The Conversion Bureau: Final Message
by redskin122004
Chapters
Fate Of Humanity (Revised)
Fate of Humanity
Written by Redskin122004
Analons...
Goda ta nodx wa yaiywa vodd-
ERROR! BEGINNING TRANSLATION SET TO HUMAN STANDARD!
...
TRANSLATION COMPLETE!
OPENING PERSONAL LOG
Avalaons...
That is what my people called ourselves... In our language, it means 'Walkers of Balance'.
A proud race of warriors, monks, and scientists. We evolved and studied our world, mastering it before turning our sights to the sea of stars.
We knew that the stars held many secrets, both for the good of all....
Or our end.
We created weapons and defensive counter measures. Improved them to a degree that it can threaten our very existence if handled wrong.
We were lucky we did so.
We came across many worlds in our sector, we were careful in our spread, always insuring our defenses were more than adequate to hold off any attack until reinforcement arrived.
The garden planet Hisen, a world where its beauty is nearly unmatched by anything we seen so far, was attacked by the Worhangs.
Vile beasts that love nothing more than bloodshed and battle.
They came to Hisen in search for resources and slaves, all they found was death. Hisen was not just a garden world, it was also our training grounds. The planet's home system was also rich in resources for our ships and weapons of war.
For 2 weeks we fought them, for every inch of ground they gain, they paid nearly 10 times for it. And yet these losses did nothing to deter them.
They were our opposites in almost every way possible. Their love for death, destruction, and sinful acts abhorred to the deepest of levels an Avalaon can imagine.
It was only the beginning...
For the next century we fought them, struggled against their seemingly unending tides of warships and soldiers. But everything got a limit to how much they can fight.
Unlike them, we fought to protect our homes and families, for our right for existence, and for our right to be free.
It also helps that we had better medical technology than them.
Soon, we were able to push back, striking back at their worlds, only to find more horrors waiting for us.
Slaves.
Dozens of species we have never encountered before, used as cheap labor, prostitution, or forced combatants. Those that were freed told us that there are many species that have been taken by the Worhangs...
Others were simply wiped from existences.
Even more chilling was the fact that a good portion of the galaxy is connected and see nothing wrong with this.
Our leaders debated for days on this, struggling to understand why this was happening to the galaxy. Why all this sin and darkness? On the final days of the war, when we were on the doorstep of the Worhang's home planet, our leaders made the decision that will affect the entire galaxy.
We can not, in good conscience, stand by and watch as others suffer under these horrid conditions. It is up to us to set the standard! While we tried to be kind to the children of the Worhangs and raise them higher than their predecessors, they in turn refused to grow beyond their parents atrocities. We had to strike them down many times before it finally dawn on us that there was NO saving them. We must be the BALANCE for the galaxy! Whether it the hand that holds out for peace and unity, or the fist that crushes evil and sin.
We are Avalaons.
Walkers of Balance
Guardians of the Galaxy
It was end of the Worhang/Avalaon Wars, but the start of a millenia of wars and battles against the corrupted galaxy
Every slave trader, every criminal organization, every corrupted government that we came across found themselves in our sights. For every group we found, we found a civilization struggling underneath their weight, being forced into slavery to pay dues or 'protection'.
We freed dozens of systems, each free species joining our cause to the betterment of the galaxy. They brought soldiers, food, resources, and new technology into our alliance.
Near the end, we grew powerful enough to resist even the most ancient of orders. Rolling over their defenses, slaughtering their mercenaries and soldiers, sparing the non-combatants in hopes that they can grow beyond their people's ways.
When the last hold outs fell, when the last world finally submitted defeat at our hands, we realized that we have done the impossible.
We beaten a galaxy full of strife and conflict, where the norm is to own a slave or be one.
What was more, those that we saved sees us as saviors and gods.
We had to change that.
We are not worthy of being called gods, for we are far from perfect. We made decisions that we are not proud of.
Thus the Galactic Alliance was born. Over a hundred species joined, each one clamoring for a spot to make their voices heard. However, they would only join if we were in a leading position.
No matter how we tried to step back, no matter how many times we stated that we want to be considered equals to them, they saw us as leaders of the galaxy.
So we submitted ourselves to the position, but only if every species agreed.
All of them did.
Soon we began to set out with our original goals in mind: Exploration.
We began to explore the unknown regions of space, studying all that we found within them. We soon began to come across other species, some that have yet to take their steps into the stars.
So we watched, fascinated with how they walk among their world. Some of the others in the Galactic Alliance wished to do a more in depth study, but we stop that and outlawed it. These young species must look to the stars with wonder, not fear of unknowns awaiting for them to be captured and studied like animals.
However, more than once we were forced into view, either by an unknown alien race invading their home, planet killer asteroid, a plague of unknown quality, or if the world in question was about to destroy itself through war.
You wouldn't believe how many times that has happen...
For the next several millennias, we watched and studied, watching them grow beyond their limits before taking their steps into the stars.
We usually wait for them to colonized a planet and prepare their defenses before greeting them. Introducing ourselves and asking them to join our alliance, both for their protection and for trade. Most would join right away, eager for the chance to meet new people, other would decline, if only to gather strength and present themselves as a stronger species.
Sadly, a majority of those that choose this option tend to believe that they should rule the galaxy.
And they tend to attack other worlds to get what they want.
These species don't last long, and we have destroyed entire planets to insure that they don't. We are not proud in doing this, many Avalaons believe that it is the greatest sin we can ever do, but we don't have a choice. It either the suffering of another species, or the destruction of one causing it.
In this event, we try to preserve their memories of history and art, to put them in something of a good light. Others are not so appreciative of this, but they understand.
And now...
Nothing.
For the first time in 6 millenias, we have yet to come across another species. For over 1000 years, not a single new sentient race has push itself into our view. We have explored the majority of the galaxy, but there is still one section of the galaxy we have yet to explore...
Perhaps we will find something there.
Head Explorer Daniaz Monchon signing off.
END PERSONAL LOG
OPEN LOG. BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
(Sighs) Day 1 of the exploration into unknown sector. Already having trouble with the locals. We landed on a planet called Fruside, the home planet of the Golans. We used this time to prepare our ships for our long mission to come. But...
They told us stories of how young adventurous captains and their crew fly into this arm of the galaxy and never return. The Golans all but begged us to bless us, our ships, and even our weapons before we even set a single foot inside here.
Now...I normally would of scoffed at this...but the fact that they have records dating back to their stone age...Tends to set the people on edge.
If we do run into something...
And its not friendly.
It going to find out first hand just how tough it is to take down a Avalaon.
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 36 of exploring unnamed sector.
I think we should name this sector already.
'Sector Zilch.'
That is what we got so far. 20 star systems with absolutely no civilization to take note of. Not even a damn temple. Archer of the winds above, give me strength because this is-
(Explosions) WARNING: UNKNOWN SHIP CLASSIFICATION ATTACKING FLEET
Me and my mouth
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION.
One lucky shot and the rest of it was like shooting a brain dead snarlafon.
Seriously....who makes a ship that is in the shape of a flat disk?
Our resident Machine Mind, Koyta, managed to infiltrate their damage ship and managed to pull up information on a research planet.
That's right.... A research 'planet'
From what Koyta tells me...
Its to study species and their survival rates...
Against each other.
Damn it.
We are setting a course to the planet now. There may be hope in saving whoever is down there.
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 42
(Sighs)
I thought we seen it all...
But these little grey Avalaods take the Asda pie.
These things just don't go abducting other species to study them...
They pit them against one another and they experiment on them. Create monsters by fusing DNA with other species.
No idea why.
They seem to be fixed on a certain race however.
No name so far, but from the surviving records, these grey aliens seem to have big plans for them...nothing good either.
Koyta tells me that these aliens seem to hate them, though there is no explanation for this. The few that were on the planet seem to find one another and survived until the aliens went out and killed them.
Damn...
And we just missed saving them by 3 standard weeks apparently.
Daniaz.
Hmm?
We have found a vault inside one of the stations. It appears to hold many items of interest.
Is that so?
Most are ancient in design, but one stands out. It is being held in an anti-gravity room.
Send me a picture.
Yes sir.
Fascinating...And this is the most advance piece in there?
Yes. But it appears that these...Grey aliens have been mocking it for its inferior technology.
Hmph. Not so high and mighty now are they? Thank you Koyta. Any word from Alliance?
They will be sending several fleets to our position. They also requested that you will take in the 38th 'Frunda' Attack Frigates to boost your fleets attacks and defenses
Hmmm....Koyta?
Yes?
Relay to the ground teams. Bring me that satellite so we can figure out who made it.
Yes sir.
Perhaps there is something more to this than meets the eyes.
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 89
Well, from the reports, those little grey monsters are getting their hinds quartered by the Galactic Fleets. Saved over dozen species so far. Nothing on the Avalaod-like aliens that the grey ones hate, but we are hoping to find them soon enough.
Onto the satellite. From our reports, it is really ancient compare to our technology, but from the looks of it, its doesn't look that old.
After scanning, I estimate it to be at least 40 standard years old, maybe less.
So they may be close by...
Or they could be lightyears away. We have no clue where the Grey ones have picked this up.
I see...
However, I did find several golden disk located on the satellite itself. They appear to have some images etched onto them and look very different from the satellite itself. It may be of some importance.
Alright. Work on that. Hopefully we will find them before anything happens to them.
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
SKIPPING TO A LATER DATE
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 978
Almost 2 standard years have passed since we have found the Satellite, or 'Voyager 1', as that is its true name. We have only explored 10% of the Orion Arm Cluster.
Heh....Got to give it to these humans. They named almost everything around them with what they had at the time.
Extremely impressive of them.
Which makes it imperative that we find them before they run into trouble.
At current rate of advancement from what has been provided to us at the time this was sent, I believe they would be space worthy in about 40 more years, barring war or other disasters.
Noted. Location wise?
Given the photos and images on the disks, I believe I have downsized the search area to several thousand lightyears.
That right there is more that impressive. Given the technology, they not only managed to figure out where they are in the galaxy, but did so accurately. That is mighty impressive. We have to thank them for that, much better than running around in the dark. Koyta, please play Johnny B. Goode.
Ah...these human know their music.
