kingdom." She looked around and saw Spike gone, and let out a breath. Standing up, Twilight exited into the hallway.

"Clearly, there is only one thing to do."

Thinking over her plan, Twilight started up the steps to the library.

"You think Twilight is still angry we went out to lunch instead of meeting with her?" Pinkie asked as the five mares walked down the hall, the doors to the throne room closed ahead of them. Outside it was the late afternoon, after taking the Cutie Mark Crusaders to lunch they had gotten caught up in other errands together and lost track of time.

"That girl is always fussin' over stuff like this, she just needed time to cool down," Applejack replied.

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm sure if we just apologize and offer to finish the meeting with her, she'll understand."

The five reached the doors, and Rarity knocked gently. "Twilight? Are you here?"

The doors swung open in an aura of violet magic, revealing Twilight standing in the middle of the thrones, smiling proudly. Around her were stacks of books, each stretching over her head.

"Welcome back, girls!"

"Uh, Twilight? What is all this?" Applejack asked.

"I owe everypony an apology," Twilight said. "I tried to force us to become a civilized, forward-thinking governmental body, when we clearly aren't ready for that level of responsibility. In preparation for the meeting I read all these books about the history of Equestrian politics and theories about different forms of government and the ethics of law, and I got carried away with it."

"That's quite alright," Rarity said, looking at the books suspiciously, "but why are these books here now?"

"Well, I realized you weren't as prepared as I was for all we have to do at these meetings. I put a lot of thought into how to structure ourselves as a governing body, but I overlooked that a democracy like this demands its members be educated and informed, or else they can't make educated and informed decisions." Twilight's smile widened. "So, to better ourselves for the sake of our council, I propose we read over these materials together!"

The five mares stared blankly at Twilight's smile, her gaze flitting between them to make eye contact. Then Pinkie Pie fell on her side and starting laughing. The group looked at her as she rolled over, banging a hoof on the ground.

"Um, Pinkie, I think she's serious," Fluttershy said.

Pinkie had tears in her eyes as she looked up at Fluttershy. "Haha… what?" Pinkie looked at Twilight, who nodded. "Oh... I thought it sounded too funny to be one of your jokes."

"Twi, we really do wanna do a good job at this government thing," Applejack said, walking towards her, "but we are not reading through all these books."

"Of course not, don't be silly! I just bookmarked the most important passages, so we don't have to read all the way through. And I made worksheets we can fill out as we read to help reinforce what we've learned!" Twilight gestured her hoof towards a series of scrolls next to her throne. "If we start now, we can finish by next week's meeting!"

Rarity gave her a worried look. "When you say 'next week's meeting'…"

"I mean if we stay here for the rest of the week, taking breaks for meals and sleep, of course, we can finish all of our reading in time to have next week's meeting exactly on schedule."

The mares resumed staring in silence.

"So, shall we start with Aristrotle's Nicomarean Ethics, or the Code of the Neighsilim? They're some of the oldest texts I have on ancient Equestrian law and ethics, and we should have a good foundation in tradition before we move on to more contemporary materials." Twilight floated the two books in question on either side of her and looked between her friends for a response. Applejack sighed and came forward to put a hoof over Twilight's neck.

"Look, sugarcube, ya know we love ya, there's no words fer all the things we've been through together and what they've done fer our friendship. But, if you think we're gonna spend all week here with you readin' these books, then Ah think Ah speak for everypony here when Ah say this… you are outta yer buckin' mind."

A hair popped out on Twilight's mane. She laughed slightly, her ear twitching. "Does anypony second Applejack's motion?"

"I was thinking more like 'what the hay is wrong with you' than the 'bucking mind' bit, but yeah, pretty much," Rainbow Dash said.

"Twilight, we want to help you with your new duties, and we understand you're taking this very seriously, we do too. But… no." Rarity forced a smile. "Just no."

Twilight took a deep breath and stepped forward out of Applejack's grasp. "Then you leave me no choice. I'm sorry everypony, I didn't want it to come to this. But I am prepared to do what I must."

"You're going to veto us again?" Pinkie asked.

"I am staging a coup."

"A what-now?" Rainbow looked to Rarity, who held up her hooves.

"I didn't want to do it, but as Princess, I must stage a coup. If the current government will not do its duty to its citizens by educating their leaders on law and ethics, then I am declaring the Council of Friendship and associated governmental bodies dissolved, and am instituting a monarchy ruled by myself until such time as the former members of the council come to their senses."

The five ponies looked at each other as Twilight's words sunk in.

"So… you now rule alone," Rainbow said slowly, "and if we want to go back to being a council, we have to read those books."

"That's correct." Twilight nodded. "I hope you all understand why I'm doing this."

Applejack smiled and patted Twilight on the back. "G'nite, hun. Try and get some sleep."

Twilight's jaw dropped as they turned to leave.

"Yes, and don't worry about the books. We'll come by tomorrow and put them back for you." Rarity said over her shoulder.

Twilight's ear twitched and she ran to the doorway. "W-Wait! I didn't mean it! It was an idle threat, an empty promise! Come back!" She looked at the stacks of books in the room behind her, then turned her head back. "I'll cut down the reading list! Most of the pre-Nightmare Moon texts are obsolete anyway, that's almost a third of the books we don't need to look at!"

"We'll see you tomorrow, Twilight," Fluttershy called back. They rounded the corner to the exit, and Twilight let out a groan, turning and walking back inside. She looked at the pile of books and grabbed one from the middle of a stack, letting the ones on top fall over as she pulled it out. She flipped the book open to a bookmarked chapter.

"Let's see if there's a precedent for abdication…"

"Hey Twilight, did I hear the gang come back?"

Twilight looked up from her book, her eyes lighting up.

"Spike!"

Twilight spun around and grinned. Spike was standing in the doorway with a bowl of gemstones, chewing a sapphire. At Twilight's movement he swallowed.

"You okay, Twilight?"

There was a thud, and Spike jumped and looked behind him to see the doors of the throne room slammed shut. An aura of magic surrounded him and floated him over to his throne.

"I'm glad you're here, Spike, because we have important work to do." Twilight sat down next to him, still smiling.

Spike leaned away from her. "We do?"

"Yes. First, I am going to explain to you what sequestration means. Then…" Twilight floated her copy of Nicomarean Ethics over to her. "We have some reading to do."

A minute later, the hallway out of the castle echoed with the sound of screams and claws pounding on the door to the throne room.

Second Meeting

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The Council of Friendship

Twilight banged her gavel on the arm of her throne three times. "Hear ye, hear ye! The second Ponyville Council of Friendship is in session!" She looked around the room and forced a smile. "Normally, we would proceed to roll call now, but somepony voted to 'ditch it'." Rainbow Dash nodded smugly. "So, we will instead move on to the minutes of our last meeting. Spike, if you please."

Spike picked up a scroll and cleared his throat as he held it in front of him and unrolled it. "In our last meeting, we voted to no longer call roll, to declare the apple fritter and cider the official royal snacks, to allow us to bring our pets to the meetings if we wanted, and to allow me to get a larger throne." Spike looked behind him at his seat. "Which apparently we forgot about over the week. After that, we ended the council so we could have lunch."

"Didn't Twilight disband the council and declare herself ruling monarch?" Rarity asked.

Twilight chuckled sheepishly. "Well, sort of. But Spike pointed out that since the council was not in session when I declared the dissolution, its legality could easily be questioned should somepony protest about it to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, and I might face consequences for attempting to pass legislature without the consent of the currently active government. The only alternative to staging a successful coup without being in council would be a show of military power to disband the council by force, which obviously I'm not going to resort to."

The ponies looked at Spike. "You really thought of that yourself?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I spent five hours with her that night reading legal textbooks. I needed something to keep her occupied while I escaped," Spike replied.

Applejack tilted her head. "So ya sold us out to save yerself?"

"Five. Hours. Don't judge me."

"Twilight, darling," Rarity raised a hoof to get her attention. "We agreed to return and try this again, but I must ask, if we are to remain a council, do you truly intend to have us read all those books you had with you?"

"No. I've been in contact with Princess Celestia, and she agreed that forcing you to educate yourselves on laws and ethics was unfair to you, since we all have lives to lead outside the council chambers, and legally speaking I cannot force you to read a thing. However, I do have a recommended reading list of materials you should consider looking over in your spare time." Twilight floated a checklist over to each of them. "Now that that's been taken care of, does anypony have new business to bring up?"

Rainbow Dash tossed her checklist over the arm of her throne. "I motion if that Twilight goes nuts again, we can vote to remove her from the council."

Twilight let out a cry of protest. "I did not 'go nuts' last time. I do not go nuts, period!"

"Want It Need It spell."

"That was one time!"

"Thank Celestia. Literally."

"I'm going to oppose, if you don't mind," Fluttershy said, "Twilight is obviously more experienced with the history of law than us, and her opinion is very well-informed."

"Thank you, Fluttershy." Twilight smiled happily.

"Although, I do have to ask, Twilight… you want us to take these meetings seriously, but, I was thinking…"

"Yes?"

"If we're the Council of Friendship, then, um… what exactly do you want us to do?"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, and paused, her eyes widening.

"Uh, she does have a point there, Twi. What's the Council of Friendship supposed to do?" Applejack looked over at her.

"For that matter, if you now have an official title as Princess, then, do we actually rule anything?" Rarity added. "Are we the rulers of Ponyville, or some other nation that hasn't been specified to us?"

Twilight remained held in her position, half-ready to speak but her mouth frozen. Her eyes darted around the room, the others looking at her expectantly. Her expression twisted into one of confusion. "I don't know!"

