De Luce et Tenebris Umbra

Species Tenebris
Appearance of the Dark

3000 kilometers off of Cherok IV.

0550 hours

The stars disappeared and were replaced with a dark distortion of the fabric of space.

A clump of metal soon appeared from the distortion, quickly followed by the rest of the 1.5km ship.

The ship, ‘Elizer’s Night’, emerged quickly from the folds of space, 10 min. ahead of schedule.

Bridge

“Well, here we are,” sighed Captain Mathias, “another rescue mission for a poor ignorant civie.”
He turned to the hulking armored shape beside him.

“Well, Colonel? How long do you think you’ll be gone this time? My men need to cash in their leave time.”

“As long as it takes captain,” Ghost replied.

“And you wouldn’t care to inform me of your mission more than the fact that some important big shot Civie is missing?”

“Why would they even send men like you to do something like that?” He scratched the back of head before slicking his remaining hair back and replacing his cap, “Unless it was really that bad, or there’s something more to it.”

“The specifics are classified as always Captain, you know as well as I do that cannot divulge anything more at this time.”

Mathias sighed rolling his shoulders.

“Hmph! Can’t help but try. My little girl’s birthday is next month, and I’d like to make it back… this time.”

Ghost nodded and turned to look at him from the veiwscreens where the planet was slowly getting larger.

“Don’t worry; I’ll have you back with enough time to help set up her party. No matter what.”

Mathias sighed with relief. Whenever Ghost made a promise like that, he always kept it no matter the circumstances they faced.

“Sir!” cried the helmsman. “We’re nearing their radar range, should we begin deceptive measures?”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

The false pings would prevent the planetside stations from detecting the ship as nothing more than an asteroid, allowing them to approach undetected until they had taken stock of the situation.

Canterlot, Equestria

Lt. MoonShadow was a relatively new pony to the Palace Royal Guard. Patrolling the castle halls was the last thing she wanted to be right now, but since one of her subordinates was sick, she had offered to take his place. She had never expected to be in Canterlot so soon, especially on friendly terms.

She had seen service in her town’s guard, then the New Lunar Republic Army. They had been at war with the Solar Empire for a couple of years now and she had just been promoted to the NLR Special Forces when the new threat had appeared.

1 month ago the Solar Empire and the New Lunar Republic had faced off in what was to be one of the greatest decisive battles in the war. They had been evenly matched, and the battle had been at a stalemate for several days.

Moon could still hear the battle cries of countless ponies on both sides as they had approached their final battle on that fateful day. Only that, once both sides had been immersed into the combat, these new foes emerged, blindsiding the two armies, and leaving mass confusion in their wake.

She stopped her patrolling for a moment and shook her head, trying to dispel the ringing in her ears. It wouldn’t go away and she clasped her hooves over her ears and shut her eyes tight trying to figure out what the noise was… then, it hit her. She listened closely to the ringing, only to be gripped by fear and grief.

The noise wasn’t a simple ringing, but rather the cries of fear and pain from countless ponies… the memories were coming back.

Frantically, she searched for somewhere to hide as she unsheathed her dagger and tossed it to the other side of the hall. Spotting a large tapestry 10 ft. away she ran towards it, taking comfort in the dark space behind it. Clasping the empty sheath tightly in her mouth, she lay down and shut her eyes, tears already falling down the sides of her face as the horrifying images returned.

1 Month Ago

“You have your orders, good luck.” General Slighthoof dismissed his ponies with a solemn look on his grizzled old face.

MoonShadow practically flew out into the early morning with her three other squad mates. This was to be the last battle of the Everfree campaign. It was going to be all or nothing for the allegiance of Equestria. Her excitement was unparalleled, as she had just been promoted to the prestigious NLR Special Forces. They were to spearhead a flanking attack on the SE’s main force and stir confusion within the enemy providing the NLR with an advantage.

1 Hour Later

MoonShadow paused at her vantage point in an ancient pecan tree on a hill at the edge of the Everfree forest. At first her interest had been peaked at the size of the tree. Normally Pecan trees were not this tall, but then what could one expect of the Everfree forest?

She raised her binoculars to get a view of the sparsely treed field. The two army camps were only 6 miles from each other, but still close enough for Pegasus recon, but those that were sent were quickly discouraged by Unicorn AA.

Moon settled down into the crook of her branch and motioned for the rest of her team to do the same. It would be a while yet until the two armies marched on each other. Looking Eastward toward the slowly rising sun, Moon could just see the blurred shape of a town on the horizon.

This battle was going to be fought dangerously close to the neutral boundaries of Ponyville. The Elements of Harmony had pledged to remain neutral in the war as they would be a decisive factor in all battles. It had been made clear to both armies that there was to be no fighting anywhere within a 3 mile radius around the town.

