Stardust Protocol

G.E.N.E.S.I.S. moved through nothingness towards it's prey. The massive sphere featured a pair of wide, glowing, purple slits, which stared endlessly at it's destination. Within it's depths, the core lied ominously. Stiff cords protruded from numerous angles, holding it in place. The large sphere, that was the core, was locked by a column, running through it's center. Lights flickered and pulsated from everywhere.

None shall be left, all will be consumed, thousands of voices, the voice of the core, chanted in unison.

Their minds will be ours, their power shall be devoured

Their will shall fall, our strength will prevail

Strange opened his eyes with a scream. Slowly returning to his senses, he looked around the room; it was the same as he had left it that evening. The room with white walls tinted blue from the light greeted his vision. The only noise, other than the unicorn's heavy breathing, was the humming of the generator in the center.

The unicorn pulled his bed covers away and stood to his hooves.

That couldn't have been just a dream, he thought to himself.

He made his way to his desk and stared down, thinking about what he should do. After a moment of thinking, he moved his left forehoof to the edge of the screen, which hung above the desk, to turn on the com-link. He moved his free hoof to the touch panel on the right of the desk and tried contacting Alpha.

A moment of silence followed. Then, a beep and a voice sounded from the other end:

"This better be important, that you're calling me in the middle of the night."

"We have a situation."

Stronghoof snored quietly in his bed. He had been dreaming of tormenting Lieutenant Heavy with a thousand laps of the obstacle course, to which he had been submitted earlier. Unfortunately, before he could completely enjoy his dream, the com-link rang.

"BUCK! Not again," he complained to himself about hitting his head on the ceiling again.

Groaning, he got out of the bed and answered the com-link:

"I hope you're happy. You made me hit my head on the ceiling. What do you want?"

Alpha's voice, on the other side of the com-link, explained the situation.

"Okay. I'm on my way."

The stallion dropped the link and pulled the usual, green, jacket out from the rack, along with his helmet. He looked around the gray room with a blue light, before running out into the hallway.

He galloped down the hallway in a rush, the sound of his hooves banging into the metal floor echoed through the dimness. Fireburst, who had been roused from her sleep by the noise, peeked her head, with a disheveled mane, out of her cell.

"What's going on? Why are you out of bed?" She inquired drowsily.

"I was summoned by Alpha."

"The Big Boss? Why?"

"It's urgent," Stronghoof finished and galloped away.

"Be careful!"

Stronghoof slowed his pace as he approached the double doors to the meeting room. Talking emanated from behind the metal panels. The stallion stopped altogether several inches from the doors. He took a breath and pushed on the door; it slowly moved open without a single noise. He closed the door just as slowly and quietly, nopony acknowledged his entry until he sat down in a chair, placed his helmet in front of him and spoke:

"So, what's happening?" As he finished the question, he noticed somepony standing next to him, "And whose that pony?"

"You know that meteorite you recovered?" Strange asked.

"Yeah."

"That... 'pony' was in it."

Stronghoof stared back with disbelief. The creature in question was at least four times as big as the meteorite, yet it had hitched a ride on it. He turned to the creature and looked it down from hoof to head.

"Seriously?" He asked.

No answer. Strange looked at Alpha, who sat in the chair opposite the table. Then shifted his gaze back to the pony he had spoken to before.

"We don't have time for this."

Stronghoof nodded, "So, why do you need me?"

"It's a little hard to believe," Alpha replied, "Show him."

Strange nodded and placed his hoof on the table, then slid it across the table towards Stronghoof. An image on the table sled towards the stallion and he stopped it with his hoof. He began sifting through the images as Strange explained:

"I took these pictures earlier this evening at the observatory."

Stronghoof stared at the images, before slowly looking up to face Strange. An expression of shock decorated his face.

"What is this?"

Strange looked at the creature which stood next to Stronghoof, "Tell him."

Stronghoof looked at the creature again.

"Doom," is the only word that was said.

"It's G.E.N.E.S.I.S." Strange explained further.

"GENetically. Engineered. Simulative. Inter-dimensional. System." Haven added.

"Sound like a big fat clusterbuck," Stronghoof commented.

"Exactly," Strange nodded, "It is a cluster."

"A collective consciousness, to be precise," Haven explained.

Stronghoof looked back to the images.

"That thing's as big as a moon."

"That's not everything," Strange replied, "Take a look at this."

With his hoof, the unicorn pushed a graph over to Stronghoof.

"It's mana field strength."

"Impressive."

"That's an understatement. According to this graph, it's more powerful than both Princesses combined."

Stronghoof was left absolutely speechless by the concept.

"What about-"

"Exact amount," Strange stated, as if he had read Stronghoof's mind.

"Damn," Stronghoof whispered to himself.

"This is what happens when you've had ages to absorb the energy of thousands of species," Haven stated flatly.

"What are going to do about it?"

"One of it's distinct features - the inter-dimensional bit - is also it's weakness," Strange explained.

"Yes. We will need to obtain one of it's Dimensional Cores," Haven continued.

"You two seem to have a habit of continuing each other's thoughts," Stronghoof interrupted.

"Indeed," Alpha noted.

"That's where you come in," Strange continued his train of thought, ignoring the comments, "You need to get inside that thing and get it for us."

"Why me?"

"Because, you're one of our best officers. You have a record of unprecedented loyalty. You always get the job done and you do it quickly," Alpha explained.

"Runs in the family, I guess. All right, I'm in."

Stronghoof pressed buttons on the dashboard with the metal hooves of his suit. A voice sounded through the com-link:

"Now check the navigational systems."

"Navigational systems nominal."

"Engine status."

"Engine on standby."

"Pre-launch diagnosis complete. All systems nominal. Prepare for launch. Over and out."

Stronghoof leaned back into his seat and strapped in. Then turned to his companion.

10...

"So. What's the plan?"

9...

"Get inside, get the core, then get out."

8...

"What if they notice us?"

7...

"As long as I'm in here, that won't be a problem. But when we get the core, we'll have a real fight on our hands."

6...

"Right."

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

The ship rumbled as it's engines powered up. They began to glow blue and grew progressively brighter. Stronghoof stared into the vastness of space through his visor and the windshield, and there it was; G.E.N.E.S.I.S floated in the void, staring back with it's purple 'eyes', seemingly mocking the stallion. The ship slowly moved out into the emptiness, getting progressively faster. Cables and tubes detached from the hull and were pulled back.

Slowly, the massiveness that was G.E.N.E.S.I.S seemed to grow larger as the ship approached it. It's curvature flattened out as the ship neared the surface. Haven's crystalline horn began to glow white from within. A port hole opened slowly. When the ship flew inside, it closed, leaving them in the darkness. Stronghoof pressed a button to turn on the headlights. He steered the ship through the dark tunnel and into a huge, much darker space.

G.E.N.E.S.I.S. seemed to sense the presence of them as the space began to light up.

"Sweet mother of Celestia."