//------------------------------//
// New Mareland, New Order 
// Story: The Millennium Archives 
// by Moonatik 
//------------------------------//

“Phhh, shit, I forgot to talk about New Mareland didn’t I,” Moonatik breathed.

Moonatik dives into the desk and grabs a box full of newspaper clippings.

“Before we start all proper we’ve got to go back in time a little bit. In case you weren’t in the know, New Mareland’s an Equestrian colony on the southwestern tip of Griffonia. It’s always had its own thing going, really.” He takes rummages through the box and picks out a specific clipping. “This is before the real start of the Lunar Millennium, but it’s important context.”


Extract from a New Mareland Telegraph report on the change in New Mareland’s government (12/06/1000).


Long Neck out as Prime Minister, Sour Sweet to lead new government

After months of collapsing approval ratings in the face of the economic depression, Prime Minister Long Neck was removed as Prime Minister in a vote of no confidence by the Commonwealth Congress.

The vote was held late last night at 10pm. The procedure was initiated by Liberal Party congresspony and leader of the opposition Sour Sweet, and passed overwhelmingly with 96 “Yes” votes, 60 “No” votes, and 4 abstentions. Many members of Neck’s own party voted for his removal. The main reason cited for his removal was his failure to manage the economic crisis, which has seen unemployment skyrocket and real wages fall.

In the same session, a majority of members nominated Sour Sweet as Long Neck’s replacement. The Liberal Party leader, one of the wealthiest ponies in congress, has so far been able to unite disparate factions in congress behind a common agenda.

Sweet has promised that her government will consist of a broad multi-partisan coalition to represent all New Marelanders in the face of the economic crisis. Already members of the United Harmony Party, Liberal Party, the Freedom Party, the New Democratic Party and the Griffon Alliance Party have been announced to have cabinet positions in the new government. She listed the four priorities of her government as solving the economic crisis, uniting the country, restoring trust in government, and ensuring dignity for thestral and griffon minorities.

In a statement to the press, Neck said he was shocked and saddened by the congress’s decision, but that he accepts it nonetheless.

Neck came to power in December 997, later securing a popular mandate in the election of September 998. He enjoyed public support early on in his premiership, but became dogged with scandals as his time in office went on. His approval ratings plummeted in the midst of the economic crisis that began in October last year. He will now sit as a regular congresspony.

The suddenness and speed of the removal has shocked some observers, with little indication that such a move was going to successfully take place beyond the usual calls for resignation. It remains to be seen how the public will react to the change in government.

Congress has also sent a formal request to Princess Celestia asking her to sack Governor-General Jet Set, citing various inadequacies regarding his time in the role such as his perceived elitism. Congress has nominated Sugarcoat, a New Marelander businesspony, to take up the post. Princess Celestia is expected to agree.





“And then, just about a week after this, Nightmare Moon returned. New Mareland reacted like-” Moonatik flies away. He returns a few moments later, wheeling a CRT television with a built-in VHS player up to his desk. After setting the TV itself up he gathers a videotape out of the box. “One sec.”

Moonatik loads in the tape and the TV flashes to life. The image of a sharply-dressed earth pony mare sitting in an ornate office appears. She has a buttermilk coat, freckles on her cheeks, and teal eyeshadow. Her mane is a bashful pink with a paleish teal stripe running through, straight bangs and a ponytail. At a glance, her demeanour seems sickenly sweet.


Televised statement by Prime Minister Sour Sweet on the situation in Equestria (22/06/1000).


New Marelanders,

As distant as the homeland may seem, New Mareland is and always has been a land of Equestrians. The Commonwealth was founded by Equestrians, settled by Equestrians, and to this date ponies on either side of the sea freely move between the two lands. We share a common cultural heritage, a common language, and common principles and values. The fate of New Mareland is inextricably tied to the fate of Equestria, as long as both lands exist. It is for this reason why I, and so many others across our Commonwealth, are gravely concerned about the ongoing situation in Equestria.

