I couldn't help but think about the days prior. Who was this Torn Banner? I could tell he wasn't a yak (although the accent of the pony who said the name first indicated otherwise) by the name, and he's obviously not a big fish in this game since he hasn't shown his face yet. There's something about him that doesn't sit right with me, and I couldn't let it go unfinished. Something was going to happen, I knew it. If this guy was a Yak, things weren't going to be pretty. I still remember what started that war, and I wasn't ready to go back into it.

8 YEARS AGO. EQUESTRIAN MARINE CORPS 24TH RECON DIVISION SECOND SQUAD.

LOCATION: TYBRISS MILITARY BASE, 2 KILOMETERS SOUTH OF YAKYAKISTAN

TIME OF DAY: 1630 HOURS

MARINE IDENTIFICATION SERIAL NUMBER: 1BD33QT521

NAME: CLOUD DASHER.

RANK: LANCE CORPORAL, E3.

BLOOD TYPE: 0-.

MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: DESIGNATED MARKSMAN, RIFLEMAN.

I'll never forget that time, or that place. It was just after lunch, 1630 or 1640 in military hours, which translates to 4:30 PM. It'd been a slow day, and the Yaks were restless. It was Winter, which was just starting. The Tybriss military base was relatively new, seeing as it was constructed a mere 10 years before. This was because of the rising of radical ideology with the Yaks, one that called for a much more strict, violent set of rules. I didn't care much for them, I was only here for the money.

I read through my bible, which had an ironically fitting line for what was about to happen, and what would change my life forever.

'There is no greater love in the eyes of the Lord than to lay down your life for the good of your friends.'

It was John 15:13. I still remember it to this day, if nothing else. That was when the alarm sounded.

ALL ACTIVE COMBAT PERSONNEL REPORT TO COMBATATIVE POSITIONS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

I was caught a bit off guard but I grabbed my M16A3 (it wasn't current issue, but it worked. The Equestrian Defense portion of the military was heavily underfunded so I was always stuck with old gear), and trotted my way along to the northern gate. This was the one that led to Yakyakistan, so if things were going to shit I knew it'd start there. I heard yelling, some from our Yakistani translator and others from our own stallions. They ordered a crowd to get back, this made me hurry my pace.

When I got there, the whole situation changed. We had set up Support Weapons in a half-circle around the entrance of the gate. It was a containment tactic used to keep ponies from going in or out an entrance. There was a banging on the gate, the translator stood on top of it and yelled to the crowd.

"نحن لا نريد أن يضر بك!" (Pronounced 'nahn la nurid 'an yadurr bik'. Translates roughly to 'We don't want to hurt you!')

It was about that time when the first round got fired, it was from the other side and it hit the guard post. It was a near miss for the pony operating the booth. The translator and NCO both got down from the wall.

"Shoot on sight." He said as he walked past, his face looking to the ground.

This was bad, and that was all I needed to see to know. I charged my rifle and held it pointed at the door. As soon as the guard moved away from his post, probably retreating to help secure the perimeter, all hell broke loose. A molotov was lobbed over the wall, landing on the line of Machine Gunners. We already had medical and fire there so they were sprayed down before things got too bad. They were hauled off and replaced in under a minute.

The ground shook with the stomping of hooves, and they weren't ours. Something was being raised above the the walls, I changed my rifle's position to look at it. I couldn't make it out at first but it was a flag. The Yakistani Flag. Then, the shaking got intense, and we heard engines.

"Combat engineers! Set up locations!" the NCO screamed.

A team of ponies carrying satchels ran towards the front gate and set up anti-Personnel and anti-vehicle mines in a triangular formation, with the anti personnel mines being on the sides and covered in boxes of nails to maximize the shrapnel effects. The anti tank mines were set up in the triangle, this was so two could take the tracks and the one under it would get detonated by the explosion under the tank.

Two of the three pony team ran back, the third pulled a portable welder out of his satchel and hooked up the oxygen tank and the metal line. He started at the top, welding the doors together. They were a solid brick of 133mm of steel. There was no way they were getting through this as soon as it's welded. What we needed to do was hold them off until we could get reinforcements in.

Halfway down the door, the engine's sound was deafening. I had no idea what it was until then. A machinegunner in a guard post on the other side of the complex screamed at us.

"It's a fucking T-72!"

I turned and looked back towards him, that was when their assault started. The tank fired an APHE through the steel, which blew the pony to bits and sent shards of molten hot metal into the defensive line, I ducked just in time to get a massive chunk of metal into my helmet. I got back up and the anti-personnel mines went off, killing a solid 10-20 yaks. They kept coming, running past the piles of dead, maimed, and broken bodies of their comrades. I got sight on one running directly towards me.

I did something I'd never do again.

