CH70: Wargame: Equestria
The Central Plaza in Canterlot was filled to the brim with ponies, waiting and cheering for the parade that was soon to begin. Twilight and her friends, minus Mystic, Pinkie and Spike were standing in the royal lounge, minus the royals who were currently busy preparing and later leading their respective special units.
Twilight was the only one who didn’t have a guard unit of her own, which she was entirely okay with. In truth, her biggest fear when she became a princess was that she would have to command her own guard, so when she heard that that was entirely optional, she really had a weight lifted off her chest.
Still, she was looking through the protective glass with a very melancholic look, something that her friends – Rainbow in particular – quickly picked up on.
“Twi, what’s wrong? You look so… sad, in a way.” Rainbow asked.
Twilight turned to her herdmate and gave a strained smile, before looking back out. “Sad is… not entirely correct, Rainbow. It’s more that… Recently I’ve noticed that ever since Markus came here, Equestria has undergone a subtle but consistent change.”
“Well, duh! I mean, we are his herdmates now and are mothers. Not to mention that he became a prince and has his own guard now.” Rainbow stated.
“Exactly. He is a prince, with his own guard. How do you think he managed to recruit ponies into it? Obviously, there is Mystic and the company he has led, back in the Gryphon War, but what about the other three companies? Ponies just came flocking to him when recruitment for Bravo and Charlie was opened and Delta just… appeared out of nowhere.” Twilight recounted.
“There`s a fourth company? Where did that come from?” Rainbow asked.
“Delta is a secret company for spy stuff that’s doing things that are so secret that not even the reader knows about it and that Twilight only found out about because Mystic slipped up.” Pinkie suddenly blabbered after appearing out of nowhere.
“Wait, Pinkie?! Aren’t you supposed to be in the balloon with Spike? And what was that about a reader? Oh, why do I even ask, it’s just Pinkie-stuff, am I right?” Rainbow answered her own question.
“Yeppers. :3”
“So anyways, Markus seems to be very popular, what’s wrong about that?” Rarity asked Twilight.
“Would this have been possible before Markus? Really, if you think about it, the Royal Guard only managed to exist because all of Equestria loves our Princesses and wants to protect them, which they achieve by being benevolent rulers that make every day in Equestria better than the day before – or at least they try to. Meanwhile, Markus has gained popularity because he is a war hero and thus the ponies that gather under his banner do so because they actually want to fight. At least, that’s what I think.” Twilight said.
“So? Darling, as much as I understand you, don’t you think that a guardspony that doesn`t want to fight has picked the wrong job?” Rarity pointed out.
“Yes, but that’s not what I meant. Look outside. All these ponies have gathered here to watch this parade. Don’t get me wrong, I know that there have been parades in the past, it’s just that all those times the focus has been on the princesses. This time, the focus sits on the guard itself. I don’t know what you think about this, but I get the feeling that ever since Markus came here, Equestria has become more and more militaristic and I find myself asking the question: is this really still the Equestria that I lived in and loved for all these years?” Twilight asked rethorically, while still looking through the glass.
“Aww, come on, Twi, don’t start with these ‘what if’s. That’s even more futile than trying to understand Pinkie Pie. We don’t know what would’ve happened if he hadn’t come here and we will never know. Well, except for one thing:” Rainbow said.
“What?”
“If he hadn’t come here, you would still be single.” Rainbow jabbed.
“You and me both, if I may remind you. Also, if he hadn’t come here, I’d have probably never seen the day when you use the word ‘futile’.” Twilight said back with just the traces of a forming smile.
“Awawawawa” Spectral Flash joined in from Rainbow’s back.
“And we wouldn’t have these two.” Rainbow added.
“And ya ain’t flyin around all th’ time anymore. Somethin’ that ah’m really glad ‘bout ‘cause yer constant flappin’ was makin’ me wanna swat ya like a fly sometimes.” Applejack added.
“EY!” Rainbow shouted in mock offence, eliciting a round of laughter from the gathered mares.
