Revolution
Agent Sweetie Drops of the Equestrian secret service had faked her death during the bombing of Ponyville and reemerged as the leader of the Equestrian Freedom Fighters. A resistance cell formed with the intent of returning Equestria back to its former glory. Rainbow Dash joins without hesitation, confident that they will succeed where Twilight failed.
Equestria had surrendered.
Humanity had won the Conversion Wars.
Princess Celestia had been slandered as a monster and was vilified by a vast majority of her own subjects.
Those thoughts were enough to make Rainbow Dash sick to her stomach. Even more so than the crap drink she had clutched in her hooves.
It burned like liquid fire going down her throat but tasted like watered down horse piss. Heck, it actually could've been watered down horse piss for all she knew, not that she cared anymore. She was too depressed to do much about anything these days, not when Equestria had fallen right into human hands, courtesy of her ex-friend Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia being wrongly accused as a genocidal tyrant was just the cherry on top of the shit sundae.
"Bah! Twilight Ssssssparkle," Rainbow slurred out drunkenly, slamming down the bottle of booze on the plywood counter-top and disturbing the nearby patrons. "Dat bish... ain't nuttin' but a dam traitor... Wish ah nevuh knew her in da fursh playsh..."
"Hey, easy on the counter, Rainbow Dash! It's still under repairs," Pony Joe chided, shooting a warning glare towards her direction. "This is the only bar left in Canterlot that you haven't been kicked out yet for boozing around in. Don't think I don't know that you've been causing trouble for everypony after Princess Twilight spilled the beans on Celestia."
"Buh itsa lie! All lies!?" Rainbow snapped, growling at one of the three Pony Joe scintillating about in her blurry vision. "Those dam hoomans... Dey made Twilight say those ahful things about Celeshtia ta break ush! Ta make it easier fer them to deshtroy our culture... Den she jush hands our true prinshess ovah to da humans? Twilight shuddah been da one in jail, not Celeshtia!"
"Yeah, and I want my shop back in pristine condition, but that ain't gonna be happening anytime soon," Pony Joe sneered. "Looks like we both got burned by that sanctimonious bitch." Right as he finished, Joe was forced to sidestep the wayward bottle Rainbow Dash sent flying straight at him. It collided with the back shelf, loudly shattering into a dozen pieces along with part of what remained of Pony Joe's existing stock of booze.
"You take dat back you dam disshident! Nopony dishreshpects, Prinshess Celeshtia!" Rainbow shouted, getting up from her seat and standing on wobbly legs. "Ponies like you... should be reported to da ESS..."
"Well then, it's a good thing they're not around anymore. Friggin bastards got to my best bud, Millstone. To hell with 'em," Pony Joe snarled before walking around the counter and putting Rainbow Dash in a tight headlock. She struggled futilely in his grip, wildly flailing her limbs about in a drunken rage but was unable to escape his muscly hold. "And as for you, congratulations. You've officially been kicked out of every bar in Canterlot. Cheers, pal."
Dragging her out the doors Pony Joe unceremoniously threw Rainbow Dash out into the ruined streets of Canterlot where she tumbled across the cracked cobblestone roads like a leaf caught in the wind.
"And stay out!" Pony Joe jeered.
"You can't do thish to me!" Rainbow growled indignantly, pulling herself back to her hooves. "Imma el-el... Huack," she gagged, forcing down the content of her stomach that were threatening to evacuate themselves violently up her esophagus. "E-element of Harmony! A hero! Ah used to save... all your ungrateful butts all the time! And thish is the kind of treatment ah get?!"
"Hero or not, you're yesterdays news!" Pony Joe sharply retorted. "Get with the program, Rainbow Dash. Everypony else is." Without another word, Pony Joe walked back into his shop and slammed the door behind, leaving Rainbow Dash to stew in her own embarrassment, becoming the subject of ridicule from various passerby.
