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