The Shadow of Ages

by Warwolf


Legacy of Hope

The Shadow of Ages

Legacy of Hope 


   

The paper was an old one. It had apparently once been affixed to a wall but had either been torn down or blown off by a strong wind, and had found its way into their path seemingly by chance.
 
 

Would you want NORMAN BORLAUG in Equestria?

We would!

For many humans, starvation is either a looming threat or daily reality. With no way to control their weather and seven billion people to feed, they must constantly pursue new ways to improve crop yields.

NORMAN BORLAUG was a human biologist who developed an improved strain of wheat that saved over one billion humans from starvation!

Borlaug was a hero. Think of all the good he could have done for Equestria! But Celestia and Luna would never allow him in, just because he was a human. We think this is wrong.

We are the Equestrians For Humans!

Friendship Is Universal!

    "I've got a bad feeling about this, guys." Lightning said with a frown. "It almost sounds like this Equestria fought its own Conversion War."

    "The question is, who won?" Dusk said as he looked over the flyer again. "It sounds like this Equestria wasn't wholly taken in by the Solar Tyrant's propaganda here and tried to mount a civil resistance. But for all we know, this might be a leftover from an entirely different reality that got sucked through with us when we went through the Bleed."

    "You seriously believe that?" Ash snorted. Dusk sighed and shook his head even as he briefly summoned his duster and stowed the paper away in one of the inner pockets before dismissing the garment.

    "No, but I don't want to believe the Conversion War could have occurred in a completely different multiverse. The idea that that's somehow a constant of existence would be depressing. C'mon. Let's get into town and hope that the shit doesn't hit the fan."


   

As they walked into this reality's Ponyville, they noticed that it didn't seem as boisterous as that of the other two Equestrias they had encountered. Despite the Conversion War wreaking havoc on their lives, the Ponyville of the Solar Tyrant's reality had not seemed to slow down in the least until the invasion, and within a few months under Luna's new regime, Ponyville's marketplace was one of the most thriving parts of the town. But there seemed to be few shops open and most of the stands were gone. Dusk frowned thoughtfully as he looked about.

    "Hello? Anyone here?" he called out. He briefly kicked himself for not using 'anypony'. Though not every inhabitant of the various Equestrias used it exclusively, he couldn't be sure that wasn't the case here. But in either case, the green unicorn got no response. The team continued to meander. They found something resembling a small bar and cafe with yet another of those old flyers on the wall outside it:
 
 

Stylized graphic of a talon shaking a hoof.

If gryphons can be our friends...

Stylized graphic of a claw shaking a hoof.

If dragons can be our friends...

Stylized graphic of a hand shaking a hoof.

Can't humans be our friends?

We won't know until we try.

We are the Equestrians For Humans!

Friendship Is Universal!

    "Is that piece of junk still up?" the voice came from an Earth pony with a violet and blue mane. On her flank were three pieces of candy.

    "I take it you know something about these?" Dusk asked with a curious quirk of his brow. The earth pony glared at the flyer and then sighed, bowing her head slightly.

    "I do, yes." Then she frowned. "How is it you don't? The Equestrians For Humans was a pretty big deal back during the war."

    Wincing internally at the implications of that term, Dusk forged on. "My friends and I have been out on the frontier for a long time. We only just got back into Equestria proper."

    "Oh? Where exactly on the frontier? Appaloosa?"

    "Further out past that. Where the desert gives way to forest and greenlands again." Dusk replied.

    "But...isn't that close to the Griffin and Zebra kingdom borders?" Bon Bon asked, frowning in confusion.

    "It is. But it's been some months since we've been home. We decided to come in to see the kingdom properly. My friends and I grew up out on the frontier, you see, and we've never been here before, so..." Dusk smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Bon Bon nodded slowly.

