Epilogue
[It is on this abrupt note that this entry in the Blueblood Manuscript comes to a close. While the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Virion Hive and the Medusita Massacre are well known to casual fans of history, I believe that my nephew’s narrative deserves to be sufficiently rounded-out by some much-needed context. Once again, we return an appropriate passage to Paperweight’s ‘A Concise History of the Changeling Wars’.]
The Battle of Virion Hive is seen as the turning point of the war, which is not an entirely inaccurate assessment. The battle was a decisive strategic victory for Equestria; the first hive city had been taken, and with it two thousand ponies liberated and the sustenance they provided was denied to the enemy. The Equestrians held the initiative, the Changelings were in retreat, and the Twilight Sparkle Reforms were vindicated.
It would be more accurate, however, to call it an ‘escalation point’. Prior to the battle, the small, elite, and well-trained but poorly-led Royal Guard fought hoof-to-hoof against vast, un-disciplined, and fanatical hordes of Changeling drones. Following the completion of the Twilight Sparkle Reforms in Equestria and copycat reforms within the Changeling Hives, increasingly larger armies of Equestrian volunteers armed with muskets exchanged disciplined volleys with equally-armed Changeling conscripts, and increasingly deadly artillery and even poison gas were employed by both sides. Virion Hive had ultimately marked an escalation in the scale, technology, intensity, and savagery of the war.
It was the Medusita Massacre where this escalation had finally culminated. The unthinkable had happened - Equestrian soldiers had murdered civilians, and officers, up to and including Field Marshal Iron Hoof, had attempted to cover it up. The resulting public outcry when Lord Commissar-Prince Blueblood exposed the atrocity was the final nail in the coffin of the old guard of officers.
Princess Celestia’s decision to appoint herself Warmistress of Equestria could not have been taken lightly, but that the resurrection of this ancient title, forever tainted by its association with Nightmare Moon, was accepted by Parliament with only minor dissent is a testament to the sheer outrage felt by her subjects. In doing so, Princess Celestia was entrusted with total power over the entire apparatus of the Equestrian state and its military, after centuries of the gradual dispersion of royal alicorn authority to nobility and the slowly-developing democratic institutions.
However, with millennia of political experience, she was prescient enough to know that this would not be without controversy. Public reaction was positive at the time, for after two years of inconclusive fighting and the slaughter at Virion Hive, Princess Celestia was finally taking decisive action in leading her country. A few malcontent journalists and politicians complained about a return to the tyranny of ancient Equestria, but our Princess soon proved them wrong. She organised and consulted heavily with a cross-party cabinet from the democratically-elected House of Commons called the War Cabinet, consisting initially of Prime Minister White Hall, Foreign Secretary Fancy Pants, War Secretary Blowtorch, and Minister for Labour Clementine. It would later expand as the requirements of the war continued to evolve.
It has become fashionable in recent years for so-called revisionist historians to attempt to paint Princess Celestia’s role as Warmistress in a more negative light. It is claimed that her interference in the running of the war had led to costly mistakes with unnecessarily high casualties. To counter this ridiculous charge one only needs to point to the previous two years of mismanagement and stalemate. This flagrant character assassination of our Princess is nothing more than a misguided and malignant attack on the very foundation of Equestria itself.
[Paperweight goes on to complain about historical revisionism for seven more paragraphs, which I have cut because it is not relevant. I will say, however, that his apparent need to defend my reputation from criticism is misguided. While this book is excellent at providing an abridged narrative history of the Changeling War, his tendency to excuse or dismiss genuine mistakes and lapses of judgement that I had made as Warmistress, including the delay it took for me to reluctantly take the position, taints it.]
In becoming Warmistress again for the first time in more than a thousand years, Princess Celestia had adapted the role for the requirements of modern war. She would not personally lead her ponies into battle as she had done in the ancient wars of conquest, but from Canterlot she would direct the operational conduct of the war at the highest level, marshalling the vast resources and institutions of the state to achieve total victory over the Changelings. In practice, this often meant managing the clashing personalities of her generals and civil ministers. In serving as a mediator in such disputes, Princess Celestia would ensure cooperation between all aspects of the war effort and a unity of vision in operational strategy. Later, she was overheard to quip to her personal assistant, Raven Inkwell, that she ‘feels more like a herd resources manager than a warlord’.
