Watchmare

A few years ago, Starlight Glimmer had redeemed herself from her mistakes in step, regretting having enslaved an entire village while preaching egalitarianism, in mid-February 1005, the world was taken over by a great Revolution, the Second Industrial Revolution, that was just the beginning, research in the fields of energy, communication and defense was conducted, that same year the first televisions and computers were created, along with domestic radios, prominent magic crystal technologies, which ended up facilitating the exchange of information, entertainment and access to knowledge, the communication network used for computers, Nosenet, was mainly responsible for the creation of websites, thus resulting in the advent of servers, capable of storing more information than an entire library, now ponies could communicate instantly from one point to another in a matter of seconds, without having to send letters to each other and wait days or weeks for delivery, but it was still a limited technology, used more massively by the government and the military.

Small, long and large firearms were created, pistols, revolvers, rifles, machine guns, howitzers, some weapons were made available to the public, which increased security, however, with the increasing violence, registration of weapons became mandatory , resulting in a decrease in violence, electrical energy was also invented during the Industrial Revolution, after research, they discovered that some crystals could generate energy that even gave a shock, but that they could light devices such as lamps, which replaced candlesticks and candles.

But not everything is a bed of roses, even with so many innovations, factories were built, some ponies were unemployed, others followed the innovations and got new jobs, jobs that ended up being dangerous, computers were made available to the public that same year, workers They gave their reports on forums.

*** *** ***

“I'm happy that we can now use computers, I never thought it would be possible to talk to ponies from all over Equestria, who would have thought that one day we wouldn't need to waste so much ink and paper!” commented the Princess of Friendship inside her castle, during a beautiful Wednesday morning.

“Ah don't really like these computers, it's a complicated thing.” Applejack replied, looking at Twilight Sparkle, with one ear raised and the other lowered.

“Come on, Applejack, it's not that hard to use.” Twilight said, letting out a laugh right after.

“It's true, I already have accounts on Fliers, Pony Book, Your Hoof and several other social networks!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, with great excitement.

“Social media? Technology is not fer me. It was better with cards.” replied the hillbilly, crossing her paws.

“Come on, babe, with social media everything is faster! Now you can even chat with your relatives in Appleloosa in a matter of seconds!” commented the Element of Loyalty, the pegasus took flight and brought its face closer to the face of the pony in the hat.

“Hey, have you seen the factory workers' comments about working conditions?” asked the retired Starlight Glimmer, who had just appeared in the room.

“Oh, I haven't seen it yet, dear…” said the stylist with the purple mane, lowering her ears, feeling sorry for the workers.

“Ah didn't see it. Are these comments on social media? If so, Ah didn't see it!” Applejack stated, tilting her head, confused.

“It's on social media, yes!” replied Twilight's pupil, shaking her head.

“Everything has become social media now, Ah don't even understand that…” said the pony with the hat, raising an eyebrow.

“I'll teach you how to use, darling!” Rarity said, offering help to her farmer friend.

“I created a website talking about interesting facts about each animal!” Fluttershy's low, angelic voice exclaimed, while a smile formed on her face.

“What about the workers? Are you going to do anything?” asked the unicorn with a cyan stripe on its mane, in a tone of disappointment mixed with sadness.

“What exactly is happening to them?” Twilight asked, paying attention to her pupil and friend.

“They're talking about the cruel conditions she faces in the factories, the places are very dirty…” Starlight replied, lowering her ears, showing sympathy to the workers.

“We can try to talk to the factory owners to leave the places in better conditions!” Twilight suggested, after a few seconds of reflection.

“That's a great idea, darling!” Rarity replied, applauding the genius of her nerdy friend.

“Now?” Applejack asked, placing a hoof on her chin, thinking.

“There's a way to do a live broadcast, right?” Twilight asked, looking at everyone present.

“Of course there is!” Starlight Glimmer replied, in a comical tone, followed by a light laugh.

