A schoolkid's introduction to disagreement
The majority of Starlight Glimmer's workload was handling one student at a time, at least before today. The students may have formed lines that stretched all the way down the corridor, and indulging all of their concerns might've taken all her time, strained her other relationships, and required her to learn a friendship lesson all of her own, but she'd rarely needed to address the concerns of groups of students before. Pairs of students, that was something with which she had some experience. Three students, once, and that had required that she simply get them talking to one another.
Six students was a new record.
The purple unicorn looked as her timer counted down, watching the hand tick upwards towards its destination. The silence in the room was stilted, forced, but it was quiet enough to give her time to think, which was one of the reasons she'd started with it. The other was to allow the six other creatures to calm down and put their own thoughts in order. She knew they'd need the time to collect themselves before she began her little group therapy session.
The timer's ring cut through the silence with a trill, bringing an end to the period of uncomfortable, enforced peace, and Starlight pushed a smile onto her muzzle, her approach decided and formulated.
"Okay," she began, keeping her tone bright and positive, her hoof silencing the timer. "Now we've all had some time to calm down, lets try and get to the bottom of this. None of you are in trouble at the moment, but we can't let an issue like this go unresolved." She cast her eyes down to the report that was laid out on her desk, which she'd read over several times already. "Shouting in the library? Vandalism in the hallways? Throwing Gallus through a window?" Her gaze lifted to the students she was addressing, and the report was pushed to the side. "It's so unlike you six to act like this!"
"The window part was pretty cool," Smolder muttered to a chorus of agreement, including from the griffon in question. Starlight opened her mouth to rebut the comment, thought better of it, and returned to the issue at hoof.
"Regardless of how cool or not any part of this might have been, it was disruptive, disorderly, and unacceptable," she reminded them. "This sort of behaviour goes against everything you've learned, and against the very principles of this institution! You've come here to learn about the wonders of friendship, the richness it can bring to your life, and the ways you can adopt it yourself!" Looking around at them, she noticed they still weren't looking at one another. "But more importantly than mandates or prestige, it goes against everything you are, to yourselves and to each other." That was enough to stir them from their stubborness, and they cast glances at one another, the bitterness visibly starting to recede. "So, please, can you explain exactly how this all started?"
Several seconds of uncooperative silence followed, and the unicorn repressed a sigh. This was going to be more trouble than she bargained for.
"What do you need to know?" Sandbar spoke up at last, hesitantly initiating the process.
"Whatever you feel I need to know," Starlight replied. "I'm here to mediate your discussion with each other. You need to be the ones speaking, and explaining to yourselves what happened and why."
"Important stuff?" Sandbar mused. "Well, Smolder supplexed Gallus out one of the library windows."
"Still totally cool."
"Definitely the coolest way I've been defenestrated."
"You've been hanging around Ocellus for way too long if you know words like that."
"Let's not lose focus here," Starlight urged them. "Why don't you explain, in your own words, what happened prior to the defenestration of Gallus that lead to his...unorthodox removal."
"Well, okay..." Sandbar began.
The group always took the time to study together whenever there was an assignment to complete, which meant that they were pretty much always in the library on Friday after last period. Sometimes it would be Saturday, if they wanted to take the Friday off to do something, but it was usually a Friday. This week, it was a Friday.
The homework was light, and apart from Ocellus, who mourned the little she had to read, everycreature was in high spirits. Silverstream was browsing several books at once, her eyes darting from one to the other, a packet of potato chips on the table next to her. The room was bright, well-aired, and quiet, allowing for soft conversation between them.
"Pretty generous of Professor Rarity to only set us one piece of work for the week," Sandbar commented, halfway through his own assignment. From the looks of it, Ocellus and Silverstream were already finished.
"Pony lead by example," Yona suggested, spitting out her pencil to speak her piece before returning to scribbling words onto her page.
"If only all the professors lead by her example," Gallus snarked. "One piece of homework a week? Or less? That would suit me fine."
"Reminds me of school in Ponyville," the earth pony replied. "If we had more than one homework task a week, that was heavy. Miss Cheerilee usually kept it at one piece a month." Yona grumbled around her pencil, obviously preferring the option for less schoolwork. "What was your school like?"
There was a period of silence, and it took for Gallus to look up before he realised everycreature was looking at him. He blinked, then looked over at Sandbar.
"You talking to me?" he asked, receiving a nod in return. "I didn't go to school. Griffonstone didn't have a school, and everygriff who wanted to learn had to go to a pony academy or something. Sometimes an older griffon would teach you something if you did them a favour. I learned to read for the cost of a year's janitor's duties."
"Oh," the pony commented, the conversation taking a different route than he would've expected. "It's better now, right?"
"Well, we have classrooms, and schools now," the winged male answered. "I wouldn't have been able to afford it though, so I don't know how much better I would've been."
"What do you mean 'afford'?" Sandbar questioned. "You have to pay for it?"
"No, of course not," the griffon rebuked. "Your parents do. In my case, that wouldn't have worked out."
"Because griffon's parents demand griffon show strength and might by taking on burden of school costs all by self?" Yona asked, interjecting in the conversation to posit her hypothesis.
"No, Yona. Because I'm an orphan."
"But why don't your taxes pay for it?" Sandbar continued, resuming the conversation's original path while Yona deflated a little off to one side.
"Taxes?" Gallus scoffed. "We don't pay taxes. Come on, I know Griffonstone can be lousy, but we aren't barbarians." The pony's expression of confusion deepened.
"But why not?"
And Gallus the Griffon drew himself up, puffed out his chest, and announced, "Because children are dumb and undeserving of education, and poor children are just as dumb and are also smelly."
"Hey, I didn't say that!" Gallus loudly objected, glaring indignantly at his pony friend.
"You might as well have!" Sandbar huffed back.
"Kids kinda can be smelly," Smolder observed.
"Smolder, please don't-"
"But they can."
