Twilight Sparkle smiled and raised her gavel in her magic to bang it on the arm of her throne three times. "Hear ye, hear ye! The first meeting of the Ponyville Council of Friendship is now brought to order." She turned to the throne beside her. "Spike, will you call roll please?"

Spike held up a short checklist and looked around the room, five other mares sitting on thrones around them. "Fluttershy?"

"Here."

There was the sound of somepony clearing their throat, and Twilight and Spike looked to see Rainbow Dash holding up her hoof.

"We'll get to new business in a minute," Twilight said. Rainbow repeated the sound louder. Twilight rolled her eyes. "What is it, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash lowered her hoof. "Why are we doing roll call?"

"To make sure everypony is here."

"Have you tried turning your head?"

Twilight glared for a moment, then looked down at Spike. "Continue please, Spike."

"Uh, sure. Applejack?"

"Here."

"Rarity?"

"Present."

"Pinkie Pie?"

"Over here!"

"Rainbow Dash?" There was silence, and Spike looked up to see Rainbow Dash slouching in her throne with her hooves crossed. "Uh, Rainbow?"

Twilight made a show of holding a hoof over her eyes and swiveling her head around the room, pointedly not looking at her friend. "Well, is she here or not?"

"Keep talking; she won't be much longer."

"Oh, come on, Rainbow Dash, Twilight is obviously putting a lot of work into this." Fluttershy smiled, and Rainbow groaned.

"Here."

"Oh there she is!" Twilight settled her eyes on Rainbow Dash and grinned. She held up a checklist in front of her and crossed off the first item. "Well, that's everypony present and accounted for. Next order of business is the minutes from our last meeting. Spike?"

"Uh…" Spike looked at the pile of scrolls on the small stool in front of him and rifled through them. "But, this is our first meeting, isn't it?"

"Yes, but in the future after calling roll, we will read the minutes of our last meeting. For now we'll move on." Twilight checked off another item on her list. "Does anypony have new business to propose?" Rainbow Dash held up her hoof again. "Rainbow Dash, you have the floor."

"How does this work exactly?"

"Well, if somepony would like to suggest something we should do, they can say so, which is called making a motion, then somepony else who approves seconds the idea. Then we all vote on if it passes or not. Since there are seven of us, four votes will be enough to pass."

"In that case, I motion we ditch roll call in future meetings."

"Rainbow!"

"Ah second that motion."

"Applejack!"

"All in favor?"

Five hooves and one claw shot into the air in unison. Twilight groaned.

"Motion passed." She banged her gavel on her throne and glared at Rainbow Dash, who smiled smugly in return.

Pinkie Pie grinned and clapped her hooves. "I like this game! Can I go next?"

"The floor is yours, Pinkie." Twilight gestured her hoof forward.

Pinkie stood up and folded her hooves over her back, setting about pacing around the thrones looking at their occupants in turn. "I, Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, have business of utmost importance to discuss with you. As our new government comes into its own, we must have an awareness of how we represent ourselves to other nations, and how they see our blooming society. Thus, I put forth a humble but critical motion that I'm sure you will all agree with give us the positive image we want to put forth to outsiders."

"Yes?" Twilight grinned and waited, her wings flaring slightly.

"I hereby nominate the cupcake as the official royal snack."

Twilight sat back in her throne. "What?"

"Yes. The cupcake comes in many flavors and colors, with many varieties of icing and many types of candies and chocolates as toppings. It is the snack food embodiment of all that Ponyville stands for – diversity between ponies and delicious bakery products!"

"Pardon me, Pinkie," Rarity said, "but while your speech is quite moving, I think the cupcake isn't an ideal symbol for our council. While they are no doubt delicious, they are not exactly healthy."

"If y'all want a snack to represent Ponyville, why not an apple fritter? Sweet Apple Acres has helped the town along for decades."

"I think that's a splendid idea, Applejack."

