Rogue World
“Your Majesty, would it not be better to assist the Earth ponies help end the war before too many lives are lost?” Clover tried to reason with the princess.
“As I have said before, Clover, we cannot involve ourselves in things that matter not to us.”
“But–”
“I will speak no more on the matter,” the princess said with a finality that Clover would never dare try to fight. “Now, how go the preparations for father’s transport to the colony?”
“He is very weak, your highness,” Clover answered allowing the topic to change. “We will need to use a medi-ship to get the king there.”
“Do whatever is necessary to ensure my father’s safety,” she instructed. “And make sure every possible precaution is taken.”
“Yes, your Majesty. I will see it done.” Clover bowed before leaving the princess to head for the bridge where she could arrange for the king’s transportation to Unicornia colony.
“GET US OUT OF HERE!!!!!” Captain Nova hollered.
The whole rebel scout ship Unison lurched as another blast impacted into their shields. Several ponies were thrown from their posts to the floor. Sparks flew in every direction.
The helmspony jumped back to his station looking for an escape root.
“Sir!” he yelled back across the din. “The Bathmorda nebula is four million kilometers ahead!”
From the view screen, the massive pink cloud was slowly growing larger as they approached.
“Are you crazy?” was the captain’s reply. “No pony who’s ever gone into that nebula has ever been seen or heard from again!”
Howeverm, as he said this, another volley burst through the shields causing massive damage. A fire broke out on the bridge. Two unicorns grabbed their extinguishers to remove the flames.
“Head for the nebula!” the captain ordered, having a swift change of heart.
The ship made straight for the massive cloud and as it entered, electrical flashes started coating the outside hull. The Pegasus battleship pursuing, immediately followed them into the nebula. They too began experiencing the same lightning-like surges around them.
“Sir, the nebula is composed entirely of Monoceros particles!” one of the ponies announced from his terminal. “This massive amount of magical energy is overpowering our engines. They’re going to explode!!!”
“SHUT THEM DOWN!!!!!” the captain screamed.
“We can’t! They’re not responding!”
The captain swore loudly. Looking for any possible alternative, he gazed around the room from one pony to the next, only to see nothing but empty and scared faces. He closed his eyes as the surge built up around them.
The ship jerked as another MEM missile hammered into them.
“SIR!!!?” the helmspony stared at his screen, dumbstruck. “The engines; they’re offline! The Pegasi knocked them out!”
Captain Nova opened his eyes and quickly looked at the view screen. The electric pulses had ceased around the ship. However, they were still continuing to build up around the Pegasus ship.
At once, their engines exploded in a bright flash that spread across the ship until the entire battleship was burst apart into nothing more than bits of debris.
With the energy levels around the ship returning to normal with their engines down, the ship had emerged from the border in tact.
“All stations, report!” the captain ordered over the intercom.
“Engines are down and won’t be back on for several days,” the engineer reported. “We’ve got fires on several levels that are being put out as we speak. We were lucky!”
“Infirmary?”
“We’ve got our hooves full here, Captain,” the doctor replied. “If you got some extra pairs of hooves that ponies can lend, send them our way.”
“Right away,” said the captain. “Helm, anything on sensors?”
“No ships sir,” he replied, “but there appears to be a planet not too far from here.”
“You mean a planetary system?” the captain asked questioningly.
“No sir. Just a planet, no sun; a large planet with two moons.”
“A rogue planet? That’s pretty rare. It wouldn’t be a great place to live but are there any resources we might be able to use?”
“Actually, Sir,” the helmspony tried to explain. “There’s life; and oxygen.”
“But that’s impossible. There’s no heat!” the captain argued.
“I think it’s the Monoceros particles, Sir. The planet appears to be one massive magical object.”
“Hmm,” the captain pondered. “Let me know when the engines are repaired. This could be just what we’ve been looking for.”
“So where might you be tonight, my little friend, hmm?” Professor Astro pondered aloud in front of his telescope.
“Ah ha! There you are.” As he focused the lens on the mysterious object, he could just make out the edge of it, where the stars in the background were blurred or bent around. Using his magic, he lifted a pen and jotted more notes into his notebook.