"As the guidance consellor at a school, I am not in a position to comment on that." The unicorn turned back to the two feuding males before the dragoness could continue her tangent. "We seem to have some disagreement about what was said. Gallus, you don't think that Sandbar fairly represented you, is that correct?" The griffon nodded. "But do you agree with how he has portrayed the scene so far?"
"More or less."
"What was the last thing he said that was fair and accurate, in your opinion? Where did he deviate from your version of events? Can you perhaps start from there and give us your account?"
The griffon brushed back his plume, glanced at the stallion again, and leaned back in his chair. "After he asked me about how schools work in Griffonstone..."
"...but we aren't barbarians." The implication surprised Gallus a little. Did his friends think that his country worked like some backwards society, pleading for wealth from its citizens, or worse still, seizing it by force? It stung a little, but he couldn't really blame them. In truth, Griffonstone was still recovering, and while they'd made great strides, they weren't a powerhouse like Equestria just yet.
"But why not?" The question was simple, and from the expression on Sandbar's face, it looked like he was baffled by Gallus' answer. Shifting in his seat a little, the griffon gave as obvious an explanation as he could.
"Because taxation is theft," he stated. Far from clearing anything up, the looks he received - blank stares or crinkling faces - indicated he'd lead them deeper into a mire of bewilderment.
"Uh, what do you mean?" Sandbar asked.
"You're kidding, right?" The slow blink he received didn't suggest so. "You're not kidding. How do you not know this? I learned it without even going to school."
"How can taxation be theft?" the pony persisted. "It pays for stuff like hospitals, schools, roads, the EUP Guard, and the repairs we need after each monster attack. Thieves don't help other creatures like that."
"That doesn't stop it being theft," Gallus argued. "If I stole a hoard of gems from Smolder-" Smoke flitted from the dragoness' nostrils and her eyes narrowed sharply "-and used it to pay for the education of a thousand chicks in Griffonstone, would that be okay?"
"Well...look, even if you do that, it isn't sustainable; you can't fund everything a society needs by stealing Smolder's gems-"
"Stay away from my gems!"
"-because there's too much to fund and Smolder would run out of resources. What happens to the next thousand foals? Uh, chicks? What about their healthcare? Their other social costs? It isn't an efficient model."
"If it's about efficiency rather than the morality of the action," Gallus pursued, pouncing on the scrap of vulnerability Sandbar had exposed, like the honed, powerful hunter he was, "then what's the point of your taxes? You pay for the EUP Guard; when were they last useful? You then pay for the cleanup after they fail. The roads you pay for are mere dirt paths. You pay for fancy and extravagant buildings and ceremonies in Canterlot, and you aren't granted a right to access them. The only way that's efficient is an efficient robbery of your citizens."
"That's not true at all," the pony retorted with a frown. "Our taxes in Ponyville pay for the elementary school and its facilities, for the public spaces in the town, for the hospital, and for the library...when it was still standing."
"All things the town frequently uses?" Gallus asked, checking his talons.
"Yes."
"All things everycreature should have access to?"
"Yes!"
"Then what's to stop the town funding it voluntarily?" Gallus asked, easily countering Sandbar. "If you care about it, and want to use it, and this is true for the entire town, then why do you need to be compelled to fund it? It isn't mandatory to buy food, because everycreature buys it out of necessity, and the same goes for Ponyville's venues. Besides, surely those who use a facility the most should pay the most for its upkeep?"
"Not everypony has the same amount of money available to them," Sandbar scowled. "Some don't have enough money at all."
"Then why are they being taxed at all?" Gallus intelligently queried, parrying the pony's points like a pro. "If they're so cash-strapped, you're a monster for taking a cut of their meagre earnings anyway. And if your responsibility for paying your way is overshadowed by your right to use a good or service, why not make the rich pay for everything? Why not have them pay for your cinema tickets, or dinners out at fancy restaurants? What seperates one extreme from the other? Should we adopt a model where the wealth of any creature is simply a public bank account?"
"You know what? We should! We oughta rise up and seize the-"
"Come on!" Sandbar interrupted. "Now you're the one exaggerating what I said!"
"Just because you didn't say it, it doesn't mean you weren't thinking it!" Gallus fired back. "I can read between the lines. I've met creatures who think like you before."
"Gallus!" Starlight gently admonished. "Did Sandbar say that?"
"Not directly, but-"
"Did he say that?"
"...no."
"Then let's not present it as part of your testimony. We're not here to restart the argument, we're here to resolve it. With that in mind, what happened next?"
"Ocellus tried to talk us down," Sandbar murmured, eyes flicking to the floor. Starlight looked over at the changeling, who was blushing at the attention she was receiving, and probably the knowledge she was up next.
"Would you like to give us your account of events, Ocellus?" Starlight softly prompted. The mare took a deep breath and nodded, nervously glancing at the two males of the group.
"It was interesting at first," she began. "But then I felt the anger stirring in them, so I tried to intervene..."
"Not everypony has the same amount of money available to them. Some don't have enough money at all."
"Then why are they being taxed at all? If they're so poor, you're robbing them blind, and if you think everycreature should just have a right to a service without paying, why not tax the rich into space? Should they be made to pay for your entertainment and meals? How about the trains? Why not?"
"Actually, we should," Sandbar spoke up, irritation creeping into his tone and his emotions. The sensation sent an unease through Ocellus as she listened on. "We ought to have the rich pay their fair share towards things everycreature needs. No creature should have to go without three meals a day, and if that means making those with more give up something, then I can live with that. If trains run better and are cheaper because tycoons subsidise them, I'll be able to sleep at night."
"Maybe we should pull back a little," the changeling interjected as Gallus opened his beak to hurl a biting repose. His disapproval had flared as Sandbar spoke, and she didn't want to let it be exposed. "It's getting pretty heated. Maybe we should take a break from this project and go for milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner or something?" That seemed to calm them both, and for several seconds, the situation seemed to be diffused.
