High Security Pre-Trial Detention Center, Tall Tale Courthouse
Zecora sat inside of a small, cramped cell. The bed was suspended from the concrete side of the cell by metal chains. The mattress stank and was as hard as a rock. The cell roof leaked water, making the room musty. Overhead, the light flickered on and off, and the bars had a rusty, brown sheen. She sat down on her bed, staring off at the ceiling. Whatever happened to her right to a speedy trial? It seemed to be taking forever for her to get her day in court.
Zarek had assured her that the discovery process would be over soon enough, within three months. For a high-profile spying and treason case, the state would want to press charges as quickly as possible in order to serve as an example to any other would-be zebra spies. Zarek had assured Zecora that, by courtroom standards, three months was “lightning fast” for a case to proceed to trial. As for Zarek himself, he was allowed temporary freedom of movement in the context of the discovery process, but was under armed guard at all times.
The discovery process had been going well, from what Zarek had told her. The prosecution had almost zero evidence, and was scrambling to find anything to convict Zecora other than hearsay and circumstantial evidence. They had already petitioned District Judge Gavel to push back the trial until July, which she had granted.
But there had been a slight snag in the process. The previous day, a newspaper reporter had snuck past the guards and into the room that held Zecora’s cell. He stood outside the bars, snapped a picture of Zecora, and asked her intrusive, probing questions. She had refused to answer most of them, since Zarek had told her not to talk to the press. Nevertheless, he had sworn that the article about Zecora would appear on the front page of the newspaper the very next day, whether she answered him truthfully or not, so she’d better provide her side of the story if she wanted the world to hear it. She only opened up a little to him, and was very careful in what she said, but by the time the guards hustled the reporter out, his notepad was full of scrawled notes despite the fact that Zecora had said less than fifty words to him in total.
Zecora dreaded the news as one of the guards walked up to her cell. “This was in the paper today, zeeb. Thought you might want to see it; looks like it’s about you.”
She leaned up as the guard tossed her a rolled-up newspaper through the bars. She gasped as she opened it to the front page, which contained a giant candid photo of her face.
TALL TALE TIMES
“Bringing you the stories that other papers don’t dare to cover!”
April 22nd, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: ZEBRA SPY AWAITS TRIAL
By: Yell O. Journalism
What’s black and white and red all over, that isn’t the Tall Tale Times? That’s right: a no-good zebra spook with the blood of hundreds of innocent ponies on her hooves! Her name is Zakora, and she is currently awaiting trial at the Tall Tale District Courthouse. Our reporter was able to snag an exclusive interview with her just yesterday.
Though she spoke few words, her traitorous intent was audible through her silence. She leered at our interviewer with steely eyes which told a tale of her years of training and determined, religious devotion to Emperor Zaporozhye himself. That’s right, the self-proclaimed “god” Zaporozhye, who makes outrageous claims with no evidence to back them up.
On the rare occasions that she did speak, she spoke in cryptic rhymes, which we can only assume is some sort of secret spy code. She also refused to either confirm or deny her involvement in acts of sabotage.
The Equestrian prosecutors have assured the Tall Tale Times that their case against Zakora is rock-solid. She was caught sneaking around in the dark, and despite her silence with our interviewer, had previously issued a brazen confession of her crimes of murder and sabotage to multiple guards at a detention camp, local camp guards say.
Our sources have confirmed that Zakora has obtained counsel from none other than the well-known zebra defender Zarick, whose own loyalties to Equestria are in doubt. The lawyer has secured acquittals for an astounding 100% of his zebra clients charged with crimes. But with so much at stake, and with so much evidence, Zarick’s winning streak may soon come to an end. Zakora’s guilt or innocence will be determined in a few months, and we promise to keep our readers apprised of the situation.
Other stories this issue:
Abandoned Appleloosa: the small town that Equestria left unguarded against fascists, Pg. 2
“We’re all being watched when we sleep,” Alex Pones, Pg. 3
A ghost pony that can walk through walls? Photographic evidence, Pg. 4
Prior issue corrections: None.
“Zecora, you idiot!”
Zecora glanced up from the paper as Zarek came storming into the cell room, stomping his hooves.
Zarek frowned. “Do you know why I gave you that little riddle about what a spy would say, back in the camp? Because I wanted to see if you were smart. But apparently, you’re a moron who can’t follow directions!”
He pulled out the Tall Tale Times with his hoof and shoved it into Zecora’s face. “How many times have I told you never to talk to the press, Zecora? Dozens? Hundreds? And yet you did anyway!”
“But I—” Zecora started.
“—And you didn’t just talk to any old press, but the worst newspaper in Equestria, the Tall Tale Times: a truthless, terrible tabloid! They couldn’t even spell our names right! Maybe if you spent half of the brainpower that you normally use to come up with those stupid rhymes of yours, you’d have stopped to think of what a bad idea that was. Look at the libelous garbage they’ve printed. I’ll sue them into the next eon for this!”
“I hardly spoke to the reporter, Zarek,” said Zecora. “He burst in here and started asking me all sorts of questions, and threatened to write a damning story about me unless I spoke, but then he wouldn’t listen to a word that I said.”
Zarek shook his head. “I see. Well, you shouldn’t have said anything at all, but what’s done is done. Not that your silence would stop them printing lies, anyhow. I’m sorry for yelling at you, and hopefully no one takes that story too seriously. The Tall Tale Times has some major credibility issues, and even if anyone did believe them, the state still has no evidence. By the time I get done making my case in court, even the most ardent anti-zebra racist would have to vote not guilty if he had even a shred of honesty in him.”
“ZECORA!”
Zecora and Zarek turned around to face the door leading into the cell room. In walked Princess Twilight, smiling wide.
“Princess Twilight,” said Zecora, a slight grin on her face. Zarek’s face was somber.
Twilight had the guard open the cell bar door, and she rushed in and gave Zecora a hug. The guard walked out of the room.
“I thought that you had been killed, that maybe your ship had sunk or something!” exclaimed Twilight. “But then I saw your picture in the paper, saw you were on trial, and I granted you a full royal pardon: you’re free to go. It’s so good to see you all in one piece!”
“Yes, my heart still beats, it’s true. But I have much to discuss with you.”
Zarek scowled. “She sure does have a lot to discuss, Princess Twilight. Miss Zecora might not be willing to give you an earful, but that’s my job. I’m Zarek, her lawyer.”
Twilight extended a hoof to him. “Nice to meet you, mister Za—”
Zarek shook his head, denying the princess’ hoofshake.
“Where the hell do you get off imprisoning innocent zebras without evidence, without a warrant, without due process, and without a trial, Princess? How do you keep them locked up inside a dark internment camp for months on end with the same food every day, with barbed wire and armed guards all around? It’s a violation of basic rights and dignity! My client had to pretend to be a vicious murderer and admit to crimes she never committed, all just to get her day in court! Is this what our country has come to? If so, then we’re no better than the Zebra Empire or the Second Kingdom. Why are you subverting the justice system in this country?”
Zecora remained silent, a stern look on her face which she directed at Twilight.
“N-No, I’m not subverting anything, you guys!” Twilight stammered, backing up. “We have an independent judiciary in Equestria, as I’m sure you know. They decide what cases to bring, not me. And the military decides who to put in that camp, not me. I thought Zecora had died on her mission: that the ship capsized, or that Zaporizhia’s guards had foiled the assassination attempt. I had no idea that she was in an internment camp, let alone going to be put on trial for treason, until I saw it in the paper today! Honest!”