…Which was promptly interrupted when Pinkie’s voice started blaring from the speakers. “HEEEELLLOOOOO Equestria!!! Welcome to the first annual Equestrian Guards Competition! I am Pinkie Pie!”
“And I am Spike the Dragon and we will be your Commentors for the Competition, which should actually start any second now.”
“Yes, but before that, let’s have a word about our sponsor: Rai—“
Before Pinkie could finish her sentence, a spell catapulted her out of the balloon and a male voice off in the distance shouts: “NO!”
Spike twitches back when Pinkie is hit and watches her flight path for a moment, until she is out of sight.
“Ah.” He said. “Well, anyways, here they come! The first unit to march by is of course our beloved Royal Guard!”
“Yep!” Pinkie agrees, scaring Spike and making him almost drop his Microphone. “And listen how in-sync their clops are! They must’ve trained a lot for this!”
“Pinkie? Where do you come from? I thought you were just kicked all the way to Vanhoover!”
“Oh, I was, but I have teleporters stashed all over Equestria, in case of a teleporter emergency.” Pinkie answered.
“Teleporters? Isn`t that a little dangerous?” Spike asked.
“Oh, yeah, it is. I got them from a Stick figure that was half-way stuck in the ground, after all!”
Spike was more than just slightly disturbed by this and thus quitckly decided to change the subject.
“Well, yeah, anyways. Ahem. As I was saying, first comes the Royal Guard, led by none other than Captain Shining Armor! Pretty impressive how they manage to almost all look the same.”
“Yeah, but you can still see who the officers are. I mean, duh, they’re marching alone in between the formations.” Pinkie said.
“Yep and speaking of formations: I think that there is the last one for the Royal Guard. Next up are actually a few guests from the north that wanted to join in: the Crystal Guard! Led by none other than the Princess of Love herself: Princess mi Amore Cadenza.”
Cadence was marching in front of her Crystal Guard with her wings stretched to the sides and her chin held high. She had put on some extra make-up just for today.
“Ooooh, shiny.” Pinkie commented. “but in terms of formations, they almost look like the Royal Guard.”
“They also sound almost the same. Well, I mean given that they’re basically the Royal Guard of the Crystal Empire, that doesn’t really surprise me.” Spike said.
“Back in the war, they managed to hold the Empire almost on their own though.”
“Oh really? Well yeah, their bodies are literally made of crystal, so that doesn’t really surprise me either.”
“But they’re also far fewer in numbers. Look, they’re almost completely through!” Pinkie pointed out.
“Yeah, like I said: their crystal bodies really give them an advantage.”
“Yep. Probably also helped a lot that half the Gryphons in the north froze to death.”
Spike shuddered as Pinkie mentioned that.
“Alright, moving quickly on we have none other than the princess of the sun herself: Princess Celestia!”
“And right behind her is the Solar Guard and… oooh, do you hear that?”
Pinkie flattens her ears against her head when she hears the completely out-of-sync marching of the Solar Guard.
“Well, I mean they are Special Forces. I’m pretty sure parading isn’t usually on their duty roster.” Spike tried to excuse.
“I know, but they could at least try to be in sync!” Pinkie complained.
“Actually, Mark—ahem Prince Markus told me that marching in sync is done when detection is inevitable and all that’s left is masking your actual numbers. Meanwhile, when trying to sneak around, stepping in sync would make all your individual quiet steps add up to one really loud step, so they’re avoiding that on purpose.” Spike explained.
“Still, couldn’t they just learn to march for this?” Pinkie asked.
“Like I said, parading is likely usually not on their duty roster and parade marching is actually a lot harder than it sounds.” Spike said, before looking around with a slight look of panic. “N-Not that I tried it or anything, it’s just... you know… I heard stuff.”
“Well, at least their marching is very quiet.” Pinkie commented.
“Yes, like I said that’s because they don’t march in sync.“
“And because there are only so few of them. Look, we’re at the Lunar Guard already!” Pinkie chirps.
