//------------------------------// // Discovery // Story: The Nineteenth Century: The Saga of Equestria // by mint20 //------------------------------// Discovery The Nineteenth Century: The Saga of Equestria June 18, 1812         “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That war be and is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories; and that the President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States to carry the same into effect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United States commissions or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the government of the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof.”         James Madison stared at the declaration before him for a moment, took up his pen and attached a graceful signature to it. When he finished, he put down the pen and looked up, saying, “God help us all.” June 30, 1812         Robert Jenkinsons, newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, sat at his table, pouring over the reports of troop movements from France.         “Napoleon's acting up again,” he muttered. As the reports said, thousands of French (and allied) troops were moving towards Russia.         Of course, the Prime Minister had no way of knowing that the United States had declared war. It will take weeks more before word of the declaration would reach the British Isles.         As he poured over the scouting reports, he slowly became more and more depressed, seeing the need to organize yet another coalition to put down the French menace. Remembering the humiliating defeats dealt to the last five coalitions assembled against Napoleon and the French, it was not something the new Prime Minister was eager to do.         Deciding to move onto less depressing subjects for the day, the man shifted from the stack of scouting reports to maps of the British colonial possessions. Nothing was strange, per se, until he reached the map of British Columbia.         “This is interesting,” he muttered, studying the map intently. Quite frankly, he was surprised that there was a large area south of the established colony that looked simply blank.         Deciding that this could not stand, the Prime Minister picked up a pen and started writing:         By order of the Prime Minister of Great Britain, the United Kingdom now offers a reward to the one who charts the territory south of British Columbia… July 18, 1812 Kingdom of Griffonia         “What?”         “I said that the United States is at now at war, and I am obligated to inform you as such,” replied Livingston.         “At war? With who?” asked the griffon King.         “With the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.”         The King hesitated for a moment, filing away the name of this other nation for further investigation, before saying, “Over what?”         “This is a copy of the declaration of war, and the an explanation of the casus belli,” said the human, passing a sheet of paper over.         “‘Violation of international shipping rights...illegal searches of American vessels...violent impressment of American citizens.’ These are dire charges,” noted the King.         “Indeed,” replied the diplomat.         “So, why did you make a point of telling me this?” asked King Odrynn. “As far as I can tell, this does not concern my nation in any meaningful manner.”         As the human considered his response, the King took another moment to annoyed by the fact that all the diplomats the humans could have sent, he had to get the master of diplomacy, rivaled only by Celestia herself.         He pushed the irritation aside as the human continued by asking “Do you agree that these are things that threaten the very foundation of international civility?”         Feeling as if the question was a trick, the King said, somewhat nervously, “To a degree.” After a moment, he decided to amend the statement with a pointed question: “Where are you going with this?”         The human looked at the griffon sideways, as if he was calculating his next move. After a moment, he said, “Perhaps our nations can come to an agreement. Maybe an exchange of technology for a donation of troops?”         In later days, King Odrynn would hang his head in shame at the memory that he considered the offer. For a whole ten seconds, no less.         But, he could also draw comfort in the fact that after he snapped back to his senses, he said:         “How foolish do you think I am? If I send my troops to aid yours, they will get slaughtered! We have not seen war for hundreds of years!”         “But I thought that you have said that the Kingdom has had...issues...with the Principality of Equestria. These never escalated into war?”         “Once, yes, there was war between us. That was over seventeen hundred years ago, before the War of Discordian Aggression and the following Giffonian Uprising. And over the years, we have had our shares of diplomatic crises. But for the most part, Equestria could trounce us in any war...at least, until recently.”         The human diplomat mulled this revelation over for a few minutes, then nodded. “Very well. Is this your final answer?”         “Yes. Go fight your own wars. Griffonia has neither the resources nor the inclination to fight them for you.” July 23, 1812 Canterlot, Equestria         “War?” asked Celestia, standing next to her window, glaring out into the clouds.         “Yes,” replied the griffon King.         “Why?” asked Princess Twilight, appearing incredibly confused.         “Something about neutral shipping rights and impressment of American sailors,” replied the King.         “I hate to be the one to ask this question,” said Luna, “but what, if anything, do we do about it?”         “What can we do?” asked Celestia. “Let’s face it: we are not only ill-equipped, but we are also completely in the dark. We don’t even know anything about this ‘United Kingdom,’ aside from it being a kingdom, united with others, and apparently hostile with the United States.”         “What are you saying?” asked Twilight.         “I am saying that in the face of war and violence, Equestria is at the mercy of these creatures when gunpowder and professional militaries...ever since the Lunar Rebellion, Equestria has been a demilitarized state. Our only standing army, if it deserves such a term, is the Royal Guard, and, let’s be honest, they are outdated by a few hundred years. And with all due respect King Odrynn, your forces are not much better.”         The King bowed his head. As humiliating as it was, he was honest enough to not try to dupe the ponies otherwise.         “Princess, are you saying that we need to strengthen ourselves? Adopt this war-like posture? War and violence runs counter to the core ideas of harmony and Celestialism,” pointed out Cadance.         Here, Celestia hesitated. While she recognized Equestria’s weakness, she was loath to re-introduce the ideas of suffering to her nation of innocent ponies…         “I am saying,” she said after a moment, “that someday, sooner or later, we will need to ask some hard questions. And if we cannot...then I fear for the future.” August 29, 1812 Kingdom of Griffonia         “Your Majesty, the human diplomat wishes to speak with you,” came the perfectly neutral call from a royal bodyguard.         “Very well,” the King replied. “Send him in.”         The doors to the palace opened, and in walked the elderly human.         “You appear ill, Mister Livingston,” King Odrynn noticed. “Should I send for a healer?”         “No,” replied the human, in a somewhat quieter voice than he had used in the past.         “Suit yourself,” the griffon muttered. In a more audible tone, the King asked, “Then, what can I do for you?”         In a similarly subdued voice, the human said, “Something very disturbing has come to light recently. It has to do with the conduct of this Kingdom in the building of the United States’ embassy.”         “Oh?”         “It has come to our attention that your kingdom violated the property rights of the workers building the embassy, specifically regarding enslaved persons.”         “The Kingdom of Griffonia reserves the right to intervene in the affairs of a subject if the government feels that basic rights are being violated,” replied the King, in somewhat brittle tone.         “For your subjects, maybe,” replied the ambassador. “But the humans that were working on this projects were not your subjects.”         “Irrelevant. As the sovereign ruler of these territories, I am charged with protecting all who reside in Griffonia, even those who only reside temporarily. And this applies to your so-called ‘slaves’ as well.”         “The slaves are the property of their owners,” replied the ambassador. “As such, if the owner of the slave wishes to beat him, then he can. In the-”         The King held up a claw. “I do not care how you do things in your United States,” he replied, now getting angry. “In this nation, every single sentient creature will treat each other with respect and dignity. And if you cannot do that, then I will ensure that you are punished to the harshest degree afforded by Griffonian law. No exceptions. At all.”         “...Very well,” said the human. He slowly got up and walked out of the building. He paused at the door, however, and said, “The United States does not think highly of those who disrespect property rights...I urge you to reconsider your position.”         “Over my dead body.”         The door boomed shut. December 12, 1815 Kingdom of Griffonia         “What now?” growled the King as heard the alarm bells sound. Getting up from his throne, the griffon ran across the room to speak with his guards, asking, “What news?”         “We’re not yet sure, sir,” replied the one to the right.         The King made a violent gesture, saying, “Well, then find out, idiot!” After a moment, he amended his statement, saying, “And assemble all the troops you can scrape together, while you’re at it.”         The guard quickly left to spread word of his orders.         The King paced for a few minutes, but soon decided to follow and see what was going on for himself. To this effect, he threw open the doors of the palace to a maelstrom of activity, as troops assembled and couriers carried messages.         Of course, it was downright pouring.         Gathering up his breath, the King, for the first time in several years, put his vocal chords to use in the full potential.         “WHERE IS THE GRIFFON THAT SOUNDED THE ALARM? BRING HIM TO ME!”         His yell, that echoed of the buildings, mountains, and was actually heard all the way to Ponyville in Equestria, caused everybody in his capital to temporarily stop what they were doing and look in his direction. After a moment or two, the hustle slowly resumed, and a single griffon, his head down in the traditional pose, presented himself to the King.         “Rise,” said King Odrynn. As the griffon did, the King saw that he was barely of age, and that he was clearly terrified of his King. Moderating his posture and tone, the ruler asked, in a tone that was not really gentle, but was far from harsh, “What did you see, lad?”         “...A ship, sir,” replied the youngster. “A ship larger than one I’ve ever seen.”         “What is going on here?” asked a rather sick-sounding voice. Turning around, the King saw the elderly human diplomat from the United States.         “When I find out, I will be sure to tell you,” replied the King, slightly annoyed.         “Anyways,” he said, turning back to his subject, “I want you to lead me to this ship you found.”         “Right away, sir. Follow me!”         After fast-walking through chaos for about fifteen minutes, the two griffons finally arrived at the edge of the town. And much to the dismay of the King, the young griffon was not mistaken. Indeed, a large vessel, made mostly out of wood, was crashing through the waves as it approached the beach. As mighty as the vessel was, though, the storm had reduced its speed to a slow crawl.         “More humans?” the King asked under his breath. “And they’re moving south…towards Equestria...”         After a moment of consideration, he turned to the youth and said, “You have keen eyes. Well done.” As the griffon flushed with pride, the King said “Dismissed.”         The youth retreated, as the King turned back around and ran as quick as he could towards the palace. When he arrived, he barked out orders, “Muster as many troops as possible!”         The reply of his generals, however, was lost to him. For in that moment, from the south, there was a brilliant surge of red light, brighter than the sun. The light lasted for over one whole minute, and by the time it faded, the King was left with no doubt as to its point of origin.         Neither, apparently, was the ship. After a moment, the vessel changed course. Instead of heading for the beach, the ship turned to its right and started moving towards the territory south of Griffonia.         “Well, it appears we dodged the problem here,” said General Tailfeather.         “Don’t party just yet,” said King Odrynn, his eyes fixed on the ship. “For now, without a doubt, they know.”         “Know of what?”         “Equestria.” Earlier that day Canterlot, Equestria         “Are we ready yet?” asked Luna, slightly impatiently.         “Yes, yes, one minute,” replied Twilight, frowning as she completed the final calculation. Quickly glancing over her hoofwork, she nodded to herself, then turned to the other Princesses.         “It’s ready.”         “Good,” replied Celestia. “Let’s repair this ward, then.”         “Let’s.” Closing their eyes, the four Princesses focused on the spell, in an effort to patch and repair the ward protecting the Equestrian mainland.         As Twilight channeled her magic, the alicorn did her best to monitor the flow and check for any discrepancies. When it comes to repairing such an ancient spell, one must make sure that absolutely everything is in place, else the smallest irregularity might spark a destructive chain reaction.         As skilled and well-studied Twilight was, though, it simply was not enough. For after about thirty seconds, the energy input from the four Princesses spiked, to levels far above what the spell’s ancient framework could support.         This would not have been a problem, if it was not for the fact that the archaic spell did not immediately show the warning signs of a spell spiraling out of control. And by the time any of the Princesses had noticed it, the spike had set off a cascading chain reaction that could not be stopped by any of the Princesses.         Recognizing the signs, Princess Celestia opened her eyes and shouted “Stop!”         Again, too late. The damage was done, and the reaction took place a few minutes after the last Princess, Cadance, had terminated the flow of magic.         After a moment of silence, a loud screeching noise was heard from the ward over the nation. At the same time, the ward flared red, brighter than the Sun. Twilight felt the temperature increase a few degrees, and realized that the magic stored in the ward was being released.         After almost two whole minutes, the light slowly faded away.         “Well,” said Cadance, “that happened.”         Princess Celestia quickly casted a spell, looking for traces of the ward’s mainframe. Failing to find any, she said, “It appears that...we have failed. The ward has been destroyed.”         As the impact of those words set in, Twilight curled up into something resembling a ball and said, “I’m so sorry! I was certain that-”         Princess Celestia cut her off, saying, “It’s not your fault. I should have foreseen this, myself. I should have realized that the ward would have been overloaded by all four of us.”         There was a knock on the door to the throne room, and a white-coated unicorn guard charged in, saying, “Your Highnesses, what happened? Are we under attack?”         Princess Celestia quickly pulled her mind together, and gave her best shot at a reassuring laugh. “Under attack? No, no, my little pony,” she said, in as reassuring of a voice as she could.         “The nobles are demanding to know what happened.”         Of course they are. “We will talk later,” Celestia said to her fellow Princesses, following the guard out the door. December 25, 1815 (Hearth’s Warming Eve, 1014 CYP) Canterlot, Equestria Now the sunrise lifts us up from the dark,  The dawn bringing light, bringing hope  We will rebuild, for our spirit is strong,  And Harmony will be restored!         