> TCB: Thera
>  by Joe Toon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Ultimatum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 4, 2020

To Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria, Princess of the Sun, Empress of Equis and Protector of the Faith of Harmony,

It has come to our attention that over the past five years since our worlds connected via Dimensional Portal that relations between our respective worlds have soured to hostilities due to what has been revealed. 

Five years ago when your world of Equis connected to our world of Thera, I must admit I had my doubts that your kind could pose a possible threat, due to your values of virtues such as Harmony, Friendship and what have you. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a world of magical talking ponies that resemble a little girl’s dream would have such insidious policies in regards of assimilating immigrants in the most heinous of methods; nor have I ever imagined in my long experience of witnessing horrors that have threatened mankind would creatures that appear so innocent plot such a treacherous agenda against us that rival even the traitors who plunged our world in the hundred years conflict that was the Great War. 

I am of course referring to your “secret project” that is the Conversion Bureau. Turning our citizens who trusted you; who put their faith that you are as every bit as harmonious as you claim to be; who believed that for once, an encounter with an extra-dimensional species doesn’t result in bloodshed, into shadows of their former selves; converted into ponies by your perverted science (or as you would call it, “magic”). This act of betrayal of our trust will not stand.

We of the League of Nations of Thera and our respective citizens do not take betrayal kindly. Never again since the revelation of the traitors within our ranks known as the New World Order will we tolerate betrayal of any form. And what you have done against us pales in comparison to any betrayal of trust experienced since. 

A general order of mobilisation has been sounded to our colonies, galactic allies and various protectorates to converge on our homeworld to answer to the threat that is your nation, your world. This takes time, you understand; so therefore while we are gathering strength, I’d advise you to do the smart thing and follow our list of demands.




Formally apologise to the League of Nations, its allies, and protectorates for your crimes.

The entire Equestrian military is to demobilise and disarm. A five thousand mile radius around the portal site from the Equestrian side is to be a demilitarised zone.

Revert all converted citizens of Thera back to their original forms without any side effects whatsoever.

Return said citizens to us safely and unharmed.

Pay reparations for damages caused to the converted citizens and the resources that were spent for this incident.

Abdicate from your position of power and dismantle the Conversion Bureau. 

All those involved in the project are to be investigated by the Bureau of Inter-dimensional Issues (BIDI) and will be held accountable for their crimes against humanity.

Once all the previous demands are met, close the portal and get the Hell off our planet.


These are our Ultimatum and are non-negotiable. Failure to comply or respond within 24 hours will be taken as an act of aggression and a state of war shall be declared between our two worlds.

Make no mistake Princess, the terms and demands we set before you are generous at best and merciful at worst for such acts of betrayal. Normally, we would demand unconditional surrender and complete vassalisation under our protectorate’s treaty. However, due to the revelation of your dire situation that is your dwindling population crisis now known to us, as well as other circumstances that have come to our attention; we can afford such leniency. 

Do not mistake our intentions as a sign of weakness as many have done throughout our long history of tribulations. Thera has endured suffering you couldn’t possibly fathom in your sugar-coated world of hypocrisy. Not only have we survived the Great War, we endured five separate Xenos invasions (three of which are from beyond our dimension of reality), countless incursions and acts of terror at the hands of the traitors known as the New World Order, and are currently holding the line within our galaxy against threats you or your sister couldn’t even dream of in your worst nightmares. The worst your world has endured by comparison is a coalition war from every nation against Equestria that lasted less than a year, which resulted in the brutal subjugation of all member races of the coalition and a mass conversion of half the percentage of each race.

I admit, we were either blindsided or chose to turn a blind eye to the going ins and outs of your nation and ultimately your world. Be it from bribes, blackmail, seduction, abduction, conversion or outright murder, we have long tolerated your treacherous acts against creation itself. No longer. The line ends here Princess, I pray to almighty God that you chose the right decision, less you incur his wrath through our hands.

Signed Riza Truman,
Minister General of the League of Nations of Thera.




23 hours later, Princess Celestia responded.



To Minister General Riza Truman and the member nations of the League of Nations of Thera,

We have taken great care and consideration to your list of demands and must regretfully state that we cannot agree to your demands, thus regretfully, we have gone ahead and passed our formal declaration of war against you. 

Now, we understand the gravity of the situation and have taken everything into consideration, which include several omissions you failed to address in your letter in regards to your circumstances of your leniency. While your terms can be considered generous or merciful, we cannot help but note the desperation in your tone that screams empty threats. One has not ruled for thousands of years without noticing a threat to sound intimidating to their enemies to hide a clear weakness. While we admit that your technology dwarfs ours by at least two centuries, your forces currently guarding within your planet are understrength due to your own overextension across your galaxy and protectorates. 

You answer to threats constantly that you rely on volunteers across your own galaxy and other realities to supplement your shortage of manpower due to a dwindling population by the aforementioned conflicts such as the Great War and alien invasions. Your paltry Homeguard are trained to respond against small scale incursions and acts of terrorism by this New World Order and other aliens, and are usually led by old, worn out veterans, raw recruits and undisciplined volunteers. Not exactly ideal to resist a full scale invasion.

By the time you received this letter, the entire Equestrian military had launched their offensive and secured the portal site on your end. Perhaps you all should take time to read our list of demands before you sue for peace attached to this letter:



Every branch of the military within the planet of Thera will surrender to the Equestrian military and her allies.

All Theran forces outside of Thera will not engage against the Equestrian military.

The League of Nations of Thera will dissolve and their colonies and protectorates be turned over to the authority of the Equestrian governing body.

All leading authorities of each member nation are to resign and/or abdicate and their nation’s state affairs be turned over to the authority of the Equestrian governing body.

All religious, cultural and scientific institutions are to be closed, converted and/or turned over to the Equestrian governing body.

One half of the Thera’s population are to be converted into ponies.


I hope you will find these terms to be reasonable, considering your situation and as a reply for that insult within your demands from your letter.

Please understand, just like you have pointed out from your letter about our dwindling population due to our fertility rates; when extinction is an issue, all alternatives are acceptable.

Signed Princess Celestia,
Diarch of Equestria.
> The Declaration
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 5, 2020

We interrupt this program with an important announcement. All broadcasts are hereby cancelled until further notice. You will now hear the statement from the Minister General.

I am speaking to you from the League of Nations’ Conference Hall of the Island of Malta. Last night at exactly 12 pm Standard Theran time, the League’s ambassador in Canterlot has handed the Equestrian Government a final note; stating that unless we heard from them by the same time today this afternoon, that they are prepared to meet our demands for their crimes against our citizens, a state of war would exist between us. 

I have to tell you now that not only have no such undertaking been received, but that the Equestrian Government replied with a declaration of war just an hour before their military seized control of the Portal site located within the Persian Kingdom and the surrounding countryside; and that consequently, our world is at war with Equestria. You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me, that after all their talks and promise of Harmony, Friendship and Unity, we were so heinously betrayed by their true agenda; that is to convert our citizens into their own species, violating our most sacred rights as God’s creation. How it is althemore so, that despite our best efforts to offer reasonable and honourable terms to retain peace between our two worlds, it has come to naught. The same could not be said from the Equestrian Government, who made their intentions perfectly clear that they will settle for nothing less than the continued violation of our right to be human. This sentiment is extended to the millions of Xeno immigrants who share the privileges of citizenship to the nations within the league they now call home.

And although Princess Celestia declared many days ago when the truth of our citizens being converted was revealed, that they chose so from their own free will; our intelligence agencies and first hand accounts from converted citizens who managed to escape, say otherwise. No such choice was offered and therefore no such freedom was given. They stated that the Equestrian authorities even went so far as to abduct them in broad daylight to conversion facilities within cities and towns under the guise of “protection” or “suspicious activity”. This act of cruelty was also shared among their non-pony residents within their world, many of whom remained silent or have been silenced before the revelation. 

These actions show clearly that this mare and her administration will not stop their practice of using tyranny and force to gain their will. They can only be stopped by force. And all the members of the League are here today in fulfilment of our obligation to protect the citizenry within and without Thera: To defend our rights, freedom and humanity from those who would see us enslaved, oppressed or destroyed, as we have done many times before. 

Just as we have resisted the Starcatchers, the Mauradans, the Kalderin Swarm, the Galactic Reclaimers, the Imari Imperium, and the traitors of the New World Order; we will resist these invaders, so help us God. I trust everyone will do their duties with calmness and courage. At such a moment as this, the support from every citizen within every nation is a source of profound encouragement to us. 

After I finish speaking, a series of detailed announcements shall be addressed across your respective nations. Take heed carefully and diligently. The Council of the League shall turn over its civil authority to the Marshals and Generals as they make plans to carry out the will of the League in this endeavour. And with your support within our Homeguard and Volunteers, both in military and civil defence, we may weather this storm. Be it from our ground, naval and cosmo forces, hospitals, churches, foundries, factories, transport, utilities, or aid relief; your contribution to your duties will be vital for this conflict. 

Now may God bless us all, and may he defend the righteous. For it is an evil we shall brace ourselves against: Treachery, brute force, oppression, and desecration of all that is holy. And against them I am certain that right shall prevail. For God, Kin and Country. THERA VICTORIA!

That was the end of the Minister General’s message. Please await the announcements from your respective nations in regards to your instructions to join the national services; or for the affected areas, to seek shelter, aid stations, evacuation centres, and militia defence.



All rise to attention! Princess Celestia is to announce a proclamation to all subjects!

My dearest little ponies, I am saddened to inform you all that in our attempt to de-escalate tensions with the Nations of Thera, we have failed. And through careful considerations taken, we have declared war on the League of Nations of Thera. It is unfortunate and regrettable that it has come to this, but we stand by this decision because this is more than about ideals, beliefs, faiths and race: This is about survival. I will not lie, the decline within our population that has been rumoured for the past few decades is true. It has been true over the past few centuries. Our fertility rates from each passing generation has slowly been on decline. Rough estimates have pointed out that our inability to naturally reproduce will happen within the next two centuries.

What isn’t true however is the false accusation of Riza Truman and the rest of the league’s council that we have forcefully ordered the conversion of Theran citizens into ponies. The humans and other species under their citizenship who converted did so by their own free will as a condition to immigrate into our fair land of Equestria. A choice many of them may have regretted, but a choice nonetheless. And it was a choice that many more were accepting. The humans we’ve apprehended were merely suspected of espionage from the league itself and we’ve made careful procedures to return them back to the other side of the portal after determining their intent. An action we’ve turned a blind eye to but were used as an excuse to justify their suspicions of what was painfully simple.

However, that was not enough for the league’s leadership. Not only have they condemned our actions to defile what is considered sacred to them, but they sent us a list of demands with a threat of war should those demands not be met. The demands were; to return their converted citizens to them, reverted; to pay for the damages for their conversion; to have my sister and I abdicate from our positions of rule; to hold all involved in the conversion of Therans to ponies; and most laughable of all, after all is said and done, to close the portal and get out of their world. As many of you could tell, these demands are not only unreasonable; they are ridiculous. Words cannot begin to express what is wrong with these demands. 
It matters not, however. War is inevitable. And if we are to survive this war, we need to strike first. The nations of Thera are centuries ahead of us technologically and tactically, which is why it was necessary to launch a preemptive to cover as much ground as possible to negotiate reasonable terms for peace. As many of you know, war is not in our blood but the world from the other side was born from war. I am sure that you can all understand our reasoning to go ahead with this conflict. It is a bitter reality but we must endure. 

Rest assured, I have with full confidence that we shall prevail. With the Elements on our side, four alicorns at the helm, a well disciplined force already making headways across the landscape of Thera and our divine faith in Harmony, we shall prevail. If everypony is to keep to their duties and contribute to the cause, we shall prevail.

For Equestria!
> A Conflict of Interest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 27, 2020
Two weeks after the start of the war

To the rulers of Equestria and its nobility,

Let us be the first to congratulate you on your successful capture of Egypt and the Suez Canal, which in effect should guarantee your inevitable victory against the nations of Thera. We hope that the blueprints of Theran weapons, the maps that mark the locations of various Theran Airshipyards and military bases, and the supply of Arzen crystals were sufficient enough to kick the war effort into high gear to further your conquest. We must say, what took the Starcatchers a hundred years and a half to prepare and still fail took you two weeks to eventually succeed.

Taking Thera’s very own silver bullet to everything from energy shields to thick armour, and using it against them was a tactic that we often find ourselves short due the inability to mine (or for your case, cultivate). It is still a wonder how your rock farms manage to grow what are essentially highly volatile lava crystals. 

However, we’ve come to the part of the letter where we inform you that we couldn’t help but notice a certain conflict of interest between our respective factions. I believed it was agreed upon that in exchange for the technology, information and Arzen, on top of a percentage of the planet’s population converted and yours to keep; you will not interfere with our agents and you will deliver the ownership of Thera to us. 

Do not take us for fools. We have been watching you with interest for the last five years. We know of your plans for Thera and her colonies. We know of your sudden interest in mankind, particularly from certain reports of your ponies that mingled with them over the past five years. We know what you did to one of our most promising agents, callsign Cozy Glow, or rather what’s left of her. We know you plan to break our deal just as you betrayed the League of Nations.

Make no mistake Equestrians, Thera is ours by right and you have no claim to it, whatsoever. It is the seat of humanity and must therefore be ruled by humans; not by some mythical creatures with the resemblance of children’s toys. We have waited for a thousand years to claim this world and we will not have you steal what is rightfully ours.

Now you may be wondering; the organisation that was infamous for selling out humanity to the Starctachers is arguing with us about honouring deals? Oh the irony! We believe you have misjudged us. Yes, we betrayed humanity to the Starcatchers but we were promised ownership of the planet in exchange for its resources. Yes, we sparked the Great War and kept it going for more than a hundred years for our Xeno benefactors but in exchange we were guaranteed the technology to travel across realities. And yes, we caused the deaths of more than a third of the world’s population over the course of a hundred years but in exchange we gained a population that is made easier to control. All a small price to pay. 

Yes, we are devils in our own right. We strike deals most favourable to us, but make no mistake, we always hold our end of the bargain. You made a deal with us and you intend to break it. And if we devils keep true to our side of the bargain what does that make you, Equestrians?

As the saying goes; make a deal with the devil and you owe him your soul. Break his deal, and he breaks you. You would deny us what is owed, so therefore we will deny you your victory. Consider this our declaration of war against you. We will break you from the shadows. We will sabotage your weapons. We will destroy your economy. We will turn the population against you. We will steal your experiments and use them for our own. And as you watch everything you laboured crumble beneath you, know that it was we who caused your demise.

You are probably thinking to yourselves; how far will we go? How much damage could we possibly cause? You will know sooner than you think. In fact, it has already begun. Inside these letters addressed to each and every one of you contains a very deadly poison called Anthrax. As you are reading this, you have no doubt touched this letter. Or for those who are holding this with magic, breathe on it. If you are quick enough you might just find a way to cleanse yourselves from the poison before it chokes you from the inside. But for those of you that realised far too late, best of luck.

With full regards, The Shadow King.
All hail the New World Order.




That same week, more than half of the ruling class of Equestria including Luna was poisoned by Anthrax spores. The attack claimed the lives of 28 victims with 79 more in critical condition. This was just the first of the many acts of Terrorism by the New World Order against Equestria.

> Xeno News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


(Static)



Xenonion News Network opener plays out




Anchor Unity Albright:


Breaking News! The Theran homeworld of the League of Nations of Thera has been invaded by the extra-dimensional nation of Equestria. After five years of tolerating the magical extra-dimensional ponies with questionably naive trust, relations between the two worlds turned hostile as recently discovered evidence came to light that the Equestrian Government had been in fact converting Theran citizens into ponies. 



As adorable and ridiculous as it sounds, the League of Nations of Thera was at an uproar from this revelation with shared sympathies coming from two of their allies, the Holy Order of Sabak and the Commonwealth of Caste. Tensions escalated to a full scale war as Equestrian Forces pushed through the dimensional portal with little resistance. 



We are now going live on the front line with Xakk Nakk. Xakk, what is the situation on the front?




Persian city of Persepolis. 


Gunfire and spellfire are seen and heard in the background.







Xakk Nakk (War correspondent):


(Translated Subtitles):


It is absolutely wicked here, Unity! Theran Homeguard and IUVA forces have been pushed back by adorably deadly ponies! (Points to a large, moving object in the background) As you can see there the Equestrians launched a giant mechanical titan, slaughtering the local forces into oblivion! The Therans couldn’t believe their eyes that these cute killers could produce these giant, walking artillery! It’s RADICAL!




Anchor Unity Albright:


Thank you Xakk Nakk. Keep us informed on the developments.




Xakk Nakk:


(Translated Subtitles):


Will do, Unity! Whoooooohoooo!! That’s right you dumb apes! Die!!!!



(Static)





Commonwealth News opener plays out.




Announcer:


This is Commonwealth News! With Claris E’von




Anchor Claris E’von:


Yesterday at 13:00 pm local time, The League of Nations of Thera was invaded within their homeworld of Thera by the extra-dimensional nation of Equestria through a dimensional portal located within the country of Persia. The League of Nations and Equestria’s relations have declined indefinitely after Theran citizens, who were mostly human, were converted into ponies. Tensions finally erupted as Equestrian military forces overwhelmed the local forces and occupied the portal site. 



Outraged by this incursion, Matriarch Gavel Pavin had this to say during a press conference:




The Ivory Tower of the Matriarch, Commonwealth Capital of Bell’adon






Gavel Pavin (Matriarch of the Commonwealth of Caste):


It is shameful! What they have done was absolutely shameful! As a nation that prides itself for Xeno tolerance, we cannot stress this enough that what the Equestrians have crossed the line. We were all deceived by their false promises of harmony and friendship. What has happened is unacceptable! (She wipes tears from her eyes as she breaks down) My niece was one of them!!!




Anchor Claris E’von:


Kaldivians everywhere offered sympathies to their Matriarch for the forced conversion of Velda Pavin who was the Commonwealth’s ambassador for Equestria. The Matriarch’s mate, Tallus Pavin spoke on her behalf declaring that this injustice will not be tolerated and has promised to offer Thera the Commonwealth’s finest doctors, field medics, medical aid and equipment, consumables, basic necessities, and more that they could spare. The parliament agreed that they should aid our ally but debated on how much the nation could offer due to the bulk of our fleets aiding the fight against the Kalderin Swarm. 



Up next; The Rixxian Corsairs’ military build up. Another infighting or perhaps something more sinister?



(Static)





A holo-projector activates to reveal the Holy Order of Sabak’s Orator.



Orator:


All members of the Order stand by for the announcement of Grandmaster Strigi Yehvan.






Grandmaster Strigi Yehvan:


Templars of the most Holy Order of Sabak and faithful followers of the Shrouded Faith, I speak before you with ill tidings. Not from the frontlines against the foul abominations but from the homeworld of our most trusted ally, The League of Nations of Thera. 



Last lunar orbit, at the 14th of Kadon, the year of our Lord 5357, Mankind’s homeworld of Thera was suddenly and dishonourably attacked by the extra-dimensional nation of Equestria. The same nation that shares an inter-dimensional border with the human homeworld. The same nation who claims to be the embodiment of Harmony, Friendship and Unity. The same nation who claims to value the virtues of Truth, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, and Loyalty. 



(Slams the podium) Last lunar orbit, the same nation not only betrayed the same values of which it swore to live by but they have done the most heinous of sins; defying the laws of creation by defiling the flesh of those who resemble the image of the Great Creator and others who are under their citizenship! And wage war upon them to justify their sins! Brothers and Sisters, this cannot stand! 



The Humans of Thera have long been prophesied to be the hope for the Galaxy! It was declared by the Great Creator beyond the Shroud that they will deliver us from the great evils of all reality. We have seen their great feats against overwhelming odds time and time again: Proving to the rest of the Galaxy that they are the chosen to herald us into a new age! They are our most trusted allies and most honourable comrades. Therefore I ask you, brothers and sisters; do we abandon them in their darkest hour? Nay, I say!! I feel among you, my fellow Zangalds that you share this sentiment.



And so to fulfil our most sacred duties; to defend the righteous, purge the wicked and obey the will of our creator: We Declare a Crusade against Equestria! This we swear, we will honour our alliance, we will offer what forces we can spare, and we will come to the rescue and the liberation of the galaxy’s salvation! Vaaldak Tun!! (Translation: Deus Vult)



(Static)

> Love and Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 7, 2020
Two months before the war

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I hope that this letter finds you and that I hope you are doing well. It has been months since we last saw each other and I have been wondering if it was something I’ve done. I don’t know if what we had for the past three years was I wasn’t sure if what we shared these past few years was the same for me as it is for you.

I’m sorry, I’m not really much when it comes to writing what I’m trying to convey but I’m trying to find the words to put it in writing so please bear with me. I guess I should probably sort myself out from the beginning and get right to the point. I love you. I loved you ever since I first saw you and the Wonderbolts toured our city of Gibraltar. When we first met, exchanged conversations, when we showed each other our skills in flying. You, a natural flyer and I, a pilot sharing that sky. It was then that I knew we had a connection I never thought I could have to any woman, much less a xeno pony. Or at least I felt that connection. 

My father often told me that members of our family could always tell who the person they’ll spend the rest of their lives with by a connection they feel within their soul. I never really understood that until the day we first met. I felt that connection and I was wondering if you ever felt the same. I certainly thought you did after the many moments we shared these past few years. 

I thought about you every aching moment ever since that day. After I first asked to court you (or as you would put it, hang out). After our shared moments of flying. After our nights we shared roaming the streets of San Roque. 

That all changed the day you left without a word. I wondered why? Why would you suddenly leave? I thought for long why you did so, that was until I heard a month later of the news about human-pony conversions. I made connections that you were in the military and a national hero. Was everything we had simply a lie? To spy on us? To learn our weaknesses and evaluate our worth? I thought hard if what I have felt for you was even real or was it just magic you bewitched me with. 

In the end it matters not, for even after all this brought to light I still could not let you go, no matter how hard I tried. My soul burns for you, my heart aches for you, my mind is filled with you. I was hoping to one day ask for your -hand- hoof in marriage. I would offer my being just to see you again. I would even go so far to take the offer of conversion just so we could be united. But if you are to tell me that none of that means anything to you then I will respect your wishes and we shall part our separate ways.

With all my heart,
Carlos 




Two weeks later


Dear Carlos,

I'm sorry that Please understand, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’m sorry for the way things turned out. I’m sorry for what I did, leaving you behind without even a note. I’m not really good at sappy, uncool stuff like romance and love. I usually leave that kind of stuff to Rarity. I mean, I am Rainbow Dash; the fastest flyer in all Equestria, Wonderbolt and Bearer of the Element of Loyalty! And yet here I am, can’t even give a guy a straight answer. 

