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// Chapter 18- Crystal Protectorate 
// Story: Whistling Rain 
// by Schwabauer 
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The siege had ended in crushing defeat. Her husband was nearly fatally wounded. Another element dead. Applejack maimed permanently. Twilight had been captured. Cadence’s forces had been slaughtered, worse than decimated. Of the fifteen thousand, eight hundred and twelve guards ponies her husband had commanded seven thousand were dead, and six thousand wounded. The Prussians by comparison took two thousand casualties from their force of more than a hundred thousand. 
 
The homes of her people had been damaged and shattered by Prussian shells. Without the barrier up to keep them safe the cold of winder rapidly killed crops and blew through the city, chilling the citizens to the bone. The Prussians had immediately set their soldiers to repairing homes and disposing of corpses, in an act of pity it seemed.  
 
Empress Cadence sat in one of the many conference rooms in her castle, feeling like a guest in her own home. She had aides beside her with papers and folders, many looking unfamiliar while others she’d known for years. Across the round table from her the Prussian diplomat, Sir Hermann sat across from her with his fingers interlaced, a soft smile on his face, an attempt to disarm her. He had several documents sitting in stacks, and his aides sat nearby. Dotted around the room in five foot intervals Prussian “Line Infantry” stood at attention, rigid as a crystal home. 
 
“Empress, let me lay out my nation’s demands and offers for you,” the Prussian began, smile not leaving his face as he stood and leaned over a map in the center of the table, “Your ‘empire’ will be demoted. Your nation will be known as the Crystal Protectorate. Your throne will be known as the Crystal Regent and will be guaranteed and protected by the Prussian empire. Am I understood so far?” 
 
Regent Cadence nodded, her aides looking aghast while jotting down notes. She looked up at him and said, “How much autonomy will we be awarded.” 
 
Sir Hermann looked at her for a moment, before asking, “What was the third word in that sentence?” 
 
“I was asking how much self governance we’d have” Cadence said, quickly supplying a simpler term for the diplomat. 
 
“That is an excellent question, Regent Cadenza. I have an answer for you, but I plan to give it to you in a few minutes. First, I’m going to lay out the new borders the Protectorate will receive. Please pay careful attention, as we plan to settle humans in the area and would like to have the ponies wholly within their own territory.” 
 
Doing a double take, Cadence said, “What do you mean within their own territory, do you plan on removing our citizens from their homes for some kind of… of species state?” 
 
“This area,” Sir Hermann drew a line from one coast to another in the north of the empire, completely ignoring her, “Will be broken off and given to Prussia’s colony. This land,” he gestured to a large area that bordered Equestrian in the Southwest of the empire that had a single pony settlement in it, “will be given to the Bavarians. The Prussian government is willing to foot the bill of resettling the town and compensate them for any lost crops. Prussian soldiers will also help them pack and move. We aren’t barbarians after all.” 
 
Cadence opened her mouth then closed it, deciding not to bring it up. She spent a moment quietly talking with her aides to prepare messages for the village residents. Cadence then turned back to Sir Hermann, “And what of our self governance?” 
 
Diplomat Sir Hermann nodded, sitting back in his seat as he said, “Your nation will be a protectorate, hence the name. A new flag that shows the bondage to Prussia will be designed at some point, but that is a low priority,” Hermann paused for a moment, searching through the stack before pulling out a documents and leafing through it, “The military limits are as follows; There is be a limit on the number of soldiers your nation can have, fifteen thousand. A small force of Prussians will be stationed in country, numbering just fifty thousand. They will be able to recruit your people as an auxiliary force, which may be sent throughout the empire. Military research for your nation will be permitted to continue as you wish, but there will be a Prussian observer present to aid and report to us. Is this all acceptable?” The diplomat leaned forward, a glint reflecting off his glasses as his grin grew slightly predatory, waiting for a nod before continuing, “Diplomatically is more difficult. You will be permitted to trade as you wish, although we will have preferential treatment in those deals. However, you may not, under any circumstance, form alliances without our permission. In fact, we simply won’t let you ally with anybody not on this list,” the Prussian plopped a sheaf of papers in front of Cadence, “and you are already allied with them. They are your fellow protectorates.” 
 
