Stratopolis
8th High Sun 380 AE

To say that our capital, Stratopolis, is a city like no other is an understatement. There has never been anything like it in the history of the world, and there will never be anything like it for eons to come. Here, the heart of the world beats, sending messengers to its holdings and receiving goods in return like the blood of the nation. Stratopolis keeps the world alive, and without it, Dioda would fragment into thousands of tiny, pitiful pieces, each claiming a shred of the glory it manifests and commands over the land.

Stratopolis predates the Empire itself, although you would be hard pressed to find many of the original buildings. Centuries ago, it was a much smaller city, and represented the entire community of the Cirran tribe, for in those days Cirra was not one great nation but a small confederacy of warriors and neighboring tribes banded together for the common good. After the Unification Wars were won by Roamulus, he turned the city of his people into the capital of his empire. Thousands of griffon slaves, freshly conquered in the war against Warlord Haldber, gave their blood and bodies to building the shining gem of pegasus unity.

Stratopolis has grown much since those early days. In the 380 years since the end of the Unification Wars, the city has grown into twelve major districts, all connected at the very heart of the city, an enormous flat forum known as the Plaza of the Emperor. This is where life thrives in this magnificent city. On any given day, you can find hundreds of market stalls selling every good imaginable from the farthest reaches of our empire. Mares can burn through hundreds of bits in a single day (and as a married stallion I should know) and foals can purchase whatever sweets their hearts desire. If it weren’t for law decreeing that business cannot be conducted in the Plaza from dusk to dawn, I have no doubt that the marketplace would remain open all day and night, never sleeping, never resting.

From the Plaza, twelve roads radiate outward from the massive statue of Roamulus in the center. Each of these roads will take you to a different part of the town that feels just as alien from their neighbors as our civilization is from the griffon barbarism. There are craft districts and baking districts; military quarters and restaurants. There is even a district dedicated to the expression of the arts, from fine paintings to sculptures to mosaics and pottery. Imagine, an entire section of a city dedicated to art and culture. Many pegasi may claim that their home cities are the best in the Empire, but none can stand above the splendid decadence of Stratopolis. Only in the greatest city in the sky can you find such grandeur.

I could go into detail about all of the districts of Stratopolis, as I have become intimately familiar with each of them in the forty years I’ve lived here, including the days of my youth, when the walls of the city were the borders of my world, but for the sake of time, as well as my inkwell, I shall refrain from doing so. I might have earlier, but after receiving the census ledger for the city just this morning, I am pleased and somewhat shocked to learn that our great city holds over one million pegasi [1]. Our closest rival, the great merchant city of Nyx to the east, can boast only 431,000 as of the census data from five years ago. Even further behind them would be the warrior city of Nimbus, at 267,000 pegasi. Indeed, the population of Stratopolis now equals the collective sum of the next four most populous pegasus cities on the continent, truly outshining them in every way imaginable.

[1]: If surviving records from the unicorns and earth ponies from this time are to be believed, then Stratopolis was the first pony city to reach one million inhabitants.

But there are certain sights and wonders in the city that I feel are worth covering in my personal logs, the most important of which is the palatial district, home to our beloved emperor, Augustus Haysar [2]. From his lofty perch at the highest point of the city, the Emperor imparts his wisdom and divine mandate on his domain, rebuilding Cirra after the ravages of the war still fresh in all our minds. The palatial district holds his palace in the center, with the Senate House a short ways down the hill and closer to the city, so that the Emperor may always be looking upon them as they conduct their business with his blessing. Behind this palace there is a massive garden, which Haysar is fond of taking flights through, and further beyond that are the barracks of the Praetorian Guard. The most elite of the elite, every member of the Guard has been a legate at some point in their lives, and now they serve as the Emperor’s bodyguards and his chief military advisors. There are only one hundred ‘true’ Praetorians in the Guard, but their numbers are bolstered with veterans from legions that have served with distinction in the past. Altogether, they are tasked with keeping the Emperor safe and the Palatine Cloud secure.

[2]: Augustus Haysar was the 23rd emperor of the Cirran Empire, followed by Commander Hurricane as the 24th and final emperor. Officially, his full name was ‘Imperator Haysar Divi Filius Augustus’, translated as ‘Emperor Augustus Haysar, Son of the Gods’. Cirran emperors weren’t lacking in the humility department, that’s for sure.

