Days prior to the planned march on Rome, Benito Mussolini is anxious.
Oh yes, he has been given the go-ahead from the American ambassador and has thousands of blackshirts and some of the most avant-garde fascists behind him. However, this strength is deceptive, just like the confidence he made sure to wear in front of his fellow fascists; his own blackshirt commander told Il Duce that he would not act against the king if he resisted, and there is still the army loyal to the crown that is ready to fight on his word.
Doubt plaguing him, Benito is now at a crossroad: should he continue as planned or perhaps flee Italy altogether? He decides to take a night stroll to iron out his thoughts.
That is, until a freak earthquake hits Naples and changes history forever.
Proofreading done by NoMoreSanity, Demon Eyes Laharl, and Starman Ghost.
Also featured on Equestria Daily.
Welp, it's official: I've lost my mind.
You can blame this image for inspiring me for writing this, and play it straight, unlike what some told me I should have done. BUT SCREW IT I AM DOING IT ANYWAYS.
I honestly don't know what to say this, I just feel like I need to write it out.
Special thanks to NoMoreSanity and Starman Ghost for pre-reading this abomination.
7712333 Interesting, even though I have almost idea what's going on. Is this set in World War 1 or World War 2?
I wonder how everyone found out about Cadence's Species in the first place, for it's the only nitpick I have so far.
I'll be saving my rating for later until the story ends, but I'll be tracking for any New Chapters added in the future.
7712442 Between the two. Mussolini's March on Rome was in 1922; in real history, he succeeded and went on to ally with Hitler and rule Italy until he was overthrown in the middle of World War II.
Bongierno principesca!
Very interesting start! I'll be eagerly awaiting more!
I'll be following this story, I always love to see stories like these. Wondering about the possibilities and potential changes would do to history.
7712767
I swear, you think this fandom cannot get any weirder and then somebody pull out something like this.
Oh, well, at least it is not Pinkie Pie.
Definitely following this.
7712493
Alicorno is literally 'wings horn' in Italian and unlike in English, 'wingshorn' in Italian is a word: alicorno is an archaic form of unicorn in Italian, so it's really not that surprising that the men picked the same name for alicorn (albeit in Italian).
7712760
Correct!
7712807
The changes will start with the next chapter with the march on Rome, and they will only grow greater as time moves forwards.
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I honestly hadn't made the connection with La Vita è Bella, but it surprisingly fits considering the time period and all. It's even given me an idea for later.
7713161
Hey, I might have lost my mind, but I haven't turned suicidal yet. Cadence is the farthest that I'm willing to go, anything more like Pinkie Pie, and I'd be digging my own literary grave.
You Have My time with this Fanfic, I hpe It as so good as look!
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7713303 we literally just got done watching that movie for my english class.
I thought this was a troll, but the description actually looks legit. I'm actually kinda interested in the madness
7713540
Not gonna lie, the temptation to make this into a trollfic was there. However, I'm not the kind of writer who'd feel comfortable writing that sort of story.
7713303
That honestly surprised me a bit, seeing as how that's one of the best period films ever made.
7713563 how much research did you do? From what I've seen there's a surprising understanding of the nuance behind his rise here that was a neat surprise.
7713596
Despite La Vita è Bella being one of my favourite childhood movies when growing up, I honestly forgot about it in later years. Seeing that video again brought a smile to my face.
7713725
Short answer: too much.
Long answer: I spent a lot of time researching on the rise of Mussolini specifically in the months coming up to the march on Rome. This involved me reading a biography on Mussolini, watching documentaries (both in English and Italian) about the rise of Italian fascism. I'm particularly glad about the Italian sources because I'd never have found out about certain aspects, like for example how Cesare De Vecchi explicitely told Mussolini that he would not act against the King's wishes, or how Mussolini met the leader of the Italian Masonic Lodge on the 25th of October.
This research had made me rewrite and change the original drafts considerably, as I simply didn't know just what exactly was happening and who was where. For example, the original chapter took place in a farmstead North of the Lazio province because I didn't know about the Fascist Congress in Naples during that timeline. Additionally, I thought that the march began on the 25th, so the first chapter was all about trying to find the trucks to help supply some few hundreds of blackshirts (an element of which stayed in the final draft).
I mean, for goodness sake, I looked at the archives of La Stampa to see a 1922 edition just to understand how articles were formatted in Italian, for me to post a teaser to this story in Italian.
So yes, put in plenty of time just researching all of the things that are relevant to the story. And I'll put in more as the story progresses.
Mad? Perhaps. Dedicated? Most definitely.
Huzzah! I write in green again!
Really well written! I love the way you wrote the characters and people and the way that you are able to portray the fascist spirit!
7713303 Alright. Thanks for the info. I don't know Italian so that's why I was confused.
Oh that's funny, I'm having to do a research paper on him! XD
Yes, please make a fic for each of those horribly tasteless ponies in history photoshops. Please make it work. It will be legendary.
Ooh so much history lessons!
Hmm.... Well, this should prove to be most interesting.
Ooh so will this be like My Little Dashie? And I really want to see Cadence's exact role on this historical stage
Wonder what will happen now that an Alicorn of Love has dropped into their laps.
Also wonder about her name...Her name is Italian, correct? How will her name come to be?