"Hang on, if we're discussing food, can I nominate an official royal drink?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You're gonna say cider, and Ah'll second that." Applejack gave her a knowing look and Rainbow Dash nodded eagerly, eyes wide.

"Do we really have nothing better to discuss than official royal snacks?" Twilight muttered.

"Twilight, is there anything you'd like to bring up?" Fluttershy asked. Six pairs of eyes turned to focus on her.

Twilight chuckled nervously and glanced between them. "Um… well, to be honest… not really…"

"Alright then, let's vote!" Pinkie Pie said. "All in favor of making apple fritters and cider the official royal snack foods?"

Five hooves and one claw raised into the air, then their owners turned to the one pony not voting.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I abstain. Motion passed." The gavel banged and Pinkie Pie sat back down.

"I'd like to bring up something of considerable importance concerning our image as well," Rarity said.

Twilight sighed and propped her head on her hoof. "The floor is yours."

"Thank you, dear. Now, seeing as how our other three Princesses each have a personal banner for them and their courts, I thought it only fitting we design our own as well." Rarity's horn glowed blue as a rolled-up cloth floated from behind her throne to the center of the room. "I have come prepared with a sample of one such design." She unfurled the fabric in the center of the room, revealing rows of stripes in the color of each of their coats, Twilight's cutie mark in the center.

"That's actually not bad," Twilight said, sitting up straighter. "Would anyone like to second-"

"Just a moment, dear." Rarity cut her off as a second cloth floated over the first. "I made some variants, so we have a proper choice in the matter. This one has a smaller cutie mark emblem, and rather than six stripes, we have twelve, each color repeating once."

"That's nice as well."

"And then there's this one, where we have the colors going in the reverse order top to bottom, and your cutie mark is sideways, if we want to fly it as a flag rather than hang it like a banner. Or…"

"Rarity, how many variants do you have to show us?" Applejack asked. Rarity looked away from the banners in the middle of the thrones, tilting her head up and closing her eyes.

"Applejack, I'm an artist, I cannot confine myself to one work and call it perfect. I need to show the full magnitude of my skill."

"How many?" Twilight repeated.

"Well, there are these four, and just one or two more."

"One or two?"

"… give or take a dozen."

"I motion we pick a banner some other time," Rainbow Dash said.

"Seconded. All in favor?" Twilight asked.

Five hooves shot into the air.

"I oppose!" Spike called.

"Overruled, majority wins." Twilight banged her gavel. Rarity sniffed and gathered up the banners in her magic, wrapping them up and floating them behind her throne to set them next to a pile of other banners that hadn't gotten shown.

"Well, when somepony asks me what my government has done for me lately, I shall say they cast me aside and showed no respect for my creative vision!"

"May I ask something?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight nodded, and she stepped off her throne. "Well, are we going to meet like this often?"

"Every week, ideally."

"In that case, I'd like to ask that I be allowed to bring Angel, and maybe some of my other animals, so they won't get lonely." Fluttershy smiled.

"That seems reasonable. I'll second that," Twilight replied. "All in favor?"

Everyone raised their hooves, or claws as it were, and Twilight banged the gavel. "Settled. Fluttershy, feel free to bring your animals to these council meetings in the future."

"Thanks Twilight." Fluttershy sat down and Rainbow Dash stood up.

"If Fluttershy gets to bring Angel, can I bring Tank?"

"Oh oh, and can I bring Gummy?" Pinkie chimed in.

"No," Twilight replied. "Fluttershy can keep her animals under control, but Gummy will go biting everypony and Tank will fly around crashing into things."

"You can't just say no, what if somepony seconds me?" Rainbow Dash glared.

"I'll second you Rainbow Dash, if you second me so I can bring Gummy," Pinkie said.

"I dunno, Pinkie, Gummy is awfully bite-y these days."

"I'll second you, Pinkie, if you'll second my motion to let me bring Opalescence."

Twilight groaned. "Stop it, this isn't how democracy works!"

