The Buckball Match [Free Stalliongrad, Bigpipstan only]

[Free Stalliongrad]

Stalliongrad
Office of the General Secretary, Palace of the Soviets

---

Criticism, criticism and more criticism.
General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova's desk was literally swamped with letters from Party officials, members of the Supreme Soviet against her, and even some indignant citizens. Many had appealed to her reminding her of the cause of the Revolution and its glory and politely asked to back down on that decision. Others, on the contrary, asked it by adding a few... not very nice words to her person.
But whether they liked it or not, her comrades would have to get over it. The vote in the Supreme Soviet was in favor of her proposal (by a whisker) and, according to the principles of democratic centralism, the others would have had to comply with the decision of the majority.
Besides, it was a Buckball Match they were talking about, damn it! A simple friendly match with another nation's team!
The ponies of Stalliongrad deserved a weekend to relax and unwind a little after the last few weeks of hard work and forget for a while the international crises that were developing around the globe. And what could be better than healthy sport?
But who could they challenge? Equestria? The griffons? The Changelings?
The only available nation was Bigpipstan, a country that Stalliongrad had recently opened relations with. And as a country they were also not very far from Stalliongrad ideologically, although they did not exactly follow the Marksist philosophy.
The real problem, which also caused so much sensation, was that their Leader is an emperor... and an Alicorn.

---

"Why should I agree to have a single dirty hoof of a Monarch put on Stalliongradian soil?" the People's Commissar of Defense Sinister Serov thundered at the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars held a week earlier. "And, what's more, we're talking about an alicorn! Why don't you invite Princess Celestia to fuck us too, General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova?"
“Albeit rudely, Comrade Sinister Serov made the point.” said Heavy Storm, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs. "We also recently celebrated the triumph of State Atheism over the deification of the Alicorns. Why should we now allow them to come here? And why can't we have an internal Buckball tournament? We already have teams in every district."
All eyes of Commissars were now on General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova awaiting her response. She took a deep breath before replying "Comrades, as you are talking about, it appears that I am acting against the principles of Stalliongrad, instead I am acting in its best interests."
Then she set her two-tone eyes on Sinister Serov and Heavy Storm and smiled her best smile: "Comrades Serov and Heavy Storm, don't think that I want to bow to a foreign monarch. He will be given all the respect as a Chief of foreign state, but, as a guest, he and all his visiting citizens will have to abide by the laws of Stalliongrad. And what characterizes Stalliongrad the most? The fact that we are all equal, no pony is superior to the other and there are no castes that divide us.
If the emperor wants to stay with us he will not see thrones, jewels or any kind of luxury. Neither at the Steel Stallion Stadium nor at the dacha that will host him until the end of the event. This will give even more impetus and patriotism to our citizens to see an Emperor bow to our laws and show the moral superiority of our nation. And think what will happen when our Buckball team wins the game. Revolutionary sentiment will be skyrocketing!"
"What if we lose?" Sinister Serov asked with a touch of malice.
"We will not lose, but even if it happens, we will demonstrate proletarian sportsmanship." said the General Secretary.
"Also," added Vasiliy Pantsushenko as he adjusted his glasses with the tip of his hoof, "the entry of foreign money could slightly ease the tax burden of our citizens, which we will never achieve with simple games of Buckball between Stalliongradian teams."
The answers seemed to satisfy most of the Commissiaries. Sinister Serov said nothing more and remained silent for the rest of the meeting, looking at a distant point in the room.

The question was then brought to the Supreme Soviet and and even here there were quarrels and discontent. It's only thanks to her ally, Vasiliy Pantsushenko, and his friends in the industrial fields, that the proposal was able to pass. 136 votes in favor against 104 against and 10 abstentions.
With the approval of the majority of the Supreme Soviet, all that remained was to contact the Bigpipstanian ambassador.
The Honorable Lemón the Fox had been very willing to liaise between Stalliongrad and Bigpipstan in organizing the event. A thousand Bigpipstanians would come to visit the country. It was also discovered that the Bigpipstanians did not use money, as it was completely abolished. But the ambassador had assured that some gold coins from the pre-imperial era remained and that they would be distributed among the chosen visitors.
With these last problems aside, all that remained was to make the news public and begin preparing Stalliongrad to welcome the guests.