Zarek shook his head, and pointed a hoof at the Princess. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that the Princess of Equestria herself gets her news on big-name trials from some rag like the Tall Tale Times? That in your daily military briefings, you aren’t appraised of all of the captured zebra ‘spies?’ What kind of idiot do you think I am, Princess? What kind of idiot do you think my client is? Quit insulting our intelligence.”
“It’s the truth! Zecora is a good friend of mine, and I would never leave her in jail intentionally, especially since she was on a mission before!” exclaimed Twilight. “I get my news from the paper just like every other citizen of Equestria!”
“Oh sure, and I gather evidence for my clients from a tabloid, too,” Zarek scoffed. “Either you’re lying to Zecora and me, or you’re incompetent as a princess, and Equestria is doomed. I don’t know which is worse.”
Zecora nodded. “Twilight, there is no need to lie to Zarek and me. Just admit what you did and say that you’re sorry.”
“If you’re even capable of it,” said Zarek. “Perhaps you believe your own lies at this point.”
Twilight frowned. “Look, I’m not going to argue with you, Zarek. I came here to see my friend Zecora, not her lawyer. And Zecora, I’m very sorry about how you were treated, about how all of the zebras are treated. I had no idea it was that bad. I’m going to improve conditions at those camps, and shut them down as soon as the war with the Zebra Empire is over. But since you never got to complete your mission, Zaporizhia is still alive and carrying on the war. I still need you to go and—”
“Shut up!” shouted Zarek.
Twilight blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said ‘shut up,’ as in ‘close your mouth and stop talking!’” Zarek raged, his face in a contorted scowl as he poked his hoof into Twilight’s chest. “Why Princess Celestia chose to appoint such an incompetent, stupid, naive child as you to take her place as Princess of Equestria, I’ll never know. But let me spell it out for you in terms as black and white as my coat: Zecora is never going to assassinate Zaporizhia now! Do you know why?”
Twilight stammered, “Uh… because Zecora d-doesn’t... want to b-be my friend any m-more?”
Zarek screamed at the top of his lungs, “NO, YOU ABSOLUTE SIMPLETON! Do you have no practical knowledge of how the world works? Do you really think everything in life boils down to a high school popularity contest of who’s-friends-with-who? Zecora would kill Zaporizhia even if she swung by your palace and killed you along the way; that’s how much she and the zebra immigrants in Equestria despise him and his self-serving claims to divinity. We are true patriots and defenders of freedom in Equestria. You don’t have to be a pony to stand for truth and justice, despite what you and your racist, bigoted generals may say. You are a tenth the ruler that Celestia ever was, ‘Princess’ Twilight.”
Twilight’s eyes started to mist up, though she held back the tears. “But why... why not kill him?”
Zarek said, “Your would-be ‘secret assassin’ will never kill Zappo, because she just had her picture published in a newspaper with global circulation that sells millions of copies a day. And since world leaders these days apparently get all of their intel from tabloids, he’ll see her coming from a mile away!”
“I would still love to kill the emperor, this is true,” said Zecora. “But Zarek is right: my photograph in the Tall Tale Times is too big a clue.”
Twilight shook her head, wiping her eyes with her hoof. “Then I’ll have to rethink the strategy for the entire west coast theater. I’m not sure how much longer Tall Tale and Vanhoover can hold out against this Zebra onslaught. Killing the emperor and sending his forces into disarray was our plan’s lynchpin.”
“Not my problem,” said Zarek. “But I can’t imagine that if he wins, Zaporizhia would treat the zebras in Equestria any worse than you do. In fact, Zecora and I are going to counter-sue you and Equestria and take this all the way to the Supreme Court of Equestria if we have to. We will get all of the zebras released from those camps at once!”
Zecora nodded. The color drained from Twilight’s face.
“You mustn’t sue Equestria! That’s a mistake. It’s true, there are some innocent zebras like you or Zecora in those camps, but there are also many spies and saboteurs in there. I know for a fact that some of them are spies, but we could never get a jury to convict them. The standard of guilt on the battlefield is a lot lower to meet than it is in a court of law. We have to keep these zebras imprisoned for the greater good of Equestria. There are only a couple thousand zebras in those camps, but there are hundreds of thousands of zebras and millions of ponies on the west coast who could all die if we let the spies out and they commit more sabotage. We’ll let every zebra go as soon as the war is over.”
“Better a hundred guilty people go free than one innocent person be locked up,” said Zarek. “Zecora will sue and have her day in court, and I will crucify your despotic state on the stand until the justices are in stitches laughing at what a circus you’ve made of our once-proud Equestria. I will end your farce in court and stop your maniacal usurpation of power! You may have absolute power as a monarch, sending your generals out to do whatever they want. You may have a rubber-stamp parliament strong-armed by a cabal of corrupt, self-enriching oligarchs like Filthy Rich or Jet Set. But the judiciary shall not bow to your junta as long as I draw breath!”
Twilight shook her head. “A supreme court case would be terrible for Equestria right now. It would divide the nation at a time that we’re already in a war. Please don’t bring the case. We don’t need to be divided by discord; we need to be united in friendship.”
Zarek turned his head away from Twilight in disgust. With a knot in her stomach and a pleading look in her eyes, Twilight turned to Zecora, but Zecora simply shook her head, frowning with disappointment at the princess. Zecora took a step towards Twilight and put her hoof on the princess’ shoulder.
“We were,” said Zecora.
Twilight’s heart sank in her chest as Zecora drew her hoof back and turned away.
Zarek motioned towards the door with his hoof. “Now if you’ll excuse us, my client and I were discussing our lawsuit against Equestria.”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but realized that she didn’t have anything else to say. She’d laid all of her cards on the table, but nothing more that she could possibly say would make things right again. She’d lost Zecora as an ally and a friend, and gained a powerful foe in Zarek.
Instead, she walked out of the room as quickly as she could, hiding herself from view as tears finally began to flow freely from her eyes.
What have I done?
May 2025, Dodge Junction
“Alright, I’ll take sector five today, around Mareicopa. I hadn’t searched there yet, but since Pumpkin Cake is a unicorn, she might have gone there. I don’t know why, but maybe—”
“Nope,” said Big Macintosh. He and Applejack sat under the shade of an umbrella, drinking alcoholic apple cider at the beer garden of a local tavern as the sun hung off in the eastern sky, shining through the cracks between the buildings of the city. On the table, a large map of the Equestrian Southern desert stood with markings on it.
“Why in tarnation would Pumpkin have gone to Mareicopa instead of Dodge Junction? She knew that Dodge Junction was our fallback position,” said Applejack. “I know she wanted to stay and fight, but even she woulda seen the situation was hopeless and retreated to Dodge Junction, not Second Kingdom territory. I mean, unless she’s bein’ held as a POW or somethin’, but she can walk through walls, so how could that be? She’d escape and come right back here, which is exactly where we’ve been lookin’ and ain’t turned up squat.”
Pound shook his head. “I don’t know, okay? But we have to try, for her sake. She could still be alive.”
“Sugarcube, you know that I’m really honest, right?” said Applejack.
Pound Cake nodded.
Applejack threw her hooves in the air. “Well, I can’t hide my feelins’ anymore. This is a hopeless mission. We’ve searched far and wide for two weeks. Big Mac and I have asked every bellhop at every hotel and every conductor of every train in Dodge Junction, and walked half the streets, and still haven’t found her. If she’s alive, she ain’t in this city or in Appleloosa. Already searched seven ways from Sunday.”
“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh, taking a giant swig of cider from his mug.
“Dodge Junction is a big city,” said Pound, shaking his head. “She could be lost here, too, so keep looking, while I go out west and do flyovers.”
