Prologue: An Unforgettable Day.
June 11th, 1029 PC, 10:19AM.
The village-turned-city of Ponyville was livelier than usual. Besides the normal hustle and bustle of farmers going about with their families. Self-walking carts carried crop harvests into town piloted by earth ponies. Flying zeppelins sailed over the town. Equestrian guards wearing blue uniforms and custodian helmets went about guiding traffic away from the central avenue of town with a noticeable bounce in their steps.
A parade of cars and mechanical giants slowly made their way down the arterial road of the city, flanked on either side by rows of marching soldiers as trumpets and horns blasted national anthems for all to hear. In the open-topped front car of the parade sat Celestia and Luna, waving to their people as the ponies watching let out a roar of adulation and praise. This was their first real public appearance in over twenty years, and there was no doubt that their people had missed them.
Equestrian soldiers wearing brilliant sky blue and pink uniforms marched alongside them, bolt action rifles held on their shoulders. Though it was likely they wouldn't have to use them, especially due to the magical prowess of the alicorns, it never hurt to be prepared for the worst. That, however, didn't stop them from being slightly less than disciplined, chatting with one another as they marched, and waving to the crowd alongside their princesses. Rose petals rained down from above as Equestrians in taller houses threw flowers before the parading soldier's hooves.
Two cars, side by side, followed behind the retired diarch's automobile, similarly open-topped. In one car sat the royal family of the Crystal Empire. While the Prince and Princess themselves sat in the back, quietly waving to their people, Flurry Heart herself stood atop the passenger seat next to the driver, her horn ignited with magic. She threw her hands out in an exaggerated movement as magical beams of light shot up into the sky above her, exploding into brilliant showers of colors, which only heightened the mood of awe in the crowd.
"You know, you really don't have to get so extravagant," Shining Armor called out to his daughter with a smile on his face. "I'm sure Twilight already has plenty of fireworks already planned."
Flurry Heart spun around to him, a smirk on her face. "I know, Dad. But, who am I to deny my people a good time?"
The car next to it was occupied by the five former elements of harmony and their families, smiles plastered on their faces in spite of the crowded vehicle. Most of the elements happily gave their attention to the crowd, Pinkie herself even tossing hands full of sweet candies to them as they passed.
As the parade progressed the columns of Equestrian soldiers were replaced by marching griffins. They wore shirts of boiled leather over blue overcoats, plumed helmets, or morions sitting on their heads. Though the Kingdom of Gryphonstone had only recently been reunited after centuries of collapse, the Gryphonian Soldados were already a disciplined and loyal force dedicated to the defense of the king and country. Said King himself, King Grover IV, sat in a car in the middle of his formation of guards, bracing himself on a cane as the car rolled down the street. He wore a navy blue officer's uniform with white pants, as well as a black coat and the golden crown of Grover I on his head. A blue griffin in an equestrian uniform walked alongside the car, hands behind his back as he kept pace with the vehicle.
"Admittedly, I don't understand why you Equestrians are so obsessed with rituals such as this," Grover said to Gallus, staring him down out the corner of his eye. "I do enjoy a little ceremony here and there, every king does, but this seems somewhat... extravagant."
"Ponies like flashy colors sir," Gallus said with a smile as he watched a flower petal drift down from above landing on King's shoulder. Grover grunted and quickly brushed it off.
"You should come back to us one day, son," Grover said quietly. "You seem very out of place as is."
"I think I prefer things as they are sir," Gallus said with a nod. "Besides, I have grown quite used to the constant parties they throw. I think I'd miss them back in Gryphonstone."
The parade continued on its relentless progression, griffin soldados were replaced by towering yak cossacks with their signature ax guns, then changeling soldiers in their insect-like armor, then finally hippogryph marines in their purple and cerulean uniforms. The rear of the parade of Equestrian allies was backed by two massive armored dragons who towered over even the biggest of Equestrian mechs, the 15-foot-tall dragonlord Ember being a mere blue spec on one of their backs.
Finally, came the last of the brigades of soldiers. The Deer of Cervinija. They wielded bolt-action rifles similarly to the ponies and wore white and cyan uniforms, and shiny white Adrian Helmets that glittered in the sun as they marched, holes cut in them to allow their antlers to emerge. All of them proudly held their heads high as they marched through the city. Instead of a car, like most of the others had arrived in, the Deer Dignitaries sat in a closed-topped walker, four legs stomping as it pushed through the city streets. The mech had a rounded body, almost looking like a sideways can, with tinted windows on the sides allowing the occupants to see outside, but preventing them from being seen themselves. Two antlers thrust from the front of the mech, almost resembling tusks.
The walker was one of the many designs of mechs, this one a non-combat civilian model, which was usually in the minority. Though most countries had little in the way of military war mechs, all but the most ludic of peoples valued the security they offered. Cervinija had invented the mechs in the first place, but their current ruler, Kralj Los IV, had happily shared the technology for them with Equestria and its allies... a move that some considered deeply misguided.
The second-born prince of Cervinija sat in one of the passenger seats of the mech, glancing between his fellow occupant and a briefcase sitting next to him. The prince wore a simple tuxedo suit and dress pants. His fellow occupant wore a white officer's uniform, a short shako cap, cyan pants, and a cyan cape. He held a cane in his hands which he slowly tapped on one of his hooves as if he was counting towards something.
"Do you have all of your... affairs... in order?" He spoke in the Cervinijan language, prompting the Prince to turn his gaze to him, shaking slightly.
The prince nodded as the mech slowly came to a stop, lowering down as the door to their side started to open.
"Yes."
June 11th, 1029 PC, 10:31AM.
Twilight was positively giddy as she watched the last of her guests leave their vehicles and walk up the red carpet that lead to her castle's front door. She let out a content sigh as she turned away from the window and made to walk to the meeting hall, running her hand along the crystalline walls.
Admittedly, her time ruling in Canterlot had been short. She never much liked the stuffy atmosphere in the Equestrian Palace, and had been wishing for a return to Ponyville from the very beginning. She still found it rather embarrassing how long it took her to realize that, since she was the Princess in charge of all of Equestria, she could have moved the capital at any time. And so she did, taking her entire court with her to Ponyville.
It had actually worked out rather well for her, all things considered. Ponyville was in a much more centralized location than Canterlot, It's nature as a small village left it much more open for expansion than Canterlot ever was, which in hindsight was perfect thanks to the Industrial Revolution granted by her partnership with the Cervinijan Kralj.
Spike was waiting for her just around a corner. The dragon was wearing an Equestrian soldier's uniform, pink and sky blue. He gave her a nod, tipping his hat as he did. "Twilight," He said with a smile.
"Spike," Twilight responded, nodding back at him. He quickly turned to follow after her as she walked past.
"So. Are you ready for today's meeting?" He asked her, arms crossed over his chest.
"I've been ready for months." She chuckled, her gaze turning towards the drake.
"You do tend to over-prepare," Spike said with a laugh. "Need someone to bounce the points you plan on raising off?"
"Hmmm. Well..." Twilight said, tapering off.
They were both stopped when a pinkish-purple unicorn with yellow hair stepped in front of them. She was wearing a formal dress, made for her by Twilight's friend, Rarity.
"Princess," She said, giving a small curtsy as she did.
"Luster?" Twilight asked with a raise of her eyebrows. "I thought you couldn't make it?"
The other unicorn shrank slightly under her gaze. "Yes... I do have a lot of studying I needed to do, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet my teacher's teacher. I couldn't pass it up."
Twilight smiled slightly, walking up to her student and pulling her into a hug. "I'm glad you came. I think Celestia is going to love you." She said with a laugh.
"I certainly hope so Princess," her student replied. "So, what is this meeting about again, I'm sorry I got caught up in my reading and didn't really..." She trailed off, a blush coming to her face.
"Pay attention?" Spike chuckled.
"Yes..." Luster responded, shrinking under his gaze.
Spike merely turned to Twilight and smirked. The alicorn awkwardly chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. She happily sighed and shook her head with closed eyes.
