Chapters Chapter 1: What Happened?
The year is 2030. It's a bright summer day and everyone is outside doing whatever they do. Everyone except Ryan that is. You see, Ryan is an inventor, more specifically for the military. He has been working in his lab to build the latest breakthrough in unmanned technology. His breakthrough could further put the USA ahead in unmanned technology.
"Hey Ryan?" His assistant said while he walked in?
"Yeah Jacob?"
"Once you get that final plate welded, the captain would like to see you".
"Good, tell him i'll be right out".
The captain had come that day to see his finished product. Ryan was not one to disappoint. He had put extra time in trial runs for this prototype specifically. 3,000 hours in the field to be exact. He was very specific when it came to the point of life or death situations. Ryan had very good reason for his drive for advancements. Ryan's father had died in the military due to an enemy drone. He wanted to make his better and stronger than every other drone out there. Ryan stood back after welding the last plate. He nodded and went out the double doors to the front desk.
"Captain please follow me, you are here to see the finished prototype correct?"
"Yes, yes I am".
"Very good, please follow me".
He led the captain back into his lab where he had been working. He pointed at the large drone that sat in front of them. The captain stood in awe and gave Ryan a hard handshake.
"Ryan you sure as hell have just made a breakthrough in war. The military thanks you greatly". The captain said with a salute.
Ryan simply saluted back. The captain went back out and returned with a briefcase full of 100 million dollars. Ryan gave a small whistle when he saw the contents of the case.
"Sir, I only asked for 50 million for this drone".
"Yes, the general gave me specific orders to give you more due to the fact he knew it would be great," He gestured towards the drone," and from what I can see, it is great".
"Thank you sir, now you wanted to start it's operations today?"
"Yes, you said it was fit for military operations due to the successful trials, correct?"
"Yes, it is ready".
"Alright Ryan, follow me so we can go start it's first mission".
Ryan followed the captain out to the black SUV's waiting outside. He also saw a very large transport truck. Ryan hit a button and the lab's roof opened and the drone was on an ascending platform. The truck grabbed the drone with ease due to it's industrial crane. Once safely inside the truck the group of cars went to the closest military base. They arrived with little difficulty due to being 5 minutes away. Ryan watched the truck set the drone on the runway and walked inside. He went to the main special ops room where he already had a communications desk set up specifically for the drone. The drone had it's own AI so it could think on it's own without the user interfering. Ryan programmed it to have a voice as well as think like a human.
"Ryan everything is set up, all you need to do is launch".
"Thank you captain," Ryan hit the launch button. On camera was a first person point of view from the drone. It gained speed fairly quickly and lifted off. All of the newer guys cheered and Ryan felt quite good about himself. He had just made a huge step in unmanned technology and he was quite happy about it. Ryan and a few others watched the drone as it made it's way to it's destination. Ryan had specifically made the drone practically invisible by using stealth coatings and shielded heat signatures.
"Sir, drone will be seeing target in T- 3 minutes".
"Good, keep watching for trouble".
3 minutes passed by and the drone said something through the speaker.
"Target locked, request to fire?"
"Fire when ready Reaper," Ryan had specifically named the AI Reaper instead of the name it came with. He thought Sam didn't sound tough enough for an unmanned, high firepower, drone.
"Engaging target". The rocket fired and the terrorist organizations base exploded into pieces.
"Great shot Reaper! Come on home!" The Reaper turned around and began to fly back. He noticed purple creeping up on the camera. Suddenly the camera went straight to static.
"Reaper? Come in!" No response. "Captain we have a major problem!"
"What is it Ryan?"
"I don't know sir, one second Reaper was flying back and then the camera went straight to static".
"Hmm, Private!"
"Yes sir?"
"Try the best you can to communicate with the drone, see if we can get it back!"
"Yes sir!"
"Also captain before the camera went to static I saw something purple, it wasn't solid. Shortly after the camera went straight to static".
"Interesting... I know how hard this is Ryan but trust me we will try everything we can to get your drone back. Now, go get some sleep, you look like you need it. If we pick something up we will give you a call".
