Chapter 16: Gaining In the Polls
Canterlot, November 2014
The streets of Canterlot were somber and melancholy as a black hearse carriage traveled down the main street of town. Ponies from all over Equestria gathered around. Many wore black veils and cried tears into hoofkerchiefs.
Most of the unicorns gathered on the side of the road were respectful enough. A few of them cheered as the hearse passed, despite the frowns and grimaces from the others gathered in the crowd.
The fact that Princess Celestia had been dying had been an open secret. Though she had died without leaving a public announcement—she had expected to live at least a year longer and make her announcement in early 2015—it was hardly a surprise to many ponies. The Equestrians had seen less and less of their beloved princess over the last two years, as she had attended fewer and fewer royal events. At the same time, Celestia had appointed a new princess for the first time in living memory. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that something was wrong.
Prince Blueblood attended the funeral procession and the burial itself out of respect. A small, select group of ponies sat in the royal garden where Celestia was to be buried. Blueblood sat in the very front row, a few feet in front of a podium where Princess Luna stood, wearing a black veil.
The Princess of the Night spoke, “My sister, Princess Celestia, was a great mare. She kept Equestria in peace and harmony for two millennia. She raised the sun for 1,300 years, and raised both the sun and moon for 1,000 of that. She helped me to see the error of my ways when I rebelled against her and became nightmare m-moon...” she stopped, sobbing, wiping at her eyes with a tissue.
She continued, “Twilight Sparkle and I will honor her memory by continuing the same laws and policies which she instituted. We will do what she would have wanted, to be happy even in her absence and rule her kingdom in peace and prosperity. Thank you.”
Twilight Sparkle was next, walking up to the podium and giving a brief speech. She was surrounded by royal guards; evidently they did not want a repeat assault on Twilight by any would be assassins who believed that she was involved in Discord’s gassing attack.
“Princess Celestia was the wisest and most understanding pony that I ever knew,” she said through tears, “She taught me about magic, and she taught me the value of friendship. She even made me into an alicorn for the purpose of taking over for her when she died. I can only hope to be half the pony that she was.”
After Twilight finished her speech, the ponies in the crowd lined up to pay their final respects. Princess Celestia’s coffin was lowered into the ground. After a few more words from other ponies, after more tears were shed, the funeral goers filed out of the gates to the garden.
Since Prince Blueblood had a seat in the front, he was one of the last ponies to leave. He glanced over at one of the unicorns standing guard near the gates and noticed that, rather than the blank look which guards normally wore, this guard smiled at him.
“Good day,” said Blueblood, passing him by.
“Good day to you too, Prince Blueblood,” said the dark grey-coated unicorn stallion.
“Ah, so you know my name,” said Blueblood, stopping as the last of the guests left, “And you are?”
“I’m just a sergeant, and I heard about your arrest,” said the Sergeant as the last guest walked out of the gates.
The Sergeant glanced around himself, saw that nopony was listening, and then said, “A lot of us royal guards heard about it. I for one think it was outrageous. If I was in a more senior position, I'd have protested Celestia’s order and definitely would've let you go a lot sooner. But unfortunately, I’m just a staff sergeant: an enlisted stallion. The ponies who give the orders are the officers; they’re yes-pony officers the likes of Flash Sentry.” He rolled his eyes after saying the young pegasus’ name.
“Flash Sentry? Ah yes, I put the fear of Celestia into him for sure—” Blueblood glanced back at the coffin, remembering whose funeral he was at, and then added, “Can we still say that, now that she’s gone? Or should it be ‘fear of Luna?’”
“Why not say fear of Blueblood?” said the Sergeant, chuckling.
“Well, I certainly hope to be the leader of Canterlot as its own independent nation. But I need the support of a lot more ponies. I also would of course need the support of the city guards and royal guards. After all, they would end up comprising our nation’s armed forces.”
