> War Returns
>  by Drakstice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A gift from the heavens
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On clear cloudless nights, the night skies of Equestria came to life with thousands of twinkling stars. Each one was a dancing light decorating the deep azure backdrop that otherwise provided nothing of interest. The gently rolling northern hills of Ponyville provided the perfect location for stargazing. There was nary a polluting light source to be found, it was close to walking distance for hundreds of ponies and the secluded area was perfect for a quiet night of relaxing under the stars.

According to Twilight's schedule for the night, the relaxing part of the event was still over two hours away. She and her friends still had to unpack their respective carts of gear they had packed.

“Spike,” Twilight called out as she rummaged through her wagon, “did you remember to pack my new telescope?” She was looking for one in particular, but it may have been misplaced amongst all the others.

“The one with the super wide viewing angle?” Spike replied, “I put that one together on the way over here.” To show he accomplished the task, Spike pulled out the pre-assembled aperture from Twilight's cart.

“No, the one I gave the custom enchantment,” Twilight clarified. “There is supposed to be a distant astral phenomenon and I want to be able to observe it with crystal clarity.”

“And all these others ain't gonna do she job, Twi?” Applejack chimed in. As a simple farm pony, she just couldn't understand how so many telescopes could be necessary for just one evening out.

“Applejack, dear,” Rarity interrupted as she sifted through her own saddle bags, “perhaps Twilight wants some variety in her stargazing equipment.” Rarity levitated various hats and scarves around as her with her magic. She tried on each one, testing its look alongside her evening dress, “One simply cannot live her life with just one wardrobe, can she?”

“Yeah, don't you know that variety is the spice of life, AJ?” Pinkie Pie had just finished setting up her picnic blanket, snacks and party balloons throughout. “That's why I brought an extra blanket, four different kinds of cake, hard and soft candy, an extra pack of balloons...” Everypony in the group recognized Pinkie's unfocussed rant and tuned it out while they focused on setting up for the evening.

“Ahaah!” exclaimed Twilight. She finally found what she wanted in her cart: a Starvision 300 observation telescope. Powerful enough on its own, Twilight had also devised a spell to enhance its magnification even further. Not only that, it would also track movement autonomously. This way, the observer would not lose track of potentially interesting finds.

“Alright, everypony,” Twilight began, “We're right on schedule for tonight's stargazing.” None were as serious about scheduling as Twilight, but they still took comfort in knowing they did not need to rush for anything. “Assuming no unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances arise, it will be a relaxing evening.”

“Well then, if you fillies don't mind, I'm taking my beauty nap, now.” Rarity had finished setting up her mobile camping tent and already intended to use it.

“You turnin' in already, Rare?” AJ was already lost on the idea of bringing more than two saddle bags of provisions, but hoofing a tent all the way from home just to sleep in it all night instead of staying home?

