The Domestic Setting · 5:33am May 19th, 2016
1) The Domestic Setting
Equestria is a state established by both Princessess Luna and Celestia roughly 11,000 years ago after the defeat of a being called ‘Discord’ by both reports from the Canterlot Archives and unofficial accounts recovered from throughout Equestria. The state has been relatively stable during the tenure of Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s rule but they do have major problems.
Firstly is by the fact that instead of destroying threats to the country, before the banishment of Princess Luna to the moon. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna has opted for the banishment and imprisonement of threats. This worked well up until Princess Luna’s banishment, and from then on, based on the documents found on the Canterlot archives. Princess Celestia herself has to deal with a multitude of threats that cannot be challenged by normal ponies, this includes the Changeling infiltrations and the Yak invasion of Equestria in 500 AB (After Banishment).
Secondly, Equestria is about to enter an era of massive social, political and economical change. Before the arrival of France into the world, Equestria itself has been developing some technology that would spark an industrial revolution. The invention of the steam engine by the Coal brothers to extract even more valuable materials from deep gem and mine shafts as well as the invention of the steam locomotive by Duke Ironhoof meant that goods can be travelled around at an increasing pace. After the displacement of France this development is bound to get even faster, despite ponies being a far more tolerant society for much of their history. This will create friction between various interest groups as wealth becomes more and more accessible.
Thirdly is Equestria’s foreign policy and it’s usage of it’s military. Equestria, despite being a 11,000 year old country (this includes both the first and second foundings of Equestria) has rarely been called to war. Barring some major events like the Griffonian-Equestrian war in 200 BB (Before Banishment) and the Yak invasion in 500 AB. Equestria has made little progress in terms of warfare. This is primarily caused by the fact that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are more than capable of handling these threats themselves, outside of Combat Mages which are a pretty credible threat on the platoon level but can be handled with heavy weapons. The Equestrian Army is essentially stuck on a typical medieval style organization, with most of Equestria’s active army is based on Canterlot and half of the 20,000 active guards are part of Princess Celestia’s personal guard while the rest are tasked in what is essentially enhanced policing in case local authorities could not handle a criminal or an incident. Most of the Equestrian Army are essentially reserves to be put into duty, some 70,000 troops divided into 7 divisions to be exact, most of them sporting medieval style weaponry such as pikes, longswords and battle axes.
In comparison, the Amaterasan Army has 50,000 active duty troops in which a quarter of them are Empress Otsune’s personal troops and some 50.000 more in reserves, most of them armed with outdated matchlock muskets and pikes with the occasional cannon measured to be the 24 pounder variety, do note this does not count the Royal Amaterasu Mage Corps which numbered some 10,000 troops, all of them adept at using combat magic.
But despite all these weaknessess, Equestria still possess enormous potential to be a great power. Conservative estimates predict that the country could become a credible contender for world power in 50 years time. Equestria possess some of the largest reserves of Iron ores in the world (at least until more research is done) and is capable of having an industrial base equivalent to modern Brazil. Despite lacking any major rivers outside of the Neighagara river, Equestria does have a developed railroad infrastructure which allows them to transport goods easily just like most industrialized states, this is an advantage no other nation of note has. Even the Saddle Arabians and the Amaterasans still utilize a carrier system in which dedicated ‘horses’ or Kirin’s would transport goods from city to city, with most of the production being conducted near the city itself.
Secondly is the fact that there is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruling Equestria. These two rulers possess a magical capability unrivaled with, both Princesses are capable of combating any existential threats facing Equestria and estimates say that these two princesses possess division level firepower at the least and field army firepower at most. They are capable of moving the entire planet and It would take considerable effort to take down the two princesses, this simple fact has made Equestria a very-very powerful country to begin with.
Thirdly, Equestria does possess the artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony, while research and observation shows that the elements are only capable of taking down magically corrupted creatures and at an individual level at that. The elements are still powerful magical artifacts and it’s users, the group known as the ‘Mane 6’ are known to wield this often in times when Equestria is facing a crisis. These elements are capable of taking down a reality warper known as Discord (we do have a plan to deal with Discord if he ever broke free from his prison but it’s still a work in progress) and it would be best to keep a good relationship between France and the 'Element Bearers' as Princess Celestia would call them.
And Fourthly, Equestria is by far the most stable state in the world. Millenia of rule under the leadership of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna has made the local Equestrian population more trustworthy of their leaders. Under the leadership of the Princesses, Equestria has been constantly at a stable state unlike the democratic but chaotic leadership of the original EUP council after the creation of the Pony Empire. This creates a stable and strong social cohesion within Pony Society and they are unlikely to form separatist movements just because a major change has occured.
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