A diplomat and an inventor (edited)

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Otto Von Bismarck laid bedridden in Friedrichsurh; surrounded by family. He had long deluded himself of his perfection; bringing back memories of his great achievements during his prime, yet deep down he knew of his terrible shortcomings.

For he had failed to predict the coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm II and knew that his boisterous and impatient attitude would spell doom for the German Empire he had so slaved away to build.

He had neglected his child, his family and his own life to dedicate himself to the work of ensuring Germany's stability and prosperity. But now, it all seemed wasted.

He had lived a life of infamy; hated by all, and understood by none. He had pushed the stretches of the Concerts of Europe to fit Germany; not realising that he was the only one trying to keep their glorious empire alive.

He had failed to imagine a world without himself; a German Empire without its diplomats. For a state so infamous to serve only the will of the army, it seemed so foolish that he didn't realise sooner.

Bismarck shut his eyes the last time- struggling to prevent his tears from escaping. He had so many regrets; mistakes that he would amend if given a second chance.

But he was no fool.

As for all he had done, he knew the lord would not be merciful. For he could already sense the devil awaiting his death. His lips twitched to a deep frown.

"Only the deepest of hells will harbour me for what I have helped to unleash... He thought, "A Germany... Led by a thoughtless warmonger..."

-July 30th 1898- Death of the "Iron Chancellor”

Paul Mauser slowly peered outside his window, feeling the rays of light stinging against his exposed, wrinkled skin. He had not long to live.

He could still vividly remember the days of his prime; when he would frequently go abroad to demonstrate and license his masterpiece; the Gewehr 98.

Despite all his journeys and appointments with significant individuals, he never thought much of his legacy, as he always assumed he would perpetually remain a travelling artisan and inventor. However, it would all change after the day of Bismarck's death.

He could still remember the day in the finest of detail; the sudden proposal by the German army to adopt his Gewehr 98 to become its standard service rifle.

At first, he was speechless, then overjoyed, but then somehow- depressed.

For he became self-aware of his age, -being 60 years old. He had barely the time nor energy to write a biography nor create his legacy. He had no children, and his only relative was his brother, Wilhelm Mauser who had long since passed.

He scribbled on a blueprint that was splayed over his table; attempting to distract himself.

Throughout his life, he had worked on many designs and blueprints that deviated from war and had accelerated such studies at the age of 61, -expecting to die doing what he always loved- inventing and designing.

But now, 15 years had passed, and each year he would regret not writing his biography. He scolded himself for continually having doubts of his survival, as he had convinced himself every year to forgo writing one as he REALLY thought he should've died by now.

But no, he was still breathing and was sketching blueprints with such terrible handwriting that no one but himself would be able to interpret them. His mouth twitched into a frown.

"This is so pathetic..." He depressingly reflected, as he dropped his head on his arm and began sobbing pathetically. "If only I had no doubt... Paul whimpered.

His sobs continued long throughout the day, and only slowed as the sun began to fall towards the horizon.

Paul drifted off to sleep- A sleep he would never wake up from again...

-May 29th 1914- Death of the founder of "Mauser"

Megacontinent of Equis: Equestria

Commander Hurricane sat tiredly on his cloud stool; glancing at a report compiled by his pegasi scouts. He sighed.

Ever since their migration south to escape the windigos, their new neighbours had been eyeing them suspiciously. But once the period of surprise and suspicion decayed, they had begun to see their pony neighbours differently; as a source of opportunity.

The Zebrican tribes to their east had begun accelerating their ambushes of caravans and remaining refugees; causing their makeshift roads to become deathtraps, and the earth ponies lose trust in their pegasus 'guardians'.

The griffon hunter-gatherers; also to their east, were harassing the farmers, and picking off any unsupervised fillies to an unknown fate; causing the earth ponys' harvests to become barer, as they focused more on protecting their foals than to their fields.

The deers to their west regularly raided their villages and cities via rivers, with ships so fast that it was impossible to intercept nor chase by ground.

The list went on; for Hurricane to describe their situation as being chaotic would've been an understatement, as currently, they were again on the brink of annihilation due to rampant famine, distrust, and ethnic tensions, which seemed poised to doom them whilst the windigos had failed.

So, he had been forced to make 'difficult' sacrifices; intentionally leaving the patrols for earth ponies bare whilst repositioning them to station more 'important' locations to ensure their client's safety.

They would normally gauge the 'importance' by bits, but protection was also offered to those who would support the pegasuses during the three tribe councils; their most infamous client being Chancellor Puddinghead, who would readily betray her own kind for own benefits.

Commander Hurricane also had another problem regarding the professionalism and discipline of his troops, as their deadly march southwards had not only rid him of his veteran troops, it had also virtually destroyed all of their capabilities in training new recruits, as their old guards had been all but annihilated.

And so, he had to resort to employing irregulars to fill in the ranks and perform regular duties; degrading their already diminishing reputation and tarnishing their image as an elite, disciplined force.

Their once professional, invincible pegasus army was now a shell of its former self; their squads now primarily consisting of recruits with little to no training or combat experience.

And so, he would have to painstakingly watch as countless battles against far insignificant forces would end in his army routing; either due to the mere smell of blood or the death of a single ally.

But for him, the most unforgivable, baffling and incomprehensible act was when one of his advisors had dared ask whether the earth ponies should be allowed to defend themselves.

He would promptly sack and replace the advisor for suggesting such a heinous and idiotic idea. "Arming the mud ponies? An unthinkable fantasy." Hurricane thought, as he continued glossing over the report. He had a long day ahead of him.

East of Equestria: The isolated Griffon Lands

Beyond the eastern mountains bordering Equestria, there lied a fractured land in constant war with another; all engaged in pointless feuds and wars which all seemed to achieve nothing.

The sheer barbarism and violence present in the lands would've made any other creature faint into a comatose status immediately, however, it would have little effect on its native griffons.

They were all broken; desensitised from the ceaseless generations of constant bloodshed and loss. Their spirits were completely shattered; their dedication to any cause absent.

Countless generations of the land had grown up only seeing war; the scenes of genocides and massacres initiated by warlords becoming normalised in their consciousness and minds.

They would be oppressed, forcefully conscripted, foalnapped into slavery or pressed into servitude. The lucky few would simply wake up dead or discover that their entire village had been massacred, meaning starvation would soon take them too.

As a result, social connections and relationships between griffs were discouraged, as any investiture of time or emotions between griffs would yield nothing but heartbreak, despair and depression. And soon, the very concepts of friendship and love would all but disappear out of necessity.

Many had attempted their escape; countless disorganised parties and expeditions crossing the western mountains to the lands beyond, only for them to disappear and leave not a single word behind.

All semblance of hope; crushed before its inception.

Cultural and societal norms disappearing.

And eventually, their very history becoming forgotten.

The broken griffons would march under numerous arbitrary banners; their identity becoming moulded by the warlords who ruled them.

They would raze and terrorise the countryside; doing whatever they were told.

It did not matter whether their targets were family or their birthplace; the warlords told them what to do, and they knew the costs of disobedience.

Endless indoctrination. Continuous degriffonisation. Ceaseless bloodshed. Eternal screams.

War was waged against every neighbour; their justification being extracted from petty tribalism, as the warlords would exploit every minute differences between griffons to form a casus-beli.

Nothing seemed to halt the trend of violence, as the downfall of a warlord seemed to only inspire two more to replace them. Many would promise peace and stability at first, but devolve to serve themselves; beginning the cycle anew.

The ordinary griffons learned to not believe; their wishes to entrust their loyalty to an individual having long been smothered by the boots of lies from the warlords.

The ordinary griffons learned to not question, as the curiosity of knowing one's motives or goals had only yielded executions. Silence would save their lives and protect them from insanity.

Nogriff was safe; death was imminent, every second, everywhere and anytime. Yet, paranoia had never plagued them, for their entire existence knew only of fear and the looming threat of death.

With minds so broken and disillusioned, the very fabric of society tore down; paving the way for any opportunistic figures or entities to completely restructure it to their benefit.

Illiteracy was rampant and most days simply devolved into a struggle for survival. Writers, artists, historians and contributors to culture became lost for the focus of survival.

A Dark Age loomed over their lands; technologies and culture devolving into their primitive forms. Memories, records and monuments of their past becoming lost until there were no more.

They truly had lost everything, and now, they were mere parasites to their own decaying carcass; consuming everything and anything still left; uncaring of their self-destruction.

At this very moment, they were the most malleable; able to be transformed, reshaped and morphed into anyones' image.

They were like a blank canvas; begging for a brilliant painter to fill its empty whites. A canvas so barren yet with such potential; able to project and display an image so foreign to this world.

However, such a staggering task would require a brilliant artist; for not everybody could manipulate such a void and large canvas to create something; no less a masterpiece.

No griffon could even dream to accomplish the tasks of uniting or stabilising the region; the requirements of creating a unifying identity and culture being almost baffling for a region that had used the opposite to wage war and incite violence.

Only the most genius and brilliant minds seemed to be able to remedy their impending destruction; unfortunately, their lands lacked one; the griffons being too preoccupied with war and survival to pursue education or innovations.

Thankfully, their saviours wouldn't be griffons.

Perhaps externally. But not internally. Much like how their region would end up becoming.

The isolated Eastern griffon lands: An unspecified village

There sat a miserable village, located in the most northeastern warlord state. Their houses were mere charcoal silhouettes of their former selves; their wooden frames having been burnt to crisps. Their fields had been razed and sacked; not a speck of green or yellow remaining on the ruined soil.

Rares sights of intact houses sparsely dotted the village; their exteriors smudged with black spots from the fires they desperately smothered. But strangely, there were no griffons inside those homes.

For in the village centre, stood its elder; an old griffon named Franz Tercio. He stood upright; his torso vertical and his hindlegs parallel; exerting as much height to garner the villagers' attention.

Everygriff had gathered around him, from the lifeless children, the crying mothers and the workless husbands; all limping themselves out of their burnt fields and homes.

Among the enlargening crowd, new faces emerged; many of them being deserters or refugees that had fled from the face of death, starvation or worse. Nogriff paid them any mind though, for it was just another day for the villagers.

Franz Tercio desperately tried to calm his nerves; the responsibilities and expectations the villagers had of him weighing on his conscience. While most elders would've fled to escape such situations, Franz stood firm; providing a slimmer of hope to the despairing villagers, that maybe, he would be different.

But they were no fools. They knew nogriff could be morally altruistic and be competent as well; either characteristic seemingly only being interchangeable and never complimentary, as only two archetypes seemed to spawn: the competent but morally evil, or the altruistic fool. And Franz began to believe he was the latter.

Thankfully, nogriffs were injured or killed during the raid; a miraculous gift to many, but a curse to the realists, as now, they had more beaks to feed.

Their farms had been annihilated; their fields razed and trampled beyond salvage. Clouds were a rare sight in the north; meaning rain was scarce, and their soil would not recover as a result.

It did not help that the closest rivers were a mountain away, meaning transportation of water was infeasible.

It seemed like the village was destined to starve and die; no farming tools, no materials to rebuild, lack of food, lack of motivation, lack of hope, burnt shelters, burnt fields. They had nothing, and they needed everything.

Upon this reflection, Franz contemplated giving a speech to reinvigorate his fellow griffs, but stopped himself once realising a pattern.

He wasn't the first to give a speech, nor would he be the last. Many elders had been in similar situations; contemplating but in the end, proceeding with their speeches. Meaningless, pointless and ultimately futile speeches.

He and the villagers knew all speeches resulted in the same outcome: nothing. And so, Franz lowered himself to his fours'.

He closed his eyes, as he sank lower to support himself on his elbows; both claws clasped and held on the tip of his beak.

He prayed.

The villagers stared at their elder silently; his prayers seeming so generic and futile. Yet, for some reason, this felt different...

The villagers could feel something off... Not particularly bad... But mysterious... It was as if somegriff, -rather some being was watching over them, as the elder continued to pray.

Soon, everygriff began to pray; mimicking their elder's gestures and actions. And as they did, they could feel something... Something which told them... Everything was going to be okay...

Franz briefly opened his eyes and looked up; staring at the skies with such determination that one would swear that he was glaring at god himself.

He muttered quietly; through his clenched, tight beaks.

"Please, somegriff... Please help us..."

...
...
...

Atop a hill nearby the village, a ray of light would shine across the skies and strike the earth below; illuminating the surroundings.

The light would slowly subside, revealing two unconscious figures emerging from the receding light.

They would be the villagers' hopes and dreams manifest; two of the greatest minds in the bodies of griffons.

Hatched from a dream

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POV: Otto Von Bismarck

He opened his eyes slowly, trying to feel the bed around him, however, instead, his hands met grass and small grains of soil which rolled in between his fingers. He groaned upwards, clenching his eyes to prepare for the pain from his joints, but instead finding it surprisingly easy despite his age, he clenched his hands on the grass floor, only for his palms to be greeted with three sharp stubs. He jerked his hands upwards to shoo the alien sensation off from his hands, and rubbed both his eyes with his... 4 digit claws?

He stared blankly at his new appendages, confused more than fearful or scared, as he began fiddling his now claw-like hands. Scratch that, claw-like claws. His eyes wandered downwards to his wrist, to his elbows and down to his lap, which now looked like the underbelly of a lion. His eyes twitched.

Never in his life, did Bismarck ever panic or lose his nerves, even in duels where he nearly lost his life, but this was stressing his limits to its breaking point. So instead, he preoccupied his mind by thinking of the scenarios which could have led him to this state. Have I died and been turned into a mystical being as a form of cruel punishment by the gods? Or am I in an extremely convincing dream? Bismarck pinched himself with his sharp talons, and the pain concluded that this was in fact, not a dream. His pain made him flinch a bit, which made him notice the fluttering noise on his back, which ended up being an enormous wing. It appears I'm a gryphon [griffon], but why am I here? Bismarck pondered, with his claws on his chin and legs splayed across the grassy ground, I must have died in my sleep, I suppose the grim reaper finally decided to end my mortal run. The only thing which Bismarck had in his mind was if this place was hell or not, as there seemed to be a severe lack of fires nor screams of murder present in this new realm. His thoughts were distracted by a groan beside him, which he couldn't believe he didn't notice before until now.

POV: Paul Mauser

"Urghhh....." Paul groaned loudly, he felt like the worst hangover had hit him, as if he had gone to the biggest tavern there was in Germany and had consumed their entire supply. He pushed himself up from his stomach, and immediately felt the contact between his hands and the grass, and not from his soft bed which immediately startled him.
"Huh-? Where am I?" Paul grunted as he began to open only one of his eyes as to not be bombarded by the harsh suns' rays on the morning eyes, yet he did not feel such pain, and everything was clear and not a blurry mess, even though he had just woken up, it was as if he had a new eye! Realising this, he opened both and looked down to see what his hands were touching. He saw two claws.

Paul stared dumbly at the claws, and began clenching his hands, the claws emulated this and began grabbing the grass underneath it, which Paul felt as well. To him, it was like watching yourself move your hands in a mirror, except more disorienting and scary. He pulled back at the grass, as if to attempt to uproot it, however, he underestimated his newly-given strength and fell backwards, as the grass uprooted from his hands' strength. He then blankly stared at the skies on his back, with his claws still holding on the grass and its brown roots.
"W-what in gods' name is going on here?" Paul asked the sky hesitantly. Until suddenly, an avians' face with oversized eyes emerged from his peripheral vision, blocking the sky to meet his eye contact.
"Who are you?" The face questioned.
Nope. and Paul promptley fell unconscious.

POV: Otto Von Bismarck

Bismarck observed the mysterious creature beside him as he groaned, its familiar limbs suggesting that he was the same race as it, and he began observing its face. Do I look like that? Bismarck thought, as he reminisced what his past ancestors would have thought as well before the invention of mirrors and the absence of clear water to view their reflections. His thoughts were cut short when the creature beside him lifted himself and opened up an eye, then both to look around briefly and look down. He swore that he could see the creatures' eyes bulge out when it observed its limbs, and strangely it pulled out the grass in front of him and fell on his back.
"W-what in gods' name is going on here?" It said.
Bismarck felt a wave of relief hit him, as the creature was able to speak, therefore reasoned or questioned by him, so he quietly approached him and leaned forward to catch his attention, and asked; "Who are you?"

After three seconds, the griffons' eyes rolled up to his head and fell unconscious, which made Bismarck slightly worried. Hmmm... how would I ask questions now? He pondered until he got a brilliant idea, he cracked his knuckles and rolled his arms, his new body seemed to have reinvigorated him, and bring his youthful energy back to him tenfold. He had not duelled nor fought for the longest time.

*one beat-up later...*

"MERCY! MERCY!" The creature cried out, as he was being dragged and tossed around by him. He would normally just talk it out, but when something or someone is already scared of them, threats seemed to work the best, instead of trying to build a bridge between them, he would rather not waste time and cut straight into the chase. After tossing him one last time, Bismarck set him down in front of him, propping him against a splintery tree to question him.

"What are you?" Bismarck asked once more, however this time, the creature had an incentive to stay conscious as to not be beaten up.

"I-I don't know! Honest! I just woke up and now I'm some kind of gryphon!" The creature pleaded

Bismarck paused for a second, his theory of this being the afterlife or hell being reinforced, as it seemed like this gryphon had shared the same fate as him, and was now confused, but due to it not having any experience in stressful situations, its confusions boiled down to fear.

"W-well can you tell me who you are then?" The gryphon squeaked, as to not incur the wrath of this mysterious gryphon.

Bismarck thought about the question for a second, as he tried to think of any scenarios in which this gryphon could use his identity as a threat against him, however when he found none, he answered.

".... Otto Von Bismarck, former head of state of the German Empire, or most commonly known as the iron chancellor."

POV: Paul Mauser

Paul froze when he heard the name, Otto Von Bismarck?! The man who oversaw the creation of the German empire?! The very man who created the country where I live in?! He let his arms drop beside his torso, as he suddenly deemed resistance futile against the living legend,

"D-didn't you die 16 years ago?" Paul asked hesitantly, as he began to doubt the gryphons' words

"What do you mean?" Bismarck loosened his grip, as he began to be confused once more.

"1898, you died in Friedrichsruh on your bed?" Paul answered the gryphon sceptically.

"My lord... What year is it?" Bismarck asked, however it looked like he already knew the answer.

"It is 1914, why'd you ask?" Paul answered as he became confused as to why the gryphon was asking these questions until he began to connect the dots. Bismarck, upon seeing him in deep thought, decided to answer his question before he asked about it.

"Yes. It seems like we've transported from different periods. Expected for this is the afterlife..." Bismarck muttered

"You think... We are in the afterlife?" Paul asked hopefully as if it would change the answer.

"How old are you?" Bismarck asked whilst turning his back on the gryphon.

"78..." Pauls' heart dropped, as he connected all the dots and began to look downwards despairingly.

Bismarck simply nodded to the skies, as he put his claws on his chin once more to formulate a plan, as currently, he felt defenceless and naked without one. Speaking of which, they were both naked, which didn't seem to be unnatural to them. Paul looked up once more, and began to think what he had done before he came here, and thought what he had said. Maybe... I can forge my legacy here... Emboldened, he looked up to see Bismarck deep in thought. Slowly, he approached him and stood beside him on the hill.

"My name's Paul Mauser by the way, pleasure seeing the living legend in the flesh! Or in this case... in the feathers?" Paul deliberated awkwardly.

"Pleasure to meet you too Mr Mauser, how about we share some history about ourselves? I don't think we are going to be able to return to Germany any time soon." Bismarck stated.

Paul, in his peripheral vision, spotted a village in the nearby distance and began glaring at it, which surprisingly made him zoom into it.

"Woah-! These crazy eyes!" Paul shouted childishly whilst gripping his eyes with his claws to reset his vision.

"Yes, it seems like we have the eyesight of a predatory bird, factored by mythical, giving us these portable telescopes," Bismarck said whilst zooming in and out, which made his lens in his eyes become the size of dinner plates to pinpricks constantly. "Anyways, I believe we should embark towards that village, there is no other place to go around this area atop this hill that we can see."

Paul simply nodded and began walking down the hill, Bismarck followed and began retelling his lifes' story whilst keeping a steady pace. There will be no more doubts after this moment.

Going nowhere

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POV: Griffon Village

Everygriff were working, the forests that surrounded them being used for logging, as bands of griffons pulled them down after a great effort. Unfortunately, many of them were starved and the rest were getting hungry. The looming threat of starvation kept the tension high amongst the villagers, as they knew if the foragers could not yield and food source, they would all go hungry tonight. Despite the rampant atrocities, genocides and starvation, cannibalism was still deeply punishable by death, and actively enforced by all creatures, no matter their morals. However, all starved creatures become desperate and many had committed sinful acts, so many to the point that the elders throughout the griffon realm flirted towards legalising it. But before it could go any further, food would return and everything would be 'stabilised', so back to killing each other without an empty stomach.

The griffons present were all using primitives tools to uproot the trees to the ground, using their weights, wings and ropes to sway the trees and pull them out, much akin to pulling a tooth out. Griffons with sharp rocks or shoddy knives would then cut out their roots, branches and leaves to roll the logs into the village to be carved and made into walls. It was an utterly inefficient procedure, and Franz knew it, but he also knew he had to make do with what he had at his disposal, as the good quality irons and tools were reserved to the warlords' army. The village did not have a forge either to create the needed tools, as blacksmiths and artisans throughout their realm had been already 'hired' by the warlords, and they held a monopoly over the sale of tools. It did not help that they were expected to pay tribute to the warlords' for 'protection', as if they didn't they would raid their village for their goods anyways. Their overlords demanded the majority of their food, and any amount that they couldn't pay was paid in slaves, the lucky ones were assigned as frontline infantry, effectively being cannon-fodders to the real army with limited equipment, which meant a quick and swift death to escape this torturous world. However, the unlucky ones were sent to work in mines or as servants to the warlords' generals or ministers, where they would be abused to no end and worked until they died either by starvation or exhaustion. It was unthinkable.

Franz Tercio had to personally oversee the sale of hundreds of his villagers, their eyes that screamed betrayal had still scarred him and would act up whenever another soulless eye gazed at him. As an elder, he had promised himself that he would have to know a griff first before deciding them off to slavery, but this had the unintentional side effect of becoming friends with them or becoming attached to them. So many hits on his heart had hardened him, yet no matter how hard it became, the pain remained. Instead of piercing pain, it became a blunt pain, completely ignoring his mental fortitude, as the eyes of guilt always got him.

He had no time to cry though, he still had a village to run, many griffs who were still counting on him, many griffs who had put their hopes on him. As he stood there, surrounded by the sound of logs rolling and being cut by makeshift tools, he says something in the corner of his eyes. A crying child and a mother griffon hugging tightly, their faces adorning great smiles of joy, as tears rolled down their cheeks

"I'm here sweety... don't cry... don't cry..." the mother cooed softly. Rocking the child back and forth until it became silent. They both were visibly sleep-deprived, with large bags under their eyes, and their expressions locked in a state of despair, yet they smiled and tore with joy. Franz smiled at this, the scene warming his heart, for somegriff appeared to be happy among the depressed crowd. Yet, the mothers' smile slowly contorted into a depressed frown, as she let go of her child, and Franz could finally see why the child had stopped crying. Blood flowed in between the mothers' claws, as the childs' feathers quickly became soaked with its blood, and began dripping down its torso. The mothers' beak trembled uncontrollably, her eyes watering down like a thundercloud onto the childs' belly. She began to weep slowly until it became an uncontrollable shriek of pain and sorrow. Franz slowly flew over to her, placing a claw on the weeping mothers' shoulders.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He muttered quietly.

POV: Griffon Village foragers

Hett and three others were perched on top of a tree waiting for any unsuspecting prey to make into dinner. 6 groups had been set out, and theirs were sent out to forests near the hills that overlooked the village. They were optimistic at first, however, it was clear that there wasn't any prey in the forests ever since the raid. Hett pondered why, and it seemed like every forest animals ran away from even a slight smell of smoke from a fire. He began to become impatient and annoyed, as he stood there, perched up against a branch for hours without any movements in the bushes nor trees. He found work hard and boring, however doing nothing was torturous for him, it felt like watching plants grow. Hett folded his arms, becoming tired of holding an aggressive pouncing stance for so long in the quiet forest... Until he began to hear a voice approaching them. Hett instinctively hid behind the trees and gestured the others to follow, to only realise they were already hiding well on the other trees. The voices were slowly approaching, too slowly, as it began to test Hetts' and the partys' nerves immensely, as they still could not make out what they were saying, despite their excellent hearing, due to forests distorting the sounds that they were making. Hetts' mind went wild thinking of the possibility of the approaching creatures, were they enemy patrols? Were they friends? Were they the other hunting parties? Are these more deserters? What are they doing? Hett quickly eliminated the possibility of it being another hunting party, as they were explicitly told to spread out to cover more ground to survey a bigger area, and so they wouldn't cross paths. It couldn't be another raiding party, as all nearby raiders would've seen the smoke in our city and deemed it a worthless goal. It couldn't be their 'allies' as the warlords couldn't care less of what happened to a remote, useless village. Are they deserters? Hett thought for a second until it was cut short by their conversation which he could now make out.

"And that's how a gewehr 98 works...."
"Interesting... I think I had heard of it from my son before...."
"Really? Well I had completed the design in 1895, so I guess just 3 years before your death...."

His death? What is a ge-bear 98??? What in Tartarus were they talking about??? Hett was beyond confused, he had just eavesdropped on a conversation about somegriffs' death and something called a 'ge-bear 98'.

"This place seems completely untouched... Do you even think there are any high-level sentient lifeforms in this planet?"
"We will see in time...."
"I mean... look at this! There are iron nuggets everywhere! Sure they aren't pure, but a blast furnace will make quick work of that!"

Blast furnaces? Sentient life? Hett was confused, the first word was completely foreign to him, but intrigued him, as the voice mentioned being able to purify iron nuggets, and the second word confused him, isn't all life sentient except plants? What are they talking about As Hett continued listening, it was as if the voices were aliens to this new land, and began to become worried about what they would look like, but for now he and his group held position and hid well on the trees.

"Were you an artisan?"
"Yes and no, I am a designer, however, I always like tinkering with my weapons, before this, I was actually handcrafting a hand-held automatic gun."
"That's unthinkable, it'll be too heavy and impracticable in battles."
"That's why It will fire pistol cartridges, instead of it being semi-automatic, it will be fully automatic if you hold the trigger, allowing the bolt to be free during fire-"
"Okay, you have me sold. Funded."
"Funded?"
"Oh sorry. Force of habit, heh."

As the two voices approached closer, Hett could finally make out what the voices were, and he signed in relief upon seeing two griffons. The one talking about the 'ge-bear' was light-grey with yellow-tipped feathers and darkgrey strips that extended down its torso to its legs, whilst the one who had just apologised was darkgrey with silver-tipped feathers and a small dark iron plus? on its neck that was surrounded with a silver outline. Hett and the party kept quiet as the two mysterious griffons continued talking.

"Well, enough about me, do you know anything more besides diplomacy?" The lightgrey griffon asked.
"I have familiarised myself in the arts of war and most importantly- mobilising and logistics." The darkgrey answered proudly.
"Why would they be the most important?" The lightgrey griffon pondered loudly, putting his claw underneath his beak.
"Well, an army is nothing without food or ammunition, and a general cannot lead without soldiers in his divisions. The mastery of organising is far more important than mastering strategy in conventional battles." The darkgrey griffon replied quickly as if it was common sense to him.

Hett began to be interested in their conversation, it was unheard of for a common farmer to listen in on strategy from a learnèd mind, even though he could barely understand what the darkgrey griffon was saying, he was fully immersed in his imagination, in what ways the mysterious griffons' strategy could be used against the raiders. He was so immersed to the point that he didn't realise that the two mysterious griffons had passed them, and were now watching Hett and the party deep in thought against the trees.

POV: Otto Von Bismarck

Whilst he and Paul were discussing military strategy, they had passed several trees to spot 4 other griffons in their peripheral vision all leaning against the trees, waging wars in their heads. Bismarck tilted his head, confused as to why there were four others of his kind just... perches on top of the trees, but after thinking for a second, he realised what they were doing: eavesdropping on their conversation. As he stopped talking, Paul looked at him confused as to why he had stopped, to only look at what he was looking at to spot the 4 griffons as well. Paul emulated the reaction that he had gone through until they were on the same page. Bismarck coughed loudly in his claws to break the silence and the trance which the griffons were in, as they all flinched, fumbled on the branches and fell in front of Bismarck and Paul on their belly, arms and legs splayed across the uneven ground. Pauls' eyes twitched, as his empathetic side made him partially feel the pain of the fall, as he imagined the uneven, rooty grounds stabbing into the ribs of the griffons. However, instead of the griffons groaning in pain, they immediately jolted up, as if nothing had happened, and began to stare at them.

POV: Hett Mirov

Shit shit shit shit shit
"Uh.... nice to Hett you, my name is greet!" He face-clawed himself. great job moron, he could see in between his claws that the two griffons in front of him were not observing him in amusement and not in confusement, which was a start...

"Why were you listening in on our conversation fellow gryphons?" The darkgrey griffon questioned accusingly.

"We meant no harm! Honest!" Hett responded quickly, "We were just hunting- and we were finding nothing- but then you griffs show up and make noises- we hid because we were scared- and then we got interested in your conversation- and then we fell out of the trees!" Hett answered too honestly.

The darkgrey griffon simply blinked at this sudden barrage of information, and began to digest the information into usable chunks and dumped the rest into the deepest corners of his brain.

"....Why were you interested in our conversation?" The dargrey griffon questioned further, squinting his eyes at Hett.

"Well... we don't really get the opportunity to hear such refined strategies or procedures due to our low birth and illiteracy. So we decided to listen out of interest of learning new things!" Hett responded after pumping his arms into the air as if he was triumphant.

"What were you hunting with?" The darkgrey griffon asked whilst surveying our arms for any tools,

"Our trusty claws of course! We don't get the weapons to hunt with, and our claws are naturally sharp as it is!" Hett responded in kind once more.

"Why don't you have any weapons?" The darkgrey griffon looked like he was realising something.

"Well, we are a poor farming village, with little to no trade, we have no forges nor blacksmiths to run them, and any metals that we can get our hands on are more brittle than stones." Hett listed, which garnered a grunt from the lightgrey griffon, as it began muttering something about having to 'start from the stone age'.

"What is your most modern weapon?" The lightgrey griffon chimed in, asking hopefully, yet it looked like deep down, he already knew his answer.

Hett pondered for a second, conjuring up images of warfare and trying to remember any new weapons. "Well, we haven't had any new weapons for a while, but we have recently started using crossbows more often, but only for the elite troops that is." He answered.

Upon hearing this, the lightgrey griffon dug his beak into the ground and screamed, and just as quickly jolted back up to look at Hett straight in the eyes.

"Take me to your village."

Playing rust in a nutshell

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POV: Hett Mirov

Hett was unsurprised of the lightgrey griffons' straightforwardness and pondered if he should escort them to their village. Well, we don't stop anygriffs trying to enter our village anyways.... and I can't stop these griffs from following us either... Alright then, I'll bring you to our village, but first, what are your names? The two griffons in front of him looked at each other, and the darkgrey one nodded slightly at the lightgrey one and spoke,

"My name is Otto Von Bismarck, and my friend beside me here is Paul Mauser." The darkgrey griffon answered.

"Alright then, follow us to the village," Hett replied as he began to unfurl his wings to take off,

"Hang on, you aren't gonna ask where we're from?" Paul asked confusingly.

Hett simply raised an eyebrow at this and said, "Why does it matter where you came from? Most of the griffs in our village are refugees who flee from wars or battles. We stopped asking them out of conserving time nowadays."

"Perfect," Bismarck replied quickly, he followed up with another question in an attempt to change the conversation "Quick question, how does one fly?"

Hett raised another eyebrow from this, and tried to speak, but clamped down on his beak once realising that their parents might have died prematurely to teach them how to fly properly. In an order to not offend, Hett dodged the question and began lecturing Bismarck and Paul on the procedures of flight, whilst using the three other party members as examples and models for annotations. Bismarck grasped the art of flight quite easily, as he was no stranger to having to adapt to strange scenarios on short notice, also it was less physical and more mental, as Hett blabbered on about griffon and pegasi 'magic' which made Bismarck cringe slightly. Paul had a more difficult time, as Paul realised that his wings were a lot less rigid and strong as those of Bismarcks' or Hetts', however it won against them in flexibility, as Paul was able to quickly use them to emulate fingers. Flight achieved, the 6 griffons took flight towards the village.

Setting: Griffon Village
POV: Universal (from now on)

The progress in reconstruction was slow. Painfully slow. Several hours had passed, yet only 7 houses were rebuilt despite more than 2000 souls working on the construction. Franz had already given up his home for several families to reside in his home, and this was followed by all intact homes in the village, comfort was secondary when trying to stay warm at the night. Franz cursed the moon for bringing such a curse to his fellow griffs, and began to look at the ground, defeated but also hopeful that the scavenging party would yield some food. His hopes however would be dafted, as the scavengers all resulted with gloomed expressions and empty claws, and one had grown in numbers, which meant there were two more souls to feed.

Franz cursed his horrible luck.

Bismarck and Paul glanced around their new surroundings, the poor condition of the village, charred remains, depressed griffons and a general feeling of uneasiness that seemed to radiate in the area. Their observation was cut short, however, as the elder of the villager simply dismissed them, and informed them that they would need to ask to dwell in the homes for the night. Bismarck and Paul were shocked that the elder simply ignored them and passed them off as 'any other refugee' and mumbled 'another griff to feed'. The scavengers disbanded, all going to their separate destinations, Hett left to leave with the elder to shelter in his home and waved the two confused griffons goodbye.

Bismarck and Paul looked at Hetts' gestures and looked back at each other, whilst Bismarck was relieved that no suspicions were raised during their entrance, but also worried about the implications of this behaviour. Paul meanwhile stared dumbly at the piles of rock and roots that the villagers had amassed during their reconstruction. He then madly dashed towards the rock piles, which made Bismarck follow suit. Paul stopped in front of the pile, and grabbed a rock from it, and observed it.

"What is it?" Bismarck leaned in to observe the rock himself, and it had a light brown texture with light spots of white on its exterior.

"...It's fire clay, able to withstand extreme temperatures, and are considered the most suitable natural material to build furnaces with!" Paul yelled hysterically. "Bismarck! Will you help me build a furnace?" Paul pleaded.

Bismarck simply gave him a shrug and nodded. He had nothing else better to do anyway. Strangely, even as the sun fell and the darkness loomed over, Bismarck and Paul were able to perfectly see in the dark, which made them wonder if they were part owls or not, however, they quickly resumed their works, as Bismarck delivered the materials which Paul asked for, as they began working in a nearly intact shack, which unfortunately had too many openings to properly trap the heat and protect against the cold, however, it would work great for Paul as a makeshift forge. Bismarck had found a wagon which the villagers have been using, and assuming they were communal, he commandeered it and began delivering materials, sand, fire clay, roots and water from the well to Paul's little forge.

(Don't cry for it being unrealistic, instead be happy for Mr Mauser)
Paul began crushing the fire clay into a fine dust-like substance and mixed it with the sand. He had filtered out all the rocks from both the dusty substance by filtering them with a piece of cloth he found. After mixing them briefly, he poured the water in and began swirling it, making sure that no lumps or groups formed in the thick liquid mixture. He had dug a hole beforehand as a template and lined the soil with roots and fire clay to ensure that the structure wouldn't be contaminated with soil. He quickly called Bismarck in to help make the shape of the furnace after pouring the mixture into the hole, and after 10 minutes, the mixture solidified enough to stay in place, and after ensuring its integrity, Paul and Bismarck lifted the furnace and flipped it over upright to observe their work. Bismarck found the furnace lacking elegance, unlike the factories he had seen in the Rhine, however, Paul marvelled his work, remarking how he had overdone his expectations.

Paul immediately started to work, he and Bismarck began by collecting all the ores they deemed valuable, Bismarck had collected all the benign ores and rocks, being iron ores and pieces of coal lodged in rocks whilst Paul had bigger plans, as he collected iron sulphides and magnetites. He fired up the furnace using flint and exposed iron ore, using roots as the kindlings, as they were dried in the piles and burnt well enough for Paul to use. Bismarck began to fetch more iron ores, coal and charcoal from the charred silhouettes of the villages' houses, as Paul was able to quickly refine many iron ores into impure iron, and finally into steel using extreme temperatures to burn away any impurities in the metal. The sweltering heat from the furnace, despite it being sealed made Paul sweat profusely, as he continued to make more steel from the piles of iron ore that were piling up thanks to Bismarck. Once Paul had enough, he began moulding the steel into a rectangular shape to form a hammer, by using cooled pieces of steel to manipulate the shape of the moulding steel. Once cooled enough, and its shape rigid, Paul drove another chunk of steel directly in the middle of the hammers' head, creating a makeshift hammer for his forging needs.

The night had surprisingly passed fast, as the village griffs began waking up to hear the sound of metal being hit against another piece of metal, causing a metallic ringing sound to echo throughout the village. When the less drowsy griffons began wandering over to the source of the sounds, they were shocked to see what it was. Paul had been amassing a pile of steel beside him, as even Bismarck was helping him forge after making his observation of the processes which Paul took. Paul expected to be showered with attention, however, the best he got was a disgruntled griffon telling him to quiet down. His disappointment was immeasurable, and his day was ruined. But he did not let up, as he had big plans for what to do with their monstrous amount of steel and the seemingly infinite amount of coal which would make New Castle blush in shame. Bismarck also seemed to have an idea of what his plans were and began delivering materials accordingly. But he also seemed shocked to see such... restrained reactions from the villagers.

While working, Paul began to imagine a scenario which he had so far not thought about, as they would need some form of currency to pay the workers for operating his machinery, and he had not seen any form of currency yet. So he thought of the next best thing; food and they seemed to lack a reliable source of it, basing off the ruined fields, constant failures from their scavengers and starving griffons leaning tiredly against trees and walls, not able to move a single inch due to their lack of energy. Paul then looked towards Bismarck. "Weren't you a farmer in your younger years?" Paul asked, despite knowing the answer.

"Yes, and I know what you are thinking. You want me to divert a river using these steel tools by cutting up trees and using them as foundations to cover with concrete to make a sturdy dam to permanently change the directions of a river to irrigate fields in this village, and use the foods from the farms to feed the peasantry, gain their support, gain workers, build factories and consolidate our power among these griffons?" Bismarck rambled, yet spoke completely coherently.

"....Right on," Paul muttered.

Wild 'griff' Bismarck

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Setting: Griffon Village

Many griffs in the village were at constant work, however, a few sat around and observed instead. They were entirely too starved, too unmotivated or lacked jobs to fulfil, and so just left behind as all the other griffs were breaking their backs working tirelessly. Only the unmotivated didn't feel shame while looking on, as they all found the work futile, as they believed it would be all destroyed anyway, so why even bother putting in the effort and dying by exhaustion to build up a house, for it to only fall over time and time again. Franz, the village elder had attempted to motivate them to go to work, however this time, they had a valid reason; as every griff else were already at work and there weren't enough jobs to do anymore. Normally, the village never had this problem, however ever since the influx in refugees after several battles being waged around their area, their numbers had increased, therefore their labourers as well.

Cutting back to Bismarck, he was currently thinking of a way to rile up these unmotivated griffs to come work for his mysterious project. Except, that his plans had several major flaws, the first one being that they didn't even know him, second having no incentive to work, and being generally miserable in their current state, and not wanting to worsen their already dampened mood. However, Bismarck was always a clever man with his words, he had once riled up his farmers in his estate to form a peasant levy to assist the kaiser in Berlin from a liberal uprising, the same uprising which was attempting to give power to the very peasants he was commanding to quash them. Despite the memory leaving a foul taste in Bismarcks' mouth, as his plans had ended disastrously before, but he quickly recovered his confidence, as he was not departing with a levy to rescue a kaiser or to crush a rebellion, but to build a dam which would benefit the village and the griffons that would be working on it soon. So he began approaching the unmotivated griffs, who were all sprawled out on the dirt, staring blankly in front of them.

Once he was close enough to properly define their facial expressions, doubt had once more set into his mind. It would take a bloody miracle to pull this off... he evaluated, as he began lifting himself onto his hind legs to begin catching their attention. Not a single griff even flinched nor bat an eye at the rising griff. Bismarck coughed loudly into his claws to once more attract attention. Only a single griffs' eyes met his, and just as quickly disengaged to once more stare blankly forward. Bismarck simply blinked at this, not even the Austrian parliamentarians could be this stubbornly blank-minded. he thought bitterly, as he began gritting his beak in annoyance, a claw suddenly appeared on his shoulder and tapped him lightly, which prompted him to turn to see who it might be. When he turned, he saw a familiar face, however, he could not remember immediately who it was, as his mind kept reminding him that he had known him from a scavenging incident from the day before until it quickly hit him. It was Hett.

"Hmmmm?" Bismarck hummed at him whilst slowly turning around.

"What are you tryna do?" Hett questioned, quite confused about what the darkgrey griffon was trying to do.

"I was attempting to catch their attention, and by their reactions, I must ask, are they deaf?" Bismarck mockingly asked.

"Nah, they're all like that. Just lazy or no work to be done." Hett responded seriously.

Bismarck simply shook his head at this, but then suddenly realised a piece of crucial information that he had failed to ask and lacked which made him face-claw himself in his stupidity.

"Say... Hett are you aware of any rivers near the village?" Bismarck asked the stone-headed griffon.

"Yeah, there is one in the north from here, however, it's way too far away to be used. I suggest using the well instead."Hett said, whilst pointing at the well in the centre of the village.

Does this gryphon think I'm blind to not realise a well, or too dumb? Bismarck thought, quite amused as much as he was offended by Hetts' comment. He genuinely did not know if Hett was playing the fool, or was a rockheaded peasant. The new information had made Bismarck pause and think for a moment, Hett had not specified the distance to the river, but judging by the speed of flight and how quick a griff could now go, he speculated that the river was pretty damn far away from the village to be used effectively without changing its course entirely. But this would prove to be another challenge entirely, as the river could easily flood the village, or break the dam and reverse their works, be sabotaged, etc. etc. etc...

Whilst Bismarck was in deep thought, completely ignoring his surroundings, Hett was trying to tell Bismarck of more things about the village, as he seemed to be new here, however, failed repeatedly, as he seemed to be trapped in thought. Hett first waved a claw in front of his face. Failed. Then he gently tapped him on the shoulder. Failed. He poked him hard on the shoulders. Failed. He poked his face, nearing jabbing his beak. Failed. Hett flew over to the well, retrieving a bucket of water and splashing it onto Bismarcks' face. Still nothing. Hett, starting to become annoyed flew upwards and gathered up a small group of clouds and slowly lowered them down directly on top of Bismarck. Hett made sure the cloud wouldn't discharge into the ground, but back into itself and began hitting the cloud with his claws. Every hit of the cloud made a slight sparking sound until the fourth strike garnered a large CRACK which made the darkgrey griffon jolt in surprise and break his trance, which made Hett grin in success. But frowned immediately, when Bismarck seemed to focus more on the now-dark cloud instead of him.

"Uhh... You okay there Bismarck?" Hett asked awkwardly at the wide-mouthed griffon.

"H-how'd you do that?!" Bismarck demanded whilst pointing at the dark cloud which was looming over him.

"Uhhhhhhh... Magic I guess?" Hett couldn't believe he had to explain this to him.

Bismarck paused for a while, and Hett began to dread that he would be lost in thought once more, but thankfully quickly broke out of it to ask another confusing question.

"Can you turn it into a raincloud?" Bismarck asked with a hopeful expression.

Hett simply raised a confused eyebrow at this, and flew on top of the cloud and moved it out of the way as to not douse anygriff, and hit it thrice. It promptly began raining, and making Bismarck hum in approval.

"Wonderful..." Bismarck muttered under his beak.
This made Hett worried slightly, as he began to worry that Bismarck had been living in a cave or something for his entire life, as he seemed to be clueless about everything, especially when he asked for where the river was when a well was right in view.

"Hett... Could you point to me where the farms are?" Bismarck asked, which made Hett sign in relief, as he seemed to at least have the concept of farming.

"Sure thing! Our communal farm is to the east of the village, where the plains are." Hett replied helpfully. "But why'd you ask?" Hett asked.

"I think our griffs could use some upgrades to their tools," Bismarck responded cooly.

"But we don't use tools. We use our claws." Hett responded dumbly, ruining the mood. Bismarck simply chuckled at the stone-headed griffon in response.

Bismarck flew back towards Pauls' makeshift forge, and Hett followed him as well strangely, as he began to realise that the stone head was eyeing him more closely for some reason. But Bismarck paid it no mind, he had some tools collect. But when Bismarck walked into the shack, he noticed Paul working on a large machine which he recognised immediately.

"I thought you were a gunsmith. How are you building this?" Bismarck asked surprised, as Paul was currently constructing a steam-powered ploughing machine which he had seen in different farming estates across Germany.

"I had travelled a lot whilst selling my guns, and an inventor sometimes gets bored doing the same thing every day, so I learned to branch out my knowledge as to not let boredom consume me," Paul replied, blissfully ignorant of Hett, as he was too confused tightening and bolt on a pipe.

"This is quite impressive I must say, however, I was always quite sceptical of using these in my estates. I had plenty of workers for ploughing, and their cost seemed to always deter me." Bismarck started reminiscing, thinking about his younger years.

"Well, this is a newer model, and so should be far more efficient than the ones you had seen," Paul answered after finishing the bolt.

Hett was fascinated with the iron wagon that sat before him, as he completely ignored Bismarcks' and Pauls' conversations to marvel at its every detail, as his lens' periodically widened and shrunk to observe the object. Paul had finally finished the machine and looked towards Bismarck to only find that Hett was now staring at his creation. Paul smiled at this proudly, as he had finally begun receiving the attention which he craved, and began expecting several questions from Hett after his initial shock.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Hett squeed whilst pointing at the machine.

Paul slapped the wheels of the tractor, "This bad boy-"

"You mean chick?" Hett chimed in,

Paul cleared his throat and began again, "This bad chick can plough an entire field in minutes!"

"Yes, but it needs coal and water to run," Bismarck muttered, eyebrows raised.

Paul rubbed the back of his head, and defended the machine, saying "It only requires a few, also coal seems to be everywhere in this place! We only gotta worry about water."

As if on queue, Bismarck flew in with a cloud which he grabbed easily, as if on instinct and beat it thrice with his claw, emulating what Hett had done before. This resulted in his desired effect, as the cloud turned dark grey and began raining, which garnered the same reaction from Paul which he had gone through before. He chuckled lightly from his reaction.

"H-how'd you do that?!" Paul shouted, whilst wearing an extremely comical confused expression. Hett simply raised a brow from this.

"Same reaction. Hett had displayed this to me beforehand, turns out it's 'magic'." Bismarck said, emphasising the word 'magic' to display his scepticism.

"Well... This solves nearly all of our problems... I suppose you can begin farming then." Paul asked relieved.

"Slight problem my friend, I'm still yet to know the quality of the soil, the nutrient yield of the produces, proper farmers or the fact that we don't know what's out there, and we must treat this as the United States' wild west, so we will need either barb wires, which I can see we don't have, or procure weapons to defend ourselves from animals that might graze on our still-sprouted plants." Bismarck evaluated the situation to Paul.

"Well... I might have the solutions to your problems right here..." Paul said as if planned and brought out two rifles from under the benchpress which Bismarck noticed just now. "One for each of us. Took shorter than expected with these two new appendages." Paul said whilst flexing his wings, which garnered a confused look from Hett. Paul then threw one of the rifles at Bismarck, which he promptly catched, and held close. "I even signed it for you, look at the safety!" Paul remarked boastfully.

Bismarck disregarded the comment, as he whistled in satisfaction with the new rifle. There were no scratches on the bolt nor the trigger, and he was able to open and close the bolt smoothly without any complications. "Where's the bullets?" Bismarck asked, briefly looking back up to see Paul fiddling with the benchpress.

"Only got two strips for now. Iron sulphide is such a torture to refine to sulphur, not to mention having to delicately mix them with charcoal to make reliable black powder." Paul answered, slightly annoyed at having to remember messing up the mixture once, as the charcoal he was first using turning out to be not pure, forcing him to start again.

"Black powder? Iron sulphide? Strips?" Hett finally broke out of his confused thoughts, as he began to hear more foreign words.

"It's nothing you should know, but the gist is, you can separate iron sulphide into just sulphide by grinding them up and using hammered down magnetite to attract the metal and separating the sulphur, and yadda, yadda, yadda." Paul blabbered, and he threw a stripper cartridge to Bismarck, who promptly loaded it into his rifle and cocked the bolt.

"Yadda?" Hett questioned once more, but before Paul could explain why an expression was, a loud BOOM sound pierced their eyes, making Paul squint and Hett duck underneath his wings.

Smoke escaped from Bismarcks' gun, as he pulled back the bolt and ejected the empty cartridge onto the ground. Another whistle could be heard from Bismarcks' beaks. "It works...." He muttered silently.

"Well of course it does! What do you take me for? A fraud?" Paul boasted proudly, expelling a huge mental sign as he was afraid as well that the gun might not work.

"W-what did you just do???" Hett pleaded whilst still covering himself with his claws and wings, as he was terrified of the sound which had come from Bismarcks' weird-shaped stick.

"Seriously...? You can stand the sound of thunder, yet you can't stand the sound of a gun?" Bismarck asked Hett sceptically with a raised brow. But he was also grinning, as he had enacted his vengeance against him for nearly rupturing his eardrums.

"Uhhh... What's a gun?" Hett asked, after lifting himself back up from the initial surprise.

"I'm not explaining that." Paul simply stated.

"Me neither," Bismarck replied in agreement.

The three griffons simply all stood there for a while until Bismarck clapped his claws together to break the silence. "Alright then, would you be so kind Hett to escort me to the farm?" He asked the confused griffon, Hett took a second to shake himself from the sheer shock of the situation which had just unfolded, and wore an amiable smile towards Bismarck to respond in his usual demeanour and manner.

"Sure thing! Just follow me!" Hett enthusiastically replied, turning around to begin leaving the shack. Bismarck meanwhile quickly checked the tractor to make sure that its engines were filled with coal, and he had some few boxes of coal as fuel on its back to ensure a return trip wouldn't be necessary at the start, and after the preparations, he filled up the engine with water and began firing up the engines. Hett, who realised that Bismarck wasn't following poked his head inside the shack to withness Bismarck starting the tractor with an ungodly roar, which made Hett flinch due to the foreign sound which was escaping from the tractors' engines. Just as Hett thought it was its only functions, the machine began to tumble forward, as the steel wheels rolled ever-so-slowly towards the shacks' exit, until it picked up a steady pace on the uneven soil. Fascination would be an understatement of what Hett was experiencing right now, as he was witnessing a lifeless object with a passenger moving forwards, albeit, in a slow pace without anyone towing it. The mighty steel beast roared puffs of black smoke, as it reached its maximum speed towards its destination, as Hett simply flew forwards, head back to stare at the tractor with curious eyes, as Bismarck tried his best to ignore his unending stares. But it wouldn't be his stares' alone that would bother him on his trip. As all the unmotivated griffs and jobless griffs would crowd around the tractor, asking ceaseless questions and staring more intensely than Hett, as he and the tractor slowly tumbled to their destination.

It's going to be a long day... Bismarck groaned internally, as he tried his best to ignore the griffons who were trying to attract this attention. How the tables have turned... He mentally cursed himself.

Where did the bullet go? (Short)

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Meanwhile... In the forests neighbouring the village, a squirrel had decided to return to the forest, after making sure that the fire had already died down. It was extremely relieved that the fires had not touched the trees which he had come to call home. He had met his soulmate here, and would marry at the very location they met. They were oh-so fond memories which he would treasure for his entire life. Not only that, he was the father of 5 sons and a precious little daughter which he named sunflower for how much he treasured her. Life was going so great for him and his little family in the forest, nothing in the wolrd could ruin this- *SMACK*

Bismarck: "Huh... that's strange.... I feel like a dick for some reason... Eh, probably nothing!"

Fall of fort "honor"

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Setting: Raiders' hideout

Near the outskirts of the mountains to the west sat a dense forest, and within it there lied a burnt-out campfire with hastily laid out tents surrounding it, the tents housed a band of bandits who had just pillaged their way up north, demanding loot from the defenceless villagers and conscripting the moraless peasants into their ever-growing ranks. The warlords all seem to neglect their subjects and never send any patrols or forces to eliminate any bandit threats, as they were already too busy skirmishing their neighbours, protecting their precious mines which generated their main revenue and robbing their farmers for all they got. The bandits all knew this, as several of the villagers they looted were already barren of goods as the warlords and their army had already 'confiscated' them for their war effort. The bandit group was quite large, consisting of 120 griffs and was still growing. This was due to the worsening conditions of the northern settlements, as several warlords had focused their attentions on the area and began fighting for it. Their reasons ranged from "protecting the poor peasants from the evil invaders," to "I just felt like it." However, their true intentions were to take over the resource-rich areas that were recently discovered, and the news spread quickly through an intricate web of lookouts and spying (not the infiltration-type, but more of the 'stalker' watch you from the shadows type). The northern settlements, once barely touched by war (however still suffering through the warlords running the area) were now an active battleground, which led many farmers and peasants to lose everything, resulting in them becoming bandits, as the risks no longer mattered, as they had everything to gain and nothing to lose. This vicious cycle kept on repeating itself, as they had no stabilising forces to stop it, and so the settlements all fell under anarchy, like every other one throughout the eastern realm.

The bandit group called themselves the "Righteous Claws," to delude themselves as the heroes, and to clear any of their wrongdoings as being 'justified' or 'revenge,' however it was clear after killing several innocents that it was all a cruel joke. A lie to dampen the moral implications of joining a bandit party. The group did not have proper weapons nor equipment, however, it was blessed with the leadership of a deserting captain named Grazi Terrez, who was once a trusted notorious right-claw griff of one of the numerous griffon warlord in the north. However, he became disillusioned with the treatment of the peasants, and empty promises which were all dropped after a night of sleep by the warlord he was serving, so he mutinied with a squad of elite knights and attempted to assassinate the warlord during his sleep. The plot failed though, as the warlords' paranoia attacks that day had been severe, and he had stationed several morally dubious guards who served simply with the toss of a bit in front of their beaks to guard his chambers and kill any intruders. Luckily, Grazi and his treasonous squad escaped with their lives and equipment intact, however were forced into hiding. He attempted to gather up a regiment to take down the warlord, however, his greed for power and wealth blinded him, causing him to loot mindlessly and ambitiously plan an ascension to warlord-ship.

Currently, Grazi was observing a small fort that waved a flag from the local warlord who administrated it. He had plans of storming the fort and expelling the foreign warlords' influence out of the area, so he could breathe easy knowing that their positions weren't being monitored whilst being in the open. He hated being in the forests. However, he was no fool, as storming a fort is far less fun and rewarding than raiding a defenceless village, but he had observed many weapons and armour coming into the fort over days. He had plans to steal them, march east, steal the food from the village near the path towards the castle to seige, control and consolidate power to become another warlord amongst many in the northern sectors. He also knew that the forts' garrison only consisted of 80 unmotivated, starving farmers from the nearby villages and also knew that they weren't allowed to wield the newly imported weapons in fear of them using them to rebel against their masters. However, he also knew from the recent import that there would be reinforcements coming to bulk up their garrison very soon if he didn't take the initiative and strike as quickly as possible. Luckily, he knew the forts' layouts and weak points as he had to manage it once during his service as a quartermaster captain. He just hoped that the forts' defences were unchanged from the last time he had managed it.

Because of the aforementioned time restriction, Grazi had no time to plan the assault, nor did he have the luxury to surround the fort. Instead, he had devised a stealth operation, in which his squad and himself would infiltrate into the fort through a secret exit and seize the main gates to fortify it and force the gates open, at which time his peasant militia would have already had time to surround the fort and reveal themselves, forcing the forts' defenders to surrender in fear of being massacred. The two flaws he foresaw in this operation were that the lieutenants that he entrusted in ordering the militia in his absence might rebel, mutiny or desert, leaving him and his squad supportless or the secret exit being guarded closely or changed, as the warlords might have scrambled the defences to ensure that their mutinying captain wouldn't use it against them. Grazi could only hope.

Two lieutenants, Savoi and Tella were both entrusted with 60 griffs to surround their sections of the semi-circle around the fort, and they were struggling to effectively position their troops. They had both won their positions due to loyalty, and their devotion towards bits instead of morals had solidified their positions serving Grazi. However, they were by no means competent, as they had no military experience nor could they read or write, as they were simply farmers before joining the ranks of the "Righteous Claws". The seizing of the fort was impossible with a number this small, as they would either be forced to spread their lines too thin, and risk annihilation from a counter-attack, or be grouped up, leaving huge gaps in the lines for the enemy to use to escape or encircle them. Tella was stuck in this conundrum, as he continually scratched his head in the impossibility of the task, however, Savoi achieved a breakthrough. Despite the vagueness of Grazis' orders, Savoia grasped an idea of his strategy, which he deduced was withheld from them in fear of being used as a reason to mutiny against him, as the words around the griffs said that Grazi was still with them in the camp. Savoi realised that he simply needed to position his troops in the most open area, a place which the forts' defenders could see and fear, instead of positioning any in the forests, which the enemy couldn't see, but had to assume that they were there anyway. So why waste troops stationed in the forest, when they would assume there are anyways, with or without? Savoi reasoned. However, just before he was about to tell Tella about his discoveries, he stopped himself. If I tell him about my plans, he would no doubt copy it, and knowing his selfishness as well as mine, he would claim it as his own... Savoi reasoned, as he had nothing to gain from revealing his plans to Tella and helping him.

Tella, noticing Savoi in deep thought and about to approach him, asked "What's on your mind?" Innocently.

"Nothing just wanted to wish you luck in this battle," Savoi replied in an innocent tone, as he began grinning maniacally mentally, for he knew that Tella would fail not knowing that they were not preparing an attack.

Grazi and his elite squad had snuck out in the night after telling his lieutenants to take over after citing that he was tired as an excuse, and not to disturb him. The squads' armour was tied together tightly, as to not rattle to disturb any of the guards that might be guarding the secret exit, Grazi was leading in the front as to escort his squad through the defences, which he knew as if it was the back of his claw. So far, Grazi and his griffs had not even seen a single guard on their way towards the main gates, as Grazi thanked the lords that the warlords were as still incompetent as before. So they continued crawling forward, until their pace became a crouch, to a hunch into a casual walk, as the tension around was so serene and safe, as there was no noise nor a guard insight towards the main gates. Even Grazi was perplexed with the lack of guards present within the fort, especially with the recent influx of weapons into the fort. During his time as quartermaster, without any weapons in the forts stockpiles, he could swear that he had at least 10 times the number of garrisons compared to what he was seeing now, as he was as disgusted as relieved to know that their security was so relaxed.

The band of infiltrators began to hunch once more, as they began to approach the main gates, however instead of meeting at least two guards guarding the entrance into the main gates' interiors as Grazi had expected, there were none, and the doors were wide open. However, this did not calm the griffs, as they began to feel like something was wrong with the place, especially with the chronic lack of griffs in patrols or guard duty. Grazi and his squad began thinking they were walking into an ambush. However, once entering and carefully scaling the stairs up onto the walls of the main gate, their view betrayed their suspicions, as the poorly-equipped peasants' conscripts who were meant to guard the walls and act as lookouts were sound asleep against the stone walls, facing away from the interiors as to not be discovered sleeping on their jobs. Grazis' squad found this amusing, and some began chuckling lightly, however, Grazi was baffled by the lacklustre defence for such a well-stocked fort. However, making sure that he could take advantage of the situation, he quickly ordered his griffs to begin tying them up against the individual walls that they were sleeping on. The guards all seemed sleep-deprived, as they did not even flinch upon the contact, and squeezing of the rope around their torso and limbs. This in response made Grazi finally chuckle at their undisciplined antics.

Savoi and Tella were waiting for the signal to reveal themselves from the forests to spook the forts' defenders. Tell a had spread out his troops dangerously thin as Savoi had predicted, and his griffs were all poised to jump out into the open to intimidate the defenders. Savoi had chosen to station the western sectors which faced the forts' main gates as to impress Grazi of his strategic mind, however, it had left the incompetent Tella to guard the eastern section, which he feared might collapse and sabotage the entire battle. But it wouldn't be his fault, so he paid it no mind. His soldiers were wracked with restlessness, as they attempted to calm their nerves from the incoming battle. As all the griffs say, you are more nervous when you foresee an incoming battle, than you are to die in that battle. Upon thinking about this, Savoi began inspecting his troops once more, to observe their makeshift weapons which they were wielding which were somehow intended to kill an enemy, when they could barely even chop through a termite-infested bark. During his inspection, he saw a faint light eliminating across the main gates of the forts. The signals! Savoi realised, as he began blowing a horn to order his men to advance, revealing themselves to the fort defenders as they left the thick forest, onto the start of the incline of the hill which was being lightened by the moonlight.

The forts' defenders watched in shock, as all around them, they saw hostile griffons wielding weapons (albeit makeshift) began materialising out of the forests beneath the hill to surround their positions. Their shock soon quickly devolved into horror, as the front gates began to raise as if to welcome the sieging warband into the interiors. From directly opposite the forts' now-open gates, there seemed to be a massive army that looked poised to assault through the opening, and the eastern siegers seemed thinner, however still capable of regrouping to prevent any reinforcements. It didn't help that their fort was criminally under-griffed, as there was only 60 in total guarding the fort, only 10 of those being professional soldiers, and the rest being common pressed peasants. It would also take time to call up their reserves to griff their stations, as 30 of their peasant levies were still resting in their barracks. Upon seeing their hopelessness, as they were also completely lacking anti-air measures to defend against fliers the highest-ranking griff present, who was actually just a career soldier, called for the white flags to be unfurled atop the forts' centre keep.

Grazi peered through the small gaps in the walls of the main gates to observe Savois' positioning of his griffs, and he was thoroughly impressed with its ingenuity. He always knew he had a good eye for picking out competent griffs from the moronic ones, but his previous fears of having to compromise in appointing the most loyal instead of the most capable damaging performance had been washed away with the performance he was witnessing, and soon enough he saw the white flag being raised for all to see. His squad cheered in triumph, as the firsts of his bandits-turned levies began entering and flying into the fort to witness the prize that they had taken without a single casualty. The forts' defenders had to watch on, as their occupiers began looting the stockpiles and the keep for any valuables or equipment that they could find. The biggest haul came when the crates that had recently arrived to supplement the defenders' weapons were opened to reveal several well-crafted swords, short spears, crossbows and halberds which were quickly picked up to arm Grazis' griffs for their upcoming campaign.

Upon finishing their looting, Grazi finally ordered the defenders to be tied up and brought into the barracks' training grounds to be interrogated, to procure more knowledge about the enemy before they headed out to take a castle.

"Where is your quartermaster?" Grazi asked the crowd of afraid griffs. When nogriffs answered, Grazi repeated in an impatient tone, "Where is your quartermaster?" An eerie silence followed again, however this time the fearful griffs all looked at each other briefly, until one finally stood up amongst the huddle to its hindlegs to speak.

"He's currently residing in the castle east from here," The brave griff answered, despite his shaking he remained a coherent, and calm tone.

"Castle to the east? How can he manage this fort from so far away?" Grazi responded sceptically,

"It's because he didn't, he let out fort rot whilst living in luxury himself. We had actually requested those upgrades for our weapons a year ago, and it had just arrived now." The brave griff deadpanned to Grazi. "But most importantly, what will you do to us?" The brave griff faltered in his boldness slightly, when he asked those questions to Grazi.

"You all know too much to be let go, the risk of any of you ratting us out to the warlords for a reward is far too significant of a risk to ignore." Grazi explained grimly, however, he recovered with a deal, "However... If you were to join me in my crusade against the warlords and free the common griffs, you will be spared..."

"So many had already given their blood for that hopeless dream, and all those we help elevate turned out to be worse than the previous warlord that we overthrew. What empty promises are you attempting to use to tempt js for your rise to infamy?" The brave griff monologued as if his words weighted a thousand souls.

"This is no negotiation, and you are in no position to garner any promises from me. It's either join or die my brave friend." Grazi cheekily replied as he saw no point in acting the angel anymore, as the griff seemed to have seen right through his lies and ambitions.

"... At least you're honest..." The brave griff conceded, as he still wished to keep his life, so he slowly approached Grazi to shake his claws in agreement.

"What is your name brave griff?" Grazi asked pompously.

"Juan... Juan Petitte sir," the brave griff revealed, as he began walking into the barracks for a good night rest, but he was stopped by Grazis' wings.

"You will be my third leuitenant Juan. I could use a realist like you to lead these 59 other griffs." Grazi proposed, but Juan could tell that it was clearly a demand. To this 'proposal', Juan simply nodded dumbly, and continued his way to the barracks, behind him 59 of the previous defenders all lined up to shake claws with Grazi and join his growing army.

Grazi, after finishing recruiting 60 new soldiers into his army, looked over east towards the vast, dark blue skies to visualise the castle he would be soon sieging. He imagined of great splendour and power, as his beaks began to physically drool in his thoughts about the aftermath of the siege that he would be surely victorious in. Great ambitions of ruling the entirety of the north kept crossing his mind, being reinforced with his current success and achievements. The only thing stopping me now will be a small, insignificant village in the way of the castle. Grazi thought, as he began to memorise there being a village somewhere in between the fort that he was in to the way towards the castle. I will take the castle, stepping on the corpses of the village Grazi sinisterly thought, as he knew the strategic importance of the village to be used for resupplying or a rallying point for a possible counter-attack, meaning that he would need to take it before the warlord does. The last time I checked the villages, they were poor, decentralised and completely lacking any tools, no less a weapon. This will be easy! Grazi mentally laughed and blessed his luck, it would be an easy campaign.

Preventing a "famine"

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Setting: Village Farm

Bismarck had rolled the tractor through the entire field, ploughing the ground thoroughly to allow crops to grow. Luckily the farmers had broken out of their admiration halfway and began spreading seeds into the prepared grounds. The griffs who were meant to plough the field with their claws alone looked at the completed field shocked by the speed of the tractor. Bismarck was also surprised by how small the field was, but he also began regretting not using these back in his estate.

The food problem would be solved, however, the short-term problems remained, as the crops would take time to grow to feed the hungry griffons of the village. Bismarck had realised this and began thinking of improving the scavengers of the village. First, they will have to stop using their bare claws to hunt. Also, their tactics are in desperate need of change, after all, how can they expect to find any prey by just wandering around aimlessly? Bismarck thought, as he began to be locked in thought once more, ignoring the griffons who were touching and observing the tractor up-close. They also shouldn't be untrained peasants, instead they should be a professional force, skilled at their trade. Bismarck began to formulate an idea, which was quickly snowballing into a bigger project he was planning on doing later. If they can hunt animals, they can also hunt men. Bismarck concluded, as he planned to kill a whole bunch of birds with one stone. After all, if he was going to have to create a scavenging team, why not make them soldiers as well? The only thing he lacked was a name.

"With this new tool, we will be able to free up more griffs for other jobs!" Hett proclaimed, who had just finally digested the information into his thick skull. His stupidity, however, gave Bismarck a eureka moment, which made him jump into the air cartoonishly briefly.

"That's it! I will call it the freikorp! (Free corp)" Bismarck exclaimed, whilst still being stuck mid-air. He only fell when he realised the scientific impossibility of his action, which made him look downwards resulting in a quick acceleration downwards.

"You alright there friend?" Hett asked the dazed griffon, who had visibly gotten a halo atop his head with stars orbiting it. Hett poked Bismarck a bit when he didn't answer.

"Yes, yes I'm fine Hett. Thanks for asking." Bismarck replied, still quite dazed by the fall, his claws rubbing the back of his neck. "Anyways," Bismarck started dubiously, "Hett, are you currently employed anywhere?"

Setting: Pauls' forge

Paul had created several makeshifts, yet reliable workbenches which he planned on using for mass-production. He has all the materials, and resources to begin the production, but he lacked several key ingredients. The mood of the surrounding wasn't the usual grim, industrial feel as there were no factories to shelter the workbenches, but most importantly, he had no workers. He was currently counting on Bismarck to bring him workers to hopefully quickly build a compound to house his equipment and operate his machines, and thankfully any illiterate could operate a workbench no less assemble something, which meant that they would only need limited training and any secrets or blueprints of the weapons or tools wouldn't be lost or stolen by the enemy, as the workers wouldn't know anything either. Just as Paul began to finish his thoughts, Bismarck appeared at the entrance, being flanked with several new faces, and one familiar one. Hett. Paul remembered.

"I see you've been busy," Bismarck said whilst scanning across the forge, and spotting several workbenches in the corner. "How the hell did you make so many so quickly?!" Bismarck shouted, surprised by the number of workbenches made.

Paul simply shrugged, "Don't know, maybe because this new body of mine is quicker. Or it might just be that this world doesn't follow any conventional laws of reality." Paul evaluated with a squinted eye, as his wings began juggling several bolts sub-consciously. "See?" Paul pointed at his sentient wings, "I'm sure you experienced this too on your way here."

Bismarck tried to reason, but then immediately retracted, as he remembered how he seemed to be motionless mid-air just before at the farm. Upon seeing this, Paul wore a cheeky grin.

Bismarck recovered, and began talking, "Anyways, the griffs behind me are previous farmers who are now jobless thanks to your contraption."

"Are they mad at me?" Paul asked, slightly worried.

"No, in fact, quite the opposite! They are impressed with your work, and are willing to work for us for free!" Bismarck reassured Paul but began to lean in to tell a secret. "They are quite communal, and prefer work than boredom, so we won't need to pay them." Bismarck leaned back and gave Paul a wise nod.

"Well... Perfect! Do any of you griffons know how to lay bricks?" Paul asked enthusiastically, however, it only garnered confused stares and tilted heads. "Y'know, burnt clay and concrete?" Paul asked specifically, hoping to be understood, but the griffons only seemed to brighten up when hearing "burnt clay" but contort back into confusion on concrete. Paul face-clawed himself, he was going to have the longest day of his life.

An eternity later... (I'm too lazy to explain how bricks or concrete is made, or its procedures, or go Paul and Bismarck suffers in having to coordinate hundreds of griffons to construct a factory and a barrack.)

The elder was shocked by the progress of the two mysterious griffons who had arrived. According to Hett, their names were Bismarck and Paul, and they had been going up and down the village rallying up griffons to come and work on their projects. They were quick on their works, as the barracks and the large compound which they referred to as a "factory" seemed to materialise before his eyes, as the griffons constructing them held shiny tools which the elder devised could only be iron tools (They are actually steel). Just as they seemed to be done, as they continued working throughout the night, noise continually came out of the two buildings, shouts from the barracks and sounds of metal clashing in the "factory".

As the smoke began escaping the chimneys of the "factory," the elder went in to investigate the source of sooty smoke, as he suspected a fire had started inside it. But instead, he would be shocked by other reasons, as inside, the noise was even more deafening, and he was suddenly hit with a burst of heat coming from the furnaces inside. Inside, the elder saw griffons hammering away at molten chunks of iron, twisting levers of benches to press steel and copper alike, several carrying clouds from above to stuff into furnaces, as the fires inside it raged on with the continual shovelling of coal. The elder began backing away from the scene, as he had seen nothing like it before, and it felt like being in an entirely new world due to the change of atmosphere and mood of the interior compared to the outside. His disbelief was quickly disrupted by the snapping of a claw in front of his beak, which made him flinch in surprise.

"Anybody in there?" A lightgrey griffon cheekily asked,

"U-um yes! I'm here!" The elder hastily replied, quickly breaking his daydreams.

"Oh really? Because just then you seemed out of this world," the lightgrey laughed internally in his clever wordplay.

"Uh... Yes. I'm fine, but I must ask, were you responsible for this?" The elder asked sceptically.

The lightgrey simply grinned as a response, as he turned around to observe his work.

"Well, I would like to thank you for finding work for my griffons, but could I get your name?" The elder asked sceptically once more, as he didn't believe that this lightgrey griffon could have done this.

"The name's Paul Mauser sir, and could I gain the honour of knowing the elders' name?" Paul asked nobly, but even a blind mule could tell he was faking it.

The elder froze when he heard his name, as his doubts of this lightgrey griffon owning the factory dissipated upon hearing his name. But he quickly recovered, "Franz Tercio, might I also know the name of your friend?"

"The rockhead or the darkgrey one?" Paul asked, brow raised.

"Bismarck..." Franz concluded, which made Paul frown slightly.

"It's actually Otto Von Bismarck, but yes. Bismarck is fine too I guess." Paul said. "But enough of pleasantries, I have to deliver some uniforms to the barracks." He then began gesturing towards the griffons near several crates, who promptly began hauling it on top of wagons and wheeled them out the factory towards the barracks.

"Uniforms? For what?" The elder asked dumbly, as he didn't even stop to think of the answer.

"Uniforms for the stone head and 119 other griffons. Bismarck's planning on building two platoons for 'hunting' purposes." Paul said, emphasising the word 'hunting' as if to help Franz understand that it wasn't his actual motive. But he doubted he would pick up on that.

As if on queue, Franz brightened up, saying "Brilliant! That would provide us food long enough for the yields out of our farm!"

Paul simply face-clawed himself due to the elders' naivety. How come they are all idiots? Paul cursed himself, as he and Bismarck had to babysit these brainless idiots. At least they won't revolt...

"Imported" guns

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Bismarck stood, claws behind his back looking at the griffons he had assembled fidgetting with their new firearms. Obviously, they were unloaded as he definitely did not want to have to deal with a dead Griffin who had shot themselves whilst observing the end of the barrel. He heard several clicks, as the griffons pulled on the trigger, and attempted to replicate the noise by following the same motions, but yielding no result.

"ATTENTION!" Bismarck shouted, which attracted the curious griffons away from their newly-acquired guns.

Bismarck cleared his throat, after ensuring he had their attention, "You may be wondering why you've been chosen among many to be a part of the"

"What are we holding?" A random Griffin asked, stepping out of their lazily formulated line.

"-yes, I was just getting to that," Bismarck said, slightly annoyed that his introduction speech was interrupted. "What you are currently holding onto is what's called a bolt-action rifle."

"What is a-"

"ALL you need to know is that it functions a lot like a crossbow, except faster, stronger and more accurate." Bismarck didn't like the common soldiery knowing or questioning any further than they were instructed to. He would have to 'fix' their mindset very quickly to avoid any further interruptions or 'complications'. "There will be no further questions, I only need you all to listen and look towards me for the demonstration."

The gathered griffons looked at each other, and then to their rifles. They knew not to question authority, no matter who wielded it and scolded themselves for forgetting the one principal which kept them alive for so long.

"First! you must hold your rifle properly, for you must be ready to fire at any moment." Bismarck held his own rifle, gripping near the trigger and holding the end, displaying his actions for the assembled griffons to see.

The griffons held the rifles as instructed, however one accidentally gripped the trigger, causing an audible "click" to shamefully escape from the embarrassed griffons' rifle.

"You may have noticed that your rifles only click once. That's because your bolt has to be cocked for the trigger to work its purpose." Bismarck gripped the bolt openly for every griff to see and lifted it. "What are you waiting for?! Copy it!" Bismarck yelled at the slow, dumbstruck griffons, who promptly followed his example. "Now, pull it back like so." The griffons quickly followed. "Next, direct your attention to the gap that has now opened up on your rifle." Bismarck gestured to where the cartridge would enter, however, a few griffons began looking at the barrel instead. "I said now, so why would it be the barrel?" Bismarck tiredly groaned, the griffons who were still confused simply looked around at their fellow griffs and emulated them, finally looking at the right place.

"Alright. Grab the strip magazines and align the flat ends towards you and its sharp point towards the barrel." Bismarck couldn't demonstrate this, as his gun was already loaded, and him cycling through them would just distract the griffons and waste valuable time. He hoped that the griffons would be able to figure this one out by themselves.

Alas, all the griffons present scratched their heads in confusion, as they did not know what a "strip magazine" was, and they were too afraid to ask. Bismarck saw this and face-clawed himself.

"... They were the ones that I gave to you all alongside the rifles." Bismarck groaned out, but quickly regained his integrity when all the griffons somehow retrieved their strips from underneath their wings. Huh... Can I do that too? Bismarck thought, as he grabbed another stripper clip beside him and deposited it beneath his wings, however, he found no success.

Hett, amid the formation, noticed Bismarcks' attempt to deposit something in between his feathers but failing miserably and so-called out to him, "You're doing it wrong! It's supposed to go in between the feathers, not in the midst of it!"

Bismarck flinched in the correction and looked around to see who had called out to him. When he singled out the perpetrator, he realised it was Hett who had corrected him, the rockhead. Bismarck shook the feeling of embarrassment and followed Hetts' advice, and was able to store the cartridge safely in his wings, which surprisingly didn't shift his sensation of balance or weight.

A soft cough redirected Bismarcks' attention away from studying his own body and towards the griffons who had all aligned their cartridges correctly and we're ready to insert them. Bismarck cleared his throat and resumed, "Now, push the cartridge down into the gap. If it doesn't go in, readjust it or else you might break it." Bismarck began to imagine some brutish griffon breaking the rifle as they stubbornly tried to insert a misaligned magazine by force. Luckily, they were all able to insert them properly, as presently every griffons' guns had an empty clip above the reciever.

