//------------------------------// // Chapter 45 // Story: Equestria: World War II // by The Unseen //------------------------------// 20TH FEBRUARY 1940 -----------------------------------------------------------------CANTERLOT CASTLE------------------------------------------------------------------ It was now 6:00am in Canterlot. Celestia was in the dining room, finishing her coffee before going around to the main matters of the day. The princesses liked this human drink, which despite tasting bitter, kept them awake, which was useful for Heads of State such as the princesses, who usually spent quite a few nights awake. In fact, the public had also started liking coffee, which was now being imported to Equestria from Brazil and some Asian countries. As Celestia finished her coffee, Luna came in after getting up following a busy night. Since Luna could now see into human dreams, she had to handle the dreams of humans as well now, which did tire her a little. Equestria and the Crystal Empire's modernisation was also going strong. Now, all the buildings in the towns and cities of the two countries were powered by electricity, which included Canterlot Castle and Crystal Castle. They also now had a proper water network, with pipes, sinks, toilets, and showers installed in every household in the two countries. The telegraph, telephone, and postal networks were also fully set up and operational. Despite the fact that these had been up and running for some time now, they still seemed like wizardry to some of the ponies. The road network was around 60% complete, and the Manehattan Airbase's asphalt runway had finally been completed. The airbase in the Crystal Empire was also fully operational, and the ones in Equestria were all either finished or in the final stages of construction. The landscape was starting to change at a rapid pace, thanks to all the modernisation of the two countries. It hadn't even been a year since their arrival on Earth. The princesses admired how fast their nations were modernising. The wars, however, were still raging. The Phoney War was relatively calm, but the toll of the Battle of the Atlantic had shot past 5,000. The China-Japan war, now called the Second Sino-Japanese War's toll was now well past 700,000, and that of the Winter War was now more than 150,000, even though Celestia had heard a rumour of peace talks between the Soviet Union and Finland. Close to 900,000 people had now died as a result of Discord's actions. The hunt for the Destroyer of Discord was on, thanks to the partnership between S.M.I.L.E. and S.I.S. The partnership between S.M.I.L.E. and S.I.S. had also received intel that Bret Stiles was probably lying about not being responsible for the League of Nations attack. The intel had said that the man behind the attack had approached Stiles, who had apparently funded the purchase of ammunition and a coat for this very attack, enabling him to kill two innocents. As if that wasn't enough, the intel had also indicated that the ENA was planning something very nasty for the Equestrians and Crystal Empireans, by the looks of it. They had also gotten some intel on what the Germans were planning. Apparently the German military was working on a secret programme of some sort, headed by a very mysterious figure. Celestia wondered what this secret programme was producing. The Soviets, Italians, and Japanese were also part of this programme, the intel had uncovered. That was concerning. So far, that was all the intel they had been able to get from the Axis powers. It was not much, but it was atleast something. Celestia decided to get ready for a meeting later that day, when one of the assistants rushed in. "Your Highnesses, there is a telephone call coming for you. It's from the head of the League of Nations, Anna Schmidt." said the assistant. "What? Why would she be calling us?" asked Luna. "She says its important, your Highnesses. You need to be in the new conference room ASAP." said the assistant. "Alright, we'll come there now." said Celestia, as she and Luna began heading to the conference room. The new electric lighting in Canterlot Castle made the castle much brighter at night, and the bulbs were much more brighter than the candles used previously, especially mixed with magic lanterns. The two princesses arrived in the recently-built conference room, and took their places around the table. Already, multiple other Equestrian diplomats were sitting around the table. "Your Highnesses, are you there?" asked the voice of Schmidt through the telephone. "Yes, Ms. Schmidt. We are here. What is this about?" asked Celestia. "Well, I'm supposing you have heard the rumours of peace talks between the Soviet Union and Finland about the Winter War?" said Schmidt. "Yes, I have." said