Once the moment of praise and cheering has passed, the entire team did everything they could to do their jobs without buzzing with full excitement and profound joy. To a bystander, this seemed like an easy task, but to these ponies, it was near impossible to remain dormant. Even CrimsonRegret had a smile on his face. These men and women have been absent from their home planet for close to 3 years, and for Moon Shadow it was even longer. For during these 3 years, they had to wake up every day with the hard-to-swallow realization that they, Placedonians, may not even die on their home planet, but instead in a place that they had no connections to at all except for physical contact. Now knowing that they are finally back home, even though the international war pursues on with more than 80 years of bitter fighting, the weight of dying light years away from their kind was all lifted from the team's shoulders.
"Wow! Placedonia has changed! It's hard to believe that we were even gone from home for 3 years!" proclaimed WindRunner.
"I can't wait to see what has happened." replied CrimsonRegret. "Maybe the PKR won something."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked BloodNight.
"It means exactly what I said. When was the last time that the Game of Champions ever supported the PKR nation? Never. They would always go for Rijibo, and their allies. They would never support us."
"Usually," Interrupted MoonShadow, "the Game of Champions would support the weaker nations and give them more aid, in order to continue on with the never ending war. Maybe that's a hint saying that we are actually the ones with the advantage, considering that we haven't gotten as much aid as Rijibo."
"That's a load of crap and you know it MoonShadow." replied CrimsonRegret.
"I don't even know why we are still in a war. I can't even recall or remember how it all started." RadicalGenome mumbled to himself.
"I heard that the war started because Rijibo scouts found the largest Jujonium deposit on the planet, but it was on native lands that the entire globe signed an alliance declaring that they would leave the natives and their homelands alone," said TigerEyes.
"And I'm going to assume that Rijibo and other countries wanted the Jujonium, but the opposing nations wouldn't allow it so they went to war?"
"Correct, and from there it evolved from a war over some rare element, to many other things that we know today, like the Game of Champions."
RadicalGenome sat there and stared blankly into the holographic computer screens that were projected at his station. He was not paying attention to what was on the screen, but rather to the thoughts and questions that were generated in his head. He thought to himself, "Why so long? Why so brutal? Will this ever be over? Or will I have to be a medic that is doomed to treating wounds and tending to things that I have no control of whatsoever?" All of these thoughts made him step out of reality and into the comfortable abyss of the mind, where it seems that it's the only place now that RadicalGenome can really call home.
From there, WindRunner and RadicalGenome plotted in the latitude and longitude coordinates of their intended arrival, and the space craft in which they were in made an accurate estimation of them to touchdown. The landing was predicted to happen in exactly 4 hours, 13 minutes, and 10 seconds. The clock was ticking, and pretty soon, all of them will be on their home planet once more.
An hour passes and although some of the energy and excitement on being home has deteriorated, the group was still ecstatic. Once everything was done with, including jotting down the coordinates, setting up and reactivating the decelerators for when they plummet towards the planet, putting in the exact angle needed to reenter the Placedonian atmosphere into their accelerometers, and last but not least, setting the ship to autopilot, they were able to relax and unwind. Yet, something peculiar occurred when they attempted to contact their airbase’s control tower. The very airbase that they deported from was now offline. When TigerEyes tried to get contact from the tower, all that she heard was static, the mere indication that something big has happened. The thought of knowing that, yet not fully understanding what happened, made the hair on the back of her neck stand. She told the group what she heard, and MoonShadow just shrugged and replied, “Maybe we’re just not close enough in which the signal can’t be heard.”
It was clear that was nonetheless true. TigerEyes can obviously remember that when they left Placedonia the control tower was able to have contact with them until they left the Sagittarius constellation, and communicate to them with a signal so clear, so full; it was as if they were talking right next to them. Now, when they are less than a million kilometers away, they can’t even get a mumble from them. It didn’t add up to her correctly. Plus, the way how MoonShadow just shrugged when she announced that there was no contact, proved to be unsettling to her. So unsettling to the point that she began to hypothesize that MoonShadow knows more than what he expressed.
2 hours had passed and all that remains on the deck is RadicalGenome and BloodNight, who has turned back into his human form. His horn is no more, and his tail retracted during his metamorphosis. He still stands tall, just like in his pony form; however his skin color is that of a common Placedonian, white skinned with the saturation of a peach color, and the very light hue of pink. His unique hair shielded his face as well as his cloak, but if given the proper amount of darkness, one can still see the bright purple eyes that he possesses, which alerts the viewer that no matter how dark it is, BloodNight will be able to easily paint the night sky with red.
