Ch.1: The Calm Before The Storm
Sunlight. Sunlight shone through the window as Mystic Sky fought to stay asleep. He tried bringing his hoof to his eyes to prevent the light from gaining any more ground in this epic battle between him and his accursed enemy, but it was all in vain. He was already awake. He groaned in frustration as he kicked the covers off of him and sat up. He scratched the back of his head as he surveyed his room. Just as he left it the night before. A few pillows and blankets out of place, but other than that, all was fine. He rolled off of the bed and stretched. "Always good to stretch out in the morning..." He thought as he stretched. When he finished, he yawned and smacked his lips. He slowly walked out the door and into the kitchen, where he saw his marefriend sitting at the table with a big smile on her face and a salad in front of her.
"Good morning, Autumn." Sky said, a smile cracking on his face. Autumn Rose was a beige mare with a magenta mane and golden eyes that currently glistened in the sunlight that shone through the window of their home.
"Morning, Sky. Did you sleep well?" Autumn Rose asked, her voice smooth as flowing water. Sky nodded sleepily and Rose chuckled. "I doubt it. Considering what we did last night..." She said with a seductive tone, causing Sky to chuckle as he wrapped his hooves around his lover.
"You know... We could do it again.." He said as he nibbled on her ear, causing her to shiver. She recovered and pushed him away.
"Nuh-uh. Not until tonight." She said with a teasing tone and Sky chuckled.
"Fine. But you'd better make it up to me tonight." He said and she giggled.
"Don't worry. I will." She said as she planted a kiss on his lips. It seemed to last forever, such as every other one they had. Eventually, she broke the kiss and looked at the clock, which said 7:30 AM. "Oh, look at the time. I think we should both be getting to work, don't you?" She asked and Sky simply nodded. He quickly ate the salad that was prepared for him and brushed his teeth. A minute after, he rushed out the door, but not before giving Rose a peck on the cheek.
"I love you, Rose." He said and she returned the gesture. With his marefriend's blessing, he levitated some saddlebags onto his back, left the house and headed for his workplace: The Golden Oaks Library.
Cloud Runner sat in his gaming chair he sat on every Saturday; Sometimes, every hour on a weekday. This was on of those times. He hadn't even gotten off the chair to go to the bathroom the whole night. His eyes rested on the computer screen as he shut away the rest of the world. His eyes were bloodshot from the sleepless night. The windows in his room were covered by the curtains, blocking any sunlight from getting into his room. He smirked as he gotten another triumphant achievement in-game. He leaned back onto his chair, and wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead. He smacked his lips and turned to the computer screen.
The door creaked open before a mare's head popped into the doorway. She looked at the pony who sat in the middle of a darkened room, the monitor only providing little illumination to thr room. She straightened herself and stepped into the room.
"Cloud, it's 7:30 in the morning. Shouldn't you be getting to work?" She asked him berore the stallion quickly turned his head to her. He shot his eyes at the wall clock and realized what the mare said was true.
"You're right!" He looked back at the mare." I should get going!" He pointed his hoof into the air. He got ready to leave before hearing a beep, coming from his monitor. He looked back at the source before looking back to the marefriend. "Riiighhht after one more level." He gave her an smile that obviously said 'sorry' before turning back to the monitor.
"But Cloud," She smirked underneath the darkness." You're not even good at games!" She teased. Cloud Runner took a sudden stop when she said this. That hurt him bad. He took pride in his gaming, but never really believed anypony when they told him that he was terrible at games.
"Sh-Shut up, Honey Voice." He managed to say before he returned to his game. Honey Voice frowned before walking up behind Cloud Runner and giving him a hug.
" Cloud, I know you love to play video games," She said. "And you know I love you; But you have to limit your gaming time. Please." Cloud paused the game and looked at her. "Do it for me."
Cloud looked at the monitor and sighed before quitting the game and setting the computer to shut down. He got off his chair and both he and his marefriend trotted to the door. Honey smiled at him before planting a passionate peck on his cheek. "Thanks, love." She said.
Cloud Runner brushed his teeth and turned to leave for his workplace: Sweet Apple Acres
Sky trotted through town, smiling and waving as ponies did the same. He watched as Scootaloo dragged the rest of the Crusaders through town on a wagon, undoubtedly trying to find new ways to get their Cutie Marks. He smiled.
"Those foals are always up to something." He said as he reached the library. He knocked on the door three times and he was answered by the small dragon we know as Spike.
"Hey Sky!" The little dragon said with a tone that seemed a bit too energetic.
"Good morning, Spike. Is Twilight in?" He asked and the little dragon nodded.