“Unlike you, dear Applejack,” Rarity began in her somewhat snooty tone, “some of us ponies need our beauty sleep each night.” Rarity had a tone of an aloof teacher weary of giving the same lesson over and over. “This stargazing night is conflicting with my normal sleep schedule. Luckily, I'm flexible with my sleep.” During their conversation, Rarity had already started sifting through her assorted sleeping blindfolds. Applejack was about to weigh in, but Rarity carried on with her thoughts. “Worry not, I shall awaken in time for the festivities.” With the tent flap sealed, Rarity would not be seen before the sights began to show.

~~~

Several hours had passed since nightfall and the gently flickering lights had attracted almost all of Ponyville to the northern hills. Small fillies and colts were awestruck at the captivating display above them. Lovers were spending some quality time over the spectacle. Pinkie Pie made her own fun by making up shapes in the stars as she would with clouds during the day. Having had her requisite sleep, Rarity was now up and as alert as she would be during the day. Twilight was busy cataloging her observations in the sky this night.

“Azimuth, 75 degrees, 22 minutes, 6 seconds; elevation, 45 degrees, 30 minutes, a red giant amongst the Canis Major Constellation,” Twilight said aloud. She found figures and research data comforting in a way that only she could. Even though she had mapped out every notable heavenly body in the sky, there were innumerable other minor ones that were possibly undiscovered.

“Whatcha doin' Twilight?” Pinkie inquired as she pranced circles around Twilight. Pinkie’s curious nature compelled her to ask, but she would make no particular notes even as her questions were answered.

“Well, Pinkie,” Twilight began, “I'm giving my new telescope a thorough field test.” As she explained, Twilight was training her device on a new target. “I heard the Canterlot Astronomical Association came out with a new line of enchantable telescopes and I just had to get my hooves on one.” Even recalling the tale about acquiring the device made Twilight gleeful.

“Neato,” Pinkie replied, not really having any interest in astronomy, but because Twilight was happy, so was she.

“It has a 75mm focussing lens with six different magnification settings.” Twilight wanted to continue recording her observations, so she went to retrieve another roll of parchment from her cart. “With my custom spell I put on it, I can see even further and with more clarity than with traditional equipment.”

“Also, you can see things really far away with it,” Pinkie interjected. Twilight turned back around to find Pinkie messing with dials and switches and aiming the scope directly at her.

“Pinkie! I had that telescope trained on a very specific spot!” This sort of behavior was not unexpected with Pinkie, but it would be several minutes of readjusting back to what she had. Pinkie stepped back and allowed Twilight to take control of the aperture. Sometimes Pinkie was unaware of how much inconvenience she sometimes caused.

“That was a very interesting find, too,” Twilight continued, worrying that she would miss out on a valuable observation. “Oh, I hope I can find it again.”

“Oooh, is it as interesting as that, Twilight?” Pinkie asked as she turned the telescope towards her own field of view, the small traverse and elevation gears grinding in protest.

“Pinkie, be careful,” Twilight cried out as she tried to stabilize from the sudden movement, “This is a very delicate instrument. I'd appreciate it if you handle it a bit more gingerly.” Twilight was a bit frustrated, but not mad. She knew Pinkie was not destructive by nature, but it was her very nonchalant nature that could potentially ruin a 9,000 bit telescope. By some miracle, Pinkie was almost dead on with her inattentive aiming of the lens. A small cluster of shooting stars were making their way through the upper atmosphere. The phenomenon Twilight was looking at earlier was gone, but a new one was now in view.

“Your enthusiasm is appreciated at times, Pinkie,” Twilight began explaining as she began readjusting her telescope to its previous focus point. Pinkie was paying more attention to the shooting stars than Twilight. “but there is a time and place for it. Now is simply-”

Something caught Twilight's attention and held her tongue. Whatever it was, it took precedence over the importance of carefully handling expensive tools. All she could do was stare into the eyepiece, her jaw agape in utter disbelief at what she saw.

“I know, don't shooting stars just take your breath away?” Pinkie asked without realizing that Twilight's reaction was more serious than just stunned silence. After a few moments of no words from Twilight, Pinkie finally got the hint that something was wrong. Waving her hoof in front of Twilight's face didn't get her attention and after nudging her shoulder didn't work, Pinkie ran out of ideas.

“Hey Applejack, can I have a new Twilight?” Pinkie asked mostly in jest, “I think this one's broken.” Pinkie even tried examining Twilight's inner ear, but it shed no light on what could be causing her strange behavior.

“Ah think we've got bigger problems, sugarcube,” Applejack replied, somewhat distressed. Every pony in the park was now fixed on one particular spot in the sky. Even Pinkie eagerly turned her gaze there, just in case she was missing out on something fun.

The small cluster of unusually bright shooting stars was now a large collection of objects streaking through the atmosphere with enough velocity to set them alight. Was this what shooting stars looked like up close? A stray pair was on course to pass directly overhead. As they approached, some ponies fell into fits of panic, fleeing for their lives. Young fillies cried, frightened by the commotion around them.

Without warning, an ear-splitting explosion erupted from one of the falling stars, sending it into a wild corkscrew. In its wake, the explosion ejected a large projectile past the other star, nearly hitting another. As the projectile disappeared into the night sky, several other stars seemed to pull out of their nose dive and began to ascend back into the sky. These things must have had minds of their own to act the way they did.

Tracking their trajectory, many of the stars disappeared over the horizon. Some landed beyond the mountain peaks, others directly in front of it. The largest object in the cluster, however, slammed squarely into the side of the tallest peak of the White Mane mountain range. In a blinding flash of light, every pair of eyes watching slammed shut and turned as far away as they could. Even so, the intense light broke through the ponies’ eyelids, creating a blinding red light instead of a burning white one.

Mere moments later, the effects of a devastating explosion rumbled through the quiet town. Tremors from the impact steadily grew from a low rumble to a violent rocking to a lurching that could be mistaken for a rolling ocean wave. At this point, the collective mass of Ponyville escalated from panicked to utterly disorganized chaos. Discord would have been proud.

The largest objects had landed, sending the most violent shockwaves through the terrain, but dozens of minor stars continued to strike the ground as they fell. As the chaos grew more and more uncontrolled, Twilight attempted to restore what order she could.

“Don’t panic, everypony,” Twilight cried out, trying to regain her bearings. As her vision returned, she did her best to hide her own uneasiness, “I have a plan written out for just such emergencies.” In her magical grasp, a roll of parchment hovered next to her head but still displayable for a crowd. As Twilight unrolled the scroll, it cracked and crinkled, indicating she had not used this particular scroll in ages. Even if the townsponies were unprepared for this situation, Twilight was putting on a calm and confident expression, however fake it was. Ponies still ran amok, afraid for their lives and worried about their children, as if Twilight’s words had no effect.

“Step one:,” she began, though none paid her any mind, “Document the event(s).” Her expression returned to its former state of shock and awe as she turned her gaze back to the inferno rising from the face of the mountains. It was no longer a blinding light, but the very shape of the mountain range was different. Just one minute ago, the tallest peak was defining the western mountain ridge line. Now, it was gone. It had simply vanished into thin air. Instead of the pristine white snow caps, there was fire. The last few fragments of the event crashed down with lesser magnitude of effects, but pale in comparison to the biggest of the lot.

Twilight couldn’t proceed with her emergency plan. She could only wordlessly stare jaw agape in utter disbelief at what she just witnessed. Acts of Celestia were so astronomically unlikely that she considered them negligible for planning purposes. Nonetheless, here she was unprepared for such an event. In due time, she would learn just how unprepared for the future she truly was...
> What are they?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the small hours of the morning, next to nopony was awake, let alone working in the dead of night. This night, however, was different. Something so extraordinary happened to disturb the citizens of the quiet town of Ponyville. In less than an hour, thousands of ponies had abandoned Ponyville with whatever they could carry out. Thousands more simply barricaded their doors and windows. Few ponies got any sleep that night. They simply could not comprehend what just happened, let alone adjust to it within a few hours.

This change was present in almost every pony who witnessed the initial event. All through the night, Twilight was up, on edge, wondering what would come of the meteorite strike. From the Castle of Friendship, the observation deck was strewn with open books, reference manuals, and Twilight’s frantic observation notes. Her personal Constellation BlueEye telescope was aimed at the remains of the western mountain ranges. The sun was just about to emerge over the ridgeline, but sunrise could not come soon enough. The near face of the mountain was still draped in shadow, but the early morning sky was slowly beginning to light up. The anticipation of directly observing the aftermath of a meteorite impact was more than enough to keep the adrenalin flowing through Twilight’s veins.

In fact, she was dripping nervous sweat as she fiddled with her telescope’s levers, switches and knobs. As her eyes twitched and readjusted to a new sight picture, she had to make minor adjustments to her instruments, but they were never perfect. Rainbow Dash had burned through her initial excitement and panic of watching the colossal devastation and now hoovered in the middle of the room waiting for the next action, her forearms crossed in front of her chest as she flapped her wings in frustrated boredom. Where some would cower, Pinkie was sometimes known to be naively cheerful. Here, she simply slept through the night, snoring peacefully as the rest of the gang fretted over this new event.

Applejack had already returned to her farmhouse, eager to check up on her family, as any good breadwinner would do. Fluttershy had similar worries about her animal friends and ran to her cottage as fast as her legs would carry her. Rarity had her own problems to deal with. Once she made sure Sweetie Belle was safe, her mane and hooves needed attention to ensure they were still well-groomed.

“Something’s definitely out there,” Twilight uttered under her breath as she remained focused like a laser on the recently reshaped mountain range. She thought she saw movement, but small fires were still alight, dancing around creating the illusion of moving objects. Even as she spoke with certainty in her observations, in her mind, she was as clueless as a filly in a crowded Manehattan street.

“Twilight, dear,” Rarity interrupted, putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “perhaps you should rest. You’ve been up all night.” She was concerned for Twilight’s wellbeing. Twilight was known for being obsessive over small details, sometimes to the detriment of her health.

“I can’t, Rarity,” Twilight groggily protested as she shrugged Rarity’s hoof away, “This is too big a cosmic event to ignore.” In any other circumstance, Twilight would have spoken this line with enthusiasm and excitement. Here, since it was so close to her home, she was a combination of shaken and frightened, but also too curious to flee the imminent danger.

“Twilight,” Rarity said once more, this time pushing Twilight away from the telescope, “I have missed enough beauty naps to know that it drastically affects a pony’s performance.” Rarity tended to get dramatic when she felt close to certain topics. “I won’t let you suffer such sleep deprivation as I have.” Truthfully, it was never more than a few hours of sleep lost per day, but Rarity’s particular brand of drama made it seem quite serious.

“I’ve gone days without sleeping, Rarity,” Twilight replied, pushing back and returning to her observation post, “I think I can handle doing it again.”

“Rainbow Dash and I are perfectly capable of taking over for you.” Being the refined lady she was, Rarity politely, but firmly made her stance on the issue known by escorting Twilight out of the observatory. Twilight relented, unable to summon the strength or will to continue to resist her friend’s assertiveness. “Besides, I already got my beauty sleep. You still need yours.

Twilight knew Rarity well and what her capabilities were, but was still skeptical of her claims. After all, Rarity was an expert in fashion, not astronomy. She felt uneasy leaving Rainbow Dash at the helm of her equipment, but Rarity had a light touch, so her getting overzealous with it was unlikely.

“Don’t worry about a thing, Twilight,” Rarity reassured before Twilight could voice her concerns, “With my keen eye for details, I shan’t miss a thing.” Like Twilight, Rarity was capable of writing notes with her magic while looking elsewhere.

“I guess you’re right,” Twilight admitted, realizing just how much she realized how much good a nap would do for her. “Still, do come wake me if anything changes.”

“Yes, yes, of course, darling,” Rarity said, thinking quickly to nip Twilight’s workaholic nature at the bud. Closing the observatory doors ever so gingerly, Rarity trotted back to the telescope to assume her new duty as watch pony.

Careful not to touch the eyepiece directly, Rarity used her magic to make ever so slight adjustments to get a better view. Unfortunately, rotating the eyepiece was the only adjustment Rarity knew how to make on this bafflingly complex contraption. Rarity was quick to don an expression of minor frustration as her limited knowledge of telescopes failed to bring the mountainside into focus.

“You know there’s a better way to see what’s out there, right?” Rainbow Dash asked Rarity in a rather smug manner.

“Do tell, Rainbow,” Rarity replied, supreme skepticism about her, “what could possibly be better than-”

Without another word, a gust of air disturbed Rarity’s mane, getting the white mare to look up from her task of refocusing the lenses. The brief glimpse of multi-colored streak through the air was a telltale sign that Rainbow Dash had been there just milliseconds prior, but had since moved on.

“Of course, she would,” Rarity sighed as she rolled her eyes. It wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash if she didn’t fly straight towards the unknown. Looking at it from afar was simply not enough for her.

~~~

The White Mane mountains were certainly a sight to behold. In the mornings, the snow would sparkle for a few moments as the sun rose to touch the mountain side. Some ponies would rise early and wait hours for that five minutes of a beautiful natural light show. Unfortunately, several things now disrupted the normal morning air. The three prominent peaks were now two, but the massive mountain disappearing was only a symptom of something far worse.

As Rainbow Dash approached the meteor’s impact site at her trademark breakneck speed, something was wrong enough that even she could see. Normally, the rising sun would illuminate the snow-covered mountain, but a conspicuous absence of snow allowed the natural gray and brown rocks underneath to meet the sun first. Where once there was a gentle slope which transitioned seamlessly to steep cliffs, there was a hole punched clean through, as if an angry god more powerful than Celestia decided to gouge out the mountain and scorch whatever his hoof touched. Craters large and small littered the gentle slopes and she could swear that something or somepony was moving around down there. Through the wind, she couldn’t recognize the figures, so she decided to close the distance.

The first things to come into focus was a scattering of small red objects. What they were or could be, Rainbow could only guess. Each one was a distinct blood red and bristled with spikes and other extraneous-looking bits of metal. Rigid wings jutted from the sides of each one, varying in length, profile and sometimes number from one to another. Stemming from the rear of each object was a large cylinder. To Rainbow, it was most reminiscent of a firework or bottle rocket.

Now within a hundred yards of the nearest impact site, Rainbow fought against the wind and glare to observe the first of the life forms around the craters. What she saw was hard to describe, as it was akin to nothing she had ever encountered before. Bipedal creatures were not unheard of in Equestria, but they certainly did not reside in mountains, nor were they a hideous shade of snot green. No two were alike as they each wore a different uniform. Some had simple leather clothes and makeshift hatchets or swords. Others appeared to have claws instead of five-digit hands. Their blood red eyes were intimidating, but stirred no fear in Rainbow’s heart.

How are there already ponies all over this area? Why would they be right where a meteor landed? Many more questions were forming in Rainbow’s mind as she approached what remained of the mountain. If she were as smart as Twilight, she would have questioned why there seemed to be a large presence of creatures around the impact site, but no signs of anypony leading up to it, as if the meteor had deposited them there after the impact.

More perplexing was their behavior. None of them seemed to be in charge and they were all preoccupied with scouring the obviously foreign objects littering the wrecked mountain side. Every effort seemed to be made to collect any bit of metal not already riveted in place. It obviously wasn’t food, so perhaps they were scavenging from their wrecked objects.