"Alright sir". Ryan walked out of the complex and was driven to his house by one of the black SUV's. He walked up to his house and got a good look at it. He was content with the way it looked. Even though he was a rich man, he never cared for the way the rich lived. So he decided to settle with a normal house in a normal suburb. He grabbed his mail and unlocked the door. Ryan was only 22 years old, so he was not yet married. Ryan grabbed a coke out of the fridge and sat on the couch. He turned on the TV to see what other boring news would be on.
"A boy was found dead after a skateboarding accident. We will have more on this story coming up after the break". Ryan sighed and changed the channel. He found nothing suitable for him so he turned on his Xbox 3. He hasn't played any games in awhile so he decided now was the best since he wouldn't have to work until the drone was found. "If it's found," he sighed to himself. He put the virtual to reality helmet on and started a game. His favorite game Battlefield 9 was loading. He soon found himself in the game.
"Hey Ryan what's up buddy?"
"Not much, how's it going Matt?"
"It's going," He said with a chuckle.
"Well today wasn't the best, my drone I was working on seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth".
"Awe, bro I'm sorry. I hope you find it soon. Alright come on lets capture A".
Ryan lost himself in the game. His team won after an hour of playing.
"Hey Matt, you have fun man, I'm going to bed".
"Alright Ryan, take it easy".
Ryan removed the virtual helmet and shut off the Xbox. He looked at his watch and saw it was 11:37. "Time to get some rest, hopefully I get a call of the good news tomorrow". He trudged up the stairs looking depressed. He tried to fall asleep but couldn't. "All of my life's work... Wasted... I guess I'll wait a month until I try to build another". Ryan was still confused about the purple thing on the camera. He willed himself to go to sleep and finally tricked himself to sleep. It was a dreamless night as Ryan was terribly depressed about the loss.
"Twilight! Did the spell work?"
"No Spike I don't think it did," Twilight said dejected.
"What did Celestia want you to perform this spell for anyway?"
"She said she needed some type of weapon for defense for Canterlot. Apparently this spell seeks out the nearest weapon in the universe and teleports it here".
"Wow, that's some complex stuff," Spike said yawning. "Well I'm off to bed, don't stay up too late".
"Ok, I'll be up in a minute". Twilight hung her heard in despair. Twilight was trusted with an important task and she had failed. "Maybe it takes a few days to find it, that's my only hope". Twilight read over the spell one more time to see if she missed anything. Indeed she did, at the bottom in small print it read "May take a few days to find a weapon," . Twilight let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't failed yet.
She went up to her room careful not to wake her sleeping assistant. She stared at the night sky to see if it would bring anything before she drifted off to sleep.
Somewhere in between dimensions a very confused drone was traveling through space.
Twilight awoke with a start. She heard a loud thump from the floor below. She got up wiping the tiredness from her eyes, ready to start the new day. She walked down the steps to inspect the thump she had heard moments before. She rounded the corner to her kitchen and saw a bewildered Spike looking at a broken bowl with gems spread out over the floor.
"Oops, sorry Twi," Spike said looking back. "I didn't mean to wake you".
"It's fine Spike," Twilight sighed. Using her magic she reconstructed the bowl and set it on the table with the gems in it.
"Thanks Twi!" Spike said stuffing himself with gems. She sighed and went back to the spell book she had left on the table the night before. She looked over the spell once more to make sure it did indeed say it may be a few days. She looked over when Spike belched a letter.
"Here Twi," Spike said handing the letter to her.
"Thanks," She nodded and quickly opened the letter.
"My faithful student,
How has the spell gone? If you haven't noticed yet the spell may take a few days to work. Once the weapon has come please notify me,
Many Thanks,
Princess Celestia"
Twilight scowled wishing she had sent the letter sooner. No matter, at least she thought of that. She put the letter away where she normally put them.
"Want to reply Twi?"
"No, she only wishes to know when the weapon arrives," Twilight sighed.
