Chapter 6: The Birth Of A New Age
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
Lord Yellow Pyrite (LYP): Farming Landlord
Lord Polished Gem (LPG): Mining Landlord
The Distant Past
A young colt was trying to find a new job in the Crystal Empire, he wasn't sure where to go or what he would need to obtain a job. He wanted a job so he could help his mother. She was trying to give him a good education through the money earned by her job to pay for it, but being uneducated as well, she had to find her own school to have a license to work properly. She didn't have enough time and money to properly raise her son and he wanted to pay her back. Some of his friends told him to go to the mines because they paid well, but he wasn't sure if the mines would give him a proper treatment on his well being. He heard that the army was always accepting new recruits (and they paid schooling and had a good health program) but they were always active in the borders and he didn't wanted to be 5 years in the borders at the risk of getting attacked by rogue gryffons or a dragon. There was the police, also known as the KP, they never had an age limit and they could give him a good job that didn't require much work and (no matter what happened) he would have the money to go to school and help his mother in the house.
He went to the KP Center close to the pristine and beautiful Crystal Palace. The center looked neat, in order and it shone like at testament of how strong it was in the fight against injustice and crimes, the music surrounding the center gave it a sense of friendliness and safety (as if nothing wrong could happen there) and embracing anyone who came there. Its wooden doors shone thanks to special wax applied to it, the windows were made of a beautiful glass that reflected the citizens that passed by, the plaque that had the name of the center was made of gold and its letters were made out of rubies. The citizens, sadly, that passed by were always hurrying and never paid attention to the beauty of the buildings, grown ups never paid attention to details, but the colt did payed attention and now he was going to knock the door and ask for a job there as soon as he surpassed the nerves the door was giving him.
The colt looked at the door with anxiety and, after a few minutes of deciding whether or not to try, he knocked the door. After waiting a few minutes, the door opened and he was greeted by a crystal pony with a black coat and a red mane that had yellow at the tip (giving it a fiery theme), the crystal pony had black eyes that, whenever they were watched directly, would give the sense of being dead on the inside. The colt recognized him as Scorching Charcoal, the front neighbor pony that would always smile at him and give him a candy whenever they met, always smiling and telling him what to do with his life and encouraging to find a job quickly, now he looked like if he never knew him in his life.
The colt was shaking, afraid (for some mysterious reason) of the pony that he has known for so long, he felt like if some strange force was starting to surround him and stop him from asking for a job, the colt wanted a job, he needed a job and he was going to ask him for a job there, how bad it could be? After all, it was just a job as a desk jockey or a messenger. But before he could even say a single word, Scorching Charcoal quickly said to him in the coldest and most distant way he have ever been talked to by anyone that has ever met him:
"What are you doing here you stupid colt? Stop wasting your time, leave and never return here if you know what's good for you... and send my greetings to your mother."
He then closed the door in front of the colt before a response could be made. The colt was looking at the door with expectations, he never saw Mr. Charcoal acting that way and he was sure that it wasn't normal. He decided to look again the KP center and he started to notice a few cracks in the walls, the windows looked dirty and the music didn't allowed him to hear what was going on inside and, for a brief moment, he thought he heard a ghostly scream inside. The building no longer looked comforting, now it looked like a wolf waiting for its prey to enter and the colt's senses were telling him to run. He looked at the grown ups passing by and the colt noticed that the citizens always avoided the looks whenever they passed the building, as if they were passing through a deadly trap. The colt, now awaken to the reality of where he was now, would listen to his neighbor's warning, not realizing the danger he has avoided, and left the building, not knowing that this would be the last time he would ever see Scorching Charcoal again and, as the young colt was leaving, a group of ponies, gryffons, minotaurs with a few Crystal Guards as protectors, led by a pinkish red unicorn and a monochromatic pegasus general were entering into the building.
A few weeks later
The Crystal Empire was shaking from its capital to the borders. Reports of corruption and heinous crimes has been spreading like wildfire ever since a group of delegates lead by Amor "Lady Love" Candente, General Golden Strike and a few of their most trusted friends were allowed by the King Swift Rise to investigate the Kingdom Protection departments. Nobody understood why the king allowed the investigation to go on when he was so close to Stray Stone, although rumors went that the King allowed the investigation because he believed that nothing would be found, although most of what was said about the KP that came from a bunch of angry ponies that didn't liked the king's policies. He thought that (while the KP could be a bit harsh sometimes) it was false considering that he never found anything unusual from the reports given by Stray Stone; some say that the king allowed the investigation for pressure from his wife. The king believed (and made everybody believe) that the KP was clean, he was wrong.
The amounts of money that were embezzled were staggering, nobody could figure out where it came from and where it went (neither if so many zeroes were possible in a single number). Some say that the money came from deals with the Mining companies who traded, through the black market, the gems for a quick gold; some say that the king was the mastermind behind it and he allowed it because of his trust to Stray Stone; some say that the Stray Stone abused of his position and acted behind the king's orders to keep the money. The list of who got benefited from this went from the KP to the military and the government itself; multiple congress representatives, senators, mayors, governors and even close ministers to the king were inside this huge embezzlement, it went to the point that the biggest mystery was how it was possible for the king not being involved in all of that instead of who else was involved. The empire wasn't sure who to trust now and they wanted of all that money to be returned to the empire.
