Two wars in one
In three in none
With sword and shield and pikes
To sow the seed
Of peace, we'll need
Some heads upon some spikes
- Foal's Nursery Rhyme taught on the Reinland Borders, loosly translated into Equestrian

Prance and Farmany.
Two nations great above so many rivals standing before each other, having risen high, fallen and risen again almost completely at the same time across history.
Since the Great Horde lay waste to almost all of Stirrope, the two nations hung up their crowns to Celestia and Luna who, it seemed, possessed the power they lacked to deal with such powers as Tirek. Yet this declaration is largely in name only as, for many Prench and Farman ponies, they have never stopped acting like kings and never stopped being recognised as kings.
The two nations clashed multiple times across history but one such incident stands out above others.
Famously known as the War That Never Was.
Though this is somewhat of a misnomer. Prance and Farmany indeed had a war, one for each of them. The Reinland Crisis was a series of hostilities that took place while both countries were set in civil wars.

Farmany: Der Gildenpakt

Farmany's monarchy, the House of Morgenstern began during the first pony settlements in Farmany, the felling of Deerking Donar and the War Against The Trolls. Kings rose and fell all across Farmany and the greatest of these kings was Fullemane Morgenstern, who founded the City of Staachen and was crowned Oberfurst (High Prince), all other kings joining him or falling to him.

The Morgensterns ruled well for the next few eras. Wars were commonplace, Farmany laying between the caribou realms to the north and the disputed lands in the east from whence Tirek's hordes would come.

Farmany prevailed many times over in such wars, their prowess in battle renowned across Stirrope.
But during the reign of Lombard the Feeble, that prowess began to fester.

Lombard was third in line to the throne of his father, Grimbard, his first brother, Siegluft, dying in a griffin attack in Furingia and his second brother, Kellund, stabbed by a criminal he was apprehending in Flankfurt. It was easy to see why he was not the foremost choice. Lombard was a weak and sickly colt, having experienced a premature birth that killed his mother. Near devoid of confidence, he spent most of his time daydreaming in idle gloom and when called to make a decision, he would dither endlessly for fear of upsetting either side, attempting to appease everypony yet satisfying nopony.

Yet his outlook changed somewhat when he was married to the fair Umengarde of Fiena. A gentle mare but possessed of a wondrously strong will, her influence changed Lombard for the better, giving him a son, Arvin Rothbard, a strong and healthy colt who many felt would make a fine Oberfurst when he came of age.

Despite this hope, Lombard's reign was plagued with upheaval as the unity that had come from Fullemane's endeavours fell apart in the aftermath of Tirek's Invasion. Indecisive and meek, no suitor for battle, Lombard let others take responsibility in quelling the chaos.

The first of these was an uprising in Karkonia, a goat kingdom that had formerly supported Tirek and seemed eager to carry on his work. He placed one of his chief counsellors, Eibener Von Eichenhuf, the Grand Duke of Talland, alongside Faulkner Fray and his son Fabelhart.
The Karkonians were subjugated but Eibener was slain at the hooves of the enemy king, Kaklar, who later fell before Eibener's son, Roanbrand. With the loss of their Grand Duke, Talland became destitute as bandit groups and monsters ravaged the lands from the Great Forests.

The next great trouble was by far more costly. The powerful Gridelholt Bank of Fohlenzollern were found to have been extorting money from the peasantry. Deciding this day to act strongly and justly at the behest of his wife, Lombard ordered the head of the Gridelholt family, Bosenwurzel, to step down from his position and spend his days as a peasant working beside those he had stolen from until his debt to them was paid.

While this was a bold and seemingly noble act by all accounts, it was very unwise. The Gridelholt weren't technically Farman and thus were not under the laws of the Oberfurst. Bosenwurzel had the ear of many nobles and this, in his eyes, was an act of war.

