Halo: Contact Equestria

by Dead_Account_0

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Adventure, Gore, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Dark, Human, Main 6, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 91286

Cpt. Seth Lairsey of the UNSC Hastings made a split-second decision, a random jump into slipspace.

(Attention: Permanently Cancelled) The UNSC Hastings crashes into Equestria's moon after a slip-space incident. The survivors make it to a pelican and crash-land in the Everfree forest. Their arrival throws Equestria into turmoil as an ancient cult plots its return. On top of that, a disillusioned officer in the Equestria military plays her hand.

Published 2011-12-07 23:39:33 UTC
Last updated 2012-05-22 00:16:33 UTC

Developments

“So Luna, what is so important that you almost forgot to raise the moon tonight?” Celestia said exasperatedly as Luna practically dragged her across the castle, earning odd looks from the staff.

“Just you wait Tia! I finally have proof!” Luna squeaked happily hopping up and down.

“Proof of what?” Celestia sighed.

“You’ll see!” Luna giggled. The odd procession continued to the military wing of the castle.

Quintus stood at a huge golden doorway with General Gracchus, Commander of the Specialist Division of the Royal Guard. Gracchus looked just like Quintus, except considerably older. The Royal Guard tended to run in the family and sure enough Quintus was Gracchus’s great-nephew. A wizened grey beard sat on Gracchus’s chin, kept trim and square but the wrinkles on his face were unmistakeable. His mane was still cut in the standard style but was an acute grey colour. The only real difference in armour was the purple standing in for the blue in the larger helmet plume and the small blue sapphire being replaced by a large purple one cut in a square shape. Despite his tough look, the General had become softer in recent years, since the Elements of Harmony took over some of their tasks.

“Okay, Luna! I have had enough. Why is General Gracchus here? Why are you so excited? Proof of what?!” Celestia shouted. To her credit it was dark outside and Celestia would normally be preparing for bed now. Luna looked a little taken aback but General Gracchus stepped forwards to answer her questions.

“Your Majesties.” He bowed eloquently and waited for Celestia to let him stand. Gracchus was such a stickler for tradition, it irked Celestia that anypony could be so old-fashioned.

Luna liked the adherence to code however and always switched to the Royal Canterlot Voice when addressing him. “We release you from thine worship, noble knight!” she spoke loudly and slowly.

“Don’t encourage him Luna,” Celestia whispered nudging her sister.

The Commander stood back up and motioned to the door. Quintus hurriedly shoved a key into a lock then grabbed one of the large ring shaped handles in his mouth and yanked it open, saluting as the trio walked past before shutting the door behind them and joining the group. “As you may no doubt be aware, at precisely 0900 hours today a large explosion was spotted on the moon. At 0905 a large piece of debris crashed into the Everfree forest. At 1200 hours Princess Luna and a small team investigated the impact zone and ran into a group of hostiles and were taken prisoner. At 1300 hours Twilight Sparkle and one of her accomplices located the Princess and engaged the hostiles. In the ensuing chaos one of Luna’s companions was captured but we also took six of the twelve, uhh uhm…” Gracchus hesitated and stopped.

Quintus noticed his trouble and pitched in, “Humans, Sir.”

“That’s right! Six of the twelve humans are here, in the castle.”

Celestia was dumbfounded, it was a lot of information to receive in less than a minute. “L…Luna is that true?”

“Every word of it, don’t worry Tia, they’re not all bad. But I told you that aliens existed!” Luna said with barely restrained happiness.

“Who did they capture?” Celestia asked incredulously, “why didn’t you send for help?”

“A civilian by the name of Earnest Starstruck, Ma’am,” Gracchus replied professionally.

“The astronomer?” Celestia replied confusedly.

“Don’t worry Tia; I’m sure that he’ll be fine. They took him alive so it makes sense that they’d keep him alive, right?” Luna couldn’t stop smiling. It was rare to see Celestia acting like this and she was savouring the moment.

Sometimes Luna could be a bit naïve especially when it came to others. She always saw the good in people, one of the things the miasma took advantage of to take her over. Celestia was old and cynical however, she had seen and done things that would give other ponies nightmares for life. She knew that if push came to shove, Equestria’s defence was considerably more important than a dozen aliens. Still though for Luna’s sake she’d humour her now and speak to Gracchus later.

“Yes it does, a hostage is considerably more valuable alive,” Celestia smiled falsely, in truth she had no idea what these humans’ agendas were.

The group arrived at their destination, on the left was a simple wooden door with a square lock. Gracchus pushed his jewelled breast-plate onto the door, inserting its gem into the slot. There was an audible clicking as the door unlocked and the Princesses entered. Inside was a small room with a table and two chairs. There was another door on the other side of the room similar to the one they had just entered. Tertius was sat on one of the chairs, when they entered he stood up and saluted.

“Sir!” he shouted to General Gracchus, and then turned to the Princesses, “Ma’am!” He bowed this time. “Would you like me to fetch one of the prisoners?” he inquired earnestly.

“Yes, I would like to see a human with my own eyes,” Celestia replied, her gaze unusually blank.

“Any preference? I got some that’ll cooperate, some that won’t and everything in between,” Tertius attempted to joke but nopony laughed.

“I need some questions answered. Bring forth your most compliant one,” Celestia said stiffly.

Tertius walked up to the door and shouted through, “bring up the doctor.”

After a few minutes the sounds of hooves against the cold hard floor clopped out loudly. The door opened to reveal the doctor, looking a bit worse for wear, someone had slugged him one in the face giving him a black eye. To Celestia though he looked extremely strange, he had a white coat that only covered his torso and legs. His head was rounded and his snout extremely stunted. Most concerning though was the fact that he walked on two legs, most unusual for a fully developed creature. Two grey unicorns accompanied him out ready to restrain him with a spell if need be. Celestia stood at one side of the table ignoring the chair completely while the doctor came and seated himself opposite her.

“You are in the presence of royalty! Bow to your superior!” General Gracchus shouted at Stamford who quickly obliged.

“Milady,” Francis said politely.

“May I ask your name?” Celestia asked with a warm smile that made Francis’s heart melt.

“My name is Francis Stamford, Dr. Francis Stamford if you want to get technical.” He returned her smile. Gracchus moved to hit him but Celestia waved him off.

“Why are you here?” She asked her every breath felt like the sun beating down upon him.

“Our spaceship crash landed when we tried to escape from a battle we were losing.”

“We have not seen any of these space ships you are talking about. Are they like regular water-born ships?"

“No, they’re more like submarines as they have to create a closed off atmosphere or we would all suffocate while in flight."

“One moment,” she said with a smile before turning to Gracchus. “Get Twilight Sparkle here, I’m sure she would love to learn more about these humans. I will be placing her in charge of interrogations.”

“No way Tia! This is my case!” Luna pouted.

“But your Eminence, this is exactly the kind of case we Specialists should be taking…” Gracchus began at the same time.

“Gracchus, go fetch Twilight Sparkle, please,” Celestia ordered

“How about her friends?” he sighed giving in.

“If they want to come too, who am I to stop them?” Celestia said to the General, “I expect a full progress report tomorrow.” She then turned to her sister. “Luna take over for now, I have a lot of business to take care of, we’ll talk more on this subject later,” Celestia said before her horn glowed and she teleported back upstairs. Gracchus sighed heavily then plodded upstairs to prepare for the journey leaving Luna with Tertius, Quintus and the unknown guards.

Luna took the seat opposite Francis and started her own line of questioning. “So, Dr. Stamford, what is the deal with all the others, you seem to be the only reasonable human here?” Luna asked casually.

“Well unlike the others, I am trained to save lives not end them. All of them are either soldiers or staff aboard a military ship. I’m only here because a friend of mine requested my help for a few weeks. Otherwise I’d probably still be on Earth, bandaging up the wounded.”

“That may be half of it, but I can see the fear in the eyes of a few of them.”

“To understand their attitude you’d have to understand what happened to us in recent years. The Human race once spread across the galaxy, billions of people inhabiting thousands of worlds. Then the Covenant came, a conglomerate of different alien species all bonded through their religious purpose. Apparently their religion didn’t have room for Humanity in it so they started destroying our worlds, coating the planets in glass so nothing will ever grown there again and killing billions of people. A war was declared, Humanity tried their best to hold them off but we were losing, badly. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, another alien species appeared and started killing Covenant and Humans indiscriminately, they were dubbed the Flood. It’s kind of natural that Humanity would distrust aliens after almost being annihilated by them, twice.”

Luna stopped and processed the information, it did explain quite a bit actually but it left one glaring question remaining. “So why are you any different?” she asked slightly puzzled.

“Right towards the end, a large host of Covenant split off from the main force and joined us, I owe my life to a Sangheili who threw himself at a suicidal Unggoy to save the lives of me and eight of my wounded charges. We all would have died there if it wasn’t for him. Practically everyone else here are navy guys, this is the first time most of them have seen an alien outside the vids,” Stamford stated truthfully.

“What’s a vid?” Tertius said from behind Stamford.

“Oh, uh, video, uhh moving pictures, don’t you have television here?” Stamford stumbled.

“What is television?” Quintus asked banging his hooves on the table.

“It’s like… a box that has a picture in it that moves,” Stamford babbled awkwardly.

“What were those weapons you used against us?” Tertius continued.

“You mean our firearms?” Stamford suggested.

“How do they work?”Quintus leapt back in again.

“You’d be better off asking Bunting about that, he’s the gun nut.” Stamford shrugged.

“Thank you doctor Stamford, I’m sure we can get this sorted out soon enough,” Princess Luna replied with a smile.

"It’s been a pleasure…” Stamford began.

“Luna, Princess Luna.” She smiled calmly. Maybe there was some hope for these humans yet, she thought to herself.

Deep in the Everfree Forest, Darrell Johnston was running for his life. “Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!” he shouted as he tore through the trees ducking under low branches and jumping over tangled roots. The ground rumbled from the heavy footfall of the creature pursuing him. A large stinger shot out on the end of a tail and Darrell barely dodged it, almost tripping in the process. “Fuck! Someone take the damn shot! Take it!” he shouted into the distance hoping Whitmore could hear him. This time a razor sharp claw flew out and managed to catch Darrell’s back leaving huge but shallow gashes. “FUCK!” He cried in pain but kept sprinting; if he stopped he’d probably die. The beast roared deafeningly, sending chills down his spine. “CASSANDRA! TAKE! THE! FUCKING! SHOT!” Darrell screamed at the top of his lungs.

200 metres away Private Cassandra Whitmore lay prone on the crumbling roof of a ruined castle. She took a deep breath and focused as hard as she could through the scope, with only one eye she was no longer distracted allowing for a cleaner shot. She almost had a clear shot, the creature’s head sat square in her sights, she gently squeezed the trigger on the 99D-S2 Anti-Matériel Rifle and it kicked back, the tracer round’s path clearly marked out as it blasted forwards, whistling through the trees and embedding itself into the beast’s head. She watched on the scope as the beast tripped over its legs mid-sprint and landed on its chest, its eyes dimming as the life left its body.

"Phew,” Darrell sighed in relief, stopping to catch his breath and wipe his forehead. Then the stinging pain in his back kicked in. “Damn it Cass, you had to wait to the last fucking second, didn’t you? Fuck! My back is killing me.”

Cassandra climbed down and started walking over. “Aww, did the big baby get a little scratchie from the big meanie cat,” she said in a mocking voice.

“If that thing is a cat, it’s the most fugly cat in the universe,” Darrell said trying to change the subject.

“Looks to me like a lion got it on with a winged scorpion.”

“Yeah I can see that. As long as its claws aren’t as poisonous as its tail, then I’ll be fine. Thanks for asking,” Darrell said sarcastically.

“No problemo,” Cass laughed back, “still with that thing dead, the perimeter is now secure.”

“Gah, wish both our medics hadn’t been grabbed.”

“Stop being such a baby, if you’re desperate we still got the medical equipment. I’m sure Kendrick can do it, she can’t do anything else.”

“That’s a little harsh… but true in this case. Without a console she’s almost entirely useless. Still we got the captain, there’s no one I’d rather be shipwrecked with, he’ll see us through.”

“You’re blind loyalty won’t serve you well.”

“It’s better than constant pessimism.”

“Meh, if you always expect the worst, then the times things pan out seem a lot better.”

“That’s one hell of a philosophy,” Johnston laughed as the two of them started walking back to the castle ruins.

“Sergeant Paul Bunting of the UNSC Marine Corps. Serial number 6-7-8-4-5-2-0-5-6,” Sergeant Bunting shouted loudly, trying to ignore the ponies in front of him.

“You’ve already told us that five times! We know your name but what do the numbers mean?!” Quintus shouted slamming his hooves against the desk for dramatic effect.

“Perhaps we should bring another one out at the same time, see if they can tell us what he means,” Tertius suggested.

“That would probably be best,” Luna sighed, and it had started off so promising as well.

Seed Sower arrived at the small village of Clopton, looking significantly worse for wear. The sun had practically melted her like an ice cube on her long and arduous journey. When the sun had reached its apex and it had become too hot to bear she had rested under a tree by the river, but even after that, the heat had still done a number on her. She managed to drag herself into the village shop, creatively named “Clopton Village Shop”. She entered the door and the bell above rang out with a merry ting. The shop was cluttered with cramped shelves loaded with stock: milk, eggs, vegetables; standard supplies. Seed Sower looked left and right briefly glancing at the items as she approached the counter. “Green!” she called into the back but there was no answer. She walked into the back “Green!” she called again, when she noticed some slick red substance on the floor. Oh Celestia, she was about to scream but then reason bludgeoned itself into her head. Calm down, you don’t know if that’s blood she said to herself internally, and started controlling her breathing. She carefully stepped around the not blood and approached the door at the end of the hallway. The floorboards creaked as she slowly walked over them, one hoof at a time. An audible dripping noise could be heard from behind the door, Seed Sower held her breath, and reached gingerly for the door handle, her hoof visibly shaking.

The door creaked open slowly but the room beyond remained bathed in darkness. She could hear a low groan coming from the room, “H…H...Hello?” she called out as quietly as she could.

“Help me…” a strained voice replied. Seed Sower screamed and sprinted back to the main shop where she checked behind her. Nothing was following her. She could still hear the low groaning though. She looked outside the window and the sun had started to go down tinting the land a red almost as strong as the pool of blood she had seen inside. “Help me…” the voice called weakly.

Seed Sower gulped and took control of herself again, forcing the fear to the back of her mind. What if somepony is ill, eh? What is they genuinely need your help and you just abandoned them! Reason stated once more. She scoured the shelves for a light source and found a lantern with a candle inserted into it. She then found a box of matches and struck it allowing her to light the candle and close up the lantern. She picked it up by the ring on top with her mouth and walked back down the corridor. The flame danced inside its lantern with every step she took, casting malevolent shadows against the wall that moved with her. She re-entered the darkened room at the end of the hallway striking with a sword of light against the darkness within.

Sat in the centre of the room, in a crimson lake was Green Bit, the storeowner. He called out meekly once more, “Help me.”Seed Sower approached the once brilliant green stallion. The loss of blood seemed to have decolourised his fur, dulling his once luminescent coat, not to mention the streaks of red running through it, pouring from the open gash in his throat.

“Green Bit?” she spoke quietly and solemnly. He was the closest pony she had to a friend out here, the one pony she had broken her self imposed seclusion for.

“Seed Sower,” he gurgled back, flecks of blood flying from his mouth with each syllable. “Monsters… Infection… Death,” he tried to say, but with each word he convulsed, contorting into painful shapes. “Tell…Celestia…kill,” he struggled on, each word killing him more as the air escaped his lungs. He tried to smile and said his last words, “miss you…” before his head fell back to the ground. His chest no longer moved and all was still, the only sound was the muffled flicker of the flame by her side.

She sat there tears in her eyes, staring at the dead form of her only friend for a considerable time. Time itself was irrelevant for her, she tried to piece together his last words. “Tell Celestia to kill the monsters that spread their infection leading to death,” she repeated aloud after another space of time. She then stood, she would carry out his dying wish but the question now was, what monsters? She picked up her lantern and stepped back into the shop, the sky outside was now dark, lit only by the pallid light of the waxing moon. I’m not going to go out there and run into a horde of monsters without a weapon, she thought to herself, but what? She gazed once more at the shelves, looking for any particularly sharp implement when she spotted a pitchfork mounted on the wall. She exhaled heavily then trotted over to the wall and wrenched the fork off, brandishing it. What monsters? The voice in her head repeated with an echo.

“Sergeant Paul Bunting of the UNSC Marine Corps. Serial number 6-7-8-4-5-2-0-5-6,” Bunting repeated again to more sighs from the ponies in front of him.

“It’s his name, rank and unique number given to each soldier for identification. Can I please go now? Or get a lawyer or someone?” Okano pleaded.

“You ain’t going nowhere, punk,” Quintus said threateningly.

“You will all be released once we have judged you’re not a threat to ponykind,” Luna added with another heavy sigh.

“I’m not a threat! I wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“You shot Rainbow Dash three times,” Tertius whispered heavily into his ear.

“Sergeant Paul Bunting of the UNSC Marine Corps. Serial number 6-7-8-4-5-2-0-5-6.”

“I can’t go to pony prison! I’m too young to go away for life. Please I’ll do anything.”

“She’s still alive thanks in no small part to doctor Stamford…” Luna began.

“Doctor Stamford provided medical assistance to the enemy! I’ll gut that weasel!” Sergeant Bunting burst out angrily. “Oh, Shit! Uhh… Sergeant Paul Bunting of the UNSC Marine Corps. Serial number 6-7-8-4-5-2-0-5-6,” he added switching back to his monotone.

“Neither of you are giving me a good reason to let you go!” Quintus shouted at the pair of them.

Sergeant Bunting stared him right in the eyes for a few intense seconds while saying slowly and clearly, “Sergeant. Paul. Bunting. Of the U-N-S-C- Marine Corps. Serial number 6-7-8-4-5-2-0-5-6.”

“He doesn’t mean it! Look I can’t take small spaces, I’m claustrophobic, and you can’t make me go back in there,” Okano was begging now.

“I’m sorry but there is no way I can release you yet,” Luna announced with a sense of finality. Okano looked down dejectedly.

“Unless you can tell us how these “firearms” work,” Tertius said from behind them.

“Hah! As if that squirt would know a thing about guns!” Bunting shouted out loud.

"I know the basics! Uh, you pull the trigger and the uhh, firing pin causes an explosion propelling a bullet towards whatever you’re pointing at.”

“Hah! Where’d you learn that, vids?! Everyone who knows a lick about guns knows the bullet is shot forward by a very fast burn that releases hot gas, not a true explosion!” Bunting laughed at Okano before turning to Luna. “You want to know about guns, eh? Then make it worth my while.”

“Money or power?” Luna suggested.

“Not interested. You help us fix up our ship and maybe I’ll give you the lowdown on guns,” Bunting proposed.

“I’m not sure that we could help you repair your ship. The technology of it seems… beyond our capabilities,” Luna replied glumly.

“Look, you need Sinclair, that guy is a whiz when it comes to gizmos.” Bunting placed an elbow on the table, relaxing his joints. “You want us to help you with our technology, imagine what you could learn from Vic.”

“How do I know you know anything about guns?”

“Fine, I’ll give you a brief summary, the most basic gun consists of a barrel closed at one end and an ignition system of some sort. Now the guns we use are a combination of a hammer and firing pin or a striker. The hammer or the striker are spring-loaded and held back by the sear. Pulling the trigger moves the sear out of the way allowing the hammer to fall on the firing pin or the striker to move forward and to smash the primer of a cartridge which produces a flame to ignite the propellant charge inside the cartridge case. The burning powder produces gas, which rapidly expands. The pressure from the gas expands the casing slightly making it seal the breech and pushes the projectile out of the case and down the barrel. Our semi-auto guns and auto guns either use some of the gases generated by cartridge, or energy of the recoil to operate the gun automatically,” Bunting explained, enthusiasm creeping into his voice. “That’s only a basic overview; anything else will cost you one ship,” he stated and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms and smirking.

“Thank you Sergeant Paul Bunting, we will think over your offer and give you feedback later. Mr Okano, You’re lucky Rainbow Dash isn’t pushing charges,” Luna said nodding to each of them as she named them. “Next please.” She called to the two unicorn guards.

“No, no, no wait!” Okano shouted but then one of the unicorn’s horns began to glow and his arms snapped to his side as the guard picked him and walked him back to his cell.

Victor Sinclair had set up a workshop in the castle ruins. Despite the castle looking like it had been abandoned for years, very little seemed to have been looted. He had found an old study with a, still intact, wooden desk complete with chair. Naturally he had claimed the workspace. Victor relished the opportunity to actually put his hobby of invention to good use once more. Before he was practically forced into the army he had just graduated with honours in engineering. He was currently sat at said desk with an open scroll in front of him; he had quickly located some blank scrolls and pencils and started planning. There were a lot of gems and valuable metals just lying around the ruins which he planned around. The current and, arguably, most important piece that he was working on was the Solar Generator. With a little bit of tinkering, it wouldn’t be too difficult to use the gems to optimise the solar energy onto a small golden base. Then comes the hard part of using the captured photons to excite electrons and generate energy. He had managed to supplement most of the objects but the last step would be the hardest, he needed to substitute the diode but nothing on hand could match it. He was pulling his hair out in annoyance, so focused on the subject he didn’t hear the sound of hooves on the floor.

“Have you thought of using magic?” Earnest said from behind him.

“Magic? I wish,” Victor scoffed.

“Well, I can’t tell what all these golden tubes are for, but it’s quite plain to see that you’re trying to harness the energy from the sun. What for? I can only guess at. But if you look here…” he said, pointing at the paper to the receptor.

“Wait a minute! Shouldn’t you be locked up downstairs?!” Victor demanded.

“I was but I got bored.”

“How in the hell did you get out?!” Sinclair said standing up and backing away. Earnest stepped forward and his horn began to glow. The pencil which Sinclair had been holding mere seconds ago was suddenly coated with a bright grey shimmer as it picked itself up and began to write onto Victor’s scroll. Victor’s curiosity outweighed his fear of the alien before him and he approached the paper admiring the neat, careful lines that Starstruck was drawing. “Hmm, if what you’re suggesting actually works... no wait, what am I saying? You’re breaking the first law of thermodynamics! Energy can’t just be created!” Victor scoffed incredulously.

“Magic is different, it isn’t created and it runs in the blood. It… it… gah! I can’t explain it. There was a young unicorn back at the Celestial Academy who was studying magic in all forms. She could explain it much more eloquently. Bah! The point still stands that magic isn’t created from nothing.”

“You’re telling me that something in your blood powers magic.”

“Yes, on a basic level. But it also comes from around is. It’s the interactions between the magic present in nature and the magic present in us all.”

“I’m calling bullshit on that. There is no way that you can harness the low level radiation surrounding us all to create magical fields!”

“What’s radiation?” Starstruck finally looked up from the edits he’d been making.

“It’s the deterioration of unstable atoms.”

“Atoms?”

“Don’t you have science here?”

“Clearly not as advanced as yours… look,” he pointed once more to the blueprints in front of him. While they had been talking he had scrawled out a set of complex calculations. “The theory is sound, as long as the gold doesn’t burn from the heat, we could do with something more heat resistant.”

“That ship we rode in on was made of a material designed to resist the heat of atmospheric entry. If we could find a small plate of it, then it should easily be able to receive the focused beam!” Sinclair shouted ecstatically, pumping his fist in the air. “I’ll go tell Lairsey what we’re planning. There’s more paper and pencils there if you want to design something, I’ll be back soon,” Victor said happily before leaving the unicorn alone in the room.

“You look slightly different from the other humans we’ve interviewed,” Quintus said, his eyebrows raised.

“Well, yeah, I’m a woman. Female,” Laura Berneche stated as if it was obvious.

“So you get male and female humans as well. So, let’s do this one with a bit more order,” Quintus replied.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Luna to get back or Twilight and her friends to show up?” Tertius suggested.

“When Twilight arrives, we can give her the basics so she can focus on the important questions. And Luna will be gone for the night, you saw how tired she looked, frankly I can’t blame her. If it weren’t for the frequent coffee breaks I’d have collapsed myself,” Quintus laughed and then yawned widely. He then turned back to Laura. “Name?”

“Technician Laura Berneche.”

“We already have gender, so age?”

“Really? What use could that possibly be to you?” Laura replied her eyebrow ticking angrily.

“It’s what normally goes on fact files…”

“That’s what you’re basing this on? Normal files? To you, I’m an alien! Shouldn’t you have tailored it more towards that?!” Laura rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair.

“Well… how would you have done it?” Quintus wavered, throwing his hooves up into the air out of annoyance.

“I would expect you’d care more about things like, uh. Have I killed before? Or how could I benefit you? My tolerance towards aliens, you know things that directly affect you,” Laura shrugged as she suggested.

“Sure, that makes sense. So, uh, care to answer those questions?” Quintus asked awkwardly.

Laura started laughing nervously as did Tertius behind her.

“I’m serious.” Quintus said trying to harden his gaze, which only made the others laugh more.

“Hahaha! Heh, okay, I haven’t killed before. I’m a technician so I have a grasp on most basic human technologies. And last but not least, I’m pretty confident that you guys aren’t Covenant. I mean pretty pastel ponies don’t exactly seem the galaxy conquering type. So yeah, I can tolerate you guys.

“Good. Hey! Who are you calling a pretty pastel pony?” Quintus shouted angrily and Tertius and Laura burst out laughing again.

“Cut it out! Come on, you guys,” Quintus whined.

Eriksson stalked trough the trees like a predator, slowly and carefully, practically invisible. Kendrick, in comparison, was like a blind dog, stumbling over roots and walking into branches. Eriksson sighed heavily as Kendrick fell over for the sixth time in an hour. Why did I have to volunteer to pair with her? I always have to feel sorry for the losers, Leif thought to himself.

“Leif, are we almost there? I feel like we’ve been trekking through the forest for days,” Kendrick complained loudly.

“It’s only been two hours, we’re lucky we haven’t run into anything dangerous. You've heard the noises out there,” Eriksson whispered in reply, “you need to keep it quieter.”

“Sorry,” Kendrick whispered, panting slightly, “I’m not used to this much physical activity.”

“Just keep close, that road has to lead somewhere so as long as we follow it, we’ll reach the indigenous population,” Eriksson reasoned.

“Wait? You mean the horses that captured half of our crewmen! Why would we want to find them?!” Kendrick demanded loudly.

“Shh. You need to keep it quiet.” Eriksson dragged the two of them into a nearby cave then sat still and silent for a few seconds while he made sure they hadn’t been heard. “Look. Lairsey wants to recon the area and estimate their numbers. But, between you and me, I think we should prioritise looking for potential allies.”

“Allies? Are you serious? Did you just forget about the armed soldiers that assaulted us?!” Kendrick shouted again.

“For god’s sake woman! Is it that hard to stay quiet?!” Eriksson shouted as loud as he could. For a few seconds everything was silent once more before a huge roar pierced from deeper inside the cave. “Shit,” Eriksson stated simply. “We need to take whatever that was down, hold together and open fire,” Eriksson said to Kendrick before turning to see she had already vanished.

The cave shook as a huge blue bear walked forwards, its fur was like the night sky; full of constellations. Loose rocks fell from the ceiling as the beast unleashed another mighty roar. Leif kept a strong focus as he quickly searched the area for anyway he could possibly escape. Okay, don’t panic, you panic you die, you die well that’s bad. No conveniently loose stalactites, no small side-passages. Think, Leif, think. The bear stopped directly in front of him and roared with such ferocity it threw Leif to the ground. Leif grabbed his shotgun and fired straight upwards at the creature’s face. The shells passed straight through the beast’s ethereal skin with no effect. It did however take the large blasting noise as a challenge and threw out its claw. The claw tore through Leif’s chest plate as if it were paper, tearing deep bloody gashes into his chest. Leif kicked the bear in the chin with all the force he could muster, and dragged himself back up and into a sprint, retreating deeper into the cave. He twisted back and the shotgun was cocked and fired once, then twice with no effect. I never thought I’d see the day where my shotgun fails me; thank god I’ve got the ultimate fallback, high explosives.

Leif smirked, shouldering his shotgun and pulling two grenades out of his pockets, one in each hand. There, a rock formation to hide behind .He ducked behind the rocks and the bear thundered past him before he burst out and sprinted in the other direction. The bear stopped in its tracks and turned around, charging in his new direction. Leif pulled the pins out and threw one grenade at each side of the cave’s exit. He dived forward as the explosives detonated and the entrance collapsed sealing it shut. The concussive force from the explosion threw him slightly further than he intended, straight into a tree.

The unicorn guards had to levitate Darius Kowalski into the chair due to him being unable to walk on his leg. “So, who are you and what do you do?” Quintus asked from the chair opposite leaning forwards casually.

“I’m Darius Kowalski, and it’s my job to ensure that alien fucktards like you don’t mess with the crew,” Kowalski replied aggressively.

“So you’re a soldier,” Tertius said quickly to undercut Quintus’s response.

“Security. More like a guard, I’m the last line of defence for the navy techies from you alien pus bags,” Kowalski kept his gaze level with Quintus’s as if daring him to hit him.

“Calm the buck down. We both know we’re not the enemies here. You want to live in your little world then have fun but if you want to actually get out of here. Then bucking cooperate!” Quintus shouted angrily at the prisoner who didn’t even blink.

“I think you better calm down too…” Tertius began but Darius cut him off.

“You think I care. Any moment from now I’m gunna wake up in a fuckin loony bin. You’re literally nuthin, a stray fuckin thought. And y’know what the worst part is? I’ll still have memories of you two fucktards and this sham of an interrogation when I’m liberated from this fuckin insane world,” Kowalski ranted.

Quintus and Tertius were literally speechless. How were they meant to convince somepony that this was all really happening? Quintus rapped him on the head.

“What the fuck was that for?!” Kowalski shouted wildly.

“There, you can feel pain therefore this is real,” Quintus reasoned.

“Of course I can fuckin feel pain! My leg is fuckin broken in multiple fuckin places. Don’t you think that’s fuckin painful?! You utter bastard!” Kowalski shouted and leaned forwards trying to swipe at Quintus. He suddenly felt himself pulled back by a strong force and he landed securely back in his chair. He wiggled trying to move when he looked down to notice a grey shimmer surrounding his body.

“There, you go. Calm down now and think this through,” Tertius said gently from behind him, “you can feel pain. Your crewmen are here. You can smell, touch, hear and see us.” Darius seemed to take this in and think this through.

He then shouted just as loudly and rudely as before, “how about you look at the fuckin facts?! You’re colourful ponies. You speak in clear English. You use magic for Christ’s sake! What part of that is believable to you?!”

“Guards! Take this bucking foal back to his cell,” Quintus ordered and Kowalski was lifted into the air and carried back through the door he came in through, shouting abuse the whole way.

Seed Sower carefully pushed open the front door to the store with a soft creak. The sun had long gone down but the village was illuminated by a full moon, its soft light casting long shadows across the village square. Seed Sower gulped and crawled out of the front door as quietly as she could, the lantern swinging from her mouth and the pitchfork secure on her back. Okay, Seeds think straight, if anypony could tell you what happened to the village, it’d be the mayor, she thought to herself. Mayor Pencil Pusher drove a hard line but she had contingency plans for anything. Her drive for organization is what had turned a small rabble of arguing famers into a bustling economically sound village.

Seed Sower trotted through the town, it was easy to tell that something was amiss. All the buildings were still there but there was something almost sinister about them. This village had brought Seed Sower so much joy in the years since she had left Canterlot, in her mind it had become an island of joy and mirth in a sea of cold indifference. Now the town seemed cold and empty, the buildings towered menacingly over her. She picked up her pace, trotting faster, the only sound her hooves striking the ground despite her attempts to mask them. She was just passing the local inn when she heard a shrill cry coming from the town hall up ahead. She switched to a full on gallop and burst through the front door.

Two ponies appeared to be grappling in the corridor. A large, dark blue earth pony colt clad in the uniform of the town guard was trying to fight off another earth pony. The other pony looked sickly, its skin hung loosely and its fur, patchy. The blue earth pony put all of its energy into a hard ram with his shoulders, knocking the sickly pony to the floor and into the light. Seed Sower gasped in shock as she saw the earth pony’s chest was torn open, its insides missing and replaced with a fleshy grey pod. The diseased creature dragged itself to its hooves again and lunged once more at the colt.

The dark blue pony fell to the floor trying to hold the beast at arm’s length. “You there! I can’t hold him back! Please! Help me!” the colt yelled as the creature tried to take a chunk out of his arm with its razor sharp teeth.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Seed Sower shouted with a lot more confidence than she felt. She placed the lantern on the floor and pulled the pitchfork off her back.

“Do it! Do it now!” the colt shouted when the creature briefly broke through his defences and took a bite of his wrist.

“Argh!” he shouted in pain but pushed back with as much energy as he could muster. Seed Sower gulped once again and closed her eyes before bursting into a charge. Her hooves clattered against the cold, hard tiled floor before suddenly stopping, her momentum being transferred to the fork as it stabbed into the creature’s belly. There was a small pop and the creature collapsed to the floor with a sickly splat.

The colt lay on his back heavily, the blood pouring freely from his wrist. Seed Sower put out her hoof and proffered it to the collapsed colt who stared at it intently before placing his own hoof in it. Seed Sower pulled him up and flashed him a smile which he returned half-heartedly. “What happened here?” Seed Sower inquired looking around the ruined office, furniture had been turned over and blood coated the room, despite the lack of bodies.

“The townsfolk… they changed into those…those… things.” the colt replied through ragged breaths while grasping his injured leg as tight as he could, shocks of scarlet still poured out blending with the dark blue. “The mayor put a contingency plan into effect… we evacuated to the town hall and locked it down, some of us argued but the mayor said it was for everypony’s safety. Some of the survivors wanted to flee and then some foal, I think it was that secretary opened the doors. It was carnage. A few of us pulled back to the mayor’s office; a few minutes ago we saw all the beasts leave, heading as if one towards Plumtucker Farm to the east. The mayor ordered the two of us to scout out and secure the hall in a second attempt to crack down. Then Hay Bale here finds some fleshy squid thing under a desk which then disembowels him and replaces his internal organs with itself. As if that wasn’t bad enough Hay Bale’s corpse then stood up and lunged at me. If you hadn’t come by it probably would have torn me apart. Thanks for the save, I’m Plough. What are you doing here?”

“I’m Seed Sower. I just came here from the village shop. Green Bit is dead.”

“I assumed so. Most of the villagers are dead, hopefully a few of them got away but... I wouldn’t get anyponies hopes up. Come with me, the mayor will want to see you.” The dark blue pony turned and tried to put weight on his injured ankle and gasped in pain. He placed it down anyway and winced with each step as he led Seed Sower up the stairs and to the mayor’s office.

The corridors upstairs, while still not as bad as the entrance hall, still looked as if an army had torn through the place. Once again there were no corpses despite clear outlines lying in the pools of blood. The double doors at the end of the corridor were covered in scratch marks and a mix of blood and a certain grey liquid. Candles sat on the walls lit the corridor with their flickering light as the two ponies trotted down the hallway, Plough wincing with every step.

“Plough! Hay Bale! Is the perimeter secure?!” the Mayor’s voice sounded through the door in her terse officious manner.

“This is Plough! Hay Bale is dead! The perimeter is not secure! We’ve found a survivor, Seed Sower.”

“Seed Sower? The Farmer from Sugarcube Farm?” the Mayor replied a little confusedly before reverting back to her usual sharp tone, “is she infected?!”

“Uhh, I’m pretty sure she’s not. Her skin is still intact.”

Seed Sower heard the sound of hushed voices beyond the door before a cry of, “Open the door!” She then heard the sounds of bolts being pulled across and the grunt of heavy lifting before the double door swung open.

The two of them trotted in and a purple pegasus mare with a golden mane closed the door and placed a wooden board across some brackets on the inside. She then pulled three sets of bolts across completely securing the door.

Behind the desk, sat a grey unicorn mare with a thinning black mane. Emblazoned on her flank was a closed book, much like her personality. Seed Sower had met with Mayor Pencil Pusher before, particularly when she had first moved out here to arrange her place in the community. The purple pegasus who had blocked the door was her personal bodyguard, Violet Breeze. There were two other ponies present in the room, a beige earth pony colt who Seed Sower recognised as Farmer Oats and a mint green earth pony mare who she hadn’t met before. Farmer Oats looked surprisingly casual, slumped in a chair by the fireplace chewing on a piece of straw. The green pony’s eyes were still wet but she looked out of touch with reality, her eyes unfocused and unseeing. Violet Breeze trotted over to behind the mayor and stood behind her at attention.

The mayor sighed as the two newcomers wandered over to her desk. “I knew I shouldn’t have sent you both off so soon, now look, we’ve lost Hay Bale.”

“I tolds you that these here boys are farmers not soldiers,” Farmer Oats said softly from his chair.

“Well, what’s done is done. I made a choice and I still stick by it. Without supplies this hall is already lost. We can’t outlast them here; it looks like after all this, those foals were right. We’re not going to be able to outlast those beasts, the best policy right now would be to fight our way back out of the village. If we can reach Canterlot then we can get aid and Celestia’s troops should be able to take down these creatures.”

“Wells I see you finally seen the light, but first we’ll need weapons.”

“Weapons? There are no weapons here. The armoury held a few swords and lances but the town guard took them all when the bell first rang. Plough here is the only town guardspony still alive and his weapon is still embedded in Bluegrass’s chest.”

“Where did Seed Sower gets her weapon?” Oats nodded to Seed Sower who stammered in response.

“I took it from the Clopton General Store.”

“If Green Bit saw that, he’d be a mite unhappy,” Oats replied sternly.

“Green Bit is dead. Something tore his throat open and left him bleeding out in the back room. Before he died he told me to seek Celestia and warn her about this,” Seed Sower replied matter-of-factly.

“I’m sorry, miss,” Oats took his hat off solemnly, “I knows you and Green Bit were close.”

“So are we all agreed on charging out there and hopefully breaking out of town?” Pencil Pusher said standing up.

“It’s our duty to warn Celestia and restore order,” Plough replied.

“It’s our chance to keep on living.” Oats nodded.

“For Green Bit., Seed Sower said holding back tears.

“I’m with you as always mistress,” Violet spoke from behind her. They all then turned to the green mare.

“Mint Snap?” Oats said softly to the pony who flinched at the sound of her name. “I’ll protect her, don’t y’all worry.” Oats added as the six of them prepared to leave. The Mayor pulled a sword from underneath her desk while Violet had one already at her side. Plough picked up a flagpole from the corner with a sharpened top. Seed Sower still had her pitchfork while Oats wrapped a hoof around Mint’s neck and gently walked her over.

“Let’s move!” the Mayor ordered.

Twilight Sparkle arrived once more at Celestia’s Castle accompanied by Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had a personal stake in this while Rarity would never pass up a chance of a free trip to Canterlot. The three of them were sat on a pegasus-drawn cart with General Gracchus.

Twilight had been surprised when General Gracchus himself had arrived to invite her and her friends to Canterlot to assist with investigations. But as Celestia’s student and young prodigy in the fields of science and magic, it was only natural. As Elements of Harmony her friends had also been invited, but with the Summer Sun Celebration starting tomorrow night, they were hard pressed to finish preparations. Applejack was trying to get as many apples harvested and baked into yummy treats for the festivities. Fluttershy was trying to prepare the animals to help with music. And it wouldn’t be a party without Pinkie Pie. They landed just outside the entrance and the party of four entered the castle, the two pegasus guards walked the cart back around.

“Follow me to the special operations wing, I’m sure the three of you will have better luck than our agents in this endeavour,” Gracchus’s voice dripped with irony as he led them through the many hallways of the castle.

“Argue all you want but there is no locale better than Canterlot for magnificence such as this,” Rarity announced to the other ponies.

“This place has nothing on Cloudsdale,” Rainbow snorted derisively.

“Quiet down back there, we can talk all we need once we get there,” Gracchus shouted back gruffly. The splendid white marble that lined the corridors let out an almost musical ting at the touch of their hooves. They then twisted off the main corridors into an area of the castle which Twilight had never been in before, the torches became sparser but guard patrols became more frequent. They continued down these corridors until they arrived at a large pair of golden double doors. Stood at attention on the door was a red mare in unusually ornate armour. “Bejewelled? I mean Brigandine Sabre,” He quickly caught and corrected himself.

“Slick, Gracchus. Yes I am here on business. Marshal Marius has caught wind of Special division acting rather strangely. He is meeting with Celestia soon but I was ordered to see if I could get some information out of you. However, the gate is closed and, here’s the best part, some genius has changed the locks so the officers’ skeleton keys won’t function without telling the Marshal. So, if you want to retain your role as General, then I suggest that you start talking,” Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre stated a cruel smirk on her lips.

Gracchus walked up to her awkwardly and spoke quietly up close. “Uhh, couldn’t this wait a bit? I’m in the middle of something, I’ve got some guests here.”

“Well why don’t I accompany you on this task.”

“That won’t be necessary…” Gracchus began.

“No, no, I and this here signed document from the Marshal would say otherwise,” Sabre held up a piece of paper with a smirk. Gracchus snatched the paper and scanned through it anxiously.

“Well, everything appears to be in order,” Gracchus said with an extremely fake smile, before pulling a key off his belt and shoving it into the lock, twisting it and pushing the door open. Sabre walked straight on through haughtily, followed by Twilight and her friends. Gracchus walked through after the group and then locked the doors behind them.

Corporal Ming Yao sat down in the chair opposite Quintus, the two guards walking behind him.

“Right, last one,” Quintus said to Tertius. Tertius then walked back to his position behind the human. Quintus turned to the human sat before him and said in a routine voice, “Name?”

“Corporal Ming Yao, UNSC Marine Combat Medic. I am twenty four years old and blood type A positive,” The marine replied in an equally bored voice.

“Blood type? I mean, good yes,” Quintus replied confusedly, “Uh, have you ever killed before? How could you help us? And, uhh, what is your tolerance level to aliens?” Quintus asked slowly trying to remember word for word what he had discussed with Berneche.

“I have killed quite a few aliens, but never in cold blood. While not as experienced with weaponry as Bunting or medical science as Stamford, I could still prove useful in both those respects. When it comes to alien biology though, I’m your man. I can tolerate aliens but apparently they can’t tolerate us. Every alien I’ve gotten close to has always struck first and never surrendered. Even today at the landing zone, we had you safely secured where neither of us would have been injured then your friends assaulted us and almost killed some of my comrades-in-arms,” Yao replied with a hint of malice.

“Really and you think restraining us would have made us docile?” Tertius asked incredulously.

“It was the best option at the time,” Yao replied as if he truly believed it.

The door was then pushed open by General Gracchus and his cohorts. Yao recognised the cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane as the assailant who had thrown apart their plans and narrowed his eyes. Tertius and Quintus practically jumped from their chares and snapped off salutes, they then gasped as a red pegasus mare with a blond mane and tail wearing elaborate golden armour followed them in. “Brigandine Sabre!” They saluted again and looked at Gracchus questioningly. Sabre walked over to the human sat in the chair.

“You must be what the Specialist division is hiding. A real life, breathing alien,” Sabre exclaimed with a whistle of admiration.

“So?” Yao shrugged.

“And it speaks Equestrian too, very nice find boys. You are aware though that these aliens could constitute a threat to all Equestria and therefore the Marshal should know.”

“There are only twelve of them and six of them are already captured, the remainder won’t take long. They are not a major threat,” Gracchus replied, attempting to downplay the importance of them. “Besides Celestia herself appointed Twilight Sparkle and her friends as head of this case,” Gracchus added his tone slightly angry.

“Really? A non-military consultant? as head?” Sabre replied a little confusedly.

Twilight then stepped forwards. “Expert in science and magic, Celestia’s most prized student and Element of Harmony,” Twilight said, a little ticked off at Sabre’s ridicule.

“Oh, so you are the esteemed Twilight Sparkle and these two must be your friends, Rainbow Dash and… Creativity.”

“It’s Rarity darling,” Rarity replied with a smile despite the tick in her eyebrows saying otherwise.

“Yes, quite, I’ll be returning to Marshal Marius now,” Sabre then turned and trotted back out of the office.

“Twilight Sparkle, I hereby officially relinquish these prisoners into your care. Quintus, Tertius, assist her any way you can,” Gracchus said before galloping out of the door in as orderly a fashion as possible.

“Mistress Sparkle, we have already conducted preliminary interviews and compiled a basic fact-file for each human,” Quintus said with a salute. “Mistresses Rarity and Dash, we are also at your service. If you need anything please don’t hesitate to tell Tertius,” Quintus said with a smile.

Tertius gave him a dirty look before reverting back to a smile. “I’m sure we can assist you in any way you require,” Tertius replied.

Yao was still sat there in silence.

“By Celestia, that ensemble is hideous.” Rarity shuddered in horror as she approached the seated human.

“Its combat armour, functionality over form,” Yao replied giving the pony an odd look.

“Ah but darling, it is possible to have functional fashion, just look at our royal guard.”

“That golden armour could be seen from miles away. Snipers would have picked you off in seconds. You want to be light, camouflaged and relatively armoured,” Yao replied factually.

“That is not an excuse for that crime against fashion,” Rarity said sharply.

“So, you guys are still weird okay. One minute you’re attacking me and the next you’re patching me up. I mean, make up your minds,” Rainbow said oddly.

“It’s a doctor’s oath to patch up any injured in need, no matter race, side or species,” Yao replied once more.

“Yeah right, you’re up egghead.” Rainbow nodded to Twilight who stepped forwards.

“Okay sir, let’s start up the formal questioning,” Twilight said pulling a pair of spectacles from nowhere and placing them on her face.

Fluttershy was on the outskirts of the Everfree forest, searching for a red crested warbler to help complete her choir of birds. The sun was shining brightly as if in anticipation for the big day tomorrow. The beauty of nature was prevalent here, but a harsher nature than the soft one she usually worked with. Fluttershy much preferred the Whitetail Woods but the warbler was normally found on the verge of the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy cantered along keeping her ears open for the unusual cry of the warbler or any noise of danger around. After an hour with no sign of the warbler she was about to give up when a loud explosion rang out from somewhere in the forest. She let out a high pitched squeal and leapt into a bush quivering in fright. She concealed herself in her own world shutting out everything but her own internal voice. Oh my, why was the world so frightening? Just when you think everything is safe and sound, something goes completely awry and you find yourself hiding in a bush, again.

After a few minutes of complete silence, she carefully peered back out of the bush, nothing was out of the ordinary so she slunk back out, looking around intently. Once she had established the coast was clear she prepared to resume her search. Wait a second, an explosion in the forest could leave injured animals! It wasn’t so far, and oh, what if a poor little bunny got hit, no, no, no. I shouldn’t imagine that. Oh I hope they’re all right, Fluttershy thought to herself. She gathered what little bravery she could find inside herself and pushed forwards into the dark forest, tears streaming in her eyes. The yellow pegasus pony approached the source of the explosion, Bearhollow Cave; a well known Ursa nest, to find that the cave had collapsed. The Ursa’s would be fine, they sleep for thousands of years at a time. The creature that lay sprawled outside however was a different matter. She had never encountered anything like it, clothes coated its skin hinting at some kind of sentience. The metal plating on its back and helmet lying nearby told her that it must be a soldier of some kind. It seemed to have hit the trunk of a tree head-first very hard. She turned it over to find its shirt shredded and long bloody gashes, reminiscent of an Ursa Minor claw, running down its chest. Blood seemed to be seeping from its head and it seemed to have landed awkwardly on its arm, breaking it. Fluttershy couldn’t leave an injured creature in the woods no matter how strange it seemed so she gently lifted it, mindful of its broken arm, and flew towards her cottage nearby. She did not notice a figure in the trees nearby watch her leave before vanishing into the trees.

Captain Seth Lairsey was sorting through the supply crates they had secured, placing items into piles based on their use. He had hoped Sinclair would have given him a hand but he had vanished somewhere into the castle. Eriksson and Kendrick had been sent to scout out the nearest settlement whilst Whitmore and Johnston were securing the perimeter. While their jobs were infinitely more exciting, it was nice to have a task that required his full attention to take his mind off of recent events. He could get used to quiet, quiet was good. He had just finished the first crate when Victor came sprinting down the stairs. “Boss! Boss! We need to secure the crash site again!” he shouted loudly as he came to a stop by Lairsey.

“And why would we do that?” Lairsey replied still sorting through the boxes.

“Earnest had a brilliant idea of how to make my solar generator work! But we require a metal that will not warp and melt under heat, something like what the ship was made of,” Victor ranted to an uncaring Lairsey.

“Ernest? Victor, Ernest Franklin died on the ship. Help me with this box.”

“No sir, Earnest Starstruck, the pony,” Sinclair corrected with a laugh.

“The prisoner?! You let the prisoner loose?! Lairsey turned at this his eyes wide with surprise.

“No, no he escaped his bonds and then helped me with my blueprints,” Sinclair said, too casually for Lairsey’s liking.

“The xeno is probably stealing our plans as we speak! To take back to his evil overlords!” Lairsey shouted and pulled out his pistol rushing up the stairs.

As if on cue, Whitmore and Johnston returned to see Sinclair chase after Lairsey running up the stairs with a gun. Naturally they pulled out their weapons and sprinted after them.

“Wait! You don’t understand! He’s helping, I can’t make that generator without him!” Sinclair shouted as he ran after Lairsey. The two of them burst into the chambers to find Earnest still at the desk scrawling frantically with a quill.

“Stop right there and put your hooves where I can see them!” Lairsey ordered, cocking his pistol.

“I’ll be with you in a moment. I’m on a roll here,” The pony said dismissively. Lairsey didn’t know how to react to indifference, he had been expecting an aggressive or submissive reply.

“See boss, he’s just scrawling on that scroll,” Sinclair said as he walked up to Lairsey and lowered Seth’s gun. The other two then burst into the room and were equally surprised.

“Captain, orders?!” Private Whitmore shouted.

“Stand down, I suppose this one’s all right. But Sinclair, watch him at all times and always have your weapon on you. If he tries to escape, don’t hesitate,” Lairsey said coldly and turned to leave.

Kendrick ran into the castle screaming, “They got Leif! They got Leif!” That was enough to get everyone sprinting back downstairs, bar Earnest of course.

“Status report Kendrick!” The Captain ordered.

“Private Eriksson got attacked by a giant bear, but he trapped it in this cave with grenades, and then he got thrown across by the blast, and then some yellow winged horse picked him up, and flew into town!” she said quickly without pausing for breath.

“What about the town? Numbers, tech level?” Lairsey switched his steely gaze back on.

“I only saw a handful of thatched roof buildings but there may have been more,” Kendrick said, holding back tears.

“Low tech but unknown number,” Lairsey summarised then turned to the crewmen. “Whitmore, Kendrick, you’re with me. We’re going to scope out the town and maybe conduct a rescue mission. Sinclair, Johnston, secure the prisoner as tightly as you can and then head back to the crash site and get some of that metal. Once you bring it back to the castle, move up and reinforce us.”

“Yes Sir!” they all shouted in unison.

“Lock and load marines! This time we shoot to kill!” Lairsey shouted.

“Oorah!” Whitmore replied and the trio left the castle.

Johnston and Sinclair went back upstairs and barricaded the door to the study shut with as much furniture as they could find before heading out to the crash site.

Encounters

Clopton Village Square, 2 a.m. 22 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration.

The group moved slowly and quietly from building to building, covering each other’s backs. A chill wind blew through the town from the east carrying with it a thick smell of corruption and decay. The moon itself had vanished behind a blanket of clouds, leaving the village in almost complete darkness. Absolute silence had fallen upon the settlement, even the usual buzzing of bugs and calling of birds was absent.

The six survivors slinked along, hiding in shadows, and looking around carefully. To make matters worse a thick fog began to settle in, obscuring their vision. Violet Breeze scouted out each alley they passed, ushering the group past her then moving back up to the front. Second came Mayor Pencil Pusher, eyeing every nook and cranny with suspicion, her sword held telekinetically with her horn. Third was Farmer Oats who was still gently leading Mint Snap, whose eyes jumped to and fro as she shook, her body wracked with fear. Seed Sower was next, pitchfork ready to pull out on a whim. Plough kept to the rear, ensuring nothing was following them. Their slow careful procession headed for the village shop, supplies would be needed for the journey to Canterlot Castle.

A loud scream pierced the night air and the group stopped. Oats gently covered Mint Snap’s mouth to prevent her from returning the scream. Violet walked forward slowly while Plough backtracked, both had their weapons drawn and ready. For a few tense seconds, nothing happened, even the air seemed to stand still. Then the ear-splitting cry sounded again, this time closer. Violet backed up to the mayor, assuming her defensive stance. A small filly burst through the fog right in front of Plough, her head twisted at an impossible angle. The filly let out an inequine wail once more and turned to face Plough, staring into his soul with her cold, dead eyes. The scent of decay became stronger until the cloying odour was so thick that Plough could practically taste it.

Plough peered through the fog she had just burst from, to see a veritable wave of flood surging behind her. “Buck! We need to get moving! Fast!” he shouted to Violet up front.

“You heard the pony, let’s double time it!” the Mayor shouted. The group burst into a gallop, pressing on into the thick, wet fog. The filly was wailing again, Mint burst into tears and buried her face into Oat’s shoulder, relying on him to direct and carry her. Oats wasn’t as spry as he used to be, and was struggling to keep in formation while holding Mint.

“Keep moving Oats! You stop for a second and you’re dead!” Pencil Pusher shouted behind her at the slowly falling behind figure of Farmer Oats. Seed Sower sprinted to his side and helped with the burden of Mint Snap.

“If you needed help, you should have just asked,” Seed Sower said with a half-hearted smile. Oats nodded in thanks.

“Not to worry anypony, but they’re getting closer!” Plough shouted from the back.

“Don’t worry! We’re almost there! Once inside we can barricade ourselves in and wait until they give up again!” Pencil Pusher shouted back.

“We’re approaching the…” Violet began before a charging figure smashed into her side with an audible smack, tossing her violently to the floor. The mayor didn’t hesitate, slicing quickly at the creature’s head with her blade. The creature then did the last thing she expected, it ducked. This particular specimen was different, unlike the others that were all based on ponies; this one was bipedal and seemed relatively intact. If it weren’t for the massive hole in its chest, then she may have mistaken it for being alive. The creature stood back up and swung out with its arm, knocking the blade right out of the air. The creature then grabbed the mayor herself and lifted her up. she screamed as the creatures grip began to tighten around her throat. With a wild howl Violet threw herself onto the beasts back and started pummelling it with her hooves; it didn't seem to react until she got a lucky hit into the hole in its chest, causing it to recoil and drop the ensnared mare.

