Magpie had rarely seen so many ponies in one area before. They packed in so close to one another that part of her worried about the oxygen concentration of the brand-new climate control systems. Dome 3 was the first of its kind, likely the first of many such structures that would one day be erected on the lunar surface. There was no reason to be pushing it so far above its usual capacity.
The stage was directly below the dome’s center, meaning the sky of spun glass was as high as it could be. It was easily a hundred meters up, high enough for a team of pegasus ponies to perform a circular maneuver near the top of the dome. She couldn’t make out the stars through the cloudy glass over their heads, only a faintly luminous blackness. It was night out there, and the touch of it didn’t even reach inside the dome. Moonrise had taught ponies many lessons, and all had been put into practice here.
The crowd in Dome 3’s central square was at least five thousand strong—Silver probably could’ve given her a more precise count, but his grasp of numbers had always been far stronger than hers. You should be the one here representing the past, not me. Silver wasn’t here, or at least not down in the square. The large space was filled with dustpines, a lineage of trees they had been cultivating since the beginning to grow quickly in poor soil. That made the park beautiful as well as practical.
“Ponies of Moonrise, your attention,” said Prime Minister Coattail, tapping one hoof against his lectern. The last smatterings of applause and hoof stomping for the acrobats overhead faded, and one by one attention returned to the stage. Magpie couldn’t see the Prime Minister’s expression, but she could guess. Coattail wasn’t a scientist, but he was a consummate pony-pleaser. He was probably turning things up to eleven right now, making ponies proud to be citizens of Moonrise just by looking at them.
“This is the last time I’ll ever be able to say that,” he joked. “We’ve always known that Moonrise wouldn’t be able to contain us forever. The ancient cavern provided shelter for our ancestors, at a time when they didn’t even understand the dangers all around them. The water served our crops, and helped us produce our air. But every foal must eventually leave their cradle, and venture out into the world. The city of Moonrise is no longer alone on our moon, but will have a sister here in Dome 3. After conferring with the princess, this new settlement will be named Starseed.”
Coattail paused for applause, though they were subdued. That name hadn’t even been in the running for consideration, so far as Magpie knew. The front row of this crowd was packed with engineers and craftsponies, and she could see the frustration and discontent on their faces. Shouldn’t we get to name it? We built it!
Magpie glanced over her shoulder, at an unassuming pony at the back of the crowd. Princess Nightmare Moon had taken many identities over the last few centuries. First a Voidseeker bodyguard of Silver’s, then a persistent secretary of the Prime Minister, until age made her first disguise improbable and she needed another.
But whatever the princess was thinking with her unusual exercise of power, she could see nothing of it on her face.
“I know, I know, you’re upset it wasn’t the choice you made,” Coattail went on. “It wasn’t mine either. But the princess can see further than we can. Nightmare Moon views this first dome as a sapling of a far greater plant, one that grows onward into the stars forever. We live in a solar system with dozens of bodies we can inhabit—distant planets and moons begging for ponies to husband them.”
He walked to the edge of the stage, pointing off into the distance. The dome had a single blemish, and elongated section of tunnel raised just above the surface and stretching to one side. In the distance was another building, though the glass wasn’t clear and it could not be seen. A factory to build their future.
“Ponies who come to live in Starseed will all be working towards that common goal. The princess imagines a day during all our lifetimes where the surface is covered with domes like this one, growing more food than we can eat, or filled with factories and laboratories to invent machines we cannot yet conceive of. But our first steps out into the void begin here today.”
He nodded towards Magpie, stepping aside. This was the entire reason she was up here on the stand, instead of hiding in one of the skytowers around the park to watch with Silver.
She stood up, taking a second to catch herself on her oversized boots. They were more like stilts really, extensions to make her reach the height of these oversized ponies. Apparently it worked, because ponies today always whispered about how pure her crystal bloodline must be, instead of how teeny she was compared to the gigantic freaks that moon ponies had become.
“My name is Magpie,” she said, glancing only briefly down at the podium. One of Coattail’s own speechwriters had put something together for her. It was elegant and graceful and confident—she didn’t intend to read a word of it. “I stood beside the princess when we landed here, many centuries ago. I uh… I haven’t been in Moonrise that whole time. But I’ve been here since Silver Star was elected, and I’ve seen how… Look, the ponies who landed here all those years ago never could’ve imagined what you’ve built. But they always knew we would go back to Equestria one day. They’d be proud that we’re finally doing it.”
