Mayor Mare waved up into the stands before turning to a pony beside her and whispering something in her ear. The pony dashed off as Mayor Mare trotted on towards Paul. She gestured with a toss of her head for him to come with her and he rose to do that even as Laud returned to his place.
Soon she had her assembled stallions, neither of which was a stallion. "Gentlecreatures, I require your assistance," spoke the mayor. She turned to Spike, who had come running when the other pony had told him she wanted to talk to him. "Send this to Celestia, and expect a speedy reply." She produced a scroll towards him.
He saluted sharply before giving a little puff of flames, consuming the scroll into the raw stuff of magic that sped away towards Canterlot.
Paul raised a brow at the sight of it. "Curious. I hadn't known dragons were capable of magic. Should I be concerned?"
Spike snorted softly at that. "That's, like, the only trick I have. Unless you're scared of getting too much mail, you're pretty safe."
Mayor Mare nodded towards Paul. "The situation has... degraded. I have been encharged with seeing this competition through to the end, with grace and poise. The princess of friendship is living up to her title and the entire thing was called off. Lyra and Bon Bon surrendered to her."
She raised a hoof to forestall replies. "It sends bad signals. For one, it was Laud that called for it, not Twilight. Were it Twilight, that would be one less concern, but it would still be a problem. Secondly, it paints the idea that princesses simply cannot be challenged, not successfully. That is not true, but it will create the idea, and it is a poor one." She brought the hoof down, frowning. "Lastly, it is trampling on the law, as old as it may be. It has not been changed, even if I feel it will be. This is--"
"--Enough." Paul crossed his arms. "I understand what you're saying."
"I don't." Spike rolled his hand in the air. "What's the big deal?"
Paul extended a lone finger towards the mayor. "She's sharper than I gave her credit for." Mayor Mare looked scandalized, but he continued, "She's protecting her culture in the face of a technologically superior one. It's an uphill battle, but it's waged from the start, or you just accept being rolled over."
Spike's reply was cut off by puffed out cheeks. Spilling out in a burst of flames and magic, a scroll appeared hovering in the air. Mayor Mare snatched it in her teeth and unfurled it with a toss of her head. Her eyes swept over it rapidly, taking it in. "Clever..."
Paul hiked a brow. "What is the princess suggesting?"
Mayor Mare rolled the scroll back up tight. "There is a law covering this, even more arcane. Will Laud react too poorly if I insist the competition be concluded?"
Paul lifted his shoulders. "He may, but I will keep his ass on the bench. He is young yet, this is what experienced superiors are for. What's the plan?"
Mayor Mare tucked the scroll away in the pocket that ponies had. "The competition concludes, and I declare the winners, of course. Everyone will get what they want, in a manner of speaking." She glanced at her podium, then up at the restless crowd. "Take your position by Laud then, please. Spike, you're free to return to your friends. Thank you both."
Spike crossed his little arms. "Really? I was just called to send some mail?" Despite his complaint, he departed without delay, but with a bit of grumbling.
The contestants had already taken their places, expecting the competition to be called off once Mayor Mare took her spot.
Paul sat beside Laud, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes, things do not go the way we planned," he started.
"What were you speaking to the mayor about?" asked Laud with immediate suspicion.
"Local customs." His hand tightened. "They will not be rolled as the Shantor were, not without a fight. I applaud you on taking a stand with something so personal, but they aren't going to let that be a reason to start showing their brightly-colored bellies to us."
"Ladies and gentlecolts," spoke Mayor Mare once she took her spot, though it took a few minutes before she did so, to all the creatures gathered. "I apologize for the delay. The stallion has insisted on the end of the competition, and the mares accepted, which defaults the decision to the overseeing judge." She raised a hoof to point at herself. "And that would be me. I have declared neither side worthy of taking the stallion if they are willing to let his decisions overrule their own."
Surprised gasps and conversation swept through the audience. Twilight's wings shot out to either side. "This isn't what we agreed on!" she sputtered in a half-shout.
Lyra bounced up to her hooves. "Yeah! What's the deal?"
Bon Bon scowled at the mayor, but no specific words left her snout but a low growl that she largely kept to herself.
Mayor Mare gestured downwards in placating motions. "Quiet, quiet please... If the mares do not accept my decision, then the competition will continue. I trust that is acceptable?" She looked towards Twilight first. Twilight nodded quickly, teeth clenched. Mayor Mare looked back towards Lyra and Bon Bon. They were quick to nod.