But what got the whole empire in rage was the abuse of power from the KP on the prisoners and the empire as a whole. The KP was supposed to be a law enforcer and protector of the citizens inside the empire but, instead of that, they were used to shut, silence or disappear anyone who dared to talk against them or the government (and they didn't cared who it was: pony, griffon, minotaur, changeling, etc. They were all took down). The reports of abuse were as big as the reports on embezzlement in the empire, the citizens were already sicken out of them and they wanted a response from the government on this.
Surprisingly, the place where the tension was felt the most was in the Crystal Palace itself but the citizens knew it not for rumors, as most would have thought, but rather because they could hear the tension whenever they got close to the palace. Anyone close to the Palace could hear the Queen's screams as she was throwing her legendary rage on the king; some said that her screams were so high that the Palace was crumbling and that even the borders could hear her as a deafening thunder impossible to define or understand. Inside the palace, the maids and guards were wearing earplugs or using spells to not hear the sonic volcano in action throwing wave after wave of heated words capable of burning through the thickest armors and melt the coldest souls. Many leaders heard of the queen's rage and the few who has witnessed it would feel sorry for the poor soul that dared to summon such rage.
Golden Strike was at the entrance of the throne room, he was waiting for Amor Candente to finish her judgement over the king. Golden Strike knew he better stood aside when she said (in the coldest, yet angriest tone) "I'll take him first" and he wasn't going to risk his life. That and, luckily it looked like it was getting close to finish:
"How come that you allowed this to happen? I thought that this kind of thing was going to be avoided when you told me 'I'll honor your father's memories and never allow the same abuses Sombra did', and DON'T even dare to use the building or any of your projects as an excuse. 'No more repression' you said, 'No more corruption' you said" - and the following line was said in a tone so sad and heartbreaking that anyone who knew Lady Love enough would understand how heartbroken she was - "'No more lies'... you said. You have lied to me in all that. Now I don't know if I should trust you. Tell me, did you knew about it? Did you knew of the marking? Did you allowed those ponies to be exiled? How many did you threw away just so you could concentrate power on yourself?... Did... did you killed Pure Diamond?..."
Golden Strike was listening intently at the conversation, expecting a response from his old friend. But if he was going to respond, he was never given a chance, for right in that moment the door opened up and a very broken mare with red and watery eyes was leaving the door and simply said: "I don't want to see you again."
After she left, avoiding any type of glance, Golden Strike looked at the throne room and didn't saw the stalwart pony he has known for decades, capable of withstanding the harshest difficulties that were thrown at him, he didn't saw the crystal pony that took a ruined city and turned it into an empire with multiple cultures that was the epicenter of both immigration and tourism, he didn't saw a pony confident of his moves. What he saw was a broken stallion with eyes devoid of any type of emotion, that didn't knew what to do right now with the empire. Golden Strike didn't knew what to say to him, even in the barracks he was so distant and now he was even more distant. Who would have guessed they would be in this position? One was a king and the other was his general, he never aspired to such position (maybe be a general, but never one of such category). How much has changed from those early years for two recruits wanting to rise through ranks, now in position that very few could only dream about but, instead of celebrating together, they were even more distanced from each other. What to say to him when everything has already been said? After reflecting on this,Golden Strike could only say one thing:
"You know? You have changed so much from those days under Sombra, that I don't even know if you'll do the right thing. But if the pony I knew it's still in there, I hope he does the right thing."
With that said, Golden Strike, the General Division of The Imperial Royal Army of the Crystal Empire, Commander of the Crystal Division and Chief in Charge of the Tactical and Technological Division, left the throne room and left his old friend alone, devoid of any type of friendship or companionship, devoid of any type of satisfaction of so much power and suffering of the one thing he never thought he would have to face again in his life: solitude.
How he had come to this? He never expected this in his life, he never wanted this in his life. All he ever wanted is to never be alone again and make sure that he (and those surrounding him) would never have to face the things he had to face both here and on his original home. All he wanted was to give everybody a good life, was that a bad goal? Or maybe it bad when you searched for it at any cost? What was the limit of all this? Was all of this an illusion? Was this the real life or was this just fantasy? What should he do? He wasn't sure of it. He turned and saw himself in the mirror, but he didn't saw the human he used to be neither the pony he became when he got into this magical land, he didn't saw a pony filled to the brim with medals, royal regalia or with his white armor. He saw two figures on the mirror, one was that human that he admired for the right reasons but was more similar to him for the wrong reasons and the second figure he saw was one of the figures he hated the most with his red eyes, black coat and mane and with a look that was the same look he had in that moment. He saw the truth and now he had to choose what to do with it, the right thing or keep everything?