"I'm outta here." Rainbow Dash flew into the air and moved towards one of the windows.

"Wait!" Twilight's magic lit up on the window as Rainbow tried to open it. "We can figure it out. See, this is why we have these meetings, so we can figure out the solutions to problems like this. We need to govern ourselves before we can govern the kingdom. This is good! We have some direction now. We have an objective!"

"So the first thing we have to do is figure out what we have to do?" Rainbow asked, sitting back down.

"Yes! I am the Princess of Friendship, so, presumably, I rule over friendship, and my duties are to spread friendship across Equestria…" Twilight made a face. "And I have absolutely no idea how to do it!" She turned to the books beside the throne and floated the top one over, flipping through it rapidly.

"We could start by examining racial equality." Spike tapped a claw on the arm of his throne.

"Well, lately tensions between Canterlot and the griffon king have been rather high. Perhaps we could be envoys to foreign nations?" Rarity asked.

"Or maybe we're just supposed to travel Equestria spreading friendship to people who don't have it," Applejack suggested.

"I love that idea! We could become a traveling band, dedicated to uniting Equestria through the power of friendship and rock and roll!" Pinkie Pie produced a drum set from behind her throne and grinned, drum sticks held expectantly over the instrument.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, that is the dumbest idea you've ever had."

"Yay, a new record!" Pinkie banged out a rim shot.

"Well, we can summon our rainbow power at will from the castle now. Perhaps we're supposed to do something with that?" Rarity suggested.

"Like what?" Applejack replied.

Rarity shrugged. "I don't know; it was just a suggestion. It's not as though I understand how this 'rainbow power' works."

"Do we know how our powers have ever worked?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Look at the Elements, Luna got banished to the moon the first time, then turned back to good the second time, and they turned Discord to stone. Was there some sort of switch on the back we never found?"

"Maybe the elements are powered by the will of their wielders," Fluttershy said. "I mean, I never really wanted to hurt Princess Luna, even as Nightmare Moon."

"So we fire up the rainbow friendship beam and ask it to spread love and tolerance across Equestria?"

"No, we are not using the rainbow power for anything," Twilight said, looking up from her book. "We only used the Elements in times of dire need, this new power should be no different."

"If you have a better idea, darling, please tell us," Rarity said. Twilight shut the book and thought, tilting her eyes up to the ceiling.

"Well… if we're the Council of Friendship… perhaps our duty is to consult ponies on matters of troubles between friends?"

Spike raised a claw. "If that's the case, I have an idea for a matter we can resolve."

"Yes, Spike?"

"I was promised a bigger throne by my six closest friends and they forgot about me."

There was a flash of violet light, and Twilight and Spike switched places.

"We'll get you your own during the week, now please try to be more productive," Twilight said, glaring. "Moving on, if we're to allow other ponies to consult us on matters of friendship, how should we start?"

"Well darling, you already put up those flyers," Rarity began. "Perhaps our petitioners have matters of friendship we can look over?"

Twilight lit up. "Yes! Brilliant idea! Spike, please open the doors and let this week's petitioners in." Twilight smiled happily as Spike stood and moved to the doors. He flung them open and revealed the hallway beyond.

"Oh. Hi Mayor Mare!" Spike stepped aside as the official stepped into the room, looking around in awe. A saddle bag was slung over her back. Twilight composed herself, taking a breath.

"Greetings, Madame Mayor. Welcome to the Council of Friendship. How can we be of aid to you?"

The mayor turned to Twilight. "Greetings to you, Princess Twilight. I have a most concerning issue that needs resolution as soon as possible."

"Of course! We'd be happy to help!"

The mayor reached into her saddle bag and held out a piece of parchment. "Would you care to explain this, please?"

Twilight took the parchment in her magic and made a face as she floated it in front of her and saw what it was. "This is one of the flyers I put up around Ponyville last week." She turned it around to show the others. The poster bore Twilight's cutie mark above an announcement for anypony with concerns to bring before the Princess to present themselves to her at the listed date and time to receive a decision.

"I see. I did hear it was you, but needed clarification. I must ask further then, what is the meaning of this announcement?"

Twilight tried to stay professional and hide her confusion. "I think it's fairly self-explanatory."

Mayor Mare sighed. "Princess Twilight, if I may be straightforward in this; am I still the democratically elected governor of Ponyville?"

"Of course!"

"Then, what is all this?" The mayor gestured her hoof around the room. "I remain in my office, yet you hold the highest rank of government our system allows, you are now stationed in a castle on the outskirts of Ponyville, and you form this 'Council of Friendship' and encourage Ponyville's citizens to consult you for resolutions of trouble. Yet you have not spoken to me or any other officials about this seeming change of leadership."

"Well… um…" Twilight laughed nervously. "I think there's been some confusion here."

"Nope, I'm following this just fine, and it's getting good!" Pinkie Pie munched a hoof-full of popcorn from a bucket in her lap and looked between the two.

"Madame Mayor, if I may." Rarity stepped off her throne. "Our royal council is not meant to override your authority, or the authority of any other official in Ponyville. We have been discussing our place in Equestrian law just before you arrived, and we have decided to only consult ponies on matters of friendship."

Mayor Mare nodded. "I see. Then you would not be attempting to subvert our system of law by overruling Judge Powdered Wig's verdicts? Because he came to me yesterday and said three unhappy clients in the past week have stormed out declaring they will seek council at a higher court. I spoke to one of them before coming here and they indicated this council is what they meant."

"As Twilight said, there seems to be some confusion." Rarity smiled and put a hoof over the mayor's neck. "Our wish, our reason for existing as a council, is not to disrupt the harmony of government in Equestria, but to spread friendship through the land. We would pass decisions on nothing beyond this."

"One of the defendants was a young mare accused by her brother of staging the destruction of a friend's chariot to drive them apart. Would this fall under your council's jurisdiction?"

Rarity paused and thought, glancing at Twilight. She took notice and cleared her throat to get the mayor's attention.

"Since this court case concerns friendship between two Ponyville citizens, strictly speaking, yes, we would reserve the right to preside over the legality of this conflict."

The mayor raised an eyebrow. "Powdered Wig ruled against the defendant, ordering her to pay for repairs to the chariot. Would you overrule this decision?"

Twilight's eyes darted away. "Well, I'd have to review the facts and speak to the involved parties first."

"Then you intend to hold legal court here?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Better not have, 'cause Ah ain't up fer that," Applejack spoke up. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

Twilight groaned and slapped a hoof to her forehead. "How about this? Madame Mayor, I swear on my title as Princess, we will remain separate as a council from Ponyville's government. Any decisions you or any other legal or elected official make, we will not overturn, and we will not pass any motion that would conflict with a decision made by the same offices. Is this acceptable?"

"Very much so, thank you, Princess." Mayor Mare bowed her head. "Though, there is one more matter then, if that is the decision."

"Yes?"

"If your Council of Friendship is not going to have any input on Ponyville's system of government and law, and you do not rule over us, I must ask… what does your council do?"

Two hairs popped out on Twilight's mane.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike approached her, and jumped as her magic raised the gavel on the arm of her throne.

Twilight glared around the room, her ear twitching. "I'm declaring a recess! Anyone who opposes, too bad, veto!" The gavel banged, and the second after, Twilight teleported away in a violet flash.

Mayor Mare blinked and looked around the remaining ponies in confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice, Princess Celestia."

"But of course, Twilight, I am always happy to entertain you." The solar princess poured three cups of tea, floating one over to Twilight across the table and another to Princess Luna sitting beside her on the balcony of her room. "You said in your letter you needed to speak to me about something urgent."

"Yes, an important legal matter has come up in Ponyville and I need your help," Twilight said. She blew on her tea and took a sip.

"Is this about your efforts to tear down this silly 'democracy' you attempted so you may establish monarchial dominance over Ponyville?" Luna asked. Twilight looked at Celestia.

"You told her about that?"

Before Celestia could respond, Luna did. "My sister has been quite forthcoming with the letters you and your friends have written her over the years. To be honest I was quite disappointed when your friends switched to this 'journal' system after your coronation, though I did come to appreciate the superior organization the format allowed. Speaking of, Celestia, when next we see Discord I must thank him for retrieving that journal, it made for fascinating reading."

Celestia sighed, looking from Luna to Twilight, her former student's jaw hanging open and her eyes wide. "The night court at Canterlot can get a little dull. Luna needed something to occupy her time, and Daring Do only lasted her a week."

"So you let her read my letters? The ones I sent to you in confidentiality?"

"You wrote her about my troubles making friends on Nightmare Night," Luna replied. Celestia just watched the exchange, hiding a smile behind her cup as she took a sip.

Twilight sputtered. "Yes, but, that was about me too! The things I wrote in those letters are private! Or they were, anyway."

"What was it you wrote when your friend Rarity was jealous of Fluttershy? 'Being a good friend means being able to keep a secret, but you should never be afraid to share your true feelings with a good friend'. Do you mean to say we are not friends, Twilight, that you cannot share your secrets with me?"

Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to form a response. "… ah ponyfeathers."

"Twilight, before we are further dragged into other subjects, perhaps you would like to get the matter that brought you here?" Celestia suggested.

Twilight took a breath. "Yes, thank you. I was holding my second council meeting, and Fluttershy pointed out something very concerning… what exactly is the Princess of Friendship supposed to do?" Celestia chuckled and leaned forward to answer, and paused, her eyes popping slightly. Twilight nodded. "Yeah, that was my reaction too."