"Finally, push down the bolt and turn it back to place." Upon doing this, Bismarcks' rifle ejected a cartridge, however, was unnoticed by the distracted griffons who saw their clips fling into the air by the closing bolt. In Bismarcks' disbelief, many of the griffons were able to catch the clips mid-air, as their eyes locked onto the flipping clips. A predators' eyes are sharp. Especially a bird of prey. Bismarck thought emptily, as he began to wonder if he could do the same things. "Now, draw your attention to the knob on the end of your bolt." Bismarck displayed the safety mechanism by turning it off and on. "By turning it upwards you can prevent the gun from firing, and by turning it to the left you can operate its functions." The griffons all began fiddling with the safety, turning it off and on to demonstrate their understanding. "Turn the safety off and stay clear from the trigger, also all eyes on me."

Everygriff removed a claw from the trigger and looked up to see Bismarck aiming to the left of them, his gun holstered close to him, with the guns' sight running down to his squinted eyes. "If you want to hit anything, you will need to aim down the sight," Bismarck instructed, letting go of his gun briefly to point at the sight, located near the barrels. He then began surveying the surrounding for a viable target, which prompted the griffons assembled to follow his aim.

Conveniently, a bird appeared in everygriffs' view and began to perch on top of the barracks' roof. Bismarck raised his rifle and grinned softly at his 'willing' target. Everygriff present either raised a brow in confusion or leaned in closer in expectation. Only Hett covered his ears as he knew what was coming.

Meanwhile, outside the factory, Paul had gathered a team to begin transporting the newly-made uniforms to the barracks. Surprisingly, cotton was extremely common here, as it took Paul more time to redesign the uniforms (to fit a griffon) than to actually find the materials for them. Paul then peaked into the crates to marvel again at what he had created. Inside, he saw several folded German standard uniforms and several steel pickelhaubes (I will call them Pike helmet from now on as they are the English translation), he had made steel helmets instead of wool ones, but not for the reason he expected, as there was virtually no wool around-
CRACK

Everygriff except Paul flinched, they all began looking around to locate the source of the noise, but Paul already knew. Bismarck must be having fun. Paul thought.

Every griffon a marksman

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Bismarck was shocked. Even more than the griffons were when they saw the power of the rifle, as it had dispatched the bird at a great distance in an explosion of feathers and blood. Some had dropped their rifles in fear of what they held, as they began to grow frightened to what would happen if they misfired their friends, however, it quickly died down with their reminiscing of the safety feature.

Bismarck was shocked by how accurately the griffons were able to fire. He knew it had to do something with their eye sights, as he also felt his eyes zoom in like a scope whilst focusing on the bird he previously shot. But their ability of marksmanship was unprecedented, as they had just received their rifles, and even the most gifted marksmen as a recruit take years to master their trade.

He had first begun the practice with easy, close-range targets, however, it quickly became clear that it was too easy for the griffon recruits, as the next in line to shoot distanced himself away from the target to show-off, and it quickly became a contest of how flamboyantly they could fire their rifles. Bismarck was too busy being amazed at their performance to bother disciplining the griffons of misconduct, as they didn't even bother to prone or crouch to shoot, as recoil was virtually non-existent, even with their starved bodies negatively affecting their strength. How are they doing that?! Even the finest German marksmen could not achieve such a fe- OUR AMMO!

"CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!" Bismarck cried out, as they did not have enough bullets to continue "playing".

His cries of plea were immediately answered, as the enthusiastic griffons all halted what they were doing and looked towards Bismarck for further instructions. Bismarck nodded at this in approval.

"A fine performance griffons, however, you will never be able to be called soldiers by your mannerisms." Bismarck scolded the rambunctious griffons, as they seemed to act like children who had found their new favourite toys. He could have sworn that just before this, they were all terrified of their "toys".

All the griffons cringed when they heard the word "soldiers," as they had linked them with death and destruction by experiences dealing with them. Bismarck saw this reaction and reassured his griffs, "We won't be the same as those barbarous looters, I assure you all that." He had doubts that it would work, but it somehow was able to relax them, as they all seemed to unconditionally believe him. Strange, their entire world seems to be drowning in intrigue and death, yet they trust me completely. They are nothing like the liberals back home, and somehow more of a loyal dog than the conservatives. Do they really lack someone to invest their trust in? Bismarck thought grimly, as his expressions grew empathetic, thinking about how much the griffons had to suffer. I will lead them. I will create a state where these griffons will never need to suffer or feel unsafe ever again. Bismarck swore to never break his promise nor betray these griffons. He would destroy anything that got in his way.

"Delivery for the barracks!" A griffons' voice boomed out from the barracks' gates, as Bismarcks' eyes began to focus on an approaching griffon who was flying towards him with a letter. "Paul had told me to give this to you first."

Bismarck grabbed the letter off the hovering griffons' claws and began scanning the letter,

I heard a gun fire! I am assuming it was you, and if it is congratulations on hitting your target! Anyways, here are the requested uniforms, I had put quite a bit of effort into designing them so I expect a thank-you when you return. -signed Paul Mauser your weapons provider

Bismarck scrunched up the letter and threw it away, "Bring them in." The messegebearer nodded at this and flew away towards the gates.

Soon enough, the messegebearer and four other griffons appeared at the entrance of the barracks' fields, towing four wagons brimming with crates, which were being glared greedily by Bismarck.

The delivery griffons opened the crates, revealing several uniforms and helmets which wowed the griffons in front, prompting those in the back to move forwards to see. Clothes were considered a luxury only reserved for royalty, the extremely wealthy or eccentric warlords for them, and seeing such well-made ones that were dedicated to them made some faint in gratitude and many who thought they were unthinkable wasteful.

"Before you wear these, you are all going to wash up. I don't want your filth to dirty up the insides." Bismarck harshly stated. "Everygriff go up and grab a raincloud."

>>Timeskip<<

"As long as you are holding my rifle, you will always be wearing the uniform as well." Bismarck dictated as he began to see some griffons dissatisfied with the resistance that their clothes gave them whilst in the air. "You will get used to weight, especially with the added kits and tools that you will be carrying around." Bismarck then presented the uniformed griffons a shovel, bayonet, canteen, dressings (bandages), and several extra ammunition. He had ordered double the standard German soldiers' ammo count, as he correctly assessed that the griffons could carry far more then the average man.

The griffons were given two pouches filled with strip magazines, totalling to a staggering 400 bullets (normally they would carry 150). They were fixed onto the uniform as to not flop mindlessly during flight, and the griffons didn't seem to mind the added weight. They placed their canteens in the space between their wings and their shovel between the other. Their dressings were held in pouches on their pants, however, noticed that there were several straps on their coat that remained which looked like they could hold mini-shovels.

Bismarck looked at his griffons in pride, however, was still disappointed that Paul had disagreed on designing them the Imperial German uniforms, and instead, Paul had designed one which he claimed the German army had standardised in 1902. How can a citizen feel pride when their boys go to war dressed like the common peasantry? Bismarck thought, as he believed the old German uniforms were far more recognisable and prestigious than this "drab". At least they kept the imperial uniforms for the officers. He even noticed several useless straps in the front which he did not recognise on the soldiers' uniforms, and scoffed at Pauls' wastefulness.

"You missed some boxes." The deliverygriffs said, pointing at several boxes labelled "prototype" on the sides.

"We have everything we need, so you can send them back, they are probably spare pieces in case of missing parts from the uniforms." Bismarck disregarded, as he didn't even bat an eye at the boxes being mentioned.

"Well, I was given a direct order from Paul to tell you to 'check it out'." The deliverygriff said lazily, "That's all, so we will report back to Paul now. Good day." He dismissed himself, prompting the others following him to leave as well.

Bismarck begrudgingly looked over at the boxes and noticed the labelling. Prototype? What are you planning on now Paul? Bismarck opened the box and was greeted with... Potato mashers??? He grabbed one of them and inspected it closely. There was no labelling nor words on them, just a stick handle with two grey tips, one larger than the other. He held both ends and the smaller tip began to twist in his strong grip and pop off. Bismarck for some reason began to remember the conversation he had when he and Paul had just met. Looks like a potato masher, one end is cylindrical, the other a cap with a string attached... Bismarck looked down to see the tip that had popped off and saw himself grabbing onto a cap with a string attached.

"..."

"GRENADE!!!" Bismarck yelled and threw the stick grenade away from everygriff else.

The grenade exploded mid-air, raining down shrapnel onto the griffons below, however thanks to their steel helmets, the shrapnels harmlessly bounced off with an audible "ting". All the griffons present flinched or ducked, as they saw some of their own being knocked down by the shrapnel force applied to their heads.

"At ease! Is anyon-griff injured?!" Bismarck yelled out, concern plaguing his voice. When nobody answered, he became relieved in knowing that nogriffs were harmed by his accident.

"What was that?!" A griffon with a slightly scratched helmet asked as he was shaking fearfully from his near-death experience.

"No need to panic! I merely 'accidentally' primed it, and no griffon is injured!" Bismarck yelled, with recovered integrity which seemed to calm the soldiers down, and begin standing again.

"What you had just saw, and experienced was what you call a 'grenade', I also lacked experienced with it, resulting in its accidental detonation," Bismarck reassured his soldiers, who all seemed to doubt once more, realising that they will handle a weapon that even their instructor wasn't clear of.

"I know what you are all thinking, and no you will not blow yourself up with these new weapons, there is no way that you will accidentally prime them," Bismarck reassured once more, but realised he contradicted himself when he had just old his soldiers he had 'accidentally' detonated it. The griffons all relaxed at this correction.

"Anyways, I had been told by Paul to issue you all with these grenades, so I will be instructing you on how to use them," Bismarck said, grabbing another stick grenade from the box.

"Y-you want us to use them?" The soldiers hesitantly asked. As at one side, they were grateful in knowing that Bismarck trusted them to entrust them with such powerful weapons, but also terrified in what they could achieve.

"You may think this is extreme, however, it is necessary to defeat our enemies." Bismarck solemnly replied,

"Our enemies? Why would we need something like that to kill forest critters?" A defiant griffon asked, betraying his code of unquestioning obedience.

"Do you think those looters and warlords are your friends then?" A nearby soldier cheekily replied.

"We were too afraid to call them our enemies, but now things have changed." Another soldier stated,

"They will now think twice before stealing our things!" A soldier triumphantly cheered,

"They will think twice before stealing everygriffs"' things! Not just ours!" Another followed,

"DOWN WITH THE WARLORDS! HAIL BISMARCK AND PAUL!" Every soldier cheered, making Bismarck smirk in flashback during his times as chancellor, as the German people would praise him for his achievements.

After several more cheers in Pauls' and his name, he decided to stop this undisciplined behaviour, "ATTENTION!"

Every soldier immediately stopped their cheers and quickly formed back up to their previous positions, awaiting their leaders' instructions.

"Great reactions, but you all need to show restraint and discipline if you wish to be a real soldier. So that's why I will be drilling you in formations and procedures to harden you into true fight-capable soldiers." Bismarck scolded his recruits, "Your exercises will be harsh and brutal, but I expect you all to be able to withstand them, as you had done with other problems throughout your lives in this hellish world."

"Question!" A griffon with an oversized helmet asked,

"What's your question soldier?" Bismarck responses calmly,

"What's hell?"

Bismarck face-clawed himself. He had to remind himself more that it was called tartarus in this world.

Irregulars into Guards (also a lot of time skips)

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>>1 month time skip<<

Summary start

Summary of what happens during the one month skip: Repetitive drills, Hett Mirov becomes a lieutenant as Bismarck discovers his ability to position his troops effectively before engagements (he has foresight from his experience in hunting and knowing where the animals will go), crops are one-third the way to be able to be harvested (they are potatoes), the industry is booming (but there are no trade), literacy is solved, houses are rebuilt into German styles, the griffons have converted/adapted into the German culture, Bismarcks' company of irregulars are now guards, all the unemployed have joined Bismarcks' swelling army, and now he has a battalion of 600 troops (1 company of 120 guards and 4 companies of 480 regulars), Bismarck now has mortars (I was too lazy to write its firing procedures or how the soldiers would react, as it would be the same as the rifles), they also have maxim machine guns (cause screw you), food shortage is solved, Bismarck and Paul becomes their leader and the elder has stepped down to retire after making sure they both had no evil intentions (he could not tell, but he yielded looking at what they had done for the village), THE VILLAGE IS NOW A CITY, AND ITS NAME IS BERLIN (I know, very creative), mines. Mines and machines everywhere, a universal currency is introduced (it is called marks), Bismarck is ready to open up a can of whoop-ass and Paul is ready to turn the entire region into an industrial power-house.

Summary end

Bismarck had been right, as the soldiers had quickly gotten used to the weight of their gears as they were able to maneuver in the air with previous ease. They were currently "exercising" in the mountains and forests, divided into 6 squads of 20 led by what Bismarck called "staff sergeants" who he had picked personally, saying that if they disappointed him, they will be demoted immediately. They were all independently carrying out drills which Bismarck had demonstrated in the training grounds, who also had explicitly told the staff sergeants to harshly discipline the soldiers without fraternisation after whispering a set of instructions to them.

All the squads were first told to march on their hind legs, their claws idle to allow the firing of their rifles in a minutes' notice. However, in Bismarcks' great reluctance and dismay, the majority of the griffons preferred to fly, and were allowed to if given explicit commands to do so, and if they were in strict, battle-ready formations. Bismarck knew better than to abandon common practices and was not shy from reaching compromises with his soldiers. Their exercise also had a secondary purpose: being used as an opportunity to hunt, as Bismarck knew it would be impossible logistically to supply troops in a society that was roadless, so he taught them how to properly live off the land by splitting into pairs to hunt or gather food and water. The soldiers first objected to this, as they did not want to degenerate to the same standards as the warlords' armies which plundered and looted friendly villages to gain food for their campaigns, which meant that Bismarck had to organise a bigger force to handle supply and logistics by transporting them airborne. What a hassle...

Meanwhile... In the village-turned-city, Paul and Bismarck had launched a massive education campaign, as their hunts yielded a massive haul, especially with their rifles, as they could dispatch multiple preys at once via assembling a firing line, and the native fauna had not yet adapted to griffons being able to hunt them without approaching them close. Bismarck expected the mass literacy program to take at least a year, however, Paul was far more pessimistic, as he used Hett as a benchmark to determine the rest of the griffons' intelligence, and placed his money on taking at least 2 years to make all the griffons in the village literate. (The quickest literacy program took 8 months) However, they both extremely underestimated the griffons' ability to comprehend and learn, as they were able to fully grasp the written language in under a month. Bismarck hypothesised it was because they had to only teach a single population group, as unlike the wide-range literacy programs in other nations, they did not have to reach out to some remote village to educate the poor farmers there. Paul thought it was because the griffons were naturally gifted in learning, just not in creativity, based on the lack of innovation, but kept knowledge from the past. Or maybe it was both they thought.

"What a month huh?" Paul asked Bismarck, who was sitting lazily on a stump. "We made the villagers new houses, educated them, fed them and gave them jobs."

"We have also taught them to be proud Germans, to regard the state higher than themselves, and made a lasting societal change, whose culture will surely live on with our intervention." Bismarck wisely stated, grinning madly from his achievements.

"How are your soldiers?" Paul muttered dreamily,

"No longer irregulars, fitting the title of proud guards." Bismarck proudly announced, "How goes your industry?"

"Every griffon is employed and working, everything is being mass-produced, and any opening up of trade will no doubt tip this worlds' economy on its head." Paul proudly announced as well.

They then both sat quietly, looking over the city atop a hill that overlooked it. They admired their part of their work and briefly glanced at each others' works to respect it too. However, their daydreams would be cut short by a staff sergeant landing beside Bismarck with a grim face.

"What is it, staff sergeant?" Bismarck asked, his expressions becoming stoic once seeing the serious griffons' face.

"Sir," the sergeant began, saluting at the chief of armed forces, "We have reported sighting of an army approaching steadfast towards our city."

"How long until engagement?" Bismarck expressions soured, as he began to rise from the stump.

"Hett thinks it would take them 2 days until they reach the outskirts of our city." The sergeant relayed,

"Excellent, then call up all the staff sergeants and meet me at the headquarters with Hett, we shall begin to prepare our defences!" Bismarck enthusiastically announced, as he finally had the opportunity to use his newly acquired guns. His giddiness simply made Paul sigh in contempt.

The sergeant saluted Bismarck and flew off once Bismarck returned the salute, Paul then asked, "What is his name?"

"Wess Gold, and my most reliable staff sergeant," Bismarck replied and quickly flew off towards the same direction as the previous griffon did. Paul simply laid further back, until his back was lying on the grass.

"So much for the industrialists... Not much glory yet so many contributions..." Paul contemplated, "At least I can run a giant monopoly..."

What was Grazi Terrez doing for the past month?

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Grazis' intentions in becoming a warlord had made him rowdy militias rowdier, as they threatened mutiny or desertion if they weren't paid a bonus or given a chance to loot in their long journey east to siege the castle. Grazi was able to stall their demands and threats for a long time, but not even the most charismatic leader can avoid paying his soldiers, and so he conceded to the threat against his life unless he took a detour to raid several villages nearby their route.

Many of the early villages they encountered did not have much, as their harvest was stripped by a passing warlords' army, and their houses were devoid of possessions. Their explanations did not please the "righteous claws" however, as they grew restless emptying already-looted sacks of grains, finding chests empty even of the most basic of tools or equipment, as the village seemed to have regressed into the stone age looking at their conditions. The armys' continual annoyance soon boiled down to anger, and finally into bloodlust, as one griffons' sword slashed a farmers' neck brutally, wedging the blade into the poor peasants' neck and killing him slowly. The witnesses cried bloody murder throughout the village, and they all began to route. One thing led to another, and it led to the majority of the male adult population being slaughtered, and the children and female griffons being captured, and the former being used for "recreational" purposes by the soldiers to increase morale.

Grazi was disgusted by these actions, however, was more concerned in every raid than the possibility of a warlord army approaching from the horizon to ambush their army into a disorganised rout. He had feared he lost the initiative once he detoured and deviated from the path towards the castle, however, the response army seemed to never materialise before him to crush his disorganised army. And so, his army continual raped and plundered their way haphazardly throughout the countryside towards the castle, their newly-gained armour becoming soaked with the blood of the villages they burned and slaughtered, their mere sight and smell alone being able to make villagers flee in terror.

Thankfully, their bloodlust was able to be toned down, as they encountered a relatively "untouched" village, which meant that the villagers were able to barely able to scrape by from their stockpiles and farms. However, their "serenity" quickly became replaced with the familiar feeling of dread, as the raiders "confiscated" their stockpiles and took all of their valuables, dooming the farmers to starvation and death, either when they starved or a tax collector sold them all for slavery. Many griffons still executed several griffons in the name of "mercy", as they believed it would end their suffering and their fate as a slave, destined to die.

Grazis' numbers also grew exponentially, as most of the villagers that were raided were already destined to starvation and poverty, which led to many griffons who were already starving and suffering to join Grazis' army in the prospects of wealth and food to quench their immediate hunger.

For a trip that would normally take 10 days, as they were travelling through two counties, it took them a little over 30 days, and they weren't even close to their destination. This was due to a combination of issues, them being: that Grazis' forces were growing in numbers for every km he travelled, there were many detours along their way to either forage for food, or more likely detour entirely to raid a village nearby. Despite the ability to fly, many of the griffons were wearing heavy armour which they had acquiesced from the forts which were weighing them down, slowing down the army as a whole in the process, as Grazis' paranoia of an enemy army approaching anytime kept on shutting down discussions about dispersing his army to better maneuver and allow the lighter-equipped soldiers to advance and wait for the slower soldiers by hunting and foraging until they arrived. Due to this, Grazis' army moved at a snails' pace, but it wasn't a foolish move, as Grazi was right: the warlords could attack him anytime, except maybe that's what they wanted him to think. Brazil shook away the thought and continued planning for his next move.

The "righteous claws" were currently marching and flying in conjunction through the forests, which Grazi quickly realised as the same forests that were located moderately distant to the village which he had to capture before moving on towards the castle. He knew this, because of the unmistakable landmarks that was present if you flew above the thick forest into the distance, as you could clearly see the start of the "great northern mountains" which acted as a wall to keep the violence of the griffons contained safely in the eastern lands. Grazi breathed in deeply, immersing himself in the smell of nature and its tranquillity it brought, he smiled briefly but then was disrupted by a mysterious presence in the air... Grazis' eyes quickly darted back and forth as to catch the disturbance, and finally looked up to see... A normal cloud. Grazi scoffed at this, scolding his own paranoia and continued leading his column.

Atop a cloud, a Berlin soldier observed the column below him, despite the forests obscuring most of his vision, he had counted at least 2000, half the entire population of their city! He looked around to spot his partner, and saw him on another cloud, looking at the column at a different angle, their eyes met once waving at the other and both began gesturing to each other.

They both gestured to go back to the barracks to report their findings and began drifting their cloud slowly away from the view of the griffons below and began to speed up once they were out of view. We must make hast!

Grazis' army continually marched through the forest, their armour still coated with the blood of innocents, weapons unsheathed and covered with dried blood. Grazi had 1800 and more soldiers at his disposal and his morales were high. If he was able to forceable conscript the upcoming village, he could swell up his numbers up to 2000 and properly siege the castle further east. His prospects were high, his luck seemed even brighter and his soldiers were quite optimistic about their chances of taking the castle. Not a single griffon within their army thought a second longer regarding the upcoming village, as they believed it would fall quickly as every other village did.

But the new city of Berlin would fight back ferociously and come out the victors. As after all, you must know your enemy before you defeat them.

Bismarcks' new arsenal

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Paul was disappointed. Bismarcks' troops preferred against using machine guns, as they found them too heavy and immobile to use during flight or movement. Only several squads opted in using them and were operated by 3 griffons, one who mounted the maxim machine gun on their backs, one who will feed the belt ammunition, and the other who will fire it. There were some complications, as the griffon who was mounting the machine gun would be rendered deaf for the duration of the fire, due to the proximity of the noise of the gun.

Thankfully, all the heavy armaments were embraced by the soldiers, as all his artillery pieces were integrated into their companies. Each squad had one light field artillery, recoilless and breach-loaded with several shells in tow. Unlike the machine guns, they were all impressed more by the destructive capabilities of the artillery and had delegated 4 soldiers in their squads to carry them to battle. They weighed 1.4 tonnes and had to be wheeled but the griffons' strength far outclassed humans, and no more than 2 were needed to move the piece.

But most importantly, Paul had built 10 "big bertha" siege howitzers, totally impractical to move without rails due to their weight, but extremely effective in annihilating fortifications or large groups of enemies. He had trouble trying to convince Bismarck to attach 2 of them per company, however, he also saw the impracticality of having to tow the bloody thing to every battle, as it would just slow them down. So Paul retreated to his quarters and began designing a blueprint for a self-propelling mechanism using early car and tractor engines for its propulsion. He eliminated the idea of using wheels pretty quickly, as they were easy to get stuck on uneven terrain, so he stuck with tractor tracks, and his smaller models were able to traverse uneven grounds fairly easily.

His prototypes that he showed to Bismarck was unreliable, as he had rushed it without taking time to polish his design, but impressed him anyways, as it was now able to move fast enough to catch up with the flying griffons, however, he had to sacrifice the armour for it, as the artillery piece was simply boxed in with a very thin metal sheet, which was barely thick enough to protect the drivers from shrapnel, but bullets were able to pierce. (Self-propelled artillery wasn't designed until 1917, but screw reality! I want some heavy guns!). Bismarck approved of the project and even requested that the field artilleries also get these upgrades, which Paul gladly accepted. Soon enough, all the heavy guns in Bismarcks' battalion would be transported via tracks, however, he would need to supply them with fuel as well now, which meant that logistics became a lot harder for Bismarck to handle, especially with this new equipment. At least Paul fixed the reliability issue Bismarck reflected, he would gain the biggest migraine if it didn't.

However, the biggest innovation of them all was Pauls' newly designed "machine-pistols" or sub-machine guns due to their ability to provide sustained rapid-fire but on a pistol cartridge. It held 32 bullets in its drum magazine and could fire as quickly as the maxim machine gun, able to dispense 500 rounds per minute, compared to the 600 rounds which the maxim gun was capable of. Every single squad scrambled to get their claws on the gun, once Paul was able to demonstrate its firepower when they assembled, wowing Bismarck and making the soldiers' jaw drop in amazement. Thankfully, no fights broke out between the soldiers, as Paul had made just enough of the polished product to issue every soldier with his newly-dubbed MP-1 (machine pistol 1), and instead of them ditching their rifles, they carried both, carrying 2 magazines on their pants, 6 on their front besides their grenades, as much as they could between their wings, as they realised they would run out of bullets quickly with their new automatic weapon. The added weight didn't bother them, much to Bismarcks' and Pauls' surprise, even though their soldiers were literally armed to the teeth, and looked like living carriages with the number of things they carried. (Lions are 7.5 times stronger than humans)

>>TYPICAL SQUAD OF BERLIN<<
* Consists of 20 griffons
* A soldier carries a rifle and sub-machine gun for long-range and close-range situations
* A soldier carries 400 rounds of rifle ammunition and 8+ drum magazine of 9mm ammunition
* 4 soldiers operate self-propelled field artillery
* (optional) 3 soldiers operate machine guns
* One staff sergeant to lead the squad
* 3 soldiers operating mortars
* 9/12 other soldiers carrying extra ammunition or miscellaneous equipment

>>MILITARY STRUCTURE<<
* 6 squads of 120 griffons making up a company
* 5 companies of 600 griffons making up a battalion
* Each company has 2 siege howitzers
* Logistics are now handled from motorized vehicles, any terrain they cannot pass is traversed via flight and done by claws alone.

>>IMPORTANT PERSONNEL<<
* 30 Staff sergeants, too many to name so I won't give them names (except important ones)
* Lieutenant Hett Mirov controls battalion
* Bismarck is the chief of armed forces
* No generals, nor field marshals yet, (they need to earn it)

Also, Bismarck is experimenting with armoured cars, and one squad will consist solely of armoured cars. The passengers will carry only a sub-machine gun as it's more compact to comfortably carry in the armoured vehicles. They will be almost impossible to use in forests, however, they will be used in plains or any flat ground.

Preparing the best defence

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22 griffons stood in a darkly lit room, surrounding a table that had a detailed map of the surroundings around the city. Bismarck was uncomfortable in having sergeants in his war room, as normally only generals and field marshals would be allowed to be in it. However, he had to make do with what he had, which meant he had to make a majority of the decisions himself.

"We've brought the scouts as requested," A griffon walked into the room, following them were the two griffons who had spotted the approaching army.

"Good, what's the situation?" Bismarck stared at the two nervous griffons who couldn't stop fiddling with their collars.

"Well... We've found an army approaching west-side from the forests towards our city-"

"Are they hostile?" Bismarck asked, ready to explode on the scouts if they turned out to be peaceful.

"Their armour was choked with blood, and their swords were already unsheathed with splotches of dried blood." The other scout responded, allowing the other to relax slightly.

"How many did you see?" Bismarck placed a claw under his beak, slightly concerned about the number of bodies they would need to clean up.

"We saw around 2000 sir, however, we aren't entirely sure, as the trees obstructed our view." The scouts relayed, which made Bismarck sink deeper in thought.

Guess they will become fertiliser then...

"It doesn't matter, does it? We have better weapons don't we?" The other scout questioned, unsure as to why Bismarck looked concerned.

"It matters because we will be stretched thin, isn't that right Bismarck?" Hett playfully sang to Bismarck, which was responded by a groan from Bismarck.

How long will it take for this rockhead to be serious?! Bismarck mentally complained, as Hett seemed to be express the opposite reactions every time something happened, and his positivism was annoyingly repetitive.

"We may have better weapons, but they can just fly over us or around us to the city through gaps in our lines." Hett concluded seriously, "We will need to position our troops in a way that can both stop the enemy in the air and the ground, as well as spreading them out to cover all angles."

Bismarck was impressed with Hetts' evaluation, only if this transferred to his personality.

"That's right, we will win every engagement, however, it depends solely on the enemy if they decide to attack or go around us." Bismarck supplemented, which made the scouts nod in agreement. "Anyways, could you please point towards the place the enemy is approaching from?"

"Ah yes! Of course!" The scouts broke out of their motion and quickly pointed towards the forests in the west of the city.

"By that distance, it would take them at least 2 days to reach the city..." A sergeant said, leaning forward.

"My lieutenants' thought exactly, also did you happen to see anything else?" Bismarck asked the scouts,

"Nothing too special sir, majority of their soldiers were poorly armed, but the ones who did had some decent equipment."

"If that's all, you are dismissed." Bismarck quickly saluted the scouts, who saluted in response and wheeled around to leave the war room. Once the door closed, Bismarck turned to face his staff.

"Do any of you have an idea of what to do in this situation?" Bismarck asked his inexperienced staff sergeants.

They all looked at each other confused, talking and negotiating was out of the question, and they had never really fought before in their lives. However, Bismarcks' strict education of military thoughts and theories had paid off, as they weren't entirely clueless on what to do.

"Defending such a wide front with the disadvantage in numbers is impossible." A sergeant concluded, making Bismarck nod in agreement.

"We have to attack, but surrounding them in the forests is unlikely, as many could slip away towards the city." Another nod from Bismarck.

"Artillery will be ineffective in the thick forests, however, we may be able to disintegrate their lines if they are marching in tight columns." Another sergeant correctly assessed.

"If they fly above the forests, we can shred them with shrapnel shells from our mortars and field guns." A sergeant helpfully reminded.

"Good, good. They are indeed great factors in our strategy, but we are yet to piece them together. Hett? What do you think Hett?" Bismarck turned towards his lieutenant, who was currently scratching his beak in deep thought.

"We have to push them out the forests..." Hett concluded, which made Bismarck pique with interest,

"How will you do that?"

"We will control the ground, and intentionally leave the air open." Hett finished, his eyes brightening up with an idea, "They will be forced to take to the skies if we concentrate our entire force in the forests, and once they're up, we can blow them up with shrapnel!"

"We will then dig trenches to protect ourselves from the bombardment." A sergeant added,

"Our armoured squad will then approach from behind to cut down anygriff who decides to run away on land." Another chimed in,

"Brilliant! I couldn't have thought of a better plan!" Bismarck applauds, which garnered a proud smirk from all the officers present.

"You are now dismissed officers, prepare your defences immediately, as I won't be helping you for this one." Bismarck waved as the officers, which raised several brows.

"Why is that?" Hett asked curiously,

"See this as your final test, as I'm in a dire need of generals and field marshals," Bismarck muttered out tiredly, as he had to organise everything so far himself, which made him wish he had some other griffon to delegate his task to.

All the sergeants and Hett brightened up at this, as they finally had the opportunity to prove themselves to earn their leaders' respect.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE DISMISSED!" Bismarck yelled out playfully, however, all of his staff took it dead seriously and scrambled out the war room to hastily organise their squads.

I missed this so much... Bismarck reminisced, as he memorised a time, not so long ago when he used to boss around his inferiors similarly. He eyed the map once more to ensure he didn't miss anything important and turned slowly towards the door.

We need a national anthem... He thought.

Grazi rolls a 0, Hett rolls a 9

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Grazis' army had marched through the forest for a day, he had ordered his soldiers to never disperse in the forests, as doing so would allow his enemies to pick off his force one-by-one. He knew that in a day he would arrive at the outskirts of the village, yet he felt an uneasy presence following him. His elite guard grew concerned at Grazis' behaviour, as he would erratically look around as if to find a phantom threat, and would unsheathe his sword in random intervals or at the faintest of noises.

"Are you alright sir?" The guard asked, concerned with the accelerating paranoia of their warlord.

"Y-yes! Sorry... I just can't believe the warlord is not sending an army to destroy us..." Grazi assured his guards,

"Perhaps he has better things to worry about? Or perhaps he has choked on a bone?" The guard cheekily replied, garnering a hearty laugh from his comrades. Grazi chuckled lightly.

"He must be too busy with his countless consists and slaves!" A common soldier chimed in from the back,

"Too busy raiding his own villages!" Another called out,

"Yes, yes, we will make him pay! Grazi will lead us to victory!" The guards rallied on, which made the soldiers cheer in Grazis' name.

Grazi upon being praised began to relax, perhaps the warlord really don't care... If that's the case... I bless my luck! The army kept on marching. Not knowing that they were being watched.

"Bring me the telephone," A proned sergeant whispered to his squad, who in turn passed him a speaker from a box whose wires extended beyond the forests. "This is squad alpha, we have spotted the enemy approaching our positions. 200 metres to our North."

"We've got your grid, we are ready to give you artillery support." The artillerists responded, slightly adjusting the angles of their guns.

Hett had been listening to the conversations between the squads and the artillery and was relieved to know that the marching army had not deviated in their path toward the city. However, he did still worry about the armoured squad, as they did not have any forms of communications except for flyers with letters. He had to hope that they would arrive fast enough to block the enemys' retreat from the back.

Sergeant Gunter peering from his hatch, as his armoured cars were tumbling through the uneven terrain. He was optimistic about how quickly his squad could join the battle, however, he had to stop multiple times to lift several cars that had gotten stuck on the roots or branches, as they became wedged in between the wheels. His optimism decayed away for every stop he had to make, as he could not just abandon them in the forests, or else face Bismarcks' wrath. But in doing so, he would be late to the battle and his delay might sabotage the enforcement of the enemy.

Gunter remained indecisive and continued until two more cars became stuck, and made him think about the best course of action.

"Sir, at this rate we will be unable to reach our destination in time. Should send a letter to tell them we won't be able to participate at the start of the battle?" A corporal asked, grabbing an empty letter in his claws.

Gunter thought about the offer, but decided against it, as he decided to do something unconventional.

"Gunners, dismount and go ahead of our squad. You will secure our line until we arrive, at which point you will take up your gunner positions and carry on as normal." Gunter ordered, which was answered with confused stares and disbelief, but they quickly regained discipline, and followed their orders, dismounting their gun and flying forwards, ahead of the armoured column.

Any minute now... Gunter thought, as one of his cars became unstuck, but the other still hopelessly immobile.

Grazis' griffs were marching enthusiastically, morales high, weapons held high and chest puffed out in pride.

Hetts' squads were all hidden well, entrenched and machine guns primed and ready to fire at the unsuspecting looters. All of their safeties were off, their rifles' sights all lined up towards their target, their smgs' beside them to dispatch any fearless chargers.

"-so I told the guy it was either his money or his life," One of Grazis' militiagriff said, garnering several stifled chuckles from the other griffons nearby. "And guess what he says!" He continued.

"What?" A guard chimed in, not getting the joke.

"No! Take it from me if you can!" The militiagriff said with a broken accent as if too poorly imitate the victims' voice. "And guess what I did to him,"

"What?" The guard tiredly asked as he didn't find the joke funny at all.

"I KILLED H-" the griffons' forehead exploded with blood, his chin dropping down to his neck, and crumbling down onto the ground. The griffons who witnessed this were either too terrified to move, or frozen by shock.

"OPEN FIRE!!!" A voice boomed out from the bushy surroundings, followed by the sound of many small explosions going off around them. Sparks from their weapons and armour began to appear, as lightning-fast yellow bolts zipped past them, many hitting their marks which sent them down, crying in pain.

"AMBUSH! EVERYGRIFF PUT YOUR SHIELDS UP! THEY HAVE CROSSBOWS!" A guard shouted out, attempting to rally the peasants together to fight against a conventional ambush.

"SHIELDS DOESN'T WORK! THEY AREN'T CROSSBOWS!" An armoured soldier screamed, his shields up, but the bullets penetrating it easily, to pepper him with its splinters.

"FIRE BACK! FIRE YOUR CROSSBOWS!" A guard futilely ordered, aiming his crossbow to the general direction of the enemy, but its bolts got stuck on the thick bushes, rendering them useless.

"WE ARE LOST! THE WARLORDS HAVE COME FOR VENGEANCE!" A militagriff cried out, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"HALT! HOLD THE LINE! DO NOT RETREAT!" Grazi furiously screamed, slashing a fleeing peasant, whose comrades didn't even bat an eye, as they were too busy running to notice it.

The levies within Grazis' army all began running towards the way they had come from, ditching their weapons to move faster, some tried to fly, but they were easily noticed by the guards, and cut down by their own allies. The levies' spirits slightly lifted, as the noise of guns firing began to die down as they were running. However, another noise soon replaced it.

Several metallic wagons emerged from the bushes, its wheels crushing the weak twigs and trees from its path, and stopping in front of the levies' view.

The levies froze, as many stopped out of fear but a few in confusion. Were they moving on its own?! they all thought, and they began to fear it was the warlords'. They barely noticed 6 griffons flying over and dropping themselves into the hatches of the encased wagons and closing it.

"What are they doin-" the levies' words were cut off by a hail of bullets, as the armoured cars opened fire point-blank at the gathered griffons. Feathers began to fire aimlessly through the air, as the bullets collided with the wings, making the scene look like a bloody pillow-fight.

"It's hopeless my lord! We must flee!" A guard told Grazi, holding onto his shoulders with his bloodied claws.

Grazi swung around furiously and swiped the guards' neck, spewing his blood all over Grazis' armour. "THERE WILL BE NO RETREAT! NO SURRENDE-"

Grazis' shouts were cut off by a swing from his guards' shield, fracturing his beak and shutting him up. "ARE YOU BLIND?! We must run, or else we won't live to fight again!" He scolded his superior.

Grazis' recollected himself and thought logically to what he should do in this situation, as the guard was right. His luck had run out, and he had to flee once more to escape annihilation.

"A-alright! ALL GRIFFS TAKE TO THE SKIES!" Grazi shouted, reinvigorated and thinking rationally. What sorcery did the warlords employ for such firepower?! Grazi thought, as he and his soldiers began to fly upwards, away from the crossfire on the ground.

Several of the guards and remaining levies who were too injured were carried, their wings visibly riddled with bloody holes and blood flowing down freely down to their chin.

Thankfully, the gunfire seemed to die down as they climbed up to the skies, passing the branches of the tallest trees, to finally elevate high enough to touch the clouds and leave the forest grounds.

"LISTEN UP! THE ENEMY MIGHT STILL CHASE US THROUGH THE SKIES! SO DITCH YOUR ARMOUR AND INJURED! WE HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE!" Grazi announced, which made the injured griffons who were being carried look towards him in disbelief, as their comrades who had helped them were starting to slip them off their grasp.

"WHAT?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Juan furiously objected, which made the Griffin's holding the injured rethink their decisions.

"IF YOU WANT TO LIVE! YOU WILL AND FOLLOW ME!" Grazi threatened, which made them all drop their armour and the injured too.

Juan saw several of his comrades being dropped and dived into the ground to catch them, which made Grazi shake his head in disappointment. Such foolish behaviour... Unfit for a leader. Grazi evaluated, as he watched the last of his soldiers drop their armour and really towards him.

All the howitzers and field artillery were loaded up with shrapnel shells. They had driven just outside the forests, atop a hill aiming towards the skies, just above the forests. The operators on the guns were all holding their breath, holding an extra shell to immediately load after the fire, and the string was held tightly to pull as soon as they were given the signal.

A griffon held a telephone close to his ears, the other being covered by his other claw. He needed extreme concentration to ensure that the artillery had the greatest effe- "NOW!"

40 guns immediately fired, 10 being ear-shattering whilst the 30 field guns being slightly more tolerable to the ears. Immediately after this, the breach was opened and the shell extracted to make way for the prepared shell with machine-like precision. Another volley of guns was fired to coat the forest skies with lead.

Juan dived incorrectly, as he hit a tree accidentally whilst focusing too much on trying to catch the falling griffon. He touched his beak and felt it broken and began to sob quietly. What cruel world would subject me to this awful fate? He thought, as he laid back against the branch on the tree he collided with, and became limp as he didn't want to try anymore. Too much pain...

Juan looked at the skies, to see Grazi and his murderous gang grouping up. Juan cursed Grazi for subjecting his people to death, but he also cursed the warlords below for not chasing down Grazi. Even in defeat, his luck has no bounds... Juans' tears began rolling down from his eyes, as injustices like this were never punished, and encouraged in his world. He closed his eyes.

And it began raining?

He opened his eyes, but then a piece of griffons' guts landed on his opened eyes.

"URGH! -What the?!" Juan fumbled the intestines out of his eyes and was able to do it easily without pain thanks to griffons' layers of protection on their eyes. He then looked up.

Juan saw a shower of blood raining down from the skies, shredded bodies with open torsos which spilt out guts and organs that fell and hanged on the branches or bounced off to hit the ground.

"W-what's going on?!" Juan yelled, horrified by the scenery that was unfolding in front of him.

Several puffs of smoke then exploded in the air, and he could feel it this time, as several shrapnels tore through the branch he was lying on, causing it to fall alongside him towards the ground.

"S-sh-sh-SHIT!" Juan cried, but he could not unfold his wings quick enough to lessen his fall and was knocked out by hitting his head on a rock.

Grazi, at one moment, was surrounded by his loyal soldiers, but after a blink, they had all become shreds of skin, organs and feathers, as several explosions rang beside them, spitting shrapnel at their exposed skins. Grazi spun out of control in the air, as one of his wings were cut clean-off by shrapnel. Another round of explosions would lodge another shrapnel into his lungs, which made him immediately accelerate towards the ground, as he could no longer futilely beat his wings.

He plummeted on a sea of corpses that cushioned his fall, the side of his body that hit the ground first being covered completely in fresh, warm blood. He pushed himself up, and collapsed sitting against a tree, coughing violently with pieces of his own lungs and blood escaping from his beak.

"I did everything right..." Grazi cried towards the skies. "I had planned every outcome..." Grazi coughed out, blood splattering on his already-soaked torso.

"Apparently not everything." An unknown griffon replied, slowly approaching him with guns drawn.

"Wh- *cough* -are you?" Grazi asked the smirking griffin who was now standing in front of him.

"The name's Hett! Any last words?" He said, aiming the barrels at Grazis' torso.

"*cough* *cough*... Fuck yo-"

Hett didn't let him finish, as he emptied his entire magazine into Grazis' body, blood splattering everywhere and expelling more blood from Grazis' lungs.

Grazi twitched and flipped himself over. He wheezed, and finally closed his eyes.

The warlord never stood a chance.

Bismarck vs Paul: Questions about democracy

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Bismarck was having a great day. He had promoted 20 of his staff sergeants into generals and promoted Hett to a field marshal. He was extremely impressed with Gunters' ability to command units which he wasn't familiar with as well and made him lead an initiative to train more armoured squads in his army. He had given them all iron crosses, due to there being no casualties and their great performance in battle.

But his day was ruined by Pauls' intrusion to his office.

"Bismarck, we have to talk," Paul asked, desperation on his face.

"I'm currently busy, maybe later," Bismarck responded tiredly, as he had to reply to letters from his new generals about their new responsibilities.

"This cannot wait, we have to solve this now." Paul pleaded, which made Bismarck groan in annoyance and put down his letter.

"What is it?" Bismarck dug his face on the pile of letters, muffling his response.

Paul sighed, as he readied himself for Bismarcks' wrath. "... We may need a democratic sys-"

Paul was slammed by a table being flipped on him, he was knocked against the walls and a claw suddenly busted through the fluttering letters to grasp his neck.

"AHHHHH! I CAN EXPLAIN!" Paul pleaded as he covered his face with his claws to block an expected punch.

"You have 10 seconds." Bismarck dangerously warned,

"They will be advisers only! Don't hit me!" Paul desperately rambled, "You were voted into the position of mayor, weren't you?! I want the same thing for them!"

Bismarck placed a claw beneath his beak to think. Hmmmm... It could increase our support. But it could also destabilise us as they might ask for more power... "... How can you guarantee me that they won't ask for more than just an advisory role?"

"I know where you are coming from, but haven't you realised something about these griffons?" Paul asked, not sure if Bismarck had enough interactions with the normal griffons to form a judgement.

"What about them?" Bismarck asked, confused and laxing his grip on Paul.

"They are unquestioning and extremely loyal, they listen to whatever the hell we say! Advisors could only help us in this situation." Paul reasoned, hoping Bismarck would agree.

"... I suppose you're right..." Bismarck thought, If they see we are giving them the vote, they will go to all lengths to fight and die for us... "... Alright, I'll allow it. But what positions are they going to take?" Bismarck let go of Paul.

Paul simply dusted himself off, and dictated his plans, "We will allow them to vote their representatives by separating their duchies into states, but we will choose their candidates to deter any 'wrong' ideas."

"No socialists?"

"No socialists."

Elections had opened up in the city of Berlin, and surprisingly no griffon had decided to run, which meant Bismarck could do what he wanted to do anyway and convinced the village elder to become the first democratically-elected member of the "parliament". He would present the state of Brandenburg, but for now, he would just oversee one city.

Bismarck and Paul proclaimed to the city that they would recover their newly-found state and kick out the "occupiers". The residents all knew he was bullshitting, but cheered anyways for a glorious future.

Warning: Time will skip extremely frequently

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I will be knocking up the storys' speed up to 5 bars so you won't fall asleep.

As much as I want to hit you with the:
"Haha we gon' win!" - warlord
"Bonjour." - Bismarck
"WHAT MAGIC IS THIS?!" - warlord
"Öniön." - Bismarck
*ded* - warlord

But I don't want to suffer, and I'm pretty sure my non-existent viewers wouldn't want me to suffer as well, so I won't.

Lightning round! (Bismarck and Paul ascend)

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-204BB: Bismarck and Paul proclaim that they would "retake" the lands from the warlord occupiers. It's heard by no one except the Berlin griffons. They also enforce that every settlement is given a name.

-203BB: Bismarck and Paul stabilise their new state of Brandenburg by "retaking", the lands from the warlord who controlled it. The neighbouring warlords become concerned about the rising rogue state and investigate.

-202BB: The neighbouring warlords are destroyed by Bismarcks' army and their territories are integrated into the Brandenburg state. Other warlords are now banding together to destroy the greater threat against their power, as Bismarck and Pauls' promises of democracy are being heard by all villages and settlements in the north.

-201BB: Gunter is promoted to field marshal, and the general staff is doubled, as Bismarck promotes them for their performance against the northern warlords. Gunter forms an armoured division. Bismarck and Paul form the states of Saxony and Lauenburg and proclaims the German Empire. Warlords all over the eastern realm know of their presence, and the danger they pose.

-200BB: The central warlords who control lands rich in resources, offer to appease Bismarck by sending them tribute. They secretly plan to gather intelligence and copy the German weapons. Bismarck quickly realises their plans and attack using their spies' letters as justifications of war. Bismarck then begins to create a spy agency.

-199BB: The central warlords attempt to replicate the German weapons using their vast amounts of resources, however, is unable to reverse-engineer anything due to their complicated design. These southern warlords join in with the central warlords after receiving offers of vassalations. They employ cruel griffon-wave tactics to slow down the German advance.

-198BB: The central Warlords' army collapses, and starvation grips their lands as the southern warlord stop exporting food to them in fear of starving themselves. All remaining southern armies in the centre retreat back to their own territory. The German empire is able to occupy the central lands with very little resistance. The States of Silesia, Rhine, Hanover and Pomerania are founded.

-197BB: Bismarck and Paul invests in the navy and airforce respectively, and the German empire is now able to field several dreadnoughts and top-of-the-line screens, capital ships and cruisers. Airships and early biplanes are also created, which are being used mostly for reconnaissance missions. The German empire marches south, they enjoy a lot of popular support from the farmers, however the warlords all retreat and fortify inside their castles.

-196BB: with the countryside secured, Bismarck is able to systematically destroy all remaining resistance by rolling up howitzers and capital ships to bombard the castle walls. He even uses aircraft upon Pauls' recommendations to drop bombs into the castles. They all surrender quickly. The States of Bavaria, Nassau, Posen, Holstein, Schleswig and Westphalia are created.

-195BB: Any remaining warlords are defeated, Bismarck massively expands the army, navy and airforce to begin stabilisation. Paul who had been developing the lands they had conquered, re-doubles his efforts.

-194BB: Social classes from Brandenburg solidifies, creating many capitalists who are now independently investing in railways, infrastructure and industries within the empire. Illiteracy is negligible, and the empire is rapidly industrialising. Education is now compulsory, as many of Bismarcks' previous social reforms are enforced.

-193BB: The German empire experiences an incredible population boom, as medicine, safety, food, shelter and jobs become extremely abundant, which also start to positively affect the economical development. A massive infrastructure project is completed, in connecting the most remote places to Berlin, the capital city. Elections all over the Empire takes place under Paul and Bismarcks' supervision.

-192BB: The elected parliament acts like yesmens to Bismarck and Pauls' ideas, even though they had not even rigged it or threatened them to do so. Bismarck and Paul are worshipped and praised as supernatural beings, this somehow triggers their ascension, which gains them more support and adoration from their citizens. Now they tower over the normal griffons even more so. They discover legends saying an ascended griffin ceases to age, and therefore become immortal. The citizens rejoice, however, Bismarck and Paul become concerned about losing their sanity.

Every griffon in the empire has a job, food and shelter. Resources are drained at an incredibly fast rate, as they are mined and stockpiled in massive warehouses for later use.

-191BB: A massive project to penetrate the western mountains to reach out to the larger continent is approved, and the railway is expected to be finished in 2 years. Guns are upgraded and tanks are finally made. Gunter is very happy.

Bismarck attempts to create an aristocracy, however, is rebuffed by Paul, who instead convinces him to invest in the capitalists. Bismarck normalises wearing eccentric, imperial German clothing for the extremely wealthy.

-190BB: The elder passes away, and Hett organises a funeral In Berlin to mourn his death. The railway is finished early, and they can access the wider Equis continent. Several more railways are projected to be built through the mountains. Several outposts are built to protect the railways' exit. Bismarck proclaims the state of Lorraine in the new territory.

-189BB: As Lorraine expands, Bismarck declares another state built and calls it Alsace. There are no reports of foreign natives, however, they find several isolated groups of primitive griffon tribes, and immediately integrates them into the German culture. The governors of Alsace and Lorraine tells Bismarck that the primitive griffons had been hunting "ponies" in the west who are also intelligent. Bismarck bans the practice of eating intelligent beings.

-188BB: First contact! Lightning round over!

Maps (Thank god for Equestria at War mod)

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Author's Notes:

READ ME

The borders aren't concrete like modern day ones, which means they're volatile and changes rapidly without being recorded. The maps below are a rough idea of where the borders lie, (except for the borders between the German Empire, Equestria and the Crystal Empires) as tribes, raiders and instability tend to blur the borders between nations

The map was made by a Hearts of Iron IV mod called Equestria at War.

I'm too lazy to draw.

Also too lazy to edit terrain so just imagine there's a huge F***-off mountain surrounding the German Empire.

Most nations on the map haven't 'civilised' or 'feudalised' yet, so I reckoned putting down 'capitals' for them was futile.

Ignore all the dots or anchors (ports) on the map, as they aren't important nor real. Just a figment of your imagination.

The 'Capitals' and other details will be on the descriptions for the map.

None of the countries except the Crystal Empire, Equestria and German Empire are centralised and united. This means the tribes, chiefdoms, hives and kingdoms are all fractured and are not one singular entity.

HUGE REMINDER: THE EQUIS CONTINENT IS MASSIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS AS BIG AS RUSSIA.

Complete Map of Equis:

The mountains and rivers on the map are accurate, except for the borders of the German Empire which has the highest and longest stretch of mountains that separates it from the rest of Equis.

The continent (region) of Equis is divided into 9 parts: North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest and centre.

The respective regions are named accordingly:
North: Windgonia - Named after the windigos and the strong winds. The north-most regions consist mainly of inhospitable mountains with little to no organic life, however, some stubborn creatures still live in these cold, desolate lands. The lowlands of the north are far more habitable; some parts of them being fertile and suitable for plant growth. This means most of the population is situated in the lowlands, where the ruling class and their subjects reside most densely.

Northeast: Gustalem - Named after Gusty the Great; the banisher of Grogar and hero of the three tribes. It shares Windgonia's climate, however, its southeastern regions are milder than Windgonia's lowlands. Most of the region is covered in mountains, and its lowlands were the past homes of the three pony tribes; now all covered in dirt and snow from the windigo storms.

East: Alpine - Named by a unicorn explorer before the windigos who travelled south and reached the highlands of the region, and described it as "All pines" which was later simplified to Alpine to represent the number of pine trees in the area. After the migration, they would realise that the lowland of Alpine was a humongous stretch of mountains that separated the Centre to the East. Many would try to climb or traverse around the mountains, however, they would fail due to the sheer height, need for oxygen, feral griffon ambushes and primitive tools.

Southeast: Wastelands - Named after the endless desert terrain, with pools of lava and bands of dragons which makes any attempt on settling impossible. (The region does not extend to the buffalo tribes and instead is the small patch of land in the most-southeast corner.)

South: Sahara - Named after the ancient buffalo's interpretation of the land; 'sa' meaning sand, 'ha' referring the hardships of surviving on the lands, and 'ra' describing the roughness of the terrain, as some parts are dry and rocky. Sahara is dry and arid, with little to no rainfall preventing any natural vegetation to form without a water source nearby. The region does not stretch entirely to the coast, as the southwest wraps beneath it.

Southwest: Arabia - Named after a pegasus explorer named Saddle Arabia; he discovered that beyond the Saharan deserts, there existed a wet and fertile land that was settled and ruled by numerous Centaur kingdoms. At first, nopony believed him, but after travelling for a second time and returning with gold which he 'burrowed' from King Vorak, everypony believed him and allowed him to name the region after his name. He would travel numerous more times, and discover another griffon tribe in the west after travelling around the Southwestern mountains. His luck would end in his sixth trip, however, as Tirek (King Vorak's son) and Scorpan managed to intercept his path and execute him for thievery.

West: - Doloria - Named after the ancient ponish word 'dolor', meaning sorrow, pain and grief. This was due to Saddle Arabia's description of the lands as, "A bunch of griffons murdering each other." Doloria is separated from the centre regions by a stretch of mountains, however, it's not as tall and consistent as the Alpine mountains, which allows bands of griffons to traverse them and raid their new pony neighbours. Doloria's interior terrain and climate is identical to the Centre regions, as it has a nearly endless amount of fertile land. Doloria's highlands are also home to deers, who use the rivers that flow into the central regions to raid.

Northwest: Placidus - Named by a Crystal pony scholar and an explorer, it was given the name 'Placidus' for its unnatural properties; the word being an old ponish word for calm and gentleness. Placidus is a vast swamp, despite its northern geography. The climate is humid and hot, completely contrasting the neighbouring Windgonia. The Crystal ponies attempted to settle the land to convert the swamps into farms, however, would mysteriously disappear after several weeks. They would later investigate and discover bug-like equines, and Amore IV would enact an exclusion zone to seclude themselves away from Placidus to ensure stability. (Placidus is exclusive to the Changeling hives.)

Centre: Equestria - Equestria. (Equestria)

Politics of the German Empire and its Colonies:

The colony of Alsace and Lorraine has been created. The capital of the German Empire (Berlin) is on the most northeastern corner, adjacent to the four islands.

Politics of the SouthWestern Lands of Equis:

The western griffon 'tribes' are a collection of minor kingdoms, tribes and independent villages that are all killing each other for power over the other. The kingdoms are trying to subjugate the tribes and absorb their break-away villages, whilst the tribes and villages are working together to curb the power of the kingdoms. As all the factions n the western griffon 'tribes' also all hate each other, nothing gets done, and the cycle of bloodshed simply continues.

The only 'cooperative' griffon factions are the ones in the south, as they must defend against the combined forces of the centaurs, buffalos and minotaurs on their borders. Occasionally, the southern griffons invade the south to expand or regain their lost territories, as the minotaur tribes are a weak and loose collection of warring tribes who are easy to beat, however, the Centaur kingdoms are far harder to invade despite their fractured status, as they at least have an organised army. So whilst the griffons get pushed northwards by the Centaurs, they also expand eastwards by defeating the minotaurs.

The minotaur tribes and buffalo tribes have a comprehensive alliance, as the buffalos know that if the minotaurs were to fall, the griffons who attack them next. Their 'alliance,' means that their raiding parties will not attack each other, and sometimes even work together.

Politics of the NorthEastern Lands of Equis:

The Crystal Empire was formed by the Amore dynasty. Amore I the Great formed the capital city of 'Crystal City' north of the rivers closest to the now-Equestrian borders. He would also expand further south, which was barren as the windigo migrations had not happened yet.

Amore II the Conqueror would expand massively northwards, making contact with the yaks, however dying for it in the first minor engagement embarrassingly; tripping over several rocks whilst climbing down the mountains.

Amore III the Restorer would maintain the Crystal Empire's holdings, as Amore II had overextended, and as a result, their empire was being plagued by raids and lawlessness.

Amore IV the Impatient would attempt to relive the glory days of his grandfather; Amore II and conquer as he did. However, it only ended in disaster as they would quickly make enemies with the eastern ponies (before the windigos), fail in colonising the western jungles of Placidus and lose countless soldiers in finishing off the remote crystal and pony communities in the north-most mountains. He would also 'subjugate' the yak chiefdoms through bribes and nearly bankrupt the entire nation doing so. His 'greatest triumph' would come through the windigo storms, as the ponies no longer became a threat. But he would push it too far and die trying to route a pegasus army by a rearguard battalion.

Amore V the Peaceful is the most controversial figure in Amore's dynasty, as he allowed the ponies to resettle in their southern borders and consolidate their forces. However, it would also prove to be a golden age for the Crystal ponies, as they would grow exponentially, and their culture and art would develop so much to the point of creating a strong sense of identity; a stepping stone for nationalism. He would die in a war against the Equestrians. (The details of how he died will be elaborated on in further chapters.)

Amore VI the Vengeful is the current ruler of the Crustal Empire. Amore V's death and the staggering loss of territory and expulsion of crystal ponies from said lands triggered a massive revanchist movement within the Crystal Empire which demanded their lands back and their emperor avenged. Amore VI would lead this movement and stalk the Equestrians; waiting for them to slip up for the perfect opportunity.

The Yaks are a tributary chiefdom held up by the Crystal Empire. They do not pay in gold nor natural resources and instead pay in soldiers. The Yaks and the Crystal Empire is also plagued by constant diamond dog raids and theft, as the diamond dogs dig extensive tunnel networks to steal from Crystal mines and farms.

There are also many 'unrecognised' yak chiefs who hate the Crystal Empire, and so unleash 'uncontrollable' or 'escaped criminals' into the remote villages in the mountains to loot and pillage. Due to the negligence, the north-most mountains suffer, not a lot is done by the Crystal Empire to defend their remote subjects.

The Crystal Empire and diamond dogs occupy the old lands of the three tribes; the diamond dogs digging up many old pre-windigo artefacts and tools to use against the crystal ponies. The crystal empire would attempt futilely to invade the diamond dog chiefdoms and subjugate them like the yaks, however, their extensive tunnel networks and their decentralised command would make them impossible to weed out nor negotiate with.

Occasionally, the Zebrican tribes would assist the diamond dog chieftains in exchange for books and artefacts dug up from the buried unicorn libraries that contain the knowledge for potion-making.

Politics of the NorthWestern Lands of Equis:

The deer and hippogriff tribes raid via the river, plundering any unguarded villages or mines along their way downstream. They're the only 'tribes' that aren't plagued by infighting, however, their lands are fractured by different leaders and lords, which also means they have no organised army.

The two 'tribes' raid Equestria daily, occasionally raiding each other when they come back with nothing from the ponies. The deers border the griffons to the south, who occasionally send raiding parties to pillage the pillagers, who in turn pillages the pillagers who pillaged the pillagers who pillaged the Equestrians.

The changeling hives are too busy eradicating each other to take notice of their southern borders, and the two 'tribes' follow the crystal empire's example in avoiding their lands.

Politics of Equestria and its surroundings:

THE BUFFALOS ARE RAIDING!
OH SHIT! REPEL THEM!
THE DIAMOND DOGS ARE USING THE OPPORTUNITY TO RAID US!
FUCK! TURN BACK!
GRIFFONS TO THE WEST!
TURN BACK AGAIN!
MINOTAURS AND ZEBRAS AND COMING FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS!
AHHHHHHHHH
THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS INVADING US! AND THERE ARE REPORTS OF ANOTHER GRIFFON CIVILISATION TO THE EAST!
*Ded*

(That's the simplified situation in Equestria, and they're at risk of becoming Poland and be wiped off the map.)

A pony trail

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Graze Hill and his family were travelling east, away from the tyrannical unicorns and pegasus who had stolen their food and all of their belongings. He had foolishly thought that their union would solve all of their ethnic divides, and it looked like it did until his harvests came. He came to learn that they were all two-faced demons, the pegasus barely lifting their hooves to give the bare minimum amount of water. The unicorns threatening against raising the sun to rob the earth ponies for all they had. He was sick of it.

So he stockpiled food and gathered his family to travel east. He knew the risks of having to deal with the griffons, however, he knew of an earth pony settlement that was large enough to deter against attacks, which he and his family would be joining.

"Are we there yet?" Little Hill giddily asked,

"No! And for the billionth time stop asking!" Green hill scolded his little sister, who simply giggled in response.

"Stop fighting you two, you might attract the griffons' attention!" Their mother, Opal Hill scolded.

"Pshhh! The griffons will get a tummy-ache if they eat little-hilly over here." Green ruffled his little siblings' mane playfully, brightening her smile.

"The griffons are a serious threat son, and I expect you to drill it into your mind before it's too late." Graze informed his colt, as his fathers did as well.

Green simply pouted and crossed his front hooves in defiance. Little blew a raspberry at him. Green squinted his eyes towards his little sister, she followed.

"When will you ever mature Green?" Opal shook her head disappointingly, as Green had become 12, and had to think more like an adult now.

"I think I'm seeing a river in the distance." Graze looked towards the river in the distance, which was the landmark which he was looking for to reach the village. "We are halfway there!"

"Ughhhhh! Halfway?! We travelled for two days!" Green cried out, his boredom had started to consume him.

"Yeah! Way are we even going so far?!" Little corresponded, frailing her hooves.

"This may be difficult, but we are doing this for our freedom! So we will never go hungry again!" Graze proudly exclaimed, his wife simply nodded in agreement.

"You said that about Equestria 4 years ago!" Green criticised, "I had to go hungry to feed my little sister!"

"I'm sorry..." Little squeaked out, head down in shame.

"No, no... It isn't your effort, it's just that... It seems like we are running away from all of our problems!" Green apologised to Little but also brought a valuable point.

"For all the moments why did you have to be mature now?" Opal face-hooved, already regretting what she wished.

"Well... This is different!" Graze deluded himself.

"How so? You also said that 2 years ago! Until those mean pegasus and unicorns stole out things!" Green objected, as he clearly remembered the terrifying day when a gang of pegasus soldiers invaded their home and stole their food. He still had a scar running down his back hooves from shielding his little sister from shattered glass.

"The village we are going to won't have any mean unicorns or pegasus, there will only be earth ponies." Graze said, trying to appeal to Greens' personal experiences. "Don't you remember the Plains? That kind of ponies will be living in the village."

"...Okay..." Green conceded, deflating onto the wagons' sides. He just noticed that Little has crawled up beside him, snuggling his scarred hooves. "Thanks, Little sis."

"... This might be a problem..." Graze assessed, as the river seemed to be wider and deeper than as described by the rumours.

"Perhaps there was a heavy rain? The river seems too deep to cross simply by hoof." Opal stuck a hoof into the river to check its depth, and couldn't reach the ground.

"Doesn't that mean we can just wait until the river becomes smaller again?" Green asked, leaning over the wagon to look at the river.

"If we stay and wait, we will be too exposed against griffon hunters, and there is no guarantee that the river would become shallow over time." Graze surveyed the skies, to ensure that no suspicious clouds were close, as normally griffons would approach on them quietly to lunge at unsuspecting ponies.

"Then what do we do? We can't just fly over the river like a pegasus," Green trailed his hooves like wings to demonstrate their flightless-ness, which garnered a giggle from Little.

"We will have to ferry it, Green and Little, you're going to have to hop off for now." Graze gestured his children off, and began to grab several planks and a rope to begin assembling a platform to float themselves across the river.

Opal and Graze worked, as Green and Little sat at the sidelines watching them idly. Green began to throw rocks into the river but quickly drew his attention towards the skies, as it was quickly darkening. A storm was brewing.

The storm remained unnoticed by Graze and Opal, as they were too focused on their construction to look up towards the storm.

"Uhhh... Dad? Storm's a-coming." Green worryingly informed, which made Graze look up and make his eyes widen in surprise.

"Dang... We just finished the platform as well!" Graze cursed his luck, and began to grow more worried. "Honey, how many pieces of cloth do we have?"

"We don't have enough to prevent ourselves from being soaked." Opal dug through the topless wagon, only yielding four pieces of rags which farmers would wear on their heads to not suffer the intense summer heats.

"Crud... The winds are strong as well! We have to find a cave somewhere!" Graze panicked, and began surveying the surroundings of any cover or shelter to weather the storm.

"There! There's one!" Little shouted out, pointing a hoof across the river to a cave opening.

"Alright then! Everypony climb aboard! The storm might start any second!" Graze rallied the family, who call climbed aboard the platform carrying items from the wagon.

Just as they all climbed on, rain began to pour down heavily and extremely strong winds began to rock their balance on the platform.

"Row! Row! Hurry now! Or we are all doomed!" Graze grew immensely worried, as the winds weren't strong enough to throw Opal or his balance, but they were able to shake Green and knock Little. Thankfully, Green held onto Little tightly, grabbing onto one of the boards of the platform.

Progress across the river was incredibly slow, and every metre they travelled, the stronger the winds became, some lighter items on the wagon being whisked away into the watery depths. The storm was deafening and as strong as the gusts of frost which they encountered during the windigos times.

"Halfway there! Green, hold Little in place!" Graze shouted, however, was muffled by the sound of the storm.

"Already am! Row faster!" Green replied, gripping the board on the platform tighter.

Graze and Opal reinvigorated their rowing, quickening their pace, we are so close! Just a little further- a large rock, which had been picked up by the winds collided against the wagon on top of the platform, its velocity and weight able to dislodge it from the platform and snap the ropes. The platform disintegrates into splinters and planks, as the passengers abroad were thrown into the river.

"LITTLE!" Green cried out, barely losing his grip on his little sister, as he grabbed onto the still-floating wooden board to allow them to float above the water. He swung her on top of the board to ensure she would float and began looking around the unruly waters to spot his parents. But it would be in vain, as he felt himself drifting downwards the river, and his exhaustion had caught up with him. So he laid his head against the board and promptly fell unconscious.

Opal and Graze woke up, hooves held together on the other side of the river. They both coughed out water that had entered their lungs and tried to recollect their memories. A storm... Ferry... Platform... Stone... GREEN AND LITTLE! They both thought simultaneously, as they galloped mindlessly around trying to find them.

After hours of finding nothing but pieces of splinters and cloth, they cried loudly, disregarding the dangers it would bring if a griffon was nearby to hear them.

"Our little filly!" Opal cried out distraught.

"Our colt!" Graze cried as well. They had failed them. They were the worst parents. They had killed them. And they would never see them again.

Waking up in wonderland

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Green groggily woke up, his body feeling bruised and damaged like somepony had decided to break all his bones and stitch them together repeatedly. Once he was able to think clearly, he panicked, LITTLE! he tried to feel his hooves and was immediately relieved that he was still holding onto Littles' hoof.

Strange, I don't feel the water, and it feels like I'm lying on a bed. He felt the ground around him and realised that he was on an extremely comfortable bed. What the?! Green rose from the bed and surveyed the surrounding.

He was in a white room, and there were things he did not recognise, but the obvious fact was that the place was EXTREMELY clean. With the abundance of furniture and large room, he briefly thought he was dreaming and was in a snobby unicorns' castle, but a quick pinch disproved the theory.

Am I in Tartarus? No, too nice. Am I in the village? No, too rich. Did I die and now in a state of purgatory? Green looked to his side and looked at Littles' sleeping form. Nope.

Then suddenly, the doors in the room opened for a ...Griffon?! To enter carrying a clipboard, who was too preoccupied looking at her papers to notice the pony who was staring at her.

"G-G-G-GRIFFON!" Green cried bloody murder, which made a vase visibly crack by the noise. Little jolted in her bed and began to open her eyes.

"Shhhh! you're going to hurt the little filly!" The griffon nurse scolded Green, which made him shut up once mentioning the filly.

"Sorry..." Green squealed, as he didn't want to push his fate by pissing off the pony-eaters.

Little shook her head and groggily opened her eyes to face Green. She smiled once seeing him but then turned to look at the ... Griffon?!

"G-G-G-GRI-" Littles' cry was cut off by Greens' hoof stuffing her mouth, cutting any sound.

Green gestured to Little to stay quiet, and Little nodded, prompting Green to remove his hoof.

*ahem*"Anyways, my name is Nurse Emilia, and you are currently in a hospital. The people who found you said you were washed up by the Black River." She informed the confused ponies.

"Hospital? People? Black river? What are you on about lady?" Green asked cluelessly,

"You don't have hospitals?! Do you at least have medicine or carehouses?" Emilia asked, slightly concerned about how primitive the ponies were.

"Well, we have medicine and carehouses. Are hospitals bigger forms of them both or something?" Green asked inquisitively, as he realised his wounds and cuts were expertly treated.

"Nice catch, that's right. Anyways, to answer your second question, our leaders enforced us to use the words 'people', 'one', 'man', 'woman', etc... After discovering that there was intelligent life other than us." Emilia shrugged, setting down her clipboard.

"Are you going to eat us?" Little asked blatantly, which made Green face-hoof himself.

Emilia nearly tripped from the accusation, "Of course not! Why would we devour another intelligent being?!" Emilia scolded Little for thinking such a thing. The griffons' hostility against eating ponies made Green slightly shocked by how contradictory his father described them.

"Anywho, would you like something to eat- and yes, we have non-meat ingredients." Emilia playfully remarked and looked at the starving ponies sympathetically.

"Uhhh... Then could I have some bread and porridge?" Green asked nicely, prompting Little to do as well.

"Can I have the same?" Little asked, which made the nurse nod and exit the room.

"... I still don't trust them... What if they are planning on to fatten us up so they could eat us?" Green sceptically concluded, which made Little withdraw into the corner of the bed in fear.

"We won't eat you, silly!" A griffon wearing a dark trenchcoat bursted out from under the bed to correct Green.

"AHHHHHH! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!" Green and Little held each other and screamed by the jump scare.

"Oops... Sorry, I'm not too good with kids. Please excuse me." The griffin sunk back into the bed, covering up the hole he bursted out of with a pillow that camouflaged itself with the patterns on the bed.

Nurse Emilia walked in the room, carrying plates with sandwiches and a bowl of soup, and noticed both ponies shell-shocked with fear, shivering and cowering on the corner of their bed. "Huh?... What happened-? Oh dammit, Jerry!" Emilia set down the plate and stomped in front of the bed. She reached down and pulled a pillow, pulling the trenchcoat-wearing griffin as well to meet her eye-level.

"Heya Emilia! Good weather today huh?" 'Jerry' cheerfully asked.

"What are you still doing here?! Aren't you supposed to watch the border?!" Emilia interrogated Jerry, as she leaned forwards to intimidate him.

"Heard two ponies had arrived! Asked for a transfer and was accepted! Sorry Emilia, but I'm staying here for a looooooong time." Jerry crossed his arms and grinned defiantly.

"I can't have you frightening these poor children." Emilia pressed further,

"And I can't have me, have you, have me control myself." Jerry then leaned closer and pecked Emilias' beak. She dropped him on the bed with a heavy blush.

Jerry then performed a somersault and flipped out through the open hospital window.

"Cooooool..." Both Little and Green concurred, Emilia simply face-clawed and muttered quietly about killing Jerry in his sleep, which the children were too preoccupied to hear.

Emilia gave them their plate of food, which both ponies began to devour immediately, tears starting to compile due to the great taste. "What are your names?" Emilia asked,

"Little!" "Green!" They both announced, the food in their mouths somehow not spitting out.

Little? Green? How unimaginative are these ponies? Or do their culture dictate their names should be things? Emilia pondered, glancing at the feasting ponies. "Are they good?"

"Great!" They both shouted, this time ejecting several chunks of food onto the nurses face, who promptly wiped away with a handkerchief.

"How precious..."

"What do you last remember?" A doctor asked whilst inspecting the anatomy of Greens' body.

"I'm not quite *ow* sure... Everything is just an *ow* blurry..." Green truthfully answered, as he tried to remember what happened exactly before he fell unconscious.

"I'm sorry if this hurts dear, but this is the first best specimen I could fiddle around within this entire state!" The overzealous doctor proclaimed,

"You're starting to creep me out, lady..." Green suspiciously eyed the inspecting griffon, who deflated slightly from his accusing glare.

"Alright, alright back to the questions," the doctor grabbed the clipboard again,

"I thought you were inspecting me? Why are you also asking questions?"

"Saves time. Now, fewer questions more answers." The doctor pressed.

"Where were you going?" - D

"Our family were going to an earth pony settlement to the far east. It was unnamed." - G

"You keep mentioned 'earth ponies' what are they?" - D

"We have three tribes, earth ponies, pegasus and unicorns." - G

"By tribes, you mean race?" - D

"What's race?" - G

"Nevermind, do you have an organised government?" - D

"Yes, the three tribes united to defeat the windigos and declared the nation of Equestria." - G

"Do you know any other intelligent creatures?" - D

"Well, I know there are minotaurs, yaks, crystal ponies, zebras, changelings, buffalos, deers *gasp*, dragons and every other animal actually..." - G

"... What?" - D

"The creatures I named have governments, and many are hostile to us, but every animal in Equis are intelligent." - G

"..." - D

"What?" - G

"You expect me to believe that a cow could talk?" - D

"But they can!" - G

"Sureee kid, whatever you say..." - D

"Honest!" - G

"Really?" - D

"I'm pretty sure at least one of your griffs saw a talking cow before!" - G

"Hang on, I think I remember hearing from the native griffons about this..." - D

"See?" - G

"Alright, alright. Last question, do you know what the German Empire is?" - D

"Germ? Empire? Are you tryna mess with me?" - G

"So you don't know?" - D

"Nope." - G

"Perfect, the questioning is over. Thank you for your cooperation." The doctor set down his notes and looked towards the concerned pony. "What's wrong Green?"

"I miss my parents..." Green looked his he was about to cry, the only thing holding him together being Little and the griffons actually being the complete opposite of how his father described them as. "I want to go back..."

"Oh, sweetie..." The doctor wrapped her wings and arms around the ponies' barrel, calming him down. As soon as she began ruffling his mane, the floodgates opened and Green began to cry. "I'm so sorry Green. But it's unfortunately not up to me. But I will make sure you will be sent home as soon as possible." She assured, making Green cry slightly less violently.

"You *sniff* promise?" Green looked up to meet the doctors' eyes.

"I promise." The doctor looked back at Green determinedly, which made Green cease his crying.

"You know, *sniff* I haven't asked you your name yet." Green buried his face into the doctors' white coat. "Could you tell me?"

The doctor contemplated the question, but quickly answered it, "My name is Nina Roza little pony."

"Well thanks, Nina..." Green leaned back to support himself on his hooves.

"Also, one last question Green." Nina asked, "How do you hold things with your hooves?"

After explaining to Doctor Nina the magical properties of all hooved animals to manipulate objects with the same precision as a minotaurs' fingers or a griffons' talons, she had given Little and Green several "marks" to spend in the city they were in, called "Strasburg". Nina told them they would be called up as soon as possible to find the resolutions to their problems by the elected governor of Alsace, who also happened to be in the officer of Strasburg.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Green asked his little sister, as they had never been unsupervised before.

"Oo! Oo! Let's go there!" Little pointed towards a cinema, which was brimming with customers.

"What does that sign say? How can all these griffons even read and write?! I thought they said griffons were barbarically stupid!" Green shouted out a little too loud, garnering several annoyed glares from the passerbyers.

"I don't know, but that place looks fun! Let's go in!" Little dragged Green into the building, moving beneath the counter which avoided the Ticketmaster's dutiful watch.

"Oi! Those ponies are trying to get in without a ticket!" A griffon pointed towards the pair, attracting all those who were standing in line.

"Huh-?" Green looked back, still being dragged by Little deeper in the cinemas.

"Hey! How come they don't have to pay?!" A griffon protested, stepping out of the line and throwing another accusing claw at the two perpetrators.

"Yeah! We aren't second class citizens! Screw the tickets! I am going in as well!" A griffon last in the line flew into the cinema, causing all the other griffs who patiently waited to rush the cinemas, leaving the bewildered and overwhelmed Ticketmaster to cower beneath his counter.

"Woah... I did that!" Little exclaimed in joy, as she had accidentally created a small riot, as the griffons who had paid for the tickets began shaking up the Ticketmaster for their money back.

Green bonked his sister on the head, "Not a good thing. Bad Little." Little simply turned and pouted at him.

Green looked around, realising that the chaos that Little had created meant that he could not ask any questions to know more about where they were. Not that he had the confidence to ask anyways he simply sighed and began trotting towards the exit. Little followed suit, saddened that her actions have made him sad.

Greens' way was quickly blocked, however, as a makeshift ring was manifested by griffons, as they surrounded an ongoing fight. Green and Little simply ducked in between the griffons, thanks to their small frame. When they reached the centre, they saw two griffins circling each other, ready for a fight.

One of them was on their hindlegs, dressed well with claws raised in front of their beaks. The other looked quite primal, wearing no clothes and on all fours, his claws looking sharper and longer, looking like he was about to lunge at the other griffon.

"I should've known one of you uncivilised Griffin had started this fight." The well-dressed griffon stated, "Us Germans have to always clean up your mess!" He announced to the gathered griffons, his half of the circle murmured in agreement, whilst the other half cursed him.