Rainbow Dash wandered after that, moving from place to place in Canterlot no clear sense of direction. Still drunk out of her mind she stumbled across the breadth of the ruined city, which had only just begin its reconstruction efforts. Whole districts had been cordoned off with security tape, construction materials were stacked atop one another on large pallets as workers hurried up and down scaffolding doing their jobs.
Rainbow frowned at the sight, not that they were doing their jobs incorrectly, but that they were using building materials that had been generously provided to the city by the UN. The intermingling of human and pony cultures had already begun and she could only watch on in disgust before shambling away in a hurry.
Sometime later she found herself by the park. She was hunched over a trash can, hurling out her guts before sliding over to the nearby bench and conking out completely.
The whole time she had been completely unaware that somepony was tailing her...
Rainbow Dash awoke to the sound of a ticking clock and an earsplitting headache, pulling herself up from her bed and rubbing at her head to make the pain go away. It didn't take her long to realize that something was wrong, however.
"Wait a minute..." Rainbow mused, pulling the blankets off of herself. "This isn't my bed." She took a cursory glance around the room she was in. It was bland as can be. Four walls, ceiling and a floor, all in a tasteless wood grain finish. "And this isn't my room!"
"Finally awake I see," a new voice snapped Rainbow Dash to attention. She turned her head and beheld a familiar looking mare wearing a suit and sunglasses sitting across from her by the foot of the bed, a mug of steaming hot coffee gripped in her hoof. "It's nice to see you again, Rainbow Dash."
"...Bon Bon?" Rainbow questioned, squinting her eyes.
"In the flesh," Bon Bon smirked, pulling off her sunglasses.
"But... you died back in Ponyville, The humans bombed it to kingdom come," Rainbow muttered dumbly. "Unless... this hangover is way worse than I thought. It's making me see ghosts."
"Believe me, Rainbow Dash. I am no ghost. This is all quite real. The me that perished at ground zero was little more than a lifelike dummy, a means to conceal my true identity. But I'm getting ahead of myself," replied Bon Bon, handing the mug of coffee over to Rainbow. "Here. Something for that hangover of yours."
Ghost or not, Rainbow Dash took the mug without hesitation and drank it, taking careful sips at first before downing the hot liquid in one single regretful gulp. It was good, real good, top shelf stuff, but it barely made a dent on the hangover.
"Okay, not my best idea," Rainbow blanched, rubbing at her burning throat. Bon Bon could only giggle at Rainbow's impetuousness. "Alright, now that that's over, you mind telling me what's going on here? Last I remembered I passed out on a bench in Canterlot dreaming of punching Twilight in her stupid face, repeatedly."
"I'll explain everything in due time. But first things first, call me by my real name: Sweetie Drops. And second," Bon Bon took a few cursory sniffs of Rainbow Dash before recoiling from the odor wafting off of her. "You're in desperate need of a shower."
One shower later Rainbow Dash came out feeling cleaner than she had in weeks since Twilight's treacherous act of surrender. Currently she was walking beside Bon Bon, or rather Sweetie Drops as she now knew her as, down a long hallway and was being debrief on her entire predicament.
"You have to forgive me for the sudden abduction. We couldn't risk talking to somepony like you out in the open and believed it would be better to show you what we're about. We've been watching you for some time now, Rainbow Dash," Sweetie Drops started. "You are of particular interest to us and the cause."
"Uh huh," Rainbow nodded along. "And who exactly is us? And what's this cause you keep referring to."
"The us is simple. We're a group of pony patriots who believe in Princess Celestia and old Equestria, the true Equestria. Not this crude post-war facsimile that's been contaminated by human ideology," replied Sweetie Drops. "As for the cause." She opened up a pair of doors and revealed to Rainbow Dash her place of operation. "We're going to restore Equestria back to its former greatness. We won't stand for Twilight Sparkle's treachery and we intend to fix that."
Rainbow stared in awe at the massive facility she trotted into.
It was cavernous bunker that was as big as, if not bigger than Castle Canterlot itself. It was filled with innumerable rooms both big and small scattered across several floors with hundreds of ponies running about performing their duties. There were even a few that she recognized; Snips, Snails, Limestone Pie, Lightning Dust, heck, even Daring Do was here.