    "Then it sounds like you missed the border skirmishes." At the inquiring looks of the Six, she sighed. "Not long after we got back from Earth, the Griffins and Zebras cut off diplomatic ties with us, and insisted that any and all frontier ponies be sent away from the lands near the borders. Some ponies refused to leave the lands they'd worked for years, or centuries in certain cases. It's lead to a number of fights between ponies and griffins. The Zebras have told us they want nothing to do with us and have slaughtered a number of ponies who accidentally crossed the border into their lands and sent the corpses back over the border in body bags. The griffins have ignored us for the moment so long as we don't set hoof over their borders, thank Celestia. But that won't last."

    The Six looked at each other with trepidation. This was getting worse and worse.
   
"Why didn't the princesses intercede?" Flash asked. "This seems like it would be resolved through a bit of diplomacy."

    Bon Bon shook her head. "You colts really haven't had much contact with Equestria proper, have you?" she asked in annoyance. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't even know why that piece of garbage is even still up. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in right now!"

    "What's all the yelling out— oh. Bon Bon. Why are you harassing these new folks?" came a stallion's voice as a tawny coated pony with a red mane poked around the corner. He was a unicorn and seemed close to the relative ages of the Six and Bon Bon.

    "Me?! Why haven't you taken that down already, Golden Gulp? They don't deserve any free advertising after what they've done!"

    Golden Gulp rolled his eyes, and turned towards the Six. "Come on  in, fellas. I'll rustle you up something to drink. It looks like you've come a long way. I'm surprised Pinkie hasn't spotted you first, to be honest. Don't mind Bon Bon. She has...issues with the EFH."

    "Yeah, uh we just arrived, actually." Ash answered with a weak grin. "Dunno if this 'Pinkie' has even seen us aroun' yet."

    Following the stallion into the cafe, where only a pony in a cloak and hood sat at the very far end of the bar, and a few others sat at a few tables, the Six grabbed some seats at said bar themselves, though nearer to the door in case they needed to make a quick getaway. Whisper fiddled lightly with a coaster, seemingly for something to do to amuse himself for a few moments. They missed seeing the pony in the cloak do a doubletake at the sight of them, and another at the sight of Dusk Shine's Warrior Mark. Though the boys were amused at the sight of Golden Gulp's cutie mark. And then collectively shuddered at the name cutie mark. The flagon of beer stamped on the unicorn's flank was still hilarious though.

    "So, the EFH. Hmh. I swear, sometimes I wish they'd had more impact when it mattered. Everything they've done since has been...well, I'm not sure I can put words to it." Golden Gulp said, as he walked behind the bar. "What'll you boys have?"

    After placing their orders, the Six settled in to wait for their drinks. Dusk, taking the lead to renew their conversation, asked, "What is it they've done now that suddenly seems to be so important?"

    "Well, after the war with Earth, they came back into the open." Golden Gulp replied, setting their drinks out with magic.

    "Back into the open. That suggests that at some point they went underground?" Lightning asked, flicking an ear up in interest.

    "For the most part. It's actually part of why Bon Bon hates that poster. She knew the mare who created the group back when it was dedicated to human rights. Nice girl by the name of Lyra Heartstrings. See, Lyra believed that humans were fine as they were despite the fact that the Princesses said they had to be converted. She had friends who'd been to Earth and apparently from all the correspondence that she'd had with some of her friends out there, she came to the conclusion that humans were really no different from ponies. Well, asides from lacking the ability to use magic, I mean. They depended on science and technology and they were so advanced in those fields it was frightening to a lot of folks here in Equestria. I reckon maybe Celestia and Luna got spooked when they saw what humans could do or something. Because the EFH pointed out— and hindsight being twenty-twenty, as the saying goes, they were right— that we had beings already living in Equestria just as dangerous in some ways as humans were, and we didn't force them to give up their race and everything they'd developed over the ages."

