Twilight and Luna looked over the gathering of ponies they had called together. Fleur was by Mash, and Trixie was lurking at the rear of the room, her armour gleaming in the candlelight. The problem was Twilight wasn't even looking for them. They stuck out as being two of only a dozen or more unicorns in the room, most of them from the rebellion, while the rest of the dozens of ponies here were all earth ponies. She hadn't really noticed that the night before, but now they were arrayed before her it was all too noticeable, and did nothing to help her think this was going to go well.

The problem there though was that it really wasn't avoidable. Every pony in any position of power was an earth pony, and when there wasn't a pony like that available the invitation to come here was passed to another pony like the biggest employer in town, or the pony that knows the most about where they were from, which in a few cases meant the owner of the local pub, and in all cases meaning an earth pony. Mareitania was made for earth ponies, and as they tried to build a new government on the leftovers of the old one that couldn't be more obvious.

"Octavia, Summer, and the filly are so lucky to be out of this."

"Aren't they just," Luna agreed. "Perhaps I should go assist them with Seeker."

Even though Twilight knew Luna was joking she still used her magic to glue Luna's hooves in place, "Right now I'm not above breaking your legs if it forces you to stay."

"Does that include if I wish to go to the bathroom?"

"You'd have five minutes, then I'd send Trixie to bring you back." Twilight left the possible implications of that unsaid.

"I think I'll just stay here and soil myself then." Luna looked around the room again and sighed, "Do you think we're making a mistake using the former mayors and whatnot to do this?"

"Yes, but we have to account for the prejudices of the ponies where they come from. We couldn't stick a unicorn in charge of Stalliongrad and expect that to go well. That, and we don't have the time to hold elections for the replacement of all these ponies. Hopefully using ponies already known to the ponies in their towns will make things easier, as long as we get those ponies to go along with what we want."

"And you hope separating the law enforcement from the town guard and their individual control will remove the possibility of them abusing their position to keep the unicorns down. Not a bad idea if I might say so, even if it'll have to be kept an constant eye on for possible corruption."

"Thanks." Truthfully Twilight was quite pleased with that one. A centralised and unbiased by tribe law enforcement body operating as part of the government consisting of both unicorns and earth ponies, and eventually pegasi too, would hopefully keep ponies on their best behavior where the other tribes were concerned while promoting equality. It also gave some of their military paid employment after the war was over if they wanted it.

"Hopefully the ponies here will buy it," Luna added, killing Twilight's optimism slightly. "It may seem a little draconian to some."

Twilight snorted a bitter laugh, "You mean it might seem draconian to those that were able to abuse a decentralised city guard system. I long for the day where a phrase like 'a unicorn did it' would actually be investigated rather than accepted as truth. The only thing we can't really tread a hoof on is their punishments. We still have the death penalty at the moment, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's a struggle to ban dehorning."

"And plucking for pegasi was the equivalent of dehorning back in the day."

"While earth ponies..?"

"Got off without such punishments because there wasn't an obvious way to do something like that to them," said Luna, gaining a groan from Twilight. "There's a reason the Triumvirate banned such things pretty quickly after settling the leadership of Equestria between them, and not just to make it fair. Hopefully they're willing to listen to reason on that at least. Now enough procrastinating Twilight, let's get this started."

"Which means going it alone, I know." It made Twilight angry that she couldn't go on stage with a unicorn beside her because it might make some ponies think she was more in favour of unicorns. Now she was looking for it, this entire place felt like a tribalist minefield. She was starting to regret leaving the pegasi out of this, even if they took no part in it. It would've at least shown that this was to be done for all ponies, equally, regardless of tribe.

Her audience was still talking amongst themselves as she made her way to the centre of the raised stage at the end of the room. She wasn't about to rush them into silence, but they weren't rushing to stop either. Thankfully her deliverance came in the form of Trixie.

"Commander on stage!" she shouted, pulling herself to attention and saluting. Not something that came naturally to Trixie, but if it was to get things moving she'd happily do it a dozen times over. It worked too as ponies came to notice what it was that Trixie was saluting.

"Thank you... uh, Captain," Twilight said, making sure to use Trixie's half made up rank even though Trixie was more or less a rank unto herself. She smiled at the gathered ponies, and received a few reassuring smiles back from the few ponies she knew.

"Okay, so, firstly I'd like to thank you all for agreeing to come today. What we're doing here to decide the future of Mareitania is obviously important, and the more ponies we have here the better. For those of you that haven't met me before, I am Twilight Sparkle, the leader of the Mareitania liberation front. I'm also not the pony that'll be leading you in the future. That is what's to be decided here today."

"So, you mean we're going to pick a new duke?" a pony shouted from the crowd before her. Plenty of other ponies turned to look at who it was, making it easy to catch the stallion as he dropped back into his seat with a blush.

"No," Twilight stated. "There is to be no more dukes. As we have seen the dukes only ever ruled for themselves, doing more to keep themselves in power than to actually govern their own country. Instead we'll be forming a new government, led by the ponies, for the ponies."

The hushed whispers that passed between ponies caused Twilight to stop for a moment, not least because she thought that the ponies here had no idea what she meant with that last statement.

"If you're not going to lead Mareitania, why do you get to decide who does?" Twilight's heart sank at seeing it was Snowbright that asked the question. Seeing as how he agreed to let her do this, it was enough to make her want to teleport him out of the room, and maybe drop him off a cliff. "If this is meant to be led by the ponies of Mareitania, for the ponies of Mareitania, why is an Equestrian princess the one to decide any of this?"

"Because you asked me to Snowbright. Maybe not directly, but when I was put in charge of the fight to liberate Mareitania, you implicitly put me in the position I find myself now. If you don't like that then I'm afraid it's too late to change your mind now." Twilight held Snowbright's eye until he submitted, looking away as he leant back and crossed his legs.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to set some rules for this gathering," Luna suggested from off the stage, loud enough for most of the ponies to hear.

"Yes! Good idea!" Twilight could do rules. Rules were safe. "Firstly, all ponies are now equal in Mareitania, and so, if I hear a pony make even one tribalist slur made against another pony here, be they earth pony, unicorn, or pegasus, that pony will be removed from this meeting and anything connected to it. Instead they'll be replaced by another pony from the place they've come from. One who doesn't think so poorly of their fellow ponies."

"So we can insult each other as long as it's not tribalist?"

Twilight almost facehoofed. Almost. If she knew who had asked that she would've given them the dirtiest look she could muster. "Obviously I would prefer you didn't, but as long as it doesn't become disruptive, or go too far, snipe away since I can't really stop you. That does bring me to my second point though. Continually disruptive ponies will also be removed from the meeting until they feel they can co-operate. If we hope to make progress here we can't have interruptions all the time."

"Unless they raise valid points," Luna added.

"Apart from that, yes. The third rule is you must accept what is decided here, and not just today. There are is no backing out of decisions, and no undermining the decisions and authority of the government. Mareitania cannot afford to be divided, so anypony that decides to work against the majority for no good reason will again be removed from their position. I know that sounds unfair, but that is what we have to do for now."

Twilight felt like she was suffocating under irony. Here she was forcing ponies to cooperate in a system that was designed to be fair, and forcing harsh penalties on dissenters. Sadly though, for what she and Luna had planned, ponies had to accept that the word of the government was final. Fortunately for them they'd also done their best to make that word fair.

"So, now we have the rules established, let's get down to business. My associate and I thought long and hard about this, and came to the conclusion that a single ruler would only damage Mareitania in this case. The only reason the Duke managed it was by forcing others to accept his rule, which worked, surprisingly, up until ponies decided they'd had enough, bringing us to where we are now. Instead I'm proposing a very different system comprised of many ponies."

Except she knew that system, built off the old one, was already badly skewed in favour of earth ponies. And it was only going to get worse for Twilight as she was going to make a lot of these ponies hate her towards the end. It was worth it though, as it meant the divide between tribes would hopefully even out bit by bit.

"We are going to create a parliament, and congratulations because you're part of it. Every representative from every city, town, and village is going to have a seat on this parliament, while the parliament itself will be headed by a small council of ponies. Using this system you can vote for the outcomes of decisions, making it fair even if you lose."