“You’d have my support,” said the Sergeant, “And the support of the stallions at my command. Especially if it means that we get new positions in a new military. But you need the support of the officers to really get anything done in the event that it comes to a coup. You’d need their votes for sure, given that some 10% of ponies in Canterlot are royal guard stationed here to guard the palace, or stationed at the barracks. Canterlot is a military town for sure.
“Maybe you could get the support of some of the other unicorns on the guard. Maybe you could come to the barracks and give one of those rousing speeches you’re so famous for. That might win a few more ponies over to your side.”
“You think so?” Blueblood raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, yeah. These guys live to be given orders and get pumped up by speeches. Just give a few speeches at the barracks, and then tailor them to military-minded ponies. If there's one thing that military ponies and civilians both love, it's when you talk up the armed forces.”
“Hmm,” said Blueblood, scratching his chin with his hoof, “Well, it’s not like I have anything to lose by it.”
After his arrest, Blueblood had figured that the royal guard was a lost cause. But hearing this Sergeant who actually supported him gave him hope that perhaps the guard was not an entirely lost cause.
“Exactly, you have nothing to lose,” said the Sergeant.
“What about the other races on the guard? What about the pegasi and earth ponies?” Prince Blueblood asked.
“Do you think they’d care?” the Sergeant responded, “Remember, most of them live someplace else and are simply stationed here in Canterlot. This isn't their home. All that you winning would mean for them is just a change of scenery. Whereas for the unicorns, it could mean new positions in the military of a newly-independent nation. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the pegasi and earth ponies vote for you just so that the princesses have to relocate the capital to, say, Ponyville or Cloudsdale. That means they’d get to be stationed closer to their families.”
Prince Blueblood chuckled. He never thought that a non-unicorn would ever be motivated to vote for him in a million years. But perhaps the royal guard was a source that he could tap.
*****
“Despite my unfair and arbitrary arrest last week, which I am sure that you are aware of, I understand that the Royal Guard serves a valuable effort in keeping law and order in this city and in Equestria in general. The charges levied against me were false, but I know that those orders came from higher up the chain from Celestia, who, though she may rest in peace, simply did not understand how a just and fair legal system works. I fear that Princess Luna and Twilight, who have dedicated themselves to continuing her policies, are no better. That is why I have come to appeal to you directly.”
Prince Blueblood stood on a podium at one of the events rooms of the barracks. Despite Blueblood's prior arrest record, Fancy Pants had pulled some strings and gotten him a speaking position.
“I come to you today not as a prince, not as an author, not as a magical expert, but simply as a pony who supports the efforts of our guard stallions and mares in uniform. If elected to office, I will make Canterlot an independent nation, but I will not forget the valiant efforts on behalf of the guard in order to keep this city safe. I will embrace the unicorn officers with open hooves into new positions in the nation of Canterlot, and hope that you will accept. Also, as necessary for the armed forces of a new nation, I will allocate more tax dollars to ensure that you are properly trained and equipped, and that we as a new nation maintain a strong military.
"As for the non unicorns among you, the separation of Canterlot from Equestria will be peaceful, and you will be allowed to leave the city in peace to wherever the new capital of Equestria is. Perhaps it will be in a city where you can be stationed closer to your families. Whether you are a unicorn or not, if you are a royal guard, you have a good reason to vote for me for mayor, and to vote for the other Unicorn Freedom Movement members for city council.”
The crowd, mostly unicorns but with a few ponies from other races mixed in, burst into applause. Blueblood smiled, took a bow, and exited the stage.
*****
Prince Blueblood got up from his chair as he heard a knock on his door. He had been sitting in his recliner after a long day of giving speeches, kissing babies, shaking hooves, and eating at local diners to show that he supported small business. He had dedicated himself to giving at least one speech a day to the royal guard, in addition to his regular rounds of speeches and campaign events to civilians.
He opened the door to see Sunset Shimmer standing there, levitating a newspaper next to her. His eyes widened as he saw her, and he smiled.
“Ah, Sunset Shimmer. Please do come in,” said Blueblood, motioning with a hoof for his young friend to enter. She entered and walked over to his couch, taking a seat.
