Chojin Patriarch
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Oh, yeah. She is definitely going to want to be in on this discussion. If only because as an Alicorn herself, she would be a theoretical peer to Celestia. Plus the sheer satisfaction of seeing Celestia's face when the Renegade tells her 'You're doing it wrong' and making it stick.8th April 2013
10:32 GMT -7
A construct telephone floats next to my head as I contemplate Starswirl's Mirror.
"Hey, Sunset, do you have a minute?"
Hey, to Sunset, research is deadly serious. As is teaching."I'm about to take a lab, so this better be important."
Luna give me a 'are you serious' look. I smile and nod. She rolls her eyes and tosses her mane.
And having an extra horn handy will be quite useful if there's fighting."I'm about to visit Equestria because Celestia's got a stupid plan and I need to explain to her how stupid it is. Slowly, using small words. And it's either going to mess up her plan or I'm actually going to have to conquer Equestria after she enacts it because it's going to mess up the whole country."
"I'm not… Sure…"
Still amazing that a book that was basically the writer telling its intended subject how much he sucked as a ruler has become an effective guide to good leadership."Tell you what: if you come then I won't give Twilight Sparkle a copy of Rules for Rulers and Machiavelli's The Prince."
"That… Wait, what's she planning?"
Well, that's interesting. Fiddling with the relative time of the two worlds as a way to have uninterrupted hookups."I guess you'll just have to-" Luna fires a starry blue beam at the Mirror from her horn, altering the time dilation affect to 'skip' Equestia forward so that we'll appear during an empty patch in Celestia's diary. Using it like that allows Luna to spend time on Earth whenever I have spare time without missing anything on Equestria, a neat side benefit from us both being ageless. "-come and find out."
"Aghhh… Fine, but only because I don't trust you in Equestria-" The air to my right shimmers as Sunset appears, and I dismiss my telephone construct. "-without me."
And now I wonder just what happened. I don't remember anything like that in story... I'm guessing a chance meeting with some young students in either Ponyville or the Academy."It was only a small riot."
She stares at me. "Yes, Grayven, foals are usually small."
She reserves the right to feel said enjoyment if the occasion arises, though.Luna regards Sunset wearily. "Our Sister's former student, We hope that thou art not deriving schadenfreudic pleasure in anticipation of Our Sister's future discomfiture."
"No, not… Yet."
Sort of get Subnutt to go 'oh, dear why does this seem so famil-.. Oh.'"Sunset, if thou dost wish to mend thine relations, such practices will not aid thine efforts."
"It's not exactly that. I just want her to get used to ponies demonstrating that she can be wrong." … "And when it happens I want to be just out of her field of view. So she's thinking about me."
Besides, Ponies look far less cute with more realistic equine eye placement...I nod. "Your ancestors should never have move their eyes to the front. It's a bad idea in prey-species."
Luna shakes her head. "Do not make Us regret this more than We already do. Jean, We would appreciate-" A hush tube appears in front of her. "-a passage home. Thank you."
Yes, just a little thing, naturally.Luna trots through as Sunset and I approach the Mirror. Sunset's frowning. "What's she planning on doing, anyway?"
"Abdicating."
Somehow I think she would have appreciated hearing that just a bit earlier. And especially not while she was in motion.Sunset yanks her head around to stare at me- "Ow!" -and manages to walk into the Mirror's frame face first.
"Yes, it-."
Well, someone might be responsible for that, with all their little nudges.She keeps staring at me as she rubs her cheek. "Abdicate? Are you serious? She's ruled the country for a thousand years!"
I nod. "I know. I'd have thought that if she kept it up for fifty years that she'd pretty much run in a groove until the Armies of the Righteous finally threw her out, but it turns out no."
To be fair, neither you and Luna are ruling the same territory. I have the feeling there might be more arguments if you were in charge of the same lands."Do you think it's because of Sombra?"
I consider the possibility. "No, I… Don't think so. Cadence and Shining Armor combine ruling a city with having a romantic relationship, and Luna and I manage it as well. Actually, I was wondering-." I gesture to the Mirror part of the Mirror. "Shall we?"
'You know what the difference is between you and me? I make this look good.' Not that the Renegade isn't a handsome example of Alicornhood, but the ladies just look that bit finer.She nods, and I walk through, appearing on the other side in my pony form. Sunset follows me through a moment later, taking a moment to check herself over and smile as she reviews her wings.
"Ah, what were you wondering?"
