Draft

The Lines are Drawn. New Countries Spring onto the Map.

With the initial shock of the new continent’s landfall starting to wear off, the world begins looking for answers involving the new aliens. One of the most asked, especially among politicians and military leaders, is how the continent is divided. Various maps have made their way to the outside world, but the most common seems to designate at least five major nations on the continent, and a plethora of smaller ones.

The largest, and closest to the U.S., is the Kingdom of Equestria, taking up most of the eastern part of the continent. The Crystal Empire lies next to it, wedged in the middle of the continent and surrounded by smaller states. The last three lie on the Western end and run north to south, respectively. Those are the Griffon Empire, the Shadow Empire, and the Changeling Empire.

In another fascinating separation, many of the nations seemed to be based around specific species. The most populous species on the continent seem to go by the name ponies, and different kinds inhabit several nations. But many others seem to be based around a dominant species, such as small republics made up of Zebras and Minotaurs. Information is still being gathered, but this is what is known to be true as of now.

No New Neighbors? Equestria opts for isolation.

Earlier today, the ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria, Princess Celestia, stated that her nation is to be isolated from the rest of the world, save for other nations on the new continent. No talks will be held with other figures, and no trade or other forms of contact with outside nations. The same seems to apply to the nation’s inhabitants, as they are not allowed to leave the continent and travel, or even contact, human nations.

When asked why she decided to take this route, the Princess only stated that it was ‘for (humanity’s) own good’.

“We are fighting a war that does not involve you, or your world,” Celestia said during the announcement. “This is for your own good. Please do not become involved, and we will try our best to resolve this situation on our own.”

Western Nations open talks.

Contrary to Equestria’s choice of isolation, the western nations on the map, the same ones that are at war with Equestria and her allies, are taking a more social approach to the situation. The Shadow, Griffon, and Changeling Empires have all attempted to interact with the outside world, to varying degrees.

The northernmost empire, the Griffons, have been the most cooperative, beginning talks with several nations and offering trade deals. Many of the visiting officials have commented positively on the Empire’s outgoing nature in contrast to Equestria’s cold shoulder. Though the empire below them, The Shadow Empire, has been slightly less welcoming, and the southern Changeling Empire is even worse, all three have agreed to open relations with nations of the world.

One of the more interesting aspects is that all three of these nations are currently in a state of war with Equestria and their allies, and all three nations state that it is necessary. According to them, the Equestrians originally intended to invade and conquer Earth, which is why they were teleported here. But the three western empires disagreed with the warmongering stance, and are attempting to stop them.

“The Princess is right about one thing, this is not your war,” the Griffon King stated during a speech. “There is no need for you to become involved in it. Save your resources and lives; we will handle these invaders.”

No retort was received from the Equestrian side.

United Nations refuse new continent’s membership; states go unrecognized.

After weeks of debating, the United Nations has reached the decision that none of the nations on the new continent will be recognized as official political entities. The main argument against their joining is that, because the continent is not of Earth, and that it entered randomly and without any kind of forewarning, it does not inherit the same rights as already exiting lands on Earth. Though the U.N. stated that, over time, the nations could be admitted, but it would take a long period of work to complete.

Both the U.S. and Chinese governments, both of which lobbied to admit the new countries, remain quiet and have not made any kind of response to this. Nor has any statement come from any of the nations on the continent. Public reaction seems to be mixed to negative.

Spruance to be decommissioned; tensions with China rise.

Despite the Navy revealing intentions to increase the lifespan of some of their older vessels, it was announced late yesterday that the destroyer U.S.S. Spruance is set to be decommissioned and scrapped immediately. The destroyer, and its second-in-command, have become infamous for enticing the Zhuhai-Louisiana incident, has been undergoing test to determine what went wrong that day. Unfortunately, the inspectors could not determine what happened to the ship’s fire control computer that caused the missiles launched to strike the Chinese naval vessel. Even though she passed a target practice exercise earlier in the month, the destroyer is set to be scrapped.