The palace itself is a magnificent construction of marble. Built on a foundation of cloudstone compressed so solidly that it can support rock, the palace was built during the rule of Mareius in 104 AE using griffon slaves. Enormous flocks of griffons would be chained to blocks of marble and forced to fly them up to the foundations, where the palace was assembled piecemeal, section by section, stone by stone. The palace itself took three years to complete, and was added to continuously over the next century, until it was completed to its present state by Emperor Grassus in 229 AE, funded mostly out of his own pockets [3]. The palace grounds itself cover twenty-five acres, and it is open to the public on most days. Within are numerous statues, sculptures, and other works of art curated by the emperors over the years. If you can handle the numerous soldiers of the Praetorian Guard staring at you from every doorway and every corner within the palace halls, it is a site I would recommend visiting.

[3]: Emperor Marecus Licinius Grassus is widely considered to be the richest pony to have ever lived, putting even the vast wealth of the old unicorn families to shame. His personal fortune was valued at 2 trillion bits in today’s money, equal to the entire annual budget of Cirra, and most of it was acquired through shady means.

Sitting on the slope of the cloud below the palace, as I mentioned before, is the Senate House. Here, the 500 members of the Senate meet daily to discuss the matters brought forth to them by Augustus Haysar. It is the lifeblood of political discourse, and pegasi from all across the empire fly here to let their voices be heard by the governing elite of Cirra. The Senate is the most powerful political body in Cirra apart from the Emperor himself, and their word is law. Together with the Tribune of the Plebs, they write the laws and ensure they are enforced across the Empire [4].

[4]: By this point, the influence of the Tribune of the Plebs had severely declined to where they were more of a puppet position under the emperor’s control than an actual figure looking out for the plebeian class of Cirra. Many similar things can be said about the Senate as well, as they served only to rubber stamp the emperor’s agenda, but patricians such as Aureus would never admit that.

Perhaps of equal importance to the pegasi that live within the city is the great cloudosseum positioned at the opposite axis of the Emperor’s palace. Here, the massive cloudstone structure towers over its surroundings, and several times a month, you will hear loud cheering and roaring from the crowd as they watch the fights. The cloudosseum can fit 80,000 pegasi at once, and it is routinely filled to capacity, with many more spectators watching from makeshift cloud benches up high. Here, you will see all sorts of spectacular fights, from wild beasts captured from the empire’s vast borders, to thrilling gladiatorial combat. Griffons are common in the gladiator fights, but I once bore witness to a Stripe [5] from the south that fought for our entertainment. You never know what you might see when you go to the cloudosseum.

[5]: It seems from Aureus’ logs that the pegasi of Cirra were aware of the zebra islands off their southern coast, though there is almost no record of their culture or even Cirran interactions with the zebras from this time. It would seem that with a larger and wealthier threat on their eastern borders in the griffons, the pegasi routinely overlooked an indigenous civilization on poor tropical islands at the farthest reaches of their borders.

Stratopolis is also home to a curious military tradition. For as long as it has existed, armies are not permitted within its walls, apart from the First Legion. The First Legion traces its roots back to the army under Roamulus’ command during the Unification Wars, and because of this they are the only legion that is permitted within the walls of Stratopolis year-round. This was a safety measure implemented by the Senate shortly after Roamulus’ reign, as during the middle of the 1st century, the legions of Cirra fought for whoever paid them the most, and money was always changing hooves. By 62 AE, the city was so ravaged from the constant warfare that the Senate decreed that no soldiers could be stationed within the walls of Stratopolis apart from the traditional garrison of the First Legion. Since the First Legion was paid directly from the state treasury, this ensured that only loyal soldiers were inside the city, and could easily respond with strong defensive positions against a bought off legion stationed outside of the walls. This law has held to today with provisions to except it in times of crisis, but thankfully, no additional legions have ever had to be stationed within Stratopolis’ walls. The only time other legions are allowed to enter Stratopolis is for Triumphs. The last one of these was held at the conclusion of the High Noon War, and all of the victorious armies were allowed to parade through the streets before being forced to leave the city.

Once you leave the city itself, you find yourself flying high above fertile and beautiful countryside. Stratopolis itself is placed above Lake Trasimare, which reflects the magnificent flying city on its mirror-like surface on a calm day. On the far eastern shores of this lake lies a major encampment, which by itself is responsible for raising and training the legions needed for the year’s campaigns. Indeed, the camp has the facilities to train four legions simultaneously, and can have them sent to the front in as little as two months if necessary [6].

[6]: The Cirran Legion emphasized discipline and a rigid chain of command above all else. They did not employ drill instructors like our modern day armies, but instead brought in excess officers from the front who lost units due to battle and consolidation, and gave them new units to train and lead. In this way, fresh ‘greenwings’ would feel comfortable fighting under a pony they were familiar with as opposed to a stranger they were assigned to in the chaos at the front.

