If he was going, to be honest to any creature, he never believed that the three fillies would ever succeed in their military coup. He simply believed that it would be another failed attempt after the disaster that happened in the Badlands. After they failed in Ponyville that they would be hugged by the ponies there and all would be well.
He was so naive.
No, instead the Crusaders managed to pull it off without as much as a single problem. They ordered the soldiers to make sure everypony had been there and counted heads and whatnot. Insulted the Princess of Friendship who was now in a coma and took away the pegasi and unicorns abilities.
He noticed how the pegasi’s face became more depressed as the days turned to weeks and weeks turned into two months. They lived to be able to fly, not being able to is the same as taking away who they are.
The same could be said about the unicorns, they were depressed for the lack of magic they could use if any at all. They didn’t need to use magic all the time and could live without using their horn but that didn’t mean that they never wanted to use magic. It had become handy for many unicorns to use it whenever they needed to for everyday things like shopping, cutting, teleporting and so forth. They weren’t as depressed as the pegasi but they were not happy.
The earth ponies were the best off but that didn’t mean that it was a walk in the park for them. Most if not all of them were depressed and did everything the regime was telling them to do. They believed everything that the Crusaders sprouted in their public speeches about how they will make Equestria great again. They were so depressed that they didn’t realise that they had started to buy into the lies of the Crusaders' Democratics Party and it was scaring Capper to no end.
The Foal Free Press that the Crusaders had “worked” for to get their journalist cutie marks had been bought by the regime and pressed out news about Ponyville. It mostly contained new projects for the future, their ideology on how the princesses failed Equestria and how Scootaloo would be the planet's best-suited empress for the job and so forth. It was the same thing sprouting day in and day out.
It didn’t help that all forms of newsletters were owned by the regime either.
Because of this, a lot of children who went to school easily were fed the lies that the Crusaders were spreading. They kept repeating how the Crusaders were the definition of peaceful rulers and eventually, most students believed it along with many grown mares and stallions.
The only ones who didn’t believe the lies were him, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Twilight who was in a coma.
That had shocked him to the very core when he had heard and even witnessed what had taken place. He had been shopping for candy from a mare named Bon Bon who was very sweet and gentle when he had seen a large crowd circling outside Sugarcube Corner a few streets down. He thought at first that maybe there was a fight going on or Twilight was once again trying to convince the Crusaders that they were too young to rule—which he agreed with—and he had made the jackpot. The former was correct but the latter was also correct. The lilac alicorn had tried to convince the Crusaders that they were too young and that they were hurting the ponies around them until Twilight must have said something that pissed off Scootaloo to the point where she viciously attacked the mare.
The ponies had tried to stop it but the soldiers halted their movement. It made him disgusted that he was their captain. A captain controlled the soldiers who halted any attempts to help the Princess of Friendship. If it wasn’t for the fact he couldn’t blow his cover, he would have aided the Princess and attempt to flee.
He had checked up on her at the hospital where the nurse had at first refused to reveal anything in fear he would report to the regime but after he told her that some creatures were loyal to the princesses, insinuating himself. Nurse Redheart had reluctantly told him that her situation was stable and would make a recovery but that some damaged nerves might not fully recover but that it wouldn’t affect her ability to rule.
To say Capper had been relieved would have been an understatement. He had informed Princess Luna—who was the best Princess in his opinion—of what had happened and the stability, he could have sworn he saw Nightmare Moon flash inside her eyes when they had secretly met up at a pub in disguise.
He still remembers the conversation as if it was yesterday.
~~Dictators Of Ponyville~~
Capper was sitting at a booth inside of a pub in the private area for soldiers of the regime. The soldiers were privileged with a lot of different things like being seen as first-class citizens, being allowed to vote first, being allowed to own cars without government permission etcetera. Having a private area inside a pub was one such privilege.
However, the higher you are within the military, the more privileges you're given. One of those is that Capper can be alone inside the private area if he wanted to and bring some creature with him.
It hadn’t been easy to uplift the dome that surrounded Ponyville and the Everfree forest. He had to bribe a few guards to uplift it for a two-way ticket so he could speak to Luna. He could send letters but that had its risks of it being read by the other party members and he couldn’t risk that so he decided to bribe the guards and said that it was a creature who sold weapons and that it could potentially help the regime.