"How do taxes work in your society?" Gallus asked, directing his question at the changeling. She blinked, caught off-guard, and had to take a few seconds to think.
"Well, actually, we don't have them," she answered, receiving a thick silence in return.
"Oh." She could taste the smugness radiating from the griffon, and a simmering brew of surprise and displeasure from the stallion.
"We don't use money like Equestria and Griffonstone," Ocellus explained, awkwardly filling in the blanks to try and plaster over any potential misunderstanding. "We base our society on mutal care and support, and we give to each other whatever we need."
"So in a way you provide the function of tax without needing to apply taxes," Sandbar spoke up, talking past Gallus.
"I suppose so? It doesn't really make for a good comparison."
"Assuming you did use money," Gallus interjected. "And assuming you wanted your society to work as it does now, would you want to pay taxes?"
"I don't...maybe? I wouldn't..." She gave up and huffed. "This is unfair. My society doesn't work the same way as yours, and I'm not going to hypothesise what it would be like if we did operate like you just so one of you can gain the upper hoof in a pointless argument."
"I guess you're right," Sandbar conceded, and Gallus grumbled his acquiescence too. Ocellus was content with the reaction, happy to see the dispute die down.
"If you give up that easily, you deserve to have it taken from you," Smolder opined. That caught everycreature's attention, and the dragoness soon found herself at the epicentre of four pairs of staring eyes. "What? Resources belong to those strong enough to claim and keep them."
"That's literal theft, Smolder," Sandbar pointed out, to which the dragoness shook her head.
"Just call it redistribution and it'll be totally fine," Gallus snarked.
"Nah, it's competition," the orange girl claimed. "You don't deserve something if you haven't earned it."
"You don't earn something by stealing it," the stallion argued, casting an eye at Gallus, who was winding up to make another quip. "And no, you can't compare going up and taking someone's property and shaving a percentage off of someone's wealth to benefit society."
"What if I want to give someone my property?"
"Then that's a donation."
"What if I don't want to give someone my property but they take it anyway?"
"Then that's robbery."
"Is money property?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"What happens if I don't want to give any of my money over?"
"That isn't robbery or theft!"
"Why not?"
"Because the government can't rob you!"
"Just because they're the government?"
"Yes!"
There was a brief silence as everycreature digested that information. Ocellus was the first to speak up, eager to defuse the situation again, particularly as there were now more participants in this rapidly-progressing mosh pit.
"I'm not sure that a government can't steal from its citizens," the changeling started. "There have been plenty of tyrants throughout history who have done some awful things." She felt a shiver pass through her at the memory of her hive's darker days. "They can take whatever they want, from their subjects or from foreign lands - creatures, resources, wealth, sustenance, or anything else that takes their fancy."
"Those creatures aren't true leaders," Sandbar piped up, his tone softer now that he was addressing the changeling, aware of her past. "Invasions of foreign lands aren't legitimate, and tyranny isn't a genuine form of government."
"That isn't true either," Ocellus lamented. "A government is just the body that governs something, and governance is just the conduct of affairs with authority. All it takes to govern is to hold power, and that's why tyrants can even exist in the first place. Chrysalis wasn't the leader we wanted, but she was the leader of our hive anyway. The Storm King wasn't a leader anycreature wanted, but he conquered and controlled vast territories anyway. He even had infrastructure in place; trade, industry, and everything else you'd expect a government to do.
"As for legitimacy...what makes a legitimate leader? Thorax just became our leader one day, like Chrysalis did. Just like Princess Celestia did for Equestria, or Queen Novo for the hippogriffs. I'm not saying they're tyrants, or bad leaders, or anything like that, but what difference was there in how Thorax and Chrysalis came to power? The mayors of Equestria are elected, but monarchs are granted their position depending on custom or circumstance."
"But they're good creatures," the pony objected. "They're totally legitimate. Good creatures are legitimate rulers, bad creatures aren't."
"What about bad creatures that are redeemed? Princess Luna tried to conquer Equestria and plunge the world into eternal night, but now she's back on her throne after her redemption." There was a pause as the stallion thought about the conundrum. "What about good creatures that turn bad? Or creatures which have a bad day, or make a bad decision? What even is a good decision? We can't agree on how property should be divided-"
"It shouldn't," muttered the blue griffon instinctively as he listened on with interest.
"-so how do we determine who's right and wrong, and to what degree? Who's good and bad? Who's the tyrant; the creature which claims absolute power to decide when and how they'll claim property to distribute and redistribute it as they see fit, or the creature which steadfastly refuses to intervene?"
The table fell into silence as the chitinous mare finished her examination, leaving everyone's minds pondering the quandry. Accordingly, the emotions they emitted were slow, thoughtful, and deep. It was a heavier sensation than the changeling had been expecting to deal with today, not unlike being in a sauna, but it was better than the uncomfortable heat of angst.
"This is why you all need to be more like dragons," Smolder cut in at last. "Tyrants? Illegitimacy? Theft? You don't have any of that when you fight for what you want. Every dragon is as worthy as they prove themselves to be, regardless of your status. The only dragon with authority is the Dragon Lord, and anyone can become Dragon Lord if they try hard enough. You have to fight for the honour, really earn it, and then you get to rule as you see fit."
"That sounds a lot like tyranny," Ocellus pointed out. "If the strongest gets all of the authority, then you can end up with someone like Chrysalis ruling over an army of dragons. Or Nightmare Moon. Or Tirek."
"Weren't you listening?" the scaled girl asked. "Strength is key, and there are no barriers to anyone. That's the opposite of tyranny." Ocellus wasn't convinced, and a look around at the others made it apparent that they weren't either. "Did you know that Spike actually won the Gauntlet of Fire? Claimed the Bloodstone Sceptre and became Dragon Lord?"
"Really?"