Built around the camp are numerous smaller villas and towns dedicated to supporting all of Stratopolis’ vast material needs. The rolling plains are covered in farmland in every direction, almost all the way up to the sea to the west, and disappearing into the forests in the south and the mountains in the north. Far to the east, nothing but hills and splotches of forest decorates the landscape until those too give way to more mountains in the heartland of the continent. From the vantage point Stratopolis commands in the sky, you can see the entirety of the Cirran heartland spread out for miles and miles below you, and know that there has never been a greater city in the sky.

Ringing Stratopolis itself on massive and decorative cloudstone foundations are the temples to the gods of our pantheon. The three most important temples, those of Mobius, Garuda, and Ofnir, stand side by side, or at least next to each other in the ring; each of these temples is massive, eclipsed only by the palace of the Emperor himself. Inside, statues of the gods stand within marble halls and chiseled columns, where they are meticulously looked after by the priests of Stratopolis. The doors are never closed to visitors, and in the case of Garuda himself, this was taken quite literally until very recently.

Each temple serves a function in addition to being a place of worship. The temple of Mobius, God of Mercy and Lord of Justice, houses Cirra’s highest court, run by the Praetor Urbanus. The temple of Ofnir, God of War and Lord of Conquest, is where legates returning from war go to offer tribute to their good fortunes or atone for their failures. The Goddess of the Sun and Lady of Love, Celeste, houses grand weddings between patrician families within her house. Her sister, Lūn, Goddess of the Night and Lady of Secrets, houses the wretched, the sinful, those who wish to repent for their mistakes. Grabacr, Galm, and Strigon all have their temples as well, but they are seldom used as often as the others. But, perhaps more importantly due to the magnanimity of recent events, is the temple of Garuda.

The temple of Garuda, God of Honor and Lord of the Afterlife, is a three-sided building oriented so it points away from the city, with massive oak doors inlaid with gold leaf facing it. Columns nearly a hundred feet tall support the roof, which raises to the Great Skies like a spire, directing the souls of all the pegasi who have died and were deemed worthy to their reward high above. Inside stand many statues to Garuda, and there the temple houses elaborate catacombs beneath its floors. It is a great honor to be buried in Garuda’s home, an honor that is only open to the emperor and members of his family. But in addition to serving as an elaborate and beautiful mausoleum, the doors of the temple serve a very important function. Whenever Cirra is at war, the doors are open, so that the souls of legionaries who have fallen in battle may find their way to Garuda and be swiftly sent off to the Great Skies for their service to the Empire. The doors to Garuda’s temple have been open for 329 years, since the first great war against Gryphus the pegasi partook in as the unified nation of Cirra in 51 AE. Since that day, the emperors have left the doors to the temple of Garuda open, for so long as Gryphus remained a threat to our nation, our mares and stallions would continue to give their lives in defense of it. The doors had been kept open for so long that nopony knew whether the hinges had rusted open or not.

Four months ago, I am proud to say that I witnessed Emperor Augustus Haysar close those doors for the first time in three centuries.

With Gryphus finally subsumed into the greater Cirran Empire, and the threat of griffon assaults on our way of life forever crushed underhoof, Emperor Augustus decreed that the doors to the temple of Garuda would finally be shut [7]. After more than three centuries of armed conflict with our barbaric neighbors, Dioda will finally know peace eternal. Pegasi will no longer have to die by the thousands to protect our way of life, and it is time to finally let Garuda rest, for he has guided so many to the Great Skies since those doors were opened. Now, all that remains is to take stock of what all those lives have bought us over the years.

[7] Emperor Augustus succeeded his uncle, Emperor Julius Haysar, with about a year left in the war, as the previous Haysar died on the field of battle while leading an assault on the griffon capital city of Angenholt. While the assault was unsuccessful, it opened the door for stronger military action by Cirra, and ultimately resulted in the unconditional surrender of griffon forces. Julius Haysar was incredibly popular with the population of Cirra, and so closing the doors of the temple of Garuda was likely a huge PR opportunity that Augustus capitalized upon to solidify his rule as the new emperor of Cirra.

After having the census records of the city delivered to my office, where I signed and sealed them and had them stored until all of the records were ready to present to the Emperor, I gathered up my family and our belongings and loaded them into a sky chariot that would be flown to our next destination, Pileus in the north. My wife, Electri, and our two sons, Iustitia and Solidus, boarded the carriage around noon, and with half of our lictors pulling and the other half following in formation, we set off to the north, where the mountainous city of Pileus awaited us.