Chapters Chapter 1 - The Eve of War
Chapter 1 - The Eve Of War
It was a warm summer evening in Canterlot, and a light breeze was blowing through the high towers of the Majestic castle. Princess Celestia was stood on her balcony watching the sky turn orange as her sun dipped behind the horizon, giving way to Luna’s beautiful night. But even though Equestria was at peace and it was such a quiet evening, Princess Celestia could not relax; she was on edge, her brow furrowed as she stared down at the landscape of Equestria. She turned and went back inside her lavish bed chamber and laid down on the silken sheets of her bed, she closed her eyes for a brief moment and sighed; before picking up the book that lay open on her bed sheets and re-reading the story, it was an old story like the tale of the mare in the moon, it was entitled ‘Those that came before’. As her eyes flicked down the page the Princess of the sun thought desperately “It can’t be true, oh please; please don’t let it be true
The Tale of those who came before
It is said among the ponies of old that Equestria was not always as it is now, that it was once a very different place, populated by very different creatures. These creatures walked upright on two legs, and they could not fly for they had no wings, and could not use magic because they did not possess a horn. Instead these creatures, who became known as the Homo-sapiens or simply Humans, used technology and machines to do what they could not. They could not fly; so they crafted a machine that allowed them to fly, they could not produce enough food to feed their population, so they created machines that allowed them to double or even triple the amount of food produced by their fields. You may think that these beings, these Humans were a peaceful people, but you’d be wrong, because although they were knowledgeable they possessed no wisdom or foresight, they could not see the consequences of their actions and their world suffered because of it, and on top of that they were a brash, violent and often cruel species. Eventually their lack of foresight proved to be the destruction of their world, for millennia the Humans had tried to answer the ultimate question, how did the universe begin? They had tried time and time again and come so close to the truth only to be met by failure after failure. The Humans believed that the universe was created in a cataclysmic event that they called, ‘the big bang’ and during an experiment to replicate this event something went horribly wrong. They damaged their planet so badly that it would take thousands of years to recover, some ponies say that to escape the fires of their dying planet; the Humans built giant spacecraft and escaped into the void space, and that one day they may return to reclaim what was once theirs; and that day will mark the destruction of Equestria, and every pony in it.
As the Princess finished reading the story her eyes settled on the last ominous sentence, she was so engrossed in her task that she didn’t even notice Luna land on the balcony and walk into the room.
“Hey Tia, I was just wondering…..” the princess of the night trailed off as she realised what book her sister was reading, it was the same book that she had spent her every waking hour for the past two weeks reading. Luna sighed heavily and said “Tia please, it’s just an old ponies tale”.
“But what if it’s not Luna, what if it’s true” Celestia said, growing exasperated with her younger sisters inability to grasp the gravity of this situation.
“Tia it’s just a story” Luna said looking deep into her sisters lilac eyes, trying desperately to find a reason for her sister’s sudden paranoia, “it’s not true”.
“They said that about the mare in the moon, that was just a story too, and look how that turned out!” Celestia said with a bit more force than she intended, and when she looked at Luna the princess of the night had her head lowered, tears running freely down her cheeks and onto the floor of the room. “Lulu I…..” Celestia started to say; but was cut off as Luna ran out of the room in tears.
Celestia stood there alone; slowly she lowered her head and walked back out onto the balcony, why had she snapped at her? It wasn’t her fault, but for the sake of Equestria she hoped that Luna was right; that it really was just a story.
At midnight that night, a huge mass of luminous gas erupted from mars and sped towards Equestria. Across two hundred million miles of void, invisibly hurtling towards them; came the first of the missiles that were to bring so much calamity to Equestria. As Celestia watched, there was another jet of gas; it was another missile starting on its way.
And that’s how it was for the next ten nights, a flair spurting out from mars – bright green, and drawing a green mist behind it - a beautiful; but somehow disturbing sight. Dr Nebula the castle astronomer assured the princess that they were in no danger, he was convinced that there could be no living thing on that remote; forbidding planet.
Then came the night the first missile approached Equestria. It was thought to be an ordinary falling star, but the next day there was a huge crater in the middle of Ponyville common, and Dr Nebula came to examine what lay there: a cylinder, thirty yards across, glowing hot… and with faint sounds of movement coming from within.
Suddenly the top began moving, rotating, unscrewing, and Nebula feared that there was a pony inside trying to escape. He rushed to the cylinder, but the intense heat stopped him before he could burn himself on the metal.
It seemed totally incredible Twilight Sparkle; that everyone spent that evening as though it were just like any other. From the railway station came the sounds of shunting trains, ringing and rumbling, softened almost into melody by the distance. It all seemed so safe and tranquil.
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Chapter 2 - Ponyville Common Part 1 - The Heat Ray
Chapter 2 - Ponyville Common Part 1 - The Heat Ray
Next morning a crowd had gathered on the common, hypnotised by the unscrewing of the cylinder. Two feet of shining screw projected when, suddenly, the lid fell off. In the midst of the crowed were Twilight and her friends, spike was stood on her back trying to get a better view.
“What can you see Rainbow?” Applejack called to the cyan Pegasus hovering just above them. The cyan Pegasus landed and said,
“It’s some kind of cylinder, dug really deep into the ground.” Twilight put a hoof to her mouth and thought for a moment; before saying
“It must have fallen last night” and then muses to herself “but where did it come from?” The crowd suddenly takes a collective step backwards and Twilight hears Pinkie Pie scream, she looks towards the cylinder and what she sees fills her with dread.
Two luminous green disc like eyes appear above the rim, then a large rounded bulk larger than a bear rose up slowly; glistening like wet leather. Twilight studied the creature, it was bipedal, and had short, stubby arms and legs; it had a large rounded body that looked like it was made of onyx plates, like the armoured skin of a dragon. It had no neck; just this little head stuck straight onto its body, and small puffs of green steam came from a grate where its mouth should have been, but what hypnotised Twilight the most was those two bright green, lidless eyes.