We are closely monitoring the situation in Equestria, and we urge everyone to not jump to any conclusions regarding anything that may or may not have been said to have occurred. The situation is fluid and complicated, and the full truth of the matter may not be revealed for some time. What is known with a reasonable degree of certainty is that Nightmare Moon has returned from a thousand year exile, and is leading an armed conflict against the government of Princess Celestia.

I can assure all New Marelanders immediately that as long as this government remains in office, we will assure that armed conflict will not come to New Mareland. No New Marelander soldiers shall be sent to fight, and not a single New Marelander bullet will be fired at our fellow ponies.

It’s more important than ever that New Marelanders stand together and retain our friendship with one another. In the face of this crisis, our government remains united and committed to the priorities laid out at the beginning of my time in office. The Equestrian situation will not change this.

Our commitment is to keep peace. Naturally, we hope that the crisis is brought to a swift conclusion with respect to commonly shared core principles. Should any Equestrians be seeking refuge from the conflict, New Mareland will be happy to house you until it is safe to return home.

But whatever the result of the crisis might be, New Mareland will remain committed to preserving its democracy and upholding its friendship with the ponies of Equestria.





Moonatik took the tape out of the TV.

“Seems like pretty standard things for a politician to say during a crisis, yeah?” says Moonatik. “That’s the image she tried to portray, standard and sensible. From here on…” Moonatik takes some newspaper clippings out of the box. “Here’s some newspaper articles about what came in the following years. Keep an eye out, there’s a twist coming.”


Article from the New Manehattan Courier on New Mareland’s formal recognition of Lunar authority (12/05/1001).


Prime Minister Sour Sweet meets Equestrian counterpart Saffron Dusk, affirms historic relationship

Prime Minister Sour Sweet and Equestrian Prime Minister Saffron Dusk met tonight in Manehattan, both declaring that the relationship between Equestria and New Mareland remains “strong and unbreakable”.

“I’m honoured to meet with and to congratulate Equestria’s Prime Minister,” said Sour Sweet, adding that their meeting took place at Manehattan Town Hall, which she called a monument to Equestria’s history of local democracy. Saffron Dusk was elected earlier this month in the first national Equestrian election held under universal suffrage.

“Recent times have been hard for our two lands, making our common commitment to our mutual friendship all the more important,” she later added. “Equestria and New Mareland share a common destiny, despite whatever may change in the global situation.”

Sweet also affirmed that New Mareland is “loyal to the Equestrian monarch”, later clarifying that she and her government understood that Nightmare Moon was the Equestrian monarch.

Later that evening both attended a grand public gala hosted by the Equestrian branch of the Shadowbolt Society. Sour Sweet and many members of her government recently confirmed that they are members of the New Marelander branch of the elite social club.

Reactions in Equestria and New Mareland have been largely positive, with the Commonwealth Congress passing a resolution featuring many of the same words used in the speech by Sour Sweet in Manehattan. A similar resolution was passed by the recently convened Equestrian Parliament.


Article from the New Manehattan Courier on Sour Sweet’s visit to Chiropterra (19/05/1001).


Leaders of New Mareland and Chiropterra to meet in New Ayacachtli for talks

Prime Minister Sour Sweet has arrived in New Ayacachtli at the invitation of Chiropterra's Premier Autumn Breeze.

Sour Sweet was welcomed with an official ceremony before one-on-one talks were held between the two leaders.

The main topic of discussion has been over bilateral trade. As both New Mareland and Chiropterra are within the Equestrian sphere, a free-trade arrangement already exists. The goal of these discussions is over a mutually beneficial investment deal.

The government as well as New Marelander businesses are aiming to purchase and open mines in Chiropterra, along with a substantial investment in Chiropterra’s civilian sector.

Projections suggest such an arrangement would provide a boost to the economies of both dominions.


Article from the New Manehattan Courier on New Mareland’s economic fortunes (19/04/1002).


New Mareland economy continues to grow at a remarkable pace.

The New Mareland economy remained incredibly robust in the fourth quarter to close out a remarkably strong 1002 as growth was seen in all sectors of the economy, displaying a dramatic reversal of the commonwealth's economy during the depression of years past.

