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// Pony Fortress 2: History 101 
// Story: Meet the Team: Pony Fortress 2 
// by The Usurper 
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	A/N: The following is a long story of Equestria's 1,500 years of history - mostly the first 500 - and so it is not strictly necessary to read (it is now), but since it would give a greater understanding of this story and its sequel. Have fun!





The Administrator, reclining in his armchair, took a sip from his glass of chocolate milk. "So, Screwball, what is it she wants me to do again?"

"Well... she wants you to give a history lesson."

"To what? The wall?"

"This camera, actually." Screwball reached into the saddlebags on her back and retrieved a video camera, the red light above its lens blinking rapidly.

"And this would be for..."

"Enlightening future generations, apparently. According to Celestia, the current educational system has to be revamped to adopt a more interactive approach."

"So let me get this straight... she wants the students of the Empire to have an ultra-powerful, magically unrivalled, one-of-a-kind deformed draconequus... as a history teacher."

"Luna was asking for something along the same lines too."

"Right. So the Empire and the Republic want to have a learning system in which a mutated monster reads from a textbook in front of a camera."

"Essentially, yes." Screwball shrugged. "Still your choice if you want to reject the offer, though."

"Nah, I'll do it. It's such an unexpected turn of events. I haven't had a dose of unpredictability like that in ages."

"If you say so." Screwball rummaged around in the bags and found the textbook. "Here you go."

"It's alright, I don't need it. I've lived long enough to know exactly what's been happening for the past few millennia."

Screwball scratched her head. "From what I know, you've been alive since the world began."

"Longer, really, but I'll only go over the time period covered in this book." He snapped his fingers, and the textbook appeared beside his head. It flipped open by itself, propelled by an invisible wind until the final page sank into place. "Let's see... what?! Only from the formation of Equestria?! That's only about a thousand and five hundred years ago! What kind of lazy history students only go one and a half millennia of events?" He released his telekinetic grip, allowing the book to fall onto the floor with a loud thud and a small crater.

"Never mind." He shook his head. "I can stretch a story. Give it a few details here, some extra tidbits that probably aren't in the textbook... and we've got an interesting bedtime story!"

"Um, not to burst your bubble, but I don't think Celestia and Luna will appreciate you adding anything different to the curriculum, especially since the students already have a lot to study and they would want some things to... stay hidden. They are leaders of their nations, after all; I'm sure they have some propaganda or censorship in place for the content in that book."

"Oh come on, censorship only deprives the masses of vital information, and propaganda is going to brainwash the populace into blindly following the dictates of the government without question. Besides, Imperial and Republic textbooks have got to be different, so why are they expecting to be able to use this one recording to fulfill all their propaganda-based needs?"

"Well, you're actually supposed to record it twice with two different versions."

"I'm definitely not doing that, so they're going to have to use the version I make..." He pointed at the book on the ground, sitting snugly in its little crater. "... Or they'll have to go back to using this needlessly heavy paperweight."

"They'll probably find a workaround, given enough time."

"But I want to make this video anyway." He grinned into the lens of the camera. "It's going to be fun."

"If you say so. But don't forget about tomorrow's meetings. The first one is at six a.m., and I don't think anypony wants you to be late for something so important."

"Yeah yeah, got it." The Administrator waved it off. "I'll make sure I'm awake and ready for it."

"Alright... see you later." With a shallow bow, Screwball took her leave, closing the door behind her.

The Administrator grinned at the camera. "Now gather around, children. I'm going to tell you a story..."





One thousand five hundred years ago, 0 AUE (After United Equestria)

The world was in harmony. Yes, harmony and peace and all that stuff is unutterably boring, but I couldn't do anything at this time.

Not yet, anyway.

At this point in time, Equestria was the only kingdom on earth, stretching across the plains from the Dragon Mountains in the east to the Mild West in the... well, west. The Griffins, later to separate and form a kingdom of their own, creating such delicious chaos in the process - oh yes, I can't wait for that part - remained under the administration of the dull alicorn sisters. Everything was peaceful and stuff, yadda yadda yadda, you get the idea.

