Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

by Ponelover

26th November, 2015

Drillship Ocean Rig Skyros, Northern Lunar Ocean, 5:00AM, +12 days after event

Captain Mujambwa Kazembe was having a really good and not good day at the same time. He was doing a transit in the mediteranean and was about to dock in Le Havre for some refueling for his mission to find more oil sources in the North Sea when the event happened. Ever since then his life has turned upside down with news sources reporting about France being transported to a new world with different animals and intelligent species much unlike the humans, with so many new world shattering information coming in, the good captain is just hanging on to dear life as he wants to retain his sanity in a world gone insane (at least for him), the good thing is that he is a French citizen now and he is no longer affiliated with Angola no more (nor does he have a way back, even if he wants to) but unfortunately his family was still in Luanda during the event and he also has no way to contact his family back.

Now stuck in this weird land of Ponies and Kirin and a multitude of magical creatures, Mujambwa is now just trying to get a new life started as a French citizen, and then he heard the call from Total about extending his contract and even guaranteeing him housing in Calais if he were to take an exploration mission into the north lunar ocean. The person he is speaking knows good Kikongo for some good reason but nevertheless he joolily accepted the offer which has lead him to here, in the middle of nowhere looking for oil.

“Okay men, we are going to do seismic measurements right now, prepare the geophones and Okonkwo, prepare the thumper” Mujambwa ordered his men. This better be a good site Mujambwa thought as he prepares for the seismic measurements of the seabed.

2 minutes later and the results are filtering in. He could not believe his eyes at the amount of oil found in the seabed. 77 million barrels he thought as he eyed the amount of possible oil production per year if they were to build a rig right on top of this reserve. This is his first measurement ever out of a massive district he’s assigned to and already he struck gold. If this keeps up than France might be the first european country to be fully oil independent.

Circuit de la Sarthe boardroom, Le Mans, France, 6:00AM, +12 days after event

“Welcome gentlemen, please have a seat. We have much to discuss” as the director of the circuit Friedrich Hoffman welcomed the CEO of FIA, his various veteran board members and major shareholders.

“First off on the list is the concerns from the multiple racing teams about the event. We have been receiving complaints from multiple racing teams that fears that the mergers between the different companies might mean the end of their jobs and sometimes their passion.” As Friedrich started the meeting.

“Well it is obvious isn’t it, tell them that the circuit will still allow racing teams whose companies have merged to continue racing as separate teams. Problem solved!” One Shareholder says

“But what if another team coming from the same company wins the race?”
“Then the proceeds and prizes would be awarded to the company as a whole?”
“What about the other racers who felt they’re not getting their same share?” A boardmember inquired
“Then we can make the prize more tantalizing and then share it equally to the separate teams under the same company. It’s not that hard Mr Johnston” another boardmember replied

“Okay, now off to the second concern. Oil supply” Friedrich asked and the entire boardroom went pale
“I….I frankly have no idea how we’re going to find a stable oil supply. Total haven’t announced anything yet and although they have informed me that exploration missions is being conducted. I can tell from her voice that hopes are very low” a boardmember frankly said.
“Should we cancel next year’s Le Mans then? until we find a stable oil supply?” A shareholder commented on the situation, only to find a divided board.
“I think we should at least suspend it until further notice, as ms Julie have stated. Total haven’t announced anything and I fear that France will be forced to enter in a crashcourse of green energy first until the situation is stabilized” Mr Johnston said as some members of the board nods their heads.
“I think we shouldn’t, because frankly it would pose a huge risk for the entire organization if we were to cancel Le Mans 2016, I’m confident that France can find oil and we can resume normal activites in 2 months tops.” A shareholder by the name of Lydia Suzanna rebutted Mr Johnston's point, this would flare up into open debate for a couple of minutes until Friedrich decided to put it on a vote. “okay settle down everyone, both Mr Johnston and Ms Lydia have made compelling arguments over the issue. But why don’t we put it to a vote?” as Friedrich asked the boardroom which is meet with a bunch of yesses.

