World War Equestria, Opening Moves

Equestria may be a land of pastel ponies, but it actually lives in a dangerous neighborhood, and is surrounded by potential enemies.

For centuries, Equestria had only one super powerful magical combatant (Celestia) that could potentially fight invaders (one and a half, if you count the eternally-adolescent Cadence). But in the last few years, Equestria has had a significant magical escalation, adding Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, the rest of the Rainbow Powered Mane-6, Discord, and the magically potent pairing of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to its potential order of battle. And with Flurry Heart, they are breeding even more super powerful beings.

Also, Equestria has been dangerously unstable, engaging in multiple world threatening crises in just a few years (Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changeling Invasion, and Tirek to name a few). Equestria has also been expanding, annexing the returned Crystal Empire to the north, along with expanding settlements in the Appleloosa/Dodge City area in the prairie to the south.

Escalation, instability, and expansion can breed fear, envy, and uncertainty in Equestria’s neighbors. What if these neighbors decide their only defense against an expansionist, unstable Equestria is to all attack simultaneously and bring the country to heel? Plus, they can also be looking to reverse past defeats, reclaim lost honor, and/or acquire resources and ‘lebensraum’ (living space).

This map shows some possible opening moves in what would be World War Equestria.

Dragons from the Dragon Lands to the south east could fly over the Celestial Sea, set fire to the Equestrian navy in Horseshoe Bay, then attack Baltimare. From the mountains west of the city, the Dragons could interdict the railroad leading to Baltimare and Fillydelphia to cut those cities off from supplies and reinforcements.

Griffons from Griffonstone to the east could fly across the Griffish Channel to retake the Griffish Isles and the city of Trottingham. Based on the name, they likely claimed the island in the past. From the Griffish Isles, the Griffons could threaten Manehattan.

Bugbears from the Bugbear Territory to the north east could fly across the channel and infiltrate the Yaket Range, then take Rainbow Falls from the north. This would also cut the eastern rail line to prevent Rainbow Falls or the Crystal Empire from receiving supplies or reinforcements from Equestria’s major industrial centers on its east coast.

Yaks from Yakyakistan to the north west could advance toward the Crystal Empire. But this would be a diversion from their real objective, taking the warm water port of Vanhoover. Yak forces would also want to infiltrate through the mountains and interdict the western rail line to the Crystal Empire at the eastern end of the Galloping Gorge. This would cut both Vanhoover and the Crystal Empire off from supplies and reinforcements from Canterlot and effectively isolate the Empire behind the Crystal Mountains.

Changelings from the Badlands to the south east could attack Dodge City. Even more important, Changeling infiltrators could destroy the rail bridge over the Ghastly Gorge and cut off the entire prairie from supplies and reinforcements, isolating them from the rest of Equestria.

Diamond Dogs could stage a breakout from underground, starting near Rambling Rock Ridge, then moving south west down the road to connect up with the Changelings. A Diamond Dog / Changeling force would combine underground, ground level, aerial and magical capabilities, and could use tunneling and disguise to make surprise attacks almost anywhere.

Arimaspi from the Arimaspi Territory to the south west could come through passes in the Macintosh Hills to attack Appleloosa. Lightly defended, lacking industry, and cut off from supplies and reinforcements, Appleloosa could fall easily, though the Pony settlers and their Buffalo allies could be effective partisans.

The interesting thing about this war is that it doesn’t assume any magical catastrophe. No “ancient evil creatures” breaking out of from Tartarus. No uprising by the monsters of the Everfree Forest. Just a bunch of scared smaller powers, all ganging up on Equestria out of fear and envy.

There are lots of cannon people’s that are not shown on the map that could intervene on either side. We don’t know where the pony nations of Saddle Arabia and Maretonia are or if they could or would help Equestria. We don’t know where the Zebras or Minotaur nations are, or which side they would be on. Lots of possibilities for speculation there.