“No,” said Applejack, shaking her head. “Big Mac and I are plum tired, Pound. We’ve been helpin’ you look for almost two weeks now. We want to go to Manehattan to stay with our Aunt and Uncle Orange; Granny Smith and Braeburn are already there. The Oranges are kindly rich ponies and will let us stay at their luxury penthouse as long as it takes to get back on our hooves and rebuild our lives. You can come, too. You’ll even get to meet Babs Seed and some of our other city-slicker relatives.”
Pound Cake shook his head. “I have to go look. I can’t stop. I already lost Pumpkin Cake once, and I’m not losing her again.”
“You gonna look forever?” asked Big Macintosh.
Pound Cake blinked at the question, rather verbose by Big Macintosh standards.
“Well, no, I mean…” he scratched his head in thought. “I plan to give up eventually, just not right now. I’m not going to turn this into some crusade and look for the rest of my life or something, but I feel like two weeks is—”
“Plenty,” said Applejack. “You know what Sheriff Silverstar told me yesterday?”
“What?” asked Pound Cake.
“Each day that a missing pony ain’t found, the chance of findin’ ‘em alive is cut in half. By day three, it ain’t a search and rescue mission no more: it’s a recovery mission. We’ve been searchin’ for two weeks. All you’re gonna find at this point is a corpse, assumin’ she ain’t in some unmarked mass grave of ASDF bodies.”
“But she could still be alive!”
“And I could hit the jackpot the next time I play the slots,” said Applejack. “I might think I will, but I really won’t. Trust me, as somepony who’s fought and beaten a gambling addiction; all that really happens is that I’ll gamble my life savings away because, all in all, the house wins. You’re fightin’ the odds and losin’, Pound Cake. It’s always just one more lever pull, just one more drink, just one more day looking for somepony who, if I had to guess, I’d guess is dead. And that’s the honest truth. It ain’t the truth you want to hear, but it’s the truth you need to hear.”
“Quit crusadin’, Pound,” said Big Macintosh.
Pound Cake remained silent, closing his eyes as he rested his hoof on his forehead.
“Big Macintosh and I have bought tickets to Manehattan on the midnight train,” said Applejack. “We got all day before it comes, though, and you can bet that we’ll keep searchin’ this city for Pumpkin until the very last minute. But we’re not missin’ that train, Pound. We’re gettin’ on and startin’ our new lives: movin’ on from the old.”
“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh. He and Applejack got up and paid for their drinks.
“I hope we see you at the train station, or back in Manehattan if you wanna fly to the Oranges,” said Applejack. Big Macintosh nodded.
Pound Cake remained silent as they both gave him a hug and walked off down the street.
Pound Cake soared west across the desert sands, his mind clear except for the single-minded determination which had driven his every action for half a month: finding his sister at any cost. He flew in a trance-like state, following the path of the railroad tracks. Though the desert was vast, he had kept his search limited to areas which were survivable and close to a water source. Further to the north there was a minor tributary to the Everfree river which he had spent two days searching. To the south, there was a giant salt lake near the border of the dragon and changeling-infested Badlands. He didn’t know if Pumpkin could live off of saltwater, but maybe there was a magic desalination spell that he didn’t know about, so he had searched around there, too.
His thoughts drifted towards memories as he neared closer to Appleloosa, eyeing it off in the distance. He fondly recalled his fourteenth and fifteenth birthdays, his time spent in school, even his training with the militia. Even though it was an earth pony town, it had been the closest thing to a home that he had had since Spitfire. Obviously, it was the first place that he had searched for his sister, though only at night when he could sneak around the occupying unicorns and buffalo undetected.
He neared the town and the broken, burnt-out shells of the buildings. He was too high to see with his naked eye, so he looked through his binoculars at the town below. Some of the buildings were more badly damaged than others; while three or four were only missing windows, others were entirely demolished. Several of them were being repaired, and had scaffolding surrounding them. The apple orchards off in the distance had come into full bloom, and the white flowers from spring had fallen off and given way to the green summer leaves and small, green apples which would ripen and turn red over the course of the year.
Pound Cake chuckled as he trained the binoculars on the bank. Or, rather, the bank vault, which was the only part of the bank still standing. The solid steel door didn’t have a single scratch on it, and would probably remain standing until the end of time. He sighed as he recalled his argument with his sister inside that vault on that fateful night two weeks ago. He’d called her a crusader for wanting to stay and fight when the situation was utterly hopeless, instead of coming to Dodge Junction with him and living to fight another day.
He could almost hear Pumpkin’s silvery voice in his ears, speaking in the sarcastic tone that she often took when arguing with him.
“Now who’s on a crusade, Pound?”
Pound chuckled, and then sighed. He hadn’t followed his own advice that he’d given his sister: know when to back down. Know when you have a lost cause. Applejack and Big Macintosh were right. It was time to accept his loss and move on with his life. If she was still alive somewhere, it was beyond his reach, and she’d have to come find him.
A loud sound caught his ear as he trained his binoculars towards the town square. Armed unicorn guards stood all around the town square, their weapons trained on some hundred earth ponies: likely the entire remaining population of the town that hadn’t fled to Dodge Junction or died in the battle. A single unicorn stood on the steps of the ruined town hall, a whip in his magic, as he flagellated an earth pony who was tied up on the charred remains of the door. Even from as far up as he was, Pound Cake could still hear the crack of the whip and the pony’s cries of agony.
His blood came to a boil in anger as everything stormed in his mind at once. He cursed the unicorns for killing his sister and enslaving the town, and cursed himself for being so blind to their suffering. For the last two weeks, he had looked for his sister at the expense of everything else, including his desire to save these ponies and evacuate them. He hadn’t been able to do it that night, but now his wings worked and he was healthy.
Though his sister was almost certainly dead by now, he would avenge her death. He would turn his pointless crusade to find her body into a meaningful mission to snatch the earth ponies from the clutches of slavery and toil, and ensure that the entire town was worthless to the Second Kingdom forever. But to do that, he would have to do something that he had never done before.
The earth ponies on the ground stood petrified as they were forced to watch the severe whipping that the masked pony was delivering to a recalcitrant apple farmer. The hungry farmer had been discovered eating apples on the job, a severe offence. All apples were to be turned over to the Second Kingdom, and they were to determine how much the farmers got to keep.
“Stop! I beg you!” he yelled as the unicorn stallion ignored his pleas, cracking his whip at the stallion’s bloody back. Drips of blood pooled on the steps of the town hall. Any time that one of the townsponies looked away in horror, one of the unicorn guards would use his magic to wrench the pony’s head back towards the direction of the whipping. Any time that one of the townsponies closed his eyes, a unicorn would telekinetically pry his eyelids open. They were all made to watch in horror as a warning to never defy the Second Kingdom.
One of the ponies gazed up at the sky for a moment. Though he expected his head to be wrenched back in short order, it wasn’t. Instead, his heart skipped a beat as he saw white smoke hanging in the sky, spelling out a message.
“EARTHS TO D.J. TRAIN”
“What in tarnation!” he called out, pointing skyward.
The whipping stopped for a moment as all of the ponies and buffalo gazed at the sky, trying to decipher the message. Excited muttering erupted from the crowd.
“What do y’all think it means?”
“Earths? Earth ponies?”
“D.J.? Dodge Junction?”
One of the buffalo shot off a lightning bolt in the air, and the crowd quieted down.
“Silence!” he shouted.
One of the unicorn guards yelled, “This is not an official message! It’s some pegasus punk skywriter playing a prank! Ignore it!”
The hooded punisher continued whipping the pony, though the townsponies were now all looking at the sky, and the few unicorns didn’t have enough magic between them to keep all of the townsponies’ heads and eyes facing the whipping.
“Watch the punishment, not the sky, or your rations will be halved!” the unicorn guard yelled once more. But it was no use, as a new message appeared just as the old one faded away.
