Stars of War

by EquestrianKirin

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Original Character, Random, Adventure
Length: 6407

It's been so many years since Equestria had been abandoned by Ponykind. The kind's only home was "Eclipse Compound", where a unicorn, named Waterstar, resided. Until one day, he and other ponies, was called out into the field, dow

It's been so many years since Equestria had been abandoned by Ponykind. The kind's only home was "Eclipse Compound", where a unicorn, named Waterstar, resided. Until one day, he and other ponies, was called out into the field, down into the frozen lands of Equestria. What will the outcome be?

Firebrand by http://joshscorcher.deviantart.com/

Mage by http://lethalauroramage.deviantart.com/

Mad Munchkin/Maddie by http://mad--munchkin.deviantart.com/

Published 2014-10-19 15:30:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-19 15:30:04 UTC

Chapter One

My head kept trying to block such a noise that is my alarm clock. I'm sure anypony would hate that alarm ringing if early. My hoof tried to find it, to turn off the cursed noise. I missed - knocked the clock on the floor - finally slam the alarm off. I'm no morning bird, but where I'm at, I don't have a clue when morning is at all. My only time I have is my clock, and anypony who even cares about that. My room isn't exactly family -orientated. In fact, it looked more like a jail cell, but with more necessity. Example; that darn clock, the mattress for my bed, even a personal add on that is a mirror. I had no choice but to accept the fact I'm awake, as bad as that sounds, and managed to walk over to the mirror on sore hooves.

In the mirror in front of me, I can see a young, blue unicorn. His mane was a bit smooth, mix of midnight and cyan blue, but only made shaggy by the case of bed head. His blue eyes were still groggy from the morning wake up call, but he'd gotten this before, and knew it'll go away after half an hour. His horn poked out rather freely from the mane, like a beacon. This unicorn is none other than me, and as the mirror shows, I'm a regular of a unicorn.

I just tried to comprehend if the unicorn is really me in the image for a good 5 minutes before I got bored of this pony in the mirror, and went to the door. As I was, I saw my cutie mark in the mirror, which was 3 stars: one big, two circling it. I have yet to understand what my mark meant, but I got other things to focus on right now.

"Okay, let's get this over with."

My metal door slid open with ease, as I'm seen by other ponies of the base. They're all going about already, Guess I'm later than I though. I got my eyes out the wall glass in front of me, seeing the sea of Luna's ancient stars, and earth in orbit below.

See, where I actually live is a gigantic space "city", created before I was born, called "the Eclipse Compound", EC for short. Why it was made, I have no clue, but I can ponder a guess. While I was a colt, any teacher I'd asked wouldn't say to me, but would come up with some story on Celestia creating the base as a new standard of living, or cuz there's so many homeless ponies, so on so forth. Seriously, some excuses I can't EVER imagine. I walked over to the boundaries that separated me from the space vaccum, a hoof resting on the glass. I can still remember when I was just a colt, my front hooves pressed against the glass as I stare off to the stars. Since I didn't had much to do, my own pony brain already worked out an idea that could pretty much end up as a panicking conspiracy, if I had the guts to share it. Of course, it's no secret now that planet earth looked more like a piece of dis colored play dough rolled in a ball, and everypony knew it's not home anymore. Nopony knew why though, which I conjured up an answer. By appearance of the earth's outer shell, my guess is that the windigo, a kind of horse arctic spirit, had gone A-wall, and froze the planet. At least it explained the colder poles, while the equator looked slightly normal. But, again, plenty of time later. Now I have to go off to the pain of trainees. The halls I walked through looked like some sort of sci-fi movie set, silver metal floor with snowy white walls and ceiling. Occasionally other ponies, mainly fillies or colts, walk by me but I paid them no mind as I trotted to the main hub of this space city.

The set of doors opened up for me and I got a huge eyeful of the area, which was the norm for me. Earth ponies, Pegasi, Unicorn, even Crystal ponies and Zebras were all shown before me, all busy doing who knew what. Honestly, it's rather odd for me that so many ponies can live in this kind of place. As I was examining the crowd, I've managed to find where I was supposed to be. In EC, ponies are assigned different training, depending on what race of pony they are. For me, I go for the magic ring to get training started.

