Thirty years ago — before Luna's return, before the Mane Six, before everything — Equestria stands on the brink. A harsh winter threatens starvation, discontent threatens to bubble over to full-blown rebellion, and to the south lurk dragons, hungry for vengeance and waiting for a moment of Equestrian weakness.
But Celestia knows how the game is played, and if anyone can right the ship of state, it's her. No one can dance on the edge of a blade like she can; after all, she was there when it was forged. Slowly, delicately, she charts her course —
And then everything goes wrong.
Blackacre is somewhat different fare than the usual you might find here, telling a much darker story than the sort we usually see on Saturday mornings. It won't be for everyone, but then again what is? This is a story of the long con, of the world as it is — a story both of those who reason why, and those who do and die.
The Making Of
Blackacre has a relatively long history. The notion took root in August 2013; it gestated for a time and took its first real steps as part of NaNo in November 2013. It took a finalized shape around April 2014, whereupon the editing started. The text here was updated in July 2014 to reflect those edits — a comprehensive revision and polishing of the text, including several new chapters and several entirely rewritten ones.
The text you see here is the final version of Blackacre; at least, I don't intend on working it over again. That's not to say I don't welcome and encourage comments, questions, or suggestions, either on the text itself or the style; I certainly spent long enough working on it the first time around, and if you enjoyed it (or didn't!) I'd be happy to talk.
Besides, there will always be room for improvement — and there will be a next time.
Sequels & Such
Blackacre has no sequel proper. At least, not yet. It does, however, have companion stories, set at different times in the same universe:
Dr. Strangehorn; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Elements — a one-shot set in Twilight's future, well after her rise to power.
Twelve Angry Mares — an adaptation of the classic story of a murder trial, set after Blackacre but before the show.
Reviews & Commentary
Reviewed one year out — and accurately so, too — by Chris.
Analytically reviewed by Cosmic Cowboy.
Rated four moustaches out of five, and later referenced, by xTSGx.
I look forward to more,
This is going to be good.
Year 969? So this happens about thirty years before season 1? And has [dark] tag on it... oh boy, I think I know where this is going. I need to see that, keep it up!
And I hope we'll see some Celestia in action!
Heya, folks — we're back! This time, with a plan. Maybe. Well, most of one. It's November, and tis the season for novel-writing. Yes, that means I'm trying to work up Blackacre as a NaNo novel. I can guarantee that Blackacre will be completed at some point, but other than that, I disclaim all liability — no promises. Especially about timing. Or keeping it under fifty thousand words. That's been a problem. Anyway, The Real World™ is throwing more than its fair share of obligations at me, and I'll do my durndest to bring you more dry political intrique and small mountains of exposition than you can shake a stick at!
Worth mentioning: Chapters 1 and 2 have received some alterations. Nothing major, just a bit more historical contextualization, and a few hints at the Princess', ah, management style.
Lastly, an incredibly belated thanks to D-Bence and Diamond Sparkle (woo commentary!), and huge thanks to Prane.
— PWoo
You have piqued my interest.
Did those brothers just invent the primordial ancestor of the automobile?
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Sure looks like it... though, given how they tried to fleece Pommel (who doesn't take no guff from nopony) I wouldn't be surprised if they had, uh, borrowed the notion from someone else.
i hope celestia wins :)
Varus comes to mind.
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I appreciate this comment, very much so!
I would be lying if I said that a good chunk of the past few chapters wasn't thanks in large part to Teutoburg. It took a lot of self control to cut the scene with Celestia raving and smacking her head into castle walls....
Oh geez. I've seen this story five or six times now, and I keep wondering how a story this long and frequently updated doesn't have more attention. I'll be bookmarking it to read this week.
-Sage
That's just wrong. No story with this much effort and time spent into it deserves the treatment this one is getting. I plan on reading this :)
So far an interesting story, although it feels like some scenes are bloated and could be trimmed to be tighter and better. Also, could you add any more cliche reasons for this guy to die? Three weeks from discharge and a letter from a lover?
Based off the scene of the dead Blackacre including the information with regards to the dead foals, Dag cannot survive the war. If he lives, he is literally a moral victory for Blackacre. His diplomatic career is dead but he can just write a book entitled "My Life as a Prisoner in Blackacre" and Celestia's political fallout will be bad. Now to continue reading this until I need to sleep.