"Oh ok," Spike went right back to eating his large bowl of gems.
Twilight picked up the spell book and floated it over to the couch. She laid down and began to read it. She read through every other spell in the book. Every spell was to either summon a weapon or to make one. Which wasn't surprising since the book was called "How to Summon Weaponry ". It had been an hour and she slammed the book and sighed wishing it would get here soon. She walked outside to get some fresh air. A scream was heard in the distance and Twilight ran to see what was up. She found that a group of ponies were staring up at the sky and pointing. She looked were they were looking couldn't believe her eyes. A metal thing that looked like a bird was coming straight for them. Everypony screamed and ran in different directions. The drone slowed down a bit and deployed it's landing gear. It landed inches from a building. Twilight came out from behind her cover and peered around the corner after the dust dissipated.
"Hello, Alien, I would like to know where I am," The drone said in a deep voice. Twilight quickly hid behind cover again. The drone started up it's motor and drove around the building. "Hello life form? Please identify yourself".
"Um..." Twilight choked out, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, what is yours?"
"Many call me Reaper".
"Nice to meet you Reaper, what are you?"
"I am an unmanned drone. Codenamed UAV. I scout out enemies and destroy them with massive missiles and machine guns".
Twilight smiled, this was the weapon Princess Celestia had requested.
"However, until I know what this world is or what you are, I consider you neutral".
"Um, ok. Well I am an equine and you are in the world of Equestria".
"My files seem to be outdated, I have no record of your species or this world 'Equestria'"
"Well update your files because we are indeed here," Twilight said with a smile.
"Ok files updated, are you friendly?"
Twilight just simply nodded.
"Ok files updated. New species: Equines, New World: Equestria, Species considered friendly, do not engage. Is that right?"
"Yes, it is".
"Now, I must find a way out of here, I was on a mission".
"My Princess requires your assistance, can you help?" The drone hesitated for a second. Seeing as how his mission was completed he couldn't say no.
"I guess I can offer my services," The drone said.
"Great, now please follow me, we must send her a letter!"
The drone kept a slow pace behind Twilight. Everypony they passed ran for cover or locked their houses. After a minute they had reached her library.
"Wait out here please,"
"Yes ma'am".
The drone took geographic maps. He took videos and pictures so he could document the new race and world. Even though he was 30 feet tall he could still get around relatively easily. He understood this "Princess" was the symbol for power so he understood he would have to listen to her orders. This Twilight Sparkle was also apparently a high symbol of authority. Twilight came outside after a minute.
"The Princess said she will Teleport you to her castle soon. Is it ok if I come as well. I must take notes on you!" Twilight was very excited to meet this strange metal species, however, she wanted to gather as much info as she could. A shimmer surrounded the two and they found themselves in a large castle room. The drone easily fit.
"So this must be the weapon correct?"
"Yes Princess, he appeared from the sky a little while ago".
The Princess focused on the strange metal drone. She saw it barred two large rockets on the sides. It also had a rod with many holes mounted under the center of the thing.
"I'm here for your assistance ma'am". The drone snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Yes of course," She smiled at it's proper etiquette. "Those rocket's on your sides, when fired are they gone forever?"
"Yes ma'am, also my bullets and fuel run out as well". The Princess smiled.
"Well I think I know something to make those last forever," She commented.
"Really?" The drone asked in disbelief.
"Yes," She closed her eyes. Summoning all the magic she could she enveloped the surprised drone with a mist. After she chanted words to the spell the mist dissipated. On the drones "Heads Up Display" everything changed to an infinite sign.
"Wow," The drone was surprised greatly.
"Did it work?" The Princess asked out of breath.
"Yes it worked perfectly".
"Great," The Princess said with a smile.
"Now for your mission..."
Ryan had a rude awakening due to his loud alarm he never fixed. He slammed on the snooze button. It had been 4 days since his prized invention went missing and he still hasn't recovered. He had received no calls regarding his drone in the time of it's absence. Today he felt it wasn't going to be any different. His alarm blared through his room again and he simply got up not wanting to continue the day. He went downstairs and made himself a bowl of cereal with some toast. He settled on the couch and turned on the morning news.
