Anarky in Equestria (a Wave Blaster's could-have-been) · 7:26am Jan 20th, 2015
Remember that old post from some months ago?
Yeah, me and my ADCD (attention deficit creator disorder) hadn't come to terms yet. That means that my id is always, ALWAYS, spamming story ideas that my super-ego has to dish for the sake of my already existing projects.
But I'm a sentimental guy. So, in order to not lose this particular one, I'll post it here in the hope that a more talented (and with more spare time) writer find them interesting enough to do what I can't; write it.
Anarky in Equestria
Possible precursors: My Little Civil Activist: Equality is Magic; Mother shows Best; V for Vendetta; Anarky in Gotham
Have you realized something odd about Equestria? I mean, they go all 'love, tolerance and harmony' but there's one single concept that negates all of that; Aristocracy.
An aristocratic system has a very strong flaw, it depends entirely in the ruling class to be flawlessly good, because if not, it will eventually fall in an imbalance that will only favor a minority, consequentially injure the rest.
Now, considering that in the show we see some jerks in the upper class, like Jet Set and Upper Crust for example, it's sadly unlikely that is the second scenario the one happening.
So, the story would need a trigger to start, maybe an unfair law getting approved. I had in mind to have something that involves an unfair tax that only affect small business, ending with some ponies loosing their jobs. One particular case (to put it closer to the reader) would be Golden Harvest/Carrot Top who loses her cropland, essentially loosing her modus vivendi.
Then, out of the f*cking blue, a masked pony (our titular character, Anarky) strikes Canterlot.
His/her first target would be the pony responsible of passing the aforementioned law. In a scene that pretty much mirrors the one from Watchmen's opening, Anarky leaves the guy hanging from a streetlamp, with a folder containing enough evidence of corruption to send him to prison. That event makes the taxes-law to get retroactively cancelled.
A good character establishing moment could be an open letter from Anarky to the ponies as a whole, sending copies to every news publication. It could go like this:
Ponies of Equestria:
I've seen you, I've gazed into your history. It's not a bad one. You have quite a collection of achievements. From putting your differences aside to create a new society to our days, when harmony is supposed to be the rule.
But I'm not writing to congratulate you, oh no. This letter is far more grim, I'm afraid.
I feel the need to call this society out on its dependency on having a total control over everything. That may sound like a great idea and, to be fairly honest, I used to believe in it too. But recently, let's say the last ten years, the ruling class has gotten away with too many abuses. Over and over again we see it in the form of favoritism, ineptitude, corruption. The list goes and goes. I'm sorry to tell you this, but our rulers don't care about us anymore.
Now, I know what you're thinking; 'But Anarky, the Princesses are the rulers. They are thousands of years wise, they surely know what they're doing.'
Yes, they provably are as conscious as I of what is happening. That's the real tragedy of this situation, because it is very likely that both, Celestia and Luna, are aware of the corruption between our misnamed nobles but, what can they do? Even they aren't omniscient, so they pretty much need somepony to administrate things.
Also, there is the problem that our 'honest' aristocracy has learned to do everything within the confines of law. After all, who writes what's legal and not? After hundreds of years being ruled by them, the upper class have legalized most of their crimes. The crimes that are still illegal? They had plenty of time to learn how to hide those too.
When I first understood this situation, I couldn't handle it. Why? Why is this happening? But you see, I have the answer: You. Yes, you, the ponies of Equestria. You have a very sounding problem, you've traded your freedom to get comfort. Peace through tyranny.
Don't worry, I myself can understand how it happened. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. The problem is, that you have forgotten how to really live by yourselves, you even seem afraid of being by your own. You don't seem to want to face up to any real responsibility, or to be your own boss.
That's why I exist: I'm here to do two things; One is to show you the truth, that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
The other one is to give you back your liberty, regardless of whether you want it or not.
See you soon.
Then, whit Anarky's goals and ideas exposed, the rest of the story would be two sided. One focus on Anarky (secret identity) literally disassembling the political structure of Canterlot (discrediting political figures, instigating civil disobedience) and the second focus on the Mane Six chasing him (because of reasons). It could serve also to give a more detailed view on the political views of the characters, who at some point could be split because some of them actually agree with Anarky and his motto of changing Equestria's ruling system.
The mane six politics could go like this:
Twilight Sparkle - She's the daughter of what seems like an old family AND was raised by the main ruler of the place. Because of that she would defend the actual system, over-pointing its pros and trying to justify the cons.
