The Sun Sets and the Moon Wanes
“Zis ist highly irregular, undt ve demand explanation!” The Griffon Ambassador struck the floor with his taloned fist in emphasis. “Ekvestria vas a great nation of peace undt harmony. Ze Royal Sisterz ver instrumental in preservink dat peace. Vy overthrow ze very entities responsible for leadink zis land of Ponies for thousands of years of peace undt prosperity, vis no more zen a few minor conflictz along ze vay? Do you intend to undo a thousands of yearz of progress, ‘Kveen’ Sparkle?”
"You don't understand!" Twilight barked rising sharply from the throne, the Element of Magic shifting unsteadily on her head with the sudden motion. "The 'Royal Sisters' were leading this nation nowhere, and they thought us all too naive to catch on.” She paused a moment to adjust her magical crown. “Oh yes, they were benevolent, kind, compassionate, and peaceful. All true, and that was the problem. The longer I studied the world, the more clear it became: Equestria was stagnating." Twilight began pacing fitfully across the dais. "At first, I thought they just didn't see it; that they were missing the larger picture. However, when I confronted them, they evaded the charge deftly, dancing around the issue. That's when I realized it: They wanted Equestria stagnant, stable, it's vast resources and potential left untapped and unexploited." She glared down at the figures in the throne room below her.
"How dare they! To restrict us, to hold us back, to weigh down the progress and suppress the potential of the nation they claimed to be leading! Deplorable. Despicable!" She returned to her throne, sitting tall on the golden chair. A smug grin crawled across her features. "I was a good student. I learned a lot from my years in Ponyville, and what I learned most clearly was that ponies thrive on adversity. They grow, learn, and improve themselves in the face of conflict; rivalry and competition serve to bring out the best in everypony, yet Equestria was free of conflict, free of competition, free of the challenges that drive ponies to excel, and any sign of conflict or chaos was swiftly and deftly crushed.” The smirk reached her eyes, creasing the scars she had earned on her rise to the throne.
“Oh, I learned fast, and it was only a matter of time before I had convinced the rest of the Spirits of Harmony of the same conclusions. The rest is, as they say, history. We sparked the revolution, we rose up, we cast down the Sisters and seized power in Canterlot. We will be the ponies to lead Equestria to a great and glorious future, and I will bear the weight of the Crown. The veil of false peace will be torn down. There will be conflict, yes. Hardships and dangers are all inevitable. That is the price of growth. But we will overcome the challenges, and when the dust settles, Equestria will stand dominant; its ponies stronger for the struggle, its potential fully realized." The Griffon Ambassador shifted uncomfortably. He did not like the tone the new monarch was taking, nor her choice of words. At length, he spoke up once more.
“But vhat of ze day undt night cycle? Surely you are not able to assume zeir rolez as ze force behnd ze turning of ze days undt ze counting of ze yearz?”
“But of course we can’t do without the Sun and Moon. But they wouldn't abandon their duties just because of a shift in politics. Isn’t that right, my mere ‘princesses’?” The magically bound figure to the left of the throne stirred. Her head rose tall and proud, violet eyes coldly glaring at the mare on the throne.
“You’ve made a grave mistake, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said solemnly. The figure on the right stared vacantly at the wall before her. Luna's voice carried a note of sadness.
“Equestria is not ready for this path. We were meant to guard it until its time came.” Twilight scoffed derisively.
“And when would that have been? Another thousand years? Two thousand? Five? How long did you plan on playing with your toy kingdom? How long were you going to keep lying to us? When were you going to tell everypony that chaos is not an evil, but a necessity; that greed is required before there can be generosity; that laughter is at its most effective in the face of sorrow, grief, and fear; that the cruelest of responses may, in fact, be the greatest kindness; that honesty can hurt others as brutally as deception; that not only must loyalties be carefully chosen, but that they are subject to priorities and circumstance?” She was shouting now, eyes narrowed scornfully on the former rulers of Equestria.
The sisters said not a word, but their downcast eyes spoke volumes to the newly crowned monarch. “I am not the naive little protégé I once was. I am Queen Twilight Sparkle, now.” There was venom in her words as she looked down her snout at the former rulers of Equestria. “Your talk of peace and harmony was a fantasy, Celestia, and I have seen through the deception you and Luna have spent thousands of years weaving. The truth is that the brightest moments of Equestria’s history only happened after facing its greatest trials; The Windigo Invasion, The Reign of Discord, The Lunar Rebellion. These led to the founding of Equestria, the rise of your Diarchy, and the so-called Golden Age of Peace respectively.” Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself. When she spoke next, the venom in her tone was gone.
