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The Fall of Equestria3,880 words
The Birth of a Nation2,845 words

The Birth of a Nation

With Canterlot firmly under his control, Joseph Stallion set to work assimilating cities into the new nation. In order to do this, he ordered a number of the unicorns held captive from the Battle of Canterlot to create a system that allowed for mail delivery without the use of magic; Stallion hoped that this would assist in the creation of a society in which any pony could send and receive mail without the aid of a dragon, magic, or a pegasus. The group worked almost non-stop for twenty-four hours - under diligent supervision, of course - until the unicorns created a machine capable of delivering mail to any other mechanized mail station, which the machine could build and teleport to any location.

Upon its completion, Stallion used this device to send a message to every city in what was once Equestria; they were to obey the rule of the new nation. Any resistance would be interpreted as an act of hostility and dealt with appropriately. Every city unanimously sided with the new leader, which allowed Stallion to shift his focus to the new system of government, which he would call the Union of Poniet Socialist Republics, or the Poniet Union.

After some time of thought between him and his companion Vladimare Lenin, Stallion designed his ideal system of government, which would operate from Canterlot. The main legislative body would be the Council of Pony’s Commissars, which would serve to direct a majority of the politics in the Union, such as trade and foreign relations. The Council also had the power to regulate the economy and direct the military of the Party, giving it almost absolute power. This group would be headed by the Premier of the Poniet Union. Other committees were created, more often than not designed to operate on a local level, but true power over the country rested in the trusted hands of those who served in the Council. Each position in the Pony’s Commissars represented a specific interest, such as the Commissariats for Labor, Food, War, and Agriculture. These ponies would be responsible for all actions and legislation regarding their position, though the Premier could influence their decisions considerably. A Congress of Poniets was also created, though its actions carried little impact, as the Pony’s Commissars were tasked to conduct the affairs of the state. The Congress’s duties were to elect officials in the Council and to approve its decrees.

Stallion easily assumed the position of Premier, with Vladimare Lenin his secretary. Positions on the Council soon filled. All were skilled in their craft, and Joseph Stallion suggested a pony he saw fit for the Commissariat of Agriculture, which carried a massive amount of influence in the Congress's decision. He had once heard that a female pony by the name of Applejack from a small town called Ponyville operated a farm spanning hundreds of acres. She harvested and maintained the farm almost single-handedly. This impressive feat, accompanied with Joseph Stallion's lobbying, resulted in the Congress’s immediate acceptance. The Congress sent Applejack a letter, proposing that she join the Council as the Pony’s Commissariat for Agriculture. Applejack graciously accepted the offer, though she wrote about her concerns for her farm and family. Noting her dilemma, Stallion sent two dozen migrant laborers to her home, Sweet Apple Acres, to help produce for Applejack’s family. The new Council member left Ponyville several days later, after saying goodbye to her friends and family. They would miss her, but they knew that she was doing what was best for the nation.

With his new government formed, Stallion went to work establishing an equal society. He first targeted Cloudsdale; an exclusive home for pegasi, the city symbolized one of the class distinctions in antebellum Equestria, as only those bearing wings were even permitted to set a hoof on the clouds the city was made of. The Council issued a decree, stating that all residents of the city must evacuate before the destruction crew arrived. Two weeks after sending the message, a demolition team moved out from Canterlot.

The group arrived at Cloudsdale to find the city completely barren. Under normal circumstances, charges would be placed on structures, making the process extremely precise. Unfortunately, the destruction team consisted of earth ponies, and they could not get atop the city to set explosives, so the team had brought several artillery batteries along with them. Throughout the course of two days, shells pounded the city, shredding clouds and slowly demolishing the town. At the end of the second day of shelling, the remains of the city came down, slowly at first, and then building speed until it smashed into the ground, dispersing the clouds across the area, coating it in a thick fog. This haze would remain for several months, with many travelers becoming lost within its depths. With Cloudsdale gone, the Poniet Union inched closer towards the ultimate goal of equality for all.

