***
"How many are in there?" I asked, fiddling with my pointer stick.
"A few dozen reporters and VIPS. Some ambassadors from embassies." Princess Celestia said.
"Okay. When I finish this, could we talk? I have an idea I'd like to discuss."
"Of course, General."
"Also I quit, I got a better offer from the griffons. I don't work weekends and better dental coverage." I cracked as I opened the door and went in. A few cameras clicked as I walked in and the major next to the podium saluted me and I returned it. Inside was a small easel with maps lined up to be shown and rows of chairs, all filled.
"Thank you all for coming here today. It's rather clear that our operation out west was quite successful." I began and pointed to the blue lines on the first map. "Ten days ago, this was the front lines. We immediately dug in since we were expecting an attack of some sorts. The Fourth Division was protecting the left, me and my division were on the right with the Tenth in the middle. The next day, General Awe and myself went into Appleloosa to meet a dissident from a hive. He dropped a bombshell on us and I don't mean General Bomb Shell, who was out there as well." I got a few laughs for my joke. "He told us his queen wanted help rebelling, which completely threw us out of wack. Most ponies believed that there is only one hive, with millions living in it. Instead it's five hives with a few hundred thousand in each. But that number is currently being figured out."
Seeing no one had questions, I continued. "That night we made our plan. The Tenth and Fourth went for these two hives closet while I attempted to gain the attention of the hives and force Chrysalis to demand reinforcements from the other hives. Of the four subjected hives, only one sent help and it was a few hundred that we handled. I don't want to say destroyed, even though we did kill most of them, just seems too extreme."
A reporter raised his hand, "Excuse me sir, but isn't having your men going against an enemy coming from an unknown area and unknown numbers just a bit dangerous?"
"Absolutely. But this is a textbook example of motorized warfare. There's roughly eighty miles between our line here and Chrysalis' hive here. That's a little more than a three days walk in regular conditions. It was a three hour drive for us. We prevented her from digging in and fighting how she would have wanted. We also had the option that if the changelings from other hives were too strong, we could have pulled out and waited." I explained. "Next slide please."
The next slide was the inside of a hive, the layout was of no concern, there wasn't a difference found in any of the hives. "This is the inside of the hive. Roughly, it's still being looked at by experts. A few details to point out, these five large buildings are where the emotions were stored. This one in the center is the main storage unit, so to speak." I explained, before pointing to the building next to the palace. "This building, is where ponies were kept or I should say held to have their emotions gathered. Keep in mind that not all hives did this and did so in dire circumstances. Such as when they had to have more emotions. Before I go into the battle itself, any questions?" A few hands went up, "Yes, you."
"How many ponies were rescued, sir?"
"I can't recall the exact number, but I believe around eight hundred were rescued from Chrysalis and several hundred more from the others. Yes, in the back."
"Sir, how is it possible that less than a thousand ponies and other groups feed a whole hive that has hundred of thousands?"
"I'm not sure how it all works, I never looked into it and what I do know went over my head. I'm not sure how much emotion they need each day. They say love is the best emotion to have, so to say and like I said I do not know how much they need. It's something like one unit of emotional energy or magic, whichever it is, is equal to about three and a half of the lowest magic unit. But I'm probably wrong on those numbers. Plus they do have changelings in society who collect emotions, although I'm not sure how they get it back home. We did find that they had a map room to figure out what areas are the best or have the most love, if that makes any sense."
"Are these emotion gatherers still among us?" Someone else called out.
"I'm not sure, and I’m not going to speculate. This is something that'd have to be negotiated since they need emotions to live. I'm going to keep moving on here, so just hold on to any questions. Now, the first three hives are quite simple. All they had to do was remove the enforcers left behind by Chrysalis. It was obviously a one sided battled, maybe two killed and three wounded in each hive. The fourth hive, ruled by Queen Aurora actually pulled off their own rebellion two days before we arrived."
"Excuse me, sir." One of the reporters said, "Do you know if Chrysalis was aware of the rebellion?"
"I'm not entirely sure and we don’t think so. However, the hives must deliver emotions to her hive weekly so at some point soon she would have noticed. But she never did. Now for the big enchilada, the attack on Chrysalis' hive. In all honesty, I was not expecting to launch an attack on the hive the same day as the others. Luckily, it turns out most changelings aren't soldiers and would’ve struggled in a fight, which may be why they struggled in the attack on Canterlot and defense of themselves. Plus she expected to win and didn't fully commit her soldiers to the fight. She was overconfident and paid the price. It was a relatively calm operation, civilians stayed inside and never put up a fight, which was our concern. Truthfully, I was expecting an uprising after we killed her."
"How exactly did she die?" A reporter asked.
