//------------------------------// // 4.d.) Vanishers (Rarity) // Story: Civilization: Beyond Equestria // by May I Cut In //------------------------------// Author: May I Cut In Co-Authors: Brother Malachai “The aliens provoked us and think that we are pushovers. Well, I’ll show them. With Celestia as my witness, I will vow to eradicate them when they dare to get too close!”~Extract from Princess Rarity’s diary. Dated 5 December, 2115 AD (After Discord) as provided by Duchess Sweetie Belle. Another day rolled over. As the uncontrolled sun went over the horizon, the light crept into Rarity’s home. Sweetie Belle was the first to wake up, the sunlight startling her awake. Sitting in her bed, she could see her sister still asleep. She got off the bed and walked towards the kitchen, determined to try and cook her first breakfast on a new world and to surprise her sister. …… Rarity woke up to the smell of smoke. Waking up with a start, she saw the smoke originating from the kitchen. Oh Sweetie Belle, Not again! Rarity though. Scrambling to her hooves, she quickly headed to the kitchen. Once she stepped in, she was greeted with a sight of Sweetie Belle with a singed mane. A frying pan was on the stove with a small fire coming from it. Pancake batter was on the floor. But unlike her last failed attempt a long time ago, this time the orange juice wasn’t burnt. Sweetie Belle saw her sister walk in, sheepishly smiled, and said, “Sorry. I messed up again. But I swear, my magic just fizzled out while I was holding the frying pan. It’s like my magic became weaker.” Rarity fired up her horn and got to work cleaning up the mess. Within minutes, the kitchen was cleaned up and a roughly cleaned Sweetie Belle and her sister was at the table eating the remains of Sweetie’s attempt. “I’m really sorry for the mess big sis-,” Sweetie Belle started. “It was nothing darling. Twilight has been telling me that the magic field here is much more weaker than back in our world.” Rarity interrupted. “To be honest, I was expected this to happen.” Sweetie Belle started to protest but Rarity held a hoof up and continued, “ But it’s nice to know my little sis still cares about me so much,” She finished with a smile. Sweetie Belle blushed and she tried to hide it by eating her breakfast. Rarity decided to lay off the light teasing for the moment and instead take the moment to levitate her day planner over. As her colony was still rather small and developing, there wasn’t much for Rarity to do just yet, but in due time, the administrative work will pile up. Finishing off the last pancake made from the unspilled batter, Rarity cleared the table and Sweetie Belle did the washing. “So Sweetie, how are you planning to spent your day?” Rarity asked. “I don’t know really sis, I was thinking about helping the engineers or maybe the farmers but they didn’t seem to really want my help yesterday,” Sweetie Belle replied with a shrug. “I don’t know, maybe walk around and see who needs help.” “Well, I hope somepony would appreciate your help.” Rarity encouraged. Note to self. Try to get Octavia to distract her for the day later. She thought to herself inwardly. “Thanks sis. I’ll see you later tonight” Sweetie Belle answered in response as she got off the chair and headed straight for the exit. Rarity spent a few minutes properly arranging her bed before heading out as well. …... “You want me to keep your younger sister distracted and away from any trouble,” Octavia asked with a surprised and rather shocked tone. “I do hope it won’t be much trouble Octavia,” Rarity replied, “I do trust my sister now to not land herself into trouble like how she does last time but you can never be sure right?” “No no, it won’t be any trouble at all Princess. If I could handle Vinyl Scratch in the past after one of her wild late night parties; I think I could look after a young mare.” Octavia reassured. But inwardly, the grey mare was wishing it was Vinyl Scratch she had to deal with instead. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were rather notorious a long time ago back in Ponyville. She still remembered when the crusaders tried for “Classical Music Cutie Marks”. It took her days to get all the tree sap out of every nook and cranny of her favourite cello. “Thank you Octavia.” Rarity said, oblivious to the dread the earth pony was feeling. “Sweetie Belle can sing decently. Her talent is along those lines after all. Maybe give her some singing projects?” “Thank you for the suggestion Princess.” Octavia answered with some relief …… “Let me get this straight. The bone-headed Blueblood wants to purchase the artifacts I have in storage for his personal collection?” Rarity growled in annoyance, “Well you can tell him to bite my plot. I’m going to display them to the public. Those relics deserve to be shown to the public. It’s is a reminder of our old world, not as a collectable for his collection!” “I’ll let him know right