//------------------------------// // First road block // Story: Repercussions // by vortex123 //------------------------------// Shining Armor’s POV A Change in leadership, and the end of Royalty and nobility? Earlier today former captain of the royal Guard and former prince of the Crystal Empire, 5 star General Shining Armor had this to say: “For too long, Equestria has taken a passive approach to every conflict we’ve face! And as a result, we’ve been taken advantage of. If we are to remain an independent nation, we need power. Now many of you may ask: why would we need power, when we have love and friendship? The fact of the matter is this, love and friendship won’t stop the dragons and the griffons from wiping us all out. The princesses refused to hand over the country to the military willingly, so we had to force their hooves. As of right now, the military now has full control over Equestria. So there’ll be changes on how this country operates. From this moment onwards, these changes will be implemented. The nobility will be dissolved, and the finances they’ve been born with, will be used to further strengthen Equestria’s military. All trade routes in and out of any Equestrian settlement will have an officer stationed to check for any smuggling of illegal items, or anything else that could jeopardize the country. All nonessential questions or complaints will not be acknowledged by a military member. You can bring those concerns to your local political leaders. That is all for now. More changes will be implemented as they are deemed necessary. Should you feel like what you have to say is important to the stability of Equestra (especially if it's reporting suspicious activity, or obvious illegal activities), inform the nearest military official. We interviewed the local ponies to see what they have to say, though they wanted to remain anonymous. Anonymous pony 1: So the dragons and griffins are a threat? Funny, because last time I checked, it was that same pony who MURDERED MY WIFE! Anonymous pony 2: So some everyday unicorn knows better then Alicorns who’re literally thousands of years old? Talk about being arrogant. Anonymous pony 3: He's not even a citizen of Equestra anymore! He is (or rather, WAS) the Prince of the Crystal Empire. If he wants to force his views on somepony else, then he should do it where he was ACTUALLY RULING. Though personally it would have been better if he just kept his views to HIMSELF, and not drag anypony into it. Anonymous pony 4: So all of the contributions the ancestors of the modern day nobility are going to be ignored? I could understand if the noble houses attained their wealth through foul play, but considering how most (yes unfortunately not all, but most) of our ancestors made invaluable contributions to Equestra (including that very same shield spell that unicorn is so proud of), well I dare say this is LITERALLY robbery. What does this mean for the future of Equestra? What will the general do next? He's already massacred the same ponies he swore an oath to protect, as did so many others. IS there a line they won't cross? We can only hope. Dear Shining Armor We aren't sure what to say. When you were just a little colt, you had such a innocent and hopeful look. You and Twilight would often play together. You'd be the courageous knight, and she'd be the princess of books, and you'd always say you'd never hurt her. So imagine our surprise when you ordered your soldiers to kill as many ponies as they could, including her friends. What if they had killed us? What if they had killed Spike, Twilight or Cadance? We love you, and support you. We always have, and we always will. But you need to take a long look in the mirror, and see just what kind of pony you've become. We truly love you, but you've changed, and not for the better. With everlasting love Mom and Dad I sigh as I finished reading. 'Well, I wasn't born yesterday, I knew they'd react this way. Surprised Twilight and Spike haven't sent a single letter.' I think with a sigh. As much as this hurts, I know this is for the good of Equestria. Deciding I’ve wasted enough time, I head out. During my trot through Canterlot, I made sure to ke-I immediately bring up a shield as a bolt of magic comes rushing towards me. I growl as it harmlessly fizzled off my shield. “You’ve just attempted an assault on a gu-officer, come out with your magic off, now. Failure to comply will result in an increase in charges against you!” I ordered with authority. After waiting a couple of minutes, I realized their not gonna comply. With a groan, I go to investigate. … It looks like whoever it was that fired the attack is gone, much to my agitation. I let out a groan as I continue my trot, now at a quicker pace. … I make it to the castle (now being used as a military base, and is being repurposed to act as such) without another incident. Though I can feel countless eyes watching my every move. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was in enemy territory. I let out a chuckle. I guess technically speaking, I sort of am, though they’ll relies what we did was for the best. In time. As I make my way to the assembly room (which was the throne room), every solider I pass gives a salute, which I returned with a nod of acknowledgement. Because of how hectic things were at the moment, I had instructed my men to come to the assembly room, so we can discuss how to precede (and report on anything we deemed necessary to talk about). I reached my destination, and much to my surprise, I'm actually not the first pony to get here. After waiting a few more minutes, everypony has arrived. "Alright, now that everypony is accounted for, let's begin. The first thing on the agenda, securing the perimeter." I say. I heard one of them clear his throat. "We haven't been able to find the rooms the former princesses had made. We can't ask the construction ponies because the sisters had made the rooms themselves, and with Celestia's time in this castle, it stands to reason that there's even more unknown areas." He said with a frown. "Have you attempted to contact the sisters to gather Intel about the locations of the rooms, and how to access them?" I asked. "Unfortunately with the power of 4 Alicorns, the Crystal Heart and the Elements of Harmony, we're unable to ask them directly. We've attempted to ask Luna utilizing the dream realm, but she had this to say: Not even a week since you jesters in armor decided to bite the hoof that fed you, and you already require our help? If I cared as little about my oath as you cared for yours, I'd make sure every dream you had from this point onwards were nothing but night terrors, the likes of which no sane pony hath experienced before! Thou art lucky we hath our morals, unlike you filthy traitors." He took a moment to let that sink in, then continued. The Elements didn't approve of our actions, which it showed by sending half of the squad I sent to get them to the hospital, and put the other half in comas. The Elements then transported themselves to where Twilight had been at the time (most likely because she was the last living bearer), and the mare had immediately brought them to the Crystal Empire. "She then went on to say that while it's against her morals to give night terrors, it isn't against her morals to give nightmares or cause damage to the psyche, then 'suggested' we not utilize the dream realm again." "I've worked with Celestia for years, so even if you had contacted her, she'd probably say: That wasn't apart of the arrangement, so I have no obligation to tell you. I figured asking them wouldn't work, still, it was worth a shot." I say with a groan. "Has anypony seen Twilight? I know her well enough to think she'd at least send a letter about love and friendship." "Negative, we've asked around, but ponys have been reluctant to tell us anything. All they say is: We don't know anything. And when asked if they're lying, they ask: do you have any proof? And when we pointed out how nervous they are, they say: Of course we're nervous, it's not like we know when you all will 'protect' Equestra by having another massacre against defenseless ponies again. Needless to say, due to what happened, finding leads will be much harder. Right now it's impossible to discern whether their nervous because they're hiding something, or because they're talking to us. And going undercover won't work, because nopony trusts anypony, save for certain ponies close to them." Another one said. "That's gonna be a problem. We only have a limited number of eyes and ears to go around." I say aloud. We'd have to come up with something fast, or else our enemies will take advantage of this weakness.