Bitter Autumn

When the light subsided, the party could see Princess Celestia sitting atop her throne.

"Twilight," the princess of the sun asked, a little skeptical about who she was seeing.

"Princess Celestia, what's going on? Why are there reanimated bones everywhere?"

"I'm afraid it's far worse than I feared. We're dealing with an ancient force within the evolutionary chain."

"Do you know what these things are after all?"

"I'm afraid so."

"What are they?"

"It's better I show you. I don't think you'd believe me otherwise."

Princess Celestia removed herself from the throne and joined everyone else.

"Come with me."

Celestia led the group to the library. Twilight was more than a bit confused upon their arrival.

"I don't understand. I've been through every book here. There's nothing on the monsters."

"Please, be patient."

Celestia's horn glowed, and each tile on the floor began to tear itself away from the ground.

"You're already aware that historians have discovered much about our race's history, but there was another before ours that ruled Earth with an iron fist. They were called homo sapiens."

"Homo sapiens?"

"Homo sapiens, or human beings as they were more commonly known, were a bipedal species with a knack for ingenuity. They had technology far beyond our own. Medical advancements, entertainment; it was a magical age in its own way. Unfortunately, they were prone to extreme aggression and psychological illness. The documents you're about to read describe them and their ways of life in a very detailed manner."

"I'm assuming the documents contain descriptions of their skeletal structure, right?"

"More than just descriptions."

"I see."

Celestia finished pulling all the documents from beneath the floor with her magic.

"By the way," Twilight asked, "why did their race die off?"

"I'm afraid that's one question I cannot answer."

Twilight and the rest of the crew poured over the documents for hours. Each new discovery left a respective taste in their mouths.

"It looks like a lot of these humans were extremely disgruntled," Twilight mentioned, "Many of them were consumed by fiction and politics."

"It kind of makes me think of how good we have it. The princesses are fair and everyone was pretty happy until this happened," Pinkamena stated.

"Yeah," they all agreed.

"Hey, I have an idea," Twilight intervened," Let's lighten the mood a bit and talk about some of their pop culture stuff while we work. I'll start off. The horror movies looked really fascinating."

"The anime and manga looked cool," Spike continued in place of his friend.

"Punk rock really sounds like it would match my personality," Rainbow brought up.

"Their poetry was very inspired," Rarity included.

"We still have country music on the farm. That's neat," Applejack thought out loud.

"Heavy metal and survival horror video games could work for me when I'm in this kind of mood," Pinkamena said.

"I liked the wildlife preservation programs," Fluttershy commented.

"I wonder if we can reinvent these things when this is all over," Twilight questioned.

"If we can decode the materials used for the devices these things were used on, it's possible. So far it looks like a mixture of plastic, glass, metal, and conductive circuitry," Pinkamena observed.

"We also know they can understand our language now. Maybe we can reason with them and figure out why they're here. Just in case they get aggressive though, we can assume the heart or brain are their weak points."

"Before we confront them, we should probably make a few simple weapons and stock up on food and medical supplies," Pinkamena reminded her.

"Right. I think three crossbows and three stakes should do it. Spike's claws should be more than enough for him."

"I bet they're gonna' be surprised if they see their own vampire novel and medieval weaponry used against them."

"Yeah, I guess that could be pretty interesting to see."

Twilight was satisfied with the knowledge they'd gained for the time being. Still, there was one question nagging at her mind.

"Why did you keep the documents secret," Twilight asked the sun princess.

"I was afraid of what would happen if we too closely resembled humans in thought patterns and technology."

"I think we've come to a point where we exceed humans in mental health and reasoning though."

"Perhaps."

"Our species still has conflict, but we don't kill each other."

"That is very much correct. If you and your friends can quell this madness, maybe we can build the ideal version of what the humans once strived for."

"Then it's settled."

"So it is."

Twilight left the princess and returned to the library.

"Maybe one day, Twilight, you will rule at our side. When that day comes, I'll never be more proud."