Great War

The **Great War** was a conflict between the followers of the Lord of Order (the Alliance) and the followers of the Lord of Chaos. The battle began at the beginning of the Summer and lasted for two all days, with the complete victory of the Alliance, the fall of many of the Lord of Chaos' followers, the sealing of the Ten-Tails and the.Lord of Chaos.

## Preparations for War

Its beginning was declared by the General of Chaos when the regents of the kingdoms of the Pony World and the Enchanted Forest unanimously refused to surrender the Eight and Nine-Tails for his Eye of the Moon Plan. He then stated that he would use the seven tailed beasts already captured in combating both the Pony World and the Enchanted Forest. After this, the regents agreed to form an Alliance, pooling all their resources against the Lord of Chaos and his followers.

Both factions began by gathering their strength and collecting intelligence about the other side in preparation for the upcoming hostilities. Kelp gathered intelligence on Thicket's military strength and on Hawthorn while travelling with him everywhere hidden inside Shark Skin. Cypress and his team track the villains, which led them to their hideout in Arimaspi's territory. Other teams have fanned out to collect other information about the villains.

At the start, the Lord of Chaos captured and enslaved Gentle Light, the General of Death, and forced her to use the Reincarnation Curse to form an army of reincarnations of deceased powerful entities, placing her under the General of Chaos' orders. The regents had also decided to hide the two last jinchūriki, Star Knight and Hawthorn on an island belonging to both Thicket and Aeropolis. Hiding them had also the intend of allowing Star to learn to control the Nine-Tails energy, much like the way Hawthorn has of the Eight-Tails. Having been successful in his training, Star has exhibited increased speed and strength when utilising the controlled energy of the Nine-Tails but lacks the same finesse that Hawthorn had exhibited in utilising the Eight-Tails', crashing into the wall and crushing rocks whenever he uses the Nine-Tails energy.

Despite being captured in the end and put in a cell in Tartarus, Kelp was able to finish the villains' preparations for the War by sending a scroll with intel to his comrades, divulging the proximate location of the Wild Isle. With the battle between the two forces seeming to be on the horizon, the General of Chaos orders Gentle Light to retrieve the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails with the reincarnated Rothbart and Pandora, but was stopped by King Hard Stone, Stone Quake and Quartz Blitz who were going to reinforce the forces on the island. They fail, but Gentle Light is able to warn Golden Paladin through Pandora about her being enslaved by the General of Chaos. The General of Chaos then casts a strange illness that leaves the Generals of Order of the Light Kingdom unconscious, except for Blue who only lost his General powers. Not only that, but the General of Chaos also captured Discord and used him to enlarge the intelligence sources that the villains have on the Alliance and also strengthening the Petal Sprout Army clones with Discord's powers.

Both the Alliance and the villains have amassed considerable forces for this war; 80,000 warriors total make up the Alliance versus 100,000 Petal Sprout clones, dark ponies, changelings, dragons and reincarnated shinobi, along with some villains released by the General of Chaos from Tartarus.

## Sides

### The Alliance

The Alliance created by the regents of the kingdoms of the Pony World and Enchanted Forest consists of five main units, with Chief Strongpaw as the Regimental Commander. The First Unit consists of mid-range fighters and is led by Arcing Thunder. The Second Unit is made up of close-range fighters and is led by Obsidian Blade. The Third Unit is under the command of Shining Armor, and features both close- and mid-range fighters. Blue Sword is Shining's right hand man and proxy commander of the Third Unit as well. The Fourth Unit contains only long-range fighters under the control of Chief Strongpaw. Finally, the Fifth Unit was created for the purpose of special operations, and features ninja with unique skills. Gael is the leader of these special operatives. There are also four special divisions formed for the war. The Logistical Support and Medical Division led by an unnamed griffon comprises of medical ninja, the Surprise Attack Division led by Shadow Claw, has the task to ambush the enemy forces. The third is the Sensor Division with Boreal Blizzard as captain, and finally the Intelligence Division headed by Diamond Glow is intended to gather information and relay it to Strongpaw for strategy's sake.

