It was a week before there was an attack that was set up by the Canterlot government, to pin it on the resistance in Ponyville and cause a last push that started a civil war throughout Equestria.

Applejack found herself in support of the resistance, as did Orion, who believed that Earthbound could easily be capable of governing themselves.

Rainbow Dash kept in the neutral zones of Pegasus territory, she kept to herself mainly because she was still trying to deal with the loss of her son and War Heart. She had been making progress, but felt like she will never feel happy.

Fluttershy declared her home a refuge for those who didn’t want to fight at all. Opening her doors to all who wanted to escape the terrible things that came with war.

Twilight Sparkle stayed in Canterlot, being offered a home within the walls of the palace as a Magic Researcher. Her job was to look into magic that would aid the Canterlot forces.

Rarity stayed in Canterlot as well, mostly to keep Twilight company and stay within the safe walls of Canterlot. Her life as one of the Elite in Canterlot also took up a lot of her time, tea and parties with the high class of Canterlot frequenting her evenings.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were old enough to make their own decisions now, they decided to side with neither Ponyville nor Canterlot, since at least one of their friends would be disliked on either side. They started their own club of outcasts, taking in children that didn’t feel like they had a place in this war. Their efforts were strained on trying to find enough food to feed the thirty odd kids that came to them and soon resorted to crime to get the food they needed.

Sweet Heart stayed in Ponyville to look after Arcana, who still remained quiet and never spoke of what she had done to the Princess. Arcana was also kept secret from Ponyville, Sweet Heart told her not to use her magic or she’ll be considered a bad person by the Ponyville folk who didn’t know her personally. Arcana would often be visited by Dash and her sister Air Heart, who had been top flyer in her school for half a year now. Air Heart didn’t have much connection with Arcana, seeing as Arcana never wanted to play very often, preferring to master the secrets of magic than fool around.

Ponyville soon found itself becoming the home of Earthbound architects who built walls to prevent attacks somewhat. The town soon became a fort with a militia that turned to a true military. The army was not disciplined, the man in charge felt it to be unnecessary to have discipline. He had long green hair and a wild look in his eyes, he taught them all to have passion fuel their strikes. He took a few select ones that he saw to have potential for more and took them away for a few days for secret training, which they would return changed. Those elite members were known as “The Claw“.

A battalion of Earthbound marched towards the walls of Ponyville, dressed in golden trimmed armor was the Glow Leader. He walked towards the gates of Ponyville, his troops waiting a few hundred meters away from the wall. A smaller door in the gate opened, out walked the new leader of Ponyville, his long unkempt green hair and wild look in his eye seeming to unnerve the Glow Commander.

“What do you want?”, the Green haired one spoke in a calm tone, glaring at the commander.

“By order of Lord Dawn, I have come to occupy Ponyville and arrest those who are responsible for the attacks on towns loyal to the kingdom.”, the commander showed his dislike of the green haired Earthbound in his facial expression of disapproval.

“Are you now? How do you expect to do that when you’re out here? Your Lord’s will, it has no pull here.”

“If you do not submit to Lord Dawn’s rule, I will be forced to-”

“Forced to attack us? I’d like to see you try…”, the green haired man grinned, bearing sharpened teeth.

The glow commander’s veins lit up with magic, channelling fire into his hand only to have it interrupted by being lifted by the throat by the wild-eyed leader of Ponyville. The flame dimmed, as did his vein’s glow.

The leader’s grin persisted as he held the commander in the air, “That was stupid of you, what will your soldiers think of you being beaten by a lowly Earthbound?”, he mocked the commander then threw him to the ground, “I suggest you turn away, go home, but I can assure you of one thing: you attack this city, you will die.”

The commander stood back up, “Your city will be razed to the ground for your insolence!”, he shouted in anger at the still grinning leader, who wasn’t in the least moved by the commander’s threats.

“Go home, kid. It’s not worth dying for a false ruler…”, the leader spoke and turned away to walk back into the city.

The commander lit up his magic once more, conjuring up fire in his hands and sending a fireball the size of his head at the Leader of Ponyville, which engulfed the leader in flames. The commander smirked as the Ponyville leader disappeared in the flames and smoke. His smirk soon turned to an expression of fear as the leader stood there idly as the fire had only affected his clothing.