It felt like there was plenty of applause, at least Magpie thought there was. She hurried back to her seat, avoiding the eyes of everypony watching from the crowd. Were they still going to be sour about the name? I wonder what their great-grandparents would think about that. We don’t have anything more serious to be upset about than what we call the dome.
That was wishful thinking of course, though it was easy to pretend when she was up here in a city they’d built by themselves on the lunar surface. It was the same great achievement of the ancient Alicorns, albeit far more primitive and less safe to live in.
“For as long as we’ve lived on the moon, we’ve known no difference between our city and our nation. Today, that must change. The place called Moonrise will still be the home to myself and many other ponies, but it will share a larger whole—with Starseed, and other domes we will construct. The name we chose for this city—has not been discarded. From today onward, we will all be citizens of Tranquility!”
This time the cheering was genuine—maybe all the pent-up celebration that had been briefly shelved while everypony thought he’d ignored what everypony wanted. Though Magpie couldn’t help but notice little clusters of ponies who didn’t join in, angry faces who suddenly stood out. But whenever she tried to get a good look, the crowd would shift, and she couldn’t resolve their faces.
Of course you found some way to turn that into a victory, Coattail. He might not know how to do any of the big goals he brought for the city, but where the ancient failures of Moonrise had surrounded themselves with ponies who were most loyal, Coattail chose only the best. It was probably why he was still in office.
“I’ll not keep you all here longer than is necessary,” Coattail continued, once they’d settled down. “We all have reason to celebrate, and the city will provide. As the machinery has yet to be built to inhabit the factory floor behind us, I took the liberty of arranging a party there for the evening. Consider all ration quotas lifted until tomorrow. But be smart, all of you—the Constabulary will still be enforcing injunctions on public drunkenness.”
Ponies rose to their hooves to cheer and clap as Coattail stepped off the stage. He slipped to the back, where a carriage waited with its doors already open. Nightmare Moon joined him, then the doors shut, and they returned slowly the way they’d come, back down towards Moonrise.
Questions from the press would go unanswered today, as they usually did. With the Prime Minister gone, those few ponies who had snuck in from the press corps would have to make do with what they’d seen. “Alright ponies, nice and calm,” called Glossy Bauble, Moonrise’s chief of police. Did that mean he led Tranquility now too? Maybe instead of having a party to make ponies forget about that, he should’ve stayed to give them details.
But answering too many questions is probably how ponies lose popularity.
“Now now, everypony,” Glossy Bauble said. “We’re going to make this nice and orderly. Anypony attending the festivities make a line, and walk that way. Prime Minister says it’s open to everypony here, and your families.”
Magpie watched Bauble closely, as the electric spotlight overhead shone through his face to the cap he wore over his mane. After all these years, Magpie now knew how Penumbra felt to live in a city full of her descendants. At least she could tell them when she saw them, instead of having to guess.
The crowd obeyed, with most ponies drifting towards the open doors behind them. Magpie remained in her seat as they passed the stage, smiling politely but not terribly interested in the party. Food meant something very different to her than it did to these ponies—let them enjoy it.
“Excuse me,” said a voice, loud enough to carry over the general murmur of excited ponies. “Do you have a moment?”
She looked up, eyes widening slightly as she saw the face of the creature who had come to question her. Not a pony at all, though she resembled one. Except she had a beak, and feathers instead of a mane. “You’re a hippogriff,” she squeaked, without thinking.
“I’m a reporter,” she said, voice changing from polite to annoyed. “Solar Wind, Stellar Chronicle.” She flashed a badge, so quickly that Magpie didn’t even get a good look at it. “I was just hoping to ask the Prime Minister a few things. But you know him—you’re at all these functions. Maybe you could answer instead?”
Aren’t you a little young to be a reporter? Magpie probably would’ve turned her away, except for that little voice of guilt in the back of her head. She of all creatures shouldn’t be surprised that things other than ponies lived on Moonrise. There were griffons, now we have hippogriffs. It makes sense. “I don’t work in the Prime Minister’s office. I can’t tell you anything on his behalf.”
