//------------------------------// // Epilogue: We Believe // Story: Brother Against Sister // by CartsBeforeHorses //------------------------------// The Crystal Empire, 2042 It was to be expected. Had Twilight expected anything else, she would’ve been either naive or stupid. She was neither. Deep down, she’d known it was coming, though for the past fourteen years she had tried to hide the obvious possibility from herself, because otherwise she’d have worried to death. Twilight Sparkle didn’t have a good track record of worrying about impending disasters, so she preferred self-imposed blissful ignorance. The scenes were so obvious, so scripted, that the external hoof of foreign powers was visible even to a child. The play was the same as in Manehattan, it was only the stage and the actors that had changed. Instead of the “Encampment,” it was the “Nucleation.” Twilight almost puked from the canned nature of it. She even thought she recognized a few protesters from Manehattan, bussed in and disguised. Sure, the tactics were switched up a bit—after all, crystal shops were much harder to burn down than the ones in Manehattan, and the Crystal Empire police were a lot nicer than the Manehattan PD. They didn’t even carry guns. But of course, foreign agitators from a much larger, more powerful country could manufacture almost any sort of event to suit their narrative. The coup went off without much of a hitch after thirty protesters, the so-called “Tireless Thirty,” were found suffocated to death on a bus, blamed on reckless tear gas firing by riot police. “We strongly condemn the brutal, authoritarian actions taken by the Cadance regime, and call for her to step down,” Equestrian Republic President Pound Cake had said. Of course, when anypony of his political power ‘called for’ something, it wasn’t a suggestion. Cadance and Shining Armor got the message. They quickly fled the country in 2035. Thankfully, alicorns endure well, and they made a nice home for themselves, Luna, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and her family on the moon, under the protective air bubble of Shining Armor’s forcefield. It was their own little private oasis, and Twilight’s teleportation could retrieve them food, water, and other creature comforts from Equestria. What wasn’t to love? Pinkie was so happy that she could jump six times higher, that she almost forgot that she wouldn’t get to see the crystal ponies again. Instead of ‘Pest Control,’ it was ‘The Miners’ who rose up to fight the new Nucleation government, which announced that it was considering an alliance with East Equestria. But both the East Alliance and the West Alliance treaties had clauses prohibiting new members to join if they had ongoing conflicts or civil wars. It was sort of like a pre-existing condition clause in a health insurance plan, and The Miners were just the ailment that the Confederation of Free Equestria thought the Crystal Empire needed. Instead of rebelling with rifles and magic, at first the Miners used jackhammers, pickaxes, and dynamite. Then rifles a few months later. Then tanks. Then helicopters. Then fighter jets with guided missiles. All while the Free Equestrian government, to avoid an international incident, snarkily denied any involvement. “Free Equestria does not provide material support to international armed rebel groups. They probably just bought those guns at the local sporting goods store,” Director Pumpkin Cake had once said in answering a reporter. Yeah, you can find machine guns at Rebel Mart, right between the anti-aircraft missile aisle and the helicopter aisle, Twilight had remembered thinking. International diplomacy was such a charade, where no one could ever say what they really thought or what was really going on. Twilight was glad she wasn’t a princess anymore and could just sit back and watch the trainwreck from the safety of the moon. Ironically, the Crystal War was far bloodier than any war that Equestria had ever fought. The war dragged on for seven years, with a body count over a million, as thousands of foreign mercenaries streamed in from both Equestrias and as far away as Oatstralia and Prance to partake in the bloodbath. They all covered their fur in glitter to maintain plausible deniability. Proxy wars were always deadly, though compared to direct confrontation between two superpowers armed with weapons of mass destruction, they were friendly games of tennis. The stakes, though, were far higher than tennis. Most of the Crystal Empire was a frozen tundra devoid of civilization. But in the Crystal War, it was the territory that mattered, not the crystal ponies living there. The Crystal