“It is not acceptable to allow a ship with a flawed and dangerous targeting system to continue its service,” the Department of the Navy explained in their announcement. “No problems were known with the harpoon anti-ship missiles that day, and the only plausibility is in the destroyer’s fire control computer. It is because we cannot find that error in her computers that she is dangerous, and to install a new computer on her, at the end of her life, would only be a waste.”

This decision was met with scathing responses from China’s government, who claim that this was done only to cover up the incident and destroy evidence. Despite the U.S. government issuing several apologies and offered a full compensations for the Chinese Navy destroyer and the families of the victims, which was fully accepted, the Chinese government demanded the Spruance the second-in-command responsible for giving the orders to launch, who is already set for a trial, and the rest of the crew, to be handed over to Chinese authorities. This was immediately denied by the U.S. government, despite multiple Chinese threats and aggressive moves in the Pacific directed at U.S. bases and units in Japan and South Korea.

James takes majority! Republican Dark Horse to become the 54th President.

With ballots closed and counting complete, the polls confirmed that Republican Party candidate David James will be the winner of the 2000 Presidential Election, winning by nearly 10% of the vote. James, who was largely an unknown in the political arena, quickly gained popularity following the Zhuhai-Louisiana incident. His first large ‘jump’ came from his response to the Chinese demands to turn over the destroyer and crew responsible so that they could enact the justice themselves. James made a passionate speech defending the U.S.’s justice system, and trusting them to make the best choice, while sharply criticizing China for their threats and warmongering actions.

James has since based his platform around standing against China’s aggression while also creating allies out of nations on the new continent. One of his largest pushes is for defense increase against China and other ‘aggressor’ nations, including a massive expansion proposal for each of the military’s branches, which will more than likely pass.

Upon receiving word of his victory, Mr. James tiredly stated: “I suppose I’ve got a lot of work to do; better get to it.”

Western Nations Unite; military union known as ‘Alliance’ forms

As the war on the continent continues to rage, the spokesman for The Shadow Empire, Prince Boca, announced that the Shadow, Griffon, and Changeling Empires would unite into a military grouping known simply as The Alliance, which is to be based around ‘better defensive cooperation’. This new Bloc expected to focus greatly in coordinating the three nation’s war against Equestria.

Terrorist Plot Foiled!

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that they successfully thwarted a major terrorist attack aimed for U.S. soil. Few detail have been released, but what is known is that, two days earlier on September 10th, a group of friends met in a town in Maine. The group reported a man acting rather suspiciously, and called the police. Once they arrived, they found currently undisclosed evidence that led to both being arrested, and interrogated; further searching of their residence discovered, what was stated as ‘sketchy hints pointing towards an attack of some sort in the very near future’. As more details were uncovered, the FBI and other agencies sent out an alert and began an immediate operation to discover any other terrorists.

“There is no need to panic, our people are on high alert across the country and several other terrorist suspects have been apprehended,” the Bureau’s Chairman stated. “We are still searching, but any attack has been stopped.”

President James also released what details are known of the attack itself, which state that there was to be a wave of airliner hijackings, and usage of those airliners in attacking unknown targets.

Regardless, the announcement seems to have unleashed a wave of public paranoia over the attack. Despite both the President and several security agencies stating that it was to be carried out by ‘an extremist organization based in the Middle East’, many have come forward with theories that go far deeper. The most popular seem to state that the organization is funded and trained by China, seeking revenge for the loss of its naval vessel, while other’s claim it is a plan of isolationist Equestria’s attempts at conquest, as it still has not broken its silence. All of these theories have been immediately dismissed by the president.

“This is nothing more than fear flying out of control,” he stated. “There is no need for these, as no official evidence states any kind of outside connection. Tragedy has been averted, and for that we can be grateful.”

Industrial Revolutions. Western Empires modernize alongside a wave of immigration.

As the Alliance advance east begins to slow to a crawl, all three of the empires have begun major state moves to modernize their military, and society in general, in every way possible. Over the past several months, factories and other modern buildings have begun to appear. Long highways are beginning to stretch over the nations, and even some commercial planes are being landed at airports. Though it is expected to be some time before this can translate in military modernization, it is an important first step in getting to that point.