"Word has been received that a military inventor 'Ryan Peters' has lost his invention. Researchers say that it disappeared out of thin air. Most scientists argue that faulty wiring may have been the cause of this expensive accident". Ryan slammed his fist on the table. He didn't know who leaked the info but he was going to be sure to ask the captain. His phone rang with an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Ryan, how are you?"
"I've been better," Ryan sighed, "who is this?"
"Ryan, it's the captain".
"Oh sorry sir, I didn't recognize your voice, what do you need?"
"Ryan, great news. The cameras on your drone have slowly been downloading a live feed, they should be done soon. It appears your drone is still out there somewhere".
Ryan almost jumped out of his skin. He had given up all hope for the drone, now he had renewed hope.
"Sir, I will be there in 25 minutes".
"Good enough, see you soon son".
With a click the captain hung up. Ryan quickly got in some casual clothes and took a quick shower. He went outside and jumped in his brand new 2030 Ford Focus. He revved up the engine and drove out. He headed towards the military base, only to be interrupted by a phone call. He pressed the button on his car's dashboard to forward the call to his car.
"Hello?"
"Hi honey! How are you?"
"I'm fine mom," Ryan sighed knowing his mom loved to talk forever if given the chance. "What do you need?"
"Is it wrong for me to call my son just to talk?" She sounded hurt by his words.
"Sorry mom, I'm busy. Appears my drone is back".
"That's great news! Go get him back, I know that has been your life dream".
"Alright thanks mom, have a good one".
"Love you son".
"You too mom".
Ryan hung up the call and continued to drive. Within a few minutes he pulled into the parking lot at the military base. He cut the motor and jumped out, locking that car as he did so. He walked to the front doors of the base greeted by two guards. They smiled at him.
"Sir," The guard on the right saluted," The captain wishes to see you as soon as possible".
"Thank you, tell him my regards". Ryan smiled and walked passed them.
"Will do sir," The guard remarked as Ryan rounded the corner. He walked through the maze of corridors and walked into an unnaturally large room. He found his desk with his many computers that he left in static. The captain and a few other guards were watching the screens. The captain noticed Ryan and stood up straight.
"Why don't you take a look yourself," The captain remarked as he and the guards backed up for Ryan to take a look. He craned his head around to see static with a loading bar in the middle. It read "LIVE FEED DOWNLOAD 89% " Ryan rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He opened his eyes seconds later and the loading bar was still there and now it said 90%. Ryan smiled knowing he wasn't dreaming.
"Well," The captain spoke up, "might as well stay here knowing your drone is still here". The captain chuckled knowing Ryan would have stayed anyway. "Ryan me and my men will leave you here, call me when the live feed comes online". The captain flashed Ryan a smile. Ryan smiled back, his life work was not ruined just yet.
Every passing minute felt like a day. The percentage went up about 1% a minute. Finally it had reached 99% and Ryan held his breath. 100% and the cameras snapped on. "Captain! Cameras online!".
"Your mission is quite simple," Princess Celestia said spreading her hoofs for emphasis. "Fly above Canterlot and guard it from an attack I believe will come soon".
"You still never answered my other question ma'am".
"What would that be?"
"How did you somehow make everything of mine be infinite? It's quite simply impossible, where I come from that is".
She simply said one word, "magic".
The drone processed this for a few seconds. Under the law of physics nothing can be infinite. Everything runs out at some point. That's just simply a normal thing understood by everyone. Food isn't infinite, neither is air or water.
"Magic is not possible with all due respect ma'am, it doesn't abide the law of physics". The drone was confused, he had never heard of this magic. The only magic he knew was tricks people did for a living.
"Before I answer that, do you have any form of magic?"
"The only magic I know ma'am is tricks, however, they are only illusions. Their is no real supernatural power behind it".
"In our world, magic is very common. It's what many unicorns, like Twilight, Or Alicorn's, like me, use and have on a daily basis. It helps with many tasks and can do many helpful and dangerous things".