“I will not downplay the role you played in raising Equestria to its current state. You were doing magnificently, until you decided to shelter it from all conflict and impose your philosophy of peace and harmony; lulling the entire nation into a state of complacency and false security. Only your active intervention kept the facade of peace going, but you couldn’t keep it up perfectly. You may be eternal, but you are hardly omniscient and certainly not omnipresent. Sometimes, you could head off the problem, like you did with my friends and I when you set us up to deal with the return of Luna as Nightmare Moon; but the Return of Discord and Changeling Invasion only proved that, despite your vigilance and power, there were things you could not prevent or control, and because of the false security you had imposed upon the populace, Equestria was woefully unprepared for them. Only the presence of certain exceptional individual ponies, namely myself and my friends, saved the kingdom from premature destruction.”
She drew herself up authoritatively. “I aim to change that. I will reforge Equestria into a nation that can stand on its own, without the false pretense of peace. I will temper it with the anvil of conflict, the hammer of adversity, and the fires of progress. When I am done, this nation will be ready to defend itself from any and all that would threaten it, and its power, industry, and technology will be the envy of the wider world. Other nations will stand in awe of us, not because we are protected by demigoddesses, but because we will have earned that respect with our own hooves. That is the future of Equestria.”
The Griffon Ambassador had remained silent during this exchange, choosing to listen rather than speak. Now, he elected to voice his concerns once more. “You realize, of course, zat I vill have to report zis change of policy to ze Griffon Kingdomz, your Majesty. Many of zem vill consider zese vords to be a declaration of Var, or at ze least, hostile intent. Are you prepared to defend ze claim you have placed on ze Ekvestrian Throne? Are you ready to sacrifice your peoplez for zis ideal you claim to uphold?” An unsettling smirk returned returned to Twilight’s face as she seated herself back on the throne, adopting a more majestic tone of voice.
“We are prepared to do what We must. You may report whatever you must, Sir Ambassador. We will not prevent you from carrying out your duties. However, when you return to the Griffon Kingdoms to report on the situation here, it would please Us if you tell them that Queen Twilight Sparkle does not wish for the old treaties to fail. At a time and place of their choosing, We request that the Griffon Kingdoms meet with Us in good faith to renegotiate the treaties which have lapsed as a result of Our change in rulership. They will find that Our terms will be more than generous and no less pleasing than those of the past.” The Griffon Ambassador studied the new monarch cautiously for a few moments.
“Zen I vill relay your gracious vishes along viz my report, Your Majesty.” The Ambassador and his guards then left the audience chamber, leaving Twilight and the former diarchs alone.
“What game are you playing at, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna demanded.
“A carefully planned and long-term game, Luna. There’s no need to antagonize the might of the Griffon Kingdoms… yet.”
“You mean to break the new treaties?” Celestia accused. Twilight turned her head with a self-satisfied grin.
“No, Celestia. I mean for them to break the new treaties.”
“How?”
“All in good time, my faithless subject. All in good time.”
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This does certainly raise some questions about the canon.
But then again, it is a kid's show. We only see a few fighting scenes, and they're certainly marvelous.
We have to rely on fanimations for more epic stuff though.
I like this, but you didn't kill them like I did...
And thus began the saga of Twilight Bitler...
(damn good story, btw)
Well this was a fun read. Not sure what's better. Celestia stagnation or Twilight's hitleristic policies. And we've seen how the later ones ended up in our world.
This was really good, I'd actually like to read more. It'd be fun to see how things develop - or perhaps not so fun, but a good read.
Probably a smart idea not to kill the former princesses though - Twilight's right, it's not like they would stop moving the sun and moon (and they can pick up the pieces when ponies realize how good they had it before. Nothing wrong with slow progress if you're peaceful, healthy and safe).
THERE it is. conflict, rage, ambition. all the hallmarks of a species intending to go places regardless of barriers. how loveably human. yet not quiet on our level i don't think. as she said, she's had but a taste of conflict. we've been at it from day 1 with no signs of stopping and as a result we're slowly but surely accending to our rightfull place of young gods, our reach long, our love desirable and our wrath terrible, soaring through the universe on wings of fire. queen twilight ponies by comparison, i believe 300 had a fitting qoute
"more brawlers than warriors. They make a wondrous mess of things. Brave amateurs....they do their part."
ok, fuck yeah humanity tangent done, rather interesting read, would like to see more to be honest. two stories perhaps. both the events leading up to this scene and the events spiraling outwards from it etc. other than that, thumbs up.
