Concerning Ponies

“Concerning Maredor”
(A guide to understanding the nation of Maredor and it’s residents)

Dear Princess,

I would like to begin this letter with stating that I was often isolated from the rest of the council for personal reasons, which would explain why I did not know of the crypt. I would also imagine that seeing as only the members of the old Unicorn Elite so much as knew of this crypt, it was a closely guarded secret shared only among the highest nobles and royals, so if anypony outside the palace were to know of the crypt, it would have been the head of our order. Additionally, I have spoken to Mährdån, an exchange I will get to later. Now, Concerning Maredor...

Section 1: Maredorian Life

Maredor is a vast and expansive Empire, with spotty prosperity. Despite the size of the nation’s boundaries, much of the land is either barren desert, uninhabitable mountain ranges, or enormous stretches of farmland and prairies. I would have to estimate that the Eastern half of the continent would have a population density of five ponies per square mile, as most of the population is concentrated into occasional cities about the region; primarily Crystopolis, Neighran, and Hoofistan. Let us also not forget the southernmost territory of Saddle Arabia, containing Flecca and Maredina. Saddle Arabia will be covered in another document, as it contains its own culture, and is under a fairly independent rule (odd, perhaps Lucifus has become more merciful?).

The ponies in the east live simple lives, for the most part. They are farmers and merchants for the most part, and though they have very little, they are content, for they have each other. Other than that, they have governors for each region, who live at a higher standard, controlling their little niches of territory. They all serve under the two lords of East Maredor: Mährdån and Silver Tooth. Mährdån remains a friend to Equestria, though I must admit I was fearful of her at first sight. Her horn is composed of some kind of black crystal, her coat green as grass on a sunlit prairie, yellow eyes with red irises. Additionally, her mane moved around unnaturally, in a similar manner to your own, but the hairs on hers were oddly frayed, and I believe a hissing noise emanated from it. Despite this, she was very kind and hospitable, unlike Silver Tooth. The silver-coated Alicorn was rather withdrawn, muttering to himself, always on edge, and would often snap at anypony noncompliant with his demands, including Mährdån. I would believe that Silver Tooth suffers from some form of anxiety disorder.

Then, there is West Maredor. West Maredor is governed entirely by Lucifus, and is referred to all over the country by civilians as a “Dark Lord”. I learned why upon traveling to West Maredor. She stands atop her tower, overlooking the land as slaves toil away. Were it not for my invisibility spells, I would likely have been captured or killed by the ever-alert military patrols. Everywhere you go, you will see slaves working. Not just imported slaves from Zebrica or Dioda, mind you, but actual Maredorian residents, be they convicts from the East, or natives who have lived in that land for thousands of years. The ponies there, though muscular from lifetimes of labor, are rather thin due to a lack of basic nutrition. It is protocol for anypony who is unable to work, or simply stops working from exhaustion or starvation to be executed on sight.

Nearby the tower, I’d say within an entire square mile around it, the ponies were building something. Exactly what they were building, I can only guess. Judging by the wall, I’d say a fortification of sorts, but they were also building a foundation. All I know is that this horrid place is Tartarus on Earth.

Additionally, I found a connexion to West Maredor and the Unicorn kingdom. I was able to work my way into the caves beneath Lucifus’ tower, and there I found another massive door, identical to the door in the palace at the Unicorn kingdom! However, there was no lock.

Section 2: History of Maredor

This land was not always known as “Maredor”. Before, it was simply a continent in which various pony tribes lived peacefully among one another, primarily in the East. It is also said that this land is the birthplace of the Alicorns. Thousands of years ago, Lucifus came to the continent, and with what was simply described as “the forces of darkness”, she attempted to conquer the land. However, there was a young Alicorn colt, roughly around the same age as Luna, named Darius, and he united the various tribes of the land to protect themselves from Lucifus. Lucifus, not expecting much resistance, was beaten out of the East. This new alliance came to be known as the Fersian Empire, soon became one of the most prosperous nations in recorded history. After forcing Lucifus off of the continent, Fersia became an almost perfect, utopian society, much like the Crystal Empire. The three different pony races, under Darius’ rule, lived peacefully together. However, unlike the crystal Empire, they maintained a military, warding off attackers from the nearby continent of Dioda, and maintaining order by offering the citizens his love, working with few nobles. The Fersian warriors were both revered and feared by all. Roamulus, who soon founded the great Pegasus empire of Cirra, studied the art of war in Fersia.