Gross domestic product, the most general measure of economic output, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annualised rate of 5.5% from October through December, as reported by the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce. This is an increase from the 5.1% annualised rate in the previous quarter, recovering and surpassing the state of the economy at the onset of the depression.

Analysts have attributed this success to a combination of factors collectively contributing to the Commonwealth's overall economic prosperity, primarily public investment, effective economic management by the Sweet government, and the deepening relationship with Equestria and Chiropterra. Consumer and business confidence in the economy has propelled growth even further.

Noteworthy is the impressive growth seen in key sectors such as defence, agriculture, mining, and construction. New Mareland's committing to improving defence capabilities, coupled with deregulation of agricultural practices and advancement in mining technologies, has played a pivotal role in the overall economic boom.

The improvements have been shared broadly amongst the population, with an overall rise in living standards and a fall in poverty to match the growth.

In reaction to the reports, Finance Minister Sunny Flare welcomed the news and said they served as proof that their economic policies were working.


Article from the New Manehattan Courier on New Mareland’s declaration of war against King Sombra’s Crystal Empire (04/04/1003).


WAR: New Mareland Officially Declares War on King Sombra’s Crystal Empire

Congress has passed a declaration of war against the recently reappeared Crystal Empire, in response to Sombra’s invasion of Equestria.

Secretary of the Department of Defence Indigo Zap anounced that 30,000 New Marelander soldiers will be sent to Equestria to assist in the fighting. Speaking to the press, she said “We’re fighting a force of pure evil. We’re gonna give ‘em hell.”

As a part of the Lunar Empire, New Mareland was automatically called to war when Equestria was attacked and the Lunar Empire declared war. The declaration from Congress serves as a signal that the ponies and griffons of New Mareland are fully behind the efforts.

Around 7000 New Marelander soldiers are on the Equus continent, having served an auxiliary role in the War Against Chrysalis. More eager volunteers are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.


Article from the New Mareland Telegraph on New Mareland’s “New Order Law” (04/09/1006).


New Order Law attains Royal Assent

As of Yesternight, Empress Nightmare Moon has officially given her Royal Assent to the New Order Law after it was passed by the Commonwealth Congress, bringing it into full effect.

The changes split Congress into two houses, the Professional House and the Representative House. The Representative House will function much like the Congress normally has with regular elections involving the whole population, but for speedy decision making the permanent legislative council has been officialised. The Professional House will represent technical experts, economic stakeholders, and leading figures in New Mareland society.

The law also fuses the posts of the Governor-General and the Prime Minister into a single post, named The Premier. The Premier will take on the responsibilities of both posts and be appointed directly by Empress Nightmare Moon. Sour Sweet has already been appointed to the post.

According to an aggregate of polling agencies, an average of 72% of New Marelanders approve of the changes with many lauding how the government will be able to act swiftly in the face of a national crisis.





“Well, If you’ve been paying attention, that’s the twist!” Moonatik laughs. “You might have noticed that everything I’ve shown you so far is from New Mareland itself, so everything’s got a bit of a positive spin. In case you haven’t picked up on it, here’s a more bird’s eye perspective. Haha, get it? Bird’s eye, a griffon wrote it.”


Article on the political transformation of New Mareland. From “La Corriere”, a Wingbardian newspaper (04/09/1006).


The Slow and Steady Coup: How the Shadowbolt Society Destroyed New Mareland’s Democracy

Yesterday, New Mareland’s New Order Law was formally passed into law.

The law grants total control over the executive branch of the government to a single person, now Premier Sour Sweet. Congressional candidates now require approval from the government. It creates a new upper house of Congress elected solely by so-called ‘Professional Interest Groups’ such as large corporate organisations. Already many have noticed that the specified groups either have direct links to the Shadowbolt Society. The now lower house of Congress, already full of pro-government legislators, has been sidelined in the new framework with many of its powers transferred to the upper house.

One would expect uproarious backlash at such a blatant display of democratic backsliding, yet hardly any public opposition manifested. No furious condemnations from any of the commonwealth’s major papers. No mass movement filling the streets. At most there were a hundred or so ponies gathered in a square about a quarter mile away from the Congress building.

