Equestria Divided: War never changes

by Brony103

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Tragedy, Dark
Length: 2116

War. A concept that the ponies of Equestira almost had forgotten about, almost.

After the Princesses left fifteen years ago much has changed. The once peaceful land of Equestria has become tainted by those who were tasked with protecting it. Division, deceit, racism, war. Their paradise had to fall apart at some point, right?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-26 01:21:34 UTC

War never changes

Hello my name is Neon Flask.  Fifteen years ago the two rulers of my homeland left for no apparent reason.  Fights broke out over how the country should be ruled, and who should rule it.  It has now come down to six houses.  Each lead by one of the members of the former elements of harmony.  Ideals have clashed, as well as blades.  Much blood has spilled and soaked into Equestiras' soil too the point to were it seems that the very land itself feels the pain and suffering of a country that used be a borderline utopia.  And what of the elements of harmony?  The six ponies whose very job it is to uphold peace and stability?  Broken, disbanded and forever gone due to there own conflicting ideals.  For the first time in over 1,000 years ponies know the taste of war.

First is House Moon and Star lead by the cold and calculating Twilight Sparkle.  After the princesses left Twilight assumed control and attempted to make all of her friends into alicorns.  She succeeded with herself but not with the others.  Now she seeks to create a kingdom were unicorns rein supreme over what she perceives  as "lesser races".  With an army made up of slaves, devout followers and gargantuan magical war machines she would have already succeeded, if it wasn't for the other houses.

Second is House Stormwing lead by the force commander supreme Rainbow Dash.  House Stormwing is made up almost exclusively of Pegasi with some ground forces simply used for food production and a first line of defense.  Even their air forces are tiny when compared to the other houses.  However Rainbow Dash has enlisted the help of the griffons to aid House Stormwing in the war for the country.  Third is House Earthborn lead by supreme commander Applejack also known as Applejack the ever vigilant.  House Earthborn is the polar opposite of  House Moon and Star.  For instance they are extremely racist against unicorns and one of their main goals is to "take back" Canterlot from unicorn rule.  House earthborn is the most industrial of the houses and has the largest amount of land and boasts a very large amount of troops consisting of earth ponies, pegasi and buffalo tribes.

Fourth is House Everfree lead by Lady Fluttershy master of the art of the stare and legendary beast tamer.  Inhabitants of the rapidly expanding Everfree Forest that have returned to a more wild state of mind with some being able to tame the ferocious beasts of the forest and some even forsaking their very nature as ponies to become the dreaded everfree wraiths.  They and Lady Fluttershy only have one goal, to spread the influence of the Everfree Forest over the entirety of Equestria. Next is House Whitegold headed by Mistress Rarity.  Originally just a group of traders and the wealthy Canterlot elite, it soon grew into what is it is known today.  Even though the house only controls one major city that being Manehatten, It has been converted into a fortress city which prides itself on wealth and deception.

And lastly there is the zealous and disturbing Cult of Laughter.  Shrouded in mystery and rumor the cult worships the mysterious being known as The Laughing Mare, a maddening entity which is widely believed to be the incarnation of late bearer of the element of laughter, Pinkie Pie.  Pinkie Pie died while Twilight Sparkle was attempting to force her to transform into an alicorn.  Now Pinkie's corpse is a holy relic and serves as a direct link to the Laughing Mare.  Necromancy is common practice among cult members and many serve the will of their deity even in death as they command swarms of undead horrors.  Many are swayed by a promise of a happy life and to join the cause to return Equestria to a land full of happiness and laughter once more.

Were do I fit in all of this you may be asking?  Well let's just say that I feel, that the dead will have the last laugh.

Neon Flask

Neon Flask was getting ready for the day in her home with her parents in the city of Hoofington.  "Hey mom I'm going to the town square to sell my works wish me luck!"  She yells up in a cheery voice.

"Okay but be careful, the Houses slave warriors have been causing trouble lately."  Her mother warns from upstairs an she too is getting ready for the day.  Neon just giggles as she secures saddlebags on her back, filled with her homemade alchemical medicines.

"Don't you worry I can take care of myself."  and with that she trots out the door to the city of which she calls home.

Neon Flask trots to the Town Square with smile on her face.  Her black coat glistening in the sunshine and her black and neon green mane and tail bouncing.  Such a rare site to see in these times of war and suffering.  But that is what Neon aims to remedy with her medicine.  Neon received her cutie mark, a Flask with scarlet liquid when she first tried to mix an elixir to save her father from a very bad fever.  Ever since she has been growing and harvesting her own ingredients and using alchemy to produce elixirs that she sells to help her family and the whole city.  Lost in thought she almost crashes into her own stand at the town Square.

"Silly me I need to watch were I'm going."  she giggles.  Neon then begins to set up shop separating her homemade elixirs by type and potency and waits for her first customer.

It has been three hours now and not a single pony has bought one of her medicinal elixirs.  Neon was beginning to think that she had maybe put the pricing too high this time or something like that.

"Hmmm should I lower the price or maybe start handing out flyers to advertise?"  She says in thought, but as she is lost in her mind a pony walks up to her stand.  The pony clears her throat to get Neon's attention.  Neon is torn from her thoughts by the noise of a potential customer and turns to see who is in need of her cures.  The mare before her is a pegasus and by the looks of it she is one of the many slave warriors forced into military service by House Moon and Star.