“Nice to see you again, Prince Blueblood. Man, I can’t believe they had you under house arrest for a whole week,” she said.
“Yes, I can’t believe it either. It’s nice to see you, though.” Blueblood eyed the barren drink coaster on the coffee table next to the couch, and his eyes widened as he blanched. He had become a bit more cognizant in the past few years of trying to be respectful and polite, especially given his experience with Rarity, and didn't want Sunset Shimmer to feel unwelcome.
Blueblood said, “Oh, where are my manners? Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea...”
“Tea, please.”
Blueblood walked into his kitchen and prepared two cups of tea. Despite Sunset Shimmer’s purely advisory role to the Unicorn Freedom Movement, Blueblood had missed her presence regardless. She was fiery and passionate, qualities that he admired in ponies. He would certainly have to make use of her and Unistorm once he won and could legalize the forbidden magic they used.
He levitated a cup of tea over to Sunset Shimmer.
“Prince Blueblood, I came here to share some figures with you—” she said, opening up the newspaper.
“Ah, the poll numbers?” Blueblood said, levitating his teacup up to his lips and taking a sip, “Yes, as I understand it, our party is gaining quite nicely and we may top 40% soon. My personal popularity is above 70%, and I am sure to win the election for mayor!” He smiled at this last sentence, but Sunset Shimmer had a concerned look on her face.
She said, “But the election is less than two weeks away, and we need over 50% to have a majority of seats in the city council. To make our goals, we don’t just need for you to be mayor, we need the council on our side as well. We need that additional ten percent to give us majority status in council seats.”
Blueblood responded, “Yes, well we have two weeks left; I believe we can close the gap in that time. Our numbers have been rising ever since I joined the party, and we’ve been gaining in the polls,” Blueblood responded, “I also have been campaigning to members of the royal guard recently, which has yet to be reflected in the polls. And even if we don’t win a majority of seats on the council, we could still perhaps sway the other 60% of the ponies in the seats to vote our way, perhaps by forming a coalition government.”
Sunset Shimmer groaned, “Yeah, but what if we can’t? We won’t get independence for Canterlot, and we won’t be able to kick the non-unicorns out for another two years until the next council members come up for reelection.”
“But we can still certainly persuade Princess Luna and Princess Twilight to give our ideas more consideration,” said Blueblood, “We can certainly work on getting that ivory tower tax repealed, and locally pre-empting some of Celestia’s magic laws. Those positions are popular even with ponies who otherwise don’t support our unicorn supremacy platform. Besides, you are acting as if there’s something that can be done to change it besides campaigning.”
“What if there is something that we can do?” Sunset Shimmer said, narrowing her eyebrows.
Blueblood chuckled nervously, “Well, we can campaign, if that’s what you’re talking about.”
“No, I am referring to something a bit more... persuasive.”
Blueblood set his tea back down and said, “I hope you are not referring to what I think you are referring to. We have an agreement, remember? You and Unistorm are not to resort to any violence whatsoever. The Unicorn Freedom Movement is to be a peaceful party, not helped along by Unistorm. I already have gotten enough trouble for the speeches I’ve given, and they have not even advocated violence. I can hardly imagine what would happen if the princesses tied me and the Unicorn Freedom Movement to a campaign of voter intimidation by Unistorm... if that’s what you are suggesting, of course. I don’t want to be arrested again. I have a personal and political image to uphold.”
Sunset Shimmer scowled and said, “Those white-coated pegasi brutes in uniform who call themselves ‘royal guard’ think they can just lock up a great unicorn like you and get away with it?”
“Yes, and they only got away with it for about a week, and then they let me go,” said Blueblood, “Those charges would never have held up in court, and Celestia knew it. However, I have learned from this incident; I am now making inroads and connections with some of the royal guard, unicorns in particular. If the royal guards tried to arrest me again, they very well might face dissent in their own ranks from guardponies allied with me.”
