Wartorn

by Nephilinae

Rating: mature
Tags: Alternate Universe, Nightmare Moon, Tragedy, Adventure, Human, Main 6, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 15861

The tale of a bitter war between vastly different worlds

The Elements of Harmony have backfired, resulting in the merging of two entirely different worlds... Equestria, and the war torn world of Terra. Will humanity bow before the magical might of the Equestrian gods? Will pony kind kneel before the mechanical prowess of Terra? Disaster is on the horizon. And only six certain ponies can stop certain destruction of both worlds.
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Based off the idea of "The Solar Empire", and "The New Lunar Republic"

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NOT a Conversion Bureau story.

Published 2014-12-16 01:20:05 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-03 00:35:28 UTC

The Merge

We all remember that day... The day of Nightmare Moon's return... A sad day that was... And one that would forever change the fate of two entirely different worlds.

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity... With the Elements of Harmony found, they became the new Bearers of Harmony, a circumstance that would be celebrated under normal conditions, if not for the tragedy that followed. They confronted the fallen princess, as was their new duty, to protect the realm of Equestria. But alas... Something went terribly wrong when the Elements were used.

With a shudder that echoed across Equestria, the entire world was plunged into a maelstrom of wild magic. The Bearers... Gone without a trace. The fallen Guardian of the Moon was untouched, and began amassing her bat armies. Princess Celestia, the current ruler of the realm, began to rally Guardponies in the defence of Equestria. And so began the Sun Moon War...

+++ North American East coast, Sector 271, Outside the ancient capitol, Washington D.C. +++

"Epsilon Squad... Push forwards." commanded Captain Jacobs into his mic. He flicked a few controls on his cockpit dashboard and his vision was suddenly that of his machines cameras outside. He made the colossal machine take a step forwards, spraying mud and dirt every where as it picked up its gigantic foot. The sky was over cast and gray, fog rolled across no mans land, making visibility poor. At least to a human's eye... Jacobs switched the camera's to infrared, his vision suddenly became a mixture of blues and reds. The closest red spots were directly in front of him and the titan. Jacobs switched comm channels.

"Look out below." he warned the squad of infantrymen. They willingly obliged without a word. Jacobs switched his comm channel again, just in time to hear his second in command say,

"Fulgrim is in position." Fulgrim, his second's call sign, based off the variant of machine that he drove, nicknamed "Thor".

"Good to know Fulgrim. Ghost, are you in position?"

"Affirmitave..." came the whispered reply of "Ghost".

"Accknowledged..." Jacobs said into his mic. He scaned the surrounding area with his cameras and radar, finding nothing other than his squadmates.

"Talon, I got an unknown blip on my scanners..." Came Fulgrim.

"Copy that, any idea what it might be?" Replied Jacobs.

"Looks like another walker..."

"Weapons free then, take him out." Stated Jacobs, switching to normal vision. The camera swiveled in the direction of Fulgrim, who stood in his machine 159 meters to his right.

"Copy." Came Fulgrims reply as his shoulder mounted Mjolnir Railgun lit up the fog. A bright laser like bolt of lightning shot out and darted into the fog, causing a screeching noise. Its unlucky target was illuminated briefly, sure enough, another walker. The round had punched through its cockpit, killing the machine and pilot instantly. It fell through the fog, crushing the earth below even further. Jacobs switched channels.

"Command confirm presence of hostile walkers in Sector 271, please advise." he stated. He waited a moment.

"Copy that Talon, you are free to act at your leisure." came a static laden reply.

"Affirmative." he said, switching back to the squad channel.

"Looks like a Panther..." stated Fulgrim. Jacobs scanned the wreckage as well, getting the floating hologram of a Panther as well.

"I get the same reading. And excellent shot Fulgrim." Jacobs said into his mic.

"Pssh... Showoff..." Ghost muttered.

"Alright then... The next one you can have..." argued Fulgrim.

"I think I will..."

"Hey hey hey... Comm discipline please..." Jacobs commanded into his mic.

"Yes sir..."

"Copy that."

Suddenly his targeting system bleeped. His vision outlined a shape in the fog. And also brought up a list of possible designs.

"I got another walker dead ahead..." Jacobs stated.

"Mine..." whispered Ghost. Suddenly Jacobs targeting system bleeped again, as the machine stepped out of the fog. A Sasquatch... A very heavy, close quarters walker.

"Negative Ghost... It's a Sasquatch, and out weighs you ten to one..."

"Affirmative..." replied Ghost. Jacobs stepped up to meet the Sasquatch, his Ogre would have no difficulty in dealing with it.

"I'm moving to engage, Ghost keep an eye out for more walkers." he commanded, switching to combat mode. He was suddenly 26 meters tall, his left arm was a flak cannon while his right was a viscous claw. He activated the claws disruption fields, and they lit up with an eerie glow.

"Got it..." Ghost muttered. Jacobs strode forwards, giving the lumbering machine a living look to it. The Sasquatch replied in kind as what could be called a fist also revved up its disruption fields. The two machines lumbered towards each other. Jacobs raised his flak cannon and let it rip into the hostile machine, causing only minimal damage to the armor. The Sasquatch replied with a laser salvo, scorching his metal plating in a few areas. Jacobs urged his Ogre forwards, willing it into a charge. The Sasquatch stopped its advance and prepped its fist, continuing to fire its lasers. Jacobs ignored the over heat warnings as the lasers cooked his machine. He was now 8 meters away from the Sasquatch, he swung the claw in an arc, aiming for a clean cockpit kill. The pilot of the Sasquatch knew what he was doing however and deflected the blow, skillfully making sure his lasers didn't get damaged by the disruption field. He followed up with a punch, attempting to blow out Jacobs reactor with a torso hit. Jacobs saw it coming in the nick of time and fired his flak cannon into the Sasquatch's shoulder joint, causing it to malfunction, and briefly stun his opponents arm.

"Captain!" yelled a voice in his ear. His Ogre suddenly lurched as something landed on him from behind, causing him to fall forwards. Warning signals flashed as he landed face down in the mud. He quickly attempted to get up, despite the 20 extra tons that was on his back.The Ogres servos strained under the pressure, only designed for 50 tons, while this unknown adversary made the machine 60. He cursed. Suddenly the Ogre stopped swaying as the extra weight was taken off. "Got him..." muttered Ghost. Jacobs gained his bearings, the Sasquatch was gone, probably retreating into the fog. A five ton Assassin had taken its place at Jacobs side, on top of the 20 ton Parasite that had tried to shut his Ogre down. Jacobs ran a quick system check, nothing out of the ordinary, that was good news. Ghosts Assassin withdrew a purring blade from the Parasites cockpit.

"Are you alright sir?" asked Fulgrim over the comm. Ghost stayed as silent as always.

"I'm alright... What happened to the Sasquatch?" Jacobs asked.

"He retreated as soon as the Parasite landed..." whispered Ghost. Jacobs aimed the cameras at the no man's land below, hoping to find the retreating machines tracks, unfortunately whatever prints it had left were indistinguishable from the rest of the churned earth.

"We can't have it wandering around..." Jacobs said. "Form up on me..." Turning his ogre towards the enemy lines.

"Yessir." Fulgrim stated.

"Here, but not here..." whispered Ghost as his Assassin disappeared under its cameo systems.

+++ Outside Ponyville, on the border of the Everfree forest +++

They sky above Equestria was lit up in eternal twilight as wild magics engulfed the world, giving everything a sickening glow. Of course the magical blasts from fighting unicorns didn't help ether. Sergeant Steel Shield, a very hard Earth Pony mare, ducked as another blast screamed over head.

"Dammit! Get those Pegasi to get those unicorns!" she shouted. A Pegasus saluted her and rushed away. The dark unicorns continued their barrage of fire. "Stout Heart!" she called for the Earth Pony stallion. He quickly clanked over in his heavy assault armor. "Get ready for a charge..." she said. He also saluted and rushed away. Steel Shield lowered her equally heavy visor, pawing at the ground with her spiked hooves. She climbed over the barricade that stood in between Ponyville, and the on coming horde of bat ponies. "FOR CELESTIA! FOR CANTERLOT! FOR EQUESTRIA!!" she shouted over the battle, beginning to gallop towards the attacking forces. A hearty cheer went up behind her as other Earth Ponies joined the Charge.

Lightly armored Pegasi zoomed over head, eager to harass the enemy in any way they could before the charging Earth Ponies crushed everything. Magical blasts scorched through several of the charging ponies, that did not stop most of them. Steel Shield hit the cat eyed ponies first, her heavy armor already burned and scratched, but the claws on her hooves made short work of the bat ponies and dark unicorns she trampled over. The ponies under the Lunar influence were soon routed or killed. Steel Shield surveyed the carnage that she had caused. Good. she thought. Less of them we have to deal with later... Or sooner...

"Onwards!" she shouted, rearing up and began running into the Everfree, eager to push all the way to the Castle of the Two Sisters. The ponies under her command cheered and followed.

+++ Cloudsdale +++

Princess Celestia faced her fallen sister, breath coming in ragged gasps. Pegasi and Bat Ponies surged around in aerial duels in the tortured sky. Nightmare Moon stood in serene calmness.

"You know Celestia... You always were a sore loser..." she mocked

"What have you done to the Elements?!" asked an enraged, but tired Celestia.

"Me? Why, I can honestly say I didn't do anything with your elements... Maybe that was the problem... Maybe I should've had the Element of Honesty..." Nightmare Moon laughed. Celestias anger raged, she sent a blast of burning energy into Nightmare Moon. Who casually swept it aside while looking at her hoof.

"Don't mock the Elements..." Celestia whispered.

"Or what dear sister? Will you banish me to the moon again? Oh wait... That's right... You can't!" Nightmare Moon continued to laugh.

"Nightmare..." growled Celestia, eyes starting to glow faintly.

"Maybe I'll go back willingly..." mocked Nightmare Moon.

"Nightmare..." Celestia warned, eyes glowing like two stars.

"But then again... It was always lonely up there... Maybe you should go up there instead... After all, isn't the sun the only thing in the sky during the day?" Continued Nightmare Moon, who had turned around to watch the battling ponies. Celestias mane started to whip upwards, like a burning fire.