“EQ RESCUE COMING”
“We’re saved!” yelled one of the earth ponies. “Equestria is rescuing us!”
“To the train station!” yelled another.
The ponies scrambled away to the south, towards the train station.
“Stop! Stop!” the buffalo yelled, as they brought down lightning bolts onto the town from the sky, right in front of the ponies’ path. But it was no use, and did little besides make their manes stand on end and make them cover their ears temporarily. Unicorns tried grabbing them with their magic to stop them, and fired meaningless warning shots into the air, but there were too many townsponies and not enough unicorns and buffalo. They couldn’t use lethal force, either, out of fear of killing their laborers. The earth ponies wrenched free of their captives’ magical grasp, scrambling all throughout the alleys of town on their way, scattering as they went towards the train station. A set of twin locomotives and a dozen boxcars stood on the tracks.
The unicorns and buffalo started to give chase, but paused as gunfire echoed from above and bullets rained down onto the town square. Off in the sky, a pale white speck grew in size as it rapidly approached the ground. One of the buffalo fell, groaning as several bullets pierced his side.
“We’re under fire from the pegasus! Take him down!” a unicorn shouted. They aimed their guns towards up and fired into the air, but Pound was too small of a target and too fast for them to hit.
Across town, the earth ponies clamored aboard the train. They wrenched open the doors to the boxcars, throwing themselves inside and closing the doors behind them.
“Stop! Stop or I’ll shoot!” one of the unicorn guards yelled, running over to the train in pursuit. But everypony knew that he couldn’t shoot the farmers, and an older earth mare walked over to him and kicked him in the stomach. He yelped as the gun fell out of his magical grasp. The mare grabbed it, shot a single bullet in the unicorn’s head and stood guard outside the train as dozens and dozens of the Appleloosans clamored aboard.
Thankfully, one of them was a conductor, and climbed into the locomotive, as several of the others started shoveling coals into the furnace.
“Now or never!” the conductor cried as he pulled down on the rope and the train whistle sounded. The engine roared to life as the train slowly started chugging along at a snail’s pace. Almost every earth pony in town was now on the train.
Five buffalo arrived to the train from elsewhere in the town, taking down the mare with a gun with a lightning bolt. Though they couldn’t fire directly into the train for fear of killing their farmers, they still slammed their massive bodies into the train like hoofball linemen. The train wobbled from side to side as the buffalo slammed into it.
“No leaving Appleloosa!” the buffalo shouted.
The earth ponies all piled their bodies towards the sides of the boxcar to stop it from shaking from the buffalos’ attempts to derail the train. It was holding, and they just hoped that it would hold until the train was moving too fast for them to keep up.
The wind blistered Pound Cake’s face. Tears streamed to his eyes as his wings flapped back and forth many times a second, and his hair streamed behind him. This time, he had tied his messy mane behind his head and styled it back, so that he wouldn’t be blinded by it whipping his eyes.
Pound was temporarily blinded as a lightning bolt hit the air a meter away, likely fired from a buffalo. He narrowed his eyes as he determined that he wouldn’t fly straight down. Rather, he started circling in concentric figure eights to make himself harder to hit. The blood rushed to his head and out of his hooves as he thought that he would pass out, as the buffalo continued to fire volley after volley of lightning bolts, and the unicorns shot off magic spells and machine gun fire, anything to stop the pegasus who was rapidly closing in on them.
The buildings grew in size as Pound approached the ground. He would have only one shot at this. His stentorian cry echoed through the air. He wasn’t sure whether it could be heard over the sound of the wind gusts that his plummet was making, but it was more for his sake than theirs.
“THIS IS FOR PUMPKIN!”
A white cone appeared around his hooves, and then, at the last possible second, he pulled up at a ninety-degree angle, flying down the main street of town at a screaming pace. A tremendous sound louder than anything that Pound had ever heard boomed behind him, and an incredible tapestry of every color conceivable erupted like a volcano, shrouding the town in blinding light.
The buffalo and unicorns still left in the town were knocked back, going flying in every direction. Many died instantly from the colorful concussive blasts inflicted by the sonic rainboom, their blood misting the air. Others were thrown up into the air or across the ground, their necks and spines snapping against the ground and the sides of buildings which themselves collapsed under the blast.
Pound raced through the apple orchards at blistering speeds, the shockwave knocking all of the trees out of the ground, their trunks snapping like toothpicks, their leaves whipped off into the air or into a green tornado which followed the unstoppable Pound Cake in a line through every orchard in town. He surveyed the destruction, and just to ensure that the town would forever be a barren waste, he returned for a second pass, yet another sonic explosion tearing the apple trees from the ground behind him like a sharp razor shaving a thick beard.
The town and its orchards in ruins behind him, Pound Cake zipped towards the train which the six buffalo left were still trying to derail. He zeroed in on the one in the back, and with his remaining momentum, slammed his two front hooves into his side, knocking him into the others like billiard balls. The onslaught stopped, and the buffalo lay broken balls of fuzz by the side of the rails as the train finally reached full speed.
By this point, Pound Cake’s wings were screaming out in protest and aching in pain from the exertion he had put on them. He flew inside of one of the boxcars, landing next to some of the refugees from Appleloosa.
“Pound Cake! You rescued us!” one of the Appleloosans said.
“We’re free!” said another.
“We knew you’d come back!”
“Three cheers for Pound Cake!”
They lifted him up and tossed him in the air. “Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray!”
Pound Cake smiled as he glanced through the open boxcar door back towards Appleloosa. Every single building had been reduced to piles of wood. The orchards were entirely gone, mere splinters and apple mush standing where the trees once did. Even where they were, a kilometer away from the town, stray green apple tree leaves and apples still rained from the sky.
“Sorry about your town,” said Pound Cake. “But I didn’t think that you’d miss it too much after what the Second Kingdom did to it.”
The ponies in the boxcar chuckled.
The sun had just begun to set as Applejack and Big Macintosh stood at the train station. They sat on a bench as the clock struck eight o’ clock.
“Well, I guess that Pound Cake ain’t comin’ with us,” said Applejack. “The train to Manehattan gets here in five minutes, and he still ain’t here.”
Big Macintosh shrugged.
Applejack sighed. “I guess I’ve finally met a pony who’s more stubborn than I am. Though I must admit, if somethin’ ever happened to you, Big Mac, I don’t know if I’d ever stop lookin’. So I guess I can’t blame Pound Cake for not givin’ up the search for Pumpkin—”
Big Macintosh blinked, glancing behind Applejack. Applejack turned to where he pointed and saw a familiar black locomotive from the MDJ line. But this wasn’t their train to Manehattan; it didn’t have any passenger cars. Rather, there were a dozen or so boxcars that looked like they had seen better days. Green leaves from apple trees were scattered all over the top and stuck to the sides, glued in place by what Applejack instantly recognized as wet apple mush. The sides of the boxcars were covered in dents, like somepony had taken a sledgehammer to it.
“What the hay?” asked Applejack.
The train came to a stop, and the boxcars opened. Applejack smiled as the tired, beleaguered residents of Appleloosa poured out one by one.
“Mister Barnstead! Old lady Ashmead! The Pettingill triplets! How did all of y’all get out of there?” asked Applejack.
Suddenly, she got her answer, as Pound Cake climbed out of the car, using his hooves to walk all the way over from the last boxcar to Applejack. She raised an eyebrow, as normally he would use his wings to fly more than five meters or so.
“Hi, Applejack,” said Pound Cake. “I didn’t find Pumpkin Cake, but I brought some friends back with me.”
“But… how?” asked Big Macintosh.
