The sun never set on the land of Economestria. The Tyrant Queen Celestia’s magic ensured it. Once her sister, Princess Luna of the Parliament, had vied with her for control of the land. During the time of the sun, Princess Celestia of the Crown ruled, and the moon’s time was Luna’s. Power corrupted Celestia, and she grew jealous of her sister’s power. Using the Elements of Government on the day of the summer solstice, Celestia rainbow-blasted Luna out of the stratosphere, sealing her and the night in the moon for a thousand years. Since that fateful battle, Queen Celestia’s iron-fisted rule and the daytime stretched over the whole of Economestria without pause.

The jealous Queen Celestia watched her citizens for signs of insurrection. Not pony could escape the harsh glare of Celestia’s eternal sun.

But an ocean’s distance away was a land called Ponyville. Large and populous, thriving on exports of cupcakes, fashionable dresses, and a variety of apple-based products, these ponies managed themselves so well and so far away from Canterlot, Queen Celestia’s capital that the Tyrant Queen decided it was easier for her to leave the citizens of Ponyville alone, so long as they paid a meager tax on imports of Canterlot’s famous cider.

Why not? Queen Celestia, immortal sorceress, had defended the citizens of Ponyville from invading dragons and trolls on a dozen different occasions. Loyal emigrants from mainland of Economestria who sought wealth, not budding revolutionists, inhabited Ponyville. Were they not grateful, devoted to the crown? What was their alternative, self-government?

Celestia laughed madly, the sound echoing through the empty halls of her castle. The day of the summer solstice approached. Soon her sister would no longer be bound by the spell that sealed her inside the moon. She would return, ready to fight, expecting armies to flock to her as they once had…

…one thousand years ago. The old wars between the worshippers of Celestia and the worshippers of Luna that had devastated Economestria, killing thousands, inspiring massacres, harsh, cruel inquisitions and punishing laws were over, Celestia had won, and the world was a better place.

Yes, Celestia told herself as she paced the empty halls, Luna was remembered only as the Mare in the Moon, a children’s story, and she, Queen Celestia, ruled the world, her Rainbow Sun flag waving over every land. The summer solstice would come and pass without incident, and she would imprison her sister for another millennium.

One week before the summer solstice, the citizens of Ponyville stopped paying the tax on cider.

---

“The Elements of Government,” Twilight Sparkle said to herself, turning the page of Economestrian Legends: From the Mare in the Moon to the Illusive Infant Industry. “I know I’ve heard of those before.”

Twilight winced and covered her ears at the high-pitched scream of a cannonball whistling overhead. Seconds later, an explosion shook the entire library. Twilight grabbed the book with her horn and dashed through the war-torn streets of Chevalia’s capital city, Petit Galop Beaucoup, toward home.

“Spike!” she called, running up the stairs.

“Draw me like one of your Ponyville fillies,” a sultry female voice said. Twilight slowed down to a trot and peeked through the door.

A mare lay stretched over the sofa, propped up on one side, her cheek resting lazily on her hoof. Across from her Spike the baby dragon, Ponyville’s first ambassador, sketched her onto a canvas.

“Spike!”

The mare and Spike both jumped.

“L 'amitié!“ the mare shrieked, drawing her hooves across her flank.

“Twilight, I am very busy.” Spike swished his tail impatiently.

“Spike, I need you to take a note to King Louétalon. Write to him saying that the Princess Luna is due to return on the day of the summer solstice!”

Spike scrabbled for a quill and parchment. “Are you sure about this?”

“Princess Luna’s return is our chance to end Tyrant Queen Celestia’s reign. She will troll and molest the population no longer.”

“Chevalia has lost too many wars with Canterlot,” Spike said heavily. “As we are losing this one. Tyrant Queen Celestia’s rainbows-and-sunshine magic is too powerful.”

Twilight tossed her purple mane. “That’s why we’re going to Ponyville. We’ll find the Elements of Government and use them to defeat the Tyrant Queen!”

---

A cry rose throughout Ponyville:

“General Shining Armor surrendered to General Rainbow Dash at Haytown! Ponyville is free!”

The Mane Six, triumphant leaders of the revolution that had broken the power of the Tyrant Queen Celestia, congressed in the State Barn to discuss Ponyville’s future.

“Omigosh, omigosh, I can’t believe we really beat Queen Celestia!” squealed Pinkie Pie, primary shareholder of the Sugarcube Corner, the world’s largest pastry shop and first limited liability corporation, bouncing up and down. “Now we can pass those food quality standards she wouldn’t let us have!”

“I did it,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “I took up arms in defense of my homeland, though it pained me to rebel against the very queen whose armies I once commanded, and after years of running and painful defeats, I finally tricked General Shining Armor and forced him to surrender.” She spread her wings, revealing a saber tucked against her side. “I accepted his sword, naturally. It was an honorable affair.”

“You won with an army that was funded by me, sweetie,” Applejack said. Her southern twang stood out at the circle of distinguished ponies. “All the money I got from selling apples and apple products made at the Apple Family Plantation went to paying for your swords, armor and spare horns. I’m in a lot of debt because of this revolution, and y’all had better know what to do about that!”

“Um,” Fluttershy said.

“Girls, it doesn’t matter who gets credit,” Rarity laughed nervously. “What matters is that we did this together as citizens of Ponyville.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Says the Tory.”

“I thought staying loyal to the Queen was best for Ponyville,” Rarity protested.

Pinkie Pie frowned. Critical thought was called for. “How could remaining part of Queen Celestia’s empire be a good thing? I mean, duh.”