"But the moon is kind of my realm... Maybe I should send you to the sun instead..." Taunted Nightmare Moon. Celestia's coat and mane started to change color, taking on a burning hue.

"ENOUGH!" shouted the formerly benign princess, now burning with an eternal rage. Nightmare Moon turned around at the sudden flare of energy and heat.

"What?!" she exclaimed

"I have never needed the Elements of Harmony to defeat you sister..." Stated the burning princess.

"Celestia... How..." began Nightmare Moon

"I am not Celestia! I am the new god of the sun! I AM SOL! shouted Sol, no longer hunched like the tired Celestia. Nightmare Moon smiled.

"Our fight has just become a little more intreasting..."

+++ North American East coast, Sector 271, Outside the ancient capitol, Washington D.C. +++

The fog was extremely thick. The two kilometer wide no man's land was treacherous to navigate with the two heavy machines. Thankfully Ghosts Assassin was light and nimble, and was able to scout the terrain ahead. Although never once was the cameo systems turned off. Jacobs had his radar and scanners listening to the surrounding area, looking for the maimed Sasquatch.

The duo of mechanical titans continued their march through the broken terrain, stopping for nothing. Finally something stirred on the radar.

"I got something." stated Jacobs, turning his machine towards the building that just shifted. Movement blips began popping up all over the radar.

"What the..." started Fulgrim. The broken ruins of no mans land began to shake and shutter.

"Earthquake?" asked Ghost, still no where to be seen.

"No way... We're not on the edge of a tectonic plate..." stated Jacobs. He switched his comm channel, only to find it crowded with over lapping calls. He quickly stopped trying to contact command and switched back to the squad comm. "Looks like we're not the only ones who are noticing this..." Jacobs was suddenly interrupted by the sky suddenly lighting up with a purple glow.

"Kay this is now fucked up." declared Fulgrim

"I concur..." agreed Ghost. While it was good to see them getting along for once, Jacobs had to intervene.

"Comm discipline please, we don't know what is causing this. Stay frosty." he said into the mic. The ruins around them were almost completely crumbled.

"Unknown phenonoma! Three o'clock!" yelled Ghost. Jacobs turned his cameras in the indicated direction, just in time to see a wall of seething energy engulf his Ogre. His skin tingled with static as it passed over. He quickly ran a systems check when it passed. Everything was green.

"I'm alright..." he stated in his mic, only to receive static. "Hello?" he called again. Still nothing. Jacobs turned his Ogre towards where Fulgrim was supposed to be standing, only finding empty air instead. "Fuck..." he said out loud. It was then that he noticed that the terrain around him wasn't the ruins of no mans land, instead around him were trees in various states of destruction. Great, they developed a teleporting device, and tested it out on me... Jacobs thought to himself. He quickly had the scanner scan the surrounding area, hoping to find out where he was. The surrounding area didn't match any area in Sector 271, in fact it didn't even match a location on Terra... He started the giant machine forwards, with eventual hopes of getting his comm in range of something friendly. He switched to a general channel. "This is Talon, is any one out there?" he called, getting only static in response. He kept the channel open, moving his Ogre forwards.

+++ Charging the Everfree Forest +++

Sergeant Steel Shield pushed her unit forwards, sending the retreating Lunar forces into disarray. Her charge was suddenly stopped when a wall of magical energy brushed by. In its wake, the lush and thriving trees were suddenly charred and broken, the ponies under her command remained untouched however.

"Onwards!" Steel Shield shouted rearing up again. But her words were suddenly drowned out a loud clunking sound. CLUNK....CLUNK... CLUNK...

"What the hay is that?!" Some pony shouted. There was a sound like a tree getting ripped from the ground.

"It's coming from that way!" some pony else added.

"GET IN FORMATION!" Steel Shield shouted, turning towards the unknown sounds. CLUNK... CLUNK... CLUNK... The unit of ponies waited for a few minutes, the clunks got louder and louder.

"OH MY CELESTIA..." some pony stated when the monstrosity lurched through the trees. The monster stood well above most of the trees, on two hind legs that bent backwards, two limbs sprouted from near the top, one was the unmistakable shape of a claw, while the other didn't seem to have any purpose, its dull hide was scuffed and scratched.

"STAY IN FORMATION!" Steel Shield shouted. Something turned towards them where the head should've been. The metal being stopped, as if pondering something. Every pony waited for several silent moments... Only to have the silence broken by a keening whine from behind the formation. Every pony suddenly turned their head towards the noise, Steel Shield included. Another mechanical monster reared up from behind them. Steel Shields order was forgotten by every pony, including herself, as it charged forwards.

The first monsters seemingly useless arm burped fire and thunder as it acknowledged the new arrival. The new beast swung a large blunt arm towards its target, the first one replied by smashing it aside with a sweep of its claw, and rending the limb off in the backstroke. The maimed monster back pedaled, firing burning blasts of magic from its remaining limb into the defender. Who, pushed forwards, cutting the end of the limb off with another swipe, and finally bringing its fire arm to where the attacking beasts head should have been. Another crack of thunder and the attacking being of metal slide to the ground with a groan.

+++ Unknown sector +++

Jacobs pulled the flak cannon away from the Sasquatches cockpit. It fell to the ground slowly, as if in jello. Jacobs returned his attention to the strange group of creatures below. The Ogres cameras zoomed in. They all appeared to be equine in nature, with abnormally large heads and eyes, they also were extremely short, the scanner told him only about one meter tall as the average. What puzzled Jacobs most was the fact that they appeared to be wearing armor... Very medieval looking, but armor nonetheless. He turned the disruption fields off, and knelt the Ogre down on a knee, getting a closer look. The creatures looked up with faces that were clearly intelligent, with the very human look of fear. He stood the Ogre back up, about to continue on his way... Then he saw another wall of seething energy approaching in the distance.

"Shit." Jacobs cursed. He crossed the Ogres arms and turned the emergency force shield on. Normally used when a nuclear strike is about to go off, and is only a one time use until the dedicated capacitor is recharged. A glowing shield was immediately projected out of the forearms of the Ogre, just as the wave washed over. The shield screamed, Jacobs could see the wave of energy eating the edge of the barrier. "Oh fuck..." he stated when the shield cracked. The shield almost instantly shattered, letting the energy wave roll over the Ogre like thunder.

It passed by an instant later. At first Jacobs thought it didn't do anything, his surroundings didn't change... But then the Ogre lurched backwards. He tried to lean the machine forwards in order to balance it. But the Ogre stubbornly refused to obey... Like the neural link wasn't connected correctly... It continued to sway and lurch despite everything Jacobs tried. Eventually landing straight on its back.

"Ugh..." Jacobs moaned. It was obvious that he couldn't get the Ogre back up on its feet. He reached for the hatch lever. For some reason his fist was closed... He tried to open his fingers to grab the handle, they also refused to budge.

"Fuck everything." Jacobs swore. Finally he somehow managed to bend his fist over the lever and pulled. It immediately decompressed the cabin and popped the hatch over head. He jammed his fist into the release button on his harness, making it burst apart and allowing him to pull himself out. On the lip of the hatch he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, somehow not used to his body. "Ow." he stated, looking up. The beings from earlier somehow didn't run away and were approaching hesitantly. Jacobs didn't know if they were friendly or hostile, so he tried to crawl backwards towards the fallen Ogre. They approached still, curious expressions on their faces.

"Stay away!" he yelled holding his hand out. That's when he saw his hand. Or what was his hand. Instead of the splayed fingers he was expecting... He saw a grey hoof extended in front of him. "What?" he wondered out loud, looking down at his body. Instead of the the human legs he had expected, were the forwards bending legs of a horse. He quickly felt up his new body with the new hooves. He felt the blood drain from his cheeks as he realized that he had somehow turned into one of the beings that still approached him...

+++ The Everfree Forest +++

Everypony was startled when the the giant machine suddenly projected a magical shield in front of it to meet the oncoming wall of magic... As the wall passed by they all heard the scream of arcane magic meeting the barrier, only to hear it crack like ice and shatter. Then the second wave passed by. Nothing around them changed... But something did change as several ponies screamed at once. Steel Shield rushed over to the nearest commotion. Standing there was a tall thing standing on two legs. All of the ponies nearby were staring at the creature.

"What?" it asked in fluent Equestrian.

"Star Fire... Is that you?" some pony asked.

"Yea... Why..." asked the supposed Star Fire.

"You might want to look at yourself..." another pony said, holding up a somehow very shiny piece of armor.

"Why..." began Star Fire, paling when she looked into the mirror like armor. She screamed and blacked out. Some pony caught her with his magic before she hit the ground. Suddenly everypony jumped when the surviving titan groaned.

"Get back!" yelled Steel Shield as the thing swayed dangerously. Everypony rushed back from the monster, several of the other ponies-turned-creature who didn't pass out in surprise tripped occasionally, but made it out of reach just as the colossus finally gave way to gravity and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a crunch and thunderclap.

When the dust settled everypony, and whatever the ex ponies were, walked hesitantly towards the fallen being of metal. It remained silent for several minutes. Everypony was beginning to think it was dead... Until suddenly a door opened with a hiss. They all jumped back at the sudden activity. The warmer air inside the beast escaped and produced a kind of heavy fog. Something emerged from within and fell onto the ground. The fog cleared and they all saw a Earth Pony stallion sitting on the ground. He mumbled something. Every curious pony approached the strange stallion. He crawled backwards towards the fallen monstrosity and shouted something in a gruff language. He then looked at his hoof and paled, suddenly feeling around his body, as if it wasn't what he was used to. He shouted something again, no pony understood what he was saying.

Author's Note

Had this idea several months ago while working, and as soon as I got the idea... it was just like "I gotta do this..." So! Please point out any spelling mistakes so I can fix them ASAP. And I hope everybody enjoys! :twilightsmile:

Chaos

With the Rise of Sol, the dark deity of Equestrias sun, battle in between the two fallen sisters raged anew... Driving the merged worlds further into chaos.

When the merge was complete, some humans had turned into ponies... And some ponies had turned into humans... All semblance of nationality was soon lost. Destroyed by The Merge. Former enemies found themselves on the same side, against former friends. Humans and Ponies found themselves fighting on all sides.

