Chapters Joshua Hale, a young boy by the age of six, was sleeping in his room. The date, April 5th, 2525. He lived with his parents on the human colony of Vectas. His father, Jerimiah Hale, was a professor at New Malagio University. His mother, Kerryatah Hale, was a scientist at the New Malagio UCF Science Facility, where she helped develop new vehicular transports for military and civilian use. His younger sister, Megan was only three, but today was her fourth birthday, and he wanted to make sure his sister got the best birthday ever!
Joshua woke up at around 9:35 a.m. He quickly got dressed, putting on a light grey t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and black sneakers. After he was finished getting dressed, Joshua quietly walked to his sisters room and opened the door. He walked in and saw Megan sleeping, she was snuggling her dolphin plushie, with a smile on her face.
The smile melted Joshua's heart. He loved his sister dearly, and would do whatever it took to make her happy. He silently tapped her shoulder,"Megan," Joshua said in a soft voice, "its time to get up"
Megan slowly opened her light purple eyes, and smiled at her older brother,"Good morning, Joshie"
Joshua giggled at his sisters nickname for him,"Guess what today is?"
Megan looked at him blankly, causing him to snicker,"Its your birthday sis!"
Megan smiled with glee and hugged her brother,"Thanks for reminding me!"
Joshua laughed and returned the hug, he told his sister to get dressed and meet him in the kitchen with mommy and daddy. He closed the door to her room to give her some privacy and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. He saw his daddy sitting at the table reading his tablet and drinking a cup of coffee, while his mommy was cooking scrambled eggs and pancakes, his sisters favorite.
"Morning Mommy! Morning Daddy!,"Joshua said to his parents, his mother hugged him and his father gave him a light noogie, ruffling Joshua's brown hair. A little while later Megan came into the kitchen. She was wearing a cyan t-shirt, a hot pink zip-up jacket, denim shorts, and a pair of dark purple sneakers.
After breakfast, they went to the local shopping center at around 10:48 a.m., that's when everything went to hell in a a hand-basket. Because, at that moment, every humans life; man, women, or child, took a turn for the worst. Because exactly two-hours from now, humanity will go to war.
Two hours later...
Joshua and Megan were trembling near a military APC, while soldiers fought against aliens of an unknown nature. Joshua had just seen his mommy and daddy killed right in front of him. He was all Megan had left now...Joshua began to cry, and Megan soon followed.
The sound of clanking metal drew his attention, and he slowly raised his head, and was staring straight into the eyes of one of the aliens. Joshua's blood ran cold as he looked into the aliens red-visor. The alien spoke in a strange language, raised its weapon to Joshua's head...and fired.
............
Joshua opened his eyes to see that he was in an ally of some sort. It was nighttime, there was a glittery white moon shining bright in the sky. A shuffling of movement disturbed him from his thoughts, and he looked down to see Megan hugging him tightly. She looked at him, He looked at her, and together they cried.
"Hey there, are you two alright?"
Chapter Two: Nightmares and Comfort
Joshua began by telling the two ponies that today was Megan's birthday. And if the ponies hearts weren't broken enough, the fact that all this horror happened on the little sweetie's birthday did. Joshua told them about how he, his parents, and his sister were at the New Malagio Shopping Center...
Six minutes of sadness/horror later...
Joshua began to cry as he finished the story. Cadence quickly embraced the two children in a tight hug. Shining joined in too.
Cadence sniffed and looked at the two of them,"Its okay, those monsters can't hurt you two anymore"
"Yeah,"Shining said,"And if they try, I'll be there to buck those F******* pieces of dirt into the next century!"
Joshua and Megan both smiled at the two of them. Megan suddenly let out the cutest little yawn Cadence had ever heard, followed by a yawn from Joshua.
"Looks like someponies tired,"Shining laughed.
Cadence nodded and teleported them to the couples bedchambers. There Joshua felt his eyes become very heavy, and slowly, and quickly fell asleep.
Cadence smiled at the sleeping children, but then her smile faded as the thought of all the horrible things those aliens did to them. She nuzzled Megan's cheek, causing the little girl to smile in her sleep. She looked to her husband,"What those things did to them was horrible, nopony should deserve that!"
Shining nodded,"I agree, what they went threw was just horrible,"Shining shook his head, then put his hoof to his chin, as if an idea came to mind,"You know what?"Shining looked at Cadence,"We should invite Twiley and her friends, Toby too! It'll give them a chance to see they're not really alone in this world"
Cadence thought about it for a moment, then nodded vigorously,"Yeah! It'll be great to see Twilight again, Toby as well, and maybe he can bring that sweet little filly Silver Spoon!"
Shining grinned,"Then its settled! You write up the invite, and I'll tell the guards to get the castle ready!"Shining paused before continuing,"You should probably send a letter to Princesses Celestia and Luna, so that they can come see those two kids"
Cadence nodded and got to work on the two letters. She sent one to Twilight in Ponyville, and another to her aunts in Canterlot. When she was done, she and her husband climbed into bed with the two children, and went to sleep quite peacefully, awaiting tomorros up-and-coming events.
Princess Cadence and her husband, Shining Armor, quietly trotted down one of the many streets that are in the Crystal Empire. They had just finished eating at a small little diner called the "Crystal Cafe". They were both walking home towards the Crystal Palace where they live.
"That was wonderful Shiny!," Cadence smiled
"Glad you enjoyed it dear,"Shining grinned,"only the best for my princess"
Cadence smiled and nuzzled her loving husband, but something piqued her interest. It sounded like the crying of a foal. She looked to Shining Armor who nodded with worry, he heard it too. They quickly ran to the sound of the crying. The found the source in an alleyway separating two shops. The quietly walked in to find the cause of the disturbance, and what they saw broke their hearts. They saw a small human boy, no older than five, hugging an even smaller girl, she looked as old as three.
The boy was a Caucasian, with brown hair. his skin was all scratched up and bloody. Dirt was smeared on his cheeks. The girl was the same way. Like her brothers', her clothing was ripped and her skin was scratched. the dirt on her cheeks were being cleaned away by her tears.
Cadence approached the two,"Hey there, are you two okay?"
The girl took one look at her, squeaked in fear, and buried her head into the boys chest. Cadence's heart broke into a million pieces, and couldn't stop her eyes from watering. She wiped away her tears, and sat down in front of the two children.
Cadence looked at the boy,"Whats your name, sweetie?"
The boy looked up at the pink alicorn,"M-my names Joshua"
Cadence gave a soft smile,"Joshua...that's a beautiful name"
"Thank you,"Joshua whispered
Cadence pointed a hoof to her husband,"This is my husband, Shining Armor", Shining smiled at the boy,"and my name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence"
Joshua took a small breathe before speaking,"This is my little sister, Megan", Megan took a another look at the two ponies and smiled weakly.
"Hey, Joshua,"Shining spoke,"could you tell us how you two got here? More importantly, where your parents are?"
At the sound of their parents, Megan broke down crying again, and so did Joshua,"Our parents are...dead,"he said through tears. That made Cadence and Shining gasp.
"What?," Cadence asked
"They were killed...right in front of us,"Joshua cried.
Looks of horror spread across the ponies faces, as Joshua told them just what had happened that day.