The Equestrian Republic: The First Century
Settling Accounts
With the question of just what sort of government Equestria would have solved, the next order of business was figuring out how the day-to-day operations of government would work, as well as how to best integrate the existing institutions of the three previous governments. After all, each of the tribes had their own military force, judicial system, financial institutions, and a host of other departments that were all now mutually redundant. Due in large part to the bureaucratic inertia all of these institutions had developed over their lifetimes, it would be years before the confusion was phased out. Over the course of the following twenty-five years after the convention, it would be decided, via natural selection more often than not, whether or not the tax system of the Unicorns would be used, or that of the Republic, or if a synthesis would be more efficient.
In large part, it would be the third option that would be the most common solution: Superfluous or corrupt practices of one or two of the institutions would fall away, adopting the more expedient practice of the third, which would likewise be scrubbed of bulky matter in preference of more lean workings taken from the other two. Of course, while this synthesis would be clear to anypony examining the details, on the whole it would be obvious that the rule of thumb would be that military matters would adopt the mechanics of government from the Junta, the machines of governance from the Republic, and, surprisingly enough, the tax system would be largely transferred from the Kingdom.
Territory
One matter of debate concerned just how much territory the infant republic covered, and how that territory was to be divided up, which could not so much as be opened for debate in full until the former question was answered.
The issue was complicated due to the fact that much of the territory had been left entirely unexplored. The Aswipeh Mountains in the far west prevented the Griffin Empire from expanding their borders. The mountains extend far into frigid far north, cutting off that route for rounding the mountains, leaving the best avenue for expansion to be by sea. However, by the time the Empire reached the mountains their internal strife had grown to the point where further expansion was impossible to consider without risk of becoming overextended. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Mongrel Empire had significant holdings in the territory, but nothing suggesting permanent has remained to the modern day as of this edition. Although digs are always finding something new every few months, so future editions may include information on discoveries.
Without knowledge of what was out there, it was argued by some, it would be the height of folly to simply grab up territory that held dangers, or worse, nothing of value at all. However, the arguments of the majority of the convention, that claiming the territory would make expeditions of exploration more expedient, and that with the population of the Republic booming living space would be a must, won out. And so with a single vote the Equestrian Republic grew in size from an average-sized state huddling around a mountain with a little bit of coastline to a state that covered an area in size that rivaled that of the Griffin Empire during its golden age of expansion.
The delegates then looked over the population distribution of the territory, and divided up what was settled into thirteen provinces, ten on the mainland, three on the two, large islands just off the coast. These territories included provinces that many ponies would recognize even in today's Equestria, such as Stalliongrad, Trottingham, and Canterlot.
Reproduction of the Ancient Equestrian borders of the key provinces. The northern border was left unspecified due to both the cold of the far north, and the mountain regions north of Manehattan. Note the size disparities of Stalliongrad, Coltifornia, Bitalia, and Illineigh. This was due to the territories in question being sparsely populated at the time. The land on the western side is the Claimed Territory, which was agreed by the delegates to be used as a settlement territory to be divided up at a later date. That date would never come as for much of the Republic's existence the population still had plenty of room to grow in the core territories, a situation not helped by the Talonhoof Assault. Note how Neighpon is also regarded as Claimed Territory. The first ponies to settle the islands would not arrive until the late 850s AW.
1: Canterlot (a corruption of the Ancient Equestrian term for 'Friendship Cavern')
2: Manehattan
3: Stalliongrad
4: Bitalia
5: Lippinstein
6: Trottingham
7: Lyrland
8: Coltifornia
9: Illineigh
10: Maneitoba
11: Shetland
12: Nopondy
13: Mountreal
Votes
Another area of debate was over how voting would be carried out in terms of representation, whether it would be proportional to population, or a set number of representatives from each province, thus the debate became tightly entangled with the territory debate.
The side backing the set representatives side, chiefly the provinces such as Stalliongrad, Coltifornia and Bitallia, argued that doing so would ensure that the provinces with smaller populations would be given equal say with provinces with more ponies. However, the side backing for proportional representation claimed that as the populations changed in the future, the representatives would be unable to accurately advocate the motions of their constituents. After nearly a month of debate back and forth, Smart Cookie and Platinum unveiled The Vote Compromise.