But peace was not to last. Thankfully. Okay, maybe it did, for about five hundred years or so, but that's when we get to the fun part. You see, Equestria was - in name - an empire with two diarchs, Luna and Celestia, but it was more of a monarchy because Celestia, being the older sister, regarded her younger sibling as less knowledgeable and immature. She decided to take on most of the responsibilities of princesshood herself, letting Luna grow in age and experience. Eventually, Luna would, too, becoming an effective ruler.

Oh, how I love the buildup to conflict.

Luna, having agreed with her older sister's decision, stayed back in the darkness and learned how to lead a nation. Five hundred years later, she emerged from seclusion, ready to assume the duties of a princess, but to her great surprise, Celestia only gave her the most trivial roles a pony of her position could take on. Luna was thoroughly confused. She spent a few years trying to figure out why she had been relegated to a position of such unimportance.

Celestia, in the meantime, was worried for her sister. She knew what knowledge Luna had gained from the books she read, and the ideas of governance she had come up with were dangerous. Very much so. Thus she, with a heavy heart, resigned herself to suppressing her sibling and the seeds of "democracy" she planned to plant.

Tensions began to build up from here. Luna, believing that Celestia was power-hungry and would eventually become a ruthless dictator given enough time, started to gather her power base. More and more ponies started coming to the secret meetings she held every now and then to spread the principle of democracy among them.

Eventually, the meetings grew so large that they could no longer be kept concealed from Celestia's suspicious eyes, and she was absolutely shocked to discover that Luna had been promoting democracy behind her back. Luna already knew that she was not strong enough to face Celestia at this point, so she agreed to stop holding such meetings. However, when she saw that her sister's suspicions had begun to settle, she relocated the meetings as far north as she could, distancing herself from the Equestrian capital of Canterlot.

A few decades would pass this way. The exciting part comes after this, so don't worry.

Fifty or so years later, when Luna felt that she had the support of much of Equestria's populace, she waited for an opportunity, to put her ultimate plan into action. Oddly enough, it was a criminal that gave her the excuse she needed.

This criminal, Spectral Wrath, was a mass-murderer of the highest order. Time and time again he had escaped the arm of the law because of his unparalleled control of arcane magics, allowing him to teleport out of danger, smite his foes with the power of a god, cloak himself behind a veil of invisibility, and essentially do anything he needed to get away. He was finally captured, however, when Celestia herself intervened and trapped him in a rune prison so mighty that even he could not break free.

However, instead of punishing him heavily, Celestia let him go with only five years in jail and the promise of life-long servitude to her. She recognized his magical prowess and realized that it would be a waste if she were to keep him away from the society that he could use his talents to help.

Luna, on the other hand, was not about to let this opportunity slip away. During Celestia's public speech in which she justified her decision, Luna cut her off and loudly denounced her actions, demanding that she heed the will of the ponies who had suffered at the hooves of Wrath and execute him immediately. Celestia refused.

Wait, this is the dramatic part. Let me do it better... ahem...





552 AUE / 0 FCW (First Civil War) - The End of Harmony

"...and so, it is for the greater good of Equestria," Celestia said, shaking her head, "that Spectral Wrath pay his debt to society with his talent instead of his life. I cannot-"

"We advise, sister, that thou cease thy pathetic attempts at justification." Luna's voice rang through the Canterlot public address square. Instantly, all eyes were on her.

"Wh... what... Luna, what are you doing?"

"Dispensing true justice." She turned to the audience, reapplying her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Tell us, subjects, what do you wish the fate of this murderer to be?"

All was silent. Ponies were looking at one another uncertainly.

"Feel free to speak thy mind, for thou art under our protection now." Luna assured them. "Let us ask once more. Wouldst thou wish that this pony, this killer, walk free in our streets at night?"

"No!" Somepony shouted from the back of the crowd. Evidently, this one show of defiance was enough to galvanize the entire group into action.

"Let him pay for his crimes with death!"

"Nopony is exempt from the law! Punish this criminal!"

"At the very least, keep him away from us and protect us from his wrath!"

