War can happen anywhere; all it needs is time, a spark, and anypony with a thirst to fight. Ugh that stupid tic again, it's so ingrained on our psyche that it just comes out. Most ponies believe Equestria is a peace filled utopia full of rainbows and sunshine. That's a load of bullshit...Equestria has a dark side as well. Murder, robberies, rape, drugs...it's all there. Celestia...excuse me, Princess Celestia does a good job of having us clean her shit up. Wars break out regardless of how "cute" you try to keep your land. That woman is a psychopath and she's let this place become a cesspit with a sparkly shell. Tension between us and the Griffins have been mounting in recent years, rather than simply challenge the Princess to a one on one duel, the griffin Empress engaged her in verbal combat. Griffins aren't as...articulate as we are and Celestia tore her to shreds. Empress Sinnea was furious; she was publicly embarrassed in front of the World Counsel at the world banquet. She declared war right then and there...of course Celestia simply looked down her snout at her and gave her that smile...the smile that simply showed how unafraid she was of the winged creature. Me being the Commander of her strike forces I was there the entire time and quite frankly...I think we're in serious shit...

Commander Croix Havoc kept pace with Princess Celestia as she cooed to her little protégé' Twilight Sparkle. Why she was wasting her time with this friendship crap at a time like this was beyond him. The ram cleared his throat, getting the Princess's attention. He gave Twilight a curt nod which she returned in kind. "Princess, we need to talk, it can't wait either." The red eyed Ram stared at the unicorn before she sighed and turned back to Twilight. "I'm sorry; I guess I have to go back to work now. Please, keep up the good work...my dearest student." She remained silent until the young unicorn had departed and turned to her special force's leader with a darker look. "Report Commander, how did the raid fare?" She turned and began to head in the direction of a certain unicorn he'd rather not see...they say not to date in the workplace...this mare was a sure reason why that saying should be taken to heart. He blew steam out of his nose as a sign of displeasure and trotted alongside her, making sure his bladed wings didn't scrape her or her overly ornate wings. "The griffin stronghold was completely decimated; we lost a battalion of earth ponies and a squad of unicorns. We can't keep pressing these attacks your Majesty, earth ponies can't take a griffin in full on combat. Even my Pegasus Squadron is having trouble, the Griffin Empire is built up on corpses, it's a military empire. You built this one up on rainbows and other such bullshit; our forces aren't trained for this." The ram hated talking to Celestia when she was acting like a prissy bitch, but she was his liege and he aimed to keep his oath and do her dirty work.

Celestia nudged the archaic looking door and the two were hit with the tangy smell of ozone, brimstone, and blood. The dark Warlock Hellvetica Sindelise...his ex and current head of Celestia's secret Arcane Magic sector was in charge down here, her dark experiments kept from the public eye. He didn't enjoy being around her when she was in research mode, the Demonicorn was more than willing to use live subjects to further her experiments. Aside from her dark tendencies she was a strangely sweet mare. Celestia sighed and flipped her mane aside and nodded. "I'm well aware of our militaristic short comings Commander. It is, however your job to make them deadly enough to kill my kingdom's enemies...is it not?" Croix was about to retort when the Warlock trotted up with a giggle. "Keep at it and people will begin to think you two are...cavorting together. Oh hohohoho!" Ah that laugh...he hated it but a part of him still liked the melodic sound. Of course it also meant she was plotting something unsavory, the Demonicorn might not look like much but she was one of the most magically inclined ponies alive. "Good morning your Highness, good morning...Croix...I take it you're here to see what I can do to magically enhance the little Pegasus? Trot with me and I'll show you. Oh, Croix...how are those new wings working out?" She nuzzled him mockingly and giggled before bounding over to one of her swirling orbs of arcane energy. The ram blew steam again and looked away to keep from snapping at her. After losing his wings as a young ram, he was cursed to stay flightless. Hellvetica took a scientific interest in the ram and after befriending him did research to restore his wings. The arcane wings she fashioned for him were taboo and looked at with a bit of fear; the demonic energies streaked his body with blue bands full of the arcane power needed to power his bladed wings. Hellvetica smiled and turned back to the Princess who had a bit of a scowl on her face. "Stop it Sindelise, I don't have the time for your teasing today. What have you come up with?" The Demonicorn smirked and turned to her aids running around. "Bring me my notes would you?" One of the ponies trotted up to her and passed an energy orb to her. "My research Princess...is inconclusive. The magic I use is from the dark god Slephnir and I doubt a Pegasus, a creature of light would survive the treatment my loving guinea pony; Croix here received...unless...you give me leave to test on a live subject..." Celestia stared at the Demonicorn almost as if she was contemplating it. She silently turned around and left. "Sindelise, I never come down here so I personally don't know what you're doing down here so I'll trust your judgment." With that she slipped out of the lab leaving a cackling Hellvetica and a glaring Croix...what Celestia hiding?

