“Nopony else?” Twilight frowns as she looks over the assembled ponies. “Well, if you think of something later, we’ll be more than happy to answer any questions.”

A few moments pass while the various factions confer among themselves. Two of the griffons stand up and walk out, leaving Delegate Gruff alone and scowling at the ponies. An uneasy silence spreads through the auditorium, glances trading back and forth as if to prompt the others. It is broken when Prince Rutherford stirs.

The lumbering giant, fully clad in traditional Yakyakistan ceremonial fabrics, shakes the floor as he stomps to the stage. It takes him quite some time at his unhurried pace, everycreature speculating what the leader of the traditionally xenophobic Yaks will ask. He saunters forward, heedless of the lavender alicorn standing on his stage. Twilight squawks in alarm and backpedals rather than get trampled by the gargantuan.

“Yak speak!” he booms with a self-assured nod. He acknowledges only Princess Celestia and, to Twilight’s surprise, Chrysalis, before he focuses mostly on his two compatriots.

“Of course,” Twilight yields. She waits patiently, especially given how inconsiderate he was.

Silence stretches, but the Prince doesn’t seem to be mulling over what he is about to say. After an uncomfortably long time he turns, fixing Twilight with a single unblinking eye.

“Sorry!” Twilight quickly apologizes, hastily flying to the rest of her herd. The yak grumbles, but turns back to the audience.

“Yak hear aspiration of changeling,” Prince Rutherford starts, offering the aforementioned Architect a respectful nod. It shakes his long mane, sending the braided ends jiggling back and forth. “Glorious aspirations they are! Who impugn such a goal?” He has to tilt his head up so everycreature can see his glaring eyes from under his ceremonial hat. “Yak certainly not! Though changeling have to be happy with second, because Yak best!”

He stomps, just once, sending a shockwave through the auditorium. While a few had giggled at his brash assertion any noise ceases as the reverberations settle. Chrysalis wears a bemused smirk, fully intent on contesting his assertion through the only way that matters - her actions.

“But changeling have good point about choice! Not Yak good. But close! Every Yak make choice about what to do with life.” Prince Rutherford holds up his right hoof and looks at it, then repeats the maneuver on his left side for each choice. “Yak look for wood for fire? Or Yak sit. Yak look for hay to sleep? Or Yak sit. Yak look for log for Yickslurbertfest? Or Yak sit.”

He shrugs, pacing around the stage and sending minor tremors with every step. His head pauses as he fixes every creature with a long, contemptuous stare, piercing even through his thick mane. Twilight scribbles furiously, transcribing his speech and adding notes about names she doesn’t recognize. He ends with a loud snort.

“It easy to sit. But does sit warm hoof on cold night? No. Does sit make nice spot for koe-shun with mate? No. Does sit honor Yak custom with smashing? No. Sit easy. Some time we need sit. But if sit all Yak do, then Yak die.” He pauses on the point. “So Yak must think of future. And future with no Yak no future at all.”

Prince Rutherford motions with a wide sweep of his leg, indicating all the gathered creatures.

“Yak value future. Pony value future. Griffon value future. Dragon value future. How Yak know? Because raise family hard! Foal hard. Chick hard. Egg hard. Think find wood hard? Hah! Try dig out hut from Yickslurbertfest snow drift! Very important to teach custom to baby Yak. Not braid Yak hair until she know when smash and when not smash. Yak not barbarian! Hard to teach, easy to sit! But if all sit, then no future. All value future. How know? Just ask question. Did Doug sit?”

Chuckles bubble up from the room. Doug nods along, chagrinned; he mostly certainly had not been sitting these past months. Celestia and Luna squeeze closer on each side while Twilight wriggles her rump between his legs. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash nuzzle him from behind, each trying to nestle as close as they can.

“So Yak must look for wood, for hay, for log. Nocreature give Yak help, and Yak need nocreature help! So Yak look! Most time, Yak find. No danger. So Yak take. Some time, Yak find, but also find danger.” Prince Rutherford peers intently, as if evaluating some object off in the distance. “Maybe wolf, maybe frozen river. Yak must think, and Yak best at think! Yak think of self. Yak think of family. Yak think of future. Yak carefully weigh chance of hurt, chance of death.” He squats down to motion with both legs as if he was judging a set of scales. “Some time chance too high. Better Yak sit.” He tosses the imaginary scales away and stands up. “But if Yak sit? Family cold. If Yak sit? No new daughter. If Yak sit? Holiday ruined and family shamed. Sit too many time, no future. And future with no Yak no future at all.”

