Parabellum of Freedom

Chapters

Prologue: a king's folly...
A day at the beach
Strange new world
Interrogation
The legend of Earth
If you want peace...
The calm before the storm

Prologue: a king's folly...

Long ago, in the times of ancient kings and queens, there was once an island nation. This nation was ruled by a cruel man, whose heart was filled with hate, greed, and malice. That cruelty bled through to his military, who under his pleased gaze, would keep a firm grip on the populace, taking taxes and anything else he wanted while keeping them in constant fear.

However, despite all the gold and power he had, he wanted more, much more. To his powerful ego, all the world should be his to rule, with all its people his subjects. But he was hardly the biggest fish in the sea, as many much more powerful nations bordered his own, and if he tried to challenge them he would surely be conquered. So he was left with no choice but keep the peace, stewing in his own jealousy.

And then one day, something bizarre happened.

A mysterious pulse of energy washed over the kingdom, causing it to disappear from it's own world, arriving in a new land entirely. The king found that he was now neighbor to many new nations, that were home to all sorts of strange creatures. One of these new creatures were small colorful horses, who seemed to be mostly peaceful.

Upon seeing this new world, the king immediately saw it as ripe for the taking. He viewed the horses and other creatures as weak and vulnerable and thought they would be easily conquered. So he began a bloody campaign of conquest, seeking to bring all these animals under his rule.

In a surprise attack, he struck first against the outermost towns and villages, his army slaughtering all the little ponies that stood in their way; the king's military carved its way through this new world, leaving a trail of destruction wherever they went.

They were met with fierce resistance from the locals, who proved to be more of a worthy opponent than the king originally gave them credit for. The opposition had many tricks up their proverbial sleeves, such as what could only be described as magic. And while these strange powers their enemy possessed cost him countless men, he still refused to give up; his army continued their march on this world, causing untold death and destruction wherever they went.

And then the other races of this world became involved.

The inhabitants of the other nations must have realized that if the ponies fell, the king would attack them next. So it wasn't long before they joined in the fight, aiding the ponies against the king's army. Together, all the races worked as one to vanquish the invaders, quickly overcoming them.

The king's forces were pushed back to their island, much to his great displeasure. Soon, the ponies and their allies invaded the shores of his kingdom, and the king was left with no choice but to surrender.

After the war was over, the different races discussed what to do with the humans; eventually, it was decided to make them servants to the ponies and other species', believing humans too barbaric and dangerous to be free.

With the humans defeated and no longer a threat, things went back to normal as peace returned to Equestria and the other lands.

But if only the king could have known the events he'd set into motion...

A day at the beach

Cherish every moment and every person in your life, because you never know when it will be the last time you see someone - Unknown.

Phil kept his eyes on the road, his sunglasses protecting his retinas from the glare of the sun. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he piloted his jeep through the streets of Honolulu. The window was open a few inches, giving a nice flow of fresh air as he drove.

"-And in other news, tensions between North Korea and the UN continue to deteriorate!" Came a woman's voice over the radio as it played in the background. "The country continues to make threats of nuclear war, causing many to fear that a long dreaded World War 3 might be brewing under the surface!

Additionally, North Korea, as well as China have both been caught sending spy vehicles into foreign territory. There was also an altercation between a North Korean Corvette and an American cruiser over international waters! Now it's important to note that North Korea claims that this was a misunderstanding, but some doubt-"

"That's enough of that," said Phil's wife, Catherine as she reached forward and turned off the radio. She sat calmly in the passenger seat, a wide-brim hat situated atop her head, a few strands of bright red hair peeking out.

"Are we gonna be at the beach soon?" Came a small voice.

Phil took a moment to glance away from the road as he looked in the rear view mirror, his gaze falling on his five year old son Max, in the backseat. Beside him was Phil's brother Mark, who was joining them for the day.

Phil smiled as he look back towards the road. "Yeah, buddy, we'll get there in just a few minutes," he replied.

Max's eyes lit up as a large smile broke out on his face. He looked toward his uncle. "Do you wanna help me make a sand castle, uncle Mark?" The boy asked sweetly.

Mark chuckled. "Yeah, I'd love to," he said as he patted Max's leg.

Soon, the buildings and structures started thinning out as the area around them started opening up. Looking ahead, Phil could see a large stretch of sand just a hundred feet away from them. And beyond that, a beautiful blue ocean that went out all the way out to the horizon, as if it was as infinite as the stars above.

Getting off the main road, Phil turned into the parking lot and claimed a spot. Killing the engine, Phil and Catherine stepped out of the vehicle, while Mark got Max out.

Going around to the back, Phil opened up the hatch and began taking out the beach supplies. He pulled out a large beach bag, as well as an umbrella, and some chairs. Catherine came over and started helping him, taking the items from him as he took them out.

"Max, do you want to help Mommy and Daddy?" Catherine asked her son, to which the boy nodded. "Here, will you hold this for us please?" She said as she passed the beach bag to Max.

"We got everything?" Phil asked, checking to make sure nothing was left in the car.

Catherine nodded, resting the umbrella against her shoulder. "Yes, that's everything."

With that confirmation, Phil closed the hatch on the jeep and locked it. With everything safety in tow, the group left the vehicle, each of them carrying at least one item. Moving down the parking lot, the four followed a path away from all the vehicles, soon arriving at the beach.

Phil took a relaxing sigh, taking in the smell of the sea as he breathed. A cool breeze blew over them, giving a nice contrast the hot sun up above.

The beach was crowded with people, all of them seeking a good day just like Phil and his family; people were sunbathing, playing games, and playing in the sand and water - the beach was truly alive with activity.

"I'll find us a spot," said Mark as he walked off to find a free space for them on the beach.

"I wanna help!" Cried out Max excitedly, who quickly took off to tag along with his uncle. Smiling softly to themselves the couple slowly followed behind.

"It was nice of you to take leave off of your work to spend the day with us," said Catherine, watching Max and Mark as they looked for a spot.

Phil smiled warmly, laying an arm around his wife as they walked. "I was happy to do it, I love spending time with you guys."

Phil was a soldier in the military, and he was about to be sent out on a training exercise with the rest of his company. The retreat was expected to last a couple weeks, so the day before the exercise, he took a day of leave from the military so that he could be with his family.

After a moment, Mark called out to them from up ahead, telling them they found a spot as he gestured to an open space on the beach. Phil and his wife picked up their pace, the flip flops he was wearing sinking into the loose sand.

Approaching the space Mark and their son found, the group started setting up, placing out a large blanket, the umbrella and chairs.

"Can we go build a sandcastle now?" Max asked, once his parents had finished setting up the space and putting everything down.

"Not just yet," Catherine shook her head. Reaching into the beach bag, she pulled out a plastic bottle with a nozzle at the top. "You need to put some sunscreen on first," she said as she squirted a dollop into the palm of her hand. She started spreading the cream over his exposed skin and face. "We don't want your skin becoming as red as a tomato," she smiled lovingly as she booped his nose and ruffled his blonde hair.

After making sure Max's skin was protected, she applied sunscreen to her own skin, before passing it to Phil and Mark.

"Alright, Max, let's go make a sandcastle!" Mark said once he'd put on some sunscreen, much to the five-year-old's excitement. Grabbing a bucket and shovel that they'd brought along, the two made their way over to a nice open spot and began work on their project.

"This is nice," Phil said as he and Catherine took this time to relax, sitting comfortably in their beach chairs. "Wouldn't you agree?" He said, taking his wife's hand in his.

Catherine sighed, happily watching her son joyfully play in the sand. "Yes. Yes I do," she replied.

Max and Mark eventually finished the sandcastle, with the young boy excitedly trying to get his parent's attention. Phil chuckled at his child's antics, sharing a grin with his wife as he stood up.

"Okay, let's see what you've got here," Phil said as he approached his kid. Inspecting the sandcastle, he found it to be a simple build, with a mound of sand as a base, and a couple little towers. "Wow, it looks amazing, I love it!" He exclaimed to Max's delight.

Phil fished his smartphone out of his swim trunks, turning on the camera. "We need to take a picture of this, don't you think?" Max nodded, moving to stand proudly by his creation. "Okay. Three. Two. One. Smile!" Phil said, snapping a photo of his kid and the sandcastle.

"Can I see?" Max asked, wandering over to his father and peering at the phone screen. Angling the screen so his son could see it better, Phil allowed Max to see the picture.

"You like it?" Phil asked, earning a great big smile from his kid.

"Yeah. Let's show Mommy," he said. So that's what they did, returning to their spot to show Catherine the picture.

"I love it!" Max's mom said when she saw what he did. "You didn't tell me you were an architect, Max, could you redo the patio for me?"

Her words made Max roll his eyes. "Mommm!" The boy groaned. "I'm only five! I'm not an arkhamtect!" He exclaimed with exasperation.

"Okay! Okay, I'm sorry I didn't know!" Catherine and Phil chuckled at their child's antics.

"Can we go down to the water?" Max asked after a moment, pointing with his finger toward the shoreline.

"Sure buddy," Phil replied, giving Max a gentle pat on his shoulder.

"Do you wanna come Mommy?" Max asked his mother, as his father stood beside him.

Catherine softly shook her head. "I'm good. Thank you," she replied. "Go have fun with your Daddy."

"Come on," Phil said, guiding his son away from their spot as they started moving down the beach. They made their way past other beachgoers, doing their best not to disturb them. About half way to the water, Mark joined the father and son, tagging along with them.

The trio approached the water, which was mostly calm except for tiny waves lapping gently upon the sand. People were out swimming and wading in the ocean, splashing seawater as they played.

With a happy giggle, Max ran up to the water, jumping around in the salty liquid. Max was steadily getting his entire bottom half wet, but that didn't bother the five-year-old, as he continued playing with careless abandon. As Max played, Phil once again pulled out his phone and began recording, wanting to immortalize this moment.

"Daddy! Uncle Mark! Come play!" Max called out, as he stood thigh-deep in the water.

Normally, Phil would've had to decline, as he currently had his phone with him; but he recently got a waterproof case, so he didn't have to worry about it getting wet. "Alright, we're coming buddy," said Phil as he slipped off his sandals and left them laying on the beach.

Phil stepped out into the water, it was a little cold at first, but that chilly sensation quickly wore off after a moment. Mark started playing with Max, splashing water around everywhere and having a blast while doing so. As the two goofed off, Phil stood off to the side, content with letting them get soaked while he just waded calmly about - while he wore a pair of swim shorts, his torso was dressed with just a plain t-shirt, and he didn't want it to get wet.

"Daddy! Come on!" Max called out, upset his father wasn't playing. "Splash with us!"

"Sorry, budd," Phil began, trying to calm his kid. "I don't want to get too wet right now."

"Is that so?" Mark replied unnervingly, a devilish smile spreading across his face.

Phil felt a chill travel down his spine, his hair standing on edge as he stepped backwards cautiously. "Mark, don't you dare!" Phil spoke with trepidation, knowing exactly what his brother was about to do.

However, Mark didn't listen, and instead proceeded to splash a torrent of water at his brother. Phil went prone, closing his eyes and mouth as the wave crashed into him. Once the assault was over, Phil found himself soaked to the bone as the
seawater dripped off him.

Slowly, Phil reached up and wiped the water off of his face, an uneasy air about him as he did so. "Ohh, you shouldn't have done that..." Phil spoke darkly, a devilish grin of his own spreading across his face.

He promptly returned fire, splashing water back at his brother in retaliation. Pretty soon, things devolved into a full on war as the three splashed at each other, big grins on each of their faces. Phil started laughing, a warm feeling coursing through his chest as excitement overcame him.

Phil's assault on his brother was brutal, relentlessly sending waves of water at Mark. He was gentler with Max, making sure not to splash as much at him since he was so young. Before long, the trio were absolutely drenched, soaked down to the bone from their water battle.

After a while, the three eventually had their fill, exiting the water as they retreated to the beach. They were dripping wet from head to toe, but a towel and some time in the sun would take care of that.

Phil grabbed his sandals and picked them up, not wanting to put them on while he was wet. "Okay, let's head back," he said, eager to grab a towel and dry off. "Come on, Max, let's go back to where Mommy is." However, Max didn't reply. Turning towards his son, Phil found that the boy had moved a couple feet away, his attention on something in the sand.

"What'd you find, Max?" Phil asked, approaching his kid and trying to see what he was looking at.

"It's a shell," Max replied, turning to show the seashell he held in his palms. It was a small one, with a pearlescent sheen to it under the sunshine.

"Wow, good find," Phil said, earning a proud smile from his kid. "Do you want to go show Mommy?"

"Wait!" Max exclaimed, turning back towards the sand where he got the shell. "I wanna find more!"

As Max started digging through the sand, Phil sighed softly, realizing that they weren't going back just yet. Oh well, he can just let the sun's heat dry him off.

"Looks like we're not going back right now, you can go without us if you want," Phil told his brother.

But Mark just shrugged. "Nah, I'm good man," he replied coolly. "I'll stick with you two."

So instead of going back to their spot, the two brothers opted to follow the five-year-old as he searched the beach for more shells. They gradually moved farther down the coastline as they walked, with Max stopping periodically to add another shell to his collection. Before long, his arms were full of all that he'd found so far, to the point where Phil and Mark had to start carrying some for him.

As they moved along the beach, Max let out an excited squeal when he came across an exceptional find. Sitting atop the sand was a large conch shell, which had been washed ashore. Max couldn't contain his delight, rushing to collect the big shell.

"Daddy, look at it!" He exclaimed proudly, as if he'd discovered an amazing treasure - and as far as Max was concerned that was exactly what happened.

"It's amazing!" Phil said earnestly, his eyes glued to the shell Max had. "It's quite a find. Do you want to go show Mommy? I'm sure she'll love it."

"Yeah! Let's show Mommy!" The kid exclaimed with excitement, eager to show his mother what he found. Without waiting for his dad or uncle, Max rushed off towards their spot on the beach, leaving the two men to hurry after him.

Upon reaching their spot, Max wasted no time. He ran up to Catherine, excitedly showing her the conch shell and all the others he'd found.

Catherine's face lit up with amazement much like Phil's had. "I love it!" She exclaimed, much to Max's delight. "What a find!"

"That's what I said," Phil said as he sat down in his own chair. "So I thought you might want to see it."

"You thought right, it's amazing that you found it," she said, making Max beam proudly.

After that, Max took all the shells he found and started playing in the sand again.

"This has been nice," Catherine said after a moment, casting a smile towards her husband.

"I'm happy to hear that," Phil replied, smiling back.

Catherine held her smile for a moment, before her face darkened as a depressed expression overtook it. "We're going to miss you," she said. "It's not going to feel right without you around."

"Hey," he cooed gently, taking her hand and holding it to his chest. "It's going to be alright," he said, trying to comfort her. "I'm only going to be gone a couple weeks, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

Her expression brightened at his reassuring words. She smiled and leaned in to give him a tender kiss. "I'll hold you to that than," she said.

Phil continued holding her hand, looking into her beautiful eyes as he returned the kiss with one of his own. "I'll be back before you know it," he repeated, a warm smile on his face.

Author's Note

So, this chapter was originally going to have an additional segment. But after thinking it over, I eventually decided that it would fit better as part of the next chapter.

