She felt exhausted. Her eyes ached and the rest of her body felt numb. Her head felt as heavy as Pinkie Pie’s party equipment as she tried to turn it. Speaking of Pinkie Pie, she heard her voice.
“…on, girls!...Rise!...bird… worm!...fair for…early just to get eaten by the bird!”
A great pain in her lungs caught her off guard. As she began to have a coughing fit, a set of strong hooves grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up to a sitting position. “Just get it all out of your system, Fluttershy.”
Squinting, she looked up to see Shining Armor patting her down. “Your body is simply trying to return to its normal levels of activity after a week of stasis.”
In between coughs, she looked around to see her friends in rather similar states, excluding Pinkie Pie.
Applejack grumbled while rubbing her eyes, “They aint payin’ us enough for this shit.” She suddenly stopped, realizing her vulgar choice of words.
Rainbow Dash gave a light laugh. “Wow, AJ, did somepony piss in your cereal?” Stopping as well, she began to make perplexing faces.
Rarity looked at the two and then at Shining Armor. “Armor, I’m sure you are aware that my friends aren’t usually this vulgar. Is it possible that your Changeling cocoon sleep pod ‘thingies’ have something to do with that?”
Shining Armor looked at Rarity as gave Fluttershy one more pat on the back. “It’s not serious. They’re just incorporating the memories that they were exposed to.”
Fluttershy stopped. It all came flooding back to her. The killing, the dying screams of sheer agony and pain, the deafening explosions, the wiz of bullets, the burning lungs. It was too much. She began to cry.
Cardinal approached a door located in the middle of a corridor. Lightly tapping a button to her left, the door opened to reveal Shining Armor’s quarters. He was facing away from her, repeatedly banging his head against the awards-infested wall. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stu-” Glaring, he spun around to see the dark blue earth pony standing at the doorway.
She asked, “Am I interrupting?”
Shining Armor moved from the trophy wall his bed. He flopped down on the mattress, words dripping with venom, “Oh nooo, no no no. Absolutely not, Cardinal! I’m just so, so happy that our state of the art technology has reduced our five specialists to emotional wrecks!”
Cardinal calmly replied, “Nurse Readheart said that the effects should only be temporary, captain. A simple emotional overload.”
He levitated a clock over his head. Grimacing, he asked, “And will that 'overload' subside within the estimated time of arrival of two hours, Cardinal?”
Cardinal answered, “Most likely, yes.”
He slammed the clock back down on the nightstand. “They’d bucking better!” He shot up from his bed.
Cardinal stepped aside as he stormed out of his room, mimicking Fluttershy’s voice. “Oooh, why would you dooo that, Shining Armor? Aren’t you a good guy, ooooh! Bucking load of shit!”
Cardinal followed him down the corridor. “Specialists Nag, Steed, Plug, and Apple Snack are all on standby in the hangar. Shall I have them commence preparations?”
Shining Armor quickened his pace and stopped at an elevator. “No. No, I’ll do it myself. I want you to prep the five mares.” The door opened up, and he stepped inside, slamming on the controls. He added, “And get Applejack to like you, okay?”
She barely enough time to say, “Yes, captain,” as the door closed.
He took a deep breath, mumbling to himself, “One last time.”
The elevator came to a halt and opened. Shining Armor stepped out into the corridor, and took a right, leading up to the hangar. He spotted Nag, Steed, Plug, and Apple Snack hanging around a power loader. He made a beeline towards them.
Plug scrambled to attention, shouting, “Officer on deck!”
Shining Armor silently approached him, as the other three stumbled into line. Coming to a halt, he tapped his ear piece. “Hoofer, give me a broadcast.”
“Understood, sir,” a few seconds of silence, “Okay, just speak into your piece.”
Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “No shit, Hoofer.”
The entire ship echoed with, “No shit, Hoofer.”
Ignoring the laughter that could be heard through the other levels, he attempted to keep his composure. “All right, now listen up.” He waited for the laughter to subside. “This is going to go smoothly and by the numbers. I want DCS and tactical database assimilation by 0830.”
