War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds
“What’s our ETA?” Commander Hirkain asked his helmspony.
“We should be arriving at the homeworld in another two hours, sir,” the Pegasus answered, reading off his terminal.
“That’s not our homeworld, Lieutenant! That’s a dead rock with many of our brethren on it, trapped by those traitorous Earth ponies. Are there any signs we’ve been detected?”
“Nothing yet, sir,” the helmspony continued to report. “Our scouts have detected only two Earth pony ships and the two Alicorn ships in orbit of the planet.”
“Alicorn ships,” the commander spat the words back, mouthing them out. “Those are Pegasus ships stolen by filth that should have been cleaned up years ago.”
Turning towards his three dimensional strategy display, he stared at the configuration of his fleet of twenty ships. Six of them were battleships, the rest were a combination of transport ships and upgraded armed transport ships fitted with enough armaments to destroy a planet.
Meanwhile, a very nervous private was sitting in his corner trying hard not to be seen. Under his desk, he was using his personal screenpad to sneak out an encrypted message to Clover. He had to warn them, if it wasn’t already too late.
After only a minute, a response came back.
*BEEP BEEP*
He had forgotten to mute the sound.
“What was that sound, Pansy?” the commander demanded, staring warily at the gangly Pegasus.
“Oh-I um..nothing, Sir,” he recovered quickly. “I forgot to mute my personal pad is all. My mother is trying to get ah hold of me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to keep the pansy from his mommy!” the commander said, laughing. “Go ahead and say hello to her! And afterwards you may also go and say hello to each and every toilet on this level!”
“But, I um…” the private was trying to see if he was serious or not. “I don’t want to leave my post sir.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Private. Get scrubbing!”
“Y-Yes Sir!” he saluted and raced off the bridge.
As soon as he was out of earshot, he grumbled a sigh. He was not looking forward to cleaning toilets for the next few hours. Almost forgetting why he had been given this new job to perform, he swung his pad around and decrypted the message.
“We need to talk immediately! - C”
Looking around for a secluded area, he ducked into one of the digi-port rooms. With the ship in motion, nopony would have any reason to be there.
Working on his pad, the screen displayed a connecting icon, attempting to create a video link. While it was attempting to reach Clover, Harmon made sure the volume was very low.
“Harmon!” Clover shouted the moment the connection came through. “This is very bad!”
“That’s why I sent you that info,” he whispered back.
“No, it’s worse than that, Harmon. The Unicorn fleet is on its way to Pegasopolis! The princess blames the Pegasi for the death of our King. I think she means to wipe out the colony!”
“BUT WE DIDN’T KILL THE KING!” he shouted in a horse whisper.
“I know, I know,” Clover quickly responded, trying to calm him down. “I was hoping a standoff would have created a last hope opportunity for diplomacy, but if you’re fleet is on its way to Origin, it will be a slaughter!”
“Can’t you stop her?” Harmon begged.
“I’m trying. But I don’t think she hears me anymore. You’ve got to get your fleet to turn back. There’s still time!”
“I…” he tried to think of anything. “I… I’ll think of something…I hope.”
“If you fail, I’ll have to send rebel and Earth pony ships to fight you,” Clover warned. “Please get the commander to turn around! Good luck!”
“For both of us…” Harmon gulped, closing the connection.
Opening the door, he walked straight into another soldier.
“Uhmf! Oh, I’m sorry,” Harmon began making his apologies. I didn’t see you there.”
“It’s fine,” the large and muscular Pegasus grunted. Harmon quickly squeaked off back toward the bridge. The soldier stared at the runt curiously until he turned the corner, before the door to the digi-port room caught his attention.
“Star, you’ve got a call on your screenpad,” Mint Julep called up the stairs. Her call was met with nothing but silence.
“Star? You have a call down here!” she called again, louder.
“I’m in the middle of something at the moment!” a distant voice replied from up the stairs.
Sprawled out around the Unicorn were drawing boards with hundreds of scribbles and cross-outs. Star pushed with all his might as much magic as he could muster into his horn. Only the tiniest little bowl appeared for a very brief moment, before popping right back out of existence. His frustrations were increasing rapidly as he failed to recreate the amniomorphic spell.
“She says it’s urgent! Life and death!”
