Savage: The Astral Crystal

by rareSnowDash

Rating: everyone
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Maud Pie
Length: 1219

Equestria, land of the divided and home of the captives. It is not? Well, re-check your calendar. It is now.

Long ago, following an age of gradual bitterness and hatred, the map of Equestria was divided in two parts: Solar Equestria, ruled by the Princess of the Sun; Lunar Equestria, ruled by the Princess of the Moon. Rarity Belle, living in Lunar Equestria, was but an aspiring seamstress who unexpectedly got summoned to the Royal Palace of Princess Luna --- all in a hunt for a priceless, mystic crystal near the borders of the rival country.
Things could only go well from there.

Published 2018-05-19 08:20:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-19 08:20:06 UTC

Prologue

“… till the year of 1879 AD which was when an unusual vibe was noticed to spread in the land of Equestria. Ponies became strangely unreasonable and begun to display uncharacteristic hatred towards others; scholars estimated that it was 1881 when this taciturnity developed rather harsh bounds that included a dramatic increase in theft, murder and other general crime.

The target of such hostility could not even be slightly discerned until ponies took to condemning the rulers of Equestria, the alicorn sisters Celestia and Luna, accusing them for a variety of reasons including but not limited to inability to govern the land and protect the citizen ponies. Records depict the co-rulers were used to a more harmonious state of Equestria and, believing this hostile behaviour was only transitory, only tried to avoid releasing reactions that would increase public hate.

Nevertheless, the inimicality did not fade but grow stronger and, in 1889, a series of assaults and attempted lynching provoked the sisters to have a second castle built in the centre of the secluded Everfree Forest. In the decade that followed, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna frequently retreated to that castle (later known as the Castle of the Two Sisters) whenever social situations got out of hoof.

On 5th August of 1909, when the sisters were trying to recoil to the castle after encountering a violent condemnation, said castle was bombed, destroying 31 acres of the building and killing up to twenty-nine ponies who worked there.

Retreating back to the Equestrian capital, Canterlot, the younger Princess Luna flew into a justified rage and decided that the ponies needed to be controlled ‘before Equestria was left a land of bloodshed and massacres’. Therefore, she immediately declared extreme martial law all over Equestria, unleashing strict rules that had to be met to stay alive. Despite being autocratic and authoritarian, this course of action resulted in three, moderately controlled years. Princess Celestia, however, worried that it was only serving to increase the civilians’ already violent bitterness and soon called it to an end, suggesting the only key was ‘a peaceful solution’.

Therefore, she called a meeting with delegates of all Equestrian towns and cities, hoping to reach a solution that would make both sides gratified. Over fifty ponies congregated in the meeting hall of the Canterlot Castle for the meeting that took place on 17 October, 1912 and lasted till 23 October 1912.

To date, there is no written record of the topics discussed during the conference but all attendees, when questioned, have been recorded to confess that ‘somepony brought up the idea of dividing the land between the sisters’ and that they debated about it for a while before dismissing it as an unreasonable option.

Despite the six-day meeting, a solution was yet to be reached and the princesses remained empty-hoofed on ideas. From what was suggested, although it is not proved yet, the attendees believed the royal sisters were simply unable to understand their subjects. In light of this failure, Princess Luna advocated the idea of bringing back the martial law but Princess Celestia, despite having her conference ideas foiled, still found the idea far too cold and refused to allow it.

Violence, crime and frequent attempts at lynching either of the royal princesses went on in Equestria for the consecutive years of 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916 and 1917. In the February of 1918, a massive protest rally was arranged by ponies who detested Princess Luna and was held on the outskirts of Manehatten, the number of attendee ponies extending above 800,000. Not a month later, on the 2nd of March, a similar protest rally was held against Princess Celestia. This time, the number of dissenters was precisely 1,700,419.

As it was proved with a number of inspective inquisitions over the course of one year, roughly 93% of Equestrian citizens were adoring admirers of one princess and detesting detractors of the other. The country was conceptually divided into two parts and no amount of peace-beseeching served to lessen the ever-growing tension.

1919 was the year when many noticed a sudden rift developing between the princesses. To this day, there are many theories revolving around what could have caused the sisters to be irrationally bitter towards each other. One theory is that the two princesses had an argument over a diplomatic matter but differing opinions caused them to oppose the other. Another goes that a manipulative spy was sent by an adversary to drive them apart (although this particular theory has been denied by both the princesses). A third, and possibly the most convincing, one is that the princesses were jealous of the fact that ponies who hated her found something admirable in her sister and that led to them losing touch.

In the beginning of 1920, Lady Mayor Congress, the mayor of Canterlot received a covert letter from Princess Luna, demanding an urgent council meeting at the Canterlot Castle on the very afternoon of the day, 21st of January. When the emissaries arrived, the two sisters were claimed to have launched into hysterics of insults and abuses for each other and, after what was described by Mayor Congress as ‘unstoppable utterances of reprimands’, they put forward a suggestion to the council, asking to be separated from their sister.

The council prompted to explain how crucial it was for the two princesses to remain together for the good of all land, points including but not limited to balance in harmony, controlling of the day and night and political affairs. While the meeting was called off when the council elucidated that it was not a healthy option for the sisters to separate, the public encouraged the idea with extreme enthusiasm.

On 28th January, during early hours, Canterlot was thrown into absolute pandemonium when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna launched themselves in a vicious battle of magical terrorism that demolished around a quarter of the castle, a duel that raged on for two hours. The prosperity of Equestria was beginning to crumble due to the increasing violence and hatred and the issue of the sisters’ fight was addressed by an immediate meeting with delegates from all over the country.

Refusing to take any blame, each princess accused the other for starting the fight and, as was suggested eight years ago, the subject of dividing Equestria came up once again. Instead of ignoring it as they had done previously, all attendees decided it was the most reasonable of choices and, when asked what they thought, the royal princesses did not hesitate to accept it. Since it was the one option that would keep both the society and royalty collected, all of the council agreed on it.

Hence, on 29th of January, 1920, began the process called the Demarcation of Equestria. The land of Equestria was divided equally among the princesses; Princess Celestia named her own land ‘Solar Equestria’ while Princess Luna named hers ‘Lunar Equestria’. As Mayor Congress later explained, both princesses had found it crucial to keep ‘Equestria’ because equines lived in both their countries.

The year 1921 was known as the Year of Flight for many ponies immigrated from and to either of the two countries. For more information on the percentages of pony races that migrated, please consult Figure 2.0.7 and…”

---A Distinct History of Equestria by ‘Sir Notebook Quill’