Project Haven: The snow

Chapters

Chapter 1: Deployment
Chapter 2: Silence
Chapter 3: Darkness
Chapter 4: Survey
Chapter 5: Progress
Chapter Interlude: Record I
Chapter 6: Connection

Chapter 1: Deployment

It used to be a foalhood wish. But that was something she kept with her for a thousand years. Celestias dream. The dream of places beyond her wisdom. Worlds. She wishes to once in her life-time being able to make her ponies travels the reaches of the stars. Though mocked by her sister, she stayed true. To find new places to settle down. While still having connection with her land of Equestria.

With dreams and with hope inside her, her scientists discovered the use of portal symbols. Symbols power increased by the use of crystals. Crystals from the very depths of the now sealed Crystal Empire. Taking hundreds of years, generation of scientists and now the time arrives. Her soldiers going through. The days that followed gave her nothing. Until the seventh day. A soldier returned. Discovery! Multiple portals were created for her ponies to go through. What they found astounded her. Planets not unlike her own.

Her dreams, her wish. Now true but kept secret. Her soldiers were to scan the planets for habitable guarantees. The project of hers was set into motion.

The name of the project: Project Haven.

5 years later.

Planet name: Unknown.

Weather circumstances: Blizzard.

Temperature: Minus 36 degrees Celsius.

A unicorn stallion trudging through the snow. His armor colored blue and silver. Between his armor was a thick clothed padding. He looked at some sort of dome. Made of metal. Covered. Almost hidden. His attention was drawn to something sticking up from the snow. Appendages. Claws of some sort. The snow had buried whatever creature lied beneath. The way the claws were positioned it tried to reach the dome but was killed by the cold. He noticed a dark spot slightly lower than the claws. His magic lightened up and some of the snow blew away, revealing the dead creature as well as the second guess to how the creature died.

The creature, he noted, was reptilic in appearance. Not to different from a dragon but at the same time lacking in size, not more than 2 meter in length and lacking a tail. It did have scales but the face, although twisted in a disturbing manner, was plated. Its clothes were padded armor like his but more advanced. From the details he couldn’t determine what killed it or how big the wound was. Nor could he determine the gender. He made a sigh inside his helmet. His helmet crackled as a male voice was heard.

“Icy Star, what have you found?” a stallion asked and he noted from his peripheral vision that the voice came from a unicorn in a gold armor.

He looked at the creature and the unicorn made a groan in slight disgust.

“Two months of not finding life we find whatever inhabited the planet. And it’s dead… and ugly.” The stallion said turning to his fellow soldier.

The unicorn turned to lock eyes with his companion. He stared at him for a short while.

“What are your reports, Inferno?” The unicorn with the armor asked, his dark voice crackling through his helmet as he spoke.

His companion shuddered at the cold and his voice stuttered as his helmet crackled.

“H-High Wind reported that the p-pegasi found s-something above the c-clouds. She asked me t-to tell you to return back.”

He shuddered more until the blue armored unicorn nodded and turned his gaze to a mountain and began trudging through the snow. Hidden within the snow was a settlement. Tents attached to a cave that once housed the creatures that inhabited this planet.

When first arriving on this planet they noted that this cave was a main building of sorts. It already had flooring with painting and pillars that had runes carved on six columns up to the roofing that was carved to look more like a home. Unicorns and earthpony mares wrote down and documented the runes.

In the distance stood armored soldiers in various colors, stating their ranks. Pegasi were levitating around an image of the planet they were on.

The unicorn with the blue armor removed his helmet, revealing his ice-blue coat and black eyes. His mane was sky-blue, messy but handsome. Behind him, his companion removed his helmet and shuddered slightly, getting accustomed to the warm temperature. His coat was true to his name; blazing red with a yellow mane with orange streaks making it look like his head was on fire. His eyes on the other hoof were aquamarine. He looked at his superior with a smirk.

The stallion with the icy coat dismissed this and trotted to a pegasus with a purple armor and grey coat. He trotted behind the pegasus and it turned around. A mare with purple eyes matching her armor looked at him and smiled.

“Finally got away from the snow?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

The stallion levitated his helmet to be attached to his armor and saluted. His companion did the same.

“Captain High Wind.” He presented.

The pegasus motioned them to relax. He placed his helmet next to a wall and closed the gap between them.

“Any reports?” The pegasus named High Wind asked with authority.

The unicorn smirked.

“You first.” He insisted, still smiling.

The pegasus smiled as she turned and galloped towards the globe levitating in the middle of the room. She began jumping one, two and on the third she spread her wings and flew up to the near top of the floating globe. The unicorns trotted closer to it but as they walked closer, an earth-pony stallion wearing blue armor and white linings came to view.

He stood unmoving near the wall, still wearing his helmet. Unlike the others; his helmet didn’t have a crest on his helmet. Instead it covered his muzzle completely hiding him. He wore a similar padding colored white and he was big. His muscles and strength was enough to match the Apple-family back in Ponyville.

On his side was a sword strapped. The model was simple; earth-guard special. He was the strong one and his posture showed it. He moved his head to look at the newly returned unicorns. As they exchange looks he simply returned his gaze to the globe.

Icy glanced at Inferno who shuddered at this action but Icy brushed it off. He focused his attention on his superior. The pegasus mare cleared her throat.

“The pegasi had some problem reaching the skies on this planet. Blizzard and harsh winds being one case but the second was a much higher atmosphere than in Equestria. The clouds seem to be out of our ability to manipulate. When above they made a scan around the planet to recon the orbits of the sun and moon. They came to the conclusion, thanks to Swifter, that the sun exists in the center while the moon and this planet orbit the sun on its own. From what I can say its gravity in control.” She explained and flew around the globe while explaining.

Icy looked at her and the globe.

“So the daylight's hour is longer than in Equestria?” Inferno asked.

High Wing motioned to a unicorn stallion to change the globe. He nodded and his horn glowed as the globe shrunk and rings expanded. A glowing orb was created in the center as multiple orbs circled around the orb.

“From what we can state; the hours on this planet is 4 hours longer than on Equestria. As you can see.” She hovered to the rings. “The planets have a gravitational pull that runs on its own power. More planets seem to circle but on a different range. It was more thanks to Stargazer that he spotted them.” She explained and flew to Icy and Inferno.

Icy looked at the miniature solar system. A solar system that had its own magic. No alicorn to control the planets. And so many worlds had the same thing? Inferno looked at the orbs like a foal looking at the first winter’s snow.

“How many other planets have the same gravitation?” He asked, not understanding how no magic can make things move on its own.

High Wing looked at the rings and sighed.

“Sadly, that is all we found out.” She stated flying to the floor.

Icy nodded. He trotted towards her and smiled.

“It’s still a lot more than we found two months ago.” He said with hope.

She lighted up and looked into his eyes. Inferno continued his interest in the planets. Icy glanced at the stallion in the corner that still didn’t move from his position. He felt like the stallion looked at them but it was hard to tell. Icy grimaced.

“I found what I could identify as the inhabitants of this planet. They were near a metal construct I can guess is a bunker. The bad news is that they were killed by either the cold or by a wound.” Icy Star reported and after thinking. “One of them showed signs that they’ve been attacked.”

High Wind cocked an eye-brow.

“Attacked?” She asked in doubtfulness.

Icy Star shook his head.

“By what I couldn’t say. The way they looked I’d say that they were dead before our arrival.”

High Wind looked at the stallion as well as Icy Star. Infernos head darted between them and the stallion. After a short while they trotted away to the impromptu mess hall.

