Era of Conflict: The Rise and Fall of the Equestrian Empire

Chapters

Absolution of the Inevitable:Prolouge
New Chapters
Show Stoppers
Unexpected, Univited
War Crimes
The New Equestrian Republic
The Battle of Stalliongrad.

Absolution of the Inevitable:Prolouge

… he was the last one left. All his comrades were dead on the floor. Discords grip was ever so increasing in power. Either that or he seemed to be losing power. He couldn’t quite tell. All he knew was that this was it. He decided to not die pitifully.

He manage to say weakly, “You expect me to beg, you ugly mistake of nature?”

“Now, now. You’ve gone and hurt my feelings. Why for that I’m going to need to punish you for that.” Discord was on the verge of breaking the ponies fragile neck.

“Well, whatever you do it wont be as horrible a punishment as you will get, you scum.”

“Unfortunately, I will have to disagree. You see corruption is not something to be seen as a toy. Being corrupted is a very painful procedure, at least when your alive. I guess you will have to learn that on your own, though.” Discord brought the pony over to a hole in the castle floor. A purple smoke began to emerge from it. It was thick but you could clearly see through it, almost as if it were a jelly of some sort. “Nighty, night.”

Just before he dropped the pony into the corruption the pony kicked him in the gut. Though the kick could shatter bone, even when only slightly back by power, Discord was not fazed. At least, no physical evidence showed he was affected. But you could see in his eyes that that action angered him deeply. His hand reached up to the jaw of the pony. Discord made a quick flick of his wrist and the pony’s neck popped.

The body was now lifeless. He then finally dropped the pony in the hole. The smoke engulfed the body easily. It then began dissolving away parts of the skin and seeping into wherever the skin was broken. His blood soon evaporated and was replaced by the thick, purple smoke. The smoke then began to form around his broken bones, shattering them completely and reforming in where they once were as thicker, darker forms of bone. His muscles began increasing in size tenfold. His brain was also dissolved into nothing and replaced with the dreaded liquid. And finally his eyes were replaced with a glowing light. On the other side of the retinas was Discord. Fully controlling the pony’s every move.

The corrupted pony then crawled out for the hole. He looked up at his new master. Discord looked back at him with a satisfied look.

“How my I complete my duties, master?” His voice was altered. It sounded as if both he and another being were talking at the same time.

“Your first order is to make some friends.” He then motioned to the other bodies lying on the ground. “Hmm,” Discord hesitated. “Your going to need a name, aren’t you?”

“Whatever you say master.”

“You shall now be called ‘Chaos’.”

“Yes, master.”

Discord did not know he was being watched until he heard the sound of a bottle of ink spilling. He looked over to see a scrawny gryphon in the window. Taking notes on what he had just saw. He knew that he was noticed and immediately flew off. Chaos began after him but was stopped by Discord.

“Leave him be. It will be much better knowing that the other kingdoms will know what is coming for them and not have anything to do about it.” He smiled wider. Everything was falling into place. “Now, to get more warriors...”

============

The Council was in extreme chaos. Everybody was yelling at one another.

“Enough!” Yelled The Elder. “I will not have this courtroom turn into a brawl!”

“You’ve heard the gryphon's! They wish to abandon us against this threat! They are clearly traitors!”

“I will not be called a traitor by some pathetic zebra who cloud hardly spell his own name!”

“At least I’m not a pathetic runt that wishes to run and hide at any sight of confrontation!”

“I am making a decision that will clearly spare the lives of millions of my people. This council’s tactics will throw hordes of under-prepared gryphon’s at the enemies as distractions while every other animal will be sitting around until they can claim the victory for themselves!”

“We all know damn well that you kingdom has been building up it’s army for years! And you expect us to believe that you are under prepared?!”

“I will not be called a liar and a coward. I am leaving and thus taking my allegiance somewhere else! I advise that others do as well. It may only start as The Elder ‘borrowing’ my forces, but soon he will grow madder with power. And I refuse to allow that to happen! I am gone, if you wish to save your people you too shall follow.”

“Elder stop him!”

“I will not. Nor will anybody else. If he wishes for war, the he shall receive it. But not until after we deal with this threat.” The Elder stood up and increased his voice, “This threat is but a small one compared to others in the past. We shall certainly succeed if we work together on this task. Worry not my allies this is but a mere hiccup in the road to salvation.”

Celestia was worried. Not only did she not have a standing army at her immediate use, but this threat was very concerning. It was nothing like The Council, or anyone for that matter, had seen before. Somehow she knew that the underestimation of this threat would be the down fall of all. She hurried back to her kingdom. She would need to somehow prepare for this. War was coming.

=======================

Discord was nearly laughing after that “performance”. It may have been a while since

he used that “enrage” spell, but boy did it do wonders! The best part was he hadn’t even had to push that many thoughts into Silver Claw’s mind! All it took was one image and BAM! War it is. He loved hatred. Almost as mush as disorder and chaos. For where would this world be without hatred? Probably an advanced civilization in total peace and prosperity. The awful thought!

Now that he serious work was done he had to devise a plan. A true plan. Not a half-assed one like the one that got him frozen in stone, TWICE! No, he had to clip the problem right at the bud. First step, the Elements of Harmony. Second step, Celestia herself. With those two factors out of the picture "The Elder" will be eradicated and no one would have the power, or even the will, to stop him! A fool proof plan! And all it took was a single schoolyard magic trick. Oh, and a couple centuries on suffering.

New Chapters

"... and so the Equestrian wasteland was finally saved. So ends the story of the lone pony. Who stepped through the great annals of stable 101, and into the annals of legend. But the tale of pony-kind will never come to a close. For the struggle for survival is a war with out end. And war... war never changes.”

“Wow! Talk about a great story.” Twilight yawned, her eyes were extremely tired by the time she finished her book. She looked at the clock to find that it was almost dawn. She had stayed up yet again to read another one of her books. This was getting unhealthy. She put the book down on the coffee table next to her and tried to get a small nap before Spike woke her up. She imagined what it would be like if “war”, or whatever it was called, to exist in Equestria. She wasn’t a fan of that idea and began to lay her head down on the couch’s arm and dose off.

All of a sudden Spike walked up next to her and said “Get up Twilight! We’re gonna be late for the meeting with Celestia!” She forgot that she was going to meet Celestia today. If only she had not found that book she might of been able to keep her eyes open let alone make a five hour walk to Canterlot. She slowly rolled off the couch and headed for the bath.

Spike noticed that Twilight was very tired. He saw the book on the table. “Maybe it was a bad idea to give her that crate of books. But then again they were given to her by Celestia herself.” He thought to himself. He picked up a few books. “Fall Out”, “My Early Life by Winston Hoofhill”, “The Art of War by Sun’s Two”. They all had a certain connection, they all talked about this thing called “war”. It interested Spike, but not for long. He put the books back just as Twilight got out of the bathroom. “That was quick.” He said.

“Yeah, well we might as well get this over with.” Twilight said with an annoyed tone in her voice.

“She’s clearly angry.” Spike said in his head. “This is gonna be a LONG trip.”

============

The two reached the walls of Canterlot just as the sun was reaching it’s high point in the sky. Twilight loudly knocked on the gate.

“State your order of business.” The guard at the door said.

