The World Works Like This...
My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am the new President of Germane.
As Twilight began thinking to herself, a curious figure came in her bedroom, squeaking past the barely open door.
I can’t believe I’m in this position. I’ve worked so hard for this.
The figure revealed itself to be Spike, holding a piece of parchment.
Clawing your way to the top, beating every obstacle in your path.
"President Sparkle?" Spike inquired.
Making the right decisions every step of the way.
"Excuse me, President Sparkle?"
Planning day and night, trying-
"My apologies, but your prepared speech is ready."
Twilight let out a deep sigh. She already gave up her ability to think in peace and quiet a long time ago. Once upon a time, she might have had a little, but being a politician made things much too intrusive for that anymore. Even in her Presidential bedroom...
“Spike, just leave me to my own thoughts. I’m speaking out by my own heart, not a written copy of it,” Twilight requested. “To do that, I need to think about how I will shape Germane into a world superpower, and convince the country that they picked the right pony for the job.”
Clearly, Spike didn’t understand the meaning of ‘leave somepony alone’, or ‘stop shoving that speech in my face’.
“You have to use this, you’re up in a few minutes!” Spike reminded Twilight. “You’re bound to make a mistake, at least keep it for reference!”
Without warning, a loud, friendly voice echoed through the building from outside, interrupting Spike's suggestions.
...You, the citizens of Germane, have spoken! Without further ado, here is your newly elected President, miss Twilight Sparkle!
Ack!
There was no time to lose, but Spike was blocking access to the door leading out to the podium. Oh well, I don’t need to read that speech if I take it anyway... Twilight thought, accepting the speech to Spike's delight. Reaching the podium outside took little effort and time, but every second delayed felt like ages to Twilight.
What if they get sick of waiting and leave?
Adjusting her eyes to the light outside was difficult enough, but what she saw after that would rack anypony's nerves up. Thousands of ponies, all Germanian, here to hear their new leader's inaugural speech. Thousands of ecstatic ponies representing every imaginable colour of the rainbow. Thousands of ponies that would see any mistake she made…
"Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!" the crowd roared.
Their enthusiasm wasn't helping, but Twilight's nerves calmed a little after recollecting her campaign, and remembering all the promises she had made. She hadn't gotten this far to simply lose the citizens' trust, and promising to keep promises is the best way to keep it.
Perfect, all I need is to assure them that I'll fulfill my promises and I'm set!
Mustering the last of her courage, Twilight set out to work.
"Citizens of Germane!" Twilight began. "First and foremost, I am pleased with your decision to elect me as your president. I understand that we are in a little of an economic downturn, but plans have already started to be implemented into our infrastructure to improve the situation, such as-"
Hanging on every word, 'improve' seemed to be the clincher as the crowd erupted. Left, right and center, ponies yelled their excitement right at their new president. An overwhelming sense of accomplishment was flying through Twilight's head, leaving a touched smile on her face.
All this work, and I get so much attention and appreciation from the country…
Silence filled the air once Twilight's intention to speak again became clear, the crowd eagerly awaiting their next cue.
"This is truly touching, and by my horn, I swear I will not let any of you down. Not a single pony's thoughts will be left out, as I will make time in my schedule to listen to you, the citizens of Germane, giving feedback. This country will remain the strong republican society it has been for so long, with the Magic Horizons Party and myself working on any future problems that need to be solved. I thank you all, for Unity, Justice and Freedom!"
No amount of words could drown out or stop the excitement the crowd showed at the mention of their motto. The crowd was not physical, but the noise made it difficult for Twilight to return inside without a headache.
Head thumping after every step, Twilight returned to her chambers. Although she planned on getting rest, Spike was still around, seemingly concerned at the condition of his president.
"You need some water or something? I could get some if you need any."
Twilight merely smiled at the baby dragon, head still hurting all the while.
"Don't worry about it, Spike, I just need to be alone for now. Oh, and I didn't use the speech, but if you wanted to keep it, it's outside on the podium. I'd grab it now if you want to risk getting your ears blown out by that crowd!"
Spike's concern quickly changed to annoyance, but complied with her wish for some alone time.
"Well, that was pretty short for a speech, but I suppose I already had their trust. I just wish I, *yawn*, had an idea of the agendas of the other countries in the world. Who knows what they have in mind…"
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There wasn’t much to see here, and even less to say about it. Although there have been negotiations in the past to get some top secret experimental stuff down here, Antlertica remains a reclusive society - if you call around 100 ponies living off of each other a society. Nopony really wants to be a leader of a big, frozen block of ice, but 3 young ponies stepped up to the plate to give a newer, more fresh outlook to their “situation”.
Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo all entered the only public building in the only settlement down in Antlertica with the same idea; What if they don't take us seriously?
The building was the hub of the community, being the largest building with the best insulation in the continent. Not everypony was present on this day, however, since large was a little of an exaggeration. The building could barely fit 70 ponies, let alone 100.
“I’ll talk to them, I have the loudest voice. Don’t worry, I know what you two would say, and I’ll tell them everything,” Scootaloo said. “If I do something wrong, just tell me!”
Stepping up on a table, Scootaloo looked to her friends for confirmation. After a subtle nod from Applebloom, the ponies in the room perked their ears to listen to the voice of the young filly.
“Uh, hey ponies. I understand that we don't have a true need for leaders, which makes us all the more grateful that you thought we should be put into that position. It'll give us the skills we need to eventually shape Antlertica, or so I'm told."
Briefly stopping to catch her breath, Scootaloo caught Sweetie Belle's eye, who whispered something unintelligible in her ear.
"Well, we don't believe this is true, because we will shape Antlertica to be more right now! We may be few, but we can make this work! Applebloom has already met with a messenger from Britallia here to survey the land, and we are set to be a part of an international council, where we will surely develop strong partnerships with other countries!"
Ponies all around the room gaped at this notion. Opportunities and advancements could be made to develop this land was the general consensus in the building. Some had already left to get more ponies to join, however cramped the building might become.
"The messenger returned just this morning, confirming our oligarchic system as one of the world's 10 governments. Although we may be small, the attention could attract visitors, and possibly drive us to shape the land to our choosing!"
By the time Scootaloo was on 'shape the land', seemingly every pony in the region was present. Despite the promising things Scootaloo was describing, however, the ponies present began to sour up at 'oligarchic'.
"Don't worry! You probably think it is too much to leave us three in total charge of the region, but this is only a beginning. We will still get input from everypony, and step down if need be. The other members of the international council could also provide advice and assistance if we ask!"
Without anything else to say, Scootaloo entered an awkward situation with the whole building staring at her, expecting a clincher ending to get them going.
"You did great, Scoot! But you should get better at speeches, everything seems really weird, and the public doesn't know too much about what's going on yet!" Sweetie Belle whispered in Scootaloo's ear.
"We will be attendin' the first council meeting tomorrow, as the messenger from before has sent us a boat to depart for the mainland right now. We'll explain more in the future, since right now, we aren't 100% sure of how this situation will work, either," Applebloom announced in relief of Scootaloo.
There were only shrugs of confusion building, wondering what actions will be taken in the future. "They're just fillies, ignore them." was the general message spread around the room.
That was far from what the new leaders planned as they left the building to board the boat.
No, they had a much, much bigger agenda than their awkward speech showed.
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“Oh Great and Powerful Trixie, a letter arrived in the mail a few days ago from the Kingdom of Britallia.”
There wasn’t much that couldn’t aggravate Trixie, and her messenger’s notice was no exception.
“A few days ago? You mean you kept your benevolent ruler from getting the mail this late?” Trixie said impatiently. “Read it.”
There was no negative reaction from the messenger. He knew exactly what he had done, and like the rest of the country would do in his place, he knew he deserved the punishment he’d get afterwards.
“*Ahem* Dear Great and Powerful Trixie, the other countries in the world have been discussing with each other of the opportunities the world could create if we were more organized with each other. Now, we understand that you might not want to accept this invitation, but we believe that every country should take part in a council that will be meeting in a few days here in Britallia. You only need attend to show your interest. If you do not wish to attend due to unforeseen consequences, then send a letter and we will understand. In the case that we do not receive a reply, hostilities already presented to your nation will increase. Economic sanctions are a possibility. Looking forward to your swift reply, Queen Celestia.”
Trixie's eyes were deep in thought, but not about the letter.
