Prelude to a Second War
Greetings, friends. I'd like to tell you all a story. It's a story of laughter, romance, adventure, but mostly, this is a story about our group of friends, who, through thick and thin, stuck together and made sure that life for all the ponies would be fair and just... well, most ponies, anyway, but we'll get to that. This is not my story, although I am in it. This is simply my telling of it through the information I have gathered, as well as my own experiences. Fillies and Gentlecolts, and other species that might be reading this, I present to you the legend of...
Robin Hoof
by
Pinkamena Diane "Pinkie" Pie
Transcribed and Edited by
Maverick Vox
--
Ballad One
Prelude to a Second War
--
Equestria is first and foremost a nation of peace. It is the solemn duty of the Princesses Celestia and Luna to raise the sun and moon for the world and to protect all of the world's creatures. Although the nation itself is moderate in its size, the influence it has over the world is much greater. Ponies had become the dominant species in the world in terms of population, and there were only a few nations that they did not inhabit, primarily that of Draconia. Peace treaties were the way Equestria did business, and it had worked out well so far.
Which is why the attacks from Canisyr were so unexpected. Rex III, Canisyr's king, had always been one to act calmly and work towards peace, but the growing resentment of Ponies among his subjects was too much to handle. There was a revolution, and Rex was killed. A new king ascended, Bhupen I, and ordered the enslavement of all Ponies living in Canisyr. Bhupen then marched his troops into Dromedor, where he enslaved the Ponies and the native Camels. It was there that Celestia and Luna attempted to make peace, but the offer was declined. Bhupen declared War on all creatures not Canine, and as such, Equestria was engaged in it's first war in hundreds of years.
And this brings us to Canterlot, in the Royal Hall of the Solar Castle.
"Princesses." The grey Earth Pony with an artificial marble hoof and cropped blond mane bowed before the two.
"Whitehoof, is everything prepared?" Celestia asked.
"Indeed. With all due respect, I still greatly question your choice of acting ruler. There are many others who are much more prepared for the job."
"We have no choice!" Luna snapped. "Blueblood is the highest ranking blood-descendant of either of us from our Mating so long ago. And the Equestrian Laws clearly state--"
"That the highest ranking blood relative must take the throne in case anything should happen to either of you," Whitehoof finished. "I am well-versed in the letter of the law, your highness... I just don't trust him to act in the best interests of anypony other than himself!"
"Which is why we have you," Celestia said, eyes locked on the Royal Advisor. "I do not trust Blueblood either, but I trust you to keep his activity in check. And the Army?"
"The Royal Guard is ready, as are the Wonderbolts for air support."
"And the volunteer turnout?"
"Surprisingly high."
Luna winced. "Certainly not the reaction I expected. Does war truly seem that glamorous?"
"I do not wish to find out."
"And the Elements?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow, to which Whitehoof bowed.
"I will do my best to protect them at all costs."
"Good," Celestia nodded. "They are only to be used as a last resort. We must lead our troops to the front lines. As Immortals, we can protect them."
"Very well. Thank you." Whitehoof gave a salute. "Hail Equestria. Hail to the Princesses."
The Princesses returned the salute and teleported out to give their troops a briefing before departing once more for the warzone.
Whitehoof grew increasingly uneasy once the Princesses departed. Of course, he never would have shown it to either of them, but in his heart, he knew he was right. Blueblood was only interested in himself, and he was going to rule Equestria his way. The Prince made this intention immediately clear, as his first act was to call Whitehoof into his office for a private meeting.
"Well, well. I see that our dear Princesses have put the country in the best possible hands, only to make my assistant a common Earth Pony." The smugness and ire in Blueblood's voice were so thick, you could cut them with a knife. Oh, how Whitehoof wished he could. "Still, I know you have a good track record, and you have served the Princesses well. I expect you will give me the same treatment."
"I serve no one pony, your highness. My duty is to Equestria, and all of it's--"
"Riff-raff." Whitehoof gritted his teeth at Blueblood's interruption. "That's all these Ponies are. I do not expect a commoner such as yourself to understand, but we're royalty. Nobility. We are a class above the lowly citizens, they should serve us. The Princesses, dear as they are to me, are far too lenient with them."
