On the History and Geography of the Crystal Empire
An Overview of the Newly Rediscovered Territory by Twilight Sparkle
In the year 1003 After Long Night, or more modernly known as year 3 After New Moon, during the night of the Spring Equinox, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the Arctic North beyond the Crystal Mountains. Outshining even the brightest star, the strange burst of magically-produced light was observed throughout the Frozen North. Though few ponies lived in such areas to witness the event, this strange anomaly would come to affect the very foundations of both Equestria and the world as a whole.
The event that has come to be known as the Northern Flash, was no mere magical anomaly or strange curiosity. It signified the return of a place long held in stasis, a forgotten city that once ruled an empire that spanned leagues beyond counting. The Crystal Empire has returned, more than a millennium after it has been lost.
During the Pre-Classical Era, the Crystal Empire held dominance over the northern parts of the world, from the Crystal Mountains and the Northern Reach to present-day Moosecow and most of the Hooviet Union. These lands were controlled by the Crystal Emperors from their Palace in the Crystal City. The Empire flourished for many years before its capital mysteriously disappeared over one thousand years ago.
Less than one dozen ponies in all of Equestria were aware that a place once called the Crystal Empire existed in the Frozen North of this world in an age long forgotten. No text or book is known to mention it, and even works dating back to the Classical or Pre-Classical Eras rarely imply the existence of such a place. It is thought that most of the texts detailing Pre-Classical Era history were destroyed in the many cataclysms since then.
Smart Cookie’s ‘Journal of the Great Migration’ revealed that, “to survive, [the Earth Ponies] left most of the scrolls behind and used the rest for kindling when the nights grew cold,” offering evidence to the loss of written history during the Great Migration. It is also recorded that Discord’s Reign of Chaos and the Razing of the Everfree also led to a loss of many historical texts. During the War of Long Night, the forces of the New Lunar Republic frequently burned the libraries of occupied and besieged cities and towns in a concentrated effort to demoralize and ‘reeducate’ the citizens of areas under NLR control.
The loss of historical texts is the most-cited hypothesis historians give to explain the little information known of times dating before the Classical Era, also known as the ‘Dark Ages’, though it does not explain how ponies such as Star-Swirl the Bearded have remained well known, despite living in the Pre-Classical Era. Theories of an effort to remove the Crystal Empire from historical knowledge are therefore not completely unfounded.
In the months and years to come, more of the Crystal Empire’s origins, history, and culture will be revealed to us through the findings gleaned from local inhabitants, the Imperial Library, and even texts from the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. As it is, the Crystal Empire that exists today is not a true empire at all. Of the vast and powerful nation that once ruled the ancient North, only the Crystal City remains. This is only called the Crystal Empire for traditional reasons.
The Empire reappeared only two miles east of Fort Snowshield, a small Royal Guard outpost linked by train to the Trans-Equestrian Railroad on a direct route from Ponyville. The Fort was established in 984 ALN by Sergeant Snowblind of the Hoofguard and Lieutenant Stalwart Shield of the Hornguard. Snowshield was built to garrison only a maximum of one hundred ponies to both secure the Northern Reach and condition members of the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts for sub-zero climates.
When it first appeared during the Spring Equinox, the Crystal Empire was completely surrounded in a magical shield about 10 kilometers in diameter and 5 kilometers in height. The central point of this shield was is located at the Crystal Palace in the center of the city, and can only function as long as a continuous stream of magic is sustained. The shield itself produces an atmoisolation effect that is able to contain its own atmography and sustained moderate climate. This shield has also been observed to carry barrier and ward effects, isolating the Crystal City from any outside magical effects, especially that of necromancy and battle magic. Though shields similar to this have been created within Equestria, the shield is far older and more powerful than any modern spells in Equestria.
Within the shield, protected from the harsh polar climate around it, the Crystal Empire maintains a temperate climate that needs no weather control to maintain. The various plant life within the shield flourishes under the ideal conditions, though almost all of the species recorded so far are not native to the Northern Reach. Around the Crystal City lies a small amount of farmland reaching from the outskirts of the city to the shield itself. This farmland produces such native crops as crystal berries and crystal corn, the subject of many years of exposure to the magic exclusive to the Crystal Empire.
At the center of the Crystal Empire is the Crystal City itself. Famously, the city’s pattern resembles that of a snowflake, which is also the sigil of the Crystal Empire. The architecture and municipal planning of the city exemplifies the Crystal Ponies’ values of order and structure. Radiating from the center of the city are twelve primary roads dividing the city into six districts. Each district is both bordered by a primary road and bisected by another, with secondary roads joining at exact angles to produce a ‘point’ in the six-pointed star that forms the Crystal City’s basic layout.
While each district is well defined by the ‘snowflake’ layout, there is not much specialization among different sections of the city. Every district carries a sizable portion of shops and vendors as well as housing for the city’s inhabitants. It is a general observation that the buildings closest to the center of the city are older than those farther away, and that most of the markets are located along the edges of the six districts. Almost every building is constructed out of crystalline materials native to the Northern Reach, and the brilliant shine given off by the city arranged in the shape of an immense star gave it the Pre-Classical name, ‘the Star of the North’.
