Part VIII: The More Things Change, January 1st 1011-January 1st 1012
January, 1011
With Princess Luna deployed to the Changeling border, Princess Twilight had taken her place on the pan-Equestrian tour. With the unpopular Prince Blueblood out of the picture, donations and volunteers came forth in droves, and Equestria became that much more ready for the inevitable yet seemingly distant war. The crown jewels of Princess Twilight's spoils was the donation of two airfields for REAF use, allowing aircraft to be based closer to the future front lines.
The rest of the money was put towards buying new fortifications for the border; private construction companies were hired so as to not delay other important projects. Coupled with this was a renewed attempt to establish diplomatic relations with the Changelings, but any envoys who returned at all came back acting oddly. Further on the diplomatic front, Princess Cadence announced that a referendum would be held in late April over whether the Crystal Empire should be fully integrated with Equestria or become a more independant state. This had been planned from the very beginning of the Crystal Empire's ressurrection, but had been delayed by crisis after crisis. Only now had the region been peaceful enough to hold such a referendum.
This focus is why I built those forts oh so long ago - with the bonus forts from this, we can reach level 6 and level 7 forts and build other, more important things at the same time.
The former Prince-Marshal had also been vehemently opposed to the SAC's efforts to decentralise weapons research. In his eyes, it had been good enough to develop every single piece of equipment through the Canterlot Armoury, regardless of how long that took. This had been acceptable when an infantrypony's kit consisted of a spear and some armour, but in the modern age there was simply too much design work to do.
Now he was out of the way, that could be changed. A long-term contract was opened up with the McIntosh Factory in Ponyville. They would design and build most of the infantrypony's ancilliary equipment, such as webbing, pouches, holsters and helmets, leaving the Canterlot Armoury free to focus on weapons development. The McIntosh company had existed for nearly three centuries, and had just started making basic gunpowder weapons when the discovery of the Earth/Equestria portal made their efforts obsolete, and thus could be counted upon to deliver quality work.
A bit late to be getting this, but it'll help when I research the next tier of weapons.
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The Aquelia/Wingbardy alliance began to break past the Griffon Revolutionary State's lines. Much of the latter's army managed to retreat to fallback positions, but it was hardly an auspicious start to the war. The territory the alliance captured was, for now, placed under the care of Franmistria and Arantiga, as they bordered the GRS.
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The new defences along the border were completed by the end of the month, and it was a trivial matter to get the Equestrian parliament to sign off on a fall-back line some several hundred kilometres eastward.
This second line would truly be a last resort, however, as it would not stretch to the coast - and thus be easily bypassed. Its primary purpose was to buy time in the event of a Changeling breakthrough, time Equestria could use to rally volunteers and form emergency militias.
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February 1011
In a turn of events that surprised absolutely nopony, another war broke out in Griffonia. This time, the Griffon Empire was expanding into the Skyfall Trade Federation, a cluster of cities which had a proud naval tradition. Just a pity that they shared a land border with their enemy.
Meanwhile, the Griffonian Revolutionary State continued to lose ground to the combined might of Aquelia and Wingbardy. The allied forces had successfully encircled a number of divisions on the border with the Falcor Principality, forcing the GRS troops to choose between death or internment in a neutral state. Unsurprisingly, many were choosing the latter, although Beakolini was exerting some diplomatic pressure on Falcor to turn over their prisoners.
Finally, the Free Towns of Gryphus had discovered they had bitten off rather more then they could chew. Late in 1010, they had attacked the Union of Free Cities to secure a monopoly in the local trade routes to Nyumba Yakasakaini and the west coast of the River Federation, but it seemed the Union had been waiting for just such a move. The Free Towns' lines had been breached in numerous places, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until they fell.
Fun fact: those two states to the East are apparently where Zebras come from. That blue blob in the south is also where Minotaurs (like Iron Will, remember him?) come from.
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28/02/1011
EQUESTRIA DAILY
Page 5
NEW NAVAL CONTRACTS SIGNED
The Ministry of Defence announded yesterday that they would be outsourcing naval some design work to Baltimare Designs, a firm based in the titular city. Balitmare Designs is most famous for their efforts during the reconstruction of the Seapony fleet three years ago, and their work with the Stalliongradian People's Navy in 1006. When asked for comment, Baltimare Designs' Chief Designer, Ship-Shape, said: "I'm glad we got the contract, and we're looking forward to bringing our design expertise to the Royal Navy."What this means for the future of the Equestrian Navy, and whether there will be another phase of expansion once the last Ark Royal-class carrier is completed in March, is unknown at this time.