Lyra pointed accusingly at the mayor as her lyre played a few angry notes, hovering over her head. "I don't know what you're up to, Mayor, but cut it out!"
Mayor Mare brought up a hoof to cough into it once. "Now then, the last competition. Let us find who would be best suited for our stallion."
Rarity shook her head from up in the bleachers. "This has taken a turn... I wonder what Laud had insisted on, besides them ceasing this competition."
Applejack shrugged. "We may never know, least not until this whole thing's over and we can grill Twi about it."
Rainbow Dash clopped her hooves. "You can bet I'll be doing that. What the hay are they even doing?"
Spike flopped back into his seat with a huff, out of breath from his dash. "She checked with Celestia before she did that." He pointed down at Mayor Mare. "Paul too, the human in charge. Did I miss anything?"
Fluttershy pointed. "Looks like they're starting the last competition."
Mayor Mare unfurled a new scroll that fell out into two copies of the same thing. "Despite hectic days, there are always things that need doing. Still, as the mare or mares of the house, it is expected that you get them done. This competition is simple, take your list of chores and complete them. For judging purposes, a balloon has been graciously lent to us."
Summoned by her words, a round balloon descended into view, Pinkie waving excitedly from its basket. "All aboard!"
As the mayor took her position with Pinkie, Twilight floated over her list, and Lyra grabbed the other. Both sides quickly scanned down it with studious frowns.
The balloon began to lift back into he air as the mayor pulled out a megaphone. "Are both sides ready?" All three mares nodded, taking ready stances. "Go!"
They took off in a gallop, racing to get started. Bon Bon jumped over a fence in the way, sliding under some hanging clothes before bouncing back up to leap over the opposing fence, taking a bold shortcut through some pony's backyard. Lyra took off in another direction, going for an entirely different item from the list.
Twilight was by herself, but she had magic on her side. When she could see her target, she vanished and appeared beside it, claiming a bunch of flowers first. "Check," she proudly declared to herself as she turned for the next prize.
Lyra skidded to a halt just in front of the school, poking her head inside. "Is my foal ready?" she asked, not having been aware she had a foal, but the instructions said to pick them up from school, so there she was.
Cheerilee smiled. "Of course, here you are." With a toss, she sent a small bag of flour with a smiling face drawn on it flying towards Lyra.
Lyra squeaked as she grabbed the bag from the air in her magic, bringing it to a gentle stop. "Be more careful with foals. You could bruise the little, um colt?" She set the bag on her back and trotted free of the school. "Let's get you home."
Mayor Mare floated over everything, taking notes of the tactics that each employed as they ran around the town in wild patterns, bouncing from chore to chore. "Mmm"
"I know, isn't it amazing?" Pinkie leaned over the side of the basket, peering down at them all. "I don't think I've seen Twilight run that much since the Running of the Leaves, and that's not even counting when she goes pop pop pop like that."
"She has to." Mayor Mare made a scribble with the quill in her mouth. "Two ponies have a strong advantage in getting chores done compared to one, even a magical one like Twilight."
Pinkie turned an ear towards the mayor. "You have a secret. I can smell it!"
Mayor Mare smiled silently.
"Oh, c'mon! Share! We're up in a balloon, promise I won't tell anypony!" Pinkie brought her hooves together in a pleading motion. "Pretty please with all the sugar in Sugarcube Corner piled on top?"
"It's nothing too dramatic." Mayor Mare peeked down at them. "I just made a few little edits to the chore list."
Twilight pulled the chore list a little higher, another defeated. "Get a collection of candies, preferably mildly sour and blue in color." She blinked softly. There was one candy shop in town... "But..."
Bon Bon crossed off another chore from the list with a snort of triumph. "Borrow a book on local magic for your stallion to study." But there was only one pony that tended to have such books, especially to borrow. "Well..."
Mayor Mare grinned at the two ponies pausing. "I think they've reached my revisions."
"What did you put on them?" Pinkie leaned dangerously over the edge. "What's gonna happen?! The excitement is too much!"
The three competitors came together, wandering the town until they found one another. Twilight floated her list forward. "I need candies!"
"I'll trade you for a book," agreed Bon Bon.
Lyra tilted her head. "What kind of candy?"
Twilight made little circles in the air with her hooves close together. "Blue, sour, not too sour? What kind of book?"
Lyra dashed off, leaving Bon Bon behind. Bon Bon shook her head. "A magic book, preferably something that goes over the basics."