It was a lot riskier than sending a letter but some things cannot be written and needs to be spoken face-to-face.
After the guards had been given the money and cakes they had asked, they uplifted it and Luna walked through with a spell to disguise herself as a normal unicorn.
Luna had decided to use her old light bluish mane style and a cloak to conceal her wings with the help of a spell just in case she tripped on something.
Capper had greeted her and tried his best to not laugh at her stunned look at what had happened to Ponyville. She was like a little filly exploring a city for the first time and considering how… different Ponyville now looked like it wasn’t surprising.
Capper led her to a pub that was in the secluded section of the city. The place looked just as clean and beautiful but there weren’t many creatures who ventured here due to the lack of restaurants and pubs. But there were a few here and there.
One of them was owned by a mare named Berry Punch who was a kind and welcoming mare. He had been surprised when she had been so welcoming the first time he had come for a drink with Spike after work but she said she could… “feel” auras and claimed she knew that he wasn’t bad and didn’t want to do the things he was doing. He felt warm inside and made it a habit of coming often.
Berry Punch was a light pinkish dark purplish-coated mare with a reddish pinkish mane and tail with a grape and strawberry cutie mark on her flanks.
Outside the pub was the sign; Berry’s Drinks and looking through the windows showed a few customers were already there. With Luna right behind him, he walked inside and was greeted by the scent of the many different juices that smelled lovely. There were chairs and tables in different corners a few chairs near the counter where Berry herself was reading a newspaper article about how Scootaloo would all save them from corruption.
“Hello, Berry!” Capper greeted with a smile which caught the attention of the earth pony.
“Oh! Hello captain~” Berry teased with a wink. She noticed Luna behind him. “Whose the lucky mare?” She teased again making Capper almost choke on his spit.
“A friend of mine,” he glanced around and noticed a table full of stallions playing a card game and had bits on the table. Gamblers. “I was hoping to use the private room for myself and my friend here with no other soldier intervening,”
He whispered it to her and she instantly lost her teasing look and tone and nodded professionally and walked around the counter and led them up a staircase made from stone. On the second floor were multiple doors that led to rooms where soldiers could relax in private and could help themselves to drinks in place.
There was a machine in place where you had to pay. It was put there by the Crusaders because they didn’t want anypony to lose money due to soldiers lying about their consumption.
The doors were made from wood and had golden handles on them. The floor had a red mat as if celebrities were walking down the hallway. There were a few plants near windows with portraits of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.
Luna couldn’t help but pay attention to the way the paintings conveyed the expression on their young faces. A filly shouldn’t have the same look as a soldier that has witnessed war.
“You coming?” Capper called out to her when he had turned a corner and saw that she hadn’t followed. Luna shook off her thoughts and caught up with them.
Berry Punch led them to a room that had a minibar with a bits machine to make sure that soldiers don’t avoid paying their bills. The machine was located on the right side of the room while to the left side were two large brown-leather sofas with a coffee table that had an ashtray, magazines and a small flag that the Crusaders had given everypony the second they had taken over. Two windows were closed but the curtains weren’t in place so it showed the beautiful city during the night. The walls had small portraits depicting the political party. The floor was made from dark oak wood and was smooth.
“Thank you, Berry, sorry If I scared you back there,” he apologised. While he didn’t want to look threatening, he was still wearing the suit that represented the captain of the military. How are some ponies supposed to know whether he was friendly or not?
She waved it off. “No worries, Capper, just let me know when you're finished. You just press the red button by the door,” Berry explained and pointed towards the red button. “I will know you're finished and I’ll come and pick you up,”
With that, Berry left the two alone in the room.
Capper went up to the machine and ordered a cider while Luna ordered water. They took their positions on the couches so they faced one another. The atmosphere wasn’t tense but it wasn’t calm. It made the captain of the military jittery.
“I must admit, I did not expect the fillies to so such… drastic changes,” Luna began while sipping her water. Capper nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Imagine my surprise when they tore down the town and turned it into this bustling city. I didn’t realise that children so young could have such visions,” the cat admitted while looking out the window and saw the cars on the highways driving to their different destinations.
“They are more observant than we give them credit for,” Luna stated while looking out the window and saw some ponies having fun. Some were on dates while others were on duty for the night shift for the regime.
