It had been nearly nine months since Celestia and Shining Armor had attempted to retake the Crystal 'Empire', now renamed Crystal City by the Griffon ‘Emperor’. The Griffons had cheered openly at finally having something to hold over the ponies and their princesses. And the following days were rather disastrous for Equestria. Or rather, when a newspaper interviewed one of the surviving guardspony.
He had spoken of metal giants with powerful guns and massive swords on their sides, their weapons firing explosive death, and that one of these metal giants had 'killed' Celestia by merely punching her. Other guards were interviewed with a bit of incentives and had all spoken of similar things. And the rumor machine spread rapidly. The interviewed survivors all told of immense might and it was impossible to censor any information as it was spread at the rate of an uncontrolled wildfire. This would eventually lead to the questioning the ambassador of the Griffon Imperium in Canterlot.
The answer they had received was short and simple.
"Princess Celestia had attacked a protectorate of ours for no reason. The city had surrendered to us without resistance and we have proof that coexistence between the griffons and the ponies within Crystal City has resulted in nothing but peace. But instead of asking us, why don't you ponies ask Princess Cadence herself?"
And major newspaper agencies had even received a ride to the now famous Crystal City and had met personally with the Princess Cadence, or rather, Governess Cadence alone in a room with an Griffon aide by her side. What they heard was something rather strange and conflicting with what they had heard before.
"Well, I and the Crystal 'Empire', as it was formerly called, had no choice. We didn't have sufficient defensive capabilities and we barely had three dozen guards. Not to mention that we were undergoing a food shortage, lacked the proper materials to build homes, and not enough medicine to treat those that would suffer from trauma from being under Sombra's reign so long ago. Trust me when I say that I thought we would be enslaved, or even worse was on my mind; but all we got was nothing but help. Food, medicine, materials, raw resources, and even doctors who actually healed wounds and all without magic. And whatever Princess Celestia says about sending us all the necessary supplies before we had ever surrendered, trust me when I say that rationing is in our records. Would you like to see them?"
With the interview, evidence of all of the 'benefits' that came with the griffon occupation, and seeing the metal giants themselves in all their glory; the aftermath of the published report were less than favorable for the Equestrian Nobility. It was only due to Princess Luna who had begun an investigation on why the supplies had not gone out did the public finally realize that Celestia had yet to say a word on the issue.
And that was enough. No matter how long one has been the ruler, no matter how powerful, no matter how cleverly you disguise your words, when the seeds of doubt are sown... They will bear fruit eventually.
And four months into Luna's investigation; it once again caused a stir amongst the public. The unicorn nobility of Canterlot had diverted said resources that were supposed to go to the Crystal Empire right back into their own pockets. There were documents, witnesses, and even hard proof to crush the nobility in their entirety; but the hammer fall came from a recovered Princess Celestia.
Even against all the evidence, Celestia had firmly denied all accusations and had instead said that Cadence must have gotten her records wrongs.
As this bickering increased, two clashing factions formed within Equestria that went with the princesses. Celestia, with most of the pony population still following her out of her position and power, had the most support despite all of the evidence stacked against her and the nobility. Luna, held the support of industrialist ponies who sought to revolutionize Equestria with their magic-based technology, and all of the thestral clans.
But from within Celestia's faction, a new organization had appeared with a whisper.
It was led by Shining Armor and most of the unicorn nobility who were known to be 'dirty'. While Shining Armor was placed as the 'head' of the faction, all those within knew who was actually in charge. While this particular faction did follow Celestia and particularly in the shadows; they seemed content to lining their pockets with any method possible without letting their ‘leader’ know. He might be in charge of Equestria’s military, but the nobility really had the final say in how said military performed.
While Equestria still was united under two princesses, it was clear who was supporting whom and that an internal powder keg had been filled to the brim.
The question was... Who was going to light it?
