Parley
“Well… that certainly is a worrying claim.”
Princess Celestia looked down at the stalwart stallion. He gazed back up at her blankly.
“And that she kills me in your timeline is the reason she is unwilling to see me in ours?” Celestia continued. He nodded.
“It appears that way, Princess.”
Celestia blinked. “Well that’s just silly.” Quickly and gently removing the stallion from her path, the Solar Princess opened the door and trotted into the room. Pip blunk once as the magic on him dissipated. He turned to look at the door, reaching a hoof out to open it and gain entrance.
“We would not do that, were we thou.” Princess Luna stepped from a shadowed corner of the hallway, seeming to materialize from nothing. Pip blunk. “Tia can be… quite impertinent when interrupted from matters she hath deemed important.”
“In my timeline, Luna used modern Equestrian while she foalsat me. Am I to assume that you cannot speak as I do?”
“You speak in a more formal tone than what could be called ‘modern’, Pipsqueak.” Luna sighed. “But nonetheless, I can speak normally. I just prefer not to when I speak to ponies I am unfamiliar with.”
“You wound me, Princess. I retained a deep friendship with you until you attacked her Ladyship. Made it difficult for her Ladyship to trust me.”
“Was that why you killed me? To gain her trust?”
“No. I killed you because you needed to die to ensure the Revolution was successful. If any royalty had survived, it would have undermined her Ladyship’s claims of victory over the oppressive diarchic regime that was formed by you and your sister.”
“Were we really that bad? Did we change so much between now and then that we had to die?” Luna asked, curiosity clear in her voice.
“No, I cannot say that you have changed much at all.”
“So we are an ‘oppressive diarchic regime’ already?”
“In a sense. Already, you surround yourself with nobility and only on special occasions ‘grace’ the common pony with your presence. You listen to their complaints only when they come to you, a task that is arduous at best and for most ponies impossible. This lack of practical approachability is exacerbated by the extremely common belief that you and Celestia are omnipotent beings, which, to many ponies, makes you appear as though you are aware of their troubles, when you are actually not, and thus gives them the belief that you either are already working on a solution to their particular problem or simply do not care. The ponies who feel the latter are afraid to speak their discontent due to your guards and the fact that they think that you are omnipotent, and thus could quite easily destroy them. I have personally observed you and your sister be notified of this attitude, and dismissing at as ‘cute’ without noting the obvious ramifications.” Pip took a breath, face still maintaining the same blank expression. “As well, many ponies feel unworthy to speak to you, given your regality and the surroundings in which you have immersed yourself, and thus are unwilling to speak to you in an attempt to avoid offending you. Many ponies will also avoid complaining around those who know you, such as the Elements of Harmony, and only in the direst of circumstances such as the Appleoosa-Buffalo conflict will negative situations be brought to your (or their) attention. This leads to situations such as that in Trottingham, where on your first visit after befriending my younger self, almost everpony I knew there tried to stay away from me lest they offend me, and by extension you, by the fact that they had a miserable existence.” Another breath. “Newspapers are commonly censored to avoid reporting negative occurrences, lest they offend you by saying you aren’t doing a perfect job. The homeless and needy are thrown into prison-like ‘common-houses’ to avoid their appearance on city streets, while nothing is done to actually help them. Celebrations and holidays occur weekly to draw attention away from dangerous working conditions, inadequate healthcare coverage and worker numbers, an economy that prevents advancement, regular instances of apocalypse-level events, and numerous other problems that are part of the common pony’s life.” Third breath. “All the while, you and your sister stay here in the palace, unaware of these problems because you can’t be bothered to listen.” Pip finished, eyes still locked on Luna, who was struggling to keep her jaw from hitting the floor.
“We… we were not…”
“I can assure you, Princess, that I personally have nothing against you or your sister. But should you want your head to remain attached to your neck, I would suggest that you accept the conditions of the Charter this time.”
“The Charter?”
“The document which forms the basis of the Pony’s Democratic Republic of Equestria Constitution. Its rejection by you and your sister directly led to the formation of the Pony’s Democratic Front, which was the organization that overthrew the royalty and formed the first government of the Pony’s Democratic Republic of Equestria. It was written by her Ladyship Rising Dawn, formerly known as Twilight Sparkle, who also became the First Pony and head of the government during and after the Revolution.”
“…and Applejack said that you didn’t talk much…”
“I didn’t. Now I do.”
Luna sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot, she noticed. “So this Charter’s rejection was what caused the Revolution, correct?” Pip nodded. “Well, are you aware of the reasons we rejected it?”
“No, Princess. Her Ladyship stated that neither you nor your sister gave her reason for the refusal, only stating that such a document was unacceptable to you.”