Icy placed his food on a table and nibbled a carrot. The bunker was in his mind. The best way to get in was to use unicorns with thunder-magic. A small squad to explore the insides of the bunker was needed. Equipment for any information they could find and, if Celestia forbid, defense should anything await or attack them.

His thoughts were interrupted when Inferno sat down beside him. Another unicorn, a mare, sat down beside him. She had a lightning-blue coat and yellow and blue mane. Another unicorn, this one a stallion with identical mane and coat color sat down with them. He looked at them but kept eating.

“Heard that your niece entered Celestia's School of gifted Unicorns. Never thought that filly were that good.” The stallion with the blue coat said, his voice sounding a little rude.

Icy ate without caring.

“Night Lights daughter being accepted into Celestia's school and I’m not there to see it.” Icy sighed as a bit of lettuce hung from his mouth.

“I almost thought that Shining Armor would be transferred to our location.” The mare with the blue coat said.

“No. Private Armor just finished guard post. He’s more likely to be on Canterlot walls. We were transferred because we’re more experienced. I’m guessing that he needs more than 6 years of combat and guard service to even qualify as a soldier. Powerful or not.” The stallion with the blue coat remarked coldly.

The mare with the same coat stared at him.

“Sparks, that was cold.” The mare scolded.

Icy finished his meal and tapped his hoof on the table to get their attention. Inferno smirked at the look Icy gave them. He had a plan. He knew his friend long enough to recognize it. Icy leaned over the table to close in on his team. They leaned in to meet him.

“Regardless. I need you to listen. We are going to deploy shortly. I need your help as well as the earth soldiers. Sparks and Light, you’re coming with me.” He said with a low voice. Both ponies with the same color nodded.

He looked at Inferno, who was still smiling.

“Inferno, find Luminous Lore and get her to meet us at the main hall. I’m meeting up with Mane. I need him and his troops to help us out.”

Inferno smirked but the smirk died as the name Mane was heard.

“Mane? You’re bringing Mane with us?!” Sparks burst out and got up from his seat.

The mess hall became silent enough to hear the drop of a spoon from a unicorn on the other side of the room. Icy looked into his eyes and nodded. The stallion sat down trying to calm down. He breathed hard but took his plate and trotted of. The aura around his horn producing sparks as he got further away.

The mare named Light sighed. She picked up her plate with telekinesis and galloped to catch up with the stallion. Inferno looked at Icy.

“What’s wrong with Mane?” He asked.

Icy took his plate and trotted past him. Inferno followed with his plate levitating next to him. They were silent. Icy’s breathing filling the quiet.

“During a mission three years ago; Sparks, Mane and I were on a deployment in Zebrakistan, trying to establish a way of mutual trading. There were difficulties and Mane wasn’t patient. He got in trouble with their leader and ended up killing five of their soldiers. Took Princess Celestia years to patch together their relation with Equestria.” Icy explained and his face turned sour. “He faced court martial for the years after but was returned to active duty afterwards. The problem with him is that he’s brutal and unpredictable.”

Inferno cocked his head, eyes wide. They walked out before going separate paths. Icy trotted the halls of grey. The only thing that seemed to be of any color was the paintings on the floor.

He arrived in the main hall and as expected, his team was assembled. As was the stallion with the blue armor. The stallion trotted to him with slow and heavy steps. His armor clanking on the floor. He was in a hoof reach of Icy when he removed his helmet. His coat was a color white with a cloud gray mane that was cut clean. His eyes were ocean blue as he looked at Icy.

“You wanted to see me?” He asked, his voice growling and rumbled as he spoke.

Icy nodded. He looked to his team. A unicorn mare with black coat and white mane spoke with Light with a somewhat smile on her muzzle.

“I’m going on a mission and I need your help. I’ll debrief all of you but I need you to assemble them.” He explained shortly.

Mane nodded. He turned to see five ponies by the entrance. He trotted up to them, puffed up his chest and let out a growl which caught the attention of all the ponies in the room.

“ATTENTION!!!” He bellowed.

Icy as well as the ponies near Mane cringed at the volume. The ponies stood in line and in alert.

“STEP IN LINE AND RECEIVE ORDERS FROM COMMANDER ICY STAR!!!” His roaring voice echoed past the halls.

He stepped away and let Icy stand by his side. Icy looked at the guards.

“This is the mission: Just three hours ago I discovered a metallic construct like a bunker. This is the first discovery in two months so I expect nothing. However I do feel that it’s worth looking for information. The inhabitants may still be alive and might be hostile. So we’re going in troops. Light and Sparks are going to use their electrical magic to power up and open the bunker. Luminous is going to help us charge our light crystals should we need it. Once inside we will separate into two groups: One will remain topside to guard. The exploration team is going inside. Any information we find down there, documents, books or anything will be taken with us and translated here. Now, gear up and meet us back here in five minutes.” He explained.

Mane once again stepped up.

“YOU HEARD HIM! I NEED ALL OF YOU TO GET YOUR EQUIPMENT AND MEETING US HERE IN FIVE MINUTES! MOVE YOUR FLANKS!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” His voice bellowed.

A collected; “YES, SIR!” was heard from them all as they galloped of.

Mane looked at Icy.

“I’ll meet you here in five minutes, Commander. Don’t be late.” He growled with a smirk.

Icy nodded and saluted. Mane returned the salute.

“Got it.” He replied.

Mane placed his helmet on his head and galloped of. Icy cringed slightly.

“And my ears are ringing.”

Author's Note

A new story that came while at work. Feel free to comment if you notice any faults.

Chapter 2: Silence

As planned; five minutes passed when the troops of both Icy and Mane stood ready at the entrance. Mane’s troops were four earth ponies in heavy-set armor. The heavy armor was more usually than none given to earth ponies due to their natural strength.

***

They began walking and trudging through the snow. The storm had picked up during the time they stayed at the base. Sight was difficult and the cold made things worse. Icy’s horn glowed and scanned the blizzard for disturbances or life signs, despite being minor at best. The electrical disturbance spiked and led him back to the bunker.
Surrounding the now pile of snow, they stopped. Icy looked at the pile and turned to Inferno.
“Inferno. Work your magic.” He ordered, voice made static through the helmet.
Inferno nodded, shivering slightly when his horn glowed red. The pile of snow formed steam that slowly melted away with slight difficulty.
Once revealed, Icy placed a yellow crystal near the now revealed corpses of the former inhabitants. The crystal glowed an orange light that reacted with a transparent orange device on the creatures left claw. The device revealed a recording of unknown language.
Icy nodded to Luminous who knelt down and planted another crystal that started to glow silver. Once done, she nodded to Icy. He turned to the two unicorns with yellow armor.
“Sparks. Light. Do it.” He said shortly.
Both trudged forward to face the metal dome. Their horns lit with sparks of yellow and blue as their magic focused on the surrounding until they found the panel close to the creatures. Starting too lit up, they focused harder, gaining a grunt from Light as her head dipped.
Once fully activated, Icy nodded to Mane who drew his sword, motioning another stallion to do the same. They pinned their swords on the now visible slit in the dome. Grunting, they forced the doors open. Icy trotted forward to the edge of the dome. He tapped his helmet and his breastplate. Light shot from his helmet and chest, illuminating the darkness. Slowly scanning for an entrance he motioned Light and Sparks again.
They jumped down and once again lit their horns against the panel on the side of the door. Slowly opening, the only thing greeting them was a long dark corridor. Icy turned to the remaining ponies.
“Listen up.” He began as the soldiers formed a line in front of him and Mane. “From here we will split into two teams. I want Indigo Pansy and Shaker to remain with Inferno. Liquid Mane will go with me to ensure nopony gets attacked by possible hostiles. We don’t know how long we will be in there but take turns to stay up here. Inferno will stay and use his magic to keep you warm should the need occur. Are we clear on this?”

