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The Canterlot Conference (Prelude to War Pt. 1)
It has come to my attention that, at least in the public eye, my image has seen better days. I have heard from numerous accounts from close allies that I should explain myself for my own personal safety and sanity; allow me to achieve that with these memoirs:
Equestria was a peaceful nation! For as long as I could remember nopony got upset with their Government. The two Princesses ruled with care for their own citizens and the only protection was from other races or ancient overlords! I remember these times fondly, when the Elements of Harmony and their bearers could solve any issue that questioned Celestia and Luna's authority! That all changed one day however, when our State was attacked!
I remember hearing the news, about the attacks. I was sitting in Las Pegasus by a pool. I had only arrived there the night prior and I was enjoying myself. I had an entire suite all to myself and if there was anyplace anypony went to escape to it was Las Pegasus. A Royal Guard appeared and whispered into my ear something along the lines of
"We are under attack! The Princess orders you back to Canterlot at once." I was frozen in my place. I almost thought it was some sort of joke or maybe a mishap but the urgency of my Guards told me otherwise.
The attack he spoke of was an attack on three Equestrian ports off the coast. They were attacked by ships bearing the flags of the Griffins homeland. The ships, mostly carrying cargo, were bombed and raided. Their supplies being taken and the ships being burned to the ground. The crew also were either captured or killed and there were about seven civilian casualties with two missing, presumed dead. The Griffins lived on a far away island towards the east. Our nations had been at peace with ponies and griffons living abroad from their homelands. I remember Celestia being concerned as sailors had made settlements on the Griffin's homeland of Scythia. The Griffins had a long and victorious history of defending their homeland from intruders, they were not the type to be messed with.
The ride from Las Pegasus to Canterlot was tense. Nopony knew what was going on. As ponies heard the news from one another things began to turn to panic. Scared masses of ponies appeared in front of Canterlot Castle wanting some sort of explanation or guidance from their dear rulers. Under the sound of public outcry Celestia called together a league of the most powerful nobility in all of Equestria. I, whether I liked it or not, was royalty and I was also called to the meeting. I remember being lead towards the Council Hall; I could hear the crowds of ponies from the windows. As I entered most of the seats of the roundtable were already filled. Shining Armor and his dearly beloved sat beside me. His wife, Princess Cadence, represented the Crystal Empire; and her husband the Royal Guard of Canterlot. Princess Twilight Sparkle was also there, but oddly enough no other Element of Harmony had a seat at the table; I later found out she not only represented them but all of Ponyville as well. Things were tense, nopony spoke a word, Celestia and Luna had yet to show up as the council seats filled one by one. The last seat to be filled was Cloudsdale their representative was WindSoar a prized flyer and member of the Royal Guard. I had seen him at Canterlot gatherings from time to time but hadn't spoken too him once. He was a little older than me but, as I admit now, much more mature. He was wearing Cloudsdale Royal get-up that covered most of his brown coat. Cloudsdale, in ancient times, had been militaristic but nowadays it was more of a Historical tradition thing.
Suddenly the doors leading from the Royal Hall opened and Royal Guards flooded in, wearing Canterlot banners. The two Princesses trotted in triumphantly as always followed by a pony in Royal Uniform whom I briefly recalled as Frontline the Royal Chancellor. He was a older stallion; his grey fur was well groomed, as was his short blacker mane which grew whiter with age. The Princesses both took their seats, one at each side of the oval shaped table. The Chancellor took a seat adjacent to my own. He appeared one of the most urgent of all the representatives; stonecold and heroic, like a rock or a brick wall! I don't think his face lightened up one bit that whole meeting, but he was the oldest non-Alicorn at the meeting. His presence gave off this 'I know what I'm doing attitude' that I admired at that time. Next to him I must of looked like some dumb colt who had no business being there, which in hindsight i suppose that wasn't all that wrong.
After a brief moment of silence Celestia cleared her throat, "I suppose I don't need to waste anypony's time in explaining why we're all here...?"
Nopony spoke, most shook their heads, "Good... We have called this meeting because this is a decision that we may not make alone"
The Chancellor broke the brief silent as her words sunk in, "Excuse me for interrupting but I think the decision is a relatively easy one, am I not mistaken?" his voice was strong and cold showing the sense of urgency behind his words.
