Mint20: Moans, then collapses from exhaustion.
Commander Thunder Crasher: Don't mind him. He has just been up all night, writing. Mint20 owns no part of My Little Pony.
Chapter 5: It just got real
The Great Equestrian War
I entered my apartment, deep in thought. All of this news was bad, but there was hope.
All right, let's do this, I thought. Moving to the nearby desk, I hunted up a quill, some ink, and plenty of paper. I quickly went to work, dipping my quill in the ink every few seconds. I had finished one and a half of pages when I broke the tip off of the quill.
I decided to take a break there, seeing as I have no spare quills that I could use. I looked over what I had.
The new Equestrian Armed Forces shall be made up of groups called "armies," and direct command of the Army General and his or her four advisors. Each army is to consist of ten thousand ponies. Subdividing each army, the next level is the "legion," each comprised of five thousand ponies and lead by the Legate. After that is the "cohort," each consisting of five hundred ponies. Again dividing the cohort, there is the "century," under the command of the one pony ranked as "Centurion." Each century is made up of one hundred combat troops. Again dividing each century is the "tent-group," which is made up of ten ponies and lead by a "Chief." The tent-groups are to always sleep together when on campaign. The Chief of each tent-group is responsible for the well-being of the ponies under his or her command. Every day, the Army General (and staff) and the Legates will rise early and meet regarding the army. The Legates will then return to their Legions. Here, they will call the ten Cohort Majors and distribute orders. After this, the five Centurions of each cohort will meet and receive orders from the Cohort Major. Then, the Chiefs of each tent-group will meet and receive orders from the Centurion. The Chief is then responsible see that orders of the Centurion, and, by extension, the Commander of Equestria's Armed Forces, are carried out.
The composition of the tent-group is as follows: The group is to consist of a minimum of two ponies from each Tribe. It is recommended, but not required, for the group to be close friends, in order to ensure cooperation.
Nopony will be barred from serving in the Equestrian Armed Forces for any reason aside from failing training or presenting a threat to fellow ponies. Preventing either mares or stallions from any Tribe from fighting in the EAF purely due to gender or Tribe is a crime. In addition, anypony who has the required merit can rise to any open position or rank, again regardless of gender or Trib-
There was where the tip of my quill broke. I looked it over the notes, and thought that it was pretty good. But it is not enough.
I knocked on the doors the the Hall, again. They opened, revealing the Princesses still hard at work. All except for Cadence, who must be off preparing the Crystal Empire.
"Yes Commander? What is the issue?" Princess Luna asked.
"As you know, due to the lack of ability of our armies, I have drawn up an example for organizing new armies. I request that you look at them."
Princess Celestia looked at the took the piece of paper with her magical grasp and looked over it. After a moment, she passed it off to Princess Luna, who in turn passed it to Princess Twilight. They all looked to each other, then said simultaneously, "When do you plan to begin?"
"As soon as possible." I responded. "However, that leads me to my next topic: For some time - six months at least, by my estimates - Equestria will be at the mercy of foreign invaders. As a result, I suggest that we enlist allies."
Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. "What do you mean by 'allies?'" Princess Luna asked, speaking slowly and carefully.
"Simple. I suggest we hold a summit of all nations that are willing to participate. I am certain that we may find some allies, at least."
Everypony looked uncomfortable. I looked around the table, slightly exasperated. "What is the big deal?"
"He doesn't know," Princess Luna said.
"No, he does not," responded Princess Celestia. Her voice was sorrowful.
"Know? Know what?" I asked, utterly bewildered.
They all looked to each other, then Princess Celestia levated a piece of paper towards me. "This just came in from the Griffon Empire and the Changeling Hives.
I scanned the document. One line jumped out at me: ...no nation, wishing to avoid war, should enter into an alliance or treaty with the nations of Equestria or Crystal Empire.
"This was released to all nations on this planet. It is clear now. They are coming. And we are on our own."