"Right this way!" He said as he walked into the library, Sky following close. He walked up to the foot of the stairs as Spike called Twilight. She seemed to have a neutral face as she evaluated Sky's attendance.
"You are 2.8 minutes late." She said, her tone even. Sky flinched. He knew he was going to get some sort of punishment each time he was late to work, no matter the time difference. He would always get a punishment.
"Alright, what do you want me to do?" He said with a hint of despair in his voice. Twilight looked away for a second and looked back to him.
"Arrange the books from D through T." She said and Sky felt his jaw hit the floor. That was most of the alphabet for Celestia's sake!
"You've gotta be kidding me! THAT for being 2.8 minutes late!?" He protested, but Twilight held firm.
"That's what you get for being late." She said with a shrug and Sky sighed. He had a long day ahead of him.
Later that day...
Sky had just finished arranging the books in N.
"Phew.... This library is bigger than I thought!" He said as he put the next book in its place. A second later, a certain rainbow-maned pegasus burst through the door, startling Sky into falling off the ladder he was on.
"Twilight! Twilight, where are you!?" She shouted at the top of her lungs as Sky crashed from the ladder he was on with a scream.
"Dash? Why are you shouting?" Twilight asked as she came down the stairs to see Dash with a concerned and panicky look on her face.
"Twilight! Have you seen Fluttershy!?" She asked as she flew up to Twilight's face.
"Hmm.... Come to think of it, I haven't seen her all day." She said as Sky rose from his grave of books.
"Argh.... What's all this about Fluttershy?" He said as he rubbed the side of his head. Dash was quick to answer his question.
"I can't find her anywhere! I've asked everypony in town and they don't have a clue where she is! Even Pinkie has no idea where she is!" She said.
"So? She could've just went out to the Everfree forest to visit Zecora." Sky said.
"Which brings me to this." She held up a half empty bag of animal food an threw it in front of them. " I found this beside a few of the food bowls." Dash said as she crossed her arms.
"Your point?"
" Half of the bowls were empty! Fluttershy never leaves an animal unfed; only unless she thought she would take only little while,"Dash began to panic and Sky and Twilight gave each other a look. They both nodded.
"Alright. Dash, help me gather the girls. We're going to find her!" She said and Dash was quick to comply. She dashed out the door and Twilight turned to Sky.
"Sky, I need you to take care of the place while I'm gone." She said, but Sky stopped her.
"No. I'm going with you. Fluttershy's my friend too, and I'm not going to just sit here knowing that she could be in danger!" He said as he levitated the saddlebags onto his back. Twilight sighed as she motioned for him to follow as she left the library. Sky put on a determined look as he galloped out the door, ready to find Fluttershy.
Cloud Runner yawned as he trotted across town. The light of the sun wrapped The sleepy pegasus in its comforting warmth. At this rate, the blue pegasus might just collapse onto the dirt. His hoof was halfway through another step before a cyan blur zoomed past him. He looked to the direction of the blur before looking to the opposite direction, where he saw Twilight running towards the blur with Mystic Sky close behind her. As they past him, Cloud Runner called to them. The two stopped in their tracks and they looked to the pegasus.
"Whoa...Why are you two in such a hurry?" Cloud asked. " Did a new game come out or something?"He jokingly teased before chuckling. The stallion gave him an unamused look.
"Not the time, Cloud." Sky glared at him. He looked to the lavender unicorn and she quickly nodded before leaving. He stared as Twilight galloped away into the distance. Cloud Runner looked at him quizzically.
"...What happened?...Is something wrong?" He asked. The stallion looked back at him with a worried look. Sky was unsure of whether he should let him know or not, whether he should leave him uninvolved or if he should let him come. He looked at him, his eyes full of conviction before making the decision.
"Fluttershy's gone missing." Cloud's eyes widened.
"What? How do you kno-" He asked, but Mystic interrupted.
"Dash..." He started to pace. "...She told us that she had asked everypony in town where she was..."
"And?"
"Nothing... Even Pinkie doesn't know where she went." He said.
"Then let's go find her!" Cloud Runner said as he ran past Sky. He kept running until he looked back to see Mystic Sky looking at him quizzically. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Mystic Sky shook his head. "Nothing..." He said," Let's go find her." He said as he nudged Cloud Runner on the shoulder. Cloud quickly shot him a questioning look before following him down the path to the Everfree forest.