"What do you mean?"
"It's quite simple, really. I saw the rebellion of the Canines coming from a mile away. That is the power of Nobility, and the perspective that it gives me. I see the rest of the world as it truly is: A desolate wasteland of mindless savages. Did you see how many of the commoners signed up for this war? They are brutes, and they will be defeated because for all the 'peace' we have created, they are weak and untrained in battle."
"So you expect we will lose this war?"
"No. I expect the Princesses to use the Elements of Harmony once again. In the meantime, I will make the ponies here stronger. I will force them to work harder, and learn to fight, so when the next rebellion comes, we shall be prepared. And if no rebellion comes, the thirst for battle will cause us to be more aggressive in our... 'diplomacy'. I plan to weed out the weak, and hopefully, my children, and their children, and so on will live in a world where we stand above all, and the rest are mere peasants. But first, I need to start at home."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"Easy. I shall raise the taxes, and make the collections more frequent. This will force the Ponies here to work harder. The ones who can't pay, well... I think the dungeon system needs some testing. It hasn't been used in years, after all."
"With all due respect, your highness--"
"Silence. I wish to hear nothing from you. You are to carry out my orders and nothing more. I am acting ruler now. I have all the power. Understood?"
Whitehoof was silently furious at the "acting ruler", but knew there would be trouble if he showed it. Instead, he asked one question. "And if I refuse?"
Blueblood smirked. "It will be considered treason. And the penalty for treason is death." Whitehoof's pupils widened slighlty, but he kept himself calm. "And don't think anyone will stop me. You will soon notice that my personal staff is much more inclined to let things slide." Blueblood trotted over to Whitehoof. "I am not a strict boss, Whitehoof. I just prefer to work with those I trust. Good day."
With that, Blueblood left the office. The next day, he was officially introduced as Interim Ruler of Equestria, and the changes began. Over the next few months, taxes were raised, homes were repossessed, and those who resisted were thrown in dungeons. Ponyville was one of the hardest towns hit, with two unfortunately familiar faces acting as Collector and Jailor, respectively. They were now knocking on the door of the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse.
"The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie is here to collect your tribute!" The blue unicorn was absolutely reveling in her new position. Her Griffon partner was much more serious.
"Yeah, pay up or I'll make you pay!" Gilda added.
"Alright, hold your horses." The door opened and an orange Earth Pony placed a bag of 20 bits in the hands of the Griffon. "You're barely leavin' us enough to eat."
"You live on an apple farm, don't you?" Trixie cackled as Gilda leaned in towards Applejack.
"Have a nice day."
The two left, laughing to themselves as they headed to their next collection. On the way out, they passed a red stallion, his expression a mix of anger and dismay, but they didn't notice him. Big Macintosh headed back into the farmhouse and let out a heavy sigh. Applejack knew exactly what was wrong, but didn't dare to say anything. Macintosh instead just threw his harness off.
"It ain't fair!" This was as animated as Macintosh had ever gotten. "It ain't holdin' me back! Ah'm stronger than ah ever been, spot o' asthma shouldn't cost me mah shot to serve!"
"Ah know, Big Macintosh... why, ah'd do anything ah could for ya, but..."
"Don't cry fer me. Look, I can eat less so Granny Smith an' Apple Bloom can have more."
"You barely eat anything as it is! That damn Blueblood blacklistin' Sweet Apple Acres killed our business, and he taxes us more 'n more each week."
"Any idea why he did that?"
"Prolly still holdin' a grudge over the Gala."
"Petty jerk." The stallion sighed. "It'd just make things easier on all of us if'n we had one less mouth to feed. I don't try to sign up fer personal glory, I just wanna look out for the family."
"Ah know, but it's yer health." Applejack placed a hoof on her brother's shoulder. "Why, if I could serve, I..." Her eyes lit up, and Macintosh knew exactly what was happening.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. No way, sister. You can't join the--"
"An' why can't I join the Equestrian Army?!" she snapped. "There ain't nothin' wrong with me!"
