Equestria's Race War

Race Wars: Equestria’s End All Doc version

Chapter 2: War

War is never a beautiful thing. There are those who believe that war serves a purpose and that purpose is to fight for freedom; there are also those who believe that wars only purpose is to display the follies of man. Ponies are no different. The people who thirst for blood are typically those who have not gone to war, and thus far nopony has gone to war. Individuals only go to war when they aren’t given what they want or aren’t given a choice and in this case it is both. Retaliation in a war is like beating a dead horse, but for some reason it always occurs.

“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Previously, certain ponies gathered outside of the Royal Castle in Canterlot to aggressively protest Princess Celestia’s tyrannical laws. During the riot, Celestia, out of fear, let out a massive blast knocking most of the crowd over. Afterwards, Celestia retreated to the home of Twilight Sparkle exhausted from letting out such a powerful blast. Following her attack, guards of the castle and the attendants of the riot fought, resulting in many protesters dying, but nearly all attacking guards dying as well. The guards, realizing they were losing, retreated to the castle and put up a rainbow force barrier that expelled all ponies from the vicinity, causing them to retreat. The location of their retreat is a mystery, but it took them only three days to come back to the war.

Somewhere, possibly in Equestria, the ponies gathered to discuss war tactics. Through almost a unanimous decision, Rainbow Dash had become some sort of leader figure. Along their trip to their unknown destination, Rainbow Dash continued to read through Star Swirl the Bearded’s journal that she had kept from when Twilight gave it to her. She discovered several secrets that were hidden in the journals, and in the back of the book she had found a peculiar material that she would share later. Among the documents she found several potion recipes that seemed darker than normal magic. It would seem that she had discovered a book with research focused on black magic. After finishing, she told the rest of the ponies what she learned.

“Listen up,” she said, “These notes have data that can probably win this battle. As you saw at our last battle we lack in power what we have in numbers, but numbers mean nothing if no one lives to celebrate the victory, and I’m not willing to sacrifice all of my brothers for this war. This journal has detailed information on potions and fabrics that could save this war.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire interrupted, “You need to hurry this up. Remember we are working on a tight schedule.”

“Right,” Rainbow Dash replied, “Spitfire has just reminded me that we only have three days to prepare for our first attack. The reason is we need to attack before the news is spread and they prepare their own army. Our first target is the recapture of Cloudsdale, but before then we need to make as many potions as possible. Now so far I’ve listed just a couple potions we can prepare, which include incinerate potions and boom rocks, but aside from that we need weapons so spears, swords, and axes.”

“General,” one pony said, “how are supposed to fight magic? There’s no hope against that.”

“General?” Rainbow Dash questioned, “That’s a new concept. As for the magic that brings me to my next point. Everypony, check this out.” Rainbow Dash took the flat material she found in the book and presented it to the crowd. It was a pinkish bronze with a shifting rorschach blackness on it. The crowd looked at it with fascination. Rainbow Dash continued her speech, “This, ponies,” she said, “is orichalcum. It’s capable of deflecting any direct spells and cancelling any potions used on the wearer, but don’t think you're safe just yet ponies, it doesn’t allow you to cross barriers but with enough strength you can break through them, and on top of that indirect spells can still hurt you. This is just to keep you safe from anything the unicorns might try on you first. Now Spitfire is gonna go over the details with you about our plans.”

Spitfire took the crowd. “Alright ponies,” she shouted, “listen up ‘cause I’m only say this once. We are not on vacation. Over the next three days I want to see some hustle. According to the journals there are oric deposits in Ghastly Gorge so Applejack will have a team mining that location; Big Macintosh will have some ponies manufacturing weapons and armor from the recovered ore; Rainbow Dash will be training ponies to craft potions for use on the field; the Wonderbolts and I will be training a handful of troops basic battle tactics. You can sign up for duty with Fluttershy who will assign you to your leader. Remember ponies, I’m not looking for quality, but I’ll be darned if you don’t give it your all.”