+++ North America, Sector 274, Chicago +++

Rattatatatatat... Rattatatatat... The machine gun bucked in Corporal Dobsons hands. The Canadian Rebels down the street ducked as the rounds zipped over head.

"Get wrecked you nerds!" he yelled over the roar of the machine gun. Sporadic fire came back towards him, only to be stopped by the sandbags in front. He kept the gun firing happily. He heard a yell as one of the rebels was hit. He laughed manically. Machine guns may be a fire magnet... But they sure are fun as hell to use. He smiled to himself.

Suddenly a wave of energy passed over head from a flanking position.

"THE FUQ?!" he yelled. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him, so he kept firing and laughing evilly. Suddenly his ear bud buzzed.
.
"Dobson! Get your ass off that gun and cover us! We got an emergency!" yelled the Sergeant. Dobson sighed, not wanting to leave his baby just sitting there... Unused and uncared for... Hey, wait a minute... A machine gun is the perfect thing to cover someone with... He thought with a smile. Despite being a scrawny Corporal, he handled the massive gun with ease. He threw a few belts of ammo over his shoulder and pulled the machine gun back with him. He then ran around some earth works in a seemingly random order, and soon found himself standing in front of the Sergeant, along with several other soldiers that seemed to be blocking something from view.

"Dobson! Why the HELL did you bring that gun here?!" yelled the graying Sergeant. Those grey hairs weren't there in basic... Dobson thought to himself.

"Now Sarge... You can't possibly think I would abandon such a beautiful lady in a war zone do you?" Dobson said sweetly as he stroked the barrel of the machine gun.

"Son... I swear... You're gonna be the death of us all..." muttered the aging man.

"Probably... But as long as someone is eating brass... I can't bring myself to care..." Dobson stated with a smile. Any moron could tell that the Sergeant wanted to section 8 the Corporal as soon as possible, but right now he was needed.

"Go make those maple syrup sipping bastards eat some brass then..." Said the disgruntled Sergeant, jamming his thumb towards a forward wall. Dobson saluted smartly and literally dove into position.

"Siryessir!" he cried out in euphoria, eagerly gunning down several rebels that thought they could advance unhindered up this street. For the most part, Dobson ignored everything behind him... Until he over heard what they were talking about in between the clattering machine gun. He looked back with concern. "WHAT THE HELL..." he began, only to interrupt himself when he saw what was behind him. The machine gun suddenly went silent as Dobsons jaw dropped. There were his squad mates... Pointing their rifles towards the Sergeant... Or what was struggling in the Sergeants fist to be precise... A... horse? A red freeking miniature horse?!

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!" Dobson cried out.

"SHUT UP AND KEEP FIRING!" yelled the Sergeant. Dobson returned to his most favorite pastime... But with less gusto than before... He kept an ear behind him as he halfheartedly pulled the trigger at the general direction of a rebel.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" yelled the Sergeant behind him.

"I...I'm Private Gates... Sir..." whimpered a familiar voice. Dobson snuck a peak backwards again. Private Gates was one of the few friends Dobson had, one of the rare people that can cope with Dobson's love of loud destructive noises. And Gates was nowhere to be seen... And the Sergeant was talking to the horse that he had grabbed by the front of the shirt. Wait... Shirt? Horses didn't wear shirts...

"Dobson!" yelled the Sergeant, who had glanced over in his direction. Dobson instantly turned back towards his task.

"STOP LYING! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!" yelled the Sergeant.

"Private Gates!" yelled the familiar voice. Dobson had put two and two together and decided that the Sergeant was yelling at the horse.

"If you really are Gates... Then what happened to the Sergeants favorite Hawaiian shirt?" Dobson called backwards.

"It was used as a Molotov when The Great Bar Raid happened..." muttered the horse.

"That's Gates." Dobson stated with absolute certainty.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY SHIRT?!" yelled the distracted Sergeant.

"We needed some cloth... but the only thing we could find was the Hawaiian shirt on your bunk." stated Dobson. "But that's beside the point... The only other one who knew what happened to it was Gates... That... Whatever the fuck he is now... Is Gates." Stated Dobson. "NOW I can finally do what I love..." he stated with a smile, eagerly gunning down rebels again. The soldiers behind him exchanged wary glances, they would all vouch for that Section 8 when the time came. But there could be no denying his words... If anyone knew Private Gates... It was the psycho that was now laughing manically with his finger brushing the trigger of the massive machine gun.

Even though the pony was apparently Gates, the rest of the soldiers kept at least two or three rifles pointed at him as they moved on.

+++ Manehatten +++

Captain Blackwing, an easy going mare, lead her small band of bat ponies and dark unicorns through Manehattens desecrated streets. Her silted eyes shifted towards every shadow, Solar fanatics were hiding through out the city to disrupt any Bat Pony operations that they could. This had diminished Blackwing's force of more than 300 bat ponies dark unicorns to less than ten... Eight as of their last encounter, and Blackwing mourned for all of those that she had lost, despite being a high ranking bat, she cared deeply for her soldiers.

"Stop..." she murmured, raising a hoof to signal a halt. The seven behind her stopped immediately. The surrounding area was silent... Too silent... She strained her ears, listening for the telltale sign of something unnatural. She soon heard it, in the form of a slightly whistling wind that somehow screamed at the same time. "Get down!" Blackwing yelled as the source became apparent. The scream of the magic wall roared past... Leaving every pony disoriented. Their surroundings had changed, the tall buildings of Manehatten were replaced by even taller variants all around them, The desecrated street before them was now completely destroyed, leaving rubble in piles.

"What the..." Some pony began, only to be stopped dead by something. Blackwing whipped her head around to see what had stopped the pony from speaking. Except there were now six ponies behind her, and a strange being that stood on two legs behind every pony, it seemed to be in confusion as it stared at its front two limbs.

"AAH!" yelled a surprised Blackwing, beating her leathery wings forwards to charge the creature.

"Wha..." it began, only to be interrupted by Blackwings hoof as she punched it. It flew backwards at the force, landing on its back with a grunt. "Wait wait!" it yelled in a familiar voice.

"Hard Hoof?!" exclaimed Blackwing, recognizing the stallions voice coming from the things mouth.

"What am I?!" he exclaimed, still looking at his front limbs. Every ponies confusion was put on hold as something exploded nearby. Every pony went silent as they knew that something exploding in a war zone wasn't a good thing.

"Hard Hoof... Anything overly different that could help us?" asked Blackwing, walking back towards the front of the group. The former pony thought for a minute.

"My eyesight is a little better..." he finally mumbled

."Good, come up here with me." Blackwing commanded. Hard Hoof got up unsteadily on his two new legs, and walked forwards, nearly tripping three times.

Suddenly a giant foot crunched right in front of where the band of eight ponies were hidden. Every pony let out a involuntary gasp as a huge metal monster walked past. Blackwing stared at it.

"Celestia never had such things... And bat ponies don't have those... What the hay is that thing?!" she whispered. Suddenly something roared down the street, Blackwing stuck her head out, trying to get a look. All she saw was several tubes that flashed and made thunderclaps. She wondered was happening and looked the other way, the direction that the monster headed. Several figures not unlike the current Hard Hoof charged towards the opposite direction, waving more tubes... Some of them fell in a spray of blood. Blackwing quickly retracted her head. "We're not going that way..." she stated, pushing the group down the alley.

"We're also not going that way..." some pony stated.

"What do you me..." started Blackwing, interrupting herself as she saw more two legged figures rushing down the alley towards them. "Buck!" she yelled "CHARGE!" she pumped her wings and dove at the new threat. Her charge startled the first one and it fell beneath her hooves quickly. Blackwing could hear the six ponies and alien behind her join in. There were more behind the approaching figures. "Buck!" she swore, her charge halting as she didn't keep enough momentum. Blackwing dealt out punches and bucks, injuring several aliens and maybe killing one or two. Finally they somehow restrained her and tied her hooves together. Blackwing and the rest of the ponies were soon sitting against the brick wall of the alley, Hard Hoof on the other hoof was untied, but the beings still pointed tubes at him. They jabbered something in a rough language at the untied ex pony.

"We don't understand you..." started Blackwing, earning surprised looks from their captors. One of them, with a grey mane, rasped something at her. "Does any pony know a translate spell?" she asked towards her fellow ponies.

"Nope."

"Nuh-uh."

"Can't."

"Buck." Blackwing stated.

+++ Cloudsdale +++

The two princesses duel had destroyed over half of Cloudsdale... The mighty cumulonimbus pillars were shattered and scattered to the wind. Ancient buildings dating back to the time of the tribes were demolished under the royal wrath of the duel... Bat Ponies and Pegasi continued their aerial battle, performing maneuvers that would've dropped the jaws of the Wonderbolts... If they were still alive that is...

"DIE USURPER!" Screamed Sol as she unleashed a torrent of radiating sunlight into her Lunar counterpart. Nightmare Moon replied with a blast of darkness. The two beams struck each other, pushing and pulling against each other, fighting for dominance. The two gods continued to push their magic into the other, until the wall of magic rushed over Cloudsdale...

Several Pegasi and Bat ponies alike instantly lost their wings and fell screaming to their deaths... Unnoticed next to the melee and the magical duel of the gods. The latter ignoring the wild magic as it didn't affect either of them.

As the dueling manifestations of the Sun and Moon continued to wage their war, something far larger and faster than a pony streaked through the crumbling clouds of Cloudsdale.

Author's Note

Hope you guys like this chapter! Or prologue part 2... of three... Anywho! I figured humans have better eyesight because of the, forward facing more proprietorial sight compared to a horse.

Consolidating

Consolidating

+++ Unusual cloud formation +++

Sergeant Airman Meghan Brown brought her Delta-271 "Drake" low over the clouds. She had just swept over some tank and walker battle in the middle of the Great Plains when a wave of energy swept over her jet plane. At first she didn't think anything of it, but then she noticed a cloud that had suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of the Drakes nose. She tried to report the incident to command, but from the sounds of it, command had enough to worry about. Something about horses of some sort. Horses couldn't bother her up in the clouds, and some strange cloud that suddenly appeared probably wouldn't gain much attention, and would probably earn her a demotion for bringing up useless clouds... Sighing, she switched off the comm.

