Guardians of Equestria

by Silverwind Blade

Triage

The ponies had grouped around the location Gilda had guided them to. Twilight had decided to take things slowly, and logically. Help had been requested, and more guardsponies and other rescue workers had started arriving to dig out survivors, and help the wounded - and to carry out the gruesome and tragic task of finding and counting the dead.

Of the enemy, there had been few sightings. Much like the one that Tempest and Gilda had dealt with, there were a smattering buried or crushed, and their remains had been recovered for study as a priority. Any live ones… well. That was something that was currently on the alicorns’ mind where she stood.

The Equestrian National Banks’ headquarters was located in Fillydelphia, occupying one of the many high-rise buildings that made up the heart of the city. At the moment, she stood within the interior of the bank. The front window had been blasted and gutted, and charred furnishings were scattered all around, and the once-rich carpets and decoration now soiled and marred by violence. But through the back, past demolished and devastated interior stud walls and wooden-and-glass dividers was the enormous face of a bank vault. And from inside it, thumping, crashing, and banging, along with the muffled screeches and calls that sounded like bursts of radio static and screeches of ear-straining noise.

“Any ideas, Twilight?” Applejack said as she stared at the vault door. “I don’t reckon that openin’ that door and lassoin’ that critter would work out so well for us, an’ from what ponies have been sayin’, it don’t sound like magic would do much to ‘em neither”.

“I know, Applejack, and you’re right. But think about what else they’ve all said: these creatures drain ponies magic. They all said they could feel it, even from just being around them. But there’s one on the other side of that vault door, and do you feel anything?”

The Earth Pony cocked her head and frowned, pawing at the floor with one hoof. “Well, no, but - I ain’t a unicorn or a pegasus. Us Earth ponies don’t have magic like y’all do”.

Twilight looked to her friend with a small smile. “Applejack, you’re definitely magical, but earth ponies do have magic too. It’s just more subtle than alicorn, unicorn or pegasus magic. But I can’t feel anything either. I think that vault is blocking the creatures’ draining effect”.

Applejack nodded in understanding. “Well, that’s all good - but it don’t help us none in gettin’ it somewhere we can study it. Nor bein’ able to study it neither, if we can’t see it. I mean,” she snorted and rolled her green eyes. “It ain’t like we can just take the vault with us- Oh no. No, Twi!”

The alicorn had a gleam in her eye and a growing smile on her muzzle.

Applejack ran out the front of the bank yelling. “OUT! EVERYPONY OUT OF THE BUILDING, RIGHT NOW! STAND CLEAR!”

She bent her neck panting and swivelled around in spot as other ponies looked on with panicked and confused expressions. Gilda and Rainbow Dash fluttered to the ground alongside her, having just arrived.

“What’s going on, AJ?” Rainbow asked with concern, looking between the farmer pony and the gutted front of the bank as terrible groaning and screeching metal sounds came from inside, along with crashes and grinding that shook the ground and send cascades of further debris falling down the front of the building. All of them stepped back as a precaution as more shouts and cries rose around them. “Did that thing get out? Is Twilight in trouble”.

“Holy friggin' horse feathers,” Gilda said in an awestruck voice. “Nope, Rainbow, Twilight is definitely not in trouble”.

The brilliant purple aura of Twilight’s magic bathed the area in light as the alicorn trotted confidently from the shattered facade of the building, head held high and a look of concentration on her face. More of the brick and stonework was crushed and shoved aside from the inside as the massive object towed by her telekinesis followed. Levitating ten feet above the road surface and held only by Twilight’s magic, the entire bank vault, pulled from the building as a solid entity, hovered in the air.

“Holy friggin' horse feathers,” repeated Applejack, eyes wide.

“Awesome,” replied Rainbow with a widening grin.

Everything else, though, was decidedly not awesome.

With their prisoner now safely removed from the bank and the vault itself loaded onto a flatbed freight carriage at the cities’ station for a trip on a specially put together secure train to where they’d establish a base of operations and research, the four present members of the council of friendship and their allies had time to take stock.

It was a sombre, crushing realization as they looked over the results of the attack.

For the ponies and other creatures laid out before them, they had all been too late. But they didn’t know that. All they knew was what they had lost, and that some great evil had come to their homes.

