The Sundering of Equestria - A Future History

The Secret Speech

In the summer of 1035LB, Princess Luna left the Royal Palace and fled Canterlot under the cover of darkness. Accompanying her were a hoof-full of loyal followers and, sources tell us, a number of prisoners liberated from Celestia’s dungeons. After travelling for several hours non-stop, Luna met with a number of influential leaders of anti-Celestian groups at a pre-arranged location. Sources suggest that this was somewhere in the Everfree Forest, near to the town of Ponyville, but there are arguments to be made for most of the other forests in Equestria, depending on one’s interpretation of the evidence. The sources agree however that, shortly after the meeting had begun, Luna took centre-stage and made her now-famous Secret Speech.

Although the speech is far too long to repeat here in its entirety (the Secret Speech was well over an hour long, and can be found in most historical archives the world over) included here are several of key extracts that serve well to illustrate the popular and political feeling at the time.

“Friends, victims of the regime, true Equestrians all; hear me. Once upon a time I would have called upon you as your Princess, but now I speak to you as an equal. For tonight, before you all, I hereby renounce my claim to the throne of Equestria and sever all ties with that monster in Canterlot and her oppressive government.”

“No, no, let me speak, I pray you. I have no desire to take my sister’s place as the lone ruler of this country, as many of you have asked, but that does not mean I intend to do nothing. My friends – there is an alternative to our Principality. I’m sure many of you have been thinking it, and I know many of you have been dreaming it, but none of you have said it; so I shall.”

“The time has come for a new government.”

[…]

“Amongst the common ponies, Celestia has no supporters. The common pony fears her – as do we all – but no longer desires her rule. All across Equestria, ponies just like ourselves are waiting for things to improve, hoping in their hearts for change. I know; I have seen their dreams.”

“And do you know, my friends, what these ponies dream of? In their darkest, most daring imaginings they, just like yourselves, dream of one thing – one idea, one word so dangerous in past months that you and they have not dared to speak it aloud. One word that, should it be acted upon, would change the future of Equestria.”

“And that word is revolution.”

[…]

“Now listen carefully, you captains of industry, you leaders of ponies, you idealists and innovators, you loyal Equestrians all; listen. Should you make the choice to take action against the Tyrant, then I and my personal guard will be behind you. I can persuade others to join our cause, those I know who would defect immediately from the government or the army and flock to our banner if they but knew of our meeting.”

“Should you ponies gathered here decide to make a stand, then I know that not only myself, not only my troops, not only defectors from the regime – but the whole of Equestria would rise to stand with you!”

[…]

“It is time, my friends. We must choose. Our decision here will determine the future of Equestria; whether it will remain under the yoke of the Solar Tyrant, or rejoice in glorious freedom.”

“We must choose.”

Princess Luna’s words are credited with swaying the others into action. Then and there they pledged to work together to overthrow the “Solar Tyrant” – henceforth, Celestia was always referred to as this by the revolutionaries – and establish a new government, with freedom and equality for all. They wanted to call it the New Free Republic of Equestria.

As word spread from the cell leaders to their followers, and from them to the general populace of Equestria, the movement became more Luna-centric (perhaps due to her role as the figurehead of the revolution), and changed its name to become the New Lunar Republic.

The Rise of the Republic

The official date for the start of the uprising is hotly debated by historians, but is generally agreed to be somewhere in the winter of 1035LB. The first protest that can be directly linked to the underground movement was approximately halfway through the winter, near to the Equestrian holiday of Hearth’s Warming, and began early one morning when a large number of shoppers began protesting in the streets of Canterlot about the recent and astonishingly high increase in the price of sugar.

Troops from the closest Royal Guard regiment were sent in to quell the riot with lance and halberd. Initially, the crowd began to flee, fearful of the Guards’ wrath. However, a hoof-full of brave souls stood their ground. To the surprise of the Royal Guard, these few ponies began fighting back with a never-before-seen kind of magical weapon – we know them now as Starbeam rifles, but one must remember that this was the first time crystal-based magic weaponry had been used in combat.

These weapons, it is now known, were collaboratively manufactured in secret by a group of companies supporting the uprising, using magic-crystal-based technology. Similar technology had been used to power trains and factories for the previous few decades. These companies would later become the economic backbone of the revolution and, more cynically, would profit most from it.

Inspired by these few brave ponies’ example, one-by-one the rest of the crowd stopped fleeing and turned back to help. Wielding whatever improvised weapons they could get their hooves on – wooden clubs, paving stones, even cakes – the enthused protestors rushed towards the soldiers. The Royal Guard units, completely taken aback by the sudden counter-attack, fled the scene. Jubilantly, the protestors surged forwards, singing songs of triumph and revolution. This is known as the First Canterlot Uprising.

