It has been more than a decade since Equestria and the Crystal Empire were suddenly hurled in this world. During this time, life, in spite of the many sleepless nights some ponies have been living through, things have been surprisingly peaceful. The Harmonic Union has, at least, not been swallowed by some massive abomination from outer space, a belief some people in Ponyville have not been too reserved about, and the pegasi, while bitter about never being able to live on the clouds again, have long since gotten used to living among earth ponies and unicorns alike.
There are some differences with the Equestria from twelve years ago though. For one thing, the army has been completely reformed and it is as ready as it was hundreds of years ago, just in case the peace was all an illusion. Many families, like the Rich [sic] family, which had once upon a time been prosperous from trade, have fallen on hard times while others, like the ever-growing Apple family, have become more powerful than ever before thanks to the seeming autarchy. In addition, a plan to fertilize the land in the Crystal Empire is well on schedule, hopefully this will mean breaking free from the dependency of the Equestrian mainland, and many people in the Empire and Equestria are eagerly awaiting for the possible coronation of the growing Princess Flurry Heart *.
But now, it is time to wake up from the prolonged slumber. It is time for Equestria to become great once again, because this peace won't last forever on its own.
Even though Celestia absolutely despises the idea of going to war, at the same time, she also realizes that the best deterrent for war is having a large territory, and large populations. Knowing a bit of human history as explained to her by Twilight, she fears that, if left alone, the humans may start posing a threat to the Harmonic Union.
Initially, the princesses drafted plans to continue expanding south into the region the natives to this world know as the "British Isles", but scouts report that the British Isles are broken up into nations of varying size, which are cautious with the alien newcomers. After continued observations, the princesses deemed that, while the British were divided and would not pose anything more than a border threat to Equestria anytime soon, the locals were too strong and too well organized to effectively colonize, for the time being. Twilight Sparkle managed to broker a four-year long non-aggression pact with the Northumbrian Republic and the Kingdom of Ulster, which dominate Equestrian borders.
The same cannot be said, however, for the lands of “Scandinavia” to the east of the North Sea. Here, the humans have fallen to tribal rule and there is plenty of land ripe for the taking. Even the city-states of Stockholm and Helinski have failed to secure their territories from maraunding tribes.
Both Celestia and Luna want as little bloodshed as possible in their expansion. Therefore, the campaign will consist of offering protection to the local tribes, guaranteeing them that the Harmonic Union means no harm, and offering generous economic concessions and guaranteeing their autonomy, for the time being. In case this fails, however, Luna is authorized to encourage the locals to "renegotiate terms" while Equestrian colonists start pouring into the land and the resurgent army takes clearly visible positions. In this case this fails yet again, Luna is authorized to offer battle, but any occupations must be done with as little collateral damage as possible.
*Hope you don't mind this relatively minor change from my app, but she is 12 years old now.
(I know that being Equestria and all, this is a bit OOC, but I tried to keep it as in-character as possible, and simply being forced to expand peacefully is just going to weaken me in the long run, plus, possibly half my princess will get killed in the process of getting a decent size).
From: Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship
To: The CSO
We have received your envoys asking for tribute. In addition, somehow we managed to pry the fact from the diplomat that you have a thing for your "Saber".
Don't worry then, we have the perfect gift for her! A 30-something royal guard currently serving in the Crystal Empire. He is very good with other mares, and has practically no flaws. We hope you enjoy our little gift!
okay if neither saber or anyone else want him give him back to us ok were cool