After some trotting through pony groups and over metallic floors, I got into the main magic ring. A lot of unicorns were already there, gossiping over different subjects. Looks like this blue unicorn is sitting alone again. I got in my usual spot: the front of the platform. The room was fairly big, so space wasn't an issue. The ground was cold and flat, so comfort WAS an issue. I can see why these unicorns chitchat with each other, to ignore the cold floors. Looking up to the front of the training room, a huge, dark blue banner was hung from the top of the wall, to nearly touching the floor. On it, a huge picture of 2 different ponies. On the left was a old unicorn named Starswirl the bearded, and on the right, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Both ponies are so deep in magic, their special talents and cutie marks ARE to represent it. Probably that's why they're chosen for the banner in the first place, if anything. All I did was stare at the banner while the other unicorns blabbered in my ear for 10 minutes, until our instructor came out. The EC had a number of different instructors, most of them hardcore and tough. I guess I'm considered lucky since the group I got was being instructed by Commander Firebrand. I saw the red unicorn stallion march out in front of the crowd, namely me, and the crowds settled down almost immediately. Firebrand is a bit special for a commander, not as rough as the other instructors, but still has plenty of hardcore attributes. His red body, his yellow mane and tail, his cutie mark looking like some laughing mask of fire contribute to his name (that's my guess anyway, I honestly have no real clue).

"Alright, everypony! Roll call, wanna make sure y'all here!" Firebrand yelled. He'd probably had to in order to get the unicorns in the back, but MAN, he's loud when you're right in front of him. I had to take the full force of it, unfortunately. Seriously, I was surprised I didn't go deaf from Firebrand's expert work of the screech. I saw him back up, probably to get a better view of the crowd of unicorns. He began calling out names, half of which I didn't care for.

"Waterstar, know you're here," he said. Yeah he ALWAYS knew I'm here, I'm right in front of him! I didn't say anything as he continued, until eventually he got a rather annoyed look on his face. Here we go again, I already knew what Firebrand was gonna say as soon as his muzzle opened up, asking that question "Where Aurora Ignite? AGAIN?"
I swear, I hear that question once every week. And, as with every week...

"I prefer Mage."

And there is that calm voice we've been missing. Although it was nothing new, I still turned to see Mage walk up to Firebrand. If there's anypony, I believe, that earns the title of magic, it's her. Her glossy eyes took a glance in my direction as she passed me, leaving me confused, as she can do to anypony. Her mane was a deep purple, same going for her tail, but what always confused me was her Cutie Mark. It looked more ancient than modern, and it didn't make much sense to me. But then again, Mage alone is hard to get. She had that sorta "mysterious yet kind" persona, which to me, that meant making it harder to get her. But, I hardly knew her, so what did I know honestly?

"Mage, how many times have I told you to come into training ON TIME!" Firebrand snapped. I think that's his only MAIN trait of a commander he had.

"Silly colt, I've transferred, remember?" Page said, calm in her voice, despite being yelled at in the face.

"What?"

"I told you last night, before you went to bed. I was transferred to a higher class, now I'm in mistress Cosmic's class." Then I see Firebrand rub the back of his head, embarrassed. THERES a trait no commander has: admitting that he screwed up, even if not directly.

"Oh, Right. Well, sorry Mage, carry on."

"Okay commander, have a good day." I then see the calm mare walk by me again, again, giving me a sweet glance with those glossy eyes. I swear, I never understood her with that. I kept a eye on her as she left the training room, but a red hoof, belonging to Firebrand, turned my head back to front.

"I know that's uncalled, but pay attention PLEASE."

The rest of the training session went on usually, given few tips, some practice runs, that sort of thing. What Firebrand would do was give us what he calls a "try it yourself" test, where he gives us directions without any demonstration (unless it involves anything with fire or weapon). Many mares and stallions handled it well, but, as usual, I'd got trouble. I was never good with magic, aside from focusing on one object to make it float, so mostly this training left me with just migraines and a dent in my pride. Firebrand didn't scold me AS MUCH as usual instructors, thank Celestia. But regardless, I was glad it was over and I could just crawl back in bed to try to get rid of my abomination. As I looked back to the window, my eyes, again, looked off into space. I was so occupied by the view, I had forgotten about my brain ache. My mind was too distracted by what could be down on earth to really care...but that was broken, as a group of ponies galloped past me! I bolted around as different ponies rushed by, same direction. Of course, I immediately asked "Where's everypony going?" But my answer came over a intercom, instructions as fallow:

"All equines, report to the commons immediately."

