27th November 1012
Papers upon papers were laid out across the Princess of the Night's desk. Ranging from supply reports to detailed topography maps of North Western Equestria, they laid on the desk.
Princess Luna chewed on the end of her pen as she tried to think of any idea possible to turn the tide of the war.
The Changelings launched a surprise invasion of Equestria back in the winter of 1010, they pushed the Equestrians as south to the state of Las Pegasus and as east as the Shire. The meek Equestrian Army wasn't able to hold back the initial invasion, it's fifteen Onhooves Divisions weren't enough to hold back the Changeling Blitzkreig. It was only to thanks to the Air Force and the many Militas that were formed that the Changelings were stopped, but the Equestrian High Command knew it wasn't enough. So during the winter of 1011, a full year after the start of the war, they rushed the creation of as much proper divisions as possible, and it paid dividends.
At the start of 1012, the Changelings attempted another offensive to try and capture Las Pegasus. General Zecora was able to defend the city with the newly formed divisons and even pushed back. While the battle did cost plenty of lives, it was a much needed boost for the battered Equestrian populace. Soon after, the now famous Summer Offensive was commenced under Luna's command. Despite being gone for a thousand years, the Princess of Night's tatics of old still played a major role in defeating the Changelings and pushing them back up to the North West.
The Equestrian army was lead not only by Luna, but also by a mix of ponies of many backgrounds joined in to lead the fight back against the Changelings. Some like General August or Zecora, who quickly mastered the art of mobile warfare and some like Soarin and Whiplash who prioritized either air support or artillery in order to push the Changelings back. The Equestrian Army was transformed from a disorganized, underfunded force into an effective defense force within the course of a year.
The Equestrian economy too was transformed. While it was a civilian dominated economy before the war, as soon as the war started. Many companies began switching to military related business in hopes of either helping to defend their homeland or simply profiting off the conflict, whatever the motive was, it helped supplied the Equestrian Army and was one of the reasons that the Summer Offensive was a possibility in the first place.
But despite all these efforts, it would seem that the war had turned into a stalemate once more.
With the Changelings pushed back, they were now much closer to their homeland and was able to bring forth supplies easier. And with them also being pushed into a corner, it was beginning to become harder to preice the enemy lines, never mind launching an offensive. The Changelings also have revamped their Air Force, and the Air Superiority enjoyed by the Equestrians early on the war was being threaten as the RAF battled the CAF in the sky.
Equestria needed to turn the tide again, the longer they waited, the more time Chrysalis is given to recover and launch another offensive back into Equestria.
Luna glared at the maps laid out in front of her, she curse how the landscape was! The rivers flowing through the North West of Equestria were a formidable force to cross, and the Changelings were taking full advantage of it, using the river line as a defensive line to hold back the Equestrians.
General Reese of the Crystallian army attempted a river crossing and it resulted in the deaths of five thousand ponies in a single day! How was that even possible?!
Luna briefly contemplated the idea of a Pegasi offensive over the river before discarding the idea as she remembered that the Changelings had a proper Air Force now.
It was getting frustrating. She wanted to protect her ponies from the Changelings, she wanted to, but she couldn't do anything! The front was getting stagnated and the Changelings seemed to be rebuilding for another offensive if she didn't do something, the ponies of Equestria might be at the possibility of being defeated and subjugated by the Changelings once more!
Knock Knock
The Blue Alicorn turned to face the source of the disturbance, the door to her bedroom-turned-war-room. She checked the time to see it was midday. Huh. Time flies when you were desperately trying to find a way to turn a tide of the war.
"Come in!"
A mare with a grey coat and a mane of black and white entered the room. Luna smiled as she recognized her friend, General August. The young smiled back at Luna as she saluted her CO.
"Anything to report General August?"
August turned to her saddlebags and pulled out a couple of reports and handed them over to Luna. Luna quickly skimmed over the reports. Not good, all stalling and requesting more supplies.
"Blueblood radioed in earlier, says that the his troops are exhausted and that the trucks are out of gas, they're stuck in Applewood for now," reported August.
Luna turned back to one of the supply reports on her desk and levitated at eye level to read it properly, Blueblood won't be getting another shipment till the day after tommorow it seems.
"What about the offensive at the Shire?"
"General Soarin hasn't replied to any of our messages yet, Your Highness,"
Luna turned back to August, with the report in her levitation's grip.
"What about the Crystallian front?"
"They're digging in, Shining Armor radioed in last night," The mare answered, "Their planes can't do as much in a blizzard, he's ordered them to dig in till it clears up, thankfully the Changelings are also forced to dig in,"
The Princess of the Night let out a sigh. The war was stagnating, how much longer was the war going to last?