"Then we need a better janitor." The clothless griffon cheekily replied, causing his side to chuckle whilst making the other grumble about their immaturity. Green and Little also chuckled a bit but silenced themselves when a griffon from the other side began glaring at them. "You call us barbaric for acting in our nature! You consider yourselves 'civilised' by locking yourselves in restrictions! You are cowards for not seeing what you truly are!" The griffons behind him roared in agreement, which made the griffons opposite them mutter louder.

"Our 'true' selves made us weak! There is no cowardice in seeing our weakness and fixing it!" The well-dressed griffon countered, raising his claws as if to lecture the 'barbarian'

"Well, we have no weaknesses! We were doing just fine without your 'great' and 'good' German Empire!" The clothless griffon shouted, his claws starting to dig into the cinema grounds.

"Nonsense! Our empire saved you all from starvation and disease! You are all just too damn stubborn to admit that!" The well-dressed griffon dropped his claws, opening himself up.

"If this is how being saved feels like, I'd rather have died still proud to be a griffon." The clothless griffon dangerously remarked.

"Believe me, if it up to me, I would fulfil your request, and build this city atop your graves and without the barbarians." The well-dressed griffon stated bluntly, which made the other side grind their beaks and glared at him murderously.

Green felt the tension reaching the melting point, and grabbed onto Little sub-consciously to drag themselves out of the crowd. However, he was pushed deeper in, as the griffons around him pushed forward in anticipation. Green turned to see what was happening.

The well-dressed griffon stood crossed armed, he held a signature look of superiority, as he leered the cloth less griffon before him, who was at this point digging his claws so deep into the ground that be was piercing his palm, and blood was spilling onto the ground. Then suddenly, he lunged at the well-dressed griffon, bloodied claws extended forward to immediately shred the target upon contact.

*BANG*

The lunging griffon spiralled mid-air, splattering blood all over the makeshift ring and spectating griffons, as the well-dressed griffon was now holding a smoking gun which he had whipped out from under his coat.

"... Son of a bitch- GET HIM!" The clothless griffons from Greens' side of the circle rushed, claws brandished to avenge their fallen comrade. Green and Little were able to escape, as many of them began to fly, clearing a path say from the incoming massacre.

The well-dressed griffons on the opposite side all whipped out their own guns and began to fire at the rushing griffons point-blank, whilst the ones without forearms quickly fled the scene.

Blood-soaked feathers choked the air, shotgun shells, pistol rounds and claws dug out the flesh of the victims and their feathers as well. The guns would kill relatively cleanly, however, the claws turned the cinema into a bloodbath, as the griffons with guns were quickly outnumbered and surrounded, and were brutally mauled, slashed and ripped apart by the frenzying hoard.

Green desperately covered Littles' eyes as to not let her witness such carnage and traumatic her for life, however, she could still hear the blood-cudgelling screams of the shredded victims. She began to cry uncontrollably.

"Green! Little! Grab on to me!" A griffon suddenly dived into their view, wrapping his arms around their barrels and flew out the cinema.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" The griffon dropped the ponies ground and began to console them.

"N-no, just shaken..." Green hesitantly replied, holding onto Little as soon as he was plopped down.

Littles' cries began to die down, as she was falling asleep by how exhausting the last few hours were.

"Poor little girl... To witness such things at an early age..." The griffon began to reminisce.

"H-hang on! How'd you know our names?!" Green asked, as he finally recollected his train of thought.

The griffon simply rolled his eyes and nudged the collars of his trench coat.

"Jerry?" Green asked, dumbfounded. Confused just enough to forget what he had just witnessed.

"Yup, and you might want to sleep to not see what happens next," Jerry advised, as he reached a tranq gun from his coat and shot at Green, hitting him on the flank.

"AH! W-what the Tartarus did you...just do..." Green began to feel extremely tired, however was still able to stand and be aware of his surroundings. That won't do...

"Shhhhhhhh... Fall asleep now, everything will be fine..." Jerry cooed the defiant pony.

"You Promise...?" Green muttered through his drools, as every word became a burden.

"Can't promise something which I can't keep!" Jerry playfully replied, watching Green slowly succumb to the tranquillizer.

"Damn... You..." Green promptly fell asleep, him knowing that they would be safe, but annoyed by Jerrys' response.

"Are the guests asleep?" A griffin adorning an officers' uniform approached Jerry, eyeing the ponies dejectedly.

"Yes sir, they're also too tired to wake up. So noise won't be an issue." Jerry evaluated, as he picked up the two ponies around his arms on the barrels. "I will escort them to the governors' office as instructed."

"A shame isn't it?" The officer asked, "These griffons won't accept assimilation, no matter how good it is for them."

"This has to be the 5th one this year, at least it's decreasing sir," Jerry said as he began to lift off.

"By the time it stops, they will be all dead." The officer deadpanned, Jerry simply nodded and continued on his mission.

"Sir, the military police has arrived and surrounded the cinema, we are awaiting your orders." A griffon landed beside him, unaware of the officers' conflictions.

"... Send them in, but try to keep killing to a minimum." The officer relayed to his messager, who briefly saluted and flew away. Damn these natives... Their so-called 'bravery' will make them extinct...

"Lesgooo," -dahbeebee

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"Wake up sleepy head!" Jerry shook Greens' limp body, splattering his drool all over the floor.

"U-u-urgh!" Green woke up, his eyes dancing around in nausea by the sudden shaking. He grasped his mouth with his hoof and held up a vomit.

"Oops... Sorry about that..." Jerry dropped Green down, whose face was now visibly green. "Anyways... I got some good news for you both~!"

Green cringed by the bitter taste of his acids but focused on recollecting his memory from yesterday. "Doctor, questions, Nina, building, griffons... The fight!" "THE FIGHT!" Green exclaimed. Jerry frowned in worry.

"A fight? What do you mean?" Jerry asked worryingly, leaning closer to Green.

"The fight! That happened yesterday!" Green asked helplessly, as he was still processing the information.

"Yesterday? You fell asleep early with Little yesterday." Jerry corrected Green with a smile, pointing towards the sleeping Little.

Green wheeled around, noticing Little breathing lightly, eyes closed and peacefully sleeping. "Whuh-?"

"Awwww, did Greeny get a nightmare?" Jerry jokingly remarked, making Green blush in embarrassment.

"No, I did not!" Green crossed his hooves and turned away from Jerry.

"Oh really? Then what's this about a fight?" Jerry continued, trying to figure out how much Green remembered.

"..." Green remained silent, eyes closed defiantly and pouting.

"Come on... Don't be like that!" Jerry played on, nudging Green in the barrel slightly.

"... It was two griffons... Both talked at first, then they fought. A sudden thunder and one of the griffon fell... Then they all started ripping themselves apart!" Green listed, eyes starting to tear up and bile beginning to rise, as he remembered the bloody scene.

"That's... Haunting... Do you really think that lowly of us?" Jerrys' beaks trembled, acting as if he was hurt from Greens' depiction.

"N-no! Just a nightmare!" Green corrected, afraid of offending the scary griffon.

"Well... Nightmares come from the mind, you must think very badly of us to imagine us fighting each other!" Jerry continued acting hurt, facing away from Green to hide his grin.

"No! Well... Yes... But no!" Green stuttered, feeling extremely conflicted. "It's just that... Our parents told us griffons eat ponies and are moralless murderers!"

"Huh... They think the same as us..." Jerry thought, scratching the underneath of his beak. "Well do I look like I'm going to eat you?" Jerry turned back towards Green, with a baby face that looked ready to cry if the answer was a 'yes.

"After all this, I would say no. But I don't know why my parents would lie about you..." Greens' expression weighed down with guilt, he thing his head down in shame for believing something so quickly without evidence.

"I'm sure they aren't bad ponies, it's natural for creatures to be afraid of new creatures." Jerry reconciled, making Green lighten up a bit.

"I guess so... Ugh... Why does my flank itching so much?" Green started to run his blank flank as if suffering a phantom pain. Then his eyes lightened up in realisation.

"Goddammit..." Jerry braced for what was to come.

"YOU SHOT ME WITH SOMETHING!" Green shouted in anger, as he peeled back a bandage to reveal a small spot of loosened skin.

"Hmmm..? Where?" Jerry feigned ignorance, as he manipulated his facial expression to look confused.

"RIGHT HERE! THAT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Green began to clench his teeth, as he was angered that Jerry was trying to dismiss yesterdays' events as a dream.

"You sure? Because that spot looks more like a big bite." Jerry leaned closer to the spot.

"BUT YOU SHOT ME! Green was unconvinced.

"Yes, in your dreams. You probably felt the big bite, and your mind created that image." Jerry remained confident in his argument.

"What about the things they were holding?! I had never seen them before in my life!" Green remained stubborn in his suspicions.

"You mean these?" Jerry whipped out a pistol, making Green flinch, as he knew what they were capable of.

"Yes! Those! I saw them yesterday!" Green desperately argued.

"Your interrogator, Doctor Nina had carried one in her holster. You probably saw them and correlated them to a griffon." Jerry evaluated logically, even fooling himself.

"But-!" Green was suddenly cut off by a claw in his mouth, as Jerry took a serious expression and met Greens' eyes.

"Green. You had a nightmare. What happened yesterday was merely a figment of your mind, and the bandages are probably from the nurses to better heal the bite." Jerry told Green coherently, grabbing onto his head and leaning it against his beak to make a point.

"Bu-"

"No buts!... Also, your little sister is waking up!" Jerry pointed to Greens' side, Little tosseling lightly, as she began to wake up.

Green looked back forwards, but Jerry had already disappeared, a note-taking his place on the bed, as a window nearby was open, and its curtain fluttering in the winds.

"How is he so fast?!" Green questioned no one in particular, but he grabbed the note and began unfurling it.

"Nghhhh... What happened?" Little asked tiredly, running her eyes with her hooves. "I can't seem to remember anything..."

"We both fell asleep early," Green explained to his little sister, who promptly ate it up.

"What are you holding?" Little asked, as her vision was no longer blurred and saw Green scanning intently on the note which Jerry left behind.

"... I can't read this, but it feels important..." Greens' illiteracy failed to recognise the note as a summon to the governors' office.

"Who gave it to you?" Little asked, leaning closer to observe the note as well.

"Jerry." Little stared surprised for a second at Green and looked around worryingly to avoid being jumped. "Don't worry, he's already gone."

Little calmed down and snatched the note from Greens' hoof. Green simply stared at the adjacent wall, waiting for Little to finish looking. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Coming in!" A griffon entered, followed by two others all dressed in sharp, grey uniforms. The one leading spoke up.

"Two ponies, Green and Little are to meet the governor immediately." He announced to the room, causing the two ponies to become confused. "Why isn't he facing us?

The leading griffin then faced the two ponies on the bed and gestured to follow. The two griffons accompanying him approached the two ponies and picked them up by the barrels.

"Uhhh... Are we being foalnapped?" Little asked Green with a confused expression.

"No, we are saving time." The griffons carrying them chined in, making Green shut his mouth. They passed through the deserted hallways of the guestrooms, several paintings on the walls distracting Green and Little of their current situation. One specific painting had caught Littles' attention, being a portrait of two griffons, one wearing a spiked helmet and the other wearing what looked like a shiny black upside-down stump.

"Who are they?" Little asked no one in particular, pointing towards the painting.

The griffon carrying her briefly glanced at the pointed painting and looked back forward with a smile. "Those two are our god-emperors Bismarck and Paul. Long may they reign!"

Bismarck had tried so hard to introduce Protestantism to the uneducated masses, however, they resisted in every turn, as they were more fond of regarding him and Paul as deities ever since their ascension. He had tried to justify their growth as a sudden growth spurt, however, no one bought it, as by that point many had been educated enough to know how growing works.

So he had given up, as he knew the difficulties in convincing zealous folks to change their minds from his experience dealing with the Catholics. He just hoped that the gods wouldn't smite him for his insolence.

"Still worried about our godhood?" Paul asked him, sitting across the table with a cigar pipe lodged in between his beaks. "Y'know, I never really thought that it was such a big deal." He reasoned with an indifferent shrug.

Bismarck simply glared at him. He was by no means a moralist, but he wasn't a complete secularist either. But Paul seemed to be completely indifferent to religion, probably due to his times as a travelling arms provider who had to ignore the immorality of his trade frequently as to not be destroyed by their guilt. He shared many of his principles, as he would ignore many of the good books' words to get his way.

"But enough of that! Bismarck thought, as he refocused his attention to the telephone he had in front of him. It had been a pain to connect the entire empire with telephone lines, but the effort was worth it, as it allowed him to monitor even the most remote areas of his Empire without being wracked with worry from delays with letters.

Paul stuffed another batch of tobacco into his pipe, and lighted it up, prompting Bismarck to grab a cigar and puffing it. The wait wasn't unnerving, but the riots occurring in front of their guests had been. "We can't let them know any of our weaknesses." They both thought, as the room soon became choked with smoke. Thankfully, their immortal bodies hadn't removed the dampening effects of the miracle drugs, and they could still enjoy their tobacco with impunity.

Then the telephone began to ring.

Governor Picard waited for their emperor to pick up. He was sweating nervously, as normally he wouldn't have to speak with them directly, and would instead report to the generals, who would in turn report to the parliamentarians then finally to the heads of state.

He worried as the riots could be an implication of his incompetency, and he was at risk of being sacked or possibly even exiled or executed for being responsible for the massacre. He knew this much, as the previous governors of Strasburg had been all sacked for being unable to stop the countless riots between the 'native' griffons and the settling 'German' Griffons. One had even been exiled to a remote post in the far east, dooming him to obscurity which was considered worse than death. Picard swallowed a lump forming in his throat, and steadied himself to talk.

"... Are the guests safe?" Bismarck asked through the phone without introduction, causing Picard to jump in surprise momentarily.

"Y-yes! They are unharmed and believe what they saw was a simple nightmare your holi- highness." Picard stuttered and scolded himself for nearly saying 'holiness', which deeply displeased the emperors.

"... We heard there was a commotion in your city governor," Bismarck muttered as if dismissing the information.

"Yes, only a small riot your highness." Picard leaned closer to the phone, hoping that his lie would hold.

"You consider 102 griffons dying a small riot?" Bismarck asked dangerously, doubling Picards' sweat.

"Where did he get that number?!" Picard screamed internally, but quickly regained his integrity. "I assure you, your highness, the casualty wasn't that high. Perhaps our police chief exaggerated?"

"It's too late for the blame game Governor Picard." Bismarck started bluntly. "Our spies and lieutenant of military police had told us what had happened."

"..." Picard shut his beak, as he knew that the further he spoke, the larger the ditch he was digging himself in.

"You have campaigned in the promises of unity and co-existence, yet you gave me and your people massacres and mistrust." Bismarck continued, plunging daggers of words deep into Picards' back. "You're done."

"Your highness! Please reconsider! I had delayed the inevitable longer than my predecessors in this office!" Picard pleaded,

"Your delay caused an immense amount of death governor. The highest of any governor of Strasburg." Bismarck affirmed, "You are hereby exiled to the eastern islands citizen."

The doors of Picards' office bursted open, revealing two griffon officers. Picard dropped his phone in surprise, wheeling quickly to the quickly-approaching officers.

When they came close, they grabbed the phone from the ground and set it down, ending the call. The other griffon showed Picard a shackle.

"You are coming with us. Do not try to run, or else make us waste a bullet." The griffon shook his pistol in his holster, Picard simply drooped his head and allowed the shackles to encase his wrist.

"Get ready to spend the rest of your life marooned on an island dumbass." The other griffon joked, digging his baton into Picards' sides, which made him flinch in pain.

"Damn my luck..." Picard thought, as he regretted being a governor and having to deal with this mess. I should have just kept working as a salesman... Picard thought, as he was escorted to a car, destined towards the railway to the eastern ports.

"Are we there yet?" Little asked as she was being flown by the griffon to the governors' office.

"For the hundredth time, NO!" The annoyed griffon carrying her raged, as he was beginning to think about just dropping her to the ground.

"Are we there yet?" Little asked again,

"N- oh hey, we're here!" The griffon looked up to see the governors' office fast approaching, so began to slow down for a steady landing. The other two followed.

Green and Little looked towards the governors' building and were thoroughly disappointed by how underwhelming it was. The hospitals looked better than this... They both thought.

The leading griffon snapped his claws in from of the two ponies, breaking their attention away from the building. "I will now escort you into the governors' office, so follow me." He ordered, walking immediately towards the entrance, whilst his company flew away.

Green and Little shrugged and began following the griffon, but a shout from behind stopped them.

"WAIT!!!" A diving griffon with a document held in front rapidly speeded towards the two ponies, exhaustion visible in his expressions.

He crashed into the dirt below and rolled to a stop directly in front of the leading griffon. "*Huff* Message from the- *huff* head of state; Governor Picard is now exiled, meaning his audience with the two ponies is cancelled." He relayed and promptly sunk his beak into the dirt in exhaustion.

"I see... Then I assume the second candidate will take the office?" The leading griffon asked, leaning towards the collapsed griffons' head.

"Yes, governess Jane will assume office until the next election." The collapsed griffon said, muffled by the ground.

"Then I will dismiss myself, farewell ponies!" The leading griffin flew off, leaving Green and Little bewildered by their carelessness.

The collapsed griffon looked back up and stared at the ponies, who in turn started back.

"Nope," The griffon immediately rose and flew away, leaving the two ponies in the dirt. "I'm not going to waste my time babysitting ponies!" He thought, as he flew further away.

"What just happened?" Little asked, her eyes twitching in incomprehension.

"Don't know, but I think we are on our own for now," Green replied, and looked back at the entrance of the office.

"So what now?" Little asked,

"I guess we could get in the office and wait. From what we heard, this 'governess Jane' might arrive anyyyy second now..." Green deduced, slowly walking towards the entrance, which made Little follow.

"Hopefully there's a griffon we can talk to." Little hoped, but by how quiet the office was, it was unlikely.

Jane and three other griffons rolled up to the office, followed by several other griffons who arrived by flight. Jane had always admired the emperors' use of cars and locomotives to drive instead of flying to their destination, so she copied them and parked the car outside the office.

"Why is the office so far from the main city?" Jane complained as it took a considerable amount of time to reach the place.

"Then previous governors of Strasburg always disliked the chaotic and loud noises of the main city, so they moved it here, surrounded by forests." The secretary relayed, flipping through documents to make sure what he said was right.

"Well effective immediately, we will be moving our office to the one in the city, the peace here compared to the city is disgusting to me." Jane proclaimed, which caused her assistants to grumble or nod in agreement.

"What should we do about this place then?" The secretary asked,

"Grab all the paperwork from the office and put them in the car, we will be relocating them to the new office," Jane ordered, taking the initiative by entering the office first.

"It's not new, just not used for a long time." The secretary corrected, making Jane grumble in annoyance.

The group passed through the office, the doors lining the hallways being opened and the files retrieved to be dumped into the cars' trunk and back seats. Jane and the secretary stopped at the Governors' personal office.

"Lets' see how diligent Picard was in his works shall we?" Jane told his secretary, who merely nodded in response. "Papers, prepare to meet your new mast- Ponies?!" Jane froze, as she saw two ponies gorging candy from the jar atop Picards' desk.

The two ponies immediately stopped snacking and started at the two griffons at the door.

"Uhhhh... Bad timing..?" Green coughed out nervously,

"It was Greens' idea!" Little pointed a hoof at Green,

"Traitor! It was yours too!" Green countered, dipping his hoof in the jar to get another candy.

"The two ponies... What are you two doing here?" Jane asked the ponies but hoping her secretary would know. But he was also clueless.

"Aren't you supposed to be still cooped up in the guest rooms?" The secretary asked the ponies,

"Well yes... But the governor wanted to see us or something, but he got exiled before we met him, so we decided to stay here for a 'governess Jane'" Green answered, chucking another candy into his stuffed mouth.

"... You know that eating too much of those will make you sick?" The secretary warned the ponies, who simply shrugged,

"Worth it! Because this is SOOOOO sweat!" Little exclaimed in joy and began training aimlessly, as she was suffering a sugar high.

"It will also rot your teeth and turn them black." The secretary warned more seriously, with made Green and Little drop their jars immediately.

"You are going to need to brush your teeth to prevent that," Jane calmed the ponies down, "Also, I am the so-called 'governess Jane', but please, call me Ms Jane."

Upon hearing her name, the two ponies immediately stood up and braved themselves. They approached her carefully and with determination in their eyes. "What see they up to now... the secretary thought, as he did not like the sudden change of mood.

"Ummm... Ms Jane, could we ask you for something?" Little asked sincerely, her form held low and formal, like how her mother, Opal had taught her to act when encountering a unicorn.

"Hmmm..?" Jane playfully hummed, "Are they going to ask for more candy? Or perhaps a toy?" She did not expect the next question.

"We would like to go home." Green definitively stated, holding back tears of wanting to return to their worrying family.

"Poor little kids..." Jane thought, as she was currently hitting in the digits to call the emperors directly. She was extremely nervous of their reaction for calling them directly, instead of calling the lower branches first, but she felt that she had to act immediately to send the two ponies home to their probably distraught parents. She felt disgusted in Picard for not dealing with this sooner but also disgusted in herself for not immediately organising their departure. After all, this sort of matter had to be approved by the emperors.

Green and Little idly sat near the nervous Jane, finally relieved that they would be quickly sent back home, but still worried by how nervous their promiser was. Jane began to call.

She could only hear her rapid heartbeats, as the defeating silence from the phone seemed to extend to minutes and Jane becoming more nervous every second of silence until she heard a sound.

"This is Emperor Mauser, why have you called without an appointment?" Paul asked, annoyance bleeding through his tone which made Jane shudder in fear.

"I'm incredibly sorry your highness, but this is an urgent matter that must be corrected immediately without delay," Jane stated, sweating due to her implication that her matters superseded bureaucracy.

"Very well, but this better be important," Paul replied, still quite annoyed that his design he was working on had to be left to answer the phone.

"First of all, I am governess Jane of Strasburg, and have taken governorship from Picard after his exile." Jane introduced herself, as she wasn't sure if the highness knew of her yet.

"I know who you are, get to the matter." Paul impatiently demanded.

"Well your highness, as you know there are two pony guests in Strasburg..." Jane was now too nervous to ask for their release, as she had no idea if the emperors wanted to keep them or 'remove' them as they had witnessed the massacre.

"Cut the context and get to the request governess, time is precious!" Paul doubled down, making Jane tremble harder, however, Green and Little settled her down, as they grasped her legs in support. They were confused as to how the banana-shaped was talking, but they knew that Ms Jane was terrified by the speaker from it.

"... They miss their parents, your highness and I would like to immediately send them back home," Jane asked the emperor with renewed vigour, but her confidence quickly plummeted when she was met with silence.

"How much did they see?" Paul asked blankly, but Jane knew that this was a life-and-death situation.

"They know no more than the average griffons your highness, and the 'incident' is forgotten." Jane gestured the two ponies to leave the room, as she did not want them to hear any more of their conversation. They promptly left and shut the door quietly.

"It would be so easy to just kill them..." Paul thought, "Send them off by themselves and leave them to the elements perhaps..." He planned, "But they might survive and tell how we left them to die..." Paul wasn't a diplomat, however, his decade spent with Bismarck had taught him about how to make a good first impression, and Bismarck had thought it was high time for the German Empire to shed their isolationism and begin communicating with their neighbours. "What better first impression than sending our greatest machines to escort desperate children to their distraught parents?" Paul deviously thought, as his grin widened into a toothy smile.

"Your highness?" Jane asked carefully, as the Emperor had not said a single word for several minutes.

"Where do they need to go?" Paul asked with a lightened mood, his question implying his approval, which lifted a great weight from Janes' chest.

"They say it's to the north, your highness," Jane replied with enthusiasm.

"Take them to the main Alsace barracks, in there, ask for a volunteer squad to escort the ponies to their destination." Paul instructed, "But don't tell them about any rewards, I only want the sympathetic to lead the mission, I wouldn't want some egotist squad to become the first diplomat into the great unknowns." Paul rambled the last bit out, a common habit of Emperor Mauser when he had an elaborate plan.

"At once your highness!" Jane triumphantly jumped in success, as she wasn't only helping the ponies. She had just guaranteed her re-election by being able to convince an Emperor, and being the orchestrator of the first mission into the boundless Equis continent. She was overjoyed.

Green and Little looked amazed outside their carriage, their noses pressed up against windows, their breaths forming vapour on them which momentarily blocked the outside view. Jane had explained to them that they were in a train, which was a form of carriage, but not pulled by another pony but with 'engines' and 'fuel'. They had never achieved such speed before, as everything outside looked like a blur and they felt superior, knowing that even the noblest of unicorns wouldn't be able to experience what they were going through.

"Thank goodness that the barracks are close to the city," Jane said, trying to answer their future questions. "Normally it would take a day to reach if you were lucky at another city."

"Why are the barracks so close to this city?" Green asked, still facing the window.

"Well Strasburg is extremely close to the northern border of Alsace, and having barracks near population centres are a great way to boost enlistment!" Jane explained, which made Green more confused than before.

"What are you defending against?" Green asked,

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential Green..." Jane replied with a slight frown of sympathy.

"Why would they build a city so close to danger then?" Green asked confused.

"Again sorry, confidential." Jane again dodged, "it tends to be easier to establish a settlement upon the corpse of another settlement..." Jane thought, as she remembered how the 'uncivilised' griffons were wiped out by disease, as the parliamentarian of Alsace had deemed them jot part of his jurisdiction, so had not sent them vaccines, medicine or help, causing the majority of them to die or flee.

"We will be alright, right?" Little asked Jane, worry displayed all over her face.

"I'm sure there will be volunteers willing to take you back to your parents sweety," Jane reassured, ruffling Littles' mane. "You'll be all fine."

Little nodded and looked back towards the window, meanwhile Green had picked up a newspaper from the side compartments.

"How come all you griffons are literate?" Green asked as he attempted to decipher the letters on the newspaper. "How long would it take to learn how to read and write?"

"Well, in the German Empire primary education is mandatory, so knowing to read and write is assumed knowledge," Jane explained, trying not to leak any of her pride in her explanation. "Also it takes around 2 months for a griffon to learn the basics, but it might be different for a pony.

"... What? You think we're dumb?" Green asked Jane, whilst holding the newspaper backwards.

"No... Just different." Jane held in a chuckle and left Green obsessing over his paper.

"How come you have the same letters as us?" Little asked as she leaned in to look at the newspaper and recognised the letters as the same ones the unicorns had on their chariots.

"Oh! This is quite the story, you see our emperors had tried to introduce their own written language, but the remaining scholars of the eastern lands begged them to keep the Equish language. This was of course rejected by them, but the scholars wouldn't yield! So they starved themselves to the brink of death and convinced the emperors to keep Equish. But they smoothened the letters and removed many letters deemed 'unimportant, and it is said that they grumbled during the entire process, muttering something about 'English' and how 'Britain' had truly become global." Jane narrated, Green and Little listening intently, but also slightly confused.

"How would starving themselves convince them?" Green asked sceptically, as he thought starving ponies wouldn't make good persuaders.

"The scholars held great historical knowledge, and by starving themselves, they showed every griffon that they were willing to sacrifice themselves to preserve the language, which garnered a lot of attention and sympathy," Jane explained, making Green nod slightly.

"Aren't they the boss? Why did they listen to them?" Little asked, confused as to how a ruler could care about their citizens.

"Many of us are still not quite sure. Some say that they did it out of generosity. Some because many griffons already knew the Equish language. But many think it had to do with Emperor Mauser, as he freaked out when the scholars told him that Equish was the universal language, and immediately pushed Emperor Bismarck to adopt it." Jane stated, scratching the back of her head in thought.

"Do you have anything here that could teach us how to read?" Green asked, grabbing several pamphlets, magazines and books from the compartments.

"Actually, it's currently standard procedure to have literacy books in trains due to the 'old' griffons, so we should have some here..." Jane rang a bell, which made a griffon enter their room.

"Could my guests have the literacy books, good sir?" Jane asked politely at the attendant, who simply grunted in acknowledgement and walked out.

"Was that rude?" Little asked Jane, as the attendant didn't even reply to her.

"Yes... Probably didn't have a good sleep," Jane assured Little, leaning back on her seat. "Why in Tartarus is out attendant a native griffon?! Don't they know the dangers they pose?!" Jane panicked internally but kept the mask of tranquillity.

"Will we get to keep the books? Also, do we need a teacher?" Green asked as he knew they were departing shortly.

"The books are quite self-explanatory, so you won't need a teacher, and yes you can keep them," Jane answered, remembering the contents of the book.

"How are we supposed to learn from the books without knowing to read?" Little asked, confused at the logic.

"They have symbols and pictures alongside words to pronounce." Jane had also been sceptical of the books, but after a read had understood its methods. "If it's good enough for the natives, it's good enough for ponies." Jane thought, as the attendant entered the room again, but held two books.

The attendant, without a word, approached the two ponies and dropped the books in front of them and left.

"Sheesh... How little did he sleep to be this grumpy?" Green shook his head in disappointment, whilst Little immediately opened the cover.

"Is this your first time with a book?" Jane asked as Little seemed to be obsessed with the thin pages.

"Yup! And so many pages as well!" Little joyously responded, flipping the pages so the wind would judge her mane.

"Well hold onto them for now, because we seemed to have arrived," Jane announced, as she could see the barracks through the windows.

"YOU ARE ALL A DISGRACE! THE GERMAN ARMY DOES NOT CONDONE DISGRACES! IF IT WAS UP TO ME, BY GOD I WILL DISCHARGE YOU ALL!" A lieutenant screamed out, wandering around the pedestal whilst shouting to his soldiers.

"YOU!" The lieutenant pointed towards a female soldier, whose head which was held low in shame suddenly rose in attention,

"WHAT IS THE GERMAN ARMY?!" The lieutenant was pissed that the soldiers weren't facing upwards.

"The strongest and the most prestigious army in the world sir!" The private answered confidently but knew her mistakes.

"THEN WHY AREN'T YOU ACTING LIKE ONE!!!" The lieutenant dropped down from the pedestal and was now right in front of the private.

The private didn't answer, keeping his posture firm and looking up. He was too afraid to get the answer wrong.

"YOU. ARE. HOPELESS!" The lieutenant grabbed the privates' pikehelm and threw it aside, he then grabbed both of the privates' rank slides and ripped them off his shoulders.

"Get the hell out of my face citizen." The lieutenant pressured, as he was now beak-to-beak with the private.

"Message sir! The governess of Strasburg is coming!" A corporal flew down, briefly glancing at the distraught private who was now limbering out the field.

"Governess? From Strasburg? Do they want us to shoot the natives again?" The lieutenant jokingly remarked but hoped to god that it wasn't the case.

"I don't know, but from what I heard she has two ponies with her." The corporal shrugged and stood beside the lieutenant, scanning the private before him.

"But just to be sure, should we call up all the soldiers?" The corporal asked, the massacre from Strasburg fresh in his memory.

"Do it, and make sure the armoured squads are here too, we wouldn't want ourselves being scratched again now do we?" The lieutenant gestured the corporal to go ahead, as he thought the governess was keeping the ponies safe in the garrison whilst retaking Strasburg from the natives with their help. It's going to be bloody... He thought.

"They better have a good reason to call us up during breaks..." Nina grumbled as she was resting her head on top of the hatches of the tank.

"They don't need a reason sergeant, we are soldiers after all," Albert replied, his legs perched on top of the steering wheels.

"I just hope they aren't making us go to Strasburg again... Did you hear what happened there?" Jack asked ominously,

"Of course we heard it Jack, we all live there!" Nina popped her head into the tank to ridicule the gunner.

"Hey Nina, while you're up there, could you bump the antenna a bit? Radios' kinda choppy." Harold asked, whilst forgetting with the radio. Nina nodded and peaked out to nudge the antenna a bit, fixing the problem.

"I'm glad we don't need the lines now, but those radios have some pretty shit range," Gelde said whilst being upside down on his seat.

"At least it's better than nothing dude," Harold shuddered a bit, as the thought of having to use flags to communicate between units would be suicide in real combat situations.

"Look pretty boys, lieutenant dickhead sighted at 12'o'clock." Nina gestured his crew to climb out and line up next to the tank, which made Harold trip Gelde over on the floor. After many curses, they formed up.

"You may be wondering why you are all here soldiers," The lieutenant began, "But it does not involve going to Strasburg." He finished, reassuring his company.

All the squads in the company sighed in relief, especially Ninas' squad as they wouldn't be doused in blood again.

"But it does involve the governess of said city, who will be arriving soon." The lieutenant then scanned around the field and spotted a car heading his way. "Don't make me look bad." He warned as he approached the slowing car.

Jane stepped out of the car, looking around concerned. "Where is the rest of the companies? Why is there only one?!" She inquired the lieutenant, who cleared his throat to explain.

"We weren't told to gather governess, and we didn't have time to recall those who were deployed or training. We were the only ones available who were close enough." He explained, which doubled the Governesss' concerns.

Nina briefly glanced at the Governess, who was now gripping her head in distress. "What could be that important that she needs an entire battalion?" Nina thought until two familiar ponies leapt off the car. "Green?! Little?! What are they- ohhhhh..." Nina suddenly realised the governess motives, as she could see the familiar expressions the ponies had made during her interview. "They want to go home...

"Argh! Fine, I guess I will have to make do with what I have..." Jane conceded, throwing her claws in the air and walked over to the pedestal.

Once atop the pedestal, she spoke, "*Ahem* Soldiers of...-"

"223rd Squadron," the lieutenant added,

"-223rd squadron, currently with me are two ponies, the larger ones' name being Green and the little ones' name... Little. As you might have heard, they have been guests in Strasburg ever since their discovery injured and unconscious near a river." Jane hopeless tried to make the squads before her sympathise with the ponys' situation, but they were too annoyed or tired to listen. All but Ninas' squad, as Nina had told her squad about the ponies she interrogated, and how much they needed their help.

"...So I'm asking for some volunteers to escort them to their homes, back to their families, so their parents will not be wracked with guilt and these ponies can be happy again." Jane finished her speech, but it was met with underwhelming silence, as the griffons all around didn't even flinch in compassion.

Green and Little simply shrank themselves down, as they realised their efforts useless, and began to sob quietly. The lieutenant coughed.

"I may not be an empath governess, but not even an insane griffon would willingly risk their lives to travel into the unknowns whilst being cut-off." The lieutenant justified his companys' silence and placed a claw on Janes' shoulder in conciliation.

Jane turned around to council the sobbing ponies but was too heartbroken to speak. "Surely with more griffons, there will be more volunteers..." She hoped, as she knelt to hug the broken ponies.

"I'll go!" The ponies suddenly lit up, recognising the voice. "That's Nina!" They both thought.

Nina had stepped forward, which emboldened her crew to follow, as Harold and Albert stepped forward as well.

"Count us in too!" They said simultaneously.

Jack hesitantly stepped forward shortly but didn't announce her entry.

Gelde was indifferent, as he was looking away with crossed arms.

"Come on Gelde! Don't be a wuss!" Albert softly nudged the indifferent griffon, who withdrew even further.

"This is a suicide, and you all know it," Gelde stated, looking back forward to face the backs of his crew.

"Dying first in the unknown will guarantee a plaque in our name," Harold weighed the risks

"Whilst succeeding will guarantee a plaque and possibly a medal!" Albert announced the award.

"..." Gelde turned away again, still in thought.

"No more clean-up duties?" Jack squeaked, posing his reason as a question.

Gelde blankly stared at Jack, who shrank in response. "... You son of a bitch, I'm in!"

"Think! Nina, Think! Do you really believe that you will be able to travel unknown territories whilst being cut-off from supplies?!" The lieutenant grilled the sergeant, who was currently packing her bags to leave.

"We will bring enough rations for three months. If that's not enough, we can simply forage food." Nine replied whilst stuffing her sleeping bag.

"Foraging food is highly unreliable, even more so without intel! How will you deal with fuel?!" The lieutenant wasn't really worried about losing the crew, despite the time it took to train them. But more concerned about losing the tank, as it could be picked up by the uncivilised natives.

"We have enough fuel for a 2000km journey, I highly doubt the ponies floated any further away than 800km." Nina evaluated, but even 800km seemed exaggerated.

"Emperor Mauser will not stand one of his vehicles being lost in the unknowns..." The lieutenant warned venomously.

"He already has measures to prevent that from happening. Y'know? The dead man's switch?" Nina reminisced the lessons they took, as the instructor displayed what would happen if the tank was disassembled incorrectly, and without specific tools. He explained it would explode, and showed them a video of how it worked, as it disintegrated everything inside by what the instructor called 'Substance N' (can reach temperatures of 2400 degrees Celsius and explodes in contact with water) which would melt the tanks into gooey steel and explode, ejecting shrapnel and hot metal bits to anyone who tried to reverse-engineer it. This didn't surprise anyone present, as it was the same man who designed the guns to explode into a molten mess if disassembled incorrectly.

"Why are you even risking your life for? Is the life of those two ponies more important than your crews?!" The lieutenant tried to make Nina guilty but had the opposite effect.

"Lieutenant, are you aware that I'm no longer in your company? So you have no right to my crews' safety. That's my responsibility, and they have all volunteered for the task." Nina stood over the lieutenant, who shrank in response.

"I will dismiss myself. Goodbye Lieutenant." Nina walked off, her bag slinged over her back whilst leaving the lieutenant frozen in her empty room. "Goodbye dickhead," Nina thought, as she shut the door and slid a doorstop on the edge, using her boot to wedge it into the door. She was free.

Cutie marks are common with free time

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"How ya hanging squirt?" Nina nudged Green, who was standing next to her, on top of the railings leading down the hatch. It had been several hours since their departure following the river, and the pony seemed conflicted in being overly grateful or extremely concerned. Sure, they were heading to their parents now, but they might have done something drastic to find them back. Green hated it, but he had to hope that their parents had given up on them.

"Still concerned huh? I got to say, you ponies are the easiest to read." Nina chuckled, as Green seemed offended, but embarrassed at the same time, which was somehow being perfectly displayed by his facial expressions.

"Maybe read the books you brought with you with Little, it will distract you for the duration of our travel." Nina pointed downwards, gesturing Green to drop.

"I guess..." Green slowly descended from the hatch, but before fully entering the interior, he turned back up to meet Ninas' eyes. "Thank you... For everything you have done and will do..." He stated with conviction, and filly retreated from the hatch.

Nina, after making sure Green was gone looked beyond the horizon and said; "Atta boy..."

"A-Pe-Pe-L-E," Little spelled out loud, which made Harold cringe due to the mispronunciation.

"It's 'P' not 'Pe'" Harold corrected, as he leaned over to see Little looking at a picture of an apple.

"Z-E-B-R-A!" Little said, which made Harold nod in approval. "Ha-O-U-Ss" Little said confused, as she couldn't find the 'Ha' letter anywhere in the book. She also knew that there was an 'E' at the end, making her pronunciation wrong.

"Harold, you might want to stop babysitting and look forward," Albert said whilst leaning forward and zooming into the distance with his eyes.

"What is it?" Harold pushed up a flap and scanned the horizon.

"Right in front. Everyone get on this," the rest of the crew followed, Jack looking through the sight and Nina popping out the hatch.

They spotted a large mound in front of them, an unnatural feature in the present terrain, and for some reason it was unsettling.

"What? It's just a pack a lot dirt." Gelde dismissed, and relaxed.

"Why is it there though?" Albert pondered, "What could have made a mound like that?"

"I don't think that's a mound..." Harold evaluated, as it was too round to be formed naturally.

"It's moving..." Nina realised, as the mound was rising and falling like it was breathing. "Put down the flaps!" Nina acted quickly and shut the hatch immediately, her crew did as ordered, but was confused by the sudden tension.

The ground began to shake, however, the tanks' weight held it down firmly and prevented it from being flung like the dirt around them. The mound before them exploded with bits of rocks and soil, and from within a giant worm emerged with teeth that lined its entire throat.

"AHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Harold screamed, retracting from his seat and away from the sight.

The worm coiled mid-air and looked to lunge at the foreign object that had entered its range. The worm hesitated at first, as its usual prey of vibrant colours was replaced by a metallic-bland box. The vibrations from the object made the worm think it was a large wagon carrying delectable prey, but the thing before it was nothing like it. Normally he would let bizarre things pass, but he had been starving for a meal. Normally thirsty ponies and griffons would go near the river to drink or collect water, but lately, he had sensed no prey for a long time. This was its lucky break and was relieved to sense fear radiating from the object, as it could smell the unmistakable sweat of terror.

Green looked terrified by the surrounding tension, but Little broke down in tears. Gelde scrambled to his seat whilst Jack held onto the turret, trying not to fall from the shaking. Albert immediately stomped the brakes and began reversing. Harold lunged back forward to mount the machine gun and Nina peered at the gaps on the closed hatch to order the gunner.

The crews' discipline held firm, despite Harolds' momentary panic, and began to aim at the lunging worm.

"ANYTIME NOW JACK! IT'S GONNA GET US!" Albert shouted, still reversing futilely away from the approaching worm.

"THE LOUDER YOU SHOUT, THE SLOWER I'LL GO!" Jack frustratingly barked back, Gelde at her side with a shell ready to load immediately after firing. Jack began to centre the crosshair on the worms' gaping mouth, which was so large that she could see the stomach pass the rows of teeth.

Just as Jack had the perfect shot, Harold sabotaged it by riddling the worm with holes from his machine gun, which made the worm recoil and clench its maw. Jack realised the shot was ruined, but she had already pulled the trigger. The turret roared.

The tank suddenly became covered in blood, the sound of blood and teeth splattering on the tank like hail. Nina cringed in her observation, as the glass that lined the gaps on the hatch became unusable by the blood covering it.

A chunk of the worms' neck underneath its mouth was blown off into bits of meat and teeth, which landed in the nearby river and lined the ground around it. The worm still frailed in the air, as the muscle began to stretch erratically even in its death, its head limped backwards, the remaining threads of tissue from the neck preventing its decapitation.

Another roar from the turret echoed, as Jack fired off another round blind, which finally ripped off the head of the worm in a shower of blood. The headless worm then plummeted backwards, its exposed neck spilling warm blood into the nearby river.

After a long period of silence, Nina opened the hatch to observe any damages to the tank. She cringed again when the blood from the hatch dripped onto her head.

"Ewwww..." Nina shivered, "Thank God I wasn't wearing my hat" She thought, as she had given it to Little to calm her down, but the oversized hat acted more like a blanket to her small frame.

"Nina! Close that hatch now! The blood is going to leak through!" Albert warned, which made Nina close the hatch.

"We're going to have to wash the tank... Thank God we have a river nearby." Jack said, rising from her seat.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't try to divert the attention, Jack!" Gelde angrily held Jack down.

"What? What's wrong?" Jack became confused, as she was pressed onto his seat.

"Don't try to act confused! You know what you did!" Gelde accused,

"What did I... Ohhhhh... The no cleanup promise..." Jack realised, "Ughh... Fine, I'll clean up for you." Jack didn't really mind doing extra work, but couldn't believe how petty Gelde was.

"No! Not that! You shouted!" Gelde pointed at Jack to draw everyone attention, but they had all already left to clean the tank, which only left Green and Little with them, but the ponies ignored them, too invested in the book.

"What..?" Jack muttered in bewilderment.

"You can't even squeak properly! But you just shouted!" Gelde looked betrayed,

"Yes, so?" Jack asked boredly.

"YES SO?! YOU WERE SHYER THEN A MOUSE IN THE BARRACKS!" Gelde stomped the ground angrily, as he remembered a time when he had to speak on Jacks' behalf multiple times.

"Well... This isn't the barracks and you all know me, so there's nothing to get wrong." Jack shrugged, as he was only 'shy' when talking to superiors or strangers.

Gelde leaned back, and begin to think. "So... I won't need to speak for you?" He hoped.

Jack pointed her claws together in shame and blushed heavily, looking away. "" Sorry... But no..."

Gelde deflated in annoyance and whacked his head against the turret whilst groaning, which created a slight bump on his head. "Urgh..." He muttered, half pain and half tiredness.

"Oi! Get your lazy ass out here and help us!" Albert screamed down the hatch, which made Green and Little tilt their heads in confusement.

"Ass?" Green asked out loud,

"Another word for flank," Jack answered, and promptly climbed out the tank. Gelde begrudgingly followed, his head still visibly bumped.

"A small question Jack," Gelde asked, grabbing another chunk of cloud and descending it.

"Is this another stupid question?" Jack amusingly asked, grabbing clouds and dropping them as well. "You have to learn to think before talking Gelde." She instructed.

"Why do you have a guys' name?" Gelde asked, which made Jack freeze immediately and stop working.

Jacks' eyes visibly shrank as if recalling a past trauma, which made Gelde retract in surprise and guilt.

"Oh! Sorry, did I hit a cord?" Gelde asked worryingly and stopped working to support Jack with a claw.

"No, no... It's fine. Even I don't know the answer to your question..." Jack resumed, breaking out of her trance. "Maybe they wanted a boy and named me before I was born, or was just not creative..."

"Bad parents huh?" Gelde let go of Jack, resuming his work.

"... What brought this on?" Jack asked Gelde, as she continued working as well.

"Glad you asked, 'cause back when I joined and saw your name as my bunkmate, I was scared that you'll beat me up!" Gelde narrated, which made Jack slightly cringe.

"Why would I beat you up?" Jack asked hesitantly,

"Look, I was frail and 'Jack' sounds like a tough-guy name, anyways! My parents had always told me that gifts would disarm bullies! So I prepared a cake to befriend him!- or in this case- her!" Gelde continued,

"Oh yeah... You tripped and hit me with the cake jerk!" Jack crossed her arms and glared at Gelde, who simply rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

"Yeah... Sorry about that... But I never got to ask, why'd you cry so hard?" Gelde asked casually, not knowing that he had just reignited Jacks' trauma.

"..." Jack remained quiet, contemplating if she should tell or not, whilst working faster to distract herself from the tension.

"I mean... If you don't want to tell, I underst-" But then, Gelde was suddenly cut off by Jacks' sad reply.

"-Bullies..." Jack vulnerably muttered, beaks starting to twitch slightly.

"Bullies? Oh! Making fun of your name! Want me to knock their teeth out?" Gelde jokingly offered, cracking his claws.

"... It's not only that... But my parents as well..." Jack sank into one of the clouds, sprawling herself onto its soft surface.

"... What about your parents?" Gelde flew over and lied next to Jack, both now looking up into the sky.

"... They except so much from me... I just want it to stop..." Jack said, holding back tears.

"What...? Why?" Gelde rose and looked at Jacks' trembling eyes.

"I'm the eldest, with no brothers carrying the prestige of Moritz." Jack solemnly stated, eyes closed with tears leaking.

"Holy shit." Gelde retracted, "MORITZ?! THE NOBLE FAMILY?! WHY IS SHE IN A LOWLY TANK SQUAD?!" Gelde screamed internally, as the Moritz nobility and many others were created by Emperor Bismarck to facilitate professionalism, prestige and honour into German society, rewarding brilliant generals and industrialists with noble titles to immortalise and push their descendants into success. "W-why can't they y'know pop out more?" Gelde bit his tongue, as he implied Jack was replaceable, which meant he just insulted a noble.

"They tried. 11 of them were busts. They changed my name afterwards." Jack muttered depressingly, still facing the sky.

"... Why didn't you tell us this?" Gelde asked the limp griffon. "Why... Didn't you tell me?" Gelde asked as if hurt.

"What do you care? Nobody cares..." Jack said, wiping away her tears poorly with her limp arms.

"But... I'm your friend!" Gelde reasoned,

"Friend?! BUT YOU HATE ME! You always groan and sigh whenever I'm around! You never listen to what I say! You only care about yourself!" Jack rebutted furiously, spinning herself up and lunging at Gelde with surprising speed.

Gelde and Jack rolled on the cloud, Gelde having blocked her lunge. "STOP! I don't hate you, Jack!" Gelde pleaded as he grappled Jack and held her on the ground, using his weight and arms to hold her down.

"YES, YOU DO! WHO CAN LIKE A SHY DISSAPOINTMENT LIKE ME?!" Jack cried even louder but was unheard by the crew below, due to their altitude.

"YOU AREN'T A DISSAPOINTMENT!" Gelde shouted at Jacks' face, and slapped her, shutting her up.

"I never hated you, Jack, if I did, I would have left ages ago, leaving to join another squad. I listen to what you say, but I don't fix them because it makes you talk! I remember a time when you couldn't even correct me when I wore my shirt backwards! I care about you! I groan and sigh because it makes you feel better about yourself! Opens you up more to our crew! I- I love you..." Gelde released Jack and became surprised as to what he let slip.

"You... Love me?" Jack asked in disbelief, her arms still firmly stapled in the cloud.

"YES! I love you so much to that point of self-neglect! I love everything about you goddammit! I LOVE Y- MFFFF!" Geldes' wide-open beak was suddenly invaded by the griffonesses' tongue, and their beaks met. Just as fast as it did, it departed, and Gelde stood frozen, still standing over the kisser.

"My name was Jill if you're wondering." The griffon formerly known as Jack said, pecking Geldes' face one last time before diving into the cloud, leaving Gelde standing over a hole in the cloud.

Geldes' face began to blush a heavy red, as he began to process what had happened. When he finally did, he looked back down to see Ja- I mean Jill had disappeared. "I got her mom... I got her... He thought, as he had fulfilled the promise which he made to his mom during her final moments. Gelde began to tear up but was still heavily blushing.

"Soooo... You're Jill now?" Albert asked whilst wiping the drivers' sight.

"I was always Jill, so no." Jill corrected, retrieving several buckets of paint from the tank.

"Okay, how bout' Jill-turned-Jack-turned-Jill?" Albert smugly replied, which made Jill scoff in his childishness. "... What are you doing with the paint though? Also why was it in the tank?!" Albert worryingly asked as it was forbidden for common soldiers to decorate their tanks, which was reserved for the aces or nobility to distinguish themselves out from the common soldiery.

Jill simply grinned at this, and ignored him, landing next to the guns' turrets to begin painting.

"Ja- I mean Jill, I know we're outside the militarys' jurisdiction, but returning with permanent paint on our tank might get us sacked. I mean, I know our chances are slim but this seems a little too early." Nina said as Jill began to grab the brushes to decorate the turrets.

Jill simply grinned at her too and stood on top of the tank as if to perform. "Tell me, Nina on who the rules apply to." Jill playfully asked.

"You mean... The decoration rules? Then I guess the titless soldiers." Nina answered, which made Jills' smile grow larger.

"Then we are safe," Jill stated, which made everyone except Gelde confused.

"She's the eldest of the Mortiz nobility, with no sons," Gelde said with a shrug, but inside he was trying not to squeal giddily like a child being with a celebrity.

Everyone froze, (except Green and Little who are still trying to learn) and looked at Gelde, then Jill, then Gelde again.

"N-n-nobility?! For this long?!" Harold squeaked,

"MORITZ?!" Nina screamed, she had heard of their exploits in a siege once, and their reputation, just like all the other nobility was legendary.

"... I don't believe you..." Albert said sceptically, as who wouldn't be suspicious if someone said a shy, withdrawn corporal who manned an unnamed tank crew was a noble.

Jill simply puffed her chests in pride and withdrew a badge of the Moritz nobility from under her coat to the griffons before her.

Harold fainted, Ninas' eyes twitched in disbelief, Gelde chucked by their reactions whilst Albert raised an eye.

"Impressive..." Albert determined, whilst scratching the underneath of his beak.

"Oh dang! How am I supposed to ask them what to put now!" Jill pouted.

"Why can't we go outside and look?" Little complained to Green, as they were told by the griffons to stay to not be 'grossed out'.

"We might vomit seeing... That thing... Outside, especially by the amount of blood everywhere..." Green told Little. He was no stranger to blood, having seen ponies cut themselves or packs of timberwolves abduct even the stallions into the bushes, only to be discovered later, only bones remaining with the trail soaked with blood. It made him shudder slightly.

"I guess... At least we got these books with us!" Little shook her book, which was a quarter done. The two ponies were learning pretty quickly, especially with 5 guardians nearby who were willing to teach them.

They both now knew the basics, however had some difficulties in grabbing their pencils with their hooves. When they tried to use their mouth, the griffons freaked out and told them it was 'unhygienic' and 'improper' to use pencils like that, so they kept using their hooves. It took ages, but they finally got used to it, able to write properly and in cursives as well.

"Green? Little? Could I ask you something?" Jill popped down from the hatch and asked the immersed ponies.

"Mhmm?" Little hummed in acknowledgment, whilst Green nodded.

"We are thinking of decorating and naming our tank while we make food, any suggestions?" Jill asked,

"Decorating?" Green and Little asked and looked at each other. "We never had the time to decorate anything..." Green thought, as he remembered how every minute was a life-and-death struggle. "I always wanted to decorate things!" Little squeed mentally, and wore a wide grin which made Jill smile in return.

"It doesn't have to be pretty, just do whatever you want." Jill ensured, "Better yet if it looks terrible, it could piss lieutenant Dickhead off. Jill thought, chuckling to herself. "Come on, you can get out now."

Both ponies climbed out, the smell of blown bits and blood still present, which made them both cringe. However, the carcass of the worm had been pushed by the crew into the river downstream, and the water from the rain clouds had washed up all the blood nearby. However, there were still some noticeable red smudges in the grass remaining.

"Here are your tools, every colour of paint if you mix them correctly, all different sizes of brush, so you can decorate with your hearts' content!" Jill announced happily, "So you ponies get busy while we make us all food." Jill flew off, joining her crew nearby the river, leaving the two ponies starting at the open buckets and brushes.

"Just like that? They really don't care how much we mess this up?" Green asked in disbelief, as at one point, they could have fun and decorate, but the responsibility of the task was terrifying.

"She did it didn't have to be pretty!" Little enthusiastically relayed, grabbing a giant brush and dipping it into the paint, splattering some onto her as well.

Green tried to tell her to slow down, but Little had already begun coating the tank with paint, at which point he shrugged and grabbed a smaller brush, filling in any gaps which Little missed.

"Are you sure those kids are up to it?" A worried Harold asked Jill,

"Yeah, I don't want my tank screwed" Nina concurred, glaring at Jill.

"I'm sure they will be fine," Jill assured her crew. "BURN! BURN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Gelde bonked Jills' head and glared at her.

"What?" Jill asked Gelde confused.

"You know what you did," Gelde affirmed, which made Jill pout.

"Alright... A little more detail on the windigo..." Green evaluated, after stepping backwards to check his work. The two ponies were so immersed in their painting that they did not realise their immense progress or how much of a masterpiece their work was. What they had created was an artwork that depicted the windigos and earth ponies clashing, the sides being split vertically, with the pony side facing away the turret and the windigos coming from the turret. It was only possible through the foreign paint and impeccable brushes.

"Alright ponies! Dinners' rea- Woah..." Harold recoiled, dropping immediately to the ground to marvel at their work. "H-how? What? Huh?!" Harold attempted to figure out how the ponies were able to do it so fast, he reminded himself that magic existed but it still made no sense.

Green waved a hoof over his eyes, which was still glued on the details of the artwork, "I think we broke him." Green told Little, who also joined Green in waving at his eyes.

"Who wants some delicious worm soup~?" Gelde jokingly mused, pushing a trolley up the small incline to present to the ponies. "...Seriously? No reactions? What ar-," Gelde stood, also frozen looking at the tank, going through the same reaction as Harold did. This was allowed up by Nina and Jill, except the former looked ecstatic and the latter disappointed at first, but then both decreased into the same state as Harold and Gelde.

"Why'd you guys stop? Is the tank a mess or something?" Albert appeared, but instead of looking forward, he looked back first to look at his crews' expressions. Then traced their view to the painted tank. "Woah, that's pretty cool." He remarked, "Y'know I had little faith in you ponies, but you are looking to be fine artists!" Albert said, completely undeterred unlike the rest of his crew, which made the ponies stare in disbelief at the unreactive griffon. "Also, what's on your flank?" Albert pointed at the Greens' flank, which now had an artists' palette with the three primary colours splotched on it and Littles' flank which had a French Bonnet and a brush that had strokes of the rainbow.

"OUR CUTIE MARKS!" The ponies both squealed excitedly, and began jumping around wildly in celebration, which finally snapped the crews' trance.

"Your cutie- what now?" Albert asked boredly, playing with his claws.

"WE GOT ONE! WE GOT ONE!" Green and Little both bounced around the griffons happily, quickly accelerating into impossible speeds, which made the crew dizzy as their eyes failed to lock onto them.

"Hang on." Both ponies suddenly stopped, throwing dirt everywhere, making the griffons cough as it entered their lungs.

"The brush and colours we get, but what are these?" Green pointed at the palette whilst Little pointed at the Bonnet and they both began examining each other's cutie marks.

"Green, you have a palette, which is something an artist uses to hold colours. Little, you have a Bonnet, which is something an artist wears... For some reason, I don't know but our Emperors told us to put it into our etiquettes." Albert shrugged, still wondering why their artists had to wear bonnets.

"*cough* *cough* hang- *cough* on! First off, what in Tartarus is a cutie mark?!" Harold demanded, still coughing up dirt.

"Oo! Oo! I know! I know! It's supposed to show our destiny! And our special talent!" Little enthusiastically explained, remembering what their elder had told them what cutie marks were. But from what they had heard, they were extremely rare, and most ponies would die not finding them. Except for the unicorns, who had ample time to figure out their marks and fate were, but it wasn't all good, as some who discovered a useless cutie mark would be cast out of their family and labelled a disgrace.

"That's... Confusing... But knowing your fate? Isn't that uncomfortable to know? Wouldn't you want to be free to do whatever you want?" Jill asked,

"We can still do anything else, but it just lets us save time in improving our talents instead of something we are bad at." Green explained, which got an understanding nod from all griffons.

"But... How'd you do it so fast?!" Nina asked in disbelief, finally getting around to the question.

The two ponies just shrugged, "Magic I guess?"

Ninas' eyes twitched once more but quickly broke away from a trance via a sigh of disappointment. "It's with the hooves all over again..." She thought.

"Oi! Food's getting cold! Eat while it's still hot!" Albert shouted, already near the pot and ready to fill bowls. The crew hurried, but let the ponies eat first.

They fed them meat

A romanticised tale

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It had been two days now, the crew had encountered very little after the giant worm incident, and everyone was very relaxed. The ponies continued studying, Harold was tutoring them, Gelde and Jill were closer together than usual, Albert... Was still driving and Nina was asleep, her head leaning against the edges of the hatch.

They had expected far more, a large battle, a looting party, natural disasters or perhaps a hostile army. But nothing. It was extremely underwhelming, as they thought of themselves as heroes when they left... Except for Albert, and they expected a fight against the 'vast' and 'dangerous' unknowns. But 'vast' doesn't fit well with danger, as it just means everything is spread out, which meant the tank and the crew encountered nothing. But at least morale was kept high by the two ponies, as they continued drawing, unfortunately without paint as they had ditched them as it ran out.

"End me..." Albert sighed, his arms and legs tired from the constant driving. He signed up to be a driver to pull off cool stunts and moves, but his time as a driver thought him otherwise as it wilted him down to an unresponsive 'downer'.

Gelde and Jill were meanwhile enjoying each other's company, leaning against each other in the cramped turret space, sleeping quietly with claws held. At first, they flaunted their relationship, but after Little told them they like her 'Mommy and Daddy', they quickly stopped, not sure if they wanted to take the next step for their relationship.

Nina was no narcoleptic, but the sheer boredom of the situation had devolved her into one, as she was dozing off, not bothered to scan the horizon for more grass.

Harold was having a great time, however, as his father was a professor and his mother a politician, which gave him the knowledge and speech skills to teach the ponies about the rich history, artworks and culture of the German Empire, making sure to leave out any topics of sciences as per protocol. In his effort, the ponies were both entertained and immersed in the topic, constantly asking questions that would branch off to another topic to talk about.

"Stop the lesson Harold, it's sleeping time." Albert impatiently ordered, having already stopped the tank and covered himself with a blanket.

"You heard him ponies, sleeping time," Nina said from above, closing the hatch to lay in the cramped tank.

Harold shrugged at the ponies and grabbed his blankets to sleep. The ponies cuddled between Harold and Nina to keep themselves warm, stealing a bit of the blanket to cover themselves.

Soon enough, they fell asleep.

Tick... Tick...
Thunk... Thunk...
Ting...
Alberts' eyes shot open immediately, "Someone is outside..." He thought, and slithered quietly away from his blanket, revealing an mp-40 with an integrated silencer holstered in his claws.

"Here's my chance... I'll show those sheep from the barracks why everyone should carry a sub-machine gun with them in their sleep..." Albert sinisterly thought, clicking off his safety and grinning maniacally.

"You go dig hole and sink wagon, we catch all inside." A faint voice ordered, which made Albert hold his breath in concentration to hear any more.

"This big wagon! Look fancy as well!" Another voice was heard, complimenting the art on the 'wagon'.

It took a second for Alberts' eyes to adjust in the dark, but once it did he could make out the voices outside. At first, they were silhouettes of bipedal creatures, but now their features were clear, and their faces depicted a dogs' one, except more grotesque and contorted.

Their paws were covered with dirt as if they had been mining or digging their way here, and by the talks of digging holes, Albert guessed that it was the case. They held nets and surprisingly good spears and armour, however, they haven't refined them and looked like they had just picked up the raw iron ores and carved them to use as weapons or plate for armour. Albert could make out at least 5 in front of him, and the leader was surprisingly the least armoured and carried a shoddy bag over its shoulder which hung on its front torso, and inside he could make out bottles of smokey liquid.

"Could be gas weapons." Albert thought and quickly fastened his gas masks to prevent such attacks. He thought of waking the rest up, but he feared that it could alert the bipedal dogs outside, so he didn't. Albert quietly stepped over Harold and Nina and began climbing the hatch ladders.

"Boss, we can't dig." A fearful voice stated, the tone of which did not want to suffer the wrath from whatever it was speaking to.

"What?! Why?!" The leader barked back.

"Wagon too heavy. Dirt gets crushed. Too hard to push." the fearful voice replied.

Albert turned the hatch quietly, his gun beside him to fire immediately upon exiting.

"How we going to trap them then?" a third voice asked, unsure as to what to do.

Albert slowly pushed the hatch open, making sure not to let go as to make it drop against the tanks' hull.

"We get in another way then. Maybe we wait 'till day." The leader pondered, which made the dogs nearby nod in agreement.

Albert scanned the surrounding and found 5 more dogs at the back, 4 of them scratching their heads in their failed attempt to dig the 'wagon into a hole, the last one looking directly at him.

Albert thought fast, slinging his gun to his shoulder, whilst the dog raised its arms to point at the griffon on top of the wagon.

"GRIFFO-!" The dogs' words were cut off, as he was pummeled with bullets, the silenced but loud sound of the gun alerting every dog nearby and waking the crew inside.

Albert quickly turned his gun at the four other dogs, who were all too preoccupied at the death of their comrade by the griffons' iron stick to hide behind a non-existent cover. They were all mowed down quickly.

"GET MASKED GRIFFON!" The leader shouted, grabbing a potion from his bag whilst the four dogs beside him charged at the griffon atop the 'wagon'.

"EAT LEAD YOU INBRED PUPS!" Albert shouted maniacally, shooting down the dogs which charged him, who didn't even get close to the tank, as they were quickly dispatched by Alberts' gun.

The leader threw a potion at Albert, which exploded into a cloud of gas and glass as the liquid turned immediately into gas upon shattering. The glass had little effect on Albert, and the gas even less so, and thankfully none of the gas leaked inside the tank, sparing the crew inside it. Albert could make out a relieved grin from the leader, but as the smoke cleared and he was still visibly standing, the leaders' expressions turned to horror.

"A good leader always knows their opponent." Albert cooler remarked and proceeded to turn the leaders' face into a ruined lasagne with a hail of bullets.

"Real clever Albert, totally not stolen from Bismarck" Nina tiredly groaned at him, angered at him for waking her up.

"Everything at this point is stolen by the emperors, can't help not using a good quote here and there." Albert defended, replacing his empty magazine.

"*Gasp*!" A dog desperately attempted to breathe, but its lungs were punctured thoroughly by bullets which led to it coughing up pieces of it alongside blood.

"Holy shit, how're you not dead?" Albert casually asked, flying over to it and stashing away his gas mask to speak to it properly. "Who are you dogs anyways?" Albert asked the dying dog.

"*Cough* We ruby dogs... *cough*" the dog was now turning blue, as his lungs were filling with blood, effectively making him suffocate in himself.

"Ruby dogs? You don't look like rubies to me," Albert asked sceptically, gently nudging the dying dog with a kick.

"... We faction... We fight against many... Biggest be diamond..." The dogs' eyes slowly shut, and it ceased breathing which made Albert frown.

"My God Albert! you massacred these dogs!" Nina could not believe the sheer brutality that her driver had conducted.

"They had a name." Albert snapped back.

"What?! Are you sympathetic now?!" Nina couldn't believe her drivers' actions.

"They were ruby dogs. They are fighting each other as we did..." Albert stated solemnly, kneeling beside the dead ruby dogs.

Nina was lost for words, they had all been born during the warlord era, but they were too young to experience it in full. However, their parents had and told them stories of the brutality, suffering and death that was rampant during civil wars and chaos. They had all shivered and feared once hearing the stories, as they thought the same would happen to them, so they had followed the emperors' order unconditionally and without questions, which had to lead them to prosperity and peace. Order and stability was the new principal of the day, and the griffon race was expected to embrace it, and ditch any other culture, tradition or ethic they locally followed. Their sacrifice had given them all of this, but these 'ruby dogs' we're still suffering. Nina nodded at Alberts' compassion.

Albert began to tear, and fell on all fours crying, Nina approached him to calm him.

"WHY?! WHY?!" Albert screamed, "WHY ARE YOU SUCH FUCKING MORONS FIGHTING EACH OTHER YOU IDIOTS!" Albert kicked the ruby dogs' head, popping out its eyeballs due to the force of the kick.

Nina recoiled in shock, as Albert began kicking the corpses of the ruby dogs. She then shook her head in disappointment. "Better this than a road rage..." Nina reasoned, as she remembered how Albert would sometimes 'accidentally' bump another squads' tank, crushing its commander's wings with the turrets. Albert was acquitted due to there being no motive, but Nina knew why. "He's a bloody psychopath..." Nina concluded, she wasn't sure until now, but this seemed like the hard evidence to prove his psychopathic condition. But hesitated, as she remembered how some drivers were worse than him. "Is every driver just a psychopath?" Nina hypothesised, thinking of the criminally high rates of taxies back home.

Day 4:
After some cleanups and damaging Littles' childhood with terrible role models and language later, they soundly slept to immediately begin driving again once morning came.

Everyone returned to yesterdays' state as if Alberts' previous episode had never happened, the only meanwhile event occurring that day was when the ponies asked to play around with Alberts gun. Everyone except Albert that day disagreed.

Day 5: (sorry for the lack of dialogues, but the ponies would've already told Nina about how they ended up here, and it would be repetitive to retell the story especially with Nina already having told his crew about the ponies' predicament)
The ponies had spotted a faint landmark from the nearby river, and they demanded to stop to check it out. The crew reluctantly acquiesced, leaving behind Albert and Harold to take care of their tank whilst Nina, Gelde and Jill accompanied Green and Little to the landmark.

There, they saw pieces of wood lodged into the ground, so firmly to the point that the rising river and flow couldn't dislodge them and dislocate them somewhere else. The sight brought Little into tears, which made Green hug her in conciliation. But their mood was lifted when they saw a carving on the nearby incline on the river, which they had planned to use to wait out the storm. They quickly rushed over to confirm their suspicions.

What the ponies saw was an arrow, pointing towards the northeast and a carving of a crude sun alongside it, which was a religious symbol for Solaris, the ponys' religion that was thought to bring luck. Green and Little knew what this meant, their parents were alive! But probably extremely worried about their disappearance. So they quickly returned to the tank, and they finally had a direction to travel. It wouldn't be far...

Another day had passed and it was now morning. They had travelled northeast for an entire day, yet they still haven't arrived at their destination. They had travelled approximate 600km, of which 100km northeast, and could not believe how far away a pony settlement could be.

"I guess we're just like vehicles, I mean, we carry wagons and stuff around by ourselves," Green explained to the disgruntled griffons, who were all bored out of their minds. Except for Harold, who continued to teach the ponies every day, and each time with renewed vigour.

"Urgh... Kill... M- Oh hey! A forest!" Albert announced, as he finally saw something that wasn't a plain, or a hill, or some trees or some small critters, etc, etc, etc.

"Yes! Finally something different!" Nina jumped up from her hatch and looked forward to a giant forest that seemed to stretch infinitely across horizontally in the distance. "There are some smaller trees ahead though, so be careful." Nina wanted, as several leaves blew past her, prompting her to close the hatch.

Albert wished to just trample the trees, but he feared it might damage the tank and its painting so he begrudgingly avoided the trees, until they were deeper inside the forests, which made Albert ditch subtlety and begin driving over dead trees and fallen branches and logs.

From over the sounds of breaking trees and branches though, the ponies were extremely optimistic, as they could sense try good days to come, even though they would leave the griffons, they would much prefer staying with their family even if it meant death.

"There must be a settlement within this forest right? It seemed secluded enough for no hostiles, water is everywhere and vegetation rampant." Nina evaluated, but a slither of a snake made her forget about the 'no hostile' bit.

"I don't know why, but I got a bad feeling about this..." Gelde said as he began to feel an unsettling presence and feel in the air around them.

"Yeah... How big the settlement anyway?" Jill asked the two ponies, who only shrugged in reply.

"Maybe they're all dead." Albert bluntly replied, making both ponies shake with fear.

"Cut that out Albert, I'm sure they will be fine. Don't worry ponies, you will see your parents again!" Harold scolded Albert for being such a negative influence, but also due to his cynicism.

"...Masks on people..." Albert ordered, putting his one immediately. The other quickly followed without question, as per protocol. Harold fastened two other smaller gas masks on the ponies, who were quickly becoming confused.

"What is it?" Nina asked, peaking at her closed hatch.

"From what I heard from you, zebras. They have also already surrounded us..." Albert grabbed his mp-40, Harold wheeled around to mount the machine gun, Nina prepared several of her grenades, whilst Gelde and Jill reloaded the turret with a high explosive shell.

"Careful not to let your mask falls off, they got gas bottle" Albert warned, tightening his gas mask.

"Should we try to talk with them?" Nina appealed to Albert but failed.

"They don't look too peaceful with their stubby spears and gas weapons aimed at us." Albert Said, lodging his gun on the gap from the flap to fire.

"... They got ponies captured..." Harold spotted, as he saw several nets held by the zebras that had unconscious ponies in them. "Hold your fire, We might accidentally kill the pony captives."

Green and Little tried to peek outside, but Harold promptly sat them down, gesturing them to stay still.

"Are they going to do anything?" Nina asked, looking around and spotting several unmistakable black and white stripes, their makeshift camouflage being useless against their superior eyes. "Do they know that we see them?"

"They probably do, 'cause I stopped for no reason in front of them." Albert guessed, and saw a single zebra emerge from the bushes, except it was wearing pieces of gold. "How exotic." Albert thought, "Must be their leader."

The emerging zebra was followed up by the rest of their party emerging from their cover, further surrounding the 'wagon'. Then, the zebra donning gold began to speak,

"You are surrounded! Surrender peacefully or face slaughter!" It threatened, gesturing a few to advance with their spears forward. The zebra free companies didn't know what they were looking at, but the exotic painting on its surface suggested it was a wagon from an eccentric noble. This made their leader chuckle inward, as it meant they could also ransom the passengers, and normally all nobles would surrender immediately at a threat.

However, the leaders' face would turn into a frown as the 'wagon' remained silent, even as his soldiers drew closer to it. Only when they were 10 seconds away, the passengers spoke up,

"Where did the ponies in your nets come from?" Nina asked, but poorly, as the tanks and the mask muffled her.

"Ah! Those are our prize! They were wise to surrender, those who resist are killed!" The leader triumphantly replied, "But do not worry! As nobles, you will surely be able to leave unscathed... After paying your ransoms that is..."

"So where?" Nina asked again, still very muffled.

"Why, the villager to the northeast of course! We had been monitoring it for quite a while, as we planned to attack immediately, but the ponies kept coming! So we waited for a bigger spoil!" The leader explained to their soon-to-be captives, as he loved to brag about his leadership which had kept the soldiers docile in the face of loot, and had convinced them to wait for more ponies to come.

The ponies inside the tank were shaking with worry. They knew they would win, but feared that their parents were dead, as there could only be one village this remote in Equis, and they knew that their parents were brave and resilient. But currently, they wished they weren't and hoped that they were cowardice in the face of death, so had surrendered.

"We need something that can kill them immediately, but not hit the ponies behind them," Harold suggested, "If some runs away, they could hold the pony captives hostage." He finished, scanning the area for more pony captives.

"We need them closer then, Nina! Draw them in!" Albert ordered, which made Nina hesitant on what to do.

"W-what?! What am I supposed to do?!" Nina desperately asked, facing away from the hatch to prevent the zebras outside from hearing them.

"So what's it going to be?! Don't be a hero ponies!" The leader warned, and assumed the passengers were ponies, as he could now properly make out what the painting was on the 'wagon'.

"COME AND GET US BARBARIANS!" Albert screamed, which made everyone in the tank flinch in surprise whilst making the zebras outside tilt their heads in confusion.

The leader was dumbfounded, but quickly shook his head and recovered his train of thought. "So be it ponies, soldiers, get them." The leader gestured but gave them all the signal to keep them alive. "The ransom is too precious to give up... They are probably unarmed anyways..." he thought, as the soldiers began to climb the 'wagon' but could not get their way in.

"Leader! The wagon is coated with iron!" A soldier said as he chinked his spear against the tanks' hull, snapping off its tip. "We can't get through!"

The leader stared in bewilderment as his soldiers began to pile on top of the tank to attempt to get into the 'wagon', which only yielded snipped spears and sore hooves.

The crew inside the tank had shut all their flaps and gaps to see through, hearing noises of snapping iron and striking hooves against the steel hull.

The leader meanwhile groaned in annoyance and began approaching the 'wagon' and grabbed a vial from a pouch on his back. Once in front of the 'wagon', he stood in front of its barrel, assuming it was a chimney exhaust hole.

"Ponies! Come out now or I'll be forced to use this poison gas!" The leader spoke through the hole, his voice echoing back to the zebras outside, he shaked the vial in his hoof to display the green liquid. "What are you planning to do?! Stay in your wagon forever?! You'll starve to death!" He reasoned.

"This asshole is staring straight down the turret..." Gelde announced to his crew, which got a few laughs. "I mean... It's not a rifle right?"

"You have 10 seconds ponies!" The leader shouted, his head inside the barrel to amplify his voice into the 'wagon'.

"You heard the man, get ready boys," Nina said, bracing herself on the hatch ladders.

"10!"

"... And girls," Jill corrected, popping her head out of the turrets' sight.

"9!"

Harold raised the flap slightly, subtly enough to prevent the zebras above from noticing its incline.

"8!"

"Shame," Albert said, placing a bullet in his MP-40s' bolt.

"7!"

Green and Little placed their hooves on their ears. "This is going to be loud..." They both thought.

"6!"

Jill was ready to decapitate the leaders' face, hopefully not going through to hit any of the pony captives. "Eh, probably not..." Jill assured herself.

"5!"

Gelde left Jills' side, deeming firing the turret again unnecessary and probably ineffective, so he stood at the back flaps to fire at the zebras behind them.

"4!"

The few zebras still hiding emerged from their cover, preparing to carry the wagon in case the ponies still didn't come out.

"3!"

"NOW!" Nina shouted, all the flaps in the tank being pushed open with either barrels or claws to begin aiming. The zebras all on top of the tank hesitated as they saw the eyes of the griffons through the flaps, which they expected to be a ponys'. The commotion made the leader pop his head out of the turret, but had his torso against it.

Green and Little shut their eyes.

The zebras behind the leader were suddenly covered with guts and blood, a sudden ear-ringing roar having deafened them which made them shut their eyes and cringe at the pain. The soldiers around and on top of him turned their attentions to their leader, who was now looking down at his torso. He saw the ground through it.

"FIRE!" Albert and Nina cried, and as they did, all the barrels protruding outside the tank began to rattle with yellow sparks, throwing the zebras off the tank in a splatter of blood. The zebras seemed to float, as they were riddled with bullets so fast to the point their bodies remained still standing, the force of the hits keeping them upright. The floating zebras would protect their comrades behind them, but they were frozen with shock, as blood splattered all of them, until they were hit as well dooming the entire zebra party.

The guns only fell silent when no zebra were left on their hooves, the only sound being the groans of pain from the downed zebras. The gas had been a fluke, as the gas coated the area, but had no effect on the zebras on the ground.

"That's how it's done!" Albert flew out triumphantly, pushing Nina out of the tank and sprawling onto the hood of the tank.

"Argh! Jerk!" Nina groaned as she stood up rubbing her head, angry at Alberts' behaviour.

Albert ignored Nina, and instead flew past her to land next to a breathing zebra, its chest rising and falling weakly and its fur soaked with blood.

"Huh... Deja vu..." Albert pondered for a second, his claws under his beak. But then he shrugged and pulled out a bayonet to stab the zebras' exposed neck.

"Hrgk! Grghhhh..." The zebra whimpered, his neck being torn apart to reveal a river of blood that flowed down to the grass below.