I prefer Beethoven's 5th Symphony myself.
I heard from Master Arms Hadolik that he and his men enjoy the Tsuru No Sugomori during their off periods.
I detected a large decrease in stress whenever it is played.
Hmm...Probably explain why most of our soldiers enjoy it so much.
Human music seems to have taken up a storm across the galaxy. Many are awaiting for them to be found.
All the better. Once we find them, they will be welcome with open arms.
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 1002
Finally, I believe we tracked down their home system!
Scans has indicate a 99% percent match to System profile within our records.
Thank you Koyta. I didn't see the giant red gas planet nor the ring gas planets either.
I am sorry, is that sarcasm?
Yes.
You have been on this ship too long. Have you taken the time to visit the Relaxation park?
Gah! Stop trying to mother me! I searched long and hard for these beings and I finally found them! Now then, how should we-
Incoming transmission. Human Language. Very weak.
They found us?!
Negative. It appears to be a wide spread signal. Shall I play it.
Yes.
"Please....Ne.....Cele....ger.(Static)"
That's it?
Yes. It appears that the signal was simply too degraded to be cleaned up.
I could barely understand the first word. Hmm...Take us in closer.
Sir, Galactic Alliance has warned-
I know what the rules say, Koyta. I just...I don't know. A feeling I suppose. Warn the fleet. Relay to the captain to keep us out of sight while the rest hang back.
Yes sir.
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 1004
Where are they? They have to be here!
Scans has shown that the continents match to our records with 10% error margin.
So that has....wait what did you say?
I said that the continents match to our records with 10% error margin.
10%? Show me.
This island located in what the humans call the Indian Ocean is not in our records. It appears to be several hundred Talins large.
Where did this island come from?
Unknown. Perhaps we should ask the natives on the planet?
Those equines are not natives of this planet. They look... off.
Images show that they are the majority on the planet.
Which is impossible! An experiment maybe?
Maybe...Scans have shown that they use a type of unknown energy source. Although it is not so dissimilar to the energy used by Torzans and the Eores, and they have been known to perform feats of kinesis of a variety. It is more pronounce with equines that are born with a single horn, but they all have this energy within them. The ones with wings have been shown to have the ability to manipulate clouds, it is unknown what the last group does with their source.
Hmm...Something feels wrong...I am not sure why. But it feels like I am looking at a grave...
Alert! I detected a several targets with large amount of unknown energy source located on the island.
How many?
Three.
How strong?
Enough to power a Torzan Battlecruiser about 5 times over. The weakest being 2 times at least.
Keep an eye on them, in the mean time, search for any clues about where humanity could of disappeared to.
New data! Scans have shown multiple satellites in orbit, along with what appears to be a Space station. However, it is losing orbit and will fall planetside within 3 weeks from my calculations.
How come you are just telling me now? How the hell did we miss a space station!?
You stated to scan the planet. Not the surrounding space around the planet.
(Silence)
I am going to deactivate you, you know.
Try it fleshbag.
And you are telling me to relax?
Is there a point to this?
No....Just trying to soothe my stress by irritating you.
You are failing most spectacularly.
Ha ha. Any life signs?
Negative.
Get a team ready to board that station, I want to know what in the 4 depths of Marsona is going on!
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
OPEN LOG, BEGIN RECORDING SESSION
Day 1010
(Silence for five minutes)
Sir?
Yes Koyta?
Log has begun.
I know, Koyta. I am unsure on how to begin. (Sighs) We managed to bored the space station, or its proper name, the International Space Station. Found several bodies inside, death by vacuum. Doesn't look intentional either.
Scans has indicate that an airlock had a malfunction and they were unable to remedy the situation from the lack of necessary parts needed for the repair.
10 bodies were found, good condition. Information on board was severally lacking, fortunately we were pointed to the moon where a base was located at....
No signs of life there as well.
Sir, catastrophic failure of the bio-dome resulted in the loss of over 30 personnel located inside the base. Signs shown that faulty metal bearings and sheets were unable to handle the stress of the vacuum of space. It resulted of 90% of the facility being exposed to space.
Yeah....One was located in what appears to be the control center.
The control center seem to remain unaffected by the exposure for a time, but scans has shown a small leak the sealed doorway, and had a single occupant inside.
Play the message Koyta. I want them to hear this.
Yes sir.
Human Audio Message Begins
Damn it....Damn it all. I don't know why I am even bothering to record this. No one planet side will hear this. The ISS has gone dark and the automatic distress signal has finally crapped itself out.
(Laughter mixed with sobbing)
Just one disaster after another. We lost the last rocket that held a large amount of supplies to be sent over here to the PER. Just damning us all up here. Then the ISS reports that their airlock is open and won't close, those guys up and died. And now? Fucking Bio-dome fucking fails on us and killing everyone but me. And where was I? I was taking a fucking nap in this god forsaken chair! That is the only reason I’m still alive!
FUCK!
God must f-fucking hate me....
(Silence and steady breathing)
…I guess.....
I guess I am hoping someone will hear this, since there will be no way for us to leave a warning on the planet.
At least that bitch can't reach as far as the moon.
I suppose I should start, right. Before I run out of air to talk, hehe, not like that's going to be a problem anyway. (Gun being loaded) Not sure why there was a SIG in the command center, if you had to use this you're pretty much fucked. (Laughs)
So get this, here we are, good ole year 2019, the world is actually calming the fuck down. Terrorists and religious nut jobs not blowing themselves up or demanding tribute to god or whatever. North Korea got invaded by China because they launched a missile, hah, those dumbfucks actually pointed it in the wrong direction and it landed in China.
Good thing it was a dud. But man, were they pissed.
So North Korea got invade and the people are now much happier than before. Technology is booming, getting to space is much easier now. And we finally figured out a much cleaner way to use energy for everything.
Life was great.
Then Fate decided to be a bitch and send us a fast ball...
One from about the size of Texas.
So there is an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, can't miss it, fucking filled with rainbows and shit. And we from around the planet just can't wrap our heads around it.
I mean...Shit, ‘where did this island come from?’ ‘Is it Atlantis?’
So get this. We try to send a plane to take a look inside. Fucking plane disintegrates when it runs into this pink barrier that was surrounding it.
Poor bastards never knew what happened.
Anyways, so all we have are satellites to go off of and it is surrounded by ships from every country in the world. And what comes out?
A Pride Parade pegasus.
Comes flying out like a bullet and nearly got blown to bits by automatic gun turrets.
Shit, they probably should’ve let it.
Would’ve saved us a shit load problems.
Long story short, Ponies live on the island. Colorful fucking ponies at that.
So after a near disaster first contact, the head honcho herself comes out and talks to our leaders. And what do we do? We fucking open our homes to them; try to behave ourselves to give the best impression of humanity.
And they fucking stabbed us in the back.
Don't get me wrong, most of them are quite nice to be around. Hell, I admit it; I had one in the sack and let me tell you, that mare was a beast in bed. Good thing they are easily pleased.
But that bitch princess and her nerdy student decide that it wasn't enough. No, that bitch made a potion that will change humans into ponies. From the start it meant for those that were dying or couldn't walk and shit.
Hell, we understood. If it saves a life or makes a cripple walk once more, albeit on four instead of two, all the better.
Then she pushed for Conversion Bureaus, to 'share' the potion with everyone that wanted to change themselves. Of course some people went for it when you have Fluttershy promoting the damn place.
That mare is lethal in cuteness factor.
That is also when wackos started coming out.
The fucking PER
Ponification for Earth's Rebirth.
Fucking crazy people, who believe that Celestia was the second coming of god or some shit. They weren't all that bad at first, but...
It got worse.
5 years passed and several million people change their shapes. We began to notice that those that change were not the same anymore.
I don't mean physically, I’m talking mentally. When you realize it, you’ll see that you are talking to a completely different person. The original mindset is not there anymore; they hate what they use to like or have fears of things they use to love.
They tend to shun human made technology and move to Equestria to get away from it all. It’s...discerning.
Hell....Not even a majority Native Equestrians like them. They call those that change ‘New Foals’ and believe them to be really creepy. Always smiling and shit.
Their words, honest to God himself, that’s what they said.
Then...Out of nowhere, the barrier begins to expand and Equestria goes dark.
At first we believed that the bitch was trying to stop the expanding barrier, but no, after 3 months of silence. Celestia herself sends out a message, hold on...I know I have it here somewhere...Where the hell is it?
…Aha!
(There was a buzz of static, which was interrupted by a polite cough).
"People of Earth. I have been studying your history for these past five years. I am quite sadden by what has happen to you and what you were forced to live with."
"You have been travelling in darkness, gathering it within yourself and letting it fester until you dive into oblivion. But fear not! I come bearing good news, the Ponification Potion will cleanse you of your taint. You will start anew! The Barrier will insure that all that taints you: Your history, your technology, and vicious nature itself will bow before it. You will never have to worry about your lives ever again."
(The static buzz returned and as quicly as it came it was cut off, leaving a slow and steady breathing)
Ain't that some shit...
She comes to us and proclaiming to save us...
We didn't want to be saved in the first place damn it!
(A loud snap of wood resonates in the small room)
Shit...stupid chair...fuck, it’s getting... harder to breath. (Sounds of metal hitting flesh is rings out)
Well, heheh…there it goes… I wish I had a video recorder… instead of audio… so you could see the beautiful earth…now stained with fucking pink… with just…one small part left.
I....
(There was a steady heavy breathing, which lasted for several minutes in silence)
And…there it goes...the last remnants of humanity...either crushed by the barrier or forced into ponydom.
(Helpless sobbing filled the room, echoing against the walls)
(His sobs slowly but surely change into hysterical laughter)
BWAHAHAHAHA! I am the last one! Fuck you, you royal bitch! You didn't get us all! I am still here! I am still breathing! A HUMAN STILL LIVES!
(His voice was cut into a series of coughs that seemed to change between laughing. After a while it died out, replaced with very heavy breathing)
Not for long....
(There was the sound of metal rasping against metal)
I am not going suffocate in here.
I will not let… the last seconds… of my life… to be… from crying!
(A small clicking noise was heard).
You won’t get the pleasure… of getting… me… bitch.
(BAM!)
