-Canterlot-
9:58 AM
Twilight sat at the conference table and holding her head with a hoof, waiting for a response from Cadence and Shining Armor. After Spike sent the letter a few minutes ago, Twilight was beginning to fear for their safety. One of those alien vessels was over the Crystal Empire right now, and if it posed a threat, then they had to get out of there. Her worries were about to overcome her when she heard Spike belch, then burping as a flash of green fire dissipated to reveal the scroll. Upon seeing it, Twilight snatched it from the air in her magic, opened it up, and began to read it.
"Dear Twilight: It's good to know you're alright. And you're not the only one worried about that ship up there, the Empire has been in a state of panic for the last hour. I'm sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but Cadance and I can't let the Empire fall to the alien threat. We'll be putting up a shield in case things get ugly, but I won't leave the Empire to be conquered or destroyed if there's a way to protect it. Don't worry about me, Twiley, just make sure they don't hurt your friends or the ponies of Canterlot. I'm counting on you.... we both are. I love ya, sis. Sincerely, Shining Armor."
Twilight tried to force a smile, but her fear denied such an expression. Seeing that his friend needed hope to return to her, Spike stood up and walked over to her. "They're not leaving?"
Twilight only shook her head, her eyes closed as she tried to calm herself.
"Well, you can't let that get to you. Your friends need you, Twilight... I need you." Spike said to try and restore his friend's morale.
Twilight looked to Spike for a moment, then, taking in Spike's words, smiled in agreement. Standing up from her seat at the table, she crouched down and hugged Spike. "Thanks, Spike."
As the two began to trot out of the room, the door to the palace's entrance opened as Rainbow Dash flew in. "Twilight! You gotta come out here! The Wonderbolts came!"
Both of them raising an eyebrow, Twilight and Spike raced out the doors, not even bothering to shut them as they left the conference room.
As they stepped outside, they saw Rainbow Dash and the others staring out into the dark sky. Twilight and her dragon friend joined them to get a look. Sure enough, several Wonderbolts were flying to their position, Dash let out a horrified gasp upon seeing Spitfire, who was being held by Soarin' as the group of elite flyers landed.
"Good to see you here, Dash." Soarin' said with a hopeful smile as he carefully set Spitfire's body down on the ground, Blaze and Misty Fly helping him out with the short task.
Dash hugged Soarin' tightly, not letting go for a good long moment before asking, "Is... is Spitfire okay?"
The stallion's face fell to a somber expression. "I don't know, she moved faintly when I saved her."
Celestia looked over to one of her guards. "You, get Spitfire to the medical ward immediately."
The unicorn guard saluted before picking up Spitfire's body in her magic, putting her on his back and galloping off into the palace.
"Well, since you're here, mind telling me what's happened?" Rainbow asked her fellow Wonderbolt.
"Yeah, about that. We almost lost Cloudsdale, over half of our team is gone, and... I would've been dead if it hadn't been for this one fighter that came out of nowhere."
"What kind of fighter?" Pinkie Pie asked Soarin'.
"I'm not sure, but after talking to the pilot of that ship, he told me something you need to know." The group looked to Soarin', their ears perked as to hear every word of the explanation. "Apparently, there's another force up there ca-" He stopped as he and his audience heard a scream, then another one after that. Looking out into the city, the group saw several small ships lowering down towards the edges of Canterlot. As Twilight squinted to get a better look at them, she could see some smaller details. The front of the ship was smooth and had large windows, at its sides were a pair of swept back wings. At the back of the ship were two bulky sections that emitted blue light, which shifted to orange as the ship descended slower. And lastly, there was a section on the side that seemed to be some kind of door, bearing a slightly darker gray color from the rest of the ship.
Soarin' and the other Wonderbolts watched the ships intently, but the others were immediately concerned. "Should we get the guards out here?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"No." Soarin' denied, receiving wide-eyed looks from the others. Looking at them, he tried to continue where he left off. "They called themselves the Resistance." The stallion then looked out to the ships, which were now very close to Canterlot. "...And I think those are their ships." As Soarin' said that, the group continued to stare at the ships landing near the city limits, until Celestia decided to make a move.
"Everyone, follow me." Despite their concern for their own safety and the nature of these new ships, everyone followed the Princess of the Sun, staring cautiously at the arriving vessels as they made their way to the nearest transport.
...........
