Year of 05
“I suppose we should start with Trixie,” Twilight said, nervously flipping through the orders held in her magic. She glanced up for an unwitting moment, but quickly ducked behind the papers. Those six intensely staring faces were… intimidating.
“Yet again, Hivri and Haupstadt attack each other and prolong the stalemate, but this time they used only two apiece. Carrot’s air force in Kaunas tried to go into Poronajsk, but Trixie’s army gets there first to protect the space. Her air force over here moves down to Genosse and her other one stays put in Hippopotamia
“Ditzy’s army, with the support of Coronetto, pushed into Caneighda, but Lyra had already left for Latigo. Meanwhile, The buffalo’s other army attacks Hyasanguia and takes it uncontested.”
Ditzy grit her teeth in frustration and one of her eyes drifted to the mint unicorn. Lyra studiously ignored her until she focused her attention back to the game.
“Meanwhile,” Twilight continued, “Lyra’s air force goes up into the Cerulean Sea, while her navy departs the coast for the Azure Reaches. Her two inland units split up and went to Ayani and Heyuktan, while the one in Pte stays where it is. Raindrops’s navy left Zebrica for the Zebrican Sea, and her navy in Killa chose to defend this turn, supported by her two air forces.”
“Last time I do that.” Raindrops grumbled under her breath. It’s clear by now that she’s been playing me for hours. Time to take the offensive back!
“It’s not all bad news,” Twilight said, “Since Raindrop’s other two units dislodged Cheerilee from the West Dune Sea. And lastly, the largest fight this game happened over in Pferdreich. Cheerilee and Carrot Top combined their units to defend it, but Ditzy used four pieces to overwhelm them and take the territory. And that's it. The fifth winter turn starts now.”
…
Ditzy was intent on writing something on a scrap of paper, so she didn’t immediately notice when Carrot Top came around the table and sidled up to her. The farmer burned with curiosity about what she was doing, but restrained the urge to peek. There was no way she’d be able to conceal doing it, after all.
“Just a moment,” Ditzy said, finishing up and folding the paper deliberately in half. She turned in her seat to give CT her full attention. “I expected to be talking to you this round, but not quite so soon.”
“Why put it off?” Carrot said with a shrug, trying to play off her nerves, “It’s best to just get it over with quickly.”
Ditzy nodded, but didn’t add anything. She simply sat and waited, inviting the earth pony to fill the silence herself.
Carrot Top screwed her mouth up as if she tasted something terrible and got right to the point. ”You’ve got me dead to rights with that last move.”
A smile cracked the mailmare’s façade. “I wasn’t expecting Cheers to throw in with you, but yeah. Totally overwhelmed you there.”
“Plus you’ve got a piece right next to Elkheim,” she continued.
“So I do.” Ditzy said. She pulled out another bit of paper and started to write again.
The uncomfortable silence stretched for several moments before Carrot groaned in frustration. “So what do you want?!”
Ditzy arched and eyebrow. “What makes you think there’s something I want?”
“Because you send all four of your units at Pferdreich!” Carrot Top burst out. “You put two new units down last winter turn, but you didn’t put either of them in Hyasanguia, despite Lyra’s two units already sitting on your borders. She even took Hyasanguia from you this turn, but you sent all your units in the other direction.
“And why take Pferdreich, of all places? You have a clear line right between my forces thanks to your unit in Breidas. It would have made a lot more sense to get behind my army while my attention is split between defending the south and fighting off Trixie. Instead, you’ve placed yourself tenuously between two players who’ve proven they’re willing to work together. You can’t have done that without a purpose!”
Ditzy belatedly remembered to pick her jaw up off the floor when Carrot’s stream of reasoning finally ran dry, and chuckled ruefully to herself. “I keep forgetting how good you are at spotting these things…”
Carrot sighed and passed a hoof over her eyes. “Look, I’m sorry I blew up a little there, but you’re not making this easy on me. So if you don’t have an offer, and as long as you know that my nation is going to be a tough nut to crack than you thought, then my job is done.”
She turned to leave, but Ditzy stopped her short with a tap on her shoulder. “I never said that we couldn’t make a deal. In fact, I wasn’t planning on attacking north at all. You can even have Pferdreich back, if you want it.”
Carrot Top didn’t bother to hide her suspicion. “What’s the catch?”
“You just have to do one thing for me, and I promise to leave you alone.”
