War of the Worlds

Chapter 4 - Thunderchild

For three days the group fought their way along roads packed with refugees, the homeless; burdened with boxes and bundles carrying their valuables, all that was of value to them was in Canterlot.

“We’ll have to go east towards the ocean, and then cut across to Canterlot; the Tripods have blocked the direct route.” Midnight said over the noise of the ponies around them, they were sat at the table of a café that was handing out free refreshments to the weary, blood streaked ponies. Twilight looked around at the mass of hungry, scared ponies around them and found it hard to believe that a little over a week ago they all had jobs, and homes. They were safe and secure, and now it was close to the end of the world.

Fire suddenly leaped from house to house, the population panicked and ran – and the group of friends were swept along with them, finally they headed eastward and pony kinds last hope of survival, a boat out of Equestria.

As they hastened through Covent Garden, Blackfriars and Billingsgate, more and more ponies joined the painful exodus. Sad, weary mares, their foals stumbling and streaked with tears, their Stallions bitter and angry, the rich rubbing shoulders with beggars and outcasts. Dogs snarled and wined….and here and there were wounded guards, as helpless as the rest, they saw Tripods wading up the river; cutting through bridges as though they were paper.

Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of ponies moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march – it was a stampede – without order and without a goal, six million ponies unarmed and un-provisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the route of civilisation, of the massacre of pony kind.

A vast crowd buffeted them towards the already packed steamer; Applejack looked up enviously at those safely on board, straight into the eyes of her sister, Applebloom. At the sight of her sister Applebloom began fighting her way along the packed deck towards the gangplank, at that moment it was raised, and Applejack caught a last glimpse of her despairing face as the crowed swept them away from her.

The steamer began to move slowly away; but on the landward horizon came the silhouette of a fighting machine. Another came, and another, striding over hills and trees, plunging far out to sea and blocking the exit of the steamer. Between them lay the silent grey Ironclad ‘Thunderchild’. It was an awesome sight; the entire ship was made of grey metal and was powered by unicorn magic, four fire ballista were mounted on the fore deck. Twilight looked over at the direction the Tripods had come from; she could see the flashes of lightening that showed the remnants of a thunder storm, before turning her attention back towards the Ironclad.

Slowly it moved towards shore; and then with a deafening roar and whoosh of spray, it swung about and drove at full speed towards the waiting tripods. The Tripods released a shroud of black smoke but the ship sped on, cutting down one of the Tripod figures, one of the ballista bolts piercing one of the green windows, the tripod emitted a deafening shrieking sound before its legs buckled beneath it and it was sent tumbling down into the icy water. Instantly the others raised their heat rays and melted the Thunderchilds valiant heart. It was then, in the chaos that Twilight noticed something, Midnight Flash had said back at Ponyville that the fighting machines were surrounded by a sort of energy field that protected them from damage, but all the times that she had seen one of them be attacked it had been destroyed, there had been no field. Then she made a startling realisation, every time she had seen them there had been lightning, “the lightning affects the field” she thought to herself, she hurried up to Midnight and said hurriedly “we have to get to Canterlot as soon as possible”.

“What?” he shouted over the noise of the crowd

“WE HAVE TO GET TO CANTERLOT, IT’S IMPORTANT!” Twilight yelled to him, he simply nodded in response, Twilight then turned her attention back to the scene before her. When the smoke cleared, the little steamer had reached the misty horizon and Applebloom was safe; but the Thunderchild had vanished forever, taking with it ponykind’s last hope of victory. The leaden sky was lit by green flashes, cylinder following cylinder, and no pony and nothing was left now to fight them.

Equestria belonged to the humans.