“Uh, I'm going to create accounts for our group on social media!” Rarity said, stamping her hooves on the ground with joy and leaving the castle, heading towards her boutique.

“Actually, she could have done it through my computer…” Twilight said, rolling her eyes while smiling.

Later, Rarity returned to the castle, she had made new looks for her friends, so they could use them during the live broadcast, along with her tripod and camera, items of which Rarity used to take photos and share them on Nosenet, showing new sewing items, in order to reach new customers, the demand was great, but Rarity had branches in Manehattan, the city where most orders were made, Twilight moved her computer, from her room to the meeting room, with the items properly positioned, transmission on sites such as Pony Book and Your Hoof were made, on 04/13 of the year 1005, it was 12:20 in the afternoon, lunch time:

“Dear businesspeople and workers in large factories, I hope you can see us now, we would like to say that factories need cleaner places, so that workers can work in a healthy environment and feel comfortable working. Talk to them, see how they can improve the conditions of their employees!” said the leader of the six, with the appearance of a large industrial worker.

“Oh, and don't forget to throw a party to celebrate the cleanup!” Pinkie Pie added, with a huge smile on her face and excitement in her voice.

“Erh… was that rectangle supposed t’ be black like that?” Applejack asked, looking at the bright screen with a dark frame in the middle, just below, the title of the broadcast, “Official Bearers Broadcast”.

Rarity went to her camera, looked at the computer screen first, then grimaced when she noticed the camera lens was covered, “I found out what happened…”

“Well… I hope this is effective!” the Princess of Friendship exclaimed, giving a forced smile, while hoping that the situation would improve.

“So relax, babe, we're amazing and popular, why wouldn't they listen to us?” said the blue pegasus, placing its paw on the Princess's shoulder, while flapping its wings, without coming into contact with the castle floor.

*** *** ***

As the weeks passed, the three main races separated again, the Earthlings felt neglected in agricultural and factory work, in addition to making up a large part of the workforce in the factories, the Pegasi were no longer useful in climate control. , since the invention of the Automatic Climate Project, popularly known as ACP, the demand for new employment opportunities grew, a portion of them went to agricultural, industrial and Armed Forces work, the Unicorns, in turn, were seen as holders of the power and manipulators of institutions. In an attempt to alleviate tensions, the Two Sisters invested heavily in the creation of Universities, which helped to control tension, both Earthlings and Pegasus got new jobs as professors, deans, coordinators and directors in teaching, courses such as meteorology, agronomy and engineering were the strong points of these Universities.

Even with this generation of jobs, an economic crisis was still growing, the big cities grew more and more, while the cities in the interior were left with little investment, even with a high demand for resources, the rural cities ended up having a scarcity of resources, Appleloosa was one of the first cities to feel such an impact, which attracted some cattle ranchers to the big cities, but wages were low and conditions in the factories were precarious, the Carriers were not heard.

While some farms went bankrupt, others bought their land and tried to employ more ponies, but nothing helped, the search for jobs in the city continued to grow, in search of increasing efficiency in agriculture, a machine was created, the Harv 1005, capable of making the harvest, plant new seeds in the land and plow the land, three in one, a machine developed by Golden Harvest, in a few months of producing such equipment, the farms returned to their former efficiency, the ponies that previously plowed and harvested, began to Being part of the maintenance and preservation of Harvs, this provided relief to the crisis and the demand for resources.

Strikes and revolts broke out among factory workers, production fell, violence grew and unions were formed, factory owners, to alleviate tension, accepted some requests, such as better working conditions, better wages for the most efficient and lower workload, at the Universities, some Earthlings and pegasi from the faculty commented to their students about the events, the Carriers intervened, looking for a peaceful resolution, the news reached the Princesses, reforms were made, a salary floor was established in May, this calmed Equestria, and the Carriers were relieved, Starlight decided to start studying at the University of Ponyville, in the newly created philosophy course.