"I could have sworn we assigned you some royal duties." Luna put a hoof to her chin and thought. "Was it you we tasked to deliver the griffon terrorists we captured last month back to their homeland?"

"Um, no. And, terrorists?" Twilight tilted her head.

"I suppose it must have been Cadance we gave that job to."

Celestia frowned and turned to her sister. "Ah, Luna? We never spoke of this to Cadance."

"Pardon me, terrorists?"

"Didn't we? Oh my… please excuse me, sister, Twilight." Luna turned from the table, heading to the door.

"Is everything alright, Luna?" Celestia looked up as she left.

"Quite alright. I just believe I now need to write a letter of apology to the griffon king… and a letter of command to the prisons." Luna shut the door to Celestia's room behind her, and Celestia shook her head and turned back to Twilight.

"I confess I was not fully sure what responsibilities to give you as a Princess of Friendship. When you come to be in a position of power, Twilight, and other ponies look up to and admire you… you may develop a routine of saying inspiring things that have little real meaning to them. I recommend you not to pick up my habits in this." Celestia noticed Twilight staring at her. "Is something wrong?"

"Forgive my confusion, Princess, but can we back up fifteen seconds to when we were talking about griffon terrorists!?"

"They were protesting the results of the Equestria Games, asserting the increased size of griffons gave them a handicap in some events we did not properly compensate them for. They attempted to infiltrate Canterlot and set fire to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, but we apprehended them. The griffon king demanded their release as he is sympathetic to their cause, and I agreed to avoid an international incident. Though given Luna's departure, my efforts may have failed."

"I see…" Twilight took a breath. "Maybe Rarity was on to something with that ambassador idea."

"Pardon?"

"Nevermind. So is there any advice you could give me?"

Celestia tilted her head and gave Twilight an odd look. "Twilight, recall when you assumed the role of Princess of Friendship, you declared you would spread the magic of friendship across Equestria."

"Yes, but, how?" Twilight gave her mentor a pleading look.

"I presumed you had some measure of plan in mind when you decided this."

Twilight laughed nervously. "Well, maybe I got swept up in the moment. The truth is, I have a title now, and lead a council, but… we're not really doing much."

"That sounds fairly standard for democratic councils."

"Forgive my forthrightness, Princess, but it sucks."

Celestia chuckled. "As I said, why the Tree of Harmony would bestow seven thrones to your castle confuses me. Monarchies are so much easier."

"Are they really?" Twilight hesitated, looked at her tea cup. "Not to offend, Princess, but don't some ponies protest you and Luna holding all the power in government while they're limited to petitions?"

Celestia smiled. "Twilight, we have a separate line for petitioners wishing to discuss alternative forms of government."

"And do they ever bring up anything worth trying?"

The princess took a drink of tea before answering. "I don't know; we organize them into a separate line for Kibitz to tutor them on the history of Equestrian law under the pretense of making sure they understand what they are suggesting. I understand his lectures can last well into the night. Not that anypony has endured all the way through to time him; invariably they run out of patience and leave. We've coined the term 'fillybuster' for it."

"That sounds familiar," Twilight deadpanned.

"I know it may seem a bit tyrannical of me, but remember, Twilight, Luna and I ruled for centuries even before the coming of Nightmare Moon. I have long seen every argument for change and most of them fail to convince me that the positive impacts outweigh the negative. And I must act for the good of my ponies, even if that means turning a deaf ear to their protests of my methods. I have over a millennium of wisdom in ruling; they do not."

"So then what am I supposed to do with the Council of Friendship?"

Celestia gave Twilight a sly smile. "You could try staging a coup again."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

Twilight groaned. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to lend me a few guards to station around the castle to at least feign a show of military power?"

"Well, since they would be my guards occupying your castle, I would be the one staging the coup to remove you and the council from power. Have you given any thought to training your own guard corps?"

"We wield the most powerful magic in Equestria. I'm not sure we need them."

"A fair point." Celestia leaned in. "And just between Princesses, they've never been of much use to me either."

"I've noticed." Twilight sipped her tea and thought back to the many times the Canterlot guards had attempted to protect Celestia and the castle. Most of her recollections seemed to end with them slumping to the floor unconscious.

Celestia tilted her eyes to look at the ceiling, thinking. "Well, if you are opposed to a military option, and I cannot say I blame you for such under the circumstances, then you could dissolve the council while in session so it is fully legal. Strictly speaking, Twilight, you are not obligated to do anything as a Princess. Cadance was a Princess long before she ruled the Crystal Empire and I did not pressure her to find any sort of royal duties to keep her busy."

"Maybe. But going back to my normal life just seems so… boring. I mean, if I'm not going to have any new responsibilities and just continue my day-to-day routine like I always have, what was even the point of making me a Princess?"

Celestia gave Twilight a wary look. "Twilight, I'd really rather not bring up that topic of discussion, if you please."

Twilight sighed. "Right. I just wish I knew what to do. The Tree of Harmony obviously had some sort of plan in mind giving us these seven thrones to rule together. I don't suppose you know of a spell to let us talk to the spirit of the Tree so we can sort this out?"

"I'm afraid not. Tree-talking spells are a surprisingly obscure area of magic few ponies show interest in expanding."

"I'll bet. Then I suppose for now we're stuck arguing in circles with no agreement on what to do." Twilight waved a hoof in the air. "Yay for democracy."

Celestia smiled. "I'm sure you'll find your path soon, Twilight. But do not worry yourself if it takes more time than you'd wish. Government is not easy. I of all ponies can tell you. When you reach a decision, let it be one you have confidence in."

Twilight thought and looked up as Celestia took a drink of tea. "You said Canterlot has experimented with more democratic systems before. How'd they turn out?"

"Dreadfully, I'm afraid. Every few centuries when I need a year or so of rest, I institute a democratic assembly. I form a council of prominent Canterlot nobles and allow them to preside over lesser matters in my stead. It often considerably shortens the line of petitioners every day, and so allows me a degree of relaxation in my royal duties, as well as ridding Kibitz of the need to lecture dissenting ponies every day. But they only last a few years at best, the councils always break down into squabbling and red tape and resentment and I disband them because nothing is getting done."

"That sounds familiar too," Twilight replied. "I guess I see the benefit of keeping government radicals occupied. A revolution could destroy the country at this point."

"It nearly did, once. Many centuries ago, a pony was discussing an electoral system with myself and Canterlot's nobles. Candidates from across Equestria could be nominated to rule the kingdom and would be voted upon by all citizens via a secret ballot. The Princesses would be as figureheads that would raise the sun and moon, while the political power would rest in the hooves of this elected 'President'."

"Fascinating. What happened to her?"

Celestia made a sound in her throat as Twilight sipped her tea.

"I banished her to the moon."

Twilight spat her tea over the table. Celestia raised a barrier to shield herself, tea running down to the floor. Twilight coughed and stared at Celestia in horror.

"You mean, all this time, you banished your sister to the moon because she challenged your political power!?"

"Twilight, you deeply offend me." Celestia kept her tone even. "My sister fell prey to dark forces and transformed into Nightmare Moon to create an everlasting night. I banished her to the moon for the sake of my subjects… although, Luna was beginning to talk about some very disturbing concepts regarding government and law. Nightmare Moon's conquest of Equestria would likely have been a disaster for reasons beyond a never-ending night. Though I cannot imagine a democracy thriving for very long under one of her mindset."

Twilight shook her head, her face in her hooves. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. I feel like I shouldn't be."

"Welcome to politics, Twilight."

Third Meeting

View Online

The Council of Friendship

Twilight banged her gavel on the arm of the throne and cleared her throat. "Hear ye, hear ye! The third Ponyville Council of Friendship is now in session!"

"Indeed, and let us all rise to salute our flag as we begin our duties!" Rarity smiled and stood up from her seat, bringing a hoof to her head in salute. Her horn lit up blue.

"Rarity, we don’t have… a… flag?" As Twilight spoke, she saw a flagpole descend from the ceiling with a flag flying from it in an aura of blue magic, displaying a six-pointed pink star over a blue image of a tree on a purple background. Twilight’s jaw dropped. "Where did that come from?"

"It was design nine, darling. I tried to show samples at our first meeting, but was ignored. So I took matters into my own hooves."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "As Ah recall, we never actually approved any of those designs."

"As you wish. I have the other fifteen with me now if we’d like to review."

"Ah motion we stick with this one."

"Seconded," Rainbow Dash said, raising her hoof. Everypony else raised their hoof as well.

Rarity smiled. "Excellent."

Rainbow looked at the flag pole as the flag was furled around it and the pole retracted into the ceiling. "How did you even install that?"

Twilight turned in her throne to glare at Spike. He looked away and coughed lightly. "Don’t look at me. She could have done that any time."

"Uh-huh."

"So, what’s on our agenda today, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, I worked out a new policy with Mayor Mare." Twilight turned her head and lifted a sack at the side of the room, bringing it closer. "In an attempt to actually do something productive with our time, she has authorized me to review the weekly citizen’s suggestions she gets to various changes to be made to Ponyville. We will weed out the silly ones and return the valid ones to her."

"Um," Pinkie Pie raised her hoof. "There might be a letter in there suggesting every other Tuesday be declared ‘Cupcake Fight Tuesdays’. If there is, can we vote on that one first?"