"Star Swirl's "So You're Wondering What That Thing on Your Head Is" would be perfect!" Twilight's horn glimmered as a book materialized. "Here you are." Bon Bon advanced to take it in her mouth, but it pulled away in the sparkling magic. "You get it when I get my candy, at the same time."
Bon Bon sat on her haunches. "Very well..." Her eyes slid over towards the floating list. "Making good progress?"
Twilight glanced over at Bon Bon's tucked up scroll, taking note of its making cross-outs. "As are you?"
The two met eyes a tense moment before they suddenly broke into laughter. Bon Bon shrugged softly. "We sure got back into the competition quickly, didn't we?"
Twilight shook her head. "Maybe too quickly. No hard feelings, alright?"
"Alright." Bon Bon nodded. "That doesn't mean I'm not trying to win." She glanced off as Lyra came into view, racing towards them. "Let the best mares win."
"Alr--hey!" Twilight dropped the book as she grabbed the candies from Lyra's magic just as the other unicorn got close enough to easily do so. "Bye!" She vanished.
Lyra barely caught the book in her magic before it struck the ground. "You can tell she's distracted, dropping a book like that. What's next on the list?"
I am glad that there were consequences for Laud's actions and that they didn't simply accept his illegal and offensive decision.
I figured something like this would happen, since it's really the only thing that could happen, but it's still a little disappointing to see so little emotional investment on the part of the ponies. Especially Lyra. It makes the whole thing pretty dull because it honestly seems like the only one who actually cares who wins is Laud.
9000960
It would be better if the ponies were in it for blood?
Typo.
"Despite" implies a contrast; it would make sense if there were NO grumbling. As it currently stands, I'd suggest that you delete the "despite" clause or rewrite the sentence.
9001040
Tweaked.
9001046
Better. Thanks for being so prompt.
9000969
No, but it would be better if it seemed like they had any sort of emotional investment in how things turned out. It feels like they're competing over the last slice of pizza, not something as important as a marriage. Especially for Lyra, since she supposedly has feelings for Laud (though there's no telling what that actually means, since we still don't even know what the relationship is between her and Bon Bon.)
Kind of feels like the last ten or so chapters have basically been...
Celestia: "Fuck you, Twilight, you're getting married. No, you don't deserve the courtesy of a private discussion, nor even the pretense that one of you is voluntarily asking the other to marry them. It's more fun to just spring it on you two in front of everyone."
Lyra and Bon-Bon: "Fuck politics. We actually care about you, and want you to have a chance at a marriage based on affection."
Laud: "Fuck affection. I apparently have belatedly discovered I have a pair of balls, so this whole competition thing is off, and we're going with the course of action I think makes the most political sense."
Mayor Mare: "Fuck you. At what point did you start thinking anyone gave a fuck what you thought?"
Twilight, Lyra and Bon-Bon: "Yeah, fuck Laud. Let's go do exactly what he said he doesn't want us to do, so that we can be bound together forever with him!"
... at this point, I'm not sure there are any characters left that I actually respect. Paul, maybe? I mean, all he cares about is the politics, and he's not making any pretense of caring about anyone on an individual level.
I'm kind of assuming that this is somehow going to end up with a happy ending, but right now, it doesn't feel like any of them are earning it.
It wouldnt suprise me in the least if Discord turned up with a Crystal Egg and baldy wig, and Kevin turned up as an Aspidistra.
I call bullshit on this one to some degree.
1. Ancient herd law or not, they STILL use Laud like some toy or prize that can be handled over to the winner. That is slavery in a certain way, because he has no say in this matter.
2. Celestia is a giant hypocrite if she just overrules Lyra's, BonBon's and Twilight's judgement, who were all, by the way, FINE with it and agreed on these terms. Instead they are sent back into the "colosseum" like gladiators, because the Opus Magnus of the show declares that she isn't pleased what these rebellious mares are doing and changes the rules accordingly, hiding herself behind- and excusing her dictatorship-like behaviour with some outdated law from ages beyond anpony's memory except hers.
3. Epecially Twilight's judgement seems to has no worth if she doesn't do something others want her to do. I mean she is "supposed to be" a princess herself and Celestia always acted like Twilight would be her equal. And now suddenly she pulls the "Well, suck it, Twilight. I am the older one, so we do as I schemed it out in my head. You won't just make that decision on your own" card. It undermines Twilight's authority.
4. What leads me to the point that Laud and Paul were pretty much shown that in the very end Twilight's title is more decoration than a power given occupation, because Celestia just makes Twilight's decision void if she sees fit.