Celestia was taken back by his comment, "What is your opinion on the matter Chancellor?" Princess Twilight spoke at him; her voice was sweet and despite being younger than me even she had more experience on the matter.
"Is it not obvious?! War!" I heard Cadence gasp beside me as her husband chuckled slightly. "Does anything about this situation please you commander, if so speak!" the Chancellor directed towards Shining Armor.
"Excuse me Chancellor but the Royal Guard is not equipped, nor prepared, to invade a country! We simply don't have enough arms to complete an operation!" Shining Armor replied swiftly.
"So what do we do then, do we just wait to be attacked again?", the Chancellor barked back.
"It is under my interpretation that we know in complete certainty this attack was carried out by aggressors from the Griffin Empire and not by some rouge pirates?" WindSoar spoke up for the first time of the conference.
Celestia took no time to let any radical mindsets take over anypony's mind, "That's one of the issues we have no idea if the reports coming in are accurate. Any Griffon can fly their Empires colors and the ships appeared to be sailor vessels not navy."
Silence took over the council room as many pondered her statement, I had the sudden urge to break the silence, a knot seemed to fill my throat as I rose up in my chair to speak "We could always... Raise an army correct?".
Many looked at me like I had three heads, I could feel my cheeks turn red and sweat on my forehead immediately after I spoke. "That is an option BlueBlood..." Luna finally broke the silence, "Sister we cannot stand defenseless against aggressors" Luna spoke again,
"Or appear weak" The Chancellor added.
The Council Room's door violently flew open, "Princess!" a young guard yelped into the room his eyes black as coal. He ran up to Celestia's chair, whispered, and gave her a document he had been carrying in his pack before leaving as fast as he arrived. Celestia levitated the letter, opened it, and read it urgently.
"Well Princess?" The Chancellor blurted out after some time had passed, "Speak now, what does it say?!"
"It's a... A Declaration of War from the Griffin Empire..."
Author's Note
Alert: I have never written any story prior to this one so excuse my... Lack of skills I suppose? There may be a few grammatical or spelling errors as you read but bear with me (Or point them out) because my ignorance is high with this kind of field.
Other than that I have a plan with this story and I hope that some will find enjoyment out of it. It's inspired by War Memoirs from Generals and other Auto-Biographys of that nature.
My two OC's (Expect more) so far are Chancellor Frontline and WindSoar, and they're both my own creation; if not partly inspired (Ripped off) by Kaiser Wilhelm II/Otto Von Bismark and King George V respectively.
I don't know exactly how many "Prelude to War" segments there may be, but we'll get to the actual fighting relatively soon. I'll try to split up the story between dialog and exposition...
I hope you enjoy!
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The Call for Conscription! (Prelude to War pt. 2)
The room fell quiet, deathly quiet. Silence had been an integral part of this conference thus far but this was a different kind of silence. One that you could hear your own blood pass by inside ones own body. You could see the wide mix of emotions of everypony's faces as you looked around the room. I remember feeling scared, defiantly shook up, a bit of shock. The Griffin Empire, as well as their populace, weren't exactly the friendliest of allies but a full out declaration of war? Never, not in my lifetime, not in anypony's lifetime. I remember the look on Auntie's -(A title once used by me to refer to Princess Celestia)- face as she read off the letter. She had no idea what to think of what fell before her; nopony did. The last time Equestria had been in a state of war was long before the times of Harmony. Long before Equestria was founded and the nation was happy. The nation had always been happy, even in times of peril the common folk held their love for their rulers before their own lives.
I remember the Chancellor sitting back in his chair, hooves folded, as he gave a brief smirk. I assume he was happy that his hypothesis was correct, the attacks were an act of war. "Well", he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. His mouth slowly shut and he sulked in his seat, fully realizing the gravity of the situation. He lost what remained of the grin and stared at the open table in front of him, as deep in thought as the rest of the participants.
"We have to raise an army!" Shining Armor spoke aloud, blunt and valiant "There's no way in the world we are going to fight a war with the amount of Royal Guards we have now!"
"Hey now let's not jump to conclusions so quickly brother!" Twilight Sparkle came out of silence to speak once more. "Why can't we just use the Elements of Harmony against them as we always have? We're always the main line of defense against forces threateni-"
"We can not use them..." Celestia cut her off, I could hear the pain in her voice. "Not against other races of beings such as the Griffins."