“Ugh.” Star groaned. Giving up on his concentration, he pushed the boards out of his way, and tripped going to the stairs landing at Mint’s hooves holding the pad out for him. Reaching up from the floor, he took it from her and held it up in front of him.
“Clover? What is it?” he asked, confused as to why she was contacting him now.
“We’ve got a situation,” she explained. “The Pegasus fleet is on its way to you and we may not be able to stop them!”
“That’s not good.”
“No it isn’t,” Clover continued. “You are needed again to help the rebel fleet. We’ll need your abilities to help us!”
The lump in Star’s throat nearly strangled him as the thought of his pitiful attempt a moment ago swam through his mind.
“I-um… of course. Where do I need to go?” he asked.
“Listen, there’s an Alicorn ship that’s directly over you in orbit. Can you get there?” Clover asked.
Star quickly looked at Mint. “I need to take my family with me,” he said. “They won’t be safe here.”
“That’s fine, but get to the ship ASAP. They’re due to arrive in less than an hour!”
“Understood,” he answered.
“One last thing,” Clover plugged in a memstick into the side of her screenpad, “I’m uploading the location of a top-secret safe house. Under no circumstances are you to share this with anyone! Not even your family. If the battle does not go well, you are ordered to escape the battle by any means necessary and head for those coordinates.”
Star watched the download to his screenpad complete. “Got it.”
“Make sure you follow the instructions exactly,” Clover warned. “Getting them wrong will mean death!”
Star gulped again. “Um…okay…”
“Good luck!” she said, closing the connection.
As soon as Star and Mint’s eyes met, Mint nodded. “I’ll get the girls.”
“We need to turn the fleet around!” Harmon panted, running onto the bridge.
“Pansy! I thought I told you to get scrubbing!” Commander Hirkain shouted angrily. His patience was becoming razor thin.
“Sir, I’ve just gotten word that the Unicorns plan to attack Pegasopolis. We need to go back!”
The commander sighed looking long and hard at his wimp of a private. “And just where does this crucial information come from? Your mommy?” The commander grunted a laugh whose smile more closely resembled a snarl.
Harmon realized that might just work. “Yes sir! She has a friend on scout ship that saw the Unicorns closing in on the colony. We need to protect our ponies!”
The commander was in no mood for games, and this seamed like a complete wild goose chase considering the source. He looked around the bridge. Most of his officers were staring at him waiting for an answer.
“Sergeant, have there been any reports on Unicorn attacks anywhere in the fleet?”
The Pegasus sitting at the communications terminal quickly checked all recent logs and star charts of ship locations.
“None sir!” he answered with confidence. “There are no Unicorns within range of the colony or any Pegasus ship.”
“Good. Continue monitoring,” Commander Hirkain ordered reassured.
Harmon started to beg. “Please sir! We must–”
“We must do nothing, Pansy,” he cut in. “I listened to your mother’s insightful information and checked. There’s no Unicorn invasion! Now after OUR invasion is completed, you can add a week of intensive flight training. You’ve been too soft for too long. NOW GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!
Harmon scrambled off the bridge and headed for the bathrooms.
“We’re all doomed!” he thought, glumly.
Back on the bridge, the commander began to fidget. His brain was getting the better of him, and finally pushed him over the edge.
“Argh! Sergeant! Send word to both ships at the colony to be on alert for any imaginary Unicorn ships…Just in case.”
“Aye sir,” he replied bringing up the ships on his communications terminal.
“Two Pegasus battleships are more than a match if any pathetic Unicorn ships turn up,” the commander thought aloud.
“Cleared for docking port four,” a voice spoke from the speaker aboard Star’s little hover van.
Star maneuvered around the massive ship toward its docking ports. Compared to the Alicorn ship, his little van looked like nothing more than a fly buzzing around it. He circled around toward the aft of the ship, until he could see a large number four above an opening door.
As soon as they landed, the massive door behind them resealed, and the room re-pressurized.
*Kock knock*
“Give us a minute,” Star said as he unlocked the air seal to open the door.
The doors in the back of the van opened to a small surprise.
“DADDDDDDYY!!!!!” DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!” Luna leaped for joy into her father’s hooves.
Bake smiled down at her, his eyes watering in an instant. Celestia quickly followed suit, joining in a hug so tight, Bake thought a rip might crack.
