The Seven Murders

"The Seven Murders" was a series of events perpetrated by enemies of the Midnight Empire leading up to "The Answer". It is commonly regarded as the reason behind the Midnight's sudden aggression.

Initial Denial of Landing
Once the Midnight entered Equestria, they sent envoys to the shore to request permission to offload their sick, wounded and combat-incapable. However, Celestia outright denied their request, stating that she would not allow them to bring the war to Equestria. On top of this, she also ordered the Midnight to retreat through the Rift back to Earth, which many narrow down to her innate fear of a lack of control. The Midnight refused, and thus chose to aggressively establish Firebases in key areas throughout Equestria, hoping to prevent any sort of Earthly foothold should the blockade in the Celestial Sea fall.

1: Communication Crisis
Communications were suddenly severed between all long-range Midnight units on deployment. The abrupt disruption of all military communications created an eerie sense of impending chaos, as the "malfunctions" were suspiciously timed. The loss in communication is also referred to when people speak about the Seven Murders, as it's rumoured a large collection of Midnight infantry teams were never heard from again during the following attacks.

2: Fallen Sky
The HMS Sinclair, while off patrolling, was suddenly attacked by a horde of Griffons after a Black Cat dubbed "Mako" crashed into the deck. The Griffons wielded rocket launchers and micro-missile rifles as they targeted stationary aircraft, and the HMS Sinclair's automated AA guns did not fire upon the Griffons as they were attuned to electromagnetic signatures, rather than heat-tracking. The Griffons managed to kill a total of 88 Midnight crewmen aboard the ship before Field General George Sinclair re-calibrated the guns to target any thermal signatures in the sky. The Griffons that weren't turned to paste by the ensuing death from below were forced to retreat, and the HMS Sinclair was saved.

3: The Drift
The Firebase known as "The Drift" near the borders of the Crystal Empire sent an envoy of 16 men to the Crystal Palace in order to "broker peace" with the Crystals. However, 15 of the men were killed in an ambush as the team left (unsuccessful in coming to an arrangement) and the last survivor ran back to the Firebase declaring the Crystals were incoming. The Firebase, inexperienced against these foes, still had their technological edge and Field General Jason Rorke's impressive tenacity in combat scenarios, limiting friendly casualties to 17 men during the attack. During the successful defence of the Firebase, the Midnight discovered the Crystals' inherent weakness to sonic and Tiberium weaponry and elements, as well as their weak spots when hit with large-calibre ammunition. When the attack was over, Rorke ordered the Paragon aircraft sent to aid the team to attack the retreating Crystals and annihilate the Crystal Empire. The attack was carried out, but the Empire was saved when long-range communications were restored and the Paragon was called back.

4: Sandstorm
In the Saddle Arabian sands, the Midnight established Firebase Dour to keep an eye on the populace. While the soldiers were on patrol, a number of organised attacks (including IED detonations and stolen weaponry) forced the Midnight to retreat to the base, which was left without leadership at the time as Field General Gideon, who had been overseeing the base, was aboard the Emissary miles overseas. As such, Corporal Whistlewing took control of the base. The civilians the base was caring over were cast out after one of them detonated an IED in her possession, destroying a Victoria Tank and rendering another unable to move. The ensuing attack was timed against a sandstorm, severely limiting visibility on both sides. However, the Midnight managed to take victory with 27 casualties on their side, and Whistlewing gained mass respect for leading the defenders against her own species. When Whistlewing learned of what happened to the Emissary at the same time, she lead a counterassault and over two-hundred Addralians were killed by the Midnight.

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6: The Emissary
Air Force One was removed from storage and quickly retrofitted, allowing it to be utilised as a non-combatant aircraft. It was decided that world leaders from Equestria would board the plane along with Field General Gideon of the Midnight to discuss matters going forward, essentially to provide "even ground" for diplomacy as the plane would continually circle the Maneland, having in-flight refuels and resupplies, until a decision was made. However Princess Celestia informed the Midnight that she would not be attending, and a handful of other delegates said the same. As such, only representatives from Marelin, Trottingham, Manehattan, Las Pegasus and Dodge City were present on the plane alongside Gideon and the Midnight's guards. Twilight Sparkle also boarded the plane in an attempt to broker a "true peace", hoping not to provoke the Midnight's obvious military prowess. While in transit, the plane lost communications with the Midnight fleet and was soon beset by hijackers, comprised of Midnight traitors. Gideon managed to get Twilight and the delegates to the safe room, but while attempting to retake the cockpit the plane nosedived in the Frozen North and crashed into the snowy wastelands. Unharmed in the safe room, the delegates were "freed" by the traitors as Gideon was pulled from the rubble by Field General Caspian, who was leading this group of traitors. Caspian gave Twilight Gideon's pistol and told her to shoot him, but she refused after Gideon warned her of what she would become. Caspian then shot Gideon through the head, before also murdering the other delegates and making it look like Midnight soldiers had organised a mass assassination, before leaving with Twilight. Caspian, his true intentions still covert, continued to be a double-agent inside the Midnight for the Equestrian aggressors.

7: The Trottingham Disaster
The city of Trottingham had already pledged to aid the Midnight despite the Equestrian Council denying them the action. As such, the Midnight took advantage of the friendship and deployed 30,000 soldiers to Trottingham, the majority of which were wounded and otherwise non-combatants. However, firefights broke out all over the city and it soon became a warzone between the Midnight loyalists and traitors. XCOM deployed four Ravens to intercept a UFO that was travelling over the city, which was splashed after destroying one of the Ravens. XCOM was forced to withdraw the Skyranger due to the heavy fighting and sudden warning of a nuclear device in the city, but Captain "Hardline" stayed behind to rescue one of the downed Ravens that had been caught in the crossfire, with another staying behind to provide overwatch. While evacuating with the Midnight loyalists, the nuclear device was detonated and everyone inside the blast radius was killed almost immediately, with the city of Trottingham being levelled by the explosion. This marked the first time a WMD had been used since the inception of the Megaspell by Sorsauream, over 2000 years ago.

Aftermath
The Midnight gathered it's remaining leadership to discuss the plan ahead, as Gideon's initial plan for a number of "Peace Projects" was no longer considered an option by the others. Shockingly, a large gathering of Midnight-loyal Ponies spilled into the streets of cities and towns, singing in memory of the fallen Midnight soldiers, most notably Gideon. They essentially begged the Midnight not to give up on them ("don't let his dream fall apart") and condemned the ones who had attacked the Midnight forces. Midnight soldiers joined in their mourning and memorials, with the praying eventually asking the Midnight's commanders to organise a counter-attack, to prove their true strength in their darkest hour. Rorke, Sinclair, Blackchurch, Stanchion and Hayes all voted in favour of a retaliatory campaign while Caspian, Hemway and Michael voted against it. As the Midnight did not believe in democracy, the votes were essentially meaningless. However, the campaign of revenge was initiated with the Fifth Angel's blessing and dubbed "The Caseless Invasion", leading to the darkest event Equestria had yet seen; "The Answer".