Along with this comes a large wave of immigrants entering the countries, mostly in the Griffon Empire. Though the majority of the immigrants come from Asian nations, it is a very mixed bag, with people from all over the world traveling for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are searching for new opportunity, wishes to start over, looking for something new, and any other reasons these immigrants can think of. The empires have noted this as a crucial element in the push to industrialize.

Is a New Great Depression coming? Economy begins to drop

President James cuts trade with China; opens talks with Alliance.

Following the large economic scare and China heftily increasing the prices on their exported goods, particularly towards the U.S.A. and our allies, President James has announced today that he will drop virtually all trade deals with the People’s Republic of China in search of a more ‘economical and efficient’ partner to supply cheap goods. Though many seem to criticize James for this semi-sudden move, their claims seem to be rather dulled by the announcement that followed shortly afterwards that many of the dropped deals with China have been reached with the three nations of the Alliance.

“We greatly welcome the chance to enact such lucrative trade with the western nations,” Prince Boca, spokesman for the Shadow Empire stated. “We will happily provide America’s material needs, and welcome the opportunity to fully test and apply our fledgling industry; as well as an excellent chance to build our treasury.”

Others have greatly supported the President’s decisions to choose the Alliance over Chinese-made goods. They have pointed out that, in addition to Alliance-made goods being far cheaper, they are also of greater quality. And the greatest positive for the U.S. is that, since these nations have not existed until recently, America owes them no kind of debt, allowing the States to start over from zero again.

One-Year Bust

It has been known that the Changeling Empire had the least amount of technologically advanced industry when President James signed the specific trade agreements with the Alliance, and consequently received the least in terms of deals. Months back, the Changeling Queen announced a massive nation-wide advancement program, spending much of the country’s talents and resources to achieve the goal of catching up with its two higher-up cohorts to their north.

Economist Casey White spent a month touring the country, looking over and examining the Changeling’s efforts. Apparently, despite the heavy push focused exactly on the subject of greater modernization, the effect seems to do little more than waste the Empire’s time and resources.

“It was the oddest thing I’ve ever seen; almost like a whole country was put into slavery for no real purpose, not unlike the Great Leap Forward,” she stated during an interview. “They did not bother to send anyone out to study economics or technology in the human world, nor does it seem they did any real research on it. Rather than use factories encompassing a few skilled workers, each sort of… community, or grouping, has their own set of minimal tools to attempt to create products, cheap or otherwise.

The military checks on them three times a week, making sure that the requested amount of a product has been produce; in addition, the town’s police force will oversee that work is being done diligently. Most of the time production is being met, but no one wants to buy it. Across the whole country there are these odd communities of ghost towns filled with nothing more than abandoned equipment and useless pig iron.”

Alliance Accused of War Crimes

The Arcaian nation of Saddle Arabia has, for one month now, been under the occupation of the Griffon Empire. Recently, reports of various crimes, such as looting and vandalism, though few have actually been accused. The most shocking are claims of mass executions of political prisoners and other specified targets.

The biggest evidence in support of this is the release of photos of what appear to be a large group of about twelve corpses, with Griffon troops looking over them. However, it is impossible to determine if it is artificial or accurate, though tests so far are slightly leaning in the faked side. The Griffons have stated that this is nothing more than a deception campaign concocted by the Equestrians to turn public opinion against them, though many are beginning to have their doubts.

The Equestrian Black Market and the Truth about the Alliance

Despite Princess Celestia’s stern stance on total isolation, there are many ponies in her kingdom that attempt to escape into the human world, and many humans who wish to enter Equestria. Though it is difficult to do so, a few have succeeded. This paper actually got the chance to interview an escapee that just recently finalized her papers to become a U.S. citizen.

“The biggest reason I wanted to move here was… well, all the stuff there was to see,” the undisclosed pony stated on life in her former homeland. “Here and there I’d see ponies go by with something odd from the Human world, like a phone or some books, and it was always interesting. Every time I saw somepony with something from the outside, it was different and amazing.”