The responding: “Yes, Sir!” was enough to ensure him to continue. Icy jumped down and looked inside the base. His light illuminated far enough to reveal multiple openings. Dark as Tartarus’ abyss and no more living there than here.

“Gallant and Topaz will follow me in there.” Mane instructed and thankfully with a low volume. He grabbed the sword with his mouth and looked at his troops who nodded and joined Icy. They began their walk.

______________________________________________________________________

The long walk through the empty base was unnerving with the fact that they occasionally had to stay to listen for sounds. But so far, the only sounds were made from their armored hooves against the metallic floor. The only difference was that they had no longer felt the cold from outside. Mane had removed the lower part of his helmet to easily and effectively grab his sword should the need arrive. Icy on the other hoof decided to keep his helmet on.

The long walk through the darkness was made worse when they had to split when the rooms that were opened caught the earth soldier’s attention and they needed to check. Luminous was with them and was more than prepared to use her crystals to absorb any information they could find useful.
From what she could explain; they worked like a mind reading spell: The crystal was placed near a pony and with a spark of magic it absorbed the information through the casters or readers eyes and stopped after the pony closed his or her eyes. It was processed with the same magic but reversed. But so far they had found no need for the crystals use.

The longer walk guided them to a split corridor. Icy looked through both corridors, and then turned to his soldiers. Of all of them Mane looked more nervous than the others.
“We split from here. Luminous will go with me, Sparks and Topaz. Light, go with Mane and Gallant. Use a track-spell to guide yourself should you need to get to the other group. Only if the group find anything of use. Same goes for you, Light.” He ordered, getting a collected nod in return.

They split up and began walking the still quiet and dark halls. Topaz, an earth soldier mare, looked around the corridors, her light dancing around in contrast to Luminous’ and Icy’s lights.
“Have you noticed anything weird? Ever since we entered, I mean.” She asked, her voice oddly calm but curious.
Icy stopped and glanced back at her. His eyes looked around the halls, trying to find what she meant.
“Like what?” He asked, not turning to face her.
Luminous made the same observation. The halls were silver-gray and only minor threads on occasion but clean enough. Sparks horn lit up and tried to feel any electrical current. Topaz still looked around.
“We’re looking for whatever inhabited the planet before coming here. And this base is supposed to be theirs.” She stated as she kept her head up, not facing Icy. “Don’t you think it’s odd that the base is oddly clean? And even if they abandoned it, shouldn’t the logical decision be to blow up the base?”
Icy was quiet, taking in what she explained. His eyes danced around the corridor. She was right. Option A: They abandoned the base if something went off. But the base was still here. Why was it still here? Option B: They were killed by something that killed the creatures outside. But no bodies or blood was present. Option C: They left in a hurry. And that seemed to be the only logical.
He breathed and turned to her.
“Let’s keep moving. Whatever we find will hopefully give us some clue of what happened.” Icy said and started trotting with a slightly quicker pace than before.

____________________________________________________________________________

Mane’s light from his breastplate danced as his eyes looked around. His hooves were loud when he walked the metal floor. The walls had text that was to him foreign. He looked back at his team who looked around but less stiffly than him. Light stopped occasionally to scan her horn against several doors in attempt to open it but when striking nothing she kept walking.
Gallant looked around too and his sword, a double bladed sword, hung on his back as well as two shorter by his left chest. The ones on his back were locked to the armor on his neck, designed to spread by a simple neck-movement. Clearly made for crowd control. It was a pegasus design, made to look like wings. Gallant was less bulky but slightly taller than Mane.

Mane turned forward but stopped when the corridor once again separated. He looked both ways but it gave no sight of danger. He gave a quiet sigh when turning to his team.
“Light. Have you found any door that could be opened?” Mane asked, his voice low and rumbling.
Light shone her horn to one of the doors that were closed through devices. Some doors they passed on their way could be opened manually but only revealed common-quarters, sleeping areas and smaller restrooms. Even there it felt big. The creatures were by estimate 7-8 feet. And from what Icy mentioned they were bipedal and looked reptilian.
Light stopped by one of the doors that had a device they had seen from the entrance. She lit her horn and sparks crackled towards the device that seemed to power it up. It beeped and slowly opened with a hiss. They carefully entered the dark room; a strange panel with templates with glass was attached to the wall and what looked like circuitry running along the walls.
Light walked towards the panel while Mane and Gallant walked around the room, checking anything that could give them a clue on what creature could be so advanced. Gallant ran his hoof along a table to check dust while Mane opened any cabinets that could be worth checking.
Light lit her horn, grunting when her magic escalated and sparks of electricity sprayed the panel. As she sat down, panting in exhaustion the panel lit up and the buttons blinked in varied colors. The light from the panel caught Mane’s and Gallant’s attention. They walked to her side as she shakily got her hooves on the panel and started pushing varied buttons in hopes that it would give them something.
A symbol resembling a shield and a bar came up on screen. They spread out the room.
“Let’s look around. Find something we could use to enter…” Light looked back at the screen that lit up the entire room. ”… whatever this is.”
Gallant returned to the desk close to the panel on the far wall. He opened a few drawers but shook his head and grunted after each hitting a miss.
Mane mouthed a curse when he checked a book-case only to reach a third of its height. Nopony knew the minutes running for their search until Light’s helmet crackled. Spark’s voice sounded disappointed.
“Light, have you found anything?” he asked, his voice distorted through the mineral in the base.
The stallions stopped to look at Light as she shook her head.
“We found a device that is similar to the base in technology but we hit zero. We need to find entry but no dice.” She explained with hint of resignation. She lifted her head, feeling a little tired. “How is it on your end? Found anything?”

____________________________________________________________________________

“No dice. I’m having better time finding a virgin in Canterlot High.” Sparks grumbled as he looked to his fellow soldiers who were searching desks and drawers for papers, only to find Icy looking back and shaking his head. “We only manage to find squat. We’re moving out. Over and out.” He finished with his head shaking disappointedly.
He looked at the screen showing a shield and a bar with undiscernible text. Icy stood next to him and finally let out a grumbling sigh.
“If the aliens wanted to hide something they did damn well hiding it.” He muttered while walking to the entrance. “Team, we’re moving out.”
They left the room but not before Sparks took a last look at the screen. He scowled and followed suit. The long walk down the corridor led them to a big empty space which made them halt. Icy looked around; guard-rails, more doors made Icy and Sparks sigh, the stairs that led several stories down. Icy knelt down and looked into the darkness below. Luminous and Sparks stopped next to him and looked down with Topaz looking back into the corridor.
“How far down do you think it goes?” Luminous asked, looking over Icy’s shoulder.
Icy lit his horn with a light-spell and a small ball of light was shot out and slowly floated down the darkness. The first three floors made Sparks sigh. Two more floors were lit up, Luminous swallowed nervously. Another three floors until the ball of light bounced and floated on the floor two floors later. Ten floors. Icy looked at his comrades. He gave a loud sigh and stood up.

“Call the others. Even the ones guarding the surface. We need all the help we can get.” Icy ordered sourly.
Topaz nodded and placed her hoof to her helmet.