"HEY STOP THAT! WE NEED TO ASK QUESTIONS!" Nina panicked but did not approach Albert for fear of being stabbed.

Albert shrugged and wiped his bloodied hands on the 'clean' side of the zebra, and dusted himself off. He then pointed at the dead zebra, "That wasn't me."

Nina face-clawed, but quickly recovered to begin searching for any survivors, Harold soon joined her in the search, whilst Jill and Gelde searched the edges of the brush to find any captured ponies.

"Goddammit Albert! Why'd you kill the last zebra?!" Nina furiously asked the indifferent griffon, who was currently leaning against a tree playing with his knife. "That was the last survivor!"

Albert shrugged once more, "Eh, what are you gonna do about it?"

This was the final straw. Nina quickly approached Albert and grabbed him by his collar and raised him against the tree. This made him drop his knife in surprise. "What has gotten into you?! Why are you like this?!" Nina demanded.

Alberts' surprised gaze became a bored one, looking down at Nina with a tired expression. "You forgot my coffee." He looked away and crossed his arms, Nina simply blinked at him.

"What?" Ninas' brain began to malfunction.

"I told you a million times to bring the coffee. You forgot." Albert looked back at Nina, but now frowning.

"That-..." Ninas' brain decided it couldn't take the heat and went on a vacation.

"SIX FUCKING DAYS! ALL-DAY DRIVING! NO COFFEE! REEEEEEEEE!" Albert frailed wildly in Ninas' grasp, but her joints were frozen solid by her shock. Just as quickly Albert shook, he fell asleep with a mighty snore, this finally broke Ninas' bewilderment.

"Uhhh... You alright there Nina?" Harold worryingly asked, placing a claw on Ninas' raised shoulders.

"...Yes..." Nina said through blinks, her hold on Albert ceasing, which made him plummet to the floor uncomfortably. "We need a stimulant for Albert," Nina concluded loudly, which made Harold raise his brows in confusion.

Jacobin Francais or commonly known by the villagers as 'Jaco' sat near the elder, Copper Trail. They were both tied up, covered with a spiny net atop a splintery wagon, the elder was unconscious with a deep gash on his head which had dried to a standstill, whilst Jaco was looking down distraught at his failures.

He had promised victory against the zebras and had gathered the ponies to defend against the raiders. However, he severely overestimated his forces and underestimated the zebras, as they committed horrifying acts that demoralised and routed his own without a fight. The pony's who remained with him held up a good fight, but their makeshift tools stood no chance against the iron spears of the zebras. They only surrendered when their leader had threatened them with suffocation by revealing a vial of green liquid. The zebras were infamous for using gaseous weapons and alchemy, which made even the bravest pony lay down their weapons and surrender.

Jacob looked back to where he came from, only to be met by the thick forest. He did not know where the zebras were taking them to, but he guessed that they would be sold into slavery, as no pony had the prospects of paying a ransom. After all, they were escaped serfs and peasants at best. His tears rolled down his cheek, as he closed his eyes to shut out the pain.

"When is our leader coming back? It's kinda getting hard pushing these wagons on our own..." A zebra in front asked another beside him.

"We're still towing the same wagon, what are you talking about? He left us behind 'cause we were so far behind." The other zebra scolded the unattentive zebra.

"At this point, we are going to overtake the front row..." The first zebra worried as he could see the first wagon in front of them. "Didn't he say it was an easy job?"

"Guess they-*BANG*have some delay... Nothing to worry about." The other zebra assured as he could also see that they were going to pass the front wagons. "I guess we will have to stop at the front to wait for them." He concluded.

Jaco looked wide-eyed at the first zebra who now had a hole through his eyes and the other zebra none the wiser at his friends' demise. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Jaco screamed internally, quickly correlating the sharp 'bang' had something to do with the zebras' death.

"Buddy? You the-" the other zebra turned to look at his now-dead friend. He recoiled in shock. "WHO-!"*BANG* Jaco stared at the final zebra falling with a hole that exploded into his face.

"All too easy!" A distant voice from above called out, which made Jaco stare upwards.

Jaco quickly located two clouds approaching quickly to his position. He began to speculate who they were. "Pegasi? Did they save us? What are they doing so far away from their airzone? Will they punish us for running away? Did they get the leader?" Jacos' mind raced, his fear quickly switching from the zebras to the approaching pegasi.

"This is one long convoy..." A stallion from above said,

"Yeah, sure is. There's got to be at least 100 ponies down there!" A mare said,

"How were they supposed to feed them during the trip?" The stallion said again,

"They probably weren't, also running away here seems suicide." The mare said.

Jaco still couldn't make out who they were, as they were still floating on their clouds. He hoped that they were at least the Equestrian pegasi, as he knew there were 'free' pegasi squads who were known to be worse than raiders.

"Urghh... We are going to have to babysit them aren't we?" The stallion groaned,

"It won't be that bad... Just a few more Littles' and Greens'..." The mare said assuring her partner, but their conversation was heard by another pair below.

"OUR CHILDREN!" Two ponies from wagons behind Jacos' suddenly screamed out, breaking the silence which the rest tried to sustain, as they didn't want to suffer the pegasus' wrath. Several shushes were directed at them, trying to shut them up, but they wiggled in their ropes and shifted the nets, bruising their skin under the weight and pressure of their struggle, but it paid off as they were able to fall to the ground next to the wagon. "PLEASE! WHERE'RE OUR CHILDREN!" They pleaded desperately, looking up at the clouds.

"Ah! Those must be Graze and Opal!" The stallion and mare concurred, their clouds quickly descending next to them. Nopony expected who were riding them.

Two griffons, both immaculately dressed in grey with several foreign tools attached to them jumped off the cloud and began approaching the pair. Everypony stared at them wide-eyed, a few in confusion, but most in horror. Jaco thought both, as he was confused as to why griffons would save them, but horrified of what they would do to them.

"Uh... Why are we being stared at?" Gelde asked no one in particular but still felt the piercing gaze from the surrounding ponies.

"I think Green and Little left out a major point..." Jill concluded as the ponies were staring at them as if they were monsters. "You!" Jill pointed at a terrified pony, who shrank and shivered even more in Jills' attention. "Who are we to you ponies?" Jill asked, to confirm her suspicions.

The questioned pony didn't answer, too busy to shiver in fear to answer Jills' question, but a pony at the far back muttered for the terrified pony.
"M-m-m-monsters..." it shakily said, trying not to sound harsh.

"...and why is that?" Gelde asked suspiciously, "Are they racists or something?" Gelde speculated.

C-c-carnivores... the pony muttered again, which made the two Griffin's hum in thought.

"Well shit... We fed Little and Green meat without them knowing..." Gelde and Jill thought, feeling slightly guilty. "Should we... Tell them?" They both thought, as they slowly looked at each other in deep thought.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR CHILDREN?!" Graze and Opal demanded, growling murderously at the two griffons.

"Well, first of all, they are both safe with us," Gelde explained, which made the pair slightly calm down, but Gelde could tell they thought he was lying. "But... We might have fed your kids meat..." Gelde finished.

Opal and Graze blinked. Then they looked at each other. Then they fainted.

"Real smooth Gelde..." Jill placed her claw on Geldes' shoulder and shook her head.

"Dang..." Gelde muttered.

At first, the ponies were terrified, but when the griffons began cutting the ponies loose, they began to calm down for every ponies freed, until they were completely docile. But many still feared what the griffons might do, even as most of them were freed, and the griffons turned their backs on the ponies, trusting them to not attack them. This show of trust made some ponies assist the griffons, cutting the ropes and nets off their fellow ponies using sharp rocks and teeth, the latter not working properly. Soon, everypony was freed.

"Alright, so anyone wants to tell me what happened?" Jill asked, sheathing her bayonet.

"You mean anypony?" A pony corrected, which made Jill roll her eyes.

Copper, who had finally woken up began to speak, "We are poor farmers and escaped serfs who have run for a better life, plans ruined due to barbarism and raids. You have no use for us, we have no ransom, no information, no food. So leave us be fair griffons."

"We only want one thing, and y'all have it," Gelde asked, approaching the aging elder.

"...and what might that be?" The elder asked, undeterred by Geldes' towering frame, but the ponies around him bracing due to the tension.

Gelde leaned to the elders' face until he was only a beak away from touching his snout. "Is this all of you?"

"...yes?" The elder hesitated by the question, "What kind of question was that?" Copper thought, as he finally began retreating from the griffons' advance.

"Perfect! Then stay here and tend to the wounded!" Gelde leaned back suddenly, making the elder fall backwards in surprise. Gelde then gestured to Jill to bring the others, which made Jill playfully salute him and fly away. Gelde meanwhile flew upwards to look over the ponies.

"What is he doing?" A pony whispered, not liking the glare which Gelde were giving them.

"I bet they want to eat us! The other one left to get the others!" A pony fear mongered, causing several of the children to squeak in fear.

"Hang on... Then why did they free us?" A sceptical pony asked, which made the children calm down, as the logic made sense.

"Don't you see? That's what they want us to think! What other reasons are there to save us then treat us like livestock!" the mongerer affirmed, which made the children shrink again. "Come on Jaco! Back me up here!"

Jaco however, did not answer, still depressed by what he had done during the fight. "I led them to their death... Jaco thought, remembering the faces which he would never see again due to his overconfidence.

"Jaco? You alright there bud?" The mongerer asked, placing a hoof on Jacos' fallen form.

"... I failed them..." Jaco muttered, "I killed them..." Jaco raised his head to meet the mongerers', "How can I ever forgive myself Forest?" He asked Forest Fire, one of his closest friend.

"Jaco... Buddy, you didn't fail them... Our ponies just ran away!.. This wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for those damn unicorns and pegasus! This ain't your fault!" Forest assured Jaco, jolting him lightly.

"But... I told them to fight back..." Jaco held himself down by grabbing Forests' hooves and stopping them.

"Do you think they would just imprison all of us if we didn't fight? No. They imprisoned us because they saw how we could fight! They knew it wasn't worth it. You showed that it wasn't worth fighting. You saved lives, Jaco!" Forest explained. The logic behind his argument invalid, but hoping it would stick.

"That makes no sense..." A pony said from behind, which got many nods and murmurs from the ponies around him.

"They're right. I failed everypony. I should just leave and never come back..." Jaco shut his eyes and began to rise to walk away, but was stopped by a foreign hoof.

"By the way y'all fought, we would've won if we stuck behind Jaco," The blocking pony said.

"Yeah! Don't blame yourself, Jaco! We're the ones to blame!" Another pony concurred.

"We shouldn't have run!" Another pony agreed.

"We could've fought!" Several ponies added. Several murmurs of missed victory circulated throughout the gathered ponies, them citing that they should've stuck with Jaco and fought against the zebras.

"But they had the vials remember? We stood no chance." A pony suddenly announced, breaking the conversations around him. "Sure, they might not have enough to knock all of us out, but they sure had enough to incapacitate our toughest fighters." He appealed. Jaco immediately recognised the pony as Fast Tail, who had been the first to run as the zebras approached, which prompted the rest to follow.

"You! You were the first to run away!" Forest accused first, cutting Jaco off before he said anything.

"Yes, but we had no choice! They had better weapons and the battles were a slaughter! Imagine if they used the vials and approached us with their weapons! You and Jaco would've died if you didn't surrender!" Fast defended himself, smirking to himself when the ponies around him began agreeing with him.

"You ponies talking about the gas?" Gelde suddenly chimed in from above, his head sticking out of the cloud which was now looming over everypony.

"Agh-! How are you so silent?!" Fast jumped in surprise and looked wide-eyed at the upside-down griffon.

"Torturous training. Anyways, the vials were fake." Gelde stated boredly. "It shattered and didn't even knock out the zebras hanging by a thread."

"Hah!" Forest shouted, "See?! We could've won!"

"...You're expecting us to believe this griffon, even after you accused them of conspiring to eat us?" Fast shrewdly remarked, making the griffon raise a brow in annoyance and Forest shrink in fear.

"Hang on... I got something!" Gelde said, reaching something in his pouch whilst still having his head popping out of the cloud. "Got it!" Gelde then presented a green vial, an identical one which he found from the leaders' pouch. Luckily it hadn't shattered like the rest after the shell blew off his torso, alongside most of his pouch.

"Is that..?" Jaco asked, immediately recognising the vial which the zebra leader used to threaten them.

"Yup! Straight from his pouch! Wanna smell?" Gelde maniacally smiled and threw the vial onto the ground, which created a cloud of green smoke that enveloped Everypony. "See? Nothing!" Gelde assured, but grew concerned as the ponies began to run around panicking about being 'gassed'.

"AHHHH!- wait a minute! We're fine!" The running ponies stopped and inspected themselves, and the gas. They took a deep breath and exhaled, and realised that it did not affect them. "WE GOT TRICKED!" They all shouted angrily, mad at the zebras for using such despicable tactics.

"Well... My point still stands... They had iron weapons for crying out loud!" Fast attempted to persuade the crowd but had smaller success.

"They were BAD iron weapons Fast! We could've won if we fought!" Forest concluded, many ponies agreeing with his evaluation. The surrounding ponies then began cheering Jaco for his bravery and apologising for their cowardice, which reinvigorated him.

"Thank you everypony! And I forgive you all!" Jaco replied with tears, them all getting into a giant group hug, only excluding Fast who was promptly thrown aside from the crowd.

Gelde lied back down on his cloud, happy that he could help correct their mistakes. "After all, cowardice shouldn't be rewarded, instead bravery reverred! Those kids need to be taught that!" Gelde thought, mildly annoyed that he was now copying what a textbook said during school.

Then suddenly, sounds of trees cracking and falling were heard in the distance, which stopped the group hug from continuing, and they began to panic from the noise until they could hear weird sounds accompanying it. At first, they thought it was a manticore, rushing towards their position, mowing down any trees on their way, until they heard bizarre clinking and clicking noises getting louder as they approached. They all looked towards the griffon for explanations, but he was simply smirking.

"Finally! They're here!" Gelde rose and stretched on his cloud, trying not to think how painful it would be to organise the displaced ponies.

The tank emerged from the dense trees and emerged on the side of the road. It climbed a slight incline to get onto the road, trampling the brittle wagons on its way into an explosion of wood and splinters.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Forest shouted, pointing a good at the steel behemoth.

"Magnificent isn't it?" Gelde said dreamily, as he flew next to Forest and placed a claw around his shoulder as if to pitch the tank to him.

"It's... Beautiful..." Copper muttered as the painting on the tank seemed lifelike; it bringing back the triumphant memories of defeating the windigos.

"We're here!" Nina appeared from the hatch, looking around at the gathered and amazed ponies. "Great crowd." She muttered.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" Suddenly, Green and Little appeared beside Nina, squeezing themselves out the hatch to talk to the gathered ponies, which made them all slacked-jawed in surprise. They were harbouring two fillies! They all thought, as the information sinking in made them drop their jaws to the ground. Literally.

"How're you all doing that?" Nina asked concerned, as she feared she might've dislocated all the ponies' jaws due to shock.

"GREEN! LITTLE!" Graze and Opal suddenly woke up from hearing their fillies' voices and jumped up to their feet to look around wildly to locate the sound.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" Little joyfully cried out, lunging into the air to run towards them, but being held by Green to prevent her fall. However, her legs still frailed in the air erratically as Green held her high.

Opal and Graze ran up to their fillies, stopping mid-way next to the tank as Nina safely carried both Green and Little towards their parents. They all hugged with tears rolling down their cheeks, the parents combing their mane with their hooves and the fillies tightening their grasps.

"Awww..." The crew cooed, who at this point had exited the tank except for Albert, who was still asleep, which meant Harold had to drive. Even though he was trained to be the reserve driver, he did not have the experience Albert had, and so had hit several trees in the way, scratching some of the paint off the tank in the process.

"Y-you saved those fillies?" Copper asked, disbelief in his voice, as he could not believe that a griffon could be generous.

"Actually, that was our entire mission." Nina corrected, which made the ponies around them sink their jaws deeper into the ground.

"YOU RISKED YOUR LIVES TO SAVE A PONY?!" Several ponies shouted in disbelief, "GRIFFONS SAVING PONIES?! WHAT'S NEXT?! A DAMN METEORITE?!" They all mentally screamed as everything they knew about griffons was being dismantled before their eyes.

"We would risk our lives saving anyones' lives, after all, we're soldiers," Harold stated, puffing out his chest in pride. "Also, it's two ponies."

"What did you do to the zebras?" Forest asked, recovering from his shock.

"We killed them. Like good soldiers." Gelde flew down and joined Jill, standing beside her with his gun displayed.

"What are the things you're holding called?" Jaco asked, guessing it was the ones that killed the two zebras earlier. "You were able to kill the zebras quickly with it."

"Ah, these," Gelde held his gun up high, for all the ponies to see. They all 'ooooo'ed' like children upon seeing its slick design. "These bad boys are called sub-machine guns! This particular one being the mp-40!" Gelde inspected his gun, showing every angle of the gun to the ponies in the process.

"The what-in the what-what-in the what now?" Jaco asked confusedly, also not knowing what 'bad boy' meant.

Gelde rolled his eyes, "All you ponies need to know is it can kill stuff." He explained. "Like this!” Gelde shot at a dying branch on a tree, which he quickly located with his superior eyes. It cracked and fell, demonstrating the guns' power.

"..." The ponies were again in silence. Not sure how to react. They felt like cave ponies or ferals compared to these griffons, especially with their clean attire and superior technology, as for once they felt like the barbarians.

"Anyways... Is there any other village we can escort you all to? We promised to return Green and Little in safety, but this place isn't giving me any hopes." Nina said, looking around and seeing nothing.

"No... There is none. This is the only village in this area, for how remote this place is." Copper explained, shaking his head in defeat.

"Can't you just start again?" Gelde suggested, which made all the ponies around him shake their heads.

"They know we're here. It's too dangerous to stay." Copper denied, not wanting to risk any more deaths.

"Then just move somewhere else?" Gelde suggested once more but was met with the same gesture.

"We have already tried, but a villages' a village, you can't hide something that big with a blanket." Copper denied once more, sinking further into the ground due to his memories of what had happened during travel.

"Well? Is there anywhere you can go? Anywhere prosperous?" Nina asked, which made everypony think.

"Equestria..." Jaco muttered, which made everypony, including Forest to look at him as if he was mad.

"EQUESTRIA?! ARE YOU MAD?! THEY WILL KILL US!" A few former serfs called out.

"THEY WILL ENSLAVE US!" A few farmers spoke out.

"No. We will fight." Jaco stood up, head held up high to attract attention. He then began to climb on top of the tank to get a better platform to speak.

"FIGHT?! ARE YOU MAD?! THEY HAVE AN ARMY!" Fast furiously slammed, thinking Jaco has become insane.

"We have these griffons and we have the hearts and minds of the earth ponies." Jaco continued, "Would you help us find Little and Green a safe home griffons?" Jaco questioned, slightly hurt that he was effectively guilt-tripping their saviours into helping them more.

The crew shrugged, and replied, "An oaths' an oath I suppose. I guess we will help you then."

"...Wait... Just like that?" Forest asked in bewilderment, as the griffons were figuratively signing their death warrant. "What do you want from us in return?"

"Maybe a thank-you and a heart-warming goodbye after we're done." Nina joked but had a serious expression.

"But... You will be killed! What of your families?!" Fast interjected, extremely bewildered by the griffons' reply.

Nina looked at Fast boredly. Jill simply leaned closer to Gelde, which made him lean as well. Harold seemed to be the only one worried about their family.

"They wouldn't care," Nina said,

"They're dead to me," Jill said,

"My parents would be proud." Gelde puffed,

"They would be worried..." Harold said, thinking of how his parents would react to his missing. "But I know they would understand." He finished.

"You must want something! If not from us, from the unicorns! Or the Pegasus!" Fast rambled, trying to discover the griffons' motives.

"Why? How much do the unicorns and pegasus have?" Gelde asked, the prospects of loot intriguing him.

"The unicorns and pegasus have mountains of gems and gold." Forest explained, "All from the backs of us earth ponies as well..." Forest growled.

"Gold you say..?" Gelde began to imagine a vault of gold, "Sweet... Sweet... Shiny gold!" He brooded until he was cut off by a bonk from Jill.

"Don't get greedy." Jill scolded, Gelde pouting in response.

"Yes... And we will be willing to give you the gold if you assist us..." Forest weakly proposed as they would need the gold themselves to rebuild.

"...and what? Put it in our cramped tank? Pshhh... No thanks." Nina dismissed, which made the ponies raise their brows immensely.

"..." Forest stood frozen, wide-mouthed but quickly shut it to respond, "I see... So you don't want anything?"

The crew gathered up in a circle to discuss what they wanted, as it seemed that the ponies wouldn't be at peace until they knew what their goals were. Nina first proposed to take some relics or tokens, but the group disagreed due to uselessness. Geldes' idea of taking 'some' gold was shot down. Jill wanted to bring back paintings and artworks, but they deemed them too big to fit in the tank. So they chose Harolds' idea, which was to get their books, so they could learn more about the wider Equis continent.

"Alright, we've decided what we want." Nina turned around to face Forest, who and every other pony were worrying about what the griffons wanted.

"Which is..?" Forest hesitantly asked, regretting himself for pushing the issue.

"Books." Nina relayed, claws held together as if in an interview.

"...books?" Forest repeated, not sure if he was hearing it right.

"Books. Lots of them." Nina confirmed.

The ponies all looked at each other in confusion, "Books? The one's we can't even read? By all means!" They all thought.

"You got yourself a deal griffons." Forest nodded, sighing internally in relief.

Nina flew in front of Forest and raised a claw at him, which made Forest stare at it in confusion. "Oh! Sorry!" Nina retracted her claw, "That was supposed to be a claw-shake, a gesture to accept a deal." Nina explained, which cleared up Forests' confusion. Nina then tried again, raising a claw. Forest follows up with his hoof.

"Ewww... There's dirt all over his hoof..." Nina cringed but held the ponys' hoof firmly. The ponies around saw the gesture, which made some of the fillies emulate the gesture with themselves.

"Then it's decided then! Everypony! Onwards to Equestria!" Jaco rallied, which made all the ponies jump in triumph, but instead of cheering, they shouted 'yay' which made the griffons cringe due to their childishness.

The ponies began to March down the dirt path, carrying any too injured to walk on wagons with incredible speed and organisation. Their speed and number caused a massive amount of dirt to kick upwards, which blinded the griffons behind them and left them coughing uncontrollably.

"Damn! They're fast!" Gelde said impressed, wiping the dirt from his eyes.

"Then what are we doing?! Let's roll!" Nina ordered, landing near the hatch and gesturing her crew to follow. They quickly dived in and manned their station, moving the tank forward.

Albert was still asleep.

Equestria is an illiterate place...

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"...and they destroyed the diamond dogs!" Little happily narrated, Opal and Graze listening intently.

"That's nice dear. But it's so nice to have you two back." Opal said, ruffling Littles' mane.

"We were so close to giving up hope... I'm glad we hadn't." Graze said emotionally, setting his hoof over Greens' shoulder.

"Thanks, dad..." Green replied slowly. "But what happened while we were gone?"

Opal and Graze closed their eyes sorrowly, trying to block the memories of their suffering. "...We tried to find you both for a day... We went nowhere..." Graze started,

"We had to move on... It was so hard to... But we had to survive... Please forgive us..." Opal muttered quietly.

Little and Green hugged them in response, calming them. "It's alright mom... We understand." Green assured, tightening his grip.

"It worked out in the end anyway, right?" Little loosened and looked up at her parents with an infectious smile.

"Aye... I guess it did." Graze hugged Little once more, running his hoof along his daughter's mane.

"Awww... How precious..." Albert chimed in, his head protruding from the divers' flap.

"Shhh! You're ruining their moment!" Nina scolded, her hatch lowered down to her head as if to be stealthy.

"Pffftt! Why would I care?! They're the reasons why I'm still here!" Albert complained, crossing his arms in the tank, whilst pouting outside.

"Don't be a dick just 'cause you don't have your coffee, Albert," Harold said, annoyed at Alberts' constant whining.

"I could've gotten my coffee if we didn't detour and help these ponies!" Albert accused the ponies, which made some around the tank shrink in embarrassment.

"Albert, if you don't shut up now coffee is going to be the least of your problem." Jill threatened, cracking a knuckle.

"Bring it on!" Albert replied undeterred, raising his claws to 'duke em' up, his head still popped outside the tank.

Jill simply approached the frailing griffon and jabbed the butt of her rifle in his ribs, making him exhale painfully outside and swerve the tank slightly.

"Do we really not have any stimulants?! I'm afraid this crazy griff is going to kill us all at this point!" Nina complained, bracing herself on the hatch as the tank shook.

"Stimulants?" A pony replied at the back, "Does somepony need any?" It quickly approached the tank and stopped following its pace.

"Wait... You ponies have stimulants?!" Nina enthusiastically asked, leaning dangerously close to the close pony.

"Uh... Yes... I got something right here," the pony reached into his pouch and pulled out a roll of leaves, covering a pink paste in the middle. "Pegasus use these to stay awake during watch duty, whilst the unicorns use them to stay awake to study.” the pony shook the joint in Ninas' face, showing every angle. "We rarely use them, so we primarily sell them. But I thought we should pack some because we might match during the night." The pony justified, grabbing several more from the pouch.

"How much do you want for them?" Nina asked, thinking she could trade food for some.

"For you griffons it's free, see this as our repayment." The pony smiled, gesturing to Nina to take them.

Nina grabbed one of the joints and inspected it carefully. "How effective is this?" She asked, grabbing a matchbox from her pockets.

"I don't know if it will even work on griffons, but it's able to keep a minotaur awake for 4 days without complications." The pony explained, "But your food intake will triple during its effect." The pony warned as Nina lit a match.

"Looks like a cigar..." Nina observed, and lit the joint and held it on her mouth, "Hopefully this won't kill me..." Nina thought, as the joint began to light. Albert meanwhile watched intently, ensuring that the joint wasn't harmful by watching Nina take it.

Nina breathed in deeply, not letting any of the pink smoke escape her lungs. Meanwhile, the pony watched worryingly, not sure if he had just doomed his fellow ponys' fate by killing their ally.

Nina coughed and exhaled the pink fume, puffs of pink escaping her nose and beak from every cough. "*cough* it's different... But at least it feels clean..." She flicked the scorching bud off, her chest quickly relaxing from the fume.

"Feel any different?" Albert asked expectantly,
"How do you feel?" The pony asked as well.

"Nothing yet- I don't think it works on griffffffffffffiii- HOLY SHIT!" Nina began boredly but then was immediately bombarded with sensations of euphoria and happiness. She felt like she could break the sound barrier and beyond, as she began to shake violently on top of the tank with glee. "EEEEEEEEEEE-!"

"See kids? This is why you don't take drugs." A pony mother told her filly, who nodded in worry.

"Your eyes are rainbows!" Albert shouted, pointing at Nina, but hitting his claws on the interior of the tank instead, as he still only had his head popping out. "Ouch!.. Is it any good?"

"YEEEESSSSS!" Nina sputtered, her wings suddenly beating wildly, which made her shoot up into the air.

"..." Albert watched as Nina quickly ascended into the skies, and quickly focused on the ponys' pouch, which made him squeak in surprise. "I'll take your entire stock!" Albert demanded, retreating from the flap to allow his claws to reach out and snatch the ponys' pouch. He then dumped the entire supply into his bag and threw the pouch back at the ponys' face, knocking him slightly backwards.

"Uh... You're welcome?" The pony replied hesitantly, slowing down to evaporate back into the group.

Albert immediately lit a joint, exhaling its fumes outside the tank through the flaps, where he saw Nina flying erratically in the air.

"Smoking those things are harmful y'know, especially ones' from an unknown source," Harold warned, which was quickly dismissed by Albert.

"Holy shit... This is fucking GOOD!" Albert cheered, his eyes visibly turning into a rainbow spiral and his expressions lightening. "Mmmmm..." Albert finally felt awake again, and he resisted the urge to fly aimlessly like Nina, as he was experienced in dealing with extreme stimulation.

"That's unhealthy..." Gelde stated, disgusted at Alberts' abuse of his own body.

"It isn't though!" A pony interjected, "It helps with healing, and many alchemists use them for cures!"

"See? Nothing to fear!" Albert laughed out, "I can literally feel my lungs clearing out!" He joked, but he could feel them lightening, some of the pain in his legs disappearing as well. "Try some!" Albert then passed them all a joint, which they eyes carefully, then lit. Albert rolled his eyes when Jill and Gelde shared the fire by kissing their joints together.

At first, they all stared at the ground waiting for its effects, until it finally hit them. "EEEEEEEEEEE-!"
They all screeched, as they began violently shaking in their seats.

The crew had finally calmed down after they had devoured an entire days' worth of food in mere minutes. But their high still hadn't died down, which annoyed everyone except Albert.

"How long does this even last for?!" Jill complained, as her senses were heightened to the point of disturbance.

"4 days from what I heard," Nina replied, now being able to scan the entire surrounding in 2 seconds.

"This is creepy..." Gelde said as he was dissembling and reassembling his gun in 30 seconds, despite having to do it in specific order to not be blown up.

"I concur," Harold said as he could now flip through his books with incredible speeds. "If our college students have these, tests are going to become a joke..."

"This might be the best knocked-unconscious-but-still-winning-moment in the world..." Albert giggled out, bouncing slightly in his seat.

"Hey, griffons? You there?" A filly asked, accompanied by a group behind him.

"Hmm?" Nina turned and raided herself to look at the gathered fillies, "yes we are here, do you want anything?" Nina asked.

"Umm... Could we..? See your tank?" The filly asked shyly, nearly stumbling on his hooves.

"You're already looking at it squirt." Nina cheekily replied, pointing at the tank.

"I mean go inside..." The filly corrected, bracing his stance.

"Sorry squirt... But it's a secret." Nina sadly replied, shrugging to convey her helplessness.

"But, Green and Little were allowed!" The fillies whined, visibly shrinking.

"Yes, because they had to be kept safe," Nina explained, which did not please the fillies.

"But we are in danger!" A filly complained,

"Danger of what? Not knowing what's inside?" Nina slapped the side of the tank.

"It's unfair!" Another said,

"As life is." Nina solemnly replied, shutting her eyes wisely.

The fillies all looked down in disappointment and whined, "We will never get our cutie marks..." they muttered, which raised Ninas' brow.

"Is that the reason? To get your cutie marks?" Nina asked, bewildered by their motives.

"Well... Yes, they told us that they got their cutie marks painting your 'tank'... So we thought we could find ours in the same place..." A filly revealed, which made the others nod in agreement.

"I'm sure you will find them through other ways," Nina assured, but the filled shook their heads.

"We tried every other way available though..." The fillies muttered,

"Well if all things fail, just wait for it?" Nina suggested,

"But we want it now!" The fillies whined, "If we don't find our cutie marks before 18, we will never get one!"

Nina looked around and saw no other ponies having cutie marks, and refocused on the fillies, "Why do you even want one though? No other adults have one." Nina shrugged indifferently.

The fillies looked at each other and looked back at Nina with similar thoughts. "It shows our destiny... What's the point without one?" A filly said.

Nina looked at the fillies with shock due to their surprising maturity and depressing topic. "Why would you want something to control your destiny?" Nina confusedly asked, "We don't have cutie marks, and we feel completely fulfilled."

"Maybe for griffons! But not for us!" The fillies whined. "We want to help. We want to do something. And without a talent... What can we do..?"

Nina was stumped at their analysis, as it mirrored their society, as griffons without talents were forced into menial or physical jobs, but they were never branded as such by a lack of a 'cutie mark'. But most griffons were able to find their talents, and do their jobs without announcing it with a cutie mark, but at the same time, they showed by what they wore, which made Nina think. "These ponies see their cutie marks like how we see our status..." Nina thought, feeling sympathy for the fillies.

"I understand fillies, but I'm afraid I still can't let you in..." Nina said with a frown, which made the fillies nod in disappointment.

"Nice rejection Nina! I would've just shooed them off, but destroying their will is also fun!" Albert cynically cheered, which made Harold bonk his head.

"Alright ponies! We will stop here for tonight! So find somewhere to shelter!" Copper announced, prompting the ponies to begin to scatter to collect kindling for fires and leaves to lie down on to sleep. Copper then turned to face Jaco and Forest who were approaching him.

"How goes the foragers we sent ahead to scavenge?" Copper asked them, causing them to lower their heads in shame.

"Many had turned back due to the hostile critters, whilst the rest could only find some poison berries..." Jaco relayed, causing the elder to frown and scrunch.

"... Are anypony in threat of starvation?" Copper hesitantly asked,

Jaco looked away in distress, whilst Forest stepped forward to answer, "Some are wounded and they haven't eaten for weeks... Based on their bare frames... They don't have much longer to live." He regrettably stated.

Copper cringed at the news, regretting not starving himself to save at least one of the starving ponies. He sighed deeply.

"Hello? Are you the elder?" Harold suddenly appeared between them, jumping all three of the ponies. "Oh! Sorry, did I startle you?" Harold stepped backwards.

"It's alright... But yes, I'm the elder of these ponies..." Copper told Harold,

"Perfect! Because I was going to ask if you have a problem feeding your pe- ponies." Harold said, whilst gesturing towards the starving ponies on wagons, "...because it seems like you need help."

"Will you be able to help?" Jaco hopefully asked, his mood lightened by the proposition.

"Well yes... But actually no." Harold scratched his head, "You see... There aren't many edible vegetations in the area, which means we can't help you forage any..." Harold led,

"Yes? And?" Jaco desperately asked,

"Well... Remember when one of us said Green and Little ate meat?" Harold implied, which made the three ponies raise their brows in realisation.

"You-... You want us to eat meat?!" Forest shouted as they did not wish to stoop that low.

"Of course not sentient! That would be cruel!" Harold went on damage control, as he distinctly remembered encountered wildlife during their trip that could speak... Somehow...

This achieved its purpose, as the three ponies visibly calmed down. But then began to think again, "Then what sort of meat are you offering?" Copper asked, still disturbed at referring to meat as if it was food.

"Can you ponies eat fish?" Harold asked,

"Fish? You mean there's a river nearby?" Jaco asked surprised, as their foragers had not reported sighting a river anywhere.

"Yup! But there's a ton of wolves strangely made up of wood on the way." Harold replied as he had seen them growling at him whilst flying over them.

"Timberwolves..." Copper muttered,

"Timberwolves? Is that what's it called?" Harold scoffed, "That's the most uninspired name ever..."

"Even if we get to the river, we got nothing to catch fishes with! Our nets that we got from the zebras have holes too big to catch anything properly." Forest explained as he pulled a ruined net out of nowhere.

"Trust me, you will only need to worry about eating the fish. We will do it all for you." Harold explained, which made the ponies shrink in embarrassment, ad they were relying more on the griffons. "But is there any specific way to kill these 'timberwolves’? Or do they die like fleshed individuals?"

"They will reform if you break them, so you can only kill them with fire." Jaco immediately replied, trying to redeem at least some of their pride.

"Then gather as many wagons as you can and meet us at the east, we will join you there," Harold ordered and flew away, prompting the three to follow the griffon's orders. Thoughts against eating meat secondary, as they had a clear objective to fulfil.

"...what are you wearing?" Jaco asked Albert, who was practically giggling being able to use the flamethrower.

"A gasmask to stop the smoke," Albert answered, guessing the next question and answering accordingly.

"What are you holding?" Forest asked, pointing at the steel rod which Albert was holding, which connected to two tanks on his back.

"It's a flamethrower, so stop asking questions before I turn you into soup," Albert warned by flickering the fire on the end of the barrel.

The two ponies looked away and refocused forward, slowing themselves down to retreat to the back. Of all the griffons, they feared Albert the most, as they thought he was a narcissist and psychopath and was glad that his crew thought of him the same way.

"Come out... Come out... Wherever you are~" Albert leered, as he pointed at every bush he saw.

"Albert... We aren't trying to lure them here, else they snatch a pony away." Harold said, which made the ponies shiver with sudden paranoia. "Not that they would..." Harold retracted.

They continued marching, the griffons hovering over them scouting the surroundings. Soon, they reached the river without any complications.

"Alright ponies, get ready to collect!" Gelde flew down and dropped a bag, retrieving a bundle of grenades wrapped up to destroy tanks, but for this case dynamite fishing.

The ponies glared at the mysterious bundle of sticks wearily, as Gelde began to unscrew the grenade's caps one by one, revealing several small strings which he gathered into one large string.

"Give me that!" Albert greedily snatched Geldes' grenade, which nearly ignited the last grenade, but Gelde lunged at the last second to loosen the string. "Oops... Sorry," Albert chucked, as Gelde glared at him.

Albert then flew over the river, hovering in the centre of it and pulling the strings. After they had all clicked, he dropped it and quickly dived down back towards the ponies to not be splattered by the explosion.

"You might want to shut your ears," Nina told the ponies, who were staring at where the grenades had dropped on the river. They quickly broke their gaze and covered their ears with their hooves, unsure as to why, but doing it nevertheless.

A giant explosion rang out, making the ponies stumble slightly due to the vibrations, and ears split due to the noise, despite them covering it. Water and fish were thrown to great heights and plummeted just as quickly onto the ground, some hitting the wide-eyed ponies in their open mouths and eyes. As the last airborne water droplets hit the ground, several dead fish surfaced on the river, already beginning to be pulled downstream due to the currents.

"Head's up!" Albert shouted as he chucked a dead fish onto Forests' face, breaking his shock.

"-Argh! What the?!" Forest recoiled, stumbling backwards and spitting several bits of fish that had entered his mouth.

"Put them on the wagons!" Albert shouted, throwing several more fish directly onto Forests' face, causing them to pile on his head.

Forest shivered as the cold fish slithered down his snout and to the ground, which he quickly caught with his hooves, and deposited on the wagon. "-Alright, what next-" Forest was then bombarded with an ungodly amount of fishes, which knocked him back until the final one hit his head, which caused him to cartoonishly flip and crash onto the ground.

"MORE FISH!" Albert continued to throw the fishes onto Forest, burrowing him in slimy goodness, as Albert hovered above the river, picking up any fish that surfaced and throwing the decapitated carcass into the pile. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Harold threw a fish into the cackling griffons' face, but Albert simply turned and snapped the fish in his beak and spewed it out. "You're forgetting we are all high." Albert deadpanned, continually hurling fish at the downed pony.

Jaco quickly began digging Forest out of the pile, flinging the fishes on his wagon while doing so. He stopped when he finally reached a hoof. "Forest! You okay in there?!" Jaco held onto his friends' hoof, which was now slimy and cold.

"W-wet... Cold... S-so cold..." Forest stuttered, his voice being muffled by the mountain of fish, some even going into his mouth during his talk.

"Hang in there! I'm getting you out!" Jaco sped up, clearing the pile until Forests' barrel was visible. "Nearly there!" Jaco continued, not knowing the shadow that was now looming over him.

"FISH JENGA!" Albert exclaimed, pulling out a fish from the pile which caused it to collapse on the two ponies.

"NOOOOO!" Jaco retracted, holding his hoof out to block the incoming wave of fish. Albert simply laughed as the ponys' screams were muffled by the fish.

"I can still smell it..." Jaco complained, the stink of the fish still lingering on their fur.

"I'm going to kill that griffon..." Forest growled. The ponies around distancing themselves with the two ponies.

"I'm sorry? What was that?" Albert leaned between the two, his gasmask still on. "Ewww... You two still stink!" Albert leaned back, cringing at the smell.

"Yeah. Thanks." Jaco growled, barely restraining himself from throwing a fish at Albert.

"Awww... Cheer up! We're nearly back at camp!" Albert tried to nudge Jacos' barrel, but immediately backed up once realising its filthiness.

"Nopony is going to eat these..." Forest sighed, "The smell is already intoxicating."

"We just have to fry and spice them." Harold approached with his gas mask fastened, but still cringing inside due to the smell.

"That's not the biggest problem," Jaco complained, "...It's taboo for our ponies to eat meat... Even if we are starving." Jaco shook, remembering some ponies who were desperate enough to eat meat, resulting in their exile.

"Isn't that only for intelligent meat? Fish isn't intelligent though." Harold justified, which made Jaco and Forest shake their heads slowly.

"We still don't... Our bodies are suited for meat anyway." Forest tried to dismiss the issue, but Harold continued to press it.

"Green and Little ate fish, and they were fine. They even said it tasted good!" Harold argued,

"We aren't all fillies." Jaco muttered, "Most of us have been taught our entire lives to not eat meat."

Harold hesitated. He knew how much traditions and taboos could influence people, as the griffons had murdered any cannibals during the warlord era. He determined that the ponies saw cannibals and carnivores the same, which made him think about a solution.

"I'm starving, and even I wouldn't eat the fish," Forest affirmed, "I can't speak for everypony, but they would probably agree with me."

"...What if it wasn't meat?" Harold began to formulate an idea,

"Seriously..?" Forest faced Harold as if the Griffin was braindead. "Of course we would eat it!"

"You have been told to not eat meat correct?" Harold asked,

"Yes?" Forest raised a brow.

"...because it would be cruel and immoral?" Harold led on,

"Aye, it's been drilled in our mind." Forest nodded.

"Cruel because they can talk?" Harold grinned, which was hidden by his mask.

"Y-," Forest stopped and faced the griffon with a glare. "We will never eat meat." He dug his metaphoric hoof into the ground.

"Good, then we agree." Harold nodded, which made Forest tilt in confusement.

"But we won't eat the meat!" Forest asked in confusion.

"Exactly! You won't be eating meat!" Harold smiled under his mask.

"But... We have nothing green!" Forests' head began to hurt,

"Yes we do, we have these!" Harold grabbed a fish, "Presenting! Sea greens!" Harold nearly face-clawed for creating such an uninspired name.

"THAT'S MEAT!" Forest angrily growled,

"Oh yeah? What meat cannot talk?" Harold countered,

"Bu- ho- wha-?!" Forest desperately tried to find his words but gave up and violently shook his head, "It still can die! It can breathe!" Forest reasoned,

"So can plants." Harold shrugged,

"They can't breath!" Forest deliberated,

"They can," Harold grinned, "Their leaves 'breathe' in the air you exhale and breath out the air you inhale," Harold explained,

"Lies!" Forest stubbornly ignored,

"Oh really? Have you ever seen plants grow without air?" Harold crossed his arms,

Forest stopped to think, "The plants in the sea!" He figured.

"The plants breathe the air in the water." Harold explained, "How do you think fish breathe?" He smiled.

"That still doesn't prove anything!" Forest argued, "Everypony knows plants grow from water and sun!" He concluded.

"And they grow breathing air like every living thing." Harold wisely remarked, "Everything that lives, breathes pony." He finished, happy in his success, as Forest and the ponies around them began to think about his evaluation.

"But... They can eat." A random pony stated.

"So can plants, eating water and the suns' rays," Harold answered,

"Their eyes can see and move.” another pony said.

"As much as the roots can see and move towards the water," Harold replied,

"Fish can reproduce." A pony muttered,

"Trees sprout seeds which can grow into a sapling," Harold finished. The ponies around him nodded at the newly introduced information.

They never had the luxury nor time to discuss such topics, but their idleness during their travel back to camp had given them time to think. Especially with the injection of an intellectual in their discussion, their thinking had accelerated past their era.

"Does this mean... We can eat fish?" Forest hesitated,

"Yep, it won't even be wrong!" Harold confirmed, lightening everypony's mood. "Emperor Bismarck was right! It's super easy convincing illiterate barbarians!" Harold thought, remembering a quote from his beloved Emperor.

Suddenly, all the griffons except Harold (who was already on the ground) dived to the ground, surrounding the ponies and wagons and facing towards the bushes around them.

"What's going on?" Harold asked the battle-ready griffons, who all wore serious expressions, except Albert who was grinning madly.

"Timberwolves." Jill pointed at a normal bush, which violently shook and revealed two timberwolves growling and slowly approaching.

"They must've smelled our stench!" Jaco realised, retreating slowly backwards as their wagons weighted them down too much to fight.

Nina realised the ponies panicking, so quickly tried to calm them down, "Calm down everypony! Just stay behind us!" The ponies heeded and tightened their formation within the griffons' protection. "Male sure t-,"

"-HAHAHA BURN! BABY BURN!" Albert cackled maniacally, as he sprayed the surrounding bushes with jets of fires, turning the timberwolves into ash and goo instantaneously. He then turned the barrel on the entire area, forcing the ponies and griffons to duck to avoid the jets of flames, its heat radiating to their heads.

"LEAVE A GAP, YOU MORON! WE NEED A PLACE TO ESCAPE!" Gelde screamed out but was drowned out by Alberts' cackling.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! THE FIRE KNOWS THE TRUE MASTER! ME! I SHALL BRING JUDGEMENT TO THESE KI-" The flames suddenly stopped, causing Albert to shut his beak.

Harold held the pipe which fed the hose fuel, stopping the flames by shutting the valve. "You had enough fun, it's time to move." Harold deadpanned.

Albert leaned on Harolds' face, his eyes bloodshot in anger, and his expressions darkened. His beak twitched with murderous intent and his eyes glared deep into Harolds' own, down to his soul. "YO-"

Harold slapped Albert, causing him to whimper. "Let's go." He confirmed as the smoke and fire around him was beginning to rage uncontrollably.

"Fucking pyromaniac..." The griffons muttered, which made Albert whimper more. The ponies simply shrugged, glad that they were safe.

The Jacobins has risen up in the following states:

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The ponies in the camp had to be reconvinced by Harold, as the other griffons weren't shrewd enough to convince them themselves. However, they were able to feed all the ponies, the protein helping with their recovery.

Harolds' message had become an instant hit for the ponies, as they continuously talked about it to kill the time. They discussed what other meat they could eat if fish could be eaten without consequence. The griffons simply hummed at this.

"We're near!" Copper announced, which caused Nina to jump up from her hatch.

Nina had been dozing off, ever since the effects of the joint wore off, and the high had disappeared, causing her to feel tired compared to her previous condition.

"Near where elder?" Nina asked, her head lowering back down.

"Our old village... Where the tyrannical Unicron and Pegasus lies..." Copper growled, bad memories resurfacing.

"Looks deserted..." Nina observed the village, seeing no viable movement.

"Wow! I wouldn't have known!" Albert chimed in, "It's not like they left or anything!" He chuckled but stopped when Harold bonked him.

"What have they done?" Jaco tore out, as their homes and fields were annihilated beyond recognition.

"Those bastards!" Forest shouted,

"Look at how they massacred my village..." Copper emotionally muttered, his face scrunched up.

As they arrived at the centre of the village, they saw several aged bodies of villagers that had decided to stay, murdered by their angry overlords for not stopping the majority of the villagers from leaving. The ponies all weekend recognising relatives, whilst the griffons removed their hats in respect.

"If only we had stayed..." Copper muttered through tears but was grabbed behind by Jaco.

"It is not our fault elder," Jaco assured, "The blood of our kins are on the Unicorns and Pegasus hooves." He growled.

"They had the guts to attack the innocents!" Forest angrily shouted,

"They always have attacked and stolen from the innocent!" A pony agreed,

"We can't let them slaughter us!" A pony announced,

"Aye! We will no longer stay quiet! Those who oppressed us will pay! We shall revolt!" Jaco rallied, causing cheers to ring out among the ponies.

"But the only pegasus are capable of revolts! How are we supposed to fight without wings?!" Fast opposed, barely audible through the cheering.

"We shall use our strength! No longer will the pegasus monopolise rebellions! The earth ponies also have four hooves!" Jaco rallied once more, the cheer growing louder.

"Rebel!" The ponies cheered,

"We shall clip their wings! We shall snap their horns! We shall free our fellow earth ponies!" Forest shouted,

"Free our brethren!" The ponies hurrahed.

"We..." Copper started, which caused the cheering ponies to fall silent to listen. "...Will not punish the innocents needlessly... Lest it will make us as bad as them..." The ponies nodded with each other, calming themselves down. "But." Copper began again, "The unicorns and pegasus have shown us nothing but brutal oppression."
The ponies kept on nodding. "They have shown that they will kill innocents." Copper gestured at the dead ponies, their rotting body reminding the ponies of the injustice. "They stole our food until we starved, their own ponies did nothing to stop us from dying..." Copper clenched his teeth madly. The ponies began to stump the ground loudly, their expressions screaming anger. "WE WILL SHOW THEM WHAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF!" Copper shouted through the stamps of his hoof. "WE SHALL PREVAIL!" Copper announced passionately, causing the ponies to jump in high morale.

"WE SHALL PREVAIL!" The ponies all cheered, the griffons meanwhile watching proudly, as the griffons had also gone through a similar event with their emperors.

"THE JACOBINS WILL REBEL!" Forest supplemented, using his friends' name to inspire the revolt. Jaco began to blush at the attention, not liking his full name being shouted.

"WE ARE THE JACOBINS! ALL HAIL JACO, FOREST AND COPPER!" The ponies cheered. They finally had made up their minds. They would be the first serf rebellion in Equestrian history.

"Commander Hurricane?" A general stood at the door in the leaders' office, doors absent ever since the construction of the new cloud headquarters, as Hurricane mandated that all military offices be 'transparent' both physically and strategically.

"Yes?" Hurricane groaned, rubbing his eyes with his hooves out of tiredness.

"Our garrisons in the northeast has a problem..." The general cautiously trotted further in, stopping in front of Hurricanes' desk.

"Oh? Do they request reinforcements?" Hurricane raised a brow, still not facing the general. "Or do they want extra pay?" He slid aside a pile of paper, "Perhaps they are whining about their hooves hurting?" Hurricane finally looked up at the general, noticing his distress.

"No... It's the lack of problems commander." The general corrected, removing his helmet.

"How could the lack of problems be the problem general?" Hurricane asked,

"They normally would have sent letters complaining... About the things, you just talked about, but so far, we have gotten nothing." The general said, fidgeting his helmet awkwardly.

"Maybe they finally figured out complaining would get them nowhere." Hurricane tried to dismiss, but the general pushed on.

"We haven't gotten anything for two months commander." The general concerned, "If this was easily solvable, this problem wouldn't have been brought to your desk." He finished.

Hurricane stared at his desk to think, caught off-guard that he had forgotten the military structures due to the normalisation of incompetent officers which had slowly degraded his professionalism. "I see..." Hurricane muttered, thinking what could've cut off all communications.

"Has our Northern or eastern garrisons reported any suspicious activity in the border?" Hurricane asked, fearing it might've been the yaks, crystal ponies or a unified tribal griffon Warband.

"They've spotted nothing commander." The general relayed, "Except for the normal constant migration and movement of the earth ponies, they have nothing new to report."

"What could've happened? Hurricane thought, unsure as to how an entire section of garrisons could be wiped out without noticing the other garrisons. "What was the last message from the northeast garrisons?" Hurricane asked,

The general pulled out a long scroll, which he began unspooling. "...Swift Wing is being a jerk again..." Hurricane face-hoofed.

"The one before?" Hurricane recovered,

"...Cloudy Pawn is accusing me of nonsense..." Hurricane face-hoofed again.

"The one's that aren't nonsense?" Hurricane signed in the soldiers' childishness.

"...The villagers who had left had returned..." The general raised a brow of why it was on the list, as villagers would constantly move in and out of Equestrian borders to farm new lands.

"That's not helpful..." Hurricane groaned and sank in his chair, covering his eyes in defeat.

"Why would they write this though?" The general checked the line again, to make sure it wasn't a mistake. "Not even the most clueless garrison keeps up with earth pony migration."

"They're new recruits, I highly doubt they are most competent than clueless idiots." Hurricane deadpanned, "Anyways general, I am entrusting you to scout the northeast and investigate." Hurricane went back to his work, "They probably drank their ink or something." He dismissed, gesturing the general off.

The general placed his helmet back on and walked out, still worried as to why the garrison had reported a useless detail. But he quickly shook it out of his mind, as he had a job to fulfil, levy some pegasus and collect some garrisons to begin moving northeast. He just hoped he didn't have to lead another group filled with grass-eating idiots.

Pikes, shields and crossbow. The griffons' farewell gift

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Two months ago...

"You're leaving?!" Little and Green gasped as the griffons were preparing to leave.

"Sorry ponies, but we have homes of our own." Albert dismissed, "I for one, refuse to be dragged into a revolution."

"Sorry fillies, but we can't help even if we want to..." Nina said to the distraught ponies, their eyes beginning to water.

"Our fuel is dangerously low," Gelde said,
"Our food as well," Jill added,
"Also the fact that we are aiding a foreign conflict." Harold explained, "We might be court-martialed if we help your cause."

"But your promise!" Little sobbed out, which caused the griffons to look down in guilt. All except Albert.

"We promised to reunite you with your parents." Albert deliberated harshly, "You should be grateful that we decided to take you this far."

"But how will we be safe without you?" Green wiped his eyes and looked towards Nina with conviction.

"Your villagers will protect you." Albert leaned forward, covering Nina from Greens' gaze. "You ponies need to learn self-reliance, we can't just do everything for you." Albert pointed back at the fillies, sick at their victim-play.

"But... We haven't given your books yet!" Little tried to entice her mentor but frowned when Harold shook his head.

"I'm sorry Little, but we never wanted them to begin with," Harold explained, which caused the rest of the griffons to turn around and begin walking away.

"Is this it?! You're just going to leave?!" The fillies cried out futilely, the griffons not stopping. All except Harold, as he began approaching the two ponies.

Harold hugged the two ponies, however, his frown shot down any hope for him to stay. "I'm so sorry ponies..." Harold tightened his grasp, stopping the fillies from crying. "But there's nothing we can do..."

"There must be something..." Little muttered, rubbing her heads against Harolds' arms, beginning to sob once more.
"What will we do?" Green muttered through closed eyes.

"Shhh... Don't cry Little, it's all going to be okay..." Harold cooed Little, letting go of Green to hold onto Little closer. "I'm going to regret this..." Harold grimaced for what he was about to do next. "There's something I want to give you..." Harold pulled back from Little, staring at her now-open eyes.

Harold pulled out a messy diary from his inner coat, passing it to Little. "This book contains the history of the griffon warlord era," Harold explained, causing Little to look down at the cover. "This includes the strategy, weapons and wisdom from the era. All summarised to the most important detail."

Harold began to smile as Little began to lighten up, tightening her grasp on his book. "Thank you..." Little silently muttered, prompting Harold to lean backwards.

"HEY HAROLD! HURRY UP IN THE NAME OF TARTARUS!" Albert shouted, unaware of Harolds' treasonous actions.

"Coming!" Harold called back, looking back for a final time to salute the fillies. "Make me proud students... Use what I have taught you..."

"THEY LEFT?!" Jaco gawked, the news of the griffons' departure finally hitting him.

"From what I heard from Green, they left to return home." Forest informed Jaco, understanding his reaction.

"Did they at least leave us with something?" Jaco pleaded as they had just lost their biggest muscle for their rebellion.

"I'm trying to figure that out myself," Forest shrugged, as Green had purposely been silent about that matter.

"Everpony! Can I have your attention, please?!" Little called out amongst the crowd, standing on top of Green with Harolds' book on her side.

"Guess we'll find out..." Forest alluded, focusing on the book which Little was now waving around.

Once getting their attention, Little cleared her throat to speak, "What I have with me is a book!" Little began, "...a book from the griffons!" The ponies began to lean closer upon hearing this, focusing on her book.

"This has been given to us by our teacher, Harold!" Little continued, waving her hoof in the air as if telling an epic tale, "It has the answers for the tribulations to come! Information that will lead to our victory!" Little proclaimed which got the ponies slowly cheering.

"Does it tell us how to make their weapons?" A pony asked, which got the others curious as well.

"No, unfortunately, our mentor could not disclose to us that information," Green explained, which got a nod from Little standing on him.

"But! Do not fret ponies! The book contains far greater knowledge that will assist us!" Little encouraged, but the ponies listening began to worry.

"Like what?" A pony asked,

"It contains the tactics, strategy and blueprints for weapons!" Little replied, "...just not modern ones." Little quietly muttered the last bit, hoping nopony would hear it.

"Not modern?! How are we supposed to fight the pegasus then?!" A pony implored, which got jurors of agreement. "Did the griffons doom us to our fate?!" They mongered.

"No!" Green and Little defended zealously, not wanting Harolds' name to be tarnished. "Harold would've never given us something useless! He instead correctly assessed that we lacked the materials to make their weapons!" Little affirmed, making up an excuse in the spot.

The ponies then began arguing with themselves, questioning the virtues of the griffons, and if they should've given up their weapons for their cause. The debate quickly escalated, however, was timely stopped by Jaco who began beating the ground to gain attention.

"Everypony calm yourselves!" Jaco demanded, silencing the rowdy crowd, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves!" He scolded, which caused several of the ponies to whimper confusedly. "How can we expect more from the griffons who has saved our lives?!" Jaco bellowed, "They have helped us without question! They have risked their lives to bring us home!" Jaco chastised the greedy ponies, who were bleeding their saviours dry. "They could've just left us to rot in the zebra's nets, but they had saved us! Not only that, they have bestowed upon us a book that will help us!" Jaco hollered, "Our greed and complacency will be our true doom! The griffons are not our gods but our friend! We will triumph in our own way!" Jaco boomed, removing all doubts in their heads, as they cheered as if possessed, lifting Jaco, Little and Green and parading them in applause.

"First up ponies!" Little shouted through cheers, "We need a workshop!"

The year's of constant travel had served the villagers well, as they were able to quickly construct a settlement near a river, accomplishing the task in a week. During this time, Jaco and Forest scoured the countryside, instigating the other villagers to revolt, citing their current horrible working and living conditions, and promising them to change after their revolution. At first, they were scared, afraid of what their overlords would do, but Jaco and Forest quickly turned their fear into anger, by stating rightfully that they would be persecuted anyway, even if they had done nothing wrong.

The humble group of 100 ponies quickly swelled to several thousand, turning their humble settlement into a city, and consuming neighbouring villages to add to their domain.

Forest and Jaco feared retribution from the pegasus of unicorns for the mass disappearance of the villagers, but Copper knew better. The elder had witnessed entire duchies being emptied by earth ponies and knew that the nobles could not do anything in fear of offending the nobles whose lands the ponies fled to. Furthermore, he also knew the pegasus' situation was precarious, stretched too thin and lacking experienced soldiers ever since their march during the windigos, their numbers decimated due to their inability to fly during the blizzard, forcing them to use their untrained legs to traverse the frozen wastelands.

Their food problems were immediately solved, thanks to their acceptance of fish as a food source, causing the villages to migrate directly next to rivers and away from the hilly forts, which further isolated them from authority. However, this meant their security from the incompetent pegasus were gone, which meant they had to begin arming themselves.

Thankfully, Little and Green had a plan. A plan devised from the history of a griffon warlord, known for his innovation in weapons and tactics. A griffon who used pikes with mounted shields to blunt a flying charge, and use crossbows to decimate the shattered fliers. His strategy focusing staying on the ground than flying. Perfect for the earth ponies. Perfect against the pegasus.

Little and Green smiled devilishly. They would show the pegasus a strategy forged from centuries of bloodshed. A fight not of route, but decimation.

Forts, meet catapult and Trebuchet

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"Surrender pegasus!" Forest called out, their army surrounding a fort, with seige engines perched atop the adjacent hills.

"No!" The defiant defenders called back, sticking to their walls.

"Surrender below we kill you all!" Forest bluntly threatened, gesturing his seige engines to prepare to fire at a given signal.

"With what?! Your big wooden spoons?!" The pegasus lining the walls laughed ignorantly, the concepts of the trebuchet and catapults completely foreign to their society due to their uselessness during sieges, as they could just always fly over the walls, instead of having to destroy them.

"So be it! Show them we mean business Jacobins!" Forest lowered his hoof, prompting the ponies operating the engines to fire, hurling thousands of rock shards from their catapults whilst a huge boulder was launched from the trebuchet.

The pegasus' demeanours quickly turned to horrification, as they realised too late the purpose of the large 'wooden spoons' and one 'fishing rod'. They managed to duck and slide behind the forts' walls, but the projectiles powered through them, crushing any pegasus hiding behind them.

The forts' walls collapsed from the boulders' impact, as they weren't made to handle such force, and were constructed by stone to merely deter against fire. The pegasus screamed as the collapsing structures crushed their hollow bones and bodies.

"Don't let them escape! Fire the second volley!" Forest ordered, aiming at some pegasus attempting an escape into the air, which prompted the second lines of catapults holdings large nets of small rocks to come forward to aim generally at the routing defenders. "Fire!"

The catapults atop the hills lanched their projectiles in the air, many of them colliding with each other in the air, creating giant smokes of dust that fell on the sieging Jacobins. However, many reached their intended targets, annihilating the pegasus attempting to flee.

"Another bloodless victory..." A captain remarked, standing beside Forest, "Might it be possible general?" He gulped,

"Do not celebrate too early Captain Sight," Forest advised, "We have only beaten the worst of the Equestrian pegasus's." Forest maintained, "We will be victorious when we face an actual army."

Present time

"Our success is unprecedented..." Jaco evaluated, his improvised map suggesting that they controlled the entire northeastern sector of the Equestrian lands.

"But our enemies could find out anytime..." Green added, fearing that a pegasus scout had already discovered their exploit, and was now sending an army to squash their rebellion.

"Our progress could be undone..." Copper shuddered, as the thought of their prosperity being ruined and taken away haunted his mind.

"We will never let that happen!" Forest affirmed, setting a hoof down on the table, which rocked the map and figurines over. "Oops..." He muttered, and quickly set the figurines back into place.

"We are currently surrounded by all sides! South, west and southeast..." Green moved three wooden pieces near their borders, signifying any invasion routes into their lands.

"They could also swing from the north or east, catching us off-guard." Jaco placed two extra pieces, effectively surrounding their borders.

"They are faster, and they could simply fly over us as well." Copper placed several pieces inside their territory, shaking whilst doing so.

"We won't have to worry about fliers in our territory elder, I have already encamped catapults in all the hills in our territory," Forest assured, removing all the pieces in their lands.

"Do we have any forts we could use?" Green asked, hoping that they could use them to pay attention in different areas.

"Nay, they've all been destroyed by our engines, and would be ineffective anyway." Forest brooded, "The ones currently in construction will take at least another month."

"Do we have enough soldiers to guard the entire length of our borders?" Jaco asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, we will either have to split our forces or group at where the pegasus hits," Forest explained, grimacing at their chances. "I recommend we split our forces until we encounter their army, at which point we will gather up whilst a small force delay the pegasuses."

Everpony except Green nodded at the plan, as he began to recall an event in Harolds' book. "We attack." He decided, which caused the ponies in the room to look towards him in bewilderment.

"Attack?! How will we guard against their attacks then?!" Copper demanded, concerned of their villagers' safety against any revanchist pegasuses.

"They can't attack if we threaten them." Green grabbed an iron piece, setting it up on the map. "They will be forced to defend against us, and redirect any troops to do so." Green slid the iron piece deeper into Equestrian lands, "We will destroy them here." Green finished, stopping his piece on top of the pegasuses headquarters.

"THE CLOUDIAN FORTRESS?!" Forest bellowed, "YOU MAD?!" Everypony knew of the Cloudian fortress, the main headquarters of the pegasus military that served to remind the lowly earth ponies who controlled them. The tyrannical representation of the pegasus, the fortress floated like them and acted as the office of the second most hated pony in Equestria; Commander Hurricane.
"WE'LL BE SURROUNDED AND MURDERED!" Forest foreshadowed, as the fortress was located in a place where it could reinforce the other minor headquarters and the garrisons, meaning that they could also be a rallying point to surround their army.

"It's our only chance general." Green figured, "If we split our force, it will be impossible to delay anything no smaller than a pack of timber wolves."

"But this is blatant suicide!" Forest argued desperately,

"It may be... But it would at least teach those pegasuses to stay off our land." Green concluded as an attack would imply that they had soldiers to spare, meaning that their gains could be kept for a longer period. "If we go through with this plan, we would buy our fellow earth ponies enough time to prepare for another attack." Green continued, "There's no other way..."

Jaco and Copper tried to speak but shut their mouth in contemplation. Forest began to nod his head in understanding and decided it was the only choice they had.

"Then we must leave immediately... Before the pegasuses decide to attack us." Forest concluded, preparing to leave.

"Count me in as well! our movement always lacked a martyr." Jaco joked, taking his side with Forest.

"Then I shall leave with you," Copper interjected, causing the two ponies to jump in surprise.

"Elder?! You can't leave with us! Who will lead our ponies?!" Forest and Jaco professed, terrified of Coppers' safety.

"I had a long run... And my days are numbered. I will rather die with warm blood spilling than expire on my bed, blood cold from inaction." Copper insisted, taking their sides as well.

"Then who will lead in your place elder?" Green asked, which made the elder smile.

"You and your sister have shown great leadership in these trying times." The elder began and placed a hoof on Greens' shoulders. "I could not think of a better replacement than you two to lead my village." The elder certified.

"...I'm afraid Little will have to pick up that mantle..." Green attested and grabbed the map off the table. "Because I'll be joining you three to martyrdom." He finished with a smirk.

"What of your sister?" Copper challenged undeterred, despite Forest and Jaco watching wide-mouthed at Greens' self-sacrifice.

"She will have to cope." Greens' expressions began to sadden. "But we still need a commander to lead the army," Green affirmed, stomping his pain out. "I must do what has to be done." He solemnly finished, trotting over to the three ponys' sides.

"We won't survive this..." Forest determined, knowing that the odds were stacked against them. They began leaving the tent.

"We will be wiped out..." Jaco confirmed, imagining the pegasus horde washing them out, like a wave to a sandcastle. They approached a hill overlooking their city.

"We will buy time... No matter the cost..." Copper growled, despising the pegasus and unicorns for leading them to violence. They began overlooking the city, watching the sun begin to set on their beautiful work.

"Do not tell her of my departure..." Green stated, gripping his chest in guilt. "I cannot let her stop me... For what is to come..." They all nodded, putting their hooves over each other's shoulders.

"We will show them..."

The four great ponies

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"Are our soldiers ready?" Green asked Forest, who was busy giving orders to the officers.

"Yes sir, all 10,000 ready to march at a notice." Forest saluted, a gesture unfamiliar to him, but which Green has enforced throughout the army. He also had two minds about referring to a twelve-year-old as 'sir'. "Have you informed your parents though?"

"Yes... And I'm glad they took it well..." Green muttered, as he remembered the scene of his father nodding in understatement stoically whilst his mother wept uncontrollably, constantly cursing herself for wishing he had matured.

"And your sister..?" Forest carefully asked, not wanting to trigger him off.

"...I had left a note in my room that she will probably read once entering after my long absence," Green explained, "I hope that she will take it well..." Green hoped, not wanting his sister to chase him illogically. "I had told my parents to stop her once she finds out... Hopefully, they can convince her that it was inevitable." Green darkly thought.

"We don't have any time to lose Green. We must move now." Jaco approached from behind, carrying the standard equipment of Pike, shield, crossbow, bolts and sword.

"Aye, we must make haste." Copper chimed in, following close behind Jaco.

"...Very well, let us match!" Green announced, which made the officers cheer in response.

Little skipped happily towards Greens' room holding Harolds' book. "I can't wait for him to react that hit gold in the eastern mines!" Little thought, as she continued in her way. The current events and suicidal mission into the Equestrian territory had dampened everypony's mood, and Little thought she finally found the key to lighten Green up, as ever since the announcements, he would look miserable whenever he walked around the house.

Little stopped at Greens' door and knocked it several times. "Green~! I got a surprise for you~!" She cheekily cooed. No reply.

"Green! You sleeping late again?!" Little knocked several more times and looked out the open door. It was evening.

"...Green?" Littles' stomach began to sink as she began to worry about what had happened. "I'm coming in at 10 seconds!" Little warned. Still no reply.

"...Green?" Little whimpered and shrank in front of the door, scared to see what was inside. "I'm coming in..." Little muttered, pushing open the door into Greens' room.

Little exhaled a gigantic sigh of relief when he saw Greens' outlines covered by a blanket on his bed, "Oh brother! Sleeping in the evening are you?!" Little ran up to the bed and uncovered the blanket. It was a pillow.

Littles' stomach sank again and saw a letter on top of the pillow, which she quickly grabbed and tore.

Dear Little,
If you are reading this letter, it means that you have entered my room without permission. And to that, you are a rude little sister!
But I am a rude older brother for what I have done. I'm so sorry I didn't consult you Little, but I know you wouldn't let me go. The army needs a capable commander Little, and you are too young to lead.
I'm doubly sorry that I will be leaving the elders dry solely up to you. I know it will be tough, but you must remain strong. Remix strong for the villagers. Remain strong for the earth ponies. Remain strong for me Little.
I'm triply sorry that you won't stop me. As I have already departed and too far for you to chase. So stay at home like a good little sister Little. But know that I still love you.
More love, from Green.

Little shook horrified looking at the letter, her eyes tearing up at the feeling of betrayal, pride and sadness. "I HAVE TO STOP GREEN!" Little decided and dashed to leave the room.

"Not so fast missy." Graze blocked the way, standing in between the doorway. Opal stood beside him, her eyes sore and wrinkled from her previous episodes of sadness.

"WE NEED TO SAVE GR- mffff!" Little was suddenly tackle-hugged by Graze, who immediately began running his hold down Littles' mane, calming her down.

"I know... I know..." Graze informed silently, his own eyes beginning to water in vulnerability, which prompted his wife to join in the hug.

"He has finally matured... In the worst possible time..." Opal said through sobbing, tightening the hug.

"He wouldn't want us to perpetually cry." Graze braced, looking up in integrity. "We must remain strong for Green. We must protect our dream so his efforts won't be in vain."

"Why..." Little began, "Why did we read the book?" She sobbed out, wanting to burn Harolds' book for causing this depression. "If we didn't read the book, he could've stayed." She justified,

"You read it because you had to." Opal comforted Little, kissing her lightly on the cheeks. "Or else, we would all be damned to the pegasus and unicorns." She muttered.

"Please be safe..." Little silently prayed, which prompted the parents to do the same.

"Please be safe...

It had been a week and the general had finally gathered enough pegasuses to begin marching Northeast. He could only levy 2000 recruits and planned to equip them along their way.

"Are you sure this is enough?" Hurricane approached the general, trying to ignore the stares the pegasus levies were giving him. "This is not a reconnaissance mission General." He warned,

"I highly doubt I would need an army commander," the general assured, "If there was an invading force all the other garrisons would've risen an alarm."

"Perhaps a diamond dog invasion then?" Hurricane hinted as they were known to mine under fortifications and notorious for night attacks. "It would explain the duchies' sudden silence..."

"But why would the diamond dog invade the northeast Commander?" The general challenged, "There is nothing of value there, not a single gem nor gold, only iron."

"...there is still something terribly wrong going on..." Hurricane maintained, "Don't let your confidence blind you general Thunder..." Hurricane warned and flew away, leaving the general staring at his footprints on the cloud.

"I won't..." Thunder quietly muttered, turning to his levies.

The Jacobins were coming...

"Turn back brave ponies!" An elderly earth pony shouted from his door, warning the marching Jacobins heading deeper into the Pegasus lands. "You will be killed!"

"Don't throw your lives away!" Another earth pony warned, approaching the marching soldiers. "You stand no chance!"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we must." The soldier pushed the pony back with a sad frown. "To protect our friends and family, we must." The soldier tilted his helmet and continued forward.

"They're crazy!" An onlooker spouted, whispering to another pony.

"They're marching straight into the pegasus stronghold!" The other pony blurted, the shock of seeing an earth pony army having died down.

"Will they finally free us?" A filly marvelled, the shiny armour and weapons of the Jacobins acting like a second sun under the light.

"They call themselves the Jacobins..." Another filly gawked, fascinated with their catapults which they were towing with 10 ponies.

Suddenly, the elder of the village stepped in their path, flanked by two other winded ponies. "Who is your leader?" The elder asked, causing the column to split to reveal four ponies. "Are you the leader?" The elder asked, pointing at the elderly Copper.

"Aye, we four are the leaders." Copper pointed at himself and waved at the three others beside him. "Why have you stopped us?" He refocused.

"All four? Even the colt?" The elder asked in bewilderment, as the youngest seemed barely old enough to be a farmhand.

"Yes, all four of us. Why have you stopped us?" Green impatiently inquired, slightly annoyed that he was called a colt.

The elder gestured at the two winded ponies in between him, "These two ponies came from the villager in the southwest," The sweating ponies nodded in agreement, "and they bring unsettling news..."

"Oh?" Forest focused on the two ponies.

"*gasp* we were down at the river- *gasp* cleaning ourselves when- *gasp* we saw an army!" The sweating pony informed, wiping his forehead with a hoof upon finishing.

"How big?" Jaco inquired, his expressions darkening.

"We aren't sure... But we saw a bunch of them!" The other gasping pony said, flailing his arms in the air to represent the numbers.

"I see..." Jaco replied disappointed, "How far is it from here?"

The two ponies looked at each other. "A week from here." They decided, nodding at their conclusion. "We galloped for 4 days straight to reach here to warn this village." They explained.

"We have already sent our own messengers to the nearby villagers." The elder explained, as warning them would give them time to hide food or 'contraband'.

"A WEEK?!" The four Jacobin leaders thought in despair, as they would need at least a day to entrench, and would rather not fight in the village.

"Is there any hills nearby?" Green quickly asked the elder, also trying to scan the surrounding for any good terrain.

The elder hesitated by the sudden question, leaning back to begin thinking. "There is one in the southeast from here," the elder memorised, "A fairly flat hill, used by our ponies to gaze at the night's skies." The elder pointed at the hill, which prompted the four Jacobins to brace upwards to see past their soldiers.

"A hill... Named hope..." The elder mumbled, the name of the hill gaining a new meaning. "The hill said to bring our village luck..." The elder looked at the Jacobins, who were currently too busy discussing strategy to realise the elders' statement.

"Can it be...?"

Red rain on Hill Hope.

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"We have nothing left to give." The elder stated, causing Thunders' frown to deepen. This had been the 17th village that had claimed that they had nothing to give to his army, causing his unruly levies to fancy mutiny and desertion.

"Please fair elder, don't you at least have something for my starving ponies?" Thunder pleaded, but he knew the elder would interpret it as a threat. "If you have nothing to give... My ponies will become 'uncontrollable'." Thunders' expression darkened, causing the elder to recoil slightly.

"Then let them know they will be sacking dust and ash if they pillage this place." The elder darkly replied, leaning back closer to the general.

"...Wait 'till your chancellor hears of this..." Thunder alluded and flew off, prompting his army to do as well, heading further northeast.

"Puddinghead..." The elder whispered, "The devil..." The elder finished, both characters leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

"What village are we encountering next?" Thunder asked, currently flying over a forest.

"It's one located adjacent to a large, flat hill and has great farmlands, this might be our lucky break general." Lieutenant Lefty replied, gripping a fluttering map up to his face.

"Hah! The chance! More likely they would claim a drought had hit them, and they have nothing to give us!" Thunder joked, causing Lefty to chuckle lightly and deposit his map into his pouch.

"Perhaps they ate it all, based on how fat their chancellor is getting I bet they have it hidden in their bellies!" Lefty piped, causing Thunder to laugh loudly.

"Or maybe Puddinghead has been eating their crops during their sleep?" Thunder offered, but Lefty dismissed it,

"That would mean she had walked! That's preposterous!" Lefty proclaimed dramatically, feigning a faint in mid-air.

"How many serfs do you think died carrying her during the windigos?" Thunder asked half-seriously, still giggling in their banter.

"The same amount of folds on her chin!" Lefty laughed out, infecting Thunder with the laughies.

"-Hey look a village!" A levy chimed in, breaking their laughter.

"Look at their farm! Look how big it is!" Another levy called out, pointing at the massive ploughed fields adjacent to the village.

"They've got to be overflowing with food!" A levy presumed, licking his lips in expectation.

"First one dibs!" A levy announced, diving down towards the village to more quickly 'confiscate' the villagers' supplies.

"Don't break off! Remain in formations! We will go down together shortly!" Thunder desperately tried to salvage the situation, but their undisciplined, hungry levies all began diving towards the village to be first in their meal.

"Oh who cares general, there's nothing out here to get us," Lefty assured, placing a hoof on Thunders' shoulders. "But really, what is they going to do? Chuck stones at us?" Lefty chuckled, prompting Thunder to relax.

"I suppose you're ri-" suddenly, all the doors from the village opened to reveal the tips of many crossbows, aimed directly at the diving pegasuses. They immediately stopped in response.

"What!-" They had not seen it, but several catapults perched atop the hills nearby launched their projectiles at the frozen pegasuses, their fates already sealed.

The rocks collided with their hollow bodies, shattering and breaking bones in contact, annihilating the organs and skin in their way. The lucky few immediately died when the rocks drilled directly into their brains, but an unlucky bunch had to wait for their fall to kill them, as their wings were decimated, and their barrel torn into pieces, causing excruciating pain until they embraced the mercy of death by splatting on the ground below.

It began to rain blood.

Lefty and Thunder were briefly frozen with shock and horror, however, they quickly realised that their positions were vulnerable against the crossbows which were being aimed at them. "F-fall back! Ascend into the clouds!" Thunder ordered. But it was too late. The twangs of crossbows rang across the village.

Lefty acted quickly, pushing Thunder into the crossfire, saving himself but causing a bolt to pierce the generals' heart.

"Y-you..." Thunder looked up to Lefty in disbelief, griping his chest whilst his eyes began to twitch with tears. "You-"

Lefty removed Thunders' hoof which was holding his shoulder, and nudged him backwards, causing him to descend unceremoniously towards the ground. "I saw your list general." Lefty spat with venom and betrayal, "it was only a matter of time..." Lefty flew off to quickly run off the battlefield, ignoring the screams of the fallen pegasuses.

