It was late at night as the unicorn working at the Canterlot observatory looked through the telescope. He was not expecting all that much, but what he saw got his full attention and he used his magic to write it all down in a notepad complete with drawings with what he was seeing. While he couldn't make out details what he observed where two lights he assumed where stars till they started to move in odd erratic patterns.
What got his curiosity stronger is how they seemed to be dancing around each other with smaller bolts of light dancing between them. They even got brighter and dimmer like they where moving towards then away from Equis upon occasion. What he thought he was watching was maybe two magical beings dancing or perhaps going through some kind of mating ritual.
The truth was far from it though.
High above Equis just past the orbit of it's moon, two large hips maneuvered to avoid each others fire. One had a kind of triangular spearhead shape with what might be called a command tower design in the back flat part. The other looked more organic with lumps and such making the ship look more like piece of art, then a war ship.
Shoots and missiles shot between the two light up the darkness of space between them. As smaller crafts danced in there own battle between them. Both the mighty ships had visible fires on there hulls releasing trails of black smoke in to the depths of space. The fired able to flicker in space, as precious air escaped from breaches in the hull feeding them.
On the bridge of the spear like ship the captain that had looked very much like a earth pony, though standing on two legs, and his.. arms supported hands munched on a rather thick cigar. He called out to his pit crews on the bridge as he adjusted his captains cap. While others around him, of various species shook when the grav plating buckled from each shot that landed on there hull. He remained standing.
With one report he noted being repeated by one of his crewmen, the captain just yelled out, “Recall fighters to protective formation Delta-Niner-Six-Alpha.... MARK! In from crew to make preps for crash landing on the near by planet. Love live the monarchy!”
The other ship buckled and then shuddered and exploded, the waves slamming in tot he one the captain was on, knocking it off course. The captain predicted this and the crews where prepared as the ship started to descend towards the near by planet of Equis.
The unicorn noticed one of the lights went bright then disappeared. The other one started growing brighter and brighter. He then blinked and ran full gallop to the balcony, “Out of the way!” Several other ponies managed to move out of his way, watching him in confusion. His magic keeping his notes, quill and inkwell near him as he stopped and looked in the direction he was watching. He saw a fireball from in the sky then descend down, over the horizon to the north, only to be followed but a flash that lit up part of the night sky.
The unicorn noted all this then gulped as the realization that this could very well be the sign of something bad on the horizon and ran full gallop to the throne room. “Princess Luna! Princess Luna! I think i have something you want to hear!” He started yelling as he made his way to tell her what he saw and witnessed.
In the wreckage of the ship a wolf groaned and brought his hand to his head... He lost a arm in the crash and medics where fitting a replacement. He looked over to where his captain was, only to see him on the ground with a large bar of metal going through his chest.
The medic just picked up a surgical tool as he held the artificial limb in place, “Remains till, this is a very delicate procedure sir.”
The wolf nodded to the medic then barked out, “Status report, I want to know how it looks.”
A anthro falcon wearing a grey uniform started to speak, “By the emperor's luck the power core held, but the hyperdrive system and main engines are a lost cause. Deep space communications are down as well.. if the planet has the resources we could get most of the damage repaired in.. two years... if we are lucky. Oh a new report came in... the cloak is gone as well...so if this planet has natives they will see us, so isolation protocols will have to be rethought since they will be able to see the Alicorn's Blade without a problem.”
'As for the fighters, the ones in the bays are mostly trashed. But we can salvage them to repair the others we had in combat. So far we have 4 ground transports, 2 tanks, two wings of interceptors, 3 droppers, and 2 scouts left General Klask. Oh personal wise, we only suffered 10% in losses, and about 35% of the survivors are reporting for medical need. As for command staff, well your in charge now, since the high lord admiral is now dead.”
Klask just rubbed his grey furred hand over his face, “By the depths of tartus that is not good, fine assuming the scout fighters are of the newer pegusai class, send one out at high alt for recon. Have them rotate between patrols, with 2 fighters from the wing for escort should there be problems. Have the engineers start breaking down the ship to make a fort out of it, However I want a full team working round the clock to get communications with the monarchy back up. I don't want us stranded on this mud ball for so long as to bother the locals with our presence. Have all ground patrols try to avoid contact, and only engage at last resort and event hen stun only. No deaths.”
The falcon nodded, “By your will my general.”
Luna had wisely woke Celestia up when she heard the news from the unicron and sent him back to the observatory. The sisters looked over the notes, and drawings he left for them. Being more attuned to the night Luna did sense something odd and looked at a map laid out on a second table near them.
“Tia if what he says is true, and I believe it is... what ever it was likely landed here...' Luna pointed to a section of the crystal mountains, with a hoof, while north of the crystal empire, it was far west from them, slightly closer to Vanhoover and Cloudsdale.
Celistia nodded, “I'll send word to our contacts at Vanhoover then so they can have scouts head north and check it out for us. I just hope dear sister, that it's nothing to worry about.”
Luna gave her a flat look, “With our luck sister, I doubt it.'