“Why,” Applejack said after a while. “Why do this to ‘em. Why kill so many creatures” she lowered her head and removed her hat, closing her eyes as the late evenings’ breeze stirred the air. “What’s the point of all this… this… murder”. The word felt alien, rolling off of her tongue. It wasn’t as though she’d had much cause to use it. “Ponies… ain’t supposed to die like this. It just ain’t right”.

“We’re going to stop this, right Twi?” Rainbow said in a voice that sounded more hushed than her usual bombastic tones. One blue wing unfurled and rested over Applejack’s withers. The shiver in the orange ponies’ body subsided, and she leant against the lithe pegasus for comfort, looking toward Twilight with her.

The purple alicorns’ face was a hard mask. Both friends exchanged glances with Rarity, who stood a short distance off, her expression pinched and measured. The muscles in her jaw jumped, and she kept looking away, only to have her sapphire blue eyes drawn back slowly every other minute. She had barely spoken the whole time, save for her muzzle moving slowly to herself every so often. Spike stood alongside her, one clawed hand resting on her shoulder. One of her forelegs was around him, gently holding him.

Only Twilight stood alone, her expression carved as if in stone, a fixed mask of near-blank fury and disbelief at once, as her eyes roved across the lines of dead ponies.

It kept returning to the same spot that all of theirs did. Among the lines of covered bodies, draped in sheets to protect them from scavenging creatures and to give them dignity and peace, there were rows of smaller pony shapes.

“We are going to stop it, Rainbow,” Twilight said finally. Her voice was low, quiet, and firm. “We have to stop it. I can’t let this happen to any more ponies, or any more other creatures. Applejack is right. This isn’t how ponies- how ponies die. We- I’ll find a way to stop this. To fight them, whatever they are. I was too slow, too late to save Fillydelphia, and all of these ponies. But I can’t sit still and wait again. I won’t be too late again. We’ll stop this, one way or another”.

“Twilight,” Rarity said in a hushed voice, her eyes roving across the field of shrouded shapes again, as the darkening night slowly hid their features. “This wasn’t your fault. None of us could have expected anything like this.”

“Rarity’s right, Twilight,” Spike said, stepping forward and touching Twilight’s side. She almost flinched at the touch, and he drew his claw back. “Even the worst bad guys we fought never wanted to kill any pony outright, and never did. They weren’t anything like this. This is way beyond all of us”.

“We need to know more, darling,” Rarity said quietly, moving up to Twilights’ side and nudging her with her muzzle. The alicorn shuddered, before reluctantly leaning against the white unicorn for some comfort and support as Rainbow and Applejack walked up alongside them. “At the moment, we don’t know anything about this new enemy; who they are or what they want. And we don’t have a way to fight them, let alone stop them”.

Twilight shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the canvas of tragedy in front of her and blinking tears out of her eyes. Whether they were from sadness or frustration, she couldn’t really tell anymore. “Fighting. I thought we were done with that,” she said bitterly, stamping a hoof into the ground around them. “After the Trio and all they did, I thought that would be an end to it. We drew all of Equestria together; not just ponies, but all kinds of creatures. And with the Elements of Harmony coming together like they did, I just thought it was…” The purple alicorn drew in a stifled sob, and the others moved closer, wrapping her in warm, gentle hugs.

“We all did, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said softly. “Heck, I was almost ready to be disappointed that things weren’t going to be exciting anymore. But I wouldn’t have wished for this,” she said sadly. “This isn’t exciting at all, this is just… horrible”.

“We know they can be stopped,” Applejack said firmly. “After all, Gilda and Tempest stopped one of them, and the Guard found a coupla others that weren’t alive - or whatever ya call it - no more. An’ that means there’s some way of stoppin’ em”.

“And if they are machines,” Rarity added, “then there must be something controlling them. And they must have come from somewhere - perhaps there’s a way to turn them off, or take control of them once more from whoever is controlling them”.

“Don’t give up yet, Twilight” Spike added. “I know this is really scary, and really bad. But we can do it, together. We always do, especially with you in charge. We all believe in you - and we know you believe in all of us too. That’s why I know we’ll win!”

