Many years had passed since that fateful day, the day when Equestria was forever changed. The Alicorns that protected their world and controlled the balance of day and night were lost, as were the six ponies that saved and defended Equestria on numerous occasions.

But this day would be different. Nopony knew what was happening in Canterlot, since the day of the war the Invaders had taken it, probably to perform horrendous experiments on the few inhabitants that were left.

It was now within sight, Shining Armor looked out over the hill and saw the remains of Canterlot, still smoldering. Behind him stood thousands, all wearing the armor that was once worn by the Equestrian royal guard. It was an even mixture of Earth Ponies, Pegasi , and Unicorns, even changelings, all ready and waiting to take back their former kingdom. Shining Armor knew that the Crystal Empire was in a much similar state at this time, but among those lost was Princess Cadence herself. The most puzzling thing about it all however was the fact that none of the Alicorns, or any of the six was confirmed to have died. They just seemed to have vanished on the day of the invasion.

The sun still rose, as did the moon. The ones who conquered Equestria declared that it was their own technology that was rotating the planet to give rise to the sun and moon, but Shining Armor never trusted anything the overlords said.

Finally, the moment had arrived. Shining Armor looked over the army behind him, each one of them had lost a great deal during the invasion, and they hoped that with this, they could finally take back what was lost, and restore some semblance of peace, and order.

He was wrong.
*****************************************************************
Five years earlier.

“Princess Celestia! I came as soon as I could.” Twilight Sparkle declared, nearly out of breath as she bowed in respect to Celestia.

“Thank you Twilight, I have disturbing news, and I may need your help.” Celestia said with a somber yet concerned tone.

“Y-yes, what can I do to help?” Twilight said, noticing her mentor’s uneasiness.

“Twilight, I have known for many moons that other life exists beyond our own, far off in the stars. So far, that’s never meant anything, but lately I’ve been experiencing dreams, all telling of a horrible fate that will befall Equestria.” Celestia explained.

Twilight gulped. “Well, hopefully it’s all just…stress, or something. I don’t know.” The young Alicorn said.

“I wish it were as well Twilight, but I’m afraid it isn’t. I wouldn’t have called you here to simply console me about my night terrors. No, this threat is very real. Not too long ago, Luna and I were contacted by a strange race of individuals that walk upright on two legs, and can’t breathe the air on our planet, so they need to wear a strange sort of mask when they are here. We did not see their faces, yet we heard their voices. Apparently they’ve been wandering the stars for a long time after their world was destroyed by means they refused to share. But they promised us access to advanced technology in exchange for the magical assistance of our unicorns, and access to some of the resources on our planet such as water.” Celestia went on.

“Well…I admit, that does sound a little too good to be true.” Twilight responded.

“Precisely, we understand very little about them, or what their true agenda is. Luna does not share my weariness of this alliance, she wants to help them. As much as I would like to as well, I can’t trust them. However, I feel as though I have no choice. Dreams aren’t reason enough to distrust an entire society with no place left to go.” Celestia said.

“But…what does any of this have to do with me Princess?” Twilight asked.

“You’ve always had a good heart Twilight, and I trust in your judgment. But this alliance will happen, I cannot stop that, nor will I. But I need you and your friends, just in case my dreams are in fact premonitions.” Celestia said as she stood up, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight looked back at Celestia with a reassuring nod, that fire in her eyes as prominent as it had always been.

“Twilight, what I’m about to share with you is something you must tell no one, not until the time is right.” Celestia said.

******************************************************************

Twilight exited the castle, as she stepped out she was met with an embrace from each of her friends simultaneously as the large door shut behind her.

“Darling! How did it go?” Rarity asked.

“It…well, it went okay I guess, nothing all that important. Come on, let’s get back to Ponyville.” Twilight explained briefly, trying to hide her true feelings about the situation.

“Twilight? I hope everything is okay.” Fluttershy said anxiously.

“Yeah, everything is fine…for now.” Twilight responded, her words causing an awkward silence.

“Twilight dear, whatever is going on we’d really appreciate it if you told us. We are your friends after all.” Rarity said raising a hoof.

“Yeah! What’s the big idea Twi?” Rainbow Dash chimed in as she hovered above them.

Twilight just shook her head. “Nothing is going on, nothing we need to worry about anyway. I’ll tell you when I have to, if I have to. Now can we please just go? There’s a lot we still need to do back at the castle.” She replied. With a flurry of mixed emotions and whines, the others agreed, and began making their way to the train station.

As the others hurried onto the train, Twilight paused for a moment; looking up at the sky she noticed a faint glimmer. She shivered at the thought of what it could be, knowing full well the threat that was only a few miles above their heads.

