//------------------------------//
// 1. Canterlot, 350 
// Story: Katyusha 
// by Nagmeister 
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	"The light shines brightest before the dark."

Thick, black smoke filled the air, accompanied by coal dust and gasoline vapors. The dirty, narrow streets wound, sometimes in circles, sometimes straight, through the sea of sprawling urbanity. Factories, houses, shops, and apartments, all at least five stories high, lined each street; pipes, tubes, bridges, and even some roads ran between them, elevated from the ground either by stilts or just bracing to the walls. This was Canterlot, in the year 350; or at least, Lower Canterlot.

A decade after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, the city Canterlot was founded on the side of the tallest mountain in the Cloudpeak range, Mount Faust as it was called. Since its inception, the city had been divided into two parts; the clean, immaculate white spires of Upper Canterlot, populated by the wealthy and powerful, and the dirty sprawling mess of Lower Canterlot, populated by the poor working class. Their names were suggestive of their placements; Upper Canterlot was high up, near the peak of the mountain and close to the Royal Palace, while Lower Canterlot occupied the lower part of the mountainside. At first, Lower Canterlot was simply a place for poorer ponies to work, situated on one of Equestria's main roads. The Industrial Revolution had started there, however, when some unicorn had figured out how to use Pegasus weather magic to turn machinery and produce textiles and mill steel; from there, another pony discovered that heating water by burning coal was cheaper and easier, and another discovered that the water didn't have to be wasted. It was a neat, closed cycle powered by nearly two hundred years of scientific development; and it was as ugly for the lower city as it was for the poor pegasi and ships that flew over it.

One of the most redeeming features of Lower Canterlot was its airship port. The largest in Equestria, it served as a cargo port for the entire city and a passenger port for the poorer ponies. It was also where the Royal Fleet docked; their flagship dreadnought, a massive, nine-hundred-meter metal behemoth called Sol, was floating there, tethered to the dock by a massive number of ropes. The port itself had been built and expanded over a very long time, and it showed. The earliest docks, near the center, were supported by large wooden pillars and could generally only fit ships about eighty meters long. As technology expanded, so did the docks; for a short span, they were supported by reinforced steel, before switching to being floated by balloons. There was great variety between the early and later balloons; the first ones, capable of only holding relatively low pressures and completely unenchanted, were massive, tall cloth rectangles that rose up to a hundred meters above the dock's surface; as the docks had continued, however, the balloons had gotten smaller as higher pressures were used. Then, the magically enchanted balloons started appearing. No more were they made out of soft, unprotected cloth; they suddenly switched to heavy steel, made magically lighter and filled with enchanted air, able to lift far more with less volume. As magical research into these technologies continued, the balloons became smaller and smaller, until they were only small spheres lining the dock platform. It was to a berth suspended like this that most ships were docked; anything larger than a private yacht had to stay at least in the balloon area, and only dinghies were allowed at the column-levitated area. The docks had become brittle in the past decades, and it was in everypony's interest to avoid them being damaged or destroyed.

Of course, airships and docks weren't the only things benefitting from industry. All along the thin concrete road that connected Upper Canterlot to the main freeway - it bypassed Lower Canterlot completely, as per request of the nobles who had originally funded the construction - the black shapes of personal cars were visible, inching their way along at least twice as fast as a normal pony's running speed with none of the physical exertion. They were far cleaner than the factories and production only five or six miles away; many of them ran off of arcane engines or batteries, both developments by the Princess' own student, a young unicorn mare named Star Sparkle. She had founded her own company, and within ten years had made more headway into the arcane power arts than everypony else combined over the past fifteen. She had developed levitation banks capable of completely obsoleting balloons; she had developed engines capable of producing vast amounts of energy off of the latent magic in the air; she had developed devices capable of "mining" leylines for near-limitless power. She was, by and large, the best technomancer in Equestria. Her creations were all over the nation, and production was massively up. In fact, the only limiting factor was cost; each individual enchanted component needed a team of highly trained, skilled, and talented unicorns, able to perfectly apply the right amount of magic every time.

In the Lower City, of course, cost was the only limiting factor needed. Many of the factories, operated by ponies who lived in Upper Canterlot, found themselves far more focused on minimizing cost than on minimizing defects or minimizing worker casualties. It wasn't rare at all to read about a pony who lost a hoof, or a leg, or their tail in one of the massive coal-fired machines. Many were, unfortunately, too poor and too uneducated to treat or find treatment for their work wounds, and paid dearly. But, life went on; some ponies survived their wounds, many didn't. And while life in Lower Canterlot wasn't as good as many other places in the nation, it was home to nearly eighty thousand ponies, the vast majority of whom were part of the industrial base.

