Magic Vs. Machinery

by Exotic Butter

XIV.~In Tripod's cage

‘Why are they here? What do they want? What do ponies have to do with it?’

That’s the questions that everypony asks to themself. Even AJ asks these questions that were filling her head.

AJ, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were hiding in Sugarcube corner, along with Pinkie Pie.

AJ couldn’t sleep. Not because her head was full of these questions, but because she was afraid that the machine was still near Ponyville. She was so insecure that she sat right next to the window, which was half open. She struggles to hold her head straight up and keep her eyes open.

*Stomp!*

“Can’t sleep too, huh?” A voice came from behind her.

AJ looked behind her and saw an already known white unicorn.

“Sweetie Belle? Are ya feeling better?”

*Stomp!*

“Eh, a little bit. But I still feel…weak. So, is the machine around?”

“I bet. But…I cannot hear its engine.”

“I see… So…how long have you been awake?” Sweetie asked, as she sat down next to AJ.

“Eh, five hours?”

“You should sleep. We have a long day today.”

“Today?”

“It’s 3 AM.”

“Oh…”

*Stomp!*

"Do ya hear something too?"

“AH-!” Sweetie Belle screamed, but AJ immediately covered her mouth with her hoof.

After that, AJ slowly looked out of the window, while still holding Belle’s mouth.

Stepping sounds were now heard and were getting louder and louder.

Then, a bright light illuminated the dark ground around the Sugarcube Corner.

It was here…

A tall three legged machine was slowly walking through Ponyville, looking left and right, trying to find at least unicorns.

AJ looked back at Sweetie, slowly putting her hoof on her mouth.

“Shhhhh… Not a single word. Stay here and DON’T go outside.” She whispered, slowly putting her hoof out of Belle’s mouth.

“You think I am that stupid!?” Sweetie whispered back.

AppleJack slowly gets up and leaves Belle at the window.

“Where are you going?!”

"To see if THAT 'horn' woke the others up." And with that she returned to the Sweet-Shop where Applebloom was sleeping.

She found Applebloom sleeping on a mattress that Pinkie gave her.

“Applebloom.” AJ whispered, while shaking her a little.

“Wh- AppleJack?”

“Shhh…”

Applebloom didn’t move a muscle, as she was processing why she woke her up. Then…she heard it.

The sound of an engine-like sound right outside of this Sweet-shop.

Applebloom's eyes narrowed.

“Whateve’ ya do, don’t scream, talk or go outside. Okay?”

“Uh…and ya tell this same to Sweetie Belle too?”

“Ya?”

“Then why she’s openin’ the doors?”

“What?”

Applebloom pointed behind AJ. AppleJack looked behind her and saw Belle…leaving the shop…?

AppleJack watched in horror as the young unicorn slowly left the candy store.

“Sweetie Belle!!” AJ screamed.

No scream, huh?

AJ trotted out of the store, looking around her. Her eyes landed on a machine that just walked by.

Then she looked to her left and saw Sweetie, sitting at…something?

She trotted to her and as she was about to take her back to Sweet-Shop she noticed a body…?

“Wait…that’s…a…?”

“A...body that breathes.” Belle said.

AJ sat next to Sweetie and said nothing.

As soon as AJ looked at the body, she could tell that the skin was shriveled and faintly blue. Next, she noticed the horn that was clearly visible on the forehead. Next, what could be clearly seen...rather unseen was a mane that was only three hairs long. As it was once said, the unicorn breathed. His eyes were fully open and every second his pupils fell on anything that moved. At this moment, it was two things: Tripod, who was searching through Ponyville, and the two mares who sat down next to him.

“W-where I am?” All of the sudden, he spoke, which surprised the mares.

“You're in Ponyville. Wh- How did ya get here?” AJ asked.

“I- I don’t really know… The last thing I remember is… Cage…and…THEM… Geez, I feel very dizzy!”

“‘Them’? You mean the aliens? What do they look like?”

“Uhh… They… they… weren't ponies for sure… And…they weren't anything I know either… But after they… 'putted' me inside that...thing, I just...lost the feeling...that I still had my magic. Then their faces were...pitch white with a wide black line across their face..."

“Do they walk on four?”

“No… They walk…in twos… W-why are they here? Why do they want us for…? Are we the baddie?!”

