A New Enemyby Robert Emerald FountainChaptersMeeting the Syknoian QueenESCAPEPrologueEmbarking On A New MissionThe EggsMeeting the Syknoian QueenThey kept a live security feed over the egg while attending to regular tasks around the ship for two weeks, and then Fluttershy noticed movement. "I think that egg is hatching.", she said to her friends. Everyone rushed to the lab and Fluttershy headed inside. Flurry told her to be careful and Fluttershy acknowledged. She approached the egg cautiously and the soft top began to unfurl like the petals on a flower. Suddenly, a cloud of gas spewed out and filled the lab. Nobody could see what was happening, but they heard what sounded like squealing. Then they heard a splash and Fluttershy let out a scream. What was heard next was what sounded like choking. Flurry began to get nervous and activated vacuum pumps to clean the lab of the gases. When the indicator said that it was safe to reenter the lab, she put on a safety suit and went inside. Through the small window, nobody could see much. Flurry was startled by what she saw. Fluttershy was lying on her back and did not react to any stimuli. She also had a slimy goop around her mouth, which scared the wits out of Flurry. "CONDITION RED! Fluttershy has something slimy around her mouth and she's catatonic. I'm worried that whatever was inside that egg has gotten inside her. We need to quarantine, NOW.", Flurry Heart yelped. Twilight agreed and used her aura to carry her friend to an isolated part of the medical bay. Fluttershy came back to her senses after a few days, but she was not doing very well. Specifically, she had agonizing headaches and was constantly nauseated. One day, the unexpected happened. She was halfway through eating supper when she started convulsing violently. She heaved and spat up a large amount of her blood, along with curdles before going limp. Seconds later, the camera went dead and the microphones picked up the sound of her skin tearing and the splatter of fluids. Everyone rushed to the door and immediately gagged when they saw what had happened. Fluttershy was dead, and an alien had burst out of her chest. As an extra precaution, Twilight put up a shield to protect herself and the others. Currently, the alien was not looking at them. It was occupied with something and blood was dripping to the floor. When the alien turned around, they saw its wide open mouth, full of razor-sharp teeth. Rainbow saw something when she looked between the alien's legs and had a heart attack. What she saw was a pile of bones covered in blood. The alien had eaten Fluttershy. The alien charged forward and smashed the window in the door. It had six legs, two arms, scaly skin, four red eyes, a ring of horns, and the tongue of a snake. "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US?", Twilight demanded angrily. "I am a Syknoian queen. I seek the ones who killed my ancestors. We feed on the flesh of any organism that is foreign to us.", the alien hissed. Twilight had a flashback to something Brandon had told her. His soldiers, the Brandonians, had destroyed the Syknoian home-world before joining the Christian Fleet. "Their planet no longer exists. Its sun exploded and ripped it to pieces." The queen didn't care, she lunged forward, reached through the shield and grabbed Twilight by the tail. "RUN!", Twilight screeched before the queen bit her throat. Everyone else rushed to the bridge and scrambled to conceal the data on where Eqqus was located. However, the queen had chased them and managed to note the star coordinates. A battle broke out with everyone using any weapon they could get their hooves on. These ranged from guns to flamethrowers and even knives. The queen almost grabbed Flurry Heart, but Rarity pushed her aside. As the queen started to tear her skin with her claws, Flurry smacked a switch to fire a missile at the crashed ship on the asteroid. The ship was vaporized in a flash of light. This angered the queen and led her to kill Flurry. "We will hold her back. In the meantime, save yourself.", yelled Rainbow. Spike followed Flurry towards where her ship was and took a detour. He ran into the power room and armed the self-destruct sequence for the Harmony. As he continued following Flurry, the queen spewed acid at him which induced terrible burns. In retaliation, Flurry slashed several wires that fell down and tangled around the queen. At this point, the other four friends were dead. ESCAPEFlurry made a recording that detailed the situation and that she was escaping and gave the disc to Spike. He climbed into an escape pod while Flurry boarded her own ship. Both were launched at the same time and the Harmony was blown to bits. Some of the shrapnel hit the Peacekeeper and sent Flurry hurtling through space. Spike succumbed to his injuries and died when he was two-thirds of the way back to Eqqus after three years. Flurry was not sure what would happen to her. Her ship had gotten stuck inside a cave in another asteroid that was near the rim of the nebula, and she had no radio contact. One and a half years later... Cadence was informed of a capsule entering Equus' atmosphere over the Celestial Sea. She was taken by pegasus chariot to the splashdown area just as the parachutes were opening. When the capsule was retrieved, her heart sank when she saw Spike lying dead inside. When she pulled him out, she saw the video log DVD in his claws and grabbed it for examination. Through the static, she saw Flurry Heart with panic in her eyes and was able to make out what she was saying. "This is Flurry Heart, prior to boarding the Peacekeeper. This is the last log from the Harmony. We came across a crashed ship in an uncharted nebula. It was full of alien eggs and had come from a