The battlefield around Canterlot was quickly becoming something more than just a hell of blood and flame. Blue shields had sprouted across the killing fields like gigantic mushrooms after a hard rain, and flights of frigates and personal powered armor rocketed across the sky, shredding black clouds of flying Serpah and blasting their turtle-like ships out of the sky in multi-colored explosions. Every few moments, beams of brilliant purple and bright green would lance out from the Tower of Canterlot, crashing into some of the Seraph hordes, or racing into the sky to strike at the badly damaged Seraph mothership. Slowly but surely, hope was returning to the battlefield, and the hearts of the Equusians.

In the Canterlot streets, Cervines and Lupines, once mortal enemies, were racing about in great herds and packs, carrying supplies to the cannon emplacements or leading Assault Team humans to vulnerable sections of the city. Ancient blood feuds, such as those between the various Minotaur and Griffon clans, were cast aside in the face of a monstrous enemy, one that had killed so many. Many Cervines carried pictures depicting the brilliant Deer Queen, who had given her life to teleport the citizens of Elkheim to Equestria as the first mighty blasts from above obliterated her kingdom. Lupines, many of them Germane, had once scoffed at the Queen's attempts to foster peace between the two lands and peoples. Now, more than a few honored her memory by wearing her picture tucked into their fur.

Donkeys, once a nearly second-class citizen in both Equestria and Stalliongrad, had risen to prominence in this hour of need. As strong as earth ponies, they took their place in pulling wagons laden with vital supplies across the quickly forming lines of battle, allowing the earth ponies to focus on their earth magic to make stone fortifications. And woe be to any Seraph that managed to sneak through and ambush a group of donkeys; their kicks and teeth were incredibly strong, and more than one Seraph would be found with snapped spines and crushed skulls. Working closely with the Donkeys, once a prey species, were the Griffons; wielding lever-action rifles from their homeland, the gargantuan avians flew in tight formation around the donkey convoys, blasting out at any Seraph warband that attempted to stop them. Any one griffon was a physical match for a Seraph, and more than a few avian screams of challenge echoed out into the dimming day.

Even Diamond Dogs, once the mortal enemies of ponykind, had brought their full-strength to bear against the monstrous Seraph. Having been spared a direct attack or bombardment, the entirety of the Diamond Dog clans had risen up to fight, wielding axes, mattocks, and great cannons that sprayed metal balls in a cone of death. Their ability to "swim" through stone allowed the Dogs to strike across the battlefield, or to rescue groups of ponies trapped outside the Aegis shields. The casualties they were taking were horrendous, but the Dogs did not know the meaning of the word retreat. This world was their home too, and they would all die to defend it, if they had to.

But a new race had entered the picture on this day. A race not native to Equus, and had little stake in its survival. Humanity. The most advanced species Equus had ever come across, with a massively diverse culture and people; it had shocked the world when Equestria had announced their find, and the negotiated Trade Agreements. Leaders from across Equus had gathered together to send their own messages to the humans, and what this new species had sent back... Electricity had been flowing across the world before the Seraph, even in places without a magical species, thanks to the humans' generating methods. The Seaponies had massive underwater turbines, and even now survived by clustering around the turbines and desalination plants. On the aeries of Griffonia, wind turbines still turned in the howling winds, providing power for all. Equestria had become enamored with solar and moonlight generated power, and even now, many citizens and soldiers fought in front of, or among, the farms of panels and generator buildings.

While medicines and potions had been sent out to the humans, the humans had sent back technology that would have reshaped the known world in Equus. But... then the Seraphs came. And everything changed. Now, many were unsure if their world could ever be saved. But humanity was not about to give up. In a rolling, continuous sonic boom, great ships began to power down into the atmosphere. Long, rectangular, and bristling with sensors and guns, the troop transports began to hover over various parts of the battlefield, drawing the stunned gazes of many ponies and their allies. And, on some kind of unseen signal, the transports as one began to fire. Missiles streaked down into Seraph hordes, followed closely by streams of horrific fire from spiraling chain guns and pumping heavy cannon. Red mist and fire erupted from the screeching lines of Seraph, and they retreated en masse from the withering fire from both the ships and the Aegis ground positions. And this was exactly what the ship captains had wanted.