“I don’t care about some silly threat, take that letter away. It isn’t important. What is important is that you be taught a lesson for your tardiness, but such meaningless news doesn’t make it a crime, I suppose,” Trixie explained. “However, Coltreia has had a little more crime than is usually acceptable, and I haven’t had a demonstration in some time. If you will come to the balcony outside, we can get started with the demonstration."
The messenger knew what this meant, and headed to the balcony to meet his fate. With Trixie's advancing gestures, he walked outside to the watching eyes of many thousands of ponies, all expecting Trixie to make a normal, conceited monologue about herself.
"My loyal subjects! Instead of having you all celebrating my ruling, I have chosen to show you another miscreant to be punished, and what will happen to you if you do not remain loyal to your country. To keep everyone in check, an example will be made of this pony for neglecting to inform your ruler of pressing matters. Hopefully you will all learn from this and never neglect your duties to me. If you can't see up here, don't worry, you'll get to see it all soon enough. My messenger, if you will please show yourself to everypony."
The messenger willingly complied, keeping the crowd below him in perfect view. Without a moment's hesitation, a light grayish magenta colour began to surround him, lifting him above and over the balcony ledge. No matter how dedicated somepony is to his ruler, the fear shown by the messenger was too overwhelming to keep at bay.
"Please, oh Great and Powerful Trixie! I meant no harm! I will never do it again!" the messenger cried.
Trixie merely laughed as the crowd below applauded her decision.
"Maybe next time, you will have a stronger sense of patriotism and willingness to work for your country. In the afterlife."
The light surrounding the pony disappeared as his life slowly drifted away, getting closer and closer to the hard pavement the ponies below were clearing away for.
For all of a minute, silence. Trixie gave a reassuring smile to the crowd, which ignited a loud cheer for their leader.
"Thank you, everypony, for being loyal to your leader. Learn from this, and I may be doing this less often. Until next week!" Trixie finished.
Exiting the balcony from her adoring ponies, Trixie called for a servant.
"Clean up the mess down at the ground. I don't care what you do to the remains, I have no use for a traitor, live or dead. This country is mine, and no one will stand in my way to make it exactly how I want it. Now, go! I need to go find out what happened with our assault on that pitiful place everypony calls the USPR."
The servant nodded and departed to clean up the mess grudgingly, being one of the only ponies in the country who opposed Trixie. It's only a matter of time before Trixie knows about him, but by then, the rest of the ponies in his force will have already begun to fight against Trixie's revolting actions.
His revolution will have begun.
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“Umm... are you ready to perform your - I mean - my speech? It’s fine if you aren’t, but there are a lot of ponies outside waiting for somepony to make a speech...” Fluttershy said quietly.
There weren’t a lot of people who supported Fluttershy in her run to become Empress of Neighpon, especially considering she hasn’t spoken in public with groups in excess of 50 ponies. But, as luck would have it, the 2 other parties vying for the position dropped out before the election, putting Fluttershy as the Empress by default. The main questions on everypony’s mind was whether she would begin to make decisions a leader should be making, and why she even decided to run in the first place if she is so shy.
“Well, even though this is your country now, I suppose I have no choice but to announce the speech in your place. You know, this would elevate your status and ponies would put you in higher regard if you did this yourself,” a dark green pegasus reminded Fluttershy.
“That will be quite alright, Green Thorn. If I need to go out, I will.”
Fluttershy sighed deeply, wishing she had the courage she desperately wanted to run this country more efficiently. Her ideas flew through her head, and she questioned whether or not Green Thorn could make it sound convincing when he was speaking.
“Alright, as your advisor, I trust your opinion is correct. But something is telling me that you will be speaking today, but you just aren’t aware of it yet. Now, the megaphone, please,” Green Thorn said, gesturing to the big cone next to Fluttershy. The crowd awaiting the speech was pretty slim, but they were scattered around, and the megaphone was the only way to reach them.
Handing the device to her advisor, Fluttershy felt a pang of remorse as she realized that she was the country’s leader, and they expected her to feel no shame. Not speaking in public probably seems shameful and unpatriotic to the citizens and her country.
“Good... good luck. I hope they like what they hear,” Fluttershy hoped.
