//------------------------------//
// The Journey Begins 
// Story: An Angel From Above 
// by Green Akers 
//------------------------------//

Angel peered out from between the branches of his treetop observation post, which overlooked a large field behind the Ponyville schoolhouse. It had not been hard to trace his fellow Quulranians to this field—his head had started throbbing before he had even reached the school. However, with their cloaking shield engaged, finding their exact location would take a lot of trial and error, and the sight of a small rabbit casing out their landing spot would look awfully suspicious. Instead, he decided to wait and let the Quulranians lead him to the ship, assuming that at least one of the aliens was still doing fieldwork.

Angel didn't have to wait long: Within fifteen minutes, a blue mare with a copy of Cheerilee's cutie mark ventured into the clearing, hauling a large stack of books in a wagon behind her. As Angel looked on, the mare trotted over to the far corner of the clearing and gestured as if she was knocking on an invisible door with her hoof. In response, a strange void opened up in front of the mare, revealing a brown stallion standing guard inside a gray hallway lined with flashing lights.

Angel quickly dropped from the tree and dashed across the clearing, darting from bush to bush to avoid being seen. He reached the strange opening in just under a minute, and dived into the mare's cart to hide amidst the books. "...The pony princess has no issue with us taking this many at a time," he heard the mare say in an alien tongue. "In fact, she suggested that we take more."

"Interesting," the stallion replied. "And she remains unsuspicious of your behavior?"

"Yes," the mare said. "In fact, she seems quite happy that we keep returning."

"Good. At this rate, we will have the entirety of pony knowledge cataloged in a few days."

"But that is just this repository," the mare continued. "The pony says that their library was recently destroyed, and that they are still rebuilding their book collection. She spoke of larger facilities in other areas, and was especially complementary of the one in Canterlot."

Angel frowned as he eavesdropped on the aliens. Typical Quulranians, he thought to himself. Bleed a world dry of anything that might be useful, and then incinerate it.

As the two aliens continued talking, Angel went over his plan one more time in his mind. On the surface, it was simple: Commandeer the ship, get it in the air, find a way around or through the mother ship that was probably circling the planet right now, and make a beeline for Quulran. Getting the Quulranians to go along with the plan, however, would be tricky. He could try transforming back into his true form and pull rank as 'The Lost Prince,' but he didn't want to take the chance of butting heads with a diehard Vargos loyalist. On the flip side, though, no one would take orders from a tiny rabbit—not without the proper motivation, at least. He decided that his best hope was that the design of scout ships had not changed much between now and when he had left Quulran, which would allow him to quickly find and deliver said motivation to the aliens.

Eventually the cart began moving again, and soon Angel could see the gray ceiling of the spaceship above him. He paid it little mind, and instead focused on the direction of the cart, hoping its path would yield clues about what sort of ship it was. He felt the cart turn left, then right, and then left again before coming to as stop as the alien pulling the cart engaged another alien in conversation.

Peering out from beneath the books, Angel could see a long hallway behind the cart that extended far beyond where the cart had last turned. The layout matched his memory of the old C1 Scout ships he had trained on as a youth, and if the similarity extended beyond what he could see, then a right turn at the end of that hall would bring him to a closet containing the weapons he needed to get his point across. Unfortunately, the C1's halls were narrow and cluttered with various devices that he could hide behind, whereas this hall was wide open and provided no cover at all.

Angel took a deep breath and decided that he would need a distraction if he was going to cross this hall safely. He glanced up at a particularly tall tower of books next to him, smiled, and gave the tower a sharp shove. The book tower struck a second book stack as it fell, and both stacks came crashing down on the aliens in front of the cart.

As soon as he heard the aliens scream, Angel leaped off the back of the cart and made a mad dash back down the hallway. His distraction turned out to be a bit too attention-grabbing, however, and a tall alien, who had an laser gun instead of a pony disguise, stepped into the hallway as Angel approached. "What's going on—hey, who are you?" the alien demanded.