"Ember told me herself," Smolder stated, proudly. "He used his authority to ensure peace with Equestria and then appointed Ember to be Dragon Lord as his replacement. He willingly gave up his title because he isn't a power-hungry tyrant, and he certainly isn't some violent dragon who wants to make the world burn. He isn't even particularly strong or tough. Strength doesn't just mean violence. Haven't the lessons from the professors shown us that? Strength of character is just as important. Isn't that what your people like, Ocellus?"
"Like what?"
"Striving for peace. You know...pastry? Pacifier?"
"Pacifism?"
"Yeah, that's it." She clicked her fingers and turned to Sandbar. "And since anyone can try to become Dragon Lord, there's no barrier to entry."
"Right?" Sandbar asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Isn't that something ponies talk about a lot? Or promote, or something? Mare...marry..." She scratched her chin in thought. "Um...they earn their position." She looked at Ocellus questioningly, who racked her brain for an idea of what the dragoness meant.
"Meritocracy?"
"Yeah, meritocracy. The best dragon earns the title, so it's a pretty...meritocracy...system."
"Meritocratic," the changeling corrected. Smolder just nodded.
"And since there's no requirement other than being a dragon, all dragons have a chance to earn the title. That's a totally eagle system."
"...do you mean...egalitarian?"
"Yeah, egalitarian system. When was the last time you saw someone compete for the title of Princess of the Night?"
"She has a point," Gallus commented. "It's not like it's some unimportant role that affects no one. The entire world needs the day/night cycle, and it falls to two mares to make it happen." Smolder turned to him, smirking as she did.
"Griffons love their competition, right? And you know how good competition is for proving who's best? So what's better for choosing a leader than a competition which requires the winner to have overcome challenges and prove their mettle? They have to be the best! If you don't earn it, you don't deserve it, but every dragon is given the chance to improve themselves and do better, and every dragon has to prove that they deserve what they have by defending it."
She turned to address the table at large. "Everycreature here would get what they want; you'd get the strongest and the best to lead you, it wouldn't be a tyrannical because the system is designed to provide an opportunity for anyone to replace the leader if they have the strength to do it, it's meritocratic and egalitarian, there's redistribution of wealth, freedom to act as you see fit with yourself and your property, and since the leader can act as they see fit, you get kind and compassionate leaders like Spike and Ember, and dragons don't get to refuse their progressive ideas. What's not to love?"
"And I made such a compelling case that everycreature was convinced and I won the argument," Smolder bragged, resting her hands behind her head and grinning.
"As if," Gallus scoffed. "You made some good points, but we were so far from convinced."
"I actually thought Yona made some convincing arguments," Ocellus stated curtly.
"Yaks always make best arguments," the yak boasted. "This time no different."
"I see," Starlight intoned. "Yona took the time to speak after Smolder?" The changeling nodded, and the unicorn mare turned her attention to the largest member of the group. "Yona, would you mind filling us in on what you said?" From the proud beam on the yak's face, it was clear that she was more than happy to fill them in.
Smolder's arguments were inticing, that was for sure, and she spoke of some very noble qualities; strength, honour, integrity, leadership, all values which yaks could admire. Of course, no one could ever hope to do it quite as well as the yaks could, but they could certainly do decently, and the values were still wholesome in themselves. However, there was something lacking that didn't translate well to Yona's sentiments.
"Being best sound good," she agreed. "But being best come from strength as community."
"What do you mean?" Smolder asked.
"All creatures are best when they work together," the yak explained. "Yaks strong because we one big tribe; one big family. This true for all creatures. Pony tribes survived through common traits, but brought curse when they fought. When tribes united, ponies founded kingdom, grew strong. Changelings always hungry when angry and fighting, but when united, they grew strong. Griffons grew strong when united, and grew weak when they lost idol. All creatures strong when together. We strong as friends. Unity not just for yaks, or for ponies, but for all creatures. When we together as community, everyone strong. Fighting among friends not make everyone strong."
"Yona's right," Sandbar chipped in, and the others agreed. "There's more to gain from working together than from fighting each other."
"Fighting over property and wealth means property and wealth not being enjoyed by creatures," she continued. "All things belong to community, and community enjoys them. Yaks sing and play together, like ponies and changelings. Dragons and griffons fight instead of play, and they miserable."
"Hey, dragons play," Smolder objected. "King of the Hoard, lava surfing, wrestling - we've got plenty of fun games!"
"And griffons have plenty of stuff we do together," Gallus spoke up in his defence. "We even have a buckball stadium now."
"Griffons happier now because of it?"
"Well, yeah, obviously."
"These things which make dragons and griffons happy, not hoarding."
The others around the table couldn't disagree with her assessment, and it took for Ocellus to speak up again to resume the conversation.
"What are you suggesting?"
"Everything owned by community," Yona declared. "All property belong to all creatures. Can't be argument over who takes what when everything already owned by everyone. Can't be theft if everyone rightful owner. No fighting over hoards, no tax, just fun and happiness."
Sandbar glanced left and right at his friends. "I'm sold," he confessed.
"Yeah, me too," Gallus agreed with a sniff.
"Yaks best at organising society," Smolder commended.
"-and then changeling friend cheer and hug Yona."
Starlight could already tell from the way that the others were looking at the yak that they took umbridge with her telling of events. She could guess where the deviation from truth started, judging from what Yona claimed had happened and how well she knew creatures in general and these six in particular.
"It didn't quite happen like that," Ocellus spoke up at last. "I didn't cheer or hug anycreature."
"And I started trying to explain the tragedy of the commons," Gallus reminded the yak.
"Sandbar pony was happy with ideas."
"I said the idea was interesting," Sandbar rebutted. "But I also said I wasn't sure it would work."
"Idea totally work!" Yona asserted. "Yak ideas best ideas! Friends no say yak ideas bad!"
"Let's all calm down," Starlight hurriedly intervened. Looking over the students, she spied the hippogriff, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the exchange. "Silverstream, you haven't said much. Is there anything you'd like to input?"
"I was just listening to everyone else," the chirpy girl explained. "I wanted to catch up on what I missed."
"What you missed?" Starlight repeated. "Weren't you there while this was all happening?"