All equines? Right after training? That is something I had to see. My hooves made their motion, as my body fallowed the other ponies to the commons, which was the main area I had to go through earlier that day. Only now, the species weren't split up, instead, it was more of wherever you want. Apparently, all of the residents of the EC are present, including the various instructors, which there was about 9, 3 for each wing. One of which, was Firebrand, whom I noticed, looked just as confused as I was. Can't say I was surprised, after all, it is VERY rare to have this sorta meeting be held at all. With that thought floating in my cranium, I managed to find an open seat among the other ponies, most of which, I've never gotten to know. I didn't care though, what was gonna happen? My eyes set on the lead pony, whom began walking over to the main platform, as the ponies grew silent.

This much I knew: he is the leader of the EC. I wasn't sure if it was either from given royalty, or by pure default. That's because his forehead had a sort of cut or stub on it, once holding a horn. That, and his wings, made him an Alicorn, or he was, until he lost his horn in someway. How, I dunno, but he'd still remain the leader due to leadership and loyalty for all I know. And the fact he's still a Pegasus is even debatable, since his wings belong to a bat rather than a bird. After everypony calmed down, the leader began to clear his throat. Weird, even if I'm 20 rows behind him, I can hear and see him as if he was right in front of me.

"Attention. I suppose you're all wondering why I called you all here. Well, as you all know, our home on earth is no longer habitable for pony kind."

Yeah, tell us something we don't know. The windigo might as well freeze the whole bucking earth while they're at it!

"Our kind, whom still struggle down on earth, are being wiped out at an alarming rate. Our forces are in desperate need of more troops, against the deadly hordes of Sombrapods."

Sombrapods, a name that I've heard far more then I need to. I didn't heard of those things until I was old enough to begin training, and even that, I hardly knew much about them. All I did know by what I've seen in pictures, and in words by the commanders, is that they're some sort of subspecies of changeling, but they're much more ominous, and didn't appear, as far as I knew, until after pony kind had to evacuate Equestria. To me, that meant that they're the cause for pony kind to leave, as they had powers of both changeling, and that demonic unicorn known as Sombra, which I'm sure that's how their species got named after. At least I think that's what they could do, I never saw one, so how was I to know?

"So, everypony. Today, we come to the conclusion to call upon you, to join our fellow equine on earth, and help end this battle! I will call your names, who I call upon is granted the roll."

So that's it. The leader is gonna call us to earth? I thought "This should be good," as I listened to the Pegasus as he began calling names out.

"We'll start with Earth Ponies. Those going for the Earth wing are as fallows: Arrowhead, Thunder, lightning."

3 ponies I don't have a clue on. One looked green, thin, and a bit scruffy. The other 2 looked about the same except ones black, the other yellow. The 2 look-a likes seemed to look up to the green one. I didn't worry about it though as the leader continued.

"Next we have Pegesi. Those going for the Air wing are as fallows: Robin, Tiger Bolt, crescent."

Again, don't have much clue. 3 Pegesi flew over, one having no front hooves, which got some eye candy from the other ponies. And fallowing that pony: an orange zebra with wings, and a Pegesi version of Luna, pretty much. At that point, I lost much care in it, how did that involve me anyhow?

"Then we have the Unicorns. Those going for the Magic Wing are as fallows..."

Here we go.

"Crystal Snow."

Don't have a clue.

"Aurora Ignite."

Too obvious, she's too good in magic.

"Waterstar."

...what?...me? I thought I would go faint just hearing that, why-no, HOW?! I'm terrible at magic, and he chose ME to go? I just sat there, in a state of disbelief, before I felt my tail being pulled by a particular unicorn's magic. I tried to fight it, but I saw Mage pulling me along pass the crowd, until I was in line with the others. What the buck was I in for? Mage sat down next to me, after the feeling of being drafted passed by me, with her signature calming grin. I knew she'd done something to get me in, but turned my attention to the other unicorn, whom I assumed was Crystal Snow. Mainly a crystal unicorn, nothing too odd for her aside of that. The leader turned to the commanders and instructors, but the nine of us were moved off from the other ponies by some of the leader's guards. I still wasn't sure how I was chosen, but my questions I'd figured, wouldn't get answered until later.