Be sure to stay tuned, because next time, the seeds of war between Earth and Equus will be sown.

Strange new world

"The imminent destruction of all we know and love, begins now." - Sir Edmund Burton - Transformers: The Last Knight.

Phil sat in the passenger seat of a Humvee, traveling down an undeveloped and bumpy road. They were in the middle of a convoy of vehicles moving through the jungles of Oahu, heading out on an exercise retreat.

"Blow out the candles buddy!" came Phil's voice from his phone, which was playing a video taken during Max's birthday. In the video, Max sat at a table, with Mark, Catherine and himself standing around the boy. He had a little birthday cake in front of him, with a number "5" candle atop it.

In the video, Max blew out the candle with a huff of air. His parents and uncle started cheering and clapping, eliciting a happy look from the child.

"What did you wish for sweetie?" Catherine asked her son.

"I can't tell you!" Max replied with an exasperated sigh. "If I tell you, it won't come true."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot," Catherine feigned ignorance as she chuckled.

"He's gotten so big," said the driver, who was a buddy of his from base.

Phil nodded his head in agreement, pulling himself away from the video when the driver spoke.

"Yeah, he sure has," Phil replied. "We just celebrated his fifth birthday about a month ago."

"I'd like to have kids at some point," said the driver, never taking his eyes off the road. "Just have to find the right partner, first."

"Are we going to be at the site, soon?" Phil asked, putting his phone away as he turned to the road in front of them.

"Just about," the driver nodded. "We should be arriving any moment now."

Soon, Phil could see the area ahead of them begin to clear up, as the trees and bushes started to thin out. He could see the vehicles in the front of the convey start to spread out. As they moved into the clearing, he noticed how they all seemed to be acting erratically, with all of them appearing to be keeping away from the center.

However, what he saw next left him utterly speechless.

"What in the world!" the driver exclaimed in shock as he pulled into the clearing, his eyes locked on the same thing Phil was seeing.

In the center of the clearing was some kind of spacial anomaly, around fifty to a hundred feet in diameter. It was made of a kind of purplish cloud, with accents throughout it that looked like stars. There seemed to be some kind of opening in the front, like a doorway. It kind of reminded Phil of the portals created by the space stone, from the MCU.

Phil couldn't believe what he was seeing, unable to take his eyes off the mesmerizing sight. This was the kind of thing that only happened in the movies, so to see something such as this in real life, it was world shattering.

The driver pulled clear off the caravan and came to a stop, allowing Phil to step out of the vehicle. It was clear that he wasn't the only one caught off guard, as this strange anomaly was causing quite a stir amongst the others; all around the clearing, people were approaching the cloud, gathering around it to do nothing but gawk at it, and wonder just what it was.

Phil stepped closer to it, joining the crowds of men and women. "What is it?" he wondered aloud, staring into the vast cloud and the stars within.

"Where do you think it came from?" he overheard someone nearby say.

"I've gone hiking in this area, and this definitely wasn't here before," said someone else.

Among the gathering crowd, Phil spotted Captain Murphy not far from his position. He stood facing the cloud, a firm look on his face.

"What do you make of all this sir?" Phil asked as he approached the captain, wanting to get his take. The Captain turned, the sun's rays being absorbed by his darker skin as he regarded him.

The black man shook his head at Phil's question. "I honestly have no idea, son," he said with clear sincerity. "I probably don't have to tell you this, but this thing was not here before."

"Well, what do we do now?" Phil questioned.

The Captain paused for a moment, a contemplative look on his face as he regarded Phil's words. "You!" he said, getting the attention of a soldier who was moving towards one of their Humvees. "I want you to radio in to base and tell them what's going on here; tell them to send more troops and resources, I want to send in a well-armed team to investigate this thing."

"Yes sir!" the solder saluted, before leaving to carry out their orders.

Upon hearing that the Captain intended to send a team in, Phil's eyes instinctively wandered to the anomaly. Ever since he was young, Phil had always had a fascination with the unknown; he had often dreamed about what else could be out there in the universe, all the world's that existed beyond their gaze.

As he stared at the anomaly, he felt a fire start to burn in his chest, a desire for adventure that wouldn't go away. He didn't know what lay within the depths of the cloud, but he yearned for the chance to find out.

"Sir?" Phil began, once again getting the Captain's attention. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to volunteer for the mission into the anomaly."

"Hmm." the Captain's lips pressed into a thin line. "What's your name, soldier?"

"Phil Matthew's, sir!" he replied, straightening his posture as he identified himself. The Captain stood there stoically, making Phil's chest grow tense with dread the longer it took him to respond.

The Captain nodded his head ever so subtly. "We'll see," he said before turning to leave.

Phil sighed in relief, feeling a weight lift off of him. He hadn't exactly said yes, but he didn't say no, either. "Thank you, sir," he said to the retreating Captain.

Some time later, the additional troops Captain Murphy requested began arriving, with more resources and equipment in tow. They had also brought along plenty of ammo, something the convoy needed greatly, as the majority of the rounds they had were blanks.

A perimeter was set up around the anomaly, with soldiers making sure the area was safe and secure; whatever this thing was or where it came from, they would be ready for anything that might happen.

After being approved for the mission, Phil was teamed up with three other men, whom he would accompany into the anomaly. The newly formed squad was outfitted with the standard issue M-16 rifle and a sidearm, plus plenty of ammo. Once they were appropriately equipped for whatever they might encounter, the group set off for their mission.

Stopping at the threshold of the doorway, the squad paused just at the edge, hovering between the known and unknown. As Phil stared into the depths of the anomaly, he found himself having second thoughts on doing this. He quickly took a deep breath, letting his nerves settle as he tried steadying himself.

"You all ready?" Phil asked the rest of the squad, to which they all confirmed yes.

"Okay, let's do this," Phil said to his team, before they all stepped through into the doorway.

Stepping into the anomaly, the changes were quickly apparent. The light around them diminished rapidly, soon leaving them in near darkness. The temperature also dropped a bit as well, not to the point where it was freezing, but to the point where it was noticeable.

Within they anomaly, it was as if they were walking down an invisible road through deep space. The tunnel made by the anomaly held a purplish glow to it, bathing them all in its light.

The whole time they were in the tunnel, Phil found himself in awe, blown away by what he was seeing; it was so magnificent, he didn't know how else to describe it, it was just the most incredible thing he'd ever seen.

Soon, they reached the other end of the tunnel, light from the other side spilling through into the darkness. Exiting the doorway, they were shocked to find they had emerged in a place very different from where they were. They now found themselves to be in a regular, plain old forest, which was a far cry from the lush jungle they just left.

Cautiously, the group worked to secure the exit, making sure the surrounding area was free of danger. They were in a clearing that was considerably smaller than the other side, with this side of the doorway having that same strange cloud around it.

"let's radio in, and inform the others what we found here," said one of Phil's squad mates, once they determined the area to be secure.

"Good idea," Phil replied, before he grabbed a walkie-talkie from his person and began to speak. FOB, this is yellow one. Radio check, over." After a few moments of waiting for a response, he tried again. FOB, this is yellow one. Radio check, over." Again, there was no reply.

"I don't think they can hear us," Phil said in defeat as he put his walkie-talkie away. "We must be out of range."

"What we do now, then?" asked a squad mate who was known as Calvin. He had a medium build, with a thin beard on his face.

"I think we should leave someone stationed here at the anomaly," Phil replied. "That way, if we come across something, they could act as a relay between us and back home."

"I'll stay," said the youngest of them as he moved back towards the cloud. "I was never one for hiking anyway."

Leaving the one squad mate by the anomaly, the others started off into the forest.

Moving through the woods, Phil looked at the treeline, unsure what to make of it; the forest seemed mundane, but at the same time, had a distinctively alien feel to it.

"How much do you want to bet this is some kind of conspiracy?" put forth Calvin. "Like this is some kind of top-secret project, and we're just in Iowa somewhere?"

"Maybe this is all a prank?" suggested Shawn, the other man with them. "Maybe this is just the Captain's way of playing a joke on us?"

Phil shook his head. "I seriously doubt that," Phil said, before cracking a smile, "that would depend on the Captain having a sense of humor in the first place." The other two gave a chuckle.

They examined all the flora they came across, seeing many familiar plants that wouldn't seem out of place back home. They also saw familiar animals too; they could see squirrels scampering around in the trees, as well as little birds fluttering all around.

Overall, the forest seemed to be calm and tranquil, a peaceful sensation that appeared to permeate the air itself.

Suddenly, a rustling in the bushes caught their attention. The men went rigid and stiff, going on full alert. They brought their weapons to arm, incase whatever was moving turned out to be hostile. They kept their eyes trained on the bushes, where after a few tense moments, the perpetrator of the commotion revealed itself.

A bunny came bounding out of the underbrush, making the three men relax. The bunny scampered out into the open, unafraid of the humans, whose presence didn't seem to bother it.

Phil chuckled to himself, a warm feeling entering his chest. Kneeling down, he gently approached the rabbit, being sure not to make any sudden moves; the bunny didn't seem to be scared, resting calmly on the forest floor as Phil closed the distance.

"Hi, there..." Phil cooed softly, trying to sound friendly and unthreatening. Reaching out a hand, he gently started scratching the top of its head, earning an ear twitch in response. He felt his lips curling upward into a smile, the world seeming to fade into the background as he greeted the small creature.

Finishing with the scratches, he stood back and gave the rabbit some space. Afterwards it moved on, promptly retreating back into the depths of the woods.

The three men then continued on their way through the forest. For a while nothing of note happened, the woods proved to be completely uninteresting. However that didn't last for long.

They soon found themselves at the top of a hill, looking out over what looked to be a small town in the distance.

"Should we try and scout it out?" suggested Shawn, only to discover that Calvin had already pulled out his binoculars. Phil and Shawn waited patiently, standing by as Calvin looked at the town.

"This doesn't make any sense!" muttered Calvin.

Phil's eyebrows hiked up. "What do you mean?" he asked.

He gestured with his hand toward the town. "I don't see any people down there, just their pets!" he passed the binoculars to Phil. "Here, look for yourself."

Taking the offerd item, he gazed through the binoculars at the little town. He soon discovered Calvin's words to be true, as there were no people, only small, colorful horse like creatures. As he continued to examine them, he took notice to their movements and odd mannerisms, and found himself coming to a startling realization; his eyes going wide, he felt his jaw drop as he contended with this new revelation.

"You're not going to believe this!" Phil exclaimed, never looking away from the binoculars. "I think the pets are the people!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Calvin, the tone in his voice indicating his disbelief.

"Here, see for yourself," said Phil, passing the binoculars back to his squad mate. "Look closely at the horses," he said as Calvin looked toward the town.

"Well I'll be dammed," Calvin said, shocked.

"What do we do?" asked Shawn.

"I want to try and get a closer look," Phil said as he began moving down the hill.

"Should we come with you?" suggested Shawn,

Calvin shook his head. "It might not be a good idea. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, and three soldiers are more noticeable than one."

Phil nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it'll be better if only one of us goes. These creatures have probably never seen anything like us before, we don't want to cause a panic. You two just stay here, I'll be back in a moment."

Leaving the two behind, he descended down the hill, moving toward the settlement. He kept to the trees and shadows, not wanting to be spotted and cause a panic. His boots crunching in the under brush, he soon came upon the edge of the forest, which bordered right up against the town.

Phil took cover in the bushes, keeping himself hidden as he gazed at the village. He watched these creatures with awe, his face lighting up like he was he was a four year old with an ice cream cone. They were similar to horses or ponies, but with a dazzling aray of colors they seemed to come in. Some of them also had either wings or a horn, like the myths of the unicorn and pegasus of old. As for their height, he guessed that, including their neck and head, they'd come up to around the chest of a human. Something else he noticed, was that all of them seemed to have some sort of strange symbol on their hindquarters, to which he figured they must have some kind of cultural significance.

Judging by the lack of technology and rural setting, he guessed that they were in a pre-industrial revolution civilization; there were no cars or anything, which made sense, as how would they drive with no hands?

Phil's eyes widened, a look of uncertainty etching itself upon his face. Actually... how did they do any of this without hands; they had no opposable thumbs, so how in the world did they manage to build a town such as this? It quickly rose to become a big question to him, but as much as he might yearn for an answer, it became clear it would have to be saved for a different day.

These pony things were so alien to him, and yet at the same time, also seemed strangely human. He watched how they went about their daily lives, doing mundane things like carrying out errands. He saw how they interacted with each other, greeting their fellows with kindness and smiles, showing that they were a tight-knit community.

But perhaps the thing that shocked him the most, the most unbelievable thing about all this, was that the aliens spoke English! Gravity took hold of his jaw, forcing it wide open when he first heard them; he was totally floored, a dumbstruck look plastered on his face.

One of the ponies greeted another on the street, asking how they and their family were doing; the other pony replied, saying how they were doing good, and thanked the first pony for asking. Throughout all of this, the two conversersed in perfect English, leaving Phil reeling at how that could be possible.

Shaking his head, Phil decided he had seen enough for now. He slowly and carefully lifted himself out of the bushes, before turning back towards to the woods to return to the others.

If only he knew he hadn't gone unseen...

A contingent of royal guards moved down the streets of town, drawing the eyes of ponies as they moved. They were led by a unicorn known as Stiff Blade, a brave and resilient captain. They were answering a distress call, something that had been brought to their attention when a stallion identifying himself as Sparrow Seeker came rushing to their base in a panic.

"What happened exactly?" asked Stiff Blade, casting his gaze toward the stallion that was with them.

"Okay, so I like to go bird watching, you see," began the jittery stallion. "Its a past time of mine which I engage in frequently, as I find it to be peaceful and relaxing. Anyway, I was heading out to go birdwatching today and was making my way into the woods, when all of a sudden this human came out of nowhere! It was dressed in strange clothing, and held some object in it's hands."

The captain furrowed his brow. "What did it do?"

"Nothing!" replied Sparrow Seeker. "It just sat there in the bushes outside of town, watching everypony. I found myself not far from where it was, unable to move; I think the color of my coat and mane helped conceal me from it, because it didn't seem to spot me," he said, indicating the earthen tone of his body. "Although I shudder to think what would have happened if it had seen me, surely nothing good."

The Captain nodded. "You're a lucky pony. Left unchecked, humans can be very dangerous."

"Here we are," said Sparrow when they approached the edge of town. "This is where I encountered the strange human. And after it was done spying on us, it retreated into the forest, in the direction of that hill over there."

"Okay, we'll take it from here, thank you for the tip," said the Captain.

"I'm just doing my civic duty," replied Sparrow Seeker. "Now you go and catch that human," he finished, before leaving to let the guards do their job.

Stiff Blade gazed into the forest, his eyes examining the lush foliage, half expecting to see something staring back at him; somewhere within these trees, was the greatest threat pony kind had ever faced. "Keep your guard up ponies, we're going in,"he said, never taking his eyes off the treeline.

"Why? Its just a human," said one of the guards, just as Stiff Blade was about to step into the woods. He paused, before turning away from the trees as he cast his gaze on the offending guard. She was a rookie, a peach colored pegasus who had very little combat experience.

The Captain looked her straight in the eyes, an air of seriousness exuding from him. "Never underestimate a human in battle," he said, "there's a reason we had to subjugate them."

