A few words about the Crystal Treaty

First of all, Chapter V, Shining Armor 1 has been updated. I mostly removed unnecessary fluff and fixed grammar issues.

Now, going over this one, I felt I should address the Crystal Treaty. I had a good conversation about it with my proofreader Coldsilverd while reworking this chapter, and I feel like I should share some of what we talked about with you guys.

For those of you who might not remember, the Crystal Treaty is something I created early on in A Dream of Sunny Days. Essentially, it's a document guaranteeing the Crystal Empire's independence from Equestria and prevents both nations from interfering in each other's affairs.

My first idea behind this was that I needed a way to keep the Crystal Empire neutral. I had plans for Luna, Twilight, as well as Blueblood and the Canterlot nobility from the start. Cadance, on the other hand, I didn't know what to do with. My first idea was to have her flee the conflict through the Equestria Girls mirror and hide out with Sunset Shimmer. I abandoned it very quickly. You guys don't need to go over why it's such a terrible idea, I already know.

A second problem that I had was in the form of Pinkie Pie. The more I thought about her, the more I felt she couldn't be a POV character. I already wrote a blog post about this, so I won't go in details. Suffice it to say that she's too perceptive, and going inside her head would indirectly reveal too much of the story. This is where Shining Armor came in. I really wanted at least one male POV character, and I felt like he would balance out Pinkie fairly well.

The inspiration for the treaty itself came from my own culture. I live in the province of Quebec, which as some of you already know is home to a strong nationalistic movement. I will not give my opinion about this movement, nor do I encourage anyone to do so in the comments. This is, after all, not a political blog. What inspired me was the idea of a culture in danger of being overwhelmed. A lot of Crystal Empire episodes revolve around their unique culture. They seem to proudly value their tradition, from the Crystal Fair, to the Crystalling, to a bunch of other festivals with the word "crystal" in them.

I tried to imagine a city that's been gone for a thousand years, only to reappear in a modern, blooming world. Immediately upon their return, a national from a much larger nation shows up and takes over the government. I'm not saying Cadance doesn't mean well, she obviously does. I do believe, however, that after the initial shock is gone, some Crystal Ponies would wonder if they hadn't just traded one tyrant for another. While they did have a monarch before Sombra, Princess Amore was one of their own. We also know very little about their government. I decided to make them a democracy because it suited my story. This part is all me.

From a practical point of view, the treaty allowed me to keep Cadance mostly out of the main conflict and use the Empire as a neutral city. From a setting point of view, it gave the Crystal Ponies something I feel they lack in the show: a sense of independence. They do have ties to Equestria, but will protect their own culture first. Ponies like Checkmate are a threat to the more nationalistic elders who fear Equestrian influence. On the other hand, you do have younger, more outgoing ponies who might see the Empire's ancient traditions as outdated. The government's response was legislation that both protects the Empire's culture and insures the Cadance can remain in her position, where she keeps a sense of stability.

This is also often misunderstood by outsiders. Pinkie just sees friends who should help each others. Because she respects the Empire's traditions, she doesn't feel like they're threatened. If anything, most Equestrians probably see the Crystal Empire as an exotic destination.

Overall, the implications of a city returning from banishment after a thousand years are complex enough to write countless stories. I only brushed the surface in Sunny Days, because ultimately this is not what the story's about. It's still very fun to talk about, and hopefully it gave my version of Equestria a little bit more depth.