______________________________________________________________________________

Inferno’s horn glowed as Pansy and her metal cup of coffee tried to stay warm. Shaker’s heavily armored frame circled on the top of the pit, walking around and keeping his eyes on the snow around them. He gave sighs of anxiety and anger at the lack of activity. He looked to Pansy and Inferno enjoying warmed coffee on the bottom. He groaned and jumped down, his heavy body and armor thudding hard on the snow.
“Alright, Pansy, your turn. Drink up and get up.” He growled, his voice almost as deep as Mane.
Pansy drank the black steaming beverage and jumped up the steps to start her round while Shaker sat down in front of Inferno. Just as he was about to pour the same liquid into a cup Inferno’s helmet crackled.
“Yes?” He answered and gave the mug to Shaker who almost greedily sipped from the warm cup.
“I need all three of you down here on the double.” Topaz intoned. Her voice was calm but it still didn’t sound good to Inferno.
“Why? Are you in trouble?” He asked, getting looks from the two earth-ponies.
The helmet crackled with static.
“No. Icy discovered that this place is bigger than expected. We need all of you to help searching.” Topaz said calmly. “Get your flanks down here. Use your tracking spell. We’ll be waiting. Over and out.”

He removed his hoof and looked at the two earth-soldiers regarding him. Shaker closed in.
“Problems?” he asked.
Pansy still lingered on top but didn’t move.
“No. They wanted us down there. Apparently the place is bigger on the inside.” Inferno explained and sipped his now cold coffee.
Pansy jumped down and walked over to her comrades.
“So, we’re moving out? Just like that?” She asked, suspiciously.
Shaker gave a huff and walked towards the entrance.
“Who cares as long as we get away from this damned cold.” His voiced echoed from the corridors.

______________________________________________________________________________

Icy kept his eyes into the darkness. Trying to fathom the depth of a facility like this. He hardly looked behind when the heavy shuffling of armored hooves sounded behind him. Mane’s team arrived and not long after came Inferno’s. Inferno walked to Icy and looked over him into the many floors of the base. He whistled an impressed whistle and Icy got to his hooves. He turned to the ponies in the room, occasionally glancing back.
“Alright. We have discovered ten floors that we need to go through. Like before; split into three teams and search one floor at a time. Choose your teammate carefully, we’re moving in five.” Icy explained, taking one final look into the abyss.

Author's Note

Chapter 2. What will Icy and his team find? What does this base hide?

Sorry for the long wait. Job has been torture with this heat. Cleaning graves in the warmth of the sun tends to ruin a bit of your ability to think.

Chapter 3: Darkness

There was no way of telling how long they spent in the complex. Hours? It could have been days for all they knew. But Icy didn’t care. All he wanted was to find out what this building had in store. And who built it. For Mane, however, he was on edge and it showed; his head was down, his legs stiff and heavy and he held his sword in a grip that could almost made him bite it clean in two. Under his helmet his eyes twitched as he scanned the shadows. Behind him, Pansy and Gallant tried their best not to laugh at him.

“Cap, stop acting like a filly. There is nothing here.” Gallant chuckled.

Mane growled through gritted teeth, slightly hindered by the hilt of his blade. Pansy snorted and caused Mane to glance back. If they saw his glare they would shut up. But as it looked, she just laughed out loud.

“It’s the darkness here. It’s too quiet.” Mane muttered and felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. “You never know what could jump out.”

That sealed it. Pansy grinned mischievously and winked at Gallant who smirked back. She sneaked behind Mane and took a quiet breath.

A floor up, Icy, Sparks and Light checked every door that they could open and each door met with disappointment the further in they got. Light opened a door and looked inside. Beds. Sparks opened another. More beds. Just as they were about to open the next they heard Mane scream echo all throughout the floor. When the screaming ended, Icy took a worrying step forward. His worry dissipated when a round of raucous laughter echoed.

“DAMN IT!!! STOP DOING THAT!!!” Mane’s extremely angered bellow sounded over the laughter, causing even more laughter.

Sparks and Light had their hooves pressed to their muzzle to keep them from laughing with the crowd. Icy sighed and shook his head.

“Earth-ponies.” Icy muttered and kept his walk until the laughter died down.

Even further into the corridor they were met with an odor that made Light gag. That reaction was switched to shock when they were met with a slumped body. The body was reptilian in appearance. And judging by the clothes, it was a researcher; Despite bloodstained it was white and covering black armored clothing. Its jaw was opened with dark red blood coagulated at its corners. The cause of death was clear; its throat was slit deep enough that it reached its spinal-cord.

Sparks checked it from all sides. Icy have seen dragons in all their shapes and sizes yet this confused him. It lacked wings and anything primal. Its tail was long; almost the length of its body and bony spikes colored gray protruded right till the tip. It showed no signs of it on the back. It did show some small spiky protrusions under its coat. Two fleshy mounds on its chest as well as the shape of the head gave them some idea. It… was a she. Five fingers that ended in claws and feet that had 3 muscular toes that gave some hint of a draconic heritage, muscles in the leg told them it was a predator despite civility in appearance. Scales colored forest green now paled and hardened. By Sparks estimate; she was dead for longer than their lives put together.

Light lit her horn around the left arm to get a look at an odd wired gauntlet that connected to a round metallic ring atop the hand. However, as she lifted it, it started to glow and shape up to a bright red thick transparent gauntlet. Shocked, she let go and stepped back.

What appeared was a rectangular shape and static. There was a male voice through the static but not enough to determine what he said. But by the tone of his voice Icy knew that it was panic and urgency.

“It’s trying to communicate… what do we do?” Sparks asked when he looked at the waves dancing on the gauntlet.

The message repeated and more and more words became clearer. It wasn’t alien. The “gauntlet” was damaged.

“...t has *kzzzt*…ficed! Ev-v-v*krrzt* the *brrst* now!”

Icy stood still, listening to the looping message. It was clearer but still left the question open: What happened here? His light-crystals lit the hallway to his left. Empty. His right, however; blood trailed and ended at the body. Something had attacked this place. And if something as strong as dragon-skin was cut it warranted caution. The gauntlet retreated into the device and died out. The siblings looked at Icy who still looked down the bloodied hallway.

“Commander. What do we do?” Light asked, snapping Icy out of his thoughts.

“Get the device to try and clear up the message. We should meet up with the others.” He spoke with a hint of worry.

They nodded and walked away. Icy’s eyes still trailed down the blooded path, as if it was calling for him. Luring him in.

“Commander!”

Icy started at the calling. Taking one more glance at the hallway he followed Light’s lead.

Inferno’s eyes were glued to the ceiling. Metal objects were attached and aiming at them… or they were aimed at something that was taller. They just hung there. Barrels, black with soot and judging by the holes on the floor and walls, it kept something away. Judging also by the lack of blood; they failed. Without moving his head he glanced around the corridor to his team-mates. Topaz and Shaker both scanned the doors and halls. Shaker picked up a small device that was slightly blooded at the handle… it looked like a handle at least. It was almost like a smaller version of the cannons on the ceiling. Shaker smelled the other side and grimaced.

When he threw it down, however, it shot a burst of metal just a whisker from Topaz’s nose. She let out a shriek and jumped back.

“Damn it, Shaker! Watch it!” She hissed angrily while Shaker just gave an indifferent shrug.

Inferno snorted a laugh and levitated the apparent weapon. It looked collapsible and just one poke… four pokes at different buttons finally “sheathed” the weapon. He placed it on his back and kept searching around. The doors were either shut closed or revealing nothing. He looked at a canvas revealing… Equestria? He tilted his head at this. It was like the paintings back in Canterlot but set up as a reminder or for aesthetic values. Perhaps to soothe while they worked. It was without a doubt the mountain which Canterlot was perched. The angle was set up that it was painted from the ground where the forest trees were made to almost reach up to the castle itself. Whoever made it was good… but then again: Why Equestria?

