Chapter 0: Prologue

"Friendship is Magic"

~~Tagline of the Series

January 15 1012, 09:21 hrs. Canterlot, Equestria.

Celestia frowned as she stared at the singular table in Canterlot's War Room. She was alone in the room, which consisted of the previously large table with chairs surrounding it. Said chairs were all wooden and simple save for one, hers that featured a lavish red cushion that complimented the red wallpaper. On one of the walls was a map of the entire globe.

On the table detailed a mess of parchment that pertained to the conflict Equestria was currently embroiled in. It featured a large map of the continent of Equus. Near the edge of the map were an array of croupier sticks used to move figures that represented Equestrian and known Changeling units. Moveable arrows detailed current battle plans that would be executed in the Spring, as winter had stalled any major offensives from either side. Instead, the two warring nations and their allies took this time to recover and reinforce as best they could.

The table also featured a radio that allowed the Field Marshals stationed at Canterlot to communicate to those closer to the front lines, Generals included. Luna was near the front lines, and Celestia greatly missed seeing her younger sister. Indeed, this war had changed the lifestyles of many. Applejack, her brother, and Pinkie Pie were stationed at the front lines. Rainbow Dash was stationed in Cloudsdale in order to train new recruits for their currently inferior air-force. Twilight Sparkle was isolated from her friends in Canterlot to head Equestria's research division, which was currently working around the clock to catch up to the more advanced Changeling planes and tanks. The only ones who hadn't had their living settings drastically change was Rarity and Fluttershy.

Surrounding the map in a halo fashion were varying documents. Their contents ranged from bureaucratic decisions awaiting her approval , to suggestions and projections on how to proceed, to after-action and casualty reports. Oh, how she hated going over the latter. Each report felt like a hoof-punch to the side, as her mind couldn't help but remind her that every digit pronounced her failure to protect her little ponies. Each number representing a broken family or a dead relationship.

She sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. 9:25 AM. It was almost time for the weekly meeting, where leaders of the country would gather and discuss the current situation. The situation was paradoxically bleak and stable at the same time. Her armies had managed to slow the Changeling advance near Shire to a near standstill. They certainly weren't out of the woods yet, but the situation didn't look as grim as it did the previous year. The issue lay outside the borders of Equestria.

Celestia looked to the larger map on the wall. The world had quickly gone to Tartarus in a handbasket. On Equus, the splinter nation of Stalliongrad had all but won their war with Nova Griffonia and some feared that the communist nation would turn their eyes to Equestria next, forcing pony to fight pony. The idea revolted her, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. Fighting other species was one thing. The concept of having ponies kill other ponies appalled her. It was the main reason she allowed Stalliongrad to separate and go their own path in the first place. The Kingdom of Yakyakistan was fighting the Jaki-Clan to a stalemate, totaling the number of wars on Equus to three.

As bad as that was, it was nowhere on the scale on the other continents. As early as 1007, Griffonia was embroiled in war and revolution. The Longswordian and Prywhen Civil Wars had ended in victory for the individual Longsword and Griffon Liberation Armies. Prywhen had then gone on to conquer the Naniwich Mountains to the West and was now fighting the Republic of Asterion. While the initial news of the successful Aquillian revolution over the tyrannical monarchy somewhat pleased her, it was quickly soured when the news of the new Aquillian Republic aggressively expanding into neighboring neutral nations. In Central Griffonia, the Griffonian Empire saw a comeback after conquering its previous vassals. Now the two nations were in the midst of conflict with each other. Up north, the Northern Queendom was previously losing to their war with the Socialist Republic of Skynavia until the Griffon Republic joined on the Queendom's side. Now the SRS was slowly but surely being pushed back. And Wingbardy...

The Kingdom of Wingbardy was another story entirely. Not only did it annex the Falcorian Queendom and the Kingdom of Abyssinia, but it was now warring against the Federated Parishes of Sicameon as well as the United Kingdom of Aris. Effectively, the Concordat of Free Nations was now fighting two separate alliances. The world was officially at war with each other, as conflict sparking across the vast continent of Zebrica. The Kingdom of Warzena and Hippogriffia were currently fighting against the Colthaginian Republic and Zarantia, although the reports of army placements and advances didn't quite make sense. The power vacuum left by the Storm King's death caused Southern Zebrica to devolve into a massive power-grab and conflict between the countries closely associated with the late Yeti. Indeed, the Storm King's "legacy" had inadvertently caused nearly the entire continent of Zebrica to engage in separate and individual wars. Only Eastern and certain parts of Central Zebrica seemed to not participate in the fighting, although that could certainly change with time.

Celestia let out one last sigh as she gazed back at the clock. 9:29. The one solace she could see is that eventually--hopefully-- the world would settle down and peace would reign once again. That, and the fact that things couldn't get much worse.

January 17 1012, 06:28. 1 km from Canterlot, Equestria.
High Band walked through the door to the command center, a coffee mug filled with day-old coffee levitating in his orange magical field. The brown-coated stallion took a sip as he spied his co-worker Silver Lining sitting at one of the command consoles, "So, the new single pulse RADAR system up and ready?"

Silver Lining nodded his blue head, silver-gray bangs bobbing with the action, "Monopulse, but yeah, just about. All that's left is to just turn it on; Egg-Techs have already calibrated most of the system settings."

High Band chuckled lightly at Silver Lining's moniker for the engineers. It was a lighthearted moment contrasting the actual purpose of the new system. The Equestrian Airforce was currently out matched by the Changeling Airforce, and until they developed better planes the best they could do was implement a better detection system, "Well, better turn it on. No use postponing it if it's all set up."

"Righto. Here we go," said Silver. He flicked a switch, and the thrum of energy resounded through the terraced room.

High Band sipped his coffee as he looked down the central row of stairs leading down to an atrium-like level. The original plan was to move communication equipment, turning this place into a central air traffic control for the aircraft stationed at Canterlot and Cloudsdale. While it was too late and too dangerous to do the same near the front lines, at least they could be prepared here should the Changelings manage to push further into Equestria.

"That's odd..."

Silver's voice snapped High Band out of his thoughts, "What's up?"

Silver Lining stared at the monitor with a puzzled look on his face. He fiddled with the controls as he replied, "Getting some weird kind of interference..."

High Band frowned, "Did the engineers calibrate the system wrong?"

Silver Lining shook his head, putting a fore-hoof to his chin, "Don't think so. Diagnostics say everything's working fine. There's just a weird, I dunno, echo I guess you can call it?"

High Band sighed, "Figures. I'll go try to find the engineers and--"

"Wait. It's gone now. Huh. Weird. Everything's reading correctly."

High Band raised an eyebrow, "It's gone now?"

Silver Lining nodded, "Yeah...Probably just a glitch of the system turning on."

High Band took a swig of his coffee, "Well, alright. It's probably nothing then. You should still make a report of it for the engineers, though."

"Will do."

Author's Note

12/27/2022--Changed the line

The Kingdom of Wingbardy was another story entirely. Not only was it warring in Griffonia with the Falcorian Queendom, but the Kingdom of Abyssinia in Zebrica as well.

This was to "match" the HOI4 campaign's timeline better.

--Added stuff after the line

The Longswordian and Prywhen Civil Wars had ended in victory for the individual Longsword and Griffon Liberation Armies.

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2/20/23-- Grammar corrections.