Curious as ever, Rainbow flew down to the strange creatures to try to make contact, descending to what uneven ground remained after the violent impact. As an Equestrian Airpony, a Wonderbolt no less, it was her duty to render aid whenever possible. Her first contact was a creature whose upper body was completely inserted into a hole that looked like it was blasted through the side of the craft. Its legs were just inches off the ground, making it look like a dog that got stuck in a rabbit hole. It was clearly preoccupied with finding something buried within. It let out small grunts of exertion with each swipe and tug at the mechanical innards. Rainbow was no egghead, but the small pile of parts amassing at the green-skinned creature’s feet looked like something Twilight was doing when she was assembling her fancy new telescope. So engrossed with its current task was the green-skin that it didn’t even notice Rainbow perch herself just above the hole blasted through the side of the craft.

“Hey there, big fella,” Rainbow Dash announced, ensuring she got the creature’s attention. The creature gave a curious grunt, stopped rummaging around and emerged from its hiding place. It struggled as it shuffled backwards, but got out fairly quickly to face Rainbow. The creature was much larger than Rainbow initially guessed. The stocky legs seemed like a gross mismatch with the massively muscular torso. Its face was vaguely ape-like with a strong lower jaw bristling with dirty ivory fangs. It gave a perplexing look as its pupil less red eyes gazed upon the multichromatic pony before it.

If Rarity were here, she would comment on the beast’s sense of dress. She’d say that hoof-stitched leather work trousers clashed against a welded metal tunic. Besides, the black-and-white checker pattern shoulder pieces only made the incoherent mess of an outfit even harder on the eyes. Fortunately, Rainbow was not bothered by such things and went straight for the important matter to discuss.

“Name’s Rainbow Dash. You may have heard of me,” Rainbow stated with a swelled chest and pride in her voice, “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of you. So, where you from?”

The creature’s expression changed from a confused blank stare to snarling aggression. Reaching behind itself, the green beast drew a long makeshift hatchet, merely a circular saw blade fastened to a piece of pipe by a length of barbed wire. The creature’s next response would tell Rainbow all she would need to know about it in the future.

With cat-like reflexes, Rainbow dropped the ambassador persona, unfurled her wings and crouched low to push off with enough force to launch far away from the greenskin’s lethal-looking weapon. The creature let out a bellowing “WAAAGH!” as it swung its rusty hatchet right where Rainbow was sitting. The repurposed saw blade bounced off the metal hull with a sickening clang and grinding noise as sparks flew from the point of impact. By that time, however, Rainbow was already above and behind the beast that nearly took her life. The creature took a moment to assess its surroundings, but it almost concluded that Rainbow was gone.

“Hey!” Rainbow barked from above, getting her attacker’s attention, “That’s not how we greet somepony in Equestria!” The creature had no interest in what Rainbow was saying. Instead, it was busy picking up the junk from the wreck. The next move it made was a grunt of exertion from throwing a broken crankshaft straight at Rainbow. She didn’t have to move far to avoid the jagged metal rod, but it was clear that diplomacy was getting nowhere.

“You wanna play rough, huh?,” Rainbow huffed, now aware that she was going to have to use the universal language to get through to this lumbering beast, “Fine!”

Rainbow’s approach was to zig-zag all around her opponent, randomizing her movement such that even she was unsure of where she would be next. This was all a controlled chaotic approach, a tactic the Wonderbolts taught for one-on-one combat. It had the desired effect nonetheless. The green skinned creature paused, unsure where or when to swing its weapon to strike the darting blue pegasus. Its eyes were darting all over the place, but unable to keep up with the incredible speed presented before it. The creature held its crude saw blade hatchet high, anticipating a moment to strike, but unable to judge the correct moment.

When the confusion reached a fever pitch, Rainbow struck hard. She was up against a large armored target, so its inertia would be a task to overcome. Not a problem for a pony with a warrior’s mindset. In an instant, Rainbow closed the distance and landed a two-legged blow to the creature’s center of mass, sending a thundering crack through the air.

The creature was halfway through its trajectory before it realized what happened. Rainbow was pleased with landing the first blow, now she wanted to land the rest, and then the last. The green beast landed somewhere over the hill behind it with an audible crash back to earth.

“You’re in Equestria now, pal,” Rainbow shouted, hoping her words would reach her dazed opponent. She wanted to be sure her stance sunk in, so she gave chase after the creature she sent airborne. “I hope you learn not to mess with Rainbow-”

Rainbow stopped cold when she realized she was no longer up against a lone beast. Her encounter had been making quite a ruckus. All the noise attracted more of the greenskins to her location. Now there were at least three dozen of them come to investigate what all the noise was. No two were dressed or armed with the same, but the overall look of patchwork weapons and armor all brandished in Rainbow’s general direction sent a clear and unmistakable message.

No sooner than spotting Rainbow’s multi-colored mane did the group collectively unleash their barbaric “WAAAGH!” battle cry. Some brandished weapons that resembled cannons to Rainbow. She knew immediately and without question that peace was nowhere in their list of priorities. The next few moments were a blur of near-panic, adrenalin and too many near misses to count, but Rainbow managed to evade the salvo of cannon fire long enough to get far out of range and find concealment in a passing cloud overhead. Small projectiles were still passing through the cloud cover, but they seemed to be shooting blindly. Once the rush of energy wore off and the greenskin horde ceased their assault, Rainbow could rest on a passing cloud and reflect on what just happened.

A gang of green apes with cannons crashed to Equestria and first contact resulted in hostility. This was a cruel and extremely dangerous prank to pull, even by Discord’s standards. As Rainbow wiped the sweat from her brow and caught her breath from the most frantic she ever flew, she thought of what to do next. She couldn’t keep this encounter to herself. Somepony had to know. Twilight was the first to mind, so that was Rainbow Dash’s next move. If anypony would know what to do in the event of an alien invasion, it would be Ponyville’s premier egghead.

