Equestria Divided

Twilight Sparkle had never expected this to be her biggest challenge yet. She supposed all of the chaos had been caused by ignorance. Ignorance on why secrets needed to be hidden and ignorance of the horrors the world so many ponies were fighting for would bring.

A civil war in Equestria was on its way. Twilight had known about the dark secrets held by the Princesses for over a thousand years, exactly how Equestria was made. Twilight knew that many ponies would be upset about those secrets. However, she never expected the number would be so large that it would consist of half of Equestria.

This should have been easy. The revolution was being run by a loony human-obsessed unicorn and her lover. Lyra and Bon-Bon. With that said, they were far cleverer than Twilight initially gave them credit. The two of them had destroyed the Elements of Harmony. Enough seeds were planted into members of the Elements of Harmony to completely destroy its power, surely the Elements could be replaced. Twilight had to think about that sooner rather than later.

Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, and Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty were the first to break away. Both of them were malleable and had impulsive personalities. In retrospect, Twilight wished she said something to Pinkie about Bon-Bon’s sudden interest in the pink pony.  Twilight didn’t think anything of it at the time. It was a big mistake on her part. Bon-Bon was a skilled baker and seemed to use that to sway Pinkie over. And Pinkie Pie? Who would have known that the ditz would be so charismatic? Lyra was too human-crazed to be taken seriously. Bon-Bon was too soft-spoken to bring in crowds of ponies initially. It was Pinkie who recruited the ponies.

As for Rainbow Dash, her betrayal was shameful. Rainbow had been spending more time with Lyra and Bon-Bon. A lot more time with them. The two of them conspired to speak sweet words to the Pegasus of a better world – one where Equestria was not ruled by the Princesses and one of freedom. Twilight knew this for certain because Rainbow had visited her once to discuss what she learned. Twilight tried to sway Rainbow out of it. However, it ended with Rainbow saying quite nonchalantly, “I guess we just see things differently.” Rainbow joined the forces. As far as Twilight knew, Rainbow was building up an army. An army which would likely storm into the heart of Canterlot screaming about revolution.

Twilight frowned. Pinkie and Rainbow were lost causes at this point. Laughter and Loyalty needed to be replaced. Who would fit? That was something Twilight would figure out later. For now, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash unfortunately had to be placed on Twilight’s most important checklist yet: The Wanted Ponies. “The Wanted Ponies” consisted of all the ponies who needed to be brought in by the Equestrian Empire for trial. Twilight wanted to set an example by executing the traitors on public display. However, Princess Celestia refused. She decreed that any captured ponies would be sent to the dungeon for life, if found guilty. It was good enough, Twilight supposed.

As for the other Elements, they weren’t quite as completely lost. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, had disappeared upon the start of the rebellion. No pony knew where she was for sure. Twilight had some idea though. Discord was also nowhere to be found. He found the rebellion amusing and refused to take a side. The two of them had probably run off somewhere. As long as Discord wasn’t aiding the rebellion, he was safe. Twilight imagined that he would be a problem for another day.

Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was probably on her way to the rebels’ side unfortunately. Applejack had told Twilight that she had her reasons for wondering if Lyra and Bon-Bon were doing the right thing, at least honesty was still intact. A reason Twilight knew about was preventable. Pinkie was successful in getting Applejack’s family to join the rebellion. The foolish Pinkie seemed to believe that farmers would be better off in a democracy than with the royal monarchy taking the reins. Applejack’s grandmother, older brother, and younger sister had joined the rebels quite easily. All three of them were on Twilight’s wanted list. Family was very important to Applejack. Despite the fact that Applejack didn’t truly support the rebellion, she did support her family. Twilight knew that Big McIntosh had a particularly important role in the rebellion, she had seen the normally taciturn stallion speaking to crowds of ponies about the benefits of a democracy for ponies. Democracy? Twilight was disgusted with the stupidity of her fellow ponies. They talked about democracy like they knew what it meant.

As for Rarity, the Element of Generosity, she used to be the one Twilight could count on the most. Rarity hadn’t done anything yet to show disloyalty to the Equestrian Empire. However, the seeds were certainly being planted. Rarity’s idols in the fashion world had largely supported the rebellion and even were basing their latest designs on elements of the rebellion.. particularly, the extinct human and its grotesque hands. Rarity was a sucker for that sort of stuff. She wanted to be a super fashionista. Twilight and Spike had done their best to ensure that Rarity would not turn. It might work. It could work. It was tough though.