Empire had a border stretching thousands of kilometers across northern Equestria. Crystal Empire territory was within short-range missile striking distance of both Manehattan, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia in the east, and Tall Tale and Vanhoover in the west. The Crystal Empire had been neutral for fourteen years, meaning that its prime real estate had never had missile launchers stationed on it. The largely-untapped shale and tar sands were also a nice little bonus. So, when the Manehattan-sponsored faction finally won the Crystal War in 2042, signing the Eastern Alliance treaty and permitting WMDs to be stationed all along its border, the Western Alliance was understandably freaking out. A Crystal Crisis had begun, as the Republic was openly and publically transporting twenty missiles from Hollow Shades to a destination less than a hundred kilometers north of Tall Tale. Ponyville Over the years, the Ponyville meeting hall had become the official place for east and west to come together to try to compromise. Usually, an unbiased citizen of neutral Ponyville like Cheerilee or Derpy moderated. Today in the meeting hall, though, Derpy wasn’t allowed, nor Cheerilee. Pound and Pumpkin were all alone, the first meeting they’d had in years without their advisors. As the week’s earlier meetings to resolve the crisis with the diplomats and advisors had failed, this meeting between just the twin leaders was a last-ditch effort to prevent armageddon. Guards were unneeded, as each twin assured their security staff that they were powerful enough to protect themselves against the other. Pound figured he could zip out of the way of any magic spell that Pumpkin cast at him, while Pumpkin figured she only need turn intangible or teleport if Pound tried to rush her. Their unstoppable/immovable dynamic had worked so far to prevent armageddon for fourteen years, but the ending of the Crystal War had changed everything. For the past few days, everyone in Equestria, if not the planet, had been on edge. Pumpkin shook her head, narrowing her eyes. “I’ve told you before, Pound Cake. Any stationing of weapons of mass destruction on the Crystal Empire border is entirely unacceptable. We will not take these terms.” Pound laughed. “Or what? You don’t have any bargaining power anymore. In the Crystal Empire, we defeated your so-called ‘rebels.’” “And you also defeated your own so-called ‘economy,’” Pumpkin quipped. “How are you enjoying those lines around the block to buy bread? Or how about your thirty percent chronic unemployment? Your massive debt?” “And how are you enjoying all those greedy oligarchs who buy elections? Twenty percent of ponies going without adequate healthcare? Thousands of donkeys fired from their jobs just for being non-ponies?” Pumpkin sighed. “Look, we’ve had this discussion too many times. I don’t think we’ll ever agree on politics. But can we at least agree not to station those weapons near Tall Tale and Vanhoover?” “No. From the Crystal Empire, our missiles can now reach Tall Tale in five minutes. My next-quickest option takes hours, and so does yours. With a first-strike capability, the tone of these little diplomatic meetings will change in a hurry. Your population, who you’ve fear-mongered into a frenzy with your lies, will be begging to reunify Equestria so that we ‘fascists’ don’t blow you off the map.” Pumpkin laughed. “You assume that you have first-strike capability. Maybe you’re wrong in that assumption, just like you’ve been wrong about everything else for the last seventeen years. Let me give you a clue. How do you know that I haven’t phased dragonfire bombs under every major city in eastern Equestria, that I can detonate anytime that I want? You’ve seen me turn an entire bridge intangible before. A bomb would be trivial. I won’t say if I’ve done it or not, but I will tell you that even if I haven’t, it’s entirely possible for me to do it, and you would have no way to stop me.” Pound blinked. “That’s right. I could already have first strike capability and you wouldn’t even know it,” said Pumpkin. Pound shook his head. “You’re bluffing. If you had first strike capability, or the ability to get it, you wouldn’t be so worried about missiles stationed near Tall Tale, Vanhoover, and Canterlot.” “Wouldn’t I, though? I’m trying to prevent a panic. I’m trying to prevent a war. Come on, let’s look out the north window. I want you to see something.” Pound and Pumpkin walked to the town hall’s north window. Pumpkin pointed out towards Canterlot. A bubble surrounded the city, just like Shining Armor’s. She said, “You can’t see it well from here, but that’s actually