“Okay who voted that we should suspend Le Mans 2016?” Friedrich asked and was greeted by a bunch of votes in favour of it. “And who votes for continuing Le Mans 2016?” which is also met with a bunch of votes in favour of it. The Circuit director did some quick calculations and anounced. “The winner of the vote is Lydia Suzanna. Circuit de La Sarthe will be opening it’s doors for Le Mans 2016” He concluded.

“Now onto other matters concerning finance” as the meeting dragged on to near 7:00AM. Eventually by the end of the meeting the Le Mans administration as well as what remains of FIA would announce that teams whose companies have merged can still play as separate teams and that the Le Mans 2016 would still go on as scheduled.

Belleville, Paris, France, 7:00AM, +12 days after event

“Welcome back to Télématin, the show for people who wake up early, I’m your host Nathanael De Rincquesen and boy do we have a story for you.

Let’s go to the first headlines. France is at war! at 9:00PM yesterday, French fighers alongside naval and ground units conducted a coordinated offensive into the Changeling controlled territory of Equestria.

the Le Mans committee just announced 2 hours ago that Le Mans 2016 will be continued as scheduled. They also further announced that any automotive companies that have merged with each other are allowed to compete as separate teams.

And big news coming in from total as they have struck gold! they found huge oil and lng reserves just off the coast of France in this new world and announced for a French government loan in order to recommision drillships and build oil platforms in order to tap it. A Total representative also said that with oil reserves this huge. France could possibly be oil independent for the first time in it’s history! wow!”

Nicholas nearly dropped his breakfast when he heard about the discovery of oil. He knew that oil prices are starting to get absurdly high and the French government are now heavily subsidising households who have their own form of microgeneration like rooftop solar panels. But this is insane, he never thought that in his life France! France! would be become oil independent.

He quickly put his breakfast of Croissants, baguettes with dip and cereal onto the table and starts watching the show with his interest piqued, as he ate his breakfast. He was immediately reminded about his work but realized that shift’s about to start in 8 hours, it’s good to have a nightshift he happily thought as the streets in belleville is starting to light up with cars leaving for work.

Camp central, Pie family rock farm, Equestria, 9:00AM, +12 days after event

Maud Pie was astounded by the level of technological sophistication these humans have, and they did all without magic! OH MY GOSH!!! Maud Pie thought as he brought lunch into the canteen which is essentially a bunch of pies Maud along with Limestone and Marble cooked when these ‘humans’ said they couldn’t magically edible rocks. “How odd” Maud thought loudly as she brought the pie wagon into the ‘human’ chef.

“Ah madamoiselle Maud you’re here. Thank you very much for these pies, I must admit there is a very rustic taste in one of the pies I tried, are you sure you don’t want any form of compensation? surely the French must pay for your kindness” The head chef asked.

“It’s no problem really, as long as you push the Changelings back to the badlands then i’m fine with spending a few bits to help Equestria’s allies” Maud replied in her usual somber tone. Once Maud Pie heard that the Changeling armies began taking Appleloosa and Dodge City she was very worried about her family’s rock farm and was about to evacuate it when weird self moving wagons entered her farm. Out of the self driving wagons that arrived into their doorstep, out comes both ponies and humans, she recognized one of the ponies to be Spitfire and asked her what’s going on, she was told that the French as they call themselves is going to set up a base camp in her farm in order to coordinate with the campaign against the Changelings. When she asked what happened to the Changelings she just replied with the words ‘slaughter, it was total slaughter’ in a very fearful tone.

She decided not to ask anymore after that, knowing that if the Captain of the wonderbolts are scared beyond belief by these furless apelike beings, than she would be afraid as well. Unusually unlike most of the royal guard who would scrounge up the local area for resources. These French have been very methodical in their food production, bringing in trucks of food and ensuring that the Pie family rock farm is unharmed. She would be eternally grateful for that and took it upon herself learning how to make pie once the French told her that they cannot eat their enchanted edible rocks and she’s been delivering them food for a day now.