Ditzy slid the second piece of paper across the table and Carrot picked it up. She glanced over it warily, then once more with much more intensity. There wasn’t much written on it, but it still took her a third once over to make completely sure she wasn’t reading it wrong.
She looked up incredulously. “This? This is all you want?”
Ditzy nodded. “That’s all.”
“And if I do this, you’ll leave me alone for the rest of the game?”
“I promise.”
“Why.” Carrot Top asked flatly.
Ditzy grinned and shook her head. “That’s going to have to be a surprise for now. Do we have a deal?”
Carrot bit her lip, but for the moment there was nothing she could do. “Alright, fine. I’ll do it.”
The two of them shook hooves to seal the deal and Ditzy left the table. Carrot Top stayed where she was and turned her attention to the board, where a number of new moves were already flashing through her mind. This could explain a few things… no, this could explain a LOT of things. But when did she have the time to set it up? If I’m right, then this game is about to change.
She took up the paper with Ditzy’s request and ripped it into confetti, making sure to gather each little piece.
…
Twilight had mostly given up on getting anymore shelving done today, simply picking an interesting book and settling at the head of the table. Despite herself she found she was frequently pricking an ear in the others’ direction, picking up snippets of whispered conversation here and there.
They’re picking up on it quickly, she thought to herself, having caught about half of Carrot Top and Ditzy’s talk just now. Even I’m not sure how this is going to go anymore. I almost don’t believe that this is their first time playing. However, it’s hard to imagine this is going to end well. I mean, if…
Her train of thought was derailed as she noticed somepony walking up to her with a familiar expression on her face. Ah. I was wondering who’d be the first.
“How are you holding up?” Raindrops asked, shooting an interested look at her book for a moment. “Got a second?”
“I’m doing alright, and sure. What do you need?” Twilight replied politely.
Raindrops tilted her head back, thinking of how she wanted to approach this. “Well, I was just wondering what the rules of this game say about what the rules-keeper can do.”
“Technically, the game isn’t supposed to have a pony doing my job,” Twilight clarified. “You all are supposed to read your own orders. Which makes me just a helpful spectator, I suppose.”
“So you could help the players, if you wanted to?” Raindrops asked, honestly curious.
“Well yes, technically. But I think it would be best for me to remain an impartial judge.”
“Doesn’t stop you from commenting on your orders when you read them.” Raindrops pointed out. Twilight blushed, unable to deny that fact. “Now, I’ve noticed that Cheerilee usually gets her orders to you a little bit before the round ends. Sometimes Lyra does, too. It would be a big help to have even a quick look at them, if there were time.”
Twilight leaned back a little and regarded the pegasus with a calculating eye. “But why would I do that?”
Raindrops was silent for a little bit, weighing her words. Then she said softly, “Did you know about the big storm scheduled for the end of the week?”
Twilight nodded cautiously. “It’s going to be a big one, I hear.”
“Lots of lightning, heavy winds, and rain falling so hard it might as well be hail.” Raindrops continued in that same still voice. “Big tree like this might get damaged, if you’re not careful. It would be a shame if, say, a stray bolt weren’t properly contained. Or if some tree branch were to smash through you bedroom window. Lot of things can happen in a storm that size.”
Twilight nodded and did her best to hide her sudden smile. Heh, is she trying for Night Court or Mafiosa? Shame, I was hoping she’d go the other route. A few extra bits would've been nice right about now…
Apparently she hadn’t hid her smile well enough, because Raindrops blushed a little bit. “What’s so funny?”
Twilight mentally admonished herself and shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just you reminded me of my brother for a bit there. And you know… I might not remember to place turned in papers face down this turn. I can be surprisingly forgetful sometimes.”
Raindrops nodded sagely, but couldn’t suppress a little triumphant smile creeping over her features. “Your brother plays a little aggressively?”
“That’s nothing,” Twilight confided, “One time, my mom offered me a whole tray of cookies to leave the West Dune Sea alone…”
…
“Are you sure you don’t need any help dealing with her?” Trixie asked.
Ditzy waved away the offer. “No, I’ve got a plan. Between my air force in Canterlot and the two out here in the peninsula, I’ve got more than enough to push her out of my territory.”
“But Lyra has two units for you to worry about.” Trixie pointed out. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “You know… maybe I can send my army down there to help you? I can have this one down in the East Skyshaper peaks this turn, and then we can team up.”
