//------------------------------// // A Twisted Irony // Story: War of the Fallen Race // by PegasusKlondike //------------------------------// There was blissful silence, but a searing agony. I must be dead, I sinned enough and managed to make my way to Hell. Funny in a way, being that he released Lucifer from the pit of Hell. Who am I? Aaron....Aaron Patterson. Voices, there were voices around where ever he was, voices that did not have a human quality. "Princess! This one is still alive!" His eyes wrenched open to see terror. He was surrounded by heaps of twisted metal and the mutilated bodies of his comrades. Helicopter crash. Where is Lucifer? Outside sat a squadron of warrior ponies, some that had horns. Unicorns? That's what happened? Their swords and spears were all aimed at him, but beyond them stood a creature of imminent beauty and brilliance. A pony much taller than the warriors with fur whiter than snow and a mane that shined like a rainbow. But she had a horn, and wings. Some kind of leader, one of the demigods that saw a magical birth last night. "Take him alive, and destroy that infernal machine he holds." Aaron looked down, Lucifer was pinning him to the wall of the crashed helicopter. By some twist of fate his hand had come to rest near the firing mechanism. He would only get one chance, and they were probably going to kill him anyways. He lifted what he could of Lucifer and aimed it straight at the strange pony demigod. "Celestia! Watch out!" Lucifer retched forth the second of its hellish bolts of energy, the world slowed down to a crawling pace. But, the other demigod had managed to move herself in Lucifer's path and took the blow. The dark blue pony god took Lucifer's bolt like a cannonball, being flung back several yards. "Luna!", the white one looked back at the broken and dying human, her horn glowing white. Lucifer leapt out of Aaron's hands and several pony warriors grabbed him, not caring about his multiple wounds and broken bones. Celestia ran to Luna, they had only been corporeal for a few hours and this had happened. "Luna, are you alright?" The dark blue demigod lifted her head, "I'm...alright I guess." It was not alright, Lucifer had touched her, leaving his cruel mark upon her mind, a wound that would fester over the years. Cruelly throwing him on the ground, the warriors raised their spears and swords to finish this creature that had dared hurt their Princess. "No! We take him alive! Take him back to the citadel and heal him, but first try restraining him before he can do more damage!" Princess Luna shouted. The guards cowered in shame at their scolding, grabbing whatever rope they had to bind the broken human. "And take that weapon to the deepest cave you can find and seal it in there!" ****************************************************************** Three days had passed since the Day of Judgement, humanity had been defeated in their efforts to stop ponykind. They had been routed from the battlefield, but the creatures were stopped from pursuing the humans by the alicorns, claiming that mercy was the best thing they could give the humans now. And so they trickled back to Stronghold, gathering there to await their next opportunity and lick their many wounds. Families were reunited, but all too many were missing brothers, sons, fathers, sisters, and mothers. The makeshift hospitals were full to bursting with injured creatures, many would never walk again, and still more were lucky to be alive. Funeral pyres were littered across the field of battle; bodies of humans, ponies and creatures all shared the flame, their ashes returning to the earth. The war machines of the humans stood twisted and broken, nopony knew what to do with them yet, and so they stood as memorials to the bloodshed that had marked the peak of the war. Cloud Hoof didn't care, the heavenly beacon that brought the alicorns into this world had also drawn back allies and those who had fled. Among them, his wife and daughter. A million humans could not stop him from running to embrace them as they came with the returning ponies who had fled the onslaught. They were safe, and for the first time in what seemed like centuries, the future looked bright for the children of the earth. To give their thanks, creatures of every race and talent broke ground that morning on a grand castle for their alicorn saviors, magic making the process much more expedient. It would stand as a symbol rather than a home, a citadel of friendship and harmony to stand against the dreaded human bastion of Stronghold. Their war was over, humanity had been pacified for now. Their stories would take them along the many paths of life and through trials and tribulations. But it was not over for humanity. Hell could not describe the next events which would see them on the endangered species list. ***************************************************************************** It is a basic law of physics that energy or matter can not be simply created or destroyed. It can only change function or form. Thus, when Lucifer's first bolt of utter darkness struck the divine shield in an attempt to corrupt all magic, it was not destroyed. Rather, its path was diverted. The bolt screamed through the trees of the forest around the mountain, skimming over the ruins of pony villages and the battlefield. It had a simple mind, and a simple goal. Like a virus it would infect a host, corrupt them and use them as the ultimate tool of chaos. No single form would suffice, and the bolt came to rest in a pile of corpses, determined to take traits from all of them. The blood of a dozen creatures came to feed the growing hunger of the living