Supplement: Twilight's Notes on Post-Alicorn Equestria
Research Notes, Entry Twenty-Three
25th of May, 673 Anno Caeli, 11:16 PM
I have finally managed to finish my copy of A Comprehensive History of the Empty Thrones, a text which I believe was commissioned by a merchant lord for use in the classes of his fleets, and I think I’m starting to get a picture of just how Equestria has continued functioning in the absence of the ruling Alicorn Princesses.
As an aside, I do find it interesting that the merchant lords tend to educate foals born on their ships privately, a standard which has led to fleet-born foals being, on average, far better educated than those born in baronlands or cities. Is it perhaps due to the extra demand for educated labor during extended airship travel? Maybe some way of influencing crew away from the decision of leaving the fleet? I’ll look into it more later.
Primary source interviews with the crew of the Argo has revealed that the Equestrian populace at large views the Princesses as something akin to true goddesses. Many of them believe that they are still being watched and protected by their spirits, as clearly evidenced by the church congregations I’ve seen in every settlement I’ve visited. Most of the remainder see the Princesses as tragic historical figures, to be respected and honored but not worshipped.
There is also a small minority—whom I have not had the opportunity to speak to as of yet—who believes that the Princesses never existed at all. Dusty Tome tells me he has even met ponies before who told him that all of Old Equestria was just a myth propagated by the Equestrian elite. He shared my amazement that such ponies could hold firm on their conspiracies in the face of so much evidence.
The religious majority are split into a shocking variety of denominations, which oddly seem to favor worshipping only one of the sisters at the expense of the other. This is perhaps due to a long series of religious conflicts during the early reconstruction period.
It is a common belief in particular religious sects that their favored Princess was a martyr who died defending them, and it’s unfortunate that many of them also believe the other Princess to be the cause of the apocalypse.
On the bright side, the redevelopment of Equestrian civilization has helped to suppress religious conflict in modern times, as ponies have ceased identifying themselves primarily by their religion. The common ponies are more united now than they have been in hundreds of years of written history. Which is to say, they are not very united at all.
The problem is most obvious at the higher levels of Equestrian society. Although every island is nominally part of the same Equestrian Diarchy, their political unity appears to be little more than lip service.
Petty Print’s Papers on the Pony Political Paradigm is an unusual gem on the subject. Although it seems that explicitly pointing out these flaws is frowned upon in Equestrian society, Print has put together a stellar collection of primary sources, stitched together with his own thrilling commentary.
I found the following passage starting at paragraph 70 to be a particularly astute summation of the subject:
At a glance, it’s a simple, practical method of government. Each island sends its representative to Parliament, each representative gets a vote, and a simple majority passes a bill.
But the ugliness of the system comes out in the details. The labyrinthine flaws of the Diarchy’s constitution are covered in depth in other sections, so I shall focus on the greatest issues.
At its core, the very concept of the elected representative is largely ignored by most of Equestria. The concept of any form of democracy coming out of a baronland is laughable. Any noble that can assert his dominance over a land openly appoints a loyal representative. If a clear winner does not exist, then no representative could ever hope to leave the island alive.
The politickers of the cities still hold elections, it is true. It is quite telling, however, that Heighton has not had an incumbent mayor lose an election in the last twenty years. The other cities are not notably better.
At first it might appear odd that the merchant lords are those who most hold true to the spirit of democracy. Indeed, many of them seem to take great satisfaction from holding and winning fair elections. The issue is that they all believe democracy is about voting with one’s bits, as opposed to one’s person.
But the issues compound. Parliament convenes for two months every year, and Equestria is lucky if they can decide where to hold the next assembly within the first five weeks. This is often the most productive part of the legislative year, as the representatives trade favors and political currency during the process.
With their initial bickering and posturing finished, those looking to enact a nationwide change must gather support from a twentieth of the assembly to change a petition into a submission. A simple majority passes the bill, but gaining this majority is perhaps the most difficult task a pony could ever set themselves to.
This is because the original writers of the constitution saw fit to reserve two seats for the lost Princesses. Each of the Vacant Thrones accounts for a tenth of the assembly’s voting power, meaning that a full fifth of Parliament has abstained on every vote in modern history. This means that a “simple majority” is practically over six tenths of the assembly. There are ponies who have attempted to remove the Vacant Thrones, but none have succeeded. The islands enjoy their independence, and the Thrones are a key part of it.