A few young stallions crept closer to the pit; a tall, thin metal tube rose and then a cyan ray of heat leapt from stallion to stallion and there was a bright glare as each was instantly turned to fire. Every tree and bush became a mass of flames at the touch of this savage heat ray. Pony’s began clawing their way off the common and Twilight ran to, she felt like she was being toyed with, that when she was on the very verge of safety, this mysterious death would leap after her and strike her down.
At last she reached the library; and in the dim coolness of her home she wrote an account for the Princess before sinking into a restless haunted sleep. Her letter read like this:
As promised this is an account of my observations of the object that fell on Ponyville common last night, although I originally thought that it was a meteorite, I found out today that it was anything but. When I arrived at the common a large crowd had already gathered but I got a good look at the crater….and what was in it. It was a sort of cylindrical pod, I could see that the top was moving, like it was unscrewing; and then this ‘lid’ fell off. Nothing happened for a while, but then I saw what was inside the pod, it was as big as a bear, and looked like it was made of a shiny black gem stone, it had short stubby arms and legs and appeared to be bipedal; it had no neck or mouth and these lidless, saucer shaped, bright green eyes. A few stallions from the village tried to get closer to get a better look, then this thin tube rose up next to the creature and pointed at the stallions, then there was cyan beam, a bright flash and the next thing I knew the stallions were nothing more than piles of ash on the ground. Then everypony panicked and ran, but the creature didn’t give chase, it didn’t even move. What’s happening hear Princess? What are these things?
You’re faithful student
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight awoke to alien sounds of hammering from the pit and hurried to sugar cube corner to meet with her friends and discuss the events of the other day. Around her the daily routine of life – working, eating, and sleeping – was continuing serenely, as it had for countless years.
On ponyville common the humans continued hammering and stirring, sleepless, indefatigable, at work upon the machines they were making. Now and again a light, like the beam of a warships searchlight swept the common, and the heat ray was ready to follow.
In the afternoon a company of royal guard came through and set up on the edge of the common to form a cordon. That evening there was a violent crash and Twilight realised with horror that her home was now within range of the Human’s heat ray. At dawn, a falling star with a trail of green mist landed with a flash like summer lightning. This was the second cylinder.
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Chapter 3 Ponyville common part 2 - The fighting machine
Chapter 3 - Ponyville Common Part 2 - The Fighting Machine
When Twilight awoke, the hammering from the pit and the pounding of explosions grew louder, her fear rose at the sound of somepony creeping into the house. Then she saw that it was a young royal guard, weary, and streaked with blood and dirt. “Anypony here!” he called into the darkness.
“Come in, here –drink this” Twilight said offering him a glass of water, which he took in his mouth and thanked her for. “What’s happened?” Twilight asked him after a short silence.
“The wiped us out. Hundreds dead – maybe thousands” he answered, his voice shaky and uncertain
“The heat ray?” Twilight asked leaning forward slightly
“The aliens” he answered, “they were inside the hoods of the machines they’d made – massive metal things of legs! Giant machines that walked – they attacked us! They wiped us out.”
“Machines?” Twilight asked confused.
“Fighting machines!” he answered “picking up colts and bashing them against trees! Just hunks of metal, but they knew exactly what they were doing.”
“Hmmm, there was another cylinder came last night” Twilight said.
“Yes, it looked bound for Canterlot” he answered
“Canterlot, the Princesses!” Twilight gasped “I had never dreamed that there could be danger to the Princess so many miles away, I have to get to Canterlot at once.”
“And me” he said “I’ve got to report to headquarters – if there’s anything left of it.” Twilight and the guard who identified himself as ‘Midnight Flash’ met up with Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy near the town hall. The Mayor was trying to calm the panicked citizens, in the crowed Twilight could hear rumours of Nightmare moon and the end of the world.
“We have to get to Canterlot as quickly as possible” Twilight whispered to her friends.
“Why? What’s going on here? And just who the hay is this guy?” Rainbow dash asked pointing at the guard.
“My name is Midnight Flash; I was part of the Royal Guard 5th Pegasus division, you know the one that was part of the cordon around Ponyville common. We were alongside the 7th Unicorn division and the 3rd Earth Pony Battalion; we were formed up when this thing came out of the pit, it must have been at least a hundred feet tall; and it had these huge green ‘eyes’. We attacked it with everything we had, but it had some kind of barrier around itself, you can’t see it until something hits it, it just stood there for a few moments before it emitted this shrieking sound, it sounded like the scream of the damned. Then it attacked us…..there were just these flashes of light, a cyan light…and then everypony was gone, it killed everyone, everyone” as he finished there were tears in his eyes. Twilight took a shine to the white Pegasus in his golden armour and comforted him, before saying
“Another of those cylinders came down near Canterlot, and Midnight Flash is worried that the city may have been attacked or soon will be,” Midnight nodded in agreement. Rainbow dash then spoke up again saying
“Well what are we standing around here for then, if these aliens want a piece of the princess then they’ll have to go through me first” proving yet again why she is the element of loyalty. On the way Midnight described the fighting machines in more detail and also said that it took the aliens approximately a day to assemble them. As they journeyed a fierce storm had set in, the pegasi that controlled the weather for this part of Equestria had missed several storm dates; so this storm was particularly vicious. At Coltston they came upon an inn but it was disserted,
“Is everypony dead?” Fluttershy squeaked
“Not everypony, look” Twilight answered pointing at 6 fire ballista’s with earth pony operators standing by.
“Bows and arrows against the lightening…they haven’t seen the heat ray yet”, Midnight Flash said shaking his head. The group hurried along the road to Saddlesbridge, suddenly there was a heavy explosion, the ground heaved and gusts of smoke erupted into the air. “Look there they are….what did I tell you” Midnight yelled.
Quickly one after the other four of the fighting machines appeared, Monstrous tripods; at least one hundred and fifty feet tall, striding over the pine trees and smashing them. Walking engines of glittering metal, each carried inside the hood of the machine, just below those luminous green windows a long, thin metal tube, and Twilight realised with horror that she had seen this awful thing before.