“Hey, Flamer! C’mere!” Shaker called out from the end of the hallway.

Inferno trotted to him and looked where he and Topaz looked. Down the corridor showed a door open enough for one of them to fit through. They looked to one another until Topaz removed her weapon and squeezed through. Shaker handed her the armor and as she promptly put it on Inferno lit his horn and shone it inside.

Just as she put the metal-plating on she turned around… only to backpedal into the door as she looked at the corpse of one of the reptilians. It was hunched over with its legs spread and claws limply grasping a miniature cannon. It was fully armored and a metallic helmet with a visor covered its face.

She was looking at it until she winced when a metallic grinding hurt her ears. She splayed them back, gritted her teeth and turned to the opening where Shaker pried the door open with the help of Inferno’s telekinesis. Once fully opened she scowled at them then turned back to the creature. The cause of death was a hole in the chest where the heart would’ve been. Its armor made Inferno raise his eyebrows. Then he lit up the rest of the room. Rows on rows of thin swords in thick metal scabbards and more of the smaller cannons stood snuggly against their racks.

One rack of long rectangular canisters with a single binocular stood in the innermost side of the room. Almost the length of her body. She grabbed one and looked into the binocular. It was surprisingly light but she didn’t like how it was designed to be held. Putting it back on the rack she went around the room until she came to armors. One section seemed to have undergarments that seemed to be made of a material they never seen. The armor on the other hoof was more advanced than their own.

Shaker looked at one set that had two circular objects protruding in a section but once turned around it had several gem patterns with black spots on selected areas. He looked at Inferno who seemed entranced by one of the swords. Unlike theirs; the swords on the rack was made to be attached to the armor through a metal arm.

*bzzzzt*

Shaker jumped at the sudden sound and turned to see Inferno over the corpse. The left hand glowed when a red transparent “glove” showed a rectangular box. They gathered around as lines waved.

“*kzzt*--ep it-t-t a-a-a*bzzzrr* M-m-us---le---*kzz*”

“What does it say?” Topaz asked when the message kept playing.

“*bzzt* ---th---ead-d-d*tzzz*-osed!”

Inferno glanced down at the message. It spoke Equestrian or something similar to it. They understood it to some degree. He looked around the room until his eyes stopped at metallic boxes in the next room. Unlike this one it was fully opened with another reptilian dead just at the threshold. Upon closer inspection it had a large gash between its back-spines. Its wound had severed its spine and tearing its armored skin deep enough to puncture its right lung.

Topaz walked into the next room and with her light crystals she looked around. Boxes. Rows on rows with boxes made of metal with color-coding. What they meant she didn’t know. A light metallic scraping made her look down. A metallic framing a surface made of glass brought forth her curious side. Tapping one of the buttons on the side, the screen lit up with listings. The language was unknown but if they spoke their language why wasn’t the text the same way?

“TOPAZ?!”

That yell made whinny and turn. Her helmet crackled and Mane’s voice sounded.

“Damn it, Mane! You scared the crap out of me!” Topaz scolded, her face warming up when she heard Inferno and Shaker snicker.

“We need you three down here. We found something.” Mane responding, oblivious to his teammate’s reaction.

Topaz growled and rolled her eyes.

“Yes, that’s all well and good but did you have to yell?” she asked with hint of anger.

Mane was silent for a while before sighing.

“Transmission is bad in here. Tried to contact you before but without response. Just get down here. Lowest level.”

Then, transmission ended.

Author's Note

Well, this took a long time to write. Don't worry, I'll make up for it. Next one will be released next month. I'll make sure of it... I hope.

Chapter 4: Survey

Luminous looked around her section on the top of the floor. All around her was offices. Hundreds of desks that were undisturbed and collected dust. Being all alone was immoral, unjust and, according to her right now, really scary. The fact that it had desks meant cover and hiding for whatever could still be around. One desk made her halt. On it was a dusted picture-frame. She grabbed it with telekinesis and blew off the dust. Once visible, she opened her mouth in surprise; on the picture were three dragons. Two tall and one smaller.

One of them had a line of horns with the bigger on the nose and two smaller just above its eyes. It was muscular and gave a toothed smile with one hand in its pocket while the other rested on a smaller drake between. Said drake had two wings attached to its arms, similar to the drakes that inhabited the north. It gave a similar toothy smile like the taller on its left and gave the camera a wink. The last dragon was similar to the smaller but had a much gentle smile. And from what she could see; it had two mounds on its chest, indicating its gender as female. And judging by the way it had its hands on the smaller it had a motherly feeling to it.

Something that Luminous found odd was that the dragons on the picture, unlike their familiars in Equestria, were fully clothed. As if they had become civilized. The way they looked gave of vast intelligence. The way their body looked, the language it portrayed struck a chord in her heart. They were a family. It wasn’t like the ones she met or heard about. They weren’t brutes. They didn’t care for who was stronger and left their young. These cared and loved each other.

She gave a sad sigh as thoughts of her own family crept into her mind. A sudden buzz brought her back to reality. She raised her hoof to her helmet.

“Y-yeah, yeah?” She stammered, her brain not recovered from the image on the desk.

“We need you down here, Lieutenant. We found something. Lowest floor. We’re all down here.” Icy responded through the static.

She gave of a sigh and shook her head lightly to rid the emotion of freight Icy gave her.

“Yeah, I’ll be down in a few.” She turned off her com and turned around, giving the picture a final look.

The gallop down was tiring and she panted lightly. Who in their right mind designed their base to have so many levels? As she reached the final floor she felt sweat matt her coat under the winter-clothing. Like Icy told her she found her team and Mane’s in front of a huge metal gate. They just stood there, staring at it. She noted that a few of the earth-ponies carried metal-boxes on both sides not unlike saddlebags. Icy glanced her way and nodded. They stood there for a little longer until Inferno found it appropriate to kill the silence.

“Soooo, what do you think is on the other side?” He asked, his head tilting on the side to get a slightly better angle of the door.

The gate was barred shut with metal rods and thick locks only accessible if a source of power is active. As it looked right now, it was impossible. Icy looked around. There were several trolleys and equipment like a drill and what looked like a lift. Was it possibly a mining facility? What did they mine?

“Don’t now. And If I had to guess by the message I picked up and the lack of inhabitants I say that the less we know the better.” He turned to his team and a visibly nervous Mane. “We have a few clues on what existed in this place. Head to the surface and return to camp. Luminous.” She snapped to him. “I have something I need translated and you’re our best choice.”

She raised her eyebrows and scowled.

“You want me to translate something that never been recorded in our language?” She asked in heavy skepticism.

Icy simply looked at her and nodded. She hissed and through her helmet rolled her eyes. With a final look at the gate they ended many hours of work. Seeing the outside once more.

While the weather had calmed, the tracks now hidden awarded them with difficulty returning. At this point, Mane was glad that they didn’t have the typical Canterlot-armor. Having a spell that made all soldiers either white or grey would’ve been a nightmare in this situation. He could only follow the unicorns and hope that he could follow their light. Though every day he wished that he was transferred to his sister’s group. From what he heard; the planet they went to was warmer. Being stuck on a planet for two months, the snow quickly became tiring. At least in Equestria it was a minimum.

The second they entered the camp they basked in the warmth of inside. Icy turned to the group.

“Get those crates and weapons to R&D to find out their contents and function. Luminous, get started on those electronics. Find out what the message was. The rest can take a few hours off. Are we clear?” He ordered, not faced with the cold at all.