    "I'm guessing that obviously there were some ponies who agreed. Otherwise the movement wouldn't have had any traction." Dusk said, mulling over the idea. Lyra had been an activist in the Equestria that the Thee Worlds Alliance had gone to war with as well. But it sounded as though she never joined the fight directly in this reality. The Conversion War had seen her become a warrior as much as a protestor when the Solar Tyrant had thrown all pretense at being open to the rights of others out the door. Despite missing part of one ear and her lower right arm— medical science back in the Shogunate had provided her with replacements through a mix of science and magic, but they couldn't quite entirely regenerate the original bodyparts, so she was partially biomechanical now— she remained happy with her role in the war and had an almost entirely carefree attitude now that her reality had been brought into the Alliance, even if only provisionally at the moment.

    "There were. And oddly enough, turned out to be three ponies that nopony expected. One was Cheerilee, who was as gentle a soul as one could find, another was the former mayor of Ponyville. The third was a Zebra who had emigrated from her homelands to live in the Everfree forest named Zecora." Golden Gup smiled. "Shame we were all so easily frightened of her for being a bit different. I got the chance to speak with Zecora a few times once we found out she was just like anypony else. Her habit of talking in rhyme was pretty interesting too. I was never sure if that was a trait of all Zebras, or if she had some form of verbal aphasia, or if she just liked talking that way,  honestly. But she was a kinder soul than anypony took her for at first glance, and even forgave us for being such idiots when she first came to live in Everfree."

    "What happened?"

    "Well, they were— and to all I know still are— a non-violent protest group that spoke out against the Conversion Bureaus. Never harmed a soul. But when the war kicked into high gear, and the bombardment of the barrier began, folks in Ponyville turned on them fast enough once they were ratted out. Cheerilee was fired from her job at the school, and Mayor Mare was thrown out of office by royal decree, which the Guard were all too willing to enforce. They and Lyra left town. Nopony ever figured they'd be heard from again. They came here for one last drink before they left. I never did like that they fired Cheerilee. My sister's little filly was taught by her. Was her favorite teacher in fact and she rarely had an unkind word for anyone. Her greatest joy was always in teaching. Seeing her being denied the right to do what she loved best was heartbreaking. But given that the EFH were starting to convince people of the idea that the princesses could actually be fallible....well, politically speaking the group was a threat to the consolidated front that we supposedly needed to present in order to show we were 'better' than humankind. I heard that Luna was the one that gave the order to have Mayor Mare removed from office. Celestia allowed them to continue operating since as far as she was concerned they were simply misguided. I left the poster up cause all of them had been my friends, and when all was said and done, despite their beliefs, they never did anypony any harm."

    "So where did they go?" Ash asked, knocking back a shot of his drink. "Ah can't imagine they stayed underground fer too long if they've become such a big deal."

    "Nopony knows what happened to Zecora. Some have claimed she still lives in Everfree, but if she's still there, nopony here in town could confirm it, cause if she still resides there she hasn't been coming out of it on our side of the forest anymore. Maybe she went back to the Zebra Kingdom. The Zebras did throw their support behind the EFH to a certain extent, as they had a lot of sympathizers there. As for Lyra, the former Mayor, and Cheerilee? They ended up in Fillydelphia. Seems that the EFH began again when rumors started swirling that the whole Conversion thing had stirred up a political hornet's nest with the other kingdoms and species out there. There's been talk of poltical embargos, trade restrictions, even outright war. But so far nothing has come of it. At least nothing major. However the attacks out on the borders of Equestria have begun to cause a great deal of distress for ponies across the kingdom.

