//------------------------------// // The Pupil // Story: The Republic // by Mediocre Morsov //------------------------------// Apple Bloom blinked a few times, snapping back to reality. She had missed something the teacher had said and now all of her classmates were looking at her, curious expressions on their faces. "Ah'm sorry, could you repeat that?" the yellow filly asked. "I asked if you were paying attention to the lesson, Apple Bloom." Cheerilee gave a little chuckle, "I can see you weren't, however. Is something the matter?" Apple Bloom gave a last scan of the class: the worried expressions of her closest friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo; the sneers of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon; the near-vacant expressions of the rest of her classmates, finally brought out of their own stupors by something interesting happening. Sighing, the filly searched for the right words. "Ya ever feel like..." she struggled to express it, "...like yer stuck?" The class exchanged confused looks as Cheerilee quirked an eyebrow. "Like on a problem?" Snails spoke up. "No, no." Apple Bloom shook her head, "Ah mean, like... Like yer stuck doin' somethin' ferever." "Are you going on about your blank flank, again?" Diamond Tiara jeered, earning a giggle from Silver Spoon. "Now girls." Cheerilee warned before offering a sympathetic smile to the yellow earth pony, "Apple Bloom, we've been over this. You just have to give it time." "Ah ain't talkin' about that." Apple Bloom groaned, "Ah'm talkin' about... Ah'm talkin' about bein' trapped in our lives, Ah guess." before Cheerilee could voice her confusion, Apple Bloom stood up and walked to the window, continuing, "Ah mean, we spend all this time learnin', growin' up, earnin' our cutie marks, an' then what? We do the same job 'til we die?" There was a sudden stiffness in everypony's backs as they exchanged nervous glances. Death was very seldom touched upon as a subject, almost to the point where none of the students had heard about it. It was almost a curse word. Cheerilee cleared her throat and stepped closer to her student. "That's how society works, Apple Bloom." she explained, "Earth ponies tend to the crops, pegasi maintain the weather, and the unicorns-" "-Magically raise the sun an' moon, Ah know." Apple Bloom sighed, remembering the Hearth's Warming Eve play that had taught them all the founding of Equestria. Then she blinked. "Wait, don't the Princesses do that?" "Now they do, but back then there were no alicorns." Cheerilee explained, "The unicorns carried the weight of this burden for a long time before the coming of the Princesses." "So what do y'all do now?" Apple Bloom asked, the question directed more at Snips and Snails than their teacher. "Uh," Snips bawked, surprised to be the center of attention all of a sudden, "Well, my special talent is cutting - paper decorations, topiary, manes-" "Wait, you're a mane stylist?" Diamond Tiara scoffed, clearly unconvinced. "I don't like to brag, but I've been told I do a pretty good job at it." Snips rubbed a hoof against his torso, proudly. "An' you, Snails?" Apple Bloom asked. "My magic can keep pests away." Snails grinned proudly, remembering how he had earned his cutie mark while helping Golden Harvest protect her crops from a snail infestation, "And I'm also the local expert on gastropods." "But what do unicorns do?" Apple Bloom pressed, "Ah mean, earth ponies and pegasi, as a whole, have jobs that we're suited towards - farmin' an' weather control. What do unicorns do besides decoration an' trottin' around Canterlot?" "That's not very nice, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle spoke up, offended. "Sorry Sweetie, Ah didn't mean it like that." the earth filly frowned, "Ah really am curious, though." "I kind of am, too." Scootaloo added, a chorus of agreement from their non-unicorn classmates. "I wish I could tell you, my little ponies." Cheerilee sighed, "All I know is that everypony has a purpose, that we all have special talents for things we greatly enjoy that determine our role in society. I'm a teacher and I love teaching all of you wonderful colts and fillies, and such a job is necessary in Equestria." "Seems a little convenient, don't it?" Apple Bloom asked, "Ah mean, that there's never a shortage a' livin' space an' that everypony ends up in a job they love, never strugglin' fer work?" "Well, I wouldn't say it's quite like that." Cheerilee gave a dry laugh, "There are quite a few ponies out there who struggle to find work and aren't entirely happy with their work." "Really?" Silver Spoon asked, "I thought everypony got jobs according to their talents?" "They do, but not every talent is one that ponies enjoy." Cheerilee sighed, "Some ponies end up doing menial work that they feel is beneath them, or struggle with responsible jobs that are too stressful for them. Others have talents that are too commonplace that they can't find work. Some ponies' talents are actually being thieves or other undesirable work that lands them in prison. Then there's all the non-pony citizens of Equestria whose jobs aren't determined by