But perhaps most impressive of all was the facility's arsenal. Rows upon rows of shelves were stacked high with all manner of weapons both mundane and magical, including some she was pretty sure weren't even supposed to exist. It was like they were preparing for war.
"Sweet Celestia..." Rainbow Dash breathed. "Where am I?"
"Home," replied Sweetie Drops. "That is, if you want it to be." She turned to face Rainbow Dash, her casual expression turning stern. "Rainbow Dash. What I'm about to offer you is something I've offered to hundreds of ponies already, but that shouldn't make it any less impactful for you. I'm giving you a chance to be something again, not that nopony loser that's been kicked out of every bar in the city. We want Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty. Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt extraordinaire. Rainbow Dash, the hero of Equestria to join the ranks of the Equestrian Freedom Fighters."
"The Equestrian Freedom Fighter," Rainbow muttered, a small smile gracing her lips. She liked how it sounded.
"That's right," Sweetie Drops nodded. "After Ponyville was bombed, the ESS activated the Fallen Protocol: an contingency plan developed as a means to keep on fighting in the event we lost the war. We're a resistance cell formed from the remnants of the Equestrian Secret Service members, Royal Guard and assorted disillusioned ponies who want to take back Equestria from the humans, depose that traitor Twilight Sparkle and finish what Princess Celestia started. Everypony here is prepared to fight for those ideals and I know for a fact that you will to."
"You must've heard about all the things that have been happening around Equestria recently. A human settlement is being constructed on our soil with the hopes that it will foster better relations between humans and ponies. The Church of Harmony has been systematically dismantled, with many of our people becoming atheist or converting to human religions. Members of Celestia's inner circle are being rounded up to be interrogated and jailed or worse, killed for their continued dedication to the true princess. It's madness, utter madness. This is why we exist and why we fight, to bring sanity back to a world gone mad."
"...What are my choices?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.
"There are only two," replied Sweetie Drops. "One, you can refuse to answer the call and that'll be the end of it. We mind wipe you to maintain our secrecy and you can go back to living that sad little life of your roaming the city looking for your next hangover. Two, you join the freedom fighters and be the hero you've always been. Together, we'll kick the humans out of Equestria, recover Princess Celestia wherever they're holding her and make Twilight Sparkle regret the day she sold us out to the monkeys."
"Huh," Rainbow smirked. "When you put it like that I almost feel stupid for asking in the first place. I'm in all the way. You can count on me to get work done."
Sweetie Drops smirked back. "Knew you would. Only a tainted Equestrian would deny the call." She extended a hoof to Rainbow Dash and the two shook on it. They were both confident about their future prospects. "Welcome to the EFF, Rainbow Dash. Welcome to the resistance."
"So... When can I start killing some monkeys?" Rainbow asked a bit too eagerly.
"Whoa there, killer. We'll get to that when it's time. For now though, we have to keep things on the down low," replied Sweetie Drops. "The freedom fighters can't reveal themselves to the world yet, not when we're still building up our ranks and prepping for shadow ops. Speaking of, do you happen to know where Applejack is? She's also a pony of interest to the EFF."
"Last I spoke with her she said she was heading back down to the old homestead in Ponyville to try and recover anything that survived the bombing and pay her respects to the folks," said Rainbow Dash.
"Say no more. I'll dispatch Lightning Dust and Limestone Pie to come get her. How receptive do you think she'll be about my offer to join the EFF?" Sweetie Drops asked.
"She's the same as me. We both hate humans and Twilight and want nothing more than to see Equestria back on top again. There isn't a doubt in my mind that she'll accept the offer."
"Good. Everything is coming together swimmingly," said Sweetie Drops as she led Rainbow Dash deeper into the bunker. "Now, follow me. We have to get you properly initiated into our ranks. With you on our side, old Equestria will rise from the ashes and all will soon be as it was meant to be. Revolution is inevitable..."
