The Tyrant

by zdash

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Princess Luna, Applejack, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 2505

How does one overthrow a god?

Early in Twilight's royal duties as princess, she meets a prisoner captured from a revolutionaries group. As they begin to discuss why he would want to rebel, she learns quickly that things in Equestria are not fine as she had thought. Now she must choose what to do. Does she forsake her mentor to fight for what is right, or does she ignore the plight of the ponies to please her old teacher? More importantly, is there another way?

Published 2013-03-12 14:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-06-14 05:59:38 UTC

We Hold These Truth's to be Self-Evident

Chapter 1
We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident.

The stone beneath the unicorn is hard and cold, slimy with a dark green moss and damp. The floor feels uneven, with small puddles in the shallow dips where the moss can thrive. Though there is a small, barred window near the ceiling on the far side of the room, the small sliver of sunlight that beams through barely illuminates anything, the rays resting on his tattered and dirty coat, once a brilliant yellow, now a dull tan matted together with blood and dried mud. As he looked around the chamber, noticing a smooth stone bed and a small metal bucket on opposite corners, weak but growing waves of pain washed through his horn into his head, clouding his thoughts and making focus for magic impossible. With one hoof, he reached up and felt the tip of the horn, running down it until he came to a cold, metal ring at the base. A restrictor. He attempted to remember how he had been caught, but only a small flash of green forest remained. How did she find us? We were so careful. A chilling breeze swept past the unicorn, revealing a few bald patches in his coat.

Tired of sitting on the cold stone floor, the unicorn rose painfully, joints popping in protest to the new movement. Before he step, his back leg gave out, and he collapsed to the floor again. A soft, muffled snicker floating into his ears from behind him. As he attempted to turn, a sharp pain shot from his leg up to his horn, turning his vision into a searing white field of static for a moment, until a gentle, featureless presence surround and enveloped his mind in a peace he didn't understand. The voice from the laugh returned.

"Why have you betrayed me?" It was a voice he knew perfectly well, a gentle, motherly sound that calmed any who were within ear shot. Even with everything she had done, he had to work to keep his anger.

"Betrayed you?" The unicorn's voice echoed in the empty white field, bouncing off of stone walls he fought to remember. "You betrayed the ponies of Equestria!"

"Without me, young stallion, they would not survive." Her voice did not waver, no anger flowed from it, only the gentle, crashing waves of understanding and kindness, a cruel trick the unicorn had been taught to ignore. "They are wonderful ponies, truly. They have come so far since I took over ruling Equestria, but they still have so far to go."

"Then why do you force such evils on them?"

"What do you mean? You were cared for from the day of your birth. Your parents worked as my servants, a wonderful chief, your mother was. And your father, an amazing royal painter. They served me so faithfully, up until their unfortunate death. And when they did pass, I let you stay at the castle, fed you, provided for you. You never wanted for anything, and you received one of the top educations Equestria can provide. Am I truly so evil, after all of that?"

"Would you have done the same for an earth pony?" The unicorn spit the words out, attempting to forget the time he had spent in the tyrant's care.

"They are not the same. As important as they are to my kingdom, they simply don't have much use outside of labor, so why let them suffer trying to do more? It is simply their destiny to provide food for their betters. I insure that they have their place in society, that they are not abused."

"What about those who do possess the aptitude for scholarship? You limit them to nearly nothing. Why is it your place to decide who is and is not worthy?"

"If not I, if not the alicorn who has overseen thousands of years of ponykind's history, if not the one who has protected them from the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the trio, then who? I am the most equipped, and I care for each of my little ponies. This is not some attempt to oppress the less species of pony, only to help them survive in a world they were not suited for."

"They are suited well enough for this world. Without them, neither the unicorns nor the pegasi would survive. You cannot be present for every case, you can't decide who is and is not qualified on your own. But to say that you look after these ponies, that is absolutely insulting. You over tax them, you send them to war and take their land for peace treaties. You have done nothing but torment them with your actions."

