A New Equestria

by Lil Penpusher

Times of Change

About 4 hours have passed since the phone call between Princess Celestia and Prince Blueblood. The war continues on, locked in a brutal stalemate, and the Equestrian High Command has been summoned to Canterlot to discuss something Celestia simply called "A Change of Strategy".

Deep inside the Castle, behind locked and guarded doors, sat the most influential military officials within Equestria, together with industrial tycoons who made a great effort to support the ongoing war. The conference room itself was dimly lit, and the ponies present were bent over a table on which a large map laid. It was a map showing the entire frontline with the changelings. On the map itself stood dozens of differently coloured flags, representing Equestrian divisions along the frontline.

"We have postponed our push in the south, for the time being. General Whiplash informed me that his formations are behind schedule," Grimhoof, the Chief of Army, reported. The others present could clearly see that the Equestrian forces in the area were inferior to those of the changelings by looking at the map.

"What about the push in the north?" Prince Shining Armour brought up, pointing his hoof towards the territories of the Crystal Empire. "We have divisions in place, with trained soldiers ready to fight the bugs at any moment."

"You must realise that your units lack the firepower to oppose the changelings, Prince," Field Marshal Fastclip commented.

"Indeed. Our troops are lacking vital supplies. Rifles, artillery and rations, mostly. With some Equestrian help we could-"

"Nope, none can do," Flim interrupted, co-founder of McIntosh Industries.

"Our ponies are already working day and night. No way we can support two big operations at once," Flam added.

"Air Force won't be giving you much help either, I'm afraid," Air Chief Marshal Blaze Firehooves added. "We've got a large scale bombing campaign planned to support the push in the south. Most of our fighters will be on escort duty, and prepping for the job has already begun."

"But Sir Grimhoof just said the Operation would be delayed! Surely you could scramble enough forces and equipment to aid a breakthrough." The Prince was growing irritated by the reluctance of his allies. Perhaps Equestrian lives were worth more to them than that of Crystal Ponies.

"The Operation is postponed, but not cancelled. Preparations are still well-underway. Redirecting forces to the north would simply cause both advances to fail and end in a slaughter," Grimhoof explained.

"Hundreds of thousands Crystal Ponies have to suffer Changeling occupation every day! I will not let you put their lives in second place!"

"Shining Armour, calm yourself!" Grimhoof insisted, stomping a hoof on the table.

"If you will not help me, I shall defeat the bugs myself!" the Prince shouted back.

"Silence!" echoed a voice throughout the room. There was immediate and absolute silence.

Blaze and Grimhoof stepped aside to let the Princess of the Sun walk up to the table. She stared straight at Shining Armour, who stood on the other side.

"You raise your voice here today, Prince?" She asked.

"Princess, I only wish to protect and save lives. My advance would-"

"Do the opposite. It would kill thousands of Crystal ponies. No air cover, insufficient equipment...it would be a massacre. And for what, Shining Armour?"

"To-"

"For what?" the Princess interrupted, her shouting causing some of the ponies present to wince. "You are as naive as you are proud, Prince!"

"Princess, you really don't have to-"

"Silence, I said!" Celestia barked back at Grimhoof. "My authority will not be challenged here today!"

The entirety of the room remained silent, either because of fear or because of respect.

"This quarrel here today has opened my eyes. For too long did the Military, of Equestria and Crystal Empire both, fight itself. Commanders grasping for glory and popularity, indecisive entrepreneurs hindering the war industry, service branches fighting for dominance between each other." Some ponies lowered their heads in shame, knowing that they were the ones addressed. "To circumvent and prevent such rivalries, feuds and infighting, and to preserve the fighting spirit amongst our troops, I, as the Princess of the Sun, hereby declare myself the final instance in military decision-making. All acts of military importance, no matter the branch, will be decided upon by me, in person. All who ignore these direct orders are to be seen as traitors to the crown."

Everyone was silent; frozen. The air was charged with the energy Princess Celestia was giving off during her speech.

"The punishment for disobedience and treason is death."

The voice of the Princess had grown cold, and yet warmth and energy radiated off of her with every word she said. And while her voice had become merciless and cold, her eyes had changed colours to a fiery orange. This, many ponies inside the room realised, was not the old Celestia anymore. But whatever the case, before them stood a pony willing to fight for her subjects, prepared to take the fight to the changelings.

"Times of change are upon us," the Princess said proudly. "We must not get bogged down in the past, indecisive and idle. The changelings have brought this war upon us, brought loss and terror to everypony's doorstep. I say, no more! We shall abandon our old feuds and rivalries and turn our sights on the enemy, at last! We will push back the invader, step by step, and bring this cursed conflict to their home! And then, at the very end, it will be us who are triumphant! Equestria, I promise you this, will prevail and we will be victorious!"

The immense amounts of energy the Princess gave off, combined with a fair amount of patriotism, caused a grand applause in favour of Celestia. The room, once shrouded in a depressing and sad dim light was now filled with a mystic energy that everypony in the room could feel, any yet nobody could explain what it was. At that moment, the mysterious force simply clouded their minds.

A new Equestria was on the rise, and with it, a new Princess.

Comments

[The oracle]

God emperor Celestia

[Lil Penpusher]

8935320
Sol Invicta!

[BradyBunch]

Now this is an Avengers level threat.

[M4Tiger4014]

8935324
So which branch of the focus tree are we going down? Looking like...left?

[PonyDragon]

I, as the Princess of the Sun, hereby declare myself the final instance in military decision-making. All acts of military importance, no matter the branch, will be decided upon by me, in person. All who ignore these direct orders are to be seen as traitors to the crown.

If you do everything by yourself you would need weeks to process the orders for just a single day...

A new Equestria was on the rise, and with it, a new Princess.

A princess? For now maybe.
But if the war goes on for too long the bugs may face a queen.
A queen which will make even their "fearless" queen shiver...