The other End of Balance

by Dostoron

The first choice

Nothing, that was all you could see. Maybe someone would hear you instead...

“Where am I? And… who am i? Oh this can´t be good.”

Those were your first thoughts when you awoke. Not exactly poetic, but that wasn´t really a concern seeing as you couldn´t see, well actually you could see, there was just nothing to look at, not even your own body. Finishing that realization gave you pause once more.

“I don´t have a body, am i… dead?”

“You are merely not alive yet, or rather not with your life.” Another voice replied.

“Who´s there?”

“I have no name, if you need to call me something, call me Fate. I am merely to assign you your duty, everything else is your choice.”

“What are you even talking about?”

The spooky voice from seemingly everywhere was beginning to gnaw on your nerves.

“Balance, it is a fickle thing to maintain and has leant too far towards good and harmony down on the world of Equis. If it is left like that all life would stagnate, wither and die.
Equis needs a counterweight if you will, it needs a driving force of bad things happening, it needs something evil, you.”

This was all a bit much to take in; you were supposed to do bad things, cause bad things, all because too much good things were happening. Apparently, fate took the whole balance thing rather serious if he would unleash you and tell you to be Evil just to make it even.

“Me? I have to be evil? Do I get a say in this matter too by any chance? What if I don´t want to be bad?”

“Balance must be kept, the nation of Equestria is a gleaming beacon of goodness, the princesses resolved conflicts peacefully and either rehabilitated or destroyed any form of disharmony or evil, they ended strife, conflict and even crime has lowered to near non-existence. This nation must experience conflict in order to survive, in order for Equis to keep alive this life must be threatened. You were made to choose how this threat would look, to give it the power to function and to lead it towards its goal.”

“But how? I know next to nothing about that world, I have no body I have no directions and I’m not even sure if I have a mind.”

Fate continues, seemingly not surprised by your doubts.

“You are right now a driving force; you have no beginning and no Goal. That´s why you have no perspective and no desire to be what you will become. You will have to choose the life of someone that has Goals and is ruthless in achieving them. You will be brought upon the world of Equis, and live that someone´s life. You will also adapt their knowledge, their Goals and traits of their personality, in short you will become that Person, I will supply you with the tools, but you must use them well.”

“I have to choose a Life? What from?”

“There are many choices that will appear before you, not all of them while you are here, but the most important of your choices and your preparation will happen here, in the emptiness.
This first choice will define your Origin, and the powers at your disposal, see to it that they suit your abilities, you will have a long, difficult struggle ahead of you but if you are to succeed it may pay off quite handsomely. Nations may bow down before you begging for your favor, or at least your mercy, you will either be loved as a leader, feared as a threat or hated as an enemy. I will now show you, what you would have if you were from within Equestria´s borders…”

Before you an Orb becomes visible, yellow around the Edges, the transparent inside letting you see a scene, apparently from the near future. A wall is visible, multiple posters as if for an election pasted to it. Many that look official have been ripped off, a spray painted word stands out instead , ”Revolution” you read out. The street before it is littered with trash and a few dried out red puddles make it clear that there was a fight here.

Fate continues:

“You would be known to the authorities, the princesses and their loyalists as a traitor, a terrorist seeking to destroy their beautiful nation, you would live in the shadows of the big cities from where you and your like minded would strike out at every opportunity to destabilize the government and start a Revolution to overthrow the Princess. The ponies would experience you as one of them, the simple fact that you are against the princesses will make them doubt their rulers and you would splinter the nation.”

“That sounds like something bad alright; inner disputes tend to get ugly rather quickly.”

“There is also the possibility for being an enemy from outside Equestria…”

A second orb appears this one with blue edges.
Inside you see a wide open field, and across it an Army, the banners they hold let you guess, that they are Equestrian. And they charge towards you.

Fate speaks again:

“You would have a nation backing you up in a war, which may be for conquest, riches, resources, many reasons are possible. The ponies would experience you as an Invader, they would stand together against you and the weaponry your army wields, you would not be restricted by pity for them, but neither could you expect their mercy, should you fail.
You would fight them at every turn, seeking nothing other than complete dominance over the Kingdom. Why depends on a later choice, as is the case with the other option.”

Finishing this monologue, Fate puts on a harsher tone,
“Your goal is this. Threaten Equestria, bring them to their knees, end the Age of Harmony before it ends the whole world. Your success will not do this beautiful nation good, but it must happen.”

“So, I can either be the leader of a Rebellion, or a warlord from outside. Whatever happens I can´t take the choice back and I have to see it through to the end.”

“Indeed, this first choice defines your way the most, and is thus the most important. So choose: The yellow orb, the way of the Rioter; or the blue orb, the way of the Warlord?”

Author's Note:

so yeah, first Story i actually put effort into.
anything wrong with it let me know, if ist language Problems, that´s because i´m german.

Vote in the comments guys, that´s what i depend on.

Comments

[Crusadier]

The yellow orb, the way of the Rioter.

[shadowf1re]

Yellow rather revolution than war

[Red-Zan]

yellow orb please, Revolution :D

[TGM]

Revolution.

[Dostoron]

alright, i see the votes, Rioter it is.
but i have to ask, what brought you in this direction?

[Mr Skeleton]

i know im late to the party, but still...YELLOW FTW

also, im glad that more people are doing this consider it faved

[DarkAscension]

3180572 I choose the Yellow Orb as well. My reason is because being the Rioter, you start as just an angry voice, a nobody in a crowd. And when your voice is heard, and others follow, you gain power. You start off with nothing, and slowly gain support and supplies. A Rebellion is harder and more difficult to maintain than a Regular Army. I guess we just like to do things the hard way. Plus, overthrowing the Princesses seems fun.

[DarkAscension]

Also, if "We" are going to be from Equestria, be a Pony, can "We" be a Pegasus? I get more involved in stories when I get to be a Pegasus.

[Aleksandr Sherbet]

Yellow I want to be a leader. Or as they say it a traitor

[FIREDRA6ON]

Interesting, since everyone wants yellow, I was thinking that the main character could have some sort of hood and/or mask, something to hide his face. Plus, if he has a mask then it could become a trademark of the riot, much like the Anonymous mask. If anyone has played Dishonored, Corvo's mask became a big trademark for the game which is kind of what I'm thinking of.

Well this is just my opinion, but I think it would make an interesting addition to the rioter path that we are heading onto. You don't have to use this idea but I think you should consider it.

[Dostoron]

3181368
i really shouldn´t Spoiler, but the next set of choices is being worked on, it really all depends on you and everyone else.

[Dostoron]

3182658
oh believe me, any ideas that may help in the future are kept considered.

[Krysnha]

First chapter and alredy on favourite, als everione goes for yellow, i go for blue

[Pogmin]

Just thought I'd tell you that you misspelled it's as ist in the author's notes. I'm not making fun of you, I just thought you'd like to know.

[Mallory S Nocturne]

So... Can I take a red orb instead?

[ManiaDementiaPinkamena]

“Balance, it is a fickle thing to maintain and has leant too far towards good and harmony down on the world of Equis. If it is left like that all life would stagnate, wither and die. Equis needs a counterweight if you will, it needs a driving force of bad things happening, it needs something evil, you.”

But ! I dont want to become angra mainyu !