Pound Cake chuckled. “Well, I pulled off a little stunt called the sonic rainboom.”
Applejack’s jaw dropped. “Land’s sakes! Only my friend Rainbow Dash has ever been able to do that before!”
Pound said, “I had never done it before today, but I was so angry after I finally accepted that Pumpkin Cake had died and that they killed her. I saw them whipping a stallion on the steps, and that made me even madder. I guess that I just channeled all of that rage into flying as fast as I could.”
Applejack walked over to the train. “Looks like you made a mess of things.”
Pound laughed. “The town is entirely gone! So are the orchards. Pumpkin Cake may be dead, but her death won’t be in vain. I’m not stopping with Appleloosa, either…”
Big Macintosh and Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Pound gazed to the north. “...I’m going to destroy every last one of the Second Kingdom’s crop fields until they surrender and end the war.”
How does Zarek think he can get away with telling a princess to shut up? He has no right, and no power to force her to be silent. I think Twilight was telling the truth here. I hope he loses his lawsuit.
I can see him creating a sonic-boom, because I always thought that the rain-boom was just an aesthetic bonus that Rainbow Dash gets. It's still badass, so whatever.
Zecora: I don't know how to feel about this side of the story. I mean, I could understand them being upset with Twilight, but it seems like the whole thing is taken to the extreme. It is a bit unfair to compared Twilight to Celestia, considering that she has way more than a thousand years of experience to rule, while Twilight was forced to rule over an ever-dividing kingdom suddenly without the necessary amount of training, teaching, experience, and warning. Here hoping they cooled down enough to realized this and give the poor mare a break...she already has enough hardships and pressures to deal with, especially when she find out what some of her allies have been up to.
At least one positive thing come out of this: Twilight might now look closer into what is going on in Equestia and with her own allies. And, who know, maybe she can eventually patch everything up.
Pound: Odd that a Sonic Rainboom can do something like that, especially considering that many of the times that it was unleashed beforehand by Dash, there was ponies close by and they was okay for the most part. But, regardless, that was a well-deserved payback on those jerks. Hopefully, in his quest, he'll find his sister before Trixie and her two minions succeed in their goal involving her.
Thats how politics works she needs to learn that every action has a consequence. Her actions so far have questionable and have lead to her public image falling as it has as the story progresses. Despite the fact it can be blamed on her lack of training and experience. She needs to learn that she has to take the blame as well as the glory when she is a princess unlike when she was a simple student. Her actions against the zebra immigrants is inexcusable (whether or not she directly responsible) so she must face the public for this injustice.
5137414 Zarek is a passionate and fiery individual, but also very rational, which makes him a great lawyer and defender in a court of law. There's a reason he's never lost a case before: he's a master at arguing, and being an attorney is his special talent. He has a strong sense of justice, fairness, and liberty, and he was upset at what he saw as Twilight Sparkle's obfuscation and lies during that conversation. He lashed out at her in a fit of rage that, while insolent, he felt was justified. I can tell you as the author that you are right: that Twilight was completely sincere and meant everything that she said, but to Zarek, it seemed like lies.
I mean, put yourself in his position for a moment. Zarek has seen a once-independent judiciary and legal system trampled on by General Spitfire, who is under Twilight's direct command. He's seen innocent zebras locked up without habeus corpus, and without a trial, in deplorable conditions, and he himself was locked up simply for defending zebras in court a little bit too well for the prosecutors' liking. He couldn't even use his special talent in law to help himself out. We've seen in the show what happens to ponies who feel like their special talent is being suppressed or threatened: they lash out. Lesson Zero, Feeling Pinkie Keen , Sonic Rainboom, Best Night Ever, Inspiration Manifestation, among others. Even a pony like Fluttershy can be brought to screaming fits of rage against tiny animals. Zarek feels like the entire legal system is being strangled and brought into lock-step with the monarchy and the generals. As Twilight herself said, the judiciary is supposed to be independent to serve as a check on the executive.
Zarek has seen his adopted country turn against his people out of prejudice and fear, and now the princess of Equestria is seemingly defending such racist treatment right to his face, and bringing up "friendship" as some paramount ideal when the camps are exactly the opposite of that. To him, her speech sounded as ridiculous and hypocritical as a tobacco company executive giving a speech on the importance of lung cancer prevention. Not just that, but Twilight's immediate insistence on returning to the assassination mission added insult to injury for Zarek, as well as Zecora. Zecora's picture is in a famous paper. There's no way she's going to get close enough to Zaporizhia to kill him now, but here Twilight is, right after Zecora has been in prison for months, essentially saying "oops, sorry, now off to your mission" like nothing more than spilled milk happened and there hasn't been a great violation of the law committed, and like the whole ordeal hadn't changed everything. Zarek thought Twilight was being stupid and illogical on that count, and as seen before, he despises stupidity. So again, he lashed out.
Just like Zarek despises Zaporizhia for claiming that him being a god makes him "better" than anypony else, he also would never hesitate to throw down the gauntlet against a princess, despite her royalty. Of course, Twi is humble about her royalty and has never claimed to be "better" than commoners since she's a princess, but you get my point that her royal position wouldn't deter Zarek.
You raised a good point earlier in one of your other comments, and it explains exactly why he's bringing the lawsuit, because, if not for the courts, Equestria would have to rely on Twilight Sparkle's own moral compass to set herself straight. As seen elsewhere in the story, she doesn't always make good decisions. There have to be checks and balances for when she makes bad calls. You might agree with the camps, and I can respect your position. There are many people who still argue both for and against the Japanese internment during WWII, for instance. But the legality of it should be for an impartial, independent court to decide, not an unaccountable princess. Leaders should never be relied on to police themselves and be the final arbiter on all decisions, particularly unelected leaders like Twilight. Otherwise, a monarchy is just a dictatorship but with fancy crowns and titles.
While I don't like Blueblood I really don't want Equestria to win. At this point I am hoping that this ends with a more "independent" Equestria. I have no doubt that if Equestria wins they simply will go back to the the ways things were thanks to both Luna and Twilight. While it is too much too hope for I hope the public decides to at least limit the power of the “nobility” and alicorns. So far it has been shown that they can not be trusted to make a equal society and seem to be set in their ways. After all Luna seems to want to put things the way they were before (or perhaps worse) and Twilight will just go along with it.
5138305 There will always be differences in opinion in how to run the government, and what role it should play. Democracy? Socialist? Capitalist? Theocracy? Monarchy? Anarchy? There are any number of different permutations and combinations. Will every pony in Equestria be able to come to an agreement on how their country should be run? Maybe in the show they would, but this isn't the show
In the United States, we fought the deadliest war in our history over the question of slavery. Did all men deserve to be free? Did they deserve to be equal citizens in the eyes of the law? Did the federal government deserve to exist? Six hundred thousand Americans died to settle these questions, not just for our own nation, but for the rest of the world who was watching and followed in our footsteps in abolishing (legal) slavery. Americans felt so strongly over the issue, they were willing to fight against their own countrymen, neighbors, and family. It truly pitted brother against brother. Imagine feeling that strongly about anything. You and I and most people alive today may say that we oppose slavery, but would we be willing to fight our fathers or brothers over it? To give up our own lives for it? To say is one thing; to do is another.
Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake love each other more than anything in the world, and we have yet to see the issue that will pit "brother against sister" as the title of the story, synopsis, and cover art all point towards.
But we will. And it won't be as black-and-white an issue as slavery or racism, either.
I'm putting both sonic rainboom responses in a single comment
They kind of go together and compliment each other.
