"There is a visitor, sir."
I turned, vaguely annoyed at the intrusion, putting down the book I had been scribbling into. "Let them in. Guard the door."
The guard bowed, shouldering his crossbow as he walked out. A town leader, perhaps. If I was lucky, maybe they'd join my cause without a fuss.
I had been joking at the time. Quite bitterly.
A mare strode through the entryway to my tent, pale yellow coat and purplish mane dull and grimy with obvious travel. The guard followed her in, and clicked to attention, getting an odd glance from the mare.
One must keep up decorum. "Greetings, m'am. What brings you here?" I asked curtly.
"I didn't actually think they'd let me in," she said, then blinked. "Shucks, sorry. I wanna see what this is all about."
"Are you the leader of a town?"
"Uh, kinda. Hortshire sent me over here, wanted to see what's happening. We heard about stability here. The elders are obsessed with it."
That brough a glow to my chest, and finally focused my attention on the mare. "Well, then you've come to the right place. The guards just let you right in?" The guard at the door shifted uncomfortably at my question. "It's no matter. Soon, ponies will know all about what I stand for without having to waltz into my encampment to find out. Unless your here to assassinate me or something, which I rather doubt."
Fritter shook her head, awkwardly glanced around my tent. She must have been disappointed at its dully practical aesthetics. Nothing a blue banner in the far wall, my cot, table, lantern, and papers.
"I like this tent," she said quietly. Huh.
"Thank you," I replied, turning back to my book, wearing my best gracious smile. "I hope I've made a good impression for your elders."
"What's that your working on?" she asked, then coughed. "Uh, I mean, if you're getting back to your work-"
"It's fine." I waved a hoof, slid it across the table to face her. "It's a guide to tactics. Drills and the sort. i'm hoping to start training my forces, such as they are, with it."
Fritter nodded slowly, without much in the way of comprehension. "Why not just borrow a book on the Royal Guard or something? Hortshire Library had some of those. Never read them..."
The chance to explain myself was duly relished. "You see," I lowered my voice, "I don't want to copy the Royal Guard. The Guard had pegasi. Magic. Half their tactics was probably some variation on making a shield. We're ponies now, all of us, magic-less and weak. I'm making formations that are built around things us ponies are now capable of."
"The Princesses . . . ?" Fritter began, clearly thinking over my words.
"Are gone. Call me a fool who gives up too easily, but I managed to get reports from the Griffon lands. You know what they said?"
"That Tirek died. How we're stuck here without cutie marks, the Elements, anyone." Fritter sighed.
"How Tirek died. The griffons massed cannons, moved with superb discipline. They died in droves but brought Tirek down in a valley. That is how we must act from now on. Formations. Organization."
"You're rebuilding a tradition."
"I'm making a tradition. I must have a plan for the future. This country, Equestria, we need to move on. There are no Princesses. There is no magic. Hoping for their return is not enough. Expending what little we have trying to find mages to return the past is insane. I've given up, and I've moved on. I want this whole country to." I finished with severity, slightly taken aback with the passion in my words.
Fritter just stared at me. Surely I couldn't be imagining the respect with which she now regarded me. Wretch as I was, had I managed to convince somepony?
"Yes, you did." Fritter smiled at me, and I returned it. "You never admit it, but you can speak with authority, and you had vision."
"Had. A fond memory."
"It's hard to imagine the Equestrian military back then. A bunch of ragged ponies with pikes and exhaustion."
I closed my eyes, sunk into my bed. "Not for long, though. I certainly did build a tradition, didn't I? That's how I won, such as Equestria today can be called victory."
"Trust me," Fritter said, "it is."
I stepped out my tent and onto the marshaling field of Hortshire, nerves tingling. Three neat blocks of ponies stood ramrod straight in a light drizzle, trickles of water running down their uniforms; blue and black, simple helmets and rugged cloaks. Pikes were clutched steadily in the hands of two of the formations, crossbows and pavises raised in the other. The mass of ponies stared unblinkingly ahead, and I gave an approving nod.