    "The EFH emerged again, this time as the Equestrians For Hope. Still lead by Lyra, who's been trying to convince anyone showing even the remotest signs of dissatisfaction with the Princesses to act on that in a peaceful manner, instead of turning violent. And the plea for non-violent response to the current situation has by and large been successful, but there have been reports of occasional riots near Las Pegasus. Though the solution to the political dissention that the EFH has been suggesting has rustled more than a few feathers at Court all across the Kingdom, but particularly in Canterlot. They're calling for the princesses to step down, to have the monarchy and nobility's power dissolved and for the institution of a democratic form of government, so that this way ponies can be responsible for their own futures, rather than being dependent on the princesses. Celestia actually gets a lot more political flak from the EFH than Luna, but that seems to be because Luna is staying well out of the argument. Nopony knows why." Shrugging, Golden Gulp sighed. "I don't know that I entirely agree with their current stand, but I can't say I think they're wholly wrong, either. We made a lot of mistakes when we made contact with Earth, and that's come back to bite us in the flank. Especially now, what with current attempts to renew friendly relations with our neighbors starting to nosedive."

    "Hmm. Sounds like an interesting group. The recent poltical unrest probably explains why there was so little activity outside." Dusk mused thoughtfully, and Golden Gulp nodded in confirmation of that theory. "What about the Elements of Harmony? Even we've heard of them out near the borderlands. Where are they? Canterlot?"

    "Not all of them, no. Rainbow Dash returned here to work on the weather team. Fluttershy vanished. Nopony knows why or where to. She set her animals free one day and the next she was simply gone. Rumors still come up now and then about her travelling to Fillydelphia to join the EFH, or heading out to the Zebra kingdoms, or any of a dozen other odd places. Never had any confirmation of them though. There are even rumors that say she never left Canterlot that day. That the Fluttershy who popped up was an imposter and that the real Fluttershy died when the strain of separating our dimension from Earth overloaded her heart." Golden Gulp replied. "But there's never been any indication that those rumors are true either."

    "And the other four?" Dusk asked.

    "Twilight came back, I know that. But I haven't seen or heard from her in a long while. Her brother lost his legs in the war and word is she never forgave herself for it, since some believe her interview on that human TV show is what precipitated the war, including Twilight herself. Rarity moved to Canterlot. Her fashion designs finally caught somepony's eye and gave her an order big enough that she was able to afford to make the move when they turned out to be a major hit with the Canterlot elite. Applejack's back over in Sweet Apple Acres. Hasn't come to town much since, though. Word is that the lack of activity over at the market square has done their farm no help. If things keep up, they may lose it. Applejack's brother apparently went up to Canterlot the other day to ask for some financial support.  And Pinkie? Well, she's been all over the place lately. Believe it or not, she decided to become a 'motivational party thrower'. She's trying in her own way to keep everypony happy. Pretty much what she used to do here in Ponyville, only now she's taken it kingdom wide. Her parties have gone from simply being beloved town events to being quasi-legendary things most ponies would give their tails to get to be part of. She never turns anypony away from her parties, always seeming to have room for more at them, and does her best to put a smile on the face of everypony she meets." Golden Gulp smiled. "She's a bit goofy, but she's still a sweet girl."

    The next few minutes passed in silence, as the boys finished off their drinks. With little else to do, Golden Gulp moved on to overseeing a few customers' tables. As they set their bits down on the table (Dusk was happy they remembered to have had some currency from the other Equestrias in what was now the Four Worlds Alliance with them in case they had needed to travel outside of the Shogunate or Earth) and after nodding to Golden, who waved cheerfully— or as much as he could, given the slow business day he seemed to be having— they started for the door. The pony in the cloak followed them. Or tried to. The moment the cloaked pony was outside, the Six were apparently gone. Like a breeze on the wind. Confused, their would be tail began to search around. When the figure rounded the side corner leading to the back alley where the Six had first seen the second EFH poster, a strong pair of hooves wrapped around their chest and pulled the pony further into the shadows. The pony gave a low yelp of fright, revealing the figure to be a mare. She quickly found a blade at her throat and froze up in fear so as not to give her assailant a reason to cut into her flesh.

    "Why are you following us?" came the hiss of a voice like the rasp of sandpaper on cracked bone. The mare's eyes bugged out. Whatever had happened to this stallion's voice, he sounded like something out of a horror story told around a campfire to scare foals.

