Census

by The 24th Pegasus

Foreword

Census

The 24th Pegasus

Foreword

Thousands of years ago, a vast and sprawling pegasus empire existed on the other side of the Celestial Sea, wholly separate from unicorn and earth pony cultures, and indeed preceding the story of the Hearth’s Warming tribes that every Equestrian is familiar with. Archaeological finds dotting the landscape of what is now modern day Grivridge and Zebrica allude to the strength and size of this pegasus nation, known in records as the Cirran Empire, at the height of its power; indeed, artifacts are often recovered in the western half of Dioda on an almost daily basis, and examples of Cirran architecture can be found as far east as the Great Canyon of Grivridge’s capital. For remains of Cirran culture to be so prevalent and widespread, one must assume that the Cirran Empire housed, at its peak, millions of pegasi, and understand from oral tradition that it at one point subjugated the entirety of the griffon race. Their fanatical militarism allowed them to conquer the land with incredible efficiency, and to this day, the discipline Cirra ingrained in its entire population lingers in the spirit of the pegasus race.

While Cirra did fall nearly two thousand years ago, the lasting impact of the empire can still be seen and felt, from the old buildings of Cloudsdale, originally a Cirran city, to the structure and form of Equestria’s career army. Yet despite this, original records from the time are difficult to come by, as most were destroyed when the empire collapsed to revolting griffon armies. Almost all knowledge on the empire today comes from the detailed journal that Commander Hurricane kept during the Red Cloud War, which saw the destruction of his empire and home. Apart from this small window into the death throes of an empire, we do not have a clear picture of what exactly life was like in Dioda during the golden age of Cirran culture. Many digs around what archaeologists assume to be the ruins of Cirra’s capital city have been fruitless, and many relics from that time period were purged by the griffon emperor, Magnus, roughly 1500 years ago.

However, that is not to say that records have not been found. Included with this report is a translated copy of the personal diary of a Cirran censor, describing his travels across the Cirran Empire while conducting an imperial census in 380 After Empire (roughly 737 Age of Tribes on the Equestrian Calendar), twenty years before the empire collapsed in 401 AE. The census was very important to the organization of the empire, as it was used for determining the social hierarchy and voting rights based on the wealth of each citizen. It also determined who could be conscripted into armies levied for war, and gave the emperor a realistic estimate of the resources at his disposal. As such, the censor, the pegasus who conducted the quinquennial survey, was expected to travel across the empire’s holdings for record-collecting purposes. Many censors took advantage of the census to go on a government-funded vacation tour of the land, and sometimes this could result in delays in conducting the census lasting upwards of a full year. The personal records of censors are thus incredibly enlightening and important for understanding Cirran culture in its prime. The journal translated from this censor represents the most complete records of Cirra and pre-Equestrian Dioda. As such, I have full faith that they can contribute to what we know about pegasus history, and maybe even rewrite what we thought we knew. After all, history is merely many eyes looking at the same thing.

~Twilight Sparkle