“What, really?!” Spike shouts, just as Luna passes by their balloon. “Uh, euh, sorry, uhm, now you see Princess Luna and her Lunar Guard!”
“A nice dark grey coat and purple armor, what a blessing for the eyes after all that shiny white and gold!” Pinkie said.
“Well, I mean the Crystals were all kinds of colours and their armor is pink.” Spike pointed out.
“But they’re still shiny!” Pinkie whined. “The Lunar Guards, however, know how to hide in the dark. Really, apart from the armor, there’s nothing on them that could reflect light and do you hear that?”
Spike and Pinkie both held their breath, as they listened to the slight rhythm the Lunar Guard was marching to.
“HA! I told you!” Pinkie shouted triumphantly.
“Yeah, so they squeezed a bit of marching practice in, so? Doesn’t change that it’s normally not what they do.” Spike pouted.
The Lunar Guard went past just as quickly as the Solar Guard did and then, there was silence.
“Wait, is the parade over already? Shouldn’t there be one more?” Pinkie asked in confusion.
“Let me check.” Spike said, picking up a list from the basket’s floor. “Yes, here it says ‘Shadow Guard’ as the last entry, so where—“
Just as he was about to ask, they could feel the basket start to shake and the sound of marching slowly became audible, before Markus rounded the corner.
“Wow, that’s intense! I can feel them marching and I’m in a balloon! I really pity you guys down there.” Pinkie said.
Spike meanwhile had a hard time standing upright, so he had to steady himself on the basket’s rim.
“Woah, uhm, and here you see our last formation: The Shadow Guard, led by Prince Markus!”
“Wow, something totally different! They’ve ditched the armor completely in favour of these green uniforms and masks! It feels like I’m looking into a forest!” Pinkie shouted excitedly. “Also, their formations are different: Up in front, directly behind Markus, we have Mystic and the officers of the Alpha Company marching in a triangle in front of the rest!”
“Wait, only the officers? I see six ponies down there, but there should only be Mystic and three officers. Who are the other two?” Spike asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe Alpha got larger, so they needed more officers?” Pinkie offered.
“Maybe.” Spike said, before he got momentarily drowned out by the increasing volume of their marching.
“Wow, that’s really loud. They must be stomping their hooves quite a lot for that.” He commented.
“Doesn’t that hurt? I mean I know what stomping feels like and I don’t like doing it for too long.” Pinkie asked.
“Eh, I’m pretty sure they’re used to it by now. Mystic told me ever since the competition was announced, she put only formal duty into the roster.”
Meanwhile at the front of the formation:
“Ow, I think I just chipped my hoof!” Octavia whined. “And this uniform sits really tight around my mare parts.”
“Good thing you’re also wearing this mask, so if anypony sees anything they don’t know whose they’ve seen.” Vynil snickered.
“You both should be glad that I can’t chew you out here and now. I’m sorry that I only had these two uniforms left, but this really isn’t the time to complain. Now hush, you’re losing your step!” Mystic chastised.
“Hey look, there comes Bravo!” Pinkie shouted, just as another group of officers rounded the corner. “And they only have four officers! Really, who are the other two?”
“I don’t know, but Bravo also doesn’t wear masks, so maybe they’re just that different?” Spike offered.
“Maybe, but—WHOA!!” Pinkie shouted when the last of Bravo had rounded the corner and the first of Markus’s new toys started rolling in. “So Prince Markus really is building new stuff. What are those?”
“I heard Mystic call them ‘Trucks’ before, but I have no clue how they work. I just know what I see and I see that they’re moving but there’s nopony pulling or pushing them.” Spike said.
“But I see somepony sitting in there, so maybe they`re pedaling?”
“Nope, they’re sitting too still for that.”
As Pinkie and Spike wonder about the new machines, the formation passes by, actually ending the parade this time around.