They all gave a collected: “Yes, Sir!” and dispersed to their objective. As soon as they were gone he went to the other side of the room. An opening showed a couple of unicorns working on their research. But most noticeable was an arcana circle in the middle. He walked to one of the unicorns.

“I wish to relay our survey to the princess. Can you start this thing up?” He demanded, voice cold and serious.

The unicorn gave a firm nod and lit his horn.

Luminous looked at the objects in front of her. Both the same but different color in gloves. She recognized the material but not the gear. She gave an irritated sigh, wishing that she listened to her mother that she should have been a librarian. She shook her head lightly and lit her horn. The glove on her left lit up and materialized into transparent armor. A rectangular screen lit up and played a broken message.

“...t has *kzzzt*…ficed! Ev-v-v*krrzt* the *brrst* now!”

She closed her eyes and focused. The words came more and more fluently to her and she smiled when she lit her horn. She couldn’t fix the glove. But she could tell what the message told her. Levitating a pencil and a paper she wrote it down. The smile died on her face once she wrote:

It has surfaced! Evacuate the control room now!

She hummed. What had surfaced? And was it the reason they evacuated? She continued with the next glove and lit her horn. It folded out and the line danced like a worm free in dirt.

“*kzzt*--ep it-t-t a-a-a*bzzzrr* M-m-us---le---*kzz*”

She once again focused her hearing. Less static went through her ears and became clearer the longer she listened. She wrote down the message from what she could interpret.

Must keep it at bay! Must not let it out!

She put the pen down and pursed her lips. Again, it was a message to keep whatever away. The next message gave her little insight.

“*bzzt* ---th---ead-d-d*tzzz*-osed!”

She concentrated through the static and wrote down the message. It gave very little:

Go before we are both dead! We must keep it opposed!

The voice sounded masculine in a way the former glove didn’t. It was the voice of a high rank soldier, used to battle and struggle but whatever they encountered put him through his limits. She put the pen down and rubbed her eyes when they started to sting. Having already been assaulted by bright color wore her down. As she opened them they blurred on something on the still active glove. It seemed to be blinking red spot. Gently touching it with her hoof, the dancing line returned but the male voice sounded calmer, bored even.

“*bzzt* Work damn you… I swear, Carbon needs to get these fixed. Journal 067, year 7 since I was transferred to this planet. The mineral we managed to excavate proved to be what we were looking for. The mining-teams have been down there for Kristal knows how long and they came up with far more than we anticipated. The planet was so rich with platinum we might have enough to repair our equipment and still have enough to trade with those creepy Giga Gaga-whatever-they’re-called. I can’t be the only one who think that they look creepy, being cybernetic and all. Anyway, we will send some home with the next transport. Hopefully, Amethyst won’t have my head; those mana-swords scare the crap out of me.

“Still, we have a lot more to dig out but what Beta told me they’re getting scared. Apparently, they’ve been hearing noises in the tunnels. And it’s been getting louder the deeper they’ve gone. Maybe we need to get less dracos who are afraid of the dark. Poor Mira was never the same after Steel jumped out in an attempt to scare her. Joke’s on him; she had a hell of a kick.

“I should wrap this up. I need to get this report to Jade when his team arrive here. At least he’s more reasonable than Amethyst. This is Captain Axinite of the Mining team Alpha, signing off.”

The message then cut off in a burp of static. Luminous sat there in stunned silence, her jaw hanging slightly from what she had heard. Not the situation itself. But the fact that these dragons were capable of speaking in such complex manner. Were they smarter than they looked? Next message looked early. And from what she could determine it was by the same creature. She couldn’t read the text but considering that it was on the top of the list it gave little doubt.

“My first journal on this mission. I was transferred to this facility by Amethyst as a joke. How do I know? He knows I hate the cold and this planet is a Kristal-damned ice-cube! If it wasn’t for Zircon’s talent for making good coffee I would’ve asked for another transfer. This planet was chosen for being rich on mineral but I have yet to receive any news on it. I mean, they have been digging for how long? Anyway, Steel has given me results and so far we’ve been getting a lot of mana-stones and gems the size of peas. Nothing that fills us up. *Sigh* I really miss Equestria. The gems there were tasty and bigger. But so far we can travel from planet to planet in order to get lucky. I’m 3234 years old, I should be doing better things than guarding a huge facility that mines various metals. But as long as we get results I’m a happy draco. Maybe if I stop being scolded by my superiors for being a whiner… you know what? Never mind. I’m a sniper, not a guard. Fitting how my first journal is bitching and moaning. Anyway, I do a proper journal once my body stops shivering from the cold. I’m a dragon, I’m not meant for cold. This is Captain Axinite, signing off.”

She stared at the glove in silence as she heard. This “Axinite” was the grump of the group but the first message spoke of something that was heard in the mines. Was it related to what they were trying to hold back? And what did he mean by 'missing Equestria'? She kept on with journal, hoping to get more clarity.

Author's Note

Rather short, I have to admit. But we get more intel on what they were. There will be more info on this species in the next chapter. But what connection do they to Equestria? I will try to get these chapters out but I would rather have an editor to help me out.

Chapter 5: Progress

Inferno’s horn lit up as the objects on his side and the other soldiers’ backs. The other ponies in the room looked at the newly added material. Some with wonder, some with less enthusiasm than a filly getting pampered by their mother in front of their friends. One in particular, an older unicorn stallion with grey fur and bronze mane and tail, looked more annoyed after every item placed on the table. His hexagonal glasses perched on his muzzle threatened to fall to the floor at any time with each frown he produced. He gave an angry sigh when one of the boxes tested the stability of the table.

“If you’re quite done with this garage-sale-setup I’d be glad if you could leave everything on the ground and let us do our job?” He said with a deadpan tone.

The sound of metal crashing to the ground was the only thing he needed to grind his teeth in agitation. Turning around, he saw that the guards had basically tossed the rest of the objects on the floor and then walked out without any care.

“Be careful, won’t you!” he yelled after them, getting an indifferent wave of a hoof in return.

Sighing through his nose, almost sounding like a growl, he turned to the first thing that caught his eyes: The advanced sheath. Turning to one of his assistants, a younger colt with jet black mane and tail and a very pale grey coat, who immediately grabbed a clipboard and a feather and inkwell. Along with them were several mares, all which started researching the contents of the boxes.

Fixing his glasses and his sapphire eyes focused on the sword in front of him, he started to light his horn. The sword was covered in a turquoise light and lifted off the table. Taking a deep breath and a thin smile adorned his muzzle as he looked over the sheathed sword.

“Appears to be made of a sturdy material. A hint of energy can be sensed from the hilt.” He spoke softly when turning it around in the air. His assistant scribbled it down.

He focused his magic on the hilt in attempt to draw the sword. It clicked and clattered as he pushed himself to pull it. Contrary to what many thought; he was far from an inexperienced unicorn. Graduating from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns as a 7th best student, he was far from weak. The problem lied in the weapon itself. Frowning a little until the sword was unsheathed; he gave a satisfied sigh when the sword now levitated in front of them.

They regarded it for a long while, maybe out of fascination, maybe some small foal-like excitement to see a new weapon, they looked at it. It strongly reminded them of a griffon scimitar but very light, very thin and very sharp. The hilt itself was woven in threads to improve handle and the coloring was alluring in some sense. What surprised him was a button near the rounded collar, located just underneath. While the swords carried by the guards were double-bladed; this was one-sided, only meant to hit and ensure instant death.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he pressed the button and instantly the blade shifted: The ridge separated the blade from the blade from the groove and started to glow silver that gave of a low hum. The effect startled him and his assistant. He studied the blade closely and smiled all the while. The separated parts were not major; only an inch but the power radiating from it was very noticeable.