talents." "I didn't know so many ponies were unhappy with their lives." Sweetie Belle frowned, "Isn't there anything the Princesses can do?" "There isn't much they can do." Cheerilee shook her head slowly, "They have to deal with the raising of the sun and moon and maintaining government bodies. Most of Celestia's time is spent going over various reports during the day and signing orders, while I assume Luna takes over during the night." "Actually Princess Luna visits ponies' dreams all over Equestria to help with our problems." Scootaloo explained with a smile, "She helped me out one time." "I wasn't aware the Princesses worked on so personal a level with their subjects." Cheerilee put a hoof to her chin, caught by surprise. "Well, Luna does, anyway." Scootaloo reaffirmed, "I haven't heard about Celestia doing anything like that, yet." Before the conversations could continue, the bell rang to dismiss the class. Cheerilee tsked, but gave her students a warm goodbye as they departed. "Remember that history reports are due by the end of next week!" she reminded them as they left. "So what cutie marks will we be crusading for today, girls?" Scootaloo asked, excited to be out of the classroom. "Cutie Mark Massage Therapists?" Sweetie offered. "I don't think the spa would let us try that after the seawood incident..." Scootaloo's chuckle turned into a shudder at the memory, "How about Cutie Mark Magicians?" "Magic isn't really my specialty." Sweetie deadpanned, earning a nervous laugh from the orange pegasus. With a smug grin, the unicorn suggested "What about Cutie Mark Wonderbolts?" "That's not funny." Scootaloo scowled. The two were about to get into an argument before Apple Bloom's sigh broke through their thoughts. "Apple Bloom, are you alright?" "Sorry girls, Ah'm just not feelin' like crusadin' today." the earth filly confessed. "Oh. Did you want to play a game, instead?" Sweetie asked, "Ooo, we could set up a tub of water and bob for apples!" "Cutie Mark Apple Bobbers!" Scootaloo exclaimed before putting a hoof to her chin, "Wait, what kind of jobs could we do with that as our special talent?" "Sounds fun, but Ah think Ah need to be alone fer a little while." Apple Bloom said, skulking towards Sweet Apple Acres, "Y'all can just go crusadin' without me, if y'all want to." "Aw, but it's no fun without the three of us." Sweetie whined. "Yeah." Scootaloo agreed, "It's just not the same." "Ah'm sorry, girls." the yellow filly apologized again, "Ah just need to think about some things. Ah need to be left to mahself fer a bit, if'n that's alright with y'all." "Alright then." Scootaloo said slowly, "But if you ever need us, you know where to find us." "See you later, Apple Bloom." Sweetie said tenderly as their friend shrunk into the distance towards the orchard. The two remaining fillies exchanged concerned glances over Apple Bloom's recent behavior. *-* Applejack watched as her sister slunk off to the barn, head down and ears drooping. The sight of Apple Bloom acting so despondently wasn't an uncommon sight when she arrived home - she usually acted in a similar manner whenever returning from a failed cutie mark crusade. However, it was the fact that Apple Bloom was home so early that bothered the older farm pony. The youngest of the Apple siblings was almost always with her friends when not at school, the three of them doing everything from bowling to dentistry. Applejack cringed as she remembered that last endeavor. "Big Macintosh, can ya take over fer a bit?" she asked her older brother, "Ah'm gonna go see what's wrong with Apple Bloom." "Eeyup." was Big Mac's simple reply as he walked over to the nearest tree and gave it a single, powerful kick. Applejack trotted back to their home, entering through the front door and calling out for her younger sister. There was no reply, so she went upstairs and knocked on her sister's door. After a few moments of silence, she heard a sigh from the other side of the door and a barely audible "Come in". "What's got ya so down, sugarcube?" Applejack asked with an almost motherly tenderness to her voice as she opened the door slowly, "Ya didn't get in a fight with yer friends again, did ya?" "No." Apple Bloom said, though didn't turn away from the window. She was busy looking at the sky, as if she were looking for a sign. There were none. "Do ya wanna tell me what's wrong?" Applejack asked, "Ah'll help if Ah can." "Ah don't think it's somethin' ya could help me with, AJ." the yellow filly turned to look at her sister, "Ah'm not even sure what's wrong. Ah just feel so... down lately." "Ah've noticed." the orange mare noted, "If'n ya ever feel like talkin', just know that mah door's always open fer ya, sugarcube." Applejack left her sister to her thoughts. *-* Luna had been busy. The night librarian actually had to do work, for once, which at first she was annoyed with but quickly became thankful for - she had forgotten how boring it was being the royal night librarian. Stacks of old books, books she wasn't even aware existed, came flowing in and out of the library every few nights, all from a dusty section of shelves high in the most secluded part of