“Hey, keep your voice down or they'll hear us again.” Sweetie Belle said as she used her magic to slowly drag the unicorn back to Sweet-Shop.

“Oh no…” The stallion said, looking up.

“What do you mean ‘Oh no’?” AJ asked.

Just then, again, bright light illuminated the dark ground, where the three ponies were.

All of them looked up, to see that the machine was right behind them, not moving, just watching. As the lights fell on Sweetie Belle, the machine crouched down to the ponies and a laser came out of the head.

“RUN!” AJ screamed.

But before the mares could kick the dirt, an almost invisible ‘wave’ came from the prism-like body. When the "wave" hit the mares, they both immediately found themselves on the ground in the mud.

AJ turned on her back and saw how from the ‘gearbox’, a tentacle-like limb came out and slowly reached for Sweetie Belle.

The tentacle wrapped around Sweetie and slowly lifted her into the air. She could scream now, but it wouldn’t work.

“No, no, nonono!” AJ stood up and then managed to jump right in time to catch at least Belle’s leg while not falling.

“AppleJack!” Applebloom was standing in the doorway, watching as the machine took her best friend and her sister into the cage with another unicorn. The machine just turned to face Canterlot and slowly started walking away.

In rage, Applebloom took a chair from the Sweet-Shop and with all her might, she threw the chair at the machine, even though she knew nothing would happen.

Why chair? I dunno, It just came into her mind.

The chair shattered, again against an invisible shield that was slightly visible on impact.

The Tripod just stopped and faced the resource of this little ‘attack’. When its lights landed on the earth pony mare, it crouched to take a better look.

“Applebloom! Run!” AJ screamed. She thought the machine would pull out a laser and melt her to death, but…

The machine slowly raised again, turned its back to Applebloom, confused and angry at the same time, and continued its journey to Canterlot.

[Just play it. I’ll tell you when to stop.]

Meanwhile in the Tripod’s cage, two ponies were panicking, trying to get out from the cage that was made of steel.

“Stop wasting your energy. It’s strong as hell.” Said the third pony in the cage. She was a pink unicorn mare, with a white mane that had a light blue line in the middle. Her cutie mark was a sun with a ‘wind’.

AJ just looked at her, then at the cage bars that weren't even scratched. The unicorn was right. AppleJack just leaned back on the bars and left a sigh.

Sweetie on the other hoof was still trying.

“May ah ask you somethin’?” She looked at the pink unicorn.

“Yes?”

“H-how long are ya here?”

“Since yesterday. *Sigh* I still remember the time when the roof in our house was there for a second and then it was gone. Why do you ask?”

“Well, if you have any idea, what will happen now?”

“Now? Now we will wait until that hatch opens.” She said, as she pointed at a hatch-like door on top of the cage.
“But wait, you aren’t a unicorn.” She pointed out.

"No shot. That's what ah thought; If ah got inside the machine, would they kill mah right away or just throw mah out?" She asked.

“No idea.”

As the machine slowly but surely approached the capital at a pretty slow speed, AJ wondered how she would get out of the invader’s clutches if she got inside. She didn't know if the intruders had any magic or weapons, but one thing was certain: They walk in twos, so they must have hands or something……right?

Then…

“Ah!?”

The hatch just opened, revealing a dark tunnel that leads inside the machine heart.

One of many tentacle-like limbs emerged from the tunnel. After it entered the cage, it went from pony to pony until it bumped into AppleJack. It looked at her for a moment until it looked at Belle, who was pressing herself against the bars. When it reached her, the worst began: The tentacle wrapped around her neck and began to pull her into the tunnel! She coughed and tried to free herself, but it was useless.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” AJ screamed, as she grabbed her rear leg once again and tried to pull her back into the cage. But it was way too strong for her, making her lift up too.

Eventually, the tentacle threw her over the edge of the tunnel, where she hit her head and momentarily lost track of her surroundings. After a few seconds she found herself back in the cage.

“Sweetie Belle?” She looked around the machine’s cage, but found only the pink unicorn.
AJ put her head in her hooves, ears drooped, thinking what just happened.

“THAT’S what they are doing to unicorns. Using them for something, that makes them lose their common color and their hair. Making them look like zombies.” Unicorn said to the only pony that could hear this.