A fifth machine appeared on the far bank, it raised itself up to full height; flourished the tube high in the air and the terrible cyan heat ray struck the town. As it struck all five fighting machines exulted, emitting deafening howls that roared like thunder. As the group watched a lightning bolt descended from the sky with a brilliant flash and struck the fighting machine on the bank. When it struck there was a bright flash and the air around the goliath rippled like water, “what was that?” Twilight wondered aloud.
The six ballista they had seen now fired simultaneously, decapitating the fighting machine. The alien inside the hood was slain, splashed to the four winds, and the body, nothing now but an intricate device of metal, went whirling to destruction. As the other monsters advanced, pony’s ran away blindly; but the seven friends jumped into the water and hid until forced up to breathe. Now the ballista’s fired again, but this time the heat ray sent them to oblivion.
With a cyan flash the heat ray swept across the river, scalded half blinded and agonised the group staggered through leaping, hissing water towards the shore. They fell helplessly, in full sight of the aliens, expecting nothing but death. The foot of a fighting machine came down close to Twilights head, and then lifted again, as the four aliens carried away the debris of their fallen comrade….and Twilight realised that by a miracle, they had escaped.
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.
Chapter 5 - The Red Weed
The Next day, the dawn was a brilliant fiery red and the group of friends walked through the weird and lurid landscape of another planet; for the vegetation that gives Mars its red appearance had taken root in Equestria. As Pony kind had succumbed to the invaders, so their land now succumbed to the Red Weed. Wherever there was a stream, the Red Weed clung and grew with frightening voraciousness, its claw-like fronds chocking the movement of the water; and it began to creep like a slimy red animal across the landscape, covering field and ditch and tree and hedgerow in with living scarlet feelers, Crawling, Crawling.
Twilight suddenly noticed the body of a Parson lying on the ground in a ruined churchyard. She felt unable to leave him to the mercy of the Red Weed and decided to bury him decently. As they were lifting him off the ground a mare ran over shouting “Nathanial! Nathanial!” As she reached them the stallions eyes flickered open, he was alive.
The mare came closer and said to him “Nathanial! I saw the church burst into flames are you alright?”
“Don’t touch me!” he said loudly rearing backwards, causing the ponies to drop him onto the mud. The mare looked hurt and said in a concerned tone, but with a touch of sadness
“But it’s me – Beth, you’re wife”
“No, you’re one of them, a devil!” He yelled at her backing away further. She turned to Twilight and her friends and said
“LIES!” the Parson yelled at them, “I saw the devil’s sign”.
Twilight looked confused and asked the mare “devil, what’s he talking about?”
“I’m guessing he means discord” the mare answered, “What are you saying Nathanial?”
“The green flash in the sky” the Parson answered pointing at the leaden sky with a hoof, “his demons were here all along – in our hearts and souls – just waiting for a sign from him, and now, they’re destroying our world”.
“but they’re not devils, they’re Martians.” The mare pleaded, desperately trying to reason with him. Midnight looked around and said in a commanding voice
“We must leave here, they’re coming”
“Look Nathanial, a house still standing, come, quickly” the mare said helping the stallion to his hooves. They took shelter in a cottage and black smoke spread, hemming them in. Then a fighting machine came across the field, spraying jets of steam that turned the smoke into thick black dust. As it went past, the Tripod emitted a low groaning sound that shook the windows of the cottage. “dear Celestia, help us!” the mare cried.
“The voice of the devil is heard in out land!” the Parson yelled, before continuing “Listen, do you hear them drawing near, in their search for the sinners? Feeding on the power of our fear and the evil within us. They’re the incarnation of Satan’s creation of all that we dread, when the demons arrive, those alive would be better off dead!”
The mare, who had identified herself as Beth, desperately tried to calm him down, “there must be something worth living for, there must be something worth trying for, even something’s worth dying for, and if just one could stand tall, there would be hope for us all”.
But it seemed not to phase the parson, who continued on his rant with renewed vigour, “Once there was a time when I believed, without hesitation, that the power of love and truth could conquer all in the name of salvation, but tell me, what kind of weapon is love when it comes to the fight, and just how much protection is truth against all Satan’s might!”
Beth then walked right up to him, and said softly “people loved you and trusted you, came to you for help”.
The Parson Nathanial turned to her, his eyes wide and pleading and said “Didn’t I warn them this would happen? Be on your guard I said, for the evil one never rests. I said EXERSIZE THE DEVIL. But no, they wouldn’t listen; the demons inside them grew and grew, until Satan gave his signal, and destroyed the world we knew!”
Again Beth tried “No Nathanial, oh no Nathanial, there must be more to life, there has to be a way; that we can restore to life the light that we have lost”.
But the Parson didn’t listen, “Now darkness has descended on our land, and all your prayers cannot save us, like fools we’ve let the devil take command of the souls that Celestia gave us! To the alter of evil, like lambs to the slaughter we’re led, when the demons arrive those alive will envy the dead!”
“Nathanial”. Beth cried, close to tears now, but the Parson continued in his mad rant, oblivious to the cries of his mare.
Just then Twilight heard a whistling sound, like an object dropped from a great height made as it fell through the air, and Twilights eyes widened as she realised that they had only seconds. “DOWN!” Twilight screamed, the others looked at her in bewilderment before hitting the deck, just as the thirteen tone cylinder hit the house.
The cylinder impacted with the force of a small bomb, there were sounds of breaking glass and smashing timbers and brickwork, Twilight was forced down as an interior wall fell on top of her, the heat from the cylinders glittering metal exterior was incredible. “Dear Celestia, a cylinder’s landed on the house, and we’re underneath it, in the pit!” the Parson cried. The humans spent the night making a new machine; it was a squat metallic spider with huge articulated claws, but it to had a hood in which the human sat, Twilight watched it pursuing a group of ponies across the field, it caught them nimbly and tossed then into a great metal basket upon it’s back. A little time passed before the Parson yelled out again “Beth, she’s dead, buried under the rubble, WHY? Satan! Why did you take one of your own?” before breaking down into uncontrollable sobs.