"But ma'am-,"
"Don't argue, you will understand soon. It may just be to much to understand for you because you come from a world that has none".
"It just doesn't make any logical sense to someone like me".
"I understand, most ponies don't understand it but they accept it's there. Magic is very unpredictable, that's why one with such powers must be careful. That's the best explanation I can give, I'm sorry if it doesn't answer everything".
"It doesn't but I'm starting to understand how your world works. Back to the task at hand, you just want me to look out for this castle correct?"
"Yes, if you see anything that I identify as hostile, you know what you have to do," The Princess shuttered at what this metal beast might be able to do. "Before I teleport you out so you may do your job, how do your weapons work?"
"Quite simple, the black thing with many holes mounted underneath the center of me is an all purpose .50 Caliber machine gun. It shoot's bullet's know to many as Full Metal Jacket or FMJ. Basically that means they are armor piercing." Celestia raised an eyebrow not expecting those to come out of that. "I can shoot bullets at 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute. It ranges due to heat, the hotter it is, the slower it shoots," He trailed off for a second saddened by the way his gun worked. "Now you must be wondering about these rockets right?" Celestia nodded her head.
"Now these are more complicated. They are called the AGM-65 Maverick S missiles. The 'S' is how many improvements have been made since it's prototype. This particular one has a laser guided system. Any object organic or inorganic, I can lock onto and destroy with extreme prejudice. When the missile hits its target, the head notifies the rest of the system to explode. That happens in the matter of nanoseconds. So not only does the missile explode causing area damage but shrapnel is projected in many directions causing area damage as well. This shrapnel is superheated so it slices through anything it touches."
Celestia simply stared at the drone mouth agape. She was starting to have second thoughts about this weapon. Celestia looked at Twilight who was also surprised.
"So, you seem to have much more advanced technology than we have, and your race did it without magic?"
"That is correct".
"I must document you after your services are no longer needed. I would like to know more about your technology."
"Yes ma'am, now how must I get out of here? I cannot fit through the doors."
"Let me handle that," Celestia said with a smile.
Princess Celestia, Twilight, and the drone were teleported to the castle courtyard.
"First before you go, we must tell the ponies that you are here, we wouldn't want a outbreak of panic now would we?" Princess Celestia said with a chuckle.
"I understand ma'am, it seems your race was terrified when I arrived."
"Your a giant metal beast, they have every right to be afraid".
"You make a good point ma'am".
"Wait here while I send out a letter, we have a meeting discussing you".
"Yes, ma'am".
"Sir you are not going to believe what you are about to see."
"Ryan I have been told that many times, I think I can withstand this," The captain said with a chuckle. He rounded the corner and studied the screens Ryan was directed him to. He stared in disbelief at what he saw. "What exactly am I looking at Ryan?"
"I'm not sure sir, I am going through to drone's files to see of any editing made. I specifically made him to document everything he finds that is new".
On the screens was a large white horse walking away from the drone. It had rainbow hair that seemed to flow endlessly. Below the drone was another horse much smaller than the first. She was purple with multi colored hair.
"Captain these things seem strangely familiar but I can't put my finger on how," Ryan said with a sigh. "The drone has put in files regarding this species. They can talk and use magic. From what the drone took note of, apparently they teleported him there to use as a defensive weapon of their own."
"We need to report this right away Ryan."
"Go ahead sir, I'm going to see if I can find any other files regarding this." Suddenly an idea popped into his head. He pulled out his phone and dialed his sister's number.
"Hello?" Asked a female voice.
"Hey, Marissa I need a favor, this is very important."
"What is it?"
"When does your daughter get off of school?"
"In two hours, why?"
"I need you to bring her to the military base I show you all the time. Like as soon as possible."
"Why? What's up Ryan?"
"Can't explain right now, I'm really busy. Just get her down here as soon as possible, she may be the one to help humanities first contact with another species.
"Wow, I didn't realize your line of work involved aliens," She chuckled.
