An Updated Summary of Equestrian Army Commanders and Regiments Backstories · 10:37pm Mar 7th, 2016
Just some fun stuff I made up that won't go into ECQ&tAE. Hope you enjoy!
88th Manehattan Rangers
Notes: The 88th Manehattan Rangers is the oldest earth pony regiment in Equestria. Originally named the Puddin’ Brigade by Chancellor Puddinghead, the regiment served as the chancellor’s private military retinue and bodyguards and continued to serve as Princess Celestia and Luna’s elite earth pony brigade.
During the three hundredth year of the reign of the Princess Regent Alternia, the Princess Regent renamed the regiment as the Manehattan Rangers after the Battle of Hat Sings of the First Gryphon-Equestria war. They were then formally integrated as part of the then new Royal Equestrian Army and named an elite regiment.
Today the Manehattan Rangers duties range from reconnaissance, rescue operations, and monster patrol, but they have never forgotten their original calling as rangers, the fast, ground-based vanguard of the Equestrian army.
Major General Iron Duke
Age: 45
Command: 88th Manehattan Rangers
Personal Notes: Iron Duke was an initially obscure officer in the Manehattan Rangers, as none of his family had been in the army previously. However, during the “Peninsular Campaign” or as more ponies like to say, the Zebrican Peacekeeping Initiative, Iron Duke distinguished himself as a cool-headed brigade commander and administrator, preventing the genocide of several zebra tribes and helping to restore order despite being outnumbered. Promoted to general of the 88th Manehattan Rangers, Iron Duke assisted in defeating the rogue Gryphon warlord, Nasty Bone-parter in the Battle of Wafers Loo and became a world-renown general as a result.
Iron Duke’s personal life has been less than stellar. He initially married his childhood pony sweetheart Kitty, but the marriage ended with a less than amicable divorce, though both sides agreed to it. Iron Duke ended up marrying Lady Steelbeak, a former intelligence officer-cadet in the Gryphon forces who was among the many gryphons that deserted Gryphonia in light of REINS Operation “Turncoat”. They are reportedly besotted with one another and have two hippogriff children.
Cloudsdale Blues
Notes: The pegasi’s warrior-class nature meant that they never formed regiments, as the entire society was bred for war and served the princesses and later Princess Regent Alternia as knights. With the introduction of the regiment system of the then new Royal Equestrian Army, Cloudsdale formed two regiments of flyers, the Cloudsdale Blues and the Wonderbolts. The Wonderbolts, formerly the creme de-la creme of the Royal Army’s pegasi branch, eventually became reassigned to the roles of performance-flying, search and rescue, and extreme-flying missions that normal pegasi would have trouble doing. The Cloudsdale Blues remained as a military branch, perhaps less famous, but no less remarkable as their regiment racked up a monumental amount of battle honours in the Gryphon-Equestrian Wars and have continued to do so in whatever aerial battles the Royal Army has found itself in.
Air Marshal Ermane Rommel
Command: Cloudsdale Blues
Age: 44
Notes: Ermane Rommel was a genius military theoretician and was immediately recognized for it at the Cloudsdale Military Academy. As an officer-cadet he revolutionized the tactics employed by pegasi forces today, and not only could he theorize, he could put them into practice against air-pirates and flying beasts. These led him to be rapidly promoted to Air Marshal of the Cloudsdale Blues, just in time for the rise of Nasty Bone-Parter, the rogue gryphon warlord.
Leading the Cloudsdale Blues, Ermane engaged Nasty Bone-Parter’s rogue Gryphon horde at the Battle of Quarter o’Brass with his regiment. He was unable to defeat him completely, but his delaying action brought General Iron Duke enough time to fortify his position and defeat Nasty Bone-Parter at Wafers Loo, with Ermane assisting. For this, Ermane is now recognized as one of the most renowned pegasi warriors and generals Equestria has ever had.
Ermane has kept his personal life quite private, but it is reported he is married and has two children and is exceedingly happy with his family situation.
The Equestrian Foreign Legion
Notes: The Equestrian Foreign Legion is the newest, but also one of the most distinguished regiments of the Equestrian Armed Forces. Formed by order of Princess Regent Alternia, in the six-hundredth year of her reign, it was intended to represent the numerous non-pony species of Equestria and allow any defected foreign nationals to serve Equestria.
Unsurprisingly, the Foreign Legion has a very close working relationship with the REINS, whose operations sometimes require the Foreign Legion to give escort, and who recruit directly from the Foreign Legion.
Lieutenant General Hanna Belle
Command: The Equestrian Foreign Legion
Age: 28
Notes: Hanna was born a native of Maretania, now a voting member in the Democratic City States of Maretonia. Maretania, a large county, used to be part of the Petty Kingdom of Maretonia, a country ruled by the despotic Greenblood line.
