The Equestrian Royal Guard tends to be viewed as nothing more than a ceremonial army, and to an extent, that's true. The vast majority of their number are reservists who have civilian lives to go back to, and, more importantly, whose special talents have nothing to do with war. They're not even necessarily much good at fighting, they just have to be willing to if needed.

The elite units, however, are those ponies who are good at fighting, no matter what their cutie marks are telling them. Their ranks include the Earth Ponies of the Cataphracts, the Unicorns of the Warmages, and the Pegasi of the Air Combat Elite.

Yet, there is a fourth unit, one open to all three kindreds, composed of those very rare ponies whose special talents are directly related to warfare. They are the Battleborn, and they are the least-known and smallest of the elite units. They range beyond the borders of the nation of Equestria, seeking out and eliminating threats that the average pony should never know. And these are their tales.