“Get in the shop! I’ll hold it back!” Violet barked an order to the mayor for the first time ever in her five years of service. Pencil Pusher leapt to her feet and galloped to the shop door, taking one last look at Violet before shutting and barricading it.

Upon seeing the mayor and her companions vanish into the shop, Violet released the creature and jumped back. She dived into a roll to avoid the creature’s arms, snatching up Pencil Pusher’s blade as she did. The steel was cold and hard in her mouth, the sharp tang a reminder of what she had to lose, her life. The pungent creature lashed out once more but was met by the swinging blade of the well trained pegasus, soaring through the air with a whistle. The creature cried out as its arm fell to the floor with an audible splat, registering pain unlike the others. It hissed at the pegasus before it turned and fled.

Before Violet could celebrate her victory however the tidal wave of infected ponies hit. Slash left, slice right, jump back, duck, stab forwards. she was reacting on pure instinct now. Dice, parry, dodge, argh! She cried as one of the creatures got a hit in and tore a huge chunk of flesh from her back. She stumbled, and the beasts were upon her, rending flesh from bone. After a few agonised seconds, it was all over. Her sword clattered to the floor, ringing out on the tiled plaza.

The Flood Alpha laughed, it felt such glee as it watched the creature that had caused it such agony face the ultimate penance, death. This small settlement had almost been completely converted, its inhabitants evolved into their ultimate form. At first it had been shocked to discover how much resistance these savages had put up, but now they thanked Alpha. Their minds liberated from this mortal coil, accepting its leadership utterly. They were all joined together with purpose, to free this galaxy from the burden of ignorance. Alpha knew that to achieve that purpose however, they would need a gravemind. None of these “ponies” were worthy to ascend to the ultimate glory of the proto-gravemind, from their memories though it had discerned one pony worthy of this ultimate reward; the so-called sun goddess Celestia. That was a concern for later however, right now it had to establish its complete dominance over the village. It knew of two holdouts, by delegating this particular group to its converts it could focus entirely on eliminating the bigger threat, the occupants of Peachwind Estate.

The shrieks of the damned reverberated through the wood of the Clopton Village Shop entrance. The small group had stacked as much furniture as they could against the two doors that led into the main area. The living quarters in the back had been quickly compromised, but Pencil Pusher had had the forethought to have some shelves stacked in front of that door too. With heaped furniture blocking both passageways the five remaining ponies sat in a circle on the cold wooden floor. After the frantic stacking they had searched for, and found, plenty of supplies. If they ever managed to get out, they easily had enough to get all the way to Canterlot while avoiding every other settlement they came across. The room was dimly lit by a few salvaged lanterns, casting flickering shadows across the walls. Mint Snap was still sobbing softly in the background. The aura of depression was so thick that it was almost palpable. Even Pencil Pusher was in mourning, although she tried to hide it.

Plough stood up and walked over to the pile of weapons the group had amassed, seizing a mighty scythe in his mouth. “I’ll take first watch if all of you want to get some shuteye,” he announced to the group.

“A good idea Guardspony Plough, we could all so with a little rest. I don’t know how easy I’d find it though, with those beasts wailing out there,” Pencil Pusher said as she also stood up, earning the gaze of the other sombre ponies. “If Seed Sower takes second, Oats can take third and I'll finish up with fourth, that way we could do two-hour rotations.” She pointed to the clock that sat just above where the counter used to be. “We could easily measure it with that clock,” she added.

“I reckon things will look a lot better when the morning comes,” Oats said with an affirmative nod.

Plough sat himself on one of the chairs that made up the barricade, keeping the scythe by him. The other four ponies spread out across the wide shop floor and attempted sleep. Seed Sower and Farmer Oats fell asleep practically instantly, both being exhausted from the day and night’s efforts.

Pencil Pusher tried to sleep but a feeling of guilt had begun to rear its ugly head. Violet sacrificed herself to save you, that simple fact jumped around her skull, feelings of self doubt begun to crop up for the first time in decades. As Mayor, it’s your job to keep everypony alive and well, another voice joined in. Pencil Pusher felt warm tears grace her eyelids. “Tears are for the weak,” her dad had always told her when she was growing up, one of the lessons she had took to heart. Turmoil wracked her body, she had never felt so useless. Why don’t you just kill yourself? Suddenly something warm and fuzzy touched her back and she flinched, hard. She turned to see Mint Snap looking at her with wide purple eyes. Mint Snaps gave her a hug and, after a little hesitation, Pencil Pusher returned it. The two mares lay down and fell asleep in the comforting embrace of one another, staving off their feelings of fear, regret and the cold.

Canterlot Specialist Division, 5 a.m. 19 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration.

Rarity was bored. She had come to Canterlot with Twilight as a reward trip for all her hard work in preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration, but so far all they had done was work. She stared once more at the plain white ceiling, something about that particular spot was giving her a weird vibe. It’s probably that they had designed this room to be soul-crushingly plain, especially when combined with the grey walls and white floor. She suppressed a great sigh as her friends voices trickled away into a low drone in the background of her mind. She absentmindedly examined the outfit the human female sat in front of her wore. A one piece jumpsuit, much akin to what a pony janitor might wear, in a repugnant dark yellow. As if that wasn’t bad enough somepony… uh… someone had decided to colour the very top of it a dismal, uniform grey. It was the complete opposite of style, it was a mess. None of these humans seemed to have a clue about how to put together a decent outfit. If they ever got out of here maybe she would make them a little something, it’d be a crime to let them wander the land in those. She shook herself back into reality as she saw the individual stand up and be escorted out by the two guardsponies.

“Well, I think that went over well,” Twilight Sparkle said with a smile to the other two ponies as they too stood up to leave.

“Who’re you trying to kid egghead? That could not have gone worse,” Rainbow Dash said with an exasperated sigh.

“As with any great discovery all it takes is time. Eventually we’ll be able to fill books with all we’ve learned,” Twilight said, gesturing wildly with her hoof.

“Picture books maybe,” Rainbow giggled to Rarity.

“Come now Rainbow Dash, this is obviously important to Twilight and we should help her in any way we can,” Rarity announced pompously to the cyan pegasus.

“Hey, I’m not saying it’s not possible! I’m just saying that today was a total waste of time,” Rainbow replied defensively to the fashionista.

“Maybe you’ll feel better after a good nights sleep. I most certainly am pooped.” Twilight stifled a yawn. “I’m sure Celestia has prepared some rooms for us.”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash you’ll love the beds here in Canterlot. So comfy and puffy and simply fabulous,” Rarity turned to the rainbow maned pony as the group left the interview room.

“Meh, nothing beats a good cloud,” Rainbow retorted as the three of them turned the corner and vanished from sight as the door shut behind them.

“Is it finally clear?” a quiet high pitched voice whispered from the ceiling, seconds after the the three ponies had left the room.

“I think that white unicorn could see me,” a second voice replied nervously with a distinctly female twang.

“Calm down Wind Runner, Mind’s Eye is a master of illusion magic,” a third, low, gravelly voice replied.

“Oh, Commander Hauberk, you do me too much honour,” the high pitched voice said abashedly.

“Those unicorn guards are still through there. I think they bunk by the cells, we may have to take them out,” Hauberk said, lowering himself down to the ground. The zip-line whirred quietly as it gently placed him on the floor, he then pushed a button and climbed out of the harness with ease.

Wind Runner followed him down but her wings got caught in the harness, the crimson feathers pushing tightly against the constraining polymers.

“Uhh… a little help you guys?” Wind smiled awkwardly as Mind’s Eye lowered himself down magically and pointed his horn at her. The dark blue unicorn had a flowing mane and tail the colour of the sea, his cutie mark a wide open eye encased by a white bubble. The curious thing about him to the casual observer though was his horn, it was encased in a thin but solid metal layer. Running down the horn were three lines, each brightly lit by a different primary colour. With no effort on his part the device glowed and the harness expanded slightly allowing the crimson pegasus to squeeze out.

“Thanks Minds,” she said with a smile, tossing her head allowing her frizzy black mane to rise and fall gently. Her cutie mark was a winged combat boot and she always wore a pair of thick black goggles.

“Great, now can you teleport those harnesses back out of here, we can’t leave any trace,” Hauberk instructed. Hauberk was a hulking grey earth pony, he towered over the average pony and wasn’t afraid to use this to his advantage. For this job he had opted to leave his bulky armour behind, he knew the value of stealth so instead wore one of the technical thingamajigs that Gizmo designed on his chest. Apparently, it was supposed to generate a force field akin to the barrier unicorns can create, to deflect enemy projectiles. He had a short buzz-cut blond mane and extremely short tail. On his face he wore a pair of dark sunglasses, obscuring his eyes from view, and a navy blue cap sat atop his head.

“Of course commander,” the augmented unicorn replied, pulling a rounded device out of his saddlebag which he then switched on using his horn. The device pulsed and the harnesses vanished from view. “They should be back in the cart outside,” he added after a few seconds.

“Great. We don’t want to kill the guards, incapacitate them only, okay?” Hauberk waited until the other two ponies nodded in agreement before continuing, “Minds can you check how many there are?” Hauberk turned to the dark blue pony with an inquiring look.

“One moment.” His horn glowed once more but this time the strain could be clearly seen on his face as he closed his eyes and focused. After around ten seconds of complete silence he opened them once more and stated factually, “I’m picking up nine distinct signatures, two are unicorns, ones a pegasus whilst the other six are an unknown species. I’m assuming they’re the humans.”

“Okay team, this is what we were training for, there should be three of them so one each. If we all get in position first then strike on my signal we should get three clean takedowns. Once all the guards are subdued I want Minds to knock out the humans. Gizmo’s teleporter should take them straight to the cart. You two should teleport out of here too, I’ll don a guard uniform and take the teleporter down with me. You ready for this?”

“Let’s kick ass and take names!” Wind pumped her hoof in the air with excitement.

“We’ve got this,” Mind’s Eye added with a nod. His horn device glowed once more as he send outhis mind flying it into the next room and into a white pegasus.

Tertius was still a bit miffed, Quintus had been assigned the guest quarters so he would be on hoof for Twilight and her friends. This left Tertius with the unenviable job of watching the prisoners with the “tedious twins”, the two most uninteresting ponies in the entire guard. Tertius sighed heavily, all the talkative humans were asleep leaving just Kowalski and Bunting who sat there glaring at him. The twins were staring dully at the two humans ensuring they were still in their cells. He sighed deeply and stood up. Wait! Why am I standing up? His body began to move involuntarily stepping behind the tedious twins. What am I doing? His forehooves suddenly flew left and right simultaneously, striking both guards in the back of the head. The two unicorns crumbled to the ground unconscious. Tertius suddenly found himself in control as he spun around again, right into a red hoof.

Mind’s Eye strolled into the room afterwards. All three ponies had now been subdued. He sensed the humans stirring and concentrated all of his energy into a pulse of magic, his face screwing up from the intense effort to manage such a powerful spell. Despite his blue colouration his magical field was white due to the excess energy from the horn. The white pulse washed harmlessly over the ponies but each human it came into contact with fell into a deep sleep, those already asleep fell into an even deeper sleep. His horn briefly flashed red with an audible bleeping noise informing him that the energy cell had run dry.

“I’m out of energy. Falling back to traditional magic,” the unicorn shouted to Hauberk who replied with a terse nod.

“Boss? This guy doesn’t have the keys,” Wind shouted.

“Nor does this one,” Mind’s Eye added.

“This guy has them,” the commander replied as he unhitched the key ring from one of the unicorn guardsponys' belts and set about unlocking the cells. Wind and Minds set up the teleporter. “I’ll have to trigger it manually since Minds magic’s run dry,” Wind Runner shouted to Hauberk. Each metal door swung open with a loud clanging noise, reverberating off the walls and ceiling to fill the air with sound. As soon as the cell was opened Mind’s Eye would lift the sleeping humans telekinetically and drop them on the pad. Wind Runner would then hit a series of buttons and the human would vanish in a blink of light, hopefully to the other pad stashed in the cart waiting for them.

Quintus’s hooves rang shrilly against the stone corridors as he returned to the interview room. Despite being so tired, he was fighting the urge to outright collapse, he still had one final task to complete. At least it had got him away from Rarity, that unicorn had been exceptionally demanding; but now the three mares had tucked in and were fast asleep. Quintus felt kind of bad for Tertius though, he didn’t have the heart to abandon him to the unflinching mercy of the tedious twins.

He reached for his key to the interview room but slipped on the tiled floor and stumbled forwards, the door swung open despite the fact it was supposed to be locked. What the hay! Tertius could be unprofessional sometimes but even he would not be stupid enough to leave the door unlocked! Quintus thought to himself suspiciously. As quietly as he could manage, the white earth pony crept across the interview room; his eyes darting to and fro on high alert, he gently placed his ear against the door. A loud clanging noise echoed from the other side. It sounded like somepony was opening the cells! It couldn’t be a prison break! Could it? He questioned himself internally.

He quietly pushed the door open and peered through. Mere metres from the door sat a red pegasus tampering with some kind of electrical device, it looked almost like the human technology he had seen lying around the crash site. A blue unicorn appeared from one of the cells carrying one of the humans with magic from his horn, the unicorn had some kind of weird device on its horn, which also looked like human technology. Following him was a hulking grey earth pony who Quintus instantly recognised as Commander Hauberk, Ex-Royal Guardspony Commander and infamous head of the mercenary company: The Crimson Hooves. He had to warn Celestia! But first, he couldn’t leave without knowing if Tertius was okay.

His eyes scanned the room, searching for his comrade-in-arms. He spotted Tertius tied up with the tedious twins, all three of them unconscious. Drat! They're all restrained on the other side of the room. It would be practically impossible for me to save them without alerting those mercs. Think, Quin, think, the guard thought to himself. I could probably take the red pegasus but Hauberk’s strength is legendary and everypony knows not to mess with a unicorn of unknown ability. For all I know he could specialise in fire magic! From the way the guards are bound I can assume that they’re being kept alive. I suppose the best thing to do would be to rouse the rest of the Guard. There’s an emergency bell in the Specialist Wing Foyer that I could ring. But, I can’t just leave my friend like that! He’ll be fine though, right? Right?! Quintus turned left and right but received no feedback. He sighed and gently closed the door which creaked loudly. “Oh buck,” Quintus said quietly before turning around and galloping down the corridor.

Wind keyed in the code for the fifth time in a row. 46QP-82N9, she could actually recite the code out loud without looking if pushed to. Hauberk turned to pull open the last door when a loud creaking noise came from behind them. Without hesitating Mind’s Eye cast the invisibility spell again, pushing himself a bit too far. The sound of hoofsteps galloping away revealed what had actually happened. Wind twisted from the machine and shot through the door after them. Mind’s Eye released the spell and collapsed to the floor with a loud exhalation, magically spent.

“Wind!” Hauberk shouted after the red blur as it shot out of the room. He went to sprint after when a dark blue unicorn collapsed into his hooves. “Dammit Minds! We discussed this before! Know your limits!” he shouted at the unconscious pony. He picked him up and placed him on the teleporter. “Buck! What was the damnable code again.”

Wind shot through the door into the long corridor to see a white earth pony guard moving as fast as its hooves could carry it towards the door at the end of the corridor. “Oh no you don’t,” she whispered to herself before spreading her wings and blasting down the corridor after him.

“Why did they have to make these stupid corridors so straight and long?!” Quintus shouted to himself as he galloped, he could hear the beating of wings and knew it must be that red pegasus. He pushed himself as hard as he could but a cursory glance behind him told him that she was gaining rapidly. There was no way he was going to make it, the foyer was just too damn far. Fortunately the pegasus seemed alone so maybe he could take her. In this constrained corridor he had the upper hoof, the average earth pony being stronger and tougher than the average pegasi. Just before the red blur hit him he dove to the ground. Wind pulled off a one hundred and eighty degree spin, an impressive feat considering they were in a corridor. Quintus pulled himself up just in time to see the mercenary barrel into him, knocking the two of them to the ground.

Wind recovered first and went straight for his throat, hoping to choke him into submission, she did not account for the body armour reinforcing that area however. Quintus reacted just in time with a vicious head butt from his helmeted skull. Wind paced back dazed, blood pouring from a new cut above her nose, staining the white marble corridor with its strong scarlet tint. Quintus leapt forwards on the offensive but Wind dodged, his hoof continued straight into the stone wall with a loud and painful smack. Wind knew an opportunity when she saw one and shot in with a jab, scoring a direct hit to Quintus’s unarmoured face. Quintus shook himself and retaliated with another slugger of a punch which Wind easily dodged, putting herself in direct line with the other hoof that knocked her flying to the ground. Quintus moved to knock her out when a sharp stabbing pain shot into his back. He stumbled, looking down to see a golden blade covered in gemstones protruding from his chest. He gurgled blood as the blade slid back out and he fell forwards, next to the prone form of Wind Runner. Their eyes met, Wind’s were full of apologetic sadness but his gaze was hard and unforgiving. Crimson began to tear up as she saw the spark of life vanish from him, his vibrant eyes dulling. She looked up, another red pegasus stood over her, this one wearing elaborate bejewelled armour. The armoured pony examined the blood on her blade for a few seconds before wiping it off with a cloth and replacing her signature sabre into its scabbard.

“I thought you were meant to be the professionals. I snuck you in, gave you all the information you could possibly need, yet you still bucked up. All you had to do was keep the job quiet, yet here I am, killing those you were incapable to do so. Where is Hauberk? Since I’ve already had to interfere, I might as well help you finish the job,” The newcomer spoke in a harsh feminine voice with a cruel undertone.

“You…you…killed him,” Wind stammered.

“Well he was in the way, had he been allowed to escape then all the guards would be here. What’s one casualty? If we’re lucky I can chalk it up as an accident.” She suddenly stopped as a smile spread across her lips. “Of course! The cuts and the bruises all over him! I could easily blame this on a broken column! Take him over there and position him by that loose column, I’ll take care of the rest later.” She commanded before strutting down the corridor towards the jail. Wind Runner dragged herself back upright and looked down. The young colts corpse lay there, his jaw lay slack, in a lake of dark crimson. Stifling back more tears she gently grabbed him by the breastplate with her mouth and started dragging him across the corridor, trailing blood. The sound of his metal scraping across the floor grated against her ears but she couldn’t focus anyway. Somepony had died because of her, had she just caught him he would still be alive. She gently placed him onto the floor and moved him into a more respectable position, shutting his eyes gently with her hooves. She began to cry and sat down opposite him, just staring once more into those eyes that had once known the joys of life.

Commander Hauberk had remembered that the code was printed on the bottom of the teleporter and sent Mind’s Eye through. He still had one human to liberate and then he had to find Wind Runner. “Hello Commander,” a familiar voice called from the open doorway to the interrogation room.

“Brigandine Sabre, what are you doing here?!” Hauberk shouted in surprise as he turned to face the red pegasus.

“I thought I might check up on your progress. You said that your team would be in and out, oh, about five minutes ago. Well, lucky for you, I arrived just in time to stop that unfortunate guard and save your precious pegasus.”

“We… encountered complications. You assured me this room was safe and secure, that guardspony was not considered a threat!”

“You claimed you were adaptable, well, from the evidence that I have seen, we both know that isn’t true. Where’s the other member of your group?”

“With the humans that went through the teleporter, all we have to do is grab the last one. Then we’re out, just as planned.”

“Not quite. In three minutes time, the guard’s shifts change. Now, I’ve set your pegasus chum up to take the fall, but I need you to not be here. Take the teleporter and I shall conceal it,” Brigandine Sabre stated matter-of-factly.

“You did what?! You can’t just throw ponies away like that, Wind Runner is a professional! I need ponies like her!” Hauberk closed the distance between them and stared right into her eyes as if issuing a challenge.

“You can always get more ponies, these humans however are irreplaceable. Now grab the last one and get out of here.”

“No,” Hauberk replied tersely and gruffly.

“What?!” Sabre replied incredulously, “I’m in charge now Hauberk. You are no longer my commander, I am yours and this is a direct order. If you want the rest of your payment, you will secure the last human and get out of my sight.”

“I’m going back for Wind Runner, here’s the key, you want him so much, you grab him.” Hauberk turned and galloped out of the room and into the long corridor. Sabre smiled as she saw him gallop off into the hallway. Halfway down he could see Wind Runner in tears with a white earth pony sitting opposite her. He tore down the corridor with as much speed as he could muster. The doors at the opposite end creaked open and two more unicorn guards trotted in talking between themselves. They stopped when they noticed a large grey earth pony charging towards them. The guards’ horns glowed, one issued forth a burst of electrical energy whilst the other teleported behind him. Hauberk hit the shield button with his hoof and a translucent bubble formed around him, the electric bolt smashed into the shield and dissipated completely.

The crack of lightning made Wind Runner look up, Hauberk was stood right in front of her, taking bolt after bolt with the shield.

“Run Winds, the teleporter is still active, I’ll hold them here while you get out. Mind’s Eye is already through and Brigandine Sabre is waiting in the next room,” the hulking grey pony shouted.

“But… boss,” she began.

“No buts, clear out of here kid, finish the contract and get those humans back to base.” He managed a brief grin before another bolt pulled him back into maintaining the shield.

Wind Runner nodded and spread her wings. The other unicorn tried to grab her with his magic, but he underestimated her speed. She shot right up to him and caught him in the skull with a fierce kick as she soared past. Seeing his comrade fall the other guard stopped slinging bolts and galloped back through the door.

Hauberk turned to return to the teleporter when he saw two figures burst from the interview room door. One fell to the ground while the other slowly walked forwards, blade in hoof and plunged it into the prone form. Brigandine Sabre turned around, coated in blood from Wind Runner as she slowly began to stalk down the corridor.

“What in Celestia’s name are you doing?!” Hauberk shouted to the red pegasus.

“Don’t you see, this was the plan all along, two of the enemy slain by me along with the royal guardspony who let them all in. I single-hoofedly securing the final human, and saving three guardsponies. They can’t deny me a medal for that, a promotion even. Don’t despair my old friend, you’re life will have served a purpose,” she announced grandiosely as she continued to walk along. She stomped the unconscious unicorn’s head as she passed it, killing him instantly.

“Your career ends here!” Hauberk shouted as he charged forwards, eyes bulging with rage, Sabre simply sidestepped him and buried her blade into his back. The pony stopped and fell forwards onto the floor. Hauberk had failed, the final sound he heard was the sound of hooves against marble as more guards arrived.

Canterlot Castle, 9 a.m. 15 hours until Summer Sun Celebration

Brigandine Sabre walked away from the showers of adoration, she was a heroine among the guard. Her plan had been realised, and everypony adored her. The guard worshipped her as a hero, in their minds she had single hoofedly prevented the final human from being freed and taken down Commander Hauberk, Equestria’s most wanted. The plan had succeeded beyond her expectations, every guardspony saw her as their champion. When Marshal Marius was taken care of, she would replace him easily with this level of public backing; everything was falling into place. She entered her private quarters, a proud strut in her walk and a huge smile on her face. Her quarters were large and richly decorated, she was a pony who knew how to get her own way and liked to exhibit it. Her walls were painted a deep violet, large silver curtains were drawn over all of the wide windows. The only source of light in the room was the flicker of candlelight, from the silver candelabra suspended from the ceiling. Sat on her satin queen sized bed was a familiar dark blue unicorn.

“Having fun Jewel?” he asked sarcastically.

“Of course Minds, what isn’t great about adoring ponies throwing themselves at your hooves,” Sabre said, her eyes alight with barely constrained glee.

“Don’t forget your part of the deal Jewel. We need those human weapons,” Mind’s Eye instructed.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your weapons,” Bejewelled Sabre said dismissively, pacing across the room. “Have you arranged to dispose of Marius?”

“The second we have the weapons, I’ll have him dealt with. You have our word,” Mind’s Eye sighed exasperatedly as he stood up.

“I’ll give your specialist access to the investigation, don’t worry your pretty little head,” Bejewelled Sabre said condescendingly, giving Mind’s Eye a light tap on the cranium to undermine him.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” The dark blue unicorn said, his forehead bulging slightly with frustration.

“Oh come now, we both know I’ve earned it.”

“We delivered you the commander of the Crimson Hooves on a silver platter,” Minds began.

“But I gave you five humans, I think that’s worth a little extra,” she said absentmindedly.

“We originally stipulated all six, you’re lucky we’re still dealing.” His expression hardened.

“Oh come now, five humans for two ponies? You’re lucky I dealt,” she said with a shrill laugh.

“You entered into an agreement! You can’t just change the terms!” he shouted angrily before managing to get a hold of himself. He added in a much gentler tone, “Look, never mind. You get our specialist access to those weapons, and Marius will suffer a tragic accident, catapulting the heroine of the guard to her new position of power. With suspicions cast on Gracchus due to his nephew’s involvement, there’s no other real candidate.”

“Oh, I’m getting shivers just thinking about it,” she laughed again.

“Just uphold your part of the bargain, we will be in touch again soon.” He turned and walked over to the window, a device strapped onto his back glowed bright blue and then he was gone. Brigandine Sabre walked over to her mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of sparkling white wine. “Time for a little celebration,” she said before laughing again and popping the cork.

Ponyville, Fluttershy's Cottage, 8 a.m. 16 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration

It was another bright sunny day, the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. A sweet and high-pitched, melodious tune wafted in the warm summer air from a window in a cottage on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Inside Fluttershy was singing a little song as she cleaned her cottage once more, the price to pay for looking after many animals. The wide windows let in lots of light; the soft fragrance that Fluttershy sprayed as she cleaned overpowered the stench of animals, and replaced it with the soft scent of spring. A lot was currently on her mind. She had considered telling her friends about the creature she had discovered in the forest, but Pinkie Pie and Applejack were busy with preparations. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were also engaged, having been called to Canterlot for official business. Spike was still running the library, perhaps he could help her. The creature in question was still unconscious, she had made an extra large cast for its arm and stopped the bleeding in the cuts. It was entirely up to it now, the body should take over. She started dusting a sofa she already cleaned absentmindedly. Angel, her white rabbit friend, began to pound the floor impatiently with his foot, trying to get her attention.

“Oh, Angel, what is it?” she said softly to the rapidly gesturing rabbit. A loud noise sounded from behind her, and she froze in place.

“How did I get here and where are my clothes?” A gruff stern voice said from behind her. Fluttershy began to shake with fear as she turned to see the creature was awake and holding a pair of scissors as a weapon in his good hand. Fluttershy began to squeak in reply as her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted in fear.

“Oh, fuck it,” Leif said as the yellow pegasus fainted, “maybe I should have been a tad gentler.” He turned to the white rabbit who was staring daggers at him. “Fine, ease up, I’ll sort her out,” he said to the rabbit. He picked her up in his arms and placed her gently onto the sofa she had been dusting. “I don’t suppose you can talk rabbit?” he said turning once more to the intelligent animal, the rabbit shook its head in reply. “Damn. Well I don’t suppose you know where my clothes are?” he asked hopefully. The rabbit gestured out of the window, to a clothes line that was spread across the luscious green garden vibrant with life. On the line sat his shirt and trousers along with his underwear, washed and repaired, his armour wasn’t present however. The window was wide enough for him to fit through comfortably, so he clambered out of it. He pulled the clothes off the line and put them on, covering up once more. The clothes felt extra soft, he had never felt clothes so comfortable, it was pure bliss. While he was enjoying the smoothness of his clothes against his skin, he failed to notice the rather irate manticore sat in Fluttershy’s garden. The manticore stirred with a loud yawn that sounded suspiciously like a roar. Leif’s training kicked in as he reached for a gun that wasn’t there and then a knife that was equally absent. With neither tool at his disposal he opted for the tactical withdrawal and dove back through the window, landing on the carpeted floor as quietly as he could. The beast yawned again and returned to its slumber. “What the fuck was that?” he said as quietly as he could to the rabbit who only rolled its eyes in return. “Oh yeah, you can’t speak.” Leif rose back up and quietly shut the window, then the curtains. “If you can’t see it, it can’t hurt you, right?” he asked the rabbit who only shrugged in reply.

Private Eriksson paced across the room backwards and forwards, the rabbit sat atop a coffee table watching him as he walked. “So, the garden is full of horrible monsters ready to devour me, nice touch. Well at least I’m not dead, I just wish that this cast didn’t keep getting in my way.” He wiggled the cast about, his face gritting with pain. “So, I guess I owe that winged horse thing an apology, eh?” The rabbit nodded vigorously in reply. “So, uh, I should wake her up, right? Any ideas?” The rabbit nodded again, then leapt down and hopped off in into another room. Leif sat down in the armchair opposite the sofa, and almost lost himself in the cushions. “Damn after years of cold industrial steel chairs and benches, you really come to appreciate a fine comfy chair,” he said to no one on particular as he lay back and stifled a yawn. Damn, this chair was so comfy, too comfy and I suddenly feel so… wait, wait, I owe it the horse not to fall asleep, Leif thought to himself as he continued to lounge. Where did that white rabbit go, I’m sure he’ll wake me up when he gets here. Leif stifled another yawn before giving into the chair and falling into a deep sleep.

Fluttershy’s eyelids shot open as cold water splashed her in the face, drenching her fur. She leapt up about to scream, when she noticed the familiar figure of Angel holding a bucket. “Oh, it’s you.” She looked relieved. “Angel, you promised not to do that anymore,” she scolded softly as she sat up on the sofa. A loud inhalation made her squeak and dive back into the sofa again, burying her head into the cushion. Angel jumped onto her back and began to tap his foot rapidly. Fluttershy buried her head deeper but Angel’s rapid tapping grew to become unbearable. His foot was like a drill boring into her back, causing her entire body to shake. She finally gave in and sat back up again, her eyes searching for the source of the noise. Sat directly in front of her was the creature from earlier, now napping in her favourite chair. It looked like it had found its clothes. Angel began to hop over to the creature.

“Wait! Angel! It could be dangerous!” she began to squeak as the bunny jumped onto its head. “Angel! Come down from there this instant! Before you hurt yourself” Fluttershy shouted as quietly as she could. Angel gave her a look as if to say everything’s okay, before he began tapping his foot onto the creature’s head.

Leif awoke with a start, his head was pounding. “What the hell did I do last night?” he groaned to himself as he leant forwards and opened his eyes. Sat in front of him was a yellow horse, then it all came back to him. “You!” He shouted, startling Fluttershy who began to shake again. The wounded marine noticed this and added in a much quieter and kinder tone, “Thank you for patching up my arm, pretty impressive stuff.” The pegasus blushed and looked down at her hooves. “So, uh, miss horse. My name is Leif, what’s yours?” he spoke as politely as he could, which wasn’t saying much.

“Umm… I’m not a…” she began meekly then hurriedly looked away.

“It’s okay sunshine, I’m not gunna hurt you. You’ve got my weapons remember, I just wanted to thank you properly, you may have just saved my life,” Leif said with a cocky smile.

Fluttershy managed to make eye contact for a few seconds but broke away again with another nervous squeak.

“Look calm down, have you got any tea or something? I find tea always helps mellow people out," Leif asked the yellow horse who nodded gently in reply.

Leif stood up and went to look in the neighbouring room. Sure enough it was a kitchen, a blindingly bright yellow kitchen with a worrying amount of wooden furniture, but still a kitchen. Most of the stuff in here he recognised. Kitchens hadn’t come particularly far in the pass two hundred or so years, and this looked very much like a human kitchen. It had a stove, a kettle, a fridge; most of the things an average human kitchen would feature. It reminded Leif a lot of his parents kitchen back home. “I hope they got out all right,” Leif whispered solemnly. He filled the kettle with water and placed it onto the heating pad. Conveniently placed next to the kettle was a small pot labelled “Tea”. All he needed now was a spoon and they were good to go. A little searching and he found an entire tea set sat on a shelf, a teapot, a sugar pot, some teacups and; most importantly; a spoon. After an awkward balancing act due to his casted arm, he managed to get the entire tray down in one piece, and set about mixing up the tea. The sugar pot contained at least ten cubes of sugar. “That should be enough,” he reasoned to himself, lifting up the tray and carrying it into the next room.

The horse was still shaking a little bit but seemed to have calmed down a lot. She jumped when he placed the tray upon the table. Leif set about pouring the thick brown liquid into two separate tea cups.

“One lump or two,” Leif asked, trying to exude an aura of calm.

“t…two…please,” she stuttered nervously, still incapable of eye contact. Leif opened the sugar pot and removed two cubes of sugar, gently placing them into her teacup and mixing them with the spoon. He then offered her the teacup which she nervously accepted with her hooves. She took a long draught from the cup and her expression instantly became more relaxed, she sighed deeply and looked at Leif with interest instead of fear for the first time. Leif took a sip from his cup, god he hated tea, but while he grew up with his parents he was practically weaned on it. With a little grimace he placed the cup back down onto the tray.

“So, miss…” Leif began, hoping he had finally broken through her shell. He smiled when he saw her meet his gaze, but she still didn’t return the smile.

“Fluttershy, my… my name is Fluttershy,” she said softly, before continuing a little more awkwardly, “excuse me, but I’m not a winged horse… I’m a pegasus pony.” Leif’s smile widened, progress had certainly been made but it began to wane when he realised that for the sake of politeness, he would have to drink at least one cup of tea. Leif kept silent in the hopes that she would initiate the next conversation, as a result they were sat in silence for quite some time, sipping tea and looking at each other nervously.

"Everfree Forest" Outer Perimeter, 8 a.m. Second Day

The sun beat down onto the still trees on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Birds sang in the trees filling the air with their chirpy songs. A figure appeared out of the darkness of the forest and dived into a conveniently located bush. After a brief pause, a second figure dived into the bush, followed by a third person who managed to trip on a loose tree root and fall into the bush with a scream. The birds scattered, startled at this sudden loud outburst. Hushed whispering proceeded for a time before the trio sprinted out of the tree cover, guns raised. There was no one there, at all. Rolling green hills littered the landscape, the occasional tree making the place look like a giant park. The group quietly advanced to the nearest large hill with as little noise as possible. Once they arrived, a series of hand movements marked a rushed conversation that ended with one of the figures climbing the mound and going prone.

“What do you see?” Private Cassandra Whitmore whispered up the hill. Captain Seth Lairsey, still peering through the binoculars, whispered in reply, “There’s a large town directly ahead full of those alien creatures, just across the river. Seems like a farming town, I can make out numerous large buildings but the majority seems to be houses. East of our position seems to be a large farm with a big, red barn. It appears to be an apple orchard, odd that they’d have apples on this planet. Due west is a small cottage, the curtains appear shut so I’d imagine nobody’s home.

“Well Captain, you make the orders, which directions should we head?” Whitmore asked with a slightly rebellious tone.

“I’d imagine the farm would be the best bet, the cottage looks empty and the town would be a disaster. Hopefully we can corner a farmhand and get some solid intelligence on the location,” Lairsey stated, ignoring the way she asked the question.

“I’m not sure a farmer is what we’re looking for…” Operations Officer Alexandra Kendrick began but Whitmore cut her off.

“We know almost nothing about these ponies, we can’t just make sweeping statements about their social system. Okay, klutz?” Whitmore interjected rather rudely. Kendrick opened her mouth to reply but Whitmore stared her back into silence. Lairsey just ignored the two of them and zoomed into the farm with his binoculars.

“I can’t see anything moving out there but there’s smoke coming from the chimney, which means at least one of them must be in there. Okay, rules of engagement are simple, only fire if fired upon. We need at least one of them alive so aim for legs if you have to shoot. Try and keep as quiet as possible, we’ve already seen that they’re stronger than us, so the element of surprise is extremely important,” the tired captain addressed the two crewmen. He then climbed back down the hill and sprinted off towards the farm with the other two in tow.

Captain Lairsey stuck to the farmhouse walls and moved slowly along them. He reached the corner and stopped, motioning with his fist for the other two members of his squadron to halt.

Kendrick, not knowing even the most basic of military sign language, walked into the suddenly stopping figure of Private Whitmore. “Ow!” She shouted in pain before she could catch herself.

Lairsey span around and motioned for quiet with a sign even she understood. Whitmore gave her another withering glare, to which Kendrick reacted to with a look of thinly concealed rage. Lairsey made a series of gestures with his hands to which Whitmore replied to with a nod, before turning the corner and sprinting into an outbuilding. Lairsey walked up to Kendrick and got as close to her as physically acceptable.

“Look Alex…” he began. Kendrick sighed heavily cutting him off.

“I know, I know. Stop being useless and just do what I tell you to do,” she mimicked the phrase that Whitmore had been telling her for the past three hours.

“You always should anyway. But on a semi-related note, I want you to return to that hill that we scouted earlier. Conceal yourself at the top and bring Victor and Darrell over here when you spot them. We’ll need all hands on deck for this. Until then Cassandra and I will just be running a basic recon mission, okay?” Lairsey whispered to her.

Kendrick nodded in reply before attempting a salute and sprinting off back towards the hill.

Lairsey sighed. “What am I going to do with her?” he asked himself for the fifth time that day.

Whitmore and Lairsey functioned like a well-oiled machine, one would move up, scan the area and motion their companion up. Considering the sheer amount of apple trees around, Seth was surprised they hadn’t run into any aliens yet. He arrived at the front door to the farmhouse and gave the door a light push, it was unlocked and opened quietly. He motioned for Cassandra to join him. She ran up to the doorway and moved to the other side; She then motioned to Seth that they were too exposed there. Seth shook his head and motioned at the door, informing her of his indecision on whether to scope the house out or not. She pointed at their guns then the fact that they hadn’t encountered anything else yet. Seth pondered this briefly before giving a nod and a quick countdown. On three the two of them pushed the door open and swept each room they came to. Seth was surprised at how human the accommodation looked, if a bit basic. A loud squeal came from the other room, Seth span around and sprinted straight across the corridor and towards its source.

Sat on the floor by Cassandra’s feet was a dog, unmistakeably mans’ best friend. The brown and white speckled animal looked at them with friendly eyes. Neither of them knew how to react. Seth’s knowledge of breeds of dog was limited but he knew a Border Collie when he saw one. His family had kept one, he was only a puppy when they had left, but this dog in front of him reminded him a lot of Scraps. He put down his rifle and crouched over, “Here Boy!” he called. The dog turned to face him with its wide happy eyes. He called again and this time whistled, the dog barked and bounded over to him. He sat there smoothing the dog and checked its tag.

“Winona”, he read aloud, “If lost please return to Sweet Apple Acres. "This is beyond uncanny. This dog is clearly a Border Collie, a specific breed of dog evolved from the main species for its ability to herd cattle. A process that took thousands of years of careful breeding should have made Border Collies exclusive to Earth. There is no way that the evolution path occurred exactly the same here on this planet. Beyond that, look at all the furniture, none of it looks designed for miniature horses! This is all made for humans. They write in English, they domesticate dogs, they probably even have a similar rituals and a social hierarchy!” Seth ranted, turning to Cassandra with a wild look in his eyes, she took a step back from the confused Captain.

“At least we know where we are, that must be the name of this farm.” Cass shrugged at the rapidly devolving ordered speech of her Commanding Officer.

“Great! Great! I just can’t handle any of this anymore! But we know the name of the farm we’re on. Simply dandy!” He screamed at her.

“Seth, Seth, look at me, everything is going to be alright.” Cassandra grabbed his shoulders and put on her calmest face.

Seth shook himself free and slapped her across the face knocking her to the floor.

She leapt back to her feet, leaving her assault rifle on the ground, and assumed a combat stance. She was facing an unhinged, angry naval officer. He didn’t stand a chance.

Seth looked confused, his eyes were wide and darting in every direction, he couldn’t focus on anything, until a large boot smashed him in the chest with a loud crack. He landed on the floor hard with an audible smack, all of his attention was then shifted to the person whose boot wearing leg had knocked him to the ground. With an almost feral snarl he dragged himself off the floor and charged at the marine. She dodged around him at the last second, tagging him in the back of the neck with a light punch. Seth span around, why was he being attacked? Why couldn’t he focus? What was happening?! Seth was trying to claw himself back into a position of clarity inside his fragmented mind. Something else was in there with him, a presence that was most unwelcome. Seth charged again when something snagged him, holding him back, he felt his legs go as he was dragged to the floor. His head smashed against the wooden floor and everything went black.

Cassandra turned to see a colossal stallion charging towards her, she dived at the last second but surprisingly, the alien turned extremely quickly. She tried to dive again, noticing Seth’s magnum sat on the floor. The creature managed to wing her though, knocking her head over heels as she tumbled to the floor. Before she could grab the pistol, a small yellow alien grabbed it in her mouth and galloped away with it. Cassandra spun around and pushed herself up, into another lasso of rope, thrown by the orange one by the door. She fought all the way down trying to reach for the knife in her belt, but the rope was too tight.

Alexandra Kendrick kicked the back door open and burst into the confusion, her SMG held high. Taking aim at the largest threat, the red stallion, she squeezed the trigger and let out a burst. Some of the bullets connected, scoring bloody streaks into the charging stallion. Rather than fall back, the alien broke into a charge. Kendrick fired another burst, then another. The red beast continued to charge when her gun clicked. She hurriedly popped the clip and shoved in another, looking up just in time to see a red hoof collide with her face slightly too hard, her neck snapped back and a weird gurgle burst from her lips a she gasped. She squeezed the trigger again in her death spasms spraying bullets in all directions until the gun ran dry and she collapsed onto the floor.

“Is everypony okay?” An orange earth pony called out, emerging from the table she had taken cover behind with Winona. She could see the red stallion, Big Macintosh, covered in small red holes and standing over the broken body of the crazed creature. He turned to look back at her with eyes twinkling with sadness before he too fell backwards. She galloped over to her brother; his breathing was shallow, his expression extremely pained. Apple Bloom, a little yellow filly, walked up behind her.

“Is he gunna be okay?” she asked sadly, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Go… go and get Nurse Redheart, Sugarcube. He’s gunna be just right and dandy… he just needs a little help,” Applejack said trying to be strong despite how fragile she felt right now.

“But sis…” Apple Bloom began.

“No buts, just… go, quickly,” Applejack mannered to keep her composure, just.

“I’ll be right back sis, don’t worry,” Apple Bloom said in her strongest voice before turning and galloping out of the door.

Applejack looked up to examine the other two creatures that had been fighting in her house, one seemed unconscious but relatively fine. The other was still struggling with the ropes, weaker now. The armour on its suit was dented, blood seemed to be pouring from somewhere. The creature looked at her with worried, pained eyes before they rolled back into its skull and it fainted backwards. She returned to Big Mac’s side and tried to stop the bleeding as best she could.

Crash Site, 8:05 a.m. Second Day

Deep in the Everfree forest, another human was sat at the top of one of the many tall trees, another pair of binoculars glued to his face. He seemed to be staring intently at a particular patch of ground. Multiple large lines were cut into the ground leading up to a tree trunk. Someone had been cleaning up however, the collapsed tree itself had been taken away, along with the wreckage of the ship! This would be problematic. “Uh… Vic!” Chief Engineer Darrell Johnston called down to the other human at the bottom of the tree.

“What? Is it heavily guarded?!” Technician Victor Sinclair called back up, slightly nervous in his tone.

“No, the opposite! It’s missing! I think they took it away for examination!” Johnston shouted back down.

“You’re pulling my leg, right?!” Sinclair added internally, there’s no way they could work so fast.

“No, it really isn't there! Take a look if you don’t believe me!”

“Fucking hell! We need some of that metal! Without it, we could never create enough electricity to set about creating a new ship!”

“Creating a new ship?! We are not trained ship builders! We've got nothing to work with! The frigate was fried, and now the dropship has been taken! There is absolutely, no way, that you could possibly, create a spacecraft with the materials we have now!” Johnston shouted back incredulously.

“Oh yeah! I accept that challenge!” Sinclair shouted back with a hint of arrogance. Johnston face palmed when suddenly a spark of inspiration hit him.

“If we hit the ground that hard, surely some of the debris will have scattered everywhere. If they worked fast, chances are they also worked sloppily. I’m sure if we search the area, there’s a good chance we’ll find some of those scraps,” Johnston aired his thoughts aloud.

“What?! I can’t hear you!” Victor yelled back up to Darrell.

Darrell sighed heavily, and then shouted back, “I’m coming down!” Darrell hopped back down, branch to branch. “Agile like a cat,” he laughed to himself.

Eventually Darrell reached the bottom where Victor was waiting for him. “We comb the area for any debris from the crash landing, we may be able to gather enough pieces to make your machine work,” Darrell instructed Victor who nodded along with the idea.

“Good plan,” Victor commended the simple straight forward line of thought. “The only flaw,” he added, “is that we are not going to be able to assist Lairsey in the rescue operation.”

“Fuck. Didn’t think of that. Well you salvage the parts, while I assist Lairsey.”

“And leave me alone in this forest? Is that really such a brilliant idea? Let alone the fact that you will have to travel alone through the woods as well.”

“Double fuck. Well the reactor can’t be that important…” Darrell began.

“This reactor is the only way we are going to get home,” Victor cut him off.

“Never leave a man behind!” Darrell retorted.

“You’re not a marine! You’re an engineer, like me. We fix the things that marines break, it’s a vicious circle.” Victor snorted.

“Maybe not, but what is the point of building a way off this rock, if there is no one to take with you,” Darrell’s words rang true.

“Argh, well, argh. Fine. You win. We’ll rescue that damnable marine, then all of us can help collect scrap,” Victor conceded
.

“I can do that. Seth, I mean Captain Lairsey, probably will too,” Darrell replied truthfully. The two figures shook hands and sprinted towards the edge of the forest.

Victor swatted the last branch out of the way, they were finally out of the woods. He turned to Darrell and said, “Just look at those rolling green hills. Take in that fresh summertime air. So simple, yet so… refreshing.” Darrell looked at the pasty inventor whose black hair was never kempt. Darrell’s eyebrow rose questioningly.

“No offence, but your about as white as fresh linen,” he joked.

“I am now. I grew up on a Moa farm back on Reach. Long days of corralling the flightless birds across the seas of grass are among my best memories. But I found my true calling in the workshop: creating, testing, and improving the various farming devices we used,” Victor recalled, his voice filled with glee at the remembrance of those good times. He heaved a great sigh full of sadness.

Darrell knew why, there was no need for words. Reach was gone. The pair continued walking in silence, heading towards the town. After all, that was where they were supposed to meet up, wasn’t it?

Victor and Darrell walked straight into the town square without realising what it was. Everypony seemed to be absent for some reason. In front of them was a large building that looked like it was made of sweets.

“Victor, we absolutely have to go inside that house,” Darrell began.

“I’m so glad you suggested that. This is quite possibly the coolest domicile ever constructed,” Victor said plainly, his eyes glued to the structure in front of them.

“Maybe, they won’t react so oddly if we just pretend we fit in,” Darrell suggested.

“That is either the best or worst idea, you have ever thought of,” Victor said with a smile, slinging his battle rifle over his shoulder.

“Well we could try it out here, and if it works, well problem solved,” Darrell replied, also shouldering his DMR. The two humans pushed open the door and a bell rung, Darrell’s face lit up at the assortments of treats on all the shelves. “Battenberg, cupcakes and muffins, oh my,” he said walking up to the stacks of treats, his mouth watering with anticipation. Victor rolled his eyes and approached the counter.

“Just a minute,” a sing song voice called out from the kitchen. Victor began to tense up, why was he trying this again? Would this ever work? A pink horse with a puffy darker pink mane came hopping in with her eyes closed. She opened them with a big smile, that suddenly vanished when she saw what she was looking at.

“Uhh, we would like to purchase some sweet treats…” Victor asked awkwardly.

The alien’s eyes narrowed and she said menacingly, “Humans, I should have known.”

Revelations

Undisclosed Location, Undisclosed Time

Sergeant Paul Bunting shook awake to absolute darkness. It made no difference whether he opened or closed his eyes, he still couldn’t see a thing. The air tasted familiar, the slightly sour tang that he associated with recycled ozone. He really felt the floor for the first time; the cold yet smooth feel of metal, a familiar respite from the stone floors that felt so alien to him. His rifle was still missing but he had managed to hide his knife in his boot. Navigating by touch he moved his hands down his legs, to his boots, and felt for the familiar worn hilt of his combat knife. All of a sudden, a low hum reverberated around the room. Had it been there all along? Or had that just started up now? Everything seemed… familiar yet eerie, it was… creepy, for lack of a better word. He still didn’t have a clue how large the room was. He couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, let alone the walls. “God, I miss my rifle,” he said with a sigh. The familiar feel of his combat knife was reassuring against his sweaty palms. He’d never admit it but he was absolutely terrified, the darkness was getting to him. “Hello?!” he called with a hint of desperation, “if anyone’s out there, can they get the goddam lights?!”

As if on cue, a huge floodlight switched on, almost blinding Bunting. As he flinched in pain, he tripped backwards sending his knife flying from his hands. As he sat on the floor writhing in agony, loud footsteps rang out against the metallic floor as somebody approached. Bunting’s eyes began to adjust but he was still incapable of confronting the neon glare unprotected. The footsteps continued to get louder, as whatever it was grew closer. Bunting continued to shield his eyes with one hand whilst the other routed around for his knife.

“Sergeant Bunting, I presume. I have heard so much about you, the weapon aficionado,” a strange voice that he had never heard before said slowly, speaking inside his mind. There was something off about the footsteps, their pattern was… different, abnormal. The flood light switched off and, at the same time, backlights in the rear of the room activated bathing the room in a soft blue light. Bunting’s eyes were forced to adjust again but his vision slowly cleared. Stood in front of him was another pony, as Stamford had said they were called. “Fuck! Not another one of you!” he shouted aggressively.

The pony narrowed his eyes and slowly began to speak, “It is unwise to insult us, Mister Bunting.”

“I’ll say whatever I damn well please! Now tell me how to get out of here!” Bunting demanded.

“I’ll warn you once only, if you value your motor functions, you will not follow this course of action,” the pony said again.

Bunting sized the pony up, the voice was clearly male and the way his voice echoed in Bunting’s head seemed almost supernatural. A wicked sharp horn was protruding from his forehead, a unicorn, Bunting smirked at the thought. The pony maintained an air of professionalism about him, despite the fact his orangey fur was the colour of rust. Reckoning he had the upper hand due to the fact that, as a pony, his opponent only stood at three quarters of his height. Bunting reached for his knife once more and moved to seize the pony. His opponent took a step back with a deep sigh, its horn beginning to glow a light orange. Bunting suddenly found his knife had a life of its own, thrashing against his grip, trying to free itself with every wild movement. While Bunting struggled madly, trying to retain his weapon from the pony’s magic. The unicorn whistled, signalling four ponies dressed in armour made from an odd looking metal to stomp through a door that had appeared in the wall behind him.

"Now, now I offered you a chance for complete cooperation and you spat it back in my face. Maybe you’ll be more compliant after a little… treatment,” The unicorn’s voice said with a hint of glee as he turned and walked away, wrenching the blade completely from Bunting’s hands as he did. The door shut again behind him, leaving his four armoured lackeys to show Bunting the meaning of the word “cooperation.”

“Tsk, Tsk. Such a shame, let’s hope the others prove more pliable,” Hayton said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, as he began to trot down the corridor to the next cell.

“Now, Now, Speaker. It would be most unfortunate if you decided to renounce your vows, I finally have a reclaimer, and not just one, five. I have waited millennia for this opportunity,” a voice replied directly into the Speaker’s ear.

“Hmm, well, it would do us well to find out how best to use this ancient technology. You’d think that a centuries old cult would have figured out how to operate some damnable machinery,” Hayton snarled.

“Adjutant! Now is the time for calm, I await them in my chamber. Bring them to me,” The voice spoke quickly in its unnatural, computerised voice. Hayton had gotten used to it however.

“I just want to see if they can help us activate those weapons, ease up Mister Roboto,” Hayton replied incredulously, a look of clearly feigned shock displayed prominently on his face.

“Obey your orders, Adjutant!” The voice announced with a clear sense of finality.

Hayton sighed, if he wasn’t honour bound to fulfil every bucking command from that crazed machine, then he would probably have killed every damn human. As Speaker he was the bearer of the implant, a small device that allowed him constant two-way communication with the one-eyed one, a position of power in the Followers of Monocularism. The “Followers” were relatively unknown, a secret society that could actually keep a secret. It ran in the family, so loyalty was actually important. It also helped that they hadn’t really done anything major for centuries, well, until he showed up. The second he took the mantle the cult began militarising. He had plans, plans that coincided with the one-eyed one’s wishes, plans that had just been set back. He still couldn’t believe their contact would betray them, Commander Hauberk had been one of his best field agents and loyal to the end. Wind Runner was new to the field but there was a fire about her that had really made her stand out. Then again, at least Mind’s Eye made it back out alive with five of the six targets. He had never liked that unicorn but he couldn’t argue with results, and he always delivered.

Hayton sighed again, this time deeper as he keyed the code for the next cell into the pad by the door. It slid open with an audible whirring noise and the floodlight lit up. Once again there was a snivelling human grovelling on the floor, begging for the lights to be turned off. After another dramatic entrance he switched to the backlights once more.

“Mister Okano, I presume,” Hayton said, out loud this time, in his most ominous voice.

“Please… let me go,” Navigation Officer Isao Okano whimpered.

“Not just yet, Isao,” he pretended to laugh. Mentally however, he took a note of how spineless this particular one was. “Now, it should be clear to you that you have been liberated from Canterlot Castle.”

“Come on man! You don’t need to keep us prisoner. We’re all good friends here.” Okano tried altering his approach but Hayton just ignored his pleas.

“My superior has requested a meeting with you. A short talk, some destiny fulfilment and you’ll be on your way.” Sometimes, Hayton loved his job.

“Destiny fulfilment?” Okano replied with a confused expression on his face, he then paled slightly and asked, “will it… hurt?”

“Only if you struggle,” Hayton replied with a dark smile. Okano began to shake quite violently. Hayton laughed as menacingly as he could, the low tones reverberating off the walls. Okano’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted. Hayton stopped laughing and looked down to see his prone form. “Oh horseapples, it happened again.” Hayton poked the unconscious human gingerly with his hoof. “Come on, wake up. Damn it! Mister Roboto is going to freak. Well, uh… next human, I guess." He sighed heavily before moving into a shrug and walking back out of the door, sealing it shut once more behind him.

Pony Bakery, Ponyville, Morning

“Get out! Get out of my bakery!” the pink pony flew into a rage and began barraging Victor and Darrell with sweet treats.

