“SOLDIERS OF EQUESTRIA! YOUR PRINCESSES HAVE FORSAKEN YOU!” Sombra was speaking to the crowd of captured troops while using his magic to amplify his voice. “YOUR NATION HAS ABANDONED YOU! BUT I MAKE YOU AN OFFER! FIGHT FOR THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE AND BE REWARDED! THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE PERSONNEL ON THE RIGHT.”
Most took the offer and the few holdouts were dragged off for interrogation.
Word of the Equestrian defeat and the treaty signing quickly spread throughout the territories. Those that could flee the Crystal Empire by ship or air did, but the grand majority of ponies didn’t. It wasn’t because they were unable too. No, they chose to stay because the north was their home, it’s where they lived, and it’s where their livelihood was. They simply couldn’t afford to start over someplace else even if it now means living under new leadership.
What was left of Equestria was in an uproar over the events that had transpired in the north. Friends, family, and other loved ones that lived in the north were now lost to its southern populace and they were making themselves heard. The ponies of Canterlot nearly rioted outside the castle but Celestia managed to restore order before it got to that point. After things calmed down she disbanded most of the draftees now that they were no longer needed. But there were still those that voiced their outrage, like the royal treasurer Bottom Line who was voicing his opinion to Celestia right now.
“What in Tartarus were you thinking princess! We just lost nearly half of our tax revenue! Not to mention we lost Manehattan, one of our biggest and most economic cities! I mean the stock exchange was there, the Crystal Empire now controls the market! Do you have any idea what this will do to the economy! We’ll be lucky if we don’t end up in a depression, and that’s not even taking into account the five million you agreed to pay those bastards!”
Celestia just rubbed her head as she listened to him complain. Finally she had enough.
“Guards escort Bottom Line out of the throne room.”
“Yes your highness.”
Celestia swore she heard the guard mutter something under his breath.
“This isn’t over princess, mark my words, there will be financial consequences from this treaty!”
The city once known as the Crystal Empire was renamed the city of Onyx, the new empire’s capital. Sombra had modified Dash’s crown so that she could affix her element to it. Sombra was at his desk writing when Rainbow walked in.
“Sombra it’s getting late, what are you doing?”
“I’m just writing down the new reforms that we’ll be unveiling soon.”
“You say we but I’ve noticed I haven’t been included in the decision making all that much.”
“Sorry dear but these were important to insure the future of our nation.”
“Well what kind of reforms are we talking about?”
“I’ve decided to end slavery for the moment.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because times have changed. We must appear in a more favorable light to our neighboring nations. I can’t get away with all the things I did a thousand years ago without the risk of isolating ourselves from the rest of the world. But don’t worry. So long as they live within our boarders they won’t know true freedom. Also I’m disbanding most of the troops for the moment and sending the enchanted armor back to storage. It was good in the short run but we need loyal and dedicated troops that will serve us willingly. Anyways I need to fill out a few more papers.”
Rainbow walked over and wrapped her hooves around him. “Come on, can’t that wait until morning. Join me on the bed,” she said in a seductive way. She went over to the bed and laid herself out in an alluring manner.
“Well, if you insist,” he said in a playful way.
The king and queen soon released the new reforms across the Crystal Empire. When it was discovered that slavery was ending the Crystal Ponies and the ponies in the new territories breathed a sigh of relief. Another reform was that all mares had to produce at least one offspring before the age of thirty five, and another said that if an orphan wasn’t adopted by the age of sixteen they would be drafted into the army. Also certain freedoms were revoked in the old Equestrian territories such as speech, press, and assembly.
A week had passed since the treaty which came to be known as the Treaty of Solar Crystal, and a cargo train left Onyx bound for Canterlot. When it approached the wall of crystal a tunnel opened allowing the train to pass and it soon arrived in Canterlot, and to a waiting mob of ponies. The solar guard was just managing to keep the crowd under control as the crates of bits were loaded on the train. After the cargo was loaded the train left for the Crystal Empire, but retrieving the bits wasn’t its only mission. Before it reached the city it let off some passengers, a few ex royal guards and civilians that Sombra had recruited to form a spy ring in Canterlot. The guards would go to the castle and tell of their escape from the empire and rejoin the guard while the civilians would relay any information they got from the guards or obtained themselves back to the Crystal Empire through a new messaging system. An enchanted crystal would slide across a piece of paper and absorb the worded ink which would be transferred to another crystal in the empire, then it would slide across a blank paper printing out the message exactly as it was written.
Paying the bits had been the final straw for some royal guards and they resigned soon after, and one Lieutenant (now self-declared Captain) Strong Hoof managed to rally them and formed a secret militia in the White Tail Woods. He even managed to sway some nobles to privately fund their slowly growing force.
“So glad we could reach an agreement.” Sombra and Dash were with King Gray Feathers of the griffins having just struck a non-aggression pact and a trade agreement. The king and his advisers left soon after. “Everything’s going smoothly. With the agreement we just made along with the ones with the Yaks we’re doing pretty well. It’s a shame the dragons wouldn’t grace us with an audience but perhaps they’ll change their minds. Anyways I’ll send an emissary to the minotaurs right away.”
“So why aren’t we just making allies with these nations?”
“Because one does not simply rush into an alliance, it’s a process. First you make smaller treaties, then you build upon them forging trust and good relations, and then you start making allies. But don’t worry with the trade agreements we’ll have a decent flow of bits and goods while we work our way up. Besides there is no immediate external threats at the moment, from what our spies have told us Equestria is slowly falling apart at the seams and is in no position to cause trouble.”