At the center of the city, where all districts and roads meet, stands one of the largest structures ever built by ponykind. The Crystal Palace is a towering monolithic spire over 350 meters in height, making it a contender for one of the tallest ground-based buildings in the world. This structure is balanced upon four archways to form a square-shaped enclosure underneath the tower that forms the center of the Palace Plaza that the castle stands upon. Each leg of the palace holds a doorway to a flight of stairs leading up to the Hall of Emperors, which connects to the oldest and most important chambers in the castle. The Crystal Throne is located in one of the rooms along the Hall of Emperors, and has been in use since the first Crystal Queen founded the Empire thousands of years ago.
Due to the inherent magical qualities of the Crystal Empire, many secrets of the Palace still remain unknown. Hidden passageways leading from the Crystal Throne to the very top of the Imperial Keep have been discovered, and most of the palace’s upper floors remain empty save for curious artifacts left by forgotten Emperors.
Below the palace, located in the exact center of the Crystal Empire, is the resting place for an immensely powerful object known only as the Crystal Heart. This object was recovered shortly after the rediscovery of the city and played a critical role in the defeat of King Sombra shortly after. Not much is known about this artifact save for its apparent role in the upkeep of the magical shield protecting the city.
Because of this complete lack of knowledge about the Crystal Empire, it is the duty of historians and archeologists today to research and renew our understanding of the ancient world.
Wow... It's been a long time. Almost all of this story is outdated and needs to be heavily revised. I apologize to anyone reading this thinking it was done with any idea of the amount of new lore Season 4 introduced.
That said, editing takes time. A few major changes will be made.
The War of Long Night probably didn't occur, and I'll have to think of something else.
The Crystal Empire chapter is an unfinished mess pushed out the door to show that I'm not dead.
Tirek and Scorpan exist (awesome). Hopefully Grogar the cruel will be a villain in Season 5.
The ENTIRE history of the Wonderbolts were covered in one episode, which will have to be included in the Cloudsdale chapter.
And so much more work. I'll try, but I don't expect to FINISH every essay until the series is over (hopefully 15 seasons from now).
Thank you for reading!
I'm a big believer in the grandfather clause: If a bit of canon wasn't established when you started the fic, you shouldn't feel obligated to incorporate that canon.
Also, hello, reader here. And yeah, with the sheer number of cataclysms Equestria has experienced, keeping any kind of coherent historical record is going to be hard. (Heck, I suspect that the Hearth's Warming story is actually various historical figures crowbarred into the roles of a fictional parable, which is why Spartan pegasi apparently coexist with feudal unicorns and earth ponies.)
5514114
This is a pretty cool thing you've got going here. I like it when people really flesh out the world itself.
And despite the fact that your head canon doesn't always fit the show's canon, it still makes sense and is internally consistent, which is what makes it worth the read (besides it being very interesting).
There is, however, one thing I feel the need to mention. A lot of people assume that ponies control all the wildlife and weather in Equestria, which was somewhat implied in episode 1. However, when you think about it, even with Earth Pony and Pegasi magic, there aren't enough ponies to control and maintain all the weather and wildlife of all of Equestria. There would be a lot of wilderness areas besides the Everfree that have no nearby pony population and which would subsequently have to be left wild.
Not trying to come across ass too critical, just wanted to point it out. It's still a pretty cool fic.
5515608
I never really thought about that before... I do think that pegasi have a general sense of guidance to the weather and would only fine tune their control around cities and towns, but wildlife is different. Perhaps the wildlife in the Everfree is completely untamable as compared to more calm creatures elsewhere.
It's something to think about, perhaps in another essay.
5515433
Thank you, FoME! Although I don't feel obligated to change it to fit current canon, I really want to. What I envision this as is a (completely unofficial) companion piece to the show, as much for my enjoyment as it is for my reader(s).
And as for the lack of history, I have a sneaking suspicion that Celestia, the one being who remembers all of this, wishes it to remain secret. Is it for the protection of Equestria that she never told anyone about Discord, Tirek, Sombra, or an entire Empire? Probably.
It's something to think about. Maybe in another essay.
5516666
I kind of like to think of Earth Pony magic and Pegasi magic as partly like radiation. I mean, partially, it's due to physical touch: pegasi push the clouds around and Applejack hits the apple trees to make them drop all the apples, but none of the leaves, directly into the assembled buckets. But I wonder if the other part of their magic has to do with them being in an area. When they move into an area, their magic spreads out and gets infused into the sky/ground or whatever. For example, the Apple's farm, which is worked by earth ponies, is infused with a lot of earth pony magic which makes the trees super healthy, negates the need for fertilizer, and stops weeds from growing in the area. Perhaps pegasi magic "calms" the sky in an area somehow similarly.
As for the Everfree, I would imagine it has some sort of aura which negates earth pony/pegasis magic somehow so that they would be unable to affect anything in it. Although unicorn magic seems to work fine there though... darn overpowered unicorns...
5516943
Excellent observation! I was going to write the next few essays about the physiology of the pony subspecies and you and I have similar ideas regarding involuntary magic use.
Though Earth Pony magic, in my opinion, works differently. Not only are they naturally fit and resistant to damage, but some ponies seem to funnel it in different ways. Every single nurse in Ponyville is an Earth Pony. Though Ponyville is primarily composed of Earth Ponies, the doctor is a Unicorn. If healing magic was only a Unicorn thing why wouldn't all the nurses be Unicorns? I believe that proximity and care provided by Earth Ponies may evoke the same powers they use to tend the land. How else would it be that injuries are so readily healed in Equestria?
I have a lot to put into the next few essays.