The gigantic volley of bolts succeeded in clipping the pegasuses' wings, causing them to fall to their deaths. Those unlucky enough to fall on their dead comrades were quickly executed through a sword being plunged into their necks. Cries for help and loved ones were ignored by the Jacobins, their own cries being ignored fresh in their memories. They would show no mercy. Take no prisoners. Execute their enemies. And win their battles. Their small victory was celebrated by the village, despite blood having soaked their roofs and coated the dirt roads.

"Some have escaped..." Forest growled, watching several pegasuses disappearing into the distance.

"Leave them be, we want them to tell their commander, remember?" Jaco reminded them, as their objective was to blunt their fighting capabilities, not win stealthy victories.

"I hope this success may continue..." Copper prayed, his eyes closed and hooves braced. "But our weapons are no longer secrets..." He added, groaning lightly in annoyance.

"But our strategies new and unexpected..." Green argued, "Their weapons are inferior, and they have only seen an ambush." Green continued, "Little do they know, we thrive in open combat..."

The four ponies nodded in agreement, standing atop the hill and overlooking the village. They saw parents covering their fillys' eyes from the carnage, whilst the stallions began digging mass graves. They saw the executions uphold, but they paid it no mind.

After all, this was war.

A war of revanchism, boiled up by the constant mistreatment of the earth pony race. The repeated oppression, starvation, murder and slavery. Their former overlords will pay in blood for their debt, down to the last litre.

They will advance.

"Giant wooden spoons..." Lefty thought as he flew across the air, small splatters of blood covering his barrel which caused it to cool under the colliding winds. "Earth pony rebellion..." Lefty concluded, as they were embedded within the village, which meant their populace supported them. "Is this what happened to the northeast?" Lefty hypothesised, as Thunder had told him the objective of the mission; to find out what had happened to the two-month silent garrisons in the northeast. "The last message was the return of a village..." Lefty remembered, beginning to think harder. "Did they... Receive any outside help?" Lefty thought, but quickly shook his head in disagreement, "Who would help them?! They have nothing to give, and every other creature hates us!" Lefty concluded. Not knowing how right he was.

"Atchoo!" Harold sneezed, as his beak suddenly became ticklish. "Is someone talking behind my back?" Harold rubbed his beak with a claw, which made Nina across from him cringe in disgust.

"Must be Little and Green talking about you." Nina dismissed.

"...I guess..." Harold wiped the mucus off his claws and began to think. "I hope they're safe..."

To exaggerate and to panic

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"THEY'RE WHAT?!" Hurricane panicked whilst being surrounded by his generals who informed him of Thunders' annihilation.

"There are some pegasuses outside who had survived the ambush." A general informed, "But the gist is, the earth ponies are rebelling sir..."

"Impossible..." Hurricane muttered quietly, "How can those mud ponies rebel?! They can barely feed themselves as it is! How would they fight!" Hurricane pondered, as every pegasus rebellion had always done so with a full belly. "After all, an army marches with its stomach..." Hurricane wisely thought, running his hoof I'm his chin.

"The routed pegasus total 100 sir, and general Thunder is dead." Another general voiced, "The only surviving officer was Lefty, and he is currently waiting with the injured."

"...Take me to them." Hurricane decided as they knew nothing of the scale of the rebellion.

Lefty was shaking on his bench, fearing the punishment for his desertion. He made sure that no routing levy saw his treasonous actions, and those who did were quickly 'removed'. Lefty knew the price for retreating in Hurricanes' army, as ever since the officer corp was all but wiped out, it left the soldiers prone to retreat in the face of battle. To circumvent this, Hurricane had enacted several 'reforms' to the army, dooming those who cowered and ran away to death.

Lefty would have to bluff and blame his way out of this fate.

"Lieutenant Lefty I presume?" Hurricane crept up, causing Lefty to jump in surprise, as he was too preoccupied in his thinking to notice the Commander and several other generals approaching him.

"Commander Hurricane!" Lefty quickly hailed, stumbling to his hooves.

"I hear that you encountered a mud pony ambush?" Hurricane inquired suspiciously, still not believing the inferior ponies could have rebelled, no less defeated a pegasus force.

"That is correct..." Lefty mumbled, shrinking in Hurricanes' glare.

"Really? You expect me to believe those mud ponies could've annihilated a force of 2000 pegasuses?" Hurricane pressed, "No. I see something traitorous transpiring Lefty. An army mutinying perhaps?" Hurricane leaned closer to the shrinking Lefty. "Isn't it strange how a general, flying in the air could have died during a mud wrestle?" Hurricane pursued, the seeds of suspicion had already been rooted by the discovery of Thunders' kill list. "Peculiar... How you are unscathed, and your dagger absent." Hurricane pointed at Leftys' side, revealing an empty sheath.

"I-" Lefty hesitated, knowing that answering truthfully and telling the Commander that he had thrown it away to flee faster would have him executed. "-I had thrown it at a mud pony who was aiming at my general." Lefty decided, attempting to relax his panicked expression.

"Oh? Is that so," Hurricane feigned to ponder, placing a hoof on his chin. "I assume you failed to hit the pony then?" Hurricane scoffed at Leftys' poor excuse. "Aiming at him? With what? Pieces of stones?"

"N-no! I hit it!" Lefty defended, "But the crossbow had already loosed a bolt towards the general."

Hurricane began to laugh upon hearing 'crossbow', "The mud ponies owning crossbows?!" Hurricane chuckled at the notion, "Preposterous!

"-the bolt pierced his heart and killed him instantly," Lefty explained fruitlessly, as Hurricane drowned out his reason with laughs. "They occupied every home and shot from the nearby h-"

"Stop," Hurricane ordered, holding a hoof in front of the desperate Lefty. "All I hear is a lieutenant I don't know, engaging in conjecture in direct contradiction to what the mud ponies are actually capable of." Hurricane leaned back, letting his lecture sink into Lefty.

"I'm uh... I apologise." Lefty mumbled, taken aback by Hurricanes' evaluation. "I didn't mean, uh..." Lefty tried to find his words, trying to avoid depict the mud ponies greater than themselves. "Please, may I express my concern of the dangers that the earth ponies can pose-"

"Stop," Hurricane repeated, this time going further, and pushing his hoof against Leftys' snout, silencing him. "I heard enough of this nonsense," Hurricane declared, putting his hoof down to reveal Leftys' concerned face. "General Shocker, make to it that Lefty is 'taken care' of." Hurricane wheeled around, leaving the distraught lieutenant to be dragged by two flanking pegasuses.

"NO! I'M TELLING YOU THE TRUTH!" Lefty wailed, desperately attempting to escape from the grasp. "THEY HAD GIANT WOODEN SPOONS THAT HURLED STONES! YOU CANNOT UNDERESTI- mfff!" Lefty was silenced by a piece of wood wedging between his jaws.

"Welcome to your permanent vacation." Shocker chuckled to Leftys' ears, "THIS IS WHAT WE DO TO TRAITORS!" Shocker announced to the I'm looking recruits, who were terrified by the scene.

"MFFFFF!" Lefty desperately cried out, his tears rolling down his cheek to the wooden board. His teeth burrowed deep into the wood, causing his gums to bleed in pressure.

SHRK! a sword caved into Leftys' neck, causing Leftys' expressions to twitch.

SHRK! the sword swung again, loosening Leftys' head from his neck. Blood began to splatter rhythmically from the exposed neck.

GHRK! Leftys' head rolled off, tearing part of the skin that stuck onto the neck.

"Good riddance," Hurricane muttered whilst walking, hearing the disgusted groans from the witnesses. "Giant Spoons? Mud ponies rebelling? Inconceivable..." Hurricane absently thought, refocusing his attention on the still-unsolved situation of the northeast.

"Commander, what should we do about the northeast then?" A general conveniently asked, which got the rest nodding as well.

"Send our best scout to investigate, a large force will only attract unwanted attention." Hurricane decided and returned to his office, dismissing the generals.

Keen Glass flew lazily in the air, grumbling about his predicament. He wasn't even a scout, merely betrayed by his squad as they were afraid of his progress and achievements, so had chosen him to get rid of him.

Keen surveyed the ground below, occasionally spotting the outlines of villagers and moving earth ponies. He sighed again.

"Such a pain..." Keen grimaced, and grabbed a cloud to rest his wings. "At least I got these lifesavers..." Keen pulled out a joint and a puff of cloud, compressing it to convert it into a storm cloud. The sparks lit the joint, and Keen breathed deeply.

"Haaaaa... Just my luck..." Keen exhaled, expelling pink clouds around him. The ponies below saw this.

A Jacobin swore that he saw a pegasus in the air, however when he pointed to the skies to locate him, it had disappeared. But he maintained his observation, glaring at every cloud for any sign of a pegasus to reveal itself. Then he saw a pink trace.

"THERE! THERE'S THE PEGASUS!" He aligned his crossbow upwards, aiming towards the cloud. The other Jacobins followed his aim and observed the pink trace.

Hails of bolts were shot, however, it couldn't go high enough to hit the floating pegasus.

"Huh-?" Keen looked below to see several holes in the clouds which the bolts made. Through the holes, he could make out an army. "Am I hallucinating?" Keen asked himself, slapping himself with a hoof.

"FIRE!" a Jacobin Lieutenant called out to his catapult team, taking the initiative to eliminate the spying pegasus.

"Nope... Not hallucinating." Keen was still clueless, the joint and the height having disorientated him. "I should run away..." Keen assessed, as more bolts were being shot at him.

As keen floated off his cloud, a blanket of stone scattered the cloud below him, heading straight for him. The stones battered him, making him flip in the air as the missiles shattered his wings and fractured all of his ribs. The pain finally woke him up from his joint.

Keen screamed out in pain, however, he kept his wings beating, preventing his immediate fall. The joint provided him energy to retreat, but it had also heightened his senses towards pain. The Jacobins below halted their fire, waiting for the pegasus to fall. It never did.

Keen flew straight towards the Cloudian Fortress. He had something to report.

An Equestrian Congress

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"...When shall thou forbear gorging?" Platinum chided the ravaging Puddinghead, who was stuffing food like a pig.

"When will you stop buying jewellery?" Puddinghead bluntly countered, expelling pieces of food from her gaping mouth all over their table. Platinum cringed in disgust.

"I know not how anyone could stand thou..." Platinum hissed, removing her hoof from the table to prevent any food bits from touching her.

Puffinghead shrugged indifferently, gesturing for the second round of meals to be brought in front of her. The servant groaned silently in response, leaving the room briefly to return with a mountain of food stacked on top of his back.

"When are the others? These chairs are too hard to sit on!" Puddinghead complained, snatching the food of the servants' back greedily, causing the servant to stumble slightly due to the force.

"Hast patience chancellor," Platinum scolded the whining Puddinghead, causing her to glare at her in response.

"Drop the dialect princess, you have nothing to be proud of." Puddinghead countered as the unicorns didn't have any prestige to uphold anymore.

"..." Platinum stayed silent, as she knew the unicorns had better days. She attempted to grasp onto a semblance of prestige with luxuries, but the starvation, intrigue and violence overshadowed it all.

The unsettling silence was broken by Hurricanes' entrance, flanked by his advisors and his guards. "Apologies to my tardiness, my thoughts had held me back," Hurricane explained, taking his seat accompanied by Pansy by his side.

"Why doth thou hast a private as thy advisor?" Platinum asked again, as she had inquired the same question throughout all the previous congresses. She had no idea why a lowly private would be an advisor for a commander.

"None of your business, also drop the dialect." Hurricane automatically replied, forbidding Platinum from asking again for the meeting. "Where are the rest? They are normally here first." Hurricane looked around to only see the two other leaders and their advisors, several seats on the table empty.

Then sounds of hooves trotting were heard from one of the closed doors, prompting everyponys' attention. "That must be it." Puddinghead figured, hearing the familiar two stallions' hooves and two fillys'.

The door opened to reveal the last two ponies, one being the head of Solari's faith, and the other being the greatest wizard in all of Equis history. Then there were the two fillies.

"Starswirl the great." Platinum smiled at the very icon of unicorns, Intelligent, prestigious, Noble and strong. But frowned at Starswirls' reaction,

"The title is Starswirl the bearded princess," Starswirl responded, and took his seat opposite her, prompting his students to sit beside him.

"Why doth thou hast those unnamed fillies as thy pupils? there are many more talented gentle unicorns more fit for thy status." Platinum proposed but was met with a firm shake of a hoof.

"This is why I don't take titles, and it's my decision to make, not yours." Starswirl dismissed confidently, causing the two fillies beside him to beam with admiration and thanks.

"Alright then, let's begin quickly! I have wasted enough time!" Puddinghead announced, finishing her last plate, prompting the tired servants to collect them.

"Very well, we shall skip the introductions except for the prayer." Father Ares replied but was refuted by Hurricane.

"Skip the prayer as well, it's obvious our God has abandoned us." Hurricane deadpanned, as the pegasuses and in connection, the army was secular.

"More the reason to pray and garner its favour back," Ares argued, but the three leaders disregarded him. There was once a time where every leader cowered and kissed the heads' hooves but after the windigos, their influence had diminished significantly. Ares signed helplessly.

"Mine nobles require more earth ponies for our mines, could thou send some in exchange for gold?" Platinum asked Puddinghead, as the last batch had died of starvation and ambushes.

"Drop the dialect, and it's free," Puddinghead replied boredly, getting annoyed at Platinums' stubbornness. "Collect them yourself from any nearby farm, just not all of them." Puddinghead waved uncaringly, which made Platinum nod.

"Why must the earth ponies continue to suffer teacher?" the alabaster filly whispered to Starswirl, being disgusted by the leaders' blatant talks of slavery.

"Why can't we do anything? Can't you tell them to stop?" the indigo filly whispered as well, horrified by the injustice.

"I'm sorry students... But there's nothing I can do..." Starswirl whispered back with a frown, which made the two fillies droop their heads in sadness. "They own nothing to fight back with... And they have no advantages compared to the magical unicorns and flying pegasuses."

"When are your harvests coming? Our nobles are demanding a higher share." Platinum asked Puddinghead, as the recent droughts had frightened the nobles to stockpile more food to weather the current disaster.

"A higher share?! You'll starve the earth ponies! Who will plough the fields when they are all dead?!" Puddinghead angrily countered, licking a piece of food stuck on her tooth.

"They are willing to pay in gold." Platinum appealed, spilling a pouch of gold on the table. Everypony except Starswirl and the fillies stared at the coins.

"Deal." Puddinghead greedily lunged to grab the gold, putting it into her bag which was being held by her servant.

"Dumb mud ponies..." Platinum thought, "Those gold coins are impure..." Platinum thanked her rightfully-gained talent, as the unicorns' magic allowed them to easily locate valuable mines and minerals.

The two pony's giddiness was interrupted by Hurricanes' stomps on the table, catching everyponys' attention. "Attention everypony..." Hurricane muttered.

"What is it my colt?" Ares pursued calmly, undeterred by the stomps. Puddinghead and Platinum rolled their eyes in annoyance, not wanting to hear another boring news of invasion or battle. Starswirl and the fillies stared in silence.

Hurricane disregarded Ares and began, "It has come to my attention that the entire northeast sector of our confederation has stopped reporting in for two months."

"-and why is this important?" Puddinghead chimed in, assuming it was another notice for invasion.

Hurricane ignored Puddingheads' input and continued, "Our nearby garrisons had failed to spot an invading army, and the probability of a diamond dog invasion is unlikely due to the regions' poor gem count."

"-then what is it? Do you need our help again?" Platinum signed tiredly, the memories of noble unicorn spell casters fighting the crystal ponies fresh in her memory.

"Maybe... We aren't quite sure what it may be, and our recent reconnaissance mission failed to yield any valuable results," Hurricane assessed, "But I had sent another scout to inv-"

"COMMANDER HURRICANE!"
two pegasus guards exclaimed, bringing a near-dead pegasus into the congress room on a stretcher. All the ponies in the room except Hurricane and Starswirl cringed at the pegasus's injury.

"Commander Hurricane! scout Keen brings dire news from his mission..." The guard professed, lifting the dying pegasus's head to meet Hurricanes' eyes.

"What happened..." Hurricane barely muttered out, as the scout looked like a corpse at this point.

"Earth pony army... Marching towards Cloudian Fortress... Thousands of bolts and rocks... Keen gurgled out, and finally closed his eyes as the joints' effects wore off, finally stopping his abused heart.

"Earth pony... Army?" Platinum sputtered, slowly refocusing on Puddinghead.

Everyponys' eyes were focused on Puddinghead, who was now shrinking in their glares. "It wasn't me! You all know the earth ponies hate me!" She desperately defended,

"Is that what you want us to think mud pony?" Hurricane hissed, drawing a dagger from his wings. Seeing this, the two guards quickly exited the room bringing the dead Keen as well.

"Is this where all your gold goes? To fund an army to betray us?!" Platinum accused, internally licking her lips in the opportunity this opened up. "Such treachery is only possible by a mud pony..." Platinum continued, stoking the fire that Hurricane kindled.

"What?! No!" Puddinghead backed away from the murderous Hurricane, her unused legs feeling the stress of her weight. "You know that I use the gold for my luxuries! How do you think I got my new 'office'?!" Puddinghead reasoned.

"Everypony, please! Calm yourselves!" Ares desperately tried to diffuse the situation, however, Hurricanes' bloodlust seemed unstoppable.

Ares attempted to stop Hurricane by stepping in front of him, but Hurricane responded by pointing the dagger towards Ares's neck. "Step away Ares, a traitor must be punished..." Hurricane dangerously snarled, leaning the daggers' blunt side against Ares's neck. But Ares held his ground.

"My child, you must listen to reason before acting foolishly," Ares informed the fuming pegasus, the cold dagger still touching his neck. "Please..." He mumbled.

"..." Hurricanes' expressions began to soften, making Ares sign internally in relief. Hurricane sheathed his dagger back into his wings and stepped back, "You have 30 seconds mud pony." He demanded.

Puddinghead sighed in relief, whilst Platinum snarled quietly. Starswirl meanwhile watched on with disgust with the display, whilst the fillies were horrified by the quick escalation to violence.

"I'm the tax collector, nopony likes me you moron!" Puddinghead scolded, causing Hurricane to face-hoof in realisation.

"Of course... No mud ponies would support her..." Hurricane couldn't believe he forgot that Puddinghead was more hated than the unicorns and pegasus by the mud ponies. "She would've bribed a pegasus army then train a new mud pony one..." Hurricane concluded, refocusing on the scheming Platinum.

Platinum rubbed her hoof in guilt as Hurricane glared at her for stoking his anger. "I presume you will assist me destroying this rebellion?" He asked, knowing that Platinum could not decline.

"O-of course! Our noble mage will rally with your army!" Platinum stammered, not wanting to suffer the pegasuses' wrath.

"Good. Our 10,000 strong garrison will head towards the marching mud ponies." Hurricane decided, "They should make quick work on those farmers." Hurricane began to leave, implying the end of the congress.

As the ponies began to leave, Ares slowly approached Starswirl with a frown. "I worry what will happen next, my friend..." He began, which got Starswirls' attention.

"What troubles you, friend?" Starswirl leaned down to meet Ares's downtrodden face.

Ares looked up to recall a memory. "A dream has been plaguing my mind for months..." Ares continued, "A dream of retribution and freedom..." Ares shivered, "But also blood and death..."

"It's probably nothing friend," Starswirl assured, "Everything is going to be the same..."

A disappointing prelude

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"We've found the earth ponies commander!" General Shocker announced, flying down to Hurricanes' cloud. "They will be here in around an hour."

Hurricane was currently studying a map of their current surrounding whilst he was surrounded by unicorn nobles. "How many did you see?" He asked, checking the ground to ensure the map was accurate.

"They are currently marching in columns, and they are around 10,000 strong." Shocker answered the even columns allowing him to guess accurately. "They also have iron armour, weapons and strangely, giant wooden spoons."

"The spoon again..." Hurricane thought, fearing that he had killed Lefty needlessly. "Worry not, our elite pegasus army will scatter those untrained mud ponies." Hurricane dismissed, as everypony knew the only way to win battles were to employ trained, pegasus knights which would smash into enemy formations, routing them by force and speed.

"How about us? Will, you need our support?" The unicorn nobles asked, their entire body covered in golden armour.

"You will shield our officers whilst the mud ponies shoot their bolts," Hurricane decided, rolling up the map. "We will wait for the mud ponies to come and tire themselves out."

"Shall we prepare an ambush then?" Shocker asked, which got Hurricane shaking his head.

"Nay, an ambush will get us disorganised. Instead, tell the pegasuses to perch on top of clouds and tell them to attack at a signal. Make sure they are also grouped so our charge will not be scattered." Hurricane ordered, "A unicorn on me, you will be giving them the signal." A unicorn nodded, and the rest flew off. The other unicorns moving via cloud walking and a pegasus guard who carried their cloud.

"They're right above us..." Forest repeated, increasing the tension within the army.

A villager from a nearby hill had told them of a pegasus army that was hiding above the clouds sent to crush them, and they had prepared accordingly, telling all the soldiers to hold their pikes close so that they could raise them at the faintest notion.

"They're waiting to surround us..." Jaco stated, holding onto his crossbow firmly.

The soldiers braced themselves for a fight, intentionally slowing themselves down to not exhaust themselves. Catapults were moved to the centre of their columns instead of the back, as they knew they would be surrounded.

"Are they going to do anything?" Green complained, the fear of a looming battle overshadowing the fear of death. "A signal? A noise? Anything?"

"Be patient colt," Copper scolded, "A unicorn noble will probably initiate the battle with a flare spell..." Copper scanned the skies for any such signals.

Then they saw it.

A glaring red flare radiated across them, its orange glare reflecting off their iron plates. As every Jacobin looked up to see the spectacle, all the clouds above them dispersed into puffs to reveal a horde of pegasuses.

"PIKES UP!" Forest shouted, causing a blanket of poles and iron to rise and cover the suns' ray. "FORM SQUARES!" he barked, and the soldiers followed, moving into formation in an orderly manner.

"THEY HAVE SHIELDS! FIRE THE CATAPULTS FIRST!" Copper ordered, which caused many of the soldiers to retract their crossbows and focus on their pikes. The catapults fired.

"DESTROY THEM! CHARGE!" Shocker shouted, encouraging the pegasus to surge forward, diving straight towards the mud ponies to destroy them.

The earth ponies then suddenly raised giant spears and began grouping into individual squares, causing Shocker to hesitate slightly. "THEY ARE TRYING TO IMPALE US! HALT IMMEDIATELY!" The charging pegasuses agreed as they all stopped mid-charge to evaluate their situation.

"Where are our rangers?" Shocker asked himself, as he looked around to locate them. He found them lagging behind, still perched atop clouds so that their arrows wouldn't fly off.

"Sir! What do we do?" A pegasus lieutenant asked as they were forced to stare at the earth ponies below awkwardly, their surprise entirely gone.

"We wait for our rangers, charging now would be suicide." Shocker replied, watching the earth ponies staring at them too. Then he realised something. "SCATTER IMMEDIATELY! THEY ARE TRYING TO PICK US OFF WITH BOL-"

SPLAT

His words were cut off, as the hurled rocks annihilated him as well as the pegasus front and second lines, turning the skies into a cloud of dust, rocks, gut and blood. The rangers looked in horror, as their comrades directly below them were turned into paste. The unicorns held their horns and cringed in pain, as the blunt projectiles shattered their shields which were only conjured against piercing attacks.

"*Hrgk* I'm going to be sick..." A unicorn noble groaned, his horns aching and stomach-turning witnessing the gore.

"What... What just happened?!" Hurricane demanded, witnessing the wooden spoons hurling stones which devasted his charge. He began regretting killing Lefty, for he could've informed him of this devastating weapon.

"Now gentlecolts! Now's your time!" Jaco announced waving his helmet, prompting the soldiers to dig their pikes into the ground and aim their crossbows. Their targets were in the open, vulnerable, frozen in shock and terrified. It was perfect.

TWANG

The pegasuses tried to evade, but the hail of bolts climbed too quickly to avoid. They weren't strong enough to pierce their armour due to distance, but it pierced their wings and scattered their clouds, causing them to fall to the pike-ridden floor.

In response, the Jacobins hid under their shields attached to their pikes, stabilising the pikes by grabbing onto them.

It began raining pegasuses.

"Quite a sight innit'?" Forest piped, trying to lighten his soldier's moods from the gory scene. Nopony heeded him, and simply closed their eyes to prevent the blood from entering them.

The falling pegasuses were skewered onto pikes, the lucky ones dying instantly from the pikes scrambling their brains. However, some were kebab'ed or impaled by multiple pikes, their intestines and guts sprawling all over the shields attached to the pikes.

Hurricane saw helplessly as the wooden spoons were being reloaded, and their position seemed bleak. "RETREAT! BACK TOWARDS THE FORTRESS!" Hurricane boomed, flying immediately away, leaving the unicorn nobles to look over the routing pegasus.

The Jacobins meanwhile, stood shocked.

"THAT WAS IT?!" Forest gasped, expecting a gigantic battle, but instead witnessing an enemy army withdraw entirely after a single volley. "They are yet to be destroyed..." Forest grimly thought, as the escaping pegasus could just easily fly over them towards their holdings.

"Unfortunately yes, as we don't have the capabilities to chase them and destroy them." Green shrugged, memorising a detail in the book; If your opponents are more maneuverable, you stand no chance defeating them!" It had summarised an event when a large armour griffon force was defeated by a fast, light force by ending in battle which they could win and fleeing when they couldn't.

"Then how are we supposed to defeat them then?" Jaco inquired, whilst traces of blood dripped down his helmet.

"...by forcing them to fight us," Green concluded; already knowing how he could achieve this without burning villagers or mines to provoke a response.

"How will you achieve that?" Copper questioned Green; pondering what they could do.

"Why, by sieging everything of course," Green shrugged, as, without the forts, all the earth ponies would be free to do whatever they wanted. This meant that if they did not intervene, they would soon lose their food and starve. Green knew that they would forsee this, and knew that they would fight doggedly to protect their main headquarters; Cloudia.

After all, you can't defend something whilst flying. Or else, the earth ponies would simply take the forts and seal the roof, cutting the pegasus off.

The pegasus would fight.
The Jacobins would fight.
The unicorns would fight.

They would all fight on the ground.

A bird and her nest

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The war room was in unrest, the unicorn nobles demanded a retreat whilst the generals advocated an attack. Hurricane knew the unicorns just wanted to save their skin, and his generals were morons who craved glory and recognition.

"Silence!" Hurricane boomed, slamming the table with both hooves, causing a crack to form across it. "We cannot run further! Or else the earth ponies will have free reign over our countryside!" Hurricane reprimanded the cowardly unicorns, which got cheers from his moronic generals. "We also can't attack! They will shred us with their weapons!" Hurricane snapped at the cheering generals, causing them to whimper and lower their heads in shame.

"No, we must combine both tactics and defend our strongest fortress in all of Equestria." Hurricane decided, knowing that it would be the best chance to defeat an opposing army on equal grounds. "If we run from this fortress we will be handing our best fortifications to the mud ponies." Hurricane continued, "The mud ponies must be fought here, else we will have no other opportunity." Hurricane concluded, but feared it wouldn't work, as it hinged entirely if the earth ponies wanted to fight or not.

"What if they avoid us and siege another fort?" A noble asked, pointing a hoof at the nearby forts on the map. "You just said you will be rallying all the nearby fort garrisons to converge on our position." The unicorn realised, "This will leave our borders and holdings dangerously weak." The unicorn grew concerned, as Hurricane seemed to be amassing a giant army around him, which was expressly forbidden by the founding laws of Equestria, in fear of the pegasus overpowering the unicorns and vice versa via an overwhelming force. "What are you scheming..." The noble thought, retreating from the table.

Hurricane simply shrugged at the implication, "They have better weapons, it would be foolish not to fully mobilise the pegasus army to counter this apocalyptic threat." Hurricane assured the nobles, but they held their distance.

"You expect us to believe you need 200,000 soldiers to defeat a measly force of 10,000 mud ponies?!" A noble accused but immediately recoiled when the generals began closing in on them.

"...a necessary pre-emptive strike I assure you," Hurricane turned on the nobles, gesturing his generals to advance further. "After all, the pegasus has always been in the back-hoof." Hurricane mused, facing the window to observe the crescent moon.

"Why..? The unicorns have always supported you!" A noble cried out, the generals beginning to straighten ropes to tie them.

"You call strangleholds, support?" Hurricane growled, "The unicorns have always had a monopoly over our rightful iron." He wheeled back towards the helpless nobles, "I'm just removing another traitor nearby..." The generals began carrying the tied nobles outside, their fate unknown.

"Starswirl! I bring dire news!" Ares crashed the door open, a letter in his hooves.

Inside, Starswirl was lecturing the two fillies about astronomy, the alabaster filly barely keeping awake from boredom whilst the indigo filly was gleaming with a fascination with the topic. Starswirl slowly turned to face the sudden intruder. "Yes..?"

"It's horrible! You must see this!" Ares passed the letter to Starswirl with his magic, prompting Starswirl to grab it in front of him. "It's the pegasus Starswirl..." Ares informed as Starswirls' eyes began to widen in disbelief. "They've gathered their entire army in their capital."

"...the last time this happened-" Starswirl began,

"-was when the unicorns enforced a treaty on the pegasus." Ares finished, remembering when the nobles rallied to overpower the regional pegasus army, forcing them into concessions and giving up their controls over mines. "I fear a similar event brewing..." Ares foreshadowed, fearing that the earth pony rebellion might've been fabricated as an excuse.

"What will we do?" The indigo filly asked, her expressions screaming worry.

"I suggest you hide my friend, the pegasus might move any second." Ares cautioned as the pegasus could quickly catch up if they decided to run. "...and I believe I have just the place to do so." Ares realised, remembering a certain forgotten location.

"Oh? Where might that be?" Starswirl queried, already packing up his possessions into rolls with his magic.

"A place, so close yet so hidden that they would never find us." Ares proposed, garnering everyponys' attention. "It's of course the abandoned shrine beneath Cloudia." Ares grinned at the three ponys' reaction to his proposal,

"Straight below?! We'll be found for sure!" The indigo filly contended as the plans seemed suicidal.

"Not straight below my child, but near. It's located in the mountains facing their fortress." Ares assured, but the ponies kept worrying.

"How will we reach there without being detected?" The alabaster filly asked, unsure of the prospects.

"There is a hidden passage into the shrine only accessible by magic," Ares explained, remembering an internal lock that could only be unlocked via magic.

Starswirls' expressions began to lighten as he remembered the shrine as well, noting that it was covered with dirt, trees and vines due to its abandonment. "We leave immediately, there is no time to lose."

"WHAT?!" Platinum gasped, the news of Hurricane' betrayal finally reaching her.

"...they have taken some of our nobles hostage as well..." Clover informed, distraught over the news as well.

"We- we must escape! No! We need to hide!" Platinum stuttered, the chances of running slim due to the pegasus's speed.

"But where princess?" Clover sputtered, unaware of any spots in the palace.

"Advisor! Pack our necessities! We will depart to the abandoned shrine, !" Platinum decided, realising the shrine beneath Cloudia would be the best place to hide.

"Very good princess," Clover complimented the dramatic Platinum, who was assured of her safety.

"Mistress? Shall we leave this place?" Smart asked the gorging Puddinghead, who seemed undeterred at the current situation.

"Bah! This is a problem between the pegasus and the unicorns! I will stay here where it's safe!" Puddinghead dismissed, stubbornly staying in the Cloudian fortress, assured of their victory. "Better yet! Once the pegasus whoops those unicorns we could get their stuff!" Puddinghead laughed, as the servants continued serving her. Smart simply sighed internally.

"Brave rebels! Pegasuses are converging into Cloudia from all across Equestria!" A group of villagers informed the four leaders, who nodded in understanding. "They are more than 200,000 of them! Turn back, warriors!"

"Perfect..." Green whispered, garnering a nod from the other three leaders,

"We thank you for your information, however, this must be done." Copper waved off the villagers, doing so many times before. They simply nodded and galloped away to their villages.

"I can see it... Cloudian Fortress..." Green muttered, pointing towards a speck in the distance.

"We've come so far... We will not fall back..." Jaco growled, stomping the ground.

"The entire pegasus army... Right here... Right now..." Forest dreamily mumbled, imagining their situation as an epic, a story of good versus evil.

"May our sacrifice not be in vain..." Copper repeated, their columns marching confidently towards a futile battle.

Everypony would witness the battle. From soldiers to peasants, nobles and generals, kings and queens, princes and princesses. They would witness greatness

The finest hour

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"Worry not fillies, the shrine is near," Ares informed the whining fillies, as they were travelling through a forest around the mountain.

"I can't believe we'll be hiding right under their fortress... It seems... Unrealistic." The indigo filly worried, rubbing her hoof in fear.

"I'm sure we'll be fine sister." The alabaster filly assured the indigo one, rubbing her head against her.

Starswirl suddenly raised a hoof, stopping the group. In front of them, they heard several rustling bushes. The fillies grabbed onto each other whilst Ares and Starswirl began lighting up their horns.

"Slow down advisor! And remove these leaves in my mane!" a voice complained from the bushes, relaxing the groups' stance.

"Platinum..?" Ares questioned, moving the bush aside with magic to reveal two familiar unicorns.

"Princess. And her advisor." Starswirl told the fillies, who relaxed upon observing the familiar unicorns.

Platinum turned to notice the four ponies staring at them, and recoiled in surprise. She teleported close to them and exclaimed, "STARSWIRL?! ARES?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Clover groaned in response and began walking towards her princess.

"We are seeking sanctuary in the shrine near this mountain," Ares replied, causing Platinum's eyes to widen.

"How did y-" Platinum realised, "Oh... Of course, head of faith..." She mumbled, garnering a nod from Ares.

"Shall we move together? It will be nice having another friend join us during our stay." Ares offered, whilst Clover finally arrived, panting in exhaustion.

"Of course..." Platinum agreed, "Thank Solaris... I was beginning to lose my bearings..." she began tailing the group, occasionally spotting the fillies glaring at her in hatred. She paid them no mind.

"I can't believe how this place holds up..." The indigo filly marvelled, the shrine's opening is covered by vines and trees causing light to split and illuminate the decaying interior.

"It's... Strangely beautiful..." The alabaster filly marvelled as well, observing how the minimal amount of light still brightened the shrine.

"Look! Over in the distance!" Clover shouted, leaning over an opening facing the fortress, pointing towards an approaching army.

Everypony lined the walls and looked over their own opening facing the fortress. They gasped. What they saw was an earth pony army.

(The battlefield is a plain with two mountains on each side.)

"They actually came..." Hurricane chuckled, their 200,000 overshadowing the mud ponys' 10,000. They would march towards the unicorns on the corpse of these mud ponies, Hurricane narrated, as the Jacobins continued marching to their obvious demise.

Hurricane had ordered the fortress to be stationed on the ground, having witnessed the strength of the 'wooden spoons' and correctly assessed that having a floating stationary target would be a bad idea. His grand army faced the puny mud pony column, their great numbers having surrounded the enemy quickly, cutting them off from any escape.

Hurricane had told his army to stick to the ground, lest the wooden spoons destroy them in the air. The Jacobins watched on as they were completely surrounded, having scattered into squares to have space to retreat further inwards. Hurricane stepped forward, the mud ponies hurrying to battle formations.

"Surrender earth ponies! You are utterly outnumbered and surrounded!" Hurricane reasoned with the puny army, however, his words fell on deaf ears, as the Jacobins used the time to work on their formations. "You will be given safe passage! You will all be allowed to return to your villages in peace!" Hurricane baited, but the Jacobins knew it was a lie. They have fallen for it for too long.

A bolt flew across the air, shot by an angered earth pony, it flew straight towards the exposed Hurricane, narrowly missing him, but passing through the tufts of his helmet. "...so be it. ATTACK!"

https://youtu.be/cnYLRoa6PaI

Hordes of pegasuses thundered forward, swords drawn and wingblades fastened. They hovered low, gliding across the ground heading straight towards the lowered pikes of the Jacobins. The charging pegasuses saw gaps between the pikes quickly disappear as they neared them, but they could not fall back nor stop. The momentum of the charge forbade them to.

The Jacobins braced for impact, digging their hooves into the ground as they hid behind their shields. They would not receive support from the catapults as the pegasus stuck to the ground, making any hurled projectiles useless. Arrows rained down upon them, however, the sheer number of pikes being raised blocked them like cobwebs against insects.

The first pegasus line smashed into the pikes, their deaths being swift but brutal. Many faltered and tried to back up, but their comrades behind them pushed forward, skewering them onto the pikes. The square formation was squished into rectangles from the force, the Jacobins doggedly pushed back against the pegasus charge.

Several pegasuses attempted to fly over the pikes, however were stopped by the blanket of pikes covering the Jacobins' head. They looked around desperately for an opening, but we're quickly struck down by crossbows, sending them down towards the unmoving pikes.

The pikes in the front were blunted and stuck from the dead bodies of the pegasus, forcing the Jacobins holding them to drop them and dissolve into the rank to retrieve another, whilst the second line surged forward to fill in the spot. Unfortunately, due to the chaotic timing of tho replacement, the squares began to retreat very slowly inwards, strangeling their position.

The lucky few pegasuses who managed to maneuver past the three layers of pikes were treated kindly by the Jacobins' swords, which bludged and slashed the intruders to death. However, it wasn't only the pegasus suffering the casualties, as some pegasuses were able to push past the blunted pikes and hack at the armoured earth ponies, their barrels virtually invincible, however their face and hooves vulnerable to attacks. So they fell, many bleeding out from their hooves with mutilated faces.

Hurricane could see his pegasuses pushing despite high casualties, he smiled when the catapults could not be fired due to the angle of their attacks. The fighting did not let up for even a second, as the pegasus continued to push the Jacobins slowly backwards. " We are winning Hurricane thought.

Green was no stranger to blood nor death. Albert had made sure he knew this. Yet, his stomach churned and his throat burned upon seeing the carnage of battle first-hoof. He had stationed himself in the front to inspire his soldiers, however, he quickly regretted it, as he had seen two mindless pegasus skewer themselves onto his pike, their blood splattering all across his face. He had fallen back like the other, letting the second line take their positions so he could pick up another pike, but he didn't want to go back. He wanted to see his family again, his sister and his parents. "I should've listened... I should've stayed..." Green scolded himself, finally wiping the blood off his face.

Forest and Jaco stood side-by-side, hacking away at the pegasuses and retreating back into the pike formations periodically as to not exhaust themselves. Their armour blocked any attacks to their barrels and head, however, left them open to swipes on their hooves, evident by short cuts all over their hooves. They did not speak, simply retreating as one and fighting as one. But they were both thinking the same thing; "We must win"

Copper stood in the centre of their position, surrounded by four catapults and a handful of ponies that operated them. He was currently scanning an area for the catapults to bombard, however, so far his opportunities were bleak. He wanted to join his ponies and fight, however, the catapult teams forbade his departure, citing that his death would cause a collapse of morale. He had begrudgingly accepted. "Be safe my ponies..." Copper prayed.

Everypony in the shrine looked dazed at the sight, there the earth ponies held; holding up against the largest pegasus army in history, fighting if possessed against the overwhelming force. Most other armies would've run away or surrendered immediately, but the earth ponies dug their hooves into the ground, stubbornly resisting the attack. Everypony except Platinum admired their resolve and bravery, whilst the former cowered at what they were capable of. The fillies were especially enamoured, as they watched on rooting for the earth ponies. Starswirl watched in amazement at the strategy and weapons deployed by the earth ponies, using his magic to zoom into the battle for a better view. Ares prayed for the earth ponys' souls, ensuring their peace in the afterlife. Clover meanwhile, noticed the darkening battlefield. "Look! The skies!" Clover exclaimed, pointing at the gathering thunderclouds from the opposite mountains.

The Jacobins looked in horror as they were being shadowed by the approaching thunderclouds, their tightly packed formations vulnerable against the strikes of lightning. They knew how inaccurate it was, and how it could just hit their own pegasuses, but they also knew it had a chance to decimate an entire squad or two.

Hurricane began to grin madly at the arrival of his thunderclouds, as it could rival the terror of the wooden spoons the mud ponies brought, except louder and usable in this battle. "Only a matter of time before they break..." Hurricane brooded, speculating several strikes of lightning would devastate the mud ponys' morale.

Copper frantically ordered his catapults to aim at the introduced threat, hurling a massive volley at the giant cloud. At first, they celebrated as the cloud dispersed, Copper exhaling a breath of relief at the diffused situation. Then, five more came.

The Jacobins operating the catapults all dropped their tools and weapons at the sight, their eyes widened and their mouths agape. The clouds were all already beginning to spark, causing the siege operators to begin run around aimlessly or duck behind cover, whilst Copper tried desperately to rally his soldiers to reload the catapults. "EVERYPONY! GET BACK INTO POSITIONS!" Copper futilely ordered, trying to pry a pony holding onto the catapults defiantly.

"IT'S HOPELESS! WE WILL BE STRUCK!" A pony screamed, running away from the catapults as the thunderclouds began to spark louder. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"Sir?! Orders?!" A pony ran up to Copper, who was now focusing on the clouds above him, scratching his chin slowly with his hoof.

Copper drooped his head and removed his helmet. He passed it off to the questioning pony, who grabbed onto it confused. "Sir?" He asked again, as Copper grabbed onto his pike.

"Tell my ponies; I'm sorry." Copper pushed past the confused pony and began galloping to the highest point of their position. All the Jacobins watched in confusion as he stood on his hind hooves, and pointed the pike upwards as if to pierce the skies. He remained motionless at the peak, even as the clouds grew louder, and the sparks became longer. Only Green realised his intentions.

"LONG LIVE THE JACOBINS!" Copper boomed out, tearing out his lungs in the process.
CRACK

The thunder swerved from its target, incinerating Copper and the Pike, leaving a patch of charred ground on which he previously stood and a trail of ash.

Hurricane watched wide-mouthed.
Green continued to cry, having done so before the strike.
Forests' rage grew tenfold.
Jacos' bloodlust grew twentyfold.
The Jacobins watched with silence, their pikes held in place.
The pegasuses briefly halted their assault, having witnessed something spectacular.
Starswirls' respect grew exponentially.
The fillies' admiration heightened.
Ares's prayers became external, no longer a thought.
Clover cried at the tragedy and sacrifice.
Platinum's fear turned to amazement.

"KILL THEM ALL!" the Jacobins broke their stupor in a fury of motions, their backlines moving first, prompting the next to move like a wave.
"CHARGE!!!" Forest screamed, as the entire Jacobin army galloped forward, crashing into the frozen pegasuses with murderous speed and fury.

"AVENGE COPPER! LONG LIVE THE JACOBINS!" The pony holding Coppers' helmet boomed out, prompting the hiding siege engineers to rally and man(stallion?) their stations once more. "You! Hold my helmet," The booming pony called out, throwing off his helmet to a random engineer. "Someponys' still gotta take care of the lightning," he winked, and ran up to the peak with his own pike, standing on the charred spot. The clouds began to crackle again.

"NOT A STEP BACKWARDS!!!" Jaco screamed, flailing madly at the routing pegasuses, their entire frontline melting away at their charge. "PRESENT YOUR CROSSBOWS!" Jaco ordered, causing all the ponies throughout his lines to aim their crossbows at the fleeing pegasuses. "FIRE!"

A wave of bolts rung out throughout his line, the ponies firing them when their comrades next to them did, causing them to be fired in waves. The bolts all hit their mark, as the routing pegasuses were packed close, resulting in them falling and sabotage their comrades' chances of escape. The charging Jacobins then annihilated them, skewering those who still stood and trampling those who fell. Their armour no longer shined by the coat of blood.

CRACK

Another lightning strike rang out, leaving another trail of ash and another willing pony who took their place. Their sacrifice wasn't in vain, however, as the catapults were able to disperse all 5 clouds, as many of the rocks struck multiple clouds at once. This meant they could focus on the pegasuses, as the fleeing pegasuses in the air proved easy targets.

Hurricane couldn't believe what he was seeing, as an obviously smaller army was routing a force that outnumbered them by 20:1. "Commander! We need orders!" A general broke Hurricanes' stupor, his continuous shouts for orders finally reaching him.

"SEND THE RESERVES! CUT DOWN ANY WHO FLEES! WE OUTNUMBER THEM FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Hurricane snapped, drawing his own blade to join the battle. "THEY CAN STILL BLEED! THEY CAN STILL DIE! WE OUTNUMBER THEM AND CAN ONLY LOSE BY COWARDICE!" Hurricane fumed at his generals and reserves, "BATTLES ARE WON NOT BY ROUTES BUT THROUGH VICTORIES! CHARGE!" The gathered pegasuses cheered and charged against the mud ponies' assault, killing any who tried to flee to discourage cowardice. The once routing pegasuses wheeled back in response and crashed against the Jacobins' lines, snapping some of the pikes due to the overwhelming force.

The Jacobins' lines were dangerously thin, some sections of the lines only being only three ponies wide. The pegasuses rammed into their lines, expecting them to fall and break, but instead, they met rage. The Jacobins wanted blood, they wished to avenge all the earth ponies that had died and suffered due to the pegasus hood. Even as the entire pegasus army pressed up against the Jacobins' lines, pressing their own soldiers to death between their push and the Jacobins' pikes and shields, the earth ponies did not fall back. Instead, they slowly trotted forwards, compressing the bodies between the two armies further.

"LONG LIVE THE JACOBINS!!!" The earth ponies suddenly shouted, knocking the entire pegasus army backwards, many impaling themselves on their comrades' weapons or their own in their fall.

SHRK
The Jacobins pushed their pikes forward, impaling the fallen pegasuses in front of them, and began lifting them like a javelin.
"CHARGE!!!" Forest rang out again, prompting all the Jacobins to throw their pikes forward and impale another line of pegasuses, causing the pikes to become filled with impaled bodies. The Jacobins then drew their swords.

The pegasuses at the back could only see thrown pikes protruding from the crowd of soldiers holding up pegasuses to its tip. They could not even feel the frontlines pushing backwards to retreat from the slashing Jacobins. They were expressly told to not fly up, which meant they could not see what was happening. They could've easily flown up and charged now that the pikes were gone, but they were unaware. They simply waited for their turns to be hacked whilst the Jacobin reserves hurriedly brought new pikes to fix their vulnerability.

The Jacobins slowly advanced, trotting over the countless dead bodies of pegasuses, and rarely encountering their own. A cycle of skewering with the pikes, throwing them once filled, and slashing continued, their own exhaustion ignored by the need for vengeance. Occasionally, it would rain blood, as fleeing pegasuses would fly up and be immediately annihilated by their catapults. Their armour was still impenetrable by the pegasuses' weapons, which allowed them to keep up the assault, as a seeing could be parried by leaning forward with their helmets.

But suddenly, their manes began to lift upwards, and the ground started to kick dirt. The pegasus line finally began to retreat, but the wind kept growing stronger. The confused Forest and Jaco looked up. Their mouths gaped open in surprise, prompting everypony else to look up. They saw a tornado.

"HOLD ON!" Forest shouted, grabbing onto his weapons firmly against the quickly approaching tornado.

"SHOOT THOSE PEGASUSES!" Jaco ordered, pointing towards the circling pegasuses creating the tornado. And from the blurs, he recognised a certain pegasus commander. "COMMANDER HURRICANE IS AMONG THEM! LOAD YOUR CROSSBOWS QUICKLY!" Jaco frantically ordered, attempting to load his own crossbow, however, failing due to the strengthening winds attracting his bolts.

"FORGET THE CROSSBOWS! HOLD ONTO YOUR WEAPONS SOLDIERS!" Green and Forest ordered through the deafening winds, the Jacobins complying and holding on. The catapults futilely attempted to shoot down the pegasuses, however, they would always be replaced by another elite squad that continued to circulate the tornado.

https://youtu.be/Eg5QlXqovd4

The catapults only stopped firing once the tornado grew large enough to consume their entire army, picking up all the soldiers except for the engineers who stuck close to their catapults. Only when the Jacobins were elevated enough did the tornado cease, tossing and plummeting the heavily armoured earth ponies into the ground, scattered all across the battlefield. No longer in formation. Vulnerable at every angle. Just how Hurricane liked it.

Few earth ponies plummeted to their deaths, however, many landed with broken bones and snapped pikes. Luckily, the tornado didn't last long, as the pegasuses didn't have enough trained elites to pull off the stunt, and the ones which died were the first to be picked up, which meant they accelerated in the tornado the longest. The surviving Jacobins quickly realised their shattered formations and even more quickly spotted the incoming pegasuses. "No rest for the righteous. They all thought, grabbing onto their swords and attaching their shields. They didn't have time to retreat back into formation. No, they would stay and fight 'till the death. Even if the horde consumed them.

Forest quickly rolled back onto his hooves, as he was one of the few who were picked up last, meaning he suffered minimal injuries. However, he feared the safety of Jaco, who was one of the first to be picked up by the tornado. His thoughts were quickly broken, however, as a pegasus lunged at him with a sword, prompting him to parry and pay attention to his surroundings. Luckily, he had a few other earth ponies nearby, who quickly converged next to him, covering his back. "Prepare yourselves for death gentlecolts, for this is will be our finest hour," Forest informed the determined soldiers, as he parried another slash and plunged his sword at his attackers' neck, killing him after a gurgle of blood.

Green slammed into the ground, his lightness working to his detriment, as he was one of the first to be picked up by the winds. He attempted to pick himself up, however, he panicked when he couldn't feel like hind hooves. He fearfully looked backwards to observe the damage, and nearly fainted when he saw his hind hooves completely destroyed, as it resembled more like a crumpled piece of cloth. His disgust was quickly disturbed by the sound of trotting hooves, as several earth ponies surrounded him to protect against the approaching pegasuses. "Should've stayed home colt." The soldiers scolded Green, raising their swords to meet the pegasuses'. Green simply wept. At least he had landed near the intact catapults.

Jaco somehow landed on top of a pegasus, softening his landing. However, when he lifted himself up to see where he landed, he freezer in shock. He was at first surprised to have landed on an elite storm maker, the same pegasuses who had conjured the tornado. But, his surprise came from the pegasus in front of him. Commander Hurricane.

Hurricane had recoiled when his storm maker was squashed by a plummeting mud pony, however, his shock turned to anger as it stood up, and stared dumbfoundedly at him. Unfortunately, his guards were sent forward to help with the tornado, and they hadn't come back yet, forcing him to bloody his own hooves and wings. But he wasn't complaining. Hurricane flashed his wingblades at the mud pony.

Jaco recoiled in response, despite still being in a daze due to the tornado, he drew his sword to meet Hurricanes' threat. The pegasus simply grinned in response.

Hurricane lunged forward without warning, completely surprising Jaco and slashing a wide gash across Jacos' face, making him stumble as well due to the force.

"I'm not much for monologuing, but what gave you mud ponies the confidence to defeat us?" Hurricane mocked the groaning Jaco, who shakily rose back up to his hooves.

Jaco took the time to rise completely up, not answering the question, and instead, pulling out a crossbow which he loaded before he was picked up by the winds. "The name's Jacobin, not mud pony." He deadpanned and loosed a bolt at Hurricane, who narrowly dodged it from hitting his head, but struck his wings instead, as he rolled out of the way.

"...you're dead mud pony..." Hurricane growled murderously, pulling out the bolt forcefully out his wings. Jaco simply grinned with his gashed mouth and tossed his crossbow aside, grabbing his sword with both hooves.

Hurricane lunged again, but this time, Jaco rolled out the way, putting his sword forward where he previously was, cutting the charging Hurricanes' barrel and sending him rolling into the ground.

Hurricane quickly rolled back onto his hooves and lunged again, not letting Jaco prepare. His wingblades harmlessly collided with Jacos' armour, however, was thrown back again by the force.

Hurricane did not let Jaco get back up, and instead flew upwards and dived onto Jacos' face hoof-first, causing a satisfying crack to ring out in the field, as Jacos' teeth broke off.

Jaco tried to push Hurricane off, however, was bombarded with a flurry of swipes from Hurricanes' wingblades that gashed his exposed skin. The pain strengthened Jaco, and he was finally able to push Hurricane off, but not until he had left several small cuts all over Jacos' face and some deep ones on his neck, which was thankfully not deep enough to cause uncontrollable bleeding. Jaco has also lost his helmet, and the bleeding blinded him.

Jaco helplessly looked around to locate Hurricane, however, blood covered his eyes, so he tried to wipe it away, only to be hit by Hurricane again, sending him rolling across the field.

"You think mud ponies could defeat us pegasuses?!" Hurricane mocked again, flying around Jaco to hit him again at an unexpected angle.

Hurricane dived again, this time aiming at his armour covering his barrel, which finally broke off and collapsed on the field, leaving Jaco vulnerable.

"Your rebellion will die! Just like how I am about to do!" Hurricane snarled and unsheathed a dagger from his wing, aiming to plunge it deep into Jacos' heart.

Jaco meanwhile frailed aimlessly, pointing his sword at the air like a lunatic as he was blinded. But strangely, he did not wipe the blood off his eyes.

Hurricane dived a final time, plunging the dagger into Jacos' exposed chests and pinning him against the ground. Jaco screamed out in pain, his eyes still closed due to the blood.

Hurricane began to twist the dagger, widening the wound and plunging the dagger deeper into his chest. Blood began to seep out the exposed wound. "Only a moronic mud pony would not wipe their own eyes to see..." Hurricane insulted the screaming Jaco. But then, he suddenly stopped.

Hurricane slowly drifted his eyes towards Jacos' right hoof, which held his sword firmly. Hurricane realised Jacos' intent and tried to pull back, only to be grasped by Jacos' left hoof. Jaco opened his clean eyes.

"*Cough*...Fucking moron..." Jaco gasped out, blood gurgling his voice. Hurricane tried to frail madly to escape. Jaco simply swung wide and crashed his sword against Hurricanes' neck. Hurricanes' eyes twitched. Jaco twisted his sword out and swung again. Hurricanes' head thunked off.

Jaco leaned back against the field, blood gurgling out his mouth. His eyes shook in its socket. He finally closed them, relaxing his stance whilst warm blood flowed out Hurricanes' neck across his mutilated body. Jaco finally joined Copper in the afterlife.

https://youtu.be/z7lZPSZFQak

Sounds of swords clashing and armours scratching rung out across the battlefield, as the Jacobins were scattered and surrounded by the pegasuses 5:1. The surrounding pegasuses could not approach nor attack the surrounded mud ponies at once, as they held tight positions, limiting the combat width to their liking.

Forest had first thought they were doomed, but they were holding up pretty well against the pegasuses, as their superior armour and weapons prevented the pegasuses from approaching. "Strange, Forest thought, "Why are they not attacking us? It feels like they are.... Intentionally delay us..." Forest realised, and gazed across the field to scan for any incoming pegasuses. He found one. They were charging straight towards them.

The surrounding pegasuses quickly disengaged, aiming to let their charging comrades to sweep the scattered and vulnerable mud ponies, but not before being shot by them with crossbows. "COWARDS!" The Jacobins cried, but the pegasuses didn't stop, fleeing behind their charging comrades.

The Jacobins watched dumbly as the pegasuses charged towards them. They had nothing. No pikes. Too scattered to form squares. Too disorganised to effectively defend. Completely exhausted. "Is this the end..?" Forest muttered, as the noise of shouting and jeering pegasuses quickly approached them.

The ponies in the shrine watched on as the charging pegasuses quickly began to converge into the earth ponys' positions. The fillies shut their eyes in distraught. Starswirl and Clover shook their heads in acceptance. Platinum began to fear once more about the pegasuses' wrath. But Ares continued to pray. "Please God... Save these ponies..." They continued to look, as the earth ponies were frozen and the pegasuses charged screaming murder, as they wished for revenge.

STOMP!STOMP!STOMP!

A series of large stomps from atop the opposite mountains rung out, stopping the pegasuses from their tracks due to the sheer noise. The Jacobins and Pegasuses looked up the mountains to locate the noise.

From the shrine, all the ponies could see the massive army of earth ponies that had gathered on top of the opposite mountain. The fillies reopened their eyes in wonder, and the other ponies brightened upon seeing another army.

Atop the mountains were earth ponies all across Equestria who had heard of the great bravery of a rebelling army that was marching towards the pegasus's capital to save them. They had come ignoring their fellow villagers' warnings, wielding makeshift weapons and farming tools. The Jacobins looked up in amazement and gratitude whilst the pegasuses looked up in horror.

"CHARGE! FOR THE JACOBINS!" The gathered earth ponies shouted, prompting them all to gallop down the mountains with incredible speed to join the Jacobins.

"WE AREN'T LOST YET! FIGHT WITH EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT! LONG LIVE THE JACOBINS!" Forest boomed, causing a wave of cheers to ring out across their scattered army. Instead of retreating or defending, the Jacobins attacked. Despite their odds being bleak. Despite being outnumbered. Despite being disorganised. They charged. They charged with the same mindset as before. After all, attacking is the best defence.

The pegasuses finally broke, scattering into the air to flee, only to be picked off easily by the catapults and crossbows. They saw the once broken Jacobins showing renewed strength, their spirits reinvigorated through sheer will alone.

The pegasus army ceased to exist.

The crows begin to circle

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TWO DAYS HAD PASSED

Forests' hatred grew once discovering Jacos' dead body next to Hurricanes'. Two tombstones were erected to pay respect to the fallen Copper and Jaco. The villagers returned to spread the news of their victory.

Green became bound to a wooden wheel wagon, as his hind hooves were beyond repair. Forest had lost an eye during his charge, as a desperate pegasus loosed an arrow at him, hitting dead straight in his eyes.

The victorious Jacobins immediately retreated to their northeast settlement, fearing destruction or a counter-attack from the silent unicorns. It never came.

Treachery in the Cloudian Fortress was circulated, as Puddinghead was found dead from a supposed heart attack from shock. But there are some theories and talks that it was Smart who had killed her, as Puddingheads' body couldn't be found, and Smart Cookie had ascended to the position of chancellorship immediately upon the news of Puddingheads' death.

The news of the Jacobins' victory rippled throughout Equestria, some even reaching their rival and warring neighbours of Equestria.

The villagers immediately stopped listening to the pegasuses and unicorns, citing the Jacobins as their true protectors and overlords. The annihilated pegasuses could do nothing, and the unicorns could only shake their hooves angrily at this betrayal.

The unicorns quickly filled the power vacuum of the pegasuses, as Hurricane had died, effectively leaving the pegasuses leaderless. The unicorn nobles attempted to sabotage the pegasus's recovery by appointing Private Pansy as their new commander, citing her close relationship as the advisor of Hurricane as an excuse. Unfortunately, Pansy proved to be more capable than previously thought.

All of the earth pony villages and settlements except the nobles proclaimed their inclusion into the Jacobin rebellion, however, their nations' name hasn't been decided.

As their borders were no longer protected and their army ceased to exist, Platinum called for another congress to discuss their situation.

"EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART!" Platinum exclaimed, her hooves prying her eyes open. "WE ARE DOOMED!"

"How bad is it Clover?" Starswirl asked the advisor, having gotten to know her in the shrine. "A brilliant mind for sure, Starswirl thought, wishing he could lecture her too.

"Border raids have increased a hundredfold, there're reports of the zebra and diamond dog chieftains invading our territories from the east, Buffalos, minotaurs, centaurs invading from the south, river raids by hippogriffs from the west and regular raids by changelings and deers as well." Clover rambled, causing everypony in the congress except Platinum to widen their eyes in surprise. "But... We do have one good news!" Clover reassured, preventing the ponies from mongering like her princess.

"...and that is?" Starswirl implored, the fillies leaning forward as well.

"The Jacobins have taken to defend the north, and have prevented any invasions from the yaks and crystal ponies." Clover relayed, calming the ponies down except Platinum, who continued to whine about their doom. "They have also reported having sent detachments to our borders to defend against the invaders." Clover finished, having successfully invigorated the ponies. Well, except Platinum...

"THAT JUST MEANS WE ARE DOOMED EVEN MORE!" Platinum continued to invoke fear, "WHAT WILL THEY DO ONCE THEY FOCUS ON US?!" Platinum panicked, leaving her seat and circling aimlessly near the table. She began to bite her hoof in worry. "They will humiliate us! Torture us! Execute us! DEFILE US!" Platinum speculated, which made several of the unicorn guards twitch in fear.

"What about the harvests? Will we starve this year?" Starswirl hesitantly asked Clover, who simply drooped her head in withdrawal.

"Most likely. The villagers have refused to recognise us." Clover sighed, she began to want the oppressive pegasuses back now that the earth ponies were in charge.

Starswirl began to scratch his chin in thought, as the fillies discussed what will happen to Equestria now that the earth ponies were in charge.

Ares remained silent, believing that the earth ponies winning was a divine punishment by Solaris against the pegasuses and unicorns for continuing to oppress them. Ares had been advocating his fellow unicorns to treat the earth ponies better before, but noopny had listened to him until now, as the earth ponies suddenly became the power holders.

Smart was still out of the loop, too busy trying to fix all of Puddingheads' problems and deficits. It didn't help that the earth ponies still hated Puddinghead and her establishment, which meant the hate simply transferred over to her upon Puddingheads' death.

Pansy was also too busy attempting to rebuild the pegasus army, however, their ponypower pool had been run dry, as Hurricane had already scraped the barrels in his recruitment, which meant she had to empty entire garrisons and hope that the Jacobins would defend them to create an army to oppose enemy armies.

Then suddenly, Platinum was struck with brilliance, and quickly dashed onto the table, slamming onto it, and gaining everyponys' attention. "WE MUST SEND AN ENVOY TO THESE REBELS!" Platinum demanded, slamming the table with every word.

"...they will not negotiate anything with us..." Smart groaned, rubbing her temples with her hooves. "We are all too hated to negotiate..."

"That's why I elect Starswirl as our envoy!" Platinum concluded, yet again throwing the grand wizard onto the problem. "Everypony knows him! And he's a hero!"

"..." Starswirl glared at Platinum, who remained proud of her decisions. "...I see no other options as well... I will go..." Starswirl conceded, dropping his head in acknowledgment.

"What?! Why does our teacher always have to do everything?!" The indigo filly whined as she knew this wasn't the first time Starswirl had to save the entire nation.

"Hush filly! It's because he's the only one capable of the task!" Platinum scolded the indigo filly, silencing her.

"But-!" The indigo filly was stopped by Starswirls' hoof,

"It's true, and we must make haste before anypony suffers due to our delay," Starswirl informed the filly, who simply drooped her head in sad understanding.

"Good luck my friend... I shall pray for your safe travels and success..." Ares hummed, which made Starswirl nod. The entire fate of the Equestrian lands hinged on the grand wizard once more and his exit was followed by the stares of gathered nobles and pegasus generals.

He had to succeed...

Green waited outside his home. He had enjoyed his travel back to their holdings, as the villagers threw them parties and cheered their names as they marched back home. But now that he was back, he worried what his family's reaction would be.

He had lost both hind hooves, forcing him to use wheelwagons to move. He feared that the sight would devastate his sister and mother. He feared that the scars on his face would terrify them, but he braced himself for their reaction. He knocked on the door.

He heard several loud crashes and stumbles from the house, as the noise slowly approached the door. The inhabitants frantically rushing to the door as they knew who it was from the returning soldiers.

The door slammed open, revealing an excited but tired Little, evident by the dark circles on her eyes. Green cringed at the condition of her little sister, whilst Litlles' happiness quickly turned to sadness as her eyes slowly drifted downwards to spot Greens' wheelwagon.

"I-" Green tried to start, but was conflicted to either say he had returned or was sorry. He realised Littles' eyes beginning to water. "I'm sor-"

Green was tackled by Little, causing him to be knocked off his wheelwagon and fall on the steps of his house. He felt his sisters' head nuzzling his chest, and her tears beginning to soak his fur. He hugged back. In the background, he saw his parents hugging happily, glad that he was back.

They had won. It felt like a victory. It was a victory. It was glorious.

Blissful Griffon isolation

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Paul was laughing madly at his report. The German empire had finally fully industrialised and westernised, capitalists present in every state, bureaucrats enforcing rule and order, labourers extracting their endless natural resources, workers producing in factories, the reduced but more efficient farmers producing food surpluses, soldiers... Soldiering, and intellectuals researching. Paul grew louder.

Bismarck tried to ignore Paul, focusing on his reports. He was glad that he didn't have to participate in diplomacy again; his greatest talent, but also his greatest tragedy. He had grown tired of it a long time ago, his only motivation being the continued prestige and peace for his vulnerable German Empire.

Currently, he was reviewing the state of his army; he had built it up ever since their proclamation as a state and had racked up to 6 million soldiers in total, (including reserves). "6 million..." Bismarck pondered, "I could take over the entire world with this... Bismarck wondered, his endless columns of men marching into the Equis continent with impunity. "No... That would stretch us to our limit..." Bismarck retracted, not wanting to make the same mistakes as the Romans did; overextend.

Bismarck began to re-read the encounter their tank squad had described in meeting the other civilisations throughout their journey and was glad that they were primitive at best. However, the idea of magic still confused and shook him, as he still did not know what 'unicorn magic' was capable of.

"Shall we reach out to these 'earth ponies'?" Bismarck asked the cackling Paul, who coughed violently in response. "...we have already left a good impression... And it would be nice having a satellite state to protect our future colonies," Bismarck explained the still-coughing Paul.

Paul finally stopped and cleared his throat. "It depends on how we will 'reach' out." Paul implored Bismarck to specify, the thought of sharing knowledge leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

"Perhaps a basic trade agreement; we give them food for exchange of natural resources." Bismarck deliberated, thinking he had finally found the use for the surplus wasted food.

"From the reports, these 'earth ponies' are all farmers. I highly doubt they would buy food." Paul countered, still adamant in isolating the German empire from any foreign politics or stage.

"...Then perhaps we could give them primitive weapons? Or maybe the equivalent weapons everybody else is using." Bismarck offered, thinking of giving early-medieval or ancient weapons to the primitive 'earth ponies'.

Paul began to ponder the proposal but quickly dismissed it, as it would look awkward for a modern griffon to sell primitive spears to 'allies' whilst wielding a gun and riding a tank. But he quickly gained a devilish idea. "...I have a better decision..." Paul leaned close to Bismarck, confiding it near his ears. Bismarck simply raised a brow in interest and leaned in as well.

"Gunboat diplomacccccccy..." Paul hissed ominously, chasing Bismarck to realise the prospects as well.

"You mean zeppelin diplomacy?" Bismarck corrected, as there were no large rivers or navigated bodies of water to travel and enforce their demands.

"My point stands." Paul shrugged, leaning back. He would finally get the opportunity to use their flying airships; an improved design with an extremely thick hull thanks to a 'magical' gas that could lift the airship x30 more than helium or hydrogen could. Paul madly grinned.

The SMS (Equivalent to HMS, except sounds less British and cliché} Moltke and SMS Johanna landed at their last stop before their departure; the airports of Strasburg for a final refuel and picking-up of the experienced soldiers that had already traversed the Equis lands; Nina and her squad.

Albert was adamant about staying, however, was tempted by the prospects of gaining more joints. Harold was given the green light from his parents to embark once more, and hopefully, see Green and Little again.

Nina's crew were quickly brought to the brig of SMS Johanna to begin advising the admirals of the destination of the earth ponies on their unfinished map. Planes already buzzed through the air in practice for the days to come.

The zebras and diamond dog would think they were hallucinating for the days to come...

"Why wouldn't you let me go?" Bismarck groaned, limped in his seat.

"Because you are integral to this nation's governance!..and I'm not going to be the only one suffering..." Paul turned and whispered the final bit, causing Bismarck to raise his brows in curiousness.

"What?" Bismarck's asked, wanting a repeat,

"What?" Paul asked as well, looking around innocently.

"Huh-?" Bismarck hesitated.

"Huh-?" Paul feigned hesitation.

Bismarck rubbed his temple in frustration, as Paul began to annoy him, as Bismarck always underestimated Paul's pettiness. "How are we supposed to 'negotiate' without an experienced diplomat then?" Bismarck asked, his he'd still sore from Paul's antic.

"Oh! Don't worry about that! I got that covered!" Paul reached under the desk and pulled out a wired telephone, placing it in front of him.

"You need wires connected to the airship phones to communicate moron..." Bismarck face-clawed, Paul's stupidity having made him say something unposh for a long time.

Paul simply winked.

Bismarck blinked.

"Did you seriously run a wire in the air on a moving airship?" Bismarck asked through blinks, ready to shoot the stupid griffon in the face if he confirmed his guess.

"Of course not! I made a ground crew dig a line while they follow the airship! I'm not that dumb!" Paul defended; he had planned on having the airship crews descend to the wire team to communicate back to them.

Bismarck sighed in relief, which made Paul pout due to its implication. They began to exit their conference room. "Who knew ruling in peace would be so boring and repetitive?" Paul asked the experienced Chancellor, who wore a grin at his question.

"You will learn to treasure this moment one day friend," Bismarck told the naive Paul who nodded in response. "After all, mediocrity is best. And chaos destructive."

The SMS Moltke and SMS Johanna began to travel just as Starswirl arrived at the northeastern territories of Equestria.

But I will be rolling back time to see what happened to Starswirl in his journey next chapter.

When slaves are equal

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"No."

"-Wha-what do you mean no?! How are we supposed to survive without food?!" A desperate noble spouted; his stockpile of food running low.

The earth pony shrugged indifferently but secretly smiled inside, as the unicorns were finally suffering as they did.

The noble grew frustrated at the earth pony's insolence and threatened him, "You mud ponies understand we raise the sun every day?!" The noble warned, knowing that the peasant earth ponies would be none the wiser.

But the noble's expressions turned immediately into shock as the earth pony simply laughed loudly at his threat, grasping his barrel to hold in the laughter.

"You nobles have no control over the sun and moon!" The earth pony replied with a cackle, "The Solaris council raises them, and everypony knows they hate the nobility!" The earth pony finished, causing the unicorn to blink.

"How did he-" the unicorn tried to process, but the fact that a mud pony knew their realm's politics broke him.

The earth pony waved a hoof at the broken unicorn, trying to break him out of his stupor. "Uhh... You in there?" The earth pony asked futilely and eventually gave up, trotting back into his house and leaving the unicorn processing outside his door.

"Starswirl." An earth pony elder squinted, displaying coldness to their 'beloved' hero.

Starswirl had expected to avoid or hide away from villagers in fear of being mobbed by them for salvation or help but had encountered many of the same earth ponies giving him the cold shoulders.

The fillies were confused as to why their teacher wasn't being reverred and was being indirectly despised by the villagers, but Starswirl knew exactly why.

As every time Starswirl had 'saved' Equestria, it meant that he saved a noble's estate or holdings against a hostile creature or threat, but had done very little in helping the earth ponies, which he regarded as a lost cause.

The earth ponies, hearing of his heroism through the literate nobles had begged time and time again for him to improve their conditions and top the tyrannical unicorns and pegasuses, but had done nothing simply due to math; as the risk overweighed the reward severely.

Nopony could have foreseen what was happening now, as the earth ponies had defied impossible odds and had liberated themselves with no wings, no magic nor talent.

"What do YOU want?" A villager chimed in, staring cold daggers into Starswirl's own.

Starswirl ignored the earth pony's glare and focused on the elder, "I am seeking the location of your leader's whereabouts." Starswirl asked, but retracted slightly as he seemed to implicate bad intentions, "-to negotiate with, of course." Starswirl assured, relaxing the ponies. Except for the elder.

"...and what else?" The elder pressed, as everypony by now knew the location of the main Jacobin holdings, and knew Starswirl was trying to follow up his questions with a request.

Starswirl at the first hesitated but knew it would be inevitable anyway and spoke, "We require food for our journey, and the nobles didn't provide." Starswirl wanted to growl at the selfish nobles for not fitting him for the journey which they demanded.

The elder leaned closer, "Every unicorn and pegasi have come to us, asking for food. -and our answer was no." The elder reprimanded the hopeful wizard, "What makes you so different to the rest we denied?"

"-But I have saved Equestria countless times before!" Starswirl futilely argued, being cut by the elder's hooves.

"You have saved the unicorns and pegasuses, but never the earth ponies." The elder gritted his teeth, "Why should we help you to save the unicorn's fur?" The elder mocked, as their 'benevolent overlords' had never even raised their hooves to save their starving villagers before.

"I..." Starswirl uncharacteristically gazed backwards, unable to respond to the elder's accusations. The fillies looked with shock, as their 'perfect' teacher showed a semblance of vulnerability. "I understand..." Starswirl lowered his head in farewell and trotted back to the trail. The fillies meanwhile galloped alongside him.

"Will we have enough provisions for our journey?" The alabaster filly asked, slowing her pace as she began outpacing her teacher.

"Nay, we will have to forage to make up our shortages," Starswirl replied, keeping his head forward.

"Why wouldn't they give us food? Do they want us to starve?" The indigo filly asked, deeming the earth pony's rejection selfish.

"...I ask the same questions to our kind..." Starswirl solemnly muttered, lowering his hat to partially cover his eyes. "If only I could've helped..." Starswirl silently mumbled, regretting not helping the earth ponies earlier.

"Teacher?" The two fillies asked, worried about Starswirl's feelings of guilt.

"Students, never give up on somepony, no matter how hopeless it may be," Starswirl instructed, looking up in guilt. "For they may become your greatest friends..."

"The Solarist temples are a part of the problem! And are as bad, if not worse than unicorn nobles!" A representative boomed, being backed by several other elders near him.

"Nonsense! The Solarist temples are untainted, and must be preserved to teach younger unicorns to care for everypony!" Another representative countered, garnering nods from around him.

As the tension became higher, Green stomped hard to cease the commotion. "Mares and gentlestallions! Please! We are here for a civil discussion, not a riot!" Green scolded the older ponies, who withdrew in embarrassment.

The Jacobins were currently trying to figure out how their new nation would run, and their latest topic was regarding the Solarist church and their standing within the earth pony's nation.

"The churches are merely tools made by the unicorns to control us! Why else would they preach about peace and non-violence?!" The 'radicals' snarled, feeling betrayed by the church for preventing the earth ponies from rebelling earlier.

"Are you implying violence is not evil?! They preached us this message to not lose ourselves in rage!" The 'moderates' scolded, still wanting to keep the church, but allow earth ponies to become bishops, priests and religious leaders.

"The churches are no tool! Have you all already forgotten that they raise the sun in the unicorn's 'stead?" The 'reactionaries' reminded, still glad that they were free and prospering, but fearing fast change would bring repercussions from the unicorns and the church.

Green and Little personally wished for the church to remain, and also allow admissions of earth ponies into their structures, but feared expressing their views for angering the radicals for doing too little, or angering the reactionaries for doing too much. They groaned and began massaging their temples.

The debates were currently being held in their newly constructed 'senate,' with all the elders in their northeast holdings being summoned to make decisions on behalf of all earth ponies in Equestria. Due to this, the radicals held the clear majority, however, could be rebuffed by the moderates and reactionaries if they voted together. The radicals continued seething.

"Our revolution aimed to destroy the Solarist church! Our soldiers bled and died for this cause!" A radical roared, not wanting their soldier's death to be in vain.

"OUR revolution aimed to free us! And nothing more! The rest are our decisions to make!" A moderate chided, as every sensible pony knew they fought to ensure their freedom.

"Don't shove words onto our valiant soldiers! They do not deserve such treatment!" A reactionary chastised, stomping in his seat.

"Says the horn-lovers!" A radical sneered, causing the reactionaries to roar in uprage.

"ORDER! ORDER!" Green demanded, stomping the ground loudly to silence the representatives once more.

"We will not tear ourselves apart! So we will move on with a vote!" Green announced, "Raise your hooves if you want the church destroyed!"

The radicals who were situated on the left all raised their hooves, causing the reactionaries on the right to growl.

"Raise your hooves if you want the church reformed!" Green announced,

The moderates in the middle immediately raised their hooves in agreement whilst the reactionaries grumbled, albeit less angrily. Then the moderates began nudging the reactionaries, implying that if they didn't vote for them, the radicals would win. The reactionaries raised their hooves with a groan.

"Alright everypony! It's decided! The church will be reformed!" Green happily announced, ignoring the grumbling reactionaries and radicals. "Now, to our next issue! What's on everypony's mind now?"

"Perhaps we should start by removing trading restrictions within our nation." A moderate sarcastically suggested as he found the unicorn's laws limiting trade between duchies stupid, as it only benefitted them by holding monopolies over all necessary goods.

"We must begin talks of enlarging our army, for the enemies at our borders will not stand by patiently." A radical argued, garnering nods from all sides.

"Aye, but matters of education must be sought, for armies cannot attack without letters." A reactionary emphasised, which made every side nod as well.

"...What of the internal threats?" An approaching voice called out; its hoofsteps now audible in the silence.

"...Forest?" Green gaped, not expecting the war hero's presence in the senate. "...Why are you here?"

"Can't a fellow hero immerse himself into politics?" Forest grinned, taking his place in the middle of the senate; for all to see.

"What is he doing..? I thought he was still in mourning..." Green pondered, as Jaco's death had seemed to have broken Forest.

Forest cleared his throat, and began to speak; "...Ever since our 'victory', I had blamed myself continuously that Jaco's death was solely on my hooves..." Forest emphasised 'victory', as if it wasn't complete; "I kept wondering what I could've done better... What I could've prevented... Of what I could've changed..." Forest began to choke with tears; grasping his chest whilst dropping his head.