BOOK NOW for your tickets to the Navy Regatta on the 11th of March! If you book through our affiliated service, Apple Brothers' Travel Co., you will recieve 50 bits of spending money on the day, and an opportunity to take an exclusive tour on the ERNS Ark Royal! Simply send a postal money order to our office address or call 01857 515 289 at any time from 9am-5pm weekdays.
Same song and dance as with the other design companies; 10% faster naval research and a choice of buffs. In this case, I went for the armour and firepower choice, because I might at some point need to build some more capital ships.
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March 1011
Refugees from the Griffonian Revolutionary State had, over the past few months, found themselves in nearly every single neighbouring country. Some had enacted strong anti-refugee laws in response, to varying levels of public support, and in one - the Principality of Lushi - the resulting unrest was enough to push the country into civil war. The new Socialist Republic of Lushi had the solid support of the middle two-thirds of the nation, sitting between the Prince's hold-outs in the East and West.
The grey blob in the bottom-right corner is the Socialist Republic, and the two pink blobs are the Principality. In another note, I'm seriously beginning to run out of ways to say "and then another war happened in Griffonia".
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The first models of programmable computers began appearing on the consumer market in Equestria. These were still expensive, heavy, and bulky, but they represented a new stage in Equestria's fledgling computer industry. The first few models were snapped up by research and development institutions, of course, but some made their way into industry and agriculture, helping workers automate certain tasks and plan more efficiently.
Equestria's scientific advances weren't just limited to the material plane, however. The new computer equipment was being put to good use already, helping arcanely-inspired unicorns to develop new and better spells. Princess Twilight shifted research funding appropriately, allocating resources to the creation of new healing spells for use by the Army's Mage Companies. This would allow them to operate in tandem with field hospital units, and hopefully reduce the number of casualties from a natural disaster or - Celestia forbid - combat.
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06/04/1011
S.M.I.L.E. EXTERNAL MEMO
TOP SECRET
EYES ONLY
HOOVES OFF!
While I'm glad to see somepony taking heed of my warnings, don't you all think it's a little too obvious to build a line of bunkers exactly in front of the Changelings' planned route to Canterlot? You could have at least extended that little fig-leaf all the way down to the coast. Whatever, it's not like it cost the Special Ministry much to get their battle plans. Only three missing agents, right? At least the damned things are built now.
Recent reports from what remains of our intel network in former Olenian territory show that the bugs are moving on to the next phase of their occupation plans - the complete removal of the native population and their replacement with Changeling settlers. Where these bugs are coming from, I don't know - we sure didn't think there were this many of them before the war. I've got some pictures of deer being shipped off to the feeding pits, and somepony managed to get Chrissie's latest speech on tape. If you want my advice, make a cute little packet of all this and send copies to every government on the continent. When they see what's coming, they'll have no excuse for not helping out. Might help rally our own ponies, too.
Once this focus is done, we'll get better diplomatic relationships with our neighbours, and a boost to our stability and war support. The latter's perhaps the most important, as it'll let us change our economy laws.
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March the 11th was a bright, sunny day in Vanhoover - a rarity this far north. Sunlight glinted off of the calm water, seagulls rose high into the air, and the beaches were packed. Sales of sunscreen and ice creams were through the proverbial roof, as ponies from all across Equestria basked in the sunshine. Many would have come even if the weather had been more typical, for today was the day of the grand naval regatta.
Five great battleships steamed slowly around the bay, tended to by flocks of destroyers and pleasure boats. Occasionally, one would turn a turret and fire a single explosive charge, the sound echoing across the entire bay; special insurance had been taken out by the Navy to repair any damage done by the mock gunfire. The fleet's three battlecruisers, as sleek as they were deadly, prowled their independant patrols here and there, steaming from Vanhoover out to the smaller towns that dotted the bay. The city's harbour was guarded by the Navy's single heavy cruiser, her guns trained outwards as if to ward off some unseen threat, and herds of ponies and deer crammed onto the sea walls to look at the proud vessel.
