//------------------------------//
// Chapter 29 
// Story: Civil War of Harmony 
// by SC_Orion 
//------------------------------//


Princess Celestia


"Since the civil war started, Princess Luna has made considerable gains. Her forces have consistently managed to break through our defenses and secured vital land, resources, and population centers, Princess," Director Tap spoke with practiced calmness. His composure did not slip once as he spoke, although since I knew him personally, I could see his telltale signs of distress. His nostrils flared slightly with each breath, and he almost looked pained or labored in his breathing, but just looking at him, unless you knew him, you wouldn't see it. He hid his exhaustion well, but his eyes looked slightly milky, undoubtedly a result of all the hard work he had put into our efforts to reorganize, rearm, and revamp our efforts to hold off and eventually push my sister back. "Princess Twilight's gains have been significantly less, considering that for the most part, she is staying isolated in Southeastern Equestria, but she has already displayed alarming competency and capabilities to not only marshal her ponies to war, but to lead them against a superior force and prevail."


"In short, we're not doing too well," I surmised.


Director Tap maintained his composure, but General Maneuver did not. His expression fell, and his jaw muscles flexed at the news. He grimaced. It wasn't something easy to hear- especially for him. He had fought the first major battle of the war and lost, which was followed by a string of stinging losses. "We weren't prepared for this war, Princess. For starters, Princess Luna had to have been planning this for a while, it's the only way to explain how she was able to amass as large of a dedicated force as she did in such a short period of time. The guard wasn't prepared to suffer such a loss of resources, and the morale blow they suffered only made it worse. We can't rearm overnight, we don't have the industrial capacity to simple rearm. Our economy is not mobilized for war, and it's been so long since it has been..." Director Tap's composure slipped into a grimace. "It's going to take months, if not years to remobilize it, but we do have procedures in place which we have been using to start rearming."


"Rearming isn't going to be enough, however," General Maneuver cut in. I turned to him and regarded him wryly. "We've lost a lot of resources and support already. We need more options out there in the field. Princess Twilight and Princess Luna both have more pegasi than we do, which makes it difficult for us to effectively rely on our ground forces. The Royal Guard's unicorns are unmatched, but we don't have pegasi support to protect them, especially the Fire Support groups."


Director Tap turned to General Maneuver. "We're working on it. Research & Development are drafting plans for outfitting zeppelins with proper armor, enchantments, and systems to enable them to function as weapons platforms for unicorns to use, and R &D are developing spells and explosives with timed triggers for detonation which can be used against pegasi. Unfortunately, it won't be easy to field the zeppelins since they will take a while to build and we don't have proper facilities to mass produce them. Artillery on the other hoof will be simpler to convert factories to produce them. Ammunition for the artillery may be a problem since we're upgrading the artillery systems and the ammo we already have."


"Neither artillery nor zeppelins will be very mobile," General Maneuver sighed. He turned and looked me in the eye. "Princess, we need mobility to win this war. Sitting around on our flanks isn't going to do us any good!"


I suppressed a sigh. He had a point, you did not win wars by sitting around and waiting for the enemy to come to you, however, we didn't have the resources to go on the offensive. We were stuck on the defensive until we could rearm or find an opening. "We just need to buy time," I said calmly. "I've already signed off on a blanket plan for rearmament including a significant spending increase on the Royal Guard."


"It's going to take time for that spending to come into effect and change anything, Princess. This wouldn't be a problem if you hadn't neglected defense spending for years, Princess," General Maneuver said calmly.


I held back a scowl, but I still looked at him firmly. "General, we already had enough resources in defense spending to defend Equestria against all of her neighbors, and if we spent more on it, it would mean more resources my sister could have taken with her. Additional funding would have served no purpose when the funds were better spent elsewhere," I said calmly, forcing myself to smile slightly, hoping to alleviate his hostility.


