Equestria: New Dawn

“With the authorization of New Dawn Protocol, Equestria will be restoring its standing military along with defense industry capabilities. Additionally, the creation of Tier-One level special purpose forces will be established under the name of 1st SPRD-Delta, attached to Task Force 19. Information regarding this unit is strictly on a need to know basis. Any dissemination of material regarding either the Task Force or 1st SPRD-Delta will result in immediate ‘silencing’ of loose ends.”

-Memo from Cmdr. Boulder to Princess Celestia

CC: Princess Luna

●●●

To Twilight Sparkle,

It is with great sorrow that I am writing to you, Ms. Sparkle. Our nation is on the precipice of an all out war with a determined enemy that has shown no remorse for the recent attacks on Equestria. I understand that you are one of the leading experts behind the research of idiosyncratic science and magic, something the new Defense Ministry finds to be useful in protecting the soon-to-be protectors of Equestria.

I also happen to know that your brother, Capt. Shining Armor, may have inadvertently discussed classified material with you. While I understand that at the time, it was not known such information was off the record, I cannot allow for any ‘loose ends.’ It would be a shame to have to silence such a creative and gifted mind such as yours. But I am sure that we won’t have to resort to that.

I myself would like to meet with you in person to discuss what our military will need to give us the edge against the Changelings. You will have access to the newest and most advanced technologies along with the best scientific minds Equestria has to offer. Additionally, you will have the honor of leading a technological revolution as well as protecting the ponies of Equestria.

The meeting will take place in the Palace at Canterlot. You will not only be meeting with me, but both Princesses. Arrive no later than 2300 hours outside the main gate. A Royal Guard will escort you to the meeting location. Tell no one.

I know you will do what is right. ‘Quod alii vivere.’

Sincerely,

Equestrian Defense Force,

Cmdr. Rough Boulder

●●●

Twilight read over the letter. Was he threatening her? ‘Silencing such a creative and gifted mind?’ What in Celestia’s name was he suggesting? Killing her if she didn’t cooperate with his plans? No, that’d be ridiculous, Twilight, she thought to herself. There’s no way that Boulder would do something like that, would he? She wasn’t so confident about that idea. Twilight looked to her mentor. “Princess, what should I do? I’m not comfortable with the idea of creating technologies to help destroy lives.”

Princess Celestia sighed. “Twilight, perhaps you need some time to think about what the Commander is saying. I would suggest reading up on his history in the archives. There’s quite a large section dedicated to what he has done.”

“And how, exactly, does that help my present situation?” quipped Twilight with annoyance. Princess Celestia backed up in surprise. “I’m sorry Princess, I’m just a little stressed out after what my brother told me, and now this,” she said holding up the letter from Boulder.

“I understand,” replied the Princess. “But you have to think about it in terms of wartime, Twilight. This is no longer a simple threat posed by just one individual such as Discord or Nightmare Moon. We’re fighting an ideology, one that wishes to eliminate Equestria for good no matter the cost. You need to look at this in terms of saving our citizen’s lives. Quod alii vivere, so that others may live.”

Twilight looked out from the balcony overlooking the city. A mother was cradling her crying foal. Two fillies were playing in the street. A mare and stallion were sharing a meal together, seemingly lost in each other’s eyes with passion. “I think I understand what you mean, Princess,” said Twilight “But I need to find out more about the Commander before I help him. I’m not just going to jump hoof first into something I don’t want to be a part of.” Twilight trotted to the door.

“I’ll see you at the meeting, Twilight.” The door closed behind the Princess’ star student. Celestia sighed again. Times had certainly changed, she thought.

As Twilight hurried to the Royal Archives, she couldn’t help but think of what the Commander and the Princess had written and spoken, respectively. Quod alii vivere, so that others may live. Did that phrase suggest killing others so the ones you love may live? Or perhaps it meant to sacrifice one’s self for others? She pondered both interpretations for a while before deciding that it must be a combination of both, to be willing to kill or to sacrifice to protect those a pony loved.

Twilight arrived at the Royal Archives faster than she had anticipated. She trotted over to the archival index to search for anything on Commander Boulder, or as he was known in the past, Lieutenant Colonel Boulder. Taking a quick glance at the clock, she only had a few hours to read up on this pony. But she had studied more advanced materials other than the history of somepony, thought Twilight.

After writing down the locations of books on the subject of Boulder and the Separatist movement, Twilight trotted from shelf to shelf, gathering as many books as she could feasibly read on the subject. Collecting a little over twenty books and scrolls, Twilight sat down to read.

She scanned through each book. Almost none providing an unbiased view of the Commander, portraying him as an evil pony for trying to overthrow the Princesses. Not that Twilight disagreed from what he had written to her. Honestly, she thought, who goes around threatening ponies into helping them achieve a goal? Twilight scoffed. She was down to the last two scrolls. One in particular caught her attention, LTC. Boulder and the Separatist Movement; for the Greater Good. Perhaps this offered some different insight, she hoped.

While many consider the disgraced and former commander of the Royal Guard’s 1st Battalion to be an evil stallion. I myself, do not. Many who read this statement will most likely protest to great lengths but I urge you to not be like those other irrational ponies who do not think before they speak about a subject they have no real experience in.

I served on the Royal Guard under the command of Boulder as a Staff Officer and knew him to be a strong leader, compassionate and competent. Not a typical personality type associated with officers, as many of the enlisted Guards will tell you.

But I also knew the Lieutenant Colonel as a friend. Already I can hear someponies screaming out the word ‘bias,’ but after all those other books and scrolls on the subject are pretty well one sided too. But to continue, Boulder had a very difficult youth growing up in a poor family in the city of Canterlot where he was bullied to no end in school. One of the last to get his cutie mark in his class, he endured much harassment throughout his years. Boulder enlisted in the Royal Guard to help his family’s name become more than what they were currently. During his time at basic training, Boulder’s father, a veteran of the Royal Guard killed himself in a drunken stupor one night. His mother fell into a deep depression that she never came out of and eventually withered away. The commanding officer in charge of running recruit training never let Boulder see his family during this time.

Despite this terrible situation, Boulder never let his emotions show until after graduating basic. During a routine foot patrol through the city, his unit came across the district he used to live in. There, Boulder saw the poverty and despair he sought to escape not too long ago. To him, the Royalty and the privileged ponies of Canterlot lived in utter ignorance to the situation in their own city. He used to spend hours talking to me about how he had come up with a proposal in which the people could be represented and give their input to how things were being run. It was a fascinating concept, no doubt and I urged him to seek an audience with Princess Celestia. She never replied to his letters.

I assume Boulder must have been bitter about being brushed off like that. He had gone through enough of that through childhood and didn’t want to be pushed around anymore. He told me he wanted to make a difference as to how Equestria was run. He was going to change things, Boulder would say.

I felt truly sorry for my friend, knowing his situation and as to how the Princess has simply ignored a simple request to speak with her. But unbeknownst to myself or anypony else for that matter, Boulder began assembling a unit loyal to him. Separatists they called themselves. Their goal was to take the Canterlot Palace by force and hold the location until either the Royal Guard stood down or the Princess herself allowed for the policy changes for a representative rule by the ponies.

It was February 13th when Boulder’s plan was finally executed. His forces easily overpowered the unprepared Royal Guard protecting the Palace walls. They came storming into the operations room in the Palace, where I was at the time. Boulder asked for my help, but I couldn’t. I was too much of a coward to help my friend. When I declined his offer, he simply nodded and left the room while his troopers secured the rest of us loyal to the Princess.

Never had I seen such advanced military hardware that the ponies of the Separatists where using. Some were wearing an advanced weapons system suit called SUPER or something similar. Others were using strange vehicles that were equipped with heavy weapons of some sort that punched through the armor of those who tried to resist with force. Most were utilizing a bizarre armor that could take the majority of the damage our weapons would cause. Needless to say, the Royal Guard was up against a technologically superior and a far better trained opposing force.

The fact that the outcome turned out as it did, with the Royal Guard as the victor is simply a miracle. A new Lieutenant fresh out of Officer Candidate Training by the name of Shining Armor led the counter-attack against the Separatists. It was honestly an assault with no real planning behind it. The Royal Guard commanders were simply relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm the Separatist forces. As luck would have it, the ‘plan’ if a pony could call it that, worked. But militarily, it was a huge defeat for the Royal Guards. Many of their own in the counter-attack were killed with over 85 killed and an additional 126 wounded. The Separatists sustained only minimum casualties thanks to Boulder’s brilliant tactical planning, with 28 wounded, none killed. The single biggest cause for the defeat of the Separatist movement was that they ran out of ammunition.

After the Separatists surrendered to the Royal Guard, Princess Celestia herself came out of the panic room in her chambers to see the leader of this attempted coup. She was simply horrified at the violence that had taken place not too long ago but couldn’t help but notice how hard the ponies of the Separatist movement fought. Instead of imprisoning them, like many ponies at the time wished, she exiled them to the mountains of Equestria where they disappeared.

All of the violence and bloodshed, while seemingly unnecessary, was an acceptable part of Boulder’s plan. For the greater good of the people. That’s all he wanted, to make life better for those who lived like he used to. So that others may live.

Twilight looked once again at the clock; she had only a few minutes to get to the main gate. Using her magic, she rapidly placed the books and scrolls back on albeit, the wrong shelves. She trotted out of the archive with a new found yet odd respect for Boulder. “Quod alii vivere,” she muttered to herself as she galloped away from the archives.

●●●

“Thank you,” Twilight said to the Guard as he closed the door behind her. Or not I suppose, she thought.

“Have a seat Ms. Sparkle,” a voice in the room said. Twilight turned to see Princess Celestia, Luna and Commander Boulder sitting before her. “Have you made your decision? Will you help us? Will you help Equestria?” asked Boulder.