"Croix, come with me, we need to talk. No it's not a trick either." Croix had a skeptical look on his face and trotted next to her as the other ponies scattered around doing odd jobs and conducting experiments. Hellvetica lost her normal mad scientist look and had replaced it with the tender face he'd loved years ago. "Croix, did the Princess basically give me leave to test on a live Pegasus? I only asked her because I was certain she'd say no. Did I miss something?" Croix had to admit he'd wondered the same, was the war getting to her or was the Princess actually more than she let on? "Honestly... Celestia has been acting weird since her sister returned...at first it was just a few strange acts here and there, but she's been steadily getting worse. I mean she started a fucking war against the Griffins, anything less than a skilled Pegasus is normally torn to shreds. The Wonderbolts can barely out fly them, hell I can barely out fly them." As Hellvetica and Croix entered her room, Croix had to wonder how he let himself be led back here. The mare sat on her floating pillow and pats a spot next to her. "I'll stand. So I'm sure you have some ulterior motive for bringing me here, what is it?" Hellvetica rolled her yellow eyes and sat up; she flipped her mane to the side and thought a moment before speaking again. "Would it surprise you if I just wanted to seduce you again?" "Yeah I'm leaving." She scrambled off of her pillow, faceplanting while she was at it. "Oh come on I'm just picking on you! An ex marefriend isn't allowed to tease? Oh, fine I was done with you anyway...Come back later tonight, I should have figured something out by then." Croix shook his head and made his way from the Warlock's chamber and back into the main court. The Imperial Guards bowed to him as he trotted by more so out of respect than any formality. The ram powered his wings and took to the sky, he contemplated checking on his niece, Fluttershy but he decided against it, last thing he needed was to scare the living hell out of her. It was weird that she was so docile, his family was known for defending Equestria so he assumed the family marring into his would be just as formidable. Nope...in fact they were pacifists, a pacifist's pacifist even with Fluttershy at the helm of the wuss boat. But despite her tendency to be afraid of her own shadow, he loved her like she was born into his family. Unbeknownst to everyone else the mare was a brutal killer with a penchant for butchering her victims. Croix covered for her killings and struck a deal with the Organization that Pinkamina was a part of. They take Fluttershy in and he doesn't kill them. "Ah what the hell, I could use a break from all this insanity." He diverted his flight path towards Ponyville and made his way there rather quickly, Croix was quite the flyer. He heard giggles from some random ponies as he made way to his niece's ultra-flowery house, just being a ram with wings made him stand out not to mention he was muscular from all his combat training. Good to see mares were still into that, he flashed the mares a smirk and inwardly chuckled as they practically melted under his gaze, seems propaganda has built him up into the ideal. Sure the stuff about him was mostly true but at the end of the day there's not enough water on the planet to wash away all the blood.