Pinkie Pie - Due to her rock farm raising and job at a small business, she seems as a character likely to get behind Anarky's goals. Also her mindset of 'making everypony happy' contradicts any social injustice by simple logic, which is also Anarky's main motto.
Applejack - She consistently portrayed (mostly in fanon than canon) as a pony of traditions. Also it's likely for her to keep a simpler mindset (work to eat and mind your own business). This would lead to her dishing Anarky's philosophy as 'fancy political nonsense' and her Element of Honesty directly negates Anakry's use of a secret identity. This would end with her seeing Anakry as just a criminal.
Rainbow Dash - She doesn't seem like a pony who would give too much minding to the implications present. She's an action mare and a loyal one. So, she only sees a criminal that has to be brought down, by her AWESOME!ness no less.
Rarity - This is a complex case. On one hand, she looks like a pony who would side with the upper class. But, when it was brought up in the show, she showed no fear in confronting them. That and her Element of Generosity could put her siding with Anarky's ideas but at the same time against his/her methods. So, she is with and against Anarky.
Fluttershy - Good God, if Rarity was complex, this one is worth of a Zen riddle. First, it's her Element, Kindness. That alone negates Anarky's methods, no discussion, but it also negates the strong abusing the weak (Dragonshy), being that the same ting that Anarky is going against!
But then is her background as caretaker. Taking her animals as an analogy, she would understand that a society needs some kind of organization to work properly and a main organizer to keep thing running smoothly, putting her against Anarky.
But THEN is her passive nature, which means she's not very thrilled into chasing a pony around, regardless the situation.
AND THEN! is her assertiveness and aaahhh!!!
*ahem*
So, what do you think? It this good enough to start another project or should I just leave it in the hopes of more capable hands to take it? Comment below and let me know.
Well, if you think you can make a good story of it, sure. I've seen crazier crossovers. You seem to be going for a 'grey vs. gray' scenario. It could be interesting.
That said, I still fail to understand why everyone seems to think that Equestria absolutely must have an aristocracy with authority. Jet Set and Upper Crust? They're socialites feeding on Fancy Pants' popularity and money. Even Blueblood is just a pretty face attending parties. Last time I checked, Paris Hilton didn't have the authority to pass laws. Sure, Equestria has princesses, but they're less 'pretty courtiers to get married off' and more 'borderline divinity'. Twilight doesn't even make a big deal of being one.
Not to mention, every time the aristocracy shows up, they are absolutely corrupt. Sure, I guess it makes them more interesting villains, but it begs the question why Celestia even allow them to continue working. (The Lunaverse gets a pass because this is properly addressed.) It seems that most writers follow the logic that a) Aristocrats are corrupt and b) Aristocrats are needed, despite those two working at cross purposes.
(I'm rather fond of that fanfic where the nobles were responsible for turning Luna into Nightmare Moon, so Celestia later had them all stripped of their titles and wealth and thrown out on the street, declaring the aristocracy no longer needed. It was awesome.)
Sorry for ranting (again), but it's one of those things. I think you can do well with the story concept as presented, but I'll ask you to address exactly why Celestia would allow a corrupt court to the point where vigilante justice might feel like an acceptable alternative.
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Well, when you think about it, the Princesses sole existence supports the theory that the still have a monarchic system (okay, diarchic), so that leads to two provable executions; a court or a parliament.
Now, if memory serves me right, Blueblood was attempted to be a duke. Then, 'Winter Wrap Up' kinda proves that, at least the ponies of Ponyville, are prone to put tradition over reason and don't put a second thought on how they should do things. Following that line, 'Sweet and Elite' suggest that the ponies are not above the idea of classism, while 'Bridle Gossip' has some very, VERY, unfortunate implications. Finally, I would like to point out 'Hearth's Warming Eve' which basically proves that ponies are not immune to have incompetent people (ponies) on charge of important things, like government.
You put all of that together and the fact they have kept the same system for what seems more that a thousand of years kinda proves that the ponies are either very conservative or very contempt. Both ways leads to have aristocracy still running.
Now, there's the massive flaw on aristocracy; it's not selective.
It doesn't consider aptitudes or attitudes, it doesn't prevent a complete moron or a spoiled child from having a dangerously powerful position. It literally runs on being born at the right place and moment. That means that aristocracy depends on its members to be the maximum examples of integrity. I don't think that I need to point out how that can fail, not necessarily by corruption.