Author's Note
Critique is always welcome, and while I know it seems like it's not, this story is going taking plae in the mlp universe, just with it's own twists and turns.
It had been about two weeks since landfall. General Klask adjusted his wide brimmed hat then his goggles as he looked out on to the frozen wasteland. He hoped that the rest of the planet was not like this and that they came down on one of of the planets polar regions. So far they saw no signs of intelligent life, so that was good, it meant they where isolated from the population.
The reports of finding a river with fish in it was also good, as it meant a steady food source for them. The engineering crews managed to salvage quite a few roids and even some of the cargo loading exo-suits, which helped the refit of the ship in to a base of operation faster. Though current plans noted it would still be a month before it would be completed.
The best news came when they managed to salvage a intact shield generator, which they where currently retrofitting in to a shield dome for there base of operations. Klask like the admiral had a fondness of cigars and he puffed on one as he looked over some of what could be considered bad news.
The high scouts had reported that beyond the mountains south of them, where green lands, but signs of farmlands, even a city in the distance. There was even evidence of actual pegasi in the area. Klask while not much to believe in the more mythological aspects of the monarchy still didn't like this one bit. He noted though that in all cases they found no evidence that they stood and walked like them... the planets populace seemed to be all ferals from what the scout crafts cameras could tell.
They even reported spotting what might be a city or a fortress made of clouds. The religious caste members that survived took these reports as signs that there scriptures of a holy land of magic users could be true. If so Klask hoped that didn't extend in to the presence of shape-shifting demons, among other things as well. Not to mention the harbinger of chaos eternal.
Klask then turned form the wall and headed back down in what was now a small town. While more like a military fortress in design with the surviving four thousand crew members it had become more like a town. Schools where being constructed along with a more modern looking hospital should they have to stay here long term so relationships could build before rescue could be done.
Klask didn't want to mention it to the general population, but the crystals for anything but local planet and system communications where destroyed in the crash. They had no way to send out a emergency beacon or even communicate with home, which was thousands of light years away. He knew many among the the survivors would have a hard time adapting to life here as they where not colonists... so he opted to try and keep them busy and make them adapt.
The two unicorns dressed in white parkas and had on silted visors for the colder regions north of the crystal mountains. They had left from Vanhoover not that long ago with instructions from Canterlot to investigate a metor that crashed there not that long ago. One blue unicorn with a ice pick for a cutie mark spoke up, “should just be 1 more day till we get clear enough to get a better idea of where we are going Malsa.”
The other unicorn, a brown mare, with a map over a spot of white nodded as she spoke, “Thank Celestia for that Picks. It will be nice to cross over in to some snow and ice then these harsh mountains.” Both of them had prepared for this, with packs for almost everything they could need in arctic weather.
It wasn't there first trip in to the frozen north after all. They actually liked the snow and the isolation. Picks levitated a compass from his pack and looked at it then towards the ridge up a head, “If I remember right Malsa, we should be able to see at the least where we are going when we get there in a hour. Though we will still be a ways before we clear the Crystal Mountains.” The said mountain range loomed to there sides as they walked between two of the peeks in the range.
“Race you then,” Malsa shouted as she started to take of to the ridge.
“Hey no fair,” Picks took off after here, the stallion snorted a bit to himself as he thought. Of all the ponies I had to marry....
When she reached the ridge however she came to a stop and her mouth dropped open, “Picks you need to see this!”
Picks came to a trot, as he came up beside her, “What is so.... for Celestia's sake!”
There in the distance, they could make out what appears to be a small city, or large down depending on how one gauges such things. Sitting at the end trail of something that obviously crashed and dug a swath of land to that point.
As they stared at this, Malsa floated a quill, some ink, and paper to start drawing the site before her and noted it on the map they brought with them. Picks just kept staring till his ears twitched, I thought I heard...
It was then two figures rose out o the snow. They where dressed all in white, and stood on two legs like some kind of Minotaur. Anything that suggested there species was covered by there white clothing, save the black slits they had for eyes. They both points strange staffs at them. Held in a manner suggesting they should shoot something from them.
Then one of them spoke, “SoH pa' hal! bach vIH 'ej! “
The ponies didn't need a translation spell to get the idea. Pinks just nodded to the speaker, “We... um.. come in peace?”
Malsa just rolled here eyes, then put down a candle and lit it. The candle left off a purple flame, “Just trying to stay warm...” She then reared up slighlty as if startled by something and cropped the map, and drawing in to the flame, “Whoops,' she said with a slight smile, 'My mistake.”
One of them just tilted his head as the other pointed to them with it's staff like weapon, then to city in the distance they found, “vIH, vIH! “
They both turned and started to walk to the city, not sure what to do next. Pick looked a bit worried, but Malsa smiled as she knew what she did, and with luck help might arrive soon.
Author's Note
What will become of our exploring heroes?
Will the bakery have Celestia's cake order done on time?
Will Luna ever beat Celestia in smash brothers?
Who knows...
Bonus points for any geeks in this fandom that know the language I used at the end.