"General August, I have a question for you, do you have any idea how to break this stalemate?" Luna asked, "We- I cannot find a way to break this deadlock. The longer we sit here the longer we're giving time for the Changelings to recover and launch another attack!"
"Luna," August calmly said, "take a breath in, and out," The General's friend did as she was told, and her breathing went back to normal.
"Thank you, August, any suggestions?"
"Yes, actually," The grey mate pulled out several peices of paper with her hoof from her saddlebags, "General Fallen has a proposal to turn the tide of war, in short he proposes opening up another front,"
Luna quickly faced back at her desk and the maps. The Changelings had roughly 73 divisons along the front, just the about the same to the Equestrians. They had another 14 along the Crystallian Front. If they could chop the numbers down to 50 or 60 on the Main Front, it would be enough for the army to be able to launch an offensive to take back most of if not all of Equestria's occupied territory.
"Huzzah! That it the plan we need! If we open up a second front; we'll be able to push the Changelings out of Equestria and we can hopefully begin an offensive into their lands!" Luna was overjoyed, it seems there was hope to break the stalemate on the front. Until she came to a sudden realization, to open up a second front, you needed to know where it was, and as Luna skimmed across the map, there was no where to open up one. The Yaks were staying out of the war, so were the Polar Bears and the Griffons in Nova Girffonia. It seemed that there was no where to open up the much needed second front.
August, seeing her friend's face of joy turned to that of disappointment and worry, decided to tell her the rest of Fallen's plan.
"General Fallen has proposed opening up a second front, by launching an invasion into Oleni-"
Luna cut in immediately, "We have to push through occupied Equestria if we are to reach Olenia, and that is out of the realm of possibility as we-"
"Via a naval invasion. He wants it to be Hjortland, the former capital of Olenia. Becuase of its distance from the front and the distinct lack of infrastructure leading towards it, the General has seen it as the optimal place for a naval invasion,"
Princess Luna sat there speechless. She turned to the map on her desk, then back to August, then back to the map, and back again to August.
"General?"
"Yes?"
"Tell General Fallen that he's a fucking genius,"
"I will, Princess, I will,"
Several months after the inception of Operation: Overmare, General Fallen was given four marine divisons and one of the new all magical infantry equipment division to initiate the invasion.
Two months of aerial scouting and preparations later, Operation: Overmare was a go.
And with its intiation, the tide of the war was about to change.
7th May 1013
Medical Atlas kept his levitation grip on his Luna Nova rifle as the landing craft rocked sideways from the rough waves of the Olenian seas.
He was part of the 2th Magical Infantry Division, one of the newest and experimental divisons of the Equestrian Army. Armed with the newly developed Luna Novas and possibly a new crystal powered rifle in the near future, the divisons were equipped with some of the best of the Equestrian army.
Before being placed into the divison, he was a front line medic. His knowledge of geography helped him finding suitable places to place wounded soldiers and find herbs and plants needed to cock up some simple medication for the wounded. It came naturally to him.
The higher ups noticed this and ordered him to be moved to the 2nd Magical Infantry Divison to be a field medic, which he realized now was becuase of Operation: Overmare. Command wants the best of the best to help open up the second front.
An explosion knocked Medical out of his thoughts. He looked over just the top of the landing craft to see several Equestrian Battleships unleash another volley of shells on to the Olenian beaches. He followed the trajectory of one as it struck a building on the coast.
"90 Seconds!"
The unicorn checked his rifle again to make sure it was loaded, and he turned back to his medical supplies. Bandages? Check. Morphine? Check. Alcohol? Che-
A shell landed next to the landing craft and pushed Medical against another soldier onto the floor the craft. He got backed up, turning to offer a hoof to the other soldier.
"Bloody hell, I thought they said it was largely undefended?!" A soldier asked.
Medical tried to look over the rest of the soldiers, he couldn't see anything beside their helmets and their rifles.
"Oh Faust, oh fuck, oh Faust, oh fuck," He heard a voice continuously say, he tired to pinpoint who was saying it, but before he could another shell landed near the landing craft, sending waves of water into the craft.
"60 Seconds!"
"You ready chap?"
Medical turned to face the speaker to see the pony he knocked down earlier. She was a pegasi, young by his standards, had a light blue coat and a orange-ish mane. Her eyes shined with the determination almost all recruitment poster models had.
"More than enough, let's hope Faust guides us through this battle," he answered.
The Pegasi simply nodded before facing forwards.
"30 Seconds!"
This was it.
The climax of the invasion.
He and these soldiers were going to land on the beach along with several others and storm the city and open up a second front to turn the tide of war.
He inhaled.