A Few Months Later
The entrance of the Crystal Palace was being filled to the brim with news reporters with their cameras and notes (all of them eager to know the following decision from the king but still annoyed on the fact that they wouldn't be allowed to talk about it), Royal Guards (following their code of conduct and making sure that nothing wrong would happen, worried of the popular tension that may broke very soon) lead by a very disinterested General Golden Strike. The center podium had 6 seats surrounding it, filled by their respective members: The 3 at the left with the presidents of the High and Low Chamber of the Congress and The Chief of The Supreme Court; of the 3 seats at the right, only two were filled, one by the General of Division Golden Strike and the Queen Herself (who just wanted the ceremony to end quickly so she could go back to her business). The place was surrounded by all the regalia and objects that would make this a splendor of moment and all the citizens witnessing the following event were curious of what was this for.
Curiously, only two ponies weren't in the event: One was Stray Stone, Chief of the Kingdom Protection units, who issued a letter stating that he had to rest in his home for something he ate; the other pony who wasn't there was the one who made the summoning himself, the king. His absence was causing tension, why he wouldn't show up to the ceremony he himself made?
The mystery was solved when the King appeared, not surrounded by his soldiers neither wearing his white armor or the royal regalia, he was wearing a very well made black tuxedo and had his hair groomed to the right and the sun made his brown coat have a glow that mesmerized everybody in the vicinity and made them forget for a moment who were they looking at for a moment. The King went to the center podium, took off a scroll containing his speech and started to talk with a skill and ability that nobody has seen in a long time. His voice was entrancing but not distracting, taking everybody surprised by the content of the speech, moved in their hearts but never taken away of the reality it held inside. When the King ended his speech, there wasn't a single pony, changeling, minotaur, griffon or dragon that wasn't shocked by what they were told, the first one who managed to overcome the shock was Golden Strike who (realizing what the empire would do very soon after hearing the king) quickly went to the king and said, in front of everyone, the words that would be recorded in the history of the Crystal Empire:
"King Swift Rise, you're under arrest for embezzlement, violation of the law and sentient life rights, you'll be hold under house arrest until your trial is made and then you'll be subjected to the sentence done by The Supreme Court."
He looked at the crowd and realized the real reason for the absence of his nemesis, he looked at his soldiers and gave the order he wanted to say ever since Lord Crystal Amethyst was murdered:
"Soldiers, go to the residence of Stray Stone and arrest him for embezzlement, violation of the law and sentient life rights and bring him to the Crystal Jail."
His soldiers saluted, obeyed and left the place quickly. The Reporters started to take pictures and told their viewers and listeners what just happened, the citizens started to agitate and mobilize. Golden Strike had to move quickly before this went out of control.
At The Next Day
Jewel Joy was locked in her house, she was afraid of what was going on. She looked again at the streets and saw how there was fire, rubble and blood everywhere. She didn't understood how this was possible, everything was fine yesterday, how and why would everybody go so ballistically insane in just one day? What happened to those citizens she knew for so long and were always so calmed and kept to the civics ways of life?
A sound in the streets, she looked through her window and saw a very afraid stallion wearing a torn down tuxedo being chased by an angry mob. The stallion was running with all his strengths but it looked like the mob was faster and reached him, they surrounded him and the rest was a maze of hoofs and stomps on the figure. Jewel Joy couldn't watch anymore and went back to the safety of her house, she was afraid, where was Obsidian Edge? Was he fine? What if they got him?
In that moment the door opened and quickly shut, Jewel Joy looked in fear and quickly changed her emotions to relief and happiness as the pony she was in love was right in front of her. He was wearing the typical black tuxedo that his job required and managed to keep it clean and ordered (even though there was so much commotion outside), she was wearing a white dress that she always used whenever she had to leave and it was clean and pristine as she would always love to wear it. When they exchanged looks, they decided to forget for a moment all their troubles and share a hug and kiss of their love and passion surviving this endeavor, then they heard the words of terror:
"There's one of them over here!!!"
The ever gripping terror took them both again and saw how the door was getting struck over and over, Jewel Joy's father went outside and tried to calm the mob with promises that the young stallion was innocent, but the mob was merciless and didn't wanted to forgive anybody. The Joy family was afraid of what was going to happen to them, the mob wanted the (very terrified) monster that was running away from the (somehow justified and noble) mob desiring of bringing justice by their own hoofs and they were going to take down any obstacle that dared to side with the monsters. But, before they could do anything, Obsidian Edge decided to surrender himself (as his last form to protect his love from harm) to the mob and before giving himself away, he shared a final kiss with the love of his life and asked her to never forget him, to enjoy life and that "if the day comes and you meet a stallion that loves you, protects you and swear to be loyal to you even more than I ever could, do not reject him on my memory. You're young and beautiful, do not waste it away when you can still find love on your life and be happy", he gave her a small box as a present and went outside, the door closed as Jewel Joy saw the civilized mob surround the murderous stallion (whose charges were never found to be true). The door held the sound of rage and savagery that is common of the wild animals on the frontiers as they were eating their prey, a few seconds later the sounds subsided and the mob went to somewhere else. When Jewel Joy opened again the door to her house, there wasn't a single trace left of the mob or the stallion they decided to take with them, not a single piece of blood or clothes were there, as if the hunger for justice was so high that there was nothing to spare. Jewel Joy opened her present and felt her heart break as she saw a beautiful golden ring with a piece of ice surrounding a pinkish heart in the middle.