"Enough!" Celestia finally shouted. "You will all be silent at once!"

"Nay, sister." Luna intervened. "They have been silent for five hundred years. Do not deny them the freedom they so rightly deserve." Her eyes burned with dark fire. "Yield, Celestia. Yield to democracy."

"Oh no... oh no..." Celestia stepped back, fear shining in her eyes. "No, Luna, please... don't..."

"'Tis too late for regrets." Luna's horn flashed, and the sky darkened as ebony-black clouds blocked out the sun. One of the clouds crackled with stored electricity, and a second later a bolt of lightning arced its way towards Wrath's neck.

"No!" Celestia's horn shone, but the shield she conjured appeared too late to prevent his demise. A charred body was all that remained of the unicorn.

"No..." Celestia collapsed onto her knees. "No..." Now even the crowd became silent as, against all odds, their collective wish had been fulfilled.

Luna gazed upon her sister dispassionately. "We will meet again, dear sister, on the battlefield." Looking to the heavens, her eyes glowed brightly, and in an instant her body dissolved into a swirling miasma of stars that headed into the sky, away from the sobbing Celestia and the shocked crowd.

"Heed our words, Equestria." Luna's voice cut through the tension like a knife through butter, turning everypony's attention up to the clouded sky. "Thou shalt soon witness the fall of this Empire. Out of the ashes will arise a New Lunar Republic, to lead and guide according to the wishes of the people."

The echo, reverberating through the square, eventually died down, but the sound of a alicorn's weeping did not.





Ah, the second-best part of this story.

Luna, having taken advantage of this opportunity to officially declare war, sent the signal to her troops who had previously entered the walls of many Equestrian cities in the north - half of all there was - with the excuse of maintaining security in the midst of Wrath's killing spree. They immediately sprung into action, taking Celestia's forces by surprise as trusted allies suddenly became vicious enemies.

That day, northern Equestria fell to the Republic. Manehattan, one of the largest cities of the north, was designated Midnight Castle and became Luna's capital.

In the wake of all of the wonderful chaos caused, other regions took the opportunity to break away from Equestria as well. The Griffins, inspired by Luna's speech, agreed upon the formation of a republic, although the process was slow because they didn't have anybody who could have taken the role of a leader on such short notice. The dragons simply laid claim to the mountains and settled there, deciding to live individual lives instead of selecting one to rule them. The zebras in the south adopted the Imperial system of monarchy.

I, on the other hand, was watching the show and eating popcorn. Ah, those were the days. Drama was so real back then! Probably because it was real, but... anyway, back to the story.

Before I continue, though, there are two ponies you really, really need to know. They're probably going to be at the centre of at least one question in your final year exam, so you need to listen. Like, very carefully.

The first one is Quence. Full name Elo Quence, species pegasus, age twenty at the start of the war. She had a way with words and logic, and was the representative of the Republic in many of its negotiations and public speeches. Back before Equestria dissolved into civil war, the Princesses would tour Equestria every year, picking out those whom they saw to have great talent in one field or another. Celestia was responsible for scouring the southern half of Equestria, while Luna was take charge of the north. Quence's hometown was Manehattan, and well, you already know which part of Equestria it's in. Luna noticed her talent with words when a ten year old Quence got into an argument with a restaurant owner about whether she should be able to get a free lunch and somehow won.

Luna then approached her, determined to bring her back to the palace, but was taken aback when she flat-out refused. Five minutes later, a very surprised princess of the moon had agreed not only take her to Canterlot Castle but also let her stay in the best room with top-notch facilities and eat meals so grand they were prepared with Celestia's and Luna's in the royal kitchen.

Hmph. I could do that too if I wanted to. Just a little mind control and anypony'll do what I want them to. Those alicorns might be tougher to corrupt though... damn it.

Anyway, when she got to the palace, she met the pony Celestia had chosen. He had come from Ponyville, but his original home was Hoofington, also in the north. He was Master Mind, an earth pony with a rare genetic disease that left his right foreleg without sufficiently developed muscles to support it.