MoonShadow rests at his bed, pondering about the realization that he is returning back to his home, and is also waiting for TigerEyes to finish with her Metamorphosis.
“Okay, I can’t get too comfortable back on Placedonia,” MoonShadow mumbled to himself. “I need to be focused; the Realm of Darkness needs me.”
Just before he could get into deeper thought about how he is needed to assist his realm in a time of great strife, the sound of a heavily pressurized door bursted into the main living quarters. MoonShadow looked to his left, and he saw the chamber to the metamorphosis room open and slid across, with steam and the vapors of the pressure being opaque, so opaque that he could only see the silhouette of TigerEyes. He waited a moment, as he saw the Silhouette took in a deep breath of the freshly exhausted oxygen and air solution given by their life support, and alas, after she did that, she stepped out of the steamy clouds.
She stood there, completely naked and exposed. Her height was close to WindRunner’s height, yet slightly shorter. Tiger Eyes’ skin was a fine tune of gold and bronze, and it even glistened in the beads of steam that engulfed her during her metamorphosis. She was thin, for she lost a tad bit of muscle mass during her deployment, but not enough to which Moon Shadow couldn’t see the broad shoulders that she has, as well as her toned biceps.
“I forgot how good you looked, TigerEyes,” remarked Moon Shadow.
“Thanks, but, I don’t do men, or in your case, I don’t do stallions.” She replied, waltzing back to MoonShadow, who held on to her clothes. As she grabbed them from his hoof she patted his muzzle, and Moon Shadow replied the action by making a playful grunt.
Now it was Moon Shadow’s turn to change back into his human form. He trotted into the Metamorphosis chamber, and from there he stepped into the blinding white room as the door sealed shut behind him; the holographic instructor that spawned right after the door sealed shut directed Moon Shadow into the position that he must be in to correctly revert back into a human.
He felt the beads of sweat trickle down his forehead as his body was heated up to an uncomfortable degree, this was done so that it was easier to disassemble and reassemble him back into a human on the molecular level. MoonShadow tried to relax, but it proved difficult to even breathe due to the steam that was being projected into the air. Suddenly, the converter – a giant machine that possessed the ability to rip your particles and rearrange them within that very same nanosecond, launched a plasma laser onto him, converting him from a pony back into a human once more. The entire process was so fast, that his thought of blinking was slower than the conversion. Just like with TigerEyes, Moon Shadow stepped out of the chamber, with the steam making his human figure opaque and unclear. Once the steam cleared, MoonShadow stepped out from the chamber, his white skin glowing.
“Not too shabby, “said TigerEyes, dressed in her uniform and gear. “You almost make me want to try men again.”
Moon Shadow chuckled in response to her compliment, “Thanks, but, I’m already taken.”
“Same here, Moon.”
56 minutes was what the clock displayed when everyone went through the metamorphosis process and became humans again. WindRunner went after MoonShadow, and when he came out of the chamber, he was astonished on how fit he actually was. Since that ponies don’t display muscle mass, he forgot the he had a rather built figure for his lanky physique. RadicalGenome scolded at him for acting like an idiot in front of the mirror, making various poses and flexing in front of himself. Once RadicalGenome came out from the chamber, the first thing that everyone noticed was his silvery gray hair that he had. For someone who is in his late 40’s, he is a man that is still very fit for his age. Even though he has the wisdom of 100 minds, he is rude, rash, and subtly incompetent. Despite all this he is a great field doctor. Being one of the best in the medical profession, and with his stubborn and old fashioned techniques, Radical Genome can be the perfect example of being born to heal the wounded. CrimsonRegret’s conversion made his human figure very similar to MoonShadow’s figure, except for his lava hair, compared to Moon Shadow’s brown hair. His eyes were the same color that he had as a pony, and both he and Moon Shadow’s physique were generally the equivalent to each other. WaterSpout was the last one to go. Always nervous when doing anything involving herself, she was hesitant to enter the chamber and go through metamorphosis. When she exited the chamber however, everyone looked at her with awe.
“Oh my goodness,” said BloodNight.
“How are you not a model?” asked TigerEyes.
“Yeah, you definitely have the looks to be even the best that there is in Placedonia,” claimed WindRunner, blushing.
