Artifact Analysis Chambers, 1:00PM, 3 years after event
Twilight is seating in front of the Moonstone, analyzing arguably the most important rock on the planet. Nobody knows how the stone was created but it became incredibly active magically at night, hence the term. It is also rumored that the stone was used by Nightmare Moon in her battle against Celestia, it’s even used on Princess Luna’s crest for Pony’s sake!! Twilight thought as her mind wanders on, seeing her reflected self selflessly.
“Hey Twilight, are you staring at the Moonstone again?”
her thought was suddenly broken as her colleague enters the room bringing in a file of reports and mail
“Hey there Robert, is the mail here already?”
“Apparently so Twilight, there’s even one from Princess Celestia herself”
“W-what!!”
“Why yes of course, I doubt she would have anything to say to me” Robert replied as he handed Twilight the letter
As Twilight opens the letter, it became clear that the Celestia wrote this entire letter in haste and sent it via dragonfire. She can even feel the heat from the paper.
Dearest Twilight
I would like to inform you that I am no longer waiting passively for this conflict to be resolved by our allies. You and I both know that it is not in my nature to do that, which is why I’m bringing myself into this conflict by fighting alongside them in open battle against my old nemesis.
I hope this doesn’t come as too much of a shock Twilight, I have fought against these foes for decades so you needn’t worry about me too much (P.S I’m practically immortal as well :p), just continue your artifact analysis Twilight. I know this isn’t your area of expertise but from what I heard from the ambassador, France really needs somepony more magically attuned than themselves for this line of work, make me proud Twilight.
Realizing that she’s about to pass out from overthinking the issue, Robert quickly acted and places his hands firmly on either side of Twilight’s face.
“Listen Twilight, now take in a big breath in.” he starts heavily inhaling “And let it out slowly.” which is followed by a heavy exhaling air out.
“Inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale” as the Robert tries his best to calm Twilight down, eventually his efforts succeeded and Twilight finally calmed down.
“Thanks Robert, I owe you one.” she said as she tries her best to calm herself down.
“No problem Twilight, just...don’t overthink things too much.” he replied.
Once things has settled down, Twilight’s work officialy began. After the attack on the Alicorn basecamp, there were a huge number of magical artifacts that were recovered from whatever’s left of the camp. From Magical Spears to runecodes unseen since the Alicorn’s departure to Enchanted Swords, the Magical Artifacts division had a field day with these ancient weapons. Analyzing it with intense scrutiny and making more progress due to the help of Twilight herself.
Already she has fully analyzed the magical sword and determined what makes it so much more effective at cutting things. It was a combination of both enchantment magic and material magic that has made the blade so sharp despite it’s rather antiquated design Twilight rehearsed what is said on the report about the sword.
“I need to get back to work” Twilight said as she hopped off her chair and went into her office to do more analysis
Undisclosed location somewhere in Canterlot, 2:00PM, 3 years after event
“Guards, leave us. I need to do this alone.”
“Of course Princess.” the guard said as he motions another guard to leave the area. As the Princess entered the room the guards closed the door and began to lock the door with very intricate mechanical and magical locks.
“Really Defender? Is the Princess gonna do it?” the other guard asked as they sealed the door in front of the room guarding what is possibly the greatest secret of Equestria.
“I don’t know Steel, let’s get the hay outta here. I don’t want to sit next to the fallout.” which is replied with a nod as both guard closed the door leading to the corridor guarding the room.
Once Celestia knew that both doors are sealed, she casted a spell across the room. Making it nigh impossible for anyone to breach this room, this room was specifically commisioned by Celestia after Nightmare Moon’s banishment and while the details of the room is a state secret, Celestia knew that if Ponies were to enter this room and misuse the power stored within it, it could well mean that the end of Equestria has arrived.
“Well...I know what I’m getting into, let’s get this over with.” as Celestia fires up her horn which shot a very powerful magical beam into the center crystal, one shaped like a ball unlike the one surrounding it. The crystal suddenly glows a bright yellow and ancient runes suddenly appear, surrounding the Crystal ball from 4 sides.