“Gah!” Victor cried as he dived straight into a cream cake, its thick, white filling squirting all over him.

“What do we do?!” Darrell shouted, ducking to avoid a large pink cake that smashed into the corner into a pile of mush.

“You shouldn’t even be here! The doctors took care of that!” The pony screamed in the background, picking up a plate of multicoloured cupcakes and flinging them, one by one, at the two confused humans.

“Well you said you wanted sweet treats…” Darrell began before a bright green cake crashed onto his head. “Argh! Frosting in my eye! Frosting in my eye!” he cried as he jumped up, into the path of a dozen hastily thrown cupcakes. Each one impacted with an audible smack, coating him in a veritable rainbow of colours. In the time it took him to clear his eyes and get back behind cover, he was coated from head-to-toe in icing.

“Well isn’t that just the icing on the cake!” Victor shouted over the cacophony of noise in the calamity of the bakery, before bursting out into throes of raucous laughter. The pink pony temporarily stopped flinging baked goods as she fell onto her back, giggling uncontrollably. During this respite from frosting loaded artillery, Victor sprinted up to the main counter and took cover behind it, quickly followed by Darrell. The split second the laughter stopped a trio of cakes were pushed over the edge of the counter, exploding their sugary payload all over the two humans.

“What do we do Vic?!” Darrell shouted, grabbing Victor by the scruff of his collar and shaking him.

“Well we could just shoot her, but I think that might be overreacting,” Victor suggested with a shrug.

“You don’t say,” Darrell said sarcastically, fixing Victor a withering stare.

Before Victor could retort the pony leapt over the counter holding an odd pink device in her hooves. “How are you doing…” Darrell began but the pink pony cut him short.

“Nopony move or you’ll get a belly full of frosting!” the pony screamed, a nervous tick crossing her face.

“Well that doesn’t actually…” Darrell began again when another cup cake bashed into his chest with force, winding him.

“I said nopony move!”

“Technically he was speaking, and, as you can see, we’re not ponies.” Victor replied earning him a cupcake to the chest too.

“I’ll do all the talking here! Well, all the question asking, you guys will have to answer of course.” The pink pony was clearly insane, or at least appeared so to the two humans struggling to get their breaths back. “Now! Uhh, tell me something!”

“Like what?” Victor replied, regaining his breath.

“Anything! Just tell me something so I’ll know your real!”

“Uhh, I like your shade of pink?” Darrell suggested awkwardly. This caught the pony off guard and she lowered her cupcake propellant device. Victor motioned to Darrell with his head as if suggesting that Darrell tackle the pony. Darrell shook his head violently in reply then returned the motion to Victor.

“How nice of you to say?” she replied a little abashedly before her gaze hardened once more and she pulled back up her weapon. “No, I mean things about yourself!” she demanded.

“Well I’m a Virgo and…”

“What the hay is a Virgo?! Is that a type of human?!” she yelled at the confused engineer, waving her cupcake cannon around wildly.

“It’s a star sign,” Darrell replied hesitantly.

“They’ll see different stars from here genius,” Victor scoffed at his friend.

“You! What’s your deal?!” she turned to Victor and pointed the cannon directly at his chest.

"I'm just a simple engineer. Nothing special about me at all,” Victor replied a little too quickly.

"Look, I just want to know why you're back. Just… just tell me that,” the pony sighed deeply and lowered her cannon to the floor. Her puffy mane deflated right before their eyes. Tears began to fill her eyes as she sat against the wall with a thud.

Darrell looked to Victor for what to do next, who just shrugged. Darrell mouthed to him that he should go comfort her, but he shook his head violently and pointed at back at him. Darrell rolled eyes and sighed silently before cautiously approaching the pony. He sat down carefully beside the despairing pony and paused, thinking of what to do next. He looked back to Victor, but he was no help at all. In the end Darrell decided to treat the pony as if it was a human, he could handle a crying human. He gingerly placed his arm around the pony. She fought back for a split second due to her fear of the human before realizing it was an affectionate gesture, she then buried her into his jumpsuit and started sobbing loudly, muffled by the fabric. Darrell wrapped his other arm around her and held her, trying his hardest to comfort her despite his mind trying to reason that she was an alien and he should stop. “There, there…” his voice was awkward, but comforting none the less. He was sat on the floor with the crying pony, leaving Victor sitting there awkwardly as he had no clue as to what to do.

Victor stood up and noticed a very delicious looking chocolate cake that had remained stationary during the fight. A quick glance at Darrell assured him that he had the pony under control, or vice-versa, it didn’t really matter. He crept up towards the beckoning delight. Real chocolate, a rarity aboard military craft, the very sight made his mouth salivate with anticipation. Surely with all the cakes scattered across the shop one little melt-in-your-mouth, rich, creamy, moist and delicious chocolate cake wouldn’t go amiss. Then again, Captain Lairsey had insisted they not eat anything from this planet, but that cake was mesmerising. He pulled out his crafting knife that he always kept on him and plunged it into the centre of the baked good, cutting outward to make a sizeable slice. Seconds later, it was in his mouth, the rich, sweet flavours dancing along his tongue. God, it was so sugary. I haven’t tasted anything like it before, so sweet and simple yet so refined. With little care as to if the others noticed he frantically cut the cake into five slices and quickly set about devouring them.

“Victor!” A voice shouted across the bakery. Victor stopped, the last slice inches away from his mouth. Darrell was glaring at him, barely contained rage swirling behind his brown eyes. “Put that down! Why do I have to comfort little miss psychopath here, while you gorge yourself on chocolate cake?!”

“Hey who are you calling psychopath!” the pony shouted, pushing away from him and jumping to her feet.

“Wait I didn’t mean it!” Darrell shouted, realising what he had let slip inadvertently in his anger. Just then the bell above the door rang out.

??????????????

“You. What are you?” A low feminine voice rang out in the darkness.

“Captain Seth Lairsey of the UNSC Hastings, ma’am!” Lairsey snapped off a salute. He looked around for the source of the voice, yet saw nothing at all. Darkness surrounded him, there were no floors, no walls, no sky. Just a never-ending void of black. All that he could see was himself, floating impossibly in mid-nothingness. He was wearing his dress uniform, the medals on his chest a familiar weight. He recalled the last time he had worn this uniform, a celebration for the victory of the famed Insurrection of Mamore, the last major battle of the Insurrection. His ship had played a minor role, being a member of the battle group. There had been a ceremony back on Earth where medals had been handed out for bravery. As he remembered the event, the nothingness began to take form. He could remember the fine marble columns, and the fancy patterned carpet. He began to hear sound; the low hum of civilised talk, the clink of champagne glasses toasted in victory. He recalled his wife in her expensive cocktail dress, a frivolous expense in his opinion but she had loved it. Her warm smile lit up his life, her soft voice lifted his heart, her very presence made him feel like the luckiest man alive.

“A romantic I see,” the voice announced, this time coming from a waitress holding a serving tray full of hors d’oeuvres.

“She was always the centre of my attention. Wherever she went I would have followed. If only my charge hadn’t kept me away so long,” Seth said with a sense of longing. He watched her talking to Admiral Patterson and his wife. The words were unimportant, the very voice itself was all he cared for, the voice of an angel. Her face was alive, a small burst of laughter made his heart leap with joy.

“What is this place?” the waitress asked in a voice clearly not her own.

“Earth, back in its glory days. A celebration for a decisive victory.” Seth’s smile vanished and his face darkened. He turned once more to his wife but she seemed to be growing distant again. The lights began to grey and the excited chatter died down. “The last event of its kind. In only a few years, all of this will be undone. The joy will vanish from people’s faces forever. There is no place for parties in the future.” The elaborate hall began to peel away but the blackness did not return.

He was on the bridge of a frigate, the UNSC Marston Moor, his first charge as Captain. Twenty long years he worked on this vessel, hunting down rebels. Then his ship joined Battle Group India for the largest space battle of the war, The Battle of Psi Serpentis. The bridge began to populate with crewmen. People he had once know well, capable naval officers all in their own right. The windows outside suddenly filled with ships, Human and Covenant alike. Plasma flew across space, streaks of fire shot across his vision, fighters twisted along in their grim dance. A battle occurred just outside the window. Everyone knew their jobs, urgent talk filled the air and along with the hum of computers.

Ensign Mackellar stood by his side, not yet a Weapons Officer. She turned to speak to him, but once again the voice wasn’t hers, “So you’re a soldier, a leader.”

“Yes, I commanded this ship and a few others. I participated in many engagements, put down Insurrectionists and tackled Covenant. I have racked up plenty of kills.”

“Yet it must seem so distant up there on your throne, commanding a steel beast to do your bidding.”

“This is also where I made my first kill. An “elite” as we call them, an attempted boarding action that we repulsed.”

The scene suddenly seemed to speed up, time moving faster. Crewmen dashed between consoles and the thrum of speech became louder. After about a minute the scene slowed down again as a door burst open into the bridge. A group of bipedal creatures burst in, wearing thick plates of coloured armour. Their strange weapons opened fire, emitting bursts of blue plasma that barrelled into the unprepared crewmen. Panic broke out as consoles begin to spark. Seth watched as a slightly younger version of himself rose, pistol in hand. A shot impacted into one of their energy shields, flashing orange in reaction. Other crewmen joined in, firing from cover behind consoles. One of the elites shields dissipated and Lairsey jumped up, firing a bullet that shot right through the elite’s head, with a shower of indigo blood.

“A calculated kill,” Mackellar’s body said, the battle frozen in the background. “No remorse, no hesitation, you did what needed to be done.”

“This was after the fall of the planet Byzantium, my family had been taken from me by these bastards. I could have killed them all, but I held back,” Seth recalled, staring at his former self.

“You didn’t let your emotions cloud you, a mistake. Emotion is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. It is better to embrace your rage and refine it,” the voice insisted.

“My family… my life… it, it was all taken from me,” Seth sank to his knees, letting despair take hold of him for the first time in a decade.

“By who?” the voice whispered insistently.

“Those filthy xeno bastards!” Seth shouted angrily, shaking his fist at the air as his despair turned to rage.

“Good, good. Feed your rage, wield it like a weapon. The time of revenge is at hand,” the voice became deeper and stronger. The ship began to fall apart, a more recent memory started to emerge.

“No… last time I let my rage take the better of me… I made a huge mistake.”

They were in a meeting room, that much was clear. A long metal table sat in the secure, grey room. Captain Seth Lairsey sat alongside Doctor Stamford opposite a trio of very important looking people. There was no ambient noise beyond the inhalations and exhalations of the five of them. In front of Seth sat an open folder, full of official looking documents.

“We hope you will consider this offer,” the man in the middle said plainly.

“Let me get this straight, you want me to take on board, willingly, a tank full of flood? With all due respect, do you think I’m crazy, sir?” the other Seth demanded incredulously.

“Captain Lairsey, we have done as much testing on this experiment as we possibly can. We need field trials, if we can get this to work, then we’ll be able to control the flood. Think of the implications!” The man on the left said excitably, his lab coat gave away the fact that he was a scientist, quite possibly the lead researcher on this project.

“Why me? Surely you have plenty of skilled captains to choose from!” the other Seth was simultaneously honoured and insulted that they had chosen him for this task.

“You are an able captain, and I’m sure you’d jump at any opportunity to pay back the Covenant for what happened at Byzantium,” the woman on the right stated as if it was common knowledge. Both Seths visibly tensed at the word Byzantium. Seeing the reaction the woman continued, “think of the havoc you would cause on their ship, a fate worse than death, which they more than deserve.” Other Seth looked as if he was actually considering accepting the offer.

Doctor Stamford turned to him and spoke for the first time, “I’m one of the researchers on the project and I’ll be monitoring their status from onboard the ship.”

“I’ll take the flood, but I don’t need a spook onboard.”

“I’m trained as a doctor, you won’t even notice me until the time comes.”

“Fine. Our current physician is overdue for retirement anyway.”

“Then it’s agreed, you’ll take the Flood Alpha, along with some spores and deploy them in the next engagement,” the middle character stated to clarify and held out his hand, which Seth then shook.

“You won’t regret this decision Captain Lairsey. The Office of Naval Intelligence serves all of mankind, and in this, so will you,” Stamford said, his voice carrying the strength that only someone who truly believed in those words could communicate.

"And just like that, I signed away my soul, just at the promise of revenge. I brought the devil’s offspring onboard my craft, the Flood,” The real Seth said sadly, staring into space.

The meeting room began to peel away, the scene changed once again. The ceiling began to rise to mammoth heights. Crates were everywhere, stacked into organised piles, a warehouse of some kind. Stamford stood in front of his previous self along with the lead researcher from earlier. “I took them on board my ship, ready to deploy on an unsuspecting Covenant vessel. A move I regretted,” he explained, partially to himself.

“It’s quite simple, the tank just needs setting up and we can feed it into the weapon system, no problem,” the researcher was insisting.

“Technology isn’t my strong point...” Stamford began.

“Don’t worry we’ve got a techie lined up for you. It shouldn’t be a problem, the guy’s a genius when it comes to contraptions, fancies himself an inventor,” The researcher replied.

“Hang on! I’m not having two of your agents onboard!” The flashback Lairsey shouted angrily.

“Don’t worry Captain, this engineer isn’t actually an agent, we’re only contracting him for this special task. Besides, for all you know he could already be in your roster,” the researcher said with a knowing smile, full of self satisfaction. Other Lairsey relented and stepped down, the two researchers communication dying down into the background.

“What happens next?” the voice asked from behind the real Seth.

“We never finished. The Battle of Earth happened, and all available ships were called into duty. The next few months will be an array of desperate tasks, trying to delay our inevitable defeat. The planet will be destroyed, there is no denying that. For all we know right now, we’re all that’s left." the sense of melancholy in his words was almost palpable.

The scene changed one last time, they were back on board an empty ship, orbiting the planet Earth. A large window sat in front of him, directly in front of them was Earth. Colossal scorch marks and craters dotted its surface, huge swaths of land coated in glass. It was almost as if the entire planet was on fire. “So this was your planet?” the voice asked in a tone quite untouched by the aura of sadness that Seth was exuding.

“For what it was worth… born and raised on this planet, like my ancestors before me. I was the first of my family to move to the colonies, it was more convenient for my role as Captain.”

“Do you know where you really are though Captain?” the voice asked.

“Inside my memories, trapped in my own mind I assume. But you want something, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want something.” Seth turned to confront the voice. Floating in front of him was a thick purple mist, retaining no definite shape.

“I want you Captain. I want you to let go, I want you to embrace those deep, dark emotions that fester in your soul. I want you to surrender your rational thought and give way for something glorious. The human empire may have crumbled but you could create a new one. All it would take… is a little power. Power that I can grant you, power that will allow you to crush every alien that stands before you. Power to avenge your wife, your family, your friends,” the voice replied, emphasising the word “power” every time it used it.

“There’s always a catch. I’m guessing you want me to relinquish my immortal soul or my body or even my life force?” Seth said with a dismissive snort.

“I just need a vessel, a vessel that agrees with me,” the life force insisted.

“Well… you’ve found your vessel. Go on, I just can’t care anymore. Take the only thing that I have left,” Seth gave in easily, his voice was tired, tired of striving to keep himself going.

If the purple mist could smile, it would have done. The mist approached the naval officer who turned to face the window once more, gazing at the burning embers of his planet. A single tear ran down his face as he turned to face the mist. “Take me,” he said quietly. The purple mist shot into his open mouth and into his body. Seth began to feel different, his motor controls began to loosen. Another presence took the reins leaving him as a back-seat driver. He retreated once more into his memories, hoping to relive the glory days before everything went wrong.

“I finally have another body, weak and fleshy, without an ounce of magic. Not the best vessel I could ask for but it feels good to have a form again,” the thing shouted in glee, before breaking free of his mind and back into consciousness.

Clopton Village General Store, 10 a.m. 14 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration.

Plough lay on the floor of the Clopton General Store, snoring heavily. Suddenly a hoof was placed on his shoulder and began to shake, rousing him from his slumber. He opened his eyes slowly with a yawn and looked up to see a brown earth pony colt. His memory suddenly snapped back and he leapt to his hooves, grabbing his nearby scythe.

“Woah there, pardner. I ain’t no zombie, its Farmer Oats, remember?” the colt said as Plough took a few seconds to register, well anything. Sure enough it was Oats, looking the same as ever, still strangely chewing that piece of straw, must have restocked from somewhere in the shop. Despite everything that had happened he still buried his emotions deep within him, nothing ever seemed to phase him.

“Sorry, it’s just hard to believe that this is real is all,” Plough said, dropping the scythe and rubbing his head with his hoof. After a bit of forehead rubbing, he looked back up and asked Oats, “what’d you wake me for?”

“Them roars ‘ave died down, listen,” Oats began before pointing to the barricaded door. “I reckon a big group of ‘em just split off. Now’s prob’ly the best shot we have of breakin’ out of this hellhole. If we just focus on pushin’ through, well I think that we‘ve a good chance of getting clear of this here village,” Oats explained to the trained guardspony.

“You’re right, it’s probably the best chance we have, if that is the case. Awaken the others and I’ll scope it out.” Plough took control, approaching the barricaded door.

Unfortunately, in their haste to secure the room, they had barricaded over every window. There was no way to recon the outside, in relative safety at least. He could unblock one of the windows and try and climb out, but that could be suicide. He turned to see Oats was gently waking Seed Sower, the tan earth pony staggering to her hooves. He was going to have to chance it. As the only remaining member of the guard, it was his duty to protect the remaining townsfolk, which seemed to be these four ponies. He looked back to see Mayor Pencil Pusher was the next to rise, the grey unicorn mare uncurled from around Mint Snap and rose to her feet. There was no other course, he picked up a hammer and started prising the boards off, one by one.

“What are you doing?” Seed Sower said worriedly as she trotted up, looking concerned. “Stop that!”

“I’m going to check how clear it is, then jump back in.”

“Are you crazy? You don’t stand a chance out there! “

“Oats says he though he heard a group of them peeling off. If they’ve actually gone then now’s our best shot at getting out of town.”

“But what if he’s wrong? We should put it to the vote.”

“Look, I’m the only trained fighter here. I’ll be right back, I promise.” Plough flashed her a smile before squeezing through the hole he had just made and out of the window.

“Good luck,” Seed Sower said, returning the smile as he vanished from view.

A few minutes later he dove back through the window, smashing the remaining planks as he did. “It’s clear but I don’t know for how long! Everypony grab your stuff and let’s get out of here!” he ordered to the group. Nopony questioned him in this matter and swiftly seized up the saddlebags full of supplies and the farming implements they were calling weapons. Within a minute the group had loaded up and were preparing to leave.

“Right, I want everypony to line up in an orderly fashion and we’ll head out through the window, one-by-one,” Pencil Pusher took back her position of power, which Plough was more than happy to relinquish. “Complete situational report, Mr Plough? If you’d please,” The mayor asked as he climbed back out the window.

“None of those beasts in sight down the side,” Plough whispered to himself, with a sigh of relief. He glanced around the corner to just outside the front door, there were still a few zombified ponies lingering outside but they seemed… aimless. They just stood there, barely moving at all. The bright sun had illuminated the area with its harsh gaze, however it did little to lift Plough’s spirits, quite the opposite in fact. Plough spotted the site of Violet’s final stand, it wasn’t hard to find. What he saw made him audibly gag and cover his mouth. Sat on the ground was the purple pegasi’s body, what was left of it anyway. It looked like it had been savaged by wild animals, huge chunks of flesh had been torn off and large claw marks coated every inch of it. Its wings were both completely removed and its head hanging on to the neck by a stringy piece of sinew. Her cutie mark had been torn entirely off and lay not too far away. Despite all this though, her mouth seemed locked in a smile. She had taken a lot of the buckers with her, there was at least eighteen bodies surrounding her in various states of disrepair. The ground was covered in a mix of yellow pus and scarlet blood, which had dried together now into a horrible sticky substance. It was then that he noted the sword, the mayoral blade; crafted by Helm Basher for the mayor’s inauguration when the town came to be. It had a wicked edge despite its ornamental purpose, Helm Basher knew his way around a forge. He couldn’t risk exposing them all just for a blade, but his hip felt empty without the familiar weight of a weapon. The scythe was nice and all but it was too large to wield by hoof. He sighed again and turned back to the group who had now finished climbing out the window.

Pencil Pusher walked right up to him and whispered in his ear, “Is the area secure?”

“Not quite, we’ve got a lot of hangers-back, but something’s wrong with them. It’s almost like they’ve lost all semblance of intelligence. They’re literally just standing around outside the front door,” Plough explained in a whisper back. Pencil Pusher nodded and turned to lead the group the other way when she hesitated.

“Violet… Is she?” She began but Plough answered her question, before she finished airing it, with a nod. Pencil Pusher turned once more, he could see the news pained her as she hung her head low for a few seconds and exhaled deeply. Her head then snapped back up again with a determined look written all over it. “Let’s not let her death mean naught, it’s time we moved out.”

“Wait, your mayoral blade is just around that corner, you should be able to grab it with your unicorn magic… only there’s still a few of those zombies out there,” Plough stopped her, he just couldn’t let a blade that fine go to waste. He was counting on the mayor’s sense of pride to persuade her to recover it. However, unbeknownst to him, her self esteem was at all time low and as far as she was concerned, pride could just buck off.

“No. I’ve…I’ve had enough of this place. Let’s just go, lingering serves no purpose,” she said quietly avoiding Plough’s eyes. He nodded in return and moved to the front of the group. She didn’t dare look around the corner and see her broken body so she whispered once more, “farewell Violet.” A tear managed to break through her defences, then another and another. Before she knew it the tears were streaming freely down her face. Mint Snap walked over and put his hoof around her shoulder, she clung to her with all of her strength and before she knew it, Mint Snap was crying too. Through the tears she led the distraught unicorn back to the group where they assumed a middle place in the single-file line as it began to march out of town.

“I...I’m…I’m sorry. I can’t be the leader… you want me to be… not anymore. It’s…it’s all gone. Everything,” Pencil Pusher managed to say between chokes of tears.

“Don’t worry. You did everything you could,” Mint Snap said softly and gently, speaking for the first time since they had met up. She gave Pencil Pusher an honest smile, from the heart. Pencil Pusher forced back her tears and managed to regain some semblance of control. Plough suddenly stopped up front and motioned for everypony to duck down, so they did.

“Up ahead, there’s a small group of those zombies, about eight of them, just wandering around aimlessly,” Plough said quietly, addressing the group. “I think there’s something wrong with them, they’re lacking the focus and coordination they had yesterday. I think it would be an easy matter to cut our way through in their current state.”

“Now hold on one cotton pickin’ minute. These mares are in no condition to be all afightin’. If Seed Sower stays here and covers them, well, then I’d be more than happy to stand by your side,” Oats said, holding up a hoof at Plough.

“Hey! You’ll need my help if you want to fight past them. Two against eight are not good odds,” Seed Sower began irritably.

“But what if the mares get attacked?”

“By what? You said so yourself these things are uncoordinated right now. As long as they steer clear of the battle then they can do whatever the buck they want,” Seed Sower retorted angrily. She may be extremely tired, but she wasn’t going to go and get in debt with anypony. She wasn’t going to have no colt fight all her battles for her.

“I suppose you’re right. Mint Snap! Pencil Pusher! Keep down, we’re going to go and deal with this little group,” Plough ordered the two mares, looking each in the eyes as he did. He then pulled out his scythe and prepared to charge. Seed Sower still had that pitchfork which she got ready while Oats drew the hoe that he had found in the general store. “Okay team I’ll head for that large central group of four with a charge from my scythe. Hopefully it’ll cut them all in half. Oats if you steer left and hit those two whilst Seeds steers right and hits the others, the element of surprise should help us take them all down with relative ease. You ready everypony, charge!”

Plough galloped straight forwards, his hooves beating against the ground with an audible clopping noise. One of the zombies turned around and hissed at the sight of him before charging straight towards him. Upon hearing their comrade turn and charge, the remaining members of the groups turned and galloped after him. Plough nodded and Seeds and Oats began to split off, each aiming for their assigned targets who hadn’t noticed them yet.

Plough kept on galloping, the first zombie was mere metres away from him now. Plough ducked under the infected hoof it flailed outwards and spun his head twisting the scythe upwards with a clean slice cutting the zombie pony into two distinct pieces as it fell to the floor spewing yellow. Plough couldn’t stop though, he had to maintain momentum the other three were just ahead and would be harder. He tried to predict their movements, they’d probably swing their thick, infected hooves like clubs, mirroring the firsts. He dodged right, predicting the movements of the first zombie as it shot overhead, the scythe dragged through its legs separating them from his torso with a clean cut. The second struck straight downwards; despite their lack of intelligence they had brilliant reaction times. Plough managed to just shield it with his scythe but the blow knocked him seriously off balance. He fell into a roll but managed to just gain control at the last second jumping to his hooves. The two zombies twisted to face him and charged. Plough leapt into the air and then dived straight downwards, raising the scythe above him. He slung it downwards in a diagonal motion and the vicious blade hit the pod with a direct hit causing an explosion of yellow liquid. The scythe hooked into the now empty chest cavity and dragged the body to the floor using it to shield from a hard smack from the other infected. The thick hooves actually began to pulverise Plough’s meat shield. Using all his strength he hoisted the corpse at the other zombie knocking it to the floor, belly up, exposing its own parasitical squid. Plough didn’t hesitate as he grabbed the scythe once more in his mouth and plunged the hooked blade into the chest cavity causing another eruption of yellow.

Seed Sower meandered right as instructed, pitchfork gripped between her foreleg and her torso. Fortunately for her these two infected ponies turned to the left, noticing the pandemonium that Plough was causing. She charged directly into the flank of the foremost pony, the speed she was galloping at forcing the fork right into it. The fork travelled so deep that it actually hit the bulbous spore, spearing it on one of its triangular points. It let out an inequine wail as it burst and the first pony collapsed dead. The second one turned to her with a hiss and leapt forwards, hooves outstretched. Seed Sower threw herself to the side onto the hard floor as the beast stomped the ground with force. Seed Sower dragged herself up and tried to grab the fork but it was properly wedged in the dead pony’s flank. Before she knew it she was on the floor again trying to hold off that infected beast. It roared, hot spittle covered her face, its very breath seemed to contain small motes of dust, she then realised they must be spores and pushed with as much force as she could twisting her head to face away from the diabolical beast.

Oats had brilliant luck, like Seed Sower he found that Plough had distracted the beast’s attention. Oats managed to sneak up and climb under the first pony before he hit directly in the weak spot with his hoe. Yellow goo sprayed all over him but he hurriedly dragged himself out and managed to hit the other pony as it was turning around in the throat, knocking the head completely off. No blood came out, but neither did any yellow goo, the head must have been empty. Before he could ponder the significance of this the creature lunged at him, Oats held out the hoe and the creature jumped right into it with enough force that the hoe’s flat head actually pushed into the desiccated flesh, destroying the last squid. The second pony fell with a sickly splat, staining the ground an icky yellow. He wiped sweat from his brow and went to sit down when he noticed Seed Sower was in trouble. He sprang back into action grabbing the hoe and pulling as hard as he could. The head completely snapped off leaving a long wooden pole. He didn’t hesitate, charging to Seed Sower’s side.

Plough stood up, wrenching the scythe for the hell of it before pulling out. That’s three definitely dead, he turned around and sure enough the fourth was trying to drag itself towards him with its last remaining hoof. He walked slowly, dragging the scythe along the ground like an executioner’s axe. He stopped above the pathetic zombie still trying to inflict damage with its last limb, weakly flailing it. He pulled the scythe up in an arc and sliced straight downwards burying the scythe into the back of the bulbous parasite, which exploded in reply. He stood up triumphantly yanking the scythe from a zombie’s guts for the third time in five minutes.

Hearing the sounds of a struggle, he turned just in time to see Oats smash into the infected form that appeared to be have been pinning Seed Sower down. The wooden stick that Oats was holding as a joust fractured showering splinters into both combatants, knocking them both to the ground. Neither of them got back up again. “Oats!” Plough shouted upon seeing the pony stumble and fall. “Oats!” he shouted again, breaking into a gallop as he rushed to his side. Seed Sower dragged herself to her hooves and then stumbled to join them. Oats didn’t look good, his face and chest were full of splints of wood. The main concern being a particularly huge piece buried into his chest, it looked like it might have hit a lung. Oats began coughing up blood, his brown fur was matted down from his scarlet life-force as it spilled from all the cuts covering him. Oats coughed a particularly large parcel of blood and the straw he’d been chewing for the past two days came out with it. He tried to speak but only managed to gargle blood. He lifted his head up and tried to speak again but he was too weak. After only succeeding in flecking blood all over Plough’s face his eyelids drooped and his head fell back. He was gone.

Seed Sower and Plough rose from the corpse of Farmer Oats. “How could he do something so stupid?! Why did he have to try and save me?!” Seed Sower shouted in anger before starting to choke up, “I… I could have handled it…”

“Look, we have an opening. Now we just need to grab the other two and then we can get clear. We need to get a message to Celestia, no matter the cost,” Plough said, his voice adopting a cold and distant tone.

“You’re… you’re right. Let’s get away from this place. Far away.” Seed Sower pulled herself together and followed Plough to the over two mares’ hiding place. Sure enough the two of them were still concealed behind a group of trees. Pencil Pusher seemed to have calmed down whilst Mint Snap seemed to have opened up a bit.

“Where’s Oats?” the green mare asked expectantly, then noticed the downcast expressions of her compatriots. “He… didn’t make it, did he?” she sighed sadly, and tears started to brim again.

“Now is not the time for mourning! There will be time for that later. Right now, it is of the utmost importance that we get out of here while the way is clear.” Plough once again took control now that Pencil Pusher had backed out from her position. The other ponies nodded in response and followed the dark blue armoured colt as they resumed their march along the path out of the village, spirits low but with their goal still in mind. If Celestia was not informed then this infection could spread to all of Equestria, turning the noble populace into hellish demons.

Fluttershy’s Cottage, 11 a.m. 13 hours until the Summer Sun Celebration

The cottage was quiet, beyond the occasional sip from a teacup and the continual ticktock of a clock on the wall, there was no other noise at all. Fluttershy sat on a sofa with Angel beside her, opposite her sat Leif in a comfy chair. The tea set was still sat between them on a small table. Fluttershy didn’t quite know what to say. Angel was snoozing quietly, curled up in a ball. Leif was watching Fluttershy as they both slowly drained their teacups.

Beyond the initial shock, this being had tried to be as courteous and pleasant as he could. She assumed it was a he, the voice was clearly masculine. The name Leaf wasn’t exactly threatening, and he was doing his best. She gave him a nervous smile which he returned earnestly. Well he seemed genuine… I guess I’d better take the initiative. “Uh… M…Mister Leaf?” she called quietly. “Could I ask you something?”

“Of course Miss Fluttershy, ask away. You saved my life, you can ask me anything,” Leif said, a warm smile on his face.

“Well… uh… If you don’t mind me asking… uh… what exactly are you?” Fluttershy stammered, the last thing she wanted was to offend him, but he just nodded knowingly.

“I’m a human. You don’t need to be so nervous around me, I’m not here to hurt you.” He said encouragingly.

“Well… uh… thank you. But… It’s just… I’ve never seen anything like you before,” she still felt extremely nervous despite how accommodating Leaf was trying to be.

“Oh well. I was hoping you might have done, me and a group of my friends are stranded here. We… don’t belong here and we were hoping that, maybe, you might know a way to get back.”

“I’m sorry… but I don’t know…” She said softly.

“Well, never mind then, I’m just going to have to go back and meet back with my friends in the woods.” Leif stood up and turned to leave.

Fluttershy suddenly began to panic, her thoughts turned to the potential dangers that the human could run into, especially injured! “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaiiit!” she screamed as she jumped up from the sofa. Angel shot awake and tumbled off the sofa in a panic. Leif froze in place and turned his head, startled at the sudden outburst. Fluttershy looked a bit sheepish for a second before continuing more confidently than before, “The forest is full of dangerous monsters! You’re in no condition to go gallivanting around dark forests,” Now that she had started she couldn’t stop, she was in carer mode. “You should be resting that arm, why don’t you get back in bed and rest up now?”

Leif hesitated, now that she mentioned it he did feel tired. And should he really risk his life needlessly, nuts to that. He began to walk back over when his brain suddenly kicked back into gear. “Wait a second! No, I don’t have time to rest! I need to get back to…” he suddenly stopped, the yellow pegasus was now in front of him, hoof placed on his chest.

“Listen to me buster! You need to rest!” she shouted before suddenly softening again, “don’t worry about your little friends, I’ll take care of them.” Leif felt conflicted, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, his arm made him more of a burden than an asset at this moment in time. This Fluttershy pony was making sense.

“Gah! Fine! I’ll… I’ll stay,” He finally submitted. Fluttershy smiled brightly at the news and led him back to the sofa.

“Just rest right here and I’m sure you’ll be better in no time,” she said softly. Leif climbed onto the sofa and lay there on his back. In mere seconds he was back asleep again, snoring loudly, much to Angel’s chagrin.

Fluttershy sighed softly, it was too dangerous to let this “human”, Leaf, wander around Ponyville, especially in his current state. It was safer to keep him here. She still didn’t know much at all about him, but she had a name, human. Spike would know about it. "hen it came to the library Spike knew it better than anypony, even Twilight, despite her better grasp of the contents. “Angel, I need you to stand guard and not let our guest leave. If he wakes up, try and keep him here, I’ll be right back." Angel hopped into the kitchen and returned in a makeshift suit of armour, made from pots and pans. “No Angel, you can’t hit him if he wakes up. Just keep him busy.” Angel crossed his arms and turned away from her in a huff. “Won’t you please do this for me Angel, pretty please?” she said softly and Angel relented, turning to her and nodding once. “Thanks Angel, you’re a good bunny.” Angel rolled his eyes and hopped back off into the kitchen. Fluttershy turned and opened the door, before leaving the cottage, with a final glance back to make sure Leif was actually asleep.

Ponyville Square, 11:15 a.m. 12 and three quarter hours until the Summer Sun Celebration

A turquoise unicorn with a white mane and a yellow earth pony with a two-toned, purple and pink hair were trotting through Ponyville. Most ponies were sleeping away the morning so that they could stay up all night for the raising of the sun, but Bon Bon had insisted they rise early so that she and Lyra could have the morning to themselves. What a morning it had been too, a picnic in the empty park followed by a short trot through Whitetail Woods. Before they went back home however, Bon Bon wanted to pick up the deluxe chocolate cake she had specially ordered from Sugarcube Corner.

“This was nice, Bon, nothing’s quite as peaceful as Ponyville in the early morning,” The unicorn sighed contentedly.

“I’m just glad you’re happy,” Bon Bon giggled. The two ponies walked up the steps to Sugarcube corner and Bon Bon pushed it open with a ring from the bell.

Inside was a complete mess, cake debris was strewn everywhere, pink frosting literally running down the walls. Pastries were torn asunder, their delicious fillings spilling out in thick pools of fruity jam. Stood in the centre of the room was a very confused looking pink pony, her poufy mane unusually straight.

“Pinkie Pie! Are you okay?!” Lyra shouted, barging into the macabre scene. As she rushed in, however, she tripped up on a cake, flying head-over-heels onto the floor. Pinkie turned to the fallen unicorn with tears in her eyes.

“I’m not crazy!” she screamed at the mare before turning and belting into the back of the bakery.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Bon Bon said worriedly as she trotted in and helped Lyra up.

“I dunno, but she seemed pretty high-strung.” Lyra replied as she got to her hooves. “I’m guessing our cake’s one of these splats on the floor,” she laughed nervously.

“Maybe we should check up on her?” Bon Bon insisted.

Lyra rolled her eyes before commenting, “I guess we better. I love your caring personality but sometimes you take it a bit too far.” The two ponies trotted over to the back room door.

“You can’t take kindness too far,” Bon Bon replied as they entered the door and it shut behind them.

“Thank God,” Victor sighed with relief as he emerged from a dark corner. “I think it’s time we got the hell out of dodge, that pony was completely mental.”

“I’m with you there buddy,” Victor said, climbing out from behind the counter. “I don’t know about the mental part though, she seemed pretty fine until you called her a psycho bitch,” Victor burst out laughing.

“Ah, come on man. That wasn’t my fault. You were the one who had to stuff his fucking face whilst I was calming her down!” Darrell shouted back angrily. Victor shushed him and gestured to the door at the back with his hand. “Let’s just get out of here,” Darrell said coldly, turning to leave. Victor jogged after him.

“Check the coast is clear first!” Victor said as he caught up with Darrell just outside the door.

“Look man, it’s completely clear, stop fretting,” Darrell replied tiresomely.

Darrell rambled aimlessly with Victor tailing him. This town is so fucking confusing, Darrell thought to himself, what we need is somewhere we can see the way clearly from. Wait, is that a massive tree? Fucking Ace!

“Darrell? It’s getting pretty light outside, we need to be out of here, soon,” Victor replied, sounding a little panicked.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan,” Darrell replied nonchalantly.

“Care to share it?”

“That tree over there, all we gotta do is scale it, and we can see a way outta here.”

“Your plan is to climb a bloody tree, what kind of dumbass plan is that?”

“Hey! Unless you want to stop and ask for fucking directions, it’s all we got!”

“Ease up man, why are you suddenly so high-strung,” Victor said condescendingly, earning a withering stare from Darrell. The two continued to walk in silence getting closer and closer to the tree, when suddenly a bell began to toll urgently.

“Shit! You hear that?! They’re onto us! Follow me!” Darrell suddenly burst into a sprint and barrelled through the front door and into the house that had been built into the tree.

“Oh my…” a soft voice called worriedly. The two humans turned to see a yellow pony with pink hair stood inside the house.

“Excuse me miss, but we currently have a problem,” Darrell began as politely as he could manage. A small purple scaly humanoid walked in carrying a book.

“Hey Fluttershy, I got that book on humans you…” He began when he looked up and saw humans. He screamed, dropping the book he was carrying onto the floor with an audible thump. “Humans! In here!” he shouted before flying to the floor, a human wrapped around his torso. “Argh! Get off of me!” Victor was trying to cover the little purple thing’s mouth. “Hmm! Hmm hmm hmm!” he shouted through the hand on his mouth, madly flailing his arms.

“I got the bugger,” Victor shouted, the purple thing securely in his grasp.

Fluttershy watched as the human tackled her friend Spike to the ground. The dragon put up his best fight but he didn’t stand a chance. “How dare you!” The yellow pony screamed at the top of her voice, “Why don’t you pick on somepony your own size!” She shouted again at the top of her lungs.

“Darrell! Shut her up!” Victor shouted, still holding Spike up.

“Look! Miss. If you could just keep…” He stopped when he met her eyes. They grew to an impossible size, filling his vision. All he could see was the dark black abyss of her eyes and he felt… insignificant, humble. He had to… he had to… back down and… and… apologise.

“Darrell, hurry up and shut her up! If she makes a peep, we’re screwed!” Victor said quietly and urgently to his partner. Darrell couldn’t move however, he found himself rooted to the spot. “Darrell! Stop pissing about and grab her!” Victor was shouting now too.

Darrell suddenly sank to his knees and repeated the words that filled his mind, “I’m sorry Fluttershy. I’m sorry Spike.” Then he fell to the ground unconscious.

“What the bloody hell!” Victor shouted when Spike suddenly bit his hand. “Aiii!” he shouted, shaking the dragon off. Then Fluttershy turned to him and used the stare.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy. I’m sorry Spike.” Victor repeated before he too collapsed onto the floor.

Spike kicked the unconscious form of Victor. “That’s what you get for trying to tango with a dragon!” he laughed before turning to Fluttershy. “Was that the stare I’ve heard so much about?” he asked earnestly.

“Yes. I’m sorry but it was a last resort,” she said sadly.

“What are you sorry for? You just saved my life!” Spike shouted happily when a thought suddenly struck him. “Wait a minute, you have one of these at home?!”

“Yes, but he’s much nicer… I think that, maybe these two were just scared,” Fluttershy explained in her soft, sincere voice.

“They overreacted a bit and a half. Anyway, here’s that book you wanted. It’s the only book in the library where I’ve seen the word human.”

“Famous Conspiracy Theories” Fluttershy read the title. Opening the book took her to the contents written in unusually scrawly writing. The contents pointed to a page on humans. “Thanks Spike, this is perfect,” Fluttershy gave him a pat on the head.

“That isn’t even the best part, check out the author,” Spike said, all his excitement having returned.

“Susan Marie Pie? Isn’t that Pinkie’s mother?” Fluttershy asked, shocked by the possibility, to which Spike nodded with a smile.

Canterlot Castle, 11:30 a.m. 12 and a half hours until the Summer Sun Celebration

Celestia sat atop her throne, wave after wave of ponies approached her with their petty problems. “He’s digging up my land”, “He stole my wife”, “She killed my chicken”; the list went on and on. She had once genuinely cared about every single one of these ponies and their problems, helping to find a fair solution that benefited them all. Now she just judged it by ear, now she hated court days. At least the Summer Sun Celebration was tonight, a day she had been looking forward to for the better part of the year. As soon as she was free of this blasted court then she could enjoy herself. Twilight was even here, I’m sure she’d love to accompany me and Luna, her friends too of course. Yes this was shaping up to be a good day, as soon as this damn queue vanished, Celestia thought to herself absentmindedly. After several more minutes of pointless pontification from the plethora of ponies, the queue finally thinned. Just six more to go, five more, four more, three more, two more, one more.

“I’m sorry to bother you Princess but something strange is happening in the Bark Lowlands. I live in Trottingham, the largest town in the area and yesterday was market day. Yet of the nine neighbouring villages that normally show off their wares, only two were accounted for. This is the first time they’ve ever missed showing. Now a few of the local boys who went to check up on them are missing too, we were wondering if you could send some guardsponies to investigate.” A dark green earth pony stood in front of her. This was the first interesting thing she’d heard all day.

“Really? This could be disturbing news, I myself will be making an appearance in Trottingham for the Summer Sun Celebration, as you know. My vanguard should be arriving anyway in a few hours, but if this is that concerning, I shall send a larger force than originally planned. So I’ll ask you once, is this that irregular?”

“Yes,” the green mare replied truthfully.

“Then you have my word that guardsponies shall be sent, I suggest you return home and prepare the townsfolk or they may be worried when a large military force arrives. General Gracchus will lead the investigation,” Celestia stated regally.

“Thank you Princess.” The pony bowed lowly before trotting back out of the chamber.

Celestia turned to the pony stood by her side and quietly called, “Tea Tray?”

“Yes Milady?” the silver unicorn replied in his flat tone.

“I need you to summon General Gracchus and Brigandine Sabre. I also request that you make sure Twilight and her friends are awake.”

“Of course, milady.” The silver unicorn’s horn glowed bright white then he vanished, teleporting off into the castle somewhere. Celestia sighed, now that that had been taken care of, she had a few minutes to relax before... suddenly a scroll appeared in front of her face and fell to the floor. If Twilight was here with her, then it must have come from Spike. Odd, he didn’t normally write to her himself. She levitated the scroll in front of her face and opened it up. The scroll read:

Dear Princess Celestia,

There is a situation in Ponyville, two creatures calling themselves “humans” tried to break into Twilight’s Library today. I managed to incapacitate them both but I don’t know if they’ll underestimate me again. I don’t know which course of action to take and I ask you to please advise.

Twilight’s Number One Apprentice, Spike

Humans in Ponyville? She knew that splinter group would cause problems. I can’t let it ruin the Summer Sun Celebration though… it might be best to just let my guards handle it. But they were already needed in Trottingham. Gah! Why now? Why on my one day off?! Celestia was inevitably quite ticked off at this turn of events. Wait. Brigandine Sabre, this could be a good task for the new hero. She’s dealt with humans before, she and Stamford could work on rounding up the others. What the hay, it was worth a try. Anything to keep my day open for fun. The sudden clopping of hooves against the stone floor made her look up and Gracchus and Sabre walked in, both staring daggers at each other.

“My liege,” The old white earth pony bowed.

“Mistress,” The red armoured pegasus nodded in respect.

“You two are probably wondering why I called you here.” Celestia nodded to each in turn. “I have two separate assignments that require your immediate attention. Now Marshal Marius is already overseeing my personal security in Trottingham tonight, so these two tasks fall to you. Brigandine Sabre, humans have been sighted and apprehended in Ponyville. I need you and your entourage to secure the remainder, Stamford claims six humans were never captured. I will be loaning him to you, he will be an asset in securing the others,”

“You can’t trust a kinslayer with such an important task!” Gracchus shouted, forehead bulging with rage.

“You can’t trust a traitor with any task,” Sabre snorted back.

“Calm down you two! These are important tasks! Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre, select your team and take them with you; don’t forget Stamford.” Celestia instructed, tired of their constant infighting.

“Yes Ma’am,” she said sarcastically with a salute before trotting off.

“Gracchus! I expect better from you, I know she killed Quintus, but the evidence points towards him being a traitor. Had he been taken alive, he would have been put to the sword anyway,” Celestia scolded the old general.

“Sorry your majesty, it’s just… his parents blame me you know, he was one of my troopers.” Gracchus sighed wearily , showing his true age for once. “I just… I wish it had played out differently.” Celestia could sympathise, her sister had betrayed her before while under the influence of the miasma. It had been the hardest decision she had ever made when she had banished her for one thousand years.

“I understand Gracchus, just don’t let it interfere with your professional life anymore than it has.”

“I’ll try not to Princess.”

“Good, now I have a task for you too, gather together a group of guardsponies and investigate the villages in the Bark Lowlands. Apparently ponies have been disappearing and, as of yet, no culprit has been found.”

“Of course your majesty, and thank you for the opportunity to prove my loyalty to you, even while some may doubt me.” Gracchus bowed so low his nose touched the floor before he too turned and departed.

Mere seconds after they had vanished around a corner, Twilight and her two friends arrived, both looking refreshed from their sleep. Somepony obviously hadn’t told them the news. Celestia sighed heavily, I guess the job falls to me then. The Princess of the Sun rose to her hooves and turned to Twilight and her friends. Twilight’s expression instantly turned to one of worry the second their eyes met.

“Is something wrong, Princess? Twilight asked worriedly.

“There was a break-out last night, I’m pulling you off the investigation. It’s become too dangerous for you and your friends.”

“I live for danger,” A certain cocky cyan pegasus snorted.

“Three ponies were killed,” Celestia announced gravely. Rainbow gulped and stopped hovering, landing on the floor.

“Instead, I’m inviting the three of you to accompany me to Trottingham for the Summer Sun Celebration,” Celestia’s expression changed to a large grin.

“Princess, I… I…” Twilight began to stammer, Celestia smiled to see her students surprise.

“Your Majesty, it would be an honour to accompany you on such a prestigious occasion,” Rarity pitched in, upon seeing Twilight’s expression.

“And I would be honoured to have the Elements of Harmony by my side.” Celestia’s smile was just as radiant as the sun she raised every morning. “I have a few small matters to attend to before the royal convoy prepares to leave. In two hours time we shall all meet just outside the main entrance,” the alicorn replied, and with a flash of her horn she was gone.

“This is simply unacceptable! Only two hours to prepare for one of the biggest festivities of the year?!” Rarity turned to her two friends, panic written all over her face.

“I know right, I’m ready all ready,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

“You can’t possibly go like that!” Rarity acted as shocked and appalled as she could.

“Hey, what’s wrong with my fur?!” Rainbow Dash began to beat her wings again and rose back up into the air.

“N..nothing…” Rarity had fallen right into her trap and shut up like a clam.

“Calm down you two! It is imperative that we look as nice as possible! We have to impress the Princess!” Twilight shouted at the two ponies.

Rarity turned away from Rainbow Dash with a “Humph!” before strutting back off to her quarters.

Temple of Monocularism, Day of Reckoning

The large metal door split into three distinct sections, one went left, one right and one up. Inside, the room was full of thick fog, the result of water condensing off the frozen core. A loud humming noise reverberated around the chamber. Hayton walked in, five humans and Mind’s Eye followed him in. The remaining seven guards weren’t of a high enough rank to even see the One-Eyed One so were relegated to external guard duty. Mind’s Eye was the only thing keeping the humans compliant, one of his most powerful spells, supplemented by his augmentations. The room was made of the same strange metal as the rest of the installation, sheets of glass as strong as diamonds layered into the floor at random intervals. A strange blue light lit the room, coming from no discernible source.

A trio of floating metal robots the size of dogs flew towards the group. Each one fired a small orange beam at an individual, running it up and down their body as if scanning before moving onto the next individual. Other than an odd tickling sensation, that quickly passed, there were no immediate after-effects, until they scanned Okano. “Attention. Individual is at fifteen percent flood corruption, recommend immediate incineration,” the robot that had scanned him stated in a mechanical voice.

Mind’s Eye’s spell prevented the human from panicking when a beam of orange shot from the sentinel, transforming the Navigation Officer into a pile of ash. Hayton jumped back, but none of the others reacted at all. The robots finished scanning the group, then the head robot turned and said, “flood scans are complete, remaining organisms are uninfected.” The robots turned to something out of sight before taking up positions around the group.

A small sliver robot about the size of a head flew out of one of the vents, a large green light prominently displayed on its front. “Greetings I am Six-Two-Four Autogenous Order. I am the Monitor of Galactic Grid Sector Seven-Two-Four Six-Five-Nine. These primitives refer to me as the One-Eyed One. But enough about me, you are Reclaimers! I’m happy to report that this facility is still running at eighty percent efficiency, just waiting for a Reclaimer to open it up and seize its treasures,” the Monitor said, flitting about excitedly. As it ranted to the assorted humans, Mind’s Eye maintained the spell, keeping the humans observant. Technically they could see and hear everything happen, but they couldn’t react at all to external stimuli.

“But one of your companions was infected, that was not good, not good at all. In order to be infected, flood must be close by. But where I wonder? Where?” Order’s tone suddenly darkened and he ceased all merriment. “Flood are not good, I will initiate a planet-wide scan. In a matter of minutes we shall see if there are any more flood present on this planet, yes we shall.” Hayton was a little worried by this, Senor Robot here seemed pretty sane earlier, it’s almost as if he were growing stupider by the second. “Something is wrong?! These Reclaimers’ minds are not their own! Spies! Flood Spies sent to kill me! Do something Adjutant!”

The Sentinels warmed up ready to fire before Hayton shouted aloud, “Wait!” The Sentinels weapons lost their charge and the Monitor turned to Hayton.

“Mind’s Eye here is controlling them, they’re not exactly compliant,” Hayton blurted out.

“Adjutant! I requested that you get them under control. I am disappointed, to say the least,” Order confronted his embarrassed second in command, “release them immediately!”

“Mind’s Eye! Dispel it!” Hayton shouted to the unicorn whose eyes finally opened as the magic field dissipated. The humans suddenly snapped into consciousness as the events of the past twenty minutes flew past their eyes.

“Fuck!” Kowalski shouted as he fell to the floor, no longer being held up by his comrades.

“Sorry man,” Yao said as he clasped his hand and pulled him back up.

“Jesus! It’s a Monitor!” Laura screamed in excitement. “These guys safeguard ancient technology!” Her team were not quite as enthused about this revelation.

“You can’t be serous, didn’t it just mention the possibility of flood on the planet surface? And its guards incinerated Okano,” Bunting shouted. Six-Two-Four Autogenous Order hadn't made the best impression so far.

“Scan is completed. Planet is showing 0.01% infection. Current region is showing 2% infection. Advise problem is dealt with immediately,” Order shouted in his heavily computerised voice. “Oh no, this is not good, flood are present! Sound the alarms!” The metal orb started spinning in circles in a panic. All the crewmen looked at each other, and then back to the Monitor as he suddenly stopped spinning. “Reclaimers! Activate the defence grid! We can eliminate this scourge before it has a chance to begin!” The orb flew forwards and stopped right in front of Laura. “You know protocol right? Well then press the button!” The Monitor flew back over to the other side and a button appeared on a console on the opposing wall. “All you have to do is touch the pad, I can take care of everything else, yes I can,” the Monitor was becoming frantic now.

“Don’t touch the fucking pad, that robot’s just playing us like a fucking fiddle,” Kowalski shouted to the team.

“It can’t be worse than the flood, I’ll press the button, don’t worry," Laura said taking a step forward.

“No you fucking won’t! As Chief of Security, I fucking order you not to press the fucking button!” Kowalski shouted.

“No, no, no! We’ll need more Sentinels to take care of the Flood! Activate it you must!” the Monitor was visibly shaking now.

"You move Laura and I’ll have you court marshalled!” Kowalski retorted. Laura didn’t know which way to go.

“Unacceptable! Simply unacceptable!” the Monitor shouted as his light began to turn red.

“You okay boss? You’re looking a little red…” Hayton began but stopped as a burst of energy shot from the monitor and into Kowalski’s chest. Kowalski screamed as his internal organs fried from the intense heat of the beam, the force throwing him across the room where his body landed, still smoking.

“Fuck!” Bunting shouted diving for cover.

“You will press this button Reclaimer! It is your duty to follow protocol!” Order screamed, “you have a duty, I have a duty, we all must follow protocol!”

“Boss…” Hayton began again but a laser hitting the ground near him made him bite his tongue. Mind’s Eye and Yao took cover behind the same pillar.

“Can’t you just magic it away or something?!” Yao shouted at the unicorn.

“I…I specialise in mental magic! That thing isn’t flesh and blood, I can’t even sense it,” Mind’s Eye replied to the marine, fear gripping his throat.

“I’ll just press the button,” Laura said as she began to walk over to the machine.

“Get back here Laura! Don’t you dare push that button!” Bunting shouted, just before another burst of energy from the monitor forced him back into cover.

Laura walked along uninterrupted, what little she knew about Forerunner artefacts had come from a soldier she had dated for a time. Corporal Davies had served with Sergeant Johnson, the famed sergeant who worked with Master Chief during both Halo incidents. He had told her that as long as you stuck to protocol, Monitors were no danger and that they really hated the flood. Laura stepped forwards and placed her hand onto the console.

The entire room started to shake, throwing the group onto the floor. “Yes! Yes! My purpose is complete! After all these years, I am free,” Order giggle with glee as it floated upwards. The frozen core in the centre of the room suddenly burst into life, firing a blue beam upwards through the earth and into the sky. “You’ve done it! The facility is now online!” Order cackled.

