Unusable Story Husk

“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…