"Heading this parliament will be a group of four ponies who will be responsible for overseeing everything the country does, while you, the representatives will oversee the places you come from." This was heading for dangerously unknown territory for even Twilight to explain. She knew what she wanted, but putting it into words these ponies could understand was another thing entirely. She didn't think she was doing very well.

"And who would these four ponies be?" asked Daybreak, who seemed just as incredulous as everypony else here did.

"Four ponies from within this room, whom I will pick for now. Then in five years time elections will be held in each area to determine who joins in the parliament, then the parliament in turn will elect four new ponies to lead them."

Noise burst from every area of the room, except for a quiet patch at the front where the ponies from the rebellion were sitting, watching her like they knew this was going to happen. It was a sad fact that Twilight could've said 'Daybreak's in charge,' and would've had a far better time of it.

"You would seek to be rid of all of us?" a pony shouted over the ruckus. Twilight recognised him as Wisely Woodcut, the oddly named mayor of Hoovendale whom she met the previous night.

"Not at all," Twilight said once the noise lowered enough for her to be heard without shouting. "The ponies in your jurisdiction will vote for a new mayor and member of the parliament every five years. A vote in which anypony can stand. If you're good at your job then there should be no reason why you wouldn't be voted back in. However, if you're not good at your job, or if there's somepony better, ponies can choose to have them as mayor. Do things right and you could be re-elected every time. In turn, you get to pick your four leaders here."

"And why not one?" Snowbright asked. This time he did at least seem genuinely curious.

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed a laugh, "I wish I could give a nice answer to that, but the fact is that if I appointed a single pony right now I'd be bound to upset somepony. Instead there's going to be four with equal representation; two earth ponies, and two unicorns, with room in the future to include two pegasi when it becomes necessary."

"Why isn't it necessary now?"

"Because the pegasi want to leave Mareitania. All of them." Again the room filled with noise, and the little patch of quiet in the front grew even smaller as it consisted of Ivory alone as she was the only pony that knew of this save from Twilight's friends and the pegasi themselves.

Twilight stood patiently through it, waiting for more quiet, when her ears caught the overloud comment of a mare sat amongst the nobles. "Then we'll have to force them to stay."

"Excuse me?" Twilight said in a quiet voice that cut over the rest of the noise as it echoed around the room. It was magic that caused the effect, but Twilight wasn't about to let that on. "Force them to stay?"

The mare that spoke caught Twilight's eye, and wilted as Twilight spread her wings, but she rallied magnificently. "Mareitania cannot survive without the pegasi maintaining the weather. If they won't stay by choice, then we'll have to force them to stay. If you hadn't freed them all in the first place..."

"Do you have any idea what was done to the pegasi here? Do you?" The mare didn't answer. "Beatings, abuse, sexual abuse, mutilations, all while being forced to live in squalor as they created your weather. The facility in Whiplash was a breeding centre where mares were forced to create the next generation of slaves. That's right, slaves, because that's what they were. But not any more. They're free ponies now, free to make their own choices, including the choice to leave Mareitania. After what's been done to them for hundreds of years, I don't blame them for wanting to leave."

"How long have you known about this?" Snowbright shouted angrily. And it was angrily. He didn't even seem to care about where he was as he shouted.

"Since before the battle to take Prance. The pegasi threatened to leave the war effort, so I made an offer to keep them in it. If they kept fighting Equestria would offer the pegasi full citizenship." Twilight winced as she received more angry shouts.

"So you're letting Equestria steal our pegasi?"

"They aren't your pegasi!" a pony shouted. To Twilight's surprise it was Fleur. "You don't get it, do you? You don't own these ponies! They don't have to do as you ask! The only reason they're fighting with us is to free the rest of their kind! If they wanted to leave once the war ended then there is nothing you can do to stop them because it's their choice! Now, knowing Twilight, she's already thought of a solution." Fleur looked at Twilight and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Thank you Fleur, and yes, I do have a solution. I've been talking to Princess Celestia of Equestria, a pony that I'm sure you're all aware of, and we've agreed on a program that would encourage Equestrian pegasi to come work here for an agreeable sum of money. The full details are yet to be hashed out, but the point is you would get your weather while the pegasi here are free to leave if they wish."

There was a scoff from Snowbright, and Twilight did her best to ignore it. So far he wasn't trying to derail proceedings, but there didn't seem to be a lot of cooperation either. Twilight suspected it might be because this wasn't working, and he knew it. These ponies just weren't accepting what she was proposing. They wanted the new system to be different from the old, while still being exactly the same.

The nobles were all talking in hushed whispers, the representatives were either quiet or engaged in arguments with each other, and the ponies she needed on her side from the rebellion were... unreadable, but she had the impression they weren't pleased.

"I know this is a lot to take in, so why don't we take a break for you to let it sink in." Twilight slunk offstage to where Luna was waiting, watching her with concern. "I think that went well," she said in a brittle voice once she was out of sight.

"Were we too ambitious?" Luna asked. "I know we set out to create a fair system, but this is far removed from what they're used to."

"Just slightly," said Daybreak as he rounded the corner of the stage to where Twilight and Luna were. Behind him was Snowbright and Ivory, both wearing very different expressions, one of anger, and one of concern. "Perhaps you better explain all of this to us."

"It's a fair system with equal representation for all. A single lifetime ruler is open to all kinds of corruption, negligence, and cronyism as we've seen with the Duke. This system removes that hopefully. If these ponies want to be re-elected, they'll have to work for it rather than be given a lifetime pass by a pony that couldn't care less what they do so long as they don't work against him. Honestly, if this wasn't so rushed I would've taken the time in each place to find candidates and have the ponies in each place vote for who they want, rather than have these ponies, half of which were appointed by the Duke."

Daybreak raised an eyebrow, "So every decision made would have to go through that out there for each place a member comes from?"

"No. Each member here would govern their jurisdiction under rules and laws set here. They would be free to make most decisions for their areas as long as they don't break the laws. Some things like healthcare and education would be run through here."

Daybreak closed his eyes as he thought, "Okay, okay... I can kind of see what you're trying to do, but there must be a lot more to it than this. You can't have come up with everything we'll need to make this work."

"This is rather unusual Twilight," Ivory agreed. "Perhaps an example of how this might work would be helpful?"

"Alright. Take the peace offer we've had. It's a big thing, and would have to be a decision for the entire country, and would have to be decided here. Taking me out of it, one of the four councillors would put the proposition to the parliament to vote on. If more vote against peace, the war continues. If more vote in favour, it would go to negotiations between the four and the Duke."

"But what stops the four from deciding amongst themselves?"

"It'd be illegal, and if you were caught you'd be stripped of your position, and would likely face jail."

"And who would make that happen?" Snowbright asked dismissively.

"A centralised law enforcement group working under the parliament, but not directly controlled by it. Individual city guards would hopefully be replaced by a single entity responsible for enforcing the laws of the country, while ensuring the safety and fair treatment of all ponies."

"So, like the army then?"

Twilight shook her head, "Separate to the army. At least I think it'd be best that way. I've put a lot of thought into it, but because of time I haven't really got it all down in writing-"

"Twilight," Daybreak said sharply, interrupting her. "I have to ask... do you even know what you're doing? For starters, I think Snowbright was onto something when he asked why we needed four leaders of this parliament."

"Because ponies here are tribalist," Twilight said bluntly. "Not all of them, but a significant amount. If I put a unicorn in charge there'd be an outcry from the earth ponies. If I put an earth pony in charge, the unicorns would complain that nothing's changed as an earth pony is still in charge. And if I put a pegasus in charge I'd probably get complaints from both sides. Hence why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"That does seem about right actually," said Ivory.

Daybreak nodded, "Yeah, alright, but it still seems too complex. And why are you choosing the first four?"

"To save time and arguments, and because right now this country needs good leadership. None of those ponies in there know each other, and would probably just vote for themselves creating a giant mess."

Ivory nodded, "Again that sounds right."

"Who are these four you've picked," Snowbright asked suddenly.

"I'll tell you when the time is right," Twilight said firmly. "I need to be careful so I'm not accused of being totally biased, so I don't want anypony knowing ahead of time."

Daybreak pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, "This all seems to be far too complicated Twilight. You really expect us to get anything done with that baying crowd of idiots?"

