Sometime in the not so distant future…
A small filly ran down a dark road. All around her, great metal buildings that were in disrepair raised around her, ending as they reached a roof that led to another layer of the city. She let out a small scream as a pipe above her broke and sewage began to cover the sidewalk she was walking on. She sped past it and went behind a corner, plastering herself against the wall, her red mane soaked in sweat.
Apple Bloom composed herself slowly, looking around at the broken stone and cracked asphalt. The city was a wreck, and around her she saw a shady pony with its hood up walking around, not making eye contact with any pony it passed. Apple Bloom began trotting down the road, trying to not draw any unwanted attention as the shadows that never left New Canterlot swallowed her up.
Far above the pony, the mechanics of the technology groaned. Factories soaked the air with a thick smoke that made all of the ponies slaving away at the work cough and gag as Changelings stood guard in gas masks, cracking whips as their harsh, empty eyes glared down at the drones mixed in with the less desirable ponies.
Far off there was a line for water, and a small colt got his glass. As he turned he began to drink greedily, he found his cup ripped from his hooves by a larger pony. The colt was hit in the lower jaw and fell to the ground. The warden pointed at the pony and whips cracked, but the colt did not move. One of the guards came forward and raised his leg, pointing a barrel that was attached to an odd watch like device at the pony. He then raised the gun and shot upwards, causing several changelings to run at the barely alive colt, stripping flesh from bone as they devoured him with their sharp fangs. Within less than a minute, not even bones remained to show a pony had been there, the only evidence that anything had happened apparent in the mashing of flesh, bone, and all other matter of pony parts in their jaws.
Further up in the city Changelings went about their business. They worked tirelessly as their mechanical world did easy tasks for them, leaving the drones to simply escort the smarter changelings about their business.
Even further up was a top level of the city, where the sun shined and the clouds drifted past buildings. Every layer of the city had lead up to this top floor, and here more buildings thrived. The tallest building stood in the middle of everything else, and outside on a deck there was a Changeling dressed in extremely rich clothing, robes that marked he worked for the new royalty. He gazed out to the west, where a half-finished city lay deserted, an abandoned project left to rot in favor of his plan. He lifted his glass of wine and sipped from it, gazing at the logo that read “Zelmus Incorporated: Serving the world everyday”.
The Changeling now turned to the east, looking at a large towering structure that was dwarfed compared to his city; Chryswitz, the death camp for all ponies who refused to accept the new order. He took one last sip from his wine glass, setting it on a railing. He could not help but grin as he stared northward now, smiling at the ruins on the side of the mountain, the once proud capital of Equestria.
It was now not more than a rubble heap, an eyesore to changelings… and a reminder to ponies.
Equestria was no more.
#
#
“Life is short, Life is violent, and life is harsh.”
I was once told this by a soldier as he died on the field of battle... and I couldn’t disagree with him more. The end of Equestria happened much in the way that my people had foreseen, burning cities, dead filling the streets, horrible storms of fire raining from the skies. The 9 month campaign for Equestria is something the world had never seen before, and hoped it would never see again. Unfortunately, too many of us knew that this was only to be the opening act of terror upon all that is good in this world. Those who resisted were all but wiped out.
But life went on; Ponies have a tenacity to survive things that they should never have survived. While history is littered with examples of miracles, perhaps none are more significant than the survival of Comet Firehooves and her friends.
Our world is full of evil today, but perhaps if you can see what evil looks like, you can stop it before it begins to hurt any pony. Take the horrors, the pains, and the absurdity as testaments to the madness that resides in all of our hearts...
This is for all those who fought... This is their story.
#
#
Prelude
“I can’t take this anymore... I need to fly sis.” Comet said to her small sister, Rocket. They had finished breakfast and comet was cleaning up the dishes.
“But sis! We’re grounded until further notice! You heard what the city guards said, it’s dangerous out there! If you go flyin’ then the war will eat you up.” Comet looked down at her sister in a bit of dismay at hearing her sister follow everything that was said like a sheep. What fun was the world if you didn’t break a few rules and live on the edge?
“Sis, it’ll be fine. I’ll be back before mom gets home okay?” Comet said to her. Rocket looked at the ground and began ripping at the air, making loud chewing noises.