Meh, just seemed like this story was a medium to state the authors opinion on stagnation, nothing I haven't seen before.
please write more of this, this could be a really interesting story.
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Wow... I really didn't expect this kind of positive response, let alone requests for more like this.
You people like this idea, huh? Well, I'm not sure when I'd do it, since In Her Element is taking up most of my writing time, but if I were to write more about this version of our beloved Sparklehorse, would you prefer to see them as extra one-shot "chapters" added to this story, or published as independent one-shots?
3834407 chapters added to this one if you please.
3834407 Chapters added- that way we can favorite and let it do the work.
so she means to be a conqueror.
Kick her ass griffins, so Celestia and Luna can get back on the thrown
Personally, I don't think Equestria is stagnant. I think the lunar rebellion threw it into a thousand year dark age that they're just emerging from. The vast wilderness between cities, all the lost ruins, and the crazy mutant monsters everywhere scream 'post apocalyptic' to me.
3834407 preferably extra one shot chapters, its easier for me to find that way, but either way is fine.
3835341 This is my new headcanon.
Not bad. Not bad at all!
It would seem Twilight is actually the one missing the big picture. I mean the sisters are immortal, and quite old. Twilight has what 25 years of life behind her, at most. It is extrememly arrogant of her to think she is the one seeing the big picture more clearly.
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Of course! It's extremely arrogant of her...
Unless her accusations are true.
Sometimes, you can't see the forest for the trees.
And sometimes, you can't see the trees for the forest.
Oh my.
This certainly is a interesting glimpse of things...
I like. I like a lot.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I'm too distracted by the fact that the princesses' wings in the background look almost EXACTLY like the Wings of Freedom.
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Can't say that I have, no.
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Hah! I see exactly what you mean! However, I drew that image in October of 2012, well before Shingeki no Kyojin aired, so any similarity was unintentional on my part.
A little dialogue heavy, but no less interesting.
After finishing The Tyranny of King Washington yesterday, I'm most certainly in the mood for this.
3839684 Headcanon acquired.
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Yep, I noticed that too.
The sole "issue" I would take with this story is that Twilight's speech feels almost cumbersomely long-winded at times, like she's reading from a prepared essay or formal letter. She's clearly speaking from the heart, after all, and it takes more than a good education and royal grooming to be able to conjure up speeches like that on the fly.
... Unless she's been teaching herself spontaneous speech writing on the side for this very reason, of course.
At any rate, I loved this. It feels almost criminal that it's completed, though. I definitely see potential for a long-runner in this.
Hmm... this was interesting.
It feels more like a preface for a larger story, but it was good. I'm partial to dialogue-heavy script, as I find it more lively to read than descriptive prose, so that was a plus. The implications of the "true nature of harmony" (that's what I'll call Twi's thesis) really came as a shock to me, as I never really thought one could take it in that direction. This feels like some colt's interpretation of the diarchy of Equestria, submitted to Cheerilee as a report in government class.
Why am I overanalyzing this? Oh... right...
But anyway, a nice read.
Nothing like some good old fashion conflict to get the wheels of time moving again. The gears need to be greased with blood every now and then to keep it running smoothly.
(OK I know this is kinda a rip off of Spider-man but I have to do it)
My 'This story needs a sequal of some sorts' senses are tingleing!
(Seriously. I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENES NEXT DAMN IT!)
Luna- why hath we let this runt take over?
Celestia- simply because she is giong to wreck Equistria and send it to ruin with her war mongering. The ponies have forgotten why we have earned the blood of the three tribes, and why we are long enduring............. I simply wish i did not have to use tiwlight as a black martyr.
Luna-....... tis sad they forget. They always forget.
Luna once more-........what of the military you keep at equistrai's borders?
Celestia- she has no clue of their existence. She simply sees what she wants, that we have become weak and feeble in the harmony. She is blind to the constant conflict that alredy existed, the warding of beasts of old, demons new, and those who would claim our home and its resources. war with the gryphons will only drive equistria into ruin, for she will have to fight a war on all sides. So the border guard shall remain where they are and we shall stay our hooves.
