The Eleventh Day

The city burned, fire lighting up the night sky. Twilight couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her, even as it was happening. Manehattan. Caught in a fiery blaze, ponies running around like mindless zombies. Buildings burned, families died and Royal Guards tried to evacuate everyone.

It was all in vain though. Twilight tried to move her hooves, but it felt like she as pulling the weight of the world along with her. She struggled with her first step, and stumbled on the next. She tried to scream, but no shouts came. Just a silence that had always accompanied her since the city came into view. Her friends had disappeared, as if they hadn't climbed the hill with her moments before and were just part of her imagination. This had to be some kind of sick dream. There was no way that Princess Celestia or Luna would just allow this happen.

Ponies ran past her, all giving terrified as they all glanced at her. She looked down at her hooves. Still that shade of violet. Petrified screams filled the air as ponies passed her, Twilight trying to help each one that rushed by. Kids running without parents, Guards ran from the impending threat of death, and others ran, hoping to find shelter from the devastation. Twilight looked to the sky, her heart stopping and her mouth unable to close itself.

There had to be thousands of them, all of which either flying with their blue wings, or charging at innocents, ramming them with their horns or blasting magic at them or just pulling them back to the horde of black. Their blue lifeless eyes were the only glows of light aside from the fires that raged behind them. They completely ignored Twilight as they passed and ravaged the ponies trying to escape the horde's wrath. They were killing everyone. They didn't even care about who got harvested. They just killed whoever they wanted and took whoever got in the way that they didn't feel like killing.

And all Twilight could do was watch, powerless and completely motionless. She wanted to curl up and cry, but she wouldn't allow herself to do that. She couldn't allow herself to do that. She wouldn't let herself be reduced to that. She had to help. Even if nobody could seem to notice her. She was an Element of Harmony and she intended to do her job.

But she was still unable to move, her legs feeling like lead. With her new-found determination Twilight willed herself to move forward.

But something was wrong. Twilight didn't feel right. She horrifically looked down at her once violet hooves. They were a deep shade of black, holes in her legs and she felt herself grow slightly. Her heart pounded as she watched herself transform into the one enemy that she and her friends had helped to banish not so long ago. A voice spoke in a language completely foreign and incomprehensible and Twilight found herself able to move, but against her own will. Her possessed form turned around to a family of three innocent ponies; a stallion standing in front of his wife and daughter. Terror burned in all of their eyes, though the stallion was doing his best to hide the fear in his face.

The voice spoke again, all too familiar, and yet Twilight was able to understand what it meant this time. She willed herself to keep herself grounded. To stop herself from pouncing on the defenseless stallion. But even with all of her willpower, the form that Twilight had found herself in managed to spread its wings and leap in the air.

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12:46 A.M. (I think)

Daily Log 104

I had that dream again. This time, though, I actually saw them doing it. Killing. Mercilessly. By Celestia, was that what really happened? Did the Royal Guards actually run from them? Desert the ponies they were sworn to protect? I could only imagine what the families who died on that day thought before they arrived. How normal everything must have been before The Arrival. Who was the pony they saw last? Did they even get to say goodbye to the ones they loved? Why did it even happen?

The fact that all I can do is stand there just adds to my increasing grief. I wanted needed to stop them. But, without the other elements I was powerless. I just was only able to watch as they all slaughtered the innocent civilians, forced them into those organic pods, and even brutally raped the ponies that had done nothing wrong. Manehattan burned and shone brighter than ever before. I can barely even remember Manehattan like it was before; with all the lights and ponies bustling through the streets. Even here now with Trixie I can't imagine what kind of lives ponies had here. How they were able to stand the tremendous amount of noise.

It's all silent here now. Nature had already run her course of taking back what ponies so carelessly took away from her. The apartments that Trixie and I found intact are full of bugs of all kinds, the floors and walls covered with vines and the scent of fresh nature replaced the pollution that we smelled outside. Ever since The Arrival, I've had this thing where I can't stand the sight of insects or arachnids. The sight makes me sicker than I've ever been in my entire life and the urge to kill them increases with every moment I glare at them. I know Fluttershy wouldn't approve of such a thing, but she...

It's funny really. What we call the event. The Arrival. Has a nice sound to it right? The Arrival.

Even after all we had done, they managed to roll right in and take us by surprise. The losses Equestria has endured. Too many ponies have lost their lives. Rarity herself said that we should have seen the signs. After it happened, she said that we should have seen it coming. I never gave it much thought until now. She was right. Southern Equestria claimed they were seeing things. But to us, that's all they were. Claims. No investigations to figure out what it was. They just yelled real loudly and waited for someone to come over to see what the noise was about, but much to their dismay, that someone never came.

The worst part?

Somepony warned us outright. Came straight to the Royal Court and told the Princesses about what she say. And we just dismissed it. Let them take us over. The pony who warned us? None other than the Great and Powerful Trixie herself. I'll never understand how she figured out what they were doing, or how they managed to attack Manehattan first, but I just know one thing: We should have listened. We should have cared.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle