Blackstar Chronicles
Chapter 1 - Subterra
Written by Holly De-Silva; A.K.A Holly Aquifoliaceae
Two weeks after the Blackstar landed in Equestria, the Princesses sent a squad of Solar and Lunar Guards to Froggy Bottom Bog for a much-needed investigation of the alien craft.
While flying to their destination, the Solar and Lunar guards could clearly see the star sitting on the horizon, embedded half into the ground as if it wanted to be explored. Thousands of spike-like spines stuck out in every direction; some of the spines short, most of them a mile long. Princesses Celestia and Luna had given strict orders to a large squad of the Equestrian protectors to make their way over to the Bog and examine the star, both above and below ground. Supraterra and Subterra.
The tension and concealed fear inside each of the ponies was enough to break the toughest of the tough, and though the guards were trained hard for it, they still felt as if taking these orders was a big mistake. As if they knew what was going to happen, in a way. But what other option did they have? If they were to refuse, they would have blatantly been thrown into the dungeons under Canterlot for an undisclosed amount of time. Some risks are worth being taken.
Taking to the sky in the early hours of the morning, the Solar and Lunar Guards gained themselves a good headstart, and ended up reaching the perimeter of the star within a mere fifteen minutes. Hazy clouds and strings of smoke floated up and around the Blackstar slowly and creepily. Scattered around Froggy Bottom Bog were huge craters, chunks of raw earth, and millions of pieces of scrap metal glistening in whatever sunlight could be seen through the smoke, not to mention the hundreds of raging fires. Even through the Guards' tough demeanor, entering a close perimeter to the area filled them with fear and dread that seemed almost impossible to shake off.
Setting down with multiple loud thumps in a safe-looking spot, the team scanned the area thoughtfully. The leader of the Solar Guards, Mortar, a rather muscular looking Pegasus with a short brown mane and tail and a white coat (Like all of the Solar Guards), was set to give out orders immediately.
"Alrighty, ladies. Y'all ready for this?" Mortar inquired in a booming voice that could silence a whole room if necessary.
"Sir, yes, sir," came the unison chant from the Solar Guards. Mortar gave a nod of approval.
"Right. You didn't get much info from the Princesses, so listen up. I ain't repeating myself," the burly Pegasus said sternly, furrowing his brow. "For those of you who don't know, this big sucker-" he pointed to the Blackstar, "-fell from the sky. From space and landed smack into this Bog. It destroyed a part of Cloudsdale, too," he said grimly, looking up at the tattered city in the sky.
One Guard raised his foreleg and asked, "Okay... So, if this thing came from space, then what is it?"
"That's why we're here, Ash." Mortar barked at the Guard named Ash, and turned back to the group. "Our orders are to check this big boy out, both up-and-around, and down-and-under, to find out exactly what we're dealing with. Half o' you will be going subterra," he explained confidently.
"Now, obviously, we need to run down our standard operating procedure orders and rules during this miss--"
"Standard operating procedure my flank, you're all just afraid to get separated so you have no one to hug when you're in danger," came the cackling voice of Scrubs, the leader of the Lunar Guards.
Mortar felt his jaw muscles tighten dramatically. Without looking at the dark-sapphire-blue Pegasus, he said, albeit in an ironically soft voice, "Please don't start anything this mission, Scrubs. We need to work together this time. These are direct orders from the Princesses herself."
Scrubs took a step forward to poke at the burly white Pegasus again, but Mortar simply said, "You wouldn't want to fail Princess Luna, would you?"
The shaggy-looking Pegasus backed down at once, though glaring at Mortar.
"Thank you." Mortar said, nodding his head. "Now..."
After explaining the mission rules and orders, Mortar and the Solar and Lunar guards set off at once. They were equally divided and assigned to above and below ground, and kept communication through a special magic granted by the Princesses; a mental speak. They could keep in contact at all times when the magic was enabled.
A small portion of the Guards (around ten or so) entered a large open gap in the ground that lead to the subterra. It was one of the thousands of craters and holes made by the huge spines of the star during the landing. The hole that this small group entered was dark, cramped and rather dity, with stalactites hanging down sloppily, as if eager to break off and harm somepony. The air was dusty and stale, giving coughing fits to a few Guards.
The looks given from each of their faces were determined, brave and fearless, except for one. Ash. Ash, a white-gray colored Pegasus with a spiky black mane had a look of worry and regret on his face which stood out from the stern faces of the others. His friend, Lance, took notice as they approached further toward the subterra.
"Hey, you okay?" Lance asked with concern, looking his friend up and down. Ash shook his head.
"I have a bad feeling about this, man." Ash replied quickly. "About this mission."
Lance gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
"There's just... I don't know. Something about this mission seems...dangerous." Ash explained to him with a weary voice, staring ahead. They reached a small underpass of what looked to be made of a piece of metal.
"Oh, this again, huh?" Lance remarked with a hopeless sigh.
Ash gave him a side glare and said, "Yes, this again. I'm serious, man, and I mean it this time."
Lance groans. "Look, do I have to run you through this again? We're rookies, man," he said irritably. "The Princesses wouldn't send us on some dangerous mission with our kind of experience."
"Oh, and how are they supposed to know what's down here? Why do you think they sent us? We're you not listening to Mortar?" Ash asked him with a tone of tightness in his voice. "They don't know what this thing is or why it landed here, either!"
"Look, I'm not getting into this, okay? I just want to get this over wi--"
"And you think I don't?" Ash asked loudly, drawing some attention to the two of them. Ash stops walking and turns to his ignorant friend. "We haven't got a CLUE of what's down here, Lance!"
"You're just not listening to me, are you?"
"No, you're not listening to me!"
"For Goddess' sake, Ash would you--"
"Stop!" Mortar barked, stepping up vigilantly and glaring daggers at the two arguing Pegasi. "Goddess-dammit, you two do this CRAP far more than necessary!"
"But--"
"Shut it! This mission is very important, and I'm not about to let two immature plots mess it up because of a simple cowardice, understood?" Mortar said harshly.
Ash felt a burn of anger pulse up in his chest. He stepped forward once. "Cowardice? No, cowardice would be me refusing to do this," he said irately, narrowing his eyes. "It would be me telling you 'Hey, Mortar! I'm too much of a pussy to go on this mission, I'm just going to make up excuses!'"
Mortar scoffed at these remarks and shook his head. "Just get going, boy."
Ash glared at the burly Pegasus, rooted to the spot. It took all of his willpower not to walk up and smack him upside his thick head, and at that moment he felt a strong dislike for his leader. Just as Ash stepped forward once more, Lance pulled him back by his shoulders.
"He's not worth it, man," he whispered to his seething friend, who was tensing up, ready to fight. Mortar gave him a sneer and continued walking along. Ash kept his eyes trained on him, and pushed out of Lance's firm grasp. He moved past the rest of the guards and behind his captain. Down at the back of the group, three Lunar guards were snickering at the scene that unfolded in front of them.
After a long twenty minutes, the group reached a drop that looked completely dark down below. Mortar stared down it, lost in thought. He quietly mumbled ideas to himself as to how they would approach this.
Ash looked around the small pass idly as they waited for Mortar's decision. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen, except for some kind of multitude of odd looking scratch marks on the walls. As if something had tried to escape.
Down below, something peered at the group of Pegasi curiously, with glowing green eyes that could hardly be seen. It was invisible to them for now. Many thoughts ran through the creature's head as to what these being could be, but the thought that trampled all the others was that they were prey. Food and prey. It seemed to tempting to just take them now. But no, it wouldn't strike just yet. That would be unwise. What would be wise, however, would be to alert the others. With tattered wings, the creature flew off.
Ash narrowed his eyes at these strange marks, and almost found himself walking over to examine them. He had his train of thought cut off, unfortunately, by a grunt from Mortar, indicating that he had come to a decision.
"Alright. We'll go down two at a time. You two comedians at the back!" Mortar called out to two Lunar guards snickering at the back of the group. They immediately stopped their laughing and stared at the burly Pegasus.
"You're going first. Go."
With grumbles and glares, the two bat-like Pegasi stared down the hole timidly, and, after exchanging tense glances, jumped down. They spread their wings and glided down, and, after a few seconds, touched solid ground. What they saw in front of them made them both gasp in awe.
Mortar waited a minute before barking, "Well?"
Struggling for words, one of the Lunar Guards managed to stutter out, "You've got to come down here right now!"
"Alright." Mortar mutters. "You two, next," he said, looking back at the next two Guards behind him. They nodded wordlessly and jumped down. Two by two, they were piling down the hole, with Mortar occasionally calling out curiously.
Something hanging invisibly from the tunnel ceiling far back watched the Guards lustfully, eager to attack and devour, but held back tautly. It scuddled freakishly toward them to get a closer look.
As Ash and Lance waited for their turn to jump down, Ash felt as if they were being watched. Before hopping into the hole, he took a quick glance back into the tunnel, but saw nothing but empty darkness staring back. Shaking it off, he spread his wings at the same time as Lance and glided down below. What he saw was something he never expected.
Landing down below, the realization of where they were set in quickly. Just like the other Guards, Ash gasped at the sight. They were standing steadily on a rock cliff, and in front of them was a miles wide cavern with small mountains scattered all around. Dust danced and floated through the air as far as the eye could see, and, looking down the cliff, a long stream flowed slowly along a small stream and finally poured off of another waterfall cliff.
The biggest and most stood-out sight, however, was the entire bottom half of the Blackstar. The cobalt colored ship had billions of ruptures, dents, tears, and other damages all along its hull, and it's thousands of spines were impaled into the blackness below. What would have been a very shiny hull was extremely dirty and dusty, looking helpless, but terrifying at the same time. Staring at it filled the Guards with an impact of awe, but fear more so.
"What...what is it?" Lance inquired incredulously, his hazel eyes wide open in shock-and-awe.
"That, Lance, is why we're here." Mortar's voice rang out quietly, giving off a slight echo. Trying to break the shock, the burly Pegasus sighed and walked to the front of the group. He spun sharply on his hoof and faced them. "Here's what's happening; we're all going in pairs again, but we're going to need a lot of ground covered, so we'll be changing our route occasionally. I'll tell you all mentally when the time comes. Understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir," came the chant from the Guards once again. Two by two, they took off, flying in random directions to explore; both in curiosity and in terror.
Ash walked over to the edge of the cliff they were standing on and looked down at the stream. Something was peering back up at him with green eyes. Ash blinked quickly and it was gone. He tilted his head in confusion.
Something was just staring at me...I think...
Whatever was down there was gone, but the feeling of being watched stayed. With a small shudder, Ash stepped back and looked at Lance, who was staring out blankly.
"Lance? ...You okay?" Ash asked with a minor hint of concern. Lance stared for a second longer before shaking his head and looking at his friend.
"Y-yeah... I'm fine. Let's go, okay?" Lance said fretfully, avoiding eye contact. Without another word, he jumped off and spread his wings and flew forward. Taken by surprise, Ash jumped off a second later and caught up to Lance, giving his friend a few concerned side glances.
Looking around in an attempt to suck in all the sights, Ash could see all the other Guards as tiny dots in the distance. He could very faintly hear the echo of Scrubs cackling, which made him roll his eyes.
"Freaky place, huh?" Lance remarked after a few minutes of exploring, also turning his head left and right.
"Yeah... I don't know what to make of it... Look at that beast." Ash said, nodding his head toward the bottom of the Blackstar.
"I'm still confused as to exactly what it is. It looks like you could go inside it." Lance said, sounding detached.