About to head to bed but I love this story as I've finally figured out what it represents. Especially with all the random magic they're throwing around the land. Almost like it would make everything wild and uncontrollable. I also like what you have basically setup as the background as the name for this forest. :)
Ok this story was fun and interesting. There's one big problem I have with this story. Who the heck blew up the Mane? That's like a central plot point you could have hit in a subtle conversation or some big cover up of who actually did it. Heck, I'll just take a word of god comment on this to put my curiosity and conspiracy theory away.
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Such commentary; much wow.
I entirely agree that parts need trimming. It's in the works, ish. I figure the most important part is to tell a story; telling it well is a whole different process. I'm very happy you enjoy it. That's what matters.
As for the Mane — to be perfectly honest, I don't know. Unlike a lot of authors out there in the real world, I can't tell you what motivates my characters or why they do what they do. I just tell you what they do, and then try to figure out the 'why' later. I did plant a few things here and there, but at the end of the day… I can't actually answer that for you. Unfortunately that's how history works; we just get the end result, and have an awful hard time looking into people's heads.
The official story, at least what of it we get from snippets of conversation between other ponies, holds that Blackacre blew it up as a statement of power or something. Maybe it was a sleeper agent who didn't get the word on a negotiated settlement — that would certainly fit the facts; they would have motivation to blow it up until a few days before it actually happened, and if the agent was out of contact, then a miscommunication could have happened. Maybe Beatrix didn't like the terms, somehow, and thought she could do better. Maybe it was a rogue element on the far left of the local Blackacre political spectrum.
It could also, of course, be a false flag operation. (It wouldn't be the first time that charge was leveled at a ship of that name.) We know that Celestia has been caught off guard before (well, technically, after); it's awfully convenient that she made it out safe. That said, it's not clear what benefit anyone in Canterlot would derive from the sabotage.
There is, as there often is, a third choice: someone, or something, else entirely. We've met two outsiders over the past few months, both of whom are clearly in a position of significant power. Who knows what needs or interests or contacts a Queen or a Hierarch might have? Certainly things broke in their favor, but who knows what else they were up to behind the scenes?
I know that probably wasn't the answer you were looking for… but answers never seem to come easy. I'm curious to know what yours might be.
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Funny part was I thought it was Celestia. She played everything very cool in regards to the situation. She had the dragons taken care of by using the changelings and she got her population control problem taken care of. She also didn't want to give in to ANY of the conditions and threatened Beatrix multiple times. She could also finally decommission a demonstrated waste of resources. That takes care of motive.
Means: She could have easily summoned a bomb or cast a delayed fireball equivalent with a green colored flame. She is that magicly powerful
Opportunity: She was on the god damned ship and would not be questioned. She then disappeared and was not present on the ship when it exploded. There was no reason given for her not to be on that ship. There was no reason given why she didn't explain how she didn't get hurt when it exploded or crashed.
Other circumstantial evidence: The negotiator didn't understand Celestia's sudden change in terms. She did not ask for a gradual acceptance of some of the terms, no she demanded all of them be met. She burned her negotiator so quickly that you have to question how much he was setup to take the fall to begin with. Either he acts as a martyr or an obvious traitor. I mean he did just suddenly give in to all the terms of the other side with only the token amount of resistance on one term.
Evidence against Beatrix: I feel she lacks motive. She got almost everything she wanted with one minor exception that there's no indication she didn't make out like a bandit on the deal. A war would not benefit her in the long run but that deal would easily stimulate her area while both preserving and increasing its power. A war only ensured destruction of the people under her and a loss of power, even if she could survive most of a war, the end result would be secession rather than increased power. Opportunity: there's a lack of any indication of any types of spies within Celestia's ranks. Their power used for negotiations was being secretive and relying on paying attention to courier movements. There's no indication that they'd have a person anywhere near high enough or close enough to pull off that bomb. Further, the desire to not have a war and gain the negotiated agreement would lead to the desire to turn in ANYONE that might have been involved. Heck, it would guarantee good will and a good faith belief in negotiations.
Evidence of other factions: Maybe changelings? They could use it as an opportunity to infiltrate Equestria. Kind of weak though because of the fact that their focus is on the area near them and the dragons rather than Equestria. Hell, in 30 years their infiltration of Canterlot still kind of sucked.
The dragons have the motive but their lack of military intelligence and superiority complex leads to the infiltration teams necessary to plant the bomb without a dragon being discovered being unlikely. If they did it, a dragon would have been seen at some point, since the border was still being watched like a hawk for ANY movement and dragons are not hard to spot.