"Sorry, sir," the pegasus said, bowing her head in apology.

"Let's go," the Captain said, as he once again turned towards the woods.

He stepped tentatively into the brush, followed closely by the other guards. They moved through the forest, gradually pulling away from the safety of the town as they went off in search of this strange human.

Stiff Blade kept a steely air about him, moving with a firm resolve. His eyes were trained on the dense foliage all around them, warily eyeing the shadows, half expecting to be ambushed at any moment; the guards held a firm grip on their weapons, ready to fight.

As they moved through the trees, some of the guards started talking amongst themselves. They spoke of finding these humans and putting them in their place; and how they should do as they're told, and obey their masters.

The Captain was about to add a comment of his own, when he suddenly paused. He maneuvered his ears forward, focusing on the trees ahead as he strained to make out any noise. Listening closely, he was able to pick up the tell tale sound of somebody speaking, coming from a short distance ahead of them.

Stiff Blade quickly raised his hoof, indicating for the guards to stop. Almost instantly, silence overcame the squad, as they heeded the Captain's instructions and became alert.

With a flick of his head, the Captain motioned towards the voices; keeping quiet, he stealthily moved in their direction, followed by the rest of the guards. He made sure to be mindful of where he stepped, making sure to avoid stepping on any twigs and prevent giving them away. Coming up on the their target, Stiff Blade and the other guards took cover in the bushes, where they proceeded to spy on the ones speaking.

Stiff Blade was able to make out three humans sitting in a small clearing. Just like Sparrow Seeker had said, they were dressed in usual garments, and were carrying strange, bulky devices with a tube on the end.

"This is unbelievable!" exclaimed one of the humans, completely unaware of those watching them.

One of the other humans nodded his head. "I know. If I hadn't seen it for myself I wouldn't have believed it."

"You three," the Captain whispered, turning his attention to a few of the guards. "I want you to circle around them. " As soon as he said that, he turned his gaze to a couple other guards on his opposite side. "You go the other way," he said, I want them surrounded!" The guards in question all nodded, before discretely moving around the clearing as they carried out their orders.

"What do we do now?" asked the third human.

"It's probably time for us to head back and tell the others what we found," replied the second human after a moment. "We should radio in and tell Avery we're on our way back," he said, to which the first human grabbed some little box thing.

Upon hearing that the humans were about to leave, the Captain went into a frenzy, his brain going into overdrive. Springing to his hooves, he rushed into action.

"Freeze!" he shouted, jumping out the bushes and catching the humans by surprise. The other guards followed suit, entering the clearing and bringing their weapons to bear.

"What the hell!" cried out the third human in alarm. The trio quickly took defensive positions, bringing up the strange things they carried and started pointing them at the guards.

"You're surrounded! Give us your equipment and surrender!" the Captain demanded.

The humans didn't obey, resulting in a stand off between the two parties, with neither side willing to back down.

Slowly, the second human lowered his object, before tentatively raising his hands in a placating manner. "Okay, everybody just relax, alright," he said calmly, trying to get both groups to stand down. "I'm sure that this is just a big misunderstanding, that's all."

Stiff Blade ignored the human's words, not paying them any heed. "Where is your master, slave?" he said, trying to gather as much information as he could. "For your sake I hope you have a good explanation."

At his words, the human paused, before slowly turning to regard the Captain. "Excuse me!" he exclaimed with passion, his eyes blinking in bewilderment. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"You heard me, slave!" the Captain said, not about to repeat himself to a human. "Where is your master? If I don't like your answer, I'm going to be forced to assume you murdered them!"

"Okay!" spoke the human, shaking his head. "I don't know what kind of Crack you've been taking, but I'm no-one's slave!" he stated with fiery conviction. "I have no master!"

One of the guards snickered to himself. "A human without a master, that's rich."

"I don't know how you people do things here, but where we come from, slavery is outlawed," said the third human, never dropping his object.

"Where's that, fantasy land?" a guard shot back, a mocking tone in her voice.

"America!" the human replied simply.

The Captain felt his anger rising, growing increasingly irate at these humans. "I said give over your equipment and surrender! I won't tell you again!"

Despite his warnings, the humans still refused to give up; They remained defiant, never dropping their guard.

"So be it," said the Captain, before turning to his squad. "Take them down, use whatever force necessary!" he ordered

The guards made to subdue the humans, moving towards them with weapons drawn. The humans did nothing, and instead just stood there as they continued to point their strange objects at the guards.

"Open fire!" shouted one of the humans.

There was a flash from the objects the humans carried, followed by several loud bangs. Whatever had happened, it left the Captain reeling, his ears feeling as if somepony was playing an instrument right into them. Upon recomposing himself, the Captain was left utterly dumbstruck to discover that half of his squad lay dead before the humans - whatever those things they had were, they were clearly a lot deadlier than appearances suggested.

Despite the newfound danger, the squad refused to back down, as they charged once more at the humans. A guard managed to approach one of the humans from behind, where they swiftly ran it through with a blade.

"Fall back!" the second human screamed upon seeing one of their own fall. The two that were left took off into the woods, attempting to escape, but the Captain wasn't going to allow that.

The guards chased after the humans, firing arrows and magic bolts at them as they fled. They tried to lose them amongst the trees and foliage, but they kept on the humans, never letting them out of their sights.

As they ran, one of the humans took that strange little box to his head. "We need help!" he yelled into it. "We're under attack! Send help! Please, send he-" he was cut off when a magic bolt struck him, taking him down then and there.

Only one human left.

Phil's legs pounded on the forest floor, every step reverberating through his body. His lungs burned in his chest, working double time as he exerted himself.

He tore through the trees, trying to get back to the anomaly and to safety. His attackers had already killed Shawn and Calvin, and despite his best attempts to do so, he couldn't manage to shake them.

They fired arrows and lasers at him, to which he returned fire, shooting back at them as he ran.

Why were they doing this? He thought to himself, leaves and branches smacking him all over. They seemed to be friendly enough when he was watching them, so why were they attacking him?

As he pondered that question, he wasn't watching where he was stepping, and ended up triping on an exposed root. He went down hard, crashing into the forest floor. The air was forced out of his lungs, as if he'd been punched in the gut.

Regaining his breath, Phil tried to recover. He could hear his pursuers gaining on him, having lost much ground due to his fall. He scrambled to his feet, trying to get running again. But he only made it a few feet, as they were on him in an instant.

They tackled Phil back to the ground. He tried resisting, but they held him down firmly. He attempted to reach for his gun, but they were quick to remove it from his person.

"Let me go!" Phil yelled, trying to wrestle free as they restrained him.

"Take him in for questioning," said one of the pony-things, whom Phil assumed to be in charge. He leaned in close to Phil, a hard look on his face. "I don't know what you were doing out here, but we're going to find out."

After that, they started dragging Phil away. He kicked and screamed, trying to escape, but to no avail; despite his most valiant efforts, they continued to carry him off, to where he had no idea.

And Phil didn't yet know it, but something big had just been set into motion.

Author's Note

And so it begins...

Interrogation

“All conflict can be traced back to someone’s feelings getting hurt, don’t you think?” - Liane Moriarty - Big Little Lies

The armies of Equestria and her alies marched upon the last human stronghold on Earth. The war had been long and hard, but at last, they were at their enemy's doorstep. Ponies and the other allied races fought humans in the streets, locked in bloody combat.

The city was dark and filthy, with the air smelling of tar, and the buildings looking like they were made out of dirty stone somehow imbued with evil; this place was a stark contrast to Canterlot, whose streets were so clean you could say they were paved with gold.

Celestia fought her way through the streets, donned in golden armor as she tore through humans that would see her kneel, striking them down with her sword. A contingent of her finest guards flanked her on either side, providing backup.

Looming ominously in front of them, a dark castle rested in the very center of the city. Its walls and spires were as black as night, towering above them forebodingly. This was their destination, for within that ever present structure, was the greatest threat pony kind and it's allies had ever faced - the king of the humans.

As they fought towards the castle, they were ambushed, human soldiers jumping out of the alleyways and attacking them.

An Earth pony bucked a human in the chest, a sickening crunch coming from the point of contact as it crumpled limply to the ground. The Earth pony quickly grabbed the fallen human's sword, using it to run another one through. Pulling the blade free, the Earth pony was about to strike down a third human, but he was quickly blindsided from the back.

Twisting onto his back, the pony found a human soldier standing above him with a snarl on his face. "You will all fall before the glory of Earth!" the human said, raising a sword above his head as he was about to bring it down upon the pony. The guard's expression remained firm, a defiance exuding from him even in the face of his own end.

Just as the human was about to end him, an arrow came from out of nowhere and embedded itself in the human's skull. The human stumbled forward a bit, before finally crashing down, dead. Looking towards where the arrow came from, the Earth pony found that a pegasus mare had saved him.

"You allright?" the pegasus asked as he got to his hooves.

"Yeah, thanks," the Earth pony replied, giving her a grateful nod.

Elsewhere, Celestia tore her way through the humans, felling the king's soldiers with ease; the humans toppled like toys before her, failing pathetically as they perished to her might.

"With me, my ponies!" Celestia shouted, her golden armor gleaming brilliantly. "We march on the castle!" Wild roars went up around her as she and the rest of her forces pressed onwards.

As Celestia and her guards approached the castle from the ground, they were given air support by pegasi, dragons, griffins, changelings, and hippogriffs, who attacked the city from the sky. Buildings burned all around them, smoke floating into the air as they fought.

Soon, Celestia and the guards were at the castle, where they smashed their way through and entered. They carefully made their way down the castle's halls, which were built out of dark stone, like everything else in the city. They fought through more of the king's soldiers, who were desperately trying to stop their advance, but to no avail.

Finally, they found themselves at the throne room, which was made entirely with black marble. And sitting atop a throne of obsidian, was the king of the humans.

The king was dressed in a black suit of armor, while a cloak of black velvet flowed from his shoulders. And atop his head was a crown of silver, a symbol of his power.

Surrounding the king was his crown guard. They wore silver armor and fearsome skull masks, while brandishing large axes.

Her guards by her side, Celestia slowly approached the king, never taking her eyes off him.

The king leaned forward, a sickening smile spreading across his bearded face. "Why hello, Celestia, have you come to surrender?"

"Never!" Celestia replies, taking a battle stance. "We will never bow to you!"

At her words, the king got up out of his throne. "I'm going to enjoy this," he smirked, drawing a sword that glowed a dark purple.

With that, Celestia and the king charged at each other, an undeniable fury etched upon their faces. The two collided, their clash echoing like thunder throughout the throne room. They found themselves locked in a grapple, each of them trying to overpower the other.

Breaking away from the king, Celestia fired a couple of magic bolts at him. But the king quickly rolled out of the way, before swiftly lunging at her with his sword. She jumped out of the way as fast as she could, but not before he managed to score a thin cut on her exposed neck.

They continued to fight, with each of them occasionally getting the upper hoof/hand only to lose it a moment later. To anyone watching them fight, it would be seen as quite the spectacle; they fought with a kind of grace, like they were two partners in a dance.

As Celestia fought the king, her soldiers engaged the kings guard, fighting valiantly.

The king took another swing with his sword at Celestia, but she managed to bring up her own to block it. Raising her blade, she brought it down against the king, who blocked it as well. Celestia swung at the king again and again, not letting up as she kept him on the defensive.

The king's eyes started going wide, his fingers gripping his blade tightly as he tried to keep up with Celestia; His breathing quickened, sweat starting to build on his brow.

Celestia kept up her assault, which soon proved to be too much for the king when she used her sword to deftly disarm him of his weapon. The king's blade flew away from him, his face pale as he watched it clatter on the floor. In one last move, he desperately lunged for his weapon, but before he could reach it, Celestia spun on her hooves and bucked him hard, sending him crashing into his throne. Celestia promptly conjured transparent chains around him, thus ending the fight.

Upon seeing their king defeated, his crown guard lost all their resolve, dropping their weapons and raising their hands in surrender.

Approaching the king, Celestia levitated his crown off his head, before walking to the balcony. She stepped up to the railing and looked out over the city, where her ponies and the other races continued to fight. Using the canterlot voice, she spoke to the whole city, causing all to stop and listen.

Up above, the clouds parted, and a glorious beam of light shined down on Celestia. "This war is over!" She declared triumphantly, raising up the fallen king's crown for them all to see.

At this, all the allied races began to cheer, their voices joining together and filling the streets. Meanwhile, the human soldiers despaired and sank to their knees in defeat, their once glorious empire, now no more.

And for the ponies and other races, their future now seemed brighter than ever. They had been through hardships, but they had come out on top, just like they always knew they would.

Twilight sighed in content as she closed the book, fully satisfied with the story she had just read. Titled 'The Legend of Earth' Twilight'd had it on her radar for awhile, and had finally been prompted to get around to it after all the recent talk about the fabled human homeworld.

And honestly she was glad she had. While the plot had been somewhat predictable, and she felt the main villain felt a bit flat, she found it to be fairly entertaining despite its flaws. And it was a book she would definitely recommend to others.

Getting up from where she sat, she stretched out her limbs, feeling relief as the tension left her muscles. Grabbing the book, she walked it back to the shelf, while also warding off the remaining stiffness in her legs.

Putting the book back where it belonged, the next thing she elected on was to head outside; she'd been inside reading for quite some time, so she was overdue for some sunlight and fresh air.

Exiting the castle, Twilight took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill her nostrils and lungs. Walking down the path away from her home, she smiled as she felt the warm sunlight upon her coat, enjoying its heat. A gust of summer wind blew past her, delivering the sent of fresh pine needles and pollinating flowers, making her heart flutter with longing.

It was so nice out, she thought she might go for a walk through Ponyville, and just enjoy the day. And so off she went, trotting through the village with a warm smile upon her face.

As she moved through town, she found herself appreciating how it looked nothing like the world depicted in the book; The human lands were rundown and disgusting, having been neglected and defiled by its masters.

Twilight walked down the roads of Ponyville, smiling at the rays of sunlight that accentuated the beauty of the town; it was effortlessly pristine, with a serenity that penetrated the very air itself.

That serenity, however, was soon dispelled when her ears picked up the sound of discontent. Following the noise, she found herself approaching the town square, where she was able to identify the source of the disturbance.

In the middle of the square was a group of ponies who were protesting against the use of human slaves. They had gathered a fairly large crowd, most of whom didn't care what they were hearing, if all the boos and hisses was any indication.

Leading the protest was Bonbon, who stood beside a sign which read free the humans. "The war with the humans was thousands of years ago," she spoke through a loudspeaker. "The humans today are innocent, and shouldn't be punished for their ancestor's actions."

"Shut up!"

"You're crazy!"

"The humans will always be slaves!"

"Let Lyra get a human already!"

Twilight's brow furrowed, she recognized that voice. Turning her head in the direction of the speaker, she spotted the prismatic mane its owner was known for.

"I won't let Lyra anywhere near a human!" Bonbon declared immediately, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "I won't let her lay a hoof on them, especially not the children!"

Twilight worked her way through the crowd, squeezing past ponies as she made her way toward her friend. Approaching Rainbow Dash, Twilight tapped her hoof on Dash's shoulder. "Hey, Rainbow," she said, getting her attention.