“At least the Queen is opposed to slavery, unlike some ponies,” Rarity said, pointing an accusing hoof at Applejack.

“The only pony who gets to violate the rights of my property is me,” Applejack said.

“So long as no one forgets that it was my victory,” Rainbow Dash said, “I don’t mind saying it was Ponyville’s victory.”

Twilight Sparkle stamped her hoof “Girls, Ponyville didn’t win this war. My homeland Chevalia battled with Queen Celestia around the world. Even the barbaric Pferdians did more than the citizens of this backwater to bring down the Tyrant Queen. The battle for Ponyville was only a distraction, and without the aid of Chevalia and Pferd you would all still be subjects of the Rainbow Sun Empire.”

“Of course, Marquis Twilight de la Sparklette,” Rarity said, fluttering her long eyelashes. “And may I say how truly wonderful it has been to enjoy the company of a cultured Chevalian—”

“So Ponyville did it all singlehandedly?” Rainbow Dash asked, digging the tip of her hoof around inside her ear.

“That’s what I heard,” Applejack said.

“I wafn’t efen lifuning,” Pinkie Pie said around a mouthful of cake.

“Um,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight facehoofed. “Fine, whatever. Now that you’re free, you girls need to come up with a new government for Ponyville. Who’ll lead?”

“Ooh! Ooh! I want to be in charge!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Uh, that’s nice,” Twilight said. “Any other suggestions?”

Rainbow Dash yawned, stretching her wing to reveal the glint of steel. “How about someone who proved their worth in battle?”

“I don’t care what pony ends up in charge of this here land so long as she gets my money back,” Applejack said sourly. “And she better keep her hoofs off my sla—uh, differently compensated workers.”

“Um,” Fluttershy said.

“We should have a new Queen,” Rarity gasped, eyes wide. “One even more regal than Queen Celestia. We could call her Her Most Royal and Supreme Highness—“

“Who even invited her?” Rainbow Dash said.

“Girls, there’s more to government than leadership,” Twilight said, trying to stay calm. “Even Queen Celestia is bound by rules now that Princess Luna has reinstated Parliament. Where should the government’s power stop?

“We should make a list of all the things we don’t want the ruler to do,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Uh, no way!” Pinkie Pie said, hopping agitatedly. “They’ll say they can do anything not on the list!”

“Maybe it would be easier to figure out the little details if we had a big picture in mind,” Twilight suggested. “What kind of a nation should Ponyville become?”

“Farms,” Applejack and Rarity said.

“Big cities,” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie said.

“Um,” Fluttershy said.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at Rarity. “Tories don’t count.”

“Um,” Fluttershy said.

Applejack glared at Pinkie Pie. “You just want more places to stick your Sugarcube Corners.”

“I’m not sure I want to be on the same side as a slave owner,” Rarity sniffed.

“Differently compensated!”

“Oh yeah? Well—“

“WE COULD VOTE!” Fluttershy shouted. “Ponies! What’s the most important thing?”

The assembled ponies mumbled and looked away.

“I said, what’s the most important thing?” Fluttershy demanded.

“Friendship,” they chorused.

“Nothing is more important than friendship! Sometimes ponies have to do things together where they disagree and there’s no market because transaction costs, which—“

“Which isn’t a real explanation,” the ponies said tiredly.

“Right! So how do you all stay friends? You vote! That way most people get what they want, and the people who don’t can win the next vote.”

“Well—” Kennetha Arrowhorse began.

“Shut up, Kennetha.”

“But how do we decide which things get voted on?” Applejack asked. “And how the voting works? We’ll never agree.”

Twilight lifted her head proudly. “We’ll use…public choice theory!”

“Public choice theory?” Pinkie Pie sneered. “Isn’t that the ‘theory’ that says politicians are jerkfaces?”

“Merely bad advertising, Pinkie. Public choice theory analyzes a government’s properties by reference to the system of exchange, competition, and entrepreneurship that exists within a government just like a market economy.”

“Here she goes,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“People wish their government would stick to defined rules, but it’s impossible to design a perfect decision rule—thanks, Kennetha, for mentioning that, and do shut up. When politicians trade votes, collude with industry officials, and generally behave in opposition to the majority, it’s not because they’re jerkfaces. Those behaviors reflect real demands for the provision of government funds and power for things that can’t be planned out ahead of time.”

“I get it,” Applejack said. “We design a set of rules for the nation to be generally free and prosperous while also leaving us all kinds of wiggle room to pass tariffs—”

“And standards!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“—that Queen Celestia wouldn’t permit even though they’re definitely for Ponyville’s good.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s the true essence of constitutional liberty: static enough to be predictable and wise, dynamic enough to respond to short-term needs. It’s the ability to bring the government’s attention to one’s own problems that allows a government of force to be voluntary. It’s a calculus of consent, if you will, coordination through self-interest.”

“Listen up, girls!” Twilight said. “Tonight the first night in a thousand years falls. It’s a new age of liberty, peace, and a good night’s sleep. This grand experiment will bring unanticipated dangers, but I know that with the Elements of Government gathered here, we can brave them all. Rainbow Dash, who defeated Shining Armor, represents…Leadership!

“Pinkie Pie, primary shareholder of Sugarcube Corner, represents...Innovation!

“Applejack, who funded the war out of her own pocket, represents…Public-Spiritedness!

“Rarity, who did what she thought was right, represents…Principle!”

“Fluttershy, who taught us about voting, represents...Democracy!”

“And when you put those elements together, you create the element of…Government!”

Inside the State Barn, a white light shined. As the first night fell, the ponies remained awake, writing.

We the ponies….