"I'm not saying it's perfect, and because of the ponies I've had to use I can't truthfully say it's totally fair, but I feel it's a system that can work if you give it a chance. If not, you can suggest a new system and go with that if ponies here vote for it. This isn't rigid, and you're not stuck with it. As long as the majority agrees you could make a sock puppet president for life if you want. Obviously I wouldn't recommend that."

"You mean we could change any of your decisions here?" Snowbright asked, suddenly sounding thoughtful.

"Apart from a few fundamental laws, yes."

"And what laws are these?"

"The ones that'll be made concerning the treatment, and equal rights of all ponies in Mareitania. Ones that should never be changed, and should never have reason to be changed. There's also a lot of other stuff like a code of conduct and other things to be made too, but those you can change if the majority agrees."

Daybreak nodded thoughtfully, "Alright. And you can really do all this?"

"Ye-"

"She can barely explain it Daybreak!" Snowbright burst out. "Are you really sure we can trust her to get this right?"

Daybreak looked long and hard at Twilight. A mare that had made mistakes, but had usually come through. He trusted her before, and he felt he could trust her now. "Yes, I thin-"

"Actually..." Luna interrupted. She smiled apologetically, "Sorry, but while Daybreak might trust Twilight, we cannot account for all the ponies here. I was hoping I could suggest a third party. A pony that has more experience than any other in the world. Princess Celestia."

"No way!" Snowbright shouted. "I think we have enough Equestrian princesses here already without getting more! Daybreak, we can't accept this!"

"Can't we?" Daybreak was watching Twilight, the alicorn appearing to fold in on herself. He suspected from her reaction that she wasn't privy to the suggestion before it was made.

"No Daybreak," Snowbright continued. "This is our country!" Twilight's ears perked up, "We can't keep letting Equestria come here to fix all our problems!"

"I don't know," said Ivory. "I've met Princess Celestia several times, and she is a master at her craft. While I don't doubt Twilight, Celestia could certainly put us on the right path like no other pony could, as long as she doesn't try to impose her decisions onto things."

"She wouldn't," Luna assured them.

"Then I'm fine with her coming here," said Daybreak.

"Daybreak no," Snowbright pleaded. "You can't seriously be considering this."

"I can, and I am. Princess Celestia has ruled Equestria for over a thousand years, and as Selene says, there's no other pony as experienced as her."

"Then I don't accept this!" Snowbright stamped his hoof, "And if I don't, I'm sure there's plenty of others who don't either. You can be sure that-"

"Snowbright." Twilight didn't say his name loudly, but cut across what he was saying like she shouted it. "Could I have a word with you, privately?" Snowbright paused in shock, but nodded his head after a few seconds. "Thank you. Selene, you keep telling the others your plans."

Twilight scowled at the guilty expression Luna gave her, then turned away with her nose in the air, leading Snowbright into an entirely different room to talk to him.

"This wasn't my idea," she started, "but I can't really argue that Celestia may be the best pony to do this. I get the feeling you know it too, so why are you so against this?"

Snowbright held his tongue for a moment, choosing to try and stare down Twilight, but he couldn't find any traction on her listless attitude. It was like all the energy had been sucked out of her, so he gave in.

"This isn't Equestria."

"That couldn't be more obvious," Twilight deadpanned.

"Then why does it feel like you're trying to make us into Equestria?"

"You realise that this whole parliament thing I've come up with is nothing like Equestria right? The lack of alicorn princesses should make that more than obvious!"

"But it was still made by an Equestrian princess, and will be written into law by another Equestrian princess at the behest of yet another Equestrian princess! Then we can stay here enjoying our Equestrian made weather, sipping our Equestrian made beverages we obtained through trade with, you guessed it, Equestria. And if we should feel ill we can get treated by our Equestrian trained doctors using Equestrian medicine, while we all happily live under Equestrian laws!"

Twilight was taken aback by Snowbright's outburst, "So, what? You hate Equestria? Is that it?"

"No I don't hate Equestria" Snowbright said a bit more calmly. "We owe Equestria a massive debt for all the help we've had, especially from you, but it feels like a debt that's being paid by turning Mareitania into a cheap knockoff of Equestria. Actually, worse than that! It's starting to feel like an invasion! This is Mareitania Twilight, stop trying to change us."

"So you'd rather continue as a paranoid state of earth pony supremacists, treating the unicorns like scum and enslaving the pegasi?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what do you want!?" Twilight shouted in exasperation. "It's too late to wish Equestria hadn't gotten involved now! You gave up that option when you made me the leader of this."

"Actually, I had my own plans for freeing Mareitania until they were ruined."

"By winding up in prison? Yeah, some plan."

"A prison you put me in! I've seen enough of your magic to know it was you that shielded the Viscount."

Twilight closed her eyes and cursed under her breath, "Alright, yes it was me but I didn't really mean to; it was an automatic reaction. Even if you had killed him though, what then? The guards would've killed you within seconds."

"I would've gotten out, but even if I didn't it would've been worth it."

Twilight snorted a laugh, "And that would've triggered the glorious revolution?" The way Snowbright raised his head told her that's what he hoped. "All you would've done is bring the wrath of the Duke down on everypony because with the death of his son he felt vulnerable. You would've made things worse."

"Maybe. Maybe not, but at least it would've been a Mareitanian that did it, and it would've been over when we assassinated the Duke, and ended a lot faster than this."

"You really don't know that."

"It could've worked."

"Maybe," Twilight conceded. "But that's not what happened so it doesn't matter now. What does matter is you fighting this because of your issues with Equestria. I hate to say it but you going against me here could destroy this completely, so I'm going to ask you now, what can I do to get you to side with this?"

Snowbright's expression softened for a moment, then hardened again, "I want you out of Mareitania. You, Luna, and your friends, followed by every other pony you brought here from Equestria. In exchange I'll accept what's happening here, including the arrival of Princess Celestia."

Twilight's mouth hung open, "B-but, you can't be serious!"

"I am. I'm not saying you leave right now, but the moment the war is over you will relinquish leadership of the rebellion and go."

Twilight's heart felt like it was trying to crawl out through her throat. She couldn't believe this, and wanted to refuse outright, but the cost of dividing the rebellion now was far too high.

"Fine," she choked out after a long silence, "but I'm to stay in full command right up until the war ends, agreed?"

"Agreed."

"And you're not to try and bar entry to Princess Celestia."

"I won't, but she won't be staying longer than two months either. That should be more than enough time to do what she needs to do." Since Twilight thought that she could do it herself in half the time she didn't argue.

"And you'll have to accept trade with Equestria is going to happen as that was part of the agreement made with the nobles to get them on our side."

Snowbright sighed, but nodded slowly, "Very well. I won't stand in the way of your idea to have Equestrian pegasi come here either since I don't really have a choice there. Do this and I'll do my best to make sure what you plan here comes to fruition."

"Actually, I have one demand of my own. You have to stay out of parliament once it's set up, both as a member, or as one of the four."

"Why?"

"Because you manipulate things," Twilight said plainly. "You manipulated the vote on the death penalty, and I don't trust you to not try and manipulate any votes that take place here if you don't agree with them. If you do that I'll recommend you to either stay in charge of the military, or put you in charge of law enforcement if you want, since I do trust you to be fair in that, and I even think you'd do a good job."

"Alright," Snowbright said softly. "I didn't really want to be a politician anyway, so I'm okay with that." He held his hoof out, and Twilight gingerly shook it.

"This doesn't mean I'm banned from Mareitania forever does it? It would be nice to come back and visit at some point, see what you've done with the place."

"And you'd be welcomed back as the heroic leader of the uprising. Just give us time, and let us make sure Mareitania is ours first."

"Is everything okay?" Daybreak asked cautiously as Twilight and Snowbright made their way back to the rest of them.

"Yes," said Snowbright, while Twilight could barely muster the effort to nod. To get everything she needed to happen here had just cost her more than she imagined, when it shouldn't really have cost her anything. It felt like the entire world had been pulled out from under her hooves, leaving her drifting. The irony was that she would've gladly gotten out of the war before, but now it wasn't her choice it hurt.

"Twilight?" Twilight looked up at Luna, the alicorn in disguise sounding worried. She wasn't the only one though as Daybreak and Ivory were also looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine," Twilight said, pulling herself up. "Snowbright and I have come to an agreement, and he's willing to go with the parliament and Princess Celestia coming here."

