A Great Equestrian War

by HIFHSDIOFH

Prologue- Events in Motion

Prologue.

Equestria. Once a nation of peace, thriving and happy. A stunning display of unity & equality for all, with Towns, Cities, Castles, Gorges, Mountain ranges, Canyons, you name it, it was in Equestria. Nothing was impossible for this nation, and they had achieved some quite incredible advances in culture, technology and most other things. It was, to be short, a golden age. A golden age of peace, harmony, and prosperity for almost all. But, a golden age has to end at some point, and Equestrias was no different. But in the present time, Equestria is a wreck. Almost no buildings stand, and those that to are too dangerous to reside in any way, filled with dangerous animals and even more dangerous ponies. It all started more than a century ago...

In the beginning it was a rather small movement. A few disgruntled ponies, dissatisfied with Celestia's rule going unquestioned, or unvoted for that matter. Sure, they were alicorns and all, but did that really give them the right to rule over the rest? As this train of thought grew, so too did the size of the group, and they began to wander. They became known for their nomadic ways, and their marches into towns would often be met with either scorn or some new ponies willing to join the cause. Soon, they were big enough to pose an actual threat to Celestia.

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Admiral Stormhoof smacked his hooves on the table in frustration, almost quaking the room. The reverberation was quite impressive, due to the sheer size of the Canterlot war planning room. Admiral Stormhoof sat at one end of the table, Princess Celestia at the other, and several other military officers in between. Stormhoof was a dark green unicorn, with a deep grey mane akin to the color of storm clouds, just before they release pelting water, thunder and lightning. Stormhoof, too, looked constantly on the verge of loosing a torrential out-pour of anger, and it was this that had earned him the nickname of 'red storm' due to his near-constant red-faced rage.

"My princess, we have waited long enough! These rebels have been prancing around Equestria, steadily gaining support and ignoring our attempts at peace! We cannot keep this up much longer, if they are aloud to continue at this rate, we stand a chance of losing! I, for one, will NOT allow this good nation to fall into the hands of ponies who would sooner destroy it for lack of knowledge!"

Most of the ponies at the table nodded their assent. Some shook their heads at Stormhoofs ranting, but only one dared speak up. Her name was Fleet Spell, another unicorn, and a talented one at that. She was a bright white Mare, with a cyan mane and right now, an expression of incredulity was spread across her face.

"Admiral Stormhoof, what you are suggesting is that we attack and destroy these ponies for simply talking? We can not show hostilities unless we are presented with them ourselves, or risk making a blunder that would destroy the rebels, but lose the support of the nation! I will not stand for this!"

Again, the ponies at the table nodded, or shook their heads. This time, however, nopony spoke up. Admiral stormhoof seemed to be trying to control his rage, and putting together an argument. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, a silencing wave from Celestia herself stilled his tongue.

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Celestia couldn't remember the last time she had felt so tired. War planning had never been her thing. Equestria was supposed to be peaceful, and now this was happening. She sighed, massaged her head with her hooves, and spoke.

"Admiral Stormhoof. Send them one more letter. Tell them that we wish for nothing more than peaceful negotiations, and would accept them into the castle at a moments notice to do so. However, should you refuse, we will have no choice but to attack, and crush you all. We await your response, and hope it is the right one"

With those words, she left.

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The ponies at the table sat still, shocked. Had Princess Celestia just proposed war? The princess famed for bringing peace to the land in the first place? Most of the ponies there considered quitting there and then, for if this was not a sign of the end of harmony in Equestria, what was? Admiral Stormhoof, on the other hand, could barely contain his glee. Celestia had finally given in! He made to leave, but was blocked by Fleet Spell, who did not look quite as pleased.

"I hope you're proud of yourself. Celestia is now probably tormenting herself over this, all because of you, you... warmonger!"

She left after saying so, in the general direction of Celestia. Stormhoof watched her go, not entirely fazed. It wasn't like a stern talking-to was going to fix him, so he continued to his study. He had a letter to the rebels to write...

Celestia walked through the castle, barely able to contain her tears. She was torn between loyalty to her subjects, and her duty to protect. On one hoof, there was the problem the rebels presented, in that she was likely to be dethroned if she left it to happen. On the other, if she attacked them, she would have no choice but to abdicate any way. One vow she had taken when becoming Princess of the land was to protect each and every subject of hers, and as far as she saw it, anypony who resided within Equestria was her subject, wherever their loyalties lied. She just hoped the negotiations went well...

