Brigadier Barlow looked over his casualty list. It wasn't good, but it wasn't disastrous, either. The ponies and their allies had struck through the forests, and had ultimately been stopped cold by griffon forces, as well as by civilian militias that had formed; the fact that unprofessional and non-military groups were so critical to the defense of the mother country was something that weighed heavily on his mind. It was irksome; the militias didn't respond well to army commands, whatever the enemy may have thought, and were more focused on protecting their towns and villages than in sustaining a combined defense. They were, as such, unreliable, given their lack of discipline, though their patriotic fervor left nothing to be desired.
He muttered under his breath. The losses were coming closer to one - one than they'd had in previous situations, but even that wasn't good enough; the enemy still came out ahead, given their numbers and resources. And no one had anticipated how well the technologically deficient zebras could fight.
Brigadier Raymond had the same issues, as did every other general-level officer in the army. There was also the shortage of food, as well as the usual clan bickering. His own clan leaders weren't happy with the turn the war had taken; he knew none that were. There had been a petition by clan leaders, sent to the King demanding for a cessation of the war. He wasn't sure how to take that; on the one claw, it felt like treason. On the other, though, he would be pleased, quite pleased indeed, to see a peaceful result and go home to his mansion and live the rest of his days in peace.
The King's response to the petition hadn't come through yet, or at least, not so far as he had heard. He knew it wouldn't be much longer in coming. Raneiro would not be pleased. However, there wasn't much that Barlow could see him doing about it; the King ruled by the will of the clan leaders, and if enough of them banded together in a common cause, he could face being thrown out of the Kingship, along with his would-have-been successors. What would happen should that sequence of events come to pass, he didn't know; there would be internal chaos in the land, and the army would likely disintegrate as clan leaders pulled them out of the war. That would not be so good, as he wasn't sure how the alliance fighting against the Griffon Kingdom would respond; not in a way benefiting the Kingdom, he was sure of that.
He began writing a report of his division's losses, as well as its expenditure of ammunition and the need for more food and munitions for future engagements. It took a short time to complete, then he sent it on its way.
He yawned. It was late in the day, and the sun was going down, a reminder that the griffon effort had not met its goals. How the King would have controlled the two celestial bodies, he had no idea, but he believed the King had some sort of method planned out.
We were arrogant, he thought. We were so certain that there would be no appreciable resistance, and, once such resistance did occur, we believed that we would be the better soldiers and warriors and crush our enemy easily. And, of course, we started much too late in the year; that last winter was utterly brutal, even without the pegasi making things worse.
All these reasons and more were clear for anyone willing to use logic. The King hadn't listened so far.
He settled into the bed and was about to take a short nap when a red-coated griffon barged through the tent flap.
Barlow frowned. His guards should have informed him of such a visit, and just barging into a superior's tent wasn't acceptable behavior. "Soldier, I do not tolerate such insubord-"
"Brigadier Barlow, I come on a mission assigned by the King with the concurrence of his servant, General Grayfeather," the soldier interrupted, not even trying to defend his actions.
"Is that so? Then tell me, so I can report your insubordination and mark you down for a disciplinary infraction; multiple infractions, in fact."
"You are ordered to forswear all allegiance to your clan leaders and pledge undying loyalty to His Majesty the King, placing your clan's place in your heart second to His Majesty's own."
"WHAT!?" Barlow leaped out of bed, temper flaring. "How dare you make such demands of me, or any griffon, for that matter!? I demand you leave at once, you fanatical fool, or I'll-"
"You are ordered to swear allegiance to His Majesty alone," the soldier repeated. He pulled out a pistol on his belt. "If you refuse, I am ordered to execute you on the spot for high treason against the kingdom. I advise you to change your answer, and especially your manners, for this is your last chance to obey."
Barlow thought about it, but not for long. "I am loyal to my people first, and to the King second," he replied. "I reject your pathetic demands in all their particulars!" he shouted. "I will not turn traitor to my clan just to serve the King. How dare you, and how dare he, try and force me to make such a decision!?"
The soldier shrugged. "Good-bye, then, traitor Barlow," he answered and grinned slightly.
There was a twang, and the soldier stiffened before crumpling to the floor, dead with a bolt in his back. Barlow looked up to see Raymond and a few other griffons at the door to his tent.
"Thought I wasn't the only one," Raymond said, reloading the small, one claw crossbow he carried.
