The Equestrian Order of Battle
on the Eve of the Gryphon War
Equestrian Armed Forces:
Total peacetime strength: ~60,000 ponies split between the following service branches, though only a fraction of that strength is normally available at any given point.
I. Royal Guard
The Royal Guard defends Canterlot and provides security, intelligence and training services for the rest of the Equestrian military. Primary responsibility is the security of the capital and princess, but can be deployed as needed.
1. Intelligence/Plainclothes Security Division
Disguised as ordinary ponies, maids or other castle staff, the PSD is responsible for providing undercover security for Canterlot, Celestia and various high-ranking figures/other nobles. The Equestrian Intelligence Service is run out of this branch and will also launch infiltration or intelligence gathering missions as needed. Almost all mares, but takes unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies. Well-trained and drills frequently, but rarely sees real action as they’re mostly there to stop spies and assassins.
Strength: ~5,000 ponies, stationed mostly in Canterlot but a few attached to outlying towns and bases.
2. Armored Guard
At the time of Firefly’s enlistment, an elite division consisting of separate regiments of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. The only all-stallion unit in the Equestrian military, and the only true combat unit that stallions have.
Given the need to keep male breeding numbers up in the mare-heavy Equestrian society, only stallions that have sired at least one male offspring are allowed to join. Primarily garrisons and provides security for Canterlot and Celestia, though the latter doesn’t truly need it.
The best-trained and equipped unit of the Equestrian Armed Forces, training is brutal and only a quarter of those who attempt it make it through. But those who do proudly wear the armor of the Royal Guard. The self-proclaimed ‘spearhead’ of the Equestrian military, they would only be used for critical attacks or defense.
Strength: three regiments, ~1,000 stallions each for ~3,000 total.
II. Equestrian Aerial Corps
Best regular unit of the Equestrian armed forces. Staffed by pegasi and some very few thestrals, who are still in disfavor with greater Equestria after their perceived alliance with Nightmare Moon. Sees the most action of the entire Equestrian military fighting border skirmishes with the gryphons and other races, so their readiness is generally excellent.
Mostly mares, but a few stallions, whom are not usually allowed to fight. Primarily responsible for patrolling Equestria’s borders and keeping airborne species like gryphons and dragons in check. Well-trained and able to wield weather as a weapon but sometimes stretched thin. Combat veterans get the coveted “Wing Warrior” Badge.
Strength: five air divisions, each responsible for a particular area of Equestria and in peacetime mustering around 2500 pegasi each.
III. Equestrian Army
Primarily earth pony and unicorn mares with some stallions, mostly in support roles. Garrisons border towns and bases, providing local protection; they occasionally see action against Diamond Dog and Gryphon raids. Earth ponies are for close combat and rely on their strength, stamina and resistance to magic, while unicorns tend to fight from a distance using longbows and ranged magical attacks.
Strength: ten divisions with a peacetime strength of around 2,500 ponies each, spread thin throughout Equestria. Unicorns and earth ponies tend to be in separate units. Decently trained and can operate independently given the earth pony ability to grow food anywhere. Earth ponies can also use heavy siege equipment, though there is little in the way of it to start. Also, their training tends to be subordinate to tending their crops, so force readiness often suffers around the harvest and sowing seasons.
IV. Royal Navy
Equestria maintains a small fleet of armored dirigible airships which are mostly to ‘show the flag’, but they can move ground troops around quickly and provide fire support from magical ballistae if necessary. Crewed mostly by unicorns, but also have a pegasus air wing assigned for close defense and launching the equivalent of air strikes. Earth ponies aren’t big on flying so you won’t generally see them on ships, but they’re often assigned to the ground crews that are supposed to keep them flight-worthy.
At one time, the Royal Navy was the signature service of Princess Luna—“If the Guard is Equestria’s shield, the Navy is its sword,” Luna herself once said. But after the War of the Celestial Sisters in which most of the Navy sided with Luna, the service was reduced to a shadow of its former self and its former role has been split between the Guard and Aerial Corps. As such, this once-proud arm of the Equestrian military has been neglected and reduced to a mostly ceremonial branch of the armed forces, little more than a glorified ferry service Celestia only keeps around out of love and remembrance of her lost sister.
Strength: 12 airships of various size and classes, each crewed by anywhere from 50-200 unicorns and, for the larger ships, having an attached air wing of 50 to 200 pegasi. At any given point there’s only enough naval troops available to crew a few, however, and they’re typically only brought out for shows or diplomatic affairs. Rarely to never sees action, and tends to be used by nobles and royals just to say they’ve had military service. Also around ~200 smaller craft which are used to ferry troop detachments and supplies for the other services.
