//------------------------------// // To Kill a Filibuster // Story: The Nineteenth Century: The Saga of Equestria // by mint20 //------------------------------// To Kill a Filibuster The Nineteenth Century: The Saga of Equestria June 13, 1832 Salt Lick City, Equestria Charles and William Bent, former explorers, led the troop of almost five hundred armed men. Some were former military, a few were explorers, but most were from...less than honorable trades. Ponies watched as the men entered their city, with a look of apprehension. They seemed to know what was coming… Charles Bent signaled for his men to come to a stop. He then yelled, “Attention, all you uncivilized brutes! As of this moment, I declare this city under occupation of my army! I proclaim myself governor of Salt Lake City, and warn all of you horses that I will torate no attempts to defeat, destroy, or overthrow my government.” The residents muttered and shifted uneasily. Most of them were earth ponies, and while they may not fight to Bent brothers today, they would eventually rebel. The Royal Magistrate over the Royal Province of Salt Lick City quickly slipped away into an alley and found a dragon-fire messager. “Send a message to the Equestrian Royal Council…” Later that day Emergency Meeting of the Equestrian Royal Council Canterlot, Equestria “I have called you here, Princesses of Equestria, to discuss a new and real threat to the safety of the nation,” said Celestia. She sighed, and said, “Princesses, a troop of humans have seized Salt Lick City, declaring it a new and independent nation, and installing themselves as the ‘governors’ of ‘Salt Lake City.’” “What?? Who do those humans think they are?!?” demanded Luna. “They are Americans, but the diplomat from the United States denies all connection to them,” replied Celestia. “He states that he was not made aware of a warlike behavior from the States, and says that this is likely a group of frontiersmen that thought they could make some fast money by seizing the city, draining its treasury and intercepting the trade to it, and then fleeing.” “What do we know about this troop of humans?” “There is about five hundred of them, and they have seized all of the Royal Province of Salt Lick City, some of the Province of Appleloosa, and threaten the Province of Sugarville and the Province of Manetown.” “That’s almost half of the Region of Valmansas! Plus, Salt Lick City is where the Regional Magistrate's office is. If they have taken that, then the Regional Magistrate is powerless!” exclaimed Twilight. “Indeed. Should they take Sugarville and Manetown, the Region would be, for all intents and purposes, completely out of our control. This cannot happen.” “But I doubt that they can be reasoned with…” “I don’t intend to reason with them,” said Celestia. Feeling the red-hot brand of anger swell inside her, she said, “I intend to take the Royal Guard and the First Corps. I intend to march over to Salt Lick City. And if they do not surrender, then I intend to teach them a lesson…forcefully. And with extreme prejudice. The world must know that we will not allow these attacks on our sovereignty to go unchallenged.” June 18, 1832 Canterlot Mustering Location Just outside Canterlot, Equestria “Shining Armor, report!” barked Celestia, feeling ready for war. “Yes, Your Majesty! The Royal Guard has been fully mobilized. We await orders.” “And the First Corps?” A blue pegasus, captain of the First Corps, nodded and said, “The First Corps is mobilized and ready.” “Good...what is their morale looking like?” “Confused,” replied Shining Armor. “After all, you haven’t even told me why we are mobilizing.” “You will find out soon, when I give the speech to the forces.” Twilight came up to Celestia and beckoned. Celestia leaned down, and Twilight whispered in her ear, “We have news about the humans. They have captured Manetown and Sugarville. Reports from ponies and buffalo state that they are moving on Elko, and may attempt to capture Appleloosa.” “Any ponies dead?” Celestia asked back, also whispering. “There was a fight over control of Manetown. Five ponies are dead, twelve are injured. They wounded two humans, rumor is that one of them is now dead.” Celestia shook her head slightly, and said, “Then we must move quickly.” Straightening up, she started to walk towards the troops. “My ponies. I thank you all for answering the call to serve your nation. “The reason that you are here is because of something that has occurred in the Region of Valmansas. A troop of humans, not affiliated with any human government that we know of, have seized control of many provinces within the Region, declaring themselves to be an independent state. There has been some fighting, and five ponies are dead.” Muttering and shifting in the crowd assaulted Celestia’s ears. She allowed it to continue for a