"What agreement?" Daybreak asked suspiciously.

Twilight tried to smile, but it was fleeting, and quickly escaped her. "It's not important now. What is important is getting back out there and putting on a united front for all those ponies."

"Can I make a suggestion first," Snowbright asked. Twilight sighed but signalled for him to continue. "I suggest that anypony out there that doesn't agree with this parliament be removed and replaced." He held his hooves up as the others started to argue with him, "I know that isn't the fair way to do things, but these ponies are here at our invitation, and we didn't have to involve them at all. Each of them can be replaced with a pony willing to go with what we're asking."

Daybreak bristled at the suggestion, "So we blackmail them into cooperation?"

"More or less. Letting them think there's a chance to refuse and still keep their job isn't going to help us. We're the liberation front, and we're the ones that fought and died for this to happen. Not necessarily in that order," he added as he looked at Twilight. "I think we're allowed to say in this situation that it's our way or get out. The system can be fair, but creating it doesn't have to be."

"And what about the nobles?" said Ivory. "They're in the best position to cause trouble right now. They seem to be here separate from any jurisdiction, but including them despite that is definitely unfair."

Twilight stopped them both, "As much as I want to try and keep things nice, you're all better equipped to know what'll work here. If you think getting tough will work Snowbright, then we'll get tough. If you think the nobles are going to plan something Ivory, how can we bring them to heel?"

"We could treat the nobles as a jurisdiction of their own, have them choose their own representative," Daybreak suggested. "If that doesn't work we could aways try and vote 'em out altogether once it's too late for them to do anything about it."

"This is becoming increasingly cutthroat," Luna whispered out of the corner of her mouth to Twilight. "I fear we may have created a monster."

"As long as it's a monster that works for the common good I couldn't care less right now."

"Twilight? Are you alright? What happened with Snowbright?"

"I'll tell you in a minute," Twilight said as the others decided on who to pick from the nobles as a representative. It wasn't a hard choice.

"Hayfield would be the least likely among them to cater to his own needs and the needs of the other nobles before anything else," said Ivory. "I say he's the best choice."

"He was also going to be one of the four," Twilight added. "Having him in a position like that from the start would keep the nobles fairly compliant," she explained. "It was my idea for keeping the nobles quiet. That and he seems like a smart pony."

"Does that mean you'll tell us who the others are?" Snowbright asked.

"Not yet, but it shouldn't be too hard to guess at least one of them. Anyway, if you guys could go and explain things to that lot out there now you've got an idea what you're doing, I'd like to talk to Selene." Twilight smiled at them, and held it until they were out of sight before turning and punching Luna on her left shoulder.

"Ow! Twilight!" Luna held the spot where Twilight had hit her, "What was that for?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Celestia?" Twilight growled. "Didn't you think I could do it without her?"

"Firstly Twilight, I'm involved in this too, and I take no pleasure in going to Celestia for help. Secondly, I don't think you remember how other ponies act around Celestia. It's far different to the way both you and I are treated."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you've gotten too close to her to see it yourself any more. Celestia has this presence to her, this... weight. When she walks into a room, nopony misses it, and when she has an opinion, nopony argues with it. If she asked somepony to lick her hoof, half the room would probably start fighting to be the one to do it."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Now you're exaggerating."

"Slightly," Luna laughed, "but that doesn't make me less right. I know this might feel like a... what's the phrase? A cop out?" Twilight nodded. "Excellent. I realise this feels like a cop out, but I really do believe that Celestia could do this far better than we could just by being who she is."

"Well she better had considering the bargain I just had to make with Snowbright."

"Bargain? What bargain?" Twilight explained the agreement she had to make with Snowbright to get him to agree to this, and Luna's head and ears sank down further and further the more she heard. "I am sorry Twilight, but I had no idea he would react in such a way. Admittedly though, I have no idea why you're making bargains with him when you're the leader."

"Because I don't trust him to do as I say in this case. Our army is laced with ponies that he's personally trained, and if he were to ask it, they'd likely follow him, and there would be nothing stopping him from overthrowing the parliament as soon as we left the country. Hopefully now he'll accept things as they are and won't try to change them if we do as he asks. It also means that we have his support to set this up, even if it's all turning out less friendly than I hoped."

"I admit to feeling like we missed something as we thought of all this. Nopony here knows of anything different to the rule of the Duke, so what we're suggesting must sound ridiculous to them."

"Yeah..." Twilight rubbed her eyes, this whole thing having left her feeling drained, like all the excitement she had at the beginning had been kicked right out of her. "I guess I should be glad this is working at all. They could've rejected it without question."

"They may yet do that. I just hope that getting tough on these ponies is enough to encourage them to go along with this."

"Yeah..." Twilight's ears perked up at the sound of hooves coming from down the hall behind them, away from where the conference was. She suspected it was likely Octavia and the others, and was about to say a greeting when she saw it was actually three ponies in hooded robes, two mares and a stallion. They stopped a few paces away and the leading mare raised her head and removed her hood, revealing a cream earth pony with a cropped ginger mane. Twilight didn't really recognise her, and yet she seemed familiar.

Realising that she was staring at the three newcomers, Twilight cleared her throat, "Can I help you miss..?"

The mare smiled at them, "I am Guiding Light, the high priestess of the Church of the Lady."

Recognition dawned on Twilight. This was the mare that led the sermon for the fallen after the battle at Puddingarde. The same sermon that Twilight would've had a very different part in if she hadn't miraculously returned from the dead. The same sermon she shamefully ran from. Twilight did her best to cover all that though, and managed to fake a convincing smile back. "Of course, how could I forget. Is there something I can do to help you?"

"Actually I was hoping to speak with you concerning events here, Twilight Sparkle." Guiding Light nodded to her followers, prompting them to depart. "Privately if I may?"

"Does it need to be right now? We're in the middle of some very delicate talks."

"It's those talks I wish to discuss with you, so yes, I would appreciate having your time now." Guiding Light looked directly at Twilight, and there seemed to be no argument with those gentle eyes and patient smile.

"Alright," Twilight said in defeat. "Selene, could you go and keep an eye on things out there?"

Luna looked between the two ponies, seeing Guiding Light's little smile, and Twilight's swiftly evaporating patience that was now going to have to deal with the leader of the group of ponies that she'd done her best to avoid. Luna was not feeling optimistic about this, but acquiesced. "Try not to be too long Twilight."

"I won't." Twilight waited until Luna was gone before returning her attention back to Guiding Light, who still wore that same little smile. Twilight didn't want this right now, and preferably wanted it to never happen at all, but of course it would only wait until the worst possible moment before raising its righteous head.

"So, Guiding Light, if that is your real name..."

The high priestess laughed pleasantly, "It isn't, as you seem to have guessed. It's more of a title with a name built in. My name is actually Willow Weave, but my flock prefers to call me Guiding Light."

"That same flock that insists I'm the chosen envoy of the Lady?"

"And I apologise for that," Willow said to Twilight's total surprise. "Many of them do take the direct belief that you are the chosen messenger of our Lady, and will accept no arguments saying otherwise, even from yourself."

"But you don't believe the Lady sent me?"

"I certainly do, but I'm of the belief that the Lady is more subtle in her influences, and simply encouraged the events that led to you coming here from Equestria. You may be the Lady's chosen one, but that doesn't have to mean she sent you here in person."

"Then why don't you tell your 'flock' that's the truth, rather than what they believe?"

"Because I wasn't involved in events until after the battle at Puddingarde, and by then the prevailing theory had already set in, only to be made stronger by your return from the dead. You try convincing ponies otherwise after that. I do not blame you for your animosity towards the church Twilight, as even my patience would've been tested by such events, and so I apologise on behalf of the church."

This was already going differently to how Twilight had expected. Not that she had expected anything in particular, and was still wondering why this pony had come to her. She doubted it was just to apologise for what was at most an annoyance.

"Okay, apology accepted... but I get the feeling you wanted to see me to make more than just an apology."

Willow's smile grew a little wider. "Very astute of you Twilight Sparkle. I was hoping to ask you why you neglected to include the church in your discussions here."

Twilight blinked, her head oddly devoid of any thought for a short moment before she uttered her well thought out and dignified response, "Huh?"