And before people give me the "she needs to be shown that there is a better way" or "the others just care for her well-being, because she doesn't and is ready to sacrifice her own happiness" response... just no.
1. Twilight is a freaking ADULT and can make her own well-informed decisions.
2. BonBon and Lyra AGREED with Twilight and Laud and made a oral contract on their own. Now they are all pushed back into this crap like they are little fillies who have no clue what they are doing and the "concerned parents" need to show the three mares that they have no say in the matter.
In the end I don't think neither Laud, nor Lyra, BonBon and not even Twilight will simply accept that they were played like that. Princess of Friendship or not, I can't imagine Twilight simply forgiving the others, Starlight and Celestia especially, but the other bearers as well, because instead of TALKING with her over it they scheme behind her back and forced her hoof in this situation. Additionally this made her look very weak in front of the humans, because her title apparently loses its power in the moment she does something Celestia doesn't approve of.
Since many chapters they all act like they would prevent Twilight from some terrible fate, but not once was hinted on it that Twilight would dislike this arrangement or that she would be very unhappy about it. She didn't frown or cried or voiced herself otherwise negatively about the thing with Laud. Still they are just assuming to know better without even consulting her how she really feels about it.
9001179
1. Laud has no say in whether the competition happens because it's not about him. The point is to allow mares who are both competing for the stallion's affection to compete in a fair competition to show the stallion who would be the better choice. But it's Laud's decision he just has no right to actually keep them from going through with the competition.
2. The problem is that it was Laud's decision to stop the competition not the mares which is against the law (another ancient law). The other issue is that Laud represents a foreign culture and if the ponies let him stomp all over their customs regardless of whether or not they are outdated they are opening up themselves to give up more of their culture in the future. If Twilight or Lyra & Bonbon had decided to end the competition it would be fine but if the ponies are going to maintain their culture moving forward they can't back down on even the smallest things.
I'm pretty sure it was made clear several chapters ago that Twilight is fine with marrying Laud. She's not happy with how it came about but she agrees it's what's best for Equestria in the long run.
9001214
I'd like to add the point that the Mayor is doing this in a act of defense of Pony Culture like Laud said and political maneuvering is very often unpleasant and requires one to "suck it up" and follow the laws even when they ARE bullshit. It's about Equestria taking the position that their species and it's culture are not subservient to humanity. Humans don't pick what laws Equestria follows the Equestrians do.
9001834
yeah pretty much. Honestly this stuff can get really complex and hard to explain so I totally understand that some people might have difficulties understanding what is actually going on here.
Aww, that's adorable. They think they have agency.
It's been made clear that non-humans are functionally non-persons here. The Equestrians can't offer them anything that cannot be taken by force. Their right to continue living, much less self-govern, is dependent on the patronage of their soon-to-be overlords. Sure, they might have some small bit of leeway at the moment, but once they sign their sovereignty away, they'll have to do whatever the humans say "or else."
And it can only be "or else" because the story has emphasized again and again that even the "noble" humans are only friendly because of self-interest. And a strong, self-governed Equestria is not in their interests.
9001834
Umm, they kind of are subservient to humanity, though. Or at least they will be once they formally join House Hawkwood. Sure, the "nice" humans might let them play at being "vassals" and "serfs," but only so long as the leadership of House Hawkwood finds it convenient.
9002134
By that logic, America with its largest army in the world is only 'allowing' other nations to have agency.
But that's not how global politics work, and neither do galactic politics. Yes, smaller nations have less military power. But is why they have allies. Ditto for worlds in galactic politics. Equestria is currently in a position where they are negotiating with a friendly face to get such an ally, and the protection from any of the less friendly forces in the galaxy that comes with it. Once Equestria has that protection, the military threats against them vastly diminish.
And then we get to the next phase of politics: Economy, and what Equestria has to offer. Now that things will no longer be taken by force, the worlds of the galaxy will be trading with Equestria. And Equestria is very, very abundant in resources, making it an instant economic powerhouse in the galaxy. Which also means House Hawkwood has an interest beyond altruism in keeping Equestria as allies: as long as Equestria is part of House Hawkwood, and not one of the other houses, they reap the benefits of a flourishing Equestria.
And that's before we go into what Equestria offers in terms of magical research. Feared as magic may be, by being a magical powerhouse they also become one of the most important fountains of knowledge in what magic is and how to combat it. That is a source of knowledge no sane person would discard lightly.