Angel zipped through the alien's legs without breaking stride. He was already committed to his plan, and if he could outrun the alien to the weapon closet, he could at least speak to him on equal footing. "Stop! Come back here!" the alien shouted as he gave chase.

Angel rounded the final corner at the end of the hallway, and smiled as he saw that the closet was exactly where he remembered it was. He reached for the door, but found that the handle wouldn't turn. "What the... Is this thing locked?" he said as he tugged futilely on the handle. "There's not supposed to be a lock on—"

"Hold it!" Angel froze at he heard the sound of a laser charging up behind him. "Turn around, nice and easy," the alien ordered.

Angel cursed under his breath, and turned to face his pursuer. "Come now, there's no need for weapons," he said, feigning ignorance. "I'm just looking for the way out. If you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction, I will leave you in peace."

The alien shook his head and raised his weapon. "You're that rabbit Rexwal was telling us about," he said. "You know too much to leave."

Suddenly, Angel felt a cool breeze on his head, and he looked up to see a ventilation duct directly above him. "You're right," he said with a smile. "I'm not leaving until I get what I came for."

The alien fired his weapon, but Angel leaped for the ceiling and cleared the shot with ease. He grabbed onto the duct cover and tried to pull himself into the ventilation shaft, but the cover came loose instead, and Angel crash landed back on the floor.

The alien prepared to fire a second shot, but Angel hurled the duct cover at him before he could shoot, striking him in the chest and sending him sprawling to the floor. The laser flew from the alien's hand as he fell, and Angel quickly pounced on it. "Now that we've settled our little dispute," Angel said, "let's take a little walk and meet the rest of your motley crew."

The alien scowled at Angel, and slowly raised his hands. "You'll never get away with this."

Angel laughed. "You don't even know what 'this' is," he pointed out. "Save your attitude for someone who cares, and start walking."

Angel marched his alien captive back down the hall to where the other two aliens, both now without their pony disguises, were still picking up books. "Listen up!" Angel shouted. "Any false moves, and none of you leave this room alive."

One of the aliens dropped the books he was carrying and pointed at Angel. "You're... You're that rabbit I met in the market!"

"You must be Rexwal," Angel concluded. "I'd recommend that you and your colleagues listen well, since Fluttershy isn't here to save you this time." He gestured towards the door. "I need this vessel for a trip I'm planning, and I don't plan on taking any passengers. You have two options: You can gather the rest of your team and leave now, or you can see how well I can operate this weapon. Do you understand?"

The alien Angel was holding hostage smiled. "You heard the rabbit," he said in a slightly-smug tone. "Go get the others, and prepare to disembark."

The alien's tone unnerved Angel a little. He thinks he knows something I don't, he theorized. The question is, is he right?

Rexwal, on the other hand, gasped at his colleague's orders, and he dropped to his knees. "Please, I beg you to reconsider!" he said to Angel. "We can't move all of our experiments, and losing any of them would set us back years!"

"And I should care why?" Angel stared coldly at Rexwal. "You're free to take it with you when you leave—I certainly don't have a use for your drivel—but otherwise, I suggest you hurry up and say your goodbyes."

"You don't understand," Rexwal said as his eyes welled up. "Our homelands are barren from years of warfare, and we are struggling to produce enough food to feed our population. We've canvassed the galaxy for alternative food sources, and are currently growing plants from seven different planets to see if they can survive in our tainted soil. The toxins slow the growth of anything they don't kill, and if we lose this experiment, it could take years to re-create it!" He reached up and grabbed Angel's paw. "I beg you, Mr. Rabbit," he sniffled, "don't take this ship. We can't afford to lose this work."

Angel didn't know whether to comfort or pity the fool kneeling before him. He cast a glance back at the alien he was holding hostage, whose look had morphed from smug confidence to disappointment as he looked upon his kowtowing colleague. You know, Angel thought, up to this point, this Rexwal fellow has been completely truthful with me. Perhaps he could tell me what this smug fellow has up his sleeve...

