Twilight breathed fast as her life flashed before her eyes. Tied to a pole, her magic nullified, her wings bound. She looked around to see her friends encased in a golden dome, along with Celestia and Luna, helpless to do anything, all with looks of sorrow and sadness. As the treasonous Blueblood walked forward, carrying a rapier in his magic, he smiled. Twilight looked around frantically. Ponyville was in ruins. Fires were everywhere, and Blueblood's army blocked every hope of escape. Now, bound at the plaza, she bowed her head, accepting her fate.

"Today marks a new era for Equestria. Any who resist, SHALL PERISH." he said, eyeing Twilight lustfully, who squirmed. "You could have been my wife, Princess. But you resisted. Any who resist me shall learn their lesson. Either by peace or war."

As he placed the rapier to her throat, he growled.

"LET IT END..."

Suddenly, a bright blue orb appeared in the square, charged with white energy. Everypony stared at it, then, it exploded, throwing anything not locked down akimbo. Ponies near the blast epicenter were thrown into buildings, and they rolled and slammed into buildings. Suddenly, the spears, swords, and weapons held in magic of any kind collapsed to the floor, as if they were puppets whose strings had been cut. Blueblood tried to pick us his rapier with magic, but nothing happened. Then, somepony cried out loudly.

"WHAT'S THAT...THING!"

Blueblood looked behind him and his jaw dropped. A massive black shape was descending from the clouded sky. It was huge, impossibly huge. Bigger than anything the ponies had seen A large red star impaled by a sword rested on the side. Large words were painted below the emblem.

UTC CRIMSON STAR

As the ponies watched, suddenly, what looked like large hatches on the sides opened, and what looked like a large swarm of smalldragons came out. As they came closer, the ponies realized it was some sort of flying machine, only nothing like any the Equestrians had seen before. They were black, and the size of dragons. Large tubes were rested vertically, and the tubes were attached to a trapezoidal body with a long tail. The body had what looekd like tubes on the bottom, and large pods on the bigger tubes. As they neared closer, they took up a formation. Then, what looked like fire spat out of the tubes, and streaks of light came off the wings. Then, explosions rocked the plaza, sending bodies into the air. As the machines set themselves down in a circle around the plaza, hatches opened, and black creatures swarmed out, carrying long black metal sticks. One guard tried to impale on, only the creature shoved the lance to the side impossibly fast, and then aimed the stick at the Guard's head. There was a deafening BANG, and the guard dropped dead to the ground, a hole in his skull bleeding profusely. The ponies stepped back, now knowing one thing.

These creatures can kill.

One creature, whose skin was white, walked towards Twilight while drawing a knife. Quick as a flash, he cut the bonds and caught Twilight's broken body. Then, plates came up off the head, revealing a face of flesh and blood. The creature took off the helmet, revealing brown hair, a battle-hardened face, and an angry expression. He drew a small, L-shaped object, and advanced on Blueblood with it aimed at his head. Then, it spoke in fluent Equish.

"By the order of the United Terran Coalition, surrender your forces immediately, or face complete and utter destruction."

Blueblood started, and then growled.

"Why should I surrender to a creature of the likes of...you?" He spat.

The creature smiled.

"Because we have guns, for one. Two? Well, the fact that we have 50,000 combat ready forces onboard the Crimson Star, and if you do not surrender, we will force you to surrender. And those who don't surrender will be targets of lethal force." the creature said, and he frowned. Blueblood recoiled, shocked.

"Fifty thousand..." he thought. "That's three times more than my entire army!"

"Hmm. Considering your options? Let me spell them out for you." The creature said. Blueblood smiled, and he yelled.

"CHARGE!"

Before he knew it, there was a bright light that lasted several seconds, and when it faded, his prisoners were gone. Celestia. Luna. The element bearers. His prize, the Princess Twilight. All had vanished with the creatures and their flying machines. Blueblood scowled and roared loudly to the sky.

"My king, what should we do?" A soldier asked

"Assimilate the town. No one is to leave until my prize is mine. If anyone resists, kill them. We must not fail."

As the guards rounded up the citizens of Ponyville, Twilight watched from the lead flying machine. As she looked at her friends and the princesses, all asleep, she slowly closed her eyes in slumber.

===================================================================================================================

Twilight woke up to a bright light shining in her eyes. The light faded, and she saw one of the creatures, what looked like a female, shining what seemed to be a lantern in her face. The female had black hair, a kind face, and freckles. She was clad in a white coat, with blue pants. She looked around, and she saw she was in some kind of hospital stall. She looked around the doctor to see all of her friends asleep on stretchers, with needles attached to bags in their arms. She saw a screen emblazoned with information above them, and a strange pulsing line above each one.

"You okay there?"

Twilight turned to the female.

"Yeah. Where am I?'

"Aboard the Crimson Star. Medical bay. Lucky the troops were able to transmat you all out in one piece." She said, injecting Twilight with some blue liquid. Suddenly, her vision sharpened, and she felt refreshed and awake.

"What was that?" Twilight said, standing up, only to be eased back down by the female.

"Stimpack. And by the way, you're still too weak to walk. You need rest." she said.

"How'd you..."

"I'm a doctor. It's my job to care for patients, regardless of race, nationality, or extraterrestrial standing." The doctor said, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"Who are you?" Twilight said. "And what?"

"Doctor Samantha Ryan. Chief medical director aboard the Crimson Star. Human female."

Twilight gasped.

"Humans...you're a myth!"

Samantha laughed.

"We're no myth. We've been living and breathing for hundreds of thousands of years."

"Amazing..."

"That's not one of the most impressive things we've done. There's a lot more to humanity that you don't know." Samantha said.