She rose to her hooves, wobbling a little in the oversized boots. The presence of this strange creature so close to her was almost enough to make her stumble and fall over, but she managed to keep her balance. Narrowly.
“What can you say about the widely-circulating allegations that Nightmare Moon doesn’t actually exist?”
Her mouth hung open. She stumbled, wobbling backward from her. “W-what?”
“I’ve read about you, Magpie. There are photographs of you assisting with the last eleven administrations, and descriptions of you before that. Mineral ponies are immortal, aren’t you?”
“N-no.” Magpie retreated a few more steps, her rump backing into the now-empty back row of chairs on the stage. This wasn’t an interview at all, it was a battle. The kind she couldn’t fight with a dagger or a gun.
“I used to be, when I was a Voidseeker. Now I’m just aging slowly.” But the more mineral blood a creature has, the slower the age. It was why her eldest children were only recently buried, and several still lived. It might’ve filled her with regret that she hadn’t stolen from the Armory sooner, if only having any foals with Silver now was possible. So far as they had learned, it wasn’t.
She nearly took off and flew to meet Silver in their skytower apartment. She resisted—her curiosity at the audacity of the question overpowered her discomfort, for now. “What are you talking about, anyway? The princess… you mean the one who has ruled Moonrise for a thousand years? Why would she be gone?”
Solar Wind seized on her question, closing in with her pen held in one claw. Anything Magpie said might be on the front page of this “Stellar Chronicle” tomorrow, and there was nothing she could do about it. Except… now that she thought about it, she couldn’t recall the name of that paper. Nor had any of the other reporters stuck around to pressure her, they’d gone into the party, probably to speak with the engineers who had built Dome 3.
“You’re denying the obvious truth, then? This ‘princess’ used to be seen by ponies all over the city. In the oldest records in our library, there are accounts of her taking visits from anypony who wanted to speak to her. She was cruel and terrible to her visitors, harshly punishing anypony who asked questions she didn’t like. But then things changed. Now she lives in a hard vacuum, in a palace surrounded by guards that no one can visit?”
She leaned in closer, slitted eyes fixed on Magpie. It might’ve worked to intimidate an earth pony, but being undead for hundreds of years had eroded away any ancient instincts of self-preservation. “How many ponies think that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “That the princess is… what’s your theory exactly?”
“Dead,” Solar supplied. “Probably during the revolution, but maybe long before that. Nightmare Moon loved nothing more than ruling over us, and she just gave it all up. That doesn’t seem consistent with her character, does it? It’s a convenient lie to keep us obedient.”
“No.” Magpie folded her wings, feeling less intimidated by the moment. Her old instincts expected attack, saw that beak and those claws, and had good reason to fear. But Tranquility wasn’t the same place anymore. Ponies didn’t kill their superiors when they wanted a promotion. “Her rule is basically a formality, Solar Wind. The princess gives advice to whoever is the Prime Minister, that’s all. She’s wise, so she’s great at answering questions that regular ponies wouldn’t even understand. But she doesn’t do anything. If she died tomorrow, ponies would make some worse decisions, but we’d keep on with our lives. She doesn’t hold in the air anymore.”
“A convenient excuse,” Solar said, undaunted. “But you’re still describing a nation built on lies. Every Prime Minister enters that palace for the princess’s approval. She signs all our laws. Why won’t you just admit Nightmare Moon is just a name you can use to get away with unpopular decisions? The princess wanted to call this place Starseed, instead of the name we voted on. It wasn’t Coattail’s fault!”
Magpie raised an eyebrow. She nearly called for Glossy Bauble right there—but that would probably just play into this bird’s delusions. Authority wasn’t the way to convince her, but maybe some simple truth would be. “The princess isn’t dead, Solar Wind,” she said flatly. “The princess has illusion magic so powerful, she was at the opening today. I suggest you stop spreading this information around, or she’ll probably have to visit you in person. Nightmare Moon has grown softer over the years, but there’s still nothing that matters more to her than caring for her ponies. She won’t be happy about someone trying to dismantle their government.”
Magpie turned and stalked off. It took concentration not to fall over with her oversized boots—but she had weeks of practice now, and she managed. If she expected Solar Wind to follow her all the way home, yelling more accusations, at least she was disappointed there.