"If we get to it," Twilight replied with a smirk. She pulled out a letter and unfolded it. "To the Mayor of Ponyville. It has come to my attention that the taxation on Sweet Apple Acres is unfairly high. As stated in the taxation laws for this region of Equestria, the tax laws are at least fifty percent higher than they ought to be as to be decided on the total land area of the property. Furthermore, given the age of Sweet Apple Acres as a property, I wish to apply for the site to be considered a historical site, with associated reduced taxation status and special rights in town proceeds given to the legal owner of the property, as set down in the Ponyville Charter upon its founding. I await your response eagerly. Signed…" Twilight pulled her head back. "Mr. B. McIntosh, D. F. P.?"

Applejack groaned and pulled her hat over her eyes. "Ah told ‘im not to write that letter…"

"What’s the ‘D. F. P.’ stand for?" Rarity asked.

"Doctorate of Farming and Produce from Canterlot U."

"I didn’t know that course existed."

"Neither did Granny Smith an’ me."

"I think I’ll set that aside for the mayor." Twilight folded up the letter and placed it aside, and withdrew another one from the bag. "Dear Mayor Mare, this is the third written request I have sent you regarding the abolishment of that awful castle. I am aware it belongs to our princess, but it is greatly obscuring the view from my poolside, and who knows what the property values are like for it. Sincerely… Diamond Tiara." Twilight rolled her eyes and crumpled the letter up. "Spike, find a junk folder to put this in."

"With pleasure," Spike replied, catching the letter as Twilight tossed it to him.

"Okay, let’s see… Dear Mayor Mare, I wish to advise you on something of utmost urgency regarding your princess." Twilight frowned and kept reading. "Your dear Princess Twilight requires the aid of a medical professional immediately to remove the…" her ears flopped over and her eyes dulled. "To remove the draconequus hanging out of Spike’s ear."

"How generous of somepony to give you such a warning."

Twilight grunted and saw a flash beside her. She turned and saw a familiar mismatched set of limbs emerging from Spike’s ear. Spike followed her gaze and screamed.

"Discord!? What are you doing in my ear?"

"Digging for treasure." The miniature Discord waved a shovel in the air. "You won’t believe the things I’ve found in here. Honestly, Spike, I’m doing you a favour cleaning up all this clutter." With another flash of light, Discord appeared at full size behind Spike’s throne and dumped a shovel full of dirt on him. Spike sputtered and dug his way out of it, falling to the floor and shaking himself off.

Twilight glared. "Discord, what are you doing here besides annoying me?"

"I do believe you just answered your own question, Twilight." Discord came over to her and patted her on the head. "By the way, congratulations on the new Council of Friendship, a brilliant idea. You girls are such good friends, it only makes sense to help spread your wisdom to others." Discord looked at the flag hanging from the ceiling and frowned. "The décor could use some work, though." He snapped his fingers, and the flag changed to an image of Discord’s torso giving a thumbs-up.

Rarity shrieked and glared at him. "You put that back the way it was this instant!"

"So much for the ‘reformed’ thing again, huh?" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"Come now, Rainbow Dash, I’m just having a little fun." Discord pouted. "Surely you, with that vast repertoire of pranks you love to use, can sympathize?" Rainbow grunted and folded her hooves, but didn’t reply.

"Discord." Discord looked at Twilight again. "Again, why are you here?"

"Oh, very well." A throne with the image of a glass of chocolate milk on the back appeared beside Twilight’s throne, and Discord sat down in it. "Princess Luna and Celestia informed me of this little council you have, and I decided to come and have a look at how things are going."

"We were just reviewing the letters to the Mayor. As part of our duties, we’re going to help her review petitions and suggestions from citizens, to reduce her workload."

"Wonderful! Can I read one?" Discord’s eyelashes grew longer and he fluttered them at her.

Twilight groaned. "Go ahead."

Discord picked up a letter from the stack, unfolded it, and cleared his throat. "To the Mayor of Ponyville. I am writing to offer you a suggestion regarding shifting the payment system for the Ponyville mail delivery services, from a bit-based to a baked-goods based one. I personally think muffins would be optimal, but a selection of goods would also—"

"Discord!" Discord stopped reading and saw Twilight watching him. "Read the real letter."

"That was the real letter." Discord help it out to her.

Twilight read for a moment, and then chuckled sheepishly. "Well… how about that? Somepony really likes muffins. Um, Spike, junk pile, please."

"Sure thing." Spike took the letter from Discord with a dirty look, and sat back on the small bit of his throne not covered by dirt.

"Next one." As Twilight took the letter from the pile, Discord plucked it from her and unfolded it. "Hey!" Twilight scowled, but Discord ignored her and began to read.

"Oh, this is a good one, Twilight. It’s for you." He grinned at her.

"For me?" Twilight’s horn lit up violet and the letter glowed with the same light.

"Hush and be patient." Discord reached out and tapped a claw on her horn. It sparked and fizzled, the light flickering out. Twilight cried out indignantly and touched a hoof to her horn. "As I was saying," Discord said, turning back to the letter. "Dear Princess Twilight, I’m sorry I didn’t have enough time to say hello to you on your last visit to the Crystal Empire. Congratulations on your victory over Tirek and the arrival of your new castle. Perhaps the next time you visit the Crystal Empire, we could do a little catching up? Princess Cadance tells me you seem to know me and I’m curious as to how. Sincerely, Flash Sentry, Royal Guard of the Crystal Empire."

Twilight blushed. "F-Flash Sentry?"

"Ooooo, Twilight’s got an admirer!" Pinkie grinned.

"Is he that dashing pegasus with the blue mane we saw?" Rarity asked. "You’ve an eye for the stallions, dear."

"It’s not like that!" Twilight shook her head. "I just met a guy named Flash Sentry in the other world, and he was nice and kinda cute, and I think that pegasus is his Equestrian counterpart."

"Hold on just a moment," Discord said, lowering the letter. "Other world?"

"Didn’t anypony tell ya?" Applejack asked. "Twilight has a magic mirror she can use to travel to another world. There’s different versions of us over there, except instead of ponies, we’re some weird two-legged things without hooves."

"Ugh, sounds hideous." Discord turned his head and gagged.

"It’s not so bad once you get used to it," Twilight said, shrugging. "On the one hoof, the loss of magic is a pain, but hands are useful once you learn to use them."

"Tell me, Twilight," Discord began, "is there a counterpart of me in this other world?"

"For the love of both Celestias, I hope not," Twilight deadpanned.

"Oh, sure, you don’t have time to look for your friend on the other side, but you have enough time to make a new coltfriend."

"Flash Sentry is not a coltfriend!" Twilight shouted.

"I should hope not." Discord sniffed. "Why, imagine if word got out that Princess Twilight was dating some common guard pony. The scandal, the humiliation! I can picture the papers now!" Discord snapped his fingers, and a floating newspaper appeared in front of Twilight with a picture of her kissing Flash Sentry on the front page. The headline read ‘Royalty Slums It With Guard’.

"Discord!" Twilight jumped off her throne and stomped the paper to the floor. "I am not dating anypony, if I chose to the scandal would hardly be what I cared about, and—" She stopped and looked down at the paper, specifically the picture. "How do you know what Flash Sentry looks like?

"Honestly, Twilight, everything else I can do and you get hung up on that? You really don’t give me enough credit." Discord reached up and grabbed a zipper that had somehow appeared floating about him, and pulled it down. A slit opened up in the middle of the air revealing a portal, and a pegasus guard with a blue mane looked out from it, surprised. Twilight did a double take.

"Flash?"

"This is what I call ‘A Flash of Sentry’." Discord zipped the portal back up and the zipper vanished. "By the way, did you know Shining Armor sings in the shower? Not well, but he tries."

"Discord, do not spy on my brother in the shower!"

"Would you rather I spy on Cadance in the shower?"

"NO!"

"… Oh dear, spy on Flash Sentry? I didn’t peg you to be into that sort of thing, Twilight."

Twilight groaned. "Can we just stay on topic? We are here to conduct official and serious government business, not discuss my non-existent love life."

"Last I checked, this is about as official and serious as we’ve ever been," Spike said. Twilight turned her head and snorted at him.

"I do have official business to bring up, actually," Discord said.

"Of course you do."

"Tell me, what is the state of this enchanted mirror Twilight used to go to the other world?"

"Well, she used a magic book to open the portal for good," Applejack replied. "Now she can enter the other world any time she likes, and Sunset Shimmer is on the other side makin’ sure it’s safe on that end."

"I see. And this mirror is here, now?"

"You are not going through it," Twilight growled.

"Perish the thought. I just mean, if there is a portal between two worlds open permanently, perhaps this would be a good time to draft an immigration policy." A desk appeared in front of Discord and he unfurled a piece of parchment over it.

"Immigration policy?"

"Yes. If we’re going to maintain such a portal, we must keep track of who has come through it between worlds, and who has authorization to use it."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "That… is actually a good idea."

"I know." Discord pulled his horn off his head and unscrewed the end, revealing the tip of a pen. "Now, who from Equestria has passed through it?"

"Well, me, a couple of times. Sunset Shimmer. The Sirens."

Discord scribbled the names down. "Anypony else?"

"I’m not sure. Star Swirl had access to the mirror for years, and then there’s the thousand years after that. I don’t know if anypony kept records of what it was used for, or by who."

"Hm, we’ll have to look into that. Where are the entrances to the portal located?"

"In this world, the mirror is currently located in my study in the east wing of the castle. In the other world, the portal is a statue on the entrance to a local school."

Discord looked up. "Seriously? You leave the entrance to an extra-dimensional portal in a public place?"

"It’s not my fault," Twilight protested. "I guess that’s just how Star Swirl designed it."

"Of course it is. You ponies are so irresponsible. At least when I ran things I kept Equestria orderly, then Celestia and Luna take over and everything goes to madness."