After he was finally able to get them to calm down and release him, his eyes finally met with Ruby. There were so many tears flowing down her eyes, they dripped like water melting off an icicle in the spring.
Together they embraced each other with all their might. Standing on their hind legs, they hugged and kissed each other. The cheeks were flush, and their eyes never closed; afraid if they did, the other might disappear.
After what felt like eternity in an instant, they separated long enough for Bake to see Star Swirl.
“Long time no see, buddy!” Star said smiling.
Bake walked right up to him and hugged him as well.
“I cannot begin to thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family, Star.”
Star patted Bake in return. “You are my family, Bake.”
“Yes you are,” Bake said, releasing him. He looked over toward the mint green Unicorn standing behind the crowd.
“Mint Julep?” he asked. She nodded smiling at the family reunion.
“Thank you for looking after them for me,” Bake said.
“It was my pleasure. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Mint replied.
Turning and pointing to the gray Alicorn with a black mane standing nearby he said, “I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine.” Bake waved the pony over. “This is Zeus; the Alicorn who saved the rebellion before it even began.”
“Ain’t all as much as that, Bake.” Zeus said, blushing slightly.
“Well, for a pony who said he wanted nothing to do with the rebellion, he’s now the best gunner in the fleet!”
“We gotta get goin’ though. Them Pegasi bastards are gonna be here–”
The ship shook from a missile that exploded a few hundred yards from the ship.
“Battle Positions! All ponies to their assigned posts immediately!”
“Speak of the devils!” Zeus commented. “I’ll catch ya later, Bake.”
“Good luck!” Bake called at to the Alicorn, as he ran to man his guns.
“We have to get you all to a safe area,” Bake said waving to gather the group. “Follow me.” He led them away from the docking port, as the battle began.
“Your majesty, please! I beg of you!” Clover desperately pleaded as they walked down the hall toward the bridge of the ship.
“I don’t understand you!” the princess yelled back at her. “First you’re all, ‘Join the fight, join the fight!’ and now that I am joining the fight, you’re trying to stop me?”
“Princess, please. We do need to join the fight, but extermination isn’t the answer! We need to protect as many pony lives as possible, not destroy them!”
“Look,” the princess said in a softer tone. She stopped and leaned in close to her assistant so their eyes were mere inches apart. “You were right and I was wrong, my clever Clover. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you sooner. My father’s life may have even been spared had I listened. But now is beyond that point. We must avenge the death of my father! They will pay for their arrogance!”
The princess turned and walked more briskly towards the bridge. Clover racked her brains looking for something; anything. “What if I told you the Pegasi weren’t responsible?”
The princess had to stop and absorb the words. “What do you mean?” she said turning her gaze back.
“I can’t prove it,” Clover tried to explain, “but I don’t think all of these attacks were caused by the Pegasi, including the Maretropolis attack.”
“What other pony could have done it? Certainly not the Earth ponies. What idiot would attack his own people?”
The princess had to stop and think about what she just said, before shaking the thought out of her head. “No. He may be a moron, but not even that idiot would do something so stupid.”
“What if they weren’t ponies?” Clover proposed.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she dismissed, shaking her head. “The only other races we’ve ever encountered haven’t been seen in centuries. Most are merely myth and legend.”
“But–”
“Enough!” the princess shouted as the door to the bridge opened. She walked straight in without so much as another word to Clover. She stared at the map showing their progress toward Pegasopolis colony on the main display.
“Captain!” she commanded. “Coordinate with the fleet. The moment we're in range, begin the attack!”
“Oh no you don’t!” Zeus shouted, rounding his guns around to target a missile launched from a Pegasus ship. The bullets detonated it moments before the Alicorn gunner would have been blasted into tiny bits of debris.
The ship shook from the explosion, but the shields held. Zeus spat at the missile remnants. “Oh you think you bad? You ain’t never seen me!”
He took aim at the ship that launched the missile. The bullets flew straight across toward his counter-gunner, but the shields held, causing no damage.
“Grrr! Your tail is mine, damned horse-pigeon!”
From the bridge of the Alicorn ship, Captain Hammer Hoof was carefully navigating the battlefield. Pegasus ship after Pegasus ship clogged up the screen, coming from all directions.