The leader non-chalantly patted himself out, extinguishing the flames as he walked towards the commander with a furious look on his face, “Nice try, but I’ve had worse…”

The commander summoned up more flames, but found himself being held up by the throat before he could release the fire. This time he was being strangled while the leader held him up by his neck.

“Now I’m going to walk back into Ponyville, and you are going to try taking this town, but you will find out soon that we Earthbound are capable of more than you realize. You will not try that stunt again, or I will tear out this throat of yours, understood?”, the leader spoke as he held the commander, who nodded quickly and was released.

The commander coughed, his throat in pain from being strangled. He started walking towards his army.

The leader of Ponyville entered the city. He whistled sharply. Within seconds there were six people that seemed to appear from around corners and come out of shadows and approach the leader.

One of the Earthbound spoke, “You have need of the Claw?”, he spoke in almost a predatory snarl.

The leader nodded slowly, “I will need you in the battle today, you will need to show them what the beast within is capable of… Ready the troops, they will be here s-”, the leader was interrupted as a boulder flew overhead and landed in the middle of the street. He stared at it for a moment, “That was quick, looks like they are on their way already. Alert the town…”, the leader ordered.

The six members of the Claw kneeled and then ran off, climbing over buildings and jumping across the rooftops, trying to alert everyone of the incoming attack.

Over the next few minutes, a crowd wielding weapons gathered near the front gate with the Leader of Ponyville standing before them with a determined expression on his face. Most were young men, eager to defend their homes. Orion walked in front of the crowd to join the leader.

“I guess we never saw this one coming, huh, ‘Hermit’?”, Orion spoke as he approached, catching the attention of the Leader of Ponyville.

“One of the reasons I left Equestria, was that nobody just left you alone. They would always try to force rules on you, no matter how ridiculous or unnecessary they were. I now see that it will only change through pushing back… Although it took me some time to realize this, something to the tune of a century of drinking dragon’s blood. Now I have to teach them that these people are capable of holding their own, that they are strong and capable.”, he turned to Orion, “Seeing War Heart’s sacrifice to defeat that dragon made me realize that being a hero can inspire others to do the same. I don’t want to be alone forever, and War Heart’s example led me to come to Equestria and make good use of my beast within. I have shared this power that is within all of us, and now we have a battle on our hands, and I can say now I can die happily knowing I have taught the people of this town that they can stand up for themselves.”

“I never figured you for the monologue type, Hermit.”, Orion commented as he glanced at him quizzically.

“Well, over a century alone with nobody to speak to, you have a lot of time to reflect on your words and thoughts. It’s good that I can finally share.”

“Fair enough. It will be nice to not die for me, though.”, he turned to the Hermit with a smirk, “But I’m still willing to fight here with the rest of my comrades.”, Orion’s veins glowed ice blue with magic, “I think I have a little something I can do for this fight anyway.”, he said with a smirk.

One of the members of the Claw ran to Hermit, “They are marching towards the gates.”, he said in a bestial growl.

Hermit turned to Orion, “Feel like opening the door to let our charge begin?”

Orion nodded and walked towards the gate. He waved his hands through the air slowly, the gates starting to glow icy blue. He thrust his hands forward, the gates flying open.

The Hermit stood on top of the boulder the Glow Commander tossed into the street. He looked to the crowd as all eyes fell on him. He smirked and motioned for them to follow as he leaped off the rock and started running towards the opposing army.

Orion ran after him, and was followed by all the members of the Claw, which inspired others to begin their charge. Their voices all turning into a battle cry as they sped towards the armoured troops outside of town.

At the back of the Equestrian army were Glows at the ready with large rocks to throw telekinetically at their opponents. They threw a massive boulder at Hermit directly, a great dust cloud engulfing him on impact. Seconds later they saw the very some boulder flying towards them. They all dove away to avoid the gargantuan projectile, then saw that it never hit Hermit, but was thrown back by Orion.