None of these were the mane main attraction, however. Two great ships were moored in the harbour, strange vessels with flat decks, one slightly smaller than the other. These were the Ark Royal and the Pegasopolis, Equestria's first two aircraft carriers. A few planes littered their decks - fabic-coated Shark torpedo bombers and monoplane Sea Gladiator fighters - but the vast majority of space was taken up with even more civilians, guided along tours by sharply-uniformed Royal Equestrian Navy officers. The visitors were shown cavernous hangar decks, powerful anti-aircraft guns, stately wardrooms and even a short glance at the vessels' bridges. Many Vanhoover natives had seen the ships from afar; they patrolled the waters of Luna Bay, sometimes even pulling into Vanhoover harbour to refuel or resupply. More exciting, however, were the other two carriers, the Formidable and the Illustrious, which had taken up station in the middle of the bay.
They were nearly identical to the Ark Royal, but were clearly newer - the Illustrious had in fact been formally commisioned only the week prior, and was still missing a few anti-aircraft guns. Roaring aero-planes soared from their decks, flying low over the water in mock attack runs on the battleships (carefully timed so as to avoid the shell-fire demonstrations, of course), or rising high into the air in staged dog-fights. A few lucky tour groups were taken onto their decks, to see these magnificent ships in action, sit in the cockpit of a working Sea Gladiator, and even got to shake the hoof of Admiral Evening Squall herself.
As the day wore on, the demonstrations continued, until at last the various warships had to return to port, crews and fuel supplies exhausted. Unbeknownst to the masses of ponies who had had a grand day at the regatta, however, there was more to the day than simple entertainment and patriotic feeling. The regatta served as a test of Equestria's newest warships and their crews, a simple exercise to get them accustomed to working together, and it sent a message to the world:
Equestria's battle-fleet was not to be trifled with.
I may have mentioned earlier (not like there's a record of what I've talked about in the LP or anything), but the maximum number of carriers you can have in a fleet before suffering serious penalties is 4. As such, we can consider this fleet pretty much complete, unless I decide to build more battleships or something.
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By the 20th of March, all of the Army's 110mm howitzers sported shiny new barrels, giving them a whole extra 10% more firepower-per-shell.
The process of upgrading the field pieces had also inspired some potential improvements to the Army's machine guns. With a few changes to the basic design, the Canterlot Armoury managed to produce a prototype that was more reliable and had a better rate-of-fire.
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20/03/1011
Dear Princess Celestia,We've just about managed to get the new office into a shape I'm happy with. Thanks for sending over Princess Twilight - she was a huge help, like you said she'd be. Did you get a chance to visit the regatta up in Vanhoover? I took some of the staff up, and they really enjoyed it.
I've sketched out some alterations to the EUP Guard divisions in service, see attached sheet. In short: each division gets the usual support units - Mage, Arty, and Enginners - and I've added a Pegasus and Unicorn battalion to the TOE. It's partially a symbolic idea - they are the EUP guard, after all - and partially practical, as it makes the units less awkward to command. We don't have any Unicorn-only battalions in service at the minute, aside from the Mage companies, so it'll be an interesting experiment. As per usual, one company from each division will remain with their namesake, so you don't need to worry about losing your bodyguards conversation partners. Not sure what the arrangement will be if the Empire goes independant, but it won't take too long to work out. Please get back to me ASAP with a response.
Your Minister,
Typhoon.
Unicorn battalions are, IIRC, slightly stronger than normal line infantry, but they are Special Forces battalions. There's a cap on how many of those we can have in the field at any one time, so we can't just replace all our line infantry with unicorns like you could with Mountaineers in the base game on release.
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Political instability continued to ripple across Griffonia as the Firtree Villages - a small forest nation - collapsed into civil war between advocates of Harmonic Democracy and an authoritarian king.
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The city of Skyfall fell on the 24th, with its grand shipyards set ablazed and destroyed in the fighting. Nopony knew how the fire had originated - whether it was a last act of defiance, a symbolic act of terror or simply an accident - but the birthplace of the Great Ships that had plied the waters between Equestria and Griffonia for a millenium was no more.
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28/03/1011
INTERNAL MOD CORRESPONDENCE
NOT FOR EXTERNAL USE
Minister,NOT FOR EXTERNAL USE
Regarding the Firtree Air Force competition: the Mayoral Council of Firtree has asked us to sell them the Mark. II Spitfire. I'm not entirely sure how they knew about it - the machine we entered was a late-model Hurricane - but they said they're expecing a reply by the end of the week. They probably want to get an edge over the rebels, which could be a prime opportunity for us to see how the Spit performs in combat. Additionally, our diplomatic agent in Firtree says they're not interested in buying the Hurricane at all.
