Old Friends Off To War

by Teal

Chapter 1

June 28

Celestia’s sun slowly began to set, as Luna’s bright and majestic moon started rising to take up its position above the night sky. With the darkness engulfing the landscape, campfires at the headquarters camp of Equestria’s Volunteer Army began to light up, providing light and warmth to the ponies who gathered around it. As ponies began to sit near their fire, cooking hot meals and trading tales, a lavender colored alicorn trotted through the camp, heading towards a group of tents that were pitched up in one the center of the improvised town of tents.

Trotting towards her tent, Twilight Sparkle was glad to finally get a chance to rest. Having spent most of the day accompanying the army’s scout’s, as they surveyed the enemy positions and noted the location of their units, she was relieved to see the white cloth tent that she could call home. Trotting through the countryside, taking long treks, and hiding behind bushes was tough work, and although she did it many times before, she believed that her body would never get used to the labor.

With dirt on her jacket, wings covered in dust, and muscles tired from the journey, all she wanted to do was remove her heavy clothes and lie down on her cot and relax. Despite her cot not being the most comfortable or softest one in all of Equestria, the thought of sleeping on top of it seemed like a fulfilling reward.

Already, she thought of a wonderful rest and her desire for it, but as she did so, a part of her brain began nagging her, telling her that she still had work to do. And to her great disappointment, she knew that this was true.

The idea of relaxing was a tempting desire, especially after such a busy day like this, but she knew all too well that she still had a job to do. With a pending report to Princess Celestia about the situation of the front, relaxing and resting her weary body would have to be moved to the bottom of her to do list.

Entering her tent and removing her dirty jacket, she slowly pulled out the notes she had and gently levitated it on top of the wooden boxes that she used as a table. With these notes she would be able to describe the enemy’s troop movements as well as the state of the army, both strength and morale wise, to Princess Celestia, giving her some valuable information which she hoped would help tell the Princess what the army needed to finally be able to succeed and finally end the war.

By now, the thought of wining was only but a shadow to this army, as a majority of the ponies have become accustomed to the idea of defeat. Despite having large resources and the advantage in numbers against their smaller counterpart, Equestria’s Army has experienced nothing but failure, as poor planning and tactics led to disasters that embarrassed the nation.

Not that the nation needed anymore embarrassment, for this Civil War alone was taking its toll on Equestrian prestige and stability. Due to a dispute over the dominance of magical technology in the lives of ponies, large portions of Equestria were enraged and angered, seeing that the introduction of this industrialization would be a threat to their livelihoods. Communities who lived and prospered on pony power would soon be devastated by the appearance of magical machines, as they would take over the work of many class. With whether control devices, threatening the jobs of pegasi, and large tractors, replacing the jobs of earth ponies, it was easy for some to see why the seceded.

Many took up arms to fight against the mass industrialization and many more joined in believing that the fight against it was a noble and just one. Soon, the entire rural south of Equestria rose up, declaring their independence from the rule of Canterlot and establishing the Republic of Equestria.

But with her loyalty to Celestia and as a Princess herself, Twilight had decided to side with the old Kingdom of Equestria. They were the rightful government, she believed, and although not everypony would agree with them, they were still the rightful rulers.

Thus began the Great Equestrian Civil War, with one side wanted to reunite and nation, while the other fought to keep its independence. Raging for over three years by now, the war seemed to be frowning upon the Kingdom of Equestria, for it seemed that none of their objectives could be accomplished by its army.

But having been with the army since first day of the war, Twilight knew that it wasn’t actually the army that had failed, but instead those who led it. Sent to the Equestrian Volunteer Army as an official royal observer, in charge of taking down notes about the battles and learning the tactics that were used in each one of them, Twilight had seen enough to know the true situation at the front.

From her observations, she saw that it wasn’t the army, but the generals that seemed to be causing the long delay for success. With each battle they fough, it was the soldiers of the army that showed great skill in talent, while the generals who commanded it used stiff tactics and head on assaults, bringing only loses to the promising fighters if the force.