Fleet Spell had tried to follow the Princess, but it had all been in vain. She just could not find her, and after half an hour of being lost, she found something recognizable, and decided to head back to her living quarters, still raging at Stormhoof, the brute. All he wanted was to fight, to finally try out his moves on actual ponies instead of dummies. She shook her head slowly. Such attitudes disgusted her, and she preferred not to dwell on them...

Luna was in her room, peacefully reading. Why not? It was the middle of the day, and she had no duties to attend to for another few hours, as far as she knew. Even then, her duties were minimal. Raise the moon after Celestia lowered the sun, and lower the moon a few hours later. True, she guarded the night, but her loyal Night guard ponies saw to that efficiently enough. She trained as well, but her heart was not really into it. So she read, as a means of escaping the mindless tedium of it all. She had just reached a particularly interesting plot twist when Celestia crashed the doors open, strode in without seeming to notice her, and collapsed on the bed, sobbing.

Celestia had been having trouble containing her tears, and tried to hold them back as long as she could. She crashed into a room she assumed either hers or empty, fell on the bed and simply let loose all her tears. Until she noticed her sister sitting beside her, levitating a book weakly and staring at her. She pulled herself together, but couldn't hold it. She began sobbing again, and Luna was quickly by her side.

"Sister of ours, we demand to know why thou cries! Were thy negotiations not as expected? Did that loose cannon Stormhoof do something?"

Celestia looked at her sister, and almost smiled. For somepony who had spent a thousand years on the moon, she certainly knew how some ponies were bound to act.

"Sister, the negotiations went... Negligibly. Stormhoof is now writing a last chance letter to the rebels, and the other generals are split between loyalty and duty. I wish I could blame them, but it's natural, I'm feeling the stress as well."

At this Luna raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Thou makes it sound so simple, but are thy not sure this deserves more... serious attitude?"

Celestia stopped smiling.

"Of course sister, but one must never ignore the chance to smile in the face of danger."

Luna was a bit taken aback. Danger? There was danger incoming? She sent a mental note to the guard now stationed at the door to block any and all intruders and was met with a mental nod. Satisfied, she turned her thoughts back to Celestia...

Several days later, Celestia sat on her throne, smiling graciously. Not one day ago, Stormhoof had resentfully delivered the news that the rebel leader was, in fact, wiling to negotiate. She waited for his arrival, and was rather surprised when he did appear, although she did her best to hide it.

He was a a brown Pegasus, with a white mane and short tail. His name was Fast Strike, like his battle tactics. He had never been one for prolonged conflicts, and it looked like he was here to end what looked like one. he approached Celestia, but was stopped short by the guards.

"You'll have to excuse me for being... cautious. After all, your reputation, and indeed, your position, are against you here. I am not arresting you, simply keeping my distance."

"My lady, I would expect nothing less from a queen who has run a great nation for thousands of years. Unfortunately, quite a lot of us feel that it is time for... new blood. Progress is a necessity, my princess, and this cannot be achieved without change."

Celestia was taken aback. This was a tangible argument. He was certainly a smooth talker, but she sensed something... off about him. The way his eyes seemed to twitch around when he thought she wasn't looking, the way he seemed to be gauging the threat presented by the room. She put it down to experience as a rebel leader, but scrutinized him closely nonetheless.

"You make a good argument, Fast Strike. I agree that Progress is needed in this nation, but do you not agree that this could have been achieved... peacefully? Without defiling my name, and those who support me?"

It was Fast's turn to be taken aback. He decided to look around again, mindful of Celestias constant gaze upon him. He began to wonder if maybe she knew... He mentally shook himself. The plan was working perfectly, if knowledge had been leaked, Celestia would have him bound in chains and thrown in a dungeon the second he arrived. He became aware that Celestia was talking.

"... and as I was saying, Maybe a peace conference could be reached. Maybe we shouldn't go to war. Maybe we could simply talk it over. Speaking of which, where is Admiral Stormhoof? He should be here, overseeing the negotiations."

Suddenly, time seemed to slow down. Fast looked at her, and a gleam entered his eye. But this was no gleam of good will, or coy playfulness. This was mean-spirited, as was the will behind it. Before she could react, a knife pressed itself against her throat. Admiral Stormhoof whispered into her ear.

"Right here, your highness. And Let me tell you, if you try anything other than signing this abdication document we are about to present to you, we're going to test that little theorem about Alicorn immortality. Should be quite interesting, don't you think?"

Celestias thoughts went wild, but she forced herself to remain calm. There was a chance. Maybe if Luna...