“Uh, I’m here to have a meeting with her majesty, Celestia.” Twilight said. This was odd. One is usually aloud to walk into Canterlot freely. What is up with this random suspicion?

“Show written proof or be on your way!” The guard barked.

“Uh, I don’t have any written proof on me at the moment. You’ll just have to take my word.” She showed a weak smile.

“No proof, no entry!” The guard barked again. How rude! I must write to Celestia right away! Surely she will know what is going.

“Spike! Take a note!”

Dear Princess Celestia,

This is rather embarrassing. It seems that I am not aloud through the gates and my only way of getting through is by written permission. Maybe you could explain what is going on. I am rather worried and would only like to know what is going on.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

“Send this off right away, Spike.” Seconds after the letter was sent out another came back.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am ever so sorry for not warning you. The stamp on this letter should be enough for you to get through. Please hurry, we have much to discuss.

Princess Celestia.

Twilight took the letter to the guard and showed it to him. “Sorry for any inconveniences ma’am.” He said as he opened the gate. They both walked through the gate suspiciously, unaware of what was going on. When they reached the throne room they saw Celestia standing by a window looking outward.

“So glad you could make it, Twilight. You’ve even got here before the others.”

“What others?” Twilight asked.

Celestia sighed, “Come, walk with me. We have much to discuss.” They began heading down a corridor that was thick with dust. “It has been a triumph that I had never had to use this room since the beginnings of this castle. Over a thousand years we have never needed it. But unfortunately, the time has come again.” Twilight saw the worried look on Celestia’s face. That worried her more so. “Twilight, have you read those books I have given you?”

“Oh! So those were yours? Why yes, I have. Very interesting topics.” Though Twilight loved books this was clearly not a simple meeting to discuss them.

“So you understand them quite well?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“Have you ever heard or read of war before I gave you those books?”

“No. Is that why we are here?”

“Unfortunately...” Twilight’s eyes widened. They had reached a large 3D model at the end of the corridor. It resembled Equestria shockingly well. Even the details of her library were spot on.

“What is this? And why do you have it hidden away from others?”

“It is an old planning room from long ago. Back when Discord reigned ruler of all Equestria. I have only used this to plan the downfall of Discord. And for other things...” Twilight was too amazed at what she saw to hear the last part Celestia barely managed to whisper. Celestia broke the silence by asking “Do you know what this room is called?”

“Um, no.”

“It is the war room. It is where you will come to see me from now on. At least, after you complete a certain objective I have for you. You understand the pain and hardships of war, and you are a great scholar. I need you to inform the others of your new discovery, and quickly. More specifically the residents of Ponyville.”

“What do you mean? What should I inform them?”

“You must ween them into the idea of war. Outright telling them will surely be too much for them to handle and cause uproar. So you must ease the idea through them, in any which way possible. I know this sounds heartless, but you must make war seem good.”

“If war is what I read then there is no way to justify it.”

“You must. For without the support we WILL fall to them.”

“I don’t understand. Who are we at war with?”

Celestia walked over to a pane of glass. “Look into here, my experiences will be a much better explanation than what I can tell you now.”

Twilight looked into the glass and began seeing moving shapes. The time appeared to be a few months earlier. Celestia was at some sort of council that involved a few representatives of all species of animals, they were arguing over something suddenly she was thrusted into the perspective of Celestia herself. She was face to face with a sickly look gryphon. His eyes where tired and you could sense pity drooping from him. Why, without Celestia’s past memories passing through Twilight’s head she would have guessed that this was an aged war veteran living on the street.

=======================

“Silver Claw, you cannot do this.”

“Do not try to order me, Celestia! You may have half the court lingering on your word and the respect of The Elder, but you cannot order me!” Celestia could see the pure fury in Silver Claw’s eyes. He was an angry gryphon, but never had he been so furious.

“I am not ordering you, I am only trying to get reason in your head. You are going to war with The Council!

“Wrong! I am going to war with the old, dying fool on that throne! Anybody in my way is simply an obstacle, I will remove that obstacle and continue towards my goal.” Silver Claw softened his face and gave a tired look. “This land has been under peaceful rule for centuries and what have we achieved? Some useless farming techniques and the discovery of bronze. Imagine what we could accomplish if that old bat were to not undermine all our scientific works! He is so stuck in tradition, so afraid of change that he would rather make the lives of our subjects meaningless than accept the inevitable. I swore to my people that I would make them great. How could I do that if he keeps us ‘in our places’?”

“So your willing to end countless lives just to make your people great!? Is that what this is about.”

“No! I am willing to end countless lives to prove that us gryphons are not place mats for ‘his royal highness’ to rest his feet on and call him self great. He made us different for a reason. And for that he shall pay with not only his life, but the lives of those you believe that he is right for that. I give you one last chance to join the rightful cause. Say no now and there shall be no turning back.”

“You very well know my answer.”

“Then it is settled. May the annals of history tell the great stories of the Ponies as truthfully as possible, for that is all you shall be after this.” Silver Claw turned his back to the glaring eyes of the court. The next time he is to return here it shall be with an army of warriors at his back, screaming for the head of The Elder.

The Zebra representative walk from behind Celestia. “Rest assure my old friend, her majesty’s army is with you to the end. We shall stop his forces quick, and maybe his land we shall have a pick?” He cocked his eyebrow.

Celestia got angry. “No, this isn’t about land. And never make it so. This will be about defending The Council and nothing more.”

“No promises can be held after his forces are defeated well.” The representative returned to his seat. Celestia just stood staring at the gryphon king. She knew this was not going to end well. If is was one thing that the gryphons had, it was spirit. And she knew how much of a war is won with spirit.

=======================

Twilight looked back at her teacher. “If this was to convince me that this war was just, it didn’t do a good job.”

Celestia sighed. “It was not to persuade you in any way, it was only to show you what we are truly up against. As you saw, the gryphons now feel that there is left nothing to lose. They have felt that for a long time, but now was the last straw. That sort of enemy, the one willing to die to merely scratch you, is the worst of any kind. If you object to being a part of this, tell me now. I will understand completely.” She was looking down at the floor, Twilight had never seen Celestia anywhere remotely like this.

“If you don’t want to do this than don’t get in his way. Nobody has to die.”

“That is not so. He wishes to kill The Elder. If he is to succeed then all of Equestria, neigh, all of this planet would fall into chaos and death. And it wouldn’t be something that the Elements of Harmony or anything could fix. It would be utter chaos, and nothing more.”

Twilight look Celestia in the eye, “I will stand by you at any cost.”

Celestia got an ounce of hope back. “Good, then go. We have much to do, Silver Claw is on his way.”

Show Stoppers

The Speech recieved a mixed assortment of responces. Mostly against this new discovery of "war". Twilight might have been a little too through in explaining it. She should of just listened to Celestia and just sugar-coated it and make it seem "cool". Now she had to sit for hours reassuring the Ponyville residents that they were not all going to be sluaghter viciously. After the meeting she got to the job of putting the posters that Celestia gave her. If She remebered them correctly they were called propaganda, but she wasn't quite sure.

Later she got a letter from a mayor from the twon over asking if she was having trouble with declaring war with the townsfolk. Twilight argreed that she could use some help and was told that a reputable "entertainer" was going from town to town helping the mayors and such deal with the problems, for a price of course.

