The Kingdom War

by Sir Squidfish

Outlook

Outlook

Pinkie Pie scowled and slammed her hoof hard on the windowsill. Blast, those gryphons were at it again. The Ponyville bombardment had been going on for ages now- at least a week and a half that she could remember, maybe longer. She rubbed her eyes. She had hardly slept at all during the siege, and as a consequence, she was exhausted beyond belief. Beyond imagination. She had never been this bone tired in her life, being ADHHD and all.

She looked out the window and sighed, one of her first outward signs of emotion in days. Ponyville. Her town. The only place she had ever in her life been truly able to call home. Ponyville had been a refuge for her, a place where she could escape. Where she could start over…

And then the gryphons came. The infiltration had begun quietly, with only a few undercover gryphon scouts sent to gather information on every aspect of Equestria. A gryphon here, a gryphon there, here a gryphon, there a gryphon, everywhere a slowly brewing nightmare of chaos ready to boil over at a moment’s notice. But nopony had noticed. How could they? War with the Kingdom was possibly the single most unexpected disaster in the history of clueless ponies.

But we should have expected it, thought Pinkie angrily. They left clues a one-eyed minotaur could have followed, had it been alert enough to care. The awakening of the monsters was one indication that something was terribly awry. Some called it the Great Stirring. Whatever you called it, it all meant the same thing. The very depths of Tartarus were being disturbed by a presence yet more malicious than its monstrous inhabitants. This had caused some of the nastiest nasty nastypants nasties to surface in various places around Equestria. How else could one account for the manticores, hydras, and other monsters which had plagued the ponies of late? When Cerberus himself appeared, at least that should have sparked some concern. But still nopony noticed or cared. Pinkie Pie cursed her own apathy. She had been far more concerned with keeping up her Ponyville image of a happy-go-lucky party pony to bother herself with minor details like a horde of hostile gryphons invading her homeland. And the whole nation had paid for it. With blood and tears they were paying for her senseless selfishness.

This war with the Kingdom had resulted in casualties that went far beyond the battlefield. Gryphons everywhere were now outcasts, regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with the takeover. Nopony associated with a gryphon- it was simply too risky. Maybe they were innocent, and maybe they were plotting your death. Who knew? And again, who cared? They were gryphons, and that was enough.

Gilda.
Pinkie didn’t quite know what to make of Dashie’s old gal pal. The EBI had run back story on her, and it seemed she was telling the truth- she really was just an old friend from flight school. She was in custody for petty theft and harassment, but no one had any proof that she was a serious threat. They would continue to keep an eye on her, and every measure would be taken to make sure she didn’t break the wartime communications or travel restrictions. For now, it was all they could do, at least legally.

Pinkie Pie shook herself quickly, breaking out of her reverie. Too much of this distracted her from what actually mattered- the current invasion.

A missile flew overhead, shearing off the top tower of Sugar Cube Corner and detonating somewhere in the back of town. That was too close. Pinkie considered relocating her headquarters from the most targeted part of town to somewhere a bit safer, but then she figured, What the hay? It’s not like I’ll actually get hit and die violently… this practically is rated E.

Hmm. Nongraphic explosions were still a threat.
Pinkie called her real estate agent.

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Twilight Sparkle sat in the basement of her treehouse, sipping tea and trying to decide when she had time in all this mayhem to organize her calendar. Or maybe write another checklist… She rubbed her hooves together in gleeful anticipation. Her magical barriers were up; she could relax for a while. That was the upside of fighting gryphons: They were totally unable to use magic. Actually, given the fact that the ponies had Twilight and the princesses on their side, one would think the battle would have been over in a heartbeat. But a few of the more brainy gryphon element had devised safeguards against most forms of offensive magic, and it was the earth ponies and pegasi who had been doing most of the trench work thus far.

Of course, it wasn’t fair that the main contingent of unicorns had given up when they realized they couldn’t utilize the main part of their magic to ward off the invading army. When it came right down to it, it was just plain cowardice. But the bookworm tried to put herself in their horseshoes. If Princess Celestia herself had not personally handed Twilight a commander’s commission and asked her to supervise the war effort in Ponyville, she might not be so patriotic.

Ah, patriotic. The perfect word to act as a segue onto another minor plot point. Most Equestrians were very loyal to their nation- they were ready to die for it right up until the time they were asked to join the military. Truth to tell, about 30 percent of the population didn’t give a haystack for the war, or officers, or the fact that a horde of bloodthirsty gryphons were about to overrun their homeland. Most of them had no clue as to the actual seriousness of the crisis- dumbed down press ensured that. And as the Princess didn’t seem to be forthcoming with a draft quite yet, there was no way to make anypony help. Especially the unicorns, who were mostly milksops anyway. Mostly. I will change the unicorn’ minds, Twilight determined grimly. I will do my duty as a citizen and soldier of Equestria. I will alter the fate of the world. For myself. For my little…uh…friends and stuff.

As expected, heroic music began to play as Twilight strode dramatically to the window and gazed out at the carnage. She could not let this awful slaughter continue. She would not. Time to alter the fate of the world. A low rumble filled the air and she knew that there was something she must do first, for the good of Equestria.

Breakfast.

Comments

[Sir Squidfish]

I'm writing this story just because I can. I've always wanted to try my hoof at writing epic battlefic. So please, give me your feedback so I will continue writing this story

[totallynotabrony]

I've always thought Pinkie had ADHDHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in High Definition

Anyway, your grammar and spelling are okay. Your description could use some work to be more eye-catching and get more people to read.

[Vespi]

Nice

[Relevant Heavy Metal]

Angel's Calling - Sabaton

[LikeAg18]

if this is truly set in ww2, i want to see a few German gryphons, and Ponyville be Paris with an underground resistence movement led by twilight
but for getting me interested, have a success mustache

[Sir Squidfish]

@totallynotabrony Thanks for the assessment. If it's popular demand,I could create a longer description; however; I did purposely endow this one with a intentional terseness.

[Sir Squidfish]

Thank you everypony for your feedback; I will post new chapters as I am able. Although I did not set the story in WWII, you have already noticed a few obvious parallels. Bro hoofs and Smiles.
-X.F.