> Equestria Divided Tales
>  by Grenazers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> House of Moon and Star: Slave Warriors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"NO! PLEASE DON'T-" were the last words of the white unicorn stallion said before the spear was plunged down into his eye socket.

The pony wielding the spear looked down upon the dead unicorn he just killed, then lifted his head up and looked at his surroundings. Fire was everywhere, lighting the the dark night with its bright illuminating flames. Various ponies were galloping around and fighting each other, each one dropping like flies as they slay one another. To put it simply: it was utter chaos.

ONE WEEK PRIOR

"MOVE SLAVE!" a large stallion in armor shouted, as he rudely shoved a battered up slave out of the way.

The unicorn in heavy armor is part of the Knights of Celestia, fearless warriors, who follows the teachings of the celestial sisters.His name is Spark Light and he is one of the worst ponies you'll ever meet, especially if you happened to be a slave.

The scarred up orange pony laying on the muddy ground is one of the many Slave Warriors, forced to fight for the house of the Moon and Star. These warriors are made up of pegasus and earth ponies, they are poorly trained and badly equipped, mostly used as cannon fodders by their unicorn masters.

Rapid Dash is this slave's name and he hail from a time before Equestria was divided. Back then he was a Wonderbolt and good one as well. Then things started to change after the royal sisters disappeared and the tension between the ponies escalated.

The Wonderbolts were disbanded and most of the former members joined the house of Stormwing, including the the orange pegasus. However, being a pacifist he refused to fight and was later labelled as a traitor to his race. Not wanting to die Rapid Dash, flew away from the house, only to be captured by some unicorns and sold to the house of Moon and Star.

While under their captivity the orange pegasus was subjugated to many tortures from his slavers. The once pacifist pony changed and will now kill in cold blood. His many scars and bruises are his testament to the many battles and tortures he endured.

Rapid Dash was about to get up, until something struck him from behind. "That will teach you to stand in my, slave." said Spark Light as he trotted away with a squad of Legionnaires following from behind.

The muddy pegasus glared at the leaving knight and was about to pull out his knife, but was suddenly stopped. He looked up and saw a a brown earth pony stopping him from unsheathing his knife. Bronze Slate is his name and like him, he too is a slave forced to fight for the house.

"Not now friend," he said softly. "Save it for 'later'."

Rapid Dash then remembered of the coming day and smile wickedly, those unicorns won't know what hits them until it's too late.

The next three days were peaceful, the slaves were assigned to do some patrols around camp while the supposed real soldiers are on break. Then on the fourth day the unicorn commander order a bunch of slave warriors to come with him in a skirmish. Rapid wasn't chosen but, unfortunately his friend Bronze was.

The brown earth pony was the closes thing to a friend he had in damn camp. Out of all the slaves here, Bronze was the only one to approach him and then befriended. He was there when Bronze was about to depart, this was probably the last time he would ever see his friend.

Whenever slave warriors are involved in a battle, you can expect a high casualty from them. Rapid prayed for his friend safety and return.

Two days passed and there was no word from the forces that left the camp. He hopes they would return soon or else be left behind when the day come. Eventually they did return and right on time too, today is the day where the slaves would set in motion their plan.

Rapid search among the returning slave warriors, their numbers had dwindled the last time he saw them. He looked and looked, and he eventually found him. The pony was being carried on a stretcher and is heavily covered in bandages.

He asked the mare that was holding the stretcher, what happened. She explained that Bronze was leading a group of slave warriors to flank some Earthborn artillery guns. They were succesful but, one of the one turned their cannon on them and he was blasted. 

He was lucky the cannon didn't hit him directly but, not lucky enough since the cannon;s shrapnel hit his body. Bronze is alive but, he is in no condition the move.

This was bad, the orange pegasus thought in his head. The plan was going down tonight, his friend is in no condition to participate and will be left behind. Rapid refuse to abandon his friend and decide to try to escape with his friend, despite his injuries.

He left the medical tent and memorized which tent it was. He trotted back to the slave quarters and prepared for what's coming tonight.

Hours passed and the sun was gone, in its place is the bright shining moon. Two legionnaires were on patrol during the night. On their patrol the two spotted a female pony sneaking around, They chased after her and cornered her. In her arms is a bunch of ration, most likely stolen from storage.

"Well what do we have here?" the legionnaire on the left said.

"Looks like this bitch has stolen some rations," the one on the right mockingly.

"Please don't tell anyone," the mare pleaded the two guards.

"And why should we do that?"

"They'll execute me if they did." she explained.

The two unicorn chuckled. "Well little filly, we'll consider looking the other way but, in exchange you have do something for us."

The mare looked at their lustful gaze and knew what they wanted. "Alright, lets go somewhere private,' she said submissively and led them to a nearby tent. The three ponies entered into a dark tent, not able to see, one of the guard used his magic to light up the room. His magic revealed four other ponies waiting in the dark.

The four ponies acted instantly, they quickly and silently took out the two guards. The five slaves emerge out of the tent, including the mare and Rapid Dash. One of the slaves was holding the dead guard's keys, they all split up to play their roles and went off.

Their plans are already set in motion and like all plans, this one has a series of steps to follow. The first on the list is Step One: Secure the keys. They already got the keys, now it up to the next part of the plan.

Step Two: Silence the Watchers. This step involves taking out the guards in the watchtowers, Rapid Dash snuck around the tents, avoiding the sight of the guard on top of the tower. The orange pegasus took out a blowpipe which he stole from some zebras. Inserting a poisonous dart, he aimed and blew. The dart hit its mark and the guard quickly succumbed to the poison and died. At the same time numerous other watchtower guards are being picked off by the slaves.

With the guards taken care of it's on to Step Three: Unleash the Horde. The pony holding onto the keys galloped to the slave quarters and released the slaves. The freed slave took up arms and went onto the next phase of their plan.

Step Four: Raise Hell. The slaves began slaughtering their unicorn masters, the entire camp was in chaos. The unicorns were being killed in their sleep by the slaves they tormented over the years. Eventually the rest of the house of Moon and Star forces, started to wake up and immediately began quelling the slave riot.

Amiss this chaos, Rapid Dash gallop around the battle, heading towards the medical tent. As he entered he saw that most of the injured ponies were already gone. He then found his unconscious friend laying on the ground. The orange pegasus picked up Bronze and carried him out of there on his back.

He galloped as quickly as he could in the carnage around him. Everywhere the slaves and unicorn forces savagely fought one and another. Slaves being blasted apart by the Markmages, unicorns being pierced by the slave's spears, Seraph attacking from above, and the Knights smashing through the slaves like flies.

Rapid evaded many of the fighting happening around him. His goal in mind is reach the wall of the camp, he needs to get out of here before the riot stops. This was also part of their plan, Step Five: Freedom.

The pegasus and his companion finally reached the wall. Unfortunately, what awaits for them is a unicorn knight fighting against five other slaves. One of them charged at the knight, with his spear charging at him. The knight deflected the attack with his shield and swung his morning star, smashing the slave's face.

Upon seeing their company dead, the rest of the four charge at the knight. Despite being in heavy armor, the knight moved swiftly and dodge the jabs from their spears. The knight then raises his morning star and smashed two of the slaves, sent their bodies flying. He then rotated and whack one the slave with his shield. With only one slave standing, the knight lit up his horn and blasted the him. He then trotted to the down slave he hit with his shield and used the sharp end of the morning star's handle and stabbed him in the chest. 

Rapid Dash stared in shock at the carnage the knight dished out on the five slave warriors. But, upon closer look the pegasus recognizes the knight. It is Spark Light, the same bastard that knocked you down a week ago. He placed his friend down on the ground and picked up spear from the fallen slaves. He approached the unicorn knight and raised his weapon, indicating a fight.

Spark Light was more than happy to accept and charge at the scarred pony swinging his morning at him. The pegasus quickly evaded his first attack but, the knight swung his shield at him. It made contact and knocked the slave warrior on his back. Spark raised his weapon and swung it downward, Rapid reacted quickly and roll out of the way. 

The pegasus then jab the spear toward his opponent's morning star, its chain getting tangled around the spear. He then pulled the weapon away from the knight and threw it away. He hastily picked up another spear and jabbed towards the knight. 

Spark raised his shield again and levitated a nearby spear and tried to stab his orange opponent. Rapid dodge the spear and tackled the shield. This action resulted in pushing the shield to the knight, smashing his face. Stunned by the sudden pain, the knight couldn't see the slave taking out his knife. 

He then stabbed the knife into the unicorn snout, causing him to blindly fire his magic. This lucky shot hit Rapid and sent him to the ground. The knight used his magic to painfully remove the knife and stared daggers at the down slave. He picked up a spear and leveled it above the pegasus. He was about to plunge the blade down but, was stopped when he felt something jumped on his back.

Then he felt a pair of teeth touching his ear, and next came extreme pain. The pony on his back bit onto the unicorn's ear tightly. Spark Light tried to get him off but, his attacker has wrapped his arms around his head and is holding tightly. Concentrating, the unicorn levitated the pony of his back, losing his helmet in the process and exposing his white head.

He tossed his attacker to the ground and turn his head to see the pony who bit him. The pony laying across him is a heavily bandaged brown earth pony taking deep breath. He felt a trail of blood sliding down on his face, he raised his hoof to feel his ear but, found nothing. He realized that the slave has bitten his ear off.

"You goddamn little shit!" Spark Light yelled at the panting earth pony.

The white unicorn started to beat the earth pony to death with his shield. "This for taking for taking my fucking ear, you bastard!" he shout and continued to whacking him.

The sound of the beating awoken the injured pegasus and saw the knight beating on somepony. His eyes cracked wide opened as he saw the knight beating on his friend. Rapid slowly got up and rushed at the knight, raising his right hoof he punched the white unicorn's face. 

Spark Light backed up from the sudden attack, only to receive another punch to the face. Then another punch and another, with one last punch the pegasus knocked the knight onto the ground. He then picked up a spear and leveled above the unicorn. Seeing the weapon aimed at him Spark Light started to panic. 

"NO! PLEASE DON'T-" were the last words of the white unicorn stallion said before the spear was plunged down into his eye socket.

Rapid Dash panted from the sudden adrenaline boost, that is starting to slowly fade away. He trotted toward his fallen friend, kneeling down he placed his ear on his friend's chest and listen closely. If he hear his heart beat then his friend should still be alive. Sadly he didn't hear anything.

Sadden by his friend death, he gave him a quick eulogy before heading to the wall. Just as planned a part of the wall was destroyed, allowing a exit for the slaves to go through. Rapid crawled through the hole and was on the other side. He looked around and saw other slaves escaping the camp.

Not wanting to get captured, Rapid Dash quickly galloped to out of there, not looking back. In his head the orange pegasus thought about what to do next. He was freed but, now not? No place is safe for him, the House of Moon and Star would either kill him or enslave him.

The house of Stormwing is out of the question, they kill all deserters on sight. He didn't want to live in the forest or join that insane cult of laughter. This left either the house of Whitegold or the house of Earthborn, he heard some nasty things about the ponies of whitegold and those Earthborn ponies are just as militaristic as the house of Stormwing.

Pondering his decision, Rapid came to a conclusion. He choose none of the above and just live the life of hermit, not wanting to be part of the ongoing conflict. With his mind up the orange pegasus trotted off in a aimless direction, starting a new chapter in his life. 
> House of Whitegold: Arqueteers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ready," a brown unicorn with black hair said quietly to a row of nine other ponies armed with firearms.

The unicorn then raised his arquebus and looked down at its iron sight. "Aim," the rest of the ponies did so on his command. 

"FIRE!" he shouted and pulled the trigger, resulting in his rifle firing. The sounds of other guns discharging can be heard some the sides. The projectiles, fired from the guns raced across the field and hit their targets. A pack diamond dogs that was camping, were ripped apart by the pony's guns. 

Each dog that was hit, either got shot in the chest or had their limbs shot off. Only a few of them died quickly from head shots. With them taken down, the group of ponies made their way to dog's camp , find any survivors and interrogate them.

The one ahead of the group is the same brown unicorn from before. His name is Ace Fortune, and he is a Arqueteers. The Arqueteers are wealthy unicorns who joined the Whitegold's army, each one having their own reason for signing up. Using the guns called arquebus, these unicorns are trained to be expert marksmen and have proven their worth on the battlefield. 

Besides him, there are three other Arqueteers in their group, They are: Starry Light, White Crimson, and Velvet Soul. The rest is just mercenaries, the leader is a Crimson pegasus stallion named Lance Charge. Serving as his second-in-command, is a blue earth mare named Terra Quake.

Now the reason why they are here, is of the order of the head of the house, Mistress Rarity. Apparently a bunch of diamond dogs ambushed a caravan and stolen some gems. While this may seem trivial to a pony by her stature, the reason for this mission is more than just to back their treasure, but to send a message to those vile dogs. And by message she meant leaving no survivors. 

Originally this mission was only for the mercs but, by her order she assigned four of their own forces on this mission, making this a joint operation. Officially, they joined up because the Mistress believes that they might acquire the extra fire power on this mission. The real reason is to make sure those mercenaries didn't try to steal the gems.

The group finally reached the dogs campsite, upon entering the site they came across the bodies of the dogs they just shot at. A few had their heads blown open, pieces of their skull and brain littered around their exposed head. The others lost their limbs and eventually bled to death, Ace frown at the scene. He feared that they may have over killed these dogs, leaving no survivors. 

"Hey, this one is alive!" somepony shouted. The rest of the group stopped their search and gather around a wounded dog.

Lance Charge trotted up to the fallen dog, pointing his arquebus at him. "Alright dog, listen up," he said, gaining the dog's attention. "This is how it will go down," using his wings, Lance aim his gun at the dog's kneecap. "Tell us where we can find your lair, and you won't be moving around on a wheelchair."

Hearing the red pegasus's threat, the dog started panicking. "No! Please don't hurt Angus," the dog begged. This resulted in Lance pointing his weapon away from his knee. "The lair you seek is not far from here, just a bit northwest from here."

Getting his answer, the mercenary leader holstered his weapon and trotted away from the dog. Before he could go any further, the brown unicorn stopped him. "Mr. Charge, I hope you do remember of our objective?"

"Please Ace, the dog is already dying. No point in wasting bullets." the merc replied to the brown Arqueteers. Ace turned around and glared at the dog, he was quite right, the wounds were very serious. If not properly treated, he die from the infection.

Raising his gun, Ace took aim  and fired. In seconds, a big bloody hole popped in the dog's head. "Wow, brutal." One of the mercs commented the brown unicorn's action. The other mercs were surprised by the Unicorn, executing the dog. However, the other three Arqueteers knew the cause behind Fortune's sudden action.

The brown unicorn has a hatred for these beast, long ago after Equestria was divided, he and his family moved to Manehattan to escape the rising conflict in Canterlot. While traveling, his family was stopped by a bunch of diamond dogs. They demanded all their possession, in exchange for their lives.

Once his family gave the dogs all their stuff, the bastard turn back on his deal and ordered his men to slaughter the ponies. Ace watched as his family were killed right in front of him. Before they could get to him, the dogs were sudden;y attacked by guards from Manehattan.

The guards easily dispatched the pack and only found one survivor, a lone brown unicorn, stained with the blood of his family. The guards then took him to their city and was taken in, by his relatives. News spread across the city, most of them involved the city's newest resident.

So it came to no surprised that the young unicorn joined the army, after hearing about the small battles with the Diamond Dogs.

The group trotted north west and came across a large hole with a few guards outside. "Well it looks like that mutt was telling the truth," White Crimson spoke.

"Course he did, them dogs got no loyalty but, to themselves." Velvet soul explained to her companion. "Those dogs would happily betray their friends, if it benefits them."

While those two talked, Ace Fortune and Lance Charge got together and talk strategy.

After a couple of minutes of planning, both leaders called their groups over. "Alright guys here's the plan," Ace spoke. "First my guys will take out the guards by the entrance with our guns, this will no doubt draw the dogs out, and that's where you come in." he pointed to the mercenaries.

The brown unicorn step aside for the red pegasus to step in. "Right lads, when those dogs start pouring out of their holes, we use these on them." he took out a pair of hoof cannons. "We fire these into them and they'll fall apart."

The rest of the group understood their plan and went into position. Two of the Arqueteers lined up their shots and took out the guards. Just as expected the noise from their weapon alerted the dogs inside, and they were pouring out of the hole like ants.

With them all together, it was perfect opportunity to use the hoof cannons on them. Lighting them up the pair of cannons, aimed at the group of dogs and fired. The attack was effective, the cannons blew the dogs apart, littering the entrance with their blood and guts. Those lucky enough to survive immediately turn tail and ran back into the hole. 

The ponies gave chase tot he retreating dogs, they need to pressed their attacks, before they counter back. They entered the hole and galloped down the tunnels. The group stopped when they hit a crossroad, multiple tunnels were opened for them. 

Now they could split up and search the tunnels but, that is what the diamond dogs want. They want them to split up, so that they can picked them off one by one. Instead they some new weapons to test out on these dogs, the brown unicorn ordered everypony, to put on their gas mask.

Ace took out a small gray ball and twisted, this got the ball to release some green smoke. The unicorn then proceeds to chuck it into one of the tunnels. Next his companions did the same except tossed them into different tunnels.

The small balls thrown into the tunnels, releases poisonous gas. Out in the open it's not effective but, in tight areas, they become incredibly effective. The deadly gases travel around the dog's tunnel, killing anyone who inhale them.

Soon the tunnels were filled with the bodies of the dogs, making it easy for the pony to traverse the tunnels, without the worries of attack. They eventually came across a large chamber, full of various treasure these mutts have collected. One such treasure includes the stolen gems.

They were about to collect their prizes, when suddenly the walls around them burst, each one having a diamond dog coming out. It was an ambush, these dogs have been waiting for them, Ace didn't know how they survived the gas but, this was no time question. 

Taking out their weapons the ponies fought back, firing their guns they took out the first wave of dogs. However, more started coming. With the guns used up, the ponies switched to their secondary weapon. Lance took out his sabre, Terra took out her knives and started slashing and stabbing dogs, left and right. While all the none unicorns took out a melee weapons, the unicorn switch to their secondary weapon, their magic.

Ace quickly dispatched two dogs by blasting them with his horn. The rest of the Arqueteers did the same and blasted the hordes of dogs. The battle went on, and the ponies suffered a few casualties: three mercs were dead, including the unicorn who wasn't as skilled with the magic like the other unicorns in the group. And two injured, one is the merc, Terra and the other is White Crimson.

Eventually the battle ended when the last dog was slain. Ace panted from the battle and looked around at the carnage. Slain bodies covered the rocky floor of the chamber, their blood coloring its gray surface, Out of all the bodies, only three were ponies. They died horribly; one was beheaded, the second skewered, and the third had his head split opened. 

Checking who still with them, Ace spotted that none of the Arqueteers where killed, only White Crimson having a large cut on his rear legs. Same thing can't be said for the mercs though, they lost have their group and Lance was tending to the blue mare's injuries.

Not wanting to stay here any longer, Ace ordered everyone to retrieve the gems and get out. Lance was about grab a gem but, Ace stopped him. "No Lance, your services are finished here."

"What? but what about are payment?" the merc leader questioned.

"Look around, these other treasures are yours to have."

Lance was shocked by the unicorns answers. "You serious?" he asks, and received a nod from the unicorn. The red pegasus stared at the treasure in awed and returned to his two last companions. With their objective completed, the Arqueteers left the dog's lair, each carrying a portion of the gems. 

Manehattan City Hall

"So I trust that you completed your objective?" Mistress Rarity spoke, looking down at the bowing four unicorns in front of her.

"Yes Mistress, we have."  Ace responded, he then signaled the three other unicorns behind him. They all took out portions of the gems they carried. The white unicorn mistress smiled at their accomplishment.

"Congratulation, my little ponies. You did this house's service well." she then levitated all the gems towards her. 

"You will of course will be rewarded handsomely and your reputation will be known around the house." She store the gems in a chest and locked it up. "Now then, Ace fortune you are dismissed." she ordered.

The four unicorns did as she said and left, leaving Rarity and her assistant alone. She then levitated the chest to her assistant. "Dime Bell, take these down to the labs, tell the good professor, that Project Golem is good to go."

"It will be done Mistress," the little pink mare said, as she trotted away with the chest full of gems.

> House of Everfree: Everfree Ent
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The House of Earthborn are largest of the six other houses, their territory expands from The Frontier to The Heartlands. The Earthborn contains forces between 20 000 to 30 000 ponies, excluding their buffalo allies. With such a large force, the House of Earthborn requires huge amount of supplies, one them being lumbers.

The faction's various war machines needs large amounts of wood to be made, and with the demand for more of these machines, they need a large source of trees. Luckily there's just happens to be a vast forest near them, that place is called the Everfree Forest. 

Before Equestria was divided, the Everfree forest has been just a mysterious and scary place,that nopony enters. Now the very same forest has started to expand, slowly taking over the lands. This drew the attention of the Supreme Commander and made her goal to stop the expanding forest.

One of her plans to stop the forest's expansion came from at the suggestion of one of subordinate. He suggests that to solve their lumber problem, they could set numerous lumber mills surrounding the forest in their territory. The idea was accepted, soon lumber mills were being constructed and the trees were being cut down. Not only did this contain the expanding forest, it also supplied the house a steady source of lumber. 

In the first month since this started, the ponies faced little opposition and only the occasional wildlife attack. Then as they went further in, they encountered more opposition from the forest. Manticores, Timber wolves, Parasprites, Wild Ponies, and some Zebras assaulted the lumber mills. This forced the Earthborn to send in more troops to defend the mills. 

After the addition of more soldiers, the operation went on more smoothly. That was until the ponies working the mills stopped sending in their progress reports and remained silenced. Soon all the lumber mills did the same and became quiet.

Scouts were sent in to investigate,they returned back reporting the camps to be completely deserted. No bodies were found in the area, the only thing left were a couple of abandoned weapons and destroyed buildings. 

In response to this new development, Supreme Commander Applejack ordered several companies to investigate the mills and to find out what happened. After they were sent, it was only a few days before they returned back, wounded and scared. When asked what happened, many of the soldiers made some very exaggerated claims, confusing the Supreme Commander and her brother, General Macintosh.

They demanded the presence of their company leader, Captain Rocky Road. Instead of him, it was his lieutenant that appeared. He explained that their Captain perished in the fight, he did however write a detailed description in his field reports. Revealing what happened. The lieutenant hoofed the report to his two superiors.

This is his report:

Day one

My company finally arrived at one of the mills, on the outskirt of the Everfree Forest. Like the scout said the place was completely abandoned, the buildings were wrecked, but no bodies were found. One of my trackers discovered from the footprints, that no ponies or wildlife attacked this place. Rather something larger, I speculated that it could be one of the many beasts living in this damn forest. We set up camp for the night and we'll start our operation tomorrow. 

Day two

In the morning I'll take part of an expedition force to enter to forest, while my lieutenant stays behind and fortify the defenses at our base camp. On our expedition we encountered some opposition, we just happened to come across a group of zebras. They responded with hostility and attacked us, we of course easily defeated them with minimal casualties. We then came across one of the major settlements in the forest, I decided that we'll need the rest of the forces to attack. 

At this point the captain's report became more frantic. 

Shit shit shit Goddamn this night has gotten bad. At first it was all smooth but now everything went to shit. Alright let me explained   it all    started when the expedition forces   tried to return. Then  these things appeared. Giant trees giant freaking trees came and attacked us. My guys tried their best   but those fucking destroyed them. Got hit myself   barely made it.    We finally reached our base camp but it was under attack.      more of those fucking tree things were either smashing of crushing my forces    spotted some them chucking rocks at us too. Luckily  my lieutenant was smart enough to   take care of those   damn things. Set   those fuckers on fire.   We drovedthem  back but loss  alot of  guys. I fear  that  we may be facing more of these things.

After reading the report, the lieutenant explained that by next morning more of the Everfree forces came and attack. Including those giant tree beasts. He explained that the exaggeration the survivors were saying are really truth, the forest is alive and they seek revenge. 

After hearing him out, Applejack dismissed the lieutenant and talked to her brother.

"Big Mac this seems to be more serious then I thought."

"Eeyup," the big red stallion responded.

"Then you know what that means, right?"

"Eeyup," he said and trotted away.

The orange mare then ordered one of her subordinate to come over.

"Sergeant Breaker, inform our forces that General Macintosh will be leading an invasion in the Everfree Forest. Pick any available forces and have them joined my brother." The sergeant did as she commanded and left to spread the word.

A couple of days later, a large army of Earthborn forces trotted towards the Everfree Forest. In front of the large army is the big red stallion himself, General Big Macintosh, in his juggernaut armor.

Unbeknownst to the invading force, lurking in the vast forest are the guardians of the Everfree. These wooden giants watched the incoming invaders and prepare themselves. They will be first and last forces to try and invade their forest. 
> Cult of Laughter: Laughing Dead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Try as you might, the past will come back and haunt you"


- Smart Cookie


No truer words can be said, in that quote. Many ponies believe they can forget about certain things in their lives, things they want to forget, things they regret ever doing, and things they just to forget. Whatever their reason is, they unfortunately can't simply forget about it. Your future is determined by what you did, and sadly your past contributes in shaping your future.

In an old barn house located near old Ponyville, a lone stallion resides there, tending to his small vegetable garden. It wasn't much but, it was enough for him to survive on. He does occasionally go to the nearby refugee camp and trade his crops with the ponies there. Shallow Stone was his name and he's been doing this for a sometime, just recently did he started living on this abandoned farm and took up residents. 

The local ponies from the refugee camps came to know the lone stallion, they all know him as the nice and kind gentlecolt. However, what all those ponies don't know is that Shallow Stone has very trouble past. It was something that happened a long time ago, something he wished to forget, something he wished it won't come back.

At first Stone was able to leave his past behind, and live his new life. But, then the nightmare appeared. Every night it is the same damn dream for him. The dream about a mother, a father, their child, a bandit, and lots of blood. These reoccurring nightmares were preventing him having any restful nights.

Despite these nightmares, the dark green stallion didn't let it bother his works and continue his gardening. While working, Stone felt like somepony was watching him. He occasionally looks around, to see if there was anypony around. Before it was just nothing but, now he started seeing things.

It started with black smudges that escape from his line of sights, then later it becomes a black silhouette of ponies, and finally one time he got a clear view of his stalker. Pony he saw was a tad shorter than him and he was wearing a black cloak. But, what's most disturbing about this pony was that, while his hood block the upper part of his face. The lower part was visible for Stone to see, what he saw was the guy's mouth, smiling wickedly. 

Shallow Stone recognizes that smile from anywhere, it was the smile that he seen before. The Cult of Laughter, a new group that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and already have thousands of members, with more joining up with them every day.

Those cults promised ponies all better life with smile and laughter, things that were taken away from them when the country was divided. They also promised their followers to be able to reunite with their lost loved ones and bring back the happiness in their bleak and terrible world.

These nut jobs are no better then the other houses, using ponies to fulfill their selfish purposes, deluding the populace with their propaganda about justifiable causes and reasons.  

Stone has seen these ponies in first hoof, their followers are totally insane, overzealous, and creepy. Always smiling and laughing, they are more than happy to kill and die for their cause. Not only that he heard that they are practicing necromancy, raising the dead to fight for them.

Fearing for his life Shallow Stone started packing up his things and waited till morning to move out. Gathering the last of his supplies, the dark gray stallion hooked up the wagon on himself and quickly trotted out of the barn, and out abandoning the farm. As soon as he got out, Stone turned from his quick trotting to, galloping as fast as he can could go.

By the time he stopped and rest, the sun was already setting down. The bright yellow orb in the sky disappearing over the horizon. Speaking of disappearing, if the two princesses were really gone, then how come the sun and the moon are still rising and falling. Whether they are still around and that they are controlling the sun and moon, or it was just one big lie. He just prays that they come back, to finally end this conflict once and for all. 

Snapping out of his thoughts, Stone took out his map and checked his position. If he continued at this pace, he will be able to reach New Ponyville by tomorrow. As much as he wanted to keep going, his body was tired and need some rest. Stone decided to rest by a dead tree and lie down. Unfortunately, as he got down his eyelids were getting heavy, and he has a hard time keeping his eyes opened. Soon his eyes were shut and he was dreamland.

Shallow Stone is having a nightmare again, and unlike those other dreams where it present scenario, centering around the ponies fears. Stone on the other hoof, his dreams actually did happen and have haunted him to this day.

His dream involves a family of three, one mom and dad, plus a young child. He sees the family galloping away from someone, another pony. Wielding an axe, the pony chased the after the fleeing family. Stone recognizes the bandit and knew what was going to happen next. 

The bandit finally caught to the tired out family, they begged for mercy. Too bad he didn't have any, he split the father's face in half with his axe and chopped a huge chunk of flesh of the mother's neck. The bandit did all this in front of their child, who sat there watching in utter horror as his parents are brutally murdered in front of him. 

With both parents dead, this left the young colt with their murder. The bandit slowly trotted to frozen colt, and before the dream could continue, Stone was brought out of his sleep by a sudden loud noise. The gray stallion did a quick look around to find the source of the noise. When him turn his head towards his wagon, his eyes widen in horror.

Standing on top of his wagon is pony but, not just any pony. A corpse, rotten up, its coat darken to a darker shade. The hair is barely kept it attached to the head. However those don't compare to the dead pony's face, there is a large line going down the corpse's face, hold together by stitches. Its eyes are gone, leaving nothing but, two empty holes. And that horrifying smile on its mouth, showcasing its rotted teeth.

Shallow Stone was so distracted by the this abomination, he didn't notice two figures coming from behind. One of them tosses a lasso around his neck. The rope surrounding his neck was then suddenly pulled, resulting in the stallion falling on his back.

Before he could recover, someone the pulled the rope tied tot he stallion, and started dragging him towards the leafless tree. As he was being dragged, he passed his wagon. Grabbing the knife he was lying next to him when he slept, he cut the rope and freed himself. 

As he raised his head he identify the two other assailants, one is another reanimated corpse and the other is the same pony in cloak. Stone rolled to the side, dodging the attack of the other corpse on his wagon. The gray stallion then raise his knife and stabbed the creature in the head.

He hoped that this thing was one of those destroy the brain type of undead. Unfortunately, it wasn't and it just swatted him away. The corpse then jumped on the down stallion pinning him down, its strength surpasses any normal pony since it has no limitation.

With him unable to move, the other corpse trotted to them and tied a new rope around Stone's neck. Upon closer look he saw a huge gash on the second corpse's neck. Once the rope tightens, the two zombies dragged the stallion towards the tree, where the cloak pony is standing.

Shallow Stone futilely tried to remove the rope around his neck, but the rope was locked tightly around the skin of his neck. The two corpses finally reached the tree, the cloak pony ordered them to toss the rope around a branch. They then pulled onto the rope, raising the gray stallion of the ground, hanging him. 

As he was hanging, Stone got a clear view of his three assailants. The one having the longest stitch on his face was holding onto the rope. The undead pony was standing near the stitch face pony, with the cloak pony in between the two. The pony then took off his hoodie revealing his face.

Upon the revealing his face, Stone's eyes were widened again. He recognizes this young stallion. Memories of that time came flashing back, replaying in his mind. He was the bandit chasing the chasing the family, the one who killed his parents in front of him, the one that took away his loved ones, and the one to sell him into slavery.

Now many years later the very same colt came back, with his parents, seeking vengeance. The smiling stallion watched as the pony struggled a bit, until he stopped. Tying the rope around the tree, the three ponies left the body to hang on the tree. The cloak stallion happy, finally avenging his parents' death. 
> House of Stormwing: Thunderers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The hell is this thing? Hey Shade!"

"What?"

"You know what this is?"

A black coated pegasus stallion with a dark blue mane trotted towards his comrade. His comrade is orange pegasus with red and yellow hair. He was standing in front of a strange device of some kind. Shade took his place next to his friends and inspect the device.

The device is question is a flat equipment. There is a circle with two things from the sides. On one side is a hook like thing, while on the other side it spreads out longer ending with a pair wings. Between the wing is a ball with a pointy rod attached to it.

"Yeah Passionfire, I have no idea. Let's just go ask the quartermaster." Shade picked up the unknown device and carried it to the armory, with Passionfire following from behind.

The two soldiers entered the armory, everywhere weapons are aligned and organized neatly. Among the stack of weapons is a another pony reading from a scroll. This pony is slightly older than the two, his wrinkles showing itself on his blue coat and a little gray in his yellow hair. 

Despite his old age, this elderly stallion's mind is still sharp as the weapons in this room. The old stallion was just reading his checklist of supplies and equipments, when he was interrupted by two familiar ponies.

"Hey gramps, do you know what this thing is?" Shade said to the old pegasus.

The old pony glared at the black stallion. "Shade, how many times I told. Stop calling me gramps, my name is Ravenclaw." he stated.

"Yeah well I prefer to call you gramps." Shade retorted.

Sighing the stallion return his glare to the cocky pegasus. "What is it that you want to show me?" Upon asking his question, the black pegasus used his wings and gave the device to the old pony. Ravenclaw picked up the device and inspected it.

"Oh this thing? this is a Discharger."

"What?" Shade and Paasionfire said in unison.

"Yep the Discharger, a weapon created by those weather masters fellows. This device is able to harness the power of lighting and unleash it upon the enemies." Ravenclaw explained while showing them how to properly hold the device.

"Holy shit, that sounds awesome!" Shade said, excitedly. "Why don't we use more these suckers." he grabbed the device from the old stallion and held it like he did. 

Ravenclaw frown when heard Shade's question. "That's the things boys, we are capable of doing this. But, our commanders refused to employ such weapons."

Both ponies returned their gaze from the device, to the elderly pegasus. "What do you mean sir?" asked Passionfire.

"What I mean is that most of our older commanders, have a dislike for range weaponry. To them a true warrior face foes close and personal, not from afar." the old blue pegasus answered.

"Well that just stupid and close-minded." Shade repied.

"I agree with there, Shade." the old pony agreed.

"Really? I always figure you to be more of a traditionalist."

"Why? cause I'm old? that means I agree with other old ponies as well?"

While those two talked among each other, Passionfire on the other hoof was inspecting the Discharger. He checks it from every angle and held it in his hooves, to feel the weight and grip on the device. It was then that he found two lines coming from the hook part of the weapon.

"Hey Ravenclaw, what are these?' he showed the quartermaster. Ravenclaw stopped his talk with Shade and saw what Passionfire was pointing at. 

"Yeah those connect to a storm cloud."

"Why?"

"For the lighting source Shade." he returned his attention to the black stallion. "You think that device can harness the raw power of electricity?"

Before Shade could say anything, they were interrupted by somepony outside. "Hey guys! The captain wants all of us to gather together for a meeting. Outside his tent." The pony courier then left to spread the word. The three ponies inside immediately exited the armory and headed to the meeting. 

As the three gathered with the other pegasus, they noticed that only thirty were present. Then coming from inside the tent is white coat pegasus with silver gray hair, their leader, Captain Winter. 

"Attention troops!" Winter shouted, silencing the crowd and getting their attention. 

"As you may have noticed that not everypony is here." the crowd of troops nodded their heads in response. "Now some of you already know the answer to that but, I'll answer for those who don't know. Exactly ten hours ago I received orders from command to lend them some of my troops, to reinforce other places. The reason is because our scouts have reported numerous Earthborn forces entering our territory. So to assist the outpost I send some of our troops to them. Unfortunately, this has shrank our force a lot. Even more unfortunate that an Earthborn force is heading to this area. And we are ordered to attack those invaders."

To say that the troops were shocked, would be an understatement. They were expected to take down an Earthborn force which consists of a hundred ponies, with only thirty pegasus troops. Also most of the pegasus here has no combat experience and all just finished boot camp. It also doesn't help that their invaders has just introduced a new weapon, designed specifically to take them down. 

Captain Winter dismissed his troops and went back into his tent, planning strategy for the upcoming battle. Shade, Passionfire, and Ravenclaw trotted together. Discussing about the latest news.

"Well this sucks."

"I agree with ya there, Shade." said his orange friend.

"This has to one of the worse order, command ever gave."

As the three continued to trot, Shade suddenly came with an idea. "Hey wait a second!" he said all of a sudden. "Why don't we use that things?"

"What? what thing?" questioned the old pegasus.

"Y'know that Discharger!"

"Shade, hate to break this to ya but, that is only one we have here."

"Oh god dammit!" Shade said in anger.

When all hope seems lost, Passionfire came up with his own ideas. "Hold that thought guys, I may have an idea." The orange pegasus raised his wings and flew into the captain's tent. Passionfire entered, with both Shade and Ravenclaw behind him.

Inside the tent is the white pegasus captain and his lieutenant, Night River. "Corporal Passionfire, what are you doing here?" Their captain demanded.

"Sir I may just come up a idea, that can help us win the upcoming battle." The orange pegasus explained to his commanding officer.

Captain Winter focused his attention on the orange pony at the entrance. "Alright corporal, I'm all ears," he said. Passionfire trotted to the captain, to explained his idea. Shade and Ravenclaw entered as well listening in on their orange friend plan.

Couple Of Hours Later

On the border between the Heartlands and the Northern Expansion, a large forces was coming from the Heartlands and is marching towards the pegasus territory.  Up high in the clouds, a small force of pegasus sat and waited for their signal to attack.

Up ahead of them is Shade wielding the Discharger in his hoof, with a small storm cloud attached to the device. Using his telescope, Shade was able to get a better view of the Earthborn forces. they consist mostly of Ponies-At-Arm, Hoof Cannoneers, Battle Buckers, and a couple of Firespitters. Also with them are series of cannons and their latest anti-air weapon, the Avalanche Arrow Launcher. It's basically the rocket launcher, but instead of rockets its arrows.

Basically it fire a barrage of arrows into the horde of flyers, either killing them or injuring them so their ground forces can finished them off. So far into their introduction, they have proven successful against the Changeling horde. So now they turned this new weapon upon the forces of stormwing.

Unfortunately for these guys, the pegasus has already set up a plan to counter the invading forces. Passionfire suggested sending some rain clouds in the area, so that cannons will ineffective. Then with their superior firepower disabled the pegasus will fly down and strike swiftly.Then they'll retreat back to the clouds and that's where Shade will step in. 

As the Earthborn forces drew closer, the rain clouds have showered the land with water, heavily soaking the earth ponies below. They however were not deterred from the weather, and just pressed forward. Up high in the skies, Captain Winter order his forces to fly down and attack.

Seeing the incoming pegasus, the Earthborn commander ordered the Avalanche Arrow Launcher to be uncovered and fired. However, before they could do anything, a sudden lighting strucked them. Destroying one of their heavy weapons and electrocuting some of them.

With the sudden lighting strike, the Earthborn troops were in disarray, leaving them easy target for the pegasus. They flew towards them, weapons held, slashing or stabbing them.  Captain Winter impaled a pony with his spear, switching to his sabre, he slashed two more.

Lieutenant Night River sliced a somepony's head clean off, Passionfire slashed a couple with his spear, and Ravenclaw chucked his spear at a pony, impaling them. Once they flew pass them, the pegasus retreated back to the air, while another lighting struck the enemies.

While the Captain led his forces against the Earthborn, Shade was waiting for the Discharger to charge in between shots. Once down charging, Shade aimed for a spot to do the most damage. The combination with the rain water, help make this weapon even more devastating.

This went on for a couple of minutes, a cycle with the lighting strike and the pegasus guerrilla like attack. Eventually with the heavy losses they are facing, the surviving Earthborn forces retreated, falling back into the Heartlands.

Watching the invaders retreat, the Stormwing troops cheered in victory. They have successfully driven them off, despite the major disadvantage they have. Suffering to little to no casualties, they all flew back to their outpost. 

Captain Winter wrote in his report about the successful battle and praised Discharger as a recommended weapon. Since it was Passionfire idea that won the battle, he was promoted to a sergeant, meanwhile the black pegasus Shade, was chosen to be the one the first wave of specialized units called Thunderers.

> House of Earthborn: Equestrian Juggernauts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"IN COMING FIRE!" A earth pony in armor shouted as he drops down onto the ground. Several other ponies around a Bucker Cannon, did the same thing and dropped down. Mere seconds later , their position was hit by a of beam of light that incinerates anything the light touches. 

The beam then slowly shrunk, until it disappeared. With the beam gone, the same earth pony shouted to the other pones to return fire. Loading a cannonball into the Bucker, the cannon crew aimed and lit the fuse, and fired. The solid round ball flew across the battle field and landed behind the unicorn's Sunray Cannon.

A ball exploded on impact, sending bits of shrapnel backwards, hitting the unicorns. Luckily their armor protected them against the shrapnel. "Mages concentrate fire on those cannon emplacements!" a unicorn in armor, yelled to the two mages operating the Sunray cannon.

The two mages then used their magic to manipulates the energy from the sun and transfer it into the Sunray Cannon. Once full, one of the mage got onto the contraption. Looking through the scope, he found the cannons emplacements. He then told the second mage to fire. The Sunray charge up for a bit and then unleashed beam of solar light from its barrel.

This battle is being fought two opposing forces, on one side with the earth ponies are the House of Earthborn. While the on the other side with the unicorns, are from the House of Moon and Star. Two opposing factions who hate each other. The unicorns seeing the earth ponies as the inferior race, while the earth ponies view the unicorns to be arrogant and dangerous. 

Their hatred and disdain for each other helps motivate the two factions to fight harder. And it shows, while the two opposing cannons were busy fire upon each others position. Below them are rows of troops firing at each other. The Hoof Cannoneers hiding behind makeshift cover, fired their hoof cannons at the Markmages. Hiding behind their magical shield, the Markmages returned fire with their magic missiles. 

The two sides had been engaged in this fight for an hour now, neither side stopping as they kept on fire at their enemies. This battle would've ended in a stalemate if their reinforcement hadn't arrived. On both sides, the two factions just received their back up. Hordes of Ponies-At-Arms came from the Earthborn side, while hordes of Legionnaires came from the Moon and Star.

The two forces clashed at the center, becoming a center of intense fighting. The Ponies-At-Arms stab and slash unicorns with their knife, the Legionnaires fought with their spears and used the occasional magic against the earth ponies.

Amidst all this chaos, the unicorns failed to notice the incoming Juggernauts entering the field. A total of five of the largest stallion anypony has ever seen, trotted pass some awed looking earth ponies. Decked out in heavy armor, these heavy troops increased their pace as they went down the hill passing the Hoof Cannoneers.

As they got nearer to the bottom, the Juggernauts were now galloping in full speed. Each step they took made a loud thump noises. These sounds alerted the Earthborn forces of the their presence but, to Moon and Star, just confusion.

Nearing the center, the five Juggernauts formed an arrow formation and charge with all their might. The earth ponies heard the approaching armored stallions and quickly got out of the way, leaving a confused unicorn behind. 

Those that stood in the Juggernauts path didn't stood a chance. These armored behemoths either crushed any unicorns under them or were impaled by the three sharp blades on their helmets. One of the Ponies-At-Arms noticed a path created by the Juggernauts and lead his forces right behind them.

The large armored stallions broke through the lines of Legionnaires, and started galloping up the hills. The Juggernauts struck passed the lines of Markmages, making an opening for the Earthborn forces behind them to attack the unicorns. Continuing going up, the Juggernauts reached the Sunray Cannons emplacements. One of them rammed into one of the cannons, lifting it up with his horns, the cannon fell to its side.

The Juggernauts started destroying the unicorn's cannons, with the Ponies-At-Arms joining them later. Down below the Markmages were being slaughtered, either from the cannons or the Ponies-At-Arms. This devastating turn of event caused the unicorns to call in a retreat. 

The house of Moon and Star forces started falling back leaving the Earthborn ponies victorious. However, it didn't end there. A earth pony commander ordered his troops to continue the assault and rushed towards the unicorn base camp. Listening to their leader, the earth ponies continued their attack. 

They chased down unicorns, killing any of them that they came across. With the Juggernauts up front, they were causing the most damage to the Moon and Star. Stampeding through their ranks, crashing, bashing, stomping, and impaling, the unicorns couldn't do anything against these armor beasts. 

Following them to their campsite, the Equestrian Juggernauts wasted no time and charged in. This caught the unicorns by surprise and failed to counter the charging armor stallions. Soon the rest rest of the Earthborn forces joined in the assault and started fighting against the unicorns.

The battle was intense, pony after pony slaying slaughtering each other and dropping like flies. One pony slew another with his blade, another impaled one with his spear. The unicorns also fought violently, lighting some poor pony on fire or blasting them apart with their magic missiles.

Soon enough the earth pony cannons arrived and the tide of battle turned. Loading them up, they fired upon the larger group of unicorns, scattering their parts around. The Moon and Star ponies were losing badly and most of them are urging to just gallop away. 

In a middle of this chaos a unicorn commander fought valiantly against the earth ponies. Blasting them with magic missile and swinging his sword around, chopping down ponies one at a time. No pony can stand up against this commander, until one of the Juggernaut came up to him.

Both warriors stared at each other, their silence was enough to indicate a duel. The two then charge at one another, the Juggernaut galloping at full speed. Only mere inches before touching him, the unicorn commander activated his shield, halting the large stallion in his tracks.