Human Audio Message End
Its like looking into a tainted mirror...
Sir?
This...Celestia...This..Being with so much power believes she is helping them...
I fail to understand this logic. She claims to saving them, but destroys their minds, culture, and history in the process.
I said tainted Koyta...This...This is what the Avalaons could become if we allowed ourselves take a view and never change it. We have always tried to save everyone, even though we know we can't...
Even our enemies....
This...Celestia...(Growls) She wishes to save humanity by wiping it out?! By neutering what made them human?! What kind of train of thought is that!?
(Silence)
Koyta!
Sir!
I want you to mine the data we gathered from the bases. I want all information on this Celestia and group.
You are asking me to sift through an entire database that filled several sever room with data. That will takes several days to process-
I don't care! Do it!
Yes sir.
Get me Captain Odaz while you are at it, I will need to debrief him on what is to come.
She is not getting away with this....
END RECORDING SESSION, CLOSE LOG
Year 5 of P.E. (Purified Earth)
Celestia smiled as she watched another day rise before her. The fact that she no longer had to raise the sun every morning was a bonus. She could sleep in for once and not worry about her ponies panicky willy nilly.
But trying to break a habit that was several hundred years long was a hard one to break. She gave a small sigh as she calmly sipped her tea, enjoying the warmth of the the powerful sun.
Her ears twitched as she heard the door open to her room, revealing her sister, Luna.
"Sister." Luna called out to her, Celestia turn and smile at Luna.
"Yes Luna?" Celestia took another sip, nearly moaning as the sweetness overwhelmed her tongue.
"The stars are acting oddly for the past few nights." Luna look at her with worry, pacing somewhat near her bed. "While I know these are not my stars, they are acting... odd for stars."
"Is that so?" Celestia shook her head before looking towards her little sister. "We are in another realm of reality, Luna. Who is to say that this doesn't happen often."
"But...." Luna started, but faltered when she heard a whistling echo over ahead. "Wha-"
Something slammed through the roof of the castle, going through 4 floors, passing Celestia's room and punching onward to the ground floor. The very air from the speeding object knocked Luna aside and the entire room was covered in dust from the pulverized castle stone. Coughing out, Celestia used her wings to blow the dust away. "Luna?! Are you okay?"
"Yes sister." Luna coughed out, shaking her head. "Your bed saved me." Luna gave a small giggle as she bounced somewhat on Celestia's bed. Celestia shook her head, before turning to the hole in her floor. "Although...We are confused on what had just happen?"
"I am confused as well. Come Luna, we must-!" Celestia stared as something floated from the hole, nearly as big as a pony itself. "What in the world?"
"GOR DI MANSO TUA LIE! "
"I'm...sorry?" Celestia stared at the floating object in confusion. "I don't understand you? What are you?"
"GAV DI LO! EARTH LANGUAGE DETECTED! STAND BY FOR THE OVERSEER!"
"Overseer?" Luna stood next to her sister, watching as the object open a small port and beam of light appeared, forming the shape of a bipedal humanoid.
It was at least 6 feet tall, with a dark forest green coat covering its face, and three eyes. A set of eyes where a normal being would have them, with the third directly on its forehead. It was covered in armor and the scowl on its face would of made Discord take a moment to flinch from it.
"You are Celestia!"
"I...Am." Celestia answered with caution in her voice. "Who are you?"
"I am Overseer, and you are under arrest!"
"What?!" Celestia stared in shock at the being before her. "Under arrest? For what?"
"By order of Galactic Alliance, you are tried for Xenocide, Murder, Slavery, Destruction of Private Property, Planetary Invasion, Forced Posioning, and slew of other charges. Sharing your punishment will Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie 'Diane' Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Your trail date will be set at a later time, when you are convicted of these crimes..." He leaned forward, a ugly smile on his face " And believe me, you will not beat these charges, you will be sentence to death by black hole
"YOU CAN'T-" Luna started to yell, but was silenced when her sister only placed a wing tip on her lips, a small smile on her face.
"You have destroyed an entire species on false claims. You have enslaved their minds for purposes unknown, nor do we wish to know. And you have taken their trust and ripped it asunder. There is no mistake."
"YOU. ARE. GUILTY."
Celestia only took a step back and smiled sernely. "Please, lets be civilized people here. Surely you will understand why we needed to do this. The humans where trending a dark path, I couldn't allow that to happen to them."
Overseer simply crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing in contempt of the being before him. So the answer to this problem was to erase them from the face of the galaxy? You are more deluded than what we have on record.
"Record?" Celestia blinked in surprise, they knew of her? Overseer only smiled, a small chuckle that soon turn into full blown laughter.
Even now, humans are making a mockery of your 'sacrifice' for them. He laughed at her. Dead for five full years, their entire planet wiped away of any signs of them....All but the ones you can't reach.
It didn't take Celestia long to figure out what he meant. "Space." she whispered.
They died trying to survive, but they saved as much as they could of their written history and arts. And a lot of information on you. Its over, Celestia...Or is Tyrant?
Celestia flinched at the name, but scowled. "I will not allow myself to be taken."
"And I will not allow you to take her!" Luna stood next to her sister, her eyes glowing with magic. "I only recently reunited with her, I will not allow some aliens to take her away!" Overseer looked at Luna with interest before Celestia gained his attention.
"You may come and try, but you will not defeat me so easily." Celestia stated confidently to Overseer. He only smiled, which put Luna and Celestia on edge.
"Then prepare yourself, Tyrant." Celestia and Luna heard the sound of thunder, soon followed by the screams of fear and horror. They turn and their jaws dropped in horror when the sky was literally filled with ships of all kinds. " Because we are already here. Say hello to the Galactic Alliance Fleet! We know of your power, Celestia. It is time for you to see all that we have accomplished for the past 6 milleniums."
Dozens of drop ships began to fall from the sky, screaming from the atmosphere into Canterlot.
"I doubt even YOU can stand against trillions of beings united against you. Welcome to the end of your world and peace, Tyrant.
Imprisonment and Freedom
Imprisonment and Freedom
Written by Redskin122004
Edited by DrawDex
Present Day
A new music played for her.
Chains of light connected to her from the cell floor illuminated the cell around her, a continuous reminder of why she couldn’t use magic, the force that kept her tied. Her wings were left untouched because of how useless it would be to use them. All she could do was listen in sadness and wonder.
She had to quietly listen, and she wouldn’t have it any other way, to the music being pumped into her room.
The sound of strings, percussion, and dozens of other instruments played loudly, even harmonically with each other. The humans playing their instruments showed vigor and confidence, giving it there all. Celestia's ears flickered as the orchestra came to a close; these songs of beauty after years of hearing them have taken her into a deeper state of depression.
It didn’t matter how many times she heard these pieces of art, she always asked herself the same thing:
'Why haven't my pure little ponies created anything as close as this...?’ Celestia wondered.
With the melody over, a quick pacing melody started, the type that becomes catchy after hearing it many times over.
Hello eveyone! My name is Tryta Folsoon, and that was FireBird Suite, created by Igor Stravinsky. To those just tuning in, I welcome you to the EGOIM, the Earth Group Orchestra and Instrumental Music! And you are in for a real treat!
Coming up next is a blend of the human’s classical and new age instruments. Warriors and soldiers alike will be pleased by this brand, and for those that are in or are inspiring to serve under the Galactic Alliance, this will help get your blood pumping!
The sounds drums and guitars began, they picked up a tempo before the song really began to set itself loose. An involuntary whimper left her. It was to show her what creativity and capability was lost, what inspiration and beauty was destroyed. To show her every aspect of the ‘monsters’ she ‘purified’.
3 years ago...
The sound of three heavy bodies impacting the ground behind the Royal sisters was heard. Luna turned around first, her eyes widening in surprise from what she saw; three different 8 foot tall, slim figures, covered in a rather deep blue armor, crouching beside the floating object. Massive amounts of magic pouring from their very bodies, which could be on par with Twilight herself, or even surpassing her.
They unleashed their combined might on the sisters.
"ARGH!" Luna yelled as she and Celestia were taken by surprise by the sheer force of the attack, both sent away spinning through the castle windows, towards the Castle Gardens.
Glass spread everywhere; crowns long forgotten, their bodies dug a trench through the ground from the blow, stretching far through the garden, shoving or breaking everything on their way. Only when the momentum left them is that they could start to dig themselves out of the ground, doing so as quickly as they could.
Luna was the first of the sisters to rise from the ground, she was missing one of her royal shoes from her right fore-hooves, her glorious hair was ragged, full of dirt, and she looked incredibly angry.
She snapped her eyes to glare towards the now broken window of the castle; she saw the three bidets standing at their edge, looking at her direction.
"YOU DARE TO STRIKE AGAINST US!" Luna roared, charging her horn quickly she sent a very powerful bolt of energy towards Celestia's room, and upon contact it destroyed it completely.
Unfortunately for her, all three creatures jumping out of the room through the windows before the bolt could even strike, surviving the blasts explosive force. The three aliens landed on the ground like if the height were nothing to them, and without losing a beat, sprinted towards Luna and the now rising Celestia, and in their way they avoiding debris that fell from the now destroyed room.
Luna gave a small growl as she flared her wings open and took off to the air, giving her form an imposing presence, and her ragged features only seemed to add to that. She turned to Celestia."SISTER! READY YOURSELF! I WILL TAKE TO THE SKY!"
Celestia barely had a chance to nod before her eyes widen in fright. "LUNA! Watch out!"
Luna without turning, moved quickly away from her original position, barely avoiding a blast of energy that came from a massive floating creature.
Massive was the only word she could use describe it, it could be easily mistaken for one of the ships in the sky, notice the difference if they looked to the large eyes on its front and the flesh bulging from the protective armor that encased it.
A voice echoed out from it, not by normal means, but sounding as if it was being yelled out from within her very mind. "Cease and Desist all acts of violence!"
Luna scowled at the creatures; she bolted further into the sky to get away, only to run into more of the massive floating beings, along with dozens of small fighter ships.
Celestia watched as her sister got lost in a massive agglomeration of ships and massive creatures, only to be broth out of her trance by a familiar voice.
