It is the forty-first millenium, and there is no more friendship, only... WAR!
It was the sudden appearance of a Warp Storm at the Pandora System's outer edge that first caught the attention of the Equestrium, and not just the Equestrium. After hundreds of years under the neglectful watch of the Equestrial Guard, nearly every force in the galaxy would descend upon the planets of Pandora, bent only on domination and victory.
Three races had long dwelled in there: the Equestrial Guard, its supposed rulers, the Hog tribes of Pandora II, which the Guard had never successfully put down, and the Necronies, who had slept for untold millennia beneath Pandora III. Where the Discord Pony Marines came from, or how, none could say. Did the Warp Storm bring them... or did they bring the Warp Storm? Both appeared suddenly on Pandora IV and in an eye-blink half the system's Equestrial forces were gone; killed or claimed by the madness of Discord. In quick succession, the others herded to Pandora. The Pony Marines, the Equestrium's super-soldiers, descended on Pandora II, planning to finally cleanse the system both of the troublesome Hogs and the Discord Pony Marines, their sworn mortal enemies. The Dau appeared next, not far above, on one of the planet's moons. In the interests of protecting its ordered Empire from the effects of pony folly, the Dau came seeking to contain the Warp Storm and, in so doing, expanding their territory's border. On their moon they built a mighty fortress, and there forged a space cannon capable of interplanetary devastation. Among the wastes of Pandora III, the Necronies, perhaps awakened by the disruptive forces of the Warp Storm, slowly massed their lethal legions. In quick response, Webway Gates, long unused, flickered to life, and Eldeer poured forth, ready to battle their dark, death-dealing adversaries. Meanwhile, in the shadow of an ancient Portal Gate, the Dark Eldeer slipped stealthily out of the murky depths of the Webway. They would be like carrion birds, flying above the battlefield, and when all were weary from the fight, make the battlefield into a feasting ground. Last to arrive, and perhaps most to be feared, were the Fillies of Battle, holy mares and bearers of the God-Empress's faith. They had come to cleanse this system of corruption and filth. Their faith left them fanatical, unafraid of death and zealous in their cause. Nothing here was clean. All must be purged.
Now, war rages anew, and only the victorious may write their history. Only the victorious will claim the planets of Pandora.
(The Equestrial Guard. Canonical victors. Read it in the wiki.)
At the Apollo Precinct, Equestrial Guardponies were preparing to go out and battle against the other eight factions that have taken root in the Pandora System. Troops were saluting with wide stance and boldness. Tanks drove Northward up the streets.
General Vanguard Studds trotted up to a Commissar to check up on progress, hoping everything will be as simple as war is.
"How are the stallions?" He asked.
"Tolerable, sir." The Commissar said.
"Morale?"
"Good at Central, poor on the front."
"Casualties?"
"The same, sir."
"Firing squads?"
"Twenty today. Twelve for cowardice in the line of duty." The Sentinels behind the Commissar walked off.
"Baneblade production?" Atop the slope of the main base, gunships flew in over a circular building, dropping large crates onto a platform that sunk into the factory, and taking off.
"Tank crew, munitions, and parts are arriving by convoy on schedule, sir." said the Commissar. "As you know it takes only the most highly trained crew to properly operate a-"
"I know." Studds finished.
"Very good, General."
"How many do we have on hoof?" The General asked.
"Unfortunately, sir, a shipment of one hundred Baneblades has just gone out to serve..."
"I see." said Studds. He trotted back to the main base with the Commissar following behind. He kept trotting until he reach a corner in the wall of the base. He overlooked the great Equestrial city before him and shook his head in disbelief.
"Look at this." Vanguard said as he slowly waved his left hoof from right to left, gesturing at the tragic ruins. "Once this was a fine city. Gleaming beacon of the Empress's light, a center of industry. Now look at it." Studds looked back at the Commissar. "Commissar, I would like to see this city built up again. I would like to see towers and spires of gleaming white. I would like to see our stallions on parade routes, not tours of duty." The anger festered in the General's heart as he continued to speak. "I would like to see every city on this planet, every colony in this besotted, miserable system turned to the service and industry of the Equestrium, in the Empress's name."
The Commissar nodded in agreement. "In the Empress's name, sir."
Studds sighed through his nostrils. "But to see my dreams fulfilled, first we must wipe the system clean of these blasted xenos and heretics and monsters and... and zealots." He turned to face the Commissar. "And to do that, this base, our center of command, must operate free of danger or harassment."
Equestrial tanks were parked in lots all around the precinct. "Our troops are ready." said Studds, "Our tanks, our sentinels, and if the Empress wills it, we will have functioning Baneblades. Tell me, Commissar, are we prepared? Or will we be cattle taken to slaughter?" The Commissar didn't answer, but the General just closed his eyes and slightly bowed his head. "Well! We will do what we can, and pray for victory. The enhanced Party Cannon has been prepared by our TechDonkey Engineers, has it not? It can be fired at will?"
The Commissar nodded. "Very good, General." At a different location, the said Party Cannon was in the ground and well protected by entrenched Heavy Weapon teams.
"It only requires an artillery spotter." said Studds. "We shall place our faith in the God-Empress."
"In the Empress's name, sir." said the Commissar. A team of Assassins moved out to be the eyes of their earthbound cannon.