General Maneuver sighed and shook his head. He did not look appeased, but he kept his opinion to himself. I turned to Director Tap. "As you know, Princess, the bulk of the remaining Royal Guard are unicorns, we don't have enough pegasi to hope to match Princess Luna or even Princess Twilight if it wasn't the Wonderbolts she had on her side. Princess Luna's forces are a fairly balanced mix of each race, but they are generally more experienced and military minded, which can explain her vast success. It's worth noting that her higher ranking officers are not as experienced as ours, however, but Princess Luna's military expertise are making up for that. Princess Twilight's success can be attributed to the Wonderbolts and her own skills. Princess Twilight's forces are predominantly pegasi, but she is making heavy gains among earth ponies. The buffalo have also enlisted their support with her." I thought I saw him shiver at the mention of the buffalo, and I couldn't blame him. If an earth pony was strong, a buffalo was on par with myself in terms of physical strength, and their determination put Applejack's to shame. I did not want to cross paths with one on a bad day. "She doesn't have many unicorns, but she has adapted to that. We will want to deploy the airburst artillery against her as soon as possible, while the zeppelins may be better off against Princess Luna."


"Zeppelins are also slower and larger targets," General Maneuver said with a grunt. "They would be an easy target for Princess Luna."


"Perhaps we could work that to our advantage... my sister may be inclined to attack them herself, believing them to be the main attack force, meaning we could use them to draw her out and send more mobile units against her flanks," I said. I looked around idly as I considered the plan. There were a few spells which would increase the odds of the plan succeeding, but the plan would also be costly, not just in terms of time. Many ponies could die if it succeeded, and more would die if it failed.


"That... could work," General Maneuver agreed cautiously. "But we still don't have a means to disable Princess Luna."


"I can take to the field myself," I said. Director Tap looked at me evenly and exhaled heavily. "I may be the only pony capable of defeating her," I added.


It didn't appease him, he merely shook his head in defeat. "Princess, if you fail..." he trailed off, then looked back up to me. "It will be at least three months before we can put this plan into action, probably four." He stood up straighter as he finished.


"We might not have that long," General Maneuver commented warily.


I clenched my jaw. 'If my generals are suffering from morale loss...' It was one thing for Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor to be suffering from morale loss, and entirely another for one of my top generals to be suffering from it. He had lost in every battle he had led, however. That must have played a role in it. However, that might have only made things worse, considering we did not have a single substantial victory in our hooves. "Which is why we are on the defensive and buying time. In a few months, we will be mobilized enough to counter attack and push Princess Luna back until she capitulates," I say firmly, stamping my hoof on the wooden floor in finality.


"Yes, Princess," General Maneuver sighed. "There's still the matter of the Crystal Empire. We don't have the forces to be able to defend on three fronts."


I grimaced. "I am aware of the issue... Their magical resistance makes them much more resilient to our unicorns, but kinetic penetration spells are a standard in training, so we shouldn't need to worry about their resistance. Their ability to field an entire army on our northern border is a problem, however..." I admitted.


"We may not have a lot of ammo available for the artillery we have, but most of that ammunition is high explosive rounds. There's also a significant cache of magic-enhanced rounds. We should have prototype high explosive airburst rounds finished within a week, from there we should be able to start producing them in mass within three months," Director tap said.


I nodded to myself. 'We just need to buy time.' "As of right now, it would probably be best to divide the artillery between the northern border and the border with my sister..." I trailed off. "The combination of the threat the artillery will pose to them and winter should keep Luna at bay, but the Crystal Empire is adept at fighting in winter..." I grimaced as I mulled it over. "How are enlistment and training going?" I asked cautiously.


Director Tap shifted his weight. "Enlistment is... lower than hoped for, but within estimated range. Training is progressing as well as can be expected. Since we're planning on introducing the artillery into widescale use, I'd recommend we start training specialists with the use of the artillery."


I squinted and nodded. "Yes, that would be wise," I agreed. "We may have to reposition garrisons from cities which aren't threatened to reinforce the defense against my sister or to hold back the Crystal Empire if enlistment is lower than hoped for..." I trailed off, sighing. Lower than hoped for enlistment was expected, even with increased financial incentives. I was asking them to go to war against their fellow ponies, I was asking them to kill their fellow ponies to defend Equestria, and I might have been asking them to die while fighting their fellow ponies. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but it was the lesser evil. I did not want to see what would happen if my sister won, but then again, maybe it wouldn't have been as bad as I thought. She had tried to be better, but she was still Luna. And Twilight, there was no doubt in my mind that if Twilight won, she would do her best, but I doubted she could succeed. Other nations would undoubtedly take advantage of her and Equestria, and ponies would suffer.