Luna rubbed her forehoof between her eyes. “Can you give a summary of the Charter’s contents, then?”
“I can give the Charter’s entirety, should you wish.”
“How long is it?”
“The current one, or the one you rejected?”
Luna was about to reply when the door shot open. Pip immediately leapt at the open space, but was once again caught in a gentle glow of magic. Celestia parked him beside the door as she slowly exited the room, a peacefully prone purple pony laying on her back. Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister, who gazed back and barely stifled a giggle at the younger’s bemused expression.
“She no longer thinks that she’s a risk to me, at least.” Celestia shifted her wings as Twilight snuggled into her back. She glanced at Pip, whose gaze repeatedly shifted between the Princess and her passenger. “Don’t worry, she’s safe.”
“In my time, if her Ladyship were in such a position, she would have put her horn through your spine.” Pip stated blandly.
“Then it’s good that this isn’t your timeline, isn’t it?” Celestia replied. Pip blinked. “Now come, I wish to have a chat with this ‘Broken Shield.’”
Broken Shield tapped at a loose masonry block under his hoof. There had been no further communiqués between him and his younger self, so he occupied his mind with the various ways he could escape the cell and kill the little purple plot that was once his sister before he was stopped and executed.
She should be in the hospital, extra security there should be maybe ten ponies between me and her when I get down there. Slip by them, exploit inherent training flaws when needed, find her room. Stab with scalpel? No, low chance of being in room. Brain with bedpan? Too slow and loud. Crush her heart with magic? Tried that, too much concentration needed. Maybe if I could sharpen my horn I could-
Broken’s musings were cut off as the hallway outside his cell echoed with a cacophony of hooffalls. Mutterings were heard in several distinct but muddled voices, and suddenly the heavy door to his cell swung open as though it was made of linen. A familiar white alicorn stood in the open doorway, her wings partially opened and her face a solid mask of serene stoicism. Broken’s heart leapt at the sight.
“Milady Princess!” The former Royal Guard brought his head to the floor in as close an approximation of a bow as he could in the circumstances. “I heard the guards discussing your imminent arrival, but I did not actually expect-“
“Broken Shield.” The alicorn said softly. Memories of a happier time hit Broken faster than a Rainboom, and he couldn’t help but grin as he looked up at her. “You seem to have been through quite a trial, my little pony. Your wounds speak of much suffering, and your mind appears clouded and fragmented.” She walked further into the room, her wings coming further up as space allowed them and the door swinging shut behind her.
“Right on all three, your highness. I can’t rightly say I’m of the most solid sanity. Having your wife brutally murdered in front of your recently-singular eye will do that to you.” He began giggling again, though he tried to stifle it as he remembered that he was speaking to his Princess. “Much snnk apologies, your highness. I hehehe shouldn’t have brought that up herk hehe to you, should I?”
“No, no, feel free to do so. I need as much information as I can in order to help you.”
“Princess, if I may, the best way you could ‘help me’ is by strapping that little purple nag down and-“
“Twilight.” Celestia said. Broken shifted his brow.
“What?”
“Her name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Where I’m from, she’s a genocidal plothole named Rising Dawn.”
“Then it’s a good thing we aren’t there, isn’t it?” Celestia asked. Broken noticed a slight edge to her voice. “Here, she is and always has been Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, my personal protégée, and brother of Shining Armor. You used to be him, correct?”
“Well, yes, your highness, but-“
“Then you should be able to call your sister by her real name, yes?”
“Ah-“
“Then do it.”
Broken Shield stared at his Princess for several seconds, his mouth moving in an attempt to form words that the lack of air movement through his throat wouldn’t allow. Celestia still watched him with a stoic gaze, but he could see the little glint in her eye as she caught him in a trap that he had no chance of escaping.
“Go on, my little pony. Say ‘I want to kill my little sister Twilight Sparkle.’ If you do, I might let you.” Celestia’s horn glowed, and a yawning purple pony lifted off of Celesita’s back and into Broken’s sight. “I’ve even brought her in so that you can say it right to her face.”
“Princess… where are…” Twilight yawned again as she looked around the dark room.
“Hush, my faithful student. This pony wants to say something to you.” Celestia turned Twilight to face Broken Shield, who couldn’t bring himself to look away from the sheer shock that currently petrified him. She squinted her eyes at him and yawned again.
“Shiny? What do you want, big brother?”
Had Broken Shield’s eye widened any further, it may have popped out of his head. Instead, it focussed on the sleepy eyes currently watching him confusedly and unaware of his intentions, the eyes that had haunted him since they had been lost to him. Then it shut itself as he brought his face into the stone floor again, tears – and no laughter – escaping despite his greatest attempts to contain them. He gasped out a single, tortured word before losing his ability to speak to sobs.