### Lord of Chaos' Followers

The Lord of Chaos' followers that are active during the war are: the General of Chaos, Queen Chrysalis (despite she doesn't participate in the war directly), Grogar, the Dragon King, Kraken, Featherwing, Ulysses, Adagio and the Trix. Their primary military force is composed of 100,000 Petal Sprout clones created through a combination of the tailed beasts' energy and Discord's power. Changelings and dragons were lent by Queen Chrysalis and the Dragon Lord respectively to participate in the war and dark ponies were created as well. Gentle Light is enslaved by the Lord of Chaos and forced to perform the Reincarnation Curse, reincarnating a large number of once-famous and powerful beings to supplement their military force, including several former villains.

## Strategies

### The Alliance

#### Initial Deployment

Because of the enemy's hideout's location, it was decided that the best thing to do was to contain the war inside Equestria to prevent it from spreading to the other kingdoms. An evacuation call was sent to all villages and towns on possible battlefields, sending the refugees to key evacuation spots. The First Unit, which is the mid-range battle division, was stationed in Horseshoe Bay, in order to prevent the villains from using the bay to infiltrate the area. The Second Unit, or short-range battle division, is on the Badlands, sealing a path into Equestria Land. The Third Division, or the short- to mid-range battle division, was advancing fast through Arimaspi's territory to aid the Commando Unit. The Fourth Unit, the long-range battle division, is on the San Palomino Desert, sealing a southerly path into Equestria from the west. Gael's Fifth Unit, the special battle division, is aligned in a large arc in order to aid any of the units that need immediate response.

#### Secundary Deployment

As the confrontation develops, resulting in both the First and Fourth Units opposing two separate yet equally significant contingents of the enemy's forces, White Light devises a strategy to better reflect the conflict's current developments. Confronted with two distinct groups, the decision is made not to individualise the targets and instead concentrate entirely on those facing Arcing Thunder's First Unit, by connecting their forces with those stationed within Gael's Fifth Unit. The majority of Obsidian Blade's Second Unit would move simultaneously to this, proceeding along the ocean and sandwiching the enemy force in a pincer-manoeuvre, while the remainder attends to the adversaries that they are already battling.

Consequently, this would severely thin out the Second Unit but as the Fifth Unit fills in the gaps left behind by the Second Unit, it would match that of the Fifth Unit's formation, which then provides a solitary yet solid line of defence. As this occurs, Chief Strongpaw's Fourth Unit would make a slow retreat while moving into a sideways chevron formation, luring the enemy into following them. Eventually the top portion of this 'line' would break away and join the First Unit, giving them yet further support.

Once the first targeted group of enemies is defeated, the joint forces of the First and supporting Fourth Unit would switch to the remaining opposition at Strongpaw's Fourth Unit, approaching from behind and decimating them in a single decisive strike. However; this preliminary plan relies upon the swift mobilisation of the Second and Fifth Units, so as to best employ Obsidian Blade's units experience in combating the current enemy, and the belief that the opposition would be unable to mount a full attack upon the retreating long-range battle division, due partially to the enemy's suspicion over why the Fourth Unit would split and their inability to get in close.

#### Night-time Deployment

As darkness falls and the remainder of the troops reallocate their forces in favour of observation, the Alliance takes the opportunity to centralise the Logistical Support and Medical Unit behind their defences to attend to all the wounded shinobi. The compound is guarded at the entrance which is verified by testing the energy of anyone entering the compound and cross referenced with the Alliance's headquarters, to prevent the infiltration of hostile intruders.

However, in spite of these various precautions, the Alliance's considerable defences fail to thwart the intrusion of a significant quantity of disguised Petal Sprout Army clones and the resultant fatalities caused by the opposition's subsequent movements. As chaos ensues with individuals unable to ascertain friend from foe due to the energy mimicking properties of the aforementioned clones, White Light is tasked with the creation of a solution to counter this sudden perilous development. Despite much thought, he concludes that only Star's recently awakened capability to discern a person's "*evil*" intent, presents a viable resolution and due to his Duplication Spell, many of the issues occurring within the dispersed units are solved simultaneously. This decision prompts the mobilisation of both jinchūriki in preparation for the following day.