5137483 You might be right about the aesthetics, since the show explicitly states that RD is the only pony to do a sonic rainboom, but it also refers to the sonic rainboom directly as an "old mare's tale," which would imply that there have been others way, way back in history. The contradiction is likely explained by chalking it up to being a very, very, very rare ability that not much is known about (much like Pumpkin's intangibility spell). So other sonic rainbooms besides from RD have just been chalked up to legend.
The reason that I made it a sonic rainboom in particular (rather than just a regular sonic boom) is that, in my headcanon, a sonic rainboom is the only way to produce destruction on the scale seen in Appleloosa, and a normal sonic boom might only just break the windows. In the show, Rainbow Dash has used the sonic rainboom to demolish a barn. A normal sonic boom wouldn't do that in real life (and presumably on the show, too)
I guess I could have always just called it the sonic poundboom, kept the destructive power of "pounding" stuff into smithereens, but left the rainbow part out. However, what’s done is done, and I don’t like ret-conning chapters in an ongoing story unless I absolutely have to
5137709 RD used it to demolish a barn in Lesson Zero, and the first time she did it in Cutie Mark Chronicles, it split a boulder many miles away that Rarity found. The show demonstrates that the sonic rainboom is a form of Pegasus magic, and its destruction varies based off of the intent of the "caster," i.e. the flyer.
For instance, the Sonic Rainboom wasn’t destructive when Rainbow Dash used it to save Fluttershy. Rather, because of the love she had for her friend, when it went off, it set in motion a chain of events that led to her someday-to-be friends discovering their destinies (and later becoming friends). The only destruction that it wrought, splitting a boulder for Rarity to find, was specific and targeted to that particular (unintentional) purpose. But it doesn’t always have to be serendipitous: she used it to demolish a barn in a later episode, and its true destructive power was shown.
What would happen if a pegasus did the sonic rainboom with justice and righteous anger in his heart, as Pound Cake did? It would be a lot more destructive for him than it was any of the times that Rainbow Dash did it. Plus, Appleloosa was already pretty wrecked from the shelling, making it easier to demolish.
5138419
Hmmm, interesting explanation. Heh, very well, I am satisfy with that answer. Thank!
5138212 Wow, I didn't expect such a well reasoned response to my comments. Thanks.
But still, considering that Twilight had the power (not that she'd ever use it) to throw him in jail, you'd think he'd be more careful in how he spoke to her.
This is a fantastic chapter. Zarek is right to be outraged over the treatment of Zebras, but I still feel sympathetic towards Twilight. Considering she's leading the underdog in a world war, I think she's doing the best job that can reasonably be expected of her (FDR had similar problems, and his situation wasn't nearly as dire.) Where's Luna in all this again? I do hope this somehow ends with a reunited Equestria, though I can't imagine how that could happen.
And I love love LOVE Pound learning the Sonic Rainboom, and using it to destroy the crops. You're right that the ability is incredibly rare, but Pound was trained for years by Spitfire herself, if anypony alive should be able to do it, it would be Pound. And now he's figured out exactly what to do to bring down the 2nd Kingdom!
I wonder if the 2nd Kingdom will try to replace the earth ponies with buffalo labor. I can't wait to see how the unicorns will turn on them.
I hope the lawsuit not only destroys Twilights image and credibility but also the reputations of the guard and her generals. While also having a drastic result of the war effort and their economy. I also hope to see Luna at some point to at least see what is going on in her head and maybe offer another view of her countries actions (I would love to see her try to justify the things they have done both before the war and durring). Also is Zarek a reference?
I feel at the end of this story Twilight will not be a princess anymore, also what's happening to cloudsdale.
5139588 Glad you liked the chapter! I was afraid of what sort of response I would get, but it looks like all of my readers who have commented are unanimous in thinking that Pound doing the sonic rainboom kicks major flank.
Luna is mostly responsible for managing Equestria's night. She now raises both the sun and moon, as opposed to just the moon. She also tames the nightmares of Equestria's subjects (as she mentioned in one of the chapters, they've gotten a lot more vivid since the war began). Of course, she also has military briefings along with Twilight whenever she has them. And, of course, she also has day-to-day princess authorities (holding the royal court, attending meetings of parliament, etc.) We just don't see her too much, though later she factors into the story in a major way.
5140151 Yes. Zarek is a reference to the character of Tom Zarek from Battlestar Galactica. Like his namesake, he's very smart and passionate about what he believes, and is also seen as a terrorist to some and a defender of minorities to others. Tom Zarek was imprisoned and later became a political leader.
Emperor Zaporizhia's name is borrowed from the city of Zaporizhia, Ukraine. No further connection to the character than that; I just heard the name in the news and thought that it sounded cool.
5141371 Sorry that I haven't done a chapter about them in a while It's funny that you mention it, though, since it makes an appearance next chapter. Cloudsdale is still being ruled by President Lightning Dust, and they're mostly just really relieved that they were able to escape the war by seceding, since as Blueblood said, the Second Kingdom has no interest in conquering or warring with the cloud cities.
Not everypony there is entirely satisfied with Cloudsdale's disloyalty to Equestria. Some, like Spitfire and some of the wonderbolts, defected to Equestria when it broke away. But others, including Rainbow Dash, stayed in Cloudsdale to try to change things from within. RD has been trying to get Cloudsdale to break ties with Blueblood and send forces to help Equestria. She's also been arranging for volunteers, mercenaries, and soldiers of fortune from Cloudsdale to join the conflict on Equestria's side.
Her efforts to get official help from the Cloud Confederacy military have been mostly fruitless, which is why I haven't written about them (who wants to read about a minority political movement that has no accomplishments for years?) but we'll get to see RD and Cloudsdale in the next chapter.
5144933 I hope in the next chapter we get see where Clydesdale is getting there food. Are they growing crops on clouds. Also when is pumpkin turning to the dark side
5145128 Cloudsdale is trading with Equestria for food, in exchange for manufacturing the weather. The same trading arrangement that they had before the war and before their independence is still ongoing; the only difference is that they have control over their own foreign policy as an independent nation.
When? Who said that she is turning to the dark side at all?
Oh dear... Frankly, by far the worst chapter so far, and one that makes me very wary of the future of this entire story.
If a single Pegasus has, even theoretically, the innate ability to level entire towns in a matter of moments (something RD's sonic rainbooms never did), then the Pegasi are REALLY overpowered compared to other Pony kinds.
5145462 Let me try to address your concerns one by one.
1. Pegasi aren't overpowered, because you can't judge an entire race based off of just two very gifted members of it.
Rainbow Dash and Pound Cake are the only two known pegasi able to do the sonic rainboom. That's because they are both incredibly gifted flyers. It's NOT a common thing, and this is even said in the show that RD was the only known pony who could do it.
It's sort of like Pinkie Pie and her Pinkie sense, or like Pumpkin Cake and her intangibility spell. If every unicorn knew that spell, or even just a few dozen of them, then yes, unicorns would be incredibly OP compared to the other races, but it's only Pumpkin and one or two other legends throughout history.
Same thing with Pound, RD, and the sonic rainboom; there's only two ponies who can even do a sonic rainboom. It's a rare gift.
In short... Pound and Pumpkin are a pair of prodigies and it's presumptuous to presuppose that the population of their particular pony types possesses their powers.
2. About the destructiveness of the sonic rainboom. This one is a bit of headcanon that I have, but once I explain it to you, it will probably make a bit more sense.
The show demonstrates that the sonic rainboom is a form of magic, as seen when it supercharges Twi's own magic, and when it does several improbable things to bring the mane six together that couldn't have realistically happened without magic. The amount of its intensity and destruction varies based off of the intent of the "caster," i.e. the flyer, as seen in two different episodes when it is used for two totally different effects.