The presence of Angel; Fluttershy's pet rabbit and assertive coach, showed she was indeed home for once. The rabbit had taken and immediate liking to Croix which was rare for the rabbit. The bunny took his place on his head and silently pointed to where the soft spoken Pegasus was. Fluttershy jumped when he nudged her, she still didn't pay much attention to her surroundings it seems. He half expected her to faint thanks to the mare's "weak" constitution. Luckily she didn't and simply smiled when she realized it was him. "Oh Croix, it's good to um…see you." Yup still ultra-shy, she still won't speak up not even with family. "I see you're doing alright still kid, that's good." She nodded and nudged a baby squirrel towards its parents and smiled softly, before turning back to her uncle. "I'm sorry I don't have anything ready to eat...I-I wasn't expecting company." She fidgeted a little, most likely freaking out inside if he knew his niece as well as he thought he did. He nudged her again and smiled. "It's ok Fluttershy; I just came to check on you while I'm near Ponyville…" She cocked her head to the side in confusion; as far as she was concerned he was Captain of the Guard...at least she thought he was. "So...you'll be leaving soon?" The ram nodded and flicked his sharp tail. Her expression fell slightly, he hated when she frowned, and she's the kind of mare that needs to be smiling all the time. "Don't worry I'll bring you a gift back before you know I'm gone. I might even treat your…friends while I'm at it." He reflexively looked up to see if her hyper active "friend" Rainbow Dash had heard the mention of free food. Luckily she wasn't around or was passed out on some cloud. He nuzzled his niece goodbye and took off gently as not to demolish her garden. He'd make a point to keep the Griffins from his niece, even if that meant hunting them to extinction...He'd protected the mare from worst and refused to let her be affected any more than she had to.

This war had many facets to it, there was the open combat Croix was used to, the political side that Celestia reigned over, and there was the innocent side...the side that made this look like a minor squabble. Then there was Vienna Moon's side...a side no one but Celestia and Croix knew about. Moon was an assassin...one of the best. The Unicorn had murdered and killed her share of Griffins, and then some. She took the missions Croix had found best suited to a little subtlety, the small Griffin encampment was a bit too close to Ponyville for comfort and Celestia had ordered their elimination. That was earlier in the morning of course, Vienna hated to work during the day and simply observed her targets until night fell, and once the darkness descended it would be time to make the Griffins fear the night. The raven maned assassin silently nodded her head and the silent shadows of her assassin unicorns vanished, to pick their targets off. Vienna drew her katana and silently faded into the darkness. Normally a pony had to carry their weapons in their mouths or hook them into specialized harnesses, specifically made for weapons. Being a unicorn made it amazingly easy for her, the blade was wrapped in dark wisps of magic, and Vienna didn't even need to touch the sword. She slid from the shadows behind an unsuspecting Griffin and rammed the blade through the side of its neck and slid it forward slitting its neck. The griffin had only a second to register what happened before it collapsed in a pool of its own blood. The unicorn used her magic to move the corpse into the realm of darkness and smiled softly when she saw her assassins do their job and quickly and silently kill their targets without fail. The dark purple unicorn was proud her squad was as adept at killing as she was. She went to the leader's tent and stared the griffin in the eyes. "Unicorn...you must be with that assassin's corps I've heard so much about. If you're showing yourself...it must mean my men are already climbing mount Olympus. I commend you for showing yourself to me though; it's not every day I get to kill a high ranking unicorn. Prepare yourself little girl." Vienna smiled and let herself out of the tent and awaited the griffin, it didn't take long, the griffin burst from the tent with his claws bared and his bladed wingtips already spread. Vienna had already seen this move, she flipped over the griffin and tossed her sword straight down with a magically backed toss, the blade completely impaled the beast and pinned him to the ground. The griffin screeched in pain but didn't try to rip himself free; he already knew he was dead. The Unicorn trotted next to him and gave him a soft smile. "I've lived for quite some time griffin…you're a century too young to even think of fighting me. Sing a song of me in the afterlife..." The griffin spat at her feet with a defiant look on his face. "Good, I'm glad you won't cower in fear at the bringer of your death, go with peace." She told him softly before she decapitated him in one fluid slice. Her assassins stood next to her and cleaned up the mess, she turned to Spike and nodded at him. The young dragon sent a letter of completion to the Commander and rested his hand on his claymore, awaiting more orders. Twilight Sparkle didn't know he was part of the Assassin Corp, hell no one knew what he did when he was away from the other girls. How would they react if they ever found out he was a skilled killer? That he'd taken more lives than the population of Ponyville alone? Honestly Fluttershy and Pinkie…Pinkamina would commend him, Rarity would most likely think it was cute and Twilight would probably snitch to Celestia. "Captain, are we done? I'm sure Twilight is starting to wonder where I ran off to." It was amazing how he was able to keep his childlike personality intact, when so much death was happening around him. Vienna sheathed her katana and gave the dragonling a soft smile. "Oh, yes you can go now Spike, clean the blood off of yourself first…no need to scare her right?" The dragonling nodded and unfurled his wings...wings he could only use in combat and flew back towards Ponyville. Vienna and her assassins razzed the camp and dispersed as the crimson flames erased the presence of anyone ever being there. Vienna stripped her dark blue bodysuit off and stored it in her pack before putting her normal clothes on as if nothing ever happened.