After the symbol of class distinction fell, Stallion turned to the classes themselves. He had to devise some method of creating a society in which all ponies were treated with equal respect. However, as long as wings and horns remained a trait in ponies, true equality could not exist. The Premier put off the idea of the mass genocide of unicorns and pegasi, hoping to somehow preserve the massive influx of labor that would occur should they remain alive. If he did not find a solution, however, there would be no other option.

Little did Joseph Stallion know that his actions had caught the eye of another being. Once a deadly and threatening adversary of the Royal Family, the being known as Discord submitted to Celestia's rule, albeit only to a certain extent; a small part of the demon still strived for a return - at least to some extent - back to his traditional ways of mischief. This deity viewed the overthrow of the previous government as the perfect opportunity to act.

One dark night, as Joseph Stallion sat by his desk, trying to decide the best course of action regarding the issue, the draconequus suddenly appeared in the center of the room. The pony turned and looked at Discord, more than a little distressed, though he tried to retain composure. Everyone in Equestria had heard of Discord and his exploits, so his appearance called for considerable fear. Unrestrained, the being could easily crush the realm.

“Discord,” he said, assuming a defensive stance. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just wanted to celebrate your victory,” the being replied. He snapped two clawed fingers, and a flash in front of Stallion’s face created a cigar in his mouth, as well as two mares to either side of him. The pony’s eyes widened for a moment, then he spat the cigar onto the floor.

“I don’t need your fantasy mares,” the red pony stated, glaring at Discord.

“Oh, you’re so stolid. Very well.” With a second snap of his fingers, the mares and the cigar disappeared in a bright flash of light. “I watched your fight for justice, sir,” the draconequus continued. Another flash consumed Discord himself, and when the light faded he was garbed in metal armor. “The gore, the conquest, the swordplay, the justice! All in the crusade of a better world.” Yet another flash of light and the armor disappeared. “You know, I view the pony race as flawed, to say the least. Their compassion, their kindness, their friendship. All so boring. You, however, are slightly... different. I enjoy your style, your cold efficiency, your total disregard for life. I especially liked that speech you gave to Celestia. All those patriotic sentiments about justice, followed by death on a massive scale. I found the whole thing quite amusing.”

Stallion was a little confused. He knew of Discord’s tendency to actively rebel against established government, which made his friendly actions all the more suspicious. “You didn’t come here to talk about my success as a leader. What do you want?”

“Tell you what,” he said, floating in circles around Stallion. “I like this system you’ve got here, so how about this; I give you a little help on your current situation, and you let me get away with a few chaotic shenanigans here and there. Nothing disastrous, nothing dangerous to you. Just a bit of fun.”

“What kind of help are you talking about?”

“Oh, I couldn’t say. But I can tell you this; you’ll like it.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

The draconequus grinned and floated over to a spot on the floor, and with a flick of his fingers, a flash covered the room, blinding Stallion temporarily. Opening his eyes, the Premier gaped at the giant metal contraption which stood in the center of the room. Looking around, Stallion found no sign of Discord. “A gesture of good faith,” a disembodied voice echoed.

Joseph Stallion crept closer to the machine, and he noticed that taped to the side of it was a single sheet of paper. It appeared to be a manual of sorts. It read:

This is the Pony Permutation Machine. This one-of-a-kind device allows the user to transform all ponies within a set boundary to an earth pony. In addition, all cutie marks will be changed to a symbol of choice. We hope you find great use of this extraordinary device. To activate mass-transformation mode, simply pull the red lever labeled ‘activation’. If you have complaints, please address them to Discord Corporations Inc. Or not. Either way, you’re not getting a refund.

Caution: the device may or may not have an effect on royalty. We’re not sure.

The pony did not care about the trustworthiness of Discord anymore. He needed this machine. It was his hope. It was his salvation. Walking up to the device, he found the lever described in the instructions. Stallion hesitated for a brief moment, but when he weighed the odds, the possible positive side-effects far outweighed the negative. If Discord had tricked him, there would be major consequences, the worst being the total annihilation of the Union. There was never any telling what the deity was up to. However, if he didn’t pull the lever, true equality could never be reached without genocide. It seemed like a risk that needed to be taken. First, he entered the cutie mark he wished ponies to have; the hammer and sickle. Then, he reached out, grasped the lever, and pulled.