the library. After a suggestion that wasn't quite an order from the Princess of the Night, the night librarian had reluctantly dusted the shelves, a chore that proved difficult given the amount that had accumulated there. How long had it been since anypony cleaned those shelves? Centuries? Luna herself had worked through all of Equites' works and was jumping between various other authors and their most famous works. She even read the political commentaries that other, likeminded thinkers wrote about each other's works. There were arguments, disagreements, and a lot of confusing jargon, but as Luna continued to read, she began to piece it all together and understand - truly understand - the shared message that these various authors were trying to proclaim. It was a startling epiphany, one that shocked the younger of the Princesses to the core. They were talking about harmony. Out of all the pony and non-pony radical authors in the forgotten section of library, they all said the same things in several regards: everypony was equal, or at the very least, everypony should have the equal chance for success in the world; ponies and non-ponies should unite, integrate and work for the benefit of society; nopony should fear their government, but that governments should fear their ponies. Luna was more than a little disturbed that so many ponies and non-ponies had come to view Celestia's rule as corrupt. More disturbing were the actions that many of them took, trying to stir their peers to revolt, either attempting secessions from the Equestria, or full blown revolutions and coup d'etats, all of which had failed. Even if the arguments that these radicals had were well-written, the ponies of Equestria only seemed attracted to strong leaders - a quality lacking in the intelligentsia that had penned these works; nopony wanted to turn against Celestia, even if the rumors of corruption were true. Even more disturbing, however, were the alleged actions Celestia took against the radicals. Actions Luna couldn't bring herself to believe Celestia capable of. Censoring of printed materials was difficult enough to believe, and Luna only allowed herself to believe it because she was reading the last copies of works that were hidden away from the public. Other actions were far more draconian, especially during a period of Celestia's rule referred to by several radicals as a "Reign of Terror": the imprisonment of anypony who spoke out against the Princess, torture magic being allowed to extract information from leaders of revolutionary cells, the use of magic to invade the private lives of everypony suspected of being involved with radicals. It was a brief period of time, and even the authors commentating on it admitted that Celestia's tyrannical actions were born out of a growing fear of revolution and regicide. Then the books just stopped. Shortly after the Reign of Terror period, Luna noticed that all the radicals simply quit writing or disappeared. The last book in the collection was titled A Compromise and Luna had skipped ahead to read its pages. It was rather dryly written, as if the author had grown weary of writing - it lacked the passion that so many other radical authors had put into their works - and spoke of Celestia's reform policies, of her sudden reembracing of harmonic ideals. Luna wondered why a work that spoke of Celestia being harmonious would be hidden away in the radical section until she read the last paragraph where all of the passion that had been lacking from the work suddenly emerged: "We struggled, we labored, we bled, we suffered. Through the segregation of earth pony, pegasi and unicorn we united. Through gender barriers we ascended. Through oppression we tirelessly trudged forward, dreaming of a free world where everypony would have a say in how their government was ran and we would not toil beneath an undying dictator. We almost had it. We were almost free." Luna blinked at the passage, confused. If Celestia truly had enacted a Reign of Terror and then bounced back to her old, peaceful self, then wasn't that a victory? She was reminded of Star Spangled's Don't Trot on Me!, a work written before Celestia's alleged Reign of Terror that actually predicted it, stating "Even if our Princess is no tyrant, she has absolute power. Everypony should be well aware from Equestria's brush with Discord, the Lord of Chaos with infinite power, that absolute power corrupts absolutely." Scarlet Banner's Maneifesto, written during the beginning of the Reign of Terror, stated "Even if the Princess should revert to her former kindness and make promises of peace with her honeyed words, nopony should trust in her compromises! As long as she holds absolute power, absolute control and authority, she can always revert - can always return us to this." Other authors throughout the eras said similar things, either attacks on Celestia for her lapse during the Reign of Terror, a call to arms for everypony to oust the Princess, predictions that having absolute rule over Equestria would eventually lead to hardship, and cautionary tales that as long as the same remains it could happen again. Then there