Stars Above Equestria

Alarms rang out across the entire ship as everyone started to run around; most trying to figure out what the hell had happened or what was happening now. Convicts and guards alike began scrambling to look for a way off the deathtrap of metal that was the Hyperion. Jack growled as he walked over towards the main console and looked down. There was a massive array of buttons, most seemed to be nothing but command prompts. Two in particular got his attention, at random he picked the green button. A deep hum sounded somewhere in the ship as energy flowed from her central reactor. Jack had a front row seat as all the auto cannons along the hull began to swivel into forward position. "Well, that is handy. Now where the hell is the fire button?"

He looked down as he pressed the second button and heard soft buzz of the speakers. A silent prayer of thanks was given to any deity that would hear. His next task was to assemble some sort of order. "Alright you morons, this is Jack Glenmor at the helm. I suggest all of you pricks listen up. We are not going to die up here because I found out how to work the guns." It was a complete lie, but there was no one around to call him out on it so he kept rolling with it.

"The things out there attacking us are gonna be mince meat due to some good old fashioned lead rounds smacking into ‘em. Now, I suggest all of you head to the cargo bay so we can sort this shit out afterwards." With that he lifted the finger and cut off the connection before swearing up a storm as he kept looking out the viewing window.

In the distance he could see about a dozen black figures rising out of the clouds; they had massive wings that seemed to propel them at a good pace. The ascent was actually scary as Jack kept looking around before seeing a target on a big red button. He shrugged and pressed it before hearing a slight hum from within the ship as flashes occurred outside. Flashes of lights started streaking down toward the things and shredded the first few. About half a dozen were left before they began maneuvering and evading the streams of fire, but the turrets kept up the assault as the computer began to calculate how to eliminate the enemy.

Jack sighed in relief as he watched the firing, seeing another one turned into a fine mist as the others came closer. He shivered and winced as the things were horrid and disgusting; each one about the average size of a Saint Bernard.

These things had no lower jaw to speak of, just a slit that opened side to side with razor sharp teeth along each side. The legs were nubby at best, being maybe two feet long, so it could at least land and rest, but at the moment they were curled tight against its frame. The strangest thing was the head and wings. Its wings were easily six feet on each side, buzzing like an insect's, as they began to arc over the ship. There seemed to be a long protrusion coming out about six inches above their compound eyes. The best guess was that it was a horn, but he wasn't sure what it was used for before a green glow started to surrounded the horn and gave off a quick flash of light...

The entire ship rocked after the first volley of those things hit, alerts came up on different screens. Jack growled as he started looking at the displays and sighed, seems they had hit the hyper drive engines and that meant. "We're fucking stuck here.." He kept looking around as he thought of a way to stop those things. Remembering back Jack began looking for a button with a hexed bubble on it before grunting in frustration. "Where the hell is that button.”

As he kept looking the ship rocked again but with less severity as he looked out and saw a few more bits of those things falling back down towards the planet. Jack didn't worry about that as he found one with a small pack of missiles on it and pushed down. Around the ship small hatches opened as missiles launched out towards the remaining targets. Streaks of smoke filled the void of space as they soared against the enemy before impacting two of them with direct hits.

"Fuck yeah! Take that you muty bastards." It made sense to call these mutalisks since they seemed to act like them and swarm over the ship like that. The remaining three swung away and began quickly retreating back towards the planet. Jack sighed as the things escaped, but they soon were out of range as the auto cannons stopped firing and the alarm slowly died away.

After a few minutes of searching he found himself in the armory. He wanted to desperately get out of this armor. It took a few minutes before he found the right chamber, but he stepped forward and stood in the central platform. After a few seconds delay, the room came to life as it started reaching out towards him with drills, claws, and scanners. It took all of one minute before the machine stopped and slowly retracted its parts. A frown creased his brow and he saw a projection screen appear... It showed several major flaws in the armor that a registered engineer needed to handle. So for now Jack was left in the suit.

On his way out he grabbed a C-14 gauss rifle and attached it to the magnet holster on his back beside the commando rifle, which had turned as real as his suit.