"That will have to do the job." said Studds. "As always, we place faith in the Empress." With that said, General Vanguard Studds and his army moved out to fight the great war of the Pandora System.
The Fillies of Battle rely greatly on their faith; it is their sustenance and their shield. When they first came to the tainted world of Pandora, Confessor Trotanum Pollag was quick to see how much holy light - and fire - it would take to cleanse the four planets. He therefore brought the Living Saint Aliconis and placed her in their primary bastion in Mara, on Pandora I. Following a secret and ancient practice, the Living Saint was imbued with the Inviolable Aura - an aura of invincibility which would prevent any chance, he thought, of defeat.
Guarded at the last by this Inviolable Aura, the Fillies of Battle marched with great surety. Who in truth would dare oppose them? What adversary could faith and fire not sweep before them? In the face of Discord and vile animals, the Fillies of Battle merely doubled their fervent prayers and penances, and fought on. They came to believe that glorious victory was the only outcome.
The idea that any would dare attack their mighty bastion was unthinkable. The possibility that their bastion could fall, beyond belief.
At a holy shrine near the heart of the stronghold, Canoness Serena Igna and Confessor Trotanum Pollag stood ready with dozens of Battle Fillies behind.
"Good, she comes." said Trotanum.
One of the Battle Fillies stepped up and drew her blade. "Sisters," she said, "the Living Holy Saint of the Empress, Saint Aliconis, Scourge of Heretics." She bowed and placed her blade horizontally before her. The other Battle Fillies drew their blades out and followed suit as a golden figure descended from the heavens and landed with a flash of blinding light. The light quickly vanished, and a glowing Alicorn, wielding a flaming sword with flowers wreathed on the guard in her magic grip hovered before them with grace, beauty, and power.
Serena walked to the base of the shrine and raised her sword skyward. "Now, in the name of the Empress!"
The Living Saint turned and casted a spell upon the shrine. "Good." said the Confessor as the Saint finished. The shrine glowed with a holy aura, as well as the Battle Fillies and others who stood near her.
"There, it is done." said Serena. She trotted to her Sisters. "May the Empress's blessing carry us on to victory, Sisters." A few squads of Battle Fillies turned and trotted away to battle.
"We thank you, honored martyr." the Confessor said before the Saint flew to the main base. He turned and approached Serena.
"So." she said, "It is true then, these blessed shrines will confer... invincibility?"
"Indeed." the Confessor smiled, "Within each shrine lies a true and sacred relic of the Equestriarchy. Now that the edifices have been blessed by a Living Saint, they confer upon her the Inviolable Aura, as scribed and fervently mastered by the great Equestriarch, Hannasiah Verdonis."
"And where ever she goes, no harm may befall us?" Serena asked.
"Precisely." the Confessor replied, "Neither our little ponies nor our belongings."
Serena took a deep breath. "One pure, bright candle, amidst a sea of filth and darkness."
"That is well said, Canoness." Pollag commented. "This is a tainted system. It may, in fact, be irredeemable."
On the streets, the tanks of the Fillies of Battle were driving in to combat the attackers at their doorstep.
"Then we shall purge it with fire." Serena proclaimed. "I have yet to find a cinder that was not worthy in its praise to the Empress." One of the tanks stopped and the turret started spinning, releasing an inferno around it and all over the place to display its fearsome power.
"All is made ready?" Serena asked.
"Yes, Mistress." said a Battle Filly.
"Good. These would-be conquerors shall have a taste of our fire and faith. The Empress will punish them through us."
Although the Fillies of Battle had many advantages against Vanguard Studds' Equestrial Guard, he fought his way through their forces and destroyed every single shrine before finally destroying their main headquarters.
"Storm them!" Guardponies shouted as they galloped up the stairs and shot at the now vulnerable Living Saint. "NO!" she cried as she fell to the ground dead.
All over Mara District, Guardponies and Bison were destroying every single structure that wasn't theirs'. Many Battle Fillies fell to their lasguns. They fought back hard, but were soon outmatched.
"Sisters," Serena called, "we must go as martyrs. WE must go in flames!" At the base of the fortress wall, fire bursted out of pipes, engulfing every pony who was within reach of the flames.
The Guardponies attacked the Canoness and more Battle Fillies near a ruined shrine. They fought back, even though it was pointless, now.
"In flames!" they all yelled as they drew out their blades and bowed before Serena thrusted her sword into the ground, and they were all consumed by the sacrificial inferno.
When the Fillies of Battle arrived in the Pandora System, General Studds knew there was only one way he and his Guardponies would make it through alive. No victory, or act of penitence, could clear them of suspicion by the reckoning of those Equestriarchal zealots. Knowing that he had done no wrong, and unwilling to submit to Inquisitorial reconditioning, the General prepared for battle.
At first, Studds had hoped that the enemies of the Equestrium would spare him the unwelcomed task of pitting his stallions against the feared and dreaded Fillies of Battle. Unfortunately, Studds did not feel he had the luxury of waiting for mutual enemies to do his dirty work. He resolved on a bold and desperate move: to attack the Fillies of Battles' headquarters directly before they could come to him. With the advantage of surprise on their side, the 252nd Regiment, although weak of will and faith, showed themselves stronger in arms and armor than the pious Fillies of Battle. This extraordinary feat surprised even General Studds, and on congratulating his troops afterwards, he remarked that it was certain proof that the Empress had willed the Equestrial Guard to hold dominion over the Pandora System.