“Fly under the battleship and aim for the transport!” he yelled to his helmspony. “It should have weaker shields!”
As the ship dove under the Pegasus battleship, it brought the transport into firing range.
“FIRE!!!” he screamed. The MEM missile impacted directly into the ships engines. Their shields failed and the engines went black.
“They’re dead in the water!” the weapons officer yelled out.
“YEAH!!!!” the bridge crew cheered, but the tactic had cost them dearly.
Under the battleship, the Pegasi could not fire any missiles at them, but millions of bullets barraged the Alicorn ship, ripping their top shields to pieces. The ship started to be riddled with holes.
“Arrgh! Get us out of range and fire!” the captain called out, gripping his chair tightly.
Each bullet impact felt as though millions of ants were biting the captain again and again. The ship’s pain was his pain.
“Where are my ships!?” Chancellor Puttinghoof shouted as another missile exploded near them.
“We’ve got three more inbound. They’ll be here in another forty-five minutes!” the communications pony called back.
“We won’t be here in forty-five minutes!” the chancellor grabbed the edge of his chair as the ship shook again.
“Sir! The Equis, look!!!” the helmspony pointed toward the main display.
Across the hull of the E.P.S. Equis, small explosions began breaking out again and again, until the whole ship blasted apart, sending a massive shockwave outward into the heart of the battle.
“DIVE!!! DIVE!!!!!” the Captain screamed.
As the ship lurched downward, the chancellor lost his balance and fell to the ground. The shockwave hit the outermost edge of their shields with enough force to thrust them into an uncontrolled spiral.
The wave continued straight into one of the Pegasus battleships. Existing small hull ruptures were ripped open like breaking open an animal carcass. The ship split cleanly in two.
The helmspony fired thruster after thruster in every direction to break the ship’s spin and get it back in control. When the ship was finally righted, he slumped in his chair sweating and breathing heavily from exhaustion.
“I don’t know if that was lucky or unlucky!” the chancellor yelled, staring at the display as he climbed back into his chair.
“I’d say unlucky, Sir!” the captain answered. “We’re still outnumbered 15 to 7. We still need a miracle to be lucky!”
“Focus your fire on their main weapon!” the captain of the second Alicorn ship ordered.
All gunners aimed straight at the battleship’s main weapon within the heart of the wolf’s mouth. The Pegasus ship’s shields flickered brightly from the barrage but held.
“Now fire the MEM missile!”
The missile flew out but was met by a Pegasus missile. The explosion of both threw both ships apart.
“Again!” he shouted as the ship reeled back around, facing its target.
It was beginning to look like a pointless tactic. But every gunner aimed at the ship again, firing wave after wave of bullets.
“Fire!” the captain shouted.
As the MEM missile approached its target, another Pegasus missile launched to counter their attack. The missiles collided and exploded, as a third MEM missile, fired from Captain Hammer Hoof’s ship, flew straight past the battleship’s shields into its target.
The Pegasus ship burst apart. Both Alicorn ships dodged the shockwave from the destroyed ship with minimal damage.
“Thanks for the assist!” the Alicorn captain called out to the first Alicorn ship.
“No problem!” Captain Hammer Hoof replied back. “Now lets…”
Hammer turned his head from the screen, talking to one of his officers.
“MOVE MOVE!!!!! GET OUT OF THERE!!!!!” Hammer screamed to the Alicorn captain.
“SIR!!! Three missiles inbound from all sides! We can’t evade!”
The captain looked straight at Hammer. “Good luck, Captain.”
The screen went blank on Hammer’s display as the Alicorn ship was completely destroyed.
The three Pegasi ships now set their sights on the only remaining Alicorn ship.
“Star! We need something, and we need it right now!” Captain Hammer Hoof yelled.
Star was hiding in the corner, trying desperately to recreate any of the spells he had performed. Nothing was working.
“I…I…I can’t…I’m trying, but it won’t work!”
Star looked at the main display, showing the ships closing in. Suddenly the thoughts and memories of Bake, Ruby, Mint, and the girls flooded his mind. His eyes flashed white as his horn lit up.
Deep within the heart of each Pegasi ship, the MEM missile cannons began to glow softly. The shape of the barrels began to wobble. They warped only slightly. No pony would notice they had been altered.