Now before we go any further, I should probably note that each species of pony has its own advantages. Unicorns have the power of magic, pegasi have the gift of flight, and earth ponies are naturally stronger than the other two. Now imagine a crippled earth pony. That's essentially somepony with nothing special about him.

That's Mind. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me, but there was one thing that set him apart from everypony else: his mind. Yes, that's probably why he's named that.

Believe me, if nothing else, his intelligence far surpassed any of the other ponies I'd ever met before, coming close to even Celestia and Luna. There was one time that I met him face-to-face, and his wisdom so greatly astounded me that... well, he's the first one of these lesser ponies that I have had even an ounce of respect for.

Back to the lesson. So Mind, like Quence, had the gift of the gab, though to a lesser extent in the case of the former. However, his ability to come up with logical counterarguments on the spot - or, when necessary, simply bend the truth to his will - made up for his linguistic flaws, and the two became fast friends. Being friends, they did things that friends would. I don't know what they are, because I personally don't condone friendship.

So this... ugh... friendship blossomed and bloomed and all those other flower-based analogies. Until, of course, war broke out. As Mind was studying under Celestia and Quence under Luna, they were separated when Luna whisked Quence away to her stronghold at Midnight Castle. While the two were close friends, loyalty to their chosen princesses, borne of ten years of indoctrination, led them to fight for the cause of the Empire and Republic respectively.

Don't you just love to see friendships torn apart? I sure do.

After the war began, Quence stayed in the castle, rarely venturing outside unless she had to. Luna occasionally arranged for her to make speeches to the people to "reassure" them - brainwash, more like it - that the Republic was winning the war, that it would deliver peace and freedom, and all that other nonsense. Eventually though - two years later -  she did have to leave the relative safety of Midnight Castle when the entire city was overrun by a surprise attack by the Imperial Grand Army.

Realizing that retaliation likewise was the only way to reassert Republic power in the war, Luna prepared her forces for a counter-invasion of Canterlot. Quence was in charge of the pep talk that would inspire the soldiers to fight to their best. It worked - but their best was no match for the Empire's cunning tactics. The invasion failed, and a few days later Luna sued for peace and agreed to sign an armistice. Midnight Castle was hoofed over to the Republic, and Quence returned to her haven.

The other pony you need to know about, as you might have guessed, is Master Mind. Earth pony, aged twenty-one when the war began. A poor peasant from Hoofington, his widowed mother moved to Ponyville when the cost of living in the city grew far too high for her to afford. When Celestia came to Ponyville, Mind approached her, ignoring the threats of a dozen guards, as he marched right up to her. He then proceeded to bombard her with questions about the poor treatment of the Equestrian peasants in the major cities, recounting tales of woe and the wealthy ponies' bullying that he and his friends had experienced back in Hoofington. He subsequently answered all his own questions with a hypothesis - the corruption of the nobility and others of high standing. Celestia immediately realized that this eleven-year-old was far wiser than anypony else of his age, and brought him back to the castle.

He spent the next few years of his life strengthening the bonds of friendship with Quence - I wasn't paying attention, but it may have been more than just friendship at some point - and outsmarting the nobles of the court in their daily power struggles. It was a calculated risk, of course - he banked on his relations with the Princess to keep him out of his enemies' reach. Time and time again, they underestimated Mind because of his age and his peasant origins, and eventually he rose to great prominence in the court. Nopony was more pleased than Celestia, who was happy partly because of Mind's success but mostly because he effectively brought the incessant bickering of the ministers and nobles to a screeching halt and organized their efforts towards something productive for once.

Celestia sent Mind to study under one of her best teachers - Sun "Chosen of the Sun" Tzu himself. If I'm not mistaken, the Soldier was quoting some of his lines back in the interview - all wrong, of course, but at least he knows that Sun Tzu exists. Tzu was a great intellectual, gifted in many fields but predominantly that of military strategy. He was one of the few who studied it, because nopony in this generation, or any of the past five, had ever seen war. Mind took after him, learning much about tactics and combat of all sorts, whether physical, psychological or verbal. He even invented some new strategies of his own which he would put to devastating use when the war began.