Around the room, seven jaws dropped. "Orderly?" Twilight screeched. "You’re a being of chaos and disharmony!"

"Yes, and under my reign, everything was kept in orderly chaos."

"That makes no sense!"

"Exactly."

Twilight grunted angrily.

"Wait. You mean, we have no way of knowing what other dangerous magical beings throughout the centuries have crossed into the other world?" Rarity asked.

"Oh dear, then… who knows what could be out there?" Fluttershy said.

"You see? Fortunately you have me now." Discord smiled at them. "And I would be perfectly willing to monitor this little mirror of yours to ensure its safe and responsible usage."

"No," Twilight said.

"Why not?"

"Because when I think ‘safe and responsible’, you are neither."

"Of the two of us, which one is actually making an effort to keep official immigration records?" Discord tapped his chin and thought. "Perhaps we should draft an official form to fill out when passing between the portal. Imagine if alter-egos began to travel back and forth. Why, what if you ran into your own counterpart, Twilight?"

"Seeing as it hasn’t happened yet, I find that highly unlikely."

"Even so, we’d need a way to tell the two of you apart. What if the other Twilight comes back instead of you?" Discord’s eyes brightened. "Ooo, now there’s an idea! We can rent out Equestrian vacations to these two-legged beings! I’m sure some of them would love to visit Equestria!"

"No."

"You say that a lot today."

"You say a lot of things that demand that response today."

Discord sniffed. "That is one pony’s opinion. Last I checked, this was a democratic council. All ponies in favour of allowing beings from the other world to travel to Equestria?"

The room was silent.

"Well, pardon me for trying to be a proactive citizen."

"Can you just leave, already?" Rainbow Dash snapped.

Discord scoffed and crossed his arms. "You girls really must learn to lighten up. I heard your councils are a bore and thought I would bring a little fun into it. Would you prefer I go and leave you to your typical boring meetings?"

The six ponies and one dragon looked between each other. "Well…" Fluttershy said, standing up, "he is making this more interesting. Sorry, Twilight."

"No, it’s fine." Twilight sighed and shook her head. "It’s not like we ever got much done in this council, anyway."

"Actually, that does remind me of another thing." Discord stood up and looked around. "I heard from Luna that you attempted to just dissolve this council."

"Yes, I attempted to stage a coup, but it failed due to a lack of military power to enforce it," Twilight said. "Any official legislature implied by my wording at the time was invalid due to the council not being in session and there being no vote on it."

"If that was the problem, why not just vote on dissolving the council now that it is in session?"

"Because, we…" Twilight stopped and thought. Her eyes went wide.

"He’s got a point, Twi. If you wanted to just end this, why not ask us to let you do it?" Applejack tilted her head.

Twilight’s response was to turn around in her throne and slam her head against the back. "Why am I getting valid political advice from a being of chaos?"

"Twilight, politics is nothing if not controlled chaos."

"So, uh, do we wanna do that now?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, if Twilight still wants to rule alone."

Twilight sighed. "I really would like to try and make a council of friendship work. You all mean so much to me, I would hope we can put aside our conflicting personalities and do what’s best for those that seek our opinions on something."

"Of course you can count on us, Twilight!" Pinkie said.

"What if we try one more letter and see if we can’t resolve it together?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Good idea." Twilight picked up a letter and unfolded it. "Oh, it’s another letter specifically for me. Dear Princess Twilight, I have heard you recently began a council of friendship. I govern a small town on the outskirts of Equestria, and here, friendship is very important to us, but I’ve been having trouble keeping our system of government together. Perhaps you and your friends could pay us a visit and offer some help? Sincerely, Mayor Starlight Glimmer."

Twilight looked up from the letter and smiled. "This sounds promising."

Fourth Meeting

View Online

The Council of Friendship

Twilight banged her gavel on the arm of her throne thrice. "Hear ye, hear ye, the fourth Council of Friendship is now in session!" She swept a hoof to the side. "First, let me welcome our newest councilor, Starlight Glimmer."

Starlight chuckled at the introduction, sitting next to Twilight in a wooden folding chair. "Thanks, Twilight, but I really asked to be here more as an observer. I’m just sort of wondering what a council of friendship does."

"Join the club, we’ve got jackets," Rainbow Dash muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Not yet, dear, the order should arrive by next week," Rarity replied.

Twilight slapped her forehead. "You seriously placed jacket orders for the council?"

"Indeed." Rarity held up a design sketch and moved a hoof over it. "We have our official royal crest—"

"I never agreed to use that flag or crest and you know it."

"We have our unofficial royal crest emblazoned on the breast, and the words ‘Ponyville Council of Friendship’ on the back. And they’re in powder-blue satin with a silver lining, all the rage this season."

"Did we order one for Starlight?" Fluttershy asked. "Even if she’s new, it wouldn’t be fair to leave her out."

Starlight shook her head. "That’s fine, I don’t need a jacket."

"Nonsense, darling! It so happens I ordered seven, one for each of us!"

Spike raised a claw to his mouth and noisily cleared his throat. "What about me?"

Rarity looked at him and seemed surprised to see him sitting next to Twilight. "Oh! Well, Spikey-wikey, to be honest designing clothes for dragons is a bit of a grey area in my expertise, compensating for your body type and scales and all, not to mention I didn’t think you’d want one…"

"You didn’t order me one."

"Not as such, no." Rarity frowned. "I’m sorry, I guess it just slipped my mind."

Spike rolled his eyes and folded his claws. "Not surprising. This council always has been racist against dragons."

"Spike!" Twilight’s jaw dropped. "That is simply not true!"

"Isn’t it? I’m still stuck in a smaller throne when I was promised an upgrade months ago, and now I’m left out of the jackets. I’d say the writing is on the wall."

Pinkie Pie turned in her seat. "I don’t see it."

"It was a figure of speech, Pinkie," Applejack called over the table. "Look, Spike, we ain’t racist or anything."

"That’s not what I’ve heard about you."

"Shut up. Ah think it’s just you’re kinda an outsider. You know, you don’t exactly have an Element of Harmony, and you ain’t a pony and you ain’t got a cutie mark. So when it’s time to decide on group things, sometimes we just forget about you."

"Racist."

"Hey!"

Twilight glared at Spike. "How do you even know that word?"

"I asked the Mayor what you call it when someone is treated badly because they’re a different species. She said it's racism."

"Well, yes it is, but we aren’t, so don’t use that word anymore." Twilight sighed. "I am sorry about the throne, but we’ve been busy here lately. I promise it’ll be taken care of sometime in the future."

"Hold on." Starlight held up a hoof. "What’s this about Spike’s throne?"

Spike tapped his armrest. "It’s smaller than everyone else’s. I don’t care what the Tree of Harmony did, if I’m on this council I deserve a throne the same size as everyone else’s!"

Starlight raised her eyebrows. "Good point." She thought, then her horn lit up pale green. Spike cried out as his throne shifted and expanded beneath him, growing until it was the same size as Twilight’s. "There." Starlight finished her spell and smiled. "A simple mass expansion spell."

"Niiice." Spike looked over his throne, and saw the back. "Hey, how about my symbol?"

"Oh, right." Starlight thought. "Have any ideas?"

"Do you know what the Bloodstone Scepter looks like?"

"I’ve read about it. Coming right up!" Starlight’s horn glowed again, and the image of a violet scepter holding a red stone appeared on the back of Spike’s throne.

Spike grinned at Twilight, now level with her. "Was that so hard?" Twilight responded with a grunt and slapped her forehead again.

Starlight tilted her head. "Why did you want the Bloodstone Scepter as your sigil?"

Spike puffed out his chest and grinned. "I was the Dragon Lord. For about two minutes, but still."

"Really?" Starlight gasped. "How did that happen?"

Twilight reached over and patted Spike on the back. "Spike teamed up with Princess Ember to get the Scepter before a mean and nasty dragon could. He grabbed it first, but then he gave it to her since he didn’t want to rule."

Starlight frowned. "You gave it up?"

"Yeah, it wasn’t for me." Spike held up his claws. "No big deal, I wasn’t interested in ruling."

"Why not?" Starlight waved a hoof in the air. "Ruling is awesome! You get to boss others around, you don’t have to do anything yourself, other folks respect you. Not to mention that ruling over an entire race is about the best thing anyone could strive to achieve. You’re practically to the dragons as Celestia and Luna are to ponies."

Spike murmured and rubbed his chin. "At the time it seemed a good idea but you make good points…"

"Starlight!" Twilight glared at her student. "Stop filling his head with corrupting thoughts of evil!"

Starlight scoffed. "It’s not evil to know that running a nation is a good position."

"She’s right." Rainbow Dash nodded. "I’ve run the weather teams, teams of Wonderbolt cadets, and I gotta tell you, it’s pretty sweet. Makes you feel important."

"Party planner, and yup."

"Ah run the farm. Nice to give out orders to get things done."

"Opened three stores across Equestria. I feel quite self-satisfied and proud."

"Run an animal daycare. And it is nice to have them listen to me."

Spike pouted. "Why did I gave up that darn thing!? Think it’s too late to call Princess Ember and ask to be her consort?"

"Spike!" Twilight gaped. "You are way too young to know what that means!"

"Why?"

Twilight leaned closer. "Do you even know what it means?"

"Yeah, it means friend." Spike jerked a thumb across the room. "I heard Rainbow Dash and Rarity talk about how you needed a consort and asked what that was."

Twilight slowly turned to glare at her friends. "Context. Now."

