Discord's Gift

Chapter 3: A Council of Ten

4th Day of the 5th Moon, 6 ALR: Crystal Palace

There was a sudden burst of magic and a flash of green light, shooting her eyes open, she saw a letter emerge from the green flame. Shining Armor tumbled out of the mattress with a yelp, Cadence enveloping him in a cyan aura and plopping him back onto the bed. Annoyed, she looked over at the scroll and noticed the lavender ribbon holding it together and Twilight’s seal. In her sleepy daze, she had forgotten that only Twilight could send her dragon mail. The last time she had awoken her with a letter, it had been about how the sun and moon no longer responded to magic.

Opening the letter, her eyes widened as she saw its contents, a new species on Equis that possessed large and highly advanced ships. Nothing really out of the ordinary had happened in the Crystal Empire, the only thing that she had noticed since Discord’s surge was that the snow was receding further away from Crystal City. The days had also become slightly longer without Twilight’s scheduled day-night cycle and there had been reports of rouge clouds the pegasi could not control or step on. However, the fact that the Empire was quite isolated from the rest of Equis did insulate it from the greater happenings of the world, explaining why things seemed relatively normal.

Still, in a daze, Shining Armor spoke weakly, “Cady, what’s wrong”

“Twilight is headed to Manehatten, there have been reports of new strange creatures arriving at nearly all of the ports of Equestria in massive advanced ships,” stepping out of the bed, Cadence continued, “Ever since the surge things have gotten weirder and weirder, it’s like we are not even on Equis anymore. The sun and moon work on their own, the weather is changing and some of it is uncontrollable, and now there appears to be aliens invading Equestria’s ports,”

“What! Do you want me to raise the reserves? Celestia oh mighty, for the last six years there has been nothing but crisis after crisis,” The sleepy daze that Shining Armor was in was long gone as he sat up in the bed.

“I’m going to check on Flurry Heart. Wait till morning, but I think it would be for the best if you prepared the guard,” replied Cadence as she climbed out of the soft mattress and walked out of the room.

Shining Armor followed right after, collecting his armor and polishing it until morning.

Manehatten

“Twilight… Wake up… Hello… Twilight!”

Twilight woke up as she was being shaken by her number one assistant.

“Twilight we are here,”

“Thanks, Spike,” replied Twilight before yawning.

Without anything to read about the strange creatures, and the hours of lost sleep catching up to her, the purple alicorn had slept through the majority of the train ride. Outside were the bustling platforms of Manehattan Central Station and an entourage of Guards and officials from the mayor’s office.

Conjuring up a mirror spell and a brush, Twilight fixed up her mane and tail, before pulling out the ornate box from her saddlebag. Opening the box, she pulled out a golden tiara with a starburst-shaped amethyst inlay on its golden face. Placing it on her head, she then slipped on her ornate golden horseshoes and her golden collar also decorated with another amethyst starburst. Glancing at herself one last time, she let the mirror spell dissipate and smiled at Spike, the wrinkles under her eyes softening with the sleep she had on the train.

Walking out of the train, a red carpet had been rolled out of the station lined with guards, at the end stood Mayor Scribble Write and her staff. They all bowed as she stepped out of the train and Twilight gestured for them to be at ease, she was still not used to all of the formalities and pageantry that came with the throne.

“Your Majesty, welcome to Manehatten. I thank you for coming on such short notice and I hope that you enjoyed your trip,” said Scribble Write as she rose from her bow and looked up to the purple alicorn.

Twilight smiled, “As the princess I must confront all potential threats to Equestria and my subjects,”

“Your Majesty, my office has been able to get some information on these humans as they call themselves, and has organized a meeting between your Majesty and some human representatives,” Scribble Write pulled out some documents from her briefcase and Twilight took them with her magic.

Looking over the papers the two began walking out of the station, the guards following close behind before Twilight replied, “So it appears that these humans are friendly?”

“Yes your Majesty,” The mayor stopped as a guard opened the door to the carriage waiting outside of the station.

“Twilight is fine mayor. So, these humans do not possess a unified government or culture, and they speak different languages?” Twilight helped Spike climb up into the carriage before she stepped in, followed by the mayor.