"I was," she confirmed, blushing demurely. "But...well..."
Aside from Ocellus, there wasn't any student in the school more in love with studying than the campus' sole hippogriff. While the shapeshifter was content to find somewhere comfortable and quiet and sink into a book, becoming ensconced by the world it opened up to her, Silverstream was far more outward and energetic in her approach. She skimmed books as she passed, picking them up to read in between other activities, only to return to them later, picking up exactly where she left off. As much easily distracted as she was a multitasker, the strange combination, in conjunction with her natural inquisitiveness and general love of all things new and strange, let the hippogriff switch on and off at both opportune and inopportune moments.
With a packet of chips by her side and multiple books in front of her, the winged girl had all the distraction she needed, the conversation of the others on her table background noise to her. One of the books explained the function of unicorn horns, and how their composition was instrumental in the channeling and directing of magic. To a creature that couldn't directly influence the world around her through magic, only her form from hippogriff to seapony, such a concept was riveting. Then again, another of the books was about farming techniques perfected by earth ponies over scores of generations, allowing them to create produce for Equestria and beyond, which, to a creature which had spent much of her life underwater, was novel and fascinating. And yet still, the third book detailed the process of glassblowing, a technique that, while theoretically possible in Seaquestria, was something largely abandonned by her people prior to their return to Mount Aris. There was so much to learn, and she indulged her unquenchable curiosity with sharp, attentive eyes, looking from page to page and committing the information to memory.
Gallus and Sandbar were chatting excitedly about something, money from what she picked up, but she barely paid them any attention. There was another book on finance in the library that she'd been meaning to check out, so their words barely filtered through to her, less interesting than the content she was currently digesting.
"Stay away from my gems!"
Smolder's irritated demand yanked at Silverstream's concentration, and she looked up, paying attention to the conversation properly for the first time.
"What happens to the next thousand foals?" Sandbar asked Gallus. His expression changed as he realised he'd said something wrong. "Uh, chicks? What about their healthcare? Their other social costs? It isn't an efficient model."
"If it's about efficiency rather than the morality of the action, then what's the point of your taxes?" Gallus asked, sounding confused. "You pay for the EUP Guard; when were they last useful? You then pay for the cleanup after they fail. The roads you pay for are mere dirt paths. You pay-"
The hippogriff's mind wandered from the debate about paying for things to whether or not there was a maritime equivilent of roads. There wasn't a real need for them, sure, but there wasn't a real need for glass underwater, and Seaquestria had at least tried that. She returned to reading about the formation of glass, its ideal temperature and the techniques used to ensure a good quality. They had plenty of sand in and around Mount Aris, so maybe there was a market in creating beautiful stained glass art to underwater creatures. It would certainly be something they'd be unfamiliar with, and she knew that she would've purchased a whole batch if somecreature had offered it to her while she was stuck underwater.
"That isn't robbery or theft!"
Again, her attention was diverted away from the book to the conversation which was going on around her. She looked over at Sandbar and Gallus, who were bickering again, apparently over the same thing.
"Why not?"
"Because the government can't rob you!"
"Just because they're the government?"
"Yes!"
The hippogriff tilted her head at that. It didn't sound like one's own society would be guilty of committing heinous offences, but she was well aware that it probably could happen. It wasn't impossible for someone to exercise power cruelly, but after living under Queen Novo and meeting Twilight Sparkle, it seemed impossible that a society would be so backwards as to terrorise their own population.
"The Storm King wasn't a leader anycreature wanted, but he conquered and controlled vast territories anyway."
Silverstream shivered, the name sending a chill through her body. She immediately returned to reading her books, an uncomfortable crawling running under her skin. She was safe up here now, there was no need to think about him. She focused on irrigation techniques used by earth ponies prior to pegasi directing rainfall to aid their agriculture. Something she hadn't considered living underwater was how much other creatures needed to source their water, given that there was an overabundance of plant life in her coral reef. Growing crops, she realised now, took a significant amount of deliberate effort, and finding a suitable and sustainable source of water was vital in that endeavour. She admired ponies, the way they came together to solve difficulties affecting all of them, and the innovative ways they went about it. The defeat of the Storm King was one such example, and the impact it had had on her life was something that made her smile every time it crossed her mind.
She glanced up a couple of times, the conversation sliding into sharp focus whenever she shifted her attention from the writing on the page to her friends' discussion, and she caught snippets of what they were saying.
"Everycreature here would get what they want; you'd get the strongest and the best to lead you-"
...
"All creatures are best when they work together."
...
"These things which make dragons and griffons happy, not hoarding."
...
"-wouldn't be allowed? Are you crazy?!"
...
"You can take it from my cold, dead claws!"
The last one, shouted by Gallus, completely tore Silverstream away from her literature, and her head shot up, startled. The griffon was leaning forward on the table, glaring at the yak, who was returning his expression in kind.
"If she can do that, then it's fair game," Smolder shot at the griffon. Gallus turned his glare to her.
"I'm sure you'd be happy if she took your hoard from you, miss generous."
"You stay away from my gems, you hear?" The orange girl leaned in to Gallus, her expression hardening into a scowl. "I've worked too hard to keep them safe from the fiercest of dragons just to have ponies or griffons or yaks take them from me!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sandbar demanded. "You're okay with theft and assault, but when ponies do it, we're beneath you or something?"
"Like you care about theft or assault," Gallus fired at the stallion. "You'd turn a blind eye if I said I was a government representative."
"And you wouldn't care if ponies remained hungry and poor because you're too self-absorbed to admit that sharing is the right thing to do! You're meant to be learning about generosity and kindness, but you're both too selfish!"
"It's mine fair and square!" Smolder hissed.
"Forcing people to share what they have isn't generosity!" Gallus growled. "It's selfish to assume you know what's best for everycreature else, and that you know so much that you can tell exactly what everycreature else deserves!"