"But... I realised something..." Forest raised his head with a new expression; an expression screaming out hatred.

The Senate seemed to cool down, as everything around Forest suddenly became colder after every hate-filled word.

"-I realised my hatred should not be aimed towards myself! But towards our enemies! The Pegasuses! The Unicorns! And the puddinghead's cronies!" Forest hollered, causing the senate to explode into cheers and applaud. "The Equestrian experiment has failed! And so the earth ponies shall rise! LONG LIVE THE JACOBINS!" Forest boomed; causing the senate to also erupt in cheers for the Jacobins. Green began sweating profusely.

"STOP!" Green yelled, stopping the cheers. Forest looked on with a glare. "Have we all forgotten the message from Copper?! By oppressing them, we will be just as bad as them! If not worse!" Green professed; as doing the same thing which they knew caused immense pain to others would be incredibly inconsiderate and ignorant. "The only just course of action would be to live on with harmony from now on."

Forest scoffed, "Live in harmony?! You wish to make peace with those who had just whipped you?" Forest snarled, "You wish to ignore their crimes and indifference to our starvation and death?!" Forest stomped, however, he could feel the senate beginning to mumble in disagreement.

"An eye for an eye! A hoof for a hoof! A life for a life!" A radical added; siding with Forest in the issue.

"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind," Green automatically replied, remembering a quote from Harold's book about a griffon who futilely attempted to stop the bloodshed before the warlord era had occurred. Green feared that he would share the same fate.

The moderates and reactionaries nodded and hummed at Green's quote, whilst the reactionaries were stunned by Green's wisdom, as it was unnatural for his age. Forest blinked blankly.

"I agree with Green and in extension to elder Copper as well; that we should not take to murder, but towards justice." A moderate concurred; wishing to stop the bloodshed.

"A lenient punishment to not leave them spiteful, so we can all prosper into a harmonious future." A reactionary emphasised, making a few moderates shake their heads in disagreement.

"Have you all gone mad?! They will never forgive us! So we must strike them now! Before it's too late!" A radical ranted, implicating genocide.

"For every second we waste here, the more time we give to the unicorns and pegasuses to prepare to squash us!" Forest threatened; wishing to wage war against the unicorns immediately.

"...They'll have to forgive us..." Green blankly muttered; not knowing how nopony had realised this crucial information.

"Why will they forgive us?" A reactionary asked; confused at Green's stupor.

"...We own all the food dumbflank..." Green deadpanned, making everypony 'O' in realisation. "If they are our enemy, we won't give them food like what we are doing now." Green shrugged, as the moderates and reactionaries nodded in agreement.

"But they will gather their forces and attack us with the food we gave them!" Forest growled; quickly breaking out of his realisation, which made the radicals break out as well.

"It's 'may not 'will' general." A moderate corrected; thinking a unicorn uprising was unlikely due to their limited movement and small population.

Forest continued to growl until he finally made up his mind, "For everypony that foresees the unicorn's threat! Raise your hooves!" Ever hoof on the radical side raised their hooves, with one moderate deciding to trust Forest's decisions.

"For those for peace and a cease to bloodshed, raise your hooves!" Green countered, which made everypony in the reactionaries and moderate side raise their hooves immediately to oppose the radical's pressure.

The two sides glared at each other; eyeing each other down to prepare for a fight. But Forest was the one to diffuse the tension instead of Green.

"The Senate is adjourned. But remember this everypony," Forest warned; leaning towards his opposition. "Nopony is coming to help you when the unicorns decide soon to execute you." Forest turned around and began to walk away. The radicals followed.

"Senate adjourned." Green weakly muttered, staring blankly as the radicals and Forest left without having solved all of their issues. "Is this how democracies fail?" Green asked nopony in particular, remembering a passage from Harold's book which warned against democracies but favoured a centralised, authoritarian government in its 'stead.

"Maybe I should paint this scene?" Green thought lazily; believing this small conflict would be significant later on.

Internal conflict? More like opportunities!

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Lean Grain was working tirelessly on the fields; being able to do so peacefully now that the pegasuses were gone. He swiped another batch of sweat from his forehead and looked up, congratulating himself for the work he had done. But... He felt something was wrong.

Lean scanned the horizons and hills, attempting to find what troubled him, but he could only see trees and the occasional critters. However, this didn't satisfy him, as he began to scan once more for even the faintest of abnormal movements.

Then, he saw a speck of dirt and dust beginning to appear from a hill. Lean squinted at the kicked dirt, unsure as to how it was so dense. Then the speck began to largen.

Lean recoiled as the hills seemed to be spewing clouds of dirt into the air as if there was a tornado on the opposite side. Suddenly, several shaggy shadows began to manifest within the clouds, which soon turned into an army. The shadows all began charging down the hill; their silhouettes exposed as they exited the cloud of dirt.

Lean began to back away, "BUFFALOS!" He shouted; immediately retreating towards his home to evacuate his family.

The news of the collapsed pegasus army had reached everycreature in Equis, and many creatures were already forming raiding parties to exploit the defenceless Equestria. The buffalo horde that was currently stampeding Lean's fields was one such party.

The defenselessness of Equestria was painfully obvious to them, as the pegasus forts looked abandoned and the usual patrols had entirely disappeared. This meant an opportunity for them; a chance to raid the earth ponies for valuable supplies and food with minimal risk.

At least that's what they thought.

The collapse of the pegasus army had the Jacobins rejoicing at first, but they soon realised the nightmares of defending without wings, as they could only relocate via galloping, and their slowness meant that they would always arrive too late.

The Senate attempted to remedy the situation by commissioning the construction of forts and castles throughout the borders of their new holdings, however, building such impressive works took time, and by the time the first raid struck, they were only just beginning to build.

Thankfully, their territories were quite modest, meaning that the Jacobins could afford to cover their entire border; albeit thinly due to the lack of soldiers. The Jacobins also kept an army in their northeast capital in case of a unicorn or pegasus insurrection.

It was a shame that the unicorns wouldn't fight, as they preferred to hide in their castles until the earth ponies forgot about them.

A Jacobin watchpony was observing the surroundings atop a hill. Although an earth pony's eyesights were inferior to that of a pegasus, a pony in a high place could still fulfil its duties of "Notify if anything is out of the ordinary". I.E scouting.

It was a boring job, and the watchpony knew it. But he also knew it was essential in ensuring the safety of their fellow earth ponies. His partner slept nearby, ready to take his place when his break was over. The one awake continued observing vigilantly.

Then suddenly clouds of dirt began appearing from the hill across them; the distance hindering the watchpony's ability to properly identify the cause of the dirt clouds. Then, several specks began charging out of the dirt clouds, leaving behind a dusty trail that dissipated thinly upon every blink.

"BUFFALOS! AT LEAN'S FARM!" The watchpony exclaimed, running and slamming onto his sleeping partner.

"AH! I'M AWAKE!" The partner rolled and braced into attention; his eyes widened in shock and his body stiff from tiredness.

"BUFFALO RAID!" The watchpony shook his partner to implicate the seriousness. But his partner began to worry more about his rattling brains. "WE NEED TO GET THE BALLIST-"

"Alright! Alight! Quit shaking me!" The partner brushed his mane with his hoof, settling his defiant hair.

"TO OUR SQUADS!" the watchpony announced; dreading having to call up their 3 squads which were also responsible for defending the entire county.

"HERE THEY COME!" Lean shouted with a scrunched face, carrying two fillies on his back followed by his wife carrying a foal. They rushed past the assembled Jacobins; only slowing when they were safely behind them.

"I see 'em!" A Jacobin pointed down the field, locating several buffalos that were trampling Lean's home. "Aim the ballistas!"

The ponies knew crossbows and bows were ineffective against the thick furs of the buffalos, so they employed ballistas to kill them.

The buffalos all looked up to find several earth ponies lined atop a hill in the distance, with several large wooden rectangle structures beside them. "Where be pegasus?" A buffalo asked his comrades, confused with the earth pony's intent and the mysteriously absent pegasus patrol.

"No matter! Charge farm ponies!" An impatient buffalo ordered, already beginning his charge towards the hill. His comrades quickly joined him, tightening their formations as to not let any of the ponies slip past the gaps in their charge.

The Jacobins held firm, their ballistas aimed down the hill. Their helmets and armour clattered on the shaking ground, as the buffalos hastily approached the hill and began charging up it.

A Jacobin swung his hoof, "FIRE!" The ballistas mightily twanged, launching 4 deadly projectiles down the hill towards the charging buffalos.

The giant bolts caved into the charging buffalo's skulls, their horns shattering against the bolt's tip and tumbling their bodies down the hill. Splinters and blood lined the furs of the buffalos beside the dead, their face cringing from disgust as they entered their mouth and eyes.

The buffalos immediately halted, as they looked around to find four of their members dead with their skulls exposed with brain bits splattered over their snapped horns. "RUN!" The buffalos rapidly turned, not wanting to find out what the earth ponies had more to show.

The Jacobins, who had raised their pikes to meet the charge hastily broke off to prepare another volley from the ballistas, as they did not expect the buffalos to run so quickly. "Aim high! They're far!" A Jacobin relayed, approximating the distance to the buffalos to determine the angle of their aim.

A hoof stopped them though, as a sergeant saw what the soldiers didn't. "They're too far, don't bother." The others nodded, dropping their bolts and re-centralising their aim.

Lean emerged in between the Jacobins, peaking at his now-destroyed house. His face scrunched. "Why couldn't y'all come faster?" Lean asked the Jacobins, who all rubbed their hooves in response, except for the sergeant.

"Other places need protecting, and we are stretched quite thin." The sergeant explained with a frown, which made the two fillies on Lean's face droop.

"THE MINOTAURS ARE COMING! THE MINOTAURS ARE COMING!" A voice from the distance screamed, his form approaching quickly towards the assembled Jacobins. When he finally did make it, he was a gasping wreck, with sweat and tears covering his fur and face.

"*Gasp* The- *gasp* minotaurs- *gasp* -are coming!" The scout shouted at the sergeant's face, his breath and sweat covering the unamused face.

"...I see... And could you please point towards the raid?" The sergeant asked; wiping the sweat off his face.

The scout immediately pointed towards the southwest, his barrels still rising and falling due to his heavy breathing. The sergeant simply nodded and gestured his soldiers to follow. They began to gallop.

"No rest for the victors..." The sergeant solemnly thought; feeling his hooves burning from the constant galloping. At least it wouldn't crack like those from a unicorn.

A two-foal tragedy

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There once were two ponies. Whilst being the most privileged tribe, they were poor. Even though they were nobles, they were unknown. Their houses held no titles, no claims, no holdings, no subjects. They were hated by their fellow peers and 'inferiors'. Nopony expected much of them; just another minor noble whose entire merit came from their horns, doomed to serve as clergies or mages and be forgotten.

Tia and Lulu were those ponies, and they knew full well what their destiny would be. Their parents were battlemages, serving in the pegasus armies that would frequently battle raiders and invasions. They would leave for as long as 3 years at times, being sent into foolish expeditions or attacks into enemy territories. Whilst they were gone, Tia and Lulu were taken care of by an earth pony nursemaid, as their parents could not afford a proper unicorn nursemaid.

The earth pony nursemaid's name was Gentle Care, and despite the two foal's hesitation with the absence of a horn atop her head, they quickly grew to love her. The absence of a parental figure had led the two foals to depend on each other, however, the acceptance of Gentle's care had completed them. Gentle would cry with pride and joy with the fillies' first words, the fillies, in turn, would surprise Gentle with a birthday party, Gentle would teach them to read, and the fillies would repay the favour through cards during maresday.

They laughed, cried, smiled, sleep and eat together, Gentle's bond with the foals resulting in them referring to her as their 'mother' which made the childless earth pony weep in joy. Despite being stuck in their house, the minor noble's home was filled with happiness; a never-ending torrent of love that drowned out any notions of boredom.

Their only moment of worry came when the oldest foal became 10, as Tia witnessed Gentle shaking whilst holding a letter near the fireplace; confused as to how her mother could feel cold and shiver whilst being directly in front of the fire.

Tia became even more confused when her mother threw the letter into the fire and froze staring at the letter being consumed into ash.

"Mom?" Tia carefully asked, making Gentle jump in surprise.

"T-Tia?! Y-yes dear?" Gentle quickly wiped her tears whilst looking away at her daughter, and turned around to meet Tia's gaze with a weak, trembling smile.

"Are you alright?" Tia stepped into the room with a worried expression, causing Gentle's expression to twitch.

"-I... I'm fine dearest," Gentle assured, twitching back a smile.

Tia, without a word, approached Gentle and stopped at her forehooves, looking up into her mother's watery eyes. "...what's wrong mom?" Tia grabbed her mother's hooves.

Gentle closed her eyes and slowly turned her head away from her daughter, as she began to tear. "I'm so sorry my daughter..." Gentle muttered, leaning forward to hug her daughter. Tia complied.

"I'm so sorry..." Gentle stroked Tia's mane, allowing her head to rest on her shoulder. "So, so sorry..." Gentle lifted her head to stare at the ceiling. The letter had informed her of the death of her daughter's real parents. "They cannot know.... Else it will devastate them..." Gentle thought, as her ruffling had caused Tia to fall asleep, her worries of her mother evaporating as her familiar hooves ran through her mane. "...I love you..." Gentle quietly whispered, lightly kissing her sleeping daughter's forehead.

Gentle was tending to the gardens which had fed them for a while, as the death of her masters had meant no more bits nor food flowed in from the scarce delivery and letters from the front. So far, her earth ponies did their magic and had procured themselves enough food to pass the harsh winters of the north. Little did she know, the cold would be the last of her problems.

She did not realise it, but the recent defeat of the pegasus army in the north had allowed the crystal ponies free reign over the northern territories of Equestria; meaning that the borders had changed, and they were currently in the newly conquered lands of the Crystal Empire. Most had already left, including the poorest of serfs and the smallest of the nobility. However, nopony bothered informing the house with the dead owners.

Free companies of crystal pony bands rapidly assembled and sacked their new lands, catching any slow earth pony convoys or migrations to sell off to slavery. One such company set their eyes on a lonely house, whose inhabitant seemed to come out and tend to their gardens without worry. They all grinned maliciously.

"Tia! Lulu!" Gentle slammed into her daughter's room, worry written all over her face. "You must hide!"

"What's wrong mom?" Tia and Lulu asked, turning their heads away from their books.

https://youtu.be/7t_ohlqvtaI

"No time! Into the cellar!" Gentle hurriedly pushed a closet aside, and slid off the carpet beneath it, revealing a small piece of rope. Tia and Lulu watched with surprise as Gentle pulled the rope, displacing a tile and revealing a small hole in the ground.

Before the fillies could react, Gentle dragged them into the hole and placed the tile back upside-down to seal it.

"W-what's going on?" Tia whimpered, as she was cramped into the hole and was now surrounded with darkness.

"Mom?" Lulu worried, not scared by the darkness, but still scared of her mother's frantic behaviour.

Gentle disregarded their questions, as she quickly rolled the carpet back and slid the closet back on top of the cellar. "Don't make a noise, and stay still!" Gentle ordered and quickly dashed out the room, leaving the fillies clueless and cramped in a cellar they never knew had existed.

"Why is mom angry?" Lulu asked; her face squishing against the ground.

"Shhh... She told us to be quiet remember?" Tia replied; trying to readjust her hooves as to not trample her little sister. "If we knew this place earlier, we could've won every hide and seek!" Tia thought, silently pouting for not being told of the cellar earlier.

"I'm telling you, my masters are gone!" Gentle spoke in the distance, her voice unmissable to the two hiding fillies.

"Who's mommy speaking with?" Lulu asked, however, was silenced by Tia's hoof as the eldest realised the tone of her mother's voice.

"Strange how your 'masters' left their belongings'." A foreign stallion's voice sckeptisised.

Tia began to worry and shrank lower in the hole whilst Lulu did the same.

"T-they left in a hurry!" Gentle argued.

"Uh-huh, right. Search the house colts!" The foreign Stallion ordered, followed up by sounds of clopping hooves that echoed through the house. Tia and Lulu held their mouths with their hooves.

"NO! STOP!" Gentle screamed, followed up by sounds of struggling.

"OFF ME MUD PONY!" The foreign stallion shouted, as loud noises of glass shattering and a thump rang out. Tia and Lulu exchanged worried looks.

The fillies held their breaths as sounds of hooves clopping approached their room. The doorknob began to rattle.

"The door's locked boss, and it looks pretty sturdy..." A stallion said, followed by series of knocks on the door to test its integrity.

"It's wooden, how sturdy can it be?" The previous stallion deadpanned, as the noise of a pony dragging across the floor began approaching the fillies' room.

Tia and Lulu jumped, as the sound of wood cracking was heard in the general direction of their room's door. Then silence.

"The door's tough boss, must be a treasure room!" The latter stallion concluded.

"Treasure rooms aren't guarded by a wooden door moron, it's probably just a bedroom." A distant stallion voiced, followed by a sound of another door being opened.

"Keep swinging." The former Stallion ordered, as the sounds of wood cracking continued. Tia and Lulu shook at every crack, as the force's vibration would rattle them in their cramped hole. Until finally, the cracks no longer became muffled.

The sounds of fumbling hooves were then heard, followed up by a grasp of the doorknob from the inside and a turn. They were in.

"Guess you were right Sharp! It's a bedroom!" The latter stallion boomed, as he began trotting into the roof. Tia and Lulu held their breaths once more. The dragged pony began to awaken.

Gentle awoke to find herself being dragged, and as soon as she opened her eyes, her heart sank in realisation. One. They were in her daughter's room. Two. They had forgotten to make their bed. Gentle bit her lips.

The former stallion snooped around the room, running his hoof along the tables and opened books. His eyes finally settled on the un-made bed. He began to smile. "Seems like we got ourselves a treasure..." He refocused on the pony he dragged, as she looked distraught.

The former stallion leaned in, drawing Gentle's head in as well, pulling her mane with his crustal hooves to meet eye-to-eye. "Where are they?" He queried,

"-I... Don't know what you are talking about." Gentle feigned ignorance, making the former stallion frown.

"You know full well what I am talking about." The former stallion gripped harder on Gentle's mane, causing some on the edges to pull out.

"..." Gentle didn't answer as she was frozen, even as the pain dotting her mane threatened to make her cringe or shudder.

"The nobles." The former stallion asked again, growing impatient that he had to spell it out for the mud pony.

"-There are no nobles in this house." Gentle corrected; hoping the poor condition and furniture in the house would convince the crystal pony company.

The former stallion simply laughed, causing the fillies hiding to huddle for comfort. "You expect us to believe that from a mud pony whose flank has been marked as a nursemaid?" The former stallion chided, pointing at Gentle's flank which had a burnt mark of a link of chain. The symbol designated for a slave.

"N-no! I'm actually an escaped slave!" Gentle desperately argued but was scoffed at by the former stallion.

"Right... Flip everything here colts!" The former Stallion ordered as everything that wasn't nailed down was moved and stolen. Gentle tried so hard to not look at the carpet to draw any unwanted attention, however, the former stallion noticed kt anyways.

Tia and Lulu grasped each other harder as the sound of clopping hooves approached them from above. "pleasenopleasenopleasenopleaseno,"

The former stallion's grin widened as he approached the sole carpet, barely resisting to lick his lips in temptation for what he was about to find. But he didn't realise that Gentle was charging him however, as his company had left the room to carry the stolen furniture onto their wagon.

Gentle lunged at the former stallion in a burst of adrenaline sourced from the need to protect her daughters, as she grappled him to the ground whilst he still held the carpet. She growled like a feral at the struggling crystal pony, as she looked close enough and willing enough to bite his face off.

Then a crack echoed in the roof, causing the two fillies-in-hiding to duck and cringe. They could no longer hear their mother growling.

"Woah! You alright boss?" The latter stallion asked as he heaved the axe off Gentle's carved head, causing her to unceremoniously flop onto the former stallion sprawled barrel.

"Argh! THIS BITCH!" The former stallion threw Gentle off, causing her to flop over the cellar's entrance. Tia and Lulu looked up in expectation and surprise.

Blood dripped down onto Lulu's indigo muzzle. She stared at it cross-eyed. So did Tia.

"THIS! FUCKING! BITCH!" The former stallion berated, whilst continuously stabbing the dead earth pony's body in revenge.

More blood began dropping on the hiding fillies, whose mouth was now covered by their hooves, and their eyes twitching with streams of tears.

"TREACHEROUS! MUD! PO- HEY!" The former stallion was pulled off by the latter, who held a bored expression.

"This house's worthless. We gotta leave fast if we wanna catch up to the fleeing stragglers." Sharp explained on the doorway, gesturing the boss and the latter stallion to leave. The former stallion continued swinging aimlessly in the air, as he was carried off outside the house.

Tia and Lulu stayed completely silent, even as they were drenched with their mother's blood. Tears, mucus and blood mixed together to fill the hole and submerge their lower half in fluid. But they weren't sure if everypony had left yet, and they definitely did not want to be the ones to push the tile and push their dead mother's body aside.

And as the noise of the crystal ponies disappeared, the fillies began to weep. Even in their mother's death, she would make sure they were safe.

A cruel start of destiny

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Tia and Lulu had first galloped, not wanting to see their home and their deceased mother behind them. But their pace became a trot, then finally a crawl as their weak hooves could not withstand the stress.

Lulu was the first to collapse, falling unconscious during the night. Tia in response placed her atop her back and continued limbering aimlessly towards the darkness. They were both still crying.

They didn't know how long they travelled, they only knew they had to run. The feeling of cold and pain was ignored, as fear overtook them. Tia's hooves began to falter.

Tia finally collapsed, her eyes shut with tears flowing freely down to the ground. She whimpered. "Please help..."

Tia jolted upwards, shaking her head to wake herself. She became confused when she found herself on a bed; her sister beside her. She quickly dismissed the notion that the previous days were dreams, as she was in a foreign bed, surrounding and was still aching in pain.

Lulu began jostling by Tia's erratic movements surveying their new surroundings. When she finally awoke, she too began looking around their new surrounding. They were both distracted enough to forget the tragedy momentarily.

The fillies both located a door, which was leaking noises of approaching hoofsteps. They grasped each other in fear.

The doorknob became encased by a magic aura and began to turn. The fillies pulled a blanket over their heads.

In entered a long-bearded grey unicorn, who held two plates with his magic. He stared at the bumpy blankets in confusement. "They're terrible at hide-and-seek..." The grey unicorn noted, as he could see the blanket shiver as he approached the hiding fillies.

"S-stay away!" Lulu shouted whilst stuffing her muzzle on Tia's barrel, which further muffled her voice which was obstructed by the blankets.

The grey unicorn stepped back and placed the plates on a table nearby. "Worry not fillies, I mean no harm." He explained, but the shivering did not stop.

"Go away!" Tia concurred, holding onto her sister tighter.

The grey unicorn sighed and grabbed two spoons from the plates to dip into the soup. "Nothing earns trust better than food." He thought, as he moved the spoons close to the hostile fillies, allowing them to smell the goodness.

He smiled when the fillies stopped and began sniffing; pulling off the blanket to clamp down on the spoons with their mouth. They gulped greedily; pulling the spoon off the grey unicorn's aura and placing them on their hooves. They began to eye the rest on the table.

The grey unicorn simply nodded and placed the plates in front of them, hoping that they would not spill any on the bed.

The fillies immediately lunged forward and began gorging on the food; having been starved for a day. The grey unicorn cringed as splatters of food splashed or flaked on the bed, as he had no servants to clean for him.

They had a long conversation ahead...

6 years later... THE PRESENT

Tia and Lulu had gone a long way; the eldest had turned 16, and the youngest 12. Their teacher and saviour had distracted their grief with constant work and study; moulding them into brilliant intellectuals with a vast array of spells and a mana pool to sustain it.

During the first two years of Starswirl's lectures, he had realised the endless potential of the fillies; devoting more of his time to teach them, to one day hopefully replace him. It was around the same time he began engineering the tools in which his future graduates could use against threats after he and the rest of the pillars were gone. He planted the seeds of his work in a cave his students would discover at a time of desperation; their old training grounds.

His students didn't know, but he could feel his time drawing near. For some reason, he also felt the light beyond the long darkness that loomed ahead; as if he would come back after a thousand years of death. He dismissed it.

For now, they would march northeast. Towards the Jacobins.

"Stay strong faithfuls. We are near." Ares announced, garnering hums from the following bishops.

The destruction of the pegasuses and the consequential rise of the earth ponies had led the unicorns to hide; neglecting the Solarist church and dooming it to extinction.

The withdrawal of all unicorn resources had worsened the already dire situation of the church, as now they were vulnerable to pagan raiders and were close to starvation.

The Solarist council had debated discussing the problem, however, deepened the ugly truth of the Solarist church. The Schism. No decisive decisions would be made, as two factions quickly re-emerged; the largest representing the coalition between the nobles and orthodox, who wanted nothing to do with the earth ponies, and wished to re-negotiate with the unicorn nobilities for resources. The smallest was led by Ares; whose supporters were talentless unicorns who had been forced to serve the clergy by their ambitious parents. The latter faction wished to negotiate with the earth ponies, which the former interpreted as treason and blasphemy, as their scriptures pictured the earth ponies as forever slaves; doomed to serve their unicorn masters in Solari's will.

The largest faction had won; finally using this opportunity to excommunicate the hated Ares (who had only been ordained when the votes became split three ways) and replace him with Iracundia; exiling the rest of the faction as well.

Ares wasn't bitter; he didn't even feel betrayed. For he was far wiser than the excommunicators. He knew the times were changing, and without following the tide, the church would drown in their ignorance. As the church could no longer count on the unicorns. They would have to count on the earth ponies.

Ares was determined to burn a thousand scriptures to make it happen. Cut a thousand heads to ensure the church's survival. Rewrite the entire message of Solaris to integrate. He would change everything so that the earth ponies wouldn't abandon the faith. He would sacrifice himself to give everypony meaning and purpose. He truly was pious.

"My liege, our spymaster has news." A crystal pony advisor bowed to the hunched emperor, whose face was turned away towards the window facing the Equestrian lands.

"Bring him in." The emperor groaned; turning himself towards the door. The advisor trotted backwards.

The door opened to reveal a hooded figure; the spymaster of the Crystal Empire's court; Blurry Mist.

"I presume you made progress in the Equestrian scheme?" The emperor assessed; remembering the task which the spymaster was given. "He better give results... Or off with his head!" The emperor thought.

Mist simply shook his head, garnering a frown from the emperor. "What I had found is far more advantageous my liege," Mist explained, stopping the emperor's rage. "Far greater than our scheme; a bigger threat than a pegasus uprising!" Mist continued, making both the emperor and advisor lean in.

"That is..?" The emperor inquired, hoping Mist's explanation wasn't a lie to save his life.

Mist braced himself, trying to make himself sound more believable. "The earth ponies are revolting, and they had just demolished the pegasus army." Mist stated; barely believing himself despite coming out his muzzle.

"..." The advisor and the emperor froze when they heard this, but immediately broke out in laughter. Mist began to sweat.

"How convenient that I had been funding the pegasus through you to revolt, and now they are destroyed." The emperor mocked, as he could not believe his spymaster could make up such an idiotic excuse.

"Everypony knows that the earth ponies are too dumb to do anything but farm!" The advisor mocked as well, as to how would the earth ponies even know how to hold a sword?!

"But!-" Mist tried to defend, but was cut off by the emperor.

"Guards! Send this lunatic to prison and throw the keys away!" The emperor shouted, prompting two guardponies to enter and drag Mist outside immediately. "Spreading disinformation at a time like this... Get me another spymaster!" The emperor ordered; his advisor nodding and galloping out his room.

"Ruling is hard... The emperor blankly thought, slumping next to the window once more, and begun to stare aimlessly towards Equestria. "Oh, how busy I am...

The Equestrian Representatives

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"So a democracy huh?" Little critiqued, as she scanned through Green's plans for how their new country would run. "Didn't this end badly for the griffons?"

"Well yes- but we're ponies, so the results would be different." Green justified; also having seen the numerous failed precedents of republican griffon warlord states in Harold's book. "Also, it would be political suicide to reintroduce authoritarianism in a society which just overthrew it." Green shrugged, prompting Little to nod slowly in understanding.

"Didn't your last meeting go badly?" Little asked, making Green's eyes widen.

"Where'd you hear that from?!" Green demanded, limping towards Little as his hindhooves slipped off his wheelwagon. "I made sure that nopony would know!"

Little leaned backwards in Green's approach and cracked a twitchy smile. "One of Forest's friends told me," Little explained whilst leaning on her hooves to prevent her fall. "Wasn't I supposed to know? Were you planning on not telling me?" Little's expressions quickly turned into one of betrayal, as she thought Green had sent the stallion who told her about the conflict in the senate.

"What-! No! It's just that-... I don't want you to get embroiled in all this mess lil' sis..." Green conceded, loosening his stance and frowning deeply in shame. "How can I call myself an older brother if I leave my sister in the dark?! She needs somepony to trust on...-and I've failed...

Green thought of limping away, but was tackled by Little's hug; not strong enough to pin or knock him down, but enough to tell that Little forgave and loved him. "You're the best older brother a sister could have." Little assured; presuming Green's grief was his thoughts of being a bad sibling. "Just... Next time, tell me what's bothering you..." Little pleaded; only smiling when Green hummed in agreement.

"Thanks, sis..." Green muttered whilst leaning into the hug; wrapping his head around Little's neck. "You're the best lil' sis a brother could ask for..."

The two continued to hug; unaware of their parents standing in the doorway heart warmed by the scene. Opal and Graze at first watched on as the hug prolonged, but after a while, they finally decided to join in; turning it into a group hug.

"I wish this moment would never end..." Green thought; distracting himself from the upcoming senate meeting which would have representatives all across Equestria. "Here's hoping not all the senators will be lunatics..". Green hoped, tightening his grasp in the hug to extend its length. "Hopefully we could also decide the name for our country...

"Which region have you come to represent?" Green asked, pointing his gavel towards an entering pony.

"The southwestern regions of Equestria; being the duchy of Maredovia." The pointed pony answered, giving a slight bow in instinct due to experiences talking to nobles.

"Very good then, please take a seat," Green stated whilst reviewing his roll call to ensure that every representative had come. Miraculously every representative did come, many of them having departed early to not miss out on their chances of being a part of the new government.

As the last pony entered the senate, Green prepared himself to strike with the gavel to begin the session. But then, a courier bursted in, pushing aside the last representative to halt in the middle of the senate.

Green and the other representatives raised a brow, as the courier stopped to pant and grip his chest out of exhaustion. Green spoke first, as nopony else took the initiative to do so. "You okay?" He unprofessionally asked, causing several of the representatives to cringe.

The courier took a deep breath and spoke; "Unicorns at 8 o'clock incoming! High profiles! Starswirl and Ares!" The courier gasped for another round of air; his sweat and stench contaminating the senate's air and interior.

"I tell ya! The unicorns are 'ere to execute us!" A Jacobin yelled, gaining nods from his fellow radicals. Radicals are called Jacobins (I know, very confusing).

"Don't spread your hysterical lies! The unicorns don't even have enough ponies to threaten us!" A Pastorian rebutted, whose faction had become the majority by popular vote.

"If the unicorns are Ares and Starswirl, there is nothing to fear." Another Pastorian added, shrugging in indifference to the news. "Courier?" He asked, which made the stenching pony lookup in acknowledgement.

"Do you know why they're here?" The Pastorian asked, which made the stenching pony jump in realisation.

"Ah yes! I nearly forgot! They're here to negotiate... Something... I don't know, they didn't elaborate." The courier shrugged causing the senate to frown in annoyance; "Well that's helpful..." Everypony thought, as they began rubbing their chins in speculation of what the unicorns were here to do.

"...and! They are here." The courier finished, gesturing to the floor dumbly.

"Yes... You told us this already..." A Jacobin grumbled, still deep in thought.

"No, I mean 'here' 'here'." The courier corrected, causing many of the representatives to bat their eye in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Green chimed in, not bothered to think. The courier simply smiled and began walking back towards the entrance. Green raised a brow.

The courier stepped beside the entrance and began bracing himself. He cleared his throat, and he royaly announced, "Presenting you! The father of the Solarist church, and the hero of Equestria! Ares and Starswirl!" He stepped aside for the door, but was slammed by it; the door now illuminating with a blue aura.

In the entrance, two immediately recognisable ponies were seen; being Starswirl and Ares, who were both looking around and observing the senate's architecture. So far, they weren't impressed.

The senate at first was frozen, as they weren't told about the unicorn's arrival, and were in a state of shock.

But as soon as the initial shock died down, the representatives began appraising the unicorns and acting according to their beliefs. The reactionary Pastorians gave them both a courtly bow, whilst the moderates ranged from giving them suspicious glares to indifference. The radicals didn't hide their contempt for the unicorns, and many had stood on their seats to display their outrage.

"Prestigious unicorns, for what reasons have you come here for?" A reactionary asked politely, however, his tone bled annoyance.

"You better not zap us! You're surrounded!" A radical warned; suspicious of the powerful unicorn's intentions.

Ares was surprised and glad that the earth ponies had not devolved into civil or political conflicts as the unicorns had, and instead were gathered cooperating in a congress-like building.

Ares's bishops however did not share their leader's sentiment, as they shrank before the radical's hateful glares and growls.

Starswirl was surprised that the earth ponies were able to form a pseudo-government and presumed that they had a well-learned leader who organised it. "Perhaps a disgruntled steward from puddinghead's court defected... Starswirl thought, as no peasant would be able to teach themselves the principles of governments.

Tia meanwhile stood close behind her teacher, as the radical's glares frightened her. As she began to slightly shiver, Lulu trotted close and held her hooves to calm her down. Seeing this, the radicals ceased their glares.

"Glaring at fillies?! How embarrassing!" A reactionary mocked, garnering several chuckles from the Pastorians.

"Many unicorn fillies have gloated at our suffering! It's entirely justified!" A radical justified, prompting some of the radicals to regain their pride.

"Not all ponies are the same. You would be implying that we are the same as Puddingheads!" A moderate countered, causing the radicals to lower their heads in shame once more.

Starswirl cleared his throat to regain the senate's attention; as he had done many times before in a unicorn court. But this was not a unicorn's court, and the insults kept being thrown. Ares began to have second thoughts about the earth ponies.

"ORDER! ORDER!" Green shouted, striking his gavel thrice to silence the bickering representatives. All of the unicorns cringed from the loud, echoing noise. "We have guests! And we're making fools out of ourselves by arguing!" Green reprimanded, causing everypony to droop their heads in shame.

Starswirl and Ares eyed the teenage pony in disbelief, as they could not believe an underaged pony would lead a government. "Are you the leader here?" Starswirl asked hesitantly, which made Green brighten up.

"Ye-"

"No." Forest chimed in, stepping forward to reveal himself from the group of radicals. He began glaring at Green. "Stay out of this filly..." He warned through his glares, gesturing him to 'shoo' off.

Green glared back at Forest, accidentally focusing on his eyepatch instead of his intact ones. "What are you doing?" Green cautioned, hoping Forest would realise showing weakness through division in front of the unicorns would make them vulnerable against sabotage.

"...then who is it?" Ares interrupted; breaking Green and Forest's glare. Several radicals nudged Forest to concede, who did so begrudgingly. "I assure you all, we mean no harm; we simply wish to talk." Ares attempted to calm the gathered earth ponies, but it only made the radicals more suspicious.

"The leader would be me." Green pointed at himself proudly, puffing his chests out. "...and no, I'm not a midget, I'm 12." Green crossed his hooves in preparation for the unicorn's reactions.

Starswirl hummed thoughtfully at the information, as he had already guessed Green's age and had time to prepare his thoughts. "...Impressive. Who are your benefactors?" Starswirl asked; confident that the earth ponies, no less a filly could've done this all alone.

Green stopped to think, "Should I tell them about the griffons? What would Harold do,?" Green pondered, causing Starswirl to suspect the earth pony's supporters were shady. "...I don't want to tell..." Green replied, knowing that he held all the cards, and Starswirl couldn't demand anything from him.

"Are you 'really' 12 years old?" Lulu asked whilst latching off her sister's hoof.

"Yes- and don't remind me..." Green deadpanned, slightly annoyed at the number of times ponies had asked him the same question. "Why? Is it a problem?" Green dared the unicorns to argue.

"What of your parents? Your family?" Ares asked worryingly, as he feared Green had lost his family, "No parents would allow their children to participate in the immoral practices of politics! Unless there is none..." Green stared at Ares boredly.

"They said I'm good." Green shrugged, as it wasn't a big deal for him. After all, he had been given free rein over their old farms in the past. "It's my choice to run this senate, and I like it." Green justified, as he began swirling the gavel.

The bishops looked horrified hearing Green's parent's negligence, whilst Ares and Starswirl understood Green's decisions and freedom. Tia and Lulu meanwhile looked on with admiration, as their teacher would barely ever allow them to do anything that they wanted. Green symbolised the dream of every unicorn filly; to do whatever they wanted.

Green struck with his gavel once more, as he wished to start the senate without any further delays. "The Senate is now in session everypony!" Green announced; reading off a script he had made. "We will review and vote for decisions suggested by the common earth ponies and the representatives: being us." Green continued, "The first issue I believe must be solved first is our nation's name. Should we change it?" Green asked the assembled ponies; scanning across the senate seats and representatives whilst ignoring the confused unicorns.

"Hooves up for yes, Hooves down for no," Green explained, causing every hoof to rise in yes. "Perfect! Then what's the new name gonna be?" Green giddily asked, as he already had several names lined up on his list.

A radical quickly rose to speak, "Our nation has been forged by iron and blood! So its name must reflect our sacrifice!" He continued, "Our earth brave ponies have brought us a republic, and expelled the pegasus and unicorns!" He stated triumphantly. "So I say we proclaim the Republic of Earth! A nation made by, and for the earth ponies!" The radicals cheered at the suggestion, stomping their hooves on their seats.

"Such ignorance!" A reactionary scoffed, "Our nation consists of three tribes! Not just the earth ponies!" His fellow reactionaries began to nod. "It means little to change our nation's name, so we should keep it as Equestria." He finished, garnering some nods from the moderates as well.

"Traitors! We have spilt blood to bring change, and you want to keep it?!" A radical objected, pointing a hoof accusingly at the shameless reactionary.

"I agree on the reactionary's criticism, however by changing our nation's name, we are symbolising the shedding of our miserable past." A moderate calmly voiced, "By changing our nation's name, we are indicating that everything will change; a change for the better hopefully." The moderates began nodding vigorously. "So I say we drop the 'of Earth' and simply call our new nation the Republic of Equestria." He finished, garnering several nods from the radicals and reactionaries.

Green scanned the senate and counted the nodding representatives, deeming them to be the majority and striking his gavel. "It's decided then! We will be called the Equestrian Republic!" The senate hurrayed, except for a few grumbling partisan ponies.

"Now! What do you want?" Green asked the spectating unicorns, as he pointed his gavel at them. "Also who's the stallion with the robes and such?" Green pointed his gavel towards Ares, causing several of the reactionaries to face-hoof in embarrassment.

Ares smiled at Green; finding joy in the little filly's innocence. "I, my child am Ares; the former head of the Solarist church.” Ares bowed at the filly to recognise Green's position. Green simply rubbed his hoof in awkwardness.

The representatives meanwhile raised their brows at the title 'former'. The radicals, who were trying to formulate an insult at Ares stopped in confusement. The moderates felt sympathetic for Ares, as they assumed the elitist Solarist council had finally excommunicated him. The reactionaries were angry at the Solarist church for booting the only head of faith that cared for the earth pony's plight.

"I and my faithful bishops have come for refugee," Ares explained mournfully; remembering his humiliating exodus from the church. "The elitist's scriptures demand no cooperations with the earth ponies, but we were bold enough to refute." Ares continued, "However, it cost us our positions, and now we are in exile." The bishops shrivelled, as the speech brought back memories that demoralised them.

"Not work with us?! What kind of rule is that?!" Green complained, sympathising with Ares's situation. "Are they so proud that they're blind?!" Green berated; causing Ares and his Bishops to nod solemnly.

Whilst some representatives were still reeling from the shock of the news, many were discussing a response. The radicals were grinning madly with a scheme, whilst the reactionaries and moderates were figuring out a use for the exiled clergy.

"...May we make a suggestion?" Forest announced as he rose from the huddled group of radicals. Ares and his Bishops responded with their attention. "If your faction were wrongly excommunicated by the Solarist Church, our armies would be more than glad to put you back into your position as head of faith," Forest suggested. "A valid justification for war... It could split the unicorns into weaker factions... We could make Ares our puppet!" Forest devilishly thought, "If this isn't the best application for 'Two birds, one stone,' nothing is." Forest chuckled mentally.

Ares looked towards his bishops and back to Forest. "We appreciate your offer, however, the Solarist Church is beyond saving." Ares grimly informed, causing the radicals to shrink in disappointment and surprise. "I once thought we could fix the Solarist church from the inside; however, the corruption was deeper than we thought." Ares clenched his teeth in anger as he continued his explanation, "What we had discovered was that the Solarist church was conceived with the intentions of greed and power..." Ares stomped strongly, causing many in the senate to cower as they had never seen Ares's wrath before. "The Canterlot church is nothing but a sham! Its intentions impure and sinful!" Ares roared through stomps; causing Tia and Lulu, who had known Ares as a gentle, calm pony to shiver in fear. Starswirl could also not believe his friend had an angry side.

"The Canterlot church cannot be reformed! It cannot be rescued! Its roots corrupted and its leader's devils!" Ares boomed angrily; making Green rethink his sympathies towards the 'helpless' Ares. The reactionaries attempted to distance, however his speech was winning the radical's support. "The Solarist church must be reborn! Rebirthed through fire and quills! We must burn the old scriptures! Burn the devils that interpret them! And open our doors to all ponies! Regardless of class nor tribe!" Ares shouted zealously, causing some moderates and all the radicals to cheer madly in support. The rest of the moderates clapped hesitantly, as they did not want to resort to violence of death, whilst the reactionaries were conflicted like the radicals were, as the 'peaceful' and 'stabilising' church looked more like a platform of revolutionaries through Ares.

"ORDER! ORDER!" Green barked, striking his gavel thrice. Green felt conflicted in his sympathies with Ares, however, saw the benefits of having a clergypony on their side.

Ares stood defiantly, his expressions of calmness replaced with wrath and determination. His bishops meanwhile stood close behind him, bracing themselves as well.

"...What do you want us to do?" Green asked slowly, unsure if it was the right question to start with.

"A new church. A church without corruption. A church without indulgence. A church where everypony is equal, and its messages open to all." Ares declared confidently; his eyes wisely shut. "We require your assistance to make this dream come true." Ares opened his eyes to look into Green's eyes with conviction. Green recoiled from the sudden attention.

The representatives began debating once more, as they questioned the need for a church in their new republic; until Green struck a eureka. "That's it! You will teach our ponies!" Green decided, causing several of the ponies to raise their brows in confusement.

"We already have churches throughout our lands and the clergy are already literate and educated!" Green explained frantically; not wanting to alienate his representatives. "Instead of getting rid of them, why not use them and find spiritual purpose at the same time?" Green appealed, as he remembered reading from Harold's book that faith gave purpose to a creature's life.

The representatives hummed at Green's proposal and raised their hooves in agreement. Ares and his bishops smiled as the entire senate agreed in Green's plan, as they had gotten everything they wanted.

"Brilliant! Now, how about a name change for your church Ares?" Green joyfully remarked, as his studies with Harold had paid off.

Ares smiled at the filly, as he and his bishops had already decided with a name during their trip. "We shall name our church the protestants," Ares replied. The name had been conceived when their faction had protested and left peacefully from the Canterlot church. "May our movement be the last and the first successful schism of the Solarist church."

"No." The first disagreement.

Starswirl signed as he began rubbing his temples with his hoof to soothe his headache. "Our ponies will starve without food... Please... Reconsider." Starswirl begged the stubborn earth ponies, as a few of the radicals were chuckling in their rightful suffering.

"Say that to the millions of buried earth ponies who starved whilst you held banquets and parties..." A reactionary snarled as many had seen first-hoof their dead bare-villagers be buried in the fields back home.

"Maybe you unicorns will learn from this experience. They will finally know how it feels to bury their skeletal parents who starved to death to feed you!" A moderate chided; many glad that the tables had turned on the unicorns.

"Better yet! We don't need to send an army to crush you all! Starvation is cheaper and far more painful!" A radical sneered, whilst Forest nodded a sinister grin.

"What will happen to us sister?" Lulu asked Tia, who was holding her close.

"I don't know..." Tia helplessly shook her head, which made Lulu shrivel under Tia's barrel.

"Starving us won't teach us anything! It will only incur the wrath of the windigos yet again!" Starswirl warned, but the senate erupted in laughter.

"Oh yeah?! Where were the windigos when you neglected us!" A radical rebutted furiously, as he slammed on his seat. "Where were they when the pegasus extorted us!" The radical demanded.

"The windigos are dead. We made sure of that during our 'union'. It's just that our messages of love were lost as soon as it occurred." A moderate growled, angry at Starswirl for stooping to the point of fabricating threats.

"Our anger is not towards you Starswirl, for you haven't done anything to harm us." A reactionary assured, however, he continued, "But you did nothing as our ponies starved, and begged for help like you are doing now." Every representative began nodding in agreement. "It's high time we return the favour..." He finished by turning his back; symbolising what Starswirl had done to them. The other ponies followed.

"...we have to help them..." Green decided, making the ponies turn back around in outrage.

"WHAT?!" They all shouted; Forest looking especially angry.

"Listen! By starving them we are only going to perpetuate a cycle of hate!" Green reasoned, thanking Harold's book for giving him wisdom, "We live with these unicorns! If we want to feel safe and stabilise, we have to show them we are the better pony!" Several reactionary's expressions began to soften. "They raise the sun for Solari's sake! And not all will starve! They will forever haunt us with raids and skirmishes!" The moderates began to see reason. "We may have an overwhelming army, but our enemies across our borders will see weakness in our infighting! Our armies cannot be bogged down in a futile war against the unicorns!" Green had finally won the moderates and reactionaries, as they began nodding to his explanation.

"Lies! Our armies will easily crush our enemies!" Forest denied, causing some wavering radicals to stick by Forest's side.

"No nation is great enough to protect its entire borders! No less one fighting an internal conflict! The unicorns are already entrenched in castles and their magic allows them to evade battles easily! It'll be an impossible war to win!" Green argued, causing the wavering radicals to join his side.

"So what?! We will feed the ponies which starved and enslaved us?!" Forest desperately challenged, as he had witnessed his parents be carried off by a band of pegasuses to a unicorn's mine and never come back. "You want our earth pony's deaths to be forgotten overnight?! The unicorns and pegasuses forgiven despite their bloodied hooves?!" Forest clenched his teeth strongly; to the point that his gums began to bleed. "We said the same things during the founding of Equestria! And see how it turned out!" Forest stomped furiously, causing several of his fellow radicals to back off; both physically and symbolically.

"The unicorns and pegasus will not be forgiven that easily. We will hold trials and determine if a noble or general is guilty from testimonies from the native earth ponies." Green justified, completely winning over the entire senate, "But we cannot let revenge blind us, and there exist several minor or insignificant nobles and pegasuses that doesn't deserve our wrath." Tia and Lulu sighed a breath of relief, whilst Starswirl nodded at the compromise.

Forest watched on desperately as his fellow radicals distanced away from him; leaving Forest isolated within the senate seats. His desperation quickly turned into spite, then finally anger. "TRAITORS! ALL OF YOU!" Forest accused, frailing his hooves wildly, "HAVE YOU ALL FORGOTTEN OUR SUFFERING?! HAVE YOU ALL FORGOTTEN OUR DEATHS?!" Forest stomped at his seat, causing it to crack and send splinters into his hoof. "THEY HAVE BETRAYED US! YET YOU DECIDE TO TRUST THEM?!" Forest continued stomping with his bloodied hooves.

"That's enough Forest!" Green struck with his gavel, but Forest simply shouted louder.

"MARK MY WORDS! THE UNICORNS WILL BETRAY US! THE PEGASUSES WILL BETRAY US! ONCE THEY FILL THEIR BELLIES WITH OUR FOOD, THEY WILL STRIKE US!" Forest stormed, trotting silently towards the stairs and the exit. The radicals flowed outwards to maintain their distance with Forest, as he walked past them without acknowledging any of them.

As Forest slammed the door in his exit, and his hoofsteps no longer became audible, Green began rubbing his temple. "This won't end well..." Green muttered silently, as he had a premonition of what Forest was going to do.

"He has the support of his personal Battalion... And he has just alienated himself from the senate..." Green thought, fearing the implications. "Courier!" Green called out, prompting the courier to dash towards him from the door.

"Yes sir?" The courier asked, happy for the distraction.

Green began writing and narrating his letter, "Tell the guards to arrest all generals and put them into house arrest. Tell the divisions in the local garrisons to assemble hidden outside the senate and surround the capital."

"And the reasons sir?" The courier asked, reaching his hoof to take the letter.

Green finished the writing and wrote the reasons on the front. "Forest is attempting a coup."

Forest's coup

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"How are you so sure that your friend, 'Forest' will commence a coup?" Starswirl whispered at Green, who was leaning against a wall to hear any hoofsteps. "After all, this is just one incident, and it seems foolish to suspect somepony would do something this drastic."

"This wasn't a single incident, and ponies do drastic things when they're cornered," Green mumbled, still focused on trying to hear. "I hope the book is wrong... I mean, no disgruntled famous general would rebel in a pony society... Right?" Green bit his lips in hope, but he began to hear the faint hoofsteps.

Starswirl stopped as he began hearing it too, "Do you have any parades ongoing?" He placed his ears against the walls as well.

"...No..." Green muttered, removing his face from the wall. "Please don't do anything stupid Forest... Green hoped, as he felt Jaco's gaze upon him.

"What a waste..."

Before Forest's coup (Forest's garrison)

"Why'd you think Forest assembled us? A soldier asked, unsure as to why they had been rallied several times this month alone.

"I heard he's thinking of invading the unicorns again." another soldier replied, as Forest had been considering departing alone.

"Quiet down you two." A veteran scolded; having served in all major battles with Forest and being fiercely loyal to him. But he had begun becoming annoyed at the undisciplined behaviours of the fresh recruits.

"Shush! Forest is here!" The soldiers braced themselves, as Forest slowly trotted in front of their formations.

Forest stopped in front of his soldiers, stepping on top of a pedestal to make himself more visible. His soldiers watched on quietly.

"Loyal soldiers of the Jacobins!.. I've been betrayed!" Forest announced, causing the assembled soldiers to murmur in shock.

"Betrayed? What happened in the senate?" a soldier murmured, garnering shrugs from his comrades.

"Must've been the Pastorians, our generals have been made at them for a while!" another soldier replied, causing the others to nod.

Forest nodded sagely at the agreeing stallions, as it implied their support for his cause. "The traitors in the senate are colluding with our former oppressors! The unicorns and pegasuses!" Forest boomed, emphasising the last bit. "They plan to restore the regime that oppressed us! Pardon those who watched us die and enslaved us!" Forest began to crack his pedestal through stomps.

"Damn the senate!" The soldiers jeered, as they began stomping and kicking up the dirt.

"We must preserve the revolution! The deaths of Jaco and Copper must not be in vain! We must rid ourselves of the traitorous Pastorians!" Forest roared, prompting his soldiers to cheer madly in support. "WE MUST MARCH! ONWARDS TO THE SENATE?" Forest commanded, pointing towards the general direction of the senate.

"HURRAH!" The soldiers cheered and began galloping towards the capital. Forest quickly caught up to his stallions, leading his soldiers.

"The generals in the capital will support me!" Forest assured himself. "I'll succeed." He thought, "I'll win. He thought.

"What's the meaning of this?! We demand an explanation!" A general cried out, as he and his other high ranking officers were being tied up and escorted into the senate.

The guardponies remained silent, carrying the struggling generals into a locked room in the senate.

"We demand an explanation guards!" The general gasped out, as he was thrown into the pile of his compatriots.

"We don't have to tell you anything." A guard retorted, "Just sit tight, and maybe your 'house' arrest won't turn into a death sentence." The guards slammed the door of the room, shrouding the tied generals and officers in darkness.

There wouldn't be any support for Forest.

"Where to, next sir?" An officer asked, standing beside Forest looking at a makeshift map. "The generals don't seem to be coming..." The officer looked back up and scanned the surroundings for any signs of the incoming generals. "Nope." He shook his head.

"...Then we go without them." Forest snatched the map off his officer and scrunched it, tossing it away once it became a ball. "REFORMISTS! MARCH!" Forest ordered, prompting his battalion to begin marching towards the senate. "Traitors... All of them..." Forest growled.

"They're at '8, 60 seconds." A loyalist informed Green, who had his head firmly against the wall, tracking the march of Forest's battalion in the southwest.

"...Are our soldiers ready?" Green asked, assuming that his loyalists had surrounded Forest's column.

"We've already begun constricting them." The loyalist answered, as their soldiers had begun approaching Forest's street. "Once they're loud enough, we should come out."

Green nodded and began peaking through the windows. "It's time."

"Hold it right there!"

Forest's front column halted, causing several ponies to stumble at the previous rows. "Hey! Why'd you stop?!" A tripped reformist yelled, as his helmet tumbled off in his fall. His anger only stopped when he saw Forest's extended hoof stopping the column's advance.

"Don't do this Forest," Green begged Forest, who was growling at him. "We don't have to fight... Let's just talk..."

Forest glared at the filly, his teeth beginning to dust from his grinding. "Funny how you want peace when I have an army..." Forest snapped, "It's too late filly... You and your friends will be purged from this republic..." Forest drew his sword, prompting his officers and front row to draw their crossbows and swords.

"...I'm so sorry Jaco..." Green muttered, gesturing his hoof for his loyalists to reveal themselves. "Forgive me Copper..." Green prayed, as his loyalists seemingly materialised from every alley, roof, door and windows adjacent to Forest's column. The reformists watched with dread as ballistas began appearing into view.

Pikes lowered, crossbows jolted, ballistas centred and swords unsheathed. The loyalists advanced slowly with their pikes, forcing Forest's soldiers to retreat slowly into a tight circle. Nopony dared to shoot first. Forest watched on helplessly as their position became more and more vulnerable against the ballistas.

As the reformists ran out of space to further retreat into, a loyalist officer stepped forward, accompanied by an assistant with a stool. The officer stood atop the stool, passing the hail of pikes below him. He cleared his throat.

"Brave Soldiers! You have done all the honour of loyalty requires! His grace, Green Pastures invites you to save your lives!.. Will you agree to surrender?!" The loyalist officer appealed.

Silence followed as nopony wanted to be called a traitor. Forest growled hysterically.

"THE JACOBINS NEVER SURRENDER!" Forest roared but wasn't joined by his fellow reformists.

The officer's expressions immediately darkened, as he and his assistant disappeared into the loyalist's formations. Then the pikeponies began dispersing from their formations, revealing an encirclement of ballistas.

Green wiped his tears. "FIRE!"

Forest coughed blood, as the right chunk of his barrel had been obliterating by a bolt. His lungs had already begun filling with blood, effectively suffocating him from the inside.

Green began to approach the leaning Forest with red, teary eyes.

"Why'd you make me do this?! -You're fighting your friends just so you can kill more ponies! -Think Forest think!" Green pointed towards his temples with both hooves, trying not to cry. "Everything we knew! Everything we valued could've been lost by you!" Green withdrew his head, shutting his eyes and letting the tears flow.

*Grrrkkkkh...* Forest gurgled, as bubbles of blood began foaming from his mouth. "I'm so sorry Jaco..." Forest contemplated, as he looked up for the last time and shut his eyes. Foams ceased forming as his life blew out, causing his limbs to limp. Green began to sob and hiccup.

Around him, loyalists investigated the mountain of corpses for any survivors, as the density of the reformist's formations had caused some soldiers to be stuck under a pile of corpses.

Starswirl watched with sympathy and horror. Tia and Lulu held each other close, closing each other's eyes with their hooves, and Starswirl blocking the noise with magic. Ares observed with sympathy, as he and his bishops wandered around the fallen, muttering prayers for the dead and their safe passage to the afterlife.

There was only one great pony left.

Always a neighbour

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A squad of earth ponies were lazily perched atop a tree, scanning the horizons and borders for any hostile incursions. The lack of sleep, constant movement and fighting had completely exhausted and demoralised them; the recent purges of half the general staff merely acting as an accelerant. "At least we have a name..." They all thought, as they were no longer the 'Jacobins', but the Republicans, or for the traditionalists, the Equestrians.

"Pass me a joint will ya?" A soldier asked, getting a tossed joint in response. "Cheers." He began lighting it with a dagger and a piece of flint, scratching the sides and creating a spark.

"When's Garden coming? He's been gone for an hour now." He blew out, scanning the northern borders for any sign of a sweating pony.

"Poor sod, unlucky of him to be chosen for Crystal duty." Another soldier replied, as scouting the Crystal Empire's borders were terrible.

"Hey! I think I see him now!" The smoking soldier proclaimed, pointing at a shining speck appearing on the mountains. "...Why's he glowing?"

His squad squinted at the speck, as the sun's rays seemed to reflect off of it and directly into their eyes. If not for their dense lenses, they would've been blinded.

"...Probably his helmet..." A soldier muttered, leaning further in to better observe the speck.

"...I don't-" They all recoiled, as the speck was followed by a horde that materialised atop the mountain.

"CRYSTAL PONIES!" They all screamed, falling from the trees to roll and immediately gallop towards the nearest garrison.

In the distance, the Crystal Pony's army held a severed head; the decapitated head of Garden.

"Unicorns must still pay for the food, and any former serf or slave-owners must be imprisoned and trialled, else we won't sell any food." Little informed Starswirl from a script, written by the senate and his older brother to not incur the wrath of the Equestrian earth ponies. (Also because Green is still crying)

"I assume your witnesses will be exclusively earth ponies?" Starswirl presumed,

"Of course! Who else would know which unicorns are bad or not?" Little replied confidentially.

"...You are aware that they could lie?" Starswirl informed the clueless filly, as it was obvious why the 'radicals' had authorised this decision. "They plan on accusing all of us..." Starswirl thought.

"No way! Earth ponies can never lie!" Little argued, crossing her hooves in defiance.

"Puddinghead." Starswirl deadpanned.

"...oh..." Little realised.

Starswirl resisted the urge to face-hoof, and instead grabbed a quill and a letter from his saddlebag. He began writing. "...Will you be kind enough to present this to your brother?.." Starswirl folded the letter and passed it off to Little, who was still trying to fully understand her revelation. "The senate is a farse... It's depressingly obvious that the filly holds the power here..." Starswirl thought, "Who had engineered such a government? Where the leader holds all the power, whilst feigning a democracy?" Starswirl began to ponder who could've created such a masterfully treacherous government, as he correctly guessed that a mere filly couldn't have made it. "The leader holds half the votes... Whilst the senate argue amongst themselves... The leader brings up proposals... And can stop anypony from talking..." Starswirl twirled his beard. "A perfect recipe for a dictatorship... Starswirl finished. Little did he know, Bismarck had made it to make Wilhelm's reign look more democratic, whilst not affecting his power. Harold had just stolen it.

Starswirl refocused on Little, who was still thinking about Starswirl's comparison with Puddinghead; his letter still floating above Little's head. Starswirl cleared his throat loudly, breaking Little's thoughts.

"Please? Letter to Green?" Starswirl shook the letter, prompting Little to grab it in between her teeth.

"Mmph-khay!" Little spoke through clenched teeth, galloping straight toward's her home. Starswirl sighed in relief. He simply had to wait now.

"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! TERRIBLE NEWS!" Clover slammed into Platinum's room, intruding in during her make-up time. The sudden shake ruined her cosmetics, as her servant's magic flickered from the surprise, messing up her face in a hilarious fashion.

"...What?" Platinum dangerously turned, her face hard to not laugh at. But her growls ensured Clover's seriousness.

"The Crystal Ponies are invading! And they are advancing straight to Canterlot!" Clover worryingly informed, cartoonishly dashing out the room to roll in a presentation.

"...Straight to Canterlot?! What of the forts and castles in the way?!" Platinum objected,

"According to the fleeing nobles and battlemages, the Crystal Ponies are utilising a new weapon!" Clover flipped a page from the presentation, "They call it! The crystal bombards!" The presentation revealed a crystal crusted cylindrically siege engine:

(It's this, except it's entirely crystal and the outside layer is jagged and irregular)

"Crystal bombard? Are you implying that can explode?" Platinum asked awkwardly, as she knew of a unicorn spell that could cause an explosion; and in great quantities be called a 'bombardment'.

"Quite the contrary princess; the bombard can shoot crystal balls that can shatter walls, and break into shards to decimate the defenders!" Clover deliberated, as she flipped another page, demonstrating its range and capabilities through cartoonish figures.

"Oh, how horrible!" Platinum gasped, both due to the abhorrent drawing and the predicament she was in. "What about the earth ponies? Surely they stood against the crystal ponies?" Platinum bit her lips.

"They are retreating without a fight towards Canterlot, I believe they are planning to rally their soldiers to put up a better fight." Clover speculated as the earth ponies would not abandon their villagers to certain doom.

"How long until Amore's forces reach us?" Platinum bit her lips harder.

"It will take at least 3 weeks if they take out 2 of the forts along the way." Clover fliped to a map and pointed towards the two forts with a stick. "You wish to flee your highness?" Clover asked, refocusing her gaze towards her princess.

"No time servant! We must leave now!" Platinum ordered; somehow with her face completely restored and having packed all her belongings."We depart south! Where the crystal will never chase us!" Platinum deluded herself, believing the slightly hotter climate would deter the crustal ponies. Clover face-hoofed.

As Platinum hurriedly escaped the room, Clover was left to send a letter to Starswirl. She poured her magic into the princess's enchanted candle, turning the yellow flames into a brilliant green. She smiled tiredly as the inefficiency of flame magic took a toll on her magic reserves, but she quickly torched the letter requesting help to Starswirl before the green flame flickered off.

"MVP... Most valuable pony..." Clover thought, as the letter turned into nothingness. "Starswirl will have to carry us once again..."

"-There *hic* is no way- *hic* that unicorns can- *hic* be a witness." Green sniffled, his tears having smudged the area around his eyes. "They would probably *hic* -lie."

Starswirl frowned, "The same could be said about the earth ponies."

"We suffered from the unicorn's rule- *hic* did any of your unicorns suffer the same amount we did?" Green raised a brow in annoyance.

Starswirl began brushing his beard. "Actually... Yes, some have." Green's annoyance turned into surprise, "As you know, Ares's faction has faced prosecution and have been exiled." Green nodded slowly. "-Our battlemages are also abused and exploited by the elites to fight and die in their stead." Green nodded vigorously. "It's unlikely those unicorns would lie to save their master's lives," Starswirl concluded, making Green stare at the ground for thought.

"...I did hear about the battlemages once..." Green pondered loudly, rubbing his chin. "Fine. We'll let them, but as soon as we think they're lying, they're gonna get it!" Green bellowed as he lifted himself to place his hindhooves onto his wheelwagon.

"You mean, you think? Not we think?" Starswirl stared boredly at Green's struggle. He dared not to help, else Green snap at him for thinking he was weak.

Then, a letter appeared in a burst of green flames.

"AH! MAGIC PAPER!" Green recoiled, knocking over his wheelwagon. Starswirl simply grabbed the letter with his magic and unfolded it.

"..." Starswirl scanned the letter; leaving the confused Green to stare at the letter. "Not good..." Starswirl mumbled, as he grabbed a quill, paper and candle from his saddlebag to reply.

"What's up?" Green asked, flipping himself over to his forehooves. Green watched intently as Starswirl hurriedly scrambled with the note; finishing with a fold. Green flinched when Starswirl lit the candle with green flames.

"...The crystal empire is invading..." Starswirl muttered as he placed the letter over the candle; the green flame quickly consuming the paper into a vacuum. "The nobles have already fled..."

"Hah! Cowards!" Green teased, puffing his chest on pride.

"The earth ponies have also fled..." Green immediately shrunk.

"...Wait a minute! Why am I taking this from a unicorn?" Green braced himself, pointing accusingly at Starswirl.

Suddenly, the room's door bursted open as two generals lunged and rolled across the floor; being stopped by Starswirl's magic when they were about to overshoot their targets. "Thanks..." A general smiled awkwardly at Starswirl.

The other general immediately saluted Green, even as he was held upside down. "Sir! The crystal ponies are invading from the north! And they seem to be heading straight for Canterlot; the unicorn's capital!" The general continued, not letting Green interject. "We have been pushed back by overwhelming numbers, and the crystal ponies are better armed than we are; they are using a sort of bombard that can annihilate our armour!"

"WHAT?!" Green frailed madly; his brain refusing to process the information.

"We have captured one from a lost squad, and they seem to propel a large crystal shard from igniting a crushed magic crystal." The general explained, pulling a sketch of the bombard out of nowhere. "Horrible inaccurate, but when one hits, it's extremely deadly." The general pointed to the sketch of a crystal shard; displaying its irregular shape which made the projectile inaccurate.

"...Could I have a closer look at your sketches?" Starswirl asked, immediately snatching the sketches with his magic at the slightest nod from the general. "...You say this is operated with magic?" Starswirl stared at the sketches intently, twisting them periodically to gain a better view.

"No, the entire thing is magic, run by their crystals." The general pulled out another sketch, except it was a badly drawn picture of a crystal unicorn. Green still had a 404 error in his brain.

"...And you say our battlemages all fled?" Starswirl tried not to cringe at the doodled crystal unicorn.

"Ah! I see what you mean! Yes, the battlemages were able to shield or disable the bombards with some sort of spell, but they got destroyed by the crystal pony infantry." The general shrugged.

"What were your soldiers doing when our battlemages fought?" Starswirl raised a brow,

"It's not that simple, we don't have an integrated command, we have no communication, and the nobles in the castles and forts wants us nowhere near them." The general began to squint at Starswirl, "-and what makes you think that we'll help the unicorns so easily?" He pointed accusingly at Starswirl, as the other general glared at him.

"General, gather all our soldiers in our internal garrisons." Green snapped out, as he woke from his thoughts.

"What..?" The general stared at Green, dumbfounded at the order.

"The battlemages have been exploited like us, they'll be easy to cooperate with," Green explained, "Incorporate them into our army and make sure to 'convince' the nobles who object." Green winked at the general, who vigorously nodded and dashed out the room.

The other general pointed at himself awkwardly for any orders.

Green pointed at the last general, "You gather a battalion and escort Starswirl to Canterlot, I'll be close behind with a division." The general nodded.

"...You will be fighting as well..?" Starswirl asked quite surprised, even as he reminded himself of Green's injury; which implied his experience in battle.

Green dismissed him, as he began wheeling towards the exit; the doors wide open as the generals were in too much of a hurry to close them. "Just don't tell my sister."

Little did he know, Little had been listening in the entire time

A 'Little' Problem

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Green had snuck out of his house during the night, having informed his parents of his departure the previous day. As he did previously, he had left a note for Little to read, however, this time he has entrusted it to his parents so that Little wouldn't figure it out immediately. But he feared Little would know better from experience.

For now, he was alone on the streets; passing by the dark outlines of houses, alleys, and intersections; the only audible sound being the occasional bumps on the road from his wheels. "I'm so sorry Lit-”

"Don't go."

Green jumped and quickly turned to locate the voice. He began to dread. It was Little. His little sister...

"Please... Don't go." Little approached Green, desperation clear on her face, with tears flowing ceaselessly down to her neck.

Green began to wheel backwards.

"You've already lost two hooves... You've lost enough..." Little pleaded, speeding her pace.

Green's wheelwagon got stuck on a pebble.

"...What next? Losing the rest of your hooves? Your eyes..? Your life...?" Little stopped in front of Green, staring pleadingly into his eyes.

Green painfully resisted the urge to hug and comfort his little sister, as he bit his tongue to the point of bleeding.

"I... I don't want you to go." Little held one of Green's hoof, gripping it lightly.

Green's tried to pull her off, but his body disobeyed him; leaning closer.

"Please... Don't go..." Little hugged Green's hoof, wrapping herself around it with eyes closed.

Green stared wordlessly into the void in front of him, as the emotions within his mind began to conflict and fight against each other. On one side, he didn't want to abandon his little sister again, whilst the other side emphasised his role as a leader and his duty to protect their republic.

"Don't go..." Little tightened her grip, as her breaths became slower and weaker. "Don't leave me..." Little fell asleep; the smudges of dried tears visible on her face.

Green began to run his hoof over Little's mane, comforting her. "...Mom and dad are going to kill me for this..." Green murmured, as he unlatched Little and perched her on his back; intending on taking her to Canterlot with him. "Let's just hope the Senate won't burn the country with our absence..." Green prayed, "Also for Ares not to usurp our power... Green prayed again, "Also for the radi-... Damn! There's a lot to account for..." Green realised, as he had just allowed numerous factions to arise that could destroy the republic from the inside. "Here's hoping they won't all fail miserably..." Green decidedly hoped, checking his saddlebag for Harold's book for the last time to ensure its safekeeping.

Meanwhile... The Airships/Zeppelins (the ground telephone crew):

"This is SMS Moltke, do you read us?" A radioman tested, as he fiddled with the coiled wires.

"Oi! Don't touch the wires! We're diggin' 'ere!" A distant engineer roared, garnering a 'pfft' from the radioman in dismissal.

"We read you loud and clear Moltke," the telephone buzzed out, causing the radioman to bounce giddily. "Anything to report for today?"

"Same as always, endless forestation and foreign critters." The radioman replied stoically; ceasing his bouncing immediately. "Still no sighting of natives though." The radioman flicked a leaf off his collar, as they began entering a dense forest.

"Oi! Tell the deck to send more men! Also a transfer! The forests are gonna be the end of us!" An engineer shouted, followed by the entire crew flying upwards to the airship.

"...Not much of a question..." The radioman muttered; coiling the wires further on his claws. "Hopefully we reach somewhere soon..." He sighed, as a rotated engineer crew descended towards the digging site.

Meanwhile, Paul listened intently to the conversations on the telephones; having tapped into all of them before the expedition. Paul grinned maniacally.

Another abandoned castle.

The crystal ponies easily captured another castle; being one of many in their southern march. So far, they'd not encountered any sizeable threat, nor a pegasus army. The marshal began to chuckle.

The Crystal empire had been planning an invasion of Equestria ever since the coronation of Emperor Amore VI; being 14 years ago. The two nations had bad relations ever since their inception, as the Equestrian pegasuses would raid the Crystal Empire for food and materials during their first founding years. Amore V attempted to normalise relations and stop the constant raids from the pegasuses, however, negotiations would break down when Hurricane rejected every resolution, as trading for food was impossible for a nation that had just migrated and lost everything.

The Crystal Empire's military doctrine emphasised toughness and strength; they would wear thick armour and be armed with large swords to form their heavy infantry. In contrast, the pegasus's doctrine focused on speed, screening and routing, as they would wear the bare necessities and wield light weapons that wouldn't hinder flight or movement. This meant that the pegasuses could choose their battles and slowly whittle down the crystal ponies, even as Amore V's forces invaded Equestria to provoke the pegasuses into a decisive battle. Hurricane would respond by using scorched earth tactics; burning every village that the Crystal Ponies would cross to resupply. Amore V would die in Equestria, but not from a glorious battle, but by disease and starvation; rotting away in his camp alongside his stallions.

Hurricane and his army would enter the unprotected Crystal city the following week; enforcing harsh demands and tribute from the Crystal ponies, as they were stripped of their southern territories and forced to withdraw to the northern mountains that would come to oversee the construction of the unicorn's capital; Canterlot.

Amore VI would have to suffer 14 years of humiliation, as the pegasuses would always come annually demanding their tribute, and he would have to witness the unicorn's capital during his visits to the southern palaces. He would use the time to rebuild the army, change its tactics and create a spy network to listen in on the Equestrians. Amore VI would pray every day, cursing the Equestrians and hoping for their downfall, however, no matter how hard he begged, nothing would happen. Until the earth ponies rose.

"A dream come true..." The marshal muttered, garnering several glances from his officers.

The earth pony rebellion had annihilated the pegasus army; effectively doing the Crystal pony's job for them. This meant that Amore's invasion could commence immediately, as the Equestrians were tearing each other apart, and any internal conflicts meant opportunities. Amore VI would generously reward the earth ponies after they took the unicorn's capital and razed it to the ground; he considered taking a majority of the Equestrian lands and creating an earth pony puppet buffer state to ward against raiders.

"...Only if the earth ponies could've joined our side..." The marshal thought, as the earth ponies seemed to be misled, as they were fighting for the hated unicorns.

Amore VI would watch from the mountains, observing the distant foggy Canterlot. His marshal would succeed. His army would triumph. He would win. There was no way the earth ponies could win.

And he would be right.

"Atchoo!" The admiral sneezed, prompting him to rub his beak with a fist. "Is someone talking behind my back?"

"No one's talking about you Jean..." The vice admiral muttered, "Damn narcissist..."

Jean glared at Chester, who whistled in innocence in response.

"Sir! We've made contact with some ponies!" A captain bursted in, breaking Jean's glare. "Strangely, they aren't afraid of us," The captain shrugged awkwardly.

"How so? Aren't we 'meat-eating savages' to them?" Jean raised a brow whilst asking, as he began tapping at his beak in thought.

"We thought so too, but the ponies we met seemed to have an idea of who we are..." The captain began rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course they know; we're griffons," Chester deadpanned, crossing his arm in impatience. "Be more specific."

"Yes, what I meant is that they know we're 'civilised' and 'high-tech." The captain elaborated,

"If you were a caveman and you saw strange creatures carrying shiny things coming out of a floating cylinder, what would you think?" Chester raised a brow, "Civilised? No shit. High-tech? Double shit." Chester snorted at the captain's idiocy.

"What's with the negativity?" Jean asked, "The travel's getting to ya?" Jean nudged Chester playfully, who slapped his elbow in response.

"Well... Anyways, they are imploring us to head north for some reason, and they are willing to escort us there." The captain pulled a note from his wings, which contained the key points from the dialogue with the earth pony scouts.

"-and why is that?" Jean asked slowly, as he leaned in to grab the note which the captain was passing by flying closer to him. "Is it a trap..?" Jean scanned the note, humming softly when he realised it was a plea for help.

"Sounds like a trap," Chester added, as he leaned in to also observe the note.

"...Crystal ponies?" Jean scratched his head, "Invasion? Need help?" Jean pushed the note away, "Are we willing to jeopardise the future relations with the 'Crystal Empire' in favour of Equestria?" Jean pondered loudly,

"The earth ponies seem to already tolerate our existence..." Chester stated, "But if they want our help, they must be losing." Chester continued, "But it could win the pony's trusts." Chester concluded.

"It could also show our power..." Jean muttered,

"Make them owe us as well." The captain chimed in.

"So it's decided them? Are we moving,?" Chester looked around the command room

"..." The room remained silent in indecision.

"We should call the emperors..." Jean suggested, causing both his captain and the vice-admiral to scream 'Not it!'

"...The things I do..." Jean contemplated, as he would be the one to break the news to his emperors."Pain..."

The Scramble for defence

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"Amore VI has sent us a letter for surrender," A lieutenant pulled out a golden paper with the Emperor's seal. "They will spare our lives if we turn in our masters and leave." The lieutenant passed the letter to his general, who quickly scanned through it.

"We are honour-bound to fight to the death," the general looked up, stashing the letter, "We signed a contract that guarantees our loyalty towards the nobles." The lieutenant nodded.

"The invading army's marshal had also given us a letter," The lieutenant shakily passed a bloodied letter to his general, not using his magic as to not break protocol.

"...From Marshal Flay Mustafa?" The general grabbed the letter carefully as to not soak his hoof with blood. He opened it.

The general immediately recoiled and dropped the letter, holding his muzzle to hold in a vomit. His face turned green in disgust whilst the lieutenant turned his head in sorrow.

The letter had a severed ear pinned to it, with traces of blood still oozing out. The words were covered with splotches of dried and wet blood.

"Surrender, or else." it read.

"Do we have to fight?" A general argued, "Amore's going to free us from our contracts; we won't have to die for those greedy bastards no more!" Many generals nodded.

"There's no guarantee; did you see what they did?" A general presented a letter with a clipped ear; the blood still dripping to the floor. "Many of us have fought against Amore V, and his heir will not forgive us." Several generals drooped their heads in contemplation.

"Then we fight."

The generals snapped their heads towards the door; immediately recognising the voice. "...Essie?"

"Eccentric." He corrected; annoyed at how everypony seemed to call him 'Essie'.

"You're a duke! What are you still doing here?!" A general blurted, as all the other nobles had evacuated as soon as they heard the Crystal Empire's invasion.

"What? Can't a noble duke defend her majesty's subjects?" Eccentric held a hoof on his chest as if he was hurt by the general's outburst.

"...Also, the fact that you repelled Amore V's armies during the siege of Hoofington? And his son wants blood in revenge?" A general helpfully supplemented; making Eccentric look away innocently.

"Anyways, worry not! I shall defend Canterlot as I did in Hoofington, and repel the Crystal Empire once more!" Eccentric posed valiantly, somehow materialising a stool underneath him to elevate the right half of his body.

"The times have changed Essi-"

"ECCENTRIC" Eccentric growled,

"-don't care, the times have changed Essie, our walls now shatter against Amore's engines, the pegasuses are out of the picture, and the Empire far outnumbers us." A general informed, strengthening the defeatist mood in the room. However, Eccentric held firm, still bracing on his stool.

