It’s a late Hearth’s Warming miracle. Of course, it was obvious from the removal of Wittenlandian troops from the front that something was occuring, but the inciting incident did not occur until now. It is possible that, in the end, the River Republic did not need to actually intervene in order for my victory to be executed. The mere threat of such an invasion forced Queen Honoria to move a significant amount of ponypower from the south where she is attacking me from to the northeast along the border with the River Union states. This has meant Wittenland no longer possesses sufficient numerical supremacy to continue advancing within Viirad.

Hearth’s Warming Eve. In the current age of strife and disorder, I have wondered where the Windigos are. It would seem that the current state of the world would lend itself to be quite the feast to the creatures. While such a musing doesn’t deign any real investigation, I did hear they were involved with the necromancers to the far north, but that entire region has gone quiet recently.

Returning to the more pertinent topic, my nation has been helpfully hostile to the invaders. Even discounting the mountainous terrain and harsh weather, the last few months have also shown a positive side effect of my mass mind control. As the Wittenlandian supply lines moved further within my borders and as the army moved through towns, those citizens of Viirad who were left behind began to act in my interest of their own accord. They have been undertaking guerilla actions, forming militias, and overall being quite annoying to the would-be unifiers.

This is the key difference between my passive mind control and more active versions. Active mind control requires there be a system in place for me to organize and command the populace, as it supplants and domineers over existing will. In my case, not only can a mage not disrupt the spell after occupying my lands, but, lacking direction from me or my proxies, my subjects seek to act in their perception of my will anyway. They have created systems of resistance that have sought contact with my official state, and through them, no settlement in Viirad is a safe haven for the Wittenlandians. It is true I only cast my spell along the rivers and my train line, but it just so happens that those two things happen to be priorities for the Wittenlandians, as they make supply much more efficient. Therefore, unless they choose to start building new supply infrastructure in the mountains, they will be stuck with the towns most loyal to me.

While it is true these resistance groups have been helpful up to now, their relevance will soon be quite diminished as the intervention by the River Union states has meant I am now beginning to advance all along the front. Their significantly reduced numbers and guerilla-harassed supply lines are crumbling upon contact with my ever-growing forces. Austurland’s integration is complete, and my main limiting factor is how fast I can scale industrially to equip all of these new deer. It is not an urgent concern, as the forces I have now will be more than enough to bring Wittenland to heel.

My main concern now actually relates with how successful the River Union’s invasion will be. So far, their progress has been slow, but I seek to occupy as much of Wittenlands valuable industrial base as possible. When my frontline reaches the River Union’s, it will be a diplomatic incident waiting to happen. Looking at the trouble I have had facing one Riverlands nation in war, it is an obvious logical next step to believe I am not yet ready to face the rest at the same time. Some sort of negotiation, formal or not, will have to occur to avoid a fog-of-war incident that escalates into a war with the entire coalition.

In any case, I doubt I will be able to annex the entirety of Wittenland. Such a move seems unlikely from a military perspective given Wittenburgh’s proximity to the River Coalition border, but also seems unwise on my part. If I were to somehow mechanize my entire army today and drive right through the rest of Wittenland, keeping the capital would undoubtedly draw the ire of River Swirl, who would have a public relations disaster on her hooves. This would then increase the likelihood of a swift counterattack by the riverponies and lead to my defeat. No, the correct course of action appears to be a medium path. I will seize what lands I can, but leave the capital, at least, to “reunify” with the rest of the Riverlands nations. This should stave off an invasion for long enough for me to finish modernizing. I predict I should be able to strike first even.

Therefore, in order to make this a reality, my troops must be swift in occupying as much Wittenlandian soil as possible to bring them into my orbit and under my spell, while leaving River Swirl with, hopefully, just Wittenburgh. My industrial base is still not developed enough to field motorized or mechanized troops at a nationwide level, so my personal intervention will be required.

Their forces at the front, dwindled as they may be, remain well organized and have been vigilant enough to keep their shields up and artillery firing. This makes it more difficult (and riskier) for me to get close enough to affect combat at the front. However, the nature of modern total warfare is that it is a nationwide affair. I have compiled a target list far from the front lines that should prove less defended now that the Wittenlandian army has been stretched thin fighting a war on two fronts.

The one I will be tackling today is a Wittenlandian prison camp in Wintershorn where a great number of my ponies have been held as prisoners of war. It is a moderately armed fortification built within a renovated castle. They are better armed than I would have assumed otherwise, which I believe is due to the influence of my mind control causing POWs to behave more aggressively and stir up trouble. Notably, the facility itself is located near a major supply hub, so a disruption in this region should cause my advance to quicken greatly.