Twilight turned to continue her walk, her two companions flanking her on either side.
"Well, there are a variety of reasons," she explained, quickly hoping to change the focus of the conversation. "First and foremost, artifacts have gone missing across all of Equestria. The same ones Cozy Glow used twenty years ago to almost eradicate all magic on the planet. The only one we definitively know the location of is the crown of Grover, which is why I invited the griffin king, so we could borrow and safeguard it."
"And you're sure Grover would accept us taking the crown? Remember how hard it was to convince the Parliament of Canterlot to give it back in the first place." Spike said, rubbing his chin.
"Yes," Twilight said, with a sigh. "I remember Spike."
"Do you have any idea who could be behind it?" Luster asked, chewing on her thumb, worry written on her face. "Because that could be very bad."
"No. I even had Discord scan the entire world with his chaos magic. He didn't find them at all. Now the klutzy draconeques has himself convinced that aliens stole the artifacts and is going to be running around in space for the foreseeable future." She sighed, rubbing her temple.
"Wait, he couldn't find them anywhere on the planet?" Luster asked eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, but there are more easily explained rationales for that beyond 'aliens stole them,'" Twilight said, shaking her head. "For instance, they could be kept around the same black stones as Chrysalis's throne was made of. Or, they could be being kept in a lead box."
Luster nodded along as she spoke. "And Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek are all still stuck as statues?"
"Yes. I even went to the Canterlot Gardens myself to double-check. It looks like it," she spoke, arms behind her back. "Part of the reason I requested to have this meeting on the twentieth anniversary of my coronation is to make sure Celestia and Luna have no excuse but to show up. Then I might be able to ask them if there is yet another aforementioned thousand-year-old threat to Equestria we haven't seen yet."
"Typical Twilight," Spike rolled his eyes. "Even on a holiday you never stop working. I thought we fixed that years ago."
"This could be an Equestrian ending threat, Spike," Twilight replied, furrowing her brows. "I think that excuses me."
"Fair," He sighed. "But be careful not to overwork yourself. I doubt Equestria could survive without you."
June 11th, 1029 PC, 10:45AM.
Shining Armor sighed as he walked through the halls of the Crystal Tree. Surprisingly, he hadn't actually been in here too many times. Most of the time when he and Twilight met up they did it at a restaurant or in the Crystal Palace in the Crystal City, and those few times they had actually met up here it had been in the map room which was smack dab next to the entrance. This dang tree had so many winding corridors - most of which he was sure were never used - and it was quite easy to get lost.
And he couldn't really ask a guard for directions. Twilight kept sparingly few of those around - so far as he knew only Captain Gallus was in her presence for extended periods of time - having them mostly stationed throughout Ponyville and up in the Canterlot Palace which had since been taken over by the Equestrian Parliament.
Shining grit his teeth and sucked in a breath. The Equestrian Parliment... There were sparingly few kind things he could say about the Parliament. Formed equal parts by the Equestrian Nobility and a new class that had recently sprung up. With industrialism came a new philosophy previously unheard of in the artisian-based economy of Equestria. Now, for every Carasoul Boutique, there were a dozen factories churning out cheaper - but far less stylish - clothing. And these factories were headed by industrialists who had an ever-growing influence on the governance of the country.
The two groups had joined together, forming a political block powerful enough to challenge the princesses themselves. By forming a democratically elected parliament, Twilight had hoped to satisfy both them and the common people. She did, but she had sacrificed much of her personal control over Equestria in so doing. Shining was always more of a military leader than a political one, and had been forced to watch from the sidelines as the political power of the princesses - which prosperously had guided Equestria for over a thousand years - was chipped away by greedy industrialists and shortsighted nobles.
He sighed and shook his head. He knew, though, that the Alicorns would outlive the Parliament. And perhaps in time, Twilight would dissolve it... or better yet it would be staffed with politicians that actually cared about the people rather than their own self-influence and pockets. Still, he acknowledged that that would probably happen past his time...
The unicorn stopped, blinking twice. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had forgotten what he was looking for. He paused to scratch his chin.
"What was I doing again?" he muttered before it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Right."
Shining sighed once again as he turned and continued to march through the halls of the Castle, this time his mission clear. He was looking for his daughter. He shook his head. That alicorn had had an adventurous streak in her that had never disappeared since her youth. It was always 'love of the people' this and 'I wanna be like Auntie Twilight' that.
Of course, he loved her to death, but sometimes that attitude of hers was... vexing, to say the least.
He suddenly heard a voice when he turned a corner. His ears shot up as he tried to pick it out, initially thinking it was his daughter's, but that ended the second she heard the tone... and especially the words they were saying. He turned a corner and came face to face with the Prince of Cervinija, who was notably clutching a briefcase to his chest, and one of the generals of that nation... the ones who always gave him the creeps.
He pursed his lips as he waited for them to finish their conversation, in a language he didn't understand in the slightest. They seemingly hadn't noticed him yet either.
"Tvoj otac nema snage uma da ovo učini. Prisilio nam je ruku," the general spoke, his arms clasped behind his back as he cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. "Tvoj će sin biti siguran ako učiniš kako mi zapovijedamo."
The prince gulped, holding the briefcase closer to his chest. "Razumijem."
Shining Armor cleared his throat and instantly they both wheeled around to stare at him. The general grimaced slightly at the sight of him, while the prince's eyes widened.
"I hope I am not interrupting anything gentle colts but," he started. They both tensed up as he spoke. "But have either of you seen my daughter?"
Instantly the mood brightened as the general straightened up and smiled. He spoke up in a richly accented voice. "Oh no, unfortunately not," he said with a smile. "But, I did hear talking of some kind, in that big room with all the windows, you can start there."
"Thanks," Shining said with a sigh, that was on the other side of the castle. "I probably should have started there huh?"
The general nodded. "Personally I would have," he said as he started to walk away. "Now, this meeting of yours is rulers only, so I am on my way to find somewhere to eat. Keep the prince safe for me would you?"
Shining nodded, turning to look at the prince, who was shaking, pulling the briefcase even closer to his chest. "Uh yeah, sure. I'll take him to the meeting hall, it's on the way to where I was going."
The general paused, giving the prince a salute. "Cervinija ti zahvaljuje na tvojoj žrtvi" He said, before spinning on his hooves and walking away from them, arms behind his back.
Shining blinked twice as he walked away, raising an eyebrow. Then he shrugged, turning over to the prince. The deer was still shaking.
"You ok?" he asked. The prince nodded.
"Y... yes. My apologies, I am just worried about this meeting," he said simply, straightening his back.
"Ah, don't be," Shining said waving his arm through the air. "You're gonna be in the same room as 5 alicorns, and all the strongest leaders from all over the world. You'll be fine."
The deer nodded. "We can only hope."
June 11th, 1029 PC, 11:24AM.
Gallus hummed to himself as he walked the streets of Ponyville. His arms behind his back, and his wings neatly folded above them. Though he was an Equestrian now, he still felt a great responsibility toward the safeguarding of the gryphon king... maybe it was just a racial thing.
Now, however, he was safe with his elite guards in the Royal Reception Room alongside his main charge Princess Twilight Sparkle. He was probably safer in there with her than anywhere else on the planet. Instead, he had an appointment with several other people who had arrived with the royal procession. He turned his gaze to a corner restaurant, which featured an outdoor patio that had a perfect picturesque view of the Crystal Tree at the center of the city.
"Captain Gallus," A waiter gave him a slight bow as he approached. "Same seat at the bar again, sir?"
"No actually, White Light. Table for six, please." The gryphon said with a nod, scanning the area around him.
The waiter nodded, quickly leading Gallus over to a chair, and placing out six menus, before giving a slight bow and walking away. Gallus took his seat and waited, he didn't bother opening his menu, he had been here enough times to know exactly what he wanted.
