Twilight Sparkle breathed deeply as she approached the throne room of Canterlot. After all, it wasn't every day that you got summoned to assist with a top secret mission that not even her closest friends can know about. Guess that's the price of being a princess.

Calming herself, she reached up and knocked on the door, barely getting two knocks in before the door sprang open in the guards' magical grip. Closely avoiding falling over in surprise, she raised her head and entered the throne room, approaching where Celestia and Luna were gathered around a table with a map laid out upon it.

Twilight cleared her throat. "You wanted to see me?"

Luna was the first to respond. "Twilight, did anyone see you come here?"

Not the greeting she was expecting, Twilight frowned before she answered. "Only some palace servants and maybe fifty royal guards. Do they count?"

Celestia laughed lightly. "You'll have to forgive Luna, she takes secrets very seriously." Gesturing for Twilight to approach the table, Celestia pointed at the map and asked "Do you know where this is?"

Twilight peered closely at the map. She didn't recognise much of what was on the map but from a few of the locations and from the shape of the country depicted she could deduce that it was Mareitania, and said as much.

"You are right Twilight. Now, what do you know about Mareitania?"

"I...uh...um, well other than its west of Equestria and is ruled by a Duchy, not much. And I only know that because I had to... smile and... wave for them."

Luna nodded, looking grim. "And that, Twilight, is about as much as anypony knows about Maretania. The entire country is mired in secrecy. This map is the most recent map we possess of the place, and it's almost three hundred years old. Even Celestia and myself know very little of what goes on in there."

"Perhaps, Twilight, you might tell us what you know of the hearthswarming story." At Twilight's confused look Celestia smiled warmly. "Indulge us Twilight, we're old and our minds don't always get where they need to go without wandering a little."

"Hmmph. Speak for thine-self sister."

Twilight looked at the floor before she spoke. "Well, there were three tribes of ponies. The unicorns, which raised the sun and moon. The pegasi, who managed the skies; and the earth ponies, who tended the land and grew pretty much all the food. In exchange for doing their respective duties, both the unicorns and pegasi demanded food off of the earth ponies, who resented both the unicorns and pegasi. The unicorns and pegasi also mistrusted each other, although why they do isn't exactly explained very well."

"Eventually all this resentment came to a head when a blizzard overtook the land. The pegasi couldn't stop it, and the earth ponies couldn't grow food while the unicorns pretty much blamed everypony else. To cut a long story short, the three tribes fell out even more and, individually, decided to find a new land. When they got to this new land they found the other tribes already there, which I find odd since it implies they all arrived at the same time which just seems unlikely. Anyway they all started to squabble like well-armed children and caused another blizzard which was eventually stopped by the friendship explosion of Clover the clever, Smart Cookie and Private Pansy. The three tribes then united and named the new land Equestria, living happily ever after, although I do wonder where the crystal ponies were in all this."

Celestia looked at her sister. "Uh, that was a...interesting...rendition of the hearthswarming story. As for the crystal ponies, they were where they are now; totally uninvolved in events until they found several thousand neighbours had moved in south of them and were asking to borrow an awful lot of cups of sugar."

Luna spoke up. "The point is that ponies lived happily ever after in Equestria. But what of the kingdom they had left?"

"I-I don't know. It’s never mentioned in the story again after they leave."

"Then we'll tell you, although it is far from a happy story." Luna took a calming breath before continuing. "Not all ponies had left the old kingdom during the exodus. The vast majority of unicorns and pegasi had departed, but many of the far more numerous earth ponies had remained behind. When the windigoes were defeated these earth ponies took control of the land and of the remaining unicorns. The pegasi were beyond their reach for the time being, but in the interest of survival the pegasi maintained favourable weather so the earth ponies could grow food. Naturally the resentment between pegasi and earth pony festered as before."

"The unicorns on the other hoof," said Celestia, taking over the story, "were little more than slaves. Without their bargaining chip of raising the sun and moon, since that was now done in Equestria, they had nothing to offer in exchange for food and were reduced to giving what they could, including their capital of Unicornia. One day the earth ponies ordered the unicorns to use their magic to tear down the pegasi city of Pegasopolis, and literally clip their wings, effectively grounding the pegasi, leaving them unable to sustain long periods of flight. As a result they became unable to leave the country by flying over the ocean or mountains, trapping them and making them dependant on the earth ponies food, in exchange for manipulating the weather."

