Equestria was once a happy land.

And then the elder dragons came. Over the course of two hundred years the five dragons awoke from their slumber and moved across equestria, cutting a destructive gash through the land before each choosing their territory, sending out their minions to ravage the land further. All who opposed them were destroyed as the dominant species of the land were forced to draw an end to their rivalries and join forces as they sought new lands and homes to survive in their new dragon scarred world.

But the species of equestria were not willing to just survive. Groups of powerful warriors and spellcasters formed, calling themselves herds, and began to wage a war against the dragons. These herds were comprised of the most powerful each species had to offer, and were often used to fight back the minions of the dragons wherever they invaded. Though occasionally the herds would work for those who paid their fees or fight amongst themselves for power and wealth.

Of the survivors ponies made up the majority. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns used their versatility to survive the damaged lands, creating outposts and homes in even the most unlikely of places. Despite their skills at survival the awakening of the dragons nearly spelled their doom. Soon after the dragons awoke the ponies very gods disappeared, the rulers of night and day vanishing without a single word of goodbye, leaving the sun and moon to move on their own. After two hundred years of their absense many believe they have left for good, though some still hope they will one day return to help fight back the elder dragon horrors. The ponies were the first to turn to the other races to form alliances, hoping to combat the dragons through united might.

The gryphon's were the first to join the alliance alongside the ponies. Though fierce warriors and hunters they were driven from their home high in the mountains, forced to take up homes in forests and valleys far from their ancestrial home. While lacking in numbers and versatility the gryphons more than made up for it with raw power and ferocity, as well as powerful animal magics, proving themselves time and again a mighty ally in the herd wars.

The zebra's were second to ally themselves with the ponies. Originally they remained untouched from the elder dragon's awakening, and merely offered the ponies driven from their homes a place to strengthen themselves. However when the third elder dragon awoke it tore many of their cities asunder, raising zebras by the thousands to be its undead minions. Joining the herd wars they brought new magics, including necromancy and alchemy, to the might of the alliance.

The final race to join the alliance were the diamond dogs. Originally living deep underground they were forced to the surface with the rise of the first dragon. They attempted to take over and enslave the ponies to survive on the surface. However they quickly found they, and their allies, were powerful foes. After the rise of the fourth dragon the diamond dog's numbers only a small fraction of what they had originally been. Facing extinction they offered their services to the herds. While they had very little magic compared to the other races they more than made up with it with amazing armorsmithing and weapon crafting, creating many non magic based tools to help in the war effort.

One last race did join the herd wars, however it was less a race as a creation of the ponies. The greatest unicorns in the ponies remaining survivors banded together to attempt to create a new weapon to combat the elder dragons, based on the very essence of their one time gods. Through powerful magics they managed to turn thousands of ponies into alicorns. But no where near as well as they had hoped. The transformation was one way and eliminated all of the transformed ponies memories and personality from before, including their cutey marks. Not only that but many of the newly created 'alicorns' were weaker than they had been before the transformation. With weak and brittle bodies, slow wings that lacked the power to fly more than a few minutes at a time, and magic comparable to that of a normal unicorn, it seemed the creations had been a failure. However over time the alicorns did bring one thing to the war effort. While their magic was only as strong, and sometimes weaker, than a unicorns their magic was much more controlled and varied. This enabled them to create some of the most powerful magical equipment used by the herds, such as teleporting gateways, magical golems, and solar powered electromagical field generators. It also gave them a chip on their shoulders that made the elder dragon's look small in comparison.

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