"You mean one of these beasts make the same demand?"
"Yep. Too bad for him I was quicker on the draw." Raymond frowned. "Far as I can see, this is goin' on all through the army."
"The entire army?" Barlow reached for his sword, unsheathing it. "How could such a thing be happening?"
"Don't know. Don't seem like just a cult of boys loyal to the King. I'd say this is all the King's doing."
"But... But how could he?" Barlow asked, more rhetorically than for any other reason. "The clan leaders would never accept such a move!"
"Which make me think that they might have been the first ones ta receive 'ultimatums' like the ones we just got."
Barlow stared. Then horrified realization came upon him. "You don't mean to say... Our clan leaders.... the first to perish under this... this...!?"
"New royal policy? Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised."
Barlow picked up his sword and a small crossbow as well, and left the tent. At the door, both of his guards were down; they'd been assassinated. "We need to leave."
Raymond frowned. "What we need to do is kill Grayfeather. He had to have been colluding with the King for months to do... this," he spat.
At that moment, gunfire broke out in the northern end of the camp. A moment later, a cannon followed suit, blasting away.
An old griffon, flying at speeds that would have impressed a younger member of the species, flew down and landed next to them.
"General Graywing," Barlow said in greeting, bowing briefly in respect. Raymond didn't bother; he kept his eyes peeled, looking every which way. The elderly but very fit griffon was admired by most of the army as a skilled and brave commander, and a worthy and honorable clan leader.
"Since you greet me as a friend, do I take that you're opposed to this atrocity that is perpetrating the camp?" Graywing asked.
"We are," one of the griffon guards nearby said.
"We must leave," Graywing said. "We must leave, and find a way to reorganize elsewhere."
"But...!"Raymond protested, "We have ta kill that blasted Grayfeather; if we kill 'im, this-"
"Think, Brigadier Raymond. Grayfeather will be surrounded by the King's best troops. To attempt to slay him, and overthrow the King's followers, would be utter madness and nothing else. I believe he's prepared for the eventuality that a few of us got away, and would try for such an effort. We'd be walking into a trap, and our heads would answer for it."
At that moment, artillery opened fire somewhere in the camp. Guns began firing off, and distant twangs of crossbows firing came to their ears.
"Ain't stoppin' some from tryin'," Raymond argued.
"No. It will be troops loyal to the King that will be responsible for most of the sounds of battle that we hear now. We must flee immediately, and gather what other survivors we can, and attempt to find out what is going on elsewhere in the kingdom."
"Or," one soldier said, "we might find shelter with the Equestrians."
"No," Barlow waved a claw in refusal. "We've been fighting them. I refuse to defect to our enemies, former or otherwise. We'd only be giving them our families and our freedom to them on a gilded plate."
"Not to mention, we'd lose our ability for independent action," Graywing added.
"And we'd be under that blasted blasphemer," Raymond put in.
"We can discuss this elsewhere," Graywing said, as a shell exploded not far away. "Our primary concern should be rallying survivors and escaping. Barlow, gather whatever troops of your clan you can, as with you, Raymond. We'll meet in the marshes to the southeast and make further plans there. I'll go and try to save whatever leaders would follow us there."
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James listened to the artillery in the distance, expecting for shells and cannonballs to fall inside the camp, or against the forward lines. Instead, the expected detonations never seemed to come close to the Equestrian lines.
"What the...? What could they possibly be up to?" he muttered to himself.
"A question I was about to ask," Shining Armor said, a hoof twisting in the dirt in anxiety.
"It sounds almost like the shells are falling inside their own camp," Crystal Clear noted. "They must have some rookie gunners."
"No, that can't be it," Shining answered. "There's too many guns going off for that, and their officers would have stopped them by now."
"And there's regular rifle and musket fire," James added, a hand on his chin. "I doubt it's a celebration of sorts."
"I suggest we send some pegasi scouts," Crystal suggested. "A bigger group than normal, too. And maybe prepare our army to attack them, if we find a chance to."
"I think that's a good course of action," James replied. "Hopefully, we'll be able to rouse the army for such an effort. We haven't been expecting to attack for a few days, at least."
At that moment, a Saddle Arabian soldier galloped up to them. "His Excellency, Abd al-Malik, has heard the distant noise in our enemy's camp, and asks what measures you will take, as well as what your advice will be to His Excellency in this hour."