He exhaled.
He inhaled.
He exhaled.
He was not ready for this at all.
"15 Seconds!"
He took a look around him once more, he saw a look of determination in some soldiers' eyes, a look of fear and uncertainty in others, and a mix of both in a few.
Whatever happens here in Hjortland, it will turn the tide.
"WE'RE LANDING EVERYPONY OUT!"
Admiral Midnight looked through her binoculars as the battleships hammered through the coastal forts.
Intel said that Hjortland had minimal defenses on it, but those minimal defenses of three coastal batteries posed a threats to the several dosen landing crafts. A direct hit could mean the death of half a hundred ponies.
She had quickly relegated the aircrafts on her carrier to take out the batteries and any possible artillery positions on the coast. If they are able to take out any and all artillery positions, the invasion force would have an easier time.
She quickly moved her attention to a coastal battery as it was blown up by a shell from a battleship. Two were already down, only one left.
"Where's the battery, where's the battery," she muttered under breath, that last battery still could dish out two shells as the Battleships reloaded.
She finally spotted the last battery. She could vaguely see the outlines of deers and changelings rushing into the battery with ammunition. The admiral shouted orders for the battleships to take the battery out as it fired another shot.
A miss. Thank Faust.
But it fired another shot right after, striking a landing craft right in the middle. Midnight's heart sank just like the craft. Fifty-ish ponies just died.
Immdiately after, the battery was obliterated, erashed from the world by the half dosen shells from the battleships.
"Admrial! All batteries are down! What do we target now!?"
The admiral couldn't shake her thoughts away from the fifty or so ponies who died. Died becuase of her failed command. Died becuase she didn't directed the battleships at the battery. She could saved their lives. She could ha-
The red mare's thoughts were interrupted as her aide slapped her face.
"Midnight! Get a hold of yourself! This is war! Somepony, somewhere will die, no matter what we do, understood?"
Midnight looked into her aide's eyes nodding. "Thanks, now tell the battleships to shell the buildings! Don't give th Changelings any cover to place some more artillery positrons!"
Medical took cover behind some rocks on as a Changeling machine gun nest sprayed his position.
After landing on the beaches, the Lieutanent on the landing craft took charge, quickly leading them up to the cliffs of Hjortland.
He, as the Sergeant, quickly followed him up the cliffs along with the rest of the squad. The other squads rushed up other parts of the cliffs. Gunfire erupting as the ponies fought up the cliffs.
His platoon was pinned due to a MG nest placed right on top of their way up to the top of the cliff side and into Hjortland. His lieutenant was taken out, several dozen bullets to the head made sure of that.
"Sergeant! What do we do!?" Shouted the Pegasus from earlier, she was pinned behind a tree, across the path from his platoon.
Medical checked his platoon to see the rest of them were either taking cover behind rocks or trees.
One, two, three, four, five! They were all accounted for. Someone in his squad should have a grenade...
"Deep!" The medic shouted, hoping that his squad mate could hear him over the sound of the relentless Machine Gun.
An Earth pony poked out from behind his tree cover, "Yeah Boss?!"
"Gimme a grenade!"
As quick as he had ordered, Deep passed a grenade on to him. He quickly pulled the pin and threw over at the MG nest.
He could hear the Changelings shouted as the MG nest exploded in a rage of fire.
"Move up!"
The frontline medic quickly adjusted his Crystal Powered Rifle on any remaining Changelings and said hello to their faces with a blast of magic. It was quite hypocritical of him, a medic taking lives, ah oh well.
His platoon quickly moved up to the former MG nest, checking the Changeling corpses, making sure they were actually dead.
Several planes thundered above. Medical looked up to confirmed that they were Equestrian.
He wondered what the RAF were doing right now...
Temper was not having a good day.
Firstly, she was woken up becuase some her of platoon mates thought it was a good idea to splash cold water on to her while she was asleep.
Secondly, there was no coffee in the Aircraft Carrier's mess hall today.
Thirdly, her left wing's badly damaged from damn Changeling fighter!
She held onto the joystick with all her might, pulling her Spitfire out of the line of another volley of bullets from the Changeling fighter. She had been tailed by this one Changeling fighter since she flew into Hjortland's airspace!
The plane gave out a shudder as she steered her plane on a hard bank in a attempt to flank the pursuing fighter. She fired a volley of bullets at it, but at the last moment the fighter got of her line of sight!
"Fuck!"
She quickly spotted it banking hard to the left, she took chase once more, also banking to the left, but her damaged left wing made sure she couldn't turn that hard.
She spotted the Changeling craft heading for one of the many Equestrian CAS which were delegated to support the invasion. She trained her sights on it just as it swooped in to open fire on the defenseless CAS going into a dive bomb.