"PRINCESS!" Celestia turned to see Shining Armor and dozens of golden and dark armored guards rushing out of the castle, their horns glowing and weapons shining brightly in the sun light, only to get cut off as another group of beings that landed before them. Wearing blue armor with points of light shining brightly from within, these were similar as the one calling itself Overseer.
"I think not." Said one that held a staff, the leader, he spines it rapidly with his paws before slamming it into the ground with force in front of Shining and the rest of the guards, stopping them in the way, they ready their weapons for battle.
"Your Princess is a murderer and a slaver. She is unfit to be called a leader, ‘Monster’ or ‘Tyrant’ would be most appropriated. I ask of you, stand down, or you will be struck down where you stand."
There wasn’t even a pause.
"FOR THE PRINCESSES!" Shining roared loudly, all the guards did the same in agreement. They charge forward, spears in hoof and spell charging at the ready.
"Such foolish devotion."The being and his squad met them head on with powerful and quick retaliation. Celestia could only spare a small wince as she watched her guards being sent flying by the alien attacks, but she had other things to deal with, namely the three aliens that were attacking her from the beginning.
"I never thought I’d see the day,” One of the Aliens began to say out loud, throwing a bolt of strange magic at her, which she blocked “when a being with such pure ideals as you, could be as cruel as you." And she sent forth her own, only for him to nimbly jump away from it with ease.
"These Humans, what were their sins? What was it that they've done that you had to erase their very existence from their world, Huh?!"
"They had corruption within them!" Celestia shouted, throwing bolt after bolt of magic, leveling the entire gardens before her. "They stain their very planet with darkness and strife! I SAVED them from a fate worse than death!"
"Who gave you the right to judge another species?" Another alien asked. "Who gave you the power to do so?"
"I did." Celestia's Royal Voice roared out. "Feel the heat of the sun! Feel my wrath for desecrating Equestria with your war!" She floated off the ground, her horn glowing brightly as the area began to grow hot, all three aliens banding together and placing themselves within a protective shield. Once I am through with you, I will help my sister and clear the skies of all of you! Your Order, Your Alliance will bow before-ACK?!"
Something landed on Celestia's back; she turn to see a small bipedal machine, glowing green eyes looking back at her before slapping something around her neck. The power building within her horn suddenly petered out, a quarter of her power seemingly fading away, the device around her neck glowing brightly.
"Too much Tachyon energy!" The small machine squeak out, quickly jumping off her back before she could destroy it. "Need more inhibitors!"
Celestia’s eyes glowed as she attempted to destroy the falling machine, only to be caught by some kind of magic which slammed her into the ground with the force of a speeding train. She forgot about the aliens on the ground.
"ARGH!"
"Quet! What happened?" One of the aliens kneeled down before the small machine, while the other two began to blast the area which Celestia fell with their powers.
"Too much!" Quet yelped as Celestia exploded out of the ground, forming a shield around herself, she started firing her horn at her 4 opponents. The alien being scooped Quet and dove away, just barely avoiding the blast area. "Need more time to receive inhibitors!"
"How much?"
"45 microids!"
"Then you shall have it!" It crossed its arms against its chest, power brimming from his body. "Havocs! Hold her steady!"
"As you order!" The other alien said, advancing towards his target. He threw blast after blast of magic bolts before leaping towards the air.
The first hit her shield, nearly shattering it with a blast of magic. The second easily powered through, stunning Celestia, it was now that she realized how much lower of her original strength she actually was. She couldn't do much when the 2nd alien grabbed a hold of her around the neck and without mercy began to punch her in the face.
"Release-" Celestia started, only to receive a blow to the snout for her troubles. The alien only chuckled as he swung himself onto her back; Celestia realized from the start that she was at a serious disadvantage when the being slammed his arms into her wings, making them useless and her flightless.
Celestia cried out as she plummeted to the ground, the alien on her back slamming his fist, his magically reinforced fists, into the back of her head, with no remorse.
"Tern! It is almost here!" The small robot squealed as he watch the Havoc soldier and Celestia slam into the ground, only to wince as he saw the soldier get blown off from blank point range. Tern, his body covered in magic, spoke calmly, though the stress in his voice was obvious.
"Stay close; keep an eye out for an opening. When you see it, strike fast and swiftly, do not give her time to react." Tern ordered, he turn back to his soldiers, his voice loud and clear. "Make a screen!"
Both Havocs jumped back, throwing bolts of energy at the ground, throwing dirt into the air.
Celestia scowled as the air before her got filled with debris. "It is over. You may have taken a bit of my power, but you have not taken it all!" Her horn glowed once, banishing the dust in the air. "Make way for-!"
Celestia fell silent as she stared, her eyes widen in fright, there is a clear difference between fighting against bolts of magic, and as the last alien named Tern was doing, being covered top to bottom with magic. The amount he energy he was throwing equaled to the amount Celestia used to raise the sun back on their old world.
Tern only smiled, before he charged at Celestia, taking two step before becoming nothing but a blur.
Havoc Soldiers were Elites of the Torzan Military Branch. Their magic, or Essences as they called them, were the strongest of all Torzans. They were one of the first to join the Avalaons, their people fighting even when they were enslaved by the Worhangs. One ability over all the others impressed the Avalaons greatly.
The Vorhano. Meaning: Essence Powered Body.
Celestia barely had time to rear back before something slammed into her chest, taking her straight off her hooves and carried her straight into melee battle between the Avalaons and Royal Guards.
Shining Armor only had time to look in confusion as the Avalaons dove to the side, away from his shield, for no reason. He yelped as his shield cracked, only holding off the body of his ruler for a mere second before she bulldozed through it. Shining, who was barely going through the motion of the backlash to the broken spell, was run over and forgotten as dozens of other guards shared his fate.
Celestia eyes widen as the world around her blurred and blended in straight lines and colors, pain filled her back as she felt the bodies of her guards were shoved aside by her very own person.
She barely had time to scream when the castle wall met her and was promptly destroyed.
Twenty more walls suffered the same fate.
Room after room, hallway after hallway, she passed through everything in her path with nothing to stop her before finally reaching the steps on the front of the castle.
She and the alien broke through the railing, Celestia's body slammed into the ground with the impact of two runaway trains colliding with one another.
Tern only groaned, slowly crawling off the heavily bloodied Princess, his senses went numb, warning him of Essence build up. He turned to the downed princess only to receive a powerful grip to his whole body, which introduced him to Castle walls. He groaned louder as the pressure raised, forcing him into the heavy stone foundation.
Celestia coughted a small amount of blood, anger filled her eyes as she put as much force behind the spell as possible. She felt her ribs were broken, her wings shattered, her jaw fractured but still in one piece. “You...How dare you do this to me! I will banish you into the SUN!"
Tern couldn’t respond, his body pushed beyond its limit and now he was paying the price for it. The downside to Vorhano was the body was nearly pushed into exhaustion. He was stun at the fact Celestia still moving and functioning enough to use her power to flatten him against the stone foundation, slowly crushing the life out of him.
"Be gone from my-!" Celestia started, only to be startled as a voice yelled out.
"Now!" Dozens of bipedal machines rushed out from all directions, swarming Celestia before she had a chance to defend herself. All the machines started clamping on dozens of Tacyon Inhibitors onto her body.
Celestia felt her magic slipping away, her eyes widen in alarm as she tried to throw them off of her, but they held on, putting as many Inhibitors as they could.
"No!" She flailed weakly, as two of the other aliens jumped out, from where they were hiding and freed their friend from the wall.
She tried desperately to cling to her magic, but nothing worked as it was siphoned from her body to the clamps all around her. The last one was attached onto her horn, the last vestiges of magic going with it, the small machines scurried away from her. She laid on floor, weaken and without her magic, glaring at the small machines that did this to her.
An Avalaon walked up before her, the very same one that stoped Shining Armor from helping her. Shining Armor himself was hanging from his clutches, knocked out and bleeding.
The Avalaon dropped him at her hooves and said."Submit and accept defeat."
Celestia glared at the Avalaon, growling with anger she answered "Never...My sister still fights, and she will free me, we will-" Before Celestia could finish, the sound of something falling to the ground at high speeds could be heard before the side wall of the castle exploded into thousands of pieces. Only after the dust cleared is that the tumbling body of Luna could be seen.
She seemed to struggle to maintain herself awake, before she fell very still. Dozen of small machines came scurrying from the hole on the wall, jumping onto Luna and placing the same Inhibitors that plagued Celestia. Two of the massive creatures floated before Luna, along with two smaller ships, all of them seemed damaged in some way.
The Avalaon smirked somewhat, and turning back to Celestia he said."Oh please, do go on."
-Present Day-
It wasn't the first time Celestia had felt defeated, far from it, with beings like Chrysalis and Discord running amok in her lands.
But that was one of the reasons for going to Earth in first place, to get away from them, so her ponies could live peacefully and in harmony with each other, although...they needed to tame their neighbors first.
The music snapped short, bringing her out of her solitary reflection, hoofsteps could be heard advancing toward her cell, a guard that was always on the gate at the end of the hallway appeared in the other side of the energy shield of her cell door , Celestia could practically see the sneer morphing on the guard's face.
"Hey! You a couple of visitors, your royal highness." His rough voice barked out at her, emphasized on her loss of her crown and titter with amusement, as if it were a joke.
The door to her cell opened and Celestia heart beat a little faster when she saw who it was.
‘Luna.’
Celestia gave a weak smile as she looked upon her sister. No longer was she bound with chains of light that restrained her magic, her mane was filled with stars once more and her body was free from any tampering or those damned ‘Inhibitors’.
She was free.
"Lulu?..." Celestia whispered out, fearing that her mind may be tricking her into seeing her sister whole and unblemished.
The greeting she received was not one she expected.
"Sister." Luna said curtly, so cold was the greeting that Celestia actually shivered at the tone her sister used.
"How is Equestria?" Celestia asked, trying to warm the room up, but failed miserably when her sister responded just as chilly as before.
"You mean 'How is Earth doing?' Don't you Big Sister?" Luna calmly asked, as she began walking around the chained sun princess. "'How is the planet you invaded and made your own' doing?"
“I… didn’t meant it like that, I wanted to know how my little ponies? How are the new foals?” And immediately when she finished, Luna stopped in front of her.