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10692802
I don't remember if he was ever brought up. But if I had to assume he either died during the siege of Canterlot, either due to human attack or by rioting ponies, or stuck around, sucking up to Twilight and the UN to maintain whatever standings he has left.
They call themselves 'true patriots', while they are more like zealous terrorist group, refusing to acknowledge reality of things. Celestia messed up more than royally in many ways, many paying the price for it, and Twilight salvaged what was left. '
And apparently their (pony) afterlife is in their original dimension according some Q&A, which is left to the readers. And I bet even if they would get there, it is not a pleasant one...
Keep up the writing
"This isn’t some kind of inspirational story. Some scrappy, ragtag underdog tale, some pugilistic match where we’re the goodhearted gladiator who brings down the oppressive regime that put him in the arena. They get to have that narrative. We are the ones who enslaved whole worlds full of alien inhabitants. We are the ones who built something called a Death Star under the leadership of a decrepit old goblin who believed in the ‘dark side’ of some ancient, insane religion.
~Chuck Wendig (Star Wars)
P.E: In Useless Rainbow lists Lighting Dust as one of the Wonderbolts she betrayed, but in every other fic that bit is retconned. Isn't really important, since Dust never has a speaking role.
10692851
Harmony is probably beyond livid with the ponies, specially with her former Bearers (including Celestia and Luna, and excluding Fluttershy).
Yeah... They don't have a single chance in hell that they'll succeed.
10692869
Well, we already know how their story ends.
You know, it's actually hard to determine who's the more deluded; them or Celestia.
I hope there'll be a chapter showing the EFFs reaction to the news of Celestia's execution.
Goodness, I can't properly express how much this annoys me. A fact comes to light that doesn't fit your worldview? It has to be a lie. No, we have no evidence it's a lie, but it is and that's that.
10692912
Celestia knew she was lying, to others and herself, the very moment she arrived to Earth after abandoning the other races to their fates. Or so she told Twilight.
On the same level, Rainbow just want to be the big hero again, so she can forget the voice of Scootaloo calling her back while she flew away.
Seriously, RD, you're going there?
Yeah, well, drop dead, you weakling.
And Congrats to you, Pony Joe, you're showing some real spine. I like him.
"And it's absolutely nothing like the good ol' times under Celestia, where we called humans heathens and heretics who don't deserve to live, and eliminated any ponies who had the slightest doubt about the war. Why, we're the good guys!!"
Oh how I look forwards to your miserable, miserable failure 😈 Actually, let me go read "Useless" again, for the hell of it.
So one idea I have is Sandbar's own life and choices, starting from his enlistment in the Royal Equestrian Army to fight the humans to his experiences in the Fall of Equestria, to the time he gets inducted into Task Force Centaur and starts fighting against EFF terrorists. Not sure if I'll be any good at writing it, though
10692912
10693006
Celestia was still fully convinced she could win the war, and tried every trick she could to win. The fact that she was screaming at Twilight for her "failure to stop Fluttershy's defection" shows she still honestly believed she could win.
To be fair, Equestria was winning at the start... but then it all went to shit.
Even now, I think Celestia’s finally words to Twilight were more for herself then her apprentice. A way to make herself feel better about her impending execution. Like a vane attempt to make herself out to be the hero of her own story, despite all she did, and wanted to do. Keep in mind she wasn’t even saving humans, she not only destroyed their personalities, but also left them sterile, meaning even ignoring the transformation and mind control, it was still genocide. That’s not even considering how she was ready to drag the entirety of Canterlot down with her rather then admit defeat. From the looks of it she was prepared to make that city her Tomb, with all the ponies trapped inside. Since she lost that, and just about everything else, she resigned to making herself out to be a martyr for the vary “peace” she rejected in the beginning.