For instance, the Sonic Rainboom wasn’t destructive when Rainbow Dash used it to save Fluttershy. Rather, because of the love she had for her friend, when it went off, it set in motion a chain of events that led to her someday-to-be friends discovering their destinies (and later becoming friends). The only destruction that it wrought, splitting a boulder for Rarity to find, was specific and targeted to that particular (unintentional) purpose. But it doesn’t always have to be serendipitous: Rainbow Dash used a sonic rainboom to demolish a barn in a later episode, and its true destructive power was shown.
What would happen if a pegasus did the sonic rainboom with justice and righteous anger in his heart, as Pound Cake did? It would be a lot more destructive for him than it was any of the times that Rainbow Dash did it. Plus, Appleloosa was already pretty wrecked from the shelling during the invasion, making it easier to demolish. It's also a very small town of maybe a few hundred ponies. I doubt that Pound Cake would have the same results if he went to, say, Ponyville and tried it there. He might have to adjust his strategy, and, again, he has been known to jump the gun before.
5145154 You did with the title and the summary, you said in the summary that the twins are on the opposite side of the war. Pound is with Equestria (maybe Cloudsdale in the future) and pumpkin is with the second kingdom. The second kingdom are evil.
5145701 Ah, you've made the assumption that Pumpkin is on the Second Kingdom's side just because she's fighting her brother, but I have never said that she ends up with the Second Kingom; you just assumed it.
Read my description closely. I said that she and Pound are on opposite sides, and that's all. But just like a rectangle or a pentagon, a civil war can have more than just two sides. Look at Syria. You have Bashar Al-Assad, the secular rebels, the ISIS terrorists, and the Kurds... all fighting one another. That's four different sides! Each has its own objectives, but all of them are bitterly opposed to one other at the end of the day.
The side that Pumpkin ends up on could end up being the Second Kingdom like you think... or it could be another faction that we have yet to see. After all, the Second Kingdom isn't the only group of ponies in Equestria who has a beef with Princess Twilight. You have the zebra immigrants, the farmers in Hollow Shades, and the factory workers on strike, just to name a few.
You'll have to read on and find out what side she ends up with.
5145679 My primary concern is that Pound will be tanking through the Second Kingdom pretty much alone (or forcing them to surrender by halting their food production like he plans). You've managed to paint the Second Kingdom as a rather formidable, scientifically and tactically adept opponent so far. Don't trivialize them by having them crippled by a single exeptional individual.
In my opinion, this chapter does pretty enormous damage to the credibility and power balance of the story by showing that a single angry teenager can, when he's angry enough, take out an entire garrison of trained soldiers and their technological buffalo marvels... not to mention deal an enormous blow to them with the destruction of the apple trees.
God Mode Sue and all that.
5145768
Your advice is well-taken. I won't trivialize the Second Kingdom, and they won't be taken down by a single pony. Appleloosa and its orchards are only a few square miles in diameter, and it was right next to a train so that Pound could evacuate the civilians and they wouldn't get hurt by the rainboom. There were only a dozen or so soldiers stationed in Appleloosa; the rest of the buffalo were in other areas further out west towards Mareicopa. It was slim pickings and small potatoes compared to the major farming operations in the Flatlands. The Flatlands are hundreds and hundreds of square miles, and are considerably better-defended. There are thousands of soldiers guarding the Flatlands, including several of the newer-model planes, snipers with more accurate weapons than regular machine guns, and gifted unicorn magicians who may find some way to magically counteract the sonic rainboom. There are also hundreds of innocent unicorn farmers and civilians in the area who Pound wouldn't be able to evacuate so easily, which would make him reconsider. Pound Cake is biting off more than he can chew by declaring that he will stop the SK's farming operations all by himself.
Even if he was capable of destroying everything by himself, the Second Kingdom has several aces up its sleeve that it can use to pretty much guarantee its own survival. What if they threatened to kill Pumpkin Cake, for instance? That would probably make Pound stop what he was doing. They could also threaten to bring the moon down again, this time on Manehattan, if he doesn't stop. Or, they could just flat out start a genocide against the earth ponies of Mareicopa a la the Nazis. Remember, there's more than 100,000 earth ponies still in Mareicopa that the Second Kingdom could threaten.
Blueblood isn't evil, but he has shown he's willing to resort to evil tactics, particularly when he feels backed in a corner. That's why the Second Kingdom is very dangerous and can only be taken down from within, at least not without major collateral damage. Blueblood has to die, and there has to be a moderate who takes his place. That's why Sparkler's plan is so critical.
5145889 Hmmm, good points.
Heh, at this point I'm not even sure if the Second Kingdom is all that bad when compared to what Equestria has become. Zarek's rant is pretty accurate, and not even blatant racism is only the Second Kingdom's cup of tea anymore...
I wonder, IF the Second Kingdom loses (and I'm not sure it will, at least completely), will Equestria return back to the old status quo of suppressing and/or controlling dangerous Unicorn magic, or are they forced to compromise with the millions of Unicorns living in the SK who would never again have their destinies controlled in the name of the greater good?
It's as I suspected; Princess Twilight's so focused on fighting the Second Kingdom that she's suspending civil liberties.
Zarek's rant will only be the start of internal strife in Equestria. I forsee rioting and insurgencies...maybe after a heavyhoofed attempt by Equestria at restoring order after a protest against their policies.
I feel like Twilight is the only princess being focused on here. Why not Luna? Doesn't she have any say in this at all, or are the terrible decisions Twilight is making also backed by Luna, a princess who does have thousands of years of experience to know better? Because zebra internment camps sounds like something that Luna would say no to immediately. I can see Twilight making mistakes because she's new at this and all, but Luna has no excuse for being such a moron.
5208560 It's implied to be Spitfire's decision, and she gave a "good" rationale behind it. The camps are run by her, and if you'll recall there was a meeting between her and the princesses in which she explained her reasoning. Though, as Twilight said, she probably didn't know that conditions in the camp were as bad as they were, because she didn't go to visit them. Same with Luna. Also, since Twilight doesn't decide who to put in that camp, she wouldn't know that there were so many innocent ponies in there or that they were being treated like garbage. She might have suspected it (that's left open to interpretation), but I think Zecora definitely confirmed that to her for certain.
Also, Luna might be willing to take drastic, stupid measures. She's consistently shown to not be as bright as Celestia, or even Twilight. Remember, she was going to shroud the earth in eternal darkness, which probably wouldn't have been all that great for everyone involved. Even if you want to chalk that up to her being "possessed" (which there was no indication of as of season 3 of the show; it was an open question and my headcanon says that it was totally her decision) there are other, more recent examples. During the Nightmare Night episode, she took some pretty drastic and stupid measures to try to get people to like her. Lightning bolts and enchanted spiders aren't the way to make friends and influence people. Why do you think witches live alone in secluded cottages in the woods? Nobody likes them!
On the show it's pretty clear that Celestia pulls the strings, and that Luna is just a sideshow who gets the token responsibility of raising the moon and policing dreams. Why do you think that we see so little of her in the show? It is likely due to her rash nature that Celestia doesn't allow her to do more. Whereas Twilight was presumably groomed by Celestia from birth to be a leader. However, Celestia unfortunately died before she could put the finishing touches onto Twilight and make her a truly great leader. So instead, we are left with Luna, who has maybe some second fiddle experience like, a thousand years ago (you might be surprised what a person forgets in a thousand years), and is shown to make some rash decisions. And then Twilight, whose intentions are good, but as seen, she is trying to apply her friendship lessons to her work when it doesn't always fit.