When the First Civil War began, Mind, despite his age, was assigned as a commander of a small task force charged with the defense of the Equestrian border against separatist groups. His forces in particular were supposed to keep the Griffin forces in the west at bay while the main body of the Imperial and Republic forces fought on the Empire's eastern border.

His job was to keep them away. Within the span of two months, his forces were at the doorstep of the Griffin capital and he personally accepted their surrender and re-assimilated Gryphonia. His success was due mostly to a lack of clear leadership among the Griffins and their constant underestimation of his abilities. He returned to Canterlot with glory, and Celestia personally presented him with a gift to mark his victory: A phoenix named Philomena, who hung on his left shoulder and became Mind's main confidante, since, well, she couldn't very well give away all of his secrets without being able to speak the same language. Philomena followed him through the entire war and proceeded to reincarnate many times. I'm pretty sure she's still with Celestia now.

Anyway, Mind's domination came as a great relief to the Imperial court because the army was suffering in the east. A multitude of early victories by Sun Tzu, who had been put in charge of the Grand Army, had prompted Luna to take quick action. He was assassinated not a month into the war, and so Celestia was very relieved to welcome his successor home and send him to the front.

Now this is the part which amazes me.

He put somepony else in the position of Grand General, diverting the risk of assassination, and commanded everything from behind the scenes. True to form as a student of Sun Tzu, he turned the entire war on its head in a few weeks. Over the course of the next two years, Republic strongholds fell one after another before the might of the Empire. Eventually, Mind devised a stratagem to crush the will of the Lunar forces, and against all odds Midnight Castle was captured by his troops. The Republic attempt at a counterattack failed miserably when he ambushed them and wiped out the entire army. He was the chief negotiator present at the peace talks, and he was overjoyed when he realized Quence would represent the Republic in the negotiations.

Suffice to say, an agreement was reached pretty quickly. Too bad friendship has to ruin such wonderful chaos...

Luna refused to allow the Empire to occupy Republic lands and reunify Equestria, so Celestia had to settle for the confiscation of many territories and enforced disarmament. Peace was restored again.

Thankfully, I am graced with long life - very, very long life - so waiting for war to break out again was no big deal. It didn't even take very long anyway.

554 AUE, 0 RoH (Restoration of Harmony) - Peace in our Time?

Perhaps "Restoration of Harmony" is a bit inaccurate, since Mind spent much of his time fighting the separatists like the zebra empire. This, however, was far away from the Empire itself, so for most ponies it was... ugh... peaceful.

The real trouble began about nine years later. Mind, despite his tactical genius, had his hooves full fighting the zebras in the south. His tactics were just enough to keep his army alive, mostly because the zebras used their extensive knowledge of native terrain and guerrilla attacks to force the Imperial forces back. The whole thing had become an intractable stalemate, and Mind eventually decided to defend his borders and leave the zebras alone, until he had gathered a strong enough force to annihilate them completely.

The zebras, knowing that they could not hold out against Mind forever, decided to act early. The only way to preserve their nation would be if Imperial attention was diverted elsewhere - essentially, if the Empire and the Republic once again went to war. The method of assassination was chosen.

The two princesses were far too well-guarded, and after Sun Tzu's death Mind had been exceedingly careful not to suffer the same fate - security was always high around him. That left one option.

In 563 AUE, a zebra assassin, armed with one of the most lethal poisons known to life, infiltrated Midnight Castle and contaminated Quence's dinner. She was found dead in her room the day after.

One thing about friendship I like: It's so entertaining to watch what happens after one breaks.

Mind was horrified and aghast. The coroner had discovered the poison to be of southern origin, specifically from the zebra empire. Through his spies in the Republic, he managed to reproduce the poison and order its mass manufacture in the Empire.

He was fueled by rage, anguish, and a need for revenge. Nopony could talk him out of his plan.

One year later, when he had, by his judgement, enough poison, he commanded his airborne pegasus division to fly over the zebra lands and deposit all of it in their fresh water supply. Two days after that, his army marched past all of the enemy fortifications unopposed and entered the capital.