Random other person: eh, I don't find it reasonable for my beyond a reasonable doubt. There's too much evidence against Celestia with no reasonable other people.
This is all just my biased opinion (I really hate Celestia in most stories and the show. Forcing someone to become a Princess and potentially giving them everlasting life without explaining the consequences and giving them the choice is a huge violation of basic autonomy for me to ever accept. She's also a very manipulative pony who puts the risk of an entire nation, the Crystal Empire, on the line by setting her student up to fail and let's not talk about abusing Twilight's friends as a final test, Starswirl's spell).
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You. I like you.
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Why's that?
Definitely one of the better Tyrantlestia stories out there--mainly thanks to its subtleties. None of that grandiose, obviously evil Celestia. Much more restrained and convincing. Gotta love rooting for the empire.
I may have skimmed over it as it's late and I had to speed read portions of the story, but I don't recall there being any resolution to Gun-Shy. Last we see her, she's being tortured.
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It was a classic false flag. Celestia blew up her own ship to trigger the war. Notice how she just mysteriously disappeared from it shortly before it exploded and how, even in private, Beatrix still held firm to her position that Blackacre had nothing to do with it?
I really love all the foreshadowing you've layered into the story. I guess maybe those swamp ponies AJ delivers her pies to could be the remaining survivors in the Everfree, or everyone could have just left it.
Speaking of AJ, I take it after Dag and Fleur de Lis made it big in fashion and worked their way back to Canterlot (with Dag under an assumed name), he never recognized his own daughter trying to do gardening at a garden party?
One last question, is Beatrix supposed to be Trixie, or Trixie's mother? Cause she'd be pretty old by the time of the show.
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You're right; we don't get any resolution to Gun's, ah, situation. For that matter, a number of other resolutions, such as they are, are a bit too sparse for my liking. I am directly addressing these points in the overhaul of the text I'm currently working on.
(Though I can tell you now that, though she manages to come out of it (mostly because she has to), she isn't exactly in a position to do too much.)
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Well, Beatrix has all these crazy ideas of eking out a living in the forest, and while we know she and hers are ultimately unsuccessful, I can't imagine there wouldn't be a crazy hermit or two still living out there. Zecora manages well enough alone, after all.
I don't see Dag or LeFleur ever returning to Canterlot, honestly. He's a persona non grata in any social circles that matter, and LeFleur was on the other side in the first place. And in that respect, I think this is the only major deviation from canon: we know Rarity grew up in Ponyville, and we see her parents, however briefly, early on in season two. I just don't think that can happen here. Insofar as deviations go, it's pretty minor. Besides, it's not a hard limitation; having them reconcile and return to Equestria would be strange, but stranger things have happened.
As far as I can tell, Trixie herself is about the same age as the Mane Six; Beatrix is her mother, though I'm not sure how much Trixie herself knows of her, uh, family history. Beatrix herself knows she's on a short leash, but she at least has Celestia's word that the alicorn will let Beatrix's children alone.
Insofar as Celestia's word can be trusted.
4563450 So what you're saying is that when Celestia found out of the alicorn amulet incident the first thing she said involved acorns falling from trees.
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I like to imagine that Celestia spends an unhealthily large percentage of her time facepalming at the various shenanigans she tolerates.
Thankyou for posting a chapter that further enhances my theory :P
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Honestly, that chapter was supposed to be in there from the start. I have no idea how I managed to not upload it the first time around — as you can see from the timestamped upload dates, I was chugging along at about one per day, so it's entirely baffling how I misplaced a chapter's worth of material and didn't even notice.
Oh well. It's up here now!
So Jackie Smith is a big girl?
I picture Ponney talking in John Bachelor's voice.
You know. A "woman" connotes a female human.
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Dammit! Thanks for the catch. Fixed.
So what I'm gathering from the comments is we have a tyrantlestia. Only she's not a Hitler caricature like usual, she's much more... Patriciany.
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Oh, I wouldn't know about that. She's just the only one who can do what needs to be done. Sure, some might call it tyrannical, but at the end of the day, does it make her wrong?
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*facehoof, clang.*
... that's the Patrician. Ankh-Morpork has a One Man, One Vote system. Havelock is the man, he gets the vote. He's widely held to be an evil manipulative bastard, but he's /their/ evil manipulative bastard and nobody is keen on trying to replace him.
