It wasn't a test?!?!?!? (and Sequel in the A/N)
"But- but- but-" Twilight stammered as she stood before her former mentor's throne.
Celesta merely continued to drink her tea, her calm demeanor not reflecting the gravity of the news she had just given.
"What do you mean it wasn't a test!" Twilight half-shouted half-cried up to her.
"Now I didn't say it wasn't a test, I only said that the letter from the Griffon Emperor was not fabricated."
Twilight slumped to the floor in relief, "Oh thank Harmony! I thought you were saying that you actually sent that letter back to him!" Twilight released a weary chuckle, "You had me worried there for a bit."
"I didn't say I didn't send the letter either, What I said was that you responding to the letter wasn't the test." Celestia said, not reacting to the building fear on Twilight's face.
Unable to build any more than a shaky whisper, Twilight's need for an answer prevailed over panic, "Then what is the test princess?"
"You are to deal with the Griffon threat in its entirety."
Then panic finally had its way, and Twilight's unconscious form finished its slump to the polished marble.
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maybe twilight will finally understand just how much of a bitch her 'teacher' really is.
I'll be reading the sequel tomorrow... too worn out to do so tonight
5024221 Hay don't feel to bad about exposure... I ONLY look at my feed these days. Besides... I don't see the new story linked as a sequel to the first story in the first place? That super confused me... You miss clicking a button or something?
You should also be aware, that people like me who download the story to our phones to read offline... We don't see authors notes, as in knighty's infinitetesimal wisdom, author's notes are not included with the downloads. I had to come back to the actual story page and view the story in browser to even see the author's note.
**stares intensely at Canine Complications and Just an Everyday Princess**
**wills them to update, very hard**
**bummer... not a unicorn. no horn**
Maybe you could do something about that?
5024618 I do all my writing and a majority of my other FIMfic activities on my phone as well, and I have to say that since he forced the moble site upon us, trying to do anything is no less than absolutly broken. (Which is really true for any "mobile-enabled" site...)
In relation to exposure though, guess I rendered my origonal point null when I went and wrote a chapter introducing the sequal anyway... as for the author's note, I included a refrence to the sequal's existance in the chapter's title to make it more obvious, but I didn't even know about the A/N not being included in the download view... I don't have a good answer for that...
A lot of people miss it since it was rather quietly snuck under the door, but if you go into story options there's now a field for marking stories as sequels to each other.
Might be worth checking out; if nothing else as a compliment to this mini-chapter.
Can you not "skirt" the rules of our site? Thanks pal.
EDIT: FYI - there's blog tagging again for a reason. Use it.
5024937 "Blog"? What is this "Blog" thou speaketh of? Sounds ugly.
5026061 I believe he is referring to the mythical entities that permeate a theoretical sub-space that all but the most enlightened have grown to ignore in its entirety. It is a scheme by the powers that be to subvert the conventions that our fair society has developed, in order to... I actually don't know... If people look at a new chapter expecting more content, and that is what they receive, where is the issue? I guess it is for greater minds to decide...
Not liked enough to fav (oddly) but take the like.
Now off to the sequel!!!
5026569 I posted that comment AGES ago, and I still consider him to be an active par tof events there, besides, this is fimfiction so fanon is okay. Since I posted the comment, I have seen the first three seasons of Dr.who not much to add about my original comment.
5026193
Well, the Chrystal Empire was basically annexed, wasn't it? It hosted the Equestrian Games even. I'm not much of a buff on territory stuff, but it seemed to me that while it was its own nation at one time, that doesn't seem the case any more due to non-hostile friendship takeover.
~GLaDOS voice~
It wasn't part of the test.
5027148
Equestria doesn't have nuclear weapons.
That blast was nowhere near an actual nuclear blast.
That was actually a fairly small blast.
Uh, no. If you're trying to get around a rule and do the thing anyway, you're breaking the rule.
In the future, post a tagged blog.
5027148 Thats just a north korean warhead.
5030221
I doubt they would unless they had a treaty or an agreement.
The problem I find with this story primarily consists of the following (bearing in mind that I have not read the second chapter):
Problem the first: Unrealistic military comparison.
In the first place, it would seem acceptable that Equestria and the Griffons could have an army of one-sixth their population, given that there have certainly been times on Earth when there have been armies of similar proportions (the world wars). Thus the percentages are acceptable.
In the second place, it would seem acceptable to consider numbers as the only real matter of the problem, for as the war-master says, "It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him". Thus the comparison is a good one.
On the contrary, Vegetius says, "Victory in war does not depend entirely upon numbers or mere courage; only skill and discipline will insure it."
I answer that the numbers are not only unrealistic, but worse than that, are a useless comparison even if they were. No matter of war relies merely on numbers, and to say it does so is proved false via the example provided in modern times.
In the first place, no nation has the capacity to provide such a large percentage of their population to the military. In the Second World War, no more than 8% of the total population of the US, for example, served at any point in the war (such that of the total amount who served during the world war was 8% of the population, rather than a cycling 8%). This is due to the requirements of the State. To use Equestria, the largest portion of their military comes from those who are most essential to their continued survival - those who provide the weather, and those who grow crops. It would be comparable to taking a feudal fief, and requiring only those who grew food to serve in the military. 1% or less is a much more accurate and acceptable number. Hence a sixth of the population is not acceptable.
In the second place, numbers are not the real way to decide upon whether a side will be victorious or not. We find this in the Cantabrians against the Ummayads, during which the Cantabrians, though both fewer in number and with lighter weapons and armour, were able to frustrate and deny the Ummayads. Hence comparison of numbers is not a good comparison.
Problem the second: The story.
There is none. That's the problem. All it is is meaningless chatter about how 'Equestria is amazing and wonderful and stupendous and yay'. That does not make a story. What it makes is propaganda... but for what? Equestria does not need any more propaganda than it already has. Especially propaganda which is written as this.
You wrote this, you say, as a quick-write after thinking about what Enemies of Equestria would face. Well, my problem is that what you are apparently writing is the North Korea to Equestria's USA. Except without even the small threat that NK might pose at some point in the future. The Griffons are merely displayed as bland, non-threatening nuisances that couldn't do anything of any real effect. Which is boring. If you're going to write something about this, make it interesting. Make them face a challenge.
5028407 Yep.
5030221 Fully agreed, but that does not mean they are the same nation.
Allied, therefore separate.
Colorado is part of the U.S., not allied to it.
5021813
1. Just because something isn't labeled as AU doesn't mean it doesn't contain AU elements. By your reasoning all stories sould be tagged as AU. BTW: In my original comment I was referring to the story NOT Canon.
2a. See 1 above. Allied, meaning separate. Colorado is part of the US, not allied to it, but England is an ally of the US, not a subordinate entity. If the Crystal Empire was part of Equestria, they would not have to swear allegiance, Celestia would order them to take part.
2b. See 1 above
3. I'll partially concede this point with the exception of the Crystal Empire having to be part of Equestria to take part in the games. They are a very close ally (See 1 above) and therefore compete in the games.
5024324 From Celestia's immortal perspective, a prospective full-scale international war is merely one more convenient training tool for her to whet Twilight against. Given that she's deliberately allowed the situation to escalate, she most did so to (a) train Twilight in international diplomacy, griffon culture, and the importance of choosing words carefully, (b) use the situation to knock the griffon nation back down a peg safely, decreasing its volatility, and (c) allow the history books to record a short victorious war where Equestria curbstomped Griffonia, instead of a long, bloody, and protracted clash which might inspire future internal political forces of Griffonia to make another attempt.
But mostly (a). If Twilight is going to be an immortal, the importance of her formative education and experiences are, in the long run, going to outweigh the bulk of recorded history. Celestia could burn the planet and 99% of its population, art, culture, life, history, and everything else to screaming ash just to get Twilight to improve her posture slightly, and it would still be worth it. Because twenty thousand years from now, the only part of any of those things which will remain will be Twilight. In comparison, casually tossing all of Griffonia into the woodchipper so Twilight can get some "My First Diplomatic Incident" training barely holds a candle. Not that Celestia would do that as her first choice, but if push came to shove, mortal Emperors and their nations are ultimately disposable in the relentless meat-grinder of time. Twilight isn't.
5035983 i'm really glad your not immortal.
5036156 Ha! I'm not saying that those things would be standard policy, or even ever actually likely to happen at all. It's just that genuine immortality is such a game-breaker that it's often treated as simply "this character can be really old". But that makes people think in terms of "old for a person", not "has seen life - not just individual species, but Life itself - arise, flourish, produce art and love and anguish and striving, wither, die, and arise again in different forms".
By that measure, even Celestia and Luna are relatively young - their original species is still around.
In the interim, you might end up with something like Discord, who plays with the destiny and evolution of entire species by pressuring them into becoming more durable, more mentally stable, more inherently resistant to or accommodating of change in order to survive his attentions. And yet he's perfectly willing to temporarily suspend his actions for a few lifetimes on a whim, just to please an interesting mortal. He knows it won't affect the end result in the long run - it's a coffee break on a project so long-running that the Sun might burn out before its completion. It's also why he likes teasing Celestia - she's chosen to be involved in the daily life of mortals on a personal basis, which could be viewed as something of an eccentric hobby from an eternal perspective. She's young, though.
5038913 have you ever read 'Lines and Webs'? because your outlook on this sounds almost exactly like Celestias in that story, and i hate her in that story. the idea that a war could be trivialized by anyone or anything frightens me.
wow, so many of these recently
5038938 I guess when you've seen something happen hundreds, if not thousands of times over, and you can see the patterns in how it plays out, even war can seem not terribly interesting or important.
If it helps, I think that a more canon-type Celestia would be active in subtly manipulating the patterns behind the scenes in order to deflate, disrupt, and defuse the patterns which she knows tend to lead to all-out war. If a war became absolutely inevitable for some reason, she'd probably do her best to make it short, extremely one-sided, and with minimal casualties. For better or worse, she does appear to be genuinely empathic and personally invested in keeping her ponies (and even the mortal citizens of foreign nations) happy and out of harm's way as much as possible.
Funny story and Twilight made very excellent points as to why The Griffon Empire should not attack Equestria. I shall be checking out the sequel.
~ Super-Brony12
5042384
Except she couldn't without killing the ponies as well.
5043278 Not if she LITERALLY just used a giant magnifying glass. Possibly while cackling manically.
Hrmmm... Judging by twilight's reaction to being told she has to handle the griffon threat, I think we can assume her previous letter was largely bluster, trying to make Equestria appear more dangerous than it really is. Oh I'm sure that her fainting is at least partially to do with having such an enormous responsibility foisted upon her, but I doubt she'd be THAT worried if she really believed everything she said.
5045577
According to my headcanon, unicorns can do this.
Seriously, maybe a small elite squad can do what Shining can do. But they're not Shining Armor and he isn't a base for unicorn power.
5045577 Firstly, no, unicorns that have shield spells (or magic in general) as their -special talent- AND -extensive- training can protect whole cities. And given just how peaceful Equestria generally is, I somehow very much doubt that there overly many unicorns who have occasion to discover that talent, and even fewer who are practiced to a sufficient degree.
EDIT: And even if there were enough Shining Armors to protect every settlement (There are not), sieges typically tend to favor the attackers, who don't even have to enter the city, just prevent supplies from getting in. And before you say teleportation, Twilight is the ONLY unicorn to have demonstrated that skill, and she, like Rainbow Dash, cannot possibly be a one mare supply chain, especially if she chooses to fight on the front line as well.
Secondly, I wasn't really claiming that the griffons could trump Equestria's allies, merely pointing out that they are likely to have allies or (again, more likely) vassal or puppet states to call on, and that two of the listed races are quite obviously NOT allies to Equestria. Ignoring that though, what, exactly, did you find faulty?
And yes, they really would be more competent than ponies at fighting a war if they really are such a heavily militarized state. A standing army such as theirs will have been practicing for years, or even been put to use against other enemies, which would mean more experienced soldiers. And again, as a nation heavily invested in their military, they would be sure to outfit soldiers with the best equipment. There is simply no way that Equestria could go from no army at all to a fighting force large, well trained, and equipped enough to fight such a foe in so short a time, especially if they rely solely on volunteers.
As far as them being better than pegasi, just LOOK at them. Gilda was at least twice Rainbow Dash's mass, has razor sharp talons (which are prehensile, so they can hold weapons better than a pony can, even if they aren't deadly in their own right), and is implied to be at LEAST as good a flier as Dash is. It doesn't take a genius to see who would win in a fight if it ever came to that.
5046154
....according to the author.
Read the story.
5047451
This story only stays afloat on headcanon.
>According to my headcanon.
Is completely accurate.
5047480
Your answer would be credible if the majority of readers were KaBar's.
Regardless, nice attempt.
Naow let's go watch Equestria Girls 2 in theaters!!!
5047504
Fuck no.
My answer is still credible as this fic is drowning in headcanon.
5047523
I can't tell if you expected a fanfic to not be drowning in headcannon, or if I just completely missed the point of your posts.
5066101
Oh no, I expect a story to contain headcanon.
But I don't expect a story's biggest premise and the majority of the threats in a story to rely on headcanon.
5047480 ... dude all fanfiction is in relation to headcanon to some point. so logn as the headcanon does not involve all the characters being inexplicably transvestites it can work.
5035983 And that is why I lost about 99% of my respect and 100% of my trust in Celestia and all trickster mentors by the end of season three.
5073744 I guess. Although just because in a purely cold rationality Twilight might be worth more than pretty much anything doesn't mean Celestia's going to operate that way if she can figure out options which allow her to have her cake and eat it too. In most circumstances, it's never going to come down to Twilight vs Equestria (or similar) on the scales. Mostly, if Celestia plays her cards right, she can improve both of them at the same time.
In addition, she is most likely not only very, very good at manipulating the playing field so she doesn't have to make the hard choices, she's probably challenging herself - can she play the game on hard mode and get all the bonuses and 100% completion, as it were?
5077629 The risk is too great and the rewards weren't worth it, here in this story or in season three. And only author fiat saved her flank. The greater good or hard men/mares making hard choices can pretty much go die in a fire for all I care anymore.
You just made this story even better!
celestia damnit celestia
5183843 Let's see here...
To begin with, I'm almost certain that the fact that Equestria's population was triple that of the Griffon Empire's was -not- in the story when I wrote that comment. If it wasn't, then this is a case of moving the goal posts.
But let's assume it was and that I missed this fact. That is indeed a 3:2 ratio in Equestria's favor. But I do not think it would be anywhere near an insurmountable advantage. For one thing, again, Equestria's army would be largely a volunteer force, up against a professional army. I simply can't see them having the training or experience of the Griffon Empire at the start of the war. They would effectively be playing catch-up on that standard. For another, Equestria is a peaceful nation, so it's citizens wouldn't really be prepared mentally for war. You mentioned magic being a force multiplier. So are training, experience, and mentality.
While you are correct that a portion of griffons would be dedicated to supply lines, but if the griffons have any skill at ALL with warfare, they'd be able to account for that. There is also the fact to consider that, unless Equestria enacts a scorched earth policy, the griffons will likely be able to make up for there stretched supply lines by raiding Equestrian sources of food.
You also assume that the griffons ONLY have natural weapons. They are a militaristic culture and will likely have weapons and army at bare MINIMUM the equal to their Equestrian counterparts. Furthermore, while magic may indeed be a dangerous weapon, I can only really see a small handful of unicorns capable of wielding it as such. Remember, Equestria is a PEACEFUL nation. The unicorns with the capacity and inclination to achieve truly impressive feats of offensive magic are going to be scarce on the ground at best, at least at the start of the war.
I have already addressed the issue of alliances. Two of Equestria's (The dragons and the changelings) will probably not actually be allies at all. And actually, the zebras probably won't be eager to help out either. Remember, the ponies practically used to EVACUATE THE TOWN whenever Zecora came to visit. That kind of sentiment doesn't just disappear from a whole nation overnight, even if Ponyville itself doesn't mind zebras so much anymore, so relations between Equestria and the zebras are probably not good enough for a military alliance.
Twilight is not an economist, or a military strategist. She's only even a princess because she has wings and a horn. Forgive me if I take her say so on such matters with a grain of salt.
The fact that the Crystal Heart only blasted Sombra makes it even more useless as a 'magical super weapon'. Even if it doesn't work on a similar principal to the elements, and is capable of harming those that are NOT evil, it's still essentially a very shiny artillery piece, not a magical 'I win' button.
The Rainboom also left all buildings within its range undamaged, all trees un-felled, and all flying creatures still airborne. The thing with the rock was basically 'Because destiny' since in subsequent uses it has NOT been shown breaking open boulders. And remember it was once pulled off RIGHT NEXT O A STADIUM MADE OF FREAKING CLOUDS without harming either individuals or infrastructure. So yeah. Flashy and maybe disorientating, but not a game changer.
As far as the immortals go, it's been plainly shown that they are NOT unbeatable. As you said, Chrysalis knocked out Celestia, and Twilight wanted to use a reformation spell on Discord (implying she at least THOUGHT it was possible). The whole situation with Tirek. Twilight being a fundamental force of magic simply claptrap of the highest degree and I refuse to believe it. Magic existed before her and will exist long after her. She is NOT a physical god, whatever you may believe.
There is PLENTY in canon that says Twilight wouldn't study dark magic. HER VERY CHARACTERIZATION is that of a good person, and good people in settings like this Do not tend to study things labeled as 'dark magic'.
When have Twilights spells EVER catastrophically backfired with anything even close to dangerous results?
And finally, you assume that the griffons INTEND to wage a war to the extinction of the pony species, which I refuse to believe they'd do. And I highly doubt that ANYBODY IN EQUESTRIA SAVE DISCORD would consider destroying the WHOLE world just because they lost, no matter WHAT the circumstances. It just isn't in them to be that pointlessly spiteful.
But this all beside the point really. I'm not arguing that the griffons would necessarily WIN so much as I am that it would NOT be the easy and effortless victory for the ponies that Twilight believes it would be, and that the sequel depicts.
5269601 I am just saying that Equestria would not be able to defeat an army like that so easily and with no losses.
This story is precisely the sort of speculation on weaponized friendship that I enjoy doing with friends. Well, off to the sequel!
5716667
Annihilation in a country sense does not mean genocide. Besides, I think I was sleepy as fuck when I wrote it.
. . . . . . (Sigh)
Celestia, how about you get off your lazy ass and try to contribute to eradicating the threat? I mean, come on. That donkey has been suffering since you first sat on her.
...I just noticed that Twilight neglected to mention a teensy weensy detail that would make the Griffon emperor turn around and decide to dedicate his race to agriculture: the ponies initially weren't peaceful because they WANTED, they were peaceful because THEY HAD TO. You know how it goes... you start a war, and suddenly the Windigoes show up to gorge on the yummy, yummy hate. Hellooooo ice age.
Nothing like a race who causes genocide on a global scale just by existing to promote avoiding ANYTHING that summons them.