It appeared that New Mareland’s democracy went out not with a bang, but a whimper.

How did we get here?

Many New Marelanders thought that they would be spared from the chaos in Equestria that came in the wake of Nightmare Moon's return, given their distance from the pony homeland. In a small way they were right, as the flames of civil war never burned New Mareland soil. In a much larger way, they were very, very wrong.

Over the course of more than eight years, a concentrated effort had been underway to undermine and subvert the political, economic, and cultural pillars of New Marelander society to rip them away from harmonic democracy and into the hooves of Lunar despotism. All these efforts have since been connected to a single organisation, The Shadowbolt Society.

If you asked a member of the Shadowbolt Society who they were, they’d simply say that they were a social club for rich ponies with too much time on their hooves. Since 1001, the society has been increasingly open with many public balls and galas being hosted by the organisation. This obscures the truth that they have long been a forum to organise economic domination by some of the wealthiest monopolists and most powerful politicians in New Mareland and Equestria, including Sour Sweet and every member of the current New Mareland cabinet.

Founded over a thousand years ago by followers of Nightmare Moon, it existed shrouded in secrecy for most of that time, and much of its true history remains obscured. What is known is that many current members, amongst Equestria and New Mareland’s wealthiest, have admitted to being members of the society for years. Additionally, all have gleefully lined up behind Nightmare Moon in both Equestria and New Mareland, with the Equestrian wing of the society even forming a military unit to fight the Empire’s wars.

Yet while Equestria’s Shadowbolts aided the Lunar takeover with bullets, the New Marelander wing did so with ballots.

The Initial Coup

On the 12th of June 1000, the inhabitants of New Mareland woke up to find themselves in a different country.

When the nation was asleep the night before, an emergency session of the Commonwealth Congress was called at 11pm. When Congress had gathered, leader of the Liberal Party Sour Sweet announced a Vote of No Confidence in Long Neck. She launched into a scathing tirade, in her usual style of switching between backclawed compliments and unmistakable insults, cheered on by members of the Congress opposed to Long Neck.

Long Neck, of the United Harmony Party, had been an ineffective and increasingly unpopular PM. The economic catastrophe that began with the stock market crash on 29th October 999, a day dubbed Black Wednesday, tremendously increased anger towards his government. By June 1000, he’d already lost his majority in the Commonwealth Congress. Needless to say, from the outside Sour Sweet’s words appeared genuine and likely to resonate with the public.

But this telling of the story ignores the extensive months of planning prior to the session. For up to a year prior, Sour Sweet had been increasing her public profile by meeting with leaders of other parties and making increasingly aggressive appearances in the media, with other politicians matching her tune. Parties and politicians opposing Long Neck’s government were also flooded with huge campaign donations that allowed them to fill the streets and newspapers with adverts aggressively demanding his removal. Some were suspicious of how much money was being donated, but none of these investigations were completed before June 12th. When the sources of the money were discovered, two particular sources stood out amongst the rest. Corporations and individuals associated with the Shadowbolt Society, and alleged Chiropterran shell companies.

Of course, the preceding economic crisis itself had its share of suspicious activity. New Mareland’s largest corporations were all slowing down their economic activities, buying and selling less to their own detriment. Then all of a sudden on Black Wednesday, large financial firms were desperately selling off their held stocks much lower than what they bought them for, causing the rest of the market to respond in kind. These corporations and financial firms, again, all had deep ties to the Shadowbolt Society.

The one sector that seemed exempt from the economic downturn was the news media. Both small and large media outlets were being bought up all around New Mareland, with control of the press consolidating into an increasingly shrinking set of hooves. These hooves too were strongly affiliated with the Shadowbolts.

It was a foregone conclusion when the vote finally came. Long Neck was out, and Sour Sweet was in. At a glance, it had all the ostensible hallmarks of a democratic process taking place. The new government was a broad coalition of multiple parties, including the largest griffon minority interest party. Local media reported on the change positively, polls showed public approval of the change, and in the following months the economy improved.

