Boots on new land
Somewhere near the edge of the Badlands
Equestria – Febuary 24th, 1700 A.D.
The water gently lapped against the sand-covered beach. The salt causing the water to fizz as it retreated after each wave broke the banks. Behind the desert, a grassland expanded in every direction with small clusters of trees every so often. A thicker forest could be seen in the distance. Beyond the forest to the west, reddish-grey mountains tipped with snow stood as a natural wall.
The ships HMS Falken and the HMS Stralsund had probed this landing site for days, going so far as to draw a crude map of the area.
Said ships were now overseeing the landing site. Located north and south of a small merchant-ship fleet, which was quickly moving up towards the banks. On board these commandeered merchant ships were hundreds of Swedes, stocked with food, building equipment as well as a detachment of the newly created Royal Swedish Marines. These troops were almost entirely copied from the British marines, who fought the Netherlands in 1664. They were nonetheless trained in warfare at sea and landing upon foreign land. Truth be told, the word trained was perhaps too much credit. A crash course would be a more adequate word.
The merchant ships had been modified as well. They now had a gate at the front and their bottoms had been made shallower. The thought behind these ships were that they could be deliberately run aground and the gates could be open with soldiers pouring out. This was the grand vision, at least. The landing site that they had selected seemed completely free of any native activity, which is why it had been selected in the first place.
The first of the ships got close to the banks, getting as close as it possibly could. Soon, a thunk could be heard as the ship ran aground. It was still around 20 meters til the edge of the beach, but this didn't deter them. If the ships ran aground, a man could walk there.
The large gates at the front were released, splashing down into the water. A small group of soldiers jumped out into the water, soaking their "water resistant" boots. They began to wade towards the beach, taking care to not douse their weapons in water. Wet powder was useless and therefore the soldiers would be left only with their rapiers if that were to happen.
It didn't take long for more soldiers to join them as they made their way to the beach. Their eyes scanned from side to side. While they weren't very good marines, they without a doubt were good soldiers. The king had personally made sure that only veterans were selected for marine training. Some of these men had fought in the Nine Years' War.
The first group of marines took a few cautious steps unto the beach. They shook their boots, water splashing out of them. Some of them cursed, but most remained silent.
An officer stepped forward, being distinguishable from the soldiers by his fancier boots and sword. He waved towards his soldiers while scanning the horizon and the small clusters of trees. "Alright. Fan out. Try to keep low for the time being." The men crouched and walked out across the grass field, some choosing to secure the tree-clusters. As they gazed out along said fields, they spotted nothing but untamed wilderness. A small river ran down from the thicker forests in the distance.
Everything was quiet, save for the crunching of the soldiers boots and a few birds. No smoke was seen on the horizon. The wind was practically at a standstill, despite being right next to the ocean.
The officer had finally seen enough, an shouted to his troops. "Get back here. This place is empty." He turned to the merchant ships, seeing the civilians waiting in at the gates of the ships. He held up his hand and waved them over. They began to pick up thick bags and rucksacks of tools and materials. Some of the stronger men carried barrels of food, alcohol and water. They cautiously jumped down into the water, wading towards the banks.
With the site secured, he began giving out orders to his soldiers. "Alright, I need a tower over there. I want the tents to go up around there with a campfire in the middle. Get to it." The soldiers sprung into action, some running back to the civilians and helped them offload. Others began to chop down trees with their personal axes.
The officer had been worried that there wouldn't be enough trees, however that seemed moot. The trees in the area could easily support a small village as a start. The forest in the distance could be harvested in the future.
Forests around the landing site
Equestria – Febuary 27th, 1700 A.D.
Curious eyes peered out across the grasslands.
There had been commotion recently. A trade ship had been making its way down towards Saddle Arabia when it had spotted strange ships close to the coast, a few hundred miles south of Baltimare. The merchantpony wasn't stupid. He had heard the rumors of strange ships flying even stranger colors sailing the Equestrian Sea, sinking pirates. The taverns of Baltimare were ripe with rumors and legends, spoken by old seaponies.
Everypony had their own idea of what these strange creatures were, however the authorities hadn't commented on the issue. Most traders didn't pay them any heed as well, since these creatures hadn't outright attacked any traders of Royal Equestrian ships. In fact, most traders commended them in their way of dispatching the pirates who made their trade difficult.
This new development had however made heads turn. The strange creatures landing near the south tip of Haysend Swamps? This made the authorities in both Baltimare and Canterlot nervous. This was Equestrian land. On paper, at least. No pony lived anywhere close to the supposed landing site. With this in mind, the mayor of Baltimare had sent three pegasus scouts from the Baltimare Division to keep tabs on the creatures.