"Please I, i need some medicine for my platoon.  I don't have much money but if there is anything that I can do to pay you for the rest I can-" The mare is stopped when Neon putting a hoof to the her lips.  The slave pony thought that she had somehow angered her but then she saw Neon's smile.

"If you need medicine to save your platoon then you came to the right pony."  The slave was speechless as Neon used her magic to levitate two bottles into a bag and puts it in front of her.

The slave pony looks at Neon in awe.  "Why would a unicorn help a pegasus slave like me?"  Neon giggles.

"Just because I live in a town controlled by House Moon and Star Doesn't mean I agree with all of there ideals."  The slave Pegasus looks from left to right before asking,

"Then what are those ideals?"  A grin forms of Neon's face as she levitates something from her saddle bags, a card with the picture of a jesters hat and what looks like a large grin underneath it.

"Why don't you find out for your self?"  She says as she gives the slave pegasus the strange card along with the medicine.  "Have a smile filled day."  Neon says politely as the pegasus begins to walk away.

"Oh wait I never got your name."

"It's Neon Flask, yours?"

"Thunder Streak, my name is Thunder Streak."  She says as she walks away back to her barraks on the other side of town.  But as she does so she stops to look at the card and upon flipping it over she sees that instructions are written.  Directions to a particular building and the instruction to show this card to the pony guarding the doors.  "Hmmmm Interesting."

Exodus

Neon Flask finishes her sales for the day in Hoofington's town square and is on her way back home with a sack of gold that will buy her family a few weeks worth of food.

"Wow I made a killing this time, maybe I can take tomorrow off?"  She says with audible squee.  As she almost bounces down the road to her house.  As she nears her home her thoughts are filled with how happy her parents will be at her for bringing home so much gold.  They will have to thank their deity for this good fortune.  But as she nears she notices that the door has been broken open and there are screams coming from the inside of her home.  She enters panic mode as the breaks into a full sprint and rushes into her home.

She crosses the threshold and is met with her mother a father, bloody with two dead Moon and Stare slave warriors on the kitchen floor.

"Honey we have to go!"  Shouts her father while filling a bag with supplies.

"Yes sweetie go and get as many of your supplies as you can and let us leave this city."  Her mother says frantically trying to hide the bodies and clean up the mess.

"Why?  What's wrong?"  Neon asks puzzled.  Her mother only says one word, the word that she was told was one of the only few words she should fear.

"Inquisition"

Neon Bolts down to the cellar where her alchemy is practiced and grabs her portable lab, some flasks, her formula journal and her protective pendant.  As she is scrambling to get together everything she knocks over something metal and it clashes to the floor loudly.  Neon looks down and sees a very large pair of scissors, there blades curved and razor sharp.  She then notices that they are the scissors that she uses for dissection.  She picks them up and grabs the sheath she had fashioned for them a week ago, slips them in and ties the sheath's belt around her waist.  She then slips on her saddle bags filled with her supplies and begins to walk back upstairs.  As she does she hears her parents screaming and voices of ponies she doesn't recognize.  Neon opens the door only a crack and sees her mother held in the grip of unicorn magic, while her father breaths his last on there kitchen floor, a spear in his chest that is then ripped out.

Neon can only watch as her mother is interrogated by the troop of the inquisition along with three legionaries.

"I know you have a daughter you wretched blasphemer, now unless you want her too suffer a slow and very painful death you will tell us were she is."  The Inquisitor almost spits out with his voice dripping with disgust.

Her mother began to giggle, then those giggles turned into laughter which only grew into a cackle.

"Do you really think that my Neon Flask is just a mere cult member?  No she is far more than any of us low lives.  She has been blessed by the laughing Mare herself!  And will makes this land a place of happiness and joy and will punish those who wish it to remain a place of misery and pain that it has become."

The inquisitor raised an eyebrow slightly.  "Oh really now?"  He nods his head and one of the legionnaires thrusts his spear into Neon's mother, running her through heart and one of her lungs.  All that is heard is sickly gurgling and a thump as he tosses her to the floor on top her husband's corps.

He is then flung into the living room by a green blast of magic.  The soldiers look at the direction to were it cam from and sees Neon looking at them with a, smile?

Neon then approaches them and one legionnaire prepares himself, and as he does Neon draws her large, sharp scissors.

The inquisitor groggily gets to his feet, as he does he begins to hear a sound.  A bit of a humming sound.  He slowly makes his way back to the kitchen and the sight makes him almost scream.  His legionnaires have been not just killed but, butchered!  Their bodies sliced open and their innards removed, along with there heads cut off and placed in the middle of the table, like a center piece.  The oven dings and it makes the inquisitor jump.  He finds that the oven is still warm and has a note on it which he ignores as he opens the oven and pulls out what is inside.  The smell is what strikes him first, he knows this smell.  Cooking meat!  It is then he reads the note.

Enjoy the cupcakes

- Neon Flask

He screams like a frightened foal and runs from the house to contact reinforcements but it's already too late, Neon Flask is already entering Whitetail Woods to the east of Hoofington.

Glory to the Laughing Mare!