Chapter 3: It was called KP
A Little reminder:
Recording Quartz (RQ): Historian/Sociologist
*Firm Marble (FM): Journalist
Flame Ruby (FR): Political activist/Maid
Jewel Joy (JJ): Civilian
Crimson Cut (CC): Officer
Lasting Marble (LM): Teacher
Pitch Perfect (PP): Singer
Golden Claw (GC): Griffon immigrant
Special Ore (SO): Earth Pony immigrant
Also I recommend to listen the music to be more submerged on the story
The Distant Past
It's been 6 months since the king Swift Rise got control of the Congress and Supreme Court, 6 months since the king installed himself on the throne unopposed and 2 and 1/2 years since King Sombra was exiled. Still, the differences in the Crystal Kingdom between 3 years ago and now were as big as day and night. The sensation of security was big, the education has been vastly improved, more buildings were being constructed now than in the 100 years this kingdom has existed and the ponies now had a way to reach their voice in the kingdom and, to make sure they were going to be voiced, they now had an ID. A paper that detailed their name, Cutie Mark, signature, it had a profile picture and a number that was in order of ID petitioner (in other words, the first ID issued was No. 1 and so on and so forth). This ID was going to bring the Ponies and citizens of the Kingdom many benefits, one of them was access to future buildings, being protected under the new Constitution, being allowed to belong to unions and other government designed events in the future years, like the next games at the new stadium.
It was a dark night in the Crystal Kingdom, and Jewel Joy was returning home after celebrating in a party for passing High School. Now she would have to deal with College, but she wasn't worried, the new studying program have given her a lot of knowledge, she was already smarter than her parents. Of course, she was now being pressured by her friends and family because she haven't found her cutie mark yet and very soon she would have to find a job, but if the rumors of what will be studied in high school were true, then she wouldn't have to worry about her cutie mark in her whole life. But right now, she was very nervous for going so late on the streets.
The streets were dark. Granted, there were more lamps than a few years ago, but that wasn't the reason she was nervous. It wasn't for the fear of being robbed either, it was because of the curfew that the king announced recently. Sure, the reasons behind it sounded very sketchy, but he did promised that it was just a temporary measure, as soon as the Sombrist were captured, the curfew would be lifted and, so far, the king haven't given them any reason to doubt him, with the exception of-
"HEY!"
Jewel Joy turned around with fear and, once her eyes saw who was speaking to her, her coat paled of fear and she had to add extra pressure on her hooves so nopony could see how they were shaking.
The Stallion was wearing a black tuxedo, his mane was well groomed, his chest had the Shield Gem and his foreleg had the Sword Gem that they should be wearing and, while the Crystal Guard's armor was enchanted to make the guards look white or brown, this suits made them all look yellow; if she didn't knew better, he would look like he was coming from a party. But no, she knew better, they were the new guard division that the king has deployed, the Kingdom Protection Division, or KP for short.
He looked at her with a face that simply said "She looks like a criminal". Jewel wanted to run, but she knew better, she still remembered what happened to the last one who tried to run away from them so she just stood there and waited for him to get close while the feeling of certain doom was piercing her heart.
"Papers, please." - He said in a cold tone, Jewel Joy obeyed and gave him her ID papers, he looked at them meticulously and after watching them for what felt like 5 minutes (even though it were less than 30 seconds) he asked her:
"Lady, are you aware of the curfew that started a few days ago?" - She looked at him with a guilty face. - "Yes officer." - She started to show guilt and started to lower her ears and head, but he kept looking at her. - "Then why are you out this late? Aren't your parents worried about you? It's not safe to be around this late on the streets".
In that moment Jewel Joy was about to burst in tears for the panic she was feeling, but she managed to hold herself, and kept talking as calmly as possible (although it was noticeable a hint of sadness in her voice).
"I was in a party celebrating my graduation from school with my friends and it got late, my parents don't allow me to stay in my friends houses so I had to leave her house. I swear officer I was going to my parents house and the curfew caught me in the streets, please, if we go to my house my parents will certify what I just said."
He kept looking at her, like if he felt extreme prejudice against her but, suddenly his face got softer and said:
"Sure, I'll escort you to your house, but be better prepared next time, until the curfew is lifted, it's not safe to be around the streets. Now, tell me in what street you live in and we can start moving."
Jewel Joy felt like a big weight was taken out from her, she stopped feeling that dooming dread, her hooves stopped shaking and her face relaxed.