"Oh, hey Twilight," Rainbow greeted upon seeing her. "Come, let's talk over there," she indicated with her head toward a less populated part of the square; The two extracted themselves from the crowd, heading to a more open spot to speak.

"So, how you doing, Twi?" Rainbow asked once they had some space to themselves.

"I'm good," replied Twilight. "I just finished reading 'The Legend of Earth' and was just out getting some sun."

"Ohh. I love that book," Rainbow exclaimed. "It's five hundred awesome pages of ponies and other creatures kicking human ass!"

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I thought it was enjoyable."

"Just wait until you read the sequel," she told Twilight. "It turns out that there's a second human world known as Sitnalta, that has some very powerful magic."

"I'll be sure to check it out," Twilight said.

"Twilight!" Came a new a new voice, interrupting the two friends. Turning to the new speaker, Twilight found Spike running up to them: he made his way across the square, coming to a stop right in front of the two. He seemed panting heavily, and he held a piece of paper in his claws.

"Twilight..." he repeated, before bending over to rest on his knees as he took several steadying breaths. "Celestia has requested your presence in Canterlot... she says it's urgent," he said, giving her the paper.

Taking the offered item, Twilight looked it over, her eyes going wide as she read it. Twilight looked at Rainbow withban apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I'm needed in Canterlot."

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay, Twilight, don't sweat it. Make sure to read that book okay," she said in parting. She then unfurled her wings and began to flap them, buffeting Twilight and Spike with bursts of wind as she took off into the sky.

"I'll see you back at the castle, Spike," Twilight said to the drake, who nodded as she gave the paper back to him. Twilight then left her assistant and the crowd behind as she set off on her way for Canterlot.

Arriving at the palace, Twilight was immediately met by Celestia, who came out to welcome her at the doors. After the two princesses greeted each other, they then retreated inside the palace. They moved through the fancy ornate corridors, grand tapestries and paintings on the walls.

"So, princess" Twilight began, as they moved through the fancy ornate corridors, grand tapestries and paintings on the walls. "Just why am I here exactly, what's so urgent?"

Celestia walked on Twilight's right side, her mane flowing majestically as they moved down the halls. "Yes, that..." her lips pressed into a thin line. "Well, first off, I should warn you that this isn't a happy story. But there was a recent disturbance in which a contingent of guards encountered some particularly dangerous humans."

"What happened?"

"The guards faced off against the humans," Celestia answered. "But while they eventually subdued them, the guards lost nearly half of their number in the process."

Twilight gasped at that. "How many of them were there?" She pictured a horde of humans, each wielding deadly weapons as they charged at the guards.

Celestia paused, her face draining of color. "That's just the thing, Twilight, there were only three of them."

Twilight's hooves became rooted to the marble floor, as if they had turned into magnets. Her eyes snapped wide open, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she processed Celestia's words. "There-there were only three humans!" she exclaimed, struggling to keep her lower jaw from hanging freely. "How is that possible!"

"These were no ordinary humans," Celestia replied, continuing down the hall. "They wielded strange weapons, which from the descriptions of the guards, seemed to spit thunder and mow them down with ease."

"What happened to the humans?" Twilight asked, her voice warbling.

"Two of them were killed," Celestia answered, "while the third was captured and brought here to Canterlot. Your brother and his family happened to be in town at the time, so we offered him the task of interrogating, which he gladly accepted," she said.

When Twilight heard that a deadly human that murdered several guards was in Canterlot, she found it it be unnerving; while she had full faith in the guards and the princess, and she was far from helpless herself, it was still off-putting to say the least. However, learning that Shinging Armor was here helped put her at ease, and help reassure her that everything would be okay.

"He's interrogating the prisoner now, and we're currently on our way to join him," Celestia said as they turned down a corner.

Heading through a doorway, they made their way down a flight of stairs. The walls around them started to go from ornate to dull grey stone, as a soft musty smell started to permeate the air.

"Did you have anything to do with the attack on the Crystal Empire!" Twilight heard the voice of her brother, booming through the halls as they neared. Approaching his position, they found him interrogating the human, who was chained up in a cell.

The human was pretty dinged up, with nasty welts and bruises all over his body. He was also garbed in strange, earthen toned clothing, which seemed to be designed for combat.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the human shook his head.

But Shining wasn't having it, as he continued to press on. "What were you and your rebel friends doing out there; what was your target?"

"I'm not a rebel," replied the human.

In response, Shining Armor promptly smacked the human across the face; blood and spittle flew from his mouth, as he was forced to take it, unable to resist.

"Liar!" Shining exclaimed, nostrils flaring as his eyes narrowed at the human.

"I'm not... a liar," the human wheezed, a strand of bloody spit stil hanging onto his lip and chin. "I keep telling you, there's been some kind of mistake, I'm not who you think I am. I'm from somewhere else; we discovered this strange anomaly near my home, and when we went through we wound up here. All these things you're talking about, I have no idea what they are."

"And I keep telling you," Shining responded, "that I'm not falling for that nonsense!"

Celestia cleared her throat, causing Shining Armor to pause in his interrogation of the human as he turned toward her.

"My princess," Shining greeted, bowing his head in respect as he approached her.

"Oh, come on now, Shining Armor," Celestia chided, her lips forming a soft smile. "We're family, there's no need for that!"

"Maybe," Shining Armor replied, "but you more than deserve it."

Celestia's pearlescent cheeks became flooded with red. "I understand what Cadence sees in you, you're quite the charmer."

Shining gave a smile of his own. "Thank you, princess."

Shining than turned his attention to Twilight. "So, she brought you in too huh?"

Twilight nodded her head. "Yeah, this whole thing really seems to have ruffled her feathers, but after hearing what happened I don't blame her."

"I wish we could have visited each other under better circumstances," Shining said, looking at the dungeon with a frown. "Not down here as we try to interrogate this guy."

"I get what you mean, but than again, we do seem to meet like that quite a bit,"

"Heh, true," Shining Armor chuckled.

As they talked, Twilight found her gaze wander over to the prisoner. "You know, when I found out the human was here, it unsettled me at first, but when I learned you were here as well, it helped put me at ease. But seeing the human here like this, all beaten up and immobilized, makes me wonder what I was so worried about - if anything, I almost pity him."

"He might be subdued now, but don't let his current state deceive you; I might not have been there myself, but from everything I heard, this human is nothing short of a monster."

"Have you made any progress in the human's interrogation?" Celestia spoke up after a moment, her gaze settled firmly on the prisoner.

Shining shook his head. "I'm sorry, Celestia, the human has remained tight liped; I'll break him yet though, it's only a matter of time."

"I'm happy to hear that," Celestia said with a nod, "Just keep trying."

As Shining went back to interrogating the human, Twilight turned her gaze toward Celestia, her brow hiking up. "So, princess, why exactly am I here; Shining Armor has everything covered with the prisoner, so why did you bring me in?"

"Yes of course, follow me Twilight," Celestia spoke with a nod.

With the sound of hooves echoing on stone, Twilight trailed after princess Celestia. Stepping past a couple guards, they entered a new room, one filled with shelves and cabinets of all kinds of equipment.

"This is the palace lockup," Celestia explained as they walked into the room. "Whenever a prisoner is brought in, anything they have on their person is taken here."

"That's what I figured this place was," Twilight said as she examined a leather dagger sheath that was practically falling apart. "I memorized the entire layout of the palace years ago."

Celestia cast a sly look at Twilight. "Of course you did."

Twilight continued to examine the various kinds of items on the shelves. She saw weapons ranging from short swords to crossbows. A clown costume she could only assume a criminal used for a heist. A sack of gleaming, glittering jewels. And a glass bottle filled with a strange viscous liquid that glowed an ethereal purple.

As she looked around, her gaze was drawn to a nearby table in the center of the lockup; atop it were four items unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"We took these items off the human when he was brought in," Celestia explained as Twilight approached the table. "We have no idea what they are, and I thought you'd like the chance to study them."

Fireworks seemed to explode in Twilight's eyes. "Yes, I would love that. Thank you, princess," Twilight nodded her head enthusiastically.

Celestia smiled. "I wish you luck," she said, before a shadow seemed to settle over her face. "However, I urge you to use extreme caution towards those two objects," she indicated at two items on the table. One was large and bulky, having a long tube with an opening on one end. The second item was a fair bit smaller, with a more compact and sleek design- like the first one, it also had a small opening at the front. "Those are the strange weapons the guards say killed so many of their own, so please be careful."

Twilight looked at the weapons, coming to the realization she was in the same room as such deadly objects. She became dejected from the world, her heart seeming to stop as an icy chill took hold of her. "T-thank you for the warning," Twilight nodded her head in gratitude, a slight uneasiness in her tone. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"That's all I wanted to hear," Celestia replied, sounding relieved. "I'll leave you to it then," she said, before turning and walking out of the room.

With Celestia gone, Twilight turned her attention back to the table; With the exception of the guards outside, she now found herself alone with the strange objects taken from the human.

Beginning her examination, she chose to start with the smaller weapon; with a shimmering glow, she took hold of it with her magic. Looking it over, she found it to be very well made, with a quality of design that was quite unlike anything she had seen before. It's surface was covered in grooves and ridges, whether they were served a purpose or were purely decorative, she had no idea. Next, she peered down the strange hole, trying to see if she could make anything out.

On the underside of the object was a small loop, which had a strange piece sticking out within it. Starting to fiddle with it, she found that it was movable, leaving her to come to the conclusion that it was a lever.

Out of curiosity, she pulled on it.

BANG!!!

Before she realized what was happening, the weapon discharged. A scream tore it's way up through Twilight's throat, not that she heard it, due to the loud ringing present in her ears. It felt like she had been struck by lightning, her senses getting overwhelmed as she collapsed to the ground.

"Princess Twilight!" cried one of the guards, throwing the door open as they both burst into the room. "We heard a loud noise, are you alright?"

In response, Twilight gave a weak nod, her knees visibly shaking as she got to her hooves. "Yes, I'm alright," she said as she rubbed her ears, which were still ringing. "Just a little... surprised..."

The guards started examining the room. "What happened?" one of them asked Twilight.

Without responding, Twilight started searching for the weapon, finding it on the ground after she'd dropped it in fright. Picking it up again, she discovered that the little hole was emitting a small amount of steam, indicating it'd just gotten very hot.

Setting the weapon down, she looked in the direction she'd had it pointed; on the wall opposite her, she spotted an odd indentation that wasn't there before. Crossing the room, Twilight inspected the hole and the area around it, soon finding the perpetrator to be a small pebble, laying on the ground below.

Picking up the object, she found out that it wasn't a pebble, but rather a small metallic cylinder. She looked at it curiously, before taking it back over to the table. She set it down beside the weapon, examining them side by side. She didn't need to be a genius to deduce that the cylinder had been ejected from it, propelling it to deadly speeds.

The guards were still in the room, watching curiously as Twilight worked; not that she payed them any heed, too engrossed in her work to worry about them.

Picking the weapon back up, she resumed examining it, this time making sure to keep the small hole pointed away from the guards and herself. As she fiddled around with it, she ended up pressing a button, which in turn made the bottom of the weapon pop free. Her lips formed a small "o", her eye's widening at this new development. Tentatively, she slid out the bottom piece, discovering that it housed more of those small cylinders.

"Interesting," said Twilight, examining the now exposed inner workings of the weapon. As she investigated the hidden compartment full of the small cylinders, she found her gaze wandering over to its bulkier counterpart. "I wonder..." Twilight pursed her lips, setting both pieces of the object down.

Shifting her focus to the other weapon, she took hold of it with her magic. Searching it over, she began to check for anything that could be removed, eventually finding success when she managed to detach a curved piece. Emptying it out, she found that just like the smaller object, this one also contained those same tiny cylinders.

With this discovery, she was able to deduce that these strange weapons must function like miniature cannons. And if that was the case, whoever created them must have cutting edge equipment to be able to make such a thing.

Putting the weapons aside, she next turned her attention on the third item. It was shaped like a brick, with a long thin piece sticking out at the top. It was also covered in various knobs and buttons, which just screamed to be pushed - which is exactly what she did. Pressing one of them, her ears twitched when a strange warbling sounded started emitting from the object. Cocking her head in confusion, she tried fiddling with it more, only to be met with that same noise.

Finally, Twilight gave her head a firm shake, setting the object down as she decided to try and take it apart later.

And with that, she was left with the final item.

Picking it up with her magic, she took in its flat shape, and shiny black surface. On the back of the object, she took note of several small circles on the upper-left side, as well as three little buttons on the side; interacting with them, two seemed to do nothing, but upon pressing the third, the black surface lit up, being replaced with the image of a beach.

Twilight's jaw went slack, her eyes growing wide at the sudden change. Almost as if on its own, she found her hoof gravitating towards the image; Upon touching the picture, she drew her hoof across it, which left her even more dumbfounded when it changed from a beach to the top of a hill at sunset.

"What kind of magic is this?" Twilight wondered aloud, gazing at the newly changed image.

Aside from the picture altering itself, something else that changed was that several little icons popped up all over the surface of the object. Most meant nothing to her, however there was one she recognized, being that of a camera.

Touching the symbol, she was amazed when the background changed yet again, this time showing an image of the room she was in. In the bottom center was a red circle, and when she pressed it, a snapshot of the lockup was captured. Twilight marveled at how sharp the picture was; it was nothing like the ones she had seen before - it was so lifelike. The image remained for a moment, before it eventually shrank and disappeared.

Wanting to take another picture, she searched for a subject, before she remembered she wasn't the only one in the room. "Smile," she said, her gaze falling on the guards as she pointed the camera at them. They did as instructed, giving Twilight a apprehensive grin.

Twilight snapped the picture, once again in awe at its quality. Just like the first, the new image also disappeared, however, this time she noticed how it reappeared in a small circle in the lower corner. Pursing her lips, she touched a hoof to it, and was delighted when the picture became big again. Swiping at the image, she found that she could view other photos that'd been taken.

She browsed through the wide assortment of images, finding it clear that the human liked to take a lot of them. She saw a picture that showed a young human child standing next to a sandcastle. In another one, it showed the human they had in custody, the child, and two other humans. They were standing in front of a statue of a man holding the hand of a bipedal mouse, with a large castle in the background.

As she looked at the pictures, an odd discrepancy she noticed was that some of them had a strange sideways triangle. Out of curiosity, she touched one of them, and when she did, the image started to move! She felt her mind go into overload, her jaw going slack as her eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets.

"Blow out the candles buddy," came the voice of the human from earlier. The moving picture was focused on the child from earlier, who by the look of things was celebrating his birthday. As the moving picture played, Twilight was in awe at it the whole time; it was like looking through a window, it felt so alive.

Wanting to see more, she continued browsing through the pictures, trying to find ones that moved. She was soon successful, when she found one featuring the human in custody, along with the child she guessed was his. The two were sat on a couch, looking at a globe of the world.

"Where do we live, Max?" the prisoner asked of his son, gesturing to the globe.

"Here," Max replied, pointing to an island chain. "We live in Hawaii."

Twilight squinted her eyes, she didn't recognize the island present in the moving picture. Could there be a second human nation out there that they hadn't found? It would certainly explain all the strange equipment, and how the human insisted he came from somewhere else.

"Now, where do grandma and grandpa live?"

"They live over here, in California," Max pointed to the mainland.

Wait! Hold on, this didn't make any sense. Twilight raised a brow, her head cocking to the side as she stared at the object in confusion. Now that she was getting a good look at it, she realized that the globe in the image was all wrong; she was familiar with the world map and its continents, but the landmass here didn't match up with the geography of Equus at all.

"Now what country do we live in?" the prisoner asked from the moving picture.

"America!" Max replied happily and eagerly.

"And what's our world called?"

At the kids words, Twilight went rigid, her ears sticking up as her fur stood on edge. Her legs started shaking, her nerves becoming like jelly as she struggled to stay upright. She didn't want to believe it, did she just hear what she thought she heard?

She numbly lifted a hoof to the moving picture, trying to get it to go back, and hopefully discover she just misheard it. After messing with it for a moment, she successfully got it to skip back a few seconds when she touched a small arrow. However, she was met with despair when the same word was spoken.

Her mane becoming frazzled, she swung her heard to the guards, before rushing at them with the object. "You!" she cried, her pupils dilating. "Did you hear that!" she said, holding the object in the guards faces.

"Yes, we did, princess," one of the guards replied.

Twilight's chest started to rise and fall rapidly. "I-I need to-I need to find prin-princess C-Celestia, I- n-now!"

With that, Twilight tore out of the lockup, the object trailing behind in her magic. Making her way out of the dungeons, she galloped down the halls at top speed, her hoofsteps echoing throughout the castle. With every step, she found herself desperate to reach Celestia and Luna and inform them of the dire revelation she just discovered.

Approaching the throne room, she wordlessly threw the large doors open. "Princesses! I need to talk with you urgently!" Twilight cried as she entered, finding Celestia and Luna in a meeting with a noble.

"I'm sorry about the interruption, princesses, but this is of the utmost impor-" she began before she was cut off.

The noble shifted his attention to Twilight, his nose held in a holier-than-thou manner as he looked at her with squinted eyes. "Who do you think you are child! You may not just barge in here and-"

Twilight didn't bother addressing or even looking at the noble, instead cutting him off as she picked him up in her magic. From there she practically and unceremoniously chucked him out the door, before slamming it shut again.

"Now, as I was saying," Twilight continued, once she was no longer being interrupted. "I'm sorry about barging in here unannounced, but what I have to say is of the utmost importance!"

"What's going on," Celestia spoke, giving her attention to Twilight.

"Okay, so I was toying around with the objects confiscated from the human, right," Twilight started pacing back and forth as she spoke, her body visibly shaking. "Well when I got to the last item, I found it to be capable of a multitude of things, such as it being able to take pictures that move!"

Luna furrowed her brow. "A moving...picture...? Whatever do you mean, Twilight?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Twilight replied, "a picture that moves! Imagine it like being able to watch a play wherever and whenever you want, with it being like they're right there in front of you; like somepony took a picture of you, but instead of just capturing your image, they also catch you movements and words.

Anyway, I found a bunch of these moving pictures on the object, and one of them contained an alarming revelation. It showed the human we have in the dungeon, as well as his apparent offspring, and they were looking at a globe of the world. Now at first I thought they came from an unknown island chain, but then I realized the landmass on it was all wrong. And when the human asked his kid what the world was called, he said...this."

Getting the moving picture to play again, she put it at the right part, before showing it to Celestia and Luna.

And what's our world called?" the human asked.

"Earth!" the boy said, "we live on planet Earth!"

Upon showing them the moving picture, Celestia and Luna shared a silent look between them; the color drained from their faces, and the muscles in their necks grew visibly tense.

"The human said he came from somewhere else, this is what he meant," Twilight said, recalling the human's words from earlier.

Luna looked to her sister, who had started walking toward one of the throne rooms many windows. "Sister, what should we do?"

Celestia didn't respond, instead opting to gaze out the window at Canterlot and Equestria beyond. After a moment, she turned to face them. Her eyes were wide open and unblinking, like a little filly who couldn't sleep, thinking there was a monster in the room.

"Summon the other world leaders for an emergency council meeting," Celestia said, a tone of urgency in her voice.

And what she said next, was something they all now knew to be true, but had been dreading to hear it aloud.

"Earth is real!"

The legend of Earth

"In the absence of information, we jump to the worst conclusions."

Myra Kassim.

Celestia stood on the balcony connected to her personal chambers; she stayed there unmoving, her long flowing mane catching the light from her sun. Her face was firm, her lips drawn tight as she stared outward with glassy eyes.

The city of Canterlot lay below, its sparkling roads and pristine buildings making it look like a meticulously constructed model. Built upon the side of a mountain, it was a feat of engineering, a monument to all that her little ponies were capable of. It was the very heart and soul of Equestria, a gleaming beacon of hope and friendship to all who saw it.

As she gazed out over the city, she found herself wandering back to when the changelings attacked. The normally beautiful city was soon embroiled in chaos; ponies ran for their lives in the streets as Canterlot burned around them.

She thought back to when she had been struck down by Chrysalis, the incident forever burned into her memory; In that instance, she had failed to protect her subjects. Although Cadence and Shining Armor were able to save the day with their love, she would be lying if there wasn't a moment where she thought the future was uncertain.

And that was only one example of when Equestria was in danger. There was the time when the Crystal Empire and Sombra returned. The time that Tirek tried to steal the magic from the other alicorns and her. When the Storm King's army invaded. Or when she had no choice but to banish her sister to the moon.

Those all served as difficult and frightening times throughout her life; events where she had to make the hardest of choices or where she was powerless to do anything to help her ponies.

But the threat that now lurked on the horizon had the potential to be the greatest danger they had ever faced; she had never been more afraid of what the future might hold.

As she found herself lost in thought, a knock at the door pulled her out of the deep recesses of her mind. Turning around, she watched the door open up, as a guard stepped halfway through.

"The other world leaders are ready for you, princess," spoke the guard.

Celestia gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Okay, I'm coming, thank you," she replied, upon which the guard backed out of the room and closed the door.

Now on her own once again, she quickly turned her gaze back out over Canterlot. She thought of her subjects and how they happily went about their lives, oblivious to what was coming. Maybe she didn't know what the future had in store, but if there was one thing she was certain of, it was that she would do anything to protect her little ponies.

With one final glance at Canterlot, she turned on her hooves and left her room. She made her way through the grand halls, passing guards and servants as she crossed from one part of the palace to another.

Turning down a corridor, she approached a large open set of double doors, through which was the conference room. Stepping through, she was presented with a moderate space compared to the rest of the palace; where elsewhere you might be able to find statues, paintings, or chandeliers, the only features here were a window and wall sconces for lighting, as well as a long table in the middle.

Seated around the table were the world leaders of Equus, who were all here at her urgent request: There was Dragon Lord Ember. King Thorax of the Changelings. Queen Novo of the Hippogriffs. Chief Thunderhooves of the Buffalo. King Iron Skull, of the minotaur. Queen Nora of Saddle Arabia. And Omari, the Zebra Chieftain.

And Peregrine, the new king of the griffins. There were questions as to his legitimacy, as he just seemed to pop up one day as if he had randomly declared himself king. However he seemed to know what he was doing so far, so no creature really worried about it that much.

There was also the ever-silent Rain Shine, the leader of the kirin. With her was Autumn Blaze, who was accompanying her to act as a verbal aid to speak on her behalf.

As well as Rex, the new high-pack leader of the Diamond Dogs. Due to challengers constantly seeking and taking the throne, their government hasn't always been the most stable. However, Rex had managed to hold on to the position for some time.

And there was the addition of Tempest Shadow. She had taken the role of leader of the Storm Empire and was working to improve its relations with the other nations.

And last but not least there were the other alicorns, plus Shining Armor. They all sat at one end of the table, with an open seat next to Luna that had been reserved for Celestia.

"Having a human at home makes life so much easier," Celestia overheard Ember saying to Thorax as she approached. "I can make it do whatever I want and it won't object under the fear of being toasted. You should really consider getting one."

"Come on, Ember, I've already told you this," Thorax replied. "Changelings don't keep humans as slaves; we were practically slaves ourselves under Chrysalis, why would we want to propagate that?"

Stepping up to the table, it wasn't long before all eyes turned on Celestia at her arrival. "Thank you all for being here," she said once she'd sat down and gotten herself comfortable. "Now I'm sure you're all wondering just why you're here?"

Thorax was the first to respond. "Yes, I believe that's what we're all thinking."

"The reason you're here," Celestia began, "is because there was recently an incident between a group of guards and some strange humans," as she spoke, Twilight took a large stack of folders and began passing them out to the world leaders with her magic; most of them received one, except for Cadence and Shining Armor, who had already been briefed on the situation. "If you want to know the finer details you can check the folder in front of you. But the basics that you need to know, is that these humans wielded deadly weapons, which Twilight likened to be miniature cannons."

"This is quite alarming," said Queen Novo as she leafed through the folder.

"I must say I agree." Nodded Queen Nora as she, too, looked through the folder. "Where on Equus could the humans have gotten such deadly weapons?"

"And therein lies the situation," spoke Luna.

Celestia inhaled through her nostrils, steadying herself for what she was about to say. "I assume that you've all heard the legend the humans have?"

Ember folded her arms. "Yeah, I've heard the myth. The humans have a nonsense belief that they came from another world, right?"

"Ha. Human world! Preposterous!" laughed Prince Rutherford.

"Isn't it interesting, though?" Thorax put a hoof to his chin, cocking his head as his eyes seemed to stare into the distance. "If it were true, then that would mean the humans are actually extraterrestrials. Isn't that food for thought?" he pondered aloud.

Celestia watched and listened as the various world leaders spoke with certainty that Earth wasn't real. As they talked, she found herself envying them; she wished she could go back to the other day when she was still in ignorant bliss and didn't know of the dire threat on the horizon. And while she didn't want to rob them of that same ignorance, this had to be discussed.

"Now, if I may continue," Celestia said, recapturing everycreature's attention. "After the incident, the sole surviving human was brought into Canterlot, and on him, we found not just the strange weapons, but also other objects as well. If you'll turn your attention to Twilight, she'll explain it to you," she indicated with her head to the young alicorn.

Upon Celestia's prompting, all eyes in the room turned toward Twilight. "So," she started, "as Celestia said, the human had things that are entirely unknown to us, such as this object right here." She levitated up the flat item from before, everycreature's eyes going wide as they saw it.

"My, what in the world is that?" Asked Chieftain Omari as he gazed at the object.

"We took this off the human," answered Twilight, "and after some examinations, I found it to be capable of so many incredible things: it can play music, take detailed pictures, and you can use it to take notes or set alarms. I also found this one thing that I'm pretty sure is some kind of game; I've been messing with this thing called Angry Birds, and it's actually pretty fun. You see, there are these little birds, and they had their eggs stolen by bad green pigs, and so they set out to rescue them, using a giant slingshot which they use to-"

"Twilight," Celestia spoke up, interrupting the lavender alicorn as she began rambling and getting off track. "Are you sure that this is on topic for the situation at hoof?"

Twilight's cheeks took on a rosy hue. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "So as I was saying, not only is this object capable of all the things I mentioned previously, but it can also take pictures that move! And in one of these moving pictures, we uncovered something alarming!"

Igniting her horn, she projected an image of the object's front onto the wall for everycreature to see. Navigating to the moving pictures, she started the one that they had been summoned here for.

Celestia watched the moving picture with all the others, all their eyes practically bulging out of their heads; they could hardly believe what they were seeing, no doubt in awe at what they were witnessing. But she knew that awe was deceptive, as it would soon give way to a horrible truth.

The moving picture continued to play, with everycreature giving it their full attention. Soon, the moment Celestia was dreading came, and when it did, its impact on the room wasn't hard to notice; everyone seemed to freeze, becoming deathly still as they processed what they just heard. Several tense seconds passed, with none of the world leaders daring to utter even a whisper.

Finally, the deafening silence was broken when King Iron Skull spoke. "Please confirm that this is all just some kind of practical joke!" His expression was firm and rock solid, however, the fearful look in his eyes betrayed him.

"Yes, please do!" Chieftain Omari agreed.

Celestia wished she could say that, that she could tell them it was a ruse, but unfortunately, it was the truth. "I'm sorry to say that this is one hundred percent real," Celestia spoke with a shake of her head.

After Celestia spoke, Shining Armor then cut in with some words of his own. "In the wake of the attack, we sent a party out to try and find where the Humans came from, and they found this," Shining Armor passed out photos to everyone at the table; it showed the image of a portal, which took the form of a purple, stary cloud. "The human we captured mentioned how they arrived through a doorway, and this corroborates his story."

"Do we have any idea what the Humans were up to?" Autumn Blaze asked on behalf of Rain Shine

"We currently believe they were acting as a scouting party for a larger invasion force," put forth Cadence.

"This is reinforced by the fact that another group of Humans recently came through the portal," Shining Armor added. "Our forces were quick to engage theirs, but we think they were looking for the initial search party, giving more credence to the prospect that they're planning to attack," he spoke with certainty.

"What's our course of action?" asked Queen Novo.

King Iron Skull slammed a fist down, making the entire table rattle and shake. "We must strike!" he bellowed, earning nods of approval from several of those present.

Prince Rutherford stomped his hooves. "Yes! We strike at Humans!"

"They are vile beasts, and if they are not dealt with they will overrun us!" said Chief Thunderhooves, snorting steam out his nostrils.

"We need to attack the Humans first before they have a chance to attack us!" said King Peregrine.

"What do we know about them?" High-Pack Leader Rex asked, his voice gravelly.

Luna shook her head in response. "Not much, unfortunately,"

"One thing that's safe to assume," Twilight spoke. "Is that if these objects are any indication, then the Humans of Earth are far more advanced than we are."

"If that's the case, then I assume our best bet is a surprise attack?" speculated Tempest Shadow.

Twilight nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what we were thinking. We don't know the things the Humans of Earth are capable of. So we believe a surprise attack is the best option for an initial assault, which might give us a chance at gaining the upper hoof."

"Wait, hold on! Are we sure about this?" Thorax interjected, causing everyone to pause as they turned to regard him. "Look, I understand the need for caution, but shouldn't we at least attempt diplomacy? I mean, what if they don't want to fight; we'd be starting a war that could have been avoided. What if this is all just a big misunderstanding?"

Shining Armor shot up from his seat, striking the table as he reacted to Thorax's words. "A misunderstanding! They murdered several innocent ponies, how in the world could that be considered a misunderstanding?"

"Are we sure that's what actually happened?" Thorax rebutted. "Because according to the debriefing I was given, it seems that your guards engaged the humans first. And it also says that one of the Humans reportedly tried to defuse the situation."

"It was obviously some kind of trick," replied Shining.

Thorax was about to speak, but before he could Shining Armor cut him off. "Have you ever been in the same room as a Human before? Well I've dealt with them all my life, and they are not your friends! I can't tell you how many attempted rebellions and uprisings I've helped put down! Humans are bloodthirsty monsters, and if they aren't kept in check, they'll slit your throat the first chance they get!"

Celestia was quick to reach out and place a comforting hoof on Shining's shoulder, trying to calm him down before he got too heated. "What, Shining is trying to say," Celestia took over for him, "is that Humans can be extremely dangerous and tend to resort to violence. I know that you mean well, but trying to reason with them is unrealistic; we wouldn't be planning this unless there was no other option."