For the following days, she would be wearing a black dress, a hat that covered her pain with a veil and her tears would be used in the trials to come.
The Present
Chrysalis was flying with her hive over Equestria, gazing at the land that now represented a failed dream. The vast, fertile, living and green plains of Equestria, surrounded by beautiful mountains, with towns all across the land from coast to coast. Citizens of multiple cultures and species, from ponies to zebras and griffons, but no changelings.
Chrysalis always wondered how it would feel to recover what she lost so many years ago, she used to have a life where changelings aren't looked down upon neither chastised for their diet. It was so long ago that the memory itself was painful to have, it was better to forget what would never be recovered, and whenever she remembered anything regarding it would only bring mixed emotions.
She saw the ever changing clouds and remembered the day her mother made that contract, she was a nymph at that age and never understood what her mother was doing, all she could notice was that she didn't had to go into hiding, she could play with other children and be looked with awe whenever she shapeshifted, she wasn't looked as someone distant by them, she was looked as part of them and all she knew was happiness. All she knew was that it was thanks to her mother and the pony king that treated her so nicely, that emperor that was nice and fair to everybody, that taught her how to be a good nymph, taught her of empires and emperors, of rulers of multiple kinds who were loved to no end by their subjects for how much they dedicated of their life to bring a good life to their citizens... it would be years later that she would understand the immensity of who was that pony, and once Chrysalis understood who he was and the meaning of what he taught her, she would aspire to become like that pony. When she grew up, her points of view of the world changed and she started to loathe her mother for letting the changelings to enter into submission to another ruler, she felt conflicted between love the Emperor that was her idol but made her species his subjects and hatred towards her mother who accepted submission on the benefit of bringing safety and peace to her species problems. She raised her flight.
Chrysalis would always fight with her mother for her decision and she would never rest until she became queen and, in the midst of her mixed emotions, banished her mother, thinking that it would ease her emotions and mind. - Her eyes started to bring her pain -. It wouldn't be too long until she started to feel guilt over treating her mother that way, sentencing her to that terrible world that would never accept changelings because the one pony that ever tried was now gone.
She saw in her journey the great castle in Canterlot, beacon of the great power that the humble queens held onto their subjects. She clenched her teeth, Chrysalis wanted that, to be loved, respected and feared, she was tired of living in the shadows, she was tired of throwing her own discomfort onto her own subjects, she wanted to stop worrying over things and just bring her subjects that life that she once had and that they never experienced but would enjoy to. She was hasty in her approach, even though she had the power, the plan, the move, everything, she lost for her overconfidence and hastiness. How could she have ruined that in such a way? Years of planification, planning the new rule, planning to bring back that empire that she always wanted to live in again, so close and she ruined it. All of it ruined for a beautiful memory, a beautiful and torturous memory.
After that failure, Chrysalis thought that it would be the end of it - she frowned her face - but a new hope has arise, and if it worked, it would bring peace to her species, even if it meant to sacrifice her own dreams of that great empire, - she started to feel the coldness of the northern territories - of being the generous ruler that would bring a new order to a kingdom that's very undeveloped compared to that empire she lived in... it would be now just a beautiful and painful dream, dumped together with that beautiful and painful memory.
She started to see in the distance the place where it all began, it looked like the shadow of what it used to be, and the place where it would end.
The audience
Celestia and Luna were facing one of the hardest moments in their life as regents. They weren't facing an insurrection, a coup attempt or a mythical enemy from a millennium ago that was back to invade them all. They had to save face and explain why they had to support a tyrant that treated so bad his ponies.
The furious and disappointed look on Twilight and the other ponies gave a fatal blow to both Celestia and Luna, they thought that this moment of their juvenile and rookie life as diarchs was going to be forgotten by history, and even the royal sisters forgot about it, but apparently, somepony decided to take its time to make sure that nobody would ever forget this, something that was found both good and bad at the same time. After looking at each other for a while, Luna (being the one with the least connection to everybody) decided to speak up first:
"Twilight, Element bringers, everybody here. It is understandable that you may think in a negative way of us for trading with the Crystal Empire during Swift Rise's tyranny, but, I assure you, we had good reasons to do so." - Twilight decided in this moment to start her reprimand on the princesses, one of them being the pony she admired the most, by rejecting her claims -. "Yeah? You have a good reason to allow such a cruel pony to abuse of his power and subdue and terminate so many living creatures? What would you need from him and why would you award him? He was awful and you allowed it, what made him different from Sombra? Why...? Just, why...?" - What Twilight didn't realized, is that her speech was getting filled with tears as she demanded to her second mother for answers.