Though the one weakness Darius had was his over-confidence. It was nowhere near as ignorant as the government of the Crystal Empire, though he believed Lucifus to be defeated, even though he knew she was still alive. Three hundred years ago, Lucifus returned, her armies stronger than ever before. “Fire and lightning rained from the skies, the black clouds, unmoved by any pegasi, but by the winds and storms which Lucifus commanded through her own sheer will, blotted out the sun, the same black clouds hang over the West to this day” (except from “Records of Maredor”, found in the hidden library). The war was catastrophic, hundreds of thousands of ponies raped and slaughtered by Lucifus’ forces. The deranged ponies who served her made a sport of the atrocities, seeing how many mares they could keep as personal servants, and how many stallion heads they could lob off in a day. Lucifus rewarded the soldiers who could deliver the most heads, and stole the bounty of those who did not kill enough. These mercenaries did not discriminate. Even foals could be counted among the dead during the “Vendetta Massacres”, as the war has come to be known.

The final battle lasted for nearly a year: the siege of Neighran. Neighran was once simply a gathering spot, for traders all around the continent from the different tribes to hold meetings, and trade goods. Since the founding of Fersia, Neighran soon grew into a massive castle-town, being not only the most prosperous city on the continent, but also the most well-fortified. It is written that Darius protected the city by mustering a great magical barrier around the city. It took the combined strength of millions of mercenaries from all corners of the world, as well as the “forces of darkness” to bring the barrier down. Then Lucifus, the “Dark Lord” herself came in to finish off the barrier, and she led the charge into the city. There, her and Darius fought blade to blade, magic against magic. It is a fight that has been told throughout the land for generations: a battle between two immortal Alicorns. However, Darius began to falter, and eventually lost. “Exhausted, Darius swung blindly at Lucifus’ head, thinking nopony knows what. Lucifus seized the opportunity, strafing to his side, she dismembered a wing. He turned, scoring a hit on her flank, barely maintaining the magic holding his sword in place ... Despite the wounds, the two continued to fight onwards, until Lucifus had finally dismembered his other wing, knocking the wingless Alicorn unto the ground. She was not through with him yet, as she continued onwards, crushing Darius’ horn with her powerful armored hoof” The passage ends there, rather abruptly. However, since then, “Fersia” has now been come to be known as “Maredor”, with all the surviving denizens of the west enslaved, forced to toil away under Lucifus’ iron rule. I believe that Darius gave up hope during the fight. His Empire was gone, and no matter what his people did, they would never escape Lucifus’ forces. Even if he killed Lucifus there, her forces would overrun the land seeking bounty, and the continent would plunge into chaos. It’s arguable that the war was lost before Lucifus even entered Neighran.

Section 3: Military

Tales of Maredor’s military force are well known to ponies all over the world, though witnessing it first-hand was both amazing yet horrifying (much like watching a Hydra chase its prey).

The soldiers were among the most disciplined I had ever seen, much like the soldiers of the Cirran legion. They are each trained to dismantle a threat with whatever means necessary, and taught to survive for weeks with the bare minimum amount of supplies and resources. After observing a sparring session, it was evident that with the way these ponies moved, the ferocity with which they fought-- an Equestrian soldier would not last more than five seconds, and that is no exaggeration by any means.

Their military is almost as advanced as the Crystal Empire’s. While they do not quite have crystal armor and diamond blades, they have compressed steel armor. I watched the process, they fold steel, layers upon layers on top of each other to make thin yet incredibly durable armor. They even do the same for their swords, creating blades that could easily slice through the armor of any Equestrian soldier.

There are many rumors regarding the Maredorian military, and at this point I can confirm the most far-fetched one to be true: they have dragon soldiers. These dragons are slightly different from regular dragons; they are born in Maredor, and raised by ponies, namely Lucifus and Sliver Tooth. They have also bred the dragons into two completely different races as well; one race is the same that we are familiar with: large winged reptiles capable of wreaking havoc and destruction wherever they go, and smaller, wingless beings with weakened flames. However, these smaller dragons possess magical abilities, being able to send letters to anywhere in the world by simply igniting them. It takes mere seconds for the message to arrive in the hands of the recipient, allowing armies to communicate efficiently, therefore having an edge over their enemies by being able to communicate quickly. This makes dragons excellent spies, for even if they are captured they may still deliver whatever intelligence they have uncovered in a short amount of time.