As time passed in their dark and dusty prison, the parson wrestled endlessly with his doubts, his outcries inviting death for them all – and yet Twilight pities him. Then on the ninth day they witnessed the aliens ‘eating’, inside the hood of their new machine, they were draining the fresh living blood or stallions and mares and injecting intravenously into their own veins.
“No Parson No!” Midnight said trying to calm him down
“Those machines are just demons in a new form; I shall destroy them with my prayers! I shall burn them with my divine light!” the parson yelled a furious fire burning in his eyes. “I shall…..” the Parson started but fell silent mid-sentence, Twilight looked around to see that Midnight had hit him over the head, knocking him out.
The curious eye of an alien appeared at the window-slit, and a menacing claw explored the room. Midnight dragged the parson down to the coal cellar; they heard the alien fumbling with the latch. In the darkness Twilight could see the claw touching things, walls, coal, wood, and then it touched Rarities leg – she almost shouted. For a time it was still, then with a click it gripped something, the parson, then with slow, deliberate movements, his unconscious body was dragged away…..and there was nothing they could do to prevent it.
Twilight crept to the window-slit and stared out past the Red Weed’s creepers, the invaders and all their machinery were gone, trembling, they dug their way out and clambered onto the top of the mound. Not an alien or Tripod in sight, the day seemed dazzlingly bright after their imprisonment; and the sky was a glowing blue. Red Weed covered every scrap of ground, but a gentle breeze kept it swaying, and oh, the sweetness of the air.
Again they were on their way to Canterlot, through towns and villages that were blackened ruins, totally silent, desolate, deserted. Pony kinds empire had passed away, taken swiftly and without error by these creatures who were unhampered by the complex systems that make up ponies, they made and used different bodies according to their needs. They never tired, never slept and never suffered, having long since eradicated from their planet the bacteria that cause all fevers and morbidities.
Chapter 6 - Canterlot
When Twilight and her friends entered the city of Canterlot she noticed bodies lying in the road, their outlines softened by the black dust, all was still, houses locked, shops closed – but looters had helped themselves to wine and food, and outside the jewellers gold chains and watches had been spilled on the pavement. Although the windows of various buildings had been blown out, the damage to the city itself was surprising little. As they continued on they came across an impact crater with a cylinder lying empty in the centre, “this must have been the cylinder that Midnight had talked about” Twilight thought to herself.
They rounded the next corner only to find their way blocked by the fallen body of a fighting machine, it seemed to be heavily damaged and the green glass of the eye like windows had been smashed; one of the derogatorily dubbed ‘Martian’ pilots was hanging out of the damaged hood, dead. “Is it...dead?” Fluttershy squeaked; Twilight slowly approached the downed colossus and its dead operator; she stopped a few paces in front of it and studied it intently.
She could now see that the dark brown/black material that she had originally thought was the creatures skin was in fact a suit, there was a large metal tank strapped to its back; with two tubes running from the top of it into the ‘head’ of the suit, near the grate like thing that she presumed covered its mouth. Its two green, saucer shaped eyes had dimmed slightly, and then Twilight noticed that two jagged shards of glass from the window had pierced the suit somewhere near the creatures abdomen, likely killing it. As she approached further she noticed a small pool of blue liquid on the ground near the Martian body, Twilight sniffed it and said “Blood, but not pony blood”.
“They may bleed a different colour to us, but they still bleed, I wonder what they look like under those suits?” Midnight mused aloud.
“Hey, what’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked pointing at a splattered trail of the blood leading away from the fighting machine and into a shop beside it. The group followed the trail and entered the shop, the lights were off so the place was dim; as Twilight looked around she could see that it was a boutique. There were all manner of stunningly spectacular cloths, many of them stained with blue. They followed the trail to the back of the shop where they found, propped up against the back wall, a Martian, wounded but still very much alive.
As soon as they were in sight its two green eyes locked onto them and a puff of green smoke came from the grate over its mouth, “is it alive?” Fluttershy squeaked from behind Twilight.
“I think so” Twilight said, before approaching it further, the Martian studied her, “can you understand me?” Twilight asked it slowly, the Martian just stared at her with those luminous green – disk like eyes, and if it felt anything at all it didn’t show it. Twilight then noticed the growing pool of blood forming around where the Martian lay; and the piece of green glass that was sticking out of its abdomen, she turned back to her friends and said “I think its hurt pretty bad”, just then the Martian made a gurgling sound and its ‘head’ fell forwards, the eyes diming.
“It’s dead, we should move on” Midnight said before turning around and walking out of the shop, his tone seemed to indicate that he was upset, Twilight followed him and witnessed him buck the fighting machine hard with his hind legs, his hooves made a loud clang and dented the gleaming surface, but this seamed only to infuriate him further.
“Midnight” Twilight said softly, Midnight looked up and saw the lilac mare standing in the doorway and the rage in his blue eyes melted away as he looked at the ground.
“Twilight I….I didn’t mean to….I wanted to….” Midnight stammered still not looking up at her.
Twilight approached him and put a comforting hoof on his shoulder and asked softly, “Midnight what’s wrong?” Midnight looked up at her touch and Twilight noticed just how beautiful his eyes were, they weren’t the deep blue of most guards, his were a light watery blue, and Twilight found herself lost in them.
“I should have been ready Twilight” Midnight said, “I should have done something, I should have been able to do something…anything, I should have stopped those buckers in Ponyville!” Midnight said shaking with anger.
Twilight felt her heart pound in her chest, “m..me?” she stammered, privately she thought, ‘is he saying what I think he’s saying’.
Midnight looked at her, right into her violet eyes and said “Twilight, I know that I’ve only known you for a couple of weeks, and there hasn’t been time for us to properly get to know one another…but…I care about you Twilight, I really do”. Then he kissed her, Twilight didn’t even have time to process what he had just said before she felt his lips meet hers, at first she didn’t know what was happening, and then she began to kiss him back, enjoying the feeling of his lips on hers.
When they broke the kiss Twilight spent a few minutes with her eyes closed, remembering the feeling, the taste, the smell, and the feeling that for a few glorious minutes she wasn’t in a war torn city, under attack by creatures that used technology immeasurably superior to theirs. When she finally opened her eyes; she found herself looking deep into Midnights watery blue eyes and only a single word escaped her lips “wow”.
