The Caretaker

The Caretaker

“Let’s see…” she sighed. “Journal entry one-sixty-five…”

Twilight sat before a desk, surrounded by bookshelves that almost completely covered the shiny, crystal walls of her castle. Her eyes scanned the flat, glowing surface of the device she currently held in her magic. It flashed with words as they scrolled up, making way for more to appear on the screen.

She licked her lips and thought about what she was going to say. “Advanced Warp Drive physics?” She thought to herself. “Or what about… Non-military gauss rail applications?”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, bouncing a bit on her chair. Twilight then laid her hooves upon the wooden desk, swept away some notes, and placed the datapad on it. “Right… Non-Magical wormhole production and control. Wanted to do that one for a while now,” she said to herself, smiling.

“Aaand… Go,” she said, beginning to dictate to the pad. “Producing, guiding and maintaining wormholes—or in magical terms, portals—may prove to be an advanced yet crucial spell in the lives of trained unicorn scholars and magicians alike. But, with the introduction of highly advanced technologies by part of the humans, this ability has become close to being accessible to both non-magical and magical individuals.”

She placed her hoof on her chin. “The divide is simple: humans developed the technology to travel astronomical distances in short times, while us Equestrians, without having a proper concept of the universe beyond our sky, developed it with the point of travelling short distances in a nearly instant manner within our own planet.”

Twilight furrowed her brow and looked up. “Now, we’re coming close to producing a sort of mix between magic and technology that will allow everyone to travel both astronomical and short distances with little to no effort. I foresee that this may be commercialized and globalized first for military use before it becomes accessible to the civilian market…”

“And—” A frantic knock on the door took her eyes away from the screen. She sighed, “Spike?” She stepped off of the chair, leaving the desk behind. “I told you not to interrupt me when I’m dictating my journal…” She was about to open the door when the dragon came through by himself, running over to the center of the room and stopping. He leaned down and began panting.

“Twi… Twilight!” he exclaimed, receiving an odd look by part of the alicorn. “I… The sky… Look at the sky!”

“What are you talking about, Spike?” Twilight nonchalantly asked as she walked over to the nearest window. Her eyes widened.

The sky had taken a dark, crimson shade, whereas Twilight could have sworn to Celestia that it was sunny and cloudless just a few minutes ago.

“I…” Twilight muttered. “What… What is this?”

“I don’t know!” Spike spat out.

A loud, long howl boomed across Ponyville. Twilight and Spike could see dropships flying over to the horizon, their engines growling furiously. Cries of panic and fear soon filled the streets, the sky growing ever darker.

“Air raid sirens? Twilight asked. “Oh Celestia…” she muttered as the data pad on the desk lit up.

“Attention Citizens of the Ponyville District,” a male voice sounded through the device. “We interrupt your activities. This is a world-wide emergency.” The words sent shivers down Twilight’s back. “Important details will follow…”

“Spike,” Twilight said as she walked over and picked up the pad. “Go get me my emergency saddlebags!”

“On it!” Spike exclaimed, running out of the room.

“The following message is transmitted at the request of the United Species Coalition,” the announcement continued. “A foreign force has invaded the southern pole of the planet. Three hours ago, a Colonial Guard emplacement was attacked at the border of Zebrica, and has moved to assault the city of Fillydelphia.”

Twilight walked over to the window, staring at the red sky.

“The Nineteenth regiment of the Colonial Guard has been deployed to participate in the defence of Ponyville district.”

Twilight turned as she heard Spike come back into the room. “Here!” he said as he placed the bags on her back.

The message continued, “As of now, you are indicated to evacuate to the nearest underground shelter and await the all-clear signal. This message will now repeat.”

“Come on, Spike!” Twilight yelled. “Let’s go!”

Together, they began a mad sprint through the castle, their steps echoing through all the halls. They could already hear the cries of panic coming from outside, along with the air raid siren and the dropships hovering above.

As they neared the castle’s exit, the door was blown down. Twilight and Spike skidded to a stop, halting before a massive biped. Twilight’s eyes trailed from the muscular metal-clad legs, the armored chest and the helmet. “C-colonial guard?” Twilight muttered.

The human looked down at her, reaching over his back and grabbing a hold of his gauss rifle. “Corporal Abel Torr!” he exclaimed, the voice slightly distorted as it went through the mask. “You’ve been designated as a V.I.P., Princess Twilight! I’m here to escort you to the shelter!”

“I’ll be fine!” Twilight exclaimed. “Help the others!”

“The rest of my platoon is already on it!” Abel exclaimed. “Come on, follow me!”

Twilight and Spike looked at each other, nodding, before taking off at the trail of the human soldier. They finally stepped outside, finding themselves in the streets of Ponyville. Ponies ran to and fro, sometimes crashing into each other. Humans could be seen leading them into supposed safety, the dropships hovering ominously overhead.

“Abel!” Twilight yelled as she ran after the soldier. “What’s going on!? Why is the sky red!?”

“Something’s attacked us from the south!” the soldier responded, motioning her to keep going. “Wiped out the whole encampment near Zebrica!”

“Wait!” Twilight exclaimed. “Maybe I can fix this!”

“Whatever you want to do, you can do it in the shelter!” Abel yelled.

A distant boom reached Twilight’s ears. “What was that!?”

“We’ve confirmation!” Abel responded. “Whatever attacked us is already here, keep moving!”

Twilight grabbed Spike with her magic and placed him on her back. She looked to the side, her eyes widening. An old, pink building was at the side of the road, a fire raging at the top. “Is that…” Spike muttered.

“Sugarcube Corner…” Twilight sighed, rounding a corner as she followed the human. She looked forward as they began to cut through a mob of ponies, along with some gryphons and changelings.

“I’ve got a V.I.P. with me. Move!” Abel yelled as he pushed through, eventually leading Twilight and Spike to the entrance. They looked down at a steep slope that ended in a massive, metallic blast door that supposedly led to the shelter. The humans guarding the entrance made way for her and Spike, with Abel leading them into the shelter. There, the two found themselves in a massive chamber lined with simple beds stacked in rows. Another explosion made everyone inside look up as dust fell from the ceiling.

“This is it!” Abel yelled. “Stay here, alright?”

Twilight nodded.

“What about you? You gonna be alright?” Spike asked, looking up into Abel’s visor.

“It’s fine,” he responded as he walked out of the shelter. “Protecting people; it’s what us Colonial Guards do,” he said as the blast doors began to close.

“Wait!” Twilight yelled. “There are more people outside! What about them!?”

“They’ll have to find another shelter,” Abel muttered before the doors closed, leaving Twilight and Spike amongst a massive crowd of people, all in complete silence. The sirens could not be heard anymore, nothing could be heard anymore save from the occasional gasp every time an explosion rocked the ground beneath them.