From History of Epona, Volume 17, by Spike Sparkle

Perhaps it was a mistake that we thought we were the most powerful race on Epona, forgetting that Faust, She of Many Races, made all the races of our world. But yet it was the arrogance of everypony that made us blind not only to our own short-slightness, but to the our own inequality. Equestria it self had been dominated by Mares in every aspect of life, ever since it's founding many thousands of years ago. This had caused resentment among many Stallions who saw the females as pulling the strings. Around the last three decades of Celestia's reign, a few groups of males plotted and planned to overthrow the Government, yet they were not strong enough. That soon changed as they would soon get help from a race that was just like them.

The Caribou came into the known world from the Northern Reaches, far from the area that was once the Crystal Empire. They first came to the Crystal Empire, starting their conquest when they somehow contacted Discord and got him to give them power to enslave the Crystal Empire, brainwashing Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, Taking control of the Crystal Heart, the caribou, under the rule of King Dainn, then turned to Equestria, corrupting ponies until they were ready.

By the time Equestria found out the caribou had invaded, they were already inside our land. striking at the time of the Spring Planting Festival, taking over whole cities, enslaving mares and turning them into sex slaves. the Elements of Harmony were captured and each were raped by the invaders. Celestia and Luna also fell to Dainn's Forces, turned into his personal slaves.

Equestria was soon turned into a large Whore House, everything was turned into some sick and twisted sexual fantasy. Stallions were brainwashed or threatened into abusing mares. a few mares and uncorrupted stallions escaped away from Equestria. some went to the Zebra Lands to try to go to Saddle Arabia, only to end up in the Zebra Slave Trade. other went to Eagleland, where they and the Griffins fought against Caribou invaders there.

Yet while the caribou believed they were now the masters of everything, Using and abusing mares, turning stallions into male chauvinists and even making the sun and moon move by them selves. But yet they were ignorant of things that were beyond their knowledge.

The Crystal Heart (back then known as the Crystal Cock) was what had protected the Crystal Empire from attack, until a unicorn known as Sombra took over the Empire, using strange dark magic to enslave the Crystal Ponies, using them to mine gems and crystals to be sent somewhere unknown. He corrupted the Crystal Heart to increase his own powers. It was Celestia and Luna who defeated him, sealing him away for a thousand years before he was totally defeated by Princess Cadence and myself.

But we would later discover a secret about him, about how he took over the Crystal Empire and why the Crystal Heart was corrupted easily by him and later on by Dainn. He had another title, a title that would cause dread when the races of Equestria would discover it.........

Darth Sombra, Dark Lord of the Sith

What was to come was to be the start of one of the most terrible periods in Epona's History. It would all start when Dainn corrupted the Crystal Heart, unknowingly awakening the Dark Side taint that was in it, which was felt by another Sith Lord........

Coruscant, Year Two of the Clone Wars

The Jewel of the Core, Coruscant was the bright Capital of the Galactic Republic. the Planet was covered with urban sprawl, the product of tens of thousands of years of civilization. In the daylight, the surface shined from the metal and transparisteel of the many buildings on the planet, at night it glowed with the light of Civilization.

Yet even here, there was darkness.

Some areas, such as the Underlevels, never saw the sun and were dark all the time. But there were some areas that appeared darker then normal. This was the case for an area of Coruscant known as 'The Works', a large industrial area located in the Dacho District. It was an immense manufacturing center for many companies, who would later abandon the planet for cheap labor and off-world facilities. Most of the area was now in ruins, falling apart thanks to urban developers, who released stone mites, duracrete slugs, and conduit worms into The Works, in an attempt to clear the area out so it could be purchased and refurbished. It was now home to smugglers, squatters, death stick runners, malfunctioning droids, gangsters, undocumented refugees, and Cthons.

Perfect as a meeting place for two Sith Lords.

The largest building in the area was the LiMerge Building, once the Headquarters of LiMerge Power Company. It's Republic Boutique Architecture dominated the skyline like a dark tower on some primitive world. Some even said that the building radiated dark side energy. Some even claimed that it was built to look like a Sith Temple, like the ruins on Korriban.