Without another moment wasted mulling over the past few moments, Rainbow immediately made a beeline for Ponyville. A sonic rainboom thundered through the atmosphere as Rainbow basically announced to all of Equestria that something big was about to go down…

---

Far to the east of Ponyville, the Rambling Rock Ridge was abuzz with activity. Mostly in the form of doubled watch ponies posted, watching for anything out of the ordinary. After meteorite shower that happened last night, the Royal Guard heightened security, wary of Equestria’s enemies taking advantage of the confusion. It would not be a frivolous measure, but it would prove to be of little use against what was to come…

Private Sureshot was at his post facing east, watching for any unusual signs of activity. His eyesight was so sharp that he could see for miles at a detail that his peers simply could not match. It would be a skill that would save lives in the near future. Living up to his name, Sureshot spied an unusual haze over the east horizon. Hazes were not uncommon as many were simply weather phenomena. This one was different. It did not recede after a few moments. Something was causing it to stay. Without hesitating, Sureshot reached for his radio transceiver and prepared his report to his watch officer on duty.

“Rocky Ridge Command, this is PVT Sureshot. I have a sighting report, over.” A few tense moments passed before the radio operator replied, but in that time, Sureshot already had a list of details that made this report quite unique.

“PVT Sureshot, this is Rocky Ridge Command. Go ahead, over.”

“East horizon,” Sureshot began, “large atmospheric disturbance. Large group of objects approaching, approximately twenty in number. Correction: thirty. No, fifty.” The objects were appearing from all angles in Sureshot’s field of vision, not just due east any more. What’s more, they had closed enough distance to remark on shape “Command, I’m seeing hundreds of airborne creatures quickly approaching my post. Could be dragons, or… or…” The young private’s report was interrupted by his own lack of words to describe what his eyes were telling him.

Were they some sort of bird? An airship, or derigible? It’s form was too rigid to be the former and too fast to be the latter. Something akin to rockets were fixed to each tip of the wings, emitting a telltale stream of heat from the rear. Dragons normally move as one large mass of individuals, but these beings grouped themselves into clusters of exactly five, one leading four others forming a chevron shape. They must have been partially reflective or metallic because Sureshot had no other explanation for the light he saw reflecting off many of the objects as they moved forward.

Dozens of them now filled the sky and were moments from passing directly overhead. Sureshot craned his neck back to keep observing the olive green cluster of strange beings passing over him. Sounds were now audible and they were unmistakably coming from the objects approaching from the east. Each one was a low rumbling at first, but slowly grew to a healthy roar, like a stream of fireworks without the light show. It was just enough to drown out the low volume on the radio’s earpiece, so Sureshot had no idea the operator on the other end was asking for clarification.

Now directly overhead, the squadron of unidentified airborne objects were in the clearest of focus. Some even completely enveloped Sureshot in their shadows for a brief moment. As soon as one passed, another appeared right behind it. Sureshot was so in awe that he completely forgot his current task of reporting his findings. As the last of the objects passed by, Sureshot turned around to follow it. Now facing west, he could see over a hundred individuals sailing forward without distraction. Straight towards Ponyville, Sureshot thought, snapping back to reality and regaining his bearings.

Sureshot replaced the earpiece he dropped and immediately contacted his command center. “Command, this is PVT Sureshot,” he began, ignoring protocol while frantically delivering what he could remember seeing. Command had already received that a large group of unidentified flying objects was heading west, but not so fast that hundreds of them had already passed overhead. That would put them over Ponyville in mere minutes. Whatever was about to happen, it was about to make the Changelling invasion of Canterlot look like child’s play.
> First Contact
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was normally a pony of strict scheduling. She had her whole day planned down to the smallest detail. Making changes on the fly was borderline impractical, but not impossible. It was time-consuming work, but in Twilight’s mind, twenty minutes of rescheduling could save untold hours of scheduling nightmares. This meteor strike had shifted her sleep schedule so much that she was four hours overdue for sleep. After a quick ten-minute rescheduling session, she could rest easy knowing that her day could still go according to schedule. Mere moments after closing her eyes, she was awoken by a racket that only one pony could create.

“Ughhh,” Twilight groaned, “What is Rainbow Dash doing now?” Despite her body’s protest to stay in bed, her mind took control and sluggishly trotted to the door of her bedroom. Before she could get much further, Rainbow Dash beat her to the doors.

“Twilight!” shouted a frantic Rainbow Dash, “Green apes! Crater! Angry! Dozens! Move! Now!” Rainbow was speaking so fast and loud that Twilight could only parse a few words in her half-asleep state. What Twilight didn’t even realize until a few moments later was Rainbow was pushing her out of her room, seemingly without direction.

“Rainbow Dash!” interjected Rarity as she used her magic to pull Rainbow’s ear in a manner resembling a stern mother to a misbehaving child, “Firstly, your entrance left a mess in the observatory. Would you kindly clean up after yourself?” Rainbow struggled against the magical grasp, but it was no use. “Secondly,” Rarity continued, “it’s quite rude to interrupt a mare getting her beauty sleep.” Rainbow was close enough that a flick of her hoof broke Rarity’s focus and released her grip on Rainbow.

“We have bigger problems than getting enough shut-eye!” Rainbow had regained just enough composure to get a coherent thought out.

“Please Rainbow,” Rarity replied in a somewhat smug manner, “sleep deprivation is one of the most serious problems here in Ponyville.”

“Is it more serious than the eastern birds migrating back west?” Pinkie asked, pressing her face against the window.