With the idea of Twilight thinking that her role model wasn't as good as she thought of her, Celestia felt in pain for disappointing the daughter that she never had, after all, she have made some mistakes before, but never to this level. How could Harmony be brought when you were allowing somepony who only cared for power and ignored his citizens? Celestia saw Twilight's concern and, thus, decided to be open to her:
"Twilight, I don't want to say the 'we were young' argument because it doesn't hide or fix the mistake. But I will say that when we were facing Discord, we needed help and the Crystal Empire was our main supporter by bringing us supplies to fight him. They even sent researchers to find the Elements and a way to stop Discord by helping Clover the Clever and Starswirl's researches." - at this, Twilight became confused, why would Swift Rise help to stop Discord? The question, though, was made by Applejack. Luna simply answered -. "Discord was a threat on a global scale, nothing was safe from his chaotic magic. When we came to stop him, Discord started to focus only on Equestria so many other nations or territories started to have time to rebuild and recover. The Crystal Empire was, not only, the first one in recovering, but also it was the first one that started to send us resources to go against Discord, knowing that if we failed, then Discord would go again into a global scale." - The final part was added by Celestia, giving a huge shock to Twilight for how ironic it was - "The Crystal Empire was also the first nation that helped us to become what we were, Queen Amor Candente was a good friend of us and taught us the struggles of ruling a nation with her own experience, but she never told us what was going on in The Crystal Empire, she was the one coming to us whenever we asked her for help and we never heard of the Kingdom Protection or Swift Rise by the time we finally had time to visit the Empire."
The last part brought a few concerns to Cadence, who promptly asked around the dragon mail and if they knew what happened to her potential ancestor, Luna only answered that the Dragon Mail was discovered by dragon researchers that went to Equestria in a special program made by Amor Candente to help Equestria progress as well. They only got a few things, whether through actual constructions or blueprints, but the program was stopped when Sombra invaded and destroyed everything in the Empire and, again, they never knew what happened to Swift Rise.
The Minotaurs and Griffons were more reserved on their reasons, but still decided to voice it (while saying that they understood the princesses), they had their own share of tyrants in the history of their countries, all of them followers of Swift Rise ideals or, in paper, used his image to justify their repression. Anna Romanov briefly mentioned Blood Hawk and how he almost destroyed the Romanov family in the Griffon Kingdom while the Minotaurs talked about how the one Minotaur that unified them all into the Republic they know was (of all things) a Tyrant known by the name of Titanium Powder. All of this tyrants had something in common, they either fooled Equestria or managed to keep their facade in place so nobody could or would ever lay a hand on them (although the minotaurs mentioned that Titanium Powder caused some trouble with the other species) but they were a tale for another time.
When Twilight went to Anna Romanov and asked her about Blood Hawk, the Harpy griffon only answered - "I would rather show you what he was on a better moment. As of now, you should now that Swift Rise was an angel compared to him" -.
In the end, after comparing Sombra and Swift Rise, everybody in the room realized how easy they had it for fighting enemies that were so obvious in their position as bad guys instead of enemies that hid away their danger with a mask of friendliness. Twilight wondered if she would be capable of doing something if she ever found them and hoped that she would be capable of dealing with them when the time comes. She looked at a very tired Spike (who has been taking notes instead of Twilight in all of this time) and promised to herself that she would train herself to be a good princess and never allow tyrants of any kind to be in power, no matter what, something that her friends decided to take into account with her.
After all that, they decided to seat again and continue the video, for it would respond to the great mystery of what happened to the fake pony and how did the Crystal Empire ended up in its current situation.
Movie
A Delegation of generals start to enter into a cabinet, connected to a cable that led to the mountain, the scene is then followed by the camera showing inside the cabinet how it went from a town nearby the capital into the mountain.
"The transformation of the physical media touted by the New Ideal Kingdom, achieves a propagandistic success with the conquering of the Crystal Mountain."
The Crystal ponies, on color images, are shown looking with curiosity the sights provided to them by the cabinet while ascending into the mountain.
"Thanks to the teleferic and the Beauty Sights Hotel that dominates the the landscape from its peak."
The image switches into the King being carried by the royal chariot while the image now says "December 12th".
"In December 2nd of the third year of his reign, the King presents two innovative ideas that has a huge urbane impact. The first being the creation of a new calendar to bring order to the weather system implemented on the Empire and help to stabilize the lifestyle of his citizens. The Second idea-"
The King is shown getting close to a ribbon and cuts it with a pair of scissors.
"-Are the super blocks, tall buildings of 15 floors surrounded by buildings of minor heights to house ponies. The group of building has the name "December 2nd" and the Regime sells it as an idea to eliminate the ranches on the Empire."
The citizens start stomping the ground, mostly with looks of confuse and not understanding what was so great about those buildings, not long after that, they start to go into the buildings to live inside of them. If you payed good attention, you could notice some Crystal Guards watching the situation, following their duty.
"And on the East, new buildings start to cover the few free lands left while the hills are deforested so the new emergent groups can build their houses."
The landscapes are filled with houses being built, then, the image changes to inside a building.
"This are houses financed by the banks, which haven't stopped growing in this years, agencies and branch offices are being increased constantly."
Lord Yellow Pyrite: "Under all of this Public acts that they were doing, there was a horrible repression, the jails were getting filled with political prisoners, there wasn't a respect of Living Rights, torture was practiced, there was no labor freedom, there wasn't a good education system there wasn't a social policy from the government, it was just a government dedicated to make big buildings."
The King is shown cutting more ribbons.
