--One Week Earlier--

POV: Princess Celestia

"... And that Princess is why a 10 bit tax should be applied to all purchases in Equestria to pay for renovations to The Garden in the Shopping district." Said Bronze Bit after spending 2 hours talking

This is was the fifth day in a row he has come today court wanting to "renovate" the garden in the shopping district, when in reality "The Garden" he was talking about was actually a restaurant that he owns. He really should know better. "For the last time Mr. Bit, I will not tax the ponies of Equestria to renovate "The Garden" in the Shopping district. Now if I hear one more thing about renovating "The Garden" I will personally tear it down and replace it with a Barnyard Bargains. Now, please leave the court before I have you escorted out." I said while rubbing my temple with my hand.

With a huff, Bronze Bit stormed out of the courtroom. After he left, I let out a long sigh. "Some days, I feel that it would be easier to just strip the nobility of their titles and kick them out of Canterlot."

"If only it were that easy Princess." The guard to the left me said

"Don't I know it. Anyways, can you tell the guard at the front to let the next pony in please."

"Right away Princess." the guard said as he walked to the end of the courtroom. A few moments later, he came back into the room, "Uh, Princess."

"Yes?"

"There is a pony here claiming to be a foreign diplomat that would like to meet with you as soon as possible."

Sigh... what happened this time. "The diplomat, what race are they?" I ask

"A male Unicorn your majesty."

"A Unicorn? What nation did he say he represented?" I asked interest peaked.

"He didn't your majesty. Only that he would like to meet with you as soon as possible."

"Very well, let him in," I said, and the guard went back out of the room.

A few minutes later, the doors opened and the diplomat entered the room. The diplomat was a dark grey unicorn with blue eyes and black hair, and wore a dark blue tailcoat with lapels embroidered with silver oak leaves, a silver sash, and silver aiguillette on his right side with an eagle with its wings spread open underneath the aiguillette, darb blue pants, and had a small dagger at his side.

"Geeting your majesty. I am Colonel Burkhardt Panzinger. I am here on behest of the Emperor of the River Reich to establish diplomatic relations." He said in a formal tone and finished with a bow

"Greetings Colonel Burkhardt. I can't say I am familiar with the River Reich. However, I am familiar with a River Republic, though I have not heard from them in a long time." I say

"Ah, yes. The reason you have not heard from the River Republic is that around 300 years ago, a terrorist attack occurred during a council meeting in which all except for the Speaker of the Republic were killed in an explosion. Since then, the Speaker rapidly consolidated power to become the first Emperor of the new River Reich and spent the next 20 years putting down dissidents and stabilizing the country. Since then, we have spent the last 280 years on improving the Empire, and as a result, cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Only recently has the Emperor decreed that we should re-establish relations with other countries, and the Emperor has decided that relations should be established with Equestria first. So with your permission, we would like to establish an embassy here in Canterlot."

"I am sorry to hear about the situation your nation was in. If we had known, we could have sent you aid. As for your request to establish an Embassy, we would be happy to host you here in Canterlot."

"Thank you, your majesty. While I am here, I can try to answer any questions you have."

"I do have two questions. You never mentioned your Emperors name, I would like to know his name, and if possible, could you provide me with a map of the River Reich? I'm fairly sure the one we have of the River Republic is out of date by now."

"I am sorry your majesty, but I cannot provide either of those to you at this time."

"And why is that?" I ask

"Under the National Security Act of 802, it is illegal to provide national information that might provide a strategic advantage to any foreign powers without the direct approval of the current Emperor. I can put in a request to allow you access to a recent map, and allow for you to know the Emperor's name. But I would not get my hopes up."

"While I am concerned that your nation would go to such lengths, I respect the laws you have, and am willing to wait to hear back at a later date."

"Thank you, your majesty. I appreciate you respecting your laws and regulations. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Burkhardt asked

"No, that will be all Colonel Burkhardt. My secretary Raven Inkwell will take you to the Embassy complex outside fo the castle grounds."