Pressing the same button again restored it to its former appearance. Focusing his magic to the lower part of the hilt he noticed it was detachable. Focusing his magic once again he tried to pull it apart only for it to resist. Screwing didn’t help either. On the fourth try his patience began to run thin… only for his assistance to push a small button and finally extracting the hilts interior. He gave his mentor a slight grin that instantly died when said mentor gave him a death glare.

Clearing his throat, he lit his horn to lift the component out of the hilt and examine it. When his magic fully enveloped the component however, it dispelled it and sent a shock to his horn, causing him to grunt and shut his eyes in pain. Alarmed, his team-mates trotted to his side but he waved them off and focused on the now fully exposed component. It was clad in metal and showed of a cut glowing rock. The rock in question drew his interest.

Grabbing a tong with his magic he took it in for a closer look, avoiding proximity with his horn. It radiated a strong aura and he showed a grin at the recognition of the rock.

“Sir, is that… a mana-rock?” his assistant asked hesitantly.

The unicorn nodded slowly, his attention now fully on the metal-trapped rock. Carefully placing it on the table he wrote down on the parchment closest to him.

The creatures closely resembling smaller dragons have an ability to use mana-rocks as a resource in enhancing their weaponry, making it sharper and, possibly, faster in combat. Mana-rocks, while very rare outside of Equestria, are raw mineral used to help unicorns with their magic in day-to-day or in combat. When in close proximity the rocks can either harm or increase magical properties of magical beings. Dragons are known to eat them to become immune to magic. These dragons seem to use…

”

He turned to one of the mares levitating a pair of metal greaves and looking over them with deep interest.

… Armor to protect themselves. Could it be that these creatures are weaker than their Equestrian kin? Did they need weapons to protect themselves since they can’t breathe fire?

Just then a rapid ‘rat-tat-tat’ was heard followed by a lout yelp and then the sound of metallic clatter from the other side of the room, drawing all noise to complete silence. All eyes were now on a cobalt and red unicorn mare who was pressing herself against the far wall, almost hyperventilating. She looked to her members and blushed. The stallion sighed.

Need to investigate further with their projectile weaponry. Before somepony gets themselves shot.

Little known to the chief of research; One particular weapon was missing from the pile presented. A weapon two unicorn stallions, a scientist and a soldier, was tinkering with a peculiar miniature cannon almost twice their length. The soldier lit his horn to try and get the cannon to stay steady and looking through the lens… with slight difficulty.

“Why did they have one binocular?” The soldier asked while looking at the bottles lined up on the table on distance.

The researcher shrugged and secured a pair of goggles onto his muzzle.

“Maybe they had only one good eye or simplicity’s sake. How do you fire it anyway?” The researcher looked over the cannon while simultaneously levitating a quill and parchment for writing. After some looking he gave a smile when he noticed something small underneath the gun. “Hey, there is a small lever here!” He pointed his hoof to the small protrusion just underneath the holster.

The guard looked over the weapon until his eyes fell on the tiny lever just next to his hoof. This was faced with one tiny dilemma:

“How do I pull it?” The guard asked with his eyebrow raised.

The researcher stuck out his tongue in thought until a thought hit him.

“Use your magic! Can’t be that hard.” He noted and puffed out his chest in pride.

The guard just nodded, hoisted it up so that it was snug against his chest plate and focused his magic on the small lever. He felt it struggle but a smile was spreading when he felt quiver. It was going to give.

***

The entire base was filled with the resounding *BANG!* followed by a metallic clanking of armor and then followed by a stallion sent flying through the base until he came to a stop. He got up and looked with wide eyes at the room he came from. His chest plate had a dent the size of half an apple bucket. He stood on shaky legs and looked around at the ponies that had stopped and staring at him with various expressions. Some with concern, some with shock but the majority looked at him with annoyance.

He waved a fore hoof at them with a wide smile.

“I’m okay!” he declared almost victoriously.

There were murmurs of groaning while they got back to work. One of them was Icy who had stepped out of the room to find out the cause of disruption. Seeing the wobbling stallion remove his chest plate and rub a sore spot on his barrel made him shake his head and groan with irritation.

“Idiot…” he stated simply and walked back into the communication-room.

Author's Note

This was oddly short but with everything going on I'd have little energy and imagination to continue. Wont be the norm... I hope. But the armor in question is actually inspired by the Kestrel armor and N7 Armor from Mass Effect 2-3. If you think this story is slow then tell me how to make it better.

Chapter Interlude: Record I

Luminous didn’t really know how long it’s been since she started listening to the reports. An hour? Maybe two? All she knew was that it seemed to have an endless list of logs and the name of the other gauntlet’s owner, which seemed to be Temper, was all that she had learned. She poured herself a steaming mug of coffee and sat down once again. She had learned that it scrolled down but with her hooves it was a bit tedious. But once she figured it out it made her grin.

She sipped her coffee and looked through the logs. One named “Before Relocation” made her stop the mug half tilt. It was not an audio but it had a “vid” at the end. Shrugging she pushed it and sipped the coffee. A warm and bitter feeling washed down her throat and made her sigh in content… until the screen widened and almost made her choke.

On the screen she could see a bipedal dragon that seemed to be checking his gauntlet and then looking at her. He nodded and closed the gauntlet down, but the screen still focused on him. She noticed that his face looked like a black iguana with what looked like patches of armor similar to hers only grey clothing underneath. The quality was bad but she did see that he had a horn on his nose. He had slim built and no wings. What she had seen of dragons she noticed lack of wings. A subspecies maybe?

He looked off and another one of the dragons entered; it wore a tight suit and had black skin and traces of iguana… wait. She looked closer on the newly arrived dragon and… it looked identical to the former. All down to the horn on its nose. The one with the glove seemed to smile at the arrival.

“Axione! Welcome! How are you?” The one she had guessed was Axinite greeted happily.

His voice was the same as the recording but now she could hear that his was just a pitch higher than bass. The other shook his claw and stood at attention.

“Good. Your equipment is ready for the transfer.” Axione replied, his voice the same as Axinite but more monotone.

“Good. All ready for the ice cube.” He sighed. “Where is Axton and Axtre?” He asked while typing on his gauntlet. It flared up with something she didn’t see clearly but it disappeared after a few seconds.

“Two is still working on his repairs. Three should be done at any moment.” Axione responded, his claws behind his back.

Luminous didn’t know what to make of this. This was a dragon who looked exactly like the other but the names made less sense. What she figured was that they were copies; Axion, Axton and Axtre was a synonym for one, two and three… but why?

The one by the wall nodded and tapped his gauntlet again, the light beeping that sounded made her ear twitch but when the screen faded away he turned towards the walls… screen and tapped a few buttons.

“I’m glad things are going as planned before I leave. But still; I’m not a miner. I’m a techie.” He complained while he tapped more buttons then left it alone.

The other Axinite still stood. Idly waiting for… whatever. This was noticed as Axinite glanced back at him and just… stared at each other. Luminous sipped her coffee and blanched when it had grown cold.

“Is something wrong?” Axinite asked while she walked to warm her cup.

Axion seemed to look at the floor for a brief moment. Then he met the other’s gaze and it seemed, for the first time since he arrived, that he showed a hint of emotion.

“I overheard Iona and Chris speaking about something. What was the Half-Millennium War?”