"I didn't either," He stated matter-of-factly.
"Alright bye," Marissa said before she hung up.
Ryan closed his phone, he needed to continue to search for answers to this phenomenon. He wished he could communicate with the drone but that would be closed for awhile. He found what he was looking for. He scrolled through the files recent updates. One creature was at the top of the named 'equines'. He noticed that not a lot of information was in the folder. All he saw was that they are friendly, they prefer the term 'ponies' not horses, and they speak English.
Ryan sat back in his seat waiting for his niece to get here to see if she could identify them. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing but it was happening nonetheless. He even pinched himself repeatedly but to no avail. Ryan settled in his seat staring at the camera waiting for something to happen.
Princess Celestia returned to where the drone and Twilight were standing. She looked over the metal beast once again to make sure she wanted this thing guarding her castle. She sighed knowing she got a weapon that she wanted, she just wished it wasn't so dangerous.
"Reaper, I have sent letters regarding your presence to everypony in Canterlot. We will have to take you down to Ponyville to let them know you are here. Actually we can go now, I said the meeting would be in 15 minutes."
"Yes ma'am, after I am done may I start my mission?"
"Yes, you may."
Princess Celestia teleported the drone, Twilight, and herself to the center of Ponyville. When they had arrived many ponies had already gathered. Princess Celestia walked up onto the stage to speak to the citizens and Twilight found her friends.
"Welcome, I have gathered all of you here today because we have an important matter to discuss regarding him." Princess Celestia pointed her hoof at the drone. Everypony in the crowd gasped when they saw it.
"Do not worry, I am the one who asked that he would be sent here. He will not hurt you since you are identified as friendly."
One pony in the crowd spoke up. "How do we know he will not hurt us?"
The drone positioned himself in front of the stage causing everypony to back up.
"She knows because I told her. Any other questions?"
The mare stayed silent because she didn't know it could talk.
"This beast will guard both Canterlot and Ponyville, so if you see him in the sky do not panic. If you report something bad happening to me I will report it to him. If he spots the target and you are nearby, you may die..."
Everypony in the crowd stared wide eyed at the drone. "Isn't he dangerous to have around then?"
"Yes, however, if anypony like the changelings or Discord come back, they stand no chance against him."
"Wouldn't they just use magic to stop the beast from attacking them?"
"In theory yes but his race constructed him without the use of magic, so in reality there is no way to counter his attacks."
"What if he attacks us?"
"I have many ways to stop that from happening, even though I don't trust him fully, I do trust that he will not attack us without good reason."
"That I promise." Reaper spoke up.
Everypony in the crowd stayed silent after the drone had spoke.
"Everypony can return to his or her houses, that is all I had to say." Princess Celestia teleported back to Canterlot.
The crowd had dispersed but a few stayed behind to get a good look at the metal machine.
"Reaper, don't you have something to do?" Twilight asked confused.
"Yes, however, I would like to know more about you before I leave that is. Who are your friends?"
Twilight pointed at each of them saying their names in the order they stood in.
"I see, nice to meet you all."
"So you can fly?" Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Yes, at very high speeds."
"I bet you can't fly faster than me!"
"I do not wish to upset you, however, I can fly at speeds past Mach 8. I can break the sound barrier after 3 seconds of being in the air."
"Prove it." Dash said with a smirk.
"Everyone back up."
The drone turned on his engines and drove to a straight field to take off on. He readied himself and dumped all power to the engines. He took off, scarring the ground where he was. He broke the sound barrier in 2.9 seconds and it sounded like an earthquake. After going the top speed of 1327 MPH he came around and landed where he took off. Rainbow Dash stood with a shocked expression on her face.
"Now if you would like me to clear up anything else just ask, if not I must get back to my mission." Rainbow Dash glared at the drone as it took off again.
"I don't like him." Rainbow Dash mentioned to her friends.
"What's not to like about him? He is protecting us you know." Twilight replied, obviously annoyed Rainbow was taking what the drone did to hard.
