To all Equestrian subjects and soldiers, and to every mare and stallion, no matter their race or station:

‘Tis with the greatest of sorrow and equally great anger that I must confirm that Equestria is now at war. On dawn of September 1st, with only the barest of notice given, the Gryphon Empire launched an unprovoked invasion of our lands, with the stated goal to depose your Princess and destroy our way of life.

‘Tis with regret I must also report that their initial invasion has met with some success. They have already forced back many of our frontier forces and shown no quarter in countless engagements, willing to slaughter to the last pony those who resist them despite their guarantees of mercy and good treatment to civilian and soldier alike.

They have even enlisted the aid of the Diamond Dogs and the merciless Dragon Lord Kalator, whose clan has lowered themselves to besiege Canterlot on the Empire’s behalf, bribed by empty promises of rare riches and supposed revenge. ‘Tis true that they have trapped me here, rendering me unable to aid our armies, able only to protect the Capital.

My ponies, I will not mince words. Our foes are ruthless and numerous. They are skilled and determined. They even wield terrible new weapons we have never seen before, and shown an appalling willingness to both use and abuse them in pursuit of their dishonorable ends.

But they are not unstoppable. We have faced their ilk before and have always triumphed. Over the long history of our great nation, we have fought and vanquished the Spursians, the Overmare, and even the mighty Crystal Empire. We have defeated dragons and tamed Ursas; we have brought down evil Kings and magical beings, triumphed over all adversaries from Sombra to Tirek. For all their power and for all their soldiers, they could not conquer us. And ‘tis certain that in the end, neither will the Gryphons.

To all who watch from afar and believe the Imperial fiction that this invasion is somehow justified, make no mistake: This is a war of aggression and conquest, little more than an attempt to replace Equestrian primacy on our continent with their own. I would not give their war declaration or ludicrous list of grievances the dignity of a response, except to note the following:

• For over a century, we have tolerated the presence of the Empire and their colonies on this continent despite the dozens of deaths they inflicted on our border settlements every year.

• For over a century, we have offered the Empire friendship and treaties with generous terms, offered them trade and a demilitarized border only to be ignored.

• For over a century, we have shown the greatest of restraint in the face of numerous provocations, only engaging in retaliation as a last resort.

• And for over a century they have refused all our entreaties out of envy or foalish pride, believing a race of herbivores beneath them; that the civilization we have forged is somehow an affront to their very existence.

The time for talk is over. The time for diplomacy has passed. There will be no negotiations. There will be no surrender. I call now upon all ponies to rise up in Equestria’s name and fight the invaders; to show them the power of friendship and harmony when wielded in our beloved nation’s defense.

• To our subjects, I call upon you to show the tribal unity that defeated the Windigos and turned hate into harmony, to enlist or otherwise support the war effort however you can.

• To our soldiers, I call upon you to stand fast in the face of gryphon aggression; to show the courage of Commander Hurricane, the skill of Starswirl, and the strength of Ironheart.

• To our friends and allies, and even to neutral powers who are unsure, we call upon you to aid us in our struggle, for Equestria will not be the last target of an aggressive Gryphon Empire.

• To all my beloved and precious ponies, I call upon you to fight for your friends, for your families, and for friendship itself.

• And to our enemies, I advise you to abandon this war quickly, or you will yet face my fury when I break free of your evil and cruel trap.

To all reading, know I am a peaceful pony by nature; I take no pleasure in death or killing. But I am well-versed in military affairs; be assured that I will find a way to save my ponies and my nation.

To the Imperial leadership, you have made a grave mistake, and be also assured that although you may have started this conflict, that Equestria will finish it.

Know that for your innumerable crimes, for your deception, for your dishonorable and ruthless tactics, and for the lives of my ponies you have taken, my wrath will be terrible and I will do my utmost to crush your armies utterly. And our terms of peace will be both simple and brutal:

The total destruction of the Gryphon Empire and expulsion of her colonies from this continent.

Signed,

—Celestia Daybringer
Princess of the Sun
Diarch of Equestria

Done this day of September 2nd in Canterlot, By order of the Solar Crown and by acclaim of the Equestrian High Council, witnessed by the military service heads and attested to by the duly elected representatives of the United Pony Tribes,

For our lands,
For our families,
For our friends,
For our way of life,
And for the causes of Friendship and Harmony itself:

The Dominion of Equestria declares War on the Gryphon Empire, their allied Diamond Dog tribes and the Kalator dragon clan.

Author's Note

Welcome to the end of release week! Been a hell of a ride to start given we were basically shot right out of a cannon and into the war proper! But it’s a bittersweet moment as well, given that with the release of this bonus section, we have reached the end of the pre-prepared chapters. From here forward, expect a more regular pace of one to two new chapters per month, and that the chapters will lengthen. It’s my philosophy to start with smaller chapters to ease readers into a new story, as I think larger chapters are a turn-off at the start.

Regardless, hope you’ve enjoyed the ride thus far! Plenty more is planned, and major fights lie ahead. It’s been a successful release, and one I’ll have more to say about in a blog post later, but for now, I’d just like to thank everyone who’s come aboard and better yet, gone back to read the original story as well. Rise of Firefly has picked up 12 fresh likes since the new story was released. I might well have some additional bonus material to release there as well...

Nothing else to say at this point except offer yet another huge thank-you to my entire production crew of prereaders AJ_Aficionado, SilentWoodfire, TheGoldCrow, Denim_Blue, and co-author Leo Archon, who have all done their part to make sure this story was as polished as possible upon launch. Love you guys and thanks again!