He pauses again, looking over the crowd. “So some time, Yak must take risk. Yak learn what risk to take, or what risk to not take. Sometime learn from own mistake, sometime learn from… fallen Yak.”

His head drops down, right hoof coming to his bearded chest, the other two yaks mirroring his contrite and respectful stance.

Prince Rutherford stands, keeping his gaze roaming around the crowd but always returning to Celestia. “But what if one Yak make choice for all Yak? All Yak live, or all Yak die?”

His voice shifts to a deeper, more reverent tone as he recounts the story. “In ancient time, great Yak Prince Ulysses fight great battle. But battle hard! There chance no Yak survive. And future with no Yak no future at all. So wise Prince Ulysses must think. Is future with Yak more important than Yak proving Yak best? What chance Yak lose? Flip of bit? Hah! Yak stronger than flip of bit! Maybe four flip of bit in row? Ten?”

He shrugs, daring anycreature to counter him. “Wise Prince look at odds. He must think. He think of self, but not just of self. He think of family, but not just mate and daughter. He must think of future family. One chance in sixteen not likely. How much less one chance in thousand! But compare to life of all Yak, for all time?”

He shakes his head, forlornly looking over the crowd.

“Yak pride not worth chance. Better to take peace, take survival of all Yak, over pride. Future with no Yak no future at all. So wise Prince Ulysses make bargain with Lord Scintilla. Forge peace with volcano and ensure Yak future. Yak make ancestral home high in mountain. Yak live good life. Best life! Not easy life. Yak life. Was bargain good bargain?”

He changes stride, focusing on Celestia and Twilight. “Some ask, why talk of Yak past and Yak future? What choice could Yak make that bother dragon, that bother griffon? Impossible. Yak not care what dragon or griffon do. But Princess do make choice that affect all.”

His hoof points at the belly Tempest Shadow was so jealous of earlier. “We hear from magic pony about alicorn power. And alicorn powerful! No Yak deny great Celestia most powerful! Her command move sun through sky! What Yak match claim?” He shrugs, again daring any to counter his assertions. “She say power not unique, but no other creature move sun through sky during her thousand year reign. Maybe Discord. But who trust trickster?”

His voice shifts again, now scoffing and almost scornful. “We hear story about Tirek Incident. How all pony, including Princess pony, about to lose magic. We hear how she give up power to move sun. But! Only to other alicorn!” He shakes his beard to expose his toothy frown. “We hear tale, how ancient unicorn must give up magic to move sun through sky. Five, twice each day! Maybe better now. But even so! Two thousand, three thousand unicorn a year. Would be tragic loss. But doable. If need be, unicorn keep life going, and all would praise and celebrate their name!”

Prince Rutherford struts back and forth with exaggerated nods, cajoling the non-ponies to do the same. The Storm King is first with a curt rejoinder, the Saddle Arabians right behind. The griffons groan but follow suit, the minotaur with a loud snort and minute shift of his head. The dragons, however, keep their arms crossed across their chest, refusing to join.

“Why dragon no celebrate?!” Prince Rutherford demands, frothing at the mouth. “Pony sacrifice for all!”

“Duh,” Ember states, drawing an infuriated snort from the yak. “You know where dragons live? Caves. You know what dragons eat? Gems. You wanna guess what those two things don’t need? I’ll give you three guesses.” She smirks at his building rage. “Sun. Oops, now you won’t get it wrong twice. Sorry.”

“Dragon take that back!” Prince Rutherford shouts, stomping back and forth. His two compatriots join in, threatening to destroy everything around them. “Or Yak declare war! Raagh!”

“Now, let’s not be too hasty,” Twilight jumps in as she flies between the two, well, warring factions. “Nopony, I mean, nocreature is declaring war. Okay?”

“Aww, you got your little pony princess to protect you?” Ember teases, fluttering her eyes like she is looking at a baby. “That’s so sweet!”

“What?!” Prince Rutherford shouts in disbelief. “Pony princess protecting dragons from Yaks! Yak need nopony help!” He spins to glare at Twilight, Ember joining him. “Pony stay out of dragon and Yak business!”

“Yeah!” Ember agrees, nodding along.

“Well,” Doug quips as Twilight drops back down into his lap, “I guess you succeeded at uniting them. Good job?”

