My Little Pony: Storm of Steel
Chapter 1: The Noble King (The Kingdom of Aquila)
With Equestria's military and magical might growing stronger, many surrounding kingdoms began to strengthen their militaries as they knew Equestria will invade. One of those kingdoms is an ally to the Hippogriff Kingdom of Chefal and the Griffon Kingdom. This Hippogriff Kingdom is to the south of Chefal, and ruled by their just and noble king: Aquila.
Like their neighbors to the north, these hippogriffs are more griffon-like in their avian halves and are bigger and stockier than their counterparts ruled by Queen Novo. This land is known for having handsome strong tercels as well as beautiful and full-flanked mares. The Kingdom of Aquila is ruled by King Giorgio V and his beautiful wife Queen Giovanna.
He looked out his balcony in the direction of Equestria, "They will come,"
"And we have done all we can to prepare," assured his Queen Giovanna
A white-tailed eagle mixed with a tan-colored stallion with a brown tail and brown eyes, he ascended to the Throne of Aquila at the age of 21. King Giorgio has now been ruling his hippogriff-folk for a decade. He was married on the day of his coronation to his queen. A tawny eagle with a matching colored mare half, but has a darker brown tail and eyes
To him, Giovanna is the most beautiful mare. From her smile to the flutter of her brown eyes and the seesaw jiggles of her full flanks, he could not ask for much more. When it comes to the royal business, she is that equally strong mare at his side. She has strong friendships with Queen Galiana, Princess Ghislaine, Princess Henriette and Tsarina Guzel.
"We have, let them come, let the Ponies come in their fury," said the King
"We will teach Celestia a lesson she will never forget," added his Queen
The Royal Army of Aquila, or the 'Regio Esercito', is a well-trained, well-disciplined, and driven fighting machine. Famous for their black capercaillie feathers flowing from their wide-brimmed black hats with their M40 uniforms. The rifle is a well-loved weapon by soldiers in the form of the M41 Carcano. With the M91 Carcano bayonet, it is fierce in battle
'We are ready for you Celestia' he thought
When it comes to blades, a soldier is not a soldier without their knife. The soldier-griff is well-armed with the M1939 'Pugnale'. Soldiers are trained in talon-to-talon combat as well as knife-fighting as part of their training. Even officer-griffs are trained in the use of their swords. An entire training course for a soldier-griff in the 'Regio Esercito' is 12 weeks
Officers wear visored peaked caps and have their Pattern 1900 Army Officers Sword at their sides on their belts for ceremonial occasions as well as a holstered Bernardelli UB pistol on a brown leather belt. When it comes to tanks, the 'Regio Esercito' went for a 'hunter-killer' concept for their armored divisions. The result was the Progetto M35 mod. 46
"Come, my love, I made linguine with white clam sauce," coaxed Giovanna
The King smiled as that is his favorite food, "You know your way to my heart,"
"Mmmhmm" his beautiful queen hummed as walked up to him, grinning and placing a kiss on his beak. Queen Giovanna looked back at her husband, and smiled warmly as she walked back into the palace. King Giorgio sighed and smiled knowing he is the luckiest tercel to have Queen Giovanna in his life. He could watch the motions of her flanks all day
King Giorgio is a different kind of king. He is a soldier, and will not stay cooped up in his palace during a time of crisis. The Central-Southern regions of the kingdom are very prone to earthquakes. He will always be there on the frontlines in rescue efforts and to those afflicted by such disasters. The Island of Procellaria has the active volcano Monte Calva
The same can be said of his queen "How is it?" she asked curiously of Giorgio
"Wonderful, like everything about you," Giorgio replied to her soft and warm giggles
Tomorrow is a big day for the king and queen. They are to visit one of the Royal Arsenals in Falco to help test and inspect weapons. The Royal Army has gone through some weapons trials for a light machine gun, heavy machine gun, and submachine gun. It concluded with the adoption of the Breda-SAFAT 7.7mm, the Scotti M1938, and the FNAB-43
They made love and snuggled into the night. The next morning, Giovanna helped him look sharp for his War Minister Scipio and the officer that assisted in the weapons testing Lieutenant Aurora. The king's peaked cap was decorated with a gold thread laurel wreath around the band of his hat and a bandoleer with his tunic jacket with all his medals
"Good to see you are both well, Your Majesties," said the imperial eagle hippogriff
"With the clouds of war upon us, we are doing our best," replied the queen
Lieutenant Aurora is a white gyrfalcon and a dapple grey mare, "Now it is time you see what our soldiers will carry to the frontlines," said Aurora saluting the two monarchs. They tested everything from the rifle and pistol to the newly adopted automatic weapons. Suddenly, a soldier-griff came from the 'Vallo Alpino' saluted and gave the King a message
Their biggest fears were realized as he read the note, and handed it to his queen for her to read. The message came at the end of the weapons testing so the soldier was not at fault for interrupting anything. King Giorgio looked to his queen, "It has begun," he concluded, the message read that Equestria has invaded the Kingdom of Aquila from the north
(Note: The Royal Palace is modeled after the Royal Palace in Caserta)