"Yeah? Well, you're both horrible! Neither of you cares about anycreature else in your society! You just want to keep everything you have, and you're willing to let others suffer, so long as you can sit on your big fat pile of gold and do nothing with it!"
"I barely have any gold!"
"And any dragon can take it from me if they're worthy enough."
"That's barbaric," Sandbar spat in disgust.
"Why is everyone yelling?" Silverstream asked Ocellus, who looked visibly uncomfortable. The changeling shook her head and cleared her throat.
"Can we...can we all stop fighting?" the chitinous mare asked. "We're being far too loud in here, and-"
"You're barbaric!" Gallus fired back. "With your terrible roads, and publicly funded schools, and...and..." He faltered, grew annoyed, and finished with, "and you're all too soft! You get invaded every other day and your army can't do anything about it!"
"We're barbaric because we're soft?" Sandbar scoffed. "You're barbaric because you don't have a functioning society and you refuse to make one."
That earned a gasp from almost everyone at the table. Silverstream's eyes widened, and she clasped her claws to her beak. Next to her, Ocellus covered her muzzle with her hooves.
"You didn't mean that, did you?" the changeling asked. Sandbar turned his head, and his eyes flashed with regret on seeing his friends' expressions.
"We don't have to fight," Silverstream interjected. "We can compromise. There's no reason we need to have it all one way or another. Hippogriffs are really good at making hybridisation work, so we know it can be done, and that way everycreature can be happy. Then we can focus on important issues, like stopping overfishing and ocean pollution."
"And deforestation, desertification, and soil reduction," Ocellus added.
"Hang on, why are those considered 'important issues', but the basic rights of sentient creatures aren't?" Smolder asked, throwing air quotes around Silverstream's words. "And aren't changelings largely responsible for environmental damage in the first place?"
"We've changed and we're trying our best!" Ocellus objected. "Maybe dragons could learn something from us." Smolder's eyes narrowed.
"Guys, we're fighting again," the hippogriff jumped in. "We should be trying to find a compromise."
"Right, compromise," Gallus spat. "Be more like hippogriffs? Give up and hide away? Yes, we're fighting, because that's what creatures do! Not everycreature has the luxury of hiding from problems and pretending they don't exist! Great 'solution' you've managed to come up with. I'm so glad we have the hippogriff perspective to look up to and admire."
The winged girl shrank back, shocked by her friend's contemptuous tone. She blinked rapidly, holding back tears. "I just meant-"
"Problems not going to be fixed by compromise!" Yona declared, her voice carrying through the room. "Put community first, end conflict!"
"No, we need to let individuals be free and leave them alone!" Gallus insisted.
"We need to help other creatures, dude!" Sandbar cut in.
"Creatures need to help themselves!" Smolder hissed.
"Please can we find a peaceful way to resolve this?" Ocellus asked, rubbing her temples, her face screwed up. Silverstream just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"Peace comes when we solve issue behind problem," Yona repeated. "Problem comes from property. All property must belong to community! Not to individuals!"
"Private property is what's making Griffonstone suck less!" Gallus told her.
"Yona say demolish private property!"
"Um, I think you mean 'abolish' private property," the changeling told the larger female.
"Yaks smash," the furry behemouth asserted with a snort. "Yona said what Yona said."
"W-well, even if you do mean 'demolish', do you realise what that entails?" Ocellus continued. "Most buildings are private property in some form. You'd have to demolish half of Ponyville. Even this school is private property!"
Yona blinked and looked around, her braids swinging as she turned her head left and right, and glanced up at the ceiling. When she centred her gaze again, she held the attention of the entire group.
"Um...guys...have...have Yona's eyes always been able to glow red?"
"I...I see," Starlight commented with a grimace. "That explains why the report says that students felt the walls shake. And why professors Applejack and Rainbow Dash noticed students running from the direction of the library. And why they heard what sounded like...the bellow of a Dragur and the footsteps of a full-grown dragon." She sighed, and looked over the students with weary eyes. "At least now I know why we got to this point. In fact, the only thing I don't understand is how Gallus ended up being thrown out of the window."
"Oh, yeah, that," Smolder spoke up. "It's pretty easy to explain that. At least, in comparison to the rest of what happened."
"I'm listening."
"You take back what you said about my mother!"
"Not before you take back what you said about my mother!"
The library was in chaos. Tables had been flipped, students were running screaming from the rampaging yak, and dust was shaken from the ceiling by the frequent impacts out in the corridor. Sandbar had run off to try and stop Yona from destroying everything in sight, and Ocellus had joined him, transforming into something of comparable size to try and be a counterweight to the mobile battering ram. Silverstream looked on in concern, rescuing books as they slipped from shelves and hurtled towards the floor.
"Please don't fight!" she begged her two friends. "We can still find a way to resolve this!" She squeaked as a book bounced off her head, and whimpered as it hit the floor with a thump.
"Fine," Smolder relented. "Compromise."
"The hippogriff way," Gallus snarked. "What you got in mind?"
"You like competition, I like competition," the dragon replied. "We wrestle. No holds barred. Submission only. Honour is settled."
"I agree to your terms," the griffon replied, holding out a claw. The orange girl gripped it firmly and shook, and as soon as she let go, both participants dropped into a fighting stance, eyeing each other up. Slowly, they began to circle one another, keeping their movements slow and deliberate, their gazes never budging. As the seconds passed by, their focus grew more intense, outside sound dimming to better let them guage their opponent's intent.
"What in the hay is goin' on here?!"
The voice knocked Gallus back into reality, and he spun around to address the speaker.
"Professor Applejack! We were just-"
Smolder's instincts had taken over, and she was still in fight mode. When Gallus turned his back, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his barrel and locking her claws just under his ribs. With a heave, she hurled the griffon back with her, and jumped up to give herself better thrust. Letting go at the apex of her swing, she sent her feathery opponent whizzing behind her with a squawk.