Fallacy

Sweet Apple Acres 8:30 a.m Fifteen and a Half Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration

Private Whitmore had no choice but to watch helplessly as streams of scarlet poured from the two craters in her chest Two submachine gun rounds. I survive an unscheduled ship battle with a superior enemy, a crash landing on a planet in the middle of nowhere and a knife in the eye; yet I’ll die from two fucking bullets in a friendly fire incident. She coughed loudly, staining the wooden floor of the farmhouse with flecks of crimson. Tied up off to her left was Captain Lairsey, who was still out of it, but he twitched every so often. It was more as if he were asleep and dreaming than unconscious. On the other side of the room lay Kendrick, her neck twisted to an almost impossible degree. If Seth hadn’t gone completely loco then I’d have shot Kendrick myself, crazy bitch. This mission has been fucked from the start, the phenomenal amount of guards stationed to guard luggage? Most of the marines shouldn’t even have been on board! Event after event, casualty after casualty, things have gone from bad to worse to completely FUBAR. The UNSC probably has us chalked up as casualties now anyway. Maybe resistance actually was futile.

She looked up again to see that the orange pony had tears running down its face. It appeared to be trying its best to keep pressure on the red one’s chest. Cassandra couldn’t help but feel sorry for the alien, even though she herself lay bleeding everywhere. That pony was the only thing standing between life and death for its injured companion. No matter how hard it seemed to push with its hooves, the scarlet pool under the red one’s body grew ever larger.

On the path into town galloped a little yellow filly, tears streaming along behind her. I jus’ gotta got Nurse Redheart or… or… something bad’ll happen. Everything would be okay the second I get Redheart, it just has to be. The familiar colourful wooden structures of Ponyville beckoned, their bright paint schemes still so happy, almost mocking the fact her brother lay dying at home. She sprinted into the town. She didn’t see a single soul on the way to the clinic, even the air seemed to stand still. She ran up to the clinic’s front entrance and began frantically beating the door with her forehooves.

“Nurse Redheart! Nurse Redheart!” she screamed as she beat on the door. The sound of hoofsteps came from the other side.

“Oh my! Apple Bloom, what’s wrong?” a voice asked concernedly from behind the wooden door

“We’ve got an emergency on the farm! It’s…it’s…it’s ma big brother.” She began to tear up again. The hoofsteps became quicker as the door was yanked open by a white earth pony with a pink mane.

“What happened to Big Macintosh?!” Nurse Redheart shouted worriedly.

“He’s… he’s gotten hurt! Bad! There’s…. there’s blood... everywhere!” The little filly was as pale as a sheet.

“Don’t worry Apple Bloom, I’ll fix him up. Just give me one second, I’ll grab my equipment then we’ll race back there together, okay?” Redheart said hurriedly, looking Apple Bloom in the eyes as she did. The yellow earth pony nodded, trying to hold back the tears. Nurse Redheart sprinted back into the clinic.

Apple Bloom sat down outside, thoughts of life without Big Mac floating around inside her head. She tried to shut them out, tried to concentrate on the fact that Redheart was coming. That everything would be fine, but there was an unwelcome, niggling presence in the back of her head. He’s not going to be fine, he will die and Applejack will blame you for being too slow. Apple Bloom broke into heavy blubbering sobs, soaking the fur on her hooves. As if in sympathy, a large bank of clouds from the Everfree Forest floated overhead, blotting out the warm sunshine. The air grew cold and a bell began to toll from the clock tower in the distance. The door behind Apple Bloom flew open as Redheart galloped out, now with her nurse hat on and saddlebags on her back. The saddlebags bore the same image as Redheart’s cutie mark, a red cross inside a white circle, with a small pink heart in each corner.

“Come on Apple Bloom, we have to hurry!” Redheart shouted before galloping off in the direction of the farm.

Apple Bloom was hot on her tail when they heard the unmistakeable sound of lightning hitting the ground. An Everfree Storm! That’s why the bell rang! Apple Bloom suddenly realised. With Rainbow Dash still in Canterlot, Cloud Kicker was temporarily installed as head of the emergency weather team, and this was an emergency. The bell began to toll again, the loud clang barely audible over the roar of the wind. “Apple Bloom! We have to turn back! It’s getting too dangerous to be outside right now!”

“No! Mah big brother is hurt, he needs help!” Nurse Redheart couldn’t say no to those eyes and the two began to push on. The storm was getting fiercer by the second as the two ponies galloped along the pathway to Sweet Apple Acres. Bucketfuls of rainwater pelted down from the clouds above, drenching the two ponies’ coats.

“We’re gunna have ta cut through tha orchard!” Apple Bloom shouted up front.

“It’s too dangerous, the wind gets any stronger and some of these trees may uproot,” Redheart replied worriedly.

“It’s ta fastest way!” Apple Bloom shouted back.

“It might be safer to get there faster, come on then!” Redheart submitted as they veered off the path and into the orchard.

Between the gale force winds and the sheets of rain, Cloud Kicker had her job cut out for her. Only seven pegasi had turned up, the majority of Ponyville being earth ponies. “Okay you guys, are you ready for this?” she tried to say in her most inspiring voice but it fell flat. The pegasi began to look at their hooves and whisper their concerns. “Look you guys, we need to shunt this storm back into the Everfree Forest. To do that we need to locate the source cloud, now, as you probably know, the source cloud can’t be broken by our hooves, so you just need to keep kicking clouds until there’s only one left. But, these are lightning clouds, you have to grab one, lead it away from Ponyville somewhere where it can’t do damage, then pop it with a well-placed kick. Let’s do this,” Cloud Kicker instructed as quickly as she could before kicking off into the sky and shooting upwards. The other pegasi barrelled after her, intent on helping to deal with the storm.

Apple Bloom could see pegasi scrambling from Ponyville trying to contain and repel the storm threat. Cloud by cloud they seemed to be winning, the storm reducing in size but not in ferocity. A sudden bolt of lightning hit a tree just in front of her switching her attention back to the ground in front. She stumbled, almost tripping over a discarded branch, but managed to grab Redheart’s tail with her teeth and regain her footing.

“Ow!” Redheart shouted, but couldn’t risk a look back, she had to keep her eyes up front. Another crackle of lightning followed by a cry from above signalled one of the pegasi getting hit. Redheart’s eyes were drawn to the sky when a sudden pulse of blue light shot into the sky, hitting dead into the centre of the storm. The clouds suddenly exploded outwards with a loud crackle of energy, throwing the remaining pegasi spiralling out of control.

“Hold steady!” Cloud Kicker screamed as she frantically struggled to regain control. “No storm is going to…” she began when the beam of light pulsed again, another burst of energy knocking her straight back down again. The air rushed past her as she writhed in pain, the electric energy had shocked her system. Her eyes began to close, she couldn’t fight it any more as she plummeted towards the ground. Just when she thought she was done for, Derpy Hooves barrelled into her side, catching her awkwardly. “Derpy…” Cloud Kicker whispered with what little strength she still had, “you need to… take care of this storm.” Cloud Kicker coughed theatrically then added with a half-hearted smile, “I’ll be fine, put me down and get back up there.”
“Don’t worry, Derpy is on the case!” the grey mare exclaimed enthusiastically, placing Cloud Kicker gently upon the ground and saluting, before shooting back up into the sky. Cloud Kicker smiled again as she sank into unconsciousness.

Nurse Redheart burst through the final few trees to see the farmhouse on the hill. The wind was proper fierce now, tearing entire branches from the trees and hefting them like clubs. She ducked and dived, dodging discarded, items slung randomly by the destructive force. “Apple Bloom! You still with me!” she shouted as loud as she could behind her, the gale carrying most of her voice away with the wind.

“I’m here! We just gotta climb up on that hill!” the filly yelled from behind her, the ferocity of her shout grinding her throat. Redheart nodded determinedly and charged up the hill, still trying her best to avoid the airborne debris. Apple Bloom crawled after her, ducking under the majority of the wind. The pair of them struggled up the hilled path, mere metres from the farmhouse. With one last charge they broke through the front door and slammed it shut behind them, the roaring wind dying down to a mere shout behind the thick wooden walls. The two of them galloped into the lounge to see Big Mac still lay sprawled on the floor, Applejack stood over him, her hoof holding in his scarlet life-force. Applejack’s face was covered in a mix of tears and sweat, her entire abdomen was painted a deep crimson from the dried blood that stained her short fur coat. She looked like something out of a horror movie, her signature hat covered Big Mac’s face, hiding his eyes from view. Nurse Redheart didn’t have to look twice to tell that the stallion was dead.

Temple of Monocularism 8:40 a.m. Fifteen and a bit Hours Until The Summer Sun Celebration

Corporal Yao watched in horror as a pulse of blue energy shot forth from the core, passing through Laura Berneche. Laura didn’t even have time to scream before the wave hit her, splitting her into her atomic components and scattering her into nothingness. The pulse finished as quickly as it began, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

“The Installation is now active,” Six-Two-Four Autogenous Order announced happily. “It is most unfortunate that she was vaporised. She should really have been wearing at least a level eighteen technician skin.

“You cold bastard!” Bunting spat out, his forehead visibly bulging.

The monitor continued either not hearing or ignoring the furious sergeant. “The slumbering planet awakens!” The Monitor turned sharply to his still shocked Adjutant. “Prepare the followers for their ascent!” it ordered, visibly shaking with excitement. It then began to hum a little ditty as it rose upwards into the air.

“Don’t you dare fly away from me, you talking tin twat!” Bunting shouted, lunging towards the Monitor. A pulsating beam of orange slammed into his chest mid-leap, throwing him back onto the ground. He landed on his back with a hard smack, his head lulling to the side.

“Under enforcement article 675/B you have been officially warned to cease transgressions against the Monitor and its constructs. Any further actions will warrant a lethal reaction,” one of the sentinels boomed out in a clearly computerised voice.

Hayton watched the scene unfurl in front of him. He then turned to the still awaiting Monitor. “Yes… yes sir!” Hayton stuttered out, his entire body quivering.

“Good, I will scout out the Flood encroachment with my sentinels, make sure nothing interferes while I’m gone,” Autogenous Order replied. The four robots flew up through the hole in the planet that the blue pulse had made. As soon as they had cleared the hole another blue pulse shot out, this time shaking the installation.

“What the hell just happened?!” Yao shouted as he examined Bunting’s injury.

“I don’t know! This wasn’t meant to happen! The One-Eyed One is supposed to deliver upon us the knowledge of the ancients! Not vaporise prisoners!” Hayton shouted at the top of his voice, his face the colour of beetroot. “They’re supposed to be our deliverance! This was supposed to be our deliverance…” Hayton trotted out of the room, sealing the door behind him.

“Look, Yao was it?” Mind’s Eye turned to Corporal Ming Yao who nodded in reply. “I think it’s now abundantly clear that my superiors have lost it. We need to shut this installation back down,” he whispered to Yao.

“Don’t you believe in salvation?” Yao snorted derisively.

“No I don’t. I never really believed in this place, I’m here because I need to be, not because I want to be,” Minds replied nervously.

“I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“How can I trust you?” Minds quip was met with a glare from Yao. “Look, I’m going to need some assistance here and everyone else in this scum-hole is too blinded by their stupid faith to see what’s really going on! Your friends just got frazzled; it’s just me and you now!” Mind’s Eye was shouting now, clearly annoyed by Yao’s lack of response.

“Bunting isn’t dead,” Yao said plainly.

“No he isn’t, I can feel his brain buzzing. But judging from his level of activity…” Mind’s Eye’s horn glowed a bright white then faded again. “… I’d say he’s got another three, make that four hours of unconsciousness. You and I could end this and get him out of here easily by then.”

Yao’s brow furrowed and he put his hand to his chin. After a few minutes of deep concentration, he came back with a vaguely committal nod. “Fine. I’ll bite. You got a plan?”

“Of course. Stick with me and we can fix all of this in no time,” Mind’s Eye said with a beaming smile on his face. Mind’s Eye unlocked the door with his horn and stepped outside to find a legion of guardsponies standing outside. Yao ducked back inside, sticking to the wall as the door shut again. The ponies all wore the armour of the Canterlot Guard, Mind’s Eye even recognised a few of them.

“Mind’s Eye?” A voice called through the throng of guardsponies who split into two columns as she passed. A young pink pegasus stood in a suit of jade armour, with a quiver of arrows on her back.

“Precious. I should have known Bejewelled Sabre would stab me in the back,” he said as she strode forwards through the crowd.

“Can you blame us? Ponies like us, we live for profit, we take the greatest risks so we can reap the greatest rewards. You’re a bright kid Minds, with a bright future. In case you haven’t seen, something really crazy is happening outside. This… secret facility just broadcasted its location to everypony this side of the planet. Now, Sabre knows this has something to do with those bothersome humans. You give us them back, I let you walk.”

Mind’s Eye hesitated at this ultimatum, he couldn’t give Sabre his last card. Without this ace up his sleeve he would be out of the game, a game that could change Equestria forever. Then his eyes blinked wide open, a clever smile erupting on his face. “What about Marius? If I don’t send my assassin the target, then they won’t act.”

Precious gave a snigger and started tutting. “That won’t save you right now. Eagle Eye is on standby.”

“My guy is an expert when it comes to staging accidents. Eagle Eye’s a straight-up shooter, sure, but everything about his hits screams professional. You need him ergo you need me, and I need a human. You can take the other one if you want.” Mind’s Eye knew that this was the only way he stood a chance of surviving this escapade. They wouldn’t rub him out if he stuck with Yao.

“Other one? I was told that you took five,” Precious said, looking at him quizzically.

“We needed them for…” Mind’s Eye began.

“Charge! For the One-Eyed-One!” Hayton screamed, using his talent to magnify his voice to almost deafening proportions. He was now dressed in a full suit of plate armour, his face obscured by the grille of his helmet. The guardsponies suddenly found themselves being attacked on all sides by heavily armoured and armed, if not very well trained, ponies. Hayton charged from the left side, flanked by a large group of earth ponies and unicorns toting all manner of weapons from pikes to flails to battleaxes. With a deafening crash the bulk of the Followers ploughed into the Guard, cries of pain and grunts of effort filled the air as the two forces went at each other.

Mind’s Eye breathed a sigh of relief and pulled open the door to the core room again. Yao was sitting against the wall next to the door but stood up when he entered.

“What the hell is going on out there?!” Yao shouted at the distressed unicorn.

“We need to be gone now! You’re as much my ticket out of here as I am yours. Stick close to me if you want to live and I’ll try my best to get us both through this in one piece. I’m afraid your friend will have to remain here but we’ve got to leave! Now!”

“Fine, Get us out of here then, oh magical one,” Yao replied sarcastically.

“Get on my back and we’ll charge through them.”

“On your back?” Yao looked very unsure at this suggestion.

“Yes! Right now! Let’s move!” Mind’s Eye was screaming at Yao now.

Yao sighed and walked over to the blue pony. He carefully mounted the unicorn, having to tuck his legs in to avoid dragging them along the ground. He suddenly found himself hurtling forward as the unicorn kicked into overdrive, shooting through the open doorway and into the battlefield.

Both sides seemed evenly matched, the expensive weaponry and armour of the Monocularists against the training and tactics of the Guard. The clang of metal against metal was deafening, punctuated only by the occasional cry of pain as a weapon met its mark. The dazzling gold armour of the Guard contrasted heavily against the greys and silvers of the Followers despite the many, many colours the ponies came in. Up above, groups of Pegasi smashed into each other, occasionally showering the combatants below in blood.

Mind’s Eye charged through the battlefield dodging attacks from both sides. It seems the Followers knew he had betrayed them. Yao found himself constantly ducking to avoid wild stabs out with spears and pikes. The pair tried to stay away from the thick of it, but the fight had spilled out from the centre and now overtook the entire chamber. A purple earth pony with a trident almost caught Mind’s Eye in the flank but he twisted at the last moment, kicking out with his leg before continuing to run away. An arrow sailed through the air, hitting a pony right in front of them who spun around wildly with an axe in rebuttal. Yao ducked as far as he could, burying his head into the unicorn’s mane. They managed to just slip under the axe’s wild swings and carried on fleeing.

After another close call with a dive-bombing Pegasus, Mind’s Eye’s horn began to glow again as it created a shimmering blue force field around the duo. Weapons clattered harmlessly off the shield but every hit slowed Mind’s Eye down as he focused more on sustaining it. The exit was in sight now, heartening the two of them as Mind’s Eye put the rest of his energy into a desperate charge. Mere metres away another arrow soared through the air and ignored the force field, burying itself in Mind’s Eye’s leg. With a wild howl he tripped up throwing Yao across the threshold of the door.

“Mind’s Eye! Get in here! I can seal the door from the inside!” Yao shouted before ducking around the wall as another arrow almost made its mark.

“He isn’t going anywhere!” A ridiculously loud voice bellowed out as Hayton finished off a green unicorn and turned to face them.

“Back off old man! My arrow stopped his escape therefore this kill’s mine!” A pink pegasus snarled at the armoured unicorn as she flew over to Mind’s Eye.

“Oh no you don’t!” Hayton shouted as his armoured horn began to glow a deep orange. A throwing knife levitated off his belt before shooting into the air with such speed that it whistled. Precious tried to alter her flight course but the knife still caught her left wing casing her to spiral out of control.

“You’ll pay for that!” Precious screamed, jumping to her hooves. She swiftly drew her bow and fired five arrows in quick succession.

Hayton’s horn glowed once more as he lowered his head in concentration. When nothing happened he stepped back in shock before the five arrows impacted into his tough armour, knocking him off his hooves.

“Tempered glass arrows, not affected by magic,” Precious sneered at the collapsed unicorn. Before she could react another knife had buried itself in her eye. She screamed in pain as she flailed about wildly.

“Custom-fit steel plate armour, not affected by most attacks,” The orange unicorn replied as his knife hit its mark. Before he could celebrate properly a pair of pegasi guards smashed into his side throwing him back to the floor.

Seeing Hayton struggling with the two guardsponies, Precious attempted to take to the air again, but her crippled left wing made her completely off balance and she quickly crashed again. Seeing no other course, she pulled out her short sword and charged at Hayton.

Hayton kicked out as hard as he could with his steel-clad hoof, knocking one of the guardsponies right back out of the fight. The other guardspony backed away from his flailing limbs and picked up a spear. Hayton rolled out of the way just as the guardsman stabbed downwards, and leapt to his hooves. He jabbed out viciously with his horn and caught the guardspony in the chest, before finding a sword buried in his back.

“Goodbye Hayton,” A voice called out as he collapsed to his knees. With a last burst of magic the spear that lay impaled into the ground flew out and shot right behind him earning a cry of pain before he fell to the ground and blacked out.

Mind’s Eye managed to crawl the rest of the way to the doorway, dragging his body with his forehooves as the two leaders battled unaware behind him. A short sharp scream sounded out just as he crossed the threshold. With a loud bang the door shut behind him and the sound of the battle behind died down.

“You okay?” Yao said concernedly as he crouched beside the injured pony.

“I can’t move my rear leg man, help me up and I should be able to hop along beside you,” Mind’s Eye replied with a masking smile. Yao picked up the injured unicorn and, sure enough, he could manage an odd hobble. “I’ll lead the way, the stuff we took from you will be in the R&D labs. Once your armed we can try and shut down whatever it is we started,” Minds announced with as much bravado as he could muster. He turned to face a long hallway and began to plod, Yao walking alongside.

Trottingham Forest, 1:00 p.m Eleven Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration

Trottingham was the biggest town in the Bark Lowlands, thanks to its central location. The town was built around its market and, as it was exactly in the middle of the other three major towns in the region, many goods flowed through the town. Metals were sent down from the mining town of Stonehewn, the bounties of the sea from the fishing village of Hoofby and all manner of organic products from the farming village of Clopton. All of these goods eventually reached Trottingham where discerning buyers from all over Equestria would purchase in bulk, or pick up a few choice items. Many craftsponies made their homes in Trottingham too, due to the abundance of natural resources available there so the market was almost full to bursting with natural and pony-made products. It was also the site of this year’s Summer Sun Celebration so tourists thronged the streets in massive numbers.

On the outskirts of town sat Trottingham forest, which was one of the largest natural forests in the kingdom, and supplied most of the wood that ponies everywhere used. The Everfree forest may be considerably larger, but the wild magic there made the place ridiculously dangerous. Trottingham forest was a cakewalk in comparison, usually, but several of the townsfolk had mentioned an unusually high amount of disappearances in that area lately, so Gracchus had led his investigation team there. Thirty-five strong guardsponies would be enough to discourage all but the most determined beast so Gracchus had only selected five of his best to accompany him into the forest. The other thirty had been split into groups of ten and sent to the three biggest towns nearby.

Gracchus strode at the front of the group, the earth pony had donned a worn steel cuirass instead of his ceremonial glistening armour, they were trying to be stealthy so the dulled grey shouldn’t make them stand out as much. Behind him strode his newly promoted second, Tertius, along with another pegasus and two unicorn guards that had been dubbed “The Tedious Twins” by their comrades. The small group stuck to the central pathway for fear of getting lost in the thick undergrowth. The trotting of their hooves was the only sound, unusual for a lively forest like this. The guard kept a professional pace, despite the uneasy looks on the two pegasuses’ faces. A bush ahead started rustling and then, with a deafening cry, a bird shot out and into the air.

“Something is definitely off here, sir,” Tertius said with a sigh of relief from behind. The eerie silence made the air thick with tension. Tertius’s gaze shifted from tree to tree, but the only other movement was from the wind blowing through the boughs.

“I agree with you there captain, no forest should ever be this… static,” Gracchus replied from up front, “but we have an objective to complete. Apparently there’s a small logging camp along this route, if anypony is going to know what’s going on here, it’ll be the lumberjacks.”

“Roger that,” Tertius acknowledged, trotting behind the aging general. Once again they sank into the oppressive silence, but marched on as best they could.

After another ten minutes of silent marching the other pegasus who was with them, Gallus, piped up, “Sir! I could fly up and see if I can spot the camp, if you wanted, sir!”

“Hmm, yes, I’d imagine it would be an easy matter to spot the camp from up above,” Gracchus replied, rubbing his chin with a hoof whilst still keeping pace. “Yes, that would be a good idea. But I wouldn’t want to send somepony off by themselves. Take Tertius with you, when you spot the place come straight back. Oh and stick to the pathway or you might never be able to spot us again,” Gracchus ordered.

“Of course, sir!” The two pegasi barked in reply before taking to the air. Gracchus motioned to the two unicorns to move up and take their place.

“See, you can already see it! That large wooden crane just has to be the lumber mill,” Gallus motioned to a distant wooden spire poking above the thick canopy.

“Well that was easy,” Tertius said with a laugh. “The path seems to take a pointlessly long route though,” he said motioning to the twisting trail that the others were following.

“We might as well check the place out before we go back and tell them, right?” Gallus asked, earning a shrug from the other pegasus. “Well I will then, coming?”

“Why not?” Tertius said with another shrug and the two pegasi flew towards the spire. As they got closer it became even clearer that it was a lumber camp. But something was wrong, the camp was completely silent.

The two pegasi landed in the centre of the camp, by the large mess hall which would normally be full of excitedly talking ponies on break. A chill breeze blew through the fabric of the tents, carrying a light whistling sound with it. Tertius shivered apprehensively, the tension of the forest was nothing compared to this. A bird cawed in the distance then was quickly silenced.

“I think we should head back now Gallus, this place is a dead-end,” Tertius said nervously, his eyes darting around the camp for any sign of trouble.

“No way, whatever destroyed this camp is probably the same thing that’s been abducting villagers. It’s our duty to find out what it is and stop it!” Gallus shouted confidently.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t. I’m just suggesting we fly back and get the others first,” Tertius whispered, visibly quaking.

“You can. I’m going to find out what in discord caused all this,” Gallus waved Tertius away and began to trot into the mess hall.

“Wait! We’ve got to stick together!” Tertius shouted as he galloped after him.

The front door was unhinged and the lock had physically broken off. It was as if something large had rammed it down. On the other side the wooden floors were stained a mix of crimson and yellow. Meals lay scattered around the place in various stages of consumption. Tertius dipped his hoof into a mug of coffee. “Still warm, whatever happened here can’t have happened long ago,” he said turning to his confident colleague. The two trotted further into the hall, the kitchens might yield some evidence as to what more happened here. Tertius couldn’t help but look nervously around, trying to piece together the events that would have caused this.

“As best as I can figure it. Something happened here during dinner time. Almost all of the ponies would have been in this hall enjoying dinner. Something then attacked from outside. Look at the way some of the chairs lay on the ground, as if somepony had jumped to their feet and galloped away. If I had to guess, this red that seems to be scattered everywhere is blood. The yellow flecks I don’t have a clue about, they might belong to the attacker. Or should I say attackers, look at the hoof prints in the blood, there’s two different types. The attackers must have at least been equine. Someponies closer to the door tried to bolt it shut but they burst through and killed them, the remainder seem to have fled into the kitchens, though the blood splattered here and there could signify some ere cut down while fleeing,” Tertius said to his comrade, pointing out the physical evidence whenever he spotted it. Once he finished the gravity of what he had just said suddenly hit him and he physically paled. “Okay, once we’ve checked the kitchens we are leaving! Okay?!” he shouted worriedly to Gallus.

“Fine, but if Gracchus complains, then it’s your fault for being such a foal,” Gallus said with a sigh. Tertius ignored the second half of that statement and trotted on a little bit more confidently now. Gallus pushed open the door to the kitchen tenderly with his hoof. It was pitch black inside, but there was a horrific stench that almost made him throw up. He unfurled his wings and beat back the stench, blowing it back into the room.

“By Celestia, that is the foulest stench I’ve ever smelt!” Gallus said, physically retching. Tertius noticed the darkness inside and went back to fetch a candle from one of the many receptacles that adorned the walls.

“I’ve got a candle but I need a light!” Tertius shouted to the still flapping Gallus.

“I can just make out a stove in here! You toss me the candle and I’ll get it lit,” Gallus yelled back. Tertius trotted up behind him and passed the unlit candle. Gallus took a deep breath and galloped over to the stove, twisting its dial. A harsh buzzing sound seemed to be coming from the darkened corner. Within seconds a flame appeared on the centre hob and Gallus thrust his candle into it. The candle lit considerably brighter than he had expected, almost making him drop it. “Damn magic boosted candles,” he mumbled then realised his mistake as his sense were bombarded by the same cloying odour that seems to force its way down his throat. Gagging he spun around to see a sight almost as grotesque as the smell.

Corpse lay piled upon each other, body after body tossed messily into a heap. Flies buzzed all around the mound of flesh. Not all the bodies were intact either, a missing limb there, a massive gouge there. They were all savaged and coated with dried blood. There was something else though, the bodies seemed to be fused together by some kind of yellow substance, almost like a tree root. Gallus couldn’t hold it back any longer and threw up all over the floor; it took all of his willpower not to faint.

“You okay in there Gallus? What is it?!

“I’m… I’m fine! Stay out there, I’ll be out… in a second,” Gallus shouted in-between retches.

“Are you sure? You sound pretty…” Tertius began.

“I’m fine! Don’t come in here!” Gallus shouted, turning away from the sight and towards the door. After a few seconds he began to drag himself slowly back to the exit.

“Hurry it up in there! Things are getting crazy out here!” Tertius shouted, his voice wavering with fear. Gallus picked up the pace and walked out of the room. His face was pallid and sickly, his eyes set back and gaunt. “What the hell happened to you in there?!” Tertius shouted upon seeing the state Gallus was in. Gallus hesitated and shook his head. “You know what, I don’t want to know. Let’s just get out of here,” Tertius said with a sigh and began to trot back out of the mess hall. Gallus stared at his hooves for a few seconds, breathing out heavily, when a sharp hiss sounded out behind him. He spun around, it was coming from back inside the darkened room. With a frightened yelp he galloped after Tertius.

Tertius pushed open the front door and walked outside. A shrill shriek suddenly sounded to his left, causing him to flinch and reach for his ears. Shambling on its three legs came an extremely sickly looking pony. Its skin was a dark green whilst its fur hung off in great clumps. Its distended stomach was bloated with bulbous sores. “What in Celestia’s name is that thing!” Tertius shouted. The door behind him was suddenly bucked open and a frantic Gallus sprinted out.

“They’re still alive! The corpses are walking! Let’s get the buck out of here, right now!” Gallus shouted unfurling his wings and taking to the sky. Tertius followed quickly followed suit. “At least they can’t get us up here right?” Gallus said, looking for reassurance from his cohort. As if in reply, a saw blade flew through the air and embedded itself in Tertius’s flank causing him to scream in pain. Gallus screwed his eyes up, searching frantically for the thrower while Tertius spun around, crying with pain. “There! Those unicorns can still use their magic! Flee!” Gallus shouted as he shot away, speeding straight back to the nearby town.

“Wait up! Wait for me! Tertius shouted after him, trying to adopt a comfortable flying position which was near impossible with a saw embedded in his flank. Just then he heard a sound that made the blood freeze in his veins. The sound of pegasus wing’s. He spun around and sure enough a pair of rather bedraggled looking pegasi had taken to flight after him. Tertius knew there was no way he’d be able to outrun them with this saw in him, and he couldn’t fight them alone. Then with a relieved smile he remembered Gracchus and the unicorns were still trotting the path. Putting his last ounce of strength in he turned and sped away from the camp, following the twisting pathway.

Mobilisation

Sugar Cube Corner, 8:30 a.m Fifteen and a Half Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration

“Calm down Pinkie, everything’s going to be fine,” Bon Bon cooed reassuringly to the distraught pink pony. Pinkie just stared down at the floor, her straight hair obscuring her face.

“Oh lay off it Bons, she isn’t going to pull out of it. We need to turn in soon if we want to see the sunrise,” Lyra said with a sigh, putting her hoof gently on Bon Bon’s shoulder.

“We can’t just leave her like this! Do me a favour and get one of her friends,”

“But Bons…”

“Just do what I tell you to do!” Bon Bon snapped, before sighing and adding in a softer voice, “Please, just do this Lyra then we can go catch some sleep.”

“Fine… but you owe me one,” Lyra said with a cheeky smile before trotting out of the room.

“Don’t worry Pinkie. Your friends will be here soon, they’re sure to put a smile back on your face,” Bon Bon said, stroking Pinkie’s mane lightly. Pinkie didn’t react at all, continuing to stare at the floor.

Lyra didn’t know quite where to go right now. Pinkie had a number of good friends, but the best candidate would be Twilight. But didn’t Twilight go on a trip somewhere? Along with Rarity and Rainbow Dash? Maybe she should check with the two ponies that definitely weren’t currently in Canterlot. But Fluttershy’s Cottage and Sweet Apple Acres are so far out of town, Lyra thought to herself. After a little time to think, she reached a conclusion with an exasperated sigh, before turning around and starting to trot in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage.

When she was passing by the library a deep rumble in the sky made her look up. Her eyes widened fearfully, she recognised an Everfree storm when she saw one. Somepony had to warn everypony else! She lowered her gaze and set her sights on Ponyville Clock Tower. Of course! A ring of the bell should send the weather team scrambling. Lyra galloped to the looming tower and into the front door. Inside was a big empty room with a spiral staircase in the centre, leading all the way up to the top floor. The stairwell looked as if it might rise into the stratosphere. Lyra strained her eyes but still couldn’t see the top. With a cry of anger she charged up the stairs. It’s critical that the bell rings out, despite how many damnable steps there are.

Five minutes later and her hooves were unbelievably sore, her legs felt like they had lead weights attached to them. Her breathing had become ragged but still she charged on, galloping the whole way. A casual glance upwards showed her the trapdoor laid only two stories higher. Armed with this knowledge, her energy redoubled and she pushed on upwards. With a hard buck the trapdoor flew open and Lyra clambered up through it. A colossal bell lay just above the centre of this new room, its mammoth girth completely filling her view. How on Equestria am I going to ring that thing? A casual glance leftwards answered her question. Hanging down from the bell was a long rope that was coiled around a large cylindrical hole in the centre of the room. If only the bloody rope was actually in place! Then I could have just rung it from down there! Lyra cursed silently.

She carefully inched around the hole and grabbed the rope in her mouth. She pulled as hard as she could yet the rope resisted. With a grunt of effort she pulled again, the rope still would not give. Putting all her remaining energy into one last pull she yanked the rope for all its worth but stumbled backwards and tripped. Down she plummeted, kicking out wildly with her legs. She held onto the rope as hard as she could with her teeth, her last lifeline. The air whipped past her face, tearing at her frail body. A single thought flashed across her mind, I’m not going to make it. She saw herself splatter against the floor like a water balloon full of blood. The rope went taut at the last second, almost pulling her teeth out with the suddenness of the change. The bell tolled once, the deafening, ringing noise reverberating around the tower which actually shook along with it. She chanced a look down but the floor was still quite a drop away.

She had hung there for quite a while, afraid to let go, when a spark of inspiration hit her. The bell rope has to touch the ground for easy ringing yet this rope was too short. This meant the rope had to be caught on something. She began to tug the rope manually with her mouth hoping to pull the remainder down, but whatever it had gotten caught on kept it in place. It was times like she wished she’d learn that teleportation spell that Twilight was always harping on about. Suddenly a loud snapping noise echoed from above. Once again she flew downwards but then suddenly upward and then downwards again. Every tug was a ring of the bell and with every ring she drew closer to the floor. After six full tolls she could finally touch the ground, releasing the cord with a sigh of relief. With extremely shaky legs she stumbled back towards the front door, almost tripping over herself.

A few steadying moments later and Lyra was galloping to Twilight’s Library. Her hooves steady patter inaudible from the crackle of lightning overhead and the roar of wind all around. The huge tree was just around the next corner. A deafening bolt of lightning crashed down hitting the ground metres in front of her. With a frightened scream she reared up on her hooves almost falling backwards. Up above another scream seamed to echo hers as a yellow pegasus with a blue mane tumbled head over heels out of the sky. With a loud gulp, Lyra swallowed down her terror and belted forwards in a seemingly vain attempt to save the pegasus. Lyra’s horn began to glow.

Raindrops attempted to shield her face with her hooves, bracing herself for an impact that didn’t happen. Her eyes shot back open and she looked up. Lyra held out her hoof and pulled Raindrops back up, her right wing looked badly singed.

“Are you okay?” Lyra asked the clearly injured pegasus. Before Raindrops could reply another bolt of lightning shot towards them. Lyra looked up in horror as the bolt was on course to hit them, but it suddenly peeled to the left and collided with a small metal rod on top of the library. With a sigh of relief Lyra motioned with her head towards the library and the two of them started to gallop there.

Canterlot Castle, 12:30 a.m. Eleven and a Half Hours until the Summer Sun Celebration

Brigandine Sabre walked onto the stage to a round of enthusiastic stomping from the assembled guardsponies. “My fellow guardsponies, I have called you all here for a matter of grave importance. Each one of you has proven yourself able and driven, yet you also question your orders. Celestia has been in power for thousands of years, she may hide behind her advisors and claim this is a constitutional monarchy, but we all know it isn’t. She claims to rule through kindness yet she is the most powerful entity on the planet. She claims to care about the average pony yet consistently slacks in her court duties. She claims that the average pony is better off now than they were before her reign, but where is her proof? Lately, she has shown weakness. She has demonstrated she is willing to put family above security. Princess Luna may have been a changed pony, but all we had to prove that was her word. If it had been anypony else Celestia wouldn’t have hesitated to obliterate them to prevent a repeat action. But she didn’t, she endangered the entire castle on the off-chance that she was right. Is that something a ‘Wise and Benevolent’ leader should do? And then a couple of months ago when Discord broke free. Who chose to make the statue garden a tourist destination and who fled the castle when Discord took control? I’m sure I speak for all of us when I question how powerful she really is. Has she ever actually proven she raises the sun? Brothers and Sisters, this should no longer be an age where we worship false gods. Now is the age of pony! It is our task… nay, our duty to depose the tyrant and bring equality to this land."

“Celestia may be weaker in her aged state, but that don’t make her stupid!” a plucky pony piped up from one corner of the crowd.

“Yeah! And we don’t want no robot ruling over us. She has to be assos… assoc… relatable,” another guardspony shouted from the crowd.

“She has to be able to perform in her duties no matter the cost. No ruler should ever put family above country!” Sabre retorted angrily, banging her hoof on the podium.

“It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?” a nervous voice questioned quietly.

“That’s not the point! What if it hadn’t worked out? What if we all now slaved to Nightmare Moon and her requests?! Would we still believe Celestia had good intentions?!” the guard next to him asked the crowd.

“She took a gambit and it paid off. What’s the harm in that?” the same voice replied with more confidence.

Brigandine Sabre hadn’t counted on such resistance. Right now heated debates were taking place in the crowd, it seemed even those unsure of Celestia’s rule would still follow her irrespectively. The Guard doctrine was too strong. She could however identify those who would stay loyal to her and her cause. Right now a quick mental tally put it at twenty of the eighty guardsponies present who would be willing to follow her. A sudden burst of blue energy in the bay window opposite grabbed her attention. An unusual occurrence to be sure, but something about it seemed oddly familiar to Sabre. Realisation hit her along with a wicked idea.

“Precious,” she whispered quietly to the pink pegasus stood beside her.

“Sabre,” Precious whispered back awkwardly.

“I need you to take those unsure of where their loyalties lie and take care of the Monocularists.”

“The who?”

“A group of cultists, Mind’s Eye is a member. They’re the group that kidnapped the humans. I’m going to need those humans and the cultists dead.”

“What?!” Precious cried out incredulously, earning stares from some of the ponies in the crowd. She then added quietly and a little abashedly, “Why?”

“Those humans have served their purpose as have the Monocularists. I don’t know what they had planned for those humans but whatever it was could be game-changing. I need them to not interfere with our plans.”

“What about Marius? I thought that Minds was to take care of him?”

“I’ll take care of Marius, don’t worry about that. Make sure you take care of Mind’s Eye. He is the only thing that links me to that group. Once he’s out of the way and the humans aren’t a problem, we can act on Marius, and with Marius taken care of I should take my position as head of the guard. A change here, a change there and the guard should begin to doubt their “benevolent” leader. That’s when we can finally strike.”

“An excellent plan Sabre,” Precious said with a snigger.

“Take everypony you see arguing for Celestia on this special assignment. As soon as I’ve taken care of the humans in Ponyville, I’ll meet you at the facility. Just follow the blue pulse,” Sabre ordered confidently.

“Good luck Sabre,” Precious said, holding out her hoof.

“Good luck to you too.” Sabre took her hoof and shook. With a nod Sabre turned and approached the crowd. “Will the following ponies stand up and move though to the next room. I have a special assignment for them. The rest of you will be working with Precious here; there is an emergency situation out on the Flats. Good luck everypony.” With that Sabre read out the names of the twenty ponies she had seen fighting for her in the debates, the bearers of said names headed into the next room. Sabre nodded to the crowd at the end and went to join them.

Sabre walked into the adjoining room with a confident strut, many of the ponies in here she knew well, and trusted most of them. “Okay guardsponies, we have an important assignment, Celestia wants us to recover all the humans in Ponyville. Now that would give Celestia an edge in the coming days, for instance, if these humans were to divulge any information that Celestia could use to paint herself in a positive light. Well, you can see how that would be bad for our cause. So we are going to take a few choice humans into our custody whilst the rest will be eliminated. After speaking with Doctor Stamford, the only human in Celestia’s care, I have identified two other choice humans. The Engineer, Vincent Sinclair, and the Captain, Seth Lairsey. With those two and Stamford in our possession we will have a wealth of knowledge within grasping distance. Knowledge that should help us overthrow Celestia and her rule. The other four there should be eliminated, hopefully we can tell Celestia that they all went down fighting and provide their bodies as proof. Any questions?” she left a brief pause but nopony spoke up. “Good, then let’s go.”

Canterlot Castle, 11:40 a.m. 12 and around half hours until the Summer Sun Celebration

Luna covered her mouth with her hooves to prevent a sharp gasp giving her away. She had found a note on her chamber door stating that Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre had called an emergency meeting, inviting some of the less scrupulous members of the guard. Naturally that had aroused her suspicion and she had concealed herself inside the room adjoining the supposed meeting place. When the guardsponies had marched in she had cast a simple invisibility spell and was now focusing some of her attention on maintaining it. The remainder of her consciousness was running through the implications of this in her mind. They couldn’t possibly believe that… that… foal could they? How could they ever view ‘Tia as a tyrant? She was the best thing to ever happen to pony-kind. Sure she had been a bit off lately but she had served dutifully for over a thousand years. None of these ponies could ever claim such commitment. Still, if they were serious, I have to do something! The sound of armour jangling pulled her from her thoughts as she looked forwards to see the guardsponies marching out of the room. Eventually they all trickled out, all except for one.

Luna’s blood froze in her veins at the sound of a voice. “You know I can see you, right? Princess Luna,” the aged guardspony said looking directly at where she was stood. “Don’t worry it’s me, Piercing Sight. I’m the one who told you about the meeting; that was my penmanship on the note.” Luna stood there, noticeably perturbed at this unicorn’s ability to see her. Piercing Sight waited for her to reply, staring into her eyes.

“We thank you for this Piercing Sight. You have done Equestria a great service,” Luna managed to force out between teeth gritted with fear.

“I’m just doing my duty Luna. I’m afraid to say I agree with some of what they’re saying, but I don’t agree with their methods. I will be staying out of this, my part is done. Count yourself lucky my loyalty extends this far,” Piercing Sight said vehemently before turning to leave.

“Wait! Piercing, would you do us one last favour?” Luna jumped forwards awkwardly, her hoof outstretched.

“I’m out of favours. Good luck Princess,” the unicorn sneered before trotting back into the other room.

Luna felt conflicted; on one hoof this pony had just blown the whistle on a major conspiracy. On the other hoof he had agreed with that Sabre mare about Celestia’s unfitness to rule. Luna shook herself to clear her head before teleporting back to her guards’ section of the barracks. A group of the Lunar Division guards had been sat around playing poker when Luna appeared beside the table. She watched stifling a laugh as the guards scrambled to their hooves and saluted her. Her laugh quickly vanished from her lips as she remembered what she had to tell them.

“Guardsponies, we need your assistance! A coup! A coup is in progress by some of Celestia’s guard! We don’t know how deep this… infestation runs, but I can only trust in you guardsponies right now,” Luna babbled out quickly.

“Calm down Ma’am, tell us more about this plot. You must understand our hesitance to act on such extreme information with so little proof,” the Luna captain, Houston, said after some deliberation.

“There’s not enough time!” Luna shouted; earning a few doubting looks from some of the more experienced ponies. “Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre is rallying the majority of the Celestial Guard to try and overthrow Celestia herself. She seems to believe that the humans are the only way she is going to accomplish this! We have to act now and intercept those humans before she captures them!”

“I’m sorry Mistress, but I’m finding this very hard to believe. Brigandine Sabre is a decorated hero, she’s the one who saved that human from being captured by those Crimson Hooves,” Houston said as softly as he could despite the severity of the subject matter.

“But… But…” Luna began.

“I believe her! There’s no way she could make something like that up!” Luna turned to see who had spoken up for her and saw the smiling face of Buzz, one of the ponies that had accompanied her during the failed diplomatic mission.

“Look, excuse me Princess, but there is no way we are going to act on the advice of a rookie and a leader who’s been in deep space for the last thousand years!” Houston shouted angrily before he could control himself.

“Houston, we have a problem. Only our combined forces can deal with this threat. We cannot trust the remainder of the Celestial Guard. We need you to trust us,” Luna reasoned, albeit weakly.

“Neil, I’ve come to trust you over the years. If you think what Buzz and Luna are saying is true, then I’ll give them
the assistance they require. But be it on your head,” Houston turned to Neil, a veteran guardspony and the other guard who accompanied Luna on the previous assignment.

“I’m going to regret this,” he mumbled partially to himself with a sigh. He then loudly announced to the crowd, “We are sworn to serve Luna. I may not agree with acting on such little information, but it is our duty and she seems sure of herself.” Neil sided with Luna and Buzz.

“Fine. I’ll take the message to Celestia, she’ll listen to me. Everypony else should stick with Luna and head to Ponyville. Neil I’m putting you in charge of this operation. Don’t let me down,” Houston submitted, patting Neil on the shoulder with his hoof before leaving the room.

“You heard the boss. I’ll be splitting us into two groups. Moon Dancer, Comet you’re going with Buzz and Luna. Apollo, Zag, Night Weaver; you’re all with me. We’ll canvass the town and its civilians, try and get a feel for where they could be. As soon as we’ve secured them, we’re bugging out. No doubt Sabre’s team will be larger so we’re going to want to avoid direct confrontation. Let’s move out everypony,” Neil ordered. The team all nodded in acknowledgement and turned as one, leaving the barracks.

Trottingham, 2:00 p.m Ten Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration

It seemed like everypony in the region had descended upon the town of Trottingham. Ponies thronged the paved streets, jostling against each other in the crowded streets. The fresh air that blew through the town carried the invigorating smell of the forest. Banners lined the thoroughfares of the large town square, some emblazoned with a moon whilst others had a picture of a sun stencilled on them. Loud, bustling talk filled the area as ponies from all walks of life chatted away excitedly amongst themselves. A stage sat in the centre of the square, the stage which Celestia was to appear on later.
Celestia trotted around the large marketplace, accompanied by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and a large cohort of her guard. The guardsponies were trying to keep the common ponies at a respectful distance. Celestia needed her privacy for now, the time for public appeal would come later.

“What a beautiful colour scheme, it really highlights the poignancy of the sunrise and moonset at dawn,” Rarity sweet-talked Celestia with her most charming smile.

“Why yes, that was exactly what I was going for,” Celestia said with a radiant smile. “It’s so nice of you to notice.”

“My pleasure, but I can’t help but admire good décor when I see it. I mean the contrast between the moon and the sun is entirely avoided by the warm colours used for both. That warmth manages to actually soften the moon too. Marvellous.”

“You certainly have an eye for these things,” Celestia said, her smile still fixed on her face.

“Well yes as a fashion designer I have to have an eye for this kind of…” Rarity began.

“So Princess, will the Wonderbolts be performing today?!” Rainbow Dash cut Rarity off earning a ticked-off glare from the fabulous mare.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but they don’t normally perform at a ceremony like this,” Celestia began sincerely. One of her guards walked up to her and whispered something in her ear. With a nod Celestia turned to the girls. “Sorry Twilight, apparently something deserves my immediate attention. I will be back as soon as I can,” Celestia said with a weak smile before trotting off with her guards.

“This is a cultured and gentle occasion, not fit for those loud, screeching ruffians,” Rarity said with a hint of disdain and a glare at Rainbow Dash as soon as Celestia was out of earshot. If there was one thing that Rarity couldn’t tolerate, it was poor manners.

“Hey! Watch what you say about the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash shouted aggressively.

“There is a time and a place for that kind of event. But it most certainly isn’t here,” Rarity smirked.

“Say that again, I dare you!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily.

“They’re just a bunch of loud; screeching; ruffians,” Rarity stated slowly and clearly. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and pulled back as if preparing to charge.

“Girls! Calm down!” Twilight shouted to her friends before adding in a whisper, “You’re going to make us look bad in front of the princess.”

“Sorry Twilight, I’m just a bit grouchy from all that air travel. It appears I wouldn’t befit being a pegasus,” Rarity replied. She still did look a bit green from the ride there.

“You got that right sister,” Rainbow grumbled, returning to her passive stance.

“Add that to the fact that someponies wouldn’t know good manners if they walked right up to them and shook their hoof,” Rarity said, a slightly acid tone entering her speech as she turned to glare at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash didn’t even look back, instead taking great interest in her hoof.

“Well as that may be we need to make a good impression on the Princess. That means you need to stop being so confrontational,” Twilight said pointing a hoof at Rarity who pulled back in mock shock.

“I wouldn’t dream of such a thing.”

“And you need to be on your absolute best behaviour, manners and all,” Twilight added pointing at Rainbow Dash who simply snorted.

One of Celestia’s guards galloped around the corner, heading towards the three of them.

“Oh, would you just look at these bracelets, absolutely dazzling!” Twilight shouted loudly, and a little bit awkwardly, ensuring the Princess could hear her. Before her was a jewellery stand littered with all matter of colourful adornments. The bracelet in question was a gaudy vermillion copper bracelet in the shape of a dragonfly. Two amethysts sat where its eyes would be.

“That?” Rarity said, the distaste in her voice almost palpable. Twilight nudged her with her shoulder. “I mean, isn’t that just the most darling thing!” Rarity shouted as well, glaring at Twilight. “That is the tackiest thing I have ever seen,” she added under her breath to Twilight.

Celestia’s guard stopped just before them. “Excuse me, Elements. Celestia requests your immediate presence, we may have a major problem on our hands,” the guard said, more than a little nervously.

“Finally, some action!” Rainbow yelled enthusiastically with a hoof pump, earning strange looks from the other three ponies.

“Let’s go,” Twilight said, nodding to the other two elements who nodded back.

“Follow me,” the guard said, easing up a little bit before galloping back the way he came, the three ponies right behind him.

As they rounded another corner they saw a large crowd had gathered around a circle of guardsponies. The four of them gently pushed their way through the crowd, forcing their way to the centre. The guards briefly parted to allow the four of them in before sealing the area off again. Celestia stood in the centre with an old and decrepit golden guardspony in an extremely impractical suit of ruby armour and matching helmet. Before them stood four very beleaguered looking ponies, two of them coated in what looked like dried blood along with some foul yellow substance. Their eyes were bloodshot and baggy, their expressions grim. One of them looked on the verge of collapsing.

“Marshal, I can assure you we are telling the truth. If you can’t trust the mayor, then who can you trust?” A grey unicorn mare said insistently, replying to a question they hadn’t heard voiced.

“Princess, the Elements are here,” the guardspony announced dutifully.

“Ah Twilight! It’s good that you’re here; something appears to be majorly wrong here. These ponies claim to be the only survivors from Clopton.”

“Clopton? As in the major farming town with a population of around two hundred? Reduced to four?” Twilight said, looking more than a little shocked.

“It’s true Ms, we need the guard to recover the town from the monsters that now have it in their tendrils!” A dark blue earth pony colt shouted, his voice full of emotion, the kind of emotion that’s hard to feign.

“What monsters? The Bark Lowlands is one of the safest regions in Equestria! The Snow-cap Mountains to the west are a natural barrier while the Mare sits to the east and north with the remainder of Equestria sitting to the south,” Marius said disbelievingly.

“We don’t know where they came from. All we know is that they struck at sundown, overwhelming my well-trained guards with ease. Regardless of what Marius says we have had problems with bandits before in the ‘safest’ region of Equestria.” The mayor shot a glare at the old guardspony, who snorted contemptuously in reply, before continuing, “my well trained personal bodyguard and the town guard, comprised of eight drilled troopers, were completely overrun in matter of minutes. Plough here is the only town guardspony still alive.” She gestured to the dark blue colt beside her.

“It’s true, Gourd was on the sentry tower but the bell never rang. I was on patrol when I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the tavern. Crops heard it too and we met outside to find ourselves face-to-face with some fierce creature. We still don’t know what the heck it actually was but we put it down all the same. We fell back to the town hall where we ran into Buster and Spearmint. That’s when they proved they were sentient. We’ve taken down bandit groups and wanted criminals before; we’re no strangers to violence. But for once we couldn’t hold them. Their vicious claws tore our spears to splinters. If it weren’t for Recurve then me and Hay Bale wouldn’t have made it back to the town hall. Crazy fool...” Plough trailed off with a deep sigh.

“The point stands that the Town Guard were overrun in a matter of minutes. We barely made it out of town and when we left there were six of us! Just in the act of fleeing we lost two good ponies… two very good ponies.” The mayor started to tear up so one of the other ponies stepped forwards, a green earth pony.

“The monstrosities made ponies into them. Ponies would be infected and turn a sickly yellow, then they would twist into unimaginable shapes and hunt the living.”

“Zombie Ponies?!” Rainbow shouted incredulously but there was a slight undertone of voice.

“This weird metal object crashed into my field. I think that these two events might be related,” the fourth pony, a tan mare, said speculatively.

“Unnatural metal crashing from the sky? Sounds like our human friends!” Twilight deducted.

"It would seem so… yet these descriptions don’t match up at all with our acquaintances. Slavering yellow beasts? Perhaps another alien species?” Celestia said worryingly.

“Either way they’re hostile,” the Marshal grumbled. “I’ll organise a recon team.” He turned to leave.

“There’s no need Marius, General Gracchus’s division are investigating disappearances in the local area. If they’re anywhere nearby then his men are bound to report it,” Celestia stated factually.

“Bah! That traitor’s probably behind all this,” Marius said scornfully.

“Gracchus is a good pony; I won’t hear anything more bad about him. He has served this country loyally for the past thirty years, it’s not his fault his nephew was a bad egg,” Celestia said sternly to the old pony.

“On the contrary, my fifty years of service has taught me many things. One of which is that the bond between family, even distant relations, is always strong,” Marius insisted, “I personally would doubt the loyalty of all his siblings, cousins, heck even his aunt-in-law twice removed.”

“You can’t just judge people like that!” Twilight said surprisedly. How could a pony of such authority be so prejudiced? She wanted to reprimand him, but held back for fear of upsetting Celestia.

“If I’ve learnt anything from all my years in the military, it’s that stereotyping saves a lot of time in the long run,” Marius said snarkily.

“That’s enough Marius, You’ve made your point, however shallow and infantile it was. One of Gracchus’s scouts located this group of survivors; the remaining scouts should be back before the hour is up,” Celestia said sharply.

“Humph. Fine, then I eagerly await them,” Marius said turning away and trotting out of the guard circle.

“Geez, what’s that guy’s problem?” Rainbow Dash said as he stormed off.

“I'm sorry, I couldn’t take my eyes off of that absolutely bedazzling cuirass of his. Was that really solid ruby? The helmet actually looked like a colossal, shaped fire ruby!” Rarity said in a trance-like fashion.

“The Marshal of the armed forces is granted armour crafted from a gemstone of their choice as is the custom,” Twilight said quickly, always eager to demonstrate her knowledge of little-known facts.

“Really?! Oh just think of a solid sapphire beauty… or a cool amethyst…” Rarity began to vanish into her own little world.

Twilight let out a sigh and turned to the four survivors who looked ready to collapse at any time. “Do you know anything else about these creatures?” She asked the collective as kindly as she could.

“Their weak spot is the fleshy bulb in their chest. It looks like a giant yellow sore, when popped the creature dies. Otherwise it can survive without any limbs, even headless. The only way to kill it is by popping that bulbous sac,” Plough returned after a little thinking.

“Princess! Princess!” A voice suddenly shouted from above. One of Gracchus’s scouts came flying into the group, landing just in front of Celestia, panting heavily. “Princess! Gracchus… he’s in trouble! The lumber camp in Trottingham Forest! It was… it was full of horrible creatures. And death, lots of death. Gracchus is still in the forest with three guards! He needs… he needs assistance!” the newcomer shouted between ragged breaths.