Audience
Twilight Sparkle was, at this point, very tempted to burn the film to the ground. Her scholar spirit were screaming at her to try to stop somehow the injustices being done, she looked at Cadence and she was also showing the same angry on her face, but for respect to Celestia, they were going to keep watching.
Movie
"All of this transformation is done under a silent blanket: Fear."
The ponies are shown sweating and very nervous around the guards.
"Fear that the government has rooted on the citizenship, the crystal citizens have learned by force to either consent or to shut."
A group of ponies, pegasi, unicorns and griffons are being moved around by the police as they tell them to leave the area.
"Politics isn't talked about, not even inside the houses, for the firm believe that there are listeners in every corner. Or worst, Spies of the Kingdom Protection."
A family consisting of a Crystal Pony and an Earth Pony are gathering on their houses, but they look at the keyholes to make sure that nobody is listening. A Minotaur is building a newspaper from a nymph and a young Griffon.
"Of course, the newspapers are highly watched and they self censor to survive. The Interior Minister, Peace Maker, and Stray Stone, Director of the Kingdom Protection, represents the political, and repressive front of the regime although everybody knows who had the last word."
A Guard got close to another pony and gave him a paper while Stray Stone gave him a hoofshake, Swift Rise was right in between them, the scene switches to a group of KP lined up.
"Sometimes, Stray Stone called the media to talk about some success from his police."
Stray Stone started to talk to a microphone, never stopping his smile and always talking with a fine voice.
"There has been knowledge that Free Quill was preparing from across the sea, and with the help of a government over there, an assassination attempt against the Emperor General Swift Rise during the commemorative acts of the Week of the Fatherland. Calm Berserk was the one in charge of organizing said operation."
"It's another failed attempt by the newly political party "Wealthy Action" and thwarted by the Kingdom Protection. Stray Stone doesn't stop at just the political field, he also pressure the workers so they can finish on the stipulated time."
RQ: "Stray Stone's secret weapon, was the elegance besides the ridiculousness of certain sectors of the Crystal Empire's High Society."
FM: "And, actually, he wasn't illiterate as many imagined. He chose the empire's politics, rather than the police, and he put under his service a good part of the capital's society."
RQ: "Certain mares of the high society called him Peter". - He said the last word in a sensual way to emphasize the way the mares would refer to Stone.
FM: "I have always thought that the military regime didn't had other choice but to use Stone and destroy any Political Party that could be formed for the simple reason that if they didn't destroy the parties, they would destroy the regime".
Lord Polished Gem: "The Dictatorship was, simply, Terror on the State. And the instrument for the Terror of State was the Political Police, that in this regime was the Crystal Guard. But the one that caused the political repression was the Kingdom Protection, who acted as a civic police. There was no freedom of the press but everybody knew because, I think, the Kingdom Protection allowed the people to know the type of penalty they would face if they got caught. The Combination of Terror and the Crystals Bouyance was deadly."
Moving images of a Pony being carried by black figures into a prison cell, with the sound of rusting cells being opened being herd. The Prisoner is dropped into the Jail and, before he could raise, he got stomped in the head by the guards.
"The Kingdom has grown into an Empire, true, but that cannot be appreciated in the jails. The prisoners never know when will they get out, because there's no trial, they're just detained."
Images of many ponies and griffons are shown.
"If many can't get out, others can't come in, those are the citizens expelled into other lands. The exiles tries to get as comfy as they can, sharing stories and helping each other. Denouncing in other places the monstrosities being done in their homeland. They're out, yes, but paying attention to what's going on inside and trying to make contact with their loved ones."
PP: "And Soft Voice would always convince me to bring letters from the exiles. Should they have discovered me I would have been punished but I still did it". - He then started to laugh -. "I hid them in my bags, under my clothes..."
LM: "I was once found by a guard that said to me, 'Buck, we've been looking for you ever since three years ago'."
LYP: "What we heard on the jail was the music on the windows of a nearby brothel that was located in Coastal City, so in the nights we would hear some music, but there weren't news of any kind."
LM: "When I reach the jail of Sombra, I'm taken into the jail in a grave state of health."
FM: "We had to make all the duties: cleaning, making order, because it was a common jail."
LYP: "Some would play cards, others dominó. You would never get a philosophy book. I had a book that accumulated so much sweat that even now, years later, it cannot be opened for how much stinks."
FR: "I lived in a world and then there was that other world. But that didn't meant that families weren't affected, fathers had to leave and many suffered from it."
FM: "I got burned in my penis with a lit cigar". - He said it with a stone face, as if he didn't cared, he kept his face and proceded -, "I got burned, you don't say that kind of stuff."
Soldiers are found marching, a date is showed: April, fourth year of reign.
"Today he celebrates 4 years of "legal" mandate. But he actually has 7 years in power in front of a Congress without dissident voices and now he has to make his yearly account rendition."
The King enters into a great chamber where everypony stomps their hoofs as he rises into the high chamber to speak.
"The construction of Public Work is the beef of his speech."
The King started to talk.
"I'm happy to present myself in front of you. During the previous year, it was completed the greatest amount of buildings that are, so far in the history of the empire, that are by a total amount of 1.704.007.000.000 of gold coins, distributed this way..."