“Identification, Princess Celestia Nova of the House of the Sun and the Stars” she said as the defensive runes protecting the Crystal ball powered down.
Immediately after the Runes powered down, the Crystal ball suddenly shot the Princess with a yellow magic beam similar to her own, she was about to be overwhelmed by the magic beam. But everything changed when she said those magic words
“For...all of us” she quietly said and the Sun Princess burst with powerful magic that shook the entire room. Her usually ethereal mane turned into bright flames and suddenly the spell she had cast earlier made sense.
It was not meant to protect her from outside threats, it was to prevent her own power surge from doing too much damage to the Capital.
As the massive magic surge died down and Celestia’s fiery mane turned back into her more normal ethereal form. Knowing that she just did something done only once in this room’s 1000 year history, she straightens herself and walked past a mirror as she opens yet another door, this one leading to something she herself hasn’t seen since the days when her parents were still alive.
Her armor, taken from Everfree City after the coup. It has seen action before and she thought that she would never see it again, but alas, her oldest enemy has returned and she has to adorn the armor again to fight the oldest enemies known to her.
“For...all of us” she said as she suits up and stepped out of the room. She’s got some work to do.
French Military Outpost, 2:30PM, 3 years after event
Two days after the attack, the French have managed to eradicate the Alicorn Vanguards. It is presumed that Commander Neshira didn’t survive the attack, but the lack of evidence was all they had to that effect. With no further conflict, the opération is considered a success, and the capture of an Alicorn soldier by the tank crews of the Cav group only makes Central Command more confident in their approach to the oncoming conflict with the main Alicorn forces.
Already Surface to Air Missile emplacements are already being erected, permanent artillery stations constructed, as well Machine Gun nests emplaced at the very Southern tip to prevent any counterattack from gaining any traction, and still it is thought that without more troops. The Alicorn counterattack would eventually break through due to their incredible magical potential.
But until then, there is still work to do, and chief interrogator Marc Archambault has someone very interesting to talk with. ‘And here I thought that the attack would’ve killed all of them, good thing the Tank Commander found that Alicorn though, she was about to die when we brought her into the operating room. he thought as he opened the door to a room cordoned off from the rest of the base. He knew that he is about to conduct a very high risk interrogation, and all precautions have to be taken, seen clearly by the C4 charges placed everywhere in the room and the two armed guards he just passed by.
“Well..let’s get started shall we” as Marc opened another door and there she is, the captive Alicorn being held in suspension, with a Magical Inhibitor on her horn as well as wing restraints and straps holding every part of her body. There is no way she could physically or magically move herself with all those restraints. Almost looks like a scene coming from some bad...wait no, cancel that thought!! Marc shrugged off as he grabbed a seat in front of the struggling female alicorn.
“Seriously? Did you really have to put a collar on? With four straps holding it as well? Never knew you humans are such bondage enthusiasts.” said the blue coated Alicorn as the interrogator takes his seat and pulls out his pen.
“Well it’s not really my choice to put you in such a...restrictive experience.” the interrogator joked which is replied with an eyeroll as the interrogation began.
“So your name is Sergeant Blooming Petals?”
“Yes Mr Archambault, I thought I’ve made that clear yesterday.”
“Yes you did, I’m just confused why someone with such a bright name joined the military.”
“Well...it’s not on purpose anyway, but I’ve come to enjoy it. Fighting for what’s right really does boost the spirit” she replied while tugging her hind legs against the straps.
“You know you won’t get away from bondage that easily” the interrogator bluntly stated which is replied with a pout from the Alicorn.
“I know I know, I just need to stretch the legs a little bit, having your fore and hind legs bound really does ache your muscles and chafe your coat a bit. Not that I have much of a choice” she replied as she stretches the straps holding her a bit more.
“Okaaay then, let’s start with the intentions of your country. Why do you want to invade the entirety of Equestria and their neighbors? We already explained to you yesterday that you are invading on incredibly dubious grounds and you would not have the support of the people right?”