"Are you alright Twilight?"

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her right temple, "I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time understanding what you meant. You want to know why the church wasn't involved in this?"

Willow's smile became brittle, "I would like to know that, yes."

"How about the fact that I didn't even know there was a unified church of the Lady. I thought you all shared a belief, and that was that."

"With the freedoms that have come with your liberation of Mareitania, we no longer have to hide in the shadows. We want to take a role in the betterment of our country."

"And this is how you thought to do it?" Twilight bit her tongue and reined herself in. While she found this preposterous, she didn't actually want to offend this mare. That said, there was a distinct possibility of that happening anyway.

"The rebellion was born from ponies of the faith Twilight Sparkle. Indeed, if it were not for my followers there may not have been a rebellion at all."

Twilight couldn't deny that, as much as she wanted to. The rebellion was born out of Pierre, strangely named as it was, and Pierre was made of many ponies of faith. As things progressed the religious aspects of the rebellion had fallen to the wayside, save for that damned flag, but it seemed some ponies were determined to remember the rebellion's origins.

"The ponies of the church have fought and bled for this rebellion," Willow went on. "Is it not fair that they have a share in what comes after?"

"And they do," Twilight said, confused. "I'm not sure what you're asking, but I'm not trying to turn Mareitania into a theocracy. Faith and politics really don't mix well together."

"Is your Equestria not a theocracy?"

"What? Of course not! It's a quadrarchy."

"And yet many ponies in Equestria worship their alicorn leaders as gods do they not?"

"No they don't, and I think you misunderstand what a theocracy is. If ponies did worship us, and we had a church, and the church ran the country, that'd be a theocracy. What we have is alicorn princesses ruling the country, and no church, making it a quadrarchy."

"And do those alicorns not rule by divine right?"

"Of cour-" Twilight stumbled on her thoughts. Celestia and Luna inherited the throne from the triumvirate of Platinum, Puddinghead, and Hurricane simply because they were alicorns. Cadence and Twilight herself were also invited to join their rule through sheer dint of becoming alicorns. If there wasn't some half-baked divine right behind this it sure smelled like there was.

"Of course not. And that still wouldn't be a theocracy." Twilight sighed and looked at Willow, "I'm not sure what you're hoping to achieve here, but your church has done no more than any other pony to deserve recognition above others-"

"And yet those so called 'nobles' have? Sitting in their gilded halls while the 'common ponies' fought and died to get where we are today?"

Twilight cursed under her breath, if only because she couldn't agree with Willow without causing problems for herself. "The nobles are providing much of the funds that will rebuild Mareitania after the wars end. I'm not saying that earns them the right to be here, but Mareitania needs them."

"Just as Mareitania needs ponies of faith to help guide those still trapped in the dark-"

"That sounds like you're forcing your beliefs on ponies."

Willow Weave jumped like Twilight had slapped her, "W-what!? But I-I'd never even dare to do such things! How cou-"

Twilight cut Willow off, "Look, I know what you're asking for here, but my answer is still no, and not just because of my belief that religion and politics shouldn't mix." Twilight thought for a moment, then tapped the floor once as an idea came to her. "Come with me Willow, I want to show you something."

Twilight led the mare up through the castle to it's highest point, a flat circle ringed with battlements from which you could see pretty much all of the city. She stopped at the edge that overlooked the majority of the city, the castle located as it was nearer the front of the city by the main gates. From there she could count the plumes of smoke coming from chimneys, and hear the hustle and bustle of the city.

"What do you see?"

"I see Prance," Willow said bluntly.

"More than that. Prance would just be a lump of interestingly arranged masonry if it weren't for the ponies that live here. Ponies, and indeed other beings make a nation Willow, not buildings or institutions." Twilight leaned against the battlements and sighed, enjoying the breeze as it blew her hair and ruffled her feathers.

"Down in there," she continued, gesturing with her head at the castle, "you'd be just another voice in the parliament. Possibly less as likely none of the others in there share your beliefs, and would probably make you into an object of scorn because of that. Nothing but frustration would come from getting involved with them." Twilight gestured to the city, "But out there you could make a difference, and I don't just mean in Prance."

Willow reluctantly joined her, a little more nervous about the height at which they were. "H-how so?" she stammered.

"While I might have had some issues with your followers at times, I was always impressed by their lack of intolerance, and by their selflessness. The first pegasi we freed in Neigh Orleans, I took them to Puddingarde and left them in the care of Nimble Stitch. Not once did she comment on them being pegasi, and not once did she give them so much as a sideways look. All she saw was a group of poor, hungry, mistreated ponies, and all she wanted to do was help. Considering what I'd experienced in Mareitania up until then, I actually found that amazing, and might've made more of it if I wasn't so distracted at the time."

"Nimble Stitch always was a kind soul. But I still don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"What I'm trying to tell you is that your church could do so much more than be some wasted voice in the parliament. Out there are thousands of ponies that could use the help of your followers. Small acts of charity such as a hot meal for a homeless pony down on his luck, or teaching ponies about tolerance, and helping the victims of intolerance, as well as other, more malicious crimes. Even something so simple as having somepony to listen to you and provide a shoulder to cry on can make all the difference at times. A thousand little things, a thousand little kindnesses... would mean so much more to the ponies of Mareitania than another politician. That's what I'm trying to tell you Willow, to get your ponies out there and do the good things I know you're all capable of."

There was silence from Willow, then a soft sigh. "I must seem like a fool to you, but then I suppose all ponies must at some point to an ancient being such as yourself."

"Ancient being?" Twilight laughed, probably harder than the situation warranted, "I'm not even thirty yet Willow. It's going to be a while until I qualify for ancient."

"Oh! My apologies Twilight! I just assumed that because you were an alicorn you were-"

Twilight waved a hoof, gesturing for Willow to stop. "It's alright, really. I can see why you might think that though. But even if I was an 'ancient being,' I still wouldn't call you foolish."

"Thank you, and I understand what you're trying to tell me. I won't deny I'm a little disappointed that the church shall remain in the background, but it is not my place to question the Lady's wisdom, or yours. Still, there is much satisfaction to be found in charitable works, and I shall do my best to not disappoint you."

"Willow, even if all you did was go out there and give a stranger a hug, I still wouldn't be disappointed." Twilight smiled warmly, "But I am very open to being impressed."

Willow's smile changed, seeming far more genuine than before. "I suppose I best be off to spread the word, just as I suspect you should return to your fellows downstairs. Blessings upon you Twilight Sparkle."

"And you," Twilight said as Willow made her way back down stairs. Twilight didn't move for a while though, choosing instead to enjoy the breeze a little longer, and to be thankful that Willow had accepted her proposal.

"That was actually quite nice. Too bad they're unwittingly worshiping a mad god that wants to destroy Equestria out of spite."

There was shouting, which was fine. Shouting was neither good nor bad really. The good meant that they hadn't all murdered each other. The bad meant that they might be in the process of doing so. In either case, it didn't fill Twilight with any optimism as she made her way back down to the mess hall cross conference room.

"You have no right to do any of this!" a male voice shouted, making Twilight stop at the door. "You or that blasted pegasus-unicorn freak!"

Twilight scowled at the door as the telltale sound of Trixie's magic filled the room, before that was cut over by a short scream and the sound of a door slamming. "Anypony else feel like making mean little comments?" Trixie asked, her voice smooth as silk. Nopony answered.

"You don't understand your position," Twilight heard Snowbright say. "We have the right to do this because we're the ponies that made all this happen. We didn't have to involve any of you, but did because we thought you might be better qualified for the roles we're giving you. There is nothing saying we can't replace each and every one of you."

Fuck, Twilight swore to herself. That's the way to ensure their loyalty and cooperation. By threatening them. Twilight sagged against the door and once again lamented thinking that this would ever work.

"I don't know what most of you are complaining about anyway," Snowbright continued. "Over half of you have something to gain from this, whereas barely even a third of you held these positions during the Duke's reign!"

"Oh yeah?" a stallion shouted from the assembly. "Instead you're waving this under our noses, then say you're going to take it back off us in five years!"

"Only if the ponies in your town or area or whatever don't vote you back in!" shouted Daybreak. "Do your job well and ponies should have no problem voting you back in."