She managed to get the mayor on board with having some of the town's funds go to this mysterious magician. After a few days she saw a suspicious looking trailor rolling up to town. On the side it said "The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Oh great." Twilight said. She didn't need this on top of everything else that was going on. The trailor rolled right up to Twilight.

"My, my, my. What do we have here?" Trixie was grinning as if she just beat Celestia in a duel. "Expecting someone?" Twilight screamed in her head.

"Oh, please, tell me your just trying to show me up again." Of all the ponies in Equestria, the one that she needed was HER!?

"Though I would love nothing more than to prove my true power, I am here on a different note."

"Alright, we have your payment ready. Just get the job done, in anyway possible."

"Oh! Your the pony who needs me. Well, in that case I'll charge double."

"What!?"

"These roads are treacherous and very difficult to traverse. I will need the extra pay." Trixie had a grin that made Twilight want to knock her teeth out, but she couldn't. "Anyways, it's not like you can actually bargin with me. No matter what I do today, I lose nothing." Twilight doubled her pay and Trixie bagen to set up shop right away. "The show shall be tomorrow!"

"What show?" Twilight was confused. She paid for a speech, or something, not a show.

"It's simple really. The best way to gain hype for a war, or anything for that matter, it to 'explain' the rewards. Seeing the world, getting money, and more importantly, us." She gestured to herself. Great. She had just paid for a peep show. That'll really reasure Mayor Mare that the money was well spent.

"You know what? I don't care anymore. Just be ready tomorrow." Twilight was really questioning her decisions now. She could've been home, reading, not giving a care in the world. But now she was doing THIS. She didn't want to think about it. She just wanted some sleep.

==================

The moonlight showing through the leaves made the trek even more spooky. Cherry Strudel and Burnt Oak were pulling overtime in getting these pies to Ponyville. Burnt Oak sat down on a rock.

"We need to take a break." He wasn't used to all this running.

"Ya'll is being weak." Cherry Strudel said. They had been stoping ever hour since they began at the start of the day. "I'm getting mighty annoyed by your inability to run for a couple of hours at a time."

"Well if you didn't say 'Sure, we can take twice the load of any other pony' we might not be havin' all these breaks!"

"Funny. I thought ya'll were tough guess I was wrong."

"Why you little!" Oak took a big swing at Strudel. Strudel backed away just in time but tripped over a conveniently placed branch and fell into a ditch just below the road. Oak gasped. "Are you all right!" He couldn't see two feet down the ditch. He took the torch from the carridge and brought it over to the ditch. "Can you see this?" No answer. He heard twigs breaking and ran over to where he heard it to greet Strudel. "I am so sorry Strudel. If you could only forgive-" He saw a purple-hued figure approaching him.

Chaos couldn't find where the first pony dropped, but a fresh one would do much better. He stared into the eyes of Burnt Oak, paralyzing him. "Do not run! Running only delays the inevitable." Oak disregard what the pony-looking creature said and dashed directly towards the carridge. Chaos got very angry. "The only reward you shall recieve for that act will be death!" Chaos tackled Oak down with little resistance. If all those years of training taught him anything, it was that all startled enemies are more prone to falling.

He had a lot of difficulty holding down the pony, so he decided that a dead specimen was better than none at all. A twist of the neck and he was dead. The dead weight was much better than the risistance of a live pony. He decided to merely kill the rest of his victims, instead of trying to get them alive. Cherry saw with horror that Oak was just killed he made a mad dash for the town of Ponyville, if he was safe anywhere it would be there. Right? RIGHT?

After a good five minutes of pure sprinting he came to a stop. Good thing that other, thing, headed in the opposite direction, 'cause his tracks were so easy to follow. His stomach growled. "Great." He thought to himself. "Not only did I just witness the death of a friend but now I'm starving. He took out a pie he had stolen from the carridge earlier and began to chomp down on it. It tasted good. Something was odd though. He started to survey the road when he suddenly felt a pair of hooves on the sides of his face. Chaos then twisted his neck as well. He hesitated for a moment, and then threw the body into another ditch. He wasn't going to carry TWO dead bodies with him.

===================

Silver Claw gazed out at his subjects. They were all living a misrible exsitence, but something was different about them. You could sense a feeling of hope, almost. It was odd to the king. It was as if they wanted a war. That brought worry to Silver Claw. He wanted to rule a great people not ruthless barbarians. He knew what he had to do, though. There was no turning back. This would be the beginning of the end. The start of a new era. Either an era without The Elder or an ear without gryphons! Which ever fate decides it to be, he will accept the change with open arms.

"Gryphons!" He shouted to the subjects below, "Today is a day that will live in infamy. It is a day that the books of history will see as world changing. It is a day all will look upon and shake thier heads in shame, for they know they could have prevented this. It is the day that you will look upon your kin and tell them this is when you stopped living your life as a peasent and began living your life as a true gryphon! It is the day that we march upon the lands of our enemies with no regret and we prove that we gryphons were to have always been feared.Join me in our march to redemption for it is on this day that all the world declares war on us! And it is on this day that all who opose us DIE!" The crowd burst into cheers. This generation had never seen a speech at all but they were inspired. They were ready to die, not only in the name of Silver Claw, but in the name of gryphons. They would meet incredible odds with their chins high and their claws ripping at it with glee. They wanted this war for a long time...

Unexpected, Univited

"Is it too late to turn back now?" Carmel didn't like the look of the situation. Supposedly they were up against a group of gryphons who didn't even fear death. All thoses posters said that these guys were like demons, and it was our sworen duty to protect our homes from them. It was very inspiring but he was still worried.

"Keep it together Carmel." Ace said. "Just remember training, keep a cool head, and don't be a hero."

"How do you know what to do in war? You've never been in one before."

"Well, I've read about it enough to have some understanding." He did manage to find some books in the library just before he went of to train. He didn't know if it was legal to take them, but signing up for the army did absolve you of any crimes before the war. And that hefty pay of 2,000 bits was nice too.

A pony then walked up to their camp fire. "Ya'll know what division dis is?" The large, brown pony with black hair asked.

Ace looked at the stallion, "Yeah, this is the Third Pikeman Infantry Division. Why, you just join up?"

"Well, I am sort of late. But I do have to trainin'. I was actually lookin' for this division. Lucky find I guess."

"Welcome to the force. You got a name?"

"Yeah, it's Promontory. What's ya'll."

Carmel spoke up, "I'm Carmel, the one with the chops is Ace, gramps over there is Shamrock, and the red one is my cousin Big Macinthosh."

"This it?" Promontory asked.

"Heck no! We're just the ones that are somewhat social. Well, except for Shamrock. He knid of just stuck around."

"Oh, alright." Promontory hesitated a little. "So, gonna tell me why ya'll joined up?"

"Just doin' my part for Equestria." Carmel said. "It would be nice to have a nice shiny plaque with my name on it, too."

"I couldn't resist the pay." Ace said, "With that much for pay I could by my own plot of land by the Bridle Shores and have my own private Tennis court. Also, those 'recruitment shows' were rather 'convicing' if ya know what I mean." He gave a nudge at Promontory.

"Well, I'm in for the money, too." Big Mac said, "But I'm usin' it to help fix up the farm back home."

"Boy's sick." Shamrock croaked. "Needed money for the meds."

"Oh, sorry for asking." The mood lessened to silence again.

