The siege of the Crystal Empire was the first battle of the war; many still cast their minds back and remember that first day. The day that started it all.

Gilneas was far too young to be on the High Council and yet, there he was, in the ceremonial robes; taking his first steps into the council chamber for his indoctrination. He held his head up high, kept his back straight and did his best not to relocate the morning’s breakfast to the floor. His eyes scanned the room warily, the passage seemed so bare for something that led to a room filled with the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria. And yet he saw no decorations on the walls, no tapestries with golden linings like in the rest of Canterlot, the walls remained a perfectly dull shade of grey all the way through the empty passage.

He was big for his age, larger than most ponies with jet black fur and mane, although half of it had been dyed white, and no cutie mark. He had been an oddity indeed, never having earned his cutie mark made for a difficult life as an adult. Getting a job was tough because he had no idea what he was meant to do or what he was good at. In fact he never fully realized his potential until a very dear friend helped him along. And then something changed, but it wasn’t a cutie mark that appeared.

Gilneas remembered the day as he had stared into a massive pane of glass and watched as white shapes began to fade in all across his body, millions of small white dots scattered across his fur. And the odd thing was, when he moved, the white dots did not remain in the same place. They moved in the opposite direction as if they were being shone in one place by a light and he was simply moving away from that light. They were incandescent, with new shapes and dots appearing on his body as he moved. And it wasn’t until he recognized some of the shapes did he understand. His body had been imprinted with a map of the constellations. All of space and time had been tattooed onto his fur and moved in a never ending cycle.

Perhaps this was the reason he had been summoned, why the High Council had noticed him and brought him so quickly into their fold. But whatever the reason, Gilneas had to make a choice about joining the council and that choice, had led him here.

He stopped in front of the massive doors that would take him to the High Council chamber and raised a hoof to knock, still taking noticed of the spots over his hoof. He could see the constellation of Kasterberous, the Constellation that hung directly above Canterlot. He shook his head from the view and knocked. There was a pause, a tense moment of silence as Gilneas wondered if this was all a dream, what if he had imagined the summons to the High Council, what if he was about to walk into a room with the most powerful ponies in the world and make a complete arse of himself.

As the doors opened Gilneas panicked, he turned his head and looked backwards over his shoulder at the dull passage he had just journeyed through. There was still time to run, he could make it out without even being recognized. But a hoof placed on his shoulder stopped him in his place. He looked ahead and saw the pony that was directly in front of him, the Pony had grey fur, similar to the passageway and no mane at all. He wore red and golden armor with the sigil of the High Council. This was the General of Canterlot’s standing army.

“Come on in Gilneas, we’re ready for you.”

Gilneas nodded and gave a nervous smile before stepping in and facing his destiny.

Far away, outside of Canterlot and beyond Equestria itself, there was something else happening. In the tribal lands that belonged to the Griffons there was one single pony. And as he trudged through a marsh, regretting his choice of occupation, he knew full well that he was the only pony in the Griffon Territory. Because no pony ever made it across the border alive.

No pony except him of course.

He had brown fur and a messy black mane that had recently been cut short. He wore a lovely velvet waistcoat and was levitating a small metal rod beside him. He was close to his favorite spot in the tribal lands, a small cliff that seemed positioned so perfectly that he could spy on the home of the Griffon Chieftain. He was close now, closer than he would have been if he had brought a companion with him. He nodded to himself with the thought, yes, he was glad Gilneas was gone. Gone to join the council and all their doings so that he could do the real work.

“Whilst I force my bloody way through this… ugh, mud” He grunted as he caught his hoof in the mud. He strained against whatever was holding him down, pulling at it with all his might until, rather forcefully, he came loose. He rolled back through the filth, ruining his clothes and whacking his head against a tree.

He remained there for a moment, determined to regain his senses. He had turned eight hundred not so long ago. At this point he had seen and done so much he wondered if ever there would be a change. He doubted it, that’s why he had always brought companions along with him. Even the younger ponies he had brought along were able to see the world with such delight. But even they grew bored or frustrated, returning to their lives and leaving him to travel alone once more. As he hauled himself to his feet and began a slower, less eager trudge toward the edge of the swamp, he wondered if he would see anything different. Every time he came the Griffons were either doing nothing, or coming up with some ridiculous plot to take over Equestria using subtlety and spies and technology. And every single time he had stopped them. He was growing tired of this.

The Crystal Empire was by the far the largest city in Equestria. It had been called by some, the second city of Equestria, with defenses and an army that made it the safest part of the entire country. It was also, the most populated.

There was a white furred pony with a long black mane who was currently doing her best to force her way through the crowds of ponies queuing for food at yet another general store. This had been the third store she visited and the third store that was completely empty and with a crowd of hungry ponies gathered around it. As she finally made her way to the front she looked up to see the store manager trying to calm the crowds with hasty explanations.

“We haven’t received any shipments from our suppliers, we have nothing left.” He insisted.

She rolled her eyes and turned away, forcing her way back through the crowds once more. She could feel a rumble in her belly as she did so. She was hungry, all of the city was hungry and if this continued…. She shuddered.

But the shudder wasn’t from her fear, it was something else. She moved her hoof to her belt, which held a small metal disk on it. She removed the buzzing device, the cause of her shuddering and activated it, holding it in front of her and what she saw was…

“Grandfather!” She exclaimed as she saw a projected hologram of her grandfather galloping as quickly as he could through what looked like a swamp. There were laser bolts flying through the air around him as he looked up toward her with a wild look in his eyes.

“The griffons!” He began, ducking his head to avoid having it shot right off.

“They’ve amassed an army, they’re marching on the Crystal Empire. You have to warn them!”

“What about you?” She asked hastily.

He paused, the conflict of terror and excitement in his eyes evident.

“I’m going to delay them as best I can, give you time to get the sky trenches online and contact the High Council.”

She nodded and turned off the disk, placing it back on her belt. She took a moment, pausing to wish her grandfather luck before galloping off.

In the swamp the Griffons seemed so intent on trying to kill him, he felt slightly flattered. He had seen the army from the cliff and heard enough of the Griffon Chieftain’s speech to understand what it was they were planning to do. And once he had been discovered by a scout the entire country seemed to descend on him. But he was almost safe; he could see the blue box just ahead of him. Almost there annnnnd.

SAFE.

He through himself into the box and slammed the door behind him, shutting out anyone who would try to enter. He hoped.

He took a second to breath, he would need a plan, a good one if he was going to distract the Griffons and survive. He found it strange though, that he was laughing. This was new, this was very new. It was time for him to stop a war without anyone getting hurt. Outside he could hear the furious threats of the Griffons as they called out to him.

“Come out Doctor and face your doom!”