Green Thorn flew up to the top of the town hall’s main gazebo, where 100 or so ponies gathered round to hear what Fluttershy had to say. To none of their surprises, it wasn’t what Fluttershy had to say, but what her advisor had to say. Several ponies grunted in mockery and left, leaving the scene even more scattered.
Hmm, I really hope she falls for my plan... Green Thorn thought.
Green Thorn attached the megaphone to his head, allowing him to freely speak through the opening without using his hooves. Most of the ponies remaining perked their ears, but had little hope.
“Greetings, ponies. I trust that you will tell your friends and relatives about what I’ll be saying here today, because it is the definition of Fluttershy as how she well lead the country. You will not be disappointed, despite the current lack of faith I see the country holds so far in our future dictator.”
Any pony listening felt disgust and outrage over the word ‘dictator’, setting most of them off and alerting Fluttershy, still in town hall.
“Wow... he thinks I’ll be a... a... dictator? I can’t let him say such terrible things!” Fluttershy exclaimed, raising her voice.
She flew over to a smiling Green Thorn, who knew that his plan had worked. Without even grabbing the megaphone, Fluttershy began to speak to ponies from far away with a powerful, loud voice.
“No, this is completely wrong! I want all of you who left and heard what he said to return! That is not how ponies respect their leaders, whether they had a true election or not!” Fluttershy yelled, seemingly forgetting her shyness for a while.
The sudden outburst would normally stun and cause more outrage if it was any other leader, but the change of pace with Fluttershy made things much more interesting. More and more ponies came hearing her words, now intent on listening to what she had to say.
“This country has been thriving well as a republican society, and as your Empress, it will remain that way until I am finished my term! We will not have a dictatorship, and I have already made plans to make this country an even more stable and strong member of the world economy!” Fluttershy continued, attracting more and more ponies in the thousands after Green Thorn raised the megaphone to her mouth, increasing her range even more. “You may question why I even ran for Empress, and believe me, I know I am shy. But I will improve. I ran because I got news of an upcoming council for the world’s countries, and the previous leader was not interested. I thought it would be a great opportunity to advance our country’s ideals, and I trust you all have the same wishes to make our country better! We will make it better, because the honour of our country is the honour of us all!”
About 10 minutes ago, there was a scattered group of around 80 ponies remaining to listen to their ‘fearless’ leader. Now, there were tens of thousands of them, gathered in buildings and the roads to listen to their new leader earn their trust. With the finishing statement being the country’s motto, they were all ecstatic and began to chant her name, when they would barely utter her name the day before.
The excitedness of the crowd startled a happy Fluttershy, relieved that they seem to trust her even if her shyness did kick in.
“Green Thorn, I’m heading back to the town hall. I trust the rest of the ponies will tell the rest of the country about my speech, but my shyness sort of... kicked in again. I won’t be able to speak with them anymore. I’ll see you tomorrow, I hope,” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing with this council thing, you’ll have to tell me in a few days when you return what happened there,” Green Thorn requested.
“I think it will work. I hope it does, for Neighpon’s sake.”
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Rarity, deep in thought, trotted up and down the backstage, looking at each dress intently. With a smile of satisfaction, Rarity pointed her hoof to the colourful pink dress on the far right.
“I absolutely love it! I don’t see any other way the ponies of Prance will keep me as their President if I have anything less! Don’t just stand there, help me get it on!” Rarity exclaimed, gesturing to the tailor laying out several dresses.
“Why not make it yourself, President Rarity? I’ve heard from far and wide that other than your ability to lead a country, you are one of the best dressmakers in the world!” the tailor questioned Rarity.
Rarity seemed a little distraught at the addition of ‘one of the best’ rather than simply saying ‘the best’, but that wasn’t the priority right now.
“I’ve been dreadfully busy with Celestia, Britallia’s queen. There’s going to be a council of leaders from all over the world, and I think it will be a great chance to show off our stuff!”
On the other side of the stage, a mass of ponies awaited their President to make her inaugural announcement. Murmurs of ‘I heard she wasn’t doing a speech...’ and ‘What does she want?’ flooded the room, starting rumours everywhere. Their new leader seemed like a good pony for the job, even if her methods seemed a little odd. Image this, fashion that... it didn’t seem like something a country’s leader should focus on.
As the lights dimmed around the stage, a catwalk unfolded out into the crowd. The ponies’ predictions of a fashion show were realized after Rarity went front and center stage, along with other ponies by her side, baring other fashionable dresses.
“Hello ponies of Prance! I’m sure you already know most of what I’ll be doing to improve the country, but in times of peace, we want to maintain a good image for ourselves! This is why we are all out here, so that you can see my wardrobe for international interactions before the rest of the world does!” Rarity said to the crowd.
The audience wasn’t happy with the scenario, and it wasn’t because the wardrobe or the poses weren’t great, but they knew this had nothing to do with running a country. This kind of attitude instead of having a leader personality wouldn’t sit well with anypony.
“Now, I hope that the upcoming world council I’ve been invited to will turn out splendid, because I think the fashion statement shown here will elevate us to a well-liked status within the world! I trust you’ve seen enough of these dresses, so I bid you good night!”
Walking off stage from a distraught and confused crowd, Rarity put on a smug smile to accompany her visions of grandeur.
“President Rarity, the train will be leaving soon for Britallia. Please board immediately,” a sharply dressed colt told her. Judging by his official looking attire, Rarity gathered that he was one of her business planners.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll get on the train soon enough darling. The only thing I’m worrying about is if the rest of the world is ready for how great I will look at the council meeting!”
The colt rolled his eyes. Typical Rarity.
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The World Works Like This... Pt. 2
“How on earth did you get elected as the Prime Minister? It doesn’t make any sense, the other candidates seemed so much more popular than you!”
Applejack looked at her younger sister, Applebloom, expecting more of an explanation.
“I mean, of course I think you are the most qualified, but all of the news stories kept mentioning how you would lose!” Applebloom inquired.
Applejack sighed, albeit with a smile on her face. After all, becoming Prime Minister is something to smile about. As she paced around her new office, she turned to her sister.
“Well, in Caneighda, our Prime Minister gets selected from th’ party that wins the most seats in the regional elections! So all I have to do is run as the leader of a party, like I did, and people voted for the leaders of our party at the regional level! See, everything works out in the end!” Applejack answered.
Applejack had been nominated by her grandmother, a city elder of the capital, to join the New Democratic Ponies. She had quickly elevated herself as a leader of the highest quality with her commanding voice, ability to solve problems and make well balanced compromises. The country didn't want her to become prime minister, however, because she was simply too honest. Politcians learn to lie to make the people happy, but her brutally honest ways scared most Caneighidans.
"I know we normally live in small communities and farm towns, but I like this change. I feel I can make a difference for our country this way, and if it means a busy, complicated life, then so be it," Applejack said.
Before Applebloom could say anything more, a loud knock was heard at the door. The door muffled most of the colt's speech behind the door, but faint hints of 'delivery' and 'USP' were detectable.
"Hey, jus' wait a second, I'll open th' door for you," Applejack said, rushing over to the door. She was a little excited at the thought of a package, who wouldn't love a surprise? Then again, the USP was mentioned, and the United States of Pegasopolis wasn't the friendliest of countries…
Now without a door blocking him, the delivery pony began his speech once more.
"'For Prime Minister Applejack, from President Dash of the United States of Pegasopolis. I hope you enjoy this gift for you, to show that we are good friends with Caneighda. Looking forward to continued support and partnership! President Rainbow Dash'. Well, that's all the letter says! The package is outside in trucks, apparently it's a special new computer-like thing that they were working on that allows you to transmit video you record to the other devices. She included 10, perfect to transmit to each of the provincial halls!" the colt said.
Applejack tried to make sense of the situation. Sure, the countries have been excellent partners for a long time, but as far as President Dash has held her office, she hasn't done any acts of kindness. It was probably an attempt to get on everypony's good side at the upcoming council, but this gift wouldn't convince Applejack to change her mind.
"I'll take it, thank ya'll for delivering it. All this technology that country keeps experimenting with is weird, but I suppose we can keep this to stay in touch with our provinces easier, since we're such a big country."
With a pleased expression, the delivery colt left the room, yelling to a few other ponies a word of approval to ship off the packages.
