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2983 18.38 KB 328
2983 18.38 KB 328
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Originally published November 2014
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Prompt:
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>"My shop is for ponies only. NO humans allowed."
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Apparently, segregation exists in Equestria.
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What do?
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> Start organization dedicated to the advancement of non-pony species.
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> Gather griffons, diamond dogs, zebras, and other nonpoonies to your cause.
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> Early efforts at protests are small, but prominently staged in Canterlot.
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> Until they are quietly and brutally put down by unsympathetic guard.
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> Faced with the reality that protest is not going to change anything, your actions turn darker.
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> Stones replace signs.
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> Molotov cocktails replace stones.
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> You are declared a maniac and forced to go underground.
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> That's okay.
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> The dogs have plenty of places to hide.
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> And your griffons are worth five pony guards each.
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> A year down the line.
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> You make your first move.
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> Your rioters hit hard and fast.
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> Dozens of shops in manehatten trashed, looted, and burned.
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> The worst offenders - those who did not merely ban ponies, but revelled in their racism.
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> It's to much, to soon.
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> Nearly a third of your raiders are taken prisoner.
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> But you learn from your failures.
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> Your loot will be traded on the black market - sold for bits that will fund your efforts.
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> The next targets are smaller, more widespread, less defensible.
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> But now, you have a PR problem.
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> In the eyes of the common pony, you're raiders, thieves, criminals.
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> Degenerates lining their own pockets, not revolutionaries supporting the cause of equality.
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> Counter-groups, seeking to 'protect the noble citizens of Equestria' from the 'degenerate pillagers' spring up.
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> Racial purity groups in disguise, but worryingly popular.
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> And then a golden opportunity falls into your lap.
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> Appleoosa had long been one of the most open towns in Equestria.
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> Buffalo, ponies, and others living in relative equality and peace.
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> A choice for which they are now made a target.
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> Your front's ears catch wind of an impending attack on the town, to 'drive out the bringers of disharmony and all who would support them'.
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> Ponies included.
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> The guard will, of course, arrive far to late.
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> It's going to be a massacre.
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> One of your agents approaches the sheriff.
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> He agrees to accept your help, so long as your militia behaves itself.
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> You agree.
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> Two days before the raid, you kidnap reporters from three of Equestia's foremost newspapers.
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> A rough decision, but they have to see the truth.
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> When the would-be 'purifiers' descend on Appleoosa, they instead find an ambush of well-armed, battle-hardened militia.
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> They are disorganized, approaching one group at a time.
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> Intended casual butchery turns to total rout.
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> And all through it, the newsponies record everything.
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> When the story breaks, of course, their tales have been twisted.
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> But the kernel of truth is undeniable.
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> Your forces were the ones protecting the town, not trying to level it.
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> Doubt begins to form.
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> Word begins to spread.
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> The name Anonymous, long since forgotten by most ponies, becomes a household word again.
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> Now you have a working plan.
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> Those who accept true equality, you aid and protect.
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> Those who refuse, you pillage and loot.
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> Discipline becomes the norm, rather than a luxury in your ranks.
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> You receive shelter from sympathetic ponies across Equestria.
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> The guard is not fast enough to catch you. They've never dealt with anything like this.
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> Instead they try and strike at the source.
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> Your supply caches.
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> How they find them is never entirely clear, although you have your suspicions.
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> What is clear is that in two days, nearly a half of your resources across Equestria are lost.
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> With the political climate in Canterlot at the moment, there is only one outcome in the trials of your captured allies.
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> Guilty.
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> Imprisoned.
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> But amid the pain of loss, an unexpected boon.
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> The thestrals of the Night Guard are already viewed with suspicion by many.
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> When they see how your captured are being treated, the first cracks appear.
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> Two weeks after the trials conclude, you receive your first defector.
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> The next, eight days after that.
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> The next, three.
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> Most are returned to their positions, to feed you information on the guard's activities.
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> It doesn't take the royal guard long to try another massive raid.
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> This time, you are waiting.
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> Now you have prisoners too.
