Disciples of the Night



For centuries, dark cults of thestral Nightmare Moon worshippers have bided their time, awaiting her return. Entrusted with her dark secrets, they have readied for the civil war, poised to march forth and join Nightmare Moon's vast army in the north.

Or that was the plan, until Daring Do led an impromptu militia to ambush them on the eve of battle and Baltimare was lost to a counter-uprising. Now, savage warfare has erupted through the jungles of South-East Equestria. These southern upstarts must be defeated for Nightmare Moon.

May the Night last forever!

Luna and the Thestrals
A more comprehensive discussion of the history between ponies and thestrals can be found in the Lunar Empire article.

Thestrals (batponies), night-time counterparts of the pegasi have long been the unofficial fourth pony tribe of Equestria. Featuring leathery wings, fluffy ears, good night vision and batlike fangs, these ponies preferred to work and play at night.

Loyal to Princess Luna, thestrals were always somewhat mistrusted and isolated due to their reclusive, nocturnal practices. However this schism widened when Luna was corrupted, transformed into Nightmare Moon and ultimately banished to the Moon by Celestia.

Cults of the Jungle
As a result of the disaster, terrified ponies drove batponies out of their homes into the far reaches of Equestria, including the jungles of the south.

The batponies of the south, natives to the land were mostly tribals that worshiped the moon and Luna along with it. However, some of the thestrals fleeing south were true Nightmare Moon supporters, who spread their beliefs across the jungle. Worship of Nightmare Moon flourished, and small cults sprang up, calling themselves the Disciples of the Night.

Luna's Return
The cultists held that Nightmare Moon would one day return and inevitably triumph over Celestia. Naturally, her return and immediate defeat was greeted with shock and a crisis of faith.

Some abandoned their beliefs, heeding Luna's call to abandon worship of Nightmare Moon and live peacefully alongside Equestrians.

Others became convinced that Luna was secretly biding her time, gathering alliances and pretending peace for the inevitable betrayal. They decided to follow Luna's supposed example, gathering allies among naive Equestrian bat sympathisers.

But most became more fervent, convinced that they had failed Nightmare Moon, unable to assist her in her time of triumph. They embraced darker magics and darker allies, searching for the strength to defeat Equestria and free Nightmare Moon. Their clashes with the "fictional" Equestrian adventurer Daring Do became the stuff of legend and their presence slowed the inevitable encroachment of civilisation and cities into the south.

The Civil War
When Nightmare Moon began gathering support in the world of dreams, the Disciples were ready, supporting cults and subtly steering bat sympathizer groups across Equestria. They readied an army to sweep north through Baltimare, supporting Nightmare Moon's impending Manehatten uprising.

Luna's peaceful thestral supporters became alarmed by the strange omens in the sky, the dark dreams, and the stirring in the southern jungles. Investigating, they sought out Daring Do, who had foiled the plots of the cults so many times in the past, and on the eve of the civil war, an impromptu militia of citizens and local garrisons took the cult by surprise, ambushing their march to the north.

Reinforcements failed to arrive in Baltimare, the first city taken by the Disciples, and it was lost to a counter-uprising by communists, who now arm for full war with the cultists.

And deep in the jungles, a ragtag band of mercenaries led by Doctor Caballeron have allied with the Neighua and taken Tenochtitlan, along with the surrounding land.

As disciplined armies march in war across the plains of Equestria, a more savage struggle plays out in its hidden jungles.

Starting Situation
The Disciples start with a decent army - 33 divisions, 13 of which are infantry cultists (4 inf battalions) and 20 pegasi divisions (4 pegasi battalions). However their industry is poor, the terrain is harsh and enemies are on all sides.
 * The Aztlan Free State to the east, with no industries and 54K ponypower on the field with 18 divisions.
 * The Baltimare Republic to the north, with 2 civilian factories, one dockyard, and 48K ponypower on the field with 12 divisions.
 * The Celestial State to the west, with 1 civilian factory, one military factory, and 75K ponypower on the field with 15 divisions.