    "I-I'm here on behalf of the EFH." she stammered.

    "Lies." the voice rasped.

    "I-It's true! My name is Light Step. I'm a recruiting scout for the Equestrians for Hope. Golden Gulp is an old friend and still helps us find ponies who are interested in the group's cause." the now named Light Step said quickly. "There aren't many this close to Canterlot who are willing to reveal any interest in the group because of how often the Royal Guard patrols here. You're the first ponies I've seen in months even willing to speak about the group without at least acting like you dislike them. Most Ponyville residents make a show of denouncing them."

    "If the guard is such a force here, why haven't they done anything about that poster?" this voice was different, and she recognized it as belonging to Dusk Shine.

    "They let him keep it up because he hasn't actually broken the law, strictly speaking, and they can't prove he's actually an agent for them." she said. "Please. I'm risking my own freedom at the very least just by trying to speak to you. I have no reason to lie."

    The blade at her throat slowly pulled away, and the weapon's owner remained in the shadows of the alley with the other five stallions.

    "What do you want?" Dusk asked after a few moments. Light Step breathed a sigh of relief, and looked into the shadows, trying to make out the small band of stallions in the dark.

    "The EFH is hoping to convince as many ponies as possible to join the cause for democratic government. But the Royal Guard have been given orders to supress it as much as possible within the bounds of the law. Since no EFH demonstration has been unlawful nor has it resulted in violence, the guard can only do what they can to keep ponies from learning of their existence. This is difficult to do since they usually hide their old posters in alleyways, and nopony knows where we hold our meetings. So the movement has been growing. Public opinion is divided almost smack dab in the middle. Half the ponies in the kingdom want to retain our current government, and a number growing to nearly half our population wants to dethrone them. The difference is that the half looking for change are split down their own line. Some want a violent revolution, while the other half're campaigning for a peaceful transfer of power. The EFH is obviously the group that seeks the latter."

    The six stallions seemed to be mulling the matter over. They didn't attack her again, at least.

    "We'll keep you in mind." Dusk's voice said from the shadows.

    "What does that mean?" Light Step asked in confusion. But she got no answer. A fact which she found annoying. She reached out to poke the closest stallion, only to strike air. She lit her horn and gawked.

    Somehow, the sextet had vanished entirely.


   

The Six emerged on the far side of Ponyville, close to the borders of Everfree, having taken the back alleys and side streets to avoid being seen by too many of its residents. They came to a stop in a small side alley off yet another side alley. It was secluded even by the standards they were looking for, and so found it perfect.

    "What do you think, Dusk?" Ash asked.

    "I don't like it. It's too neat." The emerald stallion replied. "All that information was dumped on us too easily. She was practically rushing to tell us. Either she's the most inept recruiter on the planet—"

    "Or she's not who she says she is." Ash nodded, following in the train of thought with the rest of the boys, who all nodded as well.

    'You think Celestia is trying to root out potential new recruits before they have a chance to add their voices to the EFH?' Whisper signed. It wasn't as easy with hooves, but sign language had evolved for those who didn't have the use of digits, and changing to the anthro form the team often favored wasn't a wise move right now. But to their surprise, Dusk shook his head.

    "No. If Golden Gulp's right, Celestia basically treats the EFH like children who don't understand life outside their own perceptions and let them do what they want so long as they didn't become violent. I'd stake my money on either someone in the court at the regional level, or Luna. And I'm leaning towards Luna."

    'Why her?'

    "I'm not sure if I can put it into words. But somehow it makes more sense for it to be her. She's the one Gulp credited with ousting the former mayor. And I wouldn't be surprised if she's working to cut the EFH off at the knees."

    Flash frowned. "You think she's trying to undermine her sister?"

    "No."  Dusk said with a scowl. "I think she's trying to protect her."