After a few minutes of trotting, the group of ponies finally arrived at one of the ships, several strange creatures examining the area as they guarded their craft. As Twilight and her friends approached, one of the creatures noticed them and began to walk towards them. As he came close, Twilight was intrigued by the being's physical appearance, he had no fur, but instead grayish-green skin, and his eyes seemed similar to a changeling's in appearance. At the back of his head were two thin appendages that draped down past his neck, almost covering his back.
Soarin' recognized two of the other guards to be similiar to Dylan, though they both had a brighter skin color and one of them had a fancy black hairstyle on his head, while the other seemed to be bald.
As the six mares and Spike stopped in front of the creature, he spoke to them. "I do hope our arrival hasn't instilled panic among you all."
"Sort of, unfortunately." Twilight said as she let out a nervous laugh, then clearing her throat before continuing. "If I might ask, who are you guys?"
"A good question that I shall answer." The alien said before crouching down to see the princess face to face. "My name is Dakwa, I'm a member of the Resistance." Twilight's friends looked at the alien intently, listening to every word. "We are here to help evacuate the city before the Harvesters can destroy it."
"Harvesters?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, they are a race of genocidal beings that ravage various worlds and steal their resources." The girls gasped as they heard what Dakwa was explaining, though Pinkie Pie raised a hoof before speaking.
"Okay, so these 'Harvester' meanies wanna take our stuff and destroy our cities. So why didn't they send fighters to take us out over here?"
"Yeah, they just attacked Cloudsdale recently, so why not here?" Rainbow added.
"That's because they're sending squadrons of fighters to take out the smaller settlements. And as for that ship up there..." Dakwa said before standing up and pointing at the Harvester vessel above Canterlot. The girls and their friends looked to it as well, listening to their alien friend as he explained.
"Do you see that dented section there?" Dakwa asked.
"Yeah?" Twilight replied before the Resistance officer continued.
"In less than two hours from now, that section will open up to reveal a directed-energy cannon. And when it fires..." The group then looked to Dakwa, who returned the gesture. "There won't be a city to come back to."
Twilight and Spike turned and stared at the alien ship for a moment, letting the knowledge of Canterlot's fate sink in before turning back to him. "Well... let's get underway then." Looking to her friends, Twilight spoke to them as they all faced her. "Let's get everyone loaded up into the ships near the palace, then at the opposite end of the city, we'll all take that one."
The five mares nodded in agreement as Applejack replied. "That's sounds like a plan."
Celestia trotted over to Dakwa as she asked, "What about the other cities and kingdoms across Equestria?"
"We've already sent transports for them too." Celestia smiled at the comforting news as she replied.
"Excellent, I'll address the land of the new information, and then my sister and I shall assist in getting our subjects to safety."
"Good idea." Dakwa said, and with that, everyone split up to begin the evacuation, Celestia and Luna using their magic to teleport themselves back to the palace as they prepared to alert Equestria of its certain doom...
-Manehattan-
10:18 AM
"...And as for all of you watching, we advise you find and board the nearest transport available. Head to the Resistance transports, find a train, whatever you do, DO NOT head to any of the endangered cities nearby, find refuge elsewhere. Good luck to all of you out there... and stay safe."
Coco Pommel shut the television off with her remote as she took in the news, in less than two hours, Manehattan would be gone, and if she didn't get out of here, so would she. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and trotted over to her suitcase, opening it and packing any and every essential item she felt would be needed. After almost ten minutes worth, she put the last of her items into the suitcase, sealed it, and galloped for the door.
After a tiring amount of steps, she opened the now unlocked roof door, to see a large, light grey transport to her left. As she stepped out onto the rooftop, one of the Resistance officers called out to her. "Good timing, climb aboard!"
Coco did as instructed and trotted over to the large ship, stepping onboard it and sitting in the nearest seat available. Whatever these Resistance ships were, they felt large, spacious, and most of all, comfortable. As she relaxed in her seat, she looked to see other ponies onboard with her. Then, hearing a voice from her right, she turned her head to see more ponies coming up to the rooftop, getting ready to join her and the others on the transport.
Then, her smile faded as she realized something. What about the ponies who didn't hear the news? Were they going to be okay? Curious, she looked out to the city to see several more transports on several buildings, at least 18, she counted.
The knowledge that many ponies would be safe comforted Coco, the mare decided to lay her head back and try to drift off to sleep as the evacuation continued...
-Las Pegasus-
10:31 AM
Blueblood watched as the dance performance went on, one of them spinning around gracefully before lightly taking her partner's hoof. The spoiled colt of a politician sat back as he observed the two dancers in their seemingly effortless work. However, his privacy was disturbed by his two guards, who galloped over to him as he stood.