This suited Darth Sidious perfectly. The building had tunnels under it, which he used to get from the Works to 500 Republica and the Senate office buildings, where the galaxy knew him as Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who was beloved by the beings of the Galactic Republic, leading it against the threat of the Separatists, with many in the galaxy not knowing that he was planning on destroying the Republic. Something Sidious always thought was ironic.

Such was the way of the universe.

Yet Sidious was not thinking about irony, but looking intently on the holomap which floated in front of him. the map was projected from a small pyramidal device, a Sith Holocron that once belonged to Darth Sombra one thousand years ago. the Holocron was brought from Epona by Sombra's Apprentice, The Shistavanen Sith, Darth Dentem. In the Holocron was the location of a powerful Sith artifact, one that could be of use to his plans to overthrow the Republic and Destroy the Jedi Order.

A beeping noise caught his attention, a beacon from a ship that had entered the hanger in the building, as he expected..

The Ship that had entered the building was a Geonosian Punworcca 116-class Interstellar Sloop, otherwise known as a Solar Sailer. Sidious knew who was on it. His own apprentice, Darth Tyranus, known to the galaxy as Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Once the ship landed, a door opened up as a ramp lowered to the floor. Count Dooku stepped out of his ship, walking down the ramp and walked towards where his Master was.

Sidious did not turn around, instead more focused on the map as Dooku entered the room, bowing in a military manner. "You have summoned me, Master?" he said.

the Dark Lord of the Sith did not turn, but beckoned Dooku over to his side. Dooku walked over, viewing the red colored holomap with some curiosity. He noticed that it was coming from the Sith Holocron.

"Behold, Lord Tyranus, The Holocron of Death Sombra." He said, pointing to it. "Recovered by his own apprentice after his disappearance on Epona thousands of years ago."

Dooku turned to his master. "I believe I never heard of this lord Sombra before." he said. wondering about this mysterious Sith Lord.

Sidious turned from the holomap. "He was a inhabitant of the planet Epona in the Unknown Regions." he said, "Thousands of Years ago, he was discovered and trained by Darth Rexis, a powerful Sith in his own right. Sombra was trained in the ways of the Sith, becoming very powerful, even after the death of his master at the hands of a mysterious being known as the 'warrior of light'. After that, Sombra went back to his homeworld and soon planned to take over one of the nations there, a small nation mislabeled 'Crystal Empire'."

"Why would he want to conquer a small nation?" Dooku asked. It was then that Sidious reached into his robes and pulled out a small blue crystal. Dooku could feel the Force radiate out of it like heat from a oven.

"These Crystals are common in the area of the Crystal Empire." Sidious said, "They are imbued with the Force and are perfect as focusing crystals for lightsabers. Yet it was one Crystal, one that was strong with the Force, that Sombra wanted for him self. It is known as the Crystal Heart."

Sidious turned back to the holomap, looking at an area on it, which was a sector of the Unknown Regions near Chiss Space. the Dark Lord continued his story "Just before his disappearance, he tainted the Crystal Heart with Dark Side energy, It was so that anyone who found it would cause it to be tracked by this map in his Holocron, intuned with the taint in the Crystal Heart." He then smiled, grinning evilly, "It Seemed that someone has found it and foolishly used it for foolish means."

"What do you mean?" Dooku asked.

"Before I summoned you here, I sent a few probes into this area of the Unknown Regions," Sidious said, pointing to a glowing spot on the map, "the probes found the world that is shown on the Map, Epona it self. They also discovered something else." The Dark Lord of the Sith turned and walked over to a holoprojector. he turned it on and it showed a small town, but it was not like any town in the Galaxy.

It looked more like a Red Light District in some Outer Rim backwater. Female beings, resembling some type of equine hoofed mammal, were wearing collars and being made to walk on all fours. Others were locked in stocks, with males or their own kind or others, who had antlers on their heads, rutted them with wild abandon, sexual fluids gushing like like water.