a forcefield within a forcefield, within a forcefield. We added the third forcefield a few days ago after the Crystal Crisis started. Of course, the fields wouldn’t stop a WMD launched from a missile, but it would stop a unicorn from teleporting a bomb inside the city, at least. It also makes ponies feel more at ease when—” “Sis,” said Pound softly. She turned towards him. “What?” “Look.” Pound pointed down the street of Ponyville with his hoof. Like every other street in the former Equestria, it was abandoned due to the crisis. Benches sat empty, and blinds on storefronts were drawn shut. Crows fearlessly strutted around. But none of that was what Pound was pointing at. Instead, at the end of the street, there sat a small cottage, a typical Ponyville-style house. A mother, a father, and their two children, one filly and one colt, walked around the side of the house. The filly carried a doll, while the colt carried a teddy bear, and the father and mother carried food. They opened the cellar door, and one by one climbed down to seek shelter. Neither twin spoke for a minute. Finally, Pumpkin stammered. “Our… that’s… just like...” “Y-yeah…” Pound croaked. The memories came flooding back to the twins of their night of terror spent in the Sugarcube Corner cellar with their parents. It was twenty-two years ago when Blueblood had initially invaded Ponyville, sparking the Great Racial War. The twins recalled wondering if they would survive the night, or if their entire world would come crashing down in an explosion. But theirs had just been one family, for one night, in one town. How many countless others were there around the world, just like this family, living in fear that the twins had caused? The twins’ tears began to flow as freely as their verbal barbs had flowed earlier. There were no more words; there was just crying. They embraced each other, hugging for the first time in many, many years. “What have we done, Pumpkin? Who… who have we become?” Pound sobbed. She shook her head. “I don’t know. We’ve… we’ve become what we once feared, I guess.” “We’re monsters! Both of us!” Pound shouted. “Well… I mean… If it wasn’t us, then it would’ve just been someone else, like Rarity against Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy against Applejack, or Iron Will against Raindrops… I think it’s unavoidable...” Pumpkin started. Pound looked her in the eye. “No. We have to put a stop to this, Pumpkin Cake. You’re always talking about how exceptional you are, right?” She nodded. “And you are exceptional. I am, too. We both are, because we have a chance to make an exceptional step towards peace, together. When else will the world get this chance? When else are two twin siblings—who really love each other deep down, despite everything—ever going to be director and president again? And how many other crises will happen between now and then? And how many of them will end in disaster? It only takes one.” “I… you know, I might have forgotten how to say this, but here goes. You’re right, Pound Cake.” He chuckled, sniffling. “Smartass.” She giggled. “Goofball.” “Let’s get to work, then. We have a treaty to write,” he said. People filed into the meeting hall in Ponyville and took their seats, muttering quietly. Armed guards from both Free Equestria and the Equestrian Republic stood on either side of the wall at attention, while a dotted line ran down the center, demarking the room. On either side of the room, giant television cameras sat. On the front row from west to east sat the friends and former world leaders Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Applejack, and Rarity. On the second row sat the current world leaders, Prime Minister Walkabout, Duchess Sparkler, President Fancy Pants, Prime Ministers Knickerson, Foules, and Marequarie, among others. On the third row sat the advisors, cabinet members, and commanders Vinyl Scratch, Redheart, Professor Fossil, Iron Will, Dr. Stekton, Snips, Snails, Zecora, Featherweight, Soarin, Peachy Pitt, Spitfire, Lyra & Bon Bon, Raindrops, Zarek, Organized Labor, Hoops, Dr. Stable, Dr. Whooves, and Big Macintosh. On the fourth row sat prominent businesspeople Berry Punch, Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Aunt and Uncle Orange, and Shiny Diamond. In the back row sat the neutral Ponyvillians Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Derpy, and Mayor Cheerilee. Needless to say, it was a full house. When Pound and Pumpkin Cake entered, the people applauded. The twins took center stage and shook each other’s hooves, walking up to their twin podiums to speak. The room grew silent, the camera ponies motioned to their crews, and