James looked at Shining, who nodded. "Tell him we'll be attacking as soon as our scouts report back," the stallion answered.
The SA soldier nodded as well, then raced away. General Rolling Barrel came trotting up in his place. "I trust you've heard the commotion in the enemy lines?" he said without hesitation.
"We have," James confirmed. "We're sending out scouts. Crystal, see to it immediately."
"Right away, sir. I'll draft the orders at once."
That dealt with, James turned to the east.
What's on earth could they possibly be doing? What could they be thinking?
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"General, most of the traitor officers have been dealt with," an aide said to General Grayfeather in his tent.
"Excellent," the general answered. "Soon, the army will be running much more smoothly and obediently."
Cannon fire went off about a mile away. The general frowned. Of course, there were some who not only refused the King's demand, but who had killed the one sent to deliver it, and even more troublesome, had managed to rally their troops to resist. One company had even dared try to assail his tent in an effort to kill him; well-aimed cannon and musket fire had put an end to them, and it really was the end; the survivors had all refused to declare their supreme loyalty to the King, and were "dealt with," as the aide had said a moment earlier.
"Take prisoner anyone found resisting if you can, and slay them if they persist in their foolishness," he ordered. "If they are too blind to see that the kingdom will be better off for the united purpose that shall come, then they will never be made to see. If those who are captured refuse to declare loyalty, execute them, as with the idiots who attacked us fifteen minutes ago."
"It will be done, sir," the aide said. "But what should we do if the Equestrians take advantage of this... turmoil?"
The general grunted uncomfortably. It was a good question, and the one problem that he couldn't adequately deal with if the Equestrians and their allies chose to take advantage of the situation. "Tell the troops to abandon our trenches and fill them with anything that will burn," he said at last. "Place loyal units on our flanks, so they will be able to stop any ground units that come. And have our cannons and loyal musketeers stand by to shoot down any pegasi that attempt to fly over the fires."
"Sir, what if the fires spread out of control?"
"They won't. We've cut down most of the trees right next to our trenches, and we can send troops with water buckets to fight any dangerous fires that do threaten to spread; no doubt the Equestrian pegasi will use clouds to extinguish any flames that threaten their side. We'll retreat a mile or two once this... business is done, and rebuild our lines there. And from there, we will not only begin to reclaim our kingdom, but we shall light the beacon that shall spell the end of Equestria."
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There was pandemonium in the griffon lines and camp. Most of those who had refused the King's demands had been killed, leaving their troops without organization, or, quite often, without a clear picture of what was going on. Only a few units, mainly those whose officers had survived the attempts on their lives, managed to get themselves in any sort of order before the King's soldiers came, along with the officers and units who had decided either that their allegiances lay with the Crown or that their survival outweighed their loyalty to their clans. Whenever an officer or unit managed to slay or capture the one delivering the "ultimatum," soldiers from the King's own regiments attacked within minutes, methodically reducing areas of resistance, though the price of doing so in numerous cases was costly. Those who were captured - whether or not their commanders survived - were offered one last chance to serve the King as opposed to their clans. Those who refused the demand were killed outright. Most of the surviving mercenaries agreed to continue serving in the King's name rather than be murdered, and of course they received more gold in exchange for hunting down those who rejected the new way.
Some soldiers managed to escape, as had Barlow, Raymond, Graywing, and their troops. Those who did manage to leave fled wherever they could, but nowhere could they escape the feeling that they were being hunted, outlaws in a kingdom suddenly turned against them.
In the various clans around the land, things were even worse. Clan leaders were either forced to accept the demand or be suddenly slain, as with the officers in the army. In cases where the clan leader surrendered his or her authority to the King, royal soldiers moved in, along with a small army of porters, to seize whatever wartime resources were located inside that clan's borders. Any who insisted in protesting were arrested, charged with treason, and sent to the capital for a one year sentence in the royal dungeons. In a few areas, a clan was able to capture or kill the "messenger." in such cases, the royal army would sweep in; it would try to end the resistance as soon as possible, but, if faced with strong defenses, would sit back and begin to besiege the towns and cities, all the while plundering and despoiling the land, so that the food, stone, wood, iron, and other resources that belonged to the "traitors" was appropriated in the King's name.
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A pegasi landed in front of the commanders. "Sir," he said, saluting, "You'll never get a better chance to attack if you looked for a hundred years."
James frowned. "Explain."
"They're fighting each other. We saw fighting along their line, griffons fighting one another all over the place."