The point is, it wasn’t your fault; it was me. What we had, that connection was real. I love you. And it’s what scares me. What we shared, I felt it too, more than you realise. It has taken me to places where I never thought I could experience. It’s uncool of me to say this, but I was scared. That last night we shared, when you took me into your arms. I never felt so high in my life. And coming from me that’s a lot. But when that morning came, I just panicked. 

I was told when I was a foal that I could never be a mother, so I never thought I could ever be in a relationship. But then when I first met you over the orbital platform and you had that stupid look on your face, I felt something I couldn’t describe. Then we flew across space, then your home of Gibraltar, the night walks we had, our night when we… I was scared out of my mind. Me, in a relationship, with a human no less. I went back home trying to sort myself out. For months all I could think about was you. It all changed just a week ago, and it was then I knew I couldn’t deny my feelings for you anymore. Coincidentally, it was the same date you wrote the letter (sure I received it a week later, but that’s not the point). That day I realised what couldn’t be possible, happened. And my heart leapt out of me.

When I read your letter I knew I wanted to see you again, to be with you. I wanted to be your special-somepony. But then this whole thing with the news came up and I was called to military service, and they put restrictions on travel across the portal, I didn’t know what to do!! Luckily, they didn’t restrict the mail and delivery service which was how I got your letter. 

I hope that this whole mess blows over and we won’t get into something dumb like a war. If that happened, I reeeeeeally wouldn't know what to do. But as soon as this whole thing sorts itself out, I will take the first ticket back to Thera, grab you by the collar, and walk you down the aisle myself. Yes you idiot, my answer is yes; I will marry you. And I could finally share to the world our love for each other because nothing, not even Celestia’s sun will stop me from my love for you, if my name isn’t Rainbow Danger Dash, the Element bearer of Loyalty!

Love with Loyalty,
Rainbow.



As Rainbow Dash delivered her letter to a certain grey wall-eyed pegasus, she stared out to the open, holding a hoof over her belly.
> Betrayal of Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 29, 2020
One week before the start of the war

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING TRANSCRIBED AUDIO RECORDINGS ARE UNDER PROPERTY OF THE ROYAL EQUESTRIAN SECURITY COMMISSION (RESC). ACCESS TO THESE MATERIALS ARE RESTRICTED TO PONIES AUTHORISED BY THE PRINCESSES. ALL UNAUTHORISED ACCESS WILL BE GROUNDS FOR BANISHMENT AND/OR TERMINATION. ANY MATERIAL DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC WILL BE GROUNDS FOR BANISHMENT AND/OR TERMINATION. 

THE RECORDING WAS TAKEN FROM THE HOME OF RAINBOW DASH, ELEMENT BEARER OF LOYALTY.

RD: Rainbow Dash
PP: Pinkie Pie
RB: Rarity Belle
AJ: Applejack
FS: Fluttershy
S: Spike


***



START OF RECORDING


RD: Hey guys!

PP: Hello Rainbow Dash!

AJ: How'r ’ya doin’ Sugarcube?

RB: Hello Darling. You don’t mind if we make ourselves comfortable?

FS: Good to see you Rainbow Dash. 

RD: Come! Come in! I hope you guys like the cloud walking amulets I gave you.

RB: They are simply divine, Rainbow! They must have been expensive, where did you buy them?

RD: Heh, c’mon they’re not that special. They’re just outdated Wonderbolt amulets for non-flyers that they’re just giving away. 

RB: Well, it matters not, darling. They still perform their function and the designs look stunning.

RD: Glad you like them, Rares. So, why did you guys want to come for a visit?

AJ: Well, to be honest Sugarcube, it was Pinkie who called us here for a visit. Not that we wouldn’t come if she didn’t, but she wouldn’t quit pesterin’ til we check on how you’re doin’.

PP: Eeyupie Eeyuppers! I had to come and bring the girls here because my Pinkie sense was telling me that something super important is going to happen and it involves Dashie here. I was going to bring Twilight with us but she was super busy and my Pinkie sense told me not to bring her so I just brought Gummy instead!


(Sound of crickets became audible)


RD: That’s… Um… Nice of you Pinkie. But that still doesn’t answer my question.

RB: To be perfectly frank, darling, even without Pinkie’s encouragement, we would have still made this visit due to a certain concern over you over your wellbeing recently.

RD: W-what do you mean Rares?

AJ: Oh c’mon Sugarcube, you’ve been slowin’ down for the last three months. An’ you are never slow. You’ve been laggin’ behind Wonderbolt drills, you’ve been walkin’ a lot more than flyin’ lately, you’ve stopped trainin’ Scootaloo, you haven’t pulled any pranks for months, you’ve stopped hangin’ out with us, and now you’ve been avoidin’ to go outside altogether. What’s goin’ on, Rainbow?

RD: I… I… I just… I haven’t been feeling so good lately. (Gagging noise)


(Assortment of noises that indicate Rainbow Dash rushing towards her bathroom, vomiting.) 


RB: Well, it seems the poor dear wasn’t lying about being sick. Maybe she caught a fever.

AJ: In the middle of Summer? ‘Less it’s Hayfever I doubt it. Though I do admit, whatever she caught sounds mighty serious.

FS: Oh dear, I think I need to go check on her.


(Soft hoofsteps indicate Fluttershy approaching Rainbow Dash)


FS: Rainbow Dash, how are you doing?

RD: (Cough) M-much better. Thanks Fluttershy.

FS: Glad to hear it. Now, let’s take off your robe and have it cleaned up. You shouldn’t be wearing that in summer anyway. 

RD: Fluttershy, wait!

FS: (Gasp) Rainbow, y-y-your belly. 


(Silence for several seconds before sobbing is heard from Rainbow)


RD: (Sniff) … Yes. I… I’m…

FS: Shhh. It’s okay, Rainbow. It’s okay.


(Soft whimpered crying is heard. Most likely muffled by Fluttershy’s feathers)


AJ: What’s goin’ on there?

FS: Do you want me to tell them or…

RD: No, (Sniff) I-I’ll tell them. (Sniff) They deserve to hear it from me.

FS: Here, let me help you out.


(Hoofsteps indicate they left the bathroom and made their way to the living room)


FS: Girls, Rainbow has something to say. Well, more like something to show us. But she’s really uncomfortable with sharing it with you so please; whatever you do, please don’t raise your voices, okay?

RB: Of course, darling. I wouldn’t dream of embarrassing her when it comes to something important.

AJ: Rarity’s right, Flutters. We ain’t gonna make her feel uncomfortable or unwanted.


(Silence for several seconds)


PP: Oh fine. I Pinkie Promise not to use my “Congratulations for your foal” greeting.

AJ: Say what now?

FS: Fair enough. Rainbow, you can come out now.


(A few seconds of silence before a collective of gasps filled the room)


PP: (Whispered) Congrats Rainbow. Here’s a cupcake for the announcement.

AJ: Rainbow, y-you’re… you’re pregnant?!

RD: (Softly under her breath) Yeah, I am. I’ve been for a while now.

RB: B-but how? Didn’t you say that you were infertile?

RD: Yeah, about that. I thought the same thing until just a few months ago.

PP: Ommygosh! Rainbow, that’s a miracle!

FS: Pinkie! What did I just say?

PP: Oops! Sorry.

FS: Pinkie’s right though, Rainbow Dash. This is a miracle, and it is worth celebrating.

RD: Y-you… You guys… (Sniffling and whimpering) Y-you’re not mad? Disappointed? Ashamed at my decision to hide it from all of you? Choosing to have a baby from a secret relationship?

AJ: Now why would you think that, Rainbow?! There was no need to hide it from us. We’re friends! Family even. We would support you even if Celestia herself wouldn’t approve. Hay, Pinkie and I would support anypony who chooses to have a foal. Ain’t nothin’ like the miracle of life as Ol’ Granny Smith would say. By the way, how long has the li’l tike been tuckered in there?

RD: (Sniffling) Thanks AJ… (Blowing her nose) Um… About six-seven months. 

RB: So it’s due for a few months from now? (Giggling) Oooh, I can’t wait to see the foal. Who’s the lucky stallion?


(Clattering of porcelain indicating someone dropped a tea cup, probably Rainbow Dash)


FS: Rainbow, are you alright?

RD: Y-yeah, it’s just… The Father… He’s not a stallion. More specifically, he’s not a pony.


(Audible silence for several minutes)


RB: Oh, I see. I guess that makes sense why you’re hesitant to tell us; considering how other races tend to view Equestria. Is it a griffon, perhaps one that Gilda introduced you to?

RD: (Sighing) No Rares, he isn’t a griffon.

PP: Oooh! Guessing games!! Here let me try; is it a Changeling? Is it Kevin? Is it a Zebra? A friend of Zecora? A Yak? A Bison? A Hippogriff? A Human? A Dragon? (Gasp) Is it Spike?

RB: Pffft! Oh come now, Pinkie. Rainbow and Spike? Ridiculous! Spike is too young to court anypony and Rainbow barely talks to the young drake. It isn’t him, is it?

RD: W-what? N-no, it isn’t Spike! He isn’t… I mean, he… 

AJ; Hang on a sec. Did you say six-seven months? ……… You weren’t in Equestria then, you were on leave in… Thera… Oh nelly.

RB: …Oh sweet Celestia. R-Rainbow, the Father is a H-human?

PP: Oooh! So I guessed it right?

RD: (Whimpered sobbing) …Yes. …His name is Carlos, a pilot for the British Homeguard stationed in Gibraltar.

PP: Carlos? You mean that weird pilot that you met on your Wonderbolts’ tour of Thera three years ago? That Carlos?

RD: … Yes Pinkie, it’s the same guy…… After the Wonderbolts’ tour we kind of hung out; travelled the world together, flew together across the Mediterranean, even went to see their moon and the Mars Colony… He was a cool guy. I wanted to stay friends with him but he wanted us to be something more… Then one night a few months ago, we had a few drinks, he took me to his home and… and… (Sobbing)

FS: Ohmygosh. Rainbow, do you mean you were…

RD: N-no! He didn’t do anything wrong to me! … I mean… I didn’t want to admit it, but deep inside I knew I loved him. I was crazy for him!! I could have stopped seeing him when the tour ended! I could have declined his invitations to travel the world with him! I could have rejected him when he told me he loved me! I could have shoved him off when he held me in his arms… and kissed me… and scratched behind my ears… and s-s-stroked my wings…


(A long period of silence)


RB: Well? Go on, darling! You’re keeping us in suspense!

AJ: RARITY!!

RB: What? It’s true! Everypony here wants to hear the juicy details of her love life, and don’t deny it!

AJ: That don’t mean she got to tell us everything! The subject matter ain’t exactly somethin’ anypony is comfortable discussing!

PP: Yeah! Besides, we aren’t supposed to be talking about this without certain tags to warn the readers.

FS: GIRLS!!! (A pause) Sorry, it’s just that we’re here to give Rainbow Dash some comfort.

RB: You’re right. I’m sorry darling, you know how much I love to talk about the intricate details of one’s relationships.

RD: I know Rares. (Whimpering) This… This whole thing is bucked. I don’t mean the baby, I mean this whole whole situation with Equestria and Thera. … The day I found out I was pregnant, he wrote to me telling me how much he wanted to marry me. Even going so far as to offer converting into a pony, for me. ME! I’ve never met anypony who would do that for me, not even myself! And I'm supposed to be the bearer of the bucking element of Loyalty! (Sobbing) It almost tore me apart when I read his letter. Like my whole being screamed with happiness and shame. He would give everything for me!! EVERYTHING!!! And what do I have to show for him?! I can’t leave, I can’t marry him, I can’t even send anymore letters to him, and now a bucking call for general mobilisation?! I don’t know what to do, girls! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!! (Openly crying)

FS: (Sobbing) Oh Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry. I wish I could help. (Openly crying)

PP: (Openly crying) I-I’m sorry too, Dashie! I wish I could know a way to make you happy!! 

AJ: (Sniffling) Aww Sugarcube, why didn’t you just say so? It’s okay, we’ll try to figure something out. (Sobbing)

RB: (Sniffling) Oh Rainbow darling… I-I’m so sorry! I should have known! I should have noticed your distress! I would offer anything to put your heart at ease, IF I KNEW WHAT TO DO!!! (Excessive weeping) P-perhaps… Perhaps we should ask Twilight for help?

S: Actually ladies, that’s not such a good idea.


(Collective gasps and yelps of surprise)


RD: Spike!

AJ: Spike!

FS: Spike!

RB: Spike!

PP: Spike!

S: Hi girls. Sorry for barging in, Dash.

RD: H-h-how long have you been here?

S: Long enough for you to confirm Redheart’s report.

RD: Redheart? B-b-but, she promised me she wouldn’t tell anypony!

S: Yes, and I’m not a pony. More importantly, I believe we’ve got more pressing things to worry about. You want my advice, Rainbow? Leave Equestria.


(Collective protest of “What?”)


AJ: Now hold on just a sec! What d’ya mean, “leave”? She can’t just get out and hit the road! She’s pregnant for Land’s sake, and the borders are closed. And why can't we tell Twilight about this?!

S: Because, Applejack, she is in danger. Serious danger.

FS: D-danger? Danger from what?

S: Not what, Fluttershy; Who. (Sigh) Look, I don’t want to cause any alarm or break whatever view you have of Princess Celestia, but if you want you and your foal to be safe you need to get out of Equestria. I don’t know how much I should tell any of you, but here’s the long and short of it; Princess Celestia has been obsessed in finding a cure for Pony Infertility, calling it an extinction crisis. It’s why this whole conversion thing is happening to begin with. However, I’ve been hearing from Canterlot that she’s been looking for mares who have been chummy with the Humans, something about being the key to the cure or pony evolution of some sort. And you Rainbow are about to be exhibit A.

RB: Spikey, y-you can’t be serious. This… This is a joke, right? A prank?

AJ: … Oh sweet Faust, you’re serious and you ain't lying.

PP: Oh wow… I did not see that coming.

FS: B-but, what about Twilight? She wouldn’t allow that to happen, would she? … She’s our friend, she wouldn’t-

S: Why do you think I’m here? Twilight has been suspicious of her for a while now.

RD: No… She wouldn’t… That has to be a lie! She wouldn’t… Oh Faust, she wouldn’t!

RB: Spike, how do you know all of this? More importantly, why would you tell us any of this? You are Twilight’s Assistant, her confidant. Why?

S: Firstly, it’s because I’m Twilight’s “Assistant” that I know all this. Secondly, I think “Lab Experiment” would be a better definition of me. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say I found out about something from my past that paints Celestia in a whole new picture. And believe me, I wouldn’t put it past her of what she could do with your foal.

RD: (Heavy breathing) W-where would I go? Even if I leave Equestria, she’ll just send after me!

S: Not if I smuggle you to Thera.


(Collective gasps)


PP: You could do that? How? Do you have a secret portal that connects to Thera that even Celestia doesn’t know about?

S: How did you… Y’know what, never mind. Yes, I know of a secret connection to Thera, and I could try to smuggle you out through there if we’re quick enough. I need to arrange an extraction within two days if we’re going to do this though.


(A long period of silence)


PP: Rainbow Dash, I think you should go.

RD: Wh-what? But, Pinkie…

PP: Spike is right. We need to trust him on this and my Pinkie Sense is telling me that you should take this offer. … Don’t worry about us, Rainbow. Worry about yourself and your foal first. We can take care of ourselves, so don’t you worry. (Squee)

RB: Pinkie is right darling. I don’t want to believe it but as mother always told me, “Don’t take chances. Strike while the iron is hot.” 

FS: Go Rainbow, do this for yourself.

AJ: And your foal. 

RD: (Sobbing) … Girls… Thank you. (Blowing her nose) I’m in, Spike.


END OF RECORDING




Two days later


START OF RECORDING


RB: Rainbow, have you packed the extra set of baby clothes for your foal? It should be the right shape and size for however you foal should look like. I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out.

RD: It’s fine, Rares. But I’m not sure if I could pick this all up, to be honest. I’m supposed to be travelling light.

PP: You’ll be fine, Dashie. These suitcases are smaller on the outside than the inside.

RD: … Yeah, about that, Pinkie, how does that work?

PP: Oh, it was from Dr Time Turner. Said that we’ll be needing it. I even packed a box of cupcakes in the corner. 

AJ: Here. You’ll be needing Hilda more than I do.

RD: AJ… But… That’s your dad’s hat. I can’t take this!

AJ: Actually, that’s just one of mine. I’ve got a hundred more at home so don’tcha worry none, okay?

FS: And here’s a shawl Rarity and I put together. It’ll cover your torso to hide your little one in your belly. 

RD: Girls… (Sniffling) Thank you… (Sobbing) I don’t want to go! I don't want to leave you all behind! I'm an Equestrian, an Element of Loyalty, a Wonderbolt, your most awesome friend! I don’t want to leave after all we’ve been through!


(Collective snuggles, cries and hugs)


PP: Aww Dashie, it’s all right. This isn’t goodbye. It’s not like we’ll all be dead or anything. We’ll see each other again, and then we’ll have a huge party once this all blows over, just like old time- (Jittering noise) 

AJ: Pinkie? Sugarcube, y’all right there?

PP: Rainbow, Spike, you both need to go, now!

S: Alright, that’s our cue. You all set, Rainbow?

RD: (Blowing her nose) Yeah, let’s go. Tank, come along! You girls, could you tell Scootaloo?

FS: We’ll tell her the situation, Rainbow. I’m sure she’ll understand.

RD: Thanks. Okay let’s-


(Door Knocking)


RB: Now, who could that be?

RD: Oh, it’s probably Derpy. Probably the package I asked for weeks ago. I’ll get the door.


(Door opens)


RD: Oh, Bonbon. What are you doing here?

S: Wait, what did she say?

SD: Hello Rainbow Dash, you look like you're moving somewhere. May I ask where?

RD: Um, yeah… I’m moving back to Cloudsdale. I’ve been really exhausted coming to the Wonderbolts Airbase and back from Ponyville so I’m moving back to my folks to shorten the travel time.

SD: I see. Is it to do with what you’ve got in your belly then?

RD: What?

S: Rainbow, get away from her!


(Doors slamming open with several noises from other ponies entering)


RD: What the hay, Bonbon?! What’s going on here?!

SD: That’s Special Agent Sweetie Drops to you, Rainbow Dash. You and Spike the Dragon are under arrest for Treason against the Crowns.

RD: (Under her breath) No… Oh no.

SD: Come quietly and I’ll be sure not to have you restrained. That can’t be good for the baby, now would it?


(Clinking sound)


PvtFB: Gah! Agent Drops, she’s got a cannon!!

PP: Nopony move!! Or the guard here gets it!


(A Party horn sounded with confetti)


SD: You were going to threaten us with… a Party Cannon?

PP:  Hehehe, maybe? GAAAAAAAAAAGH!!

SD: Restrain them!!


(Sounds of struggle ensues)


AJ: Get off me, ya’ vermin!

FS: Eeeeep!

RB: Unhoof me, you brutish roughians! You have no authority to do this! If Princes Twilight hears of this, she’ll have you peeling potatoes til next week!

SD: Firstly, I have every authority to do so. And second, who do you think gave me that authority?


(Hoofsteps entering the cloud manor followed by collective gasps)


RD: Tw-Twilight? How? Why?

TS: (Sigh) I was suspicious of your activities for the past few months so I had the RESC install listening crystals in every room of the house.

RB: Twilight! How could you? She is our friend! YOUR FRIEND! Why?

TS: I’m not happy about this either, Rarity, but this is for the Greater Good! Pony society is dying, our numbers are dwindling each generation. In two or three more generations, our fertility rates will just stop, making us completely extinct. This has to be done.

AJ: By turnin’ a foal into your science project?!! Are you listening to yourself, Twi?!

TS: It isn’t a foal yet, Applejack. Besides, just one to sacrifice for the millions out there is more than worth it.

AJ: HORSEAPPLES!! If this is what we’ve come to, to preserve our species, THEN WE DESERVE TO DIE OUT!

TS: … I’m sorry this has to happen girls. I really am. … As for you Spike, who would have thought you were the one who leaked the information to the Therans. I am disappointed in you.

S: Yeah, I’m disappointed in you too. I’m disappointed that you could still support Celestia despite knowing what she did to my real parents. I’m disappointed that you could back her decision despite knowing what you’re about to do to your friends. I’m disappointed that even after everything he did to save you, the girls and the princesses, you’ve made Discord into your own personal battery to activate the portal!!

FS: What?! (Whimpering) … Twilight… That isn’t true, right? … You said he sacrificed himself to defeat Chrysalis, right? … Tell me it isn’t true! Oh Twilight, please, you didn’t…


(Silence apart from ambient crying)


RD: (Sobbing) Twilight, please. Don’t do this… After all we’ve been through, please don’t let them do this. I’m begging you. (Whimpered crying)

TS: … Like you said Rainbow, after all we’ve been through. I’ve seen how this played out before, and I won’t let it happen again. Take those two away. Detain the rest of them.


(Struggled noises of Rainbow Dash being dragged away)


RD: NOOOOOO!!!! TWILIGHT NOOO!! PLEASE I BEG YOU!! NOT MY BABY!! NOT MY BABY!!


END OF RECORDING

> Interlude: Would you like to know more?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





🎶“We are one from many,
We have heard the call!
Our world is being threatened,
Come and join the Cause!”🎶



“Your nation needs you to serve!
Join the Homeguard!
Be a Hero Today!”



Note: Only Theran born Citizenry are allowed to enlist among the Homeguard. See your local Recruitment Office for more information.





“You there! Do you seek purpose in life?
Do you wish to see the world beyond your world?
Do you seek Adventure beyond your wildest dreams?
Do you want redemption for your crimes?
Do you want to resist tyrannical nations and stand for Liberty?
Do you seek shelter for you and your family?
Do you wish for a better life and a greater tomorrow?”



Come then!
Join the Inter-Universal Volunteer Army!
Here you will endeavour for the Greatest Adventure!
Here you will fight for the Greatest Cause!
Service Guarantees Citizenship for you and your family!
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Note: Desertion and/or Treason will immediately Terminate you and your chosen family’s Citizenship. For more information, see your local Recruitment Office today.





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Update: War!



Equestrian Forces have captured the Persian Capital of Persepolis, obtaining a small fleet of anchored Flying Dreadnoughts and a Land Leviathan. Homeguard and Volunteer forces successfully escaped the city with 20,000 citizens before they lost control of the city. 



Far to the west, the Equestrians have held off the Homeguard’s Counterattack to recapture the Suez Canal, at the cost of thousands of casualties sustained by the enemy forces. Local reports suggest Equestrian forces could sound a general retreat within this month.