"Seems pretty accurate to me," Spike muttered.

"Ah'll make a motion, how about we can all bring our pets if we feel like it?" Applejack said.

"I'll second that," Fluttershy said.

"All in favor?"

Everyone raised their hoof and Spike raised his claw. Twilight said nothing but to grumble under her breath and bang her gavel to announce the passing.

"What next?"

"I have something to bring up," Spike said, standing up. He cleared his throat and pulled out a smaller scroll from the stool full of them. "I'd like to thank a mystery member of the council for helping me write this." Twilight glanced at Rarity to see her smile at him.

"It has come to my attention that there is an inequity in our council room. While you all hold magnificent thrones with the symbols of your cutie marks proudly shown, I have been given a smaller throne with no such identifying mark. Thus, I ask that I, Spi…" Spike made a face and read over the scroll again. "… I, Spikey-Wikey." Spike looked up at Rarity, who nodded and smiled. "I, Spike, be given a larger throne equal in size to yours, with an appropriate identifying symbol on it. Thank you all." Spike tossed one more look at Rarity and sat down.

"You can have mine." Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and took to the air.

"Yours? But that's your cutie mark, Rainbow! That throne is for you!"

"Fine then, while we're here you can be Rainbow Dash too."

"Again?"

"Where will you sit, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked.

"I'll just pull a cloud in and sit up in the rafters." Rainbow flew up higher into the ceiling to prove her point.

"Rainbow, you are not going to sit in a cloud over our heads," Twilight said.

"Why not?"

"Because once we begin the meetings, you'll go to sleep."

"Will not!"

"She probably will."

"Fluttershy!"

"All opposed to Rainbow Dash sitting in a cloud so she can nap?"

Five hooves and one claw raised in unison. Twilight smirked and banged the gavel. "Motion denied." Rainbow Dash scoffed and floated back down to her throne. "All in favor of Spike getting a larger throne?" This time everyone's hoof rose. "Motion passed, we'll look into it over the week." Spike smiled happily as Twilight looked around the room. "Does anypony else have something to bring up?"

The group shook their heads.

"Excellent!" Twilight checked the item off her list. "Then next, we will hear from petitioners. I put out flyers last week that if any resident of Ponyville has an issue to bring before us, today is the day to do it." Twilight turned to the doors to the room, her wings fluttering. "Spike, if you please, open the doors and let the petitioners inside."

Spike nodded and stood up, crossing to the doors. The six mares leaned forward to watch as Spike stood up straight, grabbed the door handles, and flung them open.

A trio of young fillies were laying on the ground in the hallway beyond. As the doors opened, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stood up and trotted into the throne room. Twilight looked past them.

"Anypony else, Spike?"

Spike looked around the hallway. "Nope. That's it."

"That's it?" Twilight sighed. "Well, it's our first meeting, maybe ponies aren't sure if they should approach us yet." Seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders watching her, she stood up straighter and flared her wings out. "Welcome to the Council of Friendship, girls. How can we help you?"

"Applejack and Rarity said they would take us to lunch," Apple Bloom replied.

"But first they had to do this meeting thing with you," Sweetie Belle said.

"And I tagged along to see if Rainbow Dash could come too," Scootaloo finished. Twilight groaned.

"Is it that late in the day already?" Rarity looked at one of the windows and opened it in an aura of magic. "Time sure flies when we're discussing politics."

"Sure girls, Ah'd be happy to come with ya. Rarity?" Applejack looked at her friend.

"Certainly."

"I'm game. Let's go." Rainbow Dash flew from her seat to join the trio as Rarity and Applejack walked over.

"Mind if I come? I'm a little hungry too," Fluttershy said as they passed her.

"Wait!" Twilight called, looking between them. "We haven't finished the meeting yet!"

"I motion we call a break so we can eat lunch!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Ah second that. All in favor?"

The air was filled with five hooves. Twilight looked between the up-stretched hooves, her ear twitching. A few hairs on her mane popped out.

Applejack nodded. "Well, that settles it!" The group, save for Twilight and Spike, moved towards the doors. "You comin' Twi?"

"… veto!"

They turned as Twilight leaned over the arm of her throne to thrust a hoof towards them, eyes wide.

"What was that, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Veto! I veto this vote! Veto!" Twilight repeated.

"Uh, what's that mean?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side.

Twilight stood up and took a breath to compose herself. "I exercise my authority as Princess to override this decision, and decree we shall remain here until all official business has concluded."

"So, anytime we vote on somethin' you don't like, you can just ignore us and do what you want?" Applejack said.

"That seems very unfair, dear, why even bother?"

"Not to mention that vetoing a majority vote should only be done in emergencies, as it's an abuse of your power and authority, and undermines the entire point of a democracy to make decisions through a structured voting system meant to ensure nopony's opinion is given more importance than anypony else's."

Everypony turned to stare at Fluttershy, who shrank back under their gaze.

"And, um, it's not very nice."

"Come on, hun, it's not like there was anypony else to talk to us after the girls anyway. Let's just go get something to eat." Applejack looked at Twilight expectantly, who sat back in her throne and waved her hoof.

"No, I'm fine, you go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah… I gotta finish stuff here for the meeting anyway."

"We'll bring ya back a hayburger," Rainbow Dash said. The group walked down the hall, Rarity's magic shutting the door behind them.

Twilight groaned and lifted a hoof to put the stray hairs of her mane back into place. "Spike, take a letter, please."

Spike ran over to a shelf at the size of the room and grabbed a quill and blank scroll. "Ready!"

"Dear Princess Celestia, the first meeting of the Council of Friendship has concluded. As your former student, loyal friend, and fellow Princess, I'd like to ask you for advice on how to make future meetings more productive without resorting to sealing all the exits from the room. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight finished her dictation and looked back at Spike. Sometime during her speech he had stopped writing and was now giving her an odd expression. "Finish it and send it, please," she said. Spike scribbled down the last words and spewed a blast of flame over the scroll to send it to Celestia.

"Twilight, I think you're… eh, nevermind."

"What, Spike?"

"Forget it."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Finish that sentence…"

Spike gulped and braced himself. "I, uh, just think you're… taking this all… too seriously?" He turned away and closed his eyes, waiting. Several seconds passed with no response, and he cautiously peeked through his claws. Twilight was watching him, smiling softly.

"Thank you for your honesty, Spike. The key to a good friendship is to not keep these things bottled up, and the key to a good government is wise and level-headed leadership."

"Uh… you're welcome, I guess." Spike turned back to her and lowered his claw.

"Now, if I may retort." Twilight teleported in a burst of pink light and reappeared in front of Spike, her eyes wide.

"TOO SERIOUSLY!?"

"That's more like it."

"Spike, I am the Princess of Friendship! I have duties, responsibilities! Not just me, all my friends, including you! How am I supposed to lead a Council of Friendship if my own friends don't want any part of it? That rainbow power was activated by our friendship, what if it ends up just like with Discord where we can't use it because we can't keep a council together? What if Tirek comes back or something worse shows up and destroys Equestria, and it's all because I can't run a governmental body without my friends ditching me to go out for hayburgers!?"

"Uh… that's a long shot?"

Twilight's ear twitched, another hair popping out on her mane.

"I mean, that is, uh…"

Suddenly, Spike gripped his stomach and belched a blast of flame, a scroll popping out of his mouth and falling to the floor.

"Celestia's response!" Twilight grabbed the letter in her magic and sat down on her throne again.

"Oh thank Celestia," Spike muttered, taking the chance to flee the room. Twilight didn't notice, unfurling the scroll to read.

"My dear Princess Twilight,

What you are describing is known as sequestration, and it rarely works to resolve government disputes. Equestria has experimented with such systems in the past, and sequestering the dissenting parties only heightens tensions and further stalls their arrival at a resolution.