The moment she found herself in a world where her control was questionable, she broke every rule she had. Be it the secret “police” stomping out any dissidents, committing genocide by sinking fleeing refugees, or using Sombra’s 1950 esc doomsday weapon. Her willingness to commit war crimes was all in the name of control, as she can’t foresee a world where she’s just another leader in the background. She has to be the nexus, anything less is unthinkable, even when she was waiting for death, she made it all about herself, not all the wrongs she committed. Even her rejection of modern technology echos that of many backward authoritarian cultures, who fear a loss of tradition and control over their people. Particularly the next generation, who might loss interest of their parents culture, becoming enraptured by foreign culture.
10693107
At some part, Celly went from "wise, benevolent ruler" to someone who literally couldn't see a world work without her. I think those centuries of rule eroded her wisdom and made her overly proud, to the point where if she can't see a solution to a problem, said solution isn't there.
Remember that bit about her trying to prolong the sun's life? From another fic (one based on Negotiations where the ponies disappear and leave the other races with no way to raise the sun, forgot the title) brought up the possibility of creating a new sun. Everything that lives has to die, even the sun and moon itself. Celly just couldn't see that reasoning because she and the sun were together so long she can't see any other solution.
Same with the humans. She saw the worst side of humans from her scrying and Sunset Shimmer's death, she never really considered learning more about the ponies' would-be neighbors. She assumed she always knew the right way to do things because for the longest time, her way was the right way. So if she said the humans had to convert or die, that was the only way.
It doesn't help the EFF are trying to finish the job and Sweetie Drops actually says it here. They've drunk the Kool-Aid so badly they can't accept any other alternative, whereas the other ponies are either bitterly disillusioned by Celestia's war or just too tired of war to care anymore.
10693107
100% agree with your analysis of Celestia. Like Hitler, when Tia couldn't become the Wagner style hero she fancied, she chose to go down instead as a Wagner "tragic hero".
By the way, what about the villains? Are they going to appear at any point? There has been no mention of Tartarus or its inmates.
Well, certainly no way this will backfire horribly on RD and AJ.
Might I ask what happened to the ponies who were disappeared by the ESS? Like, were they killed, mistreated, and if killed what did they do with the bodies? Like, just for reference, what happened to Captain Parabola after Chapter 2? I know it says no one ever saw him again, but what did they do to him?
Also, what happens to those ponies who don't take up arms against the occupiers, but continue to celebrate old Equestrian holidays (like Hearthswarming, Running of the Leaves, and the like) and refuse to reject harmony and friendship?
10693346
As we've seen in Useless and in this fic, AJ and RD are no longer thinking rationally. They've always been headstrong, emotional characters in canon, and in the Negotiations-verse, the loss of the world they've known and the ponies they cared for has severely broken them. Right now, they're thinking like many an insurgent/terrorist; they'll pay any price to restore the good times they had before, or at least try and kill as many of their tormentors as possible. The EFF is filled with these kinds of people/ponies.
Which comes to show that underneath it all, ponies and humans are so much alike. For all their posturing, ponies can be as monstrous as cruel as humans on their worst day.
10693356
Best not to think about it really. My guess? Tortured into false confessions, then summarily executed and buried in an unmarked grave somewhere. The ESS were just proof of how monstrous the ponies became during the war. Twilight herself says in the previous chapter of this very fic she got tired of all the deaths - including those caused by the ESS.
10693006
True, but Celestia seemed like she was doing this more for Equestria's culture than their lives. And yet she destroyed that too as soon as the chips were down. Considering she's probably watched generations of ponies die from natural causes while she stayed alive, while the culture stayed alive with her, it's possible she honestly believed that was the more important thing in the long run, which she also rants about a bit during the events of Truth.
10693471
Who's to say she didn't deliberately shape and cultivate the ponies' culture during her long reign? She may have started out striving for a peaceful and harmonious society amidst the chaos and dangers of Equus, but over time as things became stable, she started confusing "harmonious" with "obedient" and remade Equestrian society into her own image.
10693482
Don't forget that she was ok of being worshiped as a goddess, despite not actually being one (as she once told Twilight back in their world), if it unified her ponies more. Spike theorized that might have played some part in her beliefs in the loooong run.
