“Congress shall apply its just Laws, which form the Basis and the Intent of the Union, in equal Measure and in equal Amount to its Citizens, regardless of Race or Political Affiliation.”
—Article I, Section II of the Constitution of Meeting Tribes of Immediate Siblings
On January the second, 182 BC—Before Celestia, as it is now known in the modern calendar—the Senate returned with a verdict of guilty on all accounts, following the impeachment of President Evviva Cadenza, and she was thusly removed from the Horseshoe Office in accordance with Article XIV of the Constitution of Meeting Tribes of Immediate Siblings.
President Cadenza, upon hearing the verdict being read, burst into unhampered tears: an act that earned the patronizing scoffs of every single member of the Royal Party and an act that crushed the spirits of the members of the United Party—who could not bear to see their leader react in such an unbecoming manner.
The former president had been in the United Party for as long as any of its members could remember. She had been instantly welcomed with a warm embrace, for her royal name, the majesty it necessarily carried, and her reserved and quiet demeanor had brought the United Party its desperately needed image of modesty and prudence. Her old, tired eyes, with heavy bags underneath them, in addition to her taciturn nature—which was only broken by phrases she spoke at rare times, which were terse, concise, and, above all, filled with wisdom—gave her the countenance of a soothing, wise caregiver. Her personality, when viewed alongside those of her kin—the younger, boisterous ones in the United Party, who had used their family name to elevate themselves to their undeserved positions and who had contributed to the public’s perception of the party as an extremist group, and the older, charismatic, and outspoken ones in the Royal Party, charming all with their regality—had seemed to give her a quaint sort of uniqueness, beneficial to her and her fellow Unionists.
She had always won the riding for the United Party in the Greater Canterlot Area, and she had always come into the Hall of Congress with a placid smile on her face, before quietly and discretely taking her seat, the smile not vanishing even as she watched the events of the session unfold; nothing had been able to perturb her serenity.
And, after too many years of watching her just sit there contentedly, even as the country began to show its first signs of a looming economic recession, her colleagues had urged her to run for the party’s leadership, which had just become available.
“Oh no,” she had replied. “I’m much too old for all the macro and micromanagement required of the pony in that position. That job belongs to the young, the ones who will actually be able to live in and enjoy the future that they intend to carve.”
Her colleagues’ hearts had swelled, enamored as they had been with her modesty and her idealism. Even after they had desperately pleaded and supplicated, she had given that tender smile of hers, which they had loved so much, and renewed her declination.
But, due to the Unionists’ stereotypical personality trait—which was the stubborn refusal to take “no” as an answer—when the voting had come around, Evviva Cadenza had, nearly unanimously, been chosen as the new leader. Never had the write-in name space on the ballot been so liberally used in the entire history of the United Party.
She had accepted the leadership hesitantly and demurely, despite the encouragement she had received, but she had assured her party that she would do everything in her power to make sure its name was honored.
And, when the United Party won the general election two years later, with more than sixty percent of the seats in Congress, she was suddenly, but smoothly and naturally, referred to as “president”—and her old title of “princess” instantly felt unnatural when one saw her behind the mahogany desk in the Horseshoe Office.
Her transition into that office had been smooth and barely noticeable. With her gentle demeanor, her sweet voice, and, especially, her eminent name backing her, the United Party could not have been more pleased. They had been convinced that there was no possible way she could do any wrong.
But, as they all could now see, she was simply the siren of politics, the princess of exorbitant rhetoric, luring the country and her party into a false sense of security, and as soon as Congress had discovered evidence that she had been using the spare tax money from all the budget cuts she had approved to fund the various activities of her illustrious and old family, there was no time wasted; and, after an hour of deliberation from the House of Representatives, she was impeached with ninety-five percent in favor.
And, six months later, after a long and arduous hearing, the Senate found President Cadenza guilty of one account of Bribery and two Crimes of Misdemeanor.
The whole country was outraged, but the cries from Ponyville and Los Pegasus were the worst. These regions, composed of a great population of working-class ponies, accused Cadenza’s administration of catering to the Canterlot bankers and nobles. They claimed that the wealthy stole the gold “surpluses” from the industrious working-class ponies to line the arches of their mansions. They were so outraged, that they were even urging their local governments to secede from the Union.
