"We have no hope against the wall: it's too high, too dark, too cold."

Years of discontent boil over as Ponyville citizens stage an occupation of Market Square, demanding reforms that Canterlot will not consider. Caught in the middle, Princess Twilight is immediately thrown into the mess of histories, politics, and emotions that have led up to this unprecedented moment - and may also jeopardize her close relationship with Princess Celestia.

Can Twilight find a solution before her beloved hometown tears itself apart? Or will Ponyville's protestors learn what they have always known - that it is pointless to challenge the power of a god?

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This story contains invented Ponyville slang and stretched interpretations of canon, so be warned.

Thanks to Politicalunrest2400 for a quick pre-read of the first two chapters.

Inspired by the Umbrella Revolution, the three-month long occupation of major roadways in Hong Kong from Sept-Dec 2014. (Declaration of interest: I was a participant in the Revolution.)

The opening sentence in the description is from Haruki Murakami's speech upon accepting the Jerusalem Prize in 2009. He was talking about Israel and Palestine then; the quote went viral in Hong Kong and was re-purposed for the purposes of the democratic movement there.

Artwork is obtained from MLP wiki images which are then processed through Paint.net. Obviously there are no images of ponies rioting in MLP, so don't look at the picture too closely.