What Came Before

by Lynwood

XIV

Author's Note:

WOO! another chapter!
Sorry for the last two days, they were really tough.
Anyways, I'm thinking about changing my self-promise to write 1000 words a day and write a new 1500 word chapter every two days. I'd put a lot more effort into them like I did with this one.
So I wanna hear from you guys. Do you want shorter, more frequent chapters or longer less frequent ones?
As always, comments/constructive criticism welcome. Leave a like and a favorite, too!
How'd I do, Macho Madness?
Enjoy!

Jiggy

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky. Its magnificent golden beams pierced the air and bathed the quiet pony towns below in its rays. The towns were quiet in a sort of satisfied calmness, with ponies milling about the streets conversing and eating and generally enjoying themselves. Foals ran about the sparsely-populated streets; the beautiful summer day was more demanding than any amount of homework. It was a perfect day. Almost perfect enough to make the citizens of Equestria forget about the hulking steel goliath hanging overhead.

At first, panic had reigned supreme. All through the night there had been looting and riots, caused by angry or confused or simply scared ponies reverting to their natural instincts: fight or flight. However, the local police forces and on occasion the royal guard had been able to quell the unrest and extinguish the few fires and protests that had been started. By the time the night was over, Equestria was once again at relative peace.

In the sleepy town of Ponyville, the golden beams dove through the window of an ancient oak tree known to the townsfolk as Golden Oak library, and today it was indeed golden, painted by the setting sun. Though the window was covered by a stifling black curtain, the light still shone through, diving through the air and sending the dust in the air into a shimmering, swirling dance. Still the light pushed on, through the stagnant air, until it reached its divine destination, two lidded lavender eyes.

Twilight's eyes fluttered before they squeezed shut in pain. The dim light was suddenly blinding and prevented Twilights eyelids from opening like an oppressive guard. Her ears began to twitch, automatically searching for a sound to hear. However, upon finding no such thing, they settled down disappointedly. Twilight closed her mouth, now dry and gummy from a night of slumber with an open maw. She licked her dry lips and cracked her eyes open to check if the blinding yellow light was gone. Upon noticing that yes it was, in fact, gone, she sat up, propping herself upwards and yawning. She slowly rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom in a groggy haze. She emerged a short time later, looking and feeling much more like herself. As she trotted out of the bathroom, casually brushing her mane into her trademark straight-and-proper style, her eyes settled on the clock that hung on her bedroom wall.

Twilight's eyes shot open. "Seven thirty?!" she yelled out loud. She was answered by an annoyed call from below her.

"Yeah! You slept in! Now get down here! Dinner's on the table!"

Downstairs, a small green-and-purple grinned at the other pony who occupied the room with him. Across the small, round table sat the Lunar princess, smiling good-naturedly at Twilight's antics and sipping at a steaming cup of chamomile tea. Earlier that day she had been less than disappointed to wake up when it was time to lower the moon only to find that Twilight did not drink coffee. Spike had given her tea instead, and, as a result, the moon set an hour later that morning.

"Spike! I told you to wake me up at-" Twilight clopped down the stairs, only to freeze in place when she saw the princess of the moon sitting at the table contentedly drinking her tea.

"Luna! You're still here! Weren't you going to leave for Canterlot in the morning?" Twilight walked down the remaining stairs as she talked, making her way to the table.

"That was the plan, Twilight. However, your friend Bay... convinced us to stay." She telekinetically set her steaming white teacup down on a plain paper napkin sitting near her on the table and picked up one of the carrots sitting on her plate, biting daintily into it. Twilight arrived at the table and walked over to one of the pillows that sat around the edges. Once she found a suitable cushion, she plopped onto her haunches and focused on the daisy sandwich that sat in front of her. Licking her lips, the raised the sandwich to her muzzle, anticipating the sweet yet crunchy flavor that floated just inches away from her drooling mouth.

BAM

The door slammed open, with a hovering cyan pegasus in its place. Twilight's shoulders jumped up at the intrusion, then slowly settled back down as Twilight tiredly climbed to her hooves and turned around with a sigh.

"What is it, Dash?" She asked, her eyelids half-lowered with one eyebrow raised, looking at Rainbow exasperatedly.

"You gotta come out here, quick! It's urgent!" Without another word, she spun around and sped off. Behind Twilight, Luna stood up slowly. Twilight turned around, looking at Luna expectedly.

"I think it would be best if we followed her," She said, and began to trot towards the doorway of Golden Oaks Library.

The duo exited the tree-house, and upon doing so spied the Elements standing on a cluster in the golden air. A little ways away from them stood the Sun Princess herself. Across the street stood Bay and the aquamarine alicorn from last night. Twilight rushed to her friends, her mouth open and ready to berate them with questions about what the hay was going on when she noticed their expressions. Applejack looked stern, her eyebrows furrowed and a tight frown on her face. Dash looked angry, her mouth twisted into a snarl and her eyes narrowed. Rarity looked worried, with her mouth a straight, unforgiving line. Pinkie's eyes were wide, her pupils huge, and her mouth was rounded in a silent "Oooooo!" Lastly, Fluttershy just looked afraid, as she was busy hiding behind her mane. All her friends expressions had only one thing in common: they were looking up.

Twilight followed suit, craning her neck to gaze up and the darkened sky. Overhead, through the shimmering golden sunbeams she could make out five shapes nearing the ground. As they got closer, Twilight recognized them as machines similar to the craft that had landed last evening. When they got near enough, their bellies lit up with white flame, and they maneuvered into a sort of formation. Twilight's head followed them down, slowly straightening out until she was staring straight forward at the crafts. Her nose wrinkled as she smelled a sort of sulphur-like scent wafting through the warm afternoon air.

With a hiss, the sides of the machines facing the ponies cracked open. The cracks slowly widened into gaping maws. Twilight's attention locked on the nearest craft as its side yawned open. However, unlike the only other one she had seen, this one had interior lighting. It illuminated a small, cramped series of metal and wires, some of which were standing. It was more of the Walkers that she had seen in the orbs. Standing in front of the group of walkers was a familiar figure.

It was a pony, and judging from its build it was a mare. She wore no suit like the other walkers. Her coat was a soft gray, and her mane was a light blue. her face was shadowed, but when she walked down the ramp leading off the machines and into the golden afternoon sunlight it was revealed. She was an older pony, probably around her forties or fifties. Her eyes were a stunning cyan, glimmering in the light. On her lower forelegs were shining chrome contraptions with all sorts of buttons and wires and metal bits. However, Twilight didn't fully realize who it was until she spoke. She recognized the voice instantly. It was a little deeper and older than when Twilight had last heard it, but it was unmistakable.

"Hello. You must be Twilight Sparkle. I've heard lots about you."