“I heard that Mr Archambault, and I will say that what you’re saying here is frankly propaganda. No matter what fabricated evidence you have, I won’t be convinced by whatever your attempts at interrogation you have. I. WIll. Not. Yield.”
“Well then, if you won’t hear me after two days straight then I suppose Princess Celestia won’t be able to convince you otherwise?”
“Pfft whatever, even with the Princesses, good luck convincing me otherwise.”
“We’ll see about that, now moving on to the size of your Vanguard force?”
“What do you want to hear human?”
“I heard that we caught you a bit off-guard by our attack two days ago. Found you amongst the rubble nearly dead. It’s a miracle that you’ve recovered so quickly.”
“Not a miracle human, and after that I won’t say anything anymore.”
“Well, from our analysis we’ve pointed out that you have altered your physiology to be more resistant to battle damage correct?”
“Hngh, no answer.”
“C’mon now Bloomer, we’ve already figured it out. No need to make your stay here more uncomfortable.”
“Fine then Human!! Yes we did alter our physiology millenia ago, yes we can resist battle damage and yes we are more resistant than any other species on this planet!! Happy now?!” she responded in anger.
“Woah woah woah calm down Blooming, it’s not everyday that we capture an ancient Alicorn. Don’t blame us if we’re curious about how your body works sheesh!”
“Well your ‘curiosity’ might bring down our Crusade, so of course I will do whatever is required to stall you.”
Knowing full well that this interrogation is about to hit nowhere, Mr Archambault finally decided to cut his interrogation short before angering the Alicorn even more. “Okay then Ms Blooming Petals, I think that’s all for today. Hope you have fun being in bondage 24/7”
“Oh I will human, I definitely will” she sarcastically replied as she tugged her hind and front legs even more to no effect.
‘Dagger’ flight, somewhere in the Southern Ocean, 3:00PM, 3 years after event
The Southern Ocean, a body of water untouched for millenia, this ocean was left alone after the devastating wars the Alicorns fought and left alone again for millenia, a home for whales, fishes, turtles and dolphins, enjoying the gift of life without any outside intervention. It was serenity in it’s absolute form.
And that serenity was suddenly broken by the loud shrieks of the Rafale fighters as they patrolled the area for any incoming hostile forces.
“Dagger 1 to Command, I’ve got something on radar...this might be it Command. Permission to engage!”
“Command to Dagger 1 permission accepted. Kick their asses boys! Red Crown will be there to assist”
“This is Red Crown to Dagger 1, we have sighted 10 blips on radar, engage with standoff weapons and pull back immediately, de Gaulle is already launching more fighters to deal with the threat.”
“Roger that Red Crown. Dagger 1, Fox 3”
“Dagger 2, Fox 3”
“Dagger 3, Fox 3”
“Dagger 4, Fox 3”
“Red Crown, standoffs are being launched and we are pulling back to the de Gaulle right now”
“Understood Dagger 1, see you on the flip side. Red Crown out.”
Meanwhile, at the de Gaulle and her escorts
“Let’s do this Buckeye Flight!” as another Rafale is launched from the carrier
“de Gaulle tower, this is Rapier flight 1, requesting permission to takeoff” as another fighter lines up on the catapult, being radied to fight back the Alicorn counterattack.
“This is de Gaulle, permission granted. Give em hell boys” which is only replied by another Rafale taking off from the carrier.
“de Gaulle this is Chevalier Paul, permission to launch standoff weapons?”
“This is de Gaulle, all escort ships target those damn Alicorns and launch your missiles, we need to delay them or kill them all before they hit the ground.”
“Roger that de Gaulle.”
And with that a barrage of missiles are launched from the destroyers and frigates of the battlegroup, the range of the missiles should be enough to keep those Alicorns at bay without risking the entire battlegroup’s security. Although the Captain of the Lafayette is taking a huge risk providing radar coverage for the missiles to hit.
French Frigate Lafayette, 20 Kilometers ahead of the main battlegroup
“Lafayette!! This is Admiral Daphne speaking. Pull back now!! You’re taking a huge risk and we already have AWACS in the air. I repeat pull back now! We already have AWACS in the air”
Realizing the tremendous risk he’s putting his crew on a job already taken over by the command plane, the Captain complied “Roger that Admiral, we’re turning around now. Over and out.”