When Zarek asks her, "Is this all just a big highschool popularity contest to you?" he was making a good point. Twilight has made friends with oligarchs who it's very clear don't have Equestria's best interests in mind; they have their bank accounts in mind. Twilight has trusted Spitfire, who it's very clear doesn't have civil liberties and the rights and freedoms of Equestrians in mind; she has security in mind. Meanwhile, Twilight's "friends" in leadership roles have taken actions have inadvertently distanced Twilight from those who could have served as true allies to her, like the ASDF.
Anyway, I hope that somewhat answers your question.
And no comment on the sonic rainboom? That seemed to be the thing about this chapter that got the most attention from my other readers.
I hope Zarek also pushes for compensation for the many zebras who not only have been subjected to inhumane treatment but also probably lost their businesses and livelihoods. I also hope to see hope this lawsuit effects many equestrians (i am thinking it will divide a lot of families), while also inspiring other lawsuits against the Equestrian government.
5209499 Yeah, she acted dumb during Nightmare Night, but notice how she was a lot calmer and more rational in other episodes. If you want Season 3 episodes, try Sleepless in Ponyville, where she solves the problem. Also, she's over the whole "I want to destroy the world" thing. She's developed and grown as a character. She's just a non-factor in this story, and just seems content to go along with whatever, when in the show if she thinks that Celestia is being dumb she calls her out on it. She's not this stupid and passive, and especially not to the extent where she'd be okay with putting zebras in internment camps where they starve and waste away. Da heck is wrong with your princesses here?! The Princess of Friendship is okay with putting zebras in internment camps. Just... whichever zebras she finds without trials. And look! Now her entire plan is screwed. Hope she's happy with herself for acting like such an OOC moron. They all are!
I just... gah! Why are they all so dumb?! Every single one of them except Blueblood, Pound, and Pumpkin, and Trixie sometimes?! Every single plan of their somehow fails and gets them into worse trouble just for the sake of moving the story along when they're facing a country way smaller than theirs.
As for the zebras, no country has ever started a second war when they are knee-deep in another one. They're fighting the griffins. They're just asking for trouble. Why haven't the griffins already won when the zebra forces are split like this? The zebras are now fighting a two-front war, and a large portion of their navy is now tied up (and in some cases getting destroyed) in Equestria. The griffins, which is exclusively an air force, should be cleaning up against a zebra force that's at least cut in half.
I still don't understand why Equestria wouldn't ask Saddle Arabia for help. Or the Diamond Dogs, maybe. Equestria is rich in gems. Just promise them money. Can't be as expensive as this whole "war" thing going on. Also, Diamond Dogs can burrow underground. I don't need to tell you how advantageous that would be. Seriously, Equestria is being so passive it hurts, and that's why they're losing this war. Pound is the only one with any ideas. Get the Diamond Dogs to destroy the SK's fields! Have a dog army burrow under Ponyville and take it back! I just... *groan* Stupid Twilight and Luna are stupid.
On another note, you coming up to Greeley this weekend? The haunted house I'm working is quite good.
5210822 Well, if Twilight and Luna were brilliant strategists, there wouldn't be a war, and hence, no story. Remember, this is the first war that Equestria has fought in many, many, many years. As in, since before Luna was sent to the moon, and even she wasn't a great strategist; Celestia handled most of the war making.
Everyone is really inexperienced at making war, including Blueblood. You act like he's this brilliant strategist, but he's made some pretty stupid decisions, too. When he pulled the moon card, it was *way* too early for him to do. He could have waited and saved it for when he was really desperate, not as he is losing a minor battle for some small town. He also could have tried harder to negotiate with Equestria over food prices, offering to legally hire the unicorns to work in the Second Kingdom and make a lot of money, etc. before declaring a war just to be "unicorn self-sufficient." There was no need for that besides his and the SK's racial ideology. He could still probably come to the table and negotiate if he weren't so determined to have Equestria be "free of the inferior races." Also, where are all of Blueblood's agents and saboteurs? You always talk about why Twilight hasn't sent saboteurs, but neither has Blueblood!
His stubbornness is getting thousands of the very unicorns killed that he claims to represent. The only reason that the SK is caught in a stalemate (at this point it's mostly a draw and neither side is winning) is because Blueblood is willing to do things that Twilight wouldn't do.
Trixie has made some screwups, too. She sent the buffalo by train but didn't even count on some pegasus trying to derail it. Also, she's spent most of her effort on scientific discoveries that have given them nothing in many years except magical buffalo. There is another MAJOR screwup on her part coming up, but I won't spoil it.
Also, Pound and Pumpkin made major screwups, too. When Pumpkin didn't listen to her brother's advice and retreat from Appleloosa, she opened herself up to being captured. Pound made a critical error early on in the story that killed his parents. They aren't great strategists, either. They just can fight really well on the ground well because they're prodigies. If you could walk through walls, or if you could fly at hundreds of miles an hour, even if you were dumb as a sack of rocks and weren't even trying to be strategic, you would still probably be able to kill a lot of your enemies before dying yourself.
The griffons will be explained, if not in the next chapter, then the chapter after that. The griffons have flight, but far fewer numbers than the zebras. (And yes, when I edit the story I will give army sizes, population sizes, etc. and I will also do so in the chapters going forward). Another biggie is that they aren't as motivated to make war as the zebras are. When I show the chapter in the Zebra Empire, it will make a *lot* more sense. Also, there have certainly been empires to start wars when they were already in another one. Pearl Harbor, anyone? The Japanese (upon whom the Zebras are based) started a war against the US in 1941, but the Second Sino-Japanese war was already ongoing.
The Diamond Dogs will be in the story later, and I actually had planned that before you said anything, so again, stay tuned. ;)
The internment camps are seen as necessary by Spitfire, and again, she made a convincing case for it. I recommend that you go back and read that chapter. You might not agree with her decison, but it's not like they just decided to throw zebras into camps for the lulz. Spitfire makes very good points about why it would be impossible to give them all a trial. A lot of them don't have ID, or even speak Equestrian, yet they were captured in the act of sabotage. Spitfire considers them to be POW's. Even she admits that there might be innocent zebras in there. And again, Twilight and Luna weren't overseeing the camps directly. They have a lot on their plate, remember.
If you want a real life, modern-day example of both sides of a war acting *entirely* stupid, even more so than Equestria, look at the War in Donbass which is going on in Ukraine right now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Donbass
Neither side has done very much that I would do if I were in their position. I won't get into it in detail, but I've been following the conflict closely (cause I'm a total nerd) and there are various things that I would have done if I were in command that could already have won the war for either side. If I were the rebels, I'd carry out a lot more sabotage attacks and send a battalion straight to Kiev. If I were the Ukrainian government, I wouldn't put all of my troops in these stupid cauldrons where they're surrounded entirely by the enemy, because it's led to several massacres. I also would have reached out to the rebel areas instead of blowing the crap out of civilian areas with bombs. If I were Russia, I never would have let Ukraine fall out of my sphere of influence. I would have been very brutal from day one, and it's funny how everyone calls Putin a monster, because there are a LOT of terribly evil things that he could do or could have done just to win. He hasn't. But again, the situation in Ukraine is similar. They haven't fought a war since their independence, so their generals are really rusty and making stupid decisions. Think about the Equestrian Civil War as a lot like that.
As for Greeley, it's pretty unlikely. I need to work tomorrow and I'm battling a stomach bug. I might go there on Sunday if I can make it.
When is next chapter?
5252302 I am hoping to have it out by next monday. I have been really busy with accounting work, but thankfully our filing season is over at the end of this week, and I'll have time to work on it over the weekend. Thanks for the favorite!
5209499 That's a good point about Luna, in the comics they show the division of labor between the sisters. Luna raises the moon, protects against nightmares, and goes out hunting with the guards for rogue monsters. Celestia does pretty much all the actual governing.