Croix trotted through Celestia's gothic castle reading the report Spike had just sent him only moments after the final kill had been made. Vienna and her team were the best assassins around; he remembered hearing that her family had been in charge of the assassins' guild for centuries, so it was only natural for her to be adept at murder. Who was he kidding? He was damn good at it too, he's single handedly taken the lives of hundreds of countless lives...all in Slephnir's name...all for Celestia...gods he hated her, her condescension, her voice, her manipulation of Twilight and her friends. That bitch drove Twilight mad, a twisted toy for her to get off on. Sure she's relatively the same but she's...off... It made him sick...Rarity's mental condition was worsening slowly; she was an insane masochist and sex fiend now, she's also a suspect in General Stormbreak's murder, but there's nothing even remotely close to proof so she was . Pinkamena had killed her share of ponies and was insane as insane could be due to…well he didn't know everything; all he knew was that she was a cleaner for the Organization... Of course he did the girls a favor and swept the killings under the rug, it was Fluttershy who asked that he cover for them honestly. In actuality...Fluttershy was just as guilty as Pinkamena...she was the sanest between the two, you'd never guess the sweetest mare in the city was a butcher with combat skill on par with some of Vienna's assassins. Rainbow Dash was probably the most stable of the girls now, save Applejack who devoted herself to keeping the food supply lines open, the griffins had attempted to burn the apple orchard in secret one night but the griffins hadn't counted on Big Macintosh being ready. The red stallion crushed them by himself...and even kept one alive for Hellvetica to test on, whom she took with glee. Dash had taken a position on the Wonderbolt squad after Spitfire was injured; she...wasn't ready for the realities of war back when she joined. After barely surviving her first battle she cried for weeks at Rarity's place. That was three months ago, she's hardened quite a bit after the next few battles...she's even catching up to Spitfire's kill count, of course she bitched about him putting Soarin' in charge, but he was a veteran and he needed a leader out there not a cocky rookie calling shots. It's horrible but it's like the happy shell the city wears is driving his people into madness...even if it was only the ones close to him. Croix was so transfixed on Vienna's report that he didn't see Luna in time to keep from ramming into her. The dark purple mare stumbled a bit before Croix steadied her with a wing; it's moments like these where he was glad Hellvetica had made his wingspan so large. "Princess Luna...My apologies, I should've been paying attention. Are you hurt?" He liked Luna a great deal more than he liked Celestia, sure she had become Nightmare Moon for most of her life but her hatred was justified...Celestia drove her to it after all. Of course she reconciled with her sister and went back to being Luna but he hated to admit it, she still kept him on edge. Luna shook her head and smiled at him, she was a pretty mare...a bit of a game nerd but to each their own right? "Oh, no Croix I'm alright. I'd love to stay and chat but there's some other clan trying to take mine out online and they need me..." He stepped aside and let her pass with a nod and turned the corner only to trot up to Hellvetica's smiling form. "Ohhhh, you're flirting with the younger sister now? Croix you dog you..." He stared at her before rolling his eyes. She slid up beside him and nuzzled his neck. "You know...we need to talk. I have some...concerns. Big ones."