Rarity laughed awkwardly and looked away. "Well, darling, you see…"

"You need to get laid," Rainbow said simply. Twilight’s glare intensified, and Rainbow held up her hooves. "Every time you hold one of these council meetings, you get all stressed out and angry. I just joked to Rarity that maybe it would help if you had somepony to… you know… relieve your stress."

"Spike, leave the room," Twilight deadpanned.

"No way, this is getting good!"

"Perhaps Flash Sentry?" Fluttershy pointed out. "You do seem to like him."

"I am not asking Flash Sentry to become my consort."

"So you don’t want to be friends with him?"

"Spike, stop talking."

Starlight thought aloud. "If you two were to be married, that would make him a Prince, wouldn’t it? Like Shining Armor or Blueblood."

"Ya know, Ah always wondered about that," Applejack said. "Is Blueblood married to Celestia, or did she have a kid or somethin’?"

"You know what I always wondered?" Pinkie shook her head. "How come Princesses become alicorns, and Princes don’t? Seems kinda unfair to me."

"I think it’s because Equestria has historically been a matriarchy, dear. Even back to the founding, most of the founders were female."

Spike slumped in his seat. "So by giving the Bloodstone Scepter to Ember, I was just reinforcing a gender and racially biased system. No wonder my life sucks, I’m a dragon and I’m a guy."

Twilight slapped her hooves on the map in front of her. "Stop that! Equestria is not some sort of woman-dominated dystopia for men!"

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Then how come the entire Council of Friendship sans Spike is all composed of mares?"

Twilight’s eye twitched. "It’s not my fault the Elements of Harmony chose six mares to receive their power!"

"No, but it’s entirely in your power now to fix that." Starlight nodded. "You appointed me to the council, why can’t you appoint some stallions, too?"

Twilight groaned and propped her head on a hoof. "Like who?"

Applejack tilted her eyes up. "Well, Big Mac, Mr. Cake, and Filthy Rich are big business owners… and, um…"

"Are we sure there’s many stallions that even live in Ponyville?" Rainbow asked.

"There’s several." Starlight smiled. "I propose, seeing as Spike is already here, that we appoint six stallions to join the council. That’ll make it seven mares and stallions each, perfectly equal."

"Starlight, what have I said about using that word?" Twilight held out a glass jar with a pile of bits in the bottom. Starlight groaned and dropped a bit in it.

"I just meant that for the sake of a democratic council, both sides should have eq…" Starlight stopped and cleared her throat. "Both sides should have the same amount of representatives."

"And once again Dragons are left out. Racists."

"Spike!"

"Hang on, Twilight." Starlight held up a hoof. "Spike makes a good point. Why not appoint a female dragon to the council, like Princess Ember?"

"Probably because she’s too busy running her own kingdom!" Twilight snapped. "You know, nopony seems to be suggesting we appoint Zecora or Gilda, or Prince Rutherford."

"That is a perfectly good observation, Twilight." Starlight smiled at her.

"I was being sarcastic!"

"I wasn’t."

Twilight grunted angrily and let her head fall forward to hit the table.

Applejack sighed. "Ya know, it seems every time we hold one of these meetings, we get less and less done." The others nodded or murmured agreement.

Starlight frowned. "So, this is what the Council of Friendship is? We try to discuss important things and then break down into bitterness and inane banter?"

"Pretty much."

"That doesn’t seem very friendly. More it seems like a counter-productive waste of time."

"Welcome to politics." Twilight lifted her head. "Does anypony have new business?"

"I do!" Spike raised his claw. "I’d like to be appointed as ambassador to the dragon lands!"

"Sure." Twilight raised her gavel.

"Wait," Starlight said, "don’t we vote on measures to pass?"

"Does anyone object?" Twilight asked. No one replied. "Motion passed." She banged the gavel.

"You mean carried, right?"

"What?"

"When a motion is approved, you don’t pass it, you carry it. You carry motions, pass measures, adopt amendments, and enact bills."

Twilight growled. "Who the hoof cares?"

"I do." Starlight sniffed. "There are important legal distinctions between all of those terms. Amendments, for instance, are changes made to existing policy. Motions are actions to be undertaken by the administration. Measures are what laws are proposed as before they’re signed into law. Bills, along with other terms, are the written documents that explain the law."

Everypony and lone dragon in the room stared at Starlight. She shrank back at the attention. "What?"

"How the heck do you know so much about this stuff?" Rainbow asked.

Starlight chuckled awkwardly. "I may have studied legal theory and philosophy when taking over that town. And, you know, I actually ran it, too. It’s not a big deal, really."

"It most certainly is!" Rarity smiled. "It’s so nice to have somepony at these meetings with a proper understanding of legal structure!"

"Hey!" Twilight’s wings flared. "I know all about legal theory!"

"Then how come you’ve been saying ‘motion passed’ instead of ‘motion carried’ during all these meetings?"

"Because the words we use don’t matter!"

"Ah’ll say they do, the way Starlight described it those words all mean different things. Could get confusin’ if we don’t use the right ones."

"You were not confused, until she said them I’ll bet most of you didn’t even know what those words meant!"

"So you ruled over your friends using improper legal terminology and counting on them being too ignorant to call you out on it!"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight gritted her teeth and slumped back in her throne. "Fine, I’ll use the bucking proper terms from now on! Does anyone else have business to bring to the table?"

"I do." Fluttershy leaned forward. "I motion – is that the right word?" At Starlight’s nod, Fluttershy continued, "I motion that we appoint Starlight Glimmer as the new head of the council."

"What?"

"Well, Twilight, she seems to have a better handle on her temper, and she knows more about the law than you."

"No." Twilight shook her head. "Absolutely not. This is my council."

"Not if the election goes my way," Starlight pointed out. "The election is now in session. All votes for me, raise your hoof." Six hooves and one claw rose into the air.

"Spike!"

"Sorry, Twilight, but she did more for dragons in five minutes than you have in three councils."

"All votes for Twilight?" Starlight asked.

Twilight raised her hoof. "Not that this vote matters, because I’m vetoing this measure. HA!"

"You can’t. The executive veto can only be used for enacting laws, not elections. Besides, the veto can be overruled by a two-thirds majority, of which we have." Starlight smiled. "By a vote of seven to one, I, Starlight Glimmer, am the new head of the council." She raised the gavel on Twilight’s throne and banged it down.

Twilight went rigid, and slowly turned her head to glare at Starlight. She leaned down towards her. "Don’t touch my gavel."

"Well, technically, it’s my gavel now."

"Over your dead body."

"Don’t you mean—"

"I know what I said."

"Twi." Applejack hopped down from her seat and approached her. "Maybe you just take a break, hm? You’re kinda stressed, we can talk about this later."

Twilight looked around the thrones. She slowly smiled. "Of course. I understand. Yes…" She smiled wider up at Starlight. "Enjoy the council, Starlight." She climbed out of her throne and left the room, carefully shutting the door behind her.

Starlight sighed. "Well, that could have gone better."

"Don’t worry." Applejack climbed back in her throne. "She’ll get over it in an hour."

"If you say so." Starlight stood and sat back down on Twilight’s throne. "Does anypony know where a charter for the council is, so I can have a look at it?"

The other six exchanged glances. "Charter?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes. The charter recognizing the Council of Friendship as a legal body of government with appropriate authority and power."

"I don’t think we have that," Pinkie replied.

Starlight’s eyes widened. "You mean Twilight has been trying to run a government all this time without a formal charter even stating it exists?" She shook her head. "Well, you’re all fortunate I’m here now, or else you could find yourselves in a lot of trouble. Spike, get some paper and something to write with, please."

Starlight looked over the raised hooves and nodded. "Motion carried." She banged the gavel. "Under Section 4.3 of the Council of Friendship Charter, ‘Identifying Sigils and Miscellaneous Icons – Foodstuffs’, the apple fritter and apple cider are adopted as the official snacks of the council." She looked to the side. "Got all that, Spike?"

"Yes ma’am!" Spike wrote furiously on his paper, another stack of papers already written on next to him.

Starlight looked over the checklist on the table in front of her. "Next, I believe if that is all for matters of council identity, we can move on to Section 5, when and where the council meets, and for how long."

Rarity beamed. "It’s so nice to have you here, Starlight."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, it feels like we’re actually gettin’ stuff done here instead of just arguin’." The others all agreed.

Starlight blushed. "I’m just trying to follow proper procedure, nothing fancy about it. As I was saying, Section 5, if none disagree, can be titled ‘Council Meeting Regulations’. Section 5.1, ‘Location’. Does anypony—"

The doors to the room were flung open. "Hello, councilors." Twilight walked into the room, her head held high.

Starlight turned. "Oh, hello, Twilight. We’ve moved on to forming a charter. Even if you were informally in absentia, I can go over what we discussed, if you like."

"No need." Twilight looked around the table and smiled. "I want to thank all of you for coming here, today. But I am afraid I have been pushed to extreme measures."

The others looked at her worriedly. "What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"I am staging a coup."

"Again?"

"You can’t." Spike shook his head. "Celestia said a coup has to be done by a show of military power."

"I know. Which is why my newly appointed palace guard will be doing it. Guards!" Twilight looked at the door to the room. After several seconds of nothing she stamped her hoof. "Guards, get in here and stage my coup!"

"Coming, Twilight!" There was the sound of shuffling, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders filed into the room. Sheets of cardboard taped into form covered their heads and flanks and were painted to look like armor.

The others burst out laughing. "Seriously, Twi?" Applejack wiped a tear from her eyes. "They’re your royal guards?"

"Yes. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have done a lot to promote the values of friendship and diversity." Twilight smiled proudly. "I can think of no better ponies to serve as my guards."