planet at star coordinates X: 43, Y: 87, Z: 30. We examined one of the eggs and it abruptly hatched. It was a queen of the Syknoian race. She managed to send Equus' star coordinates before the self-destruct killed her. I am the only one who survived. Everybody else, including Spike, is dead. He was hit by a toxic acid from the queen's mouth and the others were eaten until only bare bones remained. Equus must prepare for war against the Syknoians and hopefully destroy them for good. Also, I pray that someone manages to rescue me." Cadence was horrified by the report, but she wasted no time in preparing everyone. Soon, the time had come to defend the planet from these new attackers. They started coming after two years, but Equus' army was ready. They fought valiantly and held back the Syknoians. Eventually, Cadence commissioned the construction of an entire fleet of starships to travel to the home world and to destroy it. TO BE CONTINUED... What will happen now? Is this the end of Equus, or will these new attackers be vanquished? PrologueIt had been six months since receiving the distress call from Mickey Mouse and his friends. Brandon and his crew mates had told Twilight that it was time for them to retire and go on to new things in their life. Twilight understood and arranged a departure ceremony. Everyone who attended had tears in their eyes because these were soldiers that had saved Eqqus numerous times from Satan and also from villains. As the crew of the Lemurian Star were returning to their shuttles, Link wished Twilight well as they would continue exploring space and finding new worlds and possible new signs of life. Twilight gave him a hug and the soldiers set off for Earth for the last time. Embarking On A New MissionThe week after Brandon and his crew left, Twilight formed a plan. She and her friends, along with Spike and Flurry Heart, would go on a quest to explore the uncharted regions of space. She appointed Cadence to fill in for her and then gathered everyone together. The shuttle was ready for takeoff and everyone was fastened in their seats. Cadence radioed Mission Control and checked to make sure all was well. When she was given confirmation, she switched channels and talked to the shuttle. "You are go for launch." The countdown began and everyone felt the strong shakes as the engines started spewing fuel. The fuel was ignited and the shuttle blasted off. Once they had boarded the Harmony, the course was set for the outskirts of a nebula. Flurry Heart had also finished building a personal ship for herself, called the Peacekeeper. After leaving the space station and going into warp, Twilight explained that the trip would take several years and that they needed to go into stasis sleep. The capsules were charged up and everyone began attaching electrodes to their chests and injecting themselves with anesthesia. "I wonder what we will find out there.", Spike said to himself as he closed his capsule door. Everyone else had similar thoughts as they went under from the anesthesia. Soon, they were fast asleep and the ship flew deeper and deeper into space. The EggsSeven years later… The Harmony's automated computer detected the presence of gasses from the nebula and initiated the revival sequence for the stasis pods. It took three hours for everyone to wake up completely after being sedated for so long. After eating a small meal to avoid getting sick, the eight explorers moved to the bridge and started sending probes into the nebula. Within minutes, one showed an asteroid with what looked like a crashed spaceship of unknown origin. Applejack, Rainbow, and Spike volunteered to examine what the probe had spotted. The closest area to land was too small for the Harmony, but there was an on-board shuttle that could get there easily. They put on their space suits and undocked to search the crashed ship. After landing, the three disembarked from the shuttle and started climbing up to an exposed hatch. Opening this hatch was a challenge, but they managed to figure out the lock mechanism. Once the hatch was opened, they had to turn on the magnetic function in their boots because the ship was tilted nose down. It was pitch black inside the ship, so they turned on their flashlights. Icicles were everywhere they looked and the main power core was fried. Spike figured that the core had gotten overloaded because he saw what seemed to be charring on several of the cables. Rainbow decided that it was time to give an update on their progress. Applejack and Spike agreed. "Rainbow Dash to Harmony. Do you copy?" "This is Rarity, go ahead, Dash." "This ship is a deep freeze. There is ice all over the interior and the power core is fried. We haven't found anything yet, but we're still looking." Five minutes later, Spike came to a chamber with large oval-shaped objects. There was a layer of fog that made it tricky to tell exactly what these were. Rainbow joined him and radioed in to speak with Flurry. She was the lead scientist on the mission. "This is Flurry Heart, go ahead." "Spike and I have found a chamber on this ship with thousands of oval-shaped objects. They feel leathery when we touch them. I wonder if these are eggs of some sort." "May I have a visual?", Flurry requested. "Coming right up.", said Spike as he turned on a camera. When Flurry looked at the image, she said they did look like eggs and asked for one to be brought in for experimentation. Dash used large tongs to pick up one of the eggs and carried it to the outside of the ship after putting it in a sterile container. Applejack took off and they returned to the Harmony. Taking the egg to the laboratory, they started testing to see what they were dealing with. They had no idea that this discovery was about to get yucky.