"Excuse me Princess Celestia but we used them against the Changelings during their invasion, I don't see why that's any different here!" Shining Armor supported his sisters argument. As a military stallion he seemed to understand that if you can win something without any casualties it's better than losing one!
"Changelings have one motive. To feed and survive. Griffins have livelihoods, hopes, dreams... It's not the same, it'd be like using them on fellow Equestrians!" Celestia responded, despite the context her motherly voice still gave guidance through her years of wisdom.
The room grew silent once more, "We raise an army then, it's simple!" the Chancellor repeated, his stance on the matter was set-in-stone. "We gather a great number of able bodied ponies from all the towns, from all the cities, of every race all across Equestria. We can win this in sheer numbers alone!"
"The ponies in Equestria are peaceful folk, how can we make sure they would willingly sign up to fight!" Twilight Sparkle spoke, staunchly opposing his view on the matter.
"Who said anything about willingly? If they won't sign up we'll conscript them into the army!" The Chancellor responded.
I could see Celestia growing more and more visually upset as the meeting dragged on. The Chancellor was blunt and radical but his ideas were not completely crazy. On one hoof you had the moral side of the meeting, on the other you had the militaristic side, and in the middle you had me. I was in way over my head, night prior I had been getting drunk and causing chaos at galas and noble gatherings across Canterlot. Now I was stuck making decisions that would affect all of Equestria simply because I was born into it!
"Speaking as the delegate from Ponyville..." Twilight Sparkle paused to clear her throat, her voice seemed to have much more gusto as she said that line, "I can say that the ponies of Ponyville would gladly serve their Princesses if need be." She paused, "However the amount of ponies needed to fulfill and army can't come from rural commonwealths like Ponyville and her surrounding towns. Most of the folk are farmers or workers and are a staple part in Equestria's economy."
"Thank you Twilight, we hear Ponyville's plight." Luna arose to the command, seeing how her sister had grown quiet, "Chancellor I can say that your advice has not gone ignored. This is not longer a time of peace but a time of war and we have to accommodate for it..." She paused, thinking her next sentences out carefully before continuing "This conference was called together to decide how we, as a nation, should act against out aggressors... However we have not been given that luxury of deciding as our enemy has made the decision for us... I now say that we shall take Chancellor Frontline's logic into account and introduce mandatory conscription for all of the lands of Equestria. For now we must each go our separate ways for at least two whole sunrises and sunsets as we break the news to our common-folk. Celestia, the Chancellor, and I will write out the doctrine that explains how exactly this news means of Conscription will be carried out in each of the towns and cities. Taking into account Princess Sparkle's plight, as well as all of other lands... If any oppose to this idea speak now or forever hold your silence!"
Not a word was said by anypony as Luna waited, she looked around the table one final time. "Then I hereby declare this Conference terminated until further notice!"
Author's Note
That's enough Politic-Counil talk for this guy! The next chapter will probably have a lot of inner monologues and go into Blueblood as a character as this is his story and I should probably flesh him out a bit.
Like I said I do have a lot of plans for this story. I have thought it out in my head a few staple set pieces my only problem is connecting Set Piece A - Set Piece B/C/D/E/ect. For instance when brainstorming ideas for this story one of the first ideas I came up with was a conversation that will take place in the next chapter... Guess you'll have to wait!
Shock and Terror! The Seabound Stalemate
I remember their faces, the ponies in the crowds faces, as Celestia gave her speech telling the mass of ponies that congregated outside the Castle walls. She addressed the elephant in the room, that the nation was at war, that recruitment stations had been set up in all of the major cities and towns. Ponies, initially, flooded the stations to sign up. Most ponies wanted vengeance for what the Griffin Empire did to ours, some wanted honor or glory, others just simply wanted something new to experience I assume the thought of traveling to far away lands intrigued some.
I was sitting in the dining room of the castle. It was completely empty with the exception of me and a few guard who were stationed there. I was eating breakfast and reading the newspaper, still as careless as ever. Shining Armor entered the room in royal guard armor, since the Conference I don't think he rarely ever took off armor as he was always on duty.