"What is it?" Blueblood asked with annoyance in his voice.
"The Princesses have ordered a mass evacuation due to the alien ship, your majesty. We need to leave immediately!"
While the prince wanted to snap at them over the issue, he conceded, assuming that that ship up in the sky was bad news from the start. "Very well, take me to my personal airship."
The guards complied, but they shared an anxious look with each other as they knew exactly where the ship was. The three stallions trotted towards the door, Blueblood opening it as the dancers watched him leave. As the door was shut, the two ponies trotted off the stage and out the door as well, not bothering to change their outfits as they left the theater...
-The Crystal Empire-
10:41 AM
The two rulers of the Crystal Empire stood at the edge of the balcony, touching their horns together as a bright pink glow emitted from them. Almost a second later, a bright beam of magic shot into the sky before flashing over the land. As the beam focused, a large shield began to cover the Empire, ensuring no threat could penetrate its defenses.
Inside the royal palace, Trixie was covering her head in fear, Starlight, Sunburst and Thorax standing beside her as she began to panic. "Weregonnadieweregonnadieweregonnadieweregonnadieweregonnadie!"
Tired of seeing her friend cowering before her time, Starlight picked Trixie up to her hooves and spoke to her. "We're not gonna die!" The magician's frozen face didn't seem to convince Starlight. "We don't even know if that shield will fail yet."
"Just hold it together, Trixie." Sunburst said, then in an attempt to sympathize, "If it makes you feel better... I'm scared, too."
Starlight nodded as she added, "We all are." The three ponies and changeling then stared out into the dark, pink-tinted kingdom, hoping that the Empire could withstand the attack...
-The Changeling Kingdom-
11:24 AM
Queen Chrysalis stood aboard one of the farther out transports with Pharynx at her side, both of them watching the many transports taking to the skies as they fled the kingdom. Initially, they were hesitant to leave, but after some convincing that they could be of great use in fighting the Harvesters, Chrysalis decided to go through with it. At this point, over half the hive was evacuated and now there were just a few more drones to clear out.
Curious of how many transports their new allies could bring, the Queen of the Changelings turned to her human escort. "How many of these ships have you deployed, Mr. Morrison?"
"Per city?" The young officer replied back. "About 64, each capable of carrying at least 70 people, or in your case, drones." Chrysalis nodded in understanding as she heard faint talking among two of the officers, one of them turning to walk over to Mr. Morrison.
"We have about ten minutes, sir." Both Morrison and Chrysalis looked to him with concern before looking to each other.
"My drones can fly if we can't get them all in time." Chrysalis informed her alien companion.
"In that case, get yourself strapped in, we need to be ready for-" He stopped as he heard a loud shift over the Hive. As he and Chrysalis looked to the hive, they saw the dented section of the ship opening up, a bright bluish-green glow emitting from within.
As the mandibles that once formed the dent in the ship folded outwards, Chrysalis heard Morrison speak up. "We need to go now."
-Mount Aris-
11:28 AM
The hippogriffs and Resistance officers watched in terrified awe as the mandibles of the ship's dent opened up, revealing a large structure inside and lighting the area in a bluish-green color. As Novo and her daughter, Skystar, watched the ship hover over their home, the ship began to take off, taking them and many other hippogriffs with them. Unfortunately for the more clueless of them, however, they would soon realize that this day would be Mount Aris' last...
-Canterlot-
11:33 AM
Twilight and her friends sat with the Wonderbolts and royal sisters as they watched the transports take off, fleeing away from the city as fast as they could. Almost all of Canterlot had been evacuated as far as they could tell, and it would only be mere seconds before Canterlot met it's end.
As Twilight looked over to Spitfire, resting in a chair next to her Nurse, one of the officers walked over to the nearby wall panel right next to the entrance door. Tapping the small screen, the human watched as a timer appeared, starting at "00:07" before slowly counting down. As the timer reached "00:00" the screen changed from a cool blue to a blood red color, indicating something bad was about to happen.
The human officer turned to the Harvester destroyer, as did the girls. The glowing cannon began to charge up energy, flickering particles inside causing several flashes before a beam hit the royal palace. Twilight and her friends let out screams of terror as they watched a pulse of energy strike the palace, which exploded upon impact. As the building was vaporized, a shockwave of fire sped towards the rest of the city, engulfing anything and everything that stood in it's way...
