Soldiers: Skyfall

"THROW THE CHEEEEEEESE!"
--Graffiti on Vanhoover school, Beta Equestria.

Date: August 9th, 1666 CC
Time: 15:11
Name: Princess Meadow Dawn
Location: Tree of Hope Castle

Princess Meadow Dawn sighed happily as she sat down beside a window of her home, a very large tree grown into a huge castle. The window she chose this time was one on the upper floors so she could enjoy the view as she drank.

Her husband, Stalwart Shield, was out with their son visiting his grandparents, leaving Dawn with the company of her Hive through The Link and the regular castle staff.

She poured herself a cup of hot liquid, picked up the cup, and took a deep breath to enjoy the scent. She savored the first sip and sighed contently as she watched the countryside spread out before the window.

She took another sip when one of her drones pinged her in the link. She focused her mind eye on her as she carefully sipped her drink.

‘Yes Zeni?’ She asked, knowing the drone instantly and where they were located, at the Gate Location chosen for the bridge between this Equestria and that of Dawn's Mentor, Princess Commander Twilight.

‘My Queen, we are detecting strange energies coming from The Gate.’ Zeni reported showing her memories of it.

Dawn sighed, while dimensional travel was possible there were always strange aspects when it came to it due to the physics, or lack thereof involved at times. While this was most likely nothing, instinct told her she should check it out. So she downed the tea in one go and headed for the balcony.

A short time later, she was landing outside a small fort and was greeted by Zeni, who bowed. “My Queen, the energy fluctuations are increasing.” The drone reported.

Dawn nodded and walked past the drone who moved to follow. As a princess, Dawn didn't need permission to enter this fort. Soon she entered a room far more advanced than her home, signaling the other world ahead of them and required very special training from that world.

Dawn looked over the controls and could see the buildup herself, wondering what it could be.

Suddenly an alarm sounded.

“Incoming rift!” One of the techs called as they worked on their console.

“Do we have one scheduled today?” Another asked.

“Negative.”

This concerned Dawn. There were few reasons the other Equestria would connect to them outside of schedule. It worried her and she alerted her branch of the royal guard to prepare.

Within minutes, the rift opened and the first thing through were EDF soldiers in full combat gear who immediately turned around and caught another set of ponies who came through and nearly fell.

“We need help here!” One of the troopers yelled as they moved the ponies off the ramp a second before more ponies came through.

Dawn could taste the fear and panic coming from the ponies, even the troopers who had it more controlled were terrified. She quickly moved, ordering her guards to get here now by using the link. The brief thought of the Link’s convenience for communication with her drones flashed across her mind before it was buried in addressing the situation.

By the time she reached the room where the rift was, far more ponies had come through along with Keepers and more troopers, all trying to move people out of the way as the stream was becoming near constant not the usual 10 second delay.

Then, Recovery Station Guards came through and the stream of ponies became a river as they pushed and shoved and stepped over each other as the fear and panic spiked. She tried to find someone to talk to in the chaos, but everyone was running to different places.

A Trooper came through the Rift. “They are right behind us!” he yelled a moment before an energy bolt sailed through the rift and impacted the far wall calusing many to scream in fear and some to even start crying.

Now troopers and Keepers were coming through the Rift firing their weapons back the way they came along with Recovery Teams as the energy bolts came more frequently and some struck those exiting the ports.

A recovery Agent came through.

“SHUT IT DOWN NOW!” he yelled loud enough to be heard over the clamor.

Dawn sent the order. A second later, the rift shut down just as a clawed arm was coming through. The claw was severed. With the rift shut down, the fear and panic lessened and it became more clear the room was filled with the voices of people thanking the gods, comforting others, or crying foals as the authorities among them tried to organize.

Dawn approached one of the troopers now that things were more calm, then spoke with authority. “Report.”

The Trooper looked at her looking relieved to see her and looked exhausted. “Our convoy got hit and we got cut off ma’am… We headed for the Recovery facility as it seemed like the best idea at the time.”

“Hit by what?” she asked.

“Right… Not home… Sorry ma’am… We’ve been invaded by unknown entities that came from beyond the stars and launched a full scale attack on the entire nation… We are doing the best we can, but we are scattered and cut off, trying to hold them back from all sides.” The trooper said.

Dawn's blood ran cold as her mind instantly went to her daughter, who was going to school on the other side. She pushed that down as she couldn't worry about that right now, no matter how much that hurt her. She would have to take comfort Morning Rise was with Broken Dawn, and if anyone would survive, it would be her. Her Changeling instincts then took over. There was a threat, and Friends of the Hive were in trouble.

Her guards arrived and she began giving orders on where to take the refugees. Once the rooms were cleared, she went back to the control room and ordered a connection to be established.

“That won't work.” Someone said behind her.

Her head snapped back with a hint of anger at someone daring to interrupt her preparing to attack the hive's enemies. “What?”

It was one of the recovery agents, their gas mask removed. “There is nothing to connect to. The facility was overrun and the self-destruct was activated.”

Dawn took a deep breath, she knew from The Commander that key people were aware of what nuclear weapons were and secretly a handful had been made for very specific purposes, the Recovery Facility was one such place equipped with a nuclear device meaning the building wasn't just gone, it was nothing more than dust in the wind.

They were cut off from providing any help to those on the other side.