Spiral Knights-Equis Command

As Corrus and the squad woke from their slumber, they founds themselves covered in snow and frost. As they brushed themselves off, Corrus looked outside to see the blizzard had died down. At least, for the moment. Corrus sighed and turned to see Pellas stroking Jase', the squad's pet Snipe.

"Is he okay?" Corrus asked.

"He's cold. But he'll be alright." Pellas replied, and Jase' peeped and dived back into his pouch.

"Alright team. As I said, our new objective is survive.We're gonna head into the caves to see if we can scavenge any resources. Keep your eyes open and your weapons ready." Corrus said. As the team descended, the fire smoldered, then went out for good.

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Cadance sighed and woke up. She turned to see Shining already up and drinking a cup of tea.

"Morning." She said.

"Morning. Twiley and the others should be arriving soon. Just wanted to be awake when that happens." Shining replied.

"Like auntie Luna during the Invasion." Cadance joked.

"Just like that." Shining said. As they walked downstairs to eat, a guard ran up with a note. Cadance unfurled the scroll and began to read.

The pulses of magic have flared up again. Please seek out the source as soon as you can.

Celestia

Cadance sighed and turned to Shining.

"You see the letter?"

"Yeah. We should get moving."

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As Cadance and Twilight greeted each other, Shining pulled a squad of guards aside.

"Stallions, the reason you are here is to track down five unknown magic pulses in the Ice caverns. Yes, I know that the Ice Wyrms are returning to the surface, and yes, I know that they HATE having their nests disturbed. As long as we let sleeping dogs lie, we should be safe."

"Yessir!" They said.

"Shining? What magic pulses are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

Cadance cleared her throat.

"Five unknown magic flares erupted last night during a blizzard in the Ice Caverns. The second reason I asked you to come was that so you could help, Twilight." Cadance replied.

"We'll be glad to." Twilight said, and her friends voiced their approval.

"Let's get going then. It's a twenty-minute hike to the caves." Shining said, as as they walked out, the sun flashed light.

======================================================

As the group of ponies walked towards the caverns, Twilight noticed large gouges in the mountainside.

"Shining?"

"What?"

"What's with the huge holes in the mountain?"

"We recently discovered a new animal living in the caverns. Frost Wyrms. They literally cover themselves in ice for use as armor. We know that most of the year, they live deep underground in hibernation. This time of year, when it's starting to warm, they return to the surface caverns to lay eggs. They're extremely aggressive when their nests are disturbed or they get a rude awakening, but for the most part, they leave ponies alone. By the way, they keep their blood circulating, and their heart beating, by drinking magma straight from the mantle." Shining said.

"Wow. How'd you find out about them?"

Shining sighed.

"We accidentally disturbed one of the nests when a few guards were protecting a surveying expedition. The Wyrm guarding the nest woke up, and things went down manure creek from there."

Twilight grimaced.

"Don't worry, they were all fine, as they teleported out before it could think they were threats. But since then, we've kept the nests in a quarantine zone, reinforced by a repulsion spell. As long as those pulses, or whatever triggered them, kept away from the nest sites, then all should be fine and it'll go according to plan."

"If it doesn't?" Twilight asked.

"We improvise." Shining said. "Hold up...what's this?"

Everypony stopped as Armor picked up a red tube, about the size of two unicorn horns. It was blackened on one end, and it smelled like something had burned inside it. Shining turned it over and found writing, though not in Equestrian. It was blocky and illegible, but it seemed to be language of some kind.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked.

"I recognize it, or at least I think I know what it is. The Griffons just invented some kind of distress signalling device, and it looks similar to this. It relied on varying smoke colors to send different signals. They called it a "flare", I think." Twilight said.

"So, you think it's one of these flares, only a different design or model?" Shining asked, and Twilight nodded.

"This one looks used, though." a guard pointed out.

"You're right. Those black marks were made by burning. So, we're dealing with a sentient species that's advanced enough to make this kind of device." Twilight said.

"But you said the Griffons made them. The Griffon border isn't anywhere near here. So why would they be here?" Cadance said, and everyone nodded.

"Right. We should keep moving. Bolt Cutter?"

A guard saluted.

"Do you have that tracking spell ready?"

"Yessir."

"How close are we to the pulse's origin?"

"No too far. It's originating…"

"From where?"

"Inside the nest zone. It's near the southwest segment." Cutter said.

"Then let's get moving." Twilight said. As they moved on through a separate cave, They failed to notice two pairs of lenses glinting from an intersecting cavern above them. Corrus and Pellas watched the beings talk for a moment, discover the discarded flare, and move on.

"DId you see that!?" Pellas whispered.

"I did. Seems we're on an inhabited planet, and they're most likely looking for us. They said the "Nest zone" was through there. We should follow them and see where they're going. Maybe if we initiate peaceful first contact, we won't end up on the business end of those spears." Corrus said. "Halvir, Revan, you in position?"

"Yep. We're ready when you are."