[Bigpipstan]

Emperor Bigpip was in his castle. He sat on stool reading letters about the upcoming buckball match, hosted in Stalliongrad. Everything seemed to be prepared; they hed ships for transporting a thousand ponies to Stalliongrad, escorted by three destroyers. The journey to Stalliongrad was scheduled for tomorrow noon.
After a comfortable sleep he went along with his morning rountine and flew to the port where the ships should be leaving in two hours. Shortly after arriving, he is approached by his deughter Coco Puff.
"Oh there you are father! We have everypony here ready to depart. The ships are sheduled to depart in a hour. "
"Excelent, i will go aboard then."
"You said that i could not go with you, so i wish you luck on your mission!"
"I would not call it a 'mission', it's just a international event that we are going to be attending. Bye for the time being.
"Bigpip went aboard one of the ships. The ships started to sail exactly as scheduled. They sailed from Bigpipstan and along coast of Equestria. Coast of Stalliongrad was now visible and the ships were about to dock in Stalliongrad.

---

The admiral of the ships was worried, if the ships would be capable of safely passing though the Severyana river. Emperor Bigpip insisted that they would sail directly to the capital instead of stoping in a sea port. The admiral ordered the ships to sail through the Severyana river. The ships are passing through the Severyana river, giving those aboard a nice view of Stalliongrad as they sailed. Despite inicial worries, the river was wide and deep enough for the ships to sail safely and anchor at the capital.
"While the air here feel quite poluted, this place doesn't look bad from what i have seen." commented one pegasus
"On a more important note, we are about to disembark, so be careful to not make a bad first impression." said Bigpip to the ponies who were gathering to leave the ship. "While this is not a diplomatic trip, try to not embarass our empire and follow the local customs." Bigpip continued. "The others might have allready left their ships so let's follow them, i will go first." Bigpip disembarked, with the rest of the ponies following him.

[Free Stalliongrad]

Stalliongrad
Office of the General Secretary, Palace of the Soviets

---

Finally the long awaited day had arrived.
General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova had taken a few minutes off from the paperwork on her desk and leaned out the window to get some fresh air. From the top of the Palace of the Soviets, where her office was located, she could admire the entire city: the tenements, which made up a large part of the urban landscape, with their completely square and massed facades, like enormous bricks forming a single body; the imposing government buildings, where the minds of the Stalliongradian Communist Party resided who guided and coordinated the structures of the state like a great mind; the great avenues and squares that, like great arteries, carried the traffic of public transport full of ponies that moved up and down according to their needs, then completed with monuments and red banners bearing the most important faces of the revolution; last but not least, there were the large factories that lined the horizon of Stalliongrad, emitting columns of smoke from their chimneys, giving goods and jobs to the citizens of the nation.
Altidiya could also see the stadium that would host the long-awaited event tomorrow. Built in the pre-revolutionary era, it was perhaps the only shred of entertainment that the capitalist system had bestowed on the citizens of Severnaya. With a capacity of 2000 ponies, it often hosted sporting and celebratory events of various kinds, filling the pockets of greedy business ponies. Perhaps once it even hosted the Equestria Games.
Now, however, the Stadium was requisitioned by the Proletarian State and dedicated by the Supreme Soviet to the Father of the Revolution, Steel Stallion. No more Busniess Ponies enriching themselves at the expense of the People. Great fun at a reduced price for everypony.
And now, shortly thereafter, he would host a friendly match of Buck Ball with a nation headed by an emperor.
Breathing the cold morning air, Altidiya Revoltsova thought back to what she had said a week earlier to convince the People's Commissars and the Supreme Soviet to authorize the event. She wasn't really going to humiliate the Bigpipstians and their ruler.
In fact, to tell the truth, she wanted to know more. From what little she had been able to hear, Bigpipstan's economy was fully regulated and planned, even managing to abolish money. But was it the result of a procedure that Caramel Marks had defined historical and natural or the simple will of a sovereign?
And like was this Emperor Bigpip? Would he gladly accept the restrictions Stalliongrad would place on him? Or would he have had a tantrum in the absence of luxury goods, such as those Eastern rulers who seem to feel naked unless they display gilded trinkets and thick fur robes?
Well, as far as she was concerned, she would behave as a representative of a proudly Communist nation, where social classes had been abolished and equality was the law. She had no doubt about this. She would be respectful but she wouldn't bow or whatever. She would have treated Emperor Bigpip as her similar to her, crown or not, alicorn or not.
She just hoped the Emperor would accept these small restrictions without fuss. Otherwise, she would have had to add another enemy to Stalliongrad's blacklist. At least that would have made Stalliongrad's more nationalist fringes happy...
A hoof knocked on the door and interrupted her thoughts.
Angelina Fluffy Feathers, a young pegasus who acted as her secretary, entered the room carrying papers pinched between her paw and chest.
"Comrade General Secretary, the River Port Authority has just given me confirmation that the Bigpipstian ships are now on the Severyana River, as they have been told. They will be here in a few hours."
"And the destroyers who escorted the ships?"
"They remained in international waters".
"As agreed" Otherwise they would have frightened those trigger-happy goats of the Red Army...
General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova closed the window, adjusted the inseparable flat cap, typical of the workers, and the equally inseparable dark khaki jacket. "Call every high party member available, the People's Commissars and some Red Army generals. We will give the Bigpipstians a warm welcome. As good comrades."

