//------------------------------// // The First Equestrian Civil War // Story: "Just Progress, My Friend." // by Sloped Armoured Pony //------------------------------// The Defense at Ponyville The sun was setting on the first day of summer as the Princess unleashed her first stage of her invasion. The ponies if Ponyville were mobilized and ready for action at the sound of the alarm. One of Twilight's tanks reached the front, while the pegasi squadron took to the sky. All seemed fine when they first sighted Celestia's frontline battalion, but as they climbed their first hill, all hell broke loose. The pegasi dove, dropped bombs, and retreated to reload. The city showed off their superior artillery and shelled the light infantry force. The first causality came due to friendly-fire as one artillery shell hit their first tank. Apparently high-explosive shells could cut Applementium like butter, making it even more urgent to defend the city without leaving any metal for the enemy to use. Along with this discovery, Twilight also reevaluated her strategy with armor, so she moved the tanks to the second line as sniping cannons rather than in line of friendly-fire. However, as for Celestia's army, soldiers were being punted back and forth like pebbles on a rock bed. This was not a set-back, however, because the Princess was the military genius who even unified Equestria in the first place. She sent another battalion to run the hill as another would sneak through the Everfree Forest and attack from behind. Rail-emplacements around the city fired inside as the unicorns worked desperately hard to fling the heavy missiles from long range. Most of the rocks were deflected by the steal curtain placed by the Ponyville residents, but some managed to bounce around inside and disorient the defenders. As the second force drove up the hill, the elite managed to sneak behind and attack at the production centres. The defenders hand to turn around and fire the other way, giving some space for the hill front to charge. A counter-coup was sent by Ponyville in hope of ambushing the soldiers, but their bright uniforms got them slaughtered. The only successful defenders for the first wave of attacks were the pegasi, who could bomb on the enemy, eliminate most of the soldiers, and return home without being fired upon. Unfortunately there were too many soldiers for just the pegasi to handle, and with most of the defenders distracted, all that was left were the tanks, who were sitting on hills waiting for still out-of-ranged targets. "Twilight, what are you doing? Why are your tanks doing nothing?" frantically asked Appplejack. "Simple! If I sent the tanks out, then our artillery would hit them and destroy them. So, I left them on the hill so that they would be safe," replied the pony who was trying her best to play Guderian. "I sometimes wonder how smart you actually are. Everyone is in danger in war, so you might as well send the tanks out and actually get some stuff done! The defenders should learn to aim better, so send your tanks out now!" ordered Applejack as Twilight slapped her head with her hoof out of stupidity. At the sound of another alarm, the tanks rolled out, except now as a unit. Steam engulfed the outskirts of the city as the tanks relentlessly charged into the blue, hoping for a massing of targets. After receiving further orders, Pinkie ordered her defenders to watch their aim and shoot farther then they think they must. Fire fell from the sky as the tanks ambushed another offensive battalion. Unluckily, this was an elite core of unicorns, so they managed to repel most of the projectiles, specifically at the tanks. Though most were destroyed, more were rolling out of the factories to replace casualties, and they eventually captured the hill. The capture of the hill was significant for the Ponyville defenders, who eventually defeated Celestia due to superior numbers and production rate. But war could not end until either Ponyville or Canterlot was captured. It was now time for the offensive. ------------------------------------------------------------- The Anti-Tanks After the victory at Ponyville, Twilight was ordered to role out and try to blitz the retreating Royal Army, so her tactic was to try and go for as many hills as she possibly could, and then snipe at the enemy. But the tanks were up for opposition now, a plan specifically devised by Celestia to not be used on Ponyville as a matter of surprise and lowering moral. Lying in wait in the bushes were lines of long rails guarded by soldiers. These were the anti-tank systems. The soldiers were unicorns who would use magic to fling sharpened super-heated projectiles at the tanks. The emplacements were perfectly hidden, when a tank managed to stride ahead of the others, no one could answer how it exploded. Out of fear, Twilight ordered for the tanks to camp in the previous hill and snipe on any targets at first sight. It was hours before even one cannon was fired. The tankers discovered the source of the problem when a bright streak appeared out of the hill ahead and incinerated one of the tanks. Everyone then opened fire. The anti-tanks were well fortified, unlike the tanks, so few of the cannon shells could hit the artillery crew. As for the tanks, almost 50 tanks were needed to replace the casualties. Twilight urged for support from the pegasi, but they were busy with some sort of "secret weapon." Pinkie's artillerymares were too far to effectively aid Twilight by shelling. Whence her tanks became too overwhelmed, they pulled back. However, the battle did not end yet. As the tanks pulled back, infantry crept around the hill to climb up from behind. They charged up the hill with pikes, hoping for an easy ambush victory. It was only when Twilight figured out there were mines on the hill that she admitted defeat and retreated. However, she did succeed at something: none of the enemy forces were stupid enough to advance into the range of the artillery. It was decided that a mine-clearing system had to be devised to even get over the hill, let alone destroy the anti-tanks, so what Twilight decided was to pull the tanks around the hill where the infantry went and fire at the face of the hill, and hopefully explode some mines. The tanks slowly crept up the hill while mine after mine exploded in front of them, disabling a few of the steam war machines. The noise had alerted the Royal anti-tank corp, causing them to turn around. The ditches they had dug made it harder to swivel the guns; they had to pull all 400 pounds