Everybody started to stomp (but not showing any type of emotions).
"But behind all that triumphalism, there's a problem scaring the regime: By the end of this year, there has to be elections as the Constitution establishes. Not a minor detail. There's also the problem that half of the population lives on rural zones, there's a 40% of illiteracy on the growing empire and only 30% of the Young Population goes to the 6 universities the Empire has. There are some social problems, but this problem, the poverty, can't be talked about, shown in theaters or on TV."
A bunch of foals are seen going around in what society now calls nudity, living in houses made of wood and badly built. A mare is shown breastfeeding her foal while living in poverty. A group of Diamond Dogs are dancing in mud and living in their own filth. The scene is switched to the king marching with an group of generals and commanders.
"The media also shuts about a certain rumor: The corruption in the commissions and the public works made by the regime."
A Super Block is shown and it starts to zoom in a particular apartment.
"In the apartment of the journalist Inked Press, political leaders are gathering in the clandestine. They agree in putting aside their differences, it's time to work together. And for that they create the Patriotic Joint and put Doctor Welfare in the head of the party, but first, they must convince their followers. They go to the National Theater and make a speech."
LM: "I still remember that, when Doctor Welfare asked for a minute of silence for all those the regime either exiled or murdered, and then everybody raised white handkerchiefs."
LYP: "And then it was a sea of white handkerchiefs."
LPG: "And that was an unity from top to bottom."
A large amount of ponies, griffons, minotaurs and dragons are shown raising white handkerchiefs while a pony in a raised platform is rising his hoofs in victory.
LPG: "And that way, all the political enemies of the regime united. First it was the Power to the Ponies together with the Democratic Union, then it was followed by the Wealthy Life and, finally the Freedom Action joined them. With the Patriotic Joint, we would focus on beating the Regime in the next parliamentary elections and depose him from inside the government."
A pony's shade is shown being thrown to jail, the door is locked and the pony grabs the bars looking in the camera's direction.
"But before the election time came, Doctor Welfare was arrested so the regime could rest in peace for another five years. Everybody thought that this was it, but something unexpected happened":
A Newspaper Clip is shown saying in the Headline: 'Corruption discovered: The Queen discovers a rotten truth of the KP'.
"The Queen and Golden Strike, hearing the rumors of corruption, decided to make a delegation to investigate all the petitions that has been sent to her to investigate the most recent claims against the Kingdom Protection and the other branches of the Government."
RQ: "What the regime never expected was that Welfare was a very good friend of the Queen, so when he was arrested, the queen went to see him and then, everything was uncovered." - He then started to smile.
CC: "Golden Strike was very happy to finally has the evidence to go after the KP, Stray Stone was being protected by Swift Rise, but it was still a hit for him."
"The Queen was probably the first one on protesting against the monarch, and very soon, the problem went beyond that."
FM: "With everything uncovered, everybody started to realize what was going on, and it was in that moment when we all decided to mobilize. We started to ask the citizens to protest, to make a worker strike, to rebel until there was a change in the government."
LM: "We started to pass the papers to all the citizens so they could become a part of this."
LPG: "It started with small protests in the slums of the capital."
LYP: "Then it started to spread towards the houses of the elite, people striking against the dictatorship."
RF: "Then it went into the borders, before the end of the day, the whole capital was in disarray."
CC: "Some of the citizens were starting to murder, so we had to put order back into the empire".
LPG: "I remember some of my friends shooting magic spells at the Guards, I didn't join but I saw it all."
GC: "I saw from my house how everybody was protesting against the King, it was very surprising."
"By the end of the night, it all calmed down, everybody was wondering what was going to happen. Then, it happened, the cadets started to protest against the king, more and more soldiers where ordering him to leave the office. Before everybody knew it, the King made an official announcement in front of the Crystal Palace: He quit."
FM: "Just like that, we had to wait months, but he did. It was one of the happiest moments of our lives."
LM: "And the rebellion won against the Tyranny, we proved that tyrants would never be accepted."
The News Paper showed clips stating: "End of the Tyranny: The King has left the office"
RQ: "I was in Equestria, celebrating with the new princesses the defeat of Discord."
FM: "I was in the capital when I was sent a Dragon Mail saying that Swift Rise resigned, at the beginning I didn't believed it."
GC: "I remember that i was with my clan hearing the news on a radio."
LYP: "I was in the Plains Jail when I heard the news."
RQ: "I said that I had to go back home and left the princesses on the spot."
Audience
By this point everybody was in a mixed state of happiness and shock, for while they were happy that the tyrant resigned, they didn't understood why. While they all the audience was trying to understand the situation, certain princesses remembered said event: The pony was going to Celestia in the Solar moment to ask for a petition when he was rushed by a young dragon who whispered something to his ear, the pony shouted in happiness and immediately left right when he was congratulating her and her sister for the defeat of Discord. The other sister met that pony a year later when she visited the Crystal Empire. Both Princesses wondered what happened to that pony.
Movie
LYP: "I shouted that the dictatorship was gone and, very soon, students came to the jail demanding the release of the prisoners and we were released."