“Interesting. I’ve narrowed your distance to just above high orbit. You were a spot on the wall stuck in position yesterday, but today, you appear to be moving in orbit…very interesting.”
The excited astronomer kept one eye diligently on his telescope and the other watching his pen scribble notes away as fast as it could. A cool breeze blew through his window, causing a curtain to knock over a small vase. He hadn’t even noticed. And the coolness felt practically warm compared to the chills he experienced on the homeworld.
Written in his notebook, he had noted the location of the object each night over the last three nights. When the object was observed moving, the velocity was written as well. Theories and hypotheses were scribbled every which way proposing what the phenomenon could be.
One such note wrote, ‘a stellar lens’, while another scribbled, ‘orbiting gas pocket. Way in the corner of the page and crossed out, he had written, ‘invisible ship’. However, such an idea was beyond anypony’s capability, and therefore was not really a valid theory.
As the telescope followed the moving object, a glimmer of white had appeared. The glimmer steadily grew larger, until it split into seven smaller lights.
“Ah another transport group must be due in,” he said, “though quite unusual for so many ships together at one time. They must be some VIP’s. …Hmm… I wonder…”
Turning his attention back to the object, it had suddenly sprung to life. It was moving at such a rapid rate that it was becoming difficult for the high school astronomy teacher’s little telescope to keep up. But it was clear as day where it was heading.
“It can’t be…” he spoke with sudden realization. Looking back down at his notebook at the crossed out words, he said to himself, “I’ve got to warn somepony! But how do I warn them!? Who do I contact!!?”
With nothing more he could do than to watch, he gazed through his scope at the fleet of ships approaching the colony. A large beam pulsed out from the mysterious object, straight into the cluster of ships. Not a sound could be heard in the vacuum of space as a small flash appeared in the night and burning bits of debris spread across the sky.
From the naked eye, it had looked like nothing more than shooting stars from a small meteor had appeared in a vibrant and exciting display of fireworks.
“Were on the surface, Captain,” the Pegasus rebel spoke into his comm. band. “My screen pad is telling me that there’s enough oxygen and the air isn’t toxic.”
“Glad to hear it. Keep me informed,” the captain’s voice echoed out over the comm.
After a slight hesitation, the Pegasus twisted his helmet until the air inside pushed its way through into the open air. He took the tiniest whiff of it. There was a slight charcoal aroma hovering, but with an almost sweet taste radiating from the local flora.
Nodding to the rest of his team, they too removed their helmets and adjusted to the unique sensation of the planet’s atmosphere. Together they looked out into the dark woods before the Pesgaus, Unicorn, and two Earth pony rebels.
With no sunlight, the forest was pitch-black. Even the moon that faced them was nothing more than a black circle in the night sky. Without their flashlights, they would not have been able to even see the hooves in front of their faces.
The only source of light was the orange glow coming from what looked like an active volcano roughly one hundred kilometers from their location. Strange growling sounds emanated from within.
“Probably just the volcano, clearing its throat,” said the Pegasus.
“I never heard a volcano make a noise like that before,” one of the Earth ponies said looking at the mountain.
“Do you think it’s going to erupt while we’re here?” a nervous Unicorn asked.
The Pegasus, as leader of the team, tried to get everypony to focus on their tasks. “I highly doubt it, but until we get more information on it, we probably shouldn’t set up any permanent residencies just yet.
“Now let’s get a move on. We need to scan the area and see if this place will work as a staging area. It’s perfect for hiding from Pegasus patrols, and there may be food we can gather.”
Together, with the lights set to beam out into the dark forest, they searched for edible food and any potential threats.
It was nearly thirty minutes before anything of interest occurred. The second Earth pony noticed it first. Two pairs of glowing green eyes appeared to be following them. He waved the flashlight in the direction of the eyes, but they disappeared.
“Sir, I think there may be something watching us,” he whispered.
The Pegasus looked over in the direction he was pointing. There seemed to be nothing more than a pile of dead wood.
“Some small critter probably stepped on one of those branches and spooked you,” he said. “I wouldn’t pay it any mind.”