Dome 3 wasn’t like Moonrise—it hadn’t grown haphazardly around natural formations and whatever need the city felt strongest at the time. It had real streets, wide enough for carts to move in both directions at once. The princess herself had insisted on that design, explaining that they would eventually build machines that were fully automatic, moving ponies and supplies around without intervention from them. They built this first dome with a future they could not yet touch in mind.
The skytowers were finer too, built with Lunarium and steel instead of stone and ceramic. Instead of gradually narrowing structures with oversized bases and thin tops, these tapered only slightly where their tips met the glass of the dome.
But Magpie didn’t feel much like taking the stairs. She took off, gliding up the glass facing of the building, past balconies and clear windows. The dome was built mostly for insulation and strength—skytower windows were far weaker by comparison, weak enough that they could still be clear.
As she flew, Magpie had a commanding view of the city, and everything taking place below. Mostly it was celebrating ponies, though she could help but notice little clusters moving away from the group, towards the airlocks. What could anyone want to do there? She didn’t follow or anything, she wasn’t a constable anymore. And after using that tactic against the old regime, protecting every access to vital supplies was one of the few purposes their military still served.
But there wasn’t much to see yet, just a bunch of nearly identical empty rooms. The great innovators and engineers of their time would soon move into Starseed, but not quite yet.
Her own home waited at the top, at a balcony already decorated with banners and flags from gravity disc tournaments both ancient and modern. Magpie didn’t care much for sports, but her children often did. Either that, or joining the Constabulary.
“I thought you’d decided to celebrate without me,” Silver said. He lounged near one wall, where he would’ve had a clear view of the ceremony down below. His body was almost completely covered with a cloak, right down to mirrored glasses over his eyes.
“You could’ve been down there,” she answered, hurrying up beside him and briefly touching her head to his. There was a faint impact as they met, but not painfully. Despite what she was made from, only the princess had ever damaged her. “Nopony remembers us anymore. Or… well, almost nopony.” She was a hippogriff, technically.
“Moonrise has a great leader,” Silver said, turning back to look over the balcony. “The one they chose.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to lead anything anymore, Silver. But you could still be part of it.”
He flipped his hood back, and his face caught distant spotlights from the party far below. Even close enough to practically touch the dome, there was no light through it. The dome was painted black, after all. “I am, helping from up here.”
His horn glowed, and something lifted from a low table beside him. A dark bottle. “I made some arrangements, Magpie. We can have our own party.”
Cool. Someone should make a post about all the science they used to survive to this. Like having to go to an air tight cave to escape the vacuum and then making an oxygen machine so they don’t suffocate.
Wait, what? Did you really just retcon in griffons? Because they weren't here before.
It's kind of crazy to think that when they go back to Equestria, they will be so far ahead of them technologically it would be just comical.
Also, the growing belief that Nightmare Moon doesn't exist does make sense. She's hidden extremely well, with very few actually knowing what's really going on, so to most she's just someone they have to trust exist from what the ponies at the top say. I guess the big question for this arc will be whether or not she reveals herself to the public once more, or if she will choose to fade into legend as some sort of religious figure.
Wait, what? How?
Hmm... I really cannot remember griffons ever being mentioned as a part of the population of Moonrise. I'm surprised that they managed to maintain a viable population for hundreds of years, unless they're now extinct and recessive genes allow a hippogriff to pop out every now and then.
10212702
This is a valid question.
THE PEOPLE DEMAND ANSWERS
10212702
Just went back through the story. The only previous references to griffons were that they could no longer trade with Giffonstone now that they were on the moon, and a griffon rebellion that occurred prior to Luna's. Zero reference to griffons being on the moon...
10212702
Perhaps some mercenaries hired by NMM - don't forget, it was an army that was displaced...
But yeah, I don't remember any mentions of other races - and I searched first twenty chapters for "griff", to no avail.
That's a hard retcon right there.
10212702
There were a few non-ponies in the original army, iirc. Not nearly enough for a stable purebred population, but the genes are in the herd. Pony genetics are already weird, so a random hippogriff popping out every now and then makes relative sense.