Levitating his spear, the unicorn thrust it into the stallion's eye socket. Unfortunately the Juggernaut quickly moved leaving only a scratch on his faceplate. Reeling back, the stallion swung his head at the small unicorn. The pony cast the same shield spell again and blocked his attack. The large pony however, continued to thrash against the unicorns shield.

The commander held his ground against the armor stallions unrelenting assault. Casting another spell, the unicorn teleported behind him and blast the giant with his magic missile. The Juggernauts stumbled down, leaving him vulnerable for another attack. Casting incendiary, the large stallion was lit on fire. The intense heat steaming the stallion inside.

Assuming he had won the unicorn lowered his magical shield, resulting in a surprised buck from the burning Juggernaut. The kick delivered immense pain to the commander, who is on the ground trying to recover from the sudden attack.

Before he could get up, the towering burning stallion stood over him. Raising his head up, he thrust his head down, impaling the commander. The Juggernaut then raised his dead opponent up, displaying his corpse for all the see. The unicorns, upon seeing their dead commander, dropped their weapons and surrendered or galloped away.

The Earthborn forces cheered for a second time, they have not only won the battle but, also drove off the unicorns from the area. Once done the ponies gather up the prisoners and the wounded, buried the bodies and destroyed the base. With their job done, the Juggernauts were ordered to move to a new outpost, to lend their aid in any upcoming battles.

> House of Moon and Star: Nightmares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the border between the territory of the House of Stormwing and Moon and Star, is a pegasus outpost, up high on a cloud. On this cloud outpost there is a single structure that stood out. Unlike the more carefully shape cloud structures of their settlements, these structures were hastily built.

Standing out front of the building are two Pegasi Hoplites, one orange, the other maroon. As these two stood on guard, the maroon pegasus turned his head toward his companion.

"Hey Gruff," he said.

"Yeah Cinnamon?" the orange pegasus replied.

"Do you know why we are here?"

"That's one of life greatest mystery isn't, why are we here? Are we real or are we just the creation of some guy's imagination. Some ominous pony writing about, writing about what we do, and what we're about to do. This unknown guy, who just can change how a pony look or how they act. Hell even makes them fall in love with some pony to fill whatever sick pleasure they get out of it. Man this sort of stuff, just keep me up at night." 

Once he was done, Cinnamon just stood there and stared at his comrade. "The hell are you talking about? I meant like, why are we just standing here?"

"Oh."

"What was all that about a ominous writer?"

Before Gruff could say anything, both guards were interrupted by somepony inside. "You two, gather the rest of men and bring them here." A black pegasus with light cyan gray mohawk hair, emerge from the cloud building while holding a box with his broken wing.

"Yes sir, Captain!" Cinnamon said eagerly and flew off.

"Whatever," Gruff said, sounding bored.

Once the two were gone, the black pegasus just sighs and looked off in the distance skies. Just how the hell did he ever end up here? He thought to himself. 

Long before he was Captain, Thunderlane was just slacker, living a peaceful life in Ponyville. Going to work, hang with friends, and make out with a hot mare. Rinse and repeat but, with a different mare. Life was going pretty smoothly, that was until the two royal sisters disappeared.

After that life have been going downhill, ponies arguing amongst each, later leading to violent conflict between them. Eventually causing Equestria to be divided. But the most greatest tragedy that happened to him was the flooding of Ponyville. 

Not only did Thunderlane lost his home but, also his little brother. He felt horrible for leaving him in Ponyville, he wished he was there, so that he could've saved him. Instead he was training in the pegasus army, therefore away from Ponyville during the flooding. 

When discovering that Rainbow Dash was the one who cause the flood, an outrage Thunderlane confronted the rainbow haired pegasus, and demanded to know why she did it. She explained that she was tricked into doing the deed by her friend Twilight. She played to her sense of loyalty and now because of this, they are at war with the House of Earthborn.

Conflicted. Thunderlane didn't know what to do he wanted to just leave, but where. All of Equestra is pretty much at war with each other, and if just go out there, he'll either killed or captured. Choosing to suck it up, Thunderlane stayed with House Stormwing.

In those fifteen years, the young stallion rose through the ranks , becoming a Captain and one of the best pegasus troops in the army. Then one day, there was an incident involving a rogue dragon. When the war started in Equestria, the dragons made sure not to get involved in their fighting and just flew around their country.

However, one dragon didn't fly around the war torn country but, rather started attacking. His first target was in the Stormwing territory. Flying around and breathing fire, the pegasus were being slaughtered. They are not sure why this dragon was doing this but, in this house they fight first before asking questions.

Legions of pegasi started to swarm the giant beast, however the dragon proved to quite a formidable foe. He flew around, swatting pegasus away, and burnt them alive. Eventually one of the many pegasi found the perfect opportunity to strike, Thunderlane went in and shoved his spear right into the scaly beast's eye.

The dragon scream in intense pain from having his eye pierced. Using this momentary distraction, the black pegasus flew on to his back and began hacking at the beast's wings. Feeling something on his back, the dragon took flight, trying to shake off his intruder.

Thundrlane however held on, eventually cut one of the dragon's wing off. This caused the beast to start descending down onto the ground below. The beast tried to use his other wing to fly but, was futile since his other wing was what kept this large creature in the air. 

With his task down Thunderlane flew off the falling beast, so that he can watch has crashed to the ground. Unbeknownst to the pegasi, the dragon was staring right at him, he held his breath and unleashed a long stream of fire. Sensing a great heat behind him, Thunderlane tried to get out the way. The pegasi was able to get away from the center of the fire blast but, was hit by the fire on the side, lighting his back on fire. 

With his back burned and his wing damaged, the pegasi captain started to fall as well. Luckily a pair of pegasus came in and caught the falling captain. The dragon crashed hard onto the ground, his head cracked open upon impact.

Afterwards Thunderlane was recovering in the hospital, he was awarded a medal for his heroic actions against the dragon. His accomplishment was short lived however, as the doctor returned, he told him that because of the damage to his wings, he may never fly properly again.

Because of his disability, Thunderlane was seen as unfit to lead troops into battle. Therefore he pushed to do low level position, such being in charge of these misfit troops. He was assigned to this place because his commander believed that his experience will help improve these ponies but, in reality they're just looking to get rid of him. 

After a couple of minutes waiting, the rest of Thunderlane subordinates arrived. There was a total of five of them, including the two from before. The orange one, Gruff was a lazy pegasus who only here because he was drafted and showed no motive to participate in anything. Cinnamon, the maroon one was was always eager to please him, he is basically just a kiss ass.

The other three ponies presented themselves, one red pegasus was named Sergeant, and yes this pony does have a name but, he won't tell anyone. No bother to care Thunderlane just call him Sergeant. Before he arrives the Sergeant was in charge. 

The next one is a pink pegasus pony named Doughnut,and after meeting him he was quite friendly. Also the guy was rather flamboyant. "Hey Captain," the pink pony waved his hoof at his Captain.

Now the last one is another red pony like the Sergeant, except this one was a lighter shade of red. His name is Red Shirt and he just recently left boot camp.

These misfit soldiers are here because of their poor performance of duty. Gruff for his laziness, Cinnamon need to be praised, and Doughnut for his odd behavior. Red Shirt was unlucky enough to be placed here. The Sergeant was here because of his very unorthodox strategy. He remembers reading somewhere about how the Sergeant ordered his troops to shove themselves into cannons and blast them at the enemies. What's strange is that it actually worked. 

With all of them here, Thunderlane decide to show everyone what he got in his box. "Alright guys you probably want to know what's in this box?" he asked. Their response varied to yes and one no.

The Captain opened the box to reveal a pair of flare gun. "The hell are those?" the orange one question. 

"Private, those are flair guns." Thunderlane clarified.

"Guns? I thought we pegasus don't use these kind of weapons."

"Shut up, Gruff." Sergeant told the orange private.

"Anyways Command told us that use are to used these things for signal for back up." Thunderlane continued.

"Well that's good to know that command are looking out for us," Cinnamon commented.

"Please Cinnamon that's command telling us, "hey guys if you're in trouble, just call for somepony else to come and save you," please Cinnamon we just suck so bad that Command doesn't expect much out of us."

"Shut up, Gruff." Sergeant spoke again. 

The Captain took a deep breath and sighs, Gruff wasn't though. Command doesn't really expect much from guys. All the real soldiers are out there fighting, while these misfits are placed on guard duty. With this meeting done, Thunderlane ordered Gruff and Red Shirt on guard duty while everyone goes inside and sleep.

Later that night both ponies were trotting around the perimeter of their outpost. Red Shirt trotted around the place several times already. Gruff just did it once and just sat on a cloud afterwards. 

"Gruff get up," the light red pegasus said to the lazy pony. "We have to watch the perimeters."

"Shut up Red Shirt," the orange pegasus responded back. Instead of hearing the usual response of 'get up' he just got silenced. Opening his eyes instead of seeing the young red pegasus, he saw a strange shadowy creature shape like a unicorn staring right at him. His response, to scream like a little girl.

Hearing a girlish scream, everypony inside the barrack got up. Thunderlane being the first to respond bolted out of the door and saw a black figure holding the orange private. Galloping at full speed Thunderlane connected his hoof to the shadowy creature's face. The creature let go of his prey and stumble backwards.

The black pegasus tried to deliver another  punch but, his hoof just went right through it. The creature then moved to the side and delivered a series of punch and kick. The captain managed to block a few of them but, was pushed back by one powerful kick.

The rest of the troops got outside and saw their captain being kicked by the strange black creature. Seeing their captain in distress they charged at the unknown being trying to hurt it. Unfortunately their attacks went right through it. 

The creature passed through the group and started to pummel the group. It kicked Sergeant in the face, punched Cinnamon, and elbowed the pink one. While the shadowy being was busy beating up his troops, Thunderlane got up and charge at the thing. 

This attack was more successful and continued the assault. When the creature phased out, the captain waited for to strike. When it did, Thunderlane deflected the attack and countered with a punch. The punch hit its mark and the creature reeled back. His intuition was right, when the creature phased out it become untouchable. However, if it wants to hit something it has to phase in to touch something.

Knowing what to do, Thunderlane countered every attack the creature dished out and returned a punch or kick. The battle between the two was intense but, clearly the black pegasus captain was winning, The shadow creature was getting frustrated and tried to hit the pegasus.

On one of its punches, Thunderlane grabbed its arm and broke it. The shadow pony screamed in pain, the captain called his subordinate to toss him a spear. The maroon one chucked him a spear, which he grabbed in mid air. He then thrust the spear into its chest, causing it to disperse.

After the fight, Thunderlane asked if anyone was alright. All four said they were fine, including Gruff who was pretending to be knocked out during the fight. The only pony not present is Red Shirt, they looked around for him and found his body on the ground way below them, his neck snapped.

Mourning the lost for the red pony, Thunderlane need to report this incident to the higher ups, tell them of this strange shadow shape pony.  

Meanwhile just far away from the pegasus outpost is a unicorn wearing a robe watching the base from under a tree. Just then a shadow pony appeared next to him. The creature's shadow body dispersed to reveal an injured blue unicorn. His body was covered in bruises and his arm snapped. 

The robed pony turned his head to the inured pony. "Monsoon, what happened to you?"

"Fucking pegasus bastard broke my damn arm!" he responded, angrily

The pony in robe used her magic to help carry him. "Come on let's get out of here." The two unicorns left the area, and back into the territory of the Moon and Star.

> House of Whitegold: Gem Golems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Lyra  is the coast is clear," a whitish yellow earth mare whispered to her greenish unicorn friend. 

After a second of waiting, the unicorn turned her head back. "Yeah Bonbon, the coast is clear," she replied back. 

After hearing those words, Bonbon signaled the other militia group behind them. A total of ten ponies, including themselves all marched forward. In the middle of the group is a caravan, carrying a large pile of gems. 

The group of ponies surrounds the caravan, with Bonbon and Lyra at the front. Before The Divide, these two lived peacefully in a small town called Ponyville. Then things changed after The Divide, conflict arose and ponies were choosing sides. After Ponyville was flooded, the two tried to live in New Ponyville. 

Then words spread of the brutal practices of cutting the horns of unicorns, Lyra didn't feel safe here. With Bonbon accompanying her, the two made to the city of Manehattan, home of the House of Whitegold. At first both ponies lived in the slums of the great city.

Soon fortune smiled upon these two as they were drafted into the militia forces. Sure it sounds bad to be forced to join the army but, they were given food and beds. More than anything they could get living in the slums. Also the house was not at war with any of the other houses, therefore not many battles to be part of. 

The only these two have to worry about were the Diamond Dogs and a couple of criminals in the Undercity. All was normal when the Dogs started attacking. Just recently various dog tribes had dared to attack the house of Whitegold, one of their attacks involved the attacking of caravans, stealing their goods.

Members of the house ordered a retaliation to these series of attack. With the idea becoming popular, the house began creating armies and sent them to attack the various dog tribes. This was where Bonbon and Lyra got their first taste of combat, at first they couldn't stand the bloodshed but, soon they start to get used to it.

On this particular mission the group is to deliver the caravan to its destination. They are ordered not to lose the gems or else face the consequences. Nopony knew the importance of these gems, only a few knew what they really are. And they just happened to be Bonbon and Lyra.

By their standards both ponies are veterans compared to the other ponies in the back. Together the two survived the most brutal of battles. Side by side and watching each others back, this dynamic duo has fought through the harshest of fights. 

As the group kept on trotting, Bonbon raised his right hoof. This was to signal the group to stop, they stood there for minutes, staying silent and not hearing anything. Then a spear was lunged near them. Coming from down a hill and small pack of dogs came rushing at them.

"Ambush!" Bonbon shouted. as she dodged a swing of an axe.

"Protect the caravan!" Lyra shouted, as she charge into a dog and impaled it with her spear.

Seeing their leaders in action, inspire the rest of the troops to fight. Unlike the other militias these ponies are properly trained and better equipped than most other militias. Because of this, is the reason why these ponies are able to fend off the attacking dogs. 

The unicorns used a variety of  magic to fight the dogs, the pegasi used their flight, and the earth ponies used their incredible strength. The pack of dogs were easily defeated, their bodies lay slain on the ground near the ponies, who are covered in their blood.

After Lyra finished the last dog the group continued on. The ponies behind them were tired from the battle but, knew to press on to complete their mission.

The group trotted forward, their hooves get sore from the long trot and the blood have dried up by now. They kept on going until they all stopped again when Bonbon raised her right hoof again. Then out from the ground hordes of Diamond Dogs emerged, surrounding the group and their cargo. 

Unlike the dogs from, before these guys are wearing metal armor, not some raggedy old vest. Out of all the dogs one stood out from the rest. This one was in full body armor. He lifted his face plate showing his yellow eyes and sharp canine teeth.

"Little ponies give us gems or else Barker will release the hounds. His subordinate growled when their leaders mentioned them. As good fighter as they are, they can't fight off hordes of dogs. Seeing no other option, Lyra told the ponies behind to give them the gems. They did as they were told and pushed the cart towards the leader.

Barker picked the gems and ordered the dogs to head back to base. They all dug into the ground and just like as they suddenly appeared, they quickly disappeared. 

The militia frown at what just occurred, they lost the gems, failed their mission, and now they will face the consequences. While the group were depressed, Bonbon and Lyra were grinning for two things, reaching their destination and the surprised for the dogs.





Down below in a cavern, the dogs were celebrating their latest steal from the ponies. Barker puts the gems in with the others and rejoin in celebrating with his soldiers. As he left, the dog didn't hear the sound of the gems activating. It started to levitate the other gems around it, assimilating them into it.

The more gem it absorbs, the more bigger the assimilating gets. Soon the gems start to mold out four limbs, a neck, and a head. By the time it was finished the gem was in a shape of a pony and it was the size of a Manticore. After this the Gem Golem search for an entrance and followed it. 

The Golem came across some partying dogs, somewhere wasted from drinking. Upon seeing the dogs, the Golem then proceeds to its objective, trotting to the two nearest dog. Grabbed them by the head, he smashed them together, causing two bloody faces. 

The noise caused every dog in the room to stare at the Golem. Seeing its hooves holding the bloody dogs. The reactions were different. So some ran away and others charged at the Gem Golem. The gem beast easily dispatched the dogs. Knocking them around or crushing them under its hooves, the dogs were helpless to the walking killing machine. 

The Gem Golem trotted into a large chamber, in its the golem faced a dog in full armor. "So, you are the one, killing me boys." Barker rhetorically asked, while taking out a large hammer. "I'll break you into bits!" he charged in and swung his hammer. The weapon hit the golem's leg, bit of gem came flying off upon impact. 

The golem backed off, this dog's attack is actually hurting it. Barker swung the hammer again, aiming for the creature's head. He raised his other hooves, saving its head but, in cost of damaging its arm. Swinging the hammer left the alpha dog vulnerable, and the golem took advantage of it.

Raising its hoof, the golem punch the dog's gut. He felt the pain but, did stop him from swinging his hammer again. This time it smashed the beast's head into many pieces. Barker smile at the success of his attack, it was short lived as the headless golem crushed his head with both of its hooves. 





Back on top, the militia ponies were just sitting around and waiting. After the dogs stole their gems, their two leaders ordered everyone to stay put. Most were confused as to why but, was shrugged off by a her greenish blue friend, Lyra. An hour has passed and all the ponies were bored at this point.

Eventually they all felt something coming from the grounds, and out popped a large gem golem. This one was covered in dry blood and some scars over its body.

"Well I'm sure that was a successful," Lyra commentated.

"I know Lyra, I know. Hey golem go back to the cart," she commanded and it obeyed. The golem got up onto the cart and returned back into the gems. With that done Bonbon nd Lyra will have to report back to base, and tell them that Project Golem was a success.

> House of Everfree: Swamp Shamblers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On top of a tall mountain in the Northern Expansion, is a Stormwing settlement called Dragonpoint Outpost.  This settlement serves as a lookout to the expanding Everfree forest. Before the forest were of no concerned to them, but as the forest slowly expands into their territory, it was enough to get their attention.

Scouts were sent in to find the cause of this invading forest. Since the trees block their view from the skies, they were forced to go into the dark forest. Most of the scouts sent in didn't make it out, those that survive said that forest contains many creatures, that seems to be summoned by the forest itself to attack them.

With this new members of Stormwing ordered the cutting down of the expanding forest. They only cut down the trees growing on their territory, any further and they stopped, less they get attacked by the creatures that dwells in the Everfree forest. 





Dragonpoint Outpost, Infirmary 

A brown pegasus captain was sitting in the waiting room of the infirmary, waiting patiently for the update on his troops. A couple of minutes later a doctor arrived and greeted the captain.

"Hello Captain Sky Quake," the doctor said to him. "I just finished the update on your soldiers." the doctor then frown. "And I'm sorry but, I'm afraid they won't make it." Hearing those words, the captain became depressed.

"We tried everything we could, but the toxins proved to be quite difficult to cure," the doctor continued to explain. Before he could go on, the brown pegasus stopped him. "Enough," he commanded. "I've heard enough." Captain Sky Quake got up and left the room.

As the captain trot back to his office, in his mind he thought about how this whole operation gone horribly wrong. This whole thing started yesterday with reports of a rescue mission, apparently Commander Silver Feather and his escort were attacked by a large hydra.

The attack left them injured and vulnerable to the beast onslaught in the Froggy Bottom Bog. Since Dragonponit Outpost is near the vast swamps, they were given the mission to rescue the commander. Captain Sky Quake ordered ten of his best fliers to head to the swamp and rescue Silver Feather.

That was a couple of hours ago and now they are here with no commander, and are slowly dying from an unknown poison. Before the soldiers were sent to the infirmary, the captain and his lieutenant questioned them about what happened out there.

Many shared various tales of what happened in the swamps, some similar to the others report and some just totally different. It was then here during the questioning that these guys started to get ill. Seeing their condition worsen, Quake ordered them into the infirmary. 

And while his troops were being examined, Quake and lieutenant Spice gather the information they got from the troops and compiled them into one report.





OPERATION: SWAMP RESCUE

The mission is simple, a team of ten pegasus led by Sgt Light Show, where to find and retrieve Commander Silver Feather and returned him alive, to Dragonpoint Outpost. The team left and only hours later did they return. Three were missing and the others were fine until their illness kicked in.

According the Sergeant, his team arrived at the swamp. The team didn't see any hydra but, they kept there guard up. They know the hydra could be hiding anywhere in the swamps and kept their eyes and ears opened. The team covered a lot of grounds  by flying over the area.

During this search several team members reported that they saw something moving. When they investigate, it was just some big pile of swamp grass and leaves. They continued their search and found an abandoned chariot. The crashed chariot had some armor and weapons lying near it. However no bodies are found in the vicinity. 

Assuming that the Commander and his troops have move to a safer position but, wonders why they left their weapons and armor behind. Nevertheless, they continued on with their search.

They looked and looked, and yet they got no results. The sergeant then believed that splitting up would be a best option to cover more areas in this vast wetlands. So the troops followed his orders and split into a pairs and flew in different direction. 

The sergeant and his partner Pvt Sunny Delight found no trace of Commander Silver Feather, or the rest of his escorts. With no leads, Sgt Show fired a flare into the air, signaling all the troops to gather at their position. Waiting, other members of the sergeant's team found their way here.

When they all gathered here, the sergeant noticed that two were missing. When asked, Cpl Storm Watch and Cpl Prance spotted the missing pair heading northwest. The sergeant ordered his team and head off towards that direction, in hopes to find their missing teammates. 

During their flight. Light Show noticed that some of his troops seem ill, some were not focused and some were coughing. Not that he thinks about it, he himself feel a bit under the weather. He ignored it and pressed on, with completing the goal in his mind. 

They eventually found the missing ponies, they were dead. Upon closer examination, there was no wounds on their bodies, so the mystery was, what killed them? Before he could go any further, one his troops alert him of something moving out there.

Forming a circle around the bodies, each troops look out in the distance expecting some kind of pony or creature to attack them. Out from the swamp came a large lumbering creature made of wet plants and roots. The creature slowly shambles towards the group of pegasus.

Sgt Show ordered three of troops to engage the creature. Raising their spears, the trio simultaneously thrusts their weapons into the monster. The creature didn't even seem fazed by their attack and just stood there. Instead of thrashing at them like they expected from the creature, it instead release some kind of purple gas.

Two of three backed off but, Pvt High Wind was too close and inhale the gas. The private then started to cough violently, he then started to vomit out blood from his body. The pegasus then collapsed on the ground,  near the foot of the swamp creature.

Seeing not only that their weapons had no effect on the monster, but also watched their comrade die, caused fear among the troops. Then they saw more of the shambling creatures coming from every direction. Knowing nothing of these things and with more coming, the sergeant ordered everypony to retreat. Fleeing, the pegasus team left the swamp. Abandoning the swamp, their mission, and their fallen comrades. 





Once done writing the report, Capt Sky Quake order his lieutenant to send this report to high command. Lt Spice grabbed the files and flew off leaving the brown pegasus alone in his office.

Hours later Sgt Light Show was the last one to fall to the toxin and died on his hospital bed. Hearing reports of his death, the captain felt sorry for the sergeant and his team. They were young and full of potential, they may have failed their mission but, their discovery of a new threat could prove useful in the future. 

Froggy Bottom Bog

A shambling swamp monster was slowly walking towards somewhere. around him other of his kind are going in the same direction. They are being called, a voice is telling to head somewhere, and with no mind of their own the creature followed the voice. 

One particular swamp creature stopped in its tracks, in its mind it saw visions. They were vague but, it could make out some of the images. They were a flying in a chariot, a hydra, and the swamp creatures. Before it could make sense of it, the voice commanding it to continue its journey. Obeying the voice the creature moved on, shambling through the wetlands.

> Cult of Laughter: Grinning Worms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


If you are reading this then that means I'm probably gone.


My name is detective Radiant Summer and this is my journal. I am member of the BPD, Baltimare Police Department. The city of Baltimare is my home, I was born and raised in this fine city. Even after our country was divided, the ponies of this city refused to be part of the ongoing conflict and are labelled as neutral. 

Like the rest of the citizens of this city, we though we'll safe, unfortunately this war has spread its influence across the land. Various pundits are formed and many have settled in our city, thinking they can rule the place. That's where us police officer comes in and crack down these criminal scums.

At first we only had to deal with the usual criminals but, then the those House of Whitegold declared war on the diamond dogs. Now we have to deal with the occasional dog raids. But the worse so far this crazy cult called the Cult of Laughter.

Apparently these ponies worshiped the fallen Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie. However, these cults have a twisted sense of humor. They believe that death is the only cure for the sadness and grief that everypony are feeling during this hard time.

Many times I and some police cracked down onto these cults hideouts, each one more disturbing than the last one. In these hideouts the cult seems to strange fascination with death, and they usually have rotting corpses down there. Even worse they seem to decorate these body for their strange rituals.

This started to become very common for us, as more cultist appear in our city. Even more disturbing are some of their members. I can still remember it now, on one of our raids I found Jade to be one of its member. Jade was young teenager living with his uncle. I met him a couple of times because I always find him getting into fights.

He was OK kid, just need to spend more times on his homework than fighting other ponies. I warned him of the cult that he was with but, he explained that he promised that they'll reunite with his parents again. Another thing about this cult, is that they promised to bring back the happiness to the land and help ponies be with their love ones again. 

After Jade, I found more familiar faces among these cults. There was Mr. Biscuit, the owner of the Biscuit's cafe, Mrs. Honey Spot, Jade's principle, Monkey Wrench, the repair guy and Rocky Bits, the mayor's son. The this is starting to become a serious problem.





OK this is just getting worse, before the more ponies were becoming cult members. But, now certain ponies are disappearing. Solar Point, is one Baltimare richest citizen. He was well known for his many charitable donations and was a kind pony.

Then he just disappeared without a trace. According to his friends they stopped hearing from the guy three days ago. He was last seen going home but, not actually leaving his house. I investigate his home and found nothing, the stallion just simply disappeared. 

As we were investigating Solar disappearance we got another call of a missing pony. Dusk Shimmer, a high school teacher never attended his class. While investigating this case, his wife mentioned a box. In her description the box  a picture of three balloons and a jester hat with a crescent moon shape. This was the symbol of the Cult of Laughter.

Now knowing that they are behind these disappearances, I went to interrogate a cult member. I asked Jade if he knew of the sudden disappearance. He just replied that that got what they deserved. When I press the issue further, he remains quiet. I warn him of the consequences he'll face for affiliating with these cultists. He just laughed and said whatever punishment he gets, the cult will do it twice as harsh.

Seeing that I won't be getting any more info from him, I Just left him in his cell. Then as I was about to go home, a messenger arrived and told me another disappearance has occurred. The missing pony is named Trench, he unemployed, married and has a son.

When I came to question the family, the wife was absolutely sad about his sudden disappearance. Strange as the son doesn't seem sad at all. When I asked him about this, he just said that he was glad he is gone. The child told me that his dad is mean and hurts mommy. Then the last thing he said send chills down my spine. He said "daddy got what he deserved".

I remembered those words from Jade earlier today, after that I decided to put more research into the missing ponies. With a lot investigating and asking around I discovered that Solar Point and and Dusk Shimmer were quite horrible ponies.

Solar under paid his workers and forced the female to do some sexual things to him. For Dusk Shimmer I discovered that he has been getting kids addicted to drugs, so that he can sell some to them. And now with Trench, the thing these guys have in common is that they have harmed somepony.

While in my train of thought another messenger arrived and in the form of another missing pony. The difference in this one is that there is an actual witness. Hearing those words made rushed over the location, with a witness we may know the cause of all this.

I arrived on the scene, asked the local officer to point towards the witness. As I met the witness, the poor stallion looked scared to death. I tried to communicate with him but, got no response. I asked the same officer if then he said anything before I got here. The officer stated that the witness spoke of some kind of worm that eats ponies, and show them horror.

Not sure what to make of this, I decided to continue on the search for the culprit causing these strings of disappearances. 





I got the box. Yeah, that's right the box from the Cult of Laughter. The supposed box that is connected the pony disappearing. But, think I'm getting ahead of myself here, let me explained.

After the first few disappearance, soon more came afterwards. Not only that but' witness saying that each missing pony received a box before their sudden disappearances. The boxes were retrieved from but, this proved useless as they were just empty boxes.

Upon closer inspection I realized that these boxes were once enchanted before it wears off. I thought of using my own magic to re-enchant the box but, the thing is I got no idea what to expect once I put my magic in this box. So this why I am writing this journal, if something does happen to me, then I pray that my replacement does a better job I ever did.

This was the last entry of Detective Radiant Summer before his sudden disappearance. In the following days after the loss of the detective, more ponies gone missing. More witnesses to shocked to say anything except the mentioning of a grinning worm like creatures that devours ponies and shows the survivors something they call the horror.

> House of Stormwing: Heavy Lancers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Charge!" shouted a earth pony commander as he led his Earthborn forces in a attack.

"To battle!" yelled pegasus commander leading the ground forces to counter the invaders.

It is unknown how such a large force of Earthborn managed to get so deep into their territory. But, right now these ponies need to be dealt with. The pegasus led his forces against the invading Earthborns but, the problem was that the Earthborn are trained soldiers, while the Ground Guards are just militias.

The two forces clashed, the sound of their weapon parrying and hacking can be heard amidst all this combat. Despite their lack of training, the Ground Guards gave it their all and fought valiantly. However, if they are going to win this battle they are going to need reinforcements. 

Up high in the clouds hovering above the battle below, a team of pegasi is awaiting orders from their leader. Unlike the other pegasus who are small and light, these pegasus is larger and more bulkier than their lighter brothers and sisters. 

Because of this, these hulking pegasus are not as fast. But, they do make up for it with their indomitable strength. Becoming a specialized units called the Heavy Lancers, these large stallion fly around the battlefield and dive bomb onto their targets. 

The line of waiting pegasus was eager to go dive down and take on those Earthborn. But, they are soldiers, and as soldiers they follow orders. Finally their team leader arrived, Captain Knuckle Head, and like the rest, he too is large stallion. 

"Listen up stallions!" the teal captain ordered. The line stallions stood straight and listen in to their squad leader.

"Our orders are simple, we do not engage the battle unless necessary." He said, as he trotted in front of them. Looking at each of their faces. "Pegasus reinforcements will be arriving soon to help out the ground forces. We are here waiting until the Earthborn bring out their own back." 

Captain Knuckle Head then stopped in his tracks. "Our scout says that the Earthborn are bringing in their heavy hitters. That means they are bringing the cannons and the Juggernauts."

Upon hearing the word Juggernauts, the line of Heavy Lancers mentally prepared themselves. They heard tales of these Earthborn warriors. Like them the Juggernauts are also huge and can be quite unstoppable. This seems like the perfect opportunity to see who is the better warrior. 





While the Heavy Lancers waited above, down below, the battle between the two factions was intensifying. The Ponies-At-Arms were proving to quite the tough foe for the Ground Guards. The Ponies-At- Arms slashed, stabbed, impaled, and crushed every militia force that came at them.

Seeing that his troops were getting destroyed out there, the pegasus commander signaled the Ground Guards he had in reserve, to jump into the fray. As soon as the backup soldiers revealed themselves, the Earthborn commander thought it was time to reveal his back up as well.

Sending out a signal, a group of Eaethborn came out of hiding. The group consist of cannons, their operators, and the Equestrian Juggernauts. The cannons got into position, preparing to fire upon the reserved Ground Guards.





Up in the clouds, the captain spotted the Earthborn reinforcement emerging. The time has finally come for the Heavy Lancers to strike. Captain Knuckle Head turned around and faced his troops.

"Alright guys, our time has come! Are you ready?" the captain shouted, receiving a collective sound of yeahs and yeses. Including one from a very muscular white stallion.

Hearing their answers, the captain turned again and face the edge of the cloud. "Then lets fly," he said, before jumping off the edge. Knuckle Head descended from the cloud and was falling at a fast pace, soon the other Lancers were falling with him.

Using their wings to push themselves towards the cannons, Captain Knuckle ordered his troops to ready their lances and pick a target. Faster and faster they fall, building up momentum as they go.

As they got nearer, the Lancers spread out and chose their targets wisely. The earth pony cannoneers were too busy setting up the cannons to notice the incoming attacking. One pony was caught by a large black shadow over him, he looked to see what is was. He was met with a lance, piercing his face.

After that other ponies were attacked, ponies were suddenly stabbed by lances and cannon are suddenly destroyed by some fast and heavy. By the time they could recollect themselves from the sudden, the Heavy Lancers began their attack. Stabbing or whacking ponies around with their giant lances.

The Earthborn troops tried to retaliate, but the large pegasus simply took flight and dive down onto them. Eventually the Juggernauts arrive on the scene, they made a grand entrance by ramming into one of the Heavy Lancers, impaling the him with his sharp horn.

Seeing one of their own getting killed, all the Lancers dropped what they were doing and engaged the Juggernauts. The two groups of giant clashed with each other, while lacking the heavy armor the Lancers make it up with wings and maneuverability. 

The two groups of large stallions fought hard and brutally, the Juggernauts impaled or stomped on the Heavy Lancers. They in returned pierced their mighty armor with their mighty lances. Captain Knuckles Head took down two Juggernauts by himself. The first he stabs in the eye with his lance and the second one, he picked and dropped him from the sky. 

While this battle was happening, with the additional reinforcements the Ground Guards managed to outnumber the Ponies-At-Arms and defeated them. With the opposition gone, the pegasus commander ordered the his remaining forces and assist the Heavy Lancers.

Seeing the incoming Stormwing troops, the Earthborn commander ordered a retreat. The Earthborn forces followed their commander's order and began falling back. Once they were far enough, the pegasus commander stopped their pursuit and returned to their positions. 

As they trotted back, each of troops cheer for their victory. Some started to either brag of praise about each others skills. Each of the Heavy Lancers talked about their fight against the Juggernauts and compared kill counts. While they were doing that, their captain just stays silent and smiled. Today they not only defeated the Juggernauts but, they also established themselves as one of the greatest units in the army of Stormwing.
 
> House of Earthborn: Firespitters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Camp Helping Heart, a refugee camp located in the Earthborn territory. Founded by a former nurse, Helping Heart. This mare started this camp to help out those who lost their homes, most notably Old Ponyville. Soon the camp got bigger when more refugee from other parts of Equestria arrived, seeking refuge from the growing conflict.

In ten years, this small camp of a hundred ponies grew into a thousand. The camp itself consist over a hundred tents and a couple of makeshift buildings, surrounding the large camp are wooden walls built to keep out any hostile forces from invading.

Despite residing in the Earthborn territory, the camp is not affiliated with them. Acting independently, the camp grows its own food and gather its own resources. 

Now why is such a large settlement not found on the updated Equestrian map? That is because five years ago an incident occurred. This incident caused the lives of all the camp's occupants and for the Earthborn forces to get involved.

According to the Earthborn troops that was sent there. They discovered that the camp not only held refugees but, also members of the Cult of Laughter. With some investigation, they discovered that the cults here were experimenting a some dark magic. Most notably their studies into necromancy.

However instead of a necromancy, the cultist created a deadly plague that spreads rapidly and killed everypony there. The Earthborn troops had to wear special suits, in order prevent themselves from getting infected. A group of troops was sent to clean up the place, including a couple of Firespitters.





"OK you ready, Rock Slide?" a pony in a brown bio-hazard suit and a gas mask asked his partner. 

His partner also was also wearing the same suit as the other pony, they were carrying a rotting pony corpse over to a pit. "Yeah, let do this," he replied.

"OK, on three. One, two and three!" both ponies chucked the corpse into a pit, full of other corpses. The number of bodies has mounted into a small hill, down in the bottom of the pit.

"Come on, just one more and we'll light this pile on fire." The troops trotted away from the pit, to grab themselves another body. They found two bodies, locked into each others arms. The two troops grabbed one of the body and carried it towards the pit.

The two did the same process from before and toss the body into the pile. "Alright let's light them up." Rock Slide then picked up his flame thrower. "Mud slap man, can you doused the pile." he said to his partner. The pony named Mud Slap grabbed a barrel of flammable liquids, he then starts to pour liquids all over the pile.

Once he was done, he signaled his friend to light it up. Rock Slide activated his flame thrower and a long stream of flame came from the barrel of his weapon. The pile of bodies was lit on fire, its flame illuminating the area around them. Black smoke rose from burning corpses, the flame slowly enveloping the bodies away. 

With their task here done, the two started to head back and rejoined the others. Before they could leave the area, Rock Slide suddenly halted. "Slide. Why you stopped." 

The pony then raised his hoof, pointing at a specific spot. "Wasn't there a body over there?" he asked. 

"What are you talking about?"

Slide trotted to the spot, with Slap following behind. "Don't you remember? This is where we took the last corpse, remember the two of them were in each others arms?" 

"Oh yeah you're right," Slap stated, he then took a careful look around the spot. "Where the hell is it?"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the two were alerted by the sound coming ahead of them. Standing there was the other corpse but, is standing up and is trotting towards them. Slide aimed his weapon at the trotting pony and shout at it.

"Halt!" he shouted, the doesn't respond and kept on trotting.

"I said halt!" he repeat himself, getting only the same result.

With the pony not stopping, Rock Slide fired his flamethrower and ignite the pony on fire. The cops just kept trotting for a bit, before collapsing on the ground. Watching the thing burn, Slide turn to talk to his partner, but was met with a walking corpse standing over a dead Mud Slap. 

"Mud Slap!" Slide yelled, shocked to see his dead companion. This drew the walking corpse attention and trotted towards the pony. Slide aimed his weapon again and lit the creature on fire. Like the last one, it kept moving until it dropped.

Rock Slide thought that was the end of it but, he soon noticed more corpses surrounding him. The lone soldiers fired his weapon at the zombies, burning them to death. Slide did his best to fend them off, until one of them ripped his suit opened. 

Realizing that he is exposed to the plague, ergo he is infected. Seeing no way out of this, Slide decided that if he was going down he'll go out with a bang. Breaking his fuel barrel opened, the soldier shoved his weapon into the barrel and pulled the trigger.

The results were a fiery explosion, incinerating himself and those walking corpses near him. The explosion was big and loud, it can be seen and heard from all over the large camp. 





Five minutes ago

Near the center of Camp Helping Heart, a bunch of Earthborn troops was moving around supplies in their temporary base of operation. Here is where they gather and collect more fuel for their weapons. The one leading this operation has been a recently promoted soldier, Captain Caramel. 

Before the promotion, Caramel was good soldier, He listened and followed orders. But, being a leader, Caramel has some doubt of his leadership skills. He mostly relies on his blue friend, Lt Noteworthy. 

It was quite strange how these two have changed in the pass fifteen years. Before Caramel has been just some pony who did odd jobs around Ponyville. His friend Noteworthy was the only one who had a career, a musician. Sadly that career was not in demand, so with no choice but, to join the army. To this day the blue stallion hasn't played his instrument for a long time.

Today is the first time Caramel was given command over a platoon of ponies. The was a total of twenty of them here, including himself and Noteworthy. Looking around Caramel sighs, glad to see everything going smoothly.

BOOM!

The sudden explosion stopped everypony in their task, and looked in the direction of that explosion. Fearing that something my have happened to his troops. Caramel ordered Noteworthy and three other troops to accompany him on his way to the source of the bomb.

He left the base making Sgt Expendable in charge while they are gone.  As the five galloped to the location, they spoke among themselves about what they would find there. Why the three debated, Carmel and Noteworthy were more focused on the task at hoof.

They arrive on the scene but, only found a burnt mark on the ground and burnt up bodies. Investigating the scene more the group found two bodies that belong to them. One was still wearing his bio suit albeit, torched up. And the second with his bio suit and his broken flamethrower. 

Seeing that this pony was at the center of the explosion, Caramel conclude that he was the cause of explosion, Now the question was, why? 

His answer came to him when his troops alerted hm of the presence of several ponies surrounding them. These ponies are no longer alive, their bodies darken losing its bright colors, and their eyes being completely voided of life. 

These five didn't need to know these ponies were and acting on instinct, they went into battle position. Noteworthy and one of troops, Napalm were the only one wielding flamethrowers. Because of this they went on the offensive and started burning these trotting corpses.

The other three, including Caramel only had melee weapons. And since their bio suit doesn't exactly give them much maneuverability, they chose to be more defenses, waiting for a target to get close before striking. 

These five ponies held their ground, slaying any of the zombies that got near them. Then one of Caramel's troops got too close to a three of them. The pony managed to slay one but, the other two swarmed him. Breaching his bio suit and killing the pony inside. 

Seeing his comrade getting mauled, the other pony panicked and gallop out of there. Only for him to be attacked by a corpse when he reached a corner. With two dead, this left only Capt Caramel, Lt Noteworthy and Specialist Napalm. 

"Shit the other guy is gone!"shouted Noteworthy.

"I'm almost out!" yelled Napalm.

Caramel stood there, frozen in shock of what just transpired. In ten seconds flat, he has already lost two of his troops. Seeing his friend in distress, the blue pony decides he should step in.

"Quick let's fall back to base!" he said, getting Caramel out of his shocked state.

At the same time Napalm's flamethrower was out of fuel, he was resorted to using the bayonet attached to his weapon to fight off the trotting corpses.

The three galloped across the rows of abandoned tents, encountering more of the rotting bodies along the way. The trio eventually got the base but, they found it in disarray. Zombies were roaming around and bodies of soldiers lay scattered across the floor.

Seeing no one here the trio were soon assaulted by more of the trotting corpses. The three broke through them and galloped in a random direction. Noteworthy finally ran out of fuel and forced to use the weapon's bayonet. They then came across a big group of corpses.

The three prepare themselves, getting ready to fight the horde of monsters. Luckily something lit the horde on fire wiping them off. They looked in the direction of where the flame came from and spotted two of their comrades. One of the two waved his hoof, indicating the three ponies to follow them. 

The trio galloped after their rescuers, which led them into one of the makeshift structures. As soon as all three got in, one of two closed and locked the door.

"Thanks for saving us out there," Caramel said, looking at the pony who saved them. 

"No problem captain."

Hearing his voice, Caramel recognize the pony as Pvt Roadblock. 

"Who are guys," asked Napalm.

"I'm Roadblock," he answered. He then turned his attention to his partner that just trotted in. "And my friend there is Crackles."

Crackles just waved his hoof to the trio of ponies.

"Well you know me and my lieutenant, this pony here Napalm." Caramel introduced his third companion to the two.

"Man gotta say it was lucky you two found us. Otherwise we be dead by now." Napalm thanked two ponies.

"Hey you were lucky we came across you guys."

"Wait, came across? you two were heading somewhere?" Noteworthy questioned.

"Yeah, we were heading to the camp's gate when we spotted you three. We originally wanted to get of here." Roadblock explained.

"Good then that is what we have to do next, we'll need to head back the gate and regroup with the guards station there." Noteworthy said, talking about their current objective.

An hour passed and the five ponies finally left the building and headed off to the gates. They snuck around the tents as not to draw the corpses attention. Along the way they noticed numerous of these creatures heading towards one direction.

They ignored it and continued on. Only then when they were forced to sneak near the walls did they see where the dead trotters were heading to. Along the wall numerous corpses were pounding on the wooden walls. Some of them used weapons, resulting in more damage to the wall.

Seeing these things attacking the wall made Caramel realized something. "Guys we can't leave," he stated, earning a shock from his troops.

"B-but sir, why?" asked Roadblock.

"Private look at them," he pointed the corpses facing the wall. "Those things don't affect by the plague but, they can carry it. This makes them extremely dangerous, if these things managed to break out they spread the plague around."

Realizing how grave that sounds each of the troops listen in on Caramel flan. "First one of us has to reach the gate and warn Captain Brass. Tell him to have troops patrolling around the wall in case they break through," he looked at the three. "Any volunteers?"

Roadblock raised his hoof but, instead of suggesting himself, he suggest Crackle should go. He explained that Crackle has a family waiting for him at home, and he doesn't want his kids go through life without their father. 

Crackle said his goodbyes and headed to the gates. With that done, Caramel proceeds to the next phase of their plan. They go back to base and gather some flamethrowers and fuel, then they trot along the wall burning any corpses they find.

And with that Caramel's plan was set into motion. When went back to the base to gather weapons and fuel, they encounter three other survivors doing the same. Caramel explained the situation to them and the three agreed to aid them.

With the additional soldiers the group trotted along the walls burning and killing any of the ghouls they came across. They went from one side of the wall to wall across the camps. Caramel and his troops incinerated over hundreds of corpses, their charred bodies lining up against the walls.

After hours of doing this the group finally burned the last group of zombies. Just in time too, they have already used up all their supplied fuels. With the their task down the group finally decided to head towards the main gate.

As soon as they got there they were faced with rows of Firespitters aiming their weapons at them. They were escorted to be decontaminated which took another hour to be over. Once done Caramel left to find Captain Brass and give the old stallion his full report.

After hearing his tale, the old captain congratulated Caramel for his amazing action inside. He'll tell the higher ups of his accomplishments, and he'll have a high reputation among them. 

Caramel left his office and reunite with his friend, including Napalm, Roadblock, Crackle and the rest. They decided to hit the bar for their celebration. Inside Caramel's head any doubt about his leadership skills disappeared. He has proven himself in the field, and he'll prove himself in the next mission as well. 