minute, letting the ponies work up a little anger. After the minute had past, she raised a hoof, and the crowd of ponies stilled. “You, the members of the Royal Guard and the First Corps, have been assembled to protect our land from these humans, who are so arrogant to try to take our land and declare themselves sovereign over us. I am hoping that a show of force will persuade them to stand down. If they don’t though...you will be called upon to expel the intruders by force. “Remember your duty, and your training, and the Sun and Moon will guide us to victory!” As she stepped down, the army - for, despite the names, that’s what they are - cheered. “You’re hoping that the humans surrender?” asked Twilight, with a small smile. “No, I’m not,” replied Celestia, a scowl appearing on her face. “I’m hoping they fight.” “Prepare the banners. Ready! March!” Celestia heard Shining Armor call, and the pink and white flag of Equestria moved forward, followed by the Guard and Corps. June 23, 1832 Within the Royal Province of Appleloosa “There they are,” said Twilight. “Indeed. There they are,” replied Celestia. * * * “Is that an army?” asked Charles Bent. “Quite possibly,” replied his brother. “Shall we meet them?” “They will simply attack. We shouldn’t risk it.” “So, attack?” “Attack.” * * * BOOM! Celestia heard a cannon go off. “That’s a cannon shot! They're attacking!” she heard a member of the Corps cry out. “Steady!” came the yell from Shining Armor. “We have trained for this!” The ripple of unease that started to come over the army settled down. BOOM! BOOM! The human cannons attacked again. “There is only five of them!” Shining Armor figured out, yelling. “Gunners, unlimber the guns and prepare to shoot!” There was a clamber of motion as the ponies readied the several cannons. Unfortunately, the mobile artillery idea proposed by the Ministry of Sciences has had yet to be adopted. BOOM! An Equestrian gun, this time. The cannonball flew at the human troop, and landed somewhere in the infantry. “Aim for their cannons! Move forward!” yelled Shining Armor. The army started moving forward, the ponies preparing their guns. Celestia saw the human army start to move forward, as well. BOOM! Another Equestrian cannonball flew towards the enemy forces. Twilight reached out with her magic, and cast a spell on it. The shot was engulfed in a purple glow, and its trajectory shifted to the right, heading straight for a human cannon. She heard it connect with its target with a crack! “Well done, Princess,” said Celestia. “But we should get out of way. These armies are about to clash, and it would do Equestria no good if we were killed in battle.” Twilight hesitated, then nodded. As the Princesses retreated to a safe distance, Celestia took a moment to be awed. The Guard and Corps together formed almost thirty-five thousand troops, against the human’s five hundred. Against their four operational cannons, the Equestrians had almost five hundred. It occurred to Celestia that she may have gone a little overboard. The Equestrian forces continued to move forward, as the humans did the same. Celestia saw several pegasi rise into the air, as they approached the humans. She saw several humans miss the rhythm of their march, as they stared up at the pegasi. Shining Armor capitalized on this. Within seconds, he ordered his troops to stop, grab and aim their guns, and shoot. The effect was immediate and devastating. While the ponies were not the best shots, firing at least twenty thousand bullets at the same time is a pretty surefire way to inflict hundreds of casualties. And hundreds of casualties were inflicted. Celestia estimated that at least four hundred fifty humans dropped to the ground from the volley. The few humans that remained standing either attempted to rally, or simply threw down their weapons and surrendered. The pegasi slammed into the remaining non-surrendered humans, and forced many of them to surrender or be shot. And just like that, it was over. Celestia jumped back into the skies and flew up and landed beside Shining Armor. “Report,” she ordered. “Yes, Your Majesty. Total victory. The human force has been completely annihilated, with all of its members either killed, incapacitated, or captured. We have captured two men who appear to be the leaders of this expedition. They are brothers, and we will have them in Canterlot as soon as possible. Out losses...we won’t know for sure until we count the dead, but I would guess that we lost no more than one hundred fifty ponies, counting wounded.” “Thank you. And forward my thanks to your officers and the ponies below you. You acted swiftly and decisively, and your actions saved Equestrian lives.” “Thank you, Your Majesty, for such high praise.” Here, Shining Armor allowed himself a small smile. “Those Americans aren’t so tough after all, eh?” “I