“Man these French are real nice” Limestone commented as Maud Pie brings back the now empty cart into the shed.
“They indeed are Limestone, at least compared to some of the guard that we encountered” as Maud remembered the day when on a vacation on Canterlot, a passing guard tried to flirt with Limestone pie. She didn’t take it very well.
“Yeah I should've punched the guard for that, but it's also odd because sometimes French can be all lovey dovey as well. I think I might be swooned at by some of those dorky looking humans over at the IT department, commented about how cute I am when i’m angry”
“You do look cute when you’re angry” Maud jokingly teased
“Am NOT! If anything i’m terrifying when i’m angry!” Limestone replied with her nostrils flaring
“Oh Limestone, you’re so adorable” Maud replied nonchalantly as before and suddenly, Limestone could feel Maud coming in and put her hooves in front of her stomach, she was later pulled into the shed walls as Maud hugged her younger sister like a plushie
“Maud! s..stop hugging me!” as Limestone’s hard demeanor is slowly breaking down as she tried her best to stop Maud from cuddling her even more. Ever since Pinkie got her cutie mark she’s been organising ‘cuddle sessions’ between her and her sisters, she will never admit that she like it but it grew into her as she liked being hugged and cared for. Apparently Maud liked in even more than she was judging from the way how she was hugging her right now.
“p…...please! I…......It’s too ah!” she said as Maud hugged her even harder. Her tough demeanor thrown out of the window as she’s furiously blushing right now. Oh it feels so good Limestone thought as she finally caved in and returned the favour by hugging Maud Pie again.
“shhhh Limestone, just enjoy it. I know you loved being cuddled at, don’t fight it, just enjoy it” she cold hear Maud’s tone slightly lowered into a more maternal one
“J….Just don’t do it on the shack. Please, the ground’s rough” Limestone cutely whined
“Sure little Lime, let’s go to bed” Maud replied as they both went up the bed and cuddled for the rest of the day.

Appleloosa, Mild West, Equestria, 10:00AM, +12 days after event

“Keep it up Men!!! suppressing fire!” Colonel De Roux ordered the squadron of VBL’s as they kept peppering the wooden house filled with Changelings with bullets. After his squad has finished mopping up the Changelings, they waited until dawn when Leclerc tanks and the rest of the French infantry finally arrive on scene and attacked Appleloosa with the a combined arms assault, the shock of the armoured assault accompanied by rocket attacks coming in from the super etendards as well as artillery barrages meant that Appleloosa will immediately fall in no time. Already the apple orchard and half of the city is overrrun with French troops methodically cleaning house with flashbangs that blinded the Changelings as they move in for the kill or for the capture.

“Cease fire Cease fire!!!” the colonel ordered his men as no energy blasts are coming from the building no more. The green Changeling energy blasts are a bit of a surprise for the Colonel and his men when he started hearing radio chatter about ‘changeling magic spells’ and further reports saying the blasts is as effective as a shotgun blast in the short range but just as effective as a shotgun as well in long range, and with that his men simply adapted to the situation by firing at Changeling positions from afar and calling artillery barrages once met with stubborn Changeling resistance.

The town eventually fell to French hands as the last of the Changeling resistance (or what’s left of the Changeling army) fell just minutes after his men told the Colonel that the house is secure.

“good job men we’ll rest until further orders. Jean, eve. Link up with the rest of the army and start patrols immediately until further orders” the Colonel ordered his men

“Yes sir!” as they both took of on their jeeps, leaving the Colonel and his men investigating the house for anything fishy. It looks like your average wild western tavern with hotel rooms on the top as he surveyed his surroundings. Midway into the inspection he heard bottles breaking and moved his gun towards the general direction of the sound.

“Come up with empty hooves NOW!!” he shouted at the bar table only to see a white flag raised and waved.
“Move out of the bar table, MOVE!!” the Colonel moves closer into the area as he heard whimpers and crying from the other side of the table. When he finally entered the other side he saw a white female pony crying with her hooves up in the air. Knowing full well about the memo general Armand gave to his troops, he pulls out cuffs specially designed for hooves and wrapped both her hooves with each of them. The pony doesn’t have any horns so at least she won’t be able to fight back when captured.

