The Ashes We Make

From the Ashes We Make...

By: TankFodder

The Cylix. A space faring empire, ruling through military might and the fear that comes with it. They found our fledgling civilization as we started to expand past our solar system. But humanity refused to live under their tyranny,  and so were beaten down in a brutal 3 year war. The war is over, officially, but there are rumors  that the Sol-System Alliance is still alive, and readying a final blow to take back human freedom and independence. The rumors are true.

“Commander Floyd, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, sit down. Brian Herringer, right? Tell, me Brian, why are you on this ship?”

“I volunteered, sir”

“I understand that, everyone here did, but look at these files, Micheal Hughes, our engineer, his family was killed in a colony ship at the beginning of the war, his home was on Jupiter station, which was destroyed. Stacy Vince, our navigator, she lived on Mars”

Brian winces

“Yes, worst battle in the war, we're lucky the Bastards didn't just glass the whole planet and leave. Our security detail, Lieutenant Tyl and her men, all lost their units, their families, almost everything. Everyone else here has nothing to lose, but you, your family was on Earth, they moved after the Alliance officially surrendered, you built ordnance on the Lunar factories, until they were dismantled, so unless you are loved that job that much, why would you volunteer to go on a mission that is based on a flying bomb? This is a one way trip, we all know it.”

“Sir, I am looking after the Biggest. Bomb. Ever made, this is a dream come true!”

“... what.”

“Oh don't get me wrong working on the Lunar Base was great, knowing every shell or missile I sent out was ruining someone's day, somewhere, but that didn't hold a candle to this, this work of art!”

“You know what, forget I asked. You are dismissed.”

Herringer leaves, but the intercom on Floyd's desk crackles to life in a moment, a female voice floating out of the radio

“Bridge to the Captain,”

“This is the Captain, what is it?”

“Coordinates are locked in, we are ready to jump as soon as you get up here”

“I'm on my way, alert the crew to begin final preparations before the jump, I want everything bolted down, and everyone strapped in, this whole ship is experimental technology, and I want everything to go by the book”

“Aye, Sir”

The engine room, an engineer is crouched near an open panel with different tools lying nearby.

“All Hands, report to Quarters, and prepare to Jump”

“I hear you, just gotta finish this, a-a-and... Shit!” A flash of sparks comes out of the panel, the engineer looks up at a massive gyro floating in the exact center, of the room. It twitches, and shifts slightly.

“That's not good...” The gyro spins faster and faster, indicating the beginning of a jump, the man lunges for the intercom, shouting for them to stop the jump, but it is too late, the ship accelerates to many times the speed of light, the gyro spins out of control, and then explodes.

The Phoenix, a bomb ship designed to be fast and stealthy, to deliver it's payload straight to the Cylix home planet. A payload of the largest bomb ever built, a planet killer. However, the ship would not drop the bomb, because the ship WAS the bomb, which was why the the ship was largely automated, and the crew was only volunteers who knew exactly what they had signed up for. They were the best of the most expendable, and they were on a mission to create a new era for humanity from the ashes that they created.

The Phoenix fell out of FTL rather than slowed out of it, surprisingly undamaged.

“Status report, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED”

“Sir, power is online, weapons are online, engines are down, we're dead in space”

“Damn it, navigation, where the hell are we? NAVIGATION!”

“Sir, we're in an orbit around.. oh.. my...”

The ship had fallen over a garden planet. This was certainly not their intended destination, and certainly not somewhere anyone had discovered, as there were no easily seen signs of industrialization, and yet the scanners showed...

“The hell is wrong with them?”

“I don't know Commander, our scanners are scrambled all to hell by some kind of interference coming from the planet, but they can tell one thing. We're falling, slowly. We are going to crash on the planet.”

Floyd hits his intercom “Engineering, what's the status on the engine?”

“Well that depends, do you like your steaks done. Horribly burnt, or just charred?”

“Shut up Hughes, we are over an unknown planet, and we're going to crash into it. I want you to make sure that the payload doesn't blow up and kill the wrong planet when we do”

“Oh. Well, couldn't you have just woken me up when we all blew to smithereens on the side of the wrong planet?”

“Shut up and deactivate that bomb, or I'll throw you out the nearest airlock.”

“Sure, but I'm just saying, when we explode, I don't want to be blamed for it.”

One Week Later

The Cylix were the most hated enemy in human history, and as such, the designers of the Phoenix thought that simply slipping a bomb through their back door was too impersonal. A virtual intelligence was placed on the ship, primarily to handle electronics and the ship's computer network, but this VI was given one ultimate task. A message, a final, “screw you”, to humanity's forced overlords, to be played during the final descent onto every device or signal or a even any creature capable of receiving data. The VI noted that the ship was descending towards a planet and prepared its message, only to find that there were no radios, no landlines, no anything to send it to. Thus, it began a search for alternate options. It noticed an aura surrounding the planet, which initial scans had been unable to identify, and had dismissed as background radiation. This aura however, was powerful, and could transmit the message. This would do, it thought. This would do.