The general opinion, or, at least, the most vocal opinion, was that it seemed that the original policy of “Hooves-off, Hooves-clean,” as was postulated during the first session in Congress by Princess Platinum, and of which President Cadenza—who, after she lost her title of “president,” insisted that she be addressed as her former title of “princess”—was a firm supporter, was starting to lose popularity.
But, to some, it seemed that President Cadenza’s impeachment was just one of the many signs that the United Republic of Equestria was nothing but shadow of its former self: The proud capital city of Canterlot, once bustling with business activity and wealth creation, was experiencing a massive exodus; the economic crisis—with an unemployment rate well above the threshold to be considered by some economists as a depression—which had occurred three years prior, had hit its residents the hardest. The bright office lights that illuminated Canterlot’s majestic skyscrapers—which extended straight past the clouds and which belonged to the most oldest, revered, and dependable corporations that millions of ponies relied on and used every day—were now beginning to flicker and die as their last remains of life and ambition slowly drained from them. It appeared, at least to the retiring and bankrupt businessponies—who had worked in those majestic monoliths for decades—when they turned their heads back to look at their old office building one last time before disappearing without a trace, that the more these towers withered and bled along with the rest of the country, the ponies of lesser talent, skill, and ambition cried out for the expedition of their death.
If a normal pony were to walk down the streets of Los Pegasus, he would be able to see on their lengths an endless line of disheveled ponies with matted manes, rendered homeless by the depression; and he would be able to see, to understand, and to sympathize with these masses, when he would see in their vacant stares a silent cry for assistance that seemed doomed to go unanswered. If a politician walked down the same street, he would instead see the jackpot of voters, ready to elect the first pony who assured them that they were nothing but victims and who would promise to help them by ending the “Hooves-off, Hooves-Clean” policy.
One would find it hard to believe that such a proud and prosperous country could come to the state it was now. Every day, there would be a report of a major technology with a long and reputable history going out of business. Every day, more and more houses would be found abandoned, their owners leaving without a trace, never to be seen again. Every day, the talks of succession from the Union from cities affected the most by the depression grew stronger as more and more ponies felt themselves victimized and wanted to cut themselves loose from the country slipping down the precipice of bankruptcy. And every politician would claim to know what caused this decline and would insist that they had the magic bullet that would end all their problems in the fastest and most painless way possible.
At the time, the Royal Party was the official opposition to the United Party in the House of Representatives, the latter party being the party to which the now-ignominious princess was once the proud leader. The United Party was due to choose a new leader; but when they saw the Royal Party campaigning to end “Hooves-off, Hooves-clean,” and when they saw the near-unanimous support they were getting, especially in the wake of the scandal, they had given up all hope of winning any seats in the House of Representatives, and they were preparing to get their federal financing cut as a result.
In view of the circumstances, it appeared that there was nopony who they could choose and who would be able to suffer the ad hominem attacks from the Royal Party’s candidates: a type of argument that the Royalists were so fond of using despite its blatant fallaciousness; it had the amazing property of requiring no thought to make but could reduce any victim who was not prepared for it into an incomprehensible fountain of stutters. Whenever a debate would occur between any two ponies, one Royalist and one Unionist, no matter what argument the Unionist presented, no matter how eloquently he presented the facts, it would always end with the other debater scoffing dismissively, always saying something along the lines of: “Well, your previous leader stole some of the hard Equestria’s hard earned money, so of course you would think that.”
As per the COMTOIS, the election to choose the next president would take place in three months; and the Royal Party, with their leader Princess Celestia—a charismatic, graceful, white alicorn, whose demeanor and countenance demanded respect and admiration from anypony who witnessed it—had already assumed victory. This could be understandable, as one could see that the United Party was, ironically enough, in shambles: every debate they would hold among each other in the United Party Debate Hall ended with the candidates yelling the most egregious profanities at each other, to the extent that the newspaper writers covering the event would be forced by their publishers to omit the details of these outbursts from their articles to preserve a shred of the country’s dignity.