But as the jet propelled gunship/fighter plane rocketed closer towards the cloud, it being in the way, Meghan saw BUILDINGS sprouting out of the cloud.

"What. The Hell." she stated to no one in particular, as her current mission was a solo. She veered the stick towards the strange cloud, deciding to investigate it. Multicolored dots soon came into focus around the cloud. At first Meghan thought they were birds, but then she nearly flew into one. In the briefest of glances, one of the adrenaline fueled ones that let's a person see huge amounts of detail, a... A Horse? With feathered wings... Wearing metal plates... Meghan almost immediately brought the screaming engines down to a murmur But even with the engine whispering, the machine was still going well over 100 kilometers per hour. She juked through the cloud of strange creatures, noting that some had leathery wings, while the rest had feathered wings, and the two different groups were in a battle of some kind...

She swerved through buildings and columns that wouldn't have looked out of place in ancient Rome... Taking extreme care to not clip the bizarre structure with her wings, what if they were solid? Drakes didn't build themselves after all, Meghan zipped around, exploring the strange cloud scape as a medieval aerial battle played out in it's streets. Suddenly a flash of lighting drew her attention, a sudden flash from below her craft made it very noticable. Meghan turned the engines off and activated the rotors that were in the Drakes wings, making it a very dangerous hovering gunship. She brought the nose around to point in the direction of the flash, and began to descend.

The sight that showed itself was very surprising and puzzling. Two horse like beings, a dark black one, and a burning white one, both with wings and some kind of horn, seemed to battling with some kind of laser weapon... But since lasers didn't wrestle with each other, those could easily be ruled out. She continued to stare at the fighting duo for several minutes, trying to make sense of their very existence. Such beings did not, COULD not exist on Terra... Finally they stopped firing their lasers at each other, noticing that they now had an audience. They seemed to speak to each other, if horses would talk that is... The two then glanced at her aircraft with mischievous grins.

"Fuck." Meghan stated as she brought the multi-lasers in her wings online. She then turned on a speaker that was mounted on the hull of the vehicle. "Unknown assailants... Cease all hostile actions immediately... I am Sergeant Airman Meghan Brown of The United American Alliance... Do NOT attempt to fire on me, any attempt to do so will be met with lethal force." she stated into her mic. The two pointed their horns at the aircraft, witch were now starting to glow with light. "Don't say I didn't warn you..." Meghan muttered as the multi-lasers burst into life, sending burning beams towards the duo faster than a mini-gun could. A kind of force shield appeared in front of them, blocking the barrage. Meghan turned the mic off just in time to say "Fuck."

The creatures horns began to glow once again. See if you can catch me... Meghan thought to herself as she flared the twin jet engines into life. Suddenly going so fast, the plane broke the sound barrier only 10 meters away, thankfully Humanity had somewhat mastered gravity engines, making the sudden acceleration seem like the transition from walking to running. She swooped in a large loop-de-loop, bringing the nose pointed downwards at a 90 degree angle, right over the two beings that were bound to be bewildered. Meghan armed some of her fragmentation rockets, and set the war heads so they exploded with a proximity of a meter. Reaching about 30 meters from impact, she fired the rockets downwards and pulled up. The sudden deceleration of pulling up let the sound wave of the resulting explosion catch up, Meghan quickly glanced behind the machine... Only to see the two relatively unharmed... And battling each other once again, but this time flying after her craft.

"They obviously haven't learned their lesson..." she muttered, turning back towards the nose of the aircraft. She set the engines loose again, breaking the sound barrier and scattering some of the building shaped clouds. There wasn't much that could out fly a Drake, especially when going super sonic... And certainly nothing a HORSE could use could come close... Meghan thought to herself.

Her Drake sped through the cloud city, dodging winged horses and spires with ease. Meghan absent mindlessly glanced to her right, and what she saw shook her very soul... The burning horse was RIGHT outside the transparent aluminum... And was gazing through the cockpit window AT her... It's eyes... They were miniature super novas, burning with an ancient hatred... How a horse could match the speed of the Drake, she had no idea. Even if the creature had managed to keep up, there was no way it could out outmaneuver her jet plane. Meghan tilted the Drake away and pulled out of the trajectory. The predatory jet punched through the wispy clouds underneath. Suddenly the aircraft shook.

"The hell?" Meghan asked herself while looking around. She found the answer to her dilemma when she looked at the left wing. Standing there, despite going faster than the speed of sound and partially upside down, was the dark winged horse, unfazed by the whipping elements around it. Meghan began to hear whispers. She shook her head and accelerated again. "Let's see how you like this..." she grimly whispered to herself, making the speeding jet dance. Despite the barrel rolls, juking, and other extreme maneuvers, the dark creature stood resolute on her wing. CLUNK. It took a step forwards. The whispering became louder. CLUNK. Meghan could hear distinct words now. CLUNK. The words weren't any language that she knew. But their meaning was clear.

Surrender yourself to me...

"In hell I will..." Meghan murmured in defiance, letting the twin jet engines loose once again. The whispering turned into laughter.

Do you honestly believe you can knock me off your wing?

"Absol-fucking-lutly." grinned Meghan, suddenly reversing the engines, making the jet take a instantaneous stop. Whatever force kept the creature on her wing didn't expect the sudden deceleration and the horse was thrown off her wing. The whispering disappeared. Meghan let loose a sigh of relief. Then she started to notice that she had stopped in the middle of a plaza, or what appeared to be a plaza, if one could be this high. Horses with the leathery wings began to gather on the surrounding buildings. How they managed to stand on top of a cloud, Meghan could only guess at. Suddenly her jet shook again, more violently and warning lights came on.

"Major engine damage." a calm voice stated. A holographic version of her plane appeared on her HUD, showing a massive hole that had torn through the jet engine propulsion vents.

"Fuck." Meghan whispered. There went her any escape plan that she could've thought of. But what had hit her anyway? Meghan peered out of the cockpit, looking down.

Below the now damaged jet plane, was the dark horse standing on the cloud, and pointing its horn upwards towards the jet.

Surrender mortal!

Meghan grinned to herself. Nah. She thought. Even if her jet was no longer capable of super sonic speeds, the multi-lasers still worked. And by god... She would teach these horses what the definition of "overkill" meant. The already powered multi-lasers spat searing blasts of light into the gathering bat winged ponies, who immediately surged towards her hovering jet. Several of the flying horses immediately vaporized, some were burnt into two, but most mobbed the wounded plane.

The Drake's turbines strained as Meghan tried to keep the plane under control. The HUD started to flash red.

"WARNING WARNING" the computer calmly stated. "IMMINENT DANGER PLEASE EJECT." Meghan ignored the computer and kept the multi-lasers trigger pressed, sending searing laser blasts into the swarm. One of the horses landed on the nose of the Drake, it was the strangest thing Meghan had ever saw. The bat winged horse, if that wasn't strange enough already, had cat eyes... CAT eyes... Thoughts about cats and horses were ripped from Meghan's mind as the jet swerved sideways. She wrestled with the stick, trying to keep the jet in the air.

"Command, this is Barracuda. I am going down, I repeat, I am going down."

+++ Unknown holding facility +++

Captain Blackwing awoke with a start. The past few hours were all a blur. After being captured by the strange bipedal creatures, her remaining squad were hurried to unknown locations. Where, they were put into some sort of natural "holding pen". There were about 40 other ponies in there, not including her squad. It was soon became apparent that they weren't all on the same side, as there were other Lunar Guards and Solar Soldiers as well. But it was the third, much smaller group that Blackwing was interested in. While the warring ponies were at each others throats, these few sat huddled in the corner, not understanding what was going on in between the others. That, and they spoke like the strange aliens that had imprisoned them.

Blackwing realized what had woken her up. The Solar Soldiers had started yelling again, but only louder. The Lunar forces that weren't under her command started to argue back. Thankfully, her squad had remained outside the argument.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, finally sick of the constant bickering. "We are trapped in an unknown location, held hostage by unknown aliens, and are yelling at each other when we SHOULD be trying to escape... NOW STOP BUCKING ARGUING!" This ceased all yelling, although there were still murmurs.

"I'm not listening to moon scum like you." stated a stallion unicorn in sun armor. Blackwing looked at him. His armor had more intricate designs than the average sun soldier, indicating him as a Captain. Blackwing sighed.

"And you are?" she asked.

"Captain Blueblood." stated the stallion. "Now get back on your side..." he commanded, gesturing with his hoof towards the wall behind her.

"Side?" asked Blackwing, looking around. Finding out that some pony had drawn a line in the dirt, separating the pen into two sides, Blueblood was pointing towards the obviously smaller side. "Don't you understand? We're stuck here, where ever here is, until we we can escape... And you want to continue the war in here?"

"Hmmph... Like moon scum like you can stand before the Solar Guard..."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, now get on your side."

"How much of an imbecile are you?" asked Blackwing, legitimately concerned that such an idiot had been promoted.

"You dare to call Princess Celestias nephew an im... im... an idiot!" he stammered. Blackwing rolled her eyes.

"So that's how you got above Private... A Prince would certainly get special treatment..." Blackwing smiled evilly, this "Blueblood" was now obviously Prince Blueblood, Celestias adopted nephew, an idiot by reputation. The crown Prince of the Solar Empire looked like he was about to explode.

"That's it! I'll teach you moon scum a lesson!" he yelled, as his horn began to glow. Blackwing was waiting for this. Her face took on a bored expression as her hoof shot out and knocked the irritating unicorn unconscious.

"Now that, that's settled..." stated Blackwing, her dominance clearly being obvious to every pony. "First of all, what they hay is wrong with them?" she asked pointing towards the third group of ponies that stayed away from every pony else. There were general mutterings. "What was that?" Blackwing asked.

"We don't know." one of the Solar Soldiers piped up after a moment of silence. "They seemed curious at first but they don't speak Equestrian... So they kind of... Clumped up over there. And we just sort of left them alone..."

"Does any pony know a translation spell?" Blackwing asked. One of the Solar Unicorns raised her hoof.

"I do... But we didn't have enough Unicorns to perform the spell..." she said.

"How many do you need?" asked Blackwing.

"Twelve." the Unicorn said. Blackwing did a quick count. With her squad included, they now had 13.

"We have 13 now... Can you start preparing for it?"

"Sure..." she murmured. "Just give me a couple of hours to get it ready..."

After seven hours of erasing Bluebloods line, carving runes, testing said runes, and teaching the available Unicorns what to do... They were ready, well sort of.

"All we need now is some pony to use as a reference..." said the lead Unicorn.

"A reference?" Blackwing asked.

"Well, for the spell to work, it needs a kind of reference to work from, kind of like a sample to copy." explained the unicorn.

"We could use them..." Blackwing pointed at the group of strange ponies.

"Good luck trying to get one in the circle..." stated the mare.

"Why?" Blackwing asked.

"Look for yourself." she said, pointing towards the huddled group. Blackwing looked closer, now seeing a Lunar Earth pony trying to communicate with them.

"I'll see what I can do..." Blackwing said, as she started towards the strange group. When she got there, the Earth pony was desperately trying to communicate with the strange ponies. And strange they were... Instead of the iron plate armor of the New Lunar Republic, or the magically reinforced gold brass of the Solar Empire, they had stiff green cloth that had strange symbols on the chest and shoulders. None of which made any sense to Darkwing.

"Any luck?" she asked the Earth pony stallion.

"Nope..." said the stallion. "They just don't understand Equestrian... At all..." he said.

"Go take a break... I'll try for a little while." she said. The stallion sighed with relieve and walked away. Blackwing sat down and examined the group in silence. Most of them were stallions, only one mare was in the group... Most of them didn't have a cutie mark, which was strange as they were all fully grown... The only one that did, also seemed to be the oldest. But it was the strangest thing, and it made no sense to Blackwing. It was some sort of ape skull that was wearing a beret... She had no idea what that meant, so no ideas there. They sat in silence for several minutes, studying each other, and trying to think of ideas to communicate.

Finally Blackwing had an idea. She took her hoof and drew in the dirt. It was one of the symbols on their "uniforms". A kind of arrow that pointed upwards. The ones who had the symbol inclined their heads towards her, they seemed to be the youngest of the group. That was something... Blackwing modified the symbol, by adding another upwards arrow. This gained the attention of more of them. The ones who had the modified symbol seemed to be a little older. If these arrow things signified age... Then she could use that to communicate. Somehow. Blackwing then modified the symbol so that it matched only the symbol that matched the oldest stallions vest, he was the only one with lines underneath his arrows. But this time she including a drawing of a pony standing in the middle of a rune circle. She then pointed at the stallion and pointed at the real circle. The stallion cocked his head in confusion. Blackwing repeated the gesture, and then pointed at her drawing of the pony in the circle. He nodded in apparent understanding. Then he got up and went into the middle of the enclosed space, standing in the middle of the rune circle. Blackwing followed him but stopped at the edge of the circle.

"I think we're ready." she said. The twelve Unicorns gathered around the circle, equally spaced apart.

"Ok... Start in... 3... 2... 1!" yelled the lead Unicorn. Immediately the Unicorns started to pump their magic into the circle, the stallion in the middle looked worried and scared, but he remained still. The strange pones also approached the circle, but remained behind the watching Lunar and Solar ponies. The runes began to glow and move in circles. They swirled faster and faster until suddenly they stopped. The lead Unicorn stepped forwards.

"Can you understand me?" she called. The Stallion whipped his head towards her and smiled.

"Loud and clear."

Author's Note

Merry Christmas all! I figured I'd release another chapter this week for the holidays and whatnot. And now we get to the FUN section of this story >:D

Death

+++ Four Years Later +++

Twilight awoke with a start. The last thing she remembered was explaining the Elements of Harmony to Nightmare Moon... She opened her eyes. All around her was darkness, but she still could see herself as if she was standing in sunlight. Where was she? She sat up. None of her books had said anything like this place in Equestria... She got up.

"Hello?" She called out. Nothing answered. She trotted forwards. Surprisingly, even though nothing was below her, the surface she felt under her hooves was as hard as stone. It escaped explanation. What was this place? She trotted further forwards. "Hello?" she called out again. The lavender Unicorn heard nothing in reply. She trotted forwards for what seemed to be several hours. Finally she saw something. "Hello?" she called out again. This time she heard a faint echo. She approached the spot in the darkness.

Finally she got close enough to see what the spot was. It was some kind of statue, as gray and colorless as an old photo... She walked up to it. It was a carving of some sort of bipedal skeleton that wore a robe, and was holding an Earth pony scythe.

"What is this thing?" Twilight asked out loud.

Hello Twilight Sparkle.

"AAGH!" yelled a surprised Twilight. The statue shifted, and its head turned towards her.

Do not be alarmed, I am perhaps the only deity that won't kill you on sight.

The not-a-statue's eyes burned with a ethereal blue light under its hood. "What are you?!" asked Twilight.

Me? I am known as Death.

"Death?! Did I die? What happened?! When..." began Twilight. Death seemed to chuckle. "Did I say something funny?" asked Twilight.

Both yes, and no... No, because you have not died... Not yet at least... and yes, because your questions are what mortals usually ask when they meet me.

"Wait... If you're Death... Then why are you... An ape? And if I'm not dead... Then why... How am I talking to you?" Twilight asked. Death chuckled again.

All will be revealed inquisitive one. But to do so requires a story.

"A story?" asked a confused Twilight.

If I'm not mistaken... the last thing you remember is confronting Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony?

"Yes..."

Then that is where I'll begin.

Death waved it's one of it's front limbs, and the darkness surrounding them shifted into the speeding lights of stars and nebula passing by. Twlight's pupils grew as she looked at the speeding celestial objects.

When you attempted to banish Nightmare Moon... Something went disastrously wrong with the Elements... The reasons for their failure elude even me... But regardless, the failure resulted in a feat of magic that not even your Princess Celestia could have managed. And it resulted in this.

The shifting cosmos suddenly stopped, over looking the glowing pearl of an alien world.

"What is..." began Twilight, only to stop herself when she started to recognize familiar landmarks that were mixed with unfamiliar land. "No... No way..."

Yes... The Elements of Harmony whisked Equis into an entirely different dimension, and combined two worlds into one. The resulting world... Is the planet you see before you.

"How..."

I know you have questions, but please wait for me to finish... I do not know how it happened, as Equestrian magic is not a subject I am familiar with. But this new world isn't the only change that was wrought by the Elements failure...

Death looked back towards the planet.

Your Princess Celestia, she did not survive the transition. But her death was not caused by the shift however... It was caused by the rise of a new deity, Sol... The ruler of the newly formed Solar Empire.

"Wait, you mean that the same thing that happened to Princess Luna, happened to Princess Celestia?"

In essence... Yes.

"So... What else happened?"

When the magic of Equestria flooded into Terra, and the little magic of Terra flooded into Equestria...

"Terra?" Twilight asked.

Terra is the name of the world that merged with Equestria. But instead of being inhabited by ponies... It is occupied by a single technologically advanced race of apes, known as humans. But instead of a united nation like Equestria, they are split apart by war and strife. But, as I was saying... When the "magic" of the two worlds mixed, some ponies were transformed into humans, and some humans were turned into ponies. This, as you can imagine, caused widespread chaos and panic through out both worlds.

"Chaos?"

Yes, for the first few months, or "moons" as you ponies say, the situation was wild and chaotic. So chaotic in fact, some military units on all sides turned against their former commanders. Some were forced to, some willingly switched sides, but regardless, humans and ponies ended up on all sides... Forming the Solar Empire, The New Lunar Republic, and The United Terran Commonwealth.

"The New Lunar Republic? Did Nightmare Moon survive?" Twilight asked. Death turned its ethereal gaze back towards Twilight.

Yes, Nightmare Moon did survive. And is the main reason that the ascension of Sol occurred.

"So, where do I fit in this mess?" Twilight asked. Death chuckled again.

An excellent question... My master, Fate, believes that it is your fault that its master plan can no longer be fulfilled.

"Your a servant?"

The Winds of Fate determine who lives, and who dies. As such, who dies isn't my decision. My sole duty is steal the souls of the deceased and ferry them into the after life. However, the merging of the worlds destroyed the future that Fate had decreed to be so. And it believes you to be the cause.

Death turned its gaze back towards the floating planet.

"But I didn't do anything!" yelled Twilight.

I know you did not Twilight. Which is why I am the only deity out of the four current deities that won't kill you on sight. I have attempted to reason with Fate, but it is difficult to convince a maelstrom of wind to change its mind.

"Fate is... a gust of wind?"

Which is why it is difficult to convince Fate to change its mind. Regardless however, Fate has blamed you for its failure, but, as I said before... When I attempted to convince Fate to change, it agreed on one condition...

Death looked into Twilights eyes.

You must restore balance to our warring worlds.

"Restore? Balance?" asked Twilight.

Harmony, I trust you know what that means. To aid you... I offer this...

Death waved its front limb again and an orb of ethereal magic floated into Twilights horn

Find the Elements... Find your friends...

Twilights vision began to blacken.

Fate has kinder fates for your friends, as they were not the cause... But the same cannot be said for you... Fate will not be kind. Go Twilight Sparkle, our time is almost done. Find your friends and the Elements! Restore our worlds!

Twilight fell onto the invisible ground.

RESTORE HARMONY!

Author's Note

Lots of old information I know... But then again... We now have a story :pinkiehappy::pinkiecrazy::pinkiehappy:

Luna

+++A strange alleyway +++

Twilight woke up again. Memories of Death flooded her mind... Along with new memories that she knew she didn't make. A language that she never learned, knowledge of a different world... An alien world. Twilight got up with unsteady legs.

"Hello? Are you alright?" called a strange voice speaking the strange rough language. Twilight looked up, her vision swam. A tall figure was silhouetted against a bright light.

"Where... Where am I?" Twilight asked, also in the strange language. She put her hoof over her mouth, surprised at the ease of speaking it.

"Are you okay?" the figure asked again, who was approaching. Twilight struggled forwards. "You don't look so good..."

"I'm alright..." Twilight said drunkenly.

"Seriously... You don't look so good ma'am..." Said the silhouette. Twilight tried to clear her head by shaking it. It didn't work.