Now, there's the problem of the Princess. I think that it goes like this; Celestia wants to rebuild the political system, but she can't. Why? Because the ponies in charge of the decision don't want the change and the ponies who want the change aren't in charge of anything.
Then goes the logical question, why not simply wipe out aristocracy and set up something else? Because that is something that a tyrant would do, like Chrysalis or Sombra, but not Celestia. She provably believes that she can't force her beliefs on her ponies, the same goes for Luna.
But political rants abut fictional horses apart (I love how this fandom can turn ANYTHING into a deep debate worth of Marx or Jefferson), I would like to develop more the story before doing anything.
For instance, what do you think about my versions of the Mane Six? I mean, isn't it too flanderized? The same goes for Anarky. come on, you're a good writer, I would like to hear your opinion on this one.
P.S.:
Could you tell me what fic is that? It sounds familiar but I'm not sure.
Sorry, I definitely cannot agree with that. Your final conclusion, "Ponies are deeply traditional, therefore they believe in aristocracy", seems like a massive jump to conclusions. Ponies can be traditional and set in their ways without raising a caste of worthless leeches.
The events of "Winter Wrap Up" shows stubborn pride and a belief that hard work (the earth pony way) trumps magic quick-fixes. Their big problem wasn't that hard work didn't work, but because everypony worked at cross-purposes and got in each others' way and generally lacked organization. Once they saw a better solution (that wasn't an insult to their ethic, which something like "let's do everything with magic!" would have been), they embraced it in a heartbeat.
I still don't believe the socialites in "Sweet and Elite" are a recognized authority group. They're rich celebs, and the only ponies who cater to their antics are the ponies who buy into their act and the ponies they pay to work for them. (If Jet Set started faffing around Sweet Apple Acres with his condescending attitude, how long do you think he'd last before he was kicked off the premises?) The lesson Rarity learns in that episode is that her friends are worth so much more than the opinions of that crowd, and the snobs are only worth as much as they can prove themselves to be (as Fancy Pants does). Likewise, Blueblood is a handsome face and the 'most eligible bachelor in Canterlot', but there's no evidence he holds any authority.
Zecora wasn't treated with suspicion because she was a stranger. She was treated with suspicion because a) She lives in the Everfree Forest, aka the place of horror and unnatural things, b) she looks strange and intimidating with that cloak and those stripes (which makes her look like a pony who's painted herself for some inexplicable reason) and c) she acted in a hostile manner.
I'll elaborate on that last bit. Remember when she's seen scraping at the ground with her hoof? Zebras do that when they attempt to dig for water. Horses, however, do that bit when they ready themselves for a fight. Zecora inadvertently signaled that she had come to fight.
By comparison, Ponyville doesn't react in any particularly bad way to the sight of a donkey, or a griffon, or a baby dragon, or a unicorn arriving by chariot.
The events reenacted in "Hearths Warming Eve" took place before the founding of Equestria and the rise of the princesses, placing it more than a thousand years in the past. I don't see how the way things were then is relevant to the way things are now. Also, the leaders weren't necessarily incompetent. Disregarding inaccuracies in portrayal due to vast passage of time as well as the actors making their own interpretations of the roles (Pinkie is Pinkie, after all), they did what they could. They were hostile to each other because they all feared that the other two parties would try to take advantage of them and didn't know that the infighting was the actual direct cause of the freeze. Platinum, Hurricane and Puddinghead weren't particularly incompetent, just guarded and untrusting.
And even if they had some leaders who were incompetent, I can't see ponies deciding to adopt it as a standard. "Useless bastards who take advantage of us, yeah, that's what we're looking for in a leader!"
Celestia was perfectly capable of appointing Twilight Sparkle to the highest office in the nation without needing anypony (except maybe Luna) to voice their approval.
Celestia can be decisive in action when she needs to be, if the safety of her subjects is placed in jeopardy. She dealt with Nightmare Moon and Sombra directly because it was deemed necessary. If an aristocratic body was hurting her ponies, she would deal with it. She wouldn't allow things that cause oppression if she's aware of it, and in those matters she's willing to be the final authority, bureaucracy be damned.
Baron von Evilguy: And with this law, I'll be able to tax hooves! Now everypony will have to pay 90% of their income to me for--
Celestia: No.