darkness, and a form began to take shape. Rising from the blood of the dead came a creature too hideous and malformed to normally survive, a chimeric mixture of dark magic and flesh. A draconequus, a twisted visage with a ponies head and the body parts of a dozen other species. This new creature hungered, though not in a physical sense. It hungered for chaos, death and dominance over life. Floating away from the place of its bloody birth, the monster searched for prey. The first it came upon were a band of ponies, they seemed vulnerable, but upon spotting the twisted creature used their magic to shield themselves from the unknown foe. There had to be easier prey. He found an entire milling mass of two legged humans, their souls looked delicious, riper than fall apples, but upon spotting him they shouted and sprayed him with stinging bullets. So the creature left the mountain and the battlefield, all the creatures there obviously too strong or too well armed for this time around. Floating effortlessly over hills and valleys and over hundreds of miles, the draconequus came upon something new, a town with lit windows and sounds coming from it. Swooping in close, he examined what looked like the humans from before, but not armed for war or combat. Looking into a window, he saw a few humans gathered around a table, a family group enjoying a morning meal, laughing and talking to each other about what they were going to do today. Perfect place to start, and at breakfast time nonetheless! He reached forth with his magic and touched their minds, dragging his spectral claws through their psyches. The family stopped their chatter, and stared blankly at each other. Suddenly, the family broke like twigs. An inhuman scream came from the mother, driving her own fingernails into the soft flesh of her own face, dragging them down to leave bloody wounds on herself. The father grabbed his son and tore into his throat with his teeth, ripping out gobbets of his own son's flesh with gusto. The remaining child stood, grabbed a kitchen knife from the table and began to eviscerate her screaming mother, spilling her intestines all over the once placidly set table. The monster felt a certain satisfaction, but he was not satiated. He drifted over every other house in the town, spreading his evil influence on every human found. By noon, half the town had simply murdered one another, the rest driven hopelessly insane by the dark magic of the monster. Their natural tendencies made it almost too easy. Discord reigned in the once humble and loving place. Discord, what a lovely name. The draconequus laughed, he was strengthened by the chaos and death that he brought upon the humans, and what joy! He knew the entire planet was covered in these creatures who so easily were turned to madness and chaos. A veritable feast of souls for him to gorge upon at his leisure. ***************************************************************************************** Why have they kept me alive? Aaron had seen nothing but the inside of a newly constructed prison cell for what he guessed to be days. They brought him food once in a while. Pitiful amounts, considering most of it was hay. If they wanted to starve him to death, they were already halfway there. But the confusing thing was that when they captured him, they healed him. His broken bones, lacerations and bruises were all healed simultaneously when one of the demigods touched him with her horn in its white aura. He had been dead tired and slept for untold hours. When he awoke, he lay in this cell, a cramped place with no windows and a solid door. But there was still somehow a light, not a source of light, just light covering every inch of the room. Occasionally a guard would open the door from the outside to see if he was still breathing, but other than that he saw nothing and heard nothing. He tried to measure time, but had no way of knowing whether his naps lasted a minute or a day. Alone with himself, he tried everything to stay sane. But one day, or night for all he knew, the door opened and the guards used their magic to shackle him. "Come with us prisoner, if you try anything, we will resort to violence. Answer every question the Princess asks and you get to eat good tonight." "All you fucking mules feed me is hay! I can't eat hay god damn-" He was silenced by a hoofed punch to the stomach. Doubling over in pain, the guards forced him to march. It was surprising what a little magic could do, as he was marched to his interrogation he took note that the foundations for a castle were springing up around him. This entire situation seemed familiar, but reverse. They arrived at what looked like an unfinished throne room. Upon a pillowed throne sat the white demigod, her rainbow mane constantly shifting, even if the air was still. He was brought before the steps leading to the throne and kicked to his knees. The guards bowed to their Princess, then turned to leave the room. For the longest time the white goddess simply stared disapprovingly at the human kneeling before her. He realized that death must have looked better, a week in unwashed combat fatigues and no bathing must have made for quite a spectacle. She decided to begin his interrogation. "What are you called?" Aaron sat quietly, defiance was the one weapon left in his armory. "I will ask again, human. What is your name?" Silence. "Can you speak at all?" her voice had taken on a motherly edge of concern. Far from what he had expected. He felt compelled, his head nodded up and down ever so slightly. "Are you too weak to say so? Guards! Bring this creature some water and bread! I apologize, they are not used to treating guests." "Is that what you call me, a guest?" the alicorn was slightly taken aback by his sudden break from silence and his tone of voice. "Because the way I view it, I am a prisoner on death row here." "What? We don't want to kill you!" "You didn't seem to have any qualms about slaughtering my brethren. Why stop with them? Why not kill me here and now!" "We loathed what had to happen that night. But it was necessary for harmony to ever be created. Your kind would never have stopped their ways of evil and destruction if you had won." "All I ever hear from you nags is harmony this and friendship that! When did you ever stop to think that maybe wholesale slaughter of an entire species wasn't the answer to your problem? Maybe harmony would have been a little easier to achieve if we had talked away our differences!" The goddess bowed her head and sighed, the obvious wisdom of his words cutting deep. "Your kind are afraid of anything they do not understand. My sister and I are the true mysteries of life and magic, by your thoughts we should not exist. Your leaders would never listen, never bow to a power greater than themselves." "I would have listened, but no one would listen to me." The alicorn lifted her head, "You are different than your brothers, a shame you will not tell me your name." "I am Aaron Patterson, scientist, inventor, soldier, and more recently prisoner." A small smile crept across her face. "Well met, Aaron Patterson. I am known to mortals as Princess Celestia." The guards finally burst in with a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water, sweating from their attempted expediency. The Princess nodded toward the kneeling human. They grudgingly brought him his food, laying it on the ground in front of him, bowing and scraping their way out. Like a starved animal he leapt on the meager rations, for the first time in who knows how long eating something that he could actually digest. Patiently waiting for him to finish, the Princess began to ask a few questions. "What is the purpose of this device?" her horn glowed, and a handgun whisked out from behind the throne. "That is a gun," he said between gulps of water. "Humans like me use it as a weapon." "A weapon you say?" a piece of parchment and a quill emerged from beside Celestia, she used her magic to scribble some notes. "And this one?" A cellular phone now hovered where the gun had been seconds ago. "A bit more difficult to explain, that is a device we use to communicate over very long distances and also use for the storage and retrieval of information." "Fascinating! Please tell me how it works." "I don't really know, I'm not a programmer or an engineer." The double doors to the throne room slammed open, in walked the other demigod. The one whose name still eluded him. "Celestia! What are you doing with this...thing so close to you!" "Luna, calm down, he is harmless." "Harmless?! You saw what he did to me out there, what he tried to do to you!" As she passed him, a equine knee struck him in the back, sending him face first to the stone floor. Luna looked with scorn at the pitiful human, addressing him coldly. "If I had my way, you would have been put down like the rest of the rabid dogs that you call your brothers and sisters." With a back leg she kicked him in the ribs. Aaron had to use all of his willpower to keep from screaming. Rage boiled inside of Aaron, he managed to lift himself to a kneeling position once again. Blood trickled down from a split lip. "I'm not afraid of you." he muttered to the blue alicorn. Luna's eyes narrowed as she leaned close to his face, "You should be." Celestia seemed a bit shocked that her sister would act in such a way. "What is the matter with you Luna?" "I know these monsters! They are nothing more than parasites to be rid of! And I'm going to start with this one." A small object caught Aaron's eye, a black shape resting near the foot of the throne. The gun. He would only have this one chance. Luna's back was turned to him, he stood shakily and using every last drop of strength he leapt at the foot of the throne. Grabbing a hold of the gun, he rolled to his feet, throwing the chains of his shackles around Celestia's neck. Luna now looked at him, her horn wreathed in a dark glow. "Hold it! Get rid of your magic or your sister dies!" He held the gun to her temple, thumbing back the hammer with an audible click. Luna snarled at the human, but she would not put Celestia in any more danger, the aura on her horn disappeared. Several guards now burst in through the double doors, weapons raised. They surrounded the throne, not wanting to get too close or the human might end their Princess. Slowly he rose with his hostage, edging his way towards the windows that stood uncompleted. Celestia did not fight back, rather she seemed to escort Aaron to the window. His heart beat like a drumline. God I hope this thing actually has bullets. The guards closed in, spears and swords aimed for the various exposed parts of his body. He reached his goal, looking briefly out the window he saw that they were not far off the ground, only about ten feet or so. "Forgive me Celestia," he whispered. He threw the Princess towards her guards. In the moment that he got, he aimed the pistol to the chains at his feet and fired, the roar of the gun giving him hope. The bullet managed to break the chain links, and he leapt out the window. Landing hard, he positioned the pistol to fire at the chains binding his wrist shackles and pulled the trigger. They too snapped, but the gun only had two bullets in the clip he discovered. Tossing it aside, he began his escape. Above him in the throne room, Luna exploded with