were political commentaries of all the works, commentaries about other radicals, some with a lot of praise (especially for Equites, whose works seemed to have been the basis for many of the others), others with mixed to negative reactions (some called Scarlet Banner too radical, and even she denounced her student, the Mare of Steel, as a power-hungry oppurtunist). Luna got bored with the commentaries and arguments, seeing them as only dividing and detracting from the over all message the authors were trying to put forth. Luna could appreciate the irony that these mares and stallions were broadcasting messages of solidarity and harmony while constantly bickering amongst themselves. If they had only been more united, they could have- She stopped that line of thinking. Why had she almost hoped that they had been united? Why had she hoped that they'd been successful in usurping Celestia's rule? There was a wash of conflicting emotions at this realization. Whenever she read the writing of these ponies, there was a stirring in her chest - it was like the kindling of a flame, an ignition of spirit. Luna shook her head clear of the thoughts and closed the book she was reading. Looking at the clock, she saw that she still had three hours before the night was through. It had been awhile since she helped her subjects with their troubled dreams. *-* It was a slow march through an arid desert. Heavy, ironwrought chains weighed her down, each one ending in stone carved from some foreign quarry. The yellow filly was drenched in sweat, her legs shaking from the strain of dragging the weight so far. She looked up, wiping the mop of her red hair from her eyes to see her destination. The bright sun, far and distant burned down with such scathing heat and light that it all but blinded young Apple Bloom. The haze that was rising off of the burning sands beneath her hooves further obscured her far-off destination into a vague, wavy rendering of what might be a city. With a sigh, Apple Bloom trudged on, resigning to such an existence. Then something cold hit her muzzle and her eyes shot open. Several drops of cooling water landed around her, turning to steam on the sand. The too-bright sun overhead was disappearing behind a wave of merciful clouds and the sands were being tamed by a sudden rain. Almost at once, the heat abated. The haze was still present, but quickly dying down. However, instead of watching the distant city resolve into focus, Apple Bloom's eyes were drawn to the alicorn descending from the heavens. Like an angel, dark and sacred and silent, Princess Luna glided on a gentle breeze to the muddied desert, a flash of lightning and a distant peal of thunder alighting her noble features and announcing her arrival. Apple Bloom fell into a bow after her awe disipated and she remembered her manners. "Rise, young Apple Bloom." Luna commanded, "I am here to help you with your troubling dreams." "You an' just about everypony." the filly sighed, "Sorry, your higness, Ah just don't know what's got me so down." "Perhaps if you talk about it, it'll help you sort out your thoughts?" Luna suggested before examining the heavy chains and stone, obviously dragged for long distances, "This symbolism suggests you feel... indentured?" "Ah suppose ya could say that." Apple Bloom nodded. Luna was briefly surprised the young filly knew the word "indentured", but didn't bother voicing it. "Ah feel like Ah'm trapped. An' today Ah found out that Ah'm not the only pony that feels like they're trapped." "Trapped?" the princess asked. "Ah've been havin' a hard time explainin' it to everypony." the filly was clearly frustrated, "Ah just don't know the words ta express it, but it's like everythin' we do doesn't have a purpose. Ah mean, why do we do what we do?" "That seems like a very nihilist perspective for one so young, dear." Luna frowned, "Is there anyway we- I might be of assistance?" "Unless ya have some magic spell that'll raise mah spirits, Ah doubt it." Apple Bloom shook her head, "Ah think Ah'm just depressed, or somethin'." Luna mulled over the filly's words for several moments, then inhald slowly. "I don't have a spell, but I know what you're going through. I too have had moments of doubt and a general lack of enthusiasm, but I have found something that gives me great comfort." "Really?" Apple Bloom immediately perked up, "What is it?" "Books." Luna said and watched as the filly deflated, "But not just any books. They are long forgotten tomes, manifestos of harmony and solidarity that have been left to gather dust for some time." "Ah ain't Twilight." Apple Bloom explained, "Ah don't think books are gonna make me feel better." "Perhaps if I read some to you?" Luna suggested. Apple Bloom thought it over and nodded, even smiling a little; being read a book by a Princess during her sleep had a certain appeal to it. "Alright. I'll start with one of my favorites. It's a long read, probably a little difficult to understand, but you are a bright filly, and I hope its words will do for you what they've done for me." Luna used her magic to summon the worn copy of Equites' book into the dream. "It's called Republic."