---

Stalliongrad
Severyana River Port

The river port of Stalliongrad was a predominantly commercial port, a bit far from the city. Perhaps not the most suitable for welcoming foreign visitors, but certainly necessary if you wanted to reach the capital as soon as possible without going through the winding provincial roads.
But be that as it may, the ponies responsible for preparing the welcome committee had done a great job of making that harbor presentable.
Banners and flags of the two nations covered every surface, hiding the "roughness" of the place, a small stage had been set up to host a band playing the hymns and finally a group of Young Pioneer Foals had been contacted who would donate a small bunch of flowers for each guest pony. The journalists of the main newspapers of the country, of course, were already ready to immortalize the event.
Altidiya Revoltsova was also surprised by the presence of the majority of the members of the Communist Party who had decided to participate despite the controversy of recent days.
The other members of the government were also present, except the People's Commissar of Defense Sinister Serov. Better this way, the General Secretary thought, she would have avoided embarrassing scenes and diplomatic troubles. She heaved a sigh of relief, at least curiosity had won over doubt for now.

It was noon when the first ships appeared at the port. The harbor ponies collaborated with the sailors of the ships to facilitate docking. When the gangway rested on the quay there was a profound silence made of nervousness and curiosity.
That silence was broken by whispers when the first passenger to get off was an alicorn.
General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova, to break all tension (her own and that of the ponies behind her), decided to go to meet him.

[Bigpipstan]

Emperor Bigpip steps out of the ship, wearing his signature purple robe with cyan stars and a ruby cut in a shape of a abstract heart. He looks around and sees a group of ponies ready to meet him, with one mare disconnecting from the group and walking towards him. They meet and Bigpip introduces himself.
"Good day, i am Emperor Bigpip of the Anocratic empire of Bigipstan, who do i have pleasure speaking to?" Bigpip asked Altidiya Revoltsova

[Free Stalliongrad]

Altidiya Revoltsova had never felt so nervous. With hundreds of eyes looking at her, she practically felt surrounded.
Behind her were the ponies of her Party, who were scrutinizing her to see how she would react to the stranger. Before her, ponies waiting for how a foreigner would treat their emperor.
Trying to muster more courage, she thought, "Respect, but never bow down." It was time to find out what type this Bigpip was.
"I am Altidiya Revoltsova, General Secretary of the Stalliongrad Communist Party. On behalf of all Stalliongrad and the Party that leads it, I welcome you to all your people who have come to visit our country".

That said, she smiled and held out a hoof for a handshake.

[Bigpipstan]

Bigpip shook her hoof and smiled. "I imagine that you have some questions that you want to ask me, if so, than i think i can answer them. Otherwise i suppose we can move on with preparing for our buckball match." Bigpip said.
Most ponies have left the ships and have recieved flowers form the pioneer foals.

[Free Stalliongrad]

"I think there is still time to think about the Buckball Match tomorrow. I sincerely hope that your team has trained well. We Stalliongradians love challenges. If you want, as a guest, we can take a tour of the city and show you its most important points. After that, we can reach my office to be able to speak privately." said General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova, gesturing with a quick gesture of her head to the reporters behind her who had begun taking photographs in blinding continuous flashes.
Then the mare turned to look at the ponies who were disembarking from the ships onto the quay where the wonderful Pioneer foals, with their white uniforms and red bow tied around their necks, were giving the bunches of flowers with a huge smile.
She returned to look at the emperor "As for the other guests, there are buses outside the port that you have rented. They will transport them to the hotels in the capital. After that your citizens will be able to visit it without problems. But they will have to return by 11 pm, since there is a curfew. Nothing to worry about, but it is an anti-changelings measure that we cannot loosen, even on this special occasion.
"Instead, we have prepared a dacha for you in a quiet part of the city. They are one of the few private buildings in Stalliongrad and are very often reserved for prominent Communist Party members or foreign Heads of State. Of course we will allow you to keep personal guards, but they must not carry too much... "flashy" weapons.
Our agents will keep an eye on you from afar during these two nights in which you will stop with us. You don't have to worry about your safety. "