Hm, I seem to be one of the few (commenters, at least) that doesn't have a problem with gryphons only really being mentioned now. Probably because I distinctly remember mention of "creatures" of Moonrise, rather than simply ponies. Certainly not enough for a stable population, as said, but enough for hybrids.
Seems Moonrise (or Tranquility, now) has finally gone from surviving to thriving. I wonder how many ponies are actually interested in returning to Equestria to continue the fight after all this time, or whether said goal is just lip service.
So we're getting closeish to the 1000 year mark? IIRC Silver was introduced about 500 years in, so a few more centuries places us maybe 800 years in?
Huh, so that's quite the shift from the original goal of Moonrise. Seems almost like Luna wants to build what the Alicorns in Vanaheimr originally had.
pls no revolt
Wonder if this and the angry ponies from earlier are going to force Nightmare Moon to reveal herself in her greatly weakened form. Not appearing as powerful as she once was will be problematic, but apparently faith/belief in her has waned greatly over the centuries. It's quite a dilemma.
So can two crystal ponies not reproduce "normally", or was Silver too old?
And now I wonder if ponies are going to go around attempting to dispel illusion magic on random ponies near the Prime Minister in the hopes that they catch Nightmare Moon.
It's a perfectly valid theory to be honest. Nightmare Moon existed, and then disappeared. To someone not in on the nature of the Nightmare and the duality of the princess' nature it would look quite out of character for the autocratic ruler to just let go and allow democracy like that, especially in a way where the first took over was of a military commander who went against her base wishes for survival of the ponies and such.
I worry about micrometeors hitting the glass dome and breaking it, causing precious air to leak out. I hope the dome is reinforced with magic or something.
10212950
They're sapient herd creatures. Much like humans, it's not a question of if, but when. There is no system capable of pleasing everyone at the same time.
10213174
What about anarcho monarchism?
So they chose the road of shitty democracy, the haven of corruption, the tyranny of the majority.
A system that allows not for the best or most capable leader, but simply the best looking and those who owns the media, to rule. An inneficient system that prevents anyone from knowing where problems come from, and that prevents anyone from fixing them. A system where the leader have close to zero responsibility to what happen, because ¨its the peoples's fault for electing him, they can just vote better next time¨, and where, when there is (and there always is) an oligarchy behind said leader, they are never known nor punished for whatever they might do.
A system where the leader have no personal gain in making the nation good, in other words, a system where the leader's only personal gain is how much money he can syphoon before retiring.
10213321
There is no system that allows the most capable to assume leadership. It does not exist, and I'd say it cannot exist. Enjoy your stay in this universe.
10212950
I think that return to Equestria hasn't been an option sincve generation 3 or 4 (1 being those stranded) - read, way before Silver's time. Their bones simply wouldn't support their weight there.
10213328
Yes there is, a monarchy, for in a monarchy, the future monarch is taught to rule from birth.
And in a monarchy, if the leader does shit, it can be fixed unlike in a democracy.
Democracy decays everything it touches, just ask Athens.
10213333
If by "it can be fixed" you mean "replaced by a democracy", then yes it can. If however, you mean it can be fixed as in "the bad monarch can maybe be overthrown in a bloody revolution and hopefully not be replaced by a leader who is just as bad or worse", then you're bonkers.
Monarchies are ruled by the whims of the monarch, and sometimes they can't even pass power down within the family without killing each other. The peaceful transition of power is a neat little feature of a democracy that monarchies don't have, and it's one you've lived to enjoy. So much so that you've taken it for granted. Join the rest of us in the 21st Century why don't ya.
10213376
That is exactly it, a democracy won't be overthrow because of stupid brainwashed peoples who sucked up all the propaganda about being ¨free¨ despite being fucked over and over by the oligarchy that rules over them no matter the numerous horrible crimes they do against their people.
In a monarchy, the people knows who rules over them, and the rulers bears responsibility as a result.
In a democracy, the people don't, and the rulers do whatever the fuck they want as a result.
In a democracy, if by chance you elected someone who happens to be good, that person have little to no power to fight them, and simply quickly gets shot down by the real rulers, like JFK
Democracy is always horrible, and is slow to ever overthrow. Nations are dying and may never recover because of it.