"Gallus! Hey!" A voice suddenly rang out. The gryphon turned his gaze to see a greenish pony running at him. He was wearing an oil-stained pair of overalls over a white mechanic's shirt, and a hat. The stallion waved over at him, before buckling over slightly, panting to himself as he entered the restaurant's patio area.
Gallus raised his eyebrows slightly, glancing down to a watch on his wrist. "Sandbar!" he said, standing up and walking over to the stallion, shaking his hand. "I'm impressed! You actually made it here early for once."
Sandbar panted as Gallus lead him to the table and sat him down. "S-sorry about that..." He grunted between hard breaths.
"What are you apologizing for, I'm actually pretty happy about that," He chuckled. "So, what's the occasion."
"Yona had a last-minute job getting some rich guy's strider out of a ditch for him, sent me to reserve us a table and meet you." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "She'll be here soon."
Gallus smirked. "You know, when you told me that Yona wanted to get you and the kids into the mech industry I was a little concerned, but you guys seem to be taking it like pegasi to clouds."
"Yeah, I know... I dunno man, mechanics, and stuff... just fun to work with ya know?" Sandbar replied, taking a sip of his water. "Oh, and Yona and the kids... man, if they had cutie marks it'd be in piloting mechs for sure."
Gallus nodded. "I can guess as much," he replied handing the stallion a menu. "You guys still volunteering at Carousel Boutique every now and then?"
"Oh yeah, but I think at this point Yona just sees it as a side hobby," Sandbar chuckled. "You give a Yak a several-ton metal machine they can use to smash anything, and they'll jump on it in a heartbeat."
"I coulda probably guessed as much," The gryphon replied.
There was a pause for a second before Gallus found himself grabbed by the shoulders. He perked up for a second, eyes wide.
"Boo." A deep feminine voice said. He quickly wheeled around to see an orange and purple dragon towering over him, arms on her hips with a smug smirk on her face.
Gallus sighed. "Smolder. Good to see you."
"You know, for the 'Captain of the Royal Guard', you sure are easy to surprise," Smolder laughed as she grabbed a seat, spinning it around and sitting on it backward. "How've you been?"
"Good actually," Gallus said, turning over to her. "And you?"
"Oh, you know, bored as heck," Smolder said, leaning forwards in her chair. "You would not believe how hard it is being one of the dragonlord's bodyguards. Have you ever felt useless at your job? Just imagine trying to guard someone who is surrounded by 50-foot-tall titans at all times."
Gallus sighed. "Urg. Tell me about it. I mean, how am I supposed to protect an alicorn against something that can threaten the ponies who literally control the sun and moon? I just feel redundant sometimes," he sighed, shaking his head.
"It can't be all bad guys," Sandbar chuckled. "I mean, you guys are basically being paid to sit around all day right? Sounds like an easy job."
"I mean, it can be at times," Smolder laughed. "Like, this one time, some Equestrian Noble tried getting all up in Ember's face, so she just picked him up by the collar and literally kicked him out of the room. It was awesome."
"Oh yeah, I read about that in the newspaper," Sandbar said, nodding slightly. "Apparently that almost lead to a couple of incidents or... something."
"Nah, Twilight would never let that happen." Gallus shrugged. "But that guy is still trying to get her to start a war with the dragon lands."
Smolder simply flexed in response. "I'd like to see you guys try."
The gryphon merely smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Speaking of nobles," Sandbar said, his eyes turned upwards. The other two turned their gaze to the sky as a pink, yellow and blue shape rapidly approached them, waving as she did. She was flanked in the air on either side by hippogryph marines, wearing tuxedos and sunglasses.
They landed first, standing in front of the entrance to the patio and crossing their arms over their chests.
"Hey, guys!" Silverstream cried as she rapidly descended towards them, almost crashing into the table. She stopped before clearing her throat.
"Sweet Celestia," Sandbar said, his eyes widening. "You're wearing a wonder bolt outfit! Did you finally get in?!"
Gallus did a double-take as he looked her over. She was indeed wearing one of the Wonderbolt's pilot uniforms. A blue and yellow jumpsuit with a brown leather coat and a pair of goggles. His jaw dropped.
A smile came to the hippogryph's face. "You bet! Honestly, it was a lot easier once the Wonderbolts switched from flying solo to using aircraft. That way I could actually keep up." She said as she took a seat.
"So, I guess you did it after all," Smolder said, kicking her feet up on the table, making the waiters and the hippogryph royal guard scrunch their faces slightly. "First ever non-equine Wonderbolt... or well... half non-equine."
"I know right!?" Silverstream cried. "This is just... the best thing ever!"
"It certainly sounds awesome." A calm voice said. The 4 of them whipped their heads over to see Ocellus duck in between the two hippogryph guards and approach. She merely wore a simple dress and tried not to stand out as she made her way to their table.
"Hey, you made it," Smolder grinned, prompting Ocellus to shrink under her gaze a little, a small smile coming to her face.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world. We never really get many of these chances to get together anymore." Ocellus said as she took her seat across from Smolder.
"So, I heard from the grapevine that you had enrolled in the Canterlot School of medicine? Is that right?" Sandbar asked, perking up an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah." Ocellus said sheepishly. "Well, changeling medicine is really far behind from the rest of the world, you know, because of the whole several hundred years of rule by a backward dictator. First, our medicine was based entirely around the 4 humors, then Thorax took over and a bunch of the changelings started practicing crystal and spiritual healing... Which uhh... not any better."
All five of her friends blinked. "That's uhh..."
"Stupid, yeah I know." Ocellus sighed. "But you really shouldn't blame the hive, a lot of them are too innocent for their own good. I blame the weirdo ponies who brought all that stuff over to us in the first place."
"So how far have you gotten with your medical training anyway?" Gallus asked, perking himself up on the table.
"Oh you know, just stitching up wounds, first aid, and basic internal physiology. You know, for patching up people during emergencies." Ocellus said, waving a hand through the air. "Nothing too major yet."
"That's still pretty cool!" Sandbar said with a laugh. "I mean, soon you're gonna be out there saving lives."
Ocellus giggled slightly. "Well, there aren't that many people out there that need saving." She said with a laugh.
June 11th, 1029 PC, 11:54AM.
Twilight took a sip from her drink as she looked around the room. King Grover was already sitting in his chair at the conference table, idly tapping his fingers on the table, eyes glazed over and chin rested on a hand. Sitting next to him, but not speaking, was the Prince of Cervinija, his suitcase under the table. He looked somewhat distressed, periodically glancing at the clock every couple of minutes.
She rubbed her chin slightly. Whatever could be bothering him? She shook her head. She'd ask him after the meeting.
Thorax and Ember were, of course, talking together and enjoying their drinks on the far side of the room. Queen Novo, by contrast, was moving to take her seat on the opposite side of the table as Grover. Her eyes glanced over to her sister-in-law, who was talking to Prince Rutherford about a recent plan to build a railroad leading from the Crystal Empire to Yakyakistan.
Then her eyes snapped to Celestia, who was walking towards her, a smile on her face. "Twilight, wonderful to see you again."
Twilight set aside her chalice as the two alicorns hugged. Luna quickly joined them as they separated, holding out a hand for Twilight to shake, which she did.
"Twilight, you've done a wonderful job managing Equestria," Luna said, smiling slightly. "Though, I will admit... these new innovations of yours have been... hard for me and my sister to adjust to."
Twilight blushed slightly as Celestia nodded. "I... will admit that Equestria and her allies have progressed a lot in the last twenty years. But I cannot fully take the credit for that. Most of these inventions come from Cervinija."
Celestia rubbed her chin slightly. "I do find it rather odd that Cervinija opened up to you when you took the throne. During my reign, any and all attempts at mediating with Cervinija ended in failure. They didn't even allow our diplomats into their nation. I wonder what made them change their mind so heavily."
"Kralj Los himself told me that he wanted to move his nation away from the xenophobic isolationism his ancestors had heavily dedicated themselves to. And the first step to doing that was to open up trade with the outside world, and then things sort of just snowballed from there." Twilight spoke as she turned to begin walking toward the table. "But, I do believe it is about time to begin, so would you mind if we continue this conversation afterward?"