"What madness is this?" Barrel exclaimed.
"Whatever it is, our scout's right," James said quickly. "Issue orders for a general attack. If what they've seen is true, we'll catch them fighting one another and smash them as a fighting force."
"What, just have the troops drop whatever they're doing and advance, just like that?" Barrel asked, stomping a hoof at the last word for emphasis."
"Yes. Form ranks, do it now, and push against the enemy until they break or until we're too tired to hammer them any more."
"He's right," Shining agreed. "Issue orders to all our commanders; attack! Attack immediately!"
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Equestrian soldiers advanced through the forest, toward the enemy positions they'd been stuck against for the past several days. in many places, the enemy were present in force, and resisted fiercely, repulsing some of the attacks. However, the allied forces often came up against positions where the defenders were depleted to the point where they couldn't hope to hold against the attacking force, and gave way. Some of the griffons and their mercenaries fought for every inch of ground, but most, when the defense was broken, simply fled, often throwing away their weapons and, in some cases, armor, in order to flee faster.
James came upon one of the locations where the griffons were still fighting each other. Red-coated soldiers, equipped with bayonetted rifles, savagely assaulted a much smaller group of armored warriors, who were armed with anything they could find; guns, crossbows, swords, even sticks and rocks.
I don't know what's going on here, but I have a feeling that the smaller group will be more willing to provide information... provided any of them survive this. He took out his rifle - the trigger, designed for ponies, felt weird to him - and fired. A royal soldier fell to the ground, dead before he had any idea of what was going on.
Many of his comrades shared the same fate. It was about a minute before the griffons of both groups realized that they were under attack from someone other than their own kind. The battle, at least here, degenerated into a three-sided brawl. All the combatants shot at one another in a wild free for all. Twice, James was forced to shoot an armored warrior in self defense, in spite of the fact that he especially wanted prisoners from their group.
I've seen some crazy things, but this is just ridiculous, he thought as a quarrel flew over his head. He fired at the one who had shot it, more in an effort to make his target duck than for any other reason. He turned and shot another red-coated soldier down.
The fight didn't last for long. The commander of the two griffon forces must have died fighting each other, because their efforts were without coordination, and neither had ability to keep the Equestrian soldiers from simply filling the air with lead. In a short while, this particular piece of forest belonged the Equestria.
Soldiers from both griffon parties lay, dead or wounded, in the position where they had been hit. Some hat been hit from multiple directions at once; one of the enemy soldiers had arrows and bolts sticking out of him, along with five gunshot wounds.
"Gather the wounded and any who have surrendered. Find out what's going on," he ordered.
James sat down under one of the many trees, eyes still open and rifle at the ready. He sighed. This business didn't get any easier, though hopefully the information from prisoners would ease the confusion he was feeling.
"Oh... Mother...," a griffon not far away moaned weakly.
"It hurts... I don't want to die," another groaned, with sounds of sobbing coming him. Others, wounded and dying of both pony and griffon, said similar things, or simply screamed their pain to the four winds.
James felt a powerful, sorrowful emotion leap into his throat, and tears began to fall from his own eyes. How much longer will people get hurt, bleed out and die just because of the crazy orders of an insane king? We must bring an end to it!
Fortunately, he was not long in waiting. Two prisoners, one from each of the griffon parties, was brought before him. The royal soldier was struggling against his restraints and attempting to bite his pony captors; luckily, both were unicorns, and they were able to shield themselves. One used his magic to clamp the griffon's beak shut. The other was lightly wounded, but not badly hurt enough to keep from standing up straight; he was still in his armor, but he didn't bother resisting. He just looked confused, as though stunned by everything that had happened.
James turned to the royal soldier first. "What is going on? Why were you attacking your own people?"
The griffon, his beak clamped shut, couldn't immediately answer. James had to motion to the unicorn to release his beak before he said, "It does not concern you, only the Griffon Kingdom."
"I would advise you to answer me properly; while Equestria doesn't practice torture or other, similar forms of interrogation, that doesn't mean they don't have ways of making you talk. Now-"
"I'll tell ya what's happened," the other griffon said, speaking in a voice bordering on insanity in it's tone; James was startled by how disheveled this particular prisoner was. "What happened, was, our clan leader received a visitor. He told our leader to declare his loyalty to the king and forswear his clan and people. When he said no, he tried to kill 'im, but we shot him before he could. Then these barbarians came and ripped through us, that's what's happened. And then you came along."