"Like a ship..." Ash said uneasily. He looked down and saw a few more of these creatures, though they looked like nothing more than tiny dots. His heart jumped and he nudged Lance roughly with a hoof. "Look!"
But as Lance looked, they disappeared.
"... What?"
"...so I said to her 'Baby, you call that a horn? I call that a plaything,'" said a Lunar Guard to his cackling friend, who was nearly falling out of flight from how hard he was laughing.
The joke teller laughed until his sides ached, losing his balance in the air, but managing to difficultly keep himself steady.
"O-oh, Goddess, man," said the laughing Pegasus as he kept himself from falling. "I-I damn near pissed myself... Whooo...
The joke-teller laughed once more. "We should take a quick break before we both fall," he said, nodding down toward the ground close by. His friend laughs again and nods, pulling down toward the ground.
Two creatures sitting close by, cleverly camouflaged into the surroundings, watched the two Pegasi fly by. The two prey. One shot a glance at the other, being able to see each other, and started scuddling toward where it looked like the food above them would land.
The two Lunar Guards landed with gentle thuds; the laughing one breathing heavily. "Man, that was a good laugh."
"Hah, you can say that again," the joke-teller replied with a tired smile.
"Look, I'm gonna go take a drink from the stream, alright? Be right back," said the laughing Pegasus. He flew a little further toward the stream and landed gingerly in front of it.
Sensing movement close by, the creatures hissed in anticipation and excitement, and jumped into the air, making quick flight toward their target.
The Lunar Guard looked into the stream. It flowed slowly and majestically as tiny ripples danced and swerved along the surface, severely distorting his reflection. Her bent his neck down and gingerly dipped his muzzle into the water, taking in a few refreshing gulps.
The two beings landed mere meters away from the dark-sapphire-blue Lunar Guard. Taking quiet and stealthy steps toward him, they both gave simultaneous warning hisses and reared up to strike.
The Pegasus drank happily, until he heard some kind of gentle hissing that broke the silence like breaking glass. He turned around quickly. Two slender, sharp claws stabbed into his chest. His back legs buckled in shock and he gasped loudly, feeling the horrifying tortuous pain twist and burst through his chest. He let out a split second scream, but was immediately silenced by another claw slashing through the paper-thin skin in his neck and through the jugular vein. Blood spurted from the horrendous wound as the Guard collapsed. He tried to scream, but all that came out were gargled messes of words.
Some meters away, the other Lunar Guard thought he heard some kind of cry not too far away. In curiosity, and a small amount of fear, he jumped into the air and flew down toward where he had seen his friend go. He reached the stream, but all that he saw was a large blood puddle.
"What the hell...?!"
"Strike... Now..."
"Uh... But there were just..." Ash said, puzzled. He could swear he just saw something staring up at them.
"What, Ash?" Lance asked.
"... N-Nothing..." Ash said uneasily, prying his gaze away from below.
"Uh... Okay, then." Lance said with a shake of his head. He sighed and closed his hazel eyes as they flew
"Something up?" Ash asked, glancing over at his friend, though too distracted to fully care.
Lance nodded and muttered, "Yeah..."
Ash gave him an uncertain stare, but returned his gaze back in front of him. After a few minutes of silence, he finally broke the silence by asking, "Why did we become Guards?"
Taken aback slightly by the question, Lance looked at his friend. "Well... What else were we going to do with our lives? We only finished school a year and a half ago, and we had nothing else planned," he explained casually.
"Guys, something's up... Something bad..."
Ash and Lance glanced at each other worriedly. "What's up, Aura?" Ash asked mentally.
"Emblem is gone, and all I found is a huge puddle of blood," said the Lunar Guard known as Aura desperately. "I-I don't know what happened!"
Ash went slack-jawed momentarily. "W-what?! What do you mean?"
"Aura, what's happening? Come on," came another voice, followed by the voices of many others.
"Guys, shut the hell up! We're trying to listen to Aura!" Mortar shouted into their heads.