And finally, I have touched on this earlier but Equestria is by no means powerless. With House Hawkwood as allies, Equestria will soon have the ability to detect ships in space. Luna controls the moon. Celestia controls the sun. These three factors make Equestria functionally impossible to simply steamroll from space, as either of the princesses can just smash or fry an invading fleet with their choice celestial object. You want to mess with Equestria? You'll have to get through House Hawkwood and the Equestrian solar system itself.
9002340
Regarding the United States, it's not really comparable. Even at the height of its power, the US never had the degree of strategic and technological superiority as the humans in this setting. Remember, humans in this story control basically all of controlled space, and they have access to weapons and technology that Equestrians cannot counter.
That's a good point. However, by that same token, they would likely profit more by disassembling Equestria's government and assuming direct control over the means of production. More importantly, humans will have a monopoly on shipping to and from the planet, which basically gives them free reign to dominate the whole planet's economy.
Unless the persons in question live in a society that preaches the evils of magic at every level. Even Laud, after all this time, is still leery of it.
Again, you kind of hit the nail on the head, though. Without House Hawkwood, Equestria is functionally powerless to defend itself against people who will try to wipe them out. That gives Hawkwood all of the leverage here, since without them Equestria is toast.
Given the author's statements on the subject, I don't think that would realistically work. Even if Celestia and Luna had that degree of control over the Sun and Moon, there are simply too many ways to circumvent a defense with only two shields/rams. All it takes is one ship/projectile getting through, and Canterlot is a crater.
9002381
It's also a setting in which swords wielded by ordinary humans are apparently considered viable weapons. A setting like that is not 40K with its superguns and superhumans.
But the point with the America comparison was that having superior might does not mean that domination through might is preferable. Or even viable. You note for example that you think it is more profitable to disassemble Equestria's government and assuming direct control over the means of production. It isn't. A key role of global -and by extension galactic- politics is that it is always more profitable to gain through negotiation than it is through military conquest. War, even one with guaranteed victory, is expensive. So is occupation. We only need to look at Iraq to see how even a war where one side steamrolled the other drained the victor's finances like no tomorrow, and reforming a government being far from successful. Were House Hawkwood to try and take control of Equestria through force, they would face fierce opposition of Equestria leading to a long term occupation. This opposition alone would dent profits drastically, as ponies fighting aren't ponies working and dead ponies are useless, but we'd see an impact to production simply through motivation. A happy worker is a productive worker, a conquered worker is not.
And that's before we go into the actual occupation itself. Contrary to popular belief, simply having ships in orbit does not mean you have conquered a world. For that you need boots on the ground, and these boots would go up against pegasi who can control the weather, earth ponies who can move truck sized boulders, and of course unicorns who have magic to a degree virtually unknown to them. That is not an occupation that an army that considers swords to be legitimate weapons is going to accomplish easily. And that's just Equestria.
Which brings us to the final point you raise, which is a good old classic defence in these sci-fi scenarios: "but they have orbital guns! They can nuke Canterlot!"
Putting aside that the only thing preventing Luna from smashing the moon into fleets is not being able to see them... Yes. Yes they can. And then they will have destroyed the entire Equestrian solar system, because MLP has established repeatedly that without the Princesses, the sun and moon no longer work. Following that, the world will slowly go bye bye in a matter of weeks. A dead conquest is no conquest and the objective has failed.
Given the above factors, which honestly don't even scratch the surface of the complications that accompany an occupation and change in government, and combined with Equestria fully willing to enter into an alliance diplomatically, the choice between occupation or negotiation stops being a choice at all. Negotiation is preferable in every conceivable way. The only ones who would push through with occupation are moustache twirling villains, which the story has firmly established the Hawkwoods are not.
And the Hawkwoods may have leverage in their protection, but to say they have all the leverage would be false. Again, large scale politics don't work like that. The Hawkwoods are running on borrowed time themselves. Right now they are the only House with knowledge of Equestria, but it is only a matter of time before the other Houses learn of it. They need to secure a deal as fast as they can, because it only takes another House with a decent moral compass to make a better offer. That means they can't afford to play the high and mighty "obey us, we are your only option" card, because that card will be exposed for the flimsy lie it is the moment another House makes contact. Which means the Hawkwoods need to appease the Equestrians as much, arguably even more, than the Equestrians need to appease the Hawkwoods, because if it's not them, another House that makes a better offer will walk off with the prize.
TL;DR: conquering and changing a world's government is not as easy as it sounds. Negotiations and alliances are always preferable.
