//------------------------------// // Story 1: Aftermath // Story: Grim Encounters: Reality hits MLP // by Moonreaper666 //------------------------------// One year later… “Hah! It is another great day in Grand Muscovia!” Cheng Chao-an enjoys another great day of farming in the planet of Grand Muscovia. The spring season proves to be very bountiful to the Chinese immigrant as the storehouse begins to stockpile in grain and coffee. “Father I’ve brought the workers!” said Cheng Zhan, Chao-an’s first son walking on the dirt path The son escorted the two workers whom would be working alongside his family in their farmland. The Griffon and Earth Pony would provide much of the muscle work, not that the Cheng family are wimps, but with Chao-an expecting another child, the family hired outside work to cope with the amount of crops growing during spring. Life is good for the Cheng family like so many Chinese people emigrating to the new planet. Thanks to good relations between the Russian and Chinese governments, the Asian superpower finally is relieved of its humongous population and lack of space. Chinese citizens living in Grand Muscovia receive all sorts of benefits, including not being applicable in the One-Child Policy. Soon, China’s birth rate would accelerate, ensuring that unlike America or Japan, China’s population won’t grow older statistically speaking. Chao-an notices that both aliens are afraid of him as he got closer to them, the shaking of their legs and the way they look at them with their eyes, especially the young griffon, broke Chen's heart. The Cheng family always proud themselves on their self-determination and kindness. His ancestors never profited from another man's pain. This has resulted in the family's low social status but also their survival. Surviving the last century, the family has been blessed by people whom helped his family in their direst straits. "Look at them! So young. Where are their parents!?!" Cheng Chao-an knows that many immigrants keep Equestrians as slaves. One slave owner in particular, an American, whips his Changeling slaves for the smallest of infractions! "Of course the American is a Christian Caucasian! As if those people aren't responsible for anything horrible!" Chao-an thought sarcastically The man has met several Americans in his lifetime. Some good, some taking their Americanist Extremism way off to Looney Tunes. "Son, would you prepare some tea," Cheng Zhan goes into the house while the father looks at the two workers with a warm smile. "Welcome... I am Chao-an..." said the father as he brought his workers into the house The Unicorn and the Griffon are two of the lucky ones. They maybe the minority, but history will vindicate them later as the great pacifist and civil rights leaders of old. The cycle of hate is destined to continue. Humans stop trying to controlling one another and start controlling the Equestrians because they were so weak. None knew what it was like to be pitted against each other like animals for all eternity, especially the Ponies whom failed to reach the same heights of humanity despite starting civilization much earlier. The factory city of Manehatten, a new industrial point in the Russian-Chinese joint economy... Machines and Equestrian slaves work day and night pumping out goods for their human overlords. Ponies, Changelings, Griffons and other creatures work in terrible conditions in an endless loop of exploitation and violence. "I suggest you work faster comrade," said a Russian overseer of the workers as he cocks his handgun, "You wouldn't want to end up in a gulag, would you not?" The sins of the Industrial Revolution repeat themselves as the humans did to the aliens, what they did to themselves. The emancipation and eventual march for civil rights would take centuries and would result in the almost extinction of the many species of Equestria. The Motherland couldn't keep its secret forever from the rest of the world. The news that Russia not only found a portal connecting Earth towards another world, but claiming it as well sent proverbial shockwaves through the International Community. The US and several nations are demanding Russia to give them access to the new world. Putin however, disagrees. Being one of the most powerful countries in the world, belittling or bullying such a country rarely works. The portal is located deep within Russian territory, in the cold territory of Siberia, guarded by the Russian military. The nations of the world could do nothing, rumors of Equestrian exploitation circle around Earth, but with information on Grand Muscovia guarded tightly, the UN has no power. Eventually the horrible news comes out. But by then, it would be accepted as the norm, such as the gross corruption in America, the endless wars in the Middle East and the for Russia and China used their new influence and economic power to buy or persuade companies, even those with the economical power of entire nations, to invest or move out of areas out of their interest, empowering themselves and their allies and leaving everybody else to rot. This may not mean anything now but Putin; he is a man looking straight at the future. And the 'Great Recession' would not affect Russia or its allies to any severe degree. Seven years later… “People of Ukraine, it is our pleasure to announce that the Ukrainian nation would be integrated into the new EPTO pact! Now we shall… “Reinvigorate the economy of Georgia! Working hand-in-hand with our Russian brethren…" “Finland will face the new millennium with prosperity!” Many of the former territories of the Soviet Union have begun joining Russia’s East Pacific Treaty Organization. Unlike NATO, this alliance is both military and economical, allowing Russia’s new allies to benefit from Russia’s exploitation on Grand Muscovia… …this has put Russia #1 on both the GDP list and World’s Most Powerful Military! However, it isn’t only Russia that is making a move on the global stage “We Taiwanese would like to settle our grievances with our brothers and sisters of the Mainland…” The Eastern Dragon asserts its hegemony over Taiwan, Mongolia and Vietnam. The ever-growing ‘Republic’ of China has outpaced the US in its GDP and is catching up in its military capabilities. Soon, the United States of America would crumble, unable to support its own weight due to the incessant corruption and politics. "We the people of Texas, do not call this shamble union our government! We failed once, but we now secede from the Union!" "I, Governor Gray Davis, believe that we, the people of California, ought to secede from the Federal Government. Less it brings it down with us!" The USA is crumbling, its economy is it shambles, its states in rebellion and its influence around the world all gone. Like a rush of sugar, this sugary country crashes... hard. Whether this American Empire is reborn or stays fragmented is up in the air, but the power of America has come to pass and so is the age of American Dominance. As for the future, none are sure. Russia and China's futures look bright, but the golden days don't last forever. Both countries are also good examples of that. What is certain is that by taking the opportunity of a lifetime, both nations propelled themselves to a whole new path, and a whole new world. “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” ― Sun Tzu "If you do not think about your future, you cannot have one." ― John Galsworthy