Twilight was shocked. To a native of Equestria, such cruelty seemed impossible. "But it got better right? Things can't still be like that?"

Luna snorted. "Oh no Twilight, things got worse. Much worse. Eventually the descendants of those earth ponies left behind formed their own government; a Duchy, since they distrusted the titles of royalty after their treatment by Princess Platinum. They also disliked the idea of having an elected leader like Chancellor Puddinghead, since they accused him of abandoning them. After that our knowledge grows limited. What we do know is that the country is still run by a Duke and Duchess, and that their iron hoof is still as sturdy as ever. Pegasi have mandatory wing clippings and are still forced to maintain the weather for food. The unicorns have it better, but barely, treated like second class citizens, doing what they must to survive. To make them easier to control there are no magic schools so the most magic they can achieve is telekinesis."

Celestia looked sadly at Twilight. "Apart from that we know little else. The Duchy keeps its occupants uneducated and ignorant, even the earth ponies. Technological progress is little more than what it was here a hundred years ago and nopony enters or leaves the country, officially anyway. Some have escaped but the knowledge they possess is lacking at best. I've tried for centuries to get the government there to change but I have had little success. The most I could do was start trading with them, but even then they would only allow us to the border."

"Um, begging your pardon, but what does this have to do with Mareitania?"

"Twilight, Mareitania is the old kingdom." Luna said sternly.

"You mean I had to smile and wave at the monsters that willingly oppress an entire country!?"

"I was hoping that meeting would lead to Equestria having greater access to the country. But it seems that the Duchy has gone back on its word. And that is where you come in."

"Me? What can I do?"

"What I- we, are about to ask of you is no small thing, and I regret that it has come to this. Twilight, I want you to go to Maretania and tear its government down."

"What!? How?"

"That is for you to decide."

"You mean you're just going to dump me in Mareitania with no plan? Sure! Great! I would pick up some souvenirs but apparently the place doesn't have much of a tourist trade!"

"Twilight, while I too am loathe to send you on this mission, I agree with Celestia that we are out of options. If the ponies of Mareitania are ever to taste freedom then you must succeed."

"Yeesh, no pressure. Are my friends coming with me?"

"I'm afraid not. You may be gone for some time and your friends all have responsibilities. Besides, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy would receive far less than preferable treatment."

"And Spike?"

Celestia nuzzled Twilight. "I'm afraid having Spike with you would be worse than your friends. There are no dragons in Mareitania and Spike would be too obvious."

"More obvious than the purple alicorn princess?"

"Actually that won't be a problem. We shall teach you a simple glamour that will conceal your wings. You won't look like anything more than a slightly taller than average unicorn. Considering one of the ponies joining you that will hardly be noticed. And the vast majority of ponies in Mareitania don't know Princess Twilight even exists."

"Ponies joining me? What other ponies?"

Celestia held up a hoof. "You'll find out soon enough. Suffice to say, two of them are natives of Mareitania and should be adequate guides for you."

Twilight looked at the floor, deep in thought. The idea of doing this without her friends horrified her and left her feeling slightly sick, but she trusted Celestia and Luna to know what is best. "Ok then. How do I begin?"

"By returning to Ponyville and saying goodbye to your friends. Tell them you're going on a diplomatic mission to Mareitania if you must, but tell them nothing more other than you will be gone for some time. A pegasus chariot will arrive at dawn in two days’ time to take you to Vanhoover. In the mean time I suggest you spend as much time as possible reminding yourself what freedom is about."

Twilight nodded and was about to leave when she paused mid step. "Hang on. Didn't the Duke have a unicorn with him? Wasn't she his wife? Because that's a bit weird for a country where unicorns are treated as second class citizens.

Celestia shook her head. "That was the Duke and Duchess' son, regarded as a bit of a hedonist. The Duke and Duchess were the two elderly ponies you saw."

"Oh. So who was the unicorn?"

Luna cleared her throat and looked a little awkward as she answered. "We don't actually know her name, but she's... she's a... uh... concubine. Goes everywhere with him. No idea why he lets her be privy to such important meetings." Luna shrugged. "You'll probably find many examples of such things in Mareitania."

"Right. Can't wait."

Author's Notes:

And here we go...