I must confess it surprised me when the Tree of Harmony produced a castle for you with seven thrones. Canterlot's monarchy has functioned perfectly well for centuries, and I find delegating matters to a council slows down the government. Though ponies appreciate being able to make their voices heard, sometimes it is simpler for one voice to speak for all of them, if that one voice has the wisdom and experience to do so. I would have imagined you know your friends well enough to act on their behalf when called upon, so I can only surmise that whatever force controls the Tree of Harmony and created your new castle lacks this insight on matters of legal debate.

Regarding your council, I know how much you and your friends truly care about each other and Ponyville. I am sure you will be able to resolve your differences in time. But please, do not feel any pressure to force productivity, think of your friends and their desires first, and your troubles negotiating governmental matters with them will resolve themselves. And do not hesitate to seek my council or Luna's in the future, we would be quite happy to aid you should you need it.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

Twilight finished reading, then read the letter a second time. She groaned and crumpled it up, throwing it over her shoulder. "Ponies need you and Luna to control the sun and moon, of course they're not going to argue with you over how to run the kingdom." She looked around and saw Spike gone, and let out a breath. Standing up, Twilight exited into the hallway.

"Clearly, there is only one thing to do."

Thinking over her plan, Twilight started up the steps to the library.

"You think Twilight is still angry we went out to lunch instead of meeting with her?" Pinkie asked as the five mares walked down the hall, the doors to the throne room closed ahead of them. Outside it was the late afternoon, after taking the Cutie Mark Crusaders to lunch they had gotten caught up in other errands together and lost track of time.

"That girl is always fussin' over stuff like this, she just needed time to cool down," Applejack replied.

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm sure if we just apologize and offer to finish the meeting with her, she'll understand."

The five reached the doors, and Rarity knocked gently. "Twilight? Are you here?"

The doors swung open in an aura of violet magic, revealing Twilight standing in the middle of the thrones, smiling proudly. Around her were stacks of books, each stretching over her head.

"Welcome back, girls!"

"Uh, Twilight? What is all this?" Applejack asked.

"I owe everypony an apology," Twilight said. "I tried to force us to become a civilized, forward-thinking governmental body, when we clearly aren't ready for that level of responsibility. In preparation for the meeting I read all these books about the history of Equestrian politics and theories about different forms of government and the ethics of law, and I got carried away with it."

"That's quite alright," Rarity said, looking at the books suspiciously, "but why are these books here now?"

"Well, I realized you weren't as prepared as I was for all we have to do at these meetings. I put a lot of thought into how to structure ourselves as a governing body, but I overlooked that a democracy like this demands its members be educated and informed, or else they can't make educated and informed decisions." Twilight's smile widened. "So, to better ourselves for the sake of our council, I propose we read over these materials together!"

The five mares stared blankly at Twilight's smile, her gaze flitting between them to make eye contact. Then Pinkie Pie fell on her side and starting laughing. The group looked at her as she rolled over, banging a hoof on the ground.

"Um, Pinkie, I think she's serious," Fluttershy said.

Pinkie had tears in her eyes as she looked up at Fluttershy. "Haha… what?" Pinkie looked at Twilight, who nodded. "Oh... I thought it sounded too funny to be one of your jokes."

"Twi, we really do wanna do a good job at this government thing," Applejack said, walking towards her, "but we are not reading through all these books."

"Of course not, don't be silly! I just bookmarked the most important passages, so we don't have to read all the way through. And I made worksheets we can fill out as we read to help reinforce what we've learned!" Twilight gestured her hoof towards a series of scrolls next to her throne. "If we start now, we can finish by next week's meeting!"

Rarity gave her a worried look. "When you say 'next week's meeting'…"

"I mean if we stay here for the rest of the week, taking breaks for meals and sleep, of course, we can finish all of our reading in time to have next week's meeting exactly on schedule."