I shook my head and looked down across the warehouse. "I wish it had not come to this," I said heavily, grieved by what was happening across Equestria. Every pony dying in battle was a life lost on my watch. A life lost that shouldn't have been. A life cut short, a foal taken away from their parents, or worse, a parent taken away from their foal. My gaze drifted downward at that knowledge. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steel my resolve, then I looked up and opened my eyes.




General Spitfire



"It's been a while since I've been to Cloudsdale, Mayor. Things had better be going well. If I find out that the Academy is on fire I will personally-"


Mayor smiled and chuckled heartily. "That won't be necessary, General. Congratulations on the promotion, by the way. I meant to congratulate you sooner, but I did not have the opportunity."


I smiled at him and leaned back in my chair. "Yeah, thanks," I said. "You didn't leave Cloudsdale and come all the way to Ponyville just for a social visit though."


Mayor's smile faded. "Ah, yes... The meteorologists have noticed that Princess Celestia has started bringing in winter early."


I leaned forward and put my hooves on the desk calmly. "I had noticed a bit of a chill in the air..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "Alright, what're we going to do about it?"


Mayor sat up straighter and his informality faded to formality. "General, I had hoped to discuss this matter with Princess Twilight Sparkle in person."


I forced myself to keep a neutral expression. "Princess Twilight is busy," I said flatly. "So you're stuck with me."


Mayor looked around in annoyance, disgruntled with my response. "General, this is a civilian matter. Princess Twilight has not declared martial law, therefore this matter stays in civilian hooves." He dropped the bureaucratic act and smiled warily. "Spitfire, I know you mean well, but I really need to discuss this with the princess. While upwards of seventy percent of Cloudsdale pegasi support her, there is still a minority who would prefer to follow Princess Celestia and General Maneuver. That minority happens to include business interests such as the weather industry. It will go over better if I talk to Princess Twilight about it than just you. I know that some of them feel that you're a traitor, but they still feel some sense of loyalty to Princess Twilight."


'Of course the weather industry still supports Princess Celestia and General Maneuver...' I held back a sigh and forced my gaze to remain neutral. It didn't remain neutral for long. I slowly shook my head and looked around the room, then sighed in defeat. "You can't talk to her, I'm sorry. I know you need to, but she's... otherwise occupied," I said uneasily, grimacing.


Mayor sighed heavily and slowly shook his head. "The weather industry is going to follow Princess Celestia's lead unless Princess Twilight says otherwise, Spitfire. The Winter might not be coming in the middle of Fall, but it'll still be early, and quite ahead of schedule. This could wreak havoc on the economy, not to mention disrupt the weather industry! We're already behind because of this civil war."


"Mayor, I know. We needed the lightning bombs, though. I know it set the industry behind, but we paid top bits for those bombs. They should be able to meet demand for both weather and military needs if they use the funds properly," I said calmly.


Mayor grunted, "That's not the point! It takes time to build factories to increase output since the current factories can only do so much! They're already operating over capacity to meet the demands of this war and trying to maintain the weather schedule! If we bring in Winter early before we're ready, the Spring could be drier than planned, which could cause more problems down the road!"


I grunted and clenched my jaw. "Then you tell them Princess Twilight said to stick with the normal schedule," I said firmly. "Otherwise all of this will be on you, not me," I said seriously.


Mayor slowly closed his mouth and looked at me with disappointment. "Spitfire, what aren't you telling me? Why is Princess Twilight otherwise occupied?" he said in a calm, calculated voice.


I exhaled calmly. "She's unconscious," I stated. "And that stays between us."


Mayor clenched his jaw. He looked at me with a hardened, blank expression, then slowly glanced to my right, at the wall. His gaze trailed over the room, then passed over me until it settled on the wall behind me to my left. A few seconds passed, and his jaw muscles flexed, then he leveled his gaze on me. "Spitfire, what happened?"


I sat back in my chair. "I can't tell you," I said flatly. "She's been unconscious for a month, even though she is physically fine now. She should be awake according to the doctors."


"Spitfire..." Mayor trailed off warily.