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> And in contrast to the almost total silence in which the guard has held your lost, the prisoners you take are allowed to send word back.
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> Popular opinion begins to shift.
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> You are no longer boogeymen, burning shops in the night.
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> Less than a month later, a force of royal guard and your militia quietly meet at the bottom of a valley.
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> Prisoners are exchanged.
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> Tears are shed.
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> Another battle is won.
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> A tense peace falls across Equestria in the following months.
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> Your militia skirmishes with a few self-proclaimed 'purification squads'
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> But there are no more major raids, no more massive guard operations.
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> The final boon you need comes nearly a year and a half later.
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> The Changeling hive had been in a state of near-social collapse for ages.
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> They had finally reached out to Equestria to seek peace, but the nobles' council in Canterlot, hardened by anti-equality sentiment, refused.
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> Total civil war occurs in due time.
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> Your organization opens its arms to the fleeing changelings.
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> They can have a new home, one that does not fear them.
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> It is not a popular decison.
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> Two major fragments of your group break away.
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> One is crushed by the royal guard.
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> The other rejoins after its leadership suddenly develops a severe case of blade-in-throat syndrome.
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> When all is said and done, there are now suddenly several thousand dedicated new recruits to your cause.
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> You have soldiers, government, territory where the 'purification squads' and 'Equestrian nobility' fronts dare not roam.
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> You are a state in all but name.
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> You can be denied no longer.
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> Word is quietly sent to you from Canterlot.
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> The princesses are willing to negotiate.
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> They offer a total pardon for you and any who operate under your banner.
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> And a promise to begin ramming through legislation to make species-based segregation and assault illegal
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> In return, they seek the disarmament of your organization.
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> It's a fair offer, from their standpoint.
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> But, do you dare?
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> The purification squads and angry voices will not disappear - not even when the new laws come.
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> Especially not for those such as griffons and changelings.
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> This fight will not end with mere ink in a book.
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> Do you dare to give up so much of what you have won?
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> Do you accept the risk that you may place more lives - non-equine and pony alike - in danger?
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> But, do you dare to refuse the best offer to end this half-war you're likely to get?
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> Do you dare?
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[At this point I left the thread for several hours. Although the ending to the above had been meant to be rhetorical, people started suggesting courses of action. I wrote alternate endings for the options suggested.]
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> You stared at the message long and hard.
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> You spent days in consultation with your highest lieutenants.
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> You did your best to gauge the popular sentiment towards all the options among your varied subjects.
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> No, not subjects.
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> Citizens.
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> Griffons, diamond dogs, changelings, zebras, even sympathetic ponies.
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> Some had families or friends in Equestria.
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> Some had lost families or friends to Equestria.
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> No choice would satisfy all of them.
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> A week later, with a heavy heart you touch pen to paper and begin writing your response.
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> You only hope it is the right choice...
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Multi-ending mode, go!
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> Ending 1A: Inclusion, good end.
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> Your answer to the princesses is short and to the point.
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> Their idea has merit, but a total disarmament at this point is not possible.
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> Instead, you offer a compromise.
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> A proper, negotiated ceasefire between your militia and the guard.
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> Celestia and Luna would begin pushing the legislation through.
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> For every step forward you saw, you would begin drawing down more of your forces.
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> It is not a solid plan.
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> It requires trust.
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> But if there is to be any coexistence in Equestria at all, trust is going to be necessary.
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> Where better to start than at the top?
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> The princess' reply comes indirectly.
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> An announcement that the first legislation making it illegal to discriminate against a law-abiding subject of Equestria in matters of public property and resources.
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> For a first step, it is a small one.
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> After all, most of the nobles' court regards you still as lawless brigands.
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> They cannot bring themselves to even consider the idea that you might some day be a lawful subject of Equestria again.
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> Probably presume that they will merely bring their citizens back from your influence.
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> But the princesses have trusted you to play along.
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> And so you do.
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> Of course, small steps are met with small steps.
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> Your first disarmament takes place in regions that are already well under your control.
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> But the announcement that your militia will cease activities in certain regions comes as a total surprise to the nobles' court.