"I live in the Lucky Gem street cross the Olive Emerald, in front of the Fountain of Victory." - He then talked in a voice that made her feel very safe. - "Alright, let's go and don't stay too far away from me." - And they departed to Jewel Joy's house.
They started to walk in the direction to Jewel Joy's house and, as they walked, Jewel Joy couldn't stop noticing how a few corners up ahead there were a few more KP guards looking at some papers while some young ponies were lying down on the streets with their mouths looking at the ground.
One of the guards looked at them with the same prejudice that her escort was wearing a while ago, but when he saw who was escorting her, he stopped looking at her with that face and quickly said with a hint of authority.
"Officer Obsidian Edge, what are you doing with this civilian?" - Obsidian Edge looked at Jewel Joy and responded with a matter of fact. - "Sir, officer Scorching Charcoal, this civilian got caught up in the middle of the curfew and I decided to escort her to her house, once I finish this, I will come back to my post, sir." - Scorching Charcoal looked at them with some air of skepticism, but very soon his face dropped that image and look at the two of them like if they were friends. - "Good, you can proceed, but I expect you to add this to your report." - Obsidian Edge saluted his commanding officer with respect and responded. - "Sir, yes sir." - And proceeded in escorting Jewel Joy while she was starting to feel curiosity on the ponies on the ground, but she tried to not look back so none of the guards could suspect anything on her.
When they were getting close to Jewel Joy's house, Obsidian Edge decided to ease Jewel Joy's tension and decided to clarify what she just saw. - "Don't worry about those stallions, they were just some tramps that were wasting their life. A brief time in jail will give them the time to think they need to start searching for a better life." - Something in those lines sent Jewel Joy a shudder down her spine, but she wasn't sure of what, nonetheless, she felt bad for those stallions. - "Well, I hope they get better after this." - And at this words Obsidian Edge added with a lot of good will, - "we both do".
Jewel Joy's house was in a very nice place, being in front of the new Fountain of Victory (to celebrate King Sombra's dethroning) and very close to the market. She had a very good place to live in and it allowed a lot of mobility in the very active capitol of the Crystal Kingdom. Granted, it was the only city so far, but the king made the promise of building more cities to improve the way of living of the population and grant better job to all the inhabitants of the Kingdom. Once they were in front of her house, Obsidian Edge knocked on the door and, when Jewel Joy's father opened it and saw the officer, he got pale,feeling the same feelings that Jewel Joy felt half an hour ago.
"Sir, I found your daughter walking on the streets while the curfew was active, since this wasn't done on purpose and this is probably her first offense, I'll let it pass, but do not expect this again from either me or any other officer, understood?" - The Stallion managed to leave his shock and started to nod, while looking at his daughter with clear evidence that she was going to get grounded, Jewel Joy couldn't suppress blushing knowing full well that she was going to get in trouble.
Obsidian Edge saw the problem that Jewel Joy was getting into and decided to help her out while saying his leave. - "Now, miss Jewel Joy, have a good night, I hope we get to meet again under better circumstances, I hope you have a good rest a good luck with your studies, I understand that getting prepared for College is a big thing, but never let it take away your life, understood?" - he then subtlety winked his eye at her. Understanding, she quickly said. - "Understood officer, next time I decide to study with my friends I'll try to leave earlier." - Obsidian Edge smiled, - "good," - he looked at the family and said his farewell. - "I wish you all a good night".
While Jewel Joy got grounded, it would have been worse if it weren't for Obsidian Edge's help. She promised herself that if she ever got a chance, she would give him her thanks. - "Who knows." - She added while she was starting to get comfortable in her bed. - "Maybe the KP isn't as bad as everypony says it is," - and, with a big yawn, she went to sleep. Not forgetting the stallion that made sure that this night didn't ended in a tragedy.
A few months ago
A Dark Green Pegasus was starting to wake up on his cell. He had an inked feather as a cutie mark which represented his desire to write, he has been under arrest for the last couple months under the suspicion of being linked to the murder of Pure Diamond, but they didn't have any proof of it and they would never prove it.
The cell was in awful conditions: there wasn't a bathroom, so he had to pee and defecate on a corner of the cell, his nose already got used to the putrid stench; the cell was so small that he didn't had enough space to move or stretch his wings properly, if he even were allowed to stretch his wings. They were tied up by 3 very thick ropes when he was arrested and haven't been untied ever since, how long has it been? A month? He lost count since the jail didn't had any windows, in other words, he lost the sense of time. The food was awful as well, whatever they were giving him, it tasted so bad and it looked so awful (it look like a gray paste with a consistency of molasses) that he refused to eat it and left it in front of his cell. He was sure that it must have been a week since he refused to eat but that thing looked the same (and tasted the same).