- Swallowtail
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28/03/1011
INTERNAL MOD CORRESPONDENCE
NOT FOR EXTERNAL USE
Swallowtail,NOT FOR EXTERNAL USE
Instruct our agent that under no circumstances are we to sell weapons to a country currently fighting a war - civil or otherwise - even if their political philosophy aligns with ours. This order comes directly from Princess Celestia, and I fully agree with her; it'd be a field day for the press when they found out, and it'd be hypocritical in the first place. I have my hooves full trying to get the Crystal Empire to agree to the League proposal without further hassle.
It's a double-no since they're asking for the Spit. It's our latest and greatest, and I don't want to run the risk of the Griffons getting ahold of one - or worse, the Changelings.
- Minister Typhoon
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28/03/1011
EQUESTRIAN INTERNATIONAL TELEGRAM SERVICE
FROM: CRPALACE STATIONTO: CTCASTLE STATION
RECOGNITION CODE 42416 STOP
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS SUCCESSFUL STOP
STALLIONGRAD AND CRYSTAL EMPIRE BOTH SHOW INTEREST STOP
MINOR NATIONS ON BOARD TOO STOP
PREDICT CE REFERENDUM RETURNS INDEPENDANCE STOP
WILL RETURN BY APRIL 1ST STOP
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Despite years of effort and millions of bits of spending, much of Equestria was still underdeveloped, especially in regards to heavy freight access. In some places, highly industrialised cities say just ten miles away from subsistence-level farmland. Yes, Equestria still possessed the edge in technology, but risked losing its industrial advantage to the Changeling hive-cities if nothing was done. To that end, some money was allocated towards building a new Trans-Equestrian railway, bridging the Northern and Southern halves of Equestria.
This is where I hit a bit of a holding pattern - further advances down the "war" route would either be really hard to narratively justify, or put us at war with the Changelings. That will change later in this update, but right now I'm doing some back-filling.
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April 1011
Upgrades to Equestria's state-owned construction equipment completed successfully.
Princess Twilight Sparkle had assigned her student, Starlight Glimmer, and a few of her Friendship Academy's students to writing a basic compendium of spells for all unicorns to use back in 1010. The first edition had been incredibly popular, with several million copies sold already. At the request of the Ministry of Defence, the team got to work a second volume focussing on on basic combat spells. This would be used as a foundation to ensure every unicorn in the Armed Forces would be proficient in basic battle-magic.
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Princess Cadance looked out over the crowds from the balcony of the Crystal Palace. The plaza was packed, full of crystal ponies waiting to hear the results of yesterday's referendum with bated - and in the case of one clumsy fisherpony, baited - breath. She cleared her throat, and cast a small spell to porject her voice.
"Citizens of the Crystal Empire," she said, "It is my pleasure to inform you, that from this day forth the Crystal Empire shall be an independant state. We go forth today upon our own four legs, to make our own mark upon the world. That does not mean, however, that we shall be alone. Equestria, which freed this land from Sombra's twisted designs, will stand next to us as our ally in the new Equestrian League!"
So, I'm playing with historical foci off in the hopes that King Sombra will return and we'll actually get a war this bloody decade, and then the AI goes and chooses this path.
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Army engineers reported full readiness with their new machines and techniques.
Princess Twilight debuted a prototype disk-based memory drive, which took up one tenth of the space required for the same computer memory in tape format. While these were not yet market-ready, or even anything more than a prototype, the potential was immediately obvious, even to Princess Celestia. Additionally, the first magic-based transistors were coming into fruition. The Department of Experimental Research Projects was tasked with combining the two into a convenient package.
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May 1011
The Gryphon Revolutionary State was on its last legs. Allied forces had, over the past two months, pushed the Revolutionary Army back relentlessly, cutting off division after division. However, the communists were no longer fighting to win the war, or even preserve their country; they were fighting to buy time. Inspired by the miracle at Vaverfront, the Revolutionary State had begun evacuation efforts with what few ships they had. Small flotillas of cargo ships scurried along the southern coast of Griffonia, hulls laden down with refugees and supplies. The only nations on the planet that would take them were on another continent entirely, and to get there they had to pass through Wingbardian waters - a dangerous proposition at best. Only time would tell how many of them would reach safety.
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There came a stirring from the north.
Strange things had been happening for months now: disappearances, lights in the distant fog, whispers upon the wind, but none had heeded the signs. Too much attention was taken up with the great wars happening in the south, and with the endless debates over formality and protocol.
For two thousand years, the mighty Arcturian Order had watched the gates to the north, growing evermore stagnant and complacent. Of the four Knight-Commanders of the Order, only one was present at his post on the long midnight of May the 30th. He had been skirmishing with some skeletons, a few mindless undead, for months now - nothing unusual, as the residual magic from the great war two milennia ago often spawned such abominations.