the broadcast began. Pound spoke first. “Citizens of the former Equestria: I am Pound Cake, the elected leader of the Equestrian Republic.” There was applause throughout the room, mostly on the east side of the room, but some respectful clapping from the western half of the room. “And I am Pumpkin Cake, Pound Cake’s fraternal twin sister, the Director of Free Equestria,” said Pumpkin. The pattern of clapping was reversed from what her brother received. “Thank you all,” said Pumpkin. “My brother and I have an address for everyone living on this continent and, indeed, everyone around the world. We hope to explain our current situation, and how we will solve it.” Pound nodded. “Over the past two decades, our once-united nation of Equestria has been engaged in a terrible civil war. It has pitted city against city.” “Race against race,” Pumpkin added. “Rich against poor,” Pound added. “Brother against sister,” they both said in unison. Pumpkin said, “As these last twenty-two years have shown, we surely live in historic times. But it can be difficult to tell when living it. It’s been a slow progression, like the proverbial frog in hot water. People have simmered in their hatred over the years, becoming ever more divided, until last week when it came to a boil.” Pound said, “My sister and I have been on the front lines of the conflict since it all began here in Ponyville twenty-two years ago. We want to share our struggles, sorrows, and joys face-to-face through the TV screen. We know that many of you are terrified, whether you live in the east or west. A lot of you are cowering in bomb shelters, or are at the border ready to begin shooting. You all deserve an explanation for how it’s come to this.” Pumpkin nodded. “We start with the time of Celestia. For centuries, the unicorns were oppressed in various ways under her regime. By now, we are all familiar with it: the anti-magic laws, the extra tax on Canterlot, and the racial divisions. A charismatic, terribly misguided leader named Fritz Blueblood took advantage of unicorn disenfranchisement to rise to power. He led the city of Canterlot to secede from Equestria, created the Second Kingdom, and ruled with an iron hoof. “Soon, war broke out. The unicorns, desperate to feed their starving nation, upset over food tariffs and the perceived lack of racial self-autonomy, launched an invasion of Equestria, allying with the Zebra Empire, which had its own grievances. Blueblood’s first target was Ponyville, where his troops conducted a sweep for unicorn children born to earth pony parents, who would be capable of farming. I was among them, and held prisoner. Pound will tell you the story behind our parents Mr. Carrot Cake and Mrs. Cup Cake, and that chapter of our lives.” “Thanks, Pumpkin,” said Pound. “After the unicorns captured my sister, I couldn’t rescue her, despite my best efforts. We lost both of our parents trying; the Second Kingdom shot them dead. They were the most caring and loving ponies that Pumpkin and I ever knew. I went into a deep depression, as did she, but we soon dusted ourselves off and took action. I heavily trained in flight, while Pumpkin escaped from the farm and trained in magic, and we found each other again as teenagers after the Cloud Confederacy seceded. We moved to the small desert town of Appleloosa. Over the next couple of years, she and I fought together, side by side, to defend the town from the threats of the unicorn and buffalo invaders.” “If we had to, we would do it all again,” said Pumpkin Cake. “Despite our political differences, Pound and I were united by a desire to protect our adopted hometown, to take a stand for what we knew was right, to use our special talents to defend the innocent ponies who were unable to defend themselves.” Pound said, “But Appleloosa’s time was up. The Second Kingdom took the town, and Pumpkin and I each thought the other was dead. But she’d been taken by SK Research Minister Trixie who wanted to study her magic, while I and several pegasi were crippling the SK by salting its farmlands. Soon, the terrible corruption of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s administration came to light. She had an entire board of cronies and oligarchs who advised her, not based on the best interests of our country or the people, but on the interests of their pocketbooks. Her military advisors trampled on the rights of Equestrian citizens, such as the zebras, in order to allegedly preserve security. In the process, they took the courts and justice system in a chokehold.” “Pound and I both believed this sort of corruption to be unacceptable,” said Pumpkin. “We knew that something had to