"Supposing that is true, why would you care? You have never been an earth pony, not even a pegasus. You are a unicorn, the pride of Canterlot and Equestria. You could have done anything with your life, why fight for a cause that you gain nothing from? Why fight to help those who will only choose to kill you should they somehow win? You do not think that, in a society run by the earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi will be safe from their anger at this 'injustice', do you?" At the word injustice, the voice fluctuated for the first time, a tone of amusement breaking through for a split second.

"Because they deserve to have as much a chance as everyone else! I don't want a society of earth ponies in control, I want one in which everyone has an equal chance, a society where the rule of law exists, where all are free to do with their labor as they please, and to do what they want as they please."

"A utopia, perhaps? Nothing more than a foal's dream. What would happen in that society? Do you really think that the earth ponies, with their generally lower intelligence and lack of magic or flight, do you really believe that they would not still be just as oppressed? And what would happen then? Would they be want to live in such a society? Of course not, and their anger would be much greater than it is now. Which is more tolerable, an institutionalized oppression, one which you simply feel powerless against, which you know you can never stop? Or one which requires only your superior numbers to overcome? The former. With displeasure, they accept their station in life. It is because they know there is nothing they can do about it. But they will blame you when your 'free' society, instead of creating equality, furthers the gap between you and them. You sign your death warrant with this rebellion." Her voice rose slightly at the word rebellion, frustration shining through.

"You underestimate their capabilities. They can do it. They are far more capable than you give them credit for, and they would never turn on us, all ponies are born equal! Your fear has turned you into a tyrant, a monster who tortures and oppresses her people to protect her power. Your castle is built on pillars of sand, and it will collapse soon." With that, the field of white dissipated, releasing the unicorn back into the small cell he had been in before, the temperature much lower now and the light from the window was the pale white of Luna's moon. He was facing the opposite side of the cell now, a small dark hall blocked off by metal bars. Standing on the outside of the bars was a purple alicorn, one the unicorn did not recognize. A small stream of purple magic flowed from her to him, lifting him into the air and placing him upon the stone slab of a bed in the back corner. Despite his protests, pressure on his eyelids, a sleeping spell from the purple alicorn, forced him into a deep, uneasy sleep.

~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~~

A small chirping sound was the first thing to greet the unicorn. His back and neck were stiff, sore from the hard surface he lay upon, and his mind was clouded with images of the empty white field, like it kept trying to return. "You're finally awake." The voice held apprehension, a disappointment in his return to the waking world. "I had hoped I would have a few more hours to prepare."

He looked up, his eyes meeting the eyes of the same purple alicorn. Purple was probably the wrong color, she appeared more clearly now, a light lavender color, with an indigo mane striped with a dark purple and a pink strip. Her eyes were purple, and her cutie mark was a dark pink, six pointed star, with smaller, white six pointed starts at each tip. He stared at her for several moments, trying to figure out who she was. He knew all the princesses, and she was not one of them. She appeared younger and smaller than the others, so perhaps she was still new. Still, something about her cutie mark was familiar.

"If you are done staring at my flank, I need to ask some basic questions for record keeping." Her mouth was scrunched in a frown, though a slight red tinge spread across her face as the unicorns eyes met hers. "First, what is your full name?"

"Bright Knight."

"That's an interesting name. And your special talent?" She looked down at the Bright knight's cutie mark, a broad grey shield surrounded by seven black moons.

"Serving as a soldier, a guard more precisely."

"Well, rebelling against the princesses suggests you aren't exactly good at that, either..." Her voice traveled off as she focused intensely on a space in front of her. A small clipboard and quill appeared with a pop and she began to scribble on the paper. "Why are you here?"

"Because the tyrant has no respect for earth ponies, because she has oppressed the people for too long, and I could not stand by idly." The unicorn remained seated, remembering the pain in his leg, but his passionate denouncement of the princess still filled the cell and hallway.