Ditzy smiled and placed her hooves on both of her friend’s shoulders, turning her to face her directly. “Trixie, I trust you with a lot of things. I trust you with the safety of the town. I trust you with my home. I trust you with my life. I trust you with my child’s life. But I just don’t trust you with the East Skyshaper Peaks.”
Trixie put on the saddest face she could, all big eyes and trembling lips, but Ditzy was a mother and therefore long immune to the trick. Trixie scowled and tried to cover for it. “Wouldn’t have worked anyway, I suppose. But if Carrot’s air force flees down that way, you’ll have the two of them running around at your back. What are you going to do about that?”
“I’ve got a plan,” she repeated, shrugging. “And we’re running out of time in the round. How did you want to handle getting your Konja back?”
Ditzy picked up her map and pointed out spots as she spoke. “I can attack Latigo with support from Coronetto, while the one in Caneighda can attack Hyasanguia with support from Canterlot. Even if she used one to support the other this round, that’ll disrupt it. Easy pickings.”
The unicorn nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’ll work for now. And then I can just send my air force in after you.”
“On the subject of air forces, what are you planning with Carrot Top’s?” Ditzy inquired. “It could take Markovo if you don’t do something.”
“Not if I send my army there first,” Trixie said with a grin, tapping Ditzy’s map. “And I can replace it with my air force from Genosse if she anticipates the move. Let her take Genosse instead, it doesn’t have a supply center…” Trixie trailed off and unconsciously lifted a hoof to her ear for a second before catching herself and lowering it.
Ditzy blinked and leaned in conspiratorially. “That Cheerilee? What’s happening?”
Trixie motioned for her to be quiet for a bit, and then frowned. "She says she overheard Raindrops talking to Twilight about something. She says she’ll tell us what if… huh. She wants you to leave Pferdreich!”
The unicorn shot a startled look over her shoulder, but Cheerilee was obstinately looking the other way and she couldn’t see her expression. She scowled and started to say something harsh into her earring, but Ditzy stayed her with a touch.
“It’s all right. Tell her I’ll do it. I want to know what she’s found out.”
…
“So all you have to do it let me have Naqah back and I’ll tell you.” Cheerilee said sweetly.
Lyra debated her options, looking back to her map several times, but whatever tidbit the schoolteacher had dug up was almost certainly worth the price. “Oh, all right. I’ll do it.”
She pulled out her paper and wrote down an order on it where they could both see. Cheerilee checked it to make sure it was good and frowned thoughtfully.
“You’re sending your army to Heyuktan? I thought you’d just defend Pte instead. What are you doing with the piece that was already there?”
Lyra shook her head and snapped her notebook closed. “The payment was one piece of info for another, not anything else. Besides, it’s an air force. It can’t stop your army without help. Now what did you overhear?”
Cheerilee pursed her lips but let the subject slide. She glanced around and leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Twilight is going to let Raindrops see the moves of anypony who turns in their orders early.”
“What?” Lyra said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. “Why would she possibly do that?”
“Apparently, because Raindrops threatened to destroy the library if she didn’t.”
Lyra didn’t have any quick response to that, simply staring in shook for a little while. “But… that doesn’t sound like something she’d do! She’s better than that!”
Cheerilee shrugged, but there was also a look of concern in her eye. “I don’t know what to tell you. That’s most of what I heard. I mean, look at Twilight. She doesn’t look all that upset, so maybe I didn’t hear the full story. I was just thinking that we should all play it safe and wait for the last possible moment to turn in our orders.”
Lyra frowned in thought and looked hard at the other unicorn. As she did, Cheerilee noted that her eyes strayed towards the hourglass for the span of a second before snapping back. Interesting. That’s the third time she’s checked the time since we’ve been talking.
The musician suddenly stood up and casually walked back to the table. “I’m not liking what this game is doing to us.”
Cheerilee cocked her head to the side and followed. “What do you mean?”
Lyra gestured vaguely around the room as they reached the table. Carrot Top and Raindrops were deep in whispered conversation by the staircase, but the two of them were doing their best to keep from coming into close contact with the other. Trixie sat on the other side of the room, writing something in her notebook and shooting distrusting glances up at the others every few seconds. Ditzy as also by herself, hovering in the air by one of the bookcases. The grey pegasus flinched noticeably when Twilight passed under her and kept one eye on her until she walked away.