Celestia and Luna both shook their heads and moved to take their seats. "Not at all."
June 11th, 1029 PC, 12:52PM.
"There you are," a disappointed voice called out.
Flurry Heart paused, her lips pursing slightly as she turned her head to look at who was standing in the doorway. Her father.
She was in the middle of the mural room, a crystal recreation of the one in the Canterlot throneroom. Her eyes were always drawn to the one depicting Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon, the first of many featuring them. The only one she had in here was the one featuring her shattering the Crystal Heart...
Shining Armor shook his head as he entered the room, arms crossed over his chest. "Flurry Heart. You're 23 years old. Why do you keep running off like a teenager all the time."
"S... sorry father." Flurry said with a sigh. "It's just... look at all these windows. All these adventures Auntie Twilight and her friends went on. Heck, even her apprentice and students went on world-changing adventures..."
Shining approached, his eyes shifting to the window that had been made for him. It involved a heart and changelings. He shook his head. "Yeah, that is true. Things really were hectic 20 years ago."
Flurry looked down and shook her head. "Do... do you think I'm ever going to get a window in here?"
"Well, statistically speaking? You are immortal." Shining said with a chuckle, causing Flurry to blink twice.
"I'm what?" Flurry asked, but Shining pushed past it.
"Don't worry Flurry. I'm sure that at some point some new threat Celestia and Luna forgot to mention is going to appear out of the woodwork." Shining said, approaching his daughter. He pulled her into a hug. "And I'm sure that when that happens, you're going to be the one to stop it."
"You think so?" Flurry asked as she hugged her father back.
"That's what always happened before." Shining chuckled.
Flurry smiled up at him. And then it happened.
There was a loud boom as the entire palace shook, crystals became unhinged from the ceiling, falling to the ground around them. Shining pulled his daughter to his chest and activated his horn, just in time to block a falling chandelier. Then it was silent for several minutes, dread filling them to the brim... that came from inside the palace.
There was a pause as the two panted before Shining instantly turned to the door at the sound of running hooves. Equestrian guardsmen ran past the door, rifles drawn. One of them stopped in the doorway turning to the two royals, looking at the crystal coating the ground around them.
"Sir! Ma'am! Are you alright?" He asked with a salute.
"Soldier, what was that?!" Shining asked as he stepped away from his daughter and dropped the shield, raining them in a small hail of pebbles and dust.
"No one knows sir! Just that it came from the room where the Princesses were meeting the foreign dignitaries!" The soldier said.
Instantly, their eyes widened.
"Mom!" Flurry cried, she was the first to start running towards the door. Ignoring the debris around her, even as the sharp shards of crystal cut into her hooves.
Shining's breathing became heavy as she looked around the room for a second, worry overwhelming him. But, he was still a ruler, he had to do his duty if things were as bad as he thought they were.
"Lock off the palace and bring every soldier in the city here, asap." He ordered the guard, who was quick to salute.
"Sir yes sir!"
June 11th, 1029 PC, 12:37PM.
"I tell you, the drill sergeants were merciless," Gallus sighed, shaking his head. "Do you know how many times I had to use a toothbrush to clean chariots? It was insane."
Ocellus's eyes widened. "T-they didn't make you use your own toothbrush, right?"
The griffin shook his head, "No, thankfully. I think guard academies buy those things in bulk."
"Still," Silverstream said, rubbing the back of her head. "That seems... cruel and unnecessary. I mean, the worst thing I had to do when I 'goofed off' in wonderbolts academy was push-ups."
"Just pushups?" Sandbar raised an eyebrow.
"Well, wing pushups. They uh they're a little harder." The hippogryph chuckled.
"Yona not get what so hard about push-ups." The yak said, furrowing her brow slightly. "Yak does 40 pushups a day before work. Sometimes yak has calves sit on her back to make it harder."
Everyone stared at her doe-eyed, baring Sandbar, who merely blinked at her dreamily.
"Uh.... why?" Smolder asked.
"Because harder exercise means stronger yak. Simple math."
"So... changing topics away from... that," Gallus said, blinking twice. "How are the kids anyway?"
"Oh, they are doing great." Sandbar chuckled. "Yulia just started first grade actually."
"No kidding?" Smolder asked, blinking twice.
"Heh, and here I am not even married." Gallus shook his head with a smile.
"Eh, parenthood's not all it's cracked up to be." Sandbar said stifling a laugh. "I only get to be proud of my kids most of the time instead of all of the time."
Yona nodded. "True."
Their conversation went off from there, diverging into random directions and regrouping for minutes on end until eventually, someone else caught their attention.
"Ah," an accented voice said to them, prompting the six to all turn their heads at once towards its direction.
A deer in an officer's suit walked up to them, hands behind his back. He pushed his way past the much taller hippogryph guards who had been defending the restaurant's patio the entire time.
"You must be the captain of the royal guard, Gallus correct?"
The gryphon blinked twice, looking to his friends, then back to the deer. "Uh, yeah. That's me."
Smolder rolled his eyes. "Couldn't this clown tell we were busy?" she hissed. Ocellus placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, be nice," She whispered.
"Wonderful to meet you then." The deer said giving a curt bow. "I am General Šuma, of his majesty the Kralj's army."
"Uh-huh. Well, it is nice to meet a new face then." Gallus said, sitting up slightly. "But... not to be rude or anything, I am in a meeting with some pals, and we don't usually get a chance to talk often..."
"Oh oh, of course. Far be it from me to interrupt you. I just saw this restaurant and wanted to get a drink real quick, and to find someone to enjoy it with potentially." Šuma said, shaking his head. "Konobar, vodka, please. And quickly."
Gallus raised an eyebrow. Something about this stag was... offputting, but he thought he might as well humor him if only to make him leave quicker.
One of the restaurant's waiters was quick to rush to his side and present him with a shot glass and a bottle of the clear alcohol he had requested. He merely took the bottle and shoo'd the waiter away.
"Now then, a toast my friends. A toast to this era we find ourselves in. And the start of a new one." Šuma said, smirking slightly. The 6 friends were hesitant before they grabbed their glasses and held them up.
"Cheers..." Gallus said.
"Živjeli!"
And then an explosion rang out from the distance, as an entire chunk of the Tree Castle behind the deer exploded outwards, flinging crystals and debris in all directions. The Deer general didn't flinch, but his friendly smile instantly turned into an emotionless monotone glare.
The hippogryph guards instantly turned around to the castle, hands quickly reaching for their holsters. Drawing revolvers, the two were quick to take to the air, rushing towards the castle.
Ocellus let out a loud and pitiful gasp, her hands flying to her face. Smolder quickly stood up, placing herself in between the debris and the changeling. Sandbar and Yona instantly locked eyes. They had to get home quickly. Silverstream panted before she took to the air towards the palace.
"Auntie Novo!" She cried as she flew.
Gallus, however, was completely still, his eyes on the burning palace. Then his eyes fell on the Deer as he turned around to look at the destruction. The general paused, before taking a swig of his vodka.
June 11th, 1029 PC, 12:44PM.
The diplomatic meeting started off well enough... until the important points were brought up.
"As you should know, King Grover, magical artifacts have been disappearing all across Equestria. And your crown is the only one we know the definitive location of," Twilight said calmly, clasping her hands in front of her face. "As such, Equestria wishes to secure your crown for the time being."
"Secure it?" Grover growled. "First you want my nation to demilitarize and now you want my crown? What's next, would you like the Idol of Boreas and my lands as well?"
Twilight was quick to shake her head and raise her hands. "What? We want nothing of the sort. But as it currently stands that crown is a threat to Equestrian security."
"And so, in response to this threat, you want my nation, and every other nation for that matter, to demilitarise?" Grover growled, slamming his hand on the table.
"The rampant militarization of industrial technology was an unfortunate byproduct of the time. We never knew if another threat would suddenly appear to threaten the world, such as Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek. But with no threats appearing in twenty years, it goes to stand that we should lower the world's overall weaponry." Thorax said, staring over at Grover with an understanding look. "I do understand why you would feel threatened, however, we can trust Equestria, we always have been able to."