Thorax nodded. "If you say so, princess. So I take it the consensus is to attack?"

Celestia took a moment to respond, mentally psyching herself up for what she was about to say. "Yes," she said at last. "We are going to attack!"

"The only question now," Luna says, "is who will fight alongside us?"

"You can count on the Hippogriffs," said Queen Novo.

"The same can be said for the Dragons," said Ember.

"We are in," said High-Pack Leader Rex.

"Us too," spoke King Iron Skull.

The next to speak was Queen Nora."We don't have much in the way of a military, but you can count on us for aid and supplies."

Chieftain Omari nodded. "What Queen Nora said, we can offer supplies for the war effort."

"Yaks will help! Yaks will crush humans!" exclaimed Prince Rutherford.

"The Griffins will help," said King Peregrine.

"The Kirin will help in any way they can," Autumn Blaze spoke for Rain Shine.

"The Storm Empire will be more than ready to fight at your side," said Tempest Shadow.

"The Buffalo are not ones for violence, but when our lands are threatened, we will defend them - and we will stand with you in doing so," said Chief Thunderhooves.

"I can't say I'm crazy about this, but you can count on the help of the Changelings," said Thorax.

"And I know this doesn't need to be said," Cadence began, "but the Crystal Empire will stand at Equestria's side."

"Then it's settled," says Celestia, "we're going to war." The word left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"When do we make our move?" asked Queen Novo.

"We must strike as soon as possible," says Celestia. "Equestria will spearhead the initial assault while you return to your lands and prepare. A word of caution though, while I doubt we can keep them in the dark forever, do your best to keep this information away from the Humans. If they learn that Earth is real, it will surely embolden them, and that isn't something we need right now."

And with that, the meeting came to an end. Getting up from their seats, the world leaders bade their farewell as they made their exit.

"Thank you for having me," Chief Thunderhooves said to Celestia on his way out. "Hopefully the next time we meet, it is in celebration of a successful first attack."

"So do I," Celestia said to herself once he was gone.

Author's Note

Hmm, I don't know, Shining, it sounded like Thorax had a pretty solid argument to me. What about you all, did you think they should have paid Thorax's idea more attention?

I had originally been planning to delve into the reason why Shining feels the way he does about humans, but I couldn't find a way to make it come up naturally here. So, I decided to save it for the next chapter.

Same thing with the rest of the Main 6 BTW, I couldn't fit them in.

If you want peace...

"Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time."

Steve Rogers - Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Two young stallions raced down the streets of Canterlot, whooping and hollering the whole way. They weaved and bobbed past other ponies on the road, all of them heading in the same direction they were. They were deeply engrossed in their game, sprinting through town without a care in the world.

As they ran down the street, laughing joyfully, they ran past a signpost. Upon it was a flyer notifying of a public announcement that would be held at noon in the town square.

No Humans allowed

It read below in bold letters.

The roads of Canterlot were damp and pockmarked with puddles, the result of a rain shower earlier in the morning. One of the stallions jumped into one as he ran, causing water to splash all over him; instead of being upset, he laughed, his mouth taking on a massive smile. He took a deep breath, the fresh earthen scent of petracore filling his nostrils as a warm, cozy sensation bloomed in his chest.

Soon, the crowds around them began to become denser as the two stallions drew closer to the square. Steel Heart came to a stop by the large stage where everypony was gathering, his chest heaving as he regained his breath. Swift Comet arrived a moment later, looking even more out of breath than his companion.

"Hah, I win again!" Steel Heart exclaimed, a smug grin stretched across his face.

Swift Comet waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, good for you," he said with a roll of his eyes.

After the two had a chance to catch their breath, the two stallions took their spots; they were situated near the front of the stage, allowing them to be right in earshot of the coming announcement. As they waited, the crowds around them started to grow, as more and more ponies arrived.

"What do you think this is all about?" spoke Swift Comet. They could hear hushed whispers around them from ponies who were wondering the same thing.

Steel Heart shrugged. "It's probably just a raise in taxes."

A mare next to them spoke up. "Nah, are you kidding? You're aiming way too low." Her curly mane bounced as she shook her head. "After everything that's happened in the last several years, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were announcing the existence of a sixth alicorn or something."

Swift Comet perked up. "Looks like we aren't going to have to wait long to find out," he said, pointing a hoof towards the stage.

In an instant, all eyes were drawn forwards as Celestia herself stepped out before them. She moved across the stage, her every step filled with grace.

She approached a microphone that had been set up, her mane flowing majestically. "Hello, my little ponies," she smiled warmly, her voice echoing throughout the square. The cheerful grin on her face than started to fade, her mouth pressing into a thin line. "I wish I could tell you that everything is fine, but that wouldn't be true; a new threat has emerged, one that jeopardizes not just Equestria, but all of Equus," she paused, taking a deep breath as she prepared to speak her next words.

"Earth, the legendary home world of the Human race, is real!"

Almost instantly, gasps and cries came from the crowd, the fear all but evident. They started probing Celestia for answers, asking what was being done, if they were in danger, or if the Humans were going to invade.

The two stallions shared a worried look with each other, a look of uncertainness in both of their eyes.

Celestia's wings shot out, as she raised a hoof in a placating manner. "Calm yourselves, please, calm yourselves!" she urged, doing her best to assuage their fears. "There is no need to be afraid, the royal guard is currently mobilizing, and we plan to launch a surprise attack on Earth.

Additionally, we are also opening up a new recruitment drive, and anypony who wishes to is free to sign up for the royal guard," Celestia said, indicating her hoof toward a nearby booth.

After Celestia spoke, a sizable line of ponies began forming near the recruitment booth, the two stallions among them.

Marcus stood at the batter's box, his hands griped tightly around his baseball bat. He eyed the pitcher warily, his body tense as he waited for him to make a move. It was the final game of the little league season, and his team was down by a point; the game was almost over, and their last chance at winning fell on his shoulders.

Crack!

Before he had even realized it, the pitcher made his move, and Marcus had responded in kind; like a roll of thunder, his bat connected, and the ball went flying over the field and past the fence. The crowd erupted in cheers as he took off, running the bases along with a couple others on his team.

After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, Marcus later met up with his parents, who congratulated him on a good game. His mother offered him a snack, and afterwards they got in their car and went home.

Rachel was lying down in her tent, her body in a comfortable position. She had a pillow propped up against her back, with a large blanket keeping her warm and cozy. She laid there in contentment, happily reading the book she had brough along, a booklight illuminating its pages for her.

As she read, she heard the sound of people laughing and chatting just outside. She looked up towards the side of the tent, an orange glow being created by the campfire just beyond. The tent flap lay open, allowing a soft smoky smell to waft in.

"Rachel, honey," came her mother's voice from outside. "Are you going to come have some hotdogs?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," she called back. Turning back to her book, she let herself finish the current chapter she was on, before setting it aside.

Getting up from her spot, she exited the tent and went out to join her family. Approaching the campfire, she found her parents and sister and brother all sitting around it. Feeling the warmth of the fire on her face, she sat down next to her brother, who handed her a stick with a hotdog on it, to which she accepted gratefully.

As she made her hotdog, she looked out over the lake they were camping next to. The water was perfectly still, reflecting the stars above like a mirror.

"It sure is nice tonight, isn't it?" spoke Rachel's mom.

Rachel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it is."

Shining Armor stood in front of his parents' place in Canterlot, contemplating whether or not to approach. He looked at his foalhood home, the grey cloudy sky above accenting his mood.

It started to rain softly.

After a moment, he finally psyched himself up to approach. Stepping up to the door, he lifted a hoof to knock, but he hesitated. As he stood there, he found himself thinking back to the day he finished his training for the royal guard. He remembered how Humans attacked the graduation ceremony, turning what should have been a joyous occasion into one of horror; it should have been a great achievement for him, but instead just reminded him of how he failed.

He was brough out of his thoughts when he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. Turning his attention, he spotted a little bee flying around, attracted to the flower box on the windowsill. He watched it as it buzzed around, oblivious to him as it went about its business.

Disregarding the bee, Shining Armor turned back to the door, and with a deep breath, he knocked. He waited by the entrance for a moment, until the door was finally opened by his father.

Night Light's face lit up with joy upon seeing his son. "Shining, what a wonderful surprise," his father exclaimed, enveloping him in a hug, to which he returned. Breaking the embrace, Night Light stood aside. "Please, come in," he said, inviting Shining in with a gesture of his hoof.

Stepping through the door, Shining was hit with a fresh wave of nostalgia; He looked over his old home, all kinds of pleasant foalhood memories coming back to him. He saw the living room where he and Twilight were constantly playing any variety of games they came up with. He saw the vase they were constant knocking over whenever they were roughhousing too hard - thankfully it was plastic, so they never got in trouble. There was also the stairwell wall that the two of them drew on that one time - they did get in trouble for that.

"So, do you need anything from us?" Night Light asked his son as he shut the door behind him.

Shining Armor shook his head. "No, I just wanted to stop by and see you," he replied. His mouth compressed into a thin line. "Something is coming soon, and I might not be able to come see you for quite some time."

Night Light nodded. "Okay. Well, your mother is in the kitchen, you should go say hello," suggested his father, before heading to the kitchen himself.

Shining did just that, following his father to go see his mom. Approaching the kitchen, he picked up the mouthwatering scent of freshly baked cookies, his mother's recipe; closing his eyes, he sighed to himself, thinking back to all the times their mom treated them to her cookies after coming home from school.

Returning to the present, he was about to enter the kitchen, when suddenly he stopped; standing at the threshold, he froze when he spotted his mother. She stood with her back to him, unaware of his presence as she washed her hooves at the sink.

As he stood there, he once again wandered back to his graduation, recalling his greatest failure. As he was lost in his thoughts, his father walked up to his mother and informed her he was here.

At his words, Twilight Velvet turned around, her gaze landing on Shining Armor. She stood there, her eyes lighting up as she gave him a warm smile. "Ah, Shining, it's so good to see you," she exclaimed, her face and mane covered in flour from baking cookies. She was just as beautiful as when he last saw her, her coat having an illustrious sheen to it as she approached.

But as beautiful as she was, his gaze wasn't on her coat, mane or face. Instead, his eyes were locked onto her legs, specifically, the prosthetic limb that took the place where a real one was supposed to be.

The two of them embraced, with Twilight Velvet wrapping her real leg around Shining. Breaking the hug, she planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, like I told Dad, something has come up, and I wanted to talk to you two," Shining explained.

Twilight Velvet nodded her head. "Of course, come on, let's sit down," she said, ushering him toward the dinner table.

The three of them sat down at the table, with Shining Armor's parents sitting across from him. "So, what exactly is this all about, Shining?" Night Light asked his son.

Shining took a breath, steadying himself for what he was about to tell them. "We recently discovered that Earth, the legendary home world of the humans, is real." His parents went wide-eyed at that, reacting pretty much exactly like how he had expected. "Now don't worry," he said quickly to calm their fears, "Equestria and her allies are planning a preemptive strike against them. I'm going to be taking part in this first assault, alongside Twilight, her friends, and the other princesses."

He paused after that, his gaze briefly falling on his mother's prosthetic leg. He looked away from his parents, letting his head drop down as he closed his eyes. "And I'm not going to fail this time."

For the third time that day, he found himself back at his graduation yet again; he could recall every moment of the attack vividly, including the moment that he froze. During his days at the academy, he had always been looking forward to the day when he could finally serve his country.

But when the humans attacked, he was completely unprepared; while some of the other graduates were fighting off the humans with nothing but their hooves, or helping civilians get to safety, all he could do was shiver in his fur. He remembered how a human with a sword began to approach him, brandishing the weapon menacingly. He heard his mother shouting at him, but all he could do was watch as the human continued to approach. The human closed the distance between them, raising the blade above its head, and just when it was about to strike him down, his mother shoved him out of the way.

Night Light shook his head. "Shining, not this again," he exclaimed, a soft frown forming on his face.

Twilight Velvet reached a hoof across the table toward her son. "Shining, sweetie," she said in a soft coo, "what happened that day was not your fault, we've been over this."

Shining shook his head, his eyes misting. "It doesn't make me feel less guilty," he said, his voice heavy. "It should have been me, if I hadn't froze that day..."

"...Then you would have been the one hurt, and I wouldn't want that," Twilight Velvet cut him off. "I don't regret what I did, and I would do it again in a heartbeat; I would do anything for you or your sister. Now what I want to know is how many more times I'll need to tell you this," she said, her mouth forming a half smile.

Shining chuckled softly. "Probably a lot," he admitted truthfully. "But thank you."

Twilight Velvet said noting in response, instead getting up from her seat as she approached Shining Armor. "It's my pleasure," she said as she wrapped him in another hug, "I love you Shining."

Shining Armor returned the hug. "I love you too."

Erin pushed her way past the large double doors, passing by a departing couple as she stepped into the hotel. With a wedding gift clutched in her arms, she moved through the ornate lobby, the chandeliers sparkling above.

Entering the ballroom, she made her way past several guests, approaching a group that was chatting by a table in the corner. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized, still holding the gift. "There was a traffic jam on the road."

One of Erins friends gave a wave of her hand. "Don't sweat it, nothing much has happened yet anyway."

"Here, I'll take that for you," offered another of her friends, reaching his hand out for the gift.

Erin smiled. "Thank you," she replied, passing it to him, where he then went to set it aside somewhere.

"So, where's my brother at?" Erin asked her friends.

"He's right here," came a new voice from behind; Turning around, Erin found the groom approaching her.

The corners of her mouth tugged up, and she rushed at him, enveloping him in a hug, which he returned.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Jittery," he replied simply.

Erin smiled. "I'm not surprised."

"How did I let you talk me into this!" Connor exclaimed with wide eyes. He gripped the safety bar as the roller-coaster car climbed higher and higher, his knuckles turning bone white.

His friend Dave simply waved Connor off. "Relax man," he said like it was the easiest thing in the world. "It'll be fun, you'll see."

The car continued to climb, soon reaching the top and allowing Connor to see for miles around. His knees started shaking as they approached the edge, with his breath becoming so fast paced you could pick it up with a speedometer.

Finaly the car dropped, and Dave gave a cheer of excitement, while Connor let out a high-pitched scream that was anything but manly.

Twilight and the others were all gathered around the friendship map, each friend sitting in their respective throne. The light from the map cast them all in a soft glow, revealing the japing jaws and wide eyes being shared amongst them.

"I-I can't believe this..." Rarity choked out.

Twilight nodded, a sympathetic look on her face. "I understand, this is a lot to take in."

Fluttershy was sitting in her chair, her wings wrapped around herself as her body could be seen visibly shaking.

"Flutters? You doing okay?" Pinkie asked the meek Pegasus, who was shivering as if she'd seen a ghost.

Fluttershy gave a nod so soft it would've been easy to miss. "Yes, I'm okay," she managed out after a second. "It's just scary to think about, is all, that there's a world out there ruled by humans."

Starlight stood off to the side, her head cocked as she stared off into the distance. "You have to wonder what they're capable of though," she said, looking to the others. "If they can make mini canons, that what else can they do?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Who cares what they can do?" she shot up into the air, pounding her hooves together. "We're going to crush Earth easily!"