"Thank you, your majesty." Colonel Burkhardt said with a bow as he turned and left the courtroom.

After he left, I stood up from my throne and turned to my guards, "Cancel court for the rest of the day. I have some research I need to do." I said as I walked out of the courtroom and went up several flights of stairs to the Royal Library. Inside, I started searching for old documents on the River Republic, maps, history, demographics, leaders, anything I could find to refresh my memory. After searching for two hours, I found a thin book that was published a year before Colonel Burkhardt said the council leaders were killed, that went through a basic history of the Republic.

A History of the Republic

By Bronze Feather

To understand how the Republic came to be we must first understand what lead to the formation of the Republic.

We are not sure exactly what year the first citizens of the Republic arrived on the continent we now know as Ronia, but we do know that the first settlers arrived on different ends of the continent and founded the five kingdoms that make up the republic all around the same time. What documents we have recovered shows that the initial settlers did not know about one another until roughly 50 years after each nation was established.

To the southwest is the Kingdom of Nimbusia. It was established by Pegasi that were expelled from their old nation after they refused to recognize the new military leader of their old lands. The Nimbusians had a democratic society that elected a new king every 20 years from a select group of Pegasi generals. From recovered documents, it looks like the new military leader of their old home gained power through bribes and intimidation. It is unsure how many initially arrived, but it is widely told in Nimbusian legends that 5,000 pegasi flew for 10 days to find their new home. Today, the Nimbusians are known for their grand structures and their aerial combat abilities. The current capital of the Kingdom of Nimbusia is Grand city of Segnino.

To the southeast is the Merchant Kingdom of Skyfall. Skyfall is ruled by Griffins Merchants that found the continent by accident after the founder's merchant fleet was blown off course in a massive storm. The King is elected by a council of merchants and leads the nation until death, or is voted out by the council. The Kingdom is known for their renown sailing skills on both the ocean, and on their skyships, and can be seen today in every other Kingdom on the continent selling goods that they have obtained, and selling information for the right amount of coin. The current capital of the Kingdom of Skyfall is the trading city of Machim.

To the east, there is the Agrarian Kingdom of Gold Hoof. One of the two largest kingdoms, Gold Hoof is ruled by a society of Earth Ponies who today provide over 70% of the food to the republic. The Kingdom of Gold Hoof is ruled by the Cherrygrain family, who owns over 30% of all the lands in the Kingdom. While many would consider the lifestyle that the citizens of the Kingdom of Gold Hoof to be simple and dull, the sheer amount of food that the kingdom produces is a testimate to the skills that they have honed over generations of farming and sowing seeds. In the library of the Cherrygrain estate, a document was found that said the initial settlers were in search of new fertile land after the land in their old homeland became barren. The current capital of the Kingdom of Gold Hoof is Harvest Hub of Hitchested.

To the north, there is the Tribal Kingdom of Pontia. The smallest of the five kingdoms, it was founded by a group of Zebra that left their homeland after being persecuted by what they called the Great Devil. The Tribal Kingdom is ruled by a council of zebra shamans that are known for their extraordinary potion-making skills that can cure minor ailments, to serious injuries. When asked what the Great Devil was, the shamans have been either vague or refused to answer, and to this day historians outside of the Kingdom of Pontia still, have no idea what the Great Devil is or was. The current capital of the Kingdom of Pontia is the city of Askrillala.

Finally, to the northeast, we have the Technocratic Kingdom of Arcadia. The second of the two largest kingdoms, the Technocratic Kingdom of Arcadia was founded by a group of unicorn scholars and is ruled by a king that is elected by a council of the smartest and most learned of unicorns in the land, and rules until death. Of all the kingdoms, the method to which the unicorns arrived on the continent is thoroughly documented. According to the documentation, the scholars arrived after a mass teleport spell was interrupted by a group of winter wolves, as a result, the spell was cast before a destination was chosen. According to the same document, the entire group could have ended up inside of a volcano, deep underground, or in the middle of the ocean. Luckily, they ended up on dry land. On this site is a monument to their good luck, currently, this monument is in the center of the capital city of Verano.

