Outline of the caribou invasion of the Redux

As promised, here is the outline and time frame of what the caribou invasion would have looked like in the Redux invasion story. Before we provide our own outline and timeline we had planned, I would like to give a quick rundown of non_creepy_nickname’s original timeline, so the problems of it become apparent. This will show how we solved most of them, and also the few issues we weren’t able to solve. Despite the fact that the invasion story isn't happening, this outline is still considered canon for the new stories we're working on for our anthology.

In non_creepy_nickname’s original canon, the invasion goes down something like this:

In Sun’s Setting, the caribou land in the ports of Lindisbarne in late summer in the same year the Nightmare Moon incident happened, possibly about a month later, make contact with the ponies, participate in their festivities only for a moment, and then, after capturing Sunny Smiles, immediately proceed to attack and conquer the town and dehorn the mares.
It’s not exactly clear when Fall of Cadence is supposed to happen. The Crystal Empire reappears only in the winter, but non_creepy_nickname and the others got a few aspects of the show’s timeline very wrong, so it’s not absolutely clear if this applies here. We can be benevolent here and say that Fall of Cadence happens in late winter or early spring, which would leave a gap of six to eight months between Sun’s Setting and Fall of Cadence. In Fall of Cadence, the caribou have already built Hornvik, and they were supposed to conquer the Crystal Empire, which of course we didn’t get to see. After conquering the Crystal Empire, they probably immediately begin to forge the Crystal Cock. Why Cadence and Shining Armor even collaborate at this point is left unclear.
We can ignore Ponkpank’s Rarity story here. It was not part of non_creepy_nickname’s original outline, and we also completely ignored it in our discussions concerning the Redux.
Twilight Falls then allegedly takes place in late spring, or in early summer if we go by Schorl’s interpretation of it. Either way, there’s another four to six months gap between Fall of Cadence and Twilight Falls where nothing happens.

So here are the issues with this.

[1] There are two long gaps where nothing happens in the story, one of six to eight months and one of four to six months. The second one is particularly problematic, because it assumes that the caribou keep their conquest of the Crystal Empire under wraps so well that Celestia and all of Equestria is left none the wiser for at least four months. In addition to this, the stallions of Lindisbarne and the Crystal Empire (most notably Shining Armor) seem to go along with caribou policies for months without ever resisting, and even actively collaborate with them for no reason. This is of course massively out of character for them.
[2] The Crystal Cock has often been criticized for being weird. It’s not clear if the Crystal Heart is an emotion control device in the first place, Derpsby just inferred that from one single line Celestia said in The Crystal Empire. For FoE, we practically have to assume that it is, but even then, it works very differently from the Crystal Cock. Its influence on the ponies is subtle at best and hardly noticeable at worst. Its magic compares to that of the Crystal Cock like a high precision tool compares to a sledgehammer. We need to explain how the effect was changed so drastically. We also need to explain it without using Cadence or Shining Armor. Cadence actually doesn’t have a natural connection to the Heart, and there is no way she or Shining Armor would cooperate with the caribou in the first place.
[3] Why does Celestia do nothing at all to combat the caribou threat before the assault on Canterlot? It is practically impossible to keep their presence a secret at least after the point where they conquer the Crystal Empire - yet Celestia hears nothing and does nothing.
[4] How did the Canterlot invasion really go down? How were the caribou able to get their men in place, how was Celestia defeated, and so on.

The Redux outline we had completely fixes the first three issues, but we haven’t gotten to finding a solution for the fourth issue yet. Here is what we had:

Instead of landing directly at the Lindisbarne docks (which would be a stupid strategy for raiders or conquerors anyway), they land offshore, and build Hornvik first. They have occasional contact with the ponies of Lindisbarne in the course of the next months while they build up Hornvik as a new city and fortress for their people - i.e. they act like refugees trying to build a new home would normally act. They eventually conquer Lindisbarne after learning more about gender equality in pony society, or maybe simply because they believe they need the resources. Because Lindisbarne is so secluded and unnoticeable, they manage to keep it under wraps until the Crystal Empire reappears in late winter. Dainn wishes to establish his new idea of male equality irrespective of species, but the stallions are less than happy about caribou gender policy, leaving the caribou no other option but to put harsh restrictions on them that essentially amount to their enslavement alongside the mares.

They then move on the Crystal Empire only shortly after its reappearance, when Shining Armor and Cadence have been governing only for a short period - possibly in early spring, maybe a month or two after its reappearance. After the conquest, they won’t be able to keep their presence a secret any more, and Celestia declares war on them and immediately marches north, commanding her own armies in the field to take back the Empire. The caribou meet her in battle, and suffer a crushing defeat at her hands. Dainn is wounded and presumed dead, the Crystal Empire is retaken and Cadence and Shining armor freed, and the caribou flee back to Hornvik, but take the Crystal Heart with them.

Left wounded on the battlefield, Dainn has yet another dream about the White Cow, who now appears to him directly and promises him that she can alter the Crystal Heart into a weapon, possibly with the help of Strom or his other runeshapers. She even promises to do it in a way that makes him able to realize his dream of equality among males. She leaves him with clear instructions, but erases his memory of herself, making him believe he came up with it himself. He then makes his way back to Hornvik, retaining a permanent injury to his leg that makes it difficult to stand upright or walk - this makes him swear that Celestia will live her life on all fours once he has defeated her. Dainn immediately discusses his plan for the Crystal Heart with the other council members and possibly Gunne (because he seems to know about it in Bruised Apples) in secret. As Freeville Chronicles established, Eadgil secretly eavesdrops on this conversation. Dainn then creates the Crystal Cock according to the White Cow’s instructions, and once it is finished, the White Cow relinquishes part of her own power and essence to the artifact, giving it its unique magical properties.

The caribou then march on Canterlot and conquer it. As I said, we haven’t really been able to fix the issues with this last part, but we would have gotten to it eventually. We might still get to it, one of our story outlines focuses on a single OC who was already established as having experienced the conquest of Canterlot first hand. But this is what we got so far.

Keep in mind that this is not just our report on a canceled story project. The things we’ve set up here will be considered canon lore for our upcoming Redux stories. If someone thinks he can handle a story project of this magnitude on a similar level of quality to Cardinal’s writing, he’s free to contact us, but I don’t really believe any more that anyone in the fandom has the time, skill, and motivation to actually pull it off. I’ve already said why in this thread.