“Everypony is getting jumpy and suspicious. Does this even feel like a game anymore? I’m just afraid one of us is going to take it too seriously and say something they’re going to regret.”
“I’m sure it’s not all that bad,” Cheerilee said, politely taking a look around the room as indicated. She also noted out of the corner of her eye that Lyra slipped a folder paper out from under the game board as she did so. “We’re all just intent on the game. Aren’t you having fun?”
“Not as much as I could be,” Lyra sigh, glancing down into the paper and tucking it into her notebook, “But I can hold until the end at least.”
“That’s good.” Cheerilee pulled Lyra into a hug which the mint unicorn returned after a startled second.
“Thanks for the warning. I’ve still got something to do while there’s time, so see you at the table in a few minutes.” Lyra spun around and headed for the relative privacy of the kitchen area, already writing something down in her notebook with her magic.
Cheerilee watched her go until she was sure it was safe and then held up the folded piece of paper she had stolen during the hug. She flipped it open and studied what was written there. It didn’t take her too long, as it was only five words, but their meaning eluded her. She couldn’t make any outward reaction to her confusion, though, lest she give away that the paper wasn’t hers.
Trixie however, standing directly behind her in the safety of her invisibility spell while taking care of maintaining the illusion of herself in the corner, had no such problems. She twisted her head in confusion and stared after Lyra in open distrust. What in the wide world is Plan Buck-All is go supposed to mean?
…
Twilight shot an apologetic look at Raindrops and shook her head to clear her mind of distractions. “Alright, time to get underway. Sorry it took so long this time, there was a lot to go though.”
“Just get going with it.” Raindrops grumbled, glaring around the table and anypony unlucky enough to catch her eye. For some reason, all of the others had waited until the very end of the round to turn in anything. It had turned into a tense game of chicken, of which the weather pony had lost. With twenty seconds to spare Raindrops had scowled and scratched out a few lines, turning them in literally seconds before the rest.
“Right,” Twilight said, unruffled, “Then let’s start down south. Raindrops’s air force finally leaves the Sargasso Sea, making out for the Sea of Neighrobi while her navy squats on the West Dune Sea, claiming it. Her army scoots into Aplaclan with the support of her other air force, but Lyra’s army didn’t attempt to take it. Instead, it went down into Intiq.”
“Attacking me again?” Raindrops growled archly, “Or is this another bluff?” Lyra shrugged noncommittally and turned back to the board.
Twilight clucked her tongue against her cheek before continuing. “Finishing up the tapir’s turn, their last navy entered the Azure Reaches unopposed.”
Carrot Top frowned. “Didn’t Lyra have a piece there? Where did it go?”
Twilight flipped to another page. “Looks like it landed in Cavallia, claiming the supply center.”
“Oh, bad luck there. But there was nothing you could do.” Trixie said, only half gloating as she laid a consoling hoof on Ditzy’s wing. Ditzy oddly didn’t react badly, merely smiling softly and gesturing for the librarian to go on.
“Cheerilee sent her army into her capitol and reclaimed it,” Twilight said, “And Lyra’s army seemed to beat a retreat from it, traveling to Heyuktan. However, her air force that had been there went north and stole Ard, so the camels don’t gain anything this round.”
The smile that had been growing on Cheerilee’s face died away.
“Ditzy’s piece in Pferdreich made a surprising move and left it for Heststed, rather than staying and gaining control of the space. Both Carrot Top’s and Cheerilee’s army made an attempt for the spot, but Cheerilee’s attack was supported from Paardveld. This would have ended two to one in the camel’s favor… but Ditzy’s army in Broncordia attacked Paardveld, cutting off its support action. This means it was one on one, so no one moves and the elks retain Pferdreich.”
Cheerilee was in full frown now, eyes boggling at the board as she tried to figure out where she’d gone wrong. The rest of the table sent grudgingly admiring looks Carrot’s way. She shrugged sheepishly under their silent praise.
“Further north,” Twilight continued, “The pony army in Breidas broke for Elnias, rather than go for the unprotected Elkheim. And the stalemate on the Hivri-Haupstadt border continues with all four pieces defending their respected spaces.
“Lyra’s piece in Hyasanguia stays put and tries to take it from the ponies. Meanwhile, Ditzy’s army next to it in Caneighda… sits still as well, letting Lyra’s piece do its thing.”