"Look at him," Angel said as he pointed to Rexwal, "groveling like a weak-minded Gavalian. The rest of you can go, but I think I'll keep this fool for insurance. We wouldn't want the rest of you to get any crazy ideas after I leave, would we?"

"Of course not." The smug smirk returned to the face of the Quulranian Angel held at laser point.

"What? No!" Rexwal's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he turned his attention to Angel's hostage. "Please, Tolzar, don't leave me behind! My family—"

"Do not worry," Tolzar said coldly. "I will not tell your wife and daughter of the cowardice you displayed here."

Angel scowled at his captive. While he had correctly predicted that Tolzar would abandon Rexwal without resistance, the uncaring efficiency of the act still got under Angel's skin. He fired his laser weapon at Tolzar's feet, causing the alien to jump back. "Enough talk!" he roared. "You have your orders. You have three minutes to vacate this vessel before I dispose of you all personally."

"As you wish." Tolzar looked over at the third alien in the room, who still had some of Twilight's books in his hands. "Find the others. Tell them we're abandoning this ship."

Tolzar and the unnamed alien left the room together, followed closely by Angel and his weapon. Just before he entered the hallway, however, Angel turned and issued one last warning to Rexwal. "If you'd prefer to keep your life longer than three minutes," he said, "you'll wait in here until I get back."

Angel had no trouble rounding up the rest of the ship's crew and leading them outside—in fact, the process was a little too smooth and efficient for Angel's tastes. While some of the Quulranians didn't seem pleased to abandon the ship and their work, no one put up a fuss on the level of Rexwal, and a few almost seemed eager to hand over the spacecraft. Quulranians don't just roll over like this, Angel thought to himself. They must not think I'll get very far...

As Angel watched the last member of the crew exit the ship, he waved his weapon at them. "If I were you," he growled as he closed the hatch, "I wouldn't try anything rash."

Tolzar just smiled. "Enjoy your flight."

Angel secured the hatch and scurried back to where he had left Rexwal. The alien remained on the floor in the same spot, still wiping the tears from his eyes. "Please, sir," he begged, "I want to see my family again. I don't want to die."

"Neither do I." Angel hopped over to Rexwal. "Let me ask you: If I said that I actually didn't plan on killing you, would it make you feel any better?"

Rexwal shook his head. "Our fates are sealed."

"And why is that?"

"All of our ships are equipped with a remote self-destruct mechanism," Rexwal sniffled. "Once we fly above this planet's atmosphere—"

"Boom," Angel concluded. "Is there a way to override this?"

"I don't know," Rexwal admitted. "Even if I did, we would be shot down by our primary spacecraft, which is currently orbiting this planet."

"Hmmm..." Angel scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling. If what Rexwal said was true, then a rogue ship like this one didn't have a prayer of getting back to Quulran. The trick, therefore, would be to find a way to board the primary ship and find another route to Quulran without getting blasted into space dust.

Angel looked back down at Rexwal, who was still cowering before him. He contemplated telling the alien the truth about his identity—after all, Rexwal didn't strike him as the type of crazy loyalist who would defend Vargos at all costs, and even if he was, he was too weak and softhearted to be all that threatening. With Rexwal on his side, getting on to the mother ship would be easy: Rexwal could radio that he had overpowered "the intruder" and re-taken command of the ship, and the fools would swallow the ruse and let him dock without incident. And still...

Angel turned and stared at his reflection in the shiny walls of the ship. He sighed as he realized that the true obstacle to this plan was not Rexwal, but Angel himself. While revealing his identity might earn Rexwal's trust, it also meant dealing with the questions that followed. He knew that time was coming, but he wasn't sure he was ready for it yet.

Of course, choosing not to trust Rexwal meant finding a place to put him so he wouldn't cause trouble during the flight. He glanced quickly around the room, and spotted a small closet in the corner. "Stand up," he directed Rexwal. "You'll be riding home in there, so I hope you're not claustrophobic."