Everypony groaned. “Ordinance loading, weapon strip, and dropship details have ONE hour!” He tapped his earpiece again to switch it off.
Apple Snack raised his hoof.
Reluctantly, Shining Armor said, “Yes, Apple Snack?”
Lowering his hoof, he asked, “Since we haven’t heard from the colony, are we to assume that there IS an infestation?"
Shining Armor nodded. “That is correct.”
Plug asked, “Rules of engagement, sir?”
He answered, “Survivors are to be taken alive unless they present an immediate threat to you. I authorize any and all necessary force if and ONLY if,” he gave Nag the killer eye, “It’s required. Do you understand, soldier?”
Nag stood his ground. “I understand, sir.”
“Good.” He continued, addressing the company, “If you see any two meter tall, black as night, banana headed, drooling ‘things’, you are to shoot on sight and alert literally EVERYPONY. You will then fall back to my team while on full alert. Understood?”
“Got it.”
“Right.”
“No problem.”
“Yes sir.”
He looked around the hangar. “Dismissed!” As he made his way to the exit, the work began.
“I don’t care if you ARE short, get those Power Loaders going!”
“I’m gonna need ten CCs of-”
“NO! Give him aids!”
“Seriously, who took my sandwich?!”
The male specialists, Nurse Readheart, Fleetfoot, and the “mane five” had assembled in the armory.
Out in the hanger, the dropship’s headlights came on as Spitfire and Soarin started up the bird’s engines and lowered the ramp.
Cardinal brought the APC around and parked it in front of the lowered ramp. She opened the door in anticipation of the rescue team.
Nurse Readheart adjusted her battle saddle towards Fleetfoot to allow easier attachment of her flamethrower. Fleetfoot, in turn, held up his own battle saddle to allow Nurse Redheart easier access to attach a Pulse Rifle.
Fluttershy took several deep breaths as she helped her friends suit up.
Rarity, using her telekinesis, unloaded and double checked the Pulse Rifles, while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie tested the durability of their Smart Gun frames.
Pinkie Pie sauntered around on her hind legs, while Rainbow Dash remained on all fours.
Using his own magic, Shining Armor held up his shotgun and loaded seven shells into the barrel, loading one into the chamber and then inserted an eighth round. He then placed the shotgun in a sheath strapped to the outside of his armored battle saddle. “Rarity.”
The unicorn mare looked at him, nodded, and levitated a Pulse Rifle towards him.
He caught the rifle with his own telekinesis and hooked it up to his battle saddle.
Nag hooked a Smart Gun up to Apple Snack. “This’ll hide that extra weight.”
“Oh-ho-ho, funny and original, please stand up.”
Applejack gave Fluttershy a light tap on the shoulder. The pegasus looked to see that the orange mare held a battle saddle in her mouth. Placing it on the ground, Applejack said, “Ah’d like you to put this on, just tah be safe.”
She looked at the armor with skepticism. “Um, uh, I don’t know.”
Applejack placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Fluttershy, look at me.”
She looked up to see the earth pony’s saddened face. “Ah don’t like this anymore than you do, but we’re not here for Celestia or Luna or Neighland-Yutani or anypony else. We’re here for Twilight.”
Seeing the passion in her friend’s eyes, Fluttershy nodded. “Okay.” She stood up and lowered her head, allowing Applejack to equip the battle saddle.
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash approached Shining Armor, Smart Guns hooked up and drum barrels loaded, “We’re ready, Armor.”
Shining Armor looked at them, then at the other three mares, and then his own squad. Seeing that they were all ready, he approached Fluttershy. “Hey, are you going to be okay?”
Attempting to get comfortable in the armor, she hesitated for a moment. “I… I think so, yes.”
He smiled. “Then let’s go save my sister.” He turned around and said, “Alright, ponies, we’re all a team, and there’s nothing to worry about.” Seeing that he had everypony’s attention, he continued, “We’re going to hit that moon like a tidal wave and squash those bugs like any other bug hunt. Is that understood?”
Everypony responded, “Yes, sir!”
Shining Armor continued, “Damn right, ponies! Get on the ready line!”
At attention, the group began hustling out into the hanger.
Keeping pace, Shining Armor shouted, “Are you lean?!”
Grinning, Shining Armor’s squad shouted, “YEAH!”
“Are you mean?!”
“YEAH!”
“What are you?!”
“LEAN, MEAN PONIES!”
He continued to shout. “Then move it out! Move it out, movie it out, move it out!”
They all lined up in front of the APC, albeit Fluttershy was about to collapse from trembling.
“One! Two! Three! Four! One! Two! Three!” He looked them over and exclaimed, “Absolutely badasses! Get in that APC! Let’s go!”
As ordered, they all filed in to the Armored Pony Carrier. Strapping in and stowed their weapons.
Shining Armor closed the door behind him and locked his own Pulse Rifle. He seated himself in the monitor chair and buckling in. He shouted up to the cockpit, “We’re ready, Cardinal!”
Cardinal shifted gears. “Roger.”
The APC backed up into the drop ship, and the ramp began to close. Spitfire put on her Deal With It glasses as the inner airlock doors opened, and the drop ship lowered into the pit. The inner doors closed around the arm that attached to the claw that held the drop ship by its waist.
Spitfire spoke into her ear piece, “I am opening the doors, now.”
On cue, the outer doors opened to reveal a grayish white surface.
Soarin’ reported, “Stand by, ten seconds to mark. Ten.”
Fleetfoot feigned sniffling. “They’ve grown up so well.”
“Seven.”
The mane five braced themselves for the drop.
Nag exclaimed, “Don’t worry, girls! It’s just another bug hunt!”
“Two. One. Mark.”
Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut as she felt her stomach getting sucked into her throat with the drop ship accelerating in its descent.
Rarity screeched in absolute terror; Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and the others screamed with excitement.
Out of space and into the stratosphere, the drop ship dived down towards the surface.
After thirty seconds of diving, Spitfire spoke into her headset, “We’ve entered the troposphere.” She turned to Soarin’. “Switch to the DCS ranging.”
Soarin pressed a few buttons and replied, “Done and done.”
She smiled. “We’re in the pipe, five-by-five.”
Cardinal called back to Shining Armor, “I recommend you begin reconnaissance, Captain.”
Shining Armor unstrapped himself from his seat. He unlocked his seat and moved along the rail, activating the screens as he went. “Alright, let’s see what we can see.”
Applejack’s helmet camera showed some static. “Applejack, adjust your camera. It’s malfunctioning.”
The mare banged her helmet against Rainbow Dash’s head, eliciting an, “OW!” from her target.
Shining Armor nodded. “That’s better.” He moved the chair further down the line. “Reconnaissance cameras… opening… now.”
The screens switched from the mane five’s helmet cameras to a grayish white landscape freckled with craters and hills.
Rarity asked timidly, “Is that… the moon?”
Shining Armor answered, “Must be.” He tapped his ear piece. “Spitfire, when we get to the palace, I want you to keep your altitude at one hundred meters and slowly circle the whole installation.”
“No problem.” She turned to Soarin’. “Can you get a lock on that damn beacon?”
He hesitated. “Uuum, I’m trying to. The signal keeps blipping in and out.”
Spitfire took off her Deal With It shades. “We gotta start somewhere. Give me the coordinates and, we’ll check it out.”
“Right. Bearing eighty-six degrees to the…” Soarin paused, contemplating the lack of North, South, East, and West. He waved a hoof towards the right. “Just go that way.”
Spitfire gunned the drop ship eighty six degrees to the right.
Beep.
Spitfire asked casually, “Radar got something?”
Soarin began analyzing. “A single dot, fifty meters from the starboard side… and making its way towards us.”
Beep.
“Forty.”
Spitfire shook her head. “What the hell.” She tapped her ear piece. “Captain, something’s closing in on us from the starboard side, can you verify?”
Shining Armor moved back up to a prior console and began tapping buttons. “Let me see.”
Eyes glued to his console, Soarin’ muttered, “Thirty meters. Damn it’s fast.”
Everypony looked to Shining Armor as he switched to the starboard camera. “On scr- what the buck?!”
Through the eye of the camera, they all saw it.
A pitch black creature with its forehooves stretched out in front of it and horrid wings that looked like they had gone through a meat grinder was on an intercept course. Spear-tipped tail flailing in the back, it turned its cowl-shaped head at them and parted its jaws, revealing a second, smaller mouth in lieu of a tongue. Streaks of saliva were left behind as the creature drooled.
Rainbow Dash groaned, “Not again.”
The four males exclaimed in unison, “SWEET CELESTIA!”
Shining Armor tapped his earpiece. “Spitfire, commence evasive maneuvers immediately!”
“Shiiiit, hold on, everypony!” On cue, she veered to the left and gunned the engines.
Soarin exclaimed, “Ten meters, Spitfire! It’s gaining.”
“I know!”
“Go faster!”
“I know!”
The creature flew in and landed on top of the drop ship with an audible clank.
Everypony looked up at the ceiling.
Applejack muttered, “Oh shi-”
An ear piercing screech interrupted her as everypony winced.
Rapidly hitting buttons, Shining Armor exclaimed, “SHIT!” He frantically looked at all of the screens. “Where is it?!”
The aft camera revealed the creature holding onto the hull with its tail speared through the metal plating. It began to look around.
Shining Armor yelled, “SPITFIRE, GO FASTER!!!”
Spitfire gunned the engines once more.
Unaffected by the increase in turbulence, the creature began crawling towards the back of the drop ship, using its tail like an ice axe.
Shining Armor screamed, “GO FASTER!!!”
Spitfire shrieked back, “THIS IS THE VEHICLE’S TOP SPEED!!!”
The creature crawled eight meters towards the back and suddenly stopped, like it was frozen in time. It looked down and, using its tail for an anchor, began tearing away at the metal with its hooves.
Horrified, Shining Armor exclaimed, “It’s going after the engines!”
The creature continued tearing away the metal until a shrill explosion of blue flames flared up from the engine, engulfing the Xenomorph and latter half of the drop ship.
Streaking a blue fire, the drop ship began spinning in circles.
Warning sounds went off in the cockpit. Spitfire yelled, “We’re losing altitude! Everypony brace for impact! I’ll try and land this bird!”
Shining Armor strapped himself back into his seat. “Bucking hell! Cardinal, I’m remote activating the ramp! Stand by to roll out!”
Cardinal called back, “Standing by, captain.”
The drop ship’s ramp and landing gears opened up as the ship continued to spiral down; Spitfire tried to bring it about. “I got this! I got this! There’s no way I don’t got this!”
Soarin’ shouted, “Somepony opened the ramp!”
Spitfire gritted her teeth. “What the hell is he doing?!”
They came crashing down on the surface and flipped. The tail end was crushed; pieces of it flew in every direction as the drop ship’s nose end stuck itself in the ground. The APC followed suit as it came sliding out and dug into the ground. The Cheyenne UD-4L stayed in motion as it came crashing down on its back, payload suddenly lightened, and finally came to a standstill.
Upside down, Spitfire looked around. The cockpit was mostly intact, excluding the window shield, which was completely shattered.
Soarin’ unbuckled himself. He shouted, “Woah!” as he fell to the ground and landed with several small crunch sounds. “Ow.”
Spitfire unbuckled herself and landed more gracefully on the ground. Hearing several similar crunch sounds, she looked down to see shards of glass littering the area of the crash. She examined one of her hooves. “The glass isn’t cutting us, Soarin’.”
Soarin’ groaned. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
She helped him up. “Come on, we gotta check on the others.” She stopped dead in her tracks.
Off in the distance, Spitfire could see the top half of Luna’s palace. “Huh, how about that,” she muttered.
Soarin’ got up to his hooves and approached her. “What are you-,” he spotted the palace, “Oh come on!”
Off in the distance lay Luna's palace. It was evident that Canterlot Castle had been "influenced" by Luna's design. Or was it the other way around?
Shining Armor unbuckled himself and immediately tumbled back to the front of the APC and smashed into the back of Cardinal’s seat. “Oh, right,” he groaned, “The front’s the floor; the floor’s the wall; and the back’s the ceiling.” He looked at Cardinal. “Are you hurt?”
The blue earth pony shook her head. “I am not, captain.”
“Good.” He rose to his hooves and looked up at the eleven other passengers. “Anypony dead?”
Applejack said, “We’re all fine, Armor.”
Rainbow Dash asked, “Can we unbuckle, or do you want to just leave us here like this?”
Unbuckling herself, Cardinal interrupted, “Captain, I advise that you all assess the damage. I can take care of the weapons and equipment.” She then proceeded to climb out of her chair, steadying herself.
Shining Armor awkwardly climbed up to the seats, still not acclimated to the 90 degree dip. He began unbuckling the mane five. “You won’t break any of your bones, but if you don’t have wings, you’ll slam into the-”
Pinkie Pie fell past him and slammed into Cardinal. “Sorry! Sorry!”
Buried beneath the fellow earth pony, Cardinal asked calmly, “Are you damaged, Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie Pie bounced off of the mare and helped her up. “What? Of course not, silly!”
With the APC’s forward end in the ground, Shining Armor had to push the armored door up and hold it as the mane five scrambled out. Nurse Redheart and Fleetfoot were next, followed by Plug, Steed, Nag, and then Apple Snack, who courteously held the door up for Shining Armor.
As the other males held the door up for Apple Snack, Nurse Redheart began medically examining Fleet Foot and the mane five.
Rarity attempted to brush her mane. “Worst experience ever. Of all time.”
Steed muttered, “We gotta get out of this chicken-shit outfit, someday.”
Nag responded, “This would actually be cool, if these things weren’t trying to kill us.”
Spitfire and Soarin’ came around and confronted Fleetfoot and Shining Armor.
Soarin’ pointed a hoof towards the palace. “We found the palace, captain.”
Shining Armor squinted his eyes; he could just barely make out the top of the dome and the surrounding towers.
Fleetfoot spat, “Where the hell did you learn to fly, Spitfire?”
Spitfire retorted, “Flying school! The same place that taught me not to fly while under the influence of ALIENS!”
Shining Armor looked at the wreckage. The drop ship was dotted with dents, torn up everywhere, smashed in the front, and ablaze in the back. “Well, Spitfire?”
The Wonderbolt answered, “Captain, I’m a Wonderbolt, not an engineer. And last time I checked, Soarin’ wasn’t a firefighter.”
Soarin’ chimed in, “Even if we could put out that fire and fix the engines, sir, we wouldn’t be able to break troposphere without a transparent aluminum windshield.
Applejack patted Fluttershy on her armored shoulder. “You okay, sugarcube?”
Fluttershy was still processing what had just transpired. “I-I-I-I d-don’t k-kn-know.”
Nurse Redheart walked over to Armor. “Everypony’s physically okay. No broken bones or bleeding.”
Shining Armor nodded.
Cautiously looking around, Rainbow Dash asked, “Is that thing still alive?”
Shining Armor looked back at the blue fire still going strong. “I think the flames took care of it.”
Everypony turned towards the creaking that Cardinal made when she pulled the door up with one hoof, while she used one of the Smart Guns to keep it open. She then began to move the weapons out of the APC.
Shining Armor took a deep breath and levitated two Pulse Rifles out of Cardinal’s pile. “Nag and Steed, get those weapons distributed. Plug and Apple Snack, help Cardinal. The Wonderbolts and I will see what we can salvage from the drop ship.” He approached the mane five. “I’d like you all to get your weapons hooked up when Cardinal’s done, alright?”
Applejack nodded. “Sure thing, Armor.”
Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest. “You can count on us, Armor!”
He smiled. “Thanks.” He turned around and started towards the drop ship.
Spitfire was using her wings to blow away the glass shards.
Soarin’ commented, “We’d need some heavy equipment to flip this bird.”
Fleetfoot asked, “Does the machinery itself still work?”
Shining Armor looked up at the upside down cockpit. “Spitfire?”
The golden mare said, “On it,” and climbed into her seat. She used her legs to hold herself in place, while Shining Armor used his magic to strap her back in. “Let’s see,” she mumbled while starting up the system. “Primary flight controls, offline. Secondary flight controls, offline. Main power, offline. Auxiliary power, offline.” She hit the console with a hoof, causing sparks to fly out and land on the ground. “Everything but the muffin button.”
She unstrapped herself and landed back on the ground with a thud. “No good, captain. Our best shot would be to contact the Sulacolt with the APC’s transmitter to request another drop ship, given that said transmitter wasn’t destroyed too.”
Shining Armor asked, “And the APC?”
She answered, “As I said, heavy equipment.”
He grimaced and turned around. “Let’s go, then.”
Everypony had been reequipped as Cardinal finished moving the remaining equipment out of the APC. She called, “Nag, Steed, Plug, and Apple Snack, I require your assistance.”
The four stallions approached her. Apple Snack inquired, “What do want us to do?”
Cardinal walked around to the front of the APC. “We must right the APC. It's useless to us in this state.” She positioned herself in a bucking position. “On my mark, we will all strike in unison, understood?”
The four looked at each other with uncertainty.
Nag muttered, “Um, okay.”
The four stallions formed up alongside Cardinal and readied themselves in similar positions.
“Three, two, one, mark.”
With a loud clang, the five ponies’ united strength sent the APC crashing down back on its wheels.
Rarity stared in awe. “Well, I suppose that’s one way to handle things.”
Temporarily blinking in disbelief, Shining Armor briefly shook his head and asked, “Cardinal, does the transmitter still work?”
“Yes,” the mare answered. “I used it to inform the Sulacolt of our situation and bring down the second drop ship via remote control; it will land twenty meters to the left of our current drop ship. An armed escort, cleanup crew, and salvage team will be transported down via Cargo Extractor to pick up the pieces of our first attempt once we secure the palace and Neighland-Yutani's facilities.”
Shining Armor nodded, “Understood.”
Applejack asked, “What now, Armor?”
Cardinal approached him with a Pulse Rifle held in her mouth. He turned sideways, so that she could attach it to his battle saddle. “Right, I think it’s safe to say that we have a Xenomorph infestation on our hooves.”
Cardinal stepped back, as he stretched. He grimaced. “We shouldn’t expect too many survivors. I want Twilight alive just as much as you all do, but we need to be ready.”
The mane five solemnly nodded.
He turned to Plug and Nag. “I want you two trotting perimeter. Keep an eye out for anymore bugs.”
They replied in unison, “Sir, yes sir!”
As Cardinal returned to the other ponies, he continued, “And while we’re waiting for the second drop ship, I think that now would be the ideal time for the rest of us to listen to the ponies who have experience in dealing with these creatures.” He looked at the one quivering mare. “If you would, Fluttershy?”
“Huh? Oh, um, right.” She trotted forward, towards the middle of the group. “Well, it’s not just me. My friends also have, um, ‘experience’.”
Shining Armor coaxed, “Let’s start with you, first. Anything that you might have left out in the original report.”
Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy began. “Well, I raised an… earth pony ‘version’ by accident. It almost killed Angel Bunny, but I used The Stare on it, and I guess it, um, thought I was its master, or owner, or something. From that point on, it obeyed me.”
“Fluttershy,” Shining Armor interrupted, “Can you tell us the tactically useful stuff? Weaknesses, strengths, distractions, anything like that? What about this ‘Stare’ of yours.”
“Well,” she continued, “I don’t really know if I’m doing it, but when I use it on misbehaving or aggressive animals, they obey me and behave themselves. For Scuttles, however, he reacted rather… violently. He fell down and started kicking his legs and shrieking.”
Applejack stated, “Scuttles was really strong, an’ damn near indestructible. He took a lot of abuse, before we got him down.”
Rainbow Dash added, “And the pegasus ones are a real pain; the one I fought with had a really sharp tail. It just barely grazed me but cut right through my cutie mark.”
Apple Snack said, “I think we all saw that one’s abilities.”
Rarity said, “The unicorn ones are extremely dangerous. Just one, alone, was able to overpower Twilight Sparkle’s magic. I don’t mean to brag, but I did have to help her to repel it.”
Shining Armor muttered, “Well, that’s just great.”
Everypony looked up to the roaring of their second Cheyenne UD-L4 flying overhead and circled back, gracefully landing on the surface.
Plug and Nag regrouped with the rest of the ponies.
Shining Armor cleared his throat. “We’ve only got two of these birds! If we lose this one, we’ll be stuck with Cargo Extractors!”
“Captain,” Cardinal interjected, “I recommend Spitfire and Soarin’ fly the drop ship to the palace’s landing site while we approach the palace via APC.”
Soarin’ added, “And we can give you air support if needed.”
“Hold off on the firepower, boy,” Fleetfoot said, “This is Nightmare Moon’s palace we’re talking about, here. If we so much as scratch it, she’ll use our skulls as candle holders.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and her pupils dilated.
Nudging her, Applejack said, “That was a joke.”
“While I disagree with Fleetfoot’s reasoning,” Cardinal calmly stated, “I, too, believe that it would be wise to refrain from damaging the palace. It is a rather unique piece of architecture, and it would be a shame to harm it.”
Shining Armor thought for a moment. “Change of plans, then. Spitfire, you’ll make an aerial sweep of the palace and then land on the,” he paused, forgetting the word.
Spitfire suggested, “Landing pad?”
“Yes, that! And no firing on the palace. We’ll drive from here.”
“You got it, captain,” Spitfire sad as and Soarin’ trotted towards the drop ship.
Cardinal started up the APC as everypony else piled in.
Engines roaring, the drop ship’s ram and landing gears closed, as it hovered off the ground and took off.
The drop ship soon overtook the Armored Pony Carrier. “Captain, Soarin’s watching the radar like a hawk, and I can see the palace in all its glory.”
Shining Armor tapped the monitors, in his seat. “Reconnaissance cameras aren’t working-”
“-Because the drop ship that they were linked to was destroyed,” Spitfire interrupted.
“-So you’re our eyes and ears, Spitfire,” Shining Armor finished.
Spitfire grinned. “But of course. Now, the palace appears to be intact,” she craned her neck to get a better angle, “Still has power. I can see interior lights.”
“Any activity?”
“None, captain. Same goes for the colony site.”
“Okay, what’s the status of the colony site?”
“Overturned Power Loaders, a few stacks of Energon drum barrels, and some transportation vehicles. Earth pony carts. It looks like they got the hell out of there, sir. The barracks look like they’ve been torn apart. ”
Shining Armor grimaced. “Go on.”
“The refining stations are still standing, but I can’t tell you what’s going on underground.”
Nurse Redheart looked at Fluttershy. “Do you know if these things are warm blooded or cold blooded?”
Fluttershy meekly replied, “I don’t, sorry.” She tilted her head. “Why? What are you thinking?”
Nurse Redheart answered, “If they’re cold blooded, they might have set up their hive underground in one of the refining stations.”
Applejack bluntly asked, “What?”
Cardinal called back, “The Energon refining stations are Neighland-Yutani’s solution to Equestria’s energy demand. The sole purpose of the stations are to convert the raw fuel source of Energon into the super fuel used to pilot the Cheyenne dropships, Cargo Extractors, and the Sulacolt herself.”
Rainbow Dash spoke up. “We still don’t know what these stations of yours do.”
Shining Armor took over, “The refining stations will generate a lot of heat, both from the conversion process and the need to keep the converted Energyon from self-extinguishing its half life. If the exposing temperature falls below eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit, the refined Energon goes bad.”
Rarity asked, “Goes bad?”
“The liquid becomes inert.”
“Ah.”
“And its explosive power is tripled.”
“Say wha-”
Soarin’ interrupted, “We have a visual on the landing pad, sir. But we have not established visual contact with the landing beacon.”
Shining Armor sighed. “Go ahead and land. Once you secure the area begin making whatever repairs are needed, but be ready to move on a moment’s notice.”
“Yes, sir.”
Shining Armor looked at Fluttershy. “I want you to drive, when Cardinal takes this place, understood?”
Fluttershy nodded.
Shining Armor unbuckled. “Alright everypony, I want a nice, clean dispersal.”
Everypony unbuckled and readied themselves.
Applejack looked at Fluttershy and gave her a small smile. “We’ll see you on the other side, sugarcube.”
Fluttershy gulped but nodded. “Be safe, Applejack.” She looked at all of her friends. “Please be careful.”
Rarity nodded. “We will, darling.”
Rainbow Dash added, “Yeah, and we’ll find Twilight for you!”
Plug questioned, “She’s the director of this project, right?”
Shining Armor corrected, “Assistant director. The director would be the president of Neighland-Yutani.”
Nag asked, “I don’t suppose the president told you anything, sir?”
Shining Armor shook his head. “I haven’t even met the guy, Nag. Hell, nopony meets him unless he thinks it’s worth his time.” He sighed. “I just want my sister.”
“Captain,” Cardinal interrupted, “We are approaching the palace gates.”
Shining Armor turned back to his consoles as everypony else gathered around the door. “Get ready! Rainbow, Snack, take point! Plug, Steed, and Nag, support!”
The APC screeched to a stop.
Shining Armor opened the door. “Go! Go! Go!”
Nag Jumped out first and ran up to the left side of the gate. Steed stayed with Nag, joining him on the same side. Plug followed suit, coming up to the right side.
Rainbow Dash was next. Smart Gun ready, she dashed out of the APC and stopped before the gate.
Apple Snack came up next to her. “Ready!”
Nag and Plug grabbed their sides of the gate and pulled the doors open, revealing the interior of the palace’s courtyard.
As Rainbow Dash and Apple Snack moved in with their Smart Guns, they saw that debris littered the area. Craters, three meters in diameter, dotted the yard. A few stray electrical components were left, abandoned; some still had power, as their dull, yellow light still glimmered.
Shining Armor shouted, “Applejack, Fleetfoot, Pinkie Pie, on me!” He jumped out and made a mad dash for the entrance of the courtyard. “Let’s move!”
As the four joined up with the others, Nurse Redheart and Rarity sat tight. Cardinal took over his station, and Fluttershy moved up to the driver’s seat of the APC.
Passing Nag and Plug, Shining Armor formed up with Rainbow Dash, Steed, and Apple Snack.
Applejack, Fleetfoot, and Pinkie Pie took cover behind various cover, ready to shoot.
Rainbow Dash muttered, “Where are they?”
Shining Armor answered, “Biding their time.” He scanned the walls of the courtyard. “They’ve lost the element of surprise; we’re ready, and they know that.” He tapped his earpiece. “Redheart, form up with us. Fluttershy, hold position. We’re going in.”
Atop one of the palace’s towers, a single winged creature hid behind the moonstone surface. Cocking its head, it observed the invaders’ activity. It crawled up to the very top of the tower and positioned itself to pounce.
It stopped, abruptly, and quivered. It thrashed its head and shrieked.
Hissing, it released its hold on the column and fell back. Freefalling, it spun into a dive and expanded its wings. With a single beat, it brought itself about and flew away from the palace and towards the colony site.
Special thanks to Ian Betancourt for beta reading this.
Right! That took a long, long time. And it would have taken longer, if I had continued to wait for Friendly Uncle to open the file containing this document. I had already waited a week, and I decided that you guys had been suffering long enough. Yes, yes, I know you hate me for dilly-dallying, but school and family really burn me out. Also, I've been helping out with Kriegor's Machines and Might fic. It's good stuff; I recommend it.
Writing is not how I deal with the stress.
I'll make an update in this section with Friendly Uncle's exact words, whenever he decides to open up the good, old fanfiction account.
I have no idea when the next chapter will be done. I honestly don't. My apologies.
Comments are always welcome, even if they're the "swear your head off at me" kind.