Hellvetica led him to her private room and magically sealed it and sat on one of her floating cushions. Croix simply stood in front of her. "So what is it?" Hellvetica pulled up one of her information orbs and showed him live feed of one of the Pegasi. The mare was bloody and her breathing was obviously irregular. Her wings were also in tatters, the mare was a wreck. "This one reported to me for live testing on Celestia's orders..." Croix had to look at the bedraggled Pegasus for a bit to recognize her. "Spitfire? What the hell...she was severely injured in the last battle what's she doing in your lab?" Hellvetica frowned and looked away. "She made me experiment on her. She even stayed to watch just to make sure I did it. I'm so sorry Croix but the experiments failed, Spitfire will never fly again...she can't even move her wings now…I was about to remove them when I ran into you..." Celestia was hindering his best flyers for untested experiments? Spitfire was the current leader of the Wonderbolts and without her leadership the Pegasai squadrons would be in disarray. What the fuck was wrong with her? Croix was done with Celestia's shit and was about to leave when Hellvetica bound in front of him. "You can't let her know I told you this...Croix...please...I'll do what I can to fix Spitfire...I…I'll figure something out. I swear, Celestia is...going too far." She actually looked…worried. Croix sighed and nuzzled the Demonicorn and sighed. "Take care of Spitfire. If you have to give her the same treatment you gave me…she'd most likely want to risk it then remain flightless the rest of her life…I'll check on you two later, I need to meet with her…"

Hellvetica knew exactly who he meant…Pinkamena Diane Pie…one of the most dangerous cleaners and weapon dealer in Equestria; one Croix has been covering since Fluttershy had joined her on her bloody rampage to an extent. He left the castle giving Celestia a look as he trotted past her courtyard. The Princess caught his glare and gave him a nod in return and turned back to Twilight Sparkle who flashed him a bright smile. He powered his wings and took off to Manehattan. His departure didn't go unnoticed however; Rainbow Dash almost immediately caught up with him and kept pace. "You goin' somewhere Commander?" Croix couldn't see her eyes beyond her Wonderbolt goggles but he knew she was eyeing him as hard as she could. "I'm going to see Pinkie…I have need of her skills…" Dash snorted and flew on her back facing him. "Oh come on we both know that psycho won't kill anyone unless their number comes up." The ram sighed and shook his head. "Pinkie's Organization quit the number system; they have some new method now. All that matters is that she agrees to back Vienna up on her next mission." Rainbow Dash stared at him for a moment longer before taking her position beside him silently. It's been a year since she'd last seen the pink pony, a part of her wanted to rekindle their friendship but she hated Pinkie for corrupting Scootaloo. The orange filly was a part of her little group along with Mrs. Cake…Ms. Cake now, after eating her husband in a cupcake. The flight was short and residence was easy to find if you knew what to look for. Scootaloo was the one to answer the door with a slight yelp when Croix barged in. Dash ruffled the filly's mane and kept following Croix; her goggles hiding her anger. Pinkie and Ms. Cake were huddled around a body and kept working like the two weren't even there. "Scoots, what have I told you about letting anypony in without letting us know?" Pinkie asked glancing at the filly with the one eye her mane wasn't covering. Scootaloo looked away and mumbled an apology; Pinkie smiled and made her way over to Croix and Dash. She handed Scootaloo her scalpel and pulled her surgical mask down. "Take over for me while I have a chat with these two." The filly's face brightened up and she bound over to the body and took over exactly from where Pinkie had left off. Dash stared daggers at Pinkie; who just smiled and led them to a room with the flick of her head. "So…long time no see Dashy, for a second there I thought you hated me." She said with more sarcasm than necessary. "I DO hate you, ya fucking lunatic." Dash extended one of the blades on her legs and was holding it