Although the workers got their rights, the unions remained standing and demanded more rights, the unions were mainly formed by former employees who were previously fired and former employees who resigned on their own. In Fillydelphia, a green stallion with burgundy eyes had been fired from his job on charges of theft, Iron Hammer, previously a farmer, became a factory worker, dissatisfied with the minimum wage and without a health plan, decided to form the Union of Workers of Fillydelphia.

From the darkness of the night, strange ponies appeared, fangs were present in their mouths, their wings were made of leather, their hearing was sharp, but no one remembered them, on the edges of the cities, close to the forests, the Thracians revealed themselves, after more than a thousand Over the years, bat-ponies demonstrated, walked the streets, surprised by the changes that had occurred since their hiatus, entered other ponies' yards, into houses with unlocked doors and windows, reports began to be made about the invasions, the Royal Guard began to become more alert, the patrols intensified, some Thracians were caught, others reacted against the Guards, it didn't take long for Celestia and Luna to act on this, the Royal Guard received orders to remain on guard, the Bearers of the Elements began their movements to find out what that the Thracians were looking for, a dark green Thracian named Black Spot was willing to serve as spokesman for the Forgotten Tribe, he frequented and slept in Twilight Sparkle's castle during the conversations, the request for Thracian reintegration into equestrian society was sent to the Two Sisters, who after a long time and the beginning of revolts, would carry out reforms to enable reintegration.

*** *** ***

Another communication technology was released, cell phones, similar to computers, but portable, they could even fit in a small backpack, Starlight had bought a device like this, in the Pony Book, Starlight looked for philosophy and sociology groups, ending up discovering the group Iron Minds, made up mostly of college students, in the interactions that Starlight had in this group, she met a pegasus from Las Pegasus called Dark Cuddle, who studied sociology, they both started talking and ended up becoming friends, they often talked about issues social issues in Equestria, such as the Thracians and the supposed privilege of unicorns, this made Starlight remember the events and Our Town, which had previously been enslaved by it.

Dark mentioned having started her studies in sociology when the University of Las Pegasus made registrations available in June, it was not a long course, lasting three months, finishing the course in September and obtaining her diploma, in an attempt to look for a job in her field, she ended up unemployed, thus venting to Starlight about the situation she was facing. As Twilight wasn't at the castle very often, trying to resolve the Thracian issue, the purple-furred pegasus accepted the invitation.

In the late afternoon of 09/30, Starlight and Dark were talking in the castle, the former dictator, who had previously abandoned Egalitarianism, was thinking about those ideas again, but tried to forget them as soon as she realized this:

“You know, I enslaved a village once, I forced the other ponies to hand over their Cutie Marks and talents, they were happy, but it was still a terrible mistake, but it's water under the bridge!” commented Twilight Sparkle's pupil, finishing her daisy sandwich in the castle's kitchen, sitting down on the chair shortly afterwards.

“At least they were happy, right?” Dark Cuddle asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“To tell the truth, I don't know, they always smiled, but then they got angry when they found out that I didn't hand over my Cutie Mark…” Starlight replied, lowering her ears along with a sad expression printed on her face.

The pegasus's dark purple shell touched her shoulder, “You know, sometimes you need to apply a little pressure to do good…” Dark was interrupted by a notification that had just sounded from her cell phone, curious, she caught it with her wing and checked what it was, it was about the Thracians, they had managed to claim their rights, they were reintegrated into equestrian society after many years.

“You know what, I think you're right!” exclaimed the purple unicorn seeing the news, “Maybe we can do something to improve the world as a whole!”

The kitchen door creaked as it opened, revealing the Princess of Friendship, her hair was messy, her expression was one of tiredness and relief:

“It was a long time, but we managed, you know, Black Spot may have been tough, but…” Twilight paused when he saw the stranger with the purple mane and burgundy tips present at the table, as he didn't remember anyone like her since he was there. away from the castle for over a month, “Hi… would you be the…”

“Dark Cuddle, nice to meet you, Princess!” Dark waved, in a friendly way with a smile on her face.