"That may be true-"

"-It is true..." A general groaned,

"*ahem*-That is true, but we've prevailed from harsher odds!" Eccentric reasoned,

"Oh?" A general raised a brow.

"Oh yes! We've defeated the pegasuses whilst being outnumbered!" Eccentric smiled triumphantly.

"Yes, because it was a surprise attack and the pegasuses didn't have time to gather their forces." A general boredly countered, "Mustafa's forces are the one's attacking, we are the ones defending, and they haven't scattered, but grouped up during their advance." The generals sighed again.

Eccentric stopped to think, "What if we attack? -no, we don't have the speed to do it... Perhaps we run? -no, that would simply delay the inevitable... Scorched earth is out of the question with the earth ponies in charge... There is also a probability that the earth ponies would align themselves with Amore..." Eccentric sighed, stepping off his stool. He curled up to think of a solution.

The room quickly devolved into bouts of depressive groans and sighs, as the generals aimlessly scribbled on their notes with their heads set flat against the tables, whilst Eccentric rubbed his temples attempting to figure out a solution. However, their whines would suddenly be drowned out by noises of struggle from the door.

"Hey, Hey! Stop right th- What are you- Step back! -I SAID STEP BACK!" A guard screamed out, followed by the sounds of a door being forced open. "Stop now! Or else you will be killed!" the guard threatened helplessly.

"With one of you? Fat chance?" A pony mocked, followed by a wave of laughter. Eccentric and the Generals faced the door, as the noises became closer.

"Duke Lawlane! The earth ponies are here!" the lone guard shouted, prompting Eccentric and the generals to brace for battle.

"COMING IN!" An earth pony shouted as an axe carved into the door. The generals flinched in fear. Several more swings followed, causing a small opening to form in the centre of the door, revealing a fancy uniform donned by the swinging pony.

The generals flinched once more, as the axe struck the wall adjacent to the door; creating a slight bump on their side. The swinging pony stopped and leaned into the opening he had created; wearing a psychopathic expression.

"Here's Rimpler!"

"-AHHHHHHH!" The generals screamed, as one of them shot a bolt at the face, causing the earth pony to be launched backwards.

"ARGH! MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!" He cried out, prompting the generals to stick to the walls in fear of retribution.

"What the fuck just happened?" Eccentric stared blankly at the scene; his brain losing thousands of brain cells from overload.

It was going to be a long day...

The room had finally calmed down, as the Republican and unicorn generals sat uneasily around the table; many having to squeeze in between each other due to a lack of space.

Eccentric cleared his throat to begin,

"-So you're saying the 'Republicans' had sent you and an army to help us defend Canterlot?" Eccentric inquired,

"No, we came here for some tea." Rimpler smiled innocently. Eccentric face-hooved.

"How many are coming?" Eccentric recovered fast, lifting his head.

"20,000 are already here, and no more are coming." Rimpler frowned with the last detail.

"That would be 21,000 in total..." Eccentric mumbled thoughtfully, "Against 200,000 Crystal Ponies with better equipment as well..." Eccentric continued to brood, disregarding Rimpler's existence.

"That's why we gotta go!" Rimpler raised his hoof cheerfully,

"Go? You mean right now?" Eccentric worryingly asked,

"Of course right now! We have no time to lose! Carry 'em all officers!" Rimpler lunged in; grabbing Eccentric and hoisting him over his barrel. His generals followed. "Onwards! TO EVERY ANGLE OF THE WALLS!" Rimpler dashed out, heading straight for the wall facing the palace; it was the largest stretch of wall in Canterlot, and the grounds leading up to it was flat and easy to traverse. He would defend and fortify the most difficult point.

"Dissapointment." Rimpler clicked his tongue, as he observed and poked the walls which were near-crumbling due to negligence and mismanagement.

"Tell the engineers to modernise and fix the walls, they're about to collapse on its own," Rimpler ordered a general, who promptly saluted and dashed off to their engineer's headquarters.

"Also tell them to build ravelins adjacent to the walls; we wouldn't want any attackers fleeing with their lives would we?" Another general saluted, dashing towards the same direction as the former did.

(Ravelins are triangular protrusions on or adjacent to walls that provide crossfire and hinder assaults in general.)

As Rimpler continued to order constructions, Eccentric observed him suspiciously, "Why are you doing this?" Eccentric asked, placing a hoof on the distracted Marshal.

"Hm?" Rimpler turned, slapping Eccentric's hoof off.

"Why are you helping us? You will be defending your oppressor's capital, and be dying to protect the race which killed your friends and family." Eccentric pushed for answers, risking bringing up painful memories to gain the reasons for the Republic's selflessness.

Rimpler simply laughed. "Well maybe excluding you, but the battlemages have suffered as much as we had. It's natural to help our fellow oppressed ponies." Rimpler shrugged, hoping his causal demeanour would distract Eccentric from their real intentions of the mission; to divide the unicorns into elites and minor 'nobles'.

"...But to risk your lives..." Eccentric still wasn't fully convinced, as it made no sense that the earth ponies wouldn't just leave the battlemages to side with Amore's forces.

"Listen, we aren't the 'earth' pony Republic, we are the EQUESTRIAN Republic, meaning that everypony is welcome, and must be protected no matter the race," Rimpler explained, finally convincing Eccentric that their goal was 'reconciliation'.

"...What are you building?" Eccentric asked, trying to divert the topic as Rimpler seemed annoyed at his constant questioning and prodding of sensitive memories.

Rimpler smiled once more, "We're fixing and improving your walls first, and we're building ravelins to provide crossfire against frontal assaults." Rimpler pointed towards the foundations of their works, as the engineers had already begun laying the bricks. "We are also planning on building earthen ramparts outlining our fortifications to fully utilise our fortifications." Rimpler pointed towards the outskirts of the walls, where the Republican soldiers had begun digging and constructing bunkers and wooden palisades whilst they were idle.

"...Impressive..." Eccentric complimented, as the earth ponies had devoted to their works; their passive magic of manipulating earth coming to their advantage massively.

"What are you planning Essie?" Rimpler playfully nudged; having heard his generals referring to him as such, and realising how much it pissed him off.

'Essie' groaned tiredly at Rimpler's childishness, but remembered something which could give Rimpler the taste of his own medicine. "My battlemages have already begun conjuring traps on the nearby forests and earth; meaning they cannot hide nor utilise the wood for ladders or siegeworks as they would explode on my signal." Essie proudly announced, raising his chin in superiority. "If an assault is especially gruelling, we could detonate some charges on the surrounding earth to cut off an assault from reinforcements," Essie explained, waving a hoof at the surrounding plains and hills. "So just let me know 'Flank'." Essie grinned cheekily at Rimpler, as his first name was actually 'Flank'; Essie knew this as he had eavesdropped on a Republican general who made fun of Rimpler's first name to earn a few cheap laughs from his compatriots.

'Flank' glared dangerously at Essie, who grinned and closed his eyes in response.

"Marshal, we got a problem..." A general quietly approached; worry written all over his face.

"...What is it?" Rimpler asked whilst still glaring at Essie, not realising what was happening around him.

"Just... Look around..." The general pleaded, dropping the formality. Rimpler and Essie turned to look, and they became mortified by the scene.

A horde of Earth pony refugees had seemed to materialise from thin air, as they had begun entering the city, interfering with the frontal fortifications.

"The unicorns had left Canterlot for better safety, but our ponies are evacuating into it to avoid extortion from Mustafa's forces." The general explained, realising the irony.

"...How's our food situation?" Rimpler asked, despite knowing the answer and dreading it.

"The fleeing nobles took them all... We've got nothing..." Essie added, presuming Rimpler also knew their shortages.

"We were able to last 6 months, but now if we're lucky, a month tops." The general answered, drooping his head in defeat.

"A month's a stretch... A week is lucky..." Essie drooped his head as well, as the siege seemed impossible to sustain defensively.

"...We need to speak with Green..." Rimpler decided as he turned to face the engineer headquarters.

"Who's Green?" Essie confusedly asked,

"...Our leader..." Rimpler and the general answered simultaneously, as they began galloping towards the engineer head-camp, where Green was located.

"Your leader?! He's here?!" Essie gawked, as he quickly galloped alongside the two ponies. "Who's ruling whilst he's gone?! Why would he risk his life to defend our capital?! I've got some many que-! mfffff!" Essie was silenced by two clamping hooves from the general and Rimpler, as he was galloping between them.

"We'll tell you in time." Rimpler dismissed, loosening his hoof on Essie's mouth which prompted the general to follow. "Wait 'till he hears our leader brought his 9-year-old sister..."

Scamble for Logistics

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"Thing's are just getting better and better..." Green groaned, as his marshal informed him of the refugees entering the city. "Did they at least bring food?" Green hoped but was met with shaked heads.

"They've brought nothing; simply more mouths to feed for the incoming siege," Rimpler informed, making Green groan again. Meanwhile, in the background, Essie watched in bewilderment with the scene.

"A filly... Is the leader..?" Essie doubted, believing this to be another elaborate prank from Rimpler. But just to make sure, Essie questioned the filly, "Are you the leader of the earth ponies?" Green immediately snapped onto Essie; staring at him annoyedly.

"Yes. And no, I'm not a midget, I'm 12 years old." Green crossed his hooves, annoyed at the number of times he had to repeat it to doubtful ponies. "Also who are you?" Green raised his brows at the unicorn, prompting him to pose prestigiously.

"I! Am the greatest tactical mind of this time! A name that will surely survive through history! The one who defeated Amore V! The saviour of Canterlot! I-"

"His name is Eccentric; Duke Eccentric Lawlane to be exact sir," Rimpler chimed in, just in time to prevent Green's migraine from Essie's toxic egotism.

"...Alright, then I presume you are here to defend Canterlot?" Green began rubbing his chin in thought, as he tried figuring out a way to utilise the unicorns.

"No, we are here for some tea." Essie inwardly laughed but refrained from joking due to the seriousness of the situation. "Yes, but without the pegasuses and against a modernised force." Essie nodded, causing Green to sink further in thought.

"Sir? May I voice a suggestion?" The general accompanying them asked, leaning forward with his hoof up.

"Hm?" Green raised his head, meeting the general's eyes. Essie and Rimpler followed.

"... Perhaps we retreat to the other Southern forts or castles; because, quite frankly, we're going to starve in the first few weeks into the siege." The general suggested cautiously, trying to appeal to their logic.

"Outrageous! You can't just abandon our capital! You'll be simply delaying the inevitable!" Essie scolded the general, as he presumed the generals would have known that Mustafa's army had a stable supply chain that was unharassed by the pegasuses, meaning that they could chase without attrition.

"Well... What do you suggest we do?" The general shrugged at Essie, prompting the unicorn to bite his hoof in worry.

"How about a foraging party? There are rivers nearby from the mountains." Green pointed towards several rivers flowing eastwards from the north on his map, causing the gathered ponies to lean in to better observe the pointed geography.

"They're all up north, they would be too vulnerable against attacks." Rimpler deduced, "We need all our soldiers on preparing the defence to busy ourselves with foraging as well." Rimpler shook his head slowly.

"Then we will just have to sacrifice one." The general decided; intending on reassigning the soldiers to forage instead of entrenching.

Green considered the option, as he raised his chin in thought; giving his little sister the perfect opportunity to creep up to their table without detection.

"Just split the foragers into smaller groups." Little suggested; revealing her presence and making everypony present jump in surprise. Little continued, "Smaller parties can evade and hide better than an entire squad, and they have no crystal 'pegasuses' to effectively spot or chase us."

"...That could work..." The earth ponies in the room simultaneously muttered, except for Essie who was confused at the presence of a foal in their 'serious' meeting.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Essie sputtered, pointing a hoof at the foal, who in turn pointed at herself to confirm that the unicorn was in fact, talking to her.

"I'm Little!" Little Pasture!" Little smiled brightly and waved at the unicorn, who responded with a weak smile and a wave in return.

"She's Green' lil' sister...” the general clarified, whispering into Essie's ears. "-don't worry, she's smarter than she looks." the general reassured.

"Clearly not mature though..." Essie reckoned, basing off Little's childish behaviours. "Nice to meet you Little, my nam-"

"Eccentric! Eccentric Lawlane! Nice to meet you,!" Little waved again; knowing Essie's name from listening in on their conversations. "I'm Green's littlest sis!" Little hugged Green, who nuzzled her immediately.

"...I see..." Essie nodded slowly, amused by the filly's display. "And they're supposed to be the leaders of these earth ponies? Uncanny." Essie huffed, expecting a more prominent figure to be the leader. "How will your country run now without a leader?" Essie thought loudly, presuming Green had lords or landowners who would take care of Equestria for him.

"Oh don't worry, we've got an elected senate making decisions back in the capital." Green shrugged dismissively, however, hoped to Solaris that his senators weren't tearing each other apart from his absence. "I hope dad knows what he is doing..." Green prayed, as he had asked his father to take over for him as a leader in the senate.

"...Elected? You're letting the uneducated masses vote for an unlearned pony to rule?" Essie puzzled; assuming the earth ponies had universal suffrage. "Or do you have noble or learn'ed votes to decide senators?" Essie continued, not wanting to look like a fool.

"Uhhh... No? Everypony gets a vote." Green hesitantly answered, not knowing what 'suffrage’ meant. "Well... Currently, only earth ponies can, but I'm working to fix it!" Green reassured as Essie's expressions began to raise in shock.

"...That is such an idiotic and foolish way of government..." Essie muttered, prompting the general and Marshal to growl in defence of their leader.

"Such insolence! Our leader's policies are not to be questioned! -Especially not by a unicorn!" They both shouted, closing in on Essie, who firmly held his ground; unflinching.

"No! No! It's fine..." Green frailed desperately, stopping his general and marshal. "He has a valid point..." Green sheepishly muttered, as he tapped his hooves together in embarrassment. "Harold's book cautioned us against 'Yesmen'... -and the dangers of foolish democracy..." Green recounted, as he continued to tap his hooves together.

"Uhh... So shouldn't we talk about the foraging?" Little reminded, as she looked at the two groups constantly back and forth.

"Ah yes! Should we use regulars or irregulars, sir?" Rimpler asked, hoping Green wouldn't divert their soldiers from their fortifications and employ the refugees instead.

"Irregulars would be the best... They would probably want to repay their debt and do something for our defence..." Green concluded, dismissing his ponies with a wave of his hoof. Only Essie remained in the tent, looking conflicted in leaving with Rimpler and the general or staying with Green.

Just as Essie was about to make his mind up, Little stealthily lunged onto his back, wrapping his tiny hooves around the unicorn's neck as best she could. "Wha-!"

"Onwards Mr Lawlane! Towards your unicorn group thingy!" Little announced loudly near Essie's ears, slightly deafening him. Green chuckled.

"You heard the mare! Onwards!" Green cheered on, prompting Essie to gallop out to meet up with his unicorn battlemages. Green smiled contently.

Canterlot would not starve in the siege. But that would be the least of their problem.

Siege of Canterlot

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Day 1: The Ultimatum

Canterlot's fortifications had miraculously been finished upon the arrival of Mustafa's army, prompting half of the defenders to withdraw in reserve (20,000 in total, 10,000 in reserve). However, they would face an army 10 times larger (200,000 in total) with 150 bombards and experienced engineers.

Green stared blankly at the scene before him, as he saw an ocean of reflective equines slowly enveloping their perimeter and cutting off their escape. The beginnings of a siege. Green's eyes briefly wandered when he noticed several bombards being positioned atop the nearby hills.

"Sir? We've received a letter from the besiegers." A general crept up, passing a letter over Green's shoulders. "They're the same ultimatums which all the forts and castles along the way received." The general informed as Green began scanning through the letter. It was a demand to surrender; appealing to spare the city's inhabitants if they surrendered it peacefully.

"...The same demand they gave to Perchtoldshoof?" Green raised a brow as he began scrunching the demand. "-The same castle whose civilians were massacred?" Green growled and threw away the demand, tossing it over the walls. The general lowered his head in condolence.

"What shall we tell them..?"

"...Tell them to take it from our cold dead hooves... But even then, good luck! Because we would've glued it to our cold dead hooves..."

Day 2: Initial Hysteria

Every Republican soldier had their heads down and barrels flat; the periodic sounds of bombards roaring and shots trailing with smoke through the air constantly reminding them of their situation.

The bombard's projectiles would hit the walls, however, thanks to its modernisation, the walls would stand firm and not collapse, much to the surprise of Mustafa and his engineers who expected them to shatter like the previous ones on other forts.

The Republicans would not have the opportunity to relax, however, as the shrapnels of the volleyed projectiles would occasionally shred an entire section of the castle battlements; turning the surrounding into a thin mist of blood and gut.

Several projectiles would also land onto the city proper, as the tallest buildings would be annihilated by Mustafa's bombards, sending bricks and glass raining down onto the streets. The architecture of Canterlot worked against its earth-pony refugees, as the unicorn's buildings were tall and 'magnificent'; making them an easy target for the attackers.

The civilians within the city panicked, as nowhere was safe. The buildings? They would collapse. The streets? Raining glass and bricks. Underground? The cellars were already packed. The earth ponies could only scream and run around aimlessly; the blood of their fallen having been smeared all over the streets.

The day would end with no buildings taller than the walls remain standing.

Day 3: All Heads Tucked

BANG

A building shook as a shot landed near it, causing the inhabitants to drop down to the floor. Inside, a huddled filly shook violently, despite being held by his mother.

BANG

"Don't worry filly... Mommy is here..." The mother soothingly cooed, running her hoof along the filly's mane. In response, the filly slightly calmed down; ceasing his rapid breathing.

But then... A sharp whistle tore through the air; heading straight towards the aforementioned building

"INCOMING!!!"
CRASH
The pair had little time to react, as the walls in front of them shattered, sending several ponies who had been lining up against the walls to burst outwards from the force; splattering blood all over the trembling pair and the opposite wall.

Even as dust clouded their vision, the pair could see the opening before them. Bits of clay and dust flaked out from the cracks, the larger chunks bouncing past them.

When the dust subsided, it revealed the two shaking ponies covered in blood and debris. Everything around them had been annihilated, and they could see the smoke trails of where the projectiles had come from. The filly was too broken to cry, whilst the mare was too devasted to scream.

"IT HIT THE CHURCH ORGAN! PULL OUT ANY SURVIVORS FROM THE RUBBLE!" A voice broke the pair from their shock, followed up by noises of rocks being thrown side and smashed.

Everypony were in fear. Nopony was safe. Everypony was cornered. Nowhere to escape. Everypony knew there was no surrender. They would fight like cornered beasts. Nothing to lose. Everything to gain.

Day 4: Routines. Routines. Routines.

Rimpler galloped along the lines to ensure defensive integrity; always encountering the same depressed and demoralised faces. He found it strange that the crystal ponies weren't assaulting their defences.

BANG

An ear-splitting explosion suddenly rang out, briefly stunning Rimpler who sat under the inclines of the parapets. A shower of splinters and earth quickly followed as the palisades above splintered from the projectile's force. Meanwhile, the soldiers nearby who had been hugging the earthworks tried desperately to remain on their hooves despite the violent shaking.

"Solaris damn it! They're shooting at us now!" A fuming sergeant grunted as he readjusted his helmet and gestured his soldiers to follow out the foxholes. "Go grab an engineer!"

The privates nodded, galloping straight towards the engineer camps to procure more logs per procedure. Rimpler quickly shook himself from the shock and galloped up the parapet, trying to spot any incoming assaults.

Rimpler threaded carelessly, allowing several splinters to lodge into his hoof painfully during his perch, but the adrenaline muffled his pains. He became utterly disappointed but relieved to find no advancing units.

"Head down marshal!" The sergeant yanked Rimpler's head down, impaling more splinters into said marshal's neck and chin. This time, however, Rimpler registered the pain.

Rimpler cringed from the backflowing pain, however, remained professional and coherent. "Did you order-"

"-yes, they're informing the engineers of a breach." The sergeant interrupted, slowly lifting his hoof off of the marshal's head.

"How goes the sentries?" Rimpler slowly began pulling out the splinters individually from his chin, but in doing so impaling more on it due to his splinter-filled hoof.

"It's seeing as much as you are now." The sergeant boredly replied, helping Rimpler in pulling out his splinters. "Rare to see a shard land on us though."

Rimpler's eyes wandered as his sergeant hurriedly pulled his splinters, and in the distance, he could spot several lines of trenches zig-zagging towards their parapets. "Careful on the pulling, you're tearing more skin than wood." The sergeant promptly slowed and began methodically pulling the splinters whilst Rimpler stared towards the distant clouds. "...Rainclouds." Rimpler mentally noted, as it would mean the ground would become muddy.

"You noticed the clouds as well?" The sergeant muttered as he continued to pick out Rimpler's splinters.

"Aye, seems like we will get some rest tomorrow." Rimpler smiled, as he also hoped that the rain would disable Mustafa's bombards. "It'll be stupid for them to attack tomorrow!" Rimpler assessed; slowly walking back into headquarters to brainstorm a way to improve the morale for the rain to come.

Day 5: Dark and Suffocating

CLANG

A rocky protrusion shattered off the wall, dusting and tumbling to the ground.

CLANG

The iron head of the pickaxe caved into the wall, wedging off a chunk of rock to join its dusty brothers.

CLANG

The final swing flattened the wall; the lower chunks collapsing to the ground.

The miners dropped their tools, falling to the ground in exhaustion. Sweat drew clear lines on their faces, as it wiped off the dust that covered them. Periodic coughs echoed in the tunnels, as dust entered their lungs. Their only light came from dimly lit candles, whose light would reflect off their crystal skins to barely illuminate the tunnel's walls with varying colours.

Behind them stood a diligent engineer who held a knotted rope that extended to the entire length of the tunnel. Once he ran the knots over his hooves, he looked up with a malicious smile.

The exhausted miners turned to see the contorted expression; the candles barely lighting up his face.

"...Is it-?"

"Directly below the enemy." The engineer nodded knowingly, as the miners cheered with the last of their energy.

Several barrels of explosive crystal dust rolled in from behind; fuses already attached and following the length of the rope. "Let's just hope they explode this time." The engineer shrugged, whilst the miners groaned in acknowledgement.

"Too expensive... Too rare... Too unreliable... But it's the only thing we have..." The engineer evaluated, aa he glared at the miners who were greedily eyeing the barrels. "My entire year salary... In half a barrel of this dust..." the engineer absently thought, even as he scolded his miners for doing the same.

"Careful there chief, else we will have to poke out your eyes." A miner heartily remarked as he realised the engineer was eyeing the powders as well. Slow laughter quickly followed as the engineer blushed away in embarrassment.

Same day: Afternoon: Siegers

Rain befall the entirety of Canterlot, drenching both siegers and defenders alike. The bombards were hauled under shelter to avoid the ran whilst the soldiers lied down on the muddy, wet soil vertically opposite to the Canterlot parapets.

Countless shivered in their positions; the cold being unbearable and the nervousness destroying them. Long gone were the sounds of bombards roaring; the assurance that the defenders wouldn't counter-attack or be at peace. The ground slowly consumed them, as the mud and their natural weight sunk them to chin levels.

A soldier nervously glanced back; not committing with a complete turn to avoid scrutinisation. He could barely see his officers standing with their forehooves scanning their lying formations. Then, his eyes met an officer's own.

Sudden heat and sting radiated in the glancing soldier's head, as he quickly glanced back forwards and hoped the officer wouldn't notice.

"Eyes front private, there's nothing to worry about." The officer unexpectantly assured, "These mud ponies will never expect an attack with these conditions!" Several murmurs of agreement followed as the soldiers discussed the new information with their comrades beside them.

Meanwhile, the corporals and sergeants along the line waited nervously for the signal; hoping that the explosives would work.

Mustafa stood idly with his two servants who held his umbrella and map, whilst his chief engineers informed him of how long the fuse was. He began glancing at the parapets. "...Any second now...."

Same day: Afternoon: Defenders

All was quiet in the pillboxes; the usual noise of bombards firing and bolts loosening replaced by a hypnotising sound of rain hitting the roof. The ponies inside silently lit up joints and lazily observed the attacker's trenches through the sights.

"All's quiet today," The corporal huffed; expelling the pink gas that quickly escaped through the sights.

"Didn't notice." A private boredly replied, as his squad quickly pondered if he didn't realise due to his high.

Suddenly, a private began frailing his hooves in the air, as if to grab something just out of reach. His squad slowly turned to witness his actions.

"-Imma grabbin' the skies! Ahm-ah reachin' the clouds!" The frailing private enthusiastically announced; moving his hooves in a way that it looked like he was grabbing onto a rope.

"Looks like somepony doesn't have tolerance." The corporal and the rest of the squad chuckled, as the frailing private began standing on its hindhooves to touch the ceiling.

"Hey look! He's tryna push the ceiling now!" A private mockingly pointed, as the frailing private had stopped and begun pushing up the ceiling; as if to raise it to the skies. "-What an idio-"

The ground shook violently, as the dry surface soil and the muddy underneath intermingled to create a wave of dirt and debris. The ground lept up; sending everything on top to chaotically explode upwards. Everypony not immediately killed by the blast saw dirt and wood line the clouds which were strangely at eye-level. They didn't even have time to realise that this was what the pegasuses saw every day, as they plummeted to the ground, landing on the muddied ground lined with wet splinters.

The surviving ponies groaned in pain, as the mud and water oozed into the openings and cuts which the splinters made; the rain doing very little to clean the wound, as it would instead carry the dirt into the open wounds.

Among the survivors was the corporal, who immediately ignored the pain to survey the damage. "5 pillboxes and an entire edge of a parapet..." he vaguely deduced, as the rain, dirt and pain impeded his vision. Then, he began hearing the sounds of fast-approaching hooves from behind.

"Must be the reserves and engineers... Thank Solaris for their quick respon-" The corporal stopped himself, as he realised the sound of approaching hooves was opposite from the sights of the pillboxes. He was facing the pillboxes sights.

The corporal rapidly turned around; ignoring the pain and cold. His heart stopped once noticing a horde of silhouettes clearly defined among the rain and darkness. A stray bolt sliced his ears.

"AHHHH!" The corporal screamed out in pain; immediately covering his mouth with his hooves for the mistake he had just done.

"FOR AMORE! FOR VENGENCE!" The distant silhouettes shouted, as several more bolts pierced through the rain; landing their mark on the corporal's upright (and twisted) torso.

The first assault had just begun.

The First Assault of Canterlot: The Breach

The republicans futilely jostled in the mud and splinters; their bodies having been buried by the earth which prevented their movement. They could feel their heads stinging with heat from their nerves; despite the cold, oppressive rain.

The shouts from the incoming attackers accelerated their struggles, as the republicans violently threw off the debris; impaling themselves mortally in the process.

The first republican stood; sword firmly held in hoof and his helmet tilted on. He shook violently from the cold, pain and shock, but even before he could collect his mind, a sword crashed down upon him, prompting him to block it with his own in turn.

His sword shook violently on top of him, despite him using both hooves to support his sword. As the crashing swords lowered, the shattered republican could see the attacker's face despite the darkness; his eyes glowing with anger, with teeth grinding together to form dust.

Suddenly, the weight from the blow was removed, causing the republican's sword to swing aimlessly over the crystal pony's head and land beside him. Using the opportunity, the crystal pony quickly swiped at the exposed earth pony's neck, causing blood to spurt all over the already-drenched attacker.

Similar scenarios played out across the small front, whilst the unaffected pillboxes neighbouring the breached site rushed towards the ruin to delay the assaulters.

Several heroic republicans held multiple attackers back, as they fought them off despite being injured and surrounded. However, their bravery would be in vain, as they would be quickly annihilated by a volley of bolts; their body becoming more akin to an echidna after a barrage.

Mustafa's officers tried desperately to order an advance, however, their soldiers were uncontrollable; their propaganda having backfired in advocating for bloodlust and vengeance against the Equestrians, as their soldiers were more focused on killing than exploiting a breakthrough. "Soon..." they thought, "...they will send a reserve to plug the breach...

The First Assault of Canterlot: The Response

A runner galloped tirelessly through the rain and dark; occasionally tripping on unnoticed rocks and sticks. He could feel his legs tearing and his hooves cracking from the strain, however, he galloped ceaselessly, as he knew the importance of his mission.

His pace hastened once noticing the silhouettes of the temporary headquarters; its dim lights unmissable from the contrasting void-like darkness. Once he was close to the entrance, the runner slammed past the split sheets of the tent, causing him to tumble straight into the table at which both Rimpler and Essie were using.

"Well ain't that just great..." Rimpler groaned, sliding his hoof through his face. Essie meanwhile stared blankly at the dazed runner.

Rimpler faced the runner, who was now gasping for in exhaustion. "...Well?"

"THEYHAVEJUSTDETONSTEDAMINEWHICHHASEXPOSEDAGAPWITHINOURLINEWHICHTHEYARENOWEXPLOTING!" The runner wheezed.

Rimpler blinked. "...What?"

The runner breathed in deeply, "ATTACK! ON! POSITIONS! FACING! PALACE!" he frailed desperately; breathing violently whilst doing so.

Essie's and Rimpler's expressions immediately turned to worry, as they faced each other expecting a response from the other.

After a few seconds of awkward staring, Rimpler turned towards the gasping runner. "What are the damages so far?"

"-They have detonated a mine and took out an entire chunk of pillboxes." The runner placed a hoof on his chest; feeling the calming rising and falling of his chest.

Rimpler turned to Essie, pointing a hoof at him. "Tell our reserves to assist in battle, also take the runner with you." Essie nodded, whilst the runner groaned, planting his face into the ground.

Rimpler quickly galloped out, glimpsing Essie pulling out the runner's head before leaving entirely. He prayed he wasn't too late.

The First Assault of Canterlot: The Delay

https://youtu.be/EBw45LD8bMw

A flow of attackers from the breach was met by a wave of desperate defenders, as the republicans threw themselves against the lines to futilely hold their defences which were now nothing but a mound of rubble.

The incoming attackers were peppered by bolts from the still-intact adjacent pillboxes, but it did little to break their morale. There was no strategy, coordination nor order; the battle had devolved into a riot, as all semblance of a frontline vanished due to the rain, darkness and anger.

Streams of blood and red-stained mud was littered across the battlefield, with puddles of watered-down blood having soaked the majority of the soldier's hooves.

Casualties were high for the Republicans, as they had no energy to run, and were surrounded by the scattered attackers who took no prisoner.

Mustafa's officers tried desperately to rally several clumps of their soldiers to attack neighbouring positions, as they moved up and down the scattered battlefield ordering the soldiers with threats of treason and insubordination.

Meanwhile, the republican officers foolishly ordered their soldiers to counter-attack, as they deluded themselves that taking back a ruined position would be worth abandoning their current ones. The lack of discipline, experience and tactic led the officer's ponies to become embroiled in the same chaotic fighting, as their lack of coordination in synchronising their attacks allowed Mustafa's troops to reorganise and encircle their rag-tag foes.

As more and more pillboxes began to vacate, the entirety of the meticulous defences adjacent to the palace began to crack, as Mustafa's officers realising the republican's abandonment of their intact pillboxes and parapets, quickly rushed in with their troops to occupy them.

It was around this time when Rimpler arrived with a detachment of reserves hauling a ballista each. He and his soldiers stood at the gates atop a hill looking over at the chaotic battle unfolding across them. They could barely make out anything due to the darkness, but they could clearly see the site in which the mines were detonated in, as the parapet's silhouettes were irregular compared to its adjacent ones.

An officer approached the squinting Rimpler, tugging the ballista behind him. "What shall we do?"

"...We advance."

"ATTACK! ATTACK! FOR THE REPUBLIC!" An officer bellowed to his soldiers, as he charged with his sword waving; leading his men in the front.

It did not invoke confidence in his soldiers, however, as the officer was pushed back into his squad by a barrage of bolts. The unfortunate pony behind him was left motionless, as his hooves instinctively reached out to grab his officer's fall to only witness his pain-ridden face.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! ATTACK!" A distant officer berated; who was also quickly shot down by an accurate bolt.

"COME ON! COME ON! MOVE!" Another officer ordered; this time from the back, as they had left from the furthest pillboxes to 'assist' in the fighting. In all honesty, the defenders were itching for a decisive fight; a decisive battle that would lead to the total collapse of their enemy forces and end their boring, static siege.

As the reluctant soldiers who had just lost their officer galloped past the inclines towards the battle, they glimpsed the wave of their comrades joining the fray chaotically, as they immediately lost cohesion and formations when charging down the incline.

The closely following officer quickly caught up and began witnessing the same phenomenon, so stopped to think of the situation; raising a hoof to halt his and the other leaderless squads atop the incline.

"Out squads are disintegrating into easily destroyable individuals... But why?" The officer pondered, as he scanned the dark battlefield.

"The rain perhaps? The darkness obviously. How about the officers?" The officer looked around, attempting to spot another officer near him. Luckily, the officers of the republican army were distinctively dressed, as their riding breeches were skinnier than the normal saggy breaches which hung on their hooves. Unluckily, they were all dead, or painfully gasping for air, as several well-aimed bolts had pierced their chests.

"Are they... Targetting the officers intentionally?" The officer suddenly realised, as he immediately ducked; foreseeing a bolt which would narrowly miss his head.

"THEY ARE TARGETTING US FROM OUR THIN BREECHES! SAG THE-" The officer's warning was abruptly interrupted by a bolt through his heart; making his stagger weakly and wince at the wood stump. His last vision were of his soldiers; visibly terrified and fearful that they would be next.

Their worries were dashed quickly by a bolt wooshing over their heads, prompting half of them to flee whilst the rest charged down the incline.

A battle between the undisciplined and bloodthirsty; hopers and revanchists; recruits and veterans. It wasn't even close. The first line of defences facing the palace fell, and their 'counterattack' merely wasted valuable lives.

But the second line held firm, and soon, the reserves would arrive.

The First Assault of Canterlot: The 'Reserves'

Despite the time passed, the battle raged on. Sporadic fights continued to litter the battlefield; however, began to slow down as the last clumps of Republican soldiers were slowly cut down by the outnumbering forces of the Empire.

"Where're our reinforcements?!" A corporal yelled aimlessly; parrying a swing that appeared in his blindspot, forcing him to twist his torso violently to meet the blow.

"-How 'n Tartarus will I know?!" A sergeant cursed back; swinging his sword wildly whilst back-peddling to meet the corporal's back. Quickly, they became surrounded.

"Damn Solaris... Why can't I fly?" The corporal gritted, as he and the sergeant circled around with swords pointed forwards; skimming over the faces of the soldiers who had surrounded them.

Suddenly, a crossbow materialised amongst the surrounding soldiers, prompting the corporal to duck; sending the bolt straight towards the exposed sergeant's back.

"ARRGH!" The sergeant growled furiously, as he forcibly snapped the bolt and threw it aside; gritting his teeth angrily at everypony present. He threw a quick glare at the corporal but quickly refocused to intimidate the surrounders against an attack.

"Come on! Move! I ain't got all day!" The sergeant motioned his enemies forward with his sword, prompting a soldier to parry it off his hoof, as the sergeant had briefly loosened his grip to gesture with his sword. The sergeant blankly stared at his vacant hoof. "Oops."

The corporal glanced back; noticing the sergeant's lack of sword. "Oh for Solari's sak-"

"AHHHHHHH!" The sergeant childishly screeched as the crystal ponies lunged forward; immediately shut his eyes to not witness his death. He attempted to fall backwards but was stopped by the corporal who had also leaned back against the lungers. "NO! NOT LIKE THIS!"He prayed.

Unexpectantly, the sergeant felt a splatter of blood coat his face, which made him stagger back and rub his hooves over his face in disgust. As he did, he could also hear the distinct noises of swords and spears clattering on the ground.

He shivered violently as some of the blood spilt into his mouth; the grotesque metallic flavour of another creature's blood making him want to purge his stomach to rid himself of the texture.

Quickly, the sergeant forcefully opened an eye to see where the blood had come, and to see why his enemies had quieted down. To do this, he placed a hoof above his eyes to prevent any blood from entering it.

"What the-...?" His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. What he saw was a bolt from a ballista that had seemed to have annihilated the lunging crystal ponies, and knocked out the rest.

He could see the broken swords and spears scattered around him and flinched fearfully once realising a spear's tip had dangerously landed close to him. "A little to the left, and it could've ended me!"

Suddenly, the sounds of groans and gurgling behind him caused the sergeant to wheel and stumble in horror. His face turned green, and he placed a hoof on his mouth to hold back a vomit; having momentarily forgotten the foreign blood on his hoof.

He saw the corporal holding a sword that had lodged itself deep into his neck; desperately holding it in place as his exposed wound bubbled with blood in his attempt to breathe. As the sergeant collapsed from his hooves, the corporal turned painfully to meet his watering eyes.

His blood-shot eyes stared desperately into the sergeant's own; internally screaming and pleading for help. But the sergeant could only watch on helplessly; shivering so violently that the blood that had stuck to his coat began jumping off.

When the corporal finally collapsed, the sergeant began to tear uncontrollably; making no noise, and still shivering violently. His eyes began to wander off to the surroundings; noticing the countless silhouettes of familiar wooden stumps littering the battlefield.

As he observed further; throughout the entirety of the battlefield, he stopped at the place where their reserves were meant to arrive. He then finally realised what their reinforcements were. "No..." He mumbled.

He saw a line of ballistas; its shape unmistakable even at a distance, and it seemed poised to fire another volley. The sergeant looked around numbly as he saw the crystal ponies retreating chaotically, and his fellow ponies scattering hysterically.

"So is this how a soldier dies..?" He chuckled, "...Killed by the ponies he protected?" He collapsed on his back; crossing his hooves comfortably and laying peacefully on the blood-soaked soil.

Eyes closed, he began humming a familiar melody; one sung by mothers to comfort their children. He wiped his tears. "Guess I won't be coming back home 'ma...."

The day was saved.

The First Assault of Canterlot: The Aftermath

"WHY DID NOPONY TELL ME?!" Green demanded, as he threw a cup at the gathered officers in frustration.

Several officers ducked unprofessionally, whilst the rest flinched. "-You were asleep your highne-"

Green glared daggers at the officer speaking; silencing him. "...What did I about my titles..?" Green growled chillingly; tilting his head towards the offending officer.

Said officer shrunk in Green's glare, whilst the rest surrounding him distanced themselves. "To not use any..." he squeaked.

"Sir-, it's very compassionate of you to lead your ponies to battle, but it's also very foolish..." Rimpler chimed in, stepping forward to avert Green's glare.

"You've already lost both hind-hooves, and I fear that you'll lose something far more important if you were to lead personally..." Rimpler reasoned, as his eyes began to wander towards a shivering Little, who was terrified of his brother's sudden anger.

Before Green could lunge or accuse Rimpler of a treasonous interpretation of his health, he traced his field marshal's stare back to Little. He froze.

Little had been sobbing quietly in the corner; her noises having been overpowered by Green's wrath. Her continually wiping of her eyes and face had horribly swollen them; making her look miserable. Green stumbled, as he felt his stomach churn and burn with guilt.

"-I..." Green shuddered, as he attempted to step forward, but instead collapsed on the floor; completely forgetting he could not rely on his back hooves.

"It's your duty to lead, but it's also your duty to survive; for the republic... And for those who care for you..." Rimpler hesitantly finished, as he and the officers began leaning towards the door.

Green stared at Little in disbelief; his eyes wide and expressions unmoving. He sharply turned towards the officers with a murderous growl. "...Get out..." The officers heeded immediately, as they all scrambled out of the room; shutting the door loudly in their exit.

In the absence of the officers, Little's sobbing became unmissable; causing Green to turn back towards his little sister with worry and guilt.

"S-sister?" Green hopefully asked, as he slowly approached her. "Are you alrigh-?"

"GET AWAY!" Little screamed, covering her face with her hooves. As far as she was concerned, this pony wasn't the Green she knew and loved.

Green stumbled, then took a step back. Then another. Then a few more until he hit the wall behind him. He shook his head slowly in denial. "I-... I need to... I need to do something..." Green sputtered and he quickly left the room; his eyes still wide and face unmoving due to shock.

He tried to run; but again realised his useless, limp hind hooves. He tried to cry, but his face wouldn't respond to his will. He tried to scream but feared it would upset his sister further.

And so, he laid on his stomach, looking soullessly forward with unblinking eyes. "What have I done..?" he mumbled emotionlessly, as a stray tear rolled down his cheeks.

"What of the casualties?" Mustafa distractedly inquired, as he ran his hooves over the map displaying a top-down view of the assaulted area.

"Very little Marshal, but most importantly, the ponies got it worse." An officer answered enthusiastically; expecting the siege to follow their previous successes.

"...How did we not achieve a breakthrough?" Mustafa accusingly glared at all the officers gathered, as he could not believe his soldiers were routed from a successful assault from a mere volley of ballistas.

Several of the officers glanced at each other implicatively; expecting somepony to 'own up' for their sake. Until finally, an officer stepped forward.

"Our soldiers were more focused on killing than assaulting Marshal." The officer explained, "The soldiers who captured the pillboxes were also destroyed by the bolts."

"Preposterous! Then how are they planning to defend now without those bunkers?!" Mustafa scoffed; doubting the earth ponies would be so short-sighted.

"-Yes, about that. The earth ponies were also shooting at their own soldiers." The officer began to smirk, "-So if they are already helping us by killing themselves? -why wouldn't they help us by destroying their own defences as well?" He shrugged with a grin.

Mustafa stared with disbelief at the officer, as he at least expected their earth pony foes would be militarily competent based on their victory against the pegasuses, yet the reports before him spoke the opposite.

"Ahem!" An officer coughed, breaking Mustafa's stupor. "What are the plans now Marshal?"

"Oh yes! -Well we've lost the elements of surprise with the mines, and they would most likely fortify the palace walls further." Mustafa began to move pieces on his map, prompting the officers to lean in to better observe his actions.

"-Any footholds in their defences are gone, and our miners will require at least a fortnight to detonate an entire line of defences..." Mustafa toppled a model of the walls around Canterlot, whilst pushing several figures of soldiers into the city proper.

"Of course, we will resume bombarding the city once the rain subsides to continue the pressure." Mustafa looked up towards the officers, who all nodded in response.

"Once our sappers finish their works and detonate their entire line, we will send in our troops to entrench around their inner defences." Mustafa placed a piece resembling a king in the centre of the city and began surrounding them with pawns.

"-then, they will have no have no choice but to surrender..." Mustafa knocked over the king and placed a pawn above it symbolically. "And if they don't... The starving serfs in the city will hand over their heads for food..." Mustafa maniacally grinned; but hid it from his officers.

"But gentlestallions, remember. We're here to threaten a surrender; not to commit a massacre, so once you reach their walls, you must tell your soldiers to halt." The officers all hummed in agreement, yet internally, none had the intentions to uphold them.

After all, why dissapoint the soldiers?

Phase 2: Starvation and Desperation

https://youtu.be/3CdC5pZ96h4

Diseases rampant,
Buildings fragment.
Sleepless nights,
Constant frights.

Our hunger's unbearable;
Our conditions are terrible.
When grass disappeared,
Suddenly rats appeared.
Dubbed the 'land fish',
They quickly became a dish.
Devoured at sight.
No matter the blight.

Once, we were all smiling,
But now, we were all reviling.
Every pony for themselves;
Stocking their own shelves.

The streets flow with invisible blood,
The corpses of the fallen hidden in the mud,
The rain continues to fall, purging the ground.
Both water and shrapnel fall; scattering around.

The once-mighty army of the rebels now dread,
Their morales having bled.
The entire city shakes;
both mentally and physically,
Tunnels are dug, and buildings are toppled.
The once-mighty city, now in shambles.

Everypony inside, awaiting their fate.

- An unknown Unicorn mage -

A pair of pickaxes dented the earth in front of them; their wielder's hooves not being the familiar crystal, but fur. Candles were held close; dangerously near the miner's eyes due to their lack of reflective surfaces.

They weren't being led by an expert; instead, they relied on their ears to locate the noise of the hostile miners. Most were new, and many more were unfamiliar with mining; yet, they had volunteered in droves, despite their hunger and tiredness.

There were countless times when the miners never came back; many having been buried alive or simply left to die by exhaustion. The conditions were abhorrent, and the mortality rate high, yet, the volunteer's morale remained; aware of the importance of their job.

Counter-mining they called it; a way to counter the enemy's monopoly over the underground, and to make the enemy's miner's lives as difficult as possible.

At first, they had massive success; discovering numerous networks of tunnels and diffusing or disarming the explosives in them. However, their success wouldn't last, as the Empire's sappers quickly noticed, and dug deeper tunnels in response; hoping to discourage the inexperienced miners of the Republic through difficulty and risk. Unluckiley for the Empire, the Republic valued sacrifice.

Green stopped at his sister's room; contemplating his decisions. He had selfishly neglected his duty as a leader; entrusting his responsibilities of inspiration and leadership to Rimpler who lacked popularity.

He had done this to formulate an apology, however, had squandered his time; making it all a waste. In his frustration, he had rolled up to his sister's room several times, however, did not have the confidence to confront her every time he did so.

This was one of those times, as his hooves refused to respond and open the door. He faced downwards; staring at the gaps between his two forehooves. He began to sob quietly.

"...So pathetic... So weak... So selfish..." He wiped his eyes and closed them; raising his head to prevent further self-loathing. "What would Harold say?"

He attempted to remember a quote in Harold's book; one which mentioned how a leader should act in times of great stress, sadness and strife.

"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are." He remembered, and began dissecting its message.

"My soldiers are depressed, demoralised and in miserable conditions... Just like I've shown myself to be in..." Green lowered his head.

"Our city is starving, and nopony will save us..." Green lowered himself; folding his hooves. "Our empire sees this too... Our appearance is weak..." Green began gritting his teeth.

"They think we're prey; weak and vulnerable..." Green rose up and opened his eyes; which screamed of determination and renewed confidence.

"They have no idea what they are facing... THEY KNOW NOTHING OF ME! OR MY ABILITIES!" Green began to gallop towards the exit; ready to lead his army once more.

"THEY WILL WITNESS MY GENIUS! THEY SHALL EXPERIENCE DESTRUCTION! I SHALL STRIKE THEM DOWN LIKE THE PEGASUSES!" Green galloped violently; moving as if possessed.

"...I'll attack... As I did against the pegasuses..." Green mumbled through his gritted teeth; his eyes becoming increasingly bloodshot. "It worked before... And it will work again... He promised himself.

Bismarck inhaled deeply; puffing a joint. He enjoyed the familiar sensation; having long reminisced the opportunity to smoke. Additionally, the pony-imported 'goods' seemed to be harmless, as he did not feel the same expected pressure in his lung nor pain in his throat.

Paul meanwhile, was obsessing over a vague report of Equestria; hoping its familiar geographies to Europe would yield a similar amount of natural resources. However, he did not shy away from smoking; enjoying the joint without the usual coughs and pain from tobacco.

"There're much to gain from alliances and favours." Bismarck exhaled, flicking away the joint's bud. "However, one with an unreliable weak state is foolish." Bismarck fiddled with his claws, trying to forget the incompetence of their past ally; the Italians.

"They fought so badly that the Austrians gave Venice to the French..." Bismarck shook his head; attempting to forget.

"Thinking of the Italians?" Paul asked; getting an answer through a shiver from Bismarck. "Can't blame ya, but this looks more a French revolution than an Italian unification based on their organisation," Paul explained.

Bismarck faced Paul boredly, "They resemble neither; from what we've heard, they're led by children and lack everything."

"Napoleon was young as well?" Paul suggested,

"Not THAT young, and you forget. They have nothing but food." Bismarck turned away, facing the window. "I suppose there're some similarities... They're facing an outnumbering force, they've overthrown their oppressors... They're freeing the people..."

Suddenly, Bismarck violently snatched the report, causing Paul to trip and fall. "What was that for?!" Paul complained, rubbing his head.

"THEY'RE REVOLUTIONARIES!" Bismarck madly shouted at Paul's face, making him cringe in pain. "WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THEIR IDEAS SPREAD?!" Bismarck slammed the table, causing it to explode into splinters.

Paul dumbfoundedly stared at the remains of the table; soon clapping in impressment of Bismarck's strength.

Bismarck immediately cooled down; resting his head on his claws in thought. "No, wait... They're still primitives and their ideas of liberty should be lacking..." Bismarck slowly turned to Paul, who flinched in his stare.

"I must apologise for my outburst, my friend. Having no plans tends to make me panic." Bismarck smiled and offered a claw which Paul declined and instead, rose by his own.

"I assume you have a plan then?" Paul dusted himself, patting his uniform.

Bismarck silently nodded and began trotting around the room with his claws crossed behind him. "The reports suggest the ponies already know us; better yet, like us." Bismarck stopped at the window, staring at a parading battalion.

"It would be unwise to burn an established bridge, and if it was discovered that they were manipulating us, we would have a valid justification for war." Bismarck began to frown; hoping the ponies truly respected them.

"Not that any other powers would intervene or denounce us for an unjustified war, but it would eliminate any cries of injustice in the homefront." Bismarck shrugged, realising his previous policy of restrained politics didn't apply in this world.

"So... You want to help the ponies?" Paul raised a claw.

"...Yes... It would be most wise." Bismarck nodded slowly, "It isn't good... But it's the least worst..."

Paul sighed a breath of relief, wiping his head with a 'phew'. "Thank god... I already told them to help the ponies." Paul smiled blissfully.

"...What?" Bismarck turned to Paul, who suddenly opened his eye widely; realising his slip-up. "...Did you just give orders without my consent?" Bismarck suddenly appeared in front of Paul; pinning him down by grasping his shoulders.

Paul audibly 'eeked' and shrunk in Bismarck's oppressive stare. "But it all worked out..?" Paul desperately defended; raising his claws to protect himself.

Bismarck squinted to a glare; pulling Paul closer. "...You're playing a dangerous game Mr Mauser..." Bismarck pushed Paul away, causing him to fall once more. "...Don't try it again..."

Paul turned and pouted in response; crossing his arms childishly. Bismarck face-clawed. "At least he's better the second Wilhelm..."

Phase 3: When Luck Runs Dry

"What are they doing?" Mustafa asked nopony in particular, as he squinted hard towards the Canterlot's defences, which had seemed to pile up with more defenders.

"...Are they preparing a break-out..?” Mustafa asked himself, prompting his officers around him to shrug detachedly. "But such a darin- no, stupid move in the bright of day would be suicide..."

Mustafa shook his head; refusing to believe the Earth ponies were THAT idiotic. "Perhaps it's a distraction..." Mustafa stroked his chin sagely, looking up deeply in thought.

"That would be unlikely sir, for why would the enemy wish to distract us?" An officer objected; finding it impossible that the mud ponies would be able to formulate such a plan nor execute it timely.

Mustafa nodded slowly, "My thoughts exactly officer, for our scouts, have yet to disco-" Mustafa ceased immediately; noticing the officer tasked in reconnaissance was flinching nervously. "-ver anything strange..?" Mustafa bit his lips in worry; bracing himself for the bad news.

The aforementioned officer rubbed his hoof awkwardly; sweating profusely from the many stares he was receiving. "I-... I don't think my information changes anything..." The officer started; attempting to downplay and normalise the suspicious reports.

"Scouts often get lost- Stop to loot- encounter frequent delays- forget to write letters- not return for a long time- or not at al-" The officer was cut off by a crystalline hoof being stuffed to his muzzle; silencing him.

"Don't fluff it up officer," Mustafa slowly retracted his hoof, "What. Happened?" Mustafa pressed the hesitant officer, as he exposed Amore's seal; reminding him of the punishments of insubordination.

The officer sighed deeply, dreading the foreseeable reactions to his 'failures'. "Our northern, eastern and western scouts have reported to have found very little, and our supply lines are saf-"

"TELL us something we don't know..." Mustafa showed his teeth; annoyed at how much the officer before him was wasting valuable time. Precious time which they could've used to plan

"..." The officer's muzzle scrunched; despite its crystalline structure. "The southern detachments... They're gone." He dejectedly informed; casting his sights on his own hooves.

"Gone..? As in, destroyed?" Mustafa calmly inquired, even as internally, he was hyperventilating from the implications.

"I-... I'm not sure... They've just... Stopped reporting in for a while..." The officer jostled nervously; balancing himself on each hoof in intervals.

"How long would that 'while' be?" Mustafa dared ask, as he suddenly felt his stomach sink.

"...A week..?" The officer fearfully squeaked; looking down to avoid eye contact.

Mustafa stepped trotted back; his eyes staring blankly over the shivering officer's mane. Unblinking. After several steps, he slowly collapsed on his flank whilst his officers watched with hesitation.

"...You knew for one week..? And never had the mind to inform me?" Mustafa mumbled in disbelief; utterly shattered by the negligence of the officer before him.

"...It would've changed nothing..." The officer began to weep; covering his eyes completely with his crystal-cladded hooves.

Taken aback by the officer's seemingly backwards response, Mustafa's anger suddenly became sidelined by curiosity, "...How?"

"You know nothing of our rules or procedures, noble..." The officer murmured through sobs, as the surrounding officers stepped backwards to avoid the tension.

Mustafa attempted to speak; angered by the officer's association of himself to the shameless, indulgent nobility which ruled Amore's court. But he was unexpectedly stopped by a shout from the sobbing officer.

"NOTHING! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF OUR WORK!" The officer suddenly shot up, as he pointed a hoof accusingly at the Marshal. "IF I HAD REPORTED EARLIER, YOU WOULD'VE PUNISHED ME FOR WASTING TIME! AT LEAST IF I REPORT IT LATER, I CAN FEEL SAFE KNOWING THAT IT'S NORMAL FOR SCOUTS TO NOT REPORT FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME!" The officer ranted; violently wheezing for air after finishing.

"...Why would I punish you for that..?" Mustafa blinked awkwardly; blissfully unaware of how his 'fellow' nobles acted in similar situations.

"...That's just it... You don't get it... That's why..." The officer sunk to his flank; looking at the ground in despair. "We can't afford to assume you're not one of 'them'... Too dangerous to ask nor test..." The officer met Mustafa's eyes.

"They're just no winning for us..."

BANG

An explosion rang out behind the officer; annihilating the forest behind him. Its shockwaves blew the loosely worn helmets and barely stuck flags away, as the soldiers and officers in its radius cringed from its force.

Mustafa blinked absently at the scene, whilst his gathered officers did the same. Silence followed until an officer broke it, "Must be a unicorn
-there's no way our powders could've caused such an explo-"

"Our bombards!" Mustafa announced; suddenly breaking from his stupor. "They were all in the forests!" Mustafa began galloping aimlessly in a circle; announcing their doom. "WHY DID I THINK THEY WOULD SHOOT OUR BOMBARDS WITH BOLTS?! WHY DID I CHOOSE TO HIDE THEM IN THE FORESTS?!"

"SIR! THE EARTH PONIES!" An officer blocked Mustafa's path; getting hit by him as a result. The officer 'oofed' in pain from the impact, but quickly pushed the marshal off in front of him.

The officer began again, "THE EARTH PONIES! THEY'RE ATTACKING!" Mustafa cringed from the loudness, and attempted to lean backwards, but was stopped by the same officer.

The officer shook him violently; seemingly having forgotten his professionalism and discipline. "WE HAVE NO DEFENSE! OUR BOMBARDS ARE GONE!"

"S-s-s-s-S-top! Shak-i-i-ing!" Mustafa grasped the officer's hoof and flipped him overhead; making him crash to the ground painfully. "Stop panicking!" He hypocritical scolded, causing several officers to raise their brows.

He wheeled towards Canterlot; observing the defenders exiting aimlessly from the gates to assault their trenches. "...Officers! Tell the soldiers in the trenches to vacate immediately!" He ordered, causing several officers to tilt their heads in confusion.

Noticing their doubts of his orders, Mustafa hastily justified, "The earth ponies are concentratedly attacking a singular position, which means they will quickly cause a breakthrough." The officers look at one another; still confused as to why their marshal would order such an action. Mustafa face-hoofed.

Despite knowing he was wasting valuable time, Mustafa further elaborated; not wanting his officers to have doubt whilst carrying on the orders.

"It may seem foolish to abandon our most rudimentary defences, but that's precisely the reason why we're abandoning them-." Mustafa began, "Their forces are concentrated-, due to their exit being a singular gate, which means they would break and wedge our trenches into two and possibly encircle them." Mustafa lectured; sighing a breath of relief when a couple of his officers began nodding.

"...Wait, isn't it good that they're attacking from a narrow space? Wouldn't it be better to fight them one-by-one in a tight battlefield?" An officer objected; finding it puzzling that they would allow the earth ponies to assemble outside their gates.

Mustafa once again face-hoofed, "You've watched too many romanticised tales of last stands... And you seem to forget, we outnumber them." Mustafa deadpanned.

"So..?" The officer hesitantly asked,

"...As you said, if they assembled outside the gates, their combat width would increase." Mustafa suppressed the urge to groan in annoyance and continued, "-and if their combat width increases, we can fight more of them at once."

"Yeah! That! How can fighting more of them at once be better?" The officer smiled at his own evaluation; feeling proud of himself.

Mustafa face-hoofed and groaned, "We outnumber them, you dimwit! We're on the other side of your last-stand fairytale!" He growled, "Fighting in small spaces would negate our numeric superiority! Staying in our thin trenches would allow them to easily overwhelm them through concentration and encircle us!"

"How can they encircle us in the tr-"

"BY GOING AROUND US YOU MORON! DEFENCES FORCES US TO REMAIN STATIC! USE YOUR DAMN BRAINS!" Mustafa berated the officer, who recoiled and shrunk in response. Meanwhile, the other officers stared uselessly at the scene.

"Wait, so what was the order again?" An officer whispered to another; having forgotten them due to being immersed in their marshal's lecturing.

Mustafa; having heard them, violently turned his head towards his officers and glared at them; bearing his teeth, "BY AMORE'S WRATH! TELL THE SOLDIERS TO FUCKING WITHDRAW FROM THE TRENCHES!"

"...You mean bucking?" An officer offered awkwardly,

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE!"

"-Sir, this may not be the wisest move..." Rimpler voiced; having been dragged to Green's 'brilliant' ideas to attack the severely outnumbering enemy.

"Oh? Do you think you know more than me marshal?" Green disturbingly replied, causing Rimpler to shiver slightly in his leader's stare.

"Sir-, it's my duty to advise you against any fool- unplanned actions." Rimpler maintained; bracing his hooves to prevent any more shivers.

"Oh really? Because so far, you've only objected against good ideas." Green faked a laugh and intimidatingly leaned towards Rimpler, causing him to lose his hoofing. (Footing)

"...And I'm beginning to be sick of it..." Green dangerously warned; staring unsettlingly into his marshal's eyes. He softly muttered, "...No more..."

Rimpler shook violently, but instead of stepping backwards and listening to his pleading instincts, he stepped forwards and braced himself defiantly. "Any other pony would've said yes blindly, but I am not that pony, sir Green." Green began to frown.

"You know better than this sir, you know that this is irrational and foolish; that this would needlessly end countless lives!" Rimpler desperately pleaded, even as Green's frown deepened.

"Please... If not for us, listen for your sister..." Rimpler reasoned, whilst Green froze at the mention of his sister. "This... Is not the end for us, the Empire's grudges lie in the pegasuses, not the earth ponies." Rimpler placed a hoof on Green's shoulder, which was violently slapped away.

"DON'T YOU DARE USE MY SISTER'S NAME!" Green growled at the treasonous marshal, "-AND DON'T YOU EVER THINK OF SURRENDERING! IT WOULD BE A MATTER OF TIME FOR THE EMPIRE TO STRIKE US NEXT; AFTER THE PEGASUSES DIE FROM OUR INACTION!" Green suddenly lunged from his wheelwagon and grasped Rimpler's shoulders, allowing him to lean closer to his marshal's eyes.

"YOUR WORDS ARE POISON TO US ALL! TREATROUS LIES TO DECEIVE AND DEMORALISE US!" Green began gritting his teeth menacingly, "...So begone marshal... Hideaway like the cowardice traitor you are..." Green dropped himself, and slowly limped back onto his wheelwagon; ordering his soldiers to continue charging out the gates.

Wordlessly, Rimpler galloped back to camp; a singular goal in mind. The soldiers and officers he passed laughed at him; having heard their leader's rant. But he galloped unfazed, even as his name and reputation were being slandered in front of him. He wouldn't need it in the end anyways...

Phase 4: Success Through Failures

Green's disorganised horde of soldiers surged forward, sometimes trampling those who were wounded or fallen over by the speed. Their pace only hastened when they realised Mustafa's forces were seemingly routing, as they scrambled out of their trenches to disappear into a cloud of dirt and dust that had been kicked up by the charge.

"Onwards! Advance!" The officers cried out, as their doubts of their leader's plan to assault the siegers dissipated for every enemy they saw vanish into the cloud of brown.

Green wore a smile on his face; utterly clueless to his surroundings of trampled and rotting corpses of his soldiers around him, despite being carried overhead by his officers.

The soldiers roared with triumph, as they could sense their enemy's camp before them; one located atop a hill, holding all the reserves and stretched in such a way that it looked like a bowl to a bird. And they had just entered it.

The first row tried to stop, but the momentum of the charge immediately crushed them, then the second, then third, then another.

Roars of cheers quickly turned to one of pain and confusion, as Green was thrown forward by the sudden halt. The soldiers in the front gulped nervously, whilst those on the edges wheeled slowly outwards to see what had surrounded them.

As the clouds subsided, it revealed an encirclement of Green's forces by Mustafa's own; the latter troops having levelled their spears and unsheathed their swords. A sole imposing stallion stepped forwards.

"I, Fray Mustafa! Marshal of Amore VI and servant of the Crystal Empire pleads for you all to surrender your weapons and cease this pointless fight!"

Green immediately lifted his head, looking around and growling furiously at the voice he tried to locate.

"Out quarrels are with the pegasuses you destroyed! Our very fight today is merely a ploy by the unicorns to divide us, common victims!" Mustafa pleaded hopefully; catching several of Green's soldiers pondering his point.

Mustafa smirked internally, "We, who suffered by the treatment of the oppressive unicorns and tyrannical pegasuses must unite and fight against a common foe! Why shed blood between slaves when we could draw it from our masters?"

Murmurs and discussions spread throughout the encircled ranks; many agreeing on Mustafa's plea, as they did not want to see the consequences of denying them. They were in no position to deny it. It was either death or life.

Green would choose death

"GO TO TARATARUS!" Green roared.

...

An awkward period of silence followed, as Mustafa slowly retreated behind his line whilst shaking his head disappointedly. Many of the encircled soldiers painfully shrunk by their leader's outburst, and immediately dreaded his decision, however, nopony had the guts to speak against it.

Mustafa reached and grasped an officer's shoulder, bringing him close to issue an order. "Tell our soldiers to charge, but immediately fall back in place to charge again. Enough times and they should surrender." Mustafa pushed away the officer; expecting him to carry on the message throughout the lines in a few minutes. But for now, it was time to wear down the nerves for these mud-ponies.

"I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!" A soldier madly announced as he lunged over his dead comrades and threw aside his weapons to slip into Mustafa's line. Countless more followed, even as the loyalists within the encircled troops attempted to yank them back into formation. There was just no hope.

"Sir! We need orders!" An officer desperately asked the increasingly miserable Green; who at this point held his hooves over his eyes and had folded himself pathetically with a deep frown.

He was in delusion; "Had he not do everything right..? Was Harold's book wrong..? Was he wrong in his interpretation..?

"SIR! WE NEED ORDERS!" The officer slammed his hooves whilst his gathered fellow officers fidgetted nervously.

Green broke from his thoughts and began looking around aimlessly; biting his bottom lip nervously whilst attempting to find a solution out of this mess. Then suddenly, he found it.

Green spotted a gap within Mustafa's line that seemed to lead away from Canterlot; he didn't know why it was there, but his mind quickly became clouded with the opportunity to break out from the encirclement and return to safe walls. He would have problems returning, but it would be his future brain's responsibility for now.

"THERE! A gap!" Green pointed, prompting his officers to trace his hooves to discover a noticeable gap within their enemy's lines. "We'll break out from this encirclement and return to our walls!"

"Why would you leave a gap, sir?" An officer scratched his head; dumbfounded that his marshal would intentionally allow their helpless enemy to escape.

Mustafa meanwhile, remained grinning; his grin turning into a maniacal smile once realising the surrounded mud-ponies began to position themselves towards the gap. "Any further attacks would be futile; the corpses of our brave soldiers are evident enough." Mustafa began to frown.

"Pardon my insolence sir, but you are making no sense." The officer's face contorted to one of annoyed disbelief. "This is the best possible opportunity to attack; they are out of their walls and they are surrounded."

Mustafa faced the officer looking offended, "I'm no idiot officer, and you are mistaken. My- no, Our goals are to take Canterlot and possibly vassalise the earth ponies." The officer nodded slowly, allowing Mustafa to continue, "-So why waste good stallion's lives grinding them against determined enemies, when you can simply route the enemies?" Mustafa turned towards the gap within his lines; now allowing a torrent of mud-ponies to escape. "After all, aren't all battles won by routes?"

The officer hung his head in embarrassment, "Of course! How did I forget the conventions of war?!" He began to rub the back of his head awkwardly, whilst Mustafa simply grinned in his wisdom.

Little did they know, Green's mud-ponies fought a very different kind of war. As unlike the ancient doctrines, victories would be won through blood and devastation.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It was at this point of the chapter I got stuck and couldn't figure out what to write next, so after a week of futilely thinking about it, I've decided to just say "FUCK IT" and gloss over the events. It may ruin the immersion/story/chapter, but I ain't fuckin' writing for your dumb-ass sake but for mine. Enjoy the oversimplifications of the following event.

> Green's encircled forces manage to escape, but are cut off when trying to return to the castle.

> Mustafa becomes dumbfounded that Green chose to turn back towards the castle. He orders his troops to re-encircle Green's smaller force and vows to not make the same mistakes again.

> The soldiers remaining in Canterlot spots Green's forces being chased by Mustafa's and fears the latter would encircle their leader.

> Rimpler leads a vanguard with volunteers to delay Mustafa's soldiers. He hesitantly brings Little to hopefully convince Green to abandon his plan.

> Rimpler hopelessly attacks Mustafa's forces, Little and a small detachment of veterans rush to Green's positions.

> The fates of Rimpler and the rest of the Vanguards are not told, but their death is obvious. Little weeps for the sacrifice.

> Mustafa's light screens are able to delay Green's forces.

> Mustafa's forces are able to re-encircle Green's forces. It becomes nighttime.

> Little catches up with Green.

OVERSIMPLIFICATION OVER! LET'S GET BACK INTO DAH CHAAAAAAAPTERRRRRRRRR

Green stared at Little as if she was seeing a ghost; watching her body heave and lower as she gasped painfully for oxygen. He was in disbelief; the nearby sounds of swords and stallions clashing being replaced by the sounds of his sister softly sobbing and gasping. "Why-?"

"Why..." Little barely lifted her head, allowing Green to see her tear-soaked face.

"How...How can you be so RECKLESS?!" Little briefly hovered in the air in a fit of rage, before quickly zipping into Green's face.

"WHY IN TARTARUS WOULD YOU LEAVE OUR DEFENCES?! WHY IN SOLARIS WOULD YOU ATTACK WITHOUT PLANS?! WHY DID YOU IGNORE YOUR GENERALS?!"

"Why?..."

"...Why did you abandon me..."

Little sunk to her flank, sobbing ceaselessly into her hooves.

Green blinked blankly until his forehooves gave out, and he collapsed on his stomach; tears beginning to well up in his eyes and his lips beginning to quiver.

"I thought you hated me... I thought you didn't want to-”

Little stuffed her salty-tearful hoof into Green's maw; silencing him. "...It's always assumptions... Isn't it?" Little opened her tearful eyes and began staring into Green's own. "...You always assume what I want, what I think and how I will feel..."

Green's pupils widened in realisation; He knew she was right. How could he have not realised sooner?! A wave of guilt hit Green, causing him to whimper and retract from Little's hoof. However, he was suddenly hugged by Little, which caused his head to fall back down towards the ground.

Little gently smiled, and closed her eyes. "I could never hate you... I always want to see you... You... You are my big bro..." Little's tears began rolling down Green's shoulder, causing him to flinch.

Green returned the hug, as he wrapped his forehooves around Little's smaller frame and pressed it against his nose. He closed his eyes.

For now, nothing else existed around them, as their reconnection drowned out any other noises than their breathing and sobbing. They would forever treasure this moment; however long that may be.

"I'm so sorry..." Green murmured, as he began to notice the sounds of clashing soldiers becoming louder and closer.

"...It's okay..." Little assured as she tightened the grip over Green's muzzle.

They both hoped for their end to be swift.

Mustafa watched on with giddy as his stallions quickly closed up into the centre of the encircled mud-ponies. "This time, They will not escape..."

"Well sir, it seems we're victorious." An officer appeared behind Mustafa; being the same one who had been sceptical of Mustafa's decision to allow Green's forces to escape. He wore a pretentious grin as he stood beside the Marshal.

Mustafa groaned.

"-Now. I'm not much of a jerk, but I think a told-you-so is in orde-" *TING*

Mustafa cringed as blood splattered across his face; barely noticing the officer who had now collapsed with a hole on his helmet snd head.

Across the field, a lone sniper cursed himself for missing his shot, whilst his partner face-clawed from the failure. A pony accompanying them was too busy marvelling at his binoculars to notice the miss.

His partner simply snatched the telephone beside them and slapped it against his ear and mouth in rage, "WE MISSED! GO FOR PLAN B!"

Mustafa had barely enough time to wipe off the blood, as he witnessed several streams of light gliding across the skies. ...And it was getting larger?"

https://youtu.be/BUN04x6zkIU

https://youtu.be/0bWt81vhIyY

Unearthly howls filled the battlefield, as all soldiers looked up to witness what had first seemed to be a shower of falling stars, but had been rebuffed once realising they were getting bigger, and bigger and BIGGER.

Everypony present traced the gliding lights, as they passed the clashing soldiers overhead and instead neared Mustafa's camp; coincidentally where his reserves and himself was at.

Mustafa's hooves gave out, as he collapsed on his flank once realising the blinding lights were headed for him. The sheer brightness caused him to squint and retract away from it whilst the rest of his camp panicked around him.

"How the buck is that fai-?!"

Mustafa's entire camp became engulfed in flames and blinding lights, as everypony who had traced the lights squinted from the explosion. Mustafa's forces still on the ground watched in disbelief as their loot, belongings and reinforcements seemingly disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Green's soldiers faced Mustafa's.

The latter faced the former.

"I SURRENDER!" The former shouted in unison; they definitely did not want to face whatever presumably unicorn bullshit which they had just witnessed.

While everypony was hesitant and fearful of what had just happened, Green and Little simply chuckled.

"...Griffons... You magnificent bastards..." They muttered.

Demand Concessions. No Punitive Expededitions

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Paul and Bismarck sat nervously around a telephone; glaring at it as if it was a hapless prey; ready to lunge at it at any signs of movement.

To break the tension, Paul began to recount their positions. "We're running out of resources, and we lack workers for our factories." He chanted, "We can't make the children's work, else our education programs are for naught...."

"...I know," Bismarck muttered; his eyes still fixed on the telephone. He had also been thinking about their current conundrum; being the lack of labour forces and their unwillingness to trade nor hire the natives of their new lands. "If it wasn't for our policy of secrecy, we could've hired the natives..." He accusingly murmured.

Paul began to frown. "Our secrets are too valuable to simply 'give-away' to these unthinking savages." He maintained, "Their hooves and different anatomy would prevent them from operating our machines and tools anyways..." He sighed out.

Bismarck began to stroke his chin, removing his gaze from the telephone. "How about making the natives mine or farm? The British East Indies company had done the same thing to their Indian subjects."

Paul shook his head, "That may be, but their 'subjects' were human. Not an entirely different species." Paul reclined on his chair; also removing his gaze from the telephone. "And any prolonged exposure to modern tools would give them dangerous ideas..."

"Then just give them primitive tools, the Russians did it to their serfs, and look at them! Still stuck in the medieval ages!" Bismarck's expressions darkened, as he remembered the conditions of the Russian serfs during his time in the Russian Capital. "There was a reason why they didn't want you to leave the palaces..." He darkly thought.

Paul stroked his chin; deep in thought. "...I suppose that would work... But would it be morally right to expose the natives to such dangerous conditions when we have a better alternative?"

Bismarck snapped to Paul's thoughtful expressions in disbelief, "...Was it morally right when you forced my prisoners of war to create and fix roads?"

"...Touché..." Paul slowly acknowledged. "...So what? You are going to transport natives to our mines?"

"No, that would lay off our skilled labourers and decrease the efficiency significantly." Bismarck deduced, "I say we make them mine in our soon-to-be territories and transport them to our manufacturers."

Paul nodded with impressment, "But that still won't solve our demands for manufactured goods like steel, fuel, 'machine parts' (A generalisation for goods that are required for machines to work, such as engines.) Or consumer goods."

"...I thought you said the efficiency of production will increase over time? The theories of mass-production and worker's accumulated skill and what-not?" Bismarck raised a brow.

"Mmmmmm... Yes. They will. But I speculate it won't be enough..." Paul leaned forwards, "We will need to rely on our innovations and fully exploit the recent population boom to ensure our state's functions..." Paul deduced; somewhat frustrated that they did not have a global market to supplement their shortages.

Bismarck nodded sagely, "Yes, but we may also need to-"

*RING**RING**RING*

Bismarck immediately lunged at the phone; collapsing the desk and rolling across the floor whilst holding the telephone. He slammed it against his ears.

"Moshi Moshi?" Bismarck cooly phrased,

"What?" Paul muttered,

"Sorry, I was reminiscing my time writing to the Japanese..." Bismarck silently scolded himself; rubbing the back of his head.

"Hello? This is Admiral Marie of Moltke speaking." the speaker proudly stated; oblivious to the person he was talking to. Bismarck frowned at the impudence.

"And this is the emperor speaking," Bismarck responded, prompting the speaker to become filled with the noises of someone and something tripping or falling.

Paul shook his head disappointedly.

Moments before the call

Jean Marie tapped his foot impatiently at the delay of his troops transporting the telephone, whilst two foals who had claimed to be leaders of the entire race sat by nervously.

"Who do these ponies think we are, presenting two foals as their leaders?" Jean scoffed, "So cowardly that they sent babies instead of themselves to negotiate..." He thought.

"Will we be alright?" Little nervously whimpered; fearful of Jean for his impatient display. The latter didn't even notice the foal's concerns.

"Will we be alright?" Green reiterated, causing Jean to snap to the little Green foal.

"Of course you are... But not the one's who sent you..." Jean assured, "...And it seems our communicator has finally arrived..." Jean turned towards the entrance of their tent, which was now blocked by a gasping griffon.

"Here *gasp* sir-," the griffon passed the telephone to the admiral, before passing out himself.

"Someone escort him outta here," Jean ordered, prompting two standing guards outside the tent to drag the unconscious griffon outside. "I swear... All of our deliverers are asthmatic or something... They always collapse after they do anything... Jean muttered under his breath.

"What's that?" Little curiously quipped, leaning towards the newly brought-in contraption.

"Something that will let me talk to an official." Jean dismissed the filly's inquiry, instead, focusing on getting the correct channel. "...Al-right! Ready to call!"

The two ponies sat and watched on silently as Jean placed a banana-shaped... Thing near his mouth and ears.

After a period of silence, they heard a faint noise, "Moshi Moshi?" The two ponies glanced at each other confusedly whilst Jean retracted to glare at the telephone.

"Hello? This is Admiral Marie of Moltke speaking." Jean puffed out his chest with pride; ready to scold the communicator for introducing himself unprofessionally.

"And this is the Emperor speaking," it boredly replied.

Jean's face immediately paled, and in a blink of a second, his legs collapsed, and the telephone slipped out of his hand, but before it even moved an inch in the air, he immediately realised his mistakes and snatched the telephone in the air, knocking over the tables and chairs in the process.

The two ponies yelped, as they were thrown off their chairs.

"PLEASE FORGIVE MY IMPUDENCE!" Jean pleaded to the telephone; shaking it wildly. The ponies meanwhile groaned with pain, as they picked themselves up from the mess.

"...I will look past it this time... But do you have their leaders with you?" The voice expectantly asked,

"YES! -yes! They are right here your highness!" Jean hurriedly approached the two groaning ponies, before stopping himself in realisation. "THEY'RE NOT THE REAL LEADERS!" Jean screamed in his head.

Green rubbed his eyes to halt the pain, and when he opened it, he was met with a pair of glaring eyes. "AHHH- mfff!" Green was silenced by the griffon.

"WHERE ARE YOUR ACTUAL LEADERS?!" Jean demanded; his claws covering the receiver of the telephone.

"Hello? Do you have the leaders or not?" The voice continued to inquire.

"What do you mean?! We are the real leaders!" Little annoyedly responded; rubbing her head to dampen the pain.

"NO YOU ARE NOT! YOU ARE BOTH FOALS!" Jean desperately growled, as sweat began to cover her.

"Speak to us this instant admiral! We can hear your claws covering the receiver!" The voice angrily demanded, causing Jean's legs to wobble and weaken from fear.

Jean looked around futilely and finally centred his gaze to the two ponies, at which point he swayed and collapsed from his panic. "I'm so screwed..." Jean muttered before his eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious.

"Hello? We heard a thud, what happened?" The voice asked worriedly.

Green slowly began dragging himself to the telephone, cautiously observing the strange device once he got close. He leaned towards one of its sides and spoke, "...Hello?"

"Yes! Hello- wait. Is this a child speaking?" the voice asked hesitantly.