Because of this, the Equestrian black market has become one of the largest, and most profitable, underground sellers in the world, particularly due to the high prices set on common goods. Books, as our guest stated, could range into a monetary worth of hundreds in dollars, while common phones can range in the thousands based in Equestria’s monetary gold. Other extremely popular and rare items, such as human music and cinema, as well as anything able to play these, can range between the thousands and millions, while the rarest artifacts, computers, are usually well into the millions.

The interview continued into what life was like in Equestria for her.

“It’s not at all bad, really; not as good as around here, but it’s not horrible,” the undisclosed pony stated on life in her former homeland. “It really isn’t this terrible monarchy or dictatorship, things were very fair, and most everypony I knew was content, at least before the war started. Things were normal until Sombra came and began invading our allies, and our military went off to fight him.”

This was the most interesting part of the interview, as she stated that Sombra was not the kind, welcoming ruler he was presented as, while Equestria was the true victim. Though this is nothing new, as many of the Equestrians that have escaped have made this same claim, it is another attack in the mounting list against the Alliance as the public begins to sway towards Equestria’s favor.

Changeling Empire conquers The United Republic; experts question Alliance’s motives.

After three months of hard fighting, the Union of the Two Lands, usually shortened to ‘The United Republic’ or ‘The Union’ has fallen to the Changeling Empire, with the last of its military, government, and thousands of refugees fleeing east. What makes this conquest peculiar is the amount of eyebrows it seems to have raised.

The Union, from what can be gathered, was a very isolated nation on the southern coast of Arcaia, and tended to keep to themselves, and had nothing to do with either side in the conflict, yet all the same, the Changeling Empire invaded. Many in the military have called this an unnecessary act of aggression by the Changeling Empire, with the consensus being that it was nothing more than a land grab. Though the Empire has stated that The Union was planning a pre-emptive strike, almost no evidence for this has been provided, and the claim has been met with jeers. Conversely, following the invasion, Equestrian military units were sent over to assist the Union, further showing that Equestria seems to be on the just end of war.

Economy Pulls Up

Arcaia’s War continues; Alliance seeks victory via Russian technology

Despite several Alliance victories over the past years, the bloc’s advances have slowed to a crawl, particularly in the Crystal Empire, where Crystal and Equestrian troops have managed to halt the Shadow armies just outside the capital city. Though this may not last long, as the Shadow Empire spokesman Prince Boca announced that the armed forces of the Alliance will be fully modernized soon.

In an announcement in Russia’s capital city of Moscow, he stated that, with the Alliance nation’s monetary savings rather large from the trading over the course of the past years, the three nations would equip themselves with Russian weaponry, including some of the most modern designs that have been built. In addition, it was stated that several product license deals had been made, allowing the Alliance to manufacture their own stock of these weapons.

“I am confident this will finally give us the edge required to defeat these invaders and end this war,” the Prince stated.

The Russian President seemed rather pleased with the sale, as he spoke in an interview with a Russian news agency afterwards.

“Our economy is in horrid condition. But, we are no longer in a Cold War with the west, and we have no need to keep such a massive amount of weapons. What better way to solve these problems than selling it off to a nation that actually needs them,” he stated. “I think it is an excellent example of a Russia that is moving towards capitalism and democracy.”

Alliance War Crimes revealed; President cuts trade ties.

With the new military technology, the Alliance seems to have taken the upper hand in the war, but that may not be a good thing. Yesterday, late at night, a video was released of Shadow Empire soldiers gunning down at least five prisoners of war on the Crystal Empire front. This seems to confirm the claims of war crimes that have been launched against the Alliance, and thy have received heavy backlash for it from the international community. Though they claim to only be executing ‘soldiers who have been of great trouble, in not only attacking our troops, but civilians,’ this has only garnered them heavier criticism.

The worst has come from the United States where President James has cut virtually all trade agreements after a reportedly heated private conference between the President and the Shadow Empire’s Prince Boca. The President stated that he would turn his search for such goods to South America, and that repeated atrocities would lead to sanctions against the bloc.

“We will not do business with murderers and belligerents!” James stated angrily later in the day. “Such slaughter will be met with justice!”

