Chapter One
One might have come to expect center things in their life to be true, every pony always though Equestria lived in peace. It has for the most part with a few rough patches here and there. However, after certain events have unfolded, the neighboring countries of Equestria have gotten nervous.
The Return of Nightmare Moon sparked Queen Chrysalis’s plan to invade thinking Canterlot had gotten weak. The return of Discord made other countries nervous and uneasy. However, things settled after he was turned back into stone. The return of King Sombra while not officially on Equestrian soil at the time grabbed a lot of interest from foreign governments.
When Discord was reformed the Griffin Kingdom had enough, they had always been a nation to take action then sit idly by. Talks between the leader of the Griffin Kingdom, King Ekute, and Princess Celestia hadn’t been going well.
“Please King Ekute; you must understand Discord is no longer a threat to anyone. He has been reformed and no longer uses his powers to cause chaos.” Princess Celestia assured King Ekute. “Both the Zebra Nation and Saddle Arabia have been reassured with this choice.”
“He may of have fooled you and your kind Princess Celestia, but one does not simply reform the embodiment of chaos. My concerns are not the only concerns either. The diamond dogs are also worried about this choice you made,” King Ekute remarked. “Of course your… hoofed, counter parts would agree with you. But you’re not the only species out there.”
Princess Celestia bit her tongue and remained as dignified as she could. “I have tried to get in touch with the diamond dogs, but you know as well as I do they are hard to track down since they don’t have a unified government and are nomadic.” Princess Celestia replied as calmly as she could, “There are only four major governments in the world, Equestria, the Zebra Nation, Saddle Arabia, and the Griffin Kingdom.”
“There may well be only four major governments in this world but there is far from only four major species and the diamond dogs are one of them.” King Ekute retorted, “I tried harder and did get in touch with the diamond dogs and they share my concerns about Discord being released from stone. You might believe he has been reformed, but can you be so sure he isn’t just pretending?”
While the debate between Princess Celestia and King Ekute went on, far to the East in the Griffin Kingdom itself a group of two hundred griffins forced a band of five hundred diamond dogs at spear point and crossbow point to dig a massive tunnel. It was under the sea leading towards the Equestria boarder. Spotters made sure the tunnel wouldn’t collapse or break through and flood with seawater.
The tunnel project was ambitious and many diamond dogs had died already in accidents. The griffins also had to crush a rebellion and execute the leader to prevent another one from forming. Nevertheless, the tunnel was getting close to being finished, once it was completed, the griffins would be ready to launch as sneak attack on Equestrian soil. It would be a joint air and land attack.
Once the tunnel was completed, the remaining diamond dog diggers were drafted with other diamond dogs to fight in the land battle. The first wave burst out and struck Filly Delphia without warning over running the streets in a few hours while the Griffins swarmed in from the skies above.
The ponies that hadn’t died or escaped in the attack were taken prisoner or went into hiding with in the city. The griffins keep the city as their base of operations in Equestria. They converted one of the stadiums in the city to a prison camp to house the ponies they captured.
To free King Ekute from Canterlot Castle after the invasion started the griffins traded the prisoners they took from the Filly Delphia. King Ekute stayed in Equestria moving into the Filly Delphia’s city hall to run his war from Equestria.
The tunnel between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom was the supply line for troops and supplies movements between the two warring kingdoms and was top priority for the Equestrian government to be destroyed.
By the time, the ponies had managed to gather enough force the combined forces of the griffins and the diamond dogs had managed to take Filly Delphia, Manehatten and Baltimare establishing a strong force along the eastern seaboard. They were having trouble-holding Manehatten due to a strong resistance movement from the ponies hiding out in the city.
Princess Celestia requested all ponies that were able to join the Equestrian Military to help end the war quickly and with as few casualties as possible. While there hadn’t been an official military in Equestria in ages the system had been established for when such an occasion.
The Pegasi had long since been the air combat unit of Equestria even before the formation of Equestria as a nation. It didn’t take long for them to mobilize and with the Wonderbolts taking the lead as the elite flight team.
Earth ponies made up the bulk of ground troops, as infantry and engineers constructing siege weapons such as catapults. With support from the pegasi, the earth ponies managed to hold the line and slow the advancement of the griffins and the diamond dogs out of Equestria.
Unicorns made up the more specialized fields that required long-range combat; they also played a part in support roles for the infantry and engineering teams. The unicorns also served as medical personal for the most part, though Earth ponies and pegasi also helped in the medical field if they had a special talent in it.
After the shock of the invasion had past, Equestria mobilized quickly to slow the advance of the invading force. Many of ponies enlisted to help from all over Equestria. Even the Elements of Harmony wanted to join and help but Princess Celestia wouldn’t let them, since the Elements of Harmony was not a weapon to be used in a war such as this.
Nevertheless, against the protest of friends and family a small group of ponies from Ponyville did enlist to help fight against the griffins. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Starbloom, Diamond Tiara, and Noi all joined enlisted together in an effort to defend their home from the invading force.
Chapter 2
After enlisting, the six friends got two months of basic training before being sent to aid Manehatten. The instability made it an easier target for the less experienced members. The initial rally had stopped the griffins from advancing into Equestria but so far, the ponies had been unable to drive them back creating a stalemate.