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> Celestia's proclamation that militia members who lay down their arms will be given full pardons comes as a double slam.
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> By the time they realize what they have begun, they have already passed two more bills making segregation increasingly illegal.
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> Now the pressure is on them.
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> For the first time, however unwanted, they are producing results.
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> Now it is our turn to trust the princesses.
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> Your militias still walk the streets, but instead of wielding blades they call on the guard.
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> The efforts are not without incidents.
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> Lives are still lost.
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> But each of you take of your own sides' failures, and correct them.
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> For the first time, they work with the guard - not against.
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> The nobles' court tries to halt all further legislation until your militia are 'properly punished'.
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> But the avalanche is already begun.
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> The vast majority of Equestria's subjects and yours alike are tired of fighting.
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> Twenty years later.
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> All is not yet well.
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> Bigotry still holds steady in some regions.
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> But tonight, you face the culmination of your efforts.
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> You are the guest of honor at a party in Canterlot tonight, to be recognized for your efforts in resolving a long-simmering conflict.
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> Your honor guard - changeling and griffon, minotaur and pony - face the gold-clad royal guard.
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> Both lines raise varied limbs in salute.
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> And for the first time, you bow to a princess with a smile.
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> Ending 1B, inclusion, bad end.
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> If there is ever to be coexistence in Equestria, trust is to be necessary.
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> Where better than to start at the top?
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> If only that trust had filtered down.
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> When the first orders to disarm came down, there was grumbling.
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> Inevitably, success was not universal.
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> In some places, the guard still sided with those who would support 'purity'.
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> The second set of disarmament orders was met with open arguing.
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> Some branches outright refused.
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> Blood being spilled was only a matter of time.
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> Still you drove ahead, stubbornly determined to see this to its end.
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> Success was never instantaneous!
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> If they would only hold out long enough, progress would be made!
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> The nobles' court was passing more laws, however grudgingly.
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> All you needed was more time, and things could change.
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> The third set of orders was the breaking point.
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> Assault by guards, conflicting opinions between races, and sometimes near-starvation had failed to break your organization.
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> The drive for peace did.
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> Two, three, four subgroups broke off.
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> Refusing to stand down, staking their claim in various regions.
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> You drive ahead, praying that they would turn to the cause of peace when you brought more results.
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> Twenty years later.
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> You resided in a manor in Canterlot.
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> Along with the remainder of your loyalists, you had received pardons for your actions.
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> But you had lead less than twenty percent of your once-subjects to this 'victory'.
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> Six separate successors to your organization had not chosen to follow your steps and receive a pardon.
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> In you opinion, most of them did not deserve such.
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> Without you guidance, your resources, your contacts in the Equestrian government, none had come as close to peace as you had.
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> They had nearly all devolved to their roots - wild raiders, robbers and pillagers.
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> And in turn, the efforts in Canterlot to shift the national opinion had slid back.
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> Why should they tolerate, when the other races continued to attack them?
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> You and your peace-seekers were barely accepted, staying to certain regions that still remembered the goodness you had brought.
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> And every night, you looked out the window and wondered.
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> Could you have done better?
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> Could you have brought peace?
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> Ending 2A: Seperatist, good end.
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> Your reply was delivered to Celestia in due time.
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> It was also delivered to four of the most prominent of the Equestrian newspapers.
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> A declaration of independence deserved to be public, after all.
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> And that was just what you were delivering.
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> A declaration that however noble the princess' intentions were, they could not force the will of their entire country.
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> Only by standing strong and standing together could you survive.
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> And so that was what you did.
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> You stood together.
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> When the guard was mobilized to stare down your militia in the territory you had declared your own, you stood together.
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> When Equestria fell to the bare rim of civil war, you stood together and stood strong.
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> You opened your gates to all who would seek refuge.
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> Equestria danced close, but never fell.
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> The guard was called off.
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> You made your second announcement:
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> That conflict with Equestria was not your goal.
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> So long as they would not halt those who sought safety with you, peace was and acceptance was all you sought.
