The Blue Paradigm 3 - (MLP (EAW AU), Blueblood!SI)

My office was in Canterlot, but it was far from the Castle itself. 'Camp Hurricane' was one of the oldest institutions in the country, but it had been hardly disciplined to the level I was whipping its workers to move about.

The standards had dropped considerably due to the numerous centuries of peace, but Equestria's main concept of warfare existed. The Royal Guards had served as the 'Peace-time standing army'. Akin to the US National Guard, but on a more selective level.

Still the 'Equestrian Army' was a 'commoner equivalent' to the Guards. Less-trained (before I took over), the larger reservist force was a far cry of the once proud backbone of Equestria's lance. When I took over, I had gotten the training regiment restored to some acceptable standards, with years of coordination between COs and drill sergeants allowing for more 'live training' to be exercised. There was a phase out over bladed weapons, now guns being the priority in exercising.

Old relics were sold and the money was used to fill up caches of ammo that were to be guarded with care. The guns that were employed at first were early bolt-actions such as the Lilia-Rifle. Variants had been created to try and modernize this decades-old gun, but it was ultimately discarded as the main rifle after the introduction of the Lavender Rifle - it could hold ten rounds to its predecessor's five-rounds cartridge, and it was less prone to jamming.

The price was also just as cheap as the Lilia, so the Lavender Rifle had been in mass production for some time now. The few troops at our disposal were already enjoying the fruits of two months of the 'Quartet' at work. The new uniforms allowed a more comfortable wear, and the war industry was finally getting to a more acceptable level of production.

The Heavy Tank was two months away from being available for testing, but the design already told me that we were going to have an optimal 'starting point' to counter the Changeling's armored divisions. The vehicle was going to be as toughly-armored as a Tiger, but it was going to have a relatively weak armament as the AT process was slowed down by some technicians valuing more 'AT rifles' to proper cannons.

All in all, what was really concerning was the budget-juggling. Not only did I have to keep an eye on the expenses of the military, but also how much of my personal money was being used to funnel resources into the reorganization of the army.

I had bits to spare, but I wasn't just going to sink everything I had in it. So, I had started to also invest some of that royal money into shares in the other companies, focusing to 'complement' Filthy Rich's current moves by focusing on aircraft producers.

The Wonderbolt Aircraft Research already enjoyed royal grants, which is why we were hardly going to struggle in having top-notch fighters, but I was also concerned on the other aspects of air warfare - The 'Northern' Development Bureau was a group of technicians that evacuated by Stalliongrad right before the revolution. Located in Novochernushsk, the small group had been struggling to acquire funds to sustain the development of heavy bombers.

The notion of Strategic Bombing was not one that Equestria truly knew about, but I planned to change that by putting my hooves on said company. I had the opportunity to meet the chairman of the group, Igor Stallionsky, and we shared a pleasant chat over the development of aircrafts.

It took me a solid moment during that meeting to realize this was the pony version of Igor Sikorsky, which meant I could eventually rush up the creation of helicopters if I played my cards right. In the end, I approved acquiring a large share of 'Northern' while vouching to keep the team united as they could finally start designing strategic bombers for the upcoming conflict.

I was finishing wrapping up the paperwork over the new orders for the creation of a sturdy and well-defended heavy plane when I realized that I wasn't alone in my office anymore. And I hadn't been so in a while.

...

"I smell with my princely nose... a little niece of mine."

I heard a tiny giggle coming from... behind some of the boxes in front of the desk. The source of the noises soon peeking around and giving me a bright smile.

"Uncle Blue!"

I snorted. "If it isn't little Flurry Heart. How are you?"

Flurry Heart was, just like in canon, the daughter of Royal Guard's Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (Cadance). Heiress to the Crystal Empire, the little filly was 5 years old, regarded the youngest alicorn, and already a curious lady over the notions of... war.

I had a feeling that the 'Flurry Heart, Alicorn of War' meme may not be as much of a meme in this reality. Still, the child was just 5- maybe I was overthinking it.

"Good, good. I missed you."

I smiled as she flapped her wings and got herself on a chair I conjured with my magic.

"Missed you too, little one. Are you visiting with your parents?"

Her smile... faltered. "Y-yeah, but... they had me stuck in their room!"

"Oh dear, and why so?"