Meanwhile, hundreds of acts of sabotage within factories and military bases are reported across the world. The ones responsible were discovered to be the terrorist Traitors of The New World Order, suggesting that they are working in tangent with the Equestrians. All citizens are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to prevent further acts of terrorism.



Further updates are yet to be announced.





Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you believe in the Divine Power of God?


Just as many of the Patron Saints before us who have been ordained by God’s gift, so too can you.


Either the gift of healing or the power of protection, you can earn these gifts by offering your service for a Higher calling. 


Join the Knights Templar! Answer the call of our Lord Jesus Christ, to protect your neighbours.



Deus Vult!





Not everyone can carry a weapon. Not everyone can take a life.
But anyone and everyone can do their part for Thera.



Join the Civil Defence where your expertise at Medical, Engineering, Architecture, Hospitality, Entertainment and more can support the troops at the front. 



Make the difference! Do your duty!




A young boy glares at the posters with disgust and tears one down. Before he could smile at his work with satisfaction, police whistles were heard behind him as he ran from his handiwork.
> Theran Residential Assessment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three years before the war

Species Analysis of the current residents of the world of Thera
-By Twilight Sparkle

Before I begin, it is important to note that the purpose of this document is to understand this strange new world we are seeing with our own eyes. Many who are in the know must realise that this world’s residents go well and beyond our intended expectations (especially since this was not the world we originally intended to reach). Therefore, any distribution of this document must be done in caution and must not be known to the general public.

This document is to assess the potential value of acceptance among the residents of the world of Thera once we begin our operations as well as potential threats they could be when hostilities rise to the occasion.

Without further ado, let us begin.



Kaldivian: 

Description: Bipedal, standing a head taller than the average pony, this creature resembles greatly our world’s Diamond Dogs due to their canine features with considerable differences. Their postures stand straighter in contrary to the hunched backs of the average Diamond Dog, they resemble more like foxes rather than the titular dogs (almost sharing a likeness to the Kitsunes), they share a diverse colour of coats as us ponies and are clothed just as much as Humans.

History: Kaldivians are not native to Thera but make up the largest non-human population within their planets, making them 3.5% of Thera’s population and 20% of their extra-planetary colonial population. They come from a Continental planet named Oria within the Caste system. How they came to reside within Thera is due to being one of their first allies within their galaxy, with one of the conditions for their alliance being a series of arranged marriages from a few of each nation’s nobility/elites. Their society is under leadership of a Matriarch (an elected noble mare among the twenty great houses of Nobles), they are scientifically driven and are fanatic xenophiles to a fault where a great number of them prefer the company of other species then their own. They believe in Acceptance and Harmony of all species (dare I say, even more so than Equestria), to a point where they genetically altered themselves to be compatible to procreate with any sapient species. Apparently, according to their rival nations, it was this obsession of xenophilia that spawned the great disaster known as the Kalderin Swarm.

Society and Technology: Kaldivians, just like their contemporaries within their galaxy, are a spacefaring nation spanning across twenty star systems (including black holes, pulsars, etc.) and twelve colonised planets. As impressive as this is, however, their sciences are mostly focused on Genetics, Social studies and sciences, and medicine; forming their galaxy’s best Doctors, Historians, Biologists, Diplomats, Lawyers, Politicians, and in rare occasions, generals. A saying goes that one will find a Kaldivian in every medical centre within the galaxy. Not necessarily true but it is a testament to their influence within their galactic community. They were also noted to be one of the first to document almost every form of life within their galaxy; from plant matter, to animals, to silicon based lifeforms, both sapient and non-sapient. (A feat which I actually admire.)

Final Assessment: The Kaldivians are fairly adaptable to new environments but are enthused to explore new things in general. They are very curious, clingy to anything with a pulse, and easily conform within a new society they integrate themselves to. Their communities within Thera for instance are completely indistinguishable from their host nations’ culture, fully embracing it with a desire to live like them. They are the perfect species to be processed for conversion and would have probably encouraged it within their worlds. If our portal would have opened within their systems of influence, we would have had no problems negotiating a sizable population of them converting into ponies, or even requesting their gene therapy to resolve our Infertility Crisis.

Zanglad:

Description: Bipedal, standing a head higher than Princess Celestia, this creature is an avian species with several features resembling Griffons and Hippogriffs, discounting four legs. They have four forward pointing eyes, a sharp curved beak and protruding feathers at the sides of their heads, almost resembling a horned eagle (were it not for the eyes). While they have feathered wings, they seem to be pentadactyl like a bat where it has a forearm, elbow and wrist with a difference being it has three talons and a thumb with a fourth that extends the rest of the wings. Despite this, they are flightless but can glide. They have very powerful legs which allows them to leap to very high places with equally powerful talons at the end (strong enough to crush a pony’s skull apparently). They are covered with feathers (typical of an avian species) that are coloured grey with areas from the head and neck in a shade of dark blue (mostly violet or deep blue). They are clothed just like Humans with the exception of it being more ceremonial with deep roots to their martial traditions.

History: Zanglads are not native to Thera but are the second largest non-human population within their planets, making them 2.5% of Thera’s population and 15% of their extra-planetary colonial population. Apparently, their world of origin has been lost to history for thousands of years but a sizable population are located on a large Gaia World they named Sabak, which translates to Promise Land. They were the second race to ally themselves to the League of Nations and has since been their most loyal ally due to an ancient prophecy in their holy texts stating that, “the children that bore likeness to the Lord of Creation shall inherit the universe and shall herald a new age of Peace and Salvation to all”, believing humanity to be the fulfilment of that prophecy for their resemblance to their God. 

Most if not all of their species worship the religion called “The Shrouded Faith,” the oldest recorded religion within their galaxy, even surpassing our religions like the Faith of Harmony or even the Fausticorn faith. They also have a deep rooted warrior culture within their kind; they value honour, loyalty and respect for all life. Any being that violates that sanctity is to be purged from existence, which led to several Crusades against world-ending threats such as the Kalderin Swarm or the Sim Purifier System. Apparently, their society within their new homeworld resembles more of a Martial Order of Knights than a nation, all led by a Grandmaster who is voted by their Paladins and Chaplains after the passing of their predecessor. Which in turn makes the Zanglad residents within Thera mostly pilgrims visiting what they titled, “Heaven’s footstool” or fanatic religious crusaders volunteering to join Thera’s military.

Society and Technology: Despite being largely a Spacefaring race, the Zanglads are fiercely Technophobes, treating certain technologies such as artificial intelligence to be heretical and/or against their Holy texts. Something they most often argue against the Kaldivians of the Commonwealth of Caste for creating the abominations known as the Kalderin Swarm. Despite that, their military commanders are some of the finest within their galaxy, and their armies, contrary to their disdain for certain technologies, use some of the most technologically advanced weaponry compared to their contemporaries. They also mastered powers known as Psionics which in many ways surpasses even the most talented unicorn with magic, which they use in concert with all of their weaponry. A single Zanglad Paladin can form an energy shield eight times stronger and ten times larger than Prince Shining Armour’s own *shield with not even half the amount of effort. (*See Canterlot Wedding) That said, their numbers are far and few between, with less than eight billion scattered across the known galaxy (small in comparison to other galactic empires such as the Kaldivians) which result in smaller numbers among their military compared to their contemporaries. That said, they are never alone. If one is seen, there has to be another. And if even two are gathered together, they can channel power that somehow closely resembles the Magic of Friendship.

Final Assessment: The Zanglads have to be some of the strongest creatures we’ve ever come to know. They are stubborn, stoic, devoted, and powerful. How Humanity managed to align themselves with this species is well beyond me. Perhaps they were lucky to be mistaken for their prophecy. But if they were correct to assume who their prophecy is meant for, then we might have to consider Humanity as a greater potential than we thought. With that said, the Zanglad species would be ill-suited to convert despite their potential. Due to their powers and beliefs, the risk of converting them into ponies outweigh the benefits for them to further pony evolution.

Valion:

Description: Bipedal, standing roughly the height of Princess Luna (with a few roughly the size of a young foal), this creature closely resembles the Abyssinians for their feline features with several variations. The most common of them resembles more like Cheetahs, Leopards, Caracals and Lions while a minority resembles Tigers, Jaguars and common cats. They are often clothed from head to toe with loose clothing best suited for hot and dry climates.

History: Valions are not native to Thera and their population within the League of Nations makes roughly 2% of Thera’s population and 13% of their extra-planetary colonial population. They originated from a Savannah planet named Otharia of the Othor system, Homeworld of the High Kingdom of Otharia. While not a military ally with the League of Nations, the High Kingdom of Otharia are on friendly terms with the League due to being one of Thera’s biggest trading partners. Several Valion Merchants built businesses that supported the League's economy though more than often competed with another species that asserted themselves as Thera’s primary trading partner. 

Their High Kingdom is led by a dynasty of long lived Monarchs titled Immortal King/Queen due to the ruling class being gifted with long lifespans that could last for a hundred years. Although, the first Monarch by the name Sullamo d’Vhakk who was said to be the one who united the planet under his rule, truly lived to the title Immortal King due to his reign lasting more than a thousand years and his wisdom is said to be unrivalled of any philosopher in his time, or even since then. Most Valions residing within Thera on the other hoof are anything but their fellow species within their Kingdom, usually being thrill seekers, rambunctious youths and Volunteers for the Theran military (such as one member of the Royal family and his entourage of Guild Guards). Those few of better reputation are as mentioned before, Merchants with the occasional Pilgrims of the Shrouded Faith and Teachers of Philosophy.

Society and Technology: While they are a Spacefaring race, the Valions barely have the industrial capabilities to manufacture their own Spaceships and most often rely on importing Ship parts from other nations within their galaxy and assembling them on their own. In fact, their entire military is made up of contracted mercenary guilds across their empire. Despite that, all mercenary guilds are well disciplined soldiers and sailors, willing to serve loyally the King and nation. What the Valions are better known for are their traders, merchants and Philosophers, due to the legacy of the first Immortal King. As one of the oldest surviving Empires within their galaxy, they’ve thrived due to two reasons; the wise leadership of their rulers across the ages and their philosophy called Tamim. It is a philosophy embedded into their culture to seek perfection in everything they do. To perfect their specialised craft of employment and destiny in life. Which is no surprise why most of their society are followers of the Shrouded Faith or for the case of those who reside within the League of Nations, converts to the religion of Christianity. 

That being said, their technology, despite being one of the oldest empires in their galaxy, have not advanced since the death of the first Immortal King. Meaning, for the last 10,000 years, their empire had not advanced beyond basic space age technology and instead relies on trade to maintain their empire afloat. It was only in recent events, such as the rise of the League of Nations of Thera that finally ended their dark age of technology. Apparently, their trade with Thera for the unique amber lava crystals known as Arzen kick-started this new age; almost on par with several of their contemporaries. 

Final Assessment: The Valions are masters of their crafts, much akin to how a pony specialises themselves with the talents and gifts shown on their Cutie Marks, making them perfect candidates for conversion. On the flip side, they could also be the hardest to control and integrate due to their strong sense of identity and philosophy. They will no doubt be an influencing force within Equestria should they be converted and integrated among us, which in the long run would cause widespread division should they find the path of Harmony incompatible with their beliefs. That in turn would no doubt create civil unrest and in the worst case scenario, civil war. Even if we could convince them to try, they would call everything into question as part of their philosophy of what could be perfected. 

And considering the potential of them being converted into alicorns due to their biological trait of longer than usual lifespans further cements the possibility of rebellion, which is why I would have to advise against this species’ conversion.

Starcatcher:

Description: True form unknown. Within the world of Thera they share an exact same appearance to Humans, right down to their physiology other than within them. In our world, they take the form of an earth pony.  They are typically dark skinned or tanned, they glow in the dark, and they do not have internal organs like most biological creatures. They are creatures of raw energy made manifest into flesh. Instead of internal organs typical of most creatures, inside is a swirling vortex of raw power capable of swallowing worlds. 

History: Starcatchers are not native to Thera or even in their plain of existence and their population number less than a thousand within the League of Nations and its colonies. From what we were told of them they originate from a world surrounded by stars. According to their legends, they were the descendants of the builders of all reality, a tribe of them at least, all choosing to reside within a world in constant sunlight from a thousand stars rather than rejoining their Grand Architect within their world of origin. Since then, they gained physical form and have since expanded across countless realities across countless worlds; forming an Empire that numbers as endlessly as the stars themselves. Each world they colonise, they take on a form to suit their new environments in order to prevent its destruction by the raw power they could unleash upon it, while retaining key aspects that make up their race. Most of their species has since mingled and bred with the local sapient species of their colonies and has therefore created countless subspecies of Starcatchers. Apparently, their entire empire is connected through a series of Dimensional Gates, one of which is under possession of the League of Nations of Thera.

What is interesting to note is that the Starcatchers and Humanity have not been on good terms due to the former being responsible for instigating the Great War with the collaboration of the New World Order and for the first Inter-Dimensional conflict against Thera. Yet despite all their hostilities, The League of Nations accepted the 900 surviving prisoners of war as well as three billion civilians from three planets from another universe as compensation for the war. Apparently, the invasion was not the will of the entire empire and was instead led by an ambitious Noble who wanted Thera’s resources (particularly the lava amber Arzen). 

Society and Technology: While they can be a spacefaring civilization, the Starcatchers are masters of inter-dimensional technology, preferring Gateway travel than space travel. Most of their Technology relies on heat based energies such as laser and plasma as well as several reality warping devices. Due to a preferable climate with endless sunlight such as desert worlds or radioactive worlds, all of their devices and structures are made up of glass due to their ability to melt sand from their natural power. This still does not explain their ability to crystallise an essence of a star after catching one. 

Speaking of which, the staple of their technology which is their namesake is the ability to harness a star’s essence and use it either as a food source, power source, or tools to forge their infrastructure and utilities. The crystals themselves resemble either an obsidian-like material or clear glass to contain the aforementioned star essence. It is little wonder they think of themselves as the descendants of the great world builders of creation. Despite their sense of racial superiority, they are surprisingly welcoming of other sentient species, most often assimilating with them instead of the other way around. They are also very technocentric rather than religious despite their belief of their origins, noting it as an established history rather than a belief or legend. Needless to say, no species within Thera’s galaxy, let alone ours, could match up to their power. (Which begs the question, how did mankind manage to not only resist them but invade three of their colonies?)

Final Assessment: To be honest, there is little need to even bother converting this species into ponies due to their adaptation when travelling into another dimension. With that said, of all the creatures listed so far, the Starcatchers are by far the most terrifying. Their abilities are borderline alicorn level terrifying and their technology dwarfs ours by at least thousands of years. Yet what unsettles me is how much their powers and technology seemed very similar to our magic and magical artefacts. Not to mention several legends that predate the three pony tribes of an ancient race of ponies capable of powers resembling the Starcatchers. The implications of their existence within our own world begs to question our own origin as a species. Have they been to our world before? If so, are they the progenitors of the pony species or were they responsible for uplifting us into a sophisticated society? And if that were true and the pattern holds, could they have an Interdimensional Gateway within our world? Something to note and must be explored for the possibilities just to be sure.

Human/Man:

Description: Bipedal and typically standing a head taller than Princess Celestia, Humans are primates that share similar features to centaurs, without hooves and other equine body structure. They vary in skin colour from black to light toned pink and are without coat, fur or feather apart from their mane over their heads (with occasional facial mane for males). Like most primates they are four limbed, have five fingered hands and feet, a round head and distinguishable facial structure with a wide range of expressions. They are clothed mostly for modesty and partially for protection from weathered elements of their environment.

History: The Humans are native to Thera and therefore take up the majority of citizens within the League of Nations with a 90% population within their homeworld and a 70% among their colonial holdings. However, if the rumours are to be believed, some humans residing within the League are apparently from other realities, most of whom gained citizenship due to service among the Volunteer Armies. 

Humans, or as the Theran born would label themselves as Mankind, have a long history of conflict within their own species that has lasted tens of thousands of years with each era escalating to greater forms of violence and more effective ways of killing. That said, the last great conflict which they named The Great War ended all national and racial hostilities among their entire species after a revelation that the war was caused, escalated and drawn out by the extra-dimensional race known as the Starcatchers with the collaboration of and secret terrorist group called the New World Order. The war ended after every army within the planet led by Commander Paul Andrews revolted against their own governments who were controlled by the New World Order after they discovered an inactive Starcatcher Gateway and made contact with another reality. Since then, each nation formed what they called the Eternal Alliance Pact, promising never again to declare war upon each other and disputed territories to be diplomatically settled with compensation. This alliance ultimately formed the League of Nations whose sole function was to prepare the planet from an impending invasion of the Starcatchers. 

The Invasion came five years too late after the League's establishment, from which the Human race stood ready and waiting for them. While it was a costly war, they stood victorious not only fending off the invasion but also led a counter attack on three of the Starcatchers’ colonies through the Gate. This victory caught the attention of not only their neighbours within their galaxy but from other extra-dimensional powers such as the Administration of Toonworld (see Toonworld files). Many of whom planned to stamp them out before they became a threat to their interests or were impressed enough to form an alliance with. 

Since then the League of Nations of Thera has held off four other invasions, two from their own galaxy and two from other planes of existence. All the while sending volunteers across twelve other universes to aid in their defence and establishing them as protectorates. 

Society and Technology: While they have achieved rudimentary spacefaring technology, the Humans of Thera mostly excelled at Dimensional Gate travel, largely due to support from the Administration of Toonworld rather than reverse engineering Starcatcher technology. Despite that, most of Thera’s technology is largely steampowered in contrast to most of their contemporaries within their galaxy. Steam age technology was largely considered crude and primitive to most civilizations within the galactic community yet Theran Technology managed to surprise most if not all their contemporaries. This was largely due to Arzen; a unique amber lava crystal only found within their planet and in great quantity. 

It is a highly reactive crystal that ignites above 50 degrees Celsius, capable of melting almost anything in contact, and powerful enough to penetrate energy based shielding no matter how thick or strong it is. We even tested it on a unicorn’s basic shield spell and it smashed right through it like it was nothing. It was this mineral that ended their reliance on coal, gunpowder and other alternative sources of energy as they somehow managed to create a more effective industrial infrastructure and weapons development compared to the rest of their galaxy. 

Tempered by relentless war, the Humans of Thera are a hardy race with experienced soldiers and officers. Though most of their nations within the League are largely under a type of Monarchy, the humans are largely Egalitarian, fanatically nationalistic while largely xeno-tolerant, and militarily driven. The League itself functions more as an International oversight committee rather than a governing body with each representative voting a First among Equals as Humanity’s representative called a Minister General. Despite all they have experienced, most of Humanity cling to religious traditions, particularly the Judeo-Christian beliefs of One God above all and Ten Laws to live by. Oddly enough after the Great War, these beliefs (although not enforced) were fanatically indoctrinated within their society after an incident of witnessing another version of their reality, although not so much on the belief in a God in general but rather the core values of their beliefs such as the Ten Laws. That said, there have been cases of Humans who claimed to have made contact with their God and developed powers that go beyond magic and even psionics. These Humans are labelled as “Gifted” and have been seen performing feats that are borderline impossible (even by Pinkie’s standards). 

Final Assessment: It has been agreed that Humanity is the best candidate for conversion, what is not agreed is which version of Humanity. We originally intended to convert the humans from the mirror portal of which Sunset Shimmer now resides in. (See Sunset Shimmer files) Due to unforeseen circumstances however, we find ourselves in a version of Humanity that is not only more united than ever, but battle hardened and far more advanced than we could ever realise. The potential they have with their compatibility to use magic (as seen in the Sunset Shimmer files) proves that they are capable of integrating. But with this version of humanity, where spell casting outside of magical artefacts is impossible and containing further unknown potential within them, more research is required before we could proceed with the Conversions. I fear if they discover what our intentions are, considering their history, they will come at us with a vengeance that I very well doubt we would win in a long drawn war.
> Fear the Monkeys
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“SQUAD FORM UP! ON THE DOUBLE!!”

We lined up in front of our bunks as always did, every day for the past two months. It was becoming routine, but it was a tiring one nonetheless. 

“Line up for attention! Prepare for inspection!!”

Silent groans and irritation were seen across our squad of trainees. I was one of them. For the past two months we’ve done nothing but drills, exercises, obstacle courses, marathons, marches, cleaning, and maintenance; and in all that time, not once were we trained to carry or use weaponry, target practice, or anything that even suggests we are to face off against the monkeys. It’s infuriating. I left home, hoping to train to be the best of the best to finally bring back home some glory and cool war stories to share with the ponies in town. Yet here we are doing nothing.

And it looks like everypony else seems to share the same sentiments.

Seriously, the war is already in full swing, the army has already pushed to several key targets across the planet, they’ve captured several key cities, military bases and what-not; by the time we’ll be done with this, the war by then would be over.

“I am sick of this horseapple. How long are we going to be here until we buck those monkeys in the face?” I muttered under my breath.

One could hear a pin drop after my quiet rant. Buck.

“What did you just say, recruit?” Sergeant Stormwalker asked calmly. 

This was not a good sign. Sergeant Stormwalker is as stereotypical as a Drill instructor could be; always yelling, always screaming, even when there is nothing to scream about you’ll find him yelling. That fact that he isn’t barking on my face for my snarky remark means that I’m pretty much done for. I might as well get this over with as I inwardly sighed.

“I said I wanted to buck a monkey on the face, sergeant.” I bluntly replied. A few snorts of mirth were heard across the bunks.

“Buck a monkey on the face,” he mused calmly. “So how about it, ponies? I take it you all want to do more than buck a monkey’s face in,” he barked, addressing the rest of the company.

“YES SERGEANT!” came the reply.

Our blood went cold from his furious glare he gave us. 

“So that’s what the enemy is to you all, huh? A bunch of brainless animals that you see in zoos, circuses and jungles that toss their own faeces at the enemy! Unorganised creatures who have no concept of Harmony. Savages who would kill each other over the smallest scrap of food. Pathetic, arrogant weaklings who’ve never endured threats of the likes of Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek and the Storm King!

"Well, I have news for you, fillies and colts! The monkeys as you call them, the Humans of Thera; they indeed have not faced threats we’ve endured in our glorious nation of Equestria. No, they have endured FAR WORSE than any of you could possibly imagine! The likes of which make all our threats put together look like a bunch of schoolyard bullies! The Humans of Thera have been forged by world ending threats LONG BEFORE YOU WERE ALL STILL SUCKLING YOUR MOTHER’S TEATS!”