away that his rather bad offer was declined by you, Princess,” Coco said with a hint of relief. She also heard from Rarity about her experiences with the short-sighted and vain noble. Hence, she shared with Rarity some of the dislike of Blueblood. “Do let him know as soon as possible,” Rarity replied. With a smirk she then added, “If possible, could you maybe hide a video camera somewhere on you, so that you could tape his reaction to the news? It would be such a shame to give up such an opportunity to delight in making him squim a bit due to his ‘master plan’ failing” “Consider it done Princess,” Coco replied with a smile. …... Evening finally came. Today was surprisingly more interesting than she expected. After her guards escorted her to her home, they bade farewell to the Princess. Rarity stepped into her apartment to find Sweetie Belle in her bedroom looking through some programs on her personal tablet. Sweetie looked up from her screen and saw her sister walking in, “Hey big sis. How’s your day?” “Oh. Today was simply smashing darling! There was that meeting with Blueblood about the artifacts that was to be open to the public. But I refused his request and it was oh so lovely to see his reaction to that news,” Rarity replied nonchalantly. Pretending to be interested, she asked, “So how was your day Sweetie?” “Oh, Octavia came to me and we did some musical pieces together. We had a good time together with me singing most of them,” Sweetie Belle replied. “Well, that’s delightful to hear. Could I possibly look forward to hearing a performance from you,” Rarity asked. “ I… I don’t know sis. You sure you want to hear it? It’s still kinda rough,” she said with uncertainty, “Please excuse me sis. I need to be alone for a bit with my thoughts. I’m going to go take a walk and get some fresh air.” “Sure, just don’t travel far,” Rarity replied, “We are in a very hostile land and I don’t want you getting hurt.” “I’ll be careful sis,” Sweetie Belle said back in half-thought as she trotted off down the hallway that was connected to her room. Rarity could only look on with a face that was a mixture of deep thought and concern as she watched her sister leave. She then looked down upon the floor and put one of her hooves under her chin. “I wonder what’s gotten into her,” Rarity mused to herself as Sweetie Belle left. …... I just don’t know what in Equestria is wrong with her! She thought to herself as she wandered the dark corridors. Rarity still always thinks I’m going to screw something up again! I’m not a filly anymore, why can’t she realise that? Or at least I and the other Crusaders wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for that “incident!” O Fates! Why are you so cruel!? She fumed to herself. It’s always, “Sweetie darling, Do go to a corner and let the adults handle this,” She just doesn't trust me well enough as a sister to not doubt me when I say I can do it. I may be in a foal's body, but I still have the mind of an adult! I wonder, when will it be the day when she ever finally trust me enough to do things on my own as she used to do? She finally looked around the corridor that she was in. “Oh dear, I think I’ve wandered too far away,” She said to herself. And that’s when she heard the sound of something breaking. “Who’s there?” Sweetie Belle called out as she casted a light spell. Due to the planet’s weak magical field, it was much more taxing for Sweetie Belle to maintain the light’s intensity despite it being able to illuminate no more than a few meters in front of her. A scurrying sound brought her attention to the living quarters on her left. Pressing the doorbell, she asked out loud: “Hello? Are you ok in there?”. She placed her ears on the door and listened. What came was the sound of a scream and a scuffle taking place. Oh no, looks like somepony is in trouble. Taking her access card, she swiped it on the card reader to open the door. The doors slid open and all of a sudden, Sweetie Belle wished she had instead went off to get help. What was staring back at her was best described as a gigantic amphibian like creature. It was completely black and had several spikes along the spine of its body. It’s head was best described as having nothing but a large jaw and what appeared to be it’s nose. It’s tail also had a horrifying, cresecent-shaped, stinger that curved above it, ready to strike. The colors of the creature also seemed to change subtly to better blend with the darkness. It was a monstrous cross between a gecko, scorpion, and newt, but it didn’t neatly fit into the categories of any of them. What was most disturbing however was the lack of eyes. After making a few “clacking” noises with its fang-filled maw, the creature turned its head towards her and made a move for Sweetie Belle quickly. The creature’s quick agility and speed did not give her much of a chance to escape the room except to scream for help. The creature grabbed her before