Smart Cookie, taking into account her years of political experience and knowledge of the history of Democracy in the Hyracotherium Republic, and Platinum's political savvy, essentially presented a model with two houses of representatives, each selected by different methods. One house, the Congress, would be voted in by proportion per capita for the population of each province. The other house, the Senate, would be equally represented, with three senators voted in from each province. Also included in the compromise was a series of criteria and hard-wired restrictions into the voting process that would prevent another Puddinghead coming into power. No doubt something she had been drafting for over a decade.
The compromise was largely a success at the convention, except for the Unicorn Faction, who demanded a separate house for the nobility. The next day Clover offered them just that, the House of Lords, where members of the nobility could meet and debate the issues of the day and send bills to the leader to be signed in. However, the constitution that was ultimately formed gave the House of Lords no power to authenticate any bills produced, and in practice the House of Lords was little more than a country club without the country that young nobles could join and leave at their leisure because it looked good on a list of credentials.
The final area of debate was focused on the nature of the leader of the Executive Branch of the new Republic. After nearly a year, the delegates present had grown used to Smart Cookie's brand of fair but firm leadership, and thus they all managed to quickly form up the sort of office a prospective Premier around her. For further reading on the constitution of the Equestrian Republic and how it changed throughout the Republic's existence and how it can be felt even in Modern Equestria, consult Long Breath's sixteen volume The Equestrian Concordance, An In-Depth Look at Ancient Equestrian Law, Jurisprudence, Office and Executive Powers and Modern Equestrian Law, Jurisprudence, Office and Executive Powers; In Which the Governments of Princess Celestia and Premier Smart Cookie are Examined and Cross-Referenced.
With the uneasiness of a lack of a government addressed, the ponies of Equestria could focus on other matters of importance, such as the establishment of towns and villages, laying down and maintaining infrastructure, and of course keeping track of the exploding population. As today, a census was held every decade, and these records show the population, now no longer constrained by geo-political boundaries (and self-imposed mate selection boundaries based on race to an extent), growing at a geometric and towards the end of the century an almost exponential rate.
Furthermore, racial integration continued apace, however while all other departments in the new state continued to improve, the blending of Pegasi, Unicorn and Earth Pony cultures and societies was sluggish at best, regressive at the worst. But other than this and the slow die-off of the Founding Generation, little else of real note occurred in the Equestrian Republic's first century.
However, one area in particular worth mentioning is that during this time period came the birth of two individuals who would irrevokably change the fate of all Equestrian's forever. One being the unicorn Mimic, known to historians as Mimic the Great and Powerful, and the Hippogriff Talonhoof.
Talonhoof the Reviled.
Yay! One Year Anniversary! ^_^
If you haven't read the new chapter 18 (republished April 10th), I suggest you do so.
Now then... How the heck do I make font smaller than the standard size? I've got the stuff under the map on 5 and it's still the same size as the rest of the text.
Anyway, as others will bring it up, I'll cut them off at the pass:
If it's not mentioned or used in the show, I refuse to bend over backwards to accommodate it. Whether it's the Map of Equestria or Cadence originally being a Pegasus, we must keep in mind that tie-in stuff for a popular property, especially for one specifically aimed at a younger audience, tends to be shoddily done (leading to serious WTH?! moments with continuity) and/or with very little real input from the actual creators.
Anyway! See if you can catch the Cow & Chicken reference! ^_^
Also, next chapter will be truly epic. I've referenced it numerous times by now, and is one of those focal points in history where everything changes, and nothing before or after it are recognizable to each other. This is Equestria's French Revolution, their Pearl Harbor, their 9/11. Nothing will be the same, and Equestrian culture takes its first true step towards what we see in the show.
The Talonhoof Assault.
Complete with soundtrack!
I see you got some ideas from the 1787 meeting in Philedelphia that created the U.S. Consitution. Too bad that some politicans today can get away with not upholding it or trying to tinker with it. In my book anyone who messes with the U.S. Consitution is unfit for politics and probably doesn't even deserve to be a U.S. citizen. If you wish to live in the U.S. you must abide by the laws that were established, don't like well then just leave and go find a country that better suits you just know that you may not have as many freedoms. But hey it's your choice.
Modeling Equestria's original government after the United States government. Interesting.
Holy shit! Mimic? from G1? Cooool!
You've got to be kidding me...... you seriously published this?
Right after I thought I came up with my own idea, about the same kind of story!
gratz to you on beating me to the punch. guess the early bird gets the worm
2514406
Howdy there! Just stumbled on this, and as super history nerd, I gotta say I love it!