> House of Moon and Star: Inquisition Troops
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The city of Stalliongrad is a fortress city, located in the Moon and Star territory. Long ago Stalliongrad served as as a last bastion of hope during Equestria's dark ages. Now the fortress city will be used again during this growing conflict between the different factions. However, the city is far from being safe.

Not only does this fortified city holds some of the important unicorn citizens but, it also contains a number of cultists as well. The Cult of Laughter used to be a small group of ponies, but over time more members joined, growing into a sizable force.

Once they had enough, the cult launched numerous guerrilla attacks around the city. They attacked the guards, bombed barracks, sabotaged factories, poison food & water, and assassinate officials. The city's guards were having a hard time stopping these chain of attacks, forcing the captain of the guard to require assistants. 

His letter was sent to Canterlot, detailing the condition of the city and explaining his need of reinforcements. Members of the house responded to his letter and sent a battalion of soldiers to help deal with the cultist's violent uprising.

Leading this battalion is Colonel Starstrong, a well known and respected leader during before the royal sister's disappearance. Now Starstrong serve under the house of Moon and Star, doing the task the members asked of him. Down below are some of the pages from his personal journal relating to his campaign in Stalliongrad. These few pages are written differently from his field report, since these contain his thought and feelings during the campaign.





Today I was called in to meet some members of the house, the courier who delivered the message inform me that the house require my skills. Apparently they want me to lead a battalion of troops and help stomp down the cultists, in the fortress city of Stalliongrad.

From what I've heard, the cult of laughter has been launching many violent attacks around the city. So now their captain asks assistance from the house and that is where I come in. Not sure what to make of this though, I've fought against the army of Stormwing and Earthborn before. But, never against the Cult of Laughter.

From what I can gather from information of other soldiers, the cultist is insane ponies who are incredibly loyal to their cause, to the point of zealously. Kind of remind me of some ponies here who for some reason worship the two princesses, as gods.

Then I heard that the cult practiced a forbidden magic, known as necromancy. So not only do I have deal with a bunch of crazy ponies, now I have to deal with the freaking undead.

Day 0
When my battalion reached the city of Stalliongrad, the place was a total wreck. The roads were covered in potholes, stores were either burned destroyed or boarded up, and graffiti of the cults were plaster the walls around the city.

To put simply I have a lot of work to deal with, I know the captain of guard describe the situation as chaotic but, I never imagine it would the this bad. 

Speaking of the captain, his name is Iron Sphere and the poor guy looked like he hadn't slept well in days. Those black rings around his eyes and his messy hair. You can tell at first glance that he is in a very grouchy mood.

We talked, he explained the situation to me in details, and I assured him that I'll solve his problem by the end of this month.

Day 1
Well today was rather eventful. This morning a just got a letter written in blood and despite the messy letter, I was able to read messages. It basically those cultist threatening me and my troops to slow and painful death. 

I then lit the bloody letter on fire and watched it turn to ash, these ponies think they can scare me. Please, I got more threatening letters from my ex-wife. Then again she never sent a letter written letter before, except that one time when we were dating.

Anyways after the whole letter thing, I went to the city hall, where the mayor announces my presence to a huge audience of ponies. While I was up there giving my speech, I noticed somepony in the front concealing something. I waited for to make his move.

The pony then took out a knife and through it at me. I used my magic to grab the thrown weapon and dropped it to the ground. After ordering my troop to apprehend the pony for questioning, the whole meeting ended early and my troops and I trotted back to our barracks.

Unfortunately, along the way we were ambushed by members of the cult. They came at us in full force, luckily my Legionnaires are well trained and easily dispatched our assailants. However, amidst this battle, our prisoner escape. 

While the prisoner may have escaped, I now realized just how dangerous these ponies really are. Nevertheless I promised Captain Sphere that I will put a stop to these cults, and I am a stallion of my word.  

Day 7
Its been a week since I last wrote in this journal, it was a pretty hectic week. Some days ago I my troops discovered a massive meeting with all the cult members. We cracked down on them and captured many of them, that was until the next the cultist besieged the prison. They not only freed their members but, also killed all guards.

This is quite troubling, the cultist showed they are not only deadly, but also well organized. In order to prevent any further losses for us, I'll have to step up my game. Perhaps I should position more troops around the streets and have spies posing as members to gain information. 

Day 14
Another gone by and still no success with the cult. My troops are getting assaulted and my spies are missing. I could only presume that my spies were discovered and disposed. 

With the casualty increasing the mayor and the captain were doubting my abilities to handle the situation. I kind of agree with them there, I've been here for two weeks now and have made no progress. In fact my presence here only escalated the violence. 

The cultist has increased their attacks, destroying dozens of properties and hurting or killing hundreds of lives. I hate to admit this but, I'm afraid that this situation is simply too much for. If I am going to finish this then I'm going to need some help.

Now most commander usually hate the idea of calling for assistance. They believe that by calling for help, will lower their reputation to the house. Showing them that they are incapable of solving the task at hoof. I however, have no problem with it, I will not have pony die because of egotism.

So then I wrote a letter and have it sent to Canterlot, and now I await for their response.

Day 16
It took only two days for them to respond. I just received a letter this morning, in it the house said that they were disappointed that I wasn't able to complete the task. However, they will send help since Stalliongrad is too important to lose to the cultist.

So they said that they've sent a platoon of Inquisition troops as reinforcements. Accompanying this platoon is Commander Seeker, renown unicorn leader.

Hearing his name sent a feeling of disgust in me. I know this Commander Seeker, and I've seen him in action. What most ponies don't know that Seeker is a brutal commander who has the highest body count then all the other commanders.

Half his body count was his enemies and the other half were his own troops, but it's mostly the slave warriors. It amazes me that this guy is still around and not suspended, but now the house keeps him around because he gets results. It also helps that he serves under Grand Inquisitor Trixie Lulamoon, further protecting him against any opposition. 

So not only are they sending this guy over here, they are ordering me the relinquished command of my troops to this guy. What fucking bullshit is this? Oh and add insult to injury, they want me to assist the commander while he is here.

Great so now I've be demoted from leader to assistant in one day, could this just get any worse?

Day 17
So on the next day, the yellow bastard came with his platoon of Inquisition troops. The first thing he ordered were the capture of some cultist members. When I informed him of the few we had in captivity, I swear I saw the guy smiling maliciously upon hearing my words.

I led him to the cell where we keep the prisoners, he trotted to one of the cells and stared at the cultist inside. He then ordered to unlock the cage and leave the room. Normally I would've objected but, frankly I don't care what the prisoners is going to do to him.

As soon as I got out of the room, two Inquisition troops block the door. As I turned I then heard loud screams coming from the cell. I ordered the two to let me through, but on their commander's order, they won't let anypony interfere with his work.

For the next hour the scream continued, scaring the crap out everypony in this building. Finally the commander got out and inform me of a massive meeting happening tonight. I asked what happened in there and he responded that he was "gather information". 

I went inside the cell room and saw a very disturbing sight. Down on the floor is pony barely alive. All four legs of his were gone, his eyes gouged out, and is lying in a pool of his blood. Seeing that made me puke out my lunch onto the floor. I called for a medic to help out the prisoner, while I confronted the commander.

I snapped at the commander, told him what he did was inhumane. He shrugged it off and told me the prisoner was being uncooperative and needed the right interrogation, to get him to talk. 

Before I could say anything, he told that the troops will crack down on the meeting and capture the cultist. I warn him that the last time that happened, the cult amassed and attacked the prison their friends were in. The bastard then smiled again and said that he was hoping for that. 

 Later that night I participated in the crackdown of the cultist meeting, Among the troops of Legionnaires, I spotted a few Inquisition troop in action. They either raised the spirit of their comrades or curse the cult members

Afterwards the surviving cultist were rounded up and placed in prison, I returned to my sleeping quarters and await news of the cultist attacking the prison. 

Day 18
Well today the cult attacked again, but this time our commander has plans for them. When those guys stormed the prison Commander Seeker sealed up the entire building with a magical barrier. He then orders the prison to light on fire, killing all the trapped cultist inside. 

By the time it was over the entire inside of the building was scorched, burnt bodies of ponies scattered the  concrete floor of the prison. Among them are the cultist, the prisoners, and the unfortunate guard station there.

I demanded to know why the guards were there. He responded by saying that the cultist attacked sooner than he planned and if he told them to evacuate, the prisoners would get suspicious and warned their comrades that it was trapped. 

As you can imagine I was really pissed off, and punched the yellow bastard in his face. The two guards with him were about to apprehend him when their commander stopped them. He said that he'll let that slide, but warned me not to ever do that again.

Day 19 
After that day the cultist was dealt with a devastating blow, with most of their forces dead the Inquisition troops easily dealt with the remaining cultist. With assistance from Legionnaires, the Inquisition troops tracked down them and either killed them or captured them. 

Once again I've seen these troops in action, casting spells that raises the morale of the other troops, getting them to fight valiantly. Some of the Inquisition ponies cast curses, which caused the cultist to be less efficient in combat.

With the last of the cultist captured, we can finally say that this campaign was over. However, our commander had other ideas. Later that night Commander Seeker ordered a meeting outside the city hall building. He was apparently holding a public execution of the captured prisoners.

Now I'm no stranger to executions since many of disobedience slaves face this fate but, it still disgust me that we are still doing this practice. 

When I got there the prisoners were tied up large wooden boards, with many scrapped wood under them. Seeing the scene before me, I can pretty much figure out what's going to happen next. I left the place just in time as the Inquisition set the prisoners on fire.

Day 25
After the execution, Commander Seeker and his Inquisition goons put the city under martial law. Every building was searched and any cultist hiding was killed. But, the thing is most of the cult is already dead. Those that survived has already fled.

But, no our commander wanted to make sure all influence of cults was erased from this city. Soon he started to bring in civilians from the city and questioned them. Any ponies that had any connection to cult were imprisoned and interrogated.

Most of these prisoners only had the briefest of connection with the cult but, apparently it was enough to have them incarcerated. To put it simply, if just come across a cultist, then you are somehow affiliated with them. 

Captain Sphere came to me later that day, informing me that the mayor's daughter has been arrested by the Inquisition. It turns out she had friends who were members of the cult. Now they suspect her of being of one. The captain wanted my assistance in releasing the girl. I just told him that if he wanted her to be released, then he needs to talk to the commander. 

He then told that he did , but the commander was quite a stubborn one and refused to release a possible suspect. Hearing that bullshit I decided sober up and come up with a plan. 

 Day 26
Using the few connection I had, I was able to persuade some of the Inquisition troops to say that she was all clear and let her go. The daughter was free ad she was reunited with her father. Captain Sphere congratulated me, and told me I was good pony.

Good pony, eh? I wished I was, all I did was save one free one pony. There are still more locked and are forced to deal with their interrogation. No, I'm not good pony. I've failed them and I hate myself for it.

I stood by and watched as that yellow bastard terrorized the city, I couldn't do anything to stop him, I just watched as citizens were taken in and face the brutality of their 'interrogation'.

Day 30
Finally the day has arrived, I can finally leave this place. As I gathered my things I went to the gate and met up with the other troops. At the gate the Captain was there, and so was the mayor's daughter. She wanted to thank me for rescuing her from the prison.

I smiled at her compliment and rub my hoof on her head and left. As reach out the fortress city, I gave it one last look before turn back and trotting back to Canterlot. The city may be cleanse of the cultist but, it is forever scarred by the action of the Inquisition. 

> House of Whitegold: Ponies Of Fortune
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the outskirts of the large city of Manehattan, there is dark gray unicorn stallion with white hair, resting under the shades of a tree. Both his mane and tail were short, and only wore a feathered hat. Near the back his cutie mark was a sword, with a single chain wrapped around it.

Besides him are his items; his chain mail armor, his sword, and his arquebus. On his feathered hat is the insignia of the House Whitegold, indicating his affiliation with them but not as soldier of their army, rather a mercenary working only for them.

Overwatch is his name and  he was once a royal guard. During the time before the Great Divide, Overwatch was just recently new guard, fresh out of the academy. Then suddenly the two royal sisters disappeared and everything happening afterwards just got worse.

Equestria was then divided, with sides wanting to gain total power over Equestria. Overwatch got caught in the middle of all this chaos. His fellow royal guards were also divided as many joined the different factions. Being loyal to the throne, Overwatch stayed when creation of the House Moon and Star formed, he joined in their ranks as one of the many Legionnaires.

He fought for the house for couple of years, then one day he just grew tired of it. Day by day ponies battle against each, dying for a cause that doesn't give a rat ass about them. Each faction manipulating their followers into believing their cause.

Overwatch grew tired of all this talk about righteous causes and noble goals. From what he can gather, none of these faction's goals were noble. The Earthborn and dehorning unicorns, Stormwing execution of deserters and rogue pegasus, Everfree and their acts of cannibalism and blood sacrifices, Whitegold and manipulative ways, and lastly the use of slavery from the House Moon and Star.

One day during a battle, Overwatch snuck away during the fighting. He was later labelled as MIA by his superiors and never bothered to investigate, assuming he was dead.  The gray unicorn then traded his armor and weapons for some food and lived his life as a hermit.

This didn't last long, since Overwatch grew up in the city. He knows little to nothing about surviving in the wilderness. And after living like a hermit for a week, Overwatch had enough of it and went back to civilization. Since spending most of young life training at the academy he decide to become a wandering mercenary, doing various jobs.

Then one thing lead to another and he found himself working for the House Whitegold. It was basically the same thing he did before, except he gets paid more and occasionally work with other mercenaries under their employment.

"Hey Overwatch wake up," spoke a voice near the resting unicorn.

The gray unicorn opened his eyes, revealing his crimson eyes. He search for the source of the voice and spotted a white pegasus with blue mane, hovering above him.  Triple Strike is his name and like Overwatch, this pegasus was also a former royal guard. 

During the divide Triple Strike was one of the many pegasus to join up with the House Stormwing. Like Overwatch he too grew tired fighting for the House's cause. However, his main reason for leaving was their brutal action of executing deserters and enemy pegasus.

He soon left the army by faking his own death. Then after that the white pegasus traveled around the divided land of Equestria. Eventually Triple Strike became a mercenary and found himself employed by the House Whitegold. There he met and befriended the gray unicorn, Overwatch.

Triple Strike is wearing light body armor and helmet. His weapon of choice are two swords he keeps to the side, and a detached blade tied to his left foreleg. The detached blade can attach to his helmet, very similar to the Ponies-At-Arms. His cutie mark is tree swords, the three blades crossing against each other.

"Come on the rest are waiting," he pointed his wing to the left, showing the direction.

Overwatch got up and stretched, he then turned around and gather his items. Putting on his chain mail and his two weapons. The gray unicorn trotted with his friend and headed to direction, and meet up with the rest of the group.

A short trot later the two ponies met up with the rest of the group. There was three ponies waiting for them, one unicorn and two very large earth ponies. 

The purple unicorn with the black hair is name High Clarity. Wearing a chestplate with purple robes over it. He is also sporting a mage hat and use the same weapons as Overwatch. Clarity is the leader of this small group of mercenaries, hired for a mission leading deep into diamond dog territory.

Standing with him on both sides are the two large earth pony brothers name Hammer and Sickle. Hammer is the red stallion with yellow hair and Sickle is the yellow stallion with red hair. Both ponies are wearing heavy armor and both are sporting large weapons matching their name. Hammer is wielding a large war hammer, while his twin brother was a large sickle.

"Well well looks who finally showed up," Clarity sarcastically announced the arrival of the two ponies. He then glared at the gray unicorn. "And where the hell were you the entire time?"

"Oh I was just resting," Overwatch replied.

The purple unicorn continued to glare at him. "And why were you doing that instead of looking around?"

"Well Clarity you guys already found the base, so I thought I should take a break before we attack it."

Clarity just sighed and shook his head. When he picked Triple Strike for this mission, the white pegasus suggested that he should also recruit Overwatch on this mission. Now the purple unicorn wished he hadn't. While the gray unicorn was a good warrior, he's not much of team player.

Deciding to forget about the poor excuse he got, the purple unicorn guide the group to the edge of a cliff. This spot has a overlook of the diamond dog base below. Their main base is inside the tunnel, all the tents and guards outside is their outpost.

The five mercenaries are here to retrieve something for their client. The thing they are retrieving is the client's wife, Lady Silver Shoes. Apparently the dogs has captured this guy's wife and now he hired them to go in and get the mare back. There was also a bonus to kill the dog who captured her.

Clarity has already scanned the area and explained his plan. First they will silently dispose of the dogs around the tunnel, then do the same thing  when they enter the tunnel. Find the mare and get out, and if possible complete the bonus.

He, Strike, and Overwatch will go down and silently take out the dog guard, one by one. Hammer and Sickle will stay back and can only come out if they needed extra muscles. 

The three slowly slide down the hill and hid behind a few crates and barrels. Clarity was about to issue a command but, Overwatch has already left his spot. Overwatch snuck around a tent and saw a lone dog urinating, the gray pony wrapped his hoof around the dog's mouth while levitating his sword to his neck. Just as the blade touched his neck, Overwatch move the sword, slitting the brown dog's neck.

After that one the gray unicorn explored the camp, taking out lone guards. While doing this he spotted two of his comrades doing the same thing. Overwatch then came across two dogs, one was showing off his ax by swing it around. When the ax got near to the other dog, the gray unicorn used his magic and push the swung ax into the other dog's face. 

The dog swinging the ax started to panic over killing his friend, unknown to him a gray pony was trotting right behind him. Levitating the sword, he plunged the blade behind the dog's neck, killing him and preventing him from shouting out.

With all the guards dead, the three ponies reunited at the tunnel entrance. Clarity scolded the gray unicorn for going out on his own. The three crouched near the entrance, with Clarity entering in. The purple unicorn accidentally stepped on a tripwire, activating a ring sound. 

Realizing he just activate the alarm system and those dogs will be here in any minute, the purple unicorn signaled the two brothers to come down. Both brothers saw his signal and they both slide down the hill. Once they reached the ground the two brothers gallop across the tent field.

When they got near the entrance to the tunnel, they can already their three comrades in combat. Taking out their respective weapons the brothers help take out the dogs outside. Once they are with the two brothers rushed into the tunnel crushing the approaching dog reinforcement. The tight small tunnels made it impossible for the dogs to dodge the stampeding giants.

Back outside the three ponies entered the tunnel, crossing over the many bodies of dead dogs. Along the way Triple strike attached the blade to his helmet and his wings were both wielding a sword, the white pegasus is now doing his special talent, fighting with three blades.

They went down into a large room and witness battle between the two brothers and a horde of  diamond dogs. Technically it was more of massacre as the two large ponies slaughtered the incoming canines soldiers. 

Hammer swung his large war hammer, breaking armor and cracking bones. When not using his hammer, the large stallion use his massive hooves to either stomp or buck a couple of them. Like his brother, Sickle killed a couple of dogs of his own. Except instead of crushing dogs, he cleave them with his huge sickle.

While these two distract the main force, the other three ponies snuck around to complete their main objective. They trotted along the series of tunnels, trailing behind a group of dogs ordered to 'protect' the prisoner. Once the guards reached their destination, the three ponies dispose of them and waited at the entrance.

Clarity put his ears on the wooden trying to hear anything on the other side, Then suddenly a paw break through the door and grabbed the purple pony's head. He was then pulled inside and tossed against the wall, knocking him out.

Seeing their leader being grabbed, two friends rushed in and saw a large black fur diamond dog, standing over the unconscious pony. Both raising their swords the charge in, intending to slay the alpha dog. The large black dog blocked their attack by raising his claymore sword

Pushing them back the dog swung his large sword at both of them. The two quickly dodge the attack and return with attacks of their own. The two opposing foes battle against each other, the two ponies trying to land a hit on the large dog. But, the dog evaded all their attacks.

The black canine swung his claymore at the two, when he missed one he continue to swing it to the next one. He also kept moving, making it impossible for them to hit him. Once the two were getting tired, the alpha dog swung his sword hard on the three-bladed pony, knocking both swords from his wings. Disarmed the dog kicked the white pegasus in the mouth, chipping his tooth. The dog then quickly turn around and parry a sword strike from the gray unicorn.

Overwatch was getting tired and scared, both his comrades are down and the dog got him to the wall. He wished he still remember those combat magic he learned during his Legionnaire days, he could really use them now.

While the dog kept attacking him, the gray unicorn remembered one simple spell he hadn't forgotten. Concentrating hard on this spell, his horn cast a bright shining light. This blinded the dog but, made him drop his sword. Levitating out his arquebus Overwatch smash the butt end of his gun on the dog's face.

The large dog fell on his back, Overwatch aimed his gun at the head. As he was about to splatter his brain over the rocky floor, he was stop by a feminine voice from behind.

"Please don't hurt him!" a silver-gray mare came out rushing to the fallen dog. She then started to caress the big black dog, tears coming from her eyes. At this point Overwatch was just confused. The mare explained that she is Silver Shoe and that she was never captured, instead she elope with him.

Overwatch was shock by this revelation but, ignore it as he has a job to do. He told her to move away from the dog so that he can put him out of his misery. She refused to and made an offer to let her and him go. The gray unicorn told the mare that her husband has paid a lot of money for her and he intend to get his reward.

Before the mare could say anything, her lover interjected. "Listen pony," he said in a gruff voice. "I can offer a choice that not only gets you paid but, also an extra."

Overwatch kept his gun pointing at the dog and held his place for a few seconds. Then he finally open his mouth. "Alright dog you got my attention."

The dog smiled and explained his plan to the pony.





Outside the tunnel Hammer and Sickle were waiting for their comrades to come out. Both brothers were cover in blood, their once clean armor is stain with the blood of their enemies. As the two waited they finally spotted something coming out of the tunnel.

It was Overwatch carrying both the unconscious Clarity and Three Strike. Traveling with him is the mare they came for. When both ponies regain consciousness Overwatch told them and the two brothers that the dog escaped but, they still got the girl.

Accepting his answer the group escorted the mare back to their client. He of course paid them handsomely, which was then divided among the group for their shares. After that the group parted ways and went of to do their own things. Except for Overwatch who stayed around for a bit.

A  couple of days later news spread of Lady Silver Shoes death. According to the official report she just suddenly fell ill and died. But the gray unicorn knew what really happened, the mare has taken her 'poison' which is actually a special potion that can simulate death.

On the day of her funeral Overwatch was escorting a large figure in cloak around the area of the graveyard. His buddy made a quick trip to the graveyard and return back with another cloak figure. The unicorn led the two to the city's outskirts. 

Once they thought they were safe the two cloak figure took off their cloaks, revealing them as the big black diamond dog and Silver Shoe. Overwatch turned to the two lover and held up his hoof.

"Alright I held up my end of the bargain, now where is my extra?"

The dog then reached down into her pouch belt and took out a small bag full of gold coins. He handed the bag to the pony. With their transaction done they parted ways, the two lovers went back home while Overwatch decided to hit the taverns.

When he got to a tavern he saw a very familiar pony sitting at the counter. Three Strike was drinking by himself at the counter. Overwatch took a seat next to his friend, the pegasus took him a moment before realizing his friend was next to him.

"Oh hey Overwatch, whatcha you doing here?" he asked, a bit drunk.

"Oh you know getting a drink myself."

"Really? hey can you lend some bits? I'm all out."

"Sure," he responded and took out the small bag of bits.

"Whoa! where the hell did you got that?"

"Well Strike I'm a mercenary, what do you think?"

"Jeez found yourself another job already?" the white pegasus remarked.

"Oh just something small, nothing important," He lied.

Triple Strike then eyed the small bag of bits. "You sure about this man?" he question his friend.

Overwatch smiled. "Of course my friend, use as many as you want."

Triple Strike smile and took out a couple of bits. "However," Overwatch interrupted. "Leave some for me, I need a few drinks myself."

They both laugh and both ordered their drinks. For the rest of the night the two ponies of fortune traded tales of their adventures with each other, bragging about whose mission was more better
> House of Everfree: Zebra Tribal Warriors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep inside the Everfree Forest, a large invasion force of Earthborn ponies led by General Macintosh, are engaging in a series of fighting all over the dark forest. Not only are they fighting against the various beasts living in this forest, but also facing against savage ponies and their Zebra allies.

Mosi, a young adolescent zebra is lying in wait with a bunch of other zebra warriors. They are waiting for their signal to assault the nearby Earthborn base camp, all across the forest other groups of zebras are also waiting for the signal. Their plan is to simultaneously attack all camps at the same time, thereby cutting off supplies to their main forces deep in the forest.

The young zebra was anxious, this will be his first time experiencing live combat. He has been training for this moment his entire life and by participating in this battle, it will be determined whether or not he earned his mark depending on his performance.

To help ease himself, Mosi inspects his weapon. He held the double-sided blade in his hoof firmly and gave it a few slashes and thrust. After trying out his weapon, the young zebra then made sure the strings on his bone armor are properly tied. The armor consists of rows of bone tied together and placed on his chest and four legs. His last piece of equipment to check is the helmet made from the skull of a beast.

After inspecting his weapon and apparel, Mosi returns to standing idly and waiting like the rest of his comrades. Moments later a zebra messenger arrived and spoke to the group leader. With his message given, the messenger left the group to inform other groups of the message.

Wekesa, the group leader informs everyone that time to strike is near and told them to prepare. After hearing the news every zebra got up and refocused. Tribal Warriors prepared their blades and the Skirmishers readied their blowpipes and darts.

Mosi quickly rechecked his equipment and went into formation with the rest of the group.

The group slowly trotted through woods, trying not to make any loud noises in the process. They finally reached their destination, an Earthborn camp site. The camp was fairly large, with tents and ponies spread all over the place. In the middle of the camp is their main target, the supplies.

At the center is a large pile of crates and barrels with ponies constantly putting them on wagons which then is taken off into the forest, probably bringing it to their main forces.

Each of the zebra warriors were anticipating over the coming battle, the only one who wasn't anticipated is Mosi. Seeing how large the camp was made him feel nervous, it also didn't help that the pony troops outnumber their group by a lot.

The young zebra then felt a pat on his back. Turning his head around, Mosi saw his leader Wekesa giving him a reassuring smile. Mosi returned his smile with his own, it was lucky of him that he was assigned to be Wekesa group. The zebra is best friend with his father and he promised him that he will watch out for his son.

With Wekesa by his side Mosi eased a bit and returned to watching the camp. They waited for a while, waiting for the signal to strike.

To pass the time Wekesa went over the strategy again to his troops, the plan is simple, first when the signal comes the skirmishers will take out any ponies near them. After that a beeline to the supplies, light them on fire and escape as it is set a blazed.

Mosi listen in on the plan, not wanting to miss any detail and screwing up his mission

Finally their moment has arrived. Their signal came when a large sound piercing roar came from deep in the forest, the roar echoed through the woods drawing everyponies attention to it. The guards were no exception as many of them stop what they were doing and faced the direction of the sound.

Seeing, that all the ponies were distracted, Wekesa knew that the time right. Ordering the Skirmishers to take out the nearest bunch of guards, he leads the rest of the Tribal Warriors into the camp and begun their assault.

Wekesa was at the front of the charging, their loud hoof steps got the attention of some of the ponies in the area. Spotting two guards close together, Wekesa slit both their throats with his double-sided blade. Any other ponies they came across were either taken care of by the other Tribal Warriors of by the Skirmishers hanging back to provide support.

The group finally reached the center where the supplies are placed, Wekesa orders his troops to spread out and eliminate the ponies in the area. The Tribal Warriors did as they were ordered to and spread around the supply cache. They managed to take out all the guards around the cache, both swiftly and deadly.

Unfortunately, a few escaped and will alert the other ponies. With reinforcement arriving at any minute, time is of the essence. Dousing the supply cache with flammable liquids the zebras made sure to spread it around evenly along the cache. 

They were about to light the supplies on fire, but were interrupted by a barrage of arrows. Some of the zebras were killed, others are critically injured from the attack. Soon Earthborn forces converge at the center and engage in battle with the zebra warriors. 

Despite being outnumbered the zebras managed to hold on their own against the ponies. While lacking better armor, they make up for it by being untouchable. The Tribal Warriors were trained to be fast and agile, also to deliver deadly blows with their blades.

Amidst this battle Mosi was holding his own against his foe. The pony constantly swung the blade on his helmet's snout guard at the young Zebra. He however, kept evading them. Mosi was looking for an opening in his opponent's attacks.

Soon the pony was getting tired, evidence by his sluggish swings. Seeing an opportunity Mosi swiftly thrust his weapon into the pony's neck, piercing his chain mail armor.

The pony stumbled for a bit until he collapsed and died from blood loss. Seeing, that he was dead, Mosi turned around and faced a large armored stallion.

He has heard of these massive stallions before, Juggernauts are what they're called. Mosi has heard tales of these warriors rampaging against fields of soldiers, pushing them away like they were nothing. Big, powerful and terrifying, those words are used to describe these warriors. And, at this moment he couldn't help, but see their point.

he Juggernauts galloped at the young zebra, Mosi in response stood his ground and waited for the charging stallion. When he got close the zebra dodged his frontal attack and plunged his blade into the pony's eye socket. Sadly he missed his mark as the blade only touched his armor faceplate. 

The stallion countered by bucking the zebra with back legs. The blow was both painful and powerful, Mosi found himself kicked up in the air and crash down onto the hard ground. The young zebra was in too much pain to move and was utterly helpless. 

The Juggernaut turned around and faced the down zebra, he trotted towards him intending to finish the zebra off, then suddenly he felt a painful stinging sensation coming from his left eye. Standing next to him was Wekesa and he had his blade stabbed into the stallion's eye.

Wekesa then jumped back since his attack didn't kill him, rather it just enraged him. The Juggernaut then charges at the zebra leader, putting both warriors into combat with each other.

Mosi still in pain lifts his head up and watched the two warriors in battle. Wekesa evaded each attack while trying to aim his blade in the exposed part of the stallion's armor. The stallion on the other hoof was just trying to crush or impale the zebra.

The young zebra slowly stood up, ignoring his pain in the process. He knows that Wekesa is a capable warrior, but even he knows that fighting a Juggernaut by yourself is suicide. Quickly analyzing the situation, he needs to find a way to help him or else Wekesa will die.

Looking around Mosi spotted a fuel barrel near a dead Firespitters. The young zebra trotted to the barrel while passing through the battle between ponies and zebras. 

Mosi reached the barrel and took it back with him. As he trotted back, he saw Wekesa being smack back by the large stallion. Acting quickly Mosi cracked opened the barrel and doused the Juggernaut in fuel.

Turning around the stallion spotted the zebra sparking a fire near a trail of fluid leading to him. The zebra finally started a fire, which then quickly spread along the trail and towards him, lighting the massive armored stallion on fire.

Instead of panicking like Mosi expected, the Juggernaut instead charged at him. Mosi dodged the towering inferno. The stallion turned around again, nothing seeming to be bothered by the fire. He then spotted the zebra standing his ground.

The Juggernaut gave one last charge, which Mosi easily evaded. The stallion then accidentally charged into the doused pile of supply cache. This resulted in a series of explosion coming from the many crates containing gunpowder.

With their objective completed the injured Wekesa ordered all the zebras to fall back. Using the explosion as a distraction the zebras easily escaped into the forest, with Mosi helping Wekesa escape.





The next day the Earthborn forces were losing ground and suffering from heavy casualties. General Macintosh ordered a massive retreat from the forest. Soon the Earthborn ponies left the Everfree forest, leaving in huge masses. With the last of them gone, the forces of the Everfree celebrated their first ever major victory.

Meanwhile at a Zebra Warcamps, Mosi and several other young zebra are all lined readied to be judged by the tribal leader. Each of these zebra have fought in the battle yesterday and had returned alive. Mosi looked at the crowd of zebras gathering on the side. Among them is Wekesa, his mother, father, and his two little brothers.

Then suddenly everything went quiet, the tribal leader left his hut with Shaman Zecora at his side. The leader went in front of the line of zebras and inspect each one of them. After going down the line he backed up, and commanded all them to step up.

He then smiled and inform them that they have proven themselves in combat, thus they have earned their marks. He then ordered them to follow Zecora and have their mark drawn on their flank.

Mosi smiled happily, he has proven himself worthy of the mark. After Zecora drew the mark on his flank, he left the hut and showed it off to his family. His mark is a spiral with a round curvy circle around the spiral, with the addition of dots circling around the whole mark.

His family praises him for earning his mark and went to their house to continue their celebration. Before he goes Mosi had a short conversation with Wekesa, thanking him for watching out for him. Wekesa watched as the young zebra left to join up with his family. In his head he wonders what the future will hold for the young zebra.

> Cult of Laughter: Giggling Ghosts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.


> House of Stormwing: Nhorse Warriors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Northern Expansion there was a schedule heavy rain to make up for the lack of rain last month. While the pegasi above have no worry about the downpour since living up in the clouds, their comrades below doesn't have the same luxury as their airborne friends.

While some find the displeasure of staying in all day while it was pouring, other ponies found ways to entertain themselves. For one family in a town called Muddy Hooves, it's the father reliving his time in the army, specifically the Ground Guards.

In a small wooden house located in Muddy Hooves, there are four ponies peacefully eating their dinner. Sitting at the table are two adult earth pony, the father and the mother. Sitting between the adults are their kids, one filly and the other a colt.

After dinner, the father asked his two children if they want to listen to a story. The two little ponies smiled and eagerly left to head to the fireplace. Picking himself up, he trotted after them while his wife clean the dishes. As he entered the living room he saw his two children waiting patiently for him to sit on his recliner.

The stallion took his seat and faced the two children lying in front of him, at the same his wife came into the room and took her seat on the couch next to his recliner.

"So what do guys want to hear?" the father asked.

"How about your time in the military," the little filly answered.

"Can you be more specific?"

The daughter remained silent, instead her brother spoke up, "How about them Nhorse pony I've heard, pa."

Hearing that name made the father remembered some repressed memories from the past, pushing it aside the stallion faked a smile and thought of a memory involving the Nhorse ponies. 

"Well son I may not know much about them, I did met before."

"Wow really pa?:

"That's right, now listen up as I tell my story," the father said to his two children as they scooted closer. "It all started many years ago........





It all started when me and some guys were called and sent to reinforced the ground forces near the border of the Everfree Forest.  Apparently the House of Everfree are aggressively expanding their territory, and since the pegasus weren't effective in close quarters, it was up to us to stop their expansion.

At first we were all hyped up and ready to fight, then came the actual battle with the Everfree forces and to put it simply we were losing, badly. These ponies were not like anything we faced before, these were savages.

The ponies from the Everfree fought us like animals, they thrash, bite, and rammed us. While we may have armor and weapons, the savage ponies had the home field advantage and they swarmed us by the numbers. Soon we were fighting other creatures living in the dark forest. They are timberwolves, manitcores, treants, zebras, minotaurs, and other species.

At the beginning we were losing badly and our commander knew this. In order to save turn this campaign around and save his reputation, the commander requested for reinforcement. He specifically wanted something to fight just as ferocious as the enemy they are fighting.

The message was sent and we waited for a couple of days for their response, at the same time we were getting our asses served to us on a silver platter. The day finally arrived and boy did command sent us something alright, a large battalion of rugged looking ponies.

I asked if anypony knew who these ponies were, I remember this one guy told me that those guys are Nhorse ponies and they came from the far north. He then explained that the Nhorse are mostly made up of earth ponies and that they are some of the best fighters ever in Equestria.

After hearing this, I was interested in meeting these Nhorse ponies and wanted to see them in action.





"So were they awesome dad?" the son questioned. "I heard from the other colts that the Nhorse ponies can take down like hundred of foes.

The father chuckled, "Please son the Nhorse may be goo d fighter, but I don't think they are that good." He paused until he continued. "So now, where was I.....oh right! now I remember."





With the addition of the Nhorse warriors our commander immediately ordered them to the front lines. Soon we were all called again to the front line, the commander was planning another offensive against the Everfree forces. He was intending to finally put a halt on their expansion.

Next thing I knew I was lined up with the rest of the Ground Guards, next to us are the Nhorse forces, all brandishing their battle axes. Luckily for me, I was near their group and was able to get a better view of those guys. Unlike the Nhorse don't wear armor, rather chainmail so that they can be more maneuverable.

Two things that set up apart from them is the strange marks on their faces, they were all pretty simple lines and strange image. The second difference was that the Nhorses were a lot more hairier than us. This one Nhorse I spotted had a long flowing white mane and a braided double beard.

When my commander signaled the attack we all charged into the forest and slay any foes we come across. During the battle I was able to see the Nhorse ponies in combat and man, they weren't kidding when they say that the Nhorses fought ferociously.





"Hey pa, did you get to see any of the well known Nhorse ponies?" the son asked.

"Yeah, was Ironhead there? was Siege Breaker there? oh what about GrimSkull?" the little filly listed the name.

"Well kids I'm not sure about those guys, but I did see other well known Nhorse ponies.





I saw Brass Balls faced against a pack of six timberwolves, using his mighty sledgehammer he smashes two in one powerful swing. On his second swing he destroyed another one while injuring the second timberwolf, he finished the poor mutt by stomping on its neck. The last two attack him simultaneous, in response he threw his hammer at one of them. He caught the last one in his hoof and snapped the wolf's neck.

The second Nhorse pony I saw during the battle was Horn Push and he was riding a manticore. That pony apparently tamed the mighty beast and he was roaming across the field slaying any zebras or savage ponies he could find.

The battle was in our favor, we finally pushed the Everfree forces back deep in their forest. They eventually relented and retreated. With them turning tail we have achieved victory for our faction, now it's time to reclaim our territory and with that the lumberjacks are called in to harvest these trees for wood. 

[hr

"Hey dad have you ever met the infamous Savage?" the daughter suddenly asked.

Upon hearing that name brought back some bad memories and he frowned. "Yes dear I've heard of stallion and not only that I met the the guy."

"Wow really! what's he like?" 

"Well sweetie to put it simply......"





Savage is an ass, plain and simple. While he is a good fighter the rest of him is unpleasant. He was loud, obnoxious, egotistical, womanizing, disgusting pig. And that is just only half of why I dislike the guy.

I remember this one incident where he was harassing some of female Ground Guards, I told him to stop what he was doing and he shrugs me off. So in response, I took his drink and splash it in his face. In hindsight, not really my greatest idea ever and now I was fighting the Nhorse pony.





"Holy smoke pa, did ya beat?" ask the son.

"What are kidding? the guy beat me up senseless," he answered.



 

I then woke up in a medical tent, sitting next to me was a Nhorse pony and a beautiful nurse mare. The Nhorse pony named Chain Breaker told me that he was the one that stopped Savage from beating me to death. He then carried me to this tent and then this mare took care of me.

I thank Nhorse stallion for saving me and told that's what a fellow soldier should do, especially for a comrade. He then left the tent and leaving me to get my rest and heal up.





"And that is the end of my story," he announced.

"Hey dad?" the filly called out, "What ever happened to that beautiful mare? his daughter asked cheekily.

"Well we talked, hanged out, dated and one thing led to another and we married and have two kids," he replied.

Putting two and two together, the two kids turned and stare at their mother who was blushing at this point.

"Come on kids it's bedtime let's go," said the father, earning him a moan from his children.

After taking them to their room and tucking them in, he went to his bedroom and saw his wife. The mare on the bed lay seductively, while giving him her bedroom eyes. The stallion smiled and reminded himself to thank Chain Breaker. He went in and closed the door behind him.

> House of Earthborn: Appleloosan Rangers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The army of Stormwing and Earthborn are at it again. However, this time the Stormwing forces have pushed the Earthborn back to their major settlement in New Ponyville. They laid siege to the place for days now and the Earthborn reinforcements are only a couple of days before arriving.

Fortunately for the defenders, the Stormwing forces are suffering heavy casualties and is losing morale. With them on the verge of losing the Stormwing commander believed it was time to call in the backup, preferably ones from the North. 

A pegasus was sent back to their territory, to inform their allies up north. Unbeknownst to the messenger, he was being watched. The spy watched the pony fly away, then spreading his own wings flew back to his commander.

Near the border between The Northern Expansion and The Heartland, a group of earth ponies were sitting around a campfire, waiting for their order. They are all a specialized units called the Appleloosan Rangers. Like the name says these ponies came all the way from Appleloosa, the Rangers specializes in disrupting enemy formation and is especially effective against flying opponents. 

The rangers waited around the camp for a while, soon a pegasus courier arrived and told all of them the message. The message was that they are to support a company of pegasus auxiliaries in objective of engaging the Stormwing reinforcements.

The Rangers up and were about to head out, one certain pony was still lying down with his stetson hat on his face. The pony's name is Desert Eagle and he is the newest addition to the Rangers. While having no combat experiences, Desert was a good herder before joining the army. Also he has been trained by his uncle who is a veteran Ranger.

As he was napping one of the Rangers woke him up, he was then informed of the message he missed. Getting up, Desert Eagle put on his hat and trotted with the rest of the group. Along the way they met up with other groups of Rangers. Their once little group got bigger by the time they reached their destination.

When the large group of Rangers arrived, they can already see that the battle has already started. In the air the two flying combatants engaged each others in intense aerial combat. However, something was different in this battle. Instead of pegasus against pegasus, it was pegasus against griffins. 

The backup the Stormwing commander called for were not pegasus, instead it was their northern allies the griffins. This is going to be a problem. While the pegasus had only recently went back to their warrior's root, the griffins were a different story. The griffins still hold the traditions of being warriors and it has survived to this day.

Because of their warrior ancestry, the normal griffin was stronger than the usual pegasus. This fact is proven in the battle before them. Their pegasus allies were being torn apart by griffins, their swift and brutal fighting was too much for the pegasus auxiliaries.

Seeing that they needed help, the Appleloosan Rangers charged into the fray. Readying their lassos, they threw them at the griffins, grabbing them and pulling them to the ground. Once they were down the Rangers finished them off, using either sword, spears, or their own hooves the Rangers quickly dispatches any griffins they brought down

The griffins soon realize the presence of the Appleloosan Rangers, some broke off from fighting the pegasus to take care of the ground forces. Luckily for the Rangers they came prepared, whenever those griffins come at them they'll use their smoke bombs to cover themselves and evade the flying warriors.

Amidst this battle, Desert Eagle was faring well. All those training his uncle put him under has finally paid off. So far he has taken down three griffins by himself, ten more by assists. As the pony Ranger was galloping around, he spotted a pegasus mare falling from the sky. 

Desert galloped towards the direction of the falling mare, when he found her she surrounded by three griffins. Despite her injuries and being outnumbered she managed to fend off her three attackers, she constantly moved around while also evading their attacks. The mare tried to strike back, but because of her injuries and the griffin's tough build, her attacks barely did anything to them.

Desert knew he had to act fast or else the mare below will die, taking out his smoke bomb he threw in the middle of the fight. The smoke bursts and engulf the four combatants. Two of the griffins were smart enough to fly away from the smoke, unfortunately the third one wasn't so smart. The Ranger got behind that griffin and slit his throat.

With him taken care of, Desert carried the tired mare out of there. As he galloped the Ranger noticed two large shadows over him, the two griffins from before are now chasing him. Pushing himself to go faster Desert rushed away from his two pursuers. He hid in the tall grasses and watched the two griffins scan the area.

Putting the mare down in the tall grasses, Desert Eagle bursts out of the grasses attracting the attention of the two griffins. They gave chase, one of them flying a lot faster than his partner. As he was about to get his prey, the earth pony suddenly halted letting him fly pass him. The pony then threw his lasso around the griffin's legs, stopping him and pulling him down.

Desert took this opportunity to kill the down griffin, but went got close to him the griffin swiftly turned around and slashed the pony with his talons. The scratch hit Desert's face leaving a nasty scar across his face. The griffin then used his wings and bash into the pony. He was about to finish the him off, but the pony threw dirt in his eyes.

Desert bucked the blind griffin off, he then got up and tried his second attempt to finish the griffin. Then suddenly the second griffin came and rammed the pony away from his comrade. As Desert got up the second griffin freed his friend and were both aiming to kill the lone Ranger.

Desert though it was the end of the line for him, then out of nowhere the mare from earlier jump by his side, wielding a spear. With the odds somewhat even the two sides engaged each other. The earth pony took on the griffin with the long sword, while the pegasus took on the one with the axe. 

The stallion dodges each of the griffin's sword swings while also trying to hit him with his knife. Meanwhile the mare kept jabbing her spear at the axe-wielding griffin. After a minute of fighting, Desert chucked his knife at the griffin's arm, causing him to drop his sword.

The pony quickly picked up the fallen sword he swung upward., and slashing the griffin's stomach opened. The griffin fell down, trying to hold in his falling guts as he slowly died. With his opponent dealt with, Desert turned around and saw the griffin cut the mare's spear in half. Using the half with the spear point, the mare stabbed it into the griffin's leg.

Ignoring his pain the griffin used his free claw and grabbed the mare, his sharp talons penetrate deep into the mare's flesh. He then tossed her aside, he then proceeds to rip out the spear from his leg. When he took off the griffin looked and saw the stallion standing over his fallen comrade, readying his axe, the griffin waited for the stallion to make his move.

Desert raised the sword and charged at the griffin. The griffin tightens his grip on his battle axe and prepared himself to counter. Both warriors swung them at each other, with the griffin comes from above and the pony going below, their weapons were about to hit each other. But, then Desert moved his sword lower and slice through the handle and slicing the griffin's head off.