“Urgh,” Twilight moans, covering her face with her hooves, as Ember and Prince Rutherford go back to glaring at each other, but a lot of their animosity for each other has been neatly shifted toward Twilight.

“Besides,” Ember states categorically, “dragons already beat the Yaks in a war. And nothing’s changed except the dragons are bigger.”

“What?!” Prince Rutherford roars. “Impossible!”

“Dude, you just recounted the history of it.” Ember frowns at his uncomprehending look. “You know? That Lord Scintilla your Prince U-lose fought? That was a Dragon Lord, not some stupid volcano.”

Prince Rutherford stares at Ember for a moment before his head raises to the ceiling, a hoof scratching at his long beard as he tries to recall just what exactly was on their ancient parchments.

“Prince U-lose,” Pinkie Pie snorts, elbowing Doug. “That’s what you should name your first colt with one of the Princesses.”

“I was thinking Garr,” Doug counters.

“Garr?” Pinkie Pie frowns, trying to place the name and failing.

“Estwo,” Doug adds. “He needs to be red and black, so it’ll probably be with Luna.”

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve heard today,” Chrysalis rebuts, “and we’ve had to listen to Garble.” She looks around, but the red dragon slipped out at some point.

Doug lets loose an exaggerated pout. He’d cross his arms except he might have a riot from the nervous mares in front of him, his fingers staying right where they are: getting passed from ear to ear.

Prince Rutherford finally comes back down with a rare contrite expression. “Dragon right. Yak record of event… open to interpretation. Lord Scintilla make peace with Yak, and that make dragon only honorary Yak for all time!”

“Great,” Ember deadpans. “Dragons and Yaks get to be friends again!” She gags, squatting down in her spot. “Now, what were you blathering on about? Something about how the alicorns are going to destroy everything?”

“Wait, we are?” Cadance interrupts, huffing at Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. She’s a little jealous at the ear scratches they keep getting, and her Shiny isn’t as well-equipped. Even if he is dutifully nuzzling her. “How come I’m not invited to your meetings? Is it because you have a quorum without me?”

“No,” Shining Armor counters from Cadance’s side. “It’s because they perform their acts of congress during those meetings.” He winks at his sister, who looks ready to rebut his assertion. “Don’t even try it, sis. I’ve smelled your Equestrian Bar magazines; I know how you get when procedures are being followed.”

“Yak allow interruption for long enough!” Prince Rutherford booms. “Yak keep going!”

Twilight fumbles over her words, ending up grumbling about how that’s totally not why their meetings have Doug and not Spike to read the minutes and take notes.

“Prince Rutherford feel baby Yak kick. And baby Yak not strong like adult Yak! But Prince Rutherford also hear of baby unicorn. How baby unicorn lift toy, lift manger, lift sire. Some adult unicorn struggle to lift pony! And alicorn foal strong. How Yak know? Because dam strong! Strong dam, strong foal! Maybe not thousand time strong. Maybe three time strong, maybe eight, maybe eleven. But if alicorn foal strong like dam, pony easy to lift. But can teach foal what lift and what not lift? Can teach while foal in belly?”

Prince Rutherford solemnly shakes his head, answering his question.

“But lift not only thing unicorn foal do. Some blast magic. Some unicorn blast go through armor. Celestial blast go through mountain. What happen when alicorn foal blast go through dam? We hope alicorn survive. Can alicorn move sun while hurt? Can unicorn steal sun while alicorn hurt?

Twilight’s eyes widen, the other mares almost in a panic. What sort of discharges did a unicorn foal have while still in the womb? She didn’t come across any recorded cases of death or even serious injury. But they aren’t dealing with unicorn foals here; granted, three of the four are hybrids, but what of Cadance’s foal?

“We stand on precipice,” Prince Rutherford states solemnly. “On edge of cliff. Why take step closer to edge?” He spins around, pacing the other way. “Chance fall. Chance not fall. Why make fall chance bigger? But not just Yak on edge, but all creature.”

Princess Celestia straightens her back and neck, staring ahead. She sets her face to a mask of calm, hiding the turmoil within, for she knows where they are heading.

“Yak concede,” Prince Rutherford says with a conciliatory wave at Celestia, “alicorn foal special. How special?” He pauses as if to consider. “One thousand pony special? Maybe. If Princess had to make choice, would she allow one thousand pony to die to save alicorn foal?”

Princess Celestia wants to shake her head no, that she wouldn’t sacrifice that many ponies to keep her foal alive. But she cannot, for that would be a lie; she deliberately took that risk when her Sister returned to her side, even if the Celestial regalia might have changed color.