“Om nom nom nom! I’m the war and I want to eat Comet, Rawr!” She said, running around Comet in little circles. Comet sighed, enjoying the moment but wanting to let her feathers taste the breeze for the first time in over a month.
After much coaxing and assurance that she would be fine, Comet finally got out of her house and away from her sister. She flapped her wings a few times and then took off at a low soar, weaving between the back alleyways behind the cloud buildings. When she was sure no pony could see her, she dropped into the clouds and appeared under them. She gave her head a shake to clear all the moisture off as she flew towards a small grove of trees. The birds sung and the little animals hopped around under her as she dropped altitude towards the small grove.
A quick flap of her wings and she was stopped, her reflection looking back at her in the clear, crisp water. The trees whistled a soft, vibrant tune through the grove, where a few reeds joined in chorus.
“I wonder... how long I could actually stay here?” She said as she curled up next to the pond. It’d been so long since she had been on something other than a cloud... the earth was a nice change from the puffiness of clouds.
A quick nap can’t hurt, can it?
Comet awoke with a start, feeling something grab at her back legs. Eyes still closed, she gave the solid, almost pony seeming creature a nasty kick. She opened her eyes and stared around her at the world. This was not where she had laid down to sleep, it wasn’t right at all. The sky above her was black and cracking red, around her, the trees were... burning, everything was burning.
Grabbing herself she leapt to her feet, glaring around her. On the ground appeared to be some kind of pony creature, albeit a small one. She hadn’t ever seen a pony that was Black grey with holes in it, or even with a horn.
Wow, unicorns really are weird look-. Her thoughts died as she let her eyes drift upwards. The red crackling and black was not just coming from the sky, which seemed to have been blotted out, but from the clouds themselves.
“Cloudsdale!?” She explained, flapping her wings and instantly flying towards her home. “Oh Celestia, let Rocket be okay…” Comet Punched through the clouds and onto the streets, terror making her wings stop working and her legs feel like jelly.
The normally white clouds had turned black and grey, as if they were all melting. Pegusi could be seen running from some of the buildings, rolling around and crying in pain as blasts of heated water vapor hit their fur and skin. Comet rushed over to the nearest pony, a small mare that was clawing at her side.
“Stop fussing with it and let me see!” Comet said. The mare slowly lifted her hooves to show a horrible gash, one that was bleeding badly and surrounded by slightly melted fur and scorched skin. Comet backed up in horror, fighting the urge to puke all over the mare as more screams were heard. Comet wheeled to look up as more ponies fled from the rainbow factory, throwing their suits aside as what looked like a shadow grabbed at them, pulling them in.
“No… This … this isn’t right!” Comet said, turning and running in the opposite direction, headed straight for her home. She kicked down the door as soon as she got there, glaring at everything in the house.
“Rocket?! Rocket answer me!?” She cried, throwing her head into every room of the house. It wasn’t until she reached the last room that she stopped dead, staring at…
It was like she fell through the clouds at that moment. There wasn’t anything around her, no walls, no house, no Cloudsdale. There were no ponies dying in the streets, the streets were not even there themselves. Only three things existed in Comet’s world; herself, Rocket, and the blood, the blood that just soaked everything that didn’t exist right now.
This pain is unbearable. Comet got to her feet, staring around her. She was no longer in her house, but rather on a cloud that was quickly shrinking away. She gasped and started flapping her wings instantly, beating as hard as she could as she quickly plummeted towards the earth below. She caught herself just quickly enough to make a less than graceful landing.
“Rocket?” She asked the darkness. The whole world was just dead. The grass seemed scorched, the sky blackened, the fading embers in the trees providing a bit of light, but only enough to show you where a forest had once been. The fires were over now, and the whole world had gone quiet. Cloudsdale was no longer humming with the ponies or any noise, but instead floated quietly in the blotted sky.
Comet slowly shook her head before she raised a hoof up and smacked herself. She hit herself again and again, until finally her strength gave out and she collapsed on the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Why can’t I wake up!? This isn’t right, we were supposed to be safe from the war, and we’re nowhere close to the front lines! Comet sobbed into the dead earth, the cruel grass scrapping at her skin and the dirt sticking to her fur. There was a loud boom over her head, and she stared up, her mouth dropping as the sky lit up for the last time.