With the fall of the griffin the battle was over, well for them anyway. All around the Ranger the battle was still raging on, as much as he wanted to help out his body was tired. Also the mare was still injured from her battle earlier. Concluding that he won't be much help out in the battle, Desert Eagle decided to stay with the mare and tend to her wounds.

Later in the aftermath, despite heavy casualties, the Appleloosan Rangers and Pegasus Auxiliaries won the battle against the griffin warriors. With their backup gone the Stormwing commander had no choice, but to give up the siege and head back to base.

The battle was over, the Earthborn forces have successfully defended New Ponyville and drove off the Stormwing invaders. After that, all the Appleloosan Rangers and Pegasus Auxiliaries head towards New Ponyville to celebrate their victory.

Desert Eagle and a couple Rangers went to a tavern, while the others were getting drunk off their asses, Desert couldn't take his mind off that pegasus mare. He doesn't know why, but she is all he thinks about in his mind. Sure she was pretty, but he didn't know anything about her. He wished he had taken the time he spent with her to get to know her more.

Unknown to the stallion a new patron entered the tavern, she looked around and spotted the sitting stallion. Smiling she slowly trotted towards him, taking the seat next to him, she sat there waiting to see how long before he notices her.

It took Desert a full minute before he took notice of the pony sitting next to him, he moved his head to see this new pony. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement, he nearly fell off his stool before the mare caught him.

After that bit of awkwardness the mare introduced herself, her name was Wild Flower. She was originally here to get a drink, but upon seeing him she had to meet the stallion that save her. The two ponies talked, they shared their interest, their families, and other things. 

After getting to know each other, Wild Flower invites him to spar with her tomorrow. And then maybe after that hang out together. Desert smiled and agreed to spend his time with her, and with that they both got glass to seal their agreement and drank for the rest of the night.

> House of Moon and Star: Legionnaires
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In a large beautiful park located in Canterlot, a little white unicorn colt with a scarlet mane was playing around with several other colts. This little pony was named Ruby Runner and he and the rest of his friends has just left the school, they are now engaged in a sport of hoofball. The colts played their games for some time now, eventually each of the colt's respective parents/guardians arrived and picked them up.

Among them are Ruby's parents, they picked up their son and trotted back to their homes. Along the way the happy little colt smiled cheerfully, today was a great day for him. He enjoyed going to class and learning new ways to master his magic, then after school played some games with his friends, and now heading back home to spend some time with his mom and dad.

Unbeknownst to the joyful colt, his parents had the look of concerns on their faces. There were rumors going around about something big happening in the royal castle. Then came the day they finally announced a dire news, the two royal sisters has disappeared. This basically leaves the position of power empty, leaving for some eager opportunist to try and seize the throne.

Ruby's mother worried of the coming conflict and wanted to leave, the father not wanting to leave everything they have, he assured his wife that the everything was going to be fine. That there are smart ponies in the castle that will fix everything.

Sadly in the following months there have been several violent uprisings and riots. Ruby lost his mother in one those horrible events. As the little colt cried for his mother, his father also weeps for the loss of his wife. He felt responsible for getting her killed and allowing his son to grow up without a mother.

5 Years Later

Much has changed over the last few years, the riots and uprising had finally stopped when the Elements of Harmony arrived and took charge. They were successful at first, they managed to calm everything down and for a while there was peace. Unfortunately, this didn't last long. The Elements themselves fought among themselves, this created a rift between. Destroying their friendship and disbanding the elements. Soon it was only Twilight Sparkle that stayed behind in the castle.

During those years Ruby Runner has grown up to be a fine young stallion. In his senior years, the white unicorn graduated from his high school and earned his diploma. Now the question is whether he should continue his education in college or just get a job.

He wanted to go to college, but since money was tight he decided to hold it off for a year. Normally money money wouldn't be a problem with his father's business. However, they suffered greatly during the previous conflict. While job searching, Ruby found interesting deal. He found an ad looking for new recruits to join the Legionnaires, in-exchange for joining up and serving the army for five years, they'll pay for your education.

Ruby saw this as a perfect chance to pay for education and to serve his country, without even thinking it through the white unicorn signed up for this program.

5 Years Later

Much time has passed and with time comes change, Ruby Runner was no longer the young optimistic stallion he was before. His time in the army had shaped him into a true soldier, serious, intimidating, and most of all powerful. Originally Ruby was supposed to only serve for five years, but when his time came, the white stallion wanted to permanently join the army. The reason for his choice was that with the current state of the Equestria this faction will need all the soldiers they have.

So now with Ruby Runner in the army, he has fought in over dozen of battles against the various factions formed by the former Element bearers. Applejack leading the House Earthborn, Rainbow Dash leading the House Stormwing, Rarity leading the House Whitegold, Fluttershy leading the House Everfree, and lastly Pinkie Pie and her Cult of Laughter.

Despite facing so many enemies, the white coated and red mane Legionnaire didn't waver, instead stood his ground and aimed his horn. During his military career his commander noticed his heroic actions and promoted him. Soon Ruby Runner was leading his own squad of troops against the enemies of the Moon and Star.

Then came the day when the white unicorn finally gain the recognitions from his superiors. It all started at the battle for Hill Outpost, a large force of Earthborn ponies were making their way to capture the little base. With only a small battalion of unicorns facing against a large army, many of them thought of just abandoning the base.

However, some of the senior unicorns warned that the higher ups will not appreciate losing a territory to the enemy and they would most likely punished the deserters. With no other options the soldiers had no choice, but hold their ground. Surrendering was not an option since the House Earthborn were known for cutting the horns of unicorns.

With morale low, Ruby Runner thought it was time to step in. He inspired the troops and spoke to the commander of his idea. While the Earthborn forces have the advantage of number, they have one thing that the enemy don't have, magic.

Ruby Runner explained his plan in greater detail, to his commanding officer.

The first part of the plan was to manipulate the weather with their magic, pegasus are not the only creatures able to control the weather. Gathering all the surrounding clouds, the unicorns made them in to rain clouds and have them cause a downpour in the surrounding area.

The heavy rain rendered their cannons useless, forcing the Earthborn to head up the hill without support. As the troops trotted up the hill they were assaulted by a couple of magic bolts. The bolts hit some of the Earthborn troops, but a majority of them ducked. They slowly moved up the hill, while staying low as possible.

When they got near to the top of the hill, they saw something coming down from the top. Large round boulders and logs rolled down, hitting some of the ponies below. Some of them evaded the rolling objects, but only to hit by a magic bolt. Eventually their numbers started to dwindle and the last remaining troops were taken out by the Marksmages.

The Earthborn commander saw his troops get destroyed up the hill, he then ordered his Pegasus Auxiliaries to attack the hill. The pegasus flew up the hill, flying low enough out of the Marksmages range and high enough to avoid anymore rolling boulders. When they too, got near the top all the pegasus got blasted away from by some magical shock wave.

Back on top Ruby Runner was guiding all the unicorns in concentrating their spells. First they rolled down all the logs and boulders they could find, next when they sent the pegasus the unicorns gathered all of their magic and created a huge shock wave.

With the first two parts of his plan down, Ruby decided it was time to end this. Telling everypony to aim in the direction of the enemies, they all fired their magic missiles. However, unlike the usual magic missile that goes straight. Instead their missiles went straight up, but then starting to descend down. Soon their magic missile started to pour down on the ponies below.

The Earthborn commander and his troops were shocked to see the bright color magic falling from the sky. The magic bolts then started hitting them, killing over dozens of Earthborn ponies. The commander watched as the magic bolts continued to rain from the sky. In order to stop the growing casualties the commander ordered a retreat, declaring this battle to be a loss.

They watched their foes retreat into the Whitetail Woods and after they were gone from their sight, the unicorns of the Hill Outpost celebrated. Ruby's commander praised him and will mention his accomplishment to his superiors.

The white unicorn smiled at his commander's comment and turned his gaze at the celebrating troops. In his mind he wonders what the future will hold for him.

5 Years Later

In Canterlot a middle aged Ruby Runner was watching the rows of new recruits, watching this brought back some nostalgia. He reminisce the time he joined the Legionnaires, those rigorous training, the shouting drill sergeants, and the lessons they learned. He stayed for a while, but had to leave and file some paper reports.

He trotted away from the boot camp, but not to his office, rather to someplace else. The white unicorn trotted to the graveyard, he entered and went to one specific tombstone. The one that had two names, one belong to his mother and the other being his father. His father had only recently passed away and upon his death, he requested to be buried next to his wife.

Ruby stood in front of his parent's grave, thinking back to all the times he had spent with them as a child. He wished he could've been there in his father's last moments, unfortunately duty calls. He stood there for a while and thought about what his parents would say if they saw him right now. Would they proud, disappointed, or indifferent.

He shook those thoughts out of his head, it doesn't really matter now. He made his decision and was not going to regret it. He then trotted away from the grave, but not before leaving a flower on their grave. Ruby Runner trotted back to the barracks, thinking about what the future will hold for him.

> House of Whitegold: Nighthooves
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


MEMOIR


To anyone that is reading this, my name is Blossomforth and I am a Nighthoove.

What is a Nighthoove, you might ask? Well they are basically a specialist unit from the House of Whitegold. The Nighthooves are exclusively pegasus ponies and we perform various tasks for our house.

Scouts, spies, saboteurs, assassins and many other skills, we are trained to be the best agents the house ever had. 

It's kind of ironic really, I originally left Cloudsdale to get away from joining the army. Now here I am, a member of a group of trained killers. What makes it worse is that I am quite squeamish around blood. Yes you read this correctly, I can't stand the sight of blood. 

Now you're probably asking, why the hell did I ever become a Nighthooves if you get sick around blood? Well the reason for me joining is that it was the only other profession available. Ever since I moved to Manehattan, jobs were few and there were many ponies trying to move in. Those that can pay live in The Ivory Tower, those that can't live in the slums.

I only had a couple of bits of me, so I was forced to live in the slums. As the name suggests the slums is a terrible place to live. The buildings were poorly constructed, the place was dirty, and it was crowded.

So, I decided I had enough, I soon heard of an offering for a pegasus. In exchange for a better living condition, I 'll have to serve in the house military. I saw this as a perfect opportunity leave the crappy slums and instantly agree to the deal.

So now here I am a Nighthooves. At first it wasn't that bad, all I did was just scout out Diamond Dog's camps and inform my superiors of their location. Then my career got a little more dangerous, my first major assignment was to infiltrate the House Moon and Star.

My objective is finding any information about the House and assassinate a unicorn commander. My target was a former member of Whitegold, but switched sides when the Moon and Star captured after him. Right now I have to kill him and find any information that he gave away.

In order for me to infiltrate the place, I'll need to pose as one of the many slaves they have employed. To get me prepared I had to starve myself, apparently the slaves are malnourished. They were also beaten harshly, so while I was starving, some ponies had to rough me up a bit. 

The result was me, beaten up, skinny and dirty. So with done I snuck into Moon and Star territory unnoticed and made my way into a slave pen.

When I entered the pen I was disturbed at what I saw, earth  and pegasus ponies starved to the bones, Some barely had the energy to move around. Nevertheless I blended in with and waited.

The unicorn slave master eventually came, he orders all the able-body slaves to line up. Out of everypony in the line, only twenty were selected, one of them being me.

We were then taken to a large mansion where all the unicorn nobles resides. Among them was my target. After being told what do, I perform my task while also scouting the place out. After investigating the mansion, I overheard some of the servants preparing food my target.

I went into the kitchen pretending to sweep the place, while the servants and the chef were not looking, I poured a vial of poison into the food. While most assassins like to go close and personal to their targets, I prefer the poison over the blade. Again, squeamish around blood.

With that taken care of, I still needed that information. Using my wings I flew up to one of the windows on the mansion. I was hovering outside the room of my target. I waited and the servants brought him his meal. The unicorn took the meal and ate it. The poison took a minute to go into effect and killed the stallion.

After his death, I then went inside and searched for the information. Instantly I found it on his desk, the information was a list of all of our spies. It had their names and their pictures. If this has fallen into enemy hoofs, all our operatives would be exposed.

Taking the info and concealing it, I went back to my task. Afterward we returned to the slave pen, then at night I snuck out and made my way to Manehattan. When returned, I was praised for completing the mission and was given a raise in my salary.

After my first mission everything else was just the same. I would go on missions, to either steal, sabotage or assassinate someone. After a while all of my missions just followed the same steps, first infiltration, second is reconnaissance, and lastly is completing the task.

For all my assassination I just used my same method of poisoning them. I recall this one incident when I was 

forced to get close to my target. This happened in a middle of the battlefield, my target an Earthborn commander leading the charge against the forces of Stormwing.

As you can Imagine, it's going to be difficult to assassinate a target in a middle of battle. However, I was given this task and won't disappoint my superiors. I stealthily stalked the commander, I watched him in combat against the Stormwing soldiers. The more I watched the more nervous I got, this earth pony was capable warrior, he slaughtered his foes like they were nothing.

I waited for the perfect opportunity to strike, I watched as my target exert himself. Eventually the stallion needed a moment to rest. This left him vulnerable, leaving me an opening to strike.

Flying silently, I raised my dagger when I got near my target. In one swift movement I plunged the blade into his neck. He reacted by swatting me away with his weapon. He stumbled for a bit, but he soon died from blood loss. With his death I almost freaked out when I saw the blood, spilling out his neck. I then got up and flew away, wanting to get far away from the blood as possible.

After that event I started having nightmares, they were about all the ponies I had killed. I watched how they rose from their graves, seeking vengeance against the pony that killed them. I had these same nightmares for a while now, until they finally subsided. 

Despite them being gone, they left a big impact on me. It made me ask myself why I'm doing this. Why am I killing these ponies? Because someone told me to? For each lives I've taken, I wondered who they were. Were they good ponies in their life? Did they have family or friends? Or did they have any special somepony?

It's moments like this that it reminds how we forget that these ponies have lives. They are not some nameless soldier that fights for their faction. No, they are ponies that have families, friends, and dreams. These ponies are only fighting because they either had no choice or because they actually believed in the cause they fight for.

The more I thought about, the more I got depressed about it. I thought about quitting, but my comrades advise not to. They told me that I know too much about this group, and it is too much of a risk to let me go. So to put simply, I'm trapped.

I write this memoir, in hopes that somepony would find this. I wrote it in case something ever happened to me. The purpose is to show that I'm not some nameless pony to be tossed aside,  I am a living being, I have a name, I had families and friends, and lastly to not be forgotten like the many before me.



> House of Everfree: Everfree Wraiths
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the deepest depths of the Everfree forest, a lone earth pony stallion was galloping through the woods. The pony galloping, was covered in scars and his coat was stained with his own blood. The pony was also panting heavily, for he has been trying to escape his pursuer.

As he was galloping through the dark forest, he could the screams of his comrades from afar. Their dying screams echoed through the vast forest, for everyone to hear. One by one more screams can be heard, the stallion wished he could go help them, but he dared not to. Otherwise he will share their fate.

Far behind him a bloodthirsty creature was galloping after the injured stallion. Despite the great distance between them, the creature can smell the stallion's blood. This made it easy for him to hunt the stallion in this vast forest.

Soon enough, the stallion heard the sound of the approaching creature. He tried to move faster, ignoring the pain his body was giving. Despite all his efforts, his predator was already a few hoof away from him. The creature then lunged at the galloping pony, pushing him down on the dirt ground.

The stallion tried to buck the creature off his back, but the beast was too strong. He then flipped the pony on his, allowing him a clear view of his soon to be killer. The pinned stallion looked up at the creature, it looked like a pony. But, that was the only thing that was similar. Everything else was totally different.

The creature's body was partially covered in scales, there was antlers growing on top of his head, the eyes were reptilian, his face had strange markings, and the once flat teeth have turned into fangs. This was no longer a pony, instead it has been replaced by a savage beast.

The beast widen his jaw, showing off his many menacing sharp fangs to his prey. He then proceeds to sink his teeth into the stallion's neck. At this moment the down stallion knew he was going to die, in his head memories flash before him. His most recent one was the memory that led him to this predicament.

4 hours earlier

It started off like any other day.

A normal day for this brown stallion with white mane.

His name was Crackdown and he, and several other ponies were resting around a camp fire. This group of mercenaries is camped near the Everfree forest. In a few moments they will all get up and head into the hostile territory of the House Everfree.

Their client has hired them to enter the forest and capture the various wildlife. They are mostly targeting for the smaller ones; such as timberwolves, parasprites, cockatrices, and various other unique creatures. They didn't know why the client want with these creatures, but then again they don't really care.

A whistle alert everyponies attention and all eyes are drawn towards their leader, Buck Bronco. Once he got their attention, the earth stallion told everyone that it was time to do their jobs. Before they proceed he asked if anyone had any questions. When no hooves were raised, Buck turned around and lead the group into the forest.

Upon entering, Buck told everyone to split up so that they can get this done fast. They all followed his orders and split up into pairs. Crackdown paired up with another earth pony named Cutter. Cutter was a white coated stallion with gray mane.

The two mercenaries decided to go deeper into the forest, hoping to find their target quickly and get out. After a couple of minutes passed, the two found animal tracks. They followed it to an open clearing, in this wide area the two found their target.

Lying in open, is a cockatrice. This reptile and chicken hybrid was apparently resting, upon closer examination the creature seems to be injured. The two theorized that the cockatrice must have been targeted by a larger predator, it escaped, but not before sustaining an injury. The two smiled at each other, with their target injured it will be an easy catch.

Crackdown told Cutter to sneak around, their plan was for him to lure the injured creature to his partner, who will appear out and catch it. The brown stallion waited for his partner to go around, once he saw the gray pony signal him, he dashes at the cockatrice.

The cockatrice heard him coming and made a mad dash into the nearby bushes. The brown stallion saw the critter head towards where his partner was hiding. However, instead of a gray pony popping out and nabbing the cockatrice, it just went through the bush.

Surprised and confused, Crackdown went in and find his partner. Instead of a gray pony, the stallion found a small puddle of blood. The blood was still wet, indicating that it was recent. Panic started to sink into the stallion, he found a blood trail leading to another bush. Raising his knife, Crackdown slowly followed the blood trail.

As he followed the trail, the pony was starting to hear the sound of something behind another bush. The stallion moved through the bushes and came across something shocking. Lying dead on the ground was Cutter, above the corpse was a scaly beast with antlers, eating him.

Never before had this stallion seen this creature. He tried to trot away, but the scale covered creature already sense his presence. It let out a ear-piercing screech and charge at the brown stallion. 

Crackdown turned around and run, but was pushed to the ground. He then felt the beast's fangs piercing his sides. He tried to struggle, but the beast kept him pinned down. It then sunk its teeth again, making Crackdown scream in pain. The stallion rolled face up and faced his assailant, and before it can plunge its fangs into his neck, it was stopped. Crackdown held the beast's head with his one hoof, he then jabbed his knife into its neck.

The creature died when its neck has been pierced, its lifeless body collapse on the pony. Crackdown pushed the body off of him. Taking a few minutes to recollect himself, he moved towards the dead creature, to retrieve his knife.

It took him a minute for him to pull the knife out, by the time he was done pulling it out, he heard a scream nearby. Crackdown rushed to the source of that sound unaware of the twitching body of dead creature. Crackdown found two of his comrades combating another of those scaly beast. The two ponies circled around the creature, trying to find an opening to attack.

The beast in the middle kept its eyes and ears on the two ponies, it watched and listen in case either of them left themselves exposed. Its eyes draw towards one of them and it lunge at him. The other pony watched in horror as his partner's neck was torn off.

Seeing this as a good opportunity, the brown stallion came out and plunge his knife behind the creature's neck. After killing the beast, Crackdown turned and faced the other pony. He remembers his name was Strong Back and ask him if he knows where the others are. Before Strong could say anything, they both heard the sound of screaming.

Both ponies galloped to the source leaving the supposed dead creature behind. The two found the rest of the mercenaries, battling against a lot of those same creatures from before. The two ponies charged in, joining their comrades in battle. 

Weapons were swung, flesh was torn, and bones were broken. The battle was long and intense, both sides were gradually losing their members. However, this battle was teetering on the side of the creatures, at this point the ponies made a shocking discovery. The creatures they took down started to get up, their wounds slowly regenerated before their eyes.

The ponies were panicking now, some them galloped off into the woods, leaving the few who stayed, dangerously outnumbered. Among them that left was Crackdown, he realized that this battle was a loss and tried to make it out like the others were doing.

Unfortunately, Crackdown and the other runners didn't last that long.

Present

Crackdown lay down on the ground, his killer standing over him. Its jaw open, ready to plant them deep into his throat and tear it out. But, before it can do that, something knock it off the pony. The brown stallion stared in surprise at his savior.

It was Buck Bronco, covered in blood and scars. He glared down at pony that deserted them, but nevertheless he told to get up. Now with the company of his leader, they both galloped through the forest while being chased by the terrifying creatures.

They both galloped until they made to the edge of the forest, by this time the beast gave up the chase and allowed the two, to escape the forest. Outside the two halted and took a breather. They waited for any others to come out, an hour passed and no pony came out. Realizing that the others were probably dead, the two decided to leave and head back home.

Crackdown slowed down and gave one last look at the  Everfree forest, deep inside, the yellow eyes of the creatures watched as the brown stallion turned around and rejoined his friend. After the ponies left, the creatures returned into the depths of the forest, patiently awaiting any other foolish enough to cross their turf.



> Cult of Laughter: Smiling Dolls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTICE: This document is classified and is to be not released to the public. By order of the House Moon and Star, anyone caught reading this and telling it to others will be punished severely. Only those who are members of the house or have permissions are allowed to continue reading after this.

-If you are reading this, then that that means the illusion spell has been lifted by a member of the house-

What you are about to read is completely confidential. All ponies in this document have their names hidden for the sake of their protection. The following is the questioning of a cult member by two guards. The cultist was a former member of the Cult of Laughter, but left when things just got too disturbing for him.

He then later turned himself into the authorities. In exchange for information, he wanted protection against the cult who would most likely go after him. However, the unicorn guards had a different idea. They wanted him to stay in the cult and pass any current information to them.

The former cultist reluctantly agreed to the terms and proceeded to perform his mission as an informant. This went on for weeks, with the pony secretly delivering plans the cult were about to enact. This helps the local guards to crackdown on meetings and to prevent any surprise attacks.

Then something tragic happened. For a whole month the informant hadn't sent any letters to his contacts. All was silent and everypony thought that he was compromised. It wasn't until a week later that their missing spy suddenly returned.

Upon reaching his contacts he told them that the cult were up to something big, however he refused to talk unless they guaranteed to put him under protection. After some long negotiation the guards gave in and put the stallion under their protection.

The following is recorded words from the two guards and the informant. The informant is explaining to his two contacts about his whereabouts in the last couple of weeks, and to tell them of the big something the Cult of Laughter are planning.


---


The sound of the door opening can be heard. Two sets of hoofsteps enter the room, the door behind them closes.

Guard #1: Alright buddy, we got word from our superiors.

Guard #2: Yeah, they agreed to your terms.

Informant: Oh thank Celestia!

Guard #2: However, they want to know about the info before providing you protection.

Informant: Hey screw that!  the deal was that you guys give me protection, then I'll tell!

Guard #1: Hey man, no need to yell.

Informant: Fuck you! I ain't  telling you nothing until you give me protection!

Guard #1: Look buddy, it's complicated.

Informant: Forget that, you bastards are just trying to screw me over!

Guard #1: Sir calm down-.

Informant: Don't tell me to calm down! You have no idea what I've been through!

Suddenly the sound of two hooves smashing onto the desk disrupts the conversation.

Guard #2: Alright I've had enough of this. Listen here bub, we didn't have to ask you to tell us the information. We could've just used a spell and searched through your mind and found what we wanted. The only reason why we haven't is because some ponies on top is worried about your mental condition. So you either tell us the info or I'll personally reach into your mind and screw around in so much, that you'll not remember how to trot!

After this threat there was a long moment of silence.

Informant: Fine, I'll talk.

The two guards then took their seats and faced the stallion.

Guard #1: Alright first things first, tell us where you have been?

Guard #2: You went silent for a month, what the hell happened to you?

Informant: Well you see the reason behind that is because the cult were on alert, they suspect a rat among their ranks.

Guard: #2: So they caught you and held you as a prisoner?

Informant: What are you kidding me? If I was caught I wouldn't be standing here right now. No, in the Cult of Laughter any traitors are immediately dealt with. 

Guard #1: Do you know what happened to the traitors?

Informant: Not at first because I had to lay low for a while, those zealots are keeping a watchful eye on all the members.

Guard #2: Then what happened? You said that you didn't know what happened to the traitors at first.

Informant: Yeah and I wish I hadn't. Do you know how traitors are dealt with by each of the houses? Most execute them. Well the cult does something worse, instead of killing them, they are turned into these things called the Smiling Dolls.

Guard #2: Smiling Dolls?

Guard #1: What the hell is that?

Informant: From what I gathered, the traitors are turned into these horrifying automatons. Their bodies were cut opened and stuffed up. Their legs were cut off and replaced by these large sharp blades, and their eyes, by Celestia their eyes were plucked out and replaced by buttons.

Guard #2: Buttons?

Informant: Yes buttons! Their fucking eyes are replaced with goddamn buttons!

Guard #1: And you say that you actually saw one these things?

Informant: Not just saw one; I actually saw one being made.

Guard #2: You actually saw it being created?

Informant: Yeah.

Guard #1: How?

Informant: Well it began when I met this pony named Pine cone. He was also a member of the cult and was the guy who showed me the ropes.

Guard #2: Does he know you were a spy?

Informant: No of course not. The guy was a mindless follower like everypony else in there. Still, he was pleasant guy though.

Guard #1: Please, continue what you were telling us.

Informant: Right, anyways, Pine Cone showed me around the place. We became best buds afterwards.

Guard #2: Is this pony still around?

Informant: No..... I was just getting to him. You see after the rumors of spy among them, the cult leaders performed a thorough search among their members. They looked through their stuff and questioned their whereabouts. It was only a matter of time, before they figured me out.

Guard #2: So what did you do?

Informant: What I had to do, I needed someone to take the heat.

Guard #1: So you-

Informant: Yeah, I framed Pine Cone as the spy.

There was a short moment of silence.

Informant: Don't look at me like that, you would've done the same.

Guard #1: Continue.

Informant: Anyways after my buddy was caught they held a punishment, where every member must come. It was there when I saw the creation of that horrible machine. First they gutted Pine Cone and removed his entrails, then they also cut out the legs and eyes. Next they peel off the skin and stitch it back up after they stuff you up. Then they start bringing out these four large blades and attach them to the stumps where their legs used to be. Then for the final touch they stitch in the buttons.

The informant took him a moment to recollect himself.

Informant: Once the body was constructed the cult leader cast some kind of spell and brought that trotting abomination to life. 

Guard #2: What kind of spell?

Informant: I don't know, some necromancy I guess.

Guard #1: What happened after that?

Informant: Well it awkwardly moved around, trying to adjust its new blade legs. It then scanned the room, looking at the faces of all the members. But, then it stopped and it stared at me. Suddenly it went crazy and charged right me. It killed a few members standing in its way.

Guard #2: So at that point you were discovered as the traitor?

Informant: No, they just thought that the thing was broken or they performed the spell wrong.

Guard #1: But, did it not go after you?

Informant: Well I was behind a large crowd, so it looked like it was just a random attack.

Guard #1: I see.

Informant: So at that time, I realized I needed to get out of there. However before I left, I did one last snoop around and discovered something shocking.

Guard #2: Is that the big something?

Informant: Yep.

Guard #1: Alright then, would you kindly tell us this big something.

The informant took a long breath and continued.

Informant: Its basically a long project those cult guys have been doing for a while. From what I read and heard, the cultists are trying to make their own Alicorn.

Guard #1: WHAT!

Guard #2: Preposterous, how the hell can those sick freaks perform an alicornification when Archmagister Twilight Sparkle can't even do it.

Informant: No man, they're not turning any ponies into alicorns, they are actually going to create alicorns.

Guard #2: Now that's even more impossible.

Informant: Are you sure about that?

Guard #1: I have to agree with him there, sir.

Guard #2: What?

Guard #1: You've seen what those cult can do? They freakin raise the dead sir! And now this smiling doll!

Guard #2:  By Celestia.

Informant: Yeah and you know what's worse? Those guys are getting close, with each failed attempt, they are getting closer to achieving this alicorn.

The two guards remain silent for a while.

Guard #2: I think we've heard enough, let's go.

Guard #1: Yeah.

Informant: Hey wait! What about my protection!

The sound of door closing is heard, followed by a loud sigh and mumbled words from the informant.


---


After the questioning, the two guards returned to their superiors and told them of what they learned. When they got to the part of alicorns many didn't believe it, saying that the informant was just going crazy. It also didn't help that the informant hadn't brought any evidence of this alicorn creation. 

Nevertheless, a deal is a deal and they granted this stallion asylum. However, later that night the prison that held the informant was attacked. The guards were brutally slaughtered, sliced up into pieces. The informant suffered the worst. According to eyewitnesses, the attacker fit the description of the Smiling Doll.

When it confronted the lone stallion in his cell, it raised both of its forelegs and hugged the pony, slicing him to pieces

By the time the sun rose, the entire prison was a bloody mess, literally.

After this tragic event the House of Moon and Star made sure that word of this horrible massacre didn't reach the public. Making this report classified and informing the family of the dead guards of their passing.


***


Special Thanks to FleetlordAvatar for proofreading this story.
> House of Stormwing: The Fallen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once upon a time there was a green pegasus mare named Healthy Green. When she was just a little foal, she lived a happy life in the peaceful land of Equestria.  She would have had a normal life if it weren't for that tragic event.

The day when the two royal princesses disappeared was the day when Equestria started its downfall. The harmony that existed between the ponies had been shattered; many of the ponies of Equestria have divided, with each one seeking to gain total control over the country.

Healthy Green was caught up in all this conflict and found herself fighting for the House Stormwing, one of the major factions of the divided nation.

At first the young mare was eager to fight alongside her winged brothers and sisters, but then all her enthusiasm instantly vanishes upon entering her first skirmish. The battle was intense, ponies were slaying each other left and right, they being impaled, stabbed, sliced or smashed.

Overwhelmed by such carnage before her, the green mare panicked and retreated back to base. There she was questioned by her superior. After explaining everything to him, her superior labelled Healthy Green a traitor and had her sent to prison.

A few days have passed since her imprisonment and Healthy Green was getting worried. Ever since she was called a traitor by her superior, everypony was giving her a hard time, everypony used to give smiles and friendly waves to her. Now all she received were silent glares from her comrades.

Finally the day came for her trial. She was presented to a couple of the higher ups and was ordered to tell her side of the story. The green mare believed that if she told them honestly, they would go easy on her.

Sadly, after she told them they were infuriated. Calling her a coward they moved her outside and held a public punishment for her. Giving the call to have everypony present, the commanding officer proceeded to cut her wings off in front of the large gathering of pegasai. 

This was to set an example for any ponies who dared break their laws and Healthy Green just happened to be the unfortunate pony to be that example.

After her wings were clipped, the green mare was brought to solitary confinement. It is unknown what those tormenters did to her in there, but whatever it was, the young mare was forever changed.

By the time she got out she was no longer the same pony from before. Gone was the sweet and innocent filly, Instead she has transformed into a battle hungry berserker. No longer will she shy away from the sight of blood. Instead she will embrace it and will spill more blood from her enemies.

So for the next couple of years Healthy Green was kept in a heavily secured cell, guarded by a squad of six pegasus guards. Whenever she is taken somewhere they had to tie her up with a series of chains wrapped around her body. Once they reach a destination the handler unlocks the chains and points to where she should go. From there on it is absolute carnage for the poor ponies that had to face her. 

Soon the green mare became infamous amongst the troops. Some of them feared the vicious mare after witnessing the brutality of her actions. They saw her split a stallion's head in half with one swing of an axe, then there was the time they watched her rip some poor pony's head off while he was still screaming. They still have nightmares of that scene.

However other ponies view the green mare as nothing more than a mindless beast. Sure she all tough and scary, but she is still one pony against all of them. Even a savage like her can know she is seriously at a disadvantage. 

But unbeknownst to all troops, this savage mare wanted them to think that way about her. Inside her head is a plan to break free from her jailors and be free once again.

She has been planning this for years now and she knows that it has to be perfect, otherwise they would just hunt her down and kill her. So far she always had to delay her plan because of the watchful eyes of her 'escorts'.

Then fortune smiled upon her, she heard from the guards outside her cell that a new handler will be replacing the old one. She was happy because the new handlers are usually inexperienced when given the task to watch over her. 

This was too good of an opportunity to waste, once when she is unleashed she will turn against her handler and the six guards. After that she will finally have her life back.

Then a strange twist of fate happened. She became friends with her new handler, Shamrock. Shamrock was also a green coated pony, except he was a darker shade of green. This new handler was drastically different from the others before him.

Shamrock was kind and actually wanted to converse with her. He displayed kindness and respect, something that was totally alien for her. They were something she hadn't had for a long time.

For the next few weeks Shamrock would ask the guards to leave the two alone and they would talk. Mostly it was him doing the talking since Healthy has forgotten how to. From their many conversations she learned that he just joined the army after reaching the mandatory age for enlistment. 

The more time they spend together the more she learned about Shamrock. Like how was from a large family and how he was eager to serve his faction. This was something that reminded of her at that age, so young and naive, he held a childlike view about how wars are done.

Then came the day for her battle, the six guards and her handler led the chained up mare to the battlefield. The dark green stallion unlocked her chains; at the same time Healthy was contemplating whether she should kill Shamrock. He was the only the pony to treat her like a normal pony, but on the other hoof he could go tell his superiors of her escape and they will no doubt sent a squad after her. 

Before she could even make her decision, the group came under attack. Out of nowhere a swarm of arrows came flying at them. Some the guards were killed instantly, the others were injured at first, but were killed seconds later.

Healthy Green instinctively ducked and watched her escorts being killed by the arrows. When it was over it was only her and the injured green stallion. Acting quickly she dragged his body into the nearby woods. 

Once they were out of sight, the mare did her best to take care of his wounds. She remembered watching the medics that used to take care of her wounds closely so that she could do it herself.  She watched them closely, so that she can do it herself.

Once she made sure his wounds were closed up, her sharp ears heard something. The sound of stomping leaves alerted her of their presence. Hiding the injured stallion, the green mare followed the source to the intruders.

It was the ponies that ambushed them. They must have followed their tracks she thought to herself. Seeing only a couple of them, the green mare thought she could take them out. Silently lowering herself, Healthy slowly moved towards the nearest target.

Normally the berserker is not one to be stealthy, but the situation called for it. As she got close to one of them, she quickly grabbed the pony and ripped a big chunk out of his neck with her teeth.  The next one suffered a less gruesome death as the mare slit his throat.

Then on her third target she tried to slit the stallion's throat, but he was able to scream loudly drawing the attention from the other soldiers. Healthy Green stayed near the corpse, waiting for his friends to show up.

Eventually one of them arrived on scene, he was then immediately pounced on by the savage mare and was stabbed repeatedly until he was dead.

Looking up the mare spotted three more coming this way. Normally when a pony is outnumbered they would've fallen back, however Healthy Green was not a normal pony. Smiling she charged into the trio of ponies. The first one was taken out by her slicing his throat; the second got his right front and back leg sliced. The third one blocked her attack with his sword.

The two held their ground, not one of them was backing up despite both ponies pushing against one another. Healthy then heard the sound of the second pony getting up, she pushed the third pony away and jumped onto the second one.

Taking the knife with her hoof she thrust it into the second pony's neck. As she was pushing it even further the green mare found herself being pushed off. Turning around the mare saw the third pony charging at her, sword raised high.

He swung his mighty sword at her, but she quickly evaded each swing. The mare watched the stallion continuously swing his sword and saw an opening. Healthy tripped the stallion and he fell face down onto the ground.

She then jumped on the downed stallion, pinning him to the ground. She then proceeded to pummel his face. By the time she was done both her hooves were bloodied and the stallions face was pulp. 

With them taken care of, Healthy Green returned to the place she hid Shamrock. Checking his pulse, the mare found he was still alive.  Despite his fine condition, she knew that if Shamrock didn't receive proper medical care he would surely die. The only place that had those is the
Stormwing outpost nearby.

Healthy soon found herself making a choice, she could simply leave and hope that the Stormwing scouts will find him or he can take back to base and risk being put back into the cell. After weighing her options she finally came to a conclusion.

Hours passed and Shamrock found himself sleeping in one of the medical tents. Asking where he is and what happened, the doctors and nurses explained that they found him near the outpost. He was found by a patrol and brought here.

After the explanation they asked him what he remembered. The green stallion said he remembered an attack and his escorts being killed. He was about to say that the only other survivor was the mare, but stopped. Realizing that she was the one that saved him and dragged him here.

Shamrock continued by saying that the Fallen he was handling died during the attack. The doctor got his answer and told everyone to give this pony some rest. As they all left Shamrock laid back on his bed and turned his head towards one of the opened window. If he had looked closer he would've seen the face of his saviour hiding behind some trees.

Once she was sure he was alright, Healthy Green trotted off into the woods. Giving one last look back, the green mare disappeared into the forest, never to be seen or heard from again. 



Proofread by FleetlordAvatar 
> House of Earthborn: Buffalo Juggernauts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Frontier, home to the Earthborn faction and their buffalo allies. This large piece of land is interconnected with four other lands. The Wasteland and Zebran Desert in the south, and the Everfree Forest and Heartlands to the north.

Currently the Earthborn forces in the Frontier are engaged in battle with two of the lands. The savage ponies of the Everfree Forest and the endless swarm of Changelings in the Wasteland.

The Heartlands belonged to them and serves as a front against the Moon & Star and the Stormwing factions. The zebras of the Zebran Desert are no threat to the house, as most of them rather stay out of the ongoing conflict in Equestria.

However, one zebra had other ideas. His name is Zulu and his clan are ready to attack the ponies in the Frontier. For a few years the Zebra leader has been building up his forces, preparing to attack the Earthborn ponies.

The reason behind his actions is due to what lies beyond the Frontier. Zulu has been in contact with the zebras of the Everfree Forest. They had promised him power, but in exchange he must do something for them.

Zulu has been tasked with assaulting the Earthborn city called Dodge Junction. He is to take the city and hold it until the Everfree forces comes and secure it.

The zebra leader accepted the term and assembled his army. Going under the cover of night, zulu's forces travel across the rocky desert reaching for their destination. Along the way they silently killed any patrols they come across.

They then finally reached the city of Dodge Junction. The once small town has grown huge over the years, now with the addition of the tall, strong walls surrounding the city.

Zulu however, wasn't going to let a wall stop him. Quickly devising a plan, he managed to sneak in a few of his warriors inside. Giving them the task of opening the gates in the dead of night, his warriors did as they were ordered and waited for the night.

When the night fell upon the city, the hiding zebra emerged out and went for the walls. Taking out the pony guards station there, the zebras infiltrator opened the gates, allowing entry for the rest of their comrades.

Once inside, Zulu ordered the disposal of anypony that can be a threat to their objective. His forces spread out into the city, killing any guards they find. Their leader told them to not hide the bodies, he intended for the for ponies of Dodge Junction to have a very rude awakening.

When the sun rose from the horizon, the ponies were shocked to find the bodies of their guards laying on the streets. Even more shocking and disturbing, is when they went to the barracks. Inside all the guards are dead, those that were sleeping had their neck sliced.

By now the citizens were panicking and some them wanted to leave the city. Unfortunately, they soon met with Zulu's warriors at the wall. Zulu personally told a large of ponies that they have killed all the guards and are now occupying this city.

Many shouted in response, their voices expresses their anger of the situation. This didn't last long, as they were silenced when Zulu ordered his soldiers to open fire on them. After displaying his ruthless
action, the ponies stopped their shouting.

Zulu ordered all the ponies to return to their homes and not leave, or else suffer his wrath. Slowly eveypony made their way back home. Some tried to fight back, but were easily defeated by the zebra warriors.

Once the city has been locked down, Zulu position the majority of his warriors along the wall. The few he made them patrol the streets, making sure the ponies don't try anything stupid.

The occupation is on its third day, Zulu awaited patiently for the Everfree forces to arrive. So far the ponies are becoming more reckless and daring. Just yesterday his warriors had to violently take down an angry mob.

The ponies weren't the only ones to be restless. His own warriors were getting impatient and wonders if those ponies of the forest will ever arrive.

Then suddenly one of the zebra lookout spotted something of in the distance. Looking through his scope, Zulu saw a mass of black figure heading in their direction.

Many of his warriors thought that the army of the Everfree has arrived. Zulu on the other hoof wasn't so sure about that. Looking closer the Zebra leader was able to see some details of their new guest. Their bodies were massive compared to a pony, they also seem to have two horns sticking out of their heads.

Zulu's face slowly turn from curiosity to horror upon realizing who they were. The buffaloes, allies of the Earthborns. 

Quickly yelling out orders to his troops, the Zebra leader have all his warriors ready for the up coming battle.

When they got closer, the Zebras could now truly see how menacing these beast are. Despite their large sizes the buffaloes moved with great speed. 

They tried taking these large creatures down with arrows, but it proved useless as they simply seemed unaffected. With their weapons doing nothing against the buffaloes, they then turned their attention to the cannons.

Loading a ball into the cannon and aiming it, the zebras lit the fuse and watched it awe as the large cylinder weapon fired. The weapon proved effective against the buffaloes. Soon every zebra was manning the cannons and firing it at the buffalo hordes.

At first Zulu and his warriors were doing fine, that is until the arrival of some new buffaloes. Unlike the first wave, these buffaloes wore heavy armor and had Hoof Cannoneers riding on top. 

Concentrating their attention to these armored behemoths, the Zulu's forces fire the cannons at them. The cannons proved to be ineffective, as they were too fast and too heavily protected.

Meanwhile the ponies riding on top the buffaloes were aiming their weapons at the zebras. While some of them hit walls, some others managed to hit the enemy controlled cannons.

With enough damage down, the head armored buffalo order his fellow Juggernauts to take down the gate. Soon all the buffaloes made a beeline to the gate, with the Buffalo Juggernauts in the front. The long line of Buffaloes broke down the gate and spread out into the city.

With the arrival of their ally buffaloes, the citizens of Dodge Junction took up arms and joined their rescuers in battle. Their combined forces left the zebras at a serious disadvantage.

Zulu, however was not deterred by this and ordered his troops to attack. Stinking to the roof tops, the zebra leader shoot down any ponies or buffaloes with a toss of his spears. As the battle rages on, Zulu could hear and see his fellow warriors dying around him. 

In his mind, his thoughts are telling to turn tail and run away. But, Zulu shook those thoughts out his head and continued to fight.

Suddenly he was blasted off the roof by a cannon, making him fall down onto the streets. Looking up, Zulu found himself surrounded by some glaring ponies and buffaloes. He quickly got up and prepared himself as his attackers all charge at him.

The ponies were easily dealt with, just a simple dodge and countering. The buffaloes on the other hoof were much more difficult. Their large sizes made it difficult to kill them, but he managed anyways and slayed a couple of them.

Eventually they stopped their assault, after watching their brethren getting killed off by this lone zebra. Zulu looked around and saw the shock and fear on their faces, doing one last look around to see if any of them would fight him.

Then he heard a sound. It was the sound of a loud stomps coming his way. Turning to the source of the noise, Zulu saw an armored buffalo heading towards him.

Raising his spear up the zebra threw his weapon at incoming challenger. The Juggernaut shifted his head a bit and the spear missed his eye socket by an inch, bouncing off his helmet.

Seeing that his weapon missed, Zulu stood his ground and waited for the Juggernaut. 

When the buffaloes was about to ram him, the zebra jumped up and landed onto his opponent’s face. Once he was on, Zulu took out his dagger and stabbed it into the buffalo's eye. Hearing his scream, Zulu kept on pushing the dagger further in.

Before he could finish him off, his opponent lowered his head and quickly swung it back up, launching the zebra into the air. When Zulu got high enough, he quickly started falling back down.

Instead of falling down to the ground, he was impaled by one of the Buffalo Juggrnaut's blade. 

The zebra leader put his hooves onto the blade, trying to pull himself off. He tried for a bit until he gave up and lie limp. 

Nearing death, the zebra leader's vision started to get blurry and was losing consciousness. With no energy to speak, Zulu in his thought curse the Everfree forces for not arriving.

And with that the zebra was gone from the world.

> House of Moon and Star: Firebirds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following below is a written record from a survivor of the massacre that took place on the border between Moon and Star and the Earthborn. Private Storm Seed was part of the battalion that pushing the enemy forces of their land. But, then when it looks like they were winning, the Moon and Star launched a new kind of weapon. This caused the death of over hundreds of ponies. The few that did survived were horribly scarred, both physically and mentally.

Yeah, I remember what happened that day. It started off like any other day. The sun was bright and shining, the wind gave us a cool breeze, and we were just sitting around our campsite. It was rather peaceful really.

Then it was ruin when those unicorn bastards arrive. They made themselves known by having a line of Markmages firing at us. We of course acted quickly, taking up arms we charged at our attackers and fought them.

Me being a pegasus I flew above the battle and harass the unicorns, I would occasionally interrupt their casting or rescue my comrades. The battle didn't last long as the unicorns soldiers started to fall back.