The commander stepped out, a single length of gold braid down her side distinguishing her. "Sir." she said, stopping in front of me with a curt nod.
"Commander, you do Equestria great service with the conduct of your troops." I said, as solemnly as possible. "A vast improvement in a mere eight weeks." I briefly turned my head, giving my tent a glance. Waiting inside was Lavender Fritter, who met my gaze and walked out, a hoof wrapped around a cloth-covered pole. She joined me and Commander, passing off the pole to me.
"I hereby christen you the First Battalion of the New Model Equestrian Army. May you serve the nation and its ponies well in the coming years," I intoned. "You are the beginning, let yourselves be the example to all who follow. This Army shall be great, and it must be! We have no one but our own strength, courage and discipline now. Let this banner fly high wherever you go, and do it honor." I unwrapped the cloth, raised the pole, shook out the brilliantly blue banner inlaid with gold.
1st Equestria it read, and directly below that, By our own strength we will find peace. I passed it on to the Commander, and she thrust it into the air, followed by a hearty cheer from the 700-something ponies. 700 ponies, a number that still surprised me. Wretches and desperate folk, some seeking purpose, others wanting order; some just wanted to get fed and clothed. Ponies all, however, mortals to the last. The formations broke up to the supply wagons on the other side of the field, kitting up for the march. I wasn't about to mope about with a force like this.
I left the Commander with a quiet thanks and headed back to my tent with Fritter. "That was a good speech, sir," she remarked.
I scoffed. "Hardly counts when you spent the better part of the previous day thinking it over. Still," I said, brightening up, "barring the speech, that was great. Things are coming to head faster than I thought they ever would."
"Indeed," Fritter smiled, holding the flap of the tent open. "Ponies have proven awfully receptive."
"I just tell farmers to send their crops to farming towns, and give the farmers security from the thieves. Half of my followers with weapons aren't even out on that field; they're out in the countryside, guarding and relaying messages. But you know that."
Fritter said nothing, shaking off some of the rain from her coat.
"Anyway," I said, feeling a twinge of excitement, "on to Baltimare."
Fritter yawned, running a hoof through a graying hair. "And everything went better than expected."
"It did. The pains of ruling came after."
"It went by so quickly."
"The Army expanded quickly."
"How did you do all this?" the Mayor of Vanhoover asked me, pacing his office. "In a year. So much of Equestria!"
"Indeed," I replied, carefully restraining my voice. I didn't want a repeat of Dodge Junction.
"How? You're a tyrant! You might as well proclaim yourself Emperor!"
"Not a bad idea," I said, and the Mayor flinched. "You want to know why? Most are hardly eager to join the new Equestria, but they do it anyway. Stability does that."
"Tyranny."
"Perhaps. Impressive, how you've achieved self-sufficiency here." Perhaps flattery would help.
"Even you admit that Vanhoover doesn't need you lording yourself over us." the Mayor spat, shaking his head, turning away from me. Apparently not.
"You'll see," I promised, "no matter how self-centered this seems, you will see. Equestria is split into three parties. Those who still look to the Princesses, to false hope, who waste their lives and often forfeit them for something that will never return. There are those who merely survive, like you - can't make sense of it, but damned if you'll let it kill you. Bandits, towns, doesn't matter. You do nothing to try and alter the status quo. And finally - pay attention here - there's those like myself, who have let go of the past. A thousand years of benevolent rule is hard to replace, especially when replaced by me, but ponies can see the future. Step back, and you'll know we must do more than survive and hope. Friendship conquering all is gone. We have nopony but ourselves, no magic, nothing. No cutie marks to tell us what to do. Society itself must change."
The Mayor shook his head again. "I cannot," he said, "Vanhoover will never knuckle to a foreign invader. You're a conquerer flying the banners that you call Equestrian. I'll tell my militia to fly the real Equestrian standard, with the Princesses as they should be, celebrating our harmony."
He would not be swayed. Too bad. "We already have harmony. There are no three tribes anymore. Everything has to change. See you around."
