10:00 am
Canterlot Castle
Day Court is about to begin
A young Pegasus guard burst through the throne room doors, running quickly up to the thrones of the Princesses.
He bowed respectfully before rattling off what had been told to him.
“Your Highnesses! News from ambassador Silver Tongue!” He sputtered out through breathless pants.
“Speak.” Celestia responded.
“Gryphonia has attacked the Human oil refineries! War has been declared between them!”
The three Princesses gasped, looking at each other before Celestia looked back to the guard.
“Thank you for your report. You may return to your post.” Celestia tried to offer the guard a smile to calm him, but could only bring a gentle nod to bear.
The guard nodded and bowed again, turning and quickly trotting out of the throne room, leaving the Princesses to their work.
Both of the sisters looked to Twilight, “Twilight, we need you to be present for the day court, this is a matter of utmost importance that requires our immediate attention.” Celestia spoke.
“B-But Princess, shouldn’t I be present for—” Luna cut Twilight off.
“Twilight Sparkle, you must understand, while you are a Princess of Equestria, this is a matter for more experienced minds.”
Celestia glared a bit at Luna for being so harsh, but agreed with her.
“Luna is right, Twilight, we need to handle this.” Celestia’s tone was much more tender, but still stern.
Twilight lowered her head, reluctantly nodding. The two Princess rose from their thrones and descended the steps, quickly trotting out and down the hallway.
“Sister, I do not believe this! How could she be so ignorant?!” Luna said harshly, the frustration in her voice obvious.
“She is full of pride, Luna, pride and ignorance. She is putting too much faith in her power and she may have set her own undoing into motion.”
They reached the large wooden door that lead to their conference room, swiftly opening the door and trotting inside. A large mirror paralleled the the floor on a wooden stand. They used this enchanted mirror to communicate long distance with their allies via magic. It was almost a copy of the Humans’ radio system, only you could see the pony you were talking to and it didn’t use electricity.
Celestia and Luna took their seats in front of the mirror, both of their horns’ glows causing the mirror’s image to swirl.
~~~
Many miles away, a similar yet smaller mirror on a rolling stand began to swirl. Drawing the attention of a servant that stood beside his Empresses’ throne, he hurriedly told her before pulling the small mirror in front of her.
~~~
The swirling mirror began to take form, the different colors began to take shape, slowly pulling together and revealing Empress Goldenbeak.
“You called, Princesses?” She had a glint of frustration in her eyes.
“Yes, something that concerns us greatly has—” Celestia was cut off.
“Have you gone mad, Empress?!” Luna shouted at Brynja. “How could you be so ignorant as to provoke something you know nothing of?!”
“Luna! Calm yourself!” Celestia scolded her in a hushed tone.
“You insult my judgement, Princesses. There is nothing about the Humans I fear. They are easily outmatched and will soon be put in their place.”
Celestia glared at the Empresses.
“Empress, have you considered what you have done? We know next to nothing about their society, how things work there, or how willing the people are in a time of crisis. Nationalism is a powerful weapon.”
Brynja scoffed, waving that notion away with her claw. “Bah! Their petty ‘guns’ cannot work forever, and once their morale is broken by their losses, nationalism will be no problem at all. If eating away slowly at their war machine is the way to win this war, than so be it.”
She pondered for a moment before an idea struck her.
“But perhaps, that is not the only way. You wanted the pollution gone as well...if your military were to assist mine...the Humans would stand no chance.” Brynja smirked.
Luna was repulsed by such a suggestion, ready to give the Empress a verbal berating like never before...until she felt her sisters hoof on her chest and a stern look telling her to keep quiet.
Celestia turned back to the mirror, “Empress Goldenbeak, this is not our conflict. We attempted to make a peaceful agreement with the Humans on the subject of their pollution. An agreement, mind you, that I am feeling more and more was ruined by your straightforward and arrogant accusations and threats. We will not be allying with you in any sense to fight a war we did not want. That is final.”
Brynja glared at them, her frustration with Celestia’s answer obvious. “Hmph, what else to expect from a pacifist pony.”
Brynja spat the last word with contempt, the image of her fizzling away, promptly ending the conversation.
Celestia sighed heavily, rubbing her temples as she leaned on the table. “Well that went as expected...”
~~~
1:00 pm
Human Republic, Capitol Building.
The doors of the Capitol building were opened, Prime Minister Schmidt walking out onto the white balcony and looking over the mass of people below, all murmuring about what they had read in the early morning papers. Schmidt stepped forward to a wooden podium, setting a small stack of papers on it. Journalists amongst the mass flashed their cameras, trying to get a good picture of what was about to take place. Three microphones were attached to the podium, they would all transmit on a different frequency to broadcast his speech nationwide. He sighed deeply, placing his hands on the podium. He began to speak.
“Yesterday, at four O’clock Western time, the Aichi Oil Refinery islands were attacked. The attack was orchestrated by the forces of the Gryphonian Empire, on unprovoked grounds. Since yesterday, we have lost contact with the islands. I can assure you all, however, that this crime will not pass by on a whim.”
“The arrogance of the Empress of Gryphonia has led her to a rash decision. She is not only responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of good men, she has impeded on Humanity’s right as a species to progress forward for our well being. It is because of these crimes, that on this day, October seventh, nineteen-hundred and twenty, I have declared a state of war on the Empire of Gryphonia.”