Luna slowly looked at her chained sister, her eyes narrowing, like if trying to say so much more in her cold calm tone, but she wasn’t exactly strong willed when it came to controlling her anger.
He breathing became faster, heavier; Celestia was about to say something to calm her, anything. But before she could say anything Luna exploded, fury in full force.
"Is that all you care about? Your precious transformed freaks of nature, your slaves!" Luna yelled no longer restraining her anger.
"Lulu-" Celestia whimpered out; trying to calm her sister, even if just a little, only for Luna place her face close to Celestia's.
"You have lost that right to call me that!” Celestia felt like she had taken a blow to the stomach, never she thought her best friend, her sister, would ever say that.
“You lied to me! You lied to your student! You lied to the Elements! You lied to everypony in Equestria!" Luna’s voice was filled with anger and regret, every phrase hitting her in the face.
"I did nothing to stop you or your mad quest..."Luna said as if blaming herself, her anger starting to diminish.
"I did it to save them" Celestia whispered, more to herself than to her sister, but after three years of watching the trials on the Elements and Luna, documentaries on Humans themselves, human shows, music and wonders, it felt weak coming from her muzzle.
"Save them?” Celestia immediately regretted saying anything; Luna’s anger started growing back full force.
“Save them?! Save them from what!? US!? WELL, WE FAILED THAT DIDN'T WE?!" Luna roared out, tears shedding from her eyes; It was obvious she wanted to scream more, yell more, let herself go. But she stopped herself, she looked away taking a couple of steps back, sniffing and rubbing her face with her right wing to wipe the tears away.
The room was silent once more, the only sound was from Luna’s irregular sniffing, she was hurt and Celestia couldn’t say anything. To say Celestia was hurt would have been the understatement of the week.
"You told me that we were freeing them from the darkness,” Luna began, her irregular breathing between simple phrases hurt Celestia almost as much as what does words said,”-that I didn't have to worry about it.”
There was a pause as if she was looking for the right words to say.
“I should have looked deeper into it, especially when many of the ponies felt nervous about the new foals, about how odd and strange they acted, how... unnatural they were."
Celestia said nothing; she couldn't say anything to that because Luna was right. She made the New foals the way they were. Twilight nearly shared her fate when she went on trial, claiming to work on the potion, but only got off the death sentence due to the fact that she only worked on the transformation process of the potion.
She herself worked the rest. She was at fault.
Luna looked at the distraught alicorn before her, rage filling her chest one last time. "I should’ve seen the signs of madness...But I was too blinded by my freedom of the moon and my new friends to see it."
"Much like you had?" Only after saying it Celestia cursed herself and her mouth at the low blow, but Luna only shook her head slowly.
"I allowed myself to get lost in the madness of Nightmare Moon. I was not myself, but another person all together.” Luna said head hanging low, but quickly snapped her eyes at her sister with her full blown fury, she started to move around her sister once more, this time at a fast pace, more full of anger.
“YOU! Led me to believe what we were doing was right! That we, pony kind, had to save humanity in a way only YOU knew how!” She stopped in from of Celestia closing in to her face.
“YOU! Walked into madness with full control of your mind and body, head held high with a smile on your face! YOU used everypony around you, lied to their faces of what was really going on, because deep down you knew that what you were doing were WRONG! It wasn’t justified! YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING, CELESTIA, YOU KNEW!” And with that her rage subsided, Celestia could only stare at her, hurt in every way possible.
“.. You… are a monster, Celestia... something even worse than Discord ever stepped into..." Luna stated, her eyes filled with regret.
"Goodbye big sister. This will be the last time we speak." Luna turned back and walked towards the door. "Guard! I'm done here."
The door opened and Luna step out of the cell, Celestia needed rest, she needed to be alone, but the door remained open, Celestia confusion only lasted a couple of seconds, now remembering that the guard said she had visitors, plural.
Another pony walked in, taking Celestia's breath away.
"Twilight..." She muttered slowly. She looked over her student, she seem to be in one piece, not single hair or fur out of place, the only thing Twilight had on her was on her horn.
An Inhibitor.
Twilight stood before Celestia, her head lowered, ears and tail to the floor, Celestia couldn’t see Twilight’s face but due to her features she thought she felt confusion and sadness, and like any good teacher she would help her get over her depression with a lesson to be learned.
That was until Twilight sighed and sat down looking straight at Celestia while the door closed behind her.
Pure and undeniable spite, her hostility could be felt. Anything that Celestia thought Twilight was thinking was thrown out the metaphoric window.
And so a horrible silence began.
Neither of them said anything; Celestia due to the fact that she didn't really know what to say, and Twilight because she was struggling to look at her former teacher with anything more than contempt.
Twilight lowered her face once more looking at the cell floor, she looked tired, unbearably so.
This unbearable silence continued for several minutes Celestia, finally finding her voice, open her mouth to speak, but Twilight spoke first.
"I hate you..." Twilight whispered, and in the quiet cell it might as well have been a thunderclap.
Celestia faltered from her sitting position as she began to feel dizzy, her legs almost gave out as something in her stomach tried to be merciful by killing her with pain, but it wasn’t enough.
The pain just didn’t want to end.
Celestia’s breathing became heavy; her eyes watered a little as she barely found her voice to speak again. "Twi-"
But she was swiftly cut down.
"I hate you." Twilight said more forcibly, a small but steady stream of tears beginning to show on the floor.
Celestia felt as if she had been slapped, bucked, and burned alive at the same time, she tried to calm her student, "Twilight, please."
But Twilight would hear nothing of it.
"I HATE YOU!" Twilight screamed, her eyes burst and the tears as she stared at Celestia in the eyes. "YOU USED ME! YOU USED ME TO DESTROY AN ENTIRE WORLD!"
Twilight's horn sparked and the inhibitor glowed as it blocked the excess magic, only giving off light sparks instead of a fiery explosion that she intended to cast.
The small unicorns rage began to mold with her sadness, sniffing and glaring at Celestia. Celestia felt the tears begin to fall from her own eyes; the pain of losing both Luna and Twilight had finally broken through to her mind.
"I used to look up to you like a mother." Twilight whispered as she looked at the floor once more, sniffing as she wiped her eyes of her tears. "I looked up to you, seeing that you could do no wrong."
Her eyes quickly hardened, she looked up and glared at the chained Alicorn. "I followed your every word, every single one, even when my friends thought something was wrong with the potion."
Twilight stood up and turn away from the broken Alicorn, the last bit of her world seemingly shattering before her eyes. "I should have listened to them."
She stopped just before the door, turning back to see the Alicorn one last time.
"I am going to make it right, you know.” She said as she cleaned the final remaining’s of tears, “I’ve been working on trying to reverse the effects of the potion, it’s slow, but I am getting there.”
Twilight took a deep breath, fher features tuning cold and unforgiving.
“I am going fix your mistakes and wish that humans will see pony kind just as much of a victim to your hubris as them."
“Twilight, please listen what I have to say,” Celestia began, her tears haven’t stopped falling, “I didn’t do it because of corruption or evil, I did it because it was necessary.”
She knocked on the door, ignoring the wails of the Alicorn behind her. Celestia begging Twilight to stay and try to talk things out, but Twilight ignored her. She had her own family and friends to worry about, seeing as she didn't see them for the past two years.
“Twilight, please don’t-”
The door to the cell open and the unicorn walked through, ignoring the broken Alicorn screaming for her and begging forgiveness.
The guard, who was hearing the entire session; with a rather burly built, ten feet in height, blinking its 10 eyes in surprise, shivered a bit as the unicorn walked by.
"That was so cold a Bitlee could feel that one under their frosted hides."
"She deserves nothing less..." Twilight answered bitterly as she walked away.
Celestia never knew that this would be the last time she would ever see Twilight in person, ever again.
Daoron Mental Hospital
The Daorons are a rather strange race of beings; Averaging around 5 feet in height, 4 legs, 2 arms, large eyes that looked like it could see into your soul, lacking any sort of combat capabilities and they weren’t very good workers with physical labor in mind.
One would think they would be annihilated from the moments they entered into space; weak physically usually meant easy enslavement.
However, they have very good mental prowess.
Their ability to use their minds to affect the mind of others and the physical world around them was one more oddity of the galaxy. It was one of the main reasons why they survived for so long.
They would simply wipe the information from whoever wished to enslave them that they never existed.
And after meeting many other species that tried to enslave them they ran into the Avalaons half way through their war with the corrupted galaxy, and painfully learned that their mental arts, while powerful and useful, couldn't affect everyone.
The Avalaons have spent years toning their bodies as well as their minds, into achieving a very high degree. The need was given because a majority of their ground weapons were through melee combat rather than range, and while they cannot use mental abilities like the Daorons, they can figure out when something was tampering within their minds.
Their arriving at their home planet shocked the Daorons, realizing that they were found and sent a surrender plea to the Avalaon ship in orbit, much to their confusion.
After a small mistake on part of the Avalaons, not realizing that the Daorons wiped the mind of those they believe would be a threat to them. (Given the fact that the Avalaons were at war with the entire galaxy, this was understandable from an outside point of view.) The Daoron that attempted to wipe the memory of the Avalaon squad on the planet was quite in for a shock when the Avalaons noticed.
The messengers in panic fled, not even giving the confused Avalaons a chance to explain why they were there. After a bit of talking between intercom’s to soothe the worried Daorons, they soon became allies.
The Daorons helped from the shadows, gathering information from tight lip slavers and criminals by diving into their minds and getting the information needed.
Those days are mostly long gone, though there is still a section in the Daoron's military that trains their agents in these mental arts, but these days, the Daorons help the galaxy by healing the mentally sick or repressing traumatic experiences from survivors of vicious battles.
Or at least that’s what they did, until freeing the minds of beings repressed by another became the ‘new thing’..
"This is becoming pointless." One Daoron healers muttered, the room was filled with various tools and objects, as the three Daorons were focusing on the floating hologram before them. "We have yet to break the human’s conscience from whatever the Tyrant did to him."
"Don't say that, Xenita" One of the others chastised their companion. "I know we are getting close to freeing them."
"So you say, Belyd!" Xenita exclaimed, pointing at Belyd with utter annoyance. “Do you know how many Daorons called ‘quits’ since we started helping these changed humans!”