564 AUE - Genocide

"So... they're all dead, sir?"

"Yes." Mind surveyed the multitude of bodies strewn across the floor of the palace hall, some of them still clutching the chalices which undoubtedly contained the liquid that had eventually killed them. "All of them."

"What do we do then, sir?"

"Simple. Declare victory once and for all. We have won this battle; there is nothing left for us here." Mind tore his pained gaze away from the death before him. "Tell our messenger to fly back to Celestia and convey this message: The war is over. We are victorious. Requesting cleanup and decontamination crews immediately."

"Yes sir." With a crisp salute, the soldier galloped away.

Mind just continued staring at the dead zebras, their expressions contorted in a grimace of agony. He bowed his head, allowing tears to creep their way past his eyes.

"This is for you, Quence."





Celestia was outraged at such a deed of mass murder, and with great sorrow banished Mind from the Empire. He wasn't about to be stopped, though. He was bent on bringing all the separatist groups under Equestrian control again. He offered his services to the Republic, and obviously Luna wasn't about to give up such an amazing opportunity. She eagerly accepted his offer.

One year after Quence's death, Mind visited her grave in the City of Crystal, in the extreme north of Equestria. However, during his stay there, he succumbed to a powerful magic illness - which I had nothing to do with, if that's what you're thinking. Nothing at all. I bet it was Celestia. Yeah, it was probably her.

Anyway, the illness failed to kill him, but it transformed him into a monster. He gained the ability to use dark, forbidden magic and he also grew a horn. The horn looked kind of good, if you ask me, but that's probably not important. The important part was that his mind was also corrupted beyond repair, creating a lust for blood he had never had before.

This... thing... was named Sombra by Celestia and Luna, which is how you might know him today. I disagree with that name, though, for personal reasons, so I'll continue calling him Mind.

Following his corruption, Mind separated from the Republic, taking the city as his own and creating the Crystal Empire. He then proceeded to go on a killing spree so violent and extensive that he even prompted Celestia and Luna to actively cooperate with each other to take him down. He was eventually defeated by the Elements of Harmony, in the hooves of the two princesses, and sealed away with the rest of the city, for it had been similarly tainted with evil magic.

Without any more brilliant Imperial tacticians, Luna was confident in her ability to win the next war she created, especially since she had built up her forces in secret when Celestia focused her attention on the zebra conflict. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for my entertainment purposes, the Empire's army turned out to be more formidable than her spies had led her to believe, as so passed another hundred years of war, conflict and mostly chaos in which neither side managed to gain a clear advantage.

Eventually, though, both of them decided that since it was unlikely that either nation would ever fully prevail, they would agree to coexist in peace. Now, I couldn't possibly allow this, otherwise Equestria would never be reunified. The fact that more chaos and destruction would be caused by continued war was just a pure coincidence.

So I, in the wake of the new peace, offered the princess an opportunity to take her sister by surprise. Though her army had been disarmed as per the terms of the treaty, I provided a team of nine mercenaries, skilled beyond compare and armed to the teeth, along with respawn points to ensure their survival. But somehow, and obviously not to any fault of my own, the other princess copied the idea - and the mercenaries too - and then this became an intractable stalemate as well. For a thousand years, mercenaries have passed away and have been replaced, culminating in this latest batch. The nine mercenaries I have almost finished interviewing...





"... Save one. Pinkie Pie, the Pyro." The Administrator waved his hand, and the cup of chocolate milk in his grip magically refilled itself. "Her time is tomorrow, and I intend to sit back and enjoy the chaos unfold."

He stood up, walking away from the camera. "Looks like it's the end of our history lesson. If you enjoyed having a draconequus as your teacher tell your respective princess so she'll consider hiring me full time."

A final snap of his fingers deactivated the camera, and he left the room. Turning a corner, he found Screwball on the phone, speaking into the receiver with an apologetic tone. She soon noticed the Administrator, though, and the hint of regret in her voice evaporated.

Placing her hoof on the receiver, she said, "Hey Administrator, got a moment?"