With the eight other ponies, I continued walking down the halls, not talking very much, unlike the other ponies. Some engaged in small talk, though the twins, whom I figured were Thunder and Lightning, I thought would NEVER shut up. I found myself walking next to the green stallion, whom I saw had an arrow cutie mark on his flank. I Got the idea on who that was easily, but I didn't talk to him, as we're walking along. On my other side, was a grey wall of metal, nothing too special about that. Apparently, it was fascinating to me, cuz it was all I was looking at the whole time. My ears kept picking up talk from the others, but I kept my muzzle shut, I wasn't good in talk anyway. That went on for what felt like forever until I felt the hoof of the stallion next to me.

"You alright?" He asked. I try not to act like I was listening to the wall for a reply or something. His voice was English, but he had some sort of rough tone in his voice.

"I'm fine," was all I could say. I felt a bit uncomfortable with the situation, and apparently, he knew that as he nudged me.

"I know it's a bit new for you. Waterstar, is it? But you better get used to it. This is our team now, and there isn't any choice."

I simply gave a huff and replied "...you sure know a pony by their look, don't you?"

"Well you were dragged outta your seat when your name was called, a bit obvious really. By the way, names Arrowhead." Figured much. All I gave was a simple nod to Arrowhead and turned away. Like I said, wasn't good at social stuff. I looked ahead and saw Mage ahead of me, talking to Crescent. I dunno how she's done in terms of friends, but at least she's talking. I'm lucky to keep up a conversation with anypony, let along Arrowhead here. My attention kept going to the flying pony, the one without any front legs. What happened to that pony to make it so crippled? My pace quickened so I could see the problem, but the pony, I guess, saw me, since the Pegesi started to flutter away from me. Oh well, maybe next time...whenever that would be.

I didn't realize how fast we're going until I ended up bumping into Arrowhead. Turned out, the group stopped in front of...a wall. Yeah, nothing special, just a blank wall. I didn't exactly get it until one of the guards gave some sorta knock code onto the surface. I didn't get what's going on...until the doors opened! Despite had being the back, I tried to get to the front to see where we're at. I never saw that room before, and apparently, neither did the rest of the group. It looked so...well...high-tech, all sorts of buttons blinking on a nearby control panel, and what appears to be a large pod, equally tech in appearance. The guards ushered us inside that pod, which was surprisingly roomy for holding 9 ponies at one time.

"What is this thing?" I heard somepony asked, who I dunno. I simply went to the back of the pod, laying down, as I heard a guard say "This is a transportation chamber, It'll allow all of you to travel to earth safely. Good luck, ponies."

I felt quiet as the guard closed the door, our last chance to get out and back in the Eclipse Compound. I didn't know if I should be excited or scared that we're going down to somewhere none of us had any experience in. My instincts told me to be afraid, and all I could do was close my eyes until we've landed "safely".

I guess I must've fell asleep for awhile after, cuz next thing I knew, my eyes woke up to a pony right in my face! That pony in question was Mage, this time with Luna 2.0 (I mean Crescent). I didn't want to open my eyes until we landed, but apparently, that couldn't wait.

"...Can I help you, Mage?" Mage gave me a comfortable smile, and looked over to the glass right next to me.

"I wanted you to see this. I know you always like looking off into space," Mage said. Two things. One: how the heck did she knew? Second: I only liked looking at space from where I KNEW I wouldn't risk falling into it. However, I had nothing better to do, so I conceived to her. I looked out to the, well, darkness of space. Weird, I'd thought space looked more pleasing then black. Sure, there were a few stars, but that's about it, far as I can tell. I turned away from whatever was left of space, to see the others. Some were asleep, probably waiting to land like I was, some were gazing out the windows in the pod, like Mage was. The only voices I've heard were from Thunder and Lightning, both seeming were chatting on what's gonna be seen when we arrive. Guess that made sense, but I dunno, talking about sightseeing on a military business wasn't exactly the main thing to think about. But, I knew better than to interrupt or butt in so I didn't bother to talk. I laid back down to go back to sleep, but right before my eyes could close, a small twinkle caught my eye. It looked like one of the stars at first, but it grew a bit quick for a star...and it was heading right for us!