Many of the President’s opponents have criticized him for the crimes. Because of the President’s agreement to open trade, he also built up the Alliance’s wealth to the point of modernizing their military, which in turn caused the killings to happen. Had the President looked further into the Alliance’s motives, it is possible this could have been avoided.

Alliance purchases Russian-based Battlecruiser and Aircraft Carrier.-2003

The latest and largest buy for the Alliance in their shopping spree of modern military technology has been made by the Shadow Empire, which purchased an Ex-Russian battlecruiser of the Kirov class and an Ex-Russian aircraft carrier of the Kiev class. It is stated that engineers of the Empire will modernize and modify both vessels to meet their standards. Though this greatly enhances the Alliance’s seapower, it is still lackluster in comparison to the United States Navy, which is already hard at work designing a brand new class of carriers.

China works alongside Alliance, nations unite into military league.

The shocking announcement was made mid-day today that China and the Alliance have entered into a military agreement based on ‘mutual defense of interests in the Pacific Ocean’ and allowing them to base units in each-other’s territory. These came about from the now virtually frozen U.S.-Chinese relations and the souring of the relations with the Alliance over the past years. The joining of these two presents a major problem for the United States and her allies.

As many political and military analysts have pointed out, this would give China a hand in the continent, should Equestria and the other nations fall to the Alliance. Such a power play would give China not only give China control of the Central Pacific and heavy influence around the entire sphere, but it would also provide a jump-off point for an attack against America, or even a possible invasion.

The James Administration has yet to comment on this, but another increase on defense spending is expected. News of this has sparked a large amount of discontent with the American people, and the public, so far, seems to be urging the President to do something to respond to this move, and keep the continental U.S. safe from attack.

Alliance reveals home-built warships. -200

Two days ago, the Alliance released a propaganda picture showing their latest capital ships sailing out of harbor together, the aircraft carriers Tornado and Twister, both of which seem to be of the Kuznetsov class, more advance than the previous Kiev class that was purchased earlier in the year. But the most frightening part of this is that both seem to have been built in the Shadow Empire, rather than purchased or built elsewhere.

The reasoning behind this is that Russia has built two carriers of the Kuznetsov class, on they retain and one that has been sold to China. Both of these have been confirmed to be under their respective owners, meaning none have been sold to the Alliance. This was confirmed by the Shadow Empire, which stated that both were built on the Kuznetsov design, and classified as ‘medium aircraft carriers’. Though the U.S. Navy has claimed these to be false, video seems to prove that the Alliance is capable of building capital ships.

“It would be foolish to believe that we are handcuffed to Russia as a supplier. We can create weapons ourselves,” the official report stated on the end.

Canada to purchase Aircraft Carrier

New – Discovered in China; trade deal with Russia set to be reached

Australia to build new battleship

In an odd turn of events, the Australian Navy revealed that it had reached a deal with the Navy of the United States to build a new battleship. Despite the battleship now being outdated by aircraft carriers, the two Navies have decided to move forward on the plan, and it has been agreed that the vessel would be based on the famed Iowa class, and would be built from the keel up in a specialized harbor facility that has been kept from the public for some time. The reason for building this seems to be based around the knowledge that the Alliance, now growing more hostile towards America and its allies, has been building a large number of battlecruisers of their own, to the point where it is feared they will charge through aircraft, while their own air force gives cover, in attempts to engage targets in surface warfare.

“It’s still unclear exactly how many heavy ships the Bloc has, or how they are able to construct them so fast, but their numbers seem to indicate that they will be sufficient to close the range, while our aircraft are distracted,” the Australian Admiral of the Fleet explained. “We’re largely worried about heavy enemy vessels raiding the sea lanes between Australia and the Americas. And since Australia has no Aircraft Carriers, and our budget is too restrained to afford one, this would be our best option. Regardless, we are looking forward to having a powerful ship at our disposal.”

It was also stated that the battleship would utilize modern defense and missile systems to better defend itself from aircraft and missiles, as well as to increase its attack range. Still, several in the Australian navy have criticized this move, stating it would be better to spend it smaller, more numerous cruisers or destroyers with equal strike range, or simply more aircraft that can be placed on the continent.