I hesitated.

He slammed hard into my vest with a knife, which did nothing but throw me to the ground. I rolled him over and punched him in the face. I didn't stop until his breath was almost gone. I never thought this would happen. In less than an hour my whole life turned upside down. The Machine gunner on the other side went to work with his HMG, suppressing targets that were where the 1st defensive line originally was. They were all dead, maimed by the tank.

Then we heard a deafening shot ring out from the other side, dust kicked up even from the other side of the wall, and the guard post took a high explosive shell right to the front. My ears were ringing and I took my eyes off the fight for a second. The yak rolled me over and slamed his hoof into my jaw. Knocking me off of him. I couldn't stand, I'd never taken a punch like that before.

He was trying to get on top of me when the NCO stood up. He put his M9 against the Yaks head, and blew his brains all over my face. The NCO brushed his handgun off on the Yak's cloths, reinforcements had arrived just in time. We now had full air support, it came in the form of an AH-64D Apache Longbow. The AH-64D strafed the front lines for the Yaks, killing most of the opposition. The T-72 tried to shoot it's top mounted machinegun at the helicopter, who took the punishment easily. The AH rolled around, locked on, and fired a hellfire directly through the hull of the T-72, throwing metal all over, and killing the crew. The Yaks retreated, firing MGs at the AH-64D, who got the green light to chase them and take the kill.

The yaks retreated in a large truck convoy, and fired light machine guns and other small arms all the way. The AH-64 picked the trucks off one at a time with the gunner, who fired his 30mm auto-cannon at the convoy. The trucks weren't armored, so they blew up right when the first HE round hit them. The AH-64 decided it had enough after flying 7 hours, and running down to three quarters of it's fuel, and strafed the convoy from the front, killing most cars and leaving the survivors crawling through the desert providence with a trail of blood behind them.

The pilots were awarded the 'Equestrian Hero's Cross' and other awards. Thus the war started. I fought for 8 more years, making my mark in the cold mountains and hot deserts.

In the far off providence of Punjab, there was a yak among ponies. He stood out like a bad joke, but yet all the Yaks of the land knew his name. His name was whispered in fear, and by his followers shouted through the streets. He sat down with his members, two priests (both guilty of manipulation) and a rich businesspony named from far away. He was a friend of a friend, or a supporter of Starlight Glimmer in shorter terms. He wanted land in Equestria for manufacturing labor, a cause that was aligned with the Torn Banner code of Honor.

The feared one spoke first.

"You've come a long way, Equestrian." His voice was fake, for he lost his real voice long ago. He was now stuck with a machine in his throat that did all the talking for him.

"Indeed I have, I'm from Whinnyapolis actually." The businesspony said in turn.

"I see, has her plan taken effect?"

"Yes, I fled the country but if all goes well I'll have all the land where the ashes of Whinnyapolis stands."

The feared one was disgusted with this. There are two things that he hates: Self-Appreciation and Greed. This pony had both.

"I see, and what does she have planned for the rest of Equestria?"

"That's to be divided between the nobles that backed her."

"What is of those who didn't?"

"I knew you'd ask that."

The businesspony waved in, and two suited ponies came in. In their hands was the mayor of Whinnyapolis.

"We're in control of Equestria now. You are our tool whether you're feared here or not."

The ponies wrapped an electric extension cord around her neck, despite her screaming.

"You. Belong. To. Me."

They slowly tightened the extension cord, she cried under hushed whispers.

"And if you disobay Starlight."

They began to strangle her. As they did they threw her to the ground and kicked her. Her face turned from white to red, and red to purple. Her blood vessels in her eyes popped, turning them into thick red balls. She passed out, but it didn't stop there. They worked until she stopped breathing. From there, They dumped the body down, the extension cord still around her neck.

"Do you understand me?"

The feared one looked the businesspony in the eyes.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Prince Blueblood. I'm sure you've heard of me?"

"I don't affiliate with Brats."

"What did you just call me..." Blueblood was furious.

That was when the gunshot sounded. Blueblood screached and rolled on the floor, shot in the groin.

"I'm doing everypony a favor."

Blueblood's men surrendered, and were subsequently taken out of the room. Blueblood threw up all over the floor, and was on the verge of passing out.

"My name, is Torn Banner." The feared one said.

"You... You're dead." Blueblood whispered.

"No, I'm God."

Blueblood was stoned within the hour. His men crucified alongside him. This sent the very message that he wanted to starlight.

She isn't in control anymore.

Author's Notes:

Looks like civil war is breaking out, dis gon be gud . So lets have a count off of our new character here:

1: Self obsessed (irony)

2: Egomaniac

3: god complex.

4: pretty much a terrorist who owns his own religion

Dis gon be good.