//------------------------------//
// Cult of Laughter: Giggling Ghosts 
// Story: Equestria Divided Tales 
// by Grenazers 
//------------------------------//

Deep in the Northern Expansion and in the heart of the Stormwing territory, there is a large town where the majority of the House's ground forces resides. The town is called Trottingham and it is one of the many places that existed during the time of the two royal sisters.

Before, Trottigham used to be a hub spot for many of ponies from the three tribes. Now it's just town filled with only earth and unicorn ponies, Most of the pegasus population has either fled or has been drafted by the House of Stormwing.

What makes this town unique is that while it is affiliated with Stormwing, Trottingham is a protectorate. What this means is that the town doesn't follow the laws passed down by the House. However, in exchange for their protection, the ponies of Trottingham acts as auxiliary troops, in case the House ever needed troops. 

This deal has lasted to this day, with the pegasus being the main force of their army and the ponies of Trottingham providing the Ground Guards.

Then something strange happened, a few years ago the town was facing a serious problem. The Cult of Laughter has snuck their way into the town and started spreading its influence among the populaces. The mayor of Trottingham assured Commander Rainbow Dash that he got the situation under control.

A week later the town gone silent, no response came when the House sent letters. Even the couriers who delivered the message hasn't returned. 

Sensing that something was wrong, Commander Dash ordered a group pegasus scouts to check out the town. The scouts did as they were told and flew off, towards Trottingham.

Two days later a single scout returned, the pony brought dire news to the Commander. The town of Trottingham has fallen, the Cult of Laughter has usurped control of the town and have started mass indoctrination of its citizens.

After hearing the news, Commander Dash immediately ordered an army of pegasus to storm the town and retake it. An hour later a large army pegasus has gathered outside the Flying city of Cloudsdale, leading the assault is Commander Burstfire.

With the last group of pegasus joining them, Commander Burstfire ordered everpony to fly to the town of Trottingham. And with that a huge horde of flyers took off and flew to their destination.

The plan was simple, the pegasus are to fly into the town and take out any Cultist they find. Burstfire believed that this shock and awe tactic will overwhelm the enemies, leaving them in total disarray. The pegasus commander hopes to end this fast and possible because a prolong battle would be costly.

The Stormwing army flew for hours across the land, they eventually spotted the large walls that surround and protects the town. As they got closer some of the pegasus near the front reported seeing strange flying objects coming from the walls.

Flying to the front Fireburst borrowed a binocular from one of his troops and looked through it. What he saw perplexes him, he saw a bunch of flying objects hovering over the wall. Suddenly more of these things appeared from the wall, hundreds of them.

As soon they were all gathered, the swarm of objects spread out and rushed towards them. Seeing those things come Commander Burstfire told everyone to prepare for an attack. Every pegasus got themselves ready, they tighten the hold on their weapons and took their battle stance.

The two opposing forces drew closer to each other, both sides readying to clash with one another. As Burstfire lead his troops in the front, he was starting to get a better view of the flying objects. They are round in shape, besides the couple that had horns sticking out of their heads.

But then, when they were in view the troops, including their Commander were horrified at what they are fighting against. The pegasus were up against flying pony heads, the heads float around the air leaving a trail of mist behind them. Their faces were the most disturbing, large terrifying grins were on their faces, displaying their very sharp fangs.

Before Burstfire could do anything, the two sides clashed. The weapons the pegasus are using proved to be useless against these ghosts, every time they hit one it just disperse into mist, then reappeared again and strike.

On the other side of this battle, the ghostly heads spread and surrounded the pegasus forces. Their constant eerie giggling disturbed their concentration and fell victims to these ghosts. Using their fangs the savage spirits tore the flesh from their exposed necks. Some aim for their wings, tearing it to pieces and watched in glee as they fall their death.

The battle was a massacre, pegasus were dropping from the skies like flies. Seeing, that they are losing this battle Commander Burstfire last order before he died is to sound the retreat, soon the remaining pegasus redraw from the battle and returned to Cloudsdale.

When they got back Lieutenant Shell Shock had to inform the bad news to the higher ups. He told his report to the many commanders and they outraged. They accused the returning pegasus as cowards, they were about to sentence the punishment when Rainbow Dash interrupted. 

She told everyone that what the lieutenant did was following the order of Commander Burstfire, therefore should not be punished for following a direct order from their Commander. 

When the other commanders quiet down, Commander Dash then explained their next plan. Since their physical attacks had no effect of the Giggling Ghost, they might have to look for an alternative. Seeking the magic to combat these spirits, they turned to unicorns in their army.

After days of research the unicorns managed to find a way to combat these ghosts. It however, requires them to be their so that they can cast the spells. So in their next attack the Ground Guards were employ, mostly consist of unicorns. Along side with them is another large force of pegasi.

When they got near the wall, the cultist sent in the Giggling Ghosts at them. However, this time Stormwing troops were ready for them. The many unicorns in the Ground Guards casts dispelling magic on the ghosts, this cancels out their summoning and return them to where they came.

With those taken care off, the rest of the pegasus soldiers charged into the town and engage the cultist forces. The Ground Guards later joined with them inside the town. The streets were literally filled with bodies of ponies, their collective corpses leaked large amounts of bloods, creating small to large puddles all over the place.

By the time they clear the town the place was littered with corpses from both sides, their bodies lay rotting on the ground as flies feast on them. After a cleaning up the mess, many of the cultist they captured were executed. Their crime, following the Cult of Laughter.

In the aftermath the town's population has drastically decreased, the once crowded streets are empty and silent. It will take a long time for this town to return to its former glory. But, the scars left behind will never recover. The Cultists has left their mark in the cities and even left something behind.

To this day some citizens of Trotting ham can hear the sound of giggling, whenever they trot against the quiet streets of the town.