Her first act as Warmistress was to remove Field Marshal Iron Hoof from command. He had struck a deal with the war crimes investigation to provide further evidence against Second Fiddle in exchange for his freedom, and had believed this would also ensure that he kept his job. Princess Celestia, however, declared that his poor conduct of the war thus far was sufficient grounds for his removal, citing his singular lack of initiative and stubborn rejection of modern innovations in war as making him thoroughly unsuitable for the job. Iron Hoof would never receive another command and would go on to run an unsuccessful campaign for prime minister. His promise to bring a quick end to the war by immediately opening peace negotiations with Queen Chrysalis gained some popularity with the electorate following the costly campaigns that followed Virion Hive, but although the charges against him were dropped, his association with Second Fiddle had damaged his reputation beyond repair. He would become a writer, and spent the rest of his life defending his war record.
As for Commissar-General Second Fiddle, a lengthy and politicised court martial found him guilty of murder and he was sentenced to be transferred to a penal unit, an innovation he had brought to the Royal Commissariat. His ultimate fate is not recorded by history, but it is believed that he was either killed in action or merely faded away in ignominy and failure. Penal units were not known for their meticulous record-keeping, unlike the rest of the bureaucratised Equestrian Army, so it is unlikely that the truth will ever be found. Either way, what had been a promising career in the Commissariat had been thrown away in the vain pursuit of glory.
With Iron Hoof out of the picture there came the problem of replacing him. General Market Garden seemed like the obvious first choice, and she was so confident of being selected that she commissioned a new uniform from her Saddle Row tailors to go with the promotion she believed was inevitable. Princess Celestia, however, appointed General Hardscrabble to the position instead, and mollified a despondent Market Garden with a peerage title -- Viscountess of Virion. When questioned about this choice, the Princess explained to journalists that ‘Market Garden is a sledgehammer -- slow, ponderous, but unstoppable when it gets going. I need a pony aggressive enough to wield that sledgehammer effectively, and that pony is Hardscrabble’.
Another one of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s new rising stars, Hardscrabble had commanded the 2nd Army’s drive south on the western flank of the 1st Army’s main thrust. As the 1st Army’s offensive had bogged down in siege warfare and counter-insurgency operations in Virion Hive, it was outpaced by the 2nd Army’s spectacular advance. His success there had been overshadowed by the capture of Virion Hive and subsequent events there, but it was of great strategic importance in cutting off the Changelings’ western supply routes through the Mysterious South.
An earth pony farmer from Ohayo, quiet and sensitive in his youth, Hardscrabble seemed an unlikely candidate to command all of Equestria’s armies. However, he understood more than others the concept of modern war, and that the only way to end the Changeling threat to Equestria was the total military defeat of their war-swarms and the destruction of their economic base to force a favourable conclusion to the war. Market Garden’s strategy of capturing hive cities to cut off the enemy’s source of food was one interpretation of this concept, but the Siege of Virion Hive had shown that besieging cities was a slow and costly method.
Instead, Hardscrabble devised a bold strategy that would strike at the Changeling Lands from multiple directions. Instead of capturing hive cities, these would be isolated and cut off from the Queen’s Hive so that their harvested love would not sustain the bulk of the enemy’s population. The 2nd Army was to sweep south and then east in a hook, while the 3rd Army would cut off the enemy’s access to the Celestial Sea. The 1st Army would strike directly into the Changeling Heartlands with the aim to threaten the Queen’s Hive to force the war swarms into a decisive battle. Princess Celestia summed up the strategy succinctly with perhaps uncharacteristic bluntness in a letter to Hardscrabble:
“You are to wrap your hooves around the enemy’s neck and squeeze, and to keep on squeezing until all life has been crushed out of her. Never stop, never loosen your grip, never allow her a moment of respite to even think about her plots and schemes.”
Princess Luna too had not been idle. Though Celestia had taken her coveted old title, Princess Luna would find a new role to play, her ‘war in the shadows’ as she referred to it. Their vast slave populations presented the Changelings with a problem and Equestria with an opportunity: the enemy had to expend ponypower on maintaining order, but with Equestrian assistance the slaves could be turned into a secret army within to tie down even more drones away from the frontlines. To this end, small, elite units were formed and dispatched behind enemy lines, with the aim to foment slave uprisings and to sabotage infrastructure and supply lines. Market Garden had called this an ‘unladylike’ approach to war, and the name stuck - The Ministry of Unladylike Warfare.
The war was about to enter its deadliest phase as the Badlands Campaign started in July of that year. However, nopony could have anticipated how ambitious Queen Chrysalis’ plans had become, and that perhaps one of the most decisive actions of the conflict would be decided hundreds of miles away across the sea.