   

Golden Gulp frowned, staring at Bon Bon, who was standing behind a trio of Royal Guards. They weren't making any threatening moves yet, but Bon Bon's face wore a look that said she hoped they would.

    "I told you to take that poster down, Gulp. Was that so much to ask?" the Earth Pony remarked.

    "You don't own this shop, Bon Bon. I'll do with it what I want. You don't like it, you don't have to look at it. In fact, I don't see how it was ever any business of yours to begin with."

    "That poster glorifies traitors, damn you! I think it would make it anypony's business!" the mare snapped. "She was my friend too, Gulp. But that doesn't excuse her for what she did!"

    "She did nothing, Bon Bon. Nothing but try to present a different point of view. But for you, that somehow made her worthy of betrayal. You turned her into a pariah just because you didn't like the fact that she thought that for once, the princesses might have been wrong about something. And you call yourself her friend? After that? After you drove three ponies who'd lived here their entire lives out of the only home they'd ever known just because they spoke up for someone else? I think you and I have very different ideas on what makes a friendship." Golden Gulp replied, as he began to clean the dishes, turning his back on the guards and Bon Bon. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. It may be a slow business day, but I still have customers to look after."

    "We have reports of six strangers who came into the shop today, sir." One of the guards said. He was stony-faced, but his eyes were less composed, as his anger at having somepony be so easily willing to turn their back on the guard in such a way was impossible not to see. "We know that you spoke to them, and given the testimony of citizen Bon Bon, we have reason to believe you may have attempted to recruit them for the EFH. We also know that, by your own admission, you were friends with the charter members of the EFH. By royal decree, you are hereby commanded to turn over any and all information you have on the group and/or any potential recruits that you have sent their way."

    This drew a snort as the stallion set one of the glasses he was cleaning down with a loud thunk on the bar, turning back to the guard so fast that they actually flinched. Judging by the look on Golden Gulp's face, they'd finally pushed the wrong button.

    "Get this through those thick heads, gents. I may consider the charter members of the EFH friends, but I haven't seen mane nor tail of any of them since the day they left for what we now know to have been Fillydelphia. I certainly haven't sent any recruits their way, and in all point of fact, those strangers that came in today are just that; strangers. I have no idea where they come from, why the green one had the same cutie mark as Twilight Sparkle, or why the red one seemed to look as though none of us were even here. ...Frankly, the red one had a look in his eye that made me think he might have been legitimately crazy, so to be blunt I'm glad he never spoke. His gaze was frightening enough. Now the last I checked, I haven't the slightest criminal record, nor have I violated any laws." He held up a hoof. "I have checked the laws, and that old poster is an artifact of  historical curiosity and thus I am well within my rights to do with it as I please and in fact if anything happens to it and I find out who the culprit is, I have the right to pursue damages simply because that poster is a historical curiosity. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm still the owner of this shop, and I'm sick of looking at you. So if you would kindly get the hell out of my cafe, I'd be ever so grateful."

    The guardsponies looked sternly at him, and Bon Bon frowned severely. But they all eventually turned to leave.

    "Oh, and Bon Bon?" Golden Gulp said just as she reached the door. "Don't ever come back here or I'll throw you out on your flank personally."


   

In their secluded hiding spot, the Six watched these events unfold through a form of holographic projection.

    "Slick move putting that multidirectional transmitter in that coaster, Whisper." Lightning remarked. "You got that thing set to record, right? We can't go looking at the thing everytime something happens."

    'Of course I did. What kind of Ninja do you take me for, anyway?' Whisper signed back, putting on a mock look of outrage at the comment.