His reply came in the form of hired thugs who, in the dead of night, scaled the castle walls, ambushed Princess Umengarde on her way to tend to the nursery and left her savaged corpse hung upon the walls of Staachen.

Mad with grief and rage, Lombard ordered Faulkner Fray to storm Fohlenzollern and put every Gridelholt to death. Though he regretted his decision almost immediately, the damage was done. The Gridelholts had the finances of many of Farmany's noble families and now more than several of them faced bankruptcy. All because Lombard wanted to seem strong.

He was never the same afterward, returning to his old gloomy, feeble ways and all the troubles that occurred because of it.

More and more calamities occurred but the most costly by far was the Humiliation of Brebida.
Brebida, a vassal state of Farmany, was populated mostly by sheep and so when an uprising occurred, it was seen more as a joke than anything else. But Lombard decided to take to the battlefield and direct his army's movements, Prince Arvin leading the charge. Summoning the finest knights and steeds-at-arms in the realm, he drove them forward...right into a trap.

The Brebidians had dug trenches filled with sharpened staves, covered by a thin lawn that would give way under hoof.
Arvin and his knights were killed, the Farman armies completely routed and driven off.
The Brebidians then offered terms. A daughter of a Farman noble house for each of their leaders, their king given one of Lombard's own nieces, for their armistice. Lost in despair, Lombard complied and isolated himself in his quarters.

The nobles of Farmany were beyond stunned.
Their sons and prince killed.
Their daughters defiled.
Their Oberfurst crushed.
And their entire kingdom humiliated.
By sheep.
This was the final straw.

The Gildenpakt was formed, a gathering of Farmany's nobles who were in agreement that Lombard was no longer fit to rule.
With many of their knights dead in the botched wars and calamitous uprisings, they hired a large mercenary force and put an end to the Morgensterns and any houses who still supported them, the House of Armbrust chiefly among them.

Or so they thought...

Prance: L'Ecurisier
Prance's reigning monarchy at the time was the House of Dauphin.
Descended, so legends say, from the Hippocampi of old, the Dauphin had reigned justly and wisely for their early to mid reign, their kings known as Le Grand Dauphin, the dolphin taking a primary set on most Prench heraldry next to the Fleur-de-Lis, the elegant three-petal flower that is meant to symbolise the noble House of Bellafleur, the Stewards of Faris, whom the first Grand Dauphin married into and thus controlled both the land and sea of Prance.

After Tirek's Invasion of Stirrope, the last true King of Prance, Rayon le Piquerer, died of his wounds at home in Palais Delphinienne shortly after the great Battle of Testudeum, the last and greatest battle of the Invasions, he left two sons of equal age.
Thon l'Albacar and Saumon le Rosery.

Taking note of Equestria's harmony and fair leadership under two siblings, Rayon planned for the brothers to rule together. However, difficulties occurred bare moments after this declaration.

The two sons were distinctly different. Though both had shared similar upbringings, taught in the scholarly and knightly arts by the finest masters, Thon had fallen into an unhealthy crowd.

Thon was just slightly older than Saumon and had quickly become famous for his wits, skill and looks, Saumon appearing a homely shadow in comparison. Thon had but one flaw, he could not rule himself.

His pride, gluttony and lust controlled him utterly and he soon began taking by force what he believed was his by divine right, be it treasures, lands or even mares.

Surrounding himself with sycophants and lickspittles who would plead their prince's innocence to any he had wronged, Thon quickly grew thoroughly corrupt, his inner circle devoid of honest or wise ponies.

With the country still struggling in the aftermath of Tirek's Invasion, the peasants starved in the barren fields or lived in terror in the crime-ridden streets. Misery and dissidence was rife as they cried out for a wiser, stronger, fairer rule.

Faced with such an ignoble ruler as their next Grand Dauphin, many of the knights and scholars favoured Saumon le Rosery who was kind, honourable and patient, possessing many of the qualities suited for a king.

Tragically, Saumon's tale was to end in equal infamy. He fell to that most sweet of wounds that would never heal nor fade.