I stalked out the door, where Fritter and a Vanhoover Guard waited. "How'd it go?" Fritter asked, the Guard making no attempt to disguise his interest.
"I'm getting better at coming up with a decent speech right on the spot. Not well enough, though." The Guard tensed at my words. I turned to him. "I wouldn't answer the call to the outer wall if I were you."
Fritter and I started down the hallway. I glanced through the doorway and into the Mayor's office before we left; he was in his chair, head buried in his hooves, shaking slightly. Poor fellow. "Fritter, tell the soldiers prepare. We need only kill that Mayor. Let the First Equestria lead the way."
And so my army was bloodied.
"That Mayor died on the end of a pike, didn't he? Poor fellow. One more death hardly matters." Fritter commented.
"Sometimes I think we're the only two ponies with any kind of memory of him. Poor fellow indeed," I said, and I mostly meant it. "And now we're here."
"Now, now," she tittered, "we're skipping an awful lot. The coronation, for starters. Years of maneuvering."
"Hubris and luck, the lot of it. The coronation was hardly anything." I scoffed.
"And that's why I cherish it."
"I'm serious about this, I think the Equestrian Empire is an excellent rallying cry." I said.
"Eh, sure, I suppose. Emperor." Fritter deadpanned.
"Excellent!" I flashed a cheery smile. "Now, for the coronation . . . I doubt my enemies will take kindly to this."
"How about you just start signing off on things with 'Emperor'? Let's see who notices," she proposed, quite tiredly. We both were exhausted in the months after the storming of Vanhoover. It was gratifying to see Fritter display this kind of levity.
"That's sounds wonderfully immature. Let's do it." I said, grinning.
"In hindsight, a terrible decision." I lamented.
"Ponies weren't exactly appreciative, no. Hubris indeed. That's behind us, though."
"It is. So much, Fritter. We can't possibly relive it all. Years of politics and maneuvers, a lifetime of expanding Equestria's borders and shaping it's ponies."
"Yes, sir."
"Fritter, can you help me to the window?" I asked suddenly, propping myself up. She nodded her assent, and in some pain, I stumbled over to the wall, hoof draped over her neck. Pain shot through my limbs, but it didn't matter. Joint aches weren't killing me. A lifetime of miserable living habits and undiluted stress was.
Lavender Fritter opened up the blinds, and I stared out at Canterlot, down at Canterlot. The days of ornate white marble and tasteful, soaring architecture were vague memories in the older ponies by now. Urban clutter, a dirty city spread out in all directions on the ground. Factories belched smoke, more stains on a besotted air. Trains trundled about on overhead tracks. Airships, messaging towers, throngs of ponies bustling about in the twisting streets below.
I sighed. "This is my life's work."
"A bit of a sore sight," Fritter said.
"It's so . . . perfect, Fritter. Industry and technology, steam engines, everything. Society is changed." I looked to the floor. "I can hardly remember my old life. I don't even remember my cutie mark." A sigh. "This is it, I guess. Conqueror of Equestria."
I turned away from the window, coughed again, kept talking. "I can see a hundred ways for Equestria to continue. Either way, I'm sure I'd hardly be able to recognize it a hundred, two hundred years from now. Either ponykind will advance to incredible heights, or . . . I'd rather not think of the depths we could sink to. See you around, Fritter."
"Give the Princesses my regards." she said simply, choking back on her emotions, failing.
"They're still in Tartarus, remember?" I said, then stopped. Cracked a wry grin, let out a short laugh. "Very funny. Even I do go straight to Tartarus, which is impossible since I'll be dead and Tartarus doesn't work that way, you'd follow me straight into it."
That made Fritter laugh. "I would. Rest up, Emperor. Equestria will persevere."
"That makes me happier than I could have imagined in my youth," I said, stumbling back to my bed. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
She left me in the bed, and I settled in, thoughts of a new bed gone. I hadn't told her about my recent dreams; of half-remembered ponies, birthdays, cozy security. My family.
Tonight, though, I dreamed of them again. The dream seemed more lifelike than ever before, until I realized why.