Now that a basic history has been established for each of the kingdoms that make of the Republic, it is important to know how these five kingdoms came together to form the republic we know today. When the kingdoms first made contact with each other, there was a massive race to grab as much land as possible on the continent, with conflict arising where settlers met one another, with only the Kingdom of Pontia expanding to their current borders and then stopping.

War broke out between the four kingdoms and the borders fluctuated back and for several years. That is until the great freeze came. No one is quite sure what caused the great freeze, but during one winter, when the armies were dug in. It started to get colder and colder. The rulers of each kingdom thought that it was just an especially harsh winter, but when it stayed cold after winter was supposed to end, panic started to set in. The rulers of the Kingdoms told the population that it was just a long winter, and it would soon pass. But when it remained cold through the spring, summer, fall, and got even colder during the next winter. Food stores started to run dry in all but the Kingdom of Golden Hoof, and the armies that were dug in for the winter abandoned their duty and posts after the food shipments started to dwindle.

When it reached the second year of the great freeze, the Kingdom of Arcadia called for all the rulers of each Kingdom to meet in the city of Verano to end all hostilities, as the need to survive became the number one concern. Thankfully, each ruler realized that survival became the number one concern and agreed to meet in a weeks time.

During what would be known as the first meeting of the republic, each ruler told the other the situation their kingdoms were in. At the current rate of food and firewood consumption, none of the kingdoms would last. All five kingdoms came together that day to ensure that they would all survive. Nimbusia used their ability to manipulate clouds to insulate the homes in the capital cities. Skyfall used their airships to transport citizens from the countrysides of each kingdom to the city to ensure that the population of each nation would survive, and would transport goods between each nation. Golden Hoof would provide food from their vast stores of food and would ensure that seeds from every crop would survive the freeze. Pontia would supply healing medicine and potions to the kingdoms to heal those who were suffering from frostbite, and who was sick. And Arcadia would use their magic to cast healing spells in the cities to make keep the temperature a few degrees above freezing. The rulers of each kingdom left Verano with their current kingdom renewed hope. And all hostilities were ended, with the country borders becoming what they are today.

The Great Freeze lasted for 7 more years after this first meeting, and each year, the rulers would meet in Verano once every 3 months after the first meeting to ensure that each kingdom would survive. Finally, when the temperature started to rise, and the snow started to melt, the populace that had been confined to the capital cities of each nation was finally able to return to their homes to try and recover their old lives. Some thought that the alliance between kingdoms would break down after the great freeze was over. But surprisingly, the alliance held strong, and the rulers decided to create a federation that would help one another to survive and prosper in the year that followed.

Eventually, this federation became a republic, where the five rulers would nominate someone to lead the new republic. Most of the time one of the five rulers would end up ruling the republic, but on rare occasions, the rulers would nominate and appoint a well-known citizen from one of their nations to lead the council. In 6 months time of this book being published, the council will elect a new leader of the council to rule for 7 years.

Map of the Five Kingdoms and Ronia

I reread the thin book again to look for anything that I missed, but it seems that I will probably need to have somepony search the records room to find more information. Taking the book with me, I leave the library and make my way towards my bedroom. Once I arrive at my room, I take off my regalia and lay down on the bed. This past month has been hectic. From Luna returning, one of my subjects ending up in a coma as a result of the Elements of Harmony, Luna closing herself off from even myself after she learned that Moonshadow was ended up in a coma trying to stop her, now a nation under a new ruler reestablishing relation with Equestria. I really need a vacation.

Author's Note

LORE!!!

The Uniform the River Reich diplomat looks like this