Are the ‘big guns’ making a comeback? U.S. Navy announces new class of battleships-June, 2003

Only a few months after the Australian Navy announced their plans for construction, the United States Navy has announced that it will be building an entirely new class of its own. According to the Navy, the Australian deal was done partially as an experiment to see if bringing back battleships in a meaningful position was feasible. Now that the Australian’ construction is going ahead full, and with the reveal of yet another Alliance battlecruiser, bringing the total up to six known vessels, the Navy has decided to begin construction early, and release the news to the public.

“It’s clear to us that the days of long lines of battleships with massive guns firing away have long passed, we’re looking for them to take on a role as an escort now; a massive weapons platform to help defend our aircraft carriers from surface and air attack,” The Secretary of the Navy stated during a press conference. “We are not making these in massive numbers, only in the amount we think we will need to help escort our carriers.”

Details of the class were released shortly after the conference, stating that the battleships will be built as a brand new class from the keel up, and based largely on the last class of battleships the navy planned, known as the Montana. Unlike the Montana, which was designed during World War Two, these are explained to be far more modern with up-to-date technology and systems, including nuclear power and long range missiles that increase the ship’s range, defense, and life span, among other things.

The release went on to explain that only six of these vessels will be built, three for the Pacific Fleet and the remaining three for the Atlantic Fleet, as the vessels will be too large to pass through the Panama Canal. According to the Navy, the class itself and three of the units have already been named, with the overall class being named for the state of Texas, and the first three named Texas, Colorado, and New York; the remaining three have yet to be announced. Along with these new names comes a new classification; as the battleships employ large amounts of long-range strike missiles, they will be given the designation ‘Guided Missile Battleship’ and the hull lettering of ‘BBG’, the first in U.S. Naval history.

China Militarizes; spending on defense increases.

With the – deal with Russia beginning to pay off, China has announced that it will begin to increase its military spending, particularly in the Navy, to counter that of the United States. Though this was not unexpected, it comes with heavy fallout against President James, as much of the money that Russia has sent to China came from the Alliance nations, which in turn was used by the U.S.

“The President’s decisions have led to funding our enemy!” one of James’ most vocal opponents, Senator Ulrich Gulliver of Massachusetts stated. “He bought money from these warmongers, who used that money to buy guns. And now that money is also going to America’s biggest threat, so that they can buy guns to point at America!”

Ghosts come back to haunt; original designs from the Alliance are launched

Some frightening photographs were released last week, showing an aircraft carrier and battlecruiser of the Shadow Empire, but these seem to be far more unique as they did not match the ship identification of any known classes of these vessels. This has led many to believe that the Alliance has constructed a new class of warships that appear to be an even larger threat than the previous designs. Despite the Alliance’s attempts to keep them under wraps, details have leaked out showing that they are indeed formidable foes.

“From what we can tell, the battlecruiser sees to be based partially on the Stalingrad class, a Soviet design that was planned at the start of the Cold War, but was never built. The Carrier looks to be taking after the Soviet Ulyanovsk design, which was started towards the end,” the Secretary of the Navy explained thoroughly in an announcement concerning the vessels that took place yesterday. “Closer analysis shows that they are equipped with missiles, close-in defense systems, and all the other necessitates of modern naval warfare, including some we’ve been unable to identify yet.  These are the greatest threats against the Navy right now.”

Further information that was leaked out earlier today seems to classify them as the most advanced capital ships in the Alliance’s arsenal.

‘600-ship navy’ makes another push-2004

Three month after the discovery of the Alliance’s new warship classes, and one month after the death of former President Ronald Reagan, the U.S. Navy has announced a massive program designed to expand and advance the navy, by ordering several new warships; a virtual re-start of Reagan’s 600-ship navy. Many older ships, including the Spruance Class destroyers and the Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates, will undergo overhauls to extend their lifelines; the original ‘flight’ of the Ticonderoga AEGIS cruisers, which were built without the Vertical Launch System and were scheduled to be decommissioned this year, will also continue their service. In addition, the older Forrestal and Kitty Hawk Class aircraft carriers, rather than going ahead on their planned decommissioning, will be placed in reserve, meaning that they will not conduct operations currently, but will be on hand in case they are needed.

