It's a beautiful day, the sky was clear and blue. The cool breeze of winter leaves for spring. Flowers were already popping, and the grass was greener than ever. And what better place to spend the season but Ponyville, a lovely town just south of Canterlot. The town holds so many things to offer. The best apples you'd ever eat, the prettiest of flowers, and the home of the most notorious mercenaries in all of Equestria.
And just like shattering glass, the peace of this town crumbled as a wagon barreled through the streets of Ponyville. On top of the wagon was a mare who grinned mischievously as she rode the wagon. Her helmet sat snugly on her cotton-like mane, and her blue military uniform was covered with dirt and confetti. The two party balloons on her bandolier jiggled as the wagon hit a bump on the road as it ran straight through the farmers market. She howled cheerfully as the wagon drove through a stall, sending the vegetables flying.
This was none other than Pinkamena Diane Pie, the soldier. With her trusty Party Launcher by her side, this wagon filled with high explosives will reach its destination. And who better to aid Pinkie in the quest but her good pal Dr. Twilight Sparkles, the mare who quite literally ripped out a pony's skeleton for the glory of science. Quite an accomplishment, wouldn't you say? While Pinkie had the boom, Twilight had their backs with the help of her medigun.
Also in her team was Rainbow Dash, who took on the role of the scout. Her speed and athletics gave her an edge. Always ahead of the rest, always first to the fight.
With the two on the wagon, this gives Rainbow Dash enough freedom to do as she pleases. As the scout of the group, she was entrusted to go on ahead and check the corners for trouble. And as expected, there was indeed danger just around the bend. A level 3 sentry turret nearly clipped Dash's wings as she flew by, bullets and missiles zoomed past her. She cursed at the owner, a small purple dragon wearing a hard hat.
Spike grinned back at the cowering pegasus. He gave his sentry a light pat, knowing full well that his invention halted the progress of his enemies. And seeing that he was discovered, Spike opted to relocate his sentry.
"Hard work does pay off, huh?" Spike chuckled softly as he ran with the large toolbox in his arms.
But this was a grave mistake, a shadow loomed over him, and the young drake failed to react in time as a knife was brought down onto his exposed back.
"I'm truly sorry dearie, but a mare has a job to do." Rarity the spy didn't enjoy killing Spike, but there was work to be done. With one less threat in the way, the wagon continued through the streets.
The Blue team had already cleared so much ground, their destination was just a few points away. It is only a matter of time before they reach their destination, and when they do, the Red team is about to get a hell of a surprise.
At Red base, Spike stomped out of the spawn room, with a displeased look on his face. "I should've seen that one coming." He grumbled as he walked past Big Mac, the heavy.
"Eeyup." The stallion agreed with his signature word. As usual, he was always the strong and silent type. Not much of a conversation could be had with Mac, but boy is he a bulldozer in a fight.
"Right, but what happened to you?" Spike asked his ally.
"Pinkie." Was Mac's answer.
"Guess we'll have to defend the last point." Spiked sighed. "And we had such a good run."
Red base wasn't really a base to be accurate, it was just Twilight's castle redecorated as Red base. The Blue team was tasked to demolish the offending building in Ponyville by princess Luna herself since it was technically on princess Celestia's side. And as expected, Twilight was reluctant to join the Blue team, but by the end of the day, money is power.
Spike stepped outside of the castle and started working with his sentry gun. The teleporter he had previously set up was nothing but rubble now thanks to Rarity's sapper. It was of no use anyways, the wagon had made too much progress.
An explosion ringed from the castle, both Spike and Mac looked towards the entrance where a mare barreled through. Her blonde mane fluttered with the wind, the cold hard steel of her sword glimmered with the light. And a pissed-off look occupied her face with ill intent in her one good eye.
"Hey AJ!" Spike greeted mare.
"That dang Pyro! She better watch her back when Ah find him!" Frustrated, Applejack kicked the dirt beneath her. "What's the stat, Spike!?"