"And who exactly would be voting?"

"Everypony," said Luna. "Or everypony over the age of eighteen anyway."

"You mean unicorns, pegasi, and the- and the other... common elements get to decide this?" said a mare. Likely a noble lady if the haughty tone of voice was any indicator. "That's madness! Only the upper echelons of informed society should have any say in this!" The was a short moment of quiet, with a few sporadic groans thrown in, before Trixie spoke. Twilight could almost feel her grinning.

"Are you going to walk out of your own accord, or would you like to be thrown out?"

"What? Why? What did I do?"

"Besides being massively tribalist as well as horribly elitist?" a stallion explained. "Honestly dear, we talked about this during the recess."

"But I'm being serious! We nobles have supported this rebellion for some time now. Why are we not all filling these roles they've given out to the first pony they found? Have we not served faithfully and done all they asked? And who better to lead than us, your betters? Who here would know more about governing a country than we?"

There were a few voices raised in agreement with the mare's, although it was thankfully just that, a few. It also left Twilight with the funny feeling that if they picked a competent and reasonable leader, like Hayfield, the nobles could probably do a decent job of running things. Too bad nopony else would probably see it like that.

Twilight slammed the door open, interrupting the mare as her tirade continued, and walked to the middle of the stage. "No, we will not be putting you in charge of Mareitania. Seeing the country run by the wealthy would only disillusion the poor further and lead to more trouble in the future. In fact, since all of you are being represented here by many of the other ponies in the room, you cannot represent yourselves as you seem to be doing now, because it puts too much power in your hoofs to sway any votes. However, in recognition of the contributions you have made to both the rebellion and Mareitania, we have decided that Lord Hayfield will be allowed to represent your interests here in the parliament."

Twilight waited for the backlash. She didn't have to wait long.

"Are you saying that you want to remove us all from this?" one of the lords shouted angrily. "After all we've done?"

"I'm afraid so. With the presence of all of you here you can easily sway the parliament to whatever suits you best. That could hardly be considered fair seeing as how you are in fact a minority here in Mareitania, hence why I'm limiting your power to one individual. As for the rest of you, we really didn't have to include any of you, so stop complaining about maybe losing your positions in five years, and start being thankful that you still have it for now. Oh, and Trixie, remove the tribalist."

Twilight waited as Trixie plucked the mare out of the group of nobles and put her down with exaggerated gentleness outside the doors before slamming them shut in her face. The entire time that was going on Twilight expected somepony to say something, then progressed onto wanting somepony to say anything, but the room remained entirely silent save for the mare as she had repeatedly screamed "Putmedown! Putmedown! Putmedown!"

"Okay," Twilight said cheerfully. "If nopony has any more concerns to air, let's get onto the four ponies who'll be leading this parliament." Still quiet. Perhaps these ponies had finally come to realise that the liberation front did actually hold all the cards here. Perhaps one day they'll realise she never wanted to have to think like that.

Twilight pushed the thought aside. The dissenters had given up, or at least gone quiet, so she took the opportunity to actually get on with things. "Let's start with the two unicorns, who will be the representative from Neigh Orleans, Daybreak, and the representative for New Pegasopolis and all pegasi within Mareitania, Ivory Spire." Ivory turned to look at her opened mouthed as Daybreak locked up on the spot. Snowbright at least seemed happy enough.

"You're just picking who you want to be in charge! Ponies from your rebellion!"

"Ponies that you can replace in five years if you wish. Remember that you here will pick the leaders of the parliament. I'm just doing it the first time to save time and to make sure things run smoothly as Mareitania rebuilds. And if you don't interrupt I'll tell you the earth pony leaders." Twilight waited for a beat, waiting for further complaint, but it held off for a moment. Hopefully the identity of the two earth ponies would change ponies minds about favouritism.

"The earth pony members of the four shall be Lord Hayfield, representative of the nobles, and Sour Mash, the representative for the city of Prance."

"What!?" Mash bellowed at the top of his voice. "You can't be serious!"

"I am," said Twilight. Out of the corner of her eye Twilight caught Fleur slowly sink down into her seat and hide her face behind her hooves. "You stood up to the soldiers here in Prance, and continued to defy them by running a resistance. You're fair, unbiased, and intelligent. I feel that you have a lot to give Mareitania, if you're willing. I won't force you into this, but I really do hope you'll consider it."

"I-I-I..." Mash sat back down again and closed his eyes as he thought. After a moment he opened them again. "Alright, I'll give it my best shot. Can't say I really know what I'm doing though."

Twilight smiled warmly at him, "That's alright. I'm sure a lot of ponies here aren't too sure on what it is we're asking of them, which brings me to my next point. I know that this is all pretty rough and ready, but that's mostly due to time constraints. Things will be made much clearer and tidier in the coming months, especially after the war ends as we've agreed that none other than Princess Celestia shall come here to properly solidify this new government and set its laws and policies into writing. She'll also teach you all how to run a government as best you can."

There was something unnerving about the lack of further complaint from the assembled ponies. While Twilight wanted to think that they had simply accepted the situation, she could only trust her gut feeling that such wasn't the case. Sadly though, there was nothing she could really do to fix that, so she could only hope that time and use would bring them around. In the meantime though, they had a major issue to vote on.

"Anyway, now that we have a parliament and leaders, it's time you all voted on our first major decision to be made in the Mareitanian parliament. Daybreak?"

Daybreak blinked at Twilight with confusion, "Yeah? What?"

"I'm no longer the leader, and you're the only one of the four fully appraised on what's going on. Would you like to explain it to them so they can vote on the matter?"

"Oh, right. Uh..." Daybreak grinned nervously. "Okay, so the Duke has sent a request for peace negotiations to be held with the leader of Mareitania so we can end the fighting. Now, we don't actually have to consider his request, but I- that is, we, thought it best to put it to a vote here since this is a decision for all of us to make." He glanced sideways at his fellow leader on stage for support.

Ivory cleared her throat, "Would Lord Hayfield and Representative Sour Mash join us on stage please?" They waited as the two ponies made their way onto the stage and had what was happening quickly explained to them in a whispered conversation.

"Right," Mash said in a harsh whisper that was almost as loud as his normal voice; "so we all know the Duke is a mad bastard, and the way I see it there's no peace with him we could trust. But we're going to have to vote on this and accept it if they vote for peace?"

"I'm afraid so," said Daybreak. "It's called democracy, and it's what we're doing."

Mash shook his head in amused disbelief, "That's crazy, but I can at least see the point in it. I guess one pony making all the decisions just ain't gonna cut it no more."

"Quite so," agreed Hayfield. "However, I am curious as to whether we're going to let ponies make a case for and against voting for peace? Or are going to 'wing it' as the pegasi say?"

"Ponies here know what's at stake," said Daybreak. "I say we just go straight for the vote." The others nodded in agreement. "Alright then." He stood and faced the parliament again, "We're not going to waste time. You all know the stakes here; vote to continue the war and the Duke is finished for good. Vote for peace and the fighting stops, sure, but the country stays split in two, and we have to stay constantly prepared for betrayal from the Duke. Obviously one outcome is more preferable to the other, but that's just our opinion."

Ivory scanned the crowd, seeing far too many ponies that once cozied up to the Duke. She really wished there had been more time to find and appoint new ponies for these positions. Still, she had a job to do, and had to respect the decision made here. "All those in favour of peace and ending the war, raise your hooves." Plenty of hooves went up, more than expected as just short of half those assembled voted for peace.

"And those in favour of continuing the war?" asked Mash. Those who kept their hooves down before now raised them, along with Daybreak, Ivory, Hayfield, and his own. Over half those assembled had voted in favour of continuing the fight. "The ayes have it. The war continues."

"Yes!" Trixie cheered from the back of the room, jumping on the spot.

"Thank you ladies and gentlecolts," Daybreak continued. "I guess that's it for now, so...parliament adjourned?" He looked at the others, but got little more than a shrug back. "Whatever, we'll be in touch with all of you soon enough."

Trixie ran up to Twilight and grabbed her, smooching her right on the lips, "You did it! The war's continuing, and the Duke is mine!"

"You just kissed me," Twilight squeaked. She blushed harder as Luna giggled at her.

"What?"

"You just kissed me."