Whatever he had expected to hear, James was surprised. "Has this been happening everywhere?"
"Everywhere there are traitors who would deny our King his authority and keep our nation broken up into a worthless confederation of powerless idiots!" the royal soldier shouted. "Everywhere that fools gather and plan to withhold what belongs to the King, to betray our sacred soil by keeping recruits and iron and who knows what else that could be used to have won this war by now! We will stamp these traitors out, and rule an empire that will finally be respected and feared by all!"
"An empire that starts out by slaughtering it's own citizens can't stand," James said in counter. "You've just made everything worse. I hope you realize that your King's actions have just cost you the war, since you'll be fighting not only us, but your own people."
"If they resist His Majesty, they are not my people," the soldier retorted.
"Bring him down to our camp," James ordered. "Send him on to a prison camp, and send a letter strongly advising that this subject be further interrogated as to what's happening."
The unicorns nodded. "Will do, general," the one to the left of the prisoner said. "Move it, joker," he added to the soldier, who again had his mouth clamped shut, as he had just attempted to bite again.
"What about him?" the other said, pointing a hoof at the other prisoner.
"Take him and the other prisoners too. Question them, but if they're as shell shocked as this guy, don't push them. Send them on as well."
"Yes sir."
As the prisoners were all rounded up and led away, James sat down again, professional shock beating against a hope that the war might well be finished sooner than he'd thought.
How idiotic can a ruler be!?! First he starts a war that he doesn't even win, then, while in the middle of that war, he starts another, striking his own people, just so he can have total authority. Either the war's driven him truly crazy, or he was power mad to begin with. Either way, he continued, nodding firmly, we have him. If we push now, before he can gather the resources and recruits he wants, we can maintain our numerical advantage and bring this fight to a decisive conclusion. Soon enough, this war will be over, and, if God be kind, I'll never have to listen to screams of pain like that again as long as I live in this life.
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"The enemy are breaking through our lines!" an officer reported. "They'll be here in an hour, perhaps less.
"Why weren't the trenches filled with wood and burned?" Grayfeather demanded.
"With all due respect sir, we didn't expect them to react so quickly to this... brief chaos. We were able to stop some of their advances with the measures you took, but elsewhere we were still fighting the traitors, and it was in those areas the enemy broke through. Furthermore, pegasi are coming quickly with clouds to drench the flames."
Grayfeather cursed so violently that everyone in the tent turned red. "Break camp. We'll set up another defensive line to the northeast. Have any traitors we've captured sent to the capital to be judged and destroyed by the King. We'll still win this war, if only we can hold until the new recruits, supplies, and artillery arrive. It will, given that the King can now take what he needs from the clans to win this conflict."
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Gryphos, capital of the Griffon Kingdom
Thousand of griffons had gathered in the main square of their beloved, holy capital city. Most were anxious; the King had issued a proclamation throughout his demesne that a speech of the utmost importance, one that would be decisive and announce a change that would bring the war to an end.
Roland was one of those in the crowd. He was confused as to the nature of the upcoming speech, like almost everyone else.
"I hear tell that the King's finally going to make peace with Equestria, he is," an old maid nearby said to another.
"What I heard is, he'll be gatherin' more taxes for the war effort," the other said cynically. "Kings don't win no war wit' out 'em, and 'o do ya think'll be payin' 'em?"
"Confusin' is what it is," an older male said. "If we was just gettin' more taxes, then what's with the royal get up and fancy speech makin'?
"Maybe he's going to pull some sort o' secret weapon that'll crush them varmints that have been ravagin' our ports," a sailor nearby said.
'I 'ope so," a merchant answered. "My business is barely holdin' on, what with those stinkin' Arabians stealin' my ships and sinkin' my cargo."
"Shhh, 'ere 'e comes," a peasant whispered.
The King walked out over the balcony, holding up his front claws to motion for silence... after he'd allowed the crowd to cheer for a several seconds. Quiet fell over the crowd.
"My people, my blood," the King said in a loud voice, easily heard by the entire gathering. "For centuries, our kingdom has been torn by division. We have dealt with much hardship to establish a nation, and yet much of it is wasted on trying to maintain a united nation in the face of a world that is unwilling to give us our proper recognition. In particular, Equestria has slighted us by keeping the sun and moon under their direct control, and by refusing to share that responsibility, one that is too important to be left to one or two ponies, or even to an entire country. So we went to war to right this injustice, and our valiant warriors marched on our foe's land, defeating them time after time. Only the evil efforts of a blaspheming traveler and the ponies' wicked determination to maintain their selfish and domineering ways, no matter the cost to their own kingdom, have prevented us from gaining victory over them."