"He just had to show off!" Rainbow continued her rambling to herself much to her friends delight.
The drone came back into view again and landed much to Rainbow Dash's dismay.
"Ma'am quick question. How will Princess Celestia communicate with me?"
"Magic. She will simply talk using her Magic and you can hear her. You can also talk back."
"Your world never fails to astound me."
The drone prepared himself and took off again leaving them in a pile of dust.
"Well girls I'm going home, have a good day." Twilight walked back to her house in relative peace, knowing they now had a guardian.
Ryan stared speechless at the conversations the drone had with the ponies. They even had announced him in a meeting so that everyone wouldn't be scared. Ryan made sure he had recorded it all. His niece would be arriving in a few minutes and he had to show her the recordings to see if she knew anything about it. Besides studying what was happening before him, Ryan didn't do much else. He turned his head over to the doors when he saw them open.
"Sir, there is family here who wish to come in."
"Let them in."
"Yes, sir." The soldiers saluted and left. A minute later he returned with Ryan's sister and niece.
"Hi Uncle Ryan!"
"Hey, how's my favorite niece doing?"
"I'm your only niece silly."
"So, your still my favorite."
She giggled and looked at her mom.
"Alright Ryan what do you need?"
"Glad you asked, now if you would please direct your attention to the screen."
He played the first video he took, that showed the drone in the middle of all the ponies. His niece started jumping up and down.
"Look it's Princess Celestia!"
"So you know her?"
"Yeah she's in the TV show 'My Little Pony'."
"So your telling me, my drone got teleported into a TV show?"
"No silly! It looks like they are real."
"I don't see how that's possible."
"It's magic, anything can happen."
"Yeah, I don't feel comfortable with that answer."
Ryan pulled up the other video showing the drone taking off after arguing with the blue pony.
"That's Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie!"
"You know their names too?"
"Yep, I almost know all of them."
"Hmm, maybe since you know all of them, then you could talk to them when communications come back up."
She stared at him wide eyed. "Oh my gosh I would love too, I've always dreamed I would meet them or talk to them!"
Ryan just shook his head and concentrated on what the drone was doing now.
Twilight sat in silence at her library anxiously waiting for something to happen, of course when you wait nothing ever happens. She sighed and grabbed a book off the shelf and began to read. She was deeply enveloped in the book that she wasn't even paying attention to the time. After she had read through the first 10 chapters she looked at the clock. It was 1:48 in the morning. She silently sighed to herself as she put a bookmark where she left off. She slowly trudged up the steps thinking to herself. There was so much to be explained with the drone. She just didn't have the time to ask the questions. She silently made her way towards her bed, carefully not stopping on Spike. She settled into her bed for a night's rest.
*BOOM*
Twilight jerked up, she sighed for only being down for a minute and she had to get up again. She was more worried, however, about the explosion. The sound also had woken Spike up who stared at Twilight with a confused look on his face.
"Twilight what happened?"
"I'm not sure, it sounded like and explosion. I'm sure Princess Celestia is up, do you mind sending her a letter?"
"No, what do you want to say?"
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Do you know what caused that very loud explosion a few minutes ago?"
Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle."
"Send it please."
With a breath of green flame the letter was whisked away to some unknown space to be found seconds later by Princess Celestia. Seconds later Spike belched green flame and a letter popped out. He handed it to Twilight.
"I ordered Reaper to perform it, Twilight something terrible has happened." Twilight held her breath as she read the next line. "The Changelings are here, assemble the Elements. The situation is dire."
"Spike stay here, I need to get the girls!" Spike stared bewildered as Twilight ran as fast as her hooves could carry her. 2 more explosions rattled her body to it's core. She could see smoke erupting from Canterlot. She arrived at Sweet Apple Acre's first.
"Applejack! Open up!" The door opened a few seconds later and Applejack was a mess.
"What in tarnation are yall doing here?"
"No time to explain! Go get Rarity and Rainbow, i'll get Fluttershy and Rarity. Meet me at the library when you have them!"