Monarchy is good most of the time, and is quickly overthrow when it turns to shit. The nation then recovers more than quickly enough.
10213333
Example: tsar Nicolas II was doing shit. He got fixed so hard the country he ruled is still feeling it, over a century later.
Don't count on a ruler being competent or giving a shit about anyone but themselves. At least in case of democracy replacement of defective leader is a normal, built-in operation. In case of any kind of monarchy it's always an emergency, even if there is an heir ready. Timing is also important. And both schemes have an equal inherent risk of replacing a bad leader with a worse one.
So to misquote, "democracy sucks, but other systems suck even worse".
And your criticism should be directed not at the governing system, but at the people living under it. If they go belly up at the slightest provocation, and stick to "I'm a small man, what can I do" mentality, they will be owned hard, no matter how they are ruled over. There are enough examples (including modern) when an absolute ruler trashed their country simply because they could. And yes, an absolute ruler too can be a pawn of a someone else working in the shadows. That's not a flaw unique to democracy.
10213403
¨Don't count on a ruler being competent or giving a shit about anyone but themselves.¨
That is exactly it.
In a democracy, both the rulers and the ¨ruler¨ holds no responsibility and no personal gain in the good of the nation, he and they give no shit.
In a monarchy, the nation is the wealth of the monarch, and his reign is his legacy and the heritage to his children, and he holds full responsibility for what happens, unlike the rulers of a democracy, if he do shit his head is on a pike. It is in his own personal interest to NOT do shit.
10213400
"Monarchy is good most of the time, and is quickly overthrow when it turns to shit."
What planet have you been living on where most monarchies have been good for the people living under them? And they're "quickly overthrown"? Just like that? How many revolutions have you had to fight in? I'd wager zero, because you probably live in a democracy. It's very easy to cynically sneer about how violence could solve societal problems when you'll never have to do any fighting yourself.
You're complaining about how you think nobody has a real say in who rules them and are proposing instead a system where they are guranteed to have no say in who rules them. Ridiculous.
One thing people don't understand, is that democracy don't save you from dictattorship, it just makes you not know who said dictator is, making it so he can do whathever the fuck he wants.
¨Those who vote decide nothing, those who count the vote decide everything¨.
I don't even see why i would need to argumentate it further, votes are worthless and will always be.
And even if the votes were not worthless.
¨the best argument against democracy is a 5 minute discussion with the regular voter¨
Just own the media and you are set, because when people are stupid enough to vote for ¨he's young and handsome¨, they are not smart enough to vote for someone because of their own critical mind, they will vote for who you tell them to.
There was a debate between 2 canditates, it was in TV's young age.
Those who watched the debate leaned in favor of one.
Those who listened to it without images leaned in the other's favor.
Why? because one of the candidates did not use make-up, and he was tired.
In other words, the people who truly listened were with him, those who merely looked at appareances voted the other. And sadly, it seems that as soon as there is an appearence to be seen, people lean in favor of it.
10213418
And again, you are implicitly claiming that the monarch will be able to identify whatever problem the country faces, correctly assess its scale and figure out a correct short- and long-term solution for it. None of that is guaranteed!
So even assuming they do care about their country, which is not a given either - "it's mine, and I spend it as I want to!" - they might not be actually capable of solving the problem themselves, or listening to someone who can solve it.
And then we get to "head on a pike" stage. To get there you need to piss people off so much they will be willing to go against the army - or piss of the army as well. Which means the problem has been left alone until it took on cataclysmic proportions. Again, history knows examples of that.
Sure, democracy can't give you a guarantee that it won't happen. But it gives you a chance to remove a leader too obtuse to see their mistakes before those mistakes lead to complete ruin. Still just a chance, but a greater chance than any kind of absolute rulership can provide. So I will end this discussion on this thought:
Democracy is a tool. If you don't have it, you have to improvise, and that's always risky. If you have it and don't use it correctly, you might as well not have it.
10213439
¨Sure, democracy can't give you a guarantee that it won't happen. But it gives you a chance to remove a leader¨
How?
How do you remove him? you simply say: ¨he's no longer president¨? Impeachment? lol
It does not work this way. For even if said president had any real power and importance, removing him changes nothing, for he have an entire oligarchy behind him, an oligarchy you CANNOT remove without bloodbath/civilwar/actuallydoingyourjobatremovingarullingpower, and one who is protected by dumb people who thought removing the president was enough.