AJ looked at her, tears in her eyes.

“Why are they here? Who are they?"

The unicorn said nothing.

Then...the sound of the engine completely...changed. What had previously resembled a locomotive had changed, as if two hard objects were rubbing against each other.

It was very noticeable.

(Stop the ‘video’ here.)

“Does this sound happen often?” Aj asked.

The unicorn just shook her head.

Then, out of nowhere…

*BOOOOM!!!*

Without warning, a large and loud explosion was heard somewhere on top of the machines ‘head’. AJ couldn't see what happened, because of the position of the cage. But in a few seconds, the cage was covered in…smoke?

The engine sound was gone and the Tripod started to move strangely. When it tried to do a step, it started to lose its balance.

The hatch then opened out of nowhere and a yellow, foul-smelling liquid poured out, falling directly onto AJ and the unicorn.

After that, she could felt a heat coming somewhere from the left side of the 'head'. Was it on fire!?

The machine itself then tilted sharply to the left, slowly falling on the ground, very hard.

When the Tripod hit the ground, the cage could not withstand such pressure and simply separated from the 'head', where it stopped bouncing after a few meters.

AJ didn’t know what happened, but before she could look at the crash site, another big explosion was heard.

*BOOOM!!*

She covered her eyes and waited for a little while. When she took her hoof from her eyes, she was shocked.

“What in the…hay?”

The crash site was big! The machine was in two large pieces, covered in dirt. One large piece was ‘head’ almost ripped in half, meters away from the second piece, that was legs and ‘gearbox’. The cage itself was right between the two pieces. Both pieces were on fire and hella smoking, making three big, black clouds.

The mares watched in dumbfounded, as they crawled through the damaged cage’s bars. SOMETHING had just saved their flanks and somehow destroyed the first machine in this war...

“W-what just happen’?!”

“I…have no idea… I don’t even know how we survived the fall.”

A few seconds passed. The mares were still watching the destroyed Tripod in flames. In the background they could hear steel melting, fire crackle and...stumbling?

AJ flicked to the tunnel in the ‘head’. She heard stumbling for sure. Even the unicorn looked at the ‘head’.

Something was coming from the tunnel. Who could it be? Alien? No…

“S-Sweetie Belle?!” Yep… White unicorn mare was slowly walking out of the tunnel, holding her head, looking fine.

“AppleJack?”

“Well duh!” She just said, trotting to her.
“Wha- How ya survived!? Ah thought ya were dead right away, when ya got in the Tripod!” She said, looking around her, if she’s okay.

“I… I don’t really know. Something was attached to my head and eyes. I felt how my magic was…slowly fading.”

“...What…?”

“Then…I felt way better. Like I never had the sickness. Then I remember how I managed to get that thing from my head, just realizing I was in something like…a big glassed tube, filled with…water-like liquid. Moments later, the ‘water’ was gone and…” She stopped, as her pupils shrunk.

“And…?”

“I…saw them too.”

“Same description?”

“Yea… They…were panicking. Running on two, while holding something in their…claws-like hands? Then one of them looked at me and…then everything exploded. After that, I found myself in that…tunnel thing.”

“‘One of them’? How many of them?”

“Three...maybe?”

Aj was shocked. Looking at the machine and then at the Canterlot, that was closer than ever, she looked back at Belle.

"If we were to try to get back to Ponyville, there's a better chance another machine will come here, replace…this one."

“You think?”

"Ya. If Applebloom and Pinkie are smart enough, they'll go to Canterlot, like the other ponies and Big Mac’s group. Which would mean the same thing for us: Continue the journey."

“Uh…when you talk about it like that…can I join?” The unicorn mare asked.

“Uh…why not, miss…?” Belle said.

“ Oh, Clear Sky, but please, I am not ‘miss’. I am just a scared mother who thinks her family is in Canterlot too.”

“Then welcome aboard...Sky.” AJ smiled.

And then three mares went on the same journey, leaving the first ever loss to the enemy, hoping that nothing more would surprise them…

Oh, how wrong they were...

Author's Note:

"These machines are very vulnerable to the smallest diseases, such as a cough. NEVER pick up a unicorn that is coughing, blowing its nose, or looking tired. And above all, always check your victims!"

-Aliens