### Lord of Chaos' followers

#### Day One Deployment

Much less was initially known about the villains' strategy, but it was made evident that their primary objective remained the acquisition of the surviving jinchūriki. From the small amount of information that had been divulged; Gentle Light would maintain direct manipulation of the movements of the reincarnated individuals until they had reached their appointed destinations, with the intention of eradicating their personalities when the actual conflict began to turn them into mindless implements of death, while still manipulating any emotional response they could potentially illicit to full advantage, in the hopes of inflicting further damage. During the course of this approach, a small Commando Unit (comprised of Sand Threats, Rothbart, Ash and Armored Forge) would attack from the air, utilising bombs and traps to disperse the enemy. However, realising that the movement of their entire army in such a large and apparent fashion would be far too conspicuous, the decision was instead undertaken to dislocate the 100,000 Petal Sprout Army clones beneath the ground, in order to thoroughly conceal the approach of the main contingent of their forces. Though a large amount of these clones were eventually unearthed, thousands more were able to proceed unobstructed underground to their respective battlegrounds, due in part to the diversionary tactics made possible by the addition of Gentle Light's reincarnated shinobi, Chrysalis' changelings, Dragon King's dragons and the General of Chaos' dark ponies.

Concurrent to the developing conflict, Featherwing would utilise the resulting turmoil in order to find the safe house of the elite as per Tobi's orders, with the sole intention of using these valued captives as bargaining chips to draw out the jinchūriki. However, with the jinchūriki's decision to expose themselves and take direct action before this assignments completion, it was deemed unnecessary and so Featherwing's role was altered to instead engage with the elite's guards, ensuring their continued separation from the remainder of the Alliance, especially Queen Mystic Heart.

#### Night-time Deployment

As the confrontation progresses and night falls upon the first day, the General of Chaos' true intentions and the reasons behind his confidence is revealed. The two opposing sides would effectively be forced into a staring contest as the Alliance focus on tightening defences and tending to the wounded or resting. The General of Chaos, aware that this would make the Alliance completely reliant upon their sensor guards in order to remain vigilant, then begins taking this advantage of this by utilising the Petal Sprout clones' special ability in conjunction with the energy obtained from members of the Alliance during the previous battles to infiltrate the medical camps in a more efficient way than the changelings. By covertly placing these transformed Petal Sprout among the injured and scattered troops of the Alliance, they could then proceed to assassinate any isolated individuals while remaining undetected. This results in causing chaos and disagreement within the ranks of the Alliance who begin to suspect one another of committing these deeds without any definitive proof, but while also minimising the causalities suffered by the villains' forces in the process. In addition, the attack of the transformed Petal Sprout also aimed to force the alliance to counter these insurgents, placing Star in the battlefield whose ability to recognise "*evil*" intent the General of Chaos had learned from the intel gathered by Kelp.

Unbeknownst to the opposition, the General of Chaos had also begun developing further contingencies in preparation for the second day of the conflict, creating a new set of pawns by utilising the former jinchūriki and customising them with the special eyes he had used in his invasion to the Light Kingdom.

## Day One

### Battle at the villains' hideout

* **Location**: Arimaspi's hideout
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: General of Chaos, Commando Unit
	+ **Alliance**: Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party

* **Outcome**: Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party are all captured. One member manages to send intel back to HQ. Villains' tactical victory. Alliance's strategic victory.

### Battle of the Commando Units

* **Location**: Arimaspi's territory
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Commando Unit
	+ **Alliance**: Commando Unit

* **Outcome**: A deer of the infiltration is killed. Rothbart is captured by Shadow Claw's team. Armored Forge and Sand Threats return to the afterlife in peace. Ash flees. Alliance raised into victory.

### Alliance's Ambush

* **Location**: Arimaspi's territory
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: King Sombra, Montu, Gina, Thunder Blitz, the previous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, portion of the Petal Sprout Army
	+ **Alliance**: Part of the Commando Unit, Third Unit, Twilight Sparkle, Star Knight's clone

* **Outcome**: Dozens of Allied Shinobi killed or wounded. All reincarnated beings sealed or released. Alliance's victory.

### Battle in the Badlands

* **Location**: Badlands
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Around 20,000 clones of the Petal Sprout Army and changelings led by Crush
	+ **Alliance**: Second Unit, a part of the Fifth Unit, Star Knight's clone

* **Outcome**: Tactical withdrawal of the Alliance to aid the First Unit. Eventual Alliance's victory.