"Twilight, mah helmet is itchy."

"And mine smells funny."

"Not now, girls, Twilight is seizing control of government."

Starlight frowned. "You’re seriously asking these three to fight the council on your behalf?"

"Fight?" Twilight smirked. "Do any of you really want to fight them, hm?" She swung a hoof forward. "Attack, my guards! Dispose of these traitors!"

"Rarity, am I grounded if I attack you?"

"Yes."

"Applejack, what about me?"

"Yer darn tootin’."

Scootaloo shrugged. "You guys can’t ground me, so HEY!" She stopped as she was raised into the air in an aura of teal magic.

Starlight swung Scootaloo through the air in her magic, her eyes dull. "You know, Twilight, I don’t think you’ve really thought this through."

"If I throw up, I’m aiming for you!" Scootaloo called down.

"Starlight, stop it!" Twilight ran up to her throne. "Are you really going to endanger that foal for the sake of kicking me out of the council to seize control?"

Starlight rolled her eyes and gently lowered Scootaloo to the ground. "First, Twilight, we didn’t force you to leave the council, we just voted you out of head office, you're still a member of the council itself. Second, it hasn’t been so bad. Spike, show her the charter."

Spike held out the stack of papers he had written. Twilight took them and flipped through them. "What is this?"

"The Council of Friendship Charter," Starlight said proudly. "We’re just formalizing a lot of the things you girls have agreed on already by putting it into writing, so our legal authority is on paper."

Twilight stared at Starlight for a moment, then flung the charter papers into the air. "I’m going to bed."

"Twilight, it's not even noon."

"I know what time it is!"

Fifth Meeting

View Online

The Council of Friendship

Fifth Meeting

The gavel banged three times. “Hear ye, hear ye, the fifth Ponyville Council of Friendship is now called to session. We will now call roll. Spike?”

“Yes ma’am!” Spike stood up in his throne and cleared his throat as he unfurled the scroll in his claws. “Rainbow Dash? Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?” At the announcement of each name a confirmation was voiced. “Twilight Sparkle?” Spike waited, paused as he noticed he wasn’t getting a response, and lowered the scroll. “Uh, Twilight?”

Sitting in the throne with the six-pointed purple star on the back, Starlight Glimmer leaned around the throne to look behind her. “Twilight?”

Against the wall, sitting in a wooden folding chair with her hooves crossed and an indignant scowl on her face, Twilight let out a snort. “Let the record show I am present, but I am attending this council under protest.” She fidgeted in her chair. “Let it also show that my chair is itchy.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Twilight, you told me to sit here. If you want to switch spots, I don’t care—”

“No, no, no.” Twilight held up her hoof. “The council has spoken, you lead things now. It’s only right that you have my throne.”

“Does this mean Starlight is the bearer of the Element of Magic now?” Pinkie said brightly. “Oooo, maybe Celestia will make you an alicorn!” Starlight saw a few hairs pop out of place on Twilight’s mane and her eye twitched ever-so-slightly.

“I do not believe that will be called for, dear Pinkie Pie.” Sitting on a small red cushion to the side of the room, Princess Luna shook her head. “My sister reserves the honor for those with a special destiny. No offense, Starlight.”

Starlight held up a placating hoof. “None taken, Princess. I’m just a normal pony like anyone else.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “A normal pony who plays with cutie marks and time travel like a cat with a ball of yarn.”

“Do we have to bring that up?”

“Just saying, you’re stronger than Twilight ever was. At this rate, maybe the alicorn thing is coming anyway.”

Starlight noticed more hairs pop out on Twilight from the corner of her eye. “Let’s put that aside for a future discussion. For now, Spike, in accordance with Twilight’s wishes, take note that she is in attendance under protest. And… her chair is itchy.”

“So noted!” Spike obediently scribbled on a blank scroll.

“With roll call done, let’s move on to the first order of business.” Starlight floated a scroll onto the cutie map. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we have some guests here today.” Starlight gestured her hoof to the side of the room where Trixie, Thorax, Maud, Luna, and Sunburst sat on cushions. “I have invited our guests here to become honorary members of the Council of Friendship, as well as ambassadors to other settlements of note. I propose Sunburst be our ambassador to the Crystal Empire, Luna to Canterlot, Thorax to the changelings, Maud to Ponyville, and Trixie to Manehattan.”

“Really?” Twilight’s voice drew Starlight’s attention her way again. “You want to appoint these five ambassadors?”

“Yes.” Starlight smiled. “I think it is important that if council business demands action on our part in another location, we have an official channel with which to plan such things.”

“Oh.” Twilight shrugged. “I was thinking more like you’re stacking the council with personal friends of yours.”

Starlight’s jaw dropped. “That is simply not true! I would never do that!”

“Really?” Trixie held up her hoof. “Because even Trixie was wondering why she is here. She doesn’t live in Manehattan, she lives on the road. And it’s not as though the mayor of Manehattan would be likely to listen to anything I say anyway, not after that incident at his daughter’s birthday party.”

“Fair point.” Starlight took the quill from Spike’s claw and crossed off Trixie’s name on her list. “But I still think we could look at appointing you to the council.”

“On what grounds?” Twilight asked.

“Trixie has been a beacon of friendship and inspiration to Equestria.” Twilight burst out laughing. Starlight ignored her laughter and the subsequent dirty glare from Trixie that it provoked. “Also, she helped save Equestria from the changelings.”

“So did Discord.”

“Yes, but he’s a being of chaos and he has no interest in government politics.”

“You’d be surprised,” Spike muttered.

“Did you even ask?” Twilight prompted.

Starlight paused. “Well… no, not exactly. But I presumed it would fall outside his interests.”

“I’d presume it has more to do with you not really being friends with him.”

“No! I just… he’s a being of chaos and disorder! We can’t trust him to hold a position of influence in government!”

“But you’d trust Trixie with that?”

“Even Trixie has to agree with her on that one,” Trixie piped up.

Starlight huffed. “I’m not immediately going to appoint them, I was bringing them to nominate them for consideration. We have a lot of friends out there in Equestria and especially when dealing with other races and kingdoms, we should have a designated ambassador.”

Rainbow held up a hoof. “What about Gilda or Gabby for the griffons?”

“Who and who?” Starlight asked, tilting her head.

“My old friend and a griffon the Cutie Mark Crusaders met.”

“Spike, make note to send those two a summons at a later date for consideration.” Starlight waited for Spike to jot down the names.

“Hey,” Spike said when he finished, “what about Ember being ambassador to the dragon lands?”

Starlight smiled. “Actually, Spike, I was thinking of appointing you. You get along much better with ponies, and Ember has her claws full governing the dragons anyway.”

“Really?” Thorax’s voice brought attention to him. “Because I’ve got stuff I could be doing back home, too, but you asked me to come here and I wanted to be polite…” He scrunched his face. “I really don’t like leaving Pharynx in charge of the hive. He’s reformed, but he’s not that reformed.”

“There’s an idea,” Trixie said, perking up. “Why not ask Pharynx to be ambassador?”

Starlight snorted. “Because he has a history of being a violent, rude, pushy, jerk?”

“Hey, that’s my brother you’re talking about!”

“You know I’m right.”

“Well, yes you are, but still!”

“Hey now.” Applejack waved a hoof to get the rest of the group to turn to her. “Don’t we get a say in this?”

Starlight frowned. “Why wouldn’t you? We’re all on the council here, right?”

“Well, yeah, but Ah don’t know who this ‘Pharynx’ is, and I don’t much care for Trixie. No offense.”

Trixie sniffed. “None taken, Trixie doesn’t care much for you either. And she hopes you are offended by that.”

“Ah’m not. Regardless, Ah’m just thinking that Twi was onto somethin’ – all of these ambassadors are beings Starlight knows. That’s not really fair for the rest of us, is it?” Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy variably murmured in agreement or looked away from Starlight.

“I am not trying to stack the council with my friends!” Starlight snapped. “They’re just my nominations, anyone could nominate anyone else!”

Rainbow stuck her hoof up. “I nominated someone and you just told Spike to make note of them!”

“Gilda and Gabby aren’t here, we can’t consider them seriously when they’re in absentia!”

“But we can vote on the ones present now?” Rarity asked.

“Yes, fine, let’s do that!” Starlight grunted. “All in favor of appointing Trixie as ambassador to Manehattan, raise your hoof!” She raised her hoof. After a moment of waiting for a second to follow hers into the air she lowered it. “All opposed?” Seven hooves and a claw lifted. “Trixie?!”

“Starlight, if you think Trixie has any interest in hanging around this group all day listening to meetings like this, you really don’t know her very well.”

“By a vote of one to… who gives a flying feather, Trixie’s nomination is rejected.” Starlight banged her gavel.

“Finally!” Trixie got up off the cushion and stretched. “Time for lunch. Trixie missed breakfast!”

“Can I come?” Thorax asked.

“But we have to vote on you!” Starlight protested.

“Well, Spike said it, I’m busy back home a lot, leading the changelings. Can’t really come here all the time.”

Starlight growled. “Fine, go!” Thorax and Trixie trotted through the doors. Starlight thrust her hoof at Maud. “What about Maud? Does anyone want to bring up a reason why she can’t be on the council?”

Maud raised her hoof.

“Seriously!?”

“What’s up, Maud?” Pinkie asked.

Maud just lowered her hoof. “I’d just prefer not to be on the council.”

Starlight slapped a hoof to her head. “I told you about my idea and you said it sounded engaging and educational!”