Instead of letting them go, our commander ordered us to chase after them. We all followed his orders with no complaint.[pause] Kinda wished we hadn't. So anyways we went after the retreating ponies like savage wolves. We followed them to a large open field. There were these strange looking contraption they had, like this one which looked like a pillar on wheels.

You mean the Arcane Manipulator?

Yeah that thing. Anyways where was I? Oh yeah, once we found their camp our commander ordered us to burned it the ground. Grabbing some fire from one of our guys, I quickly flew around the camp, setting their tents, boxes, machines, and anything else flammable a blaze.

With their position compromised the Moon and Star commander order everypony to fall back. Our enemies were quickly rushing back to their territories, they didn't even bother to take any of the supplies back with them.

At that point we should have let them go, but our commander had other ideas. Giving the order to pursue and annihilate the enemies, we all galloped our legs and chase after them. Despite them having a head start we easily caught up with them. Slowly our guys slayed the unicorns in the back and we were pushing further in.

In our minds we thought we were invincible. The adrenaline from the battle fuelled our desires to continue our assault on these cowardly bastards. [Taking a long breath] And that is when everything went to shit.

What do you mean?

Like I said, things gone from good to bad in matter of seconds. [Closes both eyes] I can still remember what transpired that day. Up high in skies something was coming straight for us and they were moving with incredible speed.

Next thing I remember they crash right into our forces, releasing a huge fiery explosions that engulfed everypony. Those near the impact died quickly, their bodies completely incinerated from the blast. Others who were not near the impact suffered a much painful fate. The ponies caught in the fire were screaming in utter agony, as they were being burnt alive. Amidst all this chaos we were finally able to see the things that caused all this devastation. Flying above the scorched ground was a large bird made of flames.

Birds of flame? Do you mean a phoenix?  

No, I seen phoenixes before and let me tell that damn thing was any ordinary bird.

Would you care to explain?

Well its quite simple despite what many pony believe, the phoenix don't actually use their fire magic a lot. Sure they used it before, but it was mostly for defensive purpose only. When using their fire, it is very little, enough to scare away any predators.

[Open both eyes] The ones I encounter weren't normal. They were too big and far more aggressive then the usual phoenix No those things are an abomination!, just another example of twisted unicorn magic at work.

Please continue your story Miss Seed.

Right getting sorry, Anyways after the first strike, everypony was in total disarray. Everywhere you can hear the sounds of inured ponies screaming for help. Unfortunately their call for aid was blocked out by the screams of the dying.

Before we could even do anything, those Firebirds flew up high, planning for another dive bomb.

Firebirds?

Yeah you know, birds made of fire. Firebirds.

Right, continue on then.

So seeing those things going for another attack, our commander order all pegasus to take out the Firebirds. As you can imagine that didn't turn out well. [The mare turned slightly, revealing her two burnt wings.] The doctor said I will probably never fly again.

Well to make a long story short, after our failed attempt, the Firebirds struck the ground again killing anything near them. Finally the commander realized the hopelessness of the situation and ordered a retreat. 

Anypony that could still trot immediately started falling back. Some carried the really injured out of there. As for me, I just galloped the hell out of there. A long the way one of my legs was grabbed by a hoof. The hoof belong to a badly hurt pony asking for me to help him. 

Did you help him?

[Silence] No, I quickly bucked him in the face and left him there. Not really the proudest moment of my life. And before you ask, yes I do regret it, I still have dream of that scene playing over and over in my nights.

Why didn't you help him?

To put it simply I was scared. Seeing those birds incinerating my comrades in front of me really leave mark on you. I was so afraid of those things that I ignored my duty to help those in needs and just left the poor guy to his death.

You wanna know what's also mess up, I don't even know what he looks like. I gave the stallion a quick glance before I bucked him. Despite not remembering his face, something tells me he remembers mine and will never forget it.

End of record
> House of Whitegold: Dogs of war
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

How does one describes a diamond dog?

Brutish?

Savages?

Monsters?

While many ponies has their own opinions about those tall bipedal canines, we can all at least agree that the one thing that best describe them is their greed.

These materialistic dogs are so greedy that it is practically in their genes. The only thing that differentiate them from each other is what they want, with the diamonds being the most common and how much determination they have to want it.

Among these various individuals one dog stood out. His name is Gorehound, and he the self-proclaim Chieftain of all the Diamond Dogs.

Not Much is known of Gorehound's past, but we can assume that he used a minor soldier until he rose through ranks and became pack leader. With him in charge, he lead his pack on a campaign of conquest.

Slowly he fought against other packs and challenge their leaders. He defeated them and assimilated their members into his pack, making his forces larger everyday.

Words of his accomplishment quickly spreads and soon Diamond Dogs from other clans and packs wanted to join Gorehound.

Eventually the Diamond Dog Chieftain has amass a huge army. An army so large they can be an actual threat to one of the major Equestrian factions. Out of all of them Gorehound focus his attention on the pony city called Manehattan, home to the Whitegold faction.

The reason for his chose is because the city of Manehattan is full of wealth and treasure, just ripe for the pickings. He has thought this for many years, he knew that is was impossible for a small pack to raid a fortified city. However, if it was much larger pack, then they might stood a chance.

That was in the past, right now Gorehound has assembled the most largest army of Diamond Dogs ever record in history. With a force this huge they might not even raid the city, rather they will take the city for themselves. 

For the next couple of months, Gorehound has gathering information of the city. Everyday his spies and informants gives bits of info of the city's defensive, armies, and strategies. From the prisoners he has interrogated the House of Whitegold have been increasing their defences, presumably because of the increasing conflict between the houses.

During this time the Diamond Dog Chieftain had to keep his warriors in check. Daily Gorehound had to deal with dispute among the various clans, that makes up his army. The most common is the conflict between the different clans, all of them hold grudges against each other.

The Chieftain managed to quell their fighting down for a bit, but he knew that they'll fight again. Gorehound knows that the only way to stop their fighting is to have them fight against the ponies, however it is too soon to attack the city. For now he has to keep these dogs in line until the time comes.

In the days leading to the assault, Gorehound noticed some strange things. The first being his lack of updates from his spies and informants. Before they would deliver bits of information everyday, now they coming by weeks and the info barely contain anything worthwhile.

The second strange things is recent new clans to join his army. Gorehound has never heard of them before, they claim that they come far away lands. He found these new guys suspicious and order warriors from his own clan to keep an eye on them.

This was task that he doesn't just give to anybody, this was a task of utmost importance and he couldn't think of anyone to do this beside his own clan mates.

This was a trait that most other races don't know about, loyalty. Sure their species have been known to be greedy and aggressive, but if treated right they will be the most loyalist companions ever.

This was how Gorehound saw his own warriors, they were with from the beginning and they are still here today. It was because of them that he got this far and because this he feels that once they attack Manehattan he will reward them generously.

That right, generously. This was something that might seem uncharacteristic, but like every rule there is an exception and this showed how much he trusted his troops.

With the assault of Manehattan nearing, Gorehound was getting anxious. For a long time he has been planning this. Back when he was just a lowly guard he could only dream of this, but now here is the Chieftain of the largest army ever in Diamond Dog history.

If they succeed on this invasion, Gorehound will make a name for himself and his infamy will spread across the land of Equestria. Hell, once he is done conquering this city he fortify its defensive and secure his territories. 

Afterwards he will sent his army to attack the other factions. One by one they will fall and soon he will have the entire country to himself.

However, unbeknownst to him his vision of a conquered Equestria will crumble before him. 

His downfall happen one night while he was in his tent, looking over his battle plans. One of his messengers enter his tent and told him grave news. 

Apparently the clans are fighting again, however this time it was different. Before they were just small fight, but now they are in a much larger scale.

Picking up his weapon, the dog Chieftain order his men to quell this fighting. Outside his tent Gorehound witness  his army tearing itself apart. He spotted dogs slaying each other and dropping like flies.

He has to act quick, otherwise he won't have any troops left and his plans will be set back.
Gorehound and his warriors did their best to stop the fighting. But, this proved to be quite difficult since they can't kill them because that would just act to the body count. This force them to knock out the dogs or subduing them.

Once they got enough of them down, Gorehound noticed the absence of that mysterious clan that joined a while ago. Putting two and two together, the Chieftain assumes that they are behind this treachery.

Taking some of his warriors with him, Gorehound followed the trail of the mysterious clan. 

When he found them, they were just sitting around and doing nothing. Suddenly their leader walked in with a pony at his side. Listening closely he can her their conversation. From what he gathered, these dogs are mercenaries hired by that pony.

Their job was too cause conflict amongst the clan so that Whitegold's army will come in and finish them off. 

Gorehound was shock about this, not only did they knew of his plan, but if what they said is true then his army is in danger. Before he could even get up and leave, he felt someone smacking him in the back of his head.

This caused to fall of the small cliff he was on and into the mercenaries campsite. Looking up his eyes widen upon seeing who attacked him, it was his own warriors.

Gorehound was so shocked by this he didn't notice the approach of the mercenary Diamond Dog. They towards him and hold him. Once he was captured, he brought before the pack leader and pony with him.

The pack leader gloated when he saw the Dog Chieftain. After exchanging some insults with him, the pony next to him stepped in. 

The pony told Gorehound how his mistress knew of his plans to attack Manehattan. Her spies has been watching him from the very beginning. They observe him in case he does something incredibly dangerous to her house.

Usually they would simply just crush something like this before it grew huge, but Rarity has other ideas. To make this doesn't happen again, she allowed his army to grow in size and when it is at its peak, she would swiftly and brutally eliminate his forces.

This was to ensure fear to anypony or anybody that is dumb enough to attack her city. The destruction of his army will make history and will serve as message that the House of Whitegold is no push over.

Once he was done explaining everything to him he ask for one of Diamond Dogs to execute him. Gorehound stayed motionless the entire time, his entire dream was crushed when he heard the pony's words coming from his mouth.

At the beginning he was destine to fail, but instead she allowed his hopes to get up and once he was high enough he dream came crashing down.

However, despite all that what hurt him the most was the betrayal of his own warriors. He though they were loyal to him, but he guess he was wrong. He guess that when it comes to it, greed wins over loyalty any day.

Looking up to face his executioner, Gorehound wasn't surprised to see the mercenary leader aiming the barrel of his pistol at him. The next thing that happened was a loud bang and everything going dark.

> House of Everfree: Parasprite Swarms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the House of Earthborn, there is a unique company of ponies tasked in one thing, logging. 

Unlike other armies that are consist of trained soldiers, this logging company is made up of labourers. 

Basically earth ponies are used to manual labour are deployed to the Everfree forest. They are sent to harvest lumber from the vast dark forest.

Past experience has shown that invading the forest and clearing out any threat is impossible, even if they do outnumber them, the forest's inhabitants will fight ferociously for their homes.

So now instead the Earthborn ponies stay near the edge of the forest and cut the trees from there.

This logging company benefits the House in two ways: first, the wood they gather will help supply the faction. The second reason is that this will help stop the expansion of the Everfree forest.

Sure, occasionally the ponies will be attacked by the many enemies of the forest, such as: Timberwolves, Zebras, Wild Ponies, Minotaurs, and many other creepy crawlies.

But, for each attack it only strengthen the company's defences. Now they have a line of cannoneers  preparing for an attack from the forest.

However, this time the defenders will be facing an enemy they haven't seen for a long time. 

Out came from the forest, the Parasprites. These little creatures are menace to the ponies, even before Equestria was divided the Parasprite swarms devoured foods from farms to cities. They travel around, causing famine everywhere they go.

Nowadays the Parasprites are working exclusively for the Everfree forces.

The line of Earthborn warriors weren't prepared for this and in panic, fired their cannons. The cannonballs flew right through the swarms, this barely halted their advances.

Soon enough the Parasprites were upon them. The swarm were effectively disrupting their formation, leaving them vulnerable for the next offensive.

Out from the forest, came a second wave of enemies. This time however, they are the regular forces they faced before.

The Everfree soldiers slaughtered the distracted Earthborn soldiers. And with the majority dead and the few that escaped, the Everfree force turned their attention to the various structures around them.

The lumber mills, houses and barracks were destroyed. They left the destroyed structures there to serve as a grim reminder of the Earthborn losses.

Once done they returned to the woods, disappearing into the shadows of the forest. 

The only one that stayed behind were the huge swarm of Parasprites. They have been given orders by Lady Fluttershy. In retaliation for the continuing cutting down of her forest, Fluttershy has ordered all her Parasprites to spread out into the Earthborn territories and devour all their crops.
The swarm did as they are told, and fanned out into the both the Frontier and the Heartlands. 

They went out and devour every food they come across, bringing famine where ever they go.
> Cult of Laughter: Cadavre Carousel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This way lads.” Said the elderly unicorn.

The three other unicorns behind him, silently nodded and follow the lead pony.

The four pony team quickly trotted across a large field, filled with dead bodies. This place was recently the site of huge battle between the Moon and Star and the Earthborn. The battle was intense and both side suffered heavy casualties.

In the end though, the army of Moon and Star was victorious. A hollow victory really, sure they had one, but the cost was too much.

The four stallion trotted around the corpse filled fields, they were trying to keep themselves from emptying their stomachs on the blood soaked ground. 

The scene before them is grisly sight: bodies laid cut up and ripped opened, sharp weapons were sometime found impaled into the bodies, and lastly their heads and legs were missing.

They were also unease ass well, seeing the bodies of their fallen comrades can be demoralizing. However, they have a mission to do and they'll need to be focus if they are going to achieve their objective.

Apparently some ponies in the higher ups, sense some strong source of dark magic coming from this battlefield. It was the was first time someponies felt dark magic in a certain area, but this one was different.

Instead of a vague direction, it was actually an actual place. 

Upon this discovery, high command order a four pony team to investigate this dark magic source. The squad consist of: Captain Brass Barrier, Lieutenant Chain Sword, Warrant Officer Crimson Red, and Sergeant Hard Kick.

Captain Barrier is veteran Legionnaire and has seen his share of battles before. Because of his experience, the stallion has been described as a hard pony to impress. Despite this characteristic, he does give of praises when they are needed.

Lieutenant Sword is the sniper of the group. A highly skilled Markmage, Chain Sword has called upon for assassination numerous time before and has always get his targets. While some believe him to be a cold-hearted killer, LT Sword has shown to have friendlier side.

Warrant Officer Red is a Seraph and serves as the team's air advantage. Once was a brash and cocky unicorn, after a year in the military, he was reshape into a well-trained and discipline soldier. Still contain remnants of his cockiness.

Sergeant Kick is a recently promoted solider and a legionnaire like the Captain. The youngest of the group, Sgt Kick is your by the rules type of pony and will rarely break the rules, no matter how minor it is.

Together these four are task with one thing, find the source of the dark magic. If found they are to retrieve it and bring back to base for research.
As the team make their way to source, Crimson Red decided to start a conversation with his teammates. While Brass and Hard only responded with short answers, Chain Sword on the other hoof was more opened then the other two.

“So there he was charging right at me, then in the last second, I cast the wing spell and flew over the guy. And when I was above, I cast another spell and lit the bastard on fire.” 

“That is quite story there, Crimson.” Said Chain.

“So what about you buddy?” The scarlet unicorn pointed his hoof at the Markmage. “You've ever been in a intense fight before?”

The yellow stallion though for bit, until he come up with one. 

“Well as a Markmage, I rarely engage in close-quarter fighting. Hell even less when you're the sniper. However there was this one time when I almost lost my head..”

Chain Sword cleared his throat and proceeded to tell his story.

“It all started when I was just sitting in a tree, picking off enemy troops. When all of sudden I was knocked right out of the tree. Falling down, I was disoriented, but knew that I was vulnerable. Quickly lowering my head, dodge a swing from an axe. My assailant then tackle me, pushing me a few hoof steps away. That son of bitch then trotted towards my down body and raise his axe. I then in turn swiftly turned around blasted my magic into his face, blowing his head up in the process.”

“Whoa, brutal dude.” Crimson then turn his attention to the sergeant behind them. “Hey rookie, you got any interesting stories?”

The blue unicorn known as Hard Kick, was taken back by being called a rookie. 

“Rookie?” He repeated the word. “Sir, I am Sergeant.”

“Yeah well, you were recently promoted so your rank as sergeant has really kicked in yet.” Crimson retorted.

Hard gave a confuse look at the red stallion. “What is that suppose to mean, sir?”

“OK first of, stopped with the whole sir thing. We only use that stuff among the high ranking officers. Here we can all casual about, ain't that right captain?” He turn his head to the captain, he responded by saying nothing.

“See what I tell ya.” Crimson smiled. “Secondly while you are technically a sergeant, not many ponies believe you earned that rank. Give it a few days and they'll start calling by your rank.”

“Wait hold on a second, what do mean I didn't earn the rank?” Hard asked. 

“I'm just saying what everypony back at base are saying.” Crimson said. “Not many of them believe you have earn that promotion.”

“Why not? I worked hard to achieve the position I am in.”

“Well I believe it is because of your brother.” Crimson responded.

When his teammate mention his brother, the sergeant just sighs. Way long before he joined the army, his brother, Swift Kick was in the army. H rise through the ranks and became one of the top military officers

Then when he enlisted, his brother wanted to help him out, but Hard Kick refused, He didn't want any special treatment just because he happens to the little brother of this high ranking officer. So for the first year in service, he has followed every rules and protocols listed and done with perfection. Despite his efforts, many still dislike him because of his connection with his brother.

Hard Kick was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts by his red teammate. “Hey rookie, you got stories or what?” Crimson asked.

“No, not really.” He replied.

“Well that's a shame.” Said a disappointed Crimson. Now what are we-”

“Shush lads, were near.” Brass interrupted him. 

The three stallion behind him prepared themselves for what lies ahead. The four ponies trotted a couple of more hooves ahead. They then spotted something strange from a distance.

Crouching low, the four stealthy got closer to the strange thing. Taking cover behind some wreckage, the  team got a closer look at the thing. Upon looking looking at it, they wished they hadn't.

Standing in the middle of a corpse covered field, are two creepy smiling ponies pulling a wagon. On top of the wagon is little pillar, with corpses hanged around. The ropes are tied around the ponies neck and are left to literally hang around the pillar.

“By Celestia's sun, what is that abomination?” Crimson question, sounding disturbed.

“I don't know, but I can sense the dark energy coming from that wagon.” Brass said.

“So captain, how are we going to do this?” Chain asked.

“Simple Chain, me and Hard Kick will sneak closer, while you and Crimson stay here cover us.  Chain you're our best markspony and I count you to take out those two. If not, me and the sergeant can take care of them.”

“What about me?”

“Crimson, if we both fail to kill those two, it is up to you track them down and take them out.”

“Alright gotcha.”

With their plan formed, both Brass Barrier and Hard Kick snuck closer to two ponies pulling the wagon. Chain Sword set up his bipod and aimed it at the head of one of the two.

When the two got into position, Chain fired a shot and it pierced through his target's head. The second pony was so shock to his friend's death, that he didn't notice the captain popping out of his cover. Throwing his spear, his impaled the pony, killing him instantly.

With both ponies dead and the wagon secured, Captain Barrier order the rest of his troops to gather around the wooden vehicle.

“Lads, here is what we don next: first me and Chain Sword will pull the wagon, Crimson you are to use your wing spell and you'll be our eye in skies, and lastly Hard Kick will hang back and watch the rear.”

The four then split up and got into position. Brass and Sword attach themselves to the wagon, while Crimson took flight. When the wagon was moving, Hard Kick stayed back, trying not to look at hanged corpses in front of him.

They marched on in silence, the only noise being made was wagons they are moving.

The two stallion pulling the wagon, suddenly found themselves unable to move forward. 

“Captain!” Shouted Hard Kick. “One of the bodies fell down and got stuck under the wheel!”

“Well push it out then!” The captain shouted back.

Not wanting to touch the rotting body, the sergeant instead uses his spear. As he was trying to push the carcass out, it suddenly grabbed his spear and pulled him towards it.

Acting instinctively, Hard Kick let go of the spear and backed up. He was then assaulted by more of the undead. They came to life and broke from their nooses. 

Finding himself surrounded, the sergeant scream for help and backed away further. 

Soon a small swarm of them started going after the blue pony. Luckily for him, his teammates heard his cry for help. 

Chain Sword blasted the ghouls from a distance, while Brass Barrier took them head on with his spear. Up above the winged red unicorn set fire to the dead ponies below.

With the majority taken care of, Hard Kick only had to deal with one of them. Charging his horn, the sergeant blasted the head of his attacker. The blast was strong enough to kill, so he had to finish the job with his hooves.

It took him three hits to finally kill it. He then trotted back to the wagon, trotting over the slain bodies of the dead. He stopped when he spotted the dead pony still stuck under the wheel. Quickly finishing it off, he pull the corpse out and lay on the side.

“Sergeant, are you alright?” The captain said.
“Yeah dude, were you hurt?” Crimson said as he flew down and landed.

“Were you injured?” Chain spoke.

“Guys, guys, I alright.” He assured them. He then levitated the spear under the wagon and picked it up. “Can we continue on with our objective.”

“Yeah, buddy I don't its going to be that easy.”

“What do you mean?”

Crimson pointed in a direction and Hard Kick saw what he meant. Of in the distance many ghouls of the fallen soldiers they passed has risen up and is going after them.

“Hey Brass, if may suggest, I say we leave the wagon and hightail it out of here.” Crimson suggested.

“But, about our mission?” Hard Kick argued.

“Sergeant there's a horde of ghouls coming after us.”  Brass pointed out. “The wagon will only slow us down.”

“And besides, we don't necessarily need to bring the wagon, we can just describe it back at base.” Chain added.

“But-” Before he could say anything, Brass's shove his hoof into his mouth.

“Listen sergeant, I'm giving you a direct order. Either you follow it or I will drag your sorry ass back to base myself!”

Hard Kick nodded his in agreement and his captain let go of his hoof. The four then proceeded to gallop away from the dark energy emitting wagon and the horde of undead.

The blue stallion gave one look back, before focusing his attention on keeping up with his teammates.

The abandoned wagon stood there, emitting strange dark energy. Around him the bodies of the fallen were given new life as the pillar resurrected them. Soon one by one the dead will rise up and will be added into the ranks of the Laughing Mare.
> House of Stormwing: Stormbringers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Near the border between The Heartands and The Northern Expansion, there is a lone white cloud, that floats around in the vast blue sky.

To a pony below, they would just assume it was another lost wandering cloud. What they don't know is that the cloud is actually a Stormwing's outpost.

The outpost itself was created for the sole purpose of watching the border and making sure nothing sneak pass.

However, nowadays it has become a perfect place to dump their 'failures'. This basically meant any pegasus who is unfit for duty, will be put into a none combat role.

So now the outpost is filled with inexperience\incompetence\disabled solders ever.

On this cloud outpost, five pegasuses were hanging around a camp fire. One of them, a greenish blue mare was telling all the gathered ponies her story.

“So then there I was guarding the sides with some guys, when suddenly several Timberwolves came out and attacked us.” She said drawing the attention of the ponies in front of her.

“We managed to hold them off, but one of them broke through our line. I saw this and acted quickly. I chased after the wolf, unaware of another one coming right behind me!”

“Another Timberwolf jumped on back and sunk his wooded fangs on my right wing!” She showed her damaged right wing to everypony, earning her a gasp from all five.

“The wolf pinned me down as he continued gnaw on my wing. It hurted like hell, but I knew I have get him off before he kills me. So taking the spear I had, I used it to knock the beast off and plunge my weapon in his throat!”

“And that is how got my right wing damaged.” She concluded her story.

“Whoa.” Said one of the ponies.

“Dude, that hardcore.”

“Man, sorry about wing there, Air Streaker.”

“Don't be, I already made peace with that long ago.” Streaker assured. “So anyways that my story, anyone else got one they want to share?”

Looking around, the mare found no one raising their hoof. But, then a yellow mare named Sunshine, raised her hoof.

“Oh Sunshine, you got one?”

“Well no, but I know Springfield has one.”

“Springfield? The new guy?” Streaker questioned.
“Yes, Streaker.” Sunshine answered. “Springfield was part of the defence during the siege of Fort Hurricane.” Upon hearing everypony was surprised.

“Wow, really?”

“Can't believe it.”

“That guy was part of that?”

The siege of Fort Hurricane was an attack by the Earthborn army, they plan to capture the fort and use it as a forward base. Unfortunately for the them, they were repel back by the pegasus troops station there.

What made the battle so well known is there was only ten pegasus station there, Those ten managed to fight back against the Earthborn forces by using the weather.

According to the tale, the pegasus created various weathers to attack the invaders. 

At this point the description of the battle changes between ponies. Some say that they cast down thunderstorms upon the Earthborn, some say they rain down hail the size of ball on them, and in one tale they created a huge wind that sent their army flying.

“Hey, where is Springfield?”

“Oh he's on patrol.” Said Sunshine. Just as she answered, and new pony enter the campsite. This white stallion with dark green mane took off his helmet.

“Hey guys I'm back from patrol.” He said as he sat down with them.

“Just in time too, Springfield.” Streaker spoke. “Sunshine here told us that you were part of the siege of Fort Hurricane.”

“Oh that thing?, yeah I was part that.” He responded. “Why? You guys want to hear it?”

Everypony nodded.

“Well first, let me tell you that all things you heard, are all just fantasy.” He stated “Here is what really happened that day.”





Fort Hurricane was small fort, built on the ground. Now before you ask, the fort was meant for our Earth pony comrades.

Anyways the main army station moved out, apparently the commander got orders to move his troops  and intercept an Earth pony attack.

I wanted to join in, but the commander wouldn't allow it. He explained that I would be more useful here defending the fort. However, I knew that this was bullshit. He didn't want me to join is because I frail and weak.
Yeah back then I was quite a different pegasus, I could barely throw a hard punch and I thought my bones will survive one. No, before the this whole war I was just simple weather pony, clearing the skies of clouds or moving clouds around.

Kinda wish I was still doing that, instead this.

Anyways back to the story, I was left behind to defend the fort. Excluding myself, nine other ponies were also left behind. 

Now I don't remember all their names, but did knew three of them. One was Captain Iron Curtain, he was the only high ranking soldiers there. Now you're probably wondering why a guy like him was left behind?

I asked him this one time and he said,“Well Pvt Springfield, the good commander doesn't like me or my preference.”

I asked what preference and he just told that he is a type that likes stallions. Never really got that.

The second pony I remembered was shy girl, who was also our medic, her name was First Aid. The reason why she was here is because she was weak flier. She can't fly fast or manoeuvre quickly. Because of this the mare was looked down upon by others.

Then thirdly was a pony named Pvt Star Struck and he has Hemophobia . This meant that this guy was terrified of blood. And since being a soldier, involves you getting your hooves bloody, Star Struck couldn't put up with it and was therefore left behind.

So the day came and the commander led his army out of the fort. With them gone the fort felt totally empty without the many ponies crowding the place. 

Normally we would be patrolling the fort's walls, but most of us relax and chill around. Some were talking, some were playing games, hell some of us were napping.

The Captain tried to keep the troops alert, but he is only one pony and he leading a group of rejects.

While this was going on, were totally unaware of a line of Earthborn cannons being formed in the distance. 

Apparently this strike force was part of the main army, but was split out and tasked with attacking the fort.

They announced their presence by firing their cannons. They fired their projectiles over the stone walls and into the building inside. Their attack caught off guard and we started to panic.

Luckily Captain Curtain silence the panic screams and ordered us to rally to him. When we did the Captain told us he has plan and it will only work if we all contribute.

Some of argued that they outmatched by numbers and strength. Other complained that none of them were real soldiers.

The Captain assured everyone that his plan will not involve them getting close to the enemies, rather instead from a distance.

After explaining his plans to us, we all made our way to the sky and grab ourselves a cloud. Those of us with dark grey clouds were told to pour the rain down onto the cannons below. The water moisten their large weapons, rendering them useless.

Next came the black clouds, those who have them are told unleash the lighting within and aimed them at the ponies below. They stomped on the clouds with all their might, each stomp created a ear piercing thunder, that struck down on the Earthborns.

Some scattered, trying to avoid the hit and others were electrocuted. It also didn't help that they were wet from the rain earlier. 

With their forces in disarray, it time to finish them off with a little wind, or tornado more like it. I remembered I flew in a circle with great speed, soon enough I created a tornado and I set loose upon the enemies. Combined with the other tornadoes from my comrades, the Earthborn strike were literally blown away.

When the last of the enemy is gone, everypony celebrated. I however, was not among them. The reason was because I discovered Star Struck was injured. He was trying too hard to make a tornado that he lost control and crash to the ground.

I then took my fallen friend to our medic, First Aid. She informs that Star Struck will be alright, but sadly the incident broke his wings, he'll never fly again.

Now I thought that he would be all mopey and stuff, but the guy was pretty OK with it. He told me that he was never much of flier anyways, always prefer to trot around on his own four hooves.

In the aftermath of this battle, our commander and his army returned from his battle. We explained to him what happened after his departure. He wrote it down in his report and send to the high command. They were so impress by this that they decided to create a unique unit that specializes in using the weather as their weapon. This would be later known as the Stormbringers.





“And that was the true story of what happened at the Siege of Fort Hurricane.” Springfield finished his tale.

“That is quite the story.” Said Air Streaker.

“Happened to everyone else?” Sunshine asked.

In response, the stallion simply shrugs. “I have no idea.”

“After that we all went our separate ways, last I heard Captain Iron Curtain was given the position of leading the new Stormbringers.

“What about First Aid and Star Struck?”

“Well I'm not sure, but I think I heard those got hitched or something, I don't know.”
“Alright enough.” Streaker said. “If nopony has any stories, then let's call it a night.”

The mare put the fire and everypony went to the barracks. As they all went to respective beds, and as they slept each one of them dream of the famous Stormbringers.
> House of Earthborn: Battle Buckers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remembered a long time ago, when I was just a little colt. I would go to school, listen to all the lesson the teacher talked about, and when the school ended I would go and hang with my friends. Then at the end of the day I would go home to my parents.

Back then ponies were living in harmony with one another and conflict was just a rarity. But, then all of sudden things started to change. Now we were all serious and everything was dire.

As a child I didn't know what the hell was going. All I could recall was something about the two princesses going missing and riots going around the streets.

At first me and parents were scared and worried at the declining state of our beloved country. Reports of uprisings occurring everywhere made us all paranoid.

Then came the day when the Elements decided to take control of things. I didn't know who they were, but my parents apparently do. They assured me that with them in control, everything is going to be back to normal.

However, things didn't went to normal. In fact it just got worse.

I don't know much of the detail, but I do know that the Elements had a falling out. Each one had a different view of how to lead the country and with different ideas comes the arguments that escalated  to conflicts.

Eventually the six Elements divided to form there own faction. This divided the ponies of Equestria, forcing them to pick sides. My family being earthponies, we went and join up with the Earthborns. And thus begins my story.

Fast forward fifteen years later, I'm no longer a colt. Instead I am a young stallion, fighting in the Earthborn army. At first my parents tried to talk me out of it, but I argued that this was the only I could earn money for us.

Ever since Equestria was divided, it caused a serious rift in our economy. Soon the normal jobs were not enough and with the everyday threat from the rival factions, this made almost everypony signed up for the army.

While some joined for patriotic reasons, some us are only doing this for the benefits it provides.

Like any other soldier, I went through boot camp. I passed that and was put into the army, given the role of Battle Bucker, a unit that specializes in bucking projectiles at our enemies.

Kinda funny now think about, who would of thought that this would be used in combat?

Anyways the first year of being a Battle Bucker was simple. Most of the combat that I do are always in small skirmishes and even when I do go in a major battle. They would place me in the sidelines providing cover fire for our close close-quarter comrades.

Things were fine in the beginning, I even got promoted to a corporal.

But, then all this change in this one battle.
I remembered that battle well, it cost me my leg.

It started of like any other day, we were called in for battle. Apparently the Moon and Star are sending another force into our territory. Since we are near them, we joined up with the defending forces that came by our outpost.

We travel near our border and set up a defensive line. As the Battle Buckers were setting up, we were given a new weapon to try out.

The eggheads just developed a new type of projectiles for us to buck, bombs. Of course we were sceptical, I mean for pete sake they're expecting us to kick some explosive bombs.

However, to their credit those things work. We feared that if buck them, they would've exploded and either kill us or take our legs.

So with the bomb tested, we took them to the frontline and prepare for the unicorns to arrive. 

Hours passed and the sun was slowly setting down. Finally they arrive, coming over the horizon, the Moon and Star forces charged at our defensive line. We responded by blasting them with cannons and bombs.

I bucked so many bombs that day, I lost track of how many ponies I hit with them. Eventually the unicorn commander ordered a retreat and they all started to ran away. Our commander order half our forces to chase after them, while the other half stays here. I was in the half that stayed.

As we watched our enemies run away, we were unaware of the flying unicorns above the our forces. The Seraphs are apparently there to provide cover for the retreating forces. They blasted our guys with their magic and disrupting formations.

Some these winged unicorns came at right at us. Luckily we managed to take most of them down before they could do any real damage. Unfortunately for me and my comrades we were hit hard.

This happened when we were busy bucking bombs at our aerial foes. Then one those bastards got a lucky hit and shot his magic at our stockpile of bombs. This caused a the bombs to exploded and started a chain reaction where all the bombs blew up.

I was near one them and I somehow managed to survive. I was hurt and could barely move, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes were bodies of my allies laying around me. Ignoring my pain I got up, I found myself unable to stand properly and look back at my rear legs.

I gasped upon what I saw, one leg was still standing and the other one was missing. In its place was bloody stump with a crooked bone sticking out of it. To say that I was horrified would a be understatement.

I collapse on the ground, screaming in pain for my loss leg. But, then I saw something that shocked me even more then my loss leg. I saw the Earthborn forces, but they running away. Looking at the direction where they were running from I could see that the enemy managed to launch a counter attack and have push our guys back.

I tried to go with them, but I was unable to move due my missing limb. Realizing that I would not get out of here alive, I decide to make my stand here and take out as many of those horn bastards I can.

Finding a bunch of rocks, I aligned myself with my back to the rocks. Using my front legs to keep me standing I used my one rear leg and bucked the rocks at my enemies.

I kept on doing for a while, continuously bucking the rock, falling to ground, getting back up, and repeat. Each time I did this I was getting exhausted, but nevertheless I pushed beyond my limits.

Soon enough one of the unicorns spotted me. He galloped towards me and knocked my to the ground. Flipping myself over, I came to face my killer, pointing his spear in my face. Raising his weapon up I await for him to end me, when suddenly the stallion was struck dead.

Next thing I knew I was carried and place on somepony's back. That pony then started to gallop with me still on him or her. I never did get see my rescuer's face, but I more then happy for the rescue. As we left the battle, I sort of blacked out.

I reawaken in a medical tent, the doctor and nurses were treating my stump leg and any other injures I sustained. I asked the two of the mysterious pony who saved me, both didn't know either, they said that I was dropped off right in front of their tent.

To this day I still have no idea who the mysterious pony was.

After staying for the night, I was given a letter saying that was discharge from active duty and was sent home. Upon arrive back my parents were both happy and shock to see me, happy that I was back and shock when they saw my missing leg.

Things were rough for me in the beginning, could barely do any blue collar jobs, instead I mostly do desk jobs. Everyday is write this stuff down, deliver this to this pony, and shred this paper up. Pretty mundane, but it pays well and that all it matters.

A couple of days later I got a wooden leg for my stump. With this I am bale to trot around on my own legs, instead of using that wheelchair. Because of this I can now leave my boring job and do some more physical job.

As I gathered the various apples and put them in the buckets, I noticed the many ponies bucking the trees. Memories of my service flash in my mind. I shrugged off and continued my new life working the farm. Fully content with where I am.
> House of Moon and Star: Knights of Celestia/Luna
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the House of Moon and Star, there is a unique unit that brings terror upon the enemies on the battlefield. These fearsome warriors are incredibly strong and cunning, making themselves dangerous on the fields.

These warriors are called knights, and they are devote followers of either Celestia or Luna. Their faith in the Celestial Sisters rivals their skills. Mastering both physical and magical combat, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Among the many knights serving the house, there are two ponies, whose reputation gets bigger everyday. These ponies are Radiant Ray, a stallion and Nightfall, a mare.

These two ponies are siblings, they both joined the army at the same time. Both of them trained hard and fought hard. Eventually they got noticed and was offered a position into the Knights, an offer they both agreed to.

Now they fight not only under the banner of their house, but also under the banner of the Celestial Sisters. With Radiant Ray fighting under Celestia and Nightfall under Luna, these two become quite a deadly duo.

Normally the Knights of Celestia and Luna would fight separately, but for them, they are allowed to fight together. Combating one them is challenging enough, combating the two of them is impossible.

Put the two together and place them in the battlefield and they would single-hoofly win the battle. 

The siblings show remarkable coordination, they would occasionally assist each other out during a fight. Swinging their weapons and casting their spells, everypony they faced died from their hooves. Those that escaped with their life tell stories of these terrifying warriors.

In one of their most infamous battles, the two knights were against a battalion of Earthborns soldiers. It was basically two against three hundred earth ponies. While it may seem that they are at a disadvantage, somehow these two won.

Out of the three hundred that went up against them, only three made it out alive. Those three return back to base and told their superiors of their opponents.

They describe the two as invincible warriors, nopony could lay a single hit on them. They were unstoppable they said, their comrades tried to take them down, only for the two to beat them down. The solar knight swung his morning star around and bashed a couple of ponies face in, their armor prove useless and were dented by the spike covered ball on a chain.

The lunar knight wielded a crescent blade and she used it to slice through the horde of ponies. Her blade cut through them like a hot knife through butter. Limbs were flying around, having been sliced off with ease. Shields and weapons were used to try and block the weapon, but like the morning star, it prove to be ineffective and were slice through.

The two unicorns fought like monster, they never tire, never showed mercy, and never showed any reaction when they just kill somepony. By the time the battle was over, the battlefield was littered with bodies. The ground beneath them are soaked with their blood.

The only reason these three managed to escape, was because they ran away during the battle. The three left comrades to die against the two knights. The three were later charged with desertion and were sent to prison.
Ever since that event, tales of these two spread like wildfire. With many ponies praying that they will never have face against these terrifying knights of the Moon and Star.

At the same time two sibling's fame started growing. Many unicorns looked up to these two as famous celebrity, heroes, role model of the perfect knight. Every commander wanted them in their army and many of them made numerous request for a transfer.

After many request the two were eventually separated, placed into different companies, battalions, squads,and others. Despite being apart the two still fought valiantly without each other. In every battle they are apart of, their chances of winning will be high. 

If the two were to ever team up in battle, they will become an unstoppable force the likes of no one ever seen. 
> House of Whitegold: Praetorponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Near the edge of large fortress city of Manehattan, there is a group of Whitegold Militia waiting patiently by the large steel gates. The ponies were doing their usual business, such as drinking, playing games, and talking.

The ones that were talking are discussing the task that they were assigned with. Just hours ago, this group of militia were just resting in the barracks, when suddenly orders came and were told to wait by the gate.

Their conversation led to the topic of what the mission was. They know that is has something to with going outside, otherwise why else would they be waiting at the gate. They all assume that some merchant guy just want protection as goes out and do his business.

As the group of militia continue wait, a carriage was heading towards them. This wasn't a ordinary carriage, this one was painted in bright purple coloring and had pieces of gold and diamond sticking outside.

If this type of carriage was to ever leave the safety and protection of the city, you're just basically asking the bandits come and attack you.

However, it wasn't the fancy look transport that got all the ponies attention. Rather it was the two armored stallions that were covering both sides of the carriage.

The ponies on streets eyed these two stallions with awes on their faces. The Praetorponies are the elite warriors that serves as personal body guards for certain important ponies. They are quite the sight to see, trotting around, wearing their gold plated armors with chain mail under them.

When got near to the gate with the group of militia ponies, the ponies there gawked at them and lined up, to present themselves.

The pony pulling the carriage halted, the door on the side opened, revealing a tan brown unicorn with pale yellow hair and a white streak. Fifteen years ago this this stallion was known to be a great travel writer. But, ever since the war started, traveling became dangerous and now Trenderhoof switch profession and became a merchant.

The tall thin stallion got out of his carriage and waited for one of militia to come up to him. A second later a yellow earth pony trotted up the brown unicorn.

“Greeting Mr. Trenderhoof.” He greeted him. “I am Captain Sunwell and these are my troops.” He pointed his hoof back at the other militia ponies.

“Greeting to you too, good captain.” Trenderhoof responded respectively. “How are your wife and kids?”

“Oh they're doing good, thanks for asking.”

While the two converse with each other, one of his subordinate was quite surprise of the scene that is transpiring right in front of him. From the first he started this job, Private Coal always have to deal with some snobby upper class pony.

To actually see one being all friendly is really rare, the only other pony he knows that shows kindness to the lower class is General Fancy Pants.

After their talk, Captain Sunwell trotted back to the group. “Listen up guys, Trenderhoof is meeting someone outside these walls. And as such we will tag along for his protection.” Everypony nodded in response.

“Alright then, Open the gate!” He shouted to the guards on top.

A few seconds later the steel gate started to rise up, allowing the group entry. All the militia guards surrounded the carriage and they all moved out at the same time. When they passed through, the gate immediately closed right behind them.

The group trotted along the dirt road, following the direction Trenderhoof gave to the driver. As they were traveling the militia guards talked among themselves, to pass the time. Some even tried to talk to the two Praetorponies, but only got either short answers or silence.

Despite their none talkative attitude they became the subject of talk amongst the ponies. They tell each other about what they know about the Praetorponies and how awesome they are. Private Coal however, doesn't share his comrade's view.

To him these so called elite guards are just ponies with better perks. Sure they are well trained, but do they ever put it to good use, no they don't. The Praetorponies mostly reside in the rich parts of Manehattan.

Because of this, those elite guards rarely face the danger the normal militia ponies have to deal with everyday. They are mostly place in the slums of the city, places litter with crime of every kind. Each day is they worried whether of not they will live to see the next day.

Watching how these guys live in luxury while he and the rest of the lower class all lived in poverty. This created a deep hatred for the upper class ponies. However, as a soldier he learned to bottle up his emotion and never allow it to affect his duty.

The group of guards continued their journey through hostile land. Even though they are still in Whitegold territory, outside the city's walls there are numerous bandits, mercenaries, and diamond dogs that will not hesitate to attack travelers.

Suddenly a spear was tossed and impaled deep into the ground before them, the group halted upon seeing the sharp weapon. Hearing the noise of rustling leaves, the ponies found themselves surrounded by bandits.

The bandits wield variety of weapons, from swords to clubs, the ponies were all eager to attack the small group. Then one stallion came out of the group of bandits and made his demands.

“Alright lads listen up, I don't want any bloodshed, so how about you all dropped your weapons!” The bandit leader said.

The militia ponies were worried, they were about to respond when all of the sudden, one of the bandits got shot. Apparently one of the Praetorponies shot and killed a bandit with his magic.
“So it's gonna be like that huh!” The bandit leader yelled angrily. “Get em boys!”

All of the surrounding bandits charges at the group. While the elite praetorponies were holding on their own, the militia were having trouble. Occasionally the militia pony would be ganged up by two or three bandits.

Private Coal was fighting against two stallions, one armed with a sabre, the second with a spear. The young private held his own, but was knocked down by the pony with the spear.

Before he could finish Coal off, the stallion was suddenly crushed by a shield. The bandit with the sabre was caught off guard and was swiftly bashed by the same shield.

Looking up, Coal spotted the pegasus praetorponies carrying a bloody shield. He gave the private a glance before leaving him.

The private got and saw that the battle over, bodies of the bandits cover the dirt ground, including their leader. Looking at his comrades, he saw that no one died, injured, but not dead.

Instead of celebrating like what the other ponies were doing, he angrily trotted towards his savior. Trotting right in front of the stallion, he was going to give him a piece of his mind.

“What the hell was that?” He angrily said.

“You're welcome.” The pegasus praetorpony responded harshly, seeing that the pony was ungrateful for his rescue.

“Don't give me that crap.” Coal replied quickly. “I wouldn't be that situation if your partner didn't shot that guy.”

“And what do you suggest, surrender ourselves.”

“We could have talked things through.”

“Please, Private the bandits weren't interested in talking. Didn't you see it in their eyes, those bastards were going to kill us.”

Coal wanted to argue back, but stopped. He knew that the guy was right, that those bandits would have surely killed them. With nothing to say the private stepped aside and allow the stallion through.

As the praetorpony pass the private, he grumbled something to him. “Next time, you can save you own sorry ass.”

While low, the private heard every word of it and glared at the pony. He then joined with the rest of the group and continued to their destination.

An hour passed and the group found themselves in large barren spot. No trees or plants, just a lot of rocks and dirt. They waited there for a while, most not sure why they are waiting.

Trenderhoof said that he is meeting someone in this exact place.
Everypony waited for a minute, then that was when they arrived. Diamond dogs, all armored up and wielding weapons. From looking at these mutts, you can tell that they were a more organize force, compared to their wild brothers. Their armor were well polished and clean, and their blades shine from the sun's rays. 