Silence followed for a few seconds.
"Aura, speak up!" Mortar barked.
"Emblem and I set down after a while of flying, and--"
"Oh, SHIT! N--"
"Ink, what is it?!"
"Ink?!"
"Ink, answer us!"
Lance looked at Ash with terror in his eyes and a look that said 'something's wrong.'
"G-guys!" Aura called out into their minds. "Emblem and I--WHOA! There's so--"
"AURA!"
"Aura, so help me Goddess, if you don't answer, I'll--" came the aggressive voice of Mortar, who was quickly cut off.
"AAAAAAGGHHHHH!"
The scream was loud enough to reach the ears of many of the Pegasi, who gasped and grunted in shock and fear.
"S-somepony get over to where Aura and where Ink are STAT!" Mortar said angrily.
Ash looked over at Lance, as if to ask 'what do we do?'
Lance gave him a grim look and flew down to where Aura and Emblem were. Ash grunted in surprise and followed him. Two other Guards were already there, looking feverishly.
"W-w-what's happening?!" Lance asked fearfully, his hazel eyes full of terror, and his body trembling.
"There's a fucking blood trail, man!" Ash pointed to a dotted trail or maroon glistening in the dim light of the subterra.
The other two Guards looked at them. "Come on... We can't just avoid it..."
Ash felt his heart start beating fast, but he nodded and obliged. With Lance tailing behind, Ash followed the two guards, carefully examining the area around them for any signs of danger.
"Oh, Goddess, Ink's dead, and something attacked him!" Mortar shouted in dismay, sounding extremely distressed and on the verge of tears.
"What?! How do you know?!"
"Because the thing that got him attacked me! I-it got my Goddess-damned wing!"
"Shit, sir, wait there, I'll send Ash and Lance over!"
"What?!" Ash cried aloud. He opened his mouth against to protest, but was cut off by Lance's hoof to his mouth. They were staring at something. Ash looked in that direction and went slack-jawed again.
Huddled against a rock wall was some kind of creature with dark gray skin, a slender, skinny, veiny body, torn wings, and beady green eyes. It was aggressively tearing into the now-dead Aura with its razor-like teeth, ripping at the tender flesh and swallowing it greedily. It gave a low purr every time it swallowed. Aura's dark-sapphire-blue coat was now horribly stained a maroon color.
Unable to comprehend the situation, Ash gave a low groan of pure terror. The creature turned its head one-eighty degrees and stares at the group of four standing there. Showing its teeth, the creature opened its mouth wide and let out a long, shrill, ear-piercing screech. Lance cried out in fear a jumped back behind Ash, trembling horribly. The two other, more experienced Guards flinched at the sound, but didn't scream or jump back, and for a good reason.
The creature spun, and, in a blur of a movement, lurched forward. It plunged a silvery, jagged claw into one's forehead, splitting his skull open. Blood trickled down like a faucet and hit the ground with a pitter-patter, and the Guard gave one last low, incomprehensible groan. The other Guard grunted in surprise, and swiftly planted both his back hooves into the creature's face, sending it flying back into the rock wall with a shriek.
Ash watched, frozen in horror, until he felt a warm liquid spray him. He spun around and saw, very clearly, a bloodstained claw coming out the front of Lance's windpipe. Lance wheezed loudly and writhed in horrible pain, clutching at the claw in a futile attempt to save himself. But it was too late. The creature pulled its claw out, sending a spew of blood into Ash's face, who cried out in shock.
The creature reared up again to strike, but another Guard slammed into it, sending them both sprawling toward the cliff. The Guard bludgeoned its head open with a jagged rock, sending a spray of black and green onto his body. He turned around to speak to Ash, but two claws from under the cliff impaled his body, and, with a screech, pulled his body off and down.
Ash stumbled back, unable to understand any longer what was happening.