[Bigpipstan]

"My emperor!" calls out a bat pony dressed in a white fur outfit with a unicorn behind with the same outfit behind him. "There you are! we were suppose to be with you but since we were on a different ship we could not get to you right away, i am sorry."
"There is no need to apologize Night Piercer. I am fine, i was just going to leave with the head of state of this country." Bigpip said.
The bat pony was carrying a steel gladius around his neck and the unicorn was carrying a Fiery rose round his neck.
"General secretary, you said that guards aren't suppose to have 'flashy' weapons. I hope a Fiery rose hope allowed, it's a standard issue automatic firearm. I understand if my guard will have to leave his firearm on the ship during his stay." Bigpip said

"For now you two will stay at the port, since i will not need you until night." Bigpip ordered the two guards
"Understood my emperor!" they said in unison
"Now, General secretary, you said you wanted to take me for ride around the city, correct?"

[Free Stalliongrad]

"Of course! If you follow me, there is a small airship waiting for us outside here, not far from the port. Don't worry, there will be only the airship's crew and a tour guide that I have personally chosen. There will be no guards".
Having said that, General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova stood alongside Emperor Bigpip and they began to walk at a slow pace towards the exit of the harbor, accompanied by the applause of the hooves of the other ponies and the hymns played by the orchestra.
The reporters were still taking their photographs and tried to stretch their microphones in the direction of the two heads of state, but they were kept at bay by a group of policestallions who formed a cordon of protection. To try not to make it seem too elitist, Altidiya Revoltsova turned to the reporters, showing a more polite tone: "Comrades journalists, let's try not to annoy our guests too much. I will personally answer your questions once I have shown the Emperor Bigpip our splendid capital ".
With the journalists momentarily appeased, the two leaders left the facility and headed for the small airship moored a few meters away. It was one of the most modern models, which had abandoned the old equestrian "boat" scheme and had opted for the closed cabin, with windows on the sides. The balloon was a dark red and was decorated on both sides with a giant light red star that contained the crossed horseshoe and hammer, symbols of the Stalliongradian Communist Party.
Its crew stood at attention, forming two rows on either side of the red carpet spread out on the ground that led to the gangway to board the airship. Closing the two rows were two ponies: an old unicorn stallion with a greyish coat wearing a double-breasted dark blue uniform and a low peaked cap, and a young mare with a fuchsia coat and light pink mane wearing only a collar with a tie.
As the two leaders approached, the two ponies also stood at attention, introducing themselves.
"Hi, I'm Sergey Pokoritel Oblakov" began the old unicorn "and I'm the captain of Polyarnaya Zvezda, Polar Star".
"And I am Novella Malenkaya Zvezdova" said the young pony "and I will be happy to guide and show the wonders of Stalliongrad to the Comrade Bigp...".
The young mare interrupted herself with no little embarrassment, not knowing by what title to call the host in front of her.
"Emperor Bigpip" corrected the General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova, trying to use a tone not too harsh with the young mare.
"Yes, I'm sorry," said Novella, looking down embarrassed.
"Before boarding the Polyarnaya Zvezda" Captain Sergey intervened to calm the situation, "our cooks on board are starting to prepare something to eat and drink during the voyage, do you have any particular requests? "he said addressing mainly to the Emperor Bigpip.

[Bigpipstan]

"They probably don't even know what a prismatic juice is and their is a good chance that they don't grow many vegetables and fruits that we have in our empire" Bigpip thought. "Nothing in particular, i think i will try your cook's speciality with a glass of water." Bigpip answered "Despite what some may say, i am content eating humble simple meals." Bigpip added.

[Free Stalliongrad]

"Very well, I will give your orders to the cooks now that we come aboard," having said this, Captain Sergey and Novella stepped aside.
"After you", said the captain, pointing to the gangway with his hoof. "No," interrupted General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova, in turn making the gesture with her hoof, "you are the captain of the ship, to you the honor of opening the way for us."

