Fall of Equestria: Equestria Stands
Chapter 7: Epilogue: Equestria Stands
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[One thousand years later…]
The Fall and Rise of Equestria
By Spike SparkleThe short-lived rule of Queen Dainn would be remembered not for its briefness, but for its end. It’s perhaps left to the imagination what happened to him, and even the least sanitized history books were skittish about explaining it, though they were very clear that he (or, in context, she) deserved every minute of retribution for what had happened. A curious note was that the thaums were running high in the air, enough that unpredictable magical effects lingered for days afterwards.
Every stallion or mare came back with a different story of the punishment. Some would suffer nightmares remembering the screams of agony, though, upon realizing who it had been visited on, they would abruptly forget their guilt.
There was one thing certain in all the stories told. It was not quick, painless, or merciful. Some said it lasted hours, perhaps days, though how Dainn had survived long enough for it to last hours was a question that most were content leaving unknown.
Equestria would remain free from Slavery or any form occupation, even now we enjoy our freedoms and unity.
Our leader, King Tirek, also known as Tirek the Redeemer, Tirek the Savior, Tirek, Killer of Slavers, would keep Equestria strong and lead to the induction of several countries into his fold the following years.
Due to the Zebra Tribes enslaving ponies that fled to their lands and sending them back into Dainn’s clutches, Tirek laid waste to the Tribal Council as they gathered before him, calling them weak for their refusal to help their allies, instead helping the enemy. Many ponies that survived long enough in the wilds were welcome home as ponies of strength and conviction. One resistance leader, Magnum, was welcomed back to Equestria with open arms - especially by his daughters, Rarity and Sweetie Belle. He conducted open battle and hit and run tactics against Zebra Hunters and saved over two hundred ponies.
The Griffon Kingdom openly defied Dainn, but were slowly losing ground due to the 'Corruption Crystals' that his troops used against their fighters, corrupting all but the strongest of wills and subverting them to Dainn’s cause. With Tirek openly fighting in Equestria with an army of ponies, Dainn pulled all his warriors from the Griffon fronts to secure his hold on Equestria. After Dainn’s defeat, impressed with their strong convictions and battle tactics, they formed a defensive pact, which over the years slowly had the Griffon Kingdom inducted into Equestria peacefully.
The Badlands and the Everfree were sections of lands that refused to be tamed. Tirek and many ponies took it as a challenge, and set about creating several colonies, not just for resources but to see how they fared against the harshest parts of Equestria. It is rumored that chosen Equestrian Royal Guards were sent there for training to be inducted into the Elite Guards.
The Crystal Kingdom was violently inducted into Equestrian fold, being the first to fall before Equestria’s superior military force. It was not exactly a challenging battle, as the Crystal Empire’s tactics were over a millennium out of date - but the majority of stallions angry at the death of their Prince caused issues. Nearly half of the population was killed in the opening battle, and the number dwindled to a third due to the amount of Fallen in the Crystal Kingdom.
Princess Luna, the only surviving alicorn princess of the original four, retained her title and was named Minister of Equestria. King Tirek may have been the overall ruler, but it was well known that he had none of the patience required to handle paperwork.
The Paperwork Rampage of ‘67 was the day Princess Luna took a short vacation. It only lasted a day and was called back to find several offices destroyed and King Tirek attempting to fix the offices.
She banished him from ever setting a hoof inside the Administration building, making it the most localized banishment in the history of Equestria, and forbid anypony to give any amount of paperwork beyond signing his name to King Tirek.
Princess Luna was to be known as the true mind behind Equestria’s rule, and King Tirek was known to defer to her judgment on many an occasion where military force would have been counterproductive.
She is also known to fund companies for gaming and entertainment, wishing to keep it alive after it was nearly wiped away in favor of other pursuits due to the Fall.
The Former Elements of Harmony still exist and perform their functions when they first were inducted into the King's armies.
Five years after the Fall and Rise, the Elements along with King Tirek were ambushed with remnants of Dainn's tribes, hidden and gathering troops and allies to strike down Tirek and start a new Fall.
The four Elements, General Applejack, Master Assassin Pinkamena Diane Pie, Captain Rainbow Dash, and Head Healer and Armorer Rarity Belle used their hidden power to fight off the hundreds of slavers.
The hidden power, sometimes called 'Rainbow Power' or 'Harmony Boost' was used and laid waste to them all.
However, they were ascended due to their strong connections to one another and the power they wielded in the defense of one another. Thus giving rise to a new batch of alicorns to lead ponykind.
Rarity Belle is now Head Doctor of the Canterlot Medical Center and is seen constantly looking in deep magic and other medicinal plants. She also taken up her old love of dress making and giving them to her patients free of charge. She is happily married to Spike Sparkle, Head Archiver of the Canterlot Archives.
