Legacy of Man

It was finally happening. The complete and total annihilation of the human race. Reports were pouring in from militaries across the globe that ever single god damn country launched everything they had. Places had already been reduced to ash. Tokyo was bad, the bomb missed its intended target and hit Mt. Fuji instead, causing an eruption. The western U.S. Faired much better, with all the blasts and their subsequent quakes causing Yellowstone to pop its top.

Everywhere I loved was being vaporized. I knew it was only a matter of time before the bombs hit my base, so I fled. It wasn't like there was any structure anymore to keep me there. It wouldn't matter.

Billions of organisms perishing with their surroundings becoming ash and glass.

Beautiful landscapes burned away. I could see it all happening before my very eyes.

The light of a ten Suns, happening over and over and over again.

Burning man's many achievements away.

Wiping away our legacy.

It would seem that the fire in humanity's heart could not be put out. Our passion for war was unsurmountable.

The fact that some men finally felt that the pros outweighed the cons was something that haunted me.

I was whisked away to the first ever nuclear test, the hesitation and subsequent guilt each member of the party felt. The first ever nuclear attack. The vaporization of Sydney. The annihilation of the outback.

I could see it all.

I was brought back to my childhood home. The mutilated, burnt husks of all who I cared for, crying out to me, wailing how I didn't save them, how I never cared about them.

I was brought down to my knees.

In so much despair, I never noticed them tearing into me. Ripping flesh from bone.

A bright flash distracted them all, and I smiled, knowing that this nightmare was over.

I woke up, my sheets soaked in sweat.

My roommate, out cold from an intense night of drinking, laced on the couch in our barracks.

Me being a former soldier, my career having ended due to shrapnel lodge in my knee, I was chosen to develop something that would help humanity survive the impending nuclear war.

One of many, we all sought out different methods, one thought out terraforming, one thought out massive underground communities, one thought out extra Terran colonies, I took that idea further with extra solar colonies using Faster than Light technology. My craft was called the XR 71 Blackbird 2. Twice the size of an ordinary SR-71, my craft used decommissioned Space shuttle booster rockets to get into orbit, from there, my suborbital engines would take over, getting me into orbit. After that, they would jettison allowing the main engines to take over and allow me to position for an FTL launch.

At least, that was the theory anyways. I was going to test it myself later that day.

My train of thought was interrupted as my roommate woke up.

"So, when are you going to test that rocket thing you've been talking about?" He asked, pouring himself a glass of ice water.

"I've over this with you before James, it's not just some rocket, it might be humanity's only hope of survival." I respond, not sure if the IV I hooked up to him had allowed him to wake up with just a buzz or not. The ice water gave me doubts. "Besides, it's classified." I add.

"Nick, you're always such a spoilsport." He taunts.

"When have I ever been a spoilsport?" I asked, while walking towards the canteen, my roommate in tow.

"Let's see." He began, "The frat party at Chattenooga State. That time I was getting women in France, the time I almost pet a deer in Yellowstone, just to name a few."

"Ok, ok." I respond, " I see your point."

We continue our conversation throughout breakfast and my morning Pyhsical Therapy.

It wasn't until lunch when I learned to that Tokyo and it's surrounding area had been engulfed in volcanic ash. Later I found out that it had been a nuke air lifted in by China that had set off Mt Fuji. Knowing very well that my sister was dead, and that China was responsible, I was overcome with a newfound resolve to make sure that humanity survived.

"AC-1 to tower. Do you copy?" I ask into my headset.
"Tower to AC-1, we copy"

"Requesting permission to begin maiden voyage."

"Permission granted."

I feel a sudden burst of power as I rocket off down the runway.

As I rocket off into the sky, I begin to decelerate as the boosters fulfilled their purpose. Feeling more control as the sub orbital engines kicked in, I made my way to the designated orbital range. Once there, I powered up the FTL drive and began the target calculations. A sudden flash behind me startled me, causing me to engage the drive before it had completely charged. The view outside the cockpit was a sickly blood red, the jostling inside the flight cabin was violent enough to knock me out.

Ponyville, Equestria

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville, the birds were chirping, the foals were playing, nothing could go wrong.

It was on this day that a certain purple alicorn and her friend were investigating the ruins near the castle of the two sisters.

"That's odd." Twilight said to nopony in particular.

"What's odd sugarcube?" Applejack asked her friend.

A little startled by the sudden question, "Well, there isn't any magical signature on these remains." Twilight answered. "That could only mean that whatever creature this belongs to had no thaumic connection at all."

"But didn't ya say these came before pony kind?" Applejack asked.

"Well, yes, but carbon dating puts these at over 23 million years old. So they could have been a whole different civilization." Twilight responded. "So it is possible they might not have-"

"Do you hear that Twilight?" AJ interrupted.

A low rumbling could be heard, getting louder by the second. Soon the source could be seen, a fireball in the sky. But then something the lavender mare never expected happened. The object slowed and altered its course, making a b-line straight for them. Getting nearer, the object froze just above them, caught in a blue field.

Panels underneath the object opened up to show metal wheels surrounded by rites of rubber. The object was slowly lowered the ground by Luna who had just crested the trees surrounding the digs site that Twilight and Applejack were in.

"Are we intruding in something girls?" The princess of the night asked.

"Not really, but why are you up at this hour princess?" Twilight responded bowing.

Having no time to address that Twilight need not bow anymore, Luna continued on, "I was awoken from my slumber as I sensed an object enter our planet's orbit. What struck us as odd is that the object was not foreign to Equis at all."

"Odd." Twilight stated.

"Yes, odd indeed. Stranger even is that the object has no magical signature at all." Luna continued.

"Wait, no magical signature?" Twilight asked, "The remains Applejack and I uncovered have no magical signature either. Could they be related?"

The party was startled by a sudden hissing sound, as a hatch on the object opened up.

Inside was a broken creature bleeding from multiple head wounds.

"Miss Sparkle, levitate this creature out of the object. We will teleport it to Ponyville General Hospital."