The Kingdom Protection has been very keen on interrogating him, each day they would go for him and interrogate him until late at night and then he would be returned to his cell, and today looked to be no different.
His cell was opened and he saw one of the guards looking at him with hate, like if it were his fault of whatever happened to his life. He took him but, unlike other days, this time he was taken by force. The guard didn't even talked, he just grabbed him by the head and started to drag the pegasus, who was starting to feel the effects of bad nourishment, - "hey, calm down, just say it and I will follow you." - Said the pegasus, but he was responded by a buck to the face that almost took off one of his teeth, he had to close his eyes from the pain while the guard only said to him with as much hatred as he could. - "Shut up you filthy traitor! You only talk when ordered to." - After that, the guard dragged down the pegasus by his ropes, which caused on him a lot of pain on his already sore wings.
He was shut after that. After a while walking, they reached another cell, a lot smaller than his original cell, but this one was crowded with at least 10 Kingdom Protection guards and, in the middle of them, there was a unicorn with a black mane with a pearl white coat and his eyes were black but had a shine that remembered the onyx, as a cutie mark he had a golden star surrounded by shackles and his face was showing a very familiar smugness that the pegasus have learned to despise, for the unicorn in front of him was no other than Stray Stone, the leader of the Kingdom Protection guard.
Stray Stone was looking at him with a big smile, as usual. - "Hello and good night Expressive Voice, I hope your staying in this cell has been appropriate to the quality you deserve." - The pegasus Expressive Voice looked at him with contempt, desiring for a way to smack him in the face, but he decided to not say anything, as usual, but this didn't stopped Stray Stone from talking. - "Now, usually, we would just hold you in one of our interrogation rooms and question you until you decided to speak, but on the looks that it hasn't worked and that a new law has been allowed that give us a lot more to do. I have decided to change the system of interrogation that will be held on you." - The unicorn moved aside, allowing Expressive Voice to see the bottom of the room. In the bottom of it, there were four wheels lying down on the floor and, in the center of those wheels, there were some very thin cross-like figures sticking out from the wheels.
The guards moved Expressive Voice to the wheels and made him step above the crosses, he could feel how the edge of the crosses were annoying his round hoofs, and the guards then put some weight on him, Expressive Voice wasn't sure how much, but it felt a bit heavy. He heard Stray Stone's voice. - "Don't step out from them, or else we'll beat you up. Of course, your other option to leave this is by talking and admitting your involvement with the murder of the General Pure Diamond." - Expressive Voice decided to not talk and responded with a silent rebellion. At this petty attempt of rebellion, Stray Stone said on his usual happy and confident tone: "So be it, stay there until we say so." - Expressive Voice would have laughed at this, it looked so silly, there was no way they could make him talk by making him stand on some crosses. Now all he had to do, was to wait until they allowed him to leave.
An hour has passed and Expressive Voice was still confident on passing this new method of interrogation. Sure, his hooves felt a bit numb and the crosses were starting to hurt, but it wasn't that much. In any second now the guards would give up on him as usual and take him back to his cell.
It's been 3 hours since Expressive Voice has been standing on the crosses and what originally was a minor annoyance. Now it was a downright torture, the crosses now were damaging his hoofs (he could feel his hoofs bleeding out) and the weight carried on top of him made it much harder to stay up. He could feel his legs trembling, so close to let go, Expressive Voice was so close to scream, but he wasn't going to give in to them, he would endure this and he would stay faithful to his silent rebellion but, for how much longer? He wasn't sure, his body could give in in any moment and he wasn't sure what the guards could do to him. Time felt non existent, Expressive Voice was on the verge of talking, his body was close to break, it would be his will or his fortitude, but he wasn't sure which but, sadly for him, his body decided to answer by dropping to the floor.
Expressive Voice hadn't even touched the ground, when he felt a lot of hooves stomping him, stomping his wings, stomping his face, stomping his barrel, stomping his legs, stomping his sensitive parts, he was so tired that he couldn't move to at least attempt to defend himself from this onslaught of hoofs. He didn't had the energy to scream from the pain he was receiving. At last, they stopped stomping him, he didn't know how much it lasted, but when it was finally over, Expressive Voice didn't feel anything, he couldn't feel his wings, he couldn't feel his legs or face, he could barely breathe, but it was finally over... - "Put him back on the wheels." - Said Stray Stone.