Even then though, the citizens had made the offer that if a pony was too wounded to be taken back to their respective camp, then they would be somewhat welcome at the town hospital under truce terms, as eventually there would be wounded of both sides within the town.

Moon shook her head at the idealistic view of the soft spoken Pegasus that had put forward that proposition. She had given up her home to be within the boundaries of the town, but took her animals with her. According to reports, she still made occasional trips back to the forest to care for whatever animals had come to her empty doorstep, but only under the protection of a small contingent of the town’s guard.

Moon wrapped her rear hooves around her branch and rolled over to pop up in the face of her second in command, StarWatcher. He nearly fell out of the tree at her sudden appearance.

“You’re on watch, wake me up when they start moving,” she whispered, before swinging back up to her branch not even waiting for a confirmation before settling in for a nap.

StarWatcher sighed at the antics of his friend. She was always either sleeping or napping, and she claimed that there was a difference between the two when he did not see any.

Hearing the soft snores of his commanding officer brought a small smile to his face. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small box. On it was a small tag labeled, ‘To MoonShadow’. Opening it he revealed a pair of earrings and a folded note. He had discovered his feelings for his long-time friend only recently, and had been trying to figure out a way to tell her. He had planned on a dinner and dance in a small restaurant in neutral Ponyville, but decided to confess his feelings through a note just in case…

As sad expression formed on his face, there was a reason he was called StarWatcher. He could see artificial formations of stars in his dreams that gave him glimpses into the future, and for the past week he had been getting the same message. That he would die in the upcoming battle or soon after.

Many would say that the future isn’t set and can always be changed. Star agreed with them completely. He had changed some of the outcomes that he had predicted, but only slightly. He couldn’t make the changes by himself, but everypony that he involves in the predictions has died while helping him. In a way it seemed that the very things that he tried to prevent from happening, happened because he tried to prevent them.

He put away the box and determination filled his face. No matter what, he would confess to MoonShadow, and he would survive the battle. He closed his eyes and visualized the scene, but not her answer.

His father had told him that, ‘To visualize the scene will make it happen, but do not visualize the outcome, as you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment. I mean just look at you, I wanted a big and strong son that would catch the ladies at first glance like me, but instead I got the lean intelligent scruff that’s you!’

Star allowed himself another smile at the memory of his father’s teasing life lessons, but it quickly vanished when he heard a low rumbling sound. Looking around he saw that the others of his squad were up and alert, so he reached up and gave Moon’s overhanging hoof a jab.

Moon woke up with a start from a jab to her hoof. Looking down she could see Star pointing to the field. Raising her binoculars, she could see the two armies nearing each other. She lowered the binocs., and readied her gear. Now all they, and the other teams, had to do was wait for the signal… and there it was, flying high over the rear of their army near the command center.

Flying from their positions within the Pecan tree's branches, they approached the nearest trees as stealthily as possible.

Moon could feel the tension in her muscles and the jitteriness that were her nerves. Landing softly in the thick leaves of a tree, she watched as the two massive armies clashed before her eyes. The forest had been silent until now, but now it rang with the battle cries of both sides.

Magical artillery flew back and forth, and pegasi dropped magic concussion grenades to disorient the enemy.

Moon and the others were frozen with awe. They longed to join the fight, but had to wait until the second signal was sent.

Before it could be sent however, new sounds began to overlap the battle. Moon and her team could only watch in horror as bright flashes of light and fire appeared on the field, quickly followed by the sounds of strange whining explosions.

Then, instead of the proud cries of fighting ponies, they could only hear the fearful wails of both armies as an unforeseen force tore into them.

Then the second signal went up, a bright ball of light that separated into three lights of green yellow and red, showing where the SF teams would be most needed.

“Come on guys,” yelled Moon, as she took off at full sped for the red light that hovered over the far side of the battle.

StarWatcher was rooted in place. His dream was coming true! The red light surrounded by blue fire, a flaming dart followed by a burning pain in his chest, and an unequstrially roar. These moments marked his path towards his death, and so far only the 1st had happened. Seeing Moon take off towards the red light, he immediately followed not willing to let her get hurt. The time was here and one had passed, he only had to survive the next two and he would be home free, he hoped.

Closing in on the new threat.

(POV) Solar Empire SF Captain ShiningBrow

He and his men were hastily redeployed to face the new threat under orders from Celestia herself. Brow had been unnerved at the new development on their left flank, but now he was terrified. His orders had included that he was to work with the NLR’s troops as well if needed.

“Sir, there they are!,” cried his lieutenant.

Brow looked downward only to be horrified by the sights that awaited him. Ponies from both sides had been torn to shreds by this new force that seemed to be composed of giant apes with battle axes, only that they had the agility of rabbits. Not only that but they were lobbing small grenade like objects that emitted a whining sound shortly before exploding into shining balls of blue flame, incinerating anypony lucky enough to be caught in the blast. Those that were unlucky enough to be caught at the edge suffered serious burns and lost limbs. Not even the off-limits medical ponies were being spared, with the bright red crosses on their armor. In fact, it only seemed to make them more attractive targets to the beasts.