The one named Belya only shook her head. “Twenty-five! And do you know why!? Because the few human conscience that do wake up, start screaming like they are being thrown head first into the Void, all the while the filthy pony conscience is still in control.” Xenita said as she calmed down.
“…And all this while smiling..."
All three Daorons shivered at the thought, turning back to look at the pony sitting down on the table, he was smiling while vacantly waving at them.
"You'll see, Celestia was only trying to help us! She always was!" The pony said as his smile spread several times more.
"Thats nice, little pony." Their assistant, Mikae, a four armed Golan with pale green skin sat next to him, boredom clear in her eyes. She was there to restrain the pony if it became a problem, so far the pony has done nothing so it wasn't an issue.
"This is the creepiest mental disorder to ever exist, hey Dexla, Ideas?" Xenita asked, turning towards her co-worker, Dexla, who was silent the entire time, he just shrugged just as lost as the others.
"I don't know where to even begin."Dexla started closing to the hologram for a better position to explain.
“So as we know, the Essence, or magic as they called it, is blocking all the attempts in freeing the human’s conscience, and those that are forced awake will still be trapped because of the magic holding them." Dexla said, sighing as he wiped his forehead, tired and confused on how to proceed.
"Even worse is that, every day the human’s conscience grows smaller and weaker, while the pony conscience grows bigger and stronger.” He said frustrated, raising his arms to his head before continuing, “We are nearing the fatal zone, if we don't find an answer soon, the human’s consciousness is going to break apart and get absorbed by the pony’s conscience."
"And the human will finally die." Belyd finished, closed her eyes. "The beginning of the end, Celestia will finally erase them from the galaxy."
"It’s a shame really, given how powerful this Essence code is from what the ‘Torzan Medical Chief’ had said, he was surprise that we even found something." Xenita said, shaking her head. "Quite the brain power on them, may even give an Avalaon some trouble when it comes to mind games."
The room’s atmosphere got a little lighter but not by much, the weight of a species rested upon them.
And they were failing.
But unaware to them, the answer to their problem would come from the very thing they’re trying to save.
Mikae sighed, the depressing air affected her most of them all, she couldn’t really help as much as she wanted to.
She reached to her side, grabbing an overlapping gear of a metallic box, which was covered in a variety of different materials all over. She twisted the gear until a clicking noise was heard followed by static, she used her third arm to move the second gear located on the opposite side. After a while of moving the second gear, the static was replaced by a voice, a tune, one that she obviously recognized if her brighten up mood, if the pleased squeal was to any indication.
"Oh, oh it’s my favorite song!" She said happily, bounced up and down in her seat.
The pony on the other hand scowled and his hears flatten against his skull. "Gah! What terrible music!"
Mikae rounded on him, a scowl on her own face as she glared at the pony. "Hey, up yours! This song is great!"
“Anything that horrible must have been made by something evil!” The pony replied as he covered his ears with his hooves. Mikae wasn’t happy about that answer.
“You take that back!” All the Daorons in the room sighted in response, Mikae always acted that way when someone said something bad of her selection of music.
The Daorons continued to throw ideas at each other, but Xenita noticed something from her position in front of the hologram.
She blinked.
Then she blinked again.
‘The Human conscience was reacting?’ She thought
Her mind was slowly started processing the information as it dawned to her, she now staring in shock as the hologram began to show signs of activity.
‘The Human conscience was reacting!’ Xenita screamed in her mind.
"But What?! How is it...The Music!" Xenita exclaimed, startling her comrades, quickly rushing over to the pony who was still discussing with Mikae, in a quick motion grabbing the pony’s head she began to touch upon the human mind.
Her eye’s widened in surprise at the amount of struggling the human conscience was throwing out. But on its own, it wouldn’t get far.
But with three Daorons on its side...
"Quick! Help me!" Xenita yelled, startling Belyd and Dexla that rushed by her side.
“Xenita?" Belyd asked confused, which didn’t last long.
"He’s fighting!" Xenita proclaimed, not holding back her excitement, she looked at the chart as she fed the human conscience a small portion of mental powers, “But because it is a combination of mental and Essence, it will be very tiring time for anyone to break it, even cure it.”
Xenita turned her head to the side confused, “But it’s strange, look at the charts! The human conscience is not even trying to force its way through the spell."
“You’re wrong Xenita, it is attacking..." Said Dexla, he turned to look in awe at the human turn pony before him. "It knows where to attack, it’s attacking the pony conscience directly, but because the potion did all to weaken the human conscience, the pony conscience would never know what is really going on."
"So we need to help boost its strength in attacking the one in control, weaken it until the human conscience can retake control of itself, right?" Belyd said, she closed her eyes and like Xentia, she touch upon the human mind, concentrating on helping it. "Didn’t the ‘Torzan Medical Chief’ say that the potion had an Essence code that both weaken the human conscience while another one that was supposed to be suppressing the weaker one?"
There was a moment of silence, (which brought gifts of epiphany to all the good creatures) before they answered at the same time.
"We trick the potion into subduing the pony mind instead of the human mind."
A minute later, the human conscience began to recede back into a dormant sleep, much to the horror of the Daorons.
"Why is it...The Music! Mikae! Play the music again!" Dexla ordered, the human conscience was beginning to shrink by a large margin.
"Y-yes sir! I got the same one on my holopad!" She quickly dug into her pocket taking the ‘holopad’ and quickly placed it on the table. She quickly went to her music file and pulled out the data for the song. A small video sprang up and the song began to play.
The human conscience returned full force, struggling against the pony conscience, this time with the back up of three Daoron's helping it.
The pony began to tremble, his eyes widening as a scowl became more pronounced. "This music is bad! You should listen to some of our good ole pony music! I know if the Princess was to work on the potion she....she would...help...y-y-you...."
The pony held his head, turning back to look at the three Daorons behind him, their eyes glowing with a soft light as they began to push more power to the human being trapped inside, who as if thankful to their help doubled its efforts on resisting the pony.
"W-w-w-what are....you....doing....S-s-s-stop!" The pony cried out, but the whispers began to grow within its mind. The pony began to lose feeling across its body, scaring the pony out of his mind.
The whispers began to grow stronger, feelings began to fade, and the world was slowly beginning to melt away, the pony slowly succumbing to the very spell that held the human inside.
"I can't turn out the lights out now...." The pony began to sing, his eyes closed with a fresh tear running down his cheek.
"I see your face… I can't turn the lights out now..." The pony slowly opened his eyes, relief expressed in a smile slowly spreading across his face.
"My heart will break!~ ‘Cause everything I see, will end up killing me." His voice began to get stronger; laughter could be heard as he sang.
"All over, all over again!" The pony jumped off the seat, startling the Daorons, standing on his hindlegs as he began to sing the last few verses of the song with all of his heart.
"So I can't turn the lights out, Turn the lights out." He spread his forelegs apart, almost as if he was enjoying the sense of movement once more.
"So I can't turn the lights out!" He finished the song, breathing deeply and began to laugh filling the room with an intelligent sounding chuckle. Moving his hooves to his face he looked at his hooves, a quiet sigh escaping his lips. "Still a pony...But...It’s much better than a brainwash fool."
Mikae stared at the pony in shock before she jumped before him, startling him somewhat at her alien appearance before the memories of the 4 arm woman began to surface. "Oh my gosh! Are you a fan? You sang that so well! Did you go to any of his concerts? Please tell me he was better in concert!?"
The pony chuckled a bit, smiling at the young woman before him. "Well, you’re a fan I suppose?"
Mikae blushed, but nodded her head. The pony only chuckled, which in seconds blew into uncontrollable laughter, as it was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life.
Mikae didn't find it funny.
The pony found himself being lift by all four hands,in front of a glared that would of melted starship armor, but the pony didn't even flinched. He gave her a warm smile as she began to tear into him. "What's. So. funny?"
"I just figured that song wouldn't be so well liked by aliens." The pony answered simply.
"What are you talking about!?" Mikae exclaimed, shocked by his answer. "Human music is loved all across the galaxy!"
The pony’s face quickly changed into confusion, as if he hear it wrong.
"What? It...is?"
"Oh yeah! It is so diverse; with almost guarantee that someone will like a brand of music that is human made! Rock, Rap, Electronic, Soul, Jazz, Metal, Dubstep, Orchestra, Latin, Hip Hop, and so much more! This song, Lights out, is actually top ten of Earth Pop Rock section for the past 2 years!"
The pony blinked several times, before continuing half muttering.
"T-t-top ten?"
"Of the entire galaxy!" Mikae said proudly, failed to notice the rapidly paling face of the pony.
"Entire...Galaxy?"
"Yup! Hey? Are you okay?" Mikae lean closely to the pony. "Whats wrong?"
"Top ten for two years?" The pony whispered quietly to himself, shock written on his face. "Across an entire galaxy?"
"What's the big deal? Aren't you a fan? You should be excited!" Mikae smiled, squealing for finally meeting an actual human that just so happened to be a fan.
"I'm...happy. I just...didn't realize that it was going to be that… big." The pony stated slowly, his head was feeling lighter for some reason.
"Mikae. I believe-" Dexla started, but Mikae frown and lean in close to the pony.
"Why?"
"I never thought I would get… so many fans on that one." Mikae didn’t last even a second; her mouth formed an 'O' as she stared at the pony in her arms with a new found light.
"You..."
"H-hi, my name is Rick Astley...pleasure to meet a fan, and now everything is growing fuzzy." Rick stated before slumping in the arms of the Mikae, who simply squealed in happiness and began to hug the pony deeply, and jumping in circles.
Not caring about the Daorons that were staring at her in the same room.
"Will he be alright?" Belyd asked.
Xenita nodded, looking at the scans on the hologram. "The code took a hold of the weaker conscience and subdue it. It’s just the stress of the mental battle, and maybe the revelation of have your song becoming a hit across the galaxy may of just add a bit more to it." Xenita shrugged a small smile on her face.
"We better keep an eye on Mikae, looks like she is not going to let go of him any time soon." Dexla stated dryly, looking as the Golan continue to speak and hugging the unconscious ponified form of Rick Astley.
