War has come to Equestria in the first time in well, ever. President Snow Mark the First has found a way to lift herself into Alicorn status, and rebelled against the democratic government set up by the Union of the Tribes. All seemed lost until the rebel's own brother, Tremalion, raised himself as well to counter Snow, who is now known as Princess Celestia. The war has ravaged on for years now, and with the two sets of Elements divided between the two sides, it appears it will never end. Strength, Light, Darkness, Balance, Speed, Luck, Divine Right, Silver Tongue, Truth, and Fire; The Elements of the Ancients lie with Tremalion. While the Elements of Harmony; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic lie with Celestia and her recently raised sister, Luna. Equestria remains divided, its future bleak and uncertain, maybe something shall change to break the stalemate...
Steel Wind walked through the military camp, examining the soldiers. 'This batch of troops better last longer than the last one..." He thought.
Rhudica, Champion of Luck, landed next to Steel Wind, "How's the troops looking?" he asked, "Think that they'll be ready to face the Kingdom's Elite Veterans?"
"Hey come on, look who your talkin' to here!" Rhudica said, nudging Steel, "I didn't become the Champion of Luck for no reason!"
Marigold Flower took another rooting through her cabinet until she located the little box she had been searching for. Pulling out one of the little purple pills inside, she popped it in her mouth and took a drink of water to aid with the swallowing. She scowled as the concoction went down her throat. 'Damned pills. Disgusting taste...' She thought. Putting the box back inside the cabinet, she closed it and decided to take a stroll outside. No, she would not stroll, it was time to pay somepony a visit. She wandered out of her plain wooden house and trotted down the street for around ten minutes. Near the ten minute mark, she came across what she had been looking for. Pushing open the black, organised gates, she passed many stones and carvings meant to bring back to life what they once represented. At least, that's what she had been told. Lousy bunch of crap that was. Marigold finally stopped in front of a particular marker that she had been looking for. She gazed down upon it sadly, taking in its plainness. All the markers around it had been carved by a professional or had been bought for a pretty bit. She read the words on the stone, even though she had already committed them to heart. Hibiscus Flower Without whom, we may not have the lands we live in today May he rest with the stars Marigold's face became stony. Before today, she would have burst into tears at the sight of her father's grave, but she had trained herself to look upon it without further complications. A single flower sat in front of the stone, the original White Hope seed she had planted for him. It was gray and wilted. Most of the petals had fallen off by now. Marigold knew better than to replace such a beautiful thing, it would be a crime against nature. After paying her respects, she turned and left the graveyard, occasionally glancing towards other gravestones, quickly skimming over the names. 'You do not deserve your place, Celestia.' Marigold thought with a hot fury. 'You let my father die. He slipped right through your hooves, and you could have saved him. If you cannot protect your royal subjects, you are not fit for the crown. Mark my words, witch: I will dethrone you.'
"Unless you can spread your lucky coin powers over the entire army, I think we still have a lot to worry about."
Celestia lay among a large white garden, taking in her first true relaxing moment in, well, years. The beutiful flower, White Hope, surrounded her on all sides, the plant her father, Trecarius, gave to her. And also, her last link to her old, dear, and dead friend, Hibiscus, she tried to save him, she honestly did, she would have made him great, she would have made sure he lived through the war into more peaceful times, but the courier got there too late. She sighed, "Rest in peace, my dear friend." she said to herself.
Orange Cake was busy at work creating great weapons of destruction at the time; catupults, iron tipped spears, light-weght blades, throwable knifes, and his newest creation that used small metal balls, a metal shaft, and gunpowder (he called it the 'gun'). He was a orange unicorn with a overgrown black mane and tail but always had a evil smile on his face. It was his dream to use his plans for weapons and use them in the Kingdom's armies. There army may have been smaller than the enemy, but Orange belived that this new technology could turn the tide of the war. "Hmmm..." he said, "Ok let's test the catapult!" A rock the size of five ponies was then hurled toward a stack of hay and hit it dead on. "Good! The accuacy is remarkable! I knew the stablizer would work!" he cheered, "and now to finish my invention, the 'gun'." He then rushed back inside of his workplace and began to finish his other inventions.
(Don't forget, guns were extremely, extremely, inaccurate back then. They were little more than noise markers if not fired in huge volleys, even then not much damage would be done. They also took forever to load and even to get ready to fire. And no, Oh hey, if I do this miraculous thing that shouldn't happen for centuries, this will be a lot better! No, none of that.)
(Oh and one more thing, here are the country advantages: Democratic Republic of Equestria advantages: Number of men, larger civilian pool, slightly more manufacturing. Kingdom of Equestria advantages: More elite forces, more loyal backers. Both sides have equal technology.)
Cobrablaze approached princess Luna as to not disturb Celestia. "Luna, as your Advisor on local affairs it seems that we have had a recent surge in recruitment especially by the pegasi on a more darker tone we have lost one mile off the coast to the Democratic republic"
A knock on her door caused Marigold to jump out of her skin. She never had visitors at her house! She answered the door to find a scruffy looking gray pegasus who appeared to be extremely tired or worn out. "You're Marigold, I presume?" he said. She nodded slowly. He took a nervous glance around him. "I understand you have various medicines here? My friend- he's very sick. I don't think he will last more than a day or two! You're my last hope!" Marigold nodded and said "But of course, anything for a pony in need. Please, come in." As they walked into her kitchen, she opened a drawer and looked for her white hope medicines. "Oh, thank you so much!" The pony continually said. "While he was out fighting in the war, he got some sort of brain disease or something. I swear, I think it's something that Tremalion has made up. He's going to start spreading diseases through our ranks!" Marigold froze at this. "What..." She said. The pony looked confused. "Well, I heard rumors that he had created some kind of brain-numbing concoction and had slipped it into our fo- HEY!" Marigold jumped on the pony and pinned him down. "Who's side are you on." She commanded. He gulped and looked around. "I'm sorry, I don't- EEP!" He shouted as she dug her leg into his stomach and repeated "Who's side are you on!" Frightened, the pegasus said "Celestia's! Anything for the great ruler!" Marigold picked up the pony and threw him outside. "I hope your friend dies a horrible death!" She shouted at him angrily. "No, please, don't do this!" He shouted as she slammed the door shut. 'Spreading a plague, what a load of lies. I bet he just wants the medicine so he can find a way to duplicate it for Celestia's troops.' She went back to her room, still fuming. If this pony appeared at her home, it was only a matter of days before more showed up, attempting to get her medicines away from her. No, she couldn't let Celestia have them. If anything, they should be used to aid Tremalion. Making up her mind, she scooped all her medicines into a sack and left to go find any of Tremalion's soldiers.
Steel looked over at Rhudica and said, "Hey, where are the others? We still got some planning to do."
"There on the front lines, Greth (Element of Speed) is leading the current pegasus offensive to New Ponyanes, and the rest are scattered across the front lines where they are needed most. I was sent by Tremalion to see how your trainees are doing." Rhudica said.
"Ah, well," He said looking up at the sky, "Looks like planning can wait... I can't wait to get back out in the front line, though. I miss the action."