Celestia instantly snapped into commander mode. “You four, brief the guards as to how to combat these things. You, scout, get ready for the flight back out there. Elements, it might be worth sending you on this particular mission, but be extremely careful. Twilight, if any of you even so much as gets a scratch, signal me with your horn and I’ll pick them up. All of you guards making up this circle, listen to these four and guard these three. I’m going to organise the defences, good luck everypony,” Celestia said clearly, waiting for acknowledgement from the respective parties. The second all the orders were issued she was gone.

The Facility, 9:00 a.m Fifteen Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration

The human and the unicorn slowly made their way through the facility. The unnatural fluorescent light was surprisingly calming for Yao, it carried a sense of home that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Mind’s Eye had the complete opposite reaction, the light exacerbated his paranoia; in his mind every shadow was an enemy waiting to ambush him. Yao had examined Minds leg but couldn’t treat it without any equipment, so right now the medical ward was the priority.

“You know, you’re actually really lucky, it appears the arrow barely missed a major artery,” Yao said conversationally.

“Whoop-de-doo,” Minds replied sarcastically.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you got shot,” Yao said defensively, moving his hands as if to say ease up.

“Sorry, it just really bloody hurts. Once we’ve got it sorted, we’ll see if Gizmo’s in the lab. He’s the only pony in the world I can trust right now. Plus he has the weapons we got off you. Argh!” he suddenly cried as he slipped on his bad leg and hit it against the wall.“Gah! Celestia damn it!” he shouted as he fell to the ground.

Yao sighed heavily at the unicorn laying in a crumpled mess on the floor. “I guess it’s my turn to carry you,” Yao said with a little laugh. Minds grumbled in reply before finding himself hoisted into the air.

“Easy! Easy, be careful of my leg,” Minds said, clearly unnerved.

“Oh will you just calm down. I got you. Now where’s the medical bay?”

“Uhh… let’s see… we’re in the lambda complex right?”

“What? Lambda? The hallway just has a large two stencilled on the wall,” Yao replied confusedly, pointing to the huge red two on the wall.

“Oh right, ignore me, we’re in the right place. It should be just around the corner then,” Minds said faintly.

Yao looked down to see the pony had actually fainted. “Oh for god’s sake,” he said aloud as he rushed around the corner. The medical office sat exactly where Minds said it would be and Yao rushed in eagerly, laying him onto a large metal table. "Time to practice medicine," he said aloud with a frantic laugh.

Treason

“Load up Eriksson! Pelican in six!” Sergeant Delaine bellowed before firing another burst from his assault rifle. Inhuman shrieks came from every direction as flood advanced on the small squad but they kept firing.

“Gotcha Sarge!” Eriksson replied from the tower as he prepped another box of 7.62x51mm ammo for the machine gun. “Pull open the clacker, shove the start of the bandoleer into the feeder, pull back the stick and open fire,” he whispered to himself reassuringly as he did each step. He circled to the back of the gun and grabbed each side of the handle. “Come get some!” he shouted with a huge grin as he squeezed the trigger and tore through another wave of yellow creatures, watching them burst into showers of yellow liquid.

“Gustav! Watch our flank, they get behind that gun and we’re all screwed!” Delaine shouted to a large trooper holding a shotgun.

“Sure thing, Sarge,” a deep voice shouted back.

“Cox, Barnett, go with Gustav and don’t let any of them even so much as look at that gun,” Delaine ordered pointing to two more troopers who nodded in response and followed Gustav around to the rear.

“I’m gonna need a loader, Sarge, they’re coming in too heavy!” Eriksson shouted over the roaring staccato of his AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun Turret.

Delaine nodded and pointed to another of his troopers. “Whitmore, get up there and help Eriksson! We’re not going to last three minutes, let alone six at this rate,” the sergeant shouted.

“Yes Sir!” Whitmore shouted before withdrawing from her cover behind an upturned car. She shoved her assault rifle into the clip on her back and leapt up the ladder to the turret’s vantage point. Eriksson was really laying into the flood, spent shell casings were constantly raining on the floor with a clink and the air carried the heavy smell of cordite.

“Cas, I need you to prep the next box then get some water on this gun. We need to make the transition between rounds seamlessly or the flood will breach the main tunnel. There’s no way Baker and Thompson can hold it by themselves,” Leif shouted behind him, he couldn’t turn around as he had to keep the pressure on.

“Five minutes everybody!” Delaine shouted to his squad mates. “Baker, Thompson, pull back to here. We’re going to have to concentrate our fire. Eriksson, see if you can channel them through the main tunnel; I’ve got a plan.”

Cassandra Whitmore opened the next box and straightened up the bandoleer. While she was straightening it out she peered over the side to see Delaine and Porchevsky planting some Antlion Anti-Personnel Mines in the tunnel. As she pulled out the safety seal and got the first bullet ready to feed she saw Baker and Thompson enter the same tunnel in the distance, a horde of flood right behind them.

The radios in their helmets suddenly crackled into life with a short burst of static. “This is Gustav! We have a big problem here, Barnett is K.I.A. The flood have burst through the outer perimeter; we’ll try to hold them, but no guarantees.”

Delaine patted Porchevsky on the back and sprinted back out of the tunnel, reaching for his earpiece. “Negative Gustav, pull back here. If we’re all going down, we’re going down together,” he shouted back.

“Cas, focus! I’m down to my last strip, get ready… now!” Eriksson shouted to his companion. Whitmore pulled down on the clacker and ripped out the spent strip before shoving the new one into the feeder in about a second. That brief one second window however gave the flood a considerable amount of ground. Eriksson was firing as furiously as ever but the flood had almost gained on Thompson.

“Baker, Thompson, get out of there!” Porchevsky shouted down the tunnel as he placed the last mine and buried it.

“They’re too fucking close!” Thompson shouted.

“Hold yourself together man, we’re almost there!” Baker shouted back not risking turning around.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Ahaagh!” Thompson shouted as a flood form grabbed him with one of its tendrils and pulled him under the wave of flood.

“Whatever you’ve got planned, Delaine, do it now!” Baker shouted up front.

Porchevsky turned and ran back to Delaine’s side. “Sir, we have to blow it now. If we seal the tunnel we should buy ourselves enough time for the Pelican to arrive,” the trooper said in a thick Bulgarian accent.

“Fuck, we’re not blowing our own man up, wait until Baker’s clear,” Delaine returned angrily, bringing up his rifle and firing down the tunnel.

“They’re right on my toes, Sarge! Do something!” Baker screamed as he put his last energy into a final push. He was metres away from his goal when everything around him went orange.

The tunnel exploded with a loud boom. Where the charging invaders had been was replaced with thick plumes of flame as it forced its way down the tunnel. Exactly as planned, the entrance collapsed inwards sealing off the only entrance to the hilltop mine from ground level.

“Fuck! What did you do! I told you not to blow the fucking tunnel!” Delaine screamed, seizing the Bulgarian demolitionist by the scruff of his neck.

“This is Cox! Gustav is down, I can’t hold them, I can’t… Argh!” their radios went silent as quickly as they had started up.

“Fuck! Eriksson, Whitmore, get down here. One minute until the Pelican gets here,” Delaine shouted up.

“What about the turret?!” Eriksson shouted back.

“Those things weigh a fucking ton, there is no way you can lift it! Just get down here and toe the line!” Delaine looked down and started firing. Porchevsky, Yune and Allan lined up next to him, and started spraying their respective weapons in the same direction.

“This is Charlie Zero-Six-Niner, somebody call for a pickup?” a female voice came over their radios.

“Thank god you’re here! I’m twelve men down and in immediate need of extraction! There are still six of us but we’ve trapped ourselves up on the hilltop mine and are still engaging the flood!” he shouted into his radio.

“I’ll see what I can do, coming in on the approach,” the voice replied. A loud hum filled the air followed by a whoosh as a green dropship lowered itself over the facility. “If you can climb that building you’ve got two men stationed on then you should be able to hop straight into the dropship.”

“Gotcha, moving on up now,” Delaine said into his headset. “Eriksson, Whitmore, cover our ascent!” he followed up by shouting at the two troopers. Leif and Cas pulled out their assault rifles and started spraying over the lip of the building. The four marines began to slowly walk back, firing the whole time.

Yune looked down at her rifle, ejecting the old clip with a practiced push. Pulling out the new one she shoved it in, pulled back on the gun and looked up to see a flood infection form mid-pounce. She fell to the ground with a cry before the flood form stabbed downwards with its blade-like appendages, tearing apart her weak armour and digging into her flesh.

“Every man for himself!” Porchevsky cried, breaking from the line and falling back to the ladder.

“Fuck you Porchevsky! Cover our fucking retreat,” Delaine shouted, shooting his fallen comrade in the head without a second’s hesitation. Delaine and Allan continued to back slowly but the flood began to spread out. Suddenly a hail of bullets from above tore through the assembled flood in front of them. Looking up, Delaine saw that the Pelican had turned around and Eriksson was managing the rear gun. Allan and Delaine seized their chance and turned to scale the ladder. A scream came from above along with a shower of red liquid. Delaine looked up to see Porchevsky’s lifeless body fly over the edge.

“Turn us around! They’re on the rooftop!” Eriksson shouted up front.

“Okey-doke,” Flight Officer Pritchard replied as she spun the Pelican. Eriksson was now facing a rooftop full of flood.

“Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho!” Leif said before pulling the trigger and rotating the barrel. The bullets spread out in all directions putting massive holes in each flood form they hit, spraying red and yellow all over the rooftop. He stopped just as Delaine and Allan reached the top of the ladder.

Delaine put a bullet in the last still twitching flood form before following Alan as they hopped onto the Pelican and took their seats. “Get us out of here!” he shouted up front.

“Not even a thank you? Is that any way to treat your pilot,” she replied playfully as she pulled the throttle and the ship launched back into the air.

“Thanks,” Delaine replied flatly. “Any idea what’s going on with high command now?”

“Lord Hood is pulling together any troopers he can dredge up, we’re taking a stand,” Pritchard shouted back from up front.

“So where are we heading?” Delaine asked.

“The UNSC Hastings; another Covie fleet has been spotted on approach, we’re to…” Pritchard began when the dropship went haywire. A blinding ray of blue light collided with the ground nearby, throwing the dropship through the air. Pritchard fought the stick to retain control over the Pelican. Delaine flew out of his chair and towards the open troop bay. Eriksson held onto the mounted turret with all his strength but grabbed out for Delaine’s arm as he flew past. His grab missed and his eyes met Delaine’s before Delaine vanished from view as gravity took effect. Then Eriksson woke up.

He was drenched in sweat; god that dream was so vivid. Wait, not a dream, a memory. He shook his head and sat up; he was still sat on that sofa inside Fluttershy’s cottage. “So that dream must have been real too,” he mumbled to himself before standing up. “I guess it’s time I got back to the others.”

“That manticore thing is probably still in the garden so my best bet will be...” Leif looked around the small room and settled on the only door downstairs. “… the front door,” he said with a smile. He quietly pulled the door open and was flung backwards onto the floor. Suddenly wind was everywhere, carrying with it drenching rain. Leif was almost deafened by the howling wind as he dragged himself to his feet and tried to advance to the door. The wind continued to try and push him back to the ground but Leif fought back, slowly gaining ground. The fierce wind put it all into one exceptional push that had Leif reeling but he braved on and shoved the door shut. “You know what fate? You win. Congratulations, I’ll just spend the rest of my life in this stupid house,” Leif shouted up into the air before collapsing onto the sofa with an exasperated sigh.

Ditzy Doo’s wings beat hard, twisting her this way and that as she cut through the wind currents. At her back were the only two members of the weather team who’d made it this far. A light purple pegasus mare named Drizzle and a white pegasus colt called Brolly. A loud crackle signified another bolt of lightning was sent hurtling towards her.

“Look out!” Drizzle shouted from behind her.

Ditzy pitched to the left and did a three hundred and sixty degrees spin, the electric arrow of pure energy passing just under her belly. She could actually feel the heat emanating from the wild bolt as it went by. The trio passed under a solid wall of lightning clouds and shot straight upwards as one, narrowly avoiding the next wave of electric bolts lobbed angrily from the skies.

The air around them was full of the tingle of static electricity. It was so concentrated in places that the ponies could actually taste the acrid tang. All around them bolts of this pure, unrestrained energy were sent hurtling to the ground in fits of fury with loud claps. The group stayed silent, mostly because their undivided attention was needed to avoid the onslaught of lightning that constantly harried the team, but there was a part of them that was touched by this animalistic display of raw power. The storm was like an angry god, mighty and vengeful in its retribution.

“We’re all going to die, aren’t we?!” Brolly suddenly screamed after another close call with a bolt of lightning. The sound of another pony’s voice snapped the others out of their frame of mind.

“Chin up, Brolly! All the ponies in Ponyville are counting on us to dispel this storm. Think of the damage this’ll cause to our friends, our family if we don’t stop it now,” Drizzle replied confidently as she drew closer to the white pegasus colt.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he mumbled to himself before yelling at the top of his lungs, “For Ponyville!”

“For Ponyville!” Drizzle returned with a large smile. Brolly’s eyes suddenly widened as his mouth opened to shout something before lunging forward. Drizzle found herself thrown to the side as another bolt of lightning pulsed right past her and slammed into Brolly’s chest. “No!” Drizzle screamed at the top of her voice as the white pegasus gave one last smile before tumbling into the dark clouds below. Drizzle watched helplessly as the lightning clouds parted to accept him, before enveloping him in their dark embrace. Drizzle started as if to follow him but stopped when she felt a hoof at her back.

“Drizzle, look we made it. Time to buck this storm and save Ponyville!” Ditzy shouted enthusiastically, seemingly unfazed by the loss of the remainder of the weather team. Without waiting for a reply she turned back and flew once more towards the glistening blue light that was now at hoof.

Tears were pouring down her eyes as she swung her head towards Ditzy. Her accusatory glances seemed to bounce off the mare as she followed her to the massive ball of light.

“That’s no source cloud!” Drizzle shouted in awe, her personality doing a complete one-eighty as she flew towards the light. She could feel the warm glow covering her, making her feel safe. Sure enough all the lightning seemed to be shooting away from the ball and now, by extension, them.

Ditzy eyed it suspiciously then shrugged and moved into position to give it a good old fashioned bucking.

“Ditzy! That clearly isn’t the source cloud!” Drizzle said, fear permeating his voice. “Do not kick it!” Drizzle shouted. If Ditzy got herself hurt then only Drizzle would be left to deal with the storm.

“My senses are telling me this is causing the storm,” Ditzy announced confidently before bucking out.

Her hooves connected with the glowing ball, which fired a blinding pulse of bright white light in return, completely consuming Ditzy. Drizzle shielded her eyes from the glare with her hooves. The light stopped as suddenly as it started but there was no trace whatsoever of Ditzy. Drizzle’s eyes danced around the clouds looking for any trace of the grey mare. “Ditzy!” she called out, “Ditzy Doo?!”

The sound of cheering below attracted her attention. Maybe Ditzy had landed already to meet the cheers of the townsfolk. Drizzle began her flight downwards when she realised that the dark clouds had all gone. Ditzy had stopped the storm. Drizzle flew down to the ground to a welcome party. A grey pegasus limped over and Drizzle turned to meet her. “Cloud Kicker! You haven’t seen Ditzy have you?!” Drizzle grabbed Cloud Kicker by her shoulders. Cloud Kicker winced in pain and Drizzle released them quickly. “Sorry Cloud Kicker, it’s just… Ditzy stopped the storm but then she vanished,” Drizzle explained somewhat hysterically.

“I’m sorry Drizzle but I haven’t seen her since you guys flew up there. We caught Brolly though and now only Ditzy and Raindrops are unaccounted for. Apparently Raindrops went down in town so we’re going to go door to door,” Cloud Kicker replied. It was evident in her voice that she was still in pain but she fought it as best she could.

“But Ditzy was right there and then…” Drizzle began but her voice was drowned out by the sound of fifty wings flapping in unison. The small crowd turned to see what looked to them like the entirety of Celestia’s Guard flying towards them.

The Guard landed throughout the town, spreading out and securing the place. A small group at the front flew up to the crowd and landed right in front of Cloud Kicker. “By the authority of Celestia herself we are taking temporary possession of the town to help deal with the Human infestation,” announced a red pegasus in some extremely extravagant armour, almost decadent in its furnishings.

“Humans? Infestation? The only problem this town has recently encountered is the storm we just subdued,” Cloud Kicker replied confusedly to the pegasus.

“So you say,” the pegasus replied with a sneer. She then turned to the group behind her, “Trust nopony, these humans are manipulative. I want every pony you encounter brought out into the town square and their houses searched thoroughly,” she shouted at her guards who saluted in reply.

“You can’t do that!” a brown earthy pony mare with a grey mane said as she stepped forwards. “I am the mayor of this town and I will not let some military ruffians scare us out of our rights.”

“I am Celestia’s right hand!” She announced grandiosely to the crowd before leaning in closer. “Do as I say or the boots come off,” Bejewelled Sabre added quietly and coldly, pointing to her blade with her hoof.

“Of… of course m’lady,” Mayor Mare gulped out, physically tremoring before turning to the already assembled crowd.

“Okay mares and gentlecolts we’re all going to the town square for a census,” she said with as much fake enthusiasm as she could muster. The crowd mumbled disconcertedly but all turned and followed her across the bridge into the centre of town. Bejewelled Sabre followed with five of her guards.

“Okay, well, um, is it okay if I leave you with them?” Fluttershy asked. Before Spike could answer there was a loud knock at the door.

“Fluttershy! Answer the door and stall them. I’ll stash the humans,” Spike retorted, suddenly focused as he started to roll the body into the other room.

Fluttershy checked her mane quickly before pulling the door open. She was almost thrown to the floor as the wind powered into the house knocking books flying off their cases.

“Nooo!” Spike screamed, “I just ordered those!”

A yellow pegasus and aqua unicorn pushed Fluttershy as they forced their way indoors and slammed the door shut behind them. “I’m sorry Fluttershy,” Lyra panted as she held out a hoof.

“Oh, my, uh, uhm,” Fluttershy stammered as she gingerly held hers up. Lyra grabbed it amiably and pulled her to her hooves.

“We just needed to get out…” Raindrops said confidently but began to trail off when she noticed the human on the floor, “…of the storm,” she concluded. “What is that?”

“What is that Fluttershy? It looks strange, interesting, how does it work?” Lyra asked insistently.

“Um… well I shouldn’t really tell you this but,” Fluttershy began but was cut off by a loud voice from behind them.

“… it’s a human.”

The voice made Fluttershy’s blood freeze in her veins as well as earning frightened expressions from the other two mares.

“Princess Luna,” the two mares bowed their heads and exclaimed. Fluttershy tried to join in but all that came out was an unintelligible high-pitched squeak.

“I am here to assist with your problem but I need your help. I can’t teleport while holding them, they don’t have any magic of their own, and Bejewelled Sabre is here,” Luna almost spat the name out. Luna continued to talk for quite some time about Equestrian priorities and establishing relations with aliens.

Lyra looked to her two companions to see them both hanging onto every word. She plucked up her confidence and asked, “Erm… don’t get me wrong Princess but this sounds serious. Could we fast-forward to our part?”

“Oh, okay,” Luna looked a little crestfallen, she had prepared a speech and everything. But she knew that this aqua pony was right. “A rogue officer in Celestia’s Guard is hunting down the humans to kill them. We need to stop them. Any second now a Guard is going to arrive to check out the library, you’re going to have to knock them out and…” she began but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

The mares turned to the door then turned back and Luna had disappeared. Lyra snuck over to behind the door to get in an ambush position wordlessly.

“In the name of Celestia open this door now!” a voice demanded accompanied by another knock.

Raindrops picked up the unconscious human and flew upwards using all of her wing strength to get out of the way. Fluttershy opened the door with a nervous smile. For the second time in a day she was thrown backwards as a pony barged in.

“This town is now under the authority of Bejewelled Sabre, please head to the town square for processing,” he said professionally before giving Fluttershy a look-over. “That is, unless you want to hang around here with me for a while,” he said suggestively with a crude smile. Lyra shrieked from behind him before smashing a plate on the back of his head. His smile still glued to his face as he stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Suddenly Luna was back again, “Very good job…” Luna began and then froze for a few seconds before finishing sheepishly, “…pony.”

“Lyra,” Lyra said proffering a hoof which Luna looked at funnily for a few seconds. Luna eventually lifted up one of her own hooves and placed it on Lyra’s. Lyra shook their hooves and then released pulling hers back. Luna left hers out for a few seconds before withdrawing her hoof as well.

“Can I put this down now?” a voice called from above. They both looked upwards to see Raindrops’s forelegs were sagging as she attempted to hold up the comparatively large human.

“Oh, right, yes. Place him back down here and then put on the guardspony’s uniform. From a distance it should look somewhat convincing and they’re going to be expecting to see a guard leave,” Luna ordered, quickly regaining her authoritative tone.

“Of course my Princess,” the yellow pegasus returned. She flapped her wings back downwards and placed Victor gingerly on the floor, before turning to the unconscious guard. “You mean him? That armour is a bit on the large side for me.”

“It’s you or Fluttershy, and I think she’s a little… lither,” Luna replied a little awkwardly.

“I could try it if you wanted me to,” Fluttershy suggested but the look on her face clearly suggested otherwise.

“No offence Fluttershy but we need somepony who’s confident enough to stride out of here and carry themselves like the guardspony,” Luna added.

“Don’t get your tails in a twist,” Raindrops said with a sigh as she approached the downed guardspony. “I’ll do it… but I won’t enjoy it,” she mumbled.

“Very good,” Luna said with a nod. “So where is Twilight’s assistant, that Spike character?”

“Hang on. No offence Princess, but at the moment your word seems a little thin. Could you tell us why we should trust you and not Sabre?” Lyra said. She had eased up a little more now and was more confident with her speech.

Spike poked his head around the doorway of the neighbouring room to see Princess Luna talking to Fluttershy and Lyra whilst Raindrops was crouched over a knocked out member of Celestia’s Guard. His ears pricked at the sound of his name and his brain tried to process the current situation.

“We… must… overthrow… Celestia,” he heard the Princess of the Night say although he couldn’t make out the rest of her speech. But that snippet, combined with the knocked out guard, led to only one conclusion. He had to warn Celestia of her sister’s betrayal.

"Ah, there you are, Spike,” Luna said from beside him.

Spike jumped six feet in the air and stumbled over his words as he tried to formulate a coherent response. “Oh, uh, er, Princess Luna… what a, uh, surprise,” he managed to eventually spit out.

Luna gave him an inquiring look but continued anyway. “I have a very important assignment for you. You need to deliver these papers to Brigandine Sabre. She is heading up the operation in town. There isn’t much time, I believe in you Spike.” Luna held out a wrapped up scroll of parchment that was identical to the ones that Spike regurgitated from time to time.

“Oh, well… uh… sure Princess. You can count on me,” Spike replied. You can count on me to not play the part of the loyal fool this time, Spike added internally.

“Very good Spike, here’s the papers. I need you to be as prompt as possible, Raindrops will escort you but you need to do all the talking. Now go,” Luna instructed carefully.

“Of course,” Spike said with what appeared to be a solemn nod.

“Thank you Spike, I knew I could count on you,” Luna said with a warm smile. “Hand her this scroll. Written on this is a summons back that would appear to be from Celestia herself. Even as crazed as she is now, she won’t ignore a direct order from Celestia.”

“But you wrote this scroll? Why would you need to deceive one of Celestia’s most trusted guardsponies?” Spike replied. Gotcha.

“It’s a long story Spike and time grows short. You need to go now. Is my word not enough?” Luna said, cocking her eyebrow.

“No… no, it’s more than enough,” Spike said trying his best to hide a nervous gulp. More than enough to damn you, his brain added once more. Luna said with a nod.

“I’m ready, Princess,” Raindrops called from the other room.

“Excellent. Good luck Spike, while it may not seem important; yours is one of the most important jobs of all,” Luna said with an appreciative nod.

“I won’t let Equestria down,” Spike said. And by Equestria I mean her rightful Princess, Celestia. His face twisted into a toothy grin. When I’m a hero Rarity will love to hang out with me.

“Let’s get moving then, Spike. I’ll walk in front of you so it looks like you’re following me while we head to the town square,” Raindrops explained to the miniscule dragon as they opened the door and walked outside, shutting it behind them.

“Now we need to find the remaining humans, any ideas?”

Lyra stared blankly at Luna but Fluttershy was looking especially awkward. Staring at her hooves she looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t have the confidence. “Fluttershy?” Luna asked as kindly as she could manage.

“S-S-Spike hid one,” she eventually managed.

“What?” Luna gasped in surprise. “Here?” she added confusedly.

Fluttershy nodded and gestured with a shaking hoof into the room where Spike came from.

Luna nodded and trotted into the next room. A kitchen from the look of it, counters lined the walls along with a typical oven. Within seconds Luna spotted the human cunningly concealed beneath the kitchen table. With a stifled giggle she lit up her horn and dragged him out magically.

Fluttershy crept into the kitchen silently and motioned as if to say something, then stopped herself. Luna seems genuine, but if I get Leaf killed then I’d never forgive myself. It could be important but… but...

“Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy jumped at Luna’s voice.

“Fluttershy? Do you know something else?” Luna asked suspiciously.

The yellow pegasus looked at the ground extremely sheepishly, kicking her hoof across the floor absentmindedly.

“Fluttershy! If you know where another human is being kept then you have to tell me! It’s important!” Luna insisted.

Fluttershy scratched the back of her neck with her hoof and opened her mouth as if to speak then hesitated again.

“Fluttershy!” Luna shouted exasperatedly.

“I-I-I have a friend…” Fluttershy began.

Luna had to use every ounce of self-control in her body to prevent herself from shouting at the awkward pegasi. “Is this friend a human?” Luna asked in an extremely strained voice.

“His name is Leaf and he’s staying at my cottage,” Fluttershy continued before stopping again.

“That’s all well and good. But is he a human?” Luna said, her eye ticking slightly. It’s not her fault Luna, remember that. She is the element of Kindness; of course she’ll be protective of her friends, she kept telling herself.

“Y-y-yes,” Fluttershy eventually stammered out.

“Thank you Fluttershy. Now, could you possibly lead the way there?” Luna asked as cordially as she could manage.

“O-o-okay,” Fluttershy managed.

The pair trotted back out of the room to find Lyra poking the human with a hoof. “These things are pretty cool,” she said to nopony in particular.

“Lyra, can you levitate that human with your magic?” Luna asked causing the aqua pony to jump.

Lyra span around to see Luna and Fluttershy stood in the doorway. She then processed what Luna had jus said and lit up her horn. The human lifted slowly into the air, shaking this way and that. Lyra’s eyes were screwed up in deep concentration but the strain was evident on her face.

“Don’t strain yourself; put him back down,” Luna ordered.

Lyra dropped the human back to the ground panting with the effort. She collapsed onto her flank and attempted to get her breath back.

Luna tapped her chin with her hoof as she worked through the problem internally. “If I carry both of them I’ll have to compromise on finesse. Unless… I’ve got it! If I channel some of my magic into you then you should be able to carry him,” Luna said with a happy shout.

“That sounds dangerous,” Fluttershy squeaked from behind her.

“Not at all. It’s quite simple really. All I have to do is,” Luna began.

“Weren’t we supposed to be rushing?” Lyra asked a little brashly.

“Oh yes! Umm… are you ready?”

“Let’s do this! LLLyyyrrraaa HHHeeeaaarrrtttsssttttrrriiinnngggsss!” Lyra screamed, her voice the very sound of confidence.

Luna reeled back from the ferocity of the shout but quickly recovered. She stepped forwards and placed her horn against Lyra’s.

Lyra leapt back and barked fiercely, “Only Bon Bon touches me there!”

“Lyra!” Luna shouted angrily.

“Fine, fine,” Lyra said with a sigh as she returned her horn to Luna’s. Their horns suddenly glowed in unison. Lyra’s horn lit with golden energy whilst Luna’s had a dark blue aura. The dark blue magic spread out enveloping the blue pony’s golden bubble before forcing its way in. The blue pulsed into the gold and slowly darkened it into a green hue. Luna had a look of deep concentration on her face whilst her energy leeched out. Lyra’s eyes were wide open but unfocused; her mouth slowly began to hang open.

“Uhh…. Luna,” Fluttershy called softly.

Luna continued to pulse her dark blue magic into Lyra whose magical field was beginning to darken even more into blue. Saliva began to drip from Lyra’s open mouth.

“Luna?” Fluttershy began to call more urgently.

Lyra’s eyes started to roll back into her head.

“LUNA!” Fluttershy screamed.

Luna’s eyes snapped open and she saw Lyra’s face. “Uh oh,” Luna said, biting her lip.

Lyra snapped back to attention, stumbling left and right.

“Lyra! Are you okay?” Fluttershy called out and sprinted forwards to the ailing pony.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Lyra said weakly before shaking her head furiously. “I’m fine,” Lyra said more strongly with a nod.

“Did it work?” Luna asked.

Lyra concentrated and her horn glowed a dark blue the same shade as Luna’s. The human was surrounded by a dark blue field that lifted him into the air. “It works!” Lyra said with a big smile.

“Excellent! I’ll take the other one,” Luna said with a pleased nod. The other human that Luna had temporarily put down was lifted back into the air. “Lead the way Fluttershy,” Luna said turning to the yellow pegasus.

“Okay,” Fluttershy said with a nervous nod.

The trio walked to the door, and pushed it open. Fluttershy stepped outside, and looked around. This entire part of town looked deserted, the sound of somepony shouting could be heard in the distance but the words were unclear. The other two ponies stalked out after her to see the coast was completely clear, even the storm had cleared.

“Let’s move,” Lyra whispered urgently.

“Wait, one second,” Luna ordered. Luna put a hoof in her mouth and whistled like a bird. The leaves of the tree rustled as three guardsponies burst from the foliage and landed beside them.

“What are your orders, my Princess?” Buzz said, bowing down before the Princess.

“Buzz, we want you to fly ahead and scope out Fluttershy’s cottage,” Luna ordered, adopting a more formal and authoritative tone.

“Of course my Princess,” Buzz said. He took to the air, just above the roof levels but low enough to be almost impossible as he vanished ahead.

Luna turned to a particularly thin, pale white pegasi in the Nocturnal Guard’s Purple armour. “Moon Dancer, I need you to see what Bejewelled Sabre is up to.”

“Thy will be done,” Moon Dancer whispered back.

Luna then turned to the third guard, a black pegasi with a large red scar running from his mouth down his entire cheek. “Comet, I need you to check on the other group at Sweet Apple Acres then report back to us at Fluttershy’s cottage.”

“Of course milady,” Comet said back. His voice carried the signature dry, scratchy tone of smoke damage. Comet took off like a jet, weaving round a building and out of view.

The three ponies turned back to see Moon Dancer had vanished. Luna turned to Fluttershy and motioned for her to continue. Fluttershy began to trot towards her house with the two horned ponies and their human charges behind her.

Recruitment

Nurse Redheart trotted across the wooden floor. The floorboards creaked with each step, somehow impossibly loud despite the roaring storm outside.

Applejack was crouched over Big Macintosh. She stared at the still unmoving body of her brother; her signature Stetson sat on his face. She knew he was gone. Blood coated her fur, matting it together into messy clumps.

“Applejack?” Redheart said softly as she stopped beside the orange earth pony.

If Applejack heard her then she didn’t reply. She didn’t even move.

Redheart put her hoof to the stallion’s throat and held it there for a few seconds. She stood back up again and turned to the little yellow filly behind her. Tears were in her eyes as she shook her head.

Apple Bloom was speechless. Ah din’t make it in time. Ah-ah-ah killed my brother. The filly collapsed to the floor with thick heavy sobs.

Redheart approached the filly when she heard a weak cry from across the room. Looking around she saw some kind of creature covered in blood. Redheart didn’t hesitate; one death was more than enough. She galloped to the strange beast’s side and pulled open her bag. Some kind of hard scales covered its body. Three clean holes sat in the scales, each oozing scarlet blood. The creature lifted one of its arms shakily and pushed what looked like a button on its skin. The scales suddenly fell off revealing what looked like fabric. Looking up, Redheart met the creature’s eye and saw a glimmer of intelligence and understanding in them. With a gasp she noticed the other eye had been bandaged over. Redheart continued anyway, there was a life to save. She grabbed a scalpel from her bag and cut the shirt open revealing the soft skin underneath. Three holes leaked rivulets of blood. Redheart was clueless about how to deal with those metal shards; she didn’t have a tool designed for that kind of thing. She hurriedly sifted through her bag looking for anything that might help when a weak cough made her look up.

“Thanks for trying,” the creature mumbled in reply before its head lolled to the side.

Redheart jumped back at the sound of the creature, it had just spoken in Equestrian. She checked its pulse; all creatures have a pulse she reasoned. This one did not, either it was dead or had no circulation system, all signs pointed to the former. There had been another death and Redheart had been powerless to stop it. Two deaths in one day, that hasn’t happened in Ponyville for a very long time.

A sudden groan from the other side of the room attracted her attention. Another one of these creatures was trying to rise to its feet but couldn’t break out of the rope binding it. Beyond this one was a third creature who was very clearly dead. Redheart trotted over to the struggling creature tied with rope.

“Release me from my binds!” the thing shouted in a low, menacing voice.

“Not until I’ve gauged if you’re a threat or not,” Redheart replied. She inched in closer to get a better look at the creature.

“Of course I’m not a threat! Just look at my weak fleshy appendages and distinct lack of magic,” the creature whined, somehow being menacing and wheedling at the same time.

“That doesn’t mean anything. I have no idea what you’re capable of!”

“Uhh, uhm, uhh… aha! We come from far away to make friends!” the creature said with a smile so obviously fake that it was almost painful to look at.

“No you don’t! There’s a dead stallion in this very room!” Redheart shouted accusatorily.

“Oh buck off lady,” the creature said sharply before realising its mistake. “I mean, uh, that was an accident,” it added with a nervous laugh.

Redheart gave the creature a withering stare before turning away from it.

“No wait! Umm, I’m sorry! We can be friends right?! Come back!” it cried.

The door suddenly burst open as a trio of armoured stallions charged in. Two white pegasus guardsponies galloped forwards and tackled Redheart and Applejack to the floor. The third pegasus, a skinny green individual whose armour looked several sizes too large for him, advanced into the room with a loud snort. “By order of Prin… Prin… Achoo!” the green pony sneezed all over the floor and wiped his nose with his hoof.

The guardspony holding Applejack turned back to glare at his incompetent team mate. “For Celestia’s sake Sniffer can’t you act like a captain for one bucking second? I mean I’m not your…” the pony shouted before suddenly finding himself flying upwards into the ceiling before crashing into the ground. He tried to lift himself back up but with his wings but just collapsed from the effort.

“Stalwart!” the other guard shouted to his fallen comrade. He grabbed Nurse Redheart roughly, holding her between him and Applejack. Redheart shrieked in shock. “One step and I’ll break her bucking neck!” he shouted to the orange pony who spat on the floor in reply. Judging from the fact she didn’t charge him, he assumed she was complying. “Sniffer, secure that earth pony,” he added to the green pony who was still snorting loudly.

“Hey, I’m in charge here!” Sniffer shouted through blocked nostrils.

“Sniffer!” the guard barked back.

“Y-y-yes, Clear Skies.”

“Excellent, now… argh!” the guard suddenly shouted in pain as he fell to the ground releasing Nurse Redheart.

A little yellow filly hopped onto his back. “Right in the apples sis! Jus’ like ya told me!” she exclaimed.

Seeing both his companions down for the count the green pegasus turned to flee when two more pegasi landed outside the door. A hulking grey pony ducked under the doorway and advanced in. The green pegasi backed up again, finding himself caught between the two parties.

A normal sized grey pony pegasi strolled in next and Applejack noted that both wore the armour of the Lunar Guard.

“Y’all wanna scrap too? C’mon I’ll take y’all down!” Applejack shouted as her eyes began to leak again. C’mon Applejack, fight through the pain, she told herself.

“We’re here for the humans,” a voice whispered from behind her.

Applejack spun around to see an almost white pegasus had slipped in through the window. “Y’aint touchin’ those things! They took mah brother, so Ah gets to deal with ‘em!” Applejack returned; unfazed by the fact she was now not only outnumbered, but also surrounded.

“Achoo!” the green pegasus sneezed again loudly causing everypony to turn to him. “Uh, well I’ll just leave it to you guys to figure out what to do. I’m just going to walk out this here door,” he began as he trotted over to the front door. The hulking grey pony growled menacingly sending the pegasus backing up again into the centre of the stand-off. “No? Okay, then I’ll just stay right here,” he mumbled in a vain attempt to reassure himself.

“Look here little Missy. We aren’t the enemy, so if you’d just hand over the humans then we can leave you to your business,” the average sized grey pony said as calmly as he could manage as he trotted forwards.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” the bound human suddenly shouted out taking everypony by surprise.

Applejack took the opportunity to buck backwards and deliver a decisive kick to the white pegasi’s face sending into the wall. She charged forwards and bucked out again into the lead pegasi’s chest sending him flying back and out of the doorway. She then quickly rolled to the side, dodging under a strong kick from the big pegasus.

Redheart eventually stumbled to her hooves to find Applejack dodging an oversized pegasi’s kicks. Occasionally she’d get a quick jab in but she spent most of the time on the defensive. Redheart looked up to see a green pegasus inching closer and closer to the door.

“I can help here! Let me help! Just cut this rope and I’ll take care of it!” the desperate thing, which she now assumed was a human, cried out to her.

Redheart thought the offer through. Applejack was out of her league here and another fighter might turn the tide. “Promise me that you’ll help,” she eventually relented.

“I’ll help! Just cut these binds!” the human said with an overly enthusiastic nod.

Redheart walked over to the unconscious white pegasus that had held her hostage and pulled a steel dagger from a sheath by its side. Rushing over with the blade in her mouth she lowered her head and started cutting. A few seconds later she heard the first rope snap but she kept at it. The small blade took a bit of working, but it parted the strands with all the finesse required. Redheart raised her head back up again and spat the knife out onto the floor.

The human rolled over and attempted to stand up. Okay Nightmare, easy does it. Let’s try two feet, just like Lairsey did. She managed a very shaky stand before stumbling around like an idiot. With an odd lunge she managed to stick herself to the wall, back raised and stand there.

“You promised to help,” Redheart whispered urgently to the now standing human.

“I will do!” it returned sharply. It then rounded on the yellow filly, “You! Where is my weapon? The weird metal thing,” it demanded.

“Ah put it somewhere safe,” Apple Bloom mumbled in reply, backing up a little from the human.

Applejack suddenly cried out as the large pegasi got a lucky hit, sending her sprawling.

“Big sis!” Apple Bloom shouted as she turned to gallop over to the orange pony.

Applejack pushed herself back up and spat a large wad of blood on the floor. “Is that all ya got?” she shouted at the big pegasi.

The pegasi reacted with a mad rush straight towards her which Applejack easily dodged. In his rage he had finally made the mistake that Applejack had been waiting for; he exposed his rear. She leapt onto the gap between his two wings and turned around preparing a very strong buck before releasing it. The big pony cried out in pain as the back of his head was smashed by two horseshoes leaving big red imprints in the back of his head. The pegasi swatted madly before Applejack kicked again. The creature finally began to stumble and a third kick caused him to collapse, smashing into the ground with an almighty thump.

“Woowhee! That was one tough sonuva gun,” Applejack said as she hopped off the now prone pegasi.

“Ya showed him, Sis!” Apple Bloom shouted, hopping up and down with excitement.

“I wish you hadn’t of taken him down like that,” Redheart scolded. “He could develop serious brain damage from such powerful kicks.”

Seeing his chance Sniffer took another shot at fleeing through the open door; only to run into the other grey pegasus as he meandered back through the doorway, shuffling left and right with a hoof on his forehead. “By… the order of… Princess Luna,” he began, stumbling over his words, before collapsing forwards onto the floor.

The green pegasus attempted to gallop through again only to find a lasso of rope around his waist. “Uh oh,” he whispered to himself before he was sent flying back into the room and into an orange hoof, headfirst.

Nurse Redheart looked around at the six guards that Applejack and Apple Bloom had taken down. She was literally speechless. A chorus of groans and moans sounded from the assorted pegasi.

“Now it’s your turn!” Applejack bellowed as she span around to face the human.

“What? No! No! I didn’t do anything!”

“Ya killed mah brother! You and that infernal contraption o’ yours!” she shouted again. Her teeth were gritted in anger, her eyes starting to get wet again.

“Whoa! That wasn’t me! That was the female one. Whatsherface!” it tried to back away but tumbled over its own feet.

“Applejack. He weren’t the one that killed Big Mac. Ah-Ah was too slow. Ah galloped as fast as mah legs could carry me but… but me and Redheart, we still din’t get there in time,” Apple Bloom said, her eyes brimming with tears as she strode forwards.

“It ain’t your fault little hayseed. Ya can’t blame yourself for that. Ya tried your best. Ask yourself, was there anything more ya could’ve done?” Applejack said as reassuringly as she could, considering the circumstances.

Another pegasus landed outside the open door and peeked his head in. The room looked like a battlefield, white and grey pegasi lay dotted around the place groaning in pain. In the middle stood an orange earth pony who turned when she heard the door,

“Not another one! Am ah gunna have to kick your flank too?” she said with a self-conceited, but ultimately shallow, smile.

“By order of the Night Princess, I am here to…”

“Y’sure ya wanna finish that sentence? That’s what grey over there tried.” Applejack points with a hoof towards the grey pegasi collapsed just inside the doorway. “Fly home birdy, trust me you’ll live longer,” Applejack said with an odd mixture of sorrow and confidence.

“I promised Princess Luna herself that I would assist Neil if he ran into trouble. We expected the Celestial Guard; those guys have been causing us all sorts of problems, but you? An Element of Harmony? You should be working with us, not against us,” Comet said in what he hoped sounded like a rational argument.

“Y’all come tromping in here making demands o’ me! Whadda ya expect? Me to freakin’ roll over? I have had it up to here with all of ya!” Applejack shouted, stomping her hoof against the ground to punctuate her points.

“Princess Luna herself is with your friends Fluttershy and Spike! We can all head to the cottage and meet them there now,” Comet returned.

“How do ah know ah can trust ya?” Applejack gave Comet a look over; the grizzled pegasus certainly didn’t look like a liar.

“If you can trust Luna, you can trust me. But we must hurry, any second now Sabre will be sending reinforcements!”

“Fine. You look the trustworthy sort, but what about your friends?” Applejack asked the black pegasus.

“It’ll probably be quicker for me to bring Luna and your friends here then wake all these guys up. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” the pegasi replied before bolting back out of the door and into the distance.

Adrenaline no longer causing through her veins, Applejack sat down on the floor. She turned once more to Big mac and sat and gazed at his body with the thousand-mile-stare. "Big Mac," she sighed.

Moon Dancer lay perfectly still underneath the market stall in the town square. She was near invisible in her hiding place and dead silent. She had gotten under without any trouble and now found herself in quite possibly the greatest vantage point ever. Sabre happened to stop right in front of the stall to make her speech to the gathered guards. The civilians must be elsewhere. Moon Dancer opened her ears and lay there, waiting for the information to filter in.

“Okay guardsponies! We have yet to locate a single human. What the hay you guys? There were supposed to be two of them waiting for us, ready for delivery. We are stepping up the efforts. I have ascertained that all three Elements of Harmony are missing.”

“Brigandine Sabre! Brigandine Sabre!” a voice called out.

Moon Dancer saw a small purple dragon and a yellow pegasus guard come running from the library. The dragon stopped in front of the red pegasus and held out something. A sparkle of gold revealed Celestia’s royal seal. The dragon looked conflicted; he had the worst poker face in the world.

Sabre took the scroll and opened it, reading it through when she suddenly froze. “Is-Is this real?” she stuttered.

Spike weighed up his options, a battle taking place in his mind between Luna supporters and Luna doubters. Based on what evidence he had, he plucked up his courage and opened up. “This letter was given to me by Princess Luna, it’s a forgery Ma’am.”

“Spike!” Raindrops shouted in shock.

“A forgery? From Luna? Is she here right now?” Sabre said fiercely, strolling forwards.

“Y-y-yes! She told me to hand you the note. She was in Twilight’s library when I left her, Ma’am,” Spike said snapping off a mock salute.

“This changes things. Deuces, take your best to the library. If Luna is here we can assume she knows. No quarter. It’s better to have her dead than telling Celestia,” the red pegasus said turning to a jet black pegasus with a large cocky smile and a toothpick in his mouth.

“You can count on me boss,” Deuces replied, shifting the toothpick to the other side of his mouth with a dark smile.

“Good. Echoes, I need you to go and tell Precious we’re stepping up the plan; we’ll need her troopers too,” he said turning to a grey pegasus mare with almost no discernible features. The pegasus nodded and took to the air, vanishing into the distance.

“Lieutenant Escutcheon. I’m putting you in charge of the reclamation program. I’m heading back to Canterlot. I need to intercept any messages and see if I can twist them against Luna,” she announced to a white armoured pegasus, one of the Celestial line no doubt. With a nod, she took to the air and flew off in the distant direction of Canterlot.

“Your wish is my command,” he said bowing deeply before turning around to face the assembled remaining guardsponies. “Right you sorry bunch of buzzards! Listen up! I want a full perimeter established. I want twenty four-seven surveillance on the civilians. If one of them so much as scratches their ear, I want a detailed report on which bucking hoof they used to do it with. Do I make myself clear?” he shouted to the guardsponies who mumbled in reply. “I said do I make myself bucking clear!” Some of the troopers replied more confidently but there was still a surprising amount of hold-outs. He trotted forwards up to a snide looking dark blue pegasus. “You! Straighten up and act like a soldier. We are in the Celestial Guard not out on the streets of Manehattan!” he bellowed at the pegasus, clipping him around the ear with a hoof. The pegasus replied by spitting at the lieutenant’s feet. Escutcheon pulled a hoof back, his face contorted with rage.

Deuces slipped in, grabbing Escutcheon’s hoof before he could strike. “Lookie ‘ere toy soldier. Don’t. mess. with my guys,” he said quietly but extremely fiercely. Escutcheon stared daggers at him but lowered his hoof. “Smart move. Now, I’m taking my boys to deal with Luna. So you can have fun with the others,” Deuce said before turning to trot away. A group of eight of the more rough-and-tumble ponies trotted after him, including the blue pegasus that Escutcheon had been insulting.

“Right, well,” Escutcheon mumbled to himself. “The rest of you have your orders! Now get to them!” Escutcheon screamed, funnelling his rage into a sharp shout. Raindrops found herself being herded along with the real guards as they all shuffled away to make themselves look busy. Spike sprinted after her with a concerned expression on his face.

Moon Dancer saw a chance to end it. Escutcheon was alone and in charge. A light tap on the shoulder and the troopers would find themselves leaderless. The lieutenant trotted up to her hiding place and started rooting around in the stall above her. She kicked as hard as she could aimed right at his crotch. She heard a horrible crunching noise which she realised was her hoof smashing into a concealed metal plate. Cursing her foolishness and her now crippled limb, Moon Dancer slunk out from underneath the stall and vanished into the distance.

Escutcheon looked down at the ding of his metal plate to see a hoof shaped dent in it. Son of a biscuit, somepony just tried to geld me! Escutcheon leapt to attention, scanning the horizon for any signs of an attacker. When nopony revealed themselves the lieutenant slowly backed away in the direction the guards had run earlier.

“I demand that you release my townsfolk right now! Celestia would never condone these kinds of actions!” a beige earth pony that Escutcheon vaguely recalled was the mayor was shouting at a very unsympathetic white pegasus.

Escutcheon kept a straight face but he was clearly perturbed, he couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder as he trotted. The white pegasus that the mare was complaining at waved a hoof. Escutcheon debated walking on but he couldn’t abandon his duties. With a sigh he trotted over to the irritated pony.

“Sir! This civilian will not stop interfering with official guard business!” the pegasus shouted with a glaring aside to the tan mare.

“Excuse me? Official guard business? I wasn’t aware the guard condoned mass foalnapping and imprisonment!” the mayor shouted angrily with a sharp riposte.

Escutcheon’s forehead began to bulge as he gritted his teeth preparing for to tear that mare a new one when he suddenly began to stumble. His leg felt numb and it was spreading. The paralysing shot through his nerves, he felt the slow loss of control over his body. He tried to speak but his mouth refused to open. Lieutenant Escutcheon fell to the ground; for all intents and purposes he might as well be dead. He was completely paralysed, incapable of any movement at all.

“Sir!” the guard called worriedly and galloped to his side as he saw him sway and fall.

The tan mare strolled over to his side too. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s the effect of Cockatrice tears.”

“What? Did you do this?” the guard shouted aggressively.

“Celestia no! I’ve been in politics for a long time. In the darker side of managing a town, you see this kind of thing. It’s very popular with mobsters; the perfect intimidation tool,” the mayor said distractedly.

“Is there a cure? What do we do? How did this happen?” the pegasus shouted, grabbing the mayor and shaking her in panic.

“There is no cure,” Mayor Mare said, earning a sharp intake of breath from the pegasus. “But it does naturally wear off.” Her companion exhaled with a relieved sigh. “In around four days.” The pegasus inhaled again and leapt onto his rear hooves.

“No! No! The plan’ll all be over by then!” the pegasus shouted as he started pacing, anxiously nibbling his hoof.

“There’s no way you’re going to get him up before then. Who’s his second?”

“He doesn’t have one. This makeshift division only appointed Sabre and her left and right wing. With Sabre gone and Escutcheon down, I guess Deuces is technically in command,” the pegasus said with a gulp.

“Deuces?” Mayor Mare raised an eyebrow at the irregular name.

“The idiot was a member of the Canterlot Cruisers and still fashions himself as a gangster. Sabre pulled some strings to get him in; she’s the only pony he’ll listen to,” the pegasus replied half-heartedly. “Maybe… maybe Deuces is already down for the count and we should pull back to Cantelot now,” the guard whispered conspiratorially to the mayor who nodded in response.

Buzz knocked eagerly on the door of the cottage. A quick-flyby had revealed no signs at all of the Celestial Guard. If there’s nopony on the outside, they’re either inside or not here. I can take on a few of them if need be, so let’s get on with this, he said to himself. He knocked again louder this time. He heard the sound of something approaching the door; its irregular sounding footsteps hinted that it wasn’t a pony.

The door opened ever so slightly and an unusually small eye peered around the door. “What do you want?” a voice said from the other side.

“I am here on behalf of Princess Luna. She is accompanying your friend, uh, the yellow pegasus. They’ll be here soon but I need to know if you’ve seen anypony else.”

The eye scanned him over, up and down before the door slammed shut. Buzz then heard the sound of locks being undone as the door flew open to reveal a human that he recognised from the crash site. “I see the storm’s stopped,” the human said conversationally as he ushered the pegasus in.

“Yeah, the storm stopped just after we got here. Before we could help somepony named Ditzy Doo apparently destroyed the source cloud.”

“I’m assuming you’re here for me,” Leif said as he motioned to the sofa which he had slept on last night.

“Yes, we’re rounding up the remainder,” Buzz replied cordially as he took the proffered seat.

“Remainder? Has something happened to the others?” Leif asked as he took the chair opposite.

“Five of your friends were kidnapped by a mercenary group for an unknown client. We’ve been investigating leads but so far nothing has come up. This could be related to the current crisis though,” Buzz replied with a sad sigh.

“Current crisis?”

Buzz exhaled heavily and leaned forwards. “We are on the brink of civil war. One of Celestia’s most trusted guardsponies is trying to rally the army for a coup. For some reason, she believes that humans are the key to their victory.”

“Wait, so we’re just strategic assets?”

“She’s already stolen your weapons we recovered from the ship, she probably wants to know how to use them.”

“She?”

“Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre,” Buzz spat out the name.

Another knock at the door brought Leif from his chair and back towards the door. He swung it open to see Fluttershy stood outside with a dark blue winged unicorn and a turquoise unicorn, both carrying one of his companions. They both gently placed them on the floor. Leif recognised Victor and Darrell and could see them both breathing.

“Leaf; you’re okay,” Fluttershy said with a relieved sigh as she trotted up to him. “Where’s Angel?”

“Dunno. Little critter wasn’t here when I woke up,” Leif said, turning to view the new arrivals.

“Oh, I told him to keep his eye on you,” Fluttershy said with a huff. She then trotted up the stairwell calling Angel’s name.

Fluttershy’s two companions trotted inside and the door shut behind them as if by magic.

“Wait, you’re the pony from the crash landing! You’re the boss one!” Leif said suddenly as he jumped to his feet. He then instantly recognised the pony on the sofa. “And you’re one of the troopers!”

“Calm down Leaf,” Luna said softly.

Leif didn’t want to calm down but he felt his surprise and frustration leave him by itself. The winged unicorn’s horn was glowing and he suspected some kind of connection but he didn’t have the heart to rebuke her.

“We need you to trust us; we would never put you at risk. You and your friends’ safety are of the utmost importance to us. We will do all in our power to make sure you are safe and comfortable,” Luna said in a slow drawl.

“Then… then why were you present at the crash site with guards?” he asked in a similarly slow manner.

“I am one of the rulers of this Kingdom. I travel everywhere with guards. We were there to meet you.”

“But… but you attacked us,” he mumbled confusedly. His footing was no longer quite as sure as he stumbled forward.

“We defended ourselves. You took us hostage and expected us to just take it?”

“We were… we were desperate. We can’t afford… to trust,” he managed as his eyelids began to close.

Luna released the spell and Leif suddenly shot back to his usual self, eyes snapping open wide. “What did you do to me?” He shouted accusatorily, the banked rage seething to the surface.

“You have to believe our intentions are pure. But we really need to get moving,” Luna said, her tone urgent.

“The Sunset Squad will be here any moment to take us out of commission,” Buzz reinforced Luna from the sofa.

Leif choked back his rage and exhaled calmly. “Look, I know I’m in no bargaining position here; but I can’t just let you take me and my comrades, god knows where. I need more than a guarantee, I need some leverage.”

“Leverage? No offence here Leaf, but we hold all the cards,” Buzz began but Lyra suddenly leapt forward.

“Leafy here has a point. We are expecting him to take a lot on our word,” the green unicorn said, gently nudging Buzz with her shoulder.