The doors slowly opened, and Luna walked into the room, surrounded by several, rather bruised, Rebel soldiers. Celestia noticed some damage on her wings and abdomen, and struggled to help her sister. Stormhoof pressed the knife deeper to her throat, nicking the surface. Celestia winced at the cold steel, and felt her own blood slowly trickle down her chest and onto the floor. Fast Strike made a signal, and Soldiers poured into the throne room from every opening, the doors, windows, even tunnels under the floor were opened through tiles in the floor.

"Well, my dear Princess, it appears to be your endgame. We may choose to let you live if you cooperate peacefully. Should you refuse, you and your sister will find that we can be... rather mean."

To emphasize this, the soldiers around Luna proceeded to shove her around, tripping her to the floor. Celestia wanted to rage against her restraints, to break free and wipe out every one of the rebels in this room, but she stopped herself, for Luna's sake. One of the soldiers levitated a document towards her, and a quill, and she signed it as best she could, not caring for the consequences. Fast Strike almost couldn't contain his laughter as he took the document back.

"Well then, my lady, it appears to be time for you to leave the kingdom that was once yours. I will have guards escort you to the border, and from there you will have to find your own way to survive."

Celestia was shaking with fear, and fury. Her life had fallen apart, her kingdom, her work, thousands of years of peace and prosperity had been shattered. She turned to glare at Stormhoof, pure Malice radiating from her like heat.

"Stormhoof, I hope this 'change' you are working towards is worth it. Enjoy your kingdom, for it will fall apart without somepony who knows how to guide it."

With that, she submitted to the guards, who also appeared to be hauling Luna the same way. Her heart lifted, but was quickly beaten down again by Fast.

"My lady, if you think we are stupid enough to let you and your sister stay on the same sides of Equestria, where you might gain enough support to fight back, you are rather mistaken. you will each be taken to opposite sides of Equestria, and we will make sure no communication is made. And now, I bid you farewell."

With that, Stormhoof removed the knife from her throat, but quickly pressed it against her spine, forcing her to walk forwards or be stabbed. She began to walk, and they marched. Out of the castle, and to the edge of the castle, when they were stopped. The unit of guards forcing Celestia along had become quite a sight for the other ponies, unable to see the knife at her back. They assumed it was simply some more royal business, and went on their way. however, they were stopped for another reason. Mainly the small contingent of guards at the other end of the cloister they stood in, led by none other than Fleet Spell, Who, if armed with the power to kill with looks, would have effectively then taken out every single member of the rebels.

"Stop right there, Stormhoof! You aren't taking the princess anywhere, not without getting through me first! Me and these guards will fight to the death before Celestia is dethroned!"

Stormhoof laughed, a deep rumbling noise, and left another guard in charge of Celestia as he walked to Fleet.

"You always were a dreamer. You think to stop me? Not only are you out manned, you are outclassed, and facing the one who taught you how to fight. Get out of my way or die painfully."

Fleet almost stepped back and let him through, but one more look at Celestias defeated form was all it took. She looked back at Stormhoof, her eyes alight with fury. She stood taller, matching him for height, and her horn started to glow.

"How dare you! You presume to think that I would ever give up on my princess, because you think you can tell me to? Well, I have another thing for you!"

Stormhoof took it very calmly, to his credit. he had tried to be reasonable, but now this arrogant upstart was in his way, and she wanted a fight. So be it, a fight she would get.

Without warning, he whipped his head around, and a black, scything light erupted from his horn, crackling as it leaped towards Fleet, who jumped out of the way. Fleet closed her eyes, and a jet of pulsating water leaped from her horn, shooting towards Stormhoof, who barely had enough time to dive out of the way of the blast. Not enough, it seemed, for he was clipped by the blast, and sent spinning to the ground. Before Fleet could press on, though, Stormhoof was back on his feet, firing more black waves after her. Fleet gasped and more than one spell found it's mark, opening wounds in her sides and hooves. Finally, Stormhoof's tirade ended, and Fleet was shaking. She was bleeding from multiple wounds, and couldn't fight much longer.

"You... You think this is over? You think I'll give up because of a few nicks and scratches? That I'll just slink away and forget this?"

Stormhoof seemed to find this genuinely amusing, and almost fell over himself laughing. Celestia raged internally, but could only watch, as her last loyal soldier was destroyed in front of her.

Finally, Stormhoof stopped laughing, quite suddenly. He quickly went back to rage, and began to walk towards Fleet Spell, who now looked quite terrified.

"You think I'm going to let you walk away from all this alive? You have been a thorn in my side since day one, and I think it's time the favor was returned. It's time I finally got you back for your back talk, and refusal to listen to your betters.

So saying, he began to charge his horn for one final attack. Fleet looked on in terror, and desperately tried to charge her own magic, but it was blocked by her irrational fear of this pony standing before her. She began to wish she had been born a pegasus. At least they had wings, but now she was as useless as a newborn rabbit, quaking in fear. She had the resolve to look once more at her princess, and utter one sentence.

