The Fall of Morninglight

(( This entry is dated January 5th of this year ))

The New Year has settled in amongst the towns and villages of Roanoak, and a tentative feeling of peace has come with it.

This last year has been rife with both change and travail, and I am most anxious to put it behind us and move forward into a brighter time… Roanoak has been tried, and though the difficulties have been many and we may have staggered, we still stand…

This time last year there were growing pains within the various towns and principalities as population rose. Ponies who were seeking to better their place in the world moved into the regions quite quickly, and this created both housing shortages and the need to annex land for business.

There were the upheavals in the Imperial Guard as the command structure changed – and this brought with it many issues of personality conflict.

There were the Changelings that caused huge rifts in the social structure of Roanoak. Ponies became heavily divided over who was willing to be food and who was not – and this resulted in ponies fighting ponies in the streets whilst the Changelings watched and laughed.

And ultimately the Changeling Invasion of Morninglight happened; an event that found us all uprooted and moved to a new land with an entirely new set of problems to overcome.

But overcome them we did. And we are still here.

Not every event of the last year has been quite so fraught with peril though, and there are a host of bright lights I shall carry with me for as long as I am able…

The various events, plays, holidays, and long summer nights spent in idle conversation in Morninglight… And watching the ponies learn and grow, friendships form, and adventures of all shapes and sizes come and go.

These are the things that bear remembrance.

One such is the freeing of the Silvermane Hive… This is an event of recent import that has born fruit of both incredible use, and some of bittersweet tragedy. While I was successful in lifting the physical curse, it seems that the fangs of the Changelings are not so easily removed from some ponies.

This situation still has my attention, and is a work in progress.

On a more national scale – relations with Equestria are stronger than ever since the invasion, and the Equestrian Diarchy and I have been communicating much more routinely. And we now share a peacekeeping force, the 13th Legion, which links the two nations together for conflict resolution and keeps military matters jointly controlled. This has lead to a drastic reduction in Changeling-related activity in both kingdoms, as information is now a shared resource.

With the 13th Legion comes the return of Imperious. Once the Captain of my Imperial forces, he has returned to us from his time abroad as the Warmaster of the shared Roanoak – Equestria forces. In this there have been many changes wrought with regard to the Imperial Guard, which now operate under his guidance.

One such recent action was the offer of amnesty for anypony under warrant by the Guard for questioning or infraction… And this seems to have turned up quite a few familiar names.

The first to accept this offer were three ponies implicated in the attempted creation of a new Changeling hive on Roanoak soil… As referenced in my previous entry, this was not without some complication.

Everything dealing with Changelings has incredible amounts of complication…

The latest pair to take advantage of this amnesty offer is Bit Amour and his daughter, Mercy.

These two were wanted for treason relating to an Imperial intelligence operation some six months ago. And the night before last they were brought before me so that I could hear their defense against the charges…

Bit and Mercy arrived at Castle Astur at the appointed time, were searched and declared unarmed, and escorted before me. I laid out the charges, namely treason against the Empire, and then identified the pony who leveled the charges and the observers for the record – the former being Warmaster Imperious and latter my guests: Lady Silvermane and Lady Solstice.

Their side of the tale was long in the telling – some half an hour of carefully recounting events that transpired six months ago and half a world away. Much of the testimony aligned with the records I had received from Imperious, and included them both admitting to the treasonous act without duress.

But it was their reasoning for the act was most intriguing… They state that the reason they divulged operational intelligence to the party being investigated was because Imperious, drunk, had revealed the identity of the spies to one Chikt Tristar, a bat pony who was, at the time, under the employ of the group being investigated.

As soon as they had concluded I asked Imperious for his rebuttal, and he spent a few minutes refuting their accusation that he is the reason they committed treason.

Once he had finished I asked the accused for their closing statements, carefully reviewed my lengthy notes, and patently ignored the posturing and blustering between Imperious and Bit as I thought on the problem.

My ruling was; given that both parties agree that the treasonous act did occur, but there is some confusion on the circumstances that brought it about, which alters the severity of the crime, that I need more information. As both accounts hinge upon the testimony of one ‘Chikt Tristar’, the final verdict is suspended until he is brought before me to answer some questions.

In this regard I have remanded Bit and Mercy into the custody of the 13th Legion, but in light of their voluntary surrender and show of good faith I have pardoned them from direct incarceration and they are merely not to leave Ardennes until the investigation and deliberation is complete.

I have received word that Mister Tristar is once again in Ardennes and I must see to getting his side of the tale… I am willing to bet, given Mister Tristar was allegedly with Imperious who was allegedly drinking, and that said event was some six months ago, that his recollection of the event will be sketchy at best. I have already made plans to speak with Eagle Eye, the proprietor who was under investigation at the time of the event, and his assistant Bell Igerant with regard to this event as well.

Hopefully many viewpoints on the event will paint a more complete picture.

Ultimately the investigation was not harmed by the information divulged by Bit and his daughter, so I am convinced the severity of the crime is not quite as dire as it was made out to be. Yes, treason is not a one-time thing… Those who engage in it are not to be trusted ever again – but on the other hoof once you know, you can simply prevent them from coming into contact with sensitive information ever again.

This is preferable to an agent offering information that is harmful, and you do not know about it.

The final bit of news for this entry is that the Council sessions have resumed.

Last evening we had the first council session of the New Year. Given the lack of notice, which led to most of the council not being able to make it, I still feel some good did come of it.

Firstly, the public announcement of the bids for Ardennes mayoral candidacy happened last evening. I am curious if there are any civic-minded ponies in Ardennes willing to do the work – as I doubt it will be a ‘fun’ job… Ponies can be very demanding.

The next item on the agenda was with regard to the proposed increases in taxation for Cervidas shipments originating or ending at Cervidas ports. As much of the council and those who attend such sessions are business ponies, this caused some mild discussion. They have a few days to bring their concerns to me, so that I may finalize my response to Cervidas.

After this the floor was opened for discussions, and the remainder of the evening passed with little issue.

So, all in all, I feel this New Year will lead to pleasant days and prosperity – as long as the 13th can continue to make inroads against the Changelings, and we can collectively work to prevent any new insurrectionist issues.