"But you're an Element o' Harmony!"
"So? Celestia wants to use us as a last resort, but this could be our last resort to help the family!"
"I won't allow you to go."
"Has that ever stopped me before?"
Macintosh chuckled. "No... I guess it hasn't. But you better come back in one piece."
"Ah promise ah will."
Macintosh hugged his sister tight. Within a week, Applejack was on a ship headed for Dromedor. Her friends at home were trusting of her decision.
***
"What do you mean, 'She left to fight in the war'?!"
"Twilight, you know how stubborn mah little sister is. When she sets her mind to somethin', there ain't no stoppin' her."
"This is bad, this is bad!" Twilight Sparkle was now in panic mode. "I expect this kind of thing from Rainbow Dash, but Applejack?! What if she gets hurt? Or captured? Or..." She stopped herself before she said "killed". In her heart, she knew Celestia and Luna would allow no harm to come to their subjects, but this was a war nonetheless. And all her history books told her that bad things happened in wars.
"Now, ah'll have none o' that sort o' thinkin', ya hear?" Macintosh firmly stated. "Applejack's gonna be fine, and--"
Without warning, Rainbow Dash flew down to Twilight and Big Macintosh. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
"What's going on?" Twilight asked.
"It's Prince Blueblood! He'll be arriving any minute and he demands everypony present!"
"Ugh... you seem awfully excited, considering you hate him as much as anypony."
"If there's anypony not in the service missing, he'll double the taxes!"
"Double?!" the unicorn and Earth Pony said at once.
"Why, that greedy son of a..." Macintosh bit his lip to keep himself from finishing. "We'd better get going."
As the trio reached the town square, where everypony was "eagerly anticipating" the Prince's arrival, a very important-looking unicorn stepped out of a chariot and unfurled a scroll.
"Hear ye! Hear ye! His Royal Majesty, the Great Prince Blueblood approaches! Anypony caught acting in defiance of him shall be arrested on sight! Anypony who does not bow will be seen as defiant! Understood?"
Everypony reluctantly nodded. The grandiose chariot carrying the Prince made it's entrance as a number of unicorn guards trumpeted a magnificent fanfare. Twilight made a mental note of how the Princesses would never be caught traveling in such an extravagant vehicle. The fanfare continued as a red carpet was unrolled. The door opened and everypony reluctantly bowed as the Prince made his way out to the streets.
"Hail Prince Blueblood! Hail Equestria!" A sickening inversion of the normal guard chant, Twilight made another mental note. The Princess' chant put Equestria first. A small change, but one that made it clear where the new loyalties were meant to lie.
"Greetings, citizens of Ponyville," the arrogant stallion spoke. "I am pleased to say that Ponyville has been rather good about paying it's tribute to me and my country. I had underestimated you. You are not as lackadaisical as I had once thought." The backhanded compliment stung quite a few ponies. "I can now see why the Princesses held this place in such high regard. You are loyal to the crown, although you are mere commoners. Keep up this good work." Blueblood paused for a moment before turning to the various ponies and smiling. "Also, I would like to announce that I have chosen a bride, from this very town."
Several of the eligible mares looked up with expressions ranging from worry to genuine excitement. Blueblood cantered around the town before stopping in front of a white unicorn with a deep purple mane.
"Hello, Rarity," the Prince said in a falsely kind tone. "Would you be so kind as to accept my hoof in marriage?"
The ponies in attendance were not really surprised. Rarity was considered the most beautiful mare in Ponyville, and she often had spoken of her dreams of meeting a charming prince to whisk her away. However, she refused to tell anypony about her night at the Grand Galloping Gala, except that it was a bad experience overall. Had they known that it was on that night that she met Prince Blueblood and seen him for who he truly is, they probably would not have been as shocked when Rarity turned around and gave Blueblood a perfect double-hoofed buck to his jaw. Guards immediately seized the mare and helped Blueblood to his hooves.
"Are you all right, Prince Blueblood?"
"I shall be fine. Bring her with us. Some time in the dungeons should help her come around."