“Well, whatever these things are, they’re certainly new. What do you think, Pinkie, does the Shadow guard have more bangers like these up their sleeves?”
“If I were to guess, yes they do, but there’s only one way to find out: Watch the upcoming matches!”
“Yep and up first, it will be a 2v2v2v2v2 in an open area during daytime. Let’s see how that goes!”
The battle in an open area was a mess, to say the least. Every team started within earshot from the others, to allow for a bit of tactical maneuvering. However, the only ‘tactical maneuvering’ that was done was to sprint with full speed into one massive brawl at the center of the combat area.
The first to go were the Lunar Guard. They were just not used to combat during daytime, less so in an open area and while the Solar Guard was well used to the day, it had the same last problem, going down immediately afterwards.
The Royal and Crystal Guard clearly had the upper hoof in this matchup, as they were specifically trained to fight in an open area and were thus very capable one-on-one fighters. However, the shadow guard, while not focusing as much in the physical abilities of its soldiers, also had an ace up its sleeve. Sometime during the brawl, the shadow team slipped out and hid in the tall grass, utilizing the fact that they were the only ones with camouflaged uniforms to their full advantage.
The last ones to brawl it out were two extremely buff-looking Royal and Crystal Guards. The Crystal Guard won in the end, simply due to being more resilient towards physical attacks. The stallion looked around, wondering why the victory signal hadn’t been sounded yet, even though he was clearly the last pony standing.
Then, the two shadow guards jumped out of their hiding spot and tackled him, almost immediately taking him out.
Next up was combat in the forest and one could immediately see that the Royal and Crystal Guard were very nervous in such enclosed environment. So nervous in fact that the Crystal Guard didn’t even notice that the Lunar Guard was right behind them, resulting in a very early defeat on their side. The Solar Guard then quickly overwhelmed the Lunar Guard and went searching for their remaining opponents.
However, while the Solar Guard had to search for a moment, the Shadow Guard didn’t.
“Hello mister ‘please kill me’. These guys are really standing out in the open in the middle of a clearing.” Corporal Jackknife snickered.
“Not too bad of a decision, considering the forest gives us ample opportunity to hide and ambush. Speaking of ambush, I think we’ve got other guests.” Sergeant Firebrand cautioned.
Indeed, by now the Solar Guard had found the two poor Royal Guards standing alone in the middle of a clearing and were preying on them, just like the Shadow Guards did.
“Do you think they found us yet?” Jackknife asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll just do something really stupid and try earsigns.” The sergeant answered.
He signalled them a simple greeting and, surprisingly, a few moments later they answered with the same greeting.
“Wow, they really answered! Hey, ask them who’s gonna get these guys.” Jackknife hurried.
The two Solar Guards shared a short look and then signalled back: ‘Let’s do Hooves-Horn-Wings. Winner gets the prey.’
Now, the corporal and sergeant shared a short look, before aggreeing.
Both sides counted to three and then they both showed their symbols. The Solars showed wings, the Shadows showed hooves.
“Blast, they won! Now they’re gonna get the kill.” Jackknife whined, as the two Solar Guards dove down upon the unfortunate Royal Guards.
“That may be, corporal, but now they are in the open.” The sergeant pointed out.
The corporal looked over to his sergeant and then back to the two Solar Guards, who had just now realized this as well.
“Oooooohhh…”
The Shadow Guard won that match as well.
The last day match was in urban environment. The Crystal and Royal Guard managed to take down the still severely hindered Lunar Guard, but ultimately found themselves outmatched by the Shadow and Solar Guards. By this point everypony expected the Shadow Guard to win this match as well, but then they made a grave mistake and stepped right into a trap laid by the Solar Guard.
This time, the Solar Guard won.
Nighttime rolled around and with it, the night matches. First up was the urban environment, in which the Lunar Guard would now show their true potential for the first time.
They slipped through the alleys like shadows. The Crystal and Royal Guards were the first to be taken out, closely followed by the solar guard. The only saving grace for the Shadow Guard was that they were originally a recon company, which operated mostly during the night. However, the Lunar Guard had special helmets that were enchanted with night vision spells
Firebrand and Jackknife did their best to somehow turn the tide, but in the end, they couldn’t win against a foe that was entirely within his element.
The forest match went much alike, except this time, Firebrand opted to stay out of the fight as long as they could and try to somehow sneak up on the Lunar Guard, which was inevitably going to win again. Thus, they found themselves hiding beneath a large oak tree, trying to locate their opponents, when Firebrand suddenly felt a hoof tapping against his shoulder.
He looked up and saw that the two Lunar Guards were already right on top of them – literally.
“How the--?! Forget it, I’m gonna punch you into—“ Jackknife shouted, but Firebrand held him back.
“No, Corporal. We surrender. It’s better for us if we save our energy for the last match.” The sergeant ordered, earning him a silent glare from the corporal.
Thus, the last match was upon them: night combat in the open. At first it seemed that it would go down in a similar way as during the day. However, then the Lunar Guard suddenly burst through the tall grass and ambushed the Shadow Guard. Turns out they recognized them as their most capable opponent, so they eliminated them first.
Thus, the Lunar Guard won their third match in a row.
The next day, everypony gathered again, as the last discipline was up: VIP Protection. At least it should have been, but there were some slight difficulties. Namely that, during the first match, the ‘rescue carriage’ broke down under Celestia’s weight and since all the reserve carts were of the exact same type, Markus concluded that it would be better for Princess Celestia’s image and the seriousness of the competition to just skip that last discipline this year.
Thus, the winners were nominated, going by points. Every victory gave four points, every second place gave three, third gave two, fourth gave one and fifth none.
First place was made by the Shadow Guard, with a total of 17 points. The Lunar Guard ranked 2nd with 13 points and the third place is shared by the Solar and Crystal Guard, who both reached 11 points. Cadence was especially proud of that and would hold into Shining’s face for the next year.
The fourth and last place went to the Royal Guard with 8 points, which barely anypony was surprised by, yet what Shining Armor desperately tried to somehow excuse before Twilight and Cadence – the latter more than the former.
“Not really surprising, given that they’re meant to be more like a military police than actual military. I’m pretty certain we would’ve gotten quite a different result if we hadn’t skipped VIP protection.” Markus commented.
“Maybe, but I doubt it would’ve changed that we won.” Mystic chirped.
“Quite so and I am very proud of that. Tell your ponies that they may take the next week off as a reward.”
Mystic beamed and quickly gave a salute. “Will do, sir!” She shouted, before quickly running off to spread the news.
However, just as Mystic had left, a messenger ran up to Markus, panting and completely out of breath.
“Sir! I bring urgent message from the Diamond Dogs! Something... something big is coming, sir.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
1,054 users online
309,812 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Wrong time to drink water 🤣🤣
diamond dog's huh wutt when ? Oo
the match went as i expected xD
tho the crystal pony guard surprised a little
Pinkie is used to riidng the Maud Rock express?
Take it the Trucks couldve handled Celestias weight, but they immediately are out of consideration through being a particular groups vehicles?
Good thing the groups didnt take Shadow seriously this year, otherwise theyd all try and take them down first?
No rest for the wicked, I suppose.
10886230
The trucks require special training to use and thus couldn't just be handed (hoofed?) over to another group and since Charlie had specific orders to NOT participate, they were out of the question.
Of course, as someone looking from outside, taking them out first seems obvious, however when you're in the action - especially in an environment you're not used to - you tend to forget the simplest of things.
Setting the in-universe explanations aside, the simple problem was time. I had actually planned to have the royal guard have a comeback with the VIP protection. However, at that point it was Friday evening and I was almost falling asleep while writing. That's also the reason why they didn't think of going for the shadows first. I didn't think of going for the shadows first. (At least until that last match)
🤣
Raid shadow legends
Tactical nuke incoming,