This story is a sequel to Domesticity
Starlight Glimmer and her Unmarked have arrived in Castellot, coming to declare their grievances before the capitol. They will be heard, either through word or deed. Principal Celestia, Rarity Belle, and several others have come to give their replies to the Unmarked, while Shining Armor and the Royal Guards try their best to keep things civil. But when politics becomes a choice between revolution or resistance, civility rapidly becomes untenable, people fighting either to create what they hope for or preserve what they love.
The center cannot hold for long; the storm comes, and all must either weather it or be swept away.
Continuity: The Song of the Spheres
Branch: The Seekers of the Stars
Chapters (3)
This seems like a false-flag operation by Starlight.
We about to fight? Because, rarity has never done this.
You know, I wish they would have told that to the trio of drama queens.
Fight Back.
Damn, this girl is ready for any outcome.
Ok, that’s actually pretty hilarious.
Well, at least I’m not the only one that thought it.
Wait, they’re gonna ask questions or something?
What is she talking about?
I just realized, where is starlight even from?
Ok, this concept has been used multiple and she right to a certain extent, but it’s not that simple.
God damn. Kill it with fire.
Where were you at?
Oh snap.
Expose her a**.
Someone getting defensive?
Talk your sh*t, adagio. She is on her a**.
Y’all couldn’t protect her, either.
Withdraw what?
How would they know that? What proof do they have?
Did something happen?
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A what?
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From Wikipedia:
Essentially, I think Starlight killed Dagi and blamed the government.
LET’S GO! So far rarity has been proven to be the best fighter out of all the rainbooms.
For some fashion designers they know how to fight.
Ok, I think out of all the rainbooms rarity might be my favorite.
What women?
Wait, what did she do?
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Thank god. I thought I was the only one thinking that.
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Something does seem off about it, yes.
10865484
They did...sadly, while they were distracted (AJ and Platinum by fighting about a game, Flutters by trying to break up that fight).
arkhamdb.com/bundles/cards/03272.jpg
Whether protecting Sweetie Belle requires her life or her death, she shall provide it.
Nope. She just means that, if Starlight does press ahead with her petitioning, she and her friends will be ready to tell the government why they should refuse her.
She's saying that all the evils that afflict Homestria are really just variants of the root evil of hierarchicalism, despite possibly appearing different. Economic, social, and political oppression are all different sides, but of the same shape, different expressions of the same evil.
An excellent question.
Exactly. Magic isn't just a force for good or evil; it is what its wielder makes of it.
Hasn't the poor woman suffered enough?
She was in Our Town, but thanks to the internet it was as if she was there at those events.
Oh, yes.
Certainly seems that way. Shame that she turned away from her expose to deliver that ending speech.
Yes. A fine speech it was, if a bit of a missed opportunity. While the speech was important, who knows how important the other secrets of Starlight she could've exposed would have been?
Good point. That's not what they want to focus on, though; it makes them look worse, while focusing on the failures of the elite makes them look better.
Withdraw oneself away from what seems to be devolving into an angry mob.
It makes a good story, one that they already want to hear, and it furthers their goals. Why would they care about proof or reason given that?
Find out next chapter.
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Oh brother.
That’s what I’m talking about.
Is she right?
The reason I ask is because she’s saying they’re currupt and poisoned, but how would she know? Different places have different rules.
Didn’t that old man say something similar?
Ok, I’m my defense I said that before I knew who/what it was.
I mean where was she at when they were in danger? Because, she’s talking down to the government like she would have been able to do anything.
Is that where the shot came from?
I don’t remember saying that. Did you edit it or something?
Too bad the elites aren’t doing the same thing.
Maybe so they could get more people on their side? Because, I doubt blaming the elites without evidence is going to help.
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Indeed.
Just for future reference, if you could quote what you're responding to directly it would be quite helpful. I'm going to assume you mean "Is Starlight right?" and answer that she is and she isn't. There is a root evil in the world, yes, but it isn't hierarchicalism, and equalism is (most emphatically) not the cure for it.
Where she came from had some differences in rules, but nowhere near enough to lead to this big of a misunderstanding. It's like the difference between Rhode Island and California, not Rhode Island and Qatar.
Yep.
I assumed as much, don't know why I didn't let that affect my response.
Sometimes, my behavior confuses even me.
Everyone says that they can handle a situation better when they're not the ones dealing with it.
I'm going to assume you mean "Is her exposé where the shot came from?" (Again, in future quotes would be highly appreciated.) No, it was not, but thank you for the correction; I'll add in the necessary accent mark (to change it from expose to exposé) as soon as I can.
Yes, apologies. I'm a puritan when it comes to my language, even for typing. I try to make it more subtle, but I failed in that regard this time.
The elites were largely already safe from the mob, with two main exceptions as we'll see in the epilogue.
If someone came up to you and said that someone else who you already disliked did something bad, and gave you a compelling idea of how they did it, would a lack of evidence stop you from assuming that they did it?
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So far.
Rarity took some self-defense classes after Camp Everfree, and I'm pretty sure dodging and punching are almost instinctual.
Glad to hear it! She's one of my favorite characters, either as human or pony, and I actually have barely any clue why.
The Guard who put her hand on Rarity's shoulder.
Used her magic to generate thin crystals under the Unmarked's feet, then basically tried to flip them into the air. She ran out of steam before she could do so to all of them, but it did manage to clear the way.
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Nice.
Did she kill anyone?
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Nope.
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Well, that’s a shame.
So it wasn’t a bullet?
Uncle Lightburst? Why is he called that?
He never said she was.
One of the principals are missing? How?
Kakashi would disagree.
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Nope.
Because he's her uncle.
She thought he was about to, in her stressed state.
Judging by the use of the word "rescued," it looks like the Unmarked's doing.