Roland didn't nod. He and the entire kingdom had been told this before. Some still believed in those words fervently; many about him whispered words of agreement. But the cost had been staggering. And, although the King's censors made it difficult to gain a picture of the war, rumor was currently, as it often was, stronger than official sources. After losing a brother in the conflict, he'd lost any real taste for the war, to put it mildly.
"Unfortunately, we are faced with problems from within. as a kingdom riddled with clans, we have had to try and balance, to negotiate and deal within our own country, instead of all striving outward, as our focus should be. Too many times has one clan gone hungry while it's neighbors eat heartily. Too many times has one become stagnant while another grows. Too long have we been torn by inner rivalries and, too often, bloodshed."
"This ends today."
Roland looked to those beside him. Everyone looked just as confused as he did. What could the King mean by that?
He explained his statement in short order; "This all ends today, friends. In the past, the Crown has had too little authority to end this petty and worthless squabbling. No longer. No longer will our nation be torn apart from within while other nations look upon us as backward fools. Today, our kingdom will be made whole. All clans shall be brought under the protection and grace of the Crown, that we may be one country, without division and hatred tearing at us. We shall balance out the resources each clan has and receives, and bring about a united law upon all the land. We shall bring an ordered nation out of a divided, chaotic corpse, and take our rightful place in the world as a great power to be respected by all that inhabit this world."
There was a considerable amount of applause. In the King's own demesne, many griffons thought the same; that the land was too divided, weaken by inward striving, and that there ought to be greater unity.
Roland didn't join in. He was appalled. The King was doing away with the old ways and, from the nature of the speech, was going to force his way upon the entire kingdom. While others might clap and cheer, he knew that the other clans weren't going to just accept this new change without a fight. With most of the army on the front lines, or so he presumed, how could the King get his way?
The King didn't explain how. He only said, "Some initial hardship shall occur due to this new system, and a few traitors will even resent and resist it. However, we shall come forth on the other side stronger, wealthier, and more powerful than we could ever have been before. I thank you for all your patience, and may the gods favor our cause in this war and in the times to come."
More cheering took place.
"And no longer are we a Kingdom. As of today, I declare the rebirth of our nation into the Griffon Empire. And my name shall no longer be King Raniero, but Emperor Blackstar, Conqueror of Equestria and all who would stand in the way of our nation's progress."
The majority of the crowd were wild and ecstatic at the news. Many believed that the nation should be united as the King had said, and they were more than happy to get their wish, and they applauded the King as he turned and walked back inside.
A sizable minority, however, were worried. Whispering began again, even more urgent than before.
"Well, didn't expect tha'," a middle-aged cobbler said.
"Aye," the sailor from before agreed. "And what happens now?"
"The other clans will never agree to this, or at least, most of them won't," Roland said. "They're not about to give up their autonomy just to serve the King, well, Emperor now."
"Aye, the lad's right," the merchant said.
Roland grunted. He wasn't a child anymore - he was 21 - but sometimes, people just refused to let go of the little kid they'd been so familiar with.
The merchant went on, "If the blockade was - is - bad, what'll this do to my business? Am I going to have to go to the King just to get a charter and trade rights?"
"And how much 'o our silver an' gold'll he take to finance all he said to do?" the cynical maid asked.
"Never mind the taxes," Roland said. "This means civil war, and worse yet one that we'll be fighting while the Equestrians are invading us."
Those nearby muttered anxiously. "e's right," an old griffon near them said. "This'll tear us apart, it will, and then them ponies'll be able ta just waltz in and wipe the board with us all."
Just then, a battalion of soldiers emerged from the palace. They marched through the square, the crowd parting to make way for them. A band marched with them, blaring the royal anthem and singing a battle song that had been popular for royal warriors in days gone by. It was awe inspiring, and it made Roland wonder if the King was all that crazy.
When the troops had gone, the crowd began to disperse. Roland thought about everything that he'd heard and said in the past hour or so. It was almost impossible to comprehend the changes the King was making, right here and now, and he was uncertain of what to make of any of it.