He began to furiously pace across the bunks as he continued his tirade with increasing intensity, “Allow me to enlighten you maggots of the enemy known as Mankind: He is born from what his own Galaxy classified as a Deathworld; where anything and everything is out to kill him! From their environment, to their animals, to even the very air they breathe, they have been raised to have every threat imaginable come against them, most often all at once. All the while, nature herself moulded them to become the Apex predator of their world. You heard that right, predator! Not scavengers or cultivators as many of you were led to believe.” 

Seriously? Those freaks are predators? I mean, sure, I know they eat meat, but predators?

“‘How is that possible?’ I hear you ask,” He continued, “‘They have no sharp claws, fangs, wings or fast legs that could even suggest they are predators of the sort!’ Make no mistake, they are the deadliest predator of their world, attributed to two things; their intelligence and sheer bucking determination! They evolved from hunters who can chase their prey across the bucking planet without rest! Doesn’t matter how fast they can run from them, a Human will catch them eventually as they die from exhaustion.”

Alright, I admit, that is actually impressive. Still-

“What does this mean for all of you? Simple; he can and will outlast you in a battle!! He may not be as fast as a pegasus, or as strong as an earth pony, or as magically adept as a unicorn, but he will not break before you will! A Human can run, RUN for fifty miles and still fight a battle at the end of it. He has binocular vision and could see us for miles away with the naked eye before we could get a chance to see them. He can go three days without sleep and can tread lightly without detection in the dark; perfect for ambushing us in the dead of night. He can live off maggoty bread and muddy water for weeks and endure torment YOU COULD NOT DREAM OF IN YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES!!" 

A moment of silence, letting the information sink it. Too bad the Sergeant didn’t give us enough time before he had more to add.

“Speaking of which, they are so good at being predators that many of their animals went extinct to which they’ve resorted to killing each other throughout the course of their existence for what little resources they could manage! Long before our days of unification, they have been killing each other for over tens of thousands of years! All of which forged them into the civilization they are today. We may have tamed our world but they have made theirs their bitch! They are masters of their lands, rulers of their seas and oceans, conquerors of their skies! And to top that all off, they have the means to leave their planet, touch their moon, colonise other planets and more. We can barely rule over a patch of forest that acts on its own accord, let alone our planet! We may be the keepers of Harmony, but they are masters of the Art of War.

"Their societies, technologies and ideologies are cultivated due to war. They went from nomads to empires due to war. They went from mud huts and caves to concrete bunkers and towering skyscrapers due to war. They went from rocks and twigs to hand cannons that shoot lightning due to war. They went from log rafts to moon-sized metal spaceships due to war. They created rules on how to enact warfare to ensure they don’t wipe each other completely due to war! They even formed their League of Nations and united under one banner when they found out that their galaxy was full of aliens to act as the perfect prey for their thirst for war!” 

He turned from one end of the corridor and spat out his next line like it was venom, causing us to wince.

“And of all creatures to exist in any reality, our Princesses thought it was a good idea for us to declare war on them?! HORSEAPPLES I say! Absolute Horseapples! If I’m not getting through to any of you bucket heads yet, let me paint you a picture as to why we could not have picked a worse enemy than the Human Race! 

"What you have before you is a survivor of the last war of humanity against each other that lasted for a hundred years. A war so terrible they swore never again will they kill another fellow human being in warfare. A war so great, he still has nightmares of the battles he survived thirty years ago. And for those thirty years, he fought against five alien races that thought they could have a piece of them after losing a third of their population since. He demolished an extra-dimensional race of aliens that could harness the power of the stars themselves. He crushed an ancient alien empire that had weapons that could crack planets with ease. He smashed cosmic eldritch horrors that could make something like the Tantabus check underneath its bed before it sleeps. He battered a race of clones that are genetically superior to any other species in his galaxy. He held the line against shambling monstrosities that continue to devour worlds without a care; creatures that would make the Windegos shriek in absolute fear. 

"He does not fight for any King, Queen, Emperor, Empress, Prince, Princess, Noble, Warlord, Merchant, General, Politician, or even their League of Nations. He fights for three things; His God, his comrades, and Sacred Holy Thera! The very Deathworld that cradled him and raised him into the living, breathing, killing machine that he is. He will hold on to every inch of ground from us as though our hooves desecrate her. He is willing to die so long as he takes ten of you with him. And he has more than enough hatred of us for breaking into his home to chase us all the way back into ours if we don’t defeat them first!!”

He marched towards me, towering above me as I shrank inwards from his gaze. 

“Are you afraid of them, Private Snowflake?”

“N-no sergeant,” I squeaked nervously.

“HORSEAPPLES! ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME?!”

“YES SERGEANT!”

“Then you are the biggest ignorant moron in this whole platoon!” he snarled, grabbing my collar towards him. “And do you know why, Private Snowflake?”

“NO SERGEANT!”

“No surprise there, Private! You don’t know what fear truly is!” 

He snapped back at the rest of us.

“Same goes with the rest of you, maggots!! All of you don't know what fear truly is til you face a human in combat! Because he will make absolutely sure to hunt you across all reality if you give him the chance! He will make sure you know the consequences for barging into his home and turning his comrades into us. He will throw caution and creed out the window just to teach us a lesson why we should never have antagonised him to begin with. For he is a creature of vengeance and unyielding will! He holds grudges that rivals that of Dragons ten times over! And give him enough resolve, he can achieve the impossible. That is the kind of fear these monkeys are capable of that we are up against! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”

“YES SERGEANT!”

Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Turns out it's worse. Sounds like the sergeant is scared of these Humans. And if he’s scared of them, what does that make for us?
> Thou art condemned
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 30, 2020 
Three weeks after the start of the war

“General, it’s a message from Jerusalem!”

“What does it say?”

“NO AMMUNITION. THERA VICTORIA.”



“What say you lads and lassies? One last Huzzah?!”

“URAH!!”

“Alright then. FIX BAYONETS!”

“FIX BAYONETS!!”

“So this is it then, Captain? To the final destination?”

“Aye Corporal. This is it. … Many of you will call this suicide, but I don’t need to tell you of what awaits us if they catch us alive. You all know the many fates worse than death in this universe. And if Hell awaits us for our actions today, then I would gladly charge right in if it means to hold down its gates and prevent the Devil himself from coming out!”

(Laughter from the men)

“This is Thera! Our home, our Land! We were born here, and we shall die here! God himself raised us from the very dirt of which we stand! It’s only fitting we shall return to it for her! Thera is us! We are Thera! Thera Invicta! THERA VICTORIA!”

“THERA VICTORIA!!”

(Whistle)

“CHAAAAAARRGE!!”

“HUZZAH!!”



That evening, five hours later
Fields of Megido

Shining Armour stared in horror at the sight. Bodies as far as the horizon. Mostly human, some ponies. Groans, shrieks and cries of the dying are heard. A cacophonic chorus of Death was heard all across the field. Several fellow Guardsponies shared his expression of incomprehension. A few even wept at the sight. No cheers of victory, gleeful sighs or breaths of relief were heard among them. All were hollow and silent as the grave.

He stood before a corpse of an officer with one hand gripping firmly on a sabre and a photograph of a woman and child on the other. His vision blurred as tears fell uncontrollably. 

“What are we doing here?” was all he muttered.



Three days later,
Canterlot, Throne room.

“Ah, Shining Armour. How can I help you?”

Celestia smiled warmly at her Nephew-in-law and Commander in chief. It was not long ago that the Anthrax attacks happened which hospitalised Luna and several others. It was also just yesterday when Shining Armour was awarded the Spark of Harmony, Equestria’s greatest military service award. Parades were held in their victory over the capture of Jerusalem, which also served as a distraction for the recent acts of Terrorism by the New World Order. 

As Shining Armour approached however, her smile dropped at the sight of his expression. Hollow. He looked hollowed within as though a part of him shattered into irreparable pieces. There was something else she saw in his eyes, one that she knew all too familiar when she banished Luna into the moon all those years ago; it was shame. Unrelenting shame. 

She stood from her throne as she cautiously approached the broken stallion. “Shining Armour, what’s wrong?” she asked with a motherly tone.

“Are we doing the right thing, Princess?” he shakenly asked as he hung his head low, unable to look her in the eyes, “Is this war truly a just cause for our species?”

For the longest time, Celestia remained silent. Shining Armour dared not look up to see her face of disappointment as she so often gave when others questioned her decisions. She drew a deep breath and sighed, “Shining Armour, you know why we have to do this. For the survival of our species we must undertake this duty. It is distasteful, I know, but if we are to have a tomorrow for your wife and daughter, for our subjects, we have to do this.”

Noticing his lack of reaction to her reassurance, Celestia’s stance relaxed into a gentler tone. “What is wrong, Shining? Did something happen?”



His eyes stared deep into the dying gaze of a soldier who was about to stick his bayonet into his side. His spear pierced into the young man as Shining Armour saw the fear in his eyes burning into his memory.



“I can still see them.” 

Without looking up, he finally spoke with a shaken mutter, “The way they looked at us. It was just wrong.”

Celestia closed her eyes and nodded knowingly, “I see. Well, it is their nature to lash out in hatred for their foes, so it is only natural for anypony to-”

“It wasn’t hatred, Princess, it was fear!” the unicorn finally looked up and interjected her with a desperate scream. He noticed the alicorn’s expression of surprise, sinking his head once more and continued with a lowered voice, “They were afraid. Not of cowardice or of what we are, but of what we could do to them. I have fought against monsters, changelings, rogue Diamond Dogs, hostile griffons, dragon raiders and Tirek himself. All of them stare at us like prey, weaklings, easy pickings; all with degrees of hatred, cowardice, dismissal or sadistic pleasure. What we fought that day, they stared at us with the same look of one of my fellow Guardsponies had before he held off ten changelings to buy the rest of his squad time to escape. They stared at us like we were monsters coming after everything they know and love.”

A sob choked under his breath as he continued, “I earned my Cutie Mark after defending a friend from a bully with my shield spell, my destiny was to defend what is right. What we did that day was not right. What we are doing to them is not right. What happened with Twilight’s friends and Spike was not right! THIS WAR IS NOT RIGHT!”

His sobs echoed across the throne room. No response was given from the princess, filling Shining Armour’s heart with further dread. Minutes past what felt like hours in his continued sobbing til he dared to look up and saw what he didn’t expect to see from Celestia; sorrow, and a hint of nervous fear.

“You are right, Shining Armour,” she finally spoke with a reigned tone, “This war is wrong. We are in the wrong.” Celestia briefly closed her eyes before opening them with a stoic resolve, “But we have no choice. It is either our extinction or to be remembered as butchers. Your family is privileged to be of a pure pony bloodline that you were able to bear foals, but others across our nation are still tainted for the sins we’ve made… that I’ve made in the past.” She spoke those last words with guilt and anxious fear as her eyes twitched to her sides as though to see if she was being watched. 

“Humans have the answers to finally cure ourselves from our population crisis,” she continued, “Once the war is over, I will gladly offer myself to judgement. For this war and many more of my wrong doings.” She lowered her head in sorrow, tears gently trickling across her face. Wiping it off with her hoof, she took a deep breath and sighed. “We all must fulfil our duties for the greater good, Shining Armour. I know you will succeed in yours, as will-”

A scroll parchment was tossed before her hooves.

“Forgive me, your highness, but that is just not possible.” 

She looked into his eyes and saw something new; dread.

“What we did that day. What followed. What we saw. Even if we do win the war, none of us will live to taste victory. Not after what we saw on that field.”



Storm clouds formed above the fields of Megido as several of the ponies in the aftermath of the battle began gathering the corpses.

“Commander Armour, we gathered the bodies like you asked.” 

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Proceed to burn them and-”

An alarm was raised from one of the pegasi who was patrolling the sky as he pointed above him. All watched with wide eyed awe and horror at what they saw. A blinding white light tore through the clouds as though the heavens opened before all to see. Figures were seen floating above them, numbering in the thousands. Human figures. Winged Human Figures.

Before he could order a command to attack, one appeared before him and watched him intensely. Shining froze. Fear, horror, awe, and mild captivation was all he could feel at the creature before him. It was the most beautiful creature he has ever seen, even more so than Cadence despite not being able to distinguish their gender. Its skin looked gentle and soft to the touch, its hair flowed and glowed in glittering gold, similar to how the Alicorn sisters’ manes flowed. What allured him more were their eyes; their eyes were hypnotic black, and as he stared into them he felt as though it could see his soul through his eyes. He must not have been found wanted for after the longest minute it stared into his eyes, it closed its eyes and sorrowfully shook its head. 

It left Shining Armour to join the rest of their cohorts. They floated above the field before the dead; and began to sing. The voices and the song were unlike anything he heard of before. It was like a million choirs crying out in sorrow in beautiful high pitched Harmony. 

As they sang, one of the ponies called out, “Look! The humans! What’s happening to them?!”

Shining’s blood ran cold. Ghosts. Ethereal images of every human soldier rose from their remains. Their expressions were empty, cold, lifeless. A few though bear hints of anger, sorrow and contentment. The dead officer he saw earlier that day levitated before him; his eyes empty and tired. The same being he saw approached them and held out its hand to the ghostly officer to which he took with resignation as he closed his eyes. The winged human lifted the officer into the blinding light, accompanied by thousands more doing the same. Their song continued, slowly fading as they approached into the light, disappearing from sight. As the last of them were no longer seen, the light vanished and the clouds closed before them. 

Rain trickled across the field, filling in the silence from everypony that witnessed such marvel.

‘They were names,’ the unicorn thought. ‘They were singing names. Their names.’

He fell to his knees, crying in horror to the sight he beheld. “What have we done? Oh sweet maker, what have we done?!”



“We are already condemned, Princess. Every. Last. One of us.”

He shivered violently, dread written across his face. Celestia could only stare at him with the same look on her commander’s face. 

“I cannot in good conscience fight against a foe who has clearly been favoured by beings beyond our power,” he said as he struggled to speak, “I can no longer fight them. Within that scroll is my letter of resignation. Strip me of my rank, titles and honour if you wish. I am going home to the Crystal Empire to my wife and daughter. I wish to see them one more time before I leave this world of the living. Goodbye, your highness.”

Without another word, Shining Armour walked out the throne room, leaving behind a dumbstruck Princess who was still staring at the scroll he left behind.



A week later in the Crystal Palace of the Crystal Empire, Prince Shining Armour was found dead in his bathtub. The cause of death was a slit artery by a razor found next to him. A suicide note was found and words written cleanly in blood were found next to him.


“Thou art condemned.”

> The Baltimare Telegraph
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 7, 2020
Two days after the start of the war

WARNING: THE CONTENTS OF THIS FILE IS RESTRICTED TO PERSONNEL WITH TOP SECRET CLEARANCE OR ABOVE. ACCESS TO THIS FILE WITHOUT AUTHORISATION WILL BE GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION AND/OR PROSECUTION. ANY DISTRIBUTION OF THIS FILE WITHOUT AUTHORISATION FROM THE SECRET GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE (SGI) DIRECTOR WILL BE GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION AND/OR PROSECUTION.

THE FOLLOWING WAS AN INTERCEPTED WIRELESS TELEGRAPH FROM THE EQUESTRIAN CITY OF BALTIMARE TO AN UNKNOWN LOCATION.



MM [STOP] The shipment you requested is being delivered as you receive this transmission [STOP] The Royal Guard and the RESC have not picked up on our activities [STOP] Waiting to receive shipment of weapons for the Revolution [STOP] Awaiting further orders [STOP] *CP [STOP]



*Intelligence was able to determine that “CP” stands for Claystone Pie, Mayor of the city of Baltimare. 

The organisation originally suspected that there was a movement of descent against the crowns of Equestria from the local population until we received the reply two days later.



CP [STOP] Received **crystal shipment from docks [STOP]  Delivering ***Theran grade weapons shipment as requested [STOP] Requesting double amounts of crystals [STOP] Triple amount of guns promised as reward [STOP] MM [STOP] For the Revolution [STOP] 



Intelligence originally suspected MM to be a Canterlot Noble planning to overthrow the government. However, the mention of ***Theran grade weapons have sounded alarm bells due to no authorisation was given to deliver weapons to our Equestrian contacts nor were we receiving any shipment of these **crystals.



MM [STOP] Acknowledged [STOP] Increase of crystal shipment will be delayed for a month [STOP] Must hire more rock farms to cultivate more [STOP] Equestrian government have been noted to be doing the same [STOP] Agent Rook has been compromised and apprehended [STOP] Operations and the entire Revolution could be compromised [STOP] Awaiting advisement [STOP] CP [STOP]



CP [STOP] Proceed as planned [STOP] Accelerate crystal production [STOP] Diversionary operations will be initiated within the coming weeks [STOP] Shadow King will oversee operations personally [STOP] MM [STOP] All hail the New World Order [STOP] For the Revolution [STOP]



In light of this new information, the organisation requests to the League of Nations that all Operations within Equestria are to be accelerated. Intelligence has confirmed the presence of NWO within Equestria and suspects the aforementioned **crystals are Arzen; meaning they managed to cultivate a substantial stockpile for an unknown period of time. 

Now that Thera is no longer the only planet/world capable of mining Arzen (and if the sources are correct that the Equestrian government are cultivating them as well), sabotage operations are advised to start immediately within the Equestrian infrastructure.

Operations are also to trace the location of MM transmissions as quickly as possible. It could be possible to locate a NWO stronghold or Headquarters.
> The Equestrian Volunteers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 14, 2020
New Valletta, Capital city of the Theran Fortress World of Largo
One week after the declaration of war

The 16th Equestrian Volunteers; aka. The Thestral Hellfighters

“Battalion, form up!”

As the thestral ponies of the 16th Equestrian Volunteers assembled on the parade grounds standing to attention, Major Starlight Nightflyer, a female thestral with a swan Cutie Mark turned to salute her superior.

“Colonel Churchill, the 16th Equestrian Volunteers has returned from the front as ordered, sir!” she greeted as loud as she could with her thick thestral accent (for this context, slavic).

“Thera welcomes you back to Largo, Major Nightflyer.” said the human colonel, returning her salute, “At ease, Hellfighters. I had hoped to give you and your battalion a warmer reception, considering your achievements on the front with the Kalderin Swarm, but recent developments dictates the removal of such niceties.”

Nightflyer smirked, “Hmph, on the contrary, Colonel. Compared to the insanity from the front, a quiet welcome such as this could not have been more appropriate.” 

While the colonel did return her mirth with a smile, she noticed uncertainty in his eyes. 

“Is something wrong, Colonel?” she tilted her head as she asked.

Churchill gave a sigh. “Yes, there is plenty wrong. You Hellfighters are coming home to Thera; for reassignment.”

For a brief moment, a surprised joy was on the faces of the entire battalion before they heard, “reassignment”. 

“Don’t tease us like that, Colonel,” the Major spoke in a playful tone, attempting to lighten the mood, “Getting our hopes up with what we would have normally thought for an early home leave, only to be recalled back home for reassignment. Shame on you.” Her mirth died after the colonel did not return her usual teasing with some sarcasm of his own and instead maintained his frown which she now noticed was full of regret and frustration. “So where exactly are we reassigned to, Colonel?” She asked in an attempt to focus on the task, “Is this about the growing marauder activity of the Rixian Corsairs? Please tell me we’re not taken from the front against the Kalderins only to deal with those raiders, not when our forces are finally pushing them back to their core worlds.”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Churchill gave another long drawn sigh and passed the thestral a newspaper. “No, Major; it’s worse.”

Nightflyer took one look at the headlines and her eyes widened in shock. “WHAT?!”

“Something wrong, Major?” one of her soldiers braved to ask out of the ranks.

“I’m afraid so,” her voice gave a quiver before turning to her battalion and reading out the report;

“Last week on Friday, June the fifth, due to escalations of committed crimes against Humanity and other sentient life by the Conversion Bureau of Equestria and a failure to meet the demands listed by the League, The League of Nations of Thera has declared war on the Kingdom of Equestria. No sooner was this declaration announced, Equestria launched an invasion force of 700,000 across the continent of Asia with at least a million more in reserve, meaning they have prepared for this conflict for quite some time. Volunteers from across all fronts are to be recalled immediately to defend the Homeworld, with the exceptions of fronts such as the Avalon sector and the Cybrex sector.”

The Battalion erupted with reactions.

“We’re at war with Equestria?!”

“That’s crazy!! How did this happen?”

“What does that mean for us?”

“Are we being decommissioned?”

“Decommissioned?! I’ve spent four years serving the Volunteers, I’m not getting kicked out just one more year before me and my family’s Citizenship!”

“Is that going to matter? They’ll probably kick out the entire pony population out of Thera!”

“They wouldn’t do that, would they? My family has nowhere else to go, and there is no way in Hell we’ll be welcomed back to Equestria!”

“We weren’t welcomed there to begin with, even with Princess Luna back! Why would any of them want us back after our service to Thera?”

“But… I have brothers in the Night Guard. You can’t expect me to fight them for-”

“ENOUGH!!!”

Major Nightflyer screeched out her best impression of the Royal Canterlot voice, silencing the Hellfighters. Once they settled down, she turned back to the colonel with an apologetic gesture. “My apologies, Colonel, but can I have a moment alone with my troops?”

“Of course, Major,” he curtly nodded, “Take all the time you need. I’ll meet you and your staff in the briefing room in 17:00 hours.” He gave a salute that Nightflyer returned with her own and left the parade grounds.

Major Nightflyer turned to the entire Battalion with the most baleful glare, causing some of the newer Volunteers to shrink from her gaze. She inhaled a deep breath and spoke softly but clearly with her thick thestral accent, “You listen clearly, all of you. It doesn't matter who we are fighting against, it is what we are fighting for. Equestria does not matter to us. Not anymore. We may have been born there but it is no longer home. Thera is our home now, and it has been these past years serving in her Volunteer Army. And by God, I could never be prouder to serve her. 

“Equestria has done nothing for me all my life. Not when I was denied by my family. Not when I was denied my dream. Not when I was abandoned by the bastard who I once called my lover. Not when I brought my son into the world. Not when I sold my body to the streets of Canterlot to support him. Nothing. When that portal opened that day, I was one of the first to enter a world scarred and battered, but thriving. When I was offered to serve and protect their worlds from the terrors of their galaxy, I was guaranteed Citizenship for me and my son. And when the community I resided with heard from my son that I was serving the Volunteers, they treated us with more respect than I ever received in all my life. They may not have liked me or my son, alien that we are to them, but they respected us, just for being a sworn citizen for our host nation. The Therans have a saying, “Thera may not be the prettiest girl in the street, but she will make you feel welcome if you treat her right.” I could not think of a better world to call home. And I know for a fact that my story is no different from any of yours.”