worth of gun and ammo out of the pit, turn it around, and place it back in before they could fire. By that point the tanks had run over the ditches causing enemy retreat. Twilight had learned about the importance of swerving rather than an all out charge. She had successfully made it to the final hill overlooking the plains leading to Canterlot. ------------------------------------------------------------- Wrest Power of the Sky Rainbow Dash had made the worst assumption that she had the whole sky to herself. The pegasi were making bombing runs over enemy advances with much success. It was only when they found out about Celestia's anti-air system that the flight corp had gone downhill. Though certainly not as maneuverable as the nimble pegasi, a flying monster had been built, causing almost as much surprise as the tanks would have caused. The Princess had modified the transport balloons into a set of three large flying fortresses. Each monster would fly side-by-side with netting connecting them to trap and stall any pegasi who managed to get caught in it. For those who were lucky enough to fly over or under the beasts, they faced the wrath of the on-board firing teams who flung sharp iron missiles at them. Some pegasi cowered and flew back to Ponyville. Others were impaled or disoriented, leading to a grim death on the ground. The only weapon to counter these fortresses were the bombs they were armed with, and they only worked if the bombs were dropped from a high altitude from their target. This meant that the air force would have to fly almost another thousand feet higher to drop inaccurate bombs on a moving target. The counter-strike was unsuccessful and the survivors retreated. Rainbow Dash had almost no clue what was going on. Being as stuck up as she was, she was confident that the bombers could open a clear path to Canterlot. She didn't even know about the flying fortresses. Applejack caught notice of this and immediately took appropriate action. "What the hell are you doing laying on the couch when there are three floating giants headed strait for Ponyville?" angered Applejack at the novice commander. "What are you talking about?" replied Rainbow Dash. "The only floating 'giant' that is around here is my air force. Now lighten up and enjoy yourself as we make an easy victory." "If you are so confident," intimidated Applejack, "then what is that sound you are hearing?" "Hmm. I was wondering that too. Did somepony leave the fan on?" asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack pulled her by the ear outside to show here a massive object in the sky suppressing the Ponyville war machine under heavy semi-automatic fire. Rainbow Dash rushed for her helmet and ordered Pinkie to order an artillery fire at the floating fortresses. Little thought was put into the order and all the shells did were fall back to earth. In response, the air corp was ordered to arm themselves with pikes rather than bombs, so they flew up to pop the fortress like a helium balloon. Few made it under the shrapnel fire, but one managed to pop one balloon, which in turn, brought the other fortresses down too. The air was now theirs for the taking as the surviving pegasi returned home to help invent some areal assault weapons. ------------------------------------------------------------ The Battle of Canterlot The first to make it to the gates of Canterlot were the tanks under the command of Captain Sparkles (as Twilight so named herself). With no more opposition, Pinkie had a clear route to move her artillery around the base of the acropolis. The hill was so steep that the tanks moved slower than a tortoise could climb the hill, so it gave Pinkie plenty of time to set up and shell the city. Refugees who were confident enough that the Princess would win fled the city for the walls of Ponyville. The crowds that flooded past blocked advancement, making it even more challenging for the fighting infantry to climb up. After innovation, the pegasi managed to set up an assault system. They shrunk Pinkie's artillery technology to a small enough size that it fit on their hooves. While some continued to bomb, others dove into the buildings machine gunning any guards who tried to get into position. It took almost two days before the first tank made it inside the high city. Some anti-tank emplacements were placed here and there, but other than that, there was not much in terms of defenses. The bombing stopped to avoid friendly fire, but machine gunners continued to pelt the city. All opposition had been defeated as a clear path to the palace was paved. Applejack had come just in time to lead the final push into the palace. The fate of Equestria now laid in her hooves. As the victorious governess approached the gates to the palace, the Princess opened the doors almost as a greeting. The tanks aimed their guns, prepared for any trap that could be unleashed. The gates closed for a private conversation as the Princess stepped off her throne and came to the floor in submission. "You have proven yourself worthy to fight someone as well versed in war as me. What do you say that we put are arms down and end this arrogant conflict?" plead the Princess. "Gosh certainly!" replied Applejack. "What were we thinking even starting this war in the first?" "Certainly not either of our finest moments," joked the Princess. "I am just glad we had stalled long enough that no one who wasn't supposed to fight got hurt." "Ah well. What happened happened. Let us end this notoriously short war. However, you do notice that I am now the ruler of Equestria, and that you have to follow my law," said Applejack as she herself stepped on the throne. "First off, just to avoid further conflict with a defeated adversary, you will have no political power. You sole duty will be to let the sun rise and set as needed. Second, the throne will go. Considering the world we live in now, and how weak I am compared to you, Equestria will be run by a council consisting of my friends. For each one of us who loses our political seat, it will be up to the ponies to elect a replacement. Equestria will now run Equestria, not Canterlot." The Princess nodded and left. She was now a regular pony like everypony else. The rising of the Sun marked the end of this week-long war, and Celestia head out to the country for some well deserved fresh air. Applejack, on the other hand, quickly established governance, moved the capital to Ponyville, and started her friends on a new adventure from business administrators to secretaries of state.