His last statement was met with resounding applause, the cameras beginning to flash again as General Corvus stepped up beside him, a symbol of the military for the people. They turned and shook hands before returning inside.
Once they had reached Schmidt’s office, they both took a seat and began to discuss important matters.
“General, as of today we are at war. What with our military being poorly structured, I believe it is time we make changes to better it.” Corvus nodded.
“And what would those changes be, sir?”
Schmidt opened a drawer in his desk, removing two small gray patches with a golden eagle, perched upon a crimson star as well as a foot long baton. He stood, prompting the General too as well.
“As of today, you are promoted to Field Marshall.” He presented him with the patches and baton. The baton was decorated with symbols of the military, the handle crafted out of Black Walnut wood, atop it a golden eagle was perched and the bottom was a red star.
Corvus saluted, taking the baton and patches. “It is an honor, sir.”
Schmidt returned the salute before sitting back down. From the drawer he had opened, he removed one last thing; a bottle of scotch. Pouring two glasses, he handed one to the newly promoted Field Marshal, raising his own glass.
“A toast to the future, old friend.” They chuckled as they clinked their glasses, downing the alcohol.
~~~
6:00 am, October eighth
Human-Gryphon Border
Kurt was roused from his sleep, the hand of his commander roughly shaking his shoulder.
“Wake up, Private. Orders finally came in, time to get blastin’.” He left Kurt and continued waking the others that were asleep.
Kurt groggily stood, walking towards the border defenses. Ever since the attack on the Aichi Islands, orders had been sent in to reinforce the border and wait for the attack command. These reinforcements had included three battalions of reserve soldiers that had finished training only a few weeks earlier, seven-hundred thousand or more rounds of small arms ammunition and lastly, eighteen, twenty millimeter field guns.
The main reason for the artillery guns was because of the dense foliage that covered the outskirts of the Gryphonian Empire. They knew there could be thousands or more Gryphon soldiers hiding amongst the forest, and invading by infantry action would be suicide. They had to break their line before Gryphon reinforcements arrived or they would be bogged down for quite a while.
The gun crews were running hurriedly to and fro, gathering ammunition and ranging targets...not that it really mattered. They had three types of rounds at their disposal, regular twenty millimeter artillery shells, canister rounds for any air retreat, and a new round, a shell carrying a canister filled with Chlorine gas. He trudged over to a small sandbag wall, the middle dipped down to allow the machine gun behind it to fire through and keep the crew safe. The loader, and also his friend Richard was already there. Opening several boxes of ammunition, he lifted one of the belts, the rounds clinking together as he pulled the bolt back and slipped the belt in.
Kurt sat down, leaning back against the sandbags. “So today’s the day, huh?”
Richard nodded, finishing his task he did the same. “Yep, finally we get a chance to give those fucking birds some payback.”
Kurt chuckled, donning his helmet. They both heard the slow grind of metal as the artillery guns were slowly elevated.
He yawned deeply, he was still groggy from the quick wake up. “Whelp, here we go.”
While the sun slowly rose over the horizon he moved to his position behind the machine gun, grabbing the handles and moving his thumb to the small lever between them. Everything became quiet, as if you could hear a pin drop
“Ready!” They heard a voice call out behind them.
“Fire!” The deafening blast of the artillery echoed through the air as a hail of gas and metal was flung over their heads, flying through the air for but a few seconds before impacting onto the forest ahead. Dust and foliage were erupted from the ground with each impact, while yellowish-green chlorine gas slowly crept through the forest. The war was in full swing, and both sides were prepared to do their worst.
~~~
6:10 am
Human-Gryphon Border
Midrad was leaned against a large oak tree, the dark brown of his feathers blending almost perfectly with the wood. He clutched his spear close, peering through the forest towards the Human border. Though it would still be a bit before he could see through the forest, it was important for him to keep watch.
Guard duty annoyed him, he didn’t understand why they were hiding in the forest like cowards. There were enough of them in these woods to easily overpower the Human border soldiers and sitting here waiting was only giving them time to gather strength. When the news of the successful attack on the Human oil refineries had come in, they had celebrated, with such an easy victory over the Humans, surely their ancestors were with them in this endeavor. Midrad smiled at this thought, he could only imagine what honor he would gain in the liberation of the Humans polluted lands. The Sun’s light began to peek through the trees bringing a pleasant warmth to him.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, ear-splitting booms echoing through the air. His ears rung loudly as he felt the ground lurch, knocking him away from the large tree. Midrad tried to stand, stammering to his feet before another blast near him knocked him back to the ground. Crippling pain started to crawl up his body. Forcing his eyes open he looked to it’s source to find several pieces of twisted metal lodged in his left thigh.
The forest was continually pounded with artillery fire, each impact slinging dirt, rocks, and pieces of trees in every direction. Midrad tried to crawl out of the opening he was in, each blast pressing his body against the ground. He couldn’t fly, when the first shell impact had sent him sprawling he had landed on his wing, breaking it.
While he crawled, he began to smell a strange scent, one of pepper and taste of pineapple. As the scent became stronger, his throat and chest began to burn, feeling as though they were tightening inside his body. Grasping his throat he began to wheeze and cough, barely able to breathe. It was becoming too much, the world around him blurring while the burning in his chest grew more and more painful.
With one final gasp for air, his body went limp, eyes deadening as the hail of metal and poison continued to fall around him.