“Twily…”
Celestia emerged from the room with a still-disoriented Twilight on her back, the tortured cries of the prisoner becoming muted as the door closed. Eight pairs of eyes trailed her in shock, another without outward emotion. She gave each a passive glance before speaking.
“As a ruler, one learns certain techniques. His reaction is very valuable.”
“Might I ask how, sister?” Luna questioned. Her eyes flicked at the door, where another pained sound emerged. “You claimed to wish to aid him, yet you appear to cause him more pain than the guards.” Celestia slowly set Twilight on her hooves, ensuring the pony would not collapse, before turning to answer her sister.
“Simple. He wanted to kill her. Now he doesn’t.”
“And how can you be sure of this?”
“I can’t. But listen to him, Luna. When given the chance to kill Twilight Sparkle, instead of Rising Dawn, he refused to even try. Because she’s Twilight. His sister, in his timeline and ours.”
“What?”
All eyes turned to the Captain of the Guard, whose back legs had failed him at some point, leaving him sitting on the floor in shock. His eyes flicked several times between the door and the Princesses.
“Oh, er, yes. That pony in there is a… version of you from an alternate and future timeline. One in which it appears that some very disharmonious events have occurred.”
Shining nodded numbly. He stood up, though his legs maintained a subtle wobble. “B-by your leave, your Highnesses, I would request-“
“Go, Shining. You’ve guarded him for days. I’m sure you need the break.”
Once more the guardspony nodded, mixing in a salute before walking past the group of watching ponies. He jumped when he felt a tug on his tail, trying to reign in the odd feeling of dread he developed when he turned and saw his sister.
“He’s not you, Shining.” She said, staring deeply into his eyes to reach the special well of emotion that only family members could access. “He might have been you, but he’s not anymore. You aren’t responsible for him, BBBFF.”
“…Thanks, Twily.”
Celestia once again opened the door and slowly walked in when she heard the cries cease. Broken Shield lay in a small puddle on the floor, shivering and coughing with the last fits of sadness.
“You’re still the manipulative troll I swore fealty to, your Highness, I’ll give you that.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Broken Shield. And you should know that-“
“The actions you took were not intended to emotionally destabilize me, but rather gauge my reaction to being forced to see my sister rather than my enemy. I recognize that, Princess.”
“But?”
“But you can’t expect me to just… give up! Do you know how many hours were spent, how many resources consumed, how many ponies killed just so that I could come back and get rid of her?! I can’t just throw their sacrifice away!”
“I don’t expect you to. But we both know that killing Twilight is not the best way to solve your dilemma.”
“ ‘Not the best way’?! You think I’d have done all of this if there was a better way?!”
“Yes.” Her answer caught him short; Celestia gazed down at him passively. She turned back towards the door. “Call me when you’re ready to-“
“Wait!” Broken yelled. Celestia turned back to him, one eyebrow raised. He drew himself up as much as he could, staring Celestia as straight in the eye. Several muttered curses later, he began, acid laced clearly through his speech but not affecting what was said. “I hearby swear upon my life and the lives of every guardspony, upon the grace of Princess Celestia, the duty of Princess Luna, and the love of Princess Cadance, that I shall not harm the unicorn mare Twilight Sparkle.”
“Thank you, Broken Shield. Though the part about Cadance was unneeded.”
“My Celestia said that too, until I threatened my resignation if I was disallowed from saying it.”
At this, Celestia chuckled, and Broken gave a sort of wry grin. A knock on the door stopped both of them, and when the Princess drew it open, a cream-coloured stallion popped his head in.
“Princess, your sister wishes to notify you that the sun is supposed to rise within twenty minutes.”
“Thank you, Pip.”
“It was no problem, Princess. Her Ladyship requested that I maintain civilites with you, so I am attempting to. Oh dear.”
This last bit was said in response to the sharp, jagged chunk of stone that was on a collision path with Pip’s head, launched by and with a trail of rose-coloured magic. He tried to draw his head back behind the door and dodge the projectile, and succeeded in moving it about three inches behind.
Then the rock lodged into his eye.
The gasp of Celestia and screams of several mares accompanied the sound of tearing flesh and some unknown fluid violently hitting the floor. Pip blunk several times, his right eyelids futilely trying to do their duty and remove the invading particle. He drew his head fully back into the hallway, turning and levelling a blank face at the other, horrified, ponies.
“I believe I may require medical attention.”
A damaged cackling started from inside the cell, accompanied by a shrill mocking call.
“Eye for an eye, Pip ol’ boy! I told you I’d get you back one day! EYE FOR AN EYE!”
Then the cell door slammed shut.