Ultimately though, this first uprising was crushed some days later by a concerted effort from the Royal Guard regiments and the newly-formed Solar Disciples (cabals of powerful unicorns, hoof-picked and trained by Celestia herself). However, the Celestian government was unable to quell the hundreds of other uprisings that were now taking place across Equestria; led by trained revolutionaries, thousands of ponies were rising up to throw off the shackles of the Princess’ tyrannical rule. A significant percentage (sources suggest around seventy percent) of the small towns and villages of Equestria succeeded in ridding themselves of the local Royal Guard regiments, sending them fleeing for the hills, and declared their allegiance to the New Lunar Republic.

In fact, such was the desire to overthrow Celestia and the lure of freedom that the self-elected leaders of the Republic had to do little more than hoof out weapons and point out targets for the revolutionaries. Basic hit-and-run tactics, as well as community-organised ambushes, served to eliminate and push back huge numbers of the Royal Guard, stopping the loyalists from spreading out their forces, and compelling them to focus on only a few towns. Ultimately, Celestia’s armies were forced to withdraw from most of the countryside.

By the end of winter 1036LB, as much as sixty percent of Equestria's landmass was under the control of the New Lunar Republic. Their leaders had established a temporary ‘War Council’, consisting of themselves and ‘Honorary Councillor’ Luna; the Council promised their followers democratic elections once the revolution was over and the Solar Tyrant had been overthrown. In the newly liberated towns and villages of the Republic, hundreds of spontaneous parties and celebrations broke out. During this time, a great number of revolutionary songs – such as the famous “Do You Hear the Ponies Sing?” – were written and made popular.

Support for Princess Celestia was now confined mainly to the cities and large towns, where the vast concentrations of Royal Guard regiments were able to maintain the Princess’ rule. Revolutionary action had already severed the main rail-lines between the cities and now, with the Celestian forces confined to these small areas, the semi-organised Republican forces finished the job. Equestria’s rail-lines were so thoroughly demolished that they would not be fully rebuilt until long after the war, with the exception of those within the area controlled by the World Empire (but that would not be for some time).

With constant revolts even within the area they controlled, the soldiers of what was now referred to by both sides as ‘Old Equestria’ seemed to be fighting a losing battle. The ordinary ponies of Equestria truly believed a new beginning of freedom and equality for their country was imminent. Even Princess Celestia herself, safely protected behind the walls of her palace, is recorded by one source as believing that her end was nigh.

However, another source suggests that she was confident of her eventual victory even at this, her most hopeless moment. “The night,” Celestia supposedly commented, “is always darkest before the dawn.”

The Imperial Decree

Whilst these events were taking place in the west, the Emperor of the World Empire was making arrangements to send a new deputation to Equestria. Imperial sources indicate that the Emperor hoped to initiate a series of trade agreements with Equestria, as well as an exchange of ideas. Imperial technology was far in advance of any of the western nations, while the World Empire possessed almost no magic at all; increased diplomatic relations, therefore, would benefit both parties.

However, before the deputation was sent on its way, the Emperor received word from his ambassadors about the unfolding events in Equestria. Due to the great distances involved, the first paper reports about the assassination of Princess Sparkle reached the Emperor halfway through 1035LB. The Imperial ambassadors in the west had yet to get access to the more advanced Imperial Telegraph System, as the trans-oceanic wire system to Equestria had not yet been completed.

Just as he had finished writing a letter expressing his greatest condolences, the Emperor received further news, this time of the Discordian problems Equestria was facing, and Princess Celestia’s reaction to them. Believing his ambassadors’ (extremely limited) reports that only those ‘infected’ with Discordianism were being rounded up and executed, the Emperor was pleased and gave his support to the Celestia and her method of dealing with the anarchists. It should be noted that the exact term used in the ambassador’s message was “processing”; in the World Empire, “processing” refers to forceful re-education of anarchists through conventional and psychotropic means, and execution only on the occasion that the re-education programs should fail. This slight misunderstanding would lead to later complications between the two countries.

However, by the beginning of 1036LB, the Imperial Telegraph System had reached Equestria and real-time reports of the events unfolding there began to flood in. The Emperor listened with increasing discontent at the news of the constant uprisings, the seeming-random attacks on civilians by (it appeared to him) an increasingly deranged ruler, and the rise of the self-proclaimed New Lunar Republic.

Most likely acting in the Imperial belief of anarchy as a disease, and consequently fearing its spread, the Emperor contacted the Provincial Rulers of the three Provinces nearest to Equestria (for those readers who are unaware, the World Empire is divided up into over sixteen thousand semi-autonomous Provinces, each with their own local army and economy, and led by an Emperor-selected ‘Provincial Ruler’). The Emperor then drafted an Imperial Decree (an inviolable order or law, only alterable or dismissible by the Emperor himself), ordering those Provinces to mount an “armed expedition” into the now civil-war-torn country of Equestria to discover exactly what was going on.