"We lost most of our points, the wagon is so close I can almost lick it."
"That's bad," Applejack hummed. "Ah have an idea! Ah'm bringin' in the Farmer's Resistance! Wait 'ere." Applejack rushed back inside to retrieve her weapon.
Spike turned towards Big Mac. "If you want to switch weapons, now is the time Big Mac."
The stallion did not speak, he only nodded before going after his sister to grab the right weapon for the job.
Left on his own, Spike sprung into action. His first task was setting up his dispenser, a vital invention that will play an important part since the team had no medics. After a few trips back to spawn, Spike had managed to set up a good nest. Now he just needed to place his latest sentry somewhere that could hold a choke point. Just needed to make sure that no spies get anywhere near his guns.
So the best course of action was placing the sentry right on the edge of the castle's balcony. A good clear sight on the final choke, easy to access with a teleporter, and most important part of it all, far from Rarity's pretty little hooves. Hopefully, they can hold the point until their contracts end for the day.
Meanwhile, in the throne room of Canterlot castle, two sisters sat in their respected thrones. A large white line between them stretched towards the entrance. Ever since their mother had passed away, the two sisters had inherited Equestria as the rulers. But the land was divided between the two sisters. In the end, they continued to bicker with each other.
After the first year of their reign, Luna devised a plan to conquer the land that her sister owned not with her personal soldiers, but mercenaries who were not aligned with the crown. This way, it would be under the guise of hired swords with a mysterious benefactor. But Celestia had discovered her plans and hired her own, this began a war that lasted a thousand years. Now, the two sisters were in a stalemate. Nothing had changed at all.
All they have left is some idiots killing each other over and over, and Discord's support. The thing is, thanks to Discord, the idiots they hired were free to kill each other as long as their contracts were still active. No matter how much you died, no matter how much you were maimed. The respawn will just put you back together in one piece. And as a bonus, Discord would broadcast the battle to the sisters no problem.
This way one can mock the other when their side was winning.
"Oh dearest sister," Luna hummed smugly. "Looks like the bomb is nearing the final point, and my team is dominating yours."
Celestia huffed. "I wouldn't gloat so early Luna, even though you hired my own student against me, I can still put my trust on her assistant, Spike."
Luna smirked proudly, she knew she had the upper hand. It was a five on four, Luna had even hired the right mares for the job. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Dash and... that thing... the pyro. It was a good team comp, Twilight was the main healer of the group and Pinkie was the best for a full-on assault. Dash was quick, bullets won't be able to touch her once she reaches the right speed. And like the other scouts that came before, Dash knew how to pick her fights.
When she had learned that Celestia had hired Spike and Applejack, Luna knew she needed Rarity for her skills with the blade. Without Applejack, sentry guns would be a problem. So Rarity was the best choice. To counter the Demomare, Luna had hired the pyro who would just airblast any pipes that comes her way. And in the end, all Luna had left for Celestia was Big Mac and Fluttershy. She knew the stallion was slow and big, and an easy picking for someone as quick as Dash.
And Fluttershy? She was honestly both the weakest and strongest member of the group. She could easily pick off her enemies from the distance, but when it came to close-quarter combat, she was honestly useless. Sure she managed to take down a few spies, but that was sheer luck from what they have seen. Either that or her friends were just giving her free kills.
"Excuse me," Discord popped in from out of thin air. "but there is something that I must inform you two of."
"Not now Discord, the game is about to get to the good part!" Celestia shooed Frankenstein's monster away.
Discord sighed softly, he hovered just above the two sisters. "But this problem concerns both of you. And we must deal with it as soon as possible."
"What is so important that we must miss the destruction of Twilight's castle?" Luna questioned.
"He's right, your highness!" Iron Will boomed into the conversation, he walked into the throne room with his right arm was held by a sling. "We have a bit of a problem due to our... franchise!"
"Iron Will, what has happened to thy arm?" Luna couldn't help but ask.