With a nod of assent, the captain and guide climbed onto the gangway, followed by the two leaders and then part of the crew of the Polyarnaya Zvezda, while the others raised their moorings to fly the vehicle.
The young guide led them into the passenger lounge, while the captain headed for the cockpit.
The passenger lounge was presented with a spacious room with glass walls that offered a wide view of the external panorama. Comfortable red sofas stood at the sides of the room with tables in the center. At regular intervals, long vertical banners with crossed horseshoe and hammer hung over the walls not occupied by windows. From time to time, a propaganda poster popped up here and there reassuring passengers about the safety of airship flying or how these flying machines were the future for navigating the skies. 'Goodbye chariots that enslave the pegasi!'
"Sit where you are most comfortable", Novella Malenkaya Zvezdova said with a broad smile, "we will leave in a few minutes!"

And they were up to their word, after a few minutes they could hear the noises coming from the engines, while the Polyarnaya Zvezda began its race towards the sky. The last ponies of the crew galloped to the gangway and jumped over to it. Once everyone was aboard, they withdrew the gangway and, with no weight holding it to the ground, the airship was finally able to begin to gain altitude.
Once the optimum height was reached, the captain spun the giant vehicle, pointing it towards Stalliongrad. With one tip of his hoof, he pressed a button on the control dial that activated the loudspeaker connected to the passenger lounge. "This is Captain Sergey Pokoritel Oblakov, I welcome you to the Polyarnaya Zvezda. The weather is optimal for a trip to the skies and in thirty minutes we will be above the city of Stalliongrad. Sit back and enjoy the journey."
Sitting more comfortably on the sofa, General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova turned to Emperor Bigpip. "So, Emperor Bigpip, have you ever been on an airship?"

[Bigpipstan]

"Yes i have, while i am a good flyer. Traveling across the empire can be exhausting, so i use airships to travel to distant locations, mainly my empire's colony of Fequm. Though airships aren't allways ideal for traveling, for this reason my empire has a complex system of railways connecting inland villages, towns as well as cities. Do ponies in your nation also mainly use trains to travel?" Bigpip said

[Free Stalliongrad]

"Well, our country relies heavily on public transport, but at the moment the railways connect Stalliongrad with the major cities. Smaller towns and villages have to be reached by buses. But there are also flights with hot air balloons and dirigibles like this one", said General Secretary Altidiya Revoltsova, pointing around him with a sweeping gesture of the hoof.

"And to say that in the pre-revolutionary era the ticket for such means of transport cost a mane and a hoof, so only rich ponies could afford it. But now that all means belong to the state and the state belongs to the workers, we have managed to lower the price by giving part of the cost to public spending, allowing more ponies to use these means" said the General Secretary with a touch of pride.
To tell the truth, most of the worker ponies preferred to use the much cheaper public transport such as trains and buses. With a rather high tax rate, not many ponies could afford the cost of an airship ticket except by making huge sacrifices.

The airships were used mostly by prominent figures of the Communist Party and by members of the Government, who, having a higher pay, could afford it and could move quickly from one part of the country to another.
This was another difference that the General Secretary wanted to eliminate but, at the moment, could not do so for major reasons. Certain "privileges" were a legacy from before Altidiya became General Secretary, when the Supreme Soviet ruled the country, and some Party members got used to them. Some ponies continued to disguise it with the excuse of "need" to travel fast, but it was clear as day that this was to seek some separation from the rest of the population.
And of this opinion were the "friends" of the People's Commissar of Industry Vasiliy Pantsushenko: ponies in command of the most powerful factories and industries in the country, together with a clique of very haughty intellectuals. Too bad that Vasiliy is currently her only ally in thwarting Sinister Serov's dangerous militarist authoritarianism. So Vasiliy's friends were her friends and she would have to close several eyes to stay at a compromise with him.
Thinking about all this made Altidiya very tired and she left a deep snort.

[Bigpipstan]

"Excuse me, are you tired? I understand if you need to get some rest. Speaking of rest, an interesting fact you may want to know about me is that, i have a mutation that makes me only need half of normal rest. It could be just a side effect of being an alicorn, though i don't think Equestria's royal sisters possess this trait." Bigpip told Altidiya
"I hope she won't won't ask me how i became an alicorn." Bigpip thought and shivered

[Free Stalliongrad]

"Uh-oh?" she said, recovering from her thoughts, "Oh, forgive me. Yeah, actually, I'm a little tired. Being the General Secretary of the nation that carries the seed for the World Revolution is certainly not a trot.
"Ponies have a lot of expectations of you and sometimes you don't always manage to make everypony happy. For this you have to compromise and therefore work twice as much. Of course, it's not always rewarding; maybe you wanted things done exactly as you wanted, but it is essential to give at least a voice to everypony, even if it is exhausting.
"But I'm probably bothering you with all this chatter," Altidiya said with a nervous chuckle, "Did you say you don't feel tired? I guess this helps you a lot in running your country. And tell me, did your citizens react positively to the Buckball Match tomorrow? Especially in a foreign country. I have heard that you are very... "closed" when it comes to foreign policy."