“Let’s go Pony” as he slowly lifted the still crying mare and brought her back to the makeshift command post in city hall.

Kirin capital city Chuoko, Kirin empire of Amaterasu, 12:00PM, +12 days after event

Otsune Amaterasu, empress of the Kirin empire of Amaterasu was reading the reports about the huge iron ships in her empire’s harbour and she’s about to meet them in person. The Kirin Empress have heard rumours among the guard about Equestria meeting these strange beings and she was about to dismiss it as just rumours before she went out to the castle courtyards and saw those huge iron ships at harbour. Further reports from the Saji daimyo further confirms her suspicions that these ‘French’ are the species behind those iron ships.

The door to her throne room was suddenly opened with an honour guard saying “Presenting Ms Charlotte Durand from the Republic of France!” and out comes those peculiar looking apelike creatures, Charlotte looked like an incredibly sharp person who knows what she’s looking for but she also knew that just from looks alone, she can be incredibly savage if she wants to.

“Welcome to the Kirin Empire of Amaterasu ms Charlotte Durand. I am Empress Otsune Amaterasu, current ruling ruler of the empire” She proclaimed as the curtains are raised and she reveals her full majesty.

Ms Charlotte now was noticing a trend of Equis rulers literaly being much more majestic than their own subjects, she saw the pictures of princess Celestia and she could be mistaken as a goddess to the untrained eye and it doesn’t look like there is any difference between the Princess and the Empress as Empress Otsune also looked like a being straight out of heaven.

“Bonjour Emperor Otsune, I am here to represent French interests in the region. I trust you have been given the adequate papers no?” Charlotte asked the Empress
“Why yes ms Charlotte. It said here on the papers that you are requesting investment space and Iron ores in exchange for technology and French investment in the region”
“yes Empress, have you made your decision yet your highness”
“I think the answer is pretty obvious isn’t it Ms Charlotte, simply looking at the pictures you’ve sent to me. It is obvious that Amaterasu is going to benefit greatly from this exchange, a few Iron ores and selling land for you to set up your shops and factories would be no problem at all. I just would like to add one more demand to this already beneficial trade agreement”
“Yes? what is it that you wanted?” Charlotte asked.
“I want a student exchange system where scholars coming in from our empire would study in your prestigious magical academies. Knowing how you build your ships, we wish to learn more about magics yet unknown to us from French centers of learning, is that possible?”
“Well…….there is a bit of an issue with that” the French delegate responded
“Oh do tell me ms Charlotte, I can change the offer if you want to”
“Oh the offer is all well and good your highness it’s just that…..”
“Just what my dear” the Empress curiously asked
“It’s just that…...we don’t use magic in our ships…..nor anywhere really” Charlotte meekly replied.

The room suddenly went silent. Impossible she thought I must be hearing things.
“Excuse me, but pardon my hearing. What did you just say ms Charlotte”
“We don’t use magic in our ships”
“Impossible”
“Well not really since we’ve built them” Charlotte replied
“But building ships that huge would require advancements in the mechanics unlike anything we’ve ever seen. How do you keep a piece of metal afloat without a repulsion spell!? how do you maintain a mastless ship design without a wind spell!? how!?” as all manner of regality the empress had was thrown out of the window in the wake of the revelation that those ships uses zero magic at all.
“By engineering so advanced it would take decades to catch up your highness. The student exchange can still happen but instead of magical academies, we could take your students to study in engineering and science academies throughout France. Does that work your highness?” Charlotte replied.
The Empress is till having a hard time believing what she was told, if this is true, then the Kirin empire would be so far advanced in the mechanics it would be a respected world power in it's own right (as if Amaterasu isn't a respected world power already). So she replied: “Y….yes, I think that might do us well in the future. Pray tell, will you mind giving me a tour into one of your ships? I’m highly interested at how those bahemoths work” the empress is not going to take the delegate’s word simply right here. She wanted to see whether or not these French do have the mechanical capabilities to make such advanced ships.
“Oh, i’m sure I can arrange something regarding tours or anything similar. But I need to talk with the Captain of the warship first, we can inform you at around 3:00PM tops on whether or not we are ready to present you with a tour”
“Oh don’t worry about that, I can wait” The Empress replied and knowing that formal discussions are over. She asked the delegate another question
“Would you like to have some lunch with me? I have traditional Amaterasu salad lined up” The empress asked the French delegate
“Oh no thank you your majesty. Humans are omnivores, we cannot survive with vegetables alone”
“Just like the Griffons, very interesting. Very well then, chef! prepare us some Griffon meat dishes!” as the empress commands the nearby chef to make a meat dish served from fish taken off the coast. “It is tradition for the Kirin to offer the delegates of other nations food after negotiations. I hope you would like to honour our traditions by participating in our lunch yes?” The empress asked.
“Well if you say so, lead the way Empress” the delegate replied as they were soon led to the dining table.