It was almost as if they had stopped caring; and, if they had, nopony could blame them, for the less they fought back, the less painful it would be when they were inevitably crushed by the powerful hooves of Princess Celestia and the Royalists.
A week after the guilty verdict, the United Party held their last debate among each other, before the party election was to take place. The voting was held during the United Party National Convention, and it had a larger attendance than usual; but, given the apathy shown by most attending and the callousness each one of them had toward each other and the event, it is not implausible to think that most of them had come simply to take advantage of the open bar.
The winning candidate was announced quietly, such that it was barely heard against the raucous laughter of the complacent Unionists drowning their faces in cider.
“Speak up, colt; we can barely hear you!” yelled a rather corpulent pony in the front row, while cider ran out of his nostrils.
“I said,” said the speaker, loudly enough such that there could be no doubt that everypony in the convention hall heard him, “that the new leader was Mr. Disce Cordis.”
The room immediately fell silent. Then, slowly, the silence gave way to a dull murmur.
Who? This seemed to be the prevailing question at the moment.
“Who?”
“Somepony named Cordis.”
“Disce won it.”
“What?”
“Who?”
“What kind of name is that?”
“Who’s Cordis?”
“Cordis? Never heard of him.”
These murmurs persisted for a few minutes, as the Unionists became more and more impatient and confused. Finally, out of the blue, in a tone slightly louder than all of the rest of the murmurings, somepony blurted: “The draconequus.”
In that instant, the eyes of every single pony in the convention hall opened wide with surprise and shock; there was only one draconequus they could recall who had always sat in their debate room. How could anypony have missed this huge, snake-like creature? And more importantly, how could he have won?
At once, everypony started scouring the convention hall, looking for this Mr. Cordis, who really should not have been hard to find if he was indeed there. While the bathroom stalls were being checked by security, the speaker urged Mr. Disce Cordis to hurry to the front stage to accept this honor.
“Why would anypony in their right mind vote for that freak?” yelled the Unionist who was known for being the loudest at the debates.
“Because he’s a nice guy!” some faceless pony responded from across the room.
“He talks to me at lunch time!” another voice was heard, coming out of a distant conversation.
More and more voices were heard from the increasing number of private conversations—half the voices seeming to be in favor of this mysterious personage, the other half extremely bewildered.
“Why would you vote for that creep?”
“He’s so weird!”
“He says everything I’m thinking!”
“He’s fed up with how you talk, and I’m fed up too!”
The United Party had managed to fool the entire country of Equestria: a great number of the population, mostly young ponies and the members of the Royal Party, had thought that the debates represented the general attitude of every member of the United Party—when, in reality, all they showed was a very vocal minority.
Disce learned of his victory, at home, right when he was in the middle of the juiciest part of a novel. Upon hearing a knock at his bungalow, he groaned at the inconvenience he would experience due to this unexpected visitor. Shuffling slowly across the room, he approached his door and opened it cautiously, still keeping its security chain in place.
A chipper, young pegasus pony with clear blue eyes and with the brightest smile Disce had ever seen, informed him that she had just received an important telegram straight from the United Party’s National Convention addressed to him. The mailmare read the telegram out to him in her most proud voice, frequently glancing up to the draconequus’s face to gauge his reaction.
At hearing this, Disce’s face flushed, making the mailmare wonder if he had become ill. Instead, Disce removed the security chain, threw the door open, embraced the frightened pony with the tightest of hugs, and muttered, through a torrent of tears: “It’s not too late. There’s still hope in the world.”
Congrats on using valid Latin :)
The story is very irregularly structured, and the prologue spends too much time on dialog from characters who are long dead by the time of the main story. The prologue should have been only a historical summary of critical events leading up to the present, instead of pointlessly verbose dialog from characters who in the space of half an hour manage to come up with a republic... a rather unbelievable set-up given that their previous 'government' was virtually a feudalistic society.
Also, the first chapter's worth of events feel exceedingly rushed, reading like a very artificial set up to bring Discord into play. I am also finding a depression hard to swallow given Equestria's enormous supply of resources and land, not to mention that most of the population lives in small towns and farms. Depressions have very little effects on the majority of the population. Plus, unless they have a stock-market based economy, money is based entirely on metal values which tend to be very steady in simple economies, making depressions impossible.
