• Published 23rd Mar 2015
  • 769 Views, 10 Comments

Gone Wrong - HerpicusDerpington



The Galactic Empire takes an interest in a planet in the far reaches of the Unknown Regions after it is observed that the star system revolves around it. It's suggested that a sentient species inhabits it. A task force is sent to investigate.

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Chapter 1

The Crystal Empire is abuzz with talk and laughter. It's late afternoon, and the day of school and work has ended for most ponies. Most ponies. Prince Shining Armor is stuck in another meeting with the Crystal Palace's guards, discussing the recent burglaries that have been on the rise in the empire. Princess Cadance's situation is no more pleasant; listening to the increasingly ridiculous appeals of snobby nobles can break somepony. Cadance herself sometimes wonders how she retains her sanity.

After several grueling hours of duties, the royal couple finally acquire some free time. Cadance finds herself napping in the room she and her husband share after a long day of bullshit. Shining Armor is headed in the same direction.

Shining Armor walks into their chambers, quickly noticing his wife asleep. He throws himself onto their couch, turns on his radio to a low volume, and listens to music quietly as he relaxes. After a long work day, he deserves it. However, his relaxation is cut short.

The sound of a loud, steady roar fills the air as Shining Armor jolts up and scrambles to turn his radio off. Realizing that it isn't the source of the sound, he peers outside the chamber's windows, prepared to silence the peasant who's making such noise. Shining Armor can see the residents of the Crystal Empire peering into the sky, mouths agape. He lifts his head and follows suit, his mouth reaching the floor at what he sees.

"Sweet Celestia..." he mutters as he watches the metal leviathan in the sky. The loud metal bird lands in a stretch of grass just outside the Crystal Palace.

"What in Equestria is going on?" a feminine voice says behind him. Princess Cadance, rudely awoken from her sleep, waits for an answer. After receiving none, she stomps up to Shining Armor and shakes him, trying to get his attention. "Hello? Anyone ther-"

Her phrase is cut short as she turns her head and sees what her husband sees.

"I'm going to gather some guards and get down there," he says before he hurriedly bursts out of the chambers. Cadance doesn't speak.

Inside the cockpit of the EBR-002, all is silent as the pilots peer out of the tinted windows of the shuttle. They feel the gaze of the dozens of equine creatures watching them. A voice in the cabin speaks up,

"Why the fuck would you land so close to one of their cities?!" Esther exclaims. "We don't even know what these things are, or what they're capable of! We could be seen as a threat!"

"Quiet down," Roan calls back, "they look harmless. I think they're as afraid of us as we are of them."

The co-pilot, Din, shakes his head and says, "I wouldn't say that. Look,"

Both pilots stare into the crowd and see a small group of the... horses, armored up and charging for the ship.

Roan's eyes widen and he calls back to the cabin, "Fuck! Nevermind! Stormtroopers, grab your rifles and head outside to meet them! They've got a military of their own headed our way!"

Esther and Galen lock eyes for a brief second before quickly unbuckling from their seats and grabbing their standard issue blasters. They load them and knock twice on the cabin's roof, and the pilots lower the ramp for them. The two Stormtroopers dash out and around to the front of the ship. All the while, screams can be heard in the crowd of crystalline animals as they back away in fear. The troopers both take crouching positions in front of the cockpit and aim at the band of armored responders, who are at the front of the crowd and locking their gazes at the troopers' helmets. The stalemate lasts for a solid minute before an authoritative figure - Shining Armor - emerges from the group, and begins to speak in a shakey voice;

"Alien species, if you can understand us, lay down your arms in the name of the Royal Sisters and come quietly. You are trespassing on Equestrian soil."

What the fuck? Esther thinks to himself when the pony is done speaking. He activates his helmet comms. "Galen, you got all that, right? That thing was speaking Basic!"

Galen replies, "I got it, I got it. Command, are you getting this? This species, they're equine in nature, and they're speaking Basic. We've touched down in a complex city of their's. They've told us to lay down our arms in the name of some royal sisters and that we're trespassing on Equestrian soil. What's our course of action here?"

In the space above the planet, the command deck of the Executor-class is abuzz with voices. A mixture of excitement and uncertainty create an interesting cauldron of attitudes in the room. The Grand Moff on board, Tarkin, discussed what they had just heard with the other officers on the deck. With command brainstorming a solution, the troopers on the ground were sweating in their helmets as they remained unmoving, with the “main pony” growing restless.

“I’ll repeat this once more - lay down your arms, and come quietly.” Shining Armor made motions with his hooves, attempting to match what he was saying.

“Okay, okay,” the troopers heard in their comms. “you cannot give up your firearms or ‘come quietly.’ You need to refuse the request, and tell them to talk on your own terms. State your intentions, greet them properly and tell them why we’re here.”

“Are you fucking serious? I’m not going to do that,” Esther spoke directly to Galen. The latter sighed heavily as he rose and lowered his blaster. Esther followed and stood straight.

“I’ll do it...” Galen said, switching his helmet to speak aloud.

“We will not relinquish our firearms or surrender unto you. We are here on an exploration trip to your fair planet. We apologize for trespassing. The Galactic Empire formally greets your species, with us as its ambassadors, and we wish to speak to you - on our own terms. We do not pose a threat as of now, as we wish you can say the same.” Galen held his breath as all of the creatures eyes widened even more and the armored ponies mouths hung open, struggling to compose themselves.

“They can talk?!” a guardpony said.

“If they have a magical sky ship like that, I’m sure they’re intelligent, but... they speak Equestrian!” another guard said back.

“Sir, what do we do?” All of the guards looked at Shining Armor for guidance, but even he was unsure.

“We can’t let them keep those weapons, who knows what these aliens could do?” a guard said. “We need to disarm them.” Shining Armor couldn’t help but agree. No matter what they say, this was their planet, and they needed to play this as safely as possible. Shining Armor drew his sword with his magic and began to approach the troopers, and the other guards all followed his lead.

“Uhh, shit, command? I think Galen nailed it, but the aliens aren’t getting any less hostile. They’ve got swords and they’re approaching us... what do we do?” Esther spoke into his mic, but before he could get a response, Galen spoke up.

“I know what to do.”

Galen rose his rifle and aimed it at the horses, and they visibly flinched and stopped their advance. “Sheathe your weapons and don’t take a step further.” Galen said aloud to the creatures. The crowd surrounding the area had all but dispersed at this point, as the situation was visibly heating up.

“I understand your concern, aliens, but this is our kingdom, and you need to come with us. Believe us, we only want to talk as well. We can get things sorted out later...” Shining Armor began to speak shakily as he saw his wife looking on with concern from the balcony of the Crystal Palace. He needs to be careful.

The guards cornered the troopers against their ship, all with concerned looks on their faces. As the troopers backs touched the cockpit, Galen suddenly rose his rifle into the air and fired off three shots, shouting, “Stay back and sheathe your weapons!”

The ponies were all visibly stunned as nearby archers drew their bows and held the arrows in place fiercly. Both sides were about to burst.