[Bigpipstan]

"Well most ponies didn't mind that there was going to be a Buckball match in stalliongrad, the attitude was suprisingly apathetic, most ponies don't have anything to care bout outside of the empire.
Though some creatures did care. There is a autonomous territory in the empire called 'Transfur lands', there is a local dispute on whether or not it should be called 'Gootraxian' instead, but that is not important. What is important is, that the locals there were upset that none of them got to participate. There were small scale protests but not much happened after that. We told them that we could not let them participate due to their alien nature and did not want to scare ponies here in Stalliongrad.
Also yes, it is true that we are a isolationist autarky. We haven't been in contact with other nations for a lot of our history, being so far west of Equestria." Bigpip explained

[Free Stalliongrad]

"Uh? Interesting! So there aren't only ponies in your country? I wonder what these "Gootraxians" look like to look so alien, like you said.
"Stalliongrad always tries to be welcoming to other non-pony creatures. In fact, we also have minorities of griffins and yaks within our borders." Altidiya raised a hoof to point out, "Obviously, to emigrate here you must necessarily support Socialism and work for it. And it can help a lot if you are already a member of an external Communist or Socialist party. For this we have many non-pony citizens, especially griffins. Many are also refugees from the Griffonian Empire, which, as you know, has an archaic regime and fears the Revolution; so they hunt down any creature that might even think of rebelling.
"Even in the rest of the world, the news is not reassuring for those who support our cause. There are small communist groups scattered here and there but they still don't have the numbers to start the Revolution and they are heavily persecuted. This is why I am determined to make Stalliongrad a solid and stable lighthouse for any creature who wants to look to us as an example. So anyone out there will find the strength to fight against despotic monarchs and millennia-old regimes."
Then Altidiya shook herself, remembering that she was talking to an Emperor. "Uh, but I guess that's not your case. I will tell you, I am very amazed to see a Monarchy with leftist values, even if you are not the first. I guess you are struggling to establish a fairer society too, right?"

[Bigpipstan]

"Gootraxians walk on two legs and their bodies don't look exactly solid. They don't have a coat and skin, Their whole body is... well it's not meat but it's some kind of living matter. They tend to have external features that you would find on some carnivorous species; such as claws." Bigpip tried to explain putting a hoof to his chin.
"As far as establishing a fairer society goes, we are still struggling a bit on our colony. Unlike on our mainland, ponies on Fequm don't all have access to public utilities like healthcare or firefighters.
Before coming here i have recieved news that we have lost a important administrative building and cotton plantation to fire. Due to underdeveloped public services in the area, at least no pony was hurt in the fire.
Another bad news i have gotten from Fequm is that there has been developing an illegal market that uses raw silver as money. This goes against our autarkist policy." Bigpip finished looking mildly frustrated.

[Free Stalliongrad]

Altidiya Revoltsova was a little perplexed to hear of "colonies". They were usually the typical expansionist demonstration of a monarchy and most often included the subjugation of native peoples.
Such a thing would go against any Communist creed that Altidiya supported. In addition, this would have been one more reason for her detractors to put her in a bad light in front of the Supreme Soviet and the whole nation. This would have been tough for his supporters too; befriending a nation that subdued others to increase its territories.
But maybe it wasn't all as it seemed. Maybe the Emperor Bigpip had acquired those lands differently from any tyrant who marches his armies on foreign soil, trampling indigenous dignity.
The General Secretary was afraid to ask for more information on these "colonies", thinking that she could indisposition her illustrious guest. However, for both moral and political reasons, she should have asked for more information. You never know if she would have had to answer some questions from some ponies they had heard from the Bigpipstian citizens, who were currently touring Stalliongrad, of Empire colonies.
Trying to be completely natural, she said: "I didn't know Bigpipstan had colonies. I imagine that yours is a people of explorers and you leave with the intention of teaching other populations to live without money or capitalist greed. Obviously, as you just pointed out, there are difficulties in teaching "novelties" in foreign lands. But I hope you are not too hard on both the settlers and the local populations."