Rainbow Dash is Captain of the New Wonderbolts and Captain of the Elite Guards. She is seen constantly sparing with King Tirek or doing drills with the Elite Guards/Wonderbolts. No one is sure when the mare will try out for the Coliseum Tournament and how badly she will win it until the King steps in.
Retired General Applejack lives in Canterlot as Head Captain of the Royal Guard and personal bodyguard of King Tirek. Every year, she goes to Ponyville for the annual Apple Family Reunion as head Matriarch of the Apple family, regaling tales of reunions of the past before the Fall. It is rumored that she is in a relationship with King Tirek.
“Retired” Master Assassin Pinkamena Diane Pie lives on the road, with a special wagon called the Party Wagon and shares happiness wherever she goes. Many assume she is undercover, weeding or securing information on criminals scatter across Equestria and her ally countries. She openly declared her relationship with King Tirek, while he made no attempt to discredit her. The dozens of pictures that showed the mare showing affection to the King in scandalous poses did nothing to refute it either.
Fluttershy died fifty-seven years after the Rise, her mental and physical capabilities severely limited due to her abuse by both magical and physical means. She was nearly left in a catatonic state once she was saved. Discord, Spirit of Chaos, stayed by her side for the rest of her life until she died. Discord could be seen traveling the world, only appearing in Ponyville once a year to visit her grave, occasionally throwing a large party for everyone to remember her.
Former Princess Twilight Sparkle's status in history is in limbo. Do we praise her for her Friendship Reports and her deeds for Equestria before the Fall, or do we demonize her for what she failed to do and how she willingly tortured not only her friends but family as well? Her friends, the remaining Elements, still visit her grave every year, and no one dares to touch it unless they invoke their wrath.
The 'Rainbow Power' or 'Harmony Boost' is a power granted by the Tree of Harmony.
And nopony can receive it willy nilly either.
You have to fit the criteria for it to even consider you viable.
All the Elements could tap into this awesome power, and have done so once before as one. But after the Fall, it was believed to be lost.
However this was not true.
The first to pull up the Power was Applejack with her meeting with King Tirek. She was confident that she could lead her troops into Dodge Junction and take it for themselves. When the King asked if this was true, Applejack fully believed in her ponies and said she honestly believed in them and herself in taking it.
Thus unlocking it for her to use as she transformed before their eyes.
Each Element has a specific ideal to strive for: Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, and Generosity.
The rest of the Elements unlocked their own power after some soul searching of sorts. However this was worth every struggle as the power gives enormous advantages on the field.
To a unicorn like Rarity, her control became even sharper and the giant magical boost ensured her to save the lives of hundreds, if not thousands.
Earth ponies like Pinkie and Applejack received a more physical change, but also a change of strength and speed along with whatever they are in tuned with. Strength for Applejack, Agility for Pinkie.
Pegasi like Rainbow Dash received the most dynamic physical changes, and a huge boost of speed that made her former unchanged self slow in comparison.
It is unknown what the other two Elements’ change of abilities are, since one died a slave and the other never fully recovered from her ordeal.
Even now as powerful Alicorns, the four remaining Elements can still tap into this power, although there is little reason to do so. Unless King Tirek demands it.
Every year, they tap into the power to spar with the King, if only to ensure they don't lose their ability to call it up.
They once accidently sent King Tirek back to Tartarus, calmly made their way back to Canterlot and told everypony that the King was on vacation. (except Applejack, who hid in her room to avoid everyone; she has always been an exceptionally bad liar). As it happened, Tirek took it rather well, considering it a fair defeat in a fair fight.
That and he was happy to escape once more, if only to test its defense from escapees.
Princess Celestia went down in history as a divisive figure. While there was no denying her love and care for her country and her subjects, always making sure her ponies were well taken care of, and ensuring diplomatic solutions over violence and striving for peaceful relations between Equestria and the neighboring countries, there were many who realized in hindsight that her soft approach did no favors for Equestria, to the point that many are pointing out just how many times she seemingly threw problems at the Elements and sat by and did nothing.
Many believing that she played with everypony as a Chess Master, moving ponies to the right position to do the most good while there was very little effort on her part.
This seemingly radical theory does hold some water as stories of the Elements have been seen handling things beyond them come to mind, while also explaining how Dainn was able to overthrow all of Equestria in mere hours, not including capturing Discord and taking over the Crystal Kingdom months before he even went for Equestria, and all he did was walk in and beat the sun alicorn in less than ten minutes. Princess Luna was taken down before she even awoke from her slumber.
Many ponies were shocked to see her broken into a red collar just weeks after the Fall, while her sister remained a black collar until her freedom for two years.
The theory also stated that due to her seeing all threats coming she was able to counteract them all, which is why beings like Nightmare Moon, Discord (before Reformation), and Tirek (Before the Fall) were beaten in a day at most. She was unprepared for the caribou invasion and wasn't able to 'throw the problem' at the Elements due them being captured before they could do anything.
This reliance to use the least amount of effort, combined with dozens of other small issues, fractured whatever advantages Equestria had. In which Dainn used to his full advantage to cause Equestria’s Fall in the first place.