The machine sputtered, cogs began turning, and a whirring noise began building. Stallion backed up as the commotion got progressively louder and louder. The piercing noise began to cause excruciating pain, and Joseph fell to the floor, pressing his hooves against his ears. This did little to dull the pain, as the sound continued to grow. The situation soon became unbearable to the red pony. Just when he thought the sound would kill him, the machine gave one final screech before making a ding! noise. A fountain of confetti erupted from a tube in the top, accompanied by the sound of a party horn.

Complete silence ensued. Stallion, now back on his hooves, became enraged. Discord had tricked him! “Of all the dirty tricks,” the leader growled. “When I get my hands on that beast, I’ll-” His ranting was cut short as a beam of bright light exploded from the top of the machine and through the roof of the building, illuminating the night sky. The beam flew over the top of Canterlot before detonating, releasing an umbrella of white magic that spread throughout the Poniet Union. A wall of the material passed through Stallion, who flinched as it approached, but opened his eyes and found that he was unharmed.

The cloud passed through the land, transforming everyone's cutie mark, simultaneously removing wings and horns where present. If there was any pain, it merely became a part of the dream the sleeping ponies experienced. Over the course of a few minutes, the first goal of the Poniet Union had been accomplished. All ponies were now equal.

The next day, ponies awoke to find that their wings or horns were gone. Shock soon took over. Those that once held positions of power over earth ponies now found that they were equals. Stallion’s promise of an equal society seemed like a wild fantasy to those who heard it, even after his capture of Canterlot and the installation of the Union. Now it was a reality. Equally frightening to all was the disappearance of their cutie marks. What had once been a symbol of their individual skills was now the symbol of the Poniet Union. The colors varied from pony to pony, but no variation in shape existed.

The first few weeks consisted of depression for some. However, ponies came to accept the new predicament. The government distributed propaganda glorifying the event around the Union. The change was depicted as the final unification of the ponytariat under one banner. Ponies that were once pegasi and unicorns assimilated into the new society and went into work once deemed inappropriate for someone of their status. They soon forgot their old lives, instead beginning life anew amongst their brothers and sisters of the ponytariat.

With all ponies united, the Council next set its sights on the condition of the populace. Land was redistributed, giving agricultural families equal amounts of land on which to farm. A collective system formed, in which farmers worked on land owned by the Union, and a given quota of crops had to be contributed in order to receive payment. Those who weren’t skilled in agriculture were sent to work in government-owned businesses like bakeries, hospitals, and factories. Wages were kept relatively the same between lines of work, so as to create a more equal system where it didn’t matter where one worked; they still were treated as equals. Many workers, however, would not keep their jobs; they would be sent into combat against their foes from the West.

Dragons had always been enemies to ponies. Raids against rural farmlands were common, and many grew to hate the scaled creatures. Crops were burned, lives were ruined, families were destroyed. During the reign of Celestia, these attacks occurred without protest, and countless innocent lives were lost due to the Family’s lack of action. The alicorns believed that the sacrifice of these earth ponies would sate the thirst dragons had for power. They were horribly wrong, and the murder of ponies continued without containment. Raiding parties streaked across the countryside, wreaking havoc amongst the lower class. While many believe dragons to be primal and devoid of sentient thought, they are actually capable of complex thought. When initial raids caused no backlash from Canterlot, the dragons avoided attacking any village they deemed as belonging to the upper class. Thus, earth ponies lived in the constant fear that an assault on their homes might take place, knowing that there would be no help from the government. That is, until the Poniet Union came to power.