He heard a commotion up ahead, at one of the exits to the square. "What's going on?" he asked.
No one answered. They didn't have to. Up ahead, someone was shout; "Lemme go! Lemme go, I tell you, I'll-"
"You have been conscripted into His Majesty's Royal Army. Come quietly, or you'll be punished severely."
Roland stopped. "Oh no..."
There was a loud scream up ahead as someone was clawed in the face, followed by the sounds of someone getting pounded on.
Roland flew up into the air a few feet to see what was going on.
A soldier was holding his bloody face, a claw over three long, deep scratches, while other soldiers beat up on a middle-aged griffon - The merchant! Apparently, the wealthy griffon hadn't wanted to go into the army, and had tried to escape, an escape that had failed. "Let this be a warning to any who try to escape conscription," the officer overseeing the whole mess declared.
Frightened, Roland tried to fly out of the square, but was met by three soldiers, all flying as he was, two holding bayoneted rifles, the other a sidearm. "Halt," the central one, the one with the sidearm - an officer said. "By Order of His Majesty, all healthy males are to be conscripted throughout the Empire. You are to come with us, or else face the penalties of being a traitor."
Roland looked for a way out, but other soldiers were either taking to the skies to prevent similar escapes or were taking whoever tried to leave the square. "Fine," he hissed furiously. "But I protest this in the strongest terms possible."
"For that, you earn a night in the guardhouse when we get to the camp, fool. Take him, and put him on bread and water for the night," the officer said to the soldiers. "Take him away. Put him in the guardhouse at the camp. Bread and water only for the night."
"Can we have some fun with him first before we do that?" one of them asked eagerly.
"No," the officer said, shaking his head. "Just throw him in and make sure he only gets rations of bread and water. Tomorrow, his training begins, and hopefully his stupid and foolish defiance will have completely melted by then; His Majesty has no room for shirkers and busybodies in the war."
"My brother died fighting in your war, and now you're going to have me killed by the ponies too," Roland protested.
"Shut up!" the guards said in symphony.
"Two nights. And it's not like you're the only one who's getting this treatment. Every village, town, and city is being scoured for shirkers like yourself. Take him away; I have more work to do."
'Right. "Get movin' you," the first guard said. "Or else don't," he added, again in an eager way.
"Come on," the other said. "Tim, you like beating people up too much."
"You're too soft, Jimmy," Tim answered, but didn't take his frightening threats any further. And, stuck between the two of them, Roland was forced to fly southwest, supposedly toward the camp... and toward the war.
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"A most brilliant speech, my Ki- er, Emperor," an aide said as Raneiro - or rather, Blackstar now - withdrew from the balcony. "You had them eating out of your claws."
"Indeed. Now, withdraw from my presence; your services are not required presently. And bring those generals I've instructed to meet with me to the throne room."
"Yes, sire." The aide left, as did the recently self-declared Emperor.
He smiled as he walked toward the throne room. Father, I have succeeded your reign in all it's glory and power. I have brought this realm into unity, and have more authority than you were ever willing to take. Yes, you were always the fool, wanting to maintain the balance of crown and clans, never realizing that in order for us to rise to world power we'd have to do away with such weak ways. The people don't matter as much as the nation as a whole. There will be a brief period of pain, as idiots and traitors resist the new, and as my new army defeats the Equestrians and their stupid allies, but after... indeed, after... I'll rule over a nation that will supplant Equestria's place in the sunlight - literally - and have the very power of the heavens in my grasp.
He entered the throne room; the officers - the chiefs of staff - were already there, looking at a map of the Griffon Kingdom - Empire - and Equestria. They stiffened to attention as he entered.
"As you were," he said, and they relaxed... slightly. "I expect you've all been briefed on the new situation?"
"Yes, sir," General Blackfeather, a relative of Grayfeather, responded, as he was supposed to; they'd all known about the plan for months in advance.
"It may have been better to have gained victory over Equestria first, though," another said.
The Emperor's eyebrow twitched. "Our victory will come, now that we will have the necessary recruits and resources coming in."
"Which is what concerns me," the other went on, either unaware of the shock of his fellow officers or just not caring. "The clans won't just accept this."
"We'll make them accept it. That's the reason for keeping back the best of our troops in the past month. As we speak, our troops are enforcing a united nation upon all. Any who are stupid and worthless enough to refuse the changes being made will suffer for their treachery. And once we've won the war, we can deal with our internal problems. Speak to me no further on this matter."