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...how did I miss that. Sigh. Guess that's a good a reason as any to start re-reading my collection....
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Tuesday also works as a good reason.
Monumental. This is a word I'd choose to describe Blackacre.
It's a story about conflict, first political and then military one, which shows how they affect lives of many ponies, and on so many levels. There's action, intrigue, simple slice-of-lifeness, and struggle against overwhelming odds. This is a story about ponies who had to fight for what they believed in, the ponies whose names I'll remember for a long time, if not forever (mind you, I'm terrible at remembering names; the following I'm recalling from memory without double-checking). Beatrix. Jackie. Dag. LeFleur. Vera. Gun. Donner. The list goes on...
And last but not least, Aspia and Margaret. Ever since I learned who Margaret actually was I was rooting for her to succeed in her political career. You gave her a believable backstory, interesting plot, and of course, the name (which, as we know, is what the series omits in this case). If nothing else, I'd read Blackacre again just to read chapters about McNamares. Up to Paragon, of course, which I admit hit me hard.
You've put so much effort into this story. I applaud you for that, and I hope you'll write many more stories for us to read. Myself, at this point I'd read anything about Margaret getting older, up to the point she'll meet the Main 6; or anything else about her (seriously, isn't it funny when someone writes such an epic story and the silly mind of a reader just sticks to a single character arc? But what can you do).
One final thought. When I saw that the final chapter of this story is named after the story itself, I knew it's going to be a perfect ending. And so it was. Thank you for letting me share in this adventure.
Remember Blackacre, forever free, ever free!
Having read the story up to this point, I felt an itch that I had to stop and comment. In a word, this is nothing short of amazing.
Your OCs are well written with distinct enough voices (which is critical for an OC centric work), the politics - both internal and external - of Equestria are fascinating to follow and catching bits and pieces of the foregone Dragon war and trying to piece together the full picture is quite interesting. And, perhaps most importantly of all, you have have written one of the better presented 'Tyrantlestias' I have had the pleasure of reading.
She is chillingly ruthless and coldly calculating, but goes to great pains to not appear so - and actually succeeds, because she isn't evil for the sake of being evil. An immortal who has lost (or maybe has never possessed) the ability to emphasize with mere mortals as they mean nothing on the scale she operates on, and simply keeps doing what she views as best for Equestria. A ruthless mind fully bent to the task of doing what's best for her country ... not necessarily its individual citizens.
It's chilling because I can understand the mindset, understand the reasoning that go in to her actions (unpleasant as they might be ... population wide magical birth control? On one hand, that's effed up. On the other, if the alternative is starvation due to food production not keeping up ... ) and understand the angle she is working - and it's not like you can dismiss her as simply evil, because she isn't. And that's the chilling part, because logically I can see how her goals make sense, even if emotionally I can't side with her.
And honestly ... unless for the false flag she pulled with the Mane and the 300 dead ponies that lie at her feet as result, I would have easily sides with her over Beatrix - because as far as this whole mess goes, I can't see Blackacre as being in the right with their initial demands. I can understand the want for growth, but the way Beatrix went about it was quite disgusting in its own right.
She essentially used the Dragon threat looming on the border to strong-arm her way in to forcing Ponyville and Dodge give up pieces of their own land and railroad to them. That's ... probably worse than what we have seen Celestia do, because she essentially communicated with her stance that she rather see Equestria go to war with Dragons again, to see the South burn again and thousands of ponies lose their lives, than not getting what she wants. Beatrix, and those who supported her, are a pretty loathsome bunch themselves.
And then there is the notably large, well supplied and well trained local army they have managed to build for themselves, along with their underground tunnel city, supply caches all across the forests and what have you. Local army that they have no need for, because they sit in the middle of Equestria and are, like Beatrix herself pointed out, not a target of any importance, nor are they in the way of anything important. They don't need an army ... and yet they have one anyway, large and well trained (not to mention supplied) enough to put up a credible defense against the forces of the rest of Equestria.
And maintaining a military of this sort costs a LOT of money. Incredible sums of it, even - and I can't help but think if Blackacre wasn't so criminally mismanaging their funds and maintaining large military forces and their related support infrastructure, they would have plenty of money left for actual economical and industrial development of the region (which makes sense - if the region was actually so unworkable, Ponies would have never settled it in the first place. It's just that the funds aren't going where they should be to ensure continued growth). But no, it's easier to build up forces and then try and strong-arm your wishes.