The streets of the lower city were bustling. Ponies went about their day-to-day lives, doing whatever they normally did; some peddled their wares to passers-by, others carried carts full of material, and other just walked by, or stopped to watch for a few seconds before moving on. As miserable as their lives may have seemed to an outsider, many of these ponies were genuinely happy; the quality of life had been steadily improving, and with production and business booming, it seemed like the good times were here to stay. There would be no more war, either; only a decade and a half ago had combined forces from Equestria and the Kingdom Isles beaten back the Reich who controlled the eastern continent, and, while that war was terrible, it was called the war to end all war for a reason; after that insanity, no reasonably pony could ever want to start another conflict. This, combined with the good business and the recent proclamations from the Palace that they would do everything in their power to increase the average pony's quality of life, meant there was an air of happiness, joyfulness, and general thankfulness for life and peace in the air.

A small bar occupied the first floor of one of the many skyscrapers lining the road. Large glass windows let the sparse natural light flood in, illuminating the tables closest to them. A glass door provided the only entrance and exit to the establishment, other than climbing up the stairs off to the side. It was a fairly busy place; situated near one of the city's main intersections, it saw a lot of traffic from merchants, travellers, and anypony else who had a reason to be near the docks. Conical arcane lights, dangling from the ceiling on thin metal wires, provided illumination for the rest of the interior. Booths lined two of the walls; the third was occupied by the bar itself, which had a tired-looking, grizzled earth stallion and a young unicorn mare working it. The last wall was bare, except for a door that connected to the rest of the building. The walls were twin shades of off-white and a bright red, tinged slightly blue by the glow of the lights.

The bar was filled with ponies of all races, genders, and walks of life. A pegasus filly nursed a milkshake at one table; on another, an old unicorn stallion looked intensely at a piece of metal with a shot of whiskey right next to him. A young-looking grey pegasus mare walked inconspicuously into the bar. Her brown mane swayed slightly as she looked around, her yellow eyes narrowing as she saw a certain group of ponies sitting around a table. Her left wing was covered in white gauze, with parts tinged slightly red. Her cutie mark was that of a map, with a compass and quill overlaid onto it. She wore a dark brown trenchcoat with a white shirt underneath, hiding strength-enchanted metal armour. Her mane was unkempt and messy, as was her tail; strands of loose hair stuck out from the brown mass.

She made her way to the table, expertly navigating through the mess of ponies. She took a seat on one of the stools, gaining the interest of the five other ponies seated around it. They all turned to face her with blank looks on their faces. One of them opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a brass cannon-hoof crossing his muzzle, muffling him. He just looked at it with a blank expression; his green eye widened slightly momentarily before calming down. He had a dark-blue coat and darker hair; his face was square and chiseled, and his mane was neatly kept. One of his eyes was perfectly normal, with a green iris; the other was a contraption built of brass and steel and powered by magic, a replacement for one he'd lost before. A dark blue horn stuck out of his head, between the folds of his mane. He let out a sigh as the piece of metal retreated from his face.

The pony who'd silenced him was a young-ish earth mare, with a pale red coat. She had a small smirk on her face as she brought her hoof back to the table, where it landed with a thump. Her mane was a cream colour, falling around and behind her face in long strands. Her rust-red eyes quickly shifted from the blue pony next to her to the pegasus before her. Her cannon hoof moved quickly, the bolted-together contraption of brass, iron, and a bit of gold dragging along the table. She pointed it at the pegasus, her face straight, before breaking into a smile and speaking.

"Hey, Captain, my captain!" the mare bellowed, her voice loud and clear. "It's been a while!" she continued with a grin.  "What've you been up to? Did you try to attack another group of random bandits again?" Her grin faded slightly. "Hopefully not. Getting your other wing broken wouldn't be good."

The pegasus, faking offense, retorted, "Hey! I broke this wing on purpose! I meant to get hit by that pipe!"

A few scattered laughs came around the table. Another voice spoke up; this one belonged to a pale green pegasus, with a yellowish mane. His emerald green eyes looked up and down her body; a puff of steam escaped his metal wing as he shifted slightly. "Well, anyway, Steel. The ship's almost out of drydock; she's going to be ready to launch by tomorrow morning."

The pegasus, Steel Wind, almost spat out the water she'd been drinking from a small canteen. "Already? Didn't we lose the balloon, the port engine, and half the cargo bay against that cruiser?"

The iron-winged pegasus nodded. "Yeah. It did a number on us. But Sefe was able to get military engineers working on it; if we'd gotten them sooner, it would probably have only taken a week or less." He nodded to the blue unicorn, who smiled slightly.

"I do my best, Lysander," the unicorn said as he smirked. "But, hey. You helped, too."

"Pshh, no I didn't."

"Yeah, you did. Without your old connections to the Fleet, none of this would've happened."

A soft voice spoke up. "Uhh... guys?" A small white unicorn mare spoke up. Instantly, the entire table turned to look at her. Her coat was a dull white, and her short mane was golden blonde. She had bright blue eyes that constantly darted around, and on her flank was the mark of her homeland; an iron cross.

"What is it, Cross?" Steel Wind asked. The grey pegasus finished her cup and set it down on the table, continuing to stare at the unicorn.

"Do you hear that?" Crosswind said. "It almost sounds like... like cannonfire."