Then she heard giggling behind her and turned around to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack looking at them from the doorway, they both blushed a deep crimson and looked away as Pinkie continued to giggle.
Chapter 7 - Canterlot falls
Chapter 7 - Canterlot Falls
Twilight, Midnight and their friends hurried through the deserted, destroyed streets of Canterlot. Everything around them was covered with a thick layer of the strange black dust; it seemed that nothing could escape the touch of the Martians. As they approached the castle they could see that not even it had survived unscathed, huge sections of the walls had been collapsed and there were dead guards everywhere. Despite this Twilight could see that they had made the Martians pay for it; the courtyard was also littered with damaged fighting machines.
All of a sudden there was a yell of, “hey! You lot…over here!” Twilight looked around to see where the shout had come from; and there standing atop a pile of rubble was a royal guard. He was a white Pegasus with a silver mane and tail and he had a castle tower for a cutie mark. He beckoned them over and said.
“Commander Flash…I thought you were all wiped out in Ponyville?”
“I got lucky I guess” Midnight Flash replied, “Looks like you gave those buckers one hell of a thrashing.”
“Yea, but with a lot of casualties” the guard said “we can’t beat them in a strait up fight that’s for damn sure”. The Guard then turned to Twilight and said “I’m commander Rooks by the way, and you must be Miss Sparkle, this way, this Princess is expecting you”.
Commander Rooks led the group through the destroyed halls of the once beautiful castle. Twilight saw that in places ceilings had collapsed, the stained glass windows had been smashed and sticky tendrils of Red Weed clung to the weathered stone masonry. When they arrived at the great hall the Princess was sat on her throne talking to one of her guards, but when the group entered she stood up and greeted the group warmly.
Twilight ran up to her mentor and nuzzled her affectionately before spouting the millions of questions that she had.
“Princess, what’sgoingon?whatarethesethings?whyaretheyattackingus?”
Princess Celestia silenced her babbling student with a simple raised hoof and then said quietly
“Follow me”
Princess Celestia led them through the castle and into one of the other great halls; everything had been cleared out of the room and been replaced by a large metal table and various parts of one of the alien tripods. Standing in front of the table was a brown colt wearing a lab coat, he turned to the group as they entered the room and bowed when he saw the Princess.
“Humans?” Applejack asked, “I thought they were Martians”
Princess Celestia looked at the floor for a moment before saying, “They are both”.
“I don’t understand Princes?” Twilight said “what are these things?”
Princess Celestia stared out of the broken window before beginning the tale.
Millennia ago before the world was as it is now, it was a very different place a world devoid of magic. It was a cruel and violent place populated by a race of intelligent bipeds called homo-sapiens or simply Humans. These humans were more intelligent than any other species alive at that time, including ponies. They built cities that spanned entire continents and even reached out into space, they used technology to perform tasks that we would use magic for. But despite their immense knowledge they possessed very little foresight. Eventually their insatiable quest for understanding proved to be the undoing of their empire, during an experiment to recreate “the big bang” an event that they believed marked the beginning of the universe; something went wrong. It is not clear exactly what happened next but it is believed that to escape their own extinction they built giant craft that could travel through space, and escaped to the planet Mars. Whatever event destroyed their society left remarkably little behind, but one artefact that did remain was a stone library carved into a cave. It detailed what happened and that the humans would one day return to reclaim what was once theirs.
“I believe that this is what is happening now” Princess Celestia said in a serious tone,
Applejack was the next to speak, “so, these ‘humans’ were here before us?”
“Yes” Princess Celestia replied, “it is believed that pony kind evolved in the wake of the disaster, and that Equestria occupies a piece of land that the humans once called ‘Europe’”.
The ponies nodded to show that they understood and the Princess turned her attention to Professor Nebula, as if on cue the Professor proceeded to tell the group what he had learned about the humans and their technology. He explained that the technology that made up the ‘suspension pods’ - as he came to call them – and the mysterious machines that the humans were using was at least 300 years more advanced than anything that ponies possessed. He also explained that – after examining several human corpses – that they breathed a similar Nitrogen/Oxygen air mixture that existed in Equestria, but on mars the concentrations of these gasses were much less; so when the humans came to Equestria – or back to Earth – the air would have been toxic to them, and that is why they are wearing the environment suits.
“But if the air is toxic to them then how in the hay are they gonna live here?” Applejack asked incredulously.
Professor Nebula gave a wry smile and then pointed a hoof at a small table in one corner of the room, as the group approached the table they saw what lay upon it. Under a grow lamp and still very much alive was a tendril of the mysterious ‘Red Weed’ that had begun sprouting up all over Equestria.
“This is how miss Applejack” Nebula said
He then proceeded to explain that the ‘Red Weed’ was what he called a habitat changer, it pumps Nitrogen into the atmosphere to make the environment more habitable to the humans, however this change will make the atmosphere unable to sustain pony life.
A young royal guard then entered the room and approached the Princess, he was a white unicorn stallion, heavily built, with a two tone blue mane and watery blue eyes.
“BBBFF!” Twilight exclaimed happily rushing to give her brother a hug
“Twiley!” he said as he returned her hug, “when I heard that Ponyville had been destroyed I thought…. But I’m glad you’re alright” He said with tears in his eyes. Princess Celestia stood watching them with a smile on her face, remembering why he had entered the room Shining Armour’s face returned to its serious demure as he straightened. “I have the report you requested Princess” he said, Celestia nodded to allow him to continue.
He told the Princess that the fighting machines were no longer approaching Canterlot but were gathered in a circle facing outwards. And that they were building something in the centre although they could not see what it was.
Twilight then remembered her discovery, “this might help professor” Twilight said getting Nebula’s attention. “I noticed that whenever one of their ‘fighting machines’ was destroyed there had been a thunderstorm in the area”.
Nebula’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed one word “EURICA!” before hurrying back over to the partially dismantled tripod and said, “I suspected that lightening could interfere with their shields but I needed proof to prove my theory, thank you miss Sparkle”. Twilight smiled glad to have been of help.