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With the surrender of the Crystal City and its surrounding frozen wasteland, the Griffon Imperium decided to stay their claw as even their country had begun to divide as the heiress of the throne had wanted revenge of her younger brother's death by the hands of the Changelings while their Emperor wanted to expand his empire further. The arguments were both verbal, physical, and at times right in court of the Emperor.
But the Emperor was not that old, despite having a daughter old enough to gain her own followers. In fact, he was young compared to some of his generals and advisors. But what he lacked in age, he made it up with knowledge, experience, and combat prowess. It was he who began the industrial revolution for the griffons and was crowned as the most achieved king in known Griffon history. He was cautious, cunning, and planned so well that his plans nearly accounted for nearly everything.
His young daughter on the other claw was hotheaded. While having far less support than the king, she had her own group of followers that simply wanted to kill every Changeling in existence in retribution for their 'defeat' in the South and now the incident in Crystal City. She had even attempted to steal a battleship to 'avenge' their fallen comrades, but would always result in failure as the king was usually a few steps ahead of her. She was by no means a genius in combat, but her ferocity made her a dangerous opponent and a daring ace pilot for their Knight Titans. In fact, she had gained loyalty from field officers because she rarely commanded from the rear and instead fought in the front lines.
But soon after the capture of the Crystal City, it became terribly clear that there were two sides to the country. One side, with their king, who had gained control of the Crystal City without bloodshed and had begun a shaky, yet stable coexistence with the ponies that lived in the city. The other side, with their princess, had wished nothing but the enslavement of the ponies and to use them as meat shields against the Changelings.
As a result, she had been 'excused' from her post and had her military unit disbanded and melted into many of the loyalists' forces. And within four months of disbandment, over fifteen hundred griffons 'seceded' with the princess and had created a mercenary outfit that surprisingly had support of many griffons in high places. While still undergoing their official formation, the princess soon declared her and her 'army' to be the true successors of the Griffon Imperium and had begun to attack many griffon outposts.
As a civil war broke out in the Imperium, only the Emperor and his closest advisors seemed calm, if not gleeful at the situation. Something was about to happen to the Griffon Imperium and it would happen soon.
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With both major powers beginning to split at the seams, the Changelings immediately went to work swiftly and quietly. As much as the Changelings themselves wished to remain unshaken, even within the shape-shifting race there was conflict of opinion. Calliphora, Gemini, and several of the other queens had expressed their opinion that they should bunker down and quietly build up strength while the others literally ripped themselves and each other apart. Myxine, Patina, and Magica had wanted to go past what they had and build their first major structure not on the surface or within Jaburo. They had wanted to go into the vast sea of stars and build a home in space where nothing held them back. And surprisingly, Ambrosia and the rest of the queens wanted to do something rather risky, and yet, if succeeded; they could rip apart both nations by giving them an excuse to shred each other to bits and pieces.
Even though their goals were for the betterment of the Changeling race, they all had different opinions how fast they should 'develop'.
Each of the 'factions' within Umbra Commonwealth had decided to simply have a representative for each 'faction' now called Divisions. Division One was Calliphora and her supporters had decided to take control of the Terrestrial military arm of the Commonwealth; Division Two, headed by Patina alongside Myxine and supported by the more science oriented queens, had laid their claim to manufacturing and the vast array of orbit capable forces; while Division Three, being lead by Ambrosia, had deemed themselves to become the 'Shadow of the Commonwealth' by building up a force of spies and black ops. And after nearly a month of discussions and filled with angry moments, they had all decided to compromise. Ambrosia would infiltrate both nations and would spy, steal, and do whatever was necessary to divert attention away from them; the Archon would have her build up of strength utilizing standard battlemechs, tanks, and AeroSpace fighters; and Section Two would be given their chance to build within orbit as long as they returned every two weeks for their meetings and supply any new technology as they had while supporting the ground based military with their far more advanced, if not more absurdly expensive combat force that spent most of their time in space. They cooperated with each other as they agreed that they were the Umbra Commonwealth, but the fact remained that all three possessed an equal amount of power backed by their respective combat forces.