The Great War

The flag of Equestria flown during the Grand Galloping Gala . [Source: Desigos]?-02-0000

The Great War was a war between two global superpowers, the pony nation of Equestria and an unnamed zebra nation. This war, which occured approximately 200 years prior to the opening of Vault 2, lasted multiple years and plunged Equestria into an industrial revolution as the two superpowers raced to outdo each other in the fields of science, industry, and wartime technology.

One of these developments, the megaspell framework for amplifying the power of spells, were devastating enough that their use led to the destruction of much of Equestria. Having planned for the possible catastrophe, Stable-Tec built more than 100 Stables to house ponies underground whilst the magical fallout dissipated.

History

Opening Hostilities

The most significant cause of the Great War was the rising number of trade sanctions involving natural resources between the two belligerent superpowers--Equestria, which had a monopoly on magical gemstones, and the unnamed zebra nation, which had a monopoly on coal needed to power Equestrian industry. As relations strained, minor conflicts broke out between the two nations. Eventually, the accidental massacre of zebra civilians at Littlehorn Valley drove both superpowers into an all-out war.

Course of the War

In an attempt to end the war, the Ministry of Peace led a project along with the Ministry of Arcane Sciences in order to create the megaspell, a spell framework that exponentially amplified the power of any given spell, whether it be healing or devastating. The schematics for the spell were then clandestinely supplied to the zebra nation, equipping both nations with weapons of mass destruction. This was done in hopes that the immensely powerful weapons would become war deterrents by guranteeing a no-win scenario for either belligerent--the concept of mutually assured destruction.

Equestria eventually gained a significant technological lead over the zebras to the point where the milestones it needed to assure victory--primarily bypass spells and alicorn mutations--had been reached, and mass deployment was mere weeks away. Seeing this, the zebras recognized that the war would not end in their favor and that defeat would be inevitable; with nothing left to lose, they decided to launch an all-out megaspell strike against their Equestrian foe to ensure that neither side would see victory.

The Last Day

Main article: Last Day

The megaspell onslaught lasted mere hours. The first city to fall was Cloudsdayle, which immediately resulted in the pegasi's abandonment of the war effort and their subsequent secession from Equestria. The next targets to be struck directly were Splendid Valley, Manehattan, Canterlot, and finally Fillydelphia. After this point, the pegasi raised a near-permanent cloud curtain over all of Equestria, blinding the zebras for the remainder of the megaspell assault.

Aftermath

As expected, the megaspell onslaught devastated both Equestria and the zebra nation, ending the war almost immediately. In the wake of the war, the Equestrian government was completely annihilated, its civilian population largely decimated and the territorities it controlled reduced to swaths of irradiated wasteland. Equestria descended into a state of complete anarchy, and no organized civilizations rose from the ashes for many years to come. The majority of the surviving Equestrian population went into hiding in the hundreds of underground Stables that were constructed throughout the course of the war, and would only emerge sporadically throughout the centuries that followed.

The ultimate fate of the zebra nation is unknown.

Major events

• Big Macintosh sacrifice.
• Celestia's stepping down.
• Luna's reign.
• Creation of the Ministries
• megaspells
• (noncanon) the Projects
• Last Day

Time Line

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Year 01

• Start of the war

Year 09

• Massacre at Littlehorn

Year 10:

• Celestia abdicates her throne.
• Luna reorganized a wartime Equestrian government
• Creation of the ministries

Year 11

• Formation of the Shadowbolts by the Ministry of Awesome

Year 13

• First field test of a megaspell.

Year 15

• Battle at Shattered Hoof Ridge

Year 16

• Creation of magically-powered armor
• Steel Rangers founded

Year 17

• Zebras "acquire" megaspell capability
• Anti-material gun created
• Assassination attempt on Applejack