It was in this moment, Expressive Voice couldn't hold it any longer and broke -"NOOOO!! PLEASE STOP, NO MORE, I BEG YOU, I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT BUT PLEASE DON'T PUT ME IN THERE AGAIN!!!!" - And, for the first time since the beginning of the interrogation, he saw the face of Stray Stone, and what he saw terrified him: Expressive Voice didn't see the face of a pony, or a being that had any semblance of worry for the lives of others, he saw a demon, smiling with pleasure at the pain and suffering he was inflicting upon, his eyes were shining more than usual and the more they shone the more it felt like they were piercing his soul. When he heard his voice, so filled with confidence and self indulgence, like if he had done an outstanding job, Expressive Voice lost any semblance of resistance or will and just obeyed what Stray Stone started to say:
"Do you accept your involvement in the murder of the General Pure Diamond?"
"Yes."
"Respond: What was your part of the Job?"
"I was among the ponies who foalnapped Pure Diamond-" -. "General Pure Diamond" -. Interrupted Stray Stone. - "-General Pure Diamond. I made sure that there was nopony at the vicinity when the attack happened."
"Good, do you know who orchestrated the murder?"
"Yes"
"Respond: Who did it?"
"It was Lord Crystal Sapphire, he never liked Pure Diamond or the Crystal Guard in general and decided to side with Sombra to recover most of the goods he lost when The Military Junta was in charge."
At this, Stray Stone for the first time stopped smiling and said in a very cold voice - "Soft Hoof," - a Guard got close to him, Stray Stone looked at him and continued. - "Pick up 4 more guards to follow you and right now go after Lord Crystal Sapphire and put him under the charge of Murder attempt of first degree, you know what to do if he resist." - The guard looked over at Stray Stone, nodded and left the place. Shortly after that, Stray Stone looked over the Pegasus and remembered that he still wasn't done. - "Call me Scorching Charcoal." - After a few minutes, another guard came close to him. - "Scorching Charcoal, are you done with the paperwork?" - The guard responded with a stone voice. - "Sir, I've finished the paperwork of the new recruit Obsidian Edge, he will start tomorrow morning." - Stray Stone, keeping his stone like face, continued. - "Good, now bring me The Eraser." - Charcoal looked at the Pegasus and if you had a good eye, it would look like he was looking at Expressive Voice with pity, but nopony noticed, he left the cell and, a few minutes later, he came back with one of those brand markers that slavers used on cows to mark them as a part of their farms, but there was no sign or visible mark on it, only a big circle in it, and it was in hot red.
Stray Stone looked at the Pegasus and to Voice's horror he said. - "For the crime of helping on the murder of Pure Diamond; and betrayal to your country, Kingdom and homeland, you should be charged for the death penalty. But the law is the law and I will follow it even if I don't want to. You will be charged of being removed of any right for citizenship you had before this moment and you are now exiled from the Crystal Kingdom and its boundaries and, as a sign of it, you'll have removed what makes you unique or acceptable in any pony society. If you ever return here, you will be executed on first sight." - In that moment, Expressive Voice felt a big burning sensation on his left flank and for the second time, he found the energy to scream one more time for the pain he was feeling. It was like no other, a burning that was destroying his left flank, time ceased to exist, only this burning and the infinite desire to make it stop at any cost. When the pain was finally over, Expressive Voice looked over to his left flank with whatever energy he had left and saw to his horror, that his Cutie Mark was now covered under a big black hole. Now nobody would ever see his cutie mark, the mark that defined him; what made him so special and unique among other ponies now was erased, gone, that moment of joy he felt when he was a colt was now destroyed and once again, Expressive Voice broke, his face started to get filled with tears and the more he cried, the less he could do to hold it, in the end, he felt like he was stripped down, he was no longer Expressive Voice, now he was nothing.
Meanwhile, Stray Stone looked at him, but he wasn't smiling, he was looking at the pegasus with pity, for he never found joy in the idea of destroying somepony's identity, but he felt total disgust over anypony who even tried to betray the kingdom or its citizens.
"Erase the Cutie Mark on his other flank..."