“True to that,” Capper said and took a sip of his cider. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask this but how long will you allow them to get away with their crimes?”
“When I have found a way to deactivate the device,” Luna revealed. Capper took a sip of his beverage.
“Hm, you think you can do it? I don’t doubt your abilities. It’s just it was almost impossible for me to bribe the soldiers and I’m their captain!” Capper sounded frustrated at that but he calmed down.
“Well, I know it will be difficult. How much did you bribe them for, a one-way ticket or two?” She asked while glancing into the cat’s eyes.
Capper grumbled incoherently until he revealed the payment. “Lots of bits and cupcakes for a two-way ticket. In and out.”
“Sorry, I will pay you back what your owed,” Luna promised. She felt bad that Capper went through all of that to get her inside the country but felt worse that he believed she would be there and then leave. She should have said something.
They had been communicating through dreams and a few nights ago Luna had said she would try to get inside the country when she’d been informed by Capper that there was a dome over the entire area. He told her he’d bribe the soldiers and get her inside. Luna had only said which day but not that she would ever leave which she should have done.
“It’s fine, this is what is needed to protect Equestria and help those three from themselves. They are more dangerous than I ever gave them credit for,” Capper muttered while thinking about the Crusaders. He crossed his legs.
“It’s not their fault. Not fully. They were shamed and silently banished from Ponyville. While the ponies here didn’t want them to leave, the fillies had no way of knowing that. They certainly didn’t show any signs of wanting anything to do with them. As adults, we avoid a pony or creature until the anger has subsided, the fillies haven’t learned that yet, or if they have then they learned it in the worst possible way. But what is their fault, is taking over Ponyville. They have started a communist regime. While I have no problem with such beliefs because it did originally have good intentions, spiral into something ugly. Just look at Ponyville, sure it looks beautiful I’ll give them that but how is the political climate?” Luna asked the last question with curiosity and a little sarcasm because she knew partially what the climate was like having been witness to it herself before banishment.
Capper sighed. She wasn’t going to like this. “Well, Mayor Mare was imprisoned for ‘crimes against the state’,”
Luna snorted at that.
“And Princess Twilight Sparkle was put into a coma,”
Luna spat out the water that she had been drinking. She coughed while Capper tried to help her. When she was finished with her predicament, she looked at Capper in shock.
“What?” She asked quietly and started to slowly breathe through her mouth and out her nose to calm herself.
“Supreme Leader Scootaloo got tired of her lectures about them being too young to be mayors and rulers. Scootaloo insulted Twilight by getting old having grey hairs. Twilight then did the mistake of saying that the three fillies didn’t know hurtful words. Scootaloo attacked her and the soldiers halted the other ponies' movement and all they could do was watch a filly beat up a grown mare. She’s stable but she’s in a coma.” Capper explained.
Luna listened to the story with rapt attention, not wanting to miss any information she was provided with. By the end of it, she was furious. So furious that she swore she felt the presence of Nightmare Moon but she killed the presence by calming down.
She refused to turn into that monster again.
“This… changes things,” she said quietly while finishing her water. Capper raised a brow.
“How so?”
“They attacked a Princess which is a crime against the kingdom of Equestria. If they were grown mares they’d be sent to Tartarus for a minimum of twenty years.” Luna revealed with a sigh.
Capper’s eyes turned to saucers and his pupils shrank dramatically. “What?! But they’re just fillies can’t you give them another—” Luna put her hoof on his mouth.
“That’s why I said grown mares. Since they’re fillies there’s not much we can do. No law says anything about fillies taking over a small town and turning it into a dictatorship,” she tried to joke but neither of them laughed. “I don’t know what my sister or I, will punish them with, all I know is that they cannot get off scot-free unless another Princess challenges the punishment and gets enough votes.”
Capper didn’t relax at all. From the tone in her voice, it seemed like she had something in mind but he knew she wouldn’t reveal anything to him. Sighing he finished his beverage of choice.
“You want another drink?” She shook her head. “Okay then, want to come to my place and sleep? I’ll leave for work at six in the morning and will be working until nine in the evening.”
“Yes, that would make things easier, thank you,” she said appreciatively.
With that, Capper pressed the red button and waited for Berry Punch to come to pick them up.