What doesn't kill us makes us stronger
The world was ending. Humanity was doomed. They had come to us promising peace. Offering only kindness and friendship. It was a lie; we were their antithesis, and they would see us destroyed, though the Equestrians preferred the term 'converted' or 'saved'. It matters little, as those who were changed were not just changed physically, their minds were altered as well. They could not think ill of Her. They could not plot. They could not think of their old lives. They couldn't even swear.
What is the world coming to when one can't even drop a well deserved F-bomb?
The first groups were caught unaware, promised the chance to change back after the process. When the truth was discovered, the barriers sprang up around the bureaus, and the ponies started using the potion as a weapon. With the barriers pushing us back, and the countless losses to potion-bombing, humanity was being pushed harder than any could have predicted. Conventional weapons did nothing to the barriers, while those on the other side were free to retaliate with impunity. We were pushed back, again and again, the barriers merging into one another, and those that were not converted were crushed by the barriers as they found themselves with nowhere else to go. Humanity as we knew it was being wiped out. Eventually, the last part of our home was taken from us. The images later recovered from the International Space Station showed humanity's final moments, the entirety of the world covered by pink, except for one tiny, increasingly smaller spec of green. Then, that was gone as well. The Equestrians celebrated, but the newfoals, even though they did not know what it was that was gone, felt a deep sense of loss.
For many species, this would have been the end. But for humanity; humanity has a bad habit of squirming out of anything. Taxes, criminal charges, family reunions, and now, genocide. One man, in his last moments, could not trust what he would become, and transcribed the human genome on the floor of a cave in Ontario. A cave that was discovered later by one of the unchained, named by the newfoal scientists who knew something was wrong with them, and had dedicated ten years to breaking their unseen bindings. With their history, their memories, the weapon used against them, and this final piece of the puzzle, they saved our people. And then they took that which almost wiped us out, and they improved it.
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The Solar empire. Celestia liked the sound of that. Her kingdom no longer spanned mere leagues of land, but two planets. With the knowledge of portals, what was stopping her from claiming all of creation for her own? Her ponies would spread her light and love to all creatures, making them perfect, and claiming all worlds, as was their right; as was their destiny.
The Prin- no the Empress rolled her eyes as an aid gave a report about strange happenings on New Equis. Soldiers disappearing, New foals resisting the authority of lower ranked soldiers, even the ridiculous claim that some had seen humans in the distance. Impossible. She had personally seen to the destruction of the last human bastions and purged the planet of that unpleasant infestation. Truly it was a momentous day. Her only regret was that her sister had not been able to see the good she was doing, the future she was building for her little ponies.
So it was that another day for the Living Goddess began. A warm bath, scented in her favorite bubble bath mixture, followed by 15 minutes of brushing from her personal maids. A wonderful breakfast prepared by the greatest chefs in the lands. It was perfect, down to the gentle breeze rolling through the halls, let in by the open windows... with a deep breath, she donned her regal appearance and her stoic poise, 'Now, for my date with the day court.'
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To all observers, she was the absolute picture of serenity and grace as she entered the throne room. Wings folded and groomed to perfection, flowing mane and tail radiating the power she held at her command. Eyes closed in peace, knowing she commanded all in her realm with no power greater than her own. Truly, she was the rock of her country, a God among mortals.
"Damn, I think she's been hitting the cake lately. I mean, her flank's four times the size of any other ponies we've seen."
The comment jarred Celestia out of her regal walk to her throne, almost leaving her to trip on the first few steps of the dais.
'What insolence! What mortal would dare...impossible'
The princess could only stare on in confusion as her eyes were sullied once again by that most horrid of races: Humans. But there was something wrong. Some of the humans were standing on her banisters, feathered wings sprouted from their backs. Still others bore gems upon their foreheads, left uncovered by the helmets they wore. Gems that radiated power just as surely as a unicorn's horn. Others bore armaments that she knew would tax even her strongest guards as though they were nothing. Then there were those whose bodies were lightly armored, but seemed to posses reptilian scales, or those whose eyes glowed an eerie blue, and whose skin seemed unnaturally hard. And the others...
There were only four of them, but what they were was as clear as her sun shining through the windows. They bore the signs of all three of her ponies; strength of the world, ethereal wings, and magic-focusing gems on their foreheads. Like the scaled humans, they wore little armor, but from what she could sense, they would find little use in such things. Standing amidst these creatures were two others she had thought she would never see again. One she faced with regret, the other with loathing; Luna and Discord. Both beings that would not bow to her rule; both were sentenced to life sealed in stone. In Luna's case, she left her sister on the moon of the earth, so she may watch the destruction of the race she thought so wonderful.
"Tia" her sister began, dispassionately." We are sorry it has come to this, but we are afraid we must sit this one out. Our previous altercation left us quite apathetic to thy current predicament." Discord meanwhile, was giggling to himself, tinkering with a small, rectangular black device. Noticing that their attention was on him, he tossed the device behind him, still giggling about 'silly kitties'. "Honestly Celly, you act like you're surprised. Heehee, didn't I tell you they were dangerous? And the more of a threat you are to them, the more dangerous they become. Like a, like... actually, I don't think I've seen anything that's quite as stubborn. Cockroaches at least have the good sense to give up if you change them into something else." The last comment left a few smiles on the nearby soldiers. "But no, you needed your perfect world, with your perfect subjects. Bo-ring!" With a final bow to the others in the room, he turned to the Night. "Well, Lulu, let me know how it turns out, I'm due for the Chaos convention in about five minutes, and I'm going be late if I don't take off. Ta!" With that, the Chaotic creature donned a strange uniform, caught a slice of toasted bread in his tooth, and dashed out the throne room doors, carrying a book bag that was nowhere to be seen a moment ago.
"Alright, that was a bit over the top." One of the human soldiers commented.
Suddenly one stepped forward, not one of the Trifecta's as she would have expected, but an unmodified human. He bore no wings, no scales, nothing else that set him apart from what he once was. "Celestia, the Solar Tyrant, you are hereby charged with the attempted enslavement and genocide of the entirety of the human race, as well as threatening the existence of all other sapient species on Equis. Anything you say will be ignored unless we can twist it to use against you in a court of law. How you plead doesn't matter, and please, feel free to resist arrest."
"Excuse me? You come to my world, to my throne room, and seek to arrest me? For bettering both of my worlds? I'll" her threat died in her throat at what happened next. For the first time in living memory she couldn't feel the sun. 'Impossible. Anti magic is not possible. One can not use magic to remove magic from an area.' Then she saw them. Strange devices circled around her throne. It was not a spell, but technology. Something she had been so quick to dismiss. Technology that was not bound by the laws of magic.
As the soldiers moved forward to take her into custody, the solar matriarch could only scream ineffectually at her attackers. She had challenged humans to a game she could not play, one the humans had been playing since the beginning of their existence; survival. And princess Celestia, the Rising Sun, was found wanting.
Author's Note
God, that was hard to do. I don't think I'm cut out for this serious fic stuff. I was absolutely miserable the entire time I was editing this. And no matter how many times I look it over, I just can't help but think "it's wrong, but I don't know what about it is wrong! For those of you who enjoyed my others, I hope this doesn't disappoint you. It was something I had to get out of my system before I could continue anything else. If you do end up liking it? Well, thanks for the love. Could always use more of that.
