Princess Luna's Dream

Celestia paced up and down on the bridge. Even though the teams had only left a couple of minutes ago, she was worried about them. She looked over at the captain.

"Have we an audio link established yet?" she asked.

"I'll check now," the captain responded. She walked over to one of the control panels, placing a hoof on a button and speaking into a mic. "All teams, check in," she said clearly. Through a nearby speaker the responses of the two teams could be made out.

"Team One checking in" Eclipse said.

"Team Two checking in" Nitroblast stated.

"Keep your eyes peeled. We don't know what your looking for," the captain said. "Keep checking in every five minutes" she said, and took her hoof off the button.

Eclipse and his team of four pegasi moved swiftly through the lower decks of the ship. They moved cautiously, checking every possible hiding spot. One of the guards tapped Eclipse on the shoulder.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" he asked him.

"I'm not entirely sure," Eclipse responded. Last I was told it was a stallion, but it could have changed into anything by now. Just keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary." They contiued through the ship, sweeping each room. Eventually they came to the engine room on the bottom deck. They searched the room but found nothing. Eclipse got on his radio to contact the bridge. "No sign of the creature on the lower decks your majesty. We're heading topside now," Eclipse said.

"Good job, Commander. I will check in with Team Two," the captain said. She flipped a switch to talk directly to Nitroblast. "Team

Two, this is the bridge, do you copy?" She got no response. "Team Two do you read me?" she said again. All she got was static through the speaker. She then flipped the switch again. "Team One, I have lost contact with Team Two. I want you to head to the upper deck for an S&R. Do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, captain." Eclipse said. "We'll find Team Two".

Nitroblast and his team moved quickly through the upper floors. He only had three pegasi in his team which meant they were more vulnerable.

"So, what part of the army are you?" one of the pegasi quizzed Nitroblast.

"A part that you don't need to know about," he responded.

"So, what your some secret special forces group?" another asked.

"Something like that," Nitroblast replied, scanning each of the rooms as they passed.

"Why did you decide to join up?" the third one asked.

"I didn't," Nitroblast responded. The three pegasi looked at each other, confused by his response.

"What do you mean you didn't decide to join?" Nitroblast stopped and turned to the three pegasi.

I was drafted without a say in the matter," he said, "Celestia had a small problem. She needed my skills for the job. I was never given a choice. I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, and I was for a short period of time. Now I work for Her Majesty's Royal Army." He turned and continued walking.

"You must be pretty good if you were hoof-picked by Celestia," one of them said.

"I'm the best. Don't tell Eclipse I said that. He tends to disagree with that," Nitroblast said with a smirk. The four pegasi eventually came to a closed door. "Now why is this closed?" Nitroblast teased. He went to push it open and the door exploded outward. The four pegasi were flung backward. Nitroblast immediately jumped up while the other pegasi still lay on the ground moaning from the pain they were in. A small smoke cloud had formed from the explosion. Nitroblast scanned to look for what caused the explosion. Through the smoke he could see a shadow." By order of Celestia, step forward and surrender!" Nitroblast shouted. Out of the smoke stepped a creature that Nitroblast did not recognise. It stood on two legs, not the usual four. It only seemed to have hair on its head. It had a short neck and flat face. "What are you?" he questioned the creature.

"Your worst nightmare," the creature responded. It began to smile and slowly raised its hand and pointed it at Nitroblast. "Time to die, little horse," it said. A ball of light formed in it's hand and started to grow. Then it suddenly shot towards Nitroblast. Dazed and unable to move, Nitroblast watched as the fireball flew toward him. Just before it hit him, he was pushed out of the way and the ball hit the wall and exploded, leaving a gaping hole. He turned to see Eclipse on top of him.

"On your hooves, soldier!" he shouted at him. He got to his hooves and saw the pegasi from Team One surrounding the creature. It smiled at them menacingly.

"Get back!" Nitroblast shouted at them, but they didn't hear him. In seconds the creature had raised his hand once and again and blasted them with another fireball. Eclipse picked up Nitroblast.

