IX The constitunional principality

The second way for a normal pony to become a Princess is by favour of fellow citizens. This requires both luck and virtue. This position is gained either with support of the normal ponies or with the support of noble families. This duality is found in every city. One group doesn’t want to be suppresed or dominated and the other groups wants to suppress and dominate them. This conflict can result in one of three things: a principality, freedom or anarchy.

A principality is either created by the normal ponies or by the nobles if one of them gets the chance to do it. When the nobles realize that the ponies can’t be controled much longer they elevate one of their own to Princesshood so they can continue their own practices under her protection. And when the lower class is fed up with the nobility they too can bring someone forward to be named Princess for their own protection. The first kind of princess will have more troubles than the latter, once she is a Princess she will find that she is surrounded by ponies of equal standing that she can’t command or dispose of as she pleases.

But she who becomes Princess by will of the normal ponies is entirely independent and there is no pony, or next to no pony that is not under her command. You can’t please the nobles without hurting anypony but the wishes of normal ponies are less offensive, since they only wish not to be opressed. On top of all this a Princess can never defend herself from angry peasants, there are too much of them, while nobles are few. But when nobles are hostile toward her she not only has to fear to be deserted by them but also to be actively opposed. Because they have more understanding in the political situation they will know whaen to save themselves and befriend a new pony rising in power that they expect to become the new Princess. A Princess can’t live without peasants but she can live without nobles, as she can make or break them and enlarge or shrink their power as she sees fit.

To clarify I’ll comment that when it comes to nobles there are two ways they can act: either they make themselves dependend on you and your power with every step you take, or they don’t. Those that bind themselves to you without becoming demanding you should honor and love while those that refuse to become dependent on you are divided in two groups.The first doing so out of fear and natural cowardice, of these you can make great use for advice, because they’ll serve you in good times and be not dangerous in harder ones. The second group, however, stays independent of you because of ambition. This indicates they think more about themselves than about you. These sort of ponies a Princess has to beware and regard as enemies, because opposition can always count on their support to overthrow you.

A Princess in power by the favour of the peasants needs to stay on their good side, wich isn’t hard because all the ask is not to be opressed. But a Princess that comes to power against the wishes of the peasants and by the favour of the nobles has to try to win the peasants over, wich is not hard if she establishes herself as their protector. Ponies that find benevolence where they expected misery feel extra obliged to their princess. A Princess can win over the peasants in many ways, but there are no rule of thumbs for this since the situation differers from case to case.

I’m only trying to say that a Princess should always try to befriend the peasants so she has something to fall back on during harder times. When Nabis was besieged by all of the earth pony forces and a powerful pegasus army(1) she was able to withstand them and preserve her city. When she was threatened she could rely on the support of the peasants, if her subjects had not loved her this would have been impossible. And don’t let anybody oppose me with the cliché that ‘anypony that relies on other ponies is building a house on quicksand’, this proverb obviously only counts for a normal citizen that imagines that her friends will help her when she encounters trouble. Those ponies will end up betrayed, like the Gracchen in Rome(2).

Often these positions are threatened when the Princess tries to turn their authority, wich they in fact are borrowing from their subjects, into absolute power. These Princesses either rule by themselves or by use of magistrates. In the latter case their position is the least stable because they’re dependent on the ponies in office, who can easely rob them of their power. And once her position becomes threatened it’s to late to take full control because the civilians and magistrates aren’t going to switch to her control in unstable times. In unstable times there will never be enough trustworthy ponies. A wise Princess can never rely on what she has seen in easier times, when ponies need the Princess. Because then everypony promises the world to her and they would die for her as long as that death is far off. But in times of adversity when the Princess needs the ponies she will find very little loyalty. A wise Princess has to think of a way to make ponies entirely dependent on her power, only then will they be loyal to you.

(1) Nabis ruled Sparta, because of her expansionism, she was always at war with the other earthpony factions, who were helped by the pegasi. Sparkle discusses her more in Discorsi.

(2) Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, who were counsel members of the republic in Rome, wanted to better the life of the lower class, they had to pay for their democratic agenda with their lifes.