Which goes some way to explaining why they don't use the title Queen, I guess?"The Hearthwarming story. The leader of the unicorn ponies was a princess, the leader of the pegasus ponies was a commander and the leader of the earth ponies was a chancellor… Or something like that."
She nods. "That's right?"
I do hope they've gotten a bit more professional in the years since the Renegade has been advising them."So how come Celestia just uses the unicorn pony title?"
She snorts as we head out of the Mirror chamber. "You've seen our military, right?"
Well, she probably didn't want her subjects asking awkward questions about where this other Alicorn in the history books went."Yes?"
"As far as I was able to tell, she's never been part of the military. She's fought things, but-." Her eyes narrow. "In the books I read, she mostly did that on her own. I guess that in reality Luna was there too."
I shake my head. "Don't even get me started on her revisionism."
Now why do I get the feeling the Renegade will recommend having a triumvirate leadership using all three titles and roles? The temporal ruler, the military and the bureaucratic."That's why she's not 'Commander'. I think that title got used for the leader of the Equestrian Army back when we had one, then it got retired. And she's never been elected to office, so she doesn't get to call herself Chancellor. That title wasn't used for centuries before it got recycled for our chief bureaucrat. When I lived here, that was Scribed Tome, but I don't actually know who it is now." She wing-shrugs. "If I had to guess, I'd say that she took the title 'Princess' not because of any sort of unicorn tribalism but more because she wasn't qualified for the other two and the ancient pegasi and earth ponies would have been insulted if she took them as well or instead."
At least it looks like they're not all piling on her over this plan. Yet.I grin as we head towards the dining room. "Heh."
Sunset's horn glows, pushing open the double doors and granting us entrance. Celestia looks up a little self-consciously from her mostly-finished breakfast, while Luna is levitating a couple of oversized chairs over to the table for me and Sunset.
Ah, and she's doing exactly what she said she would. Good to see she lives up to her promises."Grayven. Would you like to join us for breakfast?"
"Ah, thank you but no. Not breakfast time for me." I trot over to occupy the chair opposite her while Sunset takes one… Sort of next to Celestia, but just out of her visual field while she's talking to me. "You and… You and Sombra doing alright?"
And boy wouldn't that set the rumour mill ablaze. On the other hand, just like in 'Doctor Who', six little words... Don't You Think She Looks Tired?"Yes, thank you. Both of us are busy with our duties, but we are able to find some time to spend together."
"Feel free to abuse the Mirror if you want a break. Listen… Luna…" I look around and check that there are no servants or guards in the room and that the door is shut. "Told me that you have a retirement plan?"
Well, I suppose the 'running' part does count. Shortly after the 'taking over' part.She glances at Luna before returning her attention to me. "I do."
"And it occurred to me that since my special talent is running countries and yours isn't, it might be a good idea if we… Worked on it a bit."
I suspect they'd be able to hear the screams of shock all the way to the Crystal Empire.She gives me a mildly sceptical look that makes it clear that she knows that I'm choosing my words with deliberate politeness.
"I would be happy to hear your concerns. I know that me no longer being on the throne would be a big change, but I'm confident that my little ponies-"
And I can't help but picture Celestia having a little moment where she glances sideways suspiciously.I don't have to look at Sunset to know that she's rolling her eyes as she mouths the phrase.
"-are capable of adapting."
'Sink or Swim' in this case might drag the whole country under with her."Yes, and appointing a nationally recognised heroine to succeed you is a perfectly sound choice. My main.. concern is the timeline. And.. Twilight's training. Because Twilight's special talent isn't administration either, which means that she'll have to learn the normal way."
Celestia considers me for a moment. "Grayven, are you trying to spare my feelings?"
At least she has the savvy to understand she almost done bucked up."It-. Yes, yes I am."
Her ears flop, and her body sags. "How bad?"
I shudder to imagine the results. Though the trains would probably run on time..."Since ponies are generally pretty nice… I think the country would survive. But the world isn't ready for a twenty year old demigoddess with supreme executive authority and obsessive compulsive disorder. It would be… Less than idea."
She sighs sadly. "Alright. What do you suggest?"
Well, that went well. Celestia is at least reasonable enough to cotton on that if they're coming to her like this, then maybe, just maybe, it wasn't quite the good idea she thought it was. Apparently she hasn't been much of a student of politics in her millennia-plus of rulership. The near-worshipful attitude of her Ponies probably didn't help when she made joking or outright bad suggestions...