The Present
It has been five minutes since the movie was stopped, but nobody had started go after food or started to speak, as everybody was still having their mouths open from the shock. For how easily Swift Rise managed to claim total control of the kingdom, while the ponies were surprised of how he managed to maintain control so easily, the ones who got the most surprised were the griffons and minotaurs.
The Griffon Kingdom had a Judge system and a council, but they never had that type of control. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice was completely independent from the other powers and they always bring trouble wherever there was a corrupt judge, while the council of nobles were always trying to take over the kingdom, between the faction of usurpers, the faction of loyals and the neutral faction, it was a miracle that the kingdom has managed to last over this 800 years.
The Minotaur Democracy while it had a few problems in the creation of their Republic, they were sure that the institutionalization of the Congress and the Supreme Court were separated from each other. What Swift Rise did, was just give a false sense of democracy while actually imposing even more of his rule over the citizens, nonetheless, they'll admit that he was very clever in doing so.
"Ahem" - Said Clearing Onyx when he finally came out of the shock. - "I suppose we can go to a break to recover from this information we've just received and so we can discuss and give our opinions so far." - The whole room agreed a few minutes after they recovered as well and after going to the bathroom and get more snacks, decided to start their own set of conversations, the Princesses of Equestria decided to start their own discussion.
"Well, that was certainly unexpected." - Celestia started, being the first one to recover from the shock and being quickly followed by Luna. - "Indeed sister, I don't know you, but I seriously underestimated that stallion. I thought that, because he wasn't a pony and he was just taking over, he was going to end up causing more harm than good but, as it has been clearly shown, he proved me wrong." - She said with the most stoic face she could muster, so nobody could see her embarrassment. Cadence decided to continue but, before she could start, a big shout that said IMPOSSIBLE was listened. When the princesses decided to see who was shouting, they saw a griffon that was now realizing that he talked a bit too high, he then blushed and said. - "Sorry, I got, hum, excited, please go on." - And all the other groups decided to proceed on their conversations.
After that... interesting moment, Cadence decided to proceed with an stoic face. - "I agree, but I will also say that we should have seen it coming, considering that Swift Rise was considered the mastermind behind Sombra's dethroning, we shouldn't be surprised of how he managed to give freedom to his citizen and still managed to keep control of the Kingdom." - At this, Twilight decided to add her own opinion, not hiding her excitement. - "But isn't it amazing?, he created a government branch that can create and handle the laws and another one designed to handle the judicial system and bring justice to the kingdom. If we had that, our workload would be a lot easier because now we wouldn't have to deal with all the ponies that goes to Canterlot to ask for help for minor things." - This words caused Celestia, Luna and Cadence started to dream in all the things they could do if instead of listening to all the petitioners of the kingdom, they had a judicial system capable of handling that, it was a nice dream. But they had to focus fast since Twilight was still talking, - "-especially with the judge system. Not only that, but he created political parties so everypony could decide where to voice their opinion and decides who to trust for the legislation. Princess Celestia, you allowed the creation of political parties just a century ago and even still, they're not that useful, there is so much we could learn from this government system."
When Twilight said this, the other princesses looked at each other with insecure faces and then Celestia decided to explain. - "You may be right Twilight, but take notice of how Swift Rise handled it. He created the system so the political party with the most seats in the Congress decides what laws to approve or, in other words, HIS political party. That means that the congress will approve any law the king decides to create. That goes the same with the Supreme Court, the parliament decides who will be a judge or attorney so people will get the justice based on what the king considers justice. Do you understand what that means?" - Twilight may be starting to learn how to be a Princess, but she was smart enough to understand the true motive of what Swift Rise did. And, as her face turned more serious, she concluded. - "While he created a system for his ponies to rule, it was in the end a facade so he would still be in control, in other words, not only he still decides what laws to create while the parliament is taking care of minor stuff, but the Supreme Court will trial and ignore anything the king decides that isn't worth their time, in other words, it's still an autocracy but with the mask of another system. But what does that mean for the ponies?" - At this, she was showing total concern, after all and so far, this king still hasn't showed what he was truly capable of, and the idea of a pony that controlled the laws, judicial practices, school system EVEN MORE than the princesses themselves, while being a former Crystal Guard, was a bit terrifying.
Luna decided to say: - "It means that we are going to watch just how truly far any of us could go if we allow our desire for power take us over." - Coming from Luna, who once was Nightmare Moon, a mare that tried and failed to take control of Equestria, it meant a lot. It meant that they were about to see, how far could have Nightmare Moon go should she have taken over the control of Equestria over 1000 years ago.