7715300
Cadence's full name, Mi Amore Cadenza, is a hodge podge of Spanish and Italian (mi is Spanish, amore is Italian and cadenza is both).
As for her name... you'll have to wait and see.
7715326
This....
I really don't know what to think.
The idea is so foreign to me, I'm kinda at a loss for words. The parallels to My Little Dashie are obvious, but this is a known historical figure. This idea intrigues me.
7715506
I have to agree with you, This is what makes this story so interesting.
plus you can tell he's put a lot of effort into this.
You at the time there were many women that supported the fascist , they were even nice girls too,
I actually read wikipedia because history class kind of skips over Mussolini. He was defenititely the least bad member of the Axis. Looking forward to what else you come up with
Let the heavens above hear my roaring prayer! Update at least bi-weekly, for I am but a poor soul lacking in a decently sized social circle!
7714898 those are a thing? The author only links one, bur are there others?
Lol.
Looks like you picked the perfect time to debut this fic.
Alright, just woke up after coming back from the hospital, let's see how things are--
Wait what, featured? What is this black magic?
I didn't think that this MLD ripoff with Mussolini would be this popular, especially with the uncomfortable implications and subtext that will be noticed as the story goes on. I'm not a fascist nor do I espouse its ideals even though I do intend to 'write it as it is.'
Still damn, thanks everyone!
While I need to take a break writing as I had a fainting spell and broke my nose, I will try to get back to this ASAP.
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I don't blame you. When the idea first sprouted in my head I thought that it was a bad, bad idea. And yet, it seems to work. I don't know either.
7715745
True that, I spent more time researching than writing. That's how dedicated I am to this Frankenstein of a story.
7716297
He's definitely among those that shaped the 20th century, and he is woefully overlooked by the likes of Hitler. I do think that he was bully and an opportunist, but he was nowhere near as bad as Hitler or Stalin.
7716428
Alas, I am a university student so my free time is limited. I shall try to keep updating as often as I can, but I can't make any promises.
7716483
Just go to Derpibooru and search with "ponies in real life, black and white" to get most of them. Here's a few of the least tasteful.
Well...this is going to be interesting.
I love the backwards-displaced stories a la Tatsuoru's PWNYverse, and I look forward to watching a possibly infant Cadence be taken care of by the less-terrible of the Axis leaders. I wish my World History classes had gone over more of Italy, especially since it seems the Americans had a huge impact on the Italian Fascists' downfall.
7716517 Thank you for that. Mussolini was definitely a bully, but at least he didn't commit genocide or force death marches.
7716517 One of those pictures has a cake! I think that might be at least a bit tasteful.
Joking aside, I really hope this gets updated decently, I'm enjoying it far more than I thought I would.
7716517 i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/984/608/ed2.gif
Completely off-the-wall concept, meticulously executed.
Is cool.
Does the story end with Cadence being machine gunned by communists and hung from a meat hook?
7717520
That could be the case if you assumed that this story ignores the impact of an alicorn on earth, and that assumption is, well, boring. If I wanted to write the timeline of Fascist Italy just with Cadence written in then this would probably have been a trollfic.
As I've already said, this is being played straight.
I am wondering, would it be "alicorna," with the feminine ending, since Cadance is a she?
Either way, I'm intrigued. Have a thumbs-up and tracking.
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7714898
People are so easily triggered these days.
I personally see them along the line of Spring time for Hitler...Making the whole thing look ridiculous so no one would ever take those negative concepts seriously anymore.
If people still take these concept seriously, they will never dismiss them. And if they never dismiss them, these concepts will continue to stain the world with their waste.
7716554
That is true. HOWEVER, he will forever rightly be stained by his eventual affiliation with and support of the Nazis. Mussolini was originally very anti-German (having fought against them in the Great War) and even called them "a nation of murderers."
His alliance with the Nazis also led to the persecution of Italian Jews beginning July 14, 1938. While this persecution was nothing like that of the Nazis, it prevented Italy from being a refuge for persecuted Jews (as Spain was under Franco). Also, the Italian Social Republic, the last manifestation of Italian Fascism, was thoroughly National Socialist and anti-Semitic, and it is this version of Italian fascism that survived the war.
While Mussolini was certainly no philo-Semite, anti-Semitism was originally not at all a component of fascist ideology and there were many Jewish fascists. There were always anti-Semites among their number, like Roberto Farinacci, but others opposed anti-Semitism. Among these was Italo Balbo, a character in this story, who thought the whole idea of anti-Semitism was ludicrous.
7718947 yeaah... kinda hard to not be considered a terrible person if you associated with Hitler. I hope this story changes at least that aspect of history.
7718276
Alicorno is already an existing word and there's no feminine version of that word. Besides, changing it to alicorna would imply that she has multiple horns (corno is a singular horn and corna is multiple horns) which is clearly untrue.
7718947
A very good observation. I've hinted at it before, but the presence of Cadence in this alternate timeline will be significant in terms of how things play out, among them being Italy's relationship with Nazi Germany. I shan't say anymore lest I spoil.
7718104
Cadenza as Madam President of the EU please!
Just kidding. I wonder what you've planned.
Finally, the third chapter's up. Thanks again to NoMoreSanity for proofreading.
So here we are, the first major deviation from history asides from the earthquake. How many more will changes will there be? Only time will tell.