Open for Art Commissions. I write gay romantic comedies with ponies now. Get off my back, MOM.
This story is a sequel to Arrival
Klugetown has become a regular town. Law-abiding. Clean. Perfect for new residents from Equestria.
Capper hates it.
This story is a sequel to Bicyclette's fic Arrival with their permission. It is recommended to read for context.
Narcotics tag for heavy alcohol use.
Preread by The Sleepless Beholder and EileenSaysHi.
Edited by EileenSaysHi.
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love it already! the tension between Capper's position and his feelings about it is so delicious i could eat it with a spoon, excited to see where this goes
nice
Pacifist says hai! I'll read this later, just wish to give kuddos!
Ahh yes the very painful side effects of regime change, the rules you used to live by no longer apply, and somethings only change their form not their function. The poistions of power still get abused, only the a-hole dishing it out is different. Kludgetown is in transition and some creatures just won't be able to change with it. While I can say think Twilight's way will better over all it will not be free from flaws, abusers, users and corruption.
Cappers not a fan of colonialism and gentrification?
Based cat
Twilights naiviety on full display here
oh boy
And he continues to fight, understandable why, Capper is really out of his element, he's your smooth talking back room dear kind of guy. Haveing to be a aristocrat and deal with the upper echelons of pony nobility? Heck even the princess hate dealing with the nobels!
wow, this setup and attitude are why gen 5 eventually became a thing nothing stuck and the main six became nice lil stories for fillies and colts in their separated tribes of pony species!
drag them hard my guy this is deserved rariety and her cohorts need to be knocked down a peg to remind others that this town isn't simply free land Equestria 1.1 expansion like they did with the buffalos oh no that not gonna fly or give a pie and party to make people happy and harmony all in one bloody day!
Christ alive, Twilight really has buggered this.
Capper doing what he does best
nice
Oh I love this. "Capper, Liberator" of Klugetown" as a nice ring to it.
What will he do next? Put money in projects that are actually important for improving the town for real? Would he be able to wrangle all the corruption to do so?
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I don't really see the Elements as "High and Mighty" and needed punished, but reminded the aristocrats in general suck (For ever Fancy Pants there are 10 Jet Sets) and Capper is going to need to be ruthless in some cases. I am sure a little discussion with Celestia and Luna is all Twilight will need to remind her that friendship includes realizeing your friends are diffrent from you and need to things thier own way. Also yeah she had to do things the hard way and Capper needs the freedom it do it too.
But again change is hard, and corruption never fully goes away. There are going to be sever growing pains.
twilight did kind of left capper with the baggage and all the problems all to his own shoulder after conquering and then leaving bad form on that part!
Fucking YIKES my dude.
I just assumed drugs, not slavery!
But Capper is very much right, you actually need long term governance and legitimate hearts and minds-ing in these situations, not blanket pardons and cash thrown around
So Twilight never really fixed anything and was just waving a big stick. But what is his end goal here? He can't be aiming for a life in prison, it's not his style. There's got to be a trick up his sleeve.
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I figure it's only been a few months since the "liberation" of Kludgetown, and Capper has tried his best but clearly wasn't cut out for being an aristocrat. He's upset not just with Twilight for putting him in this position but also himself for accepting the position and failing to change things beyond the surface. The movers and shakers of the underworld we given amnesty but haven't really changed their ways just thier wardrobes.
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It feel like it's been some years and not months.
Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!
good stuff
Yeah...
No.
I saw the name Estee floating around somewhere in the vicinity of this story (inspirations, editing, I forget where exactly), and that's fitting, because I've always hated the cynical tone of their stories, and this is very much in the same league. It's good for what it is, but it's so different from show canon that it might as well be its own IP, and inserting characters from the show just serves to highlight that. Twilight Sparkle the power-hungry all-encompassing Empress of Everything has so little in common with her show counterpart that it makes for an Uncanny Valley-esque effect - it feels like someone else is wearing her skin pretending to be her.
Fare thee well, dear author. It wasn't for me, but it was good.
is this the end of the series??? so rare to read about the main story involving capper!
Well, bravo Capper, you mad cat, you did it.
I think I would like to see an aftermath chapter from Velvet POV to see what she will fo with Kludgetown and another one down the line with Twilight who's her plan aren't going as she wished with the rest of the world turning against Equestria more and more. Basically I would be interested in seeing her mind-set.
I hope you have more story with Capper in mind for the future.
An excellent story, especially when the prequel while well-written didn't catch my attention too long after reading it. This setting and pull of this one kept me waiting for the next chapter from the very first one posted. An interesting setting, good characters, a great storyline, and pulling writing style that had me intrigued and thinking every day.
I do admit to being shocked at this being the end, however. With such a great story and setting and plotline, it almost feels criminal to end it here just as things were starting to reach their peak. There seems like so much more that could be explored, that this end is leaving so much potential wasted from Capper's sacrifice, especially since it's rare enough already to find a good story with him at the center. Alas, as it is, this is still a compelling, incredibly interesting and attention-grabbing read, that will definitely be something I revisit and keep in my favorites tab for a long time.