*ding*
"The Recess is over, please come back to your seats," - the princesses seated back, now paying as much attention as they could, since now they were going to see how truly far Authoritarianism could go.
Meanwhile
The Minotaurs and Griffons were very distressed by this news. Something that both the Griffon Kingdom and the Minotaur Republic shared in common was how the legendary Crystal Empire influenced them both, more so than Equestria would like to believe. Both lands always had recorded legends of how that kingdom was the birthplace of the greatest figures of their species history, The Romanov Family for the griffins and the Mjolnir Hammer for the minotaurs were just one of many examples. And to figure out just how devious and manipulative was the King of said Empire, it sent a chill down their spine.
"All right" - Said The Princess Anastasia. - "We must accept the idea that the king that both of our lands have been so belovedly praising, might have been very dangerous." - "IMPOSSIBLE!" - Said one of her escorts in a tone that was listened by all of the room. Once he realized that all the room was looking at him, he blushed and said. - "Sorry, I got, hum, excited, please go on," - the other groups decided to continue on their own conversations, while his partners looked at him with a disappointed look.
"Look," - continued Anastasia, - "I understand why we would all prefer to deny this, but we must accept the possibility that Swift Rise wasn't as noble or perfect as we make him out to be. Especially if we can accept the few flaws that the Great Alexander Romanov had or accept the existence of - *shudders* - Blood Hawk..." - at the mention of that name, all of the griffons shuddered at the memory of such dark age in griffon history. After that, the griffon that just shouted decided to response (much quieter). - "But we're not talking of any simple historical figure, we're not even talking about the founders of our great Kingdom, we're talking about the legend that inspired our founders. That one figure that we never found any confirmation of his existence until THIS. RIGHT. MOMENT. How do you expect me, or anyone else, to accept that the one creature that not only influenced in the creation of the Golden Wing clan, who then created the Griffonian Empire and is now the Griffon Kingdom or, in other words our WHOLE STORY, isn't the wise, strong and noble king we all made him up to be? Nobody back home would believe us unless they watch this film" - "I have to agree with the griffin." - Said one of the minotaurs. - "Even though we have created our Republic very recently, our species as a whole was, and still is, very jealous of our story and, even though he was a legend, almost a myth, King Swift Rise it's still regarded as the source of the many ideals and decisions that lead to the creation of our Republic. Heck, if it weren't for his influence, Celestia would have gotten a much harder time helping our founding fathers to unite our country. The Equestrians may not know (or accept it), but many of our laws, ways of thinking and research in technology and moral were influenced by Swift Rise, we don't call it the Swift Code of Justice for anything. If this film goes where I think it's going, many of the things we hold dear may have been a lie".
All of the griffins and minotaurs talking then went into a deep thought, reluctant and fearful over the idea that the one figure they idolized the most, not for his power nor longevity, but for how much he managed to influence them. Even today, 1000 years after his disappearance, he's still regarded as a very important figure to them.
At this, another minotaur said in a very dulled tone. - "For now, all of what we're talking about is just conjecture, our biggest achievement so far is that we can now certify that he was real, the amount of debates we can end with just that is almost uncountable. But we must also remember that, after 1000 years of history, is very likely that we may have changed a few things about him, after all, it would not be the first time, right?" - At this, the other minotaurs nodded, remembering how they used to call the founding fathers as the greatest thinkers of all time, when in actuality they just wanted to have total control over the land. Granted, at least the moral teachings they held onto were very useful, and if they could learn from the good and remember the bad, if only to not go down that road, then they could surely do the same thing with this king.
*ding*
"The Recess is over, please come back to your seats," - at this, the griffons and minotaurs decided to seat back, but not before one of them said: - "Just remember, we still haven't seen all of this, and maybe we can find something else about him among all of the objects that were found along this movie, it's still too early to judge him." - They all agreed, and started to watch the film.
Movie
"The Kingdom was in shock, nopony expected the King to have so much support."
The stallion with a Lime mane, lemon coat and green eyes appeared. Name: Lord Yellow Pyrite. Job: Farming Landlord
Lord Yellow Pyrite (LYP): "Now that I think about it, I remember my defeat. I didn't understood at the time that I was so focused on saying that I was going to help the citizens, that I didn't saw that I was facing somepony alone while he had the support of the whole kingdom. The nobles weren't even united against him." - He then went to look at the floor, remembering the defeat and what it meant to him.
