Chapters Two very young alicorn sisters sat on the highest balcony of the Canterlot palace. One was slightly taller than the other, with a coat of the purest white and a rosy pink mane. The other was black as the night sky with a dark blue mane. Between the two stood a tall two-legged creature. He was made entirely of metal and cybernetics, save for his face. His head was that of a lynx. Brown fur and long pointed ears ending in black tufts. He wore a long, white cloak that almost seemed to glow. The sisters watched in awe as the creature then raised his arm up with his palm facing the sun. His feline face went into a deep concentration. Then, with the sisters hardly able to contain their excitement, the sun began to sink over the horizon. A dark shadow fell across the bustling city as day turned to night. When the Sun was fully gone, and the moon and stars took its place, the creature relaxed and let out a long sigh.
"Do it again! Do it again!" Exclaimed the dark sister.
The creature let out a chuckle, "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that Luna."
Luna looked down with a pouting face, disappointed that she would have to wait a whole night to witness the magic that moved the Sun.
The figure looked down on the bustling city below, "One day," he said, "The two of you will be the ones raising the Sun and the Moon, and you shall rule this land together."
The white alicorn looked up at him, "Why would we need to do that? That's your job."
A sad smile appeared on his face. He kneeled down and put his arms around the sisters.
"I won't be here forever. There are other worlds out among the stars that need my help, just as this one did."
Celestia looked down at her hooves. She was now old enough to understand how much of a burden they would have to carry. Luna however, was still quite young, "We'll be the best rulers ever!" Luna said enthusiastically, "Everyone will love us, and give us cake!" The other two smiled at this. Although it wasn't entirely true, it still amused them.
"Will we ever have to fight other countries?"
"I'll do my best to teach you how to not let that happen."
Celestia thought on this, then asked one final question, "So we'll stay at peace with everypony?"
"Forever and ever."
I was already awake when I heard the sirens. The alarms go off, the sound of frantic galloping coming from the hallway and growing louder, then the sergeant comes barging in yelling 'wake up maggots.' The arrival of an inter-dimensional demon army threatening to destroy Equestria or whatever sure is a terrible way to wake up.
"Come on you bunch of foals, get a move on!"
Good old Sergeant Heavyweight, always there to whip us into shape.
I bolted upright and snapped the release mechanism to activate the exo-suits. I felt the weightless metal spread over my body. When the visor slid over my eyes all HUD elements where replaced by blinking red alert signs. This was the first sign that told it wasn't a drill. So I scrambled out of bed and stood at attention in front of the door way, of which the sarge had already bolted back through, to wake up the other squadrons I could guess.
"Fall in line!" I shouted over the blaring of the sirens. Of course there was no need, thank you integrated comms system in the helmets.
"Assembled!" I heard my squad respond. Standard procedure. Give you three guess as to who drilled that into our skulls.
"March!"
We made our way through the corridors in single-file line. Once again, procedure. It was chaos. Ponies rushing back and forth. The never ending screech of the alarms. We made our way to the hanger, where procedure instructed us to go when today happens. (We gave the sarge the nickname Sir-Shouts-a-lot. I think he was also OCD.)
"Alright Clover, today's the day. Just like we rehearsed. Get to the hanger and to our ship where I'll be waiting for you. The Sarge will debrief you on the way."
Great. More Commando Perfecto. "On the way to where sweetheart?"
Long sigh. She normally gets annoyed and cuts communication if sompony says something like 'hoorah.' So putting up with 'sweetheart' must really mean this is it.
"No Clovis, you know exactly where. On the way to the front lines."
Front lines? Well I know we did well on the standings but right where the party is, man that's something.
I know the main plan, keep the Hallowed occupied at the portal so the forces at Canterlot and the Crystal Empire can get prepared when they get pass us. How we survive this, please. This ain't no high level spell working or anything like that. It's as simple as 'shoot the enemy and don't die' that's what the sarge said. Just don't let our luck run out. Well I was killer at poker in Fillydelphia, so running out of luck won't be a problem. I was sure of it.
89% sure at least.
Author's Note
Welcome to the offshoot story of Extinction. The story of a squadron in the Equestrian military. Apologies if anything in this story is not how real-world military works. But I'd like to point out that this isn't in fact real-world military here, it's an army that Guardian put together so take it up with Him if you want.
Hard to hear my own thoughts over the rattling of the ship. The four of us were strapped into the seats with two other squads. Boy everything has been moving so fast, I think I should mention a little about myself.
My name's Four-leaf Clover. Some people call me Clovus. Celestia knows why. I used to be a gambler in Fillydelphia. My talent is, well luck of course. I signed up the same reason everyone else did, stop the end of the world. I'm captain of our little squad. I'm charming, handsome, what more is there to tell?
"They couldn't have installed some games on this bird?" That would be Show-Stopper. For a former magician he's a pretty good shot. But since he tends to make his shooting a big show with added visual effects we call him Flashy. Though Sarge calls him 'wasteful'.
"Flashy, we're only ten minutes into flight." Now Sure Shot, she doesn't play games. Always the silent, obedient one. A real buzzkill. But she does rank fifth in shooting both magic and weaponry. I tell ya, she really comes in handy sometimes.