rage. "Captain!" "Yes Princess!" "Have all guards put on high alert! Send out additional patrols and tell them we have an escaped prisoner." "What do we do after we capture him Princess?" "Who said anything about capture? I want his head on a platter." Celestia had recovered from her blatant use as a shield. "Luna, something is wrong with you. Did you even listen to what you said when you came in here?" A look of confusion overtook the black alicorn, like she had just woken up. "What?" She looked around at her settings, "How did I get here?" ************************************************************************** He ran on pure adrenaline now. Running through the newly made streets of the pony capital, the remains of his chains loudly announced his presence. He ducked into what he thought was an empty street, only to discover the market. It was a technicolor nightmare, ponies every which direction he looked. Thankfully none had taken notice of him. "By the alicorns! The humans are attacking again!" somepony shouted. All eyes were instantly on him, a hundred angry veterans of the war approached with ears back and whatever they could find as weapons gripped in their mouths. Spoke too soon, he turned and ran back down the alleyway. The mob followed, screaming for his demon blood. Guards had joined them now, faster than the mob and more organized. His agility saved his life, as he turned down another alleyway he jumped and grabbed the gutter of a roof, pulling himself up. The mob passed below, unaware of his hiding place. Aaron breathed a sigh of relief, catching his breath. He had never been an athlete, but it felt like he had run a marathon. I need to get out of this city, but there is no way I can get far enough with what little energy I have left. "Think Aaron, think! You got through eight years of college in just six and now you can't get away from a bunch of pissed off farm animals!" It struck him like a brick. There were literally tons of vehicles that the army left behind in their retreat! If he could find one that worked, he might just be able to get away. Just one major problem, the vehicles were all out on the battlefield. Across the city. Through thousands of creatures that would rather crush him into jelly than talk to him. He needed a plan, quick. It looked like the pegasi units of the guards were scanning the roof tops. He dropped down back to the street. Next to what looked like an old timey smithy. Hiding behind a barrel, he got a look at the smiths. Strange upright dogs that worked with their hand like paws on various works of metallurgy. He calculated their size, just about as tall as him. Whenever one left the shop, it would grab a deep hooded cloak and throw it on, their eyes not liking the sun. "Perfect" he whispered. Why did he not think of a disguise! One of the dogs stopped and sniffed the air. Oh shit, he thought frantically. "Boss! Me smell human stench!" the dog said in a guttural voice. An equally guttural voice called from behind an anvil. "You stupid mutt! We work with human metal. They stench all over it." Human metal? His eyes widened as he realized the situation. They were scrapping out whatever they could find out on the battlefield for themselves, if he didn't move quick enough the chances of finding a working vehicle would get slimmer. And his pungent, unwashed smell only complicated things. Slipping away, he tried to find a way to eliminate his odor. Where was a can of Febreeze when you needed one? All he could find was a trash heap, smelling like garbage was better than smelling like a human in this town. Having satisfactorily violated every instinct to stay clean, he again approached the smithy. Hiding behind his barrel, he would wait for the opportunity to swipe one of those cloaks. The dogs stopped their work, noses going up into the air, sniffing again. "Boss, me smell something good. Can we take break for lunch yet?" Their boss growled, then the stench filled his nose as well. "Just this one time! Me may as well get food too." All the dogs left their projects, grabbing their cloaks they went down various streets with their swinging, shuffling gait. He rushed into the shop, grabbing a cloak and a pair of short fingered gloves. Grabbing a set of what looked like extremely strong tin snips he lopped off what was left of his shackles. Throwing on the cloak and gloves, he assumed their approximate stance and began shuffling towards the other end of the city. It was slow going at this speed, but as he entered the marketplace, he nearly panicked as ponies looked his way, then breathed a sigh of relief as they looked away. His disguise was working! He reached the gate closest to the battlefield, but nearly had a heart attack when he saw the platoon of guards blocking his way. Well, in for a penny in for a pound. He approached the gate. "Halt! What business do you have leaving Canterlot?" a guard in burnished armor said, probably a higher rank than his fellows. Canterlot? What a strange name. He prepared his voice as best as he could. "Um, me just on way to get more metal, um, sir." "Aren't you aware there is a dangerous criminal on the loose, Diamond Dog?" "No! Me not know anything about criminal, me just need to go and get more metal!" The guard squinted his eyes, obviously suspicious. "There's something strange about you, Dog. Where is your tail? And why do you have gloves on?" Excuses raced through his mind at the speed of light. "Um, never had a tail! Demons cut it off as a pup." "And the gloves?" "Burned paws making a sword, sir." The guard relaxed a little, obviously respecting the military blacksmiths. "Well, go on ahead citizen. And if you see that