Just as the Lafayette is about to take the turn something odd happened.
“Uhh Captain, I’m noticing heat signatures from the enemy flights” one of the officers at the bridge said
“Are those...missiles?” said another one as slowly, the crew realized the enemy just fired a magical projectile at the ship.
“Activate CIWS!!! Launch those Asters!!! Make a full 180 on this ship, move move move!!!” the Captain frantically shouts as more blips rapidly approaches the ship
The ship tried everything in the book to avoid the incoming missiles, doing erratic movements as she tried her best to at least confuse the missile’s trajectory. They even managed to score a few hits on the magical projectiles that are about to hit the ship, but the amount of Alicorn projectiles became too much for the lone Frigate to handle and the side of the ship was badly hit. The ship shook as the projectile hits it’s target and a new hole was carved on Lafayette’s side hull, agonized screams are heard from the inside as well.
“Damage report!!” shouted the Captain as the Lafayette groans
“RHIB facilities destroyed, upper hull severely damaged but we’re not sinking yet. We can still limp ourselves into the battlegroup but I recommend pulling back sir. It’s too much.”
“delay that, send Damage Control teams into affected areas first and alert the infirmary to immediately accept any wounded.”
“Roger that sir. What about the enemy?”
“Keep firing those Asters at anything that blips faster than those Alicorns. I don’t want another incident like this.”
“Roger that sir, we have another 10 blips coming into view sir!! I don’t think we can handle that much.”
“Then request for help goddamit!! I don’t want my ship to end up like the Sheffield!!” which is naturally complied with the comms officer contacting the AWACS aircraft to get help
“Mayday mayday this is Frigate Lafayette, we have been hit by enemy projectiles and we can’t defend effectively. Request air cover to protect our asses while we limp back, over.”
“This is Red Crown, we hear you loud and clear, we’re sending in Buckeye flight to cover you. Over and out”
“Roger that Red Crown, thanks for the help.” replied the comms officer as the Captain sighs in relief
“Helmsman, engage engines to full speed ahead. We’ve already done our part, let’s see that glorious carrier again.”
“Roger that sir” the Helmsman replied, moving his hand onto the lever and pushing it forward. Causing the engines to roar in mechanical fury as the damaged ship limped it’s way back to rejoin the battlegroup.
Turns out that when you are providing radar coverage for your other ships to actually hit your targets you are unwittingly targeted by the enemy as well. I guess our frontal position wouldn’t help but goddamit!! Why didn’t the de Gaulle launch those AWACS sooner!! Now I have to bring this hunk of junk back to Lorient for repairs!! Ugh the Captain puts his fingers over his forehead in a sign of frustration.
This is going to be a long day
Paris, 6:00PM, 3 years after event
After the procession at Strasbourg went as planned, Caballeron arrived at Paris yesterday. He already booked a hotel room at the nearest luxury hotel (they are surprisingly expensive) and now was just waiting for his ‘contact’ to appear.
“C’mon now, I know it has been only a day but something’s gotta give right? Why are they taking so long?” he said to himself as he waits at the supposed ‘meeting place’, a local coffee shop just across the road. The lack of anyone besides him drinking some black coffee is very discerning, not to mention awkward as well.
Where the hell are those guys? he further thought as he sipped another cup of coffee. This is taking way too long, if his contacts are not going to show up then he might as well.
“Why hello there.” he heard someone talking behind him as he jumped out of his seat to see 3 guys standing in front of him.
“So...you’re the guys Ahuitzotl sent?”
“Yes, Ahuitzotl is also in Paris right now, and fortunately neither Daring Do nor the French authorities have caught wind of our activities yet.”
“Well...if you say so, then lead me to my employer then Mr Human.”
“With pleasure” he responded as a black Peugeot stops in front of the cafe. The men gestured and Caballeron replied, stepping into the black car as the door closed and the car zoomed out of the Cafe, blending in with the busy streets of Paris.