“So, now we know how to hit back” Shining armour said.
Just then there was a whistling sound followed by a heavy explosion that shook the castle. A young Pegasus pony ran into the room and screamed, “Princess! The castles under attack, One of those cylinders has hit the north corridor!” His ranting was cut short by 3 more explosions in quick succession, 3 more cylinders.
For a few moments there was a ghostly silence…and then the castle erupted into chaos, Royal guard running and yelling orders to each other. Over it all Twilight heard the Princesses voice, “We have to get the elements!” she said. The group ran through the corridors of the castle, passing several of the cylinders which were already beginning to open. When they reached the corridor leading to Canterlot tower Twilight thought that they finally had a hope of stopping this, but just as they started down the corridor a cylinder smashed into far end. Twilight was blown back into a pillar by the force of the impact, Bricks and masonry rained down on them as the corridor collapsed…blocking access to the elements.
“We have to get out of the castle!” Midnight Flash yelled helping Twilight to her hooves, Then they were running headlong towards the main entrance hall, the Cylinder’s that they had passed were now open and the humans were firing their ‘heat ray’s’ at the panicking guards. As they reached the doors a turquoise beam of death smashed into the wall just above Twilights head, when they got outside they saw a gold carriage waiting for them.
“Where are we going Princess?” Twilight asked
Princess Celestia looked at her and said “Cloudsdale, my sister and Princess Cadence are already there, it seems to be the only place that these metal monsters can’t get to us”. They bundled into the carriage and it sped into the sky, royal Pegasus guards flew around them, some even carrying their fellow guards that couldn’t fly. As they flew over the landscape leaving the smouldering city behind, they flew over the tops of tripods, each raising their heat rays to fire at the carriage and its occupants.
When they neared Cloudsdale they could see more cylinders, missiles with a trail of green mist falling from the sky.
“Oh my” Rarity exclaimed, “There’s thousands of them”
Twilight looked out upon the landscape of her home, once lush and green and beautiful; it was now charred and black with veins of red running through it. The humans monstrous tripods strode unchallenged across the land with their gating lope, ready to destroy any ponies they came across. As she watched she could also see the squat six legged ‘handling machines’ scuttle over the ruins of towns like ants, probing, examining, learning. Finally her attention turned to the newly fallen cylinders, where already handling and fighting machines alike were congregating to protect their newly arrived brethren, forming the strange outward facing circles around the pods.
As the carriage touched down on the soft clouds, Princess Celestia cast a spell to allow them to walk on the clouds that made up the floating city. It was then that Twilight noticed all of the refugees, hundreds of ponies stood nose to tail; packing every outside space, whilst Royal guards were trying to process all of the new arrivals to the city.
Princess Celestia walked up to a nearby guard who bowed deeply and said, “I wish to speak with my sister”
“Of course you majesty, follow me” the Guard replied and the group set off, following the guard through the packed city towards the centre.
Midnight Flash walked beside Twilight and said softly, “if there is a way to win this and reclaim our home I know you’ll find it”
Twilight just smiled at him, the truth was that without the elements, she didn’t know if there was a way to stop this. “Maybe” she thought to herself “Maybe they’ve already won, and we’re just delaying the inevitable” . Twilight shook the thoughts out of her head, they were going to find a way to beat the aliens and reclaim their home, she gulped…or die trying.
Chapter 8 - The Attack on Cloudsdale
Chapter 8 – Attack on Cloudsdale
Twilight walked silently behind the Princess as they were led through the packed streets of the
As they reached the Wounderbolts building – that the Royal Guard were using as an HQ – and they
“You’re Highness” The Captain said standing
As she neared the table twilight could see the map more clearly, although there were green dots
Princess Celestia then asked Captain striking Spear for a report and the Captain told her that the
“They are building something...what it is we don’t know...but it’s big” The captain said pointing at
“And this other dot” Princess Celestia asked
“That appears to be the epicentre of the Martian invasion, there is a large concentration of Martian
Princess Celestia looked worried for a moment before putting on a stern expression, she turned to
Princess Celestia sat down at the table; although she wore a calm demure on the inside she was
Rainbow Dash returned out of breathe, she had apparently been spotted and had to dodge heat
“It was big......I couldn’t get a good look at it but I could tell that it was a different shape to
Luna’s eyes suddenly shrank to the size of pin holes.
“Tia” Luna said “what if their building something to reach us here”
Applejack looked confused by this, “what? You mean building one of those metal things that can fly”
Dr Nebula who had been listening to their conversation suddenly butted in “Yes, that makes
“Is there anything that these things can’t do?” Rainbow exploded
“Remember my little pony” Celestia said softly “they could have been planning this for decades”
“So what do we do?” Shining armour asked the room in general
“Well, trying to destroy the thing on the ground is impractical because it’s so heavily guarded. I
Suddenly screams could be heard from outside and Pinkie Pie – who had been looking out of the
It was a huge disk shaped object with a large fan blade in the centre, the cockpit was – like all the
It just hovered there for a moment before all of the heat rays fired simultaneously into the crowded
On the roofs of several buildings the Royal Guard had set up fire ballistae “just in case” and now they
Captain Striking Spear – who was a Pegasus – was directing them, when all of the clouds were
“Everyone Inside!” Shining Armour yelled as the group ran inside the Wonderbolts building and
Twilight stared out at the wrecked city; the Martians had – just like everywhere else – swept all
Princess Celestia and her two captains were huddled in a corner talking in hushed whispers, trying
As they reached about half way between the machine and the clouds below the stallion broke free
“Rainbow...you think you can outrun those beams?”
“In my sleep” Rainbow said, a smile curling the edges of her mouth as she got Twilights meaning.
Twilight nodded at Rainbow before running out into the street yelling and letting off magical bursts
Twilight fell towards the city bellow, the air rushing past her ears with such a noise that she could
On board the flying machine Rainbow found herself in a dark room – the panel having closed after
she could see pods; rows upon rows of pods stacked one on top of the other. Inside the pods were
Why are they doing this? Why keep them alive?