“As I’ve said and he’s admitted; he is in no bargaining position. The fact is we could quite easily just knock him out and drag him with us,” Buzz replied gruffly to the irritating unicorn.

“Yeah and there goes all of our goodwill. We’d be being just as bad as those Celestial nutjobs outside.”

“But we wouldn’t be because we’re not trying to kill him!” Buzz shouted. He instantly realised what he’d said and his eyes went wide as he slowly closed his mouth.

“Kill me?” Leif repeated before shaking his head sadly and letting out a sigh. “Boss knew this would happen. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I’d finally found a peaceful race that didn’t decide to annihilate humanity whenever it got the chance. I guess I was wrong.”

“No! You mustn’t believe that,” Fluttershy shouted from the landing. She trotted up to the human with Angel sat on her back.

“Goddamn it all Fluttershy,” he sighed again before raising his head with a smile. The yellow pegasus had something in her mouth. He took the shotgun eagerly and pumped it. The spectacular piece of equipment clunked happily bringing music to Leif’s ears. He then turned to the other ponies. “I just got my leverage,” he said with a smirk.

Moon Dancer was shooting back to Fluttershy’s cottage, darting from rooftop to rooftop using the cover to keep herself unseen. Every so often she’d snake off and use a building as a sight barrier to hide from patrolling guards. The Celestial guard seemed to be in control of the entire town now. She made to shoot across to the bakery when she heard hushed voices inside. Hushed voices meant somepony didn’t want to be heard. That means they’re probably not guards. Civilians or looters would be the best bet.

Moon Dancer risked a peek through an upstairs window to see a cream earth pony trotting around the room anxiously. Off to her side was another pony whose expression was so infinitely sad that even she had a sudden urge to smash through the window and give her a reassuring hug. Resisting it she did what she did best, went out of sight and opened her ears.

“Come on Pinkie! We don’t know that’s what happened,” the cream mare said nervously. Her mane was looking a little frazzled as if somepony wouldn’t stop running her hooves through it. Sure enough she ran her hoof through it.

“What else could have? Lyra hasn’t returned and there are guards all over town,” the one who must be Pinkie replied. Her voice matched her appearance, heavy with melancholy.

“Lyra will be back any second, she’d never abandon me!” the mare barked back.

“Yet she has now,” Pinkie whispered.

“I’m not listening!” the mare shouted back and covered her ears. The expression in her eyes however showed that the well placed sentence had struck her heart like a dagger.

“Bon Bon, they’re not after you. Leave me here and gallop away, as far as you can,” Pinkie said, staring at Bon Bon with wide, sad eyes.

“No! I’d never leave another pony behind. You’re not okay Pinkie! They’re not after you. You’re just being paranoid!” Bon Bon countered although it was evident she was at wit’s end.

“Look at me Bon Bon. They know. They know who I am. They know who my real parents are,” Pinkie said in a dreadfully flat voice, as if every emotion she’d

“You always said they were rock farmers,” Bon Bon hazarded.

“Think about it Bon Bon, why would anypony farm rocks?” Pinkie said in an oh-so-obvious tone.

“Because… because… hmm,” Bon Bon wracked her brain but came back empty.

“My real parents were cultists. They were members of a large cult calling itself “The Followers of Monocularism”. They never truly believed in it and found the day-to-day rigors too testing. Rather than live a lie they fled together to Canterlot. My mother,” Pinkie stopped for a second to swallow back a sob. Her eyes had started watering properly now. “Susan Marie Pie, she wrote a book. The book contained every detail about the cult they knew: structure, creation stories, birthrights but most importantly the One-Eyed One. Their mystical god. I was conceived in Canterlot and sent to the Manehattan Orphanage with only the book as my companion. When I was older, I was told my dad committed suicide and my mother went missing. She never resurfaced again,” Pinkie ranted. The tears were coming thick and heavy now as she opened up a floodgate in front of an acquaintance.

Moon Dancer began to feel extremely awkward but she could tell this information was valuable somehow. She had an unnatural ability to pick up small pieces of information and organise them into something workable. She was the Lunar Guards answer to the Celestial Specialist Division; a lone wolf with a wide and varied skill set.

“Oh Pinkie! I’m so sorry!” Bon Bon said in her most sympathetic tone. The mare rushed forwards and hugged Pinkie with her forehooves.

A nearby chuckle snapped Moon Dancer away from the touching sight as she reeled around. Behind her she saw a pair of guards walk around the corner and right underneath her. She held her breath and leant backwards, against the roof of the bakery. She was using the building to balance so she wouldn’t have to beat her wings; she was absolutely silent. The two guards walked into the library, laughing as they did. The bell chimed and Moon Dancer saw the cream mare jump to her feet and excitedly call, “Lyra!” before the pink pony could stop her. Moon Dancer cursed under her breath as she forced open the window and flew in.

Pinkie gave a resigned look at the guard giving her a solemn stare as she landed. Bob Bon jumped in front of her upon seeing the guard. “You’re not taking her,” she screamed. Pinkie gave a soft but sincere smile in at her supposed saviour.

“Shut up,” Moon Dancer hissed.

“Stay away from Pinkie! She’s never done anything to hurt you!” Bon Bon shouted, grabbing up a candlestick in her mouth and waving it around threateningly.

The sound of hoofsteps sprinting up the stairs rang out loud followed by a loud bang as the door to the room flew open and two guards galloped in. “By order of…” One of the guards began but stopped when he saw Moon Dancer. “The Lunar Guard? What in Celestia’s name,” he tried to continue only to find Moon Dancer had somehow gotten behind him. He leapt forwards in a desperate attempt to escape and landed awkwardly on his wing. “Argh!” he cried as he smacked into the wooden floor.

The other guard pulled out a sword and charged forwards aiming for the pegasi. Moon Dancer shifted slightly to the right, avoiding the blade by the skin of her teeth before yanking her helmeted head forwards and smashing it into the guardspony. Dazed the guard stumbled backwards and swung his sword wildly at thin air. Moon Dancer knocked it flying with a hoof where it spun into the air. With a piercing scream the sword found a mark, the downed guardspony from earlier.

Moon Dancer didn’t waste an opportunity to get in and buck the other pony sending it flying onto the hilt of its own blade. With a sharp smack followed by a sickly slurp, the pony slid down the hilt and met the other guardspony in a final grim embrace.

Bon Bon dropped the candlestick onto the floor with a loud clatter as she turned sickly pale. Moon Dancer had managed to not get a single spot of her blood on her immaculate white coat. “You are the Element of Laughter,” Moon Dancer stated in her wispy yet harsh voice, like the biting winds of the north.

Pinkie nodded slowly. She carefully avoided staring at the twisted pony shish kebab.

“Follow me,” Moon Dancer whispered before jumping back out the window and levitating outside. Pinkie began to trot down the stairwell when Bon Bon suddenly stopped her.

“What are you doing Pinkie?” she screamed, grabbing the pink pony and spinning her around until she was facing her.

“She saved our lives. Its either follow her or die at this stage,” Pinkie said sadly and turned away from Bon Bon to continue trotting.

“Wait! Pinkie! She just killed those two guards!” Bon Bon shouted after the mare who continued to walk on untouched.

“Those two guards would have killed me and probably you for being near me,” she said back over her shoulder.

Bon Bon stood still for several seconds as Pinkie walked straight out of the front door. Eventually she shook her head and galloped after her back out into Ponyville.

Action

On the outskirts of Trottingham, the hustle and bustle of tourists and hawkers was worlds away. It was here that an alabaster unicorn with a very tidy, yet still sublimely styled, black mane was sat on a chair reading a book. The Trottingham Library had a lovely café on the side of the building, and it was here that the unicorn was enjoying his read. Every so often his horn would glow and a page would turn, or a china cup of hot tea would levitate up to his mouth for him to take a dainty sip; he was the very picture of refinement. The book in question however, was not. It looked like any other hardback, but if anypony got close enough they would be read the stencilled red letters across the front: “One Hundred and Fifty Ways to Kill a Pony by Vlad Tepony”.

An earth pony guard of the Celestial bloodline trotted around the corner of the street and towards the café. He scanned the area as he walked, whilst simultaneously trying his best to appear nonchalant. With a sigh of relief, he spotted the unicorn, and trotted over to him. “Eag…” he began but suddenly found his mouth sealed shut.

“Mr. Arrow,” the unicorn said very sharply without looking away from his book; his horn glaring a bright white. “I trust that you’re here on our mutual friend’s behalf. I’ve been waiting for the first instalment.” His horn then dulled again and the guard’s mouth snapped open with a large inhalation.

“Mr. Arrow,” the guard sputtered. “I am indeed here on behalf of our mutual friend,” he repeated a little unsurely. He then leant in very closely and whispered, “You do mean Brig…” he began before finding his mouth sealed shut again.

“Our mutual friend,” “Arrow” repeated even more sharply with a withering glare. An irritated sigh passed his lips as he placed the book face down on the table. The guard caught a glimpse of the title, and audibly gulped behind his sealed lips. He tried to mumble something and his eyes looked apologetic, sickeningly so to the unicorn. “Arrow” released him once more and tried his best not to throw him to the floor in disgust. “Just give me the message then get out of my sight,” he said coldly.

“Our… uh… m-mutual friend t-told me to deliver t-this.” The guardspony reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a big bag of gold and a sealed envelope. The unicorn eyed the gold hungrily, but mumbled a curse under his breath. “D-did I do something wrong?” the guard squeaked, shaking visibly.

“That is too much gold for one contract. That means our mutual friend must be asking more than what we agreed upon previously,” the unicorn replied matter-of-factly, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from the huge bag of gold on the table.

“I’m just the messenger,” the guardspony said defensively, as he backed up slightly in case of a sharp rebuttal.

The unicorn sighed. Hired help is all well and good, but Sabre could at least have had the good graces to teach this guard a little something about the game of cloak and dagger. His horn glowed once more as the sealed envelope lifted itself into the air, and tore itself open. Inside there was a yellowed piece of parchment bearing four names. The unicorn’s eyes widened as he read the four names; each earning an increasingly perplexed look from the unicorn. He looked back up at the guardspony, and pushed the bag of bits back over to his side of the table. “There is no way in the name of all that is Celestial that I would take this job.”

The guardspony, despite already being bright white, went pale. “Are you sure?” he asked with another nervous squeak, with desperation in his eyes.

“Have you seen the list? There is no way that I could possibly…” the unicorn began angrily, but swallowed his rage down. “…attain these products.”

“But… but… our mutual friend! She… he… they need these problems-products! They need these products urgently!” The guardspony was practically begging now.

“Well then, they can come here and talk to me themselves. There is no way I am taking that contract,” the unicorn announced, his voice taking on a darker edge.

“P-p-please!” the guard blurted out, all pretence of professionalism gone.

“No! Why don’t you take a look for yourself and formulate your own response!” the unicorn shouted before sliding the letter over the table to the guard.

“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary,” a new voice pitched in.

The unicorn clenched his teeth at the new voice and said without turning, “This is none of your business, Velvet. Just because you can't get your own contracts, doesn't mean you can steal mine!"

"Hmmph," the sleek black pegasi replied snidely, "there's no need to act so high and mighty, Eagle Eye."

Eagle Eye stood up and turned to face Velvet, "I'm acting professional. Maybe you should try it sometime."

"A professional never refuses a contract when there's money on hoof."

"For Faust's sake, Velvet! A professional knows when to bucking quit!" Eagle Eye bellowed; his left eyebrow began to tick wildly as he attempted to keep his professional façade.

Velvet smirked widely as she strolled right past Eagle Eye, flicking her tail to the side as she did to brush against Eagle's face. "So you're one of Sabre's agents?" She cast a glance back at Eagle as she said it to see his reaction.

The guard stared at her blankly, before blinking twice and shaking his head. "Guardsman Shine at your service, Ma'am." He opted for with a snappy salute.

"Very good. Now why don't you let me have a little peak at that piece of paper," she said softly as she swiped the paper from in front of him.

"Hey! You can't literally take my contracts!" Eagle shouted as he strode forwards to snatch it back off of her.

Velvet kicked off into the air,sticking her tongue out petulantly as she did so.

"Oh no you don't," Eagle muttered angrily as he enveloped the letter in his magical field and yanked it off of her. "Hah!"

"Meh, I'd finished with it anyway," Velvet replied in a blasé manner.

"Well, then you know why I won't take it," Eagle replied as he narrowed his eyes at the pegasus, who was now flying around.

"I don't see why not. They're still ponies," she replied as she flew right over his head.

"They're Elements of Harmony. They've saved Equestria twice. It's one thing to knock off a aged general whose past his prime, and quite another to eliminate half of a band of heroes."

"Business is business," she replied boredly as she flipped into a corkscrew.

"If you keep thinking like that, then you might as well take one of the many, many contracts against Celestia!" Eagle barked angrily.

"No, because I'm not suicidal. There's minimal risk in attacking a trio of young mares. An immortal goddess on the other hoof, there's, understandably, an element of risk involved." Velvet went into a loop-de-loop for seemingly no reason.

"Killing the mares would be suicidal. Think about it: if they weren't around, who'll stop Discord if he returns!"

"Meh, somepony's bound to do it," Velvet shrugged nonchalantly upside-down.

"It's a distinct lack of forethought like that that caused Discord to return in the first place!"

"Look, brother. You worry too much about these things. Money is money. Everything won't stop, just because you killed a few mares," Velvet replied in a manner which she felt was heart-felt.

Eagle Eye heard it as another of her self-important rants. "Look, little sister. You can't kill everypony. Corrupt officials, old administrators, hard-line judges: all valid targets. Heroes, however, are off the table. There is a good reason for this, and there will continue to be for as long as there are heroes. Without them, there would be chaos, and the rules that govern us all would be moot."

"Screw the rules, I have money!" Velvet said with a sharp laugh. Velvet swooped down and grabbed the bag before shooting off into the distance.

"Buck! Now I'm going to have to stop her," Eagle shouted angrily, before galloping after the rapidly disappearing pegasus.

The guardspony remained sat at the table through the entire conversation; too awkward to make a noise or even move. The bag of bits had vanished from in front of him. "They took the bits, so they took the contract, right?" he asked aloud. Looking around he saw nopony there. "Must have done," he mumbled to himself as he stood up. Replacing his saddlebags, he began to trot back into town.

General Gracchus and the unicorn guards continued their march along the twisted paths of Trottingham forest. Gracchus had a sense of respect for a pony who could keep their mouth shut on a tense mission, but these two were being ridiculous. Not a single word had been spoken since the two pegasi had flown off to scout the camp. Gracchus had to keep up appearances though, so he couldn't engage either of them in conversation. Still, the oppressive silence was wearing on him. To make matters worse, the shadows of the trees stretched with the afternoon sun along the path, twisting into dark and horrible shapes. This mission was his chance at redeeming himself, so he was going to give it his all; no matter the cost.

A sharp scream snapped him back to the realm of the living as a white comet hurtled to the ground with its red tail. The white comet then leapt to its feet and drew a short-sword.

"Tertius?" Gracchus asked.

"No time... to talk. The zombies..." Tertius coughed a viscous, red liquid onto the floor before continuing, "they're coming."

"Zombies?" one of the unicorns finally spoke up. The tone of his voice explained everything.

"Run, you foals!" Tertius shouted, blood flying from his open mouth. He span around and began searching the sky for his pursuers. The three ponies gasped in collective shock as they saw a buzzsaw blade embedded in his flank.

"Guardsponies, draw weapons and assume a circle around Tertius," Gracchus ordered, his old voice hardening into his military officer shout.

On instinct the two guardsponies pulled their spears from their backs with their magic, and galloped in front of Tertius. Gracchus drew his old poleaxe from his back and stood up on his rear legs, grasping the axe with his hooves. He walked up to the injured pegasus who was still staring upwards with his sword in his mouth. "Son, you've lost a lot of blood. Unluckily for you, neither of these unicorns are medics. I can pull the saw blade out, but that'll probably make you just bleed-out faster. Keep your head down, and we'll try our best to cover you."

"No offence... old timer, but I think... I can handle this a lot better... than... you can," Tertius coughed out, a pained grin on his face.

"Hah! I like your attitude," Gracchus said with a wide smile.

"They're here!" One of the unicorns shouted.

Gracchus and Tertius turned to face the two unicorns. Up in the sky five very haggard looking, grey pegasi shrieked at the guards. Three of the monstrosities flapped their patchy wings, and bore straight down into the two unicorn guards. The guards kept focused and stabbed straight upwards with their spears, impaling the first two. The third one veered away from the sticks and shot at the injured pony. Tertius saw the attacker and struct out with his blade at the last moment. A precise slash took the beasts head clean off, and the headless pony barrelled into the floor.

"That's one to me," Tertius coughed. He turned to smile at Gracchus, only to receive a bath of red as another sickly pegasus was cleaved clean in half by the aged officer.

"One-one, squirt," Gracchus replied gruffly.

The fifth pegasus seemed to be waiting for something. A distant rumble suddenly caught the guardsponies' attention. Gracchus peered down the path that led towards the camp. The shadows were somehow even thicker down there, but something was moving, something big.

"Line formation! Large group of enemies inbound from the west!" Gracchus barked. The two unicorns instantly turned about face. Gracchus strode forwards, followed by the limping white pegasus, as they assumed the same formation.

The mob were closer now; individual figures were recognisable. The zombies were in various states of disrepair, ranging from missing patches of fur to removed extremities. The four ponies brought forwards their weapons and assumed a defensive stance.

"Not how I pictured going out, but it's a lot better than never waking up one morning," Gracchus grunted roughly as he brandished his poleaxe.

"Gallus... he's fetching help. With any luck... they'll be here soon," Tertius replied, as he hefted his sword with his rapidly diminishing strength.

"Well, hear that boys? Looks like we might actually get out of this in one piece; if you fight hard enough, that is," Gracchus announced with a gruff laugh.

The mob were mere metres away now. The final pegasus took the chance to try and dive-bomb the distracted general. Gracchus's ears perked up at the sound of beating wings, and he spun around, poleaxe at the ready. The pegasus was already committed to the charge, and flew straight into the poleaxe, literally. The pegasus's face split open, spraying grey goo and blood all over the remaining ponies backs. Gracchus shook the axe, and the corpse fell to the ground with a sickening splat.

Gracchus turned back to see the front of the mob were literally right in front of them. The unicorns stabbed out with their spears, aiming for the head like they were told in training. Gracchus slung his axe as he spun, the great weapon tearing into the crowd just before they hit. Blood and limbs flew everywhere, but the insatiable crowd bore down on the quartet of guardsponies. Hooves met steel as Tertius swung wildly, parrying any hits he could see coming.

"Fall back, but keep in formation!" Gracchus bellowed. The four gave ground; inch by bloody inch. The unicorns flung their spears into the crowd and pulled out their short swords simultaneously; the two of them acting as one with their grey magic. The two of them proved formidable allies, as they cut down foes with controlled, timed attacks. Tertius was doing surprisingly well for an injured, frantic pegasus. He focused on splitting their hooves as they went in to attack, hampering their offensive potential, while also saving his own skin.

"It's not working. The ones..." one of the unicorns shouted, before lunging forwards with his sword at another flood form.

"...we hit just stand back up again. There has..." the other unicorn continued before being forced to parry hits from a particularly enraged flood form.

"...to be a way to keep them down..." the first unicorn took back over; unsolicited for a few precious seconds.

"...permanently," they finished in unison.

"Some... of them... are... staying down," Tertius mumbled feverishly; his voice barely audible over the clanging of swords.

"The question is: what's special about them?" Gracchus grumbled loudly as he planted his poleaxe into another over-zealous, infected, earth pony.

Tertius's vision swam; every so often a hoof or head would push through the murky background, and he would send his sword flying to meet it. Every muscle in his body ached with the effort of just keeping upright. The amount of blood he'd lost already entitled him to a long dirt nap, but his body refused to give in. He knew the other three needed him to hold the line. Another black hoof pushed through and his sword sang as it sliced through the air; ending its merry arc in the thick cartilage of a hoof. Once again, the putrescent flesh gave way to the blade, and released its thick red and yellow payload. The beast stumbled back into the haze, only to be replaced by another eager candidate, also baying for his blood.

"It definitely isn't the head," one of the unicorns said as he dodged a strike from a pony with its head hanging in two useless fleshy halves; its rotting brain could clearly be seen inside, equally beaten up.

"It definately isn't the limbs," the other unicorn shouted; he kicked a still-flopping corpse with no legs back into the angry mob.

"It's their bucking chests! Look at their chests!" Gracchus bellowed to his comrades. "As Celestia as my witness; why is nothing ever easy?" he added quietly to himself. "Keep delaying them. Aiming for their chests with those dinky swords is a recipe for disaster. The best we can do is hold the line, so that's what we'll do!" Gracchus shouted, despite the power of his voice, there was a softer side to it; a side that reminded them that they were all together. "We hold the line, as we've always held the line. We are the celestial guard, and it is our job; neigh, our duty, to show these creatures of darkest night that we are not intimidated. That we do not give in. That we...

A scream suddenly punctuated his speech. Swinging to the side Gracchus watched in slow motion as one of the unicorns helmets skittered along the ground; its rough metal leaving a trail of sparks and an empty ringing sound. The unicorn himself lay on the floor, a horned beast straddling his chest. His brother twisted away from the crowd in a mad push, lunging his blade into the desecrated unicorn atop his twin.

"Look out!" Gracchus shouted, but a particularly hardy duo of ponies kept him on his hooves.

The mob didn't hesitate; a trio of disgusting creatures pushed through the gap the two ponies left and surrounded the pair. One of the monstrosities leapt onto the exposed flank of the distracted guardspony, and hit with an ungodly cracking sound. The unicorn buckled, joining his twin on the floor.

Tertius continued swatting at hooves, but his vision grew blearier. He couldn't keep this up for much longer, his legs were losing feeling. Off to his side a high pitched noise like a whistle rang out, followed by a line of bright red.

"What in Celestia's name is that?" Gracchus cried somewhere off to Tertius's side; his voice distorted as if underwater.

"Unacceptable! Simply unacceptable!" a new voice cried.

A grey pegasus rocketed through the skies; the traditional purple armour of the Lunar Guard adorning his body. The pegasus leathery wings flapped up and down as they propelled the pegasus through the air. This is not going to be easy. I have to convince Celestia that one of her own trusted officers has turned traitor, and to make matters worse she's a hero. Why is there no official protocol on this? This must have happened before! Houston ran through it all in his head. He was being asked to prove the impossible with no evidence beyond the words of a recently reconciled Princess.

All things considered, it was a nice day. There was a small but pleasant breeze carrying him towards the distant settlement of Trottingham. There was a smattering of clouds in the sky, and no sign of more sever weather. It'd been a long time since he'd flown in the heat of the sun. The celestial body's warm touch was a nice change from the cold fingers of the moon; not to say the moon didn't have its own charms. If the sun was the loving mother, then the moon was the caring father; always pushing the ponies to work faster and better, whilst keeping its smiling visage of encouragement hanging in the air above them.

Gazing down, Houston watched the world fly by. Normally he'd be snapping from sight to sight like a hawk as he chased down bandits and monsters. Now though, he was free to enjoy the sprawling earth beneath him. Ponies toiling away in the tidy fields below. Trottingham was the largest producer of cereal crop in all of Equestria, and it was clear to see how from up in the sky; it was like a veritable ocean of green gently waving in the wind. Houston had forgotten how beautiful a simple field could be in the warm light. Farmers moved to and fro like fish in the ocean; darting in and out with watering cans.

Finally, the town crested into view. Trottingham was one of the oldest towns in Equestria, and it showed. Tall grey, granite towers dominated the skyline, rather than the unblemished marble of Canterlot, or the glass high-rises of Manehattan. Gothic architecture mixed in with the more simple thatched cottages below. The entire town was encircled by an aged, but well-maintained, wall with four gatehouses. Despite the destruction of the keep during the Lunar wars, the town still retained its ancient guard. In fact, a single envoy seemed to be flying towards him.

"Ho there! Loyal servant of Luna, we bid you welcome!" the green pegasus at the front shouted to Houston.The pegasus was clearly a Trottingham Trooper as he was clad in the traditional armour. The Trottingham guard armour was based off ancient earth pony armour, rather than the pegasi themed armour of the Canterlot Guard divisions. As such, the pegasus wore a concave, open faced helmet known as the Morion or "Kettle Helmet". His armour comprised of a steel breastplate that extended around his entire body with two gaps for the wings. On his exposed flank was a small green tree.

"Ho there guardspony! Doth the Princess of the sun reside within thy walls?" Houston asked, adopting the customary speech of the guard.

The green pegasus stopped just in front of the guard, and held out his hoof. "Indeed she does. Well met," he announced eagerly.

"Verily," Houston replied; his hoof meeting the guards in a shake.

"I am guardspony Fir, and I was instructed to keep an eye out for you."

"Is that so?"

"Marshal Marius wants to meet you beforehoof."

"Well then, let us now waste any time."

"If you'd follow me then," Fir stated as he turned.

Houston followed the guardspony over the town walls. Below he could see a mix of Celestial guardsponies as well as the Trottingham Troopers patrolling the ancient walls. "Security seems tighter than usual," Houston commented offhoof.

"There have been developments. I'm not sure how much I can tell you. Marius should be able to tell you everything you need to know."

After a few more minutes, the duo arrived at the town hall. The large stone building was built like a church. A large bell-tower stuck out of the top and gargoyles seemed to sit on every surface. Landing on a balcony where the bell tower met the actual building, Fir opened a double door and ushered Houston in.

A large officer sat inside. The walls were coated in military relics. Maces, battleaxes, flails; all matter of earth pony weaponry. Two doorways sat off to either side of the room, both guarded by two white earth pony guards. In the centre of the room sat a large bureau, and behind it sat an orange unicorn in Celestial armour. The unicorn had a trim black moustache on his lips, along with a sharp sneer.

"You're not Marius! Who are you?"

"Well done, Houston. Marius is a bit busy getting assassinated, but you already knew that, didn't you? Sabre sent word that the Lunar Guard were attempting to thwart our plans. Such a shame too, we were thinking about cutting you in," the unicorn said with a feigned sigh. His horn lit up as he levitated a tumbler of amber liquid up to his mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry; how rude of me. Drink?" he offered with false sincerity.

"I can't believe you'd forsake the Princesses," Houston snarled angrily.

"Tut, tut, tut. Inside voice, Houston," the unicorn replied.

"Who even are you?"

"Colonel Dealer, at your service," he replied with a curt nod.

"Double Dealer? I should have guessed."

"I must admit, it was pretty obvious. I mean, it's all in the name. Anyway, we can't have you blabbing to Celestia, or worse: saving Marius; so we're going to have to kill you," Dealer said; his lips pouted in mock sadness.

"You can't kill the head of the Lunar Guard!" Fir shouted in confusion.

"Why not?"

"Because... because... he's a... we're all..." Fir babbled.

"Exactly. One hundred bits to the pony who delivers the killing blow," Dealer said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Hang on you guys!" Fir shouted.

The four guardsponies charged forwards towards Houston.

Houston sighed, and spread his wings out wide. As the ponies prepared to pummel him into the ground, Houston tapped a hoof against the ground, and blades sequestered in his wings suddenly shot out. With a spin from Houston, the four ponies flew backwards covered in deep lacerations. With a cry of rage, one of them leapt to her hooves and charged Houston. With a light hop and a flutter of his wing, Houston sent the guardspony flying into the wall with a deep cut on her back.

"Oh, Mr. Fir. You were asked to disarm the offending member," Dealer sighed.

"Come on then, Dealer. I'll take you on," Houston shouted.

"Just remember you asked for this." Dealer stood from his chair and strode around his desk. Lighting his horn, he drew his rapier and twirled it around tauntingly.

"You ready to face a real guard?" Houston growled.

"How precious, you still think you can win," Dealer sniggered.

Houston growled again, then charged headlong at the pompous unicorn. Dealer laughed once more and, with a flash of his horn, appeared behind Houston. Dealer lunged forwards and thrust the rapier into Houston's leg eliciting a cry of rage. Houston spun around and threw out his wing but Dealer had already teleported back behind his desk. The force of the spin put pressure on his now injured leg, causing Houston to sink to his knees briefly.

"Tut, tu, Houston. Now is not the time for rest," Dealer laughed again.

"You want to play it that way? I can play it that way," Houston grunted, dragging himself back to his hooves.

"Well, far be it from me to deny a guest such a simple request."

Another glow and a pair of hand axes tore themselves from the wall and shot towards the pegasus. Houston eyes flashed briefly with fear, but the resounding surge of adrenaline leant him the energy for a powerful flap of his wings; with a hop, he jumped the two axes that both smashed into the floor. Before he had a chance to catch his breath, he instinctively rolled over in the air to avoid a broadsword.

"Why must you make everything so difficult?" Dealer said with another mock sigh. He replaced his rapier into its sheath to strengthen his magical telekinesis. Seven swords of varying designs and sizes pulled themselves from the wall and catapulted them towards the pegasus.

Houston dove to the floor and ended in a forward roll as three of the blades struck where he just was. A sharp sensation of pain in his flank told him that one of them had met its mark, but he leapt up to the ceiling regardless and wrenched off a round shield. The fifth tore into his left wing as it unfurled, causing a shower of blood. Houston brought the shield to bear and caught the fifth and sixth with its wooden solidity. Unable to account for the large slice in his left wing, Houston fell to the ground.

Dealer's eyebrow ticked angrily now as his playful smile degenerated into an unpleasant scowl. "I don't have the patience for this, Mr. Houston. I have important business to attend to, so could you do me a favour? By bucking dying!" the last words burst from his mouth along with a javelin.

Houston grabbed a metal kite shield and brought it around to deflect the javelin. Sure enough, the offending projectile found itself flying into the back of the badly-wounded guard from earlier. With a gurgle, the female guardspony tried to rise, only to fall back down for the last time.

"Now you've gone and bloody well done it! You've gone and killed a member of the Celestial Guard. Marius will want your head, if he's still breathing. Tell you what: you surrender and we won't kill you.

With a pained, but still strong, voice; Houston announced, "I wasn't born yesterday. Why don't you stop flinging horse apples, and come face me like a stallion."

"It may surprise you to know that I wasn't born yesterday either. Minions!" he shouted confidently.

The three guards that still drew breath climbed back to their hooves and encircled the now injured pegasus.

"Fir?" Dealer called; his eyes searching the room for any sign of the guardspony. "He better not have got cold hooves." he mumbled angrily. He then turned his gaze to the injured pegasus. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to depart slightly earlier than planned. Nopony can call be a terrible host though, I'm sure the staff will be more than happy to accommodate for you," he said with a final snark, although his heart clearly wasn't it, and teleported away.

"You killed Spit Shine," one of them said stupidly.

"In self-defence. If any of you have a single shred of honour, you will leave this room now," the pegasus barked in response. Staring into the three angry faces told him that the appeal had fallen on death ears. "Fine then, let's dance."

"Fir! You do not abandon your superiors like that!" Dealer shouted as he caught sight of the green pegasus zooming across the sky. With another sigh, the unicorn drew his rapier magically again, and teleported to the next building. Bull-frogging from building to building had him rapidly catching up on the fleeing pegasus.

"Enough is enough, Dealer! It's one thing to temporarily arrest a pony, but killing them? You went too far."

"Nonsense, it's you who didn't go far enough," Dealer retorted as he sent his blade flying with a flick of his hoof. Fir hopped above the blade at the last second earning a deeper frown from the unicorn. Dealer simply rematerialised his blade and teleported to the next building before flinging it again. Once more, Fir dodged at the last second. "Why don't you come here, and we'll discuss this like gentleponies?" Dealer suggested, hoping to at least distract the opposing guard.

Fir hesitated briefly which was all Dealer needed as he lined up the shot. A sudden smash knocked him flying off the rooftop as a pegasus collided with him.

"Miss me?" Houston shouted at the tumbling unicorn.

Dealer appeared behind him and brought the rapier down to collide with the tiled roof. Looking down briefly in confusion; he exposed himself to a storm of slicing blades as Houston scored bloody streaks down his back. Dealer spun around; his eyes bulging with unconstrained rage as he brought his rapier around.

Fir spun around to see Dealer wailing on Houston with his sword. Houston was barely holding his own against the flurry of flourishes that Dealer constantly flung out. Steeling his nerves and pulling out his lance; Fir did what he'd only dreamed of. The simple but solid iron weapon trailed a small green flag that blew fiercely with the speed of Fir's charge. Using all the momentum he could muster, the plucky green pegasus barrelled into the orange unicorn with a loud thud. The unicorn cried out as the sharp head slammed into his chest. The weapon travelled all the way through his golden armour and back.

Dealer looked down in shock as he saw the lance erupt from his chest. His concentration shattered; the rapier he was holding clattered to the ground with a weak thud. Dealer tried to pull the weapon through with two weak yanks, but the act proved futile. "In... the name... of the rebellion..." he managed to cough when the stark realisation slammed into him as hard as the lance. "... long live.... Sabre... long live... the Republic." With that said, his legs buckled and his limp form fell to the ground.

Marius wandered the battlements. It'd been a long time since he'd had the pleasure to call his troops into action. He watched with a smile as furtive guards patrolled the walls; all of them willing to die in defence of their queen. The elderly white earth pony pumped up his chest as he strode forwards again. His brilliant ruby red armour shone with the light of the sun. As he marched past, guards stopped whatever they were doing and saluted him with a hoof or wing. He couldn't even remember the last time the guard had ever needed to act like a proper guard. The Lunar Riots two years ago had even been resolved non-violently. To some degree, it sickened the old pony that violence was now something for the border towns where the guard had next to no influence. Peace made ponies soft; if the Griffon Empire ever decided to attack, they would have a field day with the Equestrian military. Despite the constant drilling and surprise inspections that Marius continually threw at them, he believed they were nothing without experience. This might just be the perfect opportunity to finally see proper action, and Marius relished the chance.

On a nearby tower, two figures lay hunched on the rooftop.

"See him, brother?" the black figure whispered.

"Of course I do. We'll bump this poor foal off, and that's it; okay?" the white figure whispered back. He lifted his bow with his magic, and idly tested the string.

"I know, I know. Don't give me the heroes speech again," Velvet replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Okay, we need to time this perfectly,"

"You can count on me."

"This arrow is enchanted; the second that it hits the flagstone, you need to shoot past it. The arrow should weaken the flagstone enough for you to knock it down easily. If it hits him in the head, we have what would appear to be an accident."

"I know, I know. Can we just get on with it?"

"Ready... set... go!" he shouted as he shot the arrow forwards.

Velvet launched with a silent kick. Making sure to go slightly slower than the arrow, she hurtled through the air above the wall. Sure enough, the arrow hit the mortar and glowed orange. With an extra burst of speed, Velvet shot past the stone knocking it from its precarious perch and straight towards the ground.

"Marius!" a green pegasus cried, causing the old pony to stop at the crucial moment. The stone flew towards the old pony, and his life flashed before his eyes.

Test Run

[EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: I decided to take a stab at seeing if I could rewrite the story from the start, at the behest of several loyal readers. This 3,000 or so word chapter is basically a test. If people like this then I know I've got my direction and I can start working this into a full story. If people abhor this then I know I've still got the direction wrong and need to go back and make some changes. At this crucial stage COMMENTING CAN MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. All feedback will contribute to making this better. This will eventually be posted as a separate story, but for now I need to know how you react to this. Thank you for anything you can tell me.]

This wasn’t the first time that Paul had gone up against an alien. The Elite towered over him but the plucky human was still ready to give his all. Paul leapt forwards into a left hook that sent his opponent reeling backwards. The Humans forming almost the entirety of the circle that surrounded the brawling soldiers cheered when the blow connected. Their cries of adoration giving the punch an extra burst of force. A spurt of liquid indigo flew as the fist collided with the alien’s jaw. Paul’s silver ring scored a bloody welt on his opponent’s face. “This is for Earth, squid-head.” Paul spat as he pulled his fist back for the finisher.

Fel’ Vara’s head wouldn’t stop spinning. This… nameless creature had slighted a Sangheili’s honour, and now he would pay the price. Fel saw the filth pull back his hand and shout something, but the words were unintelligible to the dazed Elite. The human’s intent was obvious from the murder in his eyes. A burst of rage spurred Fel to do the last thing his opponent expected. He let out a thunderous, rage filled cry and bounded forwards in a mad charge.

Paul struck outwards with a vicious punch when he found his arms suddenly locked to his side. The air was crushed out of his lungs with such force that Paul could feel bruises forming on his ribs. The split lip had him in a vice grip. The Elite’s long arms easily wrapped around Paul’s midsection, and slowly squeezed the life out of him. Paul kicked wildly in a mad effort to break free. “Let… go…” he choked as he tried his best to move his arms.

Fel brought the Human right up to his face. “You think yourself brave, Human?” Fel hissed into his ear. Fel tightened his grip and the Human started to kick even more frantically. “Surrender yourself to me, and maybe I’ll let you live.”

“Never… surrender,” Paul gasped. His probing fingers suddenly found their target. He pulled a serrated blade free from his boot. With a burst of energy, he thrust the blade into the Elite’s split maw.

Fel felt the sharp stab of the combat knife as it plunged into his face. The coward had brought a knife to a fist fight. Did he have no honour? Fel could feel his grip starting to weaken. The frantically struggling marine broke free with a final push, and landed on the metal floor gasping for breath. Fel stumbled backwards once more. His vision began to cloud over. Indigo liquid poured from his mouth in a constant river. Fel tugged on the knife to pull it out, causing another torrent of blood to pour out of his mouth. The knife clattered to the floor shortly followed by a soft thump. Fel’ Vara took one last breath before stilling permanently.

With a cry of rage, a group of three Elites clad in purple armour bounded forwards from the crowd towards the still spluttering marine. At the lead charged a fourth Elite in a suit of golden armour. The golden elite reached to his side and pulled out a small metal bar from his hip. The bar reacted to his touch with a burst of purple light that solidified into a thick, curved blade.

A group of seven marines in combat fatigues stepped forwards from behind the coughing combatant. The leader at the front wore a pair of yellow shades and held a sleek silver magnum in his hand. “Get back, hinge-head. The fight’s over. We won. Now leave gracefully.”

“Do you have no honour, Human? This… filth has contaminated the holy rite of combat by his aversion to the rules. Now he dies as is custom.”

“Maybe on your backwards ass planet! You take one more step over here and we’ll see what your rite of combat says about a bullet to the face.”

The Elite made as if to step forwards, but the Human called his bluff by pulling the top piece of the magnum back with an audible clack. “I will do as you wish,” The Elite eventually said solemnly and turned to leave.

“That’s right! Get your scraggly alien ass outta here. Go on, get,” The marine shouted as two of the purple clad Elites walked around the golden Elite and pulled Fel’s body back to the doorway. With one last angry stare at the newcomer, the golden Elite snorted derisively and left the room with the fourth Elite. With the action over, most of the crowd followed his lead.

A pair of Paul’s supporters lifted up the wheezing trooper. “You okay there, Paul?” one of them asked.

“I’ll be fine, Johnny,” Paul replied before coughing loudly into his hand. Johnny gave him a pat on the back causing another storm of coughs that eventually subsided.

The marine in yellow glasses took one last look at his magnum, before flipping on the safety and holstering the pistol. The marine turned around to face the trooper. “Private Franklin, I told you not to take one of those bastards head on. We ain’t gunna win support if everybody knows those aliens can kick our asses.”

“I know, LT, and I’m sorry. It’s just… one of the squids was showing off some memento he’d gotten from Earth. He’d probably torn it from the cold corpse of some civvy. When I confronted him over it, the sonuva bitch took it as some kinda slight against his honour or whatever. Those blue-skins are just fucking crazy.”

“Amen to that.” The Lieutenant sighed in agreement. “Look, Paul, we all have to at least look like we’re getting on with the Elites. I can only bail you out of trouble so many times, man. The Captain’s starting to take notice, and when he does it won’t be pretty. If you want to stay out of the line of some firing squad, you’re going to have to pretend to get along with the fuckers. Ya read me?”

Paul looked at his feet for a few seconds, before looking up with a smile and a nod. “Yes sir, Lieutenant Kinney, sir!”

Before the lieutenant could reply, the room was suddenly filled with the deafening blare of a ship wide alarm.

Captain Rubin Jameson sighed exhaustedly as he stared out of a window and into the vast emptiness that was space. “This mission has been a complete disaster,” he announced as he turned around and took his place on a small metal chair at the head of a large rectangular table. A chorus of nods echoed his sentiment from all around the table. Human officers of varying stripe and colour mumbled as they nodded. One Covenant officer was also present, Special Operations Commander Vas’ Rayle in his white armour.

“Excuse me, Captain, but my science team have made leaps and strides with all the information we gathered from the remains of the UNSC Hastings,” Matthias called from his position directly to the left of the captain. His trim black moustache ruffled as he spoke, and he made sure to adjust his round rimmed glasses during the speech for that extra science factor.

“With all due respect, Science Officer Henderson, the research was merely a secondary objective. The main assignment was to bring back information about what happened, recover the precious cargo and rescue the crew if we could.”

“But we have…” Matthias began.

“No we haven’t. All of the crew members are dead, all of the cargo was destroyed, and all of the evidence was erased. We recovered nothing!”

“We recovered some very important samples,” Matthias insisted.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” one of the officers in a dull grey uniform called out from directly across the table from Matthias.

“Permission granted, Executive Officer Jung,” the Captain consented with an accompanying nod.

“Despite the lack of crucial evidence, it is quite clear why the crew died. That science experiment those ONI idiots were carrying out was clearly the catalyst that led to the destruction of the Hastings. I for one would like to see these recovered “samples” that Matthias somehow lifted from the wreck without my knowledge.”

Matthias leapt to his feet and shouted “No!” He then realised his mistake and began to sweat profusely. “I-I mean… uh… you can’t. I’m afraid that these samples are Level Five Security Clearance only. That means that only the research staff can enter the laboratory!” The scientist pulled a hankie from a pocket in his lab coat and began to dab his face.

“As well as Captain Jameson or Major Gerundell if they so desire,” Jung finished for him.

“Uhm… well… technically,” Matthias began.

“You heard the man. Captain, I implore you to investigate what is happening down there.”

“You have your own security guards, correct?”

Matthias was staring down at his feet, mumbling something to himself.

“Matthias!” Jameson bellowed at the stuttering scientist.

“Y-yes!” Matthias returned.

“Then let us see what is going on down there. Gerundell, would you care to accompany me?”

A rather portly man with greying hair stood up from the opposite end of the table. “Of course, Rubin. You can always count on me.” Gerundell broke into a wide smile as he strode over to the other two officers. “Lead the way, Matthias.”

The science officer stood up shakily and pulled out his handkerchief again. Before he could dab his face, the alarm began to blare. A burst of frantic beeps erupted across the room as all the officer’s beepers went off as one. Matthias tapped his head and a retinal display powered up. Scrolling across the inside of his eyes were two words. Two words that filled him full of dread. “Containment Breach.”

Jek’ Varaee mourned the loss of his battle brother. Whenever an Elite fell to someone so weak it was a tragedy. It gave small comfort to the golden armoured Elite that his brother had fallen in combat as the fight had not been glorious. The coward’s knife had put an end to a brave warrior in what was supposed to be a test of brute strength. Behind him marched the three elites in purple armour, carrying the burden that was once their comrade. Out of respect the small group marched in complete silence.

The sound of their strange alloy boots clattering against the metal floor echoed across the empty corridor. A sudden flicking noise caused the Elite’s warrior instincts to kick in as he span around and pulled out his blade. With a mix of relief and anger he noted that it was just the sound of the corridors fluorescent lights powering down. In large blocks the lights turned off seconds between each other, hiding the Elites in darkness. Jek’s sword was the only source of light in the now pitch black corridor. His fellow Elites eyed the warrior warily, watching the sword as it swung around leaving a faint trail behind it.

A faint hiss sounded out somewhere close to the party causing one of the elites to jump nervously. “Are we under attack?” the Elite asked Jek.

“Steel yourself soldiers. Continue moving our brother. I’ll cover our rear with my sword. We have to…” Jek’s voice was drowned out by the sudden blare of an alarm. Sickly red light filled the corridor as the emergency lights kicked into gear with a loud whirr. A shadow suddenly exposed darted into an open door.

“Let us hurry our brother away. Something prowls the night,” Jek said to the three Elites before they continued to rush away.

Doctor Shilaa routed through her pockets for her security pass. There was no way she could possibly have lost it. It was always in the same place for the express reason that she wouldn’t lose it. With an annoyed sigh, she hit the buzzer. “Hey, Steve. It’s me Jenna. Could you open the door? I seem to have lost my pass.”

No response from the other end. Jenna pushed the button again and put her ear to the speaker to check it had static. Sure enough there was a buzz of static from the other side. Someone had the intercom button pressed. “How many times have I told you not to put your coffee mug on the intercom?” she muttered under her breath as she released the button.

“Forget your pass, again?” A voice called from behind. Jenna spun around to see Doctor Chen with a smug smile on his face.

“I could have sworn that I had it on me this time. Steve’s got the intercom stuck on again.”

“Calm down, Shilaa. All this stress isn’t good for you.” Chen said as he stepped forwards.

“Sorry. Could you just let us in? I’ve got a lot of work to do.” Jenna rubbed her forehead.

Chen noted the bags under her eyes. It looked like he had been right on the money. Chen took a step forward and placed his card into the reader. The reader beeped once and then ejected the card. “Welcome to the lab, Doctor Chen.” A robotic voice came from the reader. Chen stepped through along with Shilaa.

“How’s the Alpha coming along?” Chen asked conversationally.

“Oh, you know. He’s responding to stimuli. Those samples from the Hastings helped us iron out a few of his quirks. When we get back we’re going to have to…” Shilaa suddenly stopped in her tracks. At her feet was a pool of blood and a set of bullets. “…oh no,” she concluded softly.

“That’s not…” Chen swallowed nervously. “Tell me that’s not the work of the Alpha.”

“I-I don’t know!”

“I’m leaving!” Chen shouted as he turned around to come face-to-face with the Alpha. It looked Human… or at least its structure was. Thick chitinous claws emerged from the knuckles of its hands. Its skin was a pallid green and hung loosely from its form with no hair covering it at all. Its once human teeth had been replaced with razor sharp fangs.

Its eyes turned on Shilaa. “Hello… Doctor,” it growled in a guttural and strained tone. “So nice… to see… you.”
Chen took a few nervous steps backwards while its attention was on Shilaa.

The Alpha’s eyes flicked to her companion. “No… escape,” it hissed.

Chen spun around and sprinted for the entrance. Within a second he was pinned to the floor by the much heavier than normal body of the Alpha. “Tut…tut.” The Alpha plunged its thick claw into Chen’s back, eliciting screams of pain. With practiced precision, the Alpha positioned its two claws either side of his neck. “Goodbye… Assistant,” he gurgled before pulling his claws together. A sick tearing noise followed by a soft thump marked the end of Doctor Chen.

Shilaa bolted while the Alpha was busy and charged into the security office. Steve was at his desk, face-down on the intercom button in a pool of his own blood. There wasn’t time to freak out about this, so she shelved it temporarily. She wrenched open the security locker and pulled out one of the preloaded twelve gauge shotguns they kept for just this kind of occasion. She pointed it at the door and waited. Nothing happened. Shilaa tried to regain control of her frenzied breathing.
“Doctor… come out… and play,” the beast called from the other side of the door. The door pushed open and she fired the gun through the portal. No cry of pain or sign of green meant she had missed. The Alpha was testing her and she knew it. The thing wasn’t stupid and obviously understood that it wasn’t invincible. The scientist part of her wanted to congratulate the fact that they had bred self-preservation instincts into a hive animal. The Human part of her brain was still screaming at the events of the past five minutes.

Shilaa pumped the shotgun and kept it poised on the doorway. Someone was bound to find the science team was missing. Someone had to come to their aid, they just had to. She tried desperately to nurse the small spark of hope that kept her going. Then the lights went out and so did her spark.

“Doctor… it is… time,” Alpha called. Shilaa flinched and let off another shot into the darkness.

“I have to control my breathing,” she murmured to herself. Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, deep breath out. Slowly her heart stopped beating so hard. Her ability to hear clearly returned. If she listened very carefully she could just here the faint scratching of claws on metal. It was coming closer. She fired again. A soft thump and sharp cry earned a taut smile. She had hit it. There was no mistaking the sound of flesh hitting steel. Pushing herself to her feet, Shilaa felt around for a button on the wall. Her hand came to a familiar glass box and she smashed it hard with the butt of her gun. A dull red light filled the security room and the labs. Turning to the ground she looked to see an unmoving humanoid. She sighed loudly as she walked into the lab.

A sharp stabbing pain suddenly started in her lower back. She spun around to see the Alpha smile as it knocked her shotgun flying across the room.

“Bad luck… doctor.”

“Someone tripped the alarms in the labs, sir,” A young ensign read off of his monitor.

“The labs? Send a routine patrol over…” Captain Jameson began.

Science Officer Henderson sprinted over shouting, “No! We need a full-scale containment team! Every marine you can muster! The specimens are free! Oh god! Oh god!” Matthias pulled out his inhaler and took a deep breath.

“What are you talking about, Matthias? What is happening down there?” The Captain turned around to confront the scientist.

“We need to stop them from infecting the crew!” Matthias was visibly shaking.

“We need to stop what?” Jameson shouted as he grabbed the nervous scientist by the scruff of his collar. “What the hell were you doing in that goddamned lab?”

“We-we were experimenting! With… with Flood.”

“You were what?” Jameson bellowed.

“We’ve got live Flood Specimens free on the ship!”

“You stupid bastard!” Jameson dropped the scientist onto the floor with a loud thud. He then turned to the same ensign from before. “Send all available combat teams to contain the Flood. Order all auxiliary staff to seal themselves in their quarters and not respond until I give them the safety call.”

“Yes, sir!” The ensign saluted as he brought up the command screen.

Captain Jameson turned to the one white armoured Elite on board. “Special Operations Commander Vas’ Rayle, may I borrow your Sangheili troops to help stem the tide?”

“Of course, Captain. My troops will serve you in any capacity possible,” Vas returned.

“Excellent. Ensign relay that.”

“Adding to the command list, sir!”

“I had hoped that we would be battling the followers of the False Prophets, but the Parasite is still a worthy enemy.” Vas nodded and left the room.

“Matthias, you must have had some containment measures!” Jameson turned back around to see that Matthias was now sat upright.

“They were operated from the security office, where the alarm is. The fact that the alarm has been raised means that the security measures have failed.” Matthias couldn’t meet Jameson’s eyes as he spoke.

“I need numbers, Matthias.”

“We had twelve flood forms under containment: eight Human Combat Forms, two Sangheili Combat Forms, and two Jiralhanae Combat Forms.”

“How about the staff?”

“There’s eight scientists on the research team and six security guards.”

“Assuming they’ve all been transformed then we’re looking at twenty six hostiles. Relay that, ensign.”

“Yes, sir!”

“If any of those Flood Forms get free we could be looking at a full-scale contamination. I want all access routes between floors closed down. I want every possible security measure activated.” Jameson strutted over to a different console. “How close are we to the nearest planet?”

“The nearest system only has one planet. Unexplored.” Another ensign replied.

“Pull us in closer. If we have to blow the ship to contain the threat, then I will. We can’t give Flood access to a space-worthy vessel.”

“Yes, sir! Relaying the orders to engineering.”

“For your sake, Matthias, let’s hope that we can contain your specimens, or it’s your neck on the line.”

Hold Her Steady

“Weapons Officer!” Captain Lairsey stood up and shouted, struggling to be heard over the havoc of his surroundings. A low siren sounded in the background while an assortment of figures sat hunched over various consoles, frantically typing on keyboards. Fluorescent orange lights bathed the bridge in their sickly aura, a hum of low urgent talk filled the atmosphere; the bridge was on high alert. A broadside from the alien plasma cannons had torn a hole right through the hull, wiping out the entirety of E-deck along with most of D-deck and F-deck. Casualties were already in the triple figures, a bad thing for a four hundred strong crew.

“Aye cap’n!” Weapons Officer Mackellar was crouched over her console, coordinating with the shipboard A.I. over how to inflict the most damage with their last shots.

“Load up the nuke and the cannon. If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting,” Lairsey ordered.

“Sir! We don’t have to commit ourselves to this suicidal action! We still have our slipspace drive!” Navigation Officer Okano called from his section.

“What good would it serve us?! We’re bleeding power, fleeing will give them the advantage. They can travel faster through slipspace and hit us hard the second we show up. No! Hold her steady! Prepare to fire all guns!” Lairsey was adamant, hope was not a luxury that he could afford. The facts were clear, they were going to die. The way he saw it, they may as well take as many of the xeno bastards with them as they could.

“Captain! If there’s a chance of survival we should take it! After this shot we’ll have no ammunition anyway!” Ensign Kowalski jumped up from his chair and practically screamed at Lairsey, “you can’t doom us all to die!”

“We flee we die anyway! Where do we flee, eh? Earth is our last bastion, there is nowhere else! We stay, we fight, and we die, so Earth can be saved!” Captain Lairsey wouldn't back down, he had given them an order, they should be following it.

“Earth is already lost. Lord Hood is trying to stem the bleeding but the patient is already dead,” Operations Officer Kendrick said plainly, a gloomy expression on her face.

“I’m the Captain, I make the orders!” He left a slight pause to let that sink in before continuing, “Are. We. Ready. To. Fire?!”

“Aye cap’n!” Mackellar fiddled with some dials and turned on the A.I. interface. A human-like figure made of glowing red light, dressed in a typical world war II-era officer's uniform, appeared on the dais by the gunner’s console. “Patton, have you established how to maximise damage output?” Mackellar’s voice had a tinge of glee at the thought of hitting those Covy bastards with both barrels.

“I’ve made the changes on your targeting computer, time to stick it to them,” It said, mirroring how excited Mackellar felt. It then laughed, before vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

Captain Lairsey fiddled with the silver necklace around his neck, his last reminder of his wife and children who had been slaughtered mercilessly by the Covenant horde, like so many others. Hundreds of systems lost along with billions of lives. Earth was where the last vestiges of Humanity were gathered. The war was entering zero time, Admiral Keyes had led a last ditch effort through a portal concealed on Earth with half of the human fleet and the majority of the Covenant Separatists, intent on killing the last of the Covenant Loyalist’s so-called “Prophets”. Fleet Admiral Lord Hood was left with the remaining forces to try and hold back the Flood, a parasitic race of spores that desired to wipe out all life in the galaxy, as well as the remaining Covenant Loyalists. Hood’s defensive stratagem hadn’t planned for a small Covenant force returning from deep-space, to help defend the Covenant Prophet however. Six ships were all he could spare and now theirs was the only ship left, A Stalwart-Class Light Frigate: The UNSC Hastings. He was sure the Covenant was playing with them or this was a ploy to lure out Hood’s remaining ships. The Covenant assumed the Hastings was crippled, after their broadside hit the main power plant, but they were wrong.