Which, I suppose, is the true tragedy of this story - all those thousands of ponies who have lost their lives in a conflict fueled by the ambitions of two politicians with too much selfish pride to back down, who would rather see the dead pile on around them than do the right thing. Yes, Celestia is not a nice individual in this story ... but neither is Beatrix by any stretch of the imagination, and ultimately I find myself rooting for neither side (as defined by their leaders - a ruthless and cold Celestia who plays her country like a chessboard with no regard for individual lives, and an ambitious Beatrix who is looking to carve herself a country within a country, doing whatever it takes to do so).
As is typically the case in war, I suppose - there is rarely an outright "good" side and a "bad" side, and it's all about the politics and goals of the leaders (sometimes more selfish than others) behind the scenes that drive the slaughter ever onwards. Which makes this a grimly realistic piece of work, and I applaud you for that. I can't wait to get back to reading through it.
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I — wow. Thank you! I’m so glad you’ve been drawn in and are enjoying it. I’m also glad you . . . well, let’s go with ‘appreciate’ the story’s tone. It’s not the sort of tone I think anyone really likes, but it just kind of is. Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes there’s a last-minute rescue, and something the cavalry’s just not coming. It’s a place where ponies do what they have to do, and then they have to live with it.
I would go on, but you’ve got a ways to go, and you’re in for a ride. For now, though, suffice it to say I’m very happy you like it.
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Oof. I feel like an ass for not responding to this sooner. (Like, six months ago sooner.)
Thank you for your kind words, and for having been there from pretty much the beginning of this adventure!
It’s funny that you mention Maggie’s arc sticking with you. Her story underwent the most work on the backend, and she’s the one that sticks with me, too. I think it’s because — and sorry, Skydrake, but spoiler alert — she’s pretty much the only real link we have to the main canon.
Sure, there’s the Princess, but it’s a different enough character so she doesn’t really count. We’ve got some cameos from some other familiar faces. Queen Cheeselegs was and remains a favorite, a certain drill sergeant brings a smile to my face, there’s a pair of pesky brothers, but aside from that . . who? Certainly we meet some of these characters’ children, but that’s not the same. Maggie’s different, because we know she turns out okay — or, at least, seems like she turns out okay — and yet . . . .
Now, I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I have been working on something new. I make no promises on timing — let’s be real; Blackacre gestated for nearly nine months from start to finish, including some very long hiatuses (hiatusi? hiatusen?) — but, well, I’ve got some more ideas kicking around.
After all, I did promise a next time.
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Looking forward to it!
Also, I should probably mention that because of your story I can no longer think of Mayor Mare as just Mayor Mare. Her name is Margaret, dammit, and she's a living, breathing character for me now!
Two things:
1. The year is 969 Y.C. — Year of Celestia, I assume? If this is set before the show then Ponyville would’ve been around for the better part of 150 years and its agricultural output would dwarf any given podunk frontier town, but worse than that Appleoosa hadn’t even been around for more than a year as of Luna’s return.
2. I dislike ponies with human names without good reason (such as being raised in a foreign culture)… with the obvious exception of middle names since we have canonical examples of that phenomenon (like with one Pinkamena Diane Pie, for example).
Apart from those gripes I have to say that you’ve got my interest so far. It’ll probably take me ages to finish this since I’m prioritising stories I know are good, but from what I’ve seen so far I fully expect this story to join their ranks the moment I’ve caught up. I’ll refrain from up‐voting just yet but your prospects look promising.
Interrupted dialogue or exposition should be punctuated with a single em dash, flush to the text.
brings
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Good point on Appleloosa. I’m playing pretty fast and loose with thematic continuity, but I’ve tried to stay reasonably close to factual continuity, even allowing for thirty years of memory drift (given that ponies seem to have almost no historical awareness of pretty much anything). Clearly I missed the built-in-a-year bit the first time around! It’s obviously far too late to adjust that this time around, but I’ve still got twenty-eight years left to play around in… plenty of time to play with facts later on.
Regarding names… well, this is awkward. I tend to take the opposite point of view; I dislike traditional pony naming conventions. To the extent that calling someone “Quickhoof Speedyflank” or equivalent establishes them as having a primary attribute of being fast or whatever, that’s something you could establish in a few lines’ worth of proper characterization.