Cadence took a moment to read the documents, each page listing a different nation, their geographical location, economy and more. It was impossibly thick, with over thirty pages in it. The increasingly strict regulations that she was learning scared her. Maybe this would be the extent of the restrictions. 
 
“Now for the actual self governance. Initially there will be none. You will be under the command of Ludolf Krämer. And I think he can explain what will happen better than me.” With that, the doors were opened by two guards and an eccentrically dressed man strutted in, a can in one hand and a top hat in the other. He had glasses that gleamed in the magic lamp light of the room, obscuring his eyes. 
 
 With a flourish he flicked the cane down from his side, it tapping on the ground as he put on his top hat. He grinned and loomed forward, head rolling slightly as he did so, leering jovially at Cadence. Straitening up in a fluid manner, looking like a flag in the wind for a moment, he said, “Hello, Regent Cadenza. I am Ludolf Krämer. I will be modernizing your country over the course of three years. Would you like to learn more…” 
 
As he trailed off Krämer shifted to the left, side stepping around the table to walk up to beside her. He leaned in close; one eyes growing larger and larger, almost comically large, and he asked, “Well, do you?” 
 
“Yes. Please do.” 
 
With a sense of excitement and joy, Krämer shot back up theatrically, throwing out a hand, pivoting with his cane, “Well good, because I have everything planned out down to the week! First, first we must repair and fix. We can’t modernize what does not work. The first three weeks will be fixing what we Prussian broke.” 
 
Krämer threw his cane over his shoulder and trotted over to a bookshelf and pulled out a seemingly random book and peered at the title. Cadence craned her neck and saw that it was a book in German. The crazed man pulled it out with a flick, spinning before tossing it down right in front of Cadence. “Next, we must learn what level every factory, workshop, farm and trade hall in the nation operates at. Ten weeks. Then we will begin the real fun. First the farms. No industrial nation can exist without food. They will be first to be improved,” Krämer laughed at something, or perhaps nothing, before continuing, “The shield must be brought back. That pillar system? It will be done, and a year-round growing zone will be established.” 
 
Krämer prattled on and on, prancing about the move, never sitting still and finding the entire event hilarious. His exuberance was unmatchable. It was startling to see a man so carefree and fun-loving emerging from such a dull, rigid society like the Prussians. As it became relevant the man would flick documents and books from around the room and place them in front of Cadence, pulling them from anywhere and everywhere. Once he even yanked one from beneath a Prussian soldier’s hat. It was astounding how much effort he put into just the presentation of his plan. Two hours after he started the crazed man finished explaining the schedule of the Crystal modernization. 
 
With the thoroughness of Ludolf’s plan, it left only one question for Cadence, “What if you fall behind.” 
 
The grin slid off the face of Ludolf Krämer and he said, “I will be fired, and a suitable replacement will be found to keep the schedule. In three years, modernized fully or not, I will have no further power over your nation. It will be in your hands.” 
 


 
 
A diplomat, wrapped in thick fur, attached a letter to a grey pegasi’s saddle. Her yellow eyes, one of which was a lazy eye, were bright and ready as she fluttered up off the ground and flew off into the wintry sky. She flew past other pegasi who were working to keep the skies over the city clear, punching clouds and herding them into groups to be dealt with. 
 
Below her thousands of ponies and humans were walking through the streets, carrying wood nails and buckets of paste. The pure Crystal houses that were cracked open were being torn down, while those with minimal damage had the wounds packed with cloth, pasted over, and then painted over. The newer stone and wooden buildings were repaired with conventional supplies as the cobble stones were returned to their slots. The empty spots were measured, and new cobbles were prepared to take their place. 
 
In the farms Prussians were helping farms quickly harvest the ripe crops and prepare them for storage. Seeds for winter crops were brought in from outer villages by cavalry, dropping a measured amount in front of each field. The civilians the Prussians forced into the city for the siege were escorted out in columns by the Prussian army.  
 
The wounded of both sides were laid out in tents marked with the cross of the Lord. Doctors and surgeons, having dealt with all the critical cases days ago, now tended to the less emergent wounds and issues, conducting surgeries or just simply providing care. Here, too, were soldiers, nursing the sick and dying in their final moments as they plummeted into the afterlife. Chaplains walked between the rows, giving the final rights to man and pony alike as they passed on. 
 