She pointed to a post at the entrance to the base for all to see. “When you carved your name on that post, did you or did you not swear an oath to abandon the life you once had? To start anew?! I have taken that oath, I have abandoned the life I once had, even my calling from my Cutie Mark so that my son can live the life I never had. We sacrificed everything to get to where we are now because we chose this path. We chose this destiny. Not fate. Not the Princesses. Not the Therans. Us. We chose to fight for Thera because we chose to have a new life for ourselves and our chosen family. If any of you have second thoughts on the matter, you can leave and forget about everything you have accomplished to be where you are today.”

The murmurs among the ranks after her speech slowly died down as the battalion stood to attention. All uncertainty from their expressions were gone, replaced by resolve.

“Major,” one of the sergeants with a Canterlot accent called out, “we are not sitting this one out. Each of us has a mare, stallion, colt, filly and/or foal waiting for us home. I’ve a wife and foal back in Thera. I can’t back down now, not when they’re depending on me.”

“Damn right, we aren’t Sarge!” shouted out a mare, “We started this gig, might as well go all the way!”

“Amen to that,” another voice called out, this time a stallion, “We’re the Hellfighters; the finest pony Volunteers! We back down now, we’ll be the laughing stock of the Volunteers!” 

The whole battalion gave a small hearty laugh at that comment.

“I am a Volunteer,” a private announced, reciting a creed, “I gave up my old home, creed and life to serve the Nations of Thera.”

“My past is forgotten,” another joined the recitation, “My home long abandoned. My beliefs I have forsaken. My sins are now pardoned.”

The rest of the battalion joined the creed. 


“Beside me are my comrades. Behind are my Kin. 
Before me are my enemies. Above me is my God. 
Below me is now my home. 



What lands I tread shall be Theran soil. The Lord who watches over me protects. 
The foes I destroy are to be respected. The lives I save are the innocent. 
And the soldiers beside me are my blood brothers.



From the edges of reality to the heart of Thera herself, I swear this oath: I will uphold the values of the nations under God’s Law; to abandon the life I left behind, to be the shield for the righteous, to be the sword against the wicked, and a beacon of virtue.



And in return, wherever the men of Thera treads, I shall be found wanted as will my chosen Kin. 



Thera Invicta! Thera Victoria!”




That same day, within the barracks of the 1st Equestrian Volunteer Medical Brigade, aka, Valkari Brigade.

Dear Mom and Dad,

It’s been a while, huh? I’ve heard over the radio what just happened. I hope both of you and the girls are alright and that none of the neighbours are giving you trouble. The guys in our company told me that there is nothing for me to worry about. Aiden even joked that, “If the Volunteers could accept an ex-convict like Alejandre, you would have no problems with the rest of us.” He always was the cool one.

Our colonel did take some of us for questioning if we knew about the several ponies that disappeared just before the war broke out, which made me worry for the girls and their sweethearts. I know the two of you didn’t exactly approve of their relationships with different species, but this is a new life we’ll have to adapt to and I hope you’ll at least respect their choices in life; as for mine. 

I know you weren’t thrilled when I didn’t make it to the Wonderbolts and that I messed up spectacularly. Believe me, these last few years made me realise how much of a featherbrain I was. I couldn’t thank you all enough when you recommended that I join the IUVA. At first I thought you were all crazy; that you did it to get rid of me for being an embarrassment to the family. I never really told you how much of a surprise it was when you accepted my invitation to move the whole family to Thera. For the longest time I thought you’d never give me a chance to fix my mistakes. For that, I couldn’t be more grateful.

Anyway, we’re being shipped off within this week and in a few months we’ll be making our way home. Hope to see you all then.


Your awesome daughter,
Lightning Dust.




July 1, 2020
Konstantinople, Capital of the Byzantine Empire, Thera
Three weeks after the declaration of war

Military Bar “Ignis in Foraminis”


Sandbar
Gallus, is that you?



Gallus
Sandbar!! You son of a mule! Long time no see! (Clasps a talon to Sandbar’s forehoof, followed by an embrace)



Sandbar
What are you doing here, you featherbrain?



Gallus
Oh, I’m part of the Volunteers. Can’t you see the uniform?



Sandbar
No way! For how long?



Gallus
Oh, two years. I was stationed with the infamous 49th Light Infantry.



Sandbar
Horseapples! You’re with those guys? Weren’t they on the front months ago?



Gallus
Yeah, we were. Saw those fungus zombies up close. Picked up a souvenir on the way back. (Taps an automail inplace of his left talon)



Sandbar
Dude, I’m sorry to-



Gallus
Hey, none of that. You didn’t lop it off so there’s nothing to be sorry about. Besides, I get to have this sweet robot arm in exchange. Only downside is it itches now and then. I mean seriously, how does that happen? It’s mechanical!



(The two of them shared a laugh.)



Radio Broadcaster
We interrupt this program with a newsflash. The capital city of the Kingdom of Jerusalem has fallen into Equestrian hands as the city’s garrison of the 21st Templar Guards were defeated in an attempted counterattack. While most of the city’s population were evacuated, less than ten thousand citizens were still trapped inside once the Capital was occupied by the invading Equestrians, along with several Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian holy relics left within the temple mount. The Knights Templars’ Grandmaster Joseph Enrico made no comment on this disaster.



In other news, the borders with the Rixian Corsairs exploded with activity when- 



Bar Patron 1
Bloody four-legged xeno bastards! Why can’t we just Exterminatus their damned planet?



(Gallus gives a snarl and attempts to approach the patron)



Sandbar
(Stops Gallus) It’s not worth it Gallus. Let them be.



Gallus
Let them be? That was my home too, y’know! Besides, you of all creatures in this bar ought to give them a piece of your mind.



Sandbar
Have you seen the front against Equestria? I have. I was there in Persepolis while we were evacuating the city. It was messed up Gallus; their airships blew up half the city to Hell. Their heavy infantry tore through our fortified positions. I was part of a squad sent to evacuate a town. When we got there, all we found were stacks of bodies. And that was just a portion of the town. We found out most of them were shipped in carts to Equestria, like livestock. (Takes a drink)



Gallus
Damn. I mean, we heard the stories of the Unconquered Sun, but damn, never thought they were real.



Sandbar
How do you think I feel about it? I joined this outfit to see the worlds beyond Equestria. Brought my folks along the road to show off the stars. When the whole Conversion Bureau got exposed, my folks were torn of either making it back to Equestria or staying here. 



Gallus
What did they choose?



Sandbar
When word got out of all the abductions of mares with relationships with humans across Thera, they chose to stay. They couldn’t believe it. Hell, I couldn’t believe it! Luckily, our neighbours were supportive enough to stop a mob from attacking them.



Gallus
Galahad. Have you heard from the old gang before all this happened?



Sandbar
Hmph, I was flattened on my ass by Yona when I joined the Volunteers, remember? Everypony thought it was the break up of the century. I couldn’t exactly write to everyone when I caused one of us to cry like I just tore her heart out. Which makes me curious, why did you join the Volunteers?



Gallus
Ah, so you didn’t hear what happened after all. 



Sandbar
What happened?



Gallus
Chancellor Neighsay shut the school down; under Princess Twilight’s orders.



Sandbar
Bullshit! 



Gallus
Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I mean, who sets up a school to teach friendship for all creatures in Equestria only to do a complete 180 when a human tries to sign up. This was a year after you left by the way. Seriously, that Princess has been acting all weird ever since that portal to this planet opened.



Anyway, a few months after the school shut down, Ocellus applied for an internship with the Kaldivians and left for their planet, Yona went back to Yakyakistan, Smolder disappeared leaving a note saying she found something big with author A.K. Yearling, and Silver… We… We split up.



Sandbar
(Does a spit take) WHAT!? How? You guys were like Pinkie and cupcakes!! You two were inseparable! 



Gallus
Believe me, I wanted to know why myself. The night before the break up, she came into my room crying like it was the end of the world. We… We spent that night together. Then the next morning I found a note telling me that she’s sorry and that our relationship just couldn’t work. Last I heard from her was that she moved to Canterlot. 



With the school closed, the gang split up, couldn’t stay in Equestria and I didn’t want to go back to Griffinstone; I figured, “what the hell?” I bought a ticket to Thera, made for the closest Recruitment Office and joined the Volunteers. Served in the front against the Kalderin Swarm, lost an arm, got shipped back here to receive this sweet robo-claw in exchange, then the whole damn war with Equestria happened.



Sandbar
Jesus. That’s rough buddy.



Gallus
Tell me about it. Hmph, at least I wasn’t pounded into a pulp in my break up.



Sandbar
(He lets out a small laugh) Can’t argue with that. (Holds out a glass) Here’s to another broken heart.



Gallus
(Clinks his glass to Sandbar’s) Sounds like there’s a story to that toast.



Sandbar
Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you my station. I’m part of-



Home Guard 1
Oi Jackass. What the hell are you doing in our bar? Shouldn’t you be in a stable somewhere?



(The two looks back to see a small group of Home Guard crowding around them)



Gallus
Hey, piss off lackwit. Can’t you see the outfit? (Points to Sandbar’s dress uniform)



Home Guard 2
Oh sure, give a damned xeno a Volunteer uniform and suddenly it makes everything right. We know what you are, you four-legged bastards. Eating our food, drinking our gin. What next, taking our sweethearts from us? 



Sandbar
Gallus, it’s not worth it. Let’s just leave. 



(The two made for the exit but are blocked by a third)



Home Guard 3
Oi, who said you two faggots can bugger off like that? We’re not done here.



(The group inch, surrounding them)



Sandbar
Look, I don’t want any trouble, okay. And I’d rather not start a fight here.



Home Guard 1
Well, that’s too bad, Jackass. You’ve already started one just by being here.



(A Volunteer named Bernard approaches the group)



Bernard
Excuse me gentlemen, but would you mind backing off from our comrades?



Home Guard 1
Piss off, Hornswoggler, unless you want us to clobber your xeno-loving arse with these two.



Home Guard 3
(Eyes widened after noticing the chevrons) Reese, shut it! He’s an officer!



Home Guard 1
Like we give a damn! You Volunteers are nothing but xeno-loving poofters, taking advantage of our planet’s hospitality! Our ancestors spilled their blood defending this rock from the likes of those xenos, while you lot go off galavanting into some far off reality from nowhere, wasting valuable taxpayer’s money!



(A Zangland Volunteer named Yurulek walked in)



Yurulek
You will hold your tongue, boy. And show respect to the rank and uniform.



(The Home Guards look around to see that they are surrounded by Volunteers)



Bernard
Name. Rank. Now.



Home Guard 1
Reese Lockland. Private. 53rd South African Home Guard.



Bernard
How long have you been in the army, Private?



Home Guard 1
S-seven month ago, sir.



Bernard
Seven months. Private Sandbar, how long have you served?



Sandbar
Four years, Captain.



Bernard
You, bird-cat. What’s your name?



Gallus
Gallus. Just Gallus, sir. Private first class.



Bernard
Gallus, a fine name. How long have you served, son?



Gallus
Two years, sir. Three in a couple of months.



Bernard
Two years. Yurulek, how long have you served for Thera?



Yurulek
Sixteen years, Captain.



Bernard
Sixteen years. (Leans closer to the Home Guards) Every Volunteer here has served longer than you have. Every one of us shed blood for the defence of this planet and its interests. Everyone of us here knows of one who has fought, bled and died for the defence of this rock, longer than you have donned that uniform.



But I’m not here just to berate you on your lack of experience, boy. Every last one of us gave up the lives we once knew for every citizen under the banner of the League of Nations. As the good book says, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” We signed up to hold the very gates of Hell from breaking loose to harm everything we stand for. If you can’t tell the difference between our brothers in arms and our enemies, then take those uniforms off gentlemen, because you are dishonouring everything that uniform stands for! 



(Home Guardsmen lower their heads in shame.)



Home Guard Reese
My apologies, sir.



Bernard
Apology accepted, private. Now that you’ve cooled your heads down, how about you get better acquainted with these two? I’m sure if you ask where they served, you’ll be thoroughly impressed.



Home Guard 2
Um, where have you two served?



Gallus
I served with the 49th Light Infantry. I was in the frontline against the Kalderins and was stationed in Fort Arthur in the Avalon Sector. 



Home Guard 3
Wait, Fort Arthur? Wasn’t that the Habitat station that was hammered by those monsters?



Gallus
Eeyup. I was there when they besieged the place. Thought I was a goner til the Iron Fleet came to lift the siege. That’s how I got this. (Taps his automail)



Home Guard 2
You actually survived that God-forsaken siege? Well, damn. Now I’m impressed. (Turns to Sandbar) What about you?



Sandbar
(Smirked and pointed to the rest of the Volunteers) See these guys? I served with them. We're from the 52nd Heavy Infantry. 



(The Home Guardsmen stared at the group dumbfounded)



Home Guard Reese
The 52nd?! (Turns to Major Bernard in recognition) Bloody Hell, you’re Captain Bernard Falkner! Other known as Grampa Falkner. You lot are the infamous Heartbreak Company, aren’t you? The most experienced unit of the IUVA!



Bernard
So, our reputation precedes us.



Home Guard 3
They barely do you justice! You were one of the first formed units after the Great War, and the first to engage the Starcatchers in Verdun. You were also one of the first to travel across dimensions such as that reality locked in a Galaxy-wide civil war.



How are you here? I thought you were still stationed in our Protectorate in Toril.



Sandbar
Oh, we were actually. We were stationed on this ship called a Spelljammer patrolling the Sword Coast, holding off an Illithid invasion. It was wild. We were relieved and recalled here after tensions escalated with Thera and Equestria.



When the war broke out we were in Persepolis, assisting the evacuation.



(Idol chatter spreads across the bar as other patrons join in the conversation. Drinks are passed around, followed by laughter and singing)



Radio Broadcaster
We return to your radio broadcast with a live performance from the 2nd Mount Aris Volunteers aboard the Cruiser Damascus. 




Ulm system
Battle Group, Copper Fleet
Asteroid-class Cruiser, IUVAS Damascus

“Captain, please? Can’t we sing it one more time?”

Captain Zhou Chen frowned at the young sea-green maned hippogriff Volunteer in front of him. “Private Terramar, this is the third time your company requested that song today. Either pick another song or make your way back to the barracks.”

“Please Captain? You know how catchy it is and it really does wonders for morale.” Terramar begged with his best puppy-dog eyes, with the rest of his company offering the same look.

The Captain winced, avoiding looking at them in their pleading gaze. He sighed inwardly and made for his communications officer. “Let me contact the Admiral and ask his permission.”

Damn those eyes. They should be illegal.



An hour later, broadcasted across IUVA Radio

We return to your radio broadcast with a live performance from the 2nd Mount Aris Volunteers aboard the Cruiser Damascus. As a gesture of commitment that not all Equestrians support Celestia’s war, these brave hippogriff Volunteers have offered to perform the old Space Shanty, “Fish from the Sea.”


(Verse 1)
Come all you young spacefarers, listen to me
I’ll sing you a song of our fish from the sea



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 2)
Up come the solar winds taking us far
All through the space lanes and out through the stars



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 3)
Up comes the great dragon in search of our home
Through space to a place that's beneath wave and foam



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 4)
Up comes the Tiyanki the king of deep space
Racing our ships in a hyperspace chase



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 5)
Up come the leviathan tentacles grasp
Choking our ship as we shiver and gasp



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 6)
Up comes the lithoid, all hewn from their stone
Those boulders are bolder when they’re not alone!



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 7)
Up comes the necroids, all fearsome and great
You can't kill them mateys, they'll reanimate!



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 8)
Up comes swarms of robots, get ready to run
Fight one, ten, a dozen, 1101



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes



(Verse 9)
We rose from the ocean and reached for the sky
We’re building an empire that never will die!



(Chorus)
And its windy weather, boys, stormy weather
When the wind blows then were all together, boys
Blow ye winds fringeward, hey! Blow ye winds blow!
Out to the galaxy steady she goes


Volunteer reinforcements ETA: Five months.
> The Escalation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 13, 2020
One month after the start of the war


Breaking News: Jerusalem Desecrated!


Following the capture of Jerusalem’s Capital, Equestrian forces are reported to have forcefully relocated Theran citizens to so-called refugee facilities within Equestria’s borders. Jerusalem’s government in exile demanded the transfer of the civilian population and prisoners of war within Theran soil to ensure none are magically converted into equines, as well as the return of plundered artefacts and works of art, such as the holy relics within the Temple Mount. The Equestrian Diarchy and their allies denied such acts of war crimes are being committed and have given their word that no conversions are sanctioned by the crowns while the war is in progress.



To the Equestrian Diarchy and their allies,
While a state of war exists between our two worlds it does not mean for the war to escalate any further than it is now. Your desecration of Jerusalem’s numerous holy and cultural sites; from stolen artefacts to vandalising ancient tombs is in direct violation to Section 5 of The Theran Rules and Regulations for Conducting Warfare. The same treaty you signed during our trade agreement five years prior to your betrayal of our trust. 

Furthermore, you continue to violate Sections 1, 2 and 3 by abducting both military personnel and civilians across your occupied territories for the purposes of your vile, perverse science. While it may be the objective of this war, it would be in your best interest to cease your efforts to convert our peoples immediately. 

Here are our demands;


Return all stolen artefacts, relics, artwork, valuables, fossils and more back to Theran hands; undamaged, uncorrupted, unedited, unchanged, preserved.

Cease all archaeological activity on all holy and cultural sites on Thera.

Repair all damages done to all vandalised holy and cultural sites (you have the magic to do it, so we suggest you do so)

Cease all abductions and other unlawful treatments of all military personnel and civilians.

Return abducted citizens taken from Thera following the course of the war. This includes non-humans and Equestrian immigrants with and without dual citizenship.


Failure to comply will force us to take drastic measures and will inevitably escalate the state of the war. Do not force us to do something we both will regret.


Grand Marshal of Thera
Paul T. Andrews




A day later, Equestria sends their reply.

To the Marshals and Generals of Thera and her allies,
We understand the moral guide and reasoning for your rules of warfare. We understand that the rules are written with the intent for the best interests for all involved. Mercy and Honour in war supports a righteous cause for all participants within this war after all. However, we are also aware that the rules were written in your favour as a bargaining chip within your Galactic Council. We understand that the rules apply to you and everyone else involved until it is no longer convenient for you to follow. A common joke heard among your ranks is the “Geneva Suggestion,” as they put it.  

Put it simply, we understand that your “Rules” are nothing more but “Guidelines” to be taken only when it suits you and serves as nothing more but a delaying tactic against your enemies to mobilise a larger and better equipped force to counter them. Do not take us for fools for we know about the reinforcements of millions of soldiers, equipment and more within a few months time. Taking a page from your “Sun Tzu's Art of War”, we will use every advantage we have against you to finish this war as swiftly and as possible. That includes the use of our superior weaponry, numbers and tactics. 

If you truly wish for these actions to cease, surrender before we decide to truly escalate the war.


Steward of the Moon, Guardian of Dreams and Diarch of Equestria,
Princess Luna




Two days later, Thera sends their reply.

To the Equestrian Diarchy and their allies,
As a so-called “peace loving” nation I would have thought better of you to realise why our nations chose to implement those rules when conducting warfare. But it appears that just like every other empire within our reality before our League of Nations joined the galactic stage, you believe that these rules were merely implemented to benefit Mankind. While I admit that most if not all the rules do offer Humanity an advantage against our foes, their sole purpose is to ensure that Thera and any other empire who signed that treaty restrain themselves lest they be classified as a Galactic Menace. 

When we first offered the draft of the treaty to the Galactic Community, we were at war with The Bright League Federation led by the Mauradan Imperium against our allies. This treaty was agreed by the community in exchange that we end our Total War Initiative. Something unheard of from the Galactic Community until then. 

If you fail to comply with our demands, you and your allies will be deemed as a menace and will no longer be protected by the rules. In turn, we will initiate Total War and there will be no going back. No more negotiations. No more correspondence. No more Parlay. No Mercy; unless Unconditional Surrender is met. I pray to Almighty God that you take this into serious consideration.


Grand Marshal of Thera,
Paul T. Andrews




July 25, 2020

No replies were received from Equestria. Reports on continued violation of the treaty escalates. 

Grand Marshal Paul Andrews enacts the Total War Initiative.



July 27, 2020
Antioch, outskirts of Alexandretta

“Alright ponies, look alive! Get ready to move out! Pegasi air support have cleared the skies!”

“You heard the captain, make ready! The city is just up ahead!”

“Hey, was there supposed to be fog in the weather schedule?”




Breaking News: Gas Attack in Alexandretta; 15,000 Ponies Dead


Twenty kilometres from the outskirts of the city of Alexandretta, the Equestrian advance was halted by chemical warfare. The 53rd South African Home Guard along with the 49th Light Infantry Volunteers launched hundreds of litres of Chlorine Gas into the Equestrian army of 40,000 strong and commenced a successful counter attack, driving them back to the border of Jerusalem. 15,000 Equestrian troops are dead from the attack with another 20,000 captured, mostly suffering from the gas’ effects.



July 29, 2020
Nepal, base of Kansatiya River, outskirts of Chilakiya

“RUN!!! Run for your lives!!!!!”

“W-what’s going on?!” 

“They opened a dam!! We need to get out of here!!”




Dam them all: Equestrian forces flooded by Nepal rivers


Armies of the Napali Home Guard opened all their dams in an attempt to push back the Equestrian Army. Equestrian forces were devastated by the ensuing floods as they tried to push through the mountainous region via the river ways. Napali Home Guards with the assistance of locals opened the floodgates of four dams to drown out the enemy from their country.



July 29, 2020
Russian-Armenian Border, Caucasus Mountains

“Get out of the caves!! Get out of the caves!!”

(Flames burst into the caves, driving the burning ponies out)

“IT BURNS! IT BURNS!”

“MOMMA!!! MOMMA!!!!”




Equestrians halted by the Caucasus


Equestrian forces have been held up by Russian and Armenian Home Guards in the Caucasus Mountains. The Iron Wall of Russia holds against the invaders as Equestrian forces have been driven back several times to the base of the mountains.



August 1, 2020

To the Marshals and Generals of Thera and her allies,
I believe you’ve made your point and would humbly request parlay to discuss terms on how we shall conduct this war.


Signed Princess Celestia,
Diarch of Equestria




A day later, Thera sends their reply

To the Equestrian Diarchy and their allies,
You were warned: No Negotiations. No Correspondents. No Parlay. No Mercy; unless Unconditional Surrender.


Grand Marshal of Thera,
Paul T. Andrews

> The Ponyville Players Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 3, 2020
Two days before the Declaration of War and three days after Spike and Rainbow Dash’s arrest.