Carmel got bored and asked "Aren't you too old to join up, Shamrock?"

"Anybody asks, I'm twenty-one, ya'hear." Shamrock glared at Carmel.

"Gee, sorry I asked."

"Ya should be." Nopony talked for the rest of this night.

==================

One month. Hardly enough time to train anypony. Celestia surveyed the field. Wide opening. That should be good. If she plays her cards right she should have them surounded. Wait! What if they decide to fight for air superiority? We have about 1,000 pegasi and they have about... if only she could remember the gryphon census. Worry was causing her to lose focus. If she keeps a clear head she can do this.

She heard them before she saw them. That didn't sound like gryphons. She saw Silver Claw. No fancy carridge. Only him, him and his troops. He never was one for show-boating. The army stopped but he continued to the center of the field. She decided to meet him there.

"I know I said this before, but I don't want to murder innocent ponies Please turn your army back now. Please."

"Then stop this maddness!" Celestia decided to try the bluff card. "I don't care for murdering countless gryphons either."

"So your answer is no? Then so be it. May your warriors die a glorious death." He turned back. Celestia waited there for a few more moments before heading back to her army.

"Ponies! Prepare for battle!" She hardly had any time for a speech. Just over the hill to their right a stampede of buffalo came running down. "What is this!" She looked at her intelligence officer. "Where did they come from!?"

"I-I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know! It's was your sole job to know what we were facing." Then she heard something in her head.

"Hellow, Celestia. Long time no see."

"Discord!"

"How wonderful! You remember an old friend."

"Your in on this too?"

"How could I ever pass up a chance to see you get angry. I know, the concealment spell works like a charm."

"You shall pay for this Discord!"

"Getting angry, are we? Oh, you always get angry over the simplest things. You really got to calm down." She didn't have time for this. They were clearly outnumbered, surounded. She was lucky to get any of her soldiers out alive...

======================

Two Days Before The Battle:

Silver Claw was sitting in his tent. It was no different form the others, other than the fact that his was the highest on the hill. He nearly dosed off the sleep when he was awoken by the sound of a teleportaion spell. "Come to convince me Celestia? I can save you a long speech and tell you that we won't stop."

"Oh! I'm sorry, were you expecting her?" Silver Claw jumped out of his chair and pulled out his sword.

"Discord! What do you want!?" This was not what he needed before a battle. His soldiers needed him to lead the charge.

"What I want is to make a simple deal. Can I not have that much."

"Speak crossbreed!"

"Well, if you insist we skip the pleasantries." Discord cleared his throught. "You know that you are clearly outnumbered. If you do follow through on this attack you will be met with a full force of nearly the entire planet."

"What are you getting at?"

"It's simple. I give you my allience and the power of the corruption. You only give me your life."

"Ha! You think you can fool me!? You shall kill me and then lead my troops to victory? I know you shall lead them back to slavery and death! I know that is your plan! I say nay!" Silver Claw pointed his sword at Discord's throught.

"Who said that you had to die before hand? All I ask is that you allow your death at the end of your conquest."

"It is impossible! Immortals cannot die! That is why we were chosen to lead!"

"So, you actually believe that you were born with this gift? No a certain power gave you this and I know how to reverse it. Also, if you were to really think about it you would know that The Elder is immortal, correct?"

"Yes..."

"And if immortals cannot die, how do you expect to kill The Elder?"

"Well... I..."

"Exactly. I would kill him myself, but I would rather have a standing army by my side for insurance."

"How can I trust you? How do I know you won't kill me and then take my army?"

"I'm not sure if you've read, but I am a hated creature. Nobody would join me, not unless thier immortal leader trusted me 'Because he's our imortal ruler! He knows what's best for us!'. So I need you alive, I couldn't have it any other way."

"Fine, you have my alligence."

"That's good. Now, how do you expect to beat the pony army?"

"Well, I belive a frontal charge would demoralise them, cause them to force a retreat."

"My, my. You haven't been in war for a while, haven't you? It's a good destraction but what we need is something more." Discord snapped his fingers and a talbe with a map appeared out of thin air.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, it just so happens that I have the buffalo in my alligence..."

"How did you do such a feat. They are sworn loyal to The Council!"

"I have my ways. Now do you wish to hear the rest of my plan?"

"Yes, of course. Excuse my interuption." This was good. Silver Claw was rather useless in planning. One of his many flaws as king. But what made up for that was his willingness to make his people great. No matter what the cost, even if it be his own life.

War Crimes

The Battle of White Rose field? The pony responsible for naming it that was most likely the one who kicked around the nerd and called it his first shcoolyard fight. It was slaughter. The battle even made the gryphons question thier cause. Where were the great armies they were told they were up against? Did these ponies even try to fight? Was this fighting or mass murder? The news of Silver Claws "deal" also made way to the mouths of the troops. Could their great leader really be lying to them? Where they really fighting for the good of the gryphons? Or just Discord?

=================

Most of the line had began to fall apart. It was strange though, whenever it seemed that a group of ponies had established a good defence against buffalo charges, a swarm of gryphons would quickly decimate the troops. And if they were paying more attention to the skies, a herd of buffalo would plow through the group without any effort. It was as if they all had one mind controlling them, or at least giving them at-the-moment orders. The unity of the last minute army seemed to be too good. Though nobody, not even the gryphons and buffalo, seemed to notice at the time.

Carmel knew immediately that, since it was an large, open field, hiding wasn't an option. He ran just about the same time everbody else in his company had, that was the only sort of strategic unity seen on the battle field for the ponies. He looked to his right, Big Mac kicking a buffalo square in the face, something he sort of expected from him. To his left, Ace. He could of swore he saw that sack of crap trip another pony just before a gryphon swooped down to finish the job. He didn't see Shamrock anywhere, though he hoped he was just ahead of the pack. He did also see Promontory throw a spear at the gryphons. He just hoped that the sight of his spear missing a gryphon and hitting another pony was just hysteria playing trick with his eyes.

There was some patches of trees that could be used as cover behind them but for the most part, this was a full retreat. Nopony dared stop, not even to look back. Those who did ended up, usually, being taken down and distracting a few gryphons.

Had they not been starved just before the battle, the gryphons might have actually spared some of the ponies. But orders from Silver Claw himself said that the rations be cut into a fraction of regular, just the few nights before hand. Packs of the hungry gryphons at a time would reluctantly swoop down to eat the fresh meat. Silver Claw observed with disgust.

=============

"You sick bastard! You turned my subjects into a pack of feral DOGS! Making them hunt instead of fight!" The only thing he hated more than Discord at the moment was The Elder, and even then it was a close tie.

"How else would you get them to pull out their full killing potential?"

"Honor! Glory! Not something as simple as their next meal!"

"Remember your situation! You wish what is best for your people, right? Trust me, in the long run these desisions will have have a very positive impact on your army."

"You better have more reason than that!" Silver Claw pulled out his sword, again, thrusting it in Discords face.

"First," he said "don't try to frighten me. Especially with THAT." He then grabbed the bronze sword by the edge. It heated up so mush that it left a scar on Silver Claw's hand. "Second, the only true way to win a war is to have your enemy completely slaughtered or surrender. And seeing as it would take a LONG time to slaughter the entire planet's population I prefer the later. Third, how do you expect people to surrender if all you do is take prisoners and kill maybe a FEW soldiers? My point being, these tactical decisions are requiered to win this war as quickly as possible. If you do not trust my plan then by all means, continue your 'victory march' towards The Elder. I'm sure everyone will immediately surrender to the horrifying sight of a mob of hungry rock farmers."