In the parade ground beneath the castle thousands of bodies lay in neat rows. The bodies were organized by common characteristics, each fur color beside each other, eyes of those fur colors next. Rough sketches of the branding on the side of each body were in front of each body. The deceased ponies had been laid out for identification, sobbing families being escorted by NCOs and officers. Once the family found a body, it was quickly packed into a coffin and escorted to their home.  
 
After a week, most of the bodies were claimed, leaving a few alone in the stinking, rotting square. Pine boxes had been set beside them, and Prussians had begun to lift the decomposing corpses into their final bed. The boxes were then carted off to a simple cemetery on the outside edge of the city, where they were buried. A wooden marker held their description and branding on it, so that a more permanent marker may be prepared once Crystallian documents could be found documenting their names and ages. 
 
Outside of the city the trenches were being refilled and compacted, soldiers undoing weeks of work to return the landscape to a somewhat natural state. The officer’s quarters had permanent stone barracks under construction, and the outlines of walls were being marked out. A new star fort would soon grow from the ground on the city’s outskirts.  
 
A team of ponies and Prussians rode on a pump powered train cart with track and timber in tow. Picks, axes and rivets sat in buckets. Shovels and pine coffins were stacked on a second train, gently pulling out of the station to follow behind. 
 
AS the aftermath of the siege was repaired and dealt with, Equestrians were escorted out of the city. The mane six, surviving Equestrian officers and soldiers, and even some members of Crystallian staff were shown the edge of the city. Hundreds of ponies were bundled tight against the cold, food in carts on their backs and the wounded sitting with it. Mounted Prussians and a section of the supply train trailed behind them as the group departed for Equestria, weeks of travel away with the train destroyed and thick winter snow covering the land. 
 


 
 
Four weeks after the siege of the Crystal Empire had drawn to an end the princesses of Equestria met with Prussian diplomats to negotiate a white peace. Princess Celestia refused to recognize the Crystal Protectorate as a legitimate nation, claiming that the Crystal Empire was all that Equestria would recognize. A week later she was in the capital, which the Prussians had named Crystal City — although Celestia referred to it as the Empire still — to meet with Regent Cadence. 
 
Celestia was escorted into the room by ornately dressed Prussian guards, wearing steel plate armor engraved with the designs of snow and crystal. They had a sallet helm on, obscuring their faces. A single white and ice blue plume jutted from the top, and a Prussian blue pelerine matching the colors of the new flag that waved all over the city. They carried halberds, with swords sheathed on their belts. Soldiers like this were scattered throughout the castle, and Celestia had seen in the courtyard ponies being drilled in similar armor. 
 
In broken Ponish the guard introduced her to Cadence before stepping out and closing the door. Cadence sat alone in the room, drinking tea. She looked exhausted, deep bags under her eyes and Celestia could sense she was emotionally exhausted as well. She smiled weakly as Celestia entered, saying a quiet thank you to the guard as he stepped out. Once the door clicked shut, she conjured more tea for Celestia to enjoy and gestured to the seat beside her. 
 
“How is Equestria in these trying times, Auntie?” 
 
“Worse than I wish. Despite the peace Luna and I both agree that we need to keep a larger standing army, and maybe some reserves,” Celestia paused, taking a sip from her drink before changing the topic, “But my dear niece, I didn’t come to tell you about the bores of ruling, you enough about that as it is. Instead, we need plan to throw the Prussians from the Empire.” 
 
In a moment, the smile slipped off Cadence’s face, and she deflated before saying, “No. We can’t. I won’t.” 
 
Celestia gave Cadence a pointed look, “These foes are just like Sombra, here to enslave you. You cannot really mean to-” 
 
“No. We won’t fight them more. And I don’t think they are here to enslave us. They did the brunt of the repairs and fixing of our city. They’ve been incredibly helpful and willing,” Cadence said, uncertainty in her voice, sounding as if she was convincing herself just as much as Celestia. 
 
“A velvet wrapped steel gauntlet is still a steel gauntlet, Cadence. No matter how nice they are, they are conquerors here to inflict their will. They do not know friendship or peace. They wish only to make you like them.” 
 