heading towards the broken window and jumping out with it’s prize. …… The corridor was in chaos. Rarity looked at the swarms of guards walking around the scene. The alert had came to her right in the middle of the night. While she was used to having to work deep into the night to fulfill her orders back in Carousel Boutique, the call came right when she was in the middle of a rather delightful dream. Furthermore, Sweetie Belle wasn’t in her bedroom when she checked before she left. But as of right now, there was something that required her attention. A guard came up to her to inform her of the situation. “Princess Rarity.” The night guard introduced himself. “My partner and I were patrolling the corridors nearby when we heard a scream for help. But by the time we arrived, the doors were open and ponies staying here were all gone. We are not sure as to what happened but I hazard a guess that the possible intruders entered through the broken window.” “I see,” Rarity replied, “Any idea as to how many ponies are currently missing?” “Well, the records show that a family of a stallion, a mare and two colts were residing in this quarters.” The guard replied. “My partner there is currently trying to pull up the surveillance videos to see what happened.” He gestured to another guard who had a cable plugged from his portable computer into a security camera. “Verifying permissions... And we are in,” The other guard announced. He started looking through the video logs. “Ok, time was approximately zero-hundred hours, err, on in the morning... Ah ha, there you are. And there’s the footage now.” The guard turned to Rarity. “Princess, here’s the video log of what happened. If you would like to take a look,” he said as he detached the computer from his foreleg. “Thank you.” Rarity said as she levitated the device over. Unpausing the video, she saw how several hideous creatures broke into the apartment and foalnapped the residents. She was about to close it to issue orders when the door opening in the video caught her attention. On the other side of the sliding doors stood Sweetie Belle with a look of fear on her face. The alien creature then quickly grabbed Sweetie Belle before making a beeline for the broken window. Rarity stopped the video. Her guards saw the look of fury in her eyes and instinctively took a step back. With a brute telekinetic toss, she threw the portable computer at the nearby wall. It would have shattered were it not for the owner to catch it in his own magic. She looked at the guards who had addressed her earlier on, “You two, go wake the Captain up. Tell him that he is to report to my office in five minutes.” “Err Princess Rarity,” The first guard started to ask. “What! Didn’t I tell you to go get the Captain?” An irrated Princess snapped back “Yes Ma'am. It’s just that well…” He gestured to the nameplate next to the door. “That was the captain that was foalnapped.” “WHAT!? Oh, very clever of you monsters to go after the captain first. Well, who says that we don’t have replacements available.” She said to no one in particular. Looking at the two guards she raised her voice at them. “Well? Go get a search party ready. The more we delay, the further they could be! I’ll go find somepony else to head the guards. Maybe train them up to be the secondary captains.” …... The creature had finally dumped Sweetie Belle onto the ground after what seemed to be an eternity of non-stop running. They were in a cave possibly several kilometers away from the city. The family that was kidnapped as well were also unloaded onto the cave floor without much ceremony. All five of them backed towards the wall as the group of amphibious abominations crept forward, baring their teeth at their prey. “Dad? What’s happening,” one of the colts asked nervously as he and his brother moved closer to their mother. “Just stay calm son. Dad’s got this,” the Captain answered back as he pulled out his pocket knife and assumed a fighting stance. “Darling, if I don’t make it, please remember that I had always loved you and the foals. It has been the best decision of my life to be your husband.” “Don’t leave us behind Swordblitz! We can still make it to the cave entrance if we run,” his wife called out in desperation as she placed their children on her back. “We won’t be able to make it, but I can buy you all some time,” The captain replied, never letting his gaze leave the monsters standing in front of them, “Dutchess Belle? It has been a honour to serve under your sister Princess Rarity. May Celestia’s spirit bless her in all her future endeavours.” “Thank you, Captain Swordblitz.” That was all Sweetie Belle could say before she felt too choked by her emotions to continue speaking. The captain then charged at the aliens that cornered them. Sweetie Belle and the mare running away from the animals towards the exit. Swordsblitz easily dodged the first swipe the first alien threw at him. As the paw passed