November 20th, 998
Applejack, Rainbow, and their four fillies are sitting around the table, the six silently eating their dinner of hay and bread sandwiches. A piece of hay occasionally falls, a tongue going down and lapping it up, the clink of plate against table as the muzzle pushes it around. A soft burp from Applebaum, nopony reacting as Rainbow follows suit.
A soft knock at the front door causes six heads to turn, the four smallest turning back to their plates as Applejack and Rainbow stare at each other. They both flick their heads at the door; Rainbow's mane flops to the other side, Applejack's ponytail swaying back and forth.
Applejack clears her throat, "Ah'm pretty sure the junior mare is the one who gets the door."
Rainbow retorts, "And I thought it was your house, and you're the host." She takes another bite, "Plus, it's probably Doug's moves, anyway."
Applejack huffs, "Well-"
They both stop, turning again as the knock on the door comes again, a little louder and more urgent. The door to Doug's office opens, the irritated human walking out, glaring at the two bickering mares before he opens the door. He forces a smile on his face, "Hello, Diamond Tiara." He looks out at the light snowfall, a trail of small hoofprints along the path to the gate. "What brings you here?"
Diamond Tiara stammers, "Oh, um, I just wanted to know, are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo here?" She nervously glances around, Doug opening the door more and holding his hand to invite her inside.
"Come in, it's cold out there," Doug says, pulling his light pajama set a little tighter as Diamond Tiara cautiously walks in, shutting the door behind her. "Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are here, Sweetie Belle is with her dam."
"Oh, okay, that's fine." Diamond Tiara glances to the dining room, seeing the six ponies eating. "It's kind of cold in here, too."
Doug says, "I can get you a blanket, or maybe something warm to drink."
"Ooh! Do you have hot chocolate?" Diamond Tiara squeals a little, dancing back and forth on her hooves, "I like the kind with the little marshmallows!"
Doug smiles down at the filly, "I think we do, let me heat up some water for you." At the table Apple Bloom and Scootaloo snicker a little to themselves before going back to the small portion they have left.
"Thank you, Mister Apple," she says, a small smile up at him. Diamond Tiara moves to the table; most of the fillies have finished their dinner, Applejack and Rainbow starting on their second plate.
"Hi, Diamond Tiara! What brings you here?" Apple Bloom asks, a glance to her dam asking for permission to leave the table, Applejack nodding in return.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo says, a smirk on her muzzle as she hops back, "Your dam kick you out for putting a hoof on the table?"
"No! Not this time," Diamond Tiara huffs. "Silver Spoon just has some of her friends over." She mutters something unintelligible to herself, grunting, "Where's that hot chocolate?"
Doug peeks out from the kitchen, "Just another minute to warm the water. I'm sorry, but we're out of the kind with marshmallows."
"Oh," comes the haughty reply, "Just regular marshmallows will do, then."
"Sorry, Diamond, we're out of those too. Just regular hot chocolate." Doug motions back, "Maybe I can get you something else?"
The pink filly sighs, "Very well, just the hot chocolate, it'll have to do."
Scootaloo whispers to Apple Bloom, "Have we ever had marshmallows in our hot chocolate?"
Apple Bloom whispers back, "How often do we have hot chocolate?"
The two stare at each other, nodding at the same time, "Whenever Pinkie Pie is here."
"Whatcha talking about?" Diamond Tiara says as she walks over to the two.
"Nothin'," says Apple Bloom, a glance at Scootaloo. The pegasus stares back at her, her mouth quickly turning to a large smile.
"Is it about what game we'll be playing?" Diamond Tiara smiles as her hot chocolate arrives, a brief yelp as the hot cup burns her hooves.
"Um, we haven't figured that out yet," Apple Bloom says. She watches Diamond Tiara stare at her hot chocolate, waiting for the infernal liquid to cool down enough to be drinkable. "Sometimes, Ah like to blow on it to help cool it down."
"Well, maybe it shouldn't be so hot in the first place," Diamond Tiara says, a glance towards the kitchen, "Our stove knows how hot to make things." She gives a tepid blow to the hot chocolate, a short flick of her tongue confirming it is still too hot.
"Well, maybe next time you can make it yourself, you're old enough," Doug mutters to himself, forgetting the ponies' better ears. He says, a little louder as he leaves the room, "I'll be in my office."
Diamond Tiara turns back to her drink and huffs, "Ugh, maybe a spoon or something to stir it with."
Scootaloo pulls a leftover piece of hay from her plate, using it to stir the hot chocolate. She gives a small smile as she backs off, Diamond Tiara glaring at her. Scootaloo says, "Hey, it was around."
"I just hope it wasn't in your mouth," Diamond Tiara says with a grimace, continuing to stir the liquid. She looks "What's your sire doing?"
Apple Bloom says with a sigh, "Oh, it's some play by mail game the Pr-... um... some ponies up in Canterlot are playing with him. The rulebook is, like, thicker than our school textbooks. Ah think he's going to be playing it most of the winter. "
"Seriously? What kind of pony plays a game like that?" Diamond Tiara shakes her head back and forth, smiling as her hot chocolate reaches the desired temperature. She takes a sip, a slight frown at the bland taste, nothing like the rich chocolate she has at home. She quickly forces a smile to her face, remembering her dam's training as she takes another sip.
Rainbow Dash moves over, clearing all the plates, "I know, egghead games, right? But I've got the perfect game for us! It was one of my favorites growing up!" Rainbow Dash takes the plates and glasses to the kitchen, calling out, "I've got it up at my place, it'll just be a few minutes before I'm back!" Rainbow shuts the front door behind her as she zooms off into the dusk sky, the sun and moon trading places.
Applebaum moves over, "Mama? Can I go play with Daddy?" as Pomarbo lays down, taking a nap at the table.
Applejack nods, "If you're quiet, and he says it's okay. Have fun." She pats the filly on her head, Applebaum scampering to the office door. Diamond Tiara stares at the mare, raising one eyebrow. Applejack smiles as she moves over, "Ah sure hope that filly devotes as much time to studying as she does to those games of his." The mare gently lifts Pomarbo, placing the brown colt on her back.
"So, what game is it, exactly?" Diamond Tiara asks, trying to peek into the office from her spot, only managing to see a large map of Equestria along the wall.
"Atlas of Allies. Ah think it's set in the time when Nightmare Moon attacked, but imagines Princess Celestia didn't beat her sister with the Elements, and instead fought her to a standstill. And then Nightmare Moon goes off and rallies a bunch of her allies." Applejack shakes her head, "And then the players take the pieces, representing the forces of Equestria, and they move them around the board."
"Doesn't sound that hard," Diamond Tiara says, shaking her head.
A burst of cold comes into the house as Rainbow Dash opens the door, clutching a blue box in her hooves. "Who wants to play Storm Hunters?" She rips the cover off, revealing a blue and purple box. "The rules are simple. We each have five pieces, and you put them on your board, wherever you want. You guess an elevation; like ground, or sky, or strato; and then a number, like one or four. If that is where I had a piece, then it's a hit! and I lose the piece, and you get to go again. If you miss, it's my turn. And I'm undefeated!" Rainbow smirks, rubbing her hooves together as she looks around the room. "So, who wants to be my first victim?"
Scootaloo raises a hoof as Diamond Tiara says, "I'll play!" Scootaloo pouts a little as Rainbow nods at Diamond Tiara, the pink earth pony moving up to the purple side.
"It's okay, Scoots, you can play the winner. And that's gonna be me!" Rainbow smirks, scattering her pieces over her side of the board. "Okay, you ready Diamond Tiara?"
A long series of knocks comes at the door, Apple Bloom getting up and answering. Derpy Hooves is standing there, a package in her mouth. "Pakath fo' Col' 'Igga?"
"Okay! I'll take it to him," Apple Bloom says, smiling up at Derpy. The mailmare drops the package down, a brief glance at her list. She smiles down as Apple Bloom grabs the package, closing the door for the filly and flying off. "Daddy!" Apple Bloom calls, the package at her hooves, "You got more moves."
"Well, this is it," Doug says, opening the door to his office. A cheer comes from Rainbow as she scores another hit. "Time to see what happens." He takes the package, ripping open the paper and closing the door to his office.
"Ground four," Rainbow says, her smirk growing larger as Diamond Tiara glowers, pulling off her second cloud. "Just one piece left! You give up yet?"
"Never!" calls the filly, though only one of Rainbow's pieces is off the board. "Let's see wha-"
"YES!!" comes the shout from the office, all the ponies turning at the sudden interruption. "Suck it, Celestia!"
Applejack and Rainbow glance at each other, slightly mortified as the fillies giggle and quickly return to their game.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot:
In the center of the room sits a gigantic table, a blown-up map of Equestria spread on top. The land is divided into dozens of territories, hundreds of small pins of many colors dotting the landscape. The northeast corner of the board: the cities of Baltimare, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia, and the nearby mountains, are covered in black circles and pins. The rest of the board is dominated by white, though the forces are spread thin, each representing a garrison force and the small amount of influence they have. A token force is in the mountain city of Canterlot, more an honor guard than a serious defense force, with a larger white group surrounding the Crystal Empire to the north.
"Okay, do we have Cold Digger's list of moves?" asks Princess Celestia as she walks up, glancing over the gigantic map of Equestria. Captain Spitfire and Captain Shining Armor are waiting around the table, nodding in greeting to the princess. Spitfire has a rare expression on her face, boredom, while Shining Armor is nervously glancing over pages of notes and strategies. One orange pegasus guard with a blue mane is standing at attention at the door, watching outside.
"Not yet, Your Highness, but it should be arriving shortly," says Flash Sentry, glancing back to the princess. "Any minute now."
"Oh, ponyfeathers," says Shining Armor, one hoof rubbing his head as he looks back at the table, "Should we have hedged more?"
"Oh, whoop-dee doo, this again," Spitfire groans, rolling her eyes, "If we hedged any more she'd force a draw by holding all three cities on the last turn. It's been a textbook battle so far. Who does she think is riding to her rescue? She's been going for Crystal, but she doesn't have the forces to do anything with it."
The clop of hooves down the hallway gets the attention of the three ponies at the table. "Moves are here," announces Flash Sentry, bringing the sealed folder over. "Princess?"
Princess Celestia nods in thanks, her horn lighting. The folder of moves opens, long lists of troop movements, production queues, and battle orders. She scans through, the sealed envelopes of secret moves and contingencies laid to the side. "Everything seems to be in order," she says, methodically going through the list of moves for Nightmare Moon's forces.
"Ugh, she reinforced to hold Baltimare? I was sure she would retreat!" Spitfire glowers, looking at their own list of moves. "I suppose we wait another turn to capture, but that guarantees we take two cities and the win. Where did she pull back from?"
"Everywhere else, it seems; she even conceded Hollow Shades." Shining Armor sighs, "We'll still take Fillydelphia next turn, and the losses will be heavier for her than if we captured her troops in the mountains. And we'll take Baltimare too, you're right. What was the point of that?"
Flash Sentry glances down at the game board, a large mix of white and dark circles overlaid on the game board and slowly shifting about as the troops and their influence changes. The dark circles, Nightmare Moon's forces, are now forced into just three cities, all of the surrounding territory turning white. He says, "When it's like this, Celestial forces win, what, ninety percent of the time?"
"Ninety three," comes the fast reply, the unicorn looking over his notes. "But we haven't been pushing as hard, even though it's been pretty standard play. Nightmare forces on the retreat, their only hope is nearly gone. Normally they would have lost more ground, but she has kept up the retreat more sporadically than I expected. She's keeping us on our toes, not just letting us run roughshod over them. She's lost a lot more units, and kept us tied up and not capturing her cities, but now they're all stuck, her mobile forces all tied down."
"But, why not crush them before? Why wait until now?" Flash says, motioning at the small concentration of forces in the northeastern cities of Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare.
Spitfire sighs, "We'd spread ourselves too thin trying to take all three cities at once that last turn, and she's got a very mobile force that can punish us splitting up. Figures a pegasus would know hit and run tactics so well." The Wonderbolt shrugs, "But now, her forces are all stuck. Even if she takes Crystal, we take three cities, two if we're unlucky, and it's a Celestial win. Easy."
"And why hasn't she built up more? That's what always happens when my sisters and I play." Flash motions to the turn marker, "We'd always have a much more even game by this point."
Shining Armor says, "Then Nightmare Moon's forces won't capture the Crystal Empire when Sombra attacks. And it's never worth it for the Celestial side to hold the mad King off and keep the Crystal Empire in the game. Once it's gone, there goes her chance for a flanking attack from the north. And if you play a textbook Crystal-less game, then Celestial's win is nearly guaranteed. You can pull all of your defensive troops you have to station around the Crystal Empire and bring them into the battle for whichever quadrant Nightmare tries to hold. If you think they are going to go for Crystal, and it's pretty easy to tell with how much they have spent on research, you either hit them hard before it comes into play, or make sure she doesn't invest enough in the Crystal Empire to do anything with it."
"And she didn't do that?"
"We'll have to see, my little pony." Princess Celestia holds up the folder of secret moves from the four previous turns of the game, adding the fifth one. "You have yours?"
"Well, we know what ours are," Spitfire says, pulling out five sheets of paper. "Blank, blank, blank, blank, blank. No bits devoted to secret projects."
Flash asks, "So all your bits went to reinforcement and more units?"
Shining Armor nods, "In order to keep up the pressure, yes. Her last defense was a little weak, but let's see. It's no good to get the Crystal Empire if you lose your stronghold in the northeast."
Princess Celestia levitates the first folder over, "Twenty on research reduction."
Spitfire's raises an eyebrow as Flash Sentry says, "With the turn multiplier, that's seventy out of two hundred."
The next folder tears open, "Twenty on Crystal, twenty on research reduction."
"Okay, so sixty for each of them. Sixty out of two hundred on Crystal, one thirty on research." Flash jots down the numbers on each of the research pages.
"Wait, full research? Why go for so many movement abilities?" Spitfire glances around the map, "She's got nowhere to fly to."
"Next folder is empty."
"Really?" glances trade around, Shining continuing, "I guess she did need to fortify the Foal Mountains that turn, and it paid off. That by itself bought her one of the cities not being captured until the last turn."
"Next one, turn four. Twenty on Crystal, twenty research, twenty on flight, and twenty on air evac."
Spitfire sputters, "Flight? Air Evac? Nopony gets those. Where is she flying?" She looks over the map, "All our forces have air defenses, boxing her forces in. We've whittled her down to three territories and we're taking each of those on the last turn, if not two." A horrified look comes over her face as Shining looks up, the two staring at each other. "She's going full Sombra."
Shining Armor drops down, "No." He bangs a hoof on the table, "Nopony's gone full Sombra in a professional game ever before and won. They lose everything else too quickly."
Flash Sentry totals the numbers, "Okay, so, forty each gives one hundred on Crystal, one seventy on research. Forty out of one hundred on flight. Forty on air evac, gives one air evacuation from a one friendly city to a friendly city, short range."
Princess Celestia rips open the last folder, "None on crystal, twenty on research and air evac. Ten on flight." She continues reading, "And contingency moves G if Nightmare takes Crystal Empire, H otherwise."
Shining Armor tosses down his pencil, having totaled the research in his head. "Let's see the moves."
Flash Sentry methodically adds the numbers nonetheless, announcing, "Okay, so two hundred on research, that completes. Half cost on all research costs as well as one free air evac, air drop, and land rush. So she finishes Crystal Empire. We didn't get halfway there to counter, so the Crystal Empire fully secedes to Nightmare Moon's forces. Flight finishes, doubling the range of air drops and air evacs. At thirty each, she has a total of three air evacs, one air drop, and one land rush."
Princess Celestia rips open contingency move folder G, sliding the paper to Shining Armor.
"Okay, evacuation orders Alpha. All surviving units in Manehatten air evac to Crystal Empire. Bravo: same thing, but from Baltimare. Charlie: same thing, from Fillydelphia." Princess Celestia pulls forty pins out of each city, moving them to the Crystal Empire in the northeast. "Okay, land rush. Thirty units each to Foal Mountains and Neighagra Falls. Loses two each from our defensive forces around Crystal." He sighs as the pieces slide over, "Cutting off our reinforcement to Canterlot." He reads the last order, "Yup. Air drop: sixty units from Crystal Empire to Canterlot. Loses one for each territory she flies over, and another ten from our forces surrounding the empire. So loses thirteen, lands forty seven. We can roll the dice, but I don't think the odds are in our favor."
Spitfire laughs, "What? We only need the equivalent of, what. A six, twenty times in a row? Doable." She leans forward, looking at the board. "How did she get the money for that?"
"We didn't take any cities." Shining Armor sighs, motioning to the board. "We advanced the first turn, and built up a lot of forces, and she full retreated. Classic Sombra. Counter to Sombra is to rush, everywhere, hard. And she managed to defend two spots, when we thought she would full retreat again the next turn. Takes heavy losses for it, but slows us down. Then, turn three, we take those territories, recoup our earlier losses. But, she reinforces instead of abandoning Foal Mountain. This delays our regrouping even more, buying her the fourth turn to dump money into evacs instead of reinforcements. If we had predicted the spots that she decided to defend then we would have forced her to spend a lot of bits on replacing those units. Then, she wouldn't have the full numbers to rush Canterlot. Or, without the land blockade, we would reinforce Canterlot, and the odds are about fifty fifty of a coup. If she has to reinforce twice then its about eighty five percent in our favor."
Princess Celestia picks up dozens of six sided dice in her magic, "Okay, what's the first thing that happens?"
Shining Armor looks at the arranged forces, "Okay, first off, Nightmare Moon's lead general and first company charges the palace guards. He rolls sixteen dice, we roll eight." Eight white dice and sixteen black dice fall from Princess Celestia's magic. "Okay, so, we lost three and won five. Not bad at all. Defensive multiplier knocks off eight troops." Five white dice roll against eight black dice. After a few more die rolls, "Okay, only the general lives on Nightmare side, we lost all of our guards. Great battle for us, commend the troops if we make it out of this. Next up, the throne room."
"Oh, dear," says Princess Celestia, her voice wavering, "I don't know that I've ever played a game where my throne room is assaulted. Canterlot, certainly, but to get this far?"
"Yeah, well, you're no slouch," Captain Spitfire says, her hoof on her chin as she looks up. "Oh, ponyfeathers, it's been a while since I've had to look at the Princess hit tables. What is it, the Princess takes out a troop when she wins the roll or ties. Loses a hit on a tie, ten hits total to beat her. But she loses outright if you have all rolls tied or higher than hers, with at least one higher, after lining them up. Still capped at five dice, something like that?"
Shining Armor nods as Princess Celestia levitates the dice back up, twenty white dice and a single black die falling down. They scatter around, bouncing here and there as Shining Armor pushes the next company of black soldiers into the staging area, Nightmare's second general leading the next wave of attacks on the throne room. A large Nightmare Moon figurine joins the third and last company of troops, a small tray keeping the units together. Spitfire and Flash hold their breath, the two watching the dice come to rest.
"So, what happens now?" Flash Sentry asks, looking at the scattered dice and starting to arrange them by number. There are lots of fives and fours and twos, a few three and ones, and a solitary six. On the black die.
Shining Armor glances at the die rolls, a double take as he tries to find a six on one of the white dice. He shrugs, incredulous at the outcome, "Well, one in two thirty isn't impossible, and it was a forgone conclusion anyway. Let's see. Canterlot falls, the Celestial forces surrender. The blitz against Princess Celestia succeeds, captured by Nightmare Moon's general." He motions to the Nightmare Moon figure, who would have attacked with the last company of black forces, "Since the general captured you, instead of Nightmare Moon, I suppose you would be her servant, as a reward for singlehoofedly subduing the great Celestia."
"Mm," Princess Celestia purrs, seductively licking her lips, "I can live with that."
Captain Spitfire's hoof slams into her forehead, a heavy sigh from the Wonderbolt as Captain Shining Armor and Flash Sentry trade confused glances.