Epilogue: News From EDN
EQUESTRIAN DAILY NEWS
Issue#784 8-19-1009
Editors Note: The following article comes to us from the esteemed noble and writer of the book Royal Review: A Thousand Years in the Sun; Ink Swell. He has submitted this essay to us knowing full well the impact it could have on his personal reputation. However, in his own words, 'the ponies of Equestria must have a voice of reason to hear'. We at EDN represent a diverse spectrum of pony races and political views, and so we must represent a variety of voices. That said, Mr. Swell is not a member of our staff and his personal beliefs may not coincide with that of the ponies at EDN. With all the formality said, please enjoy this special article.
”Ponykind has seen its greatest upheaval since the dawn of Equestria.” Princess Celestia said these words on the eve that the last Lunarian holdout finally put down their arms and the Great Eastern Rebellion was ended. So too was this quote paraphrased by Chancellor Anonymous in one of the many victory speeches he made last year. In fact it was one of the most emphasized topics he spoke of; whether in public or on the air, and the comparison was even apt.
Of course, to anypony involved in politics it's an obvious tactic, and one that he has used quite often. Whatever pony designed that outfit ought give themselves a pat on the back. It works perfectly to soothe an ache we have developed after eight hundred years, deep yearning for our beloved princess of the sun. However, this has led to some serious concerns that must be outed; no matter how uncomfortable they may be to confront.
Take, for example, the suddenness with which war came to our doorstep after Anonymous took power. It was hardly three months into his reign when a surprise invasion was launched on Trottingham, an action that cost the lives of so many. What's more, they practically threw themselves at the Northern Narrows immediately after, trying to break through the stalwart defense forces and encircle us.
Where was the military intelligence that surely would have seen the massive buildup required for such an invasion? A campaign of this scale is no small undertaking, or so I've been told by my contacts within the army. Consider as well that, before his frankly meteoric rise, Anonymous was the emissary to the Griffon Empire. He dealt with them daily for years before heading up the foreign ministry, and he did so with a great deal of success.
This would give him ample opportunity to build up connections within the empire. Perhaps he leaked some sort of intelligence that gave them the confidence that it would be an easy campaign. Such are the ideas of conspiracy theorists the country over, not a single one taken seriously of course. And rightly so, for without hard evidence to support them it would be simple foolishness to consider. Such evidence simply will not be coming to light in a short time; for despite how widespread the stories of the war are, two of the cornerstone events remain totally classified. The beginning and, perhaps more interestingly, the end.
The events of the First Battle of Trottingham have been partially classified a military secret since they occured. Normally it's to avoid the persecution of the surviving members of the unit stationed there, though I personally believe it to cover up the total failure of intelligence and the humiliation of the defeat of Trottinghams defenders. The only facts that have emerged is that the Royal Guard stationed there failed to repel the assault.
But more strange is the secrecy surrounding the capitulation of Griffonstone. Many don't see this as the end, rather as the mere last battle, but this was truly where peace was made. You would think, as I often do, that the government would spread propaganda of the triumph of Equestrian values and hardworking soldiery. But instead they've hushed it up, and why? Rumours abound, as they always do, but rest assured dear reader that I will work diligently to assemble them into something rational.
This is not the place for military speculation however, but on the character of Anonymous. Conspiracies aside, he doubtless has the interests of ponykind at heart. The issues lie with how he acts on those interests. There is little doubt that we could have stopped at Trottingham and sued for peace, there was hardly a need to be the aggressor. Calling the Griffon Empire an “autonomous protectorate” should fool nobody. Now we govern their lands like an empire, occupiers in all but name.
But where is the uproar, the marches in the streets that ought to accompany such a divergence from our communal values? Of course, they are nowhere to be seen. Instead we indulge the being that led us to this path of madness. It is not within us to rise up against our rulers anymore, for we can hardly think anything bad of them. Look how quickly we have forgiven Princess Luna, exiled for a thousand years but after less than a decade she is back on her throne. Of course she has more than earned her forgiveness with the Liberation of Trottingham and her fine leadership in battle and upon the throne. But Anonymous has no such deeds to his name.