"You... Have to come back one day... Please..."

Stormhoof smiled wider, and released his attack. Fleet screamed as she felt herself blasted apart, almost as though every atom in her body were suddenly coming apart at once, and the pain was quite magnificent. Tears barely had time to form in her eyes, but at the back of her mind, there was a strange peace. She was dying, and her brain seemed to have accepted that. Rather than going begging and crying, she decided to go out with a little dignity, no easy feat concerning the pain currently tearing her body apart at the seams. She looked at Stormhoof once more, and managed to choke out some works.

"Go... To... tartarus."

Suddenly, her body collapsed in on itself, crumbling into ash. She had time to emit one surprised sqeak, and her world turned black.

Celestia looked through her tears at her the remains of her last faithful subject who could have helped, and almost screamed. It seemed her fate had been decided, and she had no choice but to give up and be marched to the border...

Luna had face no such resistance. The Generals had felt no great afection for her, and The Nightmare Moon incident still reminded them of what Luna was capable of. She had been frogmarched to the border in a matter of weeks, and left alone. Or so the resistance thought. As soon as they had left her for dead, her fiercely loyal Night guard appeared from the sky, and landed to bow at their mistresses hooves. Luna tried to wave them away.

"I no longer have the right to subjects, you are a free from my service."

The leader, a dark-coated pegasus, stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice that sounded like it had been some time since it was used last.

"My lady, we are now, always have been and I can assume always will be, your loyal subjects. We followed your escort all the way here, staying out of sight, and we shall continue to serve you. Maybe one day we can reestablish contact with Celestia, and formulate a resistance. Now, though, we must attempt to build an army of our own...

Celestia had taken a bit longer to get to the border, and the guards had left quicker. They had a schedule to run, and left as soon as they could. Another mistake, it seemed. Celestia had all but given up when four generals still loyal to her appeared from the sky and the shadows. An earth pony, a unicorn and two pegasi, and all willing to help their princess regain control of Equestria...

Back at Canterlot, news of Celestias dethroning had reached the ears of all the ponies there, and was traveling fast. Most of the canterlot ponies had liked their old way of life, and rioted when they heard the news. The City almost burned to the ground, and had the rebel forces not been the size they were at, and without some masterful planning on Fast Strikes part, the resistance would have been very short indeed.

Stormhoof traveled back to Canterlot, and went straight to fast Strike. He had never intended a partnership and he intended to throw out Fast as soon as he could. Unfortunately for him, Fast had the same plans for Stormhoof. A brief scuffle not three hours after he returned, Stormhoof found himself in the middle of no where, near-dead. He would have died, too, had it not been for some ponies in a small village nearby, who found him after a hunting trip. He soon discovered their way of life was not an easy one, and began to see the effects of his own handiwork in dethroning Celestia. These ponies, and other villages besides, worked hard enough to survive, and with no true leader for them now, life would get harder. He looked back on his mistakes, and wished bitterly that he had just agreed with Celestia. He began to formulate a new plan, a plan to dethrone The rebel leader. he almost laughed at the irony as he schemed, but quickly stopped. The only viable route would take years to formulate. He pondered for a long time, debating either to simply live out his remaining days in peace, or give a good deal of his life to planning...

He laughed to himself and began to think.

Fast Strike lounged in the throne, unaware of what was happening in his kingdom. He had appointed ponies to watch over each town, and abdicated most of his other duties to his new council. All he had to do was approve important decisions and make speeches occasionally. One such speech was due soon. his ministers had warned him that if he did not appease his subjects, Civil war would be a certainty.

The next day, he was standing on a balcony, addressing his subjects, most of whom were looking resentfully at him through red-rimmed eyes, or beaming happily. The latter were the resistance, of course.

"I know it is hard for you to take. Celestia is gone, and her legacy of Peace with her. But not necessarily the prosperity. She needed to go, or we would have fizzled and died out. We need to change, to become stronger, and more technologically advanced, and we can now! Nothing is taboo, and we shall move into a glorious new era! An era of infinite peace, too much food to go around and more spare time than we can use in two lifetimes apiece!"

His words, mostly outspoken lies though they were, seemed to inspire the crowd. Maybe Celestia had been holding them back, maybe now that she was gone, things could change...

Fast left them thinking and entered his bedroom.Everything was going fine, and as far as he knew, they would be for a while yet...

Author's Note:

Chapters will come out as weekly as possible. Sorry for lack of cover art, but that really shouldn't detract from the quality of the story...