Terra: Battle for Equestria

"Sir! You're gonna want to see this."

General Hemmer, commander of the military wing of the Ark, walked across the bridge towards the operator on the scanner. "What is it?"

A hologram appeared over the desk, projecting a multicolored sphere, resembling a planet that could easily be mistaken for Earth. Well, Earth before it was augmented, and later decimated in an inferno. Gruesome memories flashed across his mind before being quickly shut away.

"Our planetary scanners picked up a possibly habitable planet. Reports show a stable atmosphere, oceans of water, it's multiple biomes suggest the planet has seasons, which include forests of plant life similar to Earth's. We're still searching for animal life forms and alien species."

The general kept a straight face hearing the news.

"Take us into orbit. Alert the Council and await further orders. Continue scanning the planet."

"Should we name the planet, sir?"

The general thought for a moment.

"Terra Prime. Log it in."

Soon, it shall be ours... The general said in his mind.

And I can finally sink my boots into Earth once again... He smiled.

"Twilight, are you sure it's going to work?" Rainbow Dash said, watching Twilight make her final preparations on her newly built flying contraption of some sort. It was made of wood, and had wings that seemed to resemble a dragon's, with a bunch of ropes and gears that would make it slowly flap, along with two propellers adjacent to where Twilight would be laying down, piloting it. The so-called "plane" also had a tail about as long as one of the wings, with three fins that were perpendicular to each other. It was a sad, ugly excuse of a bird. But she had to admit, it was pretty awesome.

"Probably. My calculations predict a 75 percent chance of working, but i'm going to be optimistic and hope it doesn't end up in the 25 percent side. Besides, that's why your here, Rainbow Dash! When I start going out of control, you can pull me back up!" Twilight smiled at her.

"Well, if you say so. But don't blame me if you end up in the hospital!"

"Heh, fair enough. Alright, let's go!" Twilight climbed into her machine, and with a glow of her horn, the propellers mounted in what she called 'engines' began to spin, making a sort of whirring sound.

"You ready?" Rainbow Dashed called. Twilight snapped on her flight goggles, and gave her a hoofs up. Rainbow Dash grabbed the rope connected to the plane, and began to pull with all of her might. The thing began to roll down the grass, and as the wings began to slowly flap, the air started to lift it into the air, and the craft began to take into the skies.

"OH MY GOSH, IT'S WORKING!!! I'M FLYING!!!" Twilight screamed as she saw the ground fall beneath her belly, and the clouds rushing past her face.

Rainbow Dashed looked behind her, seeing Twilight beaming with joy in her working contraption. She spat out the rope as it was winded back to the plane. "Yeah, you go Twilight!" She gave a woop as she threw her hoof into the air, cheering her on.

After a while of circling around, Twilight decided not to waste her daring mood with just flying around the town, and thought of challenging her skills.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, guess what i'm thinking?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. She saw Twilight nod towards a peculiar looking land mark: A large open cut in the ground stretching for a good few miles.

"Uuuh, Twilight? Are you sure about that? It's your first time flying!"

"Yeah, and?"

"I don't think it's really safe, don't you think?"

"And did that ever stop us?"

Rainbow Dash grinned, and dived after Twilight as she began her decent towards the mouth of the Ghastly Gorge.

Twilight reached the mouth, and saw the lush green grass go above her as she continued her decent, gaining more and more speed. She felt her heart pumping faster than ever before, her adrenaline kicking in as she swerved past a few stone pillars. She felt the wind ripple across her face and whistle through her mane, like laying in a cool river on a hot summer day. Everything seemed to slow down, and instead of feeling nervous, it gave her the opportunity to take in everything, amplifying the experience and making her live it even longer. She looked to her side to see Rainbow Dash flying by her side, her face telling her that she knew what she was experiencing.

So this is what it's like to REALLY fly Twilight thought, and continued to maneuver through the canyon with determination that rivaled Rainbow Dash's.

Further into the canyon, Twilight sees a hard turn, and banks to the side. Once she rounds the corner, she sees rather large, deep holes lining the walls. She instantly knew what they were, even before Rainbow Dash screamed.

"QUARRAY EELS!!!"

"Oh buck me..." Twilight said under her breath, and yelled with effort as she began to perform evasive maneuvers around the giant eels popping out of their holes, constantly pulling up and down, rolling and turning from their mouths and necks. The G-forces were crushing her, for she had never experienced flight before, and pulling hard turns were really taking a lot out of her. She found it hard to expand her lungs to breath, and grunted as her arms were straining from constant use, yet still had to retain precision if she wanted to get out of this alive.

The world around her was a giant blur, and all the noise seemed to be muffled out, only hearing her heart hammering in her chest, the panicked breathing rushing through her head. Her adrenaline was pumping like crazy, and it made time seem to slow down even further. Except this time, it was like making a nightmare last longer; She wanted out. Yet, it was probably also the only thing keeping her alive.

Finally, just as she saw a chance to pull out of the canyon, her craft jolted to a halt, which knocked the air out of her lungs, only managing an "Umph!!!". She turned around, and saw the head of an eel craning it's neck around one of the holes, biting the horizontal stabilizer on the portside. Her propellers sputtered, and she desperately put more magic into them to keep them running. She felt the craft slowly be pulled into the hole by the eel, it's hungry eyes glaring at her.

She began to panic, and quickly searched for anything that could help. She saw Rainbow Dash hovering above the canyon, saying something to her. As she darted her eyes around, she spotted her hook tied to the wheel, bolted to the craft.

"RAINBOW, CATCH!!!" Twilight picked up the hook tied to the rope with her magic, and threw it at Rainbow who caught it with her mouth.  Rainbow then shot into the air, attempting to pull the craft out. Twilight saw the rope unwinding rapidly until she heard the rope crack like a whip, reaching it's maximum length. Once that happened, she began to hear the wood groan from effort as Rainbow Dash strained her wings. Twilight's horn was spewing purple magic, trying to make the propellers turn faster, while at the same time using magic to loosen the eel's mouth from the craft.

As soon as Twilight was about to be exhausted of her magic, she heard a thundering roar from behind her. The eel opened it's mouth, releasing the craft out into the sky. Twilight gave a surprised yelp, and immediately retook control of her plane. Rainbow Dash released the rope, watching it be winded back.

Twilight gasped for breath, attempting to slow down her body from it's excessive use. She looked behind her, and saw the eel retract into it's hole, the canyon once again silent. She examined her craft, and saw the left horizontal stabilizer full of cracks and holes, along with a chunk of it missing. It didn't respond to her stick, but the right stabilizer did. The craft was wiggling from instability, but was still able to fly just fine.

"You OK, Twi?" Rainbow Dash said as she glided over next to her.

"Heh...yeah, I guess i'm ok..."

They gave a chuckle, attempting to nullify their minds of what just happened, but to no avail.

What just happened back there was real...VERY real. I could have died. I could have been eaten. Rainbow would have seen me be torn apart alive, my friends and family would never see me again... These thoughts scrambled through her head, and she attempted to shake them off, focusing on what she was going to do once she got back. She couldn't imagine anything worse than this.

Unknowing to her, though, things were going to get worse...

A lot worse.