Over the next few days everypony was hard at work. The Wonderbolts were able to moderately train about 600 troops before the end of their given time period. In that time, Applejack managed to mine enough ore to supply twice the troops, and Big Macintosh constructed a surplus of weapons and armor from the orichalcum he received. Even Rainbow Dash made a lot of progress as she was able to make a boom rock and two incinerate potion vials for most of the first battalion. Everything was going according to plan.

While Rainbow Dash was giving her speech, Princess Celestia had finally arrived at Twilight Sparkle’s Library. Her knees were shaking and her wings were flaccid. She was ready to drop, but she mustered up the strength to knock on the door. Twilight opened the door and was shocked to see Princess Celestia in such a vulnerable state and immediately invited her in.

“Princess!” Twilight said in shock, “What happened?”

“I... the pegasi... they... we,” Celestia managed to utter just before falling unconscious.

When the Princess woke up she found herself in Twilight’s bed and Twilight on the other side of the room at a desk flipping through pages of a book. Twilight saw she had woken up and walked to her.

“Princess, you’re awake,” Twilight said, “You fell unconscious so spike and I brought you here where you slept for the night. I managed to remedy your shaking, but... well it’s probably best that I show you.” Twilight levitated a mirror in front of Celestia’s face for her to see.

At first she noticed no difference in her face, but she was awe stricken when she saw the change. Her horn was gone. “Oh my goodness” she squealed, “Twilight, what in tartarus have you done with my horn?”

“Well Princess,” Twilight said, “it was gone when you got here. I’ve gone through every book in my collection to see if there was anything I could do to get it back, but I didn’t have any luck. It looks like it just disintegrated. Don’t worry Princess, I’m sure it will grow back... I think. Celestia, what did you do before you got here? Do you remember what you were going to say before you passed out?”

Celestia sat up and explained with a trembling voice, “Well, it started when Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Derpy came to my castle and started asking about the lack of rain.”

“I already know what you did Princess,” Twilight insisted, “What happened after?”

“Right,” Celestia said, “Well yesterday a lot of angry ponies showed up in front of my castle and were violently shouting. I knew they were going to attack so I let out a heavy blast to knock them back and after that I came here.”

“Why would you do such a thing Princess?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know. I panicked,” Celestia said, “That’s not what’s important right now. I know they’re going to attack again. You have to do something.”

“But princess,” Twilight inquired, “What am I supposed to do?”

“I thought you would have an answer,” Celestia said, “I’m sure you’ll figure something out. I have faith in you Twilight.”

“Okay Princess. I won’t fail you,” Twilight said with worry, “Spike, watch after the princess, I’ve gotta go.”

Twilight went to Pinkie Pie’s house, the Sugarcube Corner, to see if she would help her. Upon arrival she noticed that Pinkie Pie's house was different to say the least. The windows were shattered, the drapes were ripped and the inside was completely dark, but that was just what could be seen on the outside. Twilight Approached slowly both in fear of what happened and what might happen next. She knocked and waited for Pinkie Pie to answer. About a minute later, Pinkie Pie answered the door.Oddly, Pinkie Pie’s mane was completely straight.

"Hi!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"Uh, hi Pinkie,” Twilight responded softly, “What happened to your hair?”

“Well,” Pinkie said rapidly, “after our little venture at Cloudsdale a couple days ago I decided to do some redecorating. I started with refurbishing my house; I just could not bare the sight of my current house so I got so frustrated with it that I destroyed and rebuilt everything in my house. Then, I had to do something about my looks because my current look just made me so mad. After that I tried to ease my anger by making cupcakes. Here, take one!” Pinkie Pie handed Twilight a cupcake. The cupcake was just a cupcake wrapper holding small pieces of rubble, broken glass, fragmented metal pipes and frosting.

“But don’t you think Mr. and Mrs. Cake might be upset about you destroying their house?" Twilight asked.

"Acually, yesterday morning when I woke up they were gone." Pinkie Pie replied, "They said they were moving to Manehattan and might never come back. That's part of the reason I'm so darn cranky."

Twilight looked at the cupcake, then at Pinkie Pie in utter confusion. Regardless, she needed Pinkie Pie’s help so she needed to make the request. “Uhh... Pinkie,” She muttered, “I’m gonna need your help so... any chance you could do that?”