The Blood Phoenixes had learned the value of speed and mobility through hard battlefield experience. Force Commander Poneale, who had studied under the famed Captain Pegalos, sought to make his reliance on stationary, defensive structures as small as possible.
Therefore, rather than build up the Pony Marines' central command, entire companies were reserved in the fleet above Pandora II. These would be ready to deep strike with deadly speed into any territory, including the Blood Phoenixes' own headquarters. If attacked by any enemy, drop pods would cover the Pony Marines' stronghold in a steely and thunderous hail, swarming the Pony Marines' enemies with super-soldiers and Harmonaughts.
Force Commander Poneale was sure of his plan. His greatest weapon was, after all, the superiority of the Pony Marines themselves. Who could weather such a rapid and devastating defensive tactic?
Lightningeagles were landing and deploying troops, vehicles, and supplies for the Blood Phoenixes' upcoming battle. A large group of Pony Marines stood before Commander Poneale himself. A Pony Scout approached the Commander with urgent news.
"Commander Poneale," he addressed, "enemy forces in our perimeter."
"Where?" Poneale asked.
"Southern quadrant," the scout answered, "but they were on the move. Current location unknown."
"There is no time to be lost. Battle Siblings!" Poneale called. "Pony Marines, today the enemy is at our door. We know our duty, and we will do it. We fight for our honor as Blood Phoenixes, as Pony Marines... and we fight in the name of the Empress!" The Pony Marines shot their front-left hooves into the air. "And if we die this day, we die in glory. We die heroes' deaths... but we shall not die. No! It is the enemy who will taste death and defeat. As you know... Most of our Battle Siblings are stationed in space, prepared to deep strike."
The Pony Scout galloped towards enemy positions. "Our perimeter has been prepared in the event that our enemies should be so bold and so foolish." said Poneale. "We have placed numerous beacons, allowing for multiple, simultaneous, and devastating defensive deep strikes."
Near one of the beacons, three drop pods smashed into the ground, and out came three squads of Pony Marines. The scout joined with them, and they galloped in to engage the enemy. They spotted something out of view and opened fire. "Charge!" they shouted as three more drop pods fell, and out came more Pony Marines, Termineightors, and a Hellfire Harmonaught. "Pony Marines, attack!" they shouted as they continued firing at the target.
"The Codex Astartes names this maneuver Steel Rain." said Poneale. "We will descend upon the foe, we will overwhelm them... we will leave none alive. Meanwhile, our ground forces will ensure the full defense of our headquarters."
Poneale raised his sword skyward. "We are the Pony Marines! We are the Empress's fury!"
Like before, the Pony Marines had many advantages over the Equestrial Guard, but General Studds and his determined troops pushed through the lines of marines, destroyed their war machines, and then finally demolished their stronghold.
Everywhere on the battlefield, Guardponies and Bison were engaging Pony Marines. They struck them down to the ground. Near Poneale's position, artillery shells were striking the earth. More drop pods fell from the sky as Guardponies charged and attacked the remaining Blood Phoenixes who still fought on, despite their inevitable loss.
"We have failed..." said Poneale as his marines continued to be gunned down right in front of him, "... the Empress..." The last line of Pony Marines and Termineightors fell, and the Commander himself was shot to death by hails of lasgun fire.
The fact that General Vanguard Studds was forced to attack the Pony Marines directly was, to him, merely an unfortunate necessity of the war. Studds had every respect for Force Commander Poneale. After his Equestrial Guard forces had outgunned and overpowered the Blood Phoenixes, he felt great regret that the Commander's life could not have been spared. That, of course, was impossible. No Force Commander would ever flee or surrender while his company fought and died. The few Blood Phoenix Pony Marines, who had been unable to die honorably, were given prompt medical treatment and dispatched to Segmaretum Command. The dead were given all the honors and funeral rights due to their station.
These procedures, however, did not for an instant deter General Studds from installing a company of his Guardponies in the Land of Incarceration, or laying claim to the usable munitions and other equipment left intact. The loss of good Equestrial Pony Marines was regrettable, General Studds reflected, but the charter of his Regiment, and his own personal ambitions had, after all, left him only one course of action.
It was no secret that it was the Warboss Borbutz himself who led the SNAARL! in the Pandora conflict. But who were the Hogs he led? Equestrial records indicate that these Hogs had always been in Pandora - going back at least a millennium. It seems that when Borbutz arrived, they welcomed him as a long-awaited hero.
These rugged Pandoran Hogs had sometimes overrun the system's four planets, and sometimes been beaten back to their secret stronghold in the Rokjaw Mountains. There had never once been a successful attempt to breach the vast hideout there, and the Hogs believed there never could be. But in the past these Hogs had always retreated to this place in great numbers at the first sign of defeat. Borbutz saw such behavior as un-Hoggy. He insisted that you had to take a bolter round or two if you wanted to win, and Borbutz lived only to win.
Borbutz's strategy meant that the Hog stronghold was not invincible, but this did not mean that it was undefended. Reaching the lair was one thing. Penetrating its defenses was entirely another.
Atop a ledge, a Hog Nob and Warboss Borbutz himself were overlooking the infamously well-hidden stronghold.
"Ya see, Big Boss Borbutz?" the Hog Nob asked. "Dis 'erez da strongest an' bestest Hog'old as ever 'eld a Hog."
