The Quickverse Chronicles

by Quick Fix

The First Line (Luna)

Equestrian Defence Force Headquarters, Canterlot
May 19th, Year 5 under the Four Princesses

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As the morning sun rose, there was a sense of drive and grandeur running throughout the shining capital of Equestria, even more so than one might feel normally. From the tallest spires of the castle to the lowest reaches of the residential districts, everypony could sense what was coming. For the last three years, ponies from all across the land had been moving in and out of Canterlot, first constructing an extension to the city that stood between the castle and the barracks of the Royal Guard just below. While those first ponies had been builders, those that followed had been fighters, a new generation of defenders for their homeland. Under the watchful eye of Princess Luna, they had learned together, trained together, grown together. The Equestria Defence Force had been born on that first day.

Today would be the first they began to fulfil their new roles.

At the heart of the defence force headquarters, within the command centre that would begin to direct their efforts toward wherever it may be needed in a few short hours, Princess Luna couldn't help but feel a measure of pride. She had been the one to first suggest the concept of the EDF after multiple nights supporting a melancholy Twilight Sparkle, mentally and emotionally drained after shouldering the burden of Equestria's safety one too many times. The idea of a standing military to fill the gap between hoping local police could handle a situation and having to send the Elements of Harmony had initially not sat well with Princess Celestia, but she had accepted the idea at her sister's suggestion that those serving would be fairly recruited or volunteers without any conscription. The fledging defence force became her brainchild as the number of ponies willing to answer the call had proven higher than expected .

At this point, the total number of ponies who were part of the Equestria Defence Force totalled nine hundred and forty seven. The initial wave of guards and patrol pegasi had been joined by scores of ponies who wanted to do right by their homeland, make their own efforts at protecting officially or simply do some good of their own will. Right now there were three divisions that made up the force, designated by race until the chaos of initial organization had died down:

The First Earth Pony Regiment; Led by the finest of the Equestrian Guard and trained as front line fighters, logisticians and weaponsmiths, reinforced by a number of crystal ponies who had chosen to serve the protectorate Crystal Empire in this way.

The Pegasus Sky Wing; Flight crews, elite teams and recon units organized into fifteen squadrons that would keep the skies of Equestria safe.

And the First Unicorn Company; Wielding their magic for command, support and medical roles, though many of those who served here were more than capable of direct combat.

They were likely all gathering now, ready for her address as the first Supreme Commander of the armed forces of Equestria in nearly two thousand years. She was even dressed for the occasion. Much of her body was clad in a black plate armour that, to a casual observer, might make her look slightly like Nightmare Moon. However it shone more brightly than the eternal darkness that had made up her coat back then, her neck, face, wings and lower legs were still clearly visible and her mane flowed out beneath the matching helmet. Truth be told, the look carried more nostalgic than practical value, it was a recreation of her old armour from a time long past.

Satisfied everything was in order, Luna made her way out the command center and started down the hallways that would lead to the training grounds now shared with the Royal Guard. Waiting for her partway down were a trio of ponies, a bright yellow earth stallion, a celeste blue pegasus mare and a ruby unicorn mare. Her three generals, some of the most logical minds she had met since returning from the moon and, she dared to say, her friends. As Luna approached them, all three snapped to a salute and then fell into step behind her, ready for anything she might say.

"Is everything in order?" Luna asked simply, doing her best to sound relaxed and positive. In truth, adding command of the EDF to her lunar and dream duties had been something of a strain on her before these three ponies had helped streamline things.

"Squadron six reported they had been delayed taking off from Baltimare, though Captain Rhapsody claimed they would still arrive on schedule, ma'am." The pegasi answered, stepping ahead a little so she could keep her golden eyes contact with the princess, though that was a little difficult through her windswept, marigold coloured bangs.

"You know I prefer to refer to our ponies by name over designation, Searing Current. A team like the Sky Wraiths are no exception." Luna replied perhaps a little firmly, though she knew that not using her rank in her speech reinforced the point. Besides, she felt that if she started opening commenting on how much she respected them, Searing Current would probably start attempting to see if they should replace the Wonderbolts as squadron one and it would be weeks before either unit was service ready.

"The First Unicorn Company is ready, Commander," The unicorn general followed up after a few seconds. Keeping at a more professional trot by Luna's side, she had a shorter trimmed black mane done into a ponytail so her own hazel eyes avoided any of the problems Current had. "However, today I overheard another trooper wondering why we needed a force on a scale like this for such a peaceful country."

"I see...Could you describe them?"

"Private Healing Wave, ma'am. Unicorn mare, moderately green coat, two-tone white and orange mane, brown eyes, syringe in a spiral of magic for a cutie mark."

"Thank you." Luna made a mental note to keep an eye out for this mare in the crowd and address their concerns as best she could. That done, she looked over to earth pony general, Thunder. Somewhat oddly named for an earth pony, his looks were anything but with a flat brown mane and sharp blue eyes.

"No problems from the First Earth pony Regiment." He said simply.

Luna knew she wasn't going to get much more out of him and let it be. The four of them made the rest of their journey in silence until they reached a set of stairs. The three generals carried on toward the exit for the parade ground where their soldiers were waiting. Luna headed to the upper level, passing by locker rooms and supply stores before coming to a halt at the door to a balcony. This was where she would made her address to her followers, even now she could hear her generals ordering their units into formation. For the first time, she hesitated for a moment, realising that for once, she was going to have to lead a significant number of ponies without her sister's help. Celestia had given her some advice on how to lead on her own but words could only go so far. Right now, she simply had to trust she would do this right.

The doors were gripped in her cobalt aura and she pushed them open, stepping out onto the small balcony that overlooked the grounds. The parade ground stood twenty feet below, surrounded on all sides by both the defence force headquarters and guards barracks, covered in well cut stone that was fitted so tightly it almost looked like one huge piece. The area was just large enough to hold all the members of the defence force at present and every one of them stood among their peers, the three generals at the fore of their kin. As Luna stepped into place overlooking them, everypony present snapped to attention and threw their right hooves up to their foreheads in a salute. She matched the motion before unfurling her right wing, motioning for them to be at ease.

"My friends," She began, projecting her voice to make sure everypony heard her without having to resort to the royal Canterlot voice. "Every one of us is here today because we desire to make a difference. Three years ago, the ability to do so began to take shape when my sister and I agreed to the formation of a new, first line of defence for Equestria. That dream would have remained as little more than a dream without the dedication and strength of everypony standing before me today. It is through your will that our homes, friends, and loved ones, will remain safe in a time of uncertainty."

Luna's gaze slowly swept over the crowd as she spoke, taking in all the ponies reactions. To her surprise, many of the crystal ponies among the earth pony regiment looked somewhat unimpressed, though a reason why was beyond her. The sight of the pegasi was more reassuring, all of them hanging onto her every word, all still at attention in a squadron per row, the ever present Wonderbolts at the fore. On her right, the unicorns were still listening as well as ever, a few looking like they wanted to write notes on the speech. She paused as she noticed who she suspected to be Healing Wave on the edge of the formation, looking uneasy at the thought that Luna was looking right at her. The princess looked back up toward the sun, remembering everything her sister had told her about inspiring ponies. If her troops were going to believe in their cause, they needed to remember what they were fighting for.

"I understand that some here may...Be unsure if we need numbers such as these for a task like," Luna continued, her voice steadily gaining confidence. "It is true that for many years, peace was spread over all of Equestria. A peace that I broke upon my return. In the short time since then, the fate of Equestria has rested time and again upon six mares, undeniably talented but at heart they are still ponies like you. They can only face so many dangers, be pushed so far...And we must ask ourselves; Who can step up when they cannot? The Royal Guard was trained but they could not match the greater dangers that lurk in our shadows. The Fillydelphia parasprite infestation! The Ponyville chimera! The Canterlot changeling invasion! Do I need more examples?!"

She paused for a breath and to observe the reactions. There were a few murmurs coming from the fringes of the units but for many more, the realisation had set in. Those old enough to have been training or serving nine years ago knew of the Ponyville incident, where a mixture of colossally poor planning and leadership had cost four guardsponies their lives in what should have been a routine operation. Everypony present knew about the events of five years ago that Luna referenced though. The parasprites had been a simple case of being untrained and unprepared but the changelings...Security had been increased within the city, everypony was on alert, the changelings had been seen coming, yet it still took less than ten minutes for the Royal Guard to lose so much ground that not even the Elements of Harmony could salvage the situation.

"This is why we are here," Luna continued after several seconds with a more determined tone to her voice. "Equestria needs heroes like you to ensure situations like these do not arise again. Even before this headquarters was completed, you studied, you trained, you grew. We are not the same guards we were five years ago, we are now worthy of being the defenders of harmony! I will be beside every one of you for every danger that threatens our homes, our families, our lives! Together, we will STAND! We will FIGHT! We will BE REMEMBERED!!"

Luna forced herself to pause again before she broke into a full royal bellow. It seemed to be having the desired effect though, she could see more of the soldiers standing more firmly, a fresh fire in each of them.

"Yes, there may be times when our commitments will be tested, but then we shall stand! There may be those who would seek to undo everything we have created, but then we shall fight! And ultimately, there may come a day where we shall be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice and lay down our lives, so that our homelands may survive, but through their efforts we will be victorious and those that cannot see the dawn with us, will be remembered!"

She knew she had them convinced now, every one of the hundreds of ponies below, even the formerly sceptic crystal ponies, was standing back at attention, understanding why they needed to be here. Despite everything she'd worried about, Luna had rallied her charges to be everything she'd hoped they could be.

"We are the Equestria Defence Force! We are the guardians of harmony! Every one of you knows what you must do and I have faith that when I stand alongside you, we shall bring the light to those that need it most. Let the victor?!"

"Be justice!" The crowd roared in response, the motto of the EDF drilled into to each of them. Luna couldn't help but smile as she saluted again and every single pony saluted her back in response. She trusted that they would follow her into Tartarus if need be right now, or that she would follow them there. Princess as she may be, she had led from the front before and would do so as many times as needed until Equestria and the lands beyond were peaceful again. Her wings flared out briefly in excitement and she snapped her hooves to attention, showing she carried the same passion as they did. She'd never been prouder of the ponies that followed her than she was now.

"To your assignments then, and may we do our homelands proud! Dismissed!"

Author's Note:

And the moral of the story is, never hire me as a speech writer.

Comments

[Comickook]

Not much I can say other than, once again, great job on the exchanges, emotional content and world-building in this chapter. And, yeah, I can definitely see the practicality behind Luna's reasoning.

[Quick Fix]

7644404 The emotional content isn't that great this time, I was planning to include a flashback of Luna actually getting advice from Celestia but couldn't make it work without ruining the flow. Beyond that, thanks. Luna's decision to create the EDF is one of the more significant events in creating the path this world went down, alongside student Sunset and the altered events of The Cutie Re-Mark.