-Manehattan-
11:34 AM
Coco was frozen in her seat as she watched the charged beam strike the Manehattan State Building, the gold horse statue at it's top briefly reflecting the light from the beam before a large energy pulse shot down to the structure. The building exploded into a fiery blaze as her fellow passengers screamed and cried at the nightmarish sight before them. As the transport began to take off, the explosion had unleashed a wave of fire that began to swallow up every building it came into contact with.
Coco forced her eyes away from the horror that was happening behind her, crying to herself as her ship fled the large city of Manehattan...
-Las Pegasus-
11:34 AM
Blueblood sat in his seat as his guards ordered the pilot to take off, the bright green glow right above them as it began to charge up. As his guards began trotting towards him, he looked up to see the charging cannon pointing right down at the building that his luxurious airship was on. His eyes went wide as the beam struck the building, only now realizing what a terrible mistake he made.
"FULL POWER, PILOT! GET US OUT OF-" He tried to say, but the pulse from the alien ship struck the building his yacht was on before he could give his order. The blast was swift, tearing the building apart as debris shot up to the airship, ripping it apart as it was engulfed in the fiery explosion. Blueblood felt a brief surge of scolding hot pain as he was burned alive alongside his guards.
...And then there was nothing.
-The Changeling Kingdom-
11:34 AM
Chrysalis watched in fear as the ship's energy beam struck her hive, a pulse shooting down from the destroyer before striking her hive and reducing it to a brilliant inferno. Some of her drones behind her screamed in horror at the sight of their destroyed home, Chrysalis looking away mournfully as Mr. Morrison forced out a few words.
"Sweet Jesus!" The Resistance officer said as he watched the firestorm engulf the ground below along with any unfortunate drones that were not fast enough to escape it.
"Get us out of here!" Chrysalis cried out as the ship began to take off, the tall changeling collapsing to her haunches as she watched her home burn away before her...
-Mount Aris-
11:34 AM
Princess Skystar screamed into her mother's chest as they both watched the beam strike the home of the Hippogriffs, a pulse swiftly descending down to the top of the mountain before striking it. The mountain became a gargantuan inferno in seconds, the fiery blast covering the whole mountain from top to bottom.
Queen Novo held onto her daughter as their ship flew away from the mountain, taking in the fact that everything that her people had made was gone...
-The Crystal Empire-
11:34 AM
The shield held as the alien ship's cannon powered up, Starlight and her friends watching the sight above them as the beam flickered for a moment longer. Then, the beam came down, and then the pulse. Trixie let out a bone-chilling scream as she held Starlight for dear life, Starlight, Sunburst, and Thorax shutting their eyes as they awaited their swift fate.
...But the blast didn't make it through. As the shield was hit by the blast, Starlight heard a agonizing scream from Cadence and Shining Armor, both of them falling to the ground as the shield disappeared.
Starlight let out a loud gasp as she rushed over to the rulers of the Empire, neither of them responding to her attempts at reviving them. Looking up, Starlight spoke to the nearby guard, "Get a Doctor here, now!" The guard nodded without a word as he raced into the castle to find help.
"Uh... Starlight?" Alerted by Thorax's concern, Starlight stood up to look out in the distance. What she saw stunned her. Near the entrance to the Crystal Empire was a strange ship, a deep blue glow emitting from behind it's engines.
Standing near her friends, Starlight watched as the ship landed near the castle, the side doors opening as several bipedial creatures stepped out of it...
-Canterlot-
Twilight and her friends stood as they heard more screaming, but not from the passengers inside. "Hold on! There's still a few more ponies here!"
The pilot yelled back. "Find them, quickly!"
Twilight did so, looking all over of what was left of Canterlot, over half of the city was left standing, the part they were on creaking from the stress of the attack. After scanning the first time, she saw nothing, but upon looking at the closer pathways, she saw a small group of ponies, screaming at the last remaining transport to help them.
Thinking fast, Twilight's horn lit up as the fleeing mares and stallions vanished in a flash of magic. Not a second later did they re-appear, this time inside the ship. With everyone inside, Twilight screamed, "PUNCH IT!"
"Hold on!" The pilot cried back as he lifted the control sticks, the ship jerking to the left as it began to fly away from the burning wreck that was Canterlot.
Everyone in the transport let out screams and cries of terror and pain as the ship sped away from the last surviving platform, narrowly avoiding the firestorm as the platform exploded, the debris hitting the now active shields of the transport as it shot far out into the sky.
...And then, Canterlot was no more.