Silver Claw glared at him. The feeling of utter hopelessness swept through him as he relised he was no longer the head of his army. Just a mere messenger to the orders Discord had given him. He then pushed away that thought, focusing only on the true goal, the long awaited glory of his people. But the hopelessness still ate away at his thoughts. Ever so increasing over time.

=============

The entire "army" had to retreat towards Trottingham. They wouldn't allow themselves to be beaten back all the way to Canterlot. The one day walk was consistanly slowed due to the nearly scheduled attacks. Turning into mini-battles. This was worse than a disaster. The first line of resistance against Silver Claw's attacking force was cut through like a hot knife through butter. Hopefully the Royal Guard back at Canterlot would make good use of this distraction to rally more troops.

Thankfully, Trottingham had some advantage of actually having cover for the army. But the most it did was funel the small raiding forces into slightly more manageable groups. All the women and childeren had evactuated and a militia had been formed. They began to burn it down on the second day.

On the retreat to Stalliongrad Carmel looked back on the burning town through a spy glass he found on a dead body. He saw a pony limping out of the smoke. "Hey! Guys!" He yelled. Big Mac and Shamrock trotted over. "We should head back, that guy over there's gonna get left behind."

"Where'd you git that spy glass, Carmel?" Big Mac asked.

"Never mind that, let's just get that guy okay?"

"Alright..." Big Mac said hesistantly. "Sham, you comin'"

"Nope." Shamrock croaked back. "Too old ta be runin' 'round everywhere."

"Fine," Carmel said. They began towards the figure. As they approached the stallion it looked up and ran, or at least tried to, in the other direction. "Hold on! Hold on!" Carmel yelled. The grey pony tripped and fell on it's face. Carmel turned the pony over to see if it was all right. As he did it kicked right at Carmel's stomach, taking all the breath out of his lungs. Big Mac, out of surprise, punched his foreleg right at the pony's jaw. Hardly fazed, the pony then knocked Big Mac off balance by kicking right at his knees.

The pony walked over to Carmel. It gasped. "Your not gryphons! I'm so sorry!"

Carmel coughed. "What, are ya' blind!?" His vision was a little blury, but could make out the general shape of the pony. It seemed more slender than the usual stallion in the corps.

"Uh, sort of." The grey pony returned. Carmel got up to see his one-time attacker. He was shocked to see that it was a cross-eyed mare that had a stronger kick than most of his brothers.

"What are you doing out here by yourself? Did you miss the refugee train?" Carmel asked.

"No, I didn't miss any train." The grey pony said timidly.

"Are you from around here?"

"No, I'm not from around here."

"So what are you doing out here?"

"I was in The Tenth Flying Support Calvary, then we got hit hard by one of the last raids, just before they started the fire. And-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Carmel interupted her "How did you get into the Tenth Flying Support, I mean, you're a girl! They're not alound here."

"Well, I... lied about... my, gender." She started trailing off into a wisper.

"Why in Equestria would you want to lie to join THIS?"

"I just... I just needed to prove something!" She turned around to leave the two.

He wanted to know more but the distance between them and the rest of the group kept increasing. "Wait! Just come with us. Trust me, it's better for all of us if you come along."

She stared at him with her good eye for a minute. "Fine." They had to run to catch up with the rest of the group. There would be a good jog before they would be back.

"Ya know, I never got your name?"

"Oh, it's uh," She trailed off.

"Go on..."

"It's Derpy." She then cringed at the soon-to-be laughter, but it never came. She looked at Carmel.

"It's a nice name, my name's Carmel."

"That's a nice name, too."

They eventually caught up with the rest of the army. Stalliongrad wasn't much better suited than Trottingham but at least they had the illusion of more protection. And everybody was open to that much. Again, the town was mostly evacuated and they got a fresh supply of troops via militia. The troops flooded into the abandon houses that night.

One of the lookouts, Flash Bulb, started to dose off. He had almost completely went to sleep when he saw purple dots in the darkness. His heart picked up. "It's nothing, Flash." He wispered to himself, "It's absolutly nothing." He pulled his blanket over his head, "Go to sleep. It's absolutly nothing..."

The New Equestrian Republic

This was too sureal. He could hardly grasp what was happening. He was just sitting around, having a meal. Then he saw them. Those purple-eyed demons. They came barreling at him, out of nowhere. Luckly he wasn't the first one they saw. They attacked anypony they could get a hold of, like it was somesort of game. He didn't pick up anything, no food, no weapon, nothing. He just had to run. The very look of those monster would make the princess herself flee. He then stopped in mid run, getting pushed over by someponies running as well. He just leaned over to look at the beast one more time. It was like a movie to him, seeing all the gore and misery. He didn't believe he had to run anymore. He just watched, and waited.

"CARMEL!" Promontory yelled, snapping Carmel out of his trance. He saw the rest of his squad running into a building for cover. The enemy was just down the street, they began to "clean" the buildings one by one. The terrified shrieks burrowing into his ears. The officer then began to order some ponies to barricade the doors but Ace spoke up.

"We're all gonna DIE if we try to stand and fight. We need to RUN!"

"NO!" The officer yelled, "We have orders to stay and fight!"

"You're kidding, right! We're not gonna fight! They're gonna walk in here, kill us, and leave like it was nothing!" He looked to all the ponies, then ran out the door. Carmel also looked at the surprised ponies, then followed Ace. A few more ponies also ran after them. They reached the end of the street when Carmel looked back. They weren't being chased. The horde of monsters had broken into the barricaded building without much effort. He turned around to keep running, but could still hear the faint sound of pure agony.

Carmel took a quick head count. Only five other ponies had joined them, Carmel could only recognise Ace, Shamrock and Derpy. Their small numbers did give them a slight advantage they reached the southern gate completely unnoticed. Nobody was at the gate. The attack must have been from the north. A little farther down the street Carmel could see that the hospital district was being swarmed. He couldn't remember whether or not Big Mac was stationed there. He sure hoped not.

Then a explosion sounded off and a group of buildings burst into flames. Everypony was knocked to the ground by it. The fire spread quickly to the surounding areas, nearly engulphing the entire town in a matter of minutes. The group finally left the town, being forced to carry one of the ponies due to the explosion. When they got out of danger they set up camp.

The entire group just stared at the fire. The silence was finally broken, "Anypony care to tell me what hell just happened?!" Nopony even looked up. "Those weren't gryphons! There were PONIES that attacked me! PONIES! Are you telling me that we're turning on each other!?"

"Shut up, Ice!" Ace said. "We don't need a pony yelling in our ears right now."

"No! I'm not shutting up until somebody tells me what the BUCK just happened!"

"We were bait." Shamrock said quietly, staring into the fire.

"What?" Ice Pick said.

"We were bait. For those damn things. Why else would we have waited so long in one place? It all makes sense now, they too-good-to-be-true pay, the waiting in one place." He looked up at Ice Pick and the others.

"Whoa, calm down," Carmel began, "No need to go sayin' crazy things. It was just some sort of mis-communication, that's all."

