Well, it was bound to happen eventually, but I am frankly surprised I have come this far without such an intervention. No more than 2 weeks into my invasion of the River Federation, Hindia has declared war against me as well. In a joint letter from Olenia and Hindia, the two remaining deer nations, they published a condemnation of myself and my nation, jointly expressing the idea that everything I have created must be destroyed. While Hindia’s threat is real, it is clear Queen Chrysalis is keeping occupied Olenia on a tight leash, not allowing them to support Hindia in the war as she continues to battle resistance fighters in Equestria.

While clearly dangerous, I am not currently worried about Hindia’s army. The waters between Zebrica and Griffonia are vast, and they will have great difficulty mounting an invasion over such a distance even with their viking tradition. I have redirected some forces to keep the ports protected, but I sense no existential danger. The more annoying thing is that I will have to build a navy from the husks of Kasa and Austurland’s in order to counterattack, but I am safe to perform a naval buildup at my leisure seeing as no plane can cross the ocean to strike my otherwise vulnerable shipyards.

So far, the Hindians have only been harassing my convoy ships, but in their desire to strike at me, they have also put their ships vulnerable to my air force. I didn’t have an air force as of a year ago, but the Wittenlandians have been ever so eager to share their knowledge with me. The increased industrial capacity from invading into the Evi Valley hasn’t hurt either. As of now, there are almost no nations not affiliated with some great power or another on this continent, which has temporarily halted my advance. All wars going forwards will be great and total.

I am somewhat concerned with Hindia sending hundreds of thousands of troops via ship to join the River Federation front line in Griffonia, but at the rate their lines are collapsing, they will be sending these deer to their deaths. First at sea from my planes, as their ships must pass through my waters on the way to the Riverlands, and then on land as I encircle them with my newly mechanized army.

It is surprising to see the forces of the River Federation crumble so quickly when my forces struggled just to defend against the Wittenlandians just 2 years ago. It is clear from the number of fielded soldiers that they clearly went through a massive military buildup, but they were also clearly unprepared for me.

I believe this to be a symptom of a much greater problem all nations who choose to oppose me face - a lack of intelligence regarding me and the happenings in Viirad. From what I can tell from newspapers brought to me from other nations, nocreature, at least no journalist, has any idea what is really happening within my borders.

There are many reasons for this. Firstly, Viirad does not engage in trade with other nations, stifling what would usually be normal cross-border travel. No nation wants to aid me, and even the greediest businessgriffs hesitate when their freedom of mind is at stake. This has meant I have been forced to develop my own industrial equipment and electrical equipment, which are still behind their more modern counterparts, but these past years have been very productive. That gap will be met this year, and Viirad will be the greatest scientific and industrial power in the world soon after.

Second, there is no travel across borders. Viirad is naturally a very inward-focused state. The mind controlled seek others like them, and they are off-putting to foreigners. Furthermore, I can basically guarantee any foreigner will be naturally opposed to my regime, and thus poses a danger. To cement the intelligence advantage, I banned all travel in and out. The faithful are so far willing to bear the pain of not seeing loved ones who may be in other lands. Given I did not delete their other emotional ties, the underlying desire may still be there, but that is cushioned by the belief that the lands of their families will soon be part of Viirad. This does, however, put a soft deadline before creatures begin traveling regardless.

If properly controlled, this outflow could be useful. Each mind controlled subject is a potential missionary, ready to sow doubt in the hearts of the free willed in their beliefs that their way of life and their nations are superior. Given the rate I plan to conquer the world, this will likely have negligible effects, and poses a risk of potential intelligence leaks as well if they are detained and studied. I suppose some leakage is inevitable, so there is no point in being too harsh, as I am sure intelligence agencies around the world will be able to get their hooves on enough subjects to gain some insight into my work.

Thirdly, the way in which mind control allows me to fully absorb countries means chances of information getting out are low. Everycreature that comes under its effect is now unwilling to divulge the secrets they may know. Thus, the only creatures that can report on having encountered or had experiences with them are those who fought them on the battlefield or are those isolated communities I didn’t bother to mind control. Naturally, the latter barely travel, let alone beyond my lands.

Due to this utter lack of information flow, true understanding of my plans is totally unknown to the outside world. I have seen headlines with interviews from those fleeing lands I have conquered, but they are few and far between. I believe, so far, the greatest reason nations have not unified in some grand alliance against me is that most simply don’t care. Aside from the River Federation, whose Wittenlandian territories I am occupying, most around the world care nothing for my region of the world. Southeastern Griffonia was already quite a backwater, and there are few cultural ties that connect the nations I have conquered here with others around the world.

Aside from Wittenland and the River Coalition, Macawia had the most significant relationship to worry about. They were the main trade and political partners of Kasa, but besides the fact that they are an ocean away, they were recently taken over by the Hippogriffs, who have undergone a fascist political shift. To my west, the Evi Valley states were all taken over by Karthinia, who seems content with its expansion so far, leaving only Austurland. I suppose the racial connection with Hindia and Olenia is the cause of the current declaration of war alongside what the Watchers tell me is a nascent activist movement in these countries made up of refugees who fled the nations I have invaded.

Beyond those political ties, the rest of the nations of the world are simply either too busy with their own affairs or have no stake in the region or creatures I currently occupy. The only other major power on the continent I have not yet mentioned is the Aquileians. While they have conquered the griffonian heartland and the north, their griffon empire cares not for the ponies of the Riverlands I am invading. The same can be said for the Karthinians of the south, though they may be somewhat annoyed that I have occupied some griffon lands near their border. Zebrica is even more backward than Griffonia, leaving them no ability to intervene (except for the obvious exception of Hindia). The greatest problem would be Equestria and their harmonist ideology, but the Changelings have been ever so kind as to deal with that problem for me, simultaneously weakening themselves on endless resistance suppression for when I inevitably arrive.

From my perusal of the newspapers of the world available to me, I can see that there is not a lack of interest in the goings on of my nation, but besides the activists, most of it is theoretical given the lack of real data. In fact, the best account of my actions and intentions come from Fernando Zessa, who I had interview me those years ago. It seems he escaped Kasa and is trying to spread the word of my ambitions to the world. Good. Let him and those like him spread the word of my imminent arrival. They are my unwitting heralds, telling my future subjects the name of who they will soon serve. I still find many who are totally unaware of my existence and thus cannot serve me properly. I say “I” find them, but in truth it is the great blanket of my bureaucracy that finds them. The difference, however, becomes less meaningful with each day that passes.

As for the articles not by Zessa specifically, papers are rife with exaggerated claims of what supposedly goes on in Viirad. Speculation is rampant, and with the lack of real firsthoof evidence, the speculation often spirals, with some interpreting certain wordings as facts, which then go on to be published with ever more speculation. The important parts remain constant, but the “hows” and “whys” they offer harbor nary a sliver of truth. Other articles are more conservative, simply calling my nation and its creatures a new cult or a new religious movement, taking some of the observations at face value and not making claims of mass mind control.

I find the articles that focus on me the most amusing. The papers I get from Olenia are far and few between given the long distance, but I did get one just last week that was an interview with my parents. It has been years now since I’ve contacted them, and it was interesting to see their reactions to me. My mother refuses to believe it is actually me given the difficulty in gathering hard evidence and her naive heart, so her responses were less than insightful. My father, on the other hoof, did believe the news, and had many words of condemnation for my nation and myself. He and the interviewer both tried to theorize what could have led to my “madness”, trying to glean meaning out of small anecdotes from my childhood. In the end, they could not definitively say anything other than “power corrupts”.

The adage is true, because once you have power, the opinions of others stop mattering, thus leading to behavior less constrained by norms or ethics. Power doesn’t corrupt, but merely allows behaviors that would be erased without it to instead persist. What some may call a “fall”, I would liken more to an awakening. Given its generality, this “explanation” for my behavior is the most accurate I have seen, but the lack of detail means it could be used to explain anything one doesn’t like about any leader.

It is, at least, more rooted in truth than some of these other stories. I’ve seen some claiming that I am possessed by a demon, am an incarnation of some zebra deity or other, and my personal favorite, that I was summoned from the moon by Celestia to punish the world for not embracing harmony. Convenient that the explanation always matches the background of the author. No doubt some Equestrian pony was angry at having lost the Great War.

While there is a strategic advantage to not leaking information out of the nation, it also makes it difficult to control the information space. I would imagine that the average enlistee would become considerably less enthusiastic to serve their country if they knew they could have their soul rewritten if I just happened to target their general area, but since the general public is not aware of this threat, they cannot fear it. My previous conquests in southern Griffonia utilized the spell tactically, but it is hard for information about it to spread. Those caught in it either become loyal to me or kill those who aren’t, leaving limited individuals remaining to spread the word. Obviously, a military planner would notice entire divisions disappearing or converting and eventually piece it together, but once the country falls, that information doesn’t travel - or at least hasn’t yet.

Even if the River Federation was smart and did hire a Kasan refugee who did happen to figure out what was happening, I doubt they would publicize that knowledge. Maybe it would be discussed in the smoky backrooms of strategic planners, but it would present me as too terrifying to fight for some. I believe their fear may be unfounded though, as I doubt knowledge of the way I use my spell would truly cause many to refuse to fight or even have any significant effect on the war. If anything, it could encourage them to fight harder to avoid getting their minds overwritten. After all, there is no option but to fight in that case. Combined with social pressure from the way armies are organized and the fact that creatures believe first before applying logic, I don’t think that would change much. That being said, there is obviously also the coward’s path where, if their spirit is broken and they don’t believe they can win, a Riverlands pony may choose to ignore a draft notice or begin collaborating.

That, however, takes firm control of the media landscape of a nation to work at any scale, which I cannot influence much. Even through earned media of, say, a massacre or victories by me, these papers always seem to find a way to spin things positively. If something is truly negative, they won’t print it at all - at least the OHS won’t let them. Thus, I find the idea of intentionally spreading the idea that the Riverlanders are always 2 seconds away from being mind controlled not productive. It may make them more afraid, but, in the end, the fear levels don’t affect the combat effectiveness of a unit of soldiers on a strategic level as long as institutions are strong enough. They are already afraid - they’re in a war.

The ultimatum I present lends itself much more towards fighting than fleeing or freezing, and the effect is always temporary. As those not caught in my spell live a few days without being mind controlled, the fear wanes and becomes useless. Though it may seem strange, I have learned not to underestimate the abilities of creatures to adapt to a new normal. I have been continuously implementing new normals in Viirad, after all. In the same way, my enemies will get used to living in fear of my spell, negating its effect. I believe this is a subconscious survival instinct, as it is advantageous for creatures to not reject their entire realities and societies when confronted with a fearful situation, thus causing them to rationalize reasons for such, even if the logic clearly favors a surrender.

I must return to the front. With the Hindians massing, quickly dispatching the River Federation is the only option. My current strategy is to rend the Riverlands in twain between Bakara and Nimbusia. From there, the remainder of their armies will no longer be able to mount a unified defense and collapse in the east followed by the west. All the numerical indicators show the plan will succeed, leaving me more concerned with the post-conquest mind control effort. The River Federation is more than double the size of Viirad today, meaning ever more lengthy train rides and river voyages. Such is the price of success.

Author's Note

So, usually, Kasa is endgame content for Hindia, but they invade whoever controls Kasa, so they invaded Viirad in my research playthrough. I actually felt this made a lot of sense seeing Olenia and Hindia probably want to make a point that deer aren't all evil.

I also added a section where Viira discusses NovemberWolf's comment on how scary the situation is for Viira's enemies. Personally, I think there are probably a lot of factors that go into what one would do if forced to fight someone who could overwrite your mind at any time like culture and personality, but Viira likes to speak more in grand declarations of the soul and inherent nature.