Twilight was only half-paying attention to her friends’ argument and was still too unfocussed to intervene. Still, something out the window caught her attention. It was a haze over the horizon she had never seen before. At first, she was inclined to think it was just what Pinkie said: a flock of birds. A congregation larger than any known species of bird is known to do, but a flock nonetheless.

~~~

The Apple family had avoided catastrophe by the skin of their teeth. The farm house had taken a glancing blow from one of the lesser meteors, but that was still enough to nearly demolish the simple wooden structure. It was built to weather the mild gusts of wind Ponyville was known for, but not acts of Celestia. Applejack and Big Mac were hard at work bracing what little structure remained while Granny Smith held Applebloom close to her, comforting the anxious young filly. Granny’s rocking chair was miraculously untouched by the apocalyptic force that decimated the house.

“Granny,” Applebloom asked her grandmother worryingly, “what if the meteor landed closer to us? Would we still be alright?” Applebloom’s fears were more than valid. Half an acre of apple trees had been violently upended by the same object that nearly destroyed their house.

“Don’t ya fret now young’un,” Granny Smith reassured Applebloom, “The Apple family’s a hardy bunch, we are.” Granny’s confidence slowly made its way into Applebloom’s heart as she spoke. “We’ve been through more than a few close calls and we’ll git along just fine with this ‘un.”

“Yep,” Big Mac commented as he braced a badly damaged wall with a support beam.

Still, Applebloom worried, as any child would. “But what if they landed much closer to the farm?” Applebloom wondered as she looked out the broken window towards the western mountains. “We might a’ lost every apple in the west field. And the house is still barely standin’.”

“Applebloom, dear,” Granny intervened, “The Vampire Fruit Bat Plague o’ ’26 didn’t beat the Apple family,” she said as she pulled Applebloom close, “nor did the Dust Bowl o’ ’38, nor the Apple Famine o’ ’55.” She was dangerously close to the point of no return for one of her rants. “Why, back in ’72, potatoes got more popular than apples. Ya’ couldn’t give ‘em away back then! But we made a comeback, just in time for the Great War o’ ’75…” By this point, Applebloom had settled into listening to one of her grandmother’s long stories. “If we could make it through all that, we can make it through this here Meteor o’…,” she paused, as if she forgot what she was going to say, “uh, what year is it again?”

“Alright, y’all,” Applejack interrupted as she finished tying two sections of wall together, “The house is somewhat put back together,” she said, expertly hiding her worry for the family’s future, “so until we get ‘er repaired proper, best give ‘er a gentle hoof.” Applebloom curiously observed her siblings’ handiwork and started processing it in her own way.

“Can I help fix ‘er any better?” Applebloom asked, eager to contribute to the recovery effort.

“Well, uh,” Applejack stammered. The operation was well in-hoof, so there was not much more a small child could do to help out. Applebloom went off before she could think of something small for her little sister to do.

“I can help bring parts of the house back,” Applebloom cheerfully suggested. Her attempt to help drag Big Mac’s heavy timber beam was endearing, but her energy could clearly be better used elsewhere.

“Actually, sugarcube,” AJ started again, but AB still didn’t let her speak.

“We could start weatherproofin’ the house,” she said through the blanket in her teeth. It was a bed linen, but it was the only thing she could find to keep water and wind at bay.

“I’ll tell ya’ what we need ‘round here,” Granny announced as she got up from her rocking chair, “I need them whipper-snapper eyes ta’ help me in the storm cellar.” Applebloom followed Granny around back to the rear of the structure, more intact than the front. “Remember that ‘special stash’ I showed ya?” At the mention of ‘special stash’, Applebloom’s young eyes lit up.

“Ya’ mean that special stash ya’ said not to use ‘cept for an emergency?” Applebloom asked, “Ya’ need me ta’ help get them supplies ready for just such an emergency?” she extrapolated, hopping up and down at the prospect of finally becoming an integral part of the Apple family’s survival.

“Need ya’ like a wagon needs a rear axle.” Hearing this only widened Applebloom’s smile, “Open up them cellar doors and I’ll show ya’ how these food rations are gonna work.”

“Yes ma’am!” Applebloom enthusiastically replied, “Right away, ma’am!” She struggled to open the heavy oak doors, but nothing less substantial would have weathered such devastation. Applebloom let her grandmother take the lead as she was the one who knew the cellar better. Applebloom was about to follow suit, but something odd caught her eye. Of all places to find a distraction, she found it in the sky. Clouds were nothing new to Applebloom, but clouds that didn’t behave like clouds, now that was something attention-worthy.

“Hey, granny,” Applebloom asked just as Granny reached the cellar floor, “Is the cellar weatherproof?”

“Ma’ hearin’ ain’t so good down here, sport,” Granny replied as her voice echoed in the subterranean chambers, “What’s this about a pepper booth?”

“The cellar can stand up to storms, right?” Applebloom clarified, making sure to annunciate her words.

“Sugar lump,” Granny began, “If the cellar can take a meteor, it can take on a dragon for all damage it could do.” This should have answered the filly’s question and quelled any doubt, but sometimes, a simple explanation is simply not enough.

“So what kind of clouds are those?” 

“Applebloom,” Granny retorted, “Whatever clouds ya’ see up there, they ain’t no trouble a’tall.” Granny was a patient one, but in a crisis situation, patience was a preciously limited resource. “If it starts ta’ rain, I’ll show ya’ where the drain gate is.”

“Yer’ gonna wanna’ take a look at this, Granny,” Applejack interrupted, her tone worried, “I ain’t never seen nothin’ like this before.” Granny knew something was wrong if Applejack, of all ponies, was worried about the same thing as her curious younger sister.

“Fine, I’m a’comin’,” Granny relented as she grumbled her way back up the stairs. It was rude to make an old mare walk up and down so many stairs in one day, especially if there was nothing to truly worry about. Once she got back up, however, she saw just how justified all the ponies’ fears truly were.

“Now, what in the salty saddles are we all worried…” granny asked as she emerged from the dark cellar, “…’bout?” she finished, stunned silent by what her old eyes were showing her.

Clouds were nothing new for any pony in Ponyville, but they stayed exclusively in the sky. On top of that, clouds never got darker than the ashes of a burned out camp fire. These clouds looked more like the pitch-black smoke of a raging forest fire. In fact, nearly the entire impact site of the meteor was covered in this charcoal-colored veil. Worse still, it seemed to be spreading at an alarming rate.

“That there ain’t one bit natural,” Granny Smith said quite ominously. She wasn’t the only one who noticed that the fire seemed to be spreading down the slope of the mountain – straight in the direction of Ponyville and the farmstead.

As the smoke approached, something more foreboding came to the fore. The sharpest eyes in the family were Applejacks and even she squinted as she tried to identify the objects that were hurdling towards them. Moments later, she could see what looked like red chariots. They weren’t like any chariot AJ had ever seen and their riders appeared to be green ponies.

“I’ll handle this, y’all,” Applejack stated as she adjusted her hat. The rest of the family stayed in the safety of the storm cellar.

“Hey!” AJ called out, attempting to wave down the leader of the chariots, “Stop yer chariots!” In that interval, the crowd of chariots had closed enough distance to make out clear details now. The chariots were more like ramshackle conglomerates of random metal parts that somehow formed a working chariot. The dozens of chariots now in view grumbled like a rolling thunderstorm as they spewed thick black smoke from behind them. The ponies were more flat-faced with clawed hands instead of hooves. Their mouths full of sharp teeth were certainly intimidating, but AJ was not known for backing down in the face of danger.

“Go around mah house!” she screamed as she motioned for the riders to circle around. Their response told Applejack everything she would need to know about their new neighbors.

Before AJ was finished shouting at them, the leader was swinging a large spiked ball on the end of a chain. He had made no attempt to evade or slow down. In fact, his angry red eyes were aimed straight at AJ. She now had no doubt that this would not be a friendly encounter.

With all the strength she could muster, Applejack launched herself out of the way and into the cellar a split moment before the ball and chain gouged deep into the dirt where AJ once stood. Big Mac couldn’t have closed the storm cellar door any faster. No sooner did the ceiling above erupt with what sounded like a pair of rabid dragons pounding against the remains of the Apple family farm house. Occasionally, there was a howl of cackling delirious laughter. At least that is how it sounded to AJ over the deafening roar of the chariots above. 

“Big Mac,” Applebloom cried to her big brother, “A’m scared!” Despite her loudest scream, nopony could hear her. They were all too frightened to move or take any action. The only thing they could do now was cower in fear and wait for the storm to pass.

