Ponyville PD

Prologue

The year is 2133 in equestria. Seventy years ago, the discovery of coal and how it could be used to power more than just trains but burnt to create a new form of energy called ‘electricity’ sparked an industrial revolution plunging Feudal Equestria into the modern world. Soon, more railroads crisscrossed the country and linked otherwise far away places to each other.

Many merchants saw their opportunity to profit from the wide spread communication and distribution and began setting up trade posts everywhere they could to maximize profit. Soone after the trading posts began getting set up, small settlements popped up around them, and then bustling cities took their place.

But with technology also comes unrest. Ponies began to believe that they could govern themselves better than that of the princesses. THe believed that they didn’t need a central monarchy anymore, but rather a fair way of deciding who took charge of the government.

The movement started out as just a small cult that called themselves “The Fundamentalists” but quickly grew into a large political movement, and within three years, had grown from just a few dozen pony visionaries, to more than half the population. And with that support they took to the streets.

It all began as peaceful protesting in the streets of Canterlot, Manehattan and other major metropolitan areas. Chants rose up into the heavens, “Republic!” Like what the griffins had done many years ago.

As the support for the Fundamental movement  grew, the princesses began trying to quell the rebellion. The claimed to be there to rule Equestria for the greater good, but in truth, relished the power. Endless bits, ponies at their beck and call, armies that followed their commands and the respect. Their names called into the sky in respect or spoken in terrified whispers. The power that came with being princess was too much for them to give up willingly.

So they resisted, or more like slaughtered the innocent ponies of the Fundamentalist movement, then it all went to hell. The Fundamentalist changed their name to the harbingers and withdrew to the country to muster their forces. The upper members had seen this coming from the very beginning and had started looking for willing and able bodied colts and stallions that could fight for ‘The New Equestria.’

After three years of silence, the Harbingers finally attacked the small towns of Ponyville and Philydelphia. Those of which they took without any casualties or collateral damage to the town’s buildings or inhabitants. And at the command of the Sole HArbinger, or commander, of the harbingers, they quickly set up shop at the center of the town and and left the inhabitants to their lives as if they were never there.

This gained them even more support from the inhabitants of Equestria. If the ponies knew they wouldn’t be harming their towns or families and leave them strictly as civilians, then they didn’t mind supporting this revolution. And, most ponies could admit to being tired of the fluctuating tax rates and restrictions put on them by the princesses who were becoming more and more paranoid.

And thus the revolution continued to move east towards Canterlot, soon taking every city and town other than Canterlot with next to no resistance from the ponies. All the while, not harming a single hair on the ponies’ manes or imposing themselves upon the peaceful inhabitants. As they marched, young colts and fillies eager to be apart of something took up ranks with the Harbingers and marched to Canterlot.

By the time they reached the colossal city, they had more than doubled their ranks, and armed them with short rifles and hoofguns. Their armor consisted of a tough matte material plated in steel. While the Royal army still carried the primitive spears and long swords stood no chance against the ponies of the the Harbingers and managed to take the outer city in a matter of days. But their real challenge faced them just ahead in the inner city at the palace.

Celestia, being a very smart and experienced military commander, had withdrawn her soldiers before there were too many lost to the weapons of the of the Harbingers. But she prayed that it was enough. The only time that a rebellion had gotten this close to success  was Nightmare Moon’s Republic lead by her very sister.

The next morning the ponies of the Harbingers stood in a ring around the boundaries of the inner palace. They stood face to face against the ponies of the Equestrian Guard. The Sole Harbinger standing at the head of the most high ranking officers. He was a tall pony clad in blue robes with the strong armor under them. but unlike his followers, he was just armed with a small dagger. He didn’t look like much of a pony from the outside. Just a small grey colt, younger than most of his followers, but with sparkling blue eyes so full of experience, and sadness. He stood on his hind legs, which had become somewhat a tradition of the Harbingers. Not only did it make their weapons easier to hold, but it gave them an equal playing field against the unicorns of the guard so they wouldn’t have to grab things with their teeth.