10693588
I think another influence is the old saying... people only grow up as much as they have to. Celestia’a comes off like Bojack in some ways, not with the obvious toxic behavior, but rather her limited world view. Even in the series, we get glimpses that Celestia and Luna aren’t as mature as they seem, which seems harmless in the show. But could mean darker things in this kind of universe.
The best way to describe Celestia’s mindset, is to think back to when you were a child... and how dangerous your simplistic views of the world would be in practice. Celestia never had to mature her views on the world as no one could challenge her. So when faced with reality of earth, like a spoiled child she demanded reality bend to her will. Which in the end didn’t work out well, her tantrum against Twilight shows a side of her that supports this. She couldn’t handle her views of the world coming crashing down, partially her naive views about humans, reality didn’t match what she “knew” about them. It wouldn’t surprise me if her tantrum looked more like Diamond Tiara being told she can’t have ice cream by Filthy Rich.... then someone’s exhaustion catching up to them.
In the end, Celestia wasn’t the great leader she made herself out to be. Rather she was a filly, who played a mare. Equestria seems to be very fertile and somewhat resource rich, meanwhile the other areas in there world seem fairly barren and poor. Likely she didn’t factor in the idea that maybe it was the environment that gave them such a wonderful society... rather then her leadership...
10693968
That is... actually a valid point, come to think of it. Sure, there were threats like Discord and Sombra, but there was always a way to beat them (mostly because there was either a plot McGuffin or the villains slipped up). And the use of light magic and the low tech curve generally meant most ponies could live comfortably.
Warning: Meta Analysis Ahead:
Then again, that makes sense; this is a TV show meant for little girls, syndicated and tested by a PR-conscious company with an eye for merchandising. Of course it's not going to go to a really dark place. The only reasons it has a strong adult fandom are the nostalgia element and the fact the show writers intended it to still be watchable and enjoyable by adults too.
But since this fiction drags the premise of a fairytale princess into the real world - especially if she has some ugly ulterior motives - the cracks are definitely going to show. Celestia's flaws are made all the more clearer and she's made all the more vulnerable because this world is in no mood to coddle a spoiled little princess. It's a hard world, and the humans, while destructive and deluded, earned their place. The ponies, unable to fall back on deus ex machina or villain follies, got a wakeup call in the form of a baseball bat to the teeth.
But then there's the darker side to this utopia, hinted at throughout the Negotiations-verse. Spike says the Hearths Warming Tale was a sanitized version of the real thing, with ponies actually dying in the original tale. As Doyle pointed out in the original Negotiations, the ponies had removed all mention of their darker histories, and by doing so removed any and all references and knowledge of the darker side of themselves. It also meant they were unable to approach the humans with any sense of nuance or objective understanding, so they went all-in on supporting Celestia (and silencing those who disagreed with her) until the consequences of their actions caught up with them. And now the Conversion Wars and the ruin it brought are the legacy of Celestia and the Equestrian diarchy.
Basically, Equus was an overprotective, mollycuddling parent who gave her children everything, but when she needed them to fix things, they took the easy way out and bailed. Earth, meanwhile, is a mean, drunken bitch who teaches her children "character" by beating the utter shit out of them every once in a while, and that's why humans can be a vicious lot; we are, after all, products of our home environment. It's just for all our fears, angers, hatred and folly, we know we're a flawed race, but that we can be better. And thus there are times when we genuinely do try to be better.
And ironically, for all the pain and suffering Equestria caused, I believe the ponies can help us be better people. It's just... you don't help people by forcibly changing everything about themselves, you're not really helping them if they have to obey everything you say just because, and if you keep calling them "monkeys"... well, you didn't really respect them all that much to begin with, did you? And really, that's not grounds for friendship at all.
Makes me wonder; how long did it take for the average Equestrian to stop calling humans "monkeys"? Was it when they saw they were in the wrong? Or was it when the "monkeys" came in with steel, technology, and long-brewing fury to raze everything the ponies had built in revenge for their actions?