Twilight gave them all a small smile and a nod, tossing her mane in the cooling evening air. “Maybe you’re right,” she said after a moment. “That I haven’t thought it through. This really is worse than anything we’ve come up against, true… but there’s always another way, always something else we can do. Even if we haven’t found it yet, there’ll be something out there we can do to win. Even if we have to create it ourselves, we’ll find a way to beat these monsters. Especially if we work together”.

The Pony of Shadows glided along on the senses and consciousness of the Hollow Things. He found he could hop between them, move between the soldiers of the masses, switch between their bodies at will from his own perspective. The more power they gained from consuming more magic to power their bodies, the more abilities they gained and the more he gained in turn. They were growing faster, smarter, more intelligent and more powerful - yet, they still answered to him and accepted his directives, and in turn offered him solutions and suggestions.

Their power was carefully and cleverly distributed too. Portions went to enhance, upgrade, they said, the bigger Hellions, Titans, and the airborne Vogel units. They diversified further, becoming heavy and medium units, with different arrays of firepower and weaponry, more sophisticated units for command and control, or for defence. More units for construction and salvage, harvesting resources for shipment back to the fortress being assembled around the portal that was, inexorably, spreading out and harvesting as well, sapping the very force of life from the land around it. And that process was being accelerated by the shipping of load upon load of ponies and other creatures captured in the push outward. North, South, East and West, the growing hordes moved, flowing through shadows and driving their way deeper into Equestria’s lands. Fillydelphia had been their greatest contest yet; it had fallen with barely a concern and the rewards it had reaped had left them high on power and ability. Bitsburgh had been barely a blip on the map. As more ponies were consumed, they learned more about the lie of the land, about the places and powers it held.

One shining jewel of a name held fast in his head, the home of magic and power, the ruling seat of the land, some distance to the south: Canterlot.

There were other places first; the one that pulled at the army advancing North was a great metropolitan hub of lights, glass, steel and stone; Manehattan. Other towns, villages, and settlements were within their grasp, the magic radiating from the creatures that lived there like beacons to his armies. He sent out a simple directive to all of his forces: Lay waste to all you find, capture, consume, and grow.

The Pony of Shadows returned to his body where it stood, looming over the portal at the heart of the fortress the Hollow Things had constructed. The portal was wider now, a jagged, bleeding rent in reality itself, the edges an eye-searing burn on the walls of existence, while its’ interior was a smouldering vortex of light and colours, destabilized from its’ original destination by the mana drawn in by the Hollow Things. The unstable energies of the portal fuelled their fortress, drawing on the magic that held the portal open to augment and expand its’ power, their power, and in turn his own power. With all his senses enhanced beyond the wildest dreams of his original form, the Pony of Shadows reached out, feeling the flow of mana throughout the structure around him, and deep into the soil and rock of Equus itself. It flowed through natural channels in the planet, part of its’ intrinsic makeup, woven into the being of all things on the worlds’ surface. It was within them, and they were within it, inextricably twined together as part of a whole. He was part of that whole, as were all Hollow Things, having come from Equus itself before their banishment, and from what he was slowly learning, what they once were. But as they drew on magic, as they expanded outward and the fortress expanded upward, they also burrowed deeper and deeper, toward the source of Harmony’s magic, flowing far beneath them. And when they made contact, they would have an instant tap to magic at its’ source, a source for nigh-infinite power… as long as they could keep expanding, of course. And for that, more magical energy was needed. More ponies, more creatures, more artefacts. All of Equestria would be fuel for the machines that were the Hollow Things and their creations - and the thing he had become too.

He looked down at the carapace covering his once-inky form. It was smooth and regular, with a vague hex patterning to it. Raised details covered the rims and seams of the carapace, and it was intricately fused to the matter of his body, which too had grown denser, more material, but still malleable. The same structures adorned his body; his wings were now sleek blade-like aerofoil structures, hinged and articulated. Fields and trails of shimmering energy accompanied him when he flew. Pauldrons on his shoulders concealed batteries of powerful weaponry, as did those on his haunches, all powered by the mana he had consumed. Other such devices studded his body, hidden under retractable plates, and at the core of his body, he felt the growing mass of machinery, intertwined with his ethereal self, growing in synch as his powers grew, twining itself into the very core of his energies and self. Words like molecular bonding, nanotech symbiosis and power conversion rattled through his head, not entirely understood in language, but shown as concepts.