"Ah, Shining Armor how nice it is to see you here!" I said, looking up from my breakfast for a moment. "Blueblood" He saluted me, which I found a trifle odd but I went along with it, not wanting to make a fuss about miniscule problems.
"How's the recruitment going?" I said taking a sip from my water as I flipped through the pages of the newspaper.
"Actually, it's going great! From all across the nation ponies are signing up in boatloads!" He said proudly.
"Well that's good I suppose, maybe conscription won't be needed afterall?" I asked.
"I hope so... The willpower to fight is a key figure in battle, empathy is a silent killer! If the soldiers aren't willing to fight I don't know how you could win anything."
"I suppose that's why you're in command and I'm not!" I said with a chuckle as I took another sip. As I smacked my lips quietly I realized Shining Armor was staring at me. "What? Something on my face?"
"Didn't you get the letter?" He said cautiously.
"Mmm? What letter?" I said only half listening while fully engrossed in the paper.
"The letter of promotion...? You've been given command to the 5th Equestrian Army!"
I spit out my drink and I coughed and tried to catch my breath. "What did you just say?!"
"You're royalty... You're expected to lead an army for the country!" He was taken aback by my sudden outburst.
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" I said whilst beginning to hyperventilate.
"You were, they sent a letter yesterday..." He responded bluntly.
I didn't want to inform him that I spent the better half of the last two days drunk in my house not answering my door. "Um.. Sorry Shining I have to leave, I gotta catch... Something!" I said storming out of the room leaving Shining Armor sitting there, dumbfounded.
I stormed my way through the castle looking for Celestia so I could be explained exactly who thought it was a good idea to promote me to a military position. I found here sitting upon her throne, filing paperwork. "Excuse me Auntie! I need to have a word with you!" I spoke storming the room.
"Ah Blueblood my favorite nephew!" She spoke apparently happy to see me, "How are you do-"
"What is this rumor I'm hearing that I'm being expected to lead an army!" I said cutting her off in panic.
"Uh... Mm." She paused, "It is Equestrian tradition that high Nobility helps lead armies alongside the Generals Blueblood." She spoke carefully, like speaking to a child on the verge of a temper tantrum.
"Auntie I don't think you understand. I am not , I repeat, I am not a military commander!"
"You did go to the Equites Military Academy Blueblood, according to your history you do have some military training." She said condescendingly.
I forgot that the academy I enrolled into was also a military school that most Generals are sent from time to time, Shining Armor even went there. I simply went there because it was the best school that money could buy!
I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out, taking the opportunity to calm my nerves Celestia spoke again "Blueblood, I assure you that you won't see that much action. If you couldn't tell we are low on Command. With the exception of a few Officers we have absolutely no higher command and we need to take all we can get. You'll be one step below Shining Armor, and he'll tell you exactly what to do."
I lowed my head, ashamed with my cowardly behavior I had displayed in front of everypony. I heard her point but that still didn't make me terrified. "Okay... Okay Auntie I see your point."
"Now please give me some peace and quiet. I need my space to work." I left her presence a bit ashamed with myself. I could see her point, the mad scramble for anypony with military experience was desperate indeed. I spoke to some close friends about the issue. Most told me that I would probably be relieved of command as soon as other officers were trained and I'd be back in Canterlot in the coming months. I wished, I dreamed, for that to happen.
I did, however, enjoy the attention this new position got me! Once again I was in the spotlight of Canterlot culture. With this new fame I found a hiding spot to hide my fear. I didn't want to be branded as a coward and that's exactly what happened to many ponies who didn't sign up. Any stallion that didn't sign up were immediately ridiculed heavily, the only thing worse than being against the war was not signing up in the first place. Everypony had to do their part for the war fund, and the numerous recruitment propaganda flooded every street corner and alley way in every small town across the nation.
The first few months of the war was entirely naval battles in the Eastern Sea. Thankfully I had no experience in commanding ships and sailors I stayed on the ground! I had kept up with the battles through with what was written in the newspapers. Most of it were heroic tales from the sailors that fought off the Griffin Aggressors against all odds. The Griffins had sea-superiority and we had to push them out of the large Eastern Sea before the ground battles could begin. The worst thing for the nation, and best for me, would be a sea stalemate. In which the entire war was a naval one with no actual fighting between ground troops.