"Oi's that so, then?" Borbutz asked.
"Ain't no poniez got in 'ere, eva!" the Nob stated proudly. "Wif da Rokjaw Mountains all 'round us, deyz only one way in."
The mountain was large, indeed. There were crudely-built Hog structures everywhere, in every nook and cranny of the area, with only one way in. Hogs pounded their axes and blades on the ground all around.
"Even if they wuz ta get in," the Hog continued, "they'd have all da boarz ta face. Oh and da Nobz. An' da tanks... den dere's da Mammoffs."
One of the Mammoths reared up on its hind legs, blared its trumpeting bellow, and slammed into the ground.
"Say they beat all that." Borbutz hypothetically asked.
The Hog grinned. "Datz when we git 'em wit da Fighta-Bommaz. We'd squash 'em to a pulp!"
Borbutz humphed as the Fighter Bombers flew by and blew up test dummies on the ground.
"We gots wochaz wochin' day an night." said the Nob. "Nopony but a Hog gets close to us wiffout we see 'em and crush 'em ta smivvereenz."
A small Hog frantically waddled to the two Hogs with bad news. "Boss! Boss! Deyz enemies in da camp!"
The Nob turned to the Hog with a surprised look on his face. "Wot? In da camp? We gotta stop 'em afore dey getz to da Killy Spot! Dem drums, beat da drums! Get 'em!!!" The Nob flipped his axe upside-down and started banging it on the ground.
"Wotz dis 'ere Killy Spot?" Borbutz asked.
Down below in the grounds of the stronghold, Hogs were waddling around and getting to position. "SNAARL!" they shouted as they moved about, trying to get past each other.
"Beat da drums!" the Hog yelled. At the "Killy Spot", which was a captured relic point, Hogs stood around it, beating their axes and blades on the ground and making their drumming noises.
"We gotz ta hold da Killy Spot!" the Nob yelled as he smacked the small hog out of his way and waddled off.
"Humph! Bestest Hog'old ever, huh? Ha!" Borbutz said as he followed behind, but not before smacking the small Hog off the cliff edge.
Once again, General Vanguard Studds had bested an adversary that had more advantages over him than flaws. Hogs waddled in to fight the Equestrial Guardponies, Bison, and tanks that were destroying every single scrapheap that formed the Hogs' stronghold.
"My Hog'old! My bootiful Hog'old!" the Nob cried as he watched his base get completely demolished by The Hammer of the Equestrium. Soon, every structure was razed to the dirt, turning into the piles of scrap metal and wood they used to be.
"Oi've 'ad enuff a dis!" said Borbutz as he grabbed the Hog, flipped him upside-down, and pounded him into the ground four times before throwing him like a stick. "C'mon boarz, let's get outta 'ere!" And he waddled away with other Hogs to his hidden escape ship.
The Pandora System had known strife between the Hogs and the Equestrial Guard long before the present conflict, in the form of isolated outbreaks, and outright war. But before this time, the Guardponies had faced the Pandoran Hogs alone, who were never as organized or aggressive as now, under the leadership of Warboss Borbutz. Unfortunately for the Hogs, the Equestrial Guard was also fighting under a new leader.
The determined General Studds dogged Borbutz right into the Rokjaw Mountains, farther than the Equestrial Guard had ever penetrated, and there dealt his SNAARL! a mortal blow. While the Hogs of Pandora were thoroughly defeated, less is known concerning the great Hog Warboss himself. Equestrium Scanner Logs indicate that a Hog craft did take off from the scene, but any other information was lost to the heat of the battle. The Guardponies of the 252nd Regiment, who had fought in the battle of Rokjaw, took on the proud moniker of "Hog Splitters", and the mountain itself came to be known as "Studds Peak".
The vast Dau military complex on Pandora II's second moon had always been intended for purposes above and beyond the current war. In a Dau-dominated solar system, this complex would become a key outpost on the Empire's border. This moon base had been named Jian Yue, or "Sword Moon", referring to the powerful Li'zi Cannon built there. This weapon could fire its devastating ion beam on any territory on any planet in the system.
Heavy fortifications and anti-aircraft arrays were not enough for the Earth Caste architects of Jian Yue. To these they added an ambitious orbital perimeter defense system, which would fire ion beams, similar to that of the Li'zi Cannon, tuned to harm only intruders and spare Jian Yue's infrastructure from any damage.
When complete, Jian Yue would be unassailable. Unfortunately, the Dau stronghold was attacked before it was complete. Many systems and fortifications were not yet fully operational, including the perimeter defense system. An invasion fleet could be shot down, but they could not as easily protect against a small force from making a beachhead at one of the gaps in the Dau's outer defenses. Such a feat would be extraordinarily difficult, but it might just be possible.
At the main base of Jian Yue, a red Dau Transport ship flew in and landed. The Dau Commander Lu'Rou'De trotted to the ship to greet the guest of honor who arrived.
"We welcome your gracious presence, Huai'Si'Lu." Lu'Rou'De said to the Ethereal.
"I see that our Earth Caste Engineers have made splendid progress in constructing the Jian Yue base station." said Huai'Si'Lu as the ship took off.
"Yes, your Eminence," said Lu'Rou'De, "it is nearly complete. There are only a few gaps remaining in our perimeter defenses, and they are heavily guarded until our Orbital Defense System is fully functional."