Baron: But, but, I'm a baron! I can do this, you can't stop--
Celestia: I'm a princess. I totally can. Now get back to helping ponies like you're supposed to, and don't let me catch you acting like a jerk again. Or I might decide you don't get to be a baron after all, and we'll see how good you are at cabbage farming.
All right then, let me get my think on.
First of all, in order for a vigilante to look good to begin with, what they're up against must be worse than them and legitimate procedures must not be enough to deal with it - whether it's because the threat is just too big for their ability or because the established law is corrupt. Most vigilante superheroes fight things that regular police can't, and they're given strong moral codes to keep them from stepping out of line. The Punisher may fight scum, but the fact that he's willing to kill means that he's just as much a criminal. (If you murder a murderer, you're still a murderer. No excuses.) Likewise, the failed Wonder Woman TV series pilot (Pants to be darkened!) bombed mainly because they managed to depict the protagonist as even worse than the villains (who were human-trafficking drug dealers).
For Anarky to be sympathetic, you have to have his enemies, the aristocrats, be even worse. And then you have to justify why Celestia would allow a grossly corrupt aristocracy to rise in the first place. Even if she doesn't want to look like a tyrant, she'd even less want her ponies to suffer. When there is a cancer, the surgeon must operate.
Of course, if you want to go with a morally questionable or even dark revolutionary, in the vein of The Punisher or V, then it's different. But still, consider how you want the readers to value him.
On the view of the Mane Six:
Twilight Sparkle is a decisive pony who deals with problems every day, but she goes by the book as often as she can. She would see Anarky's capabilities and willingness to stand up against wrongdoing as very good, but she wouldn't approve of illegal methods. Her brother was Captain of the Guard, after all. She'd want him to come out of the shadows, take off the mask and accept accountability first, and then she'd want to help him make Equestria a better place, the proper way.
I can't see Twilight trying to justify a corrupt aristocracy. Twilight is humble and responsible, not conceited or entitled. She has no respect for ponies who aren't trying to better themselves.
Here's a thing I've observed regarding Twilight's rise to princesshood that I think is a very defining character trait: Twilight sees it as a responsibility, not an authority or an indulgence. Practically the first thing she said was along the lines of "Hope I can do a good job with this". The season finale started with her being concerned because she wasn't put to good use for the betterment of Equestria, and at no point for all season did she ever try to use her position to solve a personal problem, or fulfill a personal need. (And yet I've seen countless fanfics where she bosses ponies around with her title, surrounds herself with guards, acts like she's above the common pony, etc.) So I can't see her side with the leeches.
Pinkie Pie could possibly see Anarky's point... if he's put in a good light. If he's being unnecessarily violent and mean, not so much. Pinkie's Chaotic Good, emphasis on good. She was willing to Gilda another chance even after seeing what a jerk she was, so it's unlikely for Pinkie to write somepony off as irredeemable.
Applejack wouldn't kowtow to some entitled nobility, but she wouldn't approve of somepony committing assaults either. Vigilantism = crime, crime = bad. If he were to take his mask off (after all, decent ponies have nothing to hide) and take proper responsibility, things would be different, but as is she doesn't think two wrongs make a right. She'd be with Twilight on this. However, how Anarky's actions affect her personally may sway her to either side.
Rainbow Dash would possibly take Anarky's side. Why? Because a lone pony striking out at the underbelly of the corrupt upper class is awesome, that's why. Particularly if said upper class have a reputation for abusing the good, simple ponies beneath them, which would be a huge no-no in her book. She'd be quick to buy into the glamour of the righteous vigilante... that is, unless he turns out to be less than righteous after all. To put it in perspective, RD would definitely side with Batman or Spiderman... but not The Punisher.
Rarity would also be likely to see Anarky as the hero, as she has enough insight in the upper class goings-on to know that they probably deserve his retribution. Despite her lofty ambitions, Rarity has very humble beginnings. She may have a romanticized idea of what the upper class should be like, but she knows that they're really not, and rather than try to justify them, she'd write them off as having failed to be what they should be and in dire need of being removed to make room for real upper class (possibly spearheaded by herself).
Fluttershy would very much want to sit the whole thing out. She doesn't like how aristocrats are being mean to ponies and she doesn't like how Anarky is being mean to his victims. She'd much rather everypony got along. She's likely to just go along with what her friends think.
Well, that's my rushed and badly thought-through opinions on the matter. Hope it at least makes a little sense.