change about Equestria. We demonstrated in the streets and seized buildings and towns in response to it, in events now known as the Equestrian Revolution. Both Free Equestria and the Equestrian Republic had common roots, but different goals. A major rift had begun to form.” Pound said, “This rift was over something more basic than corruption, more basic than the war, more basic than land and money. It had to do with the rights of the citizens themselves. It had to do with what we believe.” Pumpkin said, “I believe the one true way to freedom is to respect the rights of ponies to make their own choices, to defend themselves, conduct themselves in commerce, and be free from all undue authority which might constrain them. My life experiences of being held in slavery and tortured for the supposed ‘common good’ have informed me that this is the only correct option.” “I take the opposite view,” said Pound Cake. “The one way to freedom is to protect the common good and enable ponies to be as free from starvation, sickness and need as possible. A powerful central government elected directly by will of the citizens, which distributes resources based on need, is the only way to do this, since private enterprise has only ever shown itself to be greedy and selfish. Money must be abolished, and ponies must only work for the good of society instead of themselves. My experiences fighting greedy businessponies who looted the country, like Filthy Rich and the Oranges, have shown me this.” Pumpkin said, “Over the next few years, our separate countries developed with these radically different ideologies. Ponies were forced to choose sides, as the borders hardened. Sometimes, entire towns and families were torn apart. Proxy wars broke out in the Crystal Empire. With the help of dragons and changelings, we developed the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction in the history of ponykind. They could reduce entire cities to ash in an instant. Both of our polar opposite sides now have hundreds of such bombs and missiles. In the last week, we have come closer to total annihilation than at any time in all of recorded history.” “Cooler heads prevailed, thank goodness,” said Pound. “But Pumpkin Cake and I won’t always be in charge. Those in power after us may not be as slow to all-out war as we’ve been. We must protect against this possibility. It’s only by luck that twin siblings rule each half of Equestria, and that our love for each other was strong enough to overcome our hatred.” Pumpkin said, “Despite our differences, we have much in common. We love our families, and we love each other. We both want everyone to be as happy and fulfilled as they possibly can, to live a peaceful life free of need and suffering. We have the same general goals; we simply differ on the way to get there. But that difference alone is enough to potentially destroy the very goals that we all sought to pursue from the start. Pound Cake and I realized this after our recent meeting here. So, for that reason, both of our countries will begin the process of dismantling our WMD arsenals.” The ponies in the crowd cheered and clapped. “It won’t be easy,” said Pound Cake. “Huge distrust exists between our two societies, and bridging the gulf will be difficult. But this treaty on the desk before us will lay the framework for ensuring our mutual survival.” “We may never resolve the question of how to organize society: the forces of the market or the forces of the government. Ponies have already been trying for centuries. The debate is important, but the debate shouldn’t obliterate that very society itself,” said Pumpkin. “Our first treaty bans the production of new weapons of mass destruction, orders scaling back of existing stockpiles by fifty percent, and provides for verification so that each side is satisfied that the other has met its obligations,” said Pound. Pumpkin said, “It will be a long and difficult process to ensure lasting peace and prevent an armageddon. Pound Cake and I will work closely together in the months and years to come. We believe that this treaty will work, and this process will be successful.” “Someday, we both hope to have a world free of these weapons and the need or desire to use them,” said Pound. Pound and Pumpkin Cake both got up from behind the podium, walked over to the table, and shook each other’s hooves. The treaty stood on the table before them. Pound Cake was first, and he took the pen in his wing feathers, extending it toward the paper and signing his name. Then, Pumpkin Cake took the pen in her magic and signed her name. Everyone in the entire crowd cheered and clapped, east and west alike.