And what has happened with Luna? She gladly assists him in any task he decides to partake upon. She seems to no longer serve Equestria, but only serve Anonymous.
Not to mention the speed with which our peace with the changelings arrived after he took the throne is also extremely suspicious. Changelings, our mortal enemies, signing a peace treaty and integrating themselves into our society? Celestia would’ve never stood for this, but because he’s on the throne we’re meant to bow down and accept this? Who does Anonymous think he is?
And where has Celestia gone? She’s left us all without a single word, and we’re meant to trust somepony who isn’t even a pony? What if she’s in danger, and he refuses to let us know? What if she never willingly gave him the throne, and a secret coup happened that we’re all unaware of?
Of course, more conspiracy, but it still raises a good question. Where is Celestia?
And I'm certain we have all heard the whispers as well, of his feuding with Princess Cadence and Prince Shining as well. You might say it is nothing, especially with the recent launch of their sister ship to the ESS Victorious. But let us not forget their complaint against the first name of that vessel, the EGS Celestia. What kind of fool would name a ship made only for war after a monarch that brought eight centuries of peace to her people?
My fellow Equestrians, do not let his smile and outstretched hand deceive you; he may be a greater danger to our kind than even monsters like Discord and Tirek. They wanted the destruction of all of us, but Anonymous wants us to become as twisted as he is. Be vigilant my friends, do not let yourselves give in to the succor of conquest. Remember that even one dissenting voice can echo louder than a cannon.
Finishing up my reading, I pushed my cigar into an ashtray.
Smoking Equestrian tobacco wasn’t all that bad for a man, surprisingly.
Skimming over the article again, I smiled.
Ink Swell huh? Might have to give the Thestral Wardens a new name to the list. Maybe shake him up a bit, maybe throw him into a prison. Who knows? But I couldn’t allow these articles, these “journalists” to print such things.
EDN wasn’t at fault, but I’d need the Wardens to pay them a visit, remind them that they’re ran by the state.
The ponies over there wouldn’t say anything. They needed me after all.
And the general population wouldn’t say anything either. They needed rulers and tyrants to keep them from tearing themselves apart.
They didn’t have a say in the matter.
Glory to Equestria.
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11495362
That’s some high praise. Thanks for enjoying the story.
Like this is horrible! The end!
On one side I live to see this kind of ending, where a cliffhanger leaves me wanting for more instead of frustrated, a great conclusion to this story arc.
While I was reading it, I remembered a little intro from a war game, the phrase “The stage is set[…]”
Just replace at 26 sec everything russian with ponies and equestrian, accurate representation of Anon’s government, something like "Chancellor Anon’s spends billions of bits on the biggest arms build in 800 years" .
Too bad now we have an Anon being slowly corrupted, his path to hell is paved with good intentions. Wonder how
will play in the future, does this means that Anon plans going down in history as the bad guy? Being the evil that will send Ponies into a new age? Or he is still the hero of his story?
Now to end this, I leave here some lyrics to one of my favorite songs, I imagine this being said by Celestia... and to a lesser degree Twilight
Great story! I really hope you continue this.
I love the more realistic and hard decisions that Anon needed to make as the new ruler.
Alright, so.. I thought the ending was a bit rushed, but I figured that the epilogue would tie up loose ends and maybe also give a hint as to where the story would have gone if you had continued it. I am a bit disappointed to see that Anon ended up being a tyrant, in such a short amount of time. Now don't get me wrong, I could definitely see him going there what with the methods he had been using up until the end, but to go from "I am going to make sure all soldiers are treated for PTSD" to "I am going to murder this journalist for saying mean things about me" in less than a year??