He pointed to another general, who was in charge of gathering the supplies and resources. "We will have substantial amounts of iron, aluminum, tin, copper, wood, and food coming in from the re-appropriations to fuel our war machine for a considerable while," the general said, "as well as enough troops to even the playing field numbers-wise against the Equestrians and their friends."
"However, owing to the chaos on the front lines," another said, "It's possible that our defenses will be compromised temporarily, allowing the enemy to gain some ground, perhaps even come out of the western woods and into the southwestern plains."
The Emperor stared at him, but didn't rage within. That was all too likely to happen. "Then I suggest you do what is necessary to hold the enemy back, including burning the woods to the ground if necessary."
"That would deny us significant amounts of timber if we were to retake the area," the officer replied.
Blackstar knew that the general's concern was more for the forest than for the resources it provided. "Even so, if it seems we cannot stop the enemy advance, I order you to burn it down. Environmental concerns do not impress me when it is our future on the line."
That particular general bowed reluctantly and said no more.
"My lord, if we do manage to take Canterlot, how do you intend to gain control over the sun and moon?" Blackfeather asked. "With the Princesses removed from power-"
"But not from life," the Emperor interrupted. "I've had our best artisans craft special chambers for them, neutralizing their powers, except for what we allow them to do. Chief Engineer, I order you to come out."
Out from behind the doorway a mild-looking griffon with a headband full of small tools, as well as a belt full of bigger ones, walked in.
"I've been waiting for someone to ask that question, General. I am glad that you took the time to ask. I believe the design to be sufficient for our purposes. Isn't that right?" he asked, turning to the CE.
The engineer replied, "The design I will momentarily bring to your attention ought to keep the Princesses in gilded cages, so to speak. As you know, our people possess no magic of our own, except possibly the ability to land on clouds. However, there are elements that can be used to reduce or eliminate the threat of magic from an area."
He laid out a blueprint over the map. On it was some sort of sphere; a green gem hung down from the top. "This particular kind of gem, known as Marbozite, is known to effect unicorns' ability to use magic, usually causing it to behave unexpectedly. In the chamber surrounding the sphere, there are blocks of the ironically named Magicite, which in reality utterly blocks the user's ability to use magic whatsoever; criminal unicorns have rings full of this material placed on their horns to prevent them from utilizing their abilities."
"Commendable for holding the Princesses and any unicorns," Blackfeather said, raising an eyebrow. "I fail, however, to see how this keeps the sun and moon in motion."
"The sphere blocks the effects of the Magicite, which is rare enough that we unfortunately cannot utilize it on the front lines, at least, not yet. His Majesty, I believe, hopes to find veins of this material inside the clans, to help capture, not kill, the Princesses." The Emperor nodded, waving a claw to urge the Chief Engineer to continue. "The Magicite, in any event, is there only to prevent their escape should they manage to break out of the spheres, where they will be confined day and night; the real gem in the crown, if I may be so bold, is the Marbozite, which normally distorts the use of magic, but which the artisans under me have managed to engineer in order to use the subject's magic for our own purposes."
The gathered generals looked interested at this point.
"We have used captured unicorn soldiers to test this system. It took a while to get the desired effect, but we managed to direct the subjects' magic out toward the space around our world, which is exactly the effect we desire. Simply put, once we have the Princesses in custody, we will be able to force them to use their magic only in controlling the sun and moon."
"That's not particularly reassuring," one of the generals protested. "How do we know that they won't use the celestial bodies against us?"
"You forget that Celestia is abominably altruistic to the core," the Emperor answered. "She would never utilize the sun so, and her sister follows in her hoofsteps. Also, if they were to get any ideas, we'd be able to take out our displeasure on the pony population."
"This is all well and good," the environmentalist general from earlier said. "But it can only be made good once the war is won, if indeed it is to be won. At the moment, we've lost a considerable amount of our own territory, with the expectation to lose more before the situation is stabilized and the clans brought into line. We ought to be forging more weapons for the front, not designing miracles for a future that can only be if we win the conflict."
"We will win the conflict, general," the Emperor said in a dangerously quiet voice. "And the resources of the Empire I have just established will be utilized as necessary to win. In any event, we'll now be ready when we do win."
"And now, we shall return to the business of stamping out the treacherous elements in our nation... and then we shall crush Equestria."
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