V. Auxiliary Units
1) Pegasus Militia - Unique to Cloudsdale. Troops are generally decent given pegasus warrior heritage, but not up to the level of the Equestrian Aerial Corps. ~5,000 ponies
2) Earth Pony Militia - Each town and city tends to have its own, though training levels vary widely. Troop quality ranges from poor to barely adequate. ~10,000 ponies
3) Equestrian Intelligence Service - Civilian-run adjunct of the Royal Guard, responsible for detecting external and internal threats. Exact numbers classified.
4) Black Lances - Highly-trained special operations battalion of the Equestrian Aerial Corps. Often performs intelligence gathering and covert operations in close cooperation with the EIS. Their tasks include spying, sabotage... and when called for, assassination. One of the few pony units the Gryphons genuinely respect and fear. ~200 pegasi
5) Office of Magical Research - Secretive independent division of the EIS, mostly involved with discovering new forms of ‘defensive magic’, though a watchful observer might wonder why there seems to be a lot of research into elemental abilities of late. Activities and numbers are heavily classified.
6) Princess Celestia - Despite her peaceful nature and aversion to conflict, Celestia has fought several wars in the past, including a very brutal one with her own sister that still haunts her to this day. She is quite capable of combat and her alicorn-level magic and control of the sun makes her, if she so desires, a living Weapon of Mass Destruction that could lay entire armies and cities to waste. Though she cannot be everywhere and does not generally involve herself over minor raids and skirmishes, she would deal with any existential threat against her ponies personally and any attack contemplated on Equestria would have to account for her presence.
Equipment:
Earth Ponies - spears and foreleg-mounted crossbows they can work with their teeth; some wield blades or snares with their mouths. Can wear heavy armor with ease, though there’s not enough of it to go around.
Unicorns - wield longbows with enchanted arrows of various effects, and can launch magical attacks/project shields. Wears enchanted armor to defend against curses and other magic—the Gryphons do have some mages.
Pegasi - harness-mounted wingblades and hoofstrikers, some few crossbows. With the exception of the Armored Guard pegasi, which can handle heavier loads, wear light armor only.
6279751 I personally have watched two parts of G1 MLP: the pilot episode, Escape from Midnight Castle, and the movie.
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Myself, I've seen the movie and that's about it. The choice of Firefly was Leo's, but it makes perfect sense since Firefly was more or less the G1 Rainbow Dash, so you could certainly call her Rainbow's ancestor. Enjoy!
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6279812 Actuallly some people believe that G3's Rainbow Dash, an earth pony fashionista is the really ancestor
I'm gonna "read later" this.
The lore behind the Armored Guard is pretty awesome. A few thoughts:
This is the exact opposite of the Pegasi Enclave from Fallout Equestria. In that instance, the population is encouraged to fight for the fascist military-run government for the benefit of being allowed to breed as a result of limited food and resources. In your example, the stallions themselves are the limited resource and have to 'man up' for the good of the country. Kind of a neat, if unintended parallel given no love for FoE on your part.
It's like a cross between Napoleon's Imperial Guard and those Americans defending West Germany during the Cold War. It's no wonder the Guard has to be so well-trained. No matter what happens they're going to be outnumbered and outgunned at the onset of any conflict!
In fairness, they throw one hell of a party. Although, this becomes problematic when archery training is scheduled the day after.
Just wait until they discover battle saddles and power armor...
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Until then, they have a lot to learn about war, and an enemy that's already well-versed and possesses a noble military heritage. Lets hope for the best for our hero.
This is a really detailed report! I'm impressed!
Would that make Princess Twilight a weapon of mass instruction?
Princess Celestia an Auxillary Unit???!!!
Does this technically mean that they could eventually develop weapons of mass destruction?
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History says that it takes about a year to get organized & get newly trained units onto the battlefield (US Civil War & both World Wars). Until then, you make do with what you've got.
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Indeed, but given the disparity of numbers they face, they won’t have a year. If the gryphons come at them with everything they have, they’ll have at most a few months to train enough troops to turn the tide.
While the gender division was mentioned earlier I still want to say that I'm not a fan of a very skewed gender ratio where stallions have to be preserved. I can accept that this story works with an unbalanced gender ratio and doesn't detract much from the story. I think that the poor state of the navy may yet play a role in this story.
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I’m glad. Most readers can take it or leave it as far as gender ratios go, but it doesn’t directly rear itself up in the story except every so often, and usually to show a stallion defying the fears of nearby mares to fight. As for the Navy? I don’t think it’s any real spoiler to say that yes, given how the story has framed them so far, the Navy is going to have an big role in the story to come.
“There’s no such thing as curses!” ~ Twilight Sparkle; Bridle Gossip
Wow Twilight. Talk to your brother once in a while.
Damn fine bonus chapter ! Very well done!
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Thanks yet again! And I believe this wraps up replies to all your comments on the story. Look forward to seeing what you think of Into the Storm!