One question - I know it's pretty far off in your fic's future, but just how much detail are you intending to go into with the Nightmare Moon thing? I've been considering doing my own "Thorough" historical accounting of the subject, pulling together a lot of different head cannons and historical parallels in an attempt to finally give the event some real explanation and weight.
BUT I really don't want to step on the toes of someone who's already doing a fantastic job with Equestrian history.
Let me know if you get the time! Pony On!
The next chapter is gonna be awesome!
"Talonhoof the Reviled."
Well, that's right up there on the list of names to avoid.
I look forward to seeing how this hippogriff threatens the young nation, and how they overcome him. Or her.
Happy anniversary. Also, I love Long Breath. That's nigh-perfect naming right there.
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2518501
Hey. No spamming. *bonks with rolled up newspaper*
2518532Sorry. Stupid newspaper always winning...
Won't happen again!
2521355
Thankfully no. I have a great dislike for politics, and thus do not like bringing it in where it is irrelevant.
2521684 Wow, you too? Yeah, I despise politics with a passion. Though I must ask, how is it you know so much about it and are willing to write about it, even if it's for the better of MLP:FiM fanon?
2523648
That's the beauty of it! I don't! See, I have an interest in history and the development of societies and how the two interplay. Politics is just a sad waste product of that. And like the depleted uranium of nuclear reactors, I use that waste and use it to destroy things I don't like: Such as gaps in canon and silly and/or unimaginative fanon.
2529466 Still, you'd have to be knowledgeable in politics to plot out a believable course for the ponies' governmental evolution over the centuries.
Okay, I just got through a full reading of this, and I must say, your head-canon is very well thought out. I would be hard pressed to identify any gaps in it without having to go by what was a dramatization in an actual SHOW.
I look forward to learning about Mimic and Talonhoof. I am also glad to see that there is at least ONE brony out there who believes in those things. I just wonder if you also believe that they are the offspring of a pony and griffon, because that could set up quite a good story.
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i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/257/968/786.jpg
2537741
Dang it, now I'm going to be driving myself crazy with curiosity!
Eeeeexcellent. I'm still loving the pattern of grabbing diverse chunks of real history & politics, sticking it together with a plausible progression (such as Caligula expy leading to early independence US with a House of Lords takeoff), and then adding pony-specific factors in.
I just read this through from the beggining, and as a history buff, I find it highly entertaining.
My only real complaint is the lack of Coltaire. (instead of Voltaire, hur hur, u c wut I did thar?) This fellow was more or less responsible for the French and American revolutions, not to mention that he was very snarky and remains completely quotable.
Also; damn I'm sorry for the wall of comments. I haven't quite figured out how the comment system works here. I'll delete the ones with a purely chaotic bent to free space.
Modern Equestria didn't adopt a matriarchy or patriarchy did it? All three of the tribes are biased to a particular gender and I can't see modern Equestria keeping that ideology. Surely they left behind the notion that one gender is somehow better or more preferred?
2704022
....Have you not noticed how most of the positions of authority are filled by mares in the show? Like modern society with men, Matriarchy is still around, though only as trappings of days gone by.
2704503 I don't buy that, it doesn't seem right for a place like Equestria, but whatever.
Also consider the fact that since MLP is a cartoon for little girls, it will have more female characters, if that makes a difference. Citing the show has limited value, other than the strange fact that all alicorns we have seen so far are female, though that can be attributed to Hasbro wanting more princesses in the show.
But really, it just seems like that once Equestria was formally founded the three tribes would of discarded the notion that once gender is superior in favor of a more fair system, especially since they improved in so many other areas of philosophy.
The bottom line is that I just don't see modern Equestria as having any sort of gender inequality, if that makes sense. In a place like Equestria, does it really make sense for something like gender to dictate who's in charge? It's certainly not morally acceptable, and Equestria seems to have at least somewhat better social morals than say, America.
I'm not saying that there couldn't be ponies or groups of ponies that are sexist(perfect utopias where everyone is nice and happy are boring), but I don't see it as being something official or endorsed in Equestrian society. Man I feel like a nerd or something saying stuff like that, haha.
Now if we are talking alternate universe/alternate interpretations of Equestria, then sure, anything goes in AU, but assuming that canon Equestria is a matriarchy just seems silly to me.
An epic tale, well done. I have to ask, do you mean to do anything with the distinctly Bismarckian-looking pony who's portrait we see in Mmmystery on the Friendship Express? Because I have no doubt that it would be spectacular.