“Sure Twilight!” she said, “What did you need?”

Twilight explained the situation to Pinkie Pie and she agreed.

They began walking to Rarity’s house to see if she would join them. Along the way they they discussed what their next plan was going to be.

“So it’s war they want huh?” Pinkie Pie said with frustration in her voice.

“It would appear so,” Twilight responded with disappointment.

“Spec-tacular!” Pinkie Pie said, “This means I get to use my Super Duper Party Cannon.”

“Your what?” Twilight questioned.

“My Hyper Ultra Party Cannon!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Pinkie Pie pulled out a large, strange pipe-like device that had a pull string, a strange heart-shaped scope, and an open front and back end. The tool was crudely painted pink with the words “Party Cannon Mk.2” scratched on it. “This is the upgrade to my old party cannon,” Pinkie Pie said, “The old one was just too bulky and it took too long to repack so I built this one yesterday. This baby is lightweight, can fire anything, and is ready in an instant. Just pack something in the front, pull the string and launch the party. Watch.” Pinkie took a cupcake out and loaded it into her contraption. She aimed it to the sky at an angle and pulled the string. The cupcake was launched with incredible speed and flew out of sight. Twilight expressed her shock to see such an amazing device to Pinkie Pie, and then they continued to Rarity’s house, the Carousel Boutique.

Nothing out of the ordinary appeared to be wrong about Rarity's home. Twilight knocked on the door and Rarity answered fairly quickly.

"Can I help you Twilight?" Rarity asked in a pessimistic tone.

"What's with the attitude?" Twilight responded.

"I already know what you are here for so hurry up and ask," Rarity yelled angrily.

"Okay, will you join us to,” Twilight said.

“No!” Rarity interrupted. She immediately slammed the door on Twilight. Twilight knocked again and Rarity answered again.

“Rarity I don’t have a choice in the matter,” Twilight said, “The pegasi are going to attack and my only option is to fight back.”

“Your only option?” Rarity inquired, “When in the history of Equestria has bloodshed ever been the only option?”

“You don’t understand, Rarity,” Twilight replied, “I am duty bound to Princess Celestia.”

“Yeah, Rarity.” Pinkie Pie added, “How can you stand by and not honor your princess?”

“Celestia is the one calling this war,” Rarity remarked, “She should fight it, not us. As for you, Pinkie Pie, how can you be a part of this? You always brought joy to others and now you plan on bringing terror.”

“Hey, I didn’t start this war,” Prinkie shouted, “but I am not gonna stand by while everything is destroyed.” Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s younger sister, approached the door and stood next to Rarity after hearing the commotion that was going on.

“We will see about that,” Rarity responded, “I will be seeking refuge in Manehattan with the Cakes until this whole thing blows over. We’ve agreed to rent a place out there until it is safe to return. Goodbye Twilight. Goodbye Pinkie Pie. Sweetie Belle, please say goodbye to our guests.” Rarity went back inside and continued packing her things to go to Manehattan and meet with Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Sweetie Belle felt obligated to investigate the situation.

“Twilight, what's going on?” Sweetie Belle asked, “Rarity says I can’t talk to my friends anymore.”

“Sweetie, you probably won’t understand this until you're a mare,” Twilight replied, “but grown ups owe their loyalty to the princess so they must do everything they can to keep her and her kingdom safe.”

“Maybe I won’t understand what’s going on,” Sweetie Belle said, “but I know that whatever it is can be fixed if your heart is in the right place. Goodbye girls.” Sweetie Belle walked back inside, closing the door behind her, and helped Rarity pack.

“Well Pinkie, it looks like we’re on our own,” Twilight said.

“Nonsense, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie replied, “There’s plenty of ponies here in Ponyville who are willing to fight alongside us. We just have to get out there and ask.”

The two ponies walked to towards town square and once again discussed their next plan of action.

“So where do you think they are going to attack?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I’ve asked myself that same question,” Twilight replied, “I’m almost positive that they will try to attack Cloudsdale, but we need to keep an eye on other towns just in case.”