10694205
I wouldn’t have been so crass.... but your on the exact same line of thought I was having. Even without the turncoats from Equestria it’s likely humanity would have figured out the “magic killer”, it just would likely would have cost more lives. It only takes one or two injured unicorns and some “loose” medical/science ethics. Chances are the turn coats prevented a far worse ending for Equestria in the long run. As if the war hard been much longer... well... imagine this. A pony begs for mercy.... and the human stares blankly before asking... where was yours?
I don’t think I have to tell you what comes next. Humans tend to remember “bad” things more vividly and cultural scars can make a people do horrible things. History and medical science has taught these two things over and over. I’m not excusing it, I’m just pointing out the loss could have been far worse. Halberd Wings might have said he wanted ponies to fight to the death... but the reality is far from his idealized vision. He likely was imagining it like some kind of cheesy ronin movie... a naive view by any standard. If he had actually experienced it... I doubt he would have been so gung-ho about it.
10693968
Huh, that's actually very accurate, now that I think about it. What does that say about her subjects then, if she's a whining child? Would even babies believe it if told that someone will rape you if you lose a fight to them, and they'd believe what they're told, even when it doesn't happen? Rainbow kinda does feel that immature in this chapter, insisting that Celestia's still right, even though it's already been proven that she lied. It was public knowledge by Negotiations (or at least known to Twilight) that the extinction of all the other Equis races was done by Equestria, not humans as Celestia initially said.
10694264
Celestia is like a “big sis” to ponies. When your young learning the person you idolized isn’t as perfect as you thought isn’t easy... but it’s an important step in growing up. Rainbow and AJs time in the war could have been a bitter coming of age story like War Game (2002) and other ww1 movies featuring boys/children. But where they should have learned harsh lessons about themselves and war in general.... they rejected the lesson. They want to hang onto the idealized view of the world, they were the hero’s, humans were the villains. Everything else has to be a lie, because Big Sis said so!
10694297
It's also because if they were in the wrong, everything they suffered had utterly been for nothing. Nothing breaks a person - or pony - like the realization their suffering, or even the summation of their existence (as Halberd Wings put it in the final chapters of his journal) was ultimately all for nothing. That they had lost all they loved and cared for over a goddamned lie. That's the sort of realization that creates monstrous supervillains (re: The Killing Joke). AJ lost all she had lived for; family and home (the Apples either whittled down during the war or completely wiped out during the Bombing of Ponyville, and Sweet Apple Acres is now a collection of ashes), and RD's pride as a Wonderbolt and an ace pegasus was shattered during the Equestrian coast landings. It takes time and effort to rebuild a shattered person's worldview, and people to help them - even then, they're never quite the same person they once were even at the best of times. Plus, the only ones who could have helped them (their friends and family) are either dead (Pinkie Pie, Rarity), in dire need of help themselves (Twilight), or were cast out (Fluttershy). The ones who did extend a helping hoof were toxic sorts like the EFF with their own agenda.
There's a reason it's called the Despair Event Horizon; it sucks you in like a black hole, and after that, you're never truly free of it ever again. You can't escape it. And all AJ and RD have now is the vague, forlorn hope of inflicting their suffering on their perceived "enemies", and chasing after some fleeting memory of happiness, when Equestria was a place of righteousness and all was right with the world (in their eyes).
10694366
The only thing waiting for Sweetie Drops and company was a war crime trial and at best life in prison after all. They had nothing to lose, so they decided to go double or nothing. I’m almost scared of how quickly she went along with all this. Makes me wonder if Lyra was just a cover for her during their time together in Ponyville.... did Lyra mean anything to her in the end? It potentially hints that some ponies might be darker then they appear on the surface.