by, he gave it a quick swipe with the knife in his mouth. The alien in response roared in pain as it sent another claw to kill the captain, but it missed and slammed onto the ground. Cpt. Swordsblitz having jumped over the second claw, leaped forward and trusting the blade into the front of the creature’s neck. Green blood immediately began gushing out as the victim stumbled backwards before falling on it’s side. The quick takedown however was short lived as the pocket knife was thrusted rather deeply into the flesh, requiring the captain to spend some time to try and recover the blade. That few seconds however was enough for the other aliens to attack him, with one managing to rake it’s claws on the captain’s barrel. A searing pain scorched through the captain’s body as the flesh was torn open by the claws. Grimacing, he managed to pull the knife out from the dead alien and began to slowly walk backwards, with each movement aggravating an already painful wound. Looking at the remaining two aliens in front of him, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it out alive. Killing another one was out of the question. The most he could do was to cripple one of them. And that was what he decided to do. With a battlecry, he ran at the second alien, trying to ignore the pain he felt due to the physical exertion. He ducked the swipe the alien had send. The second alien, wanting to avoid a similar fate as his comrade, tried to push the charging pony away, but that was what the captain was hoping for. Angling the knife, he struck the palm of the claw before leaving it there. However, that wasn’t enough to stop the momentum of the claw from striking him and it sent him flying, hitting the cave wall. Already now weak from the excessive blood loss from the first wound and a possible concussion, his vision was blurry”. With a grim satisfaction, he knew that the second alien wasn’t going to be able to run anytime soon and that short fight has brought sufficient time for Sweetie Belle and his family to escape. He closed his eyes, feeling satisfied that his family was able to live and that his children were able to continue to have a long life. The Captain’s family and Sweetie Belle managed to run out of the cave. Climbing ontop of a boulder, Sweetie Belle could see the distant city where they were taken from. “Come on! If we get close to the city, the guards will be able to spot us easily and rescue us.” She glanced at the mare behind her and decided to help her carry one of her foals. They tried to put more distance between them and the cave but after a while, they could hear the sound of the aliens pursuing them again. Frighten, both the mare and Sweetie tried to run faster but Murphy’s Law had decided to finally pay them a visit. Sweetie Belle tripped on a rock and fell on the ground. The colt whom she was carrying flew off her back and landed a few feets in front of her. “Go! Get to your mother! I’ll be fine,” Sweetie Belle shouted as she used her telekinesis to get him up quickly. The colt needed no other instructions as he quickly ran. The alien stopped in front of Sweetie Belle. If it had any expressions, it would be extremely frustrated. The creature was about to attack Sweetie Belle when it suddenly started howling in pain. It stopped what it was doing and clutched it’s head with it’s claws as if there was something hurting it’s ears. At the same time, a pulsing sound came from Sweetie Belle’s wrist computer. …... “So are you sure this would work,” Rarity asked as the technicians whom were hard at work tweaking the colony’s communications systems for an idea they had. “If our adjustments are sound, the network’s coverage should be able to detect your sister’s portable wrist computer if she’s within a 10km radius starting from the city limit,” one of the technicians, Radio Effects, responded. “How’s the long-range receiver doing partner?” “It’s almost done ma’am, just syncing it with the network for our computers,” came the reply, “Try it now.” Radio Effects focused on the terminal in front of him, “Her wrist computer’s address was 1q:2w:3e:4r:5t. Key it into the system and lets hope we get lucky.” He mumbled to himself. Luck was smiling on them as the system managed to register a hit. “I think I’ve found you sister your highness. She’s about 3km away from the city limits, south-west. I’ll activate it’s beacon from here so your guards will have an easier time to find her.” The technician said. “Thank you darling,” Rarity replied. She then ran out of the room; her guards following her at a full gallop. …... Sweetie wondered why did the creature not attack her at all. She got up to her hooves and started to back off. The creature made an attempt to follow her but it could only move forward a little before whatever caused it pain made it back off. She glanced at her wrist computer and held it in front of her. The effect was immediate and the alien backed up even