Fighting against flexible and cunning tactics and movements made by the enemy, only defeat and disaster was brought upon Equestria, as each report after the battle showed long lists of casualties and little hope for victory. Already, many of ponies in loyal Equestria began accepting the fact that its southern counterpart was deserving to be another nation, for they seemed to have earned it in the field of battle. But those who remained strong to the cause never gave up hope, no matter how small it may have been.

In hopes of finding the perfect leader, Princess Celestia decided to change the commander of the army with every defeat that they experienced, removing the previous commander and replacing them with one that seemed to be more promising. But this proved to be a tiring cycle, as the army experienced nothing but embarrassing defeats, one after another. By this point of the war, the running joke was that the commander of the army changed as fast as the sun rose and fell.

It frustrated Twilight to see that none of the new commanders learned from their predecessors and often used tactics that were unimaginative and predictable. Despite having soldiers who were, by now, veterans and well experienced in war, the army seemed to be cursed by a plague of terrible commanders, who knew nothing outside their untested theories of warfare.

Twilight blamed the requirement that the commander of any Equestrian army must at least be a member of either royalty or nobility, since to have a pony of lower rank in that position would be shameful. So this meant that no matter how good an officer was, the chances of them receiving the golden rank of commander of the army was low, unless he held the proper prestige to be assigned to it.

Too bad the ponies who held the prestige lacked proper military genius to command an army, since almost all that was appointed to the high rank seemed incompetent and incapable of winning a battle. This made Twilight envy their enemy, who measured leaders not by their nobility, but by their capability, as they assigned generals who knew how to fight and did it well.

We’ll never win this war if we keep on this track. Twilight though to herself, dismayed at the situation Equestria was in.

Sighing as she sat down, she tried her best to become as comfortable as possible on her makeshift chair as tried to forget about those stressful thoughts. She had a report to do, and she didn’t want stress to slow down her productivity and concentration. Soon enough, Celestia would appoint a proper commander, and once that happens this war would finally end. But till them, they would just have to wait.

Turning her attention to the clutter in front of her, she stared at the piles of paper that were sprawled on top of the table, forming up to create an organized mess that only she could understand. Sighting her quill and ink, Twilight picked an empty and clean parchment and began writing the report, glancing towards her notes once in a while.

In her report, she stated the sudden and aggressive northward movement of the enemy army was making, marching from their base of operations at Dodge Junction and mocing towards the general direction of Canterlot. Believing that the enemy was moving towards Equestria’s capital, she warned Celestia to prepare the city’s defenses, while suggesting a counter-march that would be made by the Volunteer Army, which was currently located east Rambling Rock Ridge, to intercept the enemy in hopes of deterring them from any further advancement. An attack on the capital would be disastrous, at it could damage not only the government but also the large trade market in the area. So if the enemy was not stopped, then the war could be lost.

Finishing her report and giving out a long yawn, she brought down the quill and set aside the papers. She had already written enough and right now, the only thing she could do is wait and hope that Celestia would heed her advice and take action immediately.

As she arranged the mess in front of her, fixing the papers and stacking them to make her table look more orderly, she came across a curious looking envelope, which had the Royal Seal stamped on it. Levitating the envelope, she turned her gaze towards the corner of her tent, to see a sleeping baby dragon who was cuddling a pillow as he slept on his basket.

Hm, Spike must have placed this here when I was gone. She mused.

Looking back towards the letter, she glanced at the Royal Seal and knew that any letter from Celestia was an important one. Without another tought m she quickly opened the letter and pulled out the message inside, bringing it in front of her so that she could read it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

My most faithful student, fellow princes, and friend, time and time before, you have never ceased to fail me. With great knowledge about battle tactics and strategy, which you have shown through all of your reports to me, I believe that you have valuable knowledge about the modern art of war. So now, in our nations’ time of need, I, Princess Celestia, assign you as the commander of Equestria Army of Volunteers, in hopes of finally crushing the rebellion that has plagued the nation for three years. From Brigadier General, you shall now be promoted to Major General and would have the control of the entirety of the Equestrian Volunteer Army. I have my utmost confidence in you and hope that you would succeed where others failed.