“Recent revelations concerning the nature of the council have led me to the conclusion that I made an error in judgment.” Maud pursed her mouth slightly. “Although, the idea of simply observing council meetings is appealing for entertainment value.”

Starlight, her eyes bulging, grit her teeth. “You think trying to watch me run a government council is funny?”

“It’s hilarious!”

“Shut up, Pinkie!”

A blue aura surrounded Sunburst and hauled him above the table. Breathing heavily, Starlight slammed her hooves on it. “How about Sunburst, huh? Anyone have a problem with him?” Everyone shook their head. “Fine, motion passed!” Starlight lifted the gavel with her hooves and banged it on the arm of her throne hard enough to crack the wooden handle.

Sunburst slowly gulped. “Starlight, I’m not sure—”

He was silenced as he was pulled in front of Starlight, her snout pressing against his.

“You are going to be on the council and you are going to like it!”

Sunburst hurriedly nodded. “O-okay!”

“Good!” Starlight threw him over the back of her chair. “Who’s left?”

“Starlight Glimmer.” Starlight turned her head and looked up at Luna. “I am aware that politics can be a stressful endeavor, but…” Luna tilted her head from side to side. “I am concerned you are not handling things as well as you could be.”

“At this rate in five minutes she’ll be changing your cutie marks,” Spike muttered. Starlight’s eyes flashed as she turned to glare at him.

“Hey, another reason she should be an alicorn!” Rainbow said cheerfully.

“That’s hardly the same thing!” Twilight yelled from the edge of the room.

Her breathing haggard, Starlight closed her eyes and inhaled. “Fine. Fine. Calming down. We’re calm, we’re calm…” She closed her eyes and let out a breath. “Okay, let’s discuss Luna. Anyone think she shouldn’t be on the council as our ambassador to Canterlot?” The group looked to each other but said nothing. “Good. Motion passed.” Starlight gave a strained smile as she raised the gavel and banged it down once, the wood cracking a bit more. “Now, does anyone have new business to bring up?”

“I do!” A giant zipper appeared in the air and pulled itself down. Discord, a visor and reading glasses on his head, stepped through it, a clipboard in his hand. “Starlight, we really have to talk about your immigration transgression.”

Starlight’s jaw dropped. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, don’t play coy.” Discord snapped his fingers and a tall wooden chair with a glass of chocolate milk on the back cushion appeared next to her throne. He settled into it and flipped through the papers on his clipboard. “According to my notes, you made an unscheduled sojourn into foreign territory, and did not report an unscheduled visitor to our own from said territory.” Discord peered at her from over his glasses and shook his head in disapproval. “I expect better from you.”

“What are you talking about? What ‘immigration’?”

Discord raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Didn’t Twilight tell you she put me in charge of monitoring travel to the human world?”

Starlight leaned over her chair to look at Twilight. “No. She didn’t. Thanks to my predecessor’s sloppy, nay, non-existent method of keeping track of council policies, I didn’t even know we had an immigration policy!”

Discord snorted. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse! Suspect 1, one ‘Sunset Shimmer’, made a visit to our world, and carried on conversation with you at the time!”

“So what?” Starlight asked.

“So, you witnessed her arrival and did not make proper note of it!” Discord clicked a pen and a piece of paper appeared in his claw with it. “Reason for visit, duration of stay, any fruits or vegetables?”

“Getting a new journal, three minutes, and no.”

“Three minutes?” Discord looked at his clipboard closer. “Really, that long? Given what I’ve heard about her that hardly seems time to do anything of substance. I’d have expected her visit to take up at least half an hour.” He shrugged. “Well, that’s small potatoes compared to your own transgression, namely visiting her world without notifying anyone of your departure!”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Do you know how many evil beings from Equestria have casually crossed over the worlds and caused havoc in that one?” asked Twilight, trying to rub her back against the chair to deal with a persistent itch.

Starlight looked at Twilight again. “That’s a thing?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“And most grievous of all!” Discord turned the clipboard around and tapped a claw on the paper where he had put the date. “You conducted all these awful breaches of conduct while holding your position as the head of the council!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Starlight protested. “It’s not like they knew or cared at the time!”

“What!?” Discord looked around the room. “Did any of you know about this?” Everyone shook their head.

“Of course they didn’t. Sunset and I wanted it to be a secret. We only told Twilight and only because she figured it out when she got back and I wasn’t there!”

Discord pressed his claw to his cheek. “A cover-up? Starlight, you wicked thing you. This is a crisis of the highest magnitude! The Council of Friendship’s head, caught in an illegal immigration scandal? Whatever will the press say?”

“Nothing as long as you don’t tell them,” Starlight ground out.

“There you go again with the cover-ups! Internal Affairs is going to have a field day!”

“We don’t have an Internal Affairs bureau!” Starlight snapped.

“Uh, yeah we do.” Applejack raised her hoof. “You said me and Rainbow are Honesty and Loyalty, so we could be trusted to make sure everyone behaves.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow glowered. “And I’m not happy with this! I’ve wanted to visit that human world forever, but Twilight always said it was too dangerous! How come Starlight got to go?”

“And I would have liked to meet Sunset Shimmer,” Fluttershy said. “We should have been told about this, even if only after the fact.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Is this really that big a deal?”

Luna nodded. “Starlight, trust and respect is of the highest importance among one’s subordinates when dealing with issues of government. If the rest of the council can’t count on you to make public and fair decisions, how can they trust you with anything?”

“And you made some pretty bad choices for ambassadors,” Rarity said gently. “Most of them themselves didn’t want any part of this.”

Starlight let her head fall forward to hit the table. “I’m just trying to do what I think is best!”

“But that isn’t how democracy works.” Starlight turned to see Twilight next to her. “Everyone has to discuss what to do and come to an agreement that appeases as many ponies as possible. One person can’t make all the decisions alone. That’s not democracy, it’s dictatorship.”

Starlight sighed. “I don’t have good experiences with that sort of thing, huh?”

“Not really.” Twilight smiled gently. “I know you’re trying, but maybe this just isn’t a good fit for how you like to do things.”

“Maybe not…” Starlight sat up and looked around the table. “I’m sorry, everyone. But I don’t think this Council is going to get much done when I’m running it.”

“Between you and Twilight it’s about even right now,” Spike muttered. Twilight shushed him.

“But, there is yet a way out of this.” Starlight smiled sadly. “I put forward a motion to call an election for head of the council. Would anyone like to nominate somepony?”

Luna caught Starlight’s eye and winked. “I nominate Twilight Sparkle.”

“Recognized. Anyone else?” Starlight waited for anyone to speak up. “Very well. All votes for Starlight Glimmer?” No one raised a hoof. “Votes for Twilight?” Everyone, including Starlight, raised their hoof. “By a unanimous vote, Twilight Sparkle is re-elected head of the council.” Starlight raised the gavel and banged it down, the wood breaking apart. She gasped. “I’m sorry, Twilight!”

“It’s okay.” Twilight took the gavel in her magic and set it on the table. “These things happen, it was an accident.”

“Thanks.” Starlight looked up at Discord. “Discord, um, leave those immigration papers in my room and I’ll fill them out later today, as best I can from memory.”

“Wonderful.” Discord bowed and vanished in a burst of light.

“I can still be on the council, right?” Starlight asked.

“Of course!” Twilight nodded. “I mean, you didn’t kick me out when I lost the office, right?”

“Right. Oh, and…” Starlight stood up and swept a hoof towards the throne with the six-pointed star. “I think this is yours.”

“Thank you.” Twilight smiled at her and sat down. “Although, I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. If there is no further business?” At the silence, Twilight raised the stump of the gavel. “The Council of Friendship is dismissed.” She banged the wood down.

The group, save for Luna, filed out of the various doors of the room. Alone with Twilight, the princess of the night put a hoof to her chin. “Well, that was an exercise in futility, I think.”

“Tell me about it.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “But I’m head of the council again, that’s nice.”

“Quite. But, one thing does confuse me.” Luna looked at the far side of the room where Discord had been. “How did Discord know we were meeting, and know about Starlight’s visit to the other world?”

Twilight shrugged. “He’s Discord, who knows how he does anything?”

“Perhaps, but knowledge of events he was not present for is outside his usual sphere of powers.” Luna thought back. “Starlight said that no one knew of the meeting except for her and Sunset. They wanted it to be a secret… except…” She paused. “Then you came back and they told you because you realized she was gone…” Luna slowly looked down at Twilight.

Twilight leaned away from her. “What?”

“Twilight… did you have anything to do with Discord’s visit today?”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “What are you accusing me of?”

Luna frowned. “I’m just pondering if you intended to disillusion Starlight on her position in order to convince her to effectively relinquish her power back to you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Twilight shook her head. “Discord was just the last thing to happen in a council full of problems and arguments! Unless you think I set up all of Starlight’s friends to tear apart her nominations and ratted her out to Discord on an immigration policy I didn’t actually authorize at the time, just to stress her out enough to get her to give me back my position. Are you really suggesting I would do something like that?”

“No, of course not.” Luna shook her head.

“Good.” Twilight rested her hooves on the arms of her throne and sat back, enjoying the familiar rigidness. “Because that would be awful of me.” She raised the pieces of the gavel in front of her and magically bonded the wood back together, the seam glowing. “Such a terrible thing it would be, if I did something like that…”

“Yes…” Luna murmured, her eyes narrow. “A rather underhand, manipulative, cruel thing indeed.”

Her gavel intact, Twilight looked up at Luna with a small smile.

“Welcome to politics, Luna.”

The gavel banged on the arm of her throne with a resounding thud.