more. Sweetie Belle started to walk backwards while holding the pinging computer in front of her. Her idea worked as it kept the alien a good distance away from her. After about five minutes, she could hear the sound of guards running to get her. The native creature upon seeing its prey’s reinforcements decided to flee. She would make it out alive. …... Approaching the line of troops that were doing the overwatch at the cave was a rather large Earth Pony Stallion that was loaded head to hoof in standard full battle rattle and also wore a gas mask and what seemed to be a few items of gear that was standard for the fire brigade, but was in a camo pattern. On his belt he carried a gas mask and on his back was a large air tank. The air tank was connected via hose to what looked like a very heavily modified welding torch. Upon his combat helmet was a pair of night vision goggles and in his mouth was a freshly glowing cigar. “Someone called for an exterminator,” growled the rather mammoth sized pony as he approached the Princess. “The civilians are clear! Light ‘em up,” yelled out Octavia. “You got it,” yelled back Master Sgt. Tunnel Rat, still chomping on his cigar. He make a few quick experimental “puffs” with his modified welding torch turned flamethrower before letting loose a full stream of flame onto the cave entrance. There were yowls of horror and shock from the strange creatures that hid inside as they spasmed in the flames and died. “First squad, cover me! We’re breaching this cave an’ going in! I’m sure there’s a whole nest of this xenos scum that will need to be purged,” he yelled behind him as he and the others started to march in, making sure they completed the job. Meanwhile back in the city, as soon as the guards returned with the rescued ponies, Rarity was the first one to run up to the arriving guards. Finding Sweetie Belle, she trotted over at a reasonable pace and hugged her sister. “Where did you go. I was worried sick about you,” she started. “I’m sorry big sis,” Sweetie Belle replied, “But, I heard something coming from one of the rooms and I was curious. I didn't know that there were monsters in there.” “You shouldn't have place yourself at risk Sweetie Belle. You're my only sister left. I just don’t know what I’ll do without you! Promise me you won’t do these things again” Sweetie Belle nodded and said, “I promise sis. I was afraid that I would die back in that cave. I shouldn't have been mad at you. You were just looking out for me.” “I do admit I’m rather overprotective but I think I should have trusted in you more. If you want, you could go help out the work crews tomorrow. You did prove that at you could handle yourself in that dreadful situation,” she replied in turn as she gently put her hoof under Sweetie Belle’s chin. Sweetie Belle tensed up at that response, “I… had help. The captain tried to hold back the aliens while we escaped. I...I… I don’t think he made it.” She looked down at the floor, her ears drooping. …... After making sure Sweetie Belle and the other survivors were okay, Princess Rarity rushed back to check on the progress of the squad, watching the footage that was being shown from their helmet cams. For the past 15 minutes, the squad has been checking every inch of the caves both for any of the aliens now named ‘Vanishers’. They had come across a wounded vanisher which had a small knife struck in one of it’s claw. The knife no doubt came from the missing captain. They were now following the blood trail left by the now expired creature. The squad rounded a corner into a large cavern. Rarity saw the same thing that they were seeing. A slump corpse of a Vanisher lying in a large pool of it’s blood. They shone their lights around the room. Tunnel Rat then found a small trail of red blood flowing from between two stones towards the middle of the room. He slowly walked over and saw what happened "Bad news Princess, ya better see this," Tunnel Rat murmured as he tapped his web cam. He looked down and showed him the remains of the Captain. He put his hoof up to the bloodied remain’s throat for a quick pulse check. "I'm sorry Princess, he didn't make it." Rarity looked at the wounds sustained by the captain. To say it was a horrid mess was an understatement to describe what she saw. The gash wounds was cleanly cut as if it was done by an axe or a sharpened butcher knife. As for the captain, he had an eerily peaceful look upon his face. To see the loyal captain that had served her well back on Equestria to end up like this, set something off in her. In that moment, she realised that ever since they had landed, the native wildlife had been nothing but aggressive. If the peaceful approach doesn't work, it is time to use sticks. she thought to herself. “Recover the captain’s body and torch the cave. He deserves a proper burial. After that, I think it’s time our military be restructured to deal with our enemies.” She ordered through the mike.