Equestrian Rage

Escaping Extinction

James Waters walked down a long corridor, though he understood why he was chosen for the "Eden Project" he never really dreamed that he'd be one of the Ark personnel that would be acting as the ones to bring humanity back from extinction.  Sure while he would soon die, his two A.I.s that he had written would look after and take care of those in their stasis, in a sense his legacy would live on in them. They would be bringing them back into an Eden he could never even dream of. They would go out into a world that would be basically untouched by humanity, 99942 Apophis was wiping the ledger clean after all. Though the thought if humanity really did deserve a second chance had crept into his mind from time to time, he quickly banished such thoughts.

He was about to reach his desk at 1134 mission control, two big panes of glass separating the room from the Ark itself, he found a man maybe in his early 50s with short salt and pepper hair in his seat. He looked at him confused as the man turned and saw him, he gave a big toothy grin.

"Say goodbye boys, one of our own gets to go off into the great unknown."

The whole room stood and applauded as they looked to James, whom just stood there numb. He opened to say something but two guards grabbed his arm and lead him down a long corridor and then to the Ark and the other Ark Personnel that would be joining him. All either respected scientists, military personnel that would lead the group, or other specialists like himself. All lead into the metal compartment as the speakers came to life.

"Apophis impact in 24 hours" An older feminine voice rang out.

"Roger Atlas control, this is 1-1-3-4, check for green." The man in Jame's seat replied.

"1-1-3-4, all systems green, Ark launch protocol initiated. Cryogenic preparation commencing, initiate Nanotrite injection."

Every one of them held out their hand as two IVs connected with a robotic hand, cycling out their crimson blood and replacing it with a cold orange liquid. With that the Ark Support Technicians lead them into their pods and watched as the doors closed and trapped them all in. With that they all turned and exited the Ark and the blast doors closed behind and locked.

"Check, cryogenic life support systems online. Subterranean Launch Injectors ready, 97% nominal"

Several minutes went by in complete silence, in both the Ark and Mission Control.

"All Arks secure, initiate burial sequence."

"1-1-3-4, check, targets confirmed, diagnostic audits complete, and Ark personnel entering status. This is 1-1-3-4 signing off."

"Understood 1-1-3-4, go for burial"

With that the tech at 1134 mission control started to launch of the last Ark, taking off his headset he stood and looked to the screen, the ground shaking violently as the Ark buried deep into the Earth's crust. After several hours suddenly everything was silent as the signal from their Ark gave conformation of successful launch.

Mission Control now coming deep into life as they made the last minute adjustments and set up the support systems for the Ark, launching several pods after it the the remaining time till impact. When everything was finished several small charges were set along the walls of the tunnel and detonated, collapsing it and entombing their seed of humanity. With that they looked to the clock, counting down impact. The Intercom now came to life after they sent word to Atlas Control that the final preparations for the Eden Project were complete.

"This is Atlas Control signing off, may we live to see another..." -static cutting the transmission off-

Soon a thunderous roar cut through the silence, the ground shaking and before long a wall of dirt struck and swallowed the whole installation as the shock-wave from where 99942 Apophis had struck, humanity's last scream on this side of the world cut short before it even started.

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

| Several Thousand Years Later |

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

"Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash's excited voice could be heard just barely over the frantic on the front door of her home. Groaning to herself and muttering a few words about her studies being interrupted the young alicorn made her way to the door, her sour expression hoping to silence the gitty pegasus.

"I told you already, I'm studying today Rainbow so I don't have time for one of your flying..."

Before Twilight could finish Rainbow zoomed past her in a blur of pastel, zipping from bookshelf to bookshelf stuffing random books into a saddlebag while talking a mile a minute.

"ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshTwilightIwasoutpracticingsomemovestoshowtheWonderboltsnearthemountainwellanywaysIkindatriggeredanavalancheIwasdodgingfallingrockslikenootheryoushouldhaveseenhowawesomeIwasanywaysaftereverythingsettleddownInoticedthattherewasadoorwithweirdpatternsonitandmadeoutofthisreallyhardandweirdstuffIt'sgottobealosttemplelikeintheDaringDobooksyoualwaysletmeborrow. I'm gonna have my very own Daring Do adventure, isn't that AWESOME!?"

Twilight sat there for a moment trying to figure out what Rainbow Dash had just said before shaking her head to get some sense back. "Slow down Rainbow," waiting for the the excited mare to comply. "Now breath and tell me what happened."

Taking a deep breath Rainbow Dash took a few moments to slow down. "Ok, so I was practicing moves to impress the Wonderbolts near the mountain. Anyways, I kiiiinda caused an avalanche...."

"WHAT!?"

"Relax Twi, that's not what was important. You see it showed this weird door with these markings on it I couldn't read. I FOUND A HIDDEN TEMPLE TWILIGHT! Now hurry up we've got our own Daring Do adventure to go on!"