Twilight was getting ready for her Equestria-wide speech. It would be televised and live. She planned to make a strong case for the Princesses and add in the consequences of aiding and abetting rebels. It would work. The Equestrian Empire was out in the open. The rebels were far too secretive with their plans and couldn’t be trusted. Twilight planned to make that clear in her speech. Lyra and Bon-Bon, the cowards they were, had hidden from the public leaving ponies like Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to take the heat instead.

She heard someone. It must have been Spike. Spike was a baby dragon and Twilight’s loyal assistant. Twilight knew Spike since he was born.

“Good morning, Twilight. How are you holding up”, asked Spike.

“Good morning, Spike. I am holding up quite nicely, thank you. There have been a few bumps on the road but I think I know how to smooth things out.”

“Of course, you would since you’re the smartest pony in all of Equestria.”

“That’s probably not true but I do see how it is beneficial to use my head.”

“I just wish we could have kept the Elements intact.”

“I know. It was all my fault. But Spike, we barely knew that a revolt was brewing when Pinkie and Rainbow turned.”

“Yea, that’s true. Maybe we can sway them back to our side as easily as Lyra and Bon-Bon did so, ponies who can turn that quickly can be turned back just as quickly, I think.”

“You might be right, Spike. I am conflicted about that. Pinkie and Rainbow have done too much damage. You’ve seen them riling up crowds and promising freedom. They are the figureheads of the revolution. I don’t think I can forgive them unless it turns out that Lyra set a brainwashing spell on them.”

“I wish it was that simple. Last time I saw Rainbow Dash though, she seemed at her wits. I think she really believes she’ll be freer if we were in a democracy.”

“Terms I doubt Rainbow even truly understands.”

“I agree, Twilight. If Rainbow did, she would know that our current form of government is the best one for society – not this chaotic and ever-changing and unharmonious democracy written about in some old human books.”

“Chaos? Unharmonious? Spike, you’re a genius! I know exactly how to fix all of this. We will play the Discord card. No pony enjoyed the time when Discord was in power. So, why don’t we have the ponies associate democracy with Discord?”

“I dunno, Twilight. The books don’t make any mention of Discord.”

“Spike, in all seriousness, who do you think has read those books besides you, me, Lyra, and Bon-Bon?”

“Lyra and Bon-Bon will use those same books against us and brand the Equestrian Empire as propagandists who spout lies for their own benefit.”

“That’s why I’m going to make one thing very clear about the books themselves. They are fiction. I will tell the crowds what democracy was really like in Equestria and why Princess Celestia worked so hard to cover everything up. This will only work though if we can make a compelling and memorable story: one which will stick in the minds of the masses, one which will leave a bad taste in the mouths of ponies. I bet not even Bon-Bon will see this coming.”

              “Yea, they don’t know everything about the end of the humans anyway.”

“Of course not. They only know what has been written in some old books. They can’t disprove our story.”

“You’re the genius, Twilight.”

Even though Lyra was the one with the vision of the "better" world, Twilight had good reasons to suspect that Bon-Bon was the brains behind the organization. Bon-Bon would sometimes make appearances when Pinkie and Rainbow were giving their spiels.  Bon-Bon would watch Pinkie intently making sure that the pink pony said exactly what needed to be said and that nothing stupid would pop out of her mouth. Twilight would have been confused as to why a pony like Bon-Bon would care so much about the revolution, however, there was one thing Bon-Bon loved more than anything else and that was Lyra Heartstrings. It was all for that nutjob of an idealist. Lyra thought anything that had to do with humans was fantastic. Twilight knew that Bon-Bon was disgusted with humans. Twilight was hoping she could use that to sway Bon-Bon initially. However, whatever Bon-Bon thought of humans was outweighed by her love for Lyra who wanted this revolution more than anything else.

Twilight would eventually win. She would eventually squash this sham of a rebellion. It would just take some time. Twilight smiled. Some ponies would likely have to die before all of this was over. However, the end justifies the means.