A sharp crash greeted her as she landed heavily on her back, and she spun around to see what she'd done. Unfortunately, she'd neglected to check her surroundings, and in the heat of the moment, had managed to position herself the perfect distance and angle to create a Gallus-shaped hole in the library window. She winced, and, realising that she was being watched by a startled professor, tried to stammer something that would justify her actions.
"If you're looking for Gallus, you just missed him," she said, turning to face the orange mare and gesturing over her shoulder.
"Really?" Gallus asked. "You could've at least gone with that won't be the glass time we see him, or he always was a pane in my-
"GETTING back on topic," Starlight interrupted, loudly. "Now that we have all the facts, we still need to resolve this. What happened was completely reckless, immature, and unacceptable. It's lucky that no one was seriously hurt, and the damage to the school was not only avoidable, but malevolent. There isn't an acceptable reason to damage this building, and it was dispicable behaviour."
Yona cast her eyes down, looking sullen. "Yona sorry. It was bad idea. Yak ideas not always best ideas."
"We're all really sorry," Ocellus added. "If we'd stopped arguing, it never would've got to that point. We all contributed to the damage."
"Yes, you did," Starlight agreed. "And it's why you'll need to help fix it." There were a few grumbles, but none of the students objected. "While that solves the issue of the damage you caused, the reason the damage was caused still needs to be mended. You've all had time to speak, to give your side of the story, and to air your grievances. As a guidance counsellor, it's my opinion that you've found a sensitive topic about which you all possess strong convictions - very strong, it seems. However, I know all six of you have unshakable friendships, and if I can say so in the confidence of this room, exemplary friendships. You six represent everything Twilight hoped and imagined when she first concocted this school. Not merely opened it, but dreamt it into being."
"Really?"
"I was in the room with her and all of your professors when it came to her," Starlight revealed. "Twilight has a certain look about her when an idea hits her, and I saw it then. In the early days of this school, I was a confidant of sorts for her, and I got to learn all about what she hoped and feared when it came to this project. I can safely say that the six of you are one of the greatest sources of pride for her." She smiled, recognising the warm glow that passed through them, the twinkle in their eyes as she revealed that little bit of information. "So believe me when I say that I think - that we all think - that your friendship is more powerful than anything life can throw at you. With that in mind..." She sat back, leaning into her chair, and gestured at them. A silence followed, settling on the room once again. Starlight let it linger, undeterred. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds. Forty seconds. Fifty seconds.
"Back then, in the library, it got pretty crazy," Sandbar spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, it was pretttty wild," Silverstream agreed, chuckling. "And really silly, too. What a stupid thing to fight over."
"It didn't feel silly," Smolder huffed, crossing her arms.
"Not at the time, no," Sandbar agreed. "But, in light of everything, it does now, doesn't it?"
"....yeah," she admitted with a sigh.
"I, uh, I said some really uncool things," the pony continued, looking at the girl.
"Yeah, you did."
"Yeah, I did, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, and I don't know why I said it. Well, I know why I said it, but it wasn't right to say it. You two aren't barbarians, or uncivilised, but when I heard what you were saying, it made me angry. Like, it was like you were just so wrong, but I couldn't get you to understand, and, well, I stopped trying to explain and just...tried to make you feel as angry as I was."
"It worked," Gallus commented, and it was his turn to sigh. "I said some bad things too. I could've tried to get you to understand, but I just said whatever came to mind, even though it didn't make any sense. I thought that maybe if I said things to hurt you, I'd win, somehow? I know it doesn't make any sense, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. I'm sorry I called you weak and soft." He turned to look at the hippogriff, frowning awkwardly. "And I'm sorry I was so rude to you. I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did. I was just angry after Sandbar told me griffons couldn't run a society, and I took it out on you. I know that doesn't make up for it, but-"
"I forgive you!" the bubbly female interrupted, leaning in and wrapping him in a tight hug. "We did hide away from our problems, and I'm glad Headmare Twilight and our professors defeated the Storm King and reached out to us, because if she didn't, we'd still all be hiding underwater, and I'd never have met any of you." She squeezed the griffon tighter, and Gallus was reminded just how deceptively strong the girl actually was.
The others joined in, offering their apologies to one another, and with each apology, the next came easier. Silverstream extended the hug to the others, giving Gallus an opportunity to breathe, and as the minutes went on, the energy of their friendship returned, warming and filling them in a way that was visible to any onlooker. Starlight smiled and let the exercise run its course, until they'd made up and looked ready to go on their way.
"Has that sorted everything out?" the unicorn asked, receiving, as she'd expected, fervent nods and verbal affirmations. "Good. I hope you've all learned something valuable today."
"I'd say we did," Sandbar chuckled. Starlight could tell he was going to lead a speech, and for some reason, she imagined the scene would work well if accompanied by a slow, optimistic musical piece which played just loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to drown out what was being said. Maybe it was just her mind wandering strange places, but as far as she saw, it might add some emotional impact to the scene. "We stumbled into a situation that was new to all of us, and we didn't have any experience with the sort of conflict it could bring."
"We'd never discussed anything like this before, and it went wild really quickly," Silverstream continued. "It's easy to assume everyone agrees with you, or that how you see the world is normal, when your only experience is people who live with you, or who've been in exactly the same situations as you. But there are so many creatures out there in the world, amazing, diverse creatures who have such a different experience with life and all its crazy possibilities."
"It easy to lose head and act like animal," Yona spoke up. "It easy to assume that your way is only way, or best way. But all creatures adapt to situation in life. All creatures adapt to suit selves, and forcing solution bring only misery."
"Part of coming to the School of Friendship was learning something new, and filling in things we didn't know or want to admit," Smolder added. "At first, it seemed like that meant knowledge and stuff, like how to bake, or how to build a cabin, or sculpting. But then it became clearer, that maybe the way we think isn't as perfect as we thought it was, and that we learn as much from each other and our own experiences as we do from the teachers at the school. Maybe we know something others don't, and they know something we don't. Our differences and the interactions they bring are as much a teacher as any of our professors here. Maybe what we already know is right, and maybe it's wrong. Maybe all our friends are wrong. But whatever the case, it's worth listening to and seeing if there's any-" She glanced over at Ocellus. "-merit to what they have to say."