### Battle in Horseshoe Bay

* **Location**: Horseshoe Bay
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Thousands of the Petal Sprout Army, Day Glow, Sunburst, Eclipse, Gavin, Grant
	+ **Alliance**: First Unit, parts of the Second Unit, Fourth Unit, the western tail of the Fifth Unit, Princess Luna

* **Outcome**: Blaze, Glacier, and Grant are sealed within the Crimson Gourd. Gavin is sealed within the Sealing Urn. Eclipse and Sunburst are sealed. All Petal Sprouts are killed. Several warriors are killed. Day Glow is trapped within a barrier. Alliance's victory.

### Battle of the Two Dragon Kings

* **Location**: Dragon Lands
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Dragon King Flame, Garble, other dragons
	+ **Alliance**: Spike, Ember, Flambeau, Nitelite, Lord Torch, other dragons

* **Outcome**: Lord Torch his killed by Dragon King Flame. Spike is able to defeat Flame and claim full sovereignty over all dragons. Flame flies away in a self-exile.

### General of Chaos' Surprise Attack

* **Location**: Horseshoe Bay
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: General of Chaos, Demonic Statue
	+ **Alliance**: First Unit, parts of the Second Unit, Fourth Unit, the western tail of the Fifth Unit, Princess Luna, Spike and his dragons

* **Outcome**: Day Glow is temporarily freed. Hundreds of Alliance warriors dead in the Demonic Statue's rampage. The General of Chaos retrieves the Crimson Gourd and the Sealing Urn containing the Gold and Silver Brothers. The villains' victory.

### Battle for the Protection of the Elite

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Featherwing
	+ **Alliance**: Elite Protection Squad, Star Knight's clone

* **Outcome**: Featherwing is incapacitated. Alliance's victory.

## Night One

At the end of the first day of the battle, both the Alliance and the villains received massive casualties, having effectively halved both their battle forces.

During the day of fighting, members of the Petal Sprout Army infiltrated the Alliance's ranks. Once night falls, the disguised Petal Sprout begin methodically eliminating key Alliance personnel all across the battlefield. The Alliance is thrown into disarray until Cherry Blossom is able to determine what is happening. Despite this, there are no effective countermeasures against the Petal Sprouts and vigilance is unable to prevent additional deaths. Suspicion reigns over the Alliance.

## Day Two

### Battle at the Academy

* **Location**: Three Great Fairies Preparatory Academy
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Ulysses, Adagio Dazzle (beginning), dark ponies
	+ **Alliance**: Moonlight Sonnet, Sweetie Belle, Galena, Radiant Hope, Adagio Dazzle (later) Academy staff and students, Rarity

* **Outcome**: Moonlight manages to convince Adagio change sides. The Lord of Order gives magical pearls to Moonlight (pink), Sweetie Belle (green), Radiant Hope (blue) and Adagio Dazzle (orange). The dark ponies are defeated. Adagio is able to convince Ulysses to stop. Alliance's victory.

### Skirmishes During the Way to War

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Platoon of Petal Sprout Army posing as Alliance warriors, Glen
	+ **Alliance**: Star Knight, Hawthorn and others

* **Outcome**: All Petal Sprout killed. Star uses his Multiplication Spell to disperse clones into the battlefield. Glen is sealed. Alliance's victory.

### Battle Against the Former Regents

* **Location**: San Palomino Desert
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: King Platinum, King Alder, King Gusty Blizzard, Chief Sandstorm
	+ **Alliance**: Part of the Fourth Unit with its Commander Chief Strongpaw, King Hard Stone, Star Kight's clone

* **Outcome**: Dozens of Alliance warriors are killed. King Alder, King Gusty Blizzard, Chief Sandstorm, and half of King Platinum are sealed. Alliance's victory.

### Battle Between Jinchuriki and Reformed Villains

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Pandora (beginning), Scorpan
	+ **Alliance**: Star Knight, Hawthorn, Pandora (later)

* **Outcome**: Pandora and Scorpan are freed from Gentle Light's control. Alliance's victory.

### Battle Against the Trix

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Trix (Icy, Darcy and Stormy)
	+ **Alliance**: Cherry Blossom, Fluttershy and two other warriors

* **Outcome**: Two warriors wounded. Trix captured and taken back to their reality by the Lord of Order. Alliance's victory.

### Battle Against the Lesser Reincarnated Beings

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Cypress and lesser reincarnated beings
	+ **Alliance**: Part of the Fourth Unit, Ebony and Star Knight's clone

* **Outcome**: All reanimated beings sealed. Alliance's victory.