"Mom and dad are speaking with Grauntie Tia. They said I am too young to hear what is it about."

"Hmm..." I leaned on my chair thoughtfully, and, since they would have had me in that meeting if it was anything about the Changelings... "I think I know what it is. And, in a sense, they are not wrong."

"What! But I know about Mean Chryssi!"

I snorted at that nickname, and reached out to ruffle her mane. "Silly Flurry, that's not about Chryssi. It's about that scary jerk that is King Sombra."

"Who's that?" The filly inquired, eyes glowing with intrigue. "He is a baddie that mommy and daddy beat?"

"Yup, it happened after their wedding," I recollected on the moment. "You see, before Grauntie Lulu's banishment, her and Grauntie Tia had fought against Sombra but, as the battle raged on, Sombra used a spell to shroud the capital of the empire in a seemingly eternal storm. But just two years after Grauntie Lulu's return, the Crystal Empire resurfaced and your parents took care of that."

"That's awesome, Uncle Blue," Flurry remarked, always a sucker for her parents' cool adventures. "But then Sombrero is no longer around. So why are they worried about him?"

"Sombra. And that's because he is not... Well, he is not fully gone."

Flurry's green eyes shoot up. "He is not?! How?"

"It took us a while to understand that one too. See, Sombra is not just some mad sorcerer unicorn as we once thought he was. He is what is known magically as a 'Umbrum', but to many he is a 'Shadow Pony'."

"And... that means?"

"That means he takes the form of a pony, but he is not a pony. He is... a shadowy creature. One whose purpose was to reign the Empire and destroy the Crystal Heart."

Flurry gasped. "W-What? But why would he want that? Everypony love the Crystal Heart."

"Not the Shadow Ponies," I answered quietly. "These creatures are opposed by nature to the Heart. It hurts them because their whole being is of unkind connotation. The issue about Sombra is that your mother has a rather limited hold over the Heart and the best she could do was to shatter Sombra's body. Right now, the 'shadow King' lurks as a spirit in the snowy mountain of the Empire, far from the capital and other urban cities, afraid of the power of the Heart but always looking for a chance to return."

The filly shuddered at the thought. "Brrr, I guess that's why mommy and daddy don't want me there but... is he really that bad?"

"Right now? Yes. You have potential, niece, but you are far from unraveling it. Your spells are limited and your protection is too abysmal to keep up with a dangerous villain such as Sombra. But... he doesn't come down to Equestria. He knows better than enter your Graunties' nation."

She giggled at that and then took a look at my paperwork. "Are you almost done with that, Uncle Blue?"

"Hmm, do you want me to take a break?"

"Huh-huh! It's not well for anypony to work too much. Mommy always say that to daddy."

"Fair," I replied, knowing there was still time to wrap the documents before the end of the day after... a little joyride. "Say, want to ride one of the Muletildas?"

The Muletilda was one of the latest Light Tanks that had been created as I took over the Army. It was a speedy tank, but it had a crappy armor and a weak cannon. It was still stable to ride at high speed and... Flurry loved to ride tanks.

"Really!?"

"Yes, but I have to write a message to your parents so they don't worry about where you are."

She opened her mouth to protest but... I was on it.

"If we don't, then you may be punished. And so would I."

A little pout appeared on her snout. "I get to try the gun too, yes?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, fine."

Grinning, Flurry Heart gave me a big hug. "Love ya, Uncle Blue~!"

I hugged back, and we were soon out of the office to check out the tanks' depot for the planned joyride after I sent a quick paper to Cadance on what we were up to. She didn't like it, but she was definitely aware her baby girl may be leaning more into warfare if that's how much she was attracted to it.

And while this was a lovely way to distract myself, as we were out and bolting with the Muletilda, a parchment appeared magically on my deserted desk, and it was a message from Griffonia:

Emperor Grover V has just died - and this meant that I may have to pay a quick visit to a certain childhood friend of mine...

AN

The War Planning is picking up, but next time Blueblood is visiting Griffonia to handle some important businesses. With the death of the Emperor, chaos is soon to erupt but that's not what worries him - Grover V was a stabilizing figure to his childhood birb friend (one that was an ironic choice by fate) and she may need someone to hug her a bit before her yandere tendencies escalate too much.