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I can hear the declaration of war from a third party already.
And thus, one book of Blueblood's Adventures end. And the war rages on.
I missed this. And Derpy's willingness to smuggle out the letter, the swift and sudden hand of Inquisitorial Justice, that is to say Princess Luna, was very well written. Looking forward to the next installment for sure.
I love those informations and context on the rest of the war. I kinda wish there were a bit more of them.
Just a few things that caught my attention.
- Penal Units could mean we would see Second Fiddle again but I have my doubts. It could however mean we could see Blueblood fight or at least be posted near a Penal Unit.
- Wouldn't giving the Virion a Viscountess, an equestrian noble title to an equestrian, cause trouble with the locals? Wasn't one of the point of this story that the Equestrian weren't there to rule but to liberate the ponies here so they could rule themselves?
- the Mysterious South. I like it. It feels like a fun playground to send Blueblood into.
- Is Handscrabble inspired by a general in real life?
- And how did Handscrabble made it so far south and east in the desert of the Badland without stretching his supply lines? The First Army didn't even get the train to Virion Hive within this story and logistics were barely catching up. How did he split his army going south?
- the 3rd army group by the sea sounds like they had to deal with pirates and smugglers in their rear.
- Luna efforts sounds like there is potential to have even more ponies from the show getting where Blueblood is. Unladylike warfare...
- You didn't leave a note on your next project, are you talking a break?
11092443
That mean Blueblood political saviness, life aboard as a foal and talent for language will probably get him shipped across the globe
Holy Cragmorton sir, but this is great stuff. Very well written, nicely told war story, with all the epic sweep of such, while never losing the perspective of somepony who doesn't really want to be here. This ending, is just the perfect capstone on this particular arc too. It offers the end of this style of warfare, showing why it had worked, but that the cost was too high in horsepower and supplies. It CAN work, but it will take so much time that by the end, it would by the very definition of a Pyrrhic victory.
As someone who's only knowledge of Ciphas Cain comes from this, the MLP Loops, and The Beacon Civil War(A RWBY Fanfic with Jaune Arc in the Ciphas role), I can't tell you how well this fits into his character, but dang if it ain't fantastic work all on its own. I love your Blueblood, as he's just this side of hateable. Who he was was terrible. Who he is is one of the most respectable people in a situation like this. Again, can't wait for more, and thank you for all the good hours of reading so far.
11092469
Thanks, I always appreciate your input and comments - reminding me to always think about about the greater context Blueblood finds himself in. To answer a few of your points:
As Viscountess of Virion, it's an honorific title, in the same way that Monty was made Viscount of Alamein and Wellington was made Viscount of Talavera
Hardscrabble is indeed inspired by another real life general. I thought it might be fun to have people guess, so I'll spoiler it - Ulysses S Grant. His drive south did indeed outpace his supply, but the land being more fertile to the west allowed his armies to live off it in a way the main thrust through the Badlands could not. Chrysalis had neglected her western flank, and being so focused on Virion Hive was unprepared to strike at a very vulnerable supply line, though this may change.
I forgot to leave a note, but I'll take a short break to plan out the next story - it's all in a blog post, but Blueblood will return in 2022.
11092489
Have you read the previous story too?
An ironic yet fitting end.
I wonder what will happen with Elytra. If King Thorax becomes a thing in this story, maybe the Hive reforms and the treaties between changelings and ponies would allow Blueblood to formaly adopt her.
Imagine the scandal.
11092509
. I really like your story and it's a perfect blend of MLP, WH40K and general war stories. I liked the gritty close quarter warfare if the first stories but the modernization of the setting is great to see happen in 'real' time. But it's not because the first form of combat is making way for the second that the first one won't happen again with the Equestrian/Changeling army but the other WH40K faction expy too. Especially since you have been hinting about the world at large too with the Mysterious South (Kludgetown, Hyppogrypgh Kingdom, Storm King Empire, Kirin territory, wherever was Somnabulla from, etc), closer to home (Crystal Empire, Prance, etc) and overseas (like Abyssinia, Zebra country, Prance, Parrot Isles, Yak country).
It's nice that an author read and consider my insane ramblings
You take care of mixing the technology and magic while mostly adding improvements in the former you still take in consideration what the later brings. Maybe you could use magic a bit more within the setting be it from mysterious artifacts found, dangerous locations like the mirror pool or innovation from the magic universities to spy on the ennemy or a new weapon).
But what I like in this story is how you brought to the front how the rest of Equestrian is doing their part. Whenever it's the rationing, the blimps for moving cargo, the Pegasus starting to think of uses for their weather control technology in the war or the artist doing shows for the troops.
Keep up the good work!
11092536
Indeed, it was a great read as well, though I do have to admit, thanks to this one already having that story as a foundation allowed it to build higher in terms of both plotting and character. This thing at the end would not have happened in that first story. Even Scarlet Letter would have had trouble getting this sort of thing to be allowed, but now we're in the thick of war, and ponies are sometimes willing to go to extremes to end it just that little bit faster, never realizing that all you're doing is dragging it out.
11092563
The thing is, some faction must have been providing the changelings with modern weapon.
Given the new "throttle" approach of the Equestrian army, someone must be sent to cut the supply. And who better than Blueblood?
11092615
True, the Changeling dont have the infrastructure and there is a limit on what you can steal and use against your ennemy at this scale.
If this is your plan for Captive Blood (oh boy that title is foreboding) is for Blueblood to stop the supply, you need a few things.
The first would be time skip for the war to progress some more and so Blueblood will have spent some time on the front once more so that when the opportunity to leave for a mission, it need to seem more attractive and less dangerous to him. A month or two of skirmishes, ambush, supply sabotage, patrol in the harsh badlands, dirty forward camps of the first Night Guards should do it. It would also give the opportunity for another overview of the war with Paperweight to give some needed exposure.
Second they need to follow and identify the smuggling routes to find the source. Changeling are natural at smuggling in cities with being able to disguise into others so using the other locals cities and trade routes are plausible. But they are also tunnelers and can absolutely have routes underground of some of the borders of the Badlands, so even if Equestria tighten the noose, pluging all those holes in net will be hell. They have been here for centuries, they know the terrain better and had plenty of time and bugpower to dig all that network. Solution, follow the trail and cut it at the source.
But take time so it would also justify the time skip. And Equwstria have the three sides of the Badlands to watch and all the tribes of locals to pacify so it will be hard to do and an immense territory to cover. West, South and East are all options for where the guns are coming from, probably all three if Chrysalis is throughout or prudent enough. That three possible trails for Equestria secret services to follow... Maybe it would be time to introduce a second author after Paperweight that would focus on the more secretive aspect of the war and the work they have done in Intelligence?
After they find a trail, it's plausible that what they find is only the middleman too! Or that middleman or supplier is a political nightmare to tackle depending on Equestria foreign policy and history with said place. Heck, other countries might not look favorably at Equestria intervention in whatever investment they have elsewhere.
At least it won't be in some hellish place like the Dragonlands or Bugbear Territory... who am I kidding, Blueblood will probably wish he never left for whatever forsaken place you will send him to
.
After that... well, Blueblood have to get there, wherever it will be, so in itself it can be an adventure. Depending on who you pick as his entourage, it can make things very interesting with the problems that can befall them. Storms, pirates and bandits, Changeling spies, other countries spies, sickness, running out of booze, stomach turning foreign cuisine, random monster encounter (this is the world of MLP after all, there are weird shit all over).
11092509
merely next year? hurrah! gotta say i love this story, one of the few good war stories i have read that keep the focus of an actual war. i don't have paragraphs to spout at you so i'll keep it short. love your story, can't wait for more.
One of the questions I have is what will be the repercussions of the massacre of those civilians. Blueblood is quitting, Iron Hoof is demoted and Second Fiddle is sent to a Penal legion but the locals will ask for their pounds of flesh. The situation between Equestria and them are tense as it is, so I am curious on what will be their reactions and what Celestia and Luna will offer for reparations to appease them?
Another great story of yours finished and I eagerly await the next. Job well done
This series just keeps getting better and better. Looking forward to the third installment.
Looking forwards to the next chapter! Great so far. Happy holidays. And good for the ponies that when faced with the horrors of war, they share the news so that they can make sure they never happen again.
11092443
And Celestia is Eisenhower now, isn't she
11092509 Ah. I should have guessed. Hardscrabble was the name of a certain Missouri farm (which utterly failed to pay for itself, never mind the family of the owner).
11093215
Soooo, your saying Handscrabble will screw-up in his new position as a general? Mismanage the budget?
11093502 No- I'm saying Hardscrabble is a failure at pretty much everything except war.
11092698
I was wondering, could the Storm King have been using the changelings to "soften up" Equestria for when he decides to invade?