"That's your biggest concern?" Trixie shrugged and kissed Twilight again, holding it for longer. "There, now the first kiss is old news. Honestly Twilight, stop being pathetic and embrace your inner passions for Trixie."

Twilight pressed a hoof to Trixie's face and pushed her away, "Yeah... No." Twilight wiped her mouth on the back of her leg, "Still, we got what we wanted, a government, sort of, and a vote to end the war properly."

"What if they had voted for peace?" Trixie asked suspiciously, "What would you have done then?"

"I had thought about it," Twilight admitted, glancing briefly at Luna, "and the best solution I could think of was to sabotage the peace talks." Twilight smiled lopsided as Trixie raised her eyebrows.

"You'd defy the government you came up with here? Really?"

"It was more idle speculation than anything. I don't know if I'd actually go through with it." Twilight shook her head, "It doesn't matter anyway; we won the vote, which means we better start preparing for an attack on High Rock."

"I'm sure we can leave that until tomorrow once all our guests are departed," said Luna. "There's still plenty of things we can worry about concerning them. Personally, I don't trust a lot of the ponies we have here. At least I don't trust them to respect the government we built, or half built. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on them for a while."

"Spying on our own ponies?" Twilight smiled uneasily, "That's rather paranoid, isn't it?"

"Only to make sure they don't try anything."

"I'd rather not go that far Luna. We should give them the benefit of the doubt for now."

Trixie chuckled humourlessly, "I don't know why you think that's your decision to make now you're no longer the leader of the country." Trixie frowned suddenly, "Wait, would we have to vote on spying on members of the parliament, because I think that would kinda give the game away."

"At this point that would fall under the purview of the military, I think." Luna explained. "However, I feel that such a thing would more comfortably live under the sphere of our law enforcement in the future. Or perhaps as a separate entity again. So many things for Celestia to work out since our ability to do so has been cut by an unreasonable request to leave the country once the war is over."

"What? What is she talking about Twilight?"

Twilight sighed glumly, "I'm sorry Trixie, but it can wait until the others are here as it applies to all of us. I'd rather only have to explain it once."

"Fine." Trixie's eyes flashed green for a split second, then settled back into their normal colour. Twilight hoped it was merely a physical display of being annoyed rather than anything else. "So now what?"

"Your job as head of security isn't over until all these ponies are safely away, so if you could see to it that nothing happens tonight I'd appreciate it. Luna and I are probably going to be smothered in work for at least a few more hours." Twilight saw Daybreak look in her direction as he conversed with the other leaders. "Maybe we can all get together later for dinner and I'll explain that thing to you."

"Very well, Trixie shall spend her time wandering around, looking important and making unhelpful and contradictory orders to amuse herself until later." She bowed deeply, "Au revoir darlings."

"Remind me to never understand Trixie," Twilight said to Luna as Trixie swaggered off.

"You need a reminder to not do the impossible?"

Twilight laughed at that, but it died quickly as the ugly head of responsibility reared up. Daybreak, Mash, and Hayfield were making their way over to them, and in the lead was an especially unhappy looking Ivory.

"Why in the world did you make me one of the four!? Don't I have enough work to do!?"

"Exactly," Twilight answered, "Which is why I gave you the position. You four run the government, and apart from some things that require major decisions, a lot of other stuff will fall to you, amongst those being all the stuff you've been trying to do so far like schools and healthcare and all those things. As one of the four you have the ability and power to get those things done without others trying to tread on your hooves."

Ivory paused, literally, like her entire mind had hit a bump it couldn't pass and had to stop everything as it worked out how to get over it. The accusatory hoof that was frozen in midair, pointed at Twilight was a nice touch, even as it slowly sank to the ground.

"Huh?"

"It also allows you to delegate tasks to others so you don't have to do every little thing yourself."

"Huh?"

Hayfield leant over to speak directly into Ivory's ear, "I do believe Lady Sparkle is saying that she's gone and made your job a whole lot easier my dear."

"W-Well, yeah, that's what it sounds like. Um..." Ivory sat and massaged her temples with her hooves, "I have a headache."

"I'm still wondering why you made me one of the ponies in charge," Mash asked as Ivory groaned to herself.

"What I said was true, about you being smart, fair, and unbiased," said Twilight. "There's also the problem that I couldn't put only unicorns in charge, and the earth ponies I know either shouldn't be in charge, or don't want to be."

"Like Snowbright?" Daybreak asked coolly.

"Exactly like Snowbright," said Twilight.

"Y'know, eventually one of you two is going to have to tell me what you agreed to get him to side with this."

"And I will later. For now I think we all have enough to do to keep us busy for a while."

Twilight stared myopically at the glass containing an amber liquid that Trixie had just placed in front of her. Then she figured out that it was probably intended for her to consume it, so with a spark of magic she lifted the glass to her mouth and partook in whatever it was that Trixie had just given her. Thankfully it was something stronger than apple juice.

"So," she said after a minute, "What did you four get up to today?" She directed the question at Octavia, Summer, Seeker, and the filly.

"Not much," said the filly. "Sat 'round, chilled, tried to get Seeker slightly more normal. Foiled an assassination plot..."

"Assassination plot?"

"Oh yeah, some pony tried to force Seeker to kill one of the ponies here, but she was all 'no way!' and ate an entire bag of sweets to try and get rid of the urge to obey, which is why her teeth hurt now. Then we apprehended them and...yeah, it was totally epic. Too bad you all missed it."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the filly, "Is it bad that I literally cannot tell if you're being serious or not? Octavia?"

"She's not."

"Good, thank you-"

"It wasn't clever enough to be called a plot. Calling it a scheme would be stretching it."

Twilight looked at Seeker, who smiled grimly as she massaged her jaw. Next to her Summer was the very image of innocence, giving nothing away. "Okay, assuming you're not making this up, is the problem taken care of?"

"Pfft," Trixie sniggered. "Come on Twilight, you can tell they're lying."

"How so?"

"The filly opened her mouth."

"Hey!"

"Also, what they're saying is absolutely fucking ridiculous. That and I'm sure the lack of a prisoner or a body should tell us enough that they're making this up."

"Or we never caught them... Oooohhh." The filly grinned at them both, "But yeah, we're totally bullshitting you. We did pretty much nothing all day, apart from give Seeker toothache from too much sugar."

"I desire a new plan," Seeker whined as the door opened, permitting entry to Fleur, Ivory, Daybreak, and Mash. Propelled along by Fleur's magic in front of them was a cart laden with leftovers, which she left to the side for everypony to dig into.

"So," Daybreak said poignantly once everypony had helped themselves, "care to explain what you agreed with Snowbright?"

Twilight paused mid-chew, "Urf..." She swallowed and tried again, "I did say I would, didn't I..." Setting her plate down she grabbed her drink and downed the remainder, "Please don't be angry at me or Snowbright for this," she begged.

"I'll decide that for myself."

"Fine..." Twilight explained the deal she made with Snowbright, cringing more and more the further she went into it. The worst was her friends reactions, as she could tell they were upset that she agreed this without clearing it with them first.

"So that's it?" Trixie shouted angrily, "Thanks for winning the war for us and fixing our country, now get the fuck out? What the hell Twilight?"

"It's not like that and you know it!" Twilight shouted back, trying to defend herself. "Look, I didn't want to have to make this deal, but Snowbright's too far into things to ignore him now. If he decides to, he could organise a coup overnight, and we'd be worse off for it, so I did what I had to."

"And here I thought the rebellion was actually stable," Mash muttered.

"It is, for the most part," Daybreak said back. He ran a hoof back through his mane and stared at the ceiling for a moment, "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to absolutely fucking kill him."

"Don't," said Twilight. "I know it's not ideal, but he agreed to Princess Celestia coming here, so things will still be fine. And he did say we'd be welcome back in the future."

"I bloody hope so," Fleur growled. "I didn't go through all this just to be given a pat on the back before getting banned from the country." She pushed her plate away, her appetite gone, "You could've at least talked to us about it first Twilight."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I was really put on the spot."

"I don't see what the problem is," said Octavia. "We'll still be seeing the war to it's conclusion, and Mareitania will still have a chance to recover and improve itself. It might be a little abrupt, but we'd be leaving the country at that point anyway, more or less. Summer and the filly will be coming with us as well, so we have even less reason to need to stay."