9002488
Except that advanced weaponry does exist, and is in use; it's just expensive (and in some/most places taboo). I looked it up, and this setting has guns and tanks and lasers and bio-weapons, and more.
Again, you can't compare the situation here to those on Earth. There are dozens of reasons why the occupation of Iraq turned into such a garbage fire (sectarian violence, mistrust of western influence, political mismanagement...) that don't exist for Equestria.
Moreover, I didn't say "conquer through violence," I said "disassemble." As in use their immense leverage to force the Princesses to cede their political power to an administrator, who will run the country (possibly with the Princesses as figureheads). He doesn't even have to be authoritarian about it, since there are a lot of things (strip-mining, animal farming/hunting, etc.) that the Equestrians wouldn't allow but which could be very profitable for humans to operate.
Except that the fleet doesn't have to get into her range. And unlike the Sun, the moon can only take so much punishment if they decide to chuck nukes and such at it (or force Luna to block the same from hitting Equestria)
Except that canon says that unicorns did that before the princesses came along, and we know that even when the Princesses are disabled, the sun and moon stay in orbit (they just don't move). It's not an insurmountable issue, if push comes to shove.
For now, when they don't have a handle on what exactly they're dealing with. When they understand the limitations that Equestrian sovereignty places on them, they'll work to circumvent them.
9002778
If you have to resort to rare and expensive weaponry that is taboo in many places for a war, then you already need to question whether the war is worth fighting in the first place. Given that Equestria is willing to negotiate from the start, going for those weapons drops from 'not necessary' to 'why would we ever want to?'
And there's a reason I compare them to situations on earth, because I've noticed a trend in sci-fi stories (not just here, but in a lot of places) where people assume that a faction being stronger means everything goes their way and start arguing their case from a purely hypothetical scenario based on absolutely nothing, even though real world analogies show that things don't go like these dreams scenarios do. You can't just shove a government out of place and replace it with your own. That will lead to a massive backlash from the populace, which means that even if you want to avoid occupation you will inevitably have to send in the troops anyway to keep your puppet government in place.
There is absolutely no reason for this kind of puppeteering. All it does is make things more difficult by creating needless friction with the populace. And that frankly assumes that Equestria even sways for such a forceful disassembly of their government. What is House Hawkwood going to do if Equestria refuses such demands? Let another House take Equestria? House Hawkwood's protection is symbiotic in nature: Equestria is safe from the predations of the less kind Houses, and House Hawkwood gets full profit of Equestria's knowledge, resources and access to a pre-apocalypse earth. It is not leverage that they can vocally bash the Equestrians into submission with, because refusal to extend their protection means losing what they want to gain in the first place.
In short, House Hawkwood's leverage is an amazing offer, but it makes for a terrible threat. It only works because the Hawkwoods are willing to negotiate, and they will gain more through these negotiations than puppeteering.
You're assuming that the knowledge still exists. Which is possible, theoretically. We know that it isn't well known though, given how every disappearance has led to mass panic rather than a crack squad of unicorns showing up to take control, which means that said knowledge would at best have been in the Canterlot Archives. Which they just nuked. Oh, and it's also the city where the majority of Equestria's magical talent gathers, so even if there was a group that still knew how to do it, odds are they're gone too. And given that a tide-locked planet is not a healthy planet to live on, the clock's ticking on trying to find out how to fix it.
Seriously, nuking the Sisters is the worst way to try and conquer Equestria. There's a reason why Chrysalis left them alive (well, beyond wanting to gloat).
Of course all of this still falls into the same fallacy most "orbit = victory" arguments fall into: If you start nuking a planet every time it resists, all you will reign over is a pile of ashes. That's not much of a conquest, and it is not what House Hawkwood wants. There is great value in Equestria's people. Earth ponies and pegasi alone will revolutionize terraforming, and the unicorns can provide an insight on magic and how to counter it unmatched by anyone in the galaxy. Those would be resources thrown away in a pointless display of power.
(By the way, while I was looking through the story for something, I noticed that two chapters have the same title: 24 and 46 are both "Sunrise".)
9002381
"and they have access to weapons and technology that Equestrians cannot counter."