The Hollow Things technology was so impossibly advanced compared to anything beyond his frame of reference; it was somehow powered from magic, created by magic, and inextricably part of it, but so very different from it. All of that made it near impervious to magics’ effects, and the devices and structures it created (again, words like molecular assembly and reconstruction, three-dimensional printing, and other phrases passed through his mind) were reinforced, armoured, and rebuilt to protect against physical damage. It was… astounding.

And it was their key to victory and control over all of Equestria, and the lands beyond. The Royal Guard were pitiful by comparison, their weapons simple and crude. The Hollow Things would roll over all of the land, and in their wake a new, technological utopia would rise, propelling all of Equus creatures out into the stars beyond, leaving behind their frail existence, and dependency on crude flesh. The age of steel would rise.

Night was well and truly fallen by the time Twilight and her friends were on their way back to Canterlot. Teleporting seemed less of a priority now, and Twilight’s magic needed time to recover. Not to mention, conserving her energy for what may come seemed like a prudent decision.

As such, they rode the train back to Canterlot, the long journey being an overnight one. In the car set aside for their use - as the Princess, she warranted an exclusive car, despite her protestations - all was dark, aside from the glow of moonlight through the windows, and a pool of light where Twilight worked, by candlelight and the light of her magic around the quill held in it, to scratch down all her observations and thoughts so far. She felt tired, and wanted to sleep. But her mind wouldn’t let her; sleeping when those creatures were running rampant across Equestria, when so many creatures had died seemed like running from her responsibilities.

So, she wrote. A touch of magic to dampen the sound of the quill’s nib scratching across the page, to save waking her friends, and another to keep the glow of the levitating candle to a small globe around her, as well as catching the wax as it ran off.

Her eyes stung as she stared at the flowing script from her quill across the page; she had intricately noted the makeup of the creatures; their postures and sizes drawn from the few remains they’d recovered. Accounts of their weaponry and capabilities from both survivors and from Tempest and Gilda’s encounters with them. She had even provided an annotated sketch from memory of the one that the griffon and unicorn had beaten, and recounted in depth how it had been crushed and beaten by blunt force trauma and overwhelming amounts of it at that, and how others had perished to the same kind or similar conditions; the only weaknesses they’d observed so far.

She paused, ruffling the pages she’d put together and fanning the page to dry the ink. Lifting her eyes to refocus and give them a rest, she looked around the carriage. Applejack and Rainbow Dash slept quietly on one set of double seats, nestled against one another. Gilda was curled up opposite, nose to tail and snoring quietly. Tempest was sat behind her, leaning against the window and eyes looking out a gap in the curtains as the landscape rolled past, lit only by moonlight and bathed in its’ ethereal silver shades.

She glanced down; Spike was curled up beside her, breathing steadily in sleep. She gave a slight, wistful smile. The drake was still young, but he was much bigger now, more independent than he had been before. She cared for him more deeply than either of them would ever know, and they loved one another dearly, a bond of family and friendship that would always be inseparable, and incomparable. But one day, she knew, he’d outgrow her in size, becoming far, far bigger than she could imagine. If, of course, he lived that long.

That thought drove a spike of ice and fear into her spine, and she shuddered, gasping a breath at the thought and screwing her eyes up. The papers fluttered to the floor, and it was only through sheer concentration and her aptitude with magic that the candle didn’t follow and set fire to the carpet in the carriage.

She gathered the papers up in a combination of her magic and carefully climbing onto the floor and using her mouth and hooves, but despite her best efforts, Rarity stirred from where she had been sleeping on the couch opposite, demurely and quietly sleeping.

“Tw-Twilight?” she said in a hushed, bleary tone as she blinked sleep from her pretty blue eyes. “What are you doing, darling? Surely you should be sleeping like everypony else”.

“It’s all right, Rarity,” she replied in a hushed voice as she climbed back onto the couch-seats of the train car. “You can go back to sleep, I’m just finishing up some notes from today”.

The white unicorn frowned at her from under her purple locks and leaned closer.

“Twilight, if I didn’t know you better - and I do! - I’d say you’re Twilighting again. Not sleeping isn’t good for you, you know that as well, if not better than anypony else.” She dropped the harsher tone and expression, and her face took on an expression of concern.