"I will warn you only this one time, whether you like her or not, you will respect the princess and use her proper title, do you understand?" Less angry, the purple alicorn sounded exasperated, as if she had heard him say as much a hundred times before.

"I will show no such respect to that mons..." The words had not completely left his mouth when a shock ran from the ring on his horn down through his body, causing his thought to be interrupted and the slight smell of burning fur to fill the room.
"You're no better than she is. I thought the 'princess' denounced and abolished torture." Bright said the word princess with such disgusted, the alicorn thought he might actually throw up.

"She did. This is NOT torture, it is simply... correction." She paused for a moment, speaking the final word with uncertainty.

"More doublespeak from the princess and her minions." He spit the words at her with such malice she actually flinched.

"You know, this would go more easily if you cooperated. I just have to compile some basic notes, and I'm sure you're hungry after sleeping for three days."

Three days? His stomach growled at the thought, however he had gone much longer without food before, and he pushed the thought aside. "You can't bribe or threaten me, it won't work."

The alicorn placed her hoof between her eyebrows, massaging the area in frustration. "Fine, next question. Do you have family or a significant other?"

"No."

"You won't escape, you know... Your horn tells me everything you're thinking, so don't bother. Now, next question, how long have you supported the revolutionaries?"

"I won't answer that."

"Why not?" She was frustrated again, her face scrunched up in an awkward manner.

"It might help the ty... princess, and I will not betray the revolutionaries."

"Fine. Next question, where is your current place of permanent residence?"

"A small cottage on the outskirts of a town, Ponyville. Not that you or your puppeteer would have ever been there, it's an earth pony town after all."

"How dare you. I lived there for several years before I became a princess. I was the librarian."

Became a princess? What? Although, she does look remarkably like the unicorn that lived in the treebrary, what was her name... Light something?

"It's Twilight Sparkle, and yes, I was the librarian in the tree. I don't remember you though."

"I didn't visit the library, why would I? You were HER student, I assumed you would know who I was."

"Well, you're wrong, she never spoke of you, or even of the revolutionaries. She's kept you almost completely from exposure."

"Why would she send you to an earth pony town?"

"To make friends, including with earth ponies."

"Why would that be something she would make anypony do? Why would she care about that?" Bright was proud of himself for shifting the discussion away from him. Even if she was the princess' prize pupil, that didn't mean she was unreachable, especially with earth pony friends.

"Have you been gone for years? If it wasn't for that, the elements of harmony would never have worked, and Nightmare moon and Discord's return would never have been stopped."

So you stopped Discord? "Was it with earth ponies? Did she specifically tell you that, or was it just that they were the ones you met first?"

"I... uh," Twilight was caught off guard by his questions. "No..."

"Exactly. If she could have picked, they would have been all unicorns. Think about it, I bet she's rushed away whenever she had to deal with the earth ponies, while lavishing the pegasi and unicorns with praise."

"That's not true." She thought back to all the times the princess had met her friends. She had rushed off when the Pinkie stopped the parasprites, but she hadn't known about that, and she was going to stop another infestation elsewhere. And the Cakes before Fluttershy stole Philomena, but there had been something important she had to get to... A meeting with the mayor, that's right. The princess doesn't care about the type of pony somepony is...

Bright Knight seized on her silence, pushing his advantage. "And, since you've been here, I bet she hasn't spoken with a single one of the earth ponies, has she?"

"Well, no... But that's only because I haven't been here that long, and Rarity lives here. Besides, she doesn't talk to Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash either, and they're pegasi." With each word, she sounded more and more uncertain.

"She doesn't like them either. Not really. To her, they're better than earth ponies, but only by a little."

"It's not true. The princess would never..." She started to back down the hall way, unable to keep his words out of her mind.
We all have rights. We should all be equal. And you know that we aren't.