Where did Anon's patience go? Surely he knows the value of a free press? I understood it as he fought in Vietnam, so he clearly is from just about modern times, right? So why abandon modern sensibilities and modern politician practices? How long has ANY dictatorship lasted in modern Earth? How long does he expect his Empire to last when he's killing his own journalists? Why is the last battle even a state secret? Because of his weapon? Why wouldn't he have a fall guy for that? It feels like he was making good long term plans before, why is he being so short sighted now? I feel like I'm missing something here. Why are the ponies already looking to Celestia with rose-tinted glasses? They are acting as if she was a perfect ruler just because her immense power forced a very clearly unwanted peace, a peace that was shattered the FEMTOSECOND she disappeared, mind. I have many complaints about Celestia's choice in governance (if you can call 'ignore everything going on inside and outside your kingdom' governing, tbh), and Equestria is honestly better off without her.
It's been a year, and everyone's already forgotten that Equestria weren't the aggressors, Celestia straight up abandoned everyone to die with no explanation, and Anon did not choose to take over for her? Why would the population be divided if she were to come back? The only ponies I could see would follow Celestia would be the ponies of the dying noble class, and literally no one else (aside for the really stupid ponies, the conspiracy theorists mentioned in the article). Equestria, from what I can tell, was stagnating socially, technologically, and economically, and Anon has been close the sole driving force for change that is moving them forward. Except now he's refusing to give up power, and is having ponies executed for being mean to him. It feels a bit contrived, as if trying to set up justification for future drama. I don't know, like I said it feels like I'm missing something.
My closing remarks aside, I enjoyed the story quite a lot. I obviously had some notes on the epilogue, and I'm sorry if I'm coming off as rude or entitled. I'm more curious and confused than anything else. This one is definitely going into my favorites. Thank you for your work and effort!
I wish that we got to see more articles in this chapter. Perhaps one from a neutral perspective or one from a Pro-Anon perspective and anti-Celestia article. I feel that you could have played around more with this chapter and the outside options of this war. Perhaps an excerpt from a history book.
11495385
Excellent points.
I'm also disappointed that the "Quill=spy" arc never got properly resolved.
11495385
^This.
Like, actually all of this.
The suddenness of his final decision here seem to defy what the story had previously established regarding the characters (both Anon and ponykind) and the circumstances.
Make no mistake, these points and objections only prove how well-written the story was and how much was all tied together.
The ending just seems to fly in the face of much of what we've read so far.
Yes, it's totally believable that this power-trip is how Anon might turn out and that perceptive ponies would ask questions, but where did the cunning realpolitik-Anon go?
The one who would turn this article to his advantage by addressing each of its very good but also very explainable points?
Who would employ the odd tyrannical tactic when necessary rather than be defined by them?
Who acted out of a sort of respect and tough love for ponykind rather than disdain?
It really is believable, mind you, to see him appear to go full tyrant. We've seen how far he's willing to go.
It's just disappointing.
And without seeing enough of his reasoning (or the reasoning of those loyal to him) it feels somewhat abrupt and contrived.
I understand that it was a greentext and that it had to have a conclusion. It was certainly a far less abrupt and Twilight-Zone-twisty ending than most other greentext you're likely to find.
Thank you for posting this story.
Very satisfying read. Very well done.
Later that day, Celestia quietly disposed of 140 pounds of organic refuse in the Royal Gardens.
This was an interesting exercise until the dude turned into Josef Stalin.
11495404
Personally, I think the author was tired of writing the story and wanted to wrap it up as soon as possible. As a result, we have Anonymous the Tyrant.
11495445
Tired? Not really, more so that with all the plot threads I had introduced and finished, it wouldn’t feel right to lazily just throw Celestia and Twilight in there. Not to mention when I originally wrote this back in 2019, I gave zero explanation as to the why of basically everything.
11495385
You didn’t come off as entitled nor rude, not at all. I appreciate any and all criticism. If I didn’t, then how would I seek to improve?
I would like to note though, that it’s been 2 years since anonymous took his post. I probably didn’t convey the passage of time that well, but it’s been a while.
11495388
That is another plot thread that I wanted to have wrapped up, but just couldn’t find the right place to do it. If I ever were to write a sequel, then that’s one of the threads I’d want wrapped up.
HOI4 mod when
11495544
EaW update when
Well that was a bit of an abrupt end. I could see Anon sliding but that went straight off the cliff. Quite a few unanswered questions too.