Dau troops were moving about the stronghold perimeter, and Dau in large mobile suits were entrenching themselves in key locations.
"Excellent." said Huai'Si'Lu, "And this Li'zi Cannon you have built, quite a marvel, as I understand it."
"Indeed." said Lu'Rou'De, "From this moon, we can fire on any habitable territory in the Pandora System. Do you wish to inspect it yourself?" They walked up to the massive cannon that stood proudly in the center of the main base. "It harms only advanced lifeforms, thus avoiding damage to structures and plant life."
The Ethereal smiled, knowing that the Dau Commander's great weapon is as powerful as he heard. "This is indeed most commendable." He said.
"Our orbital defenses were built using the same technology." said Lu'Rou'De, "Both are controlled from this location."
Just then, an alarm went, and the Ethereal looked around in shock. "What is that?"
"The perimeter has somehow been breached." said Lu'Rou'De. "I must attend to this. Please, your Excellence, return to the Coalition Center."
At the breached location, Guardponies were making their way through, but set off a trap of Battle Drones that bursted from the ground and attacked.
"Yes, that may be best." said Huai'Si'Lu as he trotted off to safety, while Lu'Rou'De headed to his troops.
"Dispatch Way Searchers." said the Commander, "Locate the source of the breach and see that they do not gain entrance and establish a hoofhold. Notify all Flame Warriors and Gryphon Carnivore squads."
All around, Flame Warriors were making ready for the upcoming attack, and Gryphons were heading out on a hunt for the intruders.
"Let us hope that our defenses are strong enough to hold them." Lu'Rou'De prayed.
Though Studds lost many stallions to the Cannon's destructive firepower, he and his troops fought his way through the incomplete defenses and shot down the remaining Dau troops along with the Ethereal at the Cannon.
Atop a ledge, Lu'Rou'De saw the Ethereal fall dead and was torn. "Huai'Si'Lu! Noble Ethereal!" He cried. "Oh, we have lost you, we have lost all!"
General Vanguard Studds' heroic conquest of the Jian Yue moon base meant the end of the Dau threat do the Pandora System. In fact, the breach of their technologically advanced fortress, and the death of their Ethereal, rendered the Pandora conflict a bitter memory to the Dau. It would be centuries before the Dau would again consider any attempt to expand into Pandora. Before the troops, General Studds showed disdain for the impressive Dau fortifications and battlements.
Even if the outpost sustained little damage in the assault, it would be unbecoming of pious servants of the Equestrium to show too much interest in animal and heretical technology. More quaintly, however, Studds had many Dau artifacts and weapons secreted to Segmaretum Command, knowing well that he could curry favor among his superiors if their studies should reveal new insights into Dau military function. While his stallions celebrated, looted, and vandalized the xenos stores, General Studds smiled to think of the progress he was making on an undeniably ambitious career path.
More than any other race, the Eldeer concern themselves with the distant past and the distant future. In visions, Farseer Gitane anticipated the awakening of their ancient foes, the Necronies, on Pandora III. A Webway gate, unused for many millennia, flickered to life. In the blink of an eye, a barren tract of the wasteland planet became a sprawling base of operations, and the Eldeer army poured forth from it.
Just as quickly, this stronghold vanished from the naked eye, concealed by Eldeer artifice. The Eldeer had learned long ago that no bulwark, no matter how strong, could halt the slow, implacable progress of the Necronies. Only illusions, deceit, and misdirection could accomplish that goal - and these are things at which the Eldeer are peerless.
The Eldeer had prepared a harrowing gauntlet for their invaders, with all the feints and deception they could muster. This stronghold was not just a hoofhold, not just a key strategic point, not just home to many Eldeer secrets. No, through its long history, it had become sacred to the Woodworld Eldeer, and they would defend it accordingly.
In the Northern Wastes, Eldeer hover tanks and aircraft moved about the sandy terrain. Farseer Gitane stood before three Warlocks, making sure everything was running smoothly.
"They approach." She said, "We are prepared?"
"Yes, Farseer, but-" one of the Warlocks said hesitantly.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Must we fight?"
"We shall fight." Gitane answered. "They must never suspect. They shall come, expecting the obvious, the simple, the artless. They shall stab at the shadows with confused minds and troubled hearts. Meanwhile, we shall appear unseen from ten directions, and from every one strike a fatal blow."
Two of the Warlocks pranced off, while Gitane and the other Warlock boarded one of the transport vehicles. It hovered away to a different location in the wasteland and dropped off the Farseer and Warlock. They walked up near the cliff edge that overlooked their base.
"Do you know the history of this place," Gitane asked as she turned to the Warlock, "which we call Sacre Royaume and the young races call the Northern Wastes?"
"We the Eldeer made our war camp here," said the Warlock, "in a past age?"
"Yes, that is so." said Gitane. "Our ancestors came here to fight the Necronies when they were an overwhelming wave that swept the worlds. This system was one of their stages of destruction, their foundries of undeath. Our ancestors defeated them here."
She returned her gaze to the stronghold. "We constructed our war operation center here as an illusion. No brute army, no simple display of force could uncover its secrets, and none ever shall."
Eldeer troops moved about the base below, Eldeer vehicles hovered to positions, and even Treelords stepped out of the Support Portals and into the battlefield.