### Battle Against Larch

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Larch, portion of the Petal Sprout Army
	+ **Alliance**: Hawthorn, Blackthorn

* **Outcome**: All Petal Sprout clones defeated and Larch able to break free from the Reincarnation Curse and return to the afterlife. Alliance's victory.

### Lord Tirek's Attack

* **Location**: San Palomino's Desert
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Lord Tirek, King Platinum's other half
	+ **Alliance**: Fourth Unit, the regents, Star Knight's clone, Purple Smoke, Melody

* **Outcome**: Heavy Alliance casualties. Regents heavily wounded. King Platinum released from the Reincarnation Curse. Lord Tirek subdued and captured by Purple Smoke and Melody.

### First Battle Against the Eye of the Moon Plan

* **Location**: Unknown, Nothingness Realm
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: General of Chaos, the six reincarnated jinchuriki, Demonic Statue, Grogar
	+ **Alliance**: Star Knight, Kurama, Hawthorn, Gyuki, Shining Armor, Blue Sword

* **Outcome**: The six tailed beasts are resealed in the Demonic Statue. The six reincarnated jinchūriki are released from the Reincarnation Curse. Ten-Tails is revived. Tactical victory to the villains.

### Skirmish Against the Changelings

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Crush and his changelings
	+ **Alliance**: Obsidian Blade and his group

* **Outcome**: Crush and his changelings are captured.

### Battle Against the Reincarnation Curse

* **Location**: Villains' hideout
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Gentle Light (unwillingly)
	+ **Alliance**: Pandora, Scorpan

* **Outcome**: Gentle Light is freed from her binds by Pandora and Scorpan. Gentle Light breaks the Reincarnation Curse, releasing all the reincarnated beings. Tactical victory to the Alliance.

## Night Two

### Battle Against Ten-Tails

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Hepheus, Grogar, Ten-Tails, Petal Sprout
	+ **Alliance**: Star Knight, Kurama, Hawthorn, Gyuki, Shining Armor, Blue Sword, all available units of the Alliance, Heartbeat, the regents.
	+ **Independent**: the other seven tailed beasts.

* **Outcome**:  Alliance's Headquarters destroyed, resulting in the deaths of White Light, Diamond Glow and Boreal Blizzard. Alliance Forces suffer major casualties, among them Thunder Night. Grogar becomes jinchūriki of Ten-Tails until it is released. Grogar forced to give more power to Hepheus. Alliance Forces tactical victory. Strategic victory to the villains.

### Second Battle Against the Eye of the Moon Plan

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Hepheus, Petal Sprout, Petal Sprout clones, Demonic Statue
	+ **Alliance**: All available units of the Alliance, Heartbeat
	+ **Independent**: the other seven tailed beasts, Grogar

* **Outcome**: The nine tailed beasts (except Kurama's darker half) are resealed within the Demonic Statue. Hepheus becomes the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki. Darker Kurama and parts of Shukaku and Gyūki are sealed into Star. Hepheus activates the Infinite Nightmare Curse. Victory for the villains.

### Battle Against the Infinite Nightmare Curse

* **Location**: Unknown
* **Participants**:
	+ **Villains**: Hepheus, Petal Sprout, Lord of Chaos
	+ **Alliance**: Star Knight, Twilight Sparkle, Blue Sword, Shining Armor, Generals of Order, Lord of Order, alicorn sisters
	+ **Independent**: the other seven tailed beasts, Star Shield

* **Outcome**: Petal Sprout uses itself and Hepheus as a medium to the Lord of Chaos. Star Shield is killed by the Lord of Chaos. The Demonic Statue is sealed in a new moon within the Lord of Chaos's dimensions. Hepheus is spared from dying and returns to his former self. All Generals of Order in coma are awakened. Alliance Forces Victory. End of conflict.

## Aftermatch

Following the defeat of the Lord of Chaos, the Lord of Order explains that Star only needs to use the power of the tailed beasts, together with Leaf Mane's wood nature and Heartbeat's emotional power to end the Infinite Nightmare Curse. Lighter Kurama chooses to remain in Star, becoming one with his other half. Gyuki also chooses to be with Hawthorn. The other tailed beasts choose to remain free. All the kingdoms burry their dead. Star, moved by his great-grandfather's last words, decides to find Tambelon and free it.