"You poor, niave ass. You really believe in the princess, don't you? You really think somepony with her experience would really be surprised by that attack? No, she knew what was gonna happen. And we were bait." Carmel didn't know what to say. Nobody else objected to that. It made the most sense at the time. They didn't even get any back-up. They were just a lure to Silver Claw's forces. Carmel was sick to his stomach on that discovery.

"What do we do now?" Derpy asked. Everypony ingnored her. They had no idea. The smell of burning wood and flesh drifted to the camp. Everypony was too scared to sleep, they just stared at the stars. It was the one escape from reality, the stars were more beautiful than ever on that night.

Shamrock took Ice's spyglass and pointed it in the direction of where Stalliongrad used to be. Nothing moved. Silver Claw must have moved out earlier that night. He looked back at the camp. The fire had died out and everypony managed to go to sleep. He packed up what he thought was a fair enough share for himself and headed out. He was done with this, he just wanted to go home.

=============

Twilight viewed the plans one more time before heading off to bed. Scenario One: Silver Claw attacks Canterlot, the attack goes sour for Silver Claw and he retreats, leaving time for a counter-attack; Scenario Two: Silver Claw does not attack Canterlot, but instead attacks all surounding towns, leaving them open for surounding; Scenario Three: Similar as Two except Silver Claw does manage to attack Canterlot with another army, in that case all forces retreat to Canterlot and defend the castle until they wear out. Scenario Four: Silver Claw does attack Canterlot and both sides sustain heavy casualties, we force their retreat and a counter-attack against them. Scenario Six: Silver Claw attacks, we sustain heavy loses and they do not, we evacuate Canterlot and build up new fortess at Manehatten. And finally Scenario Seven: Sliver Claw attacks, we sustain a heavy enough defeat that we cannot pull together a new army, thus resulting in total defeat. That's it. Wait. Where's number five? Celestia damn it! There goes tonight's sleep.

She'd ask for the help of other strategists except for the fact that there were none. She was the only pony in Canterlot that knew enough about war to actually think of plans and strategies. Celestia was off commanding the intial defence line, Luna was off doing Clestia knows what, and Prince Blueblood? God Celestia, the thought of him in control of something more than his own wardrobe sent shivers down Twilight's spine.

She had sent out exams to pick out some strategists in the ranks of officers, but that would take DAYS for any promising results to show, and they needed plans NOW. She had done it all, it seems. She stopped an Ursa Minor from destroying Ponyville, stopped Dragons from covering Equestria in a century of black smoke, she had defeated the living embodiment of Disharmony itself, but when it came to planning out what an army was to do for the next couple of weeks: she was finally about to give up. At least before she and a few of her friends were in danger when they had to do something, but the pressure of THOUSANDS of lives at stake in every decision was too much. And the worst part was that she couldn't even cut any loses and quit, she was in full comitment 'til the end.

She got another stack of staionary and began writing down all possible outcomes yet again. This time she would remember number five.

=============

Big Mac had made the decision to head to Derbyshire. If anypony was going to head somewhere it would be there. It was marked on the map, it was out of Silver Claw's way, and it was an all around fairly decent spot to regroup and recover. Nopony questioned any of his decisions on the way there. The power of complete control made Big Mac feel both good and bad. Good because the ability to get your way all the time was pretty neat, and bad because his troops were beginning to take less blame for themselves and always say that they were just following orders. Maybe that was why everyone else was perfectly fine with him being leader, he was the perfect canidate to push the blame onto.

On the journey to Derbyshire they came across a blueish-grey pony on the side of the road. He looked injured.

"You okay, fella'?" Big Mac asked the wanderer.

"Perfectly fine, thank you." The stranger said. "Never been better."

"Are ya sure? You got a limp goin' on."

"Oh, this is nothing. It's pre-existing."

"So you were at Stalliongrad?"

"Yup. You too?"

"Eeyup."

"Wow, all of you made it out? How'd ya do it?"

"We set up a barricade and set fire to it while we climbed over the wall. I know, it sounds like I got that straight out of an action movie, but that's what happened."

"Neat. So, are you heading to Derbyshire?"

"Eeyup. I'm hopin' that most other ponies got the same idea, and that we can all regroup there."

"Wait. Are you planning on rebuilding Celestia's army?"

"Eeyup. That's the plan right now."

"Well, surely you must be joking. You wish to serve her after being betrayed like that?"

"What do you mean 'betrayed'?"

"Oh my. I managed to pull this off of a dead messenger during my escape. If you believe that Celestia cares for your well being then this letter will disturb you." He pulled out a piece of paper with the Royal Seal on it.

"Give me that." Big Mac said in disbelief. He read the letter aloud to everypony in the group.

THIS LETTER IS FOR EYES OF ELITE OFFICERS APPOINTED BY THE PRINCESS HERSELF ONLY. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE SAID DESCRIPTION STOP READING NOW OR FACE THE INSTANT SENTENCE OF DEATH FOR TREASON TO THE PRINCESS HERSELF.

All officers with the town of Stalliongrad are hereby ordered by the princess herself to make the order to stay in Stalliongrad and fight the forces of Silver Claw until death. Any form of retreat is not aloud. You must stand and fight Silver Claw's forces for as long as possible. If any ponies, officers and standard troops alike, are seen attempting any form of retreat whatsoever they must be dealt with in any way possible immediatly. This must be seen as a total defeat to throw Silver Claw off. Though it pains me to write this, it must be said. No pony should survive this ordeal. Your sacrifices will not go unheard. All of your kin and or relatives shall recieve your honors. Thank you for your service.

"No no no. This isn't right! This can't be real! It just can't!"

"I hate to say it, but that is true. We were all suposed to die. It was planned all along. You can't fight for her anymore, you are a criminal in her and all her subjects eyes. I'm sorry."

"Well, what can we do now?"

"We CAN just go home and hope that nopony notices that you should be dead. OR we can do something."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean CHANGE. I mean rebellion. Celestia has been leader of this land too long. We need change! Too long have we been shackled down by the chains of her tyranny. She is a threat to herself and all others. I say that we must stop her! Not just for the benfits of you and me, but for the benfits of your children. And their children. And so on. If we do not stand against these crimes then when do we stand? Now or never my friend. You have the control and the choice. Join me, all of you. We shall all see the down-fall of Celestia in this life time if you all just stand NOW! What say you?" They entire crowd of ponies had no idea what they were going to say. They were rather shocked that they had just recieved a speech like that on the spot. He seemed like he was practicing the speech for a while. He was surely convincing.

"How do you suppose we're gonna over-throw an entire kingdom with just twenty ponies who've only seen three battles their entire career?" Big Mac asked.

"Easy. We head to Derbyshire. We tell the townsfolk of what horors you have seen. We open their eyes to the truth. With your help we can surely win them over to the rightful side."

"This is too risky. And we're not even sure that letter is true."

"Then tell me. What do you suppose Celestia was planning leaving all of her useless troops alone, without any back-up whatsoever, against countless hordes of enemy troops? What was she to gain? And how convienient it was that the entire city just happened to ignite just as the enemy had entered the town? Face it. You were all expendalbes, and you were meant to die. Now is a chance to get your revenge and to avenge your fallen bretheren. Join me, join the rightful cause."

"I'm sorry, but no. I'm not letting any of my boys join you."