-Princess Celestia

Twilight stared at the piece if paper in front of her, not sure how to react to it. She read it again and again, trying to make sure that what she read was true. Going through it over and over again, she had lost count on how many times she read it, as the context of the message only became clearer and clearer with each reading.

Finally, realizing that her eyes were not deceiving her, she put down the paper and vent out a long sigh. Realizing the meaning of the message, Twilight knew that Celestia had entrusted all the hope of Equestria on her, like she had done countless of times before. But this time, no matter how many encouraging words can be seen in the message, Twilight felt a sinking feeling within her, as she wondered if she was the proper pony for the job.

As the Royal Observer, and an Equestrian Princess, she had held the rank of Brigadier General to show her importance in the army. But other than the symbolism of the rank, she had nothing but the documents to prove that she deserved that rank she held.

Sure, she knew the order of most battles and realized some things that most commanders didn’t see till it was too late, but she was still no military tactician or commander. All the military tactics she knew were from the books she read and the observations she had conducted from the battles the army has fought in the past three years.

But were these mere observations enough to make her a proper commander? True, the previous commander who held the position had even less knowledge, but that still didn’t help her position.

Twilight didn’t want to bring anymore shame to the army and the nation, she didn’t want to fail the Princess or anypony else who were involved. She had tried her best by sending some strategic advice to commanders and to Celestia herself, but it seemed that the Princess thought that her advice weren’t enough and assigned her commander so that she can put her theories into practice.

Celestia did it… The thought echoed in Twilight’s head. …she promoted me and assigned me as the commander of the Equestrian Volunteer Army.

An army that has been plagued by defeats and terrible commanders. An army that has been demoralized and left with almost no hope. An army that was now under her command.

It’s my army now.

Now, she was the commander of this army, the army in which Equestria’s faith hangs on. At least ninety thousand ponies would soon be looking up at her, wondering if she would finally be the general who would break the endless streak of defeats or a general who would continue the curse of failure.

I’ll try my best…like I always do.

As the commander, she must lead the army to victory and crush the enemy. That would be her goal and only objective. To crush the enemy and bring defeat to their forces and nation.

With her loyalty to her nation, she was determined to stop any threat that came upon them and fight till her last. She hoped that she wouldn’t fail like the others and disgrace, not only Equestria but also destroy the faith Celestia had entrusted to her.

You mustn’t fail her, you mustn’t. She told herself. You never did before and you won’t start now. You’re the commander now, Twilight. You must do your best to lead this army to victory.

Looking back at her table, she began wondering what her first order would be. Should she right a simple letter, a message telling the entire force that she was now the commander of the army?

Thinking about that, she began to wonder how they would react to this news.

Would they be relieved to learn that they had a new commander? Or would they be quiet, knowing that their new commander might be new to command and would hesitant to fight the enemy. Surely that would be the first thought in their minds, if not the only thought. Would their new commander fight and bloody the enemy or would she stand and stare?

The enemy…

The enemy who had humiliated them and defeated them, bringing shame to a once proud nation. An enemy that they wanted to destroy in order to end the war, yet found difficulty in doing so. An enemy who had their friends and families, fighting against them, and shooting at their kin in a bloody civil war.

An enemy which Twilight’s friends pledged their allegiance to, as they fought against her and the Kingdom Equestria.

For out there, resting in their own camps, were her dearest friends who she knew and love.

Comments

[Trickilee]

This could be good, looking forward to reading more. I'm not American, but I've always been interested in the civil war era. I could stand to learn a few more things about it.

*blows party cannon

[Teal]

5889163 I'm glad you like it.