One might ask where Princess Celestia was in all this. While she was the monarch of New Mareland at the time, she mostly let the colony manage its own affairs. The last act she made in regards to New Mareland was acceding to a request by Sweet’s new government to replace the mostly advisory Governor-General Jet Set, an Equestrian, with Sugarcoat, a New Marelander. At no point was it disclosed that Sugarcoat was a member of the Shadowbolt Society.

Before long, New Mareland was absolutely the last thing on Celestia’s mind.

Shockwaves from Equestria

The nation was understandably distracted when civil war broke out in Equestria. In Sour Sweet’s address to the nation, broadcast over radio and TV, she affirmed that armed conflict will not come to New Mareland. She added a commitment to maintaining the nation’s friendship with the ponies of Equestria and told Equestrian refugees that they were welcome in New Mareland. She also set aside a part of her address to reaffirm her commitment to democracy.

Mostly, New Mareland stayed out of the conflict. No soldiers from New Mareland were sent to Equestria. Yet Sour Sweet’s government got involved in other ways, like when they turned over crucial intelligence regarding Equestrian military planning and doctrine to the Lunarists. Additionally, when Equestrian refugees who successfully made it to New Mareland, many who were escaping Lunarist persecution found themselves turned away and sent back into the Nightmare’s hooves. Even at this early stage, it seemed clear that New Mareland’s government was no friend to Harmony.

Whilst Equestria was still struggling to recover from civil war in February 1001, New Mareland held a general election that saw Sour Sweet’s so-called ‘Unity Coalition’ win a public mandate with an increased majority.

But democratic backsliding almost immediately after the election.

Barely a week later, new laws were passed through the Commonwealth Congress that targeted the independence of the judiciary. The process for appointing and removing judges was rapidly streamlined, effectively placing the whole apparatus under the control of the Ministry of Justice. Courts were stacked with new judges, many of them with past association with Sour Sweet and other Shadowbolts. This news only reached the pages of the shrinking number of independent news outlets, and even then the full story was obscured.

When new laws were passed to increase the power of the government, it all seemed innocuous as everything was hidden behind layers of technical jargon. One example included the Communications Act of 1003, which effectively gave the communications regulator the ability to define its own powers and limits in regards to what it could censor, who it could take off the air, and who it could fine and why. But with the commonwealth’s journalists all loyal to the government, few discovered this and even fewer reported on it.

The closest thing to a controversial piece of legislation introduced by Sweet’s government was the Agricultural Modernisation Act of 1002. It aimed to legalise industrial meat farming, something that the thestral and griffon minorities had long advocated for but was broadly opposed by the three-tribes pony majority. When the legislation was announced, ponies across the country took to the streets to oppose it, many clashing with police. A diminished version of the act that limited the scope of meat farming had to be passed to avoid further backlash.

Sour Sweet made her loyalty to Nightmare Moon clear to all in 1001 when she visited Equestria and met the Lunarist Prime Minister, Saffron Dusk. Whilst she was careful with her language, she made it clear that Nightmare Moon was the rightful Equestrian monarch and that New Mareland’s government was loyal to her. This caused a rupture in her coalition, as the populist Freedom Party pulled their support from her government a week later. Despite this, all the other parties of the Unity Coalition stuck with her. Many of them had recent changes of leadership, replacing their arguably independent leaders with members of the Shadowbolt Society.

It was around this time that the Shadowbolt Society opened itself up to the world, with more and more members of the political establishment and business community admitting their membership. 

All backlash was restrained for a simple reason, though. New Marelanders, ponies and griffons alike, were doing better. The economy was growing fast, and other quality of life indicators were improving too. Just about everyone had a good paying job, and the days of the depression seemed like a distant memory.