Ultima
Authors:
Redskin122004
Doctor Fluffy
Inquisitor-Awesome
"Welcome back to Alliance news network, so far for today we have the trial of self proclaimed 'Princess' Celestia, which she has been charged for countless crimes against humanity, ranging from Xenocide to Planetary Theft, and we'll broadcast the trial without interruption. There haven't been a trial of this magnitude since the Slaver Stryl of Klov Sector, aka Slave Master of the Regonk Arm, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to Death by Black Hole, over one hundred Galactic Cycles. In other news, thanks to the collaboration between Dargon’s Scientists and Mind Melders along with unicorns, many transformed humans have gotten their minds back, but so far not their bodies. Stay tuned for the trial after these messages. And now for a quick sponsor to the new drink, brought by one of the wronged humans, Coca-Co--"
Council chambers, Alliance station "Union".
Today was a day of busy activity, many kinds of small shuttles flying to and fro from the numerous ships orbiting the station. Not including the platform Ion Cannons protecting the system to assure the safety of the most important people in galaxy.
Celestia saw the guards place a device in front of her which scanned her harmlessly. She looked into the holographic rays surrounding her and for a moment thought she’d been teleported due to how 'real' everything looked. The building she was in appeared to be of human nature, a coliseum-like building that had been expanded to a very large degree. All around her, as far as her eyes can see, pairs of multiple aliens reside in each section, looking at her with disgust as far as she could tell. To her surprise, her sister Luna was in the audience, met with both stares of disgust for what she’d participated in, and admiration for how she was attempting to fix her mistakes.
"The trial for Celestia, former Princess of Equestria, will commence at this time." The judge, an elder Avaloan, said loudly and clearly as he bangs his gavel. Celestia watched on as the judge brought a data pad and began to read.
"You have been charged with the following crimes: one count of planetary Theft, Crimes against Sentience, Attempted Xenocide of an innocent species, three point three Billion Counts of First and Second Degree Murder, three point nine Billion Counts of Attempted Murder, three point nine Billion counts of Enslavement, two Billion Counts of Consciousness Wiping, Total destruction of priceless artifacts, Landmarks, and Culture... I... Can not read this anymore.... In all my life as Lord Judge, I had thought I had seen the worse the galaxy has to offer... Today I have been proven wrong. In this day and age, what you committed were crimes so heinous, in our past, my people would cut you down before you spread your 'Harmony'. I'll get straight to the point, how do you plead?" The judge said to Celestia in what seems to be his voice over a speaker through the council chambers as he shakes his head in complete disgust and anger. See could see in her peripheral vision some counselors shaking their heads as they converse to their compatriots. Celestia herself was beginning to get nervous but with over a millenia of practice her face gave the Impression of her remaining calm. She looked to the hundreds of aliens species, all of them judging her and her actions, and she felt small. If so many deemed her wrong... who was she to go against them?
"I plead guilty," Celestia said quietly after a moment silence, causing the entire Union to fall silent in surprise.
"You...Plead Guilty?" The Judge said in surprise, in which Celestia nodded her head to his statement.
"WHAT?!" someone yelled, the sounds of hooves running and shouts of surprise coming from a nearby hall. Celestia watched as a New Foal with green fur and a red mane raced out, anger on his face as he rushed up to her.
"NO! YOU CAN’T JUST FUCKING PLEAD GUILTY AND FUCKING LEAVE! I DIDN'T WAIT FOR A YEAR TO SEE YOUR STUPID FACE JUST SO YOU CAN ROLL OVER AND DIE WITHOUT A FIGHT!" The strange New Foal said as he pointed his hoof towards Celestia's holographic form.
“Security, hold that human out of court!” The judges orders were executed to perfection, the guards that seemed to be part of the floor raised up and grabbed the pony by its rear legs. It tried to fight, but balance became impossible as the aliens held it up. All the New Foal could do was flail angrily.
"Why are you so riled up about me already pleading guilty? If you wanted me dead so bad, why are you angry?" Celestia asked, her holographic face showing confusion as she stared at the New Foal answering his 'problem'.
The New Foal held his head and growled in anger at her apparent stupidity. "Because you forced us into a fucking war we didn't want! You demanded that we 'heed' your new Harmony. You didn't give us a choice! You didn't try to help us. You just fucking called us animals and sent our own changed people against us to either be slaughtered or force us to change! You were always so God damn sure of yourself! All of us wanted to see you get torn down piece by piece and you can't even give us fucking that!"
"But why are you so riled up? You won. I am going to die." Celestial said to the New Foal as he shook his head once more, his face showing nothing but pure anger.
"Why I am so riled up?! I'll tell you why!"
Outside a spaceport, Earth
"Defend that point! Don't let any of the bastards through!"
"There's too many of them. And not enough ammo!"
"We were never going to survive this! We just need to hold this position long enough to get these supplies to the last remnants in space so shut the fuck up and fight!"
"What the fu- PB!" Shouted a man as he screamed the most dreaded words in a single sentence. A potion bomber.
"Join the herd!" The bomber shouted happily as he jumped into a machine gun nest going out in a purple mist. And it didn’t last but a minute when three New Foals popped out with creepy ass smiles on their faces.
"I don’t know why I resisted so long," the ponies said in unison, completely without inflection, as they climbed out the sand bags staring at the humans.
"I know. Hey let's share the potion wi-!" Was the only things they could say before they were chewed into red mist from a hurricane of bullets. But with that time more and more of the pony horde came, quickly making the nest useless.
"Fuck! that machine gun nest was the only thing holding out those fuckers!"
"What do we do now commander?!" A man yelled as he pelted the seemingly infinite newfoal horde with his Sidewinder auto-rocket launcher.
"We were never guaranteed to survive. Remember, we all volunteered to hold this point till we got the shit our people need in space. Just three more minutes and I can die happy knowing that our species will survive," the commander said, calmly as if he was asked for the time of day. But everyone knew the tone he was using. He was ready to die, if not for himself at least for his species.
"It was always an honor serving you, commander," replied a soldier.
"Likewise my friend. Likewise," the commander said as he looks at the timer. Two more minutes. Just need to hold a little longer.
"What the--!"
"Shit.Shit! Shit!"
"What is it, Tucker?!"
"It's the Tyrant! And she's coming in with her guards! Fast!"
"No! Fuck no! She shouldn't be here. We can't lose this shuttle, fight!"
"Fuck! I'm outta ammo!"
"Ahh dammit! Same here!" telled the commander as he threw his gun to the side grabbing out his combat knife. "But that doesn't mean I'll go quietly."
"Now die, you sons of bitches! Ahhhhhhhh!"
Courtroom
"You were the resistance commander!" Celestia gasped in realization.
“Hell yeah I was, you fucking bitch!” the New Foal yelled. “And it was worse than hell being trapped inside something else’s mind in this body. I lost my eldest son and baby daughter in the same day. I finally came back to my senses only to learn that they were beyond saving, and I DON’T REMEMBER THEIR NAMES! How would you feel if your children are dead and you couldn’t even remember their names?! I couldn’t even remember my wife! For all I know, I might not have even had them! I was stuck in a void when I was under the effects of your brainwashing, slowly feeling parts of myself die painfully on each and every day. I hold no forgiveness for you, and none of my people shall give you an ounce of it. You took our future and raped it till there was nothing but a walking corpse remaining. Nothing you say will change that, and your death will be celebrated by not only my people, but the ones you lied to as well!"
“Are you quite finished?” the judge asked.
“Absolutely,” The New Foal said, trembling in primal rage with every word as he stared at Celestia.
“Everyone? Everyone will celebrate my-?” Celestia started. She knew not everypony had approved of her actions, but she hadn’t been prepared for that level of hate.
"Well, what did you expect, Celestia the Liar, Rapist, and Slaver?! This is your legacy you leave for us, dear Sister,” Luna said.
“Liar, rapist, and slaver?” Celestia gasped, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Of course,” Luna said. “That’s what the humans and ponies have taken to calling you. I, for one, cannot find fault with it.”
“Sister, please!” Celestia heard herself cry. She didn’t even know what she was pleading for at this point-redemption? An escape from her responsibility?-but whatever it was, she poured her heart and soul into it.
“If you want mercy or pity, you will not find it in this world,” Luna snapped. “No one aside from your slave-corpses shall mourn you. All New Foals shall be herded to new areas away from humanity where they will live the rest of their days until they all perish. Every foal they bear will be given to another family away from their influence, so that they can develop healthily. Until you are nothing more than a lesson for us all to know and live by."
“I just… I just wanted to create perfection!” Celestia yelled. “Especially for them! They made war against each other, they perpetrated such horrible atrocities… if you’d seen them do what I had, you would want to intervene too!”
“DID IT EVER STRIKE YOU THAT THERE WERE OTHER WAYS TO GO ABOUT IT?!” the newfoal yelled.
"We were not so different, once,” Luna whispered. “They were on the same path as us-I believe that they were trying to improve themselves, while you simply stamped them out. What you failed to understand is that there is no such thing as a perfect being, nor is there is any being better than others. It is your final lesson to us all. Goodbye, Sister. Twilight and her friends send you their most hateful regards." Luna said to Celestia as her features hardened a little in the middle of her speech. She turned and left.
"Oh and also before I go?” the newfoal asked. “Having enough of my self left to be able to say this is a gift enough, but I’m happy to say: Burn in hell Celestia, and do try to say hi to the devil for me." The New Foal said, a sly smile on his face as he and trotted away, leaving Celestia to the judge and counselors.
To say that they had been merely “sad” to hear of what Celestia would do was an understatement-there were things that she had done which the Alliance did not have words for, and several charges “such as ‘Crimes against sentience’” had to be made up on the spot. They had thought that their disgust could not reach depths any lower, but they had been proven wrong after the former New Foal had revealed of the amount of pain the young race had to endure. Not even the Avaloans had suffered anything near as much in their entire history.
To lose everything about yourself, your entire people's existence wiped away so no one would know you have even existed in the first place, so much gone because you didn't fit someone's example of perfection, that was a type of atrocity that some races didn't have words to describe.
It was sickening.