“Yes, your Maje… Twilight, It appears that while the humans can speak Ponish, only the representatives of two of the nations can speak it fluently, the rest speak in the languages of the Eastern Kingdoms, such as Prancy, and Germaney,”

Twilight smiled, when she had been a filly Princess Celestia had taught her the Eastern Languages, and while she did have an accent, it was relieving that she could communicate with the humans. Most importantly, however, it was such a relief that these humans were not hostile, she could hardly bear facing another existential threat so soon after Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow had been defeated. Handing the documents back to Scribble Write, Twilight replied, “Thank you so much for having this organized before my arrival, with your help, I am sure that Equestria will form friendships with the Human Nations,”

The carriage finally stopped in front of the Celestial Line ship terminal, guards lining the entrance to the large stone building. A guard opened the carriage door and the two ponies and dragon sat up. Scribble Write gestured for Twilight to go first and when she stepped out, she could finally take in the sight of the human ships.

“Whoa,” let out Spike as he followed Twilight out.

The letters had not done the ships any justice, they were truly titanic as they towered above the harbor. As she walked up to the front doors two guards opened the large double doors and another pair entered with trumpets, the fanfare resonating in her ears.

“Her Royal Majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Announced a guard as he lowered his trumpet.

As she entered the hall, she unfurled her wings and held her head high. Inside was a long table, ten tall figures on one side of the table, they all wore long navy blue overcoats with golden stripes on the sleeves and captain caps. The humans bowed at her arrival, and she was taken aback by just how tall the humans were, they were all easily just as tall as Celestia. Tucking her wings back to her sides Twilight saluted the humans, “Thank you for volunteering your time for my visit. I hope that together we can establish communications between your nations and Equestria. Please sit down.”

Walking to her seat on the other side of the table, Twilight noticed the makeshift paper nameplates on the desk in front of each pair of humans. After looking at them further she realized that they were the names of the human nations, The British Empire, The United States of America, Das Deutsches Reich, and Le Royaume-Uni de France et d'Espagne. Sitting down she smiled at the makeshift human delegation, “Please, tell me your names,”

One of the humans to her left stood up, “Mui name is Pierre Beaudean, Capitaine of le Rochambeau. It is my pleasure to represent le Bourbon Empire,”

Another human stood up, “Prinzess, my name iz Theo Polack, Kapitän of ze German ship Kronprinzessin Cecilie,”

“I am Commodore Francis Lighthauler of the British Liner Mauritania, your Majesty,”

“Capt’n Benjamin Summers, it’s a pleasure to represent America, Princess,”

“Yor Majezty, Kapitän Franz Holleck of ze Kaiser Wilhelm der Große, I am honored to reprezent ze German Empire,”

“Your Majesty, I am Captain Horace Bradley of the Carmania,”

“Capitaine Jean Moreau of le Parie, your Majesty,”

“American Captain Martin Randolph of the Minnesota, your Majesty,”

As the humans sat back down, Spike ran up to Twilight and handed her the notes that he had been taking. Picking up the papers with her magic, she noticed the humans' awe-struck stares as she levitated the papers in front of her. Puzzled, she asked, “Do you not use magic?”

“No, the first time I saw magic was when my crew rescued the crew of the Unicorn, and we noticed that the crew was ponies. We have never seen a pony such as your Majesty’s subjects, much less a unicorn or magic,” Replied Captain Bradley as he leaned forward in his seat.

Twilight was stunned, “Is that why I have lost connection to the Sun and the Moon, do you not control your weather or seasons?”

The humans looked at the Princess incredulity, before Captain Summers chuckled, “Pardon me Princess, but no one can mess with nature no matter how hard we try. The weather is wild, it does what the lord commands, but no mere mortal can control it and can hardly predict it. The Sun and the Moon move on their own, not to sure bout the science though,”

“Ja, ze Eartz orbitz around za Zun, as it doze zis one side of za Eartz is lit by za Zun which iz ze day and ze ozer half iz dark wich iz za night. Za Zun moves acroz za zky becauze ze Eartz rotatez around itz axes, zis rotation resulting in za day-night cycle. Za zezonz are becauze ze Eartz is tilted on itz axes thus az it orbitz one part of the Eartz will be clozer to za Zun and experience zummer, while another part will be furtzer away and experience winter. Za time in between iz ze zpring and autum,” Added Captain Holleck in a thick German accent as he used his hands to demonstrate the movement of the celestial bodies.