THE FOLLOWING IS A RADIO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN [REDACTED]


Sorcerer:
Dungeon Master, this is Sorcerer. Do you read, over?



Dungeon Master:
Copy that, Sorcerer. This is Dungeon Master, reading you loud and clear.



Sorcerer:
We have a problem; Wizard has been compromised and has been apprehended by Beholders along with Blue Jay.



Dungeon Master:
Copy that, Sorcerer. We assume that they found out about Blue Jay’s status?



Sorcerer:
Affirmative. Blue Jay’s status as a mother bird has been discovered prior to capture.



Dungeon Master:
What’s the status of the rest of the birds?



Sorcerer:
The other birds are under house arrest. Woodpecker’s status is okay, thanks to Barbarian’s confirmation. We heard from Nightingale’s little sister that she’s fine, albeit shaken. Mockingbird is fine thanks to her landlords, albeit depressed and heavily watched by Beholders. The only Bird we haven’t managed to confirm is Hummingbird.


Dungeon Master:
Copy that, Sorcerer. Await further orders.



Pixie:
Starlight, have you told them our plan yet?



Sorcerer:
Tr-Pixie! Codenames, remember?!



Pixie:
Oh, right. Sorcerer, have you told them our plans yet?



Sorcerer:
(Sigh) Dungeon Master, requesting permission to rescue Wizard and Blue Jay? Pixie and I thought of a plan but we thought to run in by you first.



Dungeon Master:
Negative, Sorcerer. I know you’re eager to rescue Wizard, especially since he has information on all players on the board and Blue Jay considering what the Pale Horse might do to her, but the situation has changed. The Horsemen of the apocalypse and their Beholders aside, we now have bigger problems; Big Brother is here.



Sorcerer:
Big Brother?! Here? How?!



Pixie:
Star- Sorcerer, who’s Big Brother?



Sorcerer:
(Sigh) New World Order.



Pixie:
WHAT?! They’re here?! HOW?!



Dungeon Master:
It doesn’t matter, Pixie. What matters now is that things just got a whole lot complicated. We already got wind of one of their agents apprehended by Beholders, Callsign Rook. If they are here, they probably know of our plans and would most likely disrupt Operation Rrakkma. 



Pixie:
Wait, I thought it was Operation Bastille.



Dungeon Master:
Same Operation, different name over the channel for security reasons.



Pixie:
Oh.



Sorcerer:
Look DM, here me out. 



One Explanation of the plan later



Dungeon Master:
Bold, but risky. I don’t know if HQ will allow this, especially considering you and Pixie are key to this plan. I don’t know if the Brass will even greenlight this mad plan but I’ll forward it to them for approval. Stand by for further instructions.



Sorcerer:
Thank you Dungeon Master.



Pixie:
You think they’ll let us do it?



Sorcerer:
They’ve got to let us rescue them, or Operation Rrakkma is moot.



Dungeon Master:
Alright Sorcerer, Pixie, you’ve got the Greenlight. Notify the rest of the players and have Muffin Factory and Time Machine on standby. If we pull this off, we could rescue Wizard and the Birds in one fell swoop and smuggle them into HQ. You have to be discreet about this Sorcerer. With Wizard gone, you are our only source of information. If you are compromised, we will have no means to save you and we’ll have a Total Party Kill on our hands.


Sorcerer:
Acknowledged, DM. Over and out.



Pixie:
The Great and Heroic Tr-Pixie and her Faithful Companion will not fail you, Mighty Dungeon Master.



Dungeon Master:
(Sigh) I need a break.

> The Ponyville Players Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPERATION MAD MAGE
Reported by Agent 1187, Callsign “Sorcerer”

Following the arrest and capture of Wizard and Blue Jay, Agent Pixie and I formulated a planned rescue operation in order to secure the secrets of our mission in Equestria as well as obtaining the members of the Birds. The plan involved myself and agent Pixie as well as agents Barbarian, Warlock, Bard, Artificer, Time Machine and Muffin Factory. 

The first phase of the operation was to secure the Birds and Wizard. Using my connections with Pale Horse (Princess Twilight Sparkle), I managed to convince the Beholders (The Royal Guards and members of the RESC) if I could interrogate Wizard. And since he shared a cell with Blue Jay, all that was left was the extraction.



In one of the cells within the dungeons of Canterlot, Spike brushed Rainbow Dash’s mane in comfort as the cyan pegasus sobbed in his arms. She has not stopped crying for several days since their imprisonment nor has she slept in paranoia that they will finally come for her baby. 

Spike for his part had signs of a rough interrogation all over him, from superficial bruising to a spike missing on his head; all due to being dragged off on several occasions for questioning. He sat there quietly, all emotions drained from his face as he continued to stroke Rainbow’s mane, wondering if this is the end for both of them. Well, he figured he would die after they broke the information out of him and he knew it would kill Rainbow once they start experimenting on her baby.

What he didn’t expect was none other than Starlight Glimmer entering the cell.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to cast a sound dampening spell. I can’t have vital information leak to common knowledge,” she said to the guard stationed at their door.

The guard nodded and without a word closed the cell door.

“Spike, Rainbow, how are we all doing today?” said Starlight, smiling casually.

“Leave us alone, Starlight,” Rainbow sobbed under her breath, clearly exhausted from crying, “Nothing you say will convince me that this is for the greater good.”

Starlight sighed as she pulled out a strange device from her saddlebag. “Well that’s a shame, Rainbow. Today seems to be a very good day for an adventure. Don’t you think so, Wizard?”

Spike arched an eyebrow. “That all depends, Sorcerer. Are we facing the Squizard?”

Starlight gave a smirk, “Oh, no my good Wizard. We’re escaping the dungeons.”

Spike returned the smirk, “You’ve got a plan then?”

Tossing a device to Spike, Starlight answered, “Theran Teleportation Gizmo. This’ll zap you into Trixie’s wagon.”

“Wait, what’s going on here?” Clearly confused, Rainbow finally raises her head to look between the two of them.

“We’re getting you out of Equestria, Rainbow,” answered Starlight, “Me and several others have already made preparations to smuggle you into our secret portal site, which should allow you safe passage into Thera. The same goes for your family and the rest of the Element Bearers.”

Rainbow stared at her in disbelief. “Y-you can get us out of here?” she exclaimed with hope. Then a thought came across her, “What about Twilight? Wouldn’t she flip once she finds out you saved us?”

“Oh believe me, she’s too preoccupied with whatever side project she’s been on about to care. Seriously, she’s been so irritable these past five years that she wouldn’t care less unless it has to do with Celestia. Besides, Spike here will provide me with the perfect alibi.”

“What do you have in mind?” Spike asked.

Starlight’s smirked grew wider, “I need you to replicate your Dragonfire and knock me unconscious, just for good measure.”



The extraction was simple; Wizard was to duplicate his message spell to make it appear as though an outsider delivered the teleportation device. As they receive it, I was to be knocked unconscious while they make their escape into Pixie’s base through the device.



“Finally, you made it! Trixie was expecting you guys minutes ago!”

Rainbow Dash gawked in disbelief, “Trixie?! You’re in on this?!”

The unicorn smirked, “Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie planned this rescue operation after all. Well, some of it.”

“Focus Trixie,” snapped Spike, “What’s the plan?”

“Oh, right. Grit your teeth Spike.” 

“What?”

Without a warning, Trixie fires a spell at Spike, knocking him back to a shelf, toppling over as it falls with him.

Rainbow Dash gawked in disbelief. “W-what did you do that for?” she shrieked, taking a defensive stance.

“Relax, it’s all part of the plan,” Trixie waved off nonchalantly before continuing with a pout, “Besides, Trixie wanted payback for killing her Level 20 Wizard in our last game.”

“Urgh, it wasn’t my fault you decided to pick up an obviously cursed item,” groaned Spike as he stood up from the blast.

“YOU SAID IT HAD A DC CONSTITUTION SAVING THROW OF 15!!!!”

“Hey! No discussions of the game off the table!”

The two were surprised by Rainbow who snarled at them before it finally clicked.

“Oh right, I forgot you were our Rogue before Discord was gone.” Trixie’s head drooped in mention of their missing friend before shaking herself off, “Anyway, the idea is this; we need to create a scenario for your escape. You and Spike teleported in out of nowhere, The great and Powerful Trixie reacts and blasts him to the shelves out of instinct. You then tackle me, then he tackles me, there’ll be a struggle, and then you tie me up and gag me.” 

“That’s the cover story anyway,” continued Trixie after a pause to let the information sink in, “We need to make this as convincing as possible to mask our involvement. Basically, we trash Trixie’s wagon a bit, Trixie gets a bruise from Rainbow’s punch, you guys tie Trixie up, blindfold and all, and finish with the both of you hauling flank to the Everfree. Everypony will think you planned to use my wagon as an emergency escape for months and will be too busy to look for your trail while the other players rescue your friends. Classic misdirection.”

Rainbow’s ears perked up, “Wait, you mean you’re going to rescue-?”

She was interrupted by an explosion from a distance.

“Ponyfeathers!” Trixie gawked, staring out her window, “They already started! Quick, we need to move!”

After ransacking Trixie’s wagon and a hesitant buck to her right torso from Rainbow, the two began to tie the magician up.

“Make it as tight as you can. We need this as convincing as possible.”

“Why can’t you just use your magic to tie yourself up?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Can’t risk that; they’ll scan for magic signatures on the ropes. Just use the good old fashioned way.”

“Wouldn’t they question you if we don’t block your horn?” Spike asked with concern in his tone.

“Do you have a horn suppression ring with you?”

Spike shook his head.

“Exactly. The idea is that you take me by surprise and disorient me enough for me to be too shocked to react. Besides, you can temporarily shut down a unicorn’s magic by blinding them. Ponies will buy the alibi that Trixie was too disorientated to concentrate on her spells to escape.”

“Huh, you really thought about all this,” said Rainbow, quite impressed at the well thought out plan.

Trixie grinned proudly, “Hmph, Trixie will take that as a compliment.”

Rainbow and Spike proceeded to bind and blindfold her. Just before they finished with her gag she stopped them.

“Wait, I almost forgot to tell you. The rendezvous is in Maud’s cave. You all can sort your escape to Thera from there.”

Spike nodded in affirmation, “Thanks Trixie, we’ll never forget this.”

“Save it when you get out. Now hurry, you’ve got about an hour til they trace the teleportation to this wagon. Go!”

They put on her gag, made for the door and checked to see if the coast was clear. They noted that they were at the outskirts of Ponyville, just next to White Tale Woods. Seeing no creature around, they hightailed from the wagon and into the woods.



While we extracted Wizard, Barbarian, Warlock, Bard and Artificer extracts Woodpecker, Mockingbird, Nightingale and Hummingbird respectively from their homes. Along with their families.



A door burst open, startling Applejack from her sleep. More than a week has passed since the RECS apprehended Rainbow Dash and Spike. Since then, she and the remainder of her friends were locked in house arrest. Since then, war has finally broken out between Equestria and the Nations of Thera. And since then, Applejack has been jumping at every shadow, every bump, every knock at the door, every bark Winona shouts to approaching strangers within their property. She was afraid. Afraid that they’ll finally take her away from her home, afraid of what they’ll do to the rest of the girls, afraid of what they’ll do to her family. 

All that fear and tension turned into a sigh of relief when it was none other than Big Mac who burst through her room with a determined expression in his eyes.

“Big Mac, ya scared me,” spoke Applejack as she clutched her chest, resisting a forming panic attack, “Whad'ya wake me up for?”

“Pack your things, sis,” replied the stoic stallion, “We’re leavin’.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. Before she could say a word, a large bag was tossed next to her bed. 

“No time for dillydallying, Applejack!” called out Granny Smith, “You git your flank packin’ pronto or we’ll drag ya with nothin’ but your hat to whatchamacallit!”

A number of questions ran across her mind as she proceeded to pack her things; mainly being where would they go? 

“Granny Smith, can’t ‘Ah bring mah Cutie Mark charts with me?” She heard her little sister Apple Bloom from downstairs.

“Absolutely not!” came the Apple family matron’s stern reply, “Bare essentials only! Leave whatever sentimentals and junk behind!” There was a pause to which Applejack could only guess would be Granny Smith trying to comfort Apple Bloom. “Ah don’t like it either, sweetie pie, but where we’re goin’ we can’t carry everythin’ with us. ‘Sides, when we Apples first came to this here land before it became Ponyville, we carried nothin’ but the saddlebags on our backs. Where we’re goin’ is a start of a new chapter for our family.”

“Could we at least pack the photographs and family logs with us?” Sugar Belle, Big Mac’s wife, was heard nearby, “It would be a shame not to bring years of family history with us to remember.”

A sigh was heard from Granny Smith, “Ah suppose it would be wrong to leave those behind. Just leave them fancy trinkets though. Ain’t no point bringin’ family jewellery if it’ll weigh us down.”

Before Applejack could ask Big Mac, she flinched as Granny Smith appeared at her door with a haggard expression. 

"Jacqueline Butter Apple, 'Ah told d'ya ta get your flank packin' yesterday!" the old mare all but snarled at her, clearly lost all her patience, "That was twice now, ya hear? There won't be a third!"

"B-but Granny-"

"NO BUTS! This ain't for discussion! We do not have the time nor the place! Now haul yer ass, on the double or 'Ah will hog-tie you and drag you kickin'!" 

This startled Applejack. Only rarely has she heard the good Granny Smith cuss; and when she did, you could bet that she was mighty furious. Last time she remembered that was a brief argument with Grand Pair five years ago and she let him have it for all of Ponyville to see. One could hear a pin drop after her consecutive cussing across town. And for her to be like this now could only mean that she means business and that there was no arguing the matter.

Promptly after grabbing all their essentials, the whole family assembled in the living room as they awaited the matron’s next orders. 

“Sugar Belle, Apple Bloom, Applejack; y’all grabbed what ya needed?” Granny Smith eyed each of them sternly.

“Yes ma’am,” Sugar Belle nodded, “I’ve packed up all the family photographs, family tree and journals like I suggested.”

“I’ve brought my travellin’ clothes and saddlebags,” replied Apple Bloom before hesitantly adding, “and my copy of my published book “Finding your Cutie Marks”. I could at least bring a copy of what me and the Crusaders took three years to put together.”

“Dat’s fine ‘Ah suppose,” sighed Granny Smith as she turned to Applejack who still hadn't had a chance to voice her questions, “Applejack, ‘Ah know ya well enough that you’ve got questions, but try to save it til we make our getaway.”

This surprised Applejack. “Getaway?”

“Big Mac, open the hatch.”

“Eeyup.”

Big Mac stepped on a protruding floorboard, opening a trapdoor in the middle of the room leading to an underground tunnel. Applejack’s jaw dropped in disbelief. 

“Months ago, Big Mac an’ his weird friends came together an’ set this whole thin’ up,” Granny Smith answered her granddaughter’s unspoken question, “Told me it was for in case somethin’ this crazy be happenin’ in Equestria. ‘Ah told him he was playin’ too much of those games, wastin’ bits on a worthless underground maze and should be spendin’ more time with his family. Turns out he was right an’ was onto somethin’.”

Big Mac grabbed a lantern with his teeth and led the way into the tunnel, followed shortly by Sugar Belle, Winona and Apple Bloom. Applejack stood there, jaw still agape from the revelation.

Granny Smith nudged her forward, “Don’t worry ‘bout your friends. From wat Mac told me, they’ll be joinin’ us shortly. Now get the move on, ‘A’ll follow behind ya.”

What the hay is goin’ on here? Are we escapin’? But where?

“Ganny, are we all set?” she heard Big Mac ask.

Applejack blinked. So lost in her thoughts, she didn't realise she was already inside the tunnels. What she heard next however ran her blood cold.

"Eeyup," Granny Smith sighed in painful resignation, "Set the charges Mac."

Before Applejack could protest, Big Mac pushed a wired lever. The tunnels shook as a deafening roar of an explosion erupted above them. The house, the barn; they blew it all up! She turned to her brother, her sister and her sister-in-law; all wore the expression of sorrow and resignation. Apple Bloom tried to hold back tears but ultimately failed as she sobbed quietly as Winona attempted to comfort her. Sugar Belle nuzzled Big Mac assuringly, consoling the silent stallion. Big Mac returned the nuzzle, his lips quivering from held back tears. 

Without another word, Big Mac held out a radio, "Dungeon Master, this is Barbarian. Woodpecker secured, approaching rendezvous."

Shock, horror, anger and sorrow was all that Applejack felt as she turned to the old mare, silently demanding an explanation. 

"It needed to be done, Applejack. Old Pappy, Bright Mac an' Pear Butter may be rollin' in their graves for losin' the farm, but A'd sooner spit on an apple than ta lose another family."



"Sorry Miss, but Sugarcube Corner is closed," a Royal Guard firmly stated.

"That's alright, sir," a thin orange coloured stallion approached the guard, "Ms Scratch is just here to return Pinkie's party cannons."

The albino unicorn with purple shades and headphones grinned with a salute to the guard. 

"How many party cannons?" asked the guard, eyeing the large crate suspiciously. 

The silent DJ lifted two hooves up.

"Let me check, just to make sure," the guard stated, moving towards the crate's lid and opened it, revealing two of Pinkie Pie’s party cannons and a sack of what he presumed was confetti. Satisfied, he wordlessly gestured the unicorn in as he opened the door.

About half an hour later, Vinyl came back into view as she made her way to the shop’s exit with her now “empty” crate.

However, just as the mute DJ attempted to leave, she was quickly stopped by the guard. “Hold it,” he scowled suspiciously, “before you leave I need to ask you a question.”

Mr and Mrs Cake tensed up behind the door, worried that he might have caught on to their plan.

“Could I have your autograph? I’m a big fan,” the guard grinned sheepishly as he produced a CD cover.

The couple breathed a sigh of relief.

Moments later as Ponyville disappeared from view, Vinyl Scratch gave a light tap to the crate. The crate then burst open to reveal Pinkie Pie gasping for air and two foals with oxygen masks sticking their heads out.

“Pumpkin, Pound, are you two okay?” Pinkie turned to the foals, squishing their faces together in her forelegs.

“We’re fine, Aunty Pinkie, but would you mind letting us go?” the unicorn, Pumpkin, muttered out from her squeezed muzzle.

“Oh, right. Sorry, let me take off those masks.”

While Pinkie tended to the Cake Twins, Vinyl pulled out her radio communicator.

“Ah, Warlock. Did you retrieve Mockingbird?” the dispatcher sounded.

Vinyl nodded.

“Are you outside of Town?”

Vinyl nodded.

“Wait, did you bring the Twins with you?”

Vinyl hesitated.

“... Warlock.”

Vinyl begrudgingly nodded.

“Sigh, remind me to inform Muffin Factory and Time Machine to check on the Tavern and make sure that the Barkeepers get an alibi. Meet us up at the rendezvous.”

Vinyl nodded and promptly put away the radio.

“Wait, how did they understand what she’s saying if they can’t see her through the radio?” Pound the pegasus asked, confused at the whole exchange.

“Really? I understood everything she said,” Pinkie said with a shrug and smiled.

Seeing that this line of questioning will only produce more questions, both Pound and Pumpkin filed that under the "Don't ask, it's Pinkie Pie" folder in their brains and decided to move on.

After disposing of the crate and making their way into the Everfree Forest, Pumpkin looked back to Ponyville; concern written in her eyes.

Vinyl placed a hoof over her shoulder, offering the filly a knowing nod.

“She says your mom and dad will be okay,” said Pinkie, translating for the silent DJ, “we’ll protect them however we can.”

Pumpkin turned to her brother who shared the same look of worry and returned to the two mares, “Will we see them again?”

Vinyl sneered a confident grin.

“You betcha!!!” yelled out Pinkie before she was silenced by all three of them. “Hehe, oops.”

Without another word, they entered the forest. As they did so, a large explosion was heard from a distance and a huge fire was seen in the middle of the town.



“Will that mare just shut up?!!”

A Royal Guard stood outside of Carousel Boutique covering her ears from the noise within. For the past three days Rarity had been crying out loud for all of Ponyville to hear, screaming at the top of her voice that her life was over. Almost in a loop.

“Need some help again?” a light grey earth pony mare with a treble clef Cutie Mark approached the guard.

“Ms Melody!” the guard exclaimed in relief, “Oh thank Celestia, you’re here! Please, she’s at it again! You’re the only one in town that seems to know how to shut her up!”

“I know, I know. Let me do my magic and deal with this nonsense,” she said with a tired sigh as she knocked at the front door, “Sweetie Belle, it’s Octavia. I’m here to see your sister again.”

The door promptly opened, revealing a young white unicorn mare, her eyes reddened from either stress or crying. “Hi Octavia,” Sweetie Belle said worriedly as she led the cello player in, “Thanks for coming by. I can’t seem to shut her up anymore and she seems to be getting worse; and to be honest, I’m not even sure you could help her now.”

Octavia smiled reassuringly as she gave Sweetie a gentle pat on her mane, “Not to worry dear, I’ll see what I can do.” 

As soon as the door closes behind them, the facade breaks as the two softly giggle to each other whilst they approach a phonograph in the shop’s main room playing Rarity’s cries of sorrow on a loop.

“By the way, those eye dyes from Zecora aren’t straining your eyes, are they?” Octavia asked as she turned off the phonograph.

“Pfft. Oh no, they actually feel less itchy,” Sweetie Belle waved it off as she led the way towards the basement, “I have to say, I’m a little impressed you guys planned all this in less than a week.”

“I am more impressed at how you managed to burrow a tunnel underneath my Boutique in less than two days.”

Both eyes turned at Rarity who was waiting for them in her basement, surrounded by luggage.

Sweetie Belle facehoofed, “Rarity, I told you not to overpack! Bare essentials only!”

“But these are bare essentials,” Rarity protested, “These are my best gowns, dresses, supplies and designs; I can’t just leave them here to burn with the boutique! Besides,” she pointed at Sweetie Belle, “half of them are your things.”

Sweetie Belle blinked. She turned to Octavia, “Wait, you didn’t tell her?”

“Me? She’s your sister, I would think that would be your responsibility.”

Rarity’s ears perked up, “Tell me what? What’s going on Sweetie Belle?”

The younger sister sighed, “I can’t go with you Rarity, not like this.”

Rarity stared at her sister in disbelief, “Sweetie Belle… Why?” 

Sweetie Belle shook her head, “There are too many things I can’t leave up to chance once we set things in motion. First is an alibi for Octavia; it’s one thing for you to take your own life and the shop with you, it’s another if you kill me with you. Twilight will suspect something out of character if you commit murder-suicide along with arson and will immediately investigate the basement, the tunnels and Octavia. And with the entire plan moving all at once, it won’t take a genius to connect the dots.