"Well, I sure hope this works out well. Applebloom, once the transmitter thingies get to the provinces, tell me that they are online. I need to make a meeting with the provincial premiers after I return from the council meeting, there's some things we need to discuss."
Applejack nodded in compliance, leaving the room to allow her big sister to think.
"So now that big fancy president thinks she can manipulate me into being her compliant? Let's see how I react to whatever that pony does next…"
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It wasn’t easy to get through Empress Pinkie’s room, especially after a night of celebration. Throwing parties constantly seems like the only way to keep Pinkie occupied. With the energy she showed partying, who knows what she'd do if she couldn't release her energy.
"Croania, what is the meaning of you disturbing your empress and trying to hop over her stuff?" Empress Pinkie asked, a little sternly.
Croania didn't speak a word, but promptly offered Pinkie a letter she had attached to her hoof with a string.
"Ah, from our neighbours of the north, the party-hating kingdom of Britallia. Silly ponies, they'd have a lot more fun if they loosened up a little, like me!" Pinkie said, unravelling the parchment.
After several minutes of awkward silence while Pinkie was reading, Croania began to turn hoof and leave, when Pinkie broke her concentration and pulled off a sour face, directing it to the blue errand runner.
"Wait. I need to speak out loud, and I need you to stay and listen! Maybe you can give me some feedback on my public speaking so I can do better at the council meeting!
Oh boy, this is going to be fun, Croania thought. I wonder if she would banish me if I left midway through the speech?
Pinkie gave a few distinct coughs to clear her throat, doing so a little loudly and obnoxiously than normal. That’s Empress Pinkie, always being dramatic.
“Well, the letter is asking me to come to a special council meeting in a couple days, which means I should leave right now to get to Britallia in time. I think it’ll be so much fun, but I need someone to take my position for a limited time. When my father still ruled, he’d leave me in charge in such occasions, but I don’t have that luxury. What ponies do you think would be a good, temporary replacement for this wonderful empire?” Empress Pinkie inquired Croania.
Croania knew this was her only chance to have a taste at power.
“Well, I think-”
“Oh, I know! I could let… no, she's too boring. Wait, we could… nah, he's too rude," Pinkie thought out loud, interrupting Croania.
"But why not pick-"
"Alright, Croania. How about you pick?" Pinkie asked, interrupting her again.
It's as if she doesn't listen to me. At least I'm safe inside my-
"CROANIA! I asked you a question!" Pinkie yelled, loud enough to break Croania's concentration.
With a sigh, Croania thought about the possibilities. It would be pretty suspicious if she suggested Pinkie pick her. Pinkie could pick somepony that won’t know what she’s doing, and while Pinkie is off at the council, Croania could take charge for the pony as a favour. A favour Croania would love to hold permanently, but thanks to lineage, Pinkie remains the Empress after her father’s passing.
“Eh... you should pick your new advisor, the recruit that is learning the ropes. This could be a great opportunity to get him into the right mindset to be a great future advisor!” Croania suggested.
Pinkie had absolutely no idea about Croania’s true intentions, so she decided to go with the wordy suggestion, mostly since it seemed intelligent.
"Alright, that sounds like a great idea! Go get the advisor, I have to head for the train to Britallia!" Pinkie finished, already out the door on her way to the train, leaving Croania a little confused at the sudden dismissal.
After a brief walk to the station, Pinkie hopped on board the continental train, feeling as happy as ever.
"I'm glad I have a chance to represent my empire! I'm going to make my daddy's spirit proud!"
Pinkie had no idea that her empire was not going to turn out as she had planned.
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Communism has gotten quite a negative view within the world. Why? The Union of Soviet Ponies Republic was doing just as fine, if not better than most of the other nations. Look at Antlertica, they have no real economy. Look at Coltreia, they have clearly evil motives just for one pony's goals. Look at these in comparision to the USPR; Chairman Luna and the rest of the Soviets have succeeded in making the citizens live without worries or complaints, and the economy is booming. It's more of a democracy anyway than Britallia - instead of one pony making the decisions, a large group of the legislation do.
"Alright, so have we sent out the details of next month's meeting?" Luna inquired.
The rest of the chamber was full of nodding ponies dressed nice and sharply, all completely professional and organized. It's as if a funeral was going on, what with all the dry, expressionless feeling around.