A Secondary War
The conflict is isolated from the main conflict between the Lunar Empire and Equestria. The isolation cannot be broken until the northern or southern wars end. The Disciples must race to finish the war as soon as possible in the south so that they can assist Nightmare Moon, for if Equestria wins to the north, all their efforts are likely moot.

This war is going to be very difficult because you're fighting a two-front war. First, you should set up a frontline against the Celestial State as they will be your main opponent in the war. Select a small number of divisions and set up a fallback line on the Baltimare Republic and  Aztlan Free State borders. This is necessary as you cannot fight a three-front war. Raise as many native militias as you can because, even letting land go you're still fighting a two-front war. They're very weak but they're good encirclement and defense units. Once you've defeated the Celestial State, delete the fallback line and set up a frontline in the same spot where the fallback line was on the border with Baltimare and Aztlan. Once you have done this guard the Baltimare border but attack the Aztlan border. This should be done to avoid an overstretched army and more divisions in a single border will help you a lot.

Disciples Victorious - When Baltimare, Celestial State and the Aztlan Free State are defeated, the Disciples will join the war in the north as a puppet of the Lunar Empire if they choose to stay loyal and the Empire grants them autonomy, or go isolationist if they reject the Nightmare. If the Lunar Empire doesn't exist when you win, then you will automatically get the decision for a civilian government or a military one if you choose Our Fate. The Confederacy to the west can also ask you to join their faction if you choose to go independent.

Northern War Ends - If the Lunar Empire wins the war, then they can do War Plan Green to aid you in your war if it is still raging. However, the focus will instead give them a wargoal on you if you have already won and chose to stay independent. If Equestria wins, they can immediately declare war on you.

Wartime Focus Tree
The Disciples start out with a wartime focus tree similar to that of Aztlan. After taking the first focus, the left path will give Infantry Equipment along with other bonuses, ending with giving all the other South-East combatants a negative national spirit involving supply. The central path gives factories, infrastructure, ponypower and a temporary national spirit that improves your own supply. The right path gives three pegasi divisions, increases your conscription law and a temporary national spirit that increases division speed. The last focus, For the Empress!, grants an army buff for 180 days.

Post-War Focus Tree
Once all the other South-East breakaways are defeated, the Disciples load their actual focus tree, along with getting three negative national spirits, "Discontent in the Cities", "Native Resistance", and "Economic Underdevelopment".

They have a few options on a political standpoint, supporting Nightmare Moon in the War of the Two Sisters if it hasn't ended already. If she agrees to grant autonomy to the South-East, you can either put in a civilian government under Light Narrative or Starry Glory, or keep the military administration under Stars Whirl. There is a third option, however; rejecting the Empress completely and creating a new state for the Thestrals.

A New Government
Governor Starry Glory

Starry Glory was once a harsh writer and orator for the thestrals, a hardliner that promoted batpony supremacy. As time passed, he slowly became ostracized, though that didn't stop him from continuing his work. His idea for the South-East is creating a purely Thestral-led society, along with taking drastic measures to contain the natives.

Going down the right side of his path will give you events that generally give you negative effects, leading up to The Reservation System. This lessens the stability debuff from "Native Resistance" and grants +10% resource gain and +5% production efficiency gain.

The left side gives various national spirits, two of which notably give +30% population growth. Stabilize the Situation lessens the effect of "Discontent in the Cities", and Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory turns it into "A Thestral Homeland". It switches out all the debuffs for various buffs, notably 1% Recruitable Population and +10% Division Recovery rate. A reporter from Equestria, Light Narrative is a leader based on dialogue and pragmatism. He focuses on creating a nation where all ponies of society can live together in peace, though Lunar orientation is a given.
 * Governor Light Narrative

As one of the civilian governors, Light can immediately take Educational Reforms for the research slot. Going down the left side of Light's tree will eventually lead to The Paramount Chiefs, a focus that changes "Native Resistance" to "Native Autonomy", turning the negative debuffs into positive ones. The right side of the focus tree gives various positive national spirits and lessens the effect of "Discontent in the Cities". The final focus, A Shining Beacon gets rid of it completely, also replacing it with "The Jewel of the South".