When two full legions of undead, numbering not just skeletons and zombies, but ever-living Unicorn magi and great re-animated monsters, appeared out of the misty night, it was he who fled to the capital to warn the rest of the order about what was happening. Behind him, the small border fort he commanded had already fallen, its walls breached by a mixture of arcane energies and the barbaric weapons used by the southerners.
The Equestrian news machine, already so used to conveying the raw chaos that seemed to be a permanent state of affairs on Griffonia, took only a few days to get the news out. The front page of the Equestria Daily was taken up by the report, while a few of the less reputable tabloids had special features on the macabre practices of the Dread League.
However, the events happening in Griffonia didn't change Equestira's strategy; even if the Dread League was a threat - and, given how backwards and underdeveloped the Arcturian Order was, that wasn't a given - it still didn't change the fact that the Changelings were much closer and much more aggressive.
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June 1011
By early June, all field Unicorn Companies were rated proficient with the new healing spells.
Special funding was allocated for "Pathfinder" pegasus squadrons, who would clear the weather ahead of planned aircraft patrols and strike missions. The concept had been proven in a recent joint Army/Air Force exercise, where a force with Pathfinders was able to carry out 50% more missions than their control group counterpart.
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"Minister, another letter for you," Typhoon's new secretary said as he offered the Minister of Defence an envelope.
Typhoon tore it open, and rolled his eyes. Another letter asking if some Griffonian state could buy Spitfires. "Send the usual reply back," he said. "They can buy surplus Hurricanes, or nothing at all."
"Right away, Minister."
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Work on the trunk line for Equestria's new North-South line was completed in record time. A pony could now take a train all the way from the Crystal Empire to Tenochilitan without having to switch once. More importantly, the line was built for heavy freight trains as well as high-speed traffic, allowing factories across Equestria access to the south's rich resource deposits.
With what was left over in terms of budget and materiel, Flim and Flam proposed an upgrade to the Canterlot-Manehatten line. This was quickly approved.
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THOOM
Silver Crown blinked, astonished at what her magic had accomplished. The metal-backed target she'd been aiming at now had a smoking hole about the diameter of her horn burned through it, seared by the bolt of concentrated magic she'd let fly. She looked left and right; most of the other unicorns were still looking at their new spellbooks, learning how to cast the bolt.
She'd been skeptical at first - after all, she'd placed firmly average in the standardised Unicorn Magic tests, and had never cast anything more complicated than basic telekinesis - but now she'd seen the results, she was a convert. Combat magic was awesome.
All she had to do now was wait until someone else in her class learned it, so she could learn how to cast a shield.
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MacIntosh Arms began developing larger magazines for the Limestone Sub-Machine Gun, and the Canterlot Armoury began looking into a new type of mortar based off of lessons learned during the Model 17 development programme.
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The Union of Free Cities forced the Free Towns of Gryphus to the negotiating table, and as punishment for the latter's hubris and arrogance the former annexed the whole state.
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June 19th, 1011 - July 1011
Just a little eastwards, another war was coming to its grim conclusion. Two divisions of communist Gryphons were all that was left of the People's Revolutionary Army, and only one was in a position to defend the capital. Civilians - true believers and bystanders alike - fled the city in droves, streaming down the narrow strip of safe territory towards the regime's one remaining port or over the border to temporary safety in the Gryphian People's Republic.
And, to credit the last hold-outs of the communist regime, they did hold back the tide for eighteen more days, combining clever traps with sheer die-hard stubbornness to humiliate a force exponentially more powerful.
Until the inevitable happened.
The Equestria Daily was able to fill two days' worth of headlines with the news, one about the fall of Kivessin and the next proclaiming the terms of the GRS' surrender. The Republic of Aquelia was able to force the Kingsdom of Wingbardy to back off from total annexation, and even secured a guarantee for free and fair elections.
However, the cost was high; all of the new Republic of Brodfeld's conquered territory was annexed directly to the Kingdom of Wingbardy as "a safeguard against further aggression", along with the Republic's one major port.
The Gryphian Revolution, it seemed, was over.
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Further north, the Arcturian Order was finding itself ground into dust. Their swords and spears, no matter how valiently wielded, could not hope to match up against the modern weapons wielded by the hordes of skeletons and zombies pouring forth from the Wastes. Nogriffon knew where the necromancers had gotten the guns; they were an eclectic mix of types from all over the world, a fact which would have doomed them against any other opponent.