"It wouldn't hurt to have some entertainment." I replied. I mean, come one he has a point. It's a three-hour flight from our station in Dodge to Ground Zero. (That's what they're calling the place the Hallowed are coming from. The eastern border of Equestria.)
"Well once we're there it will certainly be something." Last but not least Mister Lightning Fury, he fires the biggest bolts you will ever lay eyes on with even bigger results. None of us know his former profession, he likes guessing games which can get very irritating.
Then words I was hoping I wouldn't hear came on.
"One hour till drop, all squads clear air for sergeant." Next thing you know, it's Shouts-a-lot on the comms.
"Alright, listen up. This is the very moment you've all been training for," oh Celestia kill me now. "You might be expecting some fun when your deployed, well let me tell you now that it is no game. It's gonna get real rough, most of you might not even make it to the LZ. But I promise you, today is when the fight for home begins. Good hunting."
Scripted, every last word of it. Some high up executive probably placed a requirement for drill sergeants to give pep talks. Whatever man lets just get this show on the road.
Am I nervous? Nah, why should I be, I've got three of the best soldiers in Equestria backing me. We look out for each other. I can count on any of them to make sure I don't die.
"So in case we don't all make it back..." Nope, sorry Flashy not listening to this.
"Don't worry about a thing," I assured him, "We will make it out of this man I know it."
"But I'm just saying-" Not doing it.
"There's nothing to say. We make it out alive, all of us." I believed it too. It's not like we're taking the full force of the Hallowed, there were several waves of missile and artillery bombardment before us. All we were doing was cleaning up whatever's left of the enemy, then go home. That's at least what I assume, there was never any mention of what happens after we push back the invaders. But it didn't matter because we will get through this no problem.
What do you know, my hopes are dashed when the alarms go off and Relay's voice comes on.
"We have incoming projectile! Everybody hold on!"
I go into full panic mode. The ship is turning this way and that trying to avoid the missile. I notice somponies starting to look a little sick. Pretty sure I'm among them.
"I can't shake it! Brace for impact!"
Panic wells up in me even more as the ship jolts and the back half is blown off, taking the ponies sitting there with it. Turbulence threatens to tear whatever's left to shreds. the booming and thundering of cannons and aircraft screeching across the sky reaches my ears. The comms buzzed with the terrified chatter of my squad. I remained silent with my eyes squeezed shut and gritted teeth.
"I can't keep it in the air! Ground control this is echo vector one, we're hit and going down!"
Terror is a nasty thing. It grips you and holds you tight, overwhelming you with its weight.
"May day! May day!"
Then with a giant crash the world goes dark.
Author's Note
Holy moldy cheese it's raining with the fury of a God right now.
While many panicky thoughts ran through my mind, not one of them was the thought to eject. Honestly, might have been the thing that saved our sorry flanks. Poor judgment on my part. And I'm supposed to be squad leader.
"Clover!"
I blink off the disorientation to see Flashy standing over me. I was flat on my back in the middle of the floor. Behind him is the wide open hole where we got hit. A makeshift barricade made of debris block the edge. Behind the barricade sat Sure-Shot and Thunder Fury firing bolts of magic out the ship and at the enemy.
"Sir! You got to get up!" Flashy shakes me awake, desperation clear in his voice.
"I'm up! I'm up!" I shout, "What's our status?!" I had to shout over the booms of condensed magic hitting their target.
"Sir, we're deep in enemy territory! All other squads aboard with us were killed, including Relay!"
My heart ached for Relay. While she wasn't always in the same training as us she was considered a member of our team. But there wasn't anytime to grieve, an anguished cry came from Fury as he went down with a burning hole in his shoulder. I scrambled up to my feet and looked out the hole. Waves upon waves of two-legged beasts came our way. Tall, muscular, fanged creatures came at us holding guns of some kind. They didn't wear armor, we were told they are made of pure darkness, but they were coming by the hundreds. I lifted my hoof and fired my hoof-blaster at the closest ones. I moved up to take Fury's position.
"Flashy! Take care of Fury!"
Me and Sure-Shot hit our target every time, but they kept coming. You could see for miles. The land was completely flat and scorched like lava ran over it. I could here Fury's agonized yells coming from behind me.
"Command this is Four-Leaf Clover calling from crash site echo vector one requesting immediate assistance! We are knee-deep in hostiles and have wounded! Send help now!" I didn't even wait for a response, I just kept firing bolts of energy from my hoof-blaster.
It wasn't looking good. Flashy came up to join us and Thunder fell silent so I assumed the worst. Something went clang behind me. I turned around to see Hallowed with swords bearing down from a circular hole in the roof. Before I could do anything or even think of doing something, the lead one plunged its blade into my back. Pain swept trough me. Something wet and sticky that I could only assume was blood began to pool at my feet. Agony completely immobilized me. Darkness was creeping into my vision. I stared right into the eyes of evil before me. Just as I began to slip away the sound of roaring engines reached my ears. The creature heard it too, it looked up through the hole in the roof. I did the same and saw the streaks of blue that were the Equestrian air-force. The sound of explosions came closer and closer as the bombs rained down. The creature looked back at me and I did the one thing that under the circumstances seemed impossible. One thing that showed I wasn't afraid of death, that I know I will be honered for my sacrifice.
I smiled.