Celestia trotted out to head her troops, fear in her eyes at the Stallion in front of her. She was flanked by three of her highest commanders, one of which being her sister, and two archers stood atop the rooftops watching the meeting, ready to protect their princess.

“So this is the stallion that has laid claim to my throne and seized my subjects and cities for his own little rebellion.” She said, hate filled her voice.

“I come here to discuss the terms  of your surrender.” He said plainly. Celestia scoffed at the pony in front of her.

“You think I would surrender to you, a meager earth pony from the country?” She asked, trying to hide her fear with a brave face.

“I can feel your fear princess, you fear me, and the ponies behind me.” He paused allowing the soldiers behind him a quick “HooRah!” Before he began his speech. “You fear change Princess.”

“MY sister fears no pony!” Luna exclaimed, outraged by the pony before her. Insulting royalty as if they were common ponies.

“But there is still a chance for us both to walk away from this. For the ponies of the guard to go back to their families. and live in this new world that we can create and govern together. Create a new form of government, like the griffins did all those years ago. For Equestria to prosper and become what the creator intended it to be from the beginning.” He preached to the ponies not just in front of him, but to the ponies behind them. Reassuring them that their efforts were not in vain.

“No, this war has begun and it shall be finished. I will not allow my soldiers to go back to their homes until this is all over.” She said stamping her hoof into the ground.

“That’s not your call to make.” He said. He turned away from her and climbed up a small wall until he overlooked the ponies that lined up on each side. First he looked to the ponies on the his side. “How many of you regret what you are doing here? How many of you would rather go back to your homes, to your families, raise your hoof into the air and you are released from duty. There is no shame in this action!” He called over to the side of the Harbingers. His words reached the ears of everypony in the crowd, but not a single sound was heard from them as they all stayed silent and still as statues.

He smiled to himself and turned to the side of the Canterlot guard. “How many of you are tired of being ordered by this pony.” He said gesturing down to the Princess. “How many of you even want to fight, and die for her. How many of you would rather hold your families, your foals, your wives and lovers than fight here today. We don’t have to do this, this battle today. So I beg of you, throw down your weapons and go to your homes unharmed. We are not in this to kill, only to change.” He closed his mouth and swallowed. His throat was raw from the speaking, but his heart was high, knowing that he was so close to his goal.

After a few moments of silence, a young pony broke the ranks of the guard and walked to the front of the crowd. He threw down his sword and helmet with a metallic clang. Without turning to face the ponies of the guard he shoved past the princesses, making them grit their teeth. He drew himself up onto his hind legs and continued trotting towards the Sole Harbinger who stuck his hoof down to him. the pony took the hoof and climbed up onto the perch with him.

He was just a young colt, not much older than than himself, but the boldest among his fellow guards. “You are the bravest pony here today.” The Sole Harbinger said batting the pony on the shoulder. The pony just nodded and turned to the other guards.

“The princesses are the reason we are gathered here today, the reason you can’t be with our families today. I know that today is Roy’s wife’s birthday and he wanted ever so bad to be there with her, but got called off to a war he didn’t even want. I know that Kory’s son is turning eight today, but was terrified that his father was going to have to fight today.” The pony called into the crowd, his voice cracking with fear, but he became more confident as he went along.

“Lee’s anniversary is today, Sage’s mother just passed away last week but she got called away from home last month and missed the funeral.” He listed off several more ponies until his voice became hoarse and kept going. until he had named off twenty ponies total. “None of us want this war except her, a failing goddess!” He shouted the last of his speech before hopping down off the perch and taking up rank with the Harbingers. The pony next to him handed him a small hoof gun and slapped him fondly on the back.

