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Carnifaxy


Sequels1

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The Great War had ended with the conquest of Equestria. Forced to flee, Celestia and Luna settle in New Mareland to try and prepare for the liberation of their homeland.
Dark forces gather in the frozen north of Griffonia, prompting an ancient order of knights to call for Celestia's aid as she had done many centuries ago.
Celestia heads north, seeking to redeem herself once more.

Set in the Equestria at War universe, a mod for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV

Chapters (11)
Comments ( 28 )

Lovely start to what will surely be a lovely fic. I look forward to seeing more of this.

Im exsited for were this go

Well I will certainly be reading this. Alicorn blood here we come

11574524
I look forward to uploading more!
11574666
I hope you enjoy the ride!
11574668
Patience, it'll happen.

You know What wuold be fun as she travels north the owl knight from katarin joins her in the crusade

Interesting story and good chapter! Some interesting thoughts crossed my mind. If I recall in-game events right Maar is not only the God of death and undead, but also madness and... chaos. But we all know that he is not only one who has last title. There is another...

11578009
I don't plan on touching Discord, though for different reasons than Equestria at War does; I think 'redeeming' him was a mistake only fueled by how popular he was when he was introduced.

Heat boiled off of Celestia. "You were in charge of the armies! Someone had to maintain the civilian administration!"
"I tried, I tried! But Luna kept refusing my suggestions! We could have unleashed nightmares upon them, call out to the Chiropterrans to help their goddess' false form, anything!"

Okay, that's an interesting turn of events.

“Princess Celestia, I am Prelate Celeste Lightfeather of the Archonate of Arcturius.”
The alicorn blinked. “Celeste,” she deadpanned.
The hen nodded with an unamused look. “Archon Proteus called me in specifically to be your escort in Griffenheim. I do not share his sense of humor.”

Heh.

Celeste glanced back at the princess. “Her courtship with Queen Vivienne is a topic to be discussed, yes.”
Her hooves stopped moving. “Courtship? No no no, they're just friends.”
The prelate turned her head around and motioned for Celestia to continue following. “You haven't read the papers lately?”

Did she really...

Celeste looked to Proteus who nodded. “Try to keep him away from his tank,” the Arcturian Archon said.

Nice reference.
Speaking of, how are the current relations between Changelings and Griffons?

With a warm smile the alicorn slowly laid down on the ground. “Would you like to fly with me, Grover? You can climb onto my back if you are worried. Archon Eros said it would be fine.”

Do you remember what happened last time you tried to fly?

“Y-yeah! Archon Eros it was a lot of fun flying with Celestia!” he said as he readjusted his glasses onto his beak and beamed happily.

Remember this once you grow up and sit on the throne, Grover.

“Try as I might, I never could get Boreas to open up. Eyr and Arcturius too! You would think they could give a moment to one who raises the sun everyday! Or at least a secretary whom I could arrange an appointment with.”

How rude of them!

11588832
There's no formal relations between the changelings and the Empire after the military attache was recalled but if Chrysalis did decide to try and deepen ties with them they certainly wouldn't say no.

Even if I wanted to, there's no way I'm flying over cursed land. Call me superstitious but you don't run a den of piratess without picking up a thing or two. I can take you to Watertown, but that's as far as I'll go.

You can use that opportunity to meet with this cutie:
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The ponies below looked up in awe at the snow-white mare with the aurora mane and tail as she descended from the sky. Her hooves touched the ground gently and she walked toward the sacred springs in the center of the square. She watched as water bubbled up from deep below and she bowed down until her horn touched the ground. Celestia remained in solemn prayer for several moments before she stood back up and approached the waters. The alicorn leaned down and took a few gentle sips from the springs.

A beautiful sight!

The old stallion let out a sigh of relief. "Too much dark news nowadays. From the south, from the west, from the north. And today of all days a shining light of the heavens descends and blesses our already holy waters."
Her head shook. "I am no beacon of light. I am just a pony running away from her duties."

Don't sell yourself short, Celestia.

Shocked from surprise, Celestia barely had time to even notice changelings among the number, chatting amiably with the ponies of Farbrook. Her heart almost stopped until she saw the flag of Greneclyf above them and she shook her head.

How would Celestia had reacted if those were Chrysalis' changelings?

“The Holy Light. It's not a common belief in Equestria, but some ponies follow it as well, though they call it 'Solarism'. I remember meeting a hoof full of griffons during the Long Night whom devoted themselves to it. The Order allowed it to flourish?”

Daybreaker would be proud!