Celestia. "Well, that rumour is true. Peace talks are in the works between the Soviet Union and Finland. However, they cannot be held at the Palace of Nations." said Schmidt. "Why? I thought the main hall was being fixed after the attack?" asked Celestia. "Actually, the main hall is fully fixed, but the Soviet Union is no longer a part of the League of Nations, hence it cannot be held at the Palace of Nations." said Schmidt. "We want to conduct the peace talks in Equestria." Celestia was genuinely surprised at that. "What? Why so? Our nation is also a part of the League of Nations!" said Celestia. "Equestria has a huge history of maintaining peace. The history of your nation indicates that majority of the peace summits on your home planet were held in your country. It is also a mostly harmonious nation. Also, this is a great way for your country to show up in the global stage by hosting such a high-profile event, including your showcase in a few months." explained Schmidt. "Will you be willing to host the peace talks?" Celestia and Luna thought about it. It would be a great boost in prestige for her country, and could also help in the opening of more diplomatic relations, as well as things such as tourism. It would also take a lot of preparation, considering it might be on pretty short notice. "We would gladly be willing to host the peace talks. When will it take place?" "It takes place in three weeks. Will you be able to get everything ready by then?" "We should be able to. We will hold it in our capital city, Canterlot. Are any other world leaders expected to come?" "A few of the bigger world leaders, such as Prime Minister Chamberlain from the UK, and President Roosevelt from the United States, are expected. We aren't expecting many others, though. Since it has been decided that you are hosting the talks, I'll make the announcement in some time. I hope you're ready." "Yes, we are, Ms. Schmidt. We'll begin making the preparations for this right away." said Celestia. "Thank you. The League of Nations team along with some envoys from both the Soviet Union and Finland will get in touch with you later. Over and out for now." said Schmidt. "Over and out, Ms. Schmidt." said Celestia, as Schmidt hung up the call. The princesses and the other diplomats looked at each other. It was now 7:00am. This was going to be a challenge to organise within three weeks, in Equestria's first major event being hosted since their arrival on Earth. ---------------------------------------------------------ENA HEADQUARTERS, CHICAGO--------------------------------------------------------- It was now 5:00pm here in Chicago. The evening time meant most people were coming back home from work, and children were playing or completing homework after coming back from school. At Bret Stiles' farm outside of Chicago, however, the Big House was still busy, as it had been since the last 13 hours. Bret Stiles, his deputy, John Jones, and the rest of the ENA's inner circle were planning. They had just heard about the announcement that the Winter War peace talks would be held in Equestria. They were highly angry at that, as they were hoping the talks would have been held in an Earthly nation, such as Britain, the USA, or France, not an alien country! Earth was developed into what it was by HUMANS ALONE, and yet, humans were willing to take help from aliens! That really was what pissed the ENA off. As the ENA inner circle continued making ideas, one of them suggested, "Why don't we have one of our members pull off a repeat of the League of Nations attack?" Stiles instantly slapped him on the back of his head at that. "Idiot! We can't pull off another terrorist attack. We're under enough scrutiny already after the martyrdom of Thomas Hill at the League of Nations, and another attack would just get the ENA shut down and all of us arrested. Plus, we say that we are not an extremist organisation like the Ku Klux Klan! We gotta follow those ideals!" "What, so the League of Nations attack was not us being extremist?" asked John Jones. "For one, that was not started by us, Thomas Hill was behind that one all by himself. Just because we regard him as a martyr doesn't mean that we have become extremist!" "Well, we can't just rely on mass protests alone to stop this! We have more than 15,000 members, some of them have to be rich politicians, right?" asked Jones. "I wish. The only rich members we have are a few lawyers and businessmen." said an annoyed Stiles. "Well, this opportunity, we'll have to pass up. But the next chance we get, we're doing something to terrify the Equestrians, show them who's the boss. Let's get to planning in advance for that." said Stiles, as he and the rest of the ENA circle got back to the plan, to make the Equestrians tremble.