Each ship fired their missiles together at the Alicorn ship. As they traveled through the barrel, they became stuck from the altered shape. The heat from the missiles’ thrusters built up until the payload itself ignited.
At once, the three Pegasi ships surrounding them were destroyed. Star’s glow ceased as he collapsed to the floor. Bake rushed to his friend.
“He needs medical attention!” Bake called out to the captain.
“No time!” was the captain’s reply. Bake looked at him confused.
“I’m under orders,” he continued. “Use the Unicorn to help with the fight. If he’s incapacitated, or otherwise unable to further assist, get him to an escape ship and get him away from the battle.”
Bake looked at his friend who looked weak to the point of near death.
“But couldn’t we just–”
“No! Look, he bought us some time. With the remaining rebel ships and the Earth pony ships inbound, we might actually win this thing. But we can’t risk losing that asset. Get him to a ship now and get out of here!”
Bake grabbed Star and carried him off the bridge. On the way to the escape ships, he made a decision. Changing direction, he quickly headed off to the room where his family was waiting out the battle.
“Come on! We need to go now!” he yelled as the door opened.
“Bake? What’s going on? What happened to Star Swirl?” Ruby asked, anxious for news on the fight.
“I’ve been ordered to get Star to safety. I’m taking you all with me. Let’s go!”
Ruby, Mint, Celestia, and Luna followed Bake from the room as they made their way toward the escape ships. As they entered the escape port, the ship began shaking again.
“We must be under attack again. We need to hurry!” Bake said, sliding the unconscious Unicorn tighter on his back.
They ran toward the first available ship. Bake set Star down and opened the door to the ship. He pulled Star onboard and began pulling everyone onto the ship. First Celestia and Luna, followed by Mint, and lastly he grabbed Ruby.
*BANG*
The ship lurched from a direct hit. An explosion burst out in the room. Bake watched as a piece of shrapnel sliced through Ruby’s neck. Her eyes widened as she lost grip on Bake’s hooves.
"S-Sugar?" she struggled to whisper as she collapsed to the floor. She was gone.
“Mommy!?” Luna cried. “MOMMY!!!? MOMMY!!! MOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!”
Her high pitched shrieks rang out as she tried desperately to get to her mother, but Mint stopped her. Bake was in shock. He couldn’t move. Another blast outside the ship brought his mind back to reality. He tucked his emotions as deep as he could and hurried to ready the ship.
Closing the doors, he began flicking and switching anything with a light. He wasn’t a pilot, but escape ships were designed for novices. He tapped the communications display and pressed for the captain. Within a moment, Captain Hammer Hoof appeared on the screen.
“We’re ready, Captain! Open the escape port doors!”
“Understood. Good luck!” said the captain.
“You too.”
The port doors began opening, but the Alicorn ship was veering around rapidly, making orientation extremely difficult. Bake finally got the ship off the ground and made towards the open door. Just as he reached the port, the ship bounced from an impact, causing the escape ship to knock into the side.
As Bake reoriented the ship, he checked his display. Every system was still green. He shouted behind him, “Don’t worry. We’re okay.”
They veered away from the battle as quickly as they could. However, a Pegasus armed transport spotted the fleeing ship and changed its course to intercept.
Onboard the Alicorn ship, Zeus watched the escape ship take off, and the Pegasus ship closing in.
“Oh no you don’t!” he swung his guns around, firing at the transport ship. The guns weren’t having much of an effect.
“Come on!” he yelled, firing again and again. At last a small hole in the shields appeared and a few bullets made it through.
“Yes! Let’s go!”
Like throwing a small rock at an angry bear, Zeus had gotten the ship’s attention. Turning from the small craft, it changed course heading straight for the Alicorn ship.
“Whoever you are, you owe me big!” Zeus shouted at the escape ship.
As the Pegasus ship closed in, a missile flew straight at Zeus. The shields weren’t going to hold. He fired every bullet he could.
“Shi–”
The guns were blasted off of the ship.
“WHERE ARE MY SHIPS!!!?” the Chancellor screamed.
“Four minutes, sir!” the communications pony answered.
“Arrgh! That’s it! I’m not just going to just sit here and die! I order a retreat of all Earth pony ships. We’ll rendezvous with the incoming ships and escape.”