"The Queen quickly takes command and makes a new Ministry, including various civilians and Golden Strike, to restore order to the empire and make the adjustments in the Government that everybody were asking for. The Empire finally wakes up."
The Citizens are shown running with joy on the streets, dancing with everybody, not making distinction on race or social class.
"Until what point was the transformation of the public ways over the will of the population? Of manifesting itself?, of living without fear? And living with liberty?"
LPG: "I was really surprised of seeing all that happiness and the citizens going around so happily and shouting hooray for freedom and democracy."
LYP: "The January 23rd was an event that nobody saw coming, so much individuals shouting with happiness and celebrating together."
Magic shots are heard and watched
"Everybody starts to surround the quarters of the Kingdom Protection, determined to release all of its prisoners, the last vestige of the dictatorship."
LPG: "First were the prisoners going out, then the vultures, as they were called, started to come out and they were shot. We all recognized them and they were chased down. That kind of stuff are sad but it happens."
Pictures of citizens of all races: ponies, griffons, minotaurs, dragons, diamond dogs, changelings. All of them celebrating and being together on the moment.
"This are moments that nobody could predict, this are hours of happiness and celebration, of looting and excess, of retaliation, of hope, of fraternity. What happened in the capital goes into the interior of the empire and the political prisoners are released. Exiled are rejoined with their fellow patriots. The Amnesty given by Queen Amor Candente is what fixes the damaged democracy."
"Times of dictatorship: a moment when great wealth and investment on infrastructure gave great power to the State and its governors."
"The regime, on its many faces, governed in the name of the military."
"They modernized the Crystal Guard, but it were its own guards who asked him to leave."
The King is shown walking with a delegation
"He never had a political party neither searched for one. By the time of elections he managed to win the elections. He never tried to convince or negotiate with his opponents. He simply silenced them with repression."
A fearful pony is looking at the audience
"There was so much safety on the streets as fear on the houses."
"With the help of a migration source, we developed like never before. But we did it without liberty and with the silence of the majorities. Maybe partners of the circumstances. Maybe victims of fear."
"Times of Dictatorship, times hard to forget, times that not everybody remembers on the same way."
RQ: "A parenthesis of order in an ambiance of cruelty in all the history of the Cristal Empire."
LM: "Times of Courage, times of moral and ethics, times of dignity."
PP: "Because it definitively was a time of struggles and triumphs."
LPG: "It was a time of intense politics and participation."
SO: "Times of prosperity, of freedom."
GC: "It were times of much experience."
JJ: "It were times of art."
LYP: "It were times of fear, of great intensity."
CC: "They were of Dictatorship but they, also, were times of much progress and much national work."
FM: "IT were times of infamy, times of terror for the country."
RQ: "It were terrible times, it was the destruction of freedom."
The film ends with a group of citizens of all kinds and places, very happy being together, holding charts that read "NO MORE DICTATORSHIP"
The screen faded to black with only text being read:
ON DECEMBER OF THAT SAME YEAR, QUEEN AMOR CANDENTE REMADE THE CONSTITUTION TO ALLOW MORE FREEDOM TO THE CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE.
STRAY STONE FLED THE EMPIRE AND HE WAS NEVER FOUND
SWIFT RISE WAS CHARGED GUILTY, HIS POSITION AS KING REMOVED, AND SENT TO THE FRONTIER IN A FORM OF EXILE, NEVER TO RETURN TO THE EMPIRE
The rest of the film showed the credits
Audience
Everybody was feeling great from that film, they were all starting to gather up when Pinkie Pie pointed out:
"Wait a minute: that said that it was the last dictatorship. How come Sombra was here?"
This brought up a lot of realizations, many of the buildings listed on the film never appeared or have been shown when Twilight and her friends came to the Crystal Empire. So what happened here? It was quite clear that Sombra did something, but what? In that moment a pony interrupted the debate and went directly to Princess Cadance and said to her: "My apologies Princess, but I have been ordered to inform you that my Queen is coming here".
Before anyone could react, he changed and revealed his origin as a Changeling, to everybody's surprise and horror, and remained stoic to the public, raging for demands on it. Celestia, in a calmed rage common of a volcano, went to the Changeling and asked him when would Chrysalis come, the answer was responded by a big scream in the outside of the Crystal Palace. When everybody came out of the Palace, they saw a huge cloud of eyes looking at them with an unknown intention and right in the middle of them, was the very queen that, not too long ago, tried to conquer them.
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I worry more about what Cadence will do to Chrysalis
7646379
That's another good question.
7647103
Really? What happened (and in what country)?
7648166
Thank you, what have you liked so far?
7648167 I've never seen a story like this before
7647283 the elected president went into office after the fall of the Soviet Union. He has filled parliament with his supporters and is known as "the last dictatorship in Europe." In the country Belarus.(Eastern Europe, right be Russia.)
7649313
Well, that one won't last too long.
Thank you for that comment.
7650035 hopefully. And your welcome.
I honestly think that the water from Lake Nostos would undo Sombra’s curse on the Crystal ponies.
https://onceuponatimeabc.fandom.com/wiki/Frederick
10310146
Thanks, I'll take this into mind when the sequel (or something else) is made.