She didn’t really see it, she didn’t need to. The red light reflected in her tears as it flashed over the world like a strobe. Waves of cruel, hateful wind bit at her skin, tossing her onto her back. Comet pushed herself up with her hooves; tears still streaming down in a watery cascade as her cloud home slowly fell out of the sky, disappearing and fading, the last cries of survivors echoing into the roaring of the wind and the crack of thunder. Red lighting whips burned the forsaken ground where it struck, smiting the few trees that still stood.
The last thing Comet could remember was looking at the only home she’d ever known fall out of the sky. The heat of the wind washed over her as sleep sunk into her bones, the lustful lighting striking next to her as she laid her head against the blackened earth.
****
Authors Note: Solar Flares name changed on 10/11/12 due to conflicts with another brony. Comet Firehooves is the pony to ask about it, I have no hand in that part of this.
2
The Private
Comet coughed as she slowly sat up. She shook her head, feeling the soft sheets press against her body. The Pillow under her was slightly lumpy, but not to the point where it was intolerable. It was a few minutes before she opened an eye to look around.
Where… is this? Am I in a hospital?
Comet opened both her eyes as her vision came to, showing her the inside of a finely made tent. It had obviously been magically enhanced to be much larger on the inside than on the outside judging by the impossible geometry of the corners and furniture.
“Finally, you’re up. I was starting to think that you’d be comatose forever.” A strong, steady colt voice said from just behind her. Comet whipped around to see a red earth pony staring at her. She backed up a bit as he blushed at her face being so close to his.
“Who… who the hay are you?” Comet said, looking at him. He had dyed a black highlight into his mane, which came all the way down his neck and rested against his shoulder. The colt also seemed to lack almost all of the masculine features in his face that Comet had ever seen in a stallion. If it had not been for his voice, she could have easily mistaken him for a mare.
“Names aren’t really important. You’ll know me as Private… They all call me private…” He trailed off at the end very bitterly, as if he had something more to say on the topic. “But… anyway, you’re alive, that’s what’s important. Can you stand up, try to walk for me?” the pony got up and trotted a little distance, motioning for Comet to move closer to him.
Every muscle seemed to shriek as Comet stood up, walking over to him slowly. He held out a hoof which she grabbed onto, pulling him in and leaning on him for support.
How’d I get so weak?
“You have amazing vitality, Most ponies that have been through what happened to you would be dead, but you can walk.” Private said.
“Wait, what did happen to me?” Comet asked him, looking into his deep grey eyes. Private blinked a few times before he began to help her move slowly back to the bed.
“I think… you should lie down while I tell you this.” He said, pushing her onto the bed as he produced a small bowl of soup on a tray. After the trey was put in front of Comet, he sighed. Comet just stared at the slightly cold looking soup, a blank expression on her face.
“You haven’t eaten anything in over two weeks at least. Please eat a bit before I start to tell you why you’re here.” Comet just stared at the soup, mind blank as a new chalkboard.
“Luna dammit.” Private said. “You’re stubborn, I can accept that, good quality. I’ll tell you this in the best way it can be said. We found your body lying out in the middle of a field covered in dust. The search squad was about to leave you there for dead when you breathed.”
Comet stared at the soup, and then turned to look at the private. Who are you… You’re not Equestrian, I can tell by that accent. “What were you searching for… me?”
The private laughed dryly. “We were looking for any survivors. Cloudsdale is…” He stopped, thinking over his next words carefully, his tongue bitten between his teeth. “You made it out before the spell hit. I assume you were a resident and… you’ll need to find a new home, I’m afraid you’re Cloudsdale’s only refugee.
It took a few minutes before what had been said finally hit Comet. When at last everything that he said was clear, she could see it. The sky on fire, the death, ponies seemly rent in half by air, Rocket on the floor of her room-
“NO!” Comet screamed, knocking her soup onto the floor and jumping out of the bed, only to fall over onto the ground. She quickly was helped up by the colt, but she only shoved him away as he cursed, moving as fast as possible to exit the tent. She starred up at the sky, looking all around. The world was as dark as it had been when Cloudsdale fell out of the sky, and there were still no clouds.