"No!" cried the voice of a small filly. As a number of guards dragged Rarity towards the prison cart, shackling her hooves together in the process, they noticed a the white foal clinging to her tail. "Don't take my sister!"
"Insolent brat!" Sweetie Belle held tightly, but the guard pulled her off and rather unceremoniously threw her back towards the crowd. As she landed in the dirt, two other fillies of similar size rushed to her aid. As the yellow Earth Pony made sure her friend was all right, the orange Pegasus angrily turned towards the guards.
"You... you jerks!"
The guard that threw Sweetie Belle laughed as he approached Scootaloo, towering over the filly. "Oh ho, we have a defiant little filly that needs to be taught a lesson, eh?" He raised a hoof menacingly and was about to strike when Big Macintosh grabbed the hoof, preventing any harm from befalling the young one.
"Ah won't allow you to hurt any of 'em."
The guard gave Big Macintosh a look that would cause any other pony to reconsider, but Blueblood spoke.
"Iratus!" The guard turned towards his Prince and bowed. "I am severely disappointed in you. The Royal Guard does not harm foals," Blueblood stated emphatically.
"I apologize, my liege. It will not happen again," Iratus groveled.
"Very good," the Prince replied. "Now arrest that stallion for assaulting a guard!"
The crowd murmured, but Macintosh simply glared at Blueblood, his eyes never wavering until he was about to be loaded into the prison cart. He then looked at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight in turn, nodding at each of them before joining Rarity.
"Well," Blueblood said while being dusted off, "that was certainly eventful. Citizens of Ponyville, i do not hold the actions of a few of your more stupid residents against you, and thus, Taxes shall remain at their current rate. However, I strongly advise that you learn to treat royalty with a little more respect. Good day."
The chariots were reloaded and headed back towards Canterlot. In the prison cart, Rarity could not help but shed a few tears for what had happened.
"That brutish guard. How did he get into the force anyway?"
"Ah don't know," Macintosh replied honestly. "Ah guess this is the sort of abuse of power we've gotta deal with now."
"I don't regret bucking him in the face."
Macintosh laughed a bit. "If I'd have done it, it probably woulda knocked his head clean off."
"If only." Rarity sighed. "You're the strongest pony in town, how were you rejected from service so many times?"
"Asthma, if you can believe it."
"Really?"
"Ah guess it could be a combat liability, but I've managed it all mah life without worry."
"Not very fair, is it?"
"Nope... but neither is this."
"Indeed. Somepony needs to stand against this tyrrany."
Macintosh could only respond with a simple, "Eeyup."
"I hope Twilight can think of something..."
***
"I can't think of anything!" an exasperated Twilight Sparkle said to her friends in the basement of her library. Spike was nearby, wrapping Sweetie Belle's hoof as the other Cutie Mark Crusaders stood by their friends.
"Can't think of anything, or can't think of anything legal?" asked Dash, fully aware that it was the second one.
"Well..."
"Illegal? Oh, my..." came the voice of the timid Fluttershy.
"Exactly! I don't like this new regime either, but we have to obey it!"
"Come on, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie urged. "You're the smart one, don't you remember that famous quote? 'If a law is unjust, a pony is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.'"
"That's--wait, how did you have that memorized?" the unicorn asked.
Pinkie shrugged. "I like history. Political parties are parties too!"
"That's not--whatever," Twilight dismissed the subject. "Still, that was different! Thomas Hooferson said that when he was protesting Trottingham's local government for starting an income..." A realization fell over Twilight's face. "... tax." Dash and Pinkie looked at Twilight as she sighed. "Okay, so say we form some crazy resistance to fight back against Prince Blueblood and his evil ways. How long would it be before they come here and arrest us all?"
"Not if we leave here," Spike chimed in.
"And where would we go? Anywhere in Ponyville or in Equestria is sure to be monitored! The only place we'd be safe is the..."
"Everfree Forest," everpony said unanimously. There was a brief silence.
"Um..." Everypony looked at Fluttershy. "But, oh... but isn't that dangerous?"
"An' what's a bit o' danger?" Apple Bloom suddenly spoke.