10213431
You have tricked yourself into believing your vote doesn't matter, and in doing so have played into the hands of whatever nebulous behind-the-scenes-boogeymen you are railing against. Besides, you are still proposing a system of government where the tyrant can act with impunity, whereas in a democracy, there are restrictions placed upon them.
In addition, you're banging on about how "stupid people" voting ruins things, but you also think that the votes are just an illusion of choice which don't matter? Which is it?
10213457
¨you are still proposing a system of government where the tyrant can act with impunity, whereas in a democracy, there are restrictions placed upon them.¨
On the contrary, i am proposing a system where the ruler CAN'T do whatever he wants, because unlike in a democracy, he holds responsibility for what he does.
Your so-called ¨restrictions¨ are but falacies. REAL restrictions comes from the people and their ability to reject a leader.
¨In addition, you're banging on about how "stupid people" voting ruins things, but you also think that the votes are just an illusion of choice which don't matter? Which is it?¨
Votes are worthless, and even when they aren't, they are worthless anyway, does it answers your question?
10213464
In a democracy, leader's cannot just do what they want, that's kind of the point of a democracy. They're beholden to their constituents, and the systemic restrictions placed upon them. You can say "Oh, but what if they control the media, they can control how people think!" Well, what's stopping a monarch from using all of the same tricks?
Besides, you're still acting like overthrowing a tyrannical monarch is such a trivial act. Are you forgetting the whole "civil war" part; you know, where all the people die for an uncertain outcome? That trifling detail?
10213482
I won't answer your first point, because i already did and you seems not to care.
¨Besides, you're still acting like overthrowing a tyrannical monarch is such a trivial act. Are you forgetting the whole "civil war" part; you know, where all the people die for an uncertain outcome? That trifling detail?¨
That is exactly what i've been saying! Read my comments again and you will see that i, once again, already answered that!
Without the possibility of a civilwar to, you know, remove assholes from power, those assholes can do whatever the fuck they want! The possibility of a civil war is a GOOD thing and the very thing democracy PREVENTS!
Is it bad when peoples die in civil wars? Yes it is! But we don't live in Unicornland! This is reality!
If you are not ready to fight, then bend over and let yourself be enslaved, that is the world.
Democracy makes people impotent, by tricking them into thinking they don't need to fight, when they DO need to fight when things turn to shit!
There is, indeed, one actually good way to prevent civil wars. By holding weapons and making sure the rulers knows that we know who and where they are. Not by protecting them under a perfect system designed to turn people into docile sheeps.
Democracy literraly, in the eyes of your rulers, turns guns into pieces of paper, who would you rather rule over as an asshole tyrant? Misinformed peoples with pieces of papers or informed peoples with weapons?
¨Well, what's stopping a monarch from using all of the same tricks?¨
He can't because the people knows he rule over them. And since he is the official monarch, he actually holds power against any oligarchy that could want to hide behind him. And since he already owns the nation, he does not have much reasons to bend the knees to them.
10213490
You have not in fact addressed my first point. What is preventing monarchs from using all the same tricks as unscrupulous politicians to manipulate their subjects into thinking they have it good when they don't? If anything, the greater power of a monarch makes it easier for them to do so, while in a democracy they'd be limited by the legal framework.
And it's very easy to talk about how the war will be so worth all the dead people and will surely bring about the desired outcome when you've never had to do anything like that yourself, on account of the peaceful life you've had, y'know, because of the democracy you live in. Have you noticed when those revolutions do have happy endings, what kinds of governments they tend to end up as? Democracies, because democracies are vastly superior.
10213508
¨In a democracy, leader's cannot just do what they want, that's kind of the point of a democracy. They're beholden to their constituents, and the systemic restrictions placed upon them. ¨
that is the first point i was talking about.
Yes they CAN do whatever they want.
Anyway, i am done here, there is nothing left to be done but walk in circles.
The crackpot conspiracy theorists have come out of the wood work for anything they disagree with. Guess they'll riot and die again; someone poke a hole in the dome and it all goes south.
And time marches on, new cities built, growing from a city-state to a nation proper.