    "An honest one." Lightning retorted and stuck his tongue out playfully at his brother in arms, who simply gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

    "Okay guys, enough with the banter. We need to figure out our next move." Dusk said, bringing an end to the levity. "We have a world that fought a Conversion war against humanity, and apparently got their collective asses handed to them by the human race on its own. That suggests either this world's Celestia isn't nearly as powerful as the one we fought, or more likely that humanity just wanted it more and threw everything they could into beating the ever loving shit out of Equestria. We have to assume that for the moment we're stuck on this side of the Bleed, which means we're trapped in a multiverse that we do not understand the political rules and climate of outside of the fact that there's three factions involved internally: a civil resistance looking to put an end to the Diarchy in this Equestria, more violent revolutionaries who are looking for change at any cost including innocent lives, and the Equestrian Nobility who for all we know aren't too dissimilar from some of the other Equestrias we know, who want things to stay the way they are. We have no idea how Earth would react to us if we jumped— though I doubt it would take too kindly to use even if we revealed our transformative capabilities given the situation with this Equestria— and we have no idea how this reality's Elements of Harmony are going to react to us, let alone the other sociopolitical factions we're going to have to plan for. Suggestions?"

    'Further investigation would be the smartest course.' Whisper signed. 'The problem is there are too many places to start. We know that Twilight Sparkle and at least two other members of the Elements of Harmony are here. We could start there, but that carries its own risks, especially where you're concerned Dusk. I'm surprised nobody at the cafe aside from Light Step gave your Warrior Mark a second glance. She not only saw it, she actually did a doubletake at it.'

    "There's also Light Step herself." Ash added. "Ah dunno how far Ah trust her, but if she's what she says she is, she might be able to put us in contact with ponies who're gonna be at least willin' to hear us out and maybe lend a hand. If'n she's not what she says she is though, the real question'd be who she's really workin' fer. I'd recommend puttin' some effort inta finding out just who's pullin' her strings."

    "And let's not forget the risk of running into Pinkie Pie. No matter the reality, Pinkie is a danger by virtue of her powers. Peanut's our best defense, naturally, but at this point turning Peanut loose on her might be akin to using a grenade to kill a fly given what happened at the end of the Conversion War." Lightning opined.

    "I'm more worried about Luna and Celestia, personally." Flash said as he sat down the pavement and rubbed his chin with a hoof. "I know we can hold our own for a little while if it came down to a fight, and if we had to, we could still call upon the Elements of Bushido, and as a last resort there's always you going Destiny mode again, Dusk, but given how close you came to dying from it, I'm leery of that last option. If you're right and Luna is the one taking the more proactive steps to kill off the EFH despite Celestia essentially letting them act as they please, then that means she's willing to do so behind her sister's back. We might be able to use that if worse comes to worst. The major problem is that we don't know what the personalities of the Diarchs are here. Celestia seems almost normal, like Equestria Beta's version. But Luna's whole bit with having the Guard act against anyone who shows the remotest interest in the EFH's political view in a proactively oppressive manner makes me think of the Solar Tyrant. And I don't think anyone here wants to see this place turn out like Equestria Gamma did. The Conversion War is still causing problems for them even after Luna came to power following the Tyrant's defeat."

    "Everfree is the place to be. When the milk jug is empty, the fish will be nipping at the gonads of a wild mullosk as a stick pleasures a virgin crab."

    Everyone stared at Peanut. More for the bizarre image he'd just presented than anything else. But Dusk eventually nodded.

    "He has a point. We could use Zecora's old place as a base of operations, assuming she never went back."

    "And if she did?" Ash asked.

    "Then we'll have to hope she won't think we're suffering from poison joke when we explain the situation to her."


   

Luna frowned as she read the report from the guard. A stallion with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark? That didn't seem possible. But the guard claimed that was what he'd been told. Cutie marks were supposed to be unique to each pony. No other resident in Equestria should have a duplicate of anypony else's cutie mark. The very idea was practically antithetical to all known facts about the things!

    The strangers had claimed to have been from the borderlands, and yet had managed to avoid the problems out there. Why? How? And for that matter when had they begun their trip inward towards Equestria proper? How had they missed hearing about the conflict in what they claimed to be their home territory?

    This is going to be quite the interesting story. And I think this requires my personal hoof in the matter.