Ponies were scared however, when two months into the war we had a series of terrible battles that almost cost us the war. Griffins pillaging the quaint towns of eastern Equestria didn't really seem all that nice of an idea. Shining Armor made it entirely clear we would not surrender against the aggressors unless defeat was absolutely sure, or until we achieved victory. Shining Armor was a key role in moral of the troops, he could get the soldiers motivated! I remember him and I visited the crews of one of the sea battles. They were weakened and beaten down from the lifestyle of sea warfare. However he gave a vigorous speech about honor, valor, and defending their homeland that got their spirits up for another battle. I remember reading that their ship went down in the next battle without any survivors...
All and all the first few of the months were a mixed bag. I was secretly hoping that the war would be a back and forth motion of death on both sides. I thought these thoughts however when I looked into the faces of the ponies who actually fought in those battles I felt dreadful as I was the one hoping that they would continue to be slaughtered to save my hide.
However, after three months of fighting throughout the summer a break in the Griffin sea-line was achieved as all ships stormed through their defenses straight towards their homeland of Scythia. The seas touched down of their western shores, finding the remains of the Equestrian settlements in ruin. The Griffin's had ransacked the settlements before their attacks on our shores. They killed most of the ponies and took the rest prisoner for hard labor. The Griffins were ruthless in their fighting and it scared me to no ends.
I was in a boot camp officer outpost about a mile outside of Canterlot. The Fifth Army, my army, had been stationed there since the start of the war. Training and growing, my army was entirely made up of Earth Pony recruits with a few more experienced soldiers here and there. I had read about the victory in the sea the night prior and I was blissfully enjoying my moment of peace before Shining Armor waltzed in with two bodyguards.
"Shining" I said rose and saluted, something I had become quite good at doing despite it feeling entirely foreign.
"BlueBlood" He saluted back, "We set out tomorrow, I just thought I should inform you personally."
"Thank you for informing me, I'll make sure I-we're ready."
He smiled, "We'll all need to be" He mumbled leaving my presence. A slumped down in my chair as I threw my officer helmet across the room. I let time go on forever as I sat in silence, alone with my fears.
Author's Note
So the war begins.
I should say that there will be gore coming up in the story because... You know war is hell! I'm not going to go overboard with it as it isn't the point of the story but War is a major part of it. I just wanted to make sure the readers are informed.
Personal thanks to Sonic Mario3 for informing me of a spelling error in the description.
Also to Romku for translating the story into Russian!
If anyone wants to translate the story into any language it's totally fine as long as you give me credit first, and inform me you're doing so! :D
From One Shore to the Next!
Do you recall reading about those old Equestrian fables as a filly or colt? The ones about StrongHoof and his courageous adventures fighting all kinds of monsters for the sake of just doing it! It taught young colts to be brave and never back down from a challenge. I often thought back to those stories while crossing the Eastern Sea.
I remember the day we took sail. All of the generals gathered at Canterlot Castle for a magnificent ceremony. The navy had done her job, now it was time for the army to finish off the Griffons! That's what the plan was, or at least what the populace thought. The ceremony was spectacular as all of Canterlot's nobility had been there. Most of them didn't sign up... In fact barely anypony that was more than a common horse signed up. This factoid infuriated me because while I had to go experience the bowls of hell all of my friends could live out their lives peacefully in Canterlot, like nothing had happened.
Shining Armor spoke from the Castle balcony as he addressed the crowd, mostly made up of civilians that had come to see the army. Those who were too old or too young to fight stayed home; so did most mares, and parents. Mares that did sign up were respected among everypony back home and they were decorated accordingly. Chancellor Frontline also spoke to the crowd. Going on and on about honor and country pride. Neither of the princesses spoke, this was a common and reoccurring theme. Celestia, too grief struck to speak, often had somepony else speak for her ever since the Declaration of War. No common pony had seen glimpse of the Princesses since then and it was getting to them I'm sure.