"Because while it's okay to have formed opinions on things," the changeling carried on, resuming Smolder's words, "it doesn't mean we're right. It doesn't mean that we're absolute. And with that being the case, there's always room to learn. We can always improve. And when we improve, our lives and the lives of those around us prosper. If we refuse to learn or improve, then all we do is argue and stagnate."
"And maybe how we're doing things is perfectly fine," Gallus joined in. "Maybe staying how we are is the right thing to do. Maybe we're not ready for change just yet, or maybe we've hit the nail on the head and the right course of action is to stay true for as long as we can. But we don't know for certain, and we should always try to examine that, just in case there's a better way. Staying true is fine, but it doesn't need to harm a friendship. Good friends can work past differences, and bad friends force difficulties that don't need to be there."
"Some things need to be figured out," Yona added. "Some things true and right. But not all things, and some things creatures think they know are not things they really know."
"And if we can't work something out, we don't need to engage with it," Sandbar concluded. "There's no reason to find problems to tear apart friendships, and that's how, at the end of the day, you determine exactly what a friendship is worth."
The group gathered for another hug, and Starlight beamed. She'd expected it to work out, but she still felt a giddy sense of achievement and wonder at seeing them reconcile. It was an immutable part of her job, really, and this was certainly one of the highlights.
"That sounds like quite the lesson," she commented. "And since I'm convinced that you've taken it to heart, you won't be receiving any punishment for the damage you've caused, beyond helping to repair it. Go and enjoy the rest of the day, and please don't ever do anything like this ever again."
"Friends won't," Yona assured, proudly. "Lesson loud and clear."
"Hey, uh, guys?" Sandbar spoke up. "We don't have to, but if you want to explain your points again, I promise I'll listen, rather than getting angry."
"Maybe later," Gallus answered. "But yeah, maybe. One day. I'll keep my temper to myself too."
"And maybe we'll even reach a compromise without a wrestling match," Smolder jibed, prompting a laugh from her friends as they stood up and filed out of the room, making plans to go and fetch dinner. Starlight watched them go, and, looking at the clock on the wall, got ready to attend to her own dinner plans.
"I'm glad to hear they worked out their problems," Twilight said, smiling over the entree at Starlight. "The school can be repaired easily enough, but troubled students are a whole other basket of eggs."
"I know what you mean," the unicorn answered, spooning some of her soup into her mouth. "I figured I'd expose them to some truths, let them consider it, and it worked. I mean, I knew it would - anypony with eyes can see that they're thick as thieves - but it just seemed like the best option. Detention or writing home to their families wouldn't have done anything to bring them back together." She shrugged. "I suppose you can't regulate away attitudes, but you can show creatures the error of their ways."
"I knew you could do it," the alicorn replied. "You're the best guidance counsellor a headmare could ask for." When Starlight went to wave away the praise, Twilight continued. "I mean it. You understand the problems ponies face, and you can solve them. You've helped the students and the staff, and we're all grateful for it."
"Darn tootin'," Applejack exclaimed, grinning across the table. "If it weren't for you, we'd be as lost as a filly in a cornfield maze with this whole schoolin' business."
The others piled on their words of encouragement and praise, and Starlight blushed, trying to wave them down. "Girls, I'm just an ordinary pony with a particular talent, like all of you. All of you do fantastic work at the school, and beyond. Besides, it's hardly like I would've amounted to anything more than a crazy cult leader stuck in the desert if it weren't for Twilight's patience, forgiveness, and nurturing. I'm here because of her, and I hope I'm not out of line when I say I think we all owe her something."
"I think we've all contributed to each other," Twilight interjected, knowing the conversation would go back and forth with each of them trying to shift their rightful accolades onto somepony else. "That's the magic of friendship; we all grow because of one another. I'm glad you girls are here to help me grow, and that I can offer you ways to grow in kind. And now, seeing all of us working together to share that light with creatures from all across the world, it's truly one of the best things that could've ever happened to me."
The mares cheered, returning to their food. Starlight smiled at Twilight again, who offered a smile in return.
"Well done on solving this friendship problem," the alicorn added, one final congratulations for the unicorn.
"What better mare to get stubborn students with dogmatic ideas to realise how destructive that can be than a mare who recovered from being a stubborn ideologue?"
"When you say it like that..." Twilight mused. "I suppose I do know how to pick 'em." They shared a giggle together.
"Do you know who to pick because you were once a stubborn ideologue?" Starlight teased.
"Oh, no," Twilight denied, shaking her head. "I was much worse; I was an introverted bookworm with no social life, and I adamently refused to even try friendship. The rest of it was learning on the way."
"Including turning Ponyville into your own personal lab!" Rainbow Dash called from further down the table. "We still haven't forgotten that!"
"It wasn't that bad," the alicorn objected, rolling her eyes. "When was it anywhere close to being that bad?"
"The social experiement where you tried to create the perfect social system by establishing complex and convulted rules in order to test how they could be applied to wider society?" Pinkie posited. "That was a craaaazzzzyyy weekend."
"Um, am I missing something?" Starlight asked, turning to look at a now blushing Twilight.
"She kidnapped the mayor for some weird social experiment," Dash answered.
"I did not kidnap the mayor!" Twilight objected, her cheeks flushing hotter. "It was a misunderstanding which Princess Celestia managed to clear up."
"Okay, now this I have to hear," Starlight insisted, smirking and leaning in. Twilight sighed, rubbing her face.
"Well, I suppose it's better if I tell you about it, rather than some other mischievous mares. Have you ever met Sunset Shimmer?" Upon receiving a nod, Twilight continued. "Well, one day, I went to visit her in the mirror world, and, when she offered me a computer to study anything that piqued my interest, I did some very choicey research..."