[Bigpipstan]

"Seting up permanent settlement wasn't easy, mainly psychologicly for the settlers, since i like manual labor i was physicly helping at the beggining with some of the tasks, which helped ease the minds of some settlers. The hostile eviroment made things more diffilcult then expected, so i guess you could say i was pushing them hard, before we set up infrastructure and utilities.
We have originaly came to Fequm to build permanent settlements there for various reasons. From what we have surveyed the lands seemed to not have any sapient creatures living there. It was until um..."
Bigpip stoped "My sense of time is a bit off, but i think it was until twenty or thirty years after we have established permanent settlemets there, that we have made contacts with the gootraxians living on Fequm.
The gootraxian tribes were mostly fine with us settling on Fequm since our settlements were far away from where the gootraxian tribes resided. The gootraxian leaders wanted to coexist with our empire.
However the gootraxian tribes weren't a unified group and as a predator specie, their was a lot of them who would much rather eat us then just let us exist. This slowly let to the less colorful gootraxian tribes waging war against those who wanted to coexist with our empire. When a full war broke out between the tribes, those who were sympathetic towards our empire offered us a deal to become an autonomous territory of the Anocratic empire, in exchange for military support in their war. We accepted and after long battles the tribes sympathetic towards us won and ended up killing all gootraxians who wanted to eat ponies. This was the only real war our empire was involved so far." Bigpip explained and shook his head.
"It is a unfortunate tragedy that the gootraxians ended up fighting each other. Maybe it is better that it happened, with possible pony eaters gone, we were able to develop our settlements and provide education to gootraxians. Which would give opportunities to gootraxians who don't like a tribal lifestyle and would rather pursue a future among ponies." Bigpip said

[Free Stalliongrad]

The General Secretary was a little more relieved to hear Emperor Bigpip's reply; they were not bloodthirsty imperialists. Of course, from what he told her there had been conflicts, but there was also the will of the population of these Gootraxians to accept the Bigpipstian presence. At least most of them.
Nopony could blame them. Despite the civil war they had caused, the Bigpipstanians had nevertheless acted with the best of intentions, both to protect the settler ponies and the local population who had decided to change their society. This would have been enough to silence any opponent who would have used the "card of violence" to discriminate against Bigpipstanians. Were they not also those who claimed to provoke uprisings and violent clashes in other countries to give birth to the Revolution? Especially when it came to their former homeland, Equestria?
Thinking about this, another doubt came to Altidiya: "And tell me, Emperor Bigpip, has this kind of... civil war that happened in your colonies sparked any negative sentiment from other nations? Taking free territories tends to sour most of the Crowns of this world and to attract their hatred. But the news of having ... had to kill other creatures will surely not have liked the Princesses of Equestria. They tend to get very upset when they feel the blood flow and feel the right to intervene in these matters. And believe me, I know something about it."
The last words were spoken with much regret by the mare, remembering how it was only after many of her comrades fell on the battlefield during the Revolution that Princess Celestia had granted Severnaya independence. If the Princess had woken up a little earlier, when the protests were still peaceful, there might not have been many deaths...

[Bigpipstan]

"Well, considering Fequm is further away from Equestria then mainland Bigpipstan is, i don't think anyone other then us noticed what was happening on Fequm. Gootraxians have never seen anypony, griffin or kirin. It is likely that we were the first foreigners to explore Fequm. As far as the two sisters are concered, i feel like they too busy to care what is happening outside their borders.
I have never actually met the two royal sisters, do you know what they are actually like?" Bigpip asked

[Free Stalliongrad]

"Well, I mentioned this because I thought Bigpipstan already had some kind of relationship with Equestria and I wanted to find out what they were."
Altidiya Revoltsova tried to sound as neutral as possible as she said this, then she added: "But maybe it wasn't as obvious as I thought, given your question.
"Personally, I have never met the Royal Princesses either. After our region broke away from Equestria and became an autonomous nation, diplomatic relations were practically nil, if not hostile. Only recently has there been a bit of a thaw for some sporadic commercial exchanges, but everything has always happened through the officials appointed by the respective governments. The only thing I can tell you was what they told us about Celestia before the Revolution, which was the same as everything that was said about her in the rest of Equestria: 'a generous mother watching over her little ponies'".