"No, it is more than an illusion." Gitane rephrased. "It is a clever trap, this place our ancestors forged. It is a net covered in leaves that the savage beast willingly stands on, tempted by a bloody morsel, only to find itself hoisted, trapped, at the hunter's mercy."
The Farseer sighed. "No, we shall guard our secret. No force can strike a target it cannot find. We shall not yield up our hoofhold on this world. Pandora was once ours, and shall be ours again."
The stealthy Eldeer could not hide from General Studds and his stallions as they destroyed every single Treebone structure that stood before them. Farseer Gitane stood atop a ledge, reflecting upon her ancestor's historical victory.
"We came here long, long ago." She said as her warriors and stronghold continued to be ravaged before her very eyes. "We did battle with our deathless foes, the Necronies, and won. This day... this day we have lost. If they swarm again like locusts here, some other must stop them."
The Equestrial Guard shot at anything that was not Pony. The Eldeer warriors fell to their lasguns and bayonets. The Treelords tried to bring them down, but were attacked by Sentinel lascannons. From afar, Chimera tanks drove in, firing their hot-shot guns and annihilating the Eldeer.
On the cliff, Gitane trotted to the Webway Gate that brought her to Pandora III in the first place. "For we shall be gone." She disappeared into the Webway with the Warlocks. Sentinels approached the portal and blasted it to rubble.
The fact that an ancient Eldeer stronghold had resided on Pandora III took the 252nd Conservator Regiment entirely by surprise, something that General Vanguard Studds was not pleased to hear of. After sending the officers responsible for intelligence on Pandora III to the firing squads, General Studds undertook to remove all non-Equestrial presences from the planet. Although the strategies and technology of the Eldeer far outmatched his abilities, the fearless General marshaled firepower and heavy armor to great advantage, finally revealing, cornering, and removing the Eldeer forces from the face of the map.
What the Equestrial Guard found after the battle was evidence of an Eldeer military presence older than theirs; and, in fact, older than the very Equestrium. General Studds paused only a moment to wonder at this before ordering nearly all of the Eldeer structures and artifacts summarily destroyed. In Studds' mind, Pandora III was a waste planet, good for mining or few necessary military installations, and no more. The Northern Wastes would make a finer low-grade outpost for the Equestrial Guard.
It may never be known what first awakened the cold legions of the Necrony from their vast burial vaults in the southern coast of Pandora III. Archives suggest that Equestrial Guard survey crews may have been dispatched to Coastal Timore several months before the conflict. Others point to the strange and unknown influence of the Warp Storm, which could somehow have roused the deathless Necronies from their slumber.
Out of the dry Timoren sands, an ancient complex emerged - part burial ground, part power plant, part staging ground. As builder scarabs removed sands and restored structures to power, its clean-cut, symmetrical, and lifeless forms emerged. It pulsed with the green glow of the strange power which fuels the Necronies - vast reserves of it. Enough to drive an endless stream of monoliths and Necrony soldiers.
Anyone foolish enough to assail this unearthed necropolis would do well to heed that flow of energy. It is the source of the Necronies' power, and if unchecked, there is little limit to what strength Necronies could marshal against their foes.
The great Coastal Timore was vast and mountainous. Giant rocks and boulders dotted the landscape. A Necrony Specter patrolled near a cliff. It stopped as it spotted two Guardponies galloping through the canyon. It turned and hovered away to its master, the Necrony Lord, who was overlooking the great power plant that gave them the energy to move. It communicated through strange code to the robotic Unicorn.
"So, they come." the Necrony Lord breathed with a deep, hauntingly robotic voice.
He lifted his bladed staff into the air and pierced it into the ground, disappearing in a flash of unnatural magic. He reappeared at a critical location, pulled out an orb from his ribcage, and slammed it into the ground, releasing an eruption of energies that activated the nearby bridge. The bridge's rails glowed green as its power turned on, eventually reaching the dormant monolith on the other side. The monolith's systems slowly started turning on as well.
The Necrony Lord stood at the monolith. "Awake..." He rasped deeply, "I give you energy. Drink of it... and awake."
All around, Necrony warriors rose from the sand and glowed with their sinister power. They slowly marched off to battle against their enemies.
"They... shall meet... their ends." said the Necrony Lord. "They... shall join... the army of... death."
General Studds and his stallions fought their way through the horrifying swarms of Necronies until they finally destroyed the Great Generator that gave them their power. Monoliths started losing power and dropped to the ground, disappearing in a whirlwind of green energy. Guardponies shot at the remaining Necrony warriors who were still standing, but they too dropped to the ground, completely drained of their energy. One by one, Necronies were losing their precious power and falling to the dirt deactivated.
Another monolith dropped to the ground powerless and disappeared. Other Necrony structures collapsed upon themselves. More Necronies fell to the ground, drained of energy and left motionless. Even the Necrony Lord turned off and curled up like a dried up piece of meat left in the heat.
Had the 252nd Conservator Regiment, under its former commanders, ever taken their census and survey duty seriously, the ancient Necrony stronghold of Pandora III would probably have been awakened hundreds of years prior to the Pandora conflict. Whether their failure to keep any presence on this wasteland planet was remarkable luck, or dismal negligence, is now debated heavily by Equestrial Historians.