Another Stallion with a White mane, gray like coat and black eyes also appeared, he was showing signs of old age. Name: Lord Polished Gem. Job: Mining Landlord
Lord Polished Gem (LPG): "I remember that one of the promises that the IF made to win those elections was the creation of a syndicate for workers, so everypony had better job conditions and minimum wage. I didn't understood what it meant since I always gave my workers a good share of money and good working conditions, but apparently it wasn't enough, because some of my own employees voted against me. Now that I understand what the promise was about and what achieved, I understand why I lost."
"Now that Swift Rise had nopony to stop him, the first thing he decided to do was changing a few laws and adding some new ones, specifically the law of Tramps and Thieves, the Law of Land Taxation and the Progress Decree."
FM: "Those laws basically allowed the Kingdom Protection to arrest anypony who had no job under suspicion of being a thief, take the land on anypony who hadn't paid their taxes and the decree allowed the King to search for any new project that could allow the Kingdom to progress technologically, magically, socially, educationally, Militarily and economically".
LM: "Now he had total control of what could be taught to our foals and how to evaluate them, should I had said anything against those changes, I would have gotten fired." - By this point, the old mare no longer could hold her face and started to show her anger at how the educational system was being changed, but at the last second she added. - "At least, it became now free education, so every Filly, Colt, griffon or minotaur could have education and not just the ones that could pay it".
CC: "Now we could finally have the much needed equipment to defend our borders, but I was wondering if that was the only intention of the king..." - and while he said this, he was showing a lot of skepticism on his face.
RF: "For a moment I was afraid that the king would use these new laws to attack his enemies, but he assured me that it would never happen, he would only search for Sombra's followers and make sure that the young stallions wouldn't waste their time and, instead, they would search for a job, when I heard that, I got happy," - but as Ruby Flame said this, her face showed doubt on this.
"Now that the king is beginning to make safer the streets, it's also time to upgrade the kingdom."
Many construction ponies starts digging the land while holding behind them huge pipes while in another section, another group of ponies start to put the foundation of the library (while starting to form the title "Crystal Library").
"He starts to use the Kingdom's vault to make great constructions, while the Stadium was being finished, he was going to start the construction of a Library to contain all the information of the world from the past and present, a sewer system, make more lamps for the streets, more houses and many more buildings."
Images of the city being put in a cradle while the king is singing to hear while giving it gifts also are shown.
"The kingdom stops being a simple city, it starts to become in the daughter of the king, and he is ready to coddle her."
A filthy crystal pony with teeth missing, a disheveled hair and an eye unfocused is transformed into a clean pony with perfect teeth, not a single tooth missing, a well groomed hair and perfect looks.
"Its citizens stop being simple ponies and they start to have ID with birth certificates, high education and citizenship, the immigrants stop being looked as something lowly or repulsive and they're starting to have the same rights as any other citizen, from free school to full paid jobs."
GC: "I was rather surprised at this, I never saw such inclusion to a foreign resident, but I didn't complaint, I finally was capable of searching for any type of education or job I wanted and that would allow me to become a better leader for my clan".
"With the new laws for the worker, the installment of minimum wage, the technical schools and all the jobs opportunities coming from the many constructions being held, everybody is having a good life, everybody, except the sombrist and the nobles."
RQ: "For the sombrist, this new laws meant that both the fear of Sombra and his influence would lower and that this new king would enforce his control, this made the sombrist afraid of him and started to make desperate moves in an attempt of dethroning him".
PG: "When the new laws came, all the nobles got screwed, now we had taxes, make legal the land we owned so it couldn't be taken away, we had to give a true payment to the workers, very few were unaffected or actually got benefited".
"And, as usual, discomfort brought protest and some protest went to revolts and the new king wasn't going to allow anything that could risk his rule."
An earth Pony wearing a crown is shown starting to walk into a podium while a pink unicorn besides him is holding with magic a big scroll, after that a newspaper clip is shown with the headline 'The followers of Sombra has been conscripted, following Sombra may get you exiled'.
"The king has given his new division, full capabilities to capture and process any follower of Sombra under suspicion of treason."
RQ: "What this basically meant, is that any type of comment you could make, would turn you into a follower of Sombra and thus, an enemy of the kingdom".
RF: "Of course that would be the meaning after all, the sombrist were the only ones that weren't getting benefited from this new reign, hence, they would be the ones that would try to dethrone the king".