“Okay… Starlight, can I talk to you in private?” Twilight said, forcing a smile on her pupil.

“Of course!” Starlight replied, her hooves pounded the floor towards the door, as she left, Twilight closed the door.

“Look, Starlight, it's nice of you to invite other ponies to visit the castle, but could you introduce me first, please?” Twilight spoke calmly, after a sigh, tiredness was written on her face, it was a long work until the negotiations with Black and the Thracian reintegration into equestrian society were finished.

“Actually, Twilight, she's living here... she had nowhere to go so…” Starlight started to explain herself until she was interrupted.

“To live? Okay... she can live here until she finds a place, but don't invite anyone else to live or visit the castle without me meeting first, please…” Twilight replied, with a twitch in her eye, even though she was mad at Starlight, she just made an order.

“Sorry, Twilight, I should have consulted you sooner…” Starlight lowered her ears and head in a sad expression.

“No problem, just let me know things beforehand…” Twilight said, placing a paw on her friend's shoulder, “But then, how did you meet?”

“It's a long story, I was at Pony Book and I joined a group about philosophy and sociology, we met and started talking, she was at the University of Las Pegasus, and as she finished her course and had no place to go, no Even where I work, I invited her to live here!” Starlight replied, with a proud smile, Twilight Sparkle nodded, talked to Dark and welcomed him.

*** *** ***

The construction of the city of Batopolis began in the southeast of Equestria, in that region there were many forests, Celestia gave a boost at the request of Black, who was now head of the newly created Office of Race Relations, responsible for helping both the Thracians and the others tribes in their relations until Batopolis finished being built, some Thracians started looking for night jobs, not all ponies accepted the return of the fourth tribe, mainly due to the events that occurred previously during the revolts and invasions, cases of racism against the race of nocturnal habits were frequent, posters saying that they were an evil race, that they should return to their caves and things like that were hung on posts and walls, Thracian houses were spray-painted with graffiti. Thracian groups met to combat such infractions, some peacefully, others with aggression, within a few weeks after the reforms, Thracians began to get their new jobs, giving further relief to the economy, however, racism remained strong, with As time passed, it decreased.

More and more Starlight saw the creation of unions and Thracian accusations of violence and racism, the more she thought about her old ideas and that she should act. Starlight started with posts on Nosenet, sympathizing with the workers, Thracians and those who felt marginalized, Twilight noticed Starlight's attitude, at first she didn't care, but she began to worry when a speech about absolute equality began to appear:

“Starlight, you're not thinking about Egalitarianism again, are you?” Twilight asked one day, expressing concern for her friend.

“Pfft! Of course not, Twilight, that’s a thing of the past, it’s something… new, I named it “socialism”!” Starlight Glimmer replied, trying to convince her friend.

“If you say so…” Twilight shrugged, placing confidence in her pupil's words.

Dark liked the new name of the ideology, adopting it as a solution to the internal conflicts of equestrian society, Dark ended up becoming a philosopher of socialism, often standing in front of colleges in Ponyville speaking about equality and harmony, Starlight, in turn, created profiles on social networks with the name Equestrian Socialist and posted reports from workers, Thracians and the unfortunate on Nosenet, then explained why socialism would be a good thing, attracting more and more trade unionists and militants of the Thracian cause, this worried the Carriers even more, who, when trying to talk to Starlight , they were reprimanded, the pony left the castle, buying her own house in Ponyville, taking Dark with her, one of the times Dark came home, she brought with her a lilac unicorn, her eyes and her mane were blue, her name was Spit Splinter, a student at the University of Ponyville, was studying philosophy there, but dropped out of the course looking to learn more about socialism with Starlight Glimmer and Dark Cuddle. Because she knew how to use social media efficiently, she became a marketer for Equestrian Socialist.