"Disgusting." Dooku said, sicked by the sight.

"It is sickening," Sidious said, "Yet it was the antlered ones, known as 'caribou' that caused the Crystal Heart to send out the pulse of Dark Side energy." he soon turned to Dooku, "The Ponies had blocked the Dark Side pulse with their own force powers, not knowing of the taint, yet the Caribou came, launching an invasion of the Crystal Empire and another nation, known as Equestria. They took control, using their own Force Powers to brainwash the male ponies and corrupted the Crystal Heart to help in their Corruption of The Ponies. Yet it was their use of the Dark Side that made the taint that was already in the Crystal that caused the Pulse to be picked up by Sombra's Holocron."

Sidious soon turned to the map again, "This would be a good advantage for us."

Dooku turned to his master, "It would?"

Sidious turned to his apprentice. "Yes," he said, "The Crystal it self is powerful and could be of use to us, so will the ponies of Epona."

Dooku soon got what his master was planning. "You want me to take the Crystal from them and make the Ponies our servants?" he asked.

"Yes, For they can be a great asset to the war." Sidious said, Turning back to the map, staring at the pinpoint that was Epona. "Send your droids to the planet and take it over. Kill all who oppose your forces and kill the Caribou leader, then bring back the Crystal."

"Who should I send to command our forces?" Dooku asked.

"Sidious turned and grinned "I think you know who would be the one ruthless enough to crush the Caribou."

Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Epona. Night

The Screams filled the night as they had for the last few hours now from the dungeons under the palace of King Dainn, High Ruler of the Caribou Empire, Conquer of Equestria, rapist of the Sun and Moon, enslaver of Mares.

The two guards at the cell door had the poor job of guarding prisoner that was locked in the jail cell.

"Can't that stupid deer shut up for once?!?" One of the Guards yelled over the Screaming. His partner, a Earth Pony Stallion was holding his ears trying to block out the noise of the imprisoned White-Tail Deer Druid.

Dranthomanx was a Druid from White Tail Forest, which, unlike the rest of Equestria, was not corrupted by the Caribou or even conquered by them. The White-Tails kept the Caribou at bay and it appeared that they would not be taken by the new masters of the Known World. But Dranthomanx had come out of the Forest and preached against The rule of the caribou, proclaiming that Dainn would be destroyed and burn in Tartarus. He had been captured and thrown into jail, until the day of his hanging, by Dainn's order

"I don't know about you, but I am going to make him shut up!" the Earth Pony yelled, turning to the door and using the key to open it. the other guard, a Caribou Warrior, followed.

on The floor, Danthomanx lay, turning and withering on the cold stone, mumbling and babbling some stuff. "Metal warriors....darkness.....death from above."

"what in the name of Dainn's antlers is this bastard talking about?" the caribou said, confused by the babbling of the crazed druid.

"Beware! Beware! Beware Grievous!" the druid screamed, squirming like a worm, his eyes wide in horror.

"Hey, Druid!" The Earth Pony Guard yelled, raising his spear to hit the white-tail "Shut your damn, stupid.......DAINN'S BALLS!" The Earth Pony Guard dropped his spear in terror as the druid's eyes suddenly started glowing! Soon the body of the Druid flew into the air and floated over the floor, arms spread out, his mouth opened with a loud scream coming out. loud enough to be heard all across the world.

"THEY SHALL COME!" Danthomanx said, with the voice of thousands of souls. THEY COME FOR THE CRYSTAL! WAR SHALL COME FROM THE STARS TO END EQUESTRIA AND THE WORLD! DARKNESS SHALL RISE AND CRUSH HOPE WITH THE FEET OF METAL WARRIORS AND THE SITH SHALL RULE EPONA ONCE MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Druid stopped as blood started flooding out of his mouth as he fell to the floor, dead.

The Two guards ran out of the cell in terror.

Author's Note

Dentem is Latin for fang or tooth