"I'm fine." stated Twilight with as much focus as she could muster. Death had told her that Fate would not be kind. She had no reason to trust any pony, except her friends of course. All she had to do was find them.

"Miss?" said the tall creature. Blend in, don't trust any pony... Find your friends... Find the Elements...

"I'm fine... Thank you for your concern... But I must really be going..." Twilight said, trying to clear the fuzz out of her mind. She took a step forwards, and fell forwards.

"Let me help you..." said the figure. Twilight felt herself being lifted.

"I'm all right..." groaned Twilight.

"No you're not... Ponies shouldn't get into human booze..." the tall creature chuckled.

"I haven't been into this... Booze?" Twilight stated with a questioning tone.

"So drunk she doesn't know what she's been drinking..." chuckled her carrier. "Come on... You need to get over your hangover." After that Twilight passed out again.

+++ Unknown surroundings +++

Twilight woke up again with a start, for the third time in only Celestia knew how long... Oh yeah... Celestia didn't exist anymore... Twilight rolled over in the bed she was laying in. Wait... Bed?! She sat up in haste. She was in a tall room, taller than any pony room that she had ever seen, at least outside of Canterlot Castle... She stood up on the bed. The room had gray wall paper, and was sparsely decorated. A tall dresser sat in the corner. She didn't feel groggy or tired anymore. Find your friends... Find the Elements... She shook her head.

"Alright... I don't know where I am... I have to assume that I'm in danger..." Twilight murmured to herself. She readied any spells that might come in handy. Hopping off the bed, she approached the door, which stood nearly as tall as Celestia... Well, as tall as she would've been... Twilight tried to push the door open, only to find that it wouldn't budge. "Okay..." she silently whispered. Suddenly the new found knowledge Death gave her kicked in. Turn... Turn the door knob? She turned the knob with her magic. The door swung open on it's own. "Well, buck..." Twilight stated in a murmur. She poked her head outside the room. Outside was a hallway, as tall as the room she woke up in. The walls were also covered in the same gray wallpaper. It was lit by very bright lights that were harsh compared to the electric lights of Equestria... "What is this place?" she wondered out loud.

Twilight quietly slipped out of the room and tip-hoofed down the hall. She had passed by two other doors when she found a staircase that lead downwards. The other direction in the hallway had seemed like a dead end. The staircase seemed much too steep for a pony to use, but Twilight made her way down, carefully making sure she didn't trip. The stairs at the bottom seemed to lead to some sort of dinning room with two exits. However the table and chairs seemed too tall for a pony to use... She then noticed something sitting with its back towards her. Twilight froze almost immediately.

"Hello there." the figure said in a mares voice, in the strange language that had been dumped into Twilight's head. It turned around. Suddenly Death's knowledge activated again. She, the creature was a she.

"Hello?" answered Twilight. The creature smiled in a surprisingly pony like way.

"I'm surprised you're awake already... Alcohol usually makes ponies unable to do anything for several days at least..." she chuckled. "You must be suffering from a monstrous hangover..."

"Hangover?" asked Twilight. Then her given memory kicked in. "Oh..." She decided to play along with the human, who seemed to know a little about ponies. "Yea... Um... I cast a alcohol filter on myself, it let's me... Get sober quicker..." Twilight tried to give the strange creature a reassuring smile.

"An alcohol filter?" the female human looked amused. "I never heard of an alcohol filter as a spell before..."

"Yea... It's a spell of my own design..." Twilight looked down in mock embarrassment.

"Interesting..." stated the human, who turned back around. "I've never heard of a Unicorn citizen who makes their own spells before..."

"It's not that rare... And how do you know so much about Unicorns?" asked Twilight.

"You could say that I've spent some time around Ponies..." stated the human in perfect Equestrian. "By the way... How do you know English so well?" she continued in the strange language. English? Oh she must be referring to the language Death gave her.

"I... I've picked it up here and there..." Twilight lied.

"I see..." the human said as she took a sip of what smelled like coffee. Twilight didn't know what else to say... At least what wouldn't raise any red flags to the human.

"Well... Thank you for your hospitality Miss..."

"My name is Luna Morningstar..." The human said. Twilight nearly fell over from surprise. "Luna" looked at her. "What?" she asked, turning around to face the lavender unicorn again.

"Nothing... It's nothing..." Twilight tried to reassure the symbolically named human. "I just remembered that I have an appointment to get too..."

"You were drinking... When you have somewhere to get to the following morning?"

"Yes." Twilight confidently stated as she approached a door, trying to get the conversation over with.

"You're braver than I am... Street's that way by the way..." Luna said as she pointed towards the other exit.

"Haha... Silly me... Any way, thank for for getting me off the street Miss Morningstar..." Twilight said polity as she opened the door to the outside.

"Any time... It's brutal here on the moon... Even with Nightmares forces keeping the peace..." Morningstar said nonchalantly. Twilight stopped involuntarily.

"T... The moon? Nightmare?" she stammered.

"You didn't know you're on the moon? Wow... You must've gotten hammered..." the human said as she took another sip of her coffee. Thoughts ran through Twilight's head faster than Rainbow Dash. I'm on the moon? Ha ha... Ha... There's no way... She's just saying that to psych me out... Well I'll show her...

"Oh yea! The moon! I've only been here a few days... I've still got to get used to it..." Twilight lied as smoothly as she could... Still not very well. "Well... I'll be seeing you... Well... Maybe not... Who knows how big this place is?"

"Yes... Who knows how big this place is..." "Luna" said as she took another sip of her coffee. "Good luck out there." Twilight smiled disarmingly at the still siting human as she went through the door.

Twilight shut the door behind her quietly as the sounds of a street filled her ears. Phew... Normal street... Normal house... Normal hustle and bustle... Norm... Twilight interrupted herself as she turned around. A mixture of humans, ponies, and armed bat ponies met her sight, flowing in between tall buildings that were made of metal. But that wasn't what had grabbed her attention. No, that Blue, green, brown, and grey pearl in the sky however, did. While only slightly bigger than the moon she was used to, the obvious signs of life and water made it vastly different. Play it cool Twilight... You're supposed to be here...

+++ Lunar Apartment #390, Room 40223-A +++

"Luna" Morningstar sipped her coffee. The red haired American women in her late twenties pulled a cell phone out of one of her jean pockets. She set the mug of coffee down and dialed a number.

"Hello citizen... I am sorry but this number has been disabled..." the monotone voice of a prerecorded message began to play

"By the light of dawn... Let there be hope." she stated into the microphone.

"Connecting..." The message suddenly stated. The American waited for several seconds before she heard the distinctive click of the other end being picked up.

"It's Carrie... I've found Dusk... I repeat I've found Dusk."

Apple Territory

+++ Unknown Location +++

RESTORE HARMONY!

Applejack opened her eyes when somepony shouted in her ear. She immediately regretted doing so as morning sunlight seared her groggy eyes.

"Ow!" she moaned as she rubbed her eyes with her hooves. After a few moments of getting her eyes to adjust, Applejack began to examine her surroundings. She was surrounded by a sort of stunted tree, the grass she laid on was grimy and had an oily feel to it, and bits of garbage was littered everywhere... "Dang-nabbit... Whai can't some ponies clean up afer them selves?" Applejack wondered out loud. She stood up on shaky legs. Despite their unquestionable strength...They felt like they haven't been used in years... "Best way ta get active is ta BE active..." Applejack reminded herself as she began to bend down to pick up the litter with her mouth. She stopped immediately when she caught a whiff of the smell. "Ain't no way in Equestria am Ah puttin' that in mah mouth..." she mumbled to herself as she kicked the burnt roll of paper towards to where she hoped she could put a pile. "Just a disgrace that somepony let their orchard get in this state..." she continued to grumble as she kicked a fairly large piece of crumbled metal towards to where she already had a large pile of rubbish.

Soon, the orange workpony had a very large pile of garbage, and didn't know half of what she had collected.

"Now all Ah got ta do is get a trash bucket over here... Or somethin'..." Applejack stated as she finished her task. She then made her way towards the wall of trees and shrubs, and poked her head through. Her jaw literally hit the ground.

Tall steel buildings arced high into the sky around her. the area around her was grassy and played host to both ponies, and some sort of bald two legged ape... But what immediately drew her attention was the over abundance of trash and litter that seemed to grow with every passing second, dropped by both ponies and ape. "Buck that then..." she murmmered to herself, not wanting to draw attention. Despite the ponies also walking around in a park that was very similar with Manehattens park... She felt like she would stick out like a sore hoof. Especially if she kept trying to clean up the trees. A pair of apes suddenly walked past, making Applejack duck her head back into the bush. She overheard them muttering something in a harsh gibberish.

"What the hay was that?" she whispered to herself, unsure of what these strange apes were... And what any ape could be talking about... Was any ponies guess... "Wait a cotton pickin' second..." She mumbled silently to herself, realizing a very important detail. "If them monkeys are talkin'... Then they obviously are thinkin'!" she exclaimed silently. Applejack then began to wonder why any pony would WANT to live in the same area as these ape things... Because, seriously. She could smell them from here for Pete's sake! Regardless of funny smelling monkeys however, it was soon obvious that she wouldn't be able to do much from hiding in the bushes.

Applejack kept an eye out for a group to slip behind so she wouldn't be noticed, something just didn't sit quite right about these strange monkeys in her head. So, when Applejack was sure no pony/ weird monkey thing was looking she slipped out of the bush behind a group of ponies that seemed to know what they were doing. While following them she over heard bits and pieces of their conversation... Particularly the voice of a larger forest green earth pony mare.

"Damn that little yellow brat... Just because she inherited that infernal monopoly from her brother doesn't mean that she rules the world!" she whisper screamed.

"Calm down Cab... You know just as well as I do that a little filly can't run a company... much less a business like that for long." stated a vegetable green pegasi stallion. "All we gotta do is make Apple Industries a little unstable..." Applejack nearly stopped when she heard 'Apple Industries' But her curiosity kept her from losing track of the conversation.

"I don't know Cel... I just don't like the look on the little bitch's face when she announced our bomb threat..." BOMB THREAT?! Applejack began trotting at a faster rate to hear everything more clearly. "I mean... Come on! What sick little freak SMILES when announcing that?!" "Cab" asked with a shudder.