I wonder, if Nightmare has been distancing herself, would she even be missed if she skived back off to Equestria by her lonesome when the thousand years are up?
Thank you for consistently uploading, I've been really enjoying this world you created.
So it's been 1000 years, huh? Why hasn't NMM been summoned back yet?
10213810
Why indeed?
10213618
My interpretation is Soron is playing a character.
In Canon, Soron (Edit my mistake, I was speaking of King Sombra) was an absolute monarch through the use of mind control and slavery.
What did your husband do there in Moonrise?
Some of the Voidseekers still exist, so I wouldn't be too complacent. All kinds of alarm bells are ringing. People in the crowd trying to hide themselves during a celebration, mysterious reporter from a nearly or totally extinct race (on the moon at least) and now people headed for the airlocks.
Time travelers or perhaps a race checking up on the Equestrian moon after they leveled it?
(that last makes things even worse because the reporter was asking questions about the Alicorn)
10213328
I mean, physically being able to deal with it is one thing, but it's not something they'll know until they get there or unless Luna reveals that particular tidbit of information. Even if it's not physically feasible I can imagine a nontrivial amount of story can be derived from that particular conflict.
10213174
Guess it would depend on just how important those things ponies disagree on are. More fundamental disagreements are more likely to lead to more drastic actions, but we don't know what the case might be for those angry ponies.
10213921
?
Aside from the fact your comment makes no sense, you do realise that post was not about me right?
Groups of them heading to the airlock? Sounds like they are going to protest to NMM.
Wait, there were griffons on the moon?
Well, probably they have access to the surface now. How else would there be non-ponies on the moon?
I would guess after the banishment ended then somebody worked out a way back, but who knows if it was Equestria or Moonrise.
10214214
Both monarchies and democracies can manipulate the media and be manipulated by a third party, and both can become an oligarchy if the ruler abuses their power. The difference lies in how rulers are removed from power; In a monarchy the ruler governs for life unless they abdicate or are killed; While in a democracy the ruler only governs for a set amount of time unless they are voted out.
As for the informinedness of a country's citizens, they have any equal chance of being mislead by either government and it's media, often to be manipulated into thinking they are a patriotic loyalist and anyone who disagrees is a dissident. It becomes problematic when both/all sides swear they're right and their opponents are wrong, as shown by picture below.
pbs.twimg.com/media/Dj7lJNDUUAAsuxE.jpg
10214716
Lol look at that person who downvoted my previous comment for no reason other than being salty about my previous comments. (no clue if its you or not just pointing that out)
Anyway, no, in a democracy, as i said a thousand times already, the president is no more than a puppet, i will once again put it in other words; a democracy is nothing more than a Cartel State, where the president is nothing more than the face they let you see. Removing the president does NOT remove the current leader. The oligarchy, aka the TRUE rulers in a democracy, are protected by this system because of people like you who will remove the president, thinking everything was solved and leave the shitty system in place. Not only that, but where, in a democracy, the president/puppet is powerless to do anything against the Oligarchy, in a monarchy, the monarch have actual power to remove them.
A democracy will Always, by its very desing, be corrupted, can a monarchy be corrupted? Yes, but not by desing, For reasons i once again already explained.
Also, by being informed, i mean actually knowing who the leader is. If you know who and where the leader/s is, you can take him/them down.
O... kay... Political debate aside, very interesting circumstances. We're at or near the millennium mark. Seems like a reasonable time for the people to grumble about those old superstitions they feel they've outgrown. Still, slit pupils on a hippogriff feel like a warning sign, unless everyone has them. Heck, even the griffons who were totally always there might be a sign of something sinister in the background, though that could just be me being paranoid. Definitely looking forward to seeing what trials out the lie to Tranquility's name.
10212950
Given the time gap, she might be able to get away with claiming that the records of her greater power were just exaggerations made to make her look good... assuming she can stomach it.
On another note and assuming Moonrise is Dome 1, what is Dome 2?
10213921
I was referring to Solar Wind in the chapter, and what I see as a possibility to incite possible riots.
I have no idea what Soron you're referring to in whatever story lore you're talking about.
10215924
Turquoise pony is probably confusing "Soron" with Sauron from Lord of the Rings.