There was a general intake of breath as almost every pony at the table gasped at the same time.
“Ditzy’s air force on the other side, in canterlot, chose to travel north towards Xenophon.”
“Wait a minute, why would you let her do that?” Trixie asked the pegasus sitting next to her. Ditzy just continued to smile.
“At the same time, Ditzy’s army in Konja attacked and claimed Markovo, with support from Carrot Top’s air force in Kaunus.”
Trixie spun a confused look of horror at the scorekeeper. “WHAT?!”
“Trixie had tried to move her own army into Markovo, but with the added support she was outnumbered and her piece couldn’t move. This means that her air force, which had been trying to move behind it into Poronajsk, doesn’t get to move either. At the same time Lyra’s air force attacked Gryphos from the ocean, stealing it from the griffons.”
“No!” Trixie shouted, pushing up from the table in her agitation. “This can’t be happening!”
“Lyra’s last piece,” Twilight pressed on mercilessly, at least in the eyes of the stricken blue unicorn, “moved north and claimed Konja from Ditzy… with the support of Ditzy’s own air force in Coronetto.”
“BETRAYAL!!!!” Trixie screamed.
“And that’s it for the round!” Twilight said, speaking loud enough to override Trixie’s sudden tantrum. “And at the end of the tally Raindrops gained one territory, Cheerilee lost one, Ditzy and Trixie both lost two, and Lyra gained a whooping four! Choose which pieces to add or take off, and we’ll start the next round in a minute.”
“It can’t end like this!” Trixie screeched.
Lyra and Ditzy, meanwhile, broke into huge grins and reached across the table to hoofbump. “Go Plan Buck-All!”
…
And so it was that the tide of the war fell irreversibly in the favor of the proud Buffalo Tribe. The might of Equestria drove forward with abandon, sacrificing themselves in suicidal attacks that tied up the forces for the Griffon Kingdoms and blocking them at every turn. And right at the pony’s backs came the buffalo, an inevitable wave that laid claim to every country the ponies cleared. In the heart of their own lands the ponies surrendered to the invading buffalo without a fight, simply allowing them to take as they pleased.
A valiant attempt was made by the seafaring tapirs to stem the tide, but by then it was too late. The Tribes had far too many supply centers, gained from the ponies and the griffons, and their armies outnumbered the brave tapirs in all encounters. The camels, far too weak to offer much resistance, collapsed from the inside out as a single force of pony fliers led the buffalo from victory to victory over the Caliphate. Far north, the elks tightened their ranks and held their ground, putting up such a front that the war simply passed them over without even once encroaching on their territory.
And so, after seven years and with more than half of the world under their control, the buffalo won the war.
Here's the board at the end of the Summer turn:
Click here for a closer look.
And here's the map at the end of the Winter turn:
Click here for a closer look.
And the long drawn-out war has finally reached the end! How many of you out there guessed that Lyra was going to be the eventual winner? If you did, congratulations! You win one of these imaginary cookies! Mmmm... imaginary...
I don't have a lot to say about this chapter other than to say that "Plan Buck-All" is based on a true story, albeit one where I called it a slightly different name. 
The second time I ever played this game was barely a week after the first time. My friend had just bought the game, you see, and he was all excited about playing it despite our first disastrous attempt. I was playing as Austria, and the very first thing I did at the start of the game was pull the Germany player aside. We both agreed that we wanted the game to end as quickly as possible, so we entered into a "suicide pact". Unlike how our two nations would squabble with each other, sharing a border and all, we would simply ignore each other the entire game. I would focus all my stuff on Turkey and Russia, while he focused all his energy on fighting France, Italy, and England. And when the two of us had a ton of spaces between us, one would allow the other to walk into their unprotected back and take all his supply centers.
With this plan, we managed to end the game in half the time as our first play through. My friend who owned the game was a bit upset with us when it came to light that Germany had been purposely losing so I could win, but he could do anything about it. Teamwork for the win!
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Given that she's somewhere between the second and fourth most powerful pony in Equestria you'd think her bribe might be a little higher than that, she can afford a whole lot of books for a start.
Trying to threaten her? How cute.
I know.
Bad news for you.
Wow, they are GOOD.
Wow, that's pretty awesome. Great fic.
Well, that escalated quickly! Poor Trixie.