As the choir and the orchestra faded into silence with one last piece of fanfare, the crowd rose, as one, their hooves and gave a thunderous outpouring of applause. It was the premiere of the new opera, Moonrise, which told the story of the Lunar Rebellion, if in a somewhat simplified form.         Rising from her seat, Princess Celestia glanced over at her sister. As far as she could tell, the midnight-blue Alicorn had enjoyed it. Despite this, however, the Solar Princess could not help but be slightly worried. After all, the Lunar Rebellion was still a somewhat touchy subject with her sister.         As far as she could tell, though, Princess Luna had put the whole incident out of her mind, for she was applauding just as heartily as any of the other ponies. Relaxing, Celestia resumed her applause with the rest of the crowd.         The roaring applause only doubled when the performers stood and took a bow. In the roar, the Princess leaned over to a nearby guard and said, “Arrange a meeting with the performers, conductors, and organizers. I want to congratulate them face-to-face.”         The guard nodded.         As the roar slowly faded, the ponies started to mill about. for the night was starting to grow old, and the celebrations for Hearth’s Warming the next day were sure to be demanding. Slowly, the crowds began to file out towards the exits, but not before many of them stopped to shake hooves with the performers.         Shaking her head slightly, the Princess slowly began to turn towards the exit from her private box. She would deny it to everypony, of course, but Celestia was looking forward to sleeping in and not having to raise the sun until a luxuriously late 7:23. Granted, most of the nation would have risen by then and started to celebrate the Great Warming that had united Equestria, but what good is being Princess if you weren’t allowed to sleep in once in a while?         Princess Celestia’s comfortable thoughts, however, were interrupted by a member of the Royal Guard that trotted up to her, with an air of urgency about him. He was a pegasus, and his pale gold armor marked him as one of the Day Guard, undoubtedly one of the last ones up, considering the late hour. Letting loose an internal sigh - she did not dare allow it to show, for the newspapers would have a fit - the Princess asked, “What is the matter?”         “Ma’am, I think you need to see this. Your sister too.” The guard looked anxious and somewhat...almost skittery.         “Very well. Luna, if you will join me?”         Her sister nodded, and fell in behind Celestia. Together, they followed the guard out the building. The pegasus took to the skies, and the two Princesses soon followed.         He pointed with a hoof towards the sea. The Royal Sisters followed it, and for a second, they saw nothing. But after a few moments, the Princesses finally caught it.         “......shit,” muttered Celestia, allowing herself a curse word. Very unlike her, but sometimes “clean” talk just does not do.         Recomposing herself, the Princess said, with a note of urgency, “Sound the alarm! Cancel all leave and recall all members of the Guard. I want all the forces you can muster to report to Captain Shining Armor as soon as possible, and I want him to report to me for further orders. Do it now!”         The guard flew away, towards the ground. A minute or so later, she dimly heard yells and blowing horns as the pony carried out her orders.         “AND GET ME PRINCESS TWILIGHT AND PRINCESS CADANCE! NOW, FOR THE LOVE OF THE SUN!” Shining Armor’s residence (Same day) Canterlot, Equestria         “Aww, sweetie,” sighed Cadance, as she unwrapped the perfume Shining had caught her eyeing a few days ago. “You know I don’t need gifts! Especially not from you!”         “It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve! Everypony deserves a little something from the ponies that care about them.”         Cadance smiled warmly at him, and Shining felt his lips raise in return.         Knock, knock, knock.         Of course. “Who is it?” asked Shining, more than slightly annoyed at the disruption in his evening with Cadance.         “The Royal Guard!”         “I thought I said I didn’t want to be disturbed!!!”         The door opened, revealing a gray-coated member of the Day Guard.         “My apologies, sir. But by order of Princess Celestia herself, all leave has cancelled, and all members of the Royal Guard have been recalled. In addition, the Princess has ordered a general mobilization of Canterlot, and orders you to report to her the number of troops you were able to muster as soon as possible.”         “A general mobilization? On Hearth’s Warming Eve?” asked Shining, somewhat shocked. Then, his eyes narrowed and he said, “If this is some kind of joke, or a drill I was not made aware of, I swear on all things under Celestia’s sun-”         “No, sir! All these orders came directly from the Princess.”         The unicorn groaned, then started to move towards his armor, saying, “A general mobilization on Hearth’s Warming Eve. I hope she realizes how few troops I’ll be able to scrape together…”         As Shining moved towards the door, the member of the Day Guard said, “Princess Celestia also requests your presence, Princess Cadance.”         “Of course she does,” Shining heard his wife mumble, as she got up as well. The Canterlot Suites (Under loan to Twilight Sparkle and friends) Canterlot Castle, Equestria         “Awful nice of Princess Celestia to let us use these rooms,” said Applejack.         “Indeed,” replied Twilight, who had declined the invitation to observe Moonrise in favor of having a private party with her friends in Canterlot, shielded from the media and prying citizens. Of course, Princess Celestia had called for Twilight’s assistance in the following celebrations with the nobility, but for now…         “PILLOW FIGHT!!” called Pinkie, throwing one of the such projectiles at Rarity.         For now, the six friends would celebrate the way they alway have: with each other.         The party quickly fell into chaos, as alliances in the Great Pillow Fight where made and broken, the fluffy objects flew everywhere, and everypony quickly gathered up a set of minor bruises from the impacts. Even soft objects can do damage when they are thrown fast enough,         The fight, however, was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.         Quickly, all of the ponies stopped what they were doing and stashed the pillows out of sight. Quietly hoping that the Guard had enough sense to turn away prying citizens, Twilight walked up to the door and opened it.         She was partially relieved when the door opened to reveal a member of the Night Guard (Twilight’s division of the Royal Guard had not yet been created).         “Yes?”         “Your Highness, Princess Celestia requests your presence. Right away.”         “We’re coming too!” yelled Rainbow, and the five other ponies quickly joined Twilight’s side.         “I’m sorry, but no. Princess Celestia has also issued a general mobilization of Canterlot and ordered that all civilians stay in their homes.”         “Screw that, we’re coming,” replied Dash. Noises of assent sounded from the other four ponies.         “No, Dash,” said Twilight, feeling kind of bad. “You and I both must still follow the rules. They are there for a reason, after all.”         Not allowing her friends a chance to respond, Twilight followed the guard out the door.         As Princess Twilight flew towards Celestia, the elder Princess smiled. The Alicorn adjusted her course to intercept Celestia, no doubt with an array of questions for her former mentor.         As she arrived, Celestia held up a hoof, cutting off any questions that Twilight had before she could start. Instead, she simply pointed.         “Oh, dear,” said Twilight. Celestia nodded grimly. Aboard the HMS Majesty         “Captain! The hull was badly damaged by that storm we passed through! We can’t hold her together for much longer!” yelled the first officer of the HMS Majesty.         “Well, do you see a place we could possibly go ashore?” demanded the captain, a man named Elijah Walter. He was a little-known man who saw the reward money promised by the mother country, and decided to take his chances and scrape together a ship and crew.         Little did he know, at the time, at least, that this expedition would change the course of history.         “Sir! You...you should see this…” called the man in the crow’s nest, pointing off towards the coast.         Sighing, the captain pulled out his spyglass and looked in the direction the man had indicated. After focusing it for a moment, he saw it.         It was, beyond a doubt, one of the most splendid cities the man had ever seen. The city - no, city was too common of a name for the collection of structures. The vast collection of structures that stood before him could easily rival the palaces of Versailles and Westminster themselves for the title of grandest buildings. The buildings were made of a brilliant white marble that caught the moonlight and reflected it, giving the entire city a soft glow. The buildings were laced with a metal that looked a lot like gold, and they were capped with a purple substance that reminded the captain of amethyst.         Two things immediately became clear to Walter:         1.        The residents of the territory were rich, almost beyond measure         2.        And they were nothing like the so-called American Indians, for building such a wealthy set of buildings would require a degree of political authority that the vast majority of the chiefs of the natives simply lacked         When he realized this, the question became, What should he do? On one hand, in his mind, a civilization this wealthy was sure to have formidable defenses. And if he listened very carefully, he could just barely make out the sounds of horns being blown, which means that the inhabitants had seen his vessel. Perhaps a hasty retreat and regroup was the best option available to him, before going forth.         And yet...while logic told him that retreat was wise, the adventurer in him was having none of it. A small, but loud and persistent part of Walter knew that he was standing at the brink of history, and wanted to push on, to find the masters of this splendid territory and to explore the great unknown.         Of course, the adventurer won.         “Forward!” yelled the captain, pointing towards the city. “Full sail! And look sharp boys, for today we are changing the history of man!”         He was half right. For, yes, they were changing history. But not just that of humanity. Millions of lives were about to be changed. And before the century ended, his name would equally praised and cursed.