Twilight looked at the three faces staring at her, awaiting her response. The princesses looked hopeful. As for the Commander, she couldn’t see any sign of emotion. “I accept your offer, Commander.” The faces of the Princesses beamed with optimism, and if she wasn’t mistaken, a smile curled on the corner of the Commander’s mouth. “On one condition!”

Boulder raised his eyebrows. “Ms. Sparkle, I don’t believe that you’re in any position to be bargaining here.”

“I want the design blueprints to the equipment and weapons designs used during your assault on the Palace.”

The Commander looked slightly awkward now. He coughed nervously, “Uh, I don’t believe I’m presently at liberty to discuss such matters.”

“Commander Boulder, please! If we can mass produce the weapon, vehicle, and armor concepts that you and your soldiers used and perhaps improve on the current designs, we can get an edge on the Changelings!”

Glancing at the Princesses, Boulder asked “Do you really think you can improve on the design concepts, Ms. Sparkle?”

“Absolutely! With a little bit of time, I’m sure we can make the platforms at least twenty percent more efficient.”

He was now visibly smiling, observed Twilight. “If you can deliver what you promise, then you have yourself a deal, Ms. Sparkle.” Boulder stood up to shake her hoof. “Oh, and can I ask you one thing, Ms. Sparkle?”

“Of course!”

“I’ll get you those designs, but I need you to work on an IFF system for me.”

“A what, now?” inquired Twilight.

“Excuse me,” chuckled Boulder, “I guess I just assume everypony knows the military terms I use so frequently. I sometimes forget other ponies don’t know what I’m talking about. IFF is short for Identification Friend or Foe. I need you to find a way to create an IFF tab system for the soldiers that will be fighting. You know how the Changelings will adapt to look like somepony else and it can get confusing.” Twilight was beginning to understand where this was heading. “On the battlefield the last thing I want  is accidental fratricide. If you can make it so that the IFF tabs are nearly impossible to replicate and are unique to the operator, it’ll make fighting these things much easier.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “You have my word, Commander.”

“The Princesses will escort you to your new labs in Ponyville. Your co-workers will be arriving in the morning.” Boulder trotted out of the room.

Princess Luna asked Twilight using her normal speaking voice, “We were so worried that you wouldn’t take his offer. What changed your mind?”

“I did a little reading on his background, and kept an open mind” said Twilight as the three of them began to walk towards the door. “So that others may live.” Princess Celestia grinned.

●●●

“CHASER! GET OFF MY WALL!” screamed the Senior Drill Instructor. Chaser struggled to pull herself up. Just an hour into training and she was already getting smoked. “GET OFF THE WALL!” the Senior DI wasn’t letting up on her.

“AYE, SIR!” she screamed back. Chaser hauled herself up over the top of the obstacle. Thank Celestia, she thought. She felt a sharp pain in her chest as the Senior DI kicked her off the top as hard as he could. She hit the ground with a hard thud. What just happened?

“GET ON THE WALL, CHASER! I GOT ALL DAY, BABY! ALL DAY!” he screamed at her. Looking around her Chaser saw that the other ponies were having an equally difficult time. From what she could see, Nova was stuck on the log hurdles while Flare was still doing pushups with a DI’s hoof on his back. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, MAGGOT? GET UP THE WALL ALREADY! OR DO I HAVE TO COME DOWN THERE AND GET YOU MYSELF?!” She began climbing back up the wall and once she reached the top, again Chaser was kicked off by the Senior DI.

“What the hell…” muttered Chaser. She quickly got off her back and began climbing back up the obstacle. She stopped just shy of the top, glaring at him.

“YOU SCARED, BITCH?!” The DI spat in her face. With a loud roar, Chaser grabbed his hoof and pulled as hard as she could. The weathered stallion let out a surprised shout before hitting the deck below. Chaser pulled herself up to the top and beamed with glee. I did it! She thought, I beat the obstacle! She suddenly felt heavy breathing on the back of her mane. Chaser turned to see the DI glaring at her. Ah horse-feathers.

He grasped her by the mane and pulled her forward so they were eye to eye. “When I’m through with you,” he whispered, “You’re going to wish you were never born. A trip to hell will seem like a vacation.”

Chaser swallowed the lump in her throat nervously.  “Uh, sorry ‘bout that sir.” He smiled dangerously.

“Oh you will be” he said before kicking her off the obstacle once more. By the time Chaser recovered from the fall, the Senior DI was already on the deck casually walking over to her. “Good work, by the way,” he said with a hushed tone before striking her with all his strength in the gut. The last thing Chaser saw as her world went black was him walking away.

●●●

As Twilight sauntered into the new lab, ‘amazed’ couldn’t even begin to describe as to how she felt at that moment. All of the best technologies of Equestria were now at her disposal, and soon the best minds as well. She smiled, and began to work on the Identification Friend or Foe system. This was going to be awesome.