10693356
If a target was particularly troublesome like Lyra or Fluttershy, the ESS would erase them from the face of the planet. Records and all like they never even existed. But only if it was an mostly individual target. Most would be intimidated into submission and in between there are disappeared to hard labor camps ala Kalima of Russia, ponies still have their uses after all and self preservation usually wins out in the end. The brave ones would resist, the smart ones would pretend to be ignorant while still resisting.
As for pony traditionalists, nothing bad would happen to them. They're just another ingredient in the salad bowl of intermingling cultures. Meeting and greeting but never actually mixing. If they don't start shit like the EFF there's no point to antagonize someone trying to keep old and arguably benign traditions alive.
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People who work in wet ops or similarly ugly secret police tend to be either extreme fanatics or sociopaths; the former means they put their ideals and beliefs over the welfare of sapient beings, the latter simply don't care about inflicting pain. I'm guessing the ESS in particular had drunk the Kool-Aid and were rapid supporters of Celestia and her misguided efforts. But yes, their histories as ESS meant that both Humanity and post-war Equestria had no place for them, and that all that awaited them were trials for crimes against equines, so why not double down?
As for Lyra, I'm going to be charitable and guess that she did have genuine feelings for her former best friend. It's just Equestria always came first. And once Lyra defected, it probably engendered a lot of feelings of bitterness and betrayal, something which pushed Sweetie Drops to worse deeds - including trying to capture and kill Lyra during the war and then trying to assassinate her post-war.
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Heh. One idea I had for a postwar Equestrian political party would be a monarchist one, but they'd use a fancy title to hide it. Basically they say that while Celestia abused her power, the traditional strength of the monarchy must not be cast aside or ignored. They simple call for the return of the original Unicorn monarchy as under Princess Platinum and co. Granted, with the nobility dismantled, they'd have a hard going of it, and they're mostly old blue bloods and opportunists favoring the "traditional" Equestrian lifestyle.
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Feels like this could go one of two ways. Either Twilight puts her hoof down and puts em on a tight leash with restrictions and such, effectively stifling whatever it is they're trying to achieve into permanent state of limbo with no real sense of forward momentum, or they end up being another EFF or secretly backing the EFF and having this vague alliance of convenience that could be broken at any moment
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Again, despite Lyra being the sole pony who derailed and eventually caused the ruin of Celestia's entire plan of conquest, we haven't read her story yet. Same with her allies: Moondancer, Flash Sentry, etc...
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Likely the former. Twilight had more than enough shit for a lifetime.
Incredible chapter. All of these additional stories that just add all of this great lore and backstory is what I live for. Keep it up.
Also, I remember back in 2016 or so that Ponystar confirmed that there were some members in the EFF that were actually on the side of the humans. Maybe that could be an idea for a chapter?
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Trixie was confirmed to be a mole working for the humans, maybe i'll get to that somewhere down the line
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I seem to remember (though it might be me confusing this with another 'verse) about Braeburn falling in love with a human and as a result him being disowned by the Apples.
The Equestrian Freedom Fighters....What bunch of disillusioned terroristic fools. Hopelessly fighting for an asinine lost cause. Who got completely destroyed for all their damn troubles.
A resistance-movement can succeed, if they have broad support, but now that the genocidal plan of Celestia is public, they will not have the broad support they need to succeed. This reminds me about Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungles after WW2:
At 1st, myriads (a myriad is 10,000) of soldiers refused to surrender. The last soldier surrendered in the 1970s.
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We are monkeys:
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Not everybody, me included, would agree with that. There's even some debates I've found before, but can't find now.
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Phylogenetically, we are monkeys. Aronra explains the phylogenetics in the linked video. Surely, you do not claim that you are a mammal:
Interestingly, we had mammarian glands from before we were mammals. Paleontologists need a way to define "mammal" from just bones. They decided to define mammal as an amniote with only 1 bone in the lower jaw and the other 2 bones of the lower jaw shifting to the inner ear with the bone already there. Our therapsid ancestors, who did not yet have that structure in the jaw and ear yet, probably already had mammaian glands (mammarian glands evolved from sweat-glands).
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Nerd. I'm kinda tired too look for stuff.