One of the dog, a large bipedal canine with armor and red cape, walked up to the group. He raised both hands up, showing that he wasn't holding any weapons.

“Greeting ponies.” The alpha dog greeted them. “Trenderhoof said that he is to meet me here.”

Upon saying that name, the brown stallion got out of the carriage and eyed the dog. “Hello SilverFang, did you finally made up your mind?”

The dog's yellow eyes moved towards the unicorn. “Yes, but before I signed the contract I would like to discuss it further in my hut.”

“Very well then,” Trenderhoof step out of the carriage. “Captain I trust that your troops can stay here and guard my ride.”

“Yes, Trenderhoof my boys can handle it.” Capt Sunwell replied.

The stallion nodded and followed the dog to his hut, his two elite guards were right behind him.

With them gone, this left the militia ponies and the diamond dog troops by themselves. Private Coal was getting a bad feeling about all this.

He remembered hearing stories of these vicious beast, heard tales of them brutally butchering ponies and devouring them. Now to actually see them this close, they were even more threatening in person then in the description.

The Private looked at one of the dogs, this one was just standing with his fellow colleagues. Then suddenly the sound of dog howl alerted everyone. The ponies wondered that was and the dogs were preparing themselves.

One of the mutts threw his spear and hit one of ponies. This surprise attack was noticed by everypony and they went in defensive stance. The dogs charged at them from all sides.

While highly trained, the militia were no match against the ferocity of diamond dog, especially ones in a large group.

They tried their best, but soon they taken down.. Half got really injured, the other half died. Private Coal once again found himself pinned down by an enemy. Looking up the dog raised his dagger above the pony. Just before he could bring it down, a shield came out of nowhere and struck the large canine.

The beast fell off his prey, leaving Coal free from his killer. Quickly grabbing his weapon with his mouth, the private stabbed the blade into the down dog. Twisting his weapon, the dog made one final yelp before he died.


After slaying the dog, Coal at the shield that knocked his would be killer off him. Recognizing it as the same shield that pegasus praetorpony used. 

Turning his head around, Coal spotted the stallion getting ganged up by five diamond dogs. He fending them off pretty well, but he'll need weapon, otherwise he's done for.

Picking up the shield, the young stallion swung it in their direction. The twirling shield the back of a dog's head, the sound of bone breaking can be heard for those who were near. The shield then bounced off the head and was caught in midair by the pegasus stallion.

He then brought the shield down hard, onto the head of a dog. The praetorpony then swing the shield around, smacking two dogs and blocking one dog's attack. The pony then bash with his shield and finished him off with a stomp of his hoof.

One dog tried to attack him from behind, but was impaled by a spear. Turning around the stallion saw that Private Coal was the one who through the spear. With only one dog left, the stallion did a quick bash, knocking him to the ground. He then beheaded the mutt by using the sharp edge of the shield on his neck.

The battle was over, the ponies have won. Despite how things were going from the beginning the arrival of the Praetorponies totally changed everything. The militia suffered some losses, but it was expected in a battle.

When everything quieted down, everypony noticed the blood covered Trenderhoof, sombrely trotted to Captain Sunwell. He apologizes for the dogs deception, and regretted the lost life it caused. The Captain assured him that he didn't know that these mutts wouldn't betray them.

Apparently the meeting was about getting these dogs to sign an agreement about guarding a new trade route for the house. Things didn't go as plan and this lead to the bloodshed.

Trenderhoof ordered all wounded ponies into his carriage, he would like to trot along with everyone else.

Nopony argued and soon the fancy carriage was loaded with injured ponies. Private Coal was still anger by the brown stallion for causing all this, but knew that he felt terrible about, so he won't make him feel any worse.

By the time they arrived back to Manehattan the sun was already starting to set. Once they were inside, the carriage was taken to the nearby hospital, the militia went back to the barracks, and Trenderhoof and his two guards went back to their district.

Just before the pegasus praetorpony was about to leave, he was stopped by the young private.

“What do you want?” The elite guard question, not wanting to deal with this guy anymore.

“I just wanted to say thanks.” He answered. “I know you have saved me twice today and I treated like crap, so I'm sorry for my attitude.”

The praetorpony stared at the private for a bit, until he spoke. “Well you were in trouble I decided to help you.” The stallion then trot around the private continue his trot.

“You know I wrong about you.” Coal said to him, getting the pegasus to stop in his track. “At first I though you were one those rich snobs that doesn't care about the little guy and that you elite guards are only in it for the perks.”

“Well private you aren't exactly wrong.” The stallion then turn to face the private. “Most ponies are like that, wealthy ponies living in luxury while ponies like you live in the poor slums. Then you got the ponies who only became praetorponies so that they can abuse their new authority. However, that is going to change when I am in charge of things.”

“What do you mean?” Coal asked.

“When I take control of the Praetorponies, I'll reshape them into the proper elite force that they were meant to be.”

“That seems impossible.”

“Give it time private, in a few years the Praetorponies will truly be the elite guards the house wanted.” The pegasus then resume his trot back to his home.

“Wait I never got your name!”Coal shouted.

“It's Sentry, Flash Sentry.”
> House of Everfree: Wildling Ponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Everfree forest, home to various critters and tribal zebras and ponies. There is a little white rabbit running through the forest. Despite the bright shining sun hanging in the sky, the thick foliage from the trees, blocked any light from going through. Because of this the little white rabbit was having a hard time navigating through this dark forest.

Just a few minutes ago, the little rabbit was just scavenging for food to eat. The little guy spend most of his days hiding from the many dangerous predators that are looking for a small prey to sink their fangs into. 

For days, the rabbit hid from the hunters and went out to find something to eat. For a while the rabbit was doing fine. But, then his luck ran out.

While eating a wild carrot he found, the little rabbit was unaware of a pair of scarlet eyes staring at him. It wasn't until his hunter made some noise, did the rabbit sense its presence. He instinctively made a mad dash out of there.

Normally when this happens, the rabbit would be able to outrun any hunters. However, this one was different. It move through the crowded forest with both speed and swiftness. 

It was slowly getting closer, making the rabbit pushing himself beyond his limits. 

Sadly the rabbit's attempt was in vain. His hunter snatch the rabbit off the ground with its mouth. It then sink its sharp yellow fangs into the rabbit's soft furry body.

In his dying moments, the rabbit wanted to look up, to see the face of his killer. To his surprise, his killer is a pony. But, this was no ordinary pony. Gone was her intellect, in its place is the mind of a savage beast, who would tear a pony to pieces if it ever come across one.

Believe it or not, but long ago this mare used to be a great musician, living in the Equestria's main capital, Canterlot. How did this amazing musician became this wild creature? Well it all started by one indecent, followed by a series of unfortunate events as well.

It all started long ago, when this green mare had a name. Her name was Capella and she was once a very promising singer. 

At a young age, Capella was born into a poor family. She lived in a house with a roof over head and there was plenty of food. The only problem is that money was always tight. All the money her parents earned went into rent and food. Any other things, like furniture, clothing, and entertainment were found in thrift shops.

The little filly always wanted to be musician when she grew up. However, musical instruments are really pricey. So with that option out, she decides to try another alternative, singing. 

Everyday the little filly practice singing and each day she was improving. A month passed and Capella felt that she was ready to try her singing to the public.

Going to her school, Capella sang in front of a large crowd of ponies and everypony loved it. From that day on the green filly concentrated her singing talents. Finding a part time job at a coffee shop, Capella used the bits she earned and bought herself a guitar.
With her new musical instruments and her singing voice, the now older filly found herself being hired to many places and sang there. As things were going good for her, she was unaware of what is coming in the next few days.

Her downfall started with the disappearance of the two royal sisters. After that came the fall of Equestrian society. Several riots and uprisings started popping out of nowhere, leading to some very violent conflicts.

The young earth pony mare was even caught in a middle of a fight between the royal guards and the rioters. She barely escaped with her life.

Time passed and the situation only grew worse by the day. Like everyone else, she thought that the Elements of Harmony would save their country. Sadly it didn't happen. 

The Elements broke up and went and form their own factions, dividing the country and severally worsening the situation.

When the city of Canterlot was slowly become the main city of the Moon and Star. She heard some terrifying rumours about the unicorns turning all the earth and pegasus ponies into slaves. Fearing that they would come for her, Capella immediately left the city and search for a place to call home.

Originally the green mare was planning to go to Ponyville. Before, she heard that this little town was really a pleasant place, despite all the crazy stuff that happens there. Unfortunately for her, when she arrived, she found the entire town flooded.

Capella was about to turn around and leave, until somepony called out for her. It was another pony, a red earth pony mare. She introduce herself as Scarlet, she told Capella of a group of refugees setting up a camp inside the Everfree forest.

Scarlet invite Capella to her camp and gave her tour around the place. She showed her where the medical tent is, where they keep all the books and board games, and where they stored their food. The red mare even introduce her to the many ponies residing there.

Stone Maul is the dark grey unicorn stallion and is the leader of the camp. A former royal guard he sets up the rules and gives each ponies their assigned task.

Tenderheart is a blue unicorn mare and is the group medical doctor. Technically the mare was nurse, but since she was the only one here besides Stone Maul that knows anything about medicine, she is the best they got.

Crimson is another red earth pony and is the twin brother of Scarlet. The twins lived separately from each other before the divided, but now they are together and help the group by scavenging for food.

Ladybug is white pegasus mare and is a single parent to her son, Cloud. The mother does the cooking around here and her son sometimes help.

Stormbreak is dark blue pegasus and is another former royal guard. With his experience, the pegasus serves as both the scout and a guard.

The last pony on this list is a old brown earth stallion named, Walnut. This elderly pony used to run a farm, but was lost during the flood. Now he here in this camp, starting up a small garden and growing various vegetables for them to eat.

Capella was nervous of meeting this large group of ponies. While some showed friendliness to her, others just glared at her. She didn't want to stay here, but she had nowhere else to go.

For the first few days it started off rough, she was given task that she never did before and was failing miserably. But, slowly she was getting better and improving each time. 

Her increased performance made the ponies like her, even the ones who glared at her. She did helped a lot around the camp, from aiding Walnut, assisting Tenderhoof, joining the scavenging, help cooking and playing with Cloud. The mare was finally accepted into the group.

To celebrate, Capella sang them a song. While everyony was enjoying the music, her song travel through the woods and attracted the unwanted attention of some dangerous critters.

Next morning Capella woke up to the sound screaming outside her tent. When went outside, she saw that they were under attack. But, the ones who are attacking are not wild animals, rather they are ponies.

Upon looking closer, Capella saw the pure primal savagery on their faces.

These ponies were running around, attacking every pony in the camp. To her left Stone Maul and Stormbreaker were fighting the feral ponies off. To her right Crimson and Scarlet were defending Tenderheart as she busy fixing Walnut's bloody wound. The only ponies she didn't see was Ladybug and her Son.

Stone Maul shouted to everyone that the camp is lost and that everyony needs to escape. They were reluctant at first, but knew that he was right. While he and Stormbreaker fought the ponies, everyone else will escape into the woods.

As Capella and the others left, she gave one look and saw the savage ponies ganged up on Stormbreaker. She continued galloping through the dark forest, during this she got separated from the others.

She wanted to find them, but she heard the sound of galloping feral ponies. She kept on running, all the while hearing the dying screams of her friends off in the distance.

The mare then got talked to the ground. Looking up she saw the face of the pony, his face was dirty, there was some strange marking on face as well. He opened his mouth displaying his fangs and was about to use them on her face.

She pushed him back by placing her hoof on his neck. The stallion in response push his head harder, inching himself to Capella's face.

Fear was starting to take over her mind. She didn't want to die, but there is nopony that is going to save her. In a act of survival she bit into the stallion neck, she bit hard and tore a chunk of his neck off.

The stallion soon lost all strength as the blood starting pouring out of his neck and onto the green mare below him. The stallion then collapse onto Capella, all life within him, gone.

Capella pushed the dead pony off her and wiped the blood of herself. She got of it off, but her green fur is still stained by the blood of the pony she killed. 

Looking at the gory display she just did, she vomit the content of her stomach onto the ground. She trotted away, not wanting to be here. Capella now realize that she was alone again, lost deep in the Everfree Forest.

For the next couple of days, the green mare had to survive on her own in this dark woods. Everyday was battle of survival as she was pitted against the many carnivorous creatures that went after her. Each time they left a scar on her.

Slowly the mare's mind started to deteriorate, losing a piece of herself and replacing it with a more savage piece. While this helped her survive, she was no longer the same mare she was. 

The pony name Capella was gone, she is a Wildling Pony now. 
> Cult of Laughter: Converted Townfolks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a bright and sunny day in the divided land of Equestria. Despite being a beautiful day I couldn't enjoy it. The reason for this is because it wasn't a day of happiness, rather it is a day of sorrow. Today is the day of my wife's funeral.

Her name was Cherry Berry and she was the most amazing mare I ever met.

The funeral was small, her parents died long ago and she had no other relatives. The only ponies that showed up were either friends or acquaintances. They were all Cherry's friends of course,  I was never really much of a sociable type.

I was the first to arrive at the funeral, everypony else arrived later. Once everyone was here, the funeral finally started. One by one each pony took to the podium said their things. It was mostly about how sad they were that Cherry was gone and how she made a big impact on their lives.

Finally when it was my turn to take the stand, I told everyone how much she means to me. I told everyone that she was wonderful mare that help through some hard times, that her cheerful personality was heart warming, and that she was the color that brighten up my grey world.

After I was done I return to my seat. As the next stallion talked about Cherry, all I can think about in my mind was how I could have prevented this. I felt that it was my fault for allowing this to happened. I felt that if things have gone differently, then my wife wouldn't be in the coffin and she will still be amongst the living.

This whole mess started many months ago. Back then me and Cherry were struggling to pay rent for our house. Job opportunity was low and the ones available payed very little. She suggested moving to a more cheaper house, but I refuse. I don't want my wife to live in some crappily made shed.

Getting desperate on my search, I eventually found a job that will pay wells and keep our house. The army was looking for new Ground Guards and enlisted immediately. Cherry was shocked when told her this, but I assured her that things will be fine.

The ground guards mostly stay near towns and cities and some villages. Sure I won't be around the house much, but I'll still be there for her.

So after enlisting I received basic training and given my task of patrol the area. While on these patrols I made sure that I meet Cherry everyday. This became our regular routine and I was content with that.

Then came the day of the transfer. Apparently my pegasus commander is gathering all available troops for something. I later found out that it was an attack on a enemy fortress. This news didn't bold well with me or Cherry.

She dislike the idea of me leaving, but again I assured her that it won't be that long. After all it's just attack one small fort, how hard can that be?

I soon regretted saying those words. For the battle at the fort too us a whole year to be done. The enemy knew we were coming and has asked for reinforcements. Soon our two armies clash with one another in a bloody battle.

Many of our comrades died that day, but our commander never gave in and continued the assault. We  would occasionally take ground, only to lose them in a month. This prolonged the battle longer, and keeping us from accomplishing our goal.

During this conflict I made sure to write letters to Cherry and have the fastest courier, deliver them to her. Once every couple of days I would get a response from her. Her letters contains all the stuff that is happening in her life and how much she missed me.

We kept sending letters to each other for the next few months. Then suddenly after delivering my last letter, the courier was killed in action. The enemies killed him, thinking that he was containing very important information.

Now with no way of contacting her, I was truly alone in this bloody battle. For the next couple of months, it was the same battle and the same bloodshed, that I became accustomed too.

Finally we won the battle and drove the enemies away. However, we didn't celebrate our victory. The causality was high, making this victory hollow.

As I waited to be taken back home, we receive an order from high command. At first I though it was another transfer order, taking me away from my beloved wife. But, it turns out that the order was for us to go directly to my home. Apparently there's seem to be an uprising going on there and fear that Cherry is in danger.   

We all went to the town and met local resistance. Upon seeing I sense a strange vibe coming from them. They were smiling, not a happy smiling, rather a very creepy smile that makes you uneasy.

They charged right at us and we were forced defend ourselves. The ponies galloped at us in large numbers. Despite this disadvantage we managed to slay each one of them. 

When the horde stopped our commander ordered us to do a clean sweep across the town, told us to show no mercy for these traitors.

We all spread out into the town, trotting over the slain bodies of the traitorous ponies. Their faces still smiling even after death.

While eveypony were busy doing sweeping the place, I sneakily broke away from the formation and made a beeline to my house. Before this started all I could think about was whether Cherry Berry was safe or not.

I roughly opened the door and stormed inside. Once inside I called out to Cherry, the while searching each room of the house. After searching everywhere and receiving no response I was to give up when she appeared.

Out of nowhere Cherry came out and greeted me with a smile. I was glad to see her, that I rushed over and embraced her. I kept hugging my wife, not wanting to release her from my grasp.

Suddenly the moment was ruined by a sharp pain coming from my chest. Looking down I saw a knife planted into my chest, but what shocked me more was that Cherry was the one that did it.

I looked up at her face and backed off immediately, she wore the same creepy smile on her face like those ponies from before.

'Oh husband why did you stop?' Cherry said me as she took out another knife.

I asked her why she was doing this as I try to comprehend why she stabbed me.

Cherry told me that while I was away she discovered a way for us to be at piece. No longer will we have to live in this ever decaying country and return to a time of laughter and happiness. No more pain, no more losses, just eternal peace.

I was shocked at what I heard, Cherry has been swayed by the Cult and is now a part of their ranks. I try convincing that all what the cult said were lies, but she having not of that.

Cherry lunged at me with the knife. I managed to knock it off, all the while gabbing hold of her. She struggled in my arms, trying to reach the knife. However, I held a firm grip on her.

Cherry then turned to me and grab the knife that was imbedded into me. She repeatedly stab my body, this force me to push her off of me. As I lay on floor bleeding, Cherry came at me with the knife that knocked away.

Reacting quickly I pulled the knife out of my body and attempt to use it against her knife. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough and I accidentally pierced her heart.

Cherry dropped her knife as the blood started flowing from her wound and onto the knife I head in my hoof. Realizing at what I have done, I pulled the knife out and tried to prevent more blood from leaking out. I knew I was futile, but I still tried.

My last words to her was telling her not to die. Without saying anything Cherry lean up and kissed me in my lip before going back down and closing her eyes. Cherry just passed away right before my eyes.

Seeing her pass away made me lost all hope in my life. I lie next her on the blood stained floor and close my eyes, hoping that my wounds would kill me.

But, instead of death I woke up in a hospital bed, covered with a bandage around my chest. The doctor told me that some soldiers found me at my house, they saw that I was still breathing and immediately took me to this place.

After recovering, I was ordered to meet my superior and tell him what happened. In my report I lied about how Cherry was a member of the cult and instead told him that she killed by a cultist and that when I went to my house, I saw him killed her. I try to fight him, but he was strong and he easily overpower me and left me for dead.

The pegasus stallion wrote down what I said and told me that it was over and that I can go. But,not before saying sorry about my wife.

So now here I am attending the funeral of my deceased wife. As we all watch her coffin being lowered into the hole, I had restrain myself from breaking down in front everyone. It got even harder when they started burying hole with dirt. Each time the dirt poured in I felt a piece of her was disappearing. Every time the hole is filled, she was slowly disappearing from life. This was the last time I am ever able to see her again. Once the hole is filled, everypony departed, evrypony except me.

I don't how long I stood there, staring at her grave. But, eventually I had to leave.

As I why trotting back home all I could think about was what I am suppose to do now. Should I stay in army and find a new job or do continue on with what I am doing.

I enter my home, with Cherry here I feel all alone in this house. I went up to my bed and slept on it., all the while thinking about all the good times I has with her. 

While it's good to never forget your loved ones, you also shouldn't allow it to prevent you from moving on with your life. Never forget about them, but also don't let it consume you.

Life just moves on and you have to too.
> House of Stormwing: Wind Riders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of thousands of hooves were trotting across the Heartlands. From a distance the animals can feel the ground shake below them, causing them flee. The one causing this earth shaking movement is the ponies of Earthborn.

The Earthborn were heading north, to the Northern Expansion. In the past the ponies of Earthborn tried numerous attacks on the military pegasus in the north, but they always met with failed results. This time however, was going to be different.

This marching army was twice the size of any previous force they ever before. This army contains a huge variety of units; from the regular ponies to their buffalo allies. They were also bringing a lot of their war machines as well.

As the army continued to march, from up high in the sky, there was pegasus spying on them through his telescope. This sky blue pony with white is named Arctic Breeze and she is a Wind Rider.

The Wind Riders are part of the House of Stormwing. They are the house's most fastest and agile warriors. On the battlefield the Wind Riders usually scout and flank enemy position, but their primary purpose is to take down any airborne opponents.

Arctic Breeze continued to look through her telescope. She spotted numerous ground troops and cannons. There were also some pegasus in that army as well. When she notice a certain pegasus unit amongst their ranks, she frowned upon recognizing them.

Lighting's Finest, they were the elite pegasus troops of the Earthborn army. Those ponies were train personally by their general, Lighting Dust.

Arctic though that she had seen enough, the blue mare flapped her wings and return back to base.

Upon arriving back, Arctic headed straight to her commanding officer. After describing in details what the Earthborn army have, her commanding officer then went to work, strategizing and requesting for reinforcements.

By next morning a large garrison of prgasus troops arrived at the camp. Normally a force this size would have taken a few days to get here, but since they were pegasus, they got here in a mere couple of hours.

Arctic Breeze was up early in the morning when they arrived. She was impressed at just how well discipline they all were. Despite probably flying all night to get here, these warriors look like they ready for a fight.

As she eyed her new comrades, her commanding officer left his tent and flew right in front of the large group. He asked who was in charge, in response a lone stallion popped out of the garrison and presented himself to the CO.

From what she can hear from her position, the stallions is named Captain Season Change and he has arrived with the reinforcements, the CO requested.

After that the CO lead Captain Change to the command center, to discuss strategy. The rest of garrison were to joined up with the rest of the Stormwing's forces.
Arctic then decided that it was time for her to regroup with her team. Something tells her that this was going to be another long day, so she'll need to prepare herself.

One hour passed and the pegasus CO called for everyponies attention. The stallion ordered all the assembled forces to head to a certain destination. From there their Captains will start the next part of the plan.

As every pegasus warriors left together in a massive flock, Arctic Breeze and the rest of the Wind Riders went separately. They either hanged back or flew ahead of the main army. This was done so that the Wind Riders can watch out for any enemies that might be coming from the front or from the sides and back. 

The huge flying army were flying to meet their enemies head on. First they will await for them to get near and when they do, they will all swarm them. The Earthborns may have the largest number of infantry on their side, but the Stormwings have the strongest warriors.

Their warriors will overwhelm the grounded ponies, using their flight as an advantage over them. While their cannons and war machines are useful from the distance, they will get up close to them, preventing them from using their large cannons properly.

The large flock of pegasus found their spot and lay there, waiting for the Earthborn army to arrive. While they were waiting, Arctic Breeze and was looking through her telescope. So far nothing. As she continue to watch, the blue mare though about the coming battle.

Truth be told, she never really got into a fight before. Sure she was in some few small fights before, but this was an actual combat. In the past all she ever did was reconnaissance, nothing more. Now here she is getting ready for a battle.

Arctic was getting nervous at this point. To keep herself calm, the mare remembered what her drill sergeant told her. The Wind Riders are only there to take down any enemy fliers, this way they will have air superiority.

Finally something came into view. From afar it looked like a long black line, but through the lens of a telescope, it was a large line of marching Earthborn soldiers.

Seeing them the mare immediately took off in the direction the hiding army. Arctic alerted the Captain of the approaching army. He thanked the the mare and told her that her task is done and she should meet up with the rest of her team. As she left, the Captain send his couriers to the other Captains and informing them of the approaching army.

Once everypony were informed, they all lay flat on the grassy ground, waiting for their time to strike. As the Earthborn draw closer, the ground shook from their thunderous hooves. So strong the shake, that the pegasus laying on the ground can feel from there position.

From high above Arctic and the Wind Riders watch the whole scene from the safety of their clouds.

Then when the Earthborns were close enough, Stormwing's made their move. A swarm of pegasus flew from the ground and were making a beeline to the surprised army.

The warriors of Stormwing cut through the front line of Earthborn with ease. They didn't waste on a single target as they aimed for the groups. Any they missed are picked off by their comrades hanging back.

The Earthborn troops tried their best against the flying warriors, but they were easily beaten. Finally the Stormwing warriors met with resistance from the Earthborn's fliers. These pegasus aligned themselves with the Earthborns and are considered traitors by the House. And as traitors, they are to be shown no mercy.

Arctic Breeze watch the two opposing fliers combating each other in mid-air. Seeing that the Earthborns had brought out their fliers, it was time for the Wind Riders do their job.

Flying down from their cloud, the Wind Riders descended into the battlefield below them, quickly blending themselves in.

The Wind Riders did not engage any of the Earthborn ground troops. Instead, they went right after the Earthborn's pegasuses. Not wanting their side to lose their advantage, the Wind Riders quickly took down these airborne ponies.

Arctic Breeze was flying in a middle of all this chaos. She avoided any engagements and went after the lone targets. These ones were easy since they are too busy fighting to notice her. 

True fact, the Wind Riders don't use any weapons, to them it will only slow them down. Now you might ask, then what the hell do they use to fight with? The simple answer is, their own hooves.

The Wind Riders were train specifically to use hoof-to-hoof combat. Not only that, they are used their own speed to increase the damage a hoof can do. You see, they theorize that since a fast moving objects can bring a lot of pain then a normal moving object, they believe they can recreate that by using the natural speed of a pegasus.

Spotting her target, the mare thrust herself forward, increasing her speed. She moved like a bullet and bucked the winged pony in the back of his neck. The fast momentum combined with her strong hoof, broke the spine, shattering it into pieces.

Once he was done, Arctic quickly back off and went against another pegasus. This time she broke the pony's face with her punch. She kept on taking down Earthborn pegasus, while her allies take care of the ground forces.

During all this the cannoneers managed to set up their cannons and blasted into the flock of Stormwing's pegasus. While not effective, the cannon balls did hit a few of their comrades.

Seeing this the Stormwing warriors broke through the line of enemy pegasus and attacked the cannoneers.

The battle was in utter chaos, Arctic watched as ponies were slaughtering each other and dropping dead all around her. She was so distracted by this, that she was blindsided by a another pegasus. Looking up, she recognizes her attacker as Lighting's Finest.

The two engage in combat, the Earthborn mare had a serious advantage over Arctic as she was wielding a weapon. But, the blue mare was going to give up that easily.

Lowering her right hoof, Arctic swung it up and uppercut the other mare. Arctic turned around and bucked her in the gut, causing her to drop her spear. 

Catching the weapon in mid-fall, Arctic thrust it and stabbed the other mare with it. Once she was dead, 
the mare took a moment to collect herself. She was a bit shocked from brutally killing that mare, but she shrugs it off, saying to herself that she needed to get out of here.

Arctic looked up in the sky and saw that her comrades had defeated the Earthborn's pegasus and are dealing with the rest.

Seeing that she is no longer needed, Arctic Breeze spread her blood stained wings and flew up. She was joined by the rest of the Wind Riders, who are also leaving the battlefield. As they flew up, the battle between the two armies continued on behind. Neither side willing to give up. This battle will only end until one side

> House of Earthborn: Buffalo Raiders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Frontier, home to a race of large furry creatures called buffaloes. They have lived on these lands for many generations. Then came the day the ponies arrived.

The pony settlers were looking for a place to build their new town. While most buffaloes welcome these new strangers, many others however showed disdain towards them. 

The relationship between the two race started to strain, when the ponies built their farms over lands, which are important to the buffaloes.

This act almost caused a war between them until a compromise was made. In exchange for allowing their structures to stay on their grounds, the ponies agree to supply the buffaloes fresh apple pies.

This simple deal not only prevented the war, but it also strengthen the relationship between them. This bond created a everlasting friendship for the ponies and buffaloes.

Then came the day when the great divide happened. While the buffaloes are not effected by this, their pony companions were.  Seeing that their allies are at war with their own people, the buffaloes lend their assistants to the House of Earthborn.

The various buffalo tribes offered their numbers and strengths to the House. A single warrior of theirs is equal to one strong earth pony, and since their entire race is like that, the House has a army of massively strong behemoths on their side.

Besides offering their strongest warriors, the buffaloes also offer fast moving troops known as raiders. The buffalo raiders are made up of young buffaloes who are looking to prove themselves to be capable warriors. These younglings are drastically different then their adults, smaller and thinner.

However, what they lack in brute strength these young warriors make it up with agility. Used for flanking, scouting, and guerrilla warfare, the buffalo raiders are a great asset to the House.

The story begins in a small buffalo camp in the outskirts of the pony town, Appleloosa. The Greyhorn tribe are here because the ponies require their aid and the tribe is willing to help their allies.

In this small camp there is a young buffalo, feeling anxious. His name is Roughneck and he is part of the buffalo raiders.

In buffalo culture every tribe has their own rite of passage. Some of them are unique, while others are the same. For the buffaloes of Greyhorn, their rite of passage is for a young buffalo to kill. Before the divide, the Greyhorns usually kill some wild animal on their land, but now with the war, a new opportunity has opened up.

The young Roughneck just happens to be near the age of adulthood. He'll need to pass his rite of passage, so that his tribe will see him as an adult. While this tradition will make him into an adult, he has another reason for doing this.

Roughneck's father has recently passed away. Not from battle, but from an illness. To the tribe, this was no way for a warrior die, especially one who happens to be their greatest warrior. Now with him gone, Roughneck will have to live up his father's legacy.

The young buffalo was ready for the next battle. He remembered all the training he was taught and practice everyday. Now it was time to put all that training to use.

A pony arrive at their camp. Heading to the buffalo chieftain, the pony courier hoofed the paper to the large dark furred buffalo. The buffalo chieftain read the paper and finishing it, called all his warriors to gather around.

He told every buffalo what he read in the paper. Apparently some diamond dogs have been moving into the Frontier, setting up bases.

The ponies asked of them to remove these invaders immediately, less they fortified their defences.

The chieftain then commanded his warriors to head out to this location, given to him by the paper. And with that the buffalo warriors move out. Their hooves shook the ground as they all galloped to their destination.

The raiders being lighter and faster then their large counterparts, moved ahead of the main force. They are to scout ahead and if possible weaken them for the main army to arrive.

The raiding pack was small, consist of only eight young buffaloes. The leader of this group is a buffalo named Rush. Rush has been a raider for almost a year now, he has already proved himself to be a warrior, but he chose to stay behind so he can teach the newer members of the raiders.

The group eventually reached their destination. Staying low as possible, the raiders crawled near the Diamond Dog's encampment. Making sure to stay away from the dog's range of view, the raiders mentally map out the entire camp.

The Diamond Dog's camp was fairly big. Tents were scattered around, all surrounding a large hole in the middle of all this. 

Those mutts must have travel pretty far just so they can get here, Roughneck thought to himself as he was looking over the campsite. Once done he relay his information back to his group leader, Rush.

Gathering all the info from his troops, Rush took a couple of minutes to formulate a plan. First they'll poison the dog's food and water supplies. It will be a slow active poison, so that way the dogs won't be alerted to their comrades death and will probably get more dogs sick from consuming the poison supplies. 

The second part is pretty straight forward, all raiders will go in and take down as many dogs before they call in the reinforcements. In order to do this, they'll need to fast and quick about it. No slowing down for anything.

After Rush made his plan, Roughneck and the other raiders sneak into the camp. Fortunately for them, the dogs do a poor job of guarding the area. They managed to passed through a couple of patrols and reached the tent that contains all their food and water.

Roughneck sprinkled a couple of poison dust into a both the food and water, Once done, he stealthy left the camp, he was joined up by the other raiders who went in and did their own task.

Once everybuffalo was back, the group waited for the right time to attack.

Time passed as the diamond dogs below continued on with their life. Some of them has already consume the poison and will be dying very soon.

Rush waited a little more, but eventually the time to strike is now and informed it to all the gathered raiders.

Rush gave the order to attack and every raider charged.

The dogs were completely caught surprised by this attack. While many went and deal with the attackers, some of them weren't in fit condition to fight. Those who consume the poison started to fee the effects and are now dying.

The buffalo raiders moved swiftly through the camp like rushing water through a tunnel. The raiders quickly eliminated any dogs they come across. Those who were poisoned didn't put much of a fight and taken down easily.

Roughneck was running through the encampment, so far he hasn't met any dogs. The one he saw were either dead or were drawn away from him by his comrades. The young buffalo was beginning to worry, he wasn't sure whether or not he will be passing his rite of passage.

Then opportunity came in a form of punch to the head. Roughneck was knocked to the ground by a hard punch to his head. Looking up, the young buffalo saw a big grey dog standing over him In his right paw was machete.

Raising his weapon up, the dog thrust the blade downward, hoping to stab the little buffalo. Roughneck saw this and instinctively backed away, barely dodging the machete.

Getting up, Roughneck grip his hatchet in his mouth and swung it at the dog. The diamond dog evaded the attack and kick the buffalo in his mouth, forcing him to release his hatchet.

The dog then pulled his weapon from the ground and was once again standing over the little buffalo. Raising his right arm up, he swung the blade down, only to miss again.

Roughneck dodge the blade and went right under him, to retrieve his fallen weapon. Before he could reach, he felt something grab his tail. The large dog has his left paws on the little buffalo's tail. Pulling the little guy back, the dog swung his blade again.

The little buffalo tried to dodge it and while the blade missed his head, his tail wasn't so lucky. The dog still had his paw on his tail and he swung the blade, it sever the tail of the young buffalo.

While painful as it was, Roughneck knew that he needs to move or else he is finished. Quickly crawling under the dog again, he picked up his fallen hatchet and turned around, just in time for the dog to turn around.

The tailless buffalo threw his hatchet at him like a tomahawk. He hoped at this distance the blade part will hit him.

The hatchet spun forward until it was embedded into the dog's forehead.

The large dog dropped his weapon and took a few step back, he was shocked to feel the weapon stuck in his head. He was sure if he should leave it in or he should pull it out. Before he decide he felt a sharp  piercing pain coming from his stomach. Looking down the dog saw that the little buffalo have stabbed him with his own machete.

Feeling his life disappearing the dog fell on knees and onto his side. He laid their dead as blood started spilling from his gut.

Roughneck was about retrieve his hatchet, but was stopped by a whistle from his leader. The dogs has finally called in the reinforcements and now the raiders must leave.

As they left the main buffalo forces and finished off the diamond dogs. They crushed the dogs, trampled their tents, and collapse the tunnels below.

In the aftermath of the battle most of the buffalo already left, seeing that their job here is done. Before joining them Roughneck stayed back so that he can retrieve his weapon.

Going back to the destroyed camp, the young buffalo search for the body of the dog he killed. After walking over a dozen dead bodies he finally found him.

He was still laying in the exact same stance when he died. Instead of pulling his hatchet out, the little buffalo stared at the corpse. He wasn't happy that he killed the guy nor was feeling bad for doing it. All he felt was just a nothing.

Sure he was his enemy, but he was still a living being. However, he was threat and needed to be taken down. These though went through his mind as he stood there, not sure how to feel.

Roughneck shook head of these thoughts and pulled hatchet out, blood started spilling from the hole in his head.

As he trotted back his group, the young buffalo return to his thoughts. He figured that this was how most soldiers felt when they just killed someone. They weren't prideful about it and they weren't remorseful about either.

They probably just felt like it had to done, since this kind thing was normal during wartime and from what he has heard, this conflict is going to be a long one.
> House of Moon and Star: Ursa Minor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a quiet night in the Whitetail Woods. Th night has covered the forest in its shadow and everything is silent and peaceful. This is odd since even if it was night time, the nocturnal creatures would still be roaming around. In fact the entire forest seems to be devoid of any life at all, except for some insects.

To some ponies, this was a mystery, but what they don't know is that the woods isn't entirely devoid of life. There was one creature that lived in these woods, a creature so massive and dangerous that it laid claim to the entire forest to themselves.

Deep in the Whitetail Woods, there was a huge cave. The entrance to the cave was is both wide and big, fit perfectly for the occupant sleeping inside.

Slumbering within the large rocky cave was a Ursa Minor. The Ursa Minor are bear like creatures, but instead of being made of flesh, these giant beast are made of the night. Their bodies are dark blue and have twinkles of stars over it. It's as if somepony has carved a bear from the night skies and brought it to life.

This large bear was the sole reason why there are no animals living in these woods. The Ursa's very present brings fear to those who confront it. This effectively made this bear the top of the food chain, a apex predator.

As such this bear have no worries of any creatures trying to take him down. However, as the Ursa Minor slept something was moving through the woods and heading towards him.

The bear was sleeping peacefully when suddenly a light was shine in his closed eyes. The light was bright enough to awaken the bear. Still feeling sleepy the Minor's vision was blurry and he saw was the bright yellow light shining at him.

Rubbing his tired eyes with his paw, the dark blue bear got a clearer view of the light that awoken him. The source of the light was a strange illuminating orb, floating right in front of him. The Minor didn't what this odd thing was, but whatever it is, it got his attention.

The bear tried to touch the bright orb with his paw, but the orb in response backed away from him. Stretching his arm out, the Minor reach out for the orb again and got the same result.

Standing up on all fours, the Minor walked towards the bright orb, which in response kept on moving away from him. He followed the strange orb outside his cave and into the woods. The orb lead the bear far away from his cave home and into a large opened clearing.

The glowing orb stopped and stood floating over the grassy field. The Ursa Minor saw this and walked up to it, unaware of the obvious trap before him. The bear was about to touch the orb when suddenly he felt a sharp pain coming from his shoulder. Looking to his left, the bear saw a large steel spear with a chain attached to the other end, piercing his shoulder.

He then felt another spear piercing his other shoulder. Before the bear could do anything, the chains on both spears pulled and the Minor fell face down into the dirt ground.

Things were happening to fast for the Minor to process. Soon enough both his legs were shot with a spear and pulled down.
The Minor struggle to get up, but his assailants toss a large net over him. The net were made of steel, making it impossible for the bear to break through. The chain net kept the bear from getting up, basically immobilizing him.

As the Minor was pinned down, he was finally able to see the face of his attackers. Out from the shadow were a group of ponies, ones with horns on their heads.

He couldn't turn his head, but the Minor knew that there were a lot of them. From his position he could only see five ponies trotting up to him. They stopped near his face and one of them was looking for something in her saddlebag.

Suddenly a loud ear piercing roar came from somewhere behind him. It was a roar so loud it nearly gave some of the ponies hearing damage. Everypony in the area heard the roar and all had he look of utter horror on their faces.

That roar they just heard came from the Ursa Major, the mother of the Ursa Minor. The very same Minor that they have trapped and injured.

Ursa Major were a whole different league then her child. They thought an Ursa Minor was bad, the Majors were ten times bigger then the Minors and much more dangerous as well.

While the ponies stood in shock after the terrifying roar, the lead stallion of the group ordered the mare to quickly take something out of her saddlebag. The mare responded by hastily plucking the item out of her bag and toss it to the lead pony.

The item the stallion held was a small brown bag, closed tightly with a piece of string. The stallion untie the string and levitated over the Minor's face. He then proceeds to empty the bag and dump the contents over the bear.

It is revealed that the brown bag contains blue dust and it was being inhale by the Minor. At first nothing happens, but moments later the Minor was losing consciousness. His body started to feel numb  and his eyes started flicker a lot.

The Minor tried desperately to stay awake, but the effects of the dust was stronger and eventually his eyes finally closed.

During his time being unconscious, the bear only had a few glimpse of being awake. This happened numerous times, but were really short. In one glimpse he remembered seeing some ponies, in another one they were building something.

Then came the day when the Minor regain his consciousness. It started with him in a middle of a large field. Confused, the bear slowly walked around, noticing the pain in his arms and legs were gone.

While glad that his injuries weren't severe the bear still feel pain. The source of it came from his head. At this point the bear finally noticed that there was something on his head. He tried to take it of, but was unable too.

Deciding to see what he is dealing with, the Minor looked around for a lake. Upon finding one, the Ursa Minor walked up to it and look at his reflection.
Upon looking in the water, the Minor saw himself in it, wearing a strange helmet. His headgear bare the symbol of a crescent moon on top.

The Minor was about to try and take it off again, but halted. He stopped because in his mind someone told him not to. This was not his thought, but to him it was and he obliged.

The voice then told the Minor to head north. The Ursa obeyed, thinking that it was his own thoughts.

The Ursa Minor kept walking north until he spotted something. From a distance the Minor could see something illuminating, he went and investigate. What he found was large pony campsite full of regular ponies.

As he watched them, the minor heard the voice in his giving command. Destroy, it said and suddenly the Minor focused his attention to the ponies before him. The bear for some reason had the desire to crush and kill those ponies, despite not being provoked by them.

He didn't question this as the rage within him was building up quickly. The Minor then follow his instinct and unleash wrath.

The ponies at the camp were caught off guard by Ursa Minor attack. Most didn't even know what to do against this type of enemy.

The large blue bear swept through the campsite, crushing any resistance that was foolish enough to fight him.

While the ponies were hopelessly fighting off the Ursa Minor, somewhere far away a small group of unicorns were watching the carnage through a telescope. The field test prove to be very successful as the bear shows promising results. The unicorns smile at the sight of their newest weapon. 
> House of Whitegold: Sapphire Sirens
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long ago, before the unification of the three pony tribes. The Earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies were at war with each other. Their conflicts lasted for many years, with no sign of peace in the near future. Amidst these chaotic times, mercenaries were a common thing.

The mercenaries ranges from former soldiers to regular ponies, looking to make some big cash. Mercenaries had no allegiance to anyone, except themselves. They do not care about the cause or the reason for the fighting, all they care is about the payment.

Then when the three tribes united and peace was brought to the land. All the mercenaries slowly disappeared. With no ongoing conflict, these ponies had no reason to stay around and just simply vanished.

Soon these mercenaries were all forgotten from history and the new nation of Equestria, flourished for many years to come. That was until the great divide.

After the two royal sisters disappeared and the nation dividing into different factions. War started to emerged from these factions and with conflict, came the revival of the mercenaries.

It started of small, with small band of ponies offering their aid in battles, in exchange for specific payment. Later those small group will grow big and become larger mercenary organization. Offering their mightiest of soldiers to anypony who is willing to pay.

Amongst the various mercenary organizations, one stood out from the rest. This organization calls themselves, the Blood Brothers Brigade.

This mercenary group is lead by two stallions, Crimson Scar and Scarlet Crusade. Recently the two has made a contract with the House of Whitegold. Their deal is that the Blood Brothers Brigade will become the House's own private military company. In exchange for their services, the House will pay them handsomely, plus some perks as well.

One of these perks, includes a very attractive mare, named Eye Candy.

Eye Candy is light blue pegasus, with long emerald mane and eyes. This beautiful mare acts as liaison for her House. Other then being a link between the two faction, Candy also sings for the mercenaries. When ever she is on stage, the entire audience pay full attention to her.

Her voice is truly a magnificent sound to hear. Every word she says, uplifts the ponies of all their worries and all just listens to her.

While Crimson enjoys her singing, he has other use for her. This involve the two of them and his bedroom. The large stallion pick the mare up and took her upstairs, all the while his troops shout out praises.

As Crimson trotted up the steps, he was unaware of the one pony that was glaring daggers at him. The pony that was looking at him with great disdain was his best friend Scarlet Crusade.

The pegasus was envious of his friend, jealous of all the attention he was getting with their subordinates.

It wasn't always this. Long ago when the two started this mercenary group, the two of them were praised for amazing fighting skills. Back in those days it was just him and Crimson against the world. It was great for the first few years, but all that changed after that incident.

He remembered it very fondly, for it cause the end of his soldier career. Scarlet and Crimson were hired to take down a caravan of Earthborn forces, before they reach their destination. The two accepted and gather up only a few troops, believing it to be a simple  and easy mission.

Unfortunately, when they attacked the caravan, the Earthborn were prepared and fought back. Using a bunch of flame throwers, the Earthborns burn any ponies that got near them. Scarlet was leading the pegasus squad when they got hit. The flames burned his entire left side, scorching his left wings and two legs.

After that horrible event, the red pegasus was barely alive, but by a miracle he was still able to live. Scarred, but still alive. 

With some magic and surgery, his scar was removed, but the damaged was still there. His wing was gone and he could barely walk with his two damaged legs. Because of his disability, Scarlet couldn't fight in the fields anymore. Slowly all of his achievements started to disappear, overshadow by his friend, Crimson.

Soon Crimson Scar got all the fame and praises, while he himself is forgotten. His growing jealousy went unnoticed by the many mercenary ponies that work for his organization. However, one certain mare saw this and smiled.

Later that night Eye Candy visited the crippled stallion in his personal room. Instead doing what Crimson did in his room, the two pony just talked to each other. From their conversation, he learned that the mare was quite smart. Sure she didn't went to any fancy university, but she was still smart nonetheless.

The two continued doing this for the next couple of days, each day brought a new and different topic. They talked about their family, their lives, and other certain things.

Then one day, Eye Candy met up with Scarlet Crusade and gave him some grave news. Apparently the mare overheard that Crimson Scar was going to kick Scarlet out of the organization, saying something about him being useless and a pathetic stallion.

Scarlet was shocked by this and wanted to confront Crimson about this, but was stopped by the light blue mare. She warned him that by confronting him, he'll put himself in danger. Realizing this the Scarlet tried to thing of new way to handle this.

