//------------------------------//
// The Night Falls, the General Calls 
// Story: The Great Extraterrestrial War, 1023-1027 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Another year had passed, and the situation was absolutely dire in Equestria. Numerous technological advances had been made in the field of warfare thanks to the captured Heron, such as the brand new energy cannons and shielding technology derived from the antimatter technology fitted to the war machine. This had allowed for a number of breakout attacks launched using specially equipped landships, but each offensive had failed to hold newly held ground.

As 1027 began, the news coming in from the frontlines was exceptionally grim. One of the Generals was handed a document by a dispatch rider, and he looked at it in concern.

"What's the matter?" another general asked.

The first General looked over, his face still concerned. "Casualty reports from the frontlines," he said. "Our losses are starting to mount, and furthermore conscription is unpopular. We had draft riots in the streets last month which had to be put down with armed force- armed force we could be using to fight the aliens. Put simply, we are running out of bodies. Morale is incredibly poor, and those soldiers who do remain appear to be on the verge of deserting."

"How long have we got until the lines collapse?" asked a third General.

"The writer of this report estimates about six months until our line collapses completely. But if the line collapses and we cannot re-establish our former positions then the aliens have a straight shot to the capital. And if that happens- then we've lost the entire war."

One of the Generals had an idea. "The enemy has been playing dirty so to speak the entire war. Why not switch to biological warfare?"





Sunny took a look over the controls one last time as she was hoisted into the Heron cockpit. Having engaged her alicorn form in advance, she was wired into the enormous machine, which began to interface with both the magical and biological aspects of her nervous system. "Whoa. This never ceases to feel weird."

Several Spiders rumbled into life next to her, climbing to their full height and powering up their tendrils underneath. Energy cannons hummed with barely suppressed energy and other systems rumbled into life as the formations were assembled.

Sunny spotted an armour column forming up below their position. Presumably they were their escorts to the tunnels.

Her feed switched to a broadcast coming from the Palace, given by Queen Haven herself.

"My fellow citizens," she said. "I am aware this has been a difficult and terrible few years for us all. But victory is finally within our grasp. There is a new weapon, or so the Generals inform me, which could turn the tide of this conflict once and for all and allow us to reclaim our homeworld. I know you have sacrificed so much already, and I have no right to ask any of you to give more for your species. But I'm asking. We have a chance to end this conflict, and end it we will. Faust be with you all."





On the morning of the 14th Thaw, 1027, more than a month of artillery shelling came to an abrupt stop, and switched to creeping fire as the guns once again exploded into life. This was the endgame. The plan to end the entire war.

Goldie had been partially briefed on the plan, and she had to admit she was stunned at the audacity of the attack. More than two million soldiers and tanks were being committed to an enormous attack along the entire Allied line- codenamed Operation Eggmund. The orders were given to stand to attention.

"This plan is insane," she said to herself. "Then again, who'd notice another madmare around here?"

The whistle sounded, and she followed the entire line next to her as they cleared the top of the trench and charged once more into No Equine's Land. As before, a massive and withering hail of energy fire started up from the enemy line, and once more Spiders and Herons moved into position to engage the attackers.

A heavy armour column focused their fire on several Herons, bringing one down, and Goldie stopped to throw a smoke grenade to clear out an enemy position. The purple smoke began to drift upwards, and moments later allied guns began to boom in response. A massive storm of explosions cleared out the treeline, quickly reducing it to more mud and devastated land.

Goldie adjusted her gas mask and moved forward to see the next line. More enemy War Machines were advancing at speed towards them to try and plug the gaps in their lines. Including, to her surprise, a Gorgon. "This isn't good."

Three energy beams suddenly blasted across the allied lines, felling dozens of soldiers in one fell swoop, and offensive power was severely reduced.

"Shit!" Goldie said to herself, before switching to her radio. "Command, we cannot hold. Request fire mission on local coordinates, over."

"Negative. Your orders are to hold the sector, and hold it you will, over."

"With what, twigs?"

"You will obey orders."

Goldie shook her head. "No. I can think of better ways of committing suicide." She grabbed another smoke grenade from her belt and tossed it towards the enemy line. "Hopefully this will soften them up."

Suddenly, things began to shift on the frontlines. There was a movement, and more whistles, and even more confusion than before. The Landships began to reverse, their heaviest plate turned towards the foe.

"Retreat!" shouted a voice.

To describe it as a retreat was something of an understatement. The scene unfolding before Goldie was more akin to a rout. The soldiers had broken formations and were running across No Man's Land for their lives, with the Aliens already giving chase across the field. Weapons fire continued to crack and blast holes in the ground as the lines continued to disintegrate and fall apart.

"The offensive has fallen apart!" shouted a soldier. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Goldie shook her head. "Gee, who could possibly have seen that coming?"

Little did she realise that this was part of the plan.





If you hadn't had access to a map and a GPS, you would never have been able to figure out this was the place where Bridlewood once stood tall.

The treeline was gone. Once mighty trees which had sheltered the inhabitants of the forest from the sun were destroyed, the logs, branches, and trunks long since churned up by enemy war machines. The grass and fauna were completely gone from the region, instead being replaced by a sea of brown mud. But that was not all.

The landscape was covered in bizarre alien weaponry, and strange equipment hummed and throbbed as it sat there, weapons charging up and unnocupied war machines being prepared to advance. The foe had completely terraformed the terrain before them, and it was terrifying to see.

"So, this was where it all began," Sunny said to herself, as she brought the Heron to a stop. The flanking Spiders halted as well, glancing about for any threats to their commander that may potentially emerge. They stood there, standing out in a lifeless land that hadn't seen any life for a very long time.

The Landship column had stopped as well, also scanning for threats. "Tunnel system up ahead," one radioed. "Plenty of potential attack routes for our enemy."

Just as the tank officer had finished speaking, the ground began to shake and shudder. Some sort of seismic action was happening nearby, and Sunny got the main guns loaded and ready to fire at whatever was approaching them from far away.

And moments later, as the ground shaking reached its apex, the enemy revealed themselves to the alicorn. A head unit emerged, followed by the rest of the body. The main unit was fronted by a pair of green eyes, with another set to the side of that. Two enormous cannons were fitted to the sides of the framework, and it was carried about the battlefield on a set of spindly legs. Unlike the other machines, which were mostly a dull brown colour, this one was silver and green, implying it had seen limited use in combat. It was massive, towering over even the Heron.

The radio channel suddenly opened in the Heron. "So, you lot finally figured out how to reverse engineer one of the Herons. It took you long enough. You really are as stupid as I thought."

Sunny bristled at hearing the voice. "Opaline. We meet again."

"What's it been, four years?" Opaline replied. "Of course, I would have won then were it not for your pathetic friends."

"This ends here, Opaline," Sunny said. "I will defeat you, and avenge those who have died in this war of yours."

There was a laugh on the other end. "What will you have left to rule over, Sunny? You can hardly rule over masses of mud." The energy cannons on her machine began to charge up. "Let's end this. But I don't intend to let you live this time."