This growth was far from equal, nor was it attained in the fairest way. Sweet’s government and private businesses invested in the rapidly expanding military industrial complex of Chiropterra in exchange for cheap raw resources. Goods produced cheaply in New Mareland with these resources were then exported back to Chiropterra, allowing the businesses to reap massive profits. Nobody seemed to mind that the cheap resources were extracted by native Zebricans living in slave-like conditions, and anybody who did mind wouldn’t have their voice heard. Chiropterra itself kept enough of the profits to fund its legions and keep its underclass under control.

As incomes in the lower and middle economic strata grew modestly, corporate profits reached staggering record highs. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that the most profitable corporations were owned and managed by members of the Shadowbolt Society. But given that New Marelanders already had preconceived positive notions regarding the individual members, it trumped any stigma that they may have held towards the society beforeclaw. If anything, they wanted in.

By the 1004 election, the Unity Coalition had come together to form the Unity Party, a rigidly organised and centralised party with firm and open institutional links to the Shadowbolt Society itself. Intense background checks were conducted against all candidates to ensure they were either already loyal to the Shadowbolts, either by being members or by being affiliated with members, or to ensure that their loyalty could be sufficiently bought.

The media storm in the election touting the admittedly impressive economic record might have tricked some into thinking that only one party was running a campaign at all. All the money, airtime, and eventually ballots were going one way and one way only. It was as close as possible to being rigged without it explicitly being rigged. Simply, no other party stood a chance.

The Final Nails

After the 1004 election, the Unity Party was solidified as the party of power. It had an untouchable supermajority in the Commonwealth Congress. It had absolute control over just about every state government. The judiciary was stashed with cronies on a tight leash.

Over the next two years, the Unity Party used its mandate to embark on a radical ‘Lunarisation’ of New Mareland. New laws were passed gradually harmonising (irony intended) New Mareland’s laws with those of Equestria. The practice of industrial meat farming was fully permitted. Place names were changed to scrub the Celestial legacy and promote a manufactured Lunarist cultural identity. Referring to New Mareland as anything like an independent nation rather than a commonwealth within the Lunar Empire was banned in publications. Even the congress building was painted purple.

In 1005, the whole Congress only met twice. Once in February, once in July. For the 6 month periods between these meetings, Congress appointed a ‘Permanent Legislative Council’ made up only of the most loyal Congressponies to handle matters of legislation. Many noticed that every member of the permanent council were Shadowbolt Society members. The overwhelming majority of representatives, the few still independently minded who may have sought to challenge or scrutinise the government, lacked even this official forum.

The recent changes are, in effect, just a formality to solidify the Shadowbolts’ control over New Mareland and render any possibility of a peaceful democratic revival impossible. Even if at the next election, if there is another election, every New Marelander intended to vote against the government, they’d be stuck with a list of candidates loyal to the Shadowbolts from parties controlled by the Shadowbolts. Even if a democratic majority in the Representative House was elected, the executive branch and the Professional House hold all the power and are firmly under the Shadowbolts’ hoof.

What Made It All Possible

New Mareland had long been famous for its laissez faire spirit. Seen by western ponykind as the distant frontier, the wild attitude was reflected in its laws. Virtually no legal controls on how much money political parties could receive or from who existed, nor did any regulation regarding ownership of the media exist. Some efforts had been made to pass campaign finance reform or to enact anti-trust laws, but all of these were trounced by the establishment long before Nightmare Moon was on anyone’s mind.

If anything, what happened in New Mareland serves as a warning to the griffons of southern Griffonia’s largest democracy. Many of the same structural issues that doomed New Mareland plague Wingbardy, such as the power of the King over the government and our unregulated electoral finance system.

One doesn’t need to look far to see the signs of democratic decline. The radical right are rallying behind the Fasci, communists continue to agitate for revolution, mafiosi bribe and threaten politicians and bureaucrats caught in the middle, and our Parliament is increasingly deadlocked.

The flame of democracy can’t be taken for granted, it must be preserved and cherished, lest it be snuffed out entirely.





“There were a lot of things like this said throughout the Harmonist world in regards to New Mareland, this is just one example of that general sentiment,” says Moonatik. “Regardless of what you think of it, this is more or less the big picture on how New Mareland ended up Lunar. Now, that left just one slice of the old Equestrian sphere left.”