"ASH!" Mortar screamed from above, flying down toward him. Ash felt a huge relief wash through his body. The relief disappeared as quickly as it came, however, as two creatures slammed into the burly leader of the Solar guards mid-air, biting into his flesh and tearing him apart. The three of them fell in a spiral onto the rocky ground. Ash could only watch as these two creatures tore his leader apart. He screamed in terror and pain, writhing and squirming to get free, but to no avail. He was too far gone.
All around, screams rang out like some sort of sick, cruel song, as the creatures mercilessly attacked and violently killed all of the Solar and Lunar Guards. Frozen in fear, Ash nearly had a heart attack when a Lunar Guard grabbed him by his wings and hoisted him into the air.
"Come on, you fucking idiot! We have to get out of here!"
Ash shook free of his grasp and flew on his own. His normally well groomed white coat was stained a horrible maroon, and his mane and tail likewise. The two Guards flew as fast as they could, and eventually caught up with a few remaining Pegasi; two more Lunar Guards, and four more Solar Guards.
"Oh, Goddess, we're gonna die!"
"No we're not! We're getting out of here!"
"We're FUCKED, man! These things are gonnAAAAAAAGHHH!"
The Guard was caught at his mid-section by one of the creatures, who fell with him down past the cliff and into the darkness.
"SHIT! GO GO GO!"
Ash and the remaining six guards sped on ahead, not looking back. The faint screams of the remaining Guards faded away quickly, but the screeches of the quickly-advancing creatures grew louder and louder. Up ahead, the entrance where they all dropped in could be seen, and it was clear where their destination was. They were outnumbered and overpowered.
After a short moment of joy for the fact of finding the way out, their problems were plunged deeper as multiple dark-gray, pulsating, slimy tendrils with jagged silver claws on the ends, shot upwards and caught three guards trough their bodies. They screamed on their way down to death. The last sound they would ever make.
The last four of them started to panic, hyperventilating. One of them passed out in fear, falling to his death. Three left.
Ash threw a horrified and terror-stricken glance at the other two. One of them was cut clean in half by one of the tendrils. Ash screamed. Only two left.
It seemed like a race to survive. As if the one who didn't get there first would die. The sad part was that it was somewhat true.
Mere meters from the original cliff landing, Ash felt his spirits soar. He was this close to freedom. TO live. He'd be able to see the sun rise again. He'd be able to eat his favorite food. He'd be able to see his marefriend once more. His beautiful, sweet--
His train of thought was quickly cut off by the agonized scream of his comrade as the tendril impaled his body through the mid-section and pulled him down. Panic-stricken and dismayed, Ash used all the strength he could muster, to go faster.
His wings ached, his lungs burned like fire, and the comforting urge to pass out seemed so sweet, so tempting. He would suffer no more. It would be over. He pushed these thoughts out of his head and replaced them with thoughts of escape, pushing every last drop of energy into his wings. His consciousness fading quickly, Ash turned his head and was greeted by the very edge of the tip of the jagged claw slicing into his eye, and through the delicate flesh, blinding him permanently.
Ash screamed in pain and his wings gave out instantly as he entered the hole his once-alive squad came in from. Luckily, with the speed he flew up from, the momentum was enough to send his body up and out of the hole. He landed in a bloody and pained heap in the pass, just as the tendril attempted to strike. Instead of impaling or slicing into flesh, it smashed into the rock and caused the hole to cave in with a roar of debris, blocking him off from going back in and the creatures from coming back out.
It was over as quickly as it started.
Ash, writhing and screaming in pain as his life essence poured from his mutilated, used the rest of his energy to make the journey back up. After what seemed like the longest and most painful walk back up in the world, Ash could take no more. The pain, the fear, the fresh memory of seeing his friends and squad-mates being killed... It was all too much.
He collapsed right at the entrance to the tunnel, just outside. Shortly thereafter, when it seemed like his life was over, Ash's unconscious and quickly-dying body was discovered by the Guards patrolling supraterra.
Continued in chapter 2...