“Captain!” Communications Officer Waters disturbed Lairsey’s train of thought. “Why don’t we empty our salvoes and cripple their engines allowing us to blast away safely!”

“And endanger everyone down on the planet? We should aim for their weapon systems and disable them!” Crewman Palsey countered with a hard hitting point.

“It’s all pointless anyway; they keep their crucial systems are internally, to prevent just that kind of thing!” Kendrick said, bringing everyone down again.

“Just fire and run,” Waters pleaded, “staying here after firing would be suicidal and we still have our slipspace drive.”

“I am the captain. I will not take insubordination lightly. Everything being said, it seems a majority of this crew are cowardly blowhards, who will not face the music. But, let it not be said that I ignore the pleas of my crew. Let us solve this democratically, with a vote. But bear in mind that we are the final line between Earth and the Covenant.” Lairsey finally conceded but only partially.

“Everyone who wants to run with their tails between their legs say aye.” A chorus of aye’s sounded in reply.

“And if you want to die in a blaze of glory say aye.” Only Lairsey, Palsey and Mackellar sounded off.

“Fine. Patton!” Lairsey changed his stance and summoned the A.I.

“Orders, Sir?” the red figure questioned as he appeared on a dais by the Captain’s chair this time.

“Plot us a safe trajectory out of here,” the Captain ordered.

“I’m a repurposed army A.I, remember, I don’t know none of this naval poppycock,” The A.I. scoffed.

“What’s so different about a targeting trajectory and a slipspace trajectory?”

“Enough for me to be useless at the latter,” Patton grunted before vanishing again.

“Fine.” Lairsey breathed deeply and rubbed his forehead. The Captain was forced to resort his second option. “Okano, prepare us for a random jump.”

“That’s not entirely safe sir…” Okano began but Lairsey interjected.

"Just do it!” the Captain shouted, his face now flushed with anger.

Okano pressed a few buttons and crossed his fingers, before turning to the crew and saying, “Ready.”

“Mackellar, now,” Lairsey commanded and Mackellar hit the large red button, triggering the release of their last Shiva nuclear missile, as well as the last MAC round as it barrelled from the front mounted gun. The MAC round shot straight into the shields of the Covenant Cruiser in front of them, dispelling the shields. This allowed the Shiva missile to hit the ship itself, causing massive explosions of red and blue. The plasma inside went supernova, causing the ship to tear itself apart in an eruption of blinding blue light.

The remaining two Covenant ships noticed this and turned quickly, pointing their plasma turrets straight at the vessel that they had assumed helpless. Just as their blue energy began to charge up ready to fire, the Hastings shot forwards, powered entirely by its two hidden secondary reactors. Fortunately Patton also specialised in power management, allowing easy routing of energy away from damaged and redundant systems, and towards important ones. In this case they had drained all power from life-support on the bottom three decks and the weapon systems to power the engines, much to his reluctance. When up to speed the power would be leeched from the engines, to power the slipspace drive. Two huge plumes of plasma shot forward narrowly missing the frigate as it sped forward on its last reserves.

The Captain sat back in his chair and turned on the intercom. “All remaining crew members. We are attempting an emergency slipspace jump. Please head quickly to the nearest safety area and buckle up if you want to live.” The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine needed a running start and they had to completely clear Earth’s orbit before use. This meant that the Covenant ships had time to close and, with their vastly superior engines, it was only a matter of time. Everyone was on the edge of their seats in anticipation as their speed increased.

“Thirty seconds until we reach the speed threshold required to slip,” Okano announced. After a few more nail biting seconds, Okano spoke again, “twenty seconds.”

“Hang on, the enemy ships aren’t pursuing,” Crewman Chan said from the radar table.

“What?” Lairsey shouted in confusion.

“They’re readying to fire!” Chan called out.

“Ten seconds,” Okano shouted. At that exact second the ship was hit by a plasma torpedo, shot from one of the Covenant vessels behind. The ship shook but maintained speed.

“Status report!” Lairsey demanded as he climbed back into his chair having been thrown out by the blast.

“Slipspace speed achieved!” Okano shouted struggling to be heard over the high pitched wails alarms going off as a result of the hit.

“Divert all power to slipspace drive!” Lairsey ordered equally loudly.

Okano hit the button and all energy in the ship, except for life support, was routed to the drive. The drive then spun up tearing a hole in space, which the ship ploughed into, before the hole shut behind them. “Slipspace achieved Captain.” Okano exhaled deeply and lied back in his chair. “We should be arriving at our destination in sixteen days.”

“Right, status report Chief Engineer Johnston,” Lairsey demanded.

The Chief Engineer turned to his console covered with flashing lights and gulped. “Fuck. Systems have gone to hell. That last shot completely destroyed our sensors and communications. Our reactors are losing energy too, they should just get us through slipspace. We’re going to have to hope that we can find a planet with a breathable atmosphere and land, or we’re all screwed.

“We’re going to have to conserve energy where possible.” He pulled up the intercom again and spoke into it as calmly as possible, “All remaining crewman. Please head to the cryolabs. In order to conserve energy we’re shutting down all life support systems. Everyone will be put under stasis for the remainder of this trip, except for Tech Chief Thomas Sutherland and the cryolab technicians, Qazir and Barbanos. He then turned to the dais by his chair and brought Patton back up. "As per protocol 6Q-3C you are to follow any orders given to you by Tech Officer Thomas Sutherland, do you acknowledge.”

“Loud and clear, over and out.” Patton then vanished once more.

“Right everyone lets head over to cryolabs. I’ll get Sutherland to wake us up the day before we arrive,” Lairsey sighed and led them all down to the labs for a nice long cryo-nap.

Twilight Sparkle was tired, after a long day of helping her friends she had been about to fall asleep, when she suddenly remembered that tonight was the last opportunity for her to see Astrals’ Belt clearly until next year. As the young purple unicorn lay there, an inward battle took place, between her exhaustion and her desire for learning. “Come on, you’ve had a hard day’s work, why don’t we just relax,” Half of her seemed to say. She was exceptionally tired, maybe just a little rest.

“Oh no you don’t! This is our last chance to see Astral’s Belt for a whole year and it’s never clearer than tonight! Think of the wonders we’ll see, this is fringe science! Space! The final frontier!” The other voice suddenly screamed, jolting her awake as she leapt out of bed and galloped into the reading room. That is until she remembered that Spike was asleep, so she slowed down to a much quieter trot.

The library was cut into a large tree in the centre of the town of Ponyville. Inside were many rooms, lined from wall to wall with shelf after shelf of books. Her room sat at the top of a spiral staircase, which she hurried down as quickly and quietly as she could manage. All the furniture was made out of wood leaving a simple motif, barring the elaborate metal telescope she had specially set up on the balcony just outside. While this was still technically a public library, Twilight had read almost every book, some of them multiple times.

She went for her book on astronomy, before remembering that Spike had accidently burnt it after the comet affair. She sighed and called Owlowiscious down to help her.

The small owl let out a hoot as it flew down and landed on her head, nuzzling her affectionately.

“It’s good to see you too Owlowiscious,” she giggled, “but this isn’t a social call, I need help finding a book.”

The owl stood to attention, its wing twisted into a salute.

“I’m looking for a book on constellations, I’m afraid I can’t remember which ones concern Astral’s Belt so I need your help.”

The owl took to the air and flapped over to one of the many bookshelves and quickly returned with a book entitled, Constellations: the Art of the Stars.

“Thank you Owlowiscious, I can always count on you,” She said giving him an affectionate pet on the head. t

The owl hooted happily before flying back up to its perch.

“Right, let’s get set up then,” Twilight said to herself with a small smile, she moved a table next to the eyepiece of her telescope and placed the book open upon it, flipping through the pages to the page on Astral’s Belt. “192 Lat, 217 Long,” she repeated as she twisted the dials under the scope to the exact measurement stipulated in the book. She placed her eye to the eyepiece and peered through. There it was clear as day, seven bright stars lined up in a slightly curved line. The fabled Astral’s Belt, named after the famous wizard and astronomer Astral Light, who allegedly managed to create “golems” by harnessing the magical energy produced by those stars.

She withdrew from the telescope and galloped to her desk, where she began rooting through the drawers. “Where did I leave my drawing pencils?” she wondered aloud with a slight sense of urgency in her voice. She heard another hoot from behind her to see Owlowiscious stood on top of her saddlebags. “That’s right, I showed Rarity some of the designs I made after reading A Manual on Style,” she said with a roll of her eyes, “thanks Owlowiscious,” She opened up her bags and took out a sketch pad and her set of art pencils.

She moved the book on constellations over and placed her sketchpad next to it, opening to a clean page and getting her pencil ready. She looked back through the scope to see Astral’s Belt, still shining in all its glory. Her horn glowed purple as, without moving away from the scope, she began to sketch the constellation. It would look great in her constellations portfolio she had been working on, on and off, for the last year.

After fifteen minutes of the sound of a pencil scratching she turned and reviewed her work. “Perfect,” she sighed happily, “another great addition.” She took one last opportunity to look through the scope, when she saw a small flash like a star. That’s odd, she thought to herself, Is that a new star? She zoomed in to see that the star was moving! She gasped and adjusted the dials, following its path across the sky. It seemed to be out of control and it was heading straight for the moon! She held her breath and zoomed in again, she watched it smash into the gargantuan rocky surface, tearing apart as shrapnel flew apart, spreading around the crash site. It trailed across the ground stopping slowly, until another bright burst of blue light flared at the back pushing it forwards again, almost rolling it over. The object began to slow down again, before it finally ground to a halt. “What kind of fire burns when there’s no oxygen?!” Twilight shouted aloud accidentally, rousing Spike.

Spike was her pet baby dragon and number one assistant, having been with Twilight almost his entire life, they were the best friends. But as a baby dragon, he needed his sleep and was always extremely grouchy at two in the morning. “What are you doing?!” he shouted at her and she recoiled in surprise before realising it was Spike.

“Spike, you absolutely have to see this!” she demanded in a curious mix of excitement and fear.

“Whatever it is, it isn’t worth being up at two in the morning. Go back to sleep,” Spike stated his voice devoid of emotion.

“No, Spike! Look, it’s important!” She pointed wildly at the telescope, the excitement in her voice almost palpable.

“Fine but if it’s just another stupid group of stupid stars,” Spike grumbled as he walked over to the telescope and took a look. “What in Celestia is that?!” he exclaimed as his eyes went wide, “Blue flames! Made entirely of metal!” He turned to Twilight full of fear and wonder. “What is that?! Where did it come from!”

“I came to sketch Astral’s Belt for my constellation map and I saw that, that, thing come shooting through space and crash into the moon!”Twilight went into thought mode, rubbing her chin with her hoof and looking like she was in deep concentration.

Spike ran over to Twilight’s desk and grabbed a scroll and a quill. “I’m writing to Celestia right now, she knows everything that happens in Equestria.”

“No wait, not now, she’ll be asleep, and will be ever so angry if she receives a letter in the middle of the night. But what if it is important, and I don’t tell her, and then she finds out I knew, and then she gets angry, and then she banishes me!” Twilight suddenly started ranting.

Spike sighed, this happened a surprising amount for someone normally so rational. He tapped her on the shoulder and said slowly and clearly into her ear, “I’m going to write a letter and send it, why don’t you go lay down and I’ll wake you up early tomorrow morning.”

“No! No… I mean I’ll dictate the letter first and then I’ll go take a quick nap.”

Twilight and Spike walked over to the desk and Spike dipped the quill into the inkpot. Twilight began to narrate and Spike began to write a letter. It read:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I was observing Astral’s Belt tonight in all its glory when something strange happened, you may already be aware, but I only happened to catch it by chance due to the fact that I was using my telescope at the time. A strange metallic object collided with the moon, it may be nothing but it didn’t look natural, being made entirely of metal and trailing blue flames, which in itself is highly unusual. I was wondering if you knew anything about this.

Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight lifted the scroll in front of her face with her horn and proof-read it, before returning it to Spike to send.

Spike exhaled his magical green flames onto the scroll, dissolving it into a gaseous form as it flew out of the window, and off to Canterlot.

Twilight let out a great yawn.

“I think it’s time we went to bed,” Spike said through a yawn of his own.

“Yes, yes, maybe that would be best.” She suddenly remembered how tired she was and sighed, before walking back up to her bed and laying down, falling asleep almost instantly.

The cryolabs were a large industrial themed room, featuring row-upon-row of cryopods. Each pod held a single crewman in cryostasis, a state of limbo induced by freezing every cell in the body. The large metallic room was filled by a constant white vapour, emanating from the frozen chambers. A low mechanical hum filled the room as the three technicians completed another day of rounds.

Rodrigo examined each console checking that everyone was healthy, its times like this that he hated the fact that the ship had Patton. The military A.I had once been aboard Malta station but had been rescued before its destruction and repurposed for use in a ship. It was therefore useless at many of the basic naval tasks, from slipspace travel, to monitoring cryopods, to steering the ship.

Everything became routine after the first few days, after checking the monitors and making sure everyone was fine, the three cryotechnicians would meet up and play poker or watch some vids. The only areas to still have life support were the cryolabs and the attached break room, where they had set up sleeping bags taken from the supplies cupboard down in B-deck before the systems shut off.

On the fifteenth day however, Rodrigo and Thomas had just finished waking up the bridge staff when Muhammad burst in. “We have a big situation! Power is going out in some life pods. Need to wake everyone up,” he babbled out while making gestures for everyone to follow him.

Thomas rushed to the console. “Shit! It’s shutting down life support in all the cryopods! Get everyone you can out of them! Quickly!”

The three technicians sprinted around releasing the locks on as many cryopods as they could. Suddenly the gentle humming of the pods stopped completely, as power stopped flowing to them. The cryopods couldn’t be opened without power and the people trapped inside sank into the eternal slumber of death.

“Fuck! Fuck! This cannot be happening right now!” Johnston sank into despondency as he sat on the floor.

Captain Lairsey took the pragmatist approach however and asked, “Who got out alive?”

“I don’t know! I don’t care! Hundreds of lives were just extinguished in the blink of an eye.” Sutherland collapsed onto the floor, a complete mess.

Lairsey turned to Muhammad and repeated the question, “Who got out alive?”

“I got four marines, I think Tom got three engineers and Rodd got two medical staff and a Pelican pilot.”

“You did a good job, if you hadn’t done anything, they all would have died. You couldn’t have predicted this,” Lairsey said to the assembled cryotechnicians, “finish waking everyone up and give them the tests you just gave us. Then bring everyone back here.”

“Yes Sir!” They saluted and assembled the dazed crowd.

“Patton!” Lairsey called, a miniature version of the A.I. appeared at Sutherland’s console. “What the hell just happened?! Why in God’s name did three quarters of the crew just die!”

Patton replied simply and tersely, “we left slipspace early.”

“Are you telling me that they all died, just so that we could get there slightly faster?!” Lairsey screamed at him.

“Actually sir, Patton probably just saved all our lives. Had we overshot our destination in slipspace we all would have died as the ship would cease to exist,” Okano said softly from behind Lairsey.

All of a sudden the ship filled with noise as the alarm started blaring. “Collision imminent,” a mechanical female voice announced over loudspeaker.

“Oh for fu…” Johnston started to say when the ship lurched onto its side.

The ship smashed into rocky terrain, completely removing the lower four decks of the vessel. The wreck continued to slide forwards as the two reactors exploded, removing a massive area around the rear of the ship. The crew members were thrown harshly back across the room, several people hitting cryochambers and assorted objects. Muhammad crashed into Sutherland’s control panel with a shower of sparks. They were thrown to and fro like ragdolls before the ship finally ground to a halt. Everything went dark briefly and then slowly lit up again as emergency power reserves switched on, detecting the loss of the secondary fusion generators.

Lairsey awoke to the sharp, acrid taste of blood in his mouth. The room’s soft, white vapours had been replaced with thick, black smoke from the sparking console. He touched his forehead where it hurt and coated his hand in some wet, sticky substance. He tried to open his eyes but found everything red. So he reached up his arms and rubbed the blood out of his eyes forcibly, finally managing to acheive a bleary vision of sparks and dim lights. The Captain sat up to find the entire room was a mess. Muhammad was draped over the smouldering remains of Sutherland’s console. Crewman Palsey right next to him, neck bent at an impossible angle, his eyes empty and dead.

Lairsey dragged himself to his feet and realised his hand was covered in blood, probably from his head. He felt his forehead again and, sure enough, he could feel a fleshy opening that shouldn’t be there. He tore a sleeve off Palsey’s jumpsuit and wrapped it at around the huge cut on his head. He then hobbled over to an empty cryochamber and checked out his reflection. Looking back at him was a man getting on sixty with dashes of silvery grey in his shortcut black hair and trim black moustache. He checked that his necklace was still on and ensured that his Captain’s uniform was still relatively intact, although his hat was missing.

“Someone help!” a feminine voice rang out, echoing across the vast, relatively empty chamber.

Lairsey sprinted, as best he could with his injuries, to the other side of the room to find a small group assembled. A marine had crashed into a cryochamber with such force that the chamber had smashed, spraying glass across the room and tearing the unfortunate individual apart. The shards of glass had also punctured the throat of one of the engineering crew, who was now quickly bleeding out despite the best efforts of another marine and a pilot. Nearby Sutherland’s body lay speared against the wall by a support strut that must have fallen from the ceiling. His eyes were still wide open as if surprised, Lairsey walked over and shut them with a sense of respect. He turned just in time to see the engineer bleed out, his eyelids drooping shut and hands falling to his sides limply. The pilot was in a fit of tears but the marine tried to comfort her as he helped her stand up and turn around to find Lairsey stood there watching them.

“Sergeant Bunting at your service sir!” he said pulling off a smart salute despite his surprise at the Captain’s sudden appearance.

The pilot pulled off a salute following Bunting’s example and said, “Flight Officer Pritchard reporting for duty sir!” Snapping off the best salute that she could manage.

Kendrick awoke to find she was hanging upside down from a cable by her legs. She began to struggle to loosen herself, before looking straight down to see Mackellar’s lifeless corpse staring back at her. She screamed as she noticed that it was only half of Mackellar’s corpse, the legs being nowhere in sight. Her screams drew attention, as she heard the clattering of boots as a marine and a medic came running towards her, carrying an unconscious Ensign Kowalski sporting a bloodied leg.

They set Kowalski down and the medic began to look at his leg whilst the marine positioned himself directly beneath her and held out his arms. “If you drop now I’ll catch you!” He shouted upwards to Kendrick.

“Promise?” she squeaked.

“Promise.” He nodded, giving her a reassuring smile.

She unhooked her boot and fell screaming into the awaiting arms of the marine.

“Gotcha. I’m Private Leif Eriksson” He helped her stand up and gave her another smile.

“Are you hurt?” The medic ran over pushing Eriksson out of the way.

“No, I’m fine, just a little… shocked,” Kendrick said visibly paling as she saw Mackellar’s legs sticking out from the rubble pile. “I think I’m going to be…” She spun around and vomited all over the floor before fainting.

“I’ve got her Ming; you can take the Ensign over there,” Eriksson said picking her up and carrying her as they continued their search for other survivors.

Waters awoke trapped underneath a pile of fallen struts; luckily one had fallen next to him first preventing the other from outright crushing him. The blood splatter beside him that had once been Crewman Chan had not been as lucky. He lay there silently, trying to gather his strength to push his way out when he heard talking.

“Hey Vic, check it out is that?” a female voice said.

“I think it is!” a male voice replied who Waters assumed was Vic.

“Hey Boss!” the two called in union.

“Laura, Victor, it’s bloody good to see you, from what I’ve heard we’re all that remains of Engineering,” a third voice which Waters recognised.

“Darrell!” Waters called out loud.

“Hey you guys here that?” Chief Engineer Johnston asked the other two.

“Darrell! It’s me Simon! From the Bridge!” Simon called out from beneath the rubble.

“Communications Officer Waters, right? But where are you?” Darrell said, looking left and right.

“Underneath the struts! I can’t move!” he called out.

“Damn man, Laura, Vic, get either end of that tall horizontal strut and try and lift it, I’ll try and pull him out when you’ve got the pressure off.”

Laura grabbed one end as Victor grabbed the other and on the count of three they lifted it and Johnston slid him out exactly as planned. “

Are you okay Simon?” Darrell said crouched over him.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Darrell turned around and saw a guy with scraggly white hair in a white jumpsuit.

“Who the hell are you?” Darrell demanded as the man pushed past him and gently turned Waters over, and then started prodding him to see if it gave a reaction.

“That’s the replacement for Dr. Carter, Stamford I think his name was. He’s a little strange but good at what he does,” Laura said standing behind Johnston.

“He saved my hand when I tripped onto that saw remember?” Victor said to Laura.

“Yeah, he did,” Laura replied.

“If you two would be as kind as to lift the patient, I’ll need a raised surface of some kind, follow me.” Doctor Stamford suddenly stood up and started to walk away.

Laura and Vic carefully lifted Simon and carried him after the doctor while Darrell trailed along behind.

Navigation Officer Isao Okano was bashing the only intact computer in the cryolabs. “Patton! I know you’re still in the system! Talk to us!” He shouted as he hit all the buttons he could on the machine before sinking to the floor with his back against the console. He held his head in his hands for a bit, he knew that when the power went down Patton would have been erased as per the Cole Protocol. After a while he began recovering some composure and sat back up again. It was then he heard the sound of a gun going off. He leapt up and ran towards the source knowing people would be there, other survivors like himself. Maybe they would know what was going on and what to do next, he reasoned to himself.

He rounded the corner to see an enraged marine with her pistol, an M6D Magnum Sidearm, pointed at the injured figure of Tech Officer Rodrigo Barbanos. Rodrigo was lying in a pool of crimson, his hand clasping what looked like a bullet wound.

“Bastard came at with a knife,” the female marine said pointing to the large crude sharp of metal Rodrigo held in his hand. Isao just stopped and stared, making the marine extremely nervous.

The Captain was the next to arrive with another marine and a pilot with him. The marines seemed to know each other.

“Stand down Private!” Sergeant Bunting ordered, meeting the other marine’s eyes. The marine’s arm shook before she gently lowered her pistol. “Hand it here Cass,” he said more softly and held out his hand in which she placed the side arm. Seeing his target disarmed Rodrigo leapt up with an inhuman howl and thrust the crude implement right into Cassandra Whitmore’s eye. The marine fell to the floor screaming in pain as rivulets of blood sprayed from her injured eye. Before Rodrigo could stab again, Bunting pointed the pistol determinedly and fired a shot right at Rodrigo’s forehead. The bullet went straight through leaving a spray of gore, into which his corpse fell.

“Medic!” Bunting screamed as he ran to Whitmore’s side and saw the state of her eye. As if on cue, Cpl. Yao and Pvt. Eriksson rounded the opposite corner carrying their charges. They placed them both gently on the floor before sprinting over to the wailing marine who was rolling around the floor writhing in agony. Eriksson had adopted the unofficial role of aide helping Ming by holding Whitmore still as Yao attempted to check out her eye.

“Stand back! This is a job for a real doctor!” Dr. Stamford said as he arrived with Waters and the Engineering team.

“Private, fetch me something sharp! Does anyone have a lighter?” Francis Stamford was in his element, having helped refugees fleeing from devastated colonies with whatever he had on hand.

“I’ve got one,” Victor said as he pulled it out of his inside pocket and handed it over.

“Damn it Sinclair, you said you quit!” Johnston pointed at him accusingly. Victor just shrugged back.

Eriksson came running back with a syringe full of adrenaline. “It’s all I could find!” he said as they all turned and stared at him.

“I can’t just waste adrenaline like that, Corporal pocket it in case of an emergency later! Mr. Sinclair, use your lighter to heat up the weapon he was stabbed with. Sergeant, Ms. Berneche, hold him down,” the doctor was barking out orders now, the troopers ran around trying to get all their tasks done.

Bunting pinned down Whitmore by lying across her whilst Laura held her head still. The distressed trooper tried to throw them off but all she could manage was to frantically wiggle her torso.

Sinclair placed his lighter at the tip of the blood covered, makeshift dagger whilst Yao pulled out his lighter too and helped. Dr. Stamford lightly poked the eye with a gloved finger and Cassandra screamed in pain. “It’s worse than I thought,” Stamford announced, “I’m going to have to remove the eye. This is going to be excruciatingly painful. Does anyone have a belt on?” He turned expectantly only to realise they were all wearing jumpsuits. “Damn, forgot we were all in uniform.”

“We could scar the tissue with fire,” Eriksson suggested and once again received glares from everyone, everyone except Dr Stamford.

“Brilliant idea! It’ll solve the problem of bleeding out and sterilise the wound!” Stamford applauded receiving raised eyebrows from the other remaining crew members.

“What about the immense pain?!” Bunting demanded.

“She’ll be in intense pain anyway; I’m going to wrench her eyeball from her socket,” Stamford said matter-of-factly earning a whimper of fear from the pinned down form of Pvt. Whitmore. “Unless someone can knock her out… wait a second! This is a cryolab; they must have something more than just adrenaline her. Ideally some oxycodone.” Stamford clicked his fingers as he came up with the idea.

“Oxy-what?” Eriksson was completely clueless.

“It’s an opioid analgesic medication synthesized from thebaine,” he said and Eriksson shrugged dismissively. “Painkiller! Like morphine but doesn’t inhibit cryostasis,” Stamford shouted, “now go! The sooner you find some, the sooner I can operate.”

A large alicorn lay sleeping in her bedchambers, her flowing mane divided into four distinct layers: teal, blue, pink and light green. A scroll suddenly appeared in the air above her sleeping from and fell, bonking her on the head. She started with a jump, looking around to find the source of the disturbance. She found the scroll and opened it up, to see it was from Twilight Sparkle. A friendship report? Now? How unusual, she thought to herself as she began to read, A metal structure… crashed into the moon… check it out? How confusing why hadn’t she been made aware of this.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. “Come in she stated,” putting on her most regal voice. A member of her royal guard opened the door and a small grey unicorn civilian ran inside, sweat pouring down his face in rivulets.

“My Princess,” he bowed before talking hurriedly, “I saw a strange object crash into the moon! It was made of metal and sprouting blue flames! This could be what we’ve feared! Aliens!” the unicorn practically screamed that last word.

Celestia was extremely sceptical about it being aliens, how ridiculous, she had to suppress a giggle for the sake of the unicorn’s dignity. “This event has already been brought to my attention, but I do not consider it pressing enough to rouse the guard at this time. Tomorrow morning I will launch a full inquiry, which you can assist with, if you wish, Mr?”

“Starstruck, Earnest Starstruck.” He held out a hoof then remembered it was the Princess so bowed again instead.

“So, if you would come back tomorrow morning…” she lead on hoping he would get the gist, which thankfully, he did.

“Many apologies Princess, I’ll be back tomorrow.” He bowed once more before walking out again.

Celestia lay back and sighed, tomorrow was going to be a big day,she thought to herself before descending once more into slumber.

Hard Landing

“Got it! I Got It!” Cpl. Yao sprinted back with a syringe of liquefied oxycodone, before throwing it to the doctor who straight away shot a dose of it into her system.

“Lift her onto the table,” Dr. Stamford instructed, pointing to the two crewmen holding her down.

“Get her head Laura,” Bunting ordered and the two of them lifted her up gently and placed her carefully on the table.

“Makeshift scalpel,” Stamford said and Yao passed him the sterilised weapon. Stamford counted to three and stabbed with the scalpel, into the flesh surrounding the eye.

Cassandra screamed like something out of hell, and began to flail wildly with all her limbs, forcing Laura to grab her arms again and hold them down. Stamford grabbed the needle again and doubled the dosage, emptying all of the serum into her bloodstream. Her screams quietened as she fell into a drug induced stupor.

Stamford breathed out heavily. “Just a simple ocular exenteration,” he said to himself as he picked up the scalpel once more, gently lifting the eyelid and sticking the scalpel into the eye socket. He cut a clean circle around the inner circumference trimming the muscles around the ball, allowing him to reach in and pluck the entire ocular muscle out entirely. There was minimal blood, but a procedure like this had a high chance of infection. To combat this he took both lighters from the table and lit them, passing them along where her eyelid met her face, cauterising it shut by forcing scar tissue to form.

“That should have worked, but we won’t know for sure until she wakes up,” Stamford announced to the worried crowd. He then realised that Captain Lairsey and Isao Okano hadn’t returned from their hunt for some analgesic. “Who’s second in command then?” he said as an idea hit him.

“I guess it’s me.” Sgt. Bunting stepped forward. “As the highest ranking military member still alive, I would assume command if the captain died.”

“Technically Mackellar was second in command on deck, with Kendrick as third,” Johnston argued.

“In an emergency situation the highest ranking marine assumes command if the captain dies,” Eriksson countered.

“While onboard ship, the marines always answer to the navy,” Sinclair debated.

“Will you guys just break it up?” Flight Officer Pritchard said exhaustively, “it’s been a long day. Why don’t we do something useful and salvage some supplies.”

“Good idea Hannah. If me and Eriksson take the armoury, then Stamford and Yao can take medical, while you and Johnston can check the flight deck, to see if we’ve got a ride out of here,” Bunting announced his idea, pointing to each person as he named them.

“What about us?” Victor and Laura asked in unison.

“Watch over the injured and unconscious. If Waters, Kowalski, Stevens or Kendrick wakes up, give them a quick medical assessment and send for Stamford or Yao. Everyone know their job? Good. Meet back here in thirty," Bunting instructed.

Lairsey and Okano had gone to the bridge, only to find the place a complete mess. Cables were torn apart and strewn everywhere, several of the consoles having been torn out of their fixed positions and were lying on their side. Chan’s stockpile of drugs that he kept to deal with his cancer had been littered all over the bridge.

“At least the bridge isn’t breached,” Okano said nervously as he walked back over to his own console which was now lying on the floor.

Lairsey just sighed and sat down heavily in his chair on the bridge, when he noticed a single blinking light on his console. That’s right! Emergency protocol allowed the captain’s computer to remain active! He remembered, opening the virtual interface.

“Okano! Over here!” Lairsey called out and the Navigator walked back over to see the captain’s interface open.

“You’ve got a computer working. How did you do that?”Okano looked confused.

“Emergency power keeps the captain’s computer powered as per protocol,” Lairsey said dismissively. “But look at this! Emergency power is going to cut life support in two hours!”

“What?! What the hell do we do?!” Okano flew into a panic.

“We gather supplies, collect the others and hope to hell we still have a ride out of here,” Lairsey instructed, "I’ll get what information I can from this console, then head to the flight deck while you grab the others from the cryolabs and get supplies.”

“Yes Sir.” Okano nodded and turned around before sprinting back out of the bridge.

Lairsey breathed a sigh and, once Okano was gone, called out quietly, “Patton. You still there?”

“Sir?” Patton’s voice replied but the dais was no longer functional so no figure appeared.

“Do we still have any means of contacting command?”

“No sir, communications have been obliterated. We’re on our own on this one.” Patton’s gruff voice always gave the facts straight.

“Any life detected in the system?”

“External sensors have been blown to hell.”

“How about internal?”

“Still functioning, do you want me to…?”

“Yes, scan the chamber. A single crack and we’re all screwed.”

“Doing this will take fifteen minutes off your life support.”

“Never thought I’d see the day where you’d warn me off something,” Seth laughed, it felt good.

“Running the scans now, scanning… scanning… done. Containment chamber six has been breached, the flood are loose.” Patton was incapable of real emotion, only relying on the fake personality he was created with, so spoke as gruffly as he always did.

“Once again. We’re all dead.” Seth stood up and sighed, he always thought better while standing. “Can we blow the ship?”

“Only while we still have power, I’ll take a further forty-five minutes off of life support.”

“That’s our only option, in an hours time, auto-initiate self-destruct sequence as per order 73-XV.”

"I need consent from the acting marine commander on board.”

“All the marines are dead! Just follow the order!” This was not going to plan for Lairsey.

“Negatory, scanners revealed that Sergeant Bunting is still alive and is now the highest ranking soldier on board. Bring him here and get him to authorise it; only then can I initiate self-destruct.”

“Fine. I’ll be back, stand by for now,” Lairsey said as he walked out of the bridge.

“Damn,” was all Eriksson could say as they walked to the armoury door only to find it jammed shut. The only reason a door would be locked down under emergency power is if the other side is a vacuum.

"Now what the fuck do we do?” Bunting said as he slid down the wall he was leaning against.

Eriksson paced backward and forwards for a few minutes before breaking into a smile and announcing, “I’ve got it! We go to Environmental Control and get us some space suits, then we spacewalk out of the ship and round to the armoury through the inevitable hole.” Bunting sighed and Eriksson instantly regretted speaking out.

“It wouldn’t work, firstly Environmental Control is on F-deck, secondly all exits to the ship are locked down under emergency power unless we have the captain’s code, and thirdly we don’t know how big the breach is in the armoury,” Bunting listed the flaws in a dejected tone.

“Well how about Naval Security, don’t they have a separate armoury?”

“Yeah, but we’d need a member with naval security clearance…” Suddenly Bunting jumped back up. “Ensign Kowalski! He’s technically head of Naval Security now! Come on, let’s go!” Bunting turned and sprinted back to the Cryolabs with Eriksson hot on his tracks.

Dr Stamford and Cpl Yao entered observation, the only part of the medical wing still airtight.

“There must be some equipment in observation, right?” Ming said as the door shut behind them.

“Chances are there won’t be. I run a tight ship and all medical supplies are kept in that supply cupboard over there.” Francis pointed through the observation window to a door in the room on the other side. The room itself was completely missing a back wall and they could clearly see the black of space through that hole. “That’s now a vacuum and security protocol will keep the door locked down. Even if we could jimmy it open, we’ll probably just kill ourselves.”

“Is there no other way into that supply cabinet?” Ming asked unable to give in.

“Only entrance is through that door. Unless…” Francis began but then stopped himself.

“Unless what?” Ming tried to force him to follow up his train of thought.

“There was a large grille on the ceiling that led to a ventilation shaft. There happens to be another large grille right over there, perhaps they're connected,” Francis said fairly uncertainly.

“Perhaps? What if that ventilation shaft leads to oblivion?”

“Exactly why I wasn’t going to mention it, there’s no way I’m going in there,” Francis said adamantly, crossing his arms.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Cpl. Yao announced.

“But, what if it’s suicide!” Stamford relaxed his arms and leaned forwards slightly.

“There’s a good chance at least one of our three injured is going to die from their injuries. Medication of any kind and a basic antiseptic increases all of their chances tenfold.”

“Is one life worth three potential lives? They may all live anyway and you’d have thrown away your life… meaninglessly!” Stamford shouted in shock.

“Or the three of them die, and then we’d have to live the rest of our lives knowing that we had an opportunity to save them and we didn’t take it,” Ming countered, annoyance entering his voice.

“You know what! You’re… completely right,” Francis sighed deeply before continuing, “I’ll do it; I know the supply cupboard a lot better than you do. No offence, but I probably also know pharmaceuticals better than you too. Just wait here and I’ll chance the vents.” Stamford walked past Yao and opened up the grille.

“Here.” Ming walked up and yanked one of the loose electric cables from the ceiling. “If you tie this cable around your back then I can try and pull you back up.”

Francis nodded in return and complied, fastening the cable securely around his waist before entering the grille gingerly. It was more than wide enough for him and high enough for crawling. He crawled through the space, following the vent, it wasn’t too long before he saw the other grille and looked through it. Sure enough the supply cupboard was still secure although the crash had thrown the shelving units over. He opened the grille and lowered himself into the room. “Easy as A, B, C.” He said as he stood up and looked around. He would need: antiseptic, analgesic, antibiotics, bandages, and hopefully he’d left his spare bag full of basic medical instruments. He found the spare bag almost straight away thanks to the black showing up clearly against all the clinical whites and greys. He then began the hard process of sorting through the various pills and serums, to find exactly what he needed.

Ming assumed Francis wasn't dead as the cable still had some slack whereas if he had been sucked into the void of space the cable would have gone taut and ripped. He held the cable dutifully and looked out through observation again when a flash of orange caught his eye. He moved to the window for a closer look when suddenly a bulbous, yellow, tentacled creature threw itself at the window, bouncing harmlessly off of the security glass. Ming’s blood froze. A flood infection form, how the hell did that even get onboard! It took all of his willpower not to run screaming back to the cryolabs but Stamford was still down in the cupboard. The repulsive creature threw itself once more at the window, tendrils flailing before falling to the floor again. It stood up on its multitude of small tentacles that it used as feet; its main body was like a mutated bulbous squid, from the front protruded three extra long tentacles acting as “feelers” ending in a large cluster of orange hairs. The creature didn’t just kill you if they got close, they assimilated you. They used their tentacles to bore into your nervous system through your spine and hijack your mind, if you were lucky you died there and then, if you weren’t then you became a prisoner in your own body. Ming had seen it happen before; He had been at Voi when the flood arrived. If it hadn’t been for Master Chief, that one man army, then he would have died too like the countless patients of his that had been transformed before his eyes. He was lucky to catch a Pelican Dropship and get back to HQ alive.

Stamford managed to shut his now overflowing bag and had found one of his white coats, using the pockets to carry everything else he could. He climbed up the one remaining shelf unit and re-entered the vents, crawling back through the small grey crawlspace. He arrived at the other grille and opened it up again, climbing through to find Cpl. Yao stood staring out of the window.

“I got the stuff, there’s more than enough here,” he exclaimed happily holding out his bag.

“Look,” Ming whispered pointing out the window. Stamford immediately began to worry and approached the window to see a writhing mass of flood. Not just infections forms though, human combat forms now joined them, probably the remains of the crew that once manned the lower decks. Flood could also infect the recently dead and did not need oxygen to survive. One of the combat forms walked right up to the window. Its head was no longer completely attached to its shoulders, instead hanging limply to the right. Its chest cavity was burst wide open, leaving a clear hole in which the flood infection form had nestled snugly, dangling its telltale orange feelers out through the hole. Its left arm had widened and hardened, forming a claw-like appendage, while the other arm remained entirely human. The remainder of the former engineer was still relatively intact, even still wearing its yellow jumpsuit and name badge clearly labelling the flood as one Technician Davis.

Stamford recoiled in horror at the sight and fled the room, running back to the Cryolabs. Ming returned its cold dead stare for a few seconds, before turning away and sprinting after him, catching up in the corridor. “Stamford! Listen to me, we cannot tell the others about the flood, they’ll freak out and panic. They’re trapped on the destroyed side of the ship, by the time they find a way in we’ll be gone anyway!” Yao shouted as he grabbed Stamford and pinned him against the wall. “Okay?” he demanded. Stamford nodded vigorously and Yao released him. The two then walked back to the Cryolabs.

Hannah couldn’t believe her luck. Her own Pelican Dropship that she had flown in herself, was sat on the pad, fully fuelled and ready to fly. It would be an easy matter to take off, all she had to do was load it up.

Darrell stood back and watched the gleeful girl run forwards with a squeak, and attempt to hug the dropship. He smirked before heading up to the control room and its security console, the only console that he knew remained active during emergency power as it was crucial for opening up the hangar bay doors for takeoff. He logged in, as Chief Engineer he had access to almost any computer on the ship. The network was down however so this console only allowed a simplified hangar display. In front of him on the touchpad were three options: Open hangar door; obvious enough, seal off flight deck; in case of attack this would block off the hangar, and activate security; A few ceiling mounted turrets would engage hostiles normally except it didn't function under emergency power.

Hannah came running in still smiling broadly. “Charlie zero-six-niner is hooked up and ready to launch. I will need a co-pilot however… and if you wanted the role I could show you the basics now.”

Johnston looked up from the console and smiled back. “Sure, I don’t think any of the others know a thing about flying and, you know, I always kinda wanted to be a pilot.”

“Well today’s your lucky day then. Don’t worry it’s not difficult, she is an older model D77-TC however, but I would never trade her for any D77-TCI,” she said as they approached the hulking green beast. “Let me give you a brief overview of the Pelican first,” she said as they walked around the large awkward bird, “this Troop Carrier sits at a length of 100 feet with a wingspan of 76. It’s a 34 feet tall beast of a transport, easily able to accommodate up to fifteen people in the back and two pilots up in the bridge, with a weight allowance of 70 tons.”

Johnston whistled in admiration, he knew these things could carry a lot, but 70 tons, damn.

“This ship features two engines, along with a further ten thrusters housed in four vector pylons. This armour plating is heat and radiation resistant, allowing for safe orbital entry,” she said giving the metal hull a tap with her knuckles, which was answered with the clank of thick metal. “Coming round to the front you can see the chin mounted 40mm calibre auto-cannon and, under the wings there, Two ANVIL-II ASM Missile Pods each carrying four missiles.”

Johnston nodded in appreciation. “That’s some firepower.”

“Come inside and I’ll show you how to operate her,” she shouted excitedly as she ran up the landing ramp and into the troop bay. Johnston walked after her and through the troop bay and then the dividing door, heading into the cockpit.

Celestia awoke as if by clockwork at exactly 6:30 a.m. She climbed from her bed and placed on her tiara and hoof cups, still a bit groggy. That astronomer had disturbed her beauty sleep and she felt more tired than usual. Still, her sacred duty called and she would not fail her subjects, she put on her best smile and trotted out onto the balcony using her best regal walk.

There were always some dutiful ponies who waited outside the balcony for the raising of the sun. Celestia lifted gently into the air and stretched out pointed upwards, her horn radiated a bright orange light and the sun rose behind her, cresting the horizon and bathing the land in its warm orange glow. The tourists and early risers applauded, before they dispersed slowly out of the castle and back to their lives.

Celestia sighed as she trotted back into her room. She had been ruler of Equestria for millennia and politics never changed; the same old boring conversations and ceremonies full of unnessecary pomp. Twilight’s letters were the highlight of her day now, she could see that life was still full of wonder for the young mare. How stagnant life has become, she mused, I wish something different would happen for once. At least Luna was back to ease her burden. “Speak of the draconequus,” she laughed as a dark blue alicorn with a flowing bluish black mane, dotted with stars forced her way into her room looking a bit miffed.

“Dearest sister, my guardsponies happened across an astronomer in the castle during the dark of the night. May I ask why he was not brought before me? As a fellow pony of the night, I’m sure he had much to discuss with you.”

“The foal though that aliens were going to take over the world or some other such nonsense.”

Luna’s eyes went wide, “Aliens,” she squeaked, “quick Sister! We must rally the PDF and purge the xeno scum!” She galloped around the room in a panic.

“Calm down Luna. We both know there’s no such thing as aliens, or have all those video games rotted your brain,” Celestia joked. Luna stuck her tongue out petulantly and the two of them burst out laughing.

“So... why... why was he here then?” Luna spoke between fits of giggles.

“Apparently a shooting star or something collided with the moon. If you want all the details I appointed two junior guards to assist him in investigating it, he should be in the castle right now."

“Really? Where?” Luna began to hop in excitement.

"Calm down, he’s just an astronomer.”

“One of the few ponies who shares my love for the night sky!” Luna shouted with another hop.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "If you really want to meet him I granted him use of the astronomer’s tower here in the castle. Maybe you’ll be able to help him with your intricate knowledge of celestial bodies?” Celestia smiled warmly.

“Thanks Tia, I’ll see you later.” Luna galloped out of the room.

Celestia’s smile grew wider, she may be bored with ruling but she hadn’t given up on life just yet.

Captain Lairsey walked down the corridors to the cryolabs, his head was ringing and his eyes were finding it hard to focus. Maybe I should get my head checked out, he thought to himself as he almost tripped over a loose wire. He stumbled into the Cryolabs to find everyone arguing. From what he could tell, Yao and Okano wanted to treat Ensign Kowalski and the others and get off the ship as soon as possible. The marines needed Kowalski to get into the Naval Security Armoury and wouldn’t leave the ship without weapons. Waters had woken up and was apparently paralysed from the waist down much to his displeasure. Kendrick was rocking in a corner while Laura tried to calm her down and Stamford was busy redressing Cassandra’s wound. Seth managed to pool his remaining energy into a shout, “Attention!” Everyone shut up and turned to him as Lairsey regained his composure. “Yao and Eriksson will take Kowalski to the armoury now.”

“But sir, he needs treatment or he may lose that leg!” Yao protested.

“We need weapons to deal with whatever hostile life forms we’ll inevitably encounter in this harsh universe. So head to the armoury now, grab enough guns for the team and a ton of ammunition, and ferry them to the dropship."

“Yes Sir!” Eriksson and Kowalski replied with salutes. After a hard stare Yao mumbled it too and helped Kowalski stand up.

“Lean on me and I’ll support you as we walk there,” Yao said as he took Kowalski’s arm and placed it around his shoulder. The group of three then left the cryolabs.

Captain Lairsey turned to the remaining crewmen. “Okano, Kendrick, take Waters to the Pelican. Stamford, finish up Stevens’s eye and then escort her there too. Sinclair, Berneche, head to the officer’s kitchens and grab some food and drink, there’s no telling how long we’ll be in the Pelican. Bunting you’re with me, I’ve got something to show you up on bridge.”

“Yes Sir!” They all saluted too and headed off to their appointed duties. Bunting followed Lairsey out into the corridor.

“Why we heading to the bridge, Sir?” Bunting asked quizzically as they walked.

“I need your consent as acting commander of the marine forces,” Lairsey said without missing a step.

“For what?”

“The self-destruct sequence to blow this ship,” Lairsey announced in the same tone as one would use to announce the football scores. Bunting stopped in his tracks, but Lairsey kept walking, forcing Bunting to do a short sprint after him to resume his place at his side.

“Why?! Why we would activate that?!” Now Bunting was seriously confused.

“I can’t let any damn xenos that live out here get their grubby mitts on Human technology this advanced. We activate the sequence then take off in the Pelican, no harm done,” Lairsey continued.

“But… how do we get back?”

“We don’t. Communications were fried before we hit slipspace; there is no way to contact Command.” Lairsey finally stopped and turned to Bunting grasping his shoulders and staring into his eyes. “We’re all alone out here son.” He then turned and entered the door to the bridge.

Bunting had to do another short jog to catch up. The two of them entered the bridge and approached the captain’s chair. “Patton!” Lairsey called and once again the gruff human sounding voice emanated from the speaker that lined the chair.

“I see you brought the marine with you. So you consent?”

“Yes sir, can’t let any intelligence fall into enemy hands.” Bunting didn’t quite know how to address an A.I. so kept with the standard honorific, “Sir.”

“Good man. Activating self destruct countdown now. You have fifteen minutes until this ship blows, booking you a one-way ticket to hell. Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure,” the voice said before cutting off.

“You heard the robot, let’s get the hell out of here and back to the ship,” Lairsey shouted and the two of them sprinted back out of the bridge.

“And that is all you should need to know. I’ll handle most of the actual flying stuff, the co-pilots main job is to handle the weapons while I fly, oh and pitch in on landings and take-offs. We shouldn’t need the missiles but I think you’ve got the hang of the autocannon,” Pritchard said rewarding Johnston with an encouraging smile. “I don’t think we have time to go over th…” she began but was cut off by the sound of the door opening.

Okano stood in the doorway; his hands were covered in the strong unmistakeable colour of blood but flecked with some kind of greyish-green mould.

“Waters… he just… exploded…” Isao stuttered before collapsing to the floor.

Johnston leapt to his feet and bounded through the door to find Kendrick lying on the floor, also passed out, next to a huge red bloodstain flecked with the same greyish mould. There was no trace of Waters however. Darrell heard a noise halfway between a rustle and a squelch and saw a flash of green rush past. Johnston ran back into the cockpit. “Hannah, do you keep a gun in here?” he tried to ask quietly and calmly.

“O-o-of course,” she replied in a staccato fashion, “all pilots are required… to hold firearms… in case of emergencies.”

“May I borrow it? We might have a problem."

The squelching noise was heard again and Hannah opened a compartment, pulling out another magnum before she handed the sidearm to Darrell, inadvertently letting out a small squeak.

Darrell checked it was loaded, turned off the safety and peered around the corner. A small upside down squid was creeping towards the unconscious form of Kendrick. The pistol rang out once and the flood infection form burst in a spray of greyish-green. He stood up and walked over to secure Kendrick when he heard a hiss and two more launched themselves at him. He opened fire at the pair hitting one mid-leap before diving to the side dodging the other. He fired again. Once, twice, three times but each hit the metallic interior of the Pelican as the creature dodged. The thing then pounced onto his leg, knocking him to the ground and throwing his gun out of his grasp, before it began crawling up his leg. Johnston smashed wildly at the creature trying to pull it off and kill it, but it resisted and slowly advanced up his leg. Darrell was panicking now, he kept pummelling the form with no result, if it reached his torso he was a goner. He made a desperate grab for the pistol but it eluded his grasp once more. The creature reared back about to burrow into his chest when it inexplicably exploded coating Darrell in the greenish grey juices.

Boots clomped against the ground as Leif Eriksson walked forwards toting a shotgun. “This is my boomstick!” he laughed out, god he loved old movie quotes. “It’s a pity this is the M90A CAWS though, nothing beats the kick of the older models.” Over his shoulder was a duffel bag loaded with guns. Eriksson held out a hand and Johnston grabbed it accepting his offer for aid as he was dragged up onto his feet.

Corporal Yao was behind him with another bag of guns over one shoulder and Kowalski’s arm around the other. “How did the flood get into this part of the ship?!” he demanded helping Kowalski sit into one of the cleaner chairs in the troop bay.

“It was Waters, he just ... burst and then there were Infection forms everywhere,” a very dazed Okano said rubbing his head as he stood back up.

“Burst?”

“Yeah one second we were carrying him and the next he was a bloodstain on the floor. I heard a popping sound but I had my back turned at the time. Kendrick probably saw it happen,” he insisted before noticing Kendrick’s limp form on the floor.

“Is she…?” he began.

Yao kneeled over her and checked her pulse, then he said, “No, just unconscious.”

“Thank god, if she was dead then I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”

“Wait, what did you mean by this part of the ship?” Hannah said walking out of the cockpit.

“When me and Francis went to the Medical Bay, we found that the only room still accessible was the observation room. The rest of the bay had been breached so, you know, there was no air. Through the window however we saw flood inside Ward A, several Infection Forms and a Human Combat Form,” Ming said slowly, to the shocked onlookers.

Eriksson placed his bag on the ground and motioned for the rest of the group to come take some. “Who here hasn’t had weapon training?” Eriksson asked the small crowd.

Okano raised his hand and Leif handed him an MA5C Assault Rifle. “Hold down the trigger and point in the enemies’ general direction, at least some of your shots should hit them. Remember when in doubt, just spray and pray.” Okano gulped but accepted the rifle.

“Got any rifles? My dad and I used to go hunting with bolt-actions,” Johnston said peering into the bag. Leif pulled out a M392 Designated Marksman Rifle and threw it to him.

“It’s not Bolt-action, but it is single fire and scoped.

“This should do nicely, thanks,” Johnston replied stepping back and examining the rifle.

“Pritchard?” Leif said turning to the Flight Officer.

“I was only trained with pistols. I got my own M6D Magnum Sidearm but if you’ve got any clips?” She said picking up the pistol that Johnston had dropped earlier.

Eriksson nodded and tossed her a pair of clips that she pocketed. Eriksson turned to Yao who pointed at the M7/Caseless Submachine Gun on his waist so he then turned to Darius.

“And then there’s just you, Kowalski.”

“I’m in Naval Security; I’ve trained with all those guns. Throw me a BR.” Eriksson pulled out a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle and tossed it to him. Kowalski caught it smoothly. “Gotta love the 3-shot burst,” he said gruffly then coughed loudly.

“Uh? Anyone know about Kendrick?” he asked the group.

“I’ve never seen her around the firing range.” Ming shrugged.

“I’ll just give her a M6D too. Pistols aren’t too hard to use.” Eriksson returned the shrug and pulled out a pistol, placing it on her chest.

“Then why’d you give me this assault rifle.” Okano confronted Eriksson waving the rifle to illustrate the fact.

“Pistols are pretty useless against flood; by the time she wakes up we’ll probably be far away from here, and the damn flood,” Eriksson replied honestly.

Dr. Stamford was carrying Private Whitmore’s unconscious form awkwardly in his arms. He had previously been walking slowly but the flood combat form pursuing him had given him a sudden sense of urgency. Despite the terror bounding after him, Stamford managed to keep focused. The patient comes first, safety comes second, He continually repeated in his head as he dodged left and right, avoiding loose floor panels and draping cables. He wasn’t far from the hangar when he turned a corner to find his path blocked. A piece of the deck below had shot through into A-Deck obstructing the corridor completely. Stamford placed Cassandra gently on the floor and propped her against the blockage. He reached into his doctor’s bag and pulled out a bone saw he had brought with him on the off chance that Kowalski’s leg would need amputating. He inhaled deeply and repeated his mantra once more in his head.

The flood form came around the bend and stopped, noticing its prey was trapped. It rushed forwards with a roar, clawed arm first. Stamford swung wildly with the saw, grunting with the effort of his swing, and it buried into the monstrosity’s arm with an audible thwack and jammed there. The beast’s swing was knocked off centre and it tripped over a loose cable tumbling to the ground. Stamford’s survival instinct took over and he walked over to the creature and stomped on its head. The head burst, spraying greyish fluid mixed with scarlet shocks of blood everywhere. Stamford was still breathing deeply, his body shuddering involuntarily. He turned to Whitmore when he tripped with a crash. The flood had grabbed his foot with its clawless hand, the saw seemed to have disabled its ability to move its clawed hand. Stamford was dazed from the collision of his face on the ground and was unable to resist, the creature picked him up by his throat and raised him off the ground. The creature held him off the ground, choking him. Francis couldn’t breathe, his throat burned and he clawed at the hand holding him up. Everything began to blur together when a dull bang sounded off somewhere in the distance. He dropped to the floor again as everything faded to black.

Lairsey and Bunting were sprinting through the corridors. “How much longer do we have?” Bunting shouted to make up for the fact they were running.

Lairsey checked his watch and shouted back, “Eight minutes and counting.” They turned the corner when they heard a loud roar coming from a side corridor, followed by the sound of metal hitting flesh.