wish I shared your optimism, Captain,” Celestia replied. Sensing that he wanted an explanation for that, she sighed, and gestured towards the defeated humans, who were being bound by the Equestrian troops. “We had everything going for us. First, and most obviously, this was no professional army. They were fortune-seekers, pirates. They were poorly trained and ill-disciplined. I’d bet most of them had no meaningful military experience before today. Second, we outnumbered them over seventy to one. It would have been impossible to lose.” Seeing the captain looking crestfallen, Celestia chuckled. “Don’t worry Captain. Keep serving like you have been, and we will be able to repel anyone who comes knocking. You let me worry about staying out of unwinnable situations.” She paused, then said, “Make sure you care for your soldiers’ mental health. I don’t want anypony getting depressed over what they had to do. Empathize their duty to their country, and make sure you get help for anypony who needs it.” “Yes, Your Majesty.” Celestia paused, just before she took off. “You did well, Captain. Or rather, Major.” Before Shining could say anything, she jumped into the sky. July 13, 1832 Canterlot, Equestria “So, are you going to demand that human be turned over to the United States?” asked Celestia, somewhat sarcastically. The new American diplomat, one Robert Ieving, shifted slightly before saying, “The perpetrators of the filibustering expedition are in violation of the American Neutrality Act of 1817, which prohibits Americans from engaging in military action against states the United States is at peace with. However...the government of the United States recognizes the damage dealt to your nation, and will not, at this time, make a request of extraterritoriality.” “And this is the opinion of your President Jackson?” “No! I am an Adams nominee, Princess. I don’t like Jackson; he’s an uncivilized brute. I have not received any orders from him; so I won’t act.” Well then. “Very well.” Ieving shifted, then said, “If I can speak to you not as a diplomat of the United States, but rather as a human…” “Oh?” Ieving paused, struggling with his words for a moment. He then said, “Princess, I was one of the settlers that came to this land before the Manetown Incident. I was nominated and confirmed to this position because I had experience with your kind. And I have no doubt that Jackson will replace me soon with someone more loyal to him. In fact, I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened already. But...before I go, a question has been gnawing on me. “Before the filibuster expedition arrived, I visited Manetown again. And I was shocked to see that all the ponies were practically the same age as they over ten years ago!” “...Yes?” The human was taken aback by Celestia’s lack of surprise. “What black magic is this?” he asked himself, rhetorically. “Don’t ponies age?” “Of course we do,” answered Celestia. “But, I should have seen them aging! It’s been almost fifteen years!” Comprehension dawned on Celestia. “I wondered why humans age so quickly.” “What?” “It appears, Ambassador, that ponies age slower that humans.” “What?!” “Yes, it appears so. It varies from tribe to tribe, but earth ponies can live an average ninety years, pegasi an average ninety five, and unicorns can live, on the outside, up to one hundred twenty five years. Alicorns...well, nopony knows for sure.” “What? Humans can only expect to live to forty or fifty, if they are lucky! How is this possible?” “Pony scholars have suggested that the reason for the difference in the tribes’ life expectancy can be explained by the fact that the unicorn tribe is more in-tune with magic. Even then, their life expectancy can vary up to a whopping fifteen years, and the ones who are stronger in magic live longer. For the earth ponies, they possess magic that helps them grow crops and grants them strength that by all rights, they should not be able to possess. However, it is not very strong magic. Pegasi wield magic every time they fly - otherwise, their wingspan would be far too small to lift them up. They can also walk on clouds with it. However, much like the earth ponies, their magic is a lot weaker then the unicorns’. The only reason they live a little long is that they use their magic more often, in their day-to-day lives. Unicorns are often considered the most in-tune with magic (Alicorns aside), as they can actively cast spells and wield it, unlike the other tribes, whose abilities are passive. The stronger the unicorn, the longer they can expect to live. Alicorns...Alicorns have the strength and growing ability of the earth ponies, speed and agility of the pegasi, and magical talent of the unicorns. Alicorns can almost be thought of as the embodiment of magic itself. If there is a cap on our lifespan...nopony knows it.”