The Earth pony was still not convinced. With his light over the wood, he searched for the eyes he saw. As he searched, he hadn’t noticed the timber now beginning to move.
As his flashlight spread out into the darkness, it was his nose that clued him in first. An overwhelming smell of swamp gas ran across his nostrils. They clenched shut from the pungent aroma.
“What is that awful smell?” he complained. The second clue soon followed as he felt warm breath on his tail. Finally the low growl convinced him to turn around.
“AAAAAAAAAHHH!”
“WHAT HAPPENED!? the leader yelled back, rushing over toward the screaming.
A massive wolf, made entirely of wood had clenched its jaw on the Earth pony’s leg and was dragging him away.
The Pegasus grabbed his gun and fired at the creature. It instantly broke apart into hundreds of pieces of broken twigs. A second timber wolf lunged at the gun ripping it from his hooves. The Unicorn fired a beam of magic at it, breaking the second wolf apart like the first.
“How’s your leg?” the leader asked.
“Fortunately, it’s not too deep. I might still be able to walk.” The Earth pony tried to stand up, but stumbled back to the ground.
“I think not,” the Pegasus said. Lifting his comm. band, he hailed the ship.
“What is it, Freebird?” the captain said, appearing on the band.
“We got a wounded pony who needs a digi-port back,” the Pegasus explained.
The captain nodded to his digi-port technician who got to work transporting the Earth pony straight to the infirmary.
“What happened down there?”
“Some of the indigenous wildlife thought we’d make a tasty snack,” he replied. “Not to strong though, they’re basically wolves made out of brittle timber. Couple of shots took care of ‘em.”
“Could they be enough of a threat to prevent us from establishing a base here?”
“I don’t think so, but my biggest concern is the volcano,” the leader started to explain.
“What about it?” the captain asked. “Sensors on the ship seem to think it’s perfectly stable for at least a century or more.”
“I didn’t want to mention this to the team before I confirmed it, but I’m fairly certain we’ve got a sleeping dragon in there.”
“Did you say dragon?” the captain asked, sitting up in his chair.
“I’m afraid so. It’s snoring is a little annoying, but they tend to sleep for decades, so it shouldn’t be too worrisome for now.”
“Ah horse dung!” the captain swore. “I knew they were able to planet hop, but I didn’t think they could ever make it out this far.”
“Well it seems at least this one has,” the Pegasus said. “Does this put a halt to our plan?”
“We’ll setup a basic field around the camp in case he gets hungry. That should be enough to keep any wooden wolves at bay as well,” he said reassuringly. “Get back to the ship. Our resident Unicorn scientist has an idea how to get back through the barrier.”
“Yes Sir.”
The princess was resting in her bed, reading one of her favorite novels on her screen pad. She barely lifted an eyebrow when a knocking came to her door.
“Come in,” she said calmly.
Clover entered the princess’s chambers white as a sheet. Her pupils were as tiny as a needle’s prick. The stiff carpet felt like thousands of eggshells crushing with each step of her hoof. Each step toward the princess required more effort than the last.
“Clover, if you walk any slower, it will be morning,” said the princess sighing at her servant’s unusual behavior.
“I-I’m sorry, your Majesty. I-I-I um…I’m afraid I have to bring you some terrible news.”
“Ugh. What is it now? Did the ventilation brake again?” she asked looking up at the ceiling. “We’re running out of good repair ponies.”
“N-No I-I’m afraid it’s not something so simple. You see, it’s…it’s the last caravan to the colony. The entire fleet has been…has been…well, it’s been completely destroyed, your Majesty.”
Clover flinched as she finally divulged what had happened, but the princess looked almost unconcerned.
“No doubt from those shoddy Pegasus ships!” the princess commented. “I need to have a word with that commander that just because he’s busy, doesn’t mean the quality of his ships should be anything less than flawless! Now, how many ponies did we lose? I’ll have that Pegasus pay for the loss.”
Clover was mortified. She felt every fur on her body standing straight out as she quivered.
“No. um…Princess…I don’t think you understand.”
“What don’t I understand?” the princess said looking up from her book and giving Clover a little more attention.
“That caravan…that was the transport for your father…I-I-I-I’m afraid the king is dead.”
Princess Platinum had taken a few seconds to absorb the information. It needed to brew in her mind to comprehend Clover’s sentence.
“D-Daddy…is…dead?” her eyes narrowed with comprehension. They began to water just the slightest bit before she caught herself. She leaned back allowing the tears to go back and closed her eyes and breathed.
A memory flashed across the princess’s mind of being slapped across her face by her mother as a filly. She was not allowed to mourn her father. Royalty has a responsibility not to show their true feelings.
After a moment, she reopened them and looked back at Clover.
“What was the cause of this? WHO is responsible?” she demanded.
“They detected that same phenomenon that had attacked Origin and the Soil Lands colony.”
The princess jumped from her bed and began to pace. Thousands of thoughts ran through mind. How stupid she had been. How had she ignored the obvious, turned her back on her allies and allowed her father to be killed. This will not do. She needed to assume the role she had been putting off since her father had fallen ill. She could no longer pretend that everything would eventually work itself out. She needed to strike back. She needed to rip the heart out of her enemy and leave nothing and no pony left behind.
“Assemble the knights! Get them out of bed if you have to. Get every ship in the fleet to get ready for war! We are going to rid ourselves of those monsters once and for all!”
Clover scrambled to obey without trying to interject. She left the room wondering exactly how far she would take this. The Pegasus weren’t responsible, but they still needed to be stopped, and this bought Clover the alliance she needed with the Earth ponies.
For now, she thought it better to say nothing.
“Have we built up enough momentum yet?” Captain Nova asked from the captain’s chair.
“Almost, we should have just enough as soon as we reach the barrier,” the helmpony replied.
“Good. Keep it steady.”
The captain watched as the massive magical barrier came upon them. Inside was enough magic to turn a whole planet into a planet-sized space whale.
Just as the ship closed to within two thousand feet of the barrier, they had reached the needed speed.
“Got it sir!” he cried.
“Cut the engines!” the captain pointed to him.
The engines went dark and the ship drifted directly into the pink void.
They looked at the aura surrounded them with awe. There where no lightning-like chains of energy wrapping around them. It was peaceful and serene.
It took almost twenty minutes at their velocity to make it through, but they successfully poked their nose through the other side.
“Any signs of ships?” asked the captain.
“None sir. I think we’re in the clear,” the helmspony said rechecking his information.
“Excellent. Get in contact with Rebel One. She’s going to want to hear about this.
It took several tries to reach her, but finally she answered her comm. band.
“Rebel One here,” Clover said. “Now’s not exactly a good time. What is it?”
“We’ve discovered a hidden planet that has a choice location for building a staging area for rebel ships,” Captain Nova explained. “It’s in the Bathmorda nebula.”
“I thought nopony who’s ever gone in there has returned alive?” Clover asked, confused.
“We found a way in and out that will keep us safe if we’re followed.”
“Really? That’s great!” Clover squealed, letting her excitement forget her immediate concerns, if only for a second. Quickly recovering, she added, “Listen, the Unicorn king has been killed by the same phenomena that destroyed the Earth pony colony and Maretropolis. The princess blames the Pegasus. They’re going to war.”
“That’s terrible!” the captain replied genuinely concerned. “I thought the whole point of our little group was to bring together as many ponies from all races and put a stop to the fighting. Now it’s only going to get worse!”
“Not necessarily,” Clover explained. “This hidden planet may be just what we need to rescue as many as possible. But we need to keep this a secret captain. If anypony gets wind of this, it could ruin our best chance. For now, only rebel ship captains and key personnel are to be informed.”
“What about the Alicorn captains?” the Unicorn captain asked. “Should they be informed?”
Clover took a full minute to decide. Finally she responded, “No. I want to keep this as tight as possible for as long as possible. If this world is good enough to colonize, we’ll let them join us, but for now…let’s keep this to the bare minimum.”
“Yes Ma’am!”
“Send me the location and any pertinent information regarding the planet and how to get there via encrypted message.”
“Will do.” The captain saluted. Clover nodded and closed the channel.
"The worst part is," she thought to herself, "something is attacking us, and we still have no clue where to look!”