"Don't be getting cocky now, Dash," Applejack reprimanded the Pegasus with a frown and a shake of her head. "Humans, are no joke, and shouldn't be taken lightly."

"Are you kidding?" Rainbow retorted, looking down at Applejack with wide eyes. "After everything we've faced, the humans of Earth stand no chance against us! Right girls?" she looked to the others for encouragement, but started to frown when none of them backed her up.

Starlight looked up to where Rainbow Dash was hovering above them. "Actually Dash, I agree with Applejack," she said, earning a smirk from the Earth pony, and a scowl from the Pegasus. "The war with the humans was very serious, and to this day is still the deadliest conflict in history. We shouldn't just wave this new threat off, especially when we don't even know what Earth is capable of."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow muttered out. "The Humans are dangerous, I got it," she folded her hooves over her chest as she floated back down to her seat.

"Are the humans going to attack?" Fluttershy asked, still shivering somewhat.

"If they do," Applejack started, "they'll find Sweet Apple Acres ain't gonna go down without a fight."

Twilight shook her head. "Don't worry, that's not going to happen. Celestia and Luna have a plan," she said, trying to put them at ease. "A preemptive strike is currently being planned against Earth; all of Equestria's allies are going to be helping to protect our world from this new threat."

"And what about us?" Rainbow postulated, gesturing a hoof at all of them gathered around the table. "I don't know about you all, but I'm not content to just sit around while the fate of the world hangs in the balance," she said with a huff.

Twilight pursed her lips. "The presence of you all would greatly help with the war effort and morale," she began. "However, none of you have to do this if you don't want to, and you are more than welcome to walk away," she explained to her friends.

"You can count on me, Twilight," Rainbow said. "We'll show those dumb Humans whose boss!"

Applejack gave a nod of her head. "Ah'll do whatever ah need to do to protect muh family and Sweet Apple Acres," she said with firm eyes.

Pinkie shot a hoof up into the air, waving it so fast it almost became invisible. "Once we defeat the Humans, I can throw a party to celebrate!" she said, the corners of her mouth stretched into a massive smile.

"While the thought of going to war is... distasteful," Rarity began, using a hoof to fan her face. "So is the thought of leaving my friends to face those monsters alone."

Fluttershy nodded. "Yeah, like what Rarity said. I don't like idea of hurting others, but if we have to fight, I'll be right there alongside you all," she smiled from behind her mane.

"I'll do whatever I can to help," said Starlight.

Twilight looked around at all of her friends, the corners of her mouth curling softly. "I might not know what the future has in store, but it makes me feel better knowing that you'll all be by my side when we find out."

"Isn't this nice?" Kate said to her boyfriend, whom she was out on a walk with. She griped his hand and looked at his face, which was cast in a soft glow from the setting sun.

John took a deep breath, feeling the fresh air fill his lungs. "Yeah, it is."

They followed the pathway through the park, enjoying all the nature around them. Birds flitted through the air, while squirrels scampered on the ground and in the trees; the path took them by a small pond, where they could see little bugs skimming on the surface of the water.

Stopping by the water's edge, the two looked into each other's eyes. Their hands intertwined, as the two of them leaned in close, before they shared a passionate kiss.

"I love you," John said warmly.

"I love you too," Kate replied with a smile.

Sarah entered her local Mcdonalds, the smell of their iconic fries wafting into her nose and making her mouth water. The lobby was filled with other patrons who were sitting at tables with the food they had ordered. She could see children playing in the play space, their parents watching them from the nearby booths.

Stepping in line behind a balding man who was ordering his food, she patiently waited for her turn to order. She could see the employees working in the back as she waited; she watched as the workers went about making the food, hurrying to fulfill the current order before moving on to the next.

"Can I take your order," the employee asked Sarah once it was her turn.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Can I just get a big mac meal, please," she said.

Flurry Heart rested soundly in her crib, swaddled up in a little yellow blanket as she sucked on her little hoof. She had Whammy, her beloved plush snail with her. She was clutching it so tightly, that were it alive, it would probably be gasping for breath.

Princess Cadance sat just off to the side, silently watching Flurry as she slept. Her lips curled softly, her eyes sparkling as she looked upon her child's peaceful form. Reaching a hoof forward, she gently stroked the side of Flurry Heat's head, earning a soft coo from the baby.

As she watched Flurry rest, she thought back to the other day, when the rebels attacked. She remembered it so vividly, all the violence, death and ensuing chaos; but most of all, she recalled the terror she felt when she feared the humans would try to hurt Flurry. She had rushed though the palace, having been so desperate to protect her daughter.

Cadance looked at the mobile hanging above Flurry Heart's crib. It depicted the sight of crystal ponies, dancing and galloping, while light poured in from the window, casting it in a fiery glow.

She thought of the unimaginable threat that had just been revealed to them, and how sooner or later, they would have to face it. What if the humans were too much for them? She wondered anxiously. What if they failed to defend their world. What if Equestria and her allies fell to humanity?

She screwed her eyes shut, scenes of war and conquest playing within her mind. She felt her heart starting to beat harder and harder, the thought of her subjects suffering at the hands of humans taking her over.

But most of all, what she feared the most, was that she wouldn't be able to protect Flurry Heart.

It was at that moment that Flurry started shifting in her crib. Her face scrunched up, seemingly in distress as she let out soft cries.

"Shh, it's okay," Cadance cooed, reaching out a hoof to comfort Flurry. "Mommy's here, and she will do anything to protect you."

Christopher sat at his desk, his gaze glued to the computer screen. Large bags had formed under his eyes, the result of many restless days working on a project his boss had assigned to him. He mindlessly played with a toy car he had on his desk, trying to find anything to keep himself entertained and not lose his mind.

As he worked on the project, his attention was diverted away from it when one of his coworkers approached his cubicle. "Hey, I'm making a sandwich run for some of us in the office, you want anything?" his coworker asked.

Christopher nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll take a ham and cheese."

"Got it," he replied, leaving Christopher to his work.

He inhaled through his nose, a stale, mildewy smell filling his nostrils. Looking to a clock, he noted the time, counting down the minutes like he has so many times before. He looks back to the computer screen, glaring at it, while longing to finally go home.

Janet drove down the highway, the engine rumbling as other cars passed on by. She kept her eyes on the road, being mindful of both her and the other drivers.

Suddenly, a car changed lanes out of nowhere, making Janet's heart jump in her chest. She slammed her hand on the horn, honking at the reckless driver.

She turned her attention on her son in his car seat, smiling in relief when she saw he was alright. He was playing with a toy plane, while preschooler music played in the background.

"Are you excited to go see Grandma and Grampa?" she asked as she turned her eyes back on the road.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands as a smile adorned his face.

Janet gave a smile of her own. "Well, we'll be there soon okay."

"Can we get some McDonalds after," he asked almost immediately.

Janet smiled again. "We'll see," she replied.

Dragon Lord Ember landed before all the gathered dragons, the nearby lava flows casting her in an orange glow. "Earth is real, and the Humans that call it home think we're ripe for conquering!" she bellowed, her voice carrying over the din.

At her words, all the dragons started roaring in outrage.

Ember nodded along with their protests. "Well, I think otherwise! If the Humans think that we'll be beaten easily, then they have another thing coming! They'll be sorry for thinking they could mess with us and get away with it!"

"... Listen, I get it, I do," Thorax explained to the other Changelings. "I don't like the idea of war either, but Celestia has insisted that this is the only option. This is far too great a threat for us to stand idly by; we can't let the others face this alone."

"For the longest time, we hid from the Storm King and his empire," spoke Queen Novo, a large crowd of Hippogriffs gathered before her. "But we can't cower from this new threat, as hiding will not keep us safe. This time, the Hippogriffs with face their enemy head-on, and we will stand with the others in the defense of our world!"

Tempest Shadow stood with a ridged posture, her firm eyes focused on the solders of the Storm Empire. "We are the toughest army on the face of Equus, and we will not shy away from this enemy. The Humans of Earth will know our power, and they will come to fear our name!"

Luna's moon hung above Equestria, gazing down at its citizens as they slept. But where most of the nation was dreaming, one small corner was bustling with activity.

Not far from the portal to Earth, a vast sea of tents and torches and been erected. It was a makeshift camp, set up by the Equestrian army. There was tension amongst its solders, as they sharpened their blades and fastened their armor - for they were going to war.

As her army readied itself, Celestia stood in silence, her unwavering gaze locked onto the nearby portal. It looked far more imposing up close, sitting there ominously as it cast off an eerie glow. A breeze blew through the clearing, creating a slight chill - however, Celestia didn't let it bother her.

As Celestia stood there, Luna approached and came to stand at her side. "How are you doing, sister?"

"About as well as I can be, given the circumstances," she replied to which Luna nodded wordlessly. "Have the troops been briefed about the upcoming battle?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, they have," confirmed Luna. "All of the troops have been informed of the threat before them, and to be ready for anything. And moreover, the unicorns were also notified of their role in supporting the rest of our forces."

Celestia's lips formed a thin line. "Good," she nodded.

"Princess," spoke up a new voice. Turning around, Celestia's eyes fell on Twilight and her friends as they approached.

"Hello, Twilight," Celestia smiled.

Twilight was about to respond, when Pinkie suddenly sprang up from behind her. "Hiya, Princess Celestia, it's me, Pinkie Pie!" she exclaimed, having definitely had one too many energy drinks.

"So, this is the portal to Earth, huh?" spoke Applejack as she stared at the anomaly.

"Yes," Luna replied.

Rarity tilted her head at the gateway, its stars seeming to twinkle. "I must say, its actually quite beautiful," she remarked. "It's hard to believe it leads to a world full of monsters."

"Believe it," came the voice of Shining Armor as he joined the group. "Beyond that portal is the homeland of the greatest enemy this world has ever faced. And if we want to defend our people, then it's time for us to become monster slayers."

Turning to face Celestia, he gave her a curt nod. "The troops are ready to move out on your orders," he informed her.

"Okay then," Celestia acknowledged him. "Make it so."

The anomaly resided ever present in the clearing, spotlights shining onto it as it was observed 24/7. After the disappearance of most of the recon team, and the rescue party that went in after them, the doorway was cordoned off. A perimeter was then set up around it, to guard against any unknown that might come through.

Michael stood at his post beside the Humvee, a rifle at his side. He could see the sky starting to lighten up, as the sun began to just barely crest the horizon. He took a deep yawn, feeling the effects of exhaustion tugging at him.

As he stood there guarding the anomaly, he took pause when he thought he saw movement. He rubbed at his tired eyes, thinking that maybe what he saw was just a trick of the light. He looked back towards the doorway, and then all of a sudden there was a bright, disorienting flash of light.

He stumbled backwards, his rifle falling from his grip as he rubbed at his eyes. As he was left reeling from the blinding flash, he could hear the sounds of screaming and gunfire.

"We're under attack! We need back up!" he heard someone shout.

Trying to recover, he attempted to reach for his weapon, but was suddenly tackled by something. He tried to fight back, but his vision was still impaired, making it hard to see his attacker. The last thing he felt was a heavy blow to the back of his head, and then everything went black.

Celestia stepped through the other side of the portal, the light from the local star shining down on her. She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply, her lungs filling with fresh air. Listening closely, she could hear the sounds of birds chirping in the trees. At first glance, it seemed to be just like back home - but yet, not.

Scattered around the portal were strange objects, which seemed similar to lampposts and carriages. It was near one of these 'carriages' that the human guards were subdued and tied up.

"The area is secure, princess," Shining Armor notified Celestia as he approached her. "We used a spell to temporarily blind and get the drop on them."

Celestia nodded. "Well done, Shining Armor," she commended him. "Have we sent out any scouts yet?"

"Yes," he confirmed, "I've sent out several pegasi to get a lay of the land."

"It's real!" spoke up a new voice, with a tone that was both hushed and in awe. Diverting her gaze, Celestia spotted Twilight standing at the portal's threshold, her eyes twinkling as she took in the scene before her. She took a tentative step forward onto the soil of the human world. "All this time we thought Earth was just a mares-tale, but it's actually real!"

"It looks a lot like Equestria," Fluttershy said as she made her way through along with the others.

"Yeah, except it's home tuh monsters," said Applejack.

One of the scouts returned from their recon mission, emerging from over the trees as she set down in the clearing.

"Did you see anything?" Shining asked the scout as he approached her.

The scout nodded her head. "Yes. I spotted what looks to be a large human city not far from here."

Shining Armor shared a quick look with Princess Celestia, before turning back to the scout. "Than we take the city."

Author's Note

...GASP!... there, it's done! So sorry about the long wait.

Anyway, this is it, the final chapter before the invasion begins. I have big plans for the coming chapters, it's going to be a two-parter, so be sure to stay tuned. If the trend keeps up, it should be up sometime next April. :pinkiecrazy: :trollestia:

Till next time.

The calm before the storm

The calm before the storm is like the quiet before the thunder, it's a warning that something powerful is about to happen - Unknown.

Twilight stepped out of her castle, the Crystalline doors shutting behind her. Heading down the path away from her home, she moved with an excited air about her, as she had just learned that her brother and his family were coming in for a visit. So in anticipation of this, she was currently on her way into town to get a couple things for when they arrived.

Coming into Ponyville proper, she was quick to notice how it was today: Celestia's sun shone down, with enough cloud cover to keep it from being too bright or hot out. Birds flitted about in the sky, chirping happily. Ponies greeted her on the streets, bringing a warm smile to her face as she greeted them back.

As she moved through the town she called home, something that stuck out to her was the sight of human slaves on the street. She could see them everywhere, being used to do tasks such as pull carts and carry boxes, or anything else their masters ordered of them. In this day and age, it was fairly common to see humans used as slave labor, in fact, she recently read a study that said seventy percent of households and establishments owned al least one.

Though the war with the humans happened thousands of years ago, it was still the bloodiest, and most traumatic war in the history of Equus. After they were defeated, the humans were made to be servants to the different races of the world, and it had been that way ever since.

It wasn't long before Twilight found herself at her first destination, Sugar Cube Corner. Approaching the confectionery-themed building, she began to smell the goods they were making inside. The bell above the door rang as she stepped through, the smells of sweets growing far stronger.

Sugar Cube Corner was just as packed as ever, with ponies filling the booths, alongside the odd griffin or changeling. However, there weren't any humans, as they weren't allowed in establishments like this, and were made to stay outside.

Stepping up to the counter, she was greeted by the as-ever-bubbly Pinkie Pie.

"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed, a happy smile on her face. "Can I get you something?"

Twilight smiled back. "HI, Pinkie. I just need to pick up some cupcakes. Shining Armor and his family are coming in for a visit, so I'm out getting a couple things for when they arrive."

"Oh that's nice. As it just so happens I just took a batch of cupcakes out of the oven, just give me a moment and I'll get them ready," she said as she turned towards the kitchen. "So," Pinkie called from the back as she prepped the cupcakes for Twilight. "I heard about the rebel attack in the Crystal Empire, are Shining, Cadence, and Flurry doing okay?"

Twilight's brow furrowed as she regarded Pinkie's question. The Crystal Empire recently came under attack by human rebels, who sought to topple its rulership. And although they were ultimately defeated in the end, a lot of ponies got hurt.