The Palace's war room was a large, elongated rectangular affair. Its walls were made of white stone bricks, gilded in some places with ornate golden decorations. One of the walls was covered in massive windows, overlooking the entire city and the country for tens of miles onward. The opposite wall was covered in a large map of the world, with small dots detailing the position of Equestrian airship fleets and the last known position of the other nations'. In addition, a small grey dot in the middle of the Atlanna Ocean represented the location of one of Equestria's many lesser-known mutual benefactors. A long, dark oaken table spanned the length of the room, with a large, ornate chair crested with an image of the sun at one end.

Sitting in that seat was none other than the Princess of the Sun herself, Celestia, Daughter of Faust. She wore an elegant dress of many shades of yellow and white, her regal golden tiara, and a large necklace of gold. All of them were, of course, enchanted with many wards and protective spells, in case of the off chance of an assassination attempt. Her long horn poked into the air as she waited for the leaders of her military to appear. Her highest-ranking general, Lord Blueblood, had called for a meeting to address the threat to the east; the ponies and gryphons of the Reich had begun making dangerously offensive statements to the nations around them, and many of her leaders were worried that Equestria could come under attack.

The door behind her opened; a white unicorn, dressed in a finely tailored suit with the symbol of Equestria's flag, a circle half-sun and half-moon, walked in, his hooves clopping against the marble floor.  He grunted as he tossed his blonde hair aside, before taking his position on the seat to the right of Celestia. He was soon followed by an old grey-coated, white-haired pegasus. The pegasus made his way to the seat opposite the unicorn, left of Celestia. These were Blueblood and Fairwind; her General of the Army and her Grand Admiral of the Airfleet. Blueblood had a picture of two swords crossed over a shield on his flank; the symbol of the House Blueblood since before the Nightmare Moon incident. Fairwind, on the other hand, bore the image of a hot-air balloon; a testament to his age, for he was born in a time when most ships still had canvass balloons.

The rest of her staff filed in shortly afterwards. Seastar, the Admiral of the Navy, sat in his chair, sulking as always. The head of Equestria's research division, a young unicorn by the name of Telltale, sat in grave silence, staring blankly forward. And, of course, her own student Star Sparkle sat near the end of the table, patiently awaiting the beginning of the meeting. The Princess rose from her seat and walked over to the tactical map, gesturing at some of the features.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, General Blueblood has brought to my attention some most concerning news." she began, her gaze firm as she looked over the ponies assembled in the room. Content with what she saw, she continued. "The Reich has reportedly begun mobilising for war. We don't know who it is against, and for what reason they are doing it; all we know is that our allies across the sea could be in great danger."

"We must go on the offensive." General Blueblood stated bluntly. "We outnumber them five to one. Our ships are vastly superior to theirs, thanks to Ms. Sparkle's technology. We have far more and better aircraft than they do. Our soldiers are better trained and equipped. We are the only nation to have perfected arcane energy into a focused, weaponizable beam. We are the only nation to have lifting bodies so small that can lift an object so large. We are the only nation with a dreadnought of any decent size. In fact, if we wanted to, we could probably capture the entire world! I don't, actually, see why we shouldn't; bringing everypony under --"

"Enough!" The Princess said sternly and bitterly. "Your suggestion is... appreciated. But why don't we get somepony else's opinion? Do you have anything to say, Fairwind?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The pegasus bowed as he rose, quickly giving Blueblood a short glare. "I believe we should retain our neutrality and try our best to stay on the defensive. As Blueblood said, our military far outclasses everypony else's without our spending more than ten percent of our budget on it. And that is a very effective deterrent; no pony, griffin, centaur, taurus, minotaur, or anything else with a decent brain would ever want to go to war against us; they quite simply wouldn't stand a chance. I say we sit back and let it play out; if the threat becomes too great, we send a portion of our main battlefleet to deal with them."

The Princess mused over this for a moment, before looking up at the table assembled before her. "This sounds like a very reasonable idea. Any objections?" she asked, looking around the table. When no pony dared to object to her statement, she nodded with a slight grin. "Good."

As she turned to leave the room, the doors slammed open. She was too surprised by the sight of a young pegasus courier sprinting into the room to ask why her guards had let him in; soon, however, she didn't need to ask. "Princess!" the courier shouted, his voice tainted with worry. "I have a message, from Stormfall."

The Princess raised an eyebrow at this. "Stormfall? Isn't that where..."

"The Eastern Scout Fleet is based, yes." he said. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. "I should probably tell you in private, first." he said nervously, before approaching the Princess. She lowered her head and he whispered something into her ear; her face instantly paled, becoming an even brighter shade of white than it already was, as her eyes widened.

"What?" she silently whispered.

"You heard me. They're moving west, straight towards Gaelia."

The Princess sighed as she straightened herself up and regained her composure to turn around to the ponies of her military, who were watching with mild interest. "Fillies and gentlecolts..." she said, sighing once more. She steeled her gaze and looked straight down the table. "Mobilize the First Fleet."