Bunting stopped and pulled out the pistol he had used to take down Barbanos earlier after his psychotic break. Lairsey stopped too and motioned for Bunting to go first. They heard what sounded like someone fall to the ground and then the sound of a struggle. Bunting jumped around the bend to see a headless flood combat form throttling Dr. Stamford. He lifted the pistol and shot it in the back, in the dead centre of the hole the infection form was nestled in. He heard the shrill death cry of the infection form as the body fell forward releasing Stamford from its grasp. Bunting ran forward to check Stamford was still breathing. Lairsey walked to the flood and turned it over noting the bone saw buried into its arm with a smile.

“Captain, he’s still breathing,” Bunting stated as he lifted the unconscious doctor up.

“Good. Let’s get these two to the Pelican,” Lairsey replied as he walked over to Whitmore. He cradled her in his arms and lifted her off the floor before turning and sprinting back down the corridor, Bunting and his charge followed behind swiftly.

The door to the hangar bay opened again so Okano let out another spray of bullets. “Die already!” he shouted wildly.

“Stand down Okano, it’s us!” Lairsey shouted from around the corner.

“Sir?! Of… of course sir.” He stuttered lowering his gun as Lairsey and Bunting came in with Stamford and Whitmore in their arms. The room was sprayed in gore, that grey, mould like substance lined the floor and walls, blood stains were everywhere and transformed corpses covered the floor. Lairsey counted fifteen corpses; fortunately none of them were of the survivors. Okano, Johnston, Eriksson, Yao, and Pritchard were all armed and watching different entrances into the room. Bunting and Lairsey entered the troop bay and placed their injured onto the benches in the Pelican besides Darius.

“Status report officer Kowalski,” Lairsey ordered.

Kowalski turned to look at him and lowered his rifle. “Things just went crazy, for the past five minutes flood keep pouring through the vents. We’ve got someone armed watching each entrance now.” Just as he finished speaking the sound of Eriksson’s shotgun rang out along with the dying cries of another combat form.

“Crew members, in five minutes this ship is going to cease to be, self-destruct is counting down and we need to be gone by the time she blows. So Pritchard, throw me your gun and take the helm.”

“Yes Sir!” She saluted and threw him her pistol then added, “I’ll need Johnston too.”

“Johnston, get up here, give Bunting your DMR and follow Pritchard,” Lairsey ordered.

“Sir!” Johnston replied as he sprinted to the Pelican. He handed his rifle to Bunting and ran into the dropship, heading to the cockpit with Pritchard.

The door opened again to another spray of bullets from Okano.

“Shit! It’s fucking us!” Sinclair shouted, barely dodging the shots.

“Sorry man, flood are everywhere! Get on board.”

“Flood?! Fuck!” Sinclair shouted in reply as he and Berneche walked into the hangar carrying boxes of supplies. They rushed to the troop bay and locked the crates into place. Laura noticed Kendrick was still lying on the floor and picked her up, placing her into one of the seats and buckling her up.

“Three minutes!” Lairsey shouted as he ran off into the control room and logged into the console.

“Patton! I need you to open the hangar bay doors in exactly two minutes,” He shouted at the computer.

“Yes sir!” a voice replied.

“And Patton. Its been an honour.”

“Same to you sir,” Patton said in his usual gruff tone. Lairsey nodded to the console and ran to the dropship.

“Everyone get in and buckle up, we’ve got three minutes before this entire place ceases to exist!” Lairsey shouted to the crowd. Bunting potted one more flood and then pulled back as they all rushed into the Pelican. Everyone got into their seats and buckled up. “Shut the hatch Okano!” Lairsey shouted to the navigator, who hit the green button next to the door. The ramp raised and folded over the hole, sealing itself and making the craft airtight. The engines raised to a high pitch whine as the ship left the ground, hovering slightly above the floor. Flood forms rushed into the hangar and bashed against the metal outside. Exactly on time the hangar bay door opened and all the flood forms were dragged out into the vacuum of space. The Pelican’s main engines engaged with a loud bang, hurtling the ship forwards and out into the depths of space. The ship began to accelerate rapidly but mere seconds after clearing the hangar, the Frigate’s engines detonated, causing a chain reaction up the ship as multiple large explosions joined together to form one huge explosion. The Pelican managed to just clear the blast radius in time, slowing down as they left the moon. However, a piece of debris from the ship propelled from the explosion, flew with force into the rear engines of the Pelican. The bird span wildly as Pritchard fought with the control stick to stabilise.

“Oh, Hell no!” Hannah screamed as she fought the Pelican. “I’m going to have to pitch us down on that nearby planet!” she shouted to Johnston pointing out through the window to the large blue planet below. "It looks like its got water! Let’s hope the atmospheres breathable!” She forced the Pelican down towards the planet fighting the buffeting forces of the atmosphere and the Pelican’s own rogue engine. “There’s a forest! I’m going to try and put her down in the trees! They should absorb some of the momentum!” She kept shouting to Johnston who just nodded in agreement, not quite sure what exactly was happening.

The crewmen in the back didn’t know what was going on. They had been sat in utter silence, with their fingers crossed. Due to the fact they were in space they couldn’t hear the explosions of the ship behind them, only feeling the vibrations from the force acting on the ship as it rattled their own craft. They were seated horizontally along the craft, eight seats on each side, only ten were occupied by people with a further six by supply crates. The troop bay was illuminated by red lights although each person may as well have been staring into darkness. The craft suddenly span to the side but the sound-proof partition meant that they couldn’t hear Hannah and Darrell up front. The craft twisted and turned, Okano griped his harness so hard his knuckles turned white. The crewmen all suddenly shot upwards as the Pelican hit the ground once, then twice. Lairsey’s head smashed into the ceiling, wounding his head even further and plunging him into unconsciousness.

Luna marched regally once she was had left Tia’s room and was following her guards to the observatory tower. She knew the importance of keeping up appearances, despite the fact it would have been so much faster to just fly there. Besides, her guards were not accustomed to the sunlight due to their training in near pitch darkness, this increased their reaction times and vision in general in low-light environments, specifically the Everfree Forest and other such dangerous areas. The castle was so busy during the day and many of the staff weren’t accustomed to her roaming around after dawn. They hurriedly bowed stiffly as she passed and moved out of her way to which she replied by smiling and nodding, trying to show that she was still personable. Nopony rose to the bait though and she sighed as each passed without stopping to converse. They finally arrived at the astronomy tower and began to ascend the many, many, many steps that lead to the highest tower of the castle. For the next five minutes they proceeded in silence, only the clip-clop of their hard hooves on the stone surface of the stairwell before finally reaching a trap door. One of the guards pushed it open and unfurled the wooden fold-out staircase which the three of them then ascended.

The tower was covered in papers; apparently the astronomer had moved all his equipment into the tower last night straight after leaving Celestia’s chambers. Two exhausted guardspony rookies stood beside him, as he scrawled over another sheet of papyrus with a quill he was holding, using the innate telekinesis ability that all unicorns possessed. One of the guards turned on their arrival and shouted in surprise, “Princess Luna?!” The other guard turned and saluted which the first guard then quickly mirrored.

“Just one moment!” Earnest said without stopping his work. Luna instead opted to approach the desk and looked over his shoulder. His quill danced across the page making intricate lines, carefully and precisely documenting the lunar structure of the moon. Luna knew the moon exceptionally well, after being imprisoned there for a thousand years when she had been possessed by the evil miasma and became Nightmare Moon. Thankfully Nightmare Moon had been defeated and the miasma destroyed, thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who became the Elements of Harmony. She shook her head and focused once more on the picture. Something was amiss; there was some rock formation that hadn’t been there before.

“What, pray tell, is that?” She spoke loudly to the astronomer.

“That is exactly what I was talking about, the telescope is lined up, and I don’t feel my illustration does it justice.” He still kept focused as he drew craters and started shading. Luna approached the telescope and peered through its lens. Sure enough there was something that shouldn’t be there, but with the clarity of the telescope she could clearly see it was metallic. As she weighted up the idea of flying up there and checking it out, the object exploded with a huge outburst of orange flame, throwing debris everywhere. One particularly large piece of debris seemed to be heading for the Everfree Forest.

“Loyal subject! Come hither and look at this!” she shouted to Starstruck who waved dismissively in reply. She rolled her eyes but held a hoof to order her guards to hold position. “That metal thing just exploded!” The astronomer dropped his quill and galloped swiftly over. Luna moved to the side as the astronomer grabbed the eyepiece and looked down it. Sure enough there was now a large crater where most of the ship would be and pieces of fragmented debris littered the lunarscape.

“This could be bad! A second explosion would hint that it was detonated, possibly manually.” The old grey unicorn started to pace anxiously, “What to do, what to do, what to do?” he said out loud as he paced.

“I saw a piece of large debris crash into the Everfree Forest,” Luna replied helpfully. The pony suddenly ran up to her and got uncomfortably close to her face.

“You must assist in claiming this piece of debris. It could be alien! Imagine the technology required to travel across space itself! This could revolutionise our entire perspective on the universe. It could help us make leaps and bounds in our own technology! You must come!” he began at rant. Luna’s guardsponies moved forward to restrain him but Luna held up her hoof once more.

“My guardsponies and I will assist; the six of us should be able to handle the Everfree forest, right?” she turned to her guards. They both were grey pegasi wearing light purple armour carefully fitted to their form. Where their manes and tails should be there were dark purple spiny adornments to the armour. Instead of the usual pegasi feathery wings their wings were enchanted to mirror the leathery wings of a bat, but dark purple. The two guards were named Buzz and Neil respectively. Neil was the older of the two had been around before Luna’s return, a veteran of the force while Buzz had only joined after the Princess’s return.

Neil replied truthfully, “if we take Celestia’s two rookies with us, then most beasts will look the other way.” The rookies looked at each other and sighed, just their luck, after heaving mounds of research material and equipment up this damnable tower all night, they were now being dragged miles away to the one of the most dangerous place in Equestria, the Everfree Forest. They were both too tired to be scared but they put on their best professional pose and tried to take it in stride.

Celestia’s royal guard, the more prevalent and numerous of the two, wore golden armour in a traditional Roman-officer fashion. Their armour was a lustrous gold and adorned with blue sapphires that twinkled when the light hit them. The helmets featured Romanesque plumes of blue and white. One of the Guards was a pegasi whilst the other was an Earth Pony. They both looked almost identical though other than one lacking the golden armoured backing, due to the presence of his large feathery wings. They were both white in colour with deep blue eyes that mirrored the sapphires they wore. Here in the forest, their ceremonial armour looked ridiculous. They followed the plume of smoke into the forest where they saw a massive drag mark as if something had crashed into the ground at an angle. There were two more big dips where it must have hit the ground twice, before they looked up to see the dropship.

“What the hay is that?” Buzz whispered to Neil.

“Not a clue, never seen anything like it,” Neil replied.

“Come on then, we haven’t got all day. Let’s hurry up and secure this and bring it back to base." Ernest hopped excitedly.

“Wasn’t the ship grey?” Luna asked the astronomer before adding, “This piece has a dark green tinge to it.”

“Does it matter? Let’s go,” he said excitedly, charging wildly towards the crash site, the two white guardsponies rushed after him. Luna sighed and then motioned her guard to accompany her as they walked after them.

Negotiations

Seth awoke with a start, the troop bay was still bathed in dark red light from the emergency bulbs. “Fuck! My head…” he groaned as he unbuckled his harness and landed on the roof with a hard thud. “Gah!” he shouted in pain as he dragged himself to his feet. The Pelican must have turned upside down at some point, he thought to himself as he walked over to the pilots’ partition. He opened the door to see Johnston struggling with his belt, before turning to the pilot. Pritchard was dead, the glass had smashed inwards, spraying its deadly payload all over the interior of the cockpit. Pritchard’s hand was still on the brake but her head was bowed and she was coated in her own blood. A massive glass shard was stuck in her chest. Lairsey walked over to Johnston and released the harness, catching him before he hit the roof.

“Thanks man,” Johnston said as Lairsey put him down. “Fuck! Hannah tried to control the descent but a piece of fucking debris knocked us way off course! We touched down on the nearest planet, it had water so we assumed it had a breathable atmosphere.”

“Well you were right. Look, the cockpits breached, yet we’re still breathing so at least we’re still alive.”

“Good one Hannah!” he cheered turning to see the lifeless corpse, “Fuck! She’s not… is she… fuck!” he shouted in disbelief. Her piloting skills had just saved their skins and she didn’t even survive the landing. “Argh! Fuck!” he shouted again, kicking a pane of glass that had somehow remained intact.

“Calm down, Darrell. We’re still not out of the woods yet.” Lairsey’s head was thumping as he tried to concentrate. “Let’s get the others up and try and set up a base, okay?” he said calmly, despite the fact that he was equally confused and angry. “Now, do you have any idea where we are?”

"We’re on a planet, it has water and trees. That’s right, we crashed into a forest, Hannah brought us down into the forest saying that the trees would cushion the impact,” Darrell said slowly as his memory returned to him.

“Good. Good. Let’s get everyone up and start planning,” he said as the two of them returned to the troop bay and sealed the door behind them.

Earnest Starstruck couldn’t believe his eyes, he was sure that this was an alien craft. “Look at those, those must be engines but not powered by steam,” he said excitedly to the group of ponies that had assembled, “And what are these? Giant fireworks? Maybe a weapon derived from fireworks!” he mused aloud to the assembled crowd. He continued to obsess over all the details speaking in excited, quick tones.

Neil turned to Luna and implored her, “my Princess, we should contact Celestia immediately and assemble the rest of the Royal Guard! There could be some… things still alive in there! Hostile things!”

Buzz stood on the other side of Luna and urged her to do the opposite, “Mistress, this could be a brilliant discovery! An actual alien craft, I say we grab it and bring it back to Canterlot castle for examination, inhabitants and all.”

Luna turned to each, unsure of who to side with when one of the royal guards shouted out, “Over here there’s an opening!” Ernest galloped straight over to see the smashed in cockpit. The guardspony looked in and screamed out, “an alien! An actual alien! I think it’s dead though!” Ernest galloped faster and pushed him out of the way in his haste to get a look.

“By Celestia! It is, look at it! Bipedal from the look of it, just look at the way it’s sat! We have to get in there!” He examined the interior through the window, searching for an opening. He noticed a large red button labelled in clear Equestrian. “Open hatch… wait a second! They write in Equestrian! How is that possible?!” Luna immediately rushed over and took a look with her guards trailing behind her.

“Go! Go! Go!” Bunting shouted as the rear door opened up, he and Laura advanced left whilst Johnston and Leif moved right. “Secure the landing zone!” He stopped as he noticed a small white horse dressed in elaborate gold armour staring back at him.

“Sir?! We have a situation!” Leif shouted to Bunting as his team ran into another armoured horse, this one with wings. The horses seemed equally shocked at the sight of the Humans. Lairsey walked forwards with a stride, in one hand he had his pistol trained on the winged one, his other hand clutched his head that was still throbbing with pain. He walked up to the winged one who he assumed was the leader and spoke slowly and clearly.

“Friend or foe?” he cocked his pistol dramatically to emphasise his point.

The pegasus had no idea how to react, he could understand the thing in front of him clear as day, but he had no idea what the thing pointed at his head was. He tried to speak but his mouth was dry, whatever the thing pointed at him was he assumed from the way it was held that it was a weapon.

“Friend or foe?” Lairsey repeated before pointing to the ground directly below the winged horse and letting of a warning shot.

The horse jumped back in fright and stammered back, “friend… friend!” Lairsey hadn’t expected the creature to reply, he just wanted to see how intelligent it was. It was then that Luna and the others walked around the front. The Captain suddenly found himself surrounded by horses, he swung the pistol wildly aiming at each of them individually. His head was practically tearing itself apart and he was finding it exceptionally difficult to focus. “Where the fuck did you just come from!” he shouted out loud at their leader.

This… thing made Buzz’s blood boil, nopony insulted the princess like that, not even these oddities. Luna gave him a reassuring look to try and calm him down but the Human walked forwards flanked by two of the armoured ones who Buzz assumed must be his guard. They were all holding some kind of weapon in their hands, each was different yet similar. They waved them around as if they were swords but kept their distance. The Human who he assumed was the leader, the one with a large cut on his head, walked forward then back, he seemed to be pacing.

Lairsey didn’t know how to react, there was something almost… noble about the dark blue winged unicorn. Listen to me, winged unicorns, Lairsey laughed inwardly. He then turned to face the aliens and started talking, “something is definitely wrong here. I don’t know what you are and what you want. You can understand us right?

“That is correct,” the blue one replied who Lairsey assumed was the leader of the group; the two flunkies on either side of her looked angrily at him as if ready to pounce.

“Tell your boys to calm down then. They’re giving my trigger finger an itch,” Bunting said from Lairsey’s left. The two horses stopped growling and tried to ease up.

“Look, we don’t want to have to shoot you. I’m sure that you can be reasonable and that you can let us unload our ship then walk away. I’ve had enough of aliens and I just can’t trust you. We are going to restrain you and you are not going to resist,” Lairsey said to their leader, before turning to his subordinates. “Johnston, do we have any rope?”

“I think there’s some in the emergency kit in the craft. I’ll just take a look,” Johnston said as he climbed back into the crashed Pelican.

Twilight Sparkle awoke to the smell of something delicious, wafting through the crack under her door. “Hmm, Hragh, Huu,” she grunted as she rolled onto her back, the scent drifted along up to the bed and over her face. She inhaled deeply triggering a content smile that spread across her face as her eyelids fluttered open to the sight of a bright and sunny day, passing beyond her window. Her smile widened and she sat up gently with a yawn. From downstairs came the faint sound of Spike whistling from the kitchen. She yawned again and clambered out of bed and to her hooves slowly, before trotting over to the mirror and picking up her brush using her unicorn magic. She ran it through her mane gently, straightening it out. She checked herself in the mirror. “Everything looks right as rain,” she announced proudly to herself before opening the door and heading out.

She walked downstairs to find Spike stood over the stove simmering an Omelette Du Françoise. Twilight’s mouth watered at the strong scent of spices and eggs. “Morning Spike,” she stated announcing her arrival. She sat down at the table just as Spike dished the omelette onto a plate which he placed onto the table in front of her.

“One Omelette du Françoise, exactly how you like it. Mildly spiced with extra cheese and only lightly simmered with dragon fire,” Spike announced full of pride.

“Fantastic job, my number one assistant,” Twilight said digging in with a fork telekinetically.

“Mmm, just perfect,” she sighed with satisfaction. Spike beamed rubbing back his head spikes with a slick claw.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” Spike asked as he placed two mugs of steaming herbal tea on the table and sat down opposite Twilight.

“Do you remember the other day when I found that old book? An Alchemist’s Guide to Equestria. Well, I want to visit Zecora and get some ingredients, so that I can take a crack at a few of those potion recipes.”

“So you want to go into the Everfree Forest again?” Spike began to look a little worried.

“Yeah, but this time you’re coming with me. That way if I run into a cockatrice or something again, then you can run for help. You know. A buddy system,” she stated as if Spike had already agreed but he had other plans.

“No,no,no! I’m not going into the forest, I volunteered to help Rarity fill that big order.”

“But Spike…” Twilight pouted and looked pleadingly but Spike wasn’t swayed. When it came to Rarity it would take a lot of convincing to persuade Spike. Twilight sighed heavily, “Fine. You know you’re lucky you’re such a good cook.” Twilight placed another forkful of omelette in her mouth savouring the taste. “I guess I’ll see if anypony else is available.”

Thirty minutes later Twilight left the library that she lived in, her saddlebags loaded with supplies to trade with Zecora. It was a beautiful day, ponies lined the street of the town of Ponyville, talking and bartering with one another. Twilight knew that Rarity wasn’t the only one busy today, both Applejack and Pinkie Pie were also hard at work themselves, preparing for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. Even though it was being held in Manehattan this year, the citizens of Ponyville would still throw a big party and watch the sun rise for the longest day of the year. That left just Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash available to accompany her. Fluttershy was still terrified of the forest so Rainbow seemed like the only candidate for the job. The only problem was finding her. Let’s see, Twilight thought to herself, it’s around midday so naturally she’ll be napping. Probably on a cloud near town… there! She spotted a large cloud sat directly above Sugarcube Corner, on it she could see the cyan pegasus’s unmistakeable rainbow mane.

“Hey Rainbow!” she called to the mare lying stretched out like a cat on her cloud. “Rainbow Dash! It’s Twilight!” she shouted up again. Rainbow Dash scratched her nose with her hoof and started mumbling. Twilight was growing more and more irritated. “RAINBOW!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Rainbow Dash began to sit up then slumped straight back down again turning over. Twilight sighed and looked back down to see some of the other ponies were giving her inquiring looks. Twilight blushed, her cheeks turning scarlet as she mumbled, “sorry everypony.” The other ponies gave her a reassuring smile and continued with their work. A small orange pegasus filly with a dark purple mane walked up to her as the others dispersed.

“Need a hoof? I can definitely wake her up. I’ve got this new rock ballad that she’ll love,” she said pointing to the cyan pegasi.

“I might as well let her sleep. I was just going to Zecora’s and thought it would be safer to travel as a pair…”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Bodyguards!” two voices shouted deafeningly in unison from behind Twilight. A white unicorn filly with light green eyes and a mixed pink and purple mane bounced over. Following her was a yellow earth pony filly with red hair and a big pink bow on her head.

“Yeah! We could help you out Twilight!” the unicorn filly said.

“Oh, Sweetie Belle. Uh, I really appreciate the offer but the forest can be a tad dangerous for little fillies.”

“We flirt with danger every day!” The orange pegasus pulled a pair of shades from nowhere and put them on. “Live life on the edge!”

“Scootaloo, we both know that’s not entirely true…”

“Please Twi, Ah do so want mah Cutie Mark,” the yellow pony spoke with a Southern accent. She gave Twi both barrels, an unrestrained puppy dog eyes look, boring into Twilight’s soul.

“Apple Bloom, look, uh, I would love to let you come with me. But Applejack forbade me from bringing you to Zecora’s again after you mixed up that potion and gave yourself Cutie Pox.”

“But, but, but…” the three began to say in unison.

“No buts, my little ponies, I’m just going to have to brave Everfree Forest on my own.”

“No one fear, your friendly neighbourhood Rainbow Dash is here!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she landed in front of them.

“Finally! What woke you up?”

“Take a guess,” she said, motioning towards the CMC with her eyes. Twilight smiled and let out a snicker before she could catch it.

“Rainbow Dash! Hey Rainbow Dash! I got a new song you just have to hear!” Scootaloo hopped over, fluttering her small wings to get better airtime.

“Maybe later pipsqueak.” She said ruffling up her mane. “I’ve gotta help my friend Twi through the dark and creepy, Everfree Forest.” The CMC started giggling as Rainbow chased them around while waving her hooves and making ghostlike noises.

“Sure thing Rainbow. I’ll catch ya on the rebound,” Scootaloo said, turning around and walking away as coolly as she could.

The other crusaders sang in chorus, “see you Twilight, See you Rainbow Dash.” Before galloping after Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight began their walk into The Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash hovered slightly off the ground while Twilight trotted along. Both of them followed the path that cut straight into the woods. When they had faced off against Nightmare Moon a few years ago, they had followed the path all the way to the centre of the forest where the ruins of Celestia’s old castle lay. Today though they were only going to visit Zecora, a zebra that lived on the outskirts of the village. Zecora was a shaman, specialising in healing potions and the spiritual arts. After Twilight had wrongfully accused her of being a witch, they made up and became fast friends. Whenever Twilight had problems with the supernatural, Zecora was always willing to lend a hoof, whilst Twilight helped her procure rarer ingredients in return. Today though she planned on getting some ingredients from Zecora but she had brought her a copy of The Potioneer’s Prize in return.

“So then I swooped in and caught it just in time! Twilight, are you even listening?!” Rainbow Dash turned to her friend who appeared distracted.

“Sorry Rainbow, I just noticed that.” Twilight pointed towards a trail leading off from the main path.

“So what?” Rainbow Dash said contemptuously, “I’m telling you about my super sweet save!”

“It wasn’t there before, and look, in the distance.”

“What?”

“Something knocked that tree over.”

“Do you think it’s some kind of m...monster? Not that I’m scared or anything.” Rainbow scanned the area keeping an eye out for ghosts and ghouls.

“I don’t know, think we should investigate?”

“You’re the egghead. What do you think?”

“What if it is dangerous?”

“What if somepony else runs into it! We should go check it out.” Rainbow Dash sped off, following the trail. Twilight chased after her, but she couldn’t keep pace with the speeding mare. Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped in her tracks, she could see some kind of metal thingy upside down on the ground, next to it though sat Princess Luna and her guards, as well as some other ponies tied up with rope. Rainbow Dash did the only thing she could do in a situation like this. “CHARGE!” she screamed, shooting towards the assortment of beings surrounding the Princess.

A rainbow came shooting towards the group from out of nowhere, slamming straight into Berneche and knocking her flying into a tree. “We’re under attack! Execute the prisoners!” Bunting screamed pointing his battle rifle towards the guard who’d been giving him the evil eye for the last five minutes. Before he could fire though he found his gun wrenched out of his hands, coated in a dark blue shimmer. “Open fire! Multiple Hostiles!” Bunting screamed again before his gun flew back towards him and slammed into his forehead, throwing him to the floor.

Rainbow scored a direct hit knocking one of the creatures into a tree when suddenly everything went crazy. The air was full of flying metal and the sound of small explosions. She turned trying to acquire a new target when, from her high perspective, she could make out a pair of them at Zecora’s hut. “Damn, Luna takes priority though,” she whispered to herself before charging back into the fray. She spotted a new combatant slink out of the hunk of metal and shot towards him.

Luna did not like being tied up but stuck with it in the interest of keeping the peace. As long as they keep to their word, this may end up being the best outcome, She thought to herself, everything is still going well…wait, what was that? She focused her eyes on the flash of multicoloured light heading straight towards them. “Oh no,” she whispered aloud.

“What did you say?” Laura Berneche asked, approaching the restrained alicorn when she suddenly found herself flying in the air and then into a tree.

“Run,” was all Luna said as she untied the rope magically. Celestia’s guards grabbed Earnest and pulled back. Luna’s guards remained by her side however, one of the Human soldiers turned, rifle in hand and aimed at Buzz so she grabbed his gun with her magic and pulled it off of him, before throwing it back at him. She nodded to her two guards who charged forwards, towards a trio of the creatures still holding their ground.

Corporal Yao would not abandon his charges. Whitmore stood by his side with Yao’s SMG taking pot shots, but with only one eye she was missing by miles. Kendrick was reluctant to fire her pistol, just waving it around and trying to look threatening. Yao himself had a machete from the survival kit.

He noticed two armoured aliens charging forwards and threw himself at them, trying to keep his body between them and the injured. One of them effortlessly hopped over him, using its wings while the other smacked out with his hoof, straight at Yao’s head. Yao met its hoof with the side of the blade parrying the hit. He sliced forwards but the pegasi effortlessly evaded and kicked back, Yao flung himself out of the kicks range and rolled to his feet. His opponent snorted and started circling him. Yao breathed deeply and ran forward, blade raised, the horse turned and bucked sending Yao flying backwards but the machete fell, embedding itself into the horse’s rear. The horse cried out, staggering backwards, Yao dragged himself back up and turned to find Whitmore on the ground with the other guard atop her, pinning her down, and Kendrick nowhere to be seen. He charged towards the horse and tackled it as hard as he could to the ground. “Run Cass!” he shouted as he smashed into the armoured grey enemy.

Cassandra pushed herself to her feet and fled in the direction she’d seen Kendrick run in less than a minute ago. Yao struggled with the horse trying to get an edge in, but the combination of heavy armour and hooves had him at a complete disadvantage. The horse stomped down with his hoof, hard, on Yao’s head and everything went black.

Neil gave the beast a hard pound to make sure he stayed down before running over to help Buzz. “Argh! Get it out! Get it out!” Buzz kept spinning around, the machete stuck in his flank.

“Focus, Buzz! We’re still fighting here!” Neil shouted back. As if on cue, a bullet flew right through his helmet ridge, shattering it into pieces.

“Get down!” Neil jumped on Buzz just before a hail of bullets hit. The two of them leapt into the wreck for cover. Inside the wreck however were two more of the creatures.

“I surrender!” the one in white shouted putting his hands in the air. Next to him the other appeared already wounded.

“Francis, you cowardly fuck! Grab that pistol and put ‘em down!” Kowalski turned to him with daggers in his eyes.

“And then what?! This isn’t cowardice, this is rationality! We can’t win, we’re outnumbered, outmatched! Besides they don’t exactly scream hostile intent!” Stamford backed slightly away from Kowalski just before he took a swing at him.

“It doesn’t have to look dangerous to be dangerous you arrogant arse! Come back here so I can hit ya!” Kowalski shouted at the top of his lungs, and then fell into a coughing fit as a side effect.

“Sorry about this, necessary precaution.” Neil said as he trotted over then tapped them on the head with his hooves, both fell instantly unconscious.

“Where the hay did you learn that! Can you teach me?!” Buzz jumped excitedly then remembered the machete in his flank with a sharp cry, “argh!”

“Let me get that,” Neil said as he grabbed the hilt and pulled, the blade came free easily enough and clattered to the floor, but so did a river of blood. “Uh oh!”

“What?! What’s happening back there?!” Buzz said trying to turn around and look. Neil noticed some bandages in the bag the cowardly one was holding and pulled them out. He then swiftly patched up Buzz’s flank as best he could.

“Thanks pony,” Buzz sighed relieved. The sound of bullets seemed to have stopped so they poked their heads back out of the craft.

Rainbow Dash tried to dodge the bullets but there were way too many. Duck, dive, twist, dodge left then right, up then down; all in the space of five seconds before she slammed into the Navigation Officer. They two of them flew up over each other rolling across the ground. Rainbow Dash had been hit twice in her left wing and once in her chest. Okano was first up but without his gun he had no confidence, so he did the only thing he could do, flee. Rainbow Dash caught up in seconds and tripped him up, he fell flat on his face with a smash. Okano scrambled upwards again but this time tried to fight back. He threw a pathetic punch which Rainbow Dash just sidestepped before socking him one in the chest.

That was his limit as he fell to the floor in tears, “Please don’t kill me!” he cried. Rainbow rolled her eyes then knocked him out with a hoof to the face before collapsing on top of him from her wounds.

Twilight teleported in to find all the action had already taken place, or so she thought. She suddenly found herself being held at gunpoint by a very desperate sergeant.

“All of you motherfuckers back off or I’ll blow her head off!” he said walking back to the tree cover while holding her in front of him. “I see your horn glow and I’ll pop you anyway,” he added quietly to her. Neil and Buzz came out of the wreckage at the exact right time, finding themselves in the perfect position to grab him from behind. Neil did just that, knocking the gun out of his hands again. He turned and started running but Twilight teleported right in front of him making him fall backwards.

“Pop me will you!” she screamed at him before putting him to sleep with a touch of her horn to his forehead. She then turned to Luna who seemed to be staring sorrowfully into thin air. “Princess are you okay?”

“Hmm…” Luna turned to face the worried unicorn. “Yes, I am unharmed. I wish I could say the same for our friends.”

“Our friends? They tied you up and tried to kill us!”

“Only one of them harboured us any ill intent. This was simply a case of one rotten apple spoiling the bunch,” Luna said all this extremely calmly, considering what had just happened.

“That crazy one stabbed one of your guards with a sword!”

“To defend those weaker individuals, that shows compassion,” Luna spoke as if she had already thought it through.

“Are there any more of them?” Twilight looked around for more and then realised the absence of a certain cocky mare, “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” she asked Luna quizzically.

Luna began to concentrate and her horn flashed once, then twice before she turned abruptly and galloped into the woods. Twilight and the guards hesitated for a moment before sprinting after her.

“Princess! Where are you going?!” Neil shouted a she chased after her. Luna suddenly stopped; the other ponies caught up to her and gathered around. Rainbow Dash was lying at her feet in a pool of blood beside another incapacitated creature.

Twilight gasped in shock and fell to her knees. “Rainbow… no…” she mumbled.

Rainbow Dash opened an eye and coughed more blood onto the ground, “I’ll be… fine egghead.” She tried to stand back up but collapsed back to the ground. “I just… need a little… water,” she coughed out again.

“I noticed medical supplies back in the alien craft. I think the one in white was a doctor, maybe he could help,” Neil suggested.

“Go get him, quickly,” the Princess said quietly, her voice sounding mechanical, devoid of emotion. Neil and Buzz sprinted off back to the crash site.

Earnest and the guards fled the scene, sounds of small explosions coming from the crash site filling their ears. “Thank god! Somepony must live here; this forest is so bucking crazy!” one of the guards announced to the other and ran up to the door, rapping on it with his hoof. “Open up! We need assistance!” he shouted through the door. There was no reply. “Tertius! Check that window!” he ordered and the other guard walked over to the window and peered through. The hut looked devoid of life, a candle on the table sat unlit. Tertius turned to leave when he noticed a metal crate sat in the corner, the initials UNSC printed on the side of it in bold white.

“Quintus! There’s one of those boxes from the alien craft in there!” Tertius shouted to the other guardpony. He turned back to the window to see two armed humans climb out from under the table. “There are two of them in there! They’ve got those fire weapons!” he shouted once more to the other guard. One of the humans pointed out the window with his gun, after ensuring the pony dived away, he then shot it out. “Bucking hell,” he cried as he landed on the ground, glass scattering all around him from the window.

“Back off!” Leif shouted out of the window. He didn’t want to hurt them but he had to make sure they stayed away. He knew it was vital they guarded the supply crates they had managed to secure thus far. He had no idea if the food and drink available on this planet would be compatible with their digestive system. Despite the blandness of standard ration bars and sterilised water, he’d rather not chance the local food. They also had half of the guns stored there along with an ammo cache. Lairsey and Johnston were meant to be back any minute now with a second crate of supplies.

Seth and Darrell sprinted along the road carrying another UNSC crate between them, this one containing mostly survival supplies: knives, rope, sleeping bags; back to basics. As they approached the hut, the sound of Leif’s shotgun blasted out. “Johnston. We need to secure that other crate by any means necessary. Any. Means. Necessary,” Lairsey ordered quietly as the two of them placed their crate upon the ground, drew their weapons and peered around the corner. The two white armoured ponies from earlier were stood beside the door, whispering to each other.

“Back off equine scum!” Sinclair’s voice called out from behind the door, “I can hear you whispering out there!” The two ponies stopped and seemed to agree on something before nodding to each other and charging in, right into a trap. Sinclair had set up an impromptu ram that came down the second they opened the door, knocking the two of them flying backwards and to the ground outside, unconscious.

“Fuck yeah Vic! That was badass.” Leif high fived him and then walked outside. Lairsey and Johnston cornered, guns cocked, to see Leif standing over the unconscious guards. “Hey boss,” Leif said as he turned to greet them.

“We’ve lost this store room, we’re grabbing these supplies we’ve already secured and getting out of here, let’s move it.”

“Um, excuse me! Aliens?” Earnest strode forwards out of the shadows. “I, uh, don’t suppose you’d mind a quick interview before you leave.” He tried to give an encouraging smile but it fell flat.

“What do we do with him?” Leif turned to Lairsey who cocked his gun.

“Wait! Wouldn’t it be best to grab a hostage?” Victor said as he emerged from the hut with the supply crate. “And considering that this individual is the only non-combatant it stands to reason that he would be the best candidate.”

“That’s… actually a good idea Vic, give yourself a pat on the back. Leif, secure the hostage.”

“This isn’t exactly what I meant, you see I’m just an astronomer, you don’t want to…” Thwack went the butt of the shotgun as it collided with the pony’s head. Earnest collapsed backwards.

Leif picked him up, “They're surprising light,” Leif announced to the others. Darrell sniggered as he walked back around the hut and grabbed the second crate.

“Alright team let’s head out,” Lairsey ordered, “Keep to the edge of the roads, not actually on the roads. If they get winged horses to search for us from the sky, then we’ll need the tree cover.”

“Yes Sir!” they all shouted in unison and started to head out when Kendrick and Whitmore burst from the trees ahead.

“Sir! The Crash Site…” Kendrick announced breathlessly before stopping to take a gulp of air, “it’s been taken over… they’ve captured or killed everyone else.”

“Shit!” Darrell shouted, kicking at the ground.

“How many of them were there?” Lairsey adopted the same steely gaze he always put on when given bad news.

“I only counted four, but they were quick and strong. They took down Corporal Yao and Sergeant Bunting with ease. I don’t think the others stood much of a chance,” Private Whitmore spoke up.

“We cannot catch a fucking break can we?! A crew of around four hundred reduced to six. We might as well have all died,” Johnston ranted to the others.

“Shut up Darrell.” Seth said quietly, “we can still do this, we continue heading deeper into the woods, we locate a new,base of operations and we set up shop. Eventually we send out scouts, we find out where these horses have taken our fellow crewmen. Then we kill every. Single. Alien that stands between us and our crewmen.” Seth’s voice grew louder towards the end but his face betrayed no emotion. “But first, let’s go find us a new HQ,” he announced then started to walk off. The others nodded and followed him, Sinclair and Johnston each carrying a crate while Leaf had the prisoner on his back.

Neil ducked into the crash site to find the doctor still unconscious, slumped against the back wall next to the crippled one. He grabbed him and slung him over his back, before grabbing the bag he had found the bandages in earlier with his mouth and galloping back out again. “Buzz! Gather the other creatures together and tie them up in case they wake up again,” he ordered through the bag in his mouth, before turning and sprinting back to the injured pegasus.

“Yes Sir!” he heard Buzz reply from behind him.

Neil arrived to find the pegasus was unconscious once more with Twilight standing over her, looking very worried. “I got him!” he shouted as he placed the bag upon the ground then turned the creature to Twilight. She placed her horn against his head and he instantly snapped awake falling to the floor.

“Goddamn it!” he shouted picking himself up and dusting off, he then looked up and see a purple unicorn, staring him in the eyes.

“Please, whatever you are, you have to help my friend!” she cried hysterically pointing to a blue winged horse in a pool of blood with a bullet hole in her chest.

“Do you have my supplies?” he turned to her and she nodded at the bag by his feet. He nodded back grabbed his bag and rushed to the horse’s side. He opened the bag and pulled out some tweezers and gauze. He hoped it didn’t have any internal injuries, this medical kit was quite basic, most of the larger stuff had gone in the supply crate that the Captain had picked up moments ago. “Do you know if your friend is allergic to anything?” he queried as he pulled out a shot of Factor VII, a coagulant that should cause the blood to clot, lowering the chance of a bleed out.

“No… I don’t think she is.” Twilight tried to regain her composure. The creature seemed capable as he pulled out several odd devices. It gently pushed an odd metallic instrument into the hole and pulled out a small, cylindrical metal object.

“Bullet has now been removed. A shot of this and some gauze and your friend should hopefully stabilise,” Francis said, turning to the unicorn and picking up the syringe, jabbing it into the hole and releasing it into the blood stream. He then picked up the gauze and applied it to the wound, sticking it to the ruptured flesh. He felt her heartbeat, it was getting pretty weak. Ideally a shot of adrenaline would get it right back up again. “Wait a second,” he suddenly said out loud, “Corporal Yao had some adrenaline in his pocket! Uh, you there,” he said waving at the dark blue winged unicorn that was clearly in charge. “I need to get back to the crash site so I can get something.”

“As long as it isn’t a weapon, I don’t see why not. Neil, escort mister…” She paused to let the creature identify itself.

“Stamford, Doctor Francis Stamford,” he replied on cue.

“Escort Doctor Stamford to the crash site and bring him back, quickly.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” The guard saluted and began to walk back to the crash site with Francis by his side.

“So, uh Neil, are you the same type of horse…”

“Pony, we’re ponies not horses,” the guard stated tersely without even turning to look at him. After a few seconds of awkward silence Stamford piped up again.

“Ponies, right. Uh, so you’re a winged pony…”

“Pegasus pony, and we’re here,” he said gesturing to the site. Buzz had gathered the four creatures together and tied them up with the same rope they had tied them up with previously. Francis ran to the prisoners and straight to Yao’s unconscious body. He pulled the syringe of adrenaline from earlier out of Yao's pocket and placed it in his own before turning back to Neil.

“Got it! Let’s head back,” he said running over. The two of them then strolled back. On the way, it was Neil’s turn to ask some questions.

“So if I’m a pony, what are you?”

“I’m a Human, we hail from the planet Earth.”

“Earth, huh, never heard of it.

"It’s in a distant system, possibly even galaxy. To be honest, I don’t know where we are now.”

"This is the land of Equestria and we’re here again,” Neil replied pointing to the injured pegasus.

Francis nodded and pulled out the needle crouching once more next to the injured pony. He checked her heart rate again, still falling. There was nothing for it, he held the needle high and stabbed it as hard as he could into her chest.

Twilight gasped in shock as Francis stabbed her friend, but Rainbow Dash woke up with a massive inhalation of air. She shook her head and saw a creature stood over her with a sharp needle. Instinct took over as she kicked his legs out and leapt on top of him.

“Wait Rainbow Dash!” she shouted and the cyan pegasus stopped mid-punch and turned to look at her. “He just saved your life.” She looked down to see some white cotton object attached to her chest and looked below her as she realised she was sat in a pool of her own blood.

“What?! Why would you do that?! Your friend here was the one who shot me!” she exclaimed incredulously gesturing to Okano.

“We’re not all fools. If you would be so kind as to release me, then perhaps I could try and treat your wing too,” Stamford said uneasily with Rainbow Dash sat atop him. Rainbow turned around to see two small clear holes through her left wing. She tried to hover but screamed out in pain as she tried to flutter her left wing. Stamford pulled an antiseptic cream and some more gauze out of his bag.

“I don’t know if wings require any special treatment, so I’ll treat them as I would hands,” The doctor said to the patient.

“I don’t know any of that science stuff as long as you can make me fly again, I don’t care what you do.”

“I haven’t got a clue on how fast you ponies heal, but I would advise a fellow human to keep off the injured limb for at least four weeks.

“Buck that! Flying is my life; get me back up in the air by the end of the week.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that…”

“I could assist there.” Twilight interjected, “If you just stop the bleeding then tomorrow I can try and brew her an accelerated healing potion, from the tome I recently rediscovered.” Twilight smiled helpfully. Francis nodded back.

“Okay, uh, Rainbow Crash I need…”

“Rainbow Dash, as in Dashing with a D,” Rainbow Dash said through grated teeth.

“Oh right, sorry. Uh, this is going to sting, a lot. I need you to bear with it and it’ll stop within ten seconds. Okay?”

“Bring it on,” Rainbow replied, gritting her teeth in anticipation. Francis squeezed out two dabs of cream and applied them gently to the injured areas. Rainbow gritted her teeth more, and then relaxed. Francis then gently applied the gauze to those two holes too, on both sides.

“There we go, that should significantly lower the risk of infection.” Francis smiled calmly.

“Thank you doctor Stamford.” Luna said as she approached the doctor as he stood up. “I’m sorry about this, but we need to keep you a secret as we transport you to Canterlot.” She then lowered her horn to his forehead and cast a more refined version of Twilight’s sleeping spell, bestowing the doctor with pleasant dreams. Neil picked up Okano and Stamford and carried them back to the crash site, where he tied them up with the others.

“All humans secure and ready for transport Ma’am!” Neil saluted formally.

“Excellent good then let’s head back to Canterlot,” Luna replied and approached the prisoners.

“Um, Princess!” Buzz shouted nervously. “Uh… what happened to that astronomer and the other guards.”

In the excitement Luna had completely forgotten about the other ponies. “Oh my!” She exclaimed aloud then began to focus once more as her horn glowed with the dark blue energy. She galloped off and everypony moved to follow her.

“Buzz, stay here and guard the prisoners.” Neil shouted back and Neil pulled back from the group to return to the prisoners. Rainbow Dash could only move a fraction of her speed while on foot, but she still easily outpaced the others. Luna twisted through the undergrowth, sprinting in a straight line when the burst through the foliage to find themselves at Zecora’s hut. The two guards lay battered on the floor, while the door to the hut was burst open. Twilight checked the guards, they were breathing regularly despite the huge dents in their armoured chest plates. She then placed her horn upon their foreheads and woke them both up. Quintus leapt to his feet instantly while Tertius attempted to drag himself up.

“Guardsponies, may I inquire as to what happened here?” Luna asked cordially.

“Those foals ambushed us when we tried to take the hut. I only counted two of them but I heard them mention two others. Argh! My head is swimming!” Quintus shouted, stumbling a little as he clutched his head.

Tertius took over. “They booby trapped the door with a buc…” He started casually then realised he was talking to Princess Luna. “A battering ram, Ma’am.” He saluted and stood to attention. “They were guarding some supply crates they took from the crash site.

“Hmm… where’s Starstruck?

“Who?” Quintus asked releasing his head.

“That astronomer, the alien theorist.”

“Oh right, he was right… behind us…” Quintus trailed off as he turned around to see nopony there. “Buck. I don’t know what happened to him… he was nearby when we were knocked out…"

“Perhaps they took him with them?” Tertius suggested.

Twilight finally gave in and interjected Princess Luna herself, “That’s all well and good, but where is Zecora?”

“Who?” Tertius replied.

“The zebra who lives in this hut,” Twilight said exasperatedly, this whole incident had her on her wit’s edge and Twilight was not a pony that responded well to pressure.

“We never saw a zebra,” Tertius continued, “the hut only contained those things.”

“Humans,” Luna corrected him.

“Yeah, them hoomans,” Tertius accepted the correction

“Then where is Zecora?” Twilight asked nopony in particular.

Zecora had retrieved some hydra scales from Froggy Bottom Bog, a quest that had taken her the entire day. She had managed to use an invisibility potion to sneak up unnoticed and pluck some of the beauties. With these shiny scales she hoped to make a plethora of different potions, hydra scales had a surprising amount of alchemical uses, from healing poultices to potions of flame resistance and stamina poisons. She had decided to take a shortcut through the forest on the way back, normally a risky manoeuvre but she was still experiencing the rush that accompanies a job well done. She stopped as she heard a rustling noise and concealed herself behind a bush.

“Well, exxxxcussseee me for taking the initiative,” a feminine voice said.

“You abandoned me and Yao! We might have been able to fight them off if you had actually helped!” another voice replied.

“We didn’t stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting out of there alive!”

“We could of, if you had actually fired your damn weapon!”

“If I had fired, at least I would have hit something.”

“I have one eye! One.Eye!”

“That thing had full auto, you should have just sprayed in their direction.”

“Will you two just shut up?! Please?!” a third, masculine voice pitched in.

Zecora peered from her hiding place to see six odd creatures walking alongside the road. They stood on their hind legs kind of like Spike, and carried some large crates. The one at the back appeared to have an unconscious pony slung over his shoulder. He was whistling a jaunty tune, as if this was routine. Zecora didn’t know how to react, she could rush out and confront them but she couldn’t see that working out well for her, or she could wait for them to pass then rush to Ponyville for aid. It didn’t take much convincing for her to decide on the latter and she waited with bated breath as they passed.

“I don’t know Captain, this forest looks pretty dangerous, and I would recommend we find somewhere more secluded to set up shop,” a fourth voice stated in reply to a question she couldn’t quite make out.

“Fine, let’s keep moving everyone, first structure we find is ours,” an unenthusiastic voice called out to a chorus of equally unenthusiastic cheers. The footsteps passed and vanished into the distance. Zecora checked the coast was clear and emerged from her hiding place. She sighed in relief and galloped back to her hut.

She arrived home to find her door burst open and her window smashed. She peered through the window to see Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat at her table. Twilight wore a worried expression whilst Rainbow Dash appeared to be struggling to keep awake. Zecora walked in through the open door, marvelling at the battering ram that had been fashioned from her bamboo stalks. “Would somepony like to explain? What happened here boggles the brain.” Twilight leapt up at the sound of Zecora’s voice and galloped to the zebra to hug her. “What’s with the sudden show of affection, is it because I evaded detection?” She laughed as she returned the hug.

“You’re alive! Thank Celestia, when we found your house like this we thought the worst.” Twilight sniffed.

“No need to be so down, I’m fine so don’t frown.” She gave Twilight a smile. “I journeyed far for a certain component, many uses has this ingredient.” She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a set of murky brown scales. “Scales of a hydra, to make a potion for Lyra”.

“Those… humans tore through here; they used your house to store their supplies before Celestia’s guard assaulted them. We captured some of them but the others escaped into the forest,” Twilight answered Zecora’s previous question.

“I met them on the road, they carried a worrying load. A pony weak and stricken, bound up and trussed like a chicken,” Zecora told them.

“Was this pony a grey unicorn?” Rainbow Dash asked, remembering the small pony she had seen earlier.

“A quick look did betray, he was definitely coloured grey,” Zecora replied after a brief pause for thought. “If I may request your acumen, what exactly happened to them?”

“The humans who were captured were taken to Canterlot for interrogation. Princess Luna herself will be leading inquiries,” Twilight answered before adding, “Luna will be pleased to know that Starstruck is still alive, even if he is in enemy hooves.”

“So that is it? All she writ.” Zecora inquired. Rainbow Dash nodded lazily but Twilight had one more thing to do. She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out her copy of The Potioneer’s Prize.

“Actually I was wondering if I could get some ingredients off you in return for this book,” Twilight said with a smile.

“An exchange? How strange,” Zecora said as she trotted over to see the book. “Ah, a book on potions, what a kind notion.” She smiled. “I will be obedient, name your ingredient.”

“I need some manticore poison, a sample of poison joke, a pair of Luna Moth wings and a Blue Dart wing.”

“All of these you can take, as well as some scale of drake.” Zecora nodded happily and gathered the ingredients from her storeroom and handed them to Twilight, who placed them carefully in her saddle bags. “Now I think it’s time for you to leave, I’m sure you have much to achieve,” Zecora said smiling again and waving them off.

“See you later Zecora.” Twilight Sparkle waved back.

“Catch ya around,” Rainbow Dash said as the two friends departed and began the walk back to Ponyville.

“Everyone know their job? Good. Meet back here in thirty.” A gruff voice shouted to the assembled crowd. Cryotechnician Rodrigo Barbanos's corpse lay there motionless, waiting for the thudding of boots against the ground to finish. Berneche and Sinclair were stood together sharing a smoke. What was once Rodrigo opened its eyes and dragged himself up off of the floor as quietly as he could. This body had not yet begun the unfortunate process of rotting but it was sure to happen soon enough. It knew then in its currently weakened state it wouldn’t stand a chance against the pair of technicians. The urge to spread its toxic spores was strong, the scraps of rational thought that remained advised strongly against it though. It had targeted the technician originally due to his distance from the others and unconscious state. It gurgled quietly as it turned to observe the remainder of the room, looking for easier prey. Two unconscious forms sat in eyesight of the smoking technicians, slightly less risky than assaulting them directly but the spores would need time to convert their host to its purpose, much as it had for him. He gurgled again discontentedly when he spotted a third unconscious form sat significantly further from the other two. If it was quiet and they kept distracted then it had a good chance of success.

It approached the prone form of Communications Officer Waters, luckily he was lying face up.

“That’s what she said!” a feminine voice cried out followed by loud guffaws of laughter before they quietened back down again.

The creature took this opportunity to let out a low cry, as a tentacle burst from its chest with a spray of blood, prising its ribs open. The appendage stabbed into the back of Water's neck and pulsed, channelling a thick viscous liquid as quietly as it could. Waters snapped back into consciousness but was still paralysed and unable to fight it off. He gurgled thickly, his throat jamming with the gloop as he drowned on the fluid. After a few minutes, the thing gently withdrew the tentacle and retracted it back into its chest. With the urge to infect temporarily sated, it slithered out of the door and into the wrecked corridors, the technicians none the wiser.

It crept quietly through the corridors, it was vaguely aware that it had to get off the ship, but beyond that it didn’t know what to do. It heard someone sprinting down the corridor and ducked into a side section, hiding in the shadows. “Stamford! Listen to me, we cannot tell the others about the flood, they’ll freak out and panic. They’re trapped on the destroyed side of the ship, by the time they find a way in we’ll be gone anyway!” a voice shouted before the sound of someone hitting metal was heard. “Okay?” the voice repeated then the footsteps resumed. The creature resonated with the word flood; that is what the humans who created it had called him, years ago “Flood Alpha” they had said. If there were more like him trapped outside the ship, it figured it better let them in.

After some more trekking it made it to the bridge, now devoid of life but sat in the centre was his prize, the Captain’s Console. Rodrigo was not the most stand up guy, he had a few vices that he liked to keep hidden. While the Captain was under he had hacked the console and “corrected” a few of his files. Alpha found that it could access these memories if it concentrated hard enough and typed the password, logging into the console. With the captain’s authority it allowed him to open the security doors that had blocked off half the ship and let the flood back in. Now with that task completed Alpha checked and sure enough, in a part of the ship he had just unlocked sat a few intact Bumblebee Escape Pods. Alpha curled Rodrigo’s lips into a smile, logged back out and it rushed off to the now accessible area of the ship.

With the huge explosion from the engines filling the sky, no one noticed a small metal object hurtle out of the moon’s atmosphere and shoot down towards the planet. It tore through the atmosphere bearing down towards Equestria.

Seed Sower put down the watering can and stood back up, her soft brown fur clung to her in clumps, due to the beads of sweat running down her body. With the sun beating down on her she had struggled to get the job done, but get it done she had. She picked up a glass of apple juice that she had left on the table, and took a long draught of the cool refreshing liquid. She sighed contently, there was nothing like the feel of accomplishment after a hard days work mixed with a refreshing drink. “Could this day get any better?” she wondered aloud.

It was then she heard a distant rumbling and looked up to see a meteorite hurtling towards her freshly watered fields. She stared at it mouth agape and dropped the glass, it felt to the ground wand shattered. She shook herself, upturning the table and diving behind it for cover. The ground shook as the meteorite smashed into the field with an almighty crash. Smoke filled the air and the strong smell of ash was everywhere. Seed Sower emerged from behind the makeshift barricade of the table and peered over to see a chunk of solid metal now sat in a crater in the middle of her field. She ducked back behind, pondering her next move. She had moved to Sugar Lump Farm four years ago to escape these kinds of crazy goings-on. The nearest village was miles away so there was no chance of help. She decided to investigate it herself so she nervously approached the object. The air around it simmered with heat, she grabbed one of the chairs that had been tucked under the table and threw it at the object. The chair combusted as it hit the object, rapidly burning away to more ash. Seed Sower decided that she was going to need help in the end and decided to begin the long journey to the village. She returned to the farmhouse and fetched her saddlebags and put on her sun hat before embarking on her quest to receive aid.