8.5/10, incredible job.
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Yeah I was hopeing this wouldn't end with a cynical note, but clearly it decided to end on the idea that the system can't ever be fixed.
dang this currency stuff is really good for the indirectly setting a chapter's theme thing you do. nice touch with the griffon scammers not knowing its true worth! very Capper to get the better end of that deal
ah the downside of being able to see at night is light pollution! though i wonder if ponies have a magic-based solution for that as well
honestly given how large organizations are run, only doing the obvious good things makes Capper a pretty good ruler by itself
hehehe, commentary on how power is not a meritocracy!
old Vintage sounds like a very different cat! i would have a very hard time reconciling that with his present version as well
definitely loaded language considering the power dynamic here!
ah poor Capper, i cannot imagine anything more insufferable to sit through for him!
oof yeah, that does sound like the aesthetics of the Canterlot nobility
that this is right outside of the front door really underlines just how artificial Fancy and Fleur's place is, if New Klugetown only exists within the walls of their house and does not extend a square foot more
and again, this happening just a block away from a fancy party! the patina is very thin
a vital demographic for any abrupt change in the power structure!
and the cycle continues!
well if they were all Capper they wouldn't need Capper's help!
i can imagine Capper having had this exact conversation a lot
yeah living by the old rules when new ones are in place does not usually end well, and that realization is difficult to make others have, as you have Capper lamenting
and oof
and yeah, love how the "blanket pardons" ties into the earlier theme of Equestrians preferring everything to be neat and tidy over confronting reality as it is. on the surface it is a neat and tidy and merciful solution, but without the messiness of engaging with the actual relationships between these survival and revenge-minded Klugetowners all it did was change who it is that is on top
ah, corruption!
oh that adds another layer of unfortunateness to how the Equestrians did things. but then again, very true to how these things have gone historically
a bit
aww yes the ponies are quite little. and oof!
ah, i guess Fancy and Fleur's home was just the first to come of a deluge!
and of course Capper wouldn't really feel at home even here with his handpicked Abyssinians
aww that's not very Friendship, Twilight!
and oof, i can't think of a more infuriating message to send
well, no idea how this is going to end!
in a super grimdark fic this would be a literal pony head, but the head of a pony statue i assume this is is very fitting to the situation
and Capper using contractual shenanigans on the Equestrians is just perfect
a very useful clause!
of course Henny would only understand Capper's problems in the context of the ones he knows
it's really fascinating that since Capper's power over the Klugetowners is so absolute, the nature of his problems are a fractal microcosm of Twilight's. the dead stallion, as it turns out, is not "not his problem" after all, as long as he can do something about it.
ooh this is scheming at its best, love to see it
ooh, burn on Applejack
well that is exciting!
aww all; that is very Capper yes
aww love that Rarity and Capper are both coin nerds
a great way to track the integration and assimilation of Equestria's neighbors into Equestria...
now i want that coin
oof yeah, that is the root of the issues here. Rarity might call it an alliance but as Capper says, that isn't borne out by how Equestria has been to Klugetown
ooh this is a really fascinating inversion of the position Capper was in in Arrival. very fitting to the opposite title name! of course, he managed to avoid guilt the first time by merely taking a small part in the slave trade, and being aware of the rest. but now as a cat with power, even if he isn't doing it himself, by knowing about it and allowing it to continue he does bear responsibility. but he purposefully exaggerates it, weaving this deliberate story for Rarity and the ponies, all part of some grander scheme. well, i guess i'll see!
thus why it's called an "Empire" despite being a city-state for all we can see
oof, though i guess that is fitting with the summary execution of Sombra that also happened in the Crystal Empire
i like how this is ambiguous as to which would be considered worse
yeah saving that one as a surprise was a good move! it would be the greatest sign that how Equestria handled things had been wrong
and a great way to bring that in just in time for the end
augh this really gave me chills! and the inversion of Arrival is complete, with Capper being happy about doing all he could to run headlong into an ominous fate, instead of wracked with guilt for being spared one. Arrival is about the powerlessness of Capper and Klugetown at large in the face of the Equestrian state, while this story is about that state's weaknesses and blind spots and limits of its reach, which let Capper and Klugetown, as he puts it, "win". even the bit with Rarity is a great one! an innocent warmth and long-distance friendship turning cold as Rarity grew up and learned about Klugetown's true nature from the point of view of her official capacities, while here it is Rarity showing up in-equine with that coldness, and only her earlier warmth and friendship peeking through in moments.
loved the responses to the theme, loved Capper's scheme and how all the pieces introduced at the start assembled themselves to fit perfectly into it. and i'm not sure why anyone would call this ending "cynical". it literally ends with Capper's hope for the future! which was very powerful and necessary.
thank you so much, Otter. it is the greatest honor i can think of that my work has inspired such a great response.