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Right, here comes Chapter 2, way ahead of schedule because I just got the third one done and I'm an egotistical bastard.
Also, when I post this, Prevention has 88 views, 8 comments, and 8 thumbs up. And somewhere between 16 and 24 favourites. Neat.
is it wrong that i LOLED at the last part?
Why is it that heros corrupted always make the best villians?
I digress though great story
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Not at all. My brother was on the floor laughing when Broken said the eye thing.
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I would assume that the fact that they were once 'the good guys' makes their villany, and their character in general, more interesting to the reader.People want to see why they fell, what they were like before, etc. Oh, and thanks!
1362887
A paraphrased quote from Ch. 1:
"It's a modifed time-copy alteration spell"
should aid with the last point. For the paradox loop, which is one of the time travel elements I've focussed most on in my research/readings, I have little hints set up through the narrative (more blatantly in the chapters coming up) that demonstrate just how the timeline system works here. After the story is finished, I'll go into it in greater detail, but I don't want to possibly spoil anything yet.
And a general question/apology:
I put Chapter 3 up about an hour ago, but despite trying to publish it it doesn't appear to have gone through here. Many apologies if that's the case, I'll try to fix it tomorrow.
Okay, that wall of text, fix it. Separate it into paragraphs.
I got scared.
"Pip blunk once as the magic on him "
"Pip blunk once as the magic on him "
"Pip blunk once as the magic on him"
What the hell is a blunk?
I think you mean "blinked", since 'blunk' isn't a word...
"Blunk" is not a word. The past tense of blink is blinked.
2634584
Actually, the past tense of blink is actually blinkeded, or blinktified if in half-past future tense.
2641093
blinktify, brother
After skimming the Great Wall of Text, it kinda makes me want to smack them upside the head. You have all these problems, but seem to take every effort to having their issues not be known, then get pissed off when the Princesses don't do anything to fix the problems they have little to no way of being aware of?
Ah damn, I think I have an outline for how the rest of the story is going to go. Fire sale for balls of ignorance and stupidity, everything must go!
This is turning out to be very interesting. I shall keep reading this to see where is it going.
This is getting stupid. Did Celestia and Luna not hear the part where Pip said he killed Luna or implicitly threatened to kill the other Princesses? Why haven't they killed him for threatening royalty.
3407707 I guess it's because he technically didn't do/try it yet
Raising Dawn?
1283436
You're not alone.
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images.wikia.com/mlp/images/3/3f/FANMADE_BlinkingPinkie.gif
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For the love of-
"Blunk" isn't a word. Not even a little. The past tense of blink is blinked. Please, for the sake of my sanity, go back and correct those places where you say "blunk".
Did pipsqueak transform into the Black kninght from the holy grail by any chance?
Well at least the movement wasn't the People's Front of Equestria
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Tis_156512_179687.jpg
I literally stopped right here. I'm sure this is a great story and i was definitely enjoying it regardless of other problems i was seeing, but this instantly killed it. Sorry.
You keep saying blunk. That's not a word it's blink or blinked.
Geez... it's canonical that the ponies are inordinately fearful/reverential of the Princesses and overestimate their abilities, and as to the rest it's not like we've seen every corner of Equestria (especially the urban areas), but that much repressed popular resentment still doesn't click for me with what we have seen. The Princesses aren't total idiots.
Well, hello French revolution. One Napolian/Robspeirre/Twilight plus oblovious government plus mass executions of royalty and probably nobility equals the terror, and a terminater plot line.
5973011 Umm.. How exactly?
Okay, you're trying to set up all these dark, moody, dramatic moments. Then you keep using "blunk" and every time it deflates like a bad soufflé. It's the kind of thing you'd expect from Pinkie Pie doing a sockpuppet play, not a super-dark time travel drama about the Pony French Revolution.
Also Pip's Atlas Shrugged wall of text is...I mean, he's basically blaming the princesses for not knowing all this stuff people don't tell them, and thus Twilight flipped out and started executing them? What? Like, I'm already thinking/hoping future Twilight was killed and replaced by Chrysalis (which would also explain Pip's emotionlessness), but after reading that I'm very desperately hoping I'm right because having the actual characters go down that road on their own would be such utter stupidity.
Then again, the whole bit about using stretch torture on the prisoner may well be sending it there in the first place. I can think of a lot of leaders that would approve of that, but Princess Let's Reform Half The Supervillains Celestia doesn't strike me as one of them.
First Pony? Instead of First Consul? Does Twilight become Napoleon?
7478883
Shining Armor secretly ordered the purging of all Changelings that could be found. Considering Broken Shield had just tried to kill his LSBFF, I'm going to guess that it was Shining Armor who ordered the stretch torture, not Celestia.