“It’s out there! I know it’s up there! Let go of me, l-let go!” Comet sobbed as the Private grabbed her, preventing her from flying as he pulled her into a hug, tears running down her face as soldiers all around the camp stopped to ponder the scene. A few took off their helmets and bowed their heads, others just tried to pretend to be looking the other way. In the same instance that the crowd around the event had formed it was gone, and Comet sat outside the tent, tears falling onto the dead ground below her.
“Shh… let’s get you back inside, it’s going to be okay.” The Private said as he picked Comet up and carried her inside on his back. It was about an hour before she could do anything but sob.
“Listen to me… You have to move on. Equestria is changing, and if you don’t get these sorrows off your chest… it’ll get you killed.” He put a hoof on her foreleg gently, leaning forward and looking up at Comet. “Tell me what you saw.”
“Dying… Everypony just, cut to ribbons, blood on the clouds… it was, terrible and and…” The sight of Rocket flashed in her head, “I went home and… my family was gone and my, my sister she… they.” The fullness of the horrible, indescribable mutilation hit her as she tried to explain it. It had been worse than anything else, even her home falling. The ribs… had teeth marks on them.
Comet turned to the other side of the bed and wretched, losing what was basically nothing from her empty stomach. “My sister… something had been…”
“… Oh, sweet Luna.” The private said, catching on to what must have happened. “When emotion isn’t enough… I’m so sorry.”
“You’re not sorry!” Comet yelled as she turned and smashed her hoof into his face. He grabbed his cheek and looked at her, a fierceness taking over Comet’s features. “Where were the soldiers? Where was the rear guard? Where were our guards? Why did nopony try to help? Why couldn’t you do your jobs…?” She fell into her pillow sobbing as the Private put a hoof on her shoulder, rubbing it gently.
It was some time before Comet was able to lift her head again. When she finally did her stomach growled terribly. She rubbed the wet spot where she had laid her face on the lumpy pillow, frowning.
“Let me get you some fresh soup Comet… and gather your thoughts.” Private trotted out with this, leaving Comet alone in the strange place.
I can’t even tell if this is real anymore. Are these tears real? Is what I saw yesterday real? … Is my sister really gone? Comet punched the wet spot on her pillow before turning over, sitting up as a fresh tear traveled down her cheek.
“You have to stop crying eventually.” A cool, rich voice said. Comet looked around for the source of the noise, but she couldn’t make out anypony in the room.
“Hello? P-Private?” Comet asked. The room was silent. There was no noise or movement besides her breaths, which slowly raised her chest up and down. Comet moved into the sheets as they pressed against her, a semi sleep taking her while she waited for food.
“This is your full statement on what happened?” The Private said, reading down the report that he’d filled in for Comet. Comet looked over at the paper to see his fine, almost stunning penmanship scrawled over the page.
“Yeah… that’s my full statement… Where did you learn to write so well?” Comet asked, intrigued by his grace for something that seemed far outside of a soldier’s profession.
“Well, We all have habits don’t we?” he quickly took the paper and began doing some complicated curves and roundabouts that Comet could not follow before showing her the paper again. The name on the top read Comet Firehooves with fancy embellishing not unlike the style used to begin those tombs Comet saw in the library.
“Where did you learn to do that?” Comet asked, quizzically gazing at her own name.
“Just something I do in my spare time. Now…” He put the paper away and turned to face Comet directly, taking a bit of a more grave tone. “You know that you can’t stay here forever, right? I know you’ve been through a lot but when we break camp in a few days, you’re going to be on your own… the front lines are no place for a civilian.”
Comet bit her lower lip, looking down. She didn’t want to be on the front lines either, it wasn’t just dangerous out here, but she had no way to protect herself against whatever those… those Changelings things. “I… I know, but I need you, and Everypony else at this camp, I can’t protect myself out there from those things, they’ll overpower me.”
The Private just grinned at this, looking down. “We’ll teach you how to shoot… I’m sure we can spare a few weapons…” his grinned died as his voice became shockingly morbid. “Those soldiers don’t need a gun anymore.”