Aside from a few covens of Arcturian magi, none of the knights had been able to hold their positions. Dread League forces had already reached the shore of the Great Lake upon which sat the Order's main citadel-city. At this late hour, desperate calls for aid were finally being dispatched to the old Empire, but everyone present knew help would not arrive in time.
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New magazines and grenades finished circulating through the Equestrian Army.
Since the Navy was getting a little jealous of the money spent on the Army and Air Force - after all, no new ship classes had been designed since the olden days of 1006 - the Fairey company teamed up with the Northern aircraft development bureau to make a navalised version of the Mark I Spitfire. Initial tests indicated the design needed a larger fuel tank in order to be effective in naval combat, but designers from both companies were optimistic.
Recent Army exercises showed that support companies could now adequetely co-ordinate with front-line formations. The solution had been simple: disperse special officers from the support units into the front-line battalions, providing them with the expertise and authority necessary to call in adequete fire support.
The theory was expanded upon during a conference in Vanhoover; rather than simply dispersing officers and allocating support on an ad-hoc basis, why not simply allocate support units - artillery batteries, mage squads, hospital ambulances and the like - to individual front-line units before the start of each operation? This would require the formation of so-called "Regimental Combat Teams", consisting of an infantry battalion and pre-assigned attached support ranging from division-level assets to armour, air and naval units from other branches. In order to streamline this process, the conference got to work on creating RCT templates and working out procedures for bringing in units from other branches.
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August 15th, 1011
Representatives from the Socialist Republic of the Free Griffons amended their request for modern Spitfire fighters. Instead, they were willing to accept Mark V Hurricane fighter-bombers. While there was some pushback from the former Prince-Marshal Blueblood, Minister Typhoon eventually decided to go ahead with the sale, hoping to provide a buffer against the horrors rumoured to be coming from the Dread League.
Additionally, a new model of the Spitfire was introduced with minor control changes, designated the "Mark II".
I fixed the name eventually.
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In just over a month, Manehatten's rail capacity had been doubled, a testament to Equestria's new-found skill at construction and industry. Despite all these improvements, however, weapon production still hadn't risen nearly as fast as had been predicted; instead, much of the new output was going straight into the civilian market in the form of cars, refigerators and other similar goods, bound for the historically less-developed regions of Equestria.
While this was certainly an improvement to the lives of countless ponies, it was causing a bottleneck in both weapons production and construction of new factories. Princess Celestia asked her Ministers for suggestions, once the problem had been explained, and the debate soon polarised between the Twin Ministers Flim and Flam, who advocated doing nothing and allowing the invisible hoof of the Free Market to solve the problem, and Princess Twilight, who had compiled a meticulous plan scheduling exactly what should be produced when, and in what quantities.
As part of what the Ministry of Defence was calling War Plan Green (or, more formally, Operational Schedule No.145), the Equestrian army was to fall back into central Equestria should the Changeling attack threaten a major encirclement. Thus far, however, there was no such contingency in place for the Air Force, which faced being left behind in such a scenario. After some minor lobbying from Spitfire and other Wonderbolt pilots, Minister Typhoon agreed to put some money aside to build fall-back airfields.
Still kind of running out the clock in terms of national foci.
August 27th, 1011
The confusing Firtree Civil War came to a close. Nopony in Equestria knew what they had been fighting over, only that the fighting had been long and remarkably bloody. Even the Canterlot Chronicle, which could usually twist any subject to fit whatever adgenda it was pushing this week, simply stated the facts: there had been a war, and now there wasn't. Most of the paper was instead filled with articles "debating" (or, in actuality, mindlessly praising) the Economic Mobilisation Bill being worked on by Parliament and the various ministries.
September 1011
03/09/1011
Dear Mayors, Ministers and industryponies,Let it be known that, as of today, all private and public steelworks, chemical plants, textile mills, refineries and metalworkers are subject to the new Economic Mobilisation Law. All ponies responisble for any factory, site, shop or other similar place of work must report to the closest (by physical and administrative distance) Mayor within the next two weeks, who will then assign them to a Ministry of Armaments representative. This representative will provide them a Schedule of Necessary Works, which must be completed according to the law. Failure to complete the schedule for a non-justifiable reason will result in prosecution, with the maximum penalty being confiscation of the property in question. All work will be paid for according to market rates. A full copy of the Law will be available in the local City or Town hall, and can be sent via mail upon request.