"Guys? Guys!" I yelled, mainly outta fear. The first to notice were Thunder and Lightning, whom rushed to me. They were just as frantic as I was, as I assumed they saw it too.

"Did you see that?!" Lightning yelled.

"Yeah I saw that! Any ideas what to do?" Before anypony can answer, suddenly my ears felt like they were being stung! A crazy mic noise blasted in the pod, that of course awoken the rest of our fleet, all were in agony, covering their ears. I personally felt sorry for the pony with 2 hooves, she couldn't block out the sound at all! I had to do something, so I trotted over and covered her ears. It was the least I could do.

"Thank you," she said to me. I simply nodded and went through another 20 seconds before it finally faded away, and a voice came over in place.

"Attention, comrades! We will be landing shortly, so bunker down, and brace the incoming G forces."

Oh no, that can't be good. I quickly laid down next to the wall, waiting for the impact. I saw some of the other ponies do the same just before I heard something go off...the pod is being pulled into earth! I could tell cuz the Gs began effecting me after a minute, the pressure was REALLY pushing onto me! Every second that ticked away, pressure was pulling on my body, as if it was trying to rip my skin off! My eyes could barely open, but I was slightly able to look outside, as we entered the atmosphere. I coulda sworn, our pod was burning from the gravitational pull! The sky began to turn from black with stars, to blue with clouds, as our Pod began to close in. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, just waiting for that powerful landing...it never came. Our troop calmed down, as I saw Crystal Snow, and Mage look out our window. After finding my feet, I too, went over to see what happened, along with Thunder and Lightning.

"What's going on, Mage?" I asked.

"We're here, Waterstar." Mage replied. It only took one look for me to be convinced, as I noticed Pegesi gripping onto the pod, all which straining to slow the fall. I couldn't tell exactly how many were trying to stop the thing, but it was enough to slow the fall to a crawl, which impressed me quite a bit. Everypony was up in arms as the pod was, hopefully, set down on the ground. None of us bothered to move until a Pegesi opened the door out. The smell of fresh, cooling air, filled the pod, and my muzzle got the scent first. It was accelerating! My ears picked up action going on outside, and my hooves started trotting out in front of the troop. Here we were, the new troop compound.

"Welcome home."

Chapter Two

Well, there we were, our new home from there onward. I wasn't too sure if our "home" was either some military base or, perhaps, a jailhouse, or something. Honestly, I didn't know, but the others weren't complaining over it, and besides, that wasn't the idea my mind and body was focusing on. I was simply trying to process what I was seeing: actual earth! My hooves, which were so used to flat, metal, lifeless floors, felt so alive when feeling the dirt of the foundation. It felt so nice to my hooves, I swear to Celestia. The breeze going through felt totally new to me, I never had felt true breeze in the E.C before, it felt...well, incredible! I could feel it go through my mane and tail as I stepped out. My eyes were getting the best show, them seeing what I only had heard of: clear blue sky, tall pine trees, grayish-green grass lining the ground outside of the base. Seriously, I felt like I was dreaming, at first. And I wasn't alone, the others looked a bit new to the whole thing, some more so than others. Mage walked over to me, having a similar reaction as I was.

"You're liking earth?" Mage asked me. All I could do was nod as she began to nudge me, aiming my attention to another pod I didn't notice before. Guess we weren't the only ponies being dropped off after all. Before I could see who was there, 2 other ponies: the 2-legged Pegasus and Arrowhead, went over to my position.

"Who's over there?" Arrowhead asked me.

"I'm not sure. More recruits, perhaps?" I guessed. It was quick, though, that my guess was wrong, as 3 ponies stepped out. One, I immediately recognized as Firebrand! The commander trotted over to me, a smile on his face.

"Hey, comrades! How's your first step onto earth feel?" He asked us. My hoof scrapped the ground, still trying to get used to it.

"Well...it's new," I replied, a bit reluctant in my words.