“Cloudsdale?” Pinkie Pie questioned, “Yeah that sounds about right. They probably want to take it back for the pegasi right?”

“Exactly,” Twilight said, “By the way, do you think you could make some more of those contraptions you had shown me earlier?”

“You mean my Incredi-Mega Party cannon?” Pinkie Pie responded, “Of Course. The one I have only took me a couple hours to build yesterday. I’ll have some ready by tomorrow.”

The ponies continued walking towards Ponyville’s town square.

Upon arrival to town square, Twilight stood at a podium on a stage in front of the town hall and drew the citizens attention. A reporter in the area took note of what Twilight said.

“Attention, citizens,” Twilight shouted, “If you haven’t noticed by now a lot of ponies are missing from town. That’s because they are planning a staged attack against Equestria. If everypony could just contribute themselves to our cause then we can put a stop to this.”

As Twilight started drawing a crowd, Princess Celestia stepped onto the stage with Spike at her side and walked towards the podium, still very weak. The crowd was surprised to see Celestia in such a weakened state and more began to gather around the stage. As she approached the podium, Twilight stepped away so that Celestia could take the audience.

“My loyal subjects,” she whimpered. Immediately after, Twilight placed a megaphone in front of her face so that others could hear. “My loyal subjects,” Celestia said, “Recently, several opposers formed an attack against me and my castle. The current state you see me in is entirely their fault. These rebels seek to kill your princess, and with it your kingdom and your land. I ask that you join the fight against those who wish to harm your homeland. With that, I name Twilight Sparkle general of my army, and general of you who will defend the kingdom of Equestria.” After her speech, Celestia walked back to Twilight’s library with the aid of Spike.

Twilight was confused by Celestia’s speak. Nonetheless, she took the crowd again and explained what would happen over the next few days.

“Ponies that want to help,” she yelled, “I need you to spread the word about our growing defense. If you think you have the courage to fight then meet here tomorrow and we’ll figure out what to do with you then. Other than that we need to evacuate Cloudsdale as soon as possible. I have reason to believe that they may be in threat of an attack so we need as many escorts as we can get to evacuate the citizens that may be in danger. Aside from that, umm... Pinkie take the crowd.”

“Okay, ponies,” Pinkie Pie wailed, “Twilight has asked that I build a few party cannons so anypony that wants to help should bring pipes, springs, confetti, chicken fence wires, feathers, paint, dog biscuits and lots of scrap metal to the Sugarcube Corner tomorrow and be prepared to work.”

The next days would be busy work for they ponies under Twilight’s command. As plans went into action, Twilight gathered ponies to evacuate the citizens of Cloudsdale before they could be harmed by the opposing forces. Pinkie Pie worked on her party cannons, creating several duplicates and inventing new models and improvements on the previous ones. The ponies that would serve Celestia’s military gathered the town square and received emergency volunteer military training. The majority of the army was unicorns who were also specially trained in spell casting and even had their own spell casting knowledge to contribute. Their numbers totalled at roughly 300 troops, 38 varying prototype party cannons, and total evacuation of Cloudsdale in only two days.

Though there was much support for the war, several ponies opposed it. News reporters quickly spread the word about the oncoming war. When more ponies became aware of the situation, support for both sides increased, but so did opposition of the war. In the meantime the ponies that were evacuated from Cloudsdale either stayed with relatives or rented homes, sometimes in other cities.

The day of the attack was today and the pegasi were prepared. Of the 600 troops the Wonderbolts trained, the 400 pegasi capable of flying to Cloudsdale on their own were allowed to fight. Their gear consisted of two incinerate potions, one boom rock, orichalcum armor, and a weapon of their choice which included orichalcum spears, swords, axes, hammers, knives, and more.

The army that was loyal to Princess Celestia was armed in only a handful of party cannons stocked with shrapnel and improvised flak made of glass. They only had about 200 ground troop unicorns capable of entering Cloudsdale, but a few of the remaining troops were able to set up artillery positions from the surface below. They had been set up for an attack since before Rainbow Dash was ready to move her troops.