The General Secretary gave a sardonic smile at that set of words: "I don't know if this is true, but it certainly wasn't true for Severnaya, given the conditions that the ponies of this region were experiencing. We were always taught that the Princess would solve all ponies' problems, but that was a lie. We had to solve the problems ourselves. And with blood.
One thing the Equestria ponies haven't figured out yet is that they can't always wait for a higher power to come down from the sky and fight the enemy. Each pony can make a difference if it joins those of its class and become an unbeatable mass; and this is one of the fundamental principles of Marksism. The essential structure of Socialism that I will defend to the end".

Altidiya settled better on the sofa where she was sitting: "As for Princess Luna, we know little or nothing. When the Revolution broke out she was still 'the Mare of the Moon'. A few years later she returned as Nightmare Moon. I don't know exactly what happened, but apparently she was defeated by Celestia's pupil, such a filly called Twilight Sparkle, with ancient Equestrian artifacts. Now she shares the throne with her Sister and things seem calm. At the moment.
I know she is capable of entering pony dreams. Ah! I remember that there was a meeting in the Supreme Soviet to decide whether or not to threaten the Sisters not to enter the dreams of our citizens, otherwise it would have been considered an invasion!"
Altidiya laughed at that memory, it was feared that the Princess might steal some secret information or do some anti-communist brainwashing from some ponies. "But in the end none of this happened, the Princesses were too busy managing their country than to think of entering the dreams of the Stalliongradians. And thank goodness. Otherwise someone would have even thought of imposing a self-control of dreams!"
Wiping the tears from her eyes she added: "So you can feel lucky, you are the first alicorn to set foot in Stalliongrad".

[Bigpipstan]

"Well that was kind of what i suspecting about the two sisters" Bigpip thought to himself
"A thought crossed my mind, are ponies here allowed to pursue any education they want or is that largely decided by the planning committee? In the Anocratic empire everypony can pursue any education once they pass the compulsory basic education."
"I wonder if our meals are being finished, i am starting to get hungry." Bigpip thought

[Free Stalliongrad]

Altidiya Revoltsova pondered well the question posed by the sovereign "I will be honest with you, Emperor Bigpip, this has always been the subject of discussion, here in Stalliongrad. Obviously we try to educate the ponies of this nation as much as possible and the literacy rate is the highest on this continent. Furthermore, Stalliongrad invests heavily in young foals so that they become responsible citizens and comrades, becoming in turn the promoters of the communist movement in the world. To achieve this, all ponies obviously have to walk a path that trains them as much as possible.

"As you saw earlier at the port, we have a youth organization called 'the Young Pioneer Foals' which, in parallel with school education, serves to instill more camaraderie among the foals with military-like, survival exercises, cultivation lessons and extra markism lessons. It is not compulsory to join the organization, but... let's say... you could then be frowned upon by other classmates and teachers and be branded as 'unsocial'.
But instead the three-year military service is mandatory, which starts at adulthood. This has been established since the birth of Stalliongrad, to make sure that every citizen knows how to defend their homeland if an enemy appears tomorrow at the gates of the country to take away our way of life. Whoever it is.

"And here I can finally answer your question. After completing seven years of compulsory schooling and three years of military service, a pony can continue more specific studies at university, according to its vocation. We have tried to lower the tuition fees for universities to try to make it accessible to all, but there is still the individual factor.
Certainly, compared to our equestrian neighbors, we give less importance to the "little drawing" we have on our flanks" the General Secretary said as she showed her flank, showing her Cutie Mark: a bolt of lightning superimposed on a gear. “Here we are of the opinion that anypony can do whatever job the community needs, regardless of what their Cutie Mark tells them.
However, even I would not rely on the tools of a doctor who does not know anything about medicine or does not want to be a doctor. For this reason the more specialized jobs need a more suitable ponypower and are left to the will of the individual who will decide for himself how to put himself at the service of the nation.
I admit that there was a time when it was suggested in the Supreme Soviet the possibility of regulating the demand for work, in addition to the economy. But it found my opposition and some ponies near me. As I said before, you could end up being treated by a doctor who doesn't know much about medicine or a lawyer who doesn't understand much about the law, if that wasn't his interest; and that would have been counterproductive. However, it was decided that all citizens (without distinction between races) can be called upon to perform low-skilled jobs, if the nation requires it. All voluntarily, unless there are serious crises."

Altidiya paused for a moment to catch her breath, realizing how much she had talked. "But let's leave crises aside. You told me that you leave your citizens free to decide which path to choose. But do you have any organization outside the school that deals with educating the young minds of your country? And what are their feelings towards your government?"