On the Planet Below

“Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!” Pinkie Pie stopped her baking to look up, around, and outside for what was surely going to fall. “Huh, nothing,” she muttered and then froze, “Here it comes again! Oooh, whatever it is, it's going to be big, but, it's not heading towards Ponyville. I wonder why would my Pinkie sense warn me about it.” It was a rare moment of clarity indeed, but short-lived. As the hyperactive pony quickly forgot about it as the smell of fresh cupcakes wafted from the oven.

Rainbow Dash reclined on the back of a cloud, taking a well-deserved break from practicing, and ready for her nap. When she noticed something, waaay up in the sky. “Huh, what the hay is that, it's too high to be a pegasus or a bird, and it's falling pretty fast,” she thought, but perhaps it wasn't an issue, she was an adept crasher herself, though she'd never admit it, and could tell that whatever it was wasn't heading towards a civilized area. Besides, it was nap-time, and she couldn't keep practicing later if she was falling asleep on her hooves.

Twilight Sparkle sat in her balcony, reading, when she noticed something out of the tip of her eye, a trail from high in the sky, or maybe even beyond that. “A meteor! It looks huge, I bet a lot of it will make it to the ground. And ooh, it looks like it's heading towards the plains on the other side of the Everfree, This could be an important scientific discovery! Spike! Spike! Pack some food, and a tent, and maybe a shovel, I'll need my books on the different kinds of meteors of course, this is going to be fun! Spike? Where are you?”

Spike groaned. What was Celestia sending, a new house? This message didn't feel like it was supposed to go the dragon fire. “Twilight, down here, something fro-” BURRRAAWWPPP.

“Woah Spike, be careful, I know it can be hard with some messages, but still, wait, what's going on?” Twilight came down the stairs, and stopped, she and Spike stared at the dragon fire floating in the air, which, wasn't dissipating or forming into a letter, as it usually did, but formed into an odd shape, almost like a face. “What is it?” murmured Twilight, she then gasped when the form opened it's mouth.

“Greetings from Earth!” boomed a voice, “And greetings from the Human Alliance, oh yes, you didn't think we were beaten did you? Oh ho no! Humanity is just getting started. You bastards have probably noticed the ship screaming through your atmosphere” Twilight looked through her window, at the 'meteor', which suddenly didn't seem so exciting. The voice continued “well consider it a final gift to you, it's a bomb, a nuke to end all nukes, a planet-killer! So pray, pray to your twisted demon-gods, and prepare to go to whatever hell it is that you believe in.”

“ADIOS” Twilight swallowed, who were these 'humans'?

“MOTHER-” What was a nuke? Why, why would they want to wipe out Equestria?

“FUCKERS!” She needed to tell Princess Celestia about this.

In Canterlot Castle

Dead silence sat heavily throughout the Hall, Celestia and Luna stared, speechless, at the image that had formed from what they had initially thought to be one of the messages Twilight Sparkle periodically sent her teacher. Courtiers, nobleponies, and servants alike stared silently at the image in front of the princesses.

“Message Repeats.”

Onboard the *Phoenix*

The bridge crew aboard the Phoenix scrambled about, trying to land in a way that wouldn't set off the massive bomb that was literally part of the ship. One of the Comms Officers shouted toward the commander.

“Sir! We're broadcasting something towards the planet below! It's not an automated SOS, but the VI started it when we began to descend!”

Commander Floyd, decorated veteran of dozens of battles, paled, “Oh. Right. Shit.”

Author's Note:

This may end up being rather long winded, so bear with me, or just don't read it.

So, yeah, this is my first try writing anything since doing essays in High School, and I figured I kind of needed a hobby, anyways, I'm not really happy with it, the intro especially, and I avoided characterizing the human crew, but I tried to go back and put in more detail, but I'm not very good with setting up a scene, and I never liked what came out. Depending on the reaction this gets, I will try to keep up an actual story, I've got a basic idea of what I want to happen, but it is very much subject to change. Of course, if no one likes it, I have a built-in quick-finish :), so I won't leave this story incomplete. Please leave a comment and tell what you think.

TL;DR

Please leave a comment, I'm very new to writing and would appreciate any feedback.

Also: I'm not entirely sure what categories this fits in, so if you feel that I categorized it wrong, feel free to say so

I do not own My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic or any of the ponies in this story. They are the property of Hasbro, Inc. etc. etc.