Magical Pony Lyrical Twilight A's.
Mind you, it's a crossover, and also a sequel.
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Rushed and badly thought-through? DUDE! I wish I could spit thesis like that!
Okay, let-- let me... try to defend a position here (I feel like Michael Bay trying to defend Transformers against Hitchcock's Psycho):
You know what, I was more guided into comparing how most of the time, political conservationism drives to a state of influences ruled by a minority. But now I'm giving a non caffeine-fueled thought about it, it doesn't necessarily lead to aristocracy, it just proves that ponies are as prone as us to screw it up in organization.
With that in mind and considering that human history of screws up in the last hundred of years includes two world wars, a cold war and a long list of financial and social crisis, I'm pretty sure that in a thousand of years the ponies have collected their own set of mistakes.
Having in account that in over five thousand years of cultural evolution, we're still struggling to come up with a government system that is fool/corruption-proof, I see very unlikely that ineptitude and/or corruption doesn't happen in Equestria too. So, we can at least agree that, regardless of government system, there MUST be some kind of ineptitude/corruption, eventually.
I think the problem here lies in how aware is Celestia of everything. Since Word of God says the she's not a Physical God, I'll assume she isn't omniscient.
Now, this part actually comes from an historical source. You see, some countries down here in the south of America, right after getting rid of Spain and Portugal, had it rough by organizing things (in Chile's case, the period if even called anarchic, despite never being without government) and a lot, A LOT, reverted back to give the power to the people with money. That made a new kind or aristocracy around people without titles but enough political influence (and money) to affect the government. Hell, Diego Portales (THE Magnificent Bastard of Chilean history) basically wrote his own constitution despise never being president.
Now put all the major work ONE pony can do at the same time, that goes for Celestia, and EVERYTHING ELSE goes for everybody else. I'm not saying that whatever system they're using to rule is directly bad or wrong. I'm just postulating that the possibility of cracks is a very likely scenario.
In conclusion, unless Celestia went all 'Big
BrotherSister' on her ponies, there IS the provability of corruption and, since the Tyrant Celestia is not even close to what seems to be canon, corruption is a provable scenario.Can I use that character? Pretty please?
I think I'm presenting Anarky as too dark, aren't I? I think that a Secret Files and Origins is in order:
Little is know about the urban terrorist self named Anarky, not even his or her genre.
What it is know is his position towards society. Declaring it corrupt beyond repair, Anarky decided to lead a one pony crusade to abolish the rule system.
Declaring himself a true freedom fighter, Anarky targets are either figures of power that he considers corrupts or too inept to hold their authority, like his involving in [insert charge here] von Bösewicht arrest for multiple cases of favoritism.
Although his fir public appearance happened in Canterlot, various sightings locate Anarky operating as some kind of street vigilante in Ponyville months prior to that.
Anarky has been currently declared an enemy of the state, wanted for crimes of assault on minor grade, breaking private property and interfering with justice by holding evidence.
What I was aiming for is a modern-times Robin Hood. Although V is clearly a major influence here, I would like to put all the distance with the Punisher. Think about Anarky as someone who has no problems in using an electric teaser or sleeping gas, but would never resort to hard violence if it can be avoided.
Now the Mane Six:
TS - Okay, you have a point. But still, she would never side with a pony who assault other ponies, regardless on who did what. In other words, she's not someone who could get behind of playing evil unto evil so, still against Anarky
PP - I think that my re-presentation of Anarky and you pointing out she wouldn't write somepony as irremediable would drive her to give Anarky the benefit of doubt.
AJ - We're mostly on the same page here, but she's to stubborn to accept any help from Anarky's actions, so its very unlikely she could even get close to side with him/her.
RD - You know, I think that for her being the ponyfication of Loyalty it's too unlikely for her to side with someone whose main motto is anti-systemic.
Rrty - We agree here.
Fltrsh - She could be pretty much an Audience Surrogate, siding with the main characters at first (her friends) but doubting when being presented evidence that the other side of the conflict, at least, has a point.
Now, with all that said, I think that I'm not ready to do this story. Mostly because just to defend it's main premise I had to reread a lot of material and even then I had to re-adapt a lot. I think it would need to go deep in Alternate Universe territory and that requires time and effort that I don't have right now.
Thanks for the help, in other hands it would've ended in what I think could have been a good fic. But this surpass me so, no. If this story sees the light of day, it won't be by my hand...
...yet.