Despite clearly having been corrupted by Dainn’s perversion like everypony else, Cadance and Shining Armor nonetheless went down in history as the most hated figures in Equestria’s history, for they opened the door to Equestria’s Fall, and the horrors and depravity that followed for the next two years. While some have argued that they do not deserve the lion’s share of the blame for Equestria’s corruption, these historians have not been taken seriously due to the sheer volume of atrocities that can be laid at Cadance and Shining Armor’s hooves.
What little information that was gathered showed that Dainn may have tricked the Prince into believing that Celestia was going to kill his sister. Given what Twilight had gone through the past few years, it wouldn’t take much for him to believe she’d need protection.
It was not known how the caribou arrived at Kingdom, but the question on why they were even allowed in burns through the minds of most historians.
Dainn used the magic he gained from Sombra's horn to slowly but surely warp their minds, but the arrival of Discord was the final nail in the coffin. Tricking the draconequus into taking a swing from a bottle that had a powerful trapping spell, Dainn now had access to some of the most powerful magics that existed. The tools he needed to overthrow the Princesses and take over Equestria.
The Crystal Heart and Discord himself.
Princess Cadance showed him the secrets to wielding the Crystal Heart before he changed it into the Crystal Cock and spread the perverted magic across the Kingdom, warping the minds of anything within range and not strong enough to resist.
Discord’s magic was used to break minds or change bodies against their will, with Discord forced to perform each spell against his will.
While Dainn was cunning, he couldn't plan his way out of a room with the single door unlocked, and so he used Shining Armor to gather Royal Guards from Equestria and slowly began to spread his control across them all.
By the time of Spring Planting Festival, Dainn fully uprooted Equestria’s defenses and struck when all the Elements, the Princesses, and the citizens while they all had their complete guard down.
The after effects of their betrayal showed as they constantly tortured ponies for sexual pleasure.
Shining Armor had been known to brand mares with hot branding irons and forcibly choke mares until they almost died from lack of oxygen, Cadance always helping in these cases.
Cadance had free reign of torturing mares by submerging them in cum baths and nearly drowning them, happily abusing any mare in her sights and leaving a trail of broken bodies in her wake.
They also made it law that any black collar mare in the Crystal Kingdom was to be used in the stockades and used for public use or raped on arrival for several hours until placed with their masters.
Cadance’s death near the start of the War for Equestria came as a shock when she was found one morning hanging from the main balcony of the Crystal Palace, mutilated nearly beyond recognition. She had been tortured for hours on end, eviscerated, one of her eyes was missing (later determined to have been pulled out of its socket), nearly every bone broken (and from what coroners could determine, rehealed with magic to be broken again), and covered in burns and cuts.
Shining Armor met his death at the end of the war at the hands (or rather legs, if one wishes to be technical) of Rainbow Dash, his body charred to a crisp by yours truly. The less said on that, the better.
They were both great ponies; Shining was like an older brother to me, Cadance like a surrogate sister alongside Twilight… yet I find that I can’t forgive them for what they did.
I don’t think anyone should.
Author’s note: Though it’s been over a millennium for me and my wife, we both carry deep scars from those horrible two years to this day.
I still wake up from nightmares, seeing images of Twilight pointing a giant crystal at me so I can change back into that… thing. Over and over. I can still see myself abusing dozens of ponies, even Rarity.
Rarity always told me that I never hurt her, even when I was a brute. That my love for her transcended the black magic to protect her the best I could. Maybe some of that is true, and yet… I doubt it more than I should. I know that I would rather not ask, though. Some things are better left unknown.
But we are strong now, thanks to our King. Tirek... used to be known as Tirek the Terrible, did you know that?
Sometimes he grumps that nothing interesting happens any more, until Pinkie shows up out of nowhere and drags him off to his room. Some ponies think it’s sex, but last time I heard them in there, it sounded like a battle instead. Maybe even both.
But most of the time, he just sits and stares into space, I can see that haunted look in his eyes. The Badlands were rough, but I think Dainn showed him a new low that a being can get to and I think that scared him. That he could have been like Dainn if the circumstances were just right.
Honor is a big thing for him, even if he was an evil warlord.
I think he is waiting, he is waiting for the next big bad to show up and lay waste to everything. He wants that final battle to end all battles, to actually do something worthwhile.
To leave a legacy.
But he already has.
He made us strong.
Stronger than we have ever been before. We have several alicorns that know how to fight instead of a couple that play chess with lives, or are only book smart, and can control emotions.
We have ponies and griffons that spar every morning to remain strong. We have weapons that can pierce beings from miles away. That we can unite as one against a common enemy.
He wants to face a battle that may kill him.
But we won't let that happen.
He is Tirek.
Tirek the Savior.
Tirek the Redeemer.
Tirek, Killer of Slavers.
He is our King, and he will not be alone in that battle.