~~~

On the east side of Ponyville, the damage had been markedly less than the western edge. Many ponies’ houses suffered only slight damaged if they were affected by the meteor at all. The small sturdy houses fared much better than the big flashy mansions. One such large dwelling belonged to Diamond Tiara and her family. The stallion of the house, Filthy Rich, was hard at work supervising and coordinating the repair of his family’s home. It was a big undertaking, considering the damage, but he had more than enough means to finance it himself.

“Daddy,” Diamond Tiara whined, “When can I go back upstairs? I’m tired of waiting.” Diamond had been waiting for over four hours to go back upstairs and her patience was running thin.

“Excuse me for a moment, gentlecolts,” Filthy said to the foreman and his assistant. “Diamond,” he began as he turned his attention to his daughter, “I told you five times already to just wait until they finish rebuilding the stairs.” He was firm, but calm in his repeated explanation.

“But I left my tiara in my room,” Diamond childishly protested, “I feel naked without it.” She blushed and tried to cover her head as if not having a headdress was a mark of shame.

“I know you want it, dear,” Filthy replied, trying to sound like he understood what Diamond was feeling, “But it’s not safe to go up there yet. I have the best contractors money can buy working hard just for you.” A nearby carpenter quietly scoffed as he overheard the conversation. He just carried on with his load of timber. He was working hard for the juicy overtime pay, not for some millionaire’s spoiled brat.

“They may be good,” Spoiled Rich interjected, “but did you have to agree to this price for the repairs?” she asked as she held up the repair quote for Filthy to see.

“Spoiled, it’s a necessary expense,” Filthy explained as he regained command of the conversation, “For my family, no expense is worth sparing.” He placed his hoof on his wife’s shoulder to accentuate his point.

“Ughh…” Spoiled sighed, “Penny Pincher’s going to have a heart attack when she sees this bill,” she groaned, referring to the family’s accountant. She knew that her husband was right, that family comes before money in all circumstances. It’s just that Spoiled wasn’t used to having such a costly expense so suddenly.

Diamond tuned out her parents’ bickering as she gave a weary sigh out the window. She flopped her chin down on the soft velvety backrest of the sofa as she stared out the window hoping something would happen soon. Perhaps she should have been careful with her wishing…

In the distance, a large cloud of dust was being kicked up. By what, Diamond could only guess, but it was enough of an anomaly to get her attention.

“Well that was fast,” a nearby worker commented, “I didn’t expect them to get back from the hardware store so soon.”

“They’re coming up awfully fast,” his assistant noted, “Can those old carts handle that kind of beating?”

“If those are carts,” Diamond interrupted, “then who’s pulling them?” Diamond had the sharpest eyesight among the three of them and she could make out the carts seemingly moving on their own. As the hoard of carts approached, certain details came into focus that even the old stallion’s cataracts couldn’t obscure.

Indeed, these thirty or so carts weren’t the ones that were sent out just half an hour earlier. They were clearly not made of wood and nopony was pulling them along. The low rumbling in the distance slowly grew into a guttural roar as the pack of possessed carts approached the edge of the croquet field. They seemed to be hauling cargo, but the closest thing Diamond had for comparison was an enormous blow-torch. Others carried what looked like long metal tubes. Something seemed wrong to Diamond and she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Normally, somepony else would figure it out for her.

Without warning, one of the carts rammed its way through the box hedges and tore through the yard like a bat out of Tartarus. Dirt and freshly-cut grass flew in the wake of the cart’s wheels as it roared ahead, seemingly with reckless abandon. Its four wheels left deep tracks in the soft soil, leaving a clear indicator that it had been there. Another one followed suit not far behind. The deafening roars they emitted rattled the windows and nearly drowned out the confused screams of the workers inside.

Catching a brief glimpse of the carts’ occupants, Diamond spotted three distinct individuals. To her eyes, she thought each one was wearing an olive-green turtle shell that covered their chest and head. Their arms were covered in beige-colored sleeves that ended in gloved hands. They used these hands to grasp and operate their cart as it barreled forward. All three seemed completely unphased by the high speeds and intense jostling as their vessel tore across the uneven lawn. 

Stunned by all the commotion, it took a moment for Diamond to realize that her mother had snatched her up and rushed down the hall to the center of the house.