And so, these three lonely scouts found themselves in what they perceived as the middle of nowhere, laying on top of clouds and looking down as strange creatures standing upright were building a small village on the coast of de jure Equestrian territory.
"What do you think, Sky Wing?" The leader and older-looking one of them asked another, looking his way. The pegasus looked back. "I don't know... They do not look like they're building just a campsite. They seem to want to stay for quite a bit longer than that." He said and looked down upon the newly erected building in the middle, bearing a metal cross at the peak of it's roof.
"Wouldn't... Wouldn't that mean they're violating Equestrian sovereignty?" The third pegasus finally spoke up. The older one cast a glance against him, before returning it to the settlement below.
He finally nods, after a few moments. "In theory, yeah... But I do not expect these creatures to know that. Keeping in mind that no pony has ever seen anything like them, I'm quite sure that they don't." He shrugged and looked to the pegasus once more. "Who can blame them for not realizing it belongs to somepony? This place is literally uninhabited for miles upon miles. There is nothing saying that this even is Equestrian territory except being included on a map somewhere in Canterlot." The pegasus nodded in agreement.
"So, what do we tell the mayor?" Sky Wing asked, looking to his leader. Said older pony pondered in silence for a few moments, before looking back. "I think we should advice them to send a diplomatic team. If this is an honest mistake, then it shouldn't be too hard to rectify."
With that, the three pegasus pushed the cloud slowly towards the forest where they could make their escape without being detected. This information had to be given to the authorities as soon as possible.
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Oh boy, Swedish marines vs. Royal Guard when?
The Swedes better take over Equestria.
Anybody else have Sabaton playing through their head when they read this?
*Looks at map* So Russia finally got it's seaports and even without a war
And something funny with all this land vanishing the waterlevel in the Baltic- and North Sea would decrease a lot with all the water flowing into its empty spot.
So some new land to settle for Germany and Denmark.
I hope a new chapter can come sooner rather than a few months from now :P
8512462
Hey, give me some slack. I've been knee deep in the shit that is Discrete mathematics.
8308052
Well then, what do you think they sounded like?
Don't know if I said it before, but I hope this don't turn to a human is superior story. I have no problem with conflict but it can be really boring if it is one side winning. Keep up the good work.
För Svea Rike!
They are dumb if they think that they’ll leave peacefully. I can hear Carlos Rex playing.
I hope there will be finnish hakkapeliitas shock cavalry in the future as they were used in 1600 in Poland war but used in 1700 l dont actually know if they were used during that time.
Does anyone know if a new chapter will be published anytime shortly? As from what I can tell so far it’s a rather interesting read and I can’t wait for more!
8666593
It's not dead, if that's what you're asking :P
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/208/276/valve_time_clock_by_vectorjeff-d2xex1g.png
I have been waiting for the new chapter lol.
*Grabs popcorn*
8971414
Haha, as if that dynamic is new to Sweden. It has spent its entire history fighting larger, more numerous opponents ;P
8971924
I wouldn't really say that the empire dissolved in that war. It was a giant setback, true. We still held Finland and parts of Norway. No, the real death of the Empire came when we joined the wrong side in the first of the Napoleonic Wars.
Nice to see you taking an interest, though! :)
Is there any chance this will update?
9257236
Yeah, I have two chapters in the works. But, I'm in my final year at Uni and I dont have much time for anything, really😅
9259310
YAY! At least it's not abandoned! No rush then
I'm waiting for Equestria to learn WHY Carolus Rex is such a tactical genius.
Please more please continue this fic
9259310
*in caveman voice and poking you with a stick* You write. update story. *proceeds to make ape noises*
Informative: This Unit demands more of this 'story'.
8972233
When the action starts I shall listen to the English version of Carolus Rex.
You no I'm still waiting for the dam story
This fic got posted on r/Nordichistorymemes
Oh and Ben Shapiro read part of it
9762905
Lol, wat. Thats really cool xD
Good, good, a diplomatic team will do well.
You will continue this correct?
9937568
And this mockery of "diplomacy" you speak of is for foolhardy xenophobics with a marked lack of wise thought who wouldn't know friendship if it hit their face and covered it.
Really looking forward to the rest ! If it's ever made though
You gonna continue this one mate?
Sweden definitely deserves credit as being the first to invent line tactics with muskets and most likely later on the fire by rank tactic, so please continue this I’m very exited to see what happens.
Edit: also I love this story keep going.