Author's Note

Updated this chapter to make it a bit better.

Eve of the War (edited)

Chapter One: Eve of War

Canterlot, Capital of Equestria, June 27th 7914 of The Third Age.

It was the tenth time in a month that she had the nightmare, which was more of a daymare as Luna was more of a Nocturnal pony. Luna was somewhere, she did not know where, but it looked like the fields outside the small town of Ponyville. But it had a smell, a smell of death, of rotting flesh, of gunpowder. Something is wrong. Luna thought. The field was covered in a odd fog, greyish looking and menacing like a dragon's teeth.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of blasts came from across from the mists, the thud of something hitting the ground. Luna looked around, but could only see fog. The only things not blocked by the fog was a hill and the moon it self, showing brightly through the misty sky. The sounds of the blasts continued as Luna kept searching for their source. Luna soon decided to go up the hill and try to find out where the sounds came from.

Flying to the top, Luna looked down and still saw fog, but it was starting to clear. Luna could hear the 'boom' sound more and more. It was also joined by another sound, a sound that Luna never heard before.

Rata-Tat-Tat

Luna never heard such a sound like it in her very long life. But it filled her with dread and terror, something she never felt since her return, after she was changed back from Nightmare Moon. Something felt very wrong, something was not right. Looking out, she soon saw far off Canterlot, but it seemed to be glowing, not with the lights of city life, but with the red-orange glow of a out of control fire.

Canterlot was burning!

Luna had a look of horror in her face, one which grew as the fog cleared totally.

Ponyville was in utter ruin, great trenches, barbed wire and craters littered the landscape, along the the burnt bodies of thousands of ponies. The smell of death was everywhere. The Blast sounds Luna heard was the sound of artillery shells striking the ground, destroying anything it hit. Luna's eyes went wide, looking on the scene in pure terror and unbelief, this was unreal! Luna continued to look down on the town, watching as three ponies ran out of a ruined building (which looked to be Sugar-cube Corner) and tried to get away from the destruction and death. Suddenly a whistling sound came and then came the blast, the strike of an artillery shell right on the fleeing ponies. A cloud of dirt and fire went up along with parts of the ponies. Luna soon screamed when half of the head of on pony landed right in front of her, it's dead eye looking up at her, like it was accusing her for what was happening. Luna then did what anypony would do if they saw something like this....

She Screamed.

She bolted straight up, no longer in the ruins of Ponyville, but in her own room. Luna looked around, her eyes wide with fear and terror as someone was knocking on the door hard. “Princess Luna! Are you alright!?” said one of the guard. “I am fine.” she said through the door, “Just a bad dream.”

But Was it a nightmare or a vision of things to come? Luna did not know. She had had the feeling of something bad coming to Equestria. The only times she had that feeling was before she became Nightmare Moon thousands of years ago and before Tirek's return. Those two events were bad enough but what she felt coming felt worse then any disaster Equestria had faced, not even The Changeling invasion or Discords rule felt this bad.

Something was starting and it was coming fast.

Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville

“What in Tartaus is that idiot think he is doing?” Twilight yelled, making heads turn towards her direction. Twilight looked around sheepishly, ducking her head behind the paper that she was reading. It was a copy of the Canterlot Times, one of the largest newspapers in Equestria. After making sure that she was not being stared at anymore, she soon continued reading the article that had caused her to do that outburst.

“Prince Blueblood, Prince of Canterlot, today called for action against the Empire of Lipizzaner for the annexing of Bos-nia calling it 'a great threat to our nation.'”

Twilight gritted her teeth. She had a dislike for the Canterlotian Prince as he had been blocking reforms that she was trying to help get in place. Yet it was also something of a family trait; The House of Blueblood and the House of Sparkle had been rivals. The rivalry dated back to the time of the Kin-Slayer Wars. Both Houses fought against each other in the Third Kin-Slayer War and had been fighting in the others, until the last one, the eighteenth one, which ended when Discord came. It was well known that Blueblood hated the Sparkles and had made that public. He decried that fact that a Sparkle, Shining Armor, had not only married a Princess, but was co-ruler of the Crystal Empire. he was also very vocal about the fact that It was a Sparkle that was the Fourth Princess of Equestria, Twilight had heard it all from him, from claims that Twilight had somehow manipulated his aunts to even the idea that she was sleeping with Celestia and was her secret lover! It was enough to frustrate her enough that she had sometimes dreamed of sending Blueblood and her supporters into the very sun it self!

Calming down a bit, She continued reading on.

“Many in The Celestial Court view this as war mongering. 'What Blueblood is calling for it starting a war with Lipizzaner.' Duke Fancy Pants, leader of the 'Modernize Equestria Party' said today, 'He thinks that we can win a war not only against Lipizzaner, but against the Germares! It is madness!' many view the idea of war as the worse idea since Baked Bads andI for one think Blueblood is trying to compensate for the lack of size of his you-know-whats.”

She giggled at that part. Fancy Pants, leader of the Reformists and head of the House of Khaki was one of her biggest supporters. Both were members of families that had a bad history with the House of Blueblood and both had dreams of reforming the way of life in Equestria. She sighed to her self.

Equestria had been split into two political fractions, The Conservatives of Blueblood and the Reformists. She had heard of another group, a small radical group of Earth Pony workers and farms that called themselves 'Communards', yet they were just a small radical group. But it was still the other two's fighting that had been the talk of the court in Canterlot.

Twilight soon looked up from her paper and saw hat it was almost time for a picnic that she and the others were going to have. She soon dropped her paper on a table and headed off, not reading the other headline.

'ARCHDUKE OF LIPIZZANER TO VISIT BOS-NIA'

Sow-ejavo, Bos-nia. June 28th.

The crowds of Ponies, Minotaurs and Pigs were watching as a Automobile passed by, being escorted by a company of pegasi armed with rifles. In the car, two ponies waved to the people. Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were in the city to view the troops who were doing war games nearby.

Sow-ejavo was a city built by the Porcine Tribes seven Centuries ago. It was the capital of Bos-nia and was the seat of the kings of Bos-nia, before the coming of the Ottomare Empire. It was now the seat of power for the Imperial Governor.

While the Archduke waved to the crowd and was cheered, no one saw the lone Unicorn who was not cheering. He looked at the car was was nearing him and knew that it was almost time for it, time to strike a blow against the enemies of Equestria. The Unicorn powered up his horn a bit, then he rushed into the street and in front of the car.

The Driver stopped in shock, but soon everypony saw what happened next, something that would start a coming war.

The Unicorn glared at the Car, even as the Pegasi rushed to grab him, He Powered up and shouted “LONG LIVE EQUESTRIA!!!” and fired two Spell blasts at the Archduke and his wife. Hitting them hard even as he was pinned by the Pegasi Guards.

But it was too late. The Archduke and his wife were both dead. Killed at the horns of a Equestrian Assassin.