"Heh, it's always new to the rookies. Come here, might as well introduce you to the other instructors," Firebrand suggested. I went along with my commander and fallowed, as some of the others fallowed me. The 2 other commanders with us didn't look as friendly as Firebrand was, guess that was my own opinion on them at the time. One of them was a rough looking Pegesi, a piece of wheat in his mouth, and a patch over his left eye. His mane was a greyish-brown color, his main body of pure white. I could also tell his wings looked a bit bigger than usual Pegesi ponies. His cutie mark: a gold falcon, made the flight attribute more obvious. The earth pony next to him looked FAR different though, A pony sized, grey Clydesdale, a large, red hat on her head. Weird thing was, that I didn't see her in the line-up back at the EC. I wasn't the type to judge a book by the cover, but I woulda though that a strong stallion would come instead of a meek mare like her. I should talk though, being terrible at magic at the time, yet chosen to go anyway, and all. The Pegasus eyed all of us with a glare that could cut through metal, obviously unimpressed with whom he was eyeing.

"I can't believe such outcasts are picked," he snorted. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't the type to care much about others feelings, and I had to take the full force of it, no less. And, what a guess, I'm the first to get the insults, as he stared me down. I had to say, he was good at the dominance posture. Firebrand walked to my side.

"Waterstar, this is general Talon. Just let him run his mouth, the ego head doesn't take kindly to starting ponies," Firebrand whispered, just before Talon marched over to me, a hoof inches from my own.

"Think you're something special, don't you? You're chosen for the mission, and you think you're top pony," Talon snorted. I could tell he's not gonna make it easy for me.

"Uh...not really," I managed to say, trying to step back, but Talon took another strong step forward, again, inches from my hooves.

"Thought so. You keep you're eye open, colt, or those beasts'll tear you to shreds. You gotta be tough, strong, brave! Like myself." And there was that ego Firebrand told me about. Talon trotted pass me soon after, as I gave a sigh. Guess I was let off easy for that pony, but a rock suddenly was thrown at me, whacking my horn! The snort fallowing that from Talon made it too obvious. My teeth gritted as I gripped my horn, and I didn't notice til the last sec that Mage walked over.

"I think he bent my horn," I groaned. The pain was terrible, like a chipped tooth but more stinging. Mage gave a smile and, I think, she used some magic spell to cure it. I wasn't too sure, but the pain dulled away after a little bit.

"Is that better, Waterstar?" I merely nodded in reply, unsure of what else to really say to her. Guess that day's not gonna go very smoothly for me. The Clydesdale trotted over to me soon after I made sure my horn didn't split my head.

"Don't mind him, his head's too far in the clouds, even for a Pegasus," she explained, sigh of annoyance fallowed afterwards. Her accent did sound different, Scottish I presume.

"I see that...and you are?"

"Names Mad Munchkin, you can call me Maddie. You're Waterstar, if I'm not mistaking?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, mam." Maddie lifted a hoof towards me, to which I shook hooves with her. Mainly a friendly gesture, but, not much used to it yet.

"Likewise. Welcome to the base, Bairn," Maddie said, before trotting away to greet the others. Bairn? What does that mean? Though I had to admit, the accent's interesting to say the least. I took a glance to Mage, before turning back to Maddie. I noticed General Talon talking to Tiger Bolt, whom looked like he was more connected to the general. Normally, I'd ignore it, but how could a stuck up general switch moods on a dime that quick I simply had to know. I trotted over to them as general Talon walked away.

"Hey, Tiger Bolt, right?"

"No one else but!" The winged zebra proclaimed. Oh great, ego again.

"Right...well, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, general Talon and all that." Not exactly the best choice of words, but, Tiger Bolt seemed to get it.

"OH, well I dunno if you heard, but I'm his best student in the EC. In fact, he's planning to put me as mentor when he retires." Tiger Bolt had a strong ego sense hidden in that voice of his. Guess I couldn't blame him though, a mentors behavior could rub off on you if around long enough. But then again, it is impressive being that good in his training, he must be a good flier and Ariel fighter. I turned over, seeing general Talon talking to the local generals, along with many others...this was going to be a long day.

~~

I wasn't wrong. The day lasted WAY too long for me to really handle. I dunno who's in charge of the sun anymore, but I would've loved for that sun to go down sooner than it did. The whole day was simply touring the base, where to eat, where instructions were given, blah blah blah, you get the point. Nothing exactly interesting was spoken up, general Talon had his ego inflated the whole time, and Maddie said particular phrases here and there that I never caught. I didn't think anyone understood colttish, aside from her. Besides that, all instructions were given to each one of us, one that kinda bugged me at the time was "Nopony is allowed to go off the base unless on mission," instructed directly by General Talon. Goodie, it's EC, but on earth.