"Fine, go to Derbyshire. You will only be greeted by the spears of Celestia, pointed at your throats for the treasonous act of desrtation. You had orders to stay and defend with you lives the city of Stalliongrad and you failed to do so. You abandon the cause, and you shall pay for such. That is exactly how everypony will see it. They all follow Celestia. And if nopony does anything to change that, then it shall stay that way." Big Mac thought about it. Then a pony in the back spoke up.

"I'll join. If I'm already a criminal, so what do I got to lose." Other ponies began to speak up and agree as well.

Big Mac looked back at his squad. "If that's how it's gonna be then fine. I'm in too."

"Congratulations, you are all now part of the rebellion. Now, let us go to Derbyshire. We have a great fate we must all accept: To end Celestia's reign once and for all!" The crowd then cheered and thus the rebellion began. They began their march towards Derbyshire to recruit their first town to the "rightful cause", not as individuals anymore, but as the heart and soul of a new force that would soon rival even Celestia's great power over Equestria. This power was now know as the NER, the New Equestrian Rupublic.

The Battle of Stalliongrad.

Big Mac walked through Stalliongrad's Mercy Hospital. There was some unexplained attack last night. The attacked said that ponies attacked them, but everyone of the victims remember that the ponies looked dead in some sorts, and that their eyes were purple. Another weird thing was that nopony was killed in the ordeal. Injuries spanned from simple broken bones to half of one pony's face being burned. Morale dropped even further down. Talk of deserting suddenly became a rather popular topic.

The only orders given from the princess were to fortify defences, nothing more. Big Mac didn't like the orders. If they stay in one place they will surely be surrounded by the attacking force. He wanted to see what the princess was planning. He walked up to the town hall where Celestia was staying. "May I have a word with the princess?" He asked the guard.

"Nopony's allowed to see the princess at this time." The guard returned.

"Well, I just want to know what are next orders are going to be, that's all."

"You will get your orders when the princess sends them." Big Mac didn't like the look of this. What was the princess hiding?

Suddenly a pegasus flew overhead, "Incoming wave of gryphons! Northern Gates!" Big Mac ran to reinforce the barricade. The group of ponies at the gates were extremely unorganised. Big Mac didn't see any officers present so he decided to take action.

"EVERYPONY LISTEN UP!" He boomed to the crowd. The mob snapped to attention immediately. "I need ten ponies holdin' the barricade! Fifteen ponies fixing pikes on the barricades! Everypony else arm yourselves with javelins and wait for my mark to shoot!" The crowd seemed to listen perfectly to Big Mac's orders. They had a decent defencive line up before the gryphons were over the hill. Everybody braced for the eminent impact of the gryphons and buffalo. The battering ram of buffalo hit first but the barricade seemed to hold, some of the bodies of buffalo seemed to add to the barricade as well. The gryphons then began to swarm from the skies.

"MARK!" Big Mac yelled. A giant volley of spears then hit the swarm of gryphons head on, chopping down most of the strike force in the first few seconds. The attackers noticed all the losses they were stacking up and began a retreat. Some ponies began to leave their posts to follow them. "Wait!" Big Mac yelled. "Hold your positions! More will come!" And just as Big Mac had predicted a fresh wave of gryphons and buffalo came over the hill.

Then another pegasus flew over to the gate. "A BUFFALO WAVE! WEST GATE!"

Big Mac yelled up at the messenger. "HOW MANY TROOPS WE GOT AT THE WEST GATE?!"

"ABOUT HALF AS MANY AS HERE!"

"STAY IN LINE! KEEP FORMATION!" Big Mac yelled at the group. He then ran to the west gate. The messenger seemed to read Big Mac's mind for most of the ponies were already in a similar formation of that the North Gate. He organised the rest of the wandering ponies into an efficient wall of wood and pony. The buffalo hit this gate more ferociously than before. Something seemed to catch Big Mac's eye this time around though. The buffalo eyes, they were different. They seemed to be purple, similar to the reported ponies that attacked last night. He didn't pay much mind to the ordeal for long, some ponies got injured in this volley. He ordered a few ponies to bring them to the hospital and to bring back any able ponies to strengthen the barricades.

"What's the update on their forces?" Big Mac yelled to the messenger.

"Hold on." He said before flying above the clouds. He flew down with a terrified look on his face. "They seem to be flying above us! I think they're gonna drop down and attack us from behind!"

Big Mac thought for a moment. "Rally all the ponies heading for the gates. Tell them that they're now gonna be our reinforcements. I want you to fly around and look for where the gryphons land and tell our boys where to find them and to kill 'em."

"Yes Sir!" The messenger said with a salute. That was odd for Big Mac, nopony ever saluted him before. He felt good giving out those orders. A hoof was then placed on Big Mac's shoulder.

"What do you think you are doing soldier?" An officer said.

"I was just helping! No one else was around so I decided to organise these troops."

The officer pointed to two ponies in the barricade. "You two! Escort this insubordinate to the town hall!"

"What!?" Big Mac yelled at the officer.

"You stepped out of line and took authority into your own hands! For that you must pay!"

"But we're a battle! You can't just pull people off and send them to jail!"

"Get this runt out of my sights, soldiers!"

The two ponies that the officer ordered looked at each other and said, "No!"

"What!? You have one more chance to take him to the town hall or you all will be all be hung for insubordination!" One of the ponies then hit the officer over the head and knocked him out of conciseness.

"What was that for!" Big Mac yelled, surprised.

"Sorry. I had to shut him up, he was going to throw you in a cell!"

Big Mac hesitated, "Uh, thanks. Anyways, back to the battle. It looks like they're retreating." The enemy forces were pulling back by this time. The ponies held their positions for an entire hour before relaxing. They weren't sure what to expect.

Big Mac had just started to eat when he was approached by three ponies in Royal Guard armor and the officer that was knocked out in his name. "That's the pony." The officer said, "Take him to the town hall." Big Mac didn't resist, he knew that there were more than just those four ponies watching him and he didn't want to hurt anypony, without reason at least. The guards put hoof-cuffs on Big Mac and headed off to the town hall for Big Mac's trial.

When they reached the town hall the officer turned to Big Mac, pulled out a scroll, and began to state the reason he was there. "Macintosh Apple, you are hereby charged with insubordination, attempt of mutiny, and assault of an officer. How do you plea?"

Big Mac looked at the ponies around him and then at the ground. "Guilty." He knew there was no way out of this situation, so he decided to get this over with.

"Smart pony." The officer said, he then looked at the guards again. "Throw him in a cell. By this time tomorrow he and his goons will be at the end of a rope." He was thrown in a cell with the two other ponies that helped him earlier. One looked over at him with a guilty look.

"Sorry for all this." He said at the ground. "It's just, you didn't deserve that. You lead us great, and he was gonna arrest you for that. It just somethin' I thought was right at the moment..."

"I don't blame ya." Big Mac said, even though he did in a sense. "Ya did what ya thought was right, an' I can't blame ya fer that."

"Thanks." The pony forced a weak smile.

The morning finally came as the officer walked over to the cell, an extremely annoyed expression on his face. He opened the cell door. "You're free." He said in an subtlely enraged voice. Big Mac was going to mock him but decided not to on the fact that he seemed angry enough.

"All of us?" One of the other ponies asked.