Meeting the Syknoian QueenThey kept a live security feed over the egg while attending to regular tasks around the ship for two weeks, and then Fluttershy noticed movement. "I think that egg is hatching.", she said to her friends. Everyone rushed to the lab and Fluttershy headed inside. Flurry told her to be careful and Fluttershy acknowledged. She approached the egg cautiously and the soft top began to unfurl like the petals on a flower. Suddenly, a cloud of gas spewed out and filled the lab. Nobody could see what was happening, but they heard what sounded like squealing. Then they heard a splash and Fluttershy let out a scream. What was heard next was what sounded like choking. Flurry began to get nervous and activated vacuum pumps to clean the lab of the gases. When the indicator said that it was safe to reenter the lab, she put on a safety suit and went inside. Through the small window, nobody could see much. Flurry was startled by what she saw. Fluttershy was lying on her back and did not react to any stimuli. She also had a slimy goop around her mouth, which scared the wits out of Flurry. "CONDITION RED! Fluttershy has something slimy around her mouth and she's catatonic. I'm worried that whatever was inside that egg has gotten inside her. We need to quarantine, NOW.", Flurry Heart yelped. Twilight agreed and used her aura to carry her friend to an isolated part of the medical bay. Fluttershy came back to her senses after a few days, but she was not doing very well. Specifically, she had agonizing headaches and was constantly nauseated. One day, the unexpected happened. She was halfway through eating supper when she started convulsing violently. She heaved and spat up a large amount of her blood, along with curdles before going limp. Seconds later, the camera went dead and the microphones picked up the sound of her skin tearing and the splatter of fluids. Everyone rushed to the door and immediately gagged when they saw what had happened. Fluttershy was dead, and an alien had burst out of her chest. As an extra precaution, Twilight put up a shield to protect herself and the others. Currently, the alien was not looking at them. It was occupied with something and blood was dripping to the floor. When the alien turned around, they saw its wide open mouth, full of razor-sharp teeth. Rainbow saw something when she looked between the alien's legs and had a heart attack. What she saw was a pile of bones covered in blood. The alien had eaten Fluttershy. The alien charged forward and smashed the window in the door. It had six legs, two arms, scaly skin, four red eyes, a ring of horns, and the tongue of a snake. "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US?", Twilight demanded angrily. "I am a Syknoian queen. I seek the ones who killed my ancestors. We feed on the flesh of any organism that is foreign to us.", the alien hissed. Twilight had a flashback to something Brandon had told her. His soldiers, the Brandonians, had destroyed the Syknoian home-world before joining the Christian Fleet. "Their planet no longer exists. Its sun exploded and ripped it to pieces." The queen didn't care, she lunged forward, reached through the shield and grabbed Twilight by the tail. "RUN!", Twilight screeched before the queen bit her throat. Everyone else rushed to the bridge and scrambled to conceal the data on where Eqqus was located. However, the queen had chased them and managed to note the star coordinates. A battle broke out with everyone using any weapon they could get their hooves on. These ranged from guns to flamethrowers and even knives. The queen almost grabbed Flurry Heart, but Rarity pushed her aside. As the queen started to tear her skin with her claws, Flurry smacked a switch to fire a missile at the crashed ship on the asteroid. The ship was vaporized in a flash of light. This angered the queen and led her to kill Flurry. "We will hold her back. In the meantime, save yourself.", yelled Rainbow. Spike followed Flurry towards where her ship was and took a detour. He ran into the power room and armed the self-destruct sequence for the Harmony. As he continued following Flurry, the queen spewed acid at him which induced terrible burns. In retaliation, Flurry slashed several wires that fell down and tangled around the queen. At this point, the other four friends were dead.
ESCAPEFlurry made a recording that detailed the situation and that she was escaping and gave the disc to Spike. He climbed into an escape pod while Flurry boarded her own ship. Both were launched at the same time and the Harmony was blown to bits. Some of the shrapnel hit the Peacekeeper and sent Flurry hurtling through space. Spike succumbed to his injuries and died when he was two-thirds of the way back to Eqqus after three years. Flurry was not sure what would happen to her. Her ship had gotten stuck inside a cave in another asteroid that was near the rim of the nebula, and she had no radio contact. One and a half years later... Cadence was informed of a capsule entering Equus' atmosphere over the Celestial Sea. She was taken by pegasus chariot to the splashdown area just as the parachutes were opening. When the capsule was retrieved, her heart sank when she saw Spike lying dead inside. When she pulled him out, she saw the video log DVD in his claws and grabbed it for examination. Through the static, she saw Flurry Heart with panic in her eyes and was able to make out what she was saying. "This is Flurry Heart, prior to boarding the Peacekeeper. This is the last log from the Harmony. We came across a crashed ship in an uncharted nebula. It was full of alien eggs and had come from a planet at star coordinates X: 43, Y: 87, Z: 30. We examined one of the eggs and it abruptly hatched. It was a queen of the Syknoian race. She managed to send Equus' star coordinates before the self-destruct killed her. I am the only one who survived. Everybody else, including Spike, is dead. He was hit by a toxic acid from the queen's mouth and the others were eaten until only bare bones remained. Equus must prepare for war against the Syknoians and hopefully destroy them for good. Also, I pray that someone manages to rescue me." Cadence was horrified by the report, but she wasted no time in preparing everyone. Soon, the time had come to defend the planet from these new attackers. They started coming after two years, but Equus' army was ready. They fought valiantly and held back the Syknoians. Eventually, Cadence commissioned the construction of an entire fleet of starships to travel to the home world and to destroy it. TO BE CONTINUED... What will happen now? Is this the end of Equus, or will these new attackers be vanquished?