The mares resumed staring in silence.

"So, shall we start with Aristrotle's Nicomarean Ethics, or the Code of the Neighsilim? They're some of the oldest texts I have on ancient Equestrian law and ethics, and we should have a good foundation in tradition before we move on to more contemporary materials." Twilight floated the two books in question on either side of her and looked between her friends for a response. Applejack sighed and came forward to put a hoof over Twilight's neck.

"Look, sugarcube, ya know we love ya, there's no words fer all the things we've been through together and what they've done fer our friendship. But, if you think we're gonna spend all week here with you readin' these books, then Ah think Ah speak for everypony here when Ah say this… you are outta yer buckin' mind."

A hair popped out on Twilight's mane. She laughed slightly, her ear twitching. "Does anypony second Applejack's motion?"

"I was thinking more like 'what the hay is wrong with you' than the 'bucking mind' bit, but yeah, pretty much," Rainbow Dash said.

"Twilight, we want to help you with your new duties, and we understand you're taking this very seriously, we do too. But… no." Rarity forced a smile. "Just no."

Twilight took a deep breath and stepped forward out of Applejack's grasp. "Then you leave me no choice. I'm sorry everypony, I didn't want it to come to this. But I am prepared to do what I must."

"You're going to veto us again?" Pinkie asked.

"I am staging a coup."

"A what-now?" Rainbow looked to Rarity, who held up her hooves.

"I didn't want to do it, but as Princess, I must stage a coup. If the current government will not do its duty to its citizens by educating their leaders on law and ethics, then I am declaring the Council of Friendship and associated governmental bodies dissolved, and am instituting a monarchy ruled by myself until such time as the former members of the council come to their senses."

The five ponies looked at each other as Twilight's words sunk in.

"So… you now rule alone," Rainbow said slowly, "and if we want to go back to being a council, we have to read those books."

"That's correct." Twilight nodded. "I hope you all understand why I'm doing this."

Applejack smiled and patted Twilight on the back. "G'nite, hun. Try and get some sleep."

Twilight's jaw dropped as they turned to leave.

"Yes, and don't worry about the books. We'll come by tomorrow and put them back for you." Rarity said over her shoulder.

Twilight's ear twitched and she ran to the doorway. "W-Wait! I didn't mean it! It was an idle threat, an empty promise! Come back!" She looked at the stacks of books in the room behind her, then turned her head back. "I'll cut down the reading list! Most of the pre-Nightmare Moon texts are obsolete anyway, that's almost a third of the books we don't need to look at!"

"We'll see you tomorrow, Twilight," Fluttershy called back. They rounded the corner to the exit, and Twilight let out a groan, turning and walking back inside. She looked at the pile of books and grabbed one from the middle of a stack, letting the ones on top fall over as she pulled it out. She flipped the book open to a bookmarked chapter.

"Let's see if there's a precedent for abdication…"

"Hey Twilight, did I hear the gang come back?"

Twilight looked up from her book, her eyes lighting up.

"Spike!"

Twilight spun around and grinned. Spike was standing in the doorway with a bowl of gemstones, chewing a sapphire. At Twilight's movement he swallowed.

"You okay, Twilight?"

There was a thud, and Spike jumped and looked behind him to see the doors of the throne room slammed shut. An aura of magic surrounded him and floated him over to his throne.

"I'm glad you're here, Spike, because we have important work to do." Twilight sat down next to him, still smiling.

Spike leaned away from her. "We do?"

"Yes. First, I am going to explain to you what sequestration means. Then…" Twilight floated her copy of Nicomarean Ethics over to her. "We have some reading to do."

A minute later, the hallway out of the castle echoed with the sound of screams and claws pounding on the door to the throne room.

Author's Notes:

As a final note, the dialogue in this fiction discussing government is not meant to be a commentary in any way - it is only meant for humorous value, and I hope it succeeded.