“And secondly,” she stepped forward, placing a hoof over Rarity’s shoulder, “I can’t just leave Mom, Dad and Scootaloo. I know we should have brought Mom and Dad with us, but you know as well as I that they can’t leave Equestria. As for Scootaloo, it’s bad enough that Rainbow and Apple Bloom have to go. I can’t leave just one Crusader left in Ponyville. Besides,” Sweetie paused and gave a reassuring grin, “she and I will be instrumental for what’s coming.”

Rarity teared up, tackled her sister into an embrace and cried real tears this time, “Take care of everypony and yourself for me, alright?”

Sweetie Belle teared up and returned the embrace, “Only if you watch over everyone on your end.”

“I will Sweetie, I promise,” Rarity broke the embrace and gestured, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

They giggled at the exchange before Rarity made her way to the tunnel with fewer bags, “Well, I must be off. You two give them a performance of a lifetime, you hear?”

“Will do, Rarity,” nodded Octavia, “Remember, as soon as you reach the caverns at the end of the tunnels, set off the charges and the tunnels will collapse behind you. Hopefully, the planned explosion will be enough to mask the collapsing tunnels.”

Without another word, Rarity entered the tunnels as Sweetie Belle and Octavia burst out the front door.

“Help! Guards!! It’s my sister; she’s gone crazy and-”

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the boutique, shattering the windows as flames suddenly burst within the building.

And with a rehearsed cry that would make her sister proud, Sweetie Belle screamed, “RARITY, NOOOOOOO!!!!!”



The zebra Zecora quietly approached an isolated cottage at the outskirts of the Everfree woods. She walked past three Royal Guards who were assigned to watch the cottage’s inhabitant, lying unmoving by the entrance.

“Fluttershy? It is I. Please come out, the way is clear from my scout.”

No reply was given.

Steeling herself, the zebra cautiously trotted into the cottage.



The chosen rendezvous is Golem’s cave which is the central terminal to the underground tunnels we built below Ponyville. Once all parties gathered, they immediately made their way into the Outpost, but not before blowing up the cavern to conceal their trail. 

There was also another issue that arose…



“Maud!!!” 

Pinkie leapt into the deadpanned earth pony who returned the embrace.

“It’s good to see you too, Pinkie,” Maud replied in her usual monotone.

“Guys! It’s good to see you all again!” Rainbow wept, embracing her friends who were present.

“Ah’m glad y’all made it in one piece, Sugarcube,” replied Applejack as she nuzzled the prismatic maned pegasus, holding back tears of her own.

“I… I thought I would never see you all again!” sobbed Rarity in her exaggerated wailing, “I thought they would do all sorts of horrendous atrocities to you, your foal and- Gasp! Spikey, your spike! What other horrible tortures have they done to you?!!”

“I’m fine Rarity,” Spike blushed, “it’s just a spike. It’ll grow back.”

“Um Rarity,” Apple Bloom approached the fashionista, “where’s Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity frowned sadly, “I’m afraid to say that Sweetie Belle chose to stay behind. She said she couldn’t leave our parents and Scootaloo behind.”

“Oh, I see.” Apple Bloom frowned slightly before shaking her head with a smile, “It’s for the best, ‘Ah suppose. Can’t leave just one Cutie Mark Crusader in Ponyville after all.”

Rarity returned her smile, “Funny, she said the exact same thing.”

“Ah, noble Apples. Thine good to see thy family safe and sound once again.”

The voice caught most within the cavern’s attention as the entire Pie family made their appearance.

“Iggy, Big Momma Q! So nice to have this family reunion,” Granny Smith grinned toothily at the Pie parents, “‘Ah take it y’all were responsible for them tunnels ‘neath Ponyville?”

“Thine family is only partially to thank,” Cloudy Quartz Pie replied, “Thy should thank mostly to our eldest, Maud, who did most of the work.”

“I simply laid out the tunnel’s network and told where the hired diamond dogs to dig,” Maud flatly replied.

“How’d you manage to keep this all quiet?” asked Pinkie.

“Classified,” replied Maud.

“Spike, Big Mac, Vinyl, Maud, who are y’all, really?” asked Applejack who still wanted answers, “What is all this?”

“I’m more curious to know how you got our families involved in all this,” inquired Sugar Belle.

Before any of them could answer, a familiar Zebra entered the room.

“Zecora!” they called out in unison.

Big Mac noticed her exasperated expression as well as a certain detail. “What happened, where’s Fluttershy?”



… Hummingbird was missing.



“I do not know,” gasped Zecora, trying to catch her breath, “but I fear the worst. It seems I was not there first.”

“What do you mean?” asked Rarity, anxiety clear in her tone, “What happened?”

“I came to the cottage to pick up our Hummingbird, but as I approached her dwelling I heard not a word. Not a sound, not a peep, not a flutter of her or her companions. What I smelled instead was the stench of carrions.”

A collective gasp of horror sounded as the group began pressing answers from Zecora.

“LET ME FINISH!” shouted the zebra, silencing the group, “A few animals along with several Royal Guards’ corpses were all I could find. Everything else was left behind. The cottage had signs of ransacking, as well as signs of struggling. It appeared that Fluttershy and her animals put up quite a fight. However,I could not find any trace of their flight.”

“Wait, you mean Fluttershy escaped?” gawked Rainbow Dash.

Zecora shook her head. “While I do not doubt Fluttershy and her animals’ power, there was something else I smelled in her cottage that was worse than blood,” she paused as she grimaced at the implications of her next word, “Gunpowder.”

Big Mac, Vinyl and even Maud gasped. Their faces paled as their blood ran cold at this new information; their worst fears realised.

“Maud,” a Limestone Pie cautiously poked her eldest sister, concerned from her rarely seen expression of anxiety, “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

All questioning eyes (including Spike’s) turned to the usually expressionless mare as her eye’s pupils ceased dilating. She closed her eyes and sighed with finality, “New World Order.”

“The human terrorist group?” Apple Bloom perked up, “What do they have to do with anything?”

“Doesn’t matter,” stomped Big Mac, “we need to get out of dodge, now!”

“W-where do we go?” asked Rainbow.

“The last place they’ll ever think of finding us.”



Thankfully, Agent Artificer had enough sense to keep radio silence after her failed retrieval of Hummingbird. From the gathered reports after she reunited with the rest of the Players, they maintained radio silence until they reached the extraction site where Agent Time Machine along with other collaborators awaited their arrival.



“You’ve got to be kidding me; The Castle of the Two Sisters?!”

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and their chosen families who weren’t aware of their destination gawked with mixed reactions of bewilderment and incredulity at the chosen site of extraction. Awaiting them was one Doctor Time Turner, Ponyville’s resident horologist and inventor. Those among the group who were privy to this underground resistance expected to see the earth pony, what they didn’t expect however were his companions.

“Smolder?” Spike spoke out in a surprised tone.

“Daring Do?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with equal surprise and utter excitement.

“Yo, what took you guys so long?” Smolder raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

“I’m more curious as to what you’re doing here,” retorted Spike as he points an accusatory finger at the two.

“Funny, I thought you knew, considering you were the informant,” the famous archeologist replied, “We were granted access to investigate and excavate the Castle’s secret chambers for months now. It was how we made contact with the Dungeon Master after all.”

“Wait, you’re part of the Players?”

“Yeah, Callsign Rogue,” Daring Do smirked and pointed to Smolder, “and she’s my intern.”

“You got that right,” the dragoness snorted proudly.

“Pardon me, but as much as I would like for everypony to play catch up we need to get you lot inside,” Time Turner guestured them in, “Can’t have you out in the open when the Royal Guards are probably on high alert for you now.”

As they entered the ruins leading into an underground labyrinth, Applejack spoke out, “Alright, now that we’re all outta earshot from unwanted ears, mind telling us who aren’t in the know ‘bout what’s goin’ on?”

“I agree with Applejack,” added Rarity, “I’ve only known bits and pieces from what Sweetie Belle tells me after we were incarcerated. Something about you all being an underground resistance group against the Princesses.”

Spike sighed after noticing several eyes on him, “Two years ago, after the School of Friendship shut down, I was cleaning out Twilight’s desk when I came across a file containing plans for Thera’s conversion to become a pony society. Deciding to know what was going on, I did some digging.” 

The dragon paused, snorting out fire from his snout from remembering before he continued, “I found pieces of the truth behind the war. Particularly, the so-called death of Discord, the creation of the portal to Thera, and most damning of all, the history of Equestria’s declining birth rate. I’ll tell you the details later, but the short version is that this war wasn’t the first time Celestia and Luna used the conversion potion.”

“Wait, what?!” came (almost) everypony’s dumbstruck reactions.

“Eeyup,” affirmed Big Mac, “Had the same reaction when he told us.”

“Wait, you told Big Mac and not us?” asked Applejack.

Vinyl gestured to Pinkie Pie to which the Party Planner nodded.

“It wasn’t just Big Mac,” she explained, “The entire O&O group got wind of it after Spike broke down crying. When he finally opened up and told us the whole thing, we formed a network of contacts across Equestria and soon after Thera and beyond."

"Wait, you knew about all this, Pinkie?" exclaimed Applejack. 

"Well, I didn't know all the details until after our get-together with Rainbow," Pinkie replied innocently with a tilt of her head and her signature smile, "I was told not to know too much since I was one of the Element Bearers."

“Also technically, it was me and Derpy who formed this little network,” interjected Time Turner as he pulled a latch to a secret passageway into a hidden chamber.

“You?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at that, “How did you get involved? Last I checked, you and Derpy weren’t exactly O&O players.”

“Well, see, it started seven years ago,” started Time Turner as he continued to lead them through the chamber, “Derpy and I were part of a secret society of studying ancient and arcane technologies lost to time. Originally there were five more members including our project leader, Daniel Goodshot; a Chronomancer of sorts. Don’t really know. 

“Anyhoo, for two years we’ve been studying an ancient race that actually existed in Equus before the Age of Unification. We were making a headway with a breakthrough due to an artefact we found. However, just before we could test our findings, our project leader vanished along with our other members, leaving just me and Derpy to pick up the pieces.

“We had an inkling as to what had happened to them a few months later after we heard of the portal opening between Thera and Equestria. It was through the artefact that we managed to get into contact with the Players and Thera.”

“Let me guess, the Princesses had something to do with their disappearance?” asked Rarity.

“Well, not exactly.”

Before Time Turner could elaborate, they reached a dead end. The earth pony leaned and prodded the brick wall before pushing a protruding brick, which caused a small opening to appear, revealing two bright golden eyes staring back at them.

“Roll Perception for traps,” demanded a familiar voice from the other side of the wall.

“Don’t bother, I cast Find Traps,” replied the earth pony.

Grunting with approval, the voice closes the opening and within a few moments, the wall opens up to reveal an all too familiar mint coated unicorn mare with a lyre Cutie Mark, grinning widely at them.

“Welcome back, Time Machine.”

“LYRA HEARTSTRINGS?!” the Element Bearers stared gobsmacked at the mare in disbelief.

“Judging from that reaction, I take it the mission was a success?” she smirked with satisfaction.

“Unfortunately, not completely,” Zecora shook her head sadly, “We couldn’t find Fluttershy and her disappearance made our worst fears clarify.”

“Big Brother?” Lyra narrowed her eyes in realisation.

“Eeyup,” nodded Big Mac.

“Dammit, the Director is not going to like this.” She gestured to the group to follow her in as the wall closed behind them. “Well, at least you brought Wizard and the rest of the Birds safe and sound. Come along, the extraction is ready for you.”

“Extraction? From underneath the Castle?” Rarity asked incredulously, “Begging your pardon, but I don’t see how we could escape into Thera through another underground labyrinth, if that is our destination.”

Time Turner smirked, “Remember when I said about how my project leader disappeared along with our colleagues?”

“Yes?” Rarity nodded.

“He and the rest of our colleagues simply returned home.”

Just as the group processed that information, they were led into a giant room surrounded by electrical coils and magical crystals, all connected to a giant door made of an obsidian-like material standing in the middle of the chamber. The room was swarmed with ponies, dragons, griffons… and humans with their ally alien species. All either grabbed in lab coats or (for the case of most of the humans) in military uniforms.

The uninitiated of the group stared in awe at the sight; mostly at the large ancient obsidian gate that towered before them.

“Dungeon Master,” called out a human officer holding a radio, “HQ says Thera is ready to bring them in.”

“Good, open the portal,” ordered Lyra, prompting the scientists to activate the device.

“Since when were you Dungeon Master?” asked Spike.

“Since the old one left for important reasons,” Lyra replied promptly, “He didn’t want his cover to be blown so he left me in charge.”

Just as she finished, the gate lit up with a bright flash, almost blinding the onlookers. As the light dimmed, the group watched in amazement at the void within the portal resembling bodies of stars, galaxies and nebulas swirling within.

“Bless my bones,” breathed Igneous Pie.

“Is… Is that a Starcatcher Portal?” stammered Rainbow Dash.

“Eeyup,” chimed Lyra.

Applejack’s eyes surveyed across the room, processing the situation before her as she finally asked her unanswered question; “Who are you people?”

“We are the Ponyville Players,” declared Lyra in a clearly rehearsed speech, “A cell of operatives whose purpose is to monitor and interfere with Equestria’s side of the war.”

“Equestria’s side?” asked Pinkie, “You mean, there’s more of you monitoring Thera’s side?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

A figure was seen entering from the portal. It was an amber-coated unicorn mare with a fiery mane, wearing a black jacket military uniform. She and Spike shared a glance and nodded to each other affirmatively.

“Hello everypony, I am Sunset Shimmer,” the unicorn introduced herself, “And let me be the first to welcome you all to the S.G.I. The Secret Global Intelligence.”



Wizard, Barbarian, the Birds (apart from Hummingbird) and their chosen families were extracted through the portal where they will be transferred into the Theran Authorities and apply for political asylum. Warlock, Artificer and Time Machine continued with their operative duties to ensure they cover all traces of our involvement. Bard and Nightingale’s sister managed to convince the authorities of Nightingale’s apparent suicide while Muffin Factory managed to provide an alibi for the Barkeepers in regards to their foals and Mockingbird’s disappearance. We chose foalnapping to be the cover story.

As planned, the Beholders and the Pale Horse traced Wizard and Bluejay’s escape into Pixie’s home where they found only our diminutive agent gagged and disoriented. So far they bought our alibis.

Despite the failure of retrieving Hummingbird, the deaths of Beholders assigned to monitor her at the very least diverted suspicion towards Big Brother Operatives as the cause of simultaneous events, including the destruction of Sweet Apple Acres, of which the public believes caused the deaths of the entire Apple family. Regardless, resources are now diverted into tracing and locating Big Brother within Equestria in efforts to retrieve Hummingbird and disrupt their operations. Due to all this, Operation Rrakkma is now on hold until the threat of their interference is resolved.

Despite all the complications, we are pleased to report that Operation Mad Mage was a success.

END REPORT
> Super Weapons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Princess Celestia,

In our efforts to offer our support in this war as your ally, I have sent several changeling agents to infiltrate the Theran High Command as you’ve requested. The information we’ve managed to obtain disturbs us to the highest degree and at the cost of many infiltrators. And while I still stand by to plead our case to pursue negotiations to sue for peace, I do agree with you and the rest of our alliance that if we are to survive this conflict it is imperative that we undermine the Theran military’s capabilities to wage war against us. Even more so now that we obtained crucial information that could determine the fate of the war.

Despite our allied expedition’s growing success on a planet wide scale, we have only an estimate of six months, if not a year if we’re lucky before our inevitable defeat. Mind you, this estimate does not take into account the 22 million returning forces of the IUVA but of something more sinister. Attached to this letter are a series of classified documents detailing only four projects of The Apocalypse Arsenal; Thera’s Superweapon research Division. These weapons can and will dictate the fate of the war should they be unleashed upon us. I recommend that we prioritise the destruction of The Apocalypse Arsenal along with whatever they’ve developed before we are all annihilated by the wrath of these weapons.


Your loyal ally and friend,
King Thorax




Project Leviathan

Gifted to us by the Holy Order of Sabak, Project Leviathan is the cultivation of a Crystalline Egg of the infamous Ether Drake. A Titanic Space Dragon roughly the size of a Class F Yellow Dwarf Star. The purpose of this project is to successfully hatch, tame and control this creature with the sole purpose to act as fleet deterrent against the Kalderin Swarm and the planetary bombardment of Swarm infested planets. The relentless fleets of the Swarm along with the near impossible task of recapturing and cleansing lost planets requires a more sustainable option that can save us the manpower and resources to continue our efforts against this living plague upon the galaxy. Its Solar breath and ion charged body are natural counters to the Kalderins’ fungal physiology, ideal for destroying their fleets with ease and cleansing their infesting spores on lost planets without creating permanent damage to the planet’s ecology in the long run. 

The incubation of this creature has already started long before it was gifted to us and is expected to hatch within this decade. Imprinting methods to ensure our forces will not be targeted is listed in page 5.



Project Capella Ecaterina

After our victory against the Starcatcher Empire and the acquisition of three planets from the universe Claris 255, much of their technology was salvaged and currently in the process of being reverse-engineered. Project Infinity was initially planned to harness the technology of stellar harvesting but ultimately ended in catastrophe after our efforts resulted in the Ulm system collapsing into a black hole. Realising the potential destructive capability we have at our disposal, Project Sunflower was initiated to oversee system destroyers against foes such as the Mauradan Imperium but were ultimately shelved due to legal and moral ramifications.

However, with the conflict at our doorstep against the magical beings of Equestria, a new project of a similar vein and concept is reopened to counter this threat. Project Capella Ecaterina is to create a miniature singularity for planetary tactical/strategic bombing in hopes to bypass large scale magical shielding and eliminate intended targets such as concentrated armies or cities. Unlike the Nuclear option that most of our galactic allies tend to favour, Project Capella Ecaterina can ensure little to no long term residual radiation after deployment. Admittedly however, it is albeit a more dangerous solution with the risks ranging from gravitational distortions that could destroy our only defence against solar flares to large areas surrounding the detonation imploding as far as an entire star system. Proof of concept however yielded promising results from experimental hand grenades used in the field. 



Project Pygmalion

During our interstellar archaeological quest in search for the precursors known as the Cybrex, we located their Home System of Cybrex Alpha; a gigantic ring world circling their star. In its remains was a fully intact Cybrex Warform, albeit removed from all programmed orders to eliminate all organic life.

Project Pygmalion was initiated to replicate this Warform to support ground forces in hopes to replace the outdated landships. However, under advisement of the Holy Order of Sabak and the Commonwealth of Caste, the Warforms are not to be automated like the automatons we possess. Instead, they are to be stripped from all artificial intelligence, which include the endless roots of wires within its inner workings and have its chasey, armour and weaponry maintained to be crewed by two hundred men as a mobile ground fortress. A basic cogitator is to be used for its targeting systems and diagnostic systems. For more details on armaments, logistics and tactical implementations, see attached file for Land Leviathan.



Project Excalibur

Salvaged from the war against the Zuldan Galactic Empire, Project Excalibur is our attempt to reverse-engineer the infamous Colossus; the superweapon designed to destroy planets with a single charge. The development team however agreed that such a weapon to be used to destroy planets is unethical except for the most dire circumstances. (See Unknown Galactic incursion incident.) 

As a result, Project Excalibur is to be used as a tactical strike weapon and was considered as an alternative to Project Capella Ecaterina were it not for the cost of resources and power. It involves a concentrated blast of a massive electrical charge fired from an enlarged version of our Tesla Cannons built around a Colossus from orbit. The idea of the weapon is to minimise environmental damage whilst effectively eliminating all electricity conductive targets atop other functions such as a discharge of an Electro-Magnetic Field to shutdown all electrical devices beyond its targeted radius. The amount of power towards the use of this weapon can bypass every energy based shielding along with non-conductive armour, a perfect counter against the Equestrian Forces. The Project’s completion however is delayed by several months due to increasing hostilities in our border between the Rixian Corsairs, which is too close to our designated shipyard for the construction of Project Excalibur. Therefore while it does pose a risk being too close to the Equestrian Front, the Mars Colony was chosen to oversee the construction of the Project.



Celestia studied the files in front of her, frowning at what she read. She takes out a scroll and begins to write a letter.

To Twilight,

Prepare to have Project Blue on standby.
> Downgraded upgrades
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 15, 2020
Two months after the start of the war

To Grand Marshal Paul Andrews,

I do not wish to waste a moment of your time so I will dispense all formalities and move straight to the point: We need more guns and ammunition. The new commands you ordered to advance our lines after this past month’s change of momentum cannot be implemented, and I fear unless we receive replacements for damaged weapons and lost equipment, we may lose all our gained ground this past month. 

At the start of this war, most of the Homeguard were equipped with outdated Mk 35 Kalashnikova Arzen Rifles and Mk 2 Tesla Guns. Now we are barely having one of these among each platoon, with ammunition barely enough to last a skirmish. Some of our soldiers have even resorted to using phased-out firearms to supplement this supply shortage such as Mk 44 Mauser Arzen Rifles, Mk 18 Remington Arzen Rifles, and even something as antiquated as gunpowder weaponry such as the Mk 2 Martini–Henry rifle; all of which are either donated by civilians, salvaged from abandoned storages, delivered by mail from families of our troops, looted from museums, and traded from the Black Market. 

The situation is unsustainable and it is only a matter of time before the enemy realises that. And when they do, nothing can stop them from pushing us back all the way into the Mediterranean Line; leaving Alexandra and Konstantinople vulnerable and opening the Gates of Africa and Europe to them.

We need a solution to the supply shortage post haste and I recommend either fortifying our entrenched positions or falling back to our defensive lines before the enemy realises our predicament.


Brigadier General of the 12th Homeguard Brigade and Prince of the Byzantine Empire,
Basil M. Romanov III




August 21, 2020
A week later

To Grand Marshal Paul Andrews,

While I understand the predicament of our troops on the field, your orders for resupplying and rearming our troops with the modern Mk 5 Tesla guns or even Mk 2 Novak Assault Rifles will not be possible within a month. Our latest batch of 50,000 Mk 5 Tesla guns were unfortunately redirected to our starbase in Alpha Centauri due to a change of trade routes to avoid increasing raids from the Rixian Corsairs, all while 15,000 of them produced here locally were sabotaged or stolen by elements of the New World Order. 

On the other hand the Mk 2 NA Rifles, while abundant, are lacking enough ammunition to distribute across the fronts. The 5.56 28 Calibre Arzen rounds that is the standard ammunition used for our ballistic weaponry (which I’m sure you are aware of) were mostly issued to the Volunteers rather than the Homeguard; ergo, most of our ammunition factories were relocated in other planets such as Pangea, Terra Nova, New Iceland and New Algeria to deliver them directly to the front against our usual galactic rivals. Which means, most of our supply lines for ammunition are almost a sector away from Thera and would take at least a month to reach us with another several weeks to distribute them across our troops.

