Fire in the Sky

by Wolfbrother

Secret Army

The skies were clear over Equestria. No rain, only a few clouds. Not too cold. No wind. Perfect flying conditions. And soaring over the land, making full use of the good weather, were two pegasi. One was male, white, with a short blue mane. The other was female, cyan, with a rainbow-coloured mane. They were gliding slowly, not hurrying as they flew towards the mountainside city of Canterlot. Since Captain Wolf had sent a letter to Princess Celestia, his urgency had ended, and Rainbow Dash decided this was as good a time as ever to get the rest of her answers. Why wait until they reached Canterlot? She glided closer to Wolf.

“So, why were you looking for a catalyst?” she asked, “Are we going to war?”

“You really can’t wait until we get to Canterlot, can you?”

“No, I can’t. Answer the questions.”

Wolf sighed. “I could get court-marshalled for this. Promise me you won’t go repeating anything I tell you.” Rainbow Dash promised.

“Yes, we were looking for a catalyst. A reason to go to war with the Griffons.” Wolf said.

“Why?”

“That’s a long story.”

“It’s a long flight.”

Wolf laughed. “Ok then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” he began.”Eight hundred years ago, this part of the world was very different. There were many smaller nations, and plenty of petty feuds. Few nations trusted each other, and most kept to themselves. That changed when the Griffon nations banded together and formed a single nation. This didn’t seem like a big deal, but then the strength of the Griffon military started increasing. They were building an army, and it wasn’t going to be just for defence. Other nations started to get worried, and started to increase their military spending hugely. But not us. The Griffons had never warred against Equestria, and we weren’t a danger to them. But the Griffons got stronger and stronger, and slowly our fears grew larger and larger. Then finally the Griffons did attack. Not us or any of our neighbours, but east. We thought that would be the end. The Griffons would spread east as much as they wanted, and we could keep farming and building our economy. Other nations remained suspicious, and increased their militaries further, but we figured this meant the end, that everyone would be happy. We were wrong.

A few years later, the Griffons returned to the west. The nations who had spent the most on their militaries had burned out, their economies unable to keep up with their spending. They were easy pickings for the Griffon armies. At last we realised the danger, and built up an army. By the time the Griffons had conquered the nations between us and them, we were ready. And we weren’t alone. South-west of the Griffons was the nation of Trotland. South of the Griffons, three smaller nations had joined forces to form a nation called the Coalition. All of us were prepared to defeat the Griffons. When the right time came, we attacked. And that’s when everything went wrong.

The Griffons were far more powerful than we thought. They had become stronger during their wars in the east. Our armies were destroyed. The Griffons attacked back. Trotland was ravaged. The Coalition forces were in full retreat, the Griffons chasing after to prevent them from regrouping. We managed to form another army, but that was also defeated by the Griffons. Equestria was invaded. We were on the brink of capitulation, all hope was lost, when a young pegasus, a Commander named Park Flyer, gathered Equestria’s last remaining reserves and defeated one of the Griffon armies. That changed everything. Since the start of the war, the Griffons had never been defeated. They didn’t know what to do, and they stopped advancing. This allowed us to ready our defences and let the Coalition forces regroup, and the winds of revolution started to blow in conquered countries, once they realised the Griffons weren’t invulnerable. But the war wasn’t won yet, not by a long shot. The Griffons were still strong, so when they offered the chance to end the war, we took it. But the terms were harsh. We were banned from having an army other than a restricted guard force. Our military history was not allowed to be taught. We lost land. And every year we pay the Griffons taxes, or ‘reparations’ as they call them. Princess Celestia had banished Princess Luna to the moon two hundred years prior, and didn’t have the energy to continue the war. So she accepted.

Eight hundred years of paying taxes has passed. But now Princess Luna is back. It is time to stop paying taxes, time to retake our land. And that is why we are going to war with the Griffons.”

Rainbow Dash mulled over what she had just heard. “But why do we need a reason? Why don’t we just attack?”