Cloud Runner and Mystic Sky ran to the dark forest entrance where a lavender unicorn stood by. The entrance was covered with faint trails of fog and even during the day, the forest seemed to always be enveloped in darkness. It was weird to Cloud, every time he stood at the entrance, he got the eerie feeling that somepony was watching him, waiting to take him as prey. Mystic looked around to see none of Fluttershy's friends have gathered; even Rainbow Dash, with the exception of Twilight. "Where's Rainbow Dash? I saw her come towards here..." Mystic said.
"Rainbow left to gather the girls," Twilight replied. " She'll be back here in a second."
"Okay then, we should wait for-" Mystic said just before a cyan blur zoomed past Cloud and he spun around. Dizzied by the sudden spin, he tried to focus his eyes. A second later, his eyes center themselves and the blur revealed to be Rainbow Dash.
"...her." Mystic said as the worried mare landed, but it seemed that her hooves just wouldn't stay still.
"Second was right." Cloud jokingly said as the dizziness faded; but not before falling face first into the dirt.
Mystic turned his head to Dash as Cloud Runner slowly got up. "So..." He said, grabbing the rainbow-maned mare's attention. " Where are the others?"
"Applejack had to get some tools ready." She said, before Sky questioned the motive. "She said, that “We might need them, we better have 'em and not need 'em than need 'em and not have 'em”. " She explained.
"And the others?" Cloud asked, still cleaning his face from the dirt.
"They said they would follow us in, but I think Pinkie is-"
"I'M HERE!" A loud, high pitch voice bursted out of nowhere. All ponies present suddenly turned their heads to the source of the voice. They saw Pinkie Pie running towards them, as if she was spinning her legs around. And Cloud saw that Pinkie was moving towards him like a bullet. He started to move to the direction he wanted to dodge to; but due to Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, she hit him like a wrecking ball and he was flung backwards.
Mystic loomed over Cloud's body before noticing he was knocked out cold. "We haven't even entered the forest and we're already down one pony."
"Where is everypony!? We have to save Fluttershy!" Pinkie asked, her frantic movements getting wilder by the second.
"They'll follow. Come on, the longer we stay here, the bigger the chances of Fluttershy being in danger." Mystic said as he started towards the forest, dragging Cloud Runner's unconsious body by the tail.
Later, the rest of the ponies met up and they continued through the darkness of the Everfree. Wisps of ghostly fog parted as they moved through it, chilling them to their cores. The Everfree had that effect on almost everypony who entered; that feeling of intense despair creeping into your heart and crushing it with your breaking psyche. This effect drove away almost everypony who dared to enter. Almost. Sky and Cloud walked with caution, their ears flicking left and right to hear any sounds that could indicate danger. Having played many horror games, Sky was not utterly terrified. Only a small part of his mind told him to turn back and leave. But his decision was made. He would find and bring Fluttershy back, even if it costed him his life. He hoped it would not have to come to that, but his resolve did not waver.
Cloud also had a similar resolve, but having not played many horror games, he was less used to these dark settings. But even a raging manticore would not deter him. He was ready to risk his life if it meant bringing Fluttershy back. Applejack and Rainbow were also on lookout, Pinkie providing a higher line of sight with her unusually high jumps. Twilight and Rarity walked in silence with them. Suddenly, Applejack spoke up.
"Y'all sure ya know where we're goin'?" The orange mare asked, the tools in her toolbox clanking softly as she walked. Sky shrugged.
"No." He plainly said and the group stopped, stunned.
"WHAT!?" They said in unison, save for Pinkie, who continued to hop along with Sky and Cloud..
"I don't know where we're going." Sky said as he continued walking, Cloud following close. The mares had every right to be mad at Sky and he accepted that. But he couldn't be expected to know where they were going. He knew just as much as the others in the regard of Fluttershy's whereabouts.
"So we're lost?" Twilight said incredulously. Sky nodded before continuing through the forest.
"Yeah, but if we keep going, I'm sure we'll find Fluttershy." He said and the rest of the ponies shut up. They knew that there was no point in arguing. The rest of the walk passed in silence. Eventually, they reached a large clearing. The sun was now halfway through the sky.
"It's noon." Twilight said. They had to find Fluttershy before it got dark, for fear of being found by some ferocious beast. Cloud looked around and saw a certain yellow mare standing at a cliff face, staring at it curiously. It took barely a second for this to register in his mind.
"FLUTTERSHY!" He shouted out as he tackled her, the shy mare letting out a squeal of surprise as she and Cloud crashed to the dirt. They both got up and coughed out dirt that got into their mouths, the rest of the search party approaching them.
