> The Collapse > by Daxisle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prologue One year after the beginning of the war in Iran, the United States had begun to explore possible solutions to the continued strife that mankind had been facing. Believing that our race should be above such gross and undignified wastes of human life, the newly formed philanthropic United States Department of Humanitarianism was created in order to find a way to achieve world peace with out impeding on the rights of humanity. This included freedoms of: Religion, Cultural relativism, Political and Social Structure, and to disarm America's most influential tool... Violence. This wasn't the only, nor the worst, problem the world had faced at the current point in time. The world economy had been in drastic decline after acknowledging the failed policies of the U.S. government, who held the highest influence in the world market thanks to it's Petro-dollar status of it Currency. By 2014 the government had to act in order to maintain the civil uprisings that were beginning in the major cities. After seeing local police forced become quickly overwhelmed by the angry mob, Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with the coast guard, sent agents to help quell the riot. Though effective, the manner in which the government agents had handled the people was anything but humane. After the beanbag and rubber bullets had run out, the Coast guard resorted to live ammunition; killing well over fifteen people. It was this massacre that prompted the USDH, YouTube, Facebook, and a few newly formed Social Media sites were in an uproar, the video's of the acts were uploaded to the internet, and soon viewed in the hundreds of million. The people had put up with a great deal from the government for some time now, and the boiling point was finally reached. Millions upon millions began to flood Washington D.C. Demanding their politicians be held accountable for the acts that had been committed. Thus spawning the president to announce the creation of the USDH, to not only ensure that such a thing never happened again, but to find real solutions to the anger and suffering of the people, here and abroad. Considering the country was well known for going against the majority of the existing tenants, it wasn't long before the other nations of the world turned their backs on the country and it's noble intentions. And even the citizens of America herself had very little trust in this newly developed organization... Time passed, and each policy made by the USDH failed more miserably than the last. Mandated: Physical Therapy, indulgence in relaxing drugs, and even a forced day off in both the private and public sectors did nothing to ease the publics anger. However, as if the universe heard the call of the planets desire for peace and harmony, something happened. Something none of the people had ever expected, but some wished would. A lavender unicorn appeared in-front of the nations capital, and with astounded and skeptical looks, addressed the leaders of the nation. She claimed her name was Twilight Sparkle, and that she and some one named "Princess Celestia" had been watching the suffering of the human race for some time. The world was at a standstill, all wars had come to a ceasefire as the prayers of the USDH had unexpectedly, though welcome, been answered. At first the unicorn was labeled as some kind of terrorist creation to gain trust by the western leaders, though, her tears were seen all around the world when she spoke of the wars that she had witnessed in the middle east. With great sympathy, the law makers of America decided to listen to this "Twilight Sparkle" and her preposition. The hearing was televised and spread through out the world. Twilight told of her world and how the majority of it was peaceful and lacked most kinds of violence. The concept of "modern warfare" was alien to her people, and friendship was the way of the land. Most called such a fairy tale land just that, a fairy tale. Hardly any believed in the young mares words, and some accused her of blatantly misleading the humans in order for their enemies to over through them. Try as she might, the misanthropes of the political arena wouldn't allow Twilight even a moments reprieve with the: "What if's" and "But's". However, that's when the head of USDH, Philip Anderson, stepped in to challenge Congress on their skepticism. Philip argued for the equine that humanity had failed to find any kind of solution for itself, and that all the naysaying would only stifle any progress that could be made. It was clear that the human race was in need of some outside help, and if what the unicorn said was true, the Equestrian ways would defiantly be of assistance to achieving the goal of world peace. Though reluctant, the leaders agreed that it would be beneficial to allow the mare's plan to come to fruition. She returned to her world and not long after reappeared with five other ponies who labeled themselves "The Elements of Harmony." The proposal was that: a few citizens of Equestria would come to Earth and teach the humans about the true meaning of friendship and peaceful co-existence. Needless to say, there were a great many individuals who saw the inter-dimensional beings as something that was unknown, and when there is the unknown, there is fear. Despite the quasi-mainstream influence of My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic on both the internet and among children in many different countries. The pony sympathizers had to compete with the Anti-pony fear mongers. The government had soon gotten a hold of Loran Faust and the other creators of "My Little Pony", and, it was assumed they were interrogated for their knowledge of their pony creations who had come to reality. Though, none who had anything to do with the show had been seen since. Much of the Bronie community was thrilled at the revelation of ponies existence, not only were the equine's real, but they wanted to help the human race become a benevolent species. Though others saw this as crossing a line. Skeptics of the authenticity to the pony race were not hard to come by, and many demonized those who found the ponies arrival with any sort of positivity. But still, the ponies came all the same. At first there was only one settlement outside of Washington D.C labeled Compound Alpha. And by 2016 there were five compounds in three countries. During the year 2015, there was a complete ceasefire agreement given at the U.N. All NATO troops in the Middle east were pulled back, and the Arab