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// Commoners- Chapter 3 
// Story: Equestriana Invicta 
// by Tinyman11 
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The republicans, the commoners of Equestria, the fourth faction. The normal ponies of Equestria hung in eternal twilight for over four days now whom wanted the mass to determine it's fate. On the first day lay the heavy sadness. On the second day the republicans came forward and spoke, first from the radicals who had wanted elections since before the sisters. The natural argument, of ponies determining their own fate. They found supporters in the dense cities of places such as Manehatten.

On the third day the supporters of the diarchical system came out to debate the republicans. The more easily swayed returned to the latter group's position and soon that most feared of things began when ponies advocate for radical changes; gangs. Violent groups on both sides declaring the other to be the "Destroyers of the Equestrian way of life" or "Enemies to the freedom of the masses", or worse still "The haters of Celestia and Luna, our beloved". These would not clash for some time, and only in cities. 

In more rural areas the diarchic system seemed natural and went unchallenged in most small towns such as Ponyville. While the cities, on the fourth day, erupted into fighting between the two groups, who even many of the local guard were a part of. The guard largely favoured the diarch supporting group due in part to duty and in part to their own minds, some did enjoy the republican idea and favoured them instead. While the majority of the guard are attempting only to halt fighting there were a notable number inside of it that wanted to join the radicals of one side or the other.

At the further reaches of Equestria came an even more fringe group: Independents. These independents spoke loudly about the lacking state of the Equestrian military and political structure, that both were too weak to protect the outer reaches of the vast empire. These complaints weren't new either, but as with the republicans had been constrained to a very small group before but now seemed rather valid to their fellow citizens. Unlike the other groups, the independents simply made the guards nervous. Most joined out of a pride in the sisters, or the empire of Equestria, and did not like this growing group of those who wished to shrink and weaken the legacy of the sisters.

As for the assassin? She had her pay, but not from any of these groups. Not from the gryphons, nor the independents, nor republicans, not even from Shallow Waters, that vengeful vampire. No, her pay came from the Cult of Chaos. The Cult of Chaos was an organization that worshiped the unknown, the moving of the unmovable, the destruction of order. The assassin was not a part of this cult but was paid in bits by them, and in the promise of high position in their chaotic non-order which the thought would replace the princesses, in the form of Discord. However, their attempts to move the celestial bodies and to release Discord had both failed. Discord had a much better prison than the last time, and here had been locked away in stone deep in tartarus, behind more safes than even Tirek.

The cult turned militant in these circumstances. They would continue trying to move the moon and sun and in the mean time would attempt to enforce their anarchic, chaotic world order through force.

In short, nopony was a friend to anypony anymore. The posters of the royal sisters hung still and bitter in the twilight, many falling prey to tearing and removal by the radical republican and independent groups.