“Out of my way!” Spoiled screamed as she shoved the workers aside. Her mother’s instincts to protect her child kicked in as she ran as fast as she could to the house’s shelter-vault.

“Patch those holes later,” Filthy called as he yanked a worker’s headphones out of his ears, “Go downstairs, now! I’m not having anypony hurt on my property!”

With a surprising amount of order, all 38 workers and Diamond Tiara’s family had made it into the vault in less than two minutes. Still, that was two minutes of bone-rattling terror that all but one of the ponies could process without hysterical panicking. The foreman was 20 years retired out of the service, but that ability to compartmentalize information under immense pressure never truly fades away.

After a quick head count, Filthy and the foreman heaved with all their might to close the vault door and seal it shut. The shelter was built for no more than ten permanent occupants, but could temporarily shelter up to 50 in place. The lights flickered on after years of non-use and the darkness gave way to the scene of a sea of panicked workers and a mother cradling her fear-struck child. Everypony was trying to calm everypony else down, but still being in the throes of fear and panic made their efforts far less effective.

“Everypony listen up!” the foreman boomed out, his shout only amplified by the claustrophobic room. Almost instantly, the workers regained their composure and turned to face their boss. It was unclear whether they were struck dumb out of fear or if he simply had them trained like dogs to those three words.

“This gracious gentlecolt,” the foreman continued as the rumbling of the metal carts passed overhead, “has seen fit to get y’all out of harm’s way.” Everypony was spellbound by the firm yet soothing tone projected by this old stallion. “In return, you will show your appreciation by listening to his instructions at all times. Understand?” His decree was met with a few nods and scattered “yes sir”s.

“Understand?” the foreman repeated, louder this time. The response this time was a unanimous, but asynchronous “yes sir” from nearly every pony in the crowded room.

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me gentlecolts,” Filthy said as he squeezed past the crowd to a telephone on the far end of the room, “I need to make a few calls to high places in Canterlot. Disasters like this need immediate and swift treatment for a speedy recovery.” In times of crisis, Filthy Rich still exuded confidence and conviction, completely in-character for any large-business owner.

The rumbling above had not stopped, but it grew no louder than a dulled roar through the two-foot-thick concrete walls of the shelter. The lights would flicker as they rattled in their sockets, but held fast despite shat had to be some pretty severe punishment above ground. Filthy was making half a dozen phone calls to Canterlot’s director of this-and-that, General what’s-his-name and half a dozen more calls to business partners for favors he had with them. It was a flurry of business deals, delegation of emergency power and attempting to coordinate a massive relief effort from his tiny 500 square foot bunker in Ponyville.

~~~

Apple Seedling IV was ready to go into town to sell his farm’s bounty to the good ponies across the land. He had finally grown big and strong enough to haul his own cart to sell apples for the family. He could hardly contain his excitement as he fidgeted in place, ready to go.

“Calm down, Seedy,” Apple Seedling III said to his son as he tightened the last strap on his son’s cart, “I know you wanna go, but ya gotta get harnessed up first.

“Sorry daddy,” the young one apologized, “I’m just so excited to finally be sellin’ apples with you and Grandpa Junior,” he exclaimed, referring to his father’s father.

“And you sure as sugar will,” the father reassured his son, “If we can get the old coot off the porch. Probably fell asleep again,” he commented as he finished preparing his son’s cart for travel. “Wait here, I’ll go get him and we can head out.”

“Yes sir!” Seedy gleefully exclaimed as his father walked off, “Can’t wait, sir!”

As predicted, the oldest living Apple Seedling was sitting in his rocking chair on the front porch smoking his pipe. Such was his habit when waiting for something. This day, he was waiting for his son and grandson to prepare for their first caravan together. However, the old pony was displaying some odd behavior this time. He was sitting motionless, not rocking back and forth like he normally would. His eyes were fixated on something far off in the distance when he normally had a habit of zoning out or dozing off.

Apple Seedling III knew his father as well as he knew himself, but brushed his new behavior off as just getting on in years.

“Hey Pap,” he said, trying to get his father’s attention “I got seedy saddled up. We’re ready to head out to Ponyville.” Apple Seedling Jr didn’t even glance away from whatever was holding his attention off in the distance.

“We ain’t headin’ out Ponyville way t’day ,’boy,” the elder pony declared in a tone that had well-disguised fear. His son simply shot back a look of confusion as he tried to understand what changed his mind.

“What?” Apple Seedling III swiftly replied, “dad, you promised Seedy you’d come with us on Seedy’s first caravan. What’s got ya turning on your heels all sudden like?”

“Look out yonder,” the grandfather replied, still not turning away from whatever had his sight spellbound.

Looking out to the east it took a while for Apple Seedling III to figure out what was so fascinating. He had seen this horizon so many times over the years that he knew every minute detail that could possibly be, given the season. His father knew it even better than that. The only thing that looked out of place was two plumes of smoke appeared to be racing head first to each other.

“That there’s an act o’ war, boy,” the old stallion declared, speaking from decades of life experience. “Griffons in the Great War o’ ’75, whole army was them armored war machines. You see the smoke, the battlefield’s already claimed. Ain’t nothin’ a traveling farm family’ll do ta turn that tide.”

The father had never seen such a sight before, nor did he think it could have such dire implications.

“Pap, are you sure that’s-“

“Go on then,” the elder interrupted, “tell the young’un ta head on inside. If the finghtin’ come this way, best keep our heads down.” For the first time in the conversation, the old stallion got up from his chair, but casually started making his way into the old farm house.

Apple Seedling III always taught his family to respect and obey your elders and not talk back when they spoke, especially when they knew better given the situation. He learned that from his father and did his duty passing it on to his son. The smoke plumes were like nothing he had ever seen before and his father had over 60 years of living experiences to back up his claims. His father had never told him a lie ore even an untruth, no matter how bizarre or unbelievable his words were at the time. He never steered his family anywhere but right.

With a heart weight with disappointment and uncertainty, Apple Seedling III went to tell his son to come inside and avoid the coming fighting. He wanted to err on the side of caution, just in case his father’s war-torn past was coming to repeat itself…