********************************************************************
Present day
Plains outside of Canterlot

The once lush, green plains now lay in waste, covered in thick snow and still a smoldering, blood soaked ruin, after the recent bloody battle to retake Canterlot had ended. Shining Armor lay on the ground, his left side badly burned and bleeding profusely. His armor was torn and sheared off in unimaginable ways from advanced weaponry of sort.

Around him was the bodies of the army he led not half an hour ago, the few that were still alive were struggling just to breath.

“Well, it seems today is our lucky day.” One of the masked figures said with a raspy voice from behind Shining Armor.

“No shit? Is that who I think it is? Well, damn. The doctors will pay us a fortune for this one don’t you think?” The second individual said.

They both approached Shining Armor, guns raised. “The docs would prefer it if you were alive, but your genetic information is still invaluable in learning more about your sister Twilight. Don’t struggle, or we will kill you.” The first figure said.

Shining Armor just panted, still struggling to just take one breath after another as he bled out. One of the masked figures reached a hand out towards Shining, but he was instantly cut off as his partner screamed out, dropping his assault rifle which was now glowing red, causing the snow around it to turn to steam.

“Fuck!” He shouted.
“Kalo, what did you do this time?” the other said turning around.

“I don’t know! But look at my gun!” He said pointing to what was once his rifle, now a glowing puddle of red hot liquid metal. Soon after the other figure felt his gun begin to heat up, and dropped it as soon as it burned his gloved hands.

“Damn it, what’s going on here?!” The first one said. He reached his hand up to the side of his helmet to signal the rest of his team, but it instantly exploded as he touched it showering both him and his partner in sparks.

It was at that point they both drew their knives and stood back to back. “Killing us makes no difference, whoever you are come out! Spare yourself the trouble of being hunted down by our forces! We will find you!” Shortly thereafter a hissing noise was heard.

“What-what the-” The younger said just before he began to choke and gasp for air as he mask became twisted and distorted.

“Kalo!” The elder figure shouted, but soon experienced the same, and within seconds they had both died. All the while Shining Armor looked on in astonishment at what was happening, not sure if it was real or a delusion he was experiencing. What would happen next tested this even more.

“Brother!” A familiar voice shouted. Shining Armor couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“T-Twily?” He managed to say.

“Look, you’re going to be fine. You’ll pass out soon but you’ll wake up in my old castle in Ponyville. I don’t have much time, but you can’t tell anypony that you saw me. But you need to find a Unicorn living in alone, wandering through Equestria aimlessly. I don’t know his name but I do know that his cutie mark is the symbol of the invaders. He may be stubborn, but he will help you, and he is the key to setting things right.” Twilight Explained to him.

She put a hoof on her brother’s side; the feeling seemed to fill him with warmth. She then leaned down kissed his forehead. “Cadence is alive, and so are we. Never give up hope. We’ll see each other again, I promise.” She said just before Shining Armor lost consciousness.

*******************************************************************
One week before the invasion

“Twi, be straight with me, what’s got you so troubled? You’ve barely talked since we left Canterlot.” Applejack said to Twilight as she looked out the window of the train, watching the scenery roll by.

Twilight sighed. “Everything we know…it’s all going to change. We can’t stop it, and I don’t know if we can fix it, but when the time comes we have to try. I just don’t even know where to begin.”

Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, giving her a warm reassuring smile. “Twi, you’ve always came through for us, and all of Equestria. Compared to everything we’ve been through, how bad could this possibly be?” Applejack asked lightheartedly.

“Bad…very bad. Ponies are going to die; the whole world is going to change. But it’s up to us to find a way to save it.” Twilight tried to explain.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Really now? That bad huh? Don’t stress out, that’s something you always seem to do too much Twi. Seriously, we’ll be with you the whole time, and we’ll find a way. Trust me. We’ve never failed before have we? We’re all still alive, and that’s not going to change.” Applejack said.

Twilight smiled back at her. “Yeah, you’re right; you all will be with me. But…to all of Equestria, they’ll think we abandoned them, or that we somehow failed and ended up dead.”

“Twilight, what the hay are you even talking about? You ain’t making any sense.” Applejack said in a more serious tone.

Twilight just shook her head. “I’ve already said too much. Just know that these, err…people, from the stars, they don’t mean well. Celestia and I know that. The only chance we have rests in a decision I have to make. I’ll explain more when it happens…I just hope it’s later rather than sooner. I need a few days at least to take all of this in.” Twilight said covering her face with her hooves.

Author's Note

Reviewed by Syx and Lordnatedog. Thanks guys! :)

The title of this chapter is latin, and it translates to: "The last new start"

Please, if you find this story unsatisfactory in any way whatsoever, please share your thoughts. Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or what this story does that deserves your down vote should you decide to do so. It'd be much appreciated, thank you. ^^