The key clause of this Decree, however, was the mention of Discordian activity.

“If it is found that the land of Equestria is in danger of falling into complete anarchy and/or the hooves of anarchistic factions, such as those referred to by themselves or by others as Discordians, then the aforementioned Provincial Rulers and/or their commander on the field have the full authority of His Imperial Majesty to invade and subdue Equestria with the aim of restoring order, at any and all cost.”

With the rise of further factions from within Equestria itself, this clause was to become the guiding principle for the armies of the World Empire.

The Changeling Emergence and the Secession of Los Pegasus

Equestrian sources tell us that, prior to the events of the Sundering, the last concerted effort by the Changeling Swarm to overtake Equestria was thwarted by Prince Shining Armor and Princess Miamori Cadenza somewhere around 1002-3LB (the popular conception that they did so on their wedding day has no support from the historical evidence, and so must be discounted as a mere popular myth) using an unrecorded form of magical weapon. Supposedly, with her direct assault on Canterlot having failed, the Changeling monarch, Queen Chrysalis, drew back her scattered and depleted forces into the wild forests and jungles of Equestria. There, it is believed, she bided her time, building up her forces.

Many of the (rather limited) documents from the local townships and villages of Equestria record a greater-than-average number of missing pony reports between the years 1020 and 1035LB. Although this could be dismissed as being caused by other, unrelated factors, the apparently steady increase in the annual rate of missing ponies in the latter years suggests that the Changelings were responsible.

Changelings – for those readers who are unaware – are a race of insect-like winged creatures that feed by draining the emotions of other sentient beings, typically ponies. It seems likely therefore that, as part of their build-up, Queen Chrysalis’ forces were abducting increasing numbers of ponies to feed the growing Changeling armies. This was no doubt helped in part by the civil turmoil that was taking place in Equestria, distracting Princess Celestia and her government from the rising Changeling threat.

The newly-strengthened Swarm, however, would not reveal itself to the wider world for many years to come.

Meanwhile, in the south-west of Equestria, another build-up was occurring. In the city of Los Pegasus, a coalition of wealthy and influential ponies had been using their power to gather together and protect as many of the “poor, harassed Discordians” as they could. The sources suggest that these ponies themselves were not Discordians, but merely altruistic sympathisers whose philanthropic kindness stemmed from the “ruthless persecution” the Discordians had been suffering from since 1031LB. Their belief seems to have been that every follower of a particular philosophy should not be held accountable for the actions of one small sect.

Los Pegasus soon became known for its high Discordian population – a population mostly protected from Celestia’s increasingly severe anti-Discordian laws by the influence of its wealthy inhabitants. Thousands of other independent Discordians (estimates suggest approximately 7-8000 between 1031 and 1035LB) flocked to the city, thanks to this reputation as a Discordian haven.

Sources from the time suggest that the relations between the Discordians and the locals began as mistrust and suspicion but, with the support of their rich benefactors, the Discordians soon became an accepted part of Los Pegasus society. With their “acts of anarchy” (as the Celestian government called them) being mostly restricted to amusing public pranks and eccentric clothing, relations improved dramatically with this quirky subset of society. In fact, the sources tell us that around 30 percent of the original Los Pegasus population had – privately or publicly – become Discordians themselves, for many simply because it was the fashion.

When the New Lunar Republic emerged to challenge Celestia’s rule in 1035LB, the Royal Guard regiments stationed in Los Pegasus (just like those in every other city and major town in Equestria) were ordered to clamp down on any and all subversive groups. This caused a mass protest in the early months of 1036LB, in which almost the entire population of Los Pegasus marched upon every visible local government building. The march quickly turned violent.

When the Royal Guard were deployed to combat the uprising, they were armed and prepared to fight against the rag-tag civilian soldiers of the New Lunar Republic, who they believed were behind this mass protest. However, when they began to advance towards the increasingly-violent crowd on that snowy winter day, they discovered that things were not what they seemed.

Sources are divided on exactly what happened, but they do agree on a few details. The initial wave of protesters, it seems, were all armed with a great variety of makeshift weapons; kitchen utensils and gardening implements were apparently the most common, but sources also mention stranger objects, such as flower pots, flaming wigs, unicycles and (inexplicably) grand pianos. While such an inexpert assault wouldn’t normally have been a problem for the highly-trained soldiers of Old Equestria, the protestors (as a surviving guardspony described) fought like “possessed madponies”, attacking relentlessly and with no thought to their own personal safety, much to the soldiers’ astonishment. This is in direct contrast to the citizen-soldiers of the Republic, whom, sources repeatedly emphasise, fought with hit-and-run, guerrilla-style attacks.