Then prompted the arguing, as Grover slammed his hands on the table and stood up, accusing the changelings of being an Equestrian vassal, then came the rebuttal from Ember as the entire table rapidly broke down into bickering. Spike let out a sigh. He and Luster Dawn were standing against a wall at the edge of the room, close to the door.
He rolled his eyes as Rutherford slammed his hands on the table almost smashing it and roared for everyone to shut up, all the while Celestia and Luna were growing more and more annoyed. He knew this was going to end up like this...
"I've never been to a meeting like this before..." Luster asked, frowning slightly. "D-does this happen often?"
"Oh yeah. You have no idea." Spike said, shaking his head. "It usually ends up ok though."
"Really?" Luster asked, grimacing slightly.
"Most of the time," Spike said, crossing his arms over his chest. "One-time Twilight went to go get ice cream with all the other leaders after a fist fight broke out between Ember and Prince Rutherford."
Luster blinked twice. "If you say so..."
The unicorn took a second to observe the room around her, her eyes locking primarily on the positioning of the leaders around the table. Twilight and the other Princesses were standing closest to them, with Rutherford on one side and Novo on the other. Directly opposite the Princesses was the Cervinijan prince. On his right side was Grover, who was still positively fuming, and on the other side was Ember who was pointing at him and roaring out a series of insults, all the while Thorax hid slightly behind her, desperately trying to get her to calm down.
Her eyes centered on the Cervinijan Prince. This was the first time she had ever seen a Deer in her life.
"You know, the deer dignitary hasn't said anything since the meeting started," Luster said, turning to Spike.
"It's either he's just shy or he hasn't gotten a chance to get anything in edge-wise." Spike chuckled, staring at the deer. He grimaced slightly when he looked at him, however.
The prince was breathing deeply, inhaling and then exhaling shakily. His eyes were wide and bloodshot as he stared down at his hooves. He was shaking, just barely. Something someone would only notice if they kept their eyes on him for long enough. His breathing suddenly became quicker and quicker. He had seen this kind of thing in his youth, whenever he and the colts in Ponyvile would play a game of daring each other to do progressively more and more dangerous things. He was psyching himself up for something.
Suddenly the clock struck 1:00 pm.
Spike's eyes widened as the Deer stood up suddenly, causing everyone to turn their eyes to him at once. He slammed his hands on the table at let out a roar in his overall squeaky voice.
"Živjela sveta Cervinija!"
Suddenly, there was a loud boom, centered at the prince's hooves. In an instant, both Grover and Ember were consumed with fire and thrown back against the walls of the room. Thorax, who had been behind Ember, was similarly thrown away and was slammed against the wall by Ember's body, red and cyan blood mixing together on the crystal.
In a microsecond, Twilight tried to raise a shield to defend herself, but lead projectiles instantly pierced the shield, cutting into her, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. The table shattered into splinters, flinging wood shards against Rutherford and Novo. The hippogryph was impaled through the chest by a particularly long shard, while Rutherford luckily managed to avoid much of the damage, his leather armor and steel helmet blocking much of the wood and lead, but it didn't stop the fire which charred the side of his face.
Spike desperately turned around, pulling Luster into a hug against his chest. He felt the head of the explosion burn the clothes on his back off, as shrapnel ripped into him, bouncing off his scales, but the force they provided still broke bones underneath. The shockwave threw him forwards, sending him through the door, landing on his arms, covering Luster from the raining debris.
And then, it all went quiet.
Author's Note
Iron Harvest and Scythe are great, and when I saw that no one has made an Equestria story with dieselpunk mechs and shit, I simply couldn't help myself.
Hope this story is nice, I am trying a new style that hopefully works. Hope it being anthro doesn't scare people off, I for the life of me could never imagine four-legged creatures with hooves actually using guns XD.
Anyway, here are some images of the Equestrian soldiers in the setting, drawn by my pal Mix-up
And here is the standard-issue Equestrian mech, the Harmony-Class Strider. A two pilot mech with a built-in machine gun and 80-millimeter anti-mech cannon. The strider is very much the workhorse (pun not intended) of the Equestrian military :3
Chapter 1: Immediate Aftermath
June 11th, 1029 PC, 1:32 PM
Gallus arrived barely in time to watch as ambulances pulled up to the building, and Equestrian guards quickly rushed out with stretchers. The first to come out was Twilight and the other princesses. Gallus's breath hitched as his eyes fell on Twilight, who was still, with her eyes closed. His only evidence that she was alive was her slow and unsteady breathing.
One of her wings was bent at an unnatural angle, while her chest was wrapped in hasty bandaging that was already soaked through with blood. Her previously pristine purple coat was coated in crystal shards, and soot.
Celestia and Luna weren't in any better positions. The princess in the sun had bandages over her eyes, the previously noble Celestia was whimpering as a guard desperately tried to stop bleeding at her stomach with a towel and his hands. Luna had to be carried on her right side due to the sheer amount of wounds on her left arm.
His eyes then fell on the others leaving the palace. Cadance herself was almost completely covered from head to toe in bandages like a mummy. Both her husband and daughter desperately followed, getting into the ambulance alongside her which quickly sped off towards the nearest hospital in the city.
Behind her came a stretcher carrying the Changeling King, whose breathing was visibly labored as cracks snaked across his carapace oozing blue blood, all while Ember stood over him almost completely unwounded save for a broken arm in a sling as she held one of his hands as they were lead towards the ambulance.
Finally came Queen Novo and Prince Rutherford. Novo was buckled over in pain trying desperately to claw at a wooden board impaled into her chest, screaming as Silverstream and her bodyguards held her hands down to prevent her from pulling it out, something that would have guaranteed a quick and rather horrible death for the queen. Rutherford meanwhile was slightly more dignified, though an entire half of his face was burnt beyond recognition, one of his hands covering his eye as he roared out in pain.
Finally, the last guard came out, and in his hands was the slightly burned and blood-splattered but still intact crown of King Grover, which he was quick to hand off to two other guards. Gallus quickly rushed forwards toward the three, causing them to freeze and salute.
"Where are the other two dignitaries!?" He demanded
The guards were quiet, before the one who brought out the crown spoke. "Dead, sir." He said, grimacing. "There... there weren't even bodies left sir."
Gallus froze for a second. The gryphon king... dead... and he wasn't there to protect him. He wasn't there to protect any of his charges...
"What happened?" Gallus asked as he covered his forehead with a hand, turning to stare at the last of the ambulances as it sped off, to be replaced by troop transports and Harmony-Class Striders.
"We don't know sir," One of the other guards said, "As far as we are aware a bomb had been hidden under the meeting table."
"And no one noticed it? We had that place swept clean just this morning!" Gallus cried, turning to the guard with a look of rage on his face. Someone was losing their job for this, if not being arrested for criminal incompetence.
"No sir... We think..." The guard said, his voice trailing off. The third guard, who had been quiet this entire time gulped before speaking. "We think it was smuggled in by one of the dignitaries themselves."
Gallus's face instantly went white. "Which one?" He asked, dread in his voice.
"We... don't know sir."
June 12th, 1029 PC, 10:12 PM
Yona and Sandbar and their family sat on the ground huddled around their standing radio. Yona had her two eldest calves, five and six respectively, rested on either of her knees, a hand on each of their shoulders. Sandbar, meanwhile, had a young baby in his hands.
Sandbar and Yona both stared at the radio, dread written on their faces as it merely played static before finally after what felt like hours of waiting, it finally chimed on with a female voice; "Tragedy shakes the nation of Equestria today as the Royal Guard and Parliament finally confirmed what everyone was already suspecting. Yesterday, at one PM in the afternoon, a bomb went off in a conference room being attended by the four princesses and leader from across the globe. All four alicorns in attendance were heavily wounded by the blast and have been left in critical condition and were rushed to the closest hospital where they remain under round-the-clock medical care and surveillance. Alongside this, King Thorax and Queen Novo have been left in similar conditions, with their wounds near fatal."