"That's part of the problem." He answered. "Allow me to introduce the... newest CEO of Mane Co, Saxton Hale."
The two sisters were confused, they did not understand what he had meant by "newest CEO". Soon after, a muffled noise could be heard. Luna and Celestia looked around for the source but found none. Then out of nowhere, something had crashed through the ceiling and let out a triumphant laugh as it landed right in the middle of the throne room.
"Saxton Hale!" The creature who looked like a hairless ape bellowed. Well, he was mostly hairless. This Saxton Hale person stood proudly on the spot right under the light that came from the hole on the roof. He was what many would say as ripped. The creature was the same height as Iron Will, but there was no competition when comparing their muscles. Saxton Hale was just darn beefy. "G'day ladies, I am Saxton Hale, son of Bilious Hale who was the son of Barnabus Hale! And you ladies, have just been served!"
"Iron Will, Discord! What does this... ape?" Luna paused for a second.
"I am a man, your highness. The manliest man you ever met to be perfectly honest." Saxton Hale answered, he was not offended in any way at all.
"I didn't want to assume. Ahem. What does this man mean!? I demand an answer this instant!"
"That's the thing, Lulu." Discord groaned painfully as his body fell apart. "We have lost Mane Co to Saxton Hale due to copyrights."
Iron Will continued. "And for weeks we have been trying to win the case, but sadly the court was not on our side. We ended up losing everything, your highness."
"Why have we not been informed of this...? And what do you mean we lost everything?" Both sisters asked in unison.
"Everything. Mane Co, the factories, our products, and the worse part, our territories." Iron Will explained. "That means the badlands are theirs, your highness."
"Which means we have no way to supply our mercenaries!" Luna ended.
"How is this possible!? What did we even steal!?" Celestia wanted to know just so she could understand what was happening.
Saxton Hale cleared his throat. "Miss Pauling, bring in the guns!"
The doors flew open and in came a woman pushing a trolley filled with numerous weapons. Once it was set up close enough, Saxton Hale swiped one of the guns and presented it to the princesses.
"Do you know what this is?" He asked as he held the double-barreled shotgun in his hand.
"That is the Force-A-Thunder, a favored weapon by many scouts," Celestia answered, knowing what the weapon is and what class uses it the most.
"That is right." Luna agreed.
"No, this gun came straight from Mann Co itself! But we call it the Force-A-Nature! Which serves the same purpose as yours."
"This is ridiculous! Are you saying that we are at fault for having the same gun design by coincidence!?" Luna argued.
"Miss Pauling?" Saxton Hale did not need to say more. The assistant quickly presented a familiar weapon.
"This is called the Backburner sir, and there is a flamethrower with the same purpose called the Flankburner. Manufactured by Mane Co of course. Though the only difference is the head design, which is based on a creature called niriks." Miss Pauling showed off the burning capabilities of the flamethrower by spraying some flames towards Saxton Hale who only shrugged it off. "There is also the Direct Hit, the Panic Attack, and more. All of which are identical in purpose and appearance."
Saxton Hale chuckled. "See ladies? Your products are nothing but stolen designs! So I was forced to put my foot down, and now I own both Mane Co and the badlands."
"You can't just do that! He can't just do that!" Luna whined. "We didn't even design those! We only approved the patent!"
Celestia sighed deeply. "Dearest sister, I do believe we are at wits end. There is nothing we can do, we must concede and surrender Mane Co, we might as well. Perhaps this is the chance for us to bury the hatchet sister. Maybe we can finally unite Equestria and rule it side by-"
"We also lost Luna's side of Equestria to Mann Co." Discord informed them both.
"Ha!" Celestia stood up from her throne, a triumphant smile plastered on her face. "I won! You've lost everything! Defeated by aliens, you have fallen so deeply in the pit dear sister!" She even started dancing right in front of Luna knowing full well that she was victorious. "You've lost, and I won! In your face!"