Water Spout naturally blushed at the positive feedback that flowed her way. When she looked in the mirror, she blushed even more after realizing that she had no clothes on. She was perfect for being a 22 year old female Placedonian support unit that she was. Her natural, bright sky blue hair, that also had a combination of dark navy blue, seemed to compliment how much of a rarity that she was. Her skin was full of life and youth, and her eyes were just as precious and green as emeralds.
“Thanks,” she quietly said, “but, I would really, really like it if I had my clothes on.”
The team went out of the room to give her privacy, yet WindRunner, lost in her beauty stayed there a few moments longer. After realizing that he was hinted to leave, he blushed, and nervously chuckled as he waltzed his way out of the room.
There were 24 minutes left on the clock when Moon Shadow and the rest of the team, prepared to touchdown at home and equipped in their uniforms, were trying to contact their control tower at the air base they were given commands to land at. Once again, they never got a signal when trying to reach for them.
“Okay this is just getting weird now,” said MoonShadow. “RadicalGenome, do you have any clue why we’re not getting a signal?”
“Negative, Captain. Based on how little I know, there could have been an apocalypse or something of that sort.”
“That may not be as far off as you think,” interrupted BloodNight. “I’m looking at some of the news and events that took place while we were on this trip. Apparently, exactly one year ago, the Game of Champions was caught giving one of the top leading nations, Rijibo, more military supplies than what Sovereign Kingdom got from them, and they were the lowest ranking nation at this time.”
“What’s that have to do with anything involving an apocalypse?” asked MoonShadow.
“Well, there are some images showing some of the supplies that Rijibo got from them, one of them being a type of missile of some sort. However, everyone around it is in some type of advanced quarantine suits. The only reason why someone would have to wear a suit like that is because they are near a place with high amounts of chemical and biological contaminants.”
MoonShadow, now intrigued, walked over to BloodNight. He leaned on his desk and looked at the holographic news reports. BloodNight then proceeded to pull something else up.
“I got some declassified information from the Rijibo command center, and apparently, this very bomb that they were given by the Game of Champions had a new type of poisonous chemical.”
The ship then announced that the crew was less than 20 minutes away and that it was preparing to enter Placedonia’s atmosphere.
“WindRunner!” said MoonShadow. “Get a bio scan of the airbase, as well as a visual.” Without asking any more questions, WindRunner went to his desk and did what MoonShadow commanded him to do.
The rest of the crew went to their desks and prepared the ship for landing. MoonShadow went back to BloodNight’s desk to get further information about this bomb.
“Did we get anything else?”
“Yes, apparently Rijibo tested this new chemical on a small town of 300 to test its effects. The results report that the subjects were initially fine when they were exposed, however on the fourth day; there were reports of mass hysteria in the town, as well as violence. Researchers conducted a bio scan on the town and saw that there were only 85 people still alive. Within the next day, the entire town was claimed to be dead, according to the bio scan.”
“MoonShadow, sir, you should come take a look at this,” said WindRunner. MoonShadow, without any moment to pass, ran over to WindRunner’s desk and saw that the bio scan of the airbase was complete, and that the population, was zero.
“This is creepy,” replied MoonShadow.
Suddenly the ship went through turbulence and Moon Shadow along with the others stumbled and tried to brace for the impact. The sounds that the ship produced made it almost seem that the spacecraft was about to fall apart in any second. After the turbulence, the ship announced that there was less than 10 minutes left until touchdown.
Warning, Control Tower S.34.B is offline, manual steering is now required to land.
The entire crew was now in panic, all of them wondering what exactly happened to Placedonia while they were gone. More turbulence struck the ship, shaking those inside. Quickly acting, Moon Shadow went to the front of the deck and manned the ship, trying to even out the quickly cascading ship.
“I want all of you to quickly go and retrieve your weapons and armor, now!” commanded MoonShadow.
When the team returned back to the center, they were able to see the runway that MoonShadow directed the ship towards. He was buckled up, and when he noticed that they were back he commanded them to do the same. They hurried to their desks and strapped themselves in. WindRunner, who also got a hold of MoonShadow’s weapons and armor, placed them aside MoonShadow and strapped himself in. Right before he could brace for impact, it had already struck. The initial thud of the ship rocked the ground around them, causing many things atop of shelves and containers to tumble out. MoonShadow pulled back on the throttle as hard as he could to stop the ship, and when it stopped, a rush of force pushed all of the crew members, jolting their heads forwards. The engines of the ship died and diminished away soon after. MoonShadow then turned around, facing the others when suddenly the ship announced:
0 minutes until landing. Touchdown is complete. Welcome back to Placedonia.