What is the person on the cover?I want to laugh when I see his expression.
11496182
That’s a Wojak of Otto von Bismarck taken from WojakParadise.net
He’s the doomer meme as Otto von Bismarck, old 4chan thing.
what a good read, made a acc just to reply that I liked it lmao
11496785
Well, thanks. And thank you for the favorite too (:
It's not a very satisfying ending. Too abrupt and too many loose ends. Honestly I expected this to end with a murder/suicide from Quill. She was put in place specifically to keep an eye on him. Clearly he fell from grace, and her role in this story was to deal with that exact outcome. Killing him then following him to the grave would have allowed her to reconcile her responsibilities to Equestria with her personal feelings, and it would have been a much better ending than the story forgetting she even existed and then suddenly, the end.
But the story does at least seem to be self-aware that Anon is a villain. So that's a plus.
11495404
I have to agree with the point y’all have brought up. I think it’s also worth noting that we see multiple things that Celestia did (or did NOT do) that were either poorly thought out or set up for Anon’s slow descent into his madness.
To name a few things, she leaves him with no way of defense since the Royal Guard are outright ignoring his orders and Twilight is gone too so he has no Elements of Harmony. She leaves him with no method of defense whatsoever that would be substantially efficient for even a domestic conflict even and never leaves any documentation about the Wardens to boot. Her only reasoning was that diplomacy wins, but that’s easy to say when you literally raise the damn sun and have that as an ace in the hole at every turn. Also I think it’s fair to note that her ability to make trade agreements is clearly lacking given that the Griffons were already the clear benefactors in that whole affair.
On the Wardens this makes it appear that for some time Celestia has been utilizing them while simultaneously refusing to make an official army for literally no discernible reason. So she’s fine with Secret Police that kill whomever she asks, but an army is too far?
Plus you have her failure to finalize the agreement about sharing Knowledge with the Crystal Empire which is really the only legitimate rebuke they have against Anon and it’s not even his fault, it’s hers. Had that been in place Anon would have had no reason to hide the EGS Celestia or the spell leaving them at an amicable place. Shining’s misgivings about Anon are also very shaky considering it is Luna and the Defense Ministry making the plans and strategies for the war, not him. Even what happens at Griffonstone is more on Luna than him, he just said to take the city at all costs, it was her and Sharps call to use and create new weapons.
Finally there is the icing on the cake, Carpa and its deposed orphan prince. She knew. All that time she knew he was alone, hungry, homeless and did nothing to help him. In the same way that she did nothing to right the public’s perspective of Luna. What makes this worse than that though is that he is a literal child and she didn’t help him in the slightest.
All that is partly why I think it’s hard to see Anon fully as the bad guy, despite him clearly going the way of a tyrant, because his predecessor was really no better in the grand scheme and actively made every mess he had to deal with from day one. And if Chrysalis can be trusted as well regarding how Celestia sees her own people, then it may just be that she is just as tyrannical as Anon but just more established and secure due to the nature of her being an Alicorn and over a millennia to cement her hold on everything.
On another note, I still feel like even 2 years isn’t really enough time for Anon to go from “do what’s necessary, try to keep everyone safe” to “I’m literally the best and I have a hit list because I’m sorta evil now”. Maybe if we had more context about his 5 years of service prior and why he was so looked down on that wouldn’t be the case, I’m not sure. Regardless it doesn’t make much logical or thematic sense, especially when his points raised in that faithful meeting with Flashy and Sharp are more or less completely true about the detriment that Celestia’s decisions had on their current situation.
Despite that this was a great read, and I think that all the above just shows how well the story is at getting us involved in every twist and turn! Well done overall!
11509062
Thanks for the review. One thing I’d like to note is that Anonymous wasn’t a good guy, even on Earth. He fully supported Vietnam, and was involved in the My Lai massacre. I didn’t exactly go out and say it, but it was alluded to with
And
So in short, Anonymous is also a war criminal.