"So we can continue to the matter at hand," Luna started. "I have received an invite from my sister, Queen Celestia of Britallia, requesting us to join a council they will be forming for the world to take part in. To give you all a further understanding of the implications it would give us before you vote, I will read out some of the goals."
Nods from all around the room, silence still filling the air.
"The council is said to provide a 'stronger ties within our economies' and 'laws dictating how the world will conduct itself'. All those in favour, rest your hoof. All opposed, raise it."
An almost unanimous feeling kept most of the ponies' hooves on the table where the Soviets sat.
"Motion carried. Any other topic to discuss here?" Luna questioned.
A young mare burst through the entrance to the chamber, heaving and coughing violently. Upon further inspection, the mare had several deep gashes going through her coat, shocking the observers in the room.
"Chair… chairman Luna. Coltreans… they're almost here. Surprise attack, we couldn't stop them. Re… reserve force has been alert… alert…" the mare stuttered, collapsing onto the now blood-covered floor.
A few moments passed where no one could react at the sudden outburst. Luna was the first to speak, keeping a level head in this time of need.
"Somepony get that poor young mare into a hospital. She isn't dead yet. The rest of you, go call the reserve forces that haven't been alerted yet and get them to the front line. If they get past the city walls, it'll be much more difficult," Luna commanded.
The nation was supposed to be run by a committee of Soviets, but in pressing times such as this, everypony looks to Luna to get everything done on a moment's notice. And she hasn't disappointed during her 150 year reign, being the second longest ruler in the world, next to Celestia who keeps her position until she dies.
"If some of you do not have contact a force, go to your respective divisions of the nation and give them warnings in case the Coltreans attack them. Do not worry about retaliation, just defend your nation."
Luna kept her head cool the whole time, calculating every possibility and outcome. She had dealt with this sort of.thing plenty of times in her time.
The problem was, she wasn't ever going to be prepared for what was going to come out of the council.
Nopony will be.
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Holding power in a country feels good. Especially a country of power, a country of advancement, and a country that is the current world superpower. President Dash loved her job, and her situation of power on the United States of Pegasopolis was made so much better by the recent letter she had gotten.
"Dear President Dash… blah, blah, council, love if you attend. Blah, blah, signed, Queen Celestia," Rainbow read aloud.
She knew something like this would go on eventually. The whole world can't be put on tabs without something like a council.
"Hmm. A council sounds like a decent idea for most of the countries, but they'd be benefitting from me economically wise more than I'd be benefitted by them," Rainbow said aloud. “But this could be my opportunity to gain their trust and give me the chance for more than this great country. This could be my ticket in...”
A crackling noise came from a monitor on the wall, starting up a video feed split up into 4 blocks. Each block showed the rugged faces of 4 colts, all pulling off the best business like face they could muster.
“Hello, boys. I was actually going to contact you in a couple of minutes, I wanted to speak with you. But go ahead with what you need to say,” Rainbow said.
3 of the sharply dressed colts looked to the older looking one in the top left corner of the screen, most likely being the eldest of the executives.
“Well, as your advisors, we feel that your goal of increasing the country’s borders will be too difficult of a task to perform. There isn’t any land to the south, Caneighda is in the north and won’t be without a ton of backup and it’ll be difficult to mass an attack to the east and west over the oceans. We feel we should hold back until we find an opportunity to enter a war or exploit Caneighda to initiate a war with them,” the colt said.
“I was actually just about to mention an opportunity given to us. Before I begin that, however, I want to express to you all that attacking Caneighda is not an option,” Rainbow said sternly. “We have maintained a relationship with them for ages, and they’ve never let us down. That’s why we will only increase our territory if we can enter an existing war or ally ourselves with another nation in the east.”
The colt at the bottom left of the screen had an air of dissatisfaction to his face as he began to speak out.
“The thing is... Caneighda has elected a new Prime Minister. We aren’t sure whether or not she likes us, so we think it’s best if-”
“I am already aware of this. In fact, this has something to do with what I have to say,” Rainbow interrupted.
The advisors on the screen perked their ears, perking their ears to hear what Rainbow had to say.