"I have enough authority to keep it under wraps and to keep things running smoothly, at least for the time being," I answered. I leaned back in my chair and pressed a hoof to my temple. "Not that it's easy," I added, sighing. "And it doesn't help that only Princess Twilight can declare martial law."


"If she doesn't wake up-"


"If she doesn't wake up, then that will be the least of your worries," I said, glaring at him threateningly.


He sat back and flared his wings out, then let them fall to his side. "Fine. I'll tell them Princess Twilight said to stick with the original schedule." He stood from the chair. "But if word gets out about this," he warned.


"It'll be easier to keep secret if you cooperate," I replied evenly.


"You continue to have the full support of Cloudsdale, Spitfire. A lot of ponies look up to you, even more look up to Captain Rainbow Dash, including myself," he said. "But they also believe in Princess Twilight. They may not have had as much faith in her before that battle, but since she won it, they believe in her." He turned around and walked over to the door, then paused and looked back at me. "And enlistment in the Cloudsdale Militia has increased significantly in the past few weeks," he commented with a half smile.


"I heard about that," I replied with disinterest.


"Well," he said. "I shall leave you to it then." He opened the door, then stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him.


I brought a hoof to my temple and pressed against my head. 'This job is going to be the death of me.' I shook my head, then looked down at my desk.




Princess Luna



"Since Princess Celestia's forces are digging in hard, we don't have the forces to attack their reinforced positions, but we have been able to seize lightly defended regions and we've inflicted damage on her supply infrastructure, although nowhere near enough," General Gale said.


I nodded absently, still mulling over my strategic options. "If we can inflict enough damage on their supply lines, we may be able to weaken their defenses enough that we can overrun them."


"We would need a significant investment in time and pegasi to succeed at that," General Gale replied, his brow furrowing. "It could work, but we would have a better shot at it if we could mobilize more IFS unicorns."


I grimaced. "We only poses limited unicorn siege specialists and they are all currently deployed in the field. Withdrawing them to partake in a bombardment of a fortified position would weaken our offensive and defensive capabilities of regions we remove them from."


Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Commander Nightwing shift his weight in his chair. I turned to him. "You have something to say?" I asked.


He nodded, reluctantly, then turned to meet my gaze. "Princess, we have not engaged Princess Twilight in battle, and she has shown no open hostility towards us. Rather, you both have the common enemy of Princess Celestia." He turned to the map on the table and slid his hoof over the growing defensive line dividing my realm from my sister's realm. "Most of Princess Celestia's forces are occupied with us, and the northern border with the Crystal Empire is vastly unprotected. If you and Princess Twilight cooperated, you could crush Princess Celestia in a single swift blow."


I grimaced and sighed, then turned away from him and shook my head. "I have tried to talk with Princess Twilight, but it seems she is blocking me from her dreams. When I last spoke to her, I did inform her that I would be happy to assist her if she assisted me, however, she was quite adamant that she would rule Equestria, rather than me, which is unacceptable."


"Yes, Princess," Commander Nightwing rigidly nodded in agreement.


It brought back a smile to my lips, knowing his loyalty lied solely with me. In a way, though, it hurt. He was not my friend, he was my subordinate. Twilight, on the other hoof, was my friend, yet she would not talk to me. 'Perhaps you will talk to me after I defeat my sister.' I mused. It was the most likely outcome, I did not believe that after I defeated my sister that Twilight would continue attempting to fight against me. It was not a battle she could win. I hoped she would see reason and join me, I would be happy to welcome her at my side in ruling Equestria.




General Sapphire



"Ah, General Spitfire. I was wondering when we would get a chance to talk," I greeted. In truth, I had been worried that the crystal would not arrive, or that it would arrive but would have been damaged, even though it was unlikely. General Spitfire didn't look very sure about the situation, however. It was unsurprising, it was unfamiliar to her. I placed a hoof on my desk, then slid it over the cool, lightly colored crystal. I nudged the gem sitting on my desk back a little, pushing General Spitfire's projection back with it.


"Yeah," she said. "I am doing this right, right?" she asked.


I smiled and chuckled at her uncertainty. "Yes, General. You are using the crystal properly. You should have a clear picture of myself as well," I replied. Looking at her projection, she certainly fit her name. Her yellow coat and fiery orange mane were glazed over with a light blue tone and looked slightly crystalline, but other than that, it was just like being there with her.