"But the sombrist aren't the only ones who doesn't like the new reign: the nobles, especially the ones who got benefited the most with Sombra, were starting to show discomfort with this new ideas, this new laws, now their money, their lands and workforce was being taken away from them. But whether they where in favor or against the regime, if they talked against its policies, for the new reign, they were all sombrist."
LPG: "I still remember when I was told that I was breaking the law, even though I was never told about them, and decided to take big spaces of my farms and much of my possessions were confiscated. What was left to me was so small that I could no longer make enough money to make a successful life. I stopped being a noble."
A pony with fancy clothing is shown with all of his money (in big sacks) being taken away from him.
"Many more similar cases start to spread. The nobles stop being nobles or rich, very few manage to stay untouched."
FM: "For a while my friend Hidden Gem, who was very skillful staying inside the law, stayed fine and managed to transform his territory into a company, so he managed to keep most of his work force and his treasures, but many others started to protest."
LYP: "Me and a few of my friends went to the palace to protest and, once we got there, all of the ponies stood aside, then the Kingdom Protection came, they beat us down and took us to the jail. I stood there for like 6 months or so, but I remember the first batch of prisoners being exiled."
Ponies are being expelled outside of the kingdom, most of them are looking back with hints of sadness in their faces while mares are trying to stop the guards from separating them.
"For the new reign, there's no space for dissidence, so they prefer to send protesters away, with no house, no families, defense against invaders or way to survive, they are expelled from the kingdom and left to die, they were only asking for a better treatment and this is what they got, complete injustice."
A Pony with a fancy mustache is shown writing in a big scroll.
"The newly formed opposition, lead by Lord Crystal Sapphire, decides to write a note pointing out all the flaws and treacheries of the new reign, all of their abuses and how they were becoming just like Sombra. This will have big consequences."
It's dead at night, the ponies are going back home, with the pony with the fancy moustache being escorted by 3 more ponies when a guard get close to him and aim his foreleg at him.
"It's 8pm when the richest landlord of the Crystal Kingdom, Crystal Sapphire, was going back home, he was going undercover and with 3 pony escorts. He was walking on the main plaza when, suddenly, a guard of the Kingdom Protection known as Soft Hoof went to his position, aimed his sword gem at him and said 'You're under arrest, Lord Crystal Sapphire'."
PG: "I was at the newspaper in that moment, searching for a new job when I heard from outside Dead pony on the plaza."
The pony with the fancy mustache starts to move his head in a negative way and gives the guard a paper.
"Very calmly, Crystal Sapphire says that there must be a mistake and show the guard an ID with a fake name."
PG: "In that moment, I quickly ran outside with a pony holding a camera called Perfect Shot and goes to see what was going on, we get into the guard fence and Perfect Shot gets in but I couldn't pass them."
Other Crystal Protection guards appears and start to take the ponies while they try to run away.
"Some of the ponies tries to run from the guards."
PG: "At the next day we start to gather the pictures and see what happened."
One Kingdom Protection guard aim at the pony with a fancy mustache.
"Not everypony makes it."
The guard shoots two lasers from the gem sword in his foreleg into the pony with the fancy mustache.
"Two shots, one to his head and the other to his neck stops Crystal Sapphire."
PG: "Then I start seeing in the photo reveal, first the slim legs, then the golden pocket watch, and at last his bloodied face." - He closed his eyes and starts to show a bit of pain. - "To me that was one of the hardest moments in history of the opposition." - In that moment Polished Gem started to cry.
A newspaper clip is shown: 'Lord Crystal Sapphire executed under suspicion of treason'.
"An arrest becomes a crime."
FM: "The murder of Crystal Sapphire was a convulsion for the whole kingdom, because he was the pony of sympathies and they killed him for being brave."
RQ: "It was the first time in the history of the Crystal Kingdom. That a Government. Murdered. In the streets. And shamelessly. A leader of an opposition." - The Stallion then starts looking at what it's in front of him with such sense of honesty that you could only believe him.
Audience
There wasn't a single pony, griffon or minotaur that wasn't affected by this.
The Princesses were shocked at how far somepony could go to suppress a rebellion, the historians were mouth hanging and ashamed at the kind of pony they've been holding in good lights for so much time and the civilians were feeling a deep chill running down their spines, not realizing that they were feeling terror at the idea of living in a place like that.
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6877915
And how it is now?
Same thing happened in Belarus...(did a report on it.)