Eye Candy then made a suggestion. The mare suggest that by early next morning he'll go down to armory and sabotage Crimson's broad sword. He is to make a little crack on the blade and while still solid, will shatter upon hitting something hard. This would most likely leave the stallion unarmed and defenseless.

Scarlet was appalled by this plan, but he did not show it. For some reason the words coming from this mare convince him that this was a great idea.

By next morning, Scarlet enacted the plan and chipped a small cut in Crimson's sword. He knew that stallion was never big on weapon inspection and rarely ever check out his broad sword. After doing the deed, he left it there and went back to his room.

An hour later, Crimson Scar gathered his equipments and ponies and went off on their latest mission. As he left the compound with his troops, Scarlet watched him from a window on a second floor of the building he was in, with a sinister smile on his face.

Time passes and Scarlet was still waiting for news from the latest skirmish. To pass the time, the red pegasus decided to go to Crimson's room and look for evidence of his friend's betrayal. While scavenging around, he happens to find a journal.

Opening it up, Scarlet skip through the first few pages as they only talked about his earlier life, before joining becoming a mercenary. Flipping through the pages, he stopped at the part where Crimson describe his buddy's accident.

As he read the entry, the face on Scarlet turns to utter shock. Apparently ever since his accident, Crimson wasn't trying to steal all the fame and attention, he only got them because of the extra work he has do now without his partner by his side. He also wrote about how Scarlet was distancing himself from him and how he is also seclusive.

The more read, the more guilty Scarlet felt for his friend. Then his eyes widen to the part of the mare. Crimson sent Eye Candy to help get Scarlet to opened up and he saw how the two of us were getting along, he though that Scarlet has finally opened up.

From reading Crimson's journal, Scarlet realized that his friend had no malicious intent for him. If this is true, then why did Eye Candy-.

His thoughts halted upon discovering the truth. The mare Eye Candy has tricked him. She only befriended him, so that she earn his trust. And he is here, sabotaging his friend's weapon and letting him use it in battle.

Before he could go and confront the treacherous mare, he heard the announcements of Crimson and his troops. Looking outside a window, the pegasus watched as group of ponies, carrying a stretcher of a familiar large stallion on it.

Seeing who it was, Scarlet rushed as fast as his damage legs can go and meet the returning group outside. He went up to the ponies carrying Crimson and asked if he was alright. They didn't respond, but their silence was the only answer he needed.

He dropped down on his knees and wept for the loss of his one true best friend.

From a distance, Eye Candy watched as Scarlet broke down upon seeing his decease friend. With Crimson gone, this left the other stallion in complete control of the organization. However, this stallion will be under the control of the House, otherwise they'll tell everypony of his terrible deed.

They got Scarlet Crusade by the balls now and he'll be their obedient little slave for the rest of his life.
> House of Everfree: Timberwolves
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are reading this, then that means you've picked this up from my rotting corpse.  I have written this letter for the purpose of.....actually I have no idea why I am writing this letter. It's not like I expect anypony to find this letter in the fucking Everfree Forest!

Then again I probably wasn't thinking straight from all that blood I lost. But hey, if anyone does find this bloody letter then I might as well finished what I started.

This whole mess started when our Supreme Commander gave the order of sending a large invasion force into the Everfree Forest. Basically we were suppose to find the source of what's causing the forest's expansion and eliminate it.

Were we skeptical at first, but orders are orders and we follow them regardless. Besides, we have the great General Big Macintosh leading us. From all of his accomplishments and exploits, we all though that with him here, this campaign would go smoothly. 

Boy, were we wrong.

So there we were, deep the dark creepy Everfree Forest. I was part of supply caravan, heading towards the troops at the front lines. I remembered seeing ponies cautiously staring into the dark forest, keeping their eyes opened for any creature that might attack us.

As sat on caravan, memories of long ago emerged from my head. When I was just a little colt, I remembered hearing stories of the mysterious and spooky Everfree Forest. I heard tales of strange beast and monsters that lives in the depths of the forest.

This kinda thing makes you wonder, why the hell did somepony thought that it was a great idea to build a town, near the Everfree Forest. I remembered thinking 'You got to be a idiot to g into those woods!' And yet, here I am, years later, in the very depth of this fucking forest.

Aside from the occasional critters that we come across, the mission was rather boring as we did the mundane task of supplying the ponies at the front line.

Then everything went to the hell.

Our downfall started with a loud scream coming from a distance. A few miles ahead of us, I could see a swarm of Earthborn ponies, all bloodied and bandaged, galloping in our direction. Of course me and some of the other guys were confused at what was going on.

Then a voice from above, I believed it came from a pegasus, told everyone to retreat. Not needing to be told twice, we immediately abandoned the caravan and made a run for it. Unfortunately we were cut when a large pack of Timberwolves blocking our path.

I remembered long ago of hearing tales of these mysterious. Savage beast. Timberwolves were just basically wolves, except instead of being bone and flesh, they were made of sticks and leaves. Beside there obvious appearance the Timberwolves have no organs, as they are powered by some unknown magic.

These wooden canines has been a subjected to propaganda, used by the House to show us the danger and evil of magic.
We though of fighting our way through, but when we heard the approaching Everfree forces coming behind us, we decided to go through the woods. In hindsight, this was probably not the most smartest idea ever.

As I was galloping through the dark forest, I could here the sound of Timberwolves chasing after me. I remembered I was in a group with three other ponies, didn't know their names, but do know what they look like. One was a large grey stallion, the second was this pink mare with braided yellow hair, and lastly this chubby looking blue stallion with a messy black mane.

The big guy was the first to go, he hung back and raise his war hammer. In one single swing, shattered two Timberwolves at the same time. His victory was short lived when a third Timberwolf pounced him.
I didn't hear him screams, most likely the wooden beast tore the guy's throat out.

By this point I couldn't see where I was going. I was in very deepest sections of the Everfree Forest, sections where the sun doesn't shine and the trees block out the skies. It was pitch black in there, no way for us to navigate through this area. We were basically sitting ducks out here.

I went in one direction, only to stop when heard the death scream of one of my comrades. Immediately I galloped in another direction. As I galloped, I could hear another scream coming from behind me.

I kept running aimlessly through the forest, but no matter how much I ran, the Timberwolves were right n my tail. This is what makes these beast terrifying, unlike most creatures that would stop after killing one prey, these things don't. Instead of killing for the sake of food, the Timberwolves kill for the sake of being commanded to.

Seeing that it was pointless to run away from these beast, so I decided to stand my ground and take these bastards head on. One came at me and I swung my sword forward, slicing it in half. I thrust my blade into a second wolf, causing my weapon to be stuck.

With no weapon I was completely defenseless against the third Timberwolf. He pounce me to the ground and was ready to sink his wooden fangs into my neck. Reacting quickly I blocked his bite by using my left hoof. It was incredibly painful, but it saved my neck.

I then flip the Timberwolf over and pinned him down with my wounded hoof. With my free hoof I started punching the wolf in his face, causing his wooden head to break and leaving splinters in my hoof. The wolf scratched his claws at my body, desperately trying to get me to let go, but I pressed on and continue the pummeling.

Finally with one last punch I completely shatter the Timberwolve's head. It was a hollow victory as I soon realized just how severe those scratches are. Blood was leaking from my wounds and I was already starting to feel dizzy.

Fighting through my pain, I left the area and found a safe place to rest. And well long story short, I found something to cover up my wounds and I started writing this letter. 

Again I'm not sure why I written this letter, I don't expect anypony to find this. However, if you just happened to find this letter then I have some advice.

Make your peace now, because you'll never get out this forest. The Timberwolves know these woods like the back of their wooden paws. They will hunt you, they will find you and they will kill you. 
> Cult of Laughter: Jesters of Baltimare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


JESTERS OF BALTIMARE


Baron Iron Reign of Baltimare, is one of the House's high ranking nobles. He supported Mistress Rarity during her rise to power and for his efforts, he was rewarded with the city of Baltimare. Even though he is just a baron, Iron Reign felt like a king ruling this city.

When he took over, crime has almost become nonexistent. In the first few months under his rule, the militia guards cracked down on a lot of criminal organizations. From mobs to gangs, Baron Reign cleanse the city of these vermin. By the time he was done, the majority of those criminals are either dead, in jail, or have fled the city.

Once they were out of the way, Baron Reign finally has total control of Baltimare. Not only did he have the support of the House, but also from the citizens as well. The ponies of Baltimare were so glad to be rid of those thugs that they praise the Baron as a hero.

Baron Iron Reign was more then happy to accept their praises. This way he'll look good in front of his Mistress and he would not have to worry about any opposition.

For a while, things were looking up for him.

That was until the sudden appearance of a new group. They called themselves, the Cult of Laughter.

At first the cult quietly infiltrated into the city, not getting the attention of the Baron. But eventually they made a mistake or two and now Baron Reign has become fully aware to them.

Iron Reign knew the danger of these cults as he has heard stories of their dark magic and horrifying atrocities. He decided to put an end to these freaks before they can grow any further. Just like the criminals, Baron Reign's guards cracked down on a lot of cultist. However, unlike the mobsters and gangsters, these ponies won't go away. They were not discourage to leave the city and they just continue their unholy activities.

Strangely enough his guards has reported that some of the cult's members are citizens from this very city. When questioned the cultist refuse to say anything and kept their mouth shut. Even through torture they still won't talk.

Fearing that the cult's influence has been fully entrenched into the populace, the Baron then ordered marshal law. Everywhere the ponies had their rights suspended as they and their homes are searched by the guards.

While this halted the cultist's progress, it made a lot of ponies unhappy. Fights between citizens and guards were becoming common sights to see and so were small riots.

However, these things were the least of his worries. Recently he has been receiving death threats by the cults. Everyday his he gets large bags of letters, all detailing gruesome ways they are going to kill him. It also didn't help that he read some of the reports his guards send, each report describe in detail the disturbing rituals these freaks do.

Nevertheless, Iron Reign didn't let these threats stop him and ordered his guards to keep up the crack down on these cultist.

For this the cultist stepped up their games and have made numerous attempts to take his life. They tried poison, they tried arrows, they even tried a cannon once. But, the Baron managed to escape each of their attempts intact. But, while these attacks didn't hurt him, it did affected his psyche.

These attempts on his life cause the stallion to be both paranoid and stressful, to the point of being unfit to lead.

Baron Iron Reign followed his doctor's advice and too a few days off to relax. During this, Iron Reign heard of the city's most popular performers, Jesters. The stallion was not one for court buffoons, but his doctor told him to relax and what better way to rid of stress is some fun entertainment.

The next day Baron Reign sat on his throne and awaited for the arrival of the jester. The pony eventually arrived, wearing a typical jester outfit with white and blackish purple color scheme. The most unique feature this pony had was this bronze mask that covered the pony's face.

The jester started off by playing a flute. The pony played a great melody, soothing everypony in the room. After that the jester took a large colrful ball out of nowhere and stood on top of it. As the pony rode the ball around, the jester then proceeds to juggle a ball. Soon that ball turns two, then to four, and then lastly to eight balls.

The Baron and the guards were so drawn into the jester's performance that none of them notices the little strings attach to each of the balls. It was until the jester lit each of them on fire did they finally notice.

The jester then toss each of the lit balls near a guard. This confuses them and one even pick one up. His eyes watch the fire slowly burning down to the base of the string. When it reach it mark, the ball exploded in his face.

Simultaneously all the balls exploded, either killing or wounding the guards. The blast didn't kill Iron Reign, but it did left him disoriented. Through the smoke, the stallion could see the jester slowly trotting towards him, brandishing a sharp dagger.

Before his assailant can sink that blade into him, one of his guards tackled the jester down. He told him to get out of here while he deal with this pony. 

Baron Iron Reign complied and began slowly trotting away. He then heard the sound gurgling and turn his head around. His eyes widen in shock as he spot the jester stabbing the dagger into his guard's neck.

This only inspire to hasten his trot, passing by numerous guards that were going to attacking the jester. From the screams he is hearing behind him, his guards weren't doing very well.

Iron Reign retreated back his personal chamber and relax for a minute. He hid in room, waiting for the jester to come so that he could ambush him.

Soon enough he hears the sound of hoof steps approaching his door. He watch as the gold doorknob turn and the wooden door slowly open. On the other side of the door was jester, covered in the blood of his guards. The once happy and cheerful outfit has been stained with the blood of his victims.
The pony scan the room, hoping to find the Baron. Unbeknownst to him, the Baron was right behind him. Iron Reign struck the jester with his sword. He was about to finish him off, but a lit ball roll out under the jester.

Recognizing what it was, Iron Reign hop back, distancing himself from the blast. However, the jester swiftly pick it up and threw it directly at him.

The stallion manage to swat it away with his sword, but the ball explode near him, sending him flying to a wall.    

Iron Reign lay on the floor, his body aching from the immense pain from hitting his stone wall. Fighting through his pain, the stallion tried to get up, but was suddenly kicked down. Looking up, the jester was looking down on him, Wielding the bloody dagger, the jester thrust it downward, aiming for his exposed neck.

The stallion brought both his hooves up and tried hold back the dagger. However, the jester proved to be more stronger then it looks. The pony continue to push down the dagger down, despite all the strength Iron was putting into his forearms.

The tip of the blade penetrated his flesh, drawing blood to leak out. The jester moved the blade along the Baron's neck, creating a long nasty cut. Huge amount of blood was spewing out, covering both him and the Baron in blood.

The jester then felt the stallion losing his strength as he didn't put up much resistance anymore. Soon the Baron completely stopped moving. His body laid their covered in the puddle of his own blood. His eyes remain wide opened, but all life in them were all gone.

Once the deed was done, the bronze mask wearing jester turned around and left. Leaving the dead body there to serve as a reminder for those who cross the Cult of Laughter. 
> House of Stormwing: Griffon Prowlers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Griffon Prowlers


Inside a besieged castle, the ponies of Earthborn are defending their home against the invading Stormwing forces. Hours into the battle and the invaders have completely surrounded the place with their fliers. The Stormwing pegasus swarm around the castle, looking for any breech in their stone fortress.

Unfortunately for them, this is where they meet heavy resistance. Even if they did found a way inside the castle, they won't survive for very long. Inside are close and tight areas that doesn't provide much space for them to manoeuvre around in. Not only that but, the Earthborn specialize in close quarter fighting, something the Stormwing troops are not accustom to.

Seeing that his soldiers weren't making any progress, the Stormwing commander decided to call in some back up.





“Hold that gate men!” A mare shouted at the group of ponies pushing against the wooden gate.

On the other side, the invaders were trying to bash their way through, but the Earthborn troops push back on the gate. 

“We can't keep this up!” Yelled one of the ponies.

“You have too soldier or else they'll swarm in!” She responded. 

The mare saw that they needed help, so sh galloped towards them and held the gate. “Don't let these bastards in!” She shouts to her troops and they all start to push back.

Then without warning several sharp blades pierced through the door, killing and wounding some of the ponies. With the group losing some ponies, they couldn't hold the gate any longer and were immediately pushed back.

The wide wooden door burst opened, revealing the invaders. They were not pegasus, rather griffons. 

They swarm through the door and clear the room of any ponies. They tried to fight back, but the griffons easily defeated the weaken defenders.

Once clear, the griffons didn't move on, instead they await for someone to arrive. 

Coming from the broken door, a lone griffon entered the room. The griffon had a grey fur coat with black wings on his back. His face was concealed by a metal helmet that covers his entire head. Aside from his helmet the only other armor he has is the chest plate and the two gauntlets.

In his right talon was a large steel sword cover with scratch and stained with the blood of his fallen foes.

The griffon didn't say anything and just walk pass the others. All soldiers followed him upstairs where he stopped at the top. The grey griffon looked around and saw multiple paths.

“Sergeant Nathan take five troops with you and head in this direction.” The grey griffon ordered and pointed to the left path.

“Yes Captain.” Nathan responded and randomly took five griffons and went in the left path.

“Lieutenant Alphonse, take five and go in the right path.”

“Yes Captain.” Alphonse then did the same went off in the right path.

The Captain then turn his head around and saw the five remaining griffon prowlers. “The rest with me.” He lead the small group on the middle path.

The lead griffon and his troops enter a large open room. A head of them was doorway with stairs leading to upstairs. Before they could go to it a bunch of earth pony soldiers came down the stone steps.

“Intruder insight! Take them down!” Somepony ordered and they all charge at the small group of griffons.

The ponies spread out, each of them targeting one of the griffons. Despite having the advantage of numbers on their side, the griffons still manage to fight against them. 

The griffon Captain's sword slice through their armor with ease, leaving nothing but dismembered body parts.

One griffon parried an attack from a stallion then proceed to knocking him down and finish him off by stabbing him with his trident.

Another uses his wings and thrust himself forward, using his acceleration to impale two ponies with his weapon.

While this was happening, the griffon were unaware of the group ponies watching them from upstairs. These ponies were setting up their hoof cannons, preparing to blow these beast to tartarus. They knew that the cannon might kill their friend, but this was for the greater good.

A hoof cannoneer aimed down his weapon's iron sight and spotted a certain gray griffon. However, before he even light the fuse, the stallion felt a sharp pain coming from his back and chest. Looking down he saw a bloody blade poking out of his chest. The blade was then pulled out and he felt someone push him of the ledge. The last thing he saw was the stone floor before everything went black.

The Captain heard a noise behind him and turned around. His eyes caught the sight of a dead earth pony with a large wound on his back and chest. There was big bloody splat mark on the floor, right near the stallion's bloody face.

Connecting two and two together, he deduce that this stallion fell from upstairs. Lifting his head up, the Captain spots another group of griffons battling some hoof cannoneers. He recognizes them as one of the group that split off.

He made a mental note to thank Sergeant Nathan for the save.
Returning back to the battle, the griffon Captain saw his troops finishing off the last pony soldier. The stallion fell and joined with the rest of his fallen comrades in death. Not among the corpses were the griffon prowlers. These shock troopers only had small cuts and scratches, nothing too serious.

Once they were done the Captain lead his troops up the stairs. This lead the group to a long hallway with large boarded up windows on the left side. Standing on the far end of this hallway is a line of Earthborn Battle Buckers.

The Battle Buckers started kicking a bunch of cannonballs at the intruders. The griffon quickly took flight, getting out of their enemy’s range of attack. Unfortunately one griffon didn't make it and got his face smashed by a cannonball.

The Captain and his troops were being suppressed by the barrage of cannonballs that is keeping them from moving forward.

Suddenly the barricaded window near the line of Battle Buckers burst opened and a swarm of griffon prowler stormed in. The ponies were overwhelm by new intruders and are swiftly killed off. As the griffons were wiping the blood off their weapons, the Captain and his group were approaching them.

“Who is the leader of the this squad?” The Captain question, gaining the attention of the new griffons.

Upon seeing who was addressing them, they all salute the Captain and one them walked forward. This griffon was wearing a more decorative armor then his comrades. These markings on his armor indicates that he is the leader of this band of griffons.

“That would be me sir.” Said the decorative griffon. “I'm Lt. Bernard, how can we be assistance?”

The Captain though about for a second before walking closer to the lieutenant. He whispered something into his ear and the griffon nodded.

“Alright lads back outside!” The Lt. Bernard ordered and all of his troops climb out through the broken window and flew upwards. Leaving the Captain and his troops behind. Once they were gone, they proceeded on forward, continuing their assault.

The group walked for bit until they started to smell something familiar.

“Guys you smell that?” Ask one of the griffons.

“What is this?”

“It smell like something, burnt?”

Before any could ask more questions, the group cut around a corner and came across a grisly sight. 

Bodies, burnt bodies.  

Six charred bodies lay before the group, displaying their darken melted bodies to them. Most of them suppressed their urge to vomit out in disgust.

The Captain examine the bodies and recognize them to be griffons. His eyes then caught sight of a familiar body.

“Oh Shit is that...”

“Lt Alphonse.” The Captain answer and stared at the decease body of his former lieutenant.

Suddenly two ponies wearing gas mask popped out of the corner and aimed their strange tube like weapon at them. Recognizing what they are, he quickly turn to his troops.

“Back up! Back up!”

They did just that and just in time too, the two ponies shot out a stream of flame at the fleeing griffons. The group retreated to a safe distance from the pony's flames. All eyes were on the Captain, hoping that he would have plan.

“Alright here's the plan, you three flank around while me and the private here will distract the two Firespitters.” He explained to troops. “But first you three give us all your throwing knives.”

A couple of minutes has passed and the two flamethrowers were searching the area for the intruders. The two lost sight of of the group and are now carefully trotting around the hallways. Even though they have some strong weapon, they knew the griffons weren't stupid enough to just rush them. No, instead they'll most likely try to ambush them.

As the two were trotting the lead pony spotted a griffon popping out of a corner and threw something at him. The stallion felt it hit his chest and he responded by releasing a huge stream of flames at him. Fortunately for the griffon, he managed to escape the fire before it could even touch his feather.

The firespitter looked down at the object that was thrown at him. It was simple throwing knife, if he wasn't wearing his armor this blade would've killed him. Then another griffon popped out and threw his throwing knife at him. The blade bounce harmlessly off the stallion's chest plate.

The lead stallion then advance forward onto the two griffon's position. All the while constantly spewing fire. Meanwhile his partner was hanging back, watching out for any flankers.

Both the Captain and the Private continue to throw their knives at the stallion, hoping to distract him long enough for the other griffons to flank the two ponies.

Suddenly the stallion in the back spotted the three griffons flying towards him. The flanking griffon flew upwards, making the stallion aim his flame weapon up. However, behind the torrent of flames one of the griffon broke off from the formation and flew at close the ground.

The Prowler was right next the Firespitter and before the stallion could react, he was impaled by the griffon's sharp pointed trident.

With him gone the other two griffon charged at the second pony. One knocked him down and the second quickly finished him off.

Once they were dead the Captain and the Private came out of cover and walked up to the three griffons.
“Good job boys, you did a fine job.” The gray griffon compliment. “Come now, the battle isn't over yet.” With that the three rejoin the group and resume following their Captain.

They were now deeper inside the castle, no longer can they hear the battle taking place outside these walls. All they hear now was just eerily silence.

The group then reach a corner and heard something. Expecting it to be another pony patrol, the Captain silently ordered his troops to attack on his mark. When the sound got closer they jumped out and was preparing to fight them.

However, they immediately halted upon recognizing who it was. Instead of ponies it was three griffon warriors.

“Sgt Nathan?”

“Oh Captain am I glad to see you.” Said the battle scarred sergeant. “We recently located were the enemy commander sir.”

“Where?”

“The throne room.”

“Well then sergeant lead the way.”

The sergeant and his two troops joined the Captain's group and were now heading towards the enemy's throne room. After going through some corners and hallways, the large group of griffons found the door to the throne room.

This door stood out from the rest since this one was more heavily armored and had the royal emblem on it. 

The griffons all gathered at the door waiting for their next move. The Captain put his ear on the door and heard vague sound of ponies being ordered around. He then looked at his his troops and gave them a count a three before they burst in.

“1....2.....3!”

The group of griffons barged right in, only to greeted by a line of cannons aimed right at them. 

“Fire!” Shouted the pony commander and everypony unleash barrage of cannonballs. The griffons quickly spread, saving some of them while others weren't so fortunate. Those poor soldiers either died swiftly or were render crippled from the projectiles, bleeding out to death.

Those few that survived took whatever cover was available and endure the onslaught. The Captain took cover behind pillar and watch as his few remaining troops getting slaughtered. Thinking quickly he grab a trident from a fallen Prowler and toss is right at the enemy. It missed and smash through a barricaded window.

“Ha, these griffons can't hit the broad side barn!” Shouted an earth pony before he was impaled by a spear.

Then all of a sudden all the barricaded window were smashed opened and in came a swarm of griffon Prowler. Leading them was Lt Bernard from before.

While the two side clash with each other, the pony commander activated a secret entrance and enter into it. The Captain saw this was not going to allow the stallion to escape. The griffon spread his wings and zoom past through the battle. He smash through the hidden door and spotted the commander fleeing.

He followed the pony into a bedroom and tackle the stallion to the floor. The Captain then proceeds to punch the commander repeatedly in the face. The stallion then grabbed the Captain's head and headbutted him.

The impact was so great it dented his helmet, obscuring his vision. The stallion then kicked the griffon off him and quickly stood up. 

The Captain took his helmet off, revealing his light blue eyes, staring daggers at the Commander. Both opponents took out their swords and waited for one of them to make the first move. Tired of waiting the Captain raise his sword high and brought down.

The stallion deflected the strike with his weapon. His blade was aimed perfectly at the griffon and he thrust his sword forward. The Captain dodge the thrust and swung his sword sideways. The pony reacted by rolling out of the way.

The pony swung his blade upward, but the griffon took flight, stepping back out of his opponent's range. Turning his sword upside down, the Captain put both his claws on the sword and dash forward, intending to stab the stallion.

The stallion evaded the attack and the sword was embedded on the floor. With his weapon stuck, the Captain was now weaponless against the Commander. The stallion went on the offensive and swung his sword widely.

While the pony believe that the griffon was defenseless, he has forgotten griffon's most oldest weapon, his talons. The Captain waited for the stallion leave himself. When he did, he scratched his arm, leaving three bleeding slash marks on his arm.

The pain was so great that it left him vulnerable for a second. The Captain took advantage of this and tackle the Commander to the floor. He then starts to claw the stallion neck, using his sharp talons.

The Commander would've scream, but his throat was currently being scratched opened. 

He tried to punch the griffon off, but the Captain had his bloody claw piercing the stallion's soft fleshy neck. After a few more clawing the pony stopped moving and died. He had the look of utter horror written on his face, as he watch his killer killing him right before his eyes.

Once done, the Captain got up and walk over to his sword. Putting all his strength into his arms, he pulled the weapon out from the ground. He gave one last look at the dead Commander before walking towards the balcony.
He grabbed himself a flag and lit it on fire. He then started to swing the burning flag around, signalling somepony from afar.

Somewhere far away a pegasus commander was looking through his binocular and spotted the griffon captain waving the burning enemy flag over his head.

“Son of a bitch they actually did.” The commander said, surprised. He then turn to his lieutenant and gave him the binocular.

“See that griffon?” He pointed. “Take a battalion and head to where that griffon is.”

The lieutenant nodded and took a battalion of pegasus warriors and flew to where the griffon was. Within a few hours the Stormwing forces cleared out the remaining Earthborn troops, finally bringing an end to this siege.

The battle was over and it was thanks to their griffon allies.


The End

> House of Earthborn: Behemoth Cannon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Behemoth Cannon


Inside the Whitetail Woods there is a large Earthborn encampment that is bustling with activities. Troops were returning to their base after a failed attack. The wounded were given to the medics to take care of and the engineers went to work repairing the damaged Bucker Cannons that were being dragged in.

Watching from the sideline was a elderly green stallion by the name of Oak. The good colonel was currently watching the line of troops returning back to base. He didn't need to ask them how it went, as the answer were written on their faces.

Colonel Oak frown and trotted back to the commander center. As he trot pass the many tents and ponies, the Colonel was thinking back to the event that lead to their situation.  

A month ago Colonel Oak was given a task to attack a newly built fortress of the Moon and Star. He was given the task by Applejack herself and was more then honored to complete this campaign. However, his enthusiasm vanished when he hasn't made any kind of progress.

The castle's walls were protected by some sort of magic that causes their cannonball to bounce of them. Not only that those unicorn Markmages and Sunray cannons were literally tearing his troops apart, or in the Sunray Cannons case, incineration.

For days his troops assaulted the castle, trying to find a weakness in its defense. But, so far none can be found. This cost him the lives of many ponies under his command and he worried that he'll lose more if this continues on.

Now Colonel Oak was never the type to ask for his assistance, his pride doesn't allow it. However, at rate it's either continue to lose more troop or bite the bullet and ask for aid.

He picked the latter and sent a messenger to high command requesting for assistance.

Three days passed before he receive a response from them. They heard of his problem and  have already sent reinforcements. Among them is a brand new weapon, created by some of the greatest minds from their House.

Hours later and a scout inform the Colonel of a large army coming from the south. Heading to the south part of the encampment, the old stallion picked up a telescope and spotted them. 

From a distance the Colonel could see the legion of Earthborn soldiers marching in their direction. Through his scope, Col. Oak can see the Ponies-at-arms, the Battle Buckers, Equestrian Juggernauts and many more. Even their buffalo allies were among them as well.

Then Col. Oak spotted something behind them, something big. 

It looked like a Bucker Cannon, but at a larger size it was currently being pulled by some of the strongest stallions he ever seen. Right behind the massive cannon was a cart with a crane and some huge cannonballs in the back.

The army and the massive machine reached the base and all of his troops watched them come in. Most  stared agape at the large cannon being pulled into their camp. 

Once they were in they all stopped and awaited for something to happen. Then a lone mare came out and everypony in the camp gasp. Standing in front of the large reinforcement was none other then the orange mare herself, Applejack.

The Supreme Commander of the Earthborn was waiting patiently for who ever was in charge to come up to her. The elderly stallion upon seeing the mare immediately rush down and to greet her, surprised that Applejack was actually here.

When he spoke to her she asked if there was any progress with the siege. The Colonel dishearteningly said no and expected a scolding. However, instead of a scolding Applejack told him that this campaign will finally come to an end.

Within an hour all of the Col. Oak's troops and Supreme Commander Applejack's troops marched to where the unicorn castle was. The two armies spotted the castle, still standing and no damage despite all the effort Oak's forces did in the past month.

Applejack ordered the setup of the behemoth cannon. Oak and several other ponies watched in fascination of the pony crew preparing the massive weapon. The crane grabbed a cannonball, lifted it to where the cannon is and dropped it in. They then aim the cannon at the castle walls and pulled the trigger.

A loud boom was heard, startling some of ponies. They the iron ball blasted out of the cannon and smack against the wall. Instead of bouncing off of it, the cannonball broke the magical enchantment and destroyed a good portion of the wall, killing any poor unicorns station there.

The Earthborn ponies stood in shock at what they just saw. After a month besieging the the castle and not making a dent, most have hope of ever taking the castle. But, now to actually see a wall destroyed sent a boost to their moral.

With a clear opening, Applejack ordered everypony to attack the castle. Oaks joined in too as he ordered his troops to attack. After a hour of the fighting the Earthborn finally took the castle. Ridding the unicorn occupants inside.

In the aftermath of the battle, Oak's forces were to move into the castle and turn it into a new base of operation. 

Before Applejack and her army left, Col. Oak met up with one last time and apologize to her. He was apologizing because he felt that he wasted her time for something he should've done on his own.

To his surprise the orange mare inform that there was nothing to apologize for. She told him that she personally read his letter and felt sympathetic with him. 

She knew that the old stallion was prideful and would not ask for assistance. However, he knew that if he didn't more of his troops will die. So he bit the bullet and ask for help.

She then told him how she was just like that, but a good old friend reminded her that there was no shame in asking for assistance. 

And with that the Supreme Commander left, returning back to base. Leaving the Colonel to think about those words.


The End

> House of Moon and Star: Arcane Manipulator
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arcane Manipulator

Standing near the edge of their base, two unicorn stallions were waiting patiently for the report from the frontline. Just recently the Earthborns has launched a surprise attack on them. Luckily their spies managed to warn them about this, allowing them to prepare.

Unfortunately, the Earthborn army was much bigger then they were led to believe. The two just hoped that their defenses will hold.

Suddenly up in the air, a vague black silhouette of a wing pony can be seen flying towards them. For those who have keener eyes, they can easily tell that the pony wasn't a pegasus. Rather it is one of their Seraph soldiers.

The mare landed right in front of the two stallions. She folded her artificial wings, which display a very beautiful and vibrant color. A total contrast to the rest of her body, which was scarred and stained with blood.

“General, I came from the frontline to tell you of some bad news.”

The unicorn general didn't like the sound of that, but he prepared himself for the worst.

“We are receiving heavy casualties on our side due to the heavy bombardment from the Earthborn cannons.”

“I see.” Said the general. “Soldier, go back and tell everypony to fall back base.”

The Seraph nodded, spread her butterfly wings and return to the frontline. Leaving the two stallions alone again. The general turn his head to the other unicorn. “Well Doctor, looks like we'll be using your new contraption after all.”

“Excellent General, I'll go prepare my troops.” The Doctor left and headed into the base.

An hour went by and all the unicorns from the frontline has finally reach the base. Many of these ponies bear scars from the previous battle, the majority of them weren't fit to fight. They retreated pass the Moon and Star's last line of defense.

An army of one hundred legionnaires, all standing in a long line, all ready for the fight that is coming.

“Doctor, are you sure this would work?” The General questioned.

“Don't worry General, we tested it out before.” The Doctor assured. “Now stand back and enjoy the show.”

The elderly stallion was still not convince, but he did what he said and trot a couple of steps back. He eyed the strange machine the Doctor was working on. It was like a miniature tower with wheels. There was big round orb on top that was split, horizontally. On each half there are two odd shape rods sticking out of it.

According to the Doctor, this thing was called an Arcane Manipulator. Apparently its suppose to manipulate the flow of the magic on the battlefield. Basically it makes their magic much more powerful.

Then of in the distance, the sound of the approaching Earthborns can be heard. The Doctor quickly made his last adjustments to the machine and sent the pony carrying it, back to their forces.

Every Legionnaire saw the advancing enemy army and stood their ground, not even a small hint of hesitation can be seen on their faces.

When the Earthborns got near, they immediately set up their firing line. Hoof cannoneers formed lines, while the cannons formed behind them.

Once done they all aimed it at the unicorn army, all waiting for their command to attack. Somepony gave the order and they all fired.

Hundreds of cannon balls were blasted from there round tubes, each one heading towards the army of legionnaires. Instead of fleeing, they all stood there and did nothing.

The ponies manning the Arcane Manipulator pressed couple of buttons and machine came to life. The orb on top started spinning and rods began sparking magical energy.

Once every Arcane Manipulators were turn on, it was time for the legionnaires to act.

Every single soldiers cast a shield spell and watched as the cannon balls make impact. Normally, a typical shield spell is not enough to stop a cannon ball. However, with the machine on their side their magic are increase tenfold.

The Earthborn gawked at seeing their cannon balls bouncing off their shields. Once the barrage ended, it was time for the unicorns to strike back.

The hundred legionnaires fired a powerful magic beam that devastated the Earthborn army. Their beams vaporized any pony they hit and reduces the biggest of their war machines to rubble.

Witnessing the total destruction in front of them, the remaining Earthborn ponies made a full retreat. Not wanting them to escape, a Legionnaire captain ordered his troops to chase after them. The hundred of unicorns galloped after the fleeing enemy, with the Arcane Manipulator not far behind them.

Everypony at base cheered in victory at the total devastation of the enemy forces and how the table has turned on them. They had them on the run, but now, they are the ones running.

While they all celebrated, only one pony wasn't sharing in their celebration. Instead of feeling pride at their latest accomplishment, all the General could feel was fear.

He just witness what a lot of raw magic can do and just how destructive it was. He saw ponies being completely annihilated by the magic, watched as they felt themselves torn apart. He can only imagine the pain they must have felt.

This reminded him of the many propaganda the Earthborn keep preaching on about. They all talk about how magic was evil and will only lead to our destruction.

Just like the rest of his kind, he thought they were all just crazy or envious of their abilities. Now however, the stallion was having some serious doubts about their kind. Whether or not they will bring in a new age or an age of destruction.
> House of Whitegold: Field Trebuchet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Field Trebuchet


Standing outside the Springtime Forest, a large army ponies were setting up defenses. These ponies are from the House of Whitegold. Leading this battalion is a pink mare with silver mane. Lieutenant Colonel White Winter was ordering her troops around, while also simultaneously watching the horizon with her binocular.

Three days ago a lone Diamond Dog somehow dug his way into the fortified city of Manehattan. After he was subdued, the dog was brought into questioning. Apparently the dog was part of a wild tribe outside their border. He inform them of how his entire tribe was destroyed by a large horde of walking corpses.

The House sent scouts to verify the truth behind dog's words. When they returned the scouts were a bit horrified at what they saw. When they arrive and spotted the horde of undead, they were engaged in battle with a large army of Diamond Dogs. Despite all their strength and ferocity, the dogs were getting slaughtered out there. The undead ripped them apart. Those who survive quickly turned and joined their ranks, making their already large army, even larger.

When they heard enough the House sent a battalion of one thousand ponies to stop the horde of the undead. Now this was rather odd since these ponies are seriously outnumbered by a force that is probably ten time their size.

However, they were assured that their newest weapon will be a great asset in their battle. These new weapons are just smaller versions of the large trebuchets mounted on the Wall. Apparently these things are portable, because they have wheels which would allow them to easily move it around.

Lt. Col. Winter watched as her troops set these crude weapons from her position. The ponies carried the weapon's ammunition and place them next to it, allowing for faster reloads. There was a total of twenty of these Field Trebuchets, all of them placed behind a line of fifty ponies.

The Militia makes up the bulk of the forces, with only a couple of Arqueteers filling the remaining spots. The usual weapon the Whitegold Militia used has been replaced by the arquebus, a weapon used by the Arqueteers. The reason for this change of arsenal is because after hearing about the dogs failed attempt to combat the horde, it was best that they keep their distance from these shambling corpses.

The pink mare watches as her troops getting accustom to their new weapon. Some were holding it awkwardly, some even look down the barrel of these guns. This earn them a scolding from the few Arqueteers who were giving them a lecture on how to properly use them.

White Winter observe them for a minute before returning to her binocular. Suddenly she spot something coming over the horizon. She couldn't make it out what they look like, but she does know what was coming.

The pink mare set off the alarm and every pony scramble to their position. Both the Militias and Arqueteers set up their firing lines and all aiming their rifles in the direction of the slowly approaching horde. Some ponies adjusted the aim on their guns, while others tediously reloaded them. This was rather difficult for the none unicorn ponies who had to manually reload it, compare to the unicorn comrades who can use magic to do it.

Amidst all this the squad operating the Field Treuchet had already loaded their payloads on the pouches. Winter noticed that the payloads were not the usual large rocks, instead they were strange pony made projectiles. She wished she had time to question what they were, but she was busy organizing the defenses. From what she heard, these payloads will help win the battle for them.

Time passes and the horde of undead were getting closer, the mare looked through her binocular again and got a clear view of them now. There are thousands of them, each one these monsters scuttling across the field. She identify some them as ponies from the different factions. There was Earthborn Juggernaut, still wearing his rusted and broken armor. There was a Stormwing Hoplites who has A big nasty cut on her neck, the stain of crimson blood is visibly seen on her rotten corpse. A wingless Seraph with no lower jaw, a wildling missing his left front hoof and a Harl-Equine with his own spear stabbing right through him. She even spotted some griffons, zebras, buffaloes, and minotaurs among their ranks.

As the undead horde drew nearer, the scent of their rotting bodies can be smell by the Whitegold soldiers. The ponies held their position despite the horrendous odor surrounding them. By now the army of the undead can seen by everypony. They watch in disgust as they shambled their lifeless bodies towards them. Each steps a small piece of them drops off, black liquid that used to be their blood drips from their various wounds. Their once bright-colored coating has turn gray, losing the vibrant colors they once have.

Once the shambling horde was in range, Winter gave the order and all the trebuchets launched their payloads. The object was flung from its pouch and was speeding towards the incoming horde. When it made impact, it did something the Lieutenant Colonel wasn't expecting. The payloads exploded, creating a large fire that engulf the surrounding undead. They were either incinerated by the blast or were set ablaze.

White Winter watches in intrigue as the explosive bombs did their work. The once massive gray horde were being obliterated. Large flaming circles sprout out in the gray mass, turning the reanimated corpses into charred corpses. A few stragglers manage to slip by, but they were easily taken down by the line of arquebus wielding ponies. The sound of their rifles blasting off is soon followed by the straggling undead being blown to pieces.

This battle went on for an hour, with the Field Trenuchet taking out large chunks of the horde and the ponies shooting down the survivors.

When the last group of undead was set a ablaze the battle was finally over. The trotting corpses has finally stopped, leaving nothing but their own burnt remains behind.

The Whitegold ponies celebrated their triumph victory, they did not lose a single pony on their side. They all began packing their stuff up and preparing to head back home. Winter ordered the burning the undead they shot down and soon enough a small hill of corpses was light on fire.

The pink mare gave one last look through her binocular to see if there was any more of them. So far none, just only the seared bodies of their enemies. After doing a quick scan, she began packing her things and meeting up with her forces. She gave a quick glance to the Field Trebuchet, she cannot imagine how the battle would've turn out if they didn't have these with them.

And with that, White Winter join the rest of her army on their trek towards home.
> House of Everfree: Iron Bulls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Iron Bulls


In the settlement of Appleloosa, the 17th Earthborn Company were taking a rest in this town, before heading out to the Appeloosan Ridge. During this time some pony soldiers likes to visit some of the town's attractions. One of them just happens to be The Salt Block Saloon. 

In this saloon, a lone Earthborn stallion was telling everypony of one of his war stories.

“So there I was alone, me against a dozen of those flying bugs things, coming straight at me. Their sharp white fangs ready to sink into my flesh and all I had was just this little knife to defend myself with.”

His audience listen in to his tale, awaiting for him to continue his story.

“How did ya git out outta that mess?” One of them asked.

To this the stallion smiled. “When they all began to charge at me, I used my small knife and struck the piece of flint I hid. This cause a spark which in turn lit up a trail of gunpowder that lead back to its home. By the time those changelings were near near me, the barrel exploded and blasted them all!”

The stallion watch as everyponies mouths drop and eyes widen. His ears caught the sound ponies whispering among themselves.

“Oh but, wait it doesn't end there!” He said getting them to be silent. “Apparently one stubborn changeling refuse to die and went right at me! His little bug body was scorched, but he still have some fight left in him. He tackled me to the ground, hiss in my face and was choking me with his hooves.”

“Is it true them changelings have holes in their hooves?” A mare from the audience questioned.

“Yep, that is true.” He answered. “Ask anypony from my company and they will verify that fact.”

“Now then where was I, oh right the strangling part.” He continue his story. “So there I was, being strangled by this guy. Thankfully he had such weak arms, that I had time to look at his face. The changeling glare at me with his big blue eyes, his teeth grinded against each as he tried in vain to kill me. So tired of waiting I buck the bug off and he fell into the flame where the barrel use to be. I watch as the bug was roasted alive, screaming in agony as I watch it die. And that was my time at the Northern Earth Bastion.”

After he was finished, the ponies began talking each other. Their conversation about the stallion's stories lead to other stories they heard and they were soon lost in their own little chats.

“Man that's one hell of a story, Sgt. Break Back.” Another Earthborn soldier complimented. “You got any more to share?”

Break Back shook his head. “Nah, sorry guys no more stories.”

This earn him a collective disappointed aw from his audience. 

“Hey now, just because I have no stories, doesn't mean none of y'all have one.” He then turn to face the stallion next to him. “How about you Private? You got any interesting stories to tell?”

The Private in response shrugged. “Sorry sir, but I only been in the army for a two months. So nothing interesting happened to me yet.”

Sergeant Break Back then turn to face an Appleloosan Ranger. “How about you Ranger? Got any tales to share?”

“Sorry Partner, but I'm here to listen to stories, not talk about mine. Besides if you want to hear about my story, then there is a short one-shot of it written a couple of months back.” The Ranger took a large sip from his mug.

“Alright then those anypony else have a good story to share? Anypony?” When he got response, he about to give up before the Private spoke up.

“Hey Sarge how about Capt. High Price over there?” The private pointed to a blue stallion with brown mutton chop. The pony currently drinking by himself.

“Captain who?” Break Back questioned.

“Captain Price, Sarge.” The private corrected. “He was just recently transferred here from The Heartlands.” 

“The Heartlands eh?” Break Back then focus his eyes on the drinking stallion. “Hey Captain Price!” He shouted.

“What?”

“You're from The Heartlands, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that means you gotta have some amazing stories to tell.”

“Yeah I do, but I'm not really in the mood to tell tales.” High Price reply.

“Oh come now Captain, you don't want to disappoint these folks now do ya?'

Price took a look around and saw all the eager faces of the ponies. Taking a breath, he decided to just go with it. “Buy me a cider and I'll do it.”

“Deal!”

After one large mug of cider later, High Price was facing a large crowd of ponies. He was busy thinking about what kind of story he should tell.

“Captain is true that the Griffons eat the bodies of the ponies they killed.?”

“Captain, do the unicorns use prisoners for their dark rituals?”

“Captain, are the ponies of Whitegold in a secret alliance with the Moon and Star?”

“Captain, does Twilight secretly have a dragon under her command?”

Too bad Price was being bombard by these folks strange questions to think of one.

“Sorry folks, but I'm not entirely sure about any those things. I was station with the forces, facing against the Everfree forces.” He said.

“Whoa, does that means you fought against them vile Timberwolves?” 

“Yeah Timberwolves, Ents, Zebras, you name it. Spend most of those years fighting against that blasted forest.” Price answered. “But I'm not here to tell you any of that, instead I'll tell about the time I went against a Minotaur.”

Everypony gasped upon hearing this. “But I though those guys were rare?” One mare pointed out.

“Yes they are and I just happened to the unluckiest son of bitch to meet one.”