“Something is bothering you, isn’t it? You know that you can tell me, tell all of us. Please, Twilight - If there’s anything I can do…” She reached out with one forehoof and tenderly stroked Twilights’ own foreleg, giving her a small, warm smile. “You know you need only talk or ask, and any of us will do whatever we can, darling”.

Twilight smiled back, gently squeezing Rarity’s hoof between her own and looking down at them before she spoke, the slivers of light between the curtains flashing across the space between them in majestic arcs and casting a line of silver across purple and white fur alike.

“I’m… not ready for this, Rarity. I can run Equestria, especially with all of your help. And of course, there’s all the members of government for most things, but… A war? An actual fighting war, at that?” she looked up into Rarity’s face, searching her expression with wide, frightened eyes. “I don’t even remember when Equestria last fought a war. It must have been hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. The Royal Guard… they’re ponies I know. Flash Sentry, The Wonderbolts... “ she bowed her head.

“My brother…”

“I can’t send them off to fight, and maybe to die. I don’t even know how to run a war, especially against an enemy that just uses our magic against us. Where would I even start? What do you even do?”

Rarity listened intently. She didn’t interrupt, didn’t try and stop Twilight’s words; she just sat and listened, giving her attention in full to Twilight. After all, it was the least she could give, and her generosity knew no bounds with that.

“I would say it’s a blessing that none of us do know how to fight a war, Twilight. I remember you telling us all about that dreadful reality you saw when Starlight had altered all of our pasts, where King Sombra had returned and set all of Equestria ablaze with a war against his armies, and everypony was in a state of total war. It sounded…” she shivered. “It sometimes gives me nightmares. Princess Luna has had to pull me out of them more than once. And I’ve no doubt I’ll have need of her again before all of this is over too. But that’s our blessing, Twilight. We’re lucky to have not had to fight more often than we did, nor as hard. But if you can’t do it Twilight, then use your friendships. You might be the element of magic, my darling, but you’re the Princess of Friendship. Your friends are always there for you - we sang a song about it, if I recall,” she winked, and Twilight gave a small smile, despite herself.

“Twilight, there are things that we will all find we are no good at. I can make you the finest garments of couture you could find in all of Equus. I could give you a makeover that would bring the godliest of beings to their knees. But I could not, for one moment, believe I could fix this train engine should it break down, nor could I manage Applejack’s farm for a week, or teach Flurry Heart in one of your classes about Magic, or train the Wonderbolts how Rainbow does in aerial acrobatics. And I doubt you could do the same, but that’s quite all right. There are others who can” she looked past Twilight’s shoulder and nodded.

“Why don’t you start with asking her?”

Twilight looked back over her shoulder at Tempest. The mare was still much in the same position, chin resting on one hoof, eyes looking at the scenery as it passed them by. The silver moonlight cast a strange shadow over her dark maroon coat.

“If anypony knows how to fight a war, then a former general would be a good start. Especially one that we all helped bring around, and that understands the value - and the magic - of friendship”.

Tempest looked over to them, a questioning expression on her face, and Twilight smiled to Rarity, before it turned into a yawn.

“You’re right, Rarity,” Twilight answered in a quiet voice, as Tempest walked around the seats to join them, looking between their faces. “And maybe I should get some sleep, too.”

“What did I miss?” Tempest asked in a hushed voice, her scarred eyebrow raised. “Something important?”

“Not at the moment, darling,” Rarity answered, smiling at her. “But just be glad you’ve helped assuage Twilight’s doubts somewhat. Now, perhaps we should all get some rest”.

“Glad to be of assistance,” Tempest said with a slight tone of amusement in her voice, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, as she trotted back to her own seat, and as Twilight’s heavy eyes finally fell closed.

Author's Note:

This is the story I wrote this year for NaNoWriMo. It's only the second ever fanfic I've written, and the first that isn't smut. It's a lot more like what I usually write, compared to the smut I have written, actually, and I hope you like it.
It's still a work in progress, as 50,000 words wasn't enough to finish it - so please stick with it if you're interested.

There are some AU elements, such as the Pony of Shadows back-story and origins being somewhat different to what was shown in the show. But hopefully it won't be too distracting or upsetting for anyone reading.
Positive and constructive critical feedback is welcomed.