Survival of the Fittest

Chapter One:

War Never Changes

POV- Celestia

It was a normal day for me. I held the day court, sitting upon my throne, listening to ponies' problems and ideas. Rarely did anything noteworthy happened. I thought it was going to be a lazy day, but I was wrong. A guard pushed open the doors to my throne room, and entered, being followed by a messenger from the Crystal Empire.

"Princess, this courier bears a message from the Crystal Empire," The guard stated, bowing. "He claims it is urgent."

"My Princess, the changelings have launched an attack on the Crystal Palace," He said. "We were able to repel them, but it is only a matter of time before they come again, with a stronger force."

"I will send a small garrison of troops immediately," I said, in a soothing tone. "Go down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it." With a sigh of relief, and a bow, the courier was gone, as was the guard escorting him.

"This is most troubling news." I thought. "They have never launched unprovoked attacks before...  This will only get worse, so I may need to find somepony, or something that can give us an edge...

As I walked to my chambers, I thought of possible ways to help defend us from the changelings. Weapons were out of the question, due to our armory having a multitude of different options. I did not know of any mercenaries for hire, nor did we have many new recruits coming in. I could maybe have a military draft, but that may be a bit harsh. The only real option was to have something that no-pony has seen before. Maybe... Just maybe, we can find a warrior from another world, who is willing to assist us... This seemed like the only option, so I went with it.

LATER THAT NIGHT...

"Alright, is every-pony here," I asked. "We will begin shortly, as soon as every-pony is present." I was still waiting on Luna, as she had some business to attend to. A few minutes later, the doors to the meeting room swung open, and in trot Luna.

"Shall we begin, Sister?" She asked me.

"Yes, now all that is left is to find a world with capable warriors." I replied.

We cast the spell, and now an image appeared before us. This was what we would use to peer into other worlds, and single out a few sentient creatures to observe. A list popped up in the spell's interface, listing the best planets to view. One known as "Earth" was the top hit. As I magnified the planet, a list of information appeared next to the image of the planet. This list described the planet, saying that it had an atmosphere identical to that of Equis. The list also stated that it was inhabited by only one race called humans, which had descended from apes. They were far more advanced than us, and fought often. Some text popped up, asking if I wanted to select a random human to observe. The name "Nicholas" appeared, and everypony was watching the screen with growing curiosity. As I selected "Nicholas", the spell's "Screen" Turned black for a few seconds. It then returned to it's normal state, only now, it was on an over-the-shoulder view of this human. I saw that they were walking through what appeared to be an abandoned city. In addition to this, there was another human walking beside him, and both were holding what I assumed were weapons. Both looked similar to match-lock muskets, only these looked like they had mechanisms that had unknown functions.

After the song ended, I heard the one beside him speak, and in perfect Equestrian, no less. He said "Hold up, I don't like this. Stay low, move slow. We might run into trouble."

I then watched them creep around a corner, and we were now gazing upon another human, who looked older than Nick and his companion. This human was rifling through what appeared to be a rusted metal carriage... Thing.

"Shh... Let him pass. He looks like he is leaving. Get to cover, but be quick and quiet about it." Nicholas nodded, and slowly walked to an abandoned building, but kicked a can on his way up the stairs. He dashed up the stairs, and ran to a window. He poked his musket out the window, and peered through a small telescope mounted on the top.

That's genius! When we make weapons like those, we can mount telescopes on them, so they can be used at a further distance! I thought.

I saw him aim the musket at the hostile human, and then the human shouted. "Who's there?! Come out where I can see you! I'm armed!" The human raised a musket, and dropped to a defensive position.

"Put the gun down, sir. I'm coming out, just don't shoot." The younger human pleaded.

"Give me everything you got, kid. Ammo, weapons, food, meds, EVERYTHING!" The older human shouted at the younger one.

A look of horror was plastered to everypony's faces, including Twilight, her friends, Luna, Shining Armor, and even mine. We were all shocked to see somepony threaten, and mug a child. Nick, seeing what was going on, moved a part under the telescope, and zero in on the hostile human. I then switched it to Nick's view, and saw a reticle with three lines in it, centered on the human's head.

How could somepony so young, kill with such cold efficiency?! Does he feel any remorse?!

I then heard the other human shout, saying that they should probably get away from where they killed the other human. They then regrouped, and a sound of shuffling feet was heard.

"Shit! We've got a large horde incoming! Let's find a car, or a route out of here!" They then ran away from the horde of undead, and  found another metal carriage, only this one was intact.

"Greg, you drive!" Nick shouted.

So the other one's name is Greg...

Nick then entered the carriage, and sat in a seat that was hanging from an opening in the roof. He then put his hands on a rather large contraption, which looked like a black box with a long tube sticking out of the end. The carriage roared to life, and drove away from the horde at an amazing speed. As they drove, Nick checked what was stored inside the carriage. Multiple of what I assume are weapons were found. He then climbed into the front of the carriage, and sat in the seat next to this "Greg" individual.

They then struck up a conversation about what they want the most. Greg said he wanted the world to be normal again. Nick said he was sick of their world, and it's constant wars. Greg agreed with Nick, and I saw this as my chance. They wanted to escape from their world, and live on a more peaceful one.

I opened a telepathic link to them and said, "Your wish shall be granted, young ones..."

With that, I nodded to Luna, and we cast an inter-dimensional teleportation spell, and transported them to Equestria, outside of Canterlot.

"Shining Armor, gather your best stallions, and rally them at the city gates. We must establish a peaceful relationship with them. Do not fire your muskets unless they do. We've seen what Nicholas' can do, and I do not want to find out what the other ones do." With a sharp salute, Shining was out the door, and running toward the barracks.