11509578
Interesting, I’m not as familiar with a lot of what happen in Vietnam so that first quote didn’t really click as well I guess. The second is certainly the more concerning, I hadn’t recalled it. I mostly read it as the typical “ends justify the means/ there is no war without casualties” I guess. It certainly does a lot more to showcase his desire for stronger military focusing.
Maybe a scene where a group protests the war might have been a good story beat to further his sentiments on militaristic action and his favoritism towards it as a solution?
I was invested in this story, until you decided to turn him into a Hitler/Stalin/Mussolini combo for no apparent reason. It started out so well too. But now, honestly I want to see a sequel, just to see him get his ass handed to him and proceed to be thrown, broken and bleeding, into a deep dark pit.
Sic Semper Tyrannis.
11563097
Anon: Yo dudes, the empire is pretty chill, maybe you could like join it or something.
11563097
Same here
I like this and was great story wonder will be a sequel??
11630640
Perhaps soon, I have a document with the title and the first couple of chapters pre written, but I’m editing it to be up to my standards.
Nice!!!
I had to go back to this after I finished the story. Now that I've read the epilogue, I have to ask myself the question: Does corruption adversely affect growth? Or rather, when power is gained through notable traits that advance the interests of others, how can those qualities fade when given privilege and/or a position of noteworthiness?
How quickly we see Anon and his style of leadership change from the beginning to the end. In the first chapter, he cares quite a lot about how this development will affect Equestria, himself, and the ponies he's now in charge of. And when he begins to see the negative consequences of Celestia's ruling, he then begins to be proactive in changing agriculture, industry, and defense spending. He talks to as many citizens and city leaders as he can. He genuinely listens to them, in order to help THEM. Then, we see that change after the war begins. Through this journey, Anon has become a typical leader, for the benefits of the whole, no matter how it is achieved. He enabled Luna's darker self during the battle of Trottingham, escalate the conflict of the Royal Guards, and eventually, murdering the innocents and people who opposed him and the 'safety' of Equestria's harmony.
It shows us that for someone not ready to take a position such as this, and not be trained well (in addition to their individual traits and personality) can easily forget the compassions that they strived to keep: empathy, collaboration, fairness, sharing, and openness. It is ironic how, in reassuring himself he will not be led astray like all of Earth's leaders, he became the very embodiment of corruption. It is as he warned us, that history indeed repeats himself.
This leads me to two opposing and valid thoughts: Anon's leadership and its effects, or Celestia's leadership and its effects. What do you guys think? As Anon was proactive in solving the smaller of Equestria's problems, he unwittingly became a corrupt king who focused on manipulating the truth, the people, and the kingdom as a whole. Or, As Celestia's rule stagnated the progress and advancement of her kingdom and their beliefs (regarding defenses, cooperation, and even her sister and fellow ruler), she still remained just, compassionate, and empathetic, a symbol of purity and an incorruptible monarch.
Overall, the story was very well written, thought provoking, and a reminder that not everyone is perfect, but it's what we do with these imperfections determine our fate in history. 10/10, I can't wait to read the sequel!
I cant help but worry about the lack of quill in the epilogue after anon reached his full tyrant streak, i worry she told him her original mission and he dealt with it, poorly
Well this is certainly a surprise. I was a big fan of the green text when you were posting it. Can't wait to do a reread and see what changes you made. Cheers mate.
11757074
So 1911 basically for griffions/ponies but chambered in a round like the .45 but slightly different so the ponies can weld it?
11630978
Glad to hear something's in the works. This really doesn't feel complete without a confrontation with Celestia.
11874236
Thats the same as a nuke. Its a last resort measure. We have armies so we dont resort to nukes right away.
Not sure if someone with the story this Anon has would do these things but interesting.
11876004
Yes, but that is us.
Celestia clearly used that as first eesponse going elements then sol if too much for elements.
The bitter taste linger
The arms and legs quiver from the shells and sparks
The skin bleached and smeared of soot and grime
The mind morphed to appease of actions and reason
The soldier vows of halting the act of silencing its will
Becoming a dictator to will a twisted form of vows made.
Peace and freedom is an idea, yet control and restriction is reality...