Hm, I disagree with that. To start with, as I recall being mentioned in the story (though I don't seem to be able to find just where at the moment), as a last resort Equestria could destroy the gateway, cutting itself off from the wider galactic society likely permanently. As keroko mentioned in the comment you're replying to, before that they can whack any invading ships with the sun and moon, or just, as the Princesses thought of, use the sun and moon to cause the same sort of problems that caused Laud's ship to crash. Then consider Equestria's wealth and how much magic it has; even aside from how it could actually be weaponized, I imagine that having to tell a human army in this universe "Okay, we're going to be invading a planet where pretty much every single person is an active magic user" would not be good for their morale. There's how quickly Maud is figuring out aspects of human technology, there's everything from from the EQG world... Equestria isn't so strong that they can just ignore any threats, but if the leaders use well what they have, Equestria is also far from helpless.
"That's a good point. However, by that same token, they would likely profit more by disassembling Equestria's government and assuming direct control over the means of production."
Why mess with something that already works? Maybe, sure, they'd increase revenue with such a move, but they'd definitely increase costs since they'd both have to handle functions Equestria's government now does themselves and deal with local resistance. They might also fail to take over and reduce revenue to nothing. Oh, they might well try such a thing if Equestria was hostile from the start, but given Equestria is eager for peaceful and prosperous cooperation and trade, why risk that?
"More importantly, humans will have a monopoly on shipping to and from the planet, which basically gives them free reign to dominate the whole planet's economy."
The planet is necessarily already autarkic, though. Control over imports and exports could eventually become a lever of power, true, but right now, and likely for a while, how is the result of ignoring a threat to cut off trade different from the way things already are?
"Unless the persons in question live in a society that preaches the evils of magic at every level. Even Laud, after all this time, is still leery of it."
So see what I said above about the morale effects of having to fight that. You work with them, they help you combat other magic users, you fight them, you have to either deal with how terrifying their magic is or risk people thinking their magic isn't that terrifying and getting Ideas, you ban all contact with them, things go back to the pre-contact status quo.
"Without House Hawkwood, Equestria is functionally powerless to defend itself against people who will try to wipe them out."
See both our points about how powerless Equestria is.
"Given the author's statements on the subject, I don't think that would realistically work."
Which ones?
"Even if Celestia and Luna had that degree of control over the Sun and Moon, there are simply too many ways to circumvent a defense with only two shields/rams. All it takes is one ship/projectile getting through, and Canterlot is a crater."
So move the Princesses out to two different, hidden locations. If, as you think, this actually is an extermination war from the human side, major cities become acceptable losses if the humans can be driven away.
9002488
"Or even viable."
Good point! Vietnam comes to mind...
9002778
"Except that advanced weaponry does exist, and is in use; it's just expensive (and in some/most places taboo). I looked it up, and this setting has guns and tanks and lasers and bio-weapons, and more."
So using the advanced weaponry will make a war even more expensive and cause even more morale problems, then?
Holy crap the debate in the comments has gotten out of hand. This isn't the place to world-build, what the frick?! Bickering is not helpful to the story at all.
In any case, this reminds us about a recent heavy conflict in Sparky Brony's Herding Instincts, in which the human protagonist accidentally let a non-herd-member seduce him (basically), which in that AU's governance was (in this case) technically not illegal (it's complicated). A huge debacle over real-world morality and laws was had, and they missed the point there as people are missing it here: the point isn't necessarily that it's right or wrong, it's that there are cultural differences that need to be upheld, or society starts unraveling. Basically it boils down to "you're in our country, you follow our rules. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse" and here this policy is being used to try and untie Laud's hands, while in the other story it was being used to demonstrate tied hands to the protagonist. You can't just anarchize away things just because you want to.
That being said, we hope the competition ends soon so we can go back to SoL chapters. Well, everyday SOL.
We believe the Mayor's" chore list" alterations are designed to demonstrate codependency between the contestants. Wouldn't it just be dandy if she declared it a tie, just so it would truly be Laud's choice whom to marry?
Keep going! ;)
9004107
Eh, we're just having a friendly discussion the pros and cons of the way the Hawkwoods are tackling their adopting of Equestria versus a more forceful approach. Trust me, this is far from getting out of hand. You'll notice when it's getting out of hand when less words are spent on discussing and more on hurling insults and accusations.
That being said, yeah the main problem here is not so much that Laud disagrees with being handled like a trophy and wants his friends to stop fighting over him, it's that Laud represents the foreign government. If he is allowed to halt this competition, it sends an signal that House Hawkwood can override and ignore any law and culture of Equestria if they so they desire. This is of course not Laud's intent, but when it comes to political marriages you're unfortunately playing a ballgame where intent matters a lot less than appearance.