Twilight gasped and a huge smile as she took Rainbow Dash's saddlebag into her magic, her horn glowing as she levitated the books that Rainbow Dash put in, out and replaced them with others from various bookshelves and then lead her outside.

"Well then, I guess we shouldn't waste any more time and get the others."

----

Alarms blared inside the Ark as red lights flashed and suddenly the dormant machines came to life, an electric hum singing out under the rhythmic sirens. James felt consciousness take hold as a screen inside his tomb lit up, his body still not able to move as the cryogenic stasis slowly loosened it's grip on him. An artificial feminine voice started to ring out inside the Ark.

"External disturbance detected. Cryogenic chambers compromised, chambers 2, 5, 7 and 12 online. Initiating emergency nanotrite activation, in 3, 2, 1."

James seized as a shock went through his entire body. His body now moving as he felt air invade his lungs for what felt the first time ever and his heart starting to beat in a frantic rhythm. After that he heard the voice start to speak again as the locks gave way with a hiss and he and the three other survivors fell onto the floor.

"Release cryogenic chamber seals, internal Ark temperature nominal. Rebooting internal data systems, all bio-augmentation systems fully deployed." -Suddenly his vision flashed and several bars ran across his vision, he looked to another survivor and a white line grew out from him and suddenly his name and a few statics about him started to appear from under the line. James panicked and tried to crawl backwards only to be against the back wall of his chamber.- "Nanotrites online, current position: unknown, remote location beacon: offline, running full diagnostic test."

Afterwards it looked like one of the fellow survivors had finally adjusted to the ordeal and moved to help the others up as he spoke. "Alright people, my name is First Lieutenant Nicholas Raine, US Marine Corps Force Recon, lets get the introductions out of the way and suit up. We don't know what's outside and I'd rather not stay in this tin can more than we have to."

"Sergeant Adam Szwast, US Marine Corps Scout Sniper" A relatively thin man in his mid twenties with auburn hair said as he started to inspect his gear.

"Corporal Olga Mayakovsky , US Marine Corps" The young woman said through a tick Russian accent. She quickly followed the two Marine's example and started to get ready.

James cleared his throat as he buttoned up his camo blouse and, putting more focus on getting on the flak and boonie cover as he spoke. "James Waters, NSA computer analyst and A.I. expert, also Sergeant; Marine Corps Reserve" After he slid on the combat vest over his flak he noticed that everyone was looking at him with some confusion. He let out a deep breath as he knew what they were all thinking. "What?"

"Three and a half Marines and a whole spook? What is it that they expected us to accomplish?" the Sergeant inquired.

"COMPUTER. ANALYST," James corrected before answering "I'd assume we're suppose to be the ones to evaluate and see if the world can support human life again, then I'll have to override the two central A.I.s at the Super Ark that are obviously malfunctioning and launch the remaining pods so we can start rebuilding. Why else have four personnel with..."

"Internal systems diagnostics: complete, external atmosphere analysis: complete, external seals: released, depressurizing room." The artificial voice interrupted loudly, everyone looking to the door.

"Alright people, showtime." Lt. Raine stated as he picked up his weapon and headed towards the door.

----

"Twilight darling, while I know that you and Rainbow Dash are excited about this little, um, adventure. Why did you insists on dragging all of us along with you two?"

"Oh Rarity, I don't mind. Besides, what if they got in trouble?" Fluttershy pointed out, giving a weak smile as she trotted next to the white unicorn.

"Now Ah'm sure that Rainbow and Twi here can handle themselves, though Ah don't mind lending a hoof."

"BESIDES, THINK OF ALL THE TREASURE WE'LL FIND, RIGHT RIGHT?" Pinkie asked as she pressed her face into Twilight's personal space with a manic grin.

Twilight smiled a little uncomfortably before she side stepped the pink earth pony and quickened her pace. "Thank you girls, now maybe we should hurry and catch up to Rainbow Dash?"

A few moments later they found Rainbow Dash hovering as she looked back at them, hooves crossed and an annoyed look on her face, "Can you guys BE any slower?"

"RAINBOW!" Twilight shot daggers at the pegasus. Whom promptly quieted down and landed and walked with the rest of the group, an awkward silence filling the air. Though they were close to where Rainbow Dash had found whatever it was that she found, and soon when they came to a cave with several large rocks strewn out in front of it. As they moved towards it, some more willingly than others, they saw a peculiar sight. The metallic door and exposed wall looked nothing like any of the ruins that Twilight had seen in her books.

Suddenly a strange sounding mare's voice rang out, "Releasing external chamber seals, safe egress is now possible."