"A monster... Which is exactly what Applebloom is..." "Cel" stated. Applebloom... A monster?! Applejack didn't at all like what these ponies were saying... And any pony that did insult one of her family members deserved a good bucking... So, anyone that did know Applejack probably wouldn't have been surprised at her reaction.

"What now about Applebloom?" she asked in a deathly serious tone. The group stopped when they heard Applejack's Southern accent. The mare that went by the name of Cabbage Patch turned around with a wicked grin.

"Well well well... Look who's out of their orchard..." The other ponies began to take up aggressive stance around Applejack. "And didn't your inbred mother teach you to not eavesdrop?" Cabbage grimly stated. Inbred?! INBRED!?!

"Oh nelly, first you call mah sister a monster, THEN ya have the gall to call mah mother INBRED?!" yelled Applejack. The surrounding ponies immediately broke down into hysterical laughter.

"You think Applebloom is your SISTER?!" Cabbage Patch laughed. "Look boys, the perfect example of Apple Family genetics!" the forest green mare began wiping tears from her eyes with her fetlock. "Earth to the Apple loser! You're one of her cousins!" she called out to Applejack. Who was now gritting her teeth.

"Take. That. Back. Right. NOW." Applejack ordered.

"Or what? Look around little Apple... You're outnumbered and surrounded..." Cabbage smirked.

"Last chance..." Applejack warned.

"Aw... How cute!"

"Goin' once..." Earth pony magic flooded Applejack's body as her muscles tensed.

"The inbred Apple thinks she can win!"

"Goin' twice..." Buck McGilicutty and Kicks McGee locked into the famous position that the Apple Family was known for.

"Maybe I'll send your 'sister' videos of your death throes!"

"Sold to the gentlecolt RIGHT behind me..." Applejack stated grimly as she bucked the stallion that was attempting to sneak behind her. CRUNCH. The surrounding ponies charged forwards all at once, straight into a waiting Applejack. She bucked another mare behind her and then used the mare as a launch pad, propeling Applejack straight towards Cabbage Patch. Applejack's right hoof collided with a stallions muzzle as she charged forwards, knocking several teeth out and sending him flying backwards as the charging orange mare made her way past. She was soon in front of Cabbage, whose eyes seemed to bulge as she saw Applejack's angry gaze. And after seeing her knock out a full grown stallion with out breaking stride... Cabbage collapsed to ground after fainting. Applejack smirked smugly and lept over the unconscious mare.

More ponies began approaching the fight as they saw the orange mare leap over the sleeping Cabbage. Soon there were over 20 ponies all glaring at Applejack in anger. Sirens began to resonate in the distance. The police won't get here in time... She thought to herself as the ponies edged closer.

"Only one thing ta do!" she stated out-loud. While AJ could've handled six or seven... 20 was a whole other thing that she couldn't deal with. And judging by the looks of these ponies... They wouldn't be stopping even after the police show'd up... Thankfully there was no pony blocking an escape route now... Applejack turned tail and galloped away as fast as her legs could carry her. Her ears flicked backwards to hear the thundering hooves that were now following her.

Applejack didn't know how far or how long she ran. She had turned multiple corners in her efforts to get away from the angry ponies... She had lost most of them, but there was still eight of them that were determined to beat her into a pulp. And the flashing blue and red lights! They were everywhere! They reflected off the metal and glass surfaces, making the city jungle an even harder mirror maze. They hurt Applejack's eyes when ever one of them flashed. She slide into a turn that looked generally safe compared to everywhere else... Only to run into a dead end alley...

"Buck!" she yelled. The rapid sounds of hooves hitting the strange surface under hoof got louder, and one of the blue/red sirens was also getting closer...

"Psst! AJ!" some pony whispered from a shadowy doorway. Applejack turned towards the noise and nearly froze.

"Braeburn?!" she exclaimed. "What the hay are you doing here?!"

"No time to explain! Get in!" The caramel stallion stated as he gestured for Applejack to enter the door behind him. Braeburn was family... And Family could be trusted... Applejack thought as she lept into the door behind Braeburn.

Author's Note

Ending of this chapter was a bit rushed :/

Moon Lit Gems

RESTORE HARMONY!

"Huh what?" Rarity snapped awake. This wasn't Carousel Boutique... The area around her was dark. The last thing she remembered was... "Nightmare Moon!" she exclaimed. Her horn lit up and her surroundings was revealed. It appeared to be an alley way in Canterlot or Manehatten... But it was ridiculously more dirty. Rarity shuddered. Her horn lit up brighter and the boxes and other refuse began floating into a nice and eye pleasing statue... Well, as eye pleasing as garbage could be really... And the rearing stallion she made was too boxy for her tastes... The white unicorn checked her pristine coat and mane to make sure they were still pristine, they were. She sighed. "Now why am I in such an uncouth place such as this..." Rarity murmured to herself. She trotted out of the alley way, only to find more closely packed alley ways leading in different directions. Sighing once again, Rarity chose one at random and made her way down the dark walkway.

It was like a labyrinth. No, it WAS labyrinth. The alley ways lead in every direction imaginable. She even once saw a stair way going upwards... The sky was black, but she was able to see a silver moon in between the buildings occasionally. The walls on ether side were made of every material imaginable, from red brick to mirrored glass, brushed steel to some sort of dull black material that had no cracks or blemishes... There was trash every where, At first Rarity had tried levitating things out of the way, but she slowly regressed to just avoiding the heaps of refuse and magiking whatever got on her coat off.

Suddenly something shifted behind her. She turned around and lit her horn so she could she better.

"Who's there?" she called. But her pupils became pinpricks. Before her, looming in the shadows, was a monster. It was made of the same brushed steel that had made some of the buildings, but it's back was hunched like a vulture, it's forelegs ended in what appearing to be drills, tubes and some sort of claw thing... The four hind legs... If they could've been called that, were gripping onto the buildings nearby, giving it an insect-like appearance. But the most frightening thing of all, was it's head. It's eyes shifted and changed, constantly observing it's surroundings, giving it a soulless gaze. It emitted a noise that sounded like speech. It looked at her as if expecting an answer, other than that however, it didn't move.

"Uhhh... Sorry?" Rarity asked in a very unlady like manner.

"Equestrian confirmed. Over riding default language barrier for citizen: Please show identification." it blurted in broken Equestrian... It. Talked? Rarity reached out with her magic to try and discern what this thing was. "Cease any and all telekinetic abilities immediately." It buzzed as it pointed one of it's arms at the unicorn. Rarity took a step back. "Please show identification." it droned again, advancing back into uncomfortable range.

"I... I uhh..." Rarity stuttered, backing up a few more steps.

"Show your identification." It wasn't a question, it was an order. More of the tubes on it's arms turned towards Rarity. How it was possible without magic, she didn't know, but here it was in front of her as plain as day. "Show your identification or come with me to Police Headquarters." It stated. While it did so, Rarity noticed a crescent moon painted on the metal... It most certainly wouldn't be a good idea to go with this... Thing...

"I must've left my identification at home! Ha ha... Silly me..." She tried to say convincingly.

"Citizen showing increased heart rate. Brain scans indicate attempt at deception. Show your Identification or you will be required to be destroyed." It leveled more of it's very scary weapons at her. Rarity had no idea what to do.

"I uh..." She stammered, trying to be able to say something convincing. But she was spared by a green glowing flying object that landed on the machine monster's head.

"Bzzzzzt!" The monster buzzed in surprise. The glowing object raised a black horn and shot the machine in it's soulless eyes.

"Rarity! Run!" some pony yelled. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, and it knew her name... Rarity wasn't sure if that was good or very bad... But she followed it's advice and ran. She saw several more glowing green things and more of the metal horrors. They both swarmed the alleys like ants, fighting and destroying each other in both close quarters and ranged combat.

Rarity ran for her life through the chaotic melee. The beings of metal made screeching noises while the glowing attackers were deathly silent, except for the screams of magic that they let loose. A monster fell in front of her, showing it's insides to be a complex series of gears, wires, and green boards. It twitched as the insides sparked, then it was silent. As she was running, she saw several of the horrors descend on a trapped black creature that had stopped glowing. She heard it's very pony like screams like it was in her ear. She looked around for somewhere to go, but all around the white unicorn was oily and bloody chaos. Finally she spotted a flash of white round a corner. There was another white pony trapped in this nightmare! Rarity wasted no time trying to follow the mysterious white coat. She turned the corner just in time to see a flash of white go around another bend. She followed the mysterious pony for several more turns, barely seeing who ever owned it each time she made a turn.

Rarity had been chasing the flash of a white coat for several minutes now... And with each turn, it seemed there was less and less fighting going on until there were only the shifting shadows that sparked into blazing green magic as they got closer to the battle. Finally Rarity saw a small filly with a white coat look at her as she turned the corner.

"Wait!" Rarity called. It was a filly... She shouldn't have been out this late... In obviously dangerous areas... She... Those thoughts were interrupted as Rarity rounded the same corner... Only to find her self in the middle of a swarm of the shadow things. They didn't hurt her, they just ignored her, barely brushing Rarity with their wing tips as they buzzed by. Finally when the swarm was gone... There wasn't a trace of the small filly that she had followed. And it was a dead end.

Author's Note

Kind of a short chapter, but I honestly feel like I put more into this chapter than I originally planned. Although in this case that's a good thing.

Chromatic Fidelity

RESTORE HARMONY!

"Get up you useless pegasi!"

"Wha?" Rainbow Dash said groggily.

"Do you want to get killed?!" Rainbow cracked her eyes open and regretted it immediately... The sun light was nearly four times as extreme as it was in Ponyville, and it bounced off the many pale sandy buildings around where Rainbow lay. Wait, what? Rainbow looked at her surroundings again, short huts made of sandstone and logs surrounded the cyan pegasi, but something else grabbed her attention.

"Get the hell up if you want to live!" screamed a brown unicorn stallion that stood above Rainbow. Something tall blocked the sunlight from that direction. It yelled something as it charged. "Shit!" yelled the unicorn. His horn flared blue and the shadow erupted a fountain of blood. "Get moving!" the stallion yelled, bucking Rainbow lightly. She got up wearily.