When Hanna Belle was seven, civil war broke out between the Jasmine Belle, Countess of Maretania and King Joffrey of Maretonia. Tensions between the nobles of the Maretania ethnic minority and the nobles of the Maretonian ethnic majority had always been present, leading to some clashes between the two. Both rulers were claiming the other was in the wrong. Joffrey asserting that Jasmine Belle was revolting, while Jasmine Belle saying that she was defending her rights against Joffrey’s tyranny.
Prior to beginning of the war though, both sides sought military support from the then Principality of Equestria, secretly ruled by Princess Regent Alternia. It was initially unknown what transpired and separate reports indicated that both rulers were sent home by the Princess for reasons not privy to the public.
Shortly after this incident, an incredibly vicious civil war broke out in Maretonia as the forces of Joffrey and Jasmine Belle clashed. A mass migration of civilian refugees ensued, most of them heading into Equestria, which accepted them with open hooves. Equestria’s reputation suffered to some extent though as many wondered why they did not intervene in the civil war.
Hanna Belle was one of those refugees. Orphaned in one of the initial battles, she found herself in an Equestrian refugee camp, but her being parentless meant she was often bullied out of her allotted supplies by older colts. Determined to help herself and the other orphaned colts and fillies in her camp, she led several daring attempts to steal food from Canterlot stories. Eventually, she led one right into the pantry of Canterlot Castle, where Princess-Regent Alternia, then disguised as Princess Celestia, caught her.
According to Hanna Belle’s account of the story, Princess Alternia had offered Hanna Belle to be her student in return for caring for the rest of the orphans. Hanna Belle accepted, thinking it would get her a free meal or two. Eventually though, Hanna Belle found herself enjoying learning under the princess, exploring her talent for analytical thinking and quick decision making.
About three years into Hanna Belle’s studies, she was approached by a former Martania noble who revealed that Joffrey was attempting to assassinate Jasmine Belle. He also provided proof in the form of a magical recording that Princess Celestia (Alternia) was aware of it, but did not act. Furious, Hanna Belle accosted her mentor, and was shown the far more ugly truth.
It turned out that Joffrey and Jasmine Belle were attempting to kill each other. Jasmine Belle’s true motivation was the seizure of the Kingdom of Maretonia for her own selfish desires. Joffrey’s was to exploit the wealth of Maretania in order to make up for Maretonia’s growing state debt. As such, both planned assassination attempts and made war plans, while approaching Princess Celestia (Alternia) under the guise of peace. Princess Regent Alternia though, was perfectly aware of Joffrey and Jasmine Belle’s true motives, called them out on it, recorded their admissions, and made it perfectly clear that she would not tolerate them using Equestria’s military to further their own gains. The pair left in a huff, refusing Princess Regent Alternia’s offer of mediation, and Alternia had kept the incident under wraps for fear that it would only further destabilize the situation.
Faith in her mentor restored, Hanna Belle helped to confront and explain the situation to the Maretanian noble with Princess Regent Alternia’s help, and eventually helped the Princess Regent break the news of the true causes behind the civil war.
Over time Hanna Belle realized her talent lay in the military and with Princess Alternia’s blessings, she ended her studies and enrolled in the Canterlot Military Academy in the same year as Captain Shining Armor. The pair became good friends, though they are not above teasing the other. Hanna Belle also found herself crushing on her much older academy instructor, Caesar Salad. That crush ended quite quickly after Hanna Belle and Caesar Salad got into an argument on tactical principles, culminating in a tabletop war game that ended in a frustrating draw, creating a feud that lasts even now. Recent reports indicate that the pair have buried the hatchet though.
Upon graduation from the academy, Hanna Belle enlisted in the Equestrian Foreign Legion and ed a number of peacekeeping missions in the south of Equestria against rogue buffalo tribes, diamond dog robber bands and gryphon marauders. Her most famous “victory” was her role in saving the then Major Custard at the Battle of Little Bighorn, where she frightened the buffalo from swarming Custard’s position through making it appear she had brought the rest of the Foreign Legion with her, while using her capacity as Princess Alternia’s student to force a negotiation.
These missions ended up with Hanna Belle being finally promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General (Legate) of the French Foreign Legion and sent out on her first campaign, the Equestrian intervention into the Second Maretonia-Maretania War.
The First Maretonia-Maretania war had ended due to the death of Jasmine Belle at the hooves of her rebelling forces, and the near-revolt of Joffrey’s nobles, leading to a ceasefire brokered by Equestria. While Maretania converted itself into a democratic city-state under a new leadership, Joffrey schemed, rebuilt his forces, and then launched his attack.