“How many generation of pony to come?” Prince Rutherford’s gaze wanders from creature to creature. The others are sitting up straight as well, determination and solidarity quite evident in their hard faces. “How many Yak? Griffon? Dragon? One thousand generation? Ten thousand? What one pony, a thousand pony, compared to thousand generation of creature?”

“We wouldn’t…” Twilight starts before trailing off, the yak ignoring her as he walks off the stage. Her breath catches in her throat as she considers the ramifications of his statement. She steals a glance at her mentor and herdmate, unable to pierce the stoic exterior.

“Okay, I’m confused,” Rainbow Dash says, the rest of the Elements sharing her uncertainty. She looks around the room, noting the hard stares. One eye scrunches up as she tries to distill the yak’s meandering speech. “You think the alicorn foals are some sort of, um, existential threat? I’m sorry, but I don’t see that.”

“You don’t?” Tempest Shadow adds in from the side, her grin far too wide. She strides forward to better address the Equestrians. “Then let me sum his argument up. What if something happens to Celestia’s foal?” She shrugs, but her face never loses her certainty. “Who can say what Harmony has planned? For she denied Celestia her earlier foals, as tragic as that was.” She taps at her broken horn. “I know what a unicorn can do, even at an early age. At what age does your foal start kicking? Start testing their magic? Could she injure herself, kill herself, unsure of her own strength?” She shakes her head, allowing a brief moment of sympathy for the alicorns. “It could be nocreature’s fault. But it could happen.”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash says, unsure. She crosses her forelegs in front of her. “That would be tragic, yes.”

“If, Celestia forbid, something were to happen?” Tempest Shadow shifts from addressing Rainbow Dash to Celestia. “How likely are you to decide that because your foal was again denied, this time the closest that you’ve ever gotten, that the entire world should bathe in flame? Or that, because your foal was denied, that the world should likewise be denied their sun? For who could wrest the sun from your grasp, if you did not wish it so?”

“It, um,” Rainbow Dash stammers, unsuredly glancing at the Solar Diarch. Doug, obviously agitated, clenches his arm around her neck, looking to be reassuring himself more than Celestia. “Discord?”

“I’d take my chances surviving the flame,” Tempest Shadow states uncategorically, her gaze never leaving the alicorn.

Princess Celestia hangs her head. “I cannot deny the possibility.”

At her side, Luna flinches, appalled at the cowering. Doug tightens his fists, digging deep into the two alicorn’s fur. He whispers, yet loud enough for all to hear, “You cannot, just, give in to this! Think about what you are doing!”

“I am,” Celestia evenly replies, sighing heavily. “But it is not just her life I am considering.”

“Then the choice is clear,” Tempest Shadow says, drawing approving, if reluctant, nods from those behind her. “Or are you above the law? For if any of us,” she motions to the other creatures, “were attempting something that had even miniscule odds of destroying the world? Not just a country, or even a species. But the entire world. Would you allow it?” She shakes her head. “No, as you shouldn’t. And the rest of the world would band together to stop the perpetrators, no matter their species or station.”

“I have no intentions of performing any actions that might threaten the world,” Celestia states, still subserviently staring at the floor. Luna’s barely restrained growl does not go unnoticed. Twilight glances back, full of worry and doubt. Her eyes widen as she spots Doug smoldering.

“Just as you had no intention of roasting Rising Heights,” Tempest Shadow counters, nearly at a shout. “If we decide the risk is too much, that the future of not just Equestria but all of Equus is not worth gambling over the life of one foal then what will you do? When our armies march to enforce the will of the Council, how many ponies’ lives will you spend to ensure the survival of your own? How many griffons, dragons, yaks, or stormers must fall to equal the life of one foal?”

“I cannot say,” Celestia concedes, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Then I will,” Doug roars as he stands, wishing he had his spear so he could raise it as a challenge.

“Doug,” Luna hisses, her warning ignored.

“You think sacrificing one foal will ensure your survival?” Doug laughs, harsh and forceful. “And how would you even do it? Convince her to abort her own foal? What you are proposing is heinous beyond belief! And, even worse, it is even more likely to bring about that mass destruction you all are so worried about!” He points, menacing, at Tempest Shadow. “So bring your armies, your allies, your assassins! If you think we won’t burn the world? Then you are wrong.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 39 - The Red Dream, Part Four Estimated time remaining: 25 Hours, 50 Minutes