I was surprised to learn that Maredor has some of the greatest strategists throughout the world. I had always imagined that Lucifus simply threw her massive military at a threat (though “victim” is probably the more accurate term), but they do rely on strategy just as much as anything else. Their troops are known for forming a phalanx, which is a great wall of soldiers, line after line of them standing together, joined shields and spears at the ready. Any attempt at charging the phalanx is futile, and their armies move swiftly if not accompanied by dozens of other phalanxes, making them nearly impossible to flank. However, if one should succeed in flanking the phalanx on multiple fronts, then the entire system collapses.

Another potential weakness in Maredor’s military is that the unicorn soldiers know very little magic. They know projectile and levitation spells, which allows them to fight better conventionally, though beyond that they are clueless. However, Mährdån and Silver Tooth are both very proficient in terms of magical abilities, and legend has it that Lucifus is one of the most powerful Alicorns alive. It would make sense that the Maredorian rulers throughout history assumed power through the use of magical force.

Section 4: Maredorian Philosophies

While there are many religions and belief systems throughout the Maredorian continent, most of which belong to denizens of distant colonies, such as Saddle Arabia, Kashmir, and Neighjing. The denizens of East Maredor, however, live under various philosophies, seeing as the religions of old were outlawed after Lucifus assumed power over the nation.

Most of these philosophies even originate from Neighjing. They are listed below:

Concerning Naturalism:
Naturalism is the philosophy which the law created by ponies and the creatures of Earth is pointless and flawed. Naturalist ponies believe that the laws of the divine forces (which can be any force the follower chooses, including immortal Alicorns such as yourself) are the “true law”. The true law is simply the beauty (or chaos) of the natural world; letting everything simply be as it is; that the world is the way that the divine forces intended it to be. The incorporation of immortal Alicorns is a recent addition, which Silver Tooth has helped implement in order to subtly undermine this potentially dangerous philosophy. However, Mährdån is also a Naturalist, which has earned her the respect of the eastern lands near the Neighjing territory.

Concerning Tortorism:
Tortorism is a philosophy which Silver Tooth abides, in that the Maredorian leaders are given a divine right to rule over the continent. However, should these divinely chosen leaders fail to protect and supply the basic needs of the people, then the ponies living under their rule have the right to fight against their oppressive leader who betrayed the divine’s one simple request. Tortorism is older than Darius himself. Mährdån has remained neutral with regards to her views of Tortorism.

Concerning Nihikism:
This one is my favorite, and the closest one to being a full-fledged religion. Nihikism is the philosophy that we should detach ourselves from all things, material or otherwise. It sounds a bit cruel, though it’s not quite that bad; you may love others, though you should love and tolerate all others, and reach eternal happiness, “true” happiness. Why not reach happiness from ponies or things? Because unfortunately, all things come to an end, so you must make yourself happy through meditation and good deeds, without having to rely on something else. It brings comfort to me, especially while traveling on this lonely journey. Again, despite this philosophy’s emphasis on detachment from ponies or things, it has a huge emphasis on the values of love, friendship, and tolerance. Though aren’t some things intolerable? Yes. If somepony is hurting or abusing another pony in any way, shape, or form, then that is an intolerable action, which bystanders, and especially friends of the pony being abused should take action against (preferably as nonviolently as possible). Silver Tooth finds this philosophy to be dangerous, as it goes against the ideas of conquest and glory which the Maredorians support.

Conclusion:

So in conclusion, Maredor poses a huge threat to Equestrian security. Should our nations go to war, we would surely be utterly and mercilessly annihilated, therefore we must train our forces to be able to fight effectively. Though there is something else that is valuable to learn from this; the philosophies listed above could help our nation grow and prosper. You are already worshipped, so I see little need for Naturalism, and we know that Tortorism already applies in Equestria. Though Nihikism is very important, as it encourages friendly values in society. Also, that shielding spell would be incredibly useful in the case of an invasion. In fact, it only takes a single unicorn (though he or she must be very well-trained) to perform this spell and protect a whole city.

Also, attached are documents of Maredorian fighting techniques, transcripts from texts regarding the three philosophies, and a transcript of the exchange between Mährdån and I.

Your faithful student,
~Starswril the Bearded