At the sight of the Celestia stamped her hoof against the ground and the two ponies on the rooftops released their bow strings. He had forgotten about the archers until now and had no time to react. Though he was lucky, he wasn’t invincible. One of the arrows whizzed just past his ear, but the second buried itself in his shoulder, missing his armor completely.

The force of the impact made him lose his balance and he fell from the perch but managed to land ungracefully on his hooves. the shaft of the arrow protruded from his chest like a marker. The harbingers each raised their weapons and trained them on either the princesses or the achers. “Hold!” The Sole Harbinger yelled holding his hoof up.

He grabbed the shaft of the arrow and yanked it out of his shoulder, tearing a chunk of flesh out with it. He cast the arrow to the ground along with the dark blue robes with just his armor underneath. He tied the robes off around his chest to stop the bleeding.

“Ooh, you’re a tough one.” Celestia mocked picking up the arrow with her magick and examining the blood on the tip.

“The offer still stands.” He said as he turned back and walked into the middle of his troops. “Open fire!” He called once he was out of the way. As gunfire tore apart the silence that had reigned before, he trotted off back to the command tent. He knew that harrow had been poisoned, he could feel it burning the blood in his veins already. He knew he was finished, but he was going to see this war won before it was over. good thing it was almost there as well, for he was only days away from death.

And so the final battles raged on throughout the next few days. Pushing the remaining members of the guard back to the palace. And this time, there were deaths many deaths. Every guard the Harbingers met they either killed or let free, depending on how they felt about the cause.

As the gunfire rang out just outside the palace and within a few hours just outside her throne room, Celestia hung her head in shame. The empire that she had built with her sister was crumbling before her eyes. And at last she saw her error, her position had clouded her thinking, but she had finally come to the conclusion of why these ponies had risen up against her. She realized that she was wrong. She thought that she had been right to defend tradition, but she was never more wrong. She had thrown away the lives of hundreds of ponies that had been killed in the streets by the ponies that just wanted the future. When she had become princess, her mother had told her that she was there to protect the throne and the kingdom by any means necessary, but her mother had been wrong. Oh so very wrong.

As the ponies burst through the doors to the throne room, rifles pushed into their shoulders, Celestia dropped to her knees and put hr forehooves in the air as a sign of surrender.

The Harbingers seemed to be surprised by the lack of ponies in the throne room, when in reality, she was all that was left. All her guards had died for her and Luna had fled to the moon with her children. She said she didn’t want to see her foals die because of her sisters ignorance. She had opened her eyes before Celestia had and gotten out in time, Celestia only wished she could do the same.

One of the ponies that had stormed the room pressed the barrel of his rifle against her forehead. His bronze armor glinted in the sun that filtered through the windows. “Hello Shepard.” She said with a sigh at remembrance of the private that had broken rank at the boundaries.

“Glad to see you know my name.” He said relaxing his grip on the assault rifle and setting it on the ground. “The Sole Harbinger died yesterday because of that arrow, he wanted me to tell you.” Shepard said. Celestia looked town to the ground in shame.

“Before you kill me, I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. For everything.” She said with absolutely no hope.

“I’m sure you are.” He said drawing his knife and sliding it across her throat. She didn’t die in a glamourous manner, but instead choking on her own blood. The blood of a dying empire, and a new one to replace it.

80 years later, the Equestrian Republic is the dominant country in both technology, and economics. The land took little to no time to rebuild with the war march of peace during the Harbingers Revolution. The government was a different story altogether. It took them nearly three years to figure out what they were going to do in terms of a style of leadership but eventually settled on the original idea of voting for representatives and a president to represent the country that had been the original idea of the harbingers.

Now, the bustling city of Ponyville is the biggest in the country. But with size, comes corruption. Drug lords run the streets and thieves as well as gangs run the businesses. Carrying on his grandfather’s legacy, Detective Roy Shepard leads the Ponyville PD in a mission to try and instill order in this crazy town. Though, his job is going to be more than difficult than he ever could have imagined.