Before the battle, Rainbow Dash gave a preparatory speech to her troops from 2 klicks (2 kilometers) away from Cloudsdale.

"Pegasi, pay attention" Rainbow Dash yelled, "We are not looking for bloodshed today. All we want is for the current non-pegasi or non-supportive residents to leave from Cloudsdale. It might take some effort and maybe even a little bit of force, but nopony will be killed today. Do you all understand?"

The battalion let out a large hoo to show that they understood.

"Good," Rainbow Dash said, "Let's get moving.”

The ponies ascended to Cloudsdale fully prepared.

As the pegasi descended into Cloudsdale, they were baffled to find that the town was completely vacant. General Rainbow Dash had no idea what to think of the odd disappearance. Her second in command, Spitfire, jump to conclusions in assuming someone had betrayed their army. After walking into the center of town, Twilight and her squadron revealed themselves. The pegasi quickly understood what was happening.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily, “I should have expected you were behind this. I assume the princess sent you here to stop us.”

“What you’re doing is wrong Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replied.

“No, what you’re doing is wrong,” Rainbow Dash responded, “You defend ‘her highness’ after the crimes she has committed against us and the entire pony race and you think we’re wrong?”

“You could have talked things out with her,” Twilight replied.

“Like I said Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, “I’m done trying to explain myself. Spitfire.”

After calling Spitfire’s name, Spitfire shot out from the crowd with incredible speed and, with a knife strapped to her shin, attempted to slice Twilight’s throat. Twilight had less than a second to react, but managed to pull her head away from direct impact, but Spitfire left a brutal scar on her cheek. Though Spitfire didn’t kill Twilight, she used the force aimed at Twilight to drill her knife into a unicorn behind her and smash her face into the ground killing the unicorn instantly. Spitfire hastily retreated and at the crowd’s realization of what just happened both sides commenced the battle.

The battle took no more than half an hour. The artillery from the floor beneath Cloudsdale could not span the height of it so they were the first to retreat. After 15 minutes Twilight’s troops’ numbers were down to half of their original numbers. Their issue was that they had no way of compensating or coping with the pegasi’s new armor and weaponry. The pegasi were completely unaffected by the unicorns’ magic and magic barriers put up were easily destroyed by the pegasi’s orichalcum weapons. Even the commanders from Celestia’s military stood no match for the incredible speed of the Wonderbolts, despite some of them being pegasi themselves.

The battle was unfair to say the least. Without the use of magic, the unicorns had to rely on hoof-to-hoof combat, but in other words they were sitting ducks. Twilight realized her losses were becoming detrimental and signaled for a retreat. The pegasi cheered with triumph at the sight of the enemy’s shameful retreat. The unicorns losses were excruciating whereas the losses for the pegasi could still be counted with just a set of hooves.

After the unicorns abandoned the city, Rainbow Dash dictated their next orders.

"What now General?" Spitfire asked.

"This is our home now," Rainbow Dash replied, "Reconstruction begins tomorrow. We are going to build this into what it should have been, and what is gonna help us win this war. I need you to pass this message onto our troops and onto our supporters back at our previous location. In just a few weeks this will be a sanctuary for pegasi and earth pony alike. We can start by cleaning this place up. Clear out the bodies, but save the horns; I have plans for those."

Spitfire did what she was told and carried out the order.

Word spread like wildfire about the first battle of many to come. Rainbow Dash's supporters built Cloudsdale into a fortress as well as a sanctuary for ponies like them, as was intended. A base was set below Cloudsdale so that earth pony followers could live there as well. Many ponies and supporters sought refuge in Cloudsdale, and as support grew, so did the army.

Rainbow Dash's army became known as the Outlaws; a name given to them by their enemies. Despite the connotations, they wore the name with pride since they knew they were fighting for a just cause even if it was a crime against the kingdom. Twilight's army already had a name; they were known as Her Majesty's Royal Marines. They too wore their name with honor because they were serving the princess that always faithfully served them.

