//-------------------------------------------------------// The Needs of the Many -by Jeddaven- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue Everyone may not be good, but there's always something good in everyone. Never judge anyone shortly because every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.  ~Oscar Wilde Equestria has always pressed on and survived, thanks to the magic of friendship. Their love has kept them together. Until that day. On that day, they faced an impossible creature One to whom magic is impossible. They faced an being to whom their lifeblood cannot affect. A enemy whose very physical laws make magic impossible. To whom magic cannot exist. To whom magic is literally nothing.          By some tiny evolutionary chance, they lived in a universe whose very existence invalidated magic; their universal laws making magic impossible. Much like how sound cannot propagate where it has no valid medium, magic cannot affect that which it cannot disrupt. On that day, rather than an enemy, they found their greatest mystery. Us. Betrayed by their own magic and their own sensibilities, they happened upon salvation. They found something that could save their species from ignorance or finalize their extinction. "We have confirmed detachment of the craft from OPSEK, sir. Firing antimatter engines on your mark."          The aged American man stared intensely at the screen before turning to the communications officer beside him, barely letting his eyes leave the screen for a fraction of a second. "Confirm with the other agencies." "ESA, CSA, and JAXA are giving us the all-clear. No word from the rest."            The aged man sighed, nearly falling back and into his chair before the comms officer began speaking once more. "Scratch that! CNSA, RFSA, IRSO, and  are reporting all systems as nominal on their end. They're waiting for us now, sir." The commander nodded, clearing his throat as she spoke to the entire command room. "Systems reports, now!" "Antimatter containment systems nominal!" "Safe distance reached!" "Navigation systems operational!" "Monitoring systems operational!" "Antimatter injection systems operational!" "Course laid in!"          A smirk spreading across his face, the greying old man slammed his fist down on the table before him with a resounding -thud-. "Mark."          Twilight gazed up at the night sky above her, eyes staring upwards in pure wonderment at the falling stars streaking across the sky. Her friends, too, stared in wonder, Spike's curled up next to Rarity as he slept. She turned her head to face the Princess of the night, who was clearly beyond happy to be amongst friends once again, her face lit up with glee as she chatted with the other ponies.           "Aren't these meteor showers just beautiful, girls? The Princess did a wonder job!" She chirped, an oddly genuine grin of gigantic proportions spread across her face.          "They're gorgeous, darling." Rarity replied, a mellow tone in her voice.          Applejack, a stalk of wheat between her lips, smiled blissfully as she responded. "Ah' think we kin' all use a good rest after what we've all been through, sugarcube."          Pinkie Pie, bouncing into the air with joy, pointed her pink hoof at a single one of the objects, which seemed to have appeared in the atmosphere before it accelerated, giving off a beautiful rainbow trail. "I like that one! It's soooo cool! I was, like, staring at the sky, and it went "POOF" and then it was here, and then it started moving, and it was all like *FWOOSH*-"she roared, her foreleg diving downward in a manner much alike a pegasus, and then it-"          Twilight, nervous and slightly annoyed, found herself compelled to interrupt the more hyperactive one in their group before they all went deaf.          "Yes, Pinkie, it's beautiful! Luna, what is that meteor, anyways? I bet it's something really special!" She said, nervously sweating as she looked to Luna for help, who simply squinted and glared at the meteor with a suspicious eye.          "We-...I do not know, Twilight, but it is getting dangerously close to the-" she responded, suddenly interrupted as the projectile slammed into Dragon Mountain, and, despite its speed, managed to completely obliterate the top of the mountain before finally beginning to slow and careen towards the ground.          Most of the ponies were instantly frozen in in terror, a particular yellow pegasus darting behind a bush as she curled up into a ball of hooves and fur. Luna, conversely, leapt into the air with a steeled look on her fce, quickly followed by Princess Sparkle. Wordlessly, the two approached the massive cylindrical shape, hovering in midair as they focused their most powerful magics around the thing in a futile attempt to stop it. Almost instantly, they could tell that something was horribly wrong. With a whimper and a grunt, the two barely avoided collapsing and falling to their deaths, the object seemingly repelling their combined magic with no effort of its own.          Luna gave Twilight a worried look of her own, as they hopelessly watched the soon-to-be meteorite, hoping it wouldn't hit a nearby town, for they were powerless to stop it. "Luna.... I tried.... It just.... I repelled everything i sent at t!"           Luna, letting out a tired sigh, responded to Twilight with a worried voice. "As did I, Twilight Sparkle..." she said, the two watching as the meteorite slammed into the center of the Everfree forest, followed by a bright flash of light as a titanic explosion erupted from its impact crater and obliterated kilometers upon kilometers of forest.