9004257
We meant out of hand more in that there are almost more words in the comments than the chapter proper. It's... Distracting.
9004107
"Bickering is not helpful to the story at all."
Well, I'm hoping it actually is? I was pretty much staying out of this, to the (small) extent I even noticed it, but then I found out that parts of it were bothering the author. I'm attempting, among other things, to bolster the author's morale by giving more voice to my views on matters here, which already seems to have been appropriate for such.
9004860
Oh, sorry. Hm. I'm not really sure what the best course is here, though...
9004895
Let's focus on the future, how Laud might balance his marriage to the Princess of Friendship while still being good friends with Lyra. Maybe how this new influence opens stronger possibilities with things besides commerce to space, for example the funding to create a visitors cultural Center or maybe even a small school for transfer students. Maybe ideas on how to overcome the judicial barriers and social expectations, instead of rationalizing why the status quo must be kept.
In other words: how much can we delight Discord?
9004860
Well, there was a bit of a downer mood going on with everyone acting like the ponies were going to be clasped in chains when the human overlords took over when the entire story seems to be about avoiding that exact thing from happening, so I figured a little positive attitude would help alleviate the aura of pessimism in the comments.
Besides, discussing the story is what comment sections are for.
9004918
Looks like the mayor is steering towards a polygamous marriage where all parties accept that they are equally necessary for the union to work.
9004963
9004895
9004918
9002778
If it helps, here is TVTropes' view on the Hawkwoods:
I new this was not over so easily.
9004963
Seems like it.
9004918
...I'm not sure I follow, sorry. What you say seems mostly internally clear, though some bits less so to me than others, but I don't see how it follows from the previous topic?
9004972
Aye, I looked that up a bit ago, but thanks. :)
(This story was, as far as I recall, the first I'd ever heard of Fading Suns.)
9005894
Merely proposing that, now that we're (probably) moving away from this aspect of cultural politics (with this ownership thing and who should marry who etc), maybe we can move on too?
9005906
Ah, I'm still not completely following you, but I think that we may actually have been talking about different things with confusion arising from that. I wasn't talking, in my reply to you, about the content of the story or of comments on the story but about the comments themselves; your reply series appears to be about both the content of the story and of comments on the story but not about the comments themselves?
The distinction is important here, because it's not the content of the story that directly motivated me to comment; therefore, a chance in the content of the story does not necessarily provide any drive for me to change the content of my comments. I was instead motivated by other comments, responding to their content. Therefore, a change in my commenting in that area would be produced either by a change in the comments I'm responding to or by a change in my overall strategy here. I apologized for distracting you, given that distracting readers is highly undesirable, but I still want to support the author; the conflict between these two is why I was not sure what the best course was.
9006085
š« I no longer have any idea what we're talking about šµ
Oh well, on to the next chapter!
9006295
Heh, yes, perhaps it would be better to just move on. :)
Huh... had trouble getting into this story in the past, but tried again recently and wow, have I been impressed. Compelling characters and nice development. I look forward to more. Thanks for writing this.
9012144
Thanks and welcome back.
damn it all it was a good chapter but i dint find out about it till 9 days after it was updated cause the chapter checker dint fuckin tell me there was a chapter
9018048
Welcome back. Chapter checker?
9018495
the thing that tells you when there is a new chapter i wrote that at 400 in the morning sorry also now its 930 am and ive been up since 500 pm yesterday sleep is for the weak
9018530
my bad 100 in the morning
9002340
You do know America doesn't have the largest army in the world, right? China and India have larger ones. Heck, China has almost twice as many people in their army then America does.
America has about 1,350,000 in its ranks. China has about 2,200,000.
And this is just active military. You go into reserve military and Paramilitary, several other countries end up having bigger armies then America, including Russia, North Korea, South Korea, and Vietnam.
off?
9029318
China 2.3 mil only on active service, that doesn't count active reserve and, civilian personnel and support, that would be more that 3.5 mil. Us army number includes reserve and such (there are some numbers for 2017, Like 1 mil with reserve and 130k of civilian personnel)
9030615
Then you have the nation who has the largest army, surprisingly, North Korea. They have access to a force of + 7 million. India follows with 6 million.
9029815
Subtle typo detained.
Star Swirl's "So You're Wondering What That Thing on Your Head Is?
Iām so tempted to go write some excerpts from that book.
What if I'm scared of being on fire? I don't want to be on fire!
Typo!!
I'm guessing that should be "shook her head.
11803899
The tension let typos emerge, damn them.