"Apple Bloom!" Twilight scolded.
"Ah'm sorry, but how many times've we been in that place? Y'all went in there to beat Nightmare Moon, Fluttershy stared down a cockatrice, heck, even Snips 'n Snails went in there to find an Ursa by themselves!"
"You know, she's got a point," said Dash.
"B'sides, it's not like we'd be campin' out in the open if we stayed with Zecora."
"That..." Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. "That's actually not a bad idea... I don't know if she'd appreciate us showing up unannounced, but all the same, we're running out of options."
"I'm sure she'd understand," Pinkie said.
"So what do y'all say? We head to Zecora's an' start plannin'?"
"I don't know..." said Twilight. "What about your parents?" she directed at Scootaloo.
"I can't leave my friends!" Scootaloo protested.
"Don't sweat it, squirt," Dash said. "Just tell 'em Rainbow Dash is taking you camping for a few days!"
The Pegasus filly gasped. "Really?"
"Yeah! I can't leave you out of your friends' adventure! I mean, Sweetie's parents are out of town and Granny Smith, well..." Dash hesitated to bring up the subject.
"'Home fer the Useless' mah hoof! Where'd they get off stickin' her in that jail?" Apple Bloom indingnantly stated.
Dash sighed. "Yeah... so they've gotta stay with Twilight."
"That about settles it," Twilight said. "Any objections?" They all turned towards Fluttershy expectantly.
"No." This shocked the other ponies. "I'll go with you. I don't make any money caring for the animals, and I'm running out of savings to pay the taxes with." Fluttershy sighed and looked up. "I'd rather brave the forest than prison. At least I have an idea of what's in the forest."
Twilight nodded. "All right. Go home and pack your things. Take anything that might come in handy; food, clothing, weapons." That last one made everypony wince. "Meet back here at sundown. We'll leave under cover of nightfall. Ponies will be less likely to be looking."
With that, everyone but Twilight, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike left.
"Spike, tell me I packed my archery kit when I moved."
"I had a feeling you might want to break it out eventually."
"Oh, and get me my copy of Advanced Luminosity Magic."
"You got it!"
***
High above Ponyville, a bit later in the day, Rainbow Dash grabbed a stick from her cloud closet. It was about 2-and-a-quarter meters long, and rather well polished, as this was no ordinary stick: it was a quarterstaff. Made from an enchanted wood that made it an extension of a Pegasus' power, new recruits to the Weather Academies were trained with these staffs to better control their inner energy, to get better at cloud-crafting. In older times, times with more wars, Pegasi used quarterstaffs to fling clouds or lightning bolts at their faraway enemies. Also, if an enemy got too close, the staff itself could pack quite a wallop, as Dash had learned the hard way in her youth.
Dash looked at her weapon and smiled a bit. She twirled it for a bit, spinning around and letting the energy flow through her. As she felt a surge of power gravitate towards her hooves, she made one more turn before bring the staff down, pointing it at the wall. The wave went through her hooves and into the staff, a small black cloud flying out of the end towards the wall, exploding into electricity upon impact. She smiled wider.
"Still got it." She tied a bag to each end and strapped the staff to her back, another old trick from her Weather Academy days which allowed her to carry twice as many supplies. She opened the door to her cloud home, ready to go, only to be met by her old Griffon friend. "Gilda," she said dryly.
"Skippin' town on us?"
"Going camping for a few days with some friends." The emphasis on the last word stung Gilda as Dash floated to the edge of the cloud. "Got a problem with that?"
"Nope. You pay your taxes, you're free to do what you wish."
"So if I'm all good, why are you here?"
"Can't a Griffon just shoot the breeze with an old friend?"
"You have no 'friends' here. Just 'lame flip-flops,' remember?" Dash's voice had a bitterness in it that made the air around them feel heavier.
"What happened to you, Dash? You used to be cool."
"And you used to not be a jerk."
"You think I'm enjoying my job? You think I like throwing ponies in the slammer?"