On each side of the mighty ships, great doors opened up with blasts of venting air. And as one, screaming "Banzai!" to the heavens, thousands of Venusians leaped from the sides of the troop ships. Colonized by the Pan-Asians of Terra, Venus had become a sort of haven to the old ways of the various Asian races across Terra. Cambodian pyramids rose into the sky alongside Japanese and Chinese pagodas, and a mix of Shinto-Buddhism had overtaken the planet as its regional religion. With modern views mingling with traditional ideas, Venus had become a historical time machine. But even Venus had its crime; with firearms completely banned on the surface, criminals had been forced to come up with interesting ways to defend themselves. With PPA suits and melee weapons constructed from starship-class metals, they had done battle with the police forces and military, which quickly had adopted the same for their own use. Now, trained mostly by Japanese scholars, military technicians, and Chinese technologists, the typical Venusian soldier wore dark-colored powered armor, carried a large caliber pistol on his hip, and wielded large katanas, or no-dachi. Racing into battle on jetpacks built into their armor, they were the ultimate mass-assault force.

Screaming mightily they smashed into the Seraph line, blades singing and raising clouds of red mist high into the air. Their armor shrugged off direct hits from the Seraphs' blades, and their lasers could only slow them down for a few moments. They had not come to die. The Venusians had come to win, to live, and to protect. And there was nothing stronger in the universe. All across the battlefield, hundreds of thousands of Venusians joined their pony, dog, minotaur, and avian brothers and sisters in glorious combat. Above them, flights of Assault PPA teams streaked overhead alongside Wonderbolts, their rockets and wrist guns joining in the glorious slaughter. More than once, a rainbow-maned mare streaked in low before snapping into a powerful rise, leaving behind a massive sonic rainboom that only further destabilized the current mob of Seraph. Her cheers and whoops roused those below who could hear, and all across the battlefield, Equusians looked to the rainbow in hope.

From out of the Everfree, deep, constant booms roared out; mecha rifle rounds sang out of the flames and trees, crashing into the Seraph mobs like rapid-firing artillery pieces. And at their feet charged the Ponyville Militia, screaming and hollering insanely as they followed their saviors. Armed with human weapons made for pony bodies, automatic fire rippled out of their lines, gunning down swathes of Seraph, while a smaller group, namely a white unicorn and several small fillies, raced back towards the nearest Aegis shield. As the Seraph turned towards this newest threat however, something new entered the battlefield. And by entered, one means that it crashed down with a dull roar in the very center of the Seraph horde.

Shaped like a massive tear-drop, the metallic craft slowly opened up on all sides, its heavy doors crushing even more of the bestial foe. But it was inside that the true weapons lied. Mars had been a desert world, and even with the addition of water to its ancient waterways, it would always be the red planet. But that had been fine to its colonists. For the red sands hid treasures unimaginable. With a mineral wealth considered nearly obscene, Mars had become a powerhouse of wealth, industry, and independence. Factories churned out new creations daily, their pollutants launched into the sun to keep up the health of their world. And defense contractors on Mars, mostly of German or American descent, always had thought... big. Very big.

With a hiss of hydraulics and whirring servos, a Titan-class Force-Equalization Unit raised up out of its delivery mechanism. As tall as some early skyscrapers, the FU Titan had been designed to dig deep into the massive mountains of Mars for further mineral glory. Replacing its drills and mining explosives with cannons, chain guns, early laser designs, and enough missiles to threaten frigates had been simple enough. Now the gigantic "box-on-legs" as it was affectionately called, rose up to its full height, the crew inside scanning across the battlefield... and linking up digitally with the twenty-four others the Martian troop ships were raining down across the Equusian battlefront. The cheers from Canterlot were only displaced when the Martians began their assault. It was time to end this battle. For ponykind. For humanity. For all.

Author's Notes:

A small chapter, but a bit of filler to give you more information on the people groups as a whole. More is coming! :)