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// Nightmares & Names 
// Story: When The Eagles Go Marching 
// by Wanderer101 
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A young filly trotted down a dirt road on her way back home. In her mouth was a bag containing worn books & papers. Despite the aching of her bones she was very happy. She had a very productive day at school and learned a lot. Since she had her morning shift at the factory she could only catch the last couple hours of class. Thankfully Miss. Juniper Breeze was very understanding. She was always willing to stay behind a few hours to teach her. She always helped Miss Breeze with some of her paperwork as a way to say thanks. She was really really good at paperwork. So good Miss Breeze said she might end up having a cutie mark on it.

The thought of getting a cutie mark though outright terrified her. If she got a cutie mark she couldn’t work at the factory anymore! The foreman only let her work because her small hooves were ideal for the inner workings of the more complex machines. If she got a cutie mark that showed her talents lie elsewhere she would be out of a job! 

She had almost lost her job once before. When a few new ponies were hired they got really upset when they saw her and a few other kids. They were yelling at the foreman about ‘Foal Labor’ and how they would ‘report this’. Thankfully nothing came of this. The owner of the factory and the Mayor of Baltimare were really good friends. A few Strike Breakers and some cops came by to yell at them and that was the end of it. 

As she trotted down the dirt road she saw a small rundown house with a few crops growing around it. Before heading inside she checked on the crops pulling out the few weeds she saw. It wasn’t much but these would make sure she and her parents had a decent meal for a month at least. 

Opening the door she was greeted by a shocking scene. Their home was much to look at before but now it was absolutely trashed. The kitchen table was flipped over.  Its single chair was thrown against the wall having two of its remaining three legs broken off. A small dusty shelf containing the few knick knacks they owned had fallen to the floor with its contents strewn about. Laying against the wood burning stove in the center of it all was her mother, Berry Blast. 

Her sky blue coat was covered  in dust no doubt from throwing everything around. The fur around her puffy red eyes was wet from tears. Several bottles of just about anything even remotely alcoholic lay around her. She rushed toward her thinking they had just been robbed.

“Mom! What happened! Where’s dad-” she said frantically only to recoil back as the bottle struck her head.

“Don’t you talk about that idiot!” her mother snarled “I warned him not to make such a big fuss! I warned him and now he- he is…” 

Her mother trailed off, eyes widening as she saw the small trail of blood dripping down her forehead. Her mother then collapsed against the stove and cried. 

“Berry… your father. He’s not coming back…”





Baltimare was one of Equestria’s more rapidly industrializing cities. In a couple of years the seaside city was filled with factories, railyards, and shipyards. This rapid industrialization came at a cost however. Baltimare’s working class had begun to suffer greatly as the wealthy industrialists profited from their labor. In normal circumstances the disgruntled populace would simply vote in a new mayor or council representatives that could make positive changes.

In Baltimare though you didn’t get elected to anything without the industrialists approval. Everypony from the mayor to the city council to the chief of police was wrapped firmly around the industrialist’s hooves. Strikes were broken up by police and deputized strike breakers. The city council routinely passed laws that favored the wealthy. The mayor and the noble friends he had in Canterlot made sure anyone with any authority didn’t find out what was going on. Baltimare had without a doubt become the worst city in Equestria.

There was a not so significant movement in the city to unionize and get their voices heard. Her father was one of the more prominent members of this new movement despite the constant pleas of her mother who feared reprisal. Her mother turned out to be right because one day while she was away a group of police officers came to their home and after beating her father dragged him away for ‘plotting an uprising’. He supposedly hung himself a couple days later…

Since that day she had become the main breadwinner trying to keep their already fragile life afloat. With the loss of her father her mother just… wasted away. She barely ate and simply spent her days staring out the window. She died a few years later. By that point she was both old enough and important enough of an employee at the factory that she avoided having to go to an orphanage. In those years she had become jaded and cynical. The large manors of the wealthy she had passed but on the way to and from work were once something she loved looking at. Now they only filled her with rage. Her faith in Celestia also faltered. Growing up she was told the Solar Princess was like a goddess, that she could do anything. If so, why didn’t she save them? Why didn’t she save her father, mother, or the hundreds imprisoned or even killed for daring to wish for a better life.