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> To be treated as an equal - if not as a person, then as a nation.
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> The first few years were a terrible trial.
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> Food was short, and refugees many.
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> But you persevered.
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> Barely any of your citizens could use magic.
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> Science replaced it.
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> Steelworks and shipyards sprung up.
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> Griffon knowledge of the winds, changeling engineering, minotaur metallurgy.
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> All combined to bring you life, and then prosperity.
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> And when your newborn nation failed to turn into a haven for murders and criminals, public opinion in Equestria began to shift.
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> How evil could you be?
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> Your citizens were not slaughtering each other in the streets.
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> Perhaps your choices had a logic to them?
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> And slowly, grudgingly, the nobles' council begin to catch up.
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> Began to accept.
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> Equality, true equality, began to come into law there as well.
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> Twenty years later.
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> Equality was making slow, painful progress across Equestria.
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> Especially with so many dedicated supporters coming to your lands, it would be many years before it came in truth.
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> But that was a thought for later.
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> Today, you had visitors.
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> Some of the Equestrian nobles were nervous to be coming to your new capital.
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> You could understand why.
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> A faint simmering of resentment still hung just out of sight.
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> But as they entered your Hall of Law and saw the ranks and ranks of guard - your guard - saluting them, you could see their fears fading.
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> These were not the ragged militia that had once ravaged their lands.
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> These were a proud, dedicated force that aimed to do what the Royal Guard had been meant to do.
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> Protect their citizens.
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> All of them.
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> As the princesses enter the hall, you rise and bow to them in greeting.
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> And for the first time, they bow to you in return.
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> As equals.
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> Ending 2B, Seperatist, bad end.
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> Celestia's error had been keeping your negotiations secret.
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> When your proclamation hit the streets, the nobles' council had been infuriated.
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> Legislation was quickly run through severely curtailing the princess' power.
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> Your only true allies had been gelded.
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> When the guard was called out, you stood strong and together against them.
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> Equestria's guard was dealt twin shocks that day.
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> One, when your militia held the bloody ground against the once-invincible guard.
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> Two, when they were ordered to suppress Equestrian subjects protesting the unprovoked attack on you.
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> You were hardly surprised.
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> It was just this suppression that had originally driven you from protest to take up arms.
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> Protests turned to riots.
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> Suppression turned brutal.
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> The guard crumbled under the strain.
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> For the first time in living memory, civil war came to Equestria.
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> Brother against sister, daughter against father.
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> Inevitably, some true criminals chose to take advantage of the chaos.
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> Inevitably, it was blamed on you.
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> Again you held the line against the second wave of Equestrian guard.
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> You fought them with minotaur steel and griffon cannon, changeling ichor and even pony magic.
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> By the end of the year, it was clear that no true progress would be made against you.
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> The guard retired to lick their wounds and adapt to this new threat.
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> In the meantime, the reformed nobles' council continued to secure their power base.
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> Which meant pandering to their harshest 'purity' elements.
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> Those years were the toughest.
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> Refugees flooded across the border to your lands.
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> Dodging Equestrian guard patrols however they could, lest they be imprisoned for aiding the enemy.
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> Your forces aided them as best they could, but it was never enough.
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> Food ran short.
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> Somehow, you survived.
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> Twenty years later.
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> You rest in your room far above the hall of law in your new capital.
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> The report in your hand casting strange shadows on your desk in the light of the guttering candle.
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> The nobles' court was cranking up the rhetoric against you.
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> The Equestrian guard was mobilizing again.
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> Another war loomed on the horizon.
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> Of your victory, you had no doubt.
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> The first series of repeating rifles were being rushed to your troops to make ready for the inevitable invasion.
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> They would hold the line.
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> But you wondered.
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> You wondered, staring out into the pouring rain beyond the glass and feeling a wetness on your cheeks despite the windows being closed.
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> How much more blood was to be spilt?
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> How many more lives would be lost?
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> Could you have avoided this?
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> Could you have done better?
by Lurkernon
by Lurkernon
by Lurkernon
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by Lurkernon