“Reparations aside, the region has been at peace for eight hundred years. Some nations may not approve of going to war, and we need to have a reason, else they might support the Griffons.”

They flew in silence for a few more minutes, before Rainbow Dash spoke up again. “Your story just raised further questions.”

“Such as?”

“If Equestria, Trotland and the Coalition tried and almost failed to defeat the Griffons before, what makes you think we can do it alone now?”

“A number of things. We have the element of surprise. Improved tactics. A different organisation of our army. The fact that the Griffons have gone eight hundred years without facing a competent opponent. And the hope that, should we start winning, other nations will also rise up against them.”

“Do you think that will happen?”

Wolf looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. No one can know for sure what will happen in a war. But it’s a distinct possibility and I’m willing to take the chance.”

“Ok, another question. You said one of the terms was no army. How do we have one, then?”

Wolf grinned broadly at this. “That is because one of the higher ups had a stroke of genius. We used the recent attack on Canterlot by the Changelings to recruit more guards, and then used that as a cover while we shifted older guards into positions in the army and leading training camps. We raised the main force slowly over a long period. Talking to the relatives of guards, and others, doing a careful analysis of everyone to make sure they can be trusted to keep a secret. It’s taken many months, but we have managed to build quite a substantial army. I’m only a Captain, so I don’t know the full details.”

“How substantial?”

“I believe the maximum army we could raise would be nearing a hundred thousand ponies, around half of them pegasi.”
Rainbow Dash was shocked. A hundred thousand ponies! She couldn’t even comprehend an army that size.

“That’s twice as big as we need, hopefully.” said Wolf, noticing her expression. “Since almost all Griffons can fly, earth ponies and unicorns are fairly useless against them. They are in case of emergencies, and won’t be called up for the initial invasion. The invasion force is completely pegasi based. They're camped out in forests closer to the border, well camouflaged and waiting for the order to move.”

“So, when we get to Canterlot...” Rainbow Dash began.

“We are at Canterlot.” Wolf interrupted.

Rainbow Dash looked up, and sure enough, Canterlot was right ahead of them, only a few more minutes flying away. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed.

“So, what happens now?”

“I give my report to my superiors, and then I return to my Division and await further orders. You may do whatever you want, but you won’t be allowed to travel with me to my Division.”

“Why not?”

“Only members of the unit and ponies with ranks higher than Field Marshal are allowed to know the location of the unit. The fewer ponies that know what our forces are like the better. I’ve already told you far too much as it is.”

“So, what, I just go home and act surprised when I hear about the invasion?” asked Rainbow Dash in a flash of anger.

“Yup.”

They flew together through the streets of Canterlot and landed outside the entrance to the palace, Rainbow Dash still seething. Wolf muttered to the guards stationed at the entrance, who saluted and let them in without a word. They walked down the halls and stopped outside another guarded door. Rainbow Dash went to open it, but Wolf stopped her.

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash. You’ll have to wait outside.”

With that, Wolf opened the door and walked into the room, shutting it behind him. Rainbow stared at the door in disbelief. She started pacing the corridor, thinking to herself about all she had just learned. For fifteen minutes she stalked the corridor, ignoring the stares of the two guards, before Wolf remerged. By then she had made her decision.

“Wolf, I want in. I want to join the invasion force.”

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A/N Congratulations to Edragon, who figured out the identity of Commander Desert Fox. Sorry about the amount of dialogue in this chapter, but it was necessary. I will most likely add one more chapter after this one, before I edit the current story and fix all the errors that are so glaringly obvious now that they have been pointed out to me. Keep reviewing, it's the only way I'll improve.

Comments

[Edragon]

Hehe Trotland. So I wonder what the gryphons found in the east that tied up their military for so long and made them so battle hardened.
Also was their another "guess the commander" in this chapter? The only one I saw was Park Flyer and...I'm stumped on him...I even tried to cheat and only came up with RC airplanes If the clue was his rallying of the reserves well...too vague for me to guess Oh well, seems this story might end up making a RP joke of mine into a reality, Commander Dash of the Equestrian Sky Forces *salute*