“Sir?” The ship’s captain looked at the chancellor with great concern. “What about the ponies on the planet; and the Alicorn and rebel ships?”
With a deep tone of frustration he replied. “Consider them lost.”
“Mommy…” Luna continued sobbing in her sister’s lap.
Celestia’s tears continued to draw lines down her cheeks. She was in shock and was unable to speak. Mint was tending to Star as Bake flew the small craft out into open space.
He had no destination in mind, no plan, and he didn’t care. All he wanted was to see his family again. He didn’t get to spend even one night together with his wife again. His mind drifted to all the memories of their life together; from time he first saw her come to his bakery and smile at him as she took a bite of a cookie, to their wedding with family and friends, to the births of his daughters…
“Celestia, Luna…I haven’t lost you,” he thought, snapping out of his trance.
He called back to Mint, “How’s he doing?”
Mint patted a moist cloth on Star’s head. “He still pretty weak, but he’s starting to awaken.”
“Star? Can you hear me buddy?” Bake hollered so that his friend might hear. “Do you know where we’re supposed to be going?”
Star weakly reached for his bag. Mint saw what he was trying to get to and used her magic to pull his screenpad out. “Is this what you need?”
Star reached out to select the encrypted file. “P-P-Password,” he struggled to say. “Password…is…f-friends are…family…” He passed out again.
Mint typed in the password. The file unlocked and displayed the information for reaching the rebel base. Not sure how to read all of it, she floated it over to Bake.
“This is going to take awhile,” Bake said, glancing at the information. “In this little ship, it’s going to take two weeks at least. I just hope we go unnoticed for that period of time.”
He steered the ship in the direction of the Bathmorda nebula and set it to autopilot. Then he went to help his friend and mourn with his daughters.
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Oh goodie Equestria is finally approaching the main stage.
2210180
Considering the events of this chapter, "Oh goodie" was not the first words I was expecting. But I think next week's chapter will be equally as interesting
Of course.
2219264
Were you looking for a happily ever after? :
2219812 Wasn't really expecting anything, tbh
I try to give leeway to things I find from Struggling Author's 'Stories wanting feedback', and to provide some useful advice.
It's just that I honestly have no idea what to think of this story.
Are you trying to tell a serious story? If so, your prologue and description are giving the massively wrong impression. It makes it look like this is supposed to be a bit of an immature comedy, or a random trollfic.
Yet, the first few chapters tell me otherwise. It seems to be trying to tell a story about civil war, genocide and species survival. However, on the other hand, everything is so over the top, so supervillainous and face-bludgeoningly overt that I can't, entirely, shake the feeling that this isn't a serious work at all.
First impressions are incredibly important, especially when you're talking about a fic that demands a fair investment in time. I just couldn't make it past the first chapters. The prose seems pretty good, though the dialogue is a bit cheesy at times. The thing is, the opening impression was just too schizophrenic, and I just didn't have a clue what frame of mind I should be in. So I couldn't get into things. It's the only way I can describe it.
2222404
Thanks for the feedback. I've been wondering if the prologue was throwing people off.
The point of the story is a retelling of Hearth's Warming Eve from a perspective that Pre-Equestria ponies were actually an advanced race.The prologue was meant more of a bridge between the MLP version of the story and this one (which is almost verbatim from Spike's speech in the episode 
). The story is meant to be dark and serious with only brief moments of levity. Cheezy dialogue is not a criticism that I've heard before, but I find useful in more carefully constructing my words in the future. As for the supervillain, that is a comment I've gotten before. In two weeks, a chapter will release the back stories of the three main antagonists (Hurricane, Puddinghead, Platinum) and how they came to be who they are, which will explain the supervillain mentality. But as you said, first impressions are important. If I were to rewrite story, I would try to make the change from leader to murderer a little more progressive. For now, I'll get rid of the prologue and let the description handle the bridge alone. Thanks again. 
2/3 of this whole story seems to be explosions and yelling.
My mother is trying to get ah hold of me
but if you’re fleet is on its way to Origin, it will be a slaughter
Harmon began making his apologies. I didn’t see you there.”
Bake thought a rip might crack
The cheeks were flush, and their eyes never closed
1. A.
2. Your.
3. Forgot your opening quotation mark.
4. Rib.
5. Their.