against Pinkie's neck within seconds. Pinkie didn't even flinch aside from her smile widening. "You gonna cut me Dashy? Sounds like a party to me...You mind if we do each other?" The pink mare glanced down at Dash's chest to the blade she had expertly pointed at her jugular, without her even noticing. Pinkie's eyes dilated in glee and she chuckled. "Someone is getting sloooooow..." she half sang the insult and simply walked around Dash as she retracted her blade with a growl. Pinkie sheathed her knife and hopped over to her desk and leaned against it. "So you're both not here to eat cupcakes and shit so what the fuck do you want? I have soo many parties to plan for." Croix tossed a packaged box her way warranting a confused look from the pink mare. "That's a box of basilisk scales Pinkie…" She opened the box and slowly nodded before setting it aside. Basilisk scales were worth a ton on the black market, things must be dire if they needed her services. "So what do you want from me? Want me to kill Celestia finally? That pompous bitch needs a haircut anyway…" She realized she was looking a little crazy, smoothed her mane down and let her face fall back into its calm state. Croix ignored her little outburst and continued once she'd calmed down "No, Celestia isn't your target. I need you to work with Vienna Moon and slaughter the Griffon High Council."

Pinkie stared at the ram for a moment before breaking out into a laugh. "Are you fucking kidding me? As much as I looove parties, griffins suck at them! They molt and shed at the same time, their hard as balls to skin, they're really whiney…the list goes on. I'm gonna need at least a Basilisk fang for this." Vienna Moon stepped from the shadows behind Pinkie and stared daggers at her. "I knew she'd try to back out Commander. I don't need some maniacal amateur with a blade getting in my way. Let the maniac stay here and rot till Celestia orders her killed." Vienna turned on her hoof to trot off but stopped when she heard Pinkie laugh. "Something funny Pinkamena?" Pinkie trot up to the violet mare and stared her in the eye with a smile. "You, silly! You think I'm an amateur yet no one has ever caught me…maybe I should show you why…" Vienna didn't hesitate to unsheathe her katana and slash at Pinkie. The pink mare parried the blade with a hack saw and went for Vienna's throat, but the Assassin was more than skilled enough to avoid the slash. She flipped backward and slid back into position and took in her immediate surroundings. A slight glint of silver caught the corner of her eye… Scootaloo didn't hesitate to come to Pinkie's aid and tossed a number of scalpels at her. She made no move to intercept them however; Spike was there to swat them out of the air with his claymore. "Ohhhhhh! Hiya Spike! How long have YOU been a killer?" Pinkie was enjoying herself that much was clear. The young dragon regarded her with a quick glance and held his claymore at the ready. "Stay out of this Scootaloo, I'd rather not have to kill you but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me to do so." Scootaloo glanced at Pinkie for the go to engage Spike but Pinkie laughed and leaned on her saw. "Scoots it's alright me and Miss "Stone cold Assassin" were just testing the waters. Go finish up with Ms. Cake." Scootaloo nodded slightly before trotting back to the operation table with Ms. Cake but kept her ears trained on Pinkie's office.

Pinkie sheathed her saw and slid past Vienna and stuck her tongue out and gave Rainbow Dash a wink. "Ok Croix, I'll do this job for you on one condition." Croix eyed her cautiously. "Name it." "You have to absolve Scoots, and Ms. Cake from any guilty verdicts to my crimes if I'm ever caught." Vienna was about to protest but Croix silenced her with a wave. "I can do that. If I were you I'd quit now. Celestia's spotlight is on the griffin war right now but as soon as this crap is over with, she'll have us come for you. You're not the most subtle pony around." Pinkie waved a hoof and shrugged. "I may not be the most subtle but I'm REALLY good at keeping things a secret. Plus it's too much FUN!" The pink pony laughed as she hopped to the other side of the room with a smile. Vienna sheathed her blade with a frown and slid back into the shadows with Spike at her heel. "