“So you control nothing in your world?”

“Yes that is correct, your Majesty,” replied Commodore Lighthauler.

“Interesting, in Equestria it was the responsibility of the alicorn Princesses such as myself to raise the sun and moon. The pegasi use passive magic to control the weather, and the earth ponies also use passive magic to ensure fertile fields and bountiful crop yields. The unicorns are the only ones other than the Alicorns that can directly manipulate magic. The most powerful unicorns also used to raise the Sun and Moon before the arrival of the Royal Sisters,”

“So, your Majesty, an alicorn is a winged unicorn?” Captain Moreau asked.

“An alicorn is like a combination of a pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn as alicorns possess the passive magical abilities that give earth ponies their strength and pegasi their weather controlling abilities, while also possessing a vastly larger reserve of magic than unicorns,”

Captain Randolph frowned “You mentioned alicorn Princesses, how many alicorns are there, are there any Princes?”

“There are four known alicorns, all of them female, the former Princesses, Celestia and Luna, the two reigning Princesses, Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, and myself of Equestria,” Twilight replied, choosing not to mention her niece. While the humans seemed quite friendly she still wanted to know more about them to make a final judgment. Looking over to the Americans she asked, “Who are your leaders?”

Captain Summers and Randolph looked at one another before Summers spoke, “Howard B. Macmillan is the President of the United States,”

“You don’t have a monarch?”

“No, the United States is a republic, so the President is elected. Usually between the Republican and Democratic Party candidates, however since the Impeachment of President Breckenridge in 1861 and the subsequent Civil War, there has not been a Democrat President since,” replied Captain Randolph

“So the elections don't matter?”

“Well the damn Yankees outnumber us Southerners, and them Republicans keep painting us Democrats as traitors to the republic!” yelled Captain Summers as he pointed a finger at his partner.

“The Democrats wouldn’t be painted as traitors if President Breckenridge had not refused to let the 13th Amendment pass, he mobilized the army against Congress to preserve slavery!” Retorted Captain Randolph.

“President Breckenridge was preserving state rights! All the Republicans have ever done is support Corporate Greed!”

“ENOUGH!” Screamed Twilight in the royal canterlot voice, the two Americans blushing furiously, as the rest of the humans stood aghast.

“A thousand pardons your Majesty” Apologized Captain Summers.

“We did not mean for that outburst,” Added Captain Randolph.

“It’s alright, “ Twilight was starting to grow worried, the humans practiced slavery. Although it seemed that the Americans had done away with slavery, now there was a nagging worry that these humans might try to enslave her subjects. Turning to the Germans she asked, “Who is your leader?”

“His Imperial Majesty Emperor Fredrick III,” answered Captain Polack as he stood and saluted.

“Emperor of ze Germanz,” added Captain Holleck as he too performed a salute.

“Tell me more about this German Empire?” Replied Twilight with a hopeful smile.

Once again the humans looked stunned, but even more so the two German Captains who looked at the Princess and then at each other with wide eyes. After a brief pause, Captain Polack spoke, “You can speak German?”

Twilight’s eyes lit up, “German is very similar to one of the languages of the Eastern Pony Kingdoms, much like how Ponish is almost identical to English. I'm so glad that it's the same case here, do I sound any good? It's been a while since I learned Germane, I have a pretty thick accent don’t I?”

“You sound great, your Majesty,” replied Captain Polack.

Twilight beamed, “Thank you, I think I might have derailed this conversation a bit, please tell me about Germany?”

“Well, Germany is an Empire composed of several Kingdoms united through common culture, historical heritage, and common cause. The current government is the Second Empire, Germany was historically united under the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire eventually collapsed in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars and in the peace that followed the German Kingdoms became independent, but were united in a Confederation. The Confederation was ruled by a council of kingdoms, but the most Influential were the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Following the turmoil of the revolutions of 1848, Austria’s Empire collapsed following a Hungarian revolution and Russian invasion, but Prussian leadership ensured that the German portions of the Austrian Empire remained in the Confederation. Following the tumultuous union of Bourbon France and Spain and the subsequent French invasions of the Rhineland, the Confederation was able to defeat the French and reorganized into an Empire with the Prussian King crowned as Emperor,” Explained Captain Holleck.