As both armies clashed, many died. The battle showed the worst sides of people, how much pain they could cause one another was horrendous. The people of Ponyville fought hard, taking strength in the knowledge that their homes will be gone if they fell. The Equestrian army fought for the hope of reunification of Equestria, both ideas noble but they could not co-exist in the ways they wanted.

Orion’s magic helped the Ponyville army as all the Glows followed him off to the side to confront him directly, knowing he was a real threat.

It came down to Orion, four other Glows, and the Glow Commander. Orion snapped his fingers and lit blue flames in his palms. He glared at the other Glows, knowing that his reputation as greatest magic user in Equestria would unnerve them.

The four Glows and the Commander all readied their magic. They began to spread out and circle around him, hoping that he would not be able to defend from all sides.

“I hope you all know who you are dealing with…”, Orion spoke to them, still holding his blue flames in his hands.

The Commander was standing off to the side of the fight, “You are a traitor to Equestria, nothing more. You betray your own kind and stand with these lowly Earthbound. Incapable of anything but dirt farming since they are not capable of anything else.”

Orion fixed his gaze upon the commander, “No, you are the incapable one! I have lived as one of them. I have worked for years and seen the strength they have, and the resolve to put that strength to good use. We use magic for everything and with little to no effort, we become overconfident. Just because we are born with power, does not mean we deserve to abuse it…”

Commander rose his arm and snapped his fingers. The four Glows sent a barrage of fire into Orion, engulfing him in flames. The commander smiled as he saw his opponent burn away. He turned away to go oversee the battle, hearing an explosion from behind him as he looked away. He quickly turned to see Orion standing there in a blackened crater, the other four all burnt in twisted heaps on the ground around him. “I should have figured that wouldn’t stop you…”, the commander commented as he cracked his neck.

“I don’t think I even need to use the Star Barrier to deal with you…”, Orion said as he readied himself.

The commander chuckled as he readied his own magic, “You can’t beat me in magic at this point.”, he said in confidence.

Orion intensified the flame in his left hand spinning around and forcing the ball of fire towards the Commander.

The icy blue flame shot towards the Commander who stood there unflinching. The flame struck him and dissipated immediately, not even leaving a mark.

The commander smirked, “Maybe you didn’t realize that my armor makes me immune to fireballs and such other projectiles.”, he said as he threw his own flames at Orion, which were dodged by Orion diving out of the way.

Orion stood up, bringing his hand to his face and biting his thumb so it bled. He then clenched his fist, “I guess I will have to use this new spell I figured out then.”, Orion explained as he swung his fist through the air. A beam of light now protruding from his fist and taking physical form as if he were holding a sword.

The commander expressed a feeling of surprise, “I’ve never seen that one before…”, he commented as he drew a regular sword, trimmed with gold and jewels on the handle and hand guard. The steel blade shining in the afternoon sun, it was a thinner blade, resembling a rapier. He took a stance with legs spread apart somewhat and one hand on his hip.

They both made eye contact, an expression of anger on Orion’s face, a smug look on the commander, confident in what he was doing. Orion charged at the commander, approaching him with fury in his eyes. Orion swung downward at the commander, who parried the blow with his sword.

The commander smirked as he kicked Orion in the gut, sending him stumbling back. The commander readied a fireball and threw it at Orion. The commander then regained his stance.

Orion quickly reacted as he saw the fireball flying towards him. He brought up his free hand, catching the fireball, allowing the momentum of the projectile to spin him around and send it back to the commander. Orion ran towards the commander once more, with his weapon ready to strike.

The commander deftly dodged by leaning backwards and then abruptly lunged forward to Orion, thrusting his sword toward him. Orion parried the weapon and brought his fist up into the face of the commander who recoiled from the blow.

The commander brought his hand to his face, wiping some blood from his lip, “I didn’t see that coming…”, he said as he looked back at Orion.

Orion conjured up another spell, his veins glowing icy blue, “Maybe I should show you how little magical prowess you possess…”, Orion said as he pointed the sword at the commander.

“Is that a challenge?”, the commander mocked.

Orion pulsed magic into the blade violently, sending massive excess energy through it, turning it into a blast of power that shot forward to the commander’s torso.

The commander recoiled for a moment, then stood back up straight, “Tricky, but needs work, old timer…”, the commander smirked. He then prepared a spell in his free hand and ran at Orion again.