In response, Equestria extended Maretania an offer of intervention, as the circumstances were entirely different and there was evidence that Joffrey was attempting to ethnically cleanse Maretania’s population. Maretania accepted and Hanna Belle’s Foreign Legion was dispatched.
Paired with her then-rival, later-marefriend, Colonel Ambrosia Hill, Hanna Belle initially defeated Joffrey’s armies at the Battle of Lake Trasimane, but found herself forced to withdraw after Joffrey’s armies under the Dwarf General Tyrion outflanked hers at Zama and nearly encircled the legion.
Retreating into Maretania, Hanna Belle was reunited with her aunt Jade Belle, a former noble who would become the current President of Maretonia. Taking command of the Maretania forces that united under her leadership, Hanna Belle, marched her forces out of Maretania to confront Joffrey head on. First though, she had spies convince Tyrion to defect from Maretonia, something that wasn’t too difficult considering how Joffrey treated Tyrion. Then, at the Battle of Cannae, Hanna Belle then goaded Joffrey and his army into an encirclement where she forced the surrender of the Maretonian army and halted the war, which earned her a promotion to Lieutenant-General.
She currently is dating her chief of staff, Ambrosia Hill, and they reportedly are about to put a ring on it.
Colonel Ambrosia Hill
Command: The Equestrian Foreign Legion Generals staff (Chief of Staff)
Age: 27
Notes: Ambrosia Hill was always a survivor and was forced to do so from birth. After being born in Dodge City prematurely with underdeveloped lungs due to her mother’s drinking habit, she lived six years in a run down shack with her alcoholic and neglectful mother until the EFS (Equestrian Foal Services) were alerted to her plight, located her father in Canterlot and passed custody to him. A year later, they promptly took her away as it was found that her father was physically abusive to her and his current wife attempted to murder Ambrosia.
EFS finally settled Ambrosia with Mr. Black Forest and Cherry Compote at the Cherry Hill Ranch in Dodge City. By her own account, Ambrosia grew up very happily alongside its current proprietor and adoptive sister, Cherry Jubilee, whom she still visits regularly. The bond that Ambrosia formed with her adoptive family was so strong, that she took on the last name “Hill” out of respect and to denote her new home.
At fifteen, Ambrosia joined the Dodge City Militia and after serving for three years, enrolled at the Royal Baltimare Military Academy where she gradually became highly proficient at Logistics and Administration. Her first commission upon graduation was of a quartermaster for the Equestrian Foreign Legion.
From then, Ambrosia slowly worked her way up the ranks, taking part in the planning and overseeing of several classified REINS missions that the Foreign Legion was involved in. Around this time though, she became a rival of then Centurion (Captain), later Legate (General) Hanna Belle of the Foreign Legion. Ambrosia reportedly saw Hanna Belle as a “reckless, money-swimming, princess-petted imbecile who will just get us all killed” whilst Hanna Belle saw Ambrosia as “a sickly stuck-up, armchair-general.”
The pair ended up paired with one another though in the Equestrian Foreign Legions’ intervention into the 2nd Maretonia-Maretania Civil War, with Hanna Belle as Lieutenant-General in command and Ambrosia as Colonel and Chief of Staff. It was during the campaign when Hanna Belle and Ambrosia gained newfound respect and eventually, love for one another as the Legion battled against King Joffrey of Maretonia’s forces.
After the war, reportedly with Princess-Regent Alternia’s blessing, they began a relationship, which is apparently still going strong.
Aaand the reference list:
Other:
Jasmine Belle (Jezebel, villainous biblical figure)
Joffrey (Joffrey from Game of Thrones)
The Dwarf General Tyrion (Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones)
Generals and relations:
Iron Duke (The Duke of Wellington)
Kitty (The Duke of Wellington’s actual wife whom he never divorced and was actually very unhappy with)
Ermane Rommel (Erwin Rommel, Panzer commander of the Nazi Germany’s Afrika Korps)
Hanna Belle (Hannibal, Carthaginian general)
Ambrosia Hill (A. P. Hill, Confederate army general)
Caesar Salad (Julius Caesar, Roman General)
Nasty Bone-parter (Napoleon Bonaparte)
Regiments:
Cloudsdale Blues (The Blues and Royals, British Cavalry regiment, does parades even today)
The Equestrian Foreign Legion (The French Foreign Legion, still exists, actively operates)
The 88th Manehattan Rangers (The 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers), British Napoleonic War Regiment, no longer exists)
Interesting
3796649 Oh hey it's that guy from the thing.
3796739
No, it's a guy from that thing
3796747 No, no, it's that guy from another thing.
3796756
No, he retired remember
3796764 No, the OTHER guy. You know. Has a hare lip he covers with a mustache and a big pompadour