I scouted this location out a few days ago during Wittenland’s strategic redeployment to the north, and my assumption that they would be running a skeleton crew given the imminent threats on two fronts was demonstrated to be correct as my scrying window was not immediately dispelled. This presents me with an opportunity to provide some divine intervention, as it were, to make sure that the guards have a sudden change of heart.

I conjure a new scrying window in the air in front of my desk, using my past memory of the camp’s location as a guide. An image resolves of a prison camp within the walls of a castle. The juxtaposition of the soldiers with modern fatigues and firearms and the ancient surroundings is not lost on me, but that is simply the nature of much of Wittenland. Immediately, my attention is drawn to the ersatz stage made of soapboxes where a pony seems to be preaching.

Based on the placement of the soapboxes and the not insignificant audience, the speech is meant as much for the Wittenlandians as it is for the audience members who are captive in both senses of the word. The speaker is a unicorn mare, looking fairly ragged - as expected from a prisoner of war. Her tone is bombastic, with grand gestures complimenting wild eyes, but the content is considerably less aggressive than the average street preacher.

“Do not lose heart, friends!” she exclaims, “Know that Viira has a plan for you even now. While things may look bleak, know that she put you here for a reason, and that you still have a part to play. You just have to open your heart and find it!”

Interesting that she is taking the fatalistic route. I do not have the power to control fate itself (at least, not yet), but she still ascribes my will to their current predicament. The reception, on the other hoof, does seem to be positive, as the attention shown by the prisoners is rapt. I wonder where she gets this doctrine from. I am reminded of the stallion from the Skapatoria prison cell. He began spouting doctrine from who knows where because he felt it was right. Perhaps this mare is the same, with her feelings towards me and the situation they are in combining within her to create a belief that I must have some plan for her and the other prisoners as individuals.

With others sharing that situation and being from similar backgrounds, it is reasonable to imagine that they may be receptive to the messages she is preaching. There is a grain of truth to what she says. I do have a plan for them given I am currently watching them with plans to break them out, but I also did not put them there intentionally. If all things went according to my design, these camps would be much emptier. On a related note, it is interesting that the Wittenlandians bother to keep these prisoners alive in the first place. The POWs I capture are sent to camps for mind control by me, and there are effectively no lines of communication between our armies, so prisoner swaps do not occur. Maybe they hold onto hope a swap could happen in the future, or they have some creaturian idea that all creatures deserve life and should not just be executed en masse.

“That goes for you too!” the preacher says, redirecting her gaze to a guard beyond a fenceline, “Viira accepts all under her as long as you’re willing to serve! We all used to be just like you, thinking we were Wittenlandians, but we all had a moment where we chose to follow her with all our strength. Join us!”

The creatures listening murmur their assent, and eyes turn around to face the specific pony she is speaking to. The unicorn stallion looks nervous at the attention, with his partner next to him giving him a bump in the shoulder.

“Looks like the crazies have it out for you today,” comes the quip. Clearly, the partner is the senior of the two and is more used to this type of behavior. The junior one is clearly uncomfortable and doesn’t know what to do. It is quite curious why the Wittenlandians allow such an overt provocation and seeming usurpation of Wittenlandian authority to take place within a prison camp. To my knowledge, Wittenland doesn’t have a special tradition of religious tolerance, and so the answer must be a pragmatic one. I hypothesize that, in the past, the speeches were much more aggressive, but when force was used to put them down, it created a violent backlash. This must be the resulting equilibrium of less violent rhetoric and a more lenient guardship.

A number of audience members are now approaching the fence and leaning on it to stare at the guard singled out by the preacher.

“Join us,” they say repeatedly, but the guard appears to be further repulsed the more they lay their attention on him. Surely the creatures in the camp know that no sane creature would leave their patriotic duty simply because they heard “join us” one more time, but the genuineness in the voices of the prisoners suggests they believe that, if they just believe hard enough, the next repetition might actually work. This is a bit worrying, as the idea of passive mind control is that it preserves higher thought, but I can’t expect too much from these ponies given that they are likely under a lot of mental and physical stress from the forced labor.

What does worry me is the fact that my lack of specified doctrine may be at fault as well. Like the previous stallion in the Skapatoria site, this mare seems to be making up her doctrine based on “divine inspiration”, which I most assuredly did not give her. In my experiences with telepathy, I have found that most creatures believe something emotionally first, and then use logic to justify their beliefs rather than vice versa. This mare seems to be no different.