"She was holed up in her throne room and had several grenades thrown in the room and shot by several soldiers. Blindly I might add. So how she died is a mystery, whether the grenades or bullets got her. We’re almost at the end so please hold off on questions. A few days past and the threat of any sort of uprising went away. All we needed was a new leader, but none came forward, so we waited. Finally one came up to me, and claimed to be Chrysalis' daughter and we talked. I introduced her to the princesses when they came out to visit and that's that. Any questions?"
"Sir, do you have any details on peace negotiations?"
"None that I can share."
"When do you think the talks will be finished?"
"Within in the next week to ten days, but that’s just my guess. You’d have to ask someone directly involved with the talks.”
"General do you think it's possible for us to be friends with them?"
That made me pause for a moment. "I don't see why not. That's right I said it. Go ahead and put it everywhere, but I don't why them and us can't get along. I know I'm one of the few who think this, most want to see them punished. Plus a few ponies are calling for us to conquer them. But that’s not the Equestrian way. This country was founded on the ideas of harmony and friendship. We shouldn’t toss these ideas away just because a wrong has been committed against us. Have we not destroyed our enemy when we make them our friends?”
With my controversial answer, I walked out and ignored the last few questions shouted at me. An aide was waiting for me and led me through the castle to meet with the Princess. We made our way down several flights of stairs and a few halls to reach wherever the meeting was.
"This is it, sir." She said and I gave her my thanks. Inside was the Solar Alicorn. The room was a den, complete with a desk that had a tea kettle on it and plenty of bookshelves, no doubt covering every subject possible. A small TV hung on the wall, showing a reporter from the room I was just in.
I immediately gave her a salute, "Your Majesty."
"Please General." Celestia began, "We are friends, have a seat. That was quite an interesting comment you made."
"I stand by it. It won't be overnight, but in a few years I don't see why not. However if you don't necessarily share my views-."
"I share in your sentiment. Given time I do see changelings walking around without a disguise. Now what was this idea you had?"
"Simple. My men don't have a way to protect themselves and I think they should. I'm asking machine guns to be placed on each truck. At the moment, each truck holds twelve men and adding a gun, room for the gunner to stand and ammo would cost room for two men. I did the math on this one and that would require an additional three hundred trucks." I explained. “I have some other ideas that I plan to run by Colonel Gear about some stuff I’d like to try out.
"Of course. Having a way to protect themselves to protect us is paramount. I'll see to it the order is placed and you'll have them by autumn. What ideas do you have? I have a small request for you as well, consider it payment for the trucks."
I ignored her question of my plans, I wanted to play them close to my chest, "What tiny favor can I do to repay the nation for three hundred trucks?"
"Visit the Remot clan of the griffons, they look like they might win the crown. We've always had good ties with them and this will be a good way keep the status quo." I opened my mouth to protest, but she raised a hand to stop me. "I know what you're going to say, you're a fighter not a talker or something. But I just saw you do a press conference with no issues."
"Alright you got me. But it's the truth. I'm not some college educated diplomat who always knows what to say. I'm just some guy who likes military history because I stumbled across it one day. I don't know which fork to use for a salad or speak French."
"Good because the Remot clan is the same way and you leave in a week. But they do love titles, so make up some of your achievements. Would you like some tea? I find this flavor, raspberry jasmine, to help me calm down after a stressful day. Which you just had I would say General." She asked as she filled her own cup. I didn't bother trying to argue with my boss. "Besides they eat meat and so do you. They generally try and scare diplomats by having plenty of meat. Whereas you would not be phased, consider it a small vacation if you will.”
"No thank you, I've never been a fan of it. Always had to force it down in Afghanistan because the locals drank it constantly."
"A shame. But to each their own."
"Not really. When is my big foreign tour?" I asked.
"You will leave from Manehatten in seven days. It's a three day trip by airship and you'll spend several days there talking with their own military officers and report of the states of their military. Generally they’ve been at the forefront of the clans with military technology. You'll have some help as well with their ministers. That is all, General."
"Thank you for this, Princess. I won't let you down." I said and started to leave..
“Oh and General. I’m having a friend of yours join you.”
I turned to look at Celestia, “And who might that be?”
"I’m keeping it a secret, much like your ideas.”
"Alright, keep your secrets.” I responded and left the room. If she wanted to play chess with my mystery friend, I’ll play three dimensional underwater Chinese checkers.
A servant outside the room led me through the castle to leave and handed me a train ticket to go back to Ponyville. As I made my way through Canterlot, I was expecting a few people to come up to me and ask what drugs I was on, thinking the changelings could be allies. But none did, a few did stare at me and turned their nose up at me. Wouldn't be the first time my job made someone turn their nose up at me.
The train station was the same way, people staring at me, no doubt wondering why I still had a job. Luckily the train arrived a few minutes after I did so I wasn't just being stared by by a few dozen people. Still none of them approached me and bitched about my idea.
I grabbed a seat by myself and closed my eyes, hopefully I can get a little bit of sleep. The conductor called out, barely audible over the train and the distance from me. We slowly pulled out of the station and back to Ponyville.