If some Equestrian hero does accomplish the task of passing a bill, they must then contend with the lack of enforcement. Parliament is technically in control of a militia to be used for defense of Equestria and domestic enforcement, but this militia is built entirely from donations. A perceptive reader might correctly imagine that there are no donations.
The end result is so near to anarchy that it may as well be. Bills cannot be passed and laws cannot be enforced. At times, I wonder if the invasion of some foreign power is the only thing that could ever reforge Equestria into a united polity.
Every source I check is largely in agreement: Equestria as a nation no longer exists in anything more than name.
Copying this passage again does make me wonder, however. Have any resources been devoted to exploring the world for survivors outside of Equestria? I have read accounts of interactions with gryphons, thestrals, and even a couple dragons throughout modern history. I have also personally encountered a living gryphon, though she was in no state to be interviewed.
And yet the censuses I have reviewed would imply that these species do not have the population to sustain themselves. There are logically two possibilities. Either the census-takers are flawed, or there is some land beyond the Equestrian known world where these demographical anomalies hail from.
I suppose it is also a technical possibility that my math is simply incorrect, but I have already checked it five times. See Addendum C for reference.
It has been too long since I’ve had access to a library. I will have to investigate the matter further once I find one.
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*dramatic music plays*
8806147
Be very careful with what you're implying here
Now that’s just silly!
8806147
None that I saw anyways. Still, it's a funny reply to see in the morning.
8806888
This is actually a consequence of Rarity's perspective. She's not an experienced combatant or a trained fighter, so she can't really focus on more than one immediate threat at a time.
8806096
I'm glad you're not dead, too!
Mmm, supplementary materials. This is one of the few long adventure stories i love that is still trucking along.
I'm pretty sure that Twilight would try to find a way to, if not heal rainbow's eye, at least create something that's not been seen since the collapse of Equestria. A replacement eye, either created from a carved stone and enchanted through runes, or out of an enchanted gem, allowing her to see properly again. It seems like something she would do, if she has the time and resources to do so.
Twilight raises a good point. This is over 600 years post season 2 finale. That means there have been over 18 generations of interbreeding thestrals and griffons to result in just Gava and Ana.
They are either the last of their kind(s), or there are sustainable populations of their species elsewhere.
I have loved this story and it has given me some fun ideas of a Character of mine and the exact way she would fit into the society you've created here.
Would you be up for possibly a chapter or two of CO writing for a simple arc after this current one or possibly in a sequel to this story when you finally finish it?
8818878
Co-writing? Eh, my experiences have made me pretty reluctant to engage in any writing relationship so close with anyone but my co-author, who I've known for most of my life.
That said, I'm absolutely open to side stories or fan works, and have in fact been writing the story with plenty of little hooks for just such a thing since the beginning. Hop in my Discord channel sometime and we can chat about what you have in mind, and what you might need from me.
8813375
The solution to the problem has been sitting right in front of Twilight for some time, now. I was actually shocked it took me as long as it did to figure it out, once it finally occurred to me.
8818962
Magical hornbane eye giving Dash telescopic sight and multiple vision modes?
Accidentally a word there, I assume that's supposed to read "many of them also believe the other Princess to *be* the cause of the apocalypse'?
So Luna has a chair waiting for her in what passes for government if she can just wake up and claim it? One that could potentially tip all kinds of balances if someone were to hold her and claim to have her proxy? The crew of the Argo shivered as another zero slid neatly onto the end of their already considerable bounty...
this sotry is a fair one so far.
One solution would be a common threat for the islands to start acting as one
I love that I've been reading this story for the past two years yet the characters, lore, and narrative stay fresh in my mind.
The six are written spot on with respect to the show and how they might react to the harsh new world, the action is exciting and visceral without the constant gratuitous description of gore for the sake of the tag one might see on other "darker" fics, and I find the pacing excellent for the chapter length - doesn't jump between seven characters constantly and chapters follow a solid tension arc. There's not a moment of mundanity that comes to mind. And last but not least, your two main villains are characters with motivations, personalities, and weaknesses. I'm excited to see how Ana's espionage plays into the rest of the story.