An explosion rocked the train station, and Promising Future felt the ground fall out from beneath her. Her friend K’vlad was thrown into her, and they both toppled to the concrete floor below. The wind was knocked out of her, and she looked around. Everywhere was fire and death. In the distance, looming over it all, she saw the red eyes of the golem as it swiped its immense claw across the land, picking up the train and sending it flying through the air to its side. If there was an end of the world, this was it.

Like so many, Promising Future had answered the call from Overseer Toxic Shock. She was not a soldier, but she knew that she had to help in any way she could. Her and K’vlad had left Appleloosa for the nearest train station, expecting to find transport to where they were needed, perhaps to receive training as nurses or to help the refugees out of the ravaged remnants of Equestria. What they had found instead was a battlefield. So many ponies were dead, and the golem showed no signs of stopping as it crossed the land in the direction of Promising Future’s home.

The walls of the station cracked, and then crumbled. Promising Future could not move out of the way in time as the concrete came down upon her, and instead jumped over K’vlad, protecting her badly injured friend the only way they she could.

Something dark moved over her, and the impact of the heavy material never came. Promising Future opened her eyes and looked up at the creature that stood over her and her friend. Its body was a writing mass of various pony parts, of blank faces and squirming vestigial legs, its skin cracked and glowing from within. Even with the fearful continence of a Wasteland mutant, Promising Future saw that it was holding the wall on its back, its immense body preventing the heavy wall from crushing her and K’vlad.

The mutant was joined by another immense pony, a half-breed demon. The pair of them groaned against the weight of the wall, pushing it upward and holding it as a shield against the blows of magic that came from the golem and its army of red and black pony constructs.

“K’vlad!” cried Promising Future, turning her friend over. Her friend stared up at her with her normal blank, dead eyes.

“I am fine,” she said, emotionlessly.

“No, you’re not,” said Promising Future. K’vlad had absorbed most of the blast, and her right side was filled with glass and metal shrapnel. Some of the wounds were severe, and she was bleeding severely.

“I am not capable of pain. Not anymore.”

“Hold on,” said an electronic voice beside Promising Future. A large equidroid appeared beside her, using the wall that the mutant and half-demon were holding. “I’m a doctor,” he said, turning to a second white nurse behind him. “Ratchet,” he said, “Kit one-zero-seven. Five units styptic, three ccs medigel!”

“Right away, doctor,” said the nurse, her sides separating to dispense the necessary supplies.

All around them, ponies were suddenly coming out what seemed like nowhere. A heterogeneous force of soldires poured from the land around the station, weapons drawn and read. Promising Future realized that she was in the presence of the army of New Equestria.

The stone wall that the others were holding broke down. One of the red and black pony-like machines started to tear its way through, trying to attack the ponies on the other side. As it did, a translucent brown splicer appeared, springboarding off the back of the equidroid. It leapt on the face of the red drone, forcing it backward.

The splicer’s body was promptly torn apart with the magic from the creature, its flesh falling away- -but where each fragment fell, a tiny new pony formed.

“Aiptasia!” they cried in unison, jumping on the construct all at once, this time overwhelming it and bringing it to the ground.

From one side, Promising Future heard the sound of hundreds of hoofbeats accompanied by frenzied barking. From over a hill poured an immense pack of dog splicers racing toward their enemies. Riding atop one of them was a heavily armored sheep, and riding upon another was an equally armored actual dog.

From the other side, laserfire erupted. Promising Future turned to see a force of unicorn warriors in power steel. Her jaw dropped when she saw the insignia on the side of the thistle on the side of their armor. Even she knew of the ancient sign of Inverness, and of the epic unicorn defenders that hailed from those mystic highlands.

An immense power armored earth pony dropped next to them, accompanied by an equally armored unicorn. The earth pony retracted his faceplate. “Doc, get them out of here!” he said, just as a pony-sized construct leapt at him. It was instantly thrown back by an unseen force, its head shredded by a bullet from a distant source. The earth pony smiled and waved into the distance.

“Mountain,” said the unicorn, casting a shield around them. “Airstrike inbound in minus six!”

“Right, Fiddler.” He helped K’vlad onto the doctor’s back, and the nurse started to connect her to the oxygen tanks that the larger equidroid carried with him. He turned to Promising Future. Part of his armor opened, and he produced a sidearm.

“You know how to use a gun?”

“No!”

“Well, you better learn quick- -oh, road apples, she’s charging the golem!”

“She is a sheep,” said Fiddler.

“Sharpshooter,” said the large pony. “Two civilians pulling out. Cover them. I’m going in.”

He closed his mask, and with the unicorn joined the advancing force of ponies, splicers, demons, and mutants that rushed toward the army of constructs and the looming golem.

“Come with us,” said the doctor equidroid, using his metal body to shield Promising Future as they started to run.

From overhead, there was a rush of sound. Promising Future looked up to see a pair of ponies leading a contingent of heavy jetfighters- -one a black unicorn, and the other a jetpack-driven earth pony. She saw the missiles and spells fly from them all, and felt the blast of the impact.

A badly injured construct clawed its way toward them, its red light flickering- -and Promising Future unloaded the sidearm she had been given into its head. Its light flickered and went out, its body disintegrating as it was pulled back toward the golem to be rebuilt.

Promising Future ran, but looked back in awe. She was seeing the world she had only dreamed of, and knew that the transmissions were true. So many ponies and creatures of every race working together against Thebe, to save the injured and drive back the golems. It was a beautiful and inspiring sight, even if it was so saturated in violence and pain.

But, deeper within her mind, Promising Future knew that they could only do so much. Even working together, the best that the combined New Equestria force could do was hold back the golem. Thebe was too strong. Unless somepony found a way to stop her rampage directly, even Toxic Shock and his legion of friends and allies would not be able to stop her. They would be overwhelmed, and Equestria lost.

Promising Future did not know if that could happen. Logically, she knew it could not. Thebe was a god. There was no way to defeat her. Yet, as she ran, she recalled two ponies: a blue, rainbow-maned Pegasus, and a strange and violent bat pony.

She remembered what they had given her, and she held out hope that somehow, Equestria would survive.