Some additional questions:
- How would Equestria respond to the multiple invasions, and where?
- What can the princesses do with the power of the sun, moon, love, or friendship against armies?
- Would the strife of war bring back the Windigos and/or the Sirens?
- What does the Rainbow Power do to an army?
- What does the Equestrian armed forces look like, outside of the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts? Is there a regular Army? Navy? Militia?
- What do battles look like with combatants potentially underground, at ground level, in the air, and with magical support?
- How much or how little does magic influence the battlefield?
- How much can different forces ‘live off the land’ vs. how much are they tied to supplies and reinforcements that need to be brought up by rail, cart, boat, or airship?

Lots of possibilities for stories.

Comments

[Cynewulf]

One thing that strikes me about Equestria here is that an attack from the south or north would be the easiest to counter. From the south, you have the Macintosh hills as a natural defensive bulwark. (I'm thinking of Torres Vedras here ) From the north, there seems to be both mountains to fall back to and mountains to attack across, and so a quickly mobilizing Empire could buy time for even a slowly moving Equestrian giant to push the Yaks back and create a costly war of attrition that I kind of imagine the Yaks would suffer harder than pones. Mainly because, being bigger, I assume they would probably need more food on average and also one gets the feeling they are generally not the sort to have the industrial base for that kind of long slogfest.

However, the success of the Macintosh line would really depend on Equestrian ability to curtail changeling infiltration. As well as on... just how vital are those southern areas that would be more easily occupied and controlled by cutting of access through the gorge? IF they aren't vital to Equestria in an existential way, you're looking at a "we have to win very quickly" scenario in the south--partisans in Appaloosa and surrounding areas, as you've said, and one imagines that frontier farming towns aren't likely to react well to such an offensive so long as there is hope out of the north.

I think it would sort of all hinge on the Griffons. If they can do enough damage around Manehattan and force Equestria to commit the bulk of their forces, the resulting weakness would dash any hope of holding the Macintosh line and defending the flanks of it. It would probably also cripple any Equestrian relief force hoping to bail the Empire out. A fast/strong Griffon offensive could end it all quickly.

A weak or slow Griffon offensive would probably see a large, agriculturally secure, wealthy Equestria with at least one ally being able to simply outlive most of their foes (except maybe for the changelings). If the Empire was able to field a substantial force, they might not even need to go into attrition mindset--the Empire might be able to turn back or push the Yaks into their own lands and manage to reinforce one or more theatres.

[bigbear]

I assume that the most valuable areas of Equestria are the big cities on the East Coast (Manehatten, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia), and the plains agricultural areas (mostly between Canterlot and the hills in front of the Crystal Empire). The big cities are likely the industrial centers. The plains North of Canterlot are likely the agricultural heartland. Any attacks that threaten these areas could be pivotal.

I agree that any attack out of the mountains in the North or South are vulnerable to getting held up before they reach the plains, or cut off by a force that gets behind an army that has emerged into the plains (this assumes the army still requires supplies from the homeland across the mountains). And the armies that attack across the mountains mostly have a long way to go to get to Equestria's industrial or agricultural heartland.

As an Equestrian army that is at least 1/3 fliers (and likely more, as the Pegasi are shown to be the warrior caste in the Hearths Warming stories), could be very mobile, striking nearly anywhere. World War Equestria could be an insanely mobile affair, with the Pegasi, Griffons, Dragon, and Changeling forces all filling the skies and striking targets seemingly from nowhere. The battles for the cloud cities should be especially interesting.

A lot could depend on if Equestrians can spot airborne forces, or if their enemies can spoof or destroy the means by which the Equestrians spot them. Another question is if any of these armies have long range communications (how common is Dragon Fire mail or its equivalents anyway?) If the Equestrians have both long range spotting , and long range communications, you might get something like The Battle of Britain, if ME109s and Spitfires could land and occupy ground targets, as well as gain air superiority.