“That’s still unfair tactics on their part. Who knows how many percentage points that cost us? If you’d been out campaigning for that week, if you’d been using your popularity to bolster the UFM council candidates, then we could be ahead in the polls more than we are now. That little arrest incident could have cost us a majority in the council. All I’m asking is that we... level the playing field.”
“As long as by level the playing field, you mean working extra hard to legitimately campaign and make up for lost time, then yes. We must win with ballots, not bullets. This must be a popular result. I won’t rule by fiat.”
Sunset Shimmer remained quiet.
“We had an agreement that I would take over as leader of the Unicorn Freedom Movement, you would maintain control of Unistorm, and your Unistorm members wouldn’t perpetrate violent acts, and in return, I would ease the magic restrictions and make your group legal as a magical organization, as well as offer you positions in government. I certainly hope that you hold up your end of the bargain. I’m asking you not just as a political partner, but as a friend.”
“Yeah, alright,” said Sunset Shimmer begrudgingly as she got up and headed for the door.
“Good night, Miss Shimmer. Bear in mind what I said, please,” said Prince Blueblood as he opened the door for her.
“Yes, I will,” she said, smiling, as the door shut behind her.
Blueblood sighed. Though he admired Sunset Shimmer’s passion, he did not want to resort to violence to get the Unicorn Freedom Movement elected into office. Such violence would reflect badly on them, and it might mean that Princess Luna and Twilight would be less willing to agree to a peaceful separation of Canterlot from Equestria. It could even lead to civil war. Thankfully, however, Sunset Shimmer appeared to Blueblood to be receptive to his advice.
But little did Blueblood know that Sunset Shimmer was going behind his back at that very moment.
*****
Sunset Shimmer sat at the head of a longhall table in Unistorm’s secret compound. Around the table sat three dozen unicorns wearing grey robes.
She levitated paper pamphlets to each of them. On the top of the pamphlet was written the words “Directive #37.”
Sunset Shimmer pounded her hoof against the table and commanded, “This meeting of Unistorm hereby comes to order! Brothers and sisters, you all have your orders in front of you. I will summarize, and you may read the specifics later. You are to go out and encourage the earth ponies and pegasi to stay home from the polls. Use any methods that you want to that won’t get you caught. Everything from smashing windows to physically ruffling a few feathers is fair game. Just three rules. Don’t commit murder, you may rough up ponies but don't leave them with any permanent injuries, and don’t go after any royal guards for obvious reasons; they’ll find out and lock us up. Only go after civilians.”
“Yes ma’am!” the unicorns gathered around the table answered, saluting Sunset Shimmer.
“Now, remember. You all have dowsing magic. Use it to track down ponies you hear say anything negative about Blueblood or the UFM. Now, commence Directive #37!”
They all saluted and left the room to attend to their orders.
*****
Along a dimly lit back street of Canterlot, an earth pony couple walked along the cobblestone sidewalk, holding hooves.
“My, the weather’s certainly nice this time of year,” said the mare.
“I agree,” said the stallion, taking a deep breath, “I’m a bit nervous about this election, though. We could end up kicked out of our home if Blueblood wins mayor and the Unis win in the city council. I know unicorns are the majority in this city, but we should at least be able to keep and live in the property we paid money for. I don't care if it's the will the majority of our neighbors that we leave. Democracy shouldn't have authority over my private property. Our house shouldn't be up for a vote.”
In a dark alleyway a hundred feet off in the distance, a hooded unicorn mare stood, her horn lighting up at the word “Blueblood.” She used a hearing enhancement spell to listen in on this particular conversation.
“Honey, I thought we agreed not to talk about politics until election day,” the mare said, nudging the stallion with her muzzle.
“Sorry, just thinking aloud,” the stallion responded, “You’ll get out and vote against him though, right? I mean, for the sake of our future.”
“Hmm, as much as I don’t like politics, I suppose that if you don’t take an interest in it, it’ll take an interest in you,” the mare said as the couple passed the alleyway, “So yes, I will vote against him, obviously.”