Love.

On the road to Mareseille, Saumon and his retinue passed a camp of Tarpan.

[Note: The Tarpan are a group of equids that are some of the few still known as 'horses' rather than ponies, at least until recently when they were officially declared otherwise. They tend to be taller, slimmer and darker-coated than most ponies and their culture is eons-old, descending from the nomads around Eastern Stirrope though their precise origin is unknown, tales of their ancestry literally all over the world. The Tarpan, at least during this era, lived in travelling herds, setting up camp at crossroads or city walls, operating as travelling merchants and entertainers. While it was perfectly possible for Tarpan to leave such circles and take up residence in pony society, it wasn't common. Mainly because they were ostracised by the general populace, believing them to be thieves, traitors or even cannibals, numerous figures in history wishing them destroyed or driven out of their nations. A story in Stirrope even purports that the Tarpan supported Tirek in his invasion, an outright lie as official records state clearly that the households of Tarpan came together to fight against Tirek, joining the Grand Alliance and fighting and dying beside Stirrope's fighting pony's in the last stand. In Prance, particularly there was a huge anti-Tarpan sentiment and for a royal to be cavorting with them was unheard of]

Stopping to resupply at the camp's markets, Saumon chanced upon a great beauty, Tormalina de Trouscabelle, a most radiant dancer. Lost in adoration, Saumon's mind drifted from his duties and he would time and time again find any reason to leave court and find Tormalina.

While a pleasant tale for the poets and minstrels, no doubt, few were happy about this for varied reasons.

While the courtiers that favoured Saumon had little against Tarpan in general, they were most concerned by their prince's negligence, adamant that love could not come before the realm.

As to the municipal gentry, when word got out of their Prince's liaisons with a Tarpan, there was near-nationwide outrage. The anti-Tarpan sentiment grew greater and more dangerous every day the Prince spent with his foreign lover.

Such calamities had not got unnoticed by Thon l'Albacar who publically summoned Saumon to court and offered him an incentive. He would allow his brother to marry the Tarpan with his blessing, officially recognised by all the laws of Prance, were he to give up his right to the throne.
Saumon agreed.
The spark had been lit. Prance erupted into anarchy, the House of Dauphin declared enemies of the ponies.

A swift and bloody revolution took place. Saumon and Tormalina went into hiding as the mob sought out every Tarpan in sight and slaughtered them, lost in a spiteful frenzy. Their fury turned to the knights and scholars who had done nothing and then to their Grand Dauphin who had done worse than nothing.

Palais Delphinienne was ransacked and Thon and his entire court were publically beheaded before a roaring crowd.

But those crowds soon fell silent as, what had hoped to have been an end to the chaos, only brewed it further.

With no ruler, a congregation of civil administrators and municipal gentry took up leadership, dubbing themselves L'Ecurisier (The House of the Stable- Loose Translation) and each member a 'First Citizen'. At first, many of L'Ecurisier's decisions worked well, their leaders primarily concerned with the stability of the nation and the safety of the ponies.

However, one of the First Citizens saw opportunity in the chaos and sought to take control, melding Prance into his own image.

He was a Civic Attorney of the city of Faris and a foremost religious representative, fanatical in his desire to purge Faris and indeed Prance of sin and vulgarity.

His name was Judge Hellfire

Interesting, based on a real event? I also find it amusing what kind of German words you create for this

6108107
Not exactly any real events, so to speak, but a collection of small occurrences all over the place in history.
Though, in all fairness, I think there's clear resemblance of the French Revolution there.
Yeah, coming up with the names is pretty fun.

6108110
A good idea and glad to your you enjoy it

He was a Civic Attorney of the city of Faris and a foremost religious representative, fanatical in his desire to purge Faris and indeed Prance of sin and vulgarity.
His name was Judge Hellfire

This is going to end well.

6108143
Yeah, couldn't resist.