Rainbow mused to herself. Then she noticed a thin tube connected to the mares neck...it was filled
Their EATING! us
She screamed inside her own mind, suddenly she was filled with a fire of rage
Time for them to die
She thought with conviction, and with that in mind she turned and walked through an opening in
Before her was a crescent moon shaped room lined with control panels, standing by the control
Seeing the other Martian to the right of her starting to lumber towards her; she chose her moment
Got to be on target
She said to herself, the thought of ending up in that turbine was not a pleasant one. Then she
Ponies on the ground that had come out of hiding to watch the sceptical began cheering and
“Well done my little pony” Celestia said
Captain Striking spear approached the group leading the captured Martian.
“Who’s for finding out what these things look like?”
Celestia nodded with a stern look, this was an opportunity to find out how to beat these
“Take the mask off” She ordered Striking Spear.
Chapter 9 - An end once and for all
Chapter 9 - An End Once And For All
Every pony in the room gasped and took a collective step back; the mask had been removed, finally revealing the face of their enemy. The creature’s skin was pale, almost translucent; and it was completely bald. Its eyes were bright luminescent green, just like windows of the fighting machines, and it had thin cat like pupils.
As they watched the human began to choke and panic, “What’s it doing?” Applejack asked as the creature dropped to the floor wheezing.
“Put the mask back on!” Dr Nebula yelled.
After re-attaching the mask the human seemed to calm down, it just sat there, glaring at them.
“I want to communicate with it alone” Princess Celestia said calmly
“What!” Twilight balked
“Please Twilight, I’ll be fine” The Princess replied
“Come” Luna ushered every pony out of the room. Once they were alone Celestia sat down, the human’s eyes never once leaver her own, “I know you can understand me” Celestia said calmly, the human simply stared at her in silence. “What do you want?” The Princess continued, “Slaves, recourses...” but again the human said nothing, it just sat, watching her intently, it’s burning gaze interrupted from time to time by blinks.
Celestia was about to ask another question when she felt a strange sensation, almost like a presence in the room with them. She looked around but saw nothing, then, suddenly she collapsed to her knees, and the pain in her head was incredible. The level of pain increased, forcing her eyes shut; and then as suddenly as the pain had started, it stopped.
“Humanity reaches out, for what is ours.” It spoke quietly.
“Who are you?!” Celestia shouted, sounding slightly scared.
“You may call me… the elite” it answered, “I am many bodies but a single mind, a single will, one vision, one purpose”.
That must be the Elite... maybe it’s the invasion leader Celestia thought to herself.
“You are an interesting race, but flawed with weakness, we were mistaken in our assessment... you never were a threat to us,” the Elite spoke again.
“I think, even after all that you have done to us, we may be able to coexist, if a way could be found... could there be peace between us?” Celestia asked
“Peace” It Replied, almost as though the word was foreign to it, “No Peace”
“What is it that you want us to do?!” Celestia yelled, enraged.
“Die” It answered, “Die”.
Then the pain returned, but with it images flashed into her mind, one after another. She saw two towers of unpainted metal, glinting in the morning sun; the tops were arched towards each other. Around the towers she could see land marks from Ponyville. Then there was a flash, a portal opened in the space between the towers, then massive saucer shaped crafts were coming through, one after another. After this she saw images of the rest of the planet, not just Equestria, in ruins, entire cities on fire.
Then the pain and visions simply stopped. She opened her eyes to see that one of the guards had entered to investigate her pained cry, seeing that she was in pain he had stabbed the human through the stomach with his spear, killing it.
“Princess, are you well?” The guard asked, turning to her.
The princess lay there, panting, as she tried to get back her breath.
“I... I know what they’re planning to do,” The princess answered.
Once the others had been assembled in the room; and the remains of the dead human cleared away, she told them what she had seen. She told them about the towers and the crafts and the fires.
“Oh my! Nowhere would be safe!” Luna exclaimed
“The destruction of the rest of the world would be over in hours” Twilight added
“We have to stop them” Applejack said
“How?” Rarity asked, “We don’t have the elements”.
“We’ll just have to find a way to win without them; we have to destroy that portal”. Luna said
“I have faith in you my little ponies” Celestia said warmly as the group set out, on the long journey back to Ponyville, back home, back to where this nightmare began.
The group arrived at the human’s camp not long after dark, when they arrived they saw a massive human complex, fighting machines patrolled the surrounding countryside and flying machines patrolled the skies. Even more shocking was that ponies had been herded into pens, she counted at least three or four hundred per pen, all of them were dirty, their fur matted and they were terrified.
A little way across what had been the centre of town there was a large white building, with an ominous tower of black smoke spilling from what she assumed to be a chimney.
“What’s that smell?” Rainbow asked wrinkling her nose. Twilight sniffed and found that there was a smell in the air, it was a slightly sweet smell mixed with the pungent aroma of... burning hair. The reality of what was before her made Twilight feel sick, how could intelligent creatures do this , Twilight wondered.
“They’re... They’re...” Applejack breathed, barley able to contain her sorrow or complete the sentence, but everyone else knew what she was going to say. The humans had rounded up all of the ponies that they could find; and had brought them here to exterminate them more efficiently.
As the group watched, a flying machine hovered over one of the pens and lifted up five or six ponies using the claws protruding from its belly. Then it deposited them into an opening in the roof of the white building, which closed behind them.
“That’s horrible” Fluttershy squeaked
“This has to end, NOW!” Rainbow growled through gritted teeth
“How are we going to get in?” Applejack asked
“Yea those mean human things are everywhere” Pinkie Pie added
Twilight looked at them and smiled in a way that made them all nervous, “The same way they are” she nodded at the pens below them; and before anyone could stop her she fired a beam of purple energy high into the sky. The human’s reaction was immediate, the area around them lit up as a dozen searchlights fixed on their location. The ponies in the pens turned to look at them, one of their number - a Pegasus with a light blue coat, a dark blue mane and tail; and bright green eyes – yelled, “Run, for Celestia’s sake just run”. The group just stood resolutely as a flying machine came over them and lifted them off the ground; it carried them over one of the pens and dropped them in.