It was quiet. Quiet enough for Luminous to suspect that the audio was broken. After a long silence Axinite sighed and leaned to the wall and beckoned Axion to his side. He complied.

“How should I tell this?” Axinite asked himself more so than Axion. “Long time ago, we were normal dragons. Our king, Kristal, absorbed a crystal and changed. He gave us, his clan, crystals he himself managed to create with this power. It changed us. Turned us from mindless beasts into intelligent beings. However, what he didn’t know was that the crystals he created killed the soil. As the soil died, the quality of the crystals decreased; turning a feast into mere crumbs. He asked the ponies’ king for help but they died from the radiation. When he denied us help we went to war. A war that lasted for almost a half millennium. Hence the name.” His explanation came to an end while Axion didn’t move an inch.

Luminous however just stared at the glove with wide eyes. A war? Did Princess Celestia know? She had little time to think before Axinite spoke again.

“In the end, we were promised a land of ourselves. He showed us a portal… which led us to a dead world.” He looked angrily at Axion before looking at the floor. “Before our King murdered theirs we were banished. Our King sacrificed himself so that we could live for a short while.”

Axione looked at the floor for the longest time before looking back at him.

“How do we fit in?” He asked, first signs of emotion evident in his curiosity.

Axinite thought for a moment. This was something that bothered him. Like an old wound being re-opened.

“How… about I tell you that another time, eh? For now, let’s just get things done.” He tried to sound convincing and if the copy doubted him then he didn’t show signs of it.

The video was cut off after that and Luminous sat down, the mug still in her magical grip. She scrolled down the files and noted several more files. But the name still in her mind was the ‘Half-Millennium War’. Was there really a war that lasted that long? And did the Princess know about?

Chapter 6: Connection

“You found a base?” The surprised voice of Princess Celestia asked from the arcana-room. Icy, without his helmet, looked at the ethereal form of their princess. Her flowing aurora-colored mane barely visible as her form flickered inside the ring.

The connection between the planet and Equestria was bad and took far longer than Icy wanted. Ending up with seven hours of waiting until the Princess was visible and audible to relay his report. On the positive side it allowed him to get good news from the objects they recovered. Still, being impatient was not a good trait that Icy possessed. Didn’t help that Celestia was late because of nobles constant nagging. It was as if that was what they were meant to do. Having grown up with the society before joining the guard, Icy knew their type to well. And he remembered that his brother hated it.

“Yes, Princess. A bunker covered in snow. We managed to get inside and found out that the inhabitants were mining this planet.” Icy explained, his voice as calm as he could. Even if he was suppressing a yawn. “They were draconic in appearance and, according to Inferno, very advanced. Their weaponry is able to fire metallic projectiles from small cannons at high speeds and their swords seemed to manipulate mana from a close source to enhance sharpness and durability.”

The Princess looked to the ground in contemplation. She stayed like that for a long while before meeting his gaze again.

“And what did they mine?” she asked, slight tint of excitement coating her voice.

“From what we could gather…” Icy’s horn lit up as a note-book levitated to his eye-level. “…they were mining very rare minerals. Iridium, Mananite and a very rich amount of Platinum. The mana-stones are one thing I don’t understand. This planet is too cold to have any creatures that can use these stones for magical purpose, how did they grow here?”

The image of Celestia flickered for a moment but he did catch her in thought. Their world was rich in mana which helped the ponies use their magic. The mana existed in the air but also in the minerals in the earth. It was a highly rare thing for it to exist outside their planet. The question was if they had magic themselves or if they used the stones for something else.

She leveled with him once more, noticing that he was still looking at the notes.

“You mentioned their weaponry? What about their armor?” Celestia asked after a long silence.

Her voice seemed to snap the Commander out of his reverie and made him drop the notes. Giving an agitated sigh he picked up the note, turning to another page. The results were not covered at that sector but gave him info of their material… and that raised his eye-brows.

“Their armor seemed to be attachable to their clothes. The materials of their suits are far beyond what I ever seen. It seemed to link together with their armor despite not having slots.” He explained, getting more and more impressed. “It’s almost as if it’s magnetic. The armor itself is made from…” He grew quiet when he read the mineral. A mineral he never even heard of.

The Princess raised her eye-brows too and tilted her head as to urge him to continue. Seeing his shocked expression she straightened her head.

“What is their armor made of, Commander?” She asked, calm and collected as ever.

Icy slowly raised his head to look at her, mouth agape and eyes wide.

“Unknown, Princess. Whatever their armor is made of it’s at least five times harder than our armor.” He spoke, voice now barely over a whisper.

This changed her appearance from calm to surprise to thoughtful. The silence between them was only filled with the flicker of the arcana showing her image. She blinked in surprise, giving a breath that sounded more like a hiss.

“Five times?” She asked, struck by the sudden news.

Icy nodded stiffly, notes still levitated in close proximity.

“The only thing stronger than it in Equestria is the metal coating the Gates of Tartarus. It’s a very powerful mineral, how did they get it?” He asked as his eyes scanned the reports.

Celestia on the other hoof had her eyes cast to the floor and the clear expression of thought visible on her body-language. The only mineral stronger was in Tartarus. And the other metal was the coating for her guards’ armors. Then, was there a metal stronger than theirs? She almost smiled. The opportunity to study this metal would benefit her ponies greatly: How to coat the armor to make the guards safer, the weapons sharp enough to cut through a dragon’s scale and even kill if push comes to shove.

“Aside from that we found that they made artillery that not only fires faster than our horns but can deal lethal strikes. I think Starlight found that out the hard way.” At Celestia’s worried expression he simply shook his head with a smirk. “Don’t worry, the moron made it. Made a damn mess of his armor.”

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. Last thing she wanted was one of her ponies to be killed, even if it was by accident.

“Is there a possibility to get some of the minerals here?” Celestia asked while stealing glances to the ponies managing the portal. They each nodded.

“Sure thing. I’ll have the Earth-pony unit take care of that… There was another thing we managed to get information on.” He looked through the notes and frowned. “Princess, do you know anything about a ‘Half-Millennium War’?”

Celestia blinked.

“Half-Millennium War?” she asked, receiving a nod in response.

Her eyes drifted down in contemplation. Something that wasn’t lost on the Commander.

“You know something, Princess?”

Celestia raised her head and nodded.

“Back when I was a filly, there was a war between pony-kind and a group of dragons. I only ever met one of them and he was the only one to ever help us. He visited me and my sister as well as our parents to give us news. If this is the same war then that means…” She grew quiet as she thought back to a particular memory. She shook her head. “As for the war, we never really knew much. We lived to far away to really get any news about it. I only know that I never saw my friend after that.”

Icy looked at her for some time, trying to get a sense of it. A war that lasted so long should have been recorded and remembered. Why was it forgotten?

“Then how come we haven’t heard of it, Princess?” Icy asked, genuinely curious.

Celestia simply shook her head.

“I’m afraid I don’t know, Alistair. But, if it was recorded, then the archives should give us the information we need. Until then, keep in touch if anything should come up.” Celestia requested.

Icy bowed down and then gained a small smile.

“And… How is Twilight and Shining doing?” He asked awkwardly.

Celestia simply smiled.

“Twilight is asleep. She’s been studying and recording things all day. Shining Armor was promoted to First Class by Iron Hide just a few days ago. They really miss their uncle.” She said with a motherly tone that made Icy smile all the wider.

“Tell them I said ‘hi’, would you?” He requested and Celestia simply nodded before their transmission ended.

Author's Note

Next up: Half-Millennium War.