11094618
I think it's really plausible. At the same time he is probably studying them. He would probably have preferred that they remained soft and unprepared but the war with the Changeling changed that.
Kind of curious as to Twilight's reaction to the massacre, as well as her escapade with Blueblood getting out. Amazing work dude.
-My reaction to Warmistress of Equestria was "oh no, Celestia is Horus" but i really should have known better.
-Penal legions? In Equestria? It surprisngly dosent feel out of place. Eghh i dont really think Second Fiddle can last there at all. Personaly i hope we wont see him again
-It is really fitting that the Changelings would copycat and learn from Equestrian reforms. Probably a trend that will continue, but id enjoy seeing some own Changeling ingenuity. Becouse they really have interesting stuff. Like that material that self-repairs on Virion Hive. Really cool
-Dont know my war history but it sounds Iron Hoof is directly inspired from History. Seems guy will never give it up.
-Princess Luna must have heard Market Garden about that and immidietly took it on. She must damn hate it haha.
Gotta say. This has been this years and prior favorite series on Fimfiction. I loved it and always looked towards it. It is a well written and thought out gem. Im looking forward to what else you will write!
I very much enjoyed the first part of this tale. Now to dive into the sequel.
Well done! Looking forward to part three!!!
Love this story and I'm looking forward to seeing it continued this year
11095659
Like I said in a previous post, penal legions were Second's idea after all.
Still, I don't believe the Equestrian version are as bleak and cruel as the ones in Warhammer. At least they won't be using explosive collars.
Exquisite conclusion to this part of the war, especially the use of Best Pony. Never confuse optimism and strabismus with foolishness. Looking forward to the next installment of the Blueblood Papers, especially as the war continues to escalate in unladylike ways.
11103786
Let's just hope things won't devolve into a legal system that send "criminals" into penal legions for a yes or a no or even to make quota. You'll end up with ponies that have done minor offenses getting sent to Penal Legions just to fill the ranks.
I know Equestria probably won't turn into the grimdark of WH40K but just thinking of Trouble Shoes ending in a Penal Legion because he broke a few stuff at a rodeo...
Ooh, hope Blueblood does some more unintentional badassery in the sequel.
I've been enjoying this series a lot. Warfics like this and Good Trooper Gilda are certainly interesting AUs to be had. If I had a complaint it would be that we don't see Luna's thoughts years later, especially given how her attitude to Blueblood changed as he had as a person, but that's a minor nitpick really.
11092469
Handscrabble reminds me of stonewall Jackson just less warcrimey. At least by earth standards
11092509
oh interesting, I thought the campaign south to plunder and burn the backbone of Southern resistance was jacksons idea, not grants. Do I have my history mixed up?
A solid conclusion to this book. Thanks for writing it.
This was a great read all the way through. Even though I found it two years late, now I can go straight to the sequel!
11107562
Princess Luna has borne many epithets over the years, with varying degrees of validity. "Ladylike" is not one of them.
11289198
First off, i wasn't referring to the slaves.
Secondly that's not even true, something that we see with ex changeling slaves preferring their changeling overlords as it was structured, peaceful and predictable.
Reading this brings me the same feelings that watching Indiana Jones does. I'm loving the story.
You can has review!
Second binge down.
I really like how we're getting into a lot of real-world analogies to the events of the war. Very cool inserts. some good foreshadowing as well.
I hope we get to see more of Odonata. She turned into a very interesting character.
Seems like the depths of historical research that went into this series also extend to historiography. Paperweight strikes me as one of the so-called "Orthodox" school of Cold War historiography in his bias towards his Princess and country, and in his complaints on a revisionist school of historians.
Interesting how, while taking Virion Hive could be a climax for the story as well, it continues, putting the focus on Second Fiddle arc. While Chrysalis is somewhere out there as a greater scope villain, Second Fiddle is the true big bad of this one and defeating him is righfully the true climax.
I see a possibility to use Second Fiddle down the road using another 40k unit from the past. The 13th Penal Legion. Or known as the Last Chancers. Alongside Lunas new role his character could possibly get a chance at redemption.
11770995
The problem is Colonel Schafer would take one look at a failed Comisar, especially one like Second Fiddle and shoot him on the spot. Second Fiddle is untrustworthy, cowardly and far too gung ho for anyone's good. I'm personally of the opinion that Market Garden and Blueblood should have just killed both Second Fiddle and that fool Iron Hoof.