"Oh, thank Faust, you're alright." Sky said as he helped the two up with his magic, a dark blue aura enveloping the pegasi and righting them. The rest of the Mane Six swarmed Fluttershy, showering her with words of concern and relief. As this happened, Sky walked over to the cliff face that Fluttershy was staring at. He ran his hoof along its surface and he felt an irregularity. The cliff felt cold to his touch. Like metal. He charged magic into his horn and he let it loose against the metal cliff, a bolt of magic striking the surface and damaging it. The illusion quickly dissipated and it revealed a large, metal door, similar to a blast door. The loud bang caught the attention of the Mane Six.
"What.... Is that?" Twilight asked as she walked up to it. Sky shook his head as he gave an answer.
"I don't know. I think it's some sort of door." He said as Rainbow approached.
"Yeah, but a door to what?" She asked and Sky turned to Applejack.
"Applejack, do you have a crowbar?" He asked and the mare began rummaging through her toolbox to find the needed tool. Soon, she found it and tossed it to the unicorn.
"Got it. Catch." She said and Sky grabbed the crowbar before jamming it in a rusty gap in the door. He heaved with all his might, but the door refused to budge.
"Cloud, lend me a hoof with this." He said and the pegasus moved up alongside him, gripping the end of the crowbar. "On the count of three, we pull. Ready?" Sky asked and Cloud gave a crisp salute.
"Ready." He said as he prepared to pull.
"1" Their muscles tensed.
"2" They dug their hind legs into the dirt.
"3!" They pulled with all their strength and the rusty door gave a loud shriek as it moved for what seemed to be the first time in years. They opened it just enough to fit two ponies at a time. Inside, the smell of rot and decay wafted out, overpowering the senses of the ponies outside. Rarity was naturally the first to react.
"Ugh... What is that horrid stench!?" She exclaimed.
"I have no idea... But I'm gonna find out." Sky said. He was always an adventurous pony. He would take every chance he got to have fun, whether it be climbing a mountain to face a ferocious dragon or sitting at home and playing a couple rounds of StarCraft 2 with his friends. He walked in, but before he made it all the way in, he turned to the group. "Anypony want to come with me?" He asked. His reason for asking was a mixture of fear and curiosity. He wanted to know how many brave souls there were in the group. He was met with a cacophony of dissent from the Mane Six. Only Cloud and Dash didn't join the chorus of 'no'.
"I'll go with you." Cloud said. "I'm comin' too." Dash said as she landed with a determined look on her face. Sky was disappointed. "Really? Just these two?" He thought as they ventured into the room, leaving the rest of the Mane Six at the entrance. Inside, it was pitch black. But that was to be expected. The place hadn't seen light in years.
"Hold up. I have a spell to light this place up." Sky said as his horn glowed and it shot a bolt of light at what he assumed was a wall. The bolt of light stuck and it glowed even brighter, illuminating the darkness.
"Impressive." Cloud said as he looked to Sky.
"Magelight. Great for reading at night." He said as he looked at the light, but froze. A bipedal skeleton with small chunks of decaying flesh hanging loosely on the bones was slumped against the wall. The necrotic flesh was being eaten by insects and flies hovered around it. Cloud gagged as he turned away from the skeleton.
"Faust... What happened?" Sky said as he held his nose to prevent the smell of death from entering it..
"Looks like its been here for a while." Cloud said as he approached the skeleton slowly. Sky, not wanting to look at the skeleton any longer, turned and walked to another place in the darkness. He shot another magelight bolt at a wall and instead of a rotting corpse, what he saw amazed him.
"Holy.... Guys! Check this out!" He called out and the two turned.
"What-" Dash began, but her mouth shut promptly when she saw it. It was a gunship. Still in good condition and it had only a few dings here and there. It had what looked like guns on the front, inactive as they were, they were still intimidating. A strange sight in the land of Equestria.
"Is that a gunship?" Cloud said, not believing his eyes. He had only seen gunships in works of fiction, describing a futuristic Equestria with sprawling megacities and plasma-based weaponry. But now, he was standing in front of one, clearly astonished.
"Looks like it. And if I'm not mistaken... That's an EarthGov gunship!" Sky said as he ran his hoof along the smooth surface of the sleek weapon of war. Cloud furrowed his brow at this statement.
"What, you mean from Dead Space? How in Tartarus could an EarthGov gunship show up here? Must be a model or something." Cloud said, trying to convince himself that some fanatic made this gunship. He had good reason to. If this gunship was real, then that meant that the Necromorphs were real too. And that would spell disaster for Equestria.
"I hope so." Sky said as he felt around what he assumed was the door to the gunship. Now, being a huge fan of the Dead Space series, Sky knew almost everything about the games and their lore. He even knew about the inner workings to Unitology. Despite the fact that he utterly hated Unitology, he swore that he would learn all that he could about it, such was his love of Dead Space. He felt his hoof grip into a dent. But it wasn't a dent. He pulled and it easily slid out with a hydraulic hiss. It was a lever. Another hiss sounded as the door slid into gaps in the ship, allowing entrance for the ponies. "I guess it's not a model." Sky said as he entered and Cloud's blood ran cold. His mind reeled with thoughts of countless Necromorphs raging across the countryside, bone blades, claws and acid bearing down on their unfortunate victims. He gulped as he followed his friend into the gunship, Dash following behind him.
Inside the gunship, Sky was amazed at the workmanship of the ship. It was rather large, being able to fit up to 10 ponies. Its controls were well-kept, almost untouched. He looked to the back of the ship and saw several Pulse Rifles, Seeker Rifles and Shotguns on racks. "EarthGov is very well-armed" He thought as he laid a hoof on the cold metal of the armory door and promptly shut it. No reason to have weapons out in the open. He exited the gunship to inform the mares outside. He popped his head out of the door, catching the attention of the ponies who opted out of entering the dark and grimy room.
"Guys! You will want to see this!" He said excitedly as he quickly returned to the gunship. The rest of the ponies entered and the first thing they noticed was the rotting corpse and many of them had pretty much the same reaction: gagging and looking away. Sky noticed this. "Guys, over here." He waved them over and they followed immediately, not wanting to be around the corpse any longer. Then, they gazed upon the gunship. The curves and guns very apparent in the brightness of the magelight.
"Wow.... What is this?" Twilight asked, amazed at the technological marvel before her. Sky laughed.
"It's an EarthGov gunship. Straight from Dead Space." He said as he motioned for them to enter.
"Dead Space? You mean that game you play? How is that possible?" Twilight said as she and the rest of the Mane Six entered. Sky shrugged as he leaned on the rack containing the weapons.
"I don't really know." He said as he walked up to the control console. As he reached the console, Twilight pulled him back with her magic grasp.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked him, as if he was going to do something bad.
"Relax. I'm just going to release the lockdown." He said as he pressed a few buttons on the side panel, the great machine responding by lifting the metal plates covering the cockpit. He smirked as he looked up and out the cockpit. "See? Nothing to worry abou-" He said, but he froze as his vision began to blur from looking at the cockpit. His head throbbed painfully as he gripped in tightly, unable to make it stop as his face scrunched up in an expression of agony.
"Ugh......" He groaned as he fell on his haunches.
"Sky!" Twilight exclaimed as she rushed over to help her friend, the rest following to make sure he was okay.
"Argh...... My head...." He croaked out as his senses began to go haywire. His vision flashed and he could see a bipedal armored figure and then a huge plume of fire. Then, he saw several figures approaching the injured figure, muffled screams and growls filling his ears. The next thing he knew, Twilight was shaking him with panic and fear in her eyes.
"Sky! Are you okay!?" She panicked as the stallion returned to his senses. Sky shook his head to make sure his senses were his again.
"Ugh... Yeah, I'm fine...." He said as he got to his hooves. That mental barrage of strange images and sounds took its toll on him. He was sweating and his breath was ragged. He didn't know what those images were, but he prayed that he would never have to see them again.
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, not convinced that he was alright. Sky simply waved her off.
"Yeah, of course." He said as he accidentally leaned on the control console, the console letting out a beep and Sky's eyes widened. He turned around quickly and looked at what he just pressed. He began the liftoff procedure. He quickly turned his head to see that the door had closed and it sealed itself with a hydraulic hiss. He looked at the console to see if anything could be done to stop the liftoff, but he was too late. He heard the roar of the engine behind him, causing the mares and Cloud to panic.
"Sky! What's happening!?" Twilight panicked again, Sky not paying attention. He was too busy trying to find a way out of the gunship to listen. He looked left and right, but he found nothing. In his haste, he accidentally hit another button on the console. He looked again to see what he feared most. He gave into despair as he heard a computerized voice.
"ShockPoint Drive activated. Location unspecified. Shocking to nearest ShockPoint facility." The voice said and an audible rumble echoed through the cave. A set of blast doors opened at the top and the ship lifted off, startling the ponies on board.
"SKY!!!" Twilight shouted, but her voice was drowned out by the roaring engines of the ship. Sky felt the ship shudder and he immediately stood and amplified his voice with magic.
"EVERYPONY, HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!!!!" He screamed as he held onto the chair. The ponies immediately did as they were told. They grabbed onto anything they could. Gaps in the walls, small beds, each other. Then, they felt a sudden, crushing force and a bright light. The force, sound and sight were too much for the ponies and one by one, they blacked out.