She nodded somewhat absently, then glanced over her shoulder. Her mouth moved, but I didn't hear what she said, it wasn't directed at me. She turned back, scowling slightly, though the scowl quickly faded and she regained her composure. "Scientists just don't know how to take no for an answer," she sighed. "Sorry about that."


"That's quite alright, General," I said warmly. I paused and frowned. "Although, I had expected to talk to Princess Twilight, rather than you. No offense, General Spitfire."


She smirked and nodded. "None taken General... Sapphire, was it?"


I nodded. "Yes. But I must insist that I talk with Princess Twilight. I appreciate that she had you contact me immediately, but I must pledge my allegiance to her personally." I grimaced. "I would prefer to do it in person, but given the circumstances..." I trailed off.


Spitfire nodded and took a deep breath. Her brow creased and she shifted her weight. "Unfortunately, it could be some time before Princess Twilight's able to talk with you personally. She's been in the hospital for four weeks, recovering from the battle with General Hoof. I'm keeping it on the down low."


I frowned. "That is... troubling news, General..." I trailed off, scrutinizing her expression. She grimaced. "How is she doing?"


Spitfire sat back and bobbed her head, her eyebrows rose up and she exhaled at length. "She's physically fine. She almost died, but-"


"She... almost died?" I asked in disbelief. Princess Twilight was an alicorn, and she almost died in a battle with regular ponies. I felt a grimace pull at my lips. "I... know we don't know all of the details of that battle, but..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say.


"We were outnumbered, she led a team of Wonderbolts into their main camp. They were vastly outnumbered. Two of the Wonderbolts with her were killed, but she survived because of Captain Rainbow Dash." I frowned at that revelation. Spitfire took another breath before continuing. "She engaged General Hoof herself, the General got the upper hoof, then stabbed her twice in the neck. She almost bled out. She has recovered completely from the physical injuries, but she's still unconscious. She had a surge of magic and pretty much wiped out the entire encampment. Estimates put the casualty count she inflicted between three and four thousand, but we can't get an exact count since there were no bodies left behind."


I felt a shiver run down my spine. "I've heard stories of what alicorns can do, but..."


"And according to Captain Rainbow Dash, she was nearly dead when she cast that spell."


I did not know how to respond to that. I could not respond to that. Silence reigned for several seconds while I struggled to wrap my mind around what she had said. Princess Twilight was young, even younger than Princess Cadance, and yet Princess Twilight was so much stronger than her. I smiled a little at that realization, then frowned, remembering that she was still hospitalized. "Why is she still unconscious if she has recovered?"


Spitfire bobbed her head. "The doctors said something about her magic strengthening. We're guessing she's still out because she's an alicorn."


"I see," I replied, frowning in thought. I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Princess Twilight has the full support of the Crystal Empire. We stand ready to fight for her as soon as she calls, or as soon as you need us to defend her," I said firmly. "Our lives are sworn to her."


Spitfire nodded hesitantly. "We're keeping a close eye on her. I'll inform you as soon as she wakes up."


"I would greatly appreciate that General," I said. "I need to inform the others about this development, but you have my word that this will not leak out." I paused. "I am sure you have matters to attend to. General Quartz and I will start drafting plans for an invasion of Equestria, but I would prefer to wait for Princess Twilight to review the plans and give the order."


Spitfire's gaze drifted away, almost like she was looking out in space, deep in thought. She nodded at length. "Alright." She glanced down at the crystal. Her body and hooves moved for a few seconds, then eventually, the projection blinked out of existence.


I sat there for a few seconds, mulling over my thoughts, then I exhaled heavily and stood up from my crystalline chair. I collected myself, then calmly walked over to the crystalline door. I paused for a second, glancing back over my office, my gaze was drawn to the deep purple gem on my desk. The three-pronged star shape stood out easily among the clutter of paperwork on my desk, to say nothing of the color. I had a feeling that I was going to get very acquainted with that crystal.


I shook my head, then opened the door and closed it behind me. The two soldiers stood at attention as I stepped out. I dismissed it with a wave from my hoof, then started down the hallway. Mayor Lattice and General Quartz needed to know about this development. Princess Celestia's treachery would not go unpunished.