“I did not want to have to do this…”, Orion spoke before making his magic blade disappear. He held out his hands toward the commander, who started to float into the air, “I’m giving you one last chance to surrender, or you will die…”, Orion spoke in a serious tone.

The commander’s expression was one of anger, “I will never surrender to a traitor like you!”, he shouted at the blue haired Glow.

Orion sighed, looking down at the ground, shaking his head slowly. He looked back up to the commander, “Goodbye…”, he whispered as he clenched his fists that were pointed towards the airborne commander.

The commander’s bones cracked and snapped as his body began to cave in on itself. His screams of utter agony were short-lived as his lungs did not last very long in the process. When his body was crushed into a ball, it violently shot outward in all directions, leaving nothing but blood-spattered gore on the grass.

Orion looked back at the ground, closing his eyes, “Why did he force me to do it?”, he whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, the battle for Ponyville was still raging. The Hermit and his Claw soldiers were slaughtering their way around the battlefield. Their attacks so primal as if they themselves were beasts. They went as far as to even howl after a successful kill. The Hermit was quick, strong, and an inspiration for the rest of the Ponyville army by the way he fought with passion to defend the town.

Without their leader, the Equestrian battalion faltered, especially without magical support. The recruits found themselves more and more demoralised as the battle raged on. Countless amounts of people being butchered by the Claws and The Hermit. They soon started retreating little by little. As the bulk of the battalion started fleeing, Hermit and the Claws began running them down and injuring their legs, not allowing their prey to escape. In the end, only a few dozen escaped with their lives.

The Hermit walked back into the city with the rest of the Claws, “Today’s battle will have sparked the war between us and the rest of the Equestrian Empire… We will need to take others into our ranks… Find more for the pack.”, he ordered as they all sprinted off and disappeared. He then looked to Orion who had a troubled look about him, “Orion, it seems you defeated your fair share of foes.”, Hermit spoke to him.

Orion slowly nodded without looking towards Hermit, feeling somewhat guilty for abusing his magic in such a way.

The stranger was hiding away in his sewer lair still, making plans and gaining an understanding of what was happening in Equestria. He had also one day followed a suspicious looking coal-haired man, seeing him climb up a mountain. The Stranger didn’t follow him up the mountain but decided that today he would go up there and check what he was doing up there. He hitch-hiked on the train towards Ponyville, leaping off and rolling on the ground when they were closest to the mountain. He walked to the mountain and climbed to the top. Upon reaching the top, he beheld a grave. He examined it for a moment before realising who the grave was for, “War Heart…”, he whispered to himself. He went over to the grave and knelt down to dig. He clawed at the dirt to unearth a small wooden box, “Curious, perhaps I can at least make a clone of him with his remains…”, the stranger spoke while examining the box.

Later on that day he returned to Canterlot via train. He was walking in the streets towards his hideout. “I wonder what kinds of remains I will be working with…?”, he said as he opened the box to reveal a single black feather. He looked at it quizzically expecting ashes but found something that he could easily use to reproduce War Heart. He smiled at first but then his smile turned to an expression of alarm as a gust of wind blew the feather away into the air. He dropped the box and chased after the feather, soon losing it when it was too dark to follow the feather due to it being night time. The Stranger’s face showed extreme anger, “So close… and a single gust of wind… dammit…”, he withheld himself from shouting since he did not want to attract attention.

That same night, Twilight had been feeling restless and decided to take a walk to think on things. She kept thinking about what she and Cura discussed, and her own dreams on how she wished War Heart had chosen to be with her. Even worse was that Cura was missing, and she had no idea what she would tell Dash. She had felt terrible about the whole situation, one bad thing after another. Even her mentor was dead, killed by Discord. As she was walking she stared at the ground, eventually coming across one black feather in her path. She stopped and crouched down to examine it, “I don’t recall there being any black birds in the area around Canterlot…”, she said to herself as she picked up the feather and began walking again. She eventually came back to her room, which was now solely hers since Rarity had now set up her own shop in Canterlot. She placed the feather on her dresser. Then got into bed, now feeling a little tired from the walk. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into slumber.