Canterlot Castle, 1:00PM, +12 days after event

“and it looks like French forces have finally taken Appleloosa princess” Daring do reported to the princesses. Ever since she returned to Canterlot, she told her editor to suspend any new publication of Daring Do novels because she just got a new job as official liaison between mr Julien Thomas and Princess Celestia. She will continue writing her Daring Do books of course, but with her getting this work purely out of circumstance, she needs to allocate more time just to write her books.

“Very good Daring. Thank you very much, it’s good to have you back” the Princess replied. Even after the presentation mr Julien Thomas presented, the French never continued to amaze her with the speed of their advance. When she was fighting King Sombra during the Crystal wars, it took her army some 2 months with her personally leading the advance against King Sombra’s crystal armies, and the French did the same thing in just 1 day.

Simply amazing the Princess thought as she continued sifting through her paperwork, only to be met with a huge stack of papers. Oh dear, It looks like it’s going to be one of those days again she thought when she saw the stacked paperwork laid in front of her, halfway into her daily grind a thought came to her mind, the old topic of Parliament and how amazing such a concept is in hindsight. Am I overtaxing myself? should I brought back the Idea of Parliament back into national consciousness? the French seemed to have no problems with their own parliament Celestia thought as she continued working until the end of the daycourt, thinking about forming parliament throughout the day.

******

Large reserves of oil found just off the coast of France

The first steel foundry was reopened in France and production of the warships is continued back to normal as the first shipment of Iron ores from Equestria reached Strasbourg, France

The Kirin Empress and French delegation discuss about the formation of diplomatic relationships between Amaterasu and France. The Empress is shocked when she was informed that the French don’t use magic at all.

The banque de France have established a stable exchange rate between the Euro and the Equestrian bit: 1 Euro=2 Bits

French companies are seen investing in Equestria as Imerys mining just purchased mining rights in specific areas located on Unicorn range. The first mineral engineers are transported via ship to Vanhoover and are about to conduct geological surveys for Iron veins or any other important veins containing ores.

French troops have just taken Appleloosa and Dodge City. The first part of operation Alarme is a major success for French troops, howitzers and field guns are being moved for the second part of Operation Alarme. The invasion of the badlands.

Author's Note:

So about the part between Maud and Limestone

BEST PLATONIC FRIENDS!!! NO MORE NO LESS!!!

m-maybe close friends if you don't mind

Comments

[Ponelover]

6638818

Alien Space Bats, a term used by alternate history nerds classifying a story where a country is ripped apart from our reality/universe into another universe.

[grievousrommel]

6638826 Ah, so that's what it meant. Been trying to figure that out when reading reviews for 1648.

[HB_DS2013]

6638826 In that case, this is the second ASB I've read.

[ArcTech_KO]

I'm liking it!

[Theortheo]

6759270
Very late I know, but I thought I'd tell you. We have no NATO troops stationned in France other than our own. We're a sovereign nation. Not an American base.