PrologueIt had been six months since receiving the distress call from Mickey Mouse and his friends. Brandon and his crew mates had told Twilight that it was time for them to retire and go on to new things in their life. Twilight understood and arranged a departure ceremony. Everyone who attended had tears in their eyes because these were soldiers that had saved Eqqus numerous times from Satan and also from villains. As the crew of the Lemurian Star were returning to their shuttles, Link wished Twilight well as they would continue exploring space and finding new worlds and possible new signs of life. Twilight gave him a hug and the soldiers set off for Earth for the last time.
Embarking On A New MissionThe week after Brandon and his crew left, Twilight formed a plan. She and her friends, along with Spike and Flurry Heart, would go on a quest to explore the uncharted regions of space. She appointed Cadence to fill in for her and then gathered everyone together. The shuttle was ready for takeoff and everyone was fastened in their seats. Cadence radioed Mission Control and checked to make sure all was well. When she was given confirmation, she switched channels and talked to the shuttle. "You are go for launch." The countdown began and everyone felt the strong shakes as the engines started spewing fuel. The fuel was ignited and the shuttle blasted off. Once they had boarded the Harmony, the course was set for the outskirts of a nebula. Flurry Heart had also finished building a personal ship for herself, called the Peacekeeper. After leaving the space station and going into warp, Twilight explained that the trip would take several years and that they needed to go into stasis sleep. The capsules were charged up and everyone began attaching electrodes to their chests and injecting themselves with anesthesia. "I wonder what we will find out there.", Spike said to himself as he closed his capsule door. Everyone else had similar thoughts as they went under from the anesthesia. Soon, they were fast asleep and the ship flew deeper and deeper into space.
The EggsSeven years later… The Harmony's automated computer detected the presence of gasses from the nebula and initiated the revival sequence for the stasis pods. It took three hours for everyone to wake up completely after being sedated for so long. After eating a small meal to avoid getting sick, the eight explorers moved to the bridge and started sending probes into the nebula. Within minutes, one showed an asteroid with what looked like a crashed spaceship of unknown origin. Applejack, Rainbow, and Spike volunteered to examine what the probe had spotted. The closest area to land was too small for the Harmony, but there was an on-board shuttle that could get there easily. They put on their space suits and undocked to search the crashed ship. After landing, the three disembarked from the shuttle and started climbing up to an exposed hatch. Opening this hatch was a challenge, but they managed to figure out the lock mechanism. Once the hatch was opened, they had to turn on the magnetic function in their boots because the ship was tilted nose down. It was pitch black inside the ship, so they turned on their flashlights. Icicles were everywhere they looked and the main power core was fried. Spike figured that the core had gotten overloaded because he saw what seemed to be charring on several of the cables. Rainbow decided that it was time to give an update on their progress. Applejack and Spike agreed. "Rainbow Dash to Harmony. Do you copy?" "This is Rarity, go ahead, Dash." "This ship is a deep freeze. There is ice all over the interior and the power core is fried. We haven't found anything yet, but we're still looking." Five minutes later, Spike came to a chamber with large oval-shaped objects. There was a layer of fog that made it tricky to tell exactly what these were. Rainbow joined him and radioed in to speak with Flurry. She was the lead scientist on the mission. "This is Flurry Heart, go ahead." "Spike and I have found a chamber on this ship with thousands of oval-shaped objects. They feel leathery when we touch them. I wonder if these are eggs of some sort." "May I have a visual?", Flurry requested. "Coming right up.", said Spike as he turned on a camera. When Flurry looked at the image, she said they did look like eggs and asked for one to be brought in for experimentation. Dash used large tongs to pick up one of the eggs and carried it to the outside of the ship after putting it in a sterile container. Applejack took off and they returned to the Harmony. Taking the egg to the laboratory, they started testing to see what they were dealing with. They had no idea that this discovery was about to get yucky.