The Military Mandate
Stars Whirl, the leader of the Disciples chooses to continue the military occupation, militarizing almost all parts of society and becoming an army with a state to serve the Empress. Her tree gives buffs mostly related to the army, fighting in the service of Nightmare Moon.

After completing Formalize the Military Frontier, there are three small branches. The left path gives a research slot and +10% land doctrine research speed, the middle gives military factory bonuses and increases your conscription law, and the right path adds a total of 41 rubber production. All three paths must be completed to take Pacify the Cities and Pacify the Jungles, which get rid of "Discontent in the Cities" and "Native Resistance" respectively. The final focus, An Army with a State gives +5% division recovery rate, 1.5% recruitable population and +10% attack and defence.

Reject The Nightmare
The batpony natives, tired of fighting choose to launch a coup against the government. Stars Whirl and her various loyal military staff are rounded up and killed, save for Light Narrative. The future of the nation is now in the hands of the Moonspeaker Conclave, who after deliberation chose Light Narrative as the new Tlatoani, their leader.

The national spirit "Native Resistance" is immediately replaced with "Neighua Resistance", a less severe version of it.

After crowning the Tlatoani, the path temporarily splits into three. The left removes "Neighua Resistance", and Hayglian Dialectics will give a negative national spirit that turns into a positive one after 180 days.The right turns "Discontent in the Cities" into "The Red Tribes", increasing factory output. Codify the Faith in the middle path gives a research slot. Finally, The Organic Kingdom will improve a positive national spirit you have, including 1% Recruitable Population.

Another thing to note is that as the natives, you will get an event that will allow you to use Ursa Companies.

Economic Tree
Once you establish your government in the South East, the economic tree for getting rid of "Economic Underdevelopment" is unlocked. You will get an event for two options; focusing on the countryside or the industrial centers. Both paths get rid of the negative nation spirit, but the bonuses they give are vastly different.

Focus on the Countryside centers on resource bonuses, with the national spirit replacing "Economic Underdevelopment" granting +10% resource gain, -5% consumer goods and +5% production efficiency base. Other focuses grant 64 rubber production and 1 building slot in every state. Focus on the Industrial Centers, on the other hand, replaces the spirit with "The New Industrial Revolution", which grants +15% construction speed, +10% factory output and +10% efficiency cap. The Steel Mills of Baltimare also grants 36 steel production.

Both trees merge at the bottom, which grants a research slot.

The Army
The military focus tree has two mutually exclusive paths which depend on which leader you chose in the political tree. The Tlatoani and Light Narrative paths can only choose A Brand New Army, while Starry Glory can only choose An Army of Bats. Stars Whirl can choose either one.

The left path gives bonuses to jungle warfare, allows use of the Guerilla Warfare tactic, and gives 3 Level 2 Generals. The national spirit gives recruitable population, division recovery rate and division defense at the cost of some organization.

The right path a massive +80% special forces capacity modifier at the cost of a -60% recruitable population factor. The effect is slightly lessened later with A New Nimbusia, which modifies the national spirit by +10% recruitable population factor and an extra +15% special forces capacity modifier. The focus tree branch also gives 2 Level 3 Generals and adds +1 skill in every category for every leader.

The final focus for both paths grants a research slot.

The Navy and the Air Force
The naval tree give dockyards at the beginning of it, progressing into research bonuses for various ship types. It ends with a national spirit giving +0.05 Naval Experience gain every day.

The Air Force tree starts by adding fighters and bombers to your stockpile, then goes into airbases and plane research bonuses. The Night Squadrons gives a bonus to operations at night, and Masters of the Sky gives Ace Generation Chance, Air Attack and a reduction to Bad Weather Penalty.

Staff and Designers
Political Advisors

Tank Designer

Ship Designer

Aircraft Designer

Material Designer

Industrial Concern

Theorist Chief of Army

Chief of Navy

Chief of Airforce

Military High Command

Industry
The factory number shown below is true only at the beginning of the war and without factories built in the region by Equestria. ''Editors Note - The below numbers may be out of date. '' The factory number shown below is true only at the end of the war, with all three enemies territories conquered, with all war focuses completed and without factories build in the region by Equestria. These numbers may change depending of the focuses completed by the enemies during the war.