Yona let out a slight sigh. At the very least that meant that Prince Rutherford wasn't on the verge of death like so many others.
"However, we have confirmation that not everyone escaped the blast. King Grover IV and Prince Los V were both killed in the blast, leaving both nations reeling. Relations with both nations have already taken a turn for the worse, as the Equestrian Parliament has decided nearly unanimously to seize the Crown of Grover I until such a time that other missing magical artifacts have been returned."
"They did what?!" Sandbar cried, his jaw-dropping. He turned his eyes to his wife, who merely had her eyes staring ahead in dread.
"The Kingdom of Gryphonstone has already announced that Prince Galiano would take the throne in response to his father's passing, but he has declined to accept the title of King until his father's crown is returned to him. Things are similarly grim within the nation of Cervinija. The Cervinijan government has announced that King Los IV, after hearing of the death of his son suffered a near-fatal heart attack that has left him sickly and bedridden. His firstborn son, Prince Antevic, has taken the throne as regent and begun rapidly mobilizing the military of his nation, claiming Equestria is at fault for the death of his little brother and has cut all diplomatic ties. The Equestrian Broadcasting Station will attempt to cover the story as it unfolds but for the time being this is Newscaster Tell All sighting off for the-"
Sandbar interrupted the radio's closing messages by turning it off, before he turned to his wife, dread written on his face.
"If... if there is a war we will have to join." He said, turning to his wife, who nodded over at him.
"Yak... Yak will call mother and father. They will take care of little ones." Yona said, looking down at her children, who barely had a grasp at what was happening.
"You guys want to spend some time with Baba and Dida?" Sandbar asked turning to the two calves sitting on Yona's lap.
"Yeah!"
July 2nd, 1029PC, 11:21AM
Gallus stood in the center of the Equestrian Parliament building, hands clasped behind his back as he stared ahead at the Equestrian Parliament. Standing to his right was Shining Armor and in front of him was Flurry Heart. It was a very large circular room, with an entrance to his left and right. The rest of the chamber was taken up by a large circular gallery, where nobles and industrialists alike sat, speaking about inane issues.
Gallus's eyes scanned the room until they locked on the leaders of Equestria's allies. Or for most, their interim leaders.
Novo had been forced to temporarily step down due to a mix of her age and wounds, so her position had been filled by her Daughter, Princess Skystar. While the gryphons had been taken over by Prince Galiano, King Grover's only son. Gallus found his eyes drawn to the prince often. He was wearing a deep blue military uniform with a cape on his back and a saber on his side. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stared at the Equestrian parliament with scorn. Gallus could have sworn he saw the Prince's eyes twitch slightly everytime his eyes brushed over the head of the parliament, one Prince Blueblood... He understood why of course. There was bad blood between him and the gryphon race ever since the first argument popped up over Grover's crown.
With the wounding of Thorax, his brother had quickly implemented martial law and stepped up to bat alongside a temporary council to handle civilian matters. The Changeling Empire had, in recent days, been taken over by an all-encompassing desire for revenge against whoever it was who had hurt their beloved king. It was honestly rather scary. Ember herself was standing alongside the changeling prince, her arm in a sling. He watched her grind her teeth slightly. She had managed to escape the blast almost entirely unharmed. Apparently, having fireproof skin and scales hard as stone helped against explosions, who'd of thought?
More surprisingly to him, however, was the fact that Prince Rutherford had remained in power and had almost entirely shrugged off his wounds. Half of his body was wrapped in bandages, and he was slightly more sluggish than normal, he noted, but aside from that, he seemed almost completely fine. It was hard not to say that Gallus was impressed.
A stallion clearing his throat prompted Gallus to stop what he was doing and turn to a central podium, which was built in a stair-like shape, with three seats, each one progressively higher than the last. Sitting on the top podium was Prince Blueblood, the de facto head of the Equestrian Parliament. Gallus had genuinely never really liked the guy, but he was the head of Equestrian nobility and was thus deserving of some minute respect he supposed. Sitting next to him was a unicorn noble by the name of Polar Star. Grey mane, and white hair. He on the other hand was exceptionally quiet, never really speaking except to back up Blueblood's points and agree with him.
Gallus grimaced when he saw who the third person sitting on the lowest pedestal was. A grey pegasus with a white mane, wearing a monocle, tophat, and business suit. He rolled his eyes as the pegasus tapped a cane idly on the ground while waiting for his fellow magistrates to start the meeting.
Big Business was his name. Leader of the largest industrial company in Equestria, with factories stretching from the Crystal Empire all the way to the deserts to the south. The number one job provider in Equestria. And a massive specist. It was an open secret amongst the upper crust that he had secured his position on the parliament council through bribery, but since almost every other noble and industrialist in the country was in his pocket there was nothing he or even the princesses could do about it. Especially because he constantly pushed forwards motions to try to swindle land out of Equestria's neighbors for exploitation or things of that regard.
Gallus tried to calm himself, breathing in and clenching his fists when he and Big Business locked eyes, and the pegasus flashed him with the smuggest smile he had ever seen in his life. The only thing keeping him from clocking him in the face was the threat of court martial if he did. And the hand of Shining Armor on his shoulder.
Blueblood cleared his throat and spoke out, his voice refined though somewhat aged by the march of time. "Fillies, gentlecolts... and creatures. I believe you are all well aware of the situation our nations find themselves in." He started, looking over to two guards who were quick to rush forwards holding up a map resting on an easel. Gallus recognized the map rather quickly, one of Cervinija.
"Tensions with Cervinija are remarkably high, and there is a very very low chance of them stabilizing. War is a certainty." Blueblood said, triggering a series of mumbling from the crowd.
Big Business took the lead from there. "As such, we will be striking first and beginning a preemptive attack along Cervinija's northern border directly into the Velovnik Region, which houses most of the iron and oil the Cervinijans pull up from the ground to fuel their war machine." He stated as he rose from his chair. "Which, after we slam these deer into the dirt, we will be annexing for Equestria permanently."
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. "With all due respect," The prince said, taking a step forwards. "I think it is far too early to be thinking of what we will claim in victory. Not to mention, if I was a Cervinijan I'd most certainly be expecting an attack along that border. They probably have it already fortified, and you're suggesting a full frontal assault? A naval invasion or an attack from their south would be far safer and hold less risk than marching into one of their most strategically important regions." He said, quickly pointing to the map.
"And?" The pegasus laughed. "The Equestrian army has remained undefeated for a thousand years, and now we have one of the largest industrial militaries in history. These antlered upstarts handed Equestria the very means to destroy them! We won't even need our allies to finish the savages off and pick their nation apart for scrap."
"But-" Shining Armor started.
"Not to mention we have an Alicorn," Blueblood said, sitting up at his podium. "Which, I will remind you, are the supreme magical authority in existence. With her, on the frontlines, we could conquer the world if we wanted to."
"You want to put my daughter on the frontlines?" Shining Armor growled through grit teeth.
"Correct." Big Business stated with a smirk.
Shining Armor started visibly grinding his teeth but quickly turned away with a snarl.
Gallus turned his head to the allied leaders, who were already murmuring to one another. Barring Prine Galiano, whose eye merely twitched. The prince suddenly stepped forwards.
"Perhaps a compromise is in order," he said, smirking slightly, arms behind his back. "While I do agree with Shining Armor's assessment, I have studied some of Cervinija's military doctrine. I mean, they have bordered the Kingdom of Gryphonstone for over a thousand years."
The Prince approached, tapping the Gryphonian and Cervinijan border, directly adjacent to Equestria's border with the nation. "Cervinijan war doctrine tends to askew aerial warfare in favor of mostly focusing on the ground. They have very few aerial mechs and even fewer airships. That leaves any fortified positions they have vulnerable to an attack from the air. Which we gryphons just so happen to excel at. Lucky you."