"Let's move, Theta squad."

As Pellas and Corrus slid down the slope, they met up with the two other Knights and set down the tunnel. Corrus pulled out a single-use torch and activated it. The dim light soon brightened, then dimmed to a level where they wouldn't be detected. As they walked, Corrus's Drakon Battle Sprite, Cinder, helped by charging a Fireball attack.

"Good job, Cinder." Corrus said.

"Guys?" Halvir said.

"What?"

"The ground's moving."

True to his word, the ground was shaking in a tube-like pattern beneath their feet.

"Maybe it's those "Ice Wyrms" that those beings were talking about. They did say they were subterrene." Revan said.

"Possibly. Sounds like a Beast-class monster. Ready Piercing and Elemental damage. Keep your fingers on your triggers." Corrus said. As they walked, crystals started to appear on the cavern sides, and the Knights could see something thin and small inside each of them.

"Scan it." Corrus said, and Revan pulled out his Bio-Scanner.

"It's an egg, for an unknown lifeform. That thing inside is the developing embryo. Whatever they are, we shouldn't touch them."

"Got it. Hands off."

As they progressed, they grew closer to the group of beings, close enough they could hear the conversation.

"Those are the Ice Wyrm eggs, right?"

"Yeah. You even touch them, it sets the parents off like a firework. I forgot to mention that the Ice Wyrms have really short tempers, and the males compete to earn respect from females by smashing themselves against each other to see which one's ice coating breaks first. Their body temperature is so low, that it instantly reforms, but if their skin is punctured and their blood leaks too much...they die from heat exposure."

"Heat exposure?" Twilight asked, shocked.

"They're extremely sensitive to temperature changes. They like it cold, but if they get too warm, their heart shuts off and it triggers a cardiac arrest." Shining said. "I know all this because I read the reports daily from the Ecology teams."

"Can't you take one of the eggs back to the empire and hatch it?"

"Two reasons as to why we can't. One, it's suicide getting the egg out of the nest in the first place without setting off the parents. Two, whenever we try to replicate the ideal hatching conditions, the embryo dies from heat exposure anyways. We still don't know why the eggs only hatch here, under these conditions." Shining said. Then, the cavern they were walking in opened up into a large domed cavern. Thousands of nests, each filled with eggs, lay strewn about like landmines around the cavern. And sleeping at the back of the room, above ground, was an Ice Wyrm. It was colossal, almost five meters long, with a fan of ice on its head. Its body was long and thin, like a tube, but its ice armor gave it a jagged finished. Its eyes were closed, but its most disturbing and terrifying feature was its mouth, lined with three rows of jagged teeth, designed for crunching and thrashing. On its tail was a large chunk of ice.

"Everypony, back up slowly and quietly." Shining whispered, and as they did, Rarity saw an exquisite diamond in a nest close to her. Twilight looked over at Rarity, whose eyes had misted over.

"DON'T!" SHe whispered, sliding her hoof across her throat in an effort to get her to stop. But the warning went unheeded. Triggering her magic, she pulled the diamond free, but an egg touched it and it moved, making a quiet screech. As everyone froze, including Rarity, there was a slow rumbling noise. Everyone looked at the Wyrm in terror as its eyes slowly opened, revealing jet black irises. It stretched to its full body length and looked down at the ponies, almost like a cobra eyes a mouse. Then, it began to growl loudly, opening its mouth, revealing a fine frost that drifted out of its mouth. Then, it roared loudly at the ponies, registering only one thought.

Kill...prey....eggs...protect….

Then, it charged like a Sidewinder snake, swinging its tail side to side. Shining, Cadance, and Twilight each put up a shield, and the Wyrm stopped suddenly, and eyed the shield like a minor obstacle. Then, with a mighty wind-up, it slammed its tail into the shield, destroying it. Now defenseless, the Wyrm, roared again.

"Fluttershy! Can you get it to stop?! I'd rather not be eaten alive today!" Rainbow said.

"I'm trying!" she replied. "It's too angry!"

"Incoming!" Cutter yelled as it again wound up its tail for a powerful slam. Then, they heard a loud voice.

"GET DOWN!"

Heeding the order, Twilight saw a large yellow projectile slam into the Wyrm's forehead at a colossal speed. Twilight saw the Wyrm shake its head slightly, then, its eyes misted over, and it wound up and collapsed. Twilight and the ponies turned to see four bipedal beings, one holding a large, red-plated, multi-tubed object out like a weapon. One wore a hood and a set of armor, the second, a poncho, the third, a fur coat, and the last one a heavy set of plate armor. They were all carrying shields of different shapes and designs, and three strange varieties of creatures floated near them. One looked like a cat, one a dragon, the last a ghost. As they walked up, the one with the hood (Their leader, Twilight reasoned) stuck out his hand. Then, he spoke fluent Equestrian.

"Name's Corrus. That's Revan, Pellas, and Halvir. And we had better get out of here before that thing wakes up."