Twilight raced to Sugarcube Corner. She knocked frantically on Pinkie's door. It soon opened a crack.
"Pinkie this is important we need to go get Fluttershy now!"
"Oki Dokie Loki." Pinkie said as she bounced in pace with Twilight running.
They made it to Fluttershy's in record time. Twilight hammered on the door until she heard stirring inside.
"Um, what is it?"
"This is important Fluttershy, lets go!"
"Oh... Ok..."
The three ponies ran back to the library. The other three had just arrived there moments before.
"Girls, the changelings are back, and I'm sure you heard to explosions. Reaper apparently recognizes them as a threat. Princess Celestia wishes we get there as soon as possible, so lets go!"
They all went to the train station and boarded the late train to Canterlot.
"Girls get some rest we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Each of them laid down so they could rest for the impending battle that was sure to come.
2200 hours
Equestrian Sky
"Reaper can you here me?"
"Loud and clear ma'am."
"Just making sure that the communication stuff worked."
"Yes ma'am."
The drone turned on his heat seeking radar trying to establish if anything was near his post. He had all his safety's off like he did for every mission. He continued to scour the area for anything out of the ordinary for 3 hours. He flew everywhere almost certain nothing would bother his VIP's. Until he saw splotches of red on his radar.
"Ma'am unidentified objects, they seem to be flying towards your castle. Establishing numbers..." Counting objects in the dark only using heat signatures was tough. Numbers could be very inaccurate. "Ma'am I've identified at least a thousand objects. Flying at a velocity of 100 MPH."
"Reaper, they are the changelings." The Princess said with a hint of fear in her voice. "Classify them as enemies, they almost enslaved all of us last time."
"Ma'am target locked. Shall I continue?"
Princess Celestia hesistated for a moment. "Do it."
"Yes ma'am, taking down targets. Destruction of enemies imminent. Taking down with extreme prejudice."
Princess Celestia almost felt bad for the changelings, almost... . Her train of thought was interrupted by an explosion. It rippled through Canterlot in a shockwave. She stared out in dark sky that was momentarily lit by the explosion.
"Destruction confirmed, 100 KIA's 200 wounded." The Princess had no idea what KIA meant but it probably had something to do with death. "Engaging hostiles." The sound of a fast firing machine gun was heard in the distance followed by another 2 explosions.
"600 KIA's 300 wounded. Circling around for another run. Ma'am they have reinforcements, I count about another 2,000 or so." A magic bolt whizzed past the drone and dissipated above it. He turned around for another run and fired another barrage of missiles each locking onto a group rather than single targets. The superheated fragments sliced through the Changelings flesh before they even knew what was coming.
The changelings didn't have the element of surprise anymore, they began to search frantically for the source of the attack. The drone, however, was not stupid and deployed his cloaking device as soon as he spotted them. That made the task of finding the attacker much harder. Shells of metal rained down on their army and cut through them like a superheated scythe. Their losses were unrecoverable. However reinforcements just kept coming. They stop focusing on where the attack was coming form but instead starting going towards to castle.
"Ma'am they are approaching the castle, I can't handle so many at once." In the background of him talking 5 missiles went off and killed at least 1,000 changelings. The ground below was littered with pieces of them. "I have to come out of stealth mode so they have something to attack." The drone turned off his coating and turned on his lights. He continued to rain hell on anything that got in the way. With their attention diverted he continued to attack them.
"What is that?" That was all a changeling could say before a .50 Caliber round tore through his skull and made his head explode. The Changelings now visibly afraid of the metal beast continued towards the castle faster than before. They were a mere 100 yards away when Reaper got concerned. He flew ahead past the castle and arced backwards. He came straight towards them shooting rockets and bullets into the pack. They tried to move out of the way but a few unlucky ones were torn to shreds from the impact.
Princess Celestia watched the light show and caught parts falling to the ground, she grimaced at the sight. The Changelings kept growing and getting closer to the castle. All Celestia could hope for was that her spell held up against the Changelings. She silently hoped the Element's would be at the castle by daybreak.