During the time that Cloudsdale was rebuilt, Canterlot's Royal Castle became a base of operations for Twilight and her army, but new recruits were never allowed to enter the force barrier around it. All new recruits were kept in the surrounding areas of the castle, for example in the courtyard or the fields, due to the possibility that one might make an attempt to disrupt the marines' operations or take Princess Celestia's life. The entire castle was held to secrecy and the only ones who could ever possibly know what went on in there are Calestia, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and military officials within the castle walls, but even they sometimes didn't know what went on with each other.

Aside from the warmongers, those devoted to peace also created their own refuge. Not everyone was for the war so they needed an escape as well. They had two clear zones: Las Pegasus and Manehattan. Those with the money and the connections had the luxury of staying in Las Pegasus, but all others had no choice but to live in Manehattan. It was mutually agreed by both sides of the war that both of these cities would not be invaded and would remain undisturbed by the war entirely. These havens were mostly undisturbed aside from the occasional preaching recruiter, but they were monitored daily by both armies. Many of the ponies that fled to Manehattan usually had no money and no home due to the war, thus the ponies built shantytowns around the city and lived in depression and misery. Citizens of Manehattan tried to help the needy as much as they could whereas the ponies of Las Pegasus kept to themselves. Both the poor and the wealthy inhabitants of Manehattan protested the war on a daily basis, blaming it on the arrogance of both sides.

As the conflict progressed so did technology, especially for the unicorns. Shrapnel munitions were invented for use in the artillery version of the party cannon as a counter to the pegasi's air attacks. Party cannons were redesigned using higher grade parts to maximize proficiency and power, as well as build new designs for more versatility. Using phoenix feathers, Twilight Sparkle was able to create hot mist; the difference between the hot mist and incinerate potions was the former was a gas form and it ignited everything in its immediate area after two seconds where the latter was liquid and only burned any organic or flammable material it came into contact with instantaneously.

Twilight also discovered a new element liquid called true silver. True silver had a unique magic property which when drunk would greatly increase a unicorn's magic ability. It also served as great armor, because of another unique power that allowed it solidify when heated with a dragon's fire. With this ability, the Marines were able to coat normal clothing in a light material that protected them from most physical damage and coat their horns to increase its durability and, in some cases, use it as a weapon.

The Royal Marines weren’t the only ones to advance, for the Outlaws kept up with their technology at roughly the same speed. Immediately following the battle for Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash mixed a miracle syrup made of powdered unicorn horns and honey. This potion had the power to close any wound, heal any burn, fix any broken bones, and with enough given time even restore any lost limb under the condition that the pony was still alive and the injury is recent. Because of their reintroduction to Cloudsdale, the pegasi were able to make clouds again, especially thunderclouds which served them well for fly by tactics. Lastly, Rainbow Dash’s appointed head scientist, Dr. Whooves, modified Star Swirl the Bearded’s original designs by adjusting the boom rocks’ formula to explode within proximity to an enemy when tossed or planted into a surface; with that he combined boom rocks and incinerate potions to create cluster burners, which would explode and splash incinerate nectar in the surrounding areas killing anypony unfortunate enough to be within range.

Ingenuity was on the rise in Equestria with all credits due to what became known as the End War of Equestria. It was a great feat for both forces to advance their mechanics so greatly, but it was an even greater feat to have done so in only three months. It took them only 12 weeks to destroy the once lively urban cities of Fillydelphia, Hoofington, and Ponyville, Ponyville being the first to turn to rubble. Because their homes were being destroyed, many citizens were flooding Manehattan seeking asylum. Ponies lost their money, their homes, and often times their lives. At the speed that the war was going troops and supplies were being exhausted. The only convenience to it was that clouds were being produced again, but because of the social and economic state of the nation many farmers were forced to give their crops away at a minimum compensation.

By week 14 things got much darker. Celestia’s horn had finally regenerated, and she was feeling vengeful. Her fear became hate, and her hate was aimed towards the pegasi. She scheduled a dirty attack on the pegasi with the help of her royal guards. To some, the day would be called Night of Broken Hooves, to others it would be known as the Flames of Justice, but prior to Celestia’s involvement it was known as Hearts and Hooves Day.