"Wha hoppen?" she slurred. Something exploded in the distance.

"Come on! We need to move now!" The stallion yelled, charging into the sunlight. Rainbow got onto her hooves as best as she could and followed the brown unicorn.

"What's going on?!" she called ahead.

"Are you blind?! The human resistance cell is going on the offensive again!" he screamed at Rainbow Dash.

"Uh... What?" She asked. The stallion opened his mouth to reply when another tall creature emerged from a nearby hut. It's hind legs bent backwards, the fore limbs were raised high, holding what looked like a corrupted version of the Royal Canterlot Guards' spears, it was clothed in sandy cloth that covered the entirety of it's bipedal body. It screamed as it charged towards Rainbow.

"Whoa!" Rainbow yelled as she dodged the bizarre spear. Which embedded itself in the sand under hoof. With a roar of rage the biped ripped it's weapon out of the sand and lunged forwards. Rainbow punched the oncoming blade away with one hoof and delivered another hit to the creatures head, knocking away its cloth covering. It staggered backwards reeling from the hit... Rainbow grimaced at the exposed creatures face... When she described it later, she would use a single word... Ugly. With another roar, the biped lunged forwards again. But a blue aura surrounded the creature and was hurled into the distance, making it drop the spear.

"Come on!" the stallion yelled as he levitated the strange spear towards him.

"Why are you taking that thing with you?" Rainbow asked the strange stallion. But he ignored her and continued galloping through the sandstone huts. Several more of the two-legged creatures rounded the corner behind her and started yelling in a harsh tongue. Rainbow decided to follow the brown unicorn and dashed forwards. She soon caught up with the stallion as he bounded through the maze of sandstone huts and wells.

A yelling group of creatures suddenly were in front of the pony duo. They yelled even louder as they nearly bumped noses with the stallion and mare. The unicorn levitated the strange spear in front of him.

"Are you cra..." Rainbow began, only to be interrupted by the roaring thunder that the strange spear spat. The group of creatures shuddered under the barrage of fire, small explosions of blood erupting where ever they were touched by the deadly weapon.

"Gotta love human technology." The stallion grunted as the last one fell to it's knees. He tossed the weapon aside. "Too bad most of it isn't pony compatible though..." All Rainbow could do was hover there, jaw nearly hitting the sandy ground as she took in the carnage before her.

"What was that?!" she yelled after a moment or too.

"What was what?" the stallion asked as he levitated several more of the death weapons onto his saddle bags.

"That with the... Uh... Powpowpow! Bangbangbang!" Rainbow exclaimed. All the stallion did was raise an eyebrow at her.

"You've never seen a AK-194 before?" he deadpanned.

"No!"

"How long have you been posted here?" He asked, eyebrow raising even higher.

"Uh... First day!" Rainbow stated.

"Didn't command give you a briefing or..."

"Command?"

"Great... Another one... Look just keep your head down and try not to die..." He stated as he trotted towards another opening. Rainbow hovered after the stallion.

"Wait! Another one? Keep my head down? Try not to die?! What in Equestria is going on here!" she yelled at the stallion.

"LOOK PRIVATE! I'M IN CHARGE HERE! DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION ME!" The stallion yelled, suddenly turning on Rainbow.

"Well excuuuuse me Mr. Weird brown unicorn guy..." Rainbow muttered.

"Why you..." The stallion began, only to be interrupted by a large earthquake. His pupils became pinpricks. "Run." he stated.

"Why..." Rainbow began.

"Run! Now!" he yelled as he dashed away. Another earthquake. Rainbow wasted no time, something in the stallions voice left no room for debate, and charged after the running unicorn. More earthquakes ensued. Finally he stopped behind a pile of rubble.

"What are you running from? Why..." she began.

"Shh!" he hushed.

"What are we hiding from?" she whispered.

"Shut up! It's hunting us!" he whispered back. Suddenly the source of the earthquake stepped next to the pile of rubble. The two ponies tried to mimic the dead as whatever it was paused. Suddenly a shadow passed over head and the earthquakes began rumbling away.

"If you think a AK is a sight to see... Then watch this..." The stallion stated as he rummaged in his saddle bags. Rainbow looked over the pile of rubble only to have her breath stolen. Striding away was a bipedal monster of metal, easily standing high over the tallest of the sandstone huts, it's fore limbs waved through the air as if sniffing the air.

"What is that thing?!" she stammered. The stallion ignored her as he found what he was looking for.

"Badlands command, this is Captain Bronzewall... Requesting deployment of Thunderstrider in section 12..." he said into some strange device floating in his telekinesis.

"What are you doing?!" Rainbow whispered as the metal monster turned back towards the pile of rubble.

"Request confirmed and granted Bronzewall... Please standby." the device said, not caring at all for noise.

"Get down dumbass." the stallion stated, pulling Rainbow back to the ground.

"Standby..."

"What are..."

"Thunderstrider has been dispatched, ETA... 7... 6..." the thing chirped. A roar could be heard in the distance.

"You..." Crashing accompanied the roaring.

"4... 3..."

"Sit the hell down colorful one."

"2..."

"Why..."

RRRAAAWWWRRGGGGGHHH!!

Rainbow looked directly upwards. Looming over head, was the terrifying visage of a metal Ursa Minor... It roared a challenge at the metal biped, which stepped forwards in acceptance.

"We might want to get the hell away... Like right now... As in five seconds ago..." The stallion muttered, pushing Rainbow away from the pile of rubble. She wasted no time in getting away from the dueling titans of steel.

"What are those things?!?" she yelled at the stallion.

"The humans word for them are walkers! Roughly translated of course..."He stated as they ducked behind more cover.

"Alright buddy... I want to know what in Tartarus is going on... And I want to know it NOW." Rainbow commanded. All the stallion did was laugh. "What's so funny?!" Rainbow yelled.

"You said Tartarus! No one says Tartarus any more!" he giggled. Rainbow stared at him.

"What the hay are you talking..." She started, but then her head exploded into a star burst of pain, light dazzled in her eyes as she blacked out.

Party Animal

RESTORE HARMONY!

Pinkie Pie was on her hooves immediately.

"Wow! What a dream!" she exclaimed happily. "It was all like Imma get you Nightmare Moon! and she was like Noooo! and then we were like Yaas! Hehehehehe!" she giggled happily. Suddenly she took notice of her surroundings. "Oh! What's this? Whats that? How's this?" she exclaimed, happily bouncing in between the various pieces of trash that littered the alleyway that she had found herself in. "Huh... I didn't know they had tankard's this big in Ponyville..." she stated to herself. "I also didn't know that any pony had Mare Gras masks in Ponyville... Oh well!" she giggled as she put said mask on. "Oh! What's over there!" she exclaimed as she rapidly bounced into the street. "Hi there!" she exclaimed at a strange diamond dog-like creature that she passed by. It looked at her funny, but continued on it's way without a word. She bounced down the road happily humming to herself. But then another diamond dog-like creature came out of a building and threw another creature out. "Hey! That place looks like fun!" Pinkie hummed as she entered the building.

Inside was hazy with foul smelling smoke and the smell of strange cider. But Pinkie didn't care... Well, about the smoke that is... The cider was a different story!

"Hey there!" Pinkie yelled at the pony running the bar. "Can I get a Sweet Apple Acres Hard cider?" The pony behind the counter looked at her funnily.

"We don't have Sweet Apple Acres..." she chuckled.

"Oh..." Pinkie stated, her hair deflating a little. "What's the closest ya got?!" she asked, her eyes suddenly only a few centimeters away from the mares eyes.

"Uh... I think that would be Apple Industries Brandy... But I wouldn't..."

"I'll take it!" screamed Pinkie.

"But ponies can't..."

"I'LL TAKE IT!" Pinkie screamed again. The mare gulped and brought her the drink.

"Be careful with..." she began, only to see a now empty mug sitting on the table. "How..."

"I like it... Another!" Pinkie yelled, throwing the mug onto the floor. The mare gulped, and was about to reply.

"Well it looks like the pink pony can hold her liquor..." a nearby diamond dog thing slurred. "Tell you what... If you can drink more than me... I'll pay for as many drinks as you want... But if I can drink more than you... You pay for all my drinks..." the stallion sounding thing asked. Another diamond dog like thing growled something at him, but Pinkie didn't catch it. On a completely different topic however, she already knew what her answer was.

"Bring it on monkey boy!" she yelled, slamming down the brandy that the bar mare just set down. She let out a squeaking hiccup after a few seconds of looking forwards. All the diamond-monkey thing did was smile, and chugged his own drink.

~~~ 48 minutes later ~~~

"Oh god! My stomach!" the diamond-monkey yelled. Pinkie however was unfazed. She poured another mug into her mouth and hiccuped cutely after a moment of staring happily ahead. The diamond-monkey's face paled. Another alcoholic beverage was brought before him. He just looked at it and passed out. The mare behind the counter put Pinkies hoof into the air.

"Winner!" she yelled to the crowd of watching diamond-monkeys and ponies.

"Drinks for every pony!" Pinkie yelled. "Let's get this parTAY started!" The crowd cheered.

"Ugh..." moaned the drunken diamond-monkey as he woke up again.

"Hey now! That isn't a way to spend a party!" Pinkie giggled, pulling the diamond-monkey to his feet. "Move those... weird pointy club things..." Pinkie trailed off as she pointed at the ovoid feet the diamond-monkey stood on. She blinked. "PARTAY!" she screamed into the diamond-monkey's face.

"Ah thinksh... Imma go hom..." he slurred.

"But the party's just getting started... What was your name again?" Pinkie blinked at the drunkard.

"Dobson... Sergeant James Dobson..."

Author's Note

I'm soooo sorry this is so short... My only excuse is... Hey, it's Pinkie Pie, nuff said... And if I did an entire chapter on her madness, then odds are I'd probably succumb to said madness as well... So for your sanity, my sanity, and just so the fourth wall remains as unmolested as possible... Any future Pinkie chapters will be shorter than the rest.

AND relating to the actual content of the chapter... Come on... You guys HAD to have seen Dobson meeting Pinkie sooner or later...