"Yes." The officer said, gritting his teeth.

"What for?"

The officer bit his lip, then went on to say, "A pardon from Celestia. It seems that Mr Apple's actions redeemed him. Now, if you could come with me, Mr Apple." He barely managed to say under the pressure of containing himself. He and Big Mac then headed to where Celestia was staying. They both saluted to her when she looked in their direction.

"At ease, gentlemen." She said. "You are most likely wondering why you are here, are you not?" Big Mac nodded. "Your actions on the field, they were rather impressive for a simple farmer."

"Well, I, just...uh, thanks."

"You have showed great controll even when my best have coward in fear." She looked at the officer with disapointment. "Why, if you weren't to make the order to deal with the gryphon drops we surely would have been overrun. For that I would like to promote you, giving you complete control of an entire squadrant of troops." Big Mac looked very surprised. An entire squad of troops, all looking up to him.

The officer jumped up, "This is CRAZY! He has no experience what-so-ever in comanding others!"

"Silence, Comander! I make the decisions around here and I say he deserves the control he is recieving."

The officer sat back down, "Sorry. Excuse my words, but I found reason to object that."

"Excused. Now Macintosh Apple, do you accept this promotion?"

Big Mac thought for a moment. "I surely will!"

"Great! Report to the armory, you need some more suiting atire for your new role." Big Mac happily trotted to the armory, victorious in more ones than one.

The officer looked at Celestia again. "How could you let a farm-colt gain control of an enitre squadrant of troops? He could get them all killed!"

"I am aware of that possible outcome."

"Then may I ask why you did such?"

"It's simple. The only command we have was made so before anypony even met their commanders. They do not know their leaders personally, they do not know who they are. To them you are all faceless ponies sending them to their graves. But this pony, he was fighting with them. They know his story, they know he is just a simple farm-colt. So if he can make it to the rank of Commander, what's saying they can't? In the end morale will increase, and who knows? Maybe we will get more acts of bravery. This could only aid us in our quest, so why object to it?"

"You are correct, this was a good idea. Sorry for any objections I made earlier." He saluted and left the town hall. Celestia then began to look over the plans again. If she read the information correctly then Silver Claw's forces should return in the next few days. Untill then, they shall wait.

===================

In Silver Claw's tent, he and Discord were "auguring" over their battle plan.

"I just don't understand why we can't simply head for Canterlot! Once we secure their only fortess the rest of Equestria will surely fall." Sliver Claw explained.

"This is more than just capturing key objectives and calling it a day! To win this war we must CRUSH their towns, their armies, their bodies, AND their spirits. They must believe that they have no way of winning. What better way to prove that than to destroy Celestia herself?"

"I just don't see why we must spend so many resources on capturing this one town."

"Simply put: If we leave to head for Canterlot, they will see it as though they have sucessfully deflected our forces and WON a battle! For this to end quickly we must make sure that they never recieve a SINGLE victory. We MUST crush every aspect of they morale." Discord was tired of explaining the simple to an "all-powerful" ruler. He then teleported back to his refuge in the Everfree Forest. He sat down on his throne and began to think.

He thoughts were mainly about what had set him free? He pondered for hours. He was clearly frozen in stone, augmented none the less, there was no way he could have set himself free, even if he really tried. Someone had helped him, and they didn't care for the thanks he would have surely given them. Who were they and what were their motives. He couldn't think of anybody gaining anything through this but himself. This question would take more than just his mind to fully understand. Countless senerios passed through his head on what was meant for his release, but none of them made sense. The only thing he could conclude was that he was set free entirely by mistake. And he was fine with that.

===================

Day's passed waiting for the return of Silver Claw's return. There was suspicion lingering in the air. There was plenty of time to move out, yet the army still sat in Stalliongrad. Most soldiers were conviced that Silver Claw moved out to attack other parts of Equestria and many deserted. The once strong defences were now whittled down to almost nothing. Big Mac repeatedly request that they move out to get more troops, but the princess was firm on the idea of staying. She kept saying that this was all part of a plan too intricate for him to understand. Big Mac was very frustrated. He knew that he didn't know much about warfare but he knew that the more time they spent behind these walls the more weaker they get. A fever was already spreading, any longer and they would see more troops dying from disease than fighting.

Then the day finally came. Silver Claw's forces were atop the hill once again. Something was very different about them, but nopony could tell what from all the way at the bottom of the hill. The entire town was quite. Nobody moved on either side. Celestia's forces, bracing for the inevitable charge; Silver Claw's forces, surveying the field.

There was no signal of any kind, yet all of Silver Claw's forces seemed to charge at once. Then everypony saw it, the purple smoke. Not a single body in the attacking force was truely alive. They were all reanimated corpses from earlier battles. Ponies and gryphons alike ran towards the town. What was left of the defencive wall ran. Just ran. They didn't know where they were going to go but they ran. The awesome sight of hundreds, maybe thousands of animals charging them was too much for even a hardened veteran. In mere minutes the town walls were breached, there was nopony to man the defences. Soon the streets were flooded with brutal slaughtering much like the very first battle, only this time the attackers wanted to kill.

Big Mac moved what was left of his squadrant into the south-west corner of the town where the hospital was. He thought that at least he would have access to medical suplies if he needed it. Also the fact that there were only two entrances to the plaza provided a much needed bottleneck to Silver Claw, or whoever's forces. He had only twenty-five men left that were able to fight. He put ten at each barricade and used the remaining five to reinforce which ever barricade would fall first. After roughly an hour of carnge in the streets, the main chunk of the attackers began to smash the defences. It was safe to say that they would have been over-run had it not been for the tight quarters.

Big Mac knew that it would only be a matter of time before the barricades fell. He knew the enitre city was lost. The only idea he could come up with other than fighting to the death was to hop the wall. It was surely a stupid idea, but it definately beat sucumbing to whatever it was that was attacking us. He sent the five "reinforcers" to make something that would aid them in their escape. The five ran into the hospital for whatever suplies they could find. In the end they decided to make some make-shift stairs. When the "stairs" were complete Big Mac decided that they would need a distraction to slow the enemy forces. He set fire to the barricades and the surounding buildings and finally made the retreat.

Unfortunatly the stairs collapsed while the last few ponies were climbing out. It was only him and 20 other ponies that made it out of the hospital district. He was hoped that more than just what he and his troops had gotten out, but by the looks of the situation it didn't seem likely.

He was approached by a scrawny, blue pony. "Here's the names of the soldiers who died back there, ya'know, for remeberin' them an' all."

"Thanks." Big Mac barely managed to say, being clouded by some emotion. He couldn't tell if it was anger, sorrow, or something else. It all seemed to make him sick no matter what. He looked back at the burning town. Fire engulphed the whole thing. He knew that fire couldn't spread THAT quickly. Maybe others had gotten out. He felt a tiny drop of hope as he walked away from the burning battle field.

================

Discord watched with ferocious anger. His ENTIRE corrupted army was in there! Months of collecting the dead and planning was wasted. How could he have been so foolish. Of course it was a trap! No one in their right mind would sit in a walled in town for days on end, waiting to be attacked. But he saw light of the situation in two ways. He now knew that Celestia wasn't rusty after all this time, AND she was out of an enitre army. At least he still had his gryphons. He then ordered Sliver Claw to move out his troops. Next stop: Canterlot.