world had gone back to how it was before. Things hadn't gotten much better in terms of Economic growth for the U.S. or the world, unemployment and civil disobedience were still rampant, and there were even groups who began blaming the ponies themselves for the lack of a substantial recovery. Conspiracy theories began swarming the internet that the ponies were actually alien beings come to earth disguised as beloved cartoon characters to get a feel for the planet and it's citizens. Most dismissed the accusations as fear mongering, though; little had any evidence to the contrary. Several "Human Supremest" came together, and demanded that the ponies be sent back to where ever they came from, or killed. These groups and the "Bronies" would constantly clash on social stages to the point violence would erupt where ever either party was speaking. Luckily though, the majority of people hadn't really mind the ponies showing up, most found them adorable and found their Ideal of peace and friendship to be one worth accepting. Most western countries found themselves helping out their neighbors and the less fortunate more and more. Food drives headed by the ponies in leadership positions were beginning to gather more funds to feed and accommodate those who were poverty stricken and homeless. Some ponies even traveled to certain cities upon request to speak with the citizens about what a community was, and how one should learn to appreciate and love those around them. Giving emphasis to how giving to the community increases the "feel good" hormones in the human brain. Some even allowed the children to ride on their backs like horses, if nothing to gain a sense of trust and humility. For a time, the human world began to heal. Towns became more community oriented, people in cities worked together to help get the kids off the street and help parents who needed it financially. Marijuana was legalized and all the inmates in the prison institutions were freed if they had exclusively related charges, cutting down the government spending noticeably. However, the economy still hadn't grown, no matter how much unity and kindness was spread, the solutions that the USDH couldn't stop what all to many knew was going to come. In 2016 is when It finally happened. The United States had just lost the Petro-dollar and world reserve currency to the Chinese Yuan after China had purchased vast amounts of gold to back their money, and currency speculators had found the Eastern country to be a more prominent investment as opposed tot he debt based system that supported the U.S. The lose of the petro-dollar was the straw that broke the camels back in the United States. The dollars worth dropped dramatically since it was no longer needed to purchase oil and it had nothing else to hold it's worth. That mixed in with the trillions of dollars of debt the government had, the world had no more confidence in the currency nor the country. It didn't take long for the consequence of such a loss to become apparent in the U.S. y. Gas prices, where you could find it, had begun to soar past fourteen to twenty dollars a gallon. Truckers began abandoning their jobs due to having to pay so much out of pocket to fill the tank, even the transport hubs themselves wouldn't pay such an outrageous price for gas. It wasn't long before grocery stores lay bare and people looking for food become angry and fearful. Most farms relied on a constant stream of import and exports to sustain themselves financially, where there were live stalk, there was a high demand for feed. With out the means of quick transport, a great deal of: cows, pigs, chickens, horses, and all other manner of farm animal died for no reason other than due to lack of food. Even the Equine's lessons couldn't get the people through a time of such scarcity. The government attempted to intervene and sell off the federal owned land where Oil was buried and could easily be drilled for. Though, once the companies refused to sell for worthless dollars, and instead opted to sell to countries with substance, the government attempted to nationalize the rigs for American use. Though, once word had gotten out for such a seizure, the corporations who had set up the drills and refineries had demolished the structures to spite their aggressor. What few oil drilling and refining operations that remained were hardly enough to put the country back to the way it once was. And so, the looting had begun... The of hungry and scared masses began rioting again and laying sieges to grocery stores and restaurants, taking what ever food was left. Even spoiled or expired nourishment was welcomed. Most hoped to wait out the monetary collapse, and prey that the government would apply a solution to fix the economic crisis. Though, there was no such magic that could be given. The majority of the world was fairing little to no better, considering their ties to the dollar. Eventually it had gotten to the point where the ponies found their talents to be useless. Love and Tolerance couldn't fill people stomachs, and most of the modernized world didn't 'wast their time' gardening, seeing as there were still laws against it thanks to the FDA. Couple with that the fact it was winter, and not to many plants would be able to grow enough food even if everybody and their families had started gardens immediately. So, they began returning to their home world, leaving the humans to sort their affairs out. Though, news of the ponies retreat back home hadn't gone unnoticed, and as irrational as people are when they are terrified, some wanted to the ponies to pay for "what they did" to the economy. Using pseudo-justifications; the human supremacists began converting people to the belief that man wasn't responsible for what had happened. After all, what human would want to bring about this kind of devastation? And the pony which hunting's had begun. It is now February 2016. three of the compounds had escaped back to Equestria, though only one was relatively unscathed. Alpha Compound and Omega Compound had never been confirmed to have reached the way gates back home. Whether those two groups had been killed, captured or lost is anyones guess. Though there is one pony who refused to accept defeat. Lyra Heartstrings had believed in humans her whole life, and was more than thrilled to finally be able to walk among them. She wouldn't forgive herself if she gave up on them now. (A/N, meh, just a project/concept I've been thinking of for a while. I haven't seen it done yet, and I don't have an editor. So, let's see who rips it apart first.)