Rexwal sighed and complied with Angel's request, shuffling over to the closet with his head hung low. When Rexwal opened the closet, however, the spacesuits that hung inside caught Angel's attention. He recognized the suits as those used for exploration when a planet's atmosphere was inhospitable to Quulranian life, but with their full-body coverage and dark face shields, they could also be an effective disguise. "Hand me one of those suits, would you?" he asked.

Rexwal's face turned white. "Y-Y-You're not going to leave me here and abandon the ship, are you?"

Angel glared at Rexwal, a little annoyed at the alien's constant worrying. "Look," he said sternly, "if either or us are going to see our families again, then you need to give me a suit, and then you need to sit quietly in here until I tell you to come out. Do you understand?"

Rexwal gulped, nodded, and handed Angel a spacesuit.

Angel slammed the closet door shut, and then pulled the half-full cart of books in front of the door to keep it from opening. From there, he scurried into the main cabin of the ship and examined the vessel's flight controls, and was relieved to find that the controls were much the same as the ships he had trained on long ago. I should be able to get this bird in the air, he thought. That just leaves one more thing to do before I leave...

Angel took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began transforming into his true Quulranian form. When he reopened his eyes, the cute white rabbit in the room had been replaced by a generic-looking alien, albeit with one important difference: The necklace that was now visible around his neck. Angel turned away from the reflection, disgusted at what he saw, and quickly donned the spacesuit to hide his face.

Angel turned back to the controls and initiated the ship's launch sequence. The engines roared to life a bit louder than he expected, but the ship's cloaking shield was still active, and besides, explaining the noise to suspicious ponies would be Tolzar's problem, not Angel's.

Angel eased the throttle forward, and the ship lifted off the ground and rose into the air. The initial ascent was surprisingly smooth given Angel's rusty flying skills, although he had to sweat through a barrel-rolling Rainbow Dash passing over him and missing the ship by inches. He waited until his altimeter surpassed 15,000 feet, and then cleared his throat and grabbed the radio. "Help! Mayday!" he squealed in the meekest, most frightened voice he could muster. "This is ship... Oh, I don't know what number this ship is! Help! Someone please answer!" 

"What's going on down there?" Suddenly, the unsmiling face of a Quulranian commander appeared on a screen in front of Angel. "Who is this?" the alien demanded.

"M-My name is Rexwal!" Angel fibbed, hoping the commander couldn't see through his helmet. "We were surprised by a small, furry creature with large ears, and it took control of the ship and abandoned the crew on the planet! It took me as a hostage, but I managed to knock it unconscious when it tried to leave with the ship. Now I'm up in the air and I don't know how to fly! Please help!"

"Why are you wearing that suit?" the alien inquired.

"The initial struggle with the alien damaged the ship, and the atmosphere controllers aren't working!" Angel explained. "I needed the suit to breathe!"

Suddenly, a second alien stuck his head into the far frame, and whispered something into the commander's ear. "Apparently your colleagues on the ground are reporting the same thing," the commander finally said. "You say the creature is currently subdued?"

"Yes!" Angel repeated.

"We've got a lock on your vessel now," the commander continued. "We'll use our tractor beam to pull you into the dock. We can walk you through landing the ship, but you must do exactly what we say, or it'll be a rough ride. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Oh, yes!" Angel said, a smile forming beneath his helmet. "Thank you, sir!"

As the commander began lecturing him on the proper landing technique, Angel could feel the ship quiver as the tractor beam began to pull him into space. Within a few minutes, the blue sky of Equestria faded away, replaced by the vast darkness of space. A large, majestic spaceship appeared in Angel's view, causing him to stop and stare for a few seconds. That's a lot bigger than the battle cruisers I remember, he thought. Things have certainly changed since I left.

Angel could feel his hands shaking on the ship's controls, and he took a moment to try to clear his mind and steady his nerves. He still needed to figure out what to do once the Quulranians figured out he wasn't Rexwal, not to mention procure a ride for the rest of the trip to Quulran. He had made it this far without revealing his true identity, but as he drew ever closer to the mother ship, he had a sinking feeling that his luck was about to run out.