Before you ask why they were being forged there instead of our inner systems’ planets, it was due to the decision of the League Council fifteen years ago to better distribute the Arzen into the front as well as providing an easier logistical method to trade out Arzen to our allies and trading partners. It will take at least five years to relocate our military factories back to our inner systems’ planets; so instead we diverted resources and workers to our Mars colony in an effort to convert most of its power and mining industries and focus on military factories, effectively assigning the planet to be our first official Forge World. That said, it will take more than half a year to complete this project which by then we might lose the war.

On another note, while we cannot effectively supply our troops with the latest guns and ammunition, we still have millions of Great War model rifles such as Mk 14 Baker Arzen rifles and the Mk 22 Mauser Arzen rifles in storage facilities across Thera along with trillions of 0.625 calibre Arzen ammunition. Admittingly it isn’t ideal with the evolved forms of combat that we have been used to these past thirty years (seventy if you include the date when we phased out of these models), but it is better than nothing. All that is required is an ample supply of nitrogen and a change of battle tactics and formations and we might just buy us enough time to hold the Equestrians off before our main force comes to the rescue.


Minister of Resources for the League Council,
Joshua Little Tree




August 27, 2020
Six days later, Location [Classified]

“Alright boys and girls, meet your new partners.”

Gallus, Sandbar and a few members of their respective army groups as well as the 53rd Homeguard gathered around a supply truck as it distributed their new replacement weapons.

“Hey Sergeant, what the heck are we looking at?” Gallus asked, eyeing the weapons with bemusement. A sentient many shared. 

The weapons looked old and sophisticated; each one had a frame like an oversized musket with a circular shaped vertical chamber. A tube was attached underneath with several brass exhaust pipes on the left side of the rifle while to its right was a large hole which many guessed was where a magazine of Arzen should enter. The barrel had several cooling coils leading to the end of the muzzle, resembling a whisk with a wooden stock handle underneath and sighter at the top. The tube underneath snaked further to a small canteen labelled "Nitrogen" attached to the end.

"Is this supposed to be a joke, Sergeant?" a Homeguard private by the name of Isaac Montmorency spoke out, "These guns are older than the High Marshals!"

"Can't help that, private," replied the dark skinned man, Sergeant Frisbee, "These are the only things we've got on stock with enough ammo to last us until our relief arrives." 

He takes one of the rifles with one hand and a flask in the other. "This," Sgt Frisbee announced, "is the Mk 14 Baker Arzen rifle; the gun that served the British for sixty years of the Great War. She may be heavier than the KA 35s you are used to, or for you who had the chance to play with the classier ladies like the NA 2s, but believe me, the Baker is one of, if not the most reliable rifle in history."

"By reliable, you mean one of the first Arzen Rifles that doesn't constantly explode due to overheating or faulty cooling," sneered one of the privates.

"Stow it Reese! You will show this girl respect because you two will be getting to know each other for the duration of this war."

“Why the tubes and vents?” asked Sandbar.

“You all know how Arzen works, right?” asked the sergeant.

“Yeah; stick it in the chamber, ignite it, and it fires itself out.”

“Exactly,” replied Sgt Frisbee, “However, you lot have the luxury of having adamantium alloy for bullet casings. Folks back then couldn’t figure out how to slide them in casings without melting them, so they just shaped the bullet and let the chamber of the gun act as the casing.”

He took out a small cylindrical tube, opened and took something from inside, and held out before them a marble-shaped crimson crystal in the palm of his hand. Arzen. 

“Wait, that’s what the bullets looked like?” Gallus exclaimed unamused, “I thought this was a rifle, not a musket.”

“Oh it’s still a rifle, kid,” the sergeant corrected him, “Once ignited it doesn’t stay rigid. It’s the chamber’s job to shape it as it ignites and blast it out as quickly as possible, otherwise you have a piece of reactive lava in your gun and you’ll have five seconds to run before it explodes in your arms.”

“Is that what the nitrogen is for?”

“Correct. It acts as both the weapon’s coolant and steamed pressure ignition.”

Gallus’ eyes widened with horror as he stared at the weapon. “Wait a minute, are you telling me that this gun… is a pressure cooker?!” he shrieked.

The Theran locals burst out laughing from some of the volunteers’ reactions. 

“Give the bird a prize!”

“Could not have said it better myself!”

“What’s the matter, Blue? Cold feet?”

“Oh don’t worry mate, you only have a 1/50 chance for that to blow up on you.”

“You’ll probably be killed by the enemy before rolling that chance.”

“Alright, stow it you lot!” Sgt Frisbee ordered, silencing the troops, “I know most of you know about this old girl and her Prussian cousin, but you will treat them with respect. Keep her chambers cleaned and her parts maintained and she will not betray you.”

With that, he put back the bullet into the cylindrical tube and inserted the opening into the magazine porthole of the rifle with ping. The Sergeant then proceeded to connect the bottom cable tube together with the canteen of nitrogen and holstered said canteen to a pouch by his waist buckle. He then took a firing stance, put on his tinted goggles, aimed for the shooting gallery, loaded the rifle with a lever action and pulled the trigger.

A sharp piercing blast fired from the muzzle of the gun as a visible, blinding red light projected from the weapon and into a five inch thick metal target, melting right through it to the other side where it dug into an elevated mound of earth. The rifle’s exhaust pipes hissed out pressurised steam as Sgt Frisbee reloaded the chamber with another lever action.

He removed his goggles and turned to the troops, noting several of them blinking the blinding light from their eyes. He gave a scoff.

“Did you all forget rule number one before firing an Arzen or Tesla weaponry? Always wear your goggles.”



August 28, 2020
The next day

To all Commanding Officers and Staff,

Due to our distribution of outdated Great War weaponry, 1970s Tactics are to be implemented into the front. Rifle companies are to provide fire support to shock troops during assaults and remain in defensive lines within the trenches in an enemy attack rather than counter charge. 

For further details, see attached manual within the correspondent. 


Grand Marshal of Thera,
Paul T. Andrews

> Chaos meets Order
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date [REDACTED]

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING TRANSCRIBED AUDIO RECORDINGS ARE UNDER THE PROPERTY OF THE ROYAL EQUESTRIAN SECURITY COMMISSION (RESC). ACCESS TO THESE MATERIALS ARE RESTRICTED TO PONIES AUTHORISED BY THE PRINCESSES. ALL UNAUTHORISED ACCESS WILL BE GROUNDS FOR BANISHMENT AND/OR TERMINATION. ANY MATERIAL DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC WILL BE GROUNDS FOR BANISHMENT AND/OR TERMINATION.

THE RECORDING WAS TAKEN FROM [REDACTED], [REDACTED] *DISCORD’S HOLDING CELL.

*Changed when we found it impossible to censor for unknown reasons.




START OF RECORDING


D: Come on! Surely you could at least entertain me while I’m stuck here!!


(A distant explosion is audible)


D: Hmm, what is happening out there?


(Screams and gunfire audible)


D: Wait. Am I getting rescued? Oh, joy! It sounds like my gamble paid off! It would be interesting to see these humans I connected Equestria to. (Pause) Although, those weapons don’t sound like the usual gunfire-


(An explosion within the chamber is audible)


D: Well, that was quite the rough entry. I was expecting a little more finesse, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers. Welcome, I presume you’re here to rescue me?

TS: You must be Discord, right? We meet at last.

D: A Unicorn? Oh, you must be one of their collaborators against the Princesses. I have to say, you came along quicker than I expected. And for that matter, might I say, those are some curious-looking uniforms you’re wearing. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d say those are some variations of Post Victorian and Post Great World War from the human world. Wait a minute, am I being rescued by a Steampunk Convention?

TS: (Chuckles) I assure you, Lord Discord, these uniforms are legitimate. They are standard issues.

D: So what, did my magic somehow connect us to an Earth in the middle of a Steampunk Revolution? (Pause) Now that sounds fascinating. Oh well, no matter! You are here, I am here, which means Equestria has just about lost the war against Humanity, as I planned. Carry on then! Just pull that lever to your right and it should set me free from this stasis cell.


(A long pause)


D: Well? What are you waiting for, an invitation? Hurry up and get me out already.

TS: (Laughs ominously)

D: W-why are you laughing like that? And why is it an evil laugh? Am I being rescued by an evil version of Earth?

TS: Sorry. I forgot that you were stuck here isolated for years as a power conduit to keep the portal between worlds open. Of course, you haven’t heard of me. I am Tempest Shadow; commander of the Storm King’s Army, or what’s left of it. I am also an Elder of the Shadow Council. 

D: Hold on. The Storm King’s Army? Elder? Did I miss something chaotic and exciting while I was imprisoned here? Wait a minute, I know you! You are the Storm King’s right claw mare, his War Master. I thought you had a broken horn. And what is this Shadow Council?

TS: (Chuckling) My my, you have missed a lot. A year after the portal between our worlds opened, the Storm King led an invasion of Equestria. The invasion would have been a success if it weren’t for the Therans’ intervention. Our army was shattered in less than a week and the Storm King was captured and locked away in Tartarus.

D: Therans?

TS: Yeah. Five years ago your magical conduit connected us to a planet called Thera, inhabited by the species called Mankind, or Humans as they are officially called. A race so technologically advanced compared to Equestria that their whole planet is a member of a spacefaring alliance. 

D: Wait, what? No. No, that wasn’t the plan! It was supposed to reach Earth proper; not whatever cheap 40k knockoff this Thera is. Then again, I suppose that is still better than the alternative of whatever world this Sunset Shimmer Celestia mentioned ended up in. But still! 

TS: So the intel was correct; you can interfere with the Portal’s connection.

D: Oh please. I merely manipulated the magical connection to link us to a different world. Kind of like redirecting a power cord to a different outlet. Even I cannot do anything too sophisticated. 

But more to the point, you are here now with the humans; would you kindly release me?

TS: Hmm. I suppose I could free you, buuuuut… I do have a question.

D: (Groaning) Just one?

(Unknown humming noise faintly audible)


TS: Just one.

D: (Sigh) Fine! But be quick about it! I plan to see Fluttershy as soon as I’m out here. You have no idea how many tea parties I’ve missed with her.

TS: (Voice sounding distorted) You seem to know what led to this war, tell me what you know.

D: Well, that’s easy. Two years before I was locked away in here, I felt a shift in the time-space continuum. So as any reformed Lord of Chaos should, I addressed it to Twilight, the girls, Celestia, and Luna. They responded to me with either the usual scepticism, concern, suspicion, confusion, or a mix of any one of them. I was about to brush it off until one day I was approached by a travelling archeologist. Gooseshot I think it was… I forgot.

Anyhoo, he asked me if I detected any timey-wimey anomalies due to my occupation which left me intrigued. Another pony who sensed it? Count me curious. So, thanks to him and his colleagues along with all their gizmos and gadgets, we managed to find it. 

Right out of nowhere, sixty percent of the ponies in Equestria became barren. Sixty percent! Unable to bear foals! We all thought it was a curse or something, so we dug deeper. Turns out, it appeared as though almost everypony is suffering from a genetic degradation that has been happening for generations now. We all thought, “That was impossible. Why haven’t we noticed it before?” Turns out it’s because we could not have noticed it before. Something happened in our past that changed everything. 

I was just about to tell Celestia when… Wait a moment… Why am I telling you all this? It was supposed to be a secr- Ugh! 


(Groans of pain audible)


D: … What have you done to me?

TS: Hmph. Looks like you managed to break off from my Mind Trick. Still, that lasted longer than expected. I guess this new horn is more effective than I thought.

D: That was not magic. WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?

TS: You can thank my benefactors for that. They provided me with a new horn to replace my broken one. A psionic crystal called a “Zro Crystal” I believe.

D: B-Benefactors?

TS: Ah, right. I almost forgot. They sent me here because they wanted to meet you, via wireless communique.


(Metallic noise audible followed by a brief wireless transmission interference with the recording)


TS: This is Tempest, I have Discord on the other side.

SK: (Static over wireless) Thank you, Tempest. So, I presume I am speaking to the infamous Lord of Chaos?


(A pause)


D: Who are you?

SK: (Chuckling) I have many names and titles across realities. The Faceless Puppeteer, The Chess Master, The Sciler, Lord Fürer, Supreme General Secretary, The Hydra's Core; just to name a few. My favourite was Big Brother. But ultimately, you will better know me as The Shadow King. Let me be the first to introduce you to my Shadow Empire—the New World Order. 


(A chorus of salutes chant, “All Hail The New World Order!”)


D: Hmph. Seriously? Am I supposed to be impressed? Although, I can appreciate the irony of being rescued by a group of discount INGSOC. Then again, judging from the fact that none of you have freed me already makes me think you are here to do otherwise.

SK: Don’t be so pessimistic, Lord Discord. I bear no ill will against you or what you represent. If anything, I must thank you for your contribution.

D: Thanking me? What would a Tyrant want to thank an anarchist for? Last I checked, Order and Chaos don’t exactly mix.

SK: (Chuckles) Au contraire, Lord Discord. I think you will find that Order and Chaos are not opposing sides of the same coin. In my eyes, chaos is the first step to order, and the more extreme the chaos is the greater the grip of order. It is the natural metamorphosis of all things, from the laws of nature to geopolitics. 

Your efforts to change the destination of the portal are a testament to that. If you had not redirected it to our reality, we would not have established ourselves in yours. And for that, we are most grateful.

D: Oh spare me your pseudo-philosophising. If I wanted to hear your propaganda I would have bought a farm run by pigs and listen to them bicker over how many legs are better. What do you want from me?

SK: Hmm, I would have thought a being such as yourself would appreciate speaking around the subject rather than getting straight to the point.

D: And I thought Despots have stuck up sticks in the mud who don't know how to have fun. 

SK: Oh I know how to have fun, especially at someone else's expense. Much like yourself I believe. 

D: That does not make us equals.

SK: I never said we were. I simply state that we are the inevitable evolution of what you represent. In short, we are your betters.

D: Hah, that is the biggest load of baloney I've ever heard. Evolution does not mean an upgrade. I mean have you seen the sloth?

SK: Hmm, you have me there. Although, you cannot deny that order completes what chaos has started. 

But I digress, I do need to fulfil why we are here. In short, the High Elders of the Shadow Council are divided on whether to remove you from the board or gain your cooperation. I am of the latter and I can personally guarantee that we will have your cooperation, one way or another.

D: Mighty confident, aren’t you?

SK: Naturally.

D: And just what makes you so confident that I will cooperate?

SK: Well for starters, I am offering you options for how we will ensure your cooperation. 

D: Hmm, Alright, I will humour you. What are these offers that I could not refuse?

SK: Option One: We will lobotomize you and you will remain here as a vegetable battery for the portal.

D: Ah, I see. Worst option first. Not exactly convincing.

SK: It was our first option, but I agree; it doesn’t sound enticing. Option Two on the other hand; you can join us, Lord Discord. We will free you, and you can join our glorious New World Order. We may even give you a seat in the Shadow Council. Provided of course you remain loyal and maintain the portal between the two worlds. But should you even think twice about betraying us; well, there’s Option Four.

D: What happened to option three?

SK: Option Three is that you remain here in this cell without any more fuss and you will do no interference with the portal. You will maintain it the way that it is, you will ensure it remains open, and you will ensure it does not shift into another reality, no matter what the Equestrians try to do. You will not interfere with our plans for this world and you will remain functional.

D: Hmmmmm. Yes, tempting offers. Sorry, but they are hardly convincing. I imagine Option One is where I refuse all other options?

SK: (Chuckles) No my good sir, that is reserved for Option Four. Tempest?

TS: Yes Milord?

SK: Show him.

TS: Gladly.


(Rummaging through a saddlebag is heard)


TS: Recognise this feather, Discord?

D: … F-Fluttershy’s… (Low growl) What have you done to her?

SK: Rest assured, Lord Discord, she is alive and well in our custody. However, I cannot guarantee she will remain that way if we do not have your cooperation. 

Option Four: The Bearer of Kindness will endure the cruellest fate we can provide. She will be tortured, experimented, executed, and dissected, all in that order. I am fairly certain you of all people would understand the amount of chaos her untimely demise will wrought, both for you and the rest of the world, and not in a desirable way.

D: You… (Screaming) YOU MONSTER!

SK: (Cackling) Hahaha! Coming from you that is high praise! Make no mistake, Lord Discord; when it comes to Chaos it is Order who benefits from it more. And we will benefit from it, with or without your cooperation.

D: Why?! What could you possibly gain from all this?!

SK: The most basic reason of all: resources. This world is ripe with it, more specifically the Rock Farming Industry. This world has more than enough resources to fuel our conquest of our Homeworld of Thera. And with all the chaos of war that has been happening, we are slowly reaching that goal. We just need to ensure that it continues as such. And if your cooperation is not offered, then we will simply ignite a new level of chaos to ensure that the population’s hatred spawned from the war will consume them into a righteous war once they find out that The Element of Kindness died brutally within Theran soil and in Theran hands.


(A long pause)


D: (Softly) Alright, I’ll do it.

SK: There, see? That wasn’t too har-

D: I’ll take Option Three.

SK: … Oh. Well, I suppose that is the most reasonable option. Then we are agreed. I’ll look forward to our future endeavours. Tempest.

TS: Yes sir?

SK: Your job is done. Rally the men and prepare for extraction before the Equestrian Reinforcements arrive.

TS: Yes sir!

SK: Oh, and Princess Twilight, I know you’re hearing this and I know what you are planning. Your schemes will not save you, not especially after the deal you broke between us. I may not know yet why you did what you did, but I know what you did and what you are doing. Rest assured we will not interfere, not while it still benefits our cause, but know that should you get in our way we will take that as a sign that you picked Option Four as well. And we will do so as painfully and as brutally as possible.

Consider it the first instalment of payment for our contributions to your war effort. Give My Regards to the two Princesses. HAHAHA-


END OF RECORDING

> Love thy Enemy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 August 20, 2020
Two months after the start of the war

The following is a broadcast of Pope John Paul III’s address of condemnation against several reports of persecutions against Equestrian born residents across Thera from Saint Peter’s Basilica.



Brothers and sisters in Christ. Citizens of Holy Thera. It troubles me to hear the disturbing reports of lynch mobs and riots, all of which are done with the intent of persecuting the Equestrian residents within our world, most of whom are citizens within our League of Nations and a few even are converts to the true faith. Hundreds across our world murdered, abused, humiliated and more, both young and old.

Brothers and sisters, this is intolerable and deplorable in the eyes of our Lord. It is not right; it is unjustified, and most importantly makes wrong everything we have bled and suffered for so long since the end of the Great War. 

Harken yourselves to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, verses forty three to forty eight: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven perfect.”

Brothers and sisters, it is easy to hate those who differ from us in visage and thoughts. It is easy to despise those who have wronged us. And many of you will say that it is a sign of weakness that we should show love for our enemies. Dearly beloved, I need not remind you all that it was the lack of love for our enemies that ignited the Great War to begin with, and it was this same sentiment that caused the war to last as long as it did. One Hundred Years of unforgiving, senseless hatred, and that was amongst ourselves. 

I know many of you remember it well, both in and out of the blasted battlefields across our world. I remembered when I was but a young man in Copenhagen when the Swedish army occupied our city, pillaging our banks, museums and granaries. I remembered meeting the wisest man I’ve ever come to know. He was no great philosopher but a humble tailor. And as we sat together hiding from the Caroleans he said to me,” We must win with love, not with hate.” And I said to him, “How can you say that when the Swedes desecrate our homes?” And he said, “They all go away eventually for evil will only devour itself. But if love does not win, then they will return in a different form.” And I tell you my brothers and sisters in Christ, we have seen this form of evil return to us over and over again. Be it from the many foes we have repeatedly fought against or the enemies among us who have constantly terrorised us.

I understand that many would object, considering the conflicts we have endured. Rest assured, I have not forgotten that fact and understand it very clearly, for I was once a partisan of the destroyed Kingdom of Denmark fifty years ago. I have killed men, women and even children with hatred in my heart, and it has scarred me to this day. Therefore let no such acts of hatred repeat itself amongst you, especially those of us who are not trained to temper their most basic of impulses. We have trained soldiers for a reason and must therefore leave the duty to make war with the foe to them. 

On that matter, bear in mind that these victims of such ungodly acts are of families of those who pledged allegiance to our world, and by extension all of us on Thera. They came into our lands in search of a new life, to answer for a greater cause, or in curiosity of what we are. It is therefore treacherous of us to return such gestures of trust with cruelty. We will only prove ourselves to be traitors to our most fundamental morals that formed the foundation of the new chapter for our nations. 

Furthermore, with the war currently escalating as it is, we would offer them further ammunition to despise us and to prove all their fears of our race as hateful and vengeful should we continue such acts among our citizenry. We will only prove ourselves no different from the evils we fight and will therefore lose the moral high ground in this conflict. We must remain as The Beacon of Righteousness that God and the greater galaxy entrusts upon us. As we are made in the image of our creator, we must therefore bear the mantle of such responsibility. Bear in mind that the rest of the Galactic Community watches this conflict with vigilant, scrutinising eyes, and will take every opportunity to condemn us of any hypocritical actions among the citizenry.

Brothers and sisters, remember that Love is the greatest power in the world for it is the hardest thing to achieve. Mistake not Love from Like, for there is a difference. For Like is that of infatuation and the desires of the heart. Love is the sacrifice of one’s self for others that we care for. A husband who sacrifices his sweat, blood and labour to provide for his wife and children is love. A mother who sacrifices her dreams and ambitions to raise her children well is love. A friend who sacrificed his possessions to help his neighbour is love. A soldier who sacrificed his life for his country is love. A missionary who sacrificed everything he owns in this life to minister the word of the Lord to those who know him not, risking life and limb so long as his words are heard that they might be saved, that is love. 

The nations of our enemies have made it known to us that they value harmony, love and friendship above all else. We desire such notions among ourselves, do we not? But what reward in Heaven is there to do the same as our enemies? Therefore we must show our foes that we are capable of loving beyond our own kin and brethren. Nothing shatters the will of an enemy than to show him compassion, mercy and love. When we kill in war, we must do so in duty to preserve our way of life. Anything beyond what is necessary only serves to continue the cycle of our worst impulses to sin. If we succeed to love, only then shall we achieve true peace, not just among the nations of our world but within our very souls. Only this way shall we prepare the way of Christ’s return; standing tall against sin and hatred with love. 

Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good.