I would imagine this would be happening in other locations, and that what they preach would be inconsistent. Furthermore, without properly consistent moral instruction with backing from me or some similar church institution, the effectiveness of the preaching is going to be reduced. It seems that, since I did not create the institutions necessary for maintaining faith to me, these priests and priestesses have spontaneously appeared to fill in the demand. The issue is that, if they do a bad job, it could have a net negative effect for me rather than a positive one. This is an issue I will have to deal with in the future, but I would like to focus on winning this war first.

The congregation seems to have moved into a time of prayer. The preacher speaks a fiery prayer while the devout listen with hooves, or claws in the case of the lone griffon, clasped and eyes closed. I’ll admit, seeing this show of faith does tickle my ego a bit, especially since I know I am about to answer their prayers.

“Viira, bless our enemies,” the prayer continues, “Show them your greatness like you showed us.” Your goddess hears you, little pony, and she will answer. I cast the point charge variant of the spell over the center of the camp. There are many locations within it which are not exposed to the outside that will have some resistance to my spell, but enough of the guards should be affected for the plan to succeed. I have chosen this time in the morning before the creatures are led out to perform labor, so numbers should favor them.

The invisible wave of magic sweeps across the creatures of the camp as the prayer completes. Among the praying prisoners, they wake with a renewed determination that is enhanced not only by the ritual itself, but by the new wave of mental influence I have applied. The guard pair from before suddenly gains confused expressions. They saw the prayer but didn’t expect it to actually work. They look at each other in disbelief.

“Did that just work?” the senior asks the junior.

“I think it did,” the unicorn replies, incredulously, “Hail Viira!” His chant is followed by other nearby guards. The prisoners turn to look at the source of the shout and are equally surprised. The junior guard trots over to the gate, levitating a key into the lock at the sound of loudening cheers.

“What the hell is going on here?” yells a Wittenlandian officer emerging from a door in the side of the castle. Immediately the Wittenlandian ponies point their guns at her.

“Did you not just feel that Ma’am?” asks one guard. The officer, now clearly bewildered, doesn’t know how to answer.

Suddenly, the preacher yells, “Kill the non-believer!” Guttural shouts of approval begin to spread alongside chants of “Infidel!” The guards, taken up with a new fervent zeal, fire on their commanding officer, who quickly falls lifelessly to the ground under a hail of lead.

“Free us, my new brothers and sisters!” shouts the preacher. It seems she has also sensed she has to take control of the situation to ensure the success of this operation, as she follows it up with more specific orders, “Take control of the camp, kill the infidels, and we will march south to Viirad in glory!”

There is a roar of approval from all sides as prisoners walk right out of the enclosed area that was their sleeping quarters. Gunfire starts to be heard originating from other parts of the camp and in the areas of the castle being used to administer the camp. Soon, two unicorns emerge from another door levitating a crate, which they open in front of the throng of prisoners. It is full of rifles, which are quickly distributed.

I consider intervening further, but it quickly becomes apparent that my faithful have the situation under control. Moving the scrying window to a higher elevation, I can see the irregular fighting across the camp and its buildings. There are casualties on my side as well, but it is clear that converting a majority of the Wittenlandian soldiers to my side has meant the other cannot mount an organized defense. Excellent. Tomorrow, I will perform more attacks all around Wittenland, which should have the combined effect of totally isolating the front from their supplies, allowing my forces to swiftly advance and crush the unsupplied troops. I estimate it will only be a few days before the already embattled Wittenlandians run out of supplies and begin retreating. It is my plan to cut them off before that can happen, and cause a total rout followed by an occupation of a majority of their lands.

Honoria will probably surrender to River Swirl, as there is no real method of diplomatic contact between Viirad and Wittenland, but the reality will be that I will control most of Wittenland’s factories, universities, ponies, and resources. I just have to temper my territorial ambitions to ensure the River Swirl emerges with something she will paint to her constituents as a victory.

Author's Note

This was how the situation resolved in my research playthrough. I annexed all states except Wittenburgh, which I imagined was not what the Riverponies had in mind when they invaded. I think there's some poetic lesson or something about how their divisions meant they couldn't face a common enemy that I've tried to get across in these chapters. At any point, the major powers could unite and deal with Viira as an obvious threat to everycreature, but they don't. Obviously, this doesn't happen in-game for gameplay reasons, but that means that it incidentally gives off this message.