When The Eagles Go Marching

by Wanderer101

The Banner Still Waves

Many wonder how the Junta managed to retain control for so long after crossing the portal to Equus. Especially when you consider the fact they were surrounded by people they had wrong whether it was the Canadians & South Americans who they invaded or the American Soldiers & Civilians who they exploited & betrayed. Several prominent historians attribute the loss of Earth completely as the fault of the Junta. Their unwillingness to even attempt to make peace with the Soviets and their invasion of South America & alienation of the Europeans turned what could have been a short albeit bloody conflict into the apocalypse.

After everything the Junta did you would think they would have been lynched the moment they came through the portal. You must understand that in those early days the last thing on everyone’s mind was revolution. There was little food besides what they brought with them and the few relief supplies given by the struggling New Mareland government. People were living in tents and hastily constructed shelters. It would not be an exaggeration to say the Americans had nothing because they did have nothing. That is why the resurgence of the United States as not just a nation but a major power was considered to be a modern miracle.

The first thing on the ‘United States Provisional Government’s’, which was just the Military Junta under a different name, list was to get the millions of people under their command both fed, clothed, and housed. Due to this being outside their expertise and the sheer scale of such an operation the Junta created the Office of New World Reconstruction or the NWR. The NWR was a mostly civilian agency being made up of as many city planners, engineers, scientists, farmers, contractors, and other similar roles the Junta could find. The NWR would write up a bunch of initiatives and laws that they believed should be implemented which the Junta would reluctantly do.

The first was the reformation of the Department of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture was one of the few members of the Reagan Administration to survive the attack on DC. He then managed to survive under the Junta’s rule by not asserting his authority since by all rights the Presidency should have gone to him since he was the highest living person on the line of succession. He called for a series of ‘vertical farms’ to be built to conserve space in addition to some normal farming. Since ponies were herbivorous the waters around New Mareland were overflowing with fish. While it wouldn't fill everyone’s belly there was more than enough to keep people from starving until other food sources could be secured.

The farms were producing crops months ahead of schedule due to the NWR’s willingness to include the native ponies & griffons into their projects. When the Secretary of Agriculture learned of the Pegasus (and to a lesser extent Griffon) ability to manipulate weather he immediately began making plans to start recruiting them intent on forming his own weather teams. While it would be decades before the US had scheduled weather like in Equestrian aligned nations it would enjoy having weather teams helping improve agricultural production.

Another big help to American agriculture was the inclusion of Earth Ponies to farms. While initially skeptical farmers quickly came to love their new Earth Pony workers who greatly improved crop production by them simply being there. This is due to the natural magic of Earth Ponies which made plants grow quicker when tended to by them. It was thanks to them that rationing was able to be ceased several months early allowing many Americans to have full stomachs again.

The next thing on the NWR’s list was to form some kind of industrial base. Thankfully tools and machinery was one of the things brought over from Earth. The NWR actually entered negotiations with New Mareland to share industrial secrets if the colony made machinery for them as well though these negotiations fell through after the rise of MARESOC. In the months after the US’ arrival the NWR would establish several factories making important civilian goods like clothing, tents, blankets, cars, and other basic equipment needed for construction or living. Unfortunately the Junta demanded that several factories be set aside for making weaponry to reform the US military. While a little upset, the NWR could see the Junta’s point.

The US was surrounded by enemies on almost all sides. The Kingdom of Aquileia or more specifically its King had been eyeing the territory occupied by the humans. He heard of the advanced weaponry wielded by the humans that was decades ahead of what anyone on Equus could make. With weapons like those he could destroy his enemies! The Junta was less than amused at his offer for the US to become a vassal state of Aquileia. They politely refused the King’s generous request.

Next to New Mareland was the Kingdom of Wingbardy where Giulio Beakolini had just been made Prime Minister after his march on the capital. All Americans couldn’t help but be unsettled at the scary resemblance this griffon had to italian dictator Mussolini. If he was anything like Mussolini he would soon be eying up his neighbors and the small island populated by otherworldly beings with advanced technology would be a tempting target.

Big Sister and MARESOC were like a nightmare right out of ‘1984’. The only difference being that instead of an eternal war against other superstates ‘Marelandia’ was instead a small nation that pretended to be at war with various nations, the US included, to control the populace. Marelandian military forces would typically fire artillery at their own cities claiming it was attacks from foreign powers. The Junta did make note of the military build up that Marelandia was undergoing and knew the fake war wouldn’t be fake for long.