"What!?" Twilight cried out as the doors started to hiss loudly, Applejack quickly grabbing her and pulling her into a hiding spot behind a particularly large boulder as they saw four shadows form as the doors to this tomb. Twilight cautiously peered from behind her hiding place, getting a quick look at the strange biped creatures before she quickly ducked back out of their view. Her mind going a mile a minute as she tried to figure out what they were and why their dress did little to reassure the young princess. Suddenly one of them spoke, each of the six mare's faces now wore a shocked expression.

"First things first, We'll need to set up camp," The one in the front turned to the other three, maybe their leader? "Sergeant Waters, these 'nanotrytes' they'll allow us to stay in contact with each other, correct?"

"Similar to a radio yes, just think that you are talking to whom you want to reach and they'll do the rest."

"Ok, so we should split up and find food. It looks like there's a forest nearby, I'm thinking it's our best bet to find food."

Fluttershy gave a small "eep" before being silence by the other two, she frantically tapped on Twilight's shoulder.

"I know Fluttershy, but we don't know anything about them, what if they're not friendly?"

"But they're going into the Everfree Forest, it sounds like they don't even know how dangerous it is."

"We don't know what they'll do to us if we stop them."

Fluttershy looked to her friend, quickly deciding to push aside any fears she had and called out "Wait!"

The four bipeds jumped in shock and looked to turned to the boulders that the six mares were hiding behind. They quickly recovered and now were pointed their strange black tubes towards them. Their leader inched a little closer and called out to them. "US Marines, identify yourselves!"

"Luetenant, There's a chance that we're in a region that doesn't speak..."

"Twi...Twilight Sparkle" The young feminine voice interrupted James before he could finish, he simply stopped talking and stood ready in case it twas a trap to catch the four off guard. They still knew nothing of this world and his gut was telling him that something wasn't right about this girl besides her odd name.

"Miss Sparkle, you're not alone," Lt. Raine observed as the four fanned out and started to circle the cover that was separating the two groups as he continued. "Now we don't mean you harm but you and whoever is with you needs to come out from hiding, SLOWLY."

Twilight looked to her friends and, they all nodded nervously. "OK, we're coming out," she informed the men as the six mares nervously came out from their hiding spots. While their coloration and facial expressions did throw the men off, two quickly stepped through the group and looked behind the rock with a sense of purpose that reminded the mares a little too closely like the royal guards.

"No one's there L.T." Szwast reported before as the four started bunch up and look around, Twilight looking at them confused. "I think someone's playing a sick joke on us."

"But I'm not, it's just us six!" Twilight quickly blurted out in fear.

Szwast was caught off guard as he fell back, quickly being helped up by James as the others stood there dumbfounded. Szwast calling out what everyone was thinking, "it...it's talking!?"

"Um, yes and we're, um, ponies?" Twilight nervously corrected, feigning a smile.

James looked to the others then to the six mares and shook his head, kneeling down he removed his boonie cover and decided to ask the more important question on his mind other than why ponies could talk, "Humanity, does it still exist?"

Twilight was taken aback by the question, she looked nervously to her friends, whom only nodded, looked back at the biped and swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, but as far as anypony has known, Humanity never existed in the first place. They're only myths that are told to foals as bedtime stories."

The human's expressions suprised them, he didn't seem bothered by the news. He simply looked like he was considering his next question before he started to speak, "I see, well then," he paused and looked up to the sky then back to Twilight, "would it be too much trouble to ask for shelter tonight? We do have some questions and also we can offer some goods and services as payment."

Lt. Raine cleared his throat and looked to the NSA 'analyst' "What are you doing?"

"I'm bartering with the locals" James said as he turned to the man then looked back to the ponies. "We are the legacy of a 'mythical race' according to Miss..."

"Oh! how rude of me, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle" Twilight quickly blurted out, her cheeks red with embarrassment that she hadn't yet introduced herself. Though it quickly died down as her friends quickly took it upon themselves to introduced themselves before looking to the four humans to introduce themselves.

"I'm Sergeant Waters, That's Lt. Raine, Sergeant Szwast and Corporal... er"

Olga gave an audible groan as she said her name, "Mayakovsky."

"Right, Rusky" James said jokingly and looked to the Mares, now knowing that the ponies had a Monarchy and it may be easy to get aid in activating the other Arks. There was little question after meeting the six ponies that the planet could support human life. "So, your majesty, I know it's a lot to ask but could we by chance meet with your parents, the King and Queen?"

Twilight giggled and looked to the confused man, "Sorry, but I think you want to talk to my teacher, Princess Celestia and her sister Luna, they rule Equestria."

"I see, well that is interesting," James looked to see that the afternoon was fading and he didn't know how far to their host's home, "But maybe we can discuss more while we accompany you home?"

Twilight nodded and they made their way to Ponyville, the sun starting to set as Luna's sky and moon started to fill the evening sky. Twilight looked to the humans whom walked in silence, what could they be thinking of and how would she tell the other Princesses about the return of this mythical race?