Twilight sat contently as she listened to the small history lecture, however the rest of the humans sat disinterested, as they listened to a lecture they could hardly understand. The Frenchmen were even giving the German dirty looks as he droned on. Unable to take any notes, Spike simply tapped his fingers on the desk before whispering, “Sorry guys, Twilight here often gets absorbed in things, just give them a minute. Do you guys want some tea?”

The humans nodded and Spike got up from his seat and walked out of the room, just as the German and the Princess finished.

“Sorry about that,” Twilight smiled sheepishly before turning to the British Captains, “Who is your ruler and tell me about the British Empire,”

“Britain and her domains are ruled by his Imperial Majesty, the King-Emperor Albert I,” answered Commodore Lighthauler.

“The British Empire stands as the largest and most powerful nation on Earth, with control of about a quarter of all its land and peoples under its domain,” added Captain Bradley as the rest of the humans scoffed.

“What is a King-Emperor exactly?”

“Well, his Majesty is King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Dominions under the Imperial Federation, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and is King of the British overseas colonies. His Majesty is also Emperor of Britain’s Imperial colonies, the British Indian Empire and British Egyptian Empire,” replied Commodore Lighthauler.

“You mentioned overseas colonies, is your empire not contiguous?”

“No, like almost all the major European nations other than the Russian Empire, the British homeland is a relatively small archipelago of islands, but over centuries we have amassed a vast collection of colonies, some settler colonies with a majority white British population such as the Dominion of Canada, and others that are majority native population, such as the Empire of India. Together the colonies provide greater national prestige and more importantly resources for the mother country,” Captain Bradley then gestured to all the other delegates in the room, “America, Germany, and the Bourbon Empire all have colonies of their own,”

Twilight felt conflicted, the Eastern Kingdoms had been former Equestrian colonies, but they had gained their independence. The humans, however, seemed to be actively trying to colonize new lands as a symbol of power and prestige, coupled with the mention of slavery, she worried further about whether or not the humans had hidden intentions.

The door of the room then opened as a small purple dragon walked in pushing a tray filled with tea cups and tea cookies. Setting the tray next to the table Spike then handed all of the humans and Twilight a cup and placed the tray of cookies at the center of the table. Finished, Spike took his own cup and took his seat next to Twilight.

Taking a sip of her tea Twilight turned to the French Captains, “Am I speaking in the correct language?”

Again the humans looked stunned, the Frenchmen smiled before Captain Moreau replied, “Perfect French, your Majesty,”

“Wonderful, what can you tell me about the United Kingdoms of France and Spain?”

“Well, the Bourbon Empire is a union of the Kingdoms of France and Spain, that were once ruled by separate Bourbon Kings. Following the restoration of the House of Bourbon in France after the Revolution and Napoleonic rule, the two branches of the Bourbon family united with the marriage of Spanish Queen Isabella and French King Charles XI in 1847. Following the tumultuous Wars of European Unification, King Charles had the two kingdoms officially united, with a grand coronation in Rome, the Pope declared Charles the new Roman Emperor and declared a new Empire from the Bourbon domains. Currently, the Empire is under the rule of his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Charles XIV,” replied Captain Beaudean.

“I've heard from both your delegation and the Germans about the Napoleonic War and the Wars of European Unification, can you tell me more about them?”

Captain Moreau took a bite of a cookie and washed it down with hot tea before responding, “Those were the last two major wars between Great Powers in Europe. The Napoleonic War was mainly a continuation of the European response to the French Revolution. When the French people rose up and killed their king, the power vacuum left behind was filled by the unstable tyrant that was Robespierre. His insatiable lust for the blood of his enemies threw France into chaos and his desire to spread the Revolution across Europe, led to the rest of the kingdoms fearing they may suffer the same fate as France, thus they formed a coalition against the French. Robespierre eventually made one too many enemies and was deposed but in the chaos that followed, a young general named Napoleon was able to take control and crown himself Emperor. As an incredibly skilled tactician, Napoleon was able to conquer nearly all of Europe, but his pride got the better of him, and an invasion of Russia left his armies ruined. In the peace that followed the House of Bourbon was restored as Kings of France and negotiations were carried out to ensure stability and prevent a future war. Unfortunately,? no one predicted just how unstable the Austrian Empire truly was, and like vultures the Prussians and Russians pounced to carve up the Austrian lands. Soon Europe was…”

“Did you, not zink we could zpek French, ze Germanz are no vulturez!” Screamed Captain Holleck.