The prince turned to Shining Armor, smiling slightly. "We will be more than willing to provide you aerial support during your operation in Velovnik. You Equestrians have always been so... accommodating with us that I feel it's only fair that we paid you back for all you've done for us." He said, rolling his wrists slightly as he spoke. "Especially what you've down recently."
Prince Rutherford stepped forwards. "Yak will send army to help in battle too!" He said, slamming a hoof down.
Gallus could have sworn he saw Galiano's eye twitch after Rutherford spoke out. "Very well then. The more the merrier."
"Perfect. Now we have a solution, and I trust you to get to it Shining Armor." Big Business chuckled, moving his hands in a shooing motion.
Gallus growled before he too spoke up. "Hold on." He said arms crossed over his chest. "Unless I am remembering incorrectly, the Equestrian army does not have the final say on military operations. You are a civilian government."
All eyes were now on him. Gallus scanned the room. Many in the parliament looked down on him with scorn, though the allied leaders were more interested or curious. Galiano himself's eyes were wide with interest, blinking several times over at him.
Gallus stepped aside holding out a hand in a gesture to Flurry Heart. "As all of the other princesses are currently... indisposed, Princess Flurry Heart is the defacto ruler of Equestria and has the final say."
Big Business seethed between gritted teeth, while Shining Armor let out a sigh of relief.
Flurry Heart paused as all eyes moved to her instead. She felt her breath catch in her throat but did her best to remain stoic.
Her eyes quickly traveled from Gallus, to the map, then finally settling on her father.
"Well... it would be in the best interests of everyone to avoid war." She started, thinking back to the lessons her mother had tried to drill into her. She watched as her father swelled with pride, straightening his back and positively beaming.
But at the same time...
She hesitated. This was her chance for an adventure. If she could end the war and save lives while doing it... she'd be a hero. Just like Auntie Twilight.
She straightened her back. "But, this war is likely unavoidable." Instantly her father's smile dropped and Gallus took a step back. Her vision settled on Galiano and the council who all smirked down at her. "If it is unavoidable, then the best way to minimize death and suffering is to end it as quickly as possible. As such, I will be fighting on the front lines. And we will start our invasion in Velovnik."
"Excellent." Galiano clapped his hands together, before turning towards the door. "I am off to prepare my armies. I suggest you all do the same.
As he turned to leave one of his generals was quick to rush to his side. "Devo fazer os preparativos para a surpresa, senhor?" He said quietly as they made their way to the door.
"Sim."
The rest of the allied leaders were quick to follow, several of them mumbling about how they didn't get a chance to speak, but the parliament ignored them.
"Now then General, I highly recommend you make preparations. You will be leading the frontal assault." Blueblood said to Shining.
The unicorn snarled, Gallus and Flurry Heart quickly following after him. As soon as they were out of the room, Big Business quickly cleared his throat.
"Now that this is out of the way..." He said, snapping his fingers, quickly prompting the guards at the map to change to the next slide, revealing a close-up of the Velovnik region, though it was cut into pieces with each one numbered. "Shall we begin the auction?"
Quickly the nobles and businessmen of parliament pulled out small auction paddles from under their desks, and it began.
June 31st, 1029 PC, 2:23 PM
Gallus grimaced as he lowered his binoculars, turning to Shining Armor. "Sir, you might want to see this." He said, reaching out a hand.
Shining Armor turned away from his current conversation with a pair of colonels before approaching the griffin. He stepped to the rim of the hill he and the Equestrian commanders stood, taking the binocular pair from Gallus's hand. His eyes narrowed even before he used them as a look of discomfort came to his face. There was an empty field leading from his current position to the Cervinijan border, with little cover beyond the occasional boulder.
On the other side of the field was a rather extensive series of trench lines. Double-decker, with a frontline, no doubt full of rifles and machine guns, and the raised second one lined with anti-mech emplacements. Even from here, he could see the long gun barrels complete with muzzle breaks explicitly designed to punch through the armor of light mechs. Like the ones he had been provided.
"What is it you wanted me to see, Gallus." Shining said, gritting his teeth as he saw a regiment of Deer soldiers in their bright blue and white uniforms cross down a series of ramps and join the frontal trench line.
"Past the second trench line, 11:55 o'clock," Gallus said, pointing ahead. "You can just barely see several gun barrels sticking out."
Sure enough, they were there. Three of them are extremely close together, comparable in size to six-inch naval cannons. Powerful enough to fire a shell that could knock even a heavy mech over, never mind what it could do to a squad of soldiers it landed among.
"I see them... They don't look good, to say the least." Shining hissed, gritting his teeth. "What's your take?"
"Heavy artillery mechs most likely, you can tell by how close they are to one another. They are all attached to the same base. I don't like it." Gallus said, gritting his teeth. "If it is a heavy mech, that means that Cervinija managed to mobilize a hell of a lot quicker than us if they are deploying such heavy ordinance already."
Shining let out a deep sigh. "And we were only provided with Harmony-Class Striders by the supply chain?" He sneered.
"All the heavy stuff is still being put together and fueled up. Remember the Princess wanted us to demilitarize before all this started. Most of the big mechs were dismantled already." Gallus said turning back to look at the camp. Thirty thousand Equestrian soldiers sat behind them on the other side of the ridge they were standing on going about tearing down a rather large and muddy camp. There were coupled with a hundred or so of the four-legged striders, smoke bellowing from their exhausts, engines already burning at the ready.
"And our allies?" Shining rubbed his brow.
"The Yaks were less prepared for this war than even we were. All of their mechs are heavy mechs. Couldn't get them down to us on time but they did send a division of cossacks ahead to help us out. They are going to be covering our right flank." Gallus said, pointing his thumb over his back towards the right. Sure enough, a sizable force of about three thousand yaks stood in a disorganized mess on the right flank, downing several tankards worth of kvass. A ritual amongst their people to ward away fear before the battle.
"As for our left?" Shining grimaced. He already knew the answer, but it didn't do any good not knowing the details.
"Prince Galiano is leading the Gryphon forces himself. It's mostly an aerial division but a token force of Soldados are standing ready alongside several Leão-Class walkers, but they haven't even turned on their engines yet." Gallus said, looking over his other shoulder to the left. Shining followed his gaze as they settled on the force.
Sure enough, Gryphon Soldados stood, weapons at the ready and already in neat rows ready to move out. Yet, at the front of the line were the Leão-Classes. Rather unsightly things, consisting mostly of a big boxy sideways L-shaped frame. Four legs came out of the bottom to support it up, while the sides were covered in two sponson-mounted machine guns and a top-mounted swiveling cannon giving it a 360-degree field of fire. A rather new invention in the grand scheme of things actually. Most mechs simply featured fixed guns.
And at the very front of the griffin lines was Galiano holding himself still and propped up on a cane as he blankly stared ahead at the deer lines, his beak rapidly clenching and unclenching.
"Hmph, for one of the main warmongers on our side, you'd think he'd be a little more eager for this battle," Shining grunted, before returning his gaze to the deer lines, binoculars at the ready. "Go tell him to start up his force's engines. We are going to be moving ahead in half an hour. Then I want you at my daughter's side for the rest of the battle. I don't care what the parliament says, she is not fighting today, understand?"
"Yes sir," Gallus said with a salute before he quickly spun on his heel and rushed to confront the griffin prince.
Through it all, Shining merely scanned the enemy trench, before finally, his eyes caught the attention of a single individual at the center of the Cervinijan line. A rather scrawny deer, wearing a white and cyan officer's uniform, no taller or more intimidating than any other of the cervids around him. Yet he was flanked on both sides by towering stags coated head to toe in black armor, helmeted gasmasks with glowing blue eyes on their heads, both of them wielding what looked to him to be a cross of a rifle and a submachine gun. Prince Antevic. The one who had started all of this.