The ‘meat’ of this program has been designed around building newer vessels to complement the older ones. Several of new Ticonderoga Class cruisers and Arleigh Burke Class destroyers, which comprise the majority of the vessels in the Navy, are set to be built. In addition to this, construction of the Texas Class battleships and the Gerald R. Ford Class carriers will be stepped up, with the lead ships of both predicted to be in launched in 2010.

“We’re doing this to show that America, and the world, has no need to fear from these new conquerors,” the Secretary of Defense stated in his speech on the announcement of the project. “The United States Navy is still the most powerful force on the planet, and we will show our enemies that it is a mistake to challenge us.”

This announcement has brought both calls of praise and criticism on a massive scale. Many state that the economy cannot handle such an endeavor, especially with the expected rise in production costs of the Texas and Ford. They state that, in attempting to beat China and the Alliance by -, the United States will suffer the same fate of the U.S.S.R. , in that it will be unable to afford such massive military spending with the debt skyrocketing and the economy collapsing.

However, supporters of the program state that the size is necessary to deter both China, which has continued to build up its military steadily, and the Alliance, which continues to launch new ships at a fraction of their regular building time, using still unknown techniques and/or technology. They state that, if the military does not improve, the United States will look weak, and become susceptible to outside pressure and subsequent attacks, stating that if it does not fall to the economy, it will fall to foreign imperialism.

Regardless, President James has stated that he will continue on with the program.

Allies Advance; other nations join The States in military spending.

President James reaches out to Equestria; denied summit with leaders

As Equestria’s military position grows grimmer by the day, their leader continues to refuse any proposals for outside assistance. Despite the American President’s continued offers, Equestria continues to try and face the Alliance virtually alone in its near-impossible struggle. Yesterday, President James sent forth another suggestion; this one, unlike the others, directly implied military assistance.

“I would like to offer my hand in support of Equestria’s noble cause,” he stated. “I understand that the challenges of this new world may be difficult, but we want to help you. Whatever trouble you are having, we will assist you in finding a solution. Your nation is in deep danger of coming under the iron hand of tyrants, but my nation was founded against that. Together, we can prevent this, and make our world safer.”

Despite the capitol of the Crystal Empire falling to Shadow Empire armies the day before, Princess Celestia still refused, replying simply with “Thank you, but we cannot.”

The President has attempted to ally with Equestria for some time now, attempting to break their isolation, and ensure they remain independent. Beyond the most obvious reasons of keeping a nation free from hostile rule, an independent Equestria, especially one allied with the United States, would create a buffer zone on the continent, and a counter to the union of the Bloc and China. It is hoped that, once Equestria itself comes under attack, the Princess will agree to accept the United States’ proposal.

U.S. Military continues to build up strength as the Alliance makes aggressive moves.

*Alliance attacks American ship!*

*James pulls through, holds position in office*

*Large fireballs seen over Alliance skies. Many suggest possible super weapon.*

*Crystal Empire falls to Alliance; Equestria retreats forces and stands alone*

With the modern armies of the Alliance striking critical blows and now advancing at rapid rates, the Crystal Empire, Equestria’s most powerful ally, has been completely overrun, with its officials and military units retreating to Equestria. Following the decisive victory by the Shadow Army at the Battle of -, the Crystal armies have been broken, and are unable to mount any kind of defensive operation. This leaves Equestria as the only major nation to stand against the Alliance.

The Equestrian military seems to recognize this, as after the battle all Equestrian military units were pulled back into Equestria, leaving the few remaining nations left standing to their fate. Already reports have been received of defenses appearing along the Equestrian border and civil drills being run behind the lines. In addition to the Equestrian military, the remnants of several other nation’s militaries, including the Crystal Empire and the Karilian Republic, are present in the country and are reported to be under Equestrian command.

*Equestria takes in exodus of refugees.*

*U.S. Economy suffers from military’s advancement program*

*Their Finest Hour or Their Final Hour? Alliance begins bombing Equestrian cities*