"Of course you do!" Dash swung around to face her former friend. "Sure, there might be a small part of you that's feeling guilty about it, but you became just another old-school Griffon that hates and resents ponies for Celestia-knows-what reason!"
"Yeah? Well, you're... you're..." Gilda stammered.
"A flip-flop?" Dash finished her thought for her. "No. You're the flip-flop." Dash turned back towards Ponyville. "I used to have a friend named Gilda. She was a cool Griffon, who was always there to pick me up when I felt down, to help me through dark times, who was understanding of me and my pony friends, and she helped me become who I am today." Dash let out a heavy sigh. "I hope to see my old friend again someday." With that, Dash leapt off the cloud and flew back towards the library, leaving Gilda to stew against the sunset.
***
Dash knocked on the door of the library, and after struggling a bit to fit the staff through the door, just let Twilight levitate it through.
"Thanks." Dash then spotted the quiver of arrows with Twilight's supplies. "Huh, never pegged you for an archer."
"It's a surprisingly good way to learn how to control one's telekinesis," the Unicorn explained.
"So is everypony here?"
"Everyone but Pinkie--"
Suddenly, a knife flew mere millimeters in front of Twilight's face and stuck into the wall. Twilight's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the impact, then she turned her head to see Pinkie Pie in the doorway, holding a few more knives; daggers, more accurately.
"I--uh--how--WHAT?!" Twilight managed to get out.
"Where'd you find those?" Dash asked.
"Oh, these?" Pinkie replied, trotting over and plucking the thrown knife out of the wall. "Old family tradition. First child to leave the nest gets the Family Daggers. Apparently, we used to be blacksmiths."
"... huh. Let's head down. I've had Spike prepare a big dinner," Twilight said. "We're gonna need it."
The ponies went over strategies and plans, and what they should do if Zecora chose not to help them, although they could not think of a reason she wouldn't. They ate well, and when the sky darkened, they donned their hoods to conceal themselves from anypony who would be watching.
"Oh, hold on. Spike, get the lights." The dragon turned off the lights at Twilight's request. "I have a spell that will make it so we can see in pitch darkness. Everypony, focus on my horn and don't blink."
A spark of light formed at the tip of Twilight's horn. As it grew brighter, it became harder for the others to keep their eyes open, but they did, until sparks actually shot into their eyes causing them to snap shut as a reflex. Pinkie Pie was the first to open her eyes.
"Hey, I can see!"
The others opened their eyes to see Twilight's basement, as if the moon was directly glowing into the room. Everything had an eerie blue glow,
"Oooh, cool!" Scootaloo grinned.
"Okay, let's head out." Twilight then gave instructions. "Dash, go up to the balcony and take a look around. When you're sure no one's watching, fly around and open the front door."
There was no one watching. Cautiously optimistic, the band of ponies made their way into the Everfree Forest. The spell Twilight cast was very helpful in helping them quickly find their way to Zecora's hut. Twilight gently approached and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Another knock, and a whisper from Twilight. "Zecora!" At this, the door opened.
"Ah. Your arrival has been foretold by fate, though I did not expect it to be this late," the Zebra spoke, opening the door to let the troupe in.
"You knew we were coming?" Dash inquired.
"I had expected it for quite some time. It is up to the Elements to stop this great crime. They've left me alone, that's been my luck, so I may help you now that you are stuck."
"So the tax collectors haven't come into the forest at all?" Fluttershy asked.
"This Everfree Forest is something they fear. I've taken advantage of the way it appears," Zecora said with a smirk.
"Perfect," Twilight smiled. "While Applejack and the Princesses fight a war to save the world, we're going to start a war to save Equestria." Twilight saluted, and the other ponies followed suit. "Hail Equestria. Hail to the Princesses."
"Hail Equestria. Hail to the Princesses," they all repeated.
The Everfree Forest had always been seen by ponies as freakish and dangerous. The ponies were used to being in control of everything, so a place that ruled itself unassisted was kind of jarring. For the nine that were about to start a resistance, however, it now symbolized a renewed hope, a hope that the tyranny of Prince Blueblood would soon be eliminated, a hope that the ponies of Equestria would soon once again be Ever Free.