”What use is it to win if we forfeit our very souls?” William cracked a grin, ”Granted, there is irony in that given our foe.”

True words.

“Are you mad?” one of the other griffons said. “If the Dread League were to slay you and raise you as one of their own-”

If they manage to add an undead Celestia to their ranks every living being is doomed.

“These enchantments, I can feel them. They're old, but manageable. The one though, it's odd. Something to do with your special talent?”
“Yes. It's one to enhance a pony's cutie mark capabilities. If wielded by, say, an earth pony with an apple cutie mark then planting and harvesting apples would be far greater for them.”

Not necessarily a skill useful for battle.

She was but a single mare, armed and armored like a knight of eld.

She might as well be an army herself.

“Rosa Maledicta, Queen of Bones. What an honor it is for you to die at my hooves, princess!”

derpicdn.net/img/view/2021/8/31/2690842.gif

“Flurry!”
Clad in armor of blood red crystal, as tall and lean as Luna. From the distance Celestia could see that her eyes were slits. Her heart sank at the realization of what stood before her as Flurry Heart took to walking out of the crater.

derpicdn.net/img/view/2021/10/21/2728753.png

“Her journey here had been more troublesome than I believed. We're even fighting dragons now! Hmph. Even in defeat the vaunted princess can bring disparate groups together for a common purpose.”

To be fair, the living dead are an enemy everyone can agree upon.

Rosa backed away, panic in her throat as she looked upon an alicorn much like Celestia, and yet quite different.
Her white coat was flecked with gold accents, mane shimmering like a halo and her tail much the same. The alicorn's eyes struck fear deep into the lich, gold irises with red sclera.

I don't think it's easy to make someone as Rosa feel true fear.

“I could have burned this entire place down, but I saw myself in the Shield of Hope as you held it up. I saw what such a path would lead me down. I am not Daybreaker. There will be a world for ponies, griffons, for everyone to live in and enjoy. I will not be a queen of ashes when another path lay open.”

Wow! Great idea!

“Everypony, nay, everyone deserves another chance, don't you think?”
Shakily she lowered the shield and gingerly touched her hoof to the alicorn's. “A friend... Okay. I want to be friends, Princess Celestia.”
“Thank you, Rosa.”

Now I wonder what Celestia would have done had Rosa refused.
Would she had just said "Okay, I tried. Let's go to the original plan.", turned back into Daybreaker and destroyed the entire castle?
And would she had stopped there, or would she had continued all the way to Vesalipolis?
Also, what about the rest of the council?

"I hadn't considered it, President Gilda, but now that you mention it..." Celestia smiled. "Operation Alicorn Sunrise."

Chrysalis will be so furious once she hears about this name...


Good story!
I enjoyed reading it.


11588845
Small hint:
If you reply to a comment make sure to put your reply into the same chapter as the original comment.
Otherwise the author of the original comment won't receive a notification. That means he won't know about your reply unless he accidentally stumbles upon it (like I did here).

11588944
Noted, and glad you enjoyed the story!

If I ask, was Maar actually breaking Celestia and having her turn to Daybreaker with the intent of having her destroy the Dread League?

11706590
Not quite! Either Celestia broke and remained in his realm (a victory for Maar) or she reasserted herself and left (also a victory for him). She's almost not quite Daybreaker. A sort of grasping onto that power without actually losing herself to it.

11706668
Wait, her getting out of realm also counts as a victory for Maar? Why?

11706951
Maar is a god of death and with Celestia's escape she'll be pursuing a war of liberation for Equestria.

11706984
Noice.

Will there be a sequel to this story? Will Jachs and his gang help the liberation forces out? Will there be a story involving interactions between Starlight and Trixie, the Canterlot Commissariat's higher-ups, and Protectress Lilac?

I apologize for asking a bunch of questions.

11707464
I do have plans for a couple more stories, one is in progress and needs a little more work before it's ready!

11707492
G L O R I O U S

Can't wait for them to be up, one at a time.

"The dragon islands are right up against the jungle basin. My pirates have been constantly harassing changeling ships along the east coast too. We know their force allocations. And I hear Haukland has a pretty good flying ace that could help keep the skies clear for an invasion." Meyer winked held the sword out to her.

God I love this bird. Still one of my favorite paths in the mod.

11766054
Meyer is one of my favorites, I couldn't just leave him out.

Set in the Equestria at War universe, a mod for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV

Where exactly can you play this game? What console is it one?

11778703
It's on PC! $40 currently on Steam, and the mod can be found in the Steam Workshop.

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