There is not enough basis in the society as presented to justify the events, and hence the framework is very frail.
1433758
I can agree that the premise is unbelievable. But so too is the premise that ponies can talk, be in prismatic colors, and form any form of government.
Also, it is not impossible to believe that, given the poor conditions of their previous society, the gentry and their leaders would propose a balance of powers amongst themselves. There is a reason why Clover the Clever is so aptly named, and her recommendation further fits the element of harmony amongst ponies. What could be better than having a people so believing in friendship to vest power in their public? It makes sense, at least to me.
Furthermore, your opinions should be stated as such: opinions. A Prologue is set up as a prelude to further events, and the way the author presents it, I feel, is a very nice transition from show cannon to the fictional world presented. The dialogue is used a a relating point between the reader and the characters, and considering their prominence in beginning the first Republic in Equestria, I'd say it warrants a significant amount of dialogue between the characters. You should not confuse objectivity with subjectivity. It is a very grave mistake.
Lastly, the definition of a depression is as thus: a sustained, long-term downturn of economic activity in one or more economies. Given that the gentry of the previous pony society had virtually no money, nor food to barter with, their was a significant lack of economic activity in the artisanry and agricultural (given the constant snowstorm). A metal-based economy is also prone to depression, as is evidenced by the American Economy: nearly every 20 years after the founding of the USA, there has been an economic depression, up until the gold standard was removed. And what is to say their economy is not based stock-based? Clearly the trading of interests in businesses is one that develops out of capitalism, which is not based on what the value of one's money is based on.
Try to not piss people off with faulty information. It does not bode well, for either yourself or others. Do try to enjoy fanfiction for what it is: fictional accounts of fantastical characters.
1433840 Those depressions were based on the fact that there WAS A STOCK MARKET!!! The metal-based economies pre-stock market era did not have depressions. They were only depressed when the royalty spent the entire treasury on wars and bankrupted itself. In fact, markets based entirely on metals and products which can be sold or bartered are exceedingly stable. They don't grow very fast, but neither are they subject to crashes.
Note that in those early crashes, the effects almost entirely hit the city-dwellers. Farmers and simple tradesmen away from urban areas hardly noticed their effects.
My point in the prologue is that Clover instantly came up with modern terminology that didn't exist in their time. Cleverness aside, one does not develop the precepts for a government out of nowhere in vacuum. The ponies were simply throwing out terms that they should hardly have been aware of, such as anarchism as a form of government. That is a VERY modern concept and does not at all fit into Equestrian history.
This alternate history, forming a republic, introducing political parties and the Princess as a candidate, is so different it should probably be an alternate universe.
1433970
You didn't read the definition of an economic depression, did you? I even posted it for you, as a reference.
Next thing you'll be telling me is that their weren't economies prior to stock markets. Let me enlighten you:
Let's say I'm one of many poor farmers. I don't have any money. It's a gold-based economy.
All set? Good. Now, since I'm poor, it's not too much of a stretch that I don't have gold to buy things. I can;t barter because I grow barely enough to sustain myself. As a major consumer incapable of consuming, I don't contribute to an economy. Multiply this by your general population. Boom. Depression. No economic activity at all. No stock markets either.
Also, when you say "barely noticed their effects" you mean that they were so poor throughout multiple generations that they had come to accept the fact that economic depression was just another facet of their lives, yes? I'm pretty sure you can see this as being true.
Furthermore, stocks are a good as well: they represent vested interest in a company and its products. Since stocks are a good, they can't be the cause of depressions because depressions are based on the lack of the transference of goods.
Now let's get back to your point on Equestrian history.
You do know this is fanfiction, right? It is not necessarily accurate. Moreover the concept of the republic has been mentioned by some of the greatest minds of our time since the Pre-Christ era. You are familiar with the Republic of Athens, yes? Forming groups based on shared interests is also not a hard thing to conceive of. Ergo, forming parties is rather simplistic while in a republic.
You seem to be underestimating the intelligence of our ancestors. That is a grave misconception as well.