“I DO NOT CARE,” shouted Cadence suddenly, shocking Celestia causing her to recoil. The doors to the study were pushed open as the two Prussians burst into the room, one drawing his sword while the other held his halberd at the ready. They looked around for a threat, before slowly backing back out of the room, heads still swiveling about the room. The doors clicked shut again, and this time a yellow spell flashed across them. A sound proofing spell.  
 
Cadence started again, calmer this time, “I do not care. These Prussians are overwhelmingly powerful, Celestia. Their weapons made that armor obsolete; they wear it as ceremonial pieces. Those soldiers aren’t expected to actually defeat more than an angry peasant. They have more soldiers in their empire than we have citizens. That force larger than anything our world ever saw? It was a cobbled together army thrown together in a week. When they made us a puppet, they limited our forces to a ‘small’ fifteen thousand. That is larger than both our standing armies combined. They considered it small. The Prussians will be leaving a small garrison force of fifty thousand, Celestia.” 
 
Celestia shook her head, “Cadence, you could have used your magic to desert the army or flip sides, or, if it came to it, eradicate them.” 
 
Cadence sagged, “Celestia, outside of love magic and emotional magic my skills are more akin to an exceptionally talented unicorn. And I refuse to use love magic outside of little nudges in the right direction. I refuse to violate that moral, Celestia. I refuse to be like Sombra.” 
 
“That’s why you lost. And that’s good. But now Luna and I will be here to help. We can push them out of the Empire. We must. For the memory of Rainbow Dash and Rarity. For all the guards that died.” 
 
Cadence shook her head violently, tears in her eyes, “Celestia, I can’t. They almost killed Shining. They still could if they wanted. You’ve seen that our guards are almost all Prussians. Not only that, but they’re training all the ponies that will take their place in the future. They could easily kill Shining Armor when he was at full strength, and he’s still recovering. He may never cast a spell again. They effortlessly threw aside our forces. If they had wanted to, they could have killed all my people. I can’t and I won’t risk their lives.” 
 
“S0 you’d rather them live under the boot of an oppressor? How could you be willing to trade the future of your empire for this?” 
 
“Because I won’t be. The Prussians are designing a better future for us,” Cadence said, again sounding like she was not just debating Celestia but herself, “For the first three years they have a well-known industrialist running the nation. After that he’ll take an advisory position and write up long term plans. They have a plan.” 
 
“I doubt that plan is little more than numbers, Cadence. That man is lying or is going to be brutally cold in the process. You need to get rid of them before the Prussians make your nation worse. There was nothing wrong with it before, and this modern technology they’ll introduce is just another way to make you dependent on them.” 
 
“Celestia,” Cadence began, almost pleading, “Please. I won’t risk anymore of my people’s lives. I will champion them and defend them all I can. But I won’t sacrifice them. I can’t live with that. I can’t let them kill Shining Armor.” 
 
Celestia scrunched her face, “I thought I taught you better. The lives of the many over your personal connections,” said Celestia, venom seeping into her voice for a moment, “You remember I banished my own sister for my little ponies? Why won’t you make the same sacrifice for your people? Do you not care for them at all?” 
 
“Get out,” Cadence said, her face darkening, and her horn glowing, undoing the spell on the door, “You can claim I never learned. But you can NEVER say that I don’t love my ponies. Now. Get. Out.” 
 
The doors opened and four guards marched in, halberds held high. Celestia stood and they took a position at each corner, marching in perfect unity with her as she was escorted out of the castle. A fifth Prussian appeared at her side, cane tapping at the floor, top hat pointing to the sky and glasses in his breast pocket. He had a simple, serene smile on his face as he walked beside her. 
 
With a police little half bow as he walked, he said, “Good day, Princess Celestia. I am Ludolf Krämer, Chief of Industrialization for the Crystal Protectorate. It is nice to meet you. I am also the acting head of state for the coming years. I hope we do get along well.” 
 
With that, he abruptly stopped, posting his cane and letting her walk past. After a moment he turned and began whistling softly, swinging his cane in lazy circles as he waltzed through the halls of the castle.