Despite this, the Royal Guard seemed initially to have the upper hoof. Their discipline and superior weaponry (our guardspony source tells us) were more than a match for the deranged violence and crude weapons of the protestors. It was at this point that the Guard formations were assaulted by waves of unfamiliar and incomprehensible magical attacks. Our eyewitness source attributes these magical attacks to ponies he labels “Chaos Channellers”; these were the informal unicorn ‘priests’ of the Discordian religion, and this was the first demonstration of the power of their highly-dangerous Discordian magic.

The protestors were, of course, all Discordians, and – following their overwhelming victory against the seriously unprepared Royal Guard forces – they took control of the entire city. With all opposition gone, the true face of Discordianism was now revealed.

The defenceless government officials and civil servants of Los Pegasus were all slaughtered without a second thought, as were the wealthy non-Discordians who had sacrificed so much to help them. Every other citizen was either forcibly converted to Discordianism (some kind of magic is believed to have been involved in this), enslaved or promptly put to death. Our guardspony source describes how large groups of Discordians set about decorating the city with helium-filled balloons, crude signs proclaiming the ascent of Discordianism, colourfully-painted rocks, funny hats and the entrails of those they’d killed. There appears to have been no logic behind any of these actions – as in hindsight we would expect from Discordians.

With the city and surrounding villages now a battleground between the various loosely-organised groups of Discordians, by mid-1036LB Los Pegasus had informally ‘seceded’ from both Old Equestria and the rising New Lunar Republic. It would remain in Discordian hooves for most of the coming war.

The Republic Prepares for War

In the summer of 1036LB, the War Council of the New Lunar Republic was feeling extremely confident, and perhaps rightly so. Approximately two-thirds of the country’s total area was under their control, and Princess Celestia’s forces seemed weaker every day. With every month that passed, the Republic became more organised, their forces better trained, their economy more directed towards war.

The Celestian government, however, was not quite as weak as the Republic imagined. With the fall of Los Pegasus to the Discordians – something the Council of the New Lunar Republic was not yet aware of – and the loss of massive amounts of agricultural land to the popular uprising, Princess Celestia had decided to play the long game. She ordered her generals to withdraw their forces into the cities still under her control and prepare for a siege.

Walls, magical shields and other defensive measures were hastily put in place around the cities of Vanhoover, Fillydelphia, Baltimare and Canterlot, as well as the important towns of Ponyville and Cloudsdale. Many of the surrounding villages were scoured for resources and then demolished to deny their expected besiegers any potentially useful materials or foodstuffs. Although Manehatten was still controlled by Celestian forces, the city was surrendered to Republican forces in early autumn 1036LB by Manehatten’s commander, the elderly General Sunbeam, when he discovered that he did not have the resources available to sustain a lengthy siege. In exchange, he and the majority of his forces were allowed to return to Canterlot unharmed. Sunbeam was subsequently executed by the Celestian government for conceding an entire city to the enemy without a fight.

It soon became clear to the War Council that Princess Celestia was preparing for a drawn-out conflict. Reports from their meetings tell us that some of the Councillors were pleased by this – they had the agricultural land after all, and they could easily starve the forces of Old Equestria into surrender. Other Councillors, including Honorary Councillor Luna, were not so pleased. Celestia’s decision to wait it out, they realised, implied that she was waiting for support from elsewhere.

This revelation seriously worried the Councillors, and a discussion began as to whom Celestia might be waiting for. By the end of the meeting, it was decided that either the World Empire was supporting her – in which case a diplomats must be sent to them immediately to prevent an invasion – or Celestia was waiting for reinforcement from the Crystal Empire, to the far north. The latter seemed to the Councillors to be the most likely, as the ponies of the semi-autonomous Crystal Empire had not joined in with the revolts of 1035-36LB, and their leaders (Prince Armor and Princess Cadenza) were known to be personal friends of Celestia.

It is interesting to note that the Griffon Kingdoms were not even considered during this discussion; there is no mention of them in any of the relevant sources. While it may have been the case that the idea of Celestia allying with the Griffons was simply too absurd to even bring up, it seems more likely that the Council did not even consider them a genuine threat.

The Councillors therefore resolved to firstly send a team of diplomats to Horseshoe Bay (the towns around which were effectively neutral, although the Republic claimed control over them), and then to begin amassing their forces for a powerful blow that, they hoped, would unhorse Celestia and establish the New Lunar Republic as the true Equestrian government. The alternative – to begin a series of lengthy sieges – would take far too long, and Celestia’s reinforcements would likely arrive in force before the revolution had succeeded.

The target for this attack was, of course, the capital city of Canterlot. If Celestia could be overthrown, then the New Lunar Republic could be officially established and the war would be over before it began.