Suddenly a flurry of light red flashes caught his eye. Turning slightly he saw several red lights flying towards him.

‘What could those be?,’ he wondered, ‘They look like… arrows!,’ only seconds before being impaled by the cloud of burning spikes.

StarWatcher dived and weaved, slashing at the tall beasts with his sword. Gone was the thought of fighting the Solar Empire, right now he could only think of covering Moon’s back.

Suddenly, there were two bright flashes of light above the field, and everything stopped, even the new beasts, to look up.

There, above them all were the two princesses, talking to each other!

“All ponies from both sides here our call!”

‘What the hell?!’

“We have called a temporary truce between us to combat this new threat to ponykind.”

As they explained, their horns glowed with power and an invisible wedge was driven between the apes and us. They retreated several yards and stood glaring at us. All fighting had ceased.

Suddenly, Luna’s voice rang out, “Now be gone foul beasts!”

A bright light engulfed the apes and they seemed to disappear before our eyes.

Both sides watched in awe at the display of power that been banned at the start of the war by mutual agreement. The results were terrifying.

The apes remained where they were, the earth around them scorched and blackened while they remained unaffected except for a slight shimmering that seemed to cover their bodies.

Our jaws dropped and several clumps of ponies turned and ran. We didn’t stop them; the only thing holding us there at the front was the fact that we had the princesses’ backup, but not even Luna’s power had affected them.

StarWatcher remained hovering several dozen yards above MoonShadow, only about 10 feet below the princesses. Then, the beasts started laughing. This caused even more ponies to flee, screaming and falling over bodies in their haste to get away.

Star looked up to see the two princesses with looks of shock and fear on their faces, they had lost their focus on the shaking mass of mirth before them.

Star heard a distinct ‘click’ through the laughing and looked down in time to see one of the apes hiding behind some others pop up with a long metallic object in his hand, taking aim at Luna, who was preparing another spell along with Celestia, and fire. Star barely even had a thought as he shot upwards to deflect the spike with his sword.

Angling his sword, he caught the spike perfectly, deflecting it away from the princess, but didn’t catch sight of the second one until it was nearly upon him. He brought his blade to bear, and gave a slight smile, the crisis moment had been averted, only to have the spike punch straight through his sword, creating a neat hole in the middle of it, and penetrate through his armor.

Time froze as the brave Pegasus fell from the sky, only to be caught by several others and gently settled to the ground as the medics rushed to him.

All around him, the ponies began to unfreeze, shocked into action by the bravery of this lone soldier. They gathered at the invisible shield separating the two sides, pure rage overtaking their faces. At the same time a contingent of pegasi formed a protective barrier in front of the princesses preventing any more of the assassination attempts.

A lone figure stepped in front of the apes’ line and began clapping.

“Brava! Brava! I didn’t expect to see such courage from the like of your weak race, but nevertheless it will be fun to watch your world burn,” he said his words dripping with malice.

MoonShadow hadn’t recognized that it had been StarWatcher that had sacrificed himself, and so hadn’t rushed to his side. Instead she took her place at the head of her line next to the acting commander of the Solar Empire’s SF.

Whoever that thing, thought it was, it would pay dearly.

2 predicts down 1 to go.

StarWatcher lay inside a huddle of bustling medical ponies from both sides as they worked on him. A single thought kept going through his mind.

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m…’

He lost consciousness right before the third came true.

Celestia and Luna prepared to fire their combined magiks upon the creatures when the one that had spoken raised his arm and waved his claws. The magic that had been gathering above them suddenly dispersed into the clouds creating a thunderstorm.

Celestia and Luna were shocked, whatever this thing was, it had the ability to cancel, or at least redirect, their spells.
He simply smiled at them and lifted his forehoof into the air, only to be interrupted by a terrible roar.

Listen here please.

Allow both to load and play respective parts in order to get the full roar.
First video start at :35/end at :55 (video here)
Second video start at :30/ to end (video here)

Both sides froze at the sound.

The ponies were terrified at the possibly new threat, that terror only increased when the apes began to flee.

"It's the Daemons! Flee! Flee!"

Their terror for the being that the sound came from was as transparent as daylight.

Soon only the cloaked figure remained, but it also seemed to be terrified out of its wits.

Before fleeing he called out one more thing, "You may have won this one, but we will be back!"

Ponies scrambled into loose formations and were all frantically searching for the source of the noise. The enemies that they had just faced were powerful and terrifying. So what could make them so scared?

They stood there, waiting, watching, trying to find the source of this apparently new threat.

Only...

It never appeared.