Conversely, if they play against their named trait — e.g. the Troublehooves debacle — then any tension generated between the character and their name again feels clumsy. Again, that tension could probably be created as easily (and more subtly) by writing a character that shows us those traits or beliefs or personal values through words or actions, rather than declaring them by fiat in the name.
On the whole, I guess I would say that pony-standard names just feel like lazy writing. If you’re targeting a child demographic, then sure, overtly descriptive names are a great way to convey the character in, well, a word or two. But I’m not writing for that demographic — indeed, I sincerely hope no child ever reads this — and so I don’t feel any need to stick to such a silly and salient convention if I don’t need to.
If it makes you feel any better, though, know that no name is random; every character is named for a reason. It’s just a bit less overt than Quickhoof Speedyflank. Let me have just this one victory; Celestia knows none of the rest of Blackacre is subtle!
On punctuation: You’re absolutely right, and I’m going to be that guy and invoke discretion on that one. I generally conform to the Chicago Manual, which does require tightening em-dashes to the text (though I can’t for the life of me find the relevant rule). I don’t know why, but I’ve never liked tightened em-dashes; it just feels wrong. It’s supposed to mark a break in the text, so give the dash some room to breathe!
(I do regret not properly spacing my ellipses. That’s just one of those things that I didn’t think of at the time, and now it’s waaay too late to do anything about. Ugh. And, of course, CMOS 13.39 notes that authors can choose to use non-spaced ellipses, because style manuals always have a finely tuned sense of irony.)
(Typos, though, I can always do something about. Thanks for the catch.)
Anyway.
I’m glad you’re interested so far, and I hope you remain so, despite the author’s, uh, quirks. And heavy-handed everything. But hey, as long as you don’t look too close, it’s a fun ride. Looking forward to seeing what you think of it, eventually!
If you're going to take inspiration from fictions where military complexes overwhelm their own societies, Starship Troopers is a perfect source, but your Meet The Drill Sergeant chapter was like reading that movie's script with the names changed--- a distracting bit of word filler in a story that achieves and earns so much of its own worldbuilding. Overall, though this fic is fantastic, and the final "reveal" at the end was executed in a VERY satisfying way. Terrific work.
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Yeah, it's a shameless rip. I may or may not have had that scene queued up when drafting my scene. Who am I to turn down an excuse to rewatch the greatest thing to come out of 1997? Surprised you pegged it as a Troopers rip instead of the other obvious crib; I see that scene as Full Metal Jacket foremost. Ah well — most of it is gratuitous anyway.
I'm glad you find the ending satisfying! You know those moments where you come up with a moment and then figure out how to tell a story leading up to it? Definitely what happened here; the ending was the first thing written. Thank you!
Griffons with fangs?
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Clearly, Donner's so terrified that he's seeing things that aren't there.
I mean, that's obviously what's happening. Yep. We're goin' with that....
Would've commented a lot more if I hadn't been reading offline on my phone. Here, have a recommendation blog instead to kinda sum up my feelings.
Though who did shoot down the blimp? And blow up the bridge? And whatever happened to the dragons and changelings at the end?
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Wow. You read Blackacre on a phone? You clearly have the patience of a saint. Oof.
Very interesting blog post — thank you for the recommendation and discussion! Truth be told, I wasn't familiar with the MICE analysis, at least not in those words. Certainly it's an interesting lens through which to examine the text, and I think your application of it seems about right. Nineteenth-century war novel indeed!
Just to touch on a few points you brought up: it does seem at points like I'm making sizable mistakes of a sort, and you wouldn't be the first to bring that up (e.g. the naming convention discussion a few comments down, which incidentally answers your normal-name point). The world is different, though I would note that those differences are carefully selected to support the tone of the world. Take weather, for instance: if pegasi control it, then how could widespread crop failure ever become an issue? It's basically an Asimovian Minimum Necessary Change.
Regarding the Mane, well, that's a perfect example of why some things, like names, are less pony than usual. They let me work in lovely little suggestions from other things with similar names. As for the Hierarch and the Queen? I presume the former was pressured into pulling back or face revolt, purging the ranks to uncover of a fictitious invasion; I presume the latter took advantage of the chaos to actually invade.
As for what actually happened? Well, we've got a while yet before the present day. A lot can happen in thirty years.
With a name like Dag Hammer, what else could've happened?
Both of them are still alive?
That's a shocker.