Magic Vs. Machinery

by Exotic Butter

XVI.~"They never arrived."

Princess Twilight Sparkle trotted for her life through one of the halls in the castle. When she heard that 'something' had destroyed the FIRST Tripod of this war, she wanted to be there right away. Why didn't she teleport? Meh, too easy.

When the Princess of Equestria finally got into the barracks, which were on the first floor of the castle, her jaw dropped.

“Is that-! No…way.” She only said.

“Yep, it is!” Gallus said, next to the…cage, that was ten times bigger than him! Well…it was a cage…for ponies.

“This cage has been found this morning, right at the destroyed Tripod next to Ponyville!” He said, as he then looked at one of his soldiers and nodded.

“Here’s the photographs.”

The soldier took out five photos in total from his bag, which was on his waist.

When Twilight took them in her magic aura, she couldn't believed.

Four of five photos were showing a machine, literally ripped in half, in every angle!

The last photo was showing something that looked like a burned 'engine' and was still attached to the REAL gearbox, that was indeed in the ‘gearbox and legs sect’, as it was named on the other side of the photo.

“Any other information from the crash site?” She asked, looking at blue Griffin.

“No ponies were found near this cage or the crash site. But we think that whopony was in this cage, escaped through this big gap between the steel bars.” Gallus answered, pointing at the gap between bars, big enough to go through. Even big enough for Twilight.

“So…ehm, were any bodies founded?” She said, uncertain.

“Well…yea.”

“Ponies?”

“...No…”

“Other creatures…?”

“Aliens, Princess. Aliens.”

Twilight's pupils narrowed a bit at the information. I mean...she thought they would find THEM, but...she was surprised anyway.

“How…many?”

“Uh…we founded…only one, Princess.”

“One? There is no chance that one could manage to drive that machine…unless it had a tentacle, like their machines, right?” She asked.

Gallus just shook his head.

“Sorry Princess, but no. When we found it…it was burned to the meat. And…we found it ripped in half.”

“Oh… Well…what did it look like?”

Gallus looked at his claws. Then back to Princess.

“Like me, if I didn't have wings, beak ,probably feathers and… not claws, but…fingers?”

At the last comparison, she raised an eyebrow.

“Fingers?”

“Yes…I mean, it was burned as hell, Princess.”

“Huh. Where is it now?”

“Hiding from the public in an abandoned castle of yours.”

“My castle…? Oh! You mean the Friendship Castle, right…eh, pretty good hiding spot, but…why didn't you take it here, to Canterlot?”

"Would you want to see the alien's burned body being transported around the city of Canterlot, or in Canterlot Castle itself, when they are the ones who started all of this?"

“Hmm…yea, you’re right.”

“Fingers…? For Celestia's sake, I want to see right now, so bad!” She said to herself.

“Anyway, at the gates, mailpony gave me a letter, when we were taking the cage into the castle.”

“What?”

“It’s for you.” He said, as he raised his right wing a little bit, taking a letter from under it.

“Thanks, but…the mailpony gave the letter to you just like that?”

“She had bag full of letters, so I save her some minutes.”

Twilight took the letter to her magic and putted the photos back to the soldier.

“To: Princess Twilight Sparkle

From: Spike

Twilight! When I arrived at the Crystal Empire, the crystal ponies welcomed me with open hooves. I asked them, where the machine is, but they didn't know, what I meant by that! When I met Cadance and her family, I asked them why nopony knew about the machine.

She explained to me that she didn't want the ponies to know about the 'indestructible' machine that kills everypony in its way. But she also said that the machine never arrived!

When your brother and his guards accompanied me to the last coordinates of the 'Crystal' Tripod, as he named it, it was just...frozen!

He told me that yesterday, the fourth day of the invasion, right after the sun rose, his guards found it completely frozen and without a scratch! Now they are trying to find a way inside.

I can't wait, until they find the enternace! I'm so curious what the aliens look like!

-Your friend, Spike"

Twilight was looking at the letter, like it was the rarest thing in Equestria.

"So that's the second Tripod, that somehow wasn't secured well against Equestrian climate... My question is: Are the aliens stupid or the Machine just broke?"

"Uh, Princess?" Gallus raised his front claw.

"Uh, Yes?"

"Is the W-weapon finished?"

"In a fact, almost." She said, as she looked again at the photos of the first destroyed machine.

"Now Canterlot is the safest building in Equestria."

Author's Note:

"Everypony said, that magic is nothing againts the machines and their shield, that could repel the magic of the ponies, but not the magic of the Equestria. But little they knew, magic was as powerful as their laser. But...it needed some...modifications."

-Scientists from Canterlot