It pains me to take away such valuable freedom from you all, but it is my fond hope that all my little ponies will be enriched by this temporary measure.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
Signing a new economic law generally reduces the number of Consumer Goods factories needed, while speeding up military factory construction speed and conversion speed. Given that we currently use something like 40-60% of our factories on consumer goods, reducing the base rate to 20% (before the Stagnation of Harmony national spirit raises it again...) is a massive upgrade. basically, it means more civilian factories which means more military factories, bunkers, airfields and the like. Ideally, we'd have gotten this way earlier, but we're playing as good-timeline Equestria so this is the first time we can change this law.
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"So, anyway, have you seen the latest Daring Do book?"
"A.K. Yearling's still writing?"
Pupae stiffened as the voices came closer. She was currently disguised as a maintenance pony, but all it would take was one inconvenient question and her cover would be blown. Damn Chrysalis for sending her and the others without any preparation work - and damn herself for going along with it. She tried to make herself look a little more inconspicuous, glancing down at her clipboard as the two civilian ponies walked past, and it worked - they didn't notice her at all.
She waited another second or two, just in case it was a trap, and then proceeded onwards. Her target lay just ahead, a large steam engine laden with fat trucks plastered with Equestrian Army markings. Normally, she'd simply toss a bundle of TNT into the cabin and escape in the chaos, but Chrysialis had told her to keep a low profile as much as possible - and it wasn't like the ponies here knew the first thing about espionage. Carefully, she sidled up to the cabin, checking to see if anyone was inside. Nopony in sight, which would be a major scandal back home. What in the name of the hive were these ponies thinking?
Shaking her head and sighing, Pupae looked over the controls. There was still some steam in the boiler, which was tempting, but that would attract too much attention. Instead, she focussed, and pooled her magic into a single point, creating a small stone. Then, she placed the stone into the firebox, where it would hopefully lie un-noticed - and suck all the heat from the coal, rendering the engine useless for a day or so, when the magic would wear off.
That would delay the train, hopefully causing problems for the rest of the rail network. And, all over Equestria, Pupae's Changeling comrades were carrying out similar acts of sabotage, each calculated to cause maximum chaos.
This is the result of a Changeling national focus, and is a little painful - but it does mean we might get a war at some point! Spoilers: not this year.
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The special "Pathfinder" squadrons of weather manipulation Pegasi were formally commisioned, the first - No.18 Squadron - being attached to the Wonderbolts. Others would follow soon.
The inevitable march of mathematics continued, with advanced computers opening to door to faster mathematical operations, and thus more effective decryption techniques.
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17/9/1011
S.M.I.L.E INTERNAL CORRESPONDENCEEYES ONLY
HOOVES OFF!
ALL STATIONS
Effective immediately, Operational Plan Windigo is in effect. Report any and all unusual behaviour from S.M.I.L.E direct and adjacent employees for testing with Compound C-137. Distribute copies of Leaflet 27 to all properties, utilising local law enforcement as much as possible. Once the Changelings within have been rooted out, focus security efforts on military and law enforcement personnel. Ignore any and all opposition - if necessary, and only if necessary, approved S.M.I.L.E agents can operate without regard to the law. this is a temporary power given to us to root out the Changeling menace, and I should not have to describe just what will happen should any of us abuse the trust the Princesses have placed in us.
Signed,
Director Sweetie Drops
200 political power to eventually remove the Changeling Spies national idea - which I think gets worse over time? It's worth it, in any case.
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October 1011
The once-mighty Arcturian Order was now little more than a fleeing band of elderly and half-trained knights, escorting groups of ragged civilians, scattered to the four winds.
The final onslaught had been brutal, and swift, as the Dread League finally stopped playing with their food and unleashed the true might of their army: a pair of Changeling-built Panzers, smuggled across the ocean in secret. Nogriffon had been able to stand before them, combined with the growing hordes of undead.
Now, the war was over, the dead being reanimated to serve their new masters: the Necromancers of the Dread League. What they would do next was a mystery - though the surrounding nations watched their borders a bit closer, making preparations for if the Necromancers decided to spread their foul taint further...
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Transcription of an Equestrian Radio Broadcast, intercepted by a Changeling spy sometime in October:
"Today, Department of Industry announced the completion of their works across Central Equestria. This news came to the delight of many holidaying ponies, who had anticipated a congested drive to the popular Nightmare Night celebrations in Ponyville later this month.
In other news, to combat the reports of Changeling infiltrators, Princess Celestia has granted her inner circle yet more special legal powers. In a press release earlier this morning, she announced that her ministers, military officers and trusted advisors would form the basis of an "Urgent War Commision", with broad-ranging powers to "re-organise Equestrian society to face the Changeling menace". What does this mean for you and your family? More, at the top of the hour.
(this is the start of the "un-fuck Equestria" focus tree, normally locked off behind us going to war - except enough wars have been going on elsewhere that we can now take it. Normally, I'd have held off a little longer, but I'm running out of other foci to take.)
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The Fairey Naval Aircraft Company reported that the navalised Spitfire, dubbed the "Fulmar", was ready for production.
Given the general abundance of research funding, the Northern Design Bureau decided to go ahead and begin work on a new purpose-designed Close Air Support fighter. Initial plans for the design included a larger wingspan than any other single-seat aircraft, an uprated Starswirl engine, extensive (and heavy) armour protection and, of course, a weapons loadout sufficient to level a small city. For reasons that had nothing to do with the current Minister of Defence, the prospective design was labelled "Typhoon".
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Work commenced on the last stage of the Canterlot-Acornrage rail line, alongside a highway that ran the length of the Changeling/Equestrian border. Ostensibly to promote the development of those border regions, any creature with half a brain knew who the highway was really for: the Army. That it ran parralel to the Army's line of fortifications was no co-incidence.
I had to build this manually, otherwise the army would have no supply when war breaks out.
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Some Stalliongradian spies got caught up in S.M.I.L.E's campaign against Changeling infiltration. No major incidents took place, but Stalliongrad's attitude became noticably colder over the next few months.
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The first finding of the War Committee was that there was a severe shortage of trained military officers, particularly in the General Staff. Plans were drawn up to promote officers into those positions from the well-drilled soldiers on the Changeling border, but this would obviously leave that border vulnerable. More work would have to be done.
It was also time to create a High Command - a group of ponies to be in charge of each respective branch. This had been sorely lacking over the past few years; the Minister of Defence currently having to communicate directly with army Generals, Admiral Evening Squall of the REN, and the various Squadron Leaders of the REAF in order to get anything done. A High Command would streamline the command structure, and put actual experts in charge of their areas of expertise rather than leaving the whole thing to a well-educated amateur.
The only question was who would staff this High Command?
this basically unlocks the rest of the government panel for us.
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November 1011
The days seemed to drag on endlessly towards the end of the year. Some months, the only thing that broke up the monotony of Typhoon's day-to-day life was the occasional foray into the various research and development teams. Yet another set of updated equipment was issued to the Army,
after which the Army began setting up a specialised Pegasi recruitment drive, hoping to improve the quality of soldiers in the Pegasi divisions currently fielded.
More decryption techniques were perfected,
leaving S.M.I.L.E and Princess Twilight to work on better encryption to keep the arms race going.
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December 1011
The last month of the year opened with a bit of a bang: the Griffonian Empire declared war on yet more of its neighbours: the ancient territory held by the Sunstriker Clan, the Griffonian Republic and the Socialist Republic of the Free Griffons. It was highly unlikely that, even allied, these three would prove to be a threat to the Empire.
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The old High Command - made up exclusively of ancient ponies who barely even bothered to show up - had been cleared out. However, with the Changeling infiltrators still on the loose, nopony could justify appointing their replacements just yet.
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05/12/1011
S.M.I.L.E EXTERNAL CORRESPONDENCEEYES ONLY
HOOVES OFF!
Director,
Begin preparations. All ponies on the list provided are to be arrested under the new Corruption and Espionage Acts. Make this as clean as possible; I've already had a hard enough time selling this plan to Celestia as it is.
Minister Typhoon.
Finally doing something about that stagnation. This focus just reduces the penalties, but it'll be gone eventually.
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And, finally, on the 5th of December, the Griffonian Empire decided that three new provinces wasn't enough and declared war on the Kingdom of Vedina.
In Equestria, the year's end was fraught with tension. Beneath the surface of the Hearthswarming Eve's celebrations bubbled an atmosphere of suspicion and discontent; was the friend you were partying with a Changeling imposter? Did they suspect you were? Tank after tank rolled off the assembly lines, and for what purpose? The war, so long foreshadowed, had yet to appear.
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So I'm going to take a quick vote here because we're in danger of nothing interesting happening: if the Changelings do not declare war on Equestria by the end of next year, should we launch a pre-emptive attack?
Voting will close on Tuesday, October 8th.