“That mare makes you look bad, Hawkeyes.” The Private said to a blue colt that stood next to him as Comet fired a shot from her wristgun, dispatching another empty can. It had been a few days since Comet had woken up, and as soon as she could walk down to the range she had begun to take up shooting.
“I only missed because you bumped into me.” Hawkeyes said smoothly, eyeing his next target coyly as he raised a wristgun and hit his can from behind Comet. “I’m so far above this, remind me why I agreed to come to a rigged game of shooting cans again?”
“Because this mare can’t march into combat with us, we can hardly give her enough rations to reach the nearest town, and she needs to be able to defend herself.” The private said. He had spent the last week helping Comet get well and hone her firing skills. Each can was a “Changeling” from Zelmus Inc. They had only one purpose, and that was to harm ponyfolk.
“So, does this mean I’m ready, and the ‘Sarge’ will leave you alone?” Comet asked as she turned to look at the pair.
The red pony nodded. “Ah’m sick of you ‘n yer friend occupyin’ mah tent, y’ all need to finish that trainin’ so she can be on ‘er way!” Private mimicked his Sarge crudely.
“Don’t let Sarge hear you talking like that.” Hawkeyes said coolly as he trotted slowly past the Private, exiting the makeshift range. Private sighed, looking at Comet with slightly sad eyes.
“Well, I suppose that’s all to say… You’ll be going now, won’t you?” Private asked her. The manner in which he approached the subject almost made Comet want to say that she was going to stay here with him. He had the look of a sad puppy on his face as he looked down, his grey eyes misting over just a bit.
“Yeah… I’m going to try and find work in that town you mentioned. I’ve never been outside of Cloudsdale… This is a good chance to really try out new things and new places.” Comet told him as he trotted over to her side.
“At least it will get you away from this perpetual darkness.” Private said as he looked at the sky, which had not lightened up at all since comet had first seen it go black.
“Yeah, I suppose so… You’ll be alright, right?” Comet couldn’t help but be concerned for the pony as he pulled out his long bowie knife and played with it in his hooves, resting against a pole stuck into the ground.
“I’ll get along…” the Private looked down the range at a challenge, tiebreaker can. Hawkeyes had tried to hit it before the match ever started and missed, attesting to how hard it would be to knock it down. “The best marksman we have couldn’t hit that can with a wristgun. Bet you I can get it with my knife.”
Comet laughed. The Private looked at her, his face letting on he was more than a little hurt. “You don’t think I can hit the can?” He asked her.
“Hawkeyes is a better shot than you, and he couldn’t hit it. I doubt you can, but you’re welcome to fail!” Comet said, turning her attention to the can. There was a loud wiz beside Comet as she kept watching the can. Her mouth dropped in awe as the can fell to either side of the pole it rested on, split cleanly in two. The private nearly dragged her over to the can, fetching his knife and sliding it into the foreign looking sheath he kept for it. Comet looked down as he pushed the sheath forward, offering her the knife.
“… Are you sure?” She asked, eyeing the blade.
“It belonged to my grandfather. We’ve passed it down for a long time, but I don’t really need it to keep safe. It’s like good luck, maybe it’ll keep you alive out there so I can see you again… because I want this back someday.” He threw the belt and sheath onto Comet, tightening it and smiling at her. Comet smiled back at him when a thought struck her.
“Hey, if I’m ever going to see you again, I need to know your name!” She said, looking him straight in the eyes. The Pony backed up noticeably, a bit of a blush cursing him.
“I will find you, alright? Just trust me!” He winked at her, waiting for a moment. Comet slowly nodded her head before he took off, disappearing before she could form any words to say to him. She turned to look out at the bleak landscape as she picked up her heavy duty Equestrian Army saddlebags. She beat her wings a few times, and then was gone into the darkness of day.
Keep well, Private.
Comet flew just by a small outcropping, knocking over a few rocks as she headed towards the only safe place in these parts. The rocks tumbled down from above, clicking on the ground and coming to a stop against an apparently sleeping colt. He spat at the ground and got up, slinging his sword onto his back and looking up at the soaring brown dart in the sky. Stuffing a piece of paper into a small clip on his black leather jacket that contained somewhat dubious looking pockets, he walked into the darkness and began to gallop, keeping just out of Comet’s range of sight, but still hot on her tail.