"I wouldn't relax just yet." Iron Will said awkwardly. "We still haven't settled with your land, princess Celestia."
"W-what?"
"Iron Will is right!" Saxton marched up to the minotaur's side and placed a hand on Iron Will's injured shoulder. "You bunch lost Mane Co and the badlands in an arm wrestling competition! And Luna's territory after I had beaten the pulp out of your administrator! Who knew that our companies shared the same rule, huh?"
Both princesses glanced over to Discord who was attempting to pull himself together but was failing miserably. A literal god of chaos, defeated by an Australian. It was a new low for Discord and he knew he couldn't fix his broken pride. And this caused the sisters to rethink the idea of just banishing Saxton Hale to the moon. And Iron Will's injury is now explained, but that only solidified Hale's reputation.
"That's right, my men and I are aiming for your territory princess!" He chuckled proudly as he cracked his knuckles intimidatingly.
"Sister, I do believe you are what the children of this generation say as "screwed"." Luna poked fun at her, even though she still technically lost.
"P-perhaps we can settle this dispute in a much peaceful way?" Celestia knew not to test the mettle of man, if Saxton Hale could easily pummel Discord, who was to say that she could win the battle without a scratch?
"Peaceful? Like some hippies!?" Celestia paled when Saxton adopted a look of disgust. She thought about just sending him to the sun and see if she could take over Mann Co. But that was honestly unlikely. "Heard you princesses liked to hire some mercenaries to do some dirty work."
Somehow Hale calmed down, now a mischievous smirk was on his face.
"Another thing that you have stolen from us are the classes for your mercenaries." Hale continued. "But I don't mind that at all actually. This honestly gives me a grand idea! Two teams pitted against each other! The best of the best battling it out on the gravel!"
Celestia scoffed, she felt a sense of relief as well. "You wish to settle this through our mercenaries? If I am to put my crown on the line then you must wager the rights to Mane Co and my sister's territory of which I will gladly take for myself!"
"That's the spirit princess! I have already picked my best men for the job! I did the same for you and chose a very interesting group, quite a team you have there. Heard a lot of good things about those ponies." He chuckled proudly.
"Oh, so you know of the BG Alpha team led by the famous Doctor? Well of course they are the best on Equestria, armed and trained by the best. I'm sure your team is no match against his courageous group."
"He? I thought Twilight Sparkle was a female!"
"You chose them!?" Celestia nearly fell out of her throne. Everyone else shared her feeling, even Discord was shocked, so badly that his arm fell off his shoulder. "Saxton Hale I must implore you to reconsider! Twilight and her group are... Our best! Like, they... They had defeated the deranged wizard of the north, Sombra! I do believe if you wish for a chance to win and for a fair battle, you must seek a far weaker team!"
"Defeated a wizard, eh? Now that just makes me want them more!" Saxton Hale laughed. "Couldn't pick any better! My men will be done with the acquaintance party then we'll start this game of ours! Now if you excuse me, there's a hydra that has my name on it! Saxton Haaaaaaale!"
With the strength of his muscular thighs, Saxton Hale propelled himself towards the ceiling. Making another hole to accompany the other. Miss Pauling had also excused herself along with the weapons that Mann Co had manacfacture. Now left on their own, Celestia couldn't help but feel weak.
"Wait, what did he mean..." Luna began but couldn't finish.
Both sisters realized something amiss, their eyes snapped back towards the screen. And there the two teams fought, the Blue and the Red. But the odd thing is, Luna's hired guns now wore the red coats. And the reason for that was because nine men took their place. And these mercenaries were relentless with their assault. Missiles, bullets, pipe bombs. All rained down upon the Red team who fought back just as vicious as the Blues. It was still an even fight, and both sides were just enjoying the chaos.
"Discord," Celestia began. "you have ten seconds before I send you to the sun. So tell me, what the buck happened!?"
This was the first shot that started the war, a battle to decide the fate of Equestria. This was the beginning of Mann Vs Mane.