“Quite frankly, the French here are the reason Europe was plunged into total war, every time they conspired to grow their influence, and it has been up to Britain to ensure balance in Europe! The Prussians attempted to preserve Austria’s integrity, but the illegal union of France and Spain forced their consolidation!” Yelled Commodore Lighthauler as he slammed a fist on the table and pointed an accusing finger at the French.

“You British parade yor fleet of warships along France’s coasts, you only care to ensure that no one can challenge yor grip on le world!” Retorted Captain Beaudean as he stood over the Commodore before looking at the Germans, “You parade yor armiee along our boarders!”

Captain Polack rose and screamed, “You French point yor gunz towards our Reich, and have alwayz attacked first!”

Twilight, Spike, and the Americans looked stunned as the Europeans argued over past grievances. Using her magic she froze the Europeans in place before she stomped her hives on the table and spread out her wings, “STOP!”

These humans are crazy, all they do is fight each other. They reminded her of the three pony tribes during the Windigo crisis before they had discovered the fire of friendship. While they were clearly inventive, with their lack of magic and advanced technology, it was clear that they were incredibly tribalistic and proud. All the wars they mentioned, the colonialism, and the apparent military build-up, were all massive vanity projects to signal a tribe's superiority over the others.

Still encased in a magenta hue the Europeans turned their eyes to look at Twilight, a look of embarrassment and fear painted on their faces. Although not encased in magic the Americans were still petrified, Twilight’s outburst spilling tea across the table. Calming down, the purple alicorn sat back down and cleaned the table with her magic, the tea and broken china disappearing. Finally, she let go of the humans, and they fell over with a thud.

Commodore Lighthauler got up first and performed a deep bow, “A thousand pardons your Majesty, that was completely unbecoming of an Officer in the presence of Royalty,”

“Pleaze forgive us yor Magezty, we wish zis doz not taint your view of Germany,” apologized Captain Polack

“We beg for yor pardon yor Majesty,” said Captain Moreau as he bowed.

“It’s alright, but please, we are here to share knowledge about our different worlds, not fight one another, and sorry for restraining you,” Twilight smiled before asking, “Can you please send my invitation to your leaders to come to a summit of nations that I will be organizing here in Equestria? So that the nations of Equis and Earth can have more proper discussions,”

“Yes your Majesty, we can have the message sent by Marconi Telegram immediately,” replied Commodore Lighthauler as the rest of the humans nodded.

“Marconi Telegram? What is that?”

“The Marconi Telegram is a state-of-the-art, wireless electronic, near-instant communication device. An operator sends pulses of electricity, which can be timed in a pattern that represents specific letters or words, through a long-distance transmission wire strung between the masts of our ships. The wire pulses out the message over radio waves for about 200 miles before another ship relays the message for another 200 miles until it reaches the desired destination,” explained Captain Bradley.

“Considering that some ships have already left and the Atlantic crossing is always so busy, I reckon you can still send the message back to Europe!” Exclaimed Captain Randolph.

“That is so incredible, only the most powerful unicorns and alicorns can magically communicate with one another over long distances,”

“As a token of our appreciation and to once again apologize, would you like to visit the library on the Mauritania, it is the largest library at sea, and full of books on human discoveries and technology,” Offered Commodore Lighthauler

“Yes, I would love to!” Twilight’s eyes beamed, all was forgiven now, the bickering outbursts, the undertoned attacks at one another, these humans might have been crazy, but at least some of them valued literature as much as she did. She hoped that through the knowledge in the books and her experience as Princess of Friendship she could find a way to have the humans let go of their vast grievances and come together, much like the three pony tribes. Of all the worlds Discord’s surge could have dumped Equestria in, of course, it had to be the one full of chaos.