Over the next two days and nights they watched as the humans collected groups of six ponies from random pens and dropped them into the white building, some of them were already dead and some were still alive. Then it was their turn, a flying machine came over the pen and once again lifted them into the sky, they were taken above the white building and dropped into the darkness.
Twilight awoke in a dark room, as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she could see that her friends were waking up around her. She was in a dimly lit, circular room, it had white, metallic walls; and the only source of light in the room was a series of green strips adorning the upper wall. Twilight could also see that there were other ponies in the room, many of them had been there for hours waiting for something to happen. As Twilight looked around she could see that there were ponies of all ages, from old mares to tiny, scared fillies; and she drew closer to Midnight, who reassuringly placed his wing around her.
Behind them the doors slammed shut, sealing them in. Desperately Twilight looked around for something, anything that would help, then she saw it; a window or green glass about half way up the chamber, which was tall and open topped, they were in the chimney… and they were going to be burned alive if she didn’t do something soon.
“Rainbow!” She yelled, “Think you can break that window?”
Rainbow looked up and grinned, “on it”. The cyan Pegasus flew at full speed directly at the window but it, remarkably, didn’t shatter. Twilight was as shocked as Rainbow; this is not good Twilight though. A groaning sound was heard coming from the pit beneath them, and as she looked she could see a faint orange glow. Panicking slightly she began thinking of objects that were harder than a Pegasus, and then it occurred to her.
“Take off your horse shoes” she said to the others, they obeyed although confused, once she had all of them she grouped them together and launched them as hard as she could at the window. It smashed. “Get to the window!” She yelled, Midnight carried Applejack, Rainbow carried Rarity, Flutter Shy carried Pinkie and Twilight teleported. Once they were behind the window, Twilight realised that the others hadn’t followed them, many were too weak and others had simply lost the will to live. The chamber was then filled with flames shooting up from below; and when they subsided there was nothing left but fine ash swirling through the air, the larger pieces falling through the grating.
They were all deeply shaken by what had happened in the killing chamber, but they had not time to morn. They walked through the corridors of the building; it was made up of well-lit white corridors and rooms, all of which were empty. Twilight theorised that they were coming under the towers now; if she was right then they were nearing some sort of control room.
“Miss Sparkle, you have become an annoyance, you fight against inevitability, dust struggling against cosmic winds. Reaching this chamber may seem a victory to you, but even now your greatest civilisations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us”. A voice spoke inside her mind.
“Maybe your right” Twilight answered, “Maybe we can’t win this, but we’ll fight you regardless!”
“Your courage is… admirable, but pointless” The Elite turned and touched the interface, “Behold our power and face your extinction”.
Slowly the ceiling, which would have been the ground to those above, slid apart to reveal that they were indeed under the towers. The Elite touched the interface again; and the container with the elements inside lit up like a Christmas tree, green energy sparking between the towers as a portal began to form between them. This was it, Celestia’s vision, the human fleet was coming.
Rainbow then threw herself at the Elite, but she wasn’t fast enough. The Elite raised one arm; palm exposed and fired what looked like electricity at her. Rainbow’s cries of pain when the electricity connected filled the chamber. The cyan Pegasus dropped out the sky and lay on the floor breathing heavily, but the momentary distraction was all that Twilight needed. She used every ounce of her strength to wrench the container apart and retrieve the elements.
Seeing this the Elite used a form of telekinesis to pin all of the ponies against the walls of the chamber. Then it slowly advanced on Twilight, seeing there was no way that she could get the other elements to her friends without the Elite stopping her, Twilight decided to do something stupid. She hurled the elements with all the strength that remained her directly into the portal, at first nothing happened, then the portal glowed white and vanished.
Well that was anti-climactic Twilight thought, and then everything suddenly went white and silent. The last thing that Twilight heard before blacking out was the voice of the Elite.
“Know this as you die in vain Twilight Sparkle, your time will come, and your species will fall… prepare yourselves for retribution”.
Epilogue
Twilight came to outside of Ponyville, as she looked around she was alone, no friends, no Midnight, not even the Elite. The one good thing about the situation was that she could see that the towers had been destroyed; only the shattered bases remained. Twilight stood up and resolved to go and look for her friends.
There were a dozen dead bodies in the Euston Road, their outlines softened by the Black Dust. All was still, houses locked and empty, shops closed. A metallic groaning sound filled the still air, Twilight stopped, staring towards the sound. It seemed as if that mighty desert of houses had found a voice for its fear and solitude.
The desolating cry worked upon Twilight’s mind. The wailing took possession of her. She was intensely weary, footsore, hungry and thirsty. Why was she wandering alone in this city of the dead? Why was she alive, when Ponyville was lying in state in its black shroud? She felt intolerably lonely, drifting from street to empty street, drawn inexorably towards that cry.
She saw, over the trees on Primrose Hill, the Fighting Machine from which the howling came. She crossed Regents Canal. There stood a second machine, upright, but as still as the first. Abruptly, the sound ceased. Suddenly, the desolation, the solitude, became unendurable. While that voice sounded, Ponyville had still seemed alive. Now suddenly, there was a change, the passing of something - and all that remained was this gaunt quiet.
Twilight looked up and saw a third machine; it was erect and motionless, like the others. An insane resolve possessed her; she would give her life to the Martians, here and now. She marched recklessly towards the Titan and saw that a multitude of black birds was circling and clustering about the hood. She began running along the road. She felt no fear, only a wild, trembling exultation, as she ran up the hill towards, the motionless monster. Out of the hood hung red shreds, at which the hungry birds now pecked and tore.
She scrambled up to the crest of Primrose Hill, and the Human's camp was below her. A mighty space it was, and scattered about it, in their overturned machines, were the Humans – dead.
The torment was ended; and though the Elements had been sacrificed the ponies scattered over the
As life returned to normal, the question of another attack from Mars caused universal concern. Was their planet safe, or was this time of peace merely a reprieve? It may be that, across the immensity of space, they have learned their lessons and even now await their opportunity. Perhaps the future belongs not to Ponies - but to the Humans?