Fleur shook her head, "That's not the point Octavia. There's a big difference between leaving once we've finished, and being kicked out to avoid a coup. You're just happy to go because you hate it here."

"You're right, I do hate it here. I've seen things a pony shouldn't see, had ponies die in my hooves again and again. My hooves shake near constantly from stress and anxiety, and I have nightmares on an almost hourly basis when I'm sleeping! I'm sick of it here, and I'm more than happy to leave prematurely, and seeing as how none of you have any reason to really want to stay, I don't see why this is that big of an issue!"

"Because maybe I wanted to see things after we've beaten the Duke!"

"And you still can! Just not immediately. You'll still be allowed to come here."

"Will you two stop!" Daybreak shouted over them. He waited until Fleur and Octavia were giving each other little more than heated glares, "I'll talk to Snowbright about this. I doubt I'll get him to change his mind, but he doesn't have the right to kick you out. Saying that, maybe it would be good if you did leave after the war ends. Celestia will get us fully up on running this country, and then, once she's returned home it'll be fine for you to come back. A few months at most."

"You left for fifteen years last time," Octavia said to Fleur. "I'm sure you can manage a few months."

"Whatever..." Fleur winced as the filly poked her in the ribs.

"Come on Fleur, what the hell's wrong? We all hate this country; Octavia wants to leave, Twilight wants to leave, Trixie probably wants to leave-"

"Not until the Duke is dead!"

"-once the Duke is dead," the filly continued. "I want to leave. How about you Summer?"

"I probably would've left by now if I knew where else to go," Summer answered quickly. "And, you know, if you guys weren't still here."

"Exactly."

"You're really not selling the idea of staying here very well," Daybreak muttered. "Makes me kinda want to grab Thorn, head back to Neigh Orleans, grab Sugar, and jump on the first ship outta here."

"Where is Thorn anyway?" Octavia asked.

"Working security with me," said Trixie. "She was hoping for a little action, but sadly she was to be disappointed."

"Guys, shut up," the filly said loudly. "My point is that we all want to leave, so why get all butt-hurt about getting kicked out for a little bit?"

"Because... I dunno, just because." Fleur rested her chin on the table and wrapped her legs over her face. "I'm tired, and now I'm angry, so...blah." She stood suddenly yet slowly, "I'll probably feel better in the morning, so I'm gonna go to bed. Coming filly?"

"Sure, just hold on a sec." The filly quickly loaded a plate with food off the trolley, and carefully balanced it on her head, "Okay, now I'm ready. 'Night guys."

"Goodnight," the others echoed back.

"Maybe bed isn't a bad idea," Twilight said once Fleur and the filly were gone. "It's been a pretty long day with a lot going on, so I'm going to hit the hay too."

"So, how'd it go?"

Twilight regarded the politely smiling face of Nightmare, who had apparently decided to drop in for a chat. Twilight decided that there were too many ponies wandering around her head these days. At least Nightmare wasn't a filly this time. That was a little too weird.

"I thought you weren't coming back here because you didn't want to run into Luna?"

"She's sleeping right now so I thought I'd risk it. Besides, I can't keep hiding forever." Nightmare booped Twilight on the nose, "Answer the question please."

"Why bother? You probably already know."

Nightmare grinned, "You're right, I do, but that doesn't give me your opinion on what happened."

"My opinion? Okay then. My opinion is that it fell just short of being an unmitigated disaster, but not by much. I should've given myself more time and picked ponies that I knew would go along with things."

"But wouldn't putting the ponies you want in charge be rather like what the Duke does?"

Twilight tapped her chin with fake thoughtfulness, "Hmm, maybe just a little as in like a lot! But that wasn't the issue really. Ponies just didn't seem to get what I was trying to do!"

"Creating a giant bureaucratic monster to ponderously rule Mareitania just so you could pat yourself on the back for being fair and inclusive?" Nightmare smiled innocently at Twilight, "At least I hope that's what you were going for, because that's exactly what you've done. Only, you know, with ponies that really aren't your friends, and might therefore try to stab both you and your government in the back."

"That wasn't what I was trying to do at all!"

"Maybe not, but you've created a system where every decision has to be run past a couple dozen ponies at least. In fact, I think you might have just redefined bureaucracy for me entirely."

"Shut up, it'll work. They just need to learn how to make it work-"

"Slowly. It works slowly."

Twilight ground her teeth together, annoyed at the sass she was getting off Nightmare, "And what would you have done?"

"Assigned myself as ruler of Mareitania, then immediately appointed somepony as my regent to rule in my stead so I could go back to Equestria. Then, if things become a bit rocky, they ask for help, and the queen bitch of Mareitania comes back to knock a few heads until things settle down again. But that's just me." Somewhere between the start and end of that Nightmare had sprouted a silver crown from somewhere, and sat herself on a marble throne. It annoyed Twilight that she couldn't tell when that had happened.

"That wouldn't work!"

"Why not?"

"Because what ponies are going to follow an absent leader?"

Nightmare flicked the crown off her head so that it landed in the dirt between herself and Twilight, confusing Twilight as to when they had started standing on solid ground. "The Duke is hardly ever seen outside High Rock. To me that makes him an almost absent leader, and look at all the leading he does. You might not think so, but I'd make it work if he can."

"You're also forgetting that not everypony wanted me to lead the country after all this. What about them?" Twilight asked.

"What about them?" Nightmare asked back. "There was no way in which you could do this and make everypony happy Twilight, so there's no point even trying to. Which also means I might have thrown Snowbright into the darkest dungeon I could find, rather than try to appease him. Honestly Twilight, you're too soft."

"The only thing that bargain cost me was an early ticket back home. Not exactly a huge loss."

"But what about precious time to bask in your achievements?"

"I'd rather be with my friends."

Nightmare shook her head. She wanted to say something along the lines of that being why Twilight rashly agreed to Snowbright's terms, but felt she had pushed Twilight enough for now.

"Very well. Since I doubt I could convince you to change your mind on Snowbright's bargain, I'll simply wish you luck with the remainder of the war. I'm also going to tell you that there's a lot of ponies having some very treasonous thoughts around you, and you really should keep an eye on them."

"Oh great, now you and Luna want me to spy on our own ponies."

Nightmare raised a bemused eyebrow at Twilight, "Well, great minds and all that. I don't know why it surprises you to learn we have some similarities. I would also urge you to consider what we're asking. These are the ponies you're building your government with. They could tear it apart with little difficulty if they applied themselves. All you have to do is ask those delightfully named Shades to keep an eye on the activities of some of your representatives, nothing more. Just to give you peace of mind more than anything else."

"Don't use that tone of voice on me."

"What tone of voice?" Nightmare asked, genuinely perplexed. She was speaking normally as far as she was concerned.

Twilight struck a pose reminiscent of what Nightmare Moon might have done, "That 'smooth, silky, listen to my honeyed words because Auntie Nightmare knows best' tone of voice."

Nightmare covered her mouth with a hoof and cleared her throat, "My apologies Twilight. I didn't even realise I was doing it. All the same, I beg you to at least consider mine and Luna's advice."

"Fine," Twilight groaned, her head sinking lower the longer she drew the sound out. "I'll think about it."

Nightmare clapped her hooves together, "Excellent! Better safe than sorry after all. Anyway, I best be off, leaving you to your lumbering beast of a government. Ta-ta!"

"It's going to work just...fine..." Twilight blinked in the dawn light that was creeping into her room in the castle. Not only had Nightmare seen fit to vanish, but to also rudely eject Twilight into the waking world.

"Oh come on, I at least deserve a lie-in after yesterday."

Author's Notes:

Guess how I started my extended writing period to get this done? The answer is that I got horribly ill, did nothing, then wrote this while still ill. Even now almost two weeks later my body seems to be trying to eject my lungs by coughing them out. Believe it or not this chapter was even more of a confusing mess at one point thanks to that. It also taught me to never write about politics as I know even less about it than I thought. Hopefully it does at least make a kind of sense.

Anyway, thanks to the illnesses I've suffered I'm behind on writing and haven't even started the next chapter, so I will say that there probably won't be an update for a couple of weeks again. Hopefully things'll go a bit faster as I write on more familiar territory.

Also, forty likes? Love you guys.