I'm not going to involve myself in the argument above, but I think that, while a politically-focused story is a breath of fresh air on this site, the execution and structuring on this one are a bit iffy. The second chapter jumps from what is basically a newly post-feudal society to something similar to a modern society; all the while, Celestia and Discord already exist. That's it? One party just happens to have the goddess of the sun as their leader, and the other happens to elect the only draconequus on the planet, and the one that turns out to be the spirit of chaos incarnate? They just are, no origin story? Discord even has a house?
While the canon characters seen so far don't have a whole lot in the way of developed personalities, I still felt as if the characterization was off at times. Personally, I don't think Discord would or could be as seemingly tame as he is now, and the original founders in their meeting were far more accommodating for each other - allowing them to form their new government in one chapter rather than having tension/conflict and extending it to two. I'm not sure if that's for the better, though, since it could easily have dragged on if you expanded that.
The economics bit felt weak as well, like it's just a recap of what went on or what is going on in the real world. Like I said about the time gap between the chapters, it sounds like Equestria is as technologically advanced as 1930s America or something.
How does this thing get on EQD and mine don't?
1434140 Not all farmers were poor. It all depended on the aristocracy in charge. Much of the poverty came about due to the selfish rulers stripping the resources from the populace.
In less corrupt times of societies, farmers did quite well for themselves. The difficulty is finding those times in the history books, because most focus only on the majority of the time when the governments were corrupt and oppressive. The 'good' periods were few and far between. But we can take a microcosm of small societies living in relative seclusion for hundreds of years in a purely agrarian society that sustained themselves indefinitely and never felt themselves 'poor'. The modern notions of poverty in the Western world are rather extremely distorted when compared to the true depths of poverty endured by much of the rest of the world.
I see plenty of severely obese people who are classed in the 'poor', and many of those are in their lot by their own failure to even make an attempt to better themselves.
And frankly, the definition of what makes a 'depression' changes depending on what those in power want it to mean when it's politically expedient (and especially when they want to mask how badly they're doing). I have my own criteria and those allow me to see through the political double-talk in very plain and simple terms.
1437965 I had meant to make a note of Discord's inconsistent non-canon behavior. If he is the same spirit of chaos from the show, why is he patiently planning anything? Those are not the actions of the being we saw in "The Return of Harmony", who wasted no time in twisting things to his desires. Indeed, why would he bother with the drudgery of politics when he could simply warp reality? Playing the long game is not consistent with chaos. Chaos has no patience for such things.
1434140>>1433758
Yay! political debates in a fanfiction about colorful ponies!
My day is complete
1439609 I wouldn't necessarily put planning past him, because he seems like the kind of guy that would love to watch a well-laid plan unravel explosively (not his plan, but everything constructed around it) but the entertainment value for him would have to significantly outweigh the cost of drudgery and deception. Subtlety isn't his thing, but he is a trickster god and he doesn't operate entirely on a whim. He had his fun corrupting the Elements of Harmony in a rather drawn-out manner, after all.
However, I have faith in the author that things will be adequately explained later on. Perhaps the early Discord we've been presented with is not the same chaos-loving entity as the one we know, and he undergoes some kind of transformation. I have no idea, honestly.
>>Enamis Seriously?
1439886 This Discord has more in line with the devil in his deceptions and patience. There were a couple old Twilight Zone episodes which had the devil working his trickery and that's what this Discord acts like.
Discord in the show may have tricks and manipulative ploys, but he's also VERY impatient when they don't work out instantly. Remember his failure with Fluttershy. Plus, there's no reason to play this game when the canon Discord is so powerful that Celestia and Luna together couldn't do a thing until they found the Elements of Harmony. Not to mention, Celestia and Luna didn't even appear to the ponies until they saw how miserable he was making their lives with his madness and instability.
It's why I say this is much more an 'alternate universe' than canon.
1439713 Pseudo-political debate. I'm actually toying with him. What I really believe, I keep to myself. It's never wise to show your hand before all the bets have been made.
I tell no one what really goes on in my head. Only just enough to lord it over them as my predictions invariably prove accurate, and all the pieces move themselves into my hand.
*sinks back into his chair with a sinister smile in the shadow of his black hood* Everything is proceeding according to my designs.
I have no idea what you guys are talking about.