On Hiatus, pending rewrite

Two

Another day, another long day of work, for meager compensation. I left work slightly earlier than usual, feigning injury, but in reality, I was just sick of it all. But today, something peculiar was unfolding in the town center. As I approached, I saw the shape of a pony, standing slightly above a small crowd. The pony appeared to be speaking to the crowd, evidenced by the cheers occasionally erupting from the mob, but I was a bit too far away from the orator to really hear what he or she was talking about. Curiosity got the better of me, and I was drawn towards the speaker.

As I approached, his figure began to become more easily discernible. A stout, strong-looking Earth pony, ragged features, weathered face, and of course, like the rest of us, no Cutie Mark, a side effect of the land losing its magic. He spoke passionately and the response from the crowd was overwhelming.

"... THEY TAKE FROM US ALL THAT WE HAD OR WILL HAVE, AND GIVE NOTHING TO US! LOOK AT THE PRINCESSES! THEY HAVE MANAGED TO EVEN TAKE THEM AWAY FROM US!"

A roar rises from the mob surrounding you.

"WHAT IS TO SAY THAT IF WE DO NOT ACT, WE WILL NOT SHARE A SIMILAR FATE?"

The crowd answers back. "YEAH!"

"WE HAVE NUMBERS, WE HAVE WILLPOWER, WE HAVE EVERYTHING TO FIGHT FOR!"

This guys is crazy! This is... Open treason! No nut-job would be stupid enough to do something like this, in a public place, no less. Sure, the square was devoid of Human soldiers, but they make their rounds through the city and a crowd of this size is SURE to draw their attention. But the stallion, who must surely not be completely ignorant to these assumptions, continues.

"WE MUST RISE UP, MY FELLOW CHILDREN OF THE EARTH! WE MUST RECLAIM WHAT IS OURS!"

I start to back up. I really, REALLY, don't want to get caught mingling with the wrong crowd. As I start to inch my way out of the gaggle of ponies, I hear the sound of boots. And then gunfire.

"YOU! STOP! IN THE CENTER!"

A platoon of human soldiers, armed and clad in body armor, throws the gathering into chaos. I flee the scene in the ensuing confusion, but I steal a couple of glances back as I run.

"SEDITION! TREASON! INSTIGATING REVOLUTION! TAKE HIM!" the humans cry. More gun shots. The screams of the crowd now drown out the yells of the humans. I watch in abject horror as the overlord troops start to gun down the gatherers. A couple of soldiers work together to pull the speaker out from the crowd, the stallion fighting desperately to break free, at least until one of the humans brings down his weapon onto the stallion's head in one terrific blow. The rest of the crowd has been dispersed or killed by now. A newly formed ring of human soldiers completely blocks out my view of the scene as I continue to hurry back home. All the way back, a thousand thoughts run through my head at the same time. 'What is this going to mean for us?' 'Are the overlords going to lash out at us?' 'Is the revolutionary fervor an isolated thing?' Panic sweeps through my body. A sense of dread soon takes over. The overlords are brutal. They are going to do something to pull us back in line. They are going to do something to make sure all traces of revolutionary thought are stamped out from our society. But at the same time, it all seems rather exciting and even.... Hopeful. If someone was brave enough to speak out against the overlords, what's not to say that there are not more who are willing to do the same?