"Oh, yeah, they're doing okay," Twilight replied. "They all got out of it unharmed, thank goodness. It'll be nice to see them again after all that," she said right before Pinkie came back out with a box of cupcakes.

Pinkie set the box on the counter, a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sure they'll be happy to see you too."

"Thanks, Pinkie," Twilight said as she paid for the cupcakes and took the box in her magic. "It helps to hear you say that."

"No problem. See ya around, kay?" Pinkie bid farewell with a friendly little wave.

Twilight smiled. "See you around, Pinkie," she said as she made for the door.

"Hey! Tell Shining and his family I say hello, kay?" Pinkie called after Twilight.

"Will do," Twilight replied, before exiting the store.

Leaving Sugar Cube Corner behind, Twilight continued on her way through Ponyville; with the box of cupcakes in her magical grasp, she made her way toward her next destination, which was Sweet Apple Acres. Walking down the streets of town, Twilight was well on her way to AppleJack's, when something caught her attention.

She spotted Rarity out on the road, looking just as majestic as ever as she moved through Ponyville. Her every step was elegant, as if she was eternally walking on eggshells.

Right behind the snowy white mare was her human, whose arms were loaded with stacks of boxes and bags, no doubt containing clothing and various types of fabrics. He was also dressed in fine silk clothing, unlike most other humans who were normally just dressed in rags.

"Hey, Rarity," Twilight said as she approached the fashionista in greeting.

Upon hearing her voice, the mare turned around, a kind look on her face. "Oh, Twilight, it's so good to see you, darling," she replied as she swished her mane around.

"It's good to see you too," said Twilight.

"I'm just on my way back to Carousel Boutique after doing some shopping," Rarity gestured to her human who was carrying all of her purchases.

Now that she was up close to the human, she realized that it must be extremely tiring on him to be carrying all those boxes for so long; she was able to confirm this by looking over his body and face, which seemed to be pretty tense as he clearly was struggling to hold everything. Taking pity on the human, Twilight decided to give him a rest as she took all the boxes and bags from him.

"While that was certainly sweet, you didn't need to do that Twilight," Rarity said with light objection as Twilight took it all in her magic alongside the cupcakes. "Simmons is happy to carry all that, aren't you sweetie?" The human known as Simmons put on a faux smile, something Rarity failed to pick up on.

"It's okay," Twilight replied. "I don't mind."

"Alright, if you insist," Rarity relented. The mare than turned to her human, who seemed to be in better spirit, now that he'd been relieved of his load. "Come on, Simmons, let us head home."

With all the bags and boxes in her magical aura, Twilight accompanied Rarity down the streets of Ponyville. Arriving at Carousel Boutique, Rarity went ahead and opened the door, allowing Twilight to enter.

"Where do you want all these?" Twilight asked.

"Just set them on the floor for now," Rarity replied as she closed the door behind them. "I'll have Simmons go through and organize it all later.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I'm fine. And thank you for the help, I appreciate it darling. Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Rarity asked the alicorn.

But Twilight simply shook her head. "That's alright, I was happy to help. So if that'll be all, I think it's time I go on my way, Twilight finished after a moment.

"Okay, take care then," Rarity said in farewell. "And thanks again for the help."

"No problem. Well see you later, okay," Twilight spoke, heading out the door.

Now that she was done with that little side adventure, she got back on her way to Sweet Apple Acres. Arriving at the farm, she made her way to the house and stepped up onto the porch. Bringing her leg up, she rapped her hoof on the door a few times. A few moments later, the sound of locks turning could be heard, before the door opened to reveal Applejack standing on the other side.

"Well hey there, Twi, can Ah do something for ya?" The farmpony asked.

"Um, yeah," Twilight replied. "I was hoping you might a jug of of apple juice I could have?"

"Sure, consider it done," Applejack replied with a smile and a nod. Stepping back inside, she moved deeper into the house for a few moments, before she soon came back with a jug of juice in her hooves. "Say," AJ began as she hefted the jug on her shoulder. "Since you're here, would ya care to come in for a slice of pie? It's fresh out of the oven?"

"Yeah," Twilight replied, her mouth watering at the thought of having Apple family apple pie. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

Applejack moved out of the doorway, motioning with her hoof for Twilight to step inside. "Come on in and grab a seat then." Once the alicorn was inside, Applejack shut the door behind her, setting the jug down beside it. "We'll just leave this here for now." Thinking that Applejack had the right idea, Twilight set the cupcakes she had right down beside them.

"How much do I owe you anyway?" Twilight asked as Applejack walked beside her.

Applejack scoffed, feigning an offended look on her face. "Can't a mare give her friend apple juice out of the goodness of her heart," she smiled. "Consider it on the house."

"Thank you," Twilight replied.

Stepping up to the table, AppleJack called out for someone as both she and Twilight took their seats. A moment after they'd sat down, a female human approached the table, where Applejack turned to address her.

"Bring over two slices of pie, will ya," Applejack ordered of the slave, who promptly nodded and turned toward the counter. A minute or two later, the human came back with two plates of apple pie.

As the human sat the plates down on the table, Twilight's eyes glanced to the apple branding on its upper arm. Living on a farm was hard work, so to ease the burden on themselves, the Apples owned several humans to do some of the work for them.

Applejack nodded at the human. "You can excuse yourself," she said, upon which the human made her leave.

Turning to the pie in front of her, Twilight took in the pleasant aroma, her mouth starting to water. Levitating a fork, she took a bite, her taste buds exploding with flavor as the caramelized apples came into contact with her tongue.

"So, what're ya up to today?" Applejack asked, after she took a bite of her own pie.

"Nothing exciting," Twilight replied. "My brother is coming to town with his family, so I'm getting some stuff for later."

"Well that's mighty nice of ya," Applejack said. "Ah'm sure they'll appreciate it."

Twilight smiled. "Thanks."

As the two friends ate their pie, they were soon greeted with the presence of Applejack's younger sister as she came bounding into the room.

"Hiya Twilight!" Applebloom said energetically. "It sure is nice to see ya!"

Twilight smiled softly at the little filly. "Why it's nice to see you too, Applebloom."

"Hey, Applejack?" Applebloom asked, turning her attention from Twilight to her sister. "What's Earth?" The filly said, a look of curiosity in her eyes.

"Uh, Earth... you mean like... Earth ponies?" Applejack questioned, unsure of what her sister was asking.

But Applebloom just shook her head. "I heard one of the humans we have mention something about 'The Earth?' What was he talking about?"

Twilight's eyes lit up with understanding when she realized what Applebloom was talking about. "OH! I know what you mean!" She exclaimed, eliciting an excited expression from the filly. "You see, there's a legend among the humans, one that claims they come from a whole other world!"

"Shut up!" Applebloom exclaimed, completely flabbergasted.

Twilight nodded. "According to the legend, this other world is known as Earth, and it's ruled solely by humans," Twilight then shook her head. "Of course, such a notion is complete nonsense, but it's still interesting regardless," the alicorn finished.

"It sure is! Just wait till Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hear about this!" Applebloom said. "Thanks for telling me, Twilight!"

"You're very welcome, Applebloom," Twilight chuckled lightly at the filly's enthusiasm.

The filly then scampered off after that, no doubt to go find her friends.

After Twilight finished her pie, she promptly thanked Applejack for the kind hospitality. Taking the cupcakes and apple juice, she left the farm house and made her way back home.

Arriving back at the castle of friendship, Twilight moved through it's pristine, sparkling halls. Making her way to the kitchen, she entered to find Spike standing by the oven, working on dinner.

"I'm back, Spike," Twilight announced as she set the juice and cupcakes on the counter.

'Hey, Twilight," the drake replied, looking over his shoulder towards his caretaker.

"I've got the stuff for later? How's the casserole coming?"

"It's almost done," he informed her. "I'm just about to take it out in a minute."

"Good, Shining and his family should be here soon, and I wouldn't want to keep them waiting for dinner."

Almost as if on cue, the sound of someone knocking was heard, the noise bouncing off the crystal walls and reaching them in the kitchen.

"Speak of the Discord. Spike!" Twilight quickly addressed the dragon, a haste to her voice. "Hurry up and get that casserole out of the oven and cut. Then once you've done that, get Percy to set up the table for dinner!"

"On it, Twi," Spike affirmed as he give a little salute.

Confident that Spike could handle things here, Twilight quickly tore out of the kitchen. Running through the castle, she followed the knocking until she arrived at the entrance.

Throwing open the door, she expected to see the wonderful visage of her brother and his family. Instead, she was immediately jumped by a white mass, obscuring her vision as it wrapped her in a death grip.

"Twily!" Exclaimed her attacker. "It's so good to see you!"

Wrestling her hoof free, she started weakly patting it on the back. "It's really good to see you too, Shining, but... could I have my lungs back... please!"

"Oops, sorry!" Shining chuckled sheepishly, releasing his sister as he blushed softly.

"It's okay," she replied, putting him at ease. Her expression became more serious, as she quickly pulled him into another hug. "I was so worried about you, I heard about the rebel attack."

"Don't worry," Shining Armor replied comforting his sister. "We're alright. Those dumb monkeys couldn't even touch us," he said smugly.

Breaking the hug with her brother, Twilight turned toward the pony that was both his wife and her old foalsitter. "Cadence!" She squealed, excitedly rushing up to her sister in law. The two engaged in their usual greeting, doing the same song and dance routine from Twilight's fillyhood.

Cadence smiled. "It's good to see you again, Twilight." Some babbling came from the stroller next to her, as the baby seated within made her presence known. The princess of love smiled softly. "I think somepony else wants to say hello."

"Why hello, Flurry Heart," Twilight cooed, approaching the little foal. "How's my favorite niece doing today?" Flurry Heart, just continued to babble in foal talk, a happy expression on her face. "He, it's nice to see you too," she spoke sweetly.

"Come on in," Twilight said as she held a hood out toward the open door. "Dinner should be just about down."

"What are we having?" Cadence asked as she stepped in the castle with her family.

"Casserole," Twilight replied as she closed the door behind them. "With a side of salad, and apple juice straight from Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sounds good," Cadence said.

With the promise of a tasty meal in front of them, the four ponies moved through the castle, soon arriving in an ornate dinning room with wall sconces and a sparkling chandelier. In the center of the space was a large table covered in a red tablecloth, two candelabras set in the center with a vase of flowers placed between them. Approaching the table, there was a young human setting down plates, utensils and cups for them to use.

"Hey everypony," Spike greeted as he entered the dining room.

"Hey, Spike!" Shining Armor returned the greeting. "How are you doing bro?"

"I'm doing good, thanks," Spike replied with a smile, before he turned to address the human. "Percy, go to the kitchen and bring out the food, please."

"Yes sir," the young man replied simply, before exiting the dining room.

After the human had gone, Shining Armor looked to Spike, raising a brow. "You don't need to say 'please' to it," the unicorn stated. "It's just a human, you don't have to treat it like a pony."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't be nice to them," Spike replied, an unamused look on his face. "And Percy's a he, not an it," he crossed his arms.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree on that," Shining huffed as he turned to take a seat at the table.

Percy returned a minute later, pushing a cart which carried what they would have for dinner. Everybody having already taken their seats, the human took the cart to the table and began serving the food. One by one, he made his way around the table, giving them each their meal.

When Percy reached Shining Armor, the unicorn gave him a dirty look, making the human shrink under his gaze. Shining said nothing as he was given his food, only continuing to glare at the young man. "Filthy ape!" The unicorn muttered as Percy made his leave.

"Thank you, Percy," Twilight said once he finished serving them their food. "Feel free to help yourself to the leftovers."

"Thank you," Percy replied, nodding to his master as he took the cart and left the dinning room.

Shining scoffed. "Pony food is too good for humans, all they deserve is slop!" He exclaimed rather adamantly.

Taking a fork in her magic, Cadence took a bite of the casserole, her eyes lighting up as she ate. "Mmm, this is pretty good, Spike," the princess complamented the dragon after she'd swallowed.

Spike smiled at her words. "Thanks, I'm glad you like it."

"So," Twilight spoke in-between bites. "How have things been in the Crystal Empire recently? I mean... you know... aside from the rebels..." Twilight said awkwardly, giving a flourish of her fork.

"Aside from the rebels, nothing much has happened honestly," Cadence replied. "For the most part it's been pretty peaceful, you should come visit sometime," Cadence finished, taking a sip of the juice.

Twilight smiled. "I just might do that."

"So, how have things been in Ponyville?" Cadence asked.

"Eh, nothing much, it's been pretty peaceful," Twilight replied, mirroring Cadence's words.

"What was the rebel attack like?" Twilight delicately asked after a moment, a look of morbid curiosity in her eyes.

Cadence stopped eating her food, taking a deep sigh as she set down her fork. "It was horrible," Cadence replied as she shuddered. "There were ponies falling all around us as the insurgents fought the guard. I had rushed to protect Flurry Heart, fearing they would try to hurt her," she said as she looked toward her daughter, who was sitting in a highchair with a bowl of macaroni.

"We lost a lot of good ponies that day," Shining Armor added, lowering his head solemnly. He perked back up a moment later, however. "But for everypony we lost, the humans lost several of theirs. I myself slew over a dozen humans!" He finished, a tone of pride in his voice.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," Twilight said sympathetically. "I'm glad that you're all safe."

"Yeah," Spike nodded along to Twilight's words. "We're happy that none of you were hurt."

"I am too," Cadence said, leaning over to plant a kiss on Flurry Heart's cheek.

After dinner had been finished, Twilight soon brought out the cupcakes, especially to Flurry's and Spike's delight. Afterwards, they all retired for the night, with Twilight providing a room for her brother and his family.

Having done her normal nighttime routine, Twilight crawled into her bed. Pulling up the covers, she let herself settle into the comfy mattress, sighing in content. Laying in her bed, she allowed herself to relax, her constantly overtaxed brain finally getting a chance to rest.

At least that was the way it should have been.

As she laid there, she found her mind returning to the conversation she had earlier with Shining Armor and Cadence. In her head, she kept recalling the things they said about the rebel attack; she kept imaging she'd been there, watching as ponies fell to violent humans, unable to get the image out of her mind.

As she pictured the attack on the Crystal Empire, she found herself wandering back to what Applebloom asked earlier that day. The legend of a world ruled by humans had long been dismissed as a mares tale. And while Twilight knew the existence of such a thing was ridiculous, she couldn't help but find herself pondering it.

What would it be like, she wondered, for there to be a world ruled by humans. A barbaric race that has caused them so much pain and suffering in the past; a violent species that the world had deemed too dangerous to be allowed to be free. If there was an entire planet full of those war hungry creatures, it could prove to be a grave danger to the peace and safety of all of Equus.

Twilight shook her head, sending that thought away as she let her mind calm down. She let herself get comfortable in her bed, confident in the the fact that there was nothing to be worried about, and of how there was no such thing as planet Earth.

Author's Note

Parabellum, a phrase of Latin origin, meaning [Prepare For War]

So what did you all think, this story was very, very, very loosely inspired by "Shouldn't have enslaved humanity." In fact, the only reason I'm name dropping that story is because reading it is what gave me the inspiration for this fiction.

I've been brewing this story in my head for awhile now, and I'm really excited to finally show it off. I really hope you liked what I have here, and I hope you'll stick around to see what's in store.