As the Junta prepared for war the NWR continued its mission by focusing on housing next. The city of New Washington was only a city in name. In truth it was a collection of tents, shacks, and other rudimentary shelters. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who also managed to survive, was given the task of rebuilding America’s cities. To say he had a difficult task ahead of him would be an understatement. The large expansive suburbs that Pre-WW3 America was known for would have to be avoided due to lack of space. High Rise Apartment buildings were the way forward though the NWR would have to keep them from descending into slums & ghettos.

Thus began Operation: Home Sweet Home. The NWR had crews working around the clock to construct apartment buildings, shops, roads, and other structures. Foreign and Domestic observers said it was like ‘an entire city grew overnight’. At the height of construction crews typically finished the shell of an apartment in one day. By the end of the next day it was mostly complete. By the end of the third day people were ready to move in.

The sheer speed in which these buildings were constructed did cause some to fear they were built by cutting corners. While that was initially the Junta’s plan (to save resources) it was quickly vetoed by the NWR. The HUD Secretary would go on to say that the American people needed real homes of brick & concrete not ones built with lies & empty promises. The fact that the NWR was able to veto the Junta in the first place showed that the Junta’s power was beginning to fade and democracy was starting to truly come back to the United States.

While some would try to present the return of democracy to the United States as a grand event that rivalled that of the original American Revolution or the Second Aquileian Revolution in truth it was actually a slow gradual affair. As the US slowly began to get back onto its feet the Junta gave more and more power to civilian organizations & agencies. This was done mostly for practical reasons since the Junta could not run every facet of reconstruction themselves no matter how much they wanted to. These independent groups like the NWR, Police, and even the reformed CIA all contributed to the return of democracy but the most credit went to the American people themselves.

Americans, Canadians, and Latin Americans were all displeased towards the Junta for one reason or another. For the Canadians and Latin Americans it was the invasion of their countries during WW3. For Americans it was the Junta’s harsh military rule. Unlike what many believe the ‘Second American Revolution’ was less of a revolution and more of a bloodless exchange of power. People point to the New Washington Riot and Soldier’s Protests but these two events had little to do with the Junta’s fall. This was because the democratic movement in the US was highly disorganized. Most places did not even have electricity yet let alone phones so any attempts to create some organized form of protest was a pipe dream at best.

Still the efforts of the people were not in vain however. It showed the moderate members of the Junta that they no longer had the support of the people and it let the surviving members of the US Government know that now was the right time to make their move. While the Junta were having a meeting in their headquarters several dozen armed men of the New Washington Police Department and Congress-aligned US Military approached the building. They expected some kind of fight to break out with the soldiers guarding the building but they met no resistance. The Junta was swiftly arrested on charges of treason ((though only a handful were actually convicted) and Congress immediately took control of the nation. Celebrations lasted for days as the people rejoiced that democracy had returned to their nation. Congress wasted no time in offering official apologies to the Canadians & Latin Americans for the invasion of their countries. They along with the pony & griffon natives were also given full natural born citizenship which the Junta had been wholly against.

This move ended up winning the acceptance of the natives who up until this point had been fairly distrusting of humans. They now saw the United States as their nation and began to participate more in its rebuilding. New Manehatten which had been against the Junta’s proposal of settling humans within the city now happily welcomed their new human countrymen. As the nation was reorganized into new states and elections were held both ponies & griffons ran for office and even secured a significant number of seats in Congress. Thousands of ponies and griffons enlisted in the US military with a few even gaining command positions.

While the old United States was gone, burned in nuclear fire, the United States of the Americas was here to stay.

Excerpt from The Banner Still Waves by Prof. Alexander Silas, New Washington Printing Company, 1027 ALB

Author's Note:

The next two chapters will be proper story ones both concerning New Mare- I mean Marelandia. I expect both of them to be doubleplusgood.

Comments

[yammering2]

Americas here to rid you of your commies just ring the toll-free number

[Fireheart 1945]

10735267

Ah, thanks for that.

[Crescent Nebula]

The junta being arrested for treason is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

[UnicronvsDiscord]

10984969
Out of curiosity why?
War was no longer supported by the people, and the nation gained no benefit from it. In addition by refusing to make peace to better help the people of their nation still living in squalor, the junta kept a military dictatorship that abused both soldiers and civilians.
By all rights they violated their oaths to the constitution, president, and people in that order.
Finally the invasion of peaceful neighbors, is generally seen as a d*** move in history.