“Wow was really that bad?”

“Not really, I defeated this guy myself.”

Again everypony gasp, all were shocked by this stallion's claim. 

“Impossible!” One stallion shouted. “Minotaurs are the toughest bastards around, heard they were strong enough to stop a rampaging Juggernaut in their tracks. No way in hell you could have face against this beast and beat him.”

At this, High Price smirked. “Don't believe everything you hear soldier, most of them are just over exaggeration made up by gossipers.”

“So anyways my story begin some years ago. I was part of the invasion force, heading into the Everfree Forest. I don't need to tell you how disastrous that went.” Some ponies in the audience nodded their heads in agreement.

“Back then I was just a leftenant, second in command to some Captain.”

“It's lieutenant sir.” The private corrected.

“What?”

“It's pronounce lieutenant.”

“What did I say?”

“You said leftenant”

“That hell is a leftenant?”

“I don't know sir, you are the one that said it.”

“You know what let drop it and get on with my story.” Price ended the subject.

“So any way there I was, deep in the Everfree forest with my squad mates. We were apparently being sent to reinforce the armies at the frontlines. And while we may have won the first few battles against them, our winning streak was about to end.”

“Out of nowhere and without warning the armies of the Everfree descended upon us. That was the day when we face the full might of this forest. They emerge from the depths of the forest, zebras, predators, wild ponies and many more like that. Soon the trees we past by started becoming alive and crushed our forces.”

“We put up a good fight, still got the scars of the time that damn Timberwolf bit me.” The blue stallion showed the bite marks on his left forearm. “But try as we might, we knew we wouldn't last long. So somepony with the right idea order a full retreat. Problem with that plan is that when ponies start panicking, they don't tend to listen. Which is why the many of us got separated from the main group when we ran.”

“I still remember the feelings of galloping through that forest, the adrenaline coursing through my body as ran with my buddies, while being chase down by the wolves behind us. The sound of their growls serve as both a fear and inspiration to keep us moving.”

“The only one that was still with me was this one guy, Sgt. Soap. Seriously, what kind is Soap anyways?” Price ask no one in particular.

“So it was just us two, running through the damn forest. The wolves we're far behind us, but luckily for us they were busy hunting other preys. We reached a narrow passage way that would lead us outside this forest. Unfortunately, there was a big mean looking minotaur blocking our exit.”

“We stopped in our tracks and saw the carnage around him. Apparently we weren't the first to come and face him. The minotaur itself was currently busy fighting against three other ponies from our army. The  large bipedal beast was holding one pony by his neck. Another pony went in and stab the guy with his spear, but the minotaur didn't seem to register the pain and instead use the head of pony he was holding and smash his head against the other pony, shattering both their skulls.”

“The third pony watch gruesome display from afar and was hesitant to attack. He gather up what little courage he had left and charge at the minotaur with his sword. In response the minotaur smack the stallion down to the ground and stomp his head.”

“After popping the pony's head like a watermelon, the minotaur pulled the spear out and dump it on the ground with other discarded weapons. Normally any other pony would've just got out of there and find another way out, but I was sure that we could take him down.”

“I observe the minotaur and spotted the many scars and bruises he has on himself. Not only that, but he was also panting heavily. The minotaur was tired from all the fighting, so I figure if we play it right we can defeat this guy and get out of here.”

“So after convincing Soap to be a part of my plan, we both came out of hiding and I announce our appearance by throwing a knife at him. My blade sunk in his flesh, but he found more annoying than painful.”

“We all got into our battle stance, waiting for one of us to make a move. Following my plan, Soap taunted the big guy, leaving him focusing on my partner and not me. My part was to hit the back of his legs, which will make him drop down, lowering himself enough for Soap to finish him off.”

“It worked at first, the minotaur was on his knees and Soap was about to deal with the killing blow. But, the bastard grab Soap with both his hands and began squeezing his head. Soap scream in pain as his head was being crushed. Quickly I jumped on top of the Minotaur’s back, pulled the throwing knife off him and repeatedly stab him with it.”

“The big guy release Soap from his grasp and got a hold of me instead. He threw hard to the ground and started stomping on me. I curled myself up, hoping this would shield me from his blows. After his relentless attack, he grew tired and back up a bit. I dare take a peek and saw him preparing to body slam me.”

“He started his run and in that second he leap towards me. At that moment it felt like time slowed down as I look for anything to defend myself with. I spotted the spear he threw down and grabbed it with my broken arms. I lifted the weapon up, just as he was about to slam onto my body. The spear pierce right through his stomach and the minotaur died instantly. His dead body slid down the shaft and trapped. I was buried by my fallen foe and I was too injured to move.”

“I was about to accept my faith, but then Sgt. Soap came over and pulled me out of there. He carried my broken body out of that forest and into a medical tent outside. That guy save my life that day and we soon became good friend.”

When High Price finish his story, everypony in the saloon was left amazed by his tale. “Boy, you sure weren't pulling my leg when you said that you beat a minotaur in battle.”

“Yeah, can't believe you made it out alive.”

“I sure am, but it was Soap that save me from dying that day.” Price pointed.

“How is Soap? Do you two still talk to each other?”

“Well last I saw Soap, the guy was being promoted to a Captain. So with a new rank comes new responsibilities. So to answer your question, we do still talk to each other, but it is mostly when we're not busy with our duties.”

“Well that's a shame, I really wish to meet this Soap fella.”

“Well then I'm finish with my story, does anyone else got one?” Price look around for anypony to say something.

“Oh I got one.” One soldier raised his hoof. “My story is about how my squad went against a squad of griffon prowlers.” And just like that all eyes and ears were on him. The stallion began his tale, adding various elements to making a wonderful story.

> Cult of Laughter: Revelers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


REVELERS


“Are we there yet, brother?” Said a pony in purple cloak.

“Yes, Brother Ratchet we're almost there.” Said the lead pony, wearing the same color cloak.

“He he he, I can't wait!” Exclaimed another cloak pony. 

“Yes, Sister Book Smart, I know you're excited, but please contain your enjoyment before we reach the party.”

The cloak mare calm down a bit. “Sorry Brother Heartstone.” She apologizes. “It's just that we been planning to crash the Count's party for almost a month now. You can't imagine how excited I am!"

The lead cloak pony smile under his hood. “Oh trust me Sister, we all know that feeling. Ain't that right guys?” He turn to the other ponies behind them. They all responded by saying various yeses, yeahs and yeps.

“See Sister, you're not the only one excited for this party.” Heartstone smiled to the mare.

The big group of cloak ponies continue trotting the dark streets until they reach their destination. It was big mansion, complete with swimming pool, water fountain, large flower garden, and a big, long wall that surrounds the place.

The group headed towards the main gate, where two guards immediately spotted them. “Hold it right there, this is private property!” Said the stallion on the left. “You are not allowed to be here!”

“But Mr. Guard, we're all here for the party.” Said Heartstone.

“Oh yeah, then where's all your invitations?” The guard on the right asked.

Heartstone checked his pockets, attempting to find the items he didn't have. “Oh dear I seem to lost our invitations.” Suddenly an idea popped in his head. “Oh now I remember!” He turn to face on certain pony in the group. “Brother Honey Bunch, why don't you give this guard here our invitation.”

The cloak pony named Honey Bunch, stepped out and swiftly pull a bow out under his cloak. He aimed his weapon at the right guard and fired. The metal tip arrow pierce the guard's head, killing him instantly.

“Holy shi-” Before the left guard could finish that word, Heartstone smack him in the face with his crowbar, knocking him down

“Now Mr. Guard I appreicate if you don't use such bad words." He scolded the down guard. "There are children present."

“Oh come on Brother Heartstone, we're teenagers, not kids.” Ratchet complained.

“That may be so, but you're all still children to me. Now come, there is a party that needs crashing.”
Heartstone lead the group to the mansion up the hill.

Inside the mansion, the party has already started. It was your typical high society kind of party. A lot important ponies mingling with each other, talking about the latest news and gossips. Waiters and waitresses would come around and offer the attendees with refreshments.

Tonight is the celebration of Count Obsidian's birthday, and everypony was there hoping to get on the Count's good side. After all he rules this city and everypony in it. He was given this city by Mistress Rarity, for his excellence services to her.

The Count was busy talking to talking to one of his buddies when he took a look at his watch. It was time for him to give his speech. He ended the conversation with his friends and went to the stage, his two guards came with him and stood on both his sides.

When the ponies saw him standing on his stage, everypony silenced each other and listen in to what he has to say.

“Ladies and gentlestallions, I would like to thank you all coming here tonight, to celebrate my birthday. You have all been invited here because from day one since I took control, you have shown support to my rule and I thank you for it. The citizens of this city may not like me now, but within a few years they'll come around. Until then, a toast to you all for your support of my reign.”

Everypony clop their hooves in praise for the Count, however when it starts to die down, there was a single loud clop coming from the back. They all turned around and saw a group of purple cloak ponies, with the front one clopping his hooves loudly.

“Truly inspiring words Count.” Heartstone sarcastically said. “Did you wrote that speech yourself or did you hire somepony to write it for you?

“And just who the devil are you?” Count Obsidian demanded.

“Why we're the entertainment for tonight.” Heartstone answered. “Sister Violet, why don't you show the Count your flute. The cloak pony named Violet step out from the group and took out a blowgun. Putting her lips on one end, she blew into it and a small dart projectile flew out the other end. The poisonous dart was speeding towards the Count. Before it could hit its mark, a guard jumped in and took the shot.

The Count saw this happened and immediately bolted out of the room. Leaving his guards to deal with his assailants. Everypony in the room panicked and scrambled to get out of here, the only ones who weren't running was the group of cloak ponies and the Count's guards. 

The guards surrounded the group of mysterious ponies, each one pointing their sharp spears at them. The Captain of the Guard ordered them to drop their weapons and surrender. The Guard Captain was totally oblivious to who he was facing. 

These aren't some regular assassins, these are some of the Cultist's most dangerous warriors. They were once former militias and bandits before the Cult swayed them to their side. They not only bring with them their combat skills and training, but they also bring something new to the battle, unpredictability. 

These Revelers as them call themselves, can act normal in one moment, then they'll go ballistic the next moment. Not only that, the Revelers are also known to use a variety of unusual weapons.

“Alright everypony lets show these guards your instruments!” Heartstone ordered. All the cloak ponies fanned out, each one targeting a surprised guard. 

Honey Bunch, shot an arrow and pierce a guard's skull. Ratchet uses a mallet to break a guard's leg, before hitting him again in the head. Book Smart using a perfume bottle to spray into the guard's faces, causing them to cough violently and tears leaking from their eyes. There was more of this happening, such as throwing a glue filled pie, shoving bake bads down their mouths, and even one pony was using a rubbing chicken.

As this was occurring, Heartstone trotted pass the battle and was making his way to the guard who took the poisonous dart. He found the stallion still alive, but barely. The poison was taking affect and he will die shortly. 

Upon examining the dying guard's face, he noticed how young he was. Barely in his twenties yet. “Sister Violet, get over here quickly!” He shouted to mare, who was in a middle of a fight.

Violet finishes a guard off, before galloping to her Brother. “Yes, Brother Heartstone?”

“Give me the antidote.” He requested.

The cloak mare rummage through her pockets and took a bottle of green liquid. She hoofed to Heartstone, who then pour it down the dying guard's mouth.

“Brother, if I may ask, why are you giving him the antidote?” Violet questioned.

“Because Sister Violet, this young stallion really impressed me tonight. He showed selflessness when he took your poison dart, meant for the Count. He sacrifice himself so that his boss can live. And in my book, that's really admirable.” Heartstone answered, praising the young stallion. “Beside his sacrifice would have been in vain, since the Count will still be dead by tonight.”

The stallion got up from his place and headed off after the Count, leaving the rest of his friends to finish off the remaining guards. Heartstone trotted the long silent hallway, murmuring a musical tune in his head. He spotted two guards stationed outside the Count's room.

One guard charge at him with a spear. Heartstone twirl to evade the attack and swung his crowbar up, hitting his lower jaw and breaking some of his teeth. The second guard came after his companion and swung his sword down. Heartstone immediately blocked it with his crowbar. He then bucked the guard's knee, causing him to fall, leaving an opening for Heartstone to move around and swung the crowbar to the back of the stallion's head. This knocked him out instantly.

Heartstone left the two down guards behind so that he can face the Count alone. He burst through the door and found the old stallion brandishing a rapier.

“I don't know who you are, but you made a grave mistake attacking me in my home, on my own birthday no less!” 

“Well Count, we just saw how dull your party was, so my people decided to liven things up a bit.” Heartstone retorted.

"And your idea to liven things up is an attempt on my life?"

"Of course, what better way to liven things up then an assassination." Heartstone grin. "

“Enough of this nonsense! Your life end here!” Count Obsidian thrust his weapons forward, intending to stab that stallion. 

Heartstone dodge the stab and sunk his teeth onto the Count's arm. Obsidian yelled in pain and shook the pony off, but before dodging the crowbar swing from his foe.

Once again Obsidian tried to stab the pony with his rapier, but like before his opponent evaded it. Heartstone grab some sand from his pocket and threw in the Count's face, blinding him.

Obsidian swung his blade wildly, hoping to keep his assailant away from him, until his eyes are clear of sand. Unfortunately for him, Heartstone broke though his barrage of swings and tackle him to the ground. Before he can get up, Heartstone head butted him, breaking his snout.

Heartstone then picked up his crowbar and began brutally beating him with it. He did this with a big grinning smile on his face. He kept this up for a while, the sound of smacking and bone snapping filled the silent room, and echoes along the hallway. When he finally got tired, the Count was a complete mess. Bruises were everywhere, swelling was forming, and blood was leaking through the few cuts he had on his body.

As gruesome as it was, he was not done with him yet. Picking the injured stallion up, Heartstone carried him to his balcony and place him on the railings. Then with one strong push, Obsidian fell off his balcony and crashed hard on the concrete ground below. Creating a big bloody pile of flesh and bones.

Heartstone stared down at the messy pile before turning around and leaving. He trot out the bedroom door, pass the two down guards and down the long, quiet hallway. He entered the ballroom and found a bunch of dead or injured guards lying around.

“Guess the others are waiting outside for me.” He said to himself.

Heartstone trotted past some more doors and rooms before he reach the front door. Outside the door, the rest of his group was there.

“Bother Heartstone, you're back!” Ratchet exclaimed.

“What took you so long?” Book Smart asked. "We been waiting been waiting out here for you like forever!"

“Well Sister, I was originally going to be done with the Count for a few seconds. But, the guy was so entertaining that I had to stay a little longer." Heartstone answered. "Sorry If I kept you guys waiting."

“Well as long as you have fun sir, then it's alright with me.”

“Oh trust me, it was fun. Now come, it's late and you have school tomorrow.”

The group of cloak ponies trotted down the hill, leaving the mansion behind. The party was over and everypony was heading back home. While the party was short, they knew there are always going to be even more fun parties in the future. Until then they shall wait and plan for the next one. 

> House of Stormwing: Keythong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


KEYTHONG


It was nearly evening for the cloud city of Cloudsdale. The sun was setting and everypony was finishing their work and heading home for the night. Inside the Griffon Embassy, a lone Griffon Ambassador sat on his big revolving chair in his office, staring out the window. Outside he can see both Griffons and Pegasuses alike, leaving the building and going to their back to their respective homes.

On a normal day, the Ambassador would be joining them, but tonight was different. For tonight he has an appointment with somepony. A young scholar seeking knowledge.

He met the stallion while he was on one of his trips to the city. His name was Sky Blitz and he was a historian. A perplexing occupation, since every other young Pegasus he ever meets was part of the Stormwing's Army.

Apparently, Sky Blitz wanted to know about the Keythongs, the distant cousins of the Griffons. The Keythongs were similar to the Griffons, they both have a lion's body with a eagle's head and talons. However, instead of wings the Keythongs have several pointy spines that grows from their back.

Sky Blitz was eager to learn more about the Keythongs, after he heard stories of their exploits from other Pegasus soldiers. He wanted to know who they are and where they come from.

The Griffon Ambassador was now curious, he asked the stallion if he was doing this as part of his job. Blitz explained that this had nothing to do with his occupation and this was purely out of passion.

The words that came out of his mouth was alien to the Griffon Ambassador.

The Griffon Kingdom has never known peace for a long time, It's people are warlike and if they're not fighting someone else, then they'll fight among themselves.

Because of their nature, most roles were created to help the Kingdom in their war efforts. Farms grow foods so it can feed the soldiers. Engineers and mechanics build large war machines to aid the armies in battle. Knowledge was used to find any weakness the enemies might have and exploit it.

To actually hear that this stallion was doing this for the sake of knowledge and nothing else completely put him off. He then remembered that not everything had to be about the war effort and remembered that this pony's country used to be peaceful before the Great Divide.

The Griffon agreed to explain the story of the Keythongs to him, but due to their busy schedule, they had to do this in the evening and at his office.

A knock on his door broke him away from his train of thought.

“Come in.” He said.

A large light gray griffon, wearing armor opened the door. “Sir, a Mr. Sky Blitz is here to see you.”
“Send him in.”

The Griffon guard step aside and allow a teal Pegasus with emerald hair to enter the room. Once he was inside, the guard close the door, leaving the two alone.

“Greeting, Mr. Ambassador.” Sky Blitz raise his right hoof for a shake.

“Please, call me Albion.” The Griffon said as he shook the stallion's hoof with his right talon.

“Mr. Albion, I would like to thank you for sparing a moment of your time to tell me more about the Keythongs.”

“Well Blitz, I'm just happy to help.” He replied. “Now before we get started, I would like to point out that I am no historian and this is purely only from my knowledge of these guys. So I apologize in advance if I don't get anything correct.”

“That's alright sir, I me what you can.” Blitz assured the Griffon Ambassador.

Albion cleared his throat, while Blitz took out a notepad with pencil and awaited for the Griffon to begin.

“The true origin of the Keythongs is still a mystery to us, even to this day we don't know where they came from. Because of this, many Griffons made up stories about how these creatures came to be. One tale talks about a Griffon being curse and turning into a Keythong. Another tale tells about a Keythong being created by magic. The most popular theory is that the first Keythong was an abnormal Griffon that was abandoned by his parents. It survived and bred, producing more of his kind.”

“Before their discovery, the Keythongs were though to be a specie of myth. There was no evidence of their existence, aside from some old drawings and letters. It wasn't until two decades ago when our kind finally met the creatures of legend.”

“Wait, creatures?”

“Oh yeah, turns out there was a lot of them.”

“Our first encounter with them was with one of our colonies. The colonist set up a village in the far north, For while they never seen any Kethongs, until one fateful day a Griffon Hunter attacked one. The Hunter though it was wild beast and tried to kill it. This didn't go so well, as the Hunter later return to village, barely alive. He retold his tale about a beast that lives in the mountain. He warned them about how the beast was large, vicious, and dangerous. The villagers in response, formed a large hunting party, intending to slay this monster.

“After long hours of searching the mountains, they eventually found his home and slay the beast. This prove to be a grave mistake as the rest of his kind found about his murder. The Keythongs attacked the village, in retribution for their slain packmate.”

“The attack caught attention of our King's attention, who responded by sending a regiment to deal with these savage beast. This sparked the event known as the War of the North. A war between the Griffons and Keythongs that lasted for seven long bloody years, before the war itself ended in a stalemate.”

“The Griffon Commander decided to change tactics and switch to fortifying their positions. The Keythongs would continue to waves and waves of their kind to attack, only to be taken down by our defenses. Soon it finally came through their thick heads that they'll never win this way. So they stopped their assault and fall back to their territory. This was the start of the stalemate, as neither side send any forces. Instead they stayed on their turf, waiting to see if the other side was going to attack.”

“Still to this day the north was divided by a border. One side was the Griffons, the other side is the Keythongs. And while the tension between us has started to simmer down, we still have a long way before we can start trusting each other.
“And well that's pretty much all there is to say about the Keythongs.” Albion finished.

“Aw really, is there nothing else you can tell me?” Blitz questioned.

“Nope.”

“Well can at least tell me, how you managed to get the Keythongs to fight on your side?”

“Oh that? No, only a small group of them joined our forces.” Albion corrected. “Our King managed to strike a deal with this group and they agreed to fight on our side.”

“What was the deal?”

“I don't know, but what ever it was it must have been good for even the Keythongs to accept.” The Griffon then looked at the time and saw that it was getting late. “Well Mr. Blitz, looks like our time is up.”

“Yeah, I should really go home myself.” Blitz said as he checked his watch. “Once again sir, I like to thank you for sparing a moment of your time to tell me of the Keythongs.”

“Well It was a pleasure for me to tell you stuff, Mr. Blitz.” Albion replied.

The two left together out of the building, once they were outside they went their separate ways and wave goodbye to each other.

As Albion was flying home, he couldn't help but still think about the deal his people made with the Keythongs. He lied about not knowing what the deal was to the pony. He knew exactly what the terms of their agreement was and shuddered at that though of it. The deal was simply providing fresh meat to the Keythongs, pony meat, since they have taken a great liking to it. 

> House of Earthborn: Lightning's Finest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


LIGHTNING'S FINEST


My name is Sgt. Tornado Spinwheel and I am part of the Earthborn's Pegasus Auxiliary Corp. I'm gonna tell you a story of how me and my company took on the whole Stormwing's strike force and beat them at their own specialty, flight.

For as long as this war has been going on, the House Stormwing always had air superiority. Sure the other houses have flying machines and their own pegasus troops, but the Stormwings are the true masters of the sky.

They have warriors who were practically born up there. They have spent their entire lives flying in the sky, mastering it to perfection. The perfect example of their superiority is their Hoplite unit. Well trained and well exercised, the elite fighter is worth ten normal infantry.

Despite having such an elite fighting force, the downside is that there are few in numbers. Only a few pegasus can become Hoplites and those chosen has to into a long and intense training to become a proper soldier.

Because of this, the most preferred attack style is shock and awe. The pegasi will swoop down from the skies and swarm their enemies. The Stormwings likes to launch surprise attacks on their enemies, catching them off guard, dominating the battlefield.

Their guerrilla like tactics have serve them well over the years since the war started, making them a thorn to the other Houses.

This is where my House came in. While the Earthborn are known to have the largest army of all the Houses, the majority of them are all Earth ponies. Unicorns were not allowed in the house and they only have a small percentage of pegasus on their side.

Our Earthborn leader knew that in order to fight off the Stormwing's forces, they'll need an army of pegasus warriors themselves. And while the Pegasi Auxiliaries did a OK job, they were nothing compared to the elite Hoplites.

Then came in General Lightning Dust. The mare promise our leader that she can train an elite fighting force that can rival the Hoplites. Being a former a member of the Stormwing, Lightning Dust knew of all their training and can use that to train their own pegasus troops.

After getting a approval, Lightning held try outs for all Pegasuses in the area. She made them do basic training and watch them carefully. Afterwards, she picked a handful of pegasuses, including myself, and separated us from the main group.

She dismiss the main group and focus her attention on us. Lighting informs us that she picked us because we have potential to become the most elite force Equestria has ever seen. By the time she's done with us we'll rival the Hoplites both in flight and in combat.

The next couple of months were the roughest for us. We wake up earlier and do training regime for the majority of the day. She trained us in endurance, stamina, strength, agility and mentality. At the end of each day we return to our barracks, tired, sweaty, and incredibly sore.

Despite the hard training, it all finally paid off in the end. All the chosen ponies, myself included, had never felt so great in our lives. We were stronger, faster and more skilled then any other pegasi.

Our celebration was then cut short by the arrival of both General Lightning Dust and our House's leader, Supreme Commander Applejack. The two brought grave news to us. Apparently some ambitious commander is leading a large force of Pegasi Hoplites into our land. They have already cut through our defensive line at the border and are continuing to go in deeper into our territory.

So far none of the ground troops or air troops are able to stop this flock of Pegasi Hoplites raiding in our land. Those that survive barely made it out of there, they recount their tales about the swarm of Pegasi overwhelming them, slaughtering everypony.

Lightning Dust then stepped up and told us that we are being sent to take on this small army of Hoplites and put an end to their raid. At first most of us were pretty nervous, after all we're all fresh out of training. However, Lightning assured us that we are ready for this and that she'll be leading us into battle. This help ease some of the tension of the situation, but a few still have lingering worries.

A couple of hours later, we were station somewhere between New Ponyville and Fillydelphia. Our scouts informed us that the raiding Stormwing's forces attacked New Ponyville, doing a lot of damage to the settlement. Luckily the town held off the invaders, forcing them to move onto their next target, Fillydelphia.

In the mean time General Dust ordered us to gather up as many storm clouds as we can and cover the entire sky with it. When they were finished the land was covered in a vast shade as the clouds block out the sun. Soon the storm clouds unleashed a downpour below, while also at the same time cracking loud thunder sounds.

General Lighting Dust and the rest of us lay hidden down on the ground, waiting for the Stormwing forces to fly by. One pony asked why they couldn't hide up in the clouds, to which Lightning explained that is the obvious place where they'll look. She reasoned that since the Stormwing are flying so high in the sky, they won't have to worry about a ground attack. Especially not in this rain where a lot of our cannons will be useless. So they're only focus on looking out for any air attackers.

We waited on the ground for hours, we hid under some foliage that offered little protection against the rain. We stared up into the sky, watching the lightning lighting up the dark sky while the rain dropped on our faces.

We continued waiting until something appeared in the sky. It was hard to see since it was dark, but when the lightning cracked, we saw a couple of dark silhouettes of pegasuses. After some more lightning, we saw a whole swarm of pegasus silhouettes flying in the dark sky.

General Lightning Dust gave the signal and we all burst from our cover and flew upwards. Aiming our weapons at the unsuspecting Stormwing's Hoplites.

Our commander reminded us of the strategy we talked about earlier and told us stick with it. The plan was to strike hard and fast while using the bright blinding light from the lightning and the loud cracking sound from the thunder. We are to take out as many as we can before those Stormwing ponies knows what's going on.

As we flew nearer, I aimed my spear at a white coat Hoplite. When the lightning crack, I impale the stallion with my weapon. I push the stallion upwards, his dying scream was blocked out by the  thunder.

I tore the weapon out of the stallion chest and drop his body. I then flew downward, timing my attack with the lightning. I impale another stallion in the back as I went flew down, the sound of his spine breaking was heard as my spear penetrated his armor and back.

I looked around and saw the rest of my guys doing the same thing as I was. Impaling a Hoplite, pulling their weapon out of them and moving onto the next Hoplite. This process went really smoothly, but unfortunately it wouldn't last.

The Storming Hoplites soon discovered us and alert everypony. With our element of surprise gone, we engage the enemy in aerial combat. Now I might some a bit cocky, but I think General Lightning Dust was wrong. We're not equal to a Hoplite, we're better then them.

I stab a Hoplite in his chest with my spear. I then kicked him off it, just in time to evade a another Hoplite charging at me. After killing him I took his spear and started duel wielding with both weapon. I slashed, I gutted, and stabbed as many Hoplites I could count. Eventually my arms were getting tired so I threw the Hoplite's Spear at another Hoplite, piercing through her neck. I watch the body drop from the sky before resuming the battle.

The battle wage on, with many pegasuses dropping from the sky. We lost some of our own, but the Stormwing lost more. The ground below is littered with bloody splattered bodies of Hoplites that fell from above.

Near the end of the battle all that was left of the Stormwing force was the commander and his two troops. General Lightning Dust confronted the commander with two troops of her own, myself and some other guy.

We engage them and I easily defeated my opponent by stabbing him in the face. The other guy slayed his opponent by sneaking to back and slice his wings off. Now all that was left was the Storming Commander and the General.

The enemy Commander thrust his spear forward, but Lightning dodged it and headbutted the stallion, breaking his snout. He reeled back and raise his long weapon up, intending to block his opponent's next attack. Lightning swung her sword down and sliced through the Commander's weapon and slice off his right arm. As he yelled in pain, the mare wasn't done with him yet, she brought her blade upward, leaving a long slash mark on his chest.

Just as he was about to fall and join the rest of his troops, General Lightning Dust grabbed his left hoof.  The Commander looked up in disbelief that she was saving him, but his eyes widen upon seeing the blood stained steel of her sword, point down on him. She thrust the blade down into his mouth, cutting the inside of his throat.

The Stormwing Commander gurgle for a bit before the life from his eyes vanished. General Lightning Dust then pulled the sword out and let go of the dead pegasus, watching him disappear into the ground. 

With his death she declared our victory over the invading Stormwing forces. We too also cheered in our successful battle. We then all started flying back home, glad that all that training paid off. Lightning Dust will inform Applejack of our success. We'll then be congratulated and maybe even promoted. One thing for sure, after today Applejack will order up more soldiers like us, more of Lightning's Finest.



THE END

> House of Moon and Star: Marksmages
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


MARKSMAGES


Laying hidden in some tall grass, two Unicorns from the Moon and Star were observing a refugee camp from afar. They looked through their tripod scopes and saw that the camp was in total disarray. The camp was full of trotting undead roaming around the camp. In the mix of this, they caught glimpses of Pegasus soldiers slaughtering the undead ponies.

These Pegasi were from the House Stormwing. They were sent here to do one simple thing, exterminating the entire camp. That includes both the dead and the living.

Before all this happened, the refugee camp was like any other camp. Overcrowded, filthy, smelled awful, and always lacking in any supplies. It was a den of violence and disease waiting to happen happened. This particular one, lies in the Northern Expansion, territory belonging to the Stormwing House.

It was just another day at the camp, except for this one stranger. This pony wore a raggedy old cloak that covered much of his body. The inhabitants of the camp didn't recognize him and tended to avoid him. This went on until the cloak stallion suddenly drop dead. A group of refugee then began looting the dead stallion of anything valuable.

As they were going through his stuff, they were totally unaware of his eyes opening. The dead stallion cast his lifeless eyes on the pony looting his body and sunk his teeth onto his neck.

From that single bite, the entire camp fell.

Once the Stormwing got word of this, they sent a garrison of troops down there to contain the outbreak before it spreads. They were given the order to slay everything in the camp, including the survivors. Can't risk letting them live if they're infected.

While they are doing that, the two Unicorns in hiding continued to watch from afar. The two Unicorns are a special unit called, Marksmages. They were once Legionnaires, but got promoted after showing their incredible skills with magic missile.

“Do you see him?” The Orange unicorn said to her partner. 

“No, Starline I don't see him.” The blue unicorn answered.

“Well keep looking Dawn Breaker, we gotta find this guy.”

The two were here on a mission. According to their intel, a pegasus commander was somewhere down there, leading the operation. Their main objective is to assassinate the commander. His death will give their House an advantage in the upcoming battle.

As they scanned the camp, Starline spotted something and fired a spell from her horn.

“Did you got him?” Dawn asked.

“No, just one of his Lieutenants.” She responded and resumed scanning. Also down in the refugee camp, the commander brought his Lieutenants with him. While their main target was the commander, their optional objective was to take down his Lieutenants. Killing the pegasus commander was still their top priority, but since they are with him, they might as well kill as many as they could.

Looking through his scope, Dawn found another Lieutenant. He was able to distinguished him from the regular troops by the different shade of color of his uniform. Once he aligned his targeting reticule, the stallion fired the magic missile. The missile sailed across the field, entering over the camp, and then hitting it mark. The pegasus's head blew up, sending fleshy chucks flying all around.

Blood began gushing out, as his headless body dropped to the ground. The ghouls he was fighting, all gathered around, feasting on his dead body. They sunk their teeth in and tore out large pieces of flesh out. They chewed the flesh for a bit before swallowing it down and resume their feeding.

Dawn watch all this from his spot and almost threw up. That gory scene was now imprinted into his memories. The unicorn stallion took a deep breath and shake it off, he still got a job to do.

The two Marksmages continued to look for the commander, but only found ghouls and pegasus soldiers. They would occasionally spot a lieutenant and quickly took them out with ease.

However, they been doing this for a while now and they still haven't spotted this commander.

“Dammit, where is this bastard?” Starline frustratingly questioned. “We scanned the entire camp and the commander is nowhere to be found!”

“Perhaps, he already died?” Dawn suggested. “Perhaps one of those ghouls got him.”

“And do you have proof of that?” Starline retorted.

“Well no, but-”

“Then he's not dead.” She quickly interrupted him. “Even if he did died from one of the ghouls we need confirmation of his death. We can't just go back to the House and say we think he died.”

“So what do you suggest we do then?”

“Well Dawn, looks like we're going to go into the camp and find our target.”

“In there with those undead freaks!” 

“Would you rather we return and tell them we only assume that our target died?”

Dawn paused to think about this for a second before taking a deep breath. “Shit, let's just go.”

Both unicorns stoop up and rose above the tall grass. They then galloped across the fields, heading for the ruined refugee camp.

After taking out the perimeter guards, the two Marksmages entered the camp. The place was tight, lots of enclose area and narrow passage ways. This kind of environment was most suited for a close quarters fighter, not for range soldiers like them.

The two travel around the camp, sneaking pass many ghouls and pegasus alike. As these two sides battle, the two assassins sneak passed them. The only time they ever killed anyone was when they had to or when their target was alone.

While sneaking, they eavesdrop on a conversation between two pegasus soldiers. The two Hoplites has just recently slayed a small group of undead, evidence by all the dead bodies surrounding the two warriors.

“How many of these things are there?” One of them asked. “If feels like no matter how many we kill, they just keep on coming.”

“Look doesn't matter, we still got a job to here.” The other pegasus said to his comrade. “Do you still have that first-aid kid?”

The pegasus answered by showing him a small white box with a red cross on it. “This is for Commander Harshwind right?”

“Yeah that for him.” The other pegasus clarified. “Commander Harshwind needs it badly.” The two Hoplites then left the scene and headed for their commander. Both were unaware of the two unicorns tailing them.

Starline and Dawn Breaker followed the two pegasus from the ground as they both flew in the air. They kept up to them, until they saw them land down somewhere. The two hastily tried them again and almost missed them, but thankfully Starline spotted them entering a tent with a large turned over wagon sitting in front of the entrance. The two silently approach the entrance and listen closely as they heard soft talking within.

“Commander, please relax, I can't apply this bandage if you're struggling.”

“Just hurry up and do it, I need to get back out there.”

“No offence sir, but you're in no condition to fight.”

“Are you a doctor private?”

“No, but she is.”

“She a medic, not a doctor.”

“Well actually...”

As the group of pegasi bickered inside. Starline move her hoof around, signalling something to Dawn. The stallion understood what she was saying and prepared himself. With both of their horns glowing, the two rushed in and pick their targets.

Inside the tent there are four ponies. Two of them are the Hoplites they followed here, the third was a short mare, and the fourth one was their target. Commander Harshwind, a purple pegasus wrapped with a lot of bandages around his chest and left arm.

Before they could even react, the Marksmages fired their spells. Dawn took out the mare, blasting her face with his magical bolt. Starline took down both Hoplites with a single bolt, conveniently the two stood in a perfect line for her to take them down.

With the mare dead, Dawn moved his horn to the Commander. The stallion's eyes were wide by the sudden attack and looked straight in the eye of his killer. Dawn stare at the Commander for a brief second before ending his life. His magical missile struck his head, tearing it into pieces.

After their surprise attack, all that was left inside was four dead bodies, with one of them missing his head. Once they confirmed his death, both unicorns left the bloody scene behind.

As got they trotted out, they found themselves surrounded by a swarm of undead ponies. These wretched ghouls smelled the bloody mess inside the tent and were lured in by it. What they didn't expect to find was some fresh meat.

“Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out.” Dawn commented as he saw no opening in the horde for them to escape through.

“Looks like it.” Starline replied. “You ready?”

Dawn charged his horn. “Yep.” He answered.

Both Marksmages began blasting the ghouls away with their magic. Despite heavy casualties, the undead horde was unrelenting and continued marching forward, trotting into the slaughter. 


THE END

> House of Whitegold: Whitegold Militia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


WHITEGOLD MILITIA


“Come on you maggots, hit him harder!” A drill sergeant shouted to the two stallions practice fighting with each other.

The red one followed the drill sergeant instruction and struck his sparring partner in the leg with his wooden pole. 

“Ow, shit!” The blue stallion exclaim, feeling the stinging pain his buddy just delivered onto his left front leg. “That fucking hurts, you dick!” He angrily said.

“Hey don't get pissy with me, Springer!” The red stallion retort. “Not my fault you're such a pansy that you can't deal with a little pain.”

“That's it, Harp!” The blue stallion yelled and rush at him with his wooden pole.

Springer threw his weapon at Harp, who just duck to avoid it. However, the red stallion didn't expect Springer to tackle him. Both ponies fell to the ground, violently began punching each other.

“Alright, alright break it up you two!” The drill sergeant separated the two stallions from each other by using his magic. “The hell was that? Are you two soldiers or highschoolers? Cause this isn't the school, this is the Militia training camp!”

The drill sergeant then release them from his magic. The unicorn stallion then turn to face the rest of the ponies. “Listen up everypony!” He yelled, earning him the attention of everypony around. “Commander Sassaflash, is coming here to inspect all you new recruits and see for far you gone in your training. So putting it simply, don't you dare make me look bad. If you do, then it is ten laps around The Wall!”

“The Whole Wall, sir” One pony asked.

“Make that twenty laps!” The drill sergeant barked back.

Everypony in the room mentally groan in their heads. It was bad enough that they were all drafted to join the Whitegold Militia and force into intensive training, but a lap around The Wall would take all day.

The Wall was a large structure, located only in the fortress city of Manehattan. Aside from providing protection, The Wall also serve to separate the nobles from the commoners. While the rich live in the Inner City, poor had to live in the slums known as the Undercity.

It is there in the Undecity, is where majority of the Whiltegold Militias comes from. Drafted into service, the poor ponies had no choice but to follow the order and headed towards The Wall.

After calming down, both Harp and Springer join with the rest of their fellow recruit. They listen in as their drill sergeant explained the importance of the Commander visitation.
Suddenly a pegasus pony flew in overhead and landed next the drill sergeant. The mare said something to the stallion, but because her voice was so low, none of the ponies heard it except the drill sergeant. 

“She's coming now!” He blurted out loud. The mare nodded her head and the drill sergeant turn to face everyone. “Get ready ponies! Commander Sassaflash is coming and she expects the best out of you!”


6 Hours Later


Both Harp and Springer laid on the ground of tired, exhausted and panting heavily. They weren't the only one doing this. The rest of new recruits did same thing, laying scattered around the ground, giving their sore bodies the time to relax.

When Commander Sassaflash arrived, the drill sergeant showed her how much progress they have made. The mare however, was not impressed and decide to make the new recruits do a new training exercise. So for the next six hours, Commander Sassaflash worked them hard. 

She made galloped back in forth through a rigorous obstacle course. Then she made them all lift incredibly heavy barrels and carried them to one side then back. Lastly came combat training. The mare knew that they would all be too tired to properly fight, but she wanted to see who could still still had enough energy left to put up a fight.

During this whole ordeal, Sassaflash didn't share her thoughts with anyone. She mentally record everything she saw in her mind and added some side notes as well. Once she concluded the training, she silently left the area, leaving all the new recruits to relax.

“My goddess that was some hard training.” Harp stated. 

“You can say that again, Harp.” Springer commented.

“Seriously, what is that mare's problem? Doesn't she know we're just common folks, we're not use to these intense training.”

“Commander Sassaflash is preparing you guys for the coming battle.” Said a new voice from behind the two.

Both Springer and Harp turn their head and saw a yellow stallion standing next to them. 

“Hey, Hopper.” Springer greeted to which the yellow stallion wave at him.

“What do you mean she's preparing us for the coming battle?” Harp questioned. “Why should we fight, isn't that what those mercenaries are for?”

“The one thing you must always remember about mercenaries is that they are soldiers for hire. Meaning they fight for the highest bidder.”

“Yeah and House Whitegold are the wealthiest of all.” Harp pointed out.

“That may be true, but there are somethings worth more then money.” Hopper stated. “Look at the state of our country, sooner or later our economy will crash. And when it does, our bits will be worthless. Soon the mercenaries that fought on our side with either abandoned us or betray us to the other faction.  Worse case scenario, they might even try to take over our city. Hell they can since half our military force is made up of their kind.”

Hopper then stare Harp's face, with a look of seriousness. “So that is why we train, so that when the time comes, we'll be ready to face them head on.”

“Jeez Hopper, would you cut the crap, you sound like a nut.” Said the res stallion. “I mean seriously, the economy will collapse? Yeah, this whole divide thing has been going on for fifteen now and the nobles are still rich, living in paradise in their luxurious homes in the Inner City.”

“Hey I'm just stating it out, sooner of later those mercenaries will turn on us. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a month, hell maybe not even in a year, but one day they will stab us in the back.”

“Yeah that will probably the day when pigs start flying.” Harp remarked.

Springer decided to change the subject before this goes any further. “But in all serious though, Sassaflash work us too hard. I mean for goddess sake we're not the soldier type.”

“Hey you think she was bad, she was way better then the last Commander.” Hopper said. “Now that guy was a bastard.”

“Really? Did this guy made everypony train harder?”

“Oh no, none of that.” Hopper corrected. “He just sends you off to your death.”


---


Long ago, before Sassaflash was a commander, the young pegasus mare was just a lieutenant. The commander of the Whitegold Militia back then was a noble unicorn stallion named, High Standard.

Commander Standard cared little for the commoners that filled in the ranks of the militia. He saw them beneath him and believe to be expendable. In fact, during his time the Whitegold Militia suffered a huge amount of casualties under his command. This was due to him just using them as cannon fodders in his skirmishes.

A lot more ponies would've died, but thankfully Lt. Sassaflash was there. She made her goal to save the lives of as many ponies she could. The mare knew some military strategies and with this knowledge, she lead her comrade to victory with little loss on their side.

Commander Standard, had no problem letting the mare do what she does. After all her success will be credited to him and will make him look good to his superiors. 

This went on for some times. Commander Standard will give out a mission and Sassaflash would come up with a plan to deal with it, while also keeping casualties low. However, conflict soon erupted when Standard was now sending the militias on out right suicidal missions. Even if they do some how succeed, they were going to suffer a lot of losses.

Knowing that this would not end will either way, she abandoned the mission. This did not bold well with Commander Standard, who chastised her for disobeying him. He warns her that if she does this again, he was going to send all the milita ponies, to their death.

Fortunately for her, she didn't need to worry about his threat anymore. A few days later, news of Commander High Standard betrayal got out. Apparently, agents of the House discovered letters from the Cult of Laughter in his office. The letters were about the cult sending instruction to the Commander, instructions about weakening the House's control in the Undercity, this will allow them to send in their agents to rile up the inhabitants to declare a revolution. This would then weaken the House even further, weak enough for them to move in easily control what remains.

The agents then arrested High Standard for treason and was taken away. With him gone, this left a vacant spot that needed to be filled. After reading up on Lt. Sassaflash and hearing about all of her achievements, the higher ups felt that she was more then qualified for this position so they promoted her.

Lt. Sassaflash was now Commander Sassaflash. The youngest pony to ever achieve that rank.


---


“And that was how Sassaflash, became the Commander of the Whitegold Militia.” Hopper concluded his tale.

“Wow, can't believe a cult member infiltrated our ranks.” Springer commented.

“Yeah and reach to a high ranking no less.” Harp added.

“Well good thing he was discovered before he could do any more damage.” The yellow stallion then looked up and notice that they were alone. “Shit, you guys better head back to your barracks before you get into trouble.”

Both Harp and Springer turn their head and saw all the ponies were gone. “Oh crap, come Springer we got to get back or else the drill sergeant will have our asses!”

Harp and Springer quickly stood up and hastily galloped back to their barracks.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in The Wall. Commander Sassaflash was in her office, doing some paper works. She lean forward to her desk, writing things down on each paper before her. This posture was not exactly good for her back, so it no wonder why she felt her back aching.

Deciding to take a break, Sassaflash lean back and rested on her big comfy chair. She turn her chair slightly to the left so that she can look out the window. The sky was bright orange yellow, the sun was setting and soon night will take over.

As the mare stared out the window, her mind begins to wander off. Her mind drifted to the past, back when she was still a Lieutenant. 

Everypony knew of the story about Commander High Standard betraying the House to the Cult of Laughter. However, what nopony knows was that she set him up. 

Sassaflash, wrote those letters herself. She made sure to change the style of her writing, less somepony recognizes it. Once the letters were done, she knew that she can't simply tell her superiors about this, so she hid it in Standard's office and spread rumours of his involvement with the cult.

Soon the rumours reach into the ears of the Whitegold's agents, who then in turn decide to check if the rumour were true or not. To their shock they found the letters Sassaflash planted, and arrest the commander on the spot.

Sassaflash, watch the commander being dragged away. She smiled to herself, taking pride at what she has done and felt justified for doing so. Commander High Standard may not been a traitor, but that doesn't mean he was a good guy. He was a terrible stallion, sending poor ponies to their death. 

Her trip down memory lane has ended, now she was back into her office still continuing to stare out her window.  Sassaflash, then went back to the papers and continue off where she last stop. The mare wanted to finish this quickly so that she focus on training her troops.

After the mess Commander High Standard left behind, Sassaflash had a lot of work ahead of herself. She was going to turn these recruits into the best soldiers, the House has ever seen.