"You mean a foal? Yes. I am one." Green responded swiftly, whilst Little crawled beside him.

"...Why is a foal on our telephone admiral?"

"You mean the guy that just collapsed? -But we are also the leaders of our ponies." Green puffed his chest with pride.

"...A child emperor?" The voice rhetorically asked,

"No, not an emperor. More of a leader-type." Green corrected,

"I see... But what do you mean by 'we'?"

"That's me! Green's Littlest Little!" Little joyfully chimed in,

"She's my co-leader." Green elaborated.

"I see... And you call yourselves, not a paternal autocrat..." The voice sagely responded.

"-What's that now?" Little snapped towards the telephone; wanting to re-hear the last words.

"Nothing... But, all we need to know is, do you have any powers as leaders? And if you do, what are they?"

Green stroked his chin, "I-uhhhh... I guess I have the same powers as the nobles once had over the lands..." Green guessed, as he had no comparisons to meet his political power.

"...So you have jurisdiction over your nation's lands and subjects?"

Green and Little shrugged to each other, "I suppose we do," Green answered; not thinking too much about the questions.

"Perfect..." The voice ominously responded; the ponies meanwhile, being completely oblivious to their intentions.

Paul was literally jumping with giddy; "CHILD EMPERORS MEAN OPPORTUNITY!" He screamed in his head, whilst Bismarck wore a gigantic, maniacal smile.

"...Well speaking of your lands and subjects, I believe you've incurred a debt from us for our recent action against your enemies." Bismarck masterfully began, prompting Paul to nod furiously in agreement.

The ponies on the other side simply shrugged and nodded in Bismarck's evaluation. "I guess we do owe you one for saving us." They replied.

"Perfect..." "-Well I believe we could settle your debt easily right now- right here." Bismarck lured, "We simply ask for you to cede the entirety of your eastern lands and vow to never claim anything east of it ever in the future." Bismarck outrageously demanded.

Paul grinned at Bismarck's tactic; as a diligent student of history, he knew Bismarck would demand an outrageous term at the beginning to reach a deal he exactly wanted in the end.

Paul shook his head at Bismarck's unchanged nature; he was a master diplomat; seasoned in the art of the deal; for Little and Green would reject his first deal but come to agre-

"Okay. Is that all?

Paul blinked. Bismarck did as well.

Bismarck opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Paul raised a claw but immediately settled it down.

"Yes..." Bismarck finally mumbled out, before delicately setting down the telephone. He breathed in deeply.

"...Good?" Paul hesitantly offered.

Bismarck slowly turned to face Paul. His face looked like he was on the verge of crying.

"Years of experiences in diplomacy... Wasted..." He murmured, before face-planting onto the ground.

Paul carefully approached Bismarck and placed a claw on his shoulder.

"There, there. At least your experiences in the military and statesmanship came in handy!" Paul assured his friend.

It was going to be a looooong day...

Interlude: The Fox takes the pill

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He had made peace with his fate.

That's what he continually told himself, as he stared at the cyanide pill he had placed before him.

He reflected on his life; his accomplishments, his goals, his family and his fate. He had informed and made peace with his family, but he could only feel anger at the choices his Fuhrer had given him.

He had perpetually served the state, and in connection served the Fuhrer, yet he was given the horrifying choices of either committing suicide or risk having his family punished for a crime he had no associations with.

He stared around his room; it being windowless and having one door. He was somewhat grateful that the guards gave him privacy, but the emptiness of the room amplified his dread.

He took a deep breath.

He grabbed the pill.

"..."

He stared at it for the last time; eyeing its shape cautiously.

14th October 1944. Death of Erwin Rommel.

Rommel opened his eyes. Darkness greeted him. He tried to move, but his attempts turned into futile frails as he seemed to be in a vacuum. He began to think.

"Where am I?" He asked; his voice echoing as if he was in a long tunnel. Was he in purgatory? Was this hell? Was this punishment for all the lives he had failed to save by ignoring the Fuhrer's camps?

He continued to think of the possibilities; ignoring the light which was quickly approaching him, which eventually surrounded him as the darkness had before.

Rommel looked around himself; "What is going o-"

*FWOOSH!*

Rommel's surrounding scene immediately changed into the sky, as he was sent diving towards the ground almost immediately.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rommel desperately frailed in the air; not realising his new appendages and body. He willed himself to stop; to slow; TO FLY!

An inhuman and unfamiliar instinct immediately took over, as Rommel's body acted on its own to save its host; angling the torso, wings and limbs to glide and hopefully avoid the ground.

His body's attempts would be futile, however, as he was sent rolling into the ground as he had accumulated too much speed. His tumbles would be stopped by a slam against a tree; causing leaves to fall around him whilst he groaned in pain.

"Urghh..." He groaned, as he surprisedly picked himself up almost instantly, owing to his new, sturdier body. He began rubbing his head and removing the dirt from his eyes, which made him finally notice his new appendages.

He recoiled from his claws but immediately leaned towards it with a glare. "...Huh...." He further observed his entire body; noticing his wings, feathers and a lower half that resembled a lion. "Am I... A griffon?"

He scratched his chin. At first, he thought he was in the afterlife; in heaven or between based on the fact that nothing was burning or screaming around him. It would explain his new anatomy, and why he felt very little pain, and why he felt like he could lift an entire train.

But he quickly dismissed it, as he had no fantasies, dreams nor hope to ever become a griffon. He hadn't even considered it once! So, he continued to think.

"It cannot be a dream... It can't be something from the bible... Perhaps from Greek mythology?" Rommel pondered; not even getting close to the real answer. His self-questioning would be interrupted, however, as he began to hear an unmissable noise; soldiers marching.

He immediately scrambled off the tree; madly dashing towards the sound until he saw a road. A road with marching... Griffons?

He squinted at the distant soldiers, and in doing, accidentally zoomed into them, causing him to yell loudly in surprise; garnering the soldiers' attentions.

"OI! WHO GOES THERE?!" A soldier shouted as he and the rest of his squad took flight towards the sound.

"They're speaking English?" Rommel realised, while his claws were still firmly clasped around his beak. "The last time I spoke English was speaking to the POWs' in North Africa..." Rommel reflected, as he realised he would need to speak it again for this situation.

"Looks like a savage sir, no clothes." One of the soldiers said as he and the others landed behind Rommel.

"Oh great... We're going to have to babysit another one..." An imposing figure among them muttered as he gestured for two of the men to follow him, "On me... Don't want the native to scratch my beaks off..."

Rommel cleared his throat, (A little footnote; Erwin Rommel's fluency with English is disputed, but his accounts with British POWs' suggest he was pretty fluent with the language) "Where am I?" He asked; not bothering to ask about the 'savage' bit, based on his lack of clothes.

"Somewhere far worse if you resist," The imposing figure responded, as the two soldiers following him grabbed Rommel by the shoulders, and began carrying him.

As Rommel continued to observe the soldiers and their uniforms, he realised it; "YOUR UNIFORMS! THEY'RE GERMAN!" He yelled whilst pointing at them; flinging the soldier who had his arms around his away.

The imposing figure- which Rommel had identified as a sergeant based on the uniform, stared at the flung griffon in disbelief. He violently shook his head, and growled at Rommel, pointing a gun at his head. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RESISTING MAGGOT?!"

Rommel recoiled from the barrel but retained his expressions; "Sorry... Getting used to the strength... But your uniforms! They're parade designs from the Great War!"

"-The what now?" The other soldier holding him asked in bewilderment; having snapped away from his shock of his friend being flung aside so easily.

Rommel pondered at the question; "Okay... So this isn't some bizarre alternate universe... But why are they wearing German Uniforms and have German weapons?" His eyes began to wander and centre at the gun's holster; which had an unmissable inscription of the Mauser brand.

"Mauser..? The Luger?" Rommel sputtered out, causing the sergeant to hesitate and lower his pistol.

"-Wait. How did you know the name of the pistol?" The sergeant raised a brow, "No savages would know these bad boys!" The sergeant gently stroked the gun, causing Rommel to cringe at the displayed gun-worship.

"Could you please tell me where I am? I am no savage; despite the lack of clothes telling otherwise." Rommel firmly asked as the other soldier loosened his grip on his arms.

The sergeant looked to question his cluelessness but was cut off by the soldier he had just flung; who seemed to be perfectly fine. "You're in New-Alsace, my friend! In the newly incorporated territories of the said state that is!"

"...New... Alsace?" Rommel slowly sputtered; in disbelief of the familiarity.

"Yup! Our glorious Emperors has acquisition new land for our growing Empire!" The soldier chirped, "ALL HAIL BISMARCK AND MAUSER!" He cheered; prompting the rest of his squad to do as well.

Rommel simply blinked.

"...I would like an audience with the emperors..." Rommel quietly asked.

He would need to pass through a horde of bureaucracy to meet them... But eventually, he would.

The Crystal Shatters

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One of Many Captured Castles Held by the Crystal Ponies

A lone quartermaster of Amore sat alone in his room; the reports in his hooves clearly unsettling him.

What he saw in the reports were impossible, as it seemed to suggest the complete disappearance of Mustafa's veteran army without a trace; no routed ponies, messengers or deserters. It was as if they were wiped out of existence in their siege of Canterlot.

"That's impossible! He thought, as there was no power in Equestria that could annihilate such a large force so completely. He began to pace around his room.

There had been no reports from their spy networks of any breakthroughs on unicorn magic, nor were there anything noteworthy about the upstart mud-ponies. The only possible cause for this anomaly, he theorised, was that the bribed nobles had lied, or Mustafa had left to seek personal glory or revenge. But neither made much sense to him.

The door to his room slammed open, revealing a panicking lieutenant, "SIR! We're under siege!"

"...How did they make past our forward defenc-" The quartermaster stopped himself, and was wide-eyed in realisation. "...No..." His hooves gave out, causing him to collapse to his flank.

"-Sir?!" The lieutenant reluctantly asked,

The quartermaster simply fell on his back and began staring at the ceiling in despair. "...Our main army is gone... All of our garrisons are bucked..." He quietly muttered.

Any gains made by the Crystal ponies were quickly lost, as their token garrisons easily fell against the earth ponies' rushed-together levies.

Due to the Crystal Empire's usage of 'modern' (modern for their time) tactics, they only had one main army, which meant they would have to scramble together another army at the last moment.

The Crystal Empire

Hysteria and panic had taken hold of the nobility, peasantry and to a smaller extent, the merchants, as the news of their main army being annihilated and their holdings being swept reached them.

Amore VI had locked himself in his royal chambers and refused to speak to anypony, as delusion and paranoia quickly took hold of him, which led to the quick and brutal executions of his spymasters, anypony related to the campaign or anypony that had disagreed with him in the past. This would, however, not work in his favour, as talks of replacements immediately circulated upon the swing of the axe from the executioner.

From the emperor's absence, and the seemingly ceaselessly campaign of terror and executions, four factions emerged to fill in the power vacuum once their majesty had 'a little accident'.

The Umbras, being predominantly consisting of wealthy nobles, merchants and disgruntled generals, advocated for the abolishment of absolute paternal rule, and instead championed for an electoral system, where the most successful and 'noblest' of blood would vote for their new emperor.

However, they would receive harsh criticism from the three other factions, as they accused the Umbras of conspiring to weaken the position of the emperor so they could have more self-control and dodge lofty taxes and fees. The Umbras would counter this by accusing them of betraying the Crystal Empire's citizens.

To solve the immediate crisis, they proposed a policy of scorched earth, civilian 'mobilisation' (forcing civilians to become akin to slaves), and giving full power to the generals to make military decisions. Again, they were accused, but the reasons for it contradicted the last, as the Umbras were accused of attempting to create a centralised military oligarchy.

The Amores were the moderates among the factions, who wished for the coronation of Amore's distant relative: Amore VII to take charge in his stead for an indefinite period. They had first advocated status-quo; letting Amore VI keep the throne whilst a provisional government took over the reins of governance, however, once the paranoia ramped up, and they began losing supporters as a result, they chose the aforementioned choice to win back their lost backers.

The Amores is mostly criticised by the Umbras and Carlists for being too weak and small, as their chances for the government is minuscule, and they simply advocate for a truce and maybe a minor territory concession to appease the earth ponies.

The Carlists are named after Carl List; an extremely distant relative to Amore VI who gained power, fame and prestige through his stewardship and martial, which garnered him great fortune and notoriety within the Crystal Empire's army.

The faction revolves entirely around him, as he acts the part of the head of the cult of personality to convince and wow supporters to his side. He and his compatriots promise the successes which Amore VI had promised, and swears to defeat the Equestrians to restore the Crystal Empire to its past glory days.

No plans or policies are currently set in stone, however, their tone implicates militarism and a cult of personality-type leadership. They are criticised by the Cadenzas and Amores for being usurpers, traitors, and warmongerers, but surprisingly is supported by the Umbras, despite the former not giving the latter their support.

Finally, the Cadenzas is a faction predominantly consisting of merchants who are detached from the political and historical rivalries between the two nations, and therefore, absolutely hated by the other three factions.

They wish for an unthinkably horrifying proposal; the vassalisation of the Crystal Empire to Equestria for an immediate truce, trade and free movement agreements.

It is led by a mare merchant named Cadenza; whose very non-crystal skin caused many in the opposing factions to draw swords to attempt to slice her.

By using her excessive wealth, she was able to buy Amore's name from an improvised branch of his family for an obscene amount of money to lay claim to the Crystal Empire's throne. By using threats of embargos and threats of ceasing trade to essential goods for weapons and armour, the Cadenzas are able to remain as the top four factions through economics and trade.

They are harshly criticised by every other faction, as many of its members risk to death to even show up at meetings in fear of assassinations or angry mobs.

If you want an oversimplification, here you go:
Umbra - will go for victory at any cost
Carlist - will go for victory more conventionally
Amore - will aim for the status quo
Cadenza - Neville Chamberlain levels of appeasement

...And the ponies fracture

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Equestria: The Senate

Green was never a shrewd diplomat. He was but a child; blissfully ignorant of anything relating to lands, deals or treaties. And right now, he was being grilled by his own senate.

Many senators were frozen in disbelief; completely bewildered and horrified by Green's reckless concession of land.

Some were in outrage; their face red and their throats exploding with fury at the young leader's borderline-treasonous act.

Only a few actually thought about Green's decisions; despite knowing it was a mistake, they thought it was the best deal they could've gained against such a powerful foreign entity. "At least they didn't annex us..." They all chorused silently.

Meanwhile, Green sat nervously on his podium in the centre of the senate, rubbing his hooves nervously. He would occasionally indirectly support the opinions of those who had listened and reasoned, whilst dodging blame when accusations were thrown around.

Little simply frowned in the background; not liking the scene before her. "We lost the senate..." She darkly thought.

Border of the Crystal Empire

"ATTENTION STALLIONS!" A general shouted,

"And mares!" A distant voice among the gathered soldiers added,

The general rolled his eyes, "WE'RE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO STRIKE BACK AGAINST THE TREACHEROUS CRYSTAL PONIES WHO'VE STRUCK US IN OUR WEAKNESS MOMENTS!" Cheers followed as soldiers rattled their weapons in the air.

"THEY SHALL PAY FOR THEIR ARROGANCE! PAY DOUBLE THE BLOOD WE'VE SPILT IN THEIR INVASION! AND DESTROY THEIR SYMBOL OF PRIDE; THE CRYSTAL CITY!"

"urahhhhh!"

"WE SHALL RESTORE THE HONOR AND TRUST OF GREEN; OUR GLORIOUS LEADER! AND TAKE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE AS OUR OWN!"

"URAHHHHH!" The soldiers roared, as they began marching towards the borders in a disorganised manner.

It was late Autumn.

Canterlot

The Zeppelins Moltke and Johanna sat idly in the air; overlooking Canterlot, whilst griffons with food and supply in tow descended into the city to feed the hungry and repair its structures.

Field hospitals quickly sprang out across the city, as the injured and diseased were more numerous than the healthy. Despite the efforts of the civilians and the griffon personnel, triage had to be quickly enforced to save as many lives as possible.

Cries of foals with missing mothers rung out in every street; groans of injured ponies under rubbles was heard in every building. Despite winning, the Canterlot inhabitants were not celebrating.

The ones' who were celebrating, however, were the 'real' citizens of Canterlot; nobles, dukes and counts who quickly busied themselves bothering the griffons with questions once they returned as quickly as they left.

The earth pony refugees who sheltered in Canterlot looked towards the unicorns in spite, whilst the griffons politely ignored them. However, some talked and began fraternising with the nobles.

"Oh! The quality of the clothes! The fine threads and meticulous designs! Who crafted these wonders?" A lavishly dressed duchess inquired, as she gently fluttered an officer's uniform with her magic.

The officer gently chuckled, "It wasn't a 'who' that crafted this m'lady." He answered, causing the duchess to tilt her head in confusement, "It was a machine."

"A machine..?" The duchess repeated awkwardly, as images of wheels and nails somehow creating the clothes manifested in her mind. "...You mean the same machines like water wheels or chariots?"

"No, nothing of that sort. But I guess they both have wheels in them..." The general thought, as he remembered the machines in the simple clothes factories back home.

"Fascinating... Could you perhaps... Show me?" The duchess asked pleadingly; making a face that would make any stallion melt into concession.

"I'm sorry m'lady, but we're forbidden to." The general responded with a shrug; his discipline coming in handy to disarm the duchess' charm. The latter cursed under her breath.

"What are you doing here? How long will your stay be?" Another noble crept up, distracting the officer and allowing the duchess to slip away from the awkwardness.

"The first answer is, it's classified, and the second is, it's classified." The officer quickly dismissed the noble but began to see more creeping up in his peripherals.

"My neck's going to be sore after this..." He quietly grumbled.

Canterlot; Platinum's throneroom

"...I see no pony is harmed..." Platinum started, as the last nobles trickled in. "...That's good..." She muttered; attempting to ignore the ruins and rubble that littered all around the once marvellous room.

Clover cleared her throat and took the initiative, as her princess was too busy despairing over the wrecked walls snd statues. "May the meeting commence. If you have any inquiries or problems, you may have the floor."

Several hooves immediately sprang up, but ultimately, the one who spoke first got the question through.

"What will become of Canterlot with these griffon occupiers?" The noble asked,

"What about their length of stay?" Another asked,

"We're still running out of food! What of our labour, wealth and property?! They're still yet to be resolved!" Another desperately chimed in, as he stomped the ground impatiently.

Princess Platinum shrank from the pressure, as she too, for the first time had no control nor insight of what was transpiring around her. So, her advisor intervened.

"We have no luxuries to ask 'whats' and of our divine rights." Clover sadly announced, "For the first time, we're moveless; we're stuck in a checkmate that we cannot escape from, no matter how deluded we become."

The gathered nobles looked down hopelessly, as they knew she was right. The titles and prestige they held had no value in their current situation; their vast power which came from serfs and free labour had disappeared completely, and the earth ponies and griffons had entirely ignored and isolated them.

"...But, we may still have hope..." Clover lured, causing all heads to snap towards her. "...What we need to do... Is just play a different game..."

"Pray tell" Platinum demanded, as she closed in towards her advisor's face; completely ignoring the latter's personal space.

"-All this time, we've been 'playing' to win all our rights back; our serfs, land and power... But we've been playing it wrong..." Clover stated wisely; whilst internally, she scrambled desperately to find her next words.

"-We've assumed the earth ponies had united without strife or tribulations... But from the reported actions of Rimpler by the battle mages tell a different tale; one of conflict and doubt." Clover began to sweat, as she felt her stomach beginning to burn with guilt for what she was about to suggest.

"...If we were to hypothetically oppose the fringes of the earth ponies and support the majority, we may be able to carve a space within their government and thrust ourselves into politics once more..." The gathered nobles began to murmur with each other; many getting an idea from Clover's point.

"We have a generation and a lifetime of experience; we are all taught from young ages the arts of politicals, diplomacy and intrigue..." Clover hesitantly continued, "Once we've solidified ourselves within their government... We can gain concessions for giving our support... We could gain our lands back; not by force, but by bits, brain and schemes... One day, we could stand above all; us in the capitals and of the elite, and the earth ponies in lower trades..."

"A genius idea! All we have to do is make them hate each other" A noble suddenly interrupted; causing Clover to squint in disgust of herself. "How could I suggest such a thing?!" She scolded herself.

"Of course! We could make the merchants hate the farmers, soldiers hate the intellectuals, and the artisans hate the clerks! We just have to exploit this hate and make them rely on us as the benevolent neutral party!" Another noble chimed in, as a chorus of cheers rang out.

"We shall make those mud-ponies subservient in time! Bring back our divine, exclusive rights! Futures consisting of unicorn-only gifted schools! The wealth, trade and the military-controlled only by us!" A final noble roared out, causing the gathered nobles to cheer once more.

Meanwhile, Clover grasped her barrel in guilt. "What have I done..." She barely noticed it when Platinum wrapped her hooves around her shoulder; patting her softly.

"You really are clever, aren't you Clover?" Platinum said with a grin; ignorant of Clover's guilt.

Clover's lesson would not be forgotten by the nobles that day, as in the distant future, his speech would bear fruit in the form of Canterlot; the capital of Equestria and a paradise for unicorns.

The wild west and the buffalos

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New Western territories of Germany

It felt quite weird for those who travelled west in the prospect of wealth, as they were permitted guns and the new lands that they acquired from Equestria were uncharted, therefore unsafe. Yet, it didn't deter some griffons from trekking west with wagons and sometimes family in tow against the risk to gain their fortune.

They would usually move in large columns; the leading convoys generally being the heaviest armed. Some would split off once noticing a suitable plot of land, whilst others kept pace; searching for their prize.

"Bertha! You see anythin'?" A gruffy voice asked, as he mindlessly looked side to side.

"Nothing of worth dear," A gentle voice answered back, as so far, she could only observe endlessly plains.

The gruffy griffon nodded slowly, as he began to squint towards what seemed to be a hill on his right. "Funny... Last I checked hills don't get bigger..." He muttered as the 'hills' seemed to dissipate and reveal a line of specks approaching them.

His eyes widened in realisation, as he quickly whipped his gun to his side. "INCOMING! AT 9'OCLOCK!"

Every griffon leading the wagons trained their aim towards the warning in unison; their drills and experience serving them well in their attentiveness. The wives of said leading griffons drew their own guns as well; determined to save their youngings' and their belongings.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE! THEY'RE TOO FAR!" An authoritative voice boomed; his tone matching that of a sergeant, which motivated the aiming griffons.

As the specks became bigger, their features became unmistakable; "BUFFALOS!" A squinting griffon informed the rest, as the others began to train their aim towards a target.

It was quite confusing for the buffalos, as what they first assumed to be ponies were actually in fact, griffons. They were not only confused that the infamously 'savage' eastern griffons had wagons and clothes but also refused to fly away only spotting a stampeding horde. "They have valuable possessions." They all assumed.

Their confusion would quickly turn to fear, however, as their entire front rank limped and tripped after a thunderous CRACK! Boomed out from the motionless griffons.

The buffalos, by now were no strangers to such powerful weapons; the blood and guts of their fallen comrades and brothers against the ballistas of the earth ponies having taught them that. And so they dispersed and scattered into the dust; not wanting to serve the same fate as the ones in the front lines.

"Damn pests... When will they learn to avoid us?" A griffon spat, as he cocked his gun to load a bullet.

"They better learn like those damn wolves did... Too bad they're now replaced by those fearless timber-kinds." Another griffon cursed, as he flung his rifle to his back; intending on continuing forward.

"...Aye..." They muttered.

Buffalo chief's camp

To say it wasn't their day was an understatement; it hadn't been their day for several months now.

They used to be able to raid and stampede the earth ponies easily; their pegasus 'allies' being either too slow or uncaring to repel them.

But now, everything had changed, as the once-prized position of being in the front ranks became a punishment; an equivalent to a death penalty as the earth ponies began to use a new wooden contraption to kill them from afar.

At first, they were relieved to see that the earth ponies' patrols and forts began to become vacant, as they mysteriously retreated west; theoretically giving the buffalos free rein over the eastern plains and rivers. Oh how wrong they were.

What they discovered in the eastern interiors was completely abandonment; the sparsely inhabited land now being even barer; as the ponies who previously settled there had all but mysteriously disappeared as well, leaving behind ghost villages and vast, empty fields.

Then, the griffons came.

The buffalos would never forget the images. The horrifying memories and scenes of griffons flying in flocks and picking them off one by one.

Normally, arrows from pegasuses would simply brush or bounce off their thick furs, but the griffons were using something different.

A weapon that roared an ear-splitting explosion; so precise it could kill a fly; so deadly that it could fell a dragon in one shot.

There was no hiding, no running nor fighting. The griffons could see from afar, and shoot from that distance; they could fly and easily chase a fleeing buffalo. They stood no chance.

The Griffons would move in groups, killing entire hordes without mercy. Despite their utter efficiency and brutality, they would strangely not touch the buffalos' prized fur nor devour their bodies; instead, more insultingly, they would leave them out in the open; their carcasses emitting terrifying fumes that would disgust and warn the buffalos that passed by.

In just a week, their entire kind was driven out of the eastern Equestrian lands; a very few escaping with their lives, but the majority died in it; never to see their families again.

Never would they travel north again; for the risks were too big. But they would never yield land; no matter the cost.

Lessons of warning against travelling north already began to spread; teaching the younger generations to never pass the northern mountains and hills which acted as their border.

But they would learn another lesson; to never concede their rightful lands.

Colony of Alsace: State capital

Erwin Rommel stared nervously at his communicator; not out of fear for his wellbeing, but fear that the emperors' names were merely coincidences, and he had just wasted his, and their time.

He briefly glanced towards a guard that flanked him; poised to rip off his communicator at any signs of wasting their glorious emperors' time.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the communicator finally spoke.

"10 seconds. Say something worth my time." Paul dismissively remarked as he was preoccupied with working on another blueprint. He hadn't even bothered looking at the supposedly crazed griffon's case.

"I swear... We need someone else to delegate these questions to..." Paul absently thought, as this wasn't the first time a griffon inquired personally to the emperors, and it definitely would not be the last. The worse bit was, many junkers (nobles of Germany) would appoint such services with priority to celebrate birthdays for their children. "I'm never going to do this agai-".

Erwin had at first, stammered in silence by the bluntness of Paul, but quickly recovered to interrupt Paul's thoughts, "Hail Kaiser Wilhelm II!" He hopefully chanted.

An awkward silence followed, which prompted the guard to snatch away Rommel's communicator, but was stopped by the emperor's following response.

"...Guard, step out of the room and ensure nobody can hear anything outside of it." Paul ominously ordered, causing the guard to hesitate in confusion for a second, but immediately follow the order anyways.

Erwin gulped nervously; the tension having increased between his unseeable speaker.

"...Who are you?" Paul cautiously asked; having dropped what he had been doing to focus on his conversation.

Rommel immediately snapped into attention and raised his arm in a salute, "((General Erwin Rommel! Theorist and hero of Germany!))" He shouted in German; hoping Paul would understand.

"Mein Gott..." Paul sputtered, as he barely caught himself from a shock-induced fall. "((Hold on! I'm going to get Bismarck!))" He replied as he dropped the telephone to madly dash to Bismarck's office.

Rommel simply blinked, as he heard a telephone clatter on the ground and a door slam open and close. "((How the fuck am I going to explain an Austrian took control?))" Rommel cursed, as he sat back down to formulate a response.

He would remain a career officer, but this time, he wouldn't serve a failed artist.

The new map (and a summary)

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HUGE REMINDER: THE EQUIS CONTINENT IS MASSIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS AS BIG AS RUSSIA.

Old

New

Summary:

Germany:

The eastern holdings of Equestria were completely ceded to Germany's colonies of Alsace and Lorraine; its borders quickly becoming concrete along the river lines. (Not shown in the image above, but the borders quickly move towards the rivers)

With Germany's colonies holding much of the borders against the minotaurs and buffalos, they would teach the wild and unorganised tribes of raiders and stampedes of said nations to avoid them via lessons through extermination.

This would result in raiding between borders becoming significantly risky and devoid of rewards; virtually eliminating any cross-border raids from the Zebras, minotaurs or buffalos.

Equestria:

The overstretched Equestrian would no longer be bothered by three of its neighbours, and its fourth neighbour; (the minotaurs) would become too distracted fending off the now-targetless buffalos who had lost their primary prey.

Despite their massive loss of territories; literally, nothing would change, as the eastern sections of their nation were already extremely sparsely populated and actually drained the nation's resources and soldiers as a whole in protecting against the border raids. Overall, the Equestrians would become better off without their eastern lands.

Buffalos:

After a slight incursion by the Germans which quickly turned into a flood; most of the Buffalo's lands were gobbled up by the pioneers, colonists, prospectors and opportunists from the neighbouring colony of Lorraine; spurred on by junkers who thought it was their duty to expand their lands for the good of their empire.

Despite their dubious rights to invade, no less occupy their new holdings, Bismarck would quickly ratify and recognise the junker's efforts by annexing the occupied territories into the colony of Lorraine.

The buffalos, without any outlet for revenge or places to raid and accumulate their food and supplies, would begin raiding their minotaur neighbours; breaking their previous truces and reigniting their rivalry and hatred against each other.

This would work in the favour of the Equestrians and Germans, as the minotaurs and buffalos would become too busy killing each other to initiate border raids or skirmishes.

Minotaurs:

Led by a lone junker and a clawfull of glory-seeking recruits, they would single-handedly route a minotaur Warband with minimal casualties by employing the age-old tactic; volley fires.

They would later occupy a small fraction of the minotaur's land after receiving reinforcements and be awarded the iron cross by Mauser and Rommel in their return.

But now, with the minotaur's main targets; being the ponies becoming increasingly risky and reward-less, (due to the increase of patrols due to smaller borders), they would raid the western griffons and centaurs to make up their shortages; igniting another chain reaction.

Western Griffons:

The borders of the Equestrian lands for them at least were highly guarded. Even after the pegasuses' fall, and the establishment of a flightless earth-pony republic, they would be challenged by new engines and machines of war that would make their incursions even more difficult.

They would still, however, be able to outmaneuver the flightless patrols, however, the recent influx of patrols and forts made it far more dangerous to seek the rewards.

This would slowly crumble the tribal systems, as it required an actual standing army to undertake a successful raid; which also necessitated a state to fund and supply the said army.

And so, the chain reactions of Germany's acquisition of Equestria's eastern lands would result in a rapid feudalisation of the Western griffon tribes, as griffon-at-arms began to be organised and plans began to become formulated to stand a chance against the Equestrian's stronger borders.

The transition would not be swift, however, as war would be waged against the newly feudalised tribes to consolidate power and hold the entire western lands. The question is, who would unite them?

Centaur Kingdoms:

The massive influx of raids caused concerns among the many kingdoms, duchies and counties. But, it would be quickly resolved by the collective funding of the states that neighboured the other raiding nations; who had always sworn to defend against the outsiders for payment and tribute.

Deer & Hippogriff tribes:

Same thing as the minotaurs and buffalos. They had a truce, but now they broke it due to the changing times. The hippogriffs, however, had free reign over the Crystal Empire's countryside; further terrorising the citizens of the empire and forcing them into the crowding castles and forts in the hills.

Crystal Empire:

The same thing which happened to Equestria at the start is now happening to them; constant raids and instability.

Tributary chiefdoms of yaks:

With the instability of their masters, and their withdrawal and refusal to send troops to protect them, the yaks decided to declare independence; cutting ties with the Crystal Empire and fending off the diamond dog raids by themselves.

The crystal empire would swear vengeance for the treachery, but their own chaotic situation prevented them from acting in their threat. The yaks would begin annexing the defenceless northern territories of the empire; further causing chaos among the empire's citizenry.

Diamond Dog Chiefdoms:

Their massive border with the Crystal Empire had first been undefendable; the crystal empire would continuously encroach deeper into their territories, and the diamond dogs would futilely defend against them through tunnelling and guerilla tactics; making them masters in the field.

Eventually, the Crystal empire would reach a roadblock in their arms race; their own tunnelling and mining tactics becoming massively improved in the process. However, they would be countered by the diamond dog's own advancements, as they would dig entire tunnel networks and defence systems which would become impossible to break.

This resulted in the diamond dogs becoming masters of the underground, and unchallenged in defences, as no creature in the world could dislodge them. Unfortunately, their next foe would be from another world.

Zebrican Tribes:

The Zebrican Tribes had always enjoyed their superiority in weaponry; as they would employ alchemic weapons which were always thought to be counterless and unreplicable by any other species but the zebras.

This would all change by the introductions of the Germans, as they would take over the borders of Equestria that once neighbored the Zebrican tribes.

Donning mysterious masks, the griffons would be completely immune to every zebrican potion or gas, and their weapons would always penetrate their wards or enchanted runes. (They would usually stop arrows or swords through repulsion)

After a report which made evident that the zebras were using chemical weapons, it was reported that Mauser and Rommel had rubbed their claws together and cackled maniacally, stating: "We're about to make the geneva convention into a geneva suggestion..."

The state press was confused by their remark but reported and printed it anyway and after a week of the report, the Germans would allow the usage of 'chlorine gas' to 'pacify' any 'hostiles'.

The soldiers were told to not show empathy. To not show sympathy towards their enemies. They were told to be soldiers.

Dragons:

The dragon migration would occur in schedule; it would occur in a month, passing through all nations to display their might.

Coincidentally, Rommel's request for SP-AAs' and AAs' would be approved by Mauser; his wishes for both an anti-tank gun and anti-air gun reduced to a single model of AA.

He would make good use of it, however, as it wouldn't be his first time using AAs' as anti-tank guns. And his men would be getting some target practice soon.

Changelings:

There was only silence.
The hives conflict with one another.
Completely undetected by others.
Amid all the fighting,
A young queen would dream of a regent;

One wise and experienced,
Harsh but pragmatic,
Powerful, yet loyal,
Cruel, but in necessity.

She would caress her first lone egg;
Hoping dreamily that her firstborn would be perfect.

But she was no fool.
She knew she was one of many;
Destined to be a subjugated queen,
Subservient to an older master.

Little did she know, she would be like no other.
For there were two souls in her egg.

A livid Bismarck

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Paul's office (Every dialogue is in German)

"-A what?" Bismarck asked,

"An Austri-"

"-I heard what you said." Bismarck cut him off; his breath becoming volatile and erratic.

"-Are you telling me, a country that I tried so hard to isolate and admit our hegemony over Germany has a FUCKING HOMELESS GUY FROM IT AS OUR FUTURE LEADER?!" Bismarck boomed out; causing the citizens outside of the palaces to glance towards the foreign languages coming from their emperor's offices.

"Calm down Otto!" Paul futilely attempted,

"CALM DOWN?! CALM DOWN?! MY LIFE'S WORK! ALL RUINED! ALL IN SHAMBLES! EVIDENT BY THE HOMELESS PEASANT THAT RULES OVER OUR ONCE GREAT EMPIRE!" Bismarck cried out; his eyes flowing with tears once more.

"We don't even know he is telling the truth!" Paul desperately appealed,

"Bismarck, you were born on the 1st of April of 1815. You unified Germany in 1871, and was forced into retirement in 1890." Rommel boredly cited as if rehearsed.

"...Well, he might be lying about the stuff after it!" Paul appealed once more,

"I know all the doctrines, the political and economical turmoil following the war and I am familiar with many of your weapons, even if some are off in their design or look different." Rommel dispelled, "Even if your earth is hypothetically different to mine, I have valuable experience in the fields of war and organisation."

"...Damn..." Paul muttered, before refocusing on Bismarck's weeping figure.

"I'm sorry chancellor... Should I leave out the sensitive bits?" Rommel offered but was stopped by Bismarck's response.

"No. I'll hear all of it. I can take them." Bismarck stated with regained confidence, as he stood up and braced himself.

"No! It'll destroy you!" Paul pleaded but was met by a wave of Bismarck's claws.

"Nothing can destroy me! Hit me with it!" Bismarck ordered,

Rommel took a deep breath, "You were right about the prediction. Wilhelm loses his throne like a dumbass."

"Hah! I knew it! You owe me a favour, Paul!" Bismarck hollered,

"What?! But he seemed so secure in my last days!" Paul groaned,

"The first world war started just two months after your death sir," Rommel elaborated, "Wilhelm severed the alliance with Russia and isolated Germany so that Britain, France and Russia would attack us."

Bismarck's face scrunched in annoyance; "My worst nightmare..." He recounted, as he had tried so hard to align Russia to his side so long ago.

"He would also order a naval buildup which pissed off Britain..." Rommel continued,

"We're masters of the land... Not the seas..." Bismarck quietly muttered.

"He would also allow a communist to pass through our lines to turn Russia into a Socialist state." Rommel listed nonchalantly.

Bismarck's eyes began to twitch, as he made a soft whimper in pain.

"We lost that war by the way, and Poland took Danzig and Poznan."

"Hrgk..." Bismarck grasped his chest, and his legs began to wobble.

"A great depression where everyone lost their jobs, their savings, and their homes which allowed radicals to gain power..."

Bismarck collapsed to his knees; prompting Paul to rush to his side. "BISMARCK, NO! STAY STRONG!"

"-Which as you know, led to the Austrian taking power and declaring war on everyone again. It went well at first, but when winter kicked in and the allies invaded, I and a large portion of the general staff knew Germany was lost-" Rommel stopped, as he heard a thump.

"Paul... I can't... I can't go on..." Bismarck whimpered, as he shakily grabbed Paul's claw.

"No! NO! You gotta push through the pain man! I'M NOT LOSING YOU HERE!" Paul desperately grasped Bismarck's overstretched claws, shaking him gently.

"Oh! Did I mention that the Nazi party consisted of pagans and addicts?"

"Hrgk..." Bismarck limped.

"No... Bismarck...? Come on buddy, don't play around with me here..." Paul shook Bismarck faster, yet garnered no response. "No no no no no no!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Rommel recoiled from the communicator; his ears ringing and his expressions contorted.

A period of silence followed, where Rommel stood awkwardly waiting for a response.

Rommel scratched his head, "Ummm..."

"-Huh? Oh, you're still there?" Paul replied as if nothing had happened, "You can have the job. Reform the army or whatever. But if you fail! You die!" Paul cheerfully said,

"Oh! So nothing is different." Rommel nodded happily; the death bit not fazing him a bit.

"Yup! See to it like a test of sorts, if you fail? You die. If you succeed? Terrific. There's not a lot to fight against anyways in the barren savage nothingness. It would also work wonders relieving Bismarck's workload!" Paul enthusiastically said.

"...Wait... Where are our fights happening in?" Rommel asked fearfully; feeling his stomach burn with worry.

"Underdeveloped, no infrastructure, sparsely populated, barren lands. Why?" Paul answered; confused himself as to why he had listed them so thoroughly.

And now, it was Rommel's turn to scream.

Time Skip: Bismarck's office

Bismarck inhaled deeply; his joint literally disappearing into thin air. "We need a bloody vacation, Paul." Bismarck breathed out.

"What about our governance?" Paul breathed out as well; completely filling the room in a pink mist.

Bismarck glared at him, "You and I know too well that our bureaucracy and army would prevent any usurpers."

"Yeah, I get that, but we're the heads of a cult of personality." Paul explained, "How would you feel if Jesus decided to take a vacation in his journey?"

Bismarck strokes his chin; his face scrunched in thought. "Point. But, I'm making the same mistakes as I did in my previous life; I trapped myself in my own work..."

"Huh..." Paul thought as well, as he too had an unfulfilling life. "I've always travelled, but they were always for work... I suppose I have never had an enjoyable trip..." Paul conceded.

"That's the spirit! I was thinking of travelling west. Meet the suppliers for these wonders." Bismarck said with a twirl of his joint.

"But who would run our country whilst we're gone?" Paul suspiciously asked; as Bismarck always had a plan.

"I thought you would never ask!" Bismarck snapped his claws; prompting junkers dressed as statesmen and bureaucrats to enter with pride.

"Meet our delegates, Paul! Trained in the arts of diplomacy and selected from a harsh filter of tests!" Bismarck announced as Paul's eyes widened.

"You planned this didn't you." Paul realised,

"Oh, friend..." Bismarck wrapped his arms around Paul's shoulder, "I ALWAYS have a plan..."

The Emperors would leave for a vacation; testing Germany's ability to exist without them, which they would succeed in.

Despite it being such a minor action, it had tremendous effects, as it proved that Germany didn't need the emperors to babysit them to survive.

It convinced many still hesitating to travel west to do so, as the emperor's oversight seemingly wasn't necessary for their safety, and even convinced some to leave without previous reasons; some to seek the same goals of leisure, whilst others lusted for wealth or adventure.

The Emperor's image in society would shift; from being one of an omnipotent, all-controlling god to an observatory, interventionist god. Due to this, more innovators and capitalists would spring up, as they believed they could succeed as the delegates had without the emperors.

Also, literally, all of the junkers decided to follow Bismarck for obvious reasons. Many followed to protect them, whilst others did to gain glory or adventure. But all of them did so to gain favour from the emperors.

A crystal restored

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Crystal city; the provisional government

A sword had been drawn.

An appeaser had been slain.

And a scream with no match had been cried with no end.

"THIS ENDS NOW!" Carl growled impatiently; his eyes wide with fury. "ALL YOU'VE DONE IS DELAY! WASTE OUR PRECIOUS TIME!" He accused furiously.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD GENERAL?!" An Amorian cried in disbelief; his face still stained by the blood of the Candenzian merchant.

"Bite your tongue weakling! We all know he had it coming!" An Umbrite defended; his hooves defiantly crossed and his head turned away in contempt.

"GUARDS! Confiscate his weapons!" An angry moderate ordered as it was forbidden to carry a weapon in court; no less use them to slay another.

His decision would be a mistake, however, as the guards approached the Amorians and Cadenzas instead; intent on arresting them.

"W-What?! What are you doing?! HAVE YOU ALL FORGOTTEN YOUR OATHS?!" An Amorian desperately frailed; attempting to loosen the grip and restraints of their traitorous guards.

"Our oaths have not changed," The guards responded, "ALL HAIL CARL LIST! THE RIGHTFULLY HEIR OF AMORE THE FIFTH!" They roared; causing Carl to cast a maniacal grin.

"Y-you... W-what?!" An Amorian futilely stuttered; his words preventing to form due to shock. His panic only ceased when Carl approached with a dagger, which he was skillfully twirling between his hooves.

The restrained Amorian shook his head and glared at the usurper, "Our rightful emperor would not stand for this..." He warned as he squinted his eyes threateningly at the rest of the courtiers; many of them being previously on his side.

"Oh? You mean that pathetic thoughtless Amore VI?" Carl slid the dagger next to the restrained pony's neck. "...Let's just say he had a little 'accident' down the stairs..."

The restrained pony's eyes widened in horror; his last vision being Carl's toothy grin as his neck was slit; ending his miserable life.

Carl wheeled towards the unfazed Umbrites; wiping off the blood from his dagger, then his face. "Any news about the whereabouts of Cadenza?"

The Umbrites revealed a crystal ball; one Carl immediately recognised as a communicator mostly used and afforded by extremely rich nobles and merchants.

A deep, echoing voice whispered from the crystal ball, "My agents had been unsuccessful in interrogating or investigating Cadenza's current location..." It continued, "But it's safe to say she and her supporters have escaped, and presumably linking up with Equestria's invasion force to usurp your rightful throne."

Carl curiously scratched his chin, "Well no matter! Those mud-ponies know nothing of our military might or genius!" He turned to his courtiers, "With my leadership, we shall triumph where Amore the terrible had failed! And with my victory, my reign will be resolute!"

The soldiers and generals roared enthusiastically, whilst the nobles less so. Many were concerned of their own power and influence and feared Carl's reign would bring upon a military dictatorship. "At least we're on the side with the army..." They all thought; ignorant of what really was in play.

Crystal Empire: road to the borders

Carl sat comfortably; perched atop a crystal throne that was being carried by four of his most loyal and elite guards.

He glanced backwards; observing his enthusiastic soldiers, itching for a fight. He smiled.

"Those mud-ponies stand no chance against our veteran troops!" He chuckled to himself, "We've been hardened and tested through many campaigns and wars against our neighbours! Those upstart mud-ponies are all brainless recruits!" He softly hummed.

He licked his hoof, and raised it in the air; testing the winds and temperature. "Those morons... They're attacking in winter!" He laughed loudly; prompting the soldiers and guards nearby to laugh as well.

As crystal ponies, they somewhat had immunity to extreme temperatures; allowing them to dig deeper or trek further in harsher climates. However, they would literally shatter immediately if they reached a limit; prompting their attention to keep themselves at least somewhat warm.

A sudden soft tap by an advisor would cut Carl from his thoughts of their biology, as the former wore a worried expression.

"Sir, if I may be so bold... Why are we going out of our way to attack them if we could just leave them be and let them freeze to death?" The advisor hesitantly pointed.

Carl shook his head disappointedly, "Because they're not THAT stupid. They have winter gear and clothes, and the spies from the Umbrites told us that they did.”

"But why attack?" The advisor squeaked nervously.

Carl glared at his advisor, "I suppose you want to give them the initiative? Don't you know that every second these mud-ponies are in our land, my rule comes into question?" Carl nudged his advisor's head harshly,

"Furthermore, we're more accustomed to this terrain; siege warfare would be more familiar to the earth ponies; especially after countless battles where they suffered from it." Carl bared his teeth at his advisor, "Are you secretly a mud-pony? Because your intelligence sure does suggest that." He turned away, sighing disappointedly at his advisor's stupidity.

"...sorry sir... I just... I don't trust the Umbrites..." The advisor sighed out as well, turning towards the front.

Carl raised a brow and appraised his advisor. "What is there not to trust? He has been truthful and loyal throughout my schemes and has been an invaluable asset to my ascension to my throne."

"That's the point, sir... He must have an ulterior motive..." His advisor lured on,

"What? He simply wants more coins, isn't that what all those nobles and merchants want?" Carl dismissed his advisor's worries, yet the latter pushed on.

"Sir... Have you perhaps considered... That he might want your throne...?" The advisor carefully laid out, garnering Carl's bafflement.

"Hah! Dispel that thought advisor! For he has no claim nor rights to the throne!" Carl laughed at the advisor's implications; finding them impossible.

"You don't either..." The advisor muttered under his breath, causing Carl's ears to rise in curiosity.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Carl requested; drawing his head towards the advisor.

"Sir... How did Amore gain the throne...?" The advisor slowly muttered,

Carl retracted, and again, raised his brow at his advisor's confusing questions. "Are you about to lecture to me about history?" He responded in confusion.

The advisor ignored the young emperor's question, "...All the Amores gained their throne by murdering, tricking and scheming against their relatives..." He blankly faced the emperor, "Amore the VI killed his younger brother to ensure he wouldn't usurp him..."

"...Why are you telling me this...?" Carl asked distantly, as he slowly began backing away from his advisor.

"You are betrayed-" the advisor's eyes rolled backwards, as he fell forwards with blood beginning to ooze out of his eyes and mouth.

Carl fell from his throne, as his guards quickly supported him up; expecting an attack. The young emperor simply shook; fearful of what had happened to his advisor.

A guard approached the bloody corpse wordlessly and began examining it. "His heart has stopped, and his vocal cords have been constrained." He faced Carl, "It's a blackmail curse sire, one done by an Umbrite if my memory doesn't deceive me." He stated fluidly.

"W-what..." Carl stuttered uncharacteristically; prompting the regulars around him to chatter nervously about what had happened. "But why would they..."

Carl's eyes suddenly widened in realisation, "THOSE BASTARDS TRICKED ME INTO AN AMBUSH!"

"FALL BACK! TURN BACK TO THE CITY!" Carl screamed; his orders slowly passing through the columns.

"CANCEL THAT ORDER!" A foreign voice answered from the trees; which quickly revealed itself as a poorly insulated pony general, who had clearly stolen his clothes from an innocent villager.

At first, the panicking soldiers growled at the newly-introduced pony but quickly widened their eyes in surprise from what followed, as an entire army seemed to manifest themselves from the woods.

"Looks like we're getting some new clothes colts..." The general clattered; his breath drawing steam from his mouth. "And some food too..." He muttered as he eyed the supplies of the crystal pony's column.

"Word from the back sir! We're surrounded!" A guard informed Carl, who was still struggling to stand upright due to shock.

Carl briefly scanned through his enemy's lines, discovering quickly that many were sickly, hungry and frostbitten. "Desperation. An army's greatest motivation." he noted, as he dusted himself off.

"Sir? What are your orders?" A stoic guard asked, clearly undeterred by their precarious position.

Carl drew his sword. "Take as many down as you can."

A crystal corrupted

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Battlefield: The trumphant Earth ponies

A sword plunged into a twitching soldier; making an audible *clink* as it penetrated the crystal skin. The sword twisted and turned until the soldier below it ceased moving.

"Shouldn't we retreat, general?" The sergeant asked, as he pulled out the sword and sheathed it; caring little of the blood still on it.

"Nay. We are too close to victory!" The general shook his head, wiping the blood off him as he did. "There's already a defecting faction within their very capital." He assured,

"What were their demands?" The sergeant distractedly said, as he swiftly plunged a dagger into an exposed soldier's neck; pushing aside his victim's helmet.

"No demands. Simply an unconditional surrender." The general smiled.

The sergeant faced the general in disbelief, "Then what are we still doing here?"

"They claim they need our 'persuasion' to convince the other factions to accept the deal." The general shrugged.

The sergeant stroked his chin; squinting at the general sceptically. "They have every reason to lie, and I'm pretty sure you know that." He continued, "You know that we may very well be trotting into their trap, general." He stepped forward.

"We must turn back..." The sergeant didn't warn; instead, his tone resembled more like an order. He pointed the way they came; coincidentally bringing to attention the frostbitten and starved which littered their path.

The general blinked. He stared blankly at the sergeant for a while, until he began slowly approaching him with a soft chuckle and a shake of his head.

He grabbed the sergeant's undeterred face and pulled it close; meeting him muzzle-to-muzzle. He stared deep into his soul. "We're too late..." He clattered out, "We're dead no matter what happens..."

The sergeant blinked.

"I know they are lying. But there is at least a small glimmer of hope that they are telling the truth..." The general pushed the sergeant away, returning towards their target; the Crystal City.

As the general slowly trotted, the sergeant quickly realised his injuries; both of his back hooves were frostbitten, and his flank and barrel were filled with cuts small to deep.

But the general continued trotting.

The sergeant looked to himself and back.
"The cold is getting stronger..." he noted, as he glanced backwards the last time.

He quickly galloped to the general's side; trotting beside him, not knowing the entire remnants of their army were slowly picking themselves up and following them.

They were heroes when they left, but now, they were little more than corpses.

Crystal City: the court

All members of the factions were on edge; the defectors accused the Umbrites of treachery whilst the former denied any fault.

The news of Carl's death and the encroaching Equestrian army had frightened everypony to such a point that most of the nobles and merchants had fled or disappeared in the previous nights.

The Umbrites accused the Amorians of deceiving and manipulating their information, but their excuses fell on death's ears, as their members were quickly surrounded, and their meeting place held under siege.

"Come out you cowards!" A noble shouted as a bolt lodged itself on the window hinge; causing an Umbrite looking out of it to quickly recoil and shut the hatch.

"What's going on?! How were we wrong?!" An Umbrite angrily entered the room; holding a crystal ball in his hooves.

"Sir! They're nearly through the door!" A voice echoed into the room; one coming from the entrance of the meeting place.

The Umbrite madly shook the crystal ball, "YOU! I demand an answer for your failures!" He growled, "We're going to be lynched because of YOU!"

A soft cackle escaped the crystal ball; causing everypony in the room to freeze and snap towards the ball. The cackle quickly devolved into a dark, echoing laughter, as the pony holding the crystal ball dropped it; causing a dark mist to fill the room.

Everypony present recoiled away from the mist; nearly falling over backwards from their backward thrust. However, they quickly regained their hoofing, as the dark mist began entering them.

Everypony's eyes were firmly closed, and they all stood still quietly, as they began to lose their crystal skin and their vibrancy in the process. The noises outside the building quieted as well, as the mist began to leak out the windows.

The ponies holding down the door looked up towards the spiral staircase to witness a dark mist snaking its way down towards them; causing them to jolt wildly to attempt to escape the predatory smoke. They would fail.

The ponies first exposed to the mists slowly lifted their brows; revealing a green, illuminating eye that replaced their once vibrant iris. Dark, colourless crystals began to manifest into the walls and floor; absorbing the heat around it and making the surroundings colder overall.

The dulled ponies stared at each other with their green eyes; one motive and directive in mind. "Serve King Sombra."

The Crystal Empire: the capital's surroundings

A dark miasma blanketed the surroundings of the crystal city; turning all crystal ponies caught in it into mindless servants and ridding them of their crystal skin and vibrancy.

The temperatures amidst the clouds decreased significantly, and the uncommon storms and winds became violent and everywhere.

The hopeless earth pony invasion would expectantly fail; its brave soldiers freezing to death from the now-apocalyptic conditions.

The dark mists would also have a secondary sinister effect, as it would cloud the judgements of the earth ponies; resulting in the remnants becoming paranoid and resorting to cannibalism.

The very last earth pony would die in the crystal empire in a cave; having killed all of his comrades and feasted upon their flesh.

The dark miasma would slowly spread, as it would affect the fearful citizens hiding in forts and castles who were too afraid to come out due to raiders and exposed borders.

It didn't help that the mindless slaves would drag villagers out and plunge them into the dark miasma; turning them subservient to their new master who now sat atop the Crystal Throne.

King Sombra was his name. And he would rule with an iron hoof. With a mad cackle and a slave army, surely he would triumph above all.

His first targets: the deadly and monstrous beings of the west, who would surely be great warriors once he made them his slaves.

'Civilising' the minotaurs (Unposted Chapter)

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Northeastern territories of the minotaur tribes

Gunn Von Bromhead sat perched atop a cloud; overlooking the vast plains and hills below. Behind him were several other griffons; many being glory-seeking recruits whilst two were his best mates.

They had scoured the entire region, thirsting for a battle, yet they only tasted dissapointment, as a battle they had imagined and hoped for never materialised.

Bromhead clicked his tongue impatiently. He had lied to undertake this 'expedition'; justifying their group simply wished to scout an area to settle before bringing in their families. Due to this, his 'mission' had to be successful, else they would've lied for nothing.

He turned to his men, who adorned expressions that screamed boredom, dissapointment and tiredness. They had all expected a fight on the first day, but the minotaur's lands were too decentralised, uncontrolled, vast and sparsely populated on the outskirts to offer them any challenges, as they had not met a single minotaur tribesman since they had entered their 'territories'.

Bromhead began to grow doubtful of the validity of their map, as, after all, it wasn't made by a German, but a foreign pony. He sighed.

"Didn't know you junkers would stoop so low to scam us." A soldier yawned out,

"Yeah! Where's all the glory? Adventure? Prestige?!" Another soldier frustratingly groaned out.

Before Bromhead could rebut, his friend John Chard intervened, "Get over yourselves! You all joined for the prospects of expanding our glorious empire! Not for your own gains!" He chastised.

His second mate, Robert Maxfield joined in as well, "You realise junkers are exclusively selected by our emperors? By insulting them, you are in extension, insulting our emperors as well." He stated matter-of-factly.

Bromhead simply nodded quietly in the background; agreeing with them both. The men meanwhile, groaned quietly as they continued to scan the barren plains.

As Bromhead turned to continue doing essentially nothing, he was interrupted by a light tap from John

"Hey... Maybe we should attack first? The minotaurs are a collection of tribes after all, and they don't seem to care about their borders too much." John hesitantly offered.

"But who do we attack?" Bromhead asked; his attention piqued for literally anything at this point.

Robert suddenly appeared in between the two griffons and presented a map, "The city of Zulu." He pointed on the map, "The largest city, if not the only city in all of the minotaur lands... Bloated with the loot and slaves of the ponies they had raided..." He offered ominously.

Bromhead and John stared at the map; centring their gaze at where Robert was pointing. "...They're very close..." Bromhead muttered, as John idly nodded.

Robert unscrolled the map in front of them, causing the tips to nearly brush their beak's tip. "Yep! And we could free the slaves and help improve the relations between Equestria and Germany." Robert grinned as he tucked the map away in his coat. "It's a win-win." He shrugged with a grin.

Bromhead and John stared at each other for a second, before Bromhead suddenly shouted, "All men! Ready yourselves for travel!" He continued enthusiastically, "We'll march west! And strike their largest and richest city! Zulu!"

Intermission: History tidbit & Foreshadowing

The minotaurs had never really had a history of slavery. Some traces of its practice would, however, be traced during the buffalo-minotaur wars; where the minotaurs would enslave the buffalos or POWS and vice versa.

However, the raids against the Equestrians would yield not only gold but hordes of pony prisoners which they had first hoped to ransom back to the unicorn overlords.

However, due to the latter's refusal to take them back, the minotaurs would improvise by enslaving the ponies; which would accidentally trigger a boom of mercantile and economic development of the minotaur tribes, as cities would be built around slave selling hotspots.

The influx of trade and availability of capital would foster the growth of scientific and cultural development; rapidly feudalising the tribes that bordered the Equestrians. The future seemed bright for the minotaurs, as they soon believed they would dominate their region.

But then, the griffons came.

They would at first mistake them for their western look-alikes, but soon, they would realise that they were COMPLETELY different. Lessons would be learnt not by words or tales, but with lead and blood.

City of Zulu: The garrison

A minotaur warrior sighed boredly, for he and his fellow tribesmen had been bestowed the unhonourable positions as 'guards' for an uneventful, and quite frankly, an unremarkable city.

For him, Zulu was small and disappointing, as he had heard of glorious tales of great minotaur champions who had raided far greater, and grander cities.

Zulu may have been the largest and richest city of the minotaur tribes, but its position mainly revolved around being one of the only few cities the minotaur tribes even had.

For Zulu was small, and its 'buildings' resembled more of a war tent during campaigns. Actual buildings were sparse, and the only 'feudal' ones were forts whose designs were 'borrowed' from their northern 'neighbours'.

The only thing truly remarkable about Zulu was its slave market, as its location made it a rallying point for raiders who would often return with slaves and loot. The former 'goods' would often be hauled with their hooves tied and presented in an auction, whilst the latter would be lavishly spent for recreation.

The guard had as little pity for the slaves as their unicorn overlords had for them, as it was his duty to be uncaring, for that in a case of a battle against them, he would not hesitate to go for the kill.

Sometimes the ponies would pleadingly glance at the guards or bystanders, however, their teary gazes would have no effect, as they would all quietly ignore them.

The guard sighed once more, as he felt the gaze of a crying filly on the side of his head; prompting him to turn away from it with a grumble. "Damn ponies... They're too soft and weak! What do they think crying would achieve?!" The guard growled.

As the guard continued to criticise the ponies in his mind, he spotted several clouds overhead him; unusually de-elevated. He blinked confusedly, then squinted towards them.

"Where did those come from?" He pondered, as he speculated two scenarios: either that they were clouds that drifted off after being detached by either a griffon or pegasus or that they harboured a strikeforce from said races.

"Can't be the second scenario... He reasoned, as they had a guard in a watchtower nearby for the sole purposes of warning against aerial attacks, which meant it was just another lazy griffon or pegasus who had neglected to return the pieces of clouds.

The guard glanced towards the watchtowers to confirm his theory but was taken aback by the missing presence of a guard within it. "What-?! Where in Tartarus are they?!" He cursed, as he leaned for a better look.

Before the guard could even realise the danger they were in, his face caved outwards; a bullet hole revealing itself between his horns. The other guards nearby recoiled from their suddenly dead comrade.

From the distance, a proning griffon cocked his rifle.

From the skies, a voice boomed out from a cloud, "OPEN FIRE!"

A deluge of barrels poked from the clouds above; a singular maxim barrel poking out from a particularly larger cloud.

Silence filled the air, as the minotaurs simply stared upwards; motionless and confused.

Then, the barrels lit up.

https://youtu.be/jGofoatz-20

Muzzles flashed against the clouds, as the skies filled with noises of rifles booming and a machine gun rattling.

The ground below was sheer chaos; 'civilians' and warriors alike scrambling away from the splashes of bullets that would flip the soils.

Many futilely ran, only to be chased by a trace of bullets that would rip across their torso once it caught up. Others would have their heads and horns shattered and caved, as precise rifles rained down lead upon them.

The tents of Zulu would stand no match against the firepower of the griffons, as loosed grenades and concentrated fire would topple the improvised dwellings; ripping clean holes through its thin walls and hitting anybody that took shelter within it.

The slaves meanwhile looked on with horror and fear; their stomachs burning from the gore and them being terrified of their fate, as bullets narrowly traced around them, as their minotaur handlers dived for cover.

"Slingers! At 12'O !" A griffon shouted as he pointed towards a minotaur who was swinging a sling.

The latter minotaur surged forward; his stance readied to sling his projectile towards the clouds. However, before he could lean backwards, a shot rang through the air; hitting home; into his skull.

"I gottem'. But the rest are running away." He grumbled as he spotted the city's inhabitants fleeing in every direction.

Bromhead glared at the fleeing minotaurs. "Target those with the most gold... The rest should inform the others of our arrival." He stated.

"First, free the slaves and prepare encampment. I've already scouted a suitable area where we can dig in." John ordered as he flew down to untie the first slaves.

As he did, the ponies crawled away from the approaching griffon; their eyes and body trembling with fear of what the predator before them wished to do with them.

Their fear only intensified as John twisted the bayonet off his rifle; seemingly intending to cut them up. "Hold still. There's nothing to worry about..." The griffon softly assured; achieving the opposite results in calming the ponies down.

Before the griffon could approach the cornered ponies, however, a lone mare jumped in between them; grinding her teeth in a growl to protect the tied ponies.

"NOT A STEP CLOSER YOU BUTCHER!" Petal Vine threatened; her hooves stretched out to protect the defenceless ponies behind her.

John tilted his head confusedly at the mare, before realising how threatening he looked. He face-clawed. The mare raised a brow.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I really do mean no trouble," John reassured, as his men slowly descended around him. "I simply aimed to cut the rope that ties you all." He said, as he skillfully tucked his bayonet away onto his belt.

Petal tried to object but stopped herself once realising she was in no position to argue or criticise the griffon's lack of self-awareness/image. She sighed weakly.

"Seems like you injured yourself trying to pry your rope off there ma'am." John noticed, "Would you mind if we were to look at it?" He offered; attempting to put aside his previous mistakes, as he reached out his claws and apologetically grinned at the mare.

Petal weakly nodded.

All around the city, the griffons freed the pony slaves. Many of them finding hard to ignore the rotting and still-bleeding corpses of minotaurs that littered all over the streets.

Looting delayed the encampment, and many of the ponies were forced to stay or even help the griffons loot the place, as they had no directions nor safety alone.

On a more positive note, the German's policy of machine-gun centric squads (newly introduced by Rommel) would mean that the Maxim machine guns would still have some ammo left. However, their suply situation was not great (it literally didn't exist).

For now, they could only wait for the horde they knew would come. As the griffons could hear and feel the incoming horde.

They knew there was no running. They could not simply abandon their loot and their 'allies'. The best option was to fortify; defend their gains and protect their 'allies' lives.

'Civilising' completed (Unposted Chapter)

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Retreat. a word wholly unfamiliar and unknown to the minotaurs.

Those who knew it, were either dead or banished; their reputations tarnished and their lives ruined.

Sich stigma and culture against retreat worked well in a time where routes and morale decided outcomes of battles, but they wouldn't be fighting such a battle.

In a time where lessons were learnt through many generations and mistakes, the minotaurs would learn something in just a day.

A lesson taught in the most powerful form; Defeat.

Zulu's surroundings: Minotaur warband

Warchief Cache Wayo looked on impudently towards their captured city; eyeing the distant griffons who lined the makeshift barricades outside the city.

The barricades were created by anything nearby or available; many of its sections being weak, tearable tent fabrics. Upon seeing this, the minotaur warriors surrounding the city scoffed with arrogance.

"Chief! What are your orders?" A warrior stepped forwards; his short spear and shield clattering impatiently, as his eyes screamed out for glory.

Cache squinted towards the city; his mind pre-occupied by suspicion and curiosity. "Why haven't the griffons flown away already? Are they deaf to our mighty marches? Blind to our strength and numbers?" He pondered, as he began to flirt with the testimonies of the fleeing cowards that informed them of the city's fall.

Cache shook his head. "No. There are no such weapons as those the cowards described." He reasoned, "Just another exaggeration to excuse their failure." He frowned weakly; the memories of incompetent and deflective war chiefs resurfacing into his mind.

"Chief?" The same warrior interrupted; causing Cache to blink away from his memories.

After a slow nod to the warrior, Cache turned to face his Warband.

"WARRIORS OF SHAKA! TODAY YOU WILL EARN YOUR GLORY! YOUR FAME! YOUR WEALTH!" He boomed, "WE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS AGAINST THESE CAT-BIRD MONSTROSITIES! FOR WE OUTNUMBER AND SURROUND THEM!"

The warriors cheered, as they banged their shields and spears together; creating an ominous and threatening noise.

"THEY WILL TRY TO FLY AWAY! SO THROW YOUR SPEARS IF THEY DO! WE CAN MAKE QUICK WORK OF THEM WITH OUR FISTS ANYWAYS!" Cache ordered as they were far more powerful than griffons strength-wise.

The Warriors surged forwards; their shields clattering menacingly as they approached the city. Many at the back readied themselves to hurl their spears; for they believed the griffons would try to flee as soon as their lines met. Oh how wrong they were.

Zulu interiors: The griffon barricades

"Hold your fire!" Bromhead shouted, as his men fidgetted with their weapons; attempting to quell their fears.

"Wait 'till you see the whites of their eyes!" Robert 'arghhhed', causing some men to lightly chuckle.

The ponies meanwhile huddled close to the barricades; not wanting to get skewered by a minotaurs' spear. Among them lied Petal; still busy tending to a wounded.

"This is crazy! We're all going die!" A shaking stallion cried; his hooves pressing tightly against his head.

"We should've run when we had the chance!" He continued, as grabbed another pony's shoulder and jerked it violently.

Suddenly, a rock collided with the panicking stallion's face; sending him tumbling backwards and dazed. "Quiet you!" A unicorn scolded, as her aura on her horn slowly dissipated, "You think running would've saved us? -We don't know any directions nor have the stamina to travel, -we would've not gone far." She finished with a stomp.

The stallion shamefully drooped and frowned, whilst the gathered ponies rubbed their hooves awkwardly and nervously.

"AIM!" Bromhead shouted; snapping the ponys' attentions. The soldiers along the barricades braced their rifles.

The sound of minotaurs charging was unignorable now, as their silhouettes in the distance became more and more distinguishable. The ponies began huddling together.

"FIRE!"

Rifles along the barricades cracked and flashed; the minotaurs leading the charge suddenly limping and tumbling from the shot.

The minotaurs in the second line skidded to a stop to process what had happened but was pushed by the line behind them.

"ONWARDS! ONWARDS! CONTINUE THE CHARGE!" Cache screamed from the back; annoyed at the sudden loss of momentum.

Meanwhile, the ponies watched on with awe and shock; those who had already witnessed the griffons' firepower simply observed studiously; studying the rifle.

The most thoughtful of them all was the unicorn mare; whose experience in studying other creatures' weapons during her services as a battlemage became applicable to her situation.

While other ponies focused on the muzzle of the rifle and the flash, the unicorn studied the bolt and trigger; theorising its correlation with the 'shot' that had been fired.

Her thoughts would be soon proven correct, as the griffons cocked their bolts, and squeezed their trigger; firing off another round. She nodded sagely.

"WHERE'S OUR MG?!" Robert called out, as he slammed in a strip magazine.

"On the other side of the city! John wanted them on the most likely point of attack!" A soldier shakily answered back.

Robert growled annoyedly; "Most likely point of attack my ass! -They're attacking from every direction!" He gritted his teeth.

"They aren't stopping! There's so many of them!" A soldier nervously shouted, as normally, a buffalo raiding party would've fled by now.

"I knew this was a bad idea! We have to fall back!" Robert shouted towards Bromhead, who hesitated at the request.

Amid the panic, a spear whistled through the air towards them; narrowly missing a griffon's head, but instead lodging itself deep into the griffon's shoulder. He screamed.

"WHAT ARE YOU HESITATING FOR?! -Y'KNOW WHAT! I'M GIVING THE ORDER!" Robert growled out, as he leapt into the air to garner attention.

"ALL MEN FALL BACK INTO THE CITY'S INTERIORS! OUR DEFENCE HERE IS UNTANNABLE!" He shouted as he flew along the barricades; prompting the soldiers guarding them to carry a pony and take flight towards the inner defences.

As Robert neared John's side of the barricades, he noticed the dire situation they were in. The minotaurs had hurled a volley of spears at a specific point of the barricades; causing the griffons and ponies hiding behind them to become red, bloody soup.

Upon spotting John carrying an injured griffon, Robert immediately dived towards him; skidding dangerously close to him as he did. "We're falling back to the inner defences. Carry as many injured men and ponies as you can towards it." He informed.

John's expressions darkened, "...We don't have enough men to carry such amount..." His grasp tightened on the wounded soldier he was supporting. "...Who will take priority?"

Robert eyed the shaking ponies in his peripherals cautiously, "...The ones who can fight..." He muttered.

They both silently nodded to each other, and cautioned themselves, "No word of this will ever go out..."

Zulu: Inner city

Sporadic fighting towards the inner cities continued, with soldiers desperately fighting to keep the minotaurs at bay; buying time for the ponies and their comrades to fall back.

Among the fighting and the carcasses of the minotaur warriors, a horn stuck out. It remained there until the fighting moved forwards; the distant sounds of guns and spears prompting the horn to move.

"Blegh..." The muffled unicorn muttered as she pushed the corpse of the minotaur aside; carefully avoiding the blood gushing from its head.

She looked around, making sure her coast was clear and began quietly trotting towards the exit. "I won't survive another minute with those insane griffons..." She noted, "There's a better chance of survival leaving them than remaining!" she reasoned, as she began to turn a corner on the streets.

*Cough!* *Cough!*

The unicorn snapped towards the sound, as her hooves froze mid-motion. Her eyes widened at the sight of a bloodied griffon, whose torso had been impaled horribly by a minotaur spear.

"You... What's your name..?" The griffon wheezed out, as he coughed up the blood filling his lungs.

The unicorn placed her hooves down, and relaxed her gaze, "Arc... Arc Hoan." She cautiously said.

"Could you- *cough* do me a favour?" the griffon pleaded, as he shakily revealed a note.

Arc hesitated but took the note anyways with her telekinesis. "What may this be?" She asked as she eyed the note. It read: To Marie Kane

"Deliver... To my commander..." the griffon painfully coughed out, "He knows... Where my wife... Lives... The griffon's eyes fluttered, and eventually, it closed; his chest no longer lifting; no longer breathing.

Arc became conflicted; her original goals of self-preservation becoming somewhat thwarted by moral responsibility. "It's right to flee from insanity... But is it right to deny a soldier's last wishes..?" Arc contemplated, as memories of fellow battle mages at their final moments flashed into her mind.

"...I need to go back..." She decided as she glanced at the note to convince herself of the task, but then, she realised something was written at the back of the note.

Our guns are enchanted and engineered to ward off magic or non-griffons. I've used what little magic I have left to disable them temporarily; doing so permanently is practically impossible. It's still engineered to explode if tampered with or opened, so don't even try it.

All hail our Emperors! And my personal apology to Emperor Mauser and my dearest wife.

Arc eyed the note, and the deceased griffon repeatedly until her gaze landed on his gun. She tested its enchantments and found the griffon's words somewhat true, as any attempts to disable the enchantments were met with failure.

"Griffon magic... As stubborn as the race..." She noted, as any further attempts seemed to cause it to imminently implode. "Whoever designed this must be paranoid..."

She circled the gun until her gaze landed on its marking: MAXIM

Arc's aura surrounded the gun, as well as the belt of ammunition feeding it. "...Let's see what you can do..."

Inner city: Final barricades

A shot rang out.

"WHERE'S OUR MG?!" Bromhead snapped, as he cocked his bolt.

Robert backed into Bromhead; their positions having been surrounded. "John has 'em! Haven't seen him since we fell back here!"

A minotaur warrior charged Bromhead, who swiftly dispatched him with a shot from his rifle. "WELL GOD-DAMMIT!" He cocked his bolt, "WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE WRITTEN DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE FIRST GERMANS TO BE WIPED OUT BY SAVAGES!" Bromhead whipped his gun towards another minotaur.

His gun clicked.

Robert's face paled as Robert's gun clicked as well. They ran out of ammo.

"ARGHHHH!" A minotaur roared, as he charged the defenceless griffons, who all lunged to the side to avoid his swipe.

Bromhead hurriedly fixed his bayonet whilst Robert lunged at the minotaur as a distraction; bayonet-in-beak. "HAVE AT YA!" He screamed.

Robert was swiftly punched by the minotaur; causing an audible crack to resonate from his fractured beak. However, his pain was rewarded by Bromhead's lunge towards the minotaur; his bayonet firmly impaled into the minotaur's heart.

Robert quickly rose up; his adrenaline willing him to do so. "Guess this will be our grave..." He gloomed, as he rubbed his aching, and crooked beak.

Bromhead was silent, as he pointed his rifle aimlessly towards the incoming noises; their backs turned towards a wall. He swallowed nervously as the minotaur warriors began encircling them as they spilled out from the corners of the streets.

"Y'know, the prospects of 'taking as many down before we die' is less appealing when you are in one," Robert muttered as he swung his bayonet wildly towards the encroaching warriors.

Bromhead looked up for an opportunity to escape but was stopped by the piercing pain of the hole in his wings. He hissed at his misfortunes, as a minotaur's spear had lodged into his wings during their retreat. He glanced at Robert's perfectly fine wings for the last time.

"Aren't you going to escape? You could just fly away y'know." Bromhead offered but was answered by Robert's glare.

"You could've suggested that before we got surrounded." Robert growled, "I stuck by you to offer a claw, but now we're too late... You should've ordered the retreat ages ago..."

In immaculate timing, a fleeing griffon was shot down by a spear; the clear, vast skies becoming a deathtrap for any fliers.

"Now... Let's just get this all over with..." Robert sighed as he focused on the minotaurs, "Hopefully the ponies can get out of this... No matter how unlikely that may be..."

Bromhead blankly nodded as the minotaurs began to slowly approach and stop at a short distance; raising their spears to barrage them with an inescapable volley.

"...Guess they'll be having kebabs..." Robert muttered, as his stance loosened and his grip on his bayonet weakened. Meanwhile, Bromhead futilely stared at the assembled minotaurs. This was it.
...
...
Time seemed to slow, as the minotaurs meticulously lifted their spears to a motion of a throw.
...
...
After glancing at their uniquely patterned shields for the last time, the two griffons closed their eyes.
...
...
The phantom noises of spears twirling and whizzing through the air could be heard by the griffons; their minds playing tricks in expectations of their fate.
...
...
...
...
...
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They definitely did not expect the chug of a maxim machine gun to break their silence.

https://youtu.be/rVTzv9qLyko?si=C_BfWeXBufA3Gyhw

The minotaurs tried to turn, but the hail of bullets gave no quarter nor opportunity for the victims to witness their killer, as they are all mowed down by the furious metal beast; whose roar brought joy to the griffons that were saved by it.

As the bodies of the minotaurs fell and uncurtained their saviour, Robert and Bromhead immediately ran forwards; expecting to see John. Their surprise when they realised their saviour had the frame of a pony and was revealed to be a unicorn up-close.

Their eyes widened in shock, whilst the unicorn remained amazed and horrified at the effectiveness of the gun. Meanwhile, Emperor Mauser felt the biggest migraine of his life; one which he knew was an instinctual reaction to something or someone screwing with his inventions. Bismarck, however, has doubts, as correlation never meant causation.

"YOU- WHAT-?!" Robert sputtered; thinking his eyes were betraying him.

Arc shook her head, and faced the confused Robert firmly, "What? What did I do?" She asked in mock confusion.

"Where's John?" Bromhead asked nervously, as he began to suspect the worst.

Arc dug into her saddlebag and presented a note, causing Bromhead to fall to his knees whilst Robert froze and became silent.

Arc's expressions turned into one of sorrow. She never liked doing these... But she knew it was her duty as a battlemage and soldier... "This note belongs to John... He wanted you to give it to his wife..."

Bromhead shakily grasped the note and tucked it into his coat. He looked up at the unicorn with tears. "...Thank you..."

Arc gave Bromhead an understanding smile, and coincidentally, the enchantment on the machine gun returned; causing it to fall out of the unicorn's magic.

Robert lunged towards the machine gun; making sure that it was unchanged and functional. "Cliché over, let's get down to business people! There are lives to save!"

Bromhead glared at Robert angrily for his lack of empathy whilst Arc raised a brow at the griffon's 'directness'.

"What?" Robert shrugged ignorantly, "Oh! I meant to save the griffons and ponies! Not the minotaurs! They gotta die!" Robert smiled in his correction, whilst Bromhead's frown deepened.

"That's not why I'm mad... BUT LET'S GO!" Bromhead led the charge, as he galloped towards the other parts of the barricades. Robert and Arc swiftly followed.

They had some patties to pulverise.

The griffons would be victorious, and the German Empire would grow. But the subsequent battles and casualties would teach and deter any further 'prospectors'.

The conflict, or more accurately, the skirmish would be named the German-Minotaurian war by the Germans whilst the minotaurs would call it the war of Eastern Griffon Aggression. Both sides would claim victory, but neither side had truly won.