Jack heard the babble of voices before he rounded the corner to the cargo bay. His eyes were met with a sea of orange jumpsuits mixed with the occasional black. A rough estimate could be at least two thousand people, give or take a few hundred. All eyes turned in his direction.

He switched on his suit’s speakers. A soft buzz filled the air before he spoke. "Alright everyone, the things that attacked us are dead except for three, but I don't think they will be back anytime soon!" There were cheers all around before he motioned for silence again. "But I have to admit; I don't know what the hell happened or where we are. The continents of the planet under us do not resemble Earth in any way at all." He furrowed his brow before fiddling with a console beside the door before the computer accepted the command. An alarm sounded, the doors slowly began to open as they saw the plasma field already up.

Down below them was a world covered in rolling burnt orange plains of grass, small dots littered the ground to mark cities and towns. There were dozens of strange shapes and landmarks as well. One man yelled out that there was a gicantic glistening black fortress resting atop a mountain.

After a few moments of fighting the computer, he shocked everyone as he turned the ship to show the moon and sun. Each rotated around the planet on the same axis. Instead of a yellow ball of fire it was a green sphere of flame. The moon bore the image of a mare, regal and pristine, in soft pink splotches upon the smooth surface.

He watched as some prisoners began yelling that it wasnt real, all a trick by the guards to control them. A few just sat down, curling up in the fetal posistion to start crying. Jack figured this would be hard for most people to accept, but he was showing them the truth of their situation. "Alright everyone, I know this seems desolate but we can try and figure everything out."

A prisoner started walking towards the front of the bay towards Jack, a growing posse trailing behind. It was an inmate that didnt like being given orders. So as the man got to the front he shoved a few people put of his way before approaching Jack.

"Who the fuck are you to give us orders?" He was a fairly recent prisoner who hadnt been taught his place in the system yet. Half the followers wanted to see the interaction, while the other simply wanted answers.

Jack killed the speakers as he eyed the man. It was a lanky former drug dealer arrested for several counts of possesion and intent to sell. A chuckle escaped as he formed a fist. "Well I do know how to interior decorate sooo."

"Wha-"

The man didn't get a chance to respond as Jack simply decked him. There was a sickening crack as the jawbone exploded from the impact. Before the man could fall to the floor Jack grabbed his head in the other gauntlet before slamming it down. Gore and grey matter splattered everywhere as blood began to leak onto the floor. "A brain is a terrible thing to waste."

With that he slowly rose up and shook the visceral off onto the floor. He stepped over and used an inmates jumpsuit to wipe off the blood while looking the man in the eyes. "Any other statements?"

They all stood there with looks of shock or neutral expressions. It wasn't the first time any had seen Jack go overboard. It kinda went with the job when the prisoner didn't mentally evaluate their guards, because Jack was truly insane.

"No? Alright then." He switched the speakers on before addressing the rest. "If you have a problem, keep it to your fucking self. Now I want you all to do as I say or else I have a lot of ways to make you walk the line." A slight evil smile crossed his lips as he scanned the crowd. "I don't have any kind of code to adhere to anymore. Like keeping you alive. So with that settled pick leaders amongst yourselves. After that they should approach me." He reached an arm up and pointed to the front. "All guards to the front."

After a good solid two hours he found himself approached by four individuals. Jack knew all four by name and what crime they had committed; two had murder charges, one arson, and the last was in for tax evasion. They stood before him and waited, but before any of them could say anything, an azure light filled the air. A large pony stood there for a moment and gazed around, Jack just stared back before going for the rifle.

A few thoughts raced across his mind. 'What the fuck, is that Nightmare Moon. Why the fuck is a Technicolor villain from a show I watch with my neice here. Fuck I better kill it.'

His hand stopped mid draw as the same azure surrounded everyone. Jack could only stare in frustration as Nightmare Moon frowned at him. She stood an easy six feet tall before the horn added another two atop that. A long navy mane and tail, filled with stars, seemed to flow in an unnatural wind. Two leathery black wings stretched out as she seemed to adjust them before sitting down.

Nightmare Moon had arrived...