Perhaps, but is Kakashi right? Is the life of a friend worth the lives of the many?
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So it was actually a stone that someone threw?
Sunset has an uncle?
Yeah, but you would think that the principals would carry mace or a taser.
True, but it also depends on what the mission is.
10866613
Yes, but
doesn't sound like just any old stone.
In my headcanon, yes.
They might, but how effective would that be against a horde?
Yes, it does.
How far away were they in order to chuck that rock?
An uncle in the human world?
I’m not expecting it to work on an entire horde, but at least get three or four people.
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Forensics is still figuring that out.
Back in Equestria.
That would still leave a good dozen or so free to attack them.
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So the uncle is from equestria?
At least it would have gotten some people.
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Yep.
Who would probably be borne away to safety by other Unmarked in the unusually organized retreat.
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But, how did he get into the human world?
Yeah, I know that.
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Sorry for being unclear, he didn't; he stayed in Equestria his whole life.
Sorry.
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So why is he in the human world?
It would just be an act of defiance.
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He isn't. Where did I say otherwise, if I may ask? It seems I have another thing I need to rewrite clearer.
I think the part about this that most bothers me is that a twenty-sided polyhedron is an icosahedron. Dodecahedrons are twelve-sided. Knowing Starlight, that was intentional.
Well. That definitely could've gone better. I can only imagine how the Guard was allocating everyone if they couldn't afford to reinforce the front line while Starlight was waiting for the crowd to build to critical mass.
I thought that might have been the identity of the captive. As for the one who put the rock in her throat, I doubt they're even human. Far better for every other species with an interest that humanity be divided and squabbling among themselves than united against an even greater threat. (Though Starlight is still a very great threat indeed.)
As for Rarity, I suspect I know where she is. Though I doubt she'll appreciate the local hospitality.
Sunset, meanwhile... the last time she had this much hubris, she had to flee her home universe. I can only hope she gets a sense of perspective sooner rather than later. Maybe if Shining brings in Twilight to knock some sense into her. Either Twilight. Possibly both at once if that's what it takes. And Adagio's final words are all too pertinent. Saving everyone would mean saving even Starlight. Can Sunset find it within herelf to do so, or has she already chosen to answer monstrosity with monstrosity?
But yes, this has definitely demonstrated the devastating power at Starlight's command. And I fear that even the horrors her people have inflicted won't be enough to turn some prospective supporters away from the cause. We'll see what happens from here.
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Rattling off a list of the lost after such a climactic scene, especially a list that includes Rarity, implies that all of those losses were incurred in the riot.
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Nope, totally accidental on the author's part!
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The main problem was that the square wasn't the only place the Guard needed to be; just because Starlight was coming to town didn't mean that all burglars or muggers or what-have-you would stop, so Shiny needed to make sure the rest of the city was protected, hence the Guards Rarity saw on the streets. This is actually part of a point I ended up not having Shiny and Sunset talk about, namely how, due to the duty of care they possess towards others, they can't throw everything they have at Starlight; there are other potential threats and problems that they need to protect those under them from, too.
You're more right than you know with your guess at her killer's identity, as well as the main reason Starlight's arrival is so disastrous; every sign says that the apocalypse is coming, now is not a good time to have to deal with a fringe political cult. (Though she has more up her sleeves than that...)
I doubt she will, either.
Indeed. She needs to understand that she isn't the maker or breaker of worlds; she's just a girl, a skilled one and blessed with great gifts and friends but still just a girl. Hopefully someone, maybe Twilight like you said, can show her that, otherwise...
A vital question, one that we shall have to wait and see her answer to.
What horrors? Their treatment of Adagio? That was okay, she was an enemy of the people. The deaths at the riot? Those were the work of the agents of the elite, falsely ascribed to the Unmarked in an attempt to smear their name. They had no hand in the riot at all, actually; it was really staged by the elite and their agents disguised as the Unmarked!
While the last one is perhaps too fantastical to believe, the others are at least plausible, giving the Unmarked cover to continue to spread. Remember, in politics truth is relative, and reasonable doubt is as good as innocence to your supporters. As for where we go from here, the Unmarked seem set on continuing their spiral into unreason and cruelty. If deaths due to a riot aren't enough to stop them, what could be? What could bring them back to objective reality? We shall have to see.
Oh, gotcha. Sorry! If it helps, she listed the first three before, at the end of Ms. Shimmer Goes to Castellot.
10868597
If he’s not in the human world, then why did sunset mention him as one of the people that went missing?
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She didn't, though I suppose it is a bit unclear; she wasn't listing the people who went missing, she was listing those she herself had lost. She referenced the first three before, in Ms. Shimmer Goes to Castellot:
Hope this clears it up a bit.
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Ohh. So setting star and silver blaze are her parents, right?
I'm not going to revoke your story over this, but your short description isn't adequate - it doesnt' describe what happens in the story, and is actually skirting the line of acceptable use of copyrighted song lyrics.
For your own sake, it's better if your short description is simply an abridged version of your long description, something that tells readers what to expect about the story and entice them to click on it to read the full thing. This would have failed moderation if you'd submitted to mod queue, and it's definitely in your best interest to fix it as soon as possible.
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Okay, thanks for letting me know.
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Yep.
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Ohh. Ok, you may wanna make things a little more clear so there’s no more misunderstandings.
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Oh, like the death of Miraz in Prince Caspian.
I’m getting some major Shirou Emiya vibes here, and I’m not sure how to feel about it.
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Neither am I, namely because I didn't know who that was until you mentioned it.
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Survivor's guilt, hero complex, wants to save everyone, even the guys trying to kill him. I get wanting to save everyone, but sometimes that's just not a viable option, especially when the person you want to save would happily slit your throat.