“That or you won’t vote at all.” The couple looked up to see a unicorn mare in a grey, hooded cloak. The hood covered her entire face, with only two slits for the eyes. Her horn made the hood stick up to a point.
“Who are you?” the stallion asked, defensively.
“I’m simply a concerned citizen,” said the mare, “And one who would like you to stay home on election day."
“I’m not scared of you,” said the stallion.
“Oh? No fear? You should at least know your place in the natural order as a magicless creature. Fear is a natural instinct for those less evolved forms of life, for prey against predator. Unless earth ponies are so inferior that they were born without such instinct that even the mice and rabbits in the field possess.”
“Go away!” the earth mare said.
“Ah, well, we shall see,” said the hooded unicorn. At that moment, the earth stallion was enveloped in a green field of magic and dragged into the alley. The earth mare stood there.
“What are you doing? Let him go!” she yelled.
“As you wish,” the unicorn mare said, and levitated the stallion ten feet into the air, dropping him. He hit the ground with a thud. He turned around to run, but found his hooves coming into contact with a green forcefield, which now surrounded him.
“Let me go!” he called out, “You can’t keep me locked in this bubble forever. Your magic will tire and you’ll have to let me go anyway. Either that happens now or later.”
“I say later,” the unicorn said.
The stallion’s marefriend ran out of the alleyway, screaming for help. The stallion stood, looking unfazed and standing his ground. However, had he known more about how force fields work, he would’ve had cause for concern and would have struggled more.
The unicorn kept up the forcefield, and in a few minutes, the stallion gasped for breath as the air supply inside of his bubble diminished.
“Are you scared of us now?” The unicorn smiled.
The stallion screamed in terror, sweat dripping down his forehead as he faced his death from suffocation. He frantically pounded against the forcefield. Small cracks began to appear in it, but he fell to the ground from a lack of oxygen before he had a chance to break it. The unicorn cackled as she removed the force field. The earth stallion regained consciousness, gasping for breath.
The unicorn said, “Just remember. I could have killed you at any moment. It is by my will alone that you survive. The one who holds the life of another in his hooves is superior. Wouldn’t you call yourself superior to a child, or to your pet dog? The same principle applies in our relationship to your race, earth pony. It is by our will alone that you draw breath. Who is the superior pony? The one who chooses. You may stay home come election day, but if you go to the polls and vote, or if you tell anypony about our little encounter this evening, I may choose differently than I have today.”
The stallion got up and ran away, screaming. The mare smiled and teleported off in a flash of green light. One less vote against the Unicorn Freedom Movement party.
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Okay, now I'm tempted to play Sabaton's Rise of Evil.
It'd be the perfect theme for Sunset Shimmer.
3030299 Hmm, after having listened to it, I think you are correct!
Why does this not have more views?
3034555 I honestly have no clue. Maybe I haven't promoted it enough in the various groups here on Fimfic. Also, I had a lengthy story description until recently, when I shortened it. Lengthy story descriptions might scare some people off. Additionally, my story features Blueblood in a protagonist role, which although he becomes the villain later, might throw some people off too since Blueblood isn't too popular. The fact that 14 people saw fit to downthumb my story for no good reason has probably also cost me who knows how many views.
I will say that despite its relatively low viewcount, I have a pretty good retention rate. If you look at the later chapter views compared with the earlier chapter views, you can see that about 25% of people, once they start reading the first chapter, read all the way to the end. That's quite rare for a story of this length. The key is to get them to start reading in the first place.
I will say that if you want to help me out, you can post a recommendation thread for this story in the writers group. I'd do it myself but I think people tend to take recommendations from other people more seriously than self recommendations. I'd very much appreciate it.
Also, you could send a PM to RBDash47, who does interviews of authors for the Pony Fiction Vault, and recommend my fic to him, since he doesn't take self recs.
SA, anyone?
Clues abound of the SA and possibly of Ernst Röhm in the persona of Sunset Shimmer...