The Poniet Union despised all things that attempted to hurt the ponytariat, but what really agitated the Party was the capitalist nature of the dragons. Their tendency to hold personal wealth above all else infuriated Stallion, for he saw the mountains of gold they collected as the rightful property of the ponytariat. The winged beasts had no right to such riches, as they often collected the wealth from the hard work of those under them. Dragons would often wait for a group of adventuring ponies to discover some reservoir of gold, then demolish the excavators and claim the prize for themselves. Worse yet, dragons did not share this stolen wealth with any of their comrades; instead, wealth would be stored, with its guardian prepared to fight and die in order to keep it secure. Many dragons also fought each other in a vie for power. If one killed the other, the winner inherited the fallen one’s wealth. The dragon society based itself exclusively on the economic advancement of the individual at the expense of others.

The Party stood for the exact opposite by fighting for unity and equality for all. In their eyes, any race based exclusively on the domination of others did not deserve to exist. It was for this reason that they hated dragons the most. And their hatred caused the Council to initiate the buildup of arms and soldiers to fight the dragons, who were declared enemies of the state. The action received massive amounts of public support. Ponies enlisted in the military much faster than the Party could group them into units. Patriots were ready and willing to give their lives for the greater good of the ponytariat. Factories designated to recreational and unnecessary devices closed down and opened back up with the purpose of designing machines of war. Training camps opened up and began to condition recruits into hardened killers.

War seemed close at hand.

Author's Note:

So yes, that certainly took some considerable time. To be honest, I spaced for several weeks. When I wasn't spacing, there were AP classes and what have you. Hopefully I'll be a lot faster with the next one.

Anyone catch that snazzy Star Trek reference in the Discord encounter? I thought it was kinda nice.

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tragicCaligula

tragicCaligula #1 · Feb 22nd, 2013 · · 2 ·

Damn pinko commies...

Regidar

Regidar #2 · Feb 22nd, 2013 · · ·

Dat cover

Stoneificaunt

Stoneificaunt #3 · Feb 22nd, 2013 · · ·

I have a feeling Discord will come back and completely take over again. and do a chaotic world of awesome.

Dream Searcher

Dream Searcher #4 · Feb 22nd, 2013 · · 1 ·

Are you a real communist?

Also,

That decision just kind of came down to me liking Stalin more than Lenin

You do know he murdered many of his own people? He's worse than Hitler.

Dream Searcher

Dream Searcher #5 · Feb 23rd, 2013 · · ·

2163559 Actually, never mind. I'm not here to start a political argument.

My Little Commie

My Little Commie #6 · Feb 23rd, 2013 · 2 · ·

2163577 By liking him more, it really came down to facial hair. In this regard, Stalin far exceeds Lenin. And as for political ideology, I really don't have any particular preference, though Communism is the one I take an interest in, particularly the WWII-era Soviet Union (another reason for picking Stalin), as it's such an intriguing method of government. And sure, Stalin killed a shit-tons of innocents. But he also fought a significant portion of WWII. Not to glorify the USSR (they kind of put soldiers between the guns of the enemy and their comrades, essentially screwing everyone over), but the US and Great Britain just kind of sat around in Italy while the Eastern front took care of a majority of Hitler's forces. Plus, look at his dashingly handsome and cuddly face. He's like the Kim-Jong Un of his time.

brainslug17

brainslug17 #7 · Mar 25th, 2013 · 3 · ·

What is this? I have stumbled across a land of wonder and merriment in the form of words and coherent sentences. This story, touched me in many ways only my uncle could have dreamed of. The story started out in such a simplistic nature, with a conflicting struggle between the upper and working class. The Earth Ponies fought for their rights to secure equality between all ponies, not unlike Gordon Freeman or Martin Luther King Jr. (Both very speech heavy people as Stallion himself!) This magnificent piece of literature, neigh, this masterpiece uplifts my soul and churns my butter. "My Little Commie, Socialism is Magic" Is the classic underdog tale of how an oppressed group of ponies beat the odds and take control of their land. What lies in the future of this story arch? None can say, save for the historians of the future when they read this story to their children, and their children's children years after. As did the Beastie Boys fight for my right to party, These ponies fought for their right to have a party in control of the land. Of all the fanfics I have read in my travels (1) This was the most........awesome.

tl;dr: 5/5 would read while pooping again.

Shogunato