Apple Bloom, Noi, and Diamond Tiara got standard earth pony training, with Apple Bloom getting additional training for engineering and Noi got training in communications. Scootaloo being unable to fly almost limited her to just infantry but her speed on her scooter got her a spot in reconnaissance and scouting.
Starbloom and Sweetie Belle got training with the other unicorns for long-range combat and support before being attack to an infantry unit with Apple Bloom, Noi, and Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo was placed with the infantry unit as well before it unit was sent to Manehatten.
“Well girls, this is it…” Apple Bloom sighed as the six sat together in a passenger car as it rolled out of the Ponyville train station headed for the outpost near Manehatten. “Guess it’s too late to back out now huh?”
“Uh huh,” Sweetie Belle answered looking over at Apple Bloom, “Don’t worry it’s just nerves, once we get there you won’t have time to be nervous.”
“Did you ever get any word from your cousin?” Diamond Tiara asked looking out the window, before looking at Apple Bloom.
“Not yet… we’re still hopin ta hear something from Babs but we’re startin to lose hope…” Apple Bloom answered softly sighing. “We don’t think she made it out of Manehatten”
“Don’t worry Apple Bloom I’m sure she’s still alive,” Starbloom smiled over at her friend. “Knowing her she joined the resistance and she’s giving them griffins and diamond dogs a hard time.”
The group chuckled softly but Apple Bloom was still worried about her cousin, because she hadn’t written her to let her know she was safe. She didn’t care if she was with the resistance or in a prison camp; she just wanted to know she was safe and alive. The train shuddered before starting to move as it left the station to make the trip to the outpost set up outside of Manehatten.
“How did your families take it when you told them you was going to join?” Noi asked, “My sister was upset at first, but understood why I wanted to join.”
“Rainbow Dash was proud of me; I think her only regret is that Princess Celestia won’t let her join as well.” Scootaloo smiled before sighing. “My dad… I don’t think he even remembered who I was when I went to the hospital to tell him.”
Apple Bloom put a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder giving her a comforting smile. “I am sorry to hear bout your pa Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom said before sighing, “Applejack was both worried and proud when I told her. She wants me to write her every night so she can be sure I’m safe.”
“My dad wants me to do the same thing,” Diamond Tiara nodded at Apple Bloom smiling, “He’s so worried something will happen to me and I’m all he has left. He was against me joining me at first, but I convinced him it was the right thing for me to do.”
Sweetie Belle and Starbloom looked at each other for a moment before Sweetie Belle spoke. “Well, you guys know how my sister can be. Especially with my parents death… she got protective of me. It took a lot of convincing before she finally agreed to let me join. She still thinks it’s a bad idea, but she said she supports my choice.”
They all looked over to Starbloom to see what she had to say since she was the only one in their group who hadn’t spoken yet. “My mom was supportive enough… though I think she would of preferred if I had followed in my uncle’s hoof steps and joined the royal guard instead. However, she does understand my wanting to stick with my friends.”
“I still can’t believe the griffins and the diamond dogs did this,” Sweetie Belle sighed looking out the window. “At least not the diamond dogs, they can be… aggressive I guess but I always heard they were disorganized.”
“They are.” Starbloom agreed nodding her head, “The griffins are main force behind the invasion, my mom believes the griffins are behind the attack and are using the diamond dogs to strength their numbers.”
“Which makes the griffins more cowards then anything right?” Scootaloo asked looking at Starbloom.
“No, it makes em smart.” Apple Bloom answered before Starbloom could causing every pony to look over at her. “All-out war with Equestria is gonna cost lives on both side, the griffins are using the diamond dogs to cut losses.”
Noi nodded in agreement, “Apple Bloom is right, more diamond dogs are getting killed then griffins right now. At my paper, we got war reports that came in from the front lines. Most of the reports said the griffins would send the diamond dogs out front letting them take the most loses.”
“So do the griffins ever do any fighting?” Scootaloo asked.
“They only engage in air combat for the most part, up in the sky they seem pretty evenly matched with the pegasi air teams… though we have an edge with our unicorn ground to air specialist.” Starbloom answered shifting in her seat. “Neither me or Sweetie qualified for that position though.”
She pointed a hoof out the window towards Manehatten, which was just visible on the horizon. “If you look though, you can see them in action.” Starbloom said and the group all crowded to look out the window towards the city, every so often a bright bolt of magic would flash from the ground into the sky hitting something. “The magic needed for that type of spell takes a lot of focus under battle conditions as well as near perfect aim.”
“That is pretty amazin stuff though,” Apple Bloom smiled as the group moved back and took a seat, “Think either of ya ever will manage to be able to do it?”
“Sweetie Belle might be able to, but not me my magic is only good for levitation.” Starbloom smiled at Sweetie relaxing back into her seat after the group moved back. “I’ll be happy to stick with the infantry division though.”
Sweetie Belle nodded, “Same here I don’t want to be separated from you girls to join the surface to air group. Besides I earned my medic qualification you girls need me.”
The door to their sleeper cabin opened. “Alright ponies, thirty minutes for dinner then get some sleep as soon as we arrive at Manehatten you move out.” A large earth pony stallion stated before moving to the next sleeper.
Once the stallion moved, another pony came up behind him to deliver the meals to the group. They knew it would be the last meal they would be able to sit down and really enjoy for a long time. After arriving in Manehatten meals would be quick and death could come at any time.