As day began to turn to night, which was phenomenal to say the least, we all ventured to our respected living quarters at the base. They were, lack of a better word, tents. Yeah, not exactly THE best ever, but, something different. My tent only had a thick sheet and pillow, my eyes only seeing the brown fabric that made up the roof. Well, on the bright side, I could experience what camping was like. While I finally had time to lay down and think inside my tent, some questions flew through my mind about this world I was instructed to go to. First of all: how was the sun and moon still on their course? If Celestia and Luna no longer exist, how come the 2 didn't stay in the sky together instead of instinctively go on their course? It was really confusing, but that wasn't the only question I got. The other one was: Why were these ponies chosen to go, myself included? Somepony like Mage or Tiger Bolt, I could understand but, the others?...I just didn't understand. Heck, one pony didn't had her front legs, and Crystal Snow looked like she can't protect herself for her life. Then there's the duo Thunder and Lightning, whom saw this as more of a vacation than a war mission...then there's me, the unicorn with barely any magic to rival a breezie (which I'm sure are extinct by now). I could only think of 2 guesses why they would sent us here: either to be fed to the Sombrapods, or they saw something in us I've missed. Those thoughts kept me up for a while longer, though I did try to sleep, to the point where I couldn't even lay down in my so-called bed. I didn't have any of my books, so reading to sleep was outta the question. If I'd knew better, I'd grab a book before leaving, but nope. All I could do was stare up at Luna's moon from the tent's opening. Oddly, space wasn't as exciting or magical from down here, while at the EC, it was far more spectacular. Maybe it was the fact I was living up there, but, I dunno, maybe that's just me.

My answers tried to form together in my brain over those any other questions, but those suddenly stopped when my ears picked something up. It was very faint, but, I could just make out the sound of hooves moving around nearby. At first, I tried ignoring, but they sounded louder as I was sure somepony's coming this way. Not wanting to get caught up, I back up in my tent, and closed my eyes as if I was still sleeping. I listened closely to the hoofsteps outside my tent, my curiosity trying to get me to look. Who was up? Why? What I hoped was whoever was up to simply walk pass my tent, and that's it...but no, the pony walked right into my tent, unprompted! I tried to stay asleep, but one of my eyes opened up to see who was in my tent...I wish I didn't.

My eyes bolted open, as I took each detail in: tall, thin, black fur, green eyes, reptilian tail erect behind, hair ragged and in strands, like wet grain, the black slither pupal in those green eyes. My eyes locked with its own, the scent of tar hung in the air as it stepped forward towards me. My whole body shivered in fear, my eyes unable to move away. Who was this pony? And why was it here? It placed a hoof onto my chest, which felt cold and wet, and towered over me with such superiority to rival the princesses. My heart beat quickened as i tried to pull free, but somehow the hoof remained planted on my chest...and then...

"Don't be afraid, Waterstar...you're with us now..."

Those words floated around my head as my body panicked like crazy, but it seemed her hoof was glued to my chest! Her second front hoof hovered over my eyes, placing it on my eye lid, shutting it for me. Only one of my eyes remained open, the other one unable to, as I watched helplessly as she placed the hoof over it. That eye shut itself, as my body suddenly felt burning...

...I jumped outta my bed, my hooves in a panicked stance, my eyes wide open looking around. Morning. No signs of that odd mare in the slightest, no tar smell, no hoofprints, nothing. My heart was still pounding, my breath in heavy pants, until I finally got the realization...

"Just a dream...it was just a dream..."

My muscles relaxed, heart slowing down, and breath calming down. Thank goodness, it was just some crazy nightmare that I was forced to take. Good thing I calmed down first, cuz next thing I knew, another pony, Mage, entered my tent, looking for me.

"Morning, Waterstar. Ready to go?"

"Go where?"

"We're getting our first mission, that's what. C'mon, commander Firebrand will be expecting us." I walked out of the tent, my hooves good enough to not freak out again.

"So soon?"

"I know it is, but, it's pretty special. Fallow me," Mage insisted, trotting on ahead. I didn't know what her deal was, maybe excitement? But what the hay, I needed something to take my mind off that dream anyway. Besides, my interest drew over to the mission: what would that be like?.

Whelp, I'm about to find out.