criminal, just tell one of us. Hey, my sword is a little dull, think I could get a sharpening anytime soon?" Happy day! He was just feet from freedom! "Well sure! Just bring it by the shop anytime!" He choked as he realized he had said that in his human voice. "What was that?" He quickly returned to his Diamond Dog gruffness. "Sorry, me have something bad for lunch, something stuck in throat." The guard wrinkled his nose, "Sure smells like you had a good time. Go on ahead." He nodded to the guard and shuffled his way through the gate. He crested a hill and wondered whether he should run for it or not. Probably a bad idea, ponies and other creatures still passed by occasionally. Ahead was the battlefield, rows of tanks, humvees and civilian vehicles stood destroyed or in stages of disassembly. But between him and that most beautiful sight lay several ranks of ponies, all dressed in armor and standing in formation. Another thing that he noted, they were all unicorns. After a stunned second he realized they were not his pursuers, but that this was some kind of training exercise. A older pony in blue robes and a geeky wizard hat stood before them, shouting instructions for the proper nuances of the spell they were learning. This complicated things a little more, if he drove off while they practiced, they would certainly chase him down and probably turn him into a frog. The only thing he could do was to find a place to hide and wait them out. A roadside ditch sufficed for the moment. Though horribly uncomfortable, he did manage to somehow fall asleep. He awoke with a start, it was almost sundown! He peered over the ditch to the practicing unicorns, they had just started to pack up for the day. A pair of the armored spellcasters was walking down the road in his direction, chatting and occasionally laughing. Hiding in the shadowed recesses of the ditch, Aaron listened to their conversation. "Ugh, Starswirl sure was hard on us today." "You know he just wants us to be ready, thats all." "Ready for what? We beat the humans so bad their own mothers wouldn't recognize 'em." That was not how it happened! Aaron ground his teeth at the historical inaccuracy. "Rumor is going around that Princess Luna wants to attack Stronghold! She says that if we don't nip them in the bud now, they will just attack again and again!" "Oh my goodness! Attack Stronghold? Is she mad?! That's their citadel for hays sake!" An attack on Stronghold? They lied to me, they do want to wipe us out. "Even if we did manage to somehow take their citadel, there are millions more humans everywhere, this would be a never ending war!" "That's the thing, something is killing them off. Pegasus scouts keep reporting that their nearest towns are all filled with human corpses, the ones that are still alive don't seem to be intelligent anymore, just insane." "I hate to say this about any living thing, but good riddance." The pair trotted off towards Canterlot, far out of his hearing. You lied to me Celestia, whatever is happening to humanity out there is your fault! He ran from the ditch, heading straight for the nearest complete humvee. He threw off his cloak and gloves. He was human, and the pony that held it against him better stay out of his way! He peered inside a soot covered window, just blood stains and expended shells. Quietly he opened the door and climbed inside, when he realized he needed keys. He turned down the driver's visor, and a pair fell down into his lap. "Convenient." Jamming them into the ignition, he turned and heard the heavenly roar of an 8 cylinder diesel engine. No time to spare, he turned the wheel and put the pedal to the metal. Dirt sprayed from the tires, and Aaron earned his freedom that evening. Several miles down the road he pulled over the get his bearings. A mostly unharmed map jammed between the seats told him he was heading in the right direction. But there was something else, a lumpy bag in the back that gave off a terrible odor. He knew what was under there, and he did not want to see it, but he had to. Unzipping the body, a wave of putrescent smell hit him like a truck, he had to leave the humvee and vomit several times before working up the courage to try again. Covering his nose and mouth, Aaron unzipped the body bag down to the corpse's chest. It was a bloated and rotted figure that had once been a human being, the cause of death being a bullet wound to the skull. He wore officer's fatigues and no armor, he couldn't have died in combat. This man had been murdered. Looking at his dog tags, Aaron's very soul went cold. "General Esera. What the hell happened?" Gently checking his pockets for any clues, Aaron found a tape recorder. The tape was full, he guessed it must have been on when he died and run out when nobody bothered to turn it off. Unfortunately the battery had also run dead, and there were no replacements here in hostile territory. "A mystery to solve back at base." He took time that evening to bury General Esera, even though creatures of unknown horror still stalked the shadows. By dawn he had left the General a dignified grave, and so left for the one place on earth still safe for him. *********************************************************************************** And there you have it, xenocide without the ponies getting their hooves dirty or names tarnished. Long chapter for me, hope you all enjoy it. Give the usual treatment below, questions, comments, etc. All persons/ponies portrayed here are used in a fictitious manner, any and all resemblance to anyone/pony living or dead is coincidence. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is trademarked property of Hasbro Inc.