"Princess Celestia, as Lord Judge of the Galactic Alliance, I sentence you to execution by black hole. Your execution date is tomorrow, enjoy your last day on this plane." The Lord Judge said in a harsher tone than he expected, but no creature would blame him for what he had heard of what the humans were forced to suffer through due to this tyrant. With the sentencing done, the Lord Judge banged his gavel on the stand, and with that, the hologram ended, leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts.
Next day.
Celestia just sat in her cell. Crying, crying for realizing what she had truly did, and what really happened. 'I thought I was helping them!' she repeated in her mind over and over, she couldn't even remember if she slept or not. But she heard noises from outside, and after the shield went down, the guards walked in.
"it's time," they said. They were wearing full combat gear in case she had any ideas. But Celestia went with them willingly and without confrontation. After a while she was being escorted down a hallway. The only thing there was her sister Luna.
"Where are the elements?" Celestia asked confused. “Surely they would be here to at least give me a piece of their minds.”
"They didn't even want to come in the first place, and even if they did, they wouldn’t know what to do with Fluttershy. After she learned of what actually happened to the humans she was so devastated that she locked herself in her cottage for weeks not wanting to come out. It took the combined efforts of all of her friends to at least to get her to stop crying for more than a minute. And even then she's the one who harbored the deepest hatred of you. The elements were afraid of what would happen if she saw you-the poor mare has been put on suicide watch," Luna explained, with a sad frown as she remembered Fluttershy’s mental state after.
"And what of the others? Please, Lulu-”
Luna scowled upon hearing her childhood nickname.
“At least tell me what happened to everypony. Make it my last wish if you want. I just want to know." Celestia desperately, wanting her final thoughts to be of everyone she knew and loved. Though none of them were likely to reciprocate by now.
"Very well sister. Rainbow Dash is trying to do what she can with Applejack and many other volunteer ponies to try and reconstruct the human civilization as a way of apologizing to them. Rarity is trying to recreate human fashion and also reteach it to the humans who were fashion designers in their past and forgot how to even be fashion designers. Fluttershy is doing what she can for all families who are forced to realize their children are beyond saving, when she’s not under counseling herself. Twilight is researching how to reverse the effect of the potion so the humans would get their bodies back, day and night, routinely forgetting to eat, sleep, or drink. And Pinkie Pie is trying to cheer everyone up by creating parties. While Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are doing what they can to keep order in the absence of things. The humans are still less than happy to put it nicely. Some pony named Lightning Dust, though…. she tried to lead a pro-conversion movement, and that failed horribly. She was killed last week," Luna said to her sister who was solemnly staring at the floor.
"The poor fool, it was a lost cause and she still attempted it anyways. And what about you, Lulu? What have you done?"
"I am doing what I can to lead the ponies on the right path, and trying to undo what you did." Luna said with a slight hint of anger, Celestia felt hurt by the remark. Still, it wasn’t as if she didn’t deserve it.
"Well then, farewell sister. May your future shine brightly, without my foolishness to block you any further."
Celestia had heard of black holes before. She’d never actually thought she’d see one-she represented the power of a star, and a black hole was like the antithesis of a star, so they’d sounded terrifying.
She couldn’t scream as her pod rocketed her towards the black hole, the pod’s inside coated in hundreds of interlocking spells to prevent her from resisting.
Someone was probably watching her. There might have been a camera. She’d never liked ponies who stayed to watch executions-she thought it was sick.
My last moments in a millennia-spanning life, she thought. Some part of her wanted to break out, even though she’d suffocate soon enough. The same part wanted her to scream and protest and proclaim that someone would save her, even if they had to create a chain of bodies, and claim that they’d never understand true harmony, that they’d all be perfect ponies soon.
The pod began to shake, the sound of metal groaning echoed all around her before one side caved in, then another, and soon the small pod was a lot smaller than before.
Tears streamed from her eyes as pain and fear filled her. She didn't want to die, not like this! Not crushed to the size below an atom! She didn't want to...
But…
What was the point?
There was no way out. It was-
For a moment, she thought she had been saved. Or was in some afterlife. She stood on a cloud, in the middle of fog, “Where… where am I?” she wondered. “What’s-
The fog parted, revealing a massive black and spiky ship hovering above her, every side of it seemingly bristling with weapons. It sat in space above a large arid world, sands and grasslands covered the planet, and right below the ship was a massive army that was laying waste to everything in their path.
No…. no, no no. Why was whatever higher power that existed showing her this?
Punishment for her intrusion into this universe?
To show her that her mistake led to this human folly, more of their stubborn insistence to destroy themselves as the ship emptied its guns into the planet below, destroying what looked to be a very large settlement.
Was her interference on their world force the humans into monsters that believed everything was out to destroy them?
She caught a glimpse of the creatures in the ship, her vision suddenly sharpening impossibly fast to reveal that the creatures controlling the ship were not human, and never could have been. While they had similar body shapes to humans, which was somewhat weird, they had too many eyes and the texture of their skin was far too veiny.
No, no, no! she thought. Why does it have to be that way? Why couldn’t they all work together? It was something from the dark ages of Equestria, before they had founded the empire-which soon, in the fullness of time, just became Equestria.
The aliens on the ground were desperately battling against the invaders, using weapons far in advance of anything from Equestria, weapons that shot either light or various kinds of energy-she could detect physical presence in the beams from some of the weapons. It was impossible for her to tell what they were.
Unfortunately, these weapons mattered little as the horde of aliens continued on unabated, unleashing their own attacks in return.
No, she thought as the ship turn its sight onto the large alien settlement. No no no! Why do I have to watch this?!
She suddenly found herself zooming away into the very region of space. A large portal ripped open, magic and otherworldly energies brimming from it as an equally large ship appeared above the planet, unfamiliar and boxy, a sharp contrast to the spiky, angular look of the ship bombarding the planet.
Reinforcements? Celestia gasped as she read letters painted on the side of the ship.
UAS Harmony's Light
She was technically right. The boxy ship opened up, and what looked like a hundred smaller ships shot out of them, all of them in shapes that evoked Equestria’s birds of prey. There were humans at their controls, and, impossibly enough, Pegasi?!
There were pegasi controlling some of the ships, using a bizarre interface that looked as if it was hooked up to their wings somehow.
Humans and ponies alike fought alongside them in the smaller ships, controlling the turrets and letting loose on the aliens. Explosions filled the air as the large ship unleashed its own attack ships to deal with the human/pony warships.
Other ships ignored the battle all together, flying right through them into the upper atmosphere before opening up, still in midflight. Ponies and humans ran out of the ship, the humans outfitted with huge backpacks, landing and running along clouds, as naturally as if they had been able to do so their whole lives. They had huge weapons, far in advance of anything she remembered from her war against the humans, all of which blended both magic and technology. The pegasi scampered across clouds with them firing their back-mounted weapons, taking out several air support ships. If Celestia could gauge their reactions correctly, the nonhuman enemies were utterly stunned at seeing the the group running across clouds, desperately trying to ignore the evidence of their own eyes. One human even leaped onto a passing airship, unloading his weapon into the cockpit before jumping off and landing on another cloud.
The dropships continued their descent, many more beings readying themselves inside. The moment the ship landed; humans, unicorns, and earth ponies rushed out carrying equally massive weapons in hand or hoof, as they charged at the army, annihilating them with a constant barrage of… well, she wasn’t sure. They looked to be shooting hyper-accelerated projectiles, plasma, fire, light focused into a beam, and magic… except some of the magic looked to be coming from humans?!
She couldn’t pretend that she understood how it was possible. But while she hated the violence, she couldn’t help but be amazed at how well they’d worked together. The humans and ponies had shared everything for the common good, in a better harmony than anything she had even approached when attempting to convert them.
She saw the settlement that the humans were protecting as well, a great mining settlement full of numerous other races, all helping each other under the onslaught. Humans lifted Avaloans from under rubble and ponies rushed about, carrying wounded deeper into the settlement, aliens carried them both out of harms way when they hurt, they were doing their best to help each other survive.
She wept.
How could she not? There they were, not just happily coexisting judging by the Equestrian influence on some of the buildings and signs, but working together in a crisis.
It wasn’t quite harmony, given the ships attacking overhead.
But it was beautiful in its own way, it showed her that they could indeed coexist and work together.
She suddenly found herself in a single room, filled with ponies and humans working at various stages. Several doors open and she found herself staring slack-jawed at what she saw.
Three ponies, ones she never seen before, each wearing an Element of Harmony around their necks; Laughter, Kindness, and Generosity.
But it wasn't the ponies that had drawn her attention, it was the humans that appeared to be wearing bracers around their wrists. She could feel the power resonating within. They were the Elements of Harmony as well, on three humans no less; Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic.
All six walked up to one another, smiling as one as a device rose from between them. Each Element began to react, their smiles now holding a confidence that put her to shame.
The Elements were reacting... Because they truly were the bearers. She watched as they Elements gave off its beautiful light, filling the room with its warmth before being sucked into the device.
She found herself once again out into space, watching as barrel extend from the massive ship, swirling lights of all the colors of the rainbow glowed brightly within it. She was able to read a simple line painted onto it.
Friendship Cannon
For that single moment, Celestia couldn't help but think it was such a silly name. How threatening can a cannon be if it fires Friendship?
Apparently, very lethal to whoever was on the receiving end, as the cannon unleashed its power, splitting apart into various colors and slamming in the dark ship, gutting it with complete ease before it exploded.
On the planet, the massive dark army shuddered as one before falling, as if they were mere puppets whose strings had been cut. The defenders and the human/pony alliance cheered as one as the UAS Harmony's Light held itself above the planet.
Other visions flashed past her eyes, of yet more worlds. Worlds of ponies mingling with humans in the great cities that Humans had so many of, worlds where the barrier was actually a crisis on earth and Equestria worked together with the humans to find a solution, worlds where humans traveled to and from Equestria with ease. Worlds that seemed almost idyllic.
Tendrils of blackness spread through her field of vision as the pod approached the black hole.
There was so much that Equestria could have given to humanity, and so much they could have given to Equestria. Yet she hadn’t even let the humans have what little dignity you could have by taking things-she had just chosen to destroy, assuming herself and her ponies to be right in every way.
It was… Oh, only now did she realize the terrible act she had perpetrated. How shortsighted she had been.
”I never understood,” she whispered as it all faded to black. “It’s so beautiful…”