Invigorated under the capable command of General Studds, the Equestrial Guard showed their best face, and everything that the ancient exhumed necropolis sent against them were beaten back with ample munitions, perseverance, and heavy armor. Adapting the examples set in the war of Cronus, General Vanguard Studds had cargo-loads of bombs shipped to the Timoren plains, and every inch of possible Necrony catacomb was subject to multiple detonations. Following the victory, Studds forbade any future Equestrial surveys of Pandora III.
The Dark Eldeer feared little an attack on their base of operations, situated as it was on the dark side of the moon well within the reaches of the Warp Storm of Pandora IV. The seventh Ancient Gate lay on that moon, but the Dark Eldeer, knowing its technology well, had fixed it to work only for them when they had arrived there.
The effects of this hubris, and the general anarchic nature of Archon Sinnerk's soldiers, resulted in a sprawling makeshift reproduction of Decemalin, the Dark Eldeer home city. Surrounding the major warcamp lay smaller camps, surrounded by miles of torture ground, a sort of cage-garden of the Haemonculus Tourmenteur making. Rich with plunder in slaves, scraps, and goods, this area had grown and sprawled. Meanwhile, the center grew dense with powerful Dark Eldeer, and the legendary Coeurnoir Drak, leader of Sinnerk's Black Heart Kabal, was said to oversee the war preparations there.
To say that the Dark Eldeer were unprepared for an attack would not be quite accurate. The Dark Eldeer are ever ready for battle; it is a sport and a passion to their kind, and there is no such thing as catching them off their guard. Nonetheless, the miles of torture gardens were poorly attended at best, and full of prisoners, many still capable of turning against their captors. For an attacker there was a faint glimmer of hope...
Atop a great cliff, Dark Eldeer vehicles, almost similar to Eldeer tanks if not more wicked looking, skimmed through the base, dropping off Archon Sinnerk and his minions. The Haemonculus Tourmenteur, followed by Dark Eldeer wielding large retractable blades on their front-right leg, pranced to the Archon, whose armor was covered in blood from the chest down.
"Ha ha!" Sinnerk chuckled with a cacophonous tone in his voice, "We are fresh from the fight. We have shed blood. Death, terror, and anguish sang sweetly in our ears."
"Ah, but Lord Sinnerk, have you taken prizes?" Tourmenteur asked. He had a spinning, bladed device on his front-right leg, and a plague blasting projectile on the other.
The Archon raised an eyebrow to the Haemonculus. "Do you doubt me, Tourmenteur? Many prisoners were taken. We have our tribute to Decemalin, and many left over for our Slave Chambers and your torture grounds."
"Come, Archon," said Tourmenteur as their minions trotted away, "come to my torture grounds." Sinnerk and Tourmenteur casually walked to the Haemonculus's garden while he spoke words. "We win, we lose, win and lose, but always richer, richer with slaves and spoils."
"Indeed!" Sinnerk nodded as they walked by Pony slaves, harvesting souls and being whipped mercilessly by a spiky, scantily clad Dark Eldeer doe. "We shall be well respected, and rewarded, when we return to Decemalin."
"When we return. If we return!" Tourmenteur rephrased. "Return the victors... or return the vanquished?"
They soon reached the Haemonculus's torture garden. Large cages dotted the area, surrounded by the corpses of sacrificed slaves. Tourmenteur sighed a breath of bliss. "My grounds. Where screams are flowers, and pain their fragrance." He deeply sniffed the foul air and let out another blissful sigh as he approached a captured Guardpony. "A fine, fine nest we have. High upon the cliff. Hard to see, harder still to reach!" He grinded up the Earth Pony, blood and organs flew out of his victim's body, and then shot him with his plague blaster. "Will any reach this nest? Will they take away my garden?"
"Are you questioning my right to lead?" Sinnerk asked angrily. "My inevitable victory? I am the deadly shadow and the bird of prey. I am the poisoned dagger that brings swift death!" He walked up next to Tourmenteur. "These crude and foolish armies know nothing of strategy. If they see a wall, they charge at it. If they see an army, they attack it. They will be too busy with each other to notice us, or if they do, it will be too late."
Sinnerk looked to his minions. "Worry not. And it is of no matter, we keep a keen watch. If an army approached, surely we would see it coming. Then, we would tear it to pieces!"
General Studds' Equestrial Guard forces overwhelmed the Dark Eldeer base with determined firepower and pious anger, destroying every heretical animal structure that stood before them.
"Sinnerk, you fool!" Coeurnoir shouted angrily as his Dais skimmered through lasgun fire to their portal. "I will have your head for this! Quickly, back to Decemalin!"
"Well!" said Sinnerk, "If he had died, I should have taken his place! Now, I must flee." The Archon turned and galloped through the portal as Guardponies shot at him from behind. He disappeared without a trace, leaving the remaining Dark Eldeer and stronghold to perish.
During the Pandora conflict, the Equestrial Guard were some of the hardest hit by Dark Eldeer hit-and-run tactics. These raids, often small in size, came under the cover of darkness, and at lightning speed. Often, the Guardponies on duty would not have returned a single shot before the Dark Eldeer ships were speeding away, laden down with captives and other spoils.
The Dark Eldeer penchant for speed, fear, and striking from the shadows served them poorly. However, when they found the 252nd Conservator Regiment pounding on their door, no amount of running or hiding could save them. The Equestrial Guard swept over the Black Heart Kabal's compound on the moon of Scegraven, crushing everything under its mighty marshal treads. The Equestrial Guard soldiers were horrified of the tortured and mutilated comrades they saw there, and when their victory was near, this was channeled into a vindictive rage, which did not subside until the enemy's buildings and vehicles were shattered, leveled, and then crushed into dust.
