Star-spike awoke with a start as the cart jerked to a stop. He had arrived at the camp. A sea of tents stretched off into the distance, and small columns of smoke rose up here and there, marking the position of the multitude of campfires. The air rang with a cacophony of shouts, clangs and various other noises. Hundreds of ponies sat around campfires, others standing in small groups or walking in and out of tents. Runners ran to and fro, carrying messages through the camp. It was certainly an imposing sight.
“Right! Get out of the carts and form up over there!” Cried a dark green pony, as he gestured towards a fairly large, square patch of ground that was free of tents. Star-spike hurried over with about 40 other new recruits. They quickly lined up in a neat square, facing the flagpole that stood at the front of the drill square. The dark green pony trotted up and stood in front of them, and began to speak. “Right! I understand that you lot are new here, so I’ll make this as simple as possible. Firstly, I’m Sergeant Twister, and you will refer to me as such. Secondly, I won’t take any shit from any of you. You step out of line and you will bloody well know about it. Any questions?” Somepony coughed, but no questions were asked. “Good.” Said the sergeant. “ Fall out.”

During his first few weeks in the camp, Star-spike began to piece together an explanation for the current situation. His home village had been fairly secluded, and so was somewhat cut off from current affairs. But that had all changed one afternoon with the arrival of an entire Royal Equestrian Army brigade that had marched into the village. Anypony old enough to fight had been recruited. Some had volunteered to fight, including Star-spike. Others hadn’t volunteered. It didn’t matter, as they had been forcibly conscripted anyway. From what he already knew, several years ago the Princesses had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. In the confusion that followed, multiple factions had formed, and had begun attempting to seize power. The Royal Equestrian Army had been involved in vicious fighting with the many factions. During the first year of fighting, the battles had been fairly small, as the emergency council that had been set up to fill the power gap left by the Princesses attempted to eradicate the multiple factions that were threatening to de-stabilise the nation. However, the council was weak, and had made several costly mistakes. The combination of the council’s poor management, a serious drought in the south of Equestria and a epidemic in the North had only heightened the feelings of disquiet and anger. The factions had begun to grow in power, as more and more ponies joined them. The conflict quickly escalated into a full-blown civil war. The capital had been reduced to ruins as the many factions attempted to seize control, only to be attacked by another faction. The battles grew larger in size as the factions grew more and powerful. Most of the battles had quickly degenerated into bloodbaths as the conflict evolved into a war of attrition. Casualties had mounted rapidly, as soldiers and civilians alike got tangled up in the fighting.

Slowly, but with ever-increasing speed, Equestria was tearing itself apart.