Introduction: The Spark of chaos.
In the Magical land of Equestria, there were twin sisters that ruled the kingdom; Celestia raiser of the sun, and Luna of the moon. Within the populace of this nation were six mares, they were the bearers elements of harmony. Twilight being the element of Magic, and a princess of friendship. Applejack as the element of Honesty. Rainbow Dash the element of Loyalty. Fluttershy, element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie the element of Laughter, and Rarity as the element of Generosity. These six mares kept the nation as one against all odds....
...Of course, you know this story...but lets tell the truth of the matter, shall we?
In the Equis year of ALR 18 (After Luna's Return), the nation of Equestria was undergoing massive technological advancements. The ponies finally reached the moon and the space above, but only with expensive missions. Chariots were still used however, tho they received a upgrade; giving them complete coverage instead of an open top for more safety, the pullers were not ponies but machines, only low tech ones however that still needed a pony in control. Military was not much of a need the Equestrians decided, so it was barely updated.
There were still those that stuck to the old ways however, mostly in the areas North and Northwest of Equestria. Here, being cut off by the many mountains, hills and forests, resulted in the towns being somewhat poor yet rich at the same time with all the ores and lumber around them.
However in one town, the one said to be the strongest and largest and goes by the name of Arthrenia, tensions were rising. The towns were mostly used for mining and lumber operations, with little to no presence of any Equestrian military. Being mostly isolated, made the towns have to fend for themselves, creating small armies in each one. Most of the time they had good relations with each other, but occasionally, they would fight. Despite this, the towns would still pay tribute to the sisters. To the sisters, they acted as loyal city states, ever dedicated to the cause of peace.
Then the real truth came out.
In the year ALR 23, Arthrenia had built up a massive military force secretly under its new king that goes by the name that history marked him as; Death Fury(his original name forgotten). Under his rule, the town quickly became a city even going as far as slowing down shipments of goods to Equestria.
These acts made the rulers and the surrounding towns extremely self aware of what could be a bloody war approaching. The first move that the fledgling king made was cutting off the shipments to Equestria completely, along with shipments to the other towns.
I almost forgot to mention; Arthrenia's main exports or produce is gold and other metals. Of course, Death Fury misused the gold, casting them deep into debt and inflation(pun not intended).
The king ordered many of the towns/cities around him to bow to his new order, or be taken by brutal force. Around 6 of the 11 states submitted to his rule, combining their armies into one.
The remaining five, stayed together on the far west coast, blocking the New Arthenian Empire from reaching that side. In response to his threat, they each sent him a rotting fish corpse, stinking up the area around the city center of the capital and forcing them to spray the whole affected area.
To be honest I laughed my rear off at their response when it happened, it was just priceless!
("Umm...Mr. D? The story?")
Oh! Um...Anyway, King Death Fury was enraged by them and instantly ordered his armies to march out and stomp the Fishers(as the united towns called themselves). The small, if you call it one, war was only a few months long, with the Fishers taking heavy losses before finally fleeing with the remaining armies and rulers towards the only Equestrian owned city on that part of the coast: Vanhoover.
The Equestrian ponies of Vanhoover were shocked to see a battered and fleeing army march though their city. The city guard reacted by taking them in after hearing what the once town rulers had to say about their actions. They warned them of the approaching force that was preparing to stomp them out.
Swiftly, right before the NAE army arrived, the guards of Vanhoover sent out calls for help towards Canterlot. Asking for assistance against the overwhelming foe.
I was there when the letter arrived, the faces of the sisters is one I will never forget, mostly due to the fact I took a picture of it! See?
("Oh..um that's nice Mr. D, but..uh...I'm here for the story of this IPE in the north.")
Jeez, I'm just trying to have some fun while telling the tale....killjoy.
Anyhoo, when the message arrived in front of us, (we were still using the paper and quill system) and after I took that picture of their faces, Celestia told Luna to alert the thestrals as she told the new captain of the guard; Silver Guard. By the time they had assembled, the city of Vanhoover was already under siege and was holding strong. The said retaliation force was an impressive 30k strong, that's a little of their army force, being only 367k strong has its perks. To be honest I would have sent more if I was in their spot, but they didn't know back then that there was over 200k of NAE troops attacking the city, it never said in the message.
When they arrived from Tall Tale, not taking the risk of hostiles along the route of Cloudsdale, they found the city burning, and the screams and sounds of combat could be heard even from where I was hiding and watching.
In front of the Equestrian forces, was around 70k NAE troops blocking their path to Vanhoover. I watched as they squared off, staring at each other. That lasted only a few seconds as the Equestrian forces charged down the hill with a great yell which was deafened by the booms of the artillery the NAE had, quickly filling the skies above them with shells. Undeterred, they charged seemingly even louder into the fray.
It was a slaughter.
All of the Equestrian forces were killed brutally either by shellfire or the guns of the NAE troops if they reached the lines. There were some tanks...they were weak at the time and extremely out of date for the Equestrians.
Vanhoover fell within the next few hours.
The way that we got the news was when a messaged was sent from "Vanhoover". It contained a pony head (which made the sisters cry out in fear, even tho Luna less so) with only a helmet on and a crude message in dried blood saying:
Guts and gore
We demand for more
This calls for War.
So began the First Division War, that ushered a new era on Equis.