When the Stalliongrad revolution happened in her teen years she felt something change within her. The ideology of Equalism had always intrigued her the moment she read Starlight Glimmer’s book. The revolution and Stalliongrad’s independence proved such a system was viable! There was room for improvement though. If some adjustments were made then a perfect society could be achieved! Everypony would be happy! No foal would have to suffer like she had. She had only gone to a few Baltimare Equalist Party rallies before a few comrades warned her the cops were looking for her. Since she was the daughter of a ‘troublemaker’ the cops kept an eye on her. Her visiting the rallies was more than enough justification to throw her behind bars. The next day she was on a boat to the New Mareland colony.





Where did things go so wrong? She had no idea what point she had lost her previous convictions and beliefs. It could have been during her time in the Baltimare Equalist Parties. It could have been when she arrived in New Mareland and saw it was every bit as bad as Baltimare in some places and worse in others! It could have been when she had finally gained the power she had so craved. Power corrupts and all that. She refused to believe she was a bad pony. She wasn’t a bad pony! 

She looked out the large window behind her. In the square below were the bodies of ponies and griffons. 237 to be exact. It was a number that she would never forget. She was the one who ordered their execution. Soldiers and Bitty Simple tanks were in the square as well. The soldiers were loading the bodies onto trucks. Not to be buried but strung up around the city with 'TRAITOR' signs stuck to them. Her own cruelty really sickened her sometimes. 

This was a scene she had witnessed many times before. This wasn’t real. It was just a nightmare. One that she has been having more and more often lately. The first time she had it was only a few days after she moved in with Eric. She had woken up in a cold sweat feeling absolutely disgusted in herself. She tried to deny it at first but the evidence was too extensive to ignore. 

It made a bit of sense the more she thought about it. The gaps in her memory. Being completely free of any malnourishment and brainwashing that afflicted other proles. The fact that she was in the Inner Party Bunker at all and she couldn’t remember what job she even performed in it. Before she started having these nightmares the earliest memory she could recall was being yelled at by Doctor Double Think. He kept calling her Big Sister and asking her what were they going to do. She told him she didn’t know what he was talking about and that her name was Berry.

Double Think looked shocked for a moment before he began to smile creepily. He said that she needed to follow him to his office. There were a few tests he wanted to run. She refused so he pulled out a gun. He then said he wasn’t asking and that she’d better be a good prole and follow him. At that moment a Thought Police Officer happened by and saw Double Think pointing a gun at her. She had always wondered why that Thought Police officer tackled Double Think and got shot for it. Now she knows…

She was Big Sister!  She was responsible for ruining the lives of every inhabitant in an entire nation! She was most certainly going to be put in history books as the worst tyrant to ever exist! Not even Chrysalis had reached her level of infamy! In fact after the US liberated Marelandia the Changeling Queen had sent a public letter of sympathy towards the oppressed proles and an entire cargo ship loaded up with relief supplies.

What was she going to do!? Should she tell Eric? The human was her best friend and the closest thing she had to a family. His parents were also very welcoming. His father even joked that he came back from the Army with a girlfriend much to Eric’s embarrassment. What if he hated her when she told him? What if he reported this to his superiors! They would most certainly execute her! No! She had to take this to the grave!

Big Sister died in the Inner Party bunker. Most likely from a self inflicted gunshot like so many other Inner Party officials. That was the official stance and to tartarus was she going to dispute it. She silently thanked Double Think for not saying a word to anyone. He knew who she was. He knew what had happened or at least reached the same conclusion as her. Since her Doublethink addled mind couldn't comprehend Marelandia actually losing it decided that Marelandia didn’t lose because it didn’t exist. It never had. If it never existed then Big Sister never existed either. Just like that years of memories were gone, put under lock & key in the deepest corner of her mind. She was Berry Swirl again. An innocent young mare unaware of the blood on her hooves.

Well until now at least. Guess memories can’t stay locked up forever. She was sure if he still drew breath Double Think would be over the moon about this. Speaking of the moon she was going to have to never go back to Equestria and keep track of Princess Luna’s movements at all times. If by chance the Lunar Princess saw her nightmares she would undoubtedly want to have a word or two with her.

She glanced at the clock on her nightstand having woken up not too long ago. Guess once she started her personal musings her mind decided dreamtime was over. Maybe that was why she kept having it? Give her a chance at self reflection? She didn’t see much point in it since she was without a doubt the biggest piece of shit in all of Equus. She honestly didn't deserve a second chance but she wasn't going to squander it. Flopping back onto her pillow she tried to fall back asleep. It was 4 AM. She had work in a few hours.