TUK TUK TUK TUK TUK TUK TUK
7 or shots from her machine guns took out the Changeling Craft, causing it to fall to the ground.
Temper was just about to celebrate taking out an enemy until she noticed a blinking light on her monitor.
She was out of fuel.
"FUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!"
Medical's face made contact with the hard asphalt as an explosion forced him to duck onto the ground.
His squad has entered the city a few minutes ago and were forced to clear out street by street as the Changeling garrison used the narrow streets to gun down any advancing forces. They were stuck in one of the streets, pinned by another Changeling MG Nest.
If it wasn't for that Aircraft crashing near them, he doubted his squad could have gotten out of their cover.
He held his rifle, checking it to see it was empty and needed another Crystal. He quickly chucked out the empty one and inserted a new Crystal as some of his squad mates move forward, guns pointed ahead.
The city of Hjortland was a sort of combination between Canterlot regelness and the crowded roads of Manehattan. It's streets could only fit one truck at a time, indicating that the city was built in a time before cars and trucks. As they advanced onto the Changeling MG nest, a Deer popped out from behind it.
Medical quickly aimed his rifle at the deer until he realized that the Deer was a mere teenager. Possibly not older than his sister.
"I surrender! Surrender!" The deer shouted. The deer's cracked voice confirmed his suspicions. He was about to lower his rifle when he noticed a small flash of green in the deer's eyes.
The supposed deer went down after a blast to the face, blood coming out of the blast hole. It wasn't red blood, but green. It was a changeling.
"Check the bodies, we can't have an ambush,"
Medical poked his rifle at one of the dead Changelings. It's uniform torned from the shrapnels that entered its body. The Changeling's face was one of terror, as if it saw what was going to happen. It's empty eyes staring ahead. With a brief gush of magic, Medical closed the Changeling's eyes.
If he couldn't save lives, he'll make sure they have a dignified death.
Temper struggled out of her parachute, her earth pony strength helping her cut the wires.
After swearing at fifteen million miles per second, Temper quickly bailed out her plane and opened up her parachute.
She crashed landed in the middle of Hjortland, not a great spot to crash in, but at least the invasion forces could pick her up after.
As she jumped down from the tree she was stuck in, she pulled out her pistol. RAF ponies weren't issued pistols, presumably becuase their job it to use bigger guns on planes to shoot down other planes. But Temper decided it was a good idea to bring her own, just in case she needed it.
And boy did it pay off.
With her pistol in her hoof, she slowly trotted through the alleyway she had crash landed in. Her ears standing at attention for any sounds. She heard some gunfire in the distance, presumably from the clashes between the Ponies and Changelings. There were some birds near her, chirping songs after songs. Their melodies reminded Temper of her home back in Fillydelphia.
The sound of voices chattering quickly interrupted her would be nostalgia. Several voices, two male and one female. The purple coated earth pony hugged the wall of a building, slowly getting closer to the sound of the chattering.
She couldn't understand a word they were saying, but she did hear the word Equestrian mentioned every now and then. As she turned with gun aimed at the source of the chattering, she was met with the shocked faces of two deers with rifles slung over their backs, and a Changeling and a pretty important hat on.
Temper fired without hesitation at their heads, killing them all. She walked over to make sure that she got the Changeling properly before checking back over to the two dead deers.
She made sure her pistol was loaded when her ears caught the footsteps of several hooves right around the corner. She dived for the nearest cover, which was a barrel, and with the pistol in her grip she prepared to face the Changeling troops.
Imagine her surprise when several ponies with the dark green attire of the Magical Infantry Division appeared with their rifles trained on her.
Medical led his squad around the corner when he heard someone unloading three shots. He assumed it was a Changeling taking out a downed pilot. But when they made it around the corner, he saw the corspes of two deers on the floor along with a Changeling in officer attire on the floor dead. Cause of death? Standard bullet wounds to the head. And the shooter would be the Earth Pony hiding behind the only barrel on the street.
Temper and Medical locked eyes. Each boring into each other's souls, waiting for the fateful glow of green to determine whether or not the ponies facing them were a Changeling.
Several minutes passed, though it felt hours. The glow never appeared, and Medical lowered his rifle and offered his hoof.
"Sergeant Medical Atlas of the 28th Squad of the 5th Battalion of the 2nd Magical Infantry Divison,"
Temper slowly walked out from behind her cover and shook hooves with the Sergeant.
"Corporal Temper Night of the 5th Wing of the Carrier Princess Celestia; it's nice to meet you, Sergeant," said Temper with a smile.
Medical returned the smile.
"Same here, Corporal,"