//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Growing Tensions 
// Story: The Tri-War Saga 
// by Glimmering Knight 
//------------------------------//

Unbeknownst to most of ponykind, a treaty between pegusi, earth ponies, and unicorns was signed over 500 years ago, declaring that any violent actions performed by an entire race of ponies directed towards another specific race of ponies would be considered hateful, and that the entire race would be wiped from the face of Equestria by the armies of peace. However, the armies of peace were long disbanded, and since then tensions between the groups were high. The peace throughout all of Equestria was hanging by a thread, and only a mere snip was needed to throw everything into total chaos...

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?

"Hi, uh, this is an anonymous call, there's loud noises coming from inside my friend, Rarity's house. I'm too scared to go in to check it out, but I want to make sure she's ok. I always worry about everypony. I need someone to come down here and check out the scene, if that's, uh, ok with you too..."

"Sure ma'am, please stay on the line while we send the pony police to check it out."

"Thank you very much!"

"It's my job, and I'm happy to help"

5 minutes went by on the phone with that 911 operator, but it felt like an eternity for the young Fluttershy. However she was right to make the call, and they should have sent more police cars.

Inside of the now wrecked household and dress shop, were Rarity and Rainbow Dash lying on the floor next to the finest new dress Rarity had just hand-made, each severely maimed. It appeared that Rarity and Rainbow Dash had stab marks from the same weapon, so the police assumed that whoever did this was armed and at large. However, as Dash and Rarity slipped into unconsciousness, they were taken by the pony police to the Canterlot Hospital, and hadn't woken up for many days...

"Rainbow Dash: accused of aggravated assault, larson, and theft. What's the story behind all of this?" asked the honorable judge Lardicious.

"Well first of all judge Lar-... can I just call you Lardo?" asked the inmate Rainbow Dash.

"Only my mother can call me that! I have to live in her basement by her rules, sadly..." retorted "Lardo".

"Ok *cough Lardo cough*, well it all started at Rarity's house... it was originally a great and sunny day, until I walked in the door to Rarity's house. She was in such a horrible mood for some reason, that it instantly made me feel sympathetic for some reason..."

"That's because I had the flu you dunderhead!" retorted Rarity with a sniffle.

"Whatever," continued Dash, "so, she was in such a horrible mood, that I started to feel bad. I thought surprising her with my visit might bring here day up, being the wonderfully nice and pleasant pony I am, but it didn't. I walked up behind her and yelled 'Surprise!' and instead of being pleased, she turned around and hooved me in the face, hard! So I retaliated and tackled her to the ground next to her new dress. Then, she used her magic and flung sharp gems at my head which are still lodged in there (I need surgery to fix that). In order to defend myself, I broke a nearby glass bottle and lunged at the crazed mare, and stabbed here in the left upper forehoof. Abruptly, she made a move and pinned me to the ground, broke my right wing, and used my bottle to stab me right in the stomach. After that the police showed up and I woke up in jail some time later feeling better."

"Is this true Rarity?" asked the judge.

"Some of it, but not all of it!" she replied.

"Go on," approved the judge

"Well, the details what happened during the fight are entirely true," she started, "but the reason is not! She did walk in, but she was carrying something that looked like a knife. She then walked up behind me and said so softly 'Surprise...' almost as if that arrogant pegasus buffoon was about to assassinate me, so I turned around to see what she wanted. I stuck out my hoof for a handshake and had accidentally nudged her in the face with it, and it all went downhill from there..."

"That's entirely untrue you greedy unicorn ignoramus!" Dash promptly stated.

"Your story was too you lying, pathetic pegasus dunce!" said Rarity with a sort of pride.

"Ladies please! Dignity and respect will be shown in my courtroom! Jury, please tell me you have reached a verdict..." begged the judge.

The jury, which no one has cared to look at until now, is coincidentally made up of half pegasi and half unicorns.

"No we have not judge," answered the pegasus foreman, "but I think the case is leaning in the direction of Rainbow Dash."

"Really now? Because I think this is going to Rarity," replies a unicorn in the jury.

Soon, the entire courtroom virtually divided into unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. The unicorns and pegasi were the two groups who were doing all the fighting, while the earth ponies stood off to the side in horror at the vocabulary each side traded off. Soon, the two sides had collided verbally long enough, and they began a massive brawl! Out of a courtroom of 300, 200 of the ponies currently in attendance were in the dustcloud if flying hooves and missed bucks. It was a sad day in pony history, and just when it seemed like it couldn't get much worse, it felt to them all as if the binding thread from the treaty had finally been cut, and a wave a retaliation was soon to follow...