United States of the Americas
New Washington
Department of the Interior

Secretary of the Interior Lemon Zest sat at her desk looking at the various proposals for New Hoofington’s name now that it had been officially admitted to the US. After the fall of MARESOC the now free proles of Marelandia had wished to join the country that liberated them. That was easier said than done. The entire country was in ruins. Most of it was due to MARESOC’s negligence rather than combat though the Air Force did its fair share of damage. Add in the fact that many proles were completely incapable of doing anything unless ordered and you had a region that would need a little work before it could join the United States as a full state.

While her department was supposed to be in charge of the country’s federal lands like national parks since they didn’t really have national parks yet they were instead tasked with rebuilding the former Marelandian territories. With much of the Department of New World Reconstruction’s assets being transferred over to her department and the blank check given to them by Congress to repair & expand infrastructure they were making decent headway. Soon several regions had progressed enough to become full states. Which led to a whole new problem. What to call the new states.

While you would think they would keep their old names the residents of these territories were of a different opinion. The names brought up bad memories or weren’t really accurate anymore. New Hoofington was pretty much gone. Several divisions of US Army Motorized & Mechanized Infantry landed both in and around the city with support from the US Navy. They had landed in a city that was an already bombed out ruin. MARESOC typically fired artillery on the city claiming it was an attack from America. The only things really standing in the city were the dockyards, munitions plants, and government buildings.The city would have to be rebuilt from scratch just like Sunset or Hoovesplain.

While it had over two centuries of history back on Earth the United States was new here. It was an opportunity for all the races to have a new beginning. A new country so they needed new names. That was why New Manehattan changed its name to Liberty City. Both as a way to look towards the future and as a nod to how many proles in New Hoofington sailed or even swam to the city in order to escape. Sure there were a few holdovers like New Washington and the state it was in being named Columbia or the Marelandian region of Celestia keeping its name. 

She had already rejected a few names today but one did have some promise. A few humans, ponies, and griffons had proposed it along with a development plan. The humans were either from the American state of Louisiana or the Canadian province of Quebec. The ponies were from the Equestrian city of Prance. The griffons were from the nation of Aquelia. They had noticed the similarity of their cultures so they wished to build a community together and share it with the rest of the nation. After a short discussion they went with the name New Bordeaux. 

She had heavy incentives from Congress to accept proposals like this. Not only would this keep griffons from becoming a looked down upon minority like in the old New Mareland but it would also help preserve a human culture, this being the American Francophone community. Thanks to the nuclear war many human cultures were considered to be lost. Native Americans made up less than 1% of Amercans. They were given Hoovesplain (which they had renamed Dakota City) to try and keep their culture alive. Hawaiians were given Eldoran island (which was renamed Alola). Controversially a former Caribbean dictator was given Boltaire Island on which to rule as governor. He was winning every election legitimately so both Congress and the White House let him be. Hopefully they won’t hear anything from New Tropico anytime soon.

She did have some ulterior motives. Allowing the city to be called New Bordeaux would certainly please the French citizens of the UEN or European State as they had rebranded themselves. It’s ‘Europe First’ policies were becoming increasingly worrying. President Carter wanted to de-escalate things quickly or at least hold them off until the US got on a proper war footing. Despite happening relatively quickly the Marlandian Liberation had drained much of the military’s munitions stock. Even with Marelandian weapons factories under their control it would take awhile to replenish their stocks.

The Europeans had been getting really friendly with the Changelings. They had most likely formed an alliance since a few Changeling Jaeger units were reported by Olenian and Soviet forces to possess early assault rifles not too dissimilar from the STG-44 which the Changelings should be years away from producing. What if the Euros help them build jets, modern battle tanks, or nukes next!? They needed to get the Euros to back down in any way possible and appealing to the Euro State’s French community which made up a decent chunk of the nation’s population was a good starting off point.

Now back to work. Sunset needed a new name. She was leaning toward Metropolis. Despite being a reference to a human comic book it was a quite fitting name. They were currently sending a majority of the humans rescued in the Earth expeditions there. The city was poised to become a major population center again. Besides, calling it Metropolis will certainly annoy the people that keep wanting a city to be called Gotham. She doesn’t care how many people & ponies they get for their petition. She is not naming a city Gotham!