Luna- for one bearing such guilt, you have truly set her for a grand fall, sister.
Celestia- i simply pray that enough pieces remain of her when she does, Luna. i pray with all my soul.
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Look at you getting all headcanon up in my AU!
Not gonna comment on its accuracy, though. That'd be spoilerific.
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Speaking of spoilerific, based on all this feedback, I'm definitely going to writing more one-shot scenes in this AU and adding them here as Chapters. I've always said the feedback fuels my creative furnace, and this feedback has given me a lot of fuel to burn!
3844847 how else could it be? twilight wouldn't have a chance in hell in successfully leading a rebellion against celestia. largely because, well, thosuand year old monarch. not to mention they could easily remove twilight. they ahve something FAR greater than mere political influence. they have actual power and have earned every muscle, feather, and spark of magic of that power. that is something twilight here could never, ever hope to achieve.
can't think of any other situation that oculd occur be honest. twilight is smart, but celestia is wise and old. and unlike mortals, the regal sistesr remember the horrors of war, and they will not forget them.
I don't think wars and conflict are necessary for the advancement of Equestria. I agree with Twilight that their nation is stagnated, mostly technologically and territorially. If you check out the Heart's Warming Eve episode, you can see that they still use the same candles they used 1000 years ago. If you check out the official map of Equestria made by Hasbro, you can see that there is a LOT of unexplored territory.
I think Twilight should try to maintain peaceful relationships with other nations while she builds up the nation. She should establish a Resource Based Economy and invest heavily in technology, civil and military, and also education and health. I'm pretty sure Equestria has enough resources to become independent of other countries.
Equestria would flourish and attract attention, but by then it'll be more than enough capable to defend itself. Perhaps they would even be able to completely anihillate their enemies.
If they are successful, they would continue to expand, and to evolve their technology, going out to reach the stars and maybe, one day, finding the remains of a self-destructive race of intelligent apes.
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The unique power that Equestria wields is control over the elements themselves, too.
There's been no suggestion yet that foreign powers have their own equivalent to pegasi weather teams or the freaking princesses, so they're at a grave disadvantage when things come to blows. RD can just kick up a tornado, snow flurry or both and send most opposing armies on their way.
Me thinks Twilight forgot how weak and easily frightened Ponies are.
Why did this have to be a one shot?! I need more of this! It's beautiful!
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melindascollins.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/patience-yoda.jpg
I'm currently in the process of planning and writing the third chapter of my other fic, but once I take care of that, there will be additional one-shot "chapters" written for this story.
3861347 Ooh! Fun.
3848303 But do they not fight because they are weak and frightened... or are they weak and frightened because they are told not to fight. If you tell a hundred generations "trust me, I got this," and they never face any threat themselves, they are going to constantly fear that your power will fail, not that their strength will not be enough.
3862184 Maybe in the context of this story... but in canon there pretty much the lowest branch of the food chain constantly being terrorized by almost EVERY species they come across.
ATTENTION
If you enjoyed The Reign of Twilight and want to help shape the future of this series of one-shots, I would love to have your feedback on the matter. If you would kindly direct your browsers to This Journal Post, I would love to see your opinions on the question I pose concerning this story. To make the feedback easier to track, please leave your opinions in the Journal's comments, and not here.
Thank you for the feedback, and enjoy your reading!
~TLATopHat
3862451 Just want to point out, horses are omnivores...
They can actually eat meat...
czubajka.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/822158_67878763.jpg
...
Wow.. how did you do that?
That was just about perfect... and you even made sense... in a way... Looks like we just got s close uo, pretty accurate peep at the other side of twilight (other than crazy Twi that is) 
~ Good Job accent and all!
I agree with Twilight here, but she's gone just a little further off the deep end than necessary. Yes, you should avoid stagnation, but she can't breed conflict like that. It'll grow on its own and trying to accelerate it in any way will result in the fall of everything she's worked for.
It's a shame she never hired a royal adviser...
And where's the rest of the mane six?
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Allied, and working for/with Queen Twilight in various capacities. I'm hoping to explore their perspectives in future updates.
Good, but way too short. I would like for this story to be made into a 200k word adventure with several chapters leading up to this moment.
4114996 so this will be continued?
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Yes, this will be continued at some point, though real life currently has me tied up. More of this AU will come at a later date, once all of my pressing priorities are dealt with.
4723114 yay!