“Alright, so I have recieved an invite to a world council by Queen Celestia. Yes, I know we don’t really like Britallia, but if we want to establish a dominance or get the leaders to trust us like Caneighda, it’s a good option. Besides, Celestia wouldn’t be the only one keeping tabs in the agendas of the other countries,” Rainbow explained, smirking devilishly at her last statement.
The youngest looking advisor was the first to speak, appearing a little nervous as though this was his first day on the job.
“So... so that’s our final agreement? If anyone has anything to say about it, say it now.”
Silence, at least until Rainbow spoke up to finish the meeting.
“Good, I expected as much. This wasn’t a long meeting, but I am guessing the decisions made will be very beneficial. I’ll be departing tomorrow morning for the council, and I’ll bring the spare Commlink Transmitters with me. One of you, send over a set of transmitters lying around to Caneighda, I’m sure they’d want it. We’ll need every inch of trust out of them if we want to thrive more.”
All 4 advisors nodded in agreement and with a crackle and a shimmer, disappeared simultaneously from Rainbow’s monitor. Once she was sure they were all gone, she closed all of the windows in her office to get some privacy.
“All of this is good, but nopony sees what I really want. They wouldn’t understand my ideals. This country is going to be fine-tuned to what I want, and anything else will simply not do. This is Pegasopolis, and I’m going to make sure that it won’t be ‘Ponyopolis’ like it is now.”
Rainbow wanted to keep track of other’s hidden agendas, when her own hidden agenda was far worse than any of them could ever have been.
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There wasn't much to do, and all the time in the world to do it. Being the Queen of Britallia seems like a difficult task to do, considering you are the monarch of an entire nation. The thing is, Queen Celestia had a ton of people who did errands for her, making her life much easier. All she had to do for the moment was write letters to the other 9 nations of the world, and the other details were already ironed out for a council idea she had thought up.
The council was primarily a way to get the whole world communicating with each other so international laws and limitations could be made, but it would also give some more specialized benefits.
"Ah, Germane. I suppose Twilight is doing well, although I haven't seen her in ages. It seems so long ago that she was still here in Britallia, learning magic as my pupil… oh well, I'll be able to reconcile at the council. She'd come for sure."
Celestia had began writing the invitation for Germane, and found it relatively easy to do. It just needed to be polite and Twilight would be all for it.
"Let's see… the United States of Pegasopolis. A simple invitation would be best, considering any more would make that stubborn leader think we are trying to act superior. I still want that powerful country on our side though, so it's a no-brainer…"
A royally dressed colt barged in then, initially smirking with delight at the now startled queen.
"Ha, were you talking to yourself auntie? Seriously, people will think you're mental!" the colt said.
Celestia resumed her regal stance, taking no notice of the startling.
"Prince Blueblood, what do you want? I'm just speaking allowed so I can hear for myself if the letters sound okay," Celestia explained, still a little phased by the sudden entry.
Blueblood merely chuckled to himself, clearly still amused by the amateurish prank.
"Just trying to startle you. Say, what will you do for Coltreia? You know everyone hates them, and bringing them in might cause some alarm. Just a thought," Blueblood stated, who was noticeably irritated by his mentioning of Coltreia.
"Yes, I was about to write letters for each country, but now that I think about it, Coltreia's shouldn't be friendly and inviting like the others. I have bad feeling about that country, and I want to keep an eye on it."
Blueblood shook his head in disapproval, wishing he could write the letter so he can make it harsh.
"Well, you could threaten economic sanctions if they don't come. Or war. That's always fun," Blueblood said, bringing his smirk back.
"No wars for now, unless they attack first. Even though the whole council would win out, they have powerful arms that are only inferior to Pegasopolis. We'd lose many valiant ponies, and the council's tension would be increased with any nations who bow out," Celestia explained. "I think we'll stick with the economic sanctioning threat."
Blueblood nodded in short approval, believing economic sanction is too loose a penalty.
"Why do you hate them to such a degree, anyway? I mean, sure, they are a disliked nation thanks to that arrogant mare who controls it. But you act like you want them dead! Not every single pony in that country is evil, you know!"
Blueblood thought about this briefly, but proceeded in short time to turn hoof and walk away. Celestia wasn't the happiest at his rude gestures, but she couldn't focus on that now. She had letters to write.
Maybe her job wouldn't be so easy after all…