Little was ever uncovered and little will ever be known of how the Warp Storm was unleashed on the Pandora System's fourth habitable planet. Whether Guardponies there grew corrupt and turned to evil worship, or whether the Storm took them unaware is an open question. What is without doubt is that at the Storm's eye lay the lair of the Discord Pony Marines, and at the heart of this lair, a network of unholy and bloodstained shrines, linked somehow inextricably to the storm itself.
Although the lethal Warp Storm would flicker and squall here and there, ever shifting, a permanent conduit to the Warp was maintained between these shrines. A charged field of Immateria whirled there, certain death to any who had not given themselves over fully to Discord. In that radiant, deadly energy field, strange shapes could be seen dancing, screaming, howling...
Any would-be conqueror of this unholy citadel would somehow have to dispel the Discord field that protected it. To enter it would be certain death. And while it stood, nothing could reach the forces of Discord that lurked at its center.
At a shrine that whispered daemonic voices and steamed with evil magic, cultists chanted around it. The Discord Lord Pyrolius Carcas stood at the unholy statue of the Blood God's daemon servant. A lone cultist galloped up from behind, twitching with excitement.
"They come." said the corrupted Earth Pony.
"They come!!!" a Discord Marine yelled elsewhere.
"Yes," said one of the chanting cultists, his voice high-pitched and oozing with lunacy, "we feel them. They approach."
"Their blood shall flow at our hooves." another chanting cultist said.
"Blood for the Blood God!" another cultist exclaimed.
"Yes," a cultist giggled, "we shall slake our thirsts for death, for Discord, for terror. Yes!"
"They draw near." said Pyrolius. "Let them come. The very ground will poison you. Daemons will appear from the Warp when your back is turned. We shall lash out from every direction and yours shall be the cries of death and horror." The Discord Lord broke into sinister laughter at the thought of all the bloody sacrifices to his dark gods.
On the streets, Discord Marines and Discord Hunter tanks headed down to battle, while Hell Blades flew over to preform strafing runs on the enemy ranks.
"The sound of your doom will ring in your skull," Carcas proclaimed, "in your soul... you shall tremble. And your blood shall be a gift to the Blood God."
The Discord Lord took a deep breath. "Let them come. We are ready."
General Studds, burning with pious anger towards the heretical forces of Discord, unleashed Equestrial fury upon the heathens without mercy. The Equestrial Guard overpowered the daemonic legion and razed every damned structure to the ground.
"No! No!" Pyrolius shouted. "We cannot lose... we cannot die... how can we?!" He turned and galloped away from the battle, leaving the other corrupted Ponies for dead.
"Without our devotion." said a cultist as the others were gunned down in front of him. "Without our sacrifice." Bison charged at them, crushing the cultists beneath their weight and stabbing them with their horns and large bayonets.
The Discord Lord grunted in despair as he ran away. "The horrid blossom of Discord will wither, will die!" He stopped dead in his tracks as General Vanguard Studds, a Commissar, and Kasrkin Ponies galloped up and blocked his way.
Carcas turned and looked at the battlefield from afar. "This world... is slipping... from our grasp..."
Studds went up to the Discord Lord and fought mono-a-mono. When the fight was done, Studds slashed at Pyrolius. The corrupted Pony fell on his flank, dying. Studds then pulled out his golden laspistol and shot the traitor in the head.
There can be little doubt that the 252nd Conservator Regiment's assault on the Discord Pony Marines was fueled by a sense of lost honor and credibility. While a final judgement could wait centuries in Segmaretum's Marshal Courts, General Vanguard Studds knew well that the Warp Storm had erupted on the Equestrial Guard's watch, and that many suspected heresy among their ranks to be the cause.
Whether to make amends for their failures or to prove their detractors wrong, the brave stallions of the 252nd fell upon the enemy on Pandora IV with all the force, armor, and firepower at their command. Under the rigorous command of their new General, the stallions became brave and resourceful. In such high spirits, and hoping that the defeat of Discord would banish the Warp Storm with it, General Vanguard Studds declared it a day of celebration, to be commemorated by all Equestrial residents of Pandora forever afterward. Anything in the Patriarchal Legion's colors would be burned, and Guardponies paraded and were honored as was their due.
The 252nd Pandoran Conservator Regiment proved their right to rule in no uncertain terms. General Vanguard Studds' ability to organize and reform this long neglected army did not go unnoticed by the Segmaretum Top Bracts. His career could not fail to rise in time beyond the role of Governor-General to a small star system.
For the time being, however, Studds busied himself and his proud Regiment in post-war reconstruction. Thankfully, the Warp Storm vanished of its own accord. Pandora IV was suitable for resettlement. Only Pandora III did not feel the commotion of construction, mining, and terraforming. This planet was left largely barren. Who could say what else slept beneath those sands?
In time the system became a proud Equestrial hub, and famed Guard Academies turned out superior infantry, second only to Casser itself. Pandora became home to proud Pony populations, warlike, and devoted to the Empress. In these times, it would be hard to imagine that a bloody war had been fought, or that heresy and Discord had ever been there.