The armies were lined up and marched through Canterlot, mine was third behind WindSoar's. The Generals sat in a balcony adjacent to the Castle. We watched as the endless mass of faceless ponies marched forward out of our line of sight. It finally struck me how big the mass of ponies that signed up actually was as this took about an hour to get through all the armies. The marching ponies were met with crowds of cheerful Equestrian citizens. Some were given gifts as they passed by. Those ponies marched all the way to the sea, through the rural towns in between. Finally meeting up at Manehattan to board the ships. I thought it was cruel to make them march all that way in a single day. It was the Chancellor's idea actually. He wanted the soldiers to see all that they were fighting for or something stupid like that. Sure a march was a cakewalk compared to the hell we were about to experience.
I have always really liked the ocean and sailing in general. The sea mist hitting your coat, the smell of the ocean, the sounds of the waves crashing against your ship. All of it was bliss for me, and I often enjoyed when some friends decided to take a sea ride to some distant island resort. This particular time however I enjoyed none of my ride. We, the generals, didn't have to ride on the transport ships with the rest of the soldiers. Instead we got a rather luxurious ship that was bigger and more brash than the rest. Shining Armor thought it was poor design because as he put it "They only have to fire at one boat to take out the engine of the army!".
We were accompanied by Sea Shanty, the Main Admiral of the Equestrian Fleet. He was an older stallion but much stronger and wiser than he looked. He almost always had some sort of pipe gripped between his teeth. His coat was brown in color, but graying, and he had an eye-patch. I assume it was either decoration or maybe a life-long injury but I didn't want to bring up an awkward conversation (I would learn later that he lost his eye due to a Griffin ship raid during one of the many battles of the Eastern Sea).
I tried not to grow attached to any of the other generals. I had two plans in mind: A, they replace me withing the shortest amount of time possible; or B, I die. Either way I had no plans to stick around for too long, so no sense in making friends. WindSoar was one of the few I did converse with however. He mostly kept to himself and wasn't keen on talking to a royal immature party animal like myself but I felt as though he had pity on me and my situation.
One conversation in particular comes to mind, a small little encounter between myself, WindSoar, Sea Shanty, and Shining Armor as we watched the sun rise from the front of the ship.
"Seems wasteful" Sea Shanty muttered to himself looking off at one of the Soldier Transport ships.
"What was that?" Shining Armor spoke turning to face him, intrigued.
"What? Oh... I just said it seems wasteful, is all..." Sea Shanty replied lighting him pipe for the first time of the day.
"Something you find wrong Admiral?" Shining spoke again.
"Just... I don't see the use in wasting good space on Pegasi when they can bleedin' fly! You could fit many more good stallions in the ships if you made the Pegasi use their wings and fly!" Shanty spoke out, waving his hooves about in frustration.
WindSoar chuckled to himself.
"Is there something funny commander?" Shanty spoke, turning to face WindSoar.
"If we could fly across an ocean my kind would of done it a long time ago!" WindSoar spoke bluntly. "And another thing. By the time your wooden rafts you call boats would catch up to us the war would already be over." He spoke again, with a chuckle in his voice. I also laughed at this remark but quickly shut my mouth when both Shining and Shanty glared at me from behind them.
"You can count on a Pegasus to have an exaggerated outlook on their own abilities. You seem to forget who's been doing all the fighting for the past months!" Sea Shanty spat out and everypony held their tongues for a moment.
"You're sacrifice has been noted" I said aloud as the three briefly looked back at me. The area grew quiet with only the sound of the waves crashing against the old wood filling the air.
"Glad somebody appreciates it..." Sea Shanty mumbled to himself.
Nopony spoke a word, as we all peered off into the distance. Endless ocean is all we saw, that's all we had seen for weeks. I had never crossed the whole ocean before and had only seen it on maps in grade school. You never fully realize just how vast the ocean blue is until you've truly crossed it.
I sighed to myself as I peered into the space where the sky and the sea met, way off in the distance.
You know, if you squint just right you can almost sea a-
"LAND HO!" quickly filled the silence. Without skipping a beat I could hear the sound sound of hooves rumbling beneath me as the call woke up the few ponies that were sleeping. My heart sank, and stayed sunk deep inside me as I realized that the D-Day was upon us.
Author's Note
Sorry for me not continuing this chapter. I got writers block for a good while after I wrote the first couple of chapters. I wrote all of those in a matter of days and then I completely lost all creative ability until I was reminded that people actually have read and liked this story so far.
So thanks to the few that have read this story and have enjoyed it thus far. You're the reason I didn't give up and stop right there :D
(Apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes)