To the nation of Equestria, its ruler and her subjects:
By the grace of our ancestors,
By the skill of our warriors,
By the strength of our race,
And by the will of our exalted Empress,
The Gryphon Empire announces its intention to invade the Dominion of Equestria and depose the Alicorn Princess Celestia. We do so not just for our own sakes, but for all nations and races who fear her unchecked power and suffer under centuries of pony selfishness and neglect.
To this great and noble purpose, we summon the full military might of our Empire to the field of battle, and call upon all our soldiers and subjects to make the utmost effort in attainment of our honorable aims. It is to our great regret that we must resort to such a severe course of action, but we can tolerate the intolerable no more.
For those who may doubt the justness of our cause, we offer our reasons here. Know our grievances with Equestria are too numerous to list, but include the following:
- They have stockpiled massive quantities of storm clouds and threatened to unleash them upon us in the form of devastating superstorms that would not discriminate between soldier or civilian, military base or simple village.
- They have starved our farms of rain and moisture by blocking normal weather patterns, forcing our settlers to eke out their existence from artificial deserts, in turn callously starving our cubs in an effort to force us from our colonies.
- They are ruled by a pony princess who controls the very sun, moon and stars at her whim, a member of an unstable alicorn race whose own sister once went insane. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and should she succumb to such insanity herself, the entire world may be lost.
- They have oft treated both their own kind and neighboring races poorly, oppressing all from the Buffalo of their southwestern badlands to their own bat-pony brethren, hating them for simply not sharing their herbivorous diet.
- They have had a history of aggressive conduct and wars of conquest, ranging from the depredations of the Crystal Empire to the atrocities of the Overmare.
- They have hoarded the vast mineral and magical wealth of their nation and refused to trade or share it with others, not even fellow Equines like the Zebras or Saddle Arabians.
- They have engaged in very disproportionate responses to minor border disputes, to the point of invading Gryphon lands and inflicting far more death and damage than they suffer.
- They have proven themselves treacherous in dealings, subverting our soldiers and commanders when they can, all too quickly willing to resort to raids and assassinations instead of duels or diplomacy when they cannot.
- They are unworthy of the power they possess, built on the backs of other races and nations, taking far more from them than they give back.
For these reasons, for the safety of our Empire, for the sake of our descendants and for the survival of all life in this world, we will risk all in what is not a war of aggression, but an effort to ensure our existence as a species. An effort we undertake on behalf of all races of the world, as none would doubt that we are the only ones who can overthrow the Equestrian despotism. To that end:
- We call upon our soldiers to stand fast and strike hard in the face of unnatural magics and pony weather control.
- We call upon our allies to answer our call for aid and to join our noble cause.
- We call upon all races of the world to support our campaign to rid the very skies of the Celestial tyranny and restore the world to balance.
- We call upon Equestrian soldiers to come to their senses and surrender, renouncing their service to a dishonorable cause and leader.
- We call upon Equestrian subjects to see the unnatural state of affairs they toil under and willingly submit themselves to Imperial rule.
- And above all else, we call upon the spirits of our Ancestors to guide and protect us in our appointed task.
To Princess Celestia—if you are any part of the just and noble ruler you claim, we call upon you to lay down your power in place of the lives of your ponies; to surrender your throne and spare your subjects the agony of invasion and overthrow. Do so and our occupation will be gentle; on our warrior honor, we will treat your ponies well.
Resist, and we will use all means necessary to impose our will and crush your cities and armies. Know we do not wish to enslave Equestria, only to end its oppression of others and bring about peace and prosperity for all. How costly an affair that becomes for your corrupt and decadent nation is up to you.
Destiny is upon us. We will not falter. And we will not fail.
In the name of our hallowed ancestors,
In the name of our noble race,
In the name of our just cause,
In the name of our immortal Empress,
The Gryphon Empire declares war on the Dominion of Equestria.
Author's Note: Welcome to the end of the initial release! And I hope your appetites are whetted for more...
The thing about this war declaration is, as unfair and outright misleading as most of it might be, most of their grievances do have at least some grain of truth in them, as the Gryphons truly do feel threatened by Celestia. They consider this war less an attempt at conquest than an existential struggle against a nation and ruler that might turn on them at any time. Celestia showed them her power in the previous book, as returning readers know, and they were scared half out of their wits by her. They consider her the gravest of threats, one that must be dealt with or their very survival is at stake. No matter what else they may say, in the end, they’re acting out of fear for their future.
Celestia will respond to this declaration with her own war proclamation in due course, but first... well. The next chapter will tell that part of the tale, but suffice it to say for now... something from Celly’s past is about to return to haunt not just her, but all Equestria.
This is a great piece of propaganda. So many parts could be prefaced with, "From a certain point of view".
I'm quite looking forward to how the 'Side of the Just' prosecute this war.
I am just glad I was able to help with these before I went on vacation for a couple weeks.
The gryphons reasons look reasonable.
How do the gryphons plan to detain Celestia? By threatening to blow up the moon? As of right now, the only thing that could work is a hostage.
But ponies win in the end, because they have to, otherwise there is a huge continuity split. Ten bucks says that Elipson will either be a final stronghold, or it will be evacuated.
In the grim past of Equestria.... There is only war....
It was fun poking holes in the logic and challenging their claims one by one during the pre-read. The final product is wonderfully polished and a fantastic piece of propaganda — to echo Posted's sentiments below. Strap in folks; it only gets even better from here!
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I'm smiling just imagining the Empress with her pinkie claw extended to her lips threatening Celestia's sister's prison. So much for Dr. Evil's moon base!
Looked close at the cover art, and realized that Firefly has hired the devil to possess herself so she can go on a gryphon killing rampage.
Or did she hire Shadow the Hedgehog? Or Wolverine?
Either way, now appreciating the kick-@$$ cover art.
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That’s how it was written--that all of their grievances have a grain of truth in them, but some are more valid than others. Their truest grievance is probably pony weather control. Many of their inland colonists live in desert conditions because the ponies don’t allow normal weather patterns and their weather control intercepts all fronts and moisture from the west. That’s also why the eastern half of the Great Lakes are now dry.
The ‘Side of the Just’ wish to capture pony lands more or less intact because they want the ponies growing food for them and working for the Empire. We’ll see how long that lasts...
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Your help was appreciated, believe me! But you were off busy kissing the Blarney Stone...
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There is more than war... but conflict is certainly far more commonplace in this far less harmonious time...
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They were supposed to, but in the end it’s just a very slick piece of propaganda.
Well, you know the answer to that now from the next chapter! You’re certainly correct in that they’d have to hold something near and dear to Celestia hostage...
The answer is indeed one of the two. Care to guess?
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And you made some very good challenges and made sure it was the polished piece of propaganda it turned into. Given after read the finished product and said you were ready and eager to kill Gryphons now, I consider it a spectacular success. Thanks! And I hope your usual commentary crew strap in and enjoy the ride as well!
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Hahahah! But how would they blow up the moon? Hire Piccolo?
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I did receive your PM! Let me get through this final chapter release or two, and I’ll circle back to it. I’m definitely looking forward to your guest chapters!
No sunshine and rainbows indeed. This is hardly a harmonious era, but it will eventually pave the way for one...
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Thanks! I didn’t commission it; I just found it on deviantart while looking for Firefly artwork, most of which tended to depict Firefly as Rainbow’s mother rather than any form of warrior. I was very lucky to find this. Whether by demonic possession or hiring characters from other universes, you can bet I’m going to find a way to recreate that scene in the story!
*snorts* I call bullshit on these guys.
I'm sure that Hitler and his Nazis made promises similar to these, too.
Right before they pulled the whole world into the hell that is war.
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It’s a slick piece of propaganda, but each of their points does have at least some degree of truth in it. In fairness, they honestly do fear Celestia and see her as a mortal threat to their race and the greater world. The prequel Rise of Firefly goes into that in greater detail during part 14.
Thats some pretty strong Casus Belli there.
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Some are more legit than others, but yes, they truly believe they have it. And there’s at least a grain of truth in most of their reasons.
Lies, so many lies.
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Exaggerations and half-truths, but only a few outright lies.
1. Self inflicted
2. Sounds fishy...
3. Not unreasonable, but they push her to it with this war and not prevent it.
4. Legit point!
5. I have no idea. If yes than they have a point, maybe.
6. Their Nation... American Griffon at their best
7. Sounds like Bullshit.
8. Holy Shit ...this is hypocritic's at it's finest...
9. Could be true, hard to tell...
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Secondpartof list is bullshit beyond comprehensive logic. Especially since only the Griffons named themself able to do it.
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Griffon empire needed to fall HARRRD!
Wait... Their Empress is imortal like Celestia? Than they are hypocritic to a audacity degree...
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Which is carefully not mentioned.
No, that one’s valid. Equestrian weather control did starve them of rainwater, but the gryphons could have had all they needed if they just signed a treaty with the ponies. Celestia would have been more than happy to provide it in exchange for peace.
There is absolutely a danger in Celly solely having so much power. She’s not Luna, but she nearly fell to her own form of darkness from fighting her during the Celestial War.
The bat-ponies would certainly agree. We haven’t heard from the Buffalo yet, but will later.
Not so much. Those were wars of aggression and conquest launched by other pony nations and leaders, not Celestia. They’re basically lumping all ponies in together even though the ponies are in fact a highly fractured race.
At the risk of getting political, we’ve shared plenty and there is no nation more generous than us.
Unfortunately, it isn't. If you remember Before the Storm, this happened during the Phoenix Fire operation, when ponies invaded gryphon territory following the IS-2 massacre and inflicted ten times the civilian casualties they took.
Indeed it is. This is pure projection by the griffons.
To an extent, but certainly no more so than the Empire.
Well, on that point, they're correct. There's no other nation on Tellus who might be able to overthrow Equestria, and even then they require aid to do it.
You'll have to wait a while, but that is the eventual plan.
No, she isn't. She's a heriditary ruler, like Blueblood would be if Celestia was somehow slain or gave up power.