"We need to move, now!" he said as they ran back toward the bridge. He pulled out his radio to contact the bridge. "Captain, this is Eclipse. I have Nitroblast. All other personnel are KIA, I repeat, KIA! We have found the creature and it is extremely hostile. We are returning to the bridge." he shouted into the radio.

"Copy that, Eclipse. We will be awaiting your arrival. When that thing arrives, Celestia will blast it with a spell," the captain said through the radio. She took her hoof off the speaker. "Head toward Canterlot. I don't want to risk that thing blowing us out of the sky. We need to land. Your Majesty, can you stop that thing?" she said turning to the princess.

"I don't know, but I will try my best. It now has the blood of seven pegasi on its hands. It will receive no mercy," Celestia said with a threatening voice. The ship started moving in the direction of Canterlot. Eclipse and Nitroblast were still running for the bridge.

"Are we moving?" Nitroblast shouted.

"We must be trying to land in case we get shot out of the sky by that thing," Eclipse responded. They continued in the direction of the bridge. Eventually they saw the captain at the end of the corridor. "It's not far behind us," Eclipse shouted ahead. "Get ready!"

Celestia stepped forward and readied her spell. Eclipse and Nitroblast jumped through the door and took cover. As they did, the creature appeared at the end of the corridor.

"Blast it!" the Captain shouted. Celestia fired her spell at the creature and an explosion filled the corridor with smoke. The whole ship shook.

"Captain!" one of them shouted. "That blast took out one of the turbines! we are no longer moving!"

"Can we get anypony down there to fix it?" the Captain asked.

"Not without going through that thing" was the response she got.

"Celestia dammit," she muttered under her breath. The smoke cleared in the corridor to reveal the creature standing there. It looked angry. "How can it still be alive? Quick, seal the door!" the Captain shouted. The two remaining guards sealed the door. "I don't know how long that will hold" she said. She turned to Celestia. "What do we do now?"

"I'm not sure. I could teleport us out of here, but that leaves a dangerous shape shifter with an airship. We need to figure out where it came fr–" She was interrupted by a banging at the door.

"Little horses, open up," a chilling voice came from outside. "If you don't open the door, I will." They all looked at eacher other.

"What do you want?!" the captain shouted. There was silence for a bit. Then the door was blasted open. The two guards that were standing by the door were killed by the explosion. The creature entered the room. Celestia cast another spell at it. This caught it off guard and hit it in the chest. It fell to the floor, clutching its chest. Celestia walked over to the creature.

"Do you surrender?" she asked it. The creature could not speak. It continued to clutch its chest. Then its hand slowly fell to the floor.

"I'll take that as a yes," Celestia muttered. She turned to face the other ponies.

"Is it dead?" the captain asked.

"I think so. It could be another trick," Celestia said.

"No, It's definitely dead" Eclipse said.

"How can you tell?" Nitroblast asked him.

"Look at it. You can see it in its eyes. There is no life there," he said quietly. You will see the same look in the eyes of all the dead pegasi aboard this ship." They stood in silence for a while. Celestia then spoke.

"We should return to Cloudsdale," she said.

"Well incase you forgot, one of our engines is broken. We need to repair it," the captain said. "You two." she said pointing at the only two remaining crew members. "Go see what the damage is."

"Yes, captain" they both said and trotted out of the bridge. Eclipse and Nitroblast walked over to Princess Celestia.

"We should take the carriage back to the base your majesty. Ponies might be wondering where you have gone" Eclipse said.

"We will leave once the ship has been fixed," Celestia spoke to her personnel guards. "Until then, I suggest you both make yourself useful and see if you can help with the repairs."

"Of course, your majesty," Nitroblast said. The two pegasi headed in the direction that the other two pegasi had gone. Celestia and the captain stood alone in the bridge.

"Well this has been an eventful flight," the captain said.

"Indeed. I will make sure you are rewarded for your work and your crew compensated for what they have done." Celestia responded. "At least now we can relax." A voice came through the radio.

"Your majesty, we should have the engine fixed shortly" Eclipse said.

"Good. It's about time we got off this bloody airship".