He was conversing with his generals, arms clasped behind his back as he stared in Shining's direction. At one point he held up a hand to stop the conversation before another deer in a soldier's uniform rushed up to him holding a tray with a single glass of wine. The prince took a sip of it, then set it back on the tray, prompting the soldier to return to where he came. Yet through it all, though the two were on opposite sides of the soon-to-be battlefield, Shining could swear he was making eye contact with him the entire time he drank.
The unicorn took a second to snarl. "There you are you son of a bitch..."
June 31st, 1029 PC, 2:32 PM
Gallus approached the griffin war camp, flanked on either side by an Equestrian soldier. Galiano was standing on the hill in the same position, barely even moving.
Gallus was quiet, turning to his escorts before spreading his wings and taking off, quickly closing the distance between himself and his target. It was probably for the best to do this quick and then get back to Flurry Heart's side.
"Sir, I would strongly request-" Gallus started, but Galiano stopped him by holding up a hand.
"Tranquilo. Não falarei Equestre com um griffin." Galiano said, speaking griffinian in a refined accent, which quickly gave Gallus pause. "Você odeia tanto seu próprio povo que não fala a língua deles?"
Gallus was momentarily silenced before he cleared his throat and responded in the same language fluently. "My apologies. I have been around ponies so long that I've grown unaccustomed to speaking my mother language, your majesty."
"Yes, quite," The other prince said, tapping his cane on the ground before turning to his forces, still awaiting their orders. They knew what the plan was... only a matter of time now. "In a couple of decades, what do you think they will call the coming battle in the history books, do you reckon? The Battle of Velovnik? The Battle of the Three Princes?"
"Sir?" Gallus started, raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me for speaking out of turn, but aren't you technically a king, not a prince?"
"No. I won't be a king until my ancestor's crown is returned." Galiano said, turning back to Gallus with a look of disdain on his face. "That you take the side of the parliament who is preventing that is... shameful."
"No, your majesty. I stand against the Parliament in every choice they make, but..."
"But you and your comrades lack the ability to act upon that. You lack the stomach to actually stand up to them in any meaningful way. Just as you lacked the ability to keep my father and the rest of your charges out of harm's way. Am I correct?" Galiano said, his eyes narrowing. Gallus felt each word stab into him like a knife, but eventually, he straightened his back, snarling slightly.
"Prince Shining Armor would like to know why you haven't started your mech's engines." He finally said, gritting his teeth beneath his beak.
Galiano stared back at him for a moment before chuckling. "Simple, the Leão-Classes are a backup plan for if the infantry lines begin to falter, it's what they are designed to do, after all, provide heavy support for infantry. They will be deployed in the second wave."
Gallus merely kept eye contact with the prince. "And you are bringing the air support, correct?"
"Oh trust me, I keep my word. My jets will be here when the bullets start to fly." Galiano said, turning and stomping away towards his men, the Soldado's quickly parting to allow him past. Gallus's eyes followed after him for a moment, before he spread his wings, returning to the Equestrian camp with a scoff.
June 31st, 1029 PC, 2:45 PM
Flurry Heart excitedly straightened her back as one of her servants finished latching the breastplate to her chest. She took a moment to turn to the mirror in the corner of the tent. She was wearing a suit of golden plate armor, and all she was missing was the helmet. Gems and ornate bands of silver coated the front of the armor, coalescing into designs of snaking vines and leaves.
She straightened her back, observing her armor with a growing smile. Suddenly a voice called out from behind her.
"A word of advice your majesty," a voice behind her suddenly said. She was quick to spin around, to see Gallus at the tent's flap, arms crossed across his chest.
"A suit of armor isn't going to do much against a bullet. There's a reason we all stopped wearing that kind of thing." Gallus started, taking a step forward.
Flurry sighed, frowning deeply. She waved a hand, quickly dismissing both of her servants. "Aren't you supposed to be helping my father plan the assault?"
"I was, but now he wants me at your side for this battle, your majesty," Gallus stated, taking a step towards her. "I would prefer it if I could convince you to stay out of danger period, but I don't think I'm going to be able to change your mind out of being the first one over the trenches."
"The soldiers need an alicorn to protect them, Gallus. Of course, I will be." She replied, furrowing her brow and straightening her back.
"Protect them?" Gallus asked, jaw dropping slightly. "With all due respect ma'am, you realize bullets are made of lead right? Lead completely cancels out magic, any shields you put up are going to go down in seconds."
Flurry's frown deepened. She scoffed and looked away from him. "Look, you don't get it, Gallus." She snarled. "This is going to be my adventure. Just like mom's and just like Auntie Twilight's."
Gallus remained stoic, tightening his jaw and furrowing his brows. "Permission to speak my mind?"
"Denied," Flurry responded, a similar look of anger filling her face. She turned back to the mirror. "I'm going to be in the front line, whether you like it or not Gallus."
Gallus merely stared arms behind his back, grimacing. "Very well, my lady. I'll be with you on the frontline regardless."
June 31st, 1029 PC, 2:40 PM
Antevic slowly set his glass of wine back down on a platter, before turning back to his assembled generals. There were four of them, all wearing the same uniform. Behind them stood a large regiment of soldiers, at attention. A reserve force. Most of the main troops already had this briefing and were in position in the trench lines behind him. Antevic dragged his gaze over them for a moment, before clearing his throat and straightening his back.
"Gentlestags, this is our situation. The Equestrian military is baring down at us full force. Not content with merely killing my brother, now they have come for our land. This is not just any battle. This is a battle for the independence of our nation... No, this is a battle for the very survival of our race!" Antevic started. "Should we fail here, our lands will be absorbed by the perfidious equines. Your wives will be raped, and your children forced to toil away till the day they die in capitalist-controlled factories. Your culture will be erased, replaced with mere consumerism. And in several generations, they will think their lives improved. Will you allow that to happen?"
He watched with growing content as his soldiers frowned, growling and clenching their jaws. He smirked before continuing.
"I take a stand against equine dominance. Equine hegemony that has dominated this world for over a thousand years! Equine hegemony that we will now shatter!" Antevic growled, shoving a fist in the air. He was greeted with a cheer. He smiled before turning to one of his generals. He gave a quick nod, allowing the general to step forwards. "Sumar?"
The general straightened up, tapping his hooved together in a rigid pose before he nodded and stepped forwards. "At current, Gentlestags, everything is currently going exactly as planned. The equines have, as we expected, decided to take the easiest, quickest route to victory, relying on the power of their last functioning Alicorn." Sumar said, walking forwards as Antevic stepped away.
The line of soldiers parted as a massive mech, comparable in size to a Sphinx, marched past them. Held aloft on four legs, with a bulky frog-shaped body, the mech marched forwards, before coming to a stop before Sumar. It slowly lowered itself to the ground, its four legs digging and hooking themselves into the soil. As it did, three separate gun barrels, comparable in size to six-inch naval cannons slowly raised from its back into the air.
"Žabljapuška-Class Artillery Mechs!" Sumar said aloud, crossing his arms behind his back and taking a step away from the mech to stare down the Equestrian lines. "Three forty-seven caliber cylinder loaded cannons built atop a sturdy and capable mech. They have a 22-kilometer range and near-unprecedented firing rate. 12 rounds a minute if the crew within operates at peak efficiency, a single Žabljapuška can hold a line against an enemy. Be sure to stand back my friends, just being near one of these mechs while they fire, can rupture organs."
Sumar watched as an Equestrian officer stood atop a hill raising a sword in the distance. The sounds of equine whistles and yak warhorns rang out into the sky, soldiers from both nations started to charge over the hills, guns pointed in his direction. He chose to merely move on.
He stepped away from the line, turning back to the mech even as Cervinijan machine gun and rifle fire started to respond to the Equestrian charge. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small gold-plated watch. He waited until the minute hand reached the twelve before continuing.
"It is now 3:00 pm, and we begin our participation in this war with a return salvo on the invading Equestrians. Gentlestags," he stopped talking mid-sentence for a moment to cover his ears. "Žabljapuška!"
Then the mech fired all three of its cannons at once.
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait! I hit a massive writer's block XD
I finally got a world map for this story by the way! Based!
