//-------------------------------------------------------// The New Era: Act I -by CrystalSeeker- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 Jax grunts as he drives through the streets of Cetera, dodging traffic and people as he watched the buildings locking down. Kylla was going over statistics as the leader of the ponies, Celestia, steps up to the driver seat from the back. "What is going on out there?!" "The Twilight Alarms are going off, meaning the Twilight is attacking somewhere and we need to get the hell out of here." "Where can we go? From how it sounds, they are impossible to fight." "They're not immune to fire and sunlight." She blinks. "We have flammables and flame weapons all over for such a situation. But right now I need to get you seven to the palace before it's too late." Kylla speaks up. "Turn here." Jax does so, causing some of the girls to fall over. "Keep going down this road, the palace will be a ways down." Jax nods as he keeps driving. "We have to get you seven away from there, so that's what we're doing." Celestia is silent as she watches the buildings fly by rapidly. "...And what will we do when we reach the end?" "We will be dealing with that when we get there, now hang on." ... Gwen continues to run down the sidewalk as she held a few wooden sticks and a torch in hand, keeping at the ready for anything as she ran. After a bit of running, she comes to a stop at an alleyway, finding the young elf from earlier hiding there, sniffling and crying as she hid. Gwen immediately came over and knelled down to her height. "Come on, the alleyway isn't safe at a time like this, we need to get somewhere safe." The elf sniffles and looks up at her. "But, how can we expect to get away from this? We're practically dead..." "No, we won't be. Just trust me and take my hand." Gwen offers said hand. The elf stares at the hand for a long while, before wiping her tears away, and taking Gwen's hand. Gwen helps her up as they start running down the street to find somewhere safe, hopefully safer than where they were now. ... Dorn activates the emergency shielding as he ran down the hall, creating a shield of flames that caused the closing in wall of darkness to halt and screech at said wall, backing up, but not leaving. Dorn breaths heavily as he sits down against the wall, having made it to the Study Chamber. Shaking his head, he scoots up a bit and grabs a few books without magic, tossing them to the ground as he ignites them with flames, so to keep warm from the building cold the Darkness made. Leaning his head against the desk, he coughs a couple times. "Damn... of all the shit to happen, this had to be the one..." He rubs his head. "Killon, you better be alive. You're the guy who knows about those ponies..." ... The Emperor gazed from the spot he stood at, watching the Hillside Sector begin to get overrun by the Twilight. Gripping the railing in anger, he takes a few deep breaths as one of his advisers steps from behind. "Milord... Shall we commence the testing of the Seraph Project?" The Emperor looks back, silent for a while, before nodding. "Yes, begin the Seraph Project, do not leave a trace of the Twilight behind." "Milord, we do not yet know if they are powerful enough to be on par with the Royal Union, all we can do is pray and hope for the best." "I know... I just can't lose this empire, not again, no..." "Very well, Milord, I will begin the Project." ... A group of five people, two male humans, one female human, a male vampire, and a female half-giant, stood at the entrance into the hangar of one of the many battleships as they looked at each other. Before any could speak, the hologram appears, revealing a Geth Juggernaut, one of the many Generals of the DBAC. "General Omega here, you five have been activated as per decree of the activation of the Seraph Project. You, among many other teams of Seraphs, will be sent down to deal with the current Twilight attack. You all have been chosen for your great resilience towards being consumed by your inner demons, and as such are the ones likely to survive an attack by the Twilight. Find the Black Heart, and eliminate it. Puppets are a secondary priority, use any and all manners to purify them, but do not, under any circumstances, kill a Twilight Puppet." The Half-Giant steps up. "Golden Team Seraph 001 acknowledges the orders, and will keep as many puppets alive as possible." "Good, now get down there and show the Royal Union we can be as good as they are." "Yes, sir." The five step up to the hangar exit as they draw their weapons. "Come forth, Seraph of Darkness!" The Half-Giant yelled as she aimed her sword outwards, causing the sword to glow a deep red and a visible black aura forms around the blade itself. "Come forth, Seraph of Light!" The first human male shouts, causing the sword to glow a holy golden color as his irises became the same color, while the rest of the eyes were turned the same color as his pupils, pitch black. "Come forth, Seraph of Flames!" The vampire shouts, causing the blade to ignite in flames, same for the vampire's feet and wrists, while his eyes took on a deep blue flame. "Come forth, Seraph of Life!" The human female draws her blade, causing the blade's hilt to wrap roots around her entire arm, while her entire body is covered from head to toe in ebony bark armor, and the blade takes on the visage of a blade made of solid water. "Come forth, Seraph of Time!" The last human male is surrounded by circles, the blade sharpened as it turned into a black blade, while holding white numbers along the blade, having the number 12 at the hilt, and the man seeming to begin distorting from time itself. The General speaks at this. "Commence Project Seraph!" The five Seraphs jump out of the hangar, and begin free-falling towards the ground. "Golden Seraph 005 Ready!" "Golden Seraph 004 Ready!" "Golden Seraph 003 Ready!" "Golden Seraph 002 Ready!" "Golden Seraph 001 Ready! Activate boosters before you hit the ground, we don't need splattered bodies on our first mission!" "Roger that, Golden Team Leader!" They all yell in unison. ... Celestia's eyes snap open as they widened rapidly. "Sir Hound!" Jax looks back. "What is it, Cele?" "I sense something powerful begin, a very long and dangerous war is in the future." "Yeah? Great. Who are the contenders? The Royal Union and the Twilight?" "No... Well... Yes... But there's something else, something powerful, coming to join the fight... What they will do in the battle and near the end I cannot say however." "So you're a fortune teller now?" "No, but I can sense these things. The war for Equestria is about to begin." Jax frowns as he looks forward. "Well, maybe we can make it to the end and figure this out later, yeah?" "Maybe." She slowly nods as she sits back down. "Please hurry." "On it." ... On a shuttle high above the city, heading straight for the Hillside Sector, a group of 6 Royal Union soldiers sat, checking their weapons as they waited, while many other shuttles behind them, and even a few frigates were following to the battlefield. The commanding officer speaks up. "My fellow union, our scans indicate this Twilight to be different from the rest. Instead of an average Black Heart, we are dealing with a Black Breeder, meaning something in there with great magical prowess was taken over by a group of Black Hearts and is being used to make more. My guess is they were sent in from the Black Hearts back in the war. Either that, or we know where they retreated to. Show them no mercy." They all raise their rifles in agreement. "Prepare for Twilight Extermination." ... Jolor continued to run down the path within the caverns, rushing to the exit as she kept her Elemental Flames alive, forcing her way through the sections of Twilight as she growled to herself. "This is what I get for taking on a job that sounds easier than cleaning an entire building!" Author's Note And the series continues, I hope you all enjoy, and I will be looking for constructive criticism, so please give me that.