Mimic is Trixie's ancestor... Isn't he?
2704022 Modern Equestria is probably egalitarian with cultural leanings toward matriachy, given that RW equine gender ratios are 3 to 1 in the females favor.
2991506 I'm completely burned out on debating stuff like this, but I would like to say that the ponies in MLP are very scarcely similar to real world equines, so comparing them like that probably won't work out often. Unless of course your headcanon involves them being more "horse-like", but I try to steer clear of stuff like that personally.
Other than that, fair enough I suppose.
2706537 to "dispatch" someone means to kill them like saying "Don't worry I'll "take care" of them".
2985270 Psst, Mimic is a 'she'.
3311661
Well, the Doylist explanation would be to invoke the "Writers Cannot Do Math" trope. However, I find the Doylist argument to be nothing more than a cheap copout to excuse weak writing and a weaker imagination, and any writer that lives by it rather than at least trying to rework or reframe the events of canon is a very poor one indeed.
Zacoda, I'm looking at you.
Therefore, allow me to offer a Watsonian explanation: Either Twilight cannot do math (), or, the "per capita" refers to the number of soldiers in the population, rather than the number of dead soldiers verses living soldiers.
Allow me to explain: The Junta was a Stratocracy. In a Stratocracy, the line dividing Government and the Military is non-existant. The Government is the Military, the Military is the government, and rather than inforcing its rule via force (or threat thereof) like in modern dictatorships, the state has a constitution that in fact dictates where, when and how the parts of the Governmilitary with the pointy bits involve themselves in the civilians' day-to-day lives.
This means that even if, say, the guy at the Pre-Equestrian equivalent of the DMV doesn't expect to be called into service, he or she is still a part of the military, and thus should be expected to keep him or herself in a state where they can kill a bear with their bare hooves. Therefore, even though the majority of the armed forces engaged at Lake Trot were killed, the Junta still has lots of soldiers, possibly outnumbering the number of soldiers involved in the Crisis combined, available should the need arise. Trouble is, Bureaucrats are not usually expected to mow down bad guys.
The Kingdom, meanwhile, has a normal division of Military and Government in its population. Therefore, a dead soldier is a dead soldier, and they can't very well ask a courtier to replace him on a moment's notice now can they?
3326258 While I'm sure it is well-meant, unsolicited copy-editing is not only rude, but most highly annoying, especially when one's comments consist of nothing but.
Granted you put actual life into your comments, as opposed to Bitbrony, who for all I know could be a bot that someone programed to scour the internet looking for grammatical or spelling errors 24/7, thus why I'm responding, but I have a hard enough time getting the next chapter out into the world. If I spent time going over every single sentence in very single chapter looking for errors, nothing would get done.
Rest assured, a revision will happen... After the fic is finished. Not before. In the meantime, try to give commentary on what the individual words collectively say, rather than the individual words themselves.
Yes, a redwood sequoia is very majestic, but the forest is even more so.
3329041 Well, I have to disagree about registering my nitpicks being rude, or disrepectful. I can understand if you find it annoying, but it is equally annoying as a reader to see them in the first place: an impasse. In my opinion it would be rude of me to make any comments about you having published a story with these errors, or failing to correct errors pointed out in the past by others (or myself), or anything along those lines. But to simply point out errors at all? It's as legitimate a form of feedback as any other, if a prosaic one.
I like your story quite a bit, as it happens, and though I don't have time to think up much to say right now, I may come back later and add something. What I DON'T think it's highly likely I'll do, though, is happen to notice, months from now, your rewrite at exactly the time you post it, and re-read the entire thing AND notice 100% of the errors I noticed on this read-through (I wasn't proofreading per se, just noting what errors caught my eye). Surely it's easier for all concerned to be able to draw upon nitpicks posted in the interval, rather than expect people to all show up at the time of the rewrite? I guess you could expect your proofreaders to catch everything and save us readers the trouble, but hey, it didn't work the first time.
3352875 So, general criticism:
Of the overall story, I have little criticism. I did not take pains to think of or retain thoughts of what could use improvement or was especially praiseworthy. Nonspecifically, I enjoyed both the history you made up and the "cameos" of history ponified. One thing that springs to mind as I write this, however, is that the description of Puddinghead—"bucking insane", if memory serves—may be hilarious, but is also pretty unprofessional and out of character IMO for Twilight given the premise of your story (that it is a history textbook authored by her). If you disagree on the latter point, I welcome rebuttal; I don't see how you could disagree with the former, but go ahead and try if you like.
For the final chapter, I thought the 13 provinces bit was a little over the top. There are enough references to the U.S. IMO without this incredibly specific number also being the same. On the other hand, I suppose you may not have many other "significant" numbers to choose from; if you really draw a blank on substitutes, then whatever. The Louisiana Purchase analog, the massive land annexation, would be fine except I struggled to understand the in-story justification. They needed to lay claim to the land in order to explore it? What?? As for securing space for future population expansion, that is more legitimate but since their western territories were already huge and "sparsely populated", I don't see the rush, unless there were other nations that were likely to lay claim to it in the meantime, which I don't recall there being any of. This is compounded by the fact that some of those lands were not only totally unpopulated but would remain so for most of a millennium.
A final note on the 13 provinces: They are not only numbered haphazardly on the map but do not any discernible order on the list. Not alphabetical, not (apparently) by population ... I wonder what the deal is? If it's some Easter Egg I haven't figured out, or something overt that I missed somehow, then never mind. On the other hand, it could be an opportunity for more worldbuilding. Why did Twilight assign numbers in that specific order? What historical or contemporary cultural context resulted in that decision?
Somehow, this being a history book and not a story doesn't mean its any less boring.
K9, I beseech you! Give us the Talonhoof Assault for Christmas!
Wait, this fic is still in progress? It's such a mainstream fic, I'd just assumed that it was a complete story from the bygone times of the early series! Sweet! Another awesome story to follow!
ALthough I must confess I am a little worried about the future chapters. This looks like it will head into speculative territory very quickly, with lots of OC's, which always makes me very leery. I know you love the Lake Trot crisis, but honestly I found most of it very boring, as it was about a bunch of new characters I was uninterested in. I'm afraid that the Talonhoof invasion will prove to be more of the same.
Although I'm interested in why Talonhoof is called "The Hippogriff." According to my understanding, a hippogriff is a horse with wings, which the MLP universe designates as "pegasi" (an erroneous term, Pegasus was a name, not a species). Unless we're just talking about a big and strong pegasi, but something tells me that you have more planned than that.
Also puzzled about this coming Mimic. Clearly meant to be a bad guy, but if he's so all-fired powerful, why haven't we heard of him before? Or have we? Is Mimic a pony version of Discord? Not sure how I'd feel about that.
Rather confusing typo: "...the rule of thumb would be that military matters would adopt the mechanics of government from the Junta, the machines of governance from the Republic, and, surprisingly enough, the tax system would be largely transferred from the Kingdom." Attributes both the Junta and the Republic with coming up with the mechanics of goverance.
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Considering that I'm covering Equestria's history from Pre-Founding to the modern day, OCs and speculation is kind of the point, as it's utterly unavoidable. Hopefully you'll enjoy the "Third Arc" of the fic, which will cover Celestia and Luna's rise to power, Nightmare Moon, and finishing the final details of how Modern Equestria came to be. However, much like real life history, it only makes sense if looked at from the events that lead up to it.
Debating if I ought to cover the events post Luna's redemption, and if so how far I should go.
Oh you poor thing, you are so atrociously ignorant of some vital facts of Fantasy life.
You see, when a Griffin and a
HorsePony love each other very very much...Yes, HE is most certainly the baddest of all bad guys. The worst of the worst and all that.
3622611
Well. I am humbled. Arthur Spiderwick's guide told me a hippogriff was the offspring of a griffin and a dragon, but wikipedia informs me I am wrong. It also tells me I'm wrong about the form of the hippogriff. That's embarassing.
Also with Mimic. Sort of fell into that one. I don't see where it mentions Mimic's gender one way or another, but given the mare/stallion ration in Equestria, I should have at least made a better guess. Wikipedia also tells me that she's a G1 pony. Should be interesting.
Oh, and covering post-redemption events seems unnecessary, unless you're going